The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2018 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement Iraq receives 280 IS jihadists from US-backed Syria force Baghdad, Feb 24 (AFP) Feb 24, 2019 A US-backed force pushing to take the Islamic State group's last speck of territory in eastern Syria on Sunday extradited 280 Iraqi jihadists, Iraq authorities said. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have detained "a large number" of IS fighters "of multiple nationalities, including more than 500 Iraqis", the security media office said in a statement. "So far 280 (Iraqis) have been delivered," it added. Iraqi security forces on Thursday received a first batch of 130 Iraqi IS members, a military spokesman said, although a spokesman for the US-backed force denied the claims. The transfers were set to "continue until they are completed", the statement added. Iraqi security forces had received a list of names to be checked against a database in coordination with the judiciary, which has issued warrants against jihadists. Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said at his weekly press conference Tuesday that the country was monitoring the situation in eastern Syria with caution, as security forces fear IS remnants could sneak across the nearby Iraqi border. Iraq declared victory against IS in December 2017 after ousting the jihadists from the swathes of Iraq they took in 2014. Backed by air strikes from a US-led coalition, the SDF have trapped the jihadists in less than half a square kilometre (a fifth of a square mile) in a hamlet in the Syrian desert. Trump dangles 'major power' carrot as Kim begins trek to summit Beijing, Feb 24 (AFP) Feb 24, 2019 Donald Trump said Kim Jong Un could soon put North Korea on the fast-track to becoming a major power Sunday as his former rival chugged across China in an armoured train, heading to their highly-anticipated summit in Vietnam. After North Korea's leader began his 4,000-kilometre epic from Pyongyang to Hanoi on Saturday, the US president flies out of Washington on Monday for their second meeting. Images from North Korean state media showed citizens cheering Kim as he waved from the train at the start of what could be a 60-hour journey to the Vietnamese capital. The train crossed the border city of Dandong later Saturday, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency and the specialist outlet NK News, although the last leg of his journey could be by road. The train's crossing into China follows days of speculation over Kim's travel plans ahead of the talks expected next Wednesday and Thursday. Accompanying the North Korean leader was right-hand man and top general Kim Yong Chol, who met Trump at the White House last month, his sister and close aide Kim Yo Jong, and other high-ranking officials, the official KCNA news agency said. The Vietnam summit is a follow-up to a meeting in Singapore last June which signalled a dramatic reset in relations between two leaders who had been spent previous months sabre-rattling and trading insults. Although that meeting led to little concrete progress in Trump's demands for North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program, the US leader has changed his tune towards a rival he once ridiculed as "rocket man". While his top diplomat Mike Pompeo tempered expectations about what could be achieved in Hanoi, Trump said North Korea could become one of the world's "great economic powers" if it relinquished its nuclear arsenal. "Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the world," Trump wrote on Twitter. But Pompeo said North Korea remained a nuclear threat and that while internationally-backed sanctions had helped build pressure on persuading North Korea to denuclearize, it was "a complicated process" and there may have to be another summit after Vietnam. "We may not get everything done this week. We hope we'll make a substantial step along the way," he told Fox News. "I hope we can make a real substantive step forward (on denuclearization) this week. It may not happen but I hope that it will." While Singapore produced a vaguely worded agreement on denuclearisation, progress has since stalled, with the two sides disagreeing over what the agreement meant. Observers say tangible progress is needed in Hanoi to avoid the talks being dismissed as a publicity stunt. Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations and a veteran of negotiations with the North Koreans, feared the summit could be "a dud". "I don't believe it would be a successful summit unless you had some kind of commitment on North Korea's part on denuclearization, dismantling inspections, missiles, nuclear detonations," he told ABC television. "It seems the president is deflating expectations, and that's a concern ... I think the president deserves credit for lowering tensions in the region, but in terms of concrete accomplishments, I don't think this summit's going to produce." - Skipping Beijing - In his tweets, Trump praised Beijing for falling into line behind the US-led sanctions on Pyongyang, saying Chinese President Xi Jinping had been "very helpful in his support of my meeting" with Kim. "The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door," he added. Kim has met Xi four times in the past year, briefing his country's sole major ally before and after his historic summits with Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. There were no signs of heightened security around Beijing railway station on Sunday, indicating Kim's train likely bypassed the Chinese capital on the nearly 4,000-kilometre (2,500-mile) journey to Vietnam. But Kim, who last met Xi in January, could be saving their next meeting for his return trip to debrief the Chinese leader. Although the exact details of Kim's route remained a tightly-held secret, several sources said Kim was expected to arrive in Vietnam at the Dong Dang station near the China border, then drive to Hanoi. Soldiers were deployed to Dong Dang station and along the road to the capital, according to AFP reporters at the scene. Vietnam has announced that it is closing that 170-kilometre stretch of road for 10 hours on Tuesday while an AFP reporter saw military personnel sweeping for mines along the road. "Vietnam wants to contribute its part to world peace... at this upcoming summit," Vietnamese Prime Minister Xuan Phuc told reporters on Sunday. - Grandfather's footsteps - Rail travel is a family tradition that was started by Kim's grandfather, the North's founder Kim Il Sung, who travelled to Eastern Europe for his longest train ride in 1984. The journey from China's frozen northern border to subtropical Vietnam presents a logistical headache and complex security challenges. Justin Hastings, associate professor in international relations at the University of Sydney, said that would be "a pretty major operation". "They would have to clear the tracks, they would have to provide security for basically the entire length of the Chinese eastern seaboard," he told AFP. But China may view the hassle as a necessary cost to get Kim to the summit. "China wants North Korea to make some steps to denuclearise as much as anyone else," Hastings said. burs/co/jm Burkina forces kill nearly 30 'terrorists' in operation: military Ouagadougou, Feb 24 (AFP) Feb 24, 2019 Burkina Faso's armed forces killed around 30 suspected militants last week in an land and air operation against jihadist groups operating in the east of the country, the military said on Sunday. Burkina Faso, part of a joint French-led military campaign against jihadists in the Sahel, is on the frontline of the Islamist militant insurgency that has gripped parts of west and central Africa. During last week's operations, special forces, army and air force units hit militants in Kombienbiga, Kabonga and other eastern regions between Tuesday and Wednesday, an army statement said. "This operation has taken out 29 terrorists and recovered an important quantity of weapons and ammunition as well as destroying a large stock of food supplies," it said. A security source said most of the militants were killed in air strikes on their hideouts and rest in clean-up sweeps by ground forces. Militant raids began in the north of Burkina Faso in 2015 before spreading to the east, leaving more than 300 dead so far, according to AFP estimates. The capital Ouagadougou has been hit three times in the past three years, killing at least 60 people, including in a coordinated attack last March targeting the French embassy and the country's military headquarters. Japan's Okinawa votes against controversial US base move: exit polls Nago, Japan, Feb 24 (AFP) Feb 24, 2019 Voters on the Japanese island of Okinawa have rejected the relocation of a controversial US military base, according to official results from a non-binding referendum Sunday. With 99 percent of ballots counted, some 72 percent had voted against the move with 19 percent in favour, according to the local government. Opponents of the relocation -- some 434,000 -- had turned out in sufficient numbers to meet the threshold required for Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki to "respect" the result of the symbolic referendum, it said. For this to happen, one quarter of the eligible electorate -- or around 290,000 people -- had to vote for one of the three options: for or against relocation or a third choice of "neither." In any case, the vote is non-binding on the central government and turnout was just above 50 percent, raising questions about what effect the referendum will have. The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to press on with moving the base and the relocation is also backed by Washington. The relocation of the Futenma base to Nago, 50 kilometres (30 miles) away, was first agreed in 1996 as the US sought to calm local anger after US servicemen gang raped a local schoolgirl. But the plan has long been stalled in part over local opposition. The ballot asked residents whether they supported a plan to reclaim land at a remote coastal site for the relocation of Futenma from its current location in a heavily populated part of Okinawa. It was initially planned as a yes-no vote, but a "neither" option was added after several cities with close ties to the central government threatened to boycott the vote. Polls opened early on Sunday morning, with about 1.15 million Okinawans eligible to vote. Speaking after casting her ballot at a local school, voter Yuki Miyagaki said: "They are using a lot of tax money and manpower for this referendum, even though the result will not have any legal power. So we thought that we should take this opportunity and think very carefully about this issue." "We usually shout no to the new base construction. This is a good opportunity to tell the government directly with concrete numbers: 'No'. This is an important vote," 32-year-old Narumi Haine told AFP. "The referendum has underlined once again Okinawa's strong opposition to the relocation," Yoshinobu Yamamoto, professor of politics at the University of Niigata prefecture, told AFP. "The result could be a negotiating card for the governor, but it's unlikely to have an immediate impact," he added. "The dispute is far from its resolution." - 'Far from resolution' - The base has stoked tension with local residents over problems ranging from noise and military accidents to crime involving base residents. Abe's government says the relocation will address those concerns, but many in Okinawa want the base relocated elsewhere in Japan. They argue that the region bears a disproportionate burden when it comes to hosting US military troops in the country. Okinawa accounts for less than one percent of Japan's total land area, but hosts more than half of the approximately 47,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan. Anti-base rallies have been staged daily in Okinawa since campaigning for the referendum began in mid-February. But the vote has not stopped reclamation work at Nago, with construction workers continuing to shovel dirt into the ocean offshore with bulldozers. "We hope the referendum will boost the momentum of our fight," demonstrator Masaru Shiroma told AFP on Friday, as more than 100 fellow activists tried to block trucks entering the construction site. "The government is making a fool out of Okinawa." - 'Making a fool of Okinawa' - Official results may not come until early Monday. An opinion poll by the Asahi daily found 80 percent of respondents want Abe's government to respect the results. But there has been little sign the administration will shift course if the vote goes against the move, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga saying there were no plans to halt the relocation regardless of the outcome. Japan's military alliance with the United States is seen as a key partnership, and Okinawa's location near Taiwan has long been viewed as having huge strategic importance for US forward positioning in Asia. Japan's Okinawa 'votes against' controversial US base move: exit polls Nago, Japan, Feb 24 (AFP) Feb 24, 2019 Voters on the Japanese island of Okinawa have rejected the relocation of a controversial US military base, according to exit polls from a non-binding referendum cited by local media Sunday. It was not immediately clear whether sufficient numbers of opponents had turned out to meet the threshold required for Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki to "respect" the result of the symbolic referendum. For this to happen, one quarter of the eligible electorate -- or around 290,000 people -- had to vote for one of the three options: for or against relocation or a third choice of "neither." In any case, the vote is non-binding on the central government and turnout appeared to be hovering around 50 percent, raising questions about what effect the referendum will have. The central government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to press on with moving the base and the relocation is also backed by Washington. The ballot asked residents whether they supported a plan to reclaim land at a remote coastal site for the relocation of the Futenma base from its current location in a heavily populated part of Okinawa. It was initially planned as a yes-no vote, but a "neither" option was added after several cities with close ties to the central government threatened to boycott the vote. Polls opened early on Sunday morning, with about 1.15 million Okinawans eligible to vote. Speaking after casting her ballot at a local school, voter Yuki Miyagaki said: "They are using a lot of tax money and manpower for this referendum, even though the result will not have any legal power. So we thought that we should take this opportunity and think very carefully about this issue." "We usually shout no to the new base construction. This is a good opportunity to tell the government directly with concrete numbers: 'No'. This is an important vote," 32-year-old Narumi Haine told AFP. "The referendum has underlined once again Okinawa's strong opposition to the relocation," Yoshinobu Yamamoto, professor of politics at the University of Niigata prefecture, told AFP. "The result could be a negotiating card for the governor, but it's unlikely to have an immediate impact," he added. "The dispute is far from its resolution." The relocation of Futenma to Nago, 50 kilometres (30 miles) away, was first agreed in 1996 as the US sought to calm local anger after US servicemen gang raped a local schoolgirl. But the plan has long been stalled in part over local opposition. - 'Making a fool of Okinawa' - The base has stoked tension with local residents over problems ranging from noise and military accidents to crime involving base residents. Abe's government says the relocation will address those concerns, but many in Okinawa want the base relocated elsewhere in Japan. They argue that the region bears a disproportionate burden when it comes to hosting US military troops in the country. Okinawa accounts for less than one percent of Japan's total land area, but hosts more than half of the approximately 47,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan. Anti-base rallies have been staged daily in Okinawa since campaigning for the referendum began in mid-February. But the vote has not stopped reclamation work at Nago, with construction workers continuing to shovel dirt into the ocean offshore with bulldozers. "We hope the referendum will boost the momentum of our fight," demonstrator Masaru Shiroma told AFP on Friday, as more than 100 fellow activists tried to block trucks entering the construction site. "The government is making a fool out of Okinawa." - 'Precious votes' - Official results may not come until midnight. A opinion poll by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper this week found 80 percent of respondents want Abe's government to respect the results. But there has been little sign the administration will shift course if the vote goes against the move, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga saying there were no plans to halt the relocation regardless of the outcome. Japan's military alliance with the United States is seen as a key partnership, and Okinawa's location near Taiwan has long been viewed as having huge strategic importance for US forward positioning in Asia. Japan's Okinawa 'votes against' controversial US base move: exit polls Nago, Japan, Feb 24 (AFP) Feb 24, 2019 Voters on the Japanese island of Okinawa have rejected the relocation of a controversial US military base, according to exit polls from a non-binding referendum cited by local media Sunday. It was not immediately clear whether sufficient numbers of opponents had turned out to meet the threshold required for Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki to "respect" the result of the symbolic referendum. For this to happen, one quarter of the eligible electorate -- or around 290,000 people -- had to vote for one of the three options: for or against relocation or a third choice of "neither." In any case, the vote is non-binding on the central government and turnout appeared to be hovering around 50 percent, raising questions about what effect the referendum will have. The central government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to press on with moving the base and the relocation is also backed by Washington. The ballot asked residents whether they supported a plan to reclaim land at a remote coastal site for the relocation of the Futenma base from its current location in a heavily populated part of Okinawa. It was initially planned as a yes-no vote, but a "neither" option was added after several cities with close ties to the central government threatened to boycott the vote. Polls opened early on Sunday morning, with about 1.15 million Okinawans eligible to vote. Speaking after casting her ballot at a local school, voter Yuki Miyagaki said: "They are using a lot of tax money and manpower for this referendum, even though the result will not have any legal power. So we thought that we should take this opportunity and think very carefully about this issue." "We usually shout no to the new base construction. This is a good opportunity to tell the government directly with concrete numbers: 'No'. This is an important vote," 32-year-old Narumi Haine told AFP. Although the referendum is not legally binding, "it is significant that people in Okinawa can express their will through the vote," said Jun Shimabukuro, a professor at Ryukyu University in Okinawa. "It can be a test to gauge if democracy is working in Japan," Shimabukuro told AFP before voting opened. The relocation of Futenma to Nago, 50 kilometres (30 miles) away, was first agreed in 1996 as the US sought to calm local anger after US servicemen gang raped a local schoolgirl. But the plan has long been stalled in part over local opposition. - 'Making a fool of Okinawa' - The base has stoked tension with local residents over problems ranging from noise and military accidents to crime involving base residents. Abe's government says the relocation will address those concerns, but many in Okinawa want the base relocated elsewhere in Japan. They argue that the region bears a disproportionate burden when it comes to hosting US military troops in the country. Okinawa accounts for less than one percent of Japan's total land area, but hosts more than half of the approximately 47,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan. Anti-base rallies have been staged daily in Okinawa since campaigning for the referendum began in mid-February. But the vote has not stopped reclamation work at Nago, with construction workers continuing to shovel dirt into the ocean offshore with bulldozers. "We hope the referendum will boost the momentum of our fight," demonstrator Masaru Shiroma told AFP on Friday, as more than 100 fellow activists tried to block trucks entering the construction site. "The government is making a fool out of Okinawa." - 'Precious votes' - Official results may not come until midnight. A opinion poll by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper this week found 80 percent of respondents want Abe's government to respect the results. But there has been little sign the administration will shift course if the vote goes against the move, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga saying there were no plans to halt the relocation regardless of the outcome. Japan's military alliance with the United States is seen as a key partnership, and Okinawa's location near Taiwan has long been viewed as having huge strategic importance for US forward positioning in Asia. Majority rejects US base move in Okinawa referendum: exit polls Okinawa, Japan, Feb 24 (AFP) Feb 24, 2019 Voters have rejected a controversial US base move in Japan's Okinawa, exit polls showed after a non-binding referendum on Sunday, local media said. It was not immediately clear by what margin voters had cast ballots opposing the relocation of the Futenma base from a densely-populated area to a more remote coastal region elsewhere on the southern Japanese island. But local media including public broadcaster NHK and the Kyodo news agency said a majority of voters were in opposition to the move, which is backed by the Japanese and US governments. Turnout in the referendum was also not immediately clear, with official figures not expected for several hours after polls closed at 8:00pm local time (1100GMT). Okinawa's governor is required to "respect" the vote's outcome if at least a quarter of eligible voters -- around 290,000 votes -- vote for any one option. The referendum was initially planned as a yes-no vote on the relocation plan, but a "neither" option was added after some regions opposed to the relocation threatened to boycott the poll. Okinawa accounts for less than one percent of Japan's total land area, but hosts more than half of the approximately 47,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan. Residents opposed to the relocation want to see the base moved elsewhere in Japan, arguing that the responsibility for hosting US troops should be spread more evenly across the country. Bid by 'enemies' to sabotage missiles foiled: Iran Guards Tehran, Feb 24 (AFP) Feb 24, 2019 The Revolutionary Guards on Sunday accused "enemies" of Iran of trying to sabotage the country's missiles so that they would "explode mid-air" but said the bid was foiled. "They tried as best as they could to sabotage a small part which we import so that our missiles would not reach their target and explode mid-air," Fars news agency reported, quoting the Guards' aerospace commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh. "But they couldn't do a damn thing because we had seen this coming from the start and had reinforced this sector," he added, accusing Iran's "enemies" of sabotage without naming any specific country. Iran reined in most of its nuclear programme under a landmark 2015 deal with major powers in return for sanctions relief, but has continued to develop its ballistic missile technology. Earlier this month the New York Times reported that the US administration of President Donald Trump was pushing a secret programme aimed at sabotaging Iranian rockets and missiles. It said Washington was trying to "slip faulty parts and materials into Iran's aerospace supply chains" as part of a campaign to undercut Tehran's military. In May, Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, and reimposed sanctions on Tehran UN Security Council Resolution 2231 -- adopted just after the nuclear deal -- calls on Iran "not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons". Tehran insists that its missile programme is "purely defensive" and compliant with the resolution but it has developed medium-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching arch-foe Israel. Hajizadeh, whose remarks were also reported by Tasnim news agency, said similar sabotage attempts had happened before and targeted Iran's nuclear and oil sectors. amh/hkb The New Zealand dollar remained above 68 US cents as investors were hopeful the US and China will manage to hammer out a new trade deal. The kiwi was trading at 68.29 US cents at 7:45am in Wellington from 68.43 cents in New York on Friday. It was at 67.74 US cents at 5pm Friday in Wellington. The trade-weighted index was at 74.03 from 74.05 Friday in New York and 73.44 Friday in Wellington. After falling Friday amid concerns about what a ban on Australian coal imports through China's northern ports in Dalian might mean, the kiwi had collected itself "and gains strength on news of progressing US-China trade talks," said ANZ Bank FX/rates strategist Sandeep Parekh. US President Donald Trump on Sunday raised hopes that the United States and China would settle their trade dispute, tweeting "very productive talks yesterday with China on Trade. Will continue today!" This followed news Friday that the US and China had reached an agreement on currency issues. According to Bloomberg the two sides havent yet agreed on the critical issue of enforcement in a proposed currency deal. However, while markets are fairly upbeat the March 1 deadline is fast approaching and "the market is bracing for more volatility as talks move into the eleventh hour," ANZ Bank says. It notes there has been "little commitment on the extension of the deadline by the US with Trump adopting a wait and see approach." Domestically investors will be watching for first quarter retail sales data. Economists are expecting a 0.5 percent on quarter lift, according to a Bloomberg poll. The New Zealand dollar is trading at 95.73 Australian cents from 95.68 cents Friday. It is at 52.27 British pence from 52.21 pence and at 60.20 euro cents from 60.21. It is at 75.57 yen from 75.56 and at 4.5831 Chinese yuan from 4.5817. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: 25th June 2021 Morning Report Westpac Banking Corporation (NZX: WBC) Confirms It Is Retaining Westpac New Zealand Ltd 24th June 2021 Morning Report 23rd June 2021 Morning Report 22nd June 2021 Morning Report 21st June 2021 Morning Report Infratil Limited (NZX: IFT) TPW Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Trustpower Limited (NZX: TPW) Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Mercury NZ Limited (NZX: MCY) Agrees to Acquire Trustpower's Retail Business Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited (NZX: PCT) $250m Equity Raise to Fund Wellington Acquisitions Press Release February 24, 2019 Hontiveros: Hospitals face stiffer penalties for detaining patients who cannot pay their medical bills Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a bill seeking to increase the penalties against hospitals, medical clinics and other similar facilities that detain and hold patients and cadavers on the grounds of nonpayment of hospital bills and medical expenses. Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, said the passage of Senate Bill No. 1937 into law would strengthen Republic Act 9439 by increasing the penalties against erring medical institutions that continue to violate the law. She said the bill also seeks to expand the coverage to include patients admitted in private rooms. Under the current law, patients who have partially recovered and who wish to leave the hospital or clinic but are financially incapable to settle their hospitalization expenses are allowed to leave the hospital or clinic by executing a promissory note covering the unpaid obligation. The promissory note is secured by a mortgage or guarantee of a co-maker who will be jointly and severally liable with the patient for the unpaid obligation. However, the law does not cover patients who are admitted in private rooms. The law also prohibits hospitals and clinics to withhold the issuance of medical certificate and other pertinent papers required for the release of the patient from the hospital or clinic upon the execution of a promissory note. Hontiveros said patients who are members of either the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) may secure a guarantee letter from any of these agencies in lieu of a mortgage or guarantee from a co-maker under the proposed legislation. Indigent patients may secure a guarantee letter from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Hontiveros said. Hontiveros said SBN 1937 also seeks to establish an anti-hospital detention fund to partly cover unpaid promissory notes issued by poor and indigent patients. She said the fund, which will serve as a buffer system, would have an allocation of P100 million to be managed by the Department of Health. Under the measure, any officer or employee of the hospital or medical clinic responsible for releasing patients who violates the provisions of the act will be slapped with not less than six months and one day but not more than two years and four months or a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P300,000 or both at the discretion of the court. The current law only penalizes violators with not less than P20,000 but not more than P50,000 or imprisonment of not less than one month but not more than six months or both at the discretion of the court. Hospital directors and officers face stiffer penalties for violating the act and face four to six years imprisonment or a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P500,000 for officers and not less than P500,000 but not more than P1 million for directors or both at the discretion of the court. Hontiveros said the DOH would revoke the hospital or clinic's license after three repeated violations of the act. "It has been 11 years since the implementation of RA 9439 but there are still reports of patients who are not discharged if they are unable to settle their hospital bills. There are still stories of families not being able to get the bodies of their deceased loved ones. Often, it is poor Filipino families who are victimized by this practice," Hontiveros said. She said the passage of SBN 1937 into law would strengthen the current law and give it more teeth to penalize violators. She added that with the passage of the Republic Act No. 11223, otherwise known as the Universal Health Care Law, there will be better funding for health services through the National Health Insurance Program and she is hopeful that non-payment of hospital bills will be a thing of the past." Press Release February 24, 2019 ANGARA: OVER 80,000 PANTAWID PASADA BENEFICIARIES HAVE YET TO CLAIM FUEL SUBSIDY Reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara has appealed to more than 80,000 legitimate jeepney franchise holders to claim their fuel voucher cards so they could start availing themselves of the government's subsidy under the Pantawid Pasada Program (PPP). "Hinihikayat po natin ang mga lehitimong jeepney franchise holder na hindi pa naki-claim ang kanilang Pantawid Pasada card na magtungo sa pinakamalapit na tanggapan ng LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board) para makuha na nila ang inilaang fuel subsidy sa kanila ng gobyerno," Angara said. Angara made the appeal after the Department of Finance (DOF) reported a low turnout in the distribution of fuel subsidy cards to qualified franchise holders of public utility jeepneys (PUJs). As of January 15 this year, the DOF said that only 74,714 fuel vouchers were distributed out of the 155,337 available cards, or 42.43 percent of the total national target coverage for 176,085 legitimate PUJ units. This means that 80,623 cards remain unclaimed. The region with the lowest claim rate is Region 10 with only 28.52 percent, while the highest is Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) at 71.64 percent. Under the PPP, which is one of the government's flagship social mitigation measures, fuel vouchers in the form of cash cards are given to qualified PUJ franchise holders for 2018 and 2019 to ensure that they get timely assistance to mitigate the effects of the volatility of fuel prices in the world market. The fuel subsidies given to each franchise holder amount to P5,000 in 2018 and P20,514 for 2019, which will be given out quarterly. Angara urged the PPP beneficiaries who have yet to claim their fuel subsidy cards to immediately proceed to the nearest LTFRB regional offices or the Land Transportation Office on East Avenue in Quezon City for those in Metro Manila. These offices resumed the distribution of PPP cards last January 7. The LTFRB targets to complete the distribution of the remaining cards by March this year. Starting Nov. 20, 2018, the LTFRB started accepting special power of attorneys (SPAs), along with other documents, for beneficiaries who cannot personally claim their cards. The LTFRB targets to release the first quarterly payout of the fuel subsidy for 2019 by end of March. Together with the Department of Transportation and Land Bank of the Philippines, the LTFRB is set to provide the guidelines for the second tranche of fuel subsidy and concerns as to unclaimed PPP cards. Coates, who is making his fifth trip to Australia, was speaking in Sydney on board the 63,786gt Columbus, which is halfway through her second world cruise. Cruiseco, Australias consortium of cruise specialists, has a 72-night package departing Sydney for Tilbury in the 1,400-passenger Columbus, with post-cruise accommodation in London and flights back to major Australian gateways. Strong sales for 2020 world voyage Coates said there are strong bookings for her third world voyage in 2020 and plans are under way for another in 2021. Vasco da Gama He said the decision to put the 1, 220-passenger Vasco da Gama into Australia for the companys annual extended season at the end of this year has been a runaway success. He said 55% of forward bookings to date are from the local Fremantle and Adelaide markets. As previously reported , Vasco da Gama, P&O Cruises Australias Pacific Eden, formerly Holland America Lines Statendam, is replacing the 600-passenger Astor which will have spent six years operating extended seasons from Fremantle and Adelaide and will have carried more than 115,000 passengers. After an extensive refit, the renaming ceremony for Vasco da Gama will take place in Bremerhaven on June 9. However, the name of the godmother is still a closely guarded secret. Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/23/2019 -- Automotive Motion Sensor is a device that detects physical movement on a device or within an environment for car. The global Automotive Motion Sensor market is valued at xx million US$ in 2018 is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx% during 2019-2025. This report focuses on Automotive Motion Sensor volume and value at global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents overall Automotive Motion Sensor 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. Get PDF Report Template @ https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/979973/global-automotive-motion-sensor-market The following manufacturers are covered: Bosch Sensortec(Germany) Freescale Semiconductor(US) InvenSense(US) Kionix(US) Honeywell International(US) Murata Manufacturing(Japan) Analog Devices(US) STMicroelectronics (Switzerland) MEMSIC(US) Microchip Technology(US) Segment by Regions North America Europe China Japan Segment by Type Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer Combo Sensor Segment by Application Commercial Car Passenger Car Get Complete Report in your Inbox within 24 hours @ https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/266aa333a504a4f5cc207eb2d4b957e2,0,1,Global%20Automotive%20Motion%20Sensor%20Market%20Overview%20and%20Forecast%20Report%202019 Benefits of Purchasing QY Research Report Analyst Support: Get you query resolved from our expert analysts before and after purchasing the report Customer's Satisfaction: Our expert team will assist with all your research needs and customize the report Inimitable Expertise: Analysts will provide deep insights about the reports Assured Quality: We focus on the quality and accuracy of the report About QYResearch 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. Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- Ahead of President Donald Trump's trip to Vietnam this week to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, experts are skeptical of the achievements of the first summit and said the standard for progress in this second summit is much higher for Trump. "I don't believe it would be a successful summit unless you had some kind of commitment on North Korea's part on denuclearization, dismantling, inspections, missiles, nuclear detonations," said Bill Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on "This Week" Sunday. "It seems the president is deflating expectations, and that's of concern." Richardson added that "this summit may be a dud" without concrete progress on denuclearization. The president will depart Washington on Monday for the Hanoi summit, to participate in the face-to-face meeting with Kim. Their first summit was held in Singapore in June 2018. After the Singapore summit, Trump and Kim signed an agreement on a range of issues, including denuclearization. However, members of Trump's intelligence community and many leading North Korean experts note that North Korea has taken no concrete steps toward denuclearization since then. Jung Pak, the chair of Korea studies at the Brookings Institution and a former CIA analyst, told George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" that the messaging surrounding the second summit has moved away from denuclearization and that the change is "problematic." "I think there has been a profound shift in talking about peace and normalization with North Korea rather than the nuclear issues," Pak said. "And I think that's really problematic, because the whole point of a summit between the two leaders ... is to get dismantlement and North Korea to completely abandon its nuclear weapons." U.S. intelligence has suggested that while North Korea has publicly destroyed some testing sites, there is still activity in the country that would be inconsistent with denuclearization. Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, said in congressional testimony last month that it is unlikely that North Korea would ever completely give up a nuclear weapons program because "its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival." The president, however, has repeatedly touted the fact that North Korea hasn't conducted any major tests of nuclear weapons or missiles since the summit. He also said earlier this month that he is "in no rush for speed." Some of the president's supporters are also reinforcing the call for real, solid commitments from North Korea in this second summit. Tom Bossert, the president's former homeland security and counterterrorism adviser and current ABC News contributor, said that there has been "backpedaling and dishonesty from the last summit." He added that the second summit "will be a dud if [Trump] comes out and tries to varnish this as a success without any real actionable activity." Trump tweeted on Sunday morning that he has a "Great relationship" with Kim, and that he "expects a continuation of the progress made at the first Summit in Singapore." Pak said Trump is "making a mistake of mirror imaging" when he views Kim as similar to himself. "He's speaking in terms of as if Kim is another businessman," she said. "But Kim is a dictator and a highly authoritarian -- of a highly authoritarian regime -- and who needs his nuclear weapons for legitimacy and his own survival." Richardson added that "we have got to continue talking. ... The relationship of the two leaders, that's good. However, the president should listen to his advisers, and his advisers have been -- I think -- very specific." Trump and Kim meet in Vietnam on Thursday. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. A one-size-fits-all policy ignores voters Re New San Diego parking rules (Feb. 21): I appreciate the recent viewpoints on the parking matter; most thoughtful in framing the dilemma. In that both writers are involved with their planning committees I wish there was more of an emphasis on at least looking through the existing community plans for guidance. It seems a little odd that those documents, being adopted city policy already, arent being used in developing and refining this parking change. We are not cookie cutter communities. Were happy to support the parking change in the locations where it belongs in Normal Heights, and object to its installation in places where it doesnt. Advertisement It might be wise to take this issue to the various neighborhoods where it is proposed and listen to the people that are directly affected first. Gary Weber, Chair, Normal Heights Community Planning Group Planners ignore the needs of the disabled Why are the disabled not considered in the so-called mobility plan? Why are we not mentioned in the proposed new parking rules? Some of us drive. What are we supposed to do without parking? Kent Rodricks San Diego Advertisement We should not follow any failed examples What a horrible idea. Seattle City Council has taken a totally anti-automobile stance for years, creating some of the worst daily traffic congestion in this country. Seattle allows construction of apartments and condos with no parking at all, all the while converting on-street parking to bike lanes and bus lanes. Lets not let that happen here in San Diego. Glen Kaner Advertisement San Diego Growth must be paired with new infrastructure Regarding San Diego will study possible bridge over I-5 connecting new trolley line to beaches (Feb. 20): I was pleased to see that the city is taking serious pedestrian and bicycle connections to future Mid-Coast trolley stations. The communities of Clairemont and Pacific Beach have steadfastly contended that safe connections across the Interstate 5 freeway and train tracks to access increased development, as well as the bay and beaches, are paramount to the success of the new trolley stations along the Morena corridor. Thank you to those who are listening, including Planning Director Mike Hansen, his staff, the Planning Commission and Council member Jennifer Campbell. Thursday, the Planning Commission approved the Morena Corridor Specific Plan after almost four years of work with the community. In its discussion, it advocated for another pedestrian and bicycle bridge to link Bay Park to Mission Bay. Advertisement Increased density should be matched with appropriate infrastructure improvements and community assets. Its encouraging to see that our leaders are listening and taking action in response to thoughtful community feedback. Glen Schmidt Member, Clairemont Planning Group Balboa Station Subcommittee Advertisement Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below. Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. President Donald Trump is trying to manage expectations for his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, predicting a continuation of the progress made last time. Trump tweeted Sunday that he was leaving early the next day for the meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, adding a tantalizing nod to Denuclearization? He also said Kim knows that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Their first meeting, in Singapore in June, produced a vaguely worded commitment from North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. Heading into this weeks summit, Trump has said that North Korea has not tested any nuclear weapons in months and that as long as that testing has ceased, hes in no rush. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Fox News Sunday that he was hoping for a substantive step forward. But, he cautioned, it may not happen, but I hope that it will. Advertisement President Trump has also said this is going to take time. There may have to be another summit. We may not get everything done this week, Pompeo said. Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who serves on the Senate foreign relations committee, expressed concerns about Trumps negotiating efforts Sunday on CBS, saying the president must be careful with what he offers. Said Markey: Nothing is clear, and I think as a result we could run the risk that Kim is given concessions which are not accompanied by real concessions that the United States is receiving in return from Kim and his regime. Trump pushed back against his critics on Twitter Sunday, saying: So funny to watch people who have failed for years, they got NOTHING, telling me how to negotiate with North Korea. But thanks anyway! Pompeo said he hoped to put a road map in place, but would not discuss the possibility of declaring a formal end to the Korean War or pulling some American troops from South Korea, in keeping with his stand against publicly discussing issue that could arise during the negotiations. Pompeo said he believes North Korea remains a nuclear threat, though Trump tweeted after the Singapore summit that there is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Pompeo told CNNs State of the Union that the commitment Kim made had substantially taken down the risk to the American people. Speaking on CNN, Pompeo also said verifiable denuclearization remained the administrations goal, and he insisted the administration has not changed the conditions for sanctions relief. Congressional Democrats will obviously take whatever steps are necessary to make public the findings of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, including subpoenaing his final report, calling him to testify and taking the Trump administration to court, Rep. Adam Schiff said Sunday. Schiff, the Burbank Democrat who now chairs the House Intelligence Committee, pledged in an interview on ABCs This Week that we are going to get to the bottom of this. He was referring to Muellers nearly two-year investigation of Russias 2016 election interference and links to President Trumps campaign and administration, as well as whether the president obstructed justice in the probe. Schiffs comments reflected many Democrats concerns that Trumps new attorney general, William Barr, will keep Muellers findings mostly private. The report is widely expected to go to the Justice Department soon, but after a flurry of media speculation that Mueller would send it as early as this week, on Friday a senior Justice Department official denied that. Even so, other developments are casting a cloud over Trumps planned summit this week in Hanoi with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trumps former legal fixer, Michael Cohen, is to testify before three congressional committees, and a Mueller sentencing memo late Friday excoriated the presidents former campaign chairman Paul Manafort for brazen criminality. Advertisement Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, appearing on Fox News Sunday, said Cohens testimony would not be a distraction to Trump during the meeting with Kim, the two leaders second summit. Congress has its own authority, Pompeo said. They can move how they choose to proceed. I know what well be focused on. I am very confident that the president and our team will be focused on the singular objective that were headed to Hanoi for. A flurry of Trump tweets on Sunday included a familiar denunciation of his 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton and his often-repeated denial that his campaign worked in concert with Russia, on what the U.S. intelligence community has described as a Kremlin campaign to tilt the vote in his favor. The only Collusion with the Russians was with Crooked Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee! Trump wrote. In a series of postings, he also reiterated his confidence that economic incentives would persuade North Korea to denuclearize, despite his intelligence advisors publicly stated conclusions to the contrary. Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World! the president tweeted. With the Democrats now controlling the House of Representatives, Schiff has emerged as a key figure in investigating Trump. He has also promised a wide-ranging probe of the presidents finances. While Schiff has pledged for weeks to seek maximum transparency on Muellers findings, his comments on Sunday added to pressure on Barr, in the attorney generals second week on the job, to make public more than the legally required summation of the special counsels evidence and conclusions. We will obviously subpoena the report, Schiff told ABC. We will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress. We will take it to court if necessary. Advertisement Referring to the Justice Department, he added, In the end, I think the department understands theyre going to have to make this public. He said Barrs legacy would be tarnished by any attempt to keep key findings secret. Much of this is uncharted legal territory, however, and some Republican lawmakers and legal experts have questioned whether House Democrats could enforce a subpoena. I dont know that you can, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said on CBS Face the Nation. Blunt, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he believes that the scope of investigations against Trump has become too broad. Im not sure that George Washingtons expense account could stand up against the entire force of the federal government, he said. Advertisement Some forecast a growing partisan divide. Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said if the Mueller report did not ultimately outline any offenses against the president, it could trigger competing investigations in the Democratic-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate that broke down along party lines. Its going to be partisan, he told NBCs Meet the Press. Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), a colleague of Schiffs on the House Intelligence Committee, agreed that the report should be made public whether or not it alleged crimes by Trump. Everything about this has become political, he said on NBC. The way to end that, of course, is for the truth to be out there. Advertisement Former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal, who helped write the special-counsel rules late in the Clinton administration, was also interviewed on Meet the Press and said the overarching aim of the regulations governing the Mueller investigation is public confidence in the administration of justice. Katyal, a strong critic of the Trump administration, said even without access to the full and final report by the special counsel, what is known publicly from court filings thus far is damning. If this is a witch hunt, Muellers found a coven at this point, he said, referring to the number of former Trump advisors and associates who have pleaded guilty to various crimes. Former White House senior strategist Stephen K. Bannon, however, said he did not think the Mueller report posed the most serious jeopardy to Trump. Advertisement I dont think youll see much at all about Russian collusion, or [it] will be very tangential, Bannon said in an interview, parts of which were aired on Face the Nation. Parallel federal investigations, such as those centering on the presidents inauguration and his business, posed far more peril, he said. Ive said from the very beginning the greatest threat, I think, comes from organizations like the Southern District of New York, said Bannon, alluding to the federal court there. laura.king@latimes.com Twitter: @laurakingLAT The dramatic unraveling of the story of a vicious attack on actor Jussie Smollett has spread deep concern among hate-crime victims that growing racist and anti-gay violence now may be more likely to go unreported and unpunished. Last week, Chicago police arrested Smollett, the black, openly gay star of Fox televisions Empire, and charged him with orchestrating a fake encounter on a Chicago street with two men whom he alleged had assaulted him, hung a rope around his neck, and hurled homophobic and racist slurs while shouting, This is MAGA country. Smollett, whose bold on-screen and public persona had made him an aspirational model for many young gay African Americans, is out on bail and maintains his innocence. But as doubts have grown about his harrowing account, some gay Americans and racial minorities wonder whether their groups, already disproportionately targeted as victims, will have more trouble gaining the trust of law enforcement and the empathy and support of the public. Advertisement Jussie Smolletts path from adorable child actor to Empire star to felony suspect Peter Dunn, a 32-year-old writer and director in New York City, said the Smollett saga reminded him of an incident a dozen years ago in Ireland when he and his boyfriend were taunted and harassed by a group of white men as they walked on a Dublin street. Ive never seen a black faggot before, one shouted at Dunn, who is gay and black. The assailants then set upon Dunn, punching him and hitting him with a glass bottle. The couple fought off the attackers and police took the incident seriously, Dunn said, but he was left shaken for weeks. Now he worries whether the fallout over Smolletts case will accelerate distrust between police and victims, which historically has been a hurdle in reporting and investigating violent crimes triggered by racism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination. To have someone completely fabricate something like that is so disrespectful and terrifying for what is already a hard enough daily life as a black gay man, Dunn said. This will take us so many steps backward. From the instant it was reported, Smolletts case was exacerbated by current tensions in American society: bitter divisions over Donald Trumps presidency and policies; the growing specter of white supremacist violence and Civil War-era rhetoric; criticism of a hair-trigger media culture that acts as judge, jury and executioner in the court of public opinion. Following the actors arrest Thursday, victims advocates said theres another source of societal division that can be added to that list. Theres a concern that now police, instead of saying, Let me investigate, theyll say, Hmm, I wonder if this is like the Smollett investigation? said Richard Cohen, president of the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups and incidents. Victims of any crime shouldnt be viewed with suspicion and thats what you worry about as a result of the Smollett case. Advertisement At least one lawmaker already has pounced on the Smollett case to push legislation punishing hate-crime victims who cry wolf. Last week, Minnesota state Rep. Nick Zerwas announced that he will introduce a bill to increase the penalty to $3,000 and up to one year in jail for falsely reporting a hate crime. (Los Angeles Times) In fact, false hate crime reports are exceedingly rare, and the number of hate crimes is rising. The federal government estimates that more than 250,000 hate crimes are committed every year. Only a fraction of those are reported to police, and a smaller sliver are submitted for logging to the FBI, which releases an annual count of hate crimes based on data voluntarily supplied by local law enforcement agencies. In its most recent report, the bureau counted 7,175 hate crimes in 2017, a 17% increase from the prior year that was fueled by a rise in attacks against racial and religious minorities. The number represented the third consecutive year that hate crimes had gone up and the biggest year-by-year increase in hate crimes since 2001. In California, hate crimes grew by more than 17% since 2017 to 1,095, while Los Angeles showed a 16% increase to 263. Advertisement As with the nation overall, race-driven incidents were the most common form of hate crime in California, with black people being the most frequently targeted. Attacks against a persons sexual orientation were the third-most-reported nationally and came in second in the state. In California and several other states, black people were also disproportionately targets of anti-LGBTQ incidents. Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, said he has counted just 48 cases nationally of false hate crime reports over the last three years. Thats 0.3% of all hate crimes reported. Many cities are not meaningfully participating in reporting hate crime data, he said, adding that we have a far greater problem with under-reporting than false reporting. Of the more than 16,000 law enforcement agencies in the country, at least 14,000 did not report data to the FBI last year, or told the bureau that there were no hate crimes in their jurisdictions. In 2017, the city of Miami reported no hate crimes and Miami-Dade County reported one. Of 28 law enforcement agencies the FBI requested numbers from in Mississippi, just one reported any crimes at all and cited only one incident. Charlottesville, Va., which in 2017 was the site of one of the largest hate-group gatherings in recent decades a white supremacist rally at which a counter-protester was killed reported only one hate crime that year. Advertisement Also, several states Indiana, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina and Wyoming do not have hate-crime laws on their books that increase criminal punishment if a judge or jury determines that prejudice played a role in a perpetrators actions. California was the first state to pass a hate-crime law, in 1984. Still, many victims rights advocates and civil rights groups several of which quickly put out statements supporting Smollett when he first reported his alleged attack have struggled in recent days with how to ensure that one high-profile case doesnt derail years of pushing for hate-crime laws, fighting for resources for victims and urging police to investigate such attacks. The confusion over the Smollett case must not overshadow the alarming increase of hate crimes weve seen in recent years, said George Selim, senior vice president of programs at the Anti-Defamation League. For every case like this, there are literally tens of thousands of others that are very real that leave a lasting impact, said Selim, who agreed that its possible that the Smollett case could have a chilling effect on the reporting of hate and bias-based crimes. Advertisement Right now its too early to know if this will have an empirical effect. I sure hope it doesnt. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie T. Johnson takes questions at a Feb. 21 news conference on the Jussie Smollett case. (Scott Olson / Getty Images) Its a fear shared by Chicago police. At a news conference Thursday, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie T. Johnson winced and fumed as he described the police investigation into the alleged hoax as a serious setback for crime victims. Bogus police reports cause real harm, Johnson said. They do harm to every legitimate victim who is in need of support by police and investigators as well as the citizens of this city. My concern is that hate crimes will now be met publicly with a level of skepticism that previously didnt happen. Advertisement Thats how Balmeet Singh sees it too. Singh said that in 2016 he was standing outside a burger shop in a strip mall when a stranger squared up against him. So, youre going to blow up this country? the man said to Singh, a 33-year-old Bakersfield real estate agent who follows the Sikh religion. Youre trying to blow up this country? Singh said the man then threw a drink in his face, his long beard and burgundy turban the intended target. Then the man threatened to kill him, he said. A dozen people sat in the nearby restaurant patio. Singh said he scanned their faces. No one said a word. Advertisement I spoke to people even within my community, and even they said, Oh, maybe you said something, maybe you did something, maybe there was a misunderstanding, maybe he was just a crazy person, he recalled. He reported the incident to the police, who were able to track down the man. Singh said that when he saw news of the alleged attack against Smollett, he recalled thinking about how hate-fueled violence is an equalizer that terrorizes and oppresses its victims across ethnic, class and gender lines. Things like race trump socioeconomic status, Singh said, referring to how he related to Smollett as a racial minority even if the actor was much wealthier than him. Advertisement But now Singh said he worries that people like him may be targeted in the future. What happened is hurtful to anyone who has experienced a real hate crime, he said. Now there is this extra layer of scrutiny. I experienced this first-hand. As the Smollett investigation continues, Singh fears the repercussions of the case will go beyond a single celebrity. People will hesitate to report things as well for fear of not being taken seriously, he said. There is a big sense of betrayal. Advertisement jaweed.kaleem@latimes.com sarah.parvini@latimes.com marisa.gerber@latimes.com Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo on Sunday seemingly contradicted President Trump on whether North Korea poses a nuclear menace and then swiftly denied that there was any divergence in their views. Three days before Trump is to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, the secretary appeared on CNNs State of the Union to talk about preparations for what will be the leaders second face-to-face talks. The two met last year in Singapore. Do you think North Korea remains a nuclear threat? host Jake Tapper asked. Yes, Pompeo answered. Tapper then observed that that did not square with Trumps previously stated public stance. On June 13, after the Singapore summit, Trump wrote on Twitter: There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Advertisement Pompeo took issue with Tappers characterization, saying: Thats not what he said, and the host parried by noting he was quoting directly from Trumps earlier statement. Without directly addressing that, the former CIA chief pointed to the administrations mission to keep American people secure, adding, were aiming to achieve that. In a separate interview on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace referred to Trumps declaration at a campaign-style rally last year in West Virginia that he and Kim who is considered one of the worlds most brutal dictators fell in love. Why does the president say that? Wallace asked. Pompeo suggested it was simply a smart negotiating tactic. Relationships matter, Chris, he said. Its important that the two leaders are able to effectively communicate. In advance of the Hanoi meeting, some senior congressional Democrats have raised concerns that Trump might be outmaneuvered by Kim, who is half Trumps age and the scion of a dynasty of authoritarian North Korean leaders. Sen. Ed Markey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee responsible for U.S. policy on North Korea, said in an interview Sunday on CBS Face the Nation that there was apprehension among U.S. diplomats over whether Trump would cede too much, perhaps in order to preserve a perceived friendly relationship with the North Korean leader. Advertisement Its pretty clear that Kim wants to have a personal meeting with Trump with hopes that he can, in fact, elicit concessions that otherwise might not be possible if it was just our diplomats talking one on one, said Markey of Massachusetts. I think as a result we could run the risk that Kim is given concessions which are not accompanied by real concessions that the United States is receiving in return from Kim and his regime. Asked by host Margaret Brennan if he was predicting that Trump was going to get played, Markey replied that Trump needed to be very careful going in. The president himself expressed confidence Sunday about his negotiating prowess, comparing himself favorably to his predecessors. So funny to watch people who have failed for years, they got NOTHING, telling me how to negotiate with North Korea, he tweeted. But thanks anyway! Advertisement Underscoring the emphasis on his personal ties to the North Korean leader, Trump told reporters at the White House on Sunday night that he had developed a very, very good relationship with Kim and that he has a special feeling about the upcoming talks. We see eye to eye, I believe, he said. Even some Republican allies, however, expressed caution over Trumps desire to seek a declaration to end the Korean War, saying that should not come at the expense of other, more urgent, priorities. In order to be sure that this summit is in fact successful, the president should first return with a codification of the freezing of the missile program and a nuclear program in North Korea, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said on Face the Nation. He added that the United States should also seek a verifiable program of inspection of the Norths nuclear program, and put in place a road map to avoid lifting sanctions without proof that Kim was complying with a step-by-step denuclearization. Emergency rooms are becoming the latest front-line resource for treating opioid addiction. Two San Diego hospitals have been selected to participate in an 18-month program that helps opioid-addicted patients ease the agonizing symptoms of drug withdrawal and connect them with a local outpatient recovery program. Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego and UC San Diego Health are among 31 hospitals around the state sharing $8 million in grant funding under the California Bridge Program. The facilities chosen are facing some of the greatest need for substance use disorder treatment, the Public Health Institute said in its announcement this month. California ranks 37th for prescription opioid death rates nationwide. However, overdose rates are particularly high in rural California counties. Advertisement In San Diego County, there were more than 7,000 emergency room visits and a record number of opioid overdose deaths nearly 450 in 2017, UC San Diego reported. The Bridge program provides training for emergency room doctors to administer buprenorphine, a prescription drug that suppresses opioid cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Patients will also be sent home with a bridge dose of buprenorphine to hold them over until they can obtain a long-term prescription as part of a recovery program. Scripps also plans to add treatment counseling to the ER to work directly with patients before discharge to connect them with an outpatient treatment program. By suppressing withdrawal long enough to create a bridge for patients to enter and remain in treatment, physicians can save lives, Dr. Andrew Herring, director of Emergency Department Services for the Bridge program, said in a statement. We know this model works, and now we are bringing it to hospitals and emergency rooms all across the state that are anxious for real solutions to address the enormous pain and suffering they see every day caused by the opioid epidemic. In the past, emergency rooms would only be able to treat symptoms of withdrawal or overdose and send patients off with a recommendation for treatment. We did not have the resources or medications necessary to prevent patients from going out, using again and coming back to the emergency department with an overdose, Dr. Daniel Lasoff, an emergency physician at UC San Diego Health, said in a statement. He called medication like buprenorphine a game-changer. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Advertisement Twitter: @kristinadavis It wasnt too long ago that a new backyard play set would have been much more than 2-year-old Charlie Matthews could handle, but there she was Saturday showing her parents and a throng of volunteers that three surgeries and six rounds of chemotherapy actually improved her outdoor skills. She was one of three young Southern California children with cancer to receive a free two-level backyard fortress of fun under a Play It Forward program run by Virginia-based Roc Solid Foundation and sponsored by hot dog giant Wienerschnitzel. Distracted for the morning with a limo ride to a local bouncy house play zone, Charlie was astounded to find that such a stupendous structure had sprouted in her backyard, immediately grabbing her mom, Shelly Matthews, by the hand and dragging her forward to examine every angle. It wasnt long before both tested the long green slide together, drawing a round of applause from the crowd that worked through the morning to construct the project. You think we should keep it, Charlie? her mom asked. Advertisement Yeah, we really should, Charlie replied. Asked which part of her new digs she liked the best, she simply bracketed the whole pile of lumber with her hands, like she wanted to pick it up and give it a hug. Its the 40th such structure that Wienerschnitzel has sponsored, said Karen Galardi, the companys director of philanthropy. Daughter of John Galardi, who founded the Los-Angeles based franchise that started operating under its iconic red W logo in 1961, Karen Galardi said there is just something about building in the real world rather than simply writing a check. It gives our employees and our franchisees and their crews a chance to so something thats hands-on and connect with their communities, Galardi said. Unique Pierre, with the Roc Solid Foundation, rushes in to help volunteers as they lift up a portion of the wooden playground set theyre assembling for 2-year-old Charlie Matthews, who has brain cancer, while in the backyard of the Matthews home in San Diego on Saturday. (Hayne Palmour IV/U-T) This years effort started with a family in Los Angeles on Thursday, moved to Pomona on Friday and finished in the Matthews Serra Mesa backyard Saturday. Megan DeHond, Roc Solids program director, said that her office works with the oncology departments of childrens hospitals in the cities where the project is active to identify appropriate families. The hospitals are key, because they know the kiddos and who needs a bit of a pick me up, DeHond said. Advertisement Rady Childrens Hospital in San Diego recommended Charlie, who was forced to undergo brain surgery last year, shortly before the birth of her brother, Nolan. Watching his daughter climb and slide Saturday, Blake Matthews was clearly a little choked up at the agility on display, not to mention his daughters running commentary. The tumor, he said, threw off her balance and delayed her speech in ways that were perplexing at first but made much more sense after diagnosis. She would zig-zag around like a drunk person. She had headaches and ear infections, Matthews said. Advertisement But the tumor-removal surgery, he said, has been like flipping a switch. Once they got it all out, it was like the Christmas lights went on, and now shes just a different kid than she was, Matthews said. Charlie seemed determined to prove her dads point Saturday, nonchalantly backing down a ladder by feeling her way from rung to rung with her toes, no need to look down and get her bearings. Not bad for a kid who endured her sixth round of chemotherapy in late November. Its these kinds of moments that Roc Solid was created to promote. Founded by Eric Newman, himself a childhood cancer survivor, the nonprofit strives to build hope for every child and family facing pediatric cancer. Advertisement Health Playlist On Now Video: Why aren't Americans getting flu shots? 0:37 On Now Video: Leaders urge public to help extinguish hepatitis outbreak On Now San Diego starts cleansing sidewalks, streets to combat hepatitis A On Now Video: Scripps to shutter its hospice service On Now Video: Scripps La Jolla hospitals nab top local spot in annual hospital rankings On Now Video: Does a parent's Alzheimer's doom their children? On Now Video: Vaccine can prevent human papillomavirus, which can cause cancer 0:31 On Now 23 local doctors have already faced state discipline in 2017 0:48 On Now EpiPen recall expands On Now Kids can add years to your life paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com Advertisement (619) 293-1850 Twitter: @paulsisson Newly sworn-in San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher has quickly positioned himself to be a major player on one of the states most contentious issues how much people drive. The 42-year-old former Republican state assemblyman switched teams several years ago. Today, hes unequivocally liberal, calling for tougher action on reining in greenhouse gases, such as installing more bike lanes, even at the expense of parking spaces and making massive investments in public transit. Seemingly overnight he has the political platform to try to make his vision a reality. In his capacity of supervisor, hes sits on the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Systems Board of Directors, the San Diego Association of Governments Transportation Committee and the governing board for the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District. Most notably, he was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom several weeks ago to serve on the powerful California Air Resources Board. The agency is the top air-quality cop in the state, overseeing everything from the cap-and-trade program to emissions limits on freight equipment to caps on greenhouse gases from commuter cars. Advertisement Its a position that was also held by the county supervisor he replaced, Ron Roberts. But unlike his predecessor, Fletcher has vowed to take a tough stance on an issue that has vexed California, how to get people out of their cars and onto alternative cleaner modes of transportation. The following is an edited conversation between The San Diego Union-Tribune and Fletcher on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at his new office at the County Administration Center in downtown San Diego. Q: What are your top priorities? What are the issues youre looking at right now? A: When you look at San Diego, were at this inflection point. Weve kind of been this sleepy beach town where our highest priority has been getting conventions and being a vacation destination with a more rural mindset, more conservative past. I think we have a more progressive future, and I think we have a more urban future. Approach to environmental issues has got to be one of the cornerstones of a fundamental rethink of what were doing here. But yet you still have SANDAG board members saying, We still just need to increase freeway capacity. No. No. If we dont fundamentally rethink everything were doing in terms of what is the foundation for a sustainable environment for the next 50 to 100 years, were going to do a huge disservice to our kids and grand kids and everyone who comes behind us. San Diego region way off track to meet state mandates for limiting climate pollution from driving Its not just SANDAG, the Port (of San Diego) acknowledged that it missed out on funding because it didnt have a plan. The county continues to struggle with the reality that you actually need to be committed to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Advertisement Q: Your predecessor Ron Roberts would suggest at air board meetings that electric vehicles will solve many of these problems and that we should stop trying to force people out of their cars. Whats your thoughts about that? A: Well, hes not here anymore. Now we have a new approach. I do worry about the driving. I get it all the time. People say, So what youre saying is you want less funding for roads and more funding for transit. Yes. Thats exactly what Im saying. Advertisement Theres a limited supply of money. I want more money for transit. I want more money for bike lanes. Does that mean less parking? That does. That does mean less parking spots. They say We just need to widen the freeways to get less congestion. No, you need to get cars off the freeway so you can get less congestion. California speeding toward fight over driving limits in age of climate change and electric cars How do you get cars off the freeway? You realign your approach to land use and where you put housing, commercial, bike lanes, where you put sidewalks, and you fundamentally rethink a more urban approach. Advertisement What is the outcome? Well, I think the younger generation gets a lifestyle that they actually want. They dont want to live in suburban Scripps Ranch and go to Applebees and drive 58 minutes to get to work. Q: What about bringing in funding through the air board? Do you think San Diegos getting its fair share of, for example, cap-and-trade funding? A: No. San Diego, in my opinion, has not maximized its potential to get funding. And I think our Air Pollution Control District can do more. I think we can push for more cap-and-trade funding via the Legislature. I think we can push for more (air board) funding, more Energy Commission funding, Transportation Commission money. Q: OK, so specifically how do we bring in that money? Advertisement A: It requires us to really show how were going to get there, and I think in a lot of ways were still wrestling with how do we embrace what a lot of see as the future. Thats a lot of what were working on now. Were looking at pots of money around youth bus passes. Thats kind of a minor thing, but it gets more folks in transit. Particularly as it relates to (air quality), monitorings good, but weve got volumes of American Lung Association data and (air board) data that says that airs really bad. But I want to put an air monitor on every elementary school in San Diego, and I want to disclose the data in real time. If you did that, almost every parent would go look it up. Historic effort launched to clean up toxic air pollution in San Diegos portside communities Advertisement I remember on the campaign, people would say, Im not a Sacramento insider like Nathan Fletcher. Im like, I totally am. Im friends with Gavin. I talk to him regularly. My wife (Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego) is chair of the Appropriations Committee. Three quarters of the Senate I served with when I was in the Assembly. We havent had anyone on the Board of Supervisors who had those relationships. Viewing Sacramento as a resources for what we want to do, as opposed to just complaining about it all the time, is a fundamental shift in mindset. Q: Have you thought at all about congestion pricing or per-mile highway charges? Recently SANDAG Executive Director Hasan Ikhrata told The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board that hes an advocate for it at some stage in the planning process. Advertisement He says once we get a transit system in place that can compete with driving, we should look at possibly a per-mile charge. Also, he says, eventually if everything goes electric youre going to need to do it anyway to make up for lost revenue from gas tax. A: Im open to it. My concern with it is similar to gas taxes in that it becomes so regressive. It really hammers the poor disproportionately hard. They live further away and what they can pay per mile versus what someone affluent can pay. Its not like income tax, which has a graduated scale. I like creative ideas, like I thought it would be interesting to look at a tire tax. If you did it as a percentage of the cost of the tire and you had a 2,000-pound Expedition, your tires would be really expensive. And then theres an actual tie to how much you drive. Advertisement But the idea that we want to get the incentives in the right place is, I think, 100 percent right. Theres this historic sense that in San Diego we set low expectation and then cut them in half. Thats a part of what has to change. We need a generation of really bold thinking. Advertisement Twitter: @jemersmith Phone: (619) 293-2234 Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com It takes the city of San Diego an average of 42 days to resolve illegal dumping and trash complaints, according to city data updated Wednesday, but wait times are longer at many locations. Nearly 20,800 illegal dumping and trash complaints were submitted to the city of San Diegos Get It Done portal since January 2018. About half were referred to outside agencies and the rest, some 9,600 complaints, were handled internally. Of the internal cases 75 percent of the completed requests to pick up trash and debris were resolved in about 30 days, but when you add in the new and pending requests, the average wait time increases to 42 days, a Union-Tribune analysis of city data shows. This was previously reported like a month ago and is still here, wrote one Point Loma resident in a complaint in August. The cul-de-sac is turning into a garbage can. Advertisement Data show that request has been pending for 186 days. More than 850 requests and complaints of illegal dumping have been pending for at least 100 days. On the other hand, 34 percent of all submissions are resolved within a week, the data show. Illegal dumping is a broad category in the citys Get It Done program, which lets residents submit requests to fix potholes, remove graffiti, break up homeless encampments, and clear trees and vegetation, among other things, said Greg Block, a spokesman for Mayor Kevin Faulconer. We receive a wide variety of reports under (the illegal dumping) category, Block said in an email Friday. Our response can range from a quick crew job where we send a crew out to pick up the illegally dumped item from the public right of way, to a much more involved case of waste on private property. Block said the wait time seen in city data does is not an accurate picture, because the more involved instances of illegal dumping require a code compliance officer to visit the site and issue a violation notice, when necessary, to the responsible property owner. Wait time has nothing to do with the part of the city in which the dumping is located and everything to do with whether it is on public or private property, Block said, adding that it is possible for cases to remain open for nearly a year when they involve multiple enforcement actions on private property. Click on locations for details of illegal dumping complaints If the map is not displaying properly, disable ad blockers or click here Advertisement The map shows all illegal dumping and trash pickup requests submitted to the city of San Diego since January 2018. Dot sizes represent the number of days requests stayed or remain open. Click on dots for more information. But others believe the delays are real. Michael Pallamary, a land-use consultant in San Diego and former member of the citys Board of Zoning Appeals, said he used the citys Get it Done mobile application to report bloody needles near the water in Mission Bay. The request has been pending for more than three months. Advertisement I went back and the needles (had) washed out into the bay, Pallamary said in an email. I was afraid to touch this stuff. Pallamary said he is disappointed with the citys slow response and the inefficiency of the Get It Done portal, adding he has filed other complaints and had little success. When I first started using it, it seemed pretty good, he said. But (it) went downhill. The Get It Done portal, which launched in 2016, has significantly increased the number of requests submitted to the city, according to Block. At the same time, the city increased efforts to target homeless camps, along with the Clean SD efforts in the San Diego River, other watersheds and canyons. Advertisement While resources were added in the (2019) budget, it has taken a little while to get all resources on board and productive, Block said. The environmental services department is currently focused on clearing its backlog and reducing the resolution time. City records show Pallamary is not the only resident to complain about drug paraphernalia dumping. One complainant who submitted a request in October reported dozens of used hypodermic needles scattered on the beach, in Fiesta Island. It has been pending for 119 days. Data show City Council District 9 sees the most illegal dumping and trash complaints, accounting for 35 percent of all submissions to the city. The average request there was resolved in 45 days, three days more than the citywide average. Advertisement District 9 spokeswoman Corinne Wilson said eight out of nine city council members announced a plan to prioritize trash pick-up efforts in the near future. And a report issued in January by the San Diego Office of the Independent Budget Analysis details city councils hopes to beef up areas of Clean SD, a campaign launched in 2017 to prevent illegal dumping and remove trash and debris from places where illegal dumping is common. Council members prioritized adding code enforcement officer positions and filling vacant jobs to address neighborhood code compliance issues. In District 1, requests for the city to clear furniture, electronics, mattresses, shopping carts and garbage bags were resolved in 51 days nearly a week longer than requests in District 9. Advertisement Lora Fleming, a spokeswoman for City Council President Barbara Bry, said the District 1 office has received complaints about Get It Done requests, especially when complaints arent addressed on time. The office also is aware that requests are often closed without notifying the complainant or providing any additional information, she said. In those instances, my staff is tasked with contacting the appropriate city department to get more information, Fleming said in an email Thursday. I think Get It Done is incredibly helpful to San Diegans, however, there are some areas that can be improved, starting with fulfilling a request or communicating why the request wasnt fulfilled in a timely manner. Most removal requests, about 67 percent, come through the citys mobile app, but 1,600 were submitted online and 1,500 came from residents calling the city. Dumping issues vary, the data show, but some common complaints were about abandoned homeless camps, active camps, and bulky items. Advertisement Electronic waste poses a new and potentially unhealthy challenge for waste management, too, as the number of new consumer electronic products grows but the products lifespan continues to shorten. Computers and cell phones, for instance, have a lifespan of less than two years, according to a 2011 study published in Economics Research International. Some electronic product components contain toxic substances. TV and computer monitors, for instance, normally contain lead, mercury and cadmium, which in small doses over a long period can damage kidneys, lungs and bones. One San Diego complainant filed a removal request in October about an old TV and other items dumped on University Avenue in City Heights. I have to live with all the trash and I have to do all the work around here, the resident said. Have the clean up crew pick up the trash at the opposite corner as well. Lots of litter up and down the street. Please HELP! Advertisement That request has been pending for 142 days. Repair requests can be submitted to the city here. Contact Lauryn Schroeder via Twitter or Email. A federal judge has ruled that a men-only draft is unconstitutional, but he stopped short of ordering the Selective Service System to register women for military service. The Houston judge sided with a San Diego mens advocacy group that challenged the governments practice of having only men sign up for the draft, citing sex discrimination in violation of the Fifth Amendments equal protection clause. This case balances on the tension between the constitutionally enshrined power of Congress to raise armies and the constitutional mandate that no person be denied the equal protection of the law, wrote U.S. District Judge Gray Miller of the Southern District of Texas. The lawsuit was filed in 2013 against the Selective Service System by Texas resident James Lesmeister, who later added San Diego resident Anthony Davis and the San Diego-based National Coalition for Men as additional plaintiffs. Advertisement The two men had standing to sue the government because they were within the age range of 18 to 26 in which men in the United States are required to register with Selective Service. Coalition attorney Marc Angelucci said in a statement on Saturday that he is pleased with the court decision. Forcing only males to register is an aspect of socially institutionalized male disposability and helps reinforce the stereotypes that support discrimination against men in other areas such as divorce, child custody and domestic violence services, Angelucci said. Women are now allowed in combat, so this decision is long overdue, he added. After decades of sex discrimination against men in the Selective Service, the courts have finally found it unconstitutional to force only men to register. The government asked the judge to dismiss the suit or stay a decision until a national commission studying the issue of womens draft registration reaches a recommendation. The judge noted that could take years, and even then Congress isnt required to follow the commissions findings. Congress has been debating the male-only registration requirement since at least 1980, Miller wrote. The government pointed to a 1981 U.S. Supreme Court decision that the Military Selective Service Act was constitutional as written, to exclude women, because women restricted from combat were not offered similar opportunities that men had. Advertisement Miller found that reasoning no longer applicable, since the Department of Defense lifted all gender-based restrictions on military service including combat roles in 2015. The judge likewise disagreed with the governments position that drafting women would be an administrative burden and that far more women than men will be found physically unfit for service after being drafted. Congress has expressed few concerns about female physical ability, but did focus more on societal consequences of drafting young mothers to go off to war, Miller said. If there was ever a time to discuss the place of women in the Armed Services, that time has passed, Miller concluded. Advertisement pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com Advertisement Twitter: @pdrepard A yearlong investigation by federal drug agents has resulted in criminal charges against several physicians and other healthcare providers including a Del Mar woman accused of writing bogus prescriptions or selling painkillers and other drugs on the black market. Dubbed Operation Hypocritical Oath a play on the Hippocratic oath taken by doctors the investigation targeted dozens of healthcare professionals in California, Nevada and Hawaii, many of whom came under suspicion because records showed they were prescribing an unusual amount of narcotics, said Bill Bodner, deputy special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Agency in Los Angeles. In the end, prosecutors filed charges against nine people, including four doctors. More than two dozen people identified by authorities as street- and wholesale-level drug dealers were also arrested, while about 30 medical professionals lost the right to prescribe drugs. During the investigation, agents confiscated 230,000 counterfeit painkiller pills and $3 million in cash and other assets, officials said Thursday. Among those arrested was Monica Ann Berlin, 41, who used to work at a doctors office in Beverly Hills but now works with a Del Mar-based company that offers pre- and post-surgery care. Advertisement She is accused of stealing a signature stamp and prescription pads belonging to the doctor who employed her and using them to write prescriptions for others, according to the complaint. She is accused of forging at least 44 prescriptions from 2015 to 2017 that another person filled at pharmacies in Beverly Hills and Rancho Santa Fe. In exchange for the drugs, the buyer allegedly treated her to lavish dinners and gifts. Berlin used coded language in text messages, describing the drugs as candies and Tic Tacs, authorities said. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @kristinadavis In the beginning, three books and 1,932 pages ago, crime novelist Don Winslow wasnt interested in writing about drugs. Hed grown up in New York City near Needle Park, so-named for the narcotics activity there. I knew addicts, he said. I wanted nothing to do with all that. Then one morning in September of 1998, drinking coffee in his house near Julian, he read a Union-Tribune story about a massacre outside Ensenada. Nineteen men, women and children were lined up against a patio wall and shot, collateral damage in the fight between Mexican cartels. How does something like that happen? Winslow wondered. Advertisement Hes spent 20 years almost one-third of his life trying to answer the question. First came The Power of the Dog, published in 2005, a 560-page novel that married Winslows college training as a historian with his storytelling chops to explore 30 years of the war on drugs from both sides of the border. So troubled was he by what he learned the violence, the betrayals, the refusal of Americans to acknowledge how their appetite for drugs fuels the mayhem that he vowed never to write about any of it again. Except things kept getting worse. A mass-shooting of 19 people barely made headlines any more. Drawn back into that world, Winslow wrote an even-more searing depiction in The Cartel, a blood-soaked 640-page epic that came out in 2015 and made several best of the year lists. And again he vowed not to write about the subject any more. I was thinking that there was no more story to tell, he said. Hoping that there was no more story to tell. But there was. So now comes The Border. It is, he insists, the final installment of a trilogy that critics have likened to The Godfather and Game of Thrones. At 732 pages, it is the longest of the books, and it spends more time in the United States than the other two did, following not just the drugs as they flow north but the money as it goes in both directions. Ive said to anyone who will listen now for 20 years that the Mexican drug problem isnt the Mexican drug problem, its the American drug problem, Winslow said. I wanted to write a book that brings the point more home. Advertisement So theres a young woman on Staten Island, sexually abused as a child, whos addicted to heroin. Theres an African-American from Arkansas, never in trouble with the law before, who becomes the fall-guy in a cocaine conspiracy and is sentenced to three life-terms in prison. Theres an undercover cop who pretends hes dirty but isnt and has to follow his own instincts about justice and redemption. The spine of the story is again Art Keller, a DEA agent whos known tragedy and inflicted it, brought out of retirement to head the agency. Hes older but wiser in ways that make him the enemy of those who would prefer that the drug war never end. Not all of them are criminals. Near the end of the book, Keller testifies in front of a Senate subcommittee: What kind of corruption is there of our collective national soul that makes us the worlds greatest consumer of illicit drugs? What is the pain in the heart of American society that sends us searching for a drug to lessen it, to dampen it? Advertisement Those questions have been at the center of Winslows drug books from the beginning. Restless curiosity The sprawling nature of the novels multiple characters, story arcs that intersect, actual events and people modified to suit narrative purposes might make a reader assume that Winslow has to plot his novels carefully beforehand. The reader would be wrong. I never outline, he said. This one came together painfully, trial and error. A lot of error. Advertisement Some of that approach is due to a restless curiosity about the world that led him to get a bachelors degree in African history at the University of Nebraska, then a masters in military history. He worked as a safari guide in Kenya. He herded cattle, managed a movie theater, worked as a private detective on both coasts. He started out writing a crime series that featured the same detective, a common career path, but he got tired of it after five novels. His big breakout book, Savages, published in 2010 and turned into a movie by Oliver Stone, sprang from his annoyance with cookie-cutter rules about genre fiction. I just wanted to kick the traces a bit and write something the way I heard it in my head and saw it in my minds eye, he said after the book came out. The prose that emerged was a visceral, insightful, fast-paced mix of courage and cruelty, of humor and horrors, of life and death. The New York Times dubbed it The Winslow Effect. Advertisement For him, the books (hes written 21 now) always start with character, not story, and in the drug trilogy that has meant Keller first and foremost. Hes the string the pearls hang from. And then Winslow zeroes in on what he calls the two best words we have: What If? What if Keller is in charge of the DEA when a Trump-like president is elected? What if Keller decides to attack the heroin epidemic in a different way? In Mexico, a new generation of cartel leaders is emerging. What if they cant figure out whos in charge? I think you sit and think for a long time before you start to write and just kind of get to know these people, Winslow said. And then certain story lines start to suggest themselves. Advertisement Hes a novelist, so my first job is always to write a good, compelling, exciting book, he said. But the other way I view my job is to bring the reader into a world that he or she wouldnt otherwise come into. Or, let them see it in a different way. The historian in him wants to document every bit of the unfolding madness in the drug world, tens of thousands killed. His research notes for The Cartel stretched to 150 single-spaced pages. Hes cultivated sources behind bars and sources who wear badges. Hes gone to funerals for overdose victims. His wife of more than 30 years, Jean, is his partner on information-gathering trips. He jokingly recreates one outing in the acknowledgments for the new book: Honey, you stand here while I walk over there and see if its possible to shoot you from that position. She noticed a change in his writing, darker and more violent, during the six years it took him to do The Power of the Dog, the book that started all this. Advertisement It was a hard one for him to write, and it took him a long time because he kept finding out things he didnt want to know, she told the Union-Tribune in 2012. But it was a story that he felt had to be told. And then one book became three. Worrisome times Winslow started writing The Border before the last presidential election. Because the book is set in present times, he adjusted the plot to include a character named John Dennison, who says and does very Trumpian things, like using Twitter to attack political rivals and push policy proposals. While working on the book, Winslow became more outspoken on Twitter, too, often criticizing Trump for comments the president makes about the border, drugs and immigration. Advertisement One sample: There is no data anywhere to support that Trumps wall will stop the flow of drugs because it wont. Hes criticized Trumps attempted crackdown before, in a June 2017 full-page ad in the New York Times, and in newspaper, magazine and online essays. After five decades of this war, drugs are cheaper, more plentiful and more potent than ever, he wrote in one published commentary. If thats Trumps idea of success, Id hate to see his version of failure. Winslow said there has been blowback from Trump supporters. He isnt sorry. Advertisement I dont want to sound noble, he said, but these are frightening times, worrisome times. I worry about our democracy. I have a very small voice, and I think its incumbent on me to use it. Finishing the trilogy has left him with mixed feelings. My agent pointed out to me that Ive been writing this story for a third of my life, which is amazing and a little dismaying, Winslow said. I think that other than my wife and my son, I have spent more time with Art Keller than I have with any actual human being. So yeah, its time to let it go. But hes also a little empty. Advertisement For most mornings, for so many years, you get up with that thing, he said. With those characters. With those issues. With all that violence, which I dont miss. Then you wake up one morning and its a different feeling. He suspects hell write about the war on drugs again. He cant escape the border. He lives close by. Interesting word, by the way border. It has multiple meanings, which is one reason Winslow liked it as the title for his book. Of course, its about the physical border, he said. A lot of the action takes places there. So there are external borders, and then there are internal borders. I think there are societal borders. Philosophical borders. Advertisement And sometimes there are borders you cross and can never go back. Like seeing a newspaper story about a drug cartel massacre and asking a question How does something like that happen? that takes 20 years and three books to answer. Advertisement john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com This is how bad things have gotten in Julian since the county took control of the regions last volunteer fire department eight months ago. When first responders went out on a call, someone would paint over the marking that reserved the new county fire chiefs parking spot at the fire station, which used to be manned by the local volunteers who resided in the popular tourist destination. When they got back from the call, they restored the designation. Then, county firefighters were falsely accused of stealing a computer hard drive from the station. Routine interactions quickly deteriorated between the volunteers, their supporters, and the professional county staff who were contracted to serve the region after the Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection Districts board voted to relinquish its independence. Advertisement Fearing an escalation that could put his people in harms way, CalFire and San Diego County Fire Authority Chief Tony Mecham last month moved his firefighters and equipment to a nearby CalFire station, leaving the district station to the volunteers. This has created an odd situation in which county and volunteer firefighters are often responding to the same medical aid and traffic accidents. Tensions in the mountain community of Julian and surrounding towns remain at an all-time high as supporters of the volunteer fire department continue to resist efforts to dissolve the 81-square-mile district in favor of the countys professional Fire Authority, which contracts with CalFire for staffing. The standoff has been years in the making. Its resolution now rests with the districts 2,482 registered voters. This past week, ballots were mailed to voters as part of a unique mail-only election conducted by the countys Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), which is responsible for overseeing changes to local governmental boundaries, including the formation, consolidation, merger and dissolution of special districts. There hasnt been such an election in LAFCOs history because the system is designed to avoid such a situation. The commissioners voted in September to dissolve the volunteer department, a move requested both by what was then a majority of the volunteer departments board of directors and the San Diego County Fire Authority. But LAFCOs rules, seldom used, said if at least 25 percent of the registered voters in the district filed protest letters, then a special election must be held. Twenty-six percent did so. It will now be up to residents to make the final call. The ballots must be returned by March 19 and will likely be counted within a few weeks by the Registrar of Voters. Advertisement Only registered voters who live within the jurisdiction can vote on Measure A, something that has upset homeowners who have vacation houses in the district. Most of those second-home residents appear to favor the county taking over fire responsibility, but have no say in the matter under LAFCO rules. Since Novembers elections, 29 more people have registered to vote in the district, most likely to have a say in the decision. Signs like this one above the Julian General Store at the towns main intersection can be found all over Julian. Other signs urging a yes vote can are also visible. (J. Harry Jones/ U-T) To back up and explain: The Fire Authority was created about a decade ago as a response to the firestorms that devastated the county in 2003 and 2007. Many of those fires began in the backcountry and then moved west into places such as Scripps Ranch and Rancho Bernardo. Advertisement The county Board of Supervisors decided it was time to create a county fire department that would assume control over the many volunteer departments in the backcountry to bring more professionalism to the vast unincorporated areas. The county met with resistance, but eventually all the volunteer departments were absorbed all but Julian, which fiercely protected its independence despite having struggled for years financially. The volunteers and their supporters insist the area is better served and safer with locals in the engines locals who know the area and care deeply for its citizens. They say the fire department is a source of great pride for the unincorporated communities it serves and that the county is making a power grab. Advertisement In 2016, the volunteer departments elected directors agreed to a temporary arrangement with the county to provide services in conjunction with its volunteers. In exchange, the county obtained a promise from the district that it would seriously consider dissolution. Finally, in 2018, following several earlier votes to remain independent, three of the five board members voted to go with the county and the LAFCO proceedings began. In June, CalFire personnel took over the station and Mecham placed many of the volunteers on non-response status because they lacked proper training. Meanwhile, in November, local voters rejected Proposition QQ, which had been placed on the ballot by supporters of the volunteer department and would have raised property taxes for fire protection from $50 to $200. The measure failed by a vote of 976 to 836. But supporters of the volunteers say the vote was not indicative of the communitys support and only showed that voters are always reluctant to raise their own taxes. Advertisement At the same time, the leadership of the board of directors of the Julian department changed and now all five members are opposed to dissolution. Cal Fire for decades has had fire stations in the area and no matter what happens will still have the responsibility of fighting wildland fires in the jurisdiction. But medical calls, traffic accidents and structure fires are the responsibility of the volunteer department. Should Measure A fail, once again the volunteer department will bear that burden alone, minus CalFires extra equipment, manpower and funding from which it has benefited the past several years. If we get a call (with the election result) at 4 oclock that they voted to be independent, at 4:01 p.m., those fire engines will be unstaffed. It will be that quick, Mecham said. We expect the first week of April to get the results, he continued. And Ive been very clear from day one on this. Independence means independence. The County of San Diego has been subsidizing Julian for 11 years. Theyve built this very robust regional fire system. The budget this year is $42 million for fire protection. Advertisement Within an hour of receiving those election results, I will close the Cuyamaca CalFire station and I will close the Julian station (because high-fire season will not yet have begun). The paramedic fire engine will go away and I have also notified the district we will not do automatic aid with them. Before, we were doing automatic response, so when the volunteers didnt show up, nobody noticed that. Im not going to continue doing that. Its not my responsibility to keep financially supporting their calls. Mecham said CalFire will continue to do mutual aid, which means if the volunteers have responded to a call with proper equipment and put out a call for assistance, then CalFire engines will be available. Should voters opt instead for county control, the Fire Authority will take over the districts equipment, including a recently built new fire station. The county will assume the debt still owed on the station, about $1.6 million, and a $50 annual tax to pay off the mortgage on the station will end for residents. Advertisement Supporters of the volunteers, many of whom gathered for a Town Hall-type meeting on Tuesday, insist they dont trust the county to honor its commitments and fear there will be times when stations will go unmanned should the county take control. They also worry that once the county has control of all the old volunteer departments, residents will be assessed new fees. Volunteer supporters also insist there have been occasions when county firefighters have been unable to find places because of the areas confusing back roads. The difference is were stationed throughout the community, interim Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection District Chief Mike Van Bibber told the gathering of about 30 people at Julian Town Hall. If we get a radio call that says there is a problem at Terrys house, we know where that is. Were going to be there. Van Bibber said a fire department in a mountain community needs to be adaptable and he said cost-cutting measures recently put in place, combined with grants and other fundraising methods, ensures the department can keep operating for years to come. Advertisement This cookie-cutter, form-fitting mold of a fire department the county wants to bring in doesnt really fit this community, he said. jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones Oceanside native and Palomar College broadcasting instructor and radio station manager Zeb Navarro was appointed last week to be the new Oceanside city clerk. Navarro, 38, will fill less than two years remaining in the term of Zack Beck, who left the part-time job Dec. 31 to become the full-time city clerk in Escondido. Navarro was one of three applicants for the vacancy. Its a true honor to be selected, Navarro said Thursday. Im excited to get to work and serve the citizens of Oceanside. Navarro holds masters degrees from San Diego State University and California State University Monterrey Bay, and is completing a doctorate in education. He was active in local political issues in high school, and ran unsuccessfully for the Oceanside City Council in 2000. Advertisement Councilwoman Esther Sanchez said Navarro made an impressive presentation to the City Council during the candidate interviews Wednesday, and that with his experience he would do a good job managing the city clerks office, its budget, and other duties that go with the job. He spoke really, really well, she said. He wowed me. The two other candidates for the city clerk appointment were Brandon Jones and Thomas Schmiderer. Jones, 23, was not present for the City Council interviews Wednesday. His experience includes work for elected officials and on political campaigns in San Diego. Schmiderer, 34, is a full-time records manager in the Oceanside city clerks office. He participated in the interviews, but some council members expressed concerns that it could present a possible conflict of interest for him to hold both the city clerk and the records handler jobs, as he intended. Schmiderer said the office could be reorganized to make the records manager responsible to the city manager, instead of the city clerk. That may avoid a legal conflict of interest, Sanchez said, but some council members were concerned that it still could be a problem. Councilman Jack Feller cast the only vote against Navarros appointment, saying that it would be better to have someone who would be available at all times in the office. Advertisement Navarro said that he has no intention of running for another elected office such as city council or county supervisor, but in 2020 he would like to run for a full four-year term as city clerk. However, that opportunity could disappear. Council members asked city staffers Wednesday to prepare a report on the possibility of placing a measure on the ballot on 2020, either in March or November, to make both the city clerk and city treasurer positions appointed instead of elected. The council will discuss the report at a future meeting and decide whether to place it on a ballot. If the measure goes to voters in March, and is approved, it could be effective before the November 2020 election. Advertisement In the long run, the city could save a lot of money on election costs if the city clerk is appointed instead of elected, said Councilman Chris Rodriguez. Of 18 incorporated cities in San Diego County, only four -- Oceanside, Carlsbad, La Mesa and National City -- elect their city clerk and the rest appoint the position. The clerks many duties include organizing city council agendas, staff reports and minutes, overseeing local elections, maintaining campaign expense and economic interest statements, and overseeing other official records. Advertisement philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @phildiehl CITY COUNCILS CARLSBAD The Carlsbad City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers, 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive, to discuss the draft North San Diego County Cities Community Choice Energy Technical Feasibility Study. The council also plans to introduce ordinances to amend requirements for energy conservation in new and existing buildings, and for electric vehicle charging infrastructure; and to consider a citywide Transportation Demand Management Plan. DEL MAR Advertisement The Del Mar City Council was scheduled to take part in a workshop on Saturday and at 9 a.m. Tuesday at LAuberge Del Mar to discuss council goals and priorities. ENCINITAS The Encinitas City Council has canceled its scheduled meeting for Wednesday. ESCONDIDO The public is invited to hear Escondido Mayor Paul McNamara give the 2019 State of the City address in partnership with the Escondido Chamber of Commerce at 8 a.m. Wednesday at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, 340 N. Escondido Blvd. The event is free or $20 with breakfast that begins at 7:30 a.m. Breakfast tickets and sponsorships are available at https://escondidochamber.org/escondido-state-of-the-city. The meeting will be videotaped and rebroadcast at 6 p.m. March 3 and 4 on Cox. Ch. 19 and AT&T U-Verse Ch. 99. The city of Escondido invites public comment on the 2019 City Council Action Plan and what it should contain. Find an online survey form at https://www.escondido.org/home.aspx. The plan represents the city councils vision for Escondidos future and the activities that will achieve that vision. The City Council is scheduled to meet at 12:30 p.m. March 13 for a public workshop to discuss the action plan. OCEANSIDE The Oceanside City Council will meet in closed session to discuss labor negotiations at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at City Council Chambers, 300 N. Coast Highway. In regular session starting at 5 p.m., the council will discuss an ordinance updating regulations for wireless communication facilities. Advertisement SAN MARCOS The San Marcos City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 1 Civic Center Drive, when it will receive its fiscal year 2018-19 second quarter financial status report. SOLANA BEACH The Solana Beach City Council will meet in closed session to discuss litigation at 5 p.m. Wednesday in City Council Chambers, 635 S. Highway 101. In regular session at 6 p.m., the council will hold a hearing and discuss amendments to its affordable housing requirements, including changes to alternatives for providing affordable units. The council will introduce an ordinance allowing skateboarding in the designated area of La Colonia that is being built as a skate park. The council will also give final approval to an ordinance raising monthly pay to $860 for councilmembers and providing $960 monthly compensation for the separately elected mayor. The council will discuss authorizing a request for proposals for an affordable housing development on city-owned property at 140 S. Sierra Ave. Advertisement VISTA The Vista City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in City Council Chambers, 200 Civic Center Drive, when it is scheduled to discuss accessory dwelling units and receive a presentation on the results of the Traffic Congestion Management Plans analysis of traffic conditions. The council is also expected to consider establishing the Central Vista Business Improvement District Grant Program. Vistas Public Arts Commission is holding a Call for Artists to create a sculpture in the Paseo Santa Fe downtown district. The sculpture will be in the center of the roundabout being built at South Santa Fe Avenue and Guajome Street. The artist will receive a $25,000 commission. Suggestions for possible subjects are a depiction of Vistas history, climate or culture. Find details at https://bit.ly/2HUKPY0 or call (760) 639-6151. Submit digital images and information to vistapublicart@cityofvista.com; submit non-digital proposals to City of Vista, Recreation & Community Services, 200 Civic Center Drive. Application deadline is 5:30 p.m. March 4. SCHOOL DISTRICTS Advertisement CARLSBAD The Carlsbad Unified School District will hold a special meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the district office, 6225 El Camino Real, to discuss the renovation project for Kelly Elementary and Magnolia Elementary. DEL MAR The Del Mar Union School District board will hold a special budget workshop at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the district office, 11232 El Camino Real, San Diego. The board will also meet in closed session to discuss labor negotiations and legislation at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday at the district office, 11232 El Camino Real, San Diego. In regular session at 5:45 p.m., the board will discuss changes to the Early Childhood Development Center for the 2019-2020 academic year, including a 2 percent tuition increase and a half-day end time at Ashley Falls and Torrey Hills preschools. The board will also hear several reports, including an update on the 2018-2019 Local Control Accountability Plan, implementation of a second language development plan, and a superintendent report on district goals. Advertisement ENCINITAS The Encinitas Union School District board will hold a series of site visitation meetings at its schools. The schedule: noon Friday, Park Dale Lane, Flora Vista, Ocean Knoll; 8:30 a.m. March 14, El Camino Creek and Capri; noon March 15, Olivenhain Pioneer, Mission Estancia, La Costa Heights; 8:30 a.m. March 21, Ocean Knoll and Paul Ecke Central; 8:30 a.m. March 28, Mission Estancia and La Costa Heights; 8:30 a.m. April 18, Park Dale Lane and Flora Vista; 8:30 a.m. April 25, Olivenhain Pioneer. Advertisement laura.groch@sduniontribune.com Drivers should prepare themselves for traffic slowdowns in some locations starting early next year because a major natural gas pipeline project that will take about four years to complete will break ground. A division of the California Public Utilities Commission recently signed off on a hybrid plan by San Diego Gas & Electric that replaces 37 miles of a natural gas pipeline that runs north and south for about 50 miles in San Diego County. SDG&E will hydrotest the remaining 13 miles. We are going to work with the communities (affected) to minimize the disruption and to ultimately end up with a pipeline system that is safer and more reliable, said Rodger Schwecke, senior vice president of gas, transmission, storage and engineering for SDG&E. Crews will start work on Line 1600, which runs from Rainbow Station in the north to Mission Station in the south, in the first quarter of 2020. Advertisement We will spend the rest of this year on design and engineering as well as work with individual cities on permitting and traffic planning, SDG&E senior communications manager Jennifer Ramp said. The job will be done in stages, broken up into 19 different sections over the course of the project that SDG&E and its sister utility Southern California Gas have estimated will cost $677 million. That works out to a 1.2 percent increase in the monthly bills of a typical SDG&E customer using 24 therms of gas, which translates to 42 cents more per month. The $677 million estimate does not take into account tested lines that fail and need to be repaired or replaced. If you have more failures, more repairs, (the cost) will fluctuate, obviously, Schwecke said. If the costs go over, the Safety Enforcement Division of public utilities commission said the utility would need to apply to the CPUC for more money. Without additional authorization from the CPUC, any cost beyond what is authorized would need to be covered by utility shareholders at no cost to the ratepayers, said CPUC spokeswoman Terrie Prosper in an email. SDG&E was required to examine their pipelines because of a tragedy involving another California utility. In the aftermath of a Pacific Gas & Electric natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno in 2010 that killed eight people, the California Legislature passed new regulations that called on the states investor-owned utilities to replace or pressure-test all their gas lines. Advertisement Line 1600 was originally built in 1949 and rather than hydrotest it, SDG&E officials for years wanted to largely replace the line with a brand new pipeline 36 inches wide. Under the proposal the utility submitted to the CPUC, the bills of typical residential customers would increase by 57 cents a month. In June the utilities commission turned down the plan in a 5-0 vote, saying it wasnt needed. The commission sent SDG&E back to the drawing board, telling the utility to come up with alternatives. SDG&E and SoCalGas returned with four suggestions to the commission, and the Safety and Enforcement Division signed off on the hybrid plan to strength-test 13 miles of Line 1600 and replace the remaining 37 miles. Advertisement Some 16 inches wide, Line 1600 is one of two of the primary natural gas lines serving the San Diego area. The other is Line 3010, a 30-inch pipeline that provides 90 percent of SDGEs gas capacity. While Line 1600 provides only about 10 percent of capacity for the area, it is a critical line because it is the sole supply of natural gas for about 150,000 customers in eastern Fallbrook, Valley Center, Escondido, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos, Poway, Scripps Ranch, Kearny Mesa and Serra Mesa. Of the 19 distinct work sites on the project, 14 segments in more populated areas will see lines replaced while five segments in more rural areas will undergo hydrotesting a high-pressure water test to make sure the lines are up to par. Advertisement If you have a failure or a leak or if a rupture of the pipeline occurs during the hydrotest, youre obviously going to have to dig up that section of pipeline, Schwecke said. If you get to a point where youre just having too many failures, we have to replace the whole section. We dont know until we start the hydrotest. SDG&Es schedule will emphasize working on more populated areas first. We want to make sure we have the safest operating pipeline that we can in the shortest period of time, Schwecke said. We want to get away from the populated areas as quickly as possible. The company anticipates construction time to install new pipeline to take about four weeks per mile. Advertisement As our crews will be working primarily in larger, multi-lane roads, traffic flow is anticipated to be maintained in both directions at all times, Ramp said via email. It will be necessary to block off one lane so crews can safely manage construction in and around the trench. Each of the 19 sections can be completed individually and work on some sections can overlap, Ramp said, to help reduce the time needed to finish the project. A 2.2-mile segment on Midway Drive in Escondido is scheduled to go first, some time in the first three months of January. Three other segments, including one near the intersection of Scripps Poway Parkway and Interstate 15, will follow later that year. Weve already sat down with the cities of Escondido and Poway to look at what their needs are and hours that would work for them, the different roadways that would be impacted, Ramp said. And we will also be working with school districts as well. Advertisement Four years to complete the project seems like a long time, but that timetable tracks with SDG&Es earlier estimates. The process is sometimes slower than we anticipate, Schwecke said, citing delays for permitting, interruptions due to weather and other restrictions. Would I like to have done it in six months? Yes I would, but the reality is it will take four years to complete all 19 of these projects. The utilities weighed three other options before settling on the current plan: strength-testing Line 1600, estimated to cost $325 million replacing all of Line 1600 along nearby streets, estimated at $778 million full replacement of Line 1600 along Highway 395, estimated to cost $725 million Why not go with the least expensive plan? Advertisement Schwecke said the $325 million option called only for testing the line and did not include costs needed to repair or replace segments that failed. Ultimately, will your costs be cheaper? he asked. You start rolling the dice that you dont have the repairs that you could potentially have that would put you over the costs and you would not have a full, new line. The 36-inch-wide pipeline proposal the CPUC rejected last year was estimated to cost $639 million. Thats $38 million less than the $677 million project that is moving forward. Why would an estimate that would install a brand new line come in higher than an estimate to test/repair/replace sections of an existing line? The Safety and Enforcement Division and SDG&E said the $639 million was an old estimate from four years ago and current prices for steel, material and labor have gone up. In addition, Ramp said, the 36-inch proposal did not include the southernmost five miles of Line 1600. Advertisement SDG&Es Line 1600 test or replace project Estimated to take four years, starting in 2020 Sites scheduled for 2020 (in order): 1. Midway Drive Replacement, Escondido, 2.2 miles, starting at the crossing of Lincoln Avenue and Midway Drive Advertisement 2. Black Mountain Road Replacement, Poway, 4.5 miles, starting near the intersection of Scripps Poway Parkway and 15 Freeway, runs south on Black Mountain Road until reaching Miramar Road 3. Serra Mesa Replacement, 4.4 miles, beginning near the intersectin of Ridgehaven Court and Ruffin Road 4. Kearny Mesa Replacement, 1.4 miles, starting south of 52 Freeway near the intersection of Ruffin Road and Kearny Villa Road Advertisement Business rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewski CUCUTA, Colombia (AP) Opposition leader Juan Guaido has called on the international community to consider "all options" to resolve Venezuela's crisis, a dramatic escalation in rhetoric that echoes comments from the Trump administration hinting at potential U.S. military involvement. Guaido's comments late Saturday came after a tumultuous day that saw President Nicolas Maduro's forces fire tear gas and buckshot on activists trying to deliver humanitarian aid in violent clashes that left two people dead and some 300 injured. For weeks, the U.S. and regional allies had been amassing emergency food and medical kits on Venezuela's borders in anticipation of carrying out a "humanitarian avalanche" by land and sea to undermine Maduro's rule. With activists failing to penetrate government blockades and deliver the aid, Guaido announced late Saturday that he would escalate his appeal to the international community beginning with a meeting Monday in Colombia's capital with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on the sidelines of an emergency summit of leaders of the so-called Lima Group to discuss Venezuela's crisis. He said he would urge the international community to keep "all options open" in the fight to restore Venezuela's democracy, using identical language to that of President Donald Trump, who in his public statements has repeatedly refused to rule out force and reportedly even secretly pressed aides as early as 2017 about the possibility of a military incursion. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also stepped up the belligerent rhetoric, saying on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that Maduro's "days are numbered." A close Guadio ally, Julio Borges, the exiled leader of congress who is Guaido's ambassador to the Lima Group, was even more explicit in urging a military option. "We are going to demand an escalation of diplomatic pressure ... and the use of force against Nicolas Maduro's dictatorship," he said Sunday. It's a prospect that analysts warn risks fracturing a hard-won coalition of Latin American nations who've come together to pressure Maduro's socialist government. Most Latin American governments, even conservative ones like those in neighboring Colombia and Brazil, are on the record opposing a military solution and would face huge dissent should they back any military action led by the U.S., whose interventions in the region during the Cold War remain an open wound. "These governments know they would face a huge tide of internal opinion greatly offended by a US-led invasion for historical and political reasons," said Ivan Briscoe, the Latin America director for the Crisis Group, a Belgium-based think tank. At the same time, though polls show Venezuelans overwhelmingly want Maduro to resign, almost an equal number reject the possibility of a foreign invasion to resolve the political impasse. Resting at the foot of the Simon Bolivar bridge as work crews in Colombia began removing debris left by the unrest, Claudia Aguilar said she would support a military invasion but worries it would lead to more bloodshed. The 29-year-old pregnant mother of three said she crossed illegally into Colombia on Sunday to buy a bag of rice and pasta for her family after Maduro ordered a partial closure of the border two days earlier. "We're with fear, dear God, of what will happen," she said standing near the dirt trail she took to sneak across the border. "More blood, more deaths. The president of Venezuela does whatever he wants." In addition to weakening multilateral pressure against Maduro, analysts say the opposition saber rattling also risks undermining Guaido's goal of peeling off support from the military, the country's crucial powerbroker. The 35-year-old Guaido has won the backing of more than 50 governments around the world since declaring himself interim president at a rally in January, arguing that Maduro's re-election last year was illegitimate because some popular opposition candidates were barred from running. But he's so far been unable to cause a major rift inside the military, despite repeated appeals and the offer of amnesty to those joining the opposition's fight for power. "How many of you national guardsmen have a sick mother? How many have kids in school without food," he implored Saturday night, standing next to a warehouse where 600 tons of food and medicine have been stockpiled on the Colombian border. "You don't owe any obedience to a sadist ... who celebrates the denial of humanitarian aid the country needs." Maduro has deftly courted support from the military since becoming president in 2013, offering top commanders key posts in his cabinet, including the presidency of state-run oil giant PDVSA, the source of virtually all of Venezuela's dollar earnings. More than 100 members of the security forces, most of them lower-rank soldiers, deserted and took refuge inside Colombia during Saturday's unrest, according to migration officials. But none of them was higher ranked than a National Guard major, and there's been little suggestion any battalion or division commanders are willing to defect despite almost daily calls by Guaido and the U.S. To be sure, there's no indication the U.S. is planning a military invasion and Trump has made a habit of threatening friends and foes alike China, North Korea and Canada among them only to dial back the rhetoric down the road. Washington still has more diplomatic tools available, including extending oil sanctions to punish non-American entities that conduct business with Maduro's government in much the way such sanctions strangled communist Cuba for decades. Still, as early as 2017, Trump reportedly raised the possibility of a U.S. military incursion in Venezuela similar to the 1989 invasion that led to the ouster of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, both in an Oval Office meeting with then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other aides, as well as at a session with leaders of four Latin American allies on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, according to a senior administration official who has since left the White House. In both cases Trump abandoned the war talk at the urging of his advisers and allies in the region. Prior to the current crisis, there was never any war planning by the military, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the private conversations. Still, momentum toward a confrontation seems to be building as hopes for a quick crumbling of Maduro's government fade. "It acts like a magnet," said Briscoe of the possibility of a U.S.-led intervention. "As Plan A and B fail, it's where everyone seems to be going. But the further you move in that direction, you weaken the multilateral approach and reduce the possibility that large parts of the military will turn against Maduro." WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump is trying to manage expectations for his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, predicting a "continuation of the progress" made last time. Trump tweeted Sunday that he was leaving early the next day for the meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, adding a tantalizing nod to "Denuclearization?" He also said Kim knows that "without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World." Their first meeting, in Singapore in June, produced a vaguely worded commitment from North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. Heading into this week's summit, Trump has said that North Korea has not tested any nuclear weapons in months and that as long as that testing has ceased, he's in no rush. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on "Fox News Sunday" that he was hoping for a "substantive step forward." But, he cautioned, "it may not happen, but I hope that it will." "President Trump has also said this is going to take time. There may have to be another summit. We may not get everything done this week," Pompeo said. Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who serves on the Senate foreign relations committee, expressed concerns about Trump's negotiating efforts Sunday on CBS, saying the president must be "careful" with what he offers. Said Markey: "Nothing is clear, and I think as a result we could run the risk that Kim is given concessions which are not accompanied by real concessions that the United States is receiving in return from Kim and his regime." Trump pushed back against his critics on Twitter Sunday, saying: "So funny to watch people who have failed for years, they got NOTHING, telling me how to negotiate with North Korea. But thanks anyway!" Pompeo said he hoped to put a "road map" in place, but would not discuss the possibility of declaring a formal end to the Korean War or pulling some American troops from South Korea, in keeping with his stand against publicly discussing issue that could arise during the negotiations. Pompeo said he believes North Korea remains a nuclear threat, though Trump tweeted after the Singapore summit that "there is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea." Pompeo told CNN's "State of the Union" that the commitment Kim made "had substantially taken down the risk to the American people." Speaking on CNN, Pompeo also said "verifiable denuclearization" remained the administration's goal, and he insisted the administration has not changed the conditions for sanctions relief. COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) Weekend storms raked parts of the Southeast, leaving deaths and injuries in their wake as a tornado smashed into a commercial district in a small Mississippi city and drenching rains fed a rising flood threat. A woman was killed when a tornado hit Columbus, Mississippi, and a man died when he drove into floodwaters in Tennessee, officials said. Columbus Mayor Robert Smith Sr. said 41-year-old Ashley Glynell Pounds of Tupelo and her husband were renovating a house Saturday evening, and when the husband went to get them something to eat, the building collapsed and killed her. Smith said 12 other people were injured, but the injuries did not appear to be major. City spokesman Joe Dillon said the tornado also seriously damaged a school and two community center buildings. In Knox County, Tennessee, officials said a man died after his vehicle became submerged in high water. The tornado Saturday afternoon in Columbus was confirmed on radar, said meteorologist Anna Wolverton with the National Weather Service in Jackson. She told The Associated Press that experts would be headed Sunday to the east Mississippi city of about 23,000 people to gauge the tornado's intensity. At First Pentecostal Church in Columbus, the Rev. Steve Blaylock said the building was "a total loss," with a wall pushed in, holes in the roof and substantial water damage. He and his congregants tried to salvage what they could on the morning after the storm. But he said they still held a Sunday prayer service and even went ahead with a scheduled baptism, using a borrowed portable baptismal pool. "We will rebuild. We've got a good church here," Blaylock said. "It'll be a testimony of God." Residents of one street on the east side of Columbus were out early Sunday morning with chain saws, clearing away branches of the many trees that had snapped or were uprooted in the storm. Metal siding and roofing materials were scattered throughout the neighborhood of older homes. While the houses generally remained standing, sheds and outbuildings were mostly demolished. Lee Lawrence, who said he has been selling used cars for decades in Columbus, told The AP that four buildings on his car lot were destroyed. He said trees toppled across vehicles and car windows were blown out. Lawrence said he was at home getting ready to take a bath when the storm struck. "The wind all of a sudden just got so strong and it was raining so much you could hardly see out the door, and I could hear a roaring. Evidently it came close," he said, speaking with AP in a phone interview. "It will be a start-over deal," Lawrence said. "I can't say it will come back better or stronger, but we'll come back." A photographer working for The AP in Columbus said some antique cars on Lawrence's lot were parked among the damage and a nearby pet grooming business appeared now to be mostly twisted piles of metal. A printing shop had been speared by a pipe with great force and what seemed to be a vacant commercial building nearby appeared heavily damaged. Firefighters and law enforcement officers cordoned off the area, and power was out in the area. Elsewhere around the South, homes, highways, parks and bridges were flooded or put out of commission amid the heavy rains and severe storms. News outlets report that water rescues have been performed in some Middle Tennessee counties. Flash flood warnings and watches remained in place throughout the South and one Mississippi community reported large hail. Interstate 40 near the Tennessee line with North Carolina was closed by a rockslide, one of the dozens of roads and highways shut down throughout the region, transportation officials said. Officials said a mudslide destroyed a Subway restaurant in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. No injuries were reported. In West Virginia, officials have evacuated 11 families in the southern part of the state from low-lying areas due to flooding from heavy rains. High wind warnings remained in effect Sunday for much of the state. WCHS-TV reports more than 21,000 Appalachian Power customers were without power Sunday afternoon. In Bruce, Mississippi, rivers broke flood stage and flash floods poured into homes and businesses. News outlets report that officials in Grenada, Mississippi, declared a local state of emergency after dozens of streets and homes flooded. A 6-mile (9-kilometer) stretch of the Natchez Trace Parkway was closed in Mississippi after water covered part of the road. The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning for northwestern Lafayette County in Mississippi after emergency officials reported that a local dam was at risk of failing. Meteorologist Kole Fehling says emergency officials reported the threat involved the Audubon Dam, which blocks a creek on the north side of Oxford and a subdivision. Weather officials said the storm's impact stretched from eastern Arkansas to northern Georgia and beyond. Alabama's governor declared a state of emergency in several counties, hoping to speed recovery in event of damages. Kentucky announced Friday that it was closing the U.S. 51 bridge over the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois, because of flooding on the southern approach. The bridge, which carries 4,700 vehicles a day, is likely to stay closed until Thursday, and possibly longer. Near Jamestown, Kentucky, the Army Corps of Engineers said it was increasing releases from the Wolf Creek Dam on the Cumberland River. Areas downstream of the dam, from Rowena to Burkesville, could be affected by flooding as a result, officials said. The Ohio River at Cairo was predicted to crest Sunday at its third-highest level ever recorded, and stay that high into next week. The Tennessee River near Savannah, Tennessee, also was forecast to crest at near-record levels. A freedom of expression rights group has urged the Samoan Government not to waste taxpayers money by prosecuting Malele Paulo or King Faipopo. Pacific Freedom Forum, in a statement issued recently, said the Government should focus on fighting corruption and not its critics. PFF chair Bernadette Carreon of Palau said Samoa should be reminded of its commitment to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, guaranteeing freedoms of expression. "New legislation based on old criminal libel laws from colonial times forces Samoa leaders to look backwards, not forward, she said. Malele Paulo who publishes on social media under the pen name King Faipopo was arrested recently and charged after returning to Samoa from Australia to attend his mother's funeral. PFF co-chair Monica Miller, who is based in American Samoa, says part of the problem can be traced back to the Samoan Government itself, which began censoring its own news years ago. "Pacific countries need strong, independent public service news free from censorship to balance any claims via social media," she said. "As our members heard from the Pacific media leaders summit in Auckland, fake news and misinformation thrives in the absence of credible news." Solomon Islands-based PFF co-chair, Ofani Eremae, echoed similar sentiments and said the Government should respond to public criticism and not waste resources on stopping criticism. "Samoa prides itself as a member of free market organisations like the World Trade Organisation. But economic success begins with a free market of ideas. Criticism keeps us sharp and a sharp media protects our countries from the influence of corruption." Prior to Maleles return to Samoa, the Government earlier threatened to seek his extradition from Australia, alleging public threats against Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sa'ilele Malielegaoi. Malele has been charged by the Police for making false and threatening statements against the Prime Minister and will appear in Court on March 5. The constitutional rights of parliamentarians supersede the bylaws of any political party when the Parliament is in session. That is the view of Member of Parliament Olo Fiti Vaai, when he was asked to comment on the current tussle between colleague MP Laauli Leuatea Polataivao, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, and the ruling Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) over the MPs party membership. He said the bylaws of political parties become subservient to the Samoan Constitution, when applied during a session of the Parliament. There is only one guideline that is applicable are the Standing Orders with the Constitution of the Samoa as the supreme law. All other laws do not apply in Parliament. That is how a democratic parliament operates, he said. As an example to support his interpretation of the law, Olo claimed he cannot be charged by the Police if he assaulted another MP during a session of Parliament. And this is why I cannot fathom over how an MP was ejected from the HRPP for violating their bylaws. It is ironic that no laws are applicable in Parliament, yet HRPP thinks their bylaws are applicable. That is ludicrous and preposterous. Pointing to Article 46 in the Samoan Constitution, he said a constituency seat can only be declared vacant under the following circumstances: if an MP resigned from or changed his or her party and joined a party he or she wasnt a member of. Olo also used the opportunity to alert Samoas political leaders to Article 13 of the Constitution, affirming citizens rights in relation to freedom of speech, assembly, association, movement and residence. While Article 15 affirmed freedom from discriminatory legislation. All persons are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection under the law, Olo added, and reiterated that the HRPP should be reminded that it is the people who voted for them to become their voice in Parliament. This is dictatorship on the Prime Ministers part. The MP voted against the bill in accordance with the wish of his constituency the people who voted Laauli into office and yet he was ousted. Now you tell me, what is that? Did the HRPP vote the MP into office? No! Olo said the challenge that Laauli currently faces with Tuilaepa and the HRPP should be a wakeup call to all leaders. It took a while for me to raise the concern, as I was taken aback at the level of dictatorship we have seen. This should be a wakeup call to all the MPs and the potential candidates, he added. Prison escapee Aniseko Vaieli was captured in Tapatapao last Friday, thanks to quick action by Catholic Church catechist Kilino Ioane. The catechist was part of a group of workers who were working on a construction site of a new church, when the convicted criminal appeared. Speaking to the Samoa Observer, Mr. Ioane said they were working when Vaieli walked up. We were working on the construction of our church with several men from the church, when Aniseko came out of no where, he had a bag pack but it was not clear what the contents were, he said. The catechist, who is from Vaiusu, said he instructed the men to engage in conversation with the prison escapee while the police were immediately contacted. It wasnt long after the call to the police they arrived and a large amount of cash was recovered, he said. The Samoa Police Service released a statement last Friday night, confirming the capture of Aniseko and the recovering of $10,000 in cash. The Police havent been able to directly connect Aniseko and his partner in crime Pati Chong Nee to an assault and a robbery at the One-On-One supermarket in the early hours of last Thursday where $60,000 cash was also stolen. However, the Police said their preliminary investigation revealed two suspected Samoan boys invaded and robbed the shop. With limited information the initial indication did not link the incident to the two escaped prisoners. However, with a tip from the public, police were able to investigate further, culminating in the capture of one of the escaped prisoners, Aniseko Vailei. A total of SAT$10,000 has been recovered and police are now pursuing leads in locating the whereabouts of the other prisoner, Pati Chong Nee, the Police said in their statement. The Police also appealed to business owners to bank their earnings on a daily basis after a large amount of cash was stolen from this business. The brutal attack targeting the Chinese couple running the One-on-One supermarket, and the theft of $60,000 cash in the early hours of last Thursday has struck fear amongst the Chinese business community. And who wouldnt be fearful of such an attack if the CCTV footage which was uploaded to social media immediately following the attack is an indication of the brutality and viciousness employed by the thugs. Driven by fear of future attacks, other Chinese families swiftly responded to the news and have relocated to safer areas of Apia. Last year the operator of the Kavana Avealalo store at Falelauniu, Ming, was attacked by a Samoan male who then stole cash from the store and fled. Following the events of last Thursday, the family opted to relocate to their family residence in Faleata. Another Chinese businesswoman and manager at Savalalo Coin Save, Zhans Honge, condemned the attack and questioned the failure of the local authorities to find and prosecute the perpetrators of attacks in recent years targeting Chinese-owned businesses. Video footage of the attacks have at most times been uploaded to social media, giving the public a platform to express their views. A lot of Samoans condemned last Thursdays incident at Vailoa, describing it as cowardly and calling for more Police action. But there were one or two, who questioned the legitimacy of foreign-owned businesses in Samoa, and used the opportunity to highlight the need for more national ownership. The concerns raised are valid, especially in relation to increased national participation in commerce. But the context the use of violence targeting foreign-owned businesses as a former of protest at the lack of opportunities is wrong and shouldnt be promulgated. All matters relating to increased national participation in commerce should be raised with the Government and the relevant agency Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour (MCIL). If there are foreign-owned businesses, which locals suspect are in breach of their trading licenses, then again the allegations should be brought to the attention of the relevant Government ministry. If there are leaders in Government who are bypassing processes and procedures in a bid to promote a foreign investor then they should be referred to the relevant authorities. We must learn to have trust and confidence in our systems of governance, and their ability to ensure there is transparency and self-accountability of and in Government decisions. Even our leaders should subject their decisions and foreign investor-friendly policies to scrutiny, to avoid the fanning of public perception of collusion between leaders and foreign investors. Sadly, the Pacific Islands has in the last 15 years, been plagued protests and violence targeting foreign-owned businesses. Anti-Chinese protests that mainly targeted businesses in Tonga (2006), Solomon Islands (2006) and Port Moresby, PNG (2009) have left a permanent scar in the regions history. The absence of a national SME Policy to stimulate growth of nationally-owned SMEs and create an enabling environment for technology, capacity building and access to finance would have gone a long way in addressing the aspirations of citizens who wanted to get into commerce. This would have put them on an equal footing with their foreign counterparts (businesses), and ensure that fears of a foreign takeover of the business sector are put to bed. Or legislate in Parliament to force foreign-owned businesses to accept quotas on the number of local staff they can employ versus foreign employees. On that note we concur with the sentiments expressed by Mrs. Honge, wherein she said those who have opted for a life of crime should stop and find a job. Why dont they just go and look for jobs instead of stealing and attacking money especially that of the Chinese? Have we ever thought about the number of locals whose livelihoods depend on a foreign-owned business and what it would mean for them if the business was targeted in a criminal activity? They would most likely be laid off, if the company made losses due to criminal activities. Perpetrating violence and crime of various forms is not the answer to ultimately living a life full of blessings and prosperity. Let us have confidence in our institutions of Government and the frameworks of governance to address our concerns. We should not accept and condone violence of any form and kind to citizens and non-citizens, and must at all times have respect and human dignity. Have a lovely Monday and a wonderful working week Samoa. God bless. The humble breadfruit flower is the key ingredient in a new line of beauty products by 22-year-old Kenna Whitnell, here in Samoa to meet her suppliers for the first time. Ms Whitnell, founder and chief executive officer of Altilis Beauty discovered the antioxidant properties of the breadfruit flower while studying bio chemistry with Dr Susan Murch at the University of British Colombia, during her bachelors degree in 2017. By November that year, she had a full suite of skin care products, all founded in the extracts of the breadfruit flower. The flowers, when you extract them, have this beautiful smell, its like kind of like molasses and citrus, its really interesting, Ms Whitnell said. And thats why I focused on the flowers. But when I tested for bioactivities and potential skin care benefits, I was just blown away. Thanks to Dr Murchs 15 years of work in Samoa, she was quickly put in touch with Natural Foods International and began sourcing a steady supply of flowers to her laboratory in Canada. Today, she has over 1000 regular customers benefiting from her research. The breadfruit is responsible for eliminating sunspots which is really good, especially for people with light skin as it can lead to cancer. So its good to stop those in their tracks, Ms Whitnell said. Natural Foods International gathers breadfruit flowers from a network of farmers on Upolu and Savaii. Ms Whitnell has been able to meet some of those farmers on her first trip to Samoa this week, and show them what she has been making out of their labour. The ladies that collect the flowers, theyre like oh, youre the crazy garbage lady, because they think its waste. They ask why are you paying me for garbage? Ive been showing them the products and a lot of the women at the factory have been using them on their skin and they love them. Its changing perspectives and the idea of what is garbage and what you can do with it. The most important thing for Ms Whitnell is to develop a product that wont affect food supply. Going forward, breadfruit will be an important source of nutrients and so she doesnt want to touch the fruit itself. Its important to support tree crops, she said. Unlike rice and wheat, breadfruit trees are a powerful tool against climate change and food insecurity, Ms Whitnell believes. UBC has small breadfruit trees growing in bins, which dont have root systems and dont fruit. So until her trip to Samoa, Ms Whitnell had never seen a tree in all its glory. Being here has inspired me so much. The people, the landscape, breadfruit trees are majestic and I had never seen one like that in person. I almost cried, just this is so beautiful, she said. Theyre so important to the culture here and to really see that in person has been very impactful and inspiring for me. Local financial services provider Federal Pacific Group has consolidated its operations in Savaii by getting its insurance, finance and money transfer services under one roof. It recently commissioned the Federal Pacific House in Salelologa with the ceremony witnessed by members of the Savaii business community, family and friends. Also present were representatives of the Group from around the Asia Pacific Region who were in Samoa last week for the regional managers meeting. Reverend Elder Ioane Viliamu of the Fogapoa and Tuasivi EFKS blessed the building and also spoke of the importance of seeking God in such endeavours. Representing the Government was the Minister for Commerce Industry and Labour (MCIL), Lautafi Selafi Purcell as well as Associate Ministers, Tofa Lio Foleni and Leanatai Victor Tamapua. Speaking at the occasion, Lautafi said the dedication of the new building in Salelologa is in line with the Governments commitment to the policy of what is good in Apia will also be good in Savaii. The Government welcomes and encourages this type of development here in Savaii, as part of the drive to help create jobs, and thus keep our young people here rather than leaving home and going all the way to Apia for work, he said. The Minister encouraged guests to support Savaii-based businesses as their growth would contribute to the development of the islands economy. He also acknowledged the continued expansion of the company in the region including Samoa. I note that this building is the fourth for Federal Pacific Group in the region, one in Apia, one in Nukualofa (Tonga), one in Avarua in the Cook Islands and now in Salelologa, he said. Commending the Group for having the vision and courage to expand its business outside of Samoa, Lautafi said it shows that the company has the ability and capacity to do so, just like the overseas business expanding their operations into our country. The aim being to help customers the creation of a one-stop shop for its services. This should simplify and save time for our people here in Savaii, he added. Federal Pacific Insurance general manager, Namulauulu Papalii Sami Leota, said in going ahead with the project, the Group had identified a need to bring all its interests together insurance, finance and money transfers. Namulauulu particularly acknowledged its partnership with the Government of Samoa. Especially with granting us this piece of land to further develop our business. They have been supporting our course from the outset both here in Samoa and also overseas. Centralising all our services into one location is key in our dedication to improving the efficiency of our services for the people of Savaii, he said. The new building in Salelologa was constructed by Evaeva Construction in over five months with a total costs of land fill, building and its office contents close to $1 million tala. Namulauulu acknowledged their Group chairman and directors as well as the team effort in completing the new building and and made special mention of the general manager (Federal Pacific Finance), Afamasaga Opeta Siilata who project managed the build. The general manager for Fexco and Western Union Money Transfer, Mulitalo Pio Molioo, received the keys from the Evaeva Constructions manager Vaaelua Sene Samau. The official cutting of the ribbon was performed by the Group director, Faamausili Momoe Malietoa Hutchison. Federal Pacific Group has operated in Samoa and the Asia/ Pacific region for over 20 years, offering a range of financial services from insurance, finance and auto finance to money transfers and foreign exchange services through Fexco. The Samoa Water Authority has remained silent on the status of $2.60 million water bills that they proposed to be written off. In May last year the Parliamentary Infrastructure Sector Committee rejected the proposal to write off the debts. The debtors include Government Ministries, senior government officials, schools, churches and businesses. Their outstanding bills were highlighted in records provided by the Samoa Water Authority C.E.O, Seugamaalii Jammie Saena, which was part of correspondence dated 22 May 2018. Seugamaalii has not responded to emails sent to her as of May, 2018 and recent emails. According to the list, water bills incurred by private and public schools amount to $16,736.81, churches $27,380.09, Government ministries and corporations $39,159.63, businesses and organisations $68,113.75 and individuals $2.45 million. To date several families have contacted the Sunday Samoan to complain at how aggressive the SWA collection team get when they are out in the villages disconnecting their water. While the list of Government officials, ministries, churches and schools that are indebted to SWA are yet to be held to account. The Associate Minister of Works Transport and Infrastructure, Seiuli Ueligitone Seuli, has refuted reports that work at the proposed Tiavea airport is on halt. Speaking to the Sunday Samoan, the Associate Minister said he visited the construction site last Wednesday and work is ongoing at the project site. He said if there is to be any delay to the project it will be the bad weather. I was there for inspection and they were continuing with earth work. I assume if there is any delay, it could be caused by the rain and bad weather, but other than that the villagers are not disrupting works there and have already agreed on payment for the use of the land, Seiuli said. According to the Associate Minister, the agreed price is $30 tala per square meter for the land to build the proposed airport, as opposed to $60 per square meter that the villagers were pushing for. The payment has not been made yet. It is being processed and the cheques for each family will be ready soon, he added. Seiuli said there are about 10 families who will receive payment for the use of the land while adding that the land is covered with coconut plantation and grass. Aldan Civil Engineering Company Ltd is the contractor for the Tiavea airport project. The company was awarded the $3.57 million tala contract for its earthmoving work and clearing of the land. The work started late last year. Departing Chinese Ambassador to Samoa, Wang Xuefeng, has praised the Samoa Observer newspaper for building people-to-people relationships. Speaking as a supporter of literary excellence, which is promoted through the Samoa Observer Tusitala Short Story Competition, he said the partnership was important in promoting and exchanging information and building the relationship between Samoa and China. Mr. Xuefeng, who was accompanied by his wife Madam Tong Xin, was speaking at a dinner hosted in his honor on Friday evening at the Vailima residence of Gatoaitele Savea Sano Malifa and Muliaga Jean Malifa. In the margin for promoting the people to people exchange between China and Samoa, Samoa Observer was never absent and we will never be absent from you." Well be with you together forever to improve the understanding and the exchange between our two people, the exchange between our love and trust, he said. Mr. Xuefeng acknowledged the role of the Samoa Observer Editor-in Chief, Gatoaitele who founded the Pacific-wide short story writing competition in 2015 and has seen it grow from strength to strength. The Chinese Embassy, under the tenure of Mr. Xuefeng, did a Chinese translation of Our Heritage, The Ocean which is a compilation of top stories from the 2015 Samoa Observer Tusitala Short Story Competition. The Chinese edition of the book was launched in July 2017. Gatoaitele thanked the Chinese Ambassador for supporting the Samoa Observer Tusitala Short Story Competition and made special mention of the Chinese edition, which was a first in the history of the short story competition. As a Samoan resident for the last three-and-a-half years, Mr. Xuefeng and his wife said they will miss the country and the many friends that they are leaving behind. We leave our hearts in Samoa. Its very difficult for us to say goodbye to all our friends in Samoa. We know we will leave at this moment, but we never mention to our good friends because we know they will be sad. Were sad because we want to stay together for a longer time because we share the very deepest friendship, he added. The Chinese diplomat leaves Samoa this coming week. The Land Transport Authority has instructed the contractor fixing the Malie access road to remove material that it says is non-compliant with their guidelines. This was confirmed by, LTA Chief Executive Officer, Galumalemana Ta'atialeoitiiti Tutuvanu-Schwalger in response to questions from the Sunday Samoan. Ironically, the LTA had signed off on the material to fix that stretch of road last month. The instructions to remove the material will now put back the project completion date for that particular road. The Samoa Works and Engineering Limited (SWEL) won the $500,000 contract to fix up the road. When the CEO was asked if action will be taken against the manager responsible for endorsing the non-compliant material, she refused to comment. We go through a performance assessment for all the staff including myself, and thats all I can say, said. Galumalemana said work on the Malie access road is in progress, and the contract was awarded in line with the procurement guidelines of the Government. The LTA as the implementing agency is responsible for the management, and supervision of the contract including monitoring the compliance of the contractor to the set standards and conditions within the signed contract." LTA has robust quality assurance processes and standards in place where samples are submitted to our laboratory during road construction to ensure a deliverable quality product at the end of the contract. Regular monitoring by our survey team is also undertaken during the works to check the levels of road construction and the thickness of laid material, she said. For the Malie access road construction, Galumalemana said the contractor had supplied and laid material which was tested by the LTA laboratory team and found to be non-compliant. Thus the LTA had instructed the contractor to remove the unacceptable material and to supply material that is acceptable and which is in compliance with the set standards. She said in the long term, LTA is in the process of upgrading and enhancing the capacity of our laboratory and survey team to ensure that our lab and survey team have the required knowledge and resources to undertake quality assurance for our roads. The CEO also welcomes reactions from the public in any work overseen by the LTA. Feedback from the public and concerned parties in any work undertaken by LTA are welcomed." All feedback becomes part of our continuous improvement processes, whether good or bad; these are used to strengthen our processes and ensure a quality, deliverable product to our customers, the people of Samoa, explained the CEO. Repeated efforts to attain comments from the owners of SWEL Co Ltd have been unsuccessful. Your Excellency, Ambassador Wang Xuefeng, First Secretary, Madam Tong Xin, Distinguished guests, Members of the Media, Friends Greetings to you all. Let me begin by saying this is a very special day for us all here at the Samoa Observer. It is special, since today, we are celebrating history being made, right here at the Samoa Observer, premises. And this historical event I am talking about here, as you are now all aware, is the launching of the Chinese language version of the book of short stories, titled Our Heritage, the Ocean. Published originally in the English language, the book is made up of stories written by Pacific Islands authors, as well as other submitted by New Zealand, and Australian writers. And now that the stories that make up Our Heritage, the Ocean, have been translated into the Chinese Language, with financial assistance from His Excellency, Ambassador Wang Xuefang, and First Secretary, Madam Tong Xin, it is with humility that I say: Thank you very much. Indeed, I am of the view that the decision to have the book translated into the Chinese language, with the idea of making it available to the Chinese readership both in China and elsewhere, is decidedly an honourable one to always remember and cherish. Soifua Gatoaitele Savea Sano Malifa Editor in Chief, Samoa Observer, Apia. Planning Minister meets UNICEF Resident Representative in Sanaa [24/February/2019] SANAA, Feb. 24 (Saba) Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Abdulaziz al-Komim on Sunday met with the newly-appointed Resident Representative of UNICEF in Yemen Sara Beysolow Nyanti. In the meeting, the minister confirmed that the National Salvation Government is keen on providing all aspects of support to facilitate UNICEF Representative's tasks. Al-Komim praised the effective role of the previous representative of UNICEF in enhancing the cooperation frameworks between Yemen and the organization. For her part, Nyanti asserted that the organization is keen to continue to provide support for Yemen, referring to the growing development in the cooperation aspects between the two sides. BA Trump wants us to pay for his lie "It is essential as a scientist that you evolve your opinion and your recommendations based on the data as it evolves. ... And that's the reason why I say people who then criticize me about that are actually criticizing science. That's the way science works. You work with the data you have at the time." Dr. Anthony Fauci Former President John Dramani Mahama has been confirmed winner of the just ended primaries of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). Confirmed results from Ghana's Electoral Commission stated that John he polled 213,487 votes representing 95.23%. He was followed by Prof. Joshua Alabi who managed only 3,404 votes representing 1.52% while Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin placed third with 2,301 (1.033%). Goosie Tanoh, the founder of the breakaway Reformed Party, came fourth with 2091 votes respectively representing 0.93%. The former Trades and Industry Minister in the Mahama government, Ekwow Spio Garbrah received 1447 votes which represent 0.65% of the total votes. Mr. Sylvester Mensah and Nurudeen Iddrisu secured a paltry 934 of valid votes cast representing 0.42% and 520 votes representing 0.23% respectively. Below are some of the pictures from the party's headquarters located at Adabraka, a suburb of Accra. John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner John Mahama Declared Winner 0 Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Pix: Akiboat Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The die has been cast; the delegates have decided, John Dramani Mahama will lead the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) into the 2020 elections to attempt snatching the seat away from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). 262, 942 delegates had to decide between seven candidates, namely: Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumani K. Bagbin, businessman Alhaji Nurideen Iddrisu, former President John Dramani Mahama, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr Sylvester Adinam Mensah (Sly); former Trade Minister, Ekwow Mr Spio-Garbrah; Mr Augustus Goosie Tanoh and former Vice-Chancellor of University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Prof. Joshua Alabi At the end of the day, John Dramani Mahama grabbed 213,487 votes representing 95.24% out of the total valid vote cast of 225,521. He was followed by Prof. Joshua Alabi who managed only 3,404 votes representing 1.52% while Alban Sumani Kingsford Bagbin placed third with 2,301 representing 1.033%. Goosie Tanoh, the founder of the defunct National Reformed Party, came fourth with 2,091 votes respectively representing 0.93%. The former Trade and Industry Minister in the Mahama government, Ekwow Spio Garbrah received 1,447 votes which represent 0.65% of the total votes. Mr. Sylvester Mensah and Nurudeen Iddrisu secured a paltry 934 of valid votes cast representing 0.42% and 520 votes representing 0.23% respectively. Meanwhile, all the candidates have conceded defeat and have congratulated the former President in his victory. In an acceptance speech, the former President confirmed receiving congratulatory messages from the six other aspirants. According to him, "its been a fulfilling journey and our patience has bore fruitswe will work together and eschew all attempt to divide us". Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Audio Attachment: Listen to President Akufo-Addo The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, was singled out for special commendation by the President, His Excellency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, during the State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Thursday. The President is elated by the sterling performance of the Agric Minister, following his successful implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs program. The President's recognition of the Agric Minister's performance follows similar ones received a couple of weeks ago by the Africa Seeds, the implementing agency for the African Union Seed Programme which honoured him with the title "Champion of African Seeds" and the Association of Regional Chairmen Aides who also adjudged him as the Best Performing Minister for 2018. The Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana (CIAG) also voted the PFJ as the Most Outstanding Flagship Program in 2018. However, during his presentation of the 2019 State of the Nation's Address, the President unequivocally cited Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, for mentioning, commending him for his impressive performance which has turned around the fortunes of Ghana's agricultural sector. Ghana's agricultural sector has seen a dramatic turnaround in the last two years, resulting in the country becoming a net exporter of some major food crops to neighbouring countries. For the first time in the history of the country's agriculture, Ghana in the year 2018, did not import maize as a result of the bumper harvest recorded under the program. Ghana currently exports food items such as plantain, maize, cowpea and banana to Togo, Benin and Ivory Coast. Before 2017, Ghana was importing these same food crops neighbouring countries. The sector has also witnessed a positive growth of about 8.5% of GDP, and the figure is projected to reach double digit by the end of 2020. Many Ghanaians have attested to the achievements of the Planting for Food and Jobs, including prominent personalities and traditional rulers. In the 2018 crop season, the Ministry exceeded farmers' target of 500,000, recording nearly 700,000 beneficiaries. The program is expected to benefit over one million farmers in the 2019 crop season. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/ Twitter: @Washman5/ Instagram: Washman007 Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - The Confederation of Benin Workers (CSTB) has called on its members to take part in a protest march scheduled for Monday and organised by the opposition Glasgow Film Festival Review: Transit is a Risky but Skillful Depiction of Life Under the Rise of Fascism By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | February 24, 2019 | Anna Segherss 1942 novel Transit is considered one of the great hidden gems of wartime literature, a thrilling but agonizing study of a German concentration camp survivors attempt to flee Nazi occupied France as the horrors of fascism close in around him. Her story of the crisis of the refugees, unable to leave but forbidden to stay, resonated acutely with contemporary struggles, and its depressingly easy to see why any director would want to adapt it in our current time. For German director Christian Petzold, the immediacy of the material called for a modern-day update. So his version of Transit has been moved to the present day, with the port of Marseille a suntrap of purgatory and the Nazis now the same mundanely dressed border agents seen every night on the news. Its a risky gambit for any filmmaker, and one that may leave some viewers cold. The parallels arent immediately obvious and much is left to subtext, but Transit remains one of the most striking films of the past decade or so that captures the ceaseless agony of a life in hiding while the world watches in apathy. Georg, a radio and TV repairman, has been forced to flee Paris to escape Nazi imprisonment, only to find the city under siege as the occupation has settled in full force. His only option is to head to Marseille, one of the only ports left where people can flee to safer pastures, but that journey still requires the appropriate paperwork. Georg soon finds himself in possession of a dead mans Visa, but the agony has only just begun. As the occupation becomes fully inescapable, Georg finds glimpses of hope and solace with fellow refugees who live in the margins of the postcard-friendly port town. Theres the maid of two Americans who have already flown the coop and left their staff with the dogs; the deaf-mute mother of a young asthmatic boy with whom Georg forms a familial bond; the harried doctor who struggles with whether to flee alone or stay with his lover; and said lover (Paula Beer), the wife of the man whose identity Georg has unwittingly stolen. They share hushed conversations in French and German, offer tidbits of their stories, and spend hours in bureaucratic hell seeking those golden tickets out of port. One thing Transit captures with agonizing precision is how quickly the endless fear for ones life becomes almost mundane. For Georg, he spends most of his days in Marseille waiting, walking, talking, almost like the many tourists in the area but always on the verge of bolting once the ever-present police vans come round the corner. Against the backdrop of the sun-scorched Marseille, full of cute Italian restaurants and ice-cream parlours, Georg can blend in to some degree but he, like so many others, will never fit in, not in this new age. Petzold smartly keeps the story free of modern political references as well as those of the original novel. The term fascists is used, but never Nazis, and nobody talks about Making Europe Great Again. The struggle of Georg and his fellow refugees speaks for itself in terms of our current climate and mistakes of the past. This Marseille, deliberately, could be anywhere. Grounding this deliberately oblique tale is the staggering performance of Franz Rogowski, a man blessed with the most striking face that seems tailor-made for micro-emotions and cinematic pain. He plays Georg as a defeated man who has known only loss but keeps fighting, even if hes not sure why he does so. The bureaucratic circles and threats of raids are so frequent that he has been left hollow by it all. Expect him to become a megastar in Europe then be used in Hollywood movies mostly as a stock bad guy against one of the heroic Chrises. Paula Beer, who plays Marie, the wife of the later writer, gets to be more expressive, more evidently in pain from her experience in humanitys limbo. For a film that is so existential, the terror of fascism is a palpably real presence throughout Transit. There are no posters announcing its arrival throughout France, nor are there men in flashy uniforms rounding up the masses. Instead, there is normal life and the bursts of state violence that have become part of the daily routine. The story veers towards allegorical at times, at the expense of Georg and his fellow refugees, but circles back to their exhausting experiences. Theyre in hell and escape is either pointless or impossible, possibly both. This juggling act of a movie, both strict in its form and morbidly surreal in its ethereal connection to reality, has no interest in holding its audiences hand or guiding them through this descent. That may prove unsatisfying to some, especially when the few glimmers of personal insight into these characters comes from a narrator who likes to talk over his subjects. The parallels are obvious but the lack of in-film context may disappoint some. Dont come to this film expecting any character to explain whats going on. None of them have any time for that. Marie and Georgs relationship proves to be one of the more frustrating elements of the film. It is in this dynamic where the characters feel more like ciphers than people, with Georgs growing love for Marie symbolizing how futile their predicaments have become. Rather than their relationship seeming like a moment of hope in a sea of madness, the decisions both of them make feel contrived, especially in the context of this hell. Many critics have made the anti-Casablanca references in regards to this relationship and theyre not wrong, but for a film so acutely aware of how war and its power robs people of their dignity, the deliberate and bleakly funny subversion of Bogie and Ingrids connection falls flat. For some, the set-up to Transit may be a gimmick too far, but the films cycle of pain and inescapable struggle remains one of the most jolting depictions of identity and having it ripped from you by almighty forces. Petzolds film is a refined piece of work that doesnt want to make things too easy for the viewer but has plenty to say beneath its opacity. Its a gamble but what a payoff. Review: 'How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World' Packs an Emotional Punch | Review: 'Tell It To The Bees' is a Romance With a Big Heart but Muddled Intentions Kayleigh is a features writer for Pajiba. You can follow her on Twitter or listen to her podcast, The Hollywood Read. Header Image Source: YouTube // Neon Productions Do you appreciate the work we do as the only independent media outlet dedicated to serving OU students, faculty, staff and alumni on campus and around the world for more than 100 years? Then consider helping fund our endeavors. Around the world, communities are grappling with what journalism is worth and how to fund the civic good that robust news organizations can generate. We believe The OU Daily and Crimson Quarterly magazine provide real value to this community both now by covering OU, and tomorrow by helping launch the careers of media professionals. If youre able, please SUPPORT US TODAY FOR AS LITTLE AS $1. You can make a one-time donation or a recurring pledge. Oswego, NY (13126) Today Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 73F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Steps to becoming a school bus driver for M.L. Bradley The first step to become a school bus driver for ML Bradley Ltd. is to fill out an application. Once you fill it out attach it to your resume and either drop it off at our office on Frank Kenny Rd., or mail it to ML Bradley Ltd., P.O. Box 70, Navan, Ontario K4B 1J3. Once your application is received, it will be assessed and a background check will be done, including criminal record and drivers' abstract searches. Successful applicants must then pass a Ministry written test before training begins. The test is made up of 60 multiple choice questions. All new hires are given three handbooks to study from. The Ministry also requires the results of a current medical exam. This is the only cost incurred by trainees. A TB test is also required by the school boards. When the written test is completed, the classroom and on road training begins. The training period usually takes three to four weeks of mornings or afternoons. The training involves learning the pre-trip inspection, learning to drive a large vehicle and all of the school bus procedures. There is also a one day school bus driver improvement course. Once the trainee is ready, he or she must pass the driver test conducted at ML Bradley. We are a recognized signing authority by the MTO. Upon successful completion of the driver's test, all candidates must go to the Ministry office on Walkley Road to take a vision test and receive their temporary Class B driver's license. The final step involves driving a bus with children on board under the supervision of the trainer or a senior driver. When all of this is completed to the satisfaction of the company, the trainee is ready to drive a school bus on their own. For more information on ML Bradley Ltd. click here. Return to top Return to Business Directory The child and the other driver were uninjured in the crash but the pregnant woman was taken to Osceola Regional Medical Center, where it was determined her unborn child had died, the sheriffs office said. After the crash, Cervin-Gomez fled the scene on foot. Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America, by Gilbert King. If you saw the recent news coverage about the pardon of the Groveland Four, this is the book to read to know more about their compelling true story. It begins in 1949 in Lake County, then ruled by Sheriff Willis V. McCall. When a white 17-year-old Groveland girl cried rape, McCall was fast on the trail of four young blacks who dared to envision a future for themselves beyond the citrus groves. (Suggested by Richard Harrison, Research & Information Services) I believe that we're going to enter into an extraordinary time in American politics, Bannon tells CBS News in an interview to air on Face the Nation. We've allowed the Democrats, because they take control of the House, to weaponize a whole bunch of investigations. They're going to be able to weaponize the Mueller report 2019's going to be quite vitriolic. I happen to think now, the president is going to run again in 2020, and I think hell win. I think hell win bigger than he won in 2016. As the play opens, they also are gossiping: Longtime employee Gloria had a housewarming party, and almost no one showed up. Well, Dean (Zack Roundy) went and is now nursing a hangover. The other minutiae of office life carries on: A chipper intern (Patrick A. Jackson) is wrapping up his stint, editor Nan (Sarah Mathews) is sick, the tightly wound fact checker down the hall (John Hamilton Rice) wants everyone to keep the noise down. And most egregiously, the company is getting rid of the free coffee in the break room. Hotel Business News and Analytics Important! This article is written by orangesmile.com editors and is protected by copyright law. The article can only be re-used with a direct link to www.orangesmile.com NEWS BLOCKS: Europe is Still the #1 Tourist Destination The rising popularity of different regions in the world still cannot compete with Europe. Once again it proved to be the most visited region in the world. In 2018, Europe only strengthened its leading position, attracting 6% more tourists than a year ago. Even such difficulties as trade tensions, the slowdown in both Eurozone and China, and Brexit couldnt slow down the growth. The following information is published in European Tourism -Trends & Prospects 2018 report prepared by the European Travel Commission. An interesting fact almost all destinations in Europe perform well. Actually, 32 out of 33 reporting destinations managed to increase the number of tourists compared to 2017. Some countries show particularly strong results. For example, Turkey enjoyed an increase in tourist arrivals of 22%. Weak Lira is one of the reasons for such success. Serbia is the second fastest growing destination in Europe. This country offers visa-free access to holders of Chinese passports, so it particularly benefits from the growing number of Chinese guests. The country reported 15% arrivals in the first 11 months of 2018 compared to the same period of 2017. Malta revealed only January to August 2018 data, and it also shows a growth of 15%. Without a doubt, Maltas efforts to rebrand itself as a year-round resort are successful. Among other top performers in Europe, it is important to mention Montenegro (+14%) that continues the development of its tourism infrastructure. Latvia (+10%) is the only Central/Eastern European country with double-digit growth. The US and China were strong source markets for Europe in 2018. As we can see, travelers from these countries do not just book a hotel in Paris or London but want to see less discovered places as well. Strong dollar made it more beneficial for tourists from the US to travel to Europe. More Chinese visitors could visit Europe in 2018 thanks to improved air connectivity and faster visa obtaining. Last year, Europe was the destination of more than half (51%) of all tourist arrivals in the world. Taking into consideration potential risks and problems, experts predict the growth in international arrivals of approximately 3% in 2019. The continuous uncertainty regarding Brexit will definitely have a negative impact on the tourism sector of the region. Increased passport regulation and economic drivers might result in 8 million fewer trips to Europe from the UK. 24.02.2019Stay in touch with the latest news of a worldwide hotel industry. All up-to-date analytics, reports , and news about hotel business trends on OrangeSmile.com. What's Included With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 716-372-3121 or email nfinnerty@oleantimesherald.com. Yes. I would be the first in line. No. I don't trust that a vaccine will be safe. I plan to, but I want to wait to see effects of first doses. Not sure. Vote View Results Let's be very clear: Not only is congestion pricing good for the environment and New Yorkers who use public transit, its impact on the region's car commuters is nowhere near as significant as some critics would like to claim. According to U.S. Census data, far fewer New Yorkers commute into Manhattan by car than rely on public transportation. In fact, 25% of the commuters who would pay a congestion pricing fee are from out of state. Meanwhile, a tiny percentage of residents in the surrounding boroughs and counties actually drive to work in Manhattan. In Suffolk County, it's 0.8% of residents. In Nassau, it's 1.8%. In Westchester, 2.2%; Staten Island, 2.3%; Bronx, 1.9%; Queens, 2.2%; and Brooklyn, 1.3%. To be clear, this is not an anti-business stance. This is not even ideological in the grand sense of the word. The people who worked against Amazon hold a range of views about how economies should be run and who should benefit. Where we came to a unanimous agreement is that this cannot be a one-sided proposition. iStock/JANIFEST(SIMI VALLEY, Calif.) -- A wrongfully convicted man has agreed to a $21 million settlement with a California city after he spent 39 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Craig Coley was convicted of murdering Rhonda Wicht and her 4-year-old son, Donald, in 1978 and spent the better part of four decades in jail. He was released in November 2017 after receiving a pardon from then-Gov. Jerry Brown. He was 70 years old at the time of his release. Now he's collecting a massive payout from the city that convicted him of the crime he did not commit. Simi Valley, California, released a statement Saturday afternoon saying it had come to an agreement with Coley to pay him $21 million. "The tireless advocacy by those who believed he was innocent, and the Simi Valley Police Departments initiative to reopen the case, led to the discovery of DNA evidence, which ultimately led to the determination that Mr. Coley was factually innocent and he was later pardoned by Governor Brown," the town said in a release. Cole always maintained his innocence in the double murder. "While no amount of money can make up for what happened to Mr. Coley, settling this case is the right thing to do for Mr. Coley and our community," Simi Valley City Manager Eric Levitt said. "The monetary cost of going to trial would be astronomical and it would be irresponsible for us to move forward in that direction." The $21 million payout is the second million-dollar settlement given to Coley since his release. Brown agreed to pay the wrongfully convicted man almost $2 million from the state's Victims Compensation Government Claim Board -- the largest payout since the board was established in 1965. The board called him "unequivocally innocent" of the crime. The city will pay about $4.9 million of the $21 million settlement, with the rest coming from other sources, including insurance, the city said. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. A new paper in the American Journal of Public Health finds that trans fatty acid levels in the blood of a sampling of 3,000 New York City residents dropped 57% citywide between 2004 and 2014. Diners who ate out four times a week or more (who does that?) saw their levels drop by 62%. Large declines over a similar period were also felt across the country, but nothing like what New York Citys diners saw. By effectively blessing Otzma Yehudi, the move legitimizes and empowers a fringe group of Jews who stand for the violent ethnic cleansing of all Palestinians from the land of Israel as well as the two territories, Gaza and the West Bank, that must be Palestinians' eventual home. Otzma Yehudi carries the flag of Rabbi Meir Kahane's Kach Party, which has been banned from the Knesset since 1994, when one of its supporters, Baruch Goldstein, shot and killed 29 Muslim worshippers at a West Bank mosque. One of the new party's leaders still attends an annual tribute at Goldstein's grave. Another calls Kahane his teacher and rabbi. Huawei set the price of the Mate X at about $2,600 with 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. It will be released this summer. If (William Barr) were to try to withhold, to try to bury any part of this report, that will be his legacy, and it will be a tarnished legacy, Schiff said. Therell be immense pressure not only on the department, but on the attorney general to be forthcoming. Im in full support of that and weve talked about taking this across the state so we can get a full picture of whats going on, the Bronx Democrat said. I think we owe it to the state to do that. We have got to get it right, and to get it right we need to hear from as many voices as possible. Weve known Melissa Mark-Viverito for over two decades. She used to come around to some of our meetings back in the 1990s when she was a student, they wrote. While we would love to see a Latina woman become New York Citys Public Advocate, we feel we must make it clear: Electing Melissa would be a big mistake for our city. Critics of voter ID laws say that they impede younger and less affluent voters who might not be able to obtain an ID because of transportation or free-time concerns. Those in favor of voter ID claim to only want to prevent voter fraud, but Republican lawmakers have admitted in the past to wanting to suppress voter turnout. Were just confirming remains, said Hawthorne during a press conference. What I will tell you is I dont believe that there is any way that anybody could have survived. Were still trying to let the NTSB identify how many pilots and passengers were actually in the airplane. This was a day of miracles, Judd said during a press conference. Well, James Wagner's family wouldn't think so because he died in the crash. But it was a day of miracles because Timothy Sheehy, the trainee pilot, actually walked out of the crash, if you can believe that. Walked out of the crash and was wandering around when Winter Haven firefighters arrived. During the late 1950s, Lowell had been hired to create an inconspicuous lighting system that could remain in place for several weeks. He conceived a swiveling ball-and-clamp system for mounting lights and reworked duct tape. He combined the adhesive with a silver fabric backing that could defy heat and stay in place for weeks without leaving a sticky residue once removed. The result was called gaffer tape, invented in 1959. Not even the TV networks have any idea how long the Academy Awards will run, but Strauss says the show will last three hours and 50 minutes and invites bettors to wager on whether the broadcast will be longer or shorter. Or as gamblers say three hours and 50 minutes is the over/under. While no amount of money can make up for what happened to Mr. Coley, settling this case is the right thing to do for Mr. Coley and our community," Simi Valley City Manager Eric Levitt said. "The monetary cost of going to trial would be astronomical and it would be irresponsible for us to move forward in that direction." Roths tragedy isnt an isolated case. Its just one in a slow-moving mass murder that will go on for years. The count of first responders and survivors being treated or monitored in the World Trade Center Health Program at the end of 2018 was 93,028. About 800 new people sign up every month. Of them, 2,199 have died. An unknown number of people outside of the program, like Robert Roth, have also perished. In the FBI alone, more than 30 people are ill, and 15 have died, including six agents who worked at the Pentagon site, four from Shanksville, Pa., and five who toiled in the rubble of the twin towers, said Tom O'Connor, president of the FBI Agents Association. But he recorded and mixed scores of tunes that rolled off the Hitsville USA assembly line from 1960 to '72, including "My Girl," the enduring No. 1 song for the Temptations from 1965. He also personally shaped the rowdy, improvised style of saxman Junior Walker & the All Stars. The Clay Health Club + Spa, which had locations near Union Square and in Greenwich, Conn. was seized last month by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance for tax evasion. The co-owners also ran two other gyms in Southbury and Ridgefield, Conn., under the name The Gym. "Gatekeepers decide what films they're making and what films they're not making and if we're not in the room we don't got a voice. If we're not in the room it can be a drought, a feast to famine," Lee said at a pre-Oscar gala event Thursday night. "We want this to be a continuation where we get our work out, we show it to the world and we demonstrate that black folks are not one monolithic group. We look different, think different, talk different, dress different." Thats what were fighting for, he said in a statement. We are committed to ensuring that no one is more than two stops away from an accessible station that has been our promise and we will keep it. Officers from the 77th Precinct along with members of the FDNY evacuated residents after their building was flooded with carbon monoxide leaking from a faulty boiler on Sunday. (Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily News) "I was really nervous because I'd never been to a job fair before," said Mayra Garcia, 32, who lives in a WIN shelter in Sheepshead Bay. "But it was a good experience. Everyone was respectful and it was good to see everybody participating." For example, she writes, criticizing Israel doesn't make you anti-Semitic. Many Israelis question their country's policies. But if you criticize Israel's human rights record, and not Saudi Arabia's? If you genuinely believe boycotts, divestment and sanctions are the best way to reform a brutal government but never urge applying those methods to China, then what is it, or who is it, you're really opposed to? Egyptian officials have foiled an attempt to smuggle mummy remains out of the country. Hamdi Hamam, head of the Central Administration of Archaeological Units at Egyptian ports, told Ahram Online that the remains were found hidden inside the luggage of a passenger who was traveling to Belgium from Cairo Airport. An x-ray scan detected unusual objects, leading to the discovery of the crime. An archaeological committee has examined the find and confirmed its authenticity. Iman Abdel-Raouf, director of the archaeological units, said that the remains belong to two mummies and consist of two feet, two legs, the lower part of a left hand, one arm and a part of the torso. They were confiscated and will be restored. Search Keywords: Short link: I would refrain from that classic, stylized look with long shadows and high contrast, and go into a more naturalistic black-and-white, he told American Cinematographer. I didnt want to try to hide digital in a cinematic look, but rather explore a digital look and embrace the present. Each media celluloid and digital has its own language and its pros and cons, but I wanted to explore the amazing dynamic range of the digital form. This is not in any way disrespectful to the academy, Lee told The Washington Post this month, but after Do the Right Thing, I just said, you know, whatever award it is, Im not going to let myself be in position where I feel I have to have my work validated. If I was a musician I would say the same thing about the Grammys or the Tonys or any of those organizations that give out awards. Rome, GA (30161) Today Cloudy with a few showers. High 87F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable. Egypts Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker on Sunday discussed with the chairman of ACWA Power Mohammad Abdullah Abunayyan means of boosting bilateral cooperation in the electricity field. During the meeting, which included the Saudi company's regional director Hassan Amin and a number of officials, Shaker lauded ongoing fruitful cooperation between the electricity ministry and ACWA Power. The two sides also reviewed solar power projects carried out by ACWA Power in the Benban solar power complex in Aswan. Egypt's electricity sector is paying great attention to electricity linkage projects with all neighbouring countries, notably Saudi Arabia, Shaker told Abunayyan. The ACWA Power chairman commended strategic plans for energy mix in Egypt, as they focus on maximising the use of renewable energy in addition to reducing dependence on natural gas, which in turn could contribute to achieving the required energy balance and securing the energy supply in the country. Short link: La Fayette, GA (30728) Today Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately announce results of ... The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately announce results of the presidential election and declare Atiku Abubakar, the winner. The party said Atiku who is its presidential candidate, is in clear lead both in spread and total number of votes cast. The party made the call in a statement by Kola Ologbondiyan, its spokesman, on Sunday afternoon, when collation is still ongoing at ward level in some states. According to the PDP, intelligence available to us is that INEC is delaying the announcement of results following directives by the Buhari Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC), which are bent on altering the figures from the polling centers and allocate fictitious figures for President Muhammadu Buhari, particularly in northern states. It alleged that results are no more being transmitted, claiming this is to enable the APC to inflate figures from six designated states. We call on international observers and election monitors to insist on a transparent process of transmission of results and the monitoring thereof, the party said. We already have reports of how APC governors in the northern states have been making desperate effort to tamper with the results of the elections in their respective states with the view to award conjured votes to President Buhari. It said Nigerians are monitoring the results as delivered at the polling centers and any attempt to alter any figure will be faced with vehement resistance. The party added: The INEC chairman should therefore extricate himself from the rejected APC and be on the side of the people, by immediately announcing the results as already delivered at the polling units and declare, the peoples candidate, Atiku Abubakar, the winner. Anything short of this is not acceptable to Nigerians, who had already expressed their wishes and aspiration at the polls. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has raised the alarm over alleged plans by Senator Godswill Akpabio to falsify the presidential resu... The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has raised the alarm over alleged plans by Senator Godswill Akpabio to falsify the presidential result in Akwa Ibom. PDP in a post on its verified Twitter page said Akpabio stormed Oruk Anam Local Government collation centre in order to falsify election results. The tweet read: Warsaw General, Senator Godswill Akpabio invades Oruk Anam Local Government collation centre with armed to teeth Army men. He plans to move the whole center to his house in Ukana. INEC EO already in his car. Sen. Godswill Akpabio and his CoS, Emmanuel Inyangetoh, are in Oruk Anam collation centre right now. The EO has just entered the vehicle with them. They are discussing monetary terms to enable the EO upturn the results in his favour. Lets save democracy. Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue state, and David Mark, former senate president, stormed office of the Independent National Electoral Co... Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue state, and David Mark, former senate president, stormed office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Makurdi, Benue capital, on Sunday to protest the alleged snatching of election results by unidentified soldiers. The duo headed straight into the office of Nentawe Yiltwada, resident electoral commissioners (REC), when they got into the head office of the commission in the state. The supporters of the top politicians waited within and outside the INEC premises while they discussed with the REC. More to follow A former governor of Abia State and senatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for Abia North, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu has been ... A former governor of Abia State and senatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for Abia North, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu has been declared winner of the Abia North senatorial election. Kalu won with 30,580 votes while the closest opposition candidate from the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa recorded 21,940 votes. According to the declared results of the five local governments in their respective headquarters, Isuikwuato recorded 8317 votes for the APC while the PDP got 4,609 votes. In Ohafia, APC recorded 5521 votes while PDP had 4861 votes. In Bende, Kalu had 10,701 votes against Ohuabunwas 4,875 votes . Also, APC recorded 1166 votes while the PDP had 843 votes in Arochukwu. A presiding officer at Polling Unit 3, ward 2, Brass Local Government in Bayelsa State on Saturday refused to paste the election result... A presiding officer at Polling Unit 3, ward 2, Brass Local Government in Bayelsa State on Saturday refused to paste the election result of the 2019 presidential and senatorial election as permitted by law. The officer, who is a corps member and ad-hoc staffer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) collated and announced both senatorial and presidential election at exactly 4:31 p.m. But he refused to paste the result sheet for the voters in the area. When an accredited election observer from the Centre for Democracy and Development requested to see a copy of the result sheet, the assistant presiding officer obliged him but the presiding officer insisted that INEC has directed them not to speak or show the result to anyone including the media. The observer said the presiding officer asked the police officer in charge of the unit to seize his phone and delete all the pictures in it. The police officer at the unit asked me to sit down, opened my pictures, asked me to open my WhatsApp, checked all my messages, the recipients and instructed me to delete the pictures and videos, he said. The reporter said the police officer and the presiding officer asked him to go to the RAC centre if he wants to see the results. The reporter said when he sighted the result sheet, it had not been signed. I was asked to come to the RAC and check the result as it will only be posted there. Even copies of the results were not given to the party agents present, he said. A total of 73 presidential candidates are participating in todays election. However, the contest is expected to be between incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC and ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the PDP. In 2015, Mr Buhari won the presidential election, defeating the then incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan, with over two million votes. Results of this election will determine if he will remain in power for the next four years or will be vacating his seat. The Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has lamented over the inability of Igbos to vote during Saturdays pr... The Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has lamented over the inability of Igbos to vote during Saturdays presidential and National Assembly election s. Kanu claimed that Igbos in Kano and Lagos state respectively were not allowed to vote on Saturday. Kanu said this on Saturday while addressing IPOB members at a town meeting in Woolwich, London The IPOB leader said: We have no knives, guns bombs the only thing we have is our unity and purpose, yet they try to stop us. Our people were not allowed to vote on Saturday presidential election in Nigeria, those Igbos in Kano and Lagos states were not allowed to vote You cannot do anything to us we are resolute and would not retreat or surrender no matter what. If you want to destroy us kill Me, any day we pick up arms to fight the zoo nobody will blame us The Zoo has started to collapse and there is nothing anyone can do to restore it, Kanu warned. Ireland cannot accept a post-Brexit border backstop that has a time limit or a unilateral exit clause, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Sunday. "We are happy to discuss with the United Kingdom assurances that they may need to give them further confidence that the backstop were it ever applied will not be permanent," Varadkar told reporters. "We are not playing chicken, we are not playing poker, we are just standing by our position which has been solid since day one," he said. "A backstop that includes a time limit isn't a backstop at all, nor would a unilateral exit clause work for us." Short link: Alhaji Mamman Tela, the father of Bashar, who died after voting for President Muhammadu Buhari, has narrated how his son died, hours af... Alhaji Mamman Tela, the father of Bashar, who died after voting for President Muhammadu Buhari, has narrated how his son died, hours after casting his vote during Saturdays Presidential and National Assembly elections. Bashar, who voted at the same polling unit with President Muhammadu Buhari, at Sarkin Yara Ward A, Kofar Baru polling unit (03) in Daura local government area of Katsina state, died around 6:30pm on Saturday. Tela told Daily Trust on Sunday that his son who had been sick since 2016 mounted pressure on him, that he should be taken to the polling unit to cast his vote yesterday. He has been sick for about three years. After completing his secondary school, he developed paralysis. He voted before he died. When the election was ongoing yesterday (Saturday), he mounted pressure that he should be taken to the polling unit to vote. I gave my consent, thus he was taken to the polling unit, he said. Tela, amidst sympathizers, said his sons health condition deteriorated around 3:00pm, after casting his vote. He was aided to the polling unit on wheelchair. After casting his vote, he returned home. His sickness relapsed and we rushed him to the hospital. There, we were told that he needed a blood transfusion It was while we were struggling for the blood transfusion, that he died. It is Allahs will. He has since been buried, he said. He said representatives of President Buhari were around during his sons burial on Saturday. My son voted for Buhari. When we buried him some representatives of the president followed us to the burial ground last night (Saturday), he said. Kola Ologbondiyan, spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says Buba Galadima, a former ally of President Muhammadu Buhari who... Kola Ologbondiyan, spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says Buba Galadima, a former ally of President Muhammadu Buhari who is now working for Atiku Abubakar, PDP presidential candidate, has been kidnapped. According to Ologbondiyan, armed security operatives whisked Galadima away on Sunday. The PDP spokesman, who tweeted this, did not say where and when the incident happened. Nigerians and the world over should know this Alhaji Buba Galadima has just been kidnapped by masked security operatives, his whereabouts is unknown. Buhari/APC are hell bent on destroying our hard earned democracy. We will never be cowed, the will of the people MUST prevail, he tweeted. Buhari/APC are hell bent on destroying our hard earned democracy. We will never be cowed, the will of the people MUST prevail. Nigerians and the world over should know this Alhaji Buba Galadima has just been kidnapped by masked security operatives, his whereabouts is unknown.Buhari/APC are hell bent on destroying our hard earned democracy.We will never be cowed, the will of the people MUST prevail. pic.twitter.com/N4Q8exKL2X February 24, 2019 Festus Keyamo, spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign, had demanded the immediate arrest of Galadima for attempting to release fake news on the victory of Atiku. President Muhammadu Buhari won 462 votes at the Idigba Ilorin polling unit 004 of the partys governorship candidate, Abdulrahman Abdulra... President Muhammadu Buhari won 462 votes at the Idigba Ilorin polling unit 004 of the partys governorship candidate, Abdulrahman Abdulrazak. Buharis votes more than double the figure scored by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party. He got 167 votes. All the APC candidates trounced their PDP counterparts at the unit. The APC won the senatorial poll with 473 votes to beat PDPs Senator Bukola Saraki who polled 211. The APC also defeated the PDP in the House of Representatives election, winning 484 votes as against PDPs 200. AbdulRazaq comes from the same Ilorin West local government of Kwara Central as Saraki. The APC candidate had earlier told reporters his party was headed for a landslide victory against the PDP, saying the people of the state were tired of poor governance and corruption which he said the PDP represents in Kwara. Saraki however won his own polling unit at Agbaji Quarters, Ajikobi Ward, Ilorin West LGA and also delivered for Atiku Abubakar. In the presidential election, Atiku Abubakar polled 219 votes while Muhammadu Buhari polled 68 votes. Saraki scored 269 votes in the senatorial election to defeat APC which polled 60 votes. PDP also recorded victory in the House of Reps election with 253 votes to APCs 53 votes. The All Progressives Congress, APC, has got higher votes with wider margin against the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at the poling uni... The All Progressives Congress, APC, has got higher votes with wider margin against the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at the poling unit of the Jigawa state Governor, Alhaji Muhammad Badaru Abubakar. Some of the poling units in Jigawa State including the Governors Babura Arewa 002C where APC got 208, PDP 19, SDP 4 for the presidential votes. The senatorial vote in Jigawa North-west, Babura Arewa 002 C is thus: SDP 47, PDP 20, APC 165, and in the House of Reps votes: PDP 16, APC 121, SDP 99. While for the presidential votes at Marakawa poling unit in Ringim local government which is the polling unit of the state PDP gubernatorial candidate, Malam Aminu Ibrahim Ringim, PDP got 376 to APCs 307. For the senatorial, PDP garnered 441 while APC had 242. And for the house of representatives PDP 432, APC 245. Also in Katutu B 002 Ringim ward in Ringim Local government area, results show that APC polled 426 while PDP got 167. For the senatorial result: APC 333, PDP 240, SDP 8 votes and House of Representatives: APC: 311, PDP: 233 and SDP: 72 votes. It was observed that the Presidential and National Assembly elections were conducted peacefully in all parts visited in the state, as there was no case of violence as at the time of filing this report. Final result for Kwara Central senatorial district APC (Ibrahim Oloriegbe): 123,808 PDP (Bukola Saraki): 68,994 While Oloriegbe polled a total of 123,808, Saraki who contested under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), trailed with 68,994 votes, leaving a margin of 54,814 votes.The results were announced at the collation center of the senatorial district in Ilorin, the state capital.Saraki lost all the four local government areas in the senatorial district.In Ilorin south, Oloriegbe had 26,331 while Saraki secured 13,013 votes. In Ilorin east, Oloriegbe polled 30,014 votes while Saraki got 14,654. In Asa, Oloriegbe polled 15,932 while Saraki got 11,252 votes. In Ilorin west, his local government, Oloriegbe, garnered 51,531 votes ahead of Saraki who had 30,075 votes.Like Saraki, Oloriegbe is a medical doctor. He was a member of the the state assembly between 1999 and 2003. In 2011, when Saraki first contested the senatorial election, he defeated Oloriegbe who ran on the platform of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).Saraki was a member of the APC until the crisis between the executive and legislature made him return to the PDP where he spent his two terms as governor of Kwara state.He was among the aggrieved PDP members who formed nPDP and teamed up with the APC to win the 2015 general election.He sought the presidential ticket of the PDP but lost to Atiku Abubakar who later appointed him the director-general of his campaign.It was a double loss for Saraki in this election as he also could not deliver Kwara for Atiku. The O toge movement led by Lai Mohammed, minister of information, played a key role in the loss of the senate president. Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has expressed confidence that he is coasting to victory i... Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has expressed confidence that he is coasting to victory in the election. The former vice-president also denied allegations by the ruling party that his camp recruited thugs to disrupt the election, wondering why the PDP would do so when we are winning. The presidential election which was marred by widespread violence is believed to be a close contest between Abubakar and President Muhammadu Buhari. While the results were coming in, the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign organisation alleged that the PDP was recruiting thugs to disrupt the process. But in a statement issued on his behalf by Phrank Shaibu, his aide, Atiku asked Buhari to instead call the wilder elements in his party to order. Atiku also thanked PDP supporters who conducted themselves so peacefully despite the significant provocations and threats of violence. General Buhari you have promised our people and the world that you would conduct free, fair and credible elections so please call off the wilder elements within your party and deliver on your promise, he said. I am familiar with how brazen and the complete lack of shame the APC can exhibit, but even I was shocked to witness just how low they went last night by accusing the PDP of recruiting armed thugs to do just that. Why would we want to do that when we are winning? He also thanked his supporters for voting for him en masse in the election, adding that with the PDPs cloud-based SVC system which is collating real-time results from the polling units, he could guarantee victory was at hand. He said: With strong shares of vote in SS, SE as well as an increased share in SW and NC we are very pleased with the progress the PDP has made. We look forward to sharing some exciting news in other parts of the country very soon, which will confound all the armchair pundits. The people of Nigeria can take solace that very soon the living Nightmare of the last four years will come to an end so that together we will get Nigeria working again. The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has called for immediate arrest of Buba Galadima, chieftain of the Pe... The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has called for immediate arrest of Buba Galadima, chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In a statement on Sunday, the APC campaign council accused Galadima of plotting to announce Atiku Abubakar, PDP presidential candidate, as the winner of the presidential election. The council claimed Galadima had recorded a short video to this effect, while acting on behalf of the PDP as its campaign spokesman. It also claimed the opposition party is plotting to mobilise hoodlums for nationwide protests. In preparation for this reckless move, some PDP social media agents are already flying some kites on-line as to the number of States allegedly won by PDP, read a statement issued by Festus Keyamo, spokesman of the campaign. In fact, Alhaji Buba Galadima, an official spokesperson for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has made a short video announcing PDP as the winner of the Presidential Election. As an official spokesperson, he is clearly acting on behalf of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and on his instruction. We, therefore call for the immediate arrest, interrogation and prosecution of Alhaji Buba Galadima in this regard. The world is watching and waiting on Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to say something on the video by Alhaji Buba Galadima. More to follow.. North Korea warned President Donald Trump on Sunday not to listen to U.S. critics who were disrupting efforts to improve ties, as its leader, Kim Jong Un, made his way across China by train to a second summit with Trump in Vietnam. The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, where they pledged to work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. But their vaguely worded agreement has produced few results and U.S. Democratic senators and U.S. security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions. The North's KCNA state news agency said such opposition was aimed at derailing the talks. "If the present U.S. administration reads others' faces, lending an ear to others, it may face the shattered dream of the improvement of the relations with the DPRK and world peace and miss the rare historic opportunity," the news agency said in a commentary, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The Trump administration has pressed the North to give up its nuclear weapons programme, which, combined with its missile capabilities, pose a threat to the United States, before it can expect any concessions. But in recent days Trump has signalled a possible softening, saying he would love to be able to remove sanctions if there is meaningful progress on denuclearisation. Trump also said he was in no rush and had no pressing schedule for North Korea's denuclearisation, hinting at a more gradual, reciprocal approach, long favoured by Pyongyang. The North also wants security guarantees and a formal end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a treaty. Trump said on Sunday that he and Kim expect to make further progress at this week's summit and again held out the promise that denuclearization would help North Korea develop its economy. "Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!" Trump said in a tweet. He also said Chinese President Xi Jinping has been supportive of Trump's meeting with Kim. "The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door." RED CARPET SEND-OFF In a letter to Trump last week, three Democratic chairmen of key committees in the House of Representatives accused the administration of withholding information on the negotiations with North Korea. "There are ample reasons to be sceptical that Chairman Kim is committed to a nuclear-free North Korea," the lawmakers wrote. U.S. intelligence officials recently testified to Congress that North Korea was unlikely to ever give up its entire nuclear arsenal. KCNA, referring to U.S. fears of the North's weapons, said if this week's talks ended without results, "the U.S. people will never be cleared of the security threats that threw them into panic". Few details of Kim's trip to Vietnam were announced until early on Sunday, when North Korean state media confirmed he had left Pyongyang by train, accompanied by senior officials as well as his influential sister, Kim Yo Jong. In rare, revealing coverage of Kim's travel, the North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper featured photographs of the leader getting a red-carpet send-off on Saturday afternoon and waving from a train door while holding a cigarette. He was joined by top officials also involved in the Singapore summit, including Kim Yong Chol, a former spy chief and Kim's top envoy in negotiations with the United States, as well as senior party aide Ri Su Yong, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and defence chief No Kwang Chol. Other senior officials, such as his de facto chief of staff, Kim Chang Son, and Kim Hyok Chol, negotiations counterpart to U.S. envoy Stephen Biegun, were already in Hanoi to prepare for the summit. Both sides are under pressure to forge more specific agreements than were reached in Singapore. The two leaders are likely to try to build on their personal connection to push things forward in Hanoi, even if only incrementally, analysts said. "They will not make an agreement which breaks up the current flow of diplomacy. (President Trump) has mentioned that they'll meet again; even if there is a low-level agreement, they will seek to keep things moving," said Shin Beom-chul, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. TRAIN SPOTTING Few details of summit arrangements have been released. Some lamp posts on Hanoi's tree-lined streets are decked with North Korean, U.S. and Vietnamese flags fluttering above a handshake design, and security has been stepped up at locations that could be the summit venue, or where the leaders might stay. It could take Kim at least 2-1/2 days to travel to Vietnam by train. Some carriages of a green train were spotted at Beijing's station on Sunday, but there was no confirmation that it was Kim's. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Kim's train had passed through a station in China's port city of Tianjin, southeast of Beijing, at around 1 p.m. local time (0500 GMT). China has given no details of his trip. Its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Short link: Thank you for trusting us for your local news coverage. You have reached the maximum number of free articles per month. Subscribe today for unlimited access to News-Press NOW. It's a fast and easy way to support local journalism. The Coming events listings are for meetings that occur Monday through the following Sunday. These are published as a public service. The deadline for submitting items is noon Wednesday. Items may be mailed to Coming Events, St. Joseph News-Press, Box 29, St. Joseph, MO 64502 or e-mailed to leanna.murphy@newspressnow.com. The News-Press reserves the right to edit items as space requires. In response to the directives of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, to develop urgent solutions to ease traffic flow across the Kingdom, the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning has completed the work to develop Avenue 41 between 4109 and 4103 in the Isa Towns Educational District, the ministry said in a press statement issued yesterday. The Minister of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, Essam Khalaf noted that the project being worked on is in line with the framework that aims at achieving Bahrains Economic Vision 2030. He added that the Kingdom aims to reach international standards when it comes to its infrastructure, and this can be achieved by expanding the Kingdoms road network. The minister pointed out that the development of the Kingdoms road networks enhances its investment environment and thus will contributes to the advancement of the Kingdoms economic progress. The improvement will ease the flow of traffic heading to or coming from the Educational District towards Sheikh Salman Highway. The project will provide a central island and sidewalks, a rainwater drainage network, lighting, improvement of road traffic signs necessary for road safety, as well as the development of ground channels use by the services to avoid future asphalt cracking. The number of vehicles using the current street reaches 10,000 per day in both directions, at a rate of 2,000 vehicles per hour during peak times. The improvement works will double the intake capacity of the street and increase the traffic flow by 70 percent. Russian military police could be deployed in a proposed safe zone along Syrias northern border with Turkey, Russian news agencies cited foreign minister Sergei Lavrov as saying to Chinese and Vietnamese media on Sunday. The suggestion is unlikely to appeal to Ankara, which is keen to set up the zone but has stressed it must be under Turkish control, with only its own forces deployed there. Our only expectation from our allies is that they provide logistical support, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his supporters in a speech in January. Russia has said that Turkey had no right to set up the zone without seeking and receiving consent from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Lavrov was cited as saying on Sunday that the format of the safe zone was in the process of being finalised by military leaders, and that any decision would take the interests of Damascus and Ankara into account as far as possible. We have experience in combining ceasefire agreements, safety measures and the creation of de-escalation zones with the roll-out of Russian military police, Lavrov was cited as saying. Such a possibility is being kept open for this buffer zone. Short link: The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer. Letters to the editor Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer. Fairbanks Firefighters quickly knocked down a fire at 540 10th Avenue Saturday morning, Feb. 23, 2019. The structure is a duplex, and residents have been displaced. Red Cross has been called to assist the residents. The Salty Dawg Saloon as it looked in the late 1950s. In its early days the Salty Dawg sported a pirate theme, hence the Jolly Roger flying outside the building. Sketch by Ray Bonnell. Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community. Submit here Egypts Agriculture Minister Ezz Eddin Abu Steit signed a cooperation protocol with a representative of the UNs agricultural body on Sunday, to modernize the countrys sustainable agricultural development strategy. The protocol, to be funded by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organizations (FAO) technical cooperation programme, includes developing a working plan to implement the 2030 strategy. The 2030 Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy needs to be reviewed in light of the recent economic and social developments, Abu Steit said, noting that his ministry pays great attention to digital agriculture and climate change. Upon the agreement, all staffers at the agricultural sector and research bodies will receive workshops and training courses on skills development and capacity-building, the agriculture minister added. In this regard, Abu Steit called for applying digital agriculture to all fields related to agriculture, in addition to promoting agricultural extension via modern technologies to provide farmers with information, data and knowledge. This move could contribute to increasing agricultural productivity and enhancing the quality of agricultural crops, in addition to educating farmers on negative impacts of climate change, he added. The minister hailed the important role played by the FAO in bringing about real agricultural development around the world, especially in Egypt. For his part, Hussein Gadin, the FAOs Egypt representative, said the signing of the protocol comes as part of the national programme inked between the UN agency and the agriculture ministry from 2018 to 2022. The programme focuses on boosting agricultural productivity, raising food security and strengthening the sustainable use of natural agricultural resources, he added. Short link: (Newser) Embattled Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax compared himself to Jim Crow-era lynching victims in a surprise speech Sunday, as he resists widespread calls to resign prompted by allegations of sexual assault, the AP reports. Fairfax strongly defended himself and lashed out at his critics from his rostrum in the state Senate as the 2019 legislative session was coming to a close. "I've heard much about anti-lynching on the floor of this very Senate, where people were not given any due process whatsoever, and we rue that," Fairfax said, referencing legislation the General Assembly passed expressing "profound regret" for lynchings in Virginia between 1877 and 1950. "And we talk about hundreds, at least 100 terror lynchings that have happened in the Commonwealth of Virginia under those very same auspices." story continues below "And yet we stand here in a rush to judgment with nothing but accusations and no facts and we decide that we are willing to do the same thing," Fairfax added. When he finished his five-minute impromptu speech, stunned senators sat in awkward silence. Fairfax, who is black, has been accused by two women of sexual assault. Both of the alleged victims are African American. Earlier this month, Vanessa Tyson publicly accused Fairfax of forcing her to perform oral sex in his hotel room during the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004. Her lawyer said last week that Tyson plans to meet with prosecutors in Massachusetts to detail her allegations. Meredith Watson has also publicly accused Fairfax of sexual assault. She issued a statement accusing him of raping her 19 years ago while they were students at Duke University. (One of his accusers also said she was raped by an ex-NBA player.) (Newser) The Boeing 767 cargo plane fell 11,750 feet in roughly 30 secondsand when it struck Trinity Bay in Texas, all three people on board were killed. Media reports are revealing that and more about a jet airliner that apparently nose-dived Saturday and left a heartbreaking trail of debris in the bay near Anahuac. Unofficially, the deceased are Capt. Sean Archuleta of Houston, Capt. Ricky Blakely of Indiana, and First Officer Conrad Jules Aska of Antigua, per the Houston Chronicle. "She's devastated," a friend says of Archuleta's wife; Archuleta, 36, had just landed a dream job at United Airlines. "They just had their baby. I'm not an emotional guy, but this tore me up today. I lost a guy that I truly looked forward to opening the door and seeing. I miss the guy. I miss him already." story continues below Contracted by Amazon Prime, Atlas Air flight 3591 was going from Miami to Houston when the Federal Aviation Administration lost radio and radar contact with it roughly 30 miles southeast of Bush Continental Airport. The plane hit an area known for duck-hunting just before 12:45pm, the FAA says, with some witnesses saying they heard the engines sputter and others describing a loud thunderclap, per KOMO News. But the cause remains unknown. Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne says he believes they'll be recovering the black box, plane parts, and bodies from the scene for weeks: "The problem that everybody is going to have in this recovery process is that the water goes from 5-feet deep to zero and that 0-feet deep is nothing but mud marsh," he tells ABC13. (Read more plane crash stories.) (Newser) President Donald Trump is trying to manage expectations for his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, predicting a "continuation of the progress" made last time, the AP reports. Trump tweeted Sunday that he was leaving early the next day for the meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, adding a tantalizing nod to "Denuclearization?" He also said Kim knows that "without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World." Their first meeting, in Singapore in June, produced a vaguely worded commitment from North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. Heading into this week's summit, Trump has said that North Korea has not tested any nuclear weapons in months and that as long as that testing has ceased, he's in no rush. story continues below Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Fox News Sunday that he was hoping for a "substantive step forward." But, he cautioned, "it may not happen, but I hope that it will." He added: "President Trump has also said this is going to take time. There may have to be another summit. We may not get everything done this week." Pompeo also said he believes North Korea remains a nuclear threat, though Trump tweeted after the Singapore summit that "there is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea." Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who serves on the Senate foreign relations committee, expressed concerns about Trump's negotiating efforts Sunday on CBS, saying the president must be "careful" with what he offers. (Read more North Korea stories.) (Newser) You're not seeing things: The next Saudi ambassador to America is a woman. The kingdom appointed Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan to the post Saturday in an apparent attempt to ease relations with Washington after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the New York Times reports. The daughter of a major Saudi figureher dad, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, was ambassador to the US from 1983 to 2005Princess Reema grew up partly in America and got a Bachelor of Arts degree at George Washington University, the BBC reports. She's also an advocate for women's rights and the kingdom's first female envoy ever. (Meanwhile, plans to sell nuclear plants to the Saudis are under new scrutiny.) (Newser) China's Huawei unveiled a new folding-screen phone on Sunday, joining the latest trend for bendable devices as it challenges the global smartphone market's dominant players, Apple and Samsung. Huawei revealed its Mate X phone as the company battles US allegations it is a cybersecurity risk, reports the AP. The device can be used on superfast next-generation networks that are due in the coming years. Device makers are looking to folding screens as the industry's next big thing to help them break out of an innovation malaise, although most analysts think the market is limited, at least in the early days. The Mate X is the answer to a question Huawei faced as it sought to satisfy smartphone users' demands for bigger screens and longer battery life, said Richard Yu, CEO of its consumer business group. "How can we bring ... big innovation to this smartphone industry?" Yu said at a glitzy media launch. story continues below The Mate X will sell for $2,600 when it goes on sale by midyear. That's even more than Samsung's new Galaxy Fold, priced at nearly $2,000. The Mate X's screen wraps around the outside so users can still view it when it's closed, unlike the Galaxy Fold, which has a screen that folds shut. Unfolded, the Mate X's screen is 8 inches diagonally, making it the size of a small tablet. Yu said Huawei engineers spent three years working on the device's hinge, which doesn't leave a gap when shut. Huawei Technologies is trying to raise its profile in the fiercely competitive smartphone market, but its US market is clouded by criminal charges filed last month against the company and its CFO, Meng Wanzhou, who US prosecutors want to extradite from Canada. Huawei can only make so much headway as long as the government is casting the company as a cyber-villain, says an analyst. (Read more Huawei stories.) (Newser) Women may soon have a new ritual on their 18th birthday: signing up for Selective Service. A federal judge in Texas ruled Friday that the current systemwhich requires men age 18-25 to sign upviolates the Fifth Amendment's due process clause of right to life, liberty, and property, the Times of San Diego reports. "Women are now allowed in combat, so this decision is long overdue," says Marc Angelucci, an attorney for the National Coalition for Men, a men's right's group and plaintiff in the case. "After decades of sex discrimination against men in the Selective Service, the courts have finally found it unconstitutional to force only men to register." Angelucci notes that men still face denial of federal loans, fines, and even prison time if they fail to register. story continues below No man has faced prosecution for failing to register in decades, but a young Texan named James Lesmeister filed the lawsuit in 2013 anyway; a San Diego resident and the San Diego-based National Coalition for Men later joined in, per Military.com. In his ruling, Judge Gray Miller said "the time has passed" to debate women in the military and quoted the Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage in opposing the draft's gender restriction, notes USA Today. But his ruling is a declaratory judgment, not an injunction, so it doesn't force the federal government's handyet it does make a statement. "Either they need to get rid of the draft registration, or they need to require women to do the same thing that men do," says Angelucci. America hasn't had an actual draft since 1973, but young men are still expected to make themselves available for war. (Read more US military stories.) (Newser) A showdown in Venezuela Saturday over humanitarian aid resulted in at least four deaths and 285 injuries. But the violence did little to resolve the nation's volatile stalemate: President Maduro is only digging inin fact, he danced the salsa at a rally with his wife while denouncing the USwhile opposition leader Juan Guaido (who considers himself to be president) is doing the same. "We must keep all our options open for the liberation of our homeland," Guaido declared, per the Guardian. Guaido will be in Colombia on Monday for a meeting with regional leaders, and VP Mike Pence will be in attendance. The US backs Guaido, and the White House has not ruled out military action. story continues below On Saturday, Guaido organized shipments of badly needed humanitarian aid to be trucked in over the border from Colombia and Brazil, but relatively little actually made it into Venezuela, reports the New York Times. Guaido had hoped for massive defections within the Venezuelan military, but few troops actually did so. Maduro, meanwhile, took aim at President Trump at his rally. Its time for our people to tell Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Yankee, go home, Donald Trump, he said to the crowd in Caracas, per Fox News. He also cut off ties with Colombia. "My patience has run out," he said. (Ordinary citizens have been running short on food for a long time now.) The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said Sunday the EU is keen on boosting partnerships with the Arab world and defending its rights. Addressing the first Arab League-European Union summit, which kicked off earlier on Sunday, Juncker said that the two sides are partners in bringing about peace and caring for victims of conflict. The EU has allocated $17 billion in humanitarian assistance to the Syrians, the top official said. The union is working closely with the Arab League in this regard, he added. Juncker urged further efforts to promote trade and investment between Arab and European countries, to provide more job opportunities, stressing the need to work together to meet common challenges. Short link: She Could've Gotten Life. What Prosecutors Sought Made Her Faint in case you missed it advertisement In the US, a Disturbing Vaccination Trend in case you missed it advertisement Guy Finds Meaning, Pain Overnight in a Waffle House IN CASE YOU MISSED IT advertisement UN Warning on Great Barrier Reef Stuns Australia IN CASE YOU MISSED IT advertisement Principal Left Something on All 459 Seniors' Chairs IN CASE YOU MISSED IT advertisement advertisement Derek Chauvin Gets 22.5 Years in Prison the rundown Meet Dragon Man, Our Newly Discovered Relative new study advertisement COVID's Toll on Sense of Smell Is Temporary NEW STUDY Dinosaurs Braved Ancient Arctic Year-Round NEW STUDY What's Included With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 574-583-5121 or email cgrace@thehj.com. Chief Executive Carrie Lam will depart for Bangkok, Thailand on February 27, then leave for Beijing the following day. Mrs Lam will officiate at the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in Bangkok on February 28. She will also meet Thai officials, address a business seminar co-hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand, and officiate at the opening ceremony of collaboration activities between Hong Kong arts group Zuni Icosahedron and the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre. Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau will join the visit. Mrs Lam will leave Bangkok on the evening of February 28 for Beijing to attend the second plenary meeting of the leading group for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to be held on March 1, and the opening ceremony of the second session of the 13th National People's Congress on March 5. While in Beijing, the Chief Executive will also attend a ceremony marking the donation by Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation to the Palace Museum, call on central ministries and take part in visits and exchange activities in various organisations. Director of the Chief Executive's Office Chan Kwok-ki will accompany Mrs Lam on her trip and Secretary for Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip will join part of the programme. During Mrs Lam's absence, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung will be Acting Chief Executive. Winnie Chiu will assume the post of Ombudsman on April 1. Winnie Chiu has been appointed as the Ombudsman for a five-year term from April 1, the Government announced today. Ms Chiu served in the Police Force for more than 35 years and accumulated rich experience in investigation, operations, policy planning and human resources management, the Government said. She also possesses outstanding skills in leadership and communication. As the first female Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ms Chiu commands respect and is well recognised both in the Government and in the community. Commenting on the appointment, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she is confident that Ms Chiu will fully demonstrate her independence and impartiality as the Ombudsman. Ms Chius extensive experience and clear vision will enable the Office of The Ombudsman to further its important mission of improving public administration in Hong Kong, Mrs Lam added. Ms Chiu will succeed Connie Lau, whose term will end on March 31. Mrs Lam said under Ms Lau's capable and outstanding leadership, the Office of The Ombudsman has proactively investigated systemic issues and offered constructive recommendations, thereby motivating government departments and public bodies to enhance the efficiency and quality of public services. Mrs Lam wished Ms Lau all the best in her future endeavours. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Welcome to the symposium on the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area jointly organised by the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. I wish to extend my special gratitude to Deputy Chairman Lin Nianxiu of the Office of the Leading Group for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Director General Guo Lanfeng of the Department of Regional Economy of the National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC). They have travelled all the way to Hong Kong from Beijing to introduce the contents of the Outline Development Plan to representatives from various sectors from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. We are also honoured to have Governor Ma Xingrui of Guangdong Province and Chief Executive Chui Sai-on of the Macao Special Administrative Region visiting Hong Kong to set out the key work of Guangdong and Macau in implementing the Outline Development Plan. Three days ago, the Central Government promulgated the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It is a national strategy personally devised, personally planned and personally driven by President Xi Jinping. It is not only a key development strategy in the countrys reform and opening up in the new era, but also a further step in enriching the practice of one country, two systems. Through further deepening co-operation amongst Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, its objectives are to promote co-ordinated economic development in the Greater Bay Area, leverage the complementary advantages of the three places, develop an international first-class bay area for living, working and travelling, and further enhance the Greater Bay Areas supporting and leading role in the countrys economic development and opening up. On July 1, 2017, witnessed by President Xi Jinping, the NDRC and the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau signed the Framework Agreement on Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation in the Development of the Greater Bay Area in Hong Kong. Since then, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has kept in close contact with relevant central ministries and the governments of Guangdong and Macau to draw up and introduce policies and measures for the development of the Greater Bay Area. The Outline Development Plan is the best manifestation of the close co-operation amongst the three governments and their positive interaction with central ministries. In the process of drawing up the Outline Development Plan, the HKSAR Government put great efforts into reflecting the views our bureaus and departments obtained from consulting relevant sectors and stakeholders. On behalf of the HKSAR Government, I wish to thank the Central Government wholeheartedly for according much importance, and indeed accepting those views of Hong Kong. On August 15 last year, the first plenary meeting of the leading group for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, chaired by Vice Premier Han Zheng, took place in Beijing. Chief Executive Chui Sai-on and I attended the meeting as leading group members, demonstrating the key role played by Hong Kong and Macau in the Greater Bay Area. In his opening remarks, Vice Premier Han Zheng insightfully elucidated on three issues - why we develop the Greater Bay Area, what kind of Greater Bay Area is to be developed, and how we develop the Greater Bay Area. Today, I also wish to share my views on why Hong Kong needs to proactively participate in the development of the Greater Bay Area and how Hong Kong would do so. Why Hong Kong should participate in the development of the Greater Bay Area For many years, Hong Kong has been one of the top performers in terms of global competitiveness, due to its excellent geographic location, its free and open market, as well as its advantages being an international city under one country, two systems. Nonetheless, as competition with nearby economies and globally intensifies, the strengths of Hong Kongs traditional industries are weakening. Today, amidst a slowdown in global economic growth and a rise of protectionism, Hong Kong faces increasingly serious challenges. As such, we must strive to innovate and develop high-value-added and diversified industries, in order to give new impetus to the economy of Hong Kong. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is an enormous market with a population of 70 million and a gross domestic product of US$1.5 trillion. As one of the most open and economically vibrant regions in China, the Greater Bay Area is well placed to give new impetus to the development of Hong Kong, providing the people of Hong Kong, especially young people, with new horizons and new opportunities for developing their careers. Hong Kong must therefore grasp such invaluable opportunities and proactively take part in the development of the Greater Bay Area to create better conditions for ourselves. How Hong Kong should participate in the development of the Greater Bay Area Under one country, two systems, Hong Kong enjoys unique dual advantages. On the one hand, Hong Kong is part of China; on the other hand, our economic, legal and social systems are different from those of the Mainland. Hong Kong is a highly open and international city, with a business environment that is open and facilitating, as well as professional services that are of excellent quality. Our strengths can complement the advantages of the nine Mainland cities within the Greater Bay Area, such as the size of their market, an all-rounded industry system, and their relative strength in technology. In fact, taking forward the co-ordinated development of the Greater Bay Area is conducive to further enhancing Hong Kongs status as international financial, transportation and trade centres, as well as an international aviation hub. In other words, Hong Kongs role in the development of the Greater Bay Area needs to change from being a connector to being a more proactive participant. Meanwhile, the Governments new roles of facilitator and promoter, as advocated by the current-term Government, will help Hong Kong take part in the development of the Greater Bay Area, allowing everyone in Hong Kong to become beneficiaries of the Greater Bay Area. It is therefore evident that one country, two systems is not only Hong Kongs advantage in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, but it is also the key foundation for the internationalisation of the Greater Bay Area. Central leaders have time and again emphasised that in the process of taking forward the development of the Greater Bay Area, the principle of one country, two systems, people of Hong Kong governing Hong Kong and the people of Macau governing Macau with a high degree of autonomy will be strictly adhered to. The development of the Greater Bay Area will enrich the practice of one country, two systems and is conducive to maintaining the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macau. It will not, as some people worry, blur the boundaries between the two systems, nor will it weaken Hong Kongs status as a separate customs territory. It certainly will not lead to the assimilation of Hong Kong into the Mainland either. Future work focuses To develop Hong Kong into an international metropolis with enhanced competitiveness, we shall follow the guiding directions in the Outline Development Plan, proactively co-operating with relevant central ministries, the Peoples Government of Guangdong Province and the Macao SAR Government in jointly taking forward work relating to the development of the Greater Bay Area. The HKSAR Governments future work focuses include: (i) consolidating and enhancing Hong Kongs status as international financial, transportation and trade centres as well as an international aviation hub; (ii) developing an international innovation and technology hub; (iii) expanding the scope of development for sectors in which Hong Kongs strengths lie; (iv) strengthening infrastructural connectivity; (v) fostering youth innovation and entrepreneurship; and (vi) fully utilising Hong Kongs international connections and networks to promote the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area overseas and attract capital and talents to the Greater Bay Area. I shall briefly elaborate on our work in the areas of finance, aviation, innovation and youth entrepreneurship. Financial services Hong Kongs status as the worlds premier international financial centre is well recognised. The city is ranked third in the Global Financial Centres Index and holds the top spot in Asia. Apart from our efficient links to other major commercial centres all over the world, Hong Kong has a financial regulatory and supervisory framework that is in line with international standards, as well as a strategic geographic location. Hong Kong can leverage on the development of the Greater Bay Area to promote the efficient flow of factors of production to support the development of the real economy. Meanwhile, we should make good use of the Greater Bay Areas enormous population and economic scale to promote the development of the financial services sector in Hong Kong. The HKSAR Government has maintained close liaison with the governments of Guangdong and Macau to seek support from the Central Government to implement concrete measures to promote financial co-operation within the Greater Bay Area and promote financial development in the region. Aviation development Hong Kong is an international aviation hub. The Hong Kong International Airport connects to over 220 destinations. It handled over 74 million passengers and 5.1 million tonnes of cargo and air mail in 2018. Looking ahead to our future development, Hong Kong International Airport has an important strategic function for both the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the entire country. The three-runway system, which is under construction, will help strengthen connections between the countrys and the worlds flight destinations. The HKSAR Government will continue to support nearby airports in the Greater Bay Area to pursue development jointly based on complementarity and each airports uniqueness. We shall also further expand the Greater Bay Areas domestic and international aviation networks, proactively take forward inter-modal services, expedite the development of general aviation, expand cross-boundary helicopter services, and leverage Hong Kongs unique role as a centre for manpower training of the aviation industry and for aviation financing and leasing in driving the development of the entire Greater Bay Area. International I&T hub The country has all along given staunch support to Hong Kongs I&T development. In May 2018, President Xi Jinping gave a personal instruction, affirming that Hong Kong has a solid science and technology foundation and high-quality technology talents, and that Hong Kongs science and technology sector has made significant contributions to the development of Hong Kong and the country. The instruction also supports Hong Kongs development into an international I&T hub. In line with the spirit of President Xi Jinpings personal directive, the HKSAR Government benefitted from concrete measures that had the Central Governments support and co-operation in the past year, including (i) realising cross-boundary remittance of science and technology funding of the Central Government to Hong Kong; (ii) signing a co-operation arrangement with the Ministry of Science & Technology fostering I&T co-operation between the Mainland and Hong Kong; (iii) establishing that the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) will set up an affiliated institution in Hong Kong to facilitate its research institutes to establish their presence in the two research clusters to be set up at the Hong Kong Science Park; and (iv) establishing a Greater Bay Area academician alliance in Hong Kong to promote exchange and co-operation amongst academicians of the CAS and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, bringing prominent scientists in the region to advise on technological development in Greater Bay Area. In fact, after the planning and investment by the current-term Government in the last year or so, Hong Kong is ready to take on an important role in the work of developing the Greater Bay Area into an international I&T hub. The HKSAR Governments concrete work on this front includes: (i) actively developing the Lok Ma Chau Loop into the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation & Technology Park; (ii) developing a base for co-operation in scientific research through liaising with top-tier enterprises, research and development institutions and higher education institutions on the Mainland and overseas; (iii) actively pursuing the establishment of the two research clusters at the Hong Kong Science Park on healthcare technologies, as well as artificial intelligence and robotics technologies; (iv) nurturing local I&T talents through measures such as the Postdoctoral Hub Programme and the Reindustrialisation & Technology Training Programme; (v) increasing scientific research funding for universities and providing tax deduction for the expenditures incurred by enterprises on R&D; (vi) introducing the Technology Talent Admission Scheme to enlarge Hong Kongs I&T talent pool; (vii) establishing the Innovation & Technology Venture Fund to invest on a matching basis in local I&T startups; and (viii) opening up government data and introducing a pro-innovation government procurement policy. The measures above would strengthen Hong Kongs own I&T capabilities. Together with the supporting policies in the Outline Development Plan, they will certainly speed up the process of developing an international I&T hub in the Greater Bay Area. Encouraging youth innovation and entrepreneurship The HKSAR Government encourages Hong Kongs young people to participate in the development of the Greater Bay Area and endeavours to provide more opportunities for the development of Hong Kongs young talents in innovation and entrepreneurship. Our objective is to foster the Greater Bay Area to become a world-class international platform for innovation and entrepreneurship. Through co-operation with subvented and non-governmental organisations, the HKSAR Government will provide young people starting their businesses in various Greater Bay Area cities with startup grants, support, counselling, guidance, and incubation services. We shall also co-operate with the Guangdong Provincial Government to establish an Alliance of Hong Kong Youth Innovative & Entrepreneurial Bases in the Greater Bay Area with a view to providing a one-stop information, publicity and exchange platform, thereby supporting the development of Hong Kong youth entrepreneurs in the Greater Bay Area. Conclusion As President Xi Jinping mentioned in his speech at the meeting with the Hong Kong and Macau delegations from various sectors in celebration of the 40th anniversary of countrys reform and opening up on November 12, 2018, the Greater Bay Area is to be developed under the conditions of one country, two systems, three customs territories and three currencies, without any precedents internationally. We should be bold in experimenting in order to break new ground. Hong Kong should improve its inner strength and resilience, as well as strive to create new drivers of economic growth. Facts speak louder than words: with the support of the Central Government, the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau implemented in the past year or so many measures for the development of the Greater Bay Area. None of them breached the principle of one country, two systems. The HKSAR Government will continue to fully put the principle of one country, two systems into practice, as well as proactively explore new development directions, expand fresh development space, and give renewed development impetus for Hong Kong through our participation in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Speaking of functions of the government, I noticed that Governor Ma Xingrui mentioned at the meeting of the Peoples Congress of the Guangdong Province on January 28 that the Guangdong Provincial Government will mobilise every force in the province to take forward the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. I also wish to state my position clearly: the HKSAR Government will spare no effort and do everything we can to take forward the development of the Greater Bay Area. Yet this colossal project also requires the participation of enterprises, professional sectors and ordinary people. The promulgation of the Outline Development Plan can help different sectors of society better understand the basic principles and broad policy directions of the development of the Greater Bay Area, such that they can consider how to expand their scope of development through opportunities brought about by the Greater Bay Area. To deepen understanding of the development of the Greater Bay Area in the wider society in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, the HKSAR Government will launch different forms of publicity and promotional activities to allow enterprises and the public, and young people in particular, to understand and grasp the opportunities brought to them by the development of the Greater Bay Area. We also attach greater importance to our overseas promotion efforts. Last June, I led a delegation to Paris, France to conduct promotional activities jointly with the governments of Guangdong and Macau, which were well received. Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau are planning to go overseas together again this year to jointly promote the Greater Bay Area. I encourage you all to visit the HKSARs dedicated website and our WeChat official account to learn more about the opportunities brought about by the development of the Greater Bay Area. Let us all grasp the opportunities of the development of the Greater Bay Area for a better tomorrow. This is a translation of the remarks made by Chief Executive Carrie Lam at the Symposium on the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area on February 21. Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said that the danger of terrorism is spreading like a cursed plague, urging leaders attending the EU-Arab League summit to stand together against it. This plague, with its reasons, can never be justified. Terrorism is different from opposing something, which we all accept as a healthy phenomenon and a fundamental pillar of any sound political life, El-Sisi said on Sunday during the opening session of a two-day EU-Arab League summit. El-Sisi said that terrorism was used by some states to spread chaos in neighbouring countries." "Egypt has put forward a comprehensive vision to eliminate the threat of terrorism and its negative effects, in particular the right to life and other entrenched rights, and has enabled dialogue and cooperation to link this vision with the European position based on the importance of respect for human rights in the fight against terrorism," he said. El-Sisi said that these shared challenges have also been embodied in the hotbeds of conflict in the region, foremost among them the Palestinian cause, which is the central and primary cause of the Arabs, and one of the main roots of these conflicts, as it continues to deprive the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights. "I cannot but warn of the repercussions of the continuation of this conflict on all our countries, he said. Speaking about conflicts in Libya, Syria, Yemen, and other areas where there is armed conflict without a political settlement El-Sisi said that such conflict will only lead to more humanitarian catastrophes. In his recommendations, El-Sisi suggested that "the cooperation between our countries must be strengthened in order to strengthen the institutions of the state to meet the difficult challenges, while respecting the principle of citizenship in the face of calls for sectarianism and extremism." He also suggested " a comprehensive approach to combating terrorism." "Thirdly, it is absolutely necessary that the Middle East be transformed from a conflict area to a success area, which requires genuine cooperation between our two regions most affected by these conflicts," El-Sisi said. He also stressed the importance of economic cooperation which will lead to prosperity on both sides of the Mediterranean. He also spoke about migration and the migration crisis in several countries in the region. He noted that the high level of attendance at the summit was proof that what brings the two regions, Arab and European, together. He added that it reflects the mutual interest and concern of the Arab and European parties to enhance dialogue and coordination. Other speakers Speaking after El-Sisi, President of the Council of the European Union Donald Tusk spoke about boosting cooperation between EU and Arab states. There are many areas where we can do this: from funding education to reducing unemployment; encouraging investments, and helping to boost trade, he said. He called for real political will to achieve the Paris Agreement on climate change, and said that fostering intercultural dialogue, empowering a vibrant civil society and prioritising education and opportunity can help neutralise violent extremism. Speaking about migration, he called for cooperation to foil people smugglers who lure people into dangerous journeys and to address the root causes of migration and displacement, to stop irregular migration, to facilitate returns, readmission and reintegration, and to protect the rights of refugees. Saudi Arabias King Salman was third to speak during the opening session of the summit. He praised the relations between the two sides in the political, economic, and cultural fields. He asserted the importance of the Palestinian cause, praising EU countries stances on the issue. The Palestinian cause is a priority for Arab states, and efforts should be made to retrieve the rights of the Palestinian people, he said. He also affirmed the importance of a political solution for the Yemen crisis, and international efforts to support legitimacy in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is fighting Houthi militias supported by Iran. With the participation of more than 50 European Union and Arab League member states, the summit in Sharm El-Sheikh is the first-ever between the two bodies. The summit is being convened under the title "Investing in Stability." Arab and European leaders will seek to strengthen Arab-European ties and address a wide range of issues and common challenges, including migration, border security and the situation in the region. The Arab League's secretary-general, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, warned against dependence on the use of force in conflicts currently taking place in the Middle East region. Addressing the summit, he called for "political settlements that involve state unity." Short link: Champaign, IL (61820) Today Cloudy early with scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 82F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. By PTI ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday asked his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, to "give peace a chance" and assured him that he "stands by" his words and will "immediately act" if New Delhi provides Islamabad with "actionable intelligence" on the Pulwama attack. Khan's remarks came a day after Modi in a rally in Rajasthan said, "There is a consensus in the entire world against terrorism. We are moving ahead with a strength to punish the perpetrators of terrorism. The scores will be settled this time, settled for good. This is a changed India, this pain will not be tolerated. We know how to crush terrorism." Recalling his conversation with Khan during a congratulatory call after he became Pakistan's premier, Modi said he told him "let us fight against poverty and illiteracy" and Khan gave his word - saying he is a Pathan's son - but went back on it. ALSO READ: Reduction in India-Pakistan tension will throw up tremendous opportunities: Saudi Foreign Minister A statement released by the Pakistan Prime Minister's Office said, "PM Imran Khan stand by his words that if India gives us actionable intelligence, we will immediately act." PM Modi should "give peace a chance", Khan said in the statement. Earlier on February 19 also, Khan assured India that he would act against the perpetrators of the deadly Pulwama terror attack, carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group, if it shares "actionable intelligence" with Islamabad, but warned New Delhi against launching any "revenge" retaliatory action. India said Khan's offer to investigate the attack if provided proof is a "lame excuse". "It is a well-known fact that Jaish-e-Mohammad and its leader Masood Azhar are based in Pakistan. These should be sufficient proof for Pakistan to take action," the Ministry of External Affairs said. ALSO READ: Pakistan wants peace, but India creates 'war frenzy': Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Pulwama tension "The Prime Minister of Pakistan has offered to investigate the matter if India provides proof. This is a lame excuse. In the horrific attack in Mumbai on 26/11, proof was provided to Pakistan. Despite this, the case has not progressed for the last more than 10 years. Likewise, on the terror attack on Pathankot airbase, there has been no progress. Promises of 'guaranteed action' ring hollow given the track record of Pakistan," it said. Khan said during his meeting with Modi in December 2015, "we had agreed that since poverty alleviation is a priority for our region, we would not allow any terrorist incident to derail peace efforts, however, long before Pulwama, these efforts were derailed in September 2018". The Pakistani premier was referring to India calling off the foreign minister-level talks with Pakistan in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September last year after following the "brutal" killing of three BSF jawans by Pakistani soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the release of postal stamps "glorifying" Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani by the Pakistan government. By ANI ISLAMABAD: Amid the growing tensions between India and Pakistan, Islamabad has decided to move troops from the western border to its eastern border. Dunya News quoted Pakistani diplomatic sources as saying, "Pakistan does not want atmosphere of fear but the country is ready to respond with full force if India imposed war". This comes hours after the Pakistan Army violated ceasefire along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Nowshera sector. Sources said Pakistan army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling mortars and firing with small arms along the LoC Rajouri district. However, the Indian Army retaliated strongly to the cross border firing at about 4 pm. READ| Pakistan sets up 'Crisis Management Cell' amid simmering border tension On Friday, Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Jawed Bajwa had visited Pakistani troops deployed at the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir and instructed the troops "to be ready to face any eventuality." Pakistan's Army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor on Friday during a press conference had said, "We are not preparing to initiate anything. We have the right to respond to your preparations for war." He had also claimed that Pakistan does not want an armed conflict but will respond with full force if attacked. Talking about the possibility of a war between the two nations, Ghafoor said: "We do not wish to go to war but please be rest assured should you initiate any aggression- first you shall never be able to surprise us, let me assure you we shall surprise you...We have the ways and the means to attain what is desired. I hope you (India) get this message and don't mess with Pakistan." India has asserted that since Jaish-e-Mohammed, which is based in Pakistan, had itself claimed responsibility for Pulwama attack, there was no more evidence required. The UN, the US, and several other major world powers have held JeM responsible for the attack. By PTI LAHORE: Some Pakistani generals who planned the 1999 Kargil war against India flattered the then army chief Pervez Musharraf that he was more daring than his predecessors to execute this venture, according to a Pakistani journalist. Nasim Zehra, the author of a book titled 'From Kargil to the Coup: Events that shook Pakistan', said this during a discussion on her book at the Lahore Literary Festival held here on Saturday. The discussed was moderated by British journalist Owen Bennet Jones. Narrating the conversations between General Musharraf and other three generals involved in the Kargil planning, Zehra said: "'If the Kargil operation was so simple why it was not carried out before,' asked Musharraf. One general replied 'no one was more daring than you and only you can execute it. The three generals also said that their neck were on the line in this operation. "Those who planned the Kargil operation committed a big blunder at the planning stage thinking that India would not respond. But that did not happen and India reacted strongly and there were many causalities (of Pakistani troops)," she said. Zehra held detailed discussion on the role of some generals who planned the Kargil operation in October/November 1998 ahead of the Lahore talks between the the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the consequences Pakistan faced in the wake of the operation. She said India had no idea about the Kargil plan till May 1999. "They (generals) moved the troops without even the knowledge of a key officer. When the Kargil conflict took place journalists like me believed the version that it was the job of Mujaheedin," said the author adding that the civilian government and other institutions including the intelligence agencies and the Air Force chief were kept in darkness about the Kargil operation. When Nawaz Sharif was briefed about the operation after its launch, he was told that "you would become Fateh-i-Kashmir (victorious of Kashmir)." On this then foreign minister intervened and said the talks were underway between the two countries on the Kashmir issue, the general said, "How can you take Kashmir through dialogue?" Zehra said Sharif expressed his astonishment when the defence secretary told him that Pakistan crossed over the LoC (Line of Control). Sharif then backed the operation 'as it was in national interest'. She said after India's strong response Sharif left for the United States where he was told by then president Bill Clinton that "you have to get out (of Kargil)". By PTI LAHORE: Pakistani authorities have appointed two administrators to supervise a seminary and a mosque believed to be the headquarters of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the terror outfit which claimed responsibility for the Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. The Punjab government appointed the administrators two days after it announced taking over the control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, over 400-km from Lahore. The seminary and mosque are believed to be the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit. "The Punjab government has appointed Mohammad Ali, district Auqaf administrator and Ghulam Abbas, regional Auqaf administrator to supervise the administrative affairs of Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah and Madrassatul Sabir, Bahawalpur, respectively," said a senior official of the Punjab government. Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah is located in the densly populated industrial area in Model Town-B of Bahawalpur while Madrassatul Sabir is situated on Bahawalpur-Ahmed East highway on the outskirts of the city. Earlier in a complete U-turn, the Pakistan government dismissed its own claim of taking over the control of JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur and said the complex had no link with the JeM. In a video message on social media, Pakistan's Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the Punjab government took administrative control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur in line with the decisions taken during the National Security Council meeting held on Thursday and as part of the National Action Plan. Rejecting his earlier announcement that the complex was JeM headquarters, Chaudhry said, "This is the madrassah (seminary) and India is doing propaganda that it is the JeM headquarters". ALSO READ| Pulwama fallout: Pakistan to mobilise troops on eastern border amid growing tension with India On Friday, the minister told PTI that the Punjab government had "taken over the control of the JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur". "The government of Punjab has taken over the control of a campus comprising Madressatul Sabir and Jama-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, allegedly the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad, and appointed an administrator to manage its affairs," he had said. It was the first time in years that the campus, about 430-km from Lahore, had been acknowledged by Pakistan to be the headquarters of the Masood Azhar-led JeM. A statement issued by the Interior Ministry on Friday also said the crackdown on Jaish "has been taken in line with the decision of the National Security Committee meeting held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan". The Islamic seminary in the campus has a faculty of 70 teachers and currently 600 students were studying in it, the statement said, adding that Punjab police were providing security and protection to the campus. Since 2002 when the JeM was banned, different intelligence agencies have been regularly monitoring the mosque and the seminary, the Punjab government official said. Pakistan on Thursday also banned the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation. Earlier, the two outfits were kept on the watchlist of the interior ministry. The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Toiba militant group which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It was declared a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a JeM suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying a huge quantity of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. Tensions between the two countries have heightened after the attack with India asking Pakistan to take immediate and verifiable action against terrorists and terror groups operating from territories under its control. New Delhi also announced the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation status for Pakistan and hiked the customs duty by 200 per cent on goods originating from Pakistan. By PTI COLOMBO: Over 150 houses, built by India under the Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka, were on Sunday handed over to the residents of the country's plantation area. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Sri Lanka's Minister for Hill country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development Palani Digambaram, jointly handed over around 155 houses to the beneficiaries in a special ceremony at Bridwell Estate in Bogawantalawa, Hatton, an official statement from the Indian High Commissioner said. Wickremesinghe also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government for the development support extended by India. Several Members of Parliament and Central Provincial Council, senior officials from Plantation Human Development Trust (PHDT), Implementing Agency - Sri Lanka Red Cross, Bogawantalawa Regional Plantation Company and a large number of people from the region attended the function. Sandhu also congratulated the owners of the newly-built independent houses. With a grant of over USD 350 million, the largest Indian grant assistance project in any country abroad, about 47,000 out of 63,000 houses have been built under the Indian Housing Project. Expressing India's support for realisation of Sri Lanka's developmental priorities, the Indian High Commissioner said that the government and the people of India are committed to participate with the people of Sri Lanka in their journey towards greater peace and prosperity, the statement said. By PTI WASHINGTON: The father of an Alabama woman who fled to Syria to marry an Islamic State fighter filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump's administration over her right to return with her 18-month-old baby after the US president said she will not be allowed back on American soil. Hoda Muthana, 24, joined the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, in 2014 after telling her parents she was going to Atlanta, Georgia, as part of a field trip connected with her business studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Instead, she withdrew from college and used her tuition reimbursement to purchase a plane ticket to Turkey, according to court documents. From Turkey, she traveled to Syria, where she married twice, both times to ISIS fighters who later died in combat. Muthana fled to the al-Hawl refugee camp in December last year amid the collapse of the ISIS caliphate in Syria and Iraq. "I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!" Trump tweeted on Wednesday. "She does not have any legal basis, no valid US passport, no right to a passport, nor any visa to travel to the United States," Pompeo said in a statement. We continue to strongly advise all US citizens not to travel to Syria". Ahmed Ali Muthana filed the lawsuit Thursday, accusing the Trump administration of an "unlawful attempt" to revoke Hoda Muthana's citizenship. Muthana has said she is willing to face federal charges upon her return. But Trump has ordered officials to bar the former IS propagandist from entering the US. The lawsuit emphasises that the woman's father is not arguing against any prosecution from the US government over her actions in Syria, but wants lawful recognition of her US citizenship and the citizenship of her child. Muthana has "publicly acknowledged her actions and accepted full responsibility," a statement announcing the lawsuit said. "In Ms Muthana's words, she recognises that she has 'ruined' her own life, but she does not want to ruin the life of her young child. Pompeo said on Wednesday that Muthana had no "legal basis" or "right" to a passport or any US visa. Pompeo confirmed her father's prior status as a Yemeni diplomat for the United Nations was behind the administration's decision. Under US law, the children of diplomats are not considered US citizens. The exact timeline of when Ahmed Ali Muthana stopped serving as a diplomat and when his daughter was born is now being contested by the Trump administration. The family maintains Muthana was previously recognised as a citizen by the US Department of State and given a US passport in 2004. Earlier this week, Muthana's lawyer, Hassan Shibly, shared a photo on Twitter of what he said was her US birth certificate. The case has similarities to that of UK-born teenager Shamima Begum who has been stripped of her British citizenship. Begum fled London to join ISIS in 2015 but is now seeking to return to the UK. By AFP CHITTAGONG: Bangladesh commandos stormed a passenger jet in the country's southeast Sunday and shot dead an armed man who allegedly tried to hijack the Dubai-bound flight, an army official said. The suspect, described by officials as a 25-year-old Bangladeshi man, was shot as special forces rushed the plane after it landed safely in Chittagong. The 148 passengers and crew aboard the Bangladesh Biman flight BG147 were all rescued unharmed, officials said. But the suspected hijacker was injured and died shortly after being arrested, army spokesman Major General Motiur Rahman told reporters. "He is a Bangladeshi. We found a pistol from him and nothing else," Rahman said. All the passengers aboard were evacuated after the airport was sealed of by Army, Navy and elite police. Air Vice Marshall Mofid, who goes by one name, said he then kept the accused man busy talking on the phone while special forces units prepared for the dramatic raid. "He demanded to speak to our Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina)," Mofid said. "He claimed he had a pistol, but we are not sure yet whether it is an actual gun or a fake." The country's civil aviation chief, Nayeem Hasan, earlier said the suspect had claimed to have a bomb aboard the flight. "From the talks and dialogue we have with him, it seems he is psychologically deranged," Hasan said after the man was arrested. Another army spokesman, Abdullah Ibne Zaid, said the would-be hijacker allegedly claimed to have a gun and a bomb strapped to his chest. "The army's special forces conducted the operation and the armed man has been neutralized. The situation at (Chittagong's) Shah Amanat International Airport is very much under control of the Bangladesh Army," he said. An investigation would be carried out to determine whether security lapses had occurred, he added. Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 165 million, has grappled with homegrown extremism, with Islamist outfits murdering atheist bloggers and progressive activists in recent years. In a deadly attack claimed by the Islamic State group in 2016, militants killed 22 people including 18 foreigners at an upmarket cafe in Dhaka popular with Westerners. That attack prompted a swift crackdown by Prime Minister Hasina, with hundreds of suspected militants and their sympathisers arrested or killed in raids across the country. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi held a series of bilateral talks on Sunday with EU and Arab leaders, hours before the first-ever EU-Arab League summit is due to start in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. El-Sisi discussed Egypt's political and economic ties with the European Union during a meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk, who is co-chairing the two-day gathering with El-Sisi. The pair touched on the conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Libya as well as stalled Middle East peace efforts, El-Sisis spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement. The two leaders also discussed cooperation between Egypt and Europe in fighting terrorism and violent extremism. A total of 24 leaders from the blocs 28 member states, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May, as well as the leaders of 21 Arab countries, will take part in the first joint summit of Arab League and European Union leaders. Climate change, terrorism, migration and Middle East stability will be at the heart of discussions during the two-day gathering. El-Sisi also sat with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Sunday; the pair discussed cooperation in the energy sector as well as the tripartite cooperation between Egypt, Cyprus and Greece in place since 2014. The Egyptian president also held talks with Saudi King Salman, a key ally of Egypt, where they discussed boosting Egyptian-Saudi cooperation as a "key pillar for protecting Arab security and confronting foreign interference in the sovereign affairs of Arab countries," the spokesman said in a separate statement on Sunday. El-Sisi also met with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, Iraqi President Barham Salih and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Short link: Express News Service By NEW DELHI: The trial in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual assault case will begin on Monday in a Delhi court. Some of the accused were produced before a designated POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court here on Saturday, which said it will take up the matter on Monday. On February 7, the Supreme Court had transferred the case from a Bihar court to the Saket court, which would now conclude the trial within six months. Several girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at an NGO-run shelter home in Muzaffarpur and the issue had come to light following a report by Tata Institute of Social Sciences. The apex court had said the transfer of records to Saket court should be completed within two weeks and the trial is to be concluded within six months by holding preferably day-to-day trial. Five witnesses in the case were among seven girls who fled from a government-run childrens shelter in Bihars Mokama town on Saturday morning, police said. Harpreet Bajwa and Fayaz Wani By With tension between India and Pakistan running high in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF jawans on February 14, people-to-people contact between the two countries has gone down over past 10 days. The number of people crossing the Wagah-Attari border in Amritsar on foot, bus as well as train has not shown any big decline. But a closer analysis reveals the majority of people going to Pakistan are not Indians, but Pakistani citizens who are returning to their country. With anti-Pakistan sentiments running high in India, the Pakistanis who had arrived earlier are scared to remain in the country in the current atmosphere. Similarly, Indians who were visiting Pakistan on pilgrimage or to meet relatives are coming back at the earliest possible opportunity. In India, the general sentiment favours strong action against Pakistan and wants the government to take all possible measures to hurt the neighbouring countrys interests. However, there are peaceniks who want the people-to-people contact to continue without getting affected by the current tension. People who have relatives living across the border are also disappointed. Ramesh Yadav, president of Folklore Research Academy, an NGO working for harmonious India-Pakistan relations, said, The people-to-people contact between both the countries has certainly been hit due to the present situation. A 120-member team led by a Bollywood filmmaker and a leading actress was to visit Pakistan in the coming days, but now they have cancelled their visit. A delegation from South Asia Partnership has cancelled its visit. A delegation of Progressive Writers Association was to go to Nankana Sahib and Karatprur Sahib in October this year for a seminar. They have, for now, put their programme on hold. Yadav said a five-member delegation of Folklore was also scheduled to visit Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi for a week next month, but the programme has been cancelled. Nobody wants to go against the public sentiment as of now, he added, expressing the hope that things will become normal again after some time. More frequent people-to-people contacts would bring about a domino effect and the government will eventually follow the people, said Yadav. Jatin Desai, former general secretary of Pakistan India Peoples Form of Peace and Democracy, said, We were planning to hold a joint convention, but in the current scenario it is not possible. The people living on both sides of the border suffer the worst because they have cultural and social relations with each other and many families are divided. Mohd Nasir a businessman who attended his sister-in-laws wedding in Lahore last month, said, A couple of days later, a close relative died and we could not go again. A few years ago, my father-in-law died and my wife could not attend her fathers last rites. It hurts as we are cannot help each other at time of crises in the family. In Kashmir, too, families divided by the Line of Control (LoC) feel that travel between the state and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) should not be held hostage to the tension. The cross-LoC bus service is the only Confidence Building Measure that allows members of divided families to meet occasionally, said Riyaz Ahmad Malik of Anantnag, who has relatives living in PoK. The cross-LoC bus service between Srinagar-Muzaffarabad in Kashmir and Poonch-Rawalakote in Jammu started in 2005 and enables hundreds of divided families on both side of LoC to meet each other. The bus plies every Monday. The bus service was started on humanitarian grounds for uniting divided families. It should not be linked to politics. It should not become hostage to the India-Pakistan tension. It is the only link between families on both sides, said Riyaz. For travelling on the bus, named Caravan of Peace, one has to apply for route permit from Regional Passport Officer after submitting all documents and address and contact numbers of ones relatives in PoK. Getting the route permit takes five-six months as the verification is done by police and other intelligence agencies, Riyaz said. A person can stay for a maximum of 28 days with their relatives on other side of LoC on a route permit. It is valid for a year and a person can travel thrice in a year on the permit. Javaid Ahmad of Mendhar, Poonch, who has relatives in Kotli and Mirpur in PoK, said, The cross-LoC bus service has allowed us to visit each other and remain in touch. We dont have telecommunication facilities to other side. Javaid said after the tension escalated, cross-LoC travel was suspended on February 18. The bus service should be kept aloof of India-Pakistan politics. He said divided families have been demanding short stay permit of three-five days to visit in case of death or wedding of relatives on other side o. People in Poonch and Rajouri districts are also pressing for re-opening of the Tatta Pani Crossing Point with PoK in Poonch. Express News Service By NEW DELHI: The Congress will accord the status of martyr to paramilitary jawans who make the supreme sacrifice if the party comes to power, Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday, amid a war of words between the opposition and the BJP over the Pulwama terror attack in which 44 CRPF men were killed on February 14. At present, the paramilitary personnel who lay down their lives in the line of duty, dont get the status of martyr. However, the Congress, if voted to power, will accord them the status of martyr, Rahul said, addressing a conclave of youth on the theme, Future of Education in India, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday. Rahul, who recently visited the families of two jawans who died in the Pulwama attack in Shamli, in western UP, said he met several youngsters on the way who said they were jobless. We should solve the employment crisis to remove anger in the society. But the Modi government does not even want to accept that there is an employment crisis, Rahul said. The Congress chief said he could relate to the families of the slain jawans as, he too, had to cope with a similar tragedy. While talking to the families of martyrs, I knew what it felt like to be where they were. My father, too, was blown to pieces and my grandmother was riddled with 32 bullets, he said referring to the assassinations of former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. The Congress chief said he did not believe in a rigid structure of education and promised to empower the students. When I say government should support education, it means, making bank loans easier, introducing more scholarships, adding more universities and pushing enrolment. If you look at all these yardsticks individually, they have all shown a decline in the Modi regime, the Congress president said. Terming demonetisation as the biggest scam, Rahul said One day, the truth will come out. He reminded the youth that the previous UPA brought the RTI Act to increase transparency and curb corruption but the Modi government demolished the law. RTI should be enforced uniformly in judiciary, press and also on individual bureaucrats, not just political parties. There are multiple ways to attack corruption Lokpal Bill being one of them, Rahul said. Rahul urged students to support a leader who would take their questions, not duck or evade them. You may or may not like me, but make sure the one you support has the guts to stand in front of you and talk to you. If he doesnt, then you need to question why, he said. Harpreet Bajwa By CHANDIGARH: The integrated Check Post at the Attari Wagah wears a deserted look after New Delhi revoked the Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan and imposed 200 per cent customs levy on all goods entering from Pakistan. Around 200 trucks used to import goods from Pakistan to India via Attari every day. But these numbers have dwindled, with only four trucks coming from Pakistan and six going from India on February 21. Traders who had ordered items before the hike are in a bind, because though the trucks have reached the check post at Attari, they will now have to pay a whopping premium in taxes. Around 1,433 labourers who work at the ICP are also concerned about their livelihood since work has almost come to a standstill. The Union government should have at least given a few days relaxation to the traders to pick up the goods that have already been imported from across the border before increasing the duty by 200 per cent, now the government should give at least one weeks relaxation to the traders whos material has reached here at the border from Pakistan before the duty hike as they have order earlier, argued RS Sachdeva, Chairman of PHD Chamber of Commerce, Punjab. Approximately one lakh bags of cement bags are lying at Attari as some 50 truck loads of cement have arrived, said All India Dry Dates Association President Anil Mehra. But now a bag of cement from Pakistan which use to cost around Rs 250 would attract an import duty of `600. Seven trucks carrying dry dates have also arrived, but a truck load of dates which use to cost `2.22 lakh earlier will now cost `34 lakh, including the GST. Besides these two commodities gypsum and inorganic chemicals and drugs are also lying at Attari, he said. Now dry-dates are now coming through J&K, as only 21 items produced in J&K and POK are allowed to be traded through the two posts there, but illegally these are coming, Also other material is also coming, he said. India had unilaterally given MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, but Pakistan allowed the import of only 138 items from India through the Attari-Wagah border. In 2018-19 up to July, the trade through Attari border was of Rs 912 crore ( Rs 721 croe import and `191 crore export). In 2017-18 it was Rs 4,148 crore. Truck of cement and dry dates which came from Pakistan were unloaded at the Attari border on February 16, and traders should be allowed to pick them up at earlier customs duty before it was hiked to 200 per cent as they did not know about this when they ordered, said a leading trader, Om Parkash. Now India should impose 400 per cent duty from all goods imported from Pakistan, he added. Siddhanta Mishra By NEW DELHI: The Delhi legislative Assembly on Saturday passed a resolution demanding full statehood for Delhi. This House resolves that the NDMC area in Delhi, which is governed by the NDMC Act, be kept under the exclusive control of the Central government, and the rest of NCT of Delhi be declared a full-fledged state said Nitin Tyagi while presenting the resolution the Assembly. The MLA from Laxmi Nagar area of Delhi further said: This house is of the view that now, since almost 16 years have passed since the previous Delhi Statehood Bill was presented in Parliament and there were some shortcomings in that Bill, therefore the MHA must consult the elected government to be on the same page about the fresh draft Bill. The resolution demands that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs take legal and legislative steps to declare Delhi a full-fledged state. Speaking on the issue of full statehood, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Centres alleged interference in Delhis affairs. I want to tell the Prime Minister to handle Pakistan, which he has not been able to do, and give the Delhi Police and MCD to the people of Delhi, he said. Full statehood would ensure better law and order and safety for women, he said, adding that Delhi will become a clean city like London and Paris, and every household would have its own house. We will give a house to each voter family in 10 years after attaining full statehood. We will give employment to youths, regularise ad-hoc employees, open universities and send corrupt and inefficient officers to jail because Modi government will not be able to have our files, he said. The resolution questioned how a politically nominated Lt Governor could act as a super-boss of a democratically elected council of ministers. Attacking L-G Anil Baijal for his alleged interference in the functioning of the Delhi government on the directions of the BJP-led Central government, Development Minister Gopal Rai said regarding the demand for statehood that now this is a do or die situation. People of Delhi have given such a huge mandate to us, so there is a responsibility. We all have to fight for this (full statehood), said Rai. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: The State Legislative Assembly on Monday gave the green signal to two important bills, whilst the Opposition leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka condemned the process and wanted a debate on them on Monday. The most important among the two was the Telangana Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which was proposed by E Dayakar Rao, minister for Panchayat Raj, to replace the Ordinance issued during the recent panchayat elections that capped the total reservations to 50 per cent. The ordinance was issued following a court order that demanded it. If the Congress wants a debate on the Bill, the act of going to the court against BC reservations too will have to be debated, Dayakar Rao said, blaming Congress for going against the BC reservations during the gram panchayat elections. Responding to this, Bhatti said that it was an important Bill concerning the weaker sections and a debate should be held on Monday. However, the House adopted the Bill over voice vote. Following this, Bhatti alleged that the House proceedings were not going in the correct direction. He lashed out against the Speaker alleging that he was denying the opposition their chance to speak.Speaker, you are not allowing the Opposition to speak. You mute our microphones. You are bulldozing the Opposition, Bhatti alleged. Bhatti and the other leaders alleged that arrogance of power has struck the TRS leaders and hence they think they can bulldoze anyone.People demand us to have discussions. Here, a Bill is introduced and passed on the same day, Bhatti said. The Opposition leaders said that they will bring the issue to the Speakers notice again and urge him to hold discussion on both the Bills. The House also adopted the Telangana Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2019 which too will replace an Ordinance. The Bill was proposed by the minister for Legislative Affairs Vemula Prasanth Reddy, on behalf of the CM. By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: Launching his final salvo against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ahead of the simultaneous elections to Assembly and Lok Sabha, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Saturday the Centre-aided projects worth `1.36 lakh crore are hanging fire due to non-cooperation by the State Government. Listing out major projects sanctioned by the Centre which remain a non-starter, Pradhan said projects worth `56,563 crore in road, transport and highways, `51,395 crore in petroleum and natural gas, `15,413 crore in non-petroleum, `12,286 crore in rail infrastructure, `560 crore in health and education and `200 crore in tourism and heritage sectors could not be executed due to lack of land and grant of statutory clearances from the State. Lack of land parcels continues to be a stumbling block to Indian Oil Corporations (IOCL) expansion plans its refinery at Paradip and textile park project in Bhadrak district. Seeking an explanation from the Chief Minister for his Governments callousness to the Central projects under the BJPs Jabab Maguchi Odisha progamme, Pradhan said the apathy of the State Government to all developmental projects under Prime Minister Narendra Modis Purvodaya programme stems from the fear that the PM will take all credit. Coming down heavily on the State Government for its lack of support to the Central push for a big development in the State, the Union Minister said he had to cancel a meeting convened to review the status of big tickets projects under Pragati due to non-participation of officers of the State Government. I have called a meeting with the Chief Secretary here today. My office had duly informed the Chief Secretary in writing about the time and venue of the meeting. Unfortunetely, he did not rurn up to the meeting, Pradhan said. Since a large number of projects of various union ministries are hanging in the balance due to some problems or other, todays meeting was important. The Union Minister and officials of GAIL and NHAI waited for long and had to cancel as Chief Secretary AP Padhi did not turn up for the same. May be the Chief Secretary was busy for some important work. But, courtesy demands that he could have informed about his non-availability well in advance, Pradhan remarked. While IOCL request to the State Government for 2,290 acres of additional land for its petrochemical units entailing an investment of `51,779 crore is pending for approval for over a year, Pradhan said Taiwans proposal to invest `43,000 crore in green-field petrochemical projects in Paradip is yet to get a positive response from the ruling BJD. He once again accused the Chief Minister of conspiring to derail the `7,500 crore coastal highway project. By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: Odisha has witnessed all round development during the last 20 years because of the targeted, integrated and specific interventions of the Government. It was the unanimous opinion at a panel discussion on Odisha on the move organised by The New Indian Express on the occasion of launching of the book, JUGGERNAUT Odisha On the Move written by Consulting Editor of the paper Ravishankar. Nistha Satyam, UN Women, Deputy Country Representative, India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka said among many initiatives of Odisha Government, the decision to politically empower women was important. Stating that Government of Odisha made special efforts to respond to local needs, Satyam said several schemes including MAMATA, construction of hostels for girl students and KHUSI will help empower women. Odisha is one of the few states which has addressed structural barriers, he said. Former Indian ambassador to Norway, Debraj Pradhan said there has been visible change towards better in Odisha and the State has now become a favoured destination for foreign investment. The all-round development shows that Odisha is not on the move, it is on the run, he said. Pointing out that schemes like KALIA launched by Odisha Government for the benefit of farmers have received applause nationally, Suraj Kumar, founder member of Niti Foundation said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has now emerged as a thought leader and Odisha has become a laboratory of ideas. The integrated disaster management, now known as Odisha model, has been adopted by Gujarat, Sri Lanka and Iran, Kumar said and added that there are many things to learn from it. The panel discussion was moderated by Shashikumar Velath, executive trustee, Bridge Institute and Former Co CEO, Amnesty International. Participating in the panel discussion on gender issues, Nitya Swaminathan Rao, senior lecturer, school of International Development University of East Anglia, UK said Odisha is front runner in women empowerment. He said though women are producers, they are yet to be recognised as farmers. Lara Allen, CEO of Centre for Global Equality, a Cambridge-based civil society organisation, said middlemen should be done away with so that women farmers directly sell their produce to women self help groups. Ranu Bhogal, head of Oxfam India said multi-lingual education policy should be introduced in tribal areas. She said the State Government should also regulate the health sector. Stating that land rights to tribals are yet to be recognised, Bhogal said if such a large number of people are denied land rights, fissures in society will deepen. Anuprita Shukla, UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation also participated in the discussion. The panel discussion was moderated by Suraj Kumar, Founder Member, Niti Foundation. Shan A S By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a bid to streamline the functioning of the police beat system and to bring in accountability, the police are mulling introducing tech community policing scheme under which the officers on patrol would be connected to a GPRS loop, and their movement would be monitored from the Police Headquarters. The project is in a conceptual stage and will get into the implementation phase once the required number of tablets are purchased and the network connectivity is ensured. The beat officers will be given the internet enabled tablets thus allowing the central control room to trace their exact location. The officers can also enter the beat report on a mobile application that will be stored and can be viewed from the control room. The officers attached with the community police scheme (Janamaithri) will also be brought under the ambit of the plan. The project, once implemented, would radically change the way the police patrolling is being done, said a senior officer, who is part of the project. Now, the final word about a beat is the word of the officer who is part of that. Its his words that are taken at face value. However, there have been several complaints regarding night patrolling. The new system will flag in case of a discrepancy. For example, when a big crime happens, then only we would get to know about the shortcomings in the beat system. When technology comes into play, then there wont be any room for error and manipulations. The system will lock on to the location of the patrolling team, the officer said. 24x7 network connectivity an issue However, a 24X7 net connectivity would be a tough ask, a section of officers feels. The Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS), the flagship programme of the Centre meant to digitise documents and interconnect all police stations in the country, is lagging in the state due to lack of connectivity in certain areas. The works that should be done online is now being done offline due to this issue, and the updating happens when the network connectivity is restored. The connectivity issues that have crippled CCTNS could also impact the new project, a senior official said. By Express News Service KASARGOD: An outbreak of H1N1 viral infection has been reported in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Periya.Tests have confirmed five cases and 67 suspected cases, said district medical officer (DMO) AP Dinesh Kumar. "We have quarantined the students showing the symptoms to arrest the spread of the infection," he said. The Navodaya, with around 570 students, is a residential school and all the students, teachers and non-teaching staff stay on the campus. "Our students first started falling sick on Thursday, and by Friday it was confirmed that some of them were infected by H1N1," said Kurian, a teacher of the school.The Health Department immediately sent a team of doctors and the students are being treated on the campus, he said. The DMO said the team sent the swabs of five students to the virology lab in Manipal and all the samples tested positive for H1N1, a strain of swine flu. The symptoms of H1N1 are fever, cough, body pain, and chill and may last up to eight days, said officials. The students are being treated on the campus. As of now, the symptoms exhibited by the students were mild and the fever too was subsiding. "Since the students stay in a dormitory, we are treating all the suspected cases as confirmed H1N1 cases," he said. The virus is highly contagious and so the department has restricted the interaction with outsiders. "We don't know the source of the infection but we want to confine the outbreak to the campus," the DMO said.No new cases were reported on Sunday, he added. The school, however, cancelled the regular visitation day on Saturday to avoid the spread. "The health department and the school are likely to call a meeting of parents on Monday at the Taluk Office to apprise them of the situation and answer their queries," he said. H1N1 is an airborne disease and can spread from coughs and sneezes, said the DMO. Handshakes, hugs, kissing, sharing drinks or sharing blankets can also spread the virus, he said. Saudi Arabias King Salman has ordered that a number of Egyptian citizens jailed in the kingdom be pardoned and released, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday. The order came as the king arrived in Egypt to attend a joint conference of the European Union and League of Arab States LAS summit, which is set to start in the Rea Sea resort of Sharm El-Shiekh on Sunday. According to the Saudi Press Agency, the Egyptian prisoners to be pardoned were involved in a number of different cases in accordance with the relevant rules and procedures in force or in violation of the rules of residency who are unable to pay the legally prescribed fines so that they can return to their country. The SPA noted that Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi valued this noble gesture which reflects the great attention paid by the kingdoms leadership to Egypts government and people. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Saturday afternoon at Sharm El-Sheikh airport, ahead of the first joint summit of Arab League and European Union leaders. An official reception ceremony was held for Salman upon his arrival, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported. A total of 24 leaders from the blocs 28 member states, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May, as well as the leaders of 21 Arab countries, will take part. Other Arab leaders who arrived in Sharm El-Sheikh Saturday include the presidents of Yemen, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco and Somalia. Short link: By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Governor P Sathasivam has said parliamentary democracy is an evolving process and cannot be perfected overnight. He was delivering the inaugural address at the National Students' Parliament 2019 held as part of the Festival on Democracy at the Kerala Assembly here on Saturday. He said democracy is evolving in a vibrant country like India. The Governor said the people of the country should be educated politically and said the right to vote is the mother of all rights ensured by the Constitution. He said everyone should ensure that they are exercising their franchise which effects the necessary change required in a society. Sathasivam said when he took over as Governor, the voting rights of his wife and himself were in Mylapore, Chennai and he got them transferred to Thiruvananthapuram. He said he along with his wife had proudly cast their vote in the last Assembly elections and said he is waiting eagerly to cast his vote in the coming general elections as well. The Governor also recalled his days as a Supreme Court Judge and the judgment he had pronounced as part of the Constitution Bench giving consent to the Local Area Development Funds of Members of Parliament. He said with the LAD Funds, the MPs and MLAs are fully involved in the local development initiatives. He said Kerala is a classic example of political bonhomie and cited attending the funeral of former President A P J Abdul Kalam at Rameswaram along with the- then Chief Minister Oomen Chandy and then Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan. He said the media in Tamil Nadu had extensively reported on it. Sathasivam said during the funeral of former Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi, he had travelled to Chennai along with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. He said he was travelling in his official car with the Chief Minister and the Opposition leader which was again major news in mainstream Tamil media as this was something unique. The Governor said this is the spirit of democracy and even while there are dissenting views, there can be personal relationships and unity for common cause. According to the Governor, this was not the situation in several other states where the Opposition and the ruling front dont see eye to eye. There was not even any communication between them. Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan delivered the presidential address. Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala choose to speak in Hindi which was well received by students from across the country. Unicef country head Yasmil Ali Haque, Finance minister Thomas Isaac, Rahul V Karnad, executive president MIT, WPU Pune, Deputy Speaker of Kerala Assembly V Sasi and Assembly secretary V K Babu Prakash spoke. By Express News Service BENGALURU: Tuition fees for post-graduate medical courses will see a sharp increase from the coming academic year as the state government has decided to hike fees in government medical colleges by as much as three times over the current fee. In addition, the Karnataka Professional Colleges Foundation (KPCF) had a meeting with the state government on Saturday where both the foundation and the government have agreed to a 15% hike. Commenting on the fee hike for government medical colleges, Medical Education Department director Dr Girish said, This is under discussion and a final decision will be taken by Monday or Tuesday. In the current academic year, the fee for for these courses at government medical colleges had not crossed `25,000 which includes university fee. Official agreement will be signed soon A source explained, There is some discussion on fixing the fee for PG medical courses (clinical) at `1 lakh per annum, but there is also another proposal to increase it by three times, which would be around `85,000. Increasing maintenance costs have been cited as the reason for the fee hike. Similarly, the 15% fee hike will apply to both government quota seats in private colleges as well as those seats available through the Consortium of Medical Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (COMEDK). M R Jayaram, president of KPCF, said, We had requested the government to give a realistic fee structure and also asked them to continue with the 15% hike. The official agreement will be signed soon, he said. For the coming academic year, the admission process will begin from March-end because of the upcoming parliamentary elections. As the election dates may be declared anytime, we had a meeting with the government to avoid any confusion. After the discussion, it was resolved to go for a 15% hike, he said. During the meeting, the KPCF made a presentation to the government explaining the cost per student, annual expenditure to run a college, quality of education and infrastructure as per the National Institutional Ranking Framework. The government has 33% seat share and giving `60,000 to `90,000 per student will not help us anyway in excelling. We have explained to the minister about corruption within the department at all levels, Jayaram said. According to the foundation, private medical colleges spend `8.5 lakh per student per year and 96% of their staff are highly qualified.It may be recalled that for MBBS courses, the government had more than doubled the fee in government medical colleges. The fee was `17,000 per year and during 2018-19 admissions, students were asked to pay `50,000 plus `9,000 as university fee. T J S George By Its now two months since the Union government issued orders that turned India into a surveillance state. Ten investigative agencies were authorised to intercept, monitor and decrypt all computer material kept by all citizens. The authorities justified it by saying that the rules were framed by the Congress-led UPA government. That is a flop explanation because one iniquity does not justify another. The scariest picture of a surveillance state was sketched in George Orwells classic novel 1984, written in 1949. Looking 35 years ahead at that time was, for Orwell, like looking into a completely reconfigured world because the war had just ended and Soviet Communism seemed poised to gobble a sizable chunk of the world. Orwell saw The Party, led by Big Brother and the Thought Police using media manipulation and advanced technology to control populations. Doublethink was common and Newspeak emerged as the lingua franca. Oceania, the country that emerged when the US devoured the British Commonwealth, Eurasia, constituted by the Soviet absorption of continental Europe, and Eastasia, which controlled all of the Far East, were in perpetual war. What Orwell feared didnt quite work out that way, except that the superpowers got into perpetual war. But a more comprehensive version of the Orwellian nightmare took shape, quite unexpectedly, in India. Advanced technology has been at work for a while. Media manipulation and thought vigilantes became facts of life after 2014. Doublethink became a mark of nationalism, Newspeak the way to success. And now Big Brother has officially declared that he is watching. A group of filmmakers in Mumbai said at a closed-door meeting that they feared being branded anti-national. Amol Palekar was stopped by on-stage officials of the National Gallery of Modern Art when he started to criticise some official policy decisions on art. An Ahmedabad college cancelled a scheduled speech by Jignesh Mevani, a former student, because of ABVP threats. The principal resigned in protest, realising no doubt that he had no role when The Thought Police thought all permitted thoughts. It must have surprised Orwell that Stalinism, the hatred of which was the provocation for his novel, did not become the horror he feared. Stalin was repudiated by his successors and then forgotten. Strangely, the Big Brother concepts took shape in the very country with which Orwell was umbilically connected. (He was born in Motihari, Bihar, where his father was a British civil servant). Did Orwell pick the year 1984 on a whim? British speculation centred around a Jack London novel in which a political movement comes to power in 1984 and a G K Chesterton story set in 1984. But the choice of the year proved portentous for the country he had probably forgotten by then, some calling it the year that changed India. Early that year, Indira Gandhi ordered the ill-advised military assault on the Golden Temple in Amritsar where Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had sought refuge to escape from arrest. In October, Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her own Sikh guards. This was followed by anti-Sikh riots that killed an estimated 10,000 people. The year closed with one of the worst industrial disasters in history when poisonous gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, killing 4,000 people outright and another 16,000 later. Did Orwell have some kind of a premonition about India when he picked 1984? Was some evil eye at work unseen? The world Orwell conjured up might have been maniacal. But it was fictional. The India that emerges from the home ministrys surveillance order is all too real. It gives agencies like IB, RAW, CBI and even the Delhi Police Commissioner a blanket licence to access electronic information. A full week would pass for any restraint order to come, if at all. This makes a mockery of the Supreme Court order that the right to privacy is integral to the fundamental right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Why is the government so jittery? In an ideal world where people identify themselves with their government, the security of the state and the security of its people would be one and the same. Since the world is not an ideal one, some security systems are necessary. But no democracy has introduced an omnibus spying system of the kind India has put in place. What Delhi has revealed in the process is a them and us separation between the people and the government. Why have the people of India become such compulsive contrarians, to use the phrase coined by Arun Jaitley, our impulsive disciplinarian. Abhijit Mulye By Express News Service MUMBAI: As the elections are nearing dissidents, who are not sure of getting tickets, have started raising voices over their demands. Individuals and party leaders all appear to be busy trying to get as much bigger the share they can. Union minister Ramdas Athawale is the first from the ruling combine to do so. He is unhappy with the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance after none of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state has been offered to his party while announcing the alliance. Athawale, who had staked a claim on Shiv Sena's North Central Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency, which has sizable Dalit votes, for a long time, said while speaking at Nagpur that he won't like to be in the alliance like a slave. While indicating that he has received invitations from the NCP, Athawale reminded the audience of his friendship with NCP leader Sharad Pawar whom he may approach if his demands are not met. Another leader from ruling combine who is in combative mood is Shiv Sena's Arjun Khotkar, minister of state for textile and animal husbandry in Fadnavis cabinet. He had staked a claim on state BJP president Raosaheb Danve's Jalna Lok Sabha constituency for a long time and has said that he would contest the seat even though the parties have formed an alliance. The Congress is angling for Khotkar after he appears to have refused the party leadership's instructions to tone down. Pune based developer-contractor Sanjay Kakade, who is BJP supported independent Rajya Sabha MP, has staked a claim on Lok Sabha constituency of the city which is currently held by BJP's Anil Shirole. Kakade had approached his old friends in NCP when he sensed that he may not be able to replace the BJP's seating MP, but the constituency went to Congress in alliance pact increasing Kakade's difficulty. Kakade had ensured BJP's victory at Pune municipal corporation and wants the party to return the favour. Though, very confident of winning the seat, he, however, doesn't want to contest as an independent. On the opposition front, leader of opposition in the state assembly and senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil is said to be unhappy with the party leadership for not pushing hard enough for the Ahmednagar south Lok Sabha constituency. Vikhe-Patil has been eyeing the seat for his son Dr Sujay for a long time. In 2014 the Congress had taken Hingoli seat from NCP for its secretary Rajiv Satav. A similar arrangement should have been made, Vikhe-Patil feels. However, the NCP is not ready to leave the seat though their candidate is yet to be finalised and state Congress leadership too is not too keen about the seat. Vikhe and Pawar are old adversaries in the state Congress which is why he is being trapped, say the observers, while Vikhe supports have said that Sujay might even seek ticket from the BJP if Congress-NCP continues to ignore the demand. Another disheartened soul in Congress-NCP led grand alliance is Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) chief Raju Shetti. Since his demands for at least three seats too was turned down by the grand alliance offering him only his own Hatkanangale seat from Kolhapur, he is likely to contest independently, party sources have said. Bharip Bahujan Maha Sangh (BBMS) leader Adv Prakash Ambedkar, who has tied up with Owaisi's AIMIM with an aim to amass a sizable chunk of the two major vote banks had demanded 12 seats from the Congress. However, after the demand was turned down, Ambedkar has made assurance from the Congress that RSS would be made to act within the framework of the constitution, as the precondition for alliance and the Congress has not yet completely ruled out the tie-up. By AFP LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday called for still more time to renegotiate her Brexit deal and drew outrage by suggesting parliament may not be able to vote on the text until just 17 days before Britain leaves the EU. Business leaders and MPs reacted with anger and dismay at the news, which also prompted fresh calls to delay Brexit to avoid a damaging "no deal" exit on March 29. Three of May's ministers had earlier warned that the House of Commons would seek a delay if there was no breakthrough this week. May had raised the possibility of a vote on her deal in the coming days but said on Sunday she was still negotiating with the European Union. ALSO READ | EU medicines agency loses Brexit court case on London lease "As we're continuing with those talks, we won't bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week," she said at a summit of European and Arab leaders in Egypt. "But that will happen by March 12. And we still have it within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29." Lawmakers last month rejected her withdrawal deal, and since then, May has sought to address their concerns about its so-called "backstop" plan for the border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. She met with European Council chief Donald Tusk in Sharm el-Sheikh and will also hold talks at the summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while her team will return to Brussels on Tuesday. But Labour's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said her move was "the height of irresponsibility and an admission of failure". "Theresa May is recklessly running down the clock in a desperate attempt to force MPs to choose between her deal and no deal," he said. Business leaders also expressed dismay. "This is the latest signal to businesses that no-deal is hurtling closer. It must be averted," said Josh Hardie, deputy director general of the CBI lobby group. Adam Marshall of the British Chambers of Commerce added: "These endless political manoeuvres aren't helping the businesses, communities or people of the UK to prepare for the changes that lie ahead." Calls to delay Brexit May says she does not want Britain to leave the EU without a deal, which experts warn could cause major economic disruption on both sides of the Channel, but she argues this requires MPs to back her plan. Growing numbers of lawmakers, however, believe that Brexit may need to be delayed. Business minister Greg Clark, work and pensions minister Amber Rudd and justice minister David Gauke on Saturday warned that if there was no breakthrough this week, parliament would seek the delay option. "Beyond the next few days, there simply will not be time to agree a deal and complete all the necessary legislation before March 29," they wrote in an article in the Daily Mail. May will address the Commons on Tuesday. then on Wednesday MPs will have the chance to debate their own ideas for the way forward. A member of May's Conservative Party, Nick Boles, urged fellow lawmakers to back a cross-party plan to delay Brexit on Wednesday. "MPs need to insert some rigour into this process," he said. EU wary After rejecting the withdrawal deal that May spent almost two years negotiating with Brussels, MPs voted by a slim majority to request she seek changes to the Irish backstop. This arrangement would keep Britain in a customs union with the EU after Brexit if and until another way -- for example, a free trade deal -- were found to keep the border with Ireland free flowing. The EU has said it will not reopen the text, but is looking at what "guarantees" could be given to reassure MPs that the backstop would be temporary. But Tusk emphasised during his talks with May that the other 27 member states would not sign off on anything until they were confident the Commons supported it. "Tusk recalled the need for EU27 to have clarity that a proposal for the way forward can command a majority in the UK, before the issue is tackled by the European Council," an EU source said. Earlier, Environment Secretary Michael Gove said the government was still looking at a time limit or unilateral exit mechanism for the backstop as a way to assuage MPs' concerns. Alternatively, "it could be another legally powerful protocol or addition to the treaty that makes it clear that we would not be bound in the backstop indefinitely against our will". By Express News Service BHOPAL: Two 5-year-old twin brothers Shreyansh and Priyansh both UKG student sons of medicated oil businessman who were kidnapped by masked men on gunpoint from crowded school bus in Chitrakoot town of Madhya Pradeshs Satna district on February 12, were found murdered in the Yamuna river in Banda district of Central UP 12 days later on Sunday morning. Six men aged between 20 and 26 years, including five from UPs Banda and Hamirpur districts and one from MPs Chitrakoot town have been arrested for the kidnap-double murder. The six men arrested on February 22 and 23 in a joint operation of MP and UP police, included 26-year-old Ramkesh Yadav, a native of UPs Banda district, who gave private tuitions to the twin brothers at their home located in Karvi (Chitrakoot district of UP), just around 100 meters from MPs territory. The other arrested men, include mastermind Padam Shukla an engineering passout native of MPs Chitrakoot town, Pintu alias Pinta Yadav (the vital link between Padam and Ramkesh), Raju Dwivedi, Bachelor of Engineering (BE) student Lucky Singh Tomar and Rohit Dwivedi. The arrested men tied the hands and legs of the twin brothers before throwing them in Yamuna river in Banda district on February 21 night, as they feared that since the two siblings recognized Ramkesh Yadav (their private tutor), it could have led to their arrest. The twins were thrown into the river over 24 hours after the boys businessman father Brijesh Rawat paid Rs 20 lakh as ransom. One of the arrested men Padam Shukla is allegedly the brother of a youth associated with Bajrang Dal. However, senior leaders of the saffron outfit in MP have denied it. Shukla has shared on his FB page picture with a BJP leader from Rajasthan. The kidnapping-double murder mastermind Shukla, importantly, shared a post on his FB page on February 18, appealing people to help the police in locating the two kidnapped twins. Also, the two numberless mobikes suspected to have been used in the crime have stickers bearing the word Ram Rajya, while a Bolero vehicle (registration number UP96A8477) also seized by the police and suspected to have been used by the arrested men bore a BJP flag, IG (Rewa Zone) Chanchal Shekhar told The New Indian Express over phone. Its very unfortunate incident. Ive talked to the father of the deceased twins and assured of fulsome justice in the matter. All the accused have been arrested and all possible angles will be probed in detail. The aspects which will be probed, also include the politics behind it, particularly as the vehicle in which those arrested were moving is fitted with flag of which party is known to all. The opposition is afraid in the matter, as some of their own people could be linked to what has happened, said Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath in Bhopal. MP DGP VK Singh told journalists in Bhopal that all the firearms and vehicles suspected to have been used in the crime have been seized and the case will be tried before a fast track court. The prosecution will try and get death sentence for the accused in the case, the DGP added. Also, prohibitory orders have been imposed in Chitrakoot town of MP and extra police force deployed there in the wake of violent protests by commoners against the killing of the twins. Some buses have been ransacked and commercial establishments also targeted by angry residents. Meanwhile, the opposition BJP demanded that home minister Bala Bachchans quit over police failure to rescue the kids alive. However, MP law minister PC Sharma, while defending the home minister, put the onus of the matter on UP government and police. Major part of the police operation was carried out by UP police in UP and both bodies have been retrieved from river in UP, so if anyone needs to resign its the UP CM and not the MP home minister, said Sharma. Other senior BJP leaders, including former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Leader of Opposition in State Assembly Gopal Bhargava, said that the Kamal Nath government has failed to maintain law and order in the state. Only two industries are thriving in the state now, one being the abduction industry and the other one being the transfer-posting industry, said Bhargava. In Rewa district, which neighbours Satna district, ex-CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed shock over the twin brothers killing and accused the Congress government of converting MP from island of peace to a continent of crime. Another state BJP spokesperson in Bhopal, Rajnish Agrawal said the BJP will hold statewide protests on Monday over the killing of two children. However, when questioned about the kidnapping-murder mastermind Padam Shukla being a Bajrang Dal activists brother and the seized Bolero bearing BJP flag, Agrawal said no where during the press conference in Satna district, has the IG-Rewa Zone said any Bajrang Dal leader is involved in the crime. Also, the seized vehicle bearing flag doesnt mean that BJP or any allied outfit is involved in the heinous crime. Crimes have been committed in the past by criminals attired in police and army fatigues and travelling in vehicles bearing beacons and police/army flags, does that mean that police/army were involved in those crimes. The two siblings were kidnapped at gunpoint from the crowded school bus by motorbike borne two masked men just outside the Sadguru Public Higher Secondary School campus on February 12 in Chitrakoot town of MP, while the school bus had just left the school. A reward of Rs 50,000 was declared by the MP DGP VK Singh on February 13 for getting clinching info in the case. On February 21, a local resident in Banda district of UP (whose cell-phone was used by the captors to make the ransom call) shared the pictures of one of the mobikes used in the crime, ultimately helping the cops of UP and MP to nab the six accused on February 22 and 23. Sources privy to police investigations in MP and UP confided that even after being arrested by cops, the kidnappers told the police that the kids were alive. They took the cops to Allahabad district and Banda district, but it was the questioning of Bachelor of Engineering (BE) student Vicky Tomar which led to the disclosure that the twins had been thrown into the river on February 21. After this teams of UP and MP police retrieved both the bodies tied to stones from Yamuna river in Banda district early on Sunday, a key source said. The ransom money paid by the kidnapped-murdered kids father too has been recovered by the police. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: The local ATS court of Lucknow sent the two suspected operatives of Pakistan based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), arrested from a private hostel in Deoband, Saharanpur, on Friday, to 10-day police custody for interrogation on late Saturday evening. The two terror suspects-Shanawaz Ahmad Teli of Kulgam and Aquib Ahmad Malik of Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir -- were brought from Saharanpur to Lucknow on a transit remand by the ATS on Saturday morning to get take them in custody for grilling. However, they could not be produced in the local court owing to a huge protest by a rush of agitated lawyers at the gate and they were shouting anti-Pakistan, anti-Jaish slogans. Even they reportedly tried to drag the suspects out of police vehicle. Consequently, the ATS took them back. Later in the day, the ATS team returned with the two Jaish modules with more police reinforcement and got their 10-day custodial remand for further interrogation. After the initial round of quizzing, the two suspects believably revealed that while being in Dar-ul-Uloom in Deoband as students, they were entrusted with radicalising potential recruits and convince them for joining the terror outfit. "But they denied having information about the fidayeen attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama on February 14," said a source in ATS. However, they reportedly knew Adil Ahmad Dar, the suicide bomber who attacked CRPF convoy in Pulwama. Even they knew the Pulwama attack mastermind Kamran alias Rashid Ghazi. Moreover, the two were suspected to be hiding explosives and firearms in Kashmir, said UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officials. They added that the recovery of the ammunition could be made on the basis of the inputs shared by the two ultras. The ATS source claimed that both the suspects would be taken to their home state and Delhi as well for further interrogation. Notably, two 0.32 bore pistols recovered from the accused were of good quality and suspected to have been supplied from across the border. Even 30 live cartridges, jehadi literature, video clips and films were also recovered from the place where the two were staying. On the other, Dar-ul-Uloom, the biggest seminary of Islamic education in Asia, has closed its doors on Kashmiri students after the arrest of suspected Jaish ultras on Friday. Rattled by midnight raids of UP ATS, the Islamic seminary has decided not to rent out accommodation to Kashmiris anymore. In fact, many house owners in the area rent out their property as a hostel to outstation students enrolled in the seminary and the madrasas affiliated to it. Significantly, the two Jaish suspects held on Friday were also putting up illegally in such a hostel faking to be the students of Dar-ul-Uloom. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Twenty-one-year-old Rajesekar, who is alleged to have murdered school teacher S Ramya (23) on Friday, was found hanging in a cashew nut groove near Villupuram in the early hours of Sunday. Cuddalore police said that Rajasekar had committed suicide by hanging himself in the groove at Tirunavalur village. The residents had spotted the body and alerted police. The body was retrieved by the police and sent to the Government Hospital for postmortem. On Friday, Ramya, who worked at a private school at Kurinjipadi, was waiting outside the school when two motorbike-borne youth slit her throat in broad daylight. An investigation by the police indicated that Rajesekar, a native of Oomangalam, had been stalking Ramya for past few months. The accused was allegedly pestering Ramya to accept his proposal of love. Police said he killed her out of anger that she had turned him down. This is not the first instance of a stalker attacking a woman. In April 2018, Lavanya, a medical student at Annamalai University was brutally attacked by a stalker. She is still undergoing treatment. In September 2013, Mahalakshmi, an undergraduate student of St. Joseph college was murdered by a stalker. If you are in distress, you can contact the Tamil Nadu government health helpline 104 or the Sneha Suicide prevention helpline at 044 24640050. By PTI INDORE: Traders in Indore in Madhya Pradesh have announced the stoppage of sale of edibles imported from Pakistan in protest against the Pulwama terror attack on February 14 which killed 40 CRPF troopers. The state's farmers have also said that they would not export tomatoes to the neighbouring nation. The Pakistani items that have been banned by traders here are 'sendha namak' (rock salt), 'kharak' (dry dates) and mangoes. Ramesh Khandelwal, president of Indore's Siyaganj Wholesale Grocery Traders Association said his organisation would not import kharak and sendha namak from Pakistan. He informed that, prior to the Pulwama attack, more than 300 quintals of kharak would reach Siyaganj Mandi from Pakistan and would then be supplied ahead to Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat. Khandelwal said many grocers had even cancelled orders for these items that were placed before the attack took place. Jagdish Rawalia, Kisan Sena state secretary, told PTI, "Farmers have decided that they will not sell their tomato produce to traders who export it further to Pakistan. Even if it causes us losses, we will not send our produce to a country which is sponsoring terror attacks on our jawans." Jhabua, Khargone, Shajapur and Dhar are major tomato-growing districts in the state and the produce from these places reaches Pakistan through mandis in Delhi and Mumbai, farmers said. Businessmen from Indore's Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Fruit Market, one of the state's biggest fruit trading market, said they would not sell mangoes that have come in from the neighbouring country. Indore Fruit Merchants Association secretary Naresh Fundwani said, "In view of the Pulwama terror attack, we have decided we will not sell Pakistani mangoes this time. Mangoes from Pakistan reach Indore mandi through Delhi." By PTI NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the three service chiefs on Monday will interact with India's defence attaches in 42 countries during which the Pulwama terror attack and the overall security challenges facing the country are expected to figure prominently, official sources said. The two-day conclave of the defence attaches is taking place in the backdrop of soaring tensions between India and Pakistan following the dastardly terror attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Days after the attack in which40 CRPF personnel were killed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the armed forces have been given free hand to respond to the strike. Islamabad said it will adequately respond to any action by New Delhi. "A range of issues, including situation along the border with Pakistan, will be discussed at the meeting. The government will also take feedback of the defence attaches on key security challenges," a military official said. India's defence attache to Pakistan and Afghanistan are also attending the conclave, sources said. The sources said the situation along India's border with China as well as geo-strategic issues relating to India's neighbourhood are also likely to figure in the conclave. An Egyptian foreign ministry statement Sunday has affirmed Egypt's complete rejection of any sort of interference with the Egyptian judiciary. "Commenting on the statement made by the spokesperson of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and a group of special rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council on the implementation of the death sentence endorsed by the Court of Cassation against nine of those charged with the assassination of former General Prosecutor Hisham Barakat, the Arab Republic of Egypt expresses complete rejection to any sort of tackling of the Egyptian judiciary," said the statement. "The verdicts came after lengthy trial sessions in which all defendants were granted fair trials," the statement added, stressing the independence of the Egyptian judiciary and its right to rule in accordance with Egyptian laws, which are based on respect for all relevant international standards. "Egypt also strongly rejects any allegations of forcibly extracting confessions from the defendants and calls on all parties to carefully read the grounds on which the verdicts were based and the extent to which the Egyptian judiciary adhered to all national and international standards in this regard, instead of relying solely on allegations aimed at defaming or distortion," the statement added. The statement stressed the need for international mechanisms working in the field of human rights to respect the cultural and legal characteristics and diversity of each country, whose respect is an integral part of human rights, and to abstain from imposing their unilateral visions, considering them superior to others. On Monday, Egypt's Prisons Authority executed nine prisoners convicted of assassinating Egyptian Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat in 2015. Egypt's Court of Cassation upheld the death sentence for the prisoners in November 2018, rejecting an appeal against a lower criminal court sentence issued in July 2017. However, the court did commute the sentence of six other prisoners from death to life in prison. It also sentenced 15 defendants to life in prison, eight defendants to 15 years, and 10 others to 10 years. The defendants in the case were charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, the possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, and the possession of explosive devices. In June 2015, Barakat was killed in a Cairo bomb attack that struck his convoy in the upscale eastern Cairo district of Heliopolis. A militant group calling itself the Popular Resistance claimed responsibility for the bombing. A court in February 2017 designated the group a terrorist organisation. Short link: Namita Bajpai By Express News Service ALLAHABAD: Draped in quintessential orange, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took a holy dip at the Sangam and interacted with sanitation workers. He also performed the Ganga aarti and took part in the Triveni Puja. The PM performed the rituals conducted by a group of priests in the presence of UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Deputy CM Keshav Maurya and other ministers of Yogi cabinet. Describing the sanitation workers as the real karm yogis, the PM honoured them by washing their feet and presenting them an angvastram. No one can know the labour they (safai karamcharis) have put in the Kumbh. Cleanliness has been the trademark of this Kumbh, Modi said at a gathering at the Kumbh Mela. Modi felicitated a number of boatmen, policemen and paramilitary personnel for their services in keeping the mela clean, safe and secure for the crores of devotes. The PM also announced that five different insurance schemes will be extended to safai karmacharis, boatmen and others working at the Kumbh. The premiums for all the insurance will be deposited by the government on behalf of the beneficiaries. By IANS NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid rich tributes to Morarji Desai, a seasoned politician and a former Prime Minister and applauded his unique role in ensuring that the way 'democracy was assassinated in 1975' by way of Emergency, could never be repeated again. "To save democracy, Morarji Desai flung himself in the movement against imposition of Emergency. For this, he had to pay a heavy price in his old age. The government of that time arrested and incarcerated him," Prime Minister said in his monthly radio broadcast Mann-Ki-Baat programme over All India Radio. Mr Modi said, ''the Late Morarji Desai had ensured that the way democracy was assassinated in 1975 by imposition of emergency, could never be repeated again in the future". Mr Modi said - "During his tenure, the 44th Constitutional Amendment was introduced. This was important because the 42nd Amendment which was brought during the Emergency, curtailed the powers of the Supreme Court which violated our democratic values, was struck down". "The 44th amendment, made it mandatory that the proceedings of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies were made public through the newspapers. This amendment, restored certain powers of Supreme Court," the Prime Minister said. "For the first time constitutional safeguards guaranteed that the President could only announce the emergency upon the written recommendation of the Cabinet, and that the period of emergency could not be extended more than six months at any stretch of time," he said. Mr Modi said - "The upcoming generations of our nation will always remember his priceless contribution in maintaining the sanctity of Indian democracy. Once again I pay my homage to a great leader like him". Born on February 29, 1986, Desai, a native of Gujarat - was country's fourth Prime Minister. Ironically, Desai, a Congress veteran, was the Prime Minister between 1977 and 1979 who headed the country's first non-Congress government. He breathed his last on April 10, 1995. Mr Modi also asserted that he will return to power after the ensuing elections and will address the nation again in 'Mann-Ki Baat' radio broadcast from the last Sunday of May month. "Next two months, we all will get engaged in elections process. I will be a candidate myself and hence keeping up the high traditions of democracy and as a mark of respect to it, the next Mann Ki Baat session will be held on last Sunday of May 2019," the Prime Minister said in his irreplaceable style. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: Even while prime minister Narendra Modi was launching Rs 75,000 crore cash transfer scheme for farmers (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) at Gorakhpur on Sunday, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati calling it an insult to the farmers. Accusing the BJP of indulging in mere lip service and doing nothing substantial for the framers, Mayawati said the annual payout of Rs 6000 to the farmers translated to Rs 500 per month and Rs 17 per day was a pittance. Cautioning the farmers of UP against falling prey to BJPs deception, the BSP chief said,"It is an insult. farmers' belief in their labour and want remunerative price of their produce but BJP mentality to give them little monetary help is atrocious and arrogant, Mayawati further tweeted: BJP has failed to fulfil their promise. On Sunday, Mayawati described the Modi government's Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme as a half hearted attempt comparing it with Modi governments previous decisions like demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST). She said the scheme was an election year stunt, which the people have seen through. The BSP chief went on to say the PM-KISAN scheme was similar to previous decisions of the BJP that reflected their narrow-minded approach and asked farmers to be cautious. Meanwhile, Mayawatis ally, Akhilesh yadav tweeted: The farm crisis is a national crisis and needs a national solution. No poll-sop or individual state can implement change at this scale we stand with farmers everywhere and promise to bring about a Golden Revolution for all farmers regardless of caste, creed or religion. By IANS JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Sunday urged people to stay calm and not to pay heed to rumours, saying the deployment of large number of security personnel in the state was linked to upcoming Lok Sabha elections. "The Governor appealed to the people that the induction of forces be seen only in the context of conducting elections and should not be attributed to any other cause," said an official statement after Malik chaired a meeting of the State Administrative Council (SAC) to review the situation in the state in the aftermath of the suicide bombing on a CRPF convoy. "The Governor appealed to the people not to believe in rumours of any extreme nature which are circulating widely in some quarters and to remain calm," the statement said. "These rumours are unnecessarily creating an atmosphere of fear in the minds of people leading to stress and disruption to normal life. Rumours about curfews and other actions should not be believed," he was quoted as saying. The Governor was reacting to mass panic in the Kashmir Valley on Saturday as rumours gripped the region that Article 35-A of the Constitution that gives special rights to people in the state was set to be abrogated. READ| Pulwama fallout: Pakistan writes to UN rights chief over alleged rights violations in Kashmir The Governor's advisors, the Chief Secretary and senior officials attended the SAC meeting. An official statement said the Governor was briefed about the current security situation in Jammu city, where property of a community came under attack following the suicide bombing in the Kashmir Valley. The recent induction of central armed forces for election duty was also discussed. "The Governor was informed that for a smooth conduct of general elections in the state, a much larger number of central security forces is required as the security concerns have increased after the (February 14) Pulwama terror attack. "After the Pulwama incident, the security concerns are much higher with the possibility of terrorist organisations increasing their activities against candidates and voters on a much larger scale. "In this context, a much larger number of additional security forces are needed for conducting the general elections. Normally, forces are inducted a month before elections so that they settle down and familiarize with the ground situation. It is in this context that 100 companies of central forces are being inducted into the state at the moment. This is less than the actual additional forces required and more would be inducted in the coming weeks," the statement added. The Governor also said security measures were being taken for the safety of Kashmiris living outside the state. Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Governor said there was no fight against Kashmiris and it was the responsibility of the country to take care of their safety wherever they may be. He said over 22,000 Kashmiri students were studying outside the state and the media had played up a few scattered incidents of attacks on them. This, he said, had caused fear and anxiety among parents whose children were studying outside the state. By PTI MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan said Sunday that senior party leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil should "convince" his son Sujay, who is keen on contesting the Lok Sabha election from Ahmednagar. In previous elections, the constituency was alloted to the ally NCP, but Sujay Vikhe-Patil has said on more than one occasions that he would stand from Ahmednagar as independent if the seat is not ceded to the Congress. Another constituency in Vikhe-Patil's native Ahmednagar district is Shirdi, but it is a reserved seat. Chavan was speaking to reporters in Latur after unveiling a statue of late Congress leader Vilasrao Deshmukh. "Sujay should know that his request is under the Congress party's consideration. I have also suggested his father that he should convince his son (to back down if necessary)," Chavan said. "The seat Sujay has been demanding has not yet been discussed with the NCP and no final decision has been taken," Chavan added. By PTI NEW DELHI: Names of over five lakh sex offenders, who were convicted for crimes against women, have been added to a database which can been accessed by law enforcement agencies to help crack sex crimes across the country, officials said Sunday. The national registry of sex offenders, maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau, has a database of offenders convicted under charges of rape, gang rape, POCSO and eve teasing. "As or now, we have uploaded details of over five lakh sex offenders," a senior Home Ministry official said. In the registry, details such as photos and IDs will, however, be accessible only to law enforcement agencies and will help them in tracking and investigating cases of sexual offences. "The database includes name, address, photograph and fingerprint details for each entry but there will be no compromise on privacy," the official said. The records are being sourced from the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), an ambitious programme of the Ministry of Home Affairs to maintain a database of crimes and criminals. India is among few countries like the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Trinidad & Tobago, that maintain a sex offenders list, another official said. The United States is the only country where the sex offender registry is available to the public. According to the NCRB statistics, as many as 38,947 rape cases were registered in 2016, against 34,651 in 2015. Overall crimes against women rose from 3,29,243 in 2015 to 3,38,954 in 2016. The NCRB reports on crimes in 2017 and 2018 are yet to be published. A majority of cases in 2016 categorised as crimes against women were reported under cruelty by husband or his relatives (32.6 per cent), followed by assault on woman with intent to outrage her modesty (25 per cent), kidnapping and abduction of women (19 per cent), and rape (11.5 per cent). Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of rape cases (4,882) in 2016, followed by Uttar Pradesh (4,816) and Maharashtra (4,189). By PTI JAMMU: BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday sounded the election bugle here and said the party would ensure that every illegal immigrant from Kashmir to Kanyakumari is thrown out of the country, following the Assam model. Addressing a 'Vijay Sankalp Sammelan', the BJP chief spoke about various issues, including the resolve of the Modi government to fight militancy saying "the BJP government has zero-tolerance on terrorism". He also talked about discrimination of Ladakh and Jammu divisions by the previous regimes and said "chowkidar", in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ensured that funds meant for these regions are spent for development. LIVE: Shri @AmitShah addressing Vijay Sankalp Sammelan in Jammu. https://t.co/r5Y2GRxCnb BJP (@BJP4India) 24 February 2019 "Previous dynastic governments of Congress, the National Conference and the PDP were more bothered about their own development but ever since the BJP took over, we ensured that every single penny reaches common people," Shah said. Asserting that the place where Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader Syama Prasad Mookerjee sacrificed his life, it "belongs to us", Shah referred to the February 14 Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, and said "their sacrifice will not go in vain". "The Prime Minister has authorised security forces to take any punitive action they think fit against perpetrators of terrorism," he said. Mookerjee was arrested upon entering Kashmir on May 11, 1953 to protest against granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir. He died during his detention in June 1953 after suffering a massive heart attack. Referring to the National Register of Citizens in Assam, the BJP president said his party would carry out a similar exercise from Kashmir to Kanyakumari to ensure that every illegal immigrant is thrown out of the country. By PTI ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said Sunday that any attempt to scarp Article 35 A of the Indian Constitution, which provides special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was aimed at bringing about demographic changes and claimed that it was a violation of the international law. India's Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a bunch of petitions challenging Article 35A's validity soon. Article 35A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and bars people from outside the state from acquiring any immovable property in the State. ALSO READ | Kashmiris shouldn't be blamed for developments after scrapping of special provision: Mehbooba Mufti It denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the State. Pakistan Foreign Office said it understands the Supreme Court of India is due to deliberate shortly on the petitions calling for scrapping of Article 35A of the Constitution. "Pakistan condemns any such attempts as these are clearly aimed at bringing about demographic changes in Jammu and Kashmir," it said in a statement. The Foreign Office (FO) said any such move would be a blatant violation of the international law and the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, which prohibit introducing material changes to the disputed territory. Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir when a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into their bus in Pulwama district, sparking outrage in the country. India launched a major diplomatic offensive against Islamabad after the Pulwama attack and highlighted Pakistan's role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy. The international community led by the US pressed Pakistan to deny safe haven to terror groups operating form its soil and bring the perpetrators of the Pulwama attack to justice. India has asked Pakistan to take immediate and verifiable action against terrorists and terror groups operating from territories under its control. New Delhi also announced the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation status for Pakistan and hiked the customs duty by 200 per cent on goods originating from Pakistan. By PTI NEW DELHI: Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi Saturday said the roll-out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to identify illegal immigrants from Bangladesh has resulted in "totally containing" fresh influx of Bangladeshis into the state. Mukhi also said that the Centre was speeding up work on completely sealing Assam's land border with Bangladesh and that the riverine portion of the frontier would soon be put under electronic surveillance to stop any illegal migration from the country. READ | Centre committed to complete NRC within stipulated time: Rajnath after SC rapping "Illegal migration from Bangladesh has totally stopped because of the NRC. It is the biggest achievement of the NRC process. The government is committed to identify illegal migrants living in Assam," Mukhi told PTI. In July last year, Assam released the draft of the NRC, a list of people who proved they came to Assam by 24 March 1971, a day before Bangladesh declared independence. READ | Former Delhi L-G Najeeb Jung, 47 former civil servants write to government on NRC, Citizenship Bill The list excluded nearly four million people, triggering widespread anguish and intense agitation in several parts of the Northeastern state. The authorities have initiated a process giving opportunities to those excluded from the NRC to prove their citizenship. To get their names included in the NRC, residents in Assam have to produce a specific set of documents to prove that they or their families were living in India since the cutoff date or before. Lakhs of people fled to Assam during the 1971 war between India and Pakistan and the influx continued thereafter. READ | NRC an electoral gimmick: Mamata Banerjee The infiltration of Bangladeshis, mostly Muslims, through the porous Indo-Bangla border has been a serious issue for Assam since early 1980s when the state witnessed a massive students' movement demanding deportation of the illegal migrants. Mukhi also asserted that the Centre was "fully committed" to protect the interests of all indigenous communities of Assam. "After roll-out of the NRC, it is now impossible for an illegal Bangladeshi to obtain (India's) citizenship. The foreigners have been identified. It is a major success," said the governor. The Assam governor also attributed the Modi government's close relations with Dhaka and economic growth of Bangladesh as reasons for Bangladeshis not coming to Assam illegally. On the NDA government's promise to seal Assam's frontier with Bangladesh, Mukhi said around 93 per cent of the border has already been fenced and that work on remaining portion is being done at a fast pace. Assam shares 263 km of border with Bangladesh which include riverine. READ | NRC a "waste paper", should have been linked to voters list: Former Assam CM Gogoi Asked about fate of the illegal Bangladeshis identified under the NRC process in Assam, Mukhi did not give a direct reply but indicated that some of them may be deported to send a strong message against any illegal migration to India in future. The governor said surveillance on riverine patch is being carried out using latest electronic gadgets. The Assam governor chose not to comment on the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill which sought to relax citizenship rules for Hindus and other non-Muslim minorities from several neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh. The Lok Sabha had passed the bill but it could not be tabled in Rajya Sabha during the budget session of Parliament. Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadami Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal attacked BJP Member of Parliament from Chandigarh Kirron Kher accusing her that her presence is more in Mumbai and is hardly seen in the city. While addressing an election rally in favour of party candidate Harmohan Dhawan here at the Sector 25 rally ground, Kejriwal accused Kher as he said, "How often have you seen Kirron Kher in Chandigarh? She is an actress and does not have any concern with the people of the city. She is a busy actress and lives in Mumbai. Can you list even a single development work done by her?" "There is no development work in Chandigarh which will be credited to Kirron Kher," he said. In his brief address, Kejriwal listed out the development work carried out in Delhi in terms of power supply, school-education and welfare schemes. "In Delhi the electricity tariffs are the lowest it is Rs 1 till 200 units, it can be the same in Chandigarh if the government is sincere," he said. He winded up his address within a few minutes of starting due to a poor turn up at the rally with an apology saying that he has another rally scheduled in Haryana. Despite being a Sunday Aam Aadmi Party failed to gather an adequate number of spectators. Kejriwal had to address the rally at 1:30 pm but due to the thin turn out he addressed an hour later. Partys Punjab Unit Chief and MP from Sangrur Bhagwant Mann were also present. In the previous election, the BJP had a vote share of 42.2 per cent vote and was followed by the Congress with 26.8 per cent and the AAP with 24 per cent vote share. Egypt's ministries of transport and planning, along with the World Bank, are working out a strategy to upgrade Egypt's railway network which is in dire need of comprehensive renovation. Deputy Minister of Transport Amr Shaath and advisor to the Minister of Planning Ahmed Kamali held a meeting with representatives of the World Bank and an Egyptian-Italian consortium earlier this week during which they outlined a strategy to reform the country's railway sector. Kamali, who is also a professor of economics at the American University in Cairo, underlined the importance of implementing reforms in the transport sector, especially the railway network, to halt the deterioration witnessed over previous years and the poor standard of service provided. Improvement of the railways will involve infrastructure, maintenance and technological development as well as the security and safety of passengers and services provided to citizens, Kamali said. According to Shaath, the authority has signed a contract with an Egyptian-Italian consortium to offer advisory services. This will help in defining a strategy to reform the country's railways sector, while taking into consideration recommendations by the World Bank regarding the necessity of restructuring the financial and legal frameworks of the authority. Improving railways in Egypt should have started 45 years ago but began only three years ago, Shaath said, stressing the role of the private sector in advancing railways in Egypt. Kamali said the ministry is already adopting the public-private partnership (PPP) formula to finance development projects. The private sector plays an essential role in the proposed reform process, as the efficiency of services provided can be achieved through the presence of a number of transport providers from private companies," the minister's advisor said. He stressed the importance of clarifying the government's return on investments for reforming the transport sector so as to obtain government support. The draft strategy started by assessing the current status of the Railway Authority for operating costs, structure of debt and the current status of assets, investment and consumables. Hussein Khater, a member of parliament's Transport Committee, said the Railway Authoritys debt had reached LE40 billion. The losses, according to Khater, are due to the low price of tickets because the government has been subsidising ticket prices except for first class and VIP trains. According to a report issued by Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) issued in 2017, the number of train accidents between 2004 and 2016 was 13,539. Egypt recorded its highest number of train accidents in 2009, with 1,577. For more than a decade, there have been several calls for greater investment to improve Egypts national railway network which has a total length of 9,570 kilometres. Experts stressed the importance of investing in the signaling system, level-crossings, tracks and more. Khater said mechanisation could be one solution to preventing accidents, and that depending on the manual operation of railways must be abolished. He also expressed his support for the idea of hiring a private company to manage the Railway Authority. *A version of this article appears in print in the 21 February, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Railway reform on track Short link: Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service GUWAHATI: Continuing with violent acts, the protesters in Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar on Sunday set ablaze the private residence of Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and two market complexes and destroyed the office of Itanagar Capital Complex Deputy Commissioner (District Magistrate) and Itanagar Police Station. They had also made an attempt to target the house of Chief Minister Pema Khandu but the security forces deployed there opened fire in which two protestors were killed and several others injured. The protestors had earlier demanded the resignation of Khandu and Mein by 5 pm of Sunday opposing the state governments move to grant permanent residence certificate (PRC) to six non-tribal communities such as Adivasi, Deori, Gorkha, Moran, Mishing and Sonowal-Kachari. The Gorkhas are settled in Vijaynagar while the other communities live in Changlang and Namsai districts of the state. Most of these communities enjoy Scheduled Tribe status in Assam. #WATCH Permanent residence certificate row: Violence broke out in Itanagar during protests against states decision to grant permanent resident certificates to non-#ArunachalPradesh Scheduled Tribes of Namsai & Chanaglang; Deputy CM Chowna Mein's private house also vandalised. pic.twitter.com/FrcmqWbL8c ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2019 The violence took place despite the enforcement of Section 144 of the CrPC and the deployment of the Army since Saturday morning. Internet services have remained suspended since Friday night. Itanagar has been witnessing violent protests for the past three days on the issue of PRC to the non-tribal communities. Vehicle being burnt during the protests in Itanagar. | Express Photo Services On Sunday, the protestors first destroyed the Itanagar Police Station and took away batons, helmets, shields and other equipment. It is completely destroyed. There is nothing left. Some 7,000 to 8,000 protestors, including females, are out there on the streets, the officer-in-charge of the police station told this correspondent refusing to give his name. READ | Arunachal PRC bandh: Union minister Kiren Rijiju accuses Congress of 'instigating' people After going berserk there, the protestors marched to the private residence of Mein at Niti Vihar and set it ablaze. Next, they made a futile attempt to target the house of the CM. Mein was moved out of Itanagar and shifted to his native place in Namsai early Sunday morning. Earlier, the protestors had threatened to bury the body of a person, killed in Fridays police firing, at Meins house. This is for the second time that his house has been targeted. A few years ago, it had come under attack from protestors following the alleged suicide of former CM Kalikho Pul. The states Environment and Forest Minister Nabam Rebia is the owner of one of the shopping complexes that was set ablaze. The other is owned by BJP leader Tame Phasang. The office of the district magistrate was vandalised in the wee hours of Sunday. By PTI SRINAGAR: The BSF on Saturday was brought back to Srinagar after 14 years as the Centre moved 100 additional companies of paramilitary troops to Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack, officials said. Home ministry sources in Delhi said that 100 companies of paramilitary forces, including 35 from the BSF, are being deployed as part of a routine pre-election exercise ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Officials here said the BSF has been brought back to the valley after 14 years. They said the force was temporarily deployed in the valley 'for a week' during the unrest of 2016, but was withdrawn immediately. The deployment comes amid simmering Indo-Pak tensions in the wake of the February 14 Pulwama terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed that killed 40 CRPF personnel, the officials said. READ HERE | Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Hamid Fayaz and Yasin Malik among 12 detained The government has also launched a massive crackdown on separatists and detained over 150 people, mainly from the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir, including its chief Abdul Hamid Fayaz, ahead of a hearing in the Supreme Court on Article 35-A of the Constitution. The BSF has been deployed at five places - four in Srinagar and one in Budgam districts - and has replaced the CRPF, the officials said. They said the move is aimed at strengthening the law and order grid presently available in the valley. "The BSF along with the ITBP companies shall take over the static guard duties of the CRPF companies deployed in Kashmir zone," they said. Apart from 35 companies of the BSF, 45 companies of the CRPF and 10 companies of the ITBP and the SSB each have also been moved to Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. G Parthasarathy By While one hears a lot about military operations across our western borders with Pakistan, very little is known about the challenges posed by armed separatist outfits operating from across our eastern borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar. Prior to the birth of Bangladesh, East Pakistan was a safe haven for armed separatist outfits in our northeast. This situation ended with the birth of Bangladesh. Support for separatist outfits was, however, resumed there when Begum Khaleda Zia and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP, backed by the Jamat-e-Islami (JeI), assumed power. The ISI again developed a substantial presence in Bangladesh. It was during Begum Khaledas rule that India turned to Myanmar for active support to deal with separatist groups from Nagaland, Manipur and Assam. These groups were getting weapons in Bangladesh and being infiltrated back into India, after traversing through Mizoram and Manipur. Their weapons were purchased in Thailand and brought by sea to Bangladesh. Despite domestic opposition, including from high levels of his Congress party, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao worked quietly to enhance diplomatic, economic and intelligence cooperation with Myanmars military government. The results of this policy change were dramatic and have been long lasting. In May 1995, the Indian Armys Eastern Command mounted a 45-day operation codenamed Golden Bird, to eliminate separatists along and across the Indo-Myanmar border, with Myanmar blocking separatist exit routes. Thirty-eight separatists were subsequently killed, 100 captured and more than 100 weapons seized, opening the door for us to learn how our northeast insurgents were being backed by the intelligence services of Khaleda Zias Bangladesh and Pakistans ISI. The operations sadly ended prematurely. Disregarding Raos wishes, Vice President K R Narayanan announced that Aung San Suu Kyi, then under detention, was being given the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding. Infuriated by this, the Myanmar Army withdrew its support. India has, thereafter, been realistic in recognising that while quiet moral support can be given to the cause of democracy in Myanmar, realism demands recognition that democratisation in Myanmar will be slow. Thus, while our diplomatic dealings with Aung San Suu Kyis government have been cordial, our channels of communication with the Myanmar army remain discreet, but strong. Equally importantly, Sheikh Hasina has effectively ended the presence of groups like ULFA in Bangladesh, while virtually decimating Khaleda Zias BNP and its JeI allies. In recent weeks, the Myanmar army has effectively cordoned off elements of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K), the National Democratic Front of Bodoland and insurgents from the Manipur Peoples Army, in operations across Myanmars Sagaing Division, bordering Manipur and Nagaland. The real problem that Myanmar and India face is that both Myanmar insurgent groups and members of Indian groups like ULFA and the NSCN (K) move freely across Myanmars borders with China. They quite evidently receive support and safe haven in Chinas Yunnan Province. Chinas links with these groups pose continuing security problems for India, notably in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur. G Parthasarathy Former diplomat dadpartha@gmail.com Pushpesh Pant By The time of mourning is over. The martyrs will live forever in our memory. But it is important to ask questions however unpleasant and heartless they may seem. Surely, there were security lapses or laxity in observation of SOPs. Unfortunately, past experience isnt very reassuring in cases like this. For obvious reasons there can be no public inquiry or disclosure of sensitive information that can jeopardise national security. The cloak of secrecy allows defaulters to disappear with a trace-unpunished. Some would argue that there can never be hundred percent secure impenetrable defence against a suicide bomber. Others will clamour for swift and stunning retaliation striking surgically demonstrating our capability for covert action without bothering about consequences or collateral damage. There never has been a dearth of arm chair strategists and couch commandoes in our country. No point in wasting breath on restless army of analysts. We should be asking questions to ourselves. How long are we going to point fingers at Pakistan blaming it for all our sorrows? Isnt it the patronage of the US, China and some Islamic countries that has encouraged the failed rogue state to carry on its thinly disguised aggression against India? Civilian governments come and go, its the army and the ISI that called the shots. They have reasons to be satisfied with what the War of Thousand Cuts has achieved so far. India may shout itself hoarse that it has isolated Pakistan in international arena, it is India that appears isolated. Pakistan continues to provide sanctuary to dreaded terrorists and allow them to launch attacks through brainwashed youngsters in the Valley. How long are we going to delude ourselves that unilateral Confidence Building Measures are going to help restore peace and stability on the subcontinent? The Failure (with a capital F) of Indias Pakistan Policy or handling of the situation in Kashmir is shared equally by all political parties, different governments in the Centre and that strife-torn state. None can escape the blame. The leaders of the Hurriyat have been pampered and the BJPs greed for power sharing in J&K has resulted in fatal appeasement of PDP. The dynasts in the Valley are the ones most responsible for the plight of the common people. Legitimate demand for autonomy has been allowed to distort into secessionist threats. Dream has turned into nightmare. Seven decades after independence, can we continue with the appeasement of pampered elites in some states with continuance of special status encouraging other constituents of the federation to raise similar demands that threaten the unity and integrity of the country? The terrorist attack in Pulwama should make us think that how a single incident like this can derail the whole developmental agenda. How quickly it can change what is fashionably called the narrative! This is no time to bicker or blame. Lets all unite and speak in one voice to repel the enemy. All such exhortations are fine with reference to the external threats to our security. What about the enemy within? The news about attacks on Kashmiri students outside the state and targeting of Kashmiri traders and their shops is extremely distressing. Isnt this what the terrorist design isto divide Indians along ethnic, religious and regional lines? It is unrealistic to believe that political parties and leaders will resist the temptation to milch the tragedy for electoral gains. It is for us to shame and tame anyone who attempts this. We must hasten to add that there can be no parity between martyred men in uniform, innocent civilians and terrorists killed in action. Human rights cant be exclusive to violent dissidents spearheading insurgency. A distinction must be made between juveniles in conflict with law and fanatic young adults who challenge the sovereignty of Indian state. And last but not the least we should not allow ourselves to be distracted by good news that is splashed across headlines and small screens about driverless trains that splutter to a stop on the trial run or unprecedented interim dividend announced by the RBI to welcome back the Finance Minister. Our government doesnt tire reminding us about resurgent Indias pursuit of excellence blended with social justice. Lets not lose sleep over how others rate us or berate us. Statistical sleight of hand can never be a spellbinding spectator sport. No circus can keep the people amused without an assured supply of bread to quell hunger pangs. Grumblings about jobless growth are growing. Pushpesh Pant Former professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University pushpeshpant@gmail.com Ravi Shankar By Evil comes in many forms, the most powerful of which emanates from state power. It has fuelled pogroms on an unimaginable scale with Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Baghdadi topping the Monster List. However, when evil wears the mask of diplomacy and economic affability, democracies dance to its hypocritical tune. No dictator has ever been ousted by diplomacy. This week, Mohammed bin Salman or MbS, as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is called, was greeted by the Narendra Modi government without reservations. MbS is a self confessed murderer, going by evidence of his complicity in journalist Jamal Khashoggis killing and dismemberment in Istanbul. US Intelligence wiretaps had captured Salman telling a top aide that he would use a bullet on Khashoggi. Dismemberment shocks the civilised world, but is an old normal in Saudi Arabia. In the medieval kingdom, where glitzy buildings, superjets and luxury yachts project modernity, rulers are as morally primitive as any medieval savage. While public executions went out of vogue in the world centuries ago, it is a crowd puller in the Arabian kingdom, which is governed by laws that order women to be publically whipped and the hands of thieves to be chopped off. In August 2018, the Saudis crucified a prisoner and put the body on public display in Riyadhs Deera Square, which goes by the macabre moniker Chop Chop Square. And MbS is the most powerful man in Saudi Arabia. By posing with Prime Minister Modi in official photographs, he is making a mockery of Indias stand on human rights. Just after the Pulwama attacks happened, MbS was in Pakistan, partying with Imran Khan before he announced $20 billion in aid to our duplicitous neighbour. In India, MbS condemned the Pulwama terror attack, which was hailed as a victory for diplomacy. Diplomacy is perfecting the balance of opportunism: in Pakistan, he spoke of the need for avoiding politicisation of UN listing regime, referring to Indias attempts to declare Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. In India, he supported it. MbS has proved his skill in making friends and influencing the enemies of friends. Saudi money has been flowing into India for decades to build myriad mosques and madrasas, support hate-spewing mullas in Kashmir and encourage polarisation through conversions. The kingdom has also been actively funding terrorism; a generous portion of the aid would be kept aside by Pakistans Generals for its terror budget. The moral fibre of a democracy is tested when it takes a stand against tyranny, however attractive the economic benefits. And it does not include inviting bloodthirsty dictators to dinner. Ravi Shankar ravi@newindianexpress.com Medha Dutta Yadav By It was created in 1948 and for the next 50 years the artist kept it close to his heart. Literally. F N Souza first sold his painting, Golgotha in Goa, to a private collector in 1999, a few years before he died. The mosaic-like painting, which is reminiscent of traditional stained glass illustrations found in churches, has finally found its way to an auction house. Sothebys will be auctioning the seminal piece on March 18. The next anecdote comes from the auction house itself: When Sothebys started its first sale of South Asian art in 1995, they did not even have a mailing list. They looked at the Manhattan telephone directory and picked out Indian names, doctors and other professionals. The journey from there to the present day at The Leela Palace in Delhi where Souzas painting along with 25 other artworks was showcased before heading to New York for the auction has been long, but extraordinary. Talking about the exhibition at Delhi, Anu Ghosh-Mazumdar, head of Sothebys Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art Department in New York, says, These are highlights from our upcoming annual sale of modern and contemporary South Asian art. This is a market that Sothebys started in 1995. Over the years we have managed to introduce new elements into our sale. Keeping that in mind, we have a small section of sculptures this year, one of which by Prodosh Dasgupta is on display here. We have three photographs by Steve McCurry and Henri Cartier-Bresson, too. There is also a canvas by Zainul Abedin, considered by many as the father of Bangladeshi modern art. But it is undoubtedly Souzas Golgotha in Goa that is the talking point of the upcoming sale. The painting demonstrates the influence of Catholicism on Souza. One of the biggest names in Indian art, Souzas painting Birth set a world auction record in 2008 for the most expensive Indian painting sold till then. It sold for $2.5 million at Christies. In 2015, the painting was resold at Christies in New York for over $4 million. Elaborating on the painting, Ghosh-Mazumdar says, It evokes faith and exudes an indefinable emotional appeal. After over a decade of pursuit, Sothebys has the privilege of bringing this masterpiece to auction. Souza has had a long seven-decade career in art. But not many works from his formative period have appeared at auctions. In fact, from the 1940sthe period from which the Golgotha in Goa datesless than 20 paintings have ever appeared at auction. Painted at a time when Goa was still under Portuguese rule, the work adopts its formal composition from the altar at Golgotha, Jerusalem, where Christ was crucified. It is estimated to fetch anything between `1.78-`2.49 crore. Besides this seminal piece, five canvases by M F Husain, a semi-abstract work by Ram Kumar, a canvas by Zainul Abedin, another by Jogen Chowdhury and an untitled painting by S H Raza will also feature in the sale. In the collection, the Bombay Progressives and the Bengal School of Art are a major highlight. Ghosh-Mazumdar explains, Its a very diverse sale across price points. The Bengal School of Art is quite sought-after now, because it is something more than just art, it is also nationalism. And people are becoming aware of this. Also, museums and galleries have gone out of their way to promote it. Hemant Goswami By Express News Service Narendra Modi: Creative Disruptor By: Dr R Balashankar Publisher: Konark Publishers Pages: 312 Price: `650 This book can be best described as a serious research-based encyclopaedic account of Indias journey towards becoming A Super Power in the last five years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is not intended to be a biographical account of Modi but rather captures the Modi Effect from 2014 to 2019. It not only mentions about the murky political environment just before the 2014 elections but also uncovers each and every initiative, innovation and action taken by Modi after he came to power.The foreword by Amit Shah, introduction by Arun Jaitley and the appreciation note by Nitin Gadkari sets the tone of the book. In the 17 chapters of the book, the author has not hesitated from discussing all the controversies and allegations levelled by Modi distractors and critics. He has taken all the criticism head-on. The critics are demolished in an academic fashion supported by detailed statistics and well-researched and well-presented facts. Who wouldnt like to know, Is the RSS creating problems for Modi? Are the controversies on gharwapsi, love jihad etc being created to embarrass Modi? Are organisations like Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), Akhil BharatiyaVidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Swadeshi JagaranManch not in sync with the Prime Ministers governance agenda? And is the RSS fully behind Narendra Modi or not? The author dwells on all this and more. No book on Modi can be complete without a reference to the Modi-Shah team and the magic which ensured that the party and the government run in sync. A complete chapter is devoted to this beautiful equation. The book also captures details about the electoral march of Modi and his rise as the Pradhan Sewak. Sometimes all what history needs is an icebreaker. Modi is that disruptive creator that India needed to regain its self-confidence and to achieve all what it is capable of. This is what this book highlights. Narendra Modi: Creative Disruptor is an excellently argued book which would force even his most aggressive critics to rethink, and maybe even retract. This book is a must read. Madhulika Liddle By Express News Service Calcutta Under Fire: The Second World War Years By: David Lockwood Publisher: Rupa Pages: 294 Price: `295 The year 1942 was a landmark year in terms of political and military changes, especially in East Asia. Japan, which had entered World War II spectacularly by bombing Pearl Harbour in December 1941, hadwithin less than a yearsuccessfully invaded Malaya, Hong Kong, Singapore and Burma. In each of these territories, the defending (and now defeated) forces had been the British. With the Japanese occupying Burma, sitting literally on the doorstep of India, it was unsurprising that by late 1942, fears of a Japanese invasion of India, or at least of its eastern and coastal stretches, should be widespread. Yet, there were other factors to be considered. Political, social, and military factors, and factors regarding less tangible ideas, such as the need to save face, or to put up a brave front. There was the Indian national movement, there was the growing doubt among many Britishers themselves regarding the future of India as part of the Empire. There was the (natural, given what had happened in Burma and elsewhere) fear among Indians that the British would be incapable of defending India against the Japanese. David Lockwood examines all of these and more in an attempt to explain the circumstances and events that shaped India during World War II, especially around the tumultuous year of 1942, when the Japanese bombed Calcutta and sent thousands fleeing the city in panic. But merely looking at the Japanese bombing of Calcutta in isolation would not make a complete book, so Lockwood instead spreads his net wide to encompass events, ideologies, movements, policies and more. He examines the theory of hegemony as an intrinsic part of British imperialism, and from there goes on to discuss how the Congresss policies were tailored towards a counter-hegemony. There is a detailed discussion of how the Congresss policies underwent changes; of the work the Congress did to mobilise the general populace in what was essentially a counter-hegemonistic movement; of the role played by radio (including the Congresss illegal, underground radio broadcasts as well as Subhas Chandra Boses broadcasts from Berlin); and of rising discontent and nationalism among the Indians in the British Indian military and civil services. The final picture is a complex but intriguing one of the different forces that not only shaped India in 1942, but which eventually led to independence. Lockwood manages to present interesting insights into the considerations that made the British, the Congress, and the general Indian public (both urban as well as rural) act as they did. Lockwoods research is extensive (he even manages to present the Japanese side of it: did they really intend to invade India and make it part of a Japanese Empire?). There are some delightful bits of trivia, too (the thought of an impending Japanese invasion seems to have encouraged some Indians, who looked on the approaching Japanese armies more as liberators than conquerors, to take some very surprising steps, such as learning Japanese). While Lockwoods style of writing may at times seem more geared towards an academic audience than a layperson, the book is an invaluable resource for understanding India during World War II. Murali Krishna CH By Express News Service The second instalment of NTRs biopic, NTR Mahanayakudu starts after the events of the first film NTR Kathanayakudu, just as the veteran actor begins his political journey by sketching the party logo. He decides to embark on a tour on a chaitanya ratham (the election campaign vehicle) and wins the election to be the Chief Minister. Unhappy with NTRs coronation, a faction led by his Finance Minister Nadendla Bhaskara Rao (Sachinn Khedekar) often blames the former for the style of functioning and approach to governance. The group decides to create a coup within the party at the behest of the central government headed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to snuff out the opposition. NTR takes some time to figure out Bhaskar Raos motivations, expels him from his cabinet only to get upstaged and usurped from the chief ministers office. Raos actions trigger public outrage and NTR gets timely assistance from his son-in-law, Chandrababu Naidu (Rana Daggubati), who shields 161 MLAs to parade before the President, Giani Zail Singh and takes the fight right on Indiras turf, Delhi. Rana as CBN delivers crackling performance and the best way to describe his action would be to say that you cant separate the character from the actor. He uses his eyes effectively to convey hurt and anger. ALSO READ: 'NTR Kathanayakudu' movie review The film is a mix of political and family drama that revolves around a feud with in the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Its about the extent people will go to betray democracy in a sordid manner, be greedy for power and seek revenge to humiliate one man who stood tall against all odds. The first hour is quite engaging, but the narrative derails in the second hour because director Krish fails to capture the spirit of NTRs story with adequate sensitivity. What is positioned as the political journey of Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao, ends up glorifying his son-in-law, Chandrababu Naidu as the lone saviour of TDP. Krish decides to tell this story his way, infusing it with a lot of cinematic liberty. Too much of melodrama with the narrative falling into a slump of sorts, moving at a sluggish pace as family and politics make way for lengthy talkie scenes that never seem to end. Even at a running time of 2 hours and 8 minutes, NTR Mahanayakudu seems way too long, repetitive and demands much patience on your part. ALSO READ: Wish more people would've seen 'NTR: Kathanayakudu' in cine hall, says Director Krish Jagarlamudi One would empathise with Basavatarakam (Vidya Balan)s character because her ordeal and concerns seem real. She brings credibility to her character. Balakrishna acted with poise and displayed grit. He looked so natural as the crushed but ferocious NTR and his performance in a few portions never feel contrived. Kalyan Ram and Vennela Kishore make their presence felt and Sachinn Khedekar is impressive. MM Keeravanis music and background provide some momentum to the film. The film is let down by a convenient script and its ability to show what made NTR a great leader (Mahanayakudu). With its indulgent narrative, this political saga doesnt tell you anything more than you didnt already know. The film sets a perfect stage for Ram Gopal Varmas Lakshmis NTR to show what Krish couldnt portray. Movie: NTR Mahanayakudu Cast: Balakrishna, Vidya Balan, Kalyan Ram Direction: Krish Jagarlamudi (muralikrishna.db@newindianexpress) By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The LDF-run Corporation on Saturday saw the budget proposals for the current financial year getting cleared without a major hitch. However, the objections raised by the main Opposition BJP citing the anomaly in the revenue figures and the unrealistic spending plan coupled with fellow-Opposition UDF keeping off the voting proved a dampener. Expectedly, the proposals - which were debated by the councillors for a day-and-a-half - were endorsed by 44 LDF members and opposed by 34 BJP councillors. The budget shows revenue of Rs 1,286.07 crore; expenditure of Rs 1,213.22 crore; and a surplus of Rs 72 crore. The 21 UDF members stormed out as soon as the debate ended. The walkout was in protest against Mayor V K Prasanths refusal to take up the resolution in the council put forward by them to discuss the matter and include a special project for fishermen. While staging the walkout, the Congress members tore up the budget proposals and raised slogans.The issue, relating to the houses built under the LIFE project, which was raised by the Opposition councillors during the budget discussion was countered by the Deputy Mayor. The Corporation has constructed as many as 3,526 houses under the PMAY-LIFE project which involve beneficiaries from all the 100 wards, said the Deputy Mayor. The BJP councillors protested in the council against a statement made by the Deputy Mayor regarding womens entry into Sabarimala. Chanting slogans, the BJP councillors encircled the Deputy Mayor who was replying to the budget discussion session. This prompted the LDF members to rush out of their seats to support the Deputy Mayor. Mayor Prasanth passed the budget after a voting session which involved only LDF and BJP councillors. Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi will inaugurate Sunday the first ever European Union-Arab League Summit scheduled 24-25 February in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Shiekh. The summit will be chaired jointly by European Council President Donald Tusk and El-Sisi. With the participation of more than 50 European Union and Arab League (AL) member states, the EU-AL Summit is the first ever to bring together heads of states and government from both sides. The summit is being convened under the title "Investing in Stability." Arab and European leaders will seek to strengthen Arab-European ties and address a wide range of issues and common challenges, including migration, border security and the situation in the region. Busy agenda In an official press release Friday, the EU provided an overview of the summit that will include discussion of mutual strategic priorities. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will also attend, representing the EU. More than 20 European heads of states or government will be at the summit, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May. According to the statement, the EU is the first trading partner and biggest investor in Arab League countries. Leaders are expected to discuss possibilities to develop cooperation in the fields of energy, science, research, (digital) technology, tourism, fisheries and agriculture, the statement said. They will also have the opportunity to tackle a number of pressing global issues, including human rights and the promotion of cultural and religious tolerance, and migration, which the EU described as a mutual challenge for both sides. Combating terrorism is also a key issue set to be addressed, where leaders are expected to agree on the need to further increase cooperation and coordination aimed at addressing the root causes of terrorism, fighting the influx of foreign terrorist fighters, and cutting-off support to terrorist networks. Regional conflicts, including the crises in Syria, Libya, Yemen, and the Middle East peace process, are also up for discussion in the two-day summit. Limited expectations The two blocs are expected to agree to hold the summit every three years in rotation, with the next gathering due in 2022 in Brussels, where the EU is headquartered, according to a draft joint statement expected to be issued at the summit's conclusion. The draft declaration, reported by pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, is said to have steered clear of controversial issues between participating countries, while taking on all key issues concerning Arab and European states. It highlights that cooperation between the two blocs would promote stability and security in both parts of the world, while calling for bolstering economic ties between members countries and adopting multilateral resolutions to major challenges. It underlined "mutual stances" regarding adhering to the peace process to tackle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and considered settlements in the "occupied Palestinian territories" a violation of international legitimacy. The draft also condemned excessive use of force and collective punishments in Gaza without explicitly mentioning Israel. It urged joining forces between Arab and European countries to combat cross-border terrorism and called for stepping up measures against illegal migration and human trafficking. Short link: Pinto Deepak By Express News Service HYDERABAD: On account of the increased surveillance carried out by Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) on ISIS activities, the latters handlers and online recruiters operating from across the globe have been continuously jumping their communication channels. Initially, they handled their communications via Whatsapp, Instagram and Telegram; however, recently, they have been directing their followers to use the Threema mobile app. According to the online recruiters of ISIS, Threema is one of the most safest of all mobile applications. Meanwhile, Hyderabad youths Abdullah Basith and Mohd Abdul Qadeer, who were arrested by the NIA in August 2018, had also used Threema app to be in touch with their handlers, found investigators. Further, Tutanota, an end-to-end encrypted email software, developed by a German-based company, is also used by ISIS operatives widely. It has been advised to be the safest tool for communication via email. In recent investigations into various cases where ISIS sympathisers were arrested across the country, investigators found ISIS handlers were also using other apps like TextNow, D-Vasive, Data Wipe. The members who were a part of the terror module Harkat-ul-Harb-e-Islam, busted by National Investigation Agency in December 2018 in a joint operation with Anti-Terror Squad of the Uttar Pradesh police and the special cell of the Delhi Police, also used Threema app to communicate among themselves. Militants, who targeted Holey Artisan Bakery at Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2016, where 22 civilians, 5 terrorists and two police officials were killed, also used Threema to hide their digital footprint. Threema, with its end-to-end encryption, deletes messages from servers, leaving little trace and preserving anonymity. The application, founded in 2012, has now become one of the most popular apps in Germany. However its fame spread across the globe in 2013, after the Snowden leaks. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: A four-Member gang, who targeted and stole Royal Enfield bikes along with goats and sheep from farms on the outskirts of the city, was arrested by the Cyberabad police on Saturday. 11 bikes, including 6 Royal Enfields, one SUV, Rs 2.08 lakh in cash and other material were recovered from their possession, said Cyberabad police commissioner VC Sajjanar. The accused have been identified as Mohd Shahed Ali, Mohd Aqeel Khan and two minors. According to the police, the accused persons, residents of Mailardevpally, have been friends from childhood and. They had borrowed huge sums of money from different persons to spend on luxury items, bettings games at malls, etc. When the debts started to increase, they stole goats from the courtyards of shepherds residing in the Shamshabad, Shabad, Shadnagar, Nandigama, and Kothur mandal limits. Later in the process, they also started stealing bikes parked in front of the houses. It was in November 2018 that they committed their first theft -- a Royal Enfield from Kukatpally. They soon stole four more bikes and were arrested by the Hyderabad police in December only to come out on bail later. They have since continued on the criminal path. The police said that the suspects were identified based on CCTV footages and technical evidence. The gang was nabbed during vehicle inspections at Kothur and the vehicle was seized. The gang is involved in 11 vehicle-theft cases and have been accused of stealing 52 goats, said Sajjanar. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Holding that paying money to secure jobs in government and related organisations or seats in medical colleges will also amount to committing a criminal offence and that such persons will be held liable for abetment of the offence, the Madras High Court has directed the DGP to give public announcement on a regular basis conveying the message to the public. The court is encountering similar cases where it is alleged that money is being collected from innocent people on false promises of getting a job in government or in a public-sector undertaking or a medical seat. It is unfortunate that persons who are paying money do not understand that jobs or medical seats cannot be purchased and it has to be secured on merits and based on eligibility and that no one can get such jobs by paying money, Justice N Anand Venkatesh said. There is a selection process for every post and every aspirant has to go through the process to get a job. Similarly, medical seats cannot be procured by paying money. Candidates must write entrance exams like NEET and only based on the marks secured in such examination, seat can be secured. Asserting that persons who make such payment are also to be equally blamed, the judge said the intention of such persons becomes questionable. It is not as if in every case, the person who makes the payment is innocent and they know that they are trying to knock of a job or a seat by indirect means. This attitude can be curbed only by means of bringing an awareness among public that no one can secure jobs or seats in colleges by mere payment of money, the judge said granting bail to one Atrinbosco, who was arrested for duping many persons to a tune of `20 lakh for securing jobs. Manju Shettar By Express News Service BENGALURU: Anand, a private company employee, had come to the Aero India show with five family members, and had spent around Rs 10,000 to buy tickets. He left his house at Singasandra in Electronic City at 9 am, and reached the parking lot at 11.30am, around 25 minutes before the lot caught fire. My family was heading toward the show which was about 2 km from the parking lot, when I saw thick smoke and ran back towards the car. My wife had kept gold jewellery and some documents inside the car as we were worried about carrying it in a crowded place. READ | Inferno rages for two hours, reduces 318 cars to cinders We did not think that our car would be gutted in fire and that we would lose our valuables. It was a bad day for us and we booked a cab to get back home without seeing the show. I do not know why there were no proper fire safety precautions, a distraught Anand told TNIE. Badrinath, a resident of Jayanagar, currently living in Dubai, had visited the show and was just about to leave when the fire started. He said, I was just a few metres away from my car when it caught fire. I heard a blast from a nearby vehicle and I started shouting for help as I had my passport and my residential permit card in my vehicle. Badrinath now is worried about how he will return to Dubai. I now need to get my documents immediately as my ticket is already booked, he rued. READ | Aero India 2019: More than 20 cars saved by volunteers Twitter war: Politics over fire at air show Bengaluru: BJP MP and senior leader Shobha Karandlaje accused the state government of not taking adequate measures to prevent the fire mishap that hit Aero India on Saturday and left 318 cars gutted. Home Minister MB Patil however hit back at her for politicising the issue. Shobha in her tweet said that it was unfortunate that the state government had failed to make necessary arrangements for Aero India 2019, an event which would benefit Bengaluru to get exposure in the global forum. Girl sleeping in car has a lucky escape Bengaluru: A 12-year-old girl, sleeping in her mothers car, had a narrow escape -- she left the vehicle minutes before the fire raged, turning the car into a blackened shell. Said the girls father Kiran Singh, By Express News Service With just three months to go before the Lok Sabha polls, internet giant Google has announced that it would train Indian journalists who are covering the elections in how to identify and verify news, even as social media players introduce measures to check the proliferation of politically-motivated fake news on their platforms. The global search giant will be implementing this programme through its Google News Initiative, launched globally last year, in collaboration with DataLeads and Internews. According to the firm, the training and support programme for the 2019 polls will be held across 30 cities in the country and will kick-off with a session to be held in New Delhi on February 26. Sessions will continue through the next month in 29 other cities. The Google News Initiative was first launched internationally and offers journalists both training and support on online verification and fact-checking online content, digital safety and security, data visualisation and YouTube for elections coverage. Google says that the initiative is aimed at deepening the firms commitment to an industry facing immense disruption in how it works. the initiative focuses on elevating and strengthening the quality of journalism, evolving business models for sustainable growth in the sector and empower ing news outlets with technology. For the upcoming Indian general elections in 2019, the programme seeks to train 10,000 journalists, freelancers and journalism students. This training will be given to participants in multiple languages including English, Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Bangla, Kannada, Gujarati, Odia, Tamil and Telugu. Since 2016, Google has trained more than 13,000 journalists in India, across over 200 newsrooms and in 40 cities, said Irene Jay Liu, Google News Lab Lead for the Asia Pacific. Google first brought the initiative to India in June 2018, and the firm says it has onboarded 241 trainers fluent in seven languages, and these trained around 5,000 journalists across more than 40 cities in India. Working journalists, freelancers and students can sign up for the free programme and choose the city they would prefer to attend the course in. By Express News Service BENGALURU: The Central government on Saturday released the draft e-commerce policy to provide a framework that focuses on consumer protection, data privacy and maintenance of a level-playing field for the players. The new policy also aims to regulate cross-border data flow. As per the new draft, certain conditions are required to be adhered to by business entities that have access to sensitive data of Indian users stored abroad. Sharing of such data with third party entities, even with customer consent, is barred under the policy. However, certain categories of data are exempted from restrictions on cross-border data flow data not collected in India, B2B data shared between business entities under a commercial contract, data flows via software and cloud computing services, data excluding those generated by users in India from sources like e-com merce platforms, social media activities and search engines shared internally by MNCs. The 41-page draft policy focuses majorly on six broad issues that include data, infrastructure development, e-commerce marketplaces, regulatory issues, stimulating domestic digital economy and export promotion through e-commerce. It says that all e-commerce websites and applications available for downloading in India must have a registered business entity in India as the importer on record or the entity through which all sales in India are transacted. This is important for ensuring compliance with extant laws and regulations for preventing deceptive and fraudulent practices, protection of privacy, safety and security, the report said. The detail draft is published on DIPP website. The comments are invited before March 9. Meanwhile, several e-com players have welcomed the draft policy. Snapdeal welcomes the move to frame a comprehensive national policy on e-commerce, which will provide a facilitative policy environment for Indias fast-growing digital economy, Snapdeal said in an e-mail. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which has been long demanding an e-com policy, welcomed the move, but said that the draft has left out several things. This policy is putting everything on Standing Group of Secretaries and DPIIT. Instead, this must be through a committee headed by peoples representatives and comprising of stakeholders, so that the workings are answerable to people and Parliament. The e-commerce policy must provide substantial platform for business. The policy seems to be silent on domestic e-com players, which is undesirable, CAIT said. In the past few years, tensions have been running high between law enforcement and certain sectors of the public. Weve seen unarmed black men gunned down by police. Weve seen vigilantes kill cops. Black Lives Matter was born. Then came Blue Lives Matter. In this polarized environment, its not surprising that the concept of a state office to investigate complaints against police departments has been met with both praise and scrutiny. Proponents believe the office would be beneficial to both police and to the people they are tasked with serving. Opponents, however, say taking investigations away from law enforcement could weaken their authority in the eyes of the public. The investigative office proposal was raised by Sen. Dennis Bradley, D-Bridgeport. The harsh reality is some people in my district, and others in the state, have a fear and distrust of law enforcement due to discriminatory practices by some police officers, Bradley said. We appreciate and value the hard work and sacrifice our law enforcement officials put forth every day on the job. My goal with this legislation is not to drive a wedge farther between the people and the police, but provide transparency and trust. A strong, safe community must have trust between law enforcement officials and the people. Bradleys investigative office proposal was debated during a recent Public Safety and Security Committee public hearing. Speaking that day, Farmington Police Chief Paul Melonson pushed back against the idea, saying: It is our responsibility to hold these officers accountable. I believe that we diminish the trust when we say that a police chief or his agency cannot investigate their own officers. David McGuire, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, sees things differently. McGuire thinks the investigative office would actually improve confidence in law enforcement. He said the United Kingdom and Canada have similar programs that have resulted in fewer complaints being filed. There are compelling arguments to be made on both sides of this debate. But the concept of a state office to investigate complaints against police departments should not be dismissed out of hand. Further research is called for. WALLINGFORD Thirty-six years ago, the vice president of engineering for Bristol-Myers Squibb promised members of the Wallingford Rotary Club that the new world headquarters for pharmaceutical research and development would be a signature building. A signature building stands alone and is not part of a group, has no adjacent structure and defines the business within. It becomes a landmark and advertises the business it contains by extension, according to architects. Today, that signature building at 5 Research Parkway will most likely be demolished with redevelopment options uncertain. Bristol-Myers moved its research and administrative operation to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and New Jersey in November. And while new owner Calare Properties continues to pay about $3 million annually in taxes, that amount will significantly decrease once the building is razed. Calare Properties of Massachusetts worked with town officials and Bristol-Myers real estate team for three years on parallel marketing plans that acknowledged a single user occupying all 196,000 square feet would be the highest and best use. But dramatic changes in the pharmaceutical industry have led to decreased need for large buildings with high fixed costs. The second-best option would be to divide the property into two pieces, about 100,000 feet each, for multiple users for an office park. The third option was an industrial or manufacturing use. Its not going to be a research and development facility, said Timothy Ryan, town economic development specialist, who consulted with Calare and Bristol-Myers to market the property. They dont want these high fixed costs. What can it be? Calare pitched a plan to demolish the building and construct two massive warehouse and distribution centers on the 180-acre site. The towns Planning and Zoning Commission shot it down last month after neighbors protested over concerns about increased traffic and potential harm to area wetlands and the towns water supply. Calare has not yet presented another plan, but is moving forward with the demolition of the building because the list of what it cant be is longer than what it can be. Bio-tech research and development companies dont want a 915,000-square-foot building, and there arent enough start-ups to fill it, experts said. A plan to bring in a school failed when the town agreed to eliminate both nonprofit and for-profit schools in the IX zone. The reasoning behind the decision was to prevent uses that were inappropriate in an industrial zone and to keep the property on the tax rolls. It cant be leased as office space because there is currently a glut of class A office space in greater New Haven. And there arent enough manufacturing users looking to divvy up nearly a million square feet. We worked for three straight years trying to find someone to fill that spot, Ryan said. The business dynamic has changed. These buildings no longer have a viable use. Ryan and other town officials have recently started sounding alarm bells about how much the town stands to lose in revenue when the building is razed, coupled with decreased state aid. They are also worried that should the town not accept a warehouse and distribution use, businesses will look elsewhere. Real estate experts have called the parcel one of a remaining few in the I-91 corridor suited to accommodate the e-commerce boom. The risk we run as time goes on is we could easily miss the market, Ryan said. The signature buildings obsolescence reflects changes in the big pharma industry that began with massive investments in research and development, but as decades passed evolved into more nimble partnerships. Bristol-Myers broke ground in the Med-Way business park in 1983 on a $160 million research and development facility to be built in phases. Former Mayor Rocco J. Vumbaco directed the Town Council to decide on a seven-year tax abatement agreement with the sewage treatment plant. By the 1986 ribbon-cutting ceremony, the biology labs, chemistry labs, office space and a utility plant were up and running. The building was dedicated to researching and developing anti-cancer, anti-infective and central nervous system drugs. Bristol-Myers new pharmaceutical research center will not only have a tremendous impact on Wallingford and the entire state, but is symbolic of the bright future that lies ahead for Connecticut, Gov. William ONeil told a crowd on June 24, 1986. During the 1980s, Connecticut had several research and development headquarters for drug makers. Pfizer was well established in Groton. Bayer had headquarters in West Haven. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. had opened its North American headquarters in Ridgefield in 1971. But the industry was overshadowed by defense and insurance when it came to state assistance. Those large corporate (drug) companies wanted to be off by themselves and have the space to innovate, said Paul Pescatello, senior counsel and executive director of the Connecticut Bioscience Growth Council. Those kind of companies have kind of gone out of fashion in bio-pharma. While Bristol-Myers was still under construction, New Haven and surrounding towns were working to attract new startups. Winstanley Associates bought the former Southern New England Telephone building at 300 George St. a block from a department of the Yale School of Medicine. The building, which now houses Achillion Pharmaceuticals, was a precursor to Science Park. Branford also began attracting bioscience startups by the late 1980s, beginning with the opening of drug researcher Neurogen Corp., which was acquired for $11 million by San Diego-based Ligand. Later, 454 Life Sciences, CGI Pharmaceuticals and, in 2014, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, all opened operations in Branford. By the 1990s, Connecticut officials began to see biotech as an untapped industry, particularly in partnership with Yale University and the University of Connecticut. Yale professor Leonard Bell founded Alexion Pharmaceuticals at Science Park in 1992, while Jackson Labs built a facility near UConns Health Center in Farmington. But the industry also began shifting away from massive facilities around 2000, with many research companies downsizing or partnering with universities for space. Alexion moved to Cheshire, then returned to New Haven in 2016, and has since left for Boston. Three hundred George Street is full, and Science Park has few vacancies but New Haven struggles to compete with the likes of Berkley, California, or Cambridge, Massachusetts. Bayer closed its West Haven research facility, which employed about 1,000 people. Pfizer began relocating hundreds of research and development jobs from Groton to Cambridge in 2009. Boehringer Ingelheim reduced its U.S. presence in recent years and returned to its native Germany, which eliminated almost 1,000 jobs in Ridgefield. Bristol Myers-Squibbs departure from its Wallingford operation cost another 900 jobs. If youre familiar with bio-tech, the ebb and flow of companies coming and going is a natural flow of this industry, said Dawn Hocevar, president of BioCT. The state was developing programs to provide seed money to allow more startups to make breakthroughs. Universities have become more attractive in part because of their ability to access grants. Yale and UConn, for example, bring in around 93 percent of federal grant funding for all Connecticut schools. The two schools have partnered on Pitch, the Program in Innovative Therapeutics for Connecticuts Health, which makes it easier for faculty to spin out projects. UConn also started the Technology Incubation Program, or TIP, in 2003, and partner companies have raised more than $260 million in equity and debt, $70 million in grant funding and have approximately $60 million in revenue. Were looking to build on the organization in the state, Hocevar said. Were adding more incubators as well as more graduations in the New Haven and Branford areas. Bristol-Myers building became too big and isolated from research centers. In order for BMS to be viable, they needed that, Hocevar said. A building that size is not what the big pharmas are looking for. The obsolescence is similar to what happened to General Electric in Fairfield, Pescatello said. But even if there was a shift back, the building is impractical to retrofit, even to accommodate several startups, he said. Its easier to start from scratch, Pescatello said. There could be a rebound and a probable shift back to the suburbs, but right now companies want to be in the middle of the field, near universities and venture capital. As cities such as Boston and San Francisco become too expensive, Connecticut could be poised to capitalize. Connecticut is very well positioned and this whole transportation and budget issue is so critical, Pescatello said. We would be well positioned to pick up companies from San Francisco and San Diego if our issues were fixed. Never before have the interests of the bio-pharma companies been so aligned with the interests of Connecticut. They look at budget and transportation. Unless they change, why would I come here? mgodin@record-journal.com 203-317-2255 Twitter: @Cconnbiz NORTH HAVEN When Nicholas Raccios friends were able to secure him the Purple Heart, they decided to surprise him with a ceremony at Hard Hat Cafe. They told the 88-year-old Korean War veteran there would be a party to celebrate a family member and instead he was presented with the medal late last month . It was a big honor for me, Raccio said. It brings back a lot of memories. Raccio served in the Marines from 1951 to 1953. He remembers being drafted into the service at 21 and being enlisted in the Marines after no one volunteered. He was hoping to stay with his friends in the Army instead, but is happy with how it turned out. If I had to do it again, Id do (the Marines) again, Raccio said, adding that he served as a machine gunner. Raccio was injured by a concussion bomb during combat in near the border of South Korea and North Korea. One day we were getting hit pretty good and (a concussion bomb) exploded not too far to me, Raccio said. I ended up in the hospital in Japan for a couple of months. He also suffered from malaria, but has no permanent injuries from the war. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauros office also presented Raccio with an Ambassador for Peace Medal from the Republic of Korea. Fred Taylor, one of Raccios longtime friends, said he and several others, including Raccios sister Joanne Borga, tried for years to get him his Purple Heart. It was a combined effort of his close friends, Taylor said. He had always talked about his (time in the service) We thought it would be a fitting thing to do, that he would appreciate it. Raccio was also recognized as a Purple Heart recipient during an event to honor Albertus Magnus College as Connecticuts first Purple Heart School, with a veteran-friendly campus, on Feb. 22 in New Haven. bwright@record-journal.com 203-317-2316 Twitter: @baileyfaywright MERIDEN A lawsuit claims police violated the rights of a family relocated from hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico when a SWAT team raided their Geer Avenue apartment last year based on a search warrant for an unrelated drug suspect. Police did not find drugs in the first-floor apartment and made no arrests during the February 2018 raid, although an officer witnessed drugs being thrown from the window of a second-floor apartment, according to police incident reports obtained by the Record-Journal under a Freedom of Information Act request. Detectives on scene suspected one of the family members on the first floor left the apartment to warn upstairs neighbors of the raid, according to incident reports. The lawsuit, however, claims the teen was found in his first-floor bedroom and that officers used excessive force in detaining him. A police report lists his age as 16 at the time, while a separate police document lists him as 15. Paul Spinella, a Hartford attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the family was in no way connected with drug activity and suffered psychological trauma and physical injuries when police entered their apartment around 5 a.m. on Feb. 8, 2018. The SWAT team detonated a noise flash distractionary device before breaking through the door, according to police reports, which placed the time of the raid at around 5:30 a.m. Police reports indicate four of the family members Rafael Margary-Rivera and Yahaira Rodriguez-Torres and two of their minor children were detained in handcuffs for an unspecified period of time before an officer determined they were not criminal suspects. The lawsuit claims all five family members, including the teenage son police say warned the upstairs neighbors, were handcuffed and detained for 30 to 40 minutes. A K-9 officer stationed outside the multi-family home reported seeing several items thrown from a second-floor window. These were later determined to include 140 small bags of heroin, four small bags of cocaine and a silver tumbler containing 42 bags of marijuana. Police seized the drugs outside, but theres no indication in the reports that officers questioned tenants of the second floor or obtained a search warrant for the upstairs apartment. The teenage son was not charged despite detectives suspicion he was working with the upstairs neighbor to facilitate the sale of narcotics. Police are not likely to pursue any future charges stemming from the search, police spokesman Sgt. Christopher Fry said. All five family members are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed in October in New Haven Superior Court. Theyre seeking unspecified damages for psychological trauma, physical injury, humiliation, pain and suffering, and damage to their reputations in violation of (their) rights as guaranteed under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. The suit claims police violated the familys Fourth Amendment rights by unlawfully detaining them during the search. It also alleges police acted recklessly by failing to investigate whether the home that was subject to the search was the subject of criminal activity. The lawsuit names the city, Police Chief Jeffry Cossette, and 13 retired and active officers as defendants. Richard Roberts, a Cheshire attorney representing the city, declined to comment because the litigation is pending. Cossette also declined to comment because the lawsuit is pending. The suit is in the discovery stage and a trial is scheduled for the spring of next year, according to court documents. Spinella disputes the police reports implicating the teenage son in drug activity. If theres some sort of conspiracy going on, why wasnt anyone arrested? Spinella asked. This is just a way for (police) to salvage or create some kind of defense. According to an after action report on the search filed by police, the SWAT team was deployed because the man detectives believed was living in the first-floor apartment a convicted felon named Andres Concepcion might have had weapons on the premises. In total, 13 officers in SWAT aided in the search, according to the report, which does not include other officers who aided on the scene. Prior eviction Detectives John-Paul Dorais, of the Crime Suppression Unit, and Erik Simonson, of the Major Crimes Division, applied for and obtained a warrant to search the first-floor apartment on Feb. 2, 2018, after members of the Crime Suppression Unit witnessed two suspected drug purchases at 14 Geer Ave. According to the application, they believed Concepcion, a 28-year-old with a felony conviction for selling narcotics, was living with his girlfriend, Sharlyn Morales, in the apartment at the time. Police believed Concepcion and other co-conspirators were selling drugs out of the first-floor apartment and specifically named Concepcion as a person of interest in the search warrant application. Another man, Ramon Morales, 30, was also wanted by police in connection with the investigation, according to the after action report filed by police. Police based their suspicion in part on an investigation Dorais performed in May 2017 into a dispute between Sharlyn Morales and Concepcion following a complaint by the state Department of Children and Families. DCF told police at the time that Concepcion was selling drugs from the first-floor apartment and that Sharlyn Morales children had been removed from the residence, according to the application. Concepcion, Sharlyn and Ramon Morales could not be reached for comment. Police noted in the application that Concepcion has a known criminal history. He pleaded guilty in 2009 to selling narcotics and in 2012 pleaded guilty to a felony charge of carrying a dangerous weapon. While police specifically targeted Concepcion as a suspect in the search warrant application, court documents indicate that his girlfriend had been evicted from the apartment several months before the warrant application was filed. A judge authorized Sharlyn Morales eviction from 14 Geer Ave., Apt. 1 in October 2017, according to court records available on the state Judicial Branch website. Concepcion was not listed on the lease with Sharlyn Morales, but property owner Ricky Macri told the Record-Journal its possible he was also living there. The search warrant makes no mention of the Torres family, who, according to Macri, moved into the apartment on Dec. 1, 2017. The family denied any connection to Concepcion or the Moraleses. The after action report states initial findings from a sweep of the apartment determined the occupants on the first floor were not the wanted individuals. Macri filed to evict Sharlyn Morales, whose 12-month lease began March 23, 2017, after she missed a deadline to pay rents for July 2017. Meriden Housing Authority Executive Director Robert Cappelletti told the Record-Journal he believes the vacant first-floor unit was included on a list of available units in the city compiled by the housing authority, and that a Torres family member used the list to find an apartment in Meriden. Drug activity The Crime Suppression Unit began conducting surveillance on 14 Geer Ave. at least three months after Morales eviction and about eight months after the May 2017 investigation into the DCF complaint regarding Concepcion. On Jan. 29, 2018, officers saw a woman get out of a car that had just turned onto Geer Avenue and was parked near the multi-family home, according to the search warrant application. The woman, whose name was redacted, entered the side door of 14 Geer Avenue and exited the residence within approximately one minute and returned to the vehicle. The amount of time she spent inside 14 Geer Ave. was consistent with the amount of time it takes to conduct a drug sale, the warrant application states, adding that the car was known to law enforcement to be frequently loaned out to drug dealers and drug users in exchange for narcotics. On Feb. 1, members of the Crime Suppression Unit observed a woman, known by police on suspicion of drug activity, being picked up from her home on Twiss Street and driven to 14 Geer Ave. The woman, whose name was also redacted in the warrant application, left the front passenger seat and entered 14 Geer Ave. for two minutes, during which time police suspected she bought drugs, according to the affidavit. Officers then followed the vehicle to Big M Liquors, 71 Pratt St., and arrested the woman on two active arrest warrants. Police found her with a bag containing what was later determined to be crack cocaine. According to the initial arrest report, the woman told officers she had just bought the $150 piece from a house police officers determined to be 14 Geer Ave. based off our observations. The report does not specify which apartment. The search warrant application, dated the next day, states that the arrestee told police she purchased the crack/cocaine from a Hispanic male that resides on the first floor and that there are two Hispanic males that sell crack/cocaine and heroin out of the apartment. Rafael Margary-Rivera, one of the plaintiffs, told officers on multiple occasions during the search that police were in the wrong apartment and that the upstairs residents were selling narcotics, according to an incident report written by Simonson following the raid. Rafaels belief regarding the guilt of his upstairs neighbors contradicts the information (Dorais in the Crime Suppression Unit) received from at least two independent sources, Simonson wrote. Simonson wrote in his report that the couples teenage son went missing from the apartment during the search. Police requested a patrol officer to the scene to begin a missing person investigation. While Margary-Rivera, the teens father, was completing the missing person report, he received a text from a man who lived in the apartment above that his son had fled there when he heard police enter. Margary-Rivera showed police the teens bedroom and how it has a door that leads to an interior stairwell directly to the upstairs apartment. Macri, the property owner, confirmed there is access to the second-floor through the stairwell. The son, listed as 15 years old in the missing person report, later returned to the first-floor apartment. Based on the fact that drawers in his bedroom were open when Simonson entered and the fact that drugs were seen being thrown out of the second-floor apartment, Simonson wrote in the report that he suspected the teen was working with the upstairs neighbor to facilitate the sale of narcotics, though he was not charged by police. Hard to fathom Spinella said members of the family were terrorized by the SWAT search and some of the family members have since received therapy. The experience of the raid, Spinella said, was made worse because the family had relocated from Puerto Rico only a few months prior, due to Hurricane Maria. They came here with high hopes, the attorney said. The lawsuit states the family was relocated under a Federal Emergency Management Agency program. A FEMA spokeswoman said she couldnt confirm whether the family was relocated by the agency because she didnt have enough information. During the search, Yahaira Rodriguez-Torres began to complain of chest pains, Simonsons report said. He requested an ambulance, which took Yahaira to MidState Medical Center. Simonson drove the other family members to the hospital. Once I dropped off Yahairas family at MidState Medical Center, I provided Rafael (Margary-Rivera) with my business card and informed him to contact me with any questions regarding this mornings incident, Simonsons report said. The lawsuit claims Yahaira was also injured while attempting to run during the search because she was in a panic from being surrounded by men with military-style weapons. The whole circumstance is an outrage, Spinella said. These are religious people, theyre hard-working people and the whole thing is a tragedy. The fact that they could traumatize this family and just walk away from it and say, OK have a nice day, heres my business card, is hard to fathom. Spinella advised the family not to speak with a reporter because the lawsuit is pending. Macri, said the family ended their 12-month lease early and moved out of the apartment in early September 2018 because they didnt feel comfortable living there following the raid. Spinella declined to say whether the family still lives in Meriden. Macri called them a very nice family. We were kinda, like, bummed that they had to leave, but I guess they felt more comfortable based on what they experienced, Macri said. Macri said he was shocked to learn of the SWAT search when it occurred. He said he wasnt aware of any drug activity in the multi-family home and didnt know Concepcion. It was shocking to us. I couldnt believe it. Weve never had anything like that, Macri said. My heart went out to the family as well because I could see how they were reacting. I felt bad for them, it was just a terrible situation. I dont know the merit of it, but the experience of it was quite alarming for them and us as well. mzabierek@record-journal.com 203-317-2279 Twitter: @MatthewZabierek The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton is proud to announce our keynote speaker for the June 2019 Presidents Dinner: Dr. Ruth Westheimer! Dr. Ruth Westheimer may best be known for having pioneered talking explicitly about sex on radio and television, but that is only a small part of her rich and diversified life. Born in Germany in 1928, Dr. Westheimer was sent to Switzerland at the age of ten to escape the Holocaust, which wiped out her entire immediate family. At seventeen she went to then-Palestine. She joined the Haganah, the Israeli freedom fighters, was trained to be a sniper, and was seriously wounded in a bomb blast. She later moved to Paris to study at the Sorbonne and in 1956 went to the U.S. where she obtained her Masters Degree (M.A.) in Sociology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School of Social Research and Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in the Interdisciplinary Study of the Family from Columbia University Teachers College. She is the author of 44 books, the latest of which are Stay or Go and Roller Coaster Grandma and the executive producer of five documentaries. A one-woman show about her life, Becoming Dr. Ruth has played in the Berkshires, Hartford and off-Broadway and continues to tour. A documentary about her life, Ask Dr. Ruth, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this past January and will be shown in theaters and then on Hulu. Dr. Westheimer, a widow, has two children, four grandchildren and resides in New York City. Tickets will be available online Wednesday, May 8! Dinner will be Monday, June 17 at 6pm Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture & Education CJCE 525 Versailles Dr. Centerville, Ohio 45459 Theres clearly demand for more parking in that area, but its going to take some time to get sorted out, and thats not what the commuter wants to hear, said Becky Bradley, secretary of LVTS and executive director of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission. She said she wouldnt be surprised if the issue came up during a committee meeting this spring. State police say a car crashed into a tree, killing two men in Berks County. Police reported Friday to Union Township, where a car heading east on Route 724 failed to negotiate a curve, left the road and slammed into the tree. The two 21-year-old occupants from Douglassville had to be freed from the wreckage and were taken to Reading Hospital, where both were pronounced dead. Their names weren't released. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. The idea of their forming a new theater company, and my idea of starting an Actors Studio were totally separate from one another, but our two companies have meshed together very well, Patterson says. We are two separate entities with very similar goals. They bring quality theater to the Lehigh Valley and I train actors so they are prepared to bring their talents to the stage or screen. We all work together well, both on a personal and professional level. Modeling is far behind me, she says. But dancing will always be a part of me, so naturally I incorporate it in my act. Not that I necessarily do full-on choreography, but its in the way I move and hold myself on stage. I try to combine speech with movement to music while I do my illusions. SeniorAdvisor.com is in its sixth year of hosting the Best of Senior Living Awards. The winners represent the best in-home care, assisted living and other senior living providers, based on the online reviews written by seniors and their families. This designation honors the top 1 percent of senior care providers across the United States and Canada. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Rabat King Mohamed VI formally stated Moroccos intention to return to the African Union (AU) in a message to the AU summit in Rwanda on Sunday. Noting Moroccos historical connections and increasingly strong economic ties to the rest of Africa, the monarch asserted that the time has come for Morocco to reclaim its seat in the organization and promote African unity. Morocco is the only African state recognized by the United Nations that is not a member of the AU. The kingdom left the organization, then called the Organization of African Unity, in 1984 to protest its decision to admit the Polisarios self-declared Arab Sahrawi Republic (SADR) in the Western Sahara as a member state. Morocco claims the Western Sahara region , which the Polisario seeks to control, as its southern provinces. However, the African Union officially recognizes SADR as a member state, and multiple members have independently recognized the Western Saharas independence from Morocco. 32 years later, the status of the Western Sahara remains the crux of the tensions between Morocco and the AU. There are two requirements for AU membership: that the state be located in Africa, and that the state sign and ratify the AU Constitutive Act . Once a state fulfils these requirements, the assembly must vote to approve the new member by a simple majority. Morocco hopes to formally begin this process during this summit. However, the contents of the Constitutive Act will pose difficulties as the AU determines whether to admit the kingdom. The Act includes among its objectives to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member States and pledges to function in accordance with the principle of non-interference by any Member State in the internal affairs of another. If the AU accepts Morocco as a member state while continuing to recognize SADR, it will face a precarious political dilemma. Since Morocco and SADR claim the same territory, it would be impossible for the AU to uphold its principles of non-interference and sovereignty for both members. Therefore, King Mohamed urged the bloc to reconsider the membership status of the independent Western Sahara. Calling SADR a pseudo-state, he noted that the Republic is not recognized by powers across the globe, nor is it a member of the UN or the Arab League. Institutional Africa can no longer bear the burden of the historical error [of recognizing SADR] and its cumbersome legacy, the monarch claimed. Brahim Ghali, the newly-appointed head of SADR following the death of longtime Polisario leader Mohamed Abdelaziz, is attending the summit. Ghali, backed by economic power South Africa and other supporters of the SADR regime, will undoubtedly clash with Moroccan lobbyists and their allies as the organization debates Moroccos reentry. As the AU considers Moroccan membership, the kingdoms recent efforts to deepen economic and diplomatic relationships with other member states will play an important role. Under King Mohamed, Morocco has worked to become a continental power by expanding its influence in sub-Saharan Africa. The kingdom has signed dozens of deals in the past two years alone promoting economic cooperation with Gabon, Mali, Senegal, the Cote dIvoire, and other African countries. As of 2014, the kingdom is the second-largest foreign investor in African nations. This economic diplomacy has helped Morocco increase its political capital, even in nations that hold opposing political views with regard to the status of the Western Sahara. King Mohamed has also relied on traditional diplomacy to gain allies. When Rwandan President Paul Kagame, the host of this summers AU summit, visited Morocco last month, the King awarded him the Order of Muhammad , the highest level of recognition in the Kingdom. The Kings economic and diplomatic efforts have elevated Moroccos political power across the continent. The investment already appear to be paying out: recently, Zambia decided to cut diplomatic ties with SADR. These deepened relationships will help Morocco when the assembly votes on their membership application. In Morocco, however, support for the pan-African unity espoused by the AU is not uniform. Many citizens do not identify Morocco as a part of Africa , preferring to associate the kingdom as a part of the Arab world and rejecting the racialized categorization of African. However, King Mohamed is attempting to shift this attitude. Although Moroccos population is not predominately black, the King noted in his message, the kingdom is as much a part of the continent as any other nation. Emphasizing the importance of brotherhood and pan-African consciousness, he stated that Morocco has always been and always will be animated by an unshakable faith in Africa. Morocco, although it left the African Union, never left Africa, the king asserted. Moroccos reentry to the union could enhance economic and diplomatic prospects for the Kingdom and fellow member states. As nations around the globe question the power of liberal institutions in the wake of the Brexit, Moroccos request to join the African Union is a nod to the enduring power of the African Union and the benefits such institutions can bring. Please follow and like us: 0 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Join the Conversation. What do you think? Click www.moroccoworldnews.com/ to read the article from its source. Muriel Eugenia Dunckel, age 71, of Mankato passed away on Sunday, June 20, 2021 at St. Mary's Hospital, Rochester. Services will be held at a later date. Mankato Mortuary is assisting the family with arrangements. Muriel is survived by her husband, Nelson Dunckel; children, Dan (Carla) Ewert Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has raised alarm over the impact of US President Donald Trump's push for a border wall. Enrile warned Washington's adoption of an isolationist position will affect not only the Philippines but the whole world. What is Trump doing now? He is adopting an isolationist position. The trajectory of America [is that] they can no longer afford to be the policeman and economic supporter of the entire globe, he said. They have to retract, recede, and go back to their own isolation. If that happens, your economic boom that youre seeing here is going to be terribly affected, added Enrile, who is vying for a comeback in the Senate in the upcoming midterm elections. Enrile noted that the wealth of Germany, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and even China now all came from the economy of America.America has been propelling the economic progress of the world. Europe was devastated. They did not have anything; they had to rebuild it. Thats why they opened the US market to all the European countries except the Soviet Union and its satellites. That was the base of this progress that we had, and nothing more, the veteran lawmaker said. The former Senator also favored stronger relations with China rather than the US in the years to come. Between China and American, we have been under America for almost a century from 1898 until today, said Enrile. Military-wise, I can depend on China more than I can depend on America in terms of their capacity and their willingness to assist their friends in case of trouble. If we go to war with China, we cannot depend on America, he added. Support Local Journalism The Malibu community needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please help keep us in print by making a contribution. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Probing Queries, Outrageous Outburst POLITICAL NOTEBOOK An element of uncertainty hovers over the country as one writes these lines. A week has passed since the horrific terror strike in Pulwama, J&K. That happened on February 14. Today is February 21. The entire country stood by the Union Government soon after the terror attack, the worst in the border State that resulted in the deaths of as many as 40 CRPF jawans. Today on the seventh day after the attack the Opposition parties have come out with probing questions on the intelligence and security failures that led to the terror strike, and what the PM was doing immediately following that dastardly incident. This has triggered angry reaction from the BJP accusing the main Opposition party of not just politicising the issue but even demoralising the security forces. Interestingly the Congress is being attacked by members of a party whose ideological forefathers had all along helped the British and kept themselves out of the freedom struggle, especially during the Quit India movement. In the meantime the Union Governments total silence on the violence on sections of the Indian populace, notably the Kashmiris, in different parts of the country has compelled the Kashmiri leaders, like the National Conferences Omar Abdullah, a former J&K CM, to assail such reprehensible actions and denounce these in unambiguous terms. However, most unfortunate and condemnable are the public pronouncements of Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy. Only the other day he made an outrageous comment. Asking the people not to visit Kashmir, not to go to Amarnath for the next two years, not to buy articles from the Kashmir emporia or Kashmiri tradesmen, his terse message was: Boycott everything Kashmiri. In the wake of the controversy he has raised, a spokesman of his party has sought to explain away his remarks as being purely his personal opinion. This is totally unacceptable. Whatever ones personal views may be, as long as a person holds a constitutional office, he cannot publicly air personal opinions that go against the official policy of the government or are inconsistent with the requirements of the office he is holding. Boycott everything Kashmiri is not the policy of the government, even of the government run by the BJP, the party to which Roy belongs. The Indian states well-known position is that Jammu and Kashmir, including that part of Kashmir which is under the illegal occupation of Pakistan, is an integral part of India. The Kashmiris are very much Indian. A person holding a constitutional office like that of a Governor cannot give a call to boycott the people of an integral part of India. To put it euphemistically, what Roy has said goes against the policy of the government and the interests of the country. Not to put too fine a point on it, the outrageous personal opinion that he has expressed publicly, questions his eligibility to the office he occupies. But till date Tathagata has not been pulled up, leave aside being shown the door. The President too has adopted the role of an onlooker in the matter. This is also unacceptable. He needs to be sacked forthwith. As we go to press, news has just come that India has taken the decision to stop supplying water from Chenub, Beas and Ravi to Pakistan. Needless to underline, this will cause immense hardship to the Pakistani people and further enhance our bilateral tensions with Pakistan. February 21 Analyst Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Pulwama Attack: PIPFPD Calls for Peace The following is the statement issued by the Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) on the February 14, 2019 terror attack at Pulwama, J&K. The statement was in the form of a press release issued on February 15, 2019. How many Deaths will it take till we know That too many people have died? The PIPFPD is shocked and saddened by the loss of lives of 44 CRPF personnel in a militant attack in Lethapora, Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. The gruesome manner in which an explosives-laden vehicle, driven by a suicide bomber, rammed into a CRPF convoy and the scale of the operation is horrifying. The loss of precious lives is tragic and painful. While investigations are underway, it is alleged that the Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) orchestrated this dastardly attack. All civilised societies must prevent bloodshed and condemn, mourn killings. It is equally important to understand the genesis of the attack and find ways to ensure that such incidents do not happen in future. It is also important to make sure that violence and war are not irresponsibly perpetuated in the name of avenging the blood of the deceased. The incident raises several pertinent questions that must be addressed. According to some reports, intelligence inputs about an impending attack were available with the security agencies. Also, the entire highway where the attack took place, is heavily sanitised. The militant, who carried out the attack, released his video talking about a fidayeen strike before the attack. All these reports suggest a possible security lapse that must be probed along with questions of how such a huge quantity of explosives was piled up and stored. It must also be investigated as to why such a large convoy of military personnel was moving together in a conflict zone like Kashmir. The PIPFPD unequivocally condemns this and all acts of terrorwhether perpetrated by state or non-state actors. While India and Pakistan must conduct investigations into this attack, the attack is a clear outcome of the flawed Kashmir-centric policies of the Indian Govern-ment and the misplaced claims of wiping out militancy from Kashmir. The rigid muscular policy pursued by the Government of India, without any attempts for a political outreach, have created conditions that are conducive for militancy. The excessive repression in the Kashmir Valley, particularly since 2016, with men, women and children being killed and maimed with bullets and pellets, the highly disproportionate scale of crackdowns and arrests and the increasing graph of human rights violations often push young men to pick up the gun against the state. It is not out of place to mention that militancy is an off-shoot of a deeper malaise including an unaddressed political dispute, subversion of democracy and democratic rights of the people and neglect of human rights violations. The PIPFPD, among many other organisations and people, have raised these issues consistently. Two reports (Blood Censored and Why are People Protesting in Kashmir), authored by members of the PIPFPD in 2017 and 2018 respectively, had gone on to warn about the worsening situation and the failure of state policies. Sadly, except for further war mongering, these killings are never used by the two governments to brainstorm towards conflict transformation. The PIPFPD calls for major steps to ensure an end to violence in Kashmir and the sub-continent. We recommend: 1. Apart from fighting militants militarily, the Indian Government must open channels of negotiation with the people of Kashmir and introduce genuine confidence-building measures to pave way for a more structured dialogue. 2. New Delhi and Islamabad must resume composite and unconditional dialogue between India and Pakistan and make the people of Jammu and Kashmir an inclusive part of the dialogue. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Kashmir: Nearing Zero Hour From N.C.s Writings Kashmir today has become the touchstone of Indian statesmanship. The crisis that has emerged there can no longer be managed by conventional methods of settling political acrimony. It has gone much beyond, and now it has assumed the magnitude of a definite threat to the integrity of the country. The militants who want Kashmir to secede from the Indian Union are today in control of life and politicsat least in the Valley itself. It is time the public in this country was informed about the actual state of affairs in Kashmir. It is a grim, very grim situation and the nation cannot afford to take an ostrich outlook. That will be self-deceiving, because any delay in facing upto the reality may ultimately end up in the actual secession of a part of Indian territory. There need be no doubt on this score. How precarious the situation is can be gauged from the fact that the entire administration is now openly divided in its loyalty. Roughly, it can be stated that the most active and dominant in the Valley today are the militants who want Kashmir to secede from India. Next to them come the large masses who are discontended with the prevailing conditions for which they blame New Delhi. Lastly, there is a small number, mostly muted and passive, who still want Kashmir to stay in the Indian Union. In such a situation it is but natural that the militant secessionists dominate over the discontend masses today while the pro-Indian forces are hopelessly marginalised, and forced into inactivity. In other words, the balance of forces in the Kashmir Valley has qualitatively changed. In the past, roughly about the time the National Conference-Congress-I Ministry took office in 1987, the secessionists were a hard core minority group, and the discontended gathering round the Muslim United Front (MUF) having had a substantive following could have been forced to meet the challenge of the National Conference and the Congress-I, had the two parties worked actively as a unified force. Unfortunately, such an opportunity was squandered by both the parties in the coalition. The alliance turned out to be just a pact between the leaders of the two partiesFarooq Abdullah and Rajiv Gandhi. There was no rapport whatsover between the ranks of the two parties, not to speak of their launching a united front movement. This was further compounded by the total malfunctioning of the coalition Ministry. From personal experience borne out by two visits to the Valley in that period, this correspondent gathered the very disturbing impression that behind all the high-visibility political impetuosity and exhibitionism on the part of Farooq Abdullah, his Ministry emerged as the symbol of utter corruption and maladministration. It was this very phase which saw the growing activity of the secessionist groups emerging out in the open. This account of the past in the Kashmir Valley has been necessitated by the patently distorted account given by Rajiv Gandhi in his letter to the Prime Minister on March 6. One would like to remind both Rajiv and Farooq as to what happened on the Independence Day, August 15 last when the secessionists coming out in the open, had forced a black-out in Srinagar with Pakistani flags flying at many places. Was it an example of their maintenance of political contact with the people or that at no time was the administration alienated from the people as has been claimed in Rajivs letter? It is such a display of dishonest alibi on the part of Rajiv Gandhi that weakens his appeal for a national consensus for meeting the crisis in Kashmir today. Such a consensus, which is urgently called for to meet the fast deteriorating situation, demands that all the leaders of all partiesparticularly the Congress-I, the National Conference and the National Front Governmentmust desist from mutual recriminations. This is not the moment for washing each others dirty linen in the public, but for making a determined endeavour to work out a united national approach to salvage Kashmir for the Indian Union. Such a united approach has become necessary because it will be imperative to boldly meet even the discontented militants and win them over by seriously meeting some of their genuine demands. While terrorism needs to be curbed, there has to be side by side a determined effort to prove to the people in the Valley that they stand to gain by remaining in the Indian Union, that this democracy can ensure for them a better life with more autonomy. Whether it is Article 370 of 1951 or the accord of 1975all these can be re-examined in all good faith and a degree of self-government can be assured in keeping with the spirit of the times. No rigid posture will help on this score. In fact, the present government by its very commitment will have to meet the claims of the States for more autonomy vis-a-vis the Centre, as decentralisation is on the agenda of the day. Viewed in this context, the discontent in Kashmir can be met only by taking into consideration its special status born out of historical reasons. Only when such a line is taken, backed by a united national stand, can the challenge of Pakistani interference be met effectively. Not only that. Such an approach can very well be the stepping stone towards Indo-Pakistan understanding as well. Kashmir unreconciled shall be the Achilles heel for the Indian Republic; Kashmir contended can be the most important show-window for Indian democracy. Once again, let it be remembered: the crisis in Kashmir poses today the most formidable challenge for Indian statesmanship. (Editors Notebook Mainstream, March 10, 1990) RTHK: Pompeo says Venezuela's regime on borrowed time US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed confidence on Sunday that embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's "days are numbered," amid a violent impasse over humanitarian aid. "Predictions are difficult. Picking exact days is difficult," Pompeo said on CNN's "State of the Union." "I'm confident that the Venezuelan people will ensure that Maduro's days are numbered." Pompeo's remarks came a day after a US-supported, opposition-led effort to bring humanitarian supplies into the country was repelled by Venezuelan border troops firing tear gas and rubber bullets. Maduro, vowing to "never bow down" at a rally in Caracas, severed relations with neighboring Colombia for supporting the opposition bid. Pompeo blamed armed Maduro loyalists known as "collectivos" for most of the violence at border crossings. "We hope the military will take that role back in protecting their citizens from these tragedies. If that happens, I think good things will happen," he said. The military command has pledged absolute loyalty to Maduro, although some officers and soldiers have deserted, heeding opposition appeals to switch sides. Pompeo said the United States, which recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's interim president, remains committed to bringing in aid. "We're aimed at a singular mission -- ensuring the Venezuelan people get the democracy they so richly deserve and the Cubans and the Russians who have been driving this country into the ground for years and years and years no longer hold sway," he said. Separately, the European Union condemned Caracas for its use of violence. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2019-02-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > For How Long would Kashmiris Suffer? by Aijaz Ahmad Turrey On Thursday, February 14, 2019, a CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) convoy, moving from Jammu to Srinagar, was for the first time attacked by a suicide bomber with an explosive-laden vehicle near Avantipora, Pulwama, Kashmir. The attack resulted in the death of 40 CRPF personnel. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammed. The attack has been condemned by every individual and community living in the country. But in the aftermath the consequences seem to be worsening the already disturbed situation as a particular community, Kashmiri, is being targeted in every corner of the country, especially the north. At least 15-20 female students from the Valley locked themselves in one of the hostel rooms in Dehradun after a mob surrounded the hostel. This incident happened a day after 12 students from Kashmir were thrashed in Dehradun by members of Right-wing groups including the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The fearful mob with sticks and stones are calling them traitors and asking for apologies. The girls are much scared as slogans like Hindustan ke gaddaron ko goli maro (Shoot the traitors of the country) are being continuously raised. Thursdays militant attack in Pulwama has triggered violence in the Jammu region, with mobs torching vehicles and attacking the Kashmiri Muslims staying there. According to the police, at least 12 persons were injured in the violence. The protestors damaged nearly 80 vehicles, torching eight of them. The Darbar move (non-secretariat) employees federation on Saturday threatened to return to Kashmir if the government didnt take measures to ensure their safety in Jammu. State President of the association, Owais Wani, said that their families were not safe in Jammu as the quarters, provided by the Estates Department, were facing attacks by miscreants in Jammu. Over 5000 Kashmiris, including women and children, have taken refuge at the Makah Masjid Iqbal Market at Bhatandi. Some locals from Jammu, assisted by the police, visited different hotels and rented accommodations to move the Kashmiris to safer place. With sentiments running high against terrorist attacks in Kashmir, over 100 Kashmiri students living in rented accommodations in Haryanas Mullana village have been forced to leave after the district panchayat asked the villagers to evict them. The village sarpanch issued an ultimatum to PG (paying guest) owners to oust the Kashmiri students from accommodations within 24 hours. With tension mounting in the village, the Haryana Police are keeping a close watch and have assured the Kashmiri students about their safety. Though the authorities have asked the students to return to their respective PG accommodations, the students have chosen to remain inside the campus for around four days. Videos are also coming from Bihar showing Kashmiris facing a communal backlash. A group of Hindu Right-wing activists flinging out the stocks of garment sellers while threatening them to leave the State within 24 hours or be prepared to face the consequences can be clearly seen in the video. When a woman, apparently a local, objects to the behaviour of the mob, she is told that 45 CRPF men have been killed in Kashmir and Kashmiris will have to face the consequences. Kashmiris are under the scanner in every part of the country. Why are they being asked to vacate as soon as possible? Why are anti-national slogans like Desh Kay Ghaddaro Ko, Goli Maro Salon Ko being raised against them? What is their crime? These questions should be raised as such acts are badly affecting national integrity. This communal and ethnicity-based violence is dividing the people. They are also the citizens of the country, they also have feelings and should be treated well like they do with 10 lakh in-migrants from different parts of the country. The J&K High Court Bar Association, Srinagar on Saturday appealed to the international community including the United Nations, Amnesty International, Asia Watch, other human rights organisations of the world and members of Indian civil society to come to the rescue of the people of Kashmir from the brutalities being inflicted on them by the ruthless communal and fanatic forces of Jammu and other places of India. The Traders Association, Lal Chowk, Srinagar called for Kashmir Bandh on Sunday against the attack on Kashmiris outside the Valley. Din Mohammad, President of the Association, said that the shutdown call has been given jointly by the KTMF (Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation) and KCCI (Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries) jointly. The Centre on Saturday asked all States to ensure the safety and security of the students and people from Jammu and Kashmir living in their areas in the wake of threats to them in some parts of the country. The author is a Ph.D student, Centre for Studies in Economics and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar. WASHINGTON: Special Counsel Robert Mueller`s team told a U.S. judge on Saturday that President Donald Trump`s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort "repeatedly and brazenly" broke the law, and argued he did not deserve leniency at sentencing. The recommendation from Mueller, who is investigating Russia`s role in the 2016 U.S. election and whether Trump`s campaign conspired with Moscow, increases the likelihood that Manafort will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Manafort pleaded guilty in a federal court in Washington last September to conspiracy against the United States - a charge that includes a range of conduct from money laundering to unregistered lobbying - and conspiracy to obstruct justice for attempts to tamper with witnesses. He can be sentenced up to five years for each count, for a statutory maximum of 10 years. While Mueller did not recommend a specific sentence he portrayed Manafort as a "hardened" criminal who was at risk of repeating criminal behavior if released from prison. As part of an earlier plea deal with Mueller, the special counsel dropped five other charges and Manafort agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. But Mueller`s team in November accused Manafort of violating the agreement by repeatedly lying to prosecutors on subjects including his interactions with a business partner they have said has ties to Russian intelligence. The judge this month ruled Manafort had breached the deal. "For over a decade, Manafort repeatedly and brazenly violated the law," Mueller`s office said in a sentencing memorandum released by the court on Saturday. "His criminal actions were bold, some of which were committed while under a spotlight due to his work as the campaign chairman and, later, while he was out on bail from this Court." Manafort, a 69-year old veteran Republican political consultant who earned millions of dollars working for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, faces up to 25 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines in a second case in Virginia in which he was convicted last year of financial crimes. Trump has not ruled out issuing a pardon for Manafort, who worked for the campaign during five pivotal months in the middle of 2016 including during the party`s national convention. But the Manhattan district attorney`s office is pursuing criminal charges against Manafort which would be outside of Trump`s pardon power for federal crimes. So far, 34 people and three companies have pleaded guilty, been indicted or otherwise been swept up into Mueller`s inquiry. Russia denies trying to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and Trump says his team did not collude with Moscow. A senior U.S. Justice Department official said on Friday that Mueller will not deliver a long-awaited final report next week, amid expectations that the document was imminent. Judge T.S. Ellis, who oversaw Manafort`s trial in Alexandria, Virginia, will sentence him on March 8. He will be followed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who will decide on March 13 how much of the 10-year statutory maximum to give Manafort in the Washington case and whether her sentence will run concurrent or consecutive to his punishment in Virginia. Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago, said he expected Jackson to take her cue from Ellis. If Ellis goes easy on Manafort, Jackson will likely run her sentence consecutively to ensure a lengthy prison term, he said. "I don`t have any doubt she is going to give him a significant sentence," Mariotti said. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Chest-thumping and War-mongering must give way to Trust, Peace and (...) I went to participate in a candle-light homage-paying event at Dr B.R. Ambedkars statue organised by about 200 Dalit students on the Hazratganj main crossing in Lucknow on February 16, 2019 evening, two days after the dastardly terrorist act in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, in which 40 Central Reserve Police Forces personnel were killed. While the condolence meeting by Dalit students was sombre with no slogans being raised, at the neighbouring Mahatma Gandhi statue, much smaller nationalist groups of different shades were crying hoarse over each other shouting anti-Pakistan slogans, a sight that may have made Gandhi cringe. The crucial question that arises is: why do such terrorist attacks continue to take place, if the Indian Government, as claimed by the Prime Minister, has already given a fitting reply to Pakistan after the Uri terrorist attack in the form of a surgical strike? There is a clamour among the Hindutva hardliners for a stronger surgical strike. If the 2016 surgical strike has not deterred the Pakistan-based terror groups or the Pakistani Army, what is the guarantee that a fresh one will do? And how much stronger surgical strike can be launched before it triggers a war? And who knows when the war will degenerate into a nuclear one? In fact, the Government of Indias hardline position against Pakistan and refusal to engage in dialogue has made the situation worse. In Afghanistan the United States is preparing to pull out its troops, leaving India in the cold. Donald Trump, who till now had adopted a reprimanding attitude towards Pakistan for having given shelter to terrorist organisations, has now realised its importance in brokering a peace deal with the Taliban. Now he ridicules Narendra Modi as someone who tells him that India has built a library, undermining the Parliament building made by the previous Indian Government, in Kabul. Meanwhile, Narendra Modi, who did not spare any international fora to demand isolation of Pakistan for its role in promoting terror, failed to convince even one important nation. China blocks the Indian attempt at the United Nations to declare the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, Masood Azhar, the man behind 2001 Parliament attack and also behind the recent Pulwama incident, as a global terrorist. Russia, till sometime back considered close to India, is now building a military partnership with Pakistan. The Indian Government, like in the past terrorist attacks, continues to blame Pakistan for the Pulwama terrorist attack. Can the Pakistan Government be held responsible for the JeMs act? India thinks so, but the rest of the world doesnt agree with this point of view. Will the Pakistan Government risk supporting such an attack on India when it is just about to host the US-Taliban talks in Islamabad and it is happy to be back in the good books of the US? It desperately needs US financial help to sustain its security apparatus. India must realise that the victim card it plays is not isolating Pakistan but it is increasingly making India helpless. In no position to launch a full-fledged war because of the impending danger of the use of nuclear weapons, it is in Indias interest to buy peace with Pakistan and restore normalcy in Kashmir. Facing marginalisation in the Afghanistan peace talks, the Indian Government, through its Army chief Bipin Rawat, has signalled that it is willing to talk to the Taliban. This same government refuses to engage with the elected government of Pakistan, failed to pull along a coalition in J&K with the Peoples Democratic Party and does not acknowledge the presence of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, which possibly has more hold on the people than any political party there. In fact, it questioned Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi for having had telephonic talks with the Hurriyat leaders recently. It doesnt believe in dialogue and doesnt want anybody to dialogue with anybody else. This holier-than-thou attitude has played havoc with the J&K people. If the Indian Government has no qualms about talking to the Taliban, then it should reconsider its position of avoiding dialogue with Pakistan and the Kashmiri political actors. Imran Khan has pre-empted India by taking the Kartarpur Corridor initiative forcing it to cooperate as the Indian Government cannot afford to hurt the religious sentiments of the Sikh community. It should initiate a full-fledged dialogue process at the highest level. It cannot hope to have a better combination than Imran Khan-Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the helm of affairs in Pakistan. It is a pity that there are attempts to cow down Navjot Singh Sidhu for advocating dialogue with Pakistan; he seems to be the only Indian politician who is trying to inject some sanity in the otherwise virulent atmosphere created in the country in the name of nationalist politics. To restore peace in J&K the Indian Government must engage the Hurriyat leaders, pave the way for the State elections, possibly along with the general elections, and help in the formation of the next elected government. But most importantly, the Army and para-military forces have to be pulled out from inside Kashmir. The Indian Government has to trust the J&K Government once to run its affairs on its own with the help of the local police to control the law and order situation like in other State. The Armys role should be only limited to protecting the borders. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act must be given a silent burial, the vocal demand for which was made by Omar Abdullah when he was serving as the State CM. In essence, until the Indian Government stops treating Kashmir like its colony, peace is unlikely to return to the Valley. No government can use pellet guns on its own people. We have moved away from the Gandhian values, especially in the current regime headed by Narendra Modi who doesnt visualise Gandhis role beyond the sanitation campaign. And we have to rely on our Constitution to bring back normalcy to Kashmir. Narendra Modi has to expand his publicly declared chest size of 56 inches to allow a larger heart to extend a hand of friendship and peace to the people of Kashmir, its political actors, even those of separatist hues, and Pakistan. It must reach a written or an unwritten arrangement, just like the one with China, not to let soldiers from either side use any firepower. Both governments will have to jointly deal with terrorists because terror organisations based in Pakistan are hurting the Pakistani population probably more than the Indian population, something which the very people realise from the Indian point of view. URENA: Troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro turned back foreign aid convoys from Venezuela`s border using teargas and rubber rounds on Saturday, killing two protesters and putting his socialist government on a collision course with Washington. Trucks laden with U.S. food and medicine for Venezuela returned to warehouses in Colombia after opposition supporters failed to break through lines of troops, leaving dozens of demonstrators injured. Witnesses said masked men in civilian clothes also shot at protesters with live bullets. Angered by the Colombian government`s support for opposition leader Juan Guaido, Maduro said he was breaking diplomatic relations with Bogota and gave its diplomatic staff 24 hours to leave the country. Guaido, who most Western nations recognize as Venezuela`s legitimate leader, had given a personal send-off to Saturday`s convoy carrying aid from the Colombian city of Cucuta. The opposition had hoped Venezuelan soldiers would baulk at turning back supplies desperately needed in the country, where a growing number of its 30 million people suffer from malnutrition and treatable diseases. But while some 60 members of the security forces defected on Saturday, according to Colombian authorities, the lines of National Guard soldiers at the frontier crossings held firm, firing tear gas at the convoys. At the Urena border point, two aid trucks caught fire, sending plumes of dark smoke into the air as crowds raced to try to save the boxes of supplies, a Reuters witness said. Guaido, speaking later from Colombia, said he would keep demanding Maduro let the aid in and would seek other routes. He said he would attend a meeting of the regional Lima Group of nations in Bogota on Monday with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. "Today the world saw in minutes, in hours, the worst face of the Venezuelan dictatorship," Guaido said, alongside Colombian President Ivan Duque. "We saw a man who doesn`t feel pain for his Venezuelan people, who ordered the burning of necessary food for the hungry." Maduro denies his oil-rich nation has any need of aid and accuses Guaido of being a coup-mongering puppet for U.S. President Donald Trump. Washington has warned it could seek to impose tough new sanctions on Venezuela at Monday`s summit if Maduro blocked the aid shipments. "What do the Venezuelan people think of Donald Trump`s threats? Get your hands off Venezuela. Yankee go home," Maduro told a rally of red-shirted, flag-waving supporters in the capital, Caracas. "He is sending us rotten food, thank you!" Trump`s national security adviser John Bolton said on Twitter that countries still supporting Maduro "should take note of what they are endorsing", in a thinly veiled rebuke to China and Russia. `FREEDOM` In the Venezuelan border towns of San Antonio and Urena, troops fired rubber rounds at opposition supporters, including lawmakers, who walked toward the frontier waving Venezuelan flags and chanting "freedom". Reuters television footage from San Antonio showed a dozen men on motorbikes, dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, firing shotguns and pistols at a crowd. Demonstrators in Urena barricaded streets with burning tires, set a bus alight and hurled stones at troops to demand that Maduro allow aid into a country ravaged by an economic meltdown that has halved the size of the economy in five years. "They started shooting at close range as if we were criminals," said shopkeeper Vladimir Gomez, 27, wearing a white shirt stained with blood. At least six of about a dozen trucks that tried to reach Venezuela later returned to Cucuta, where Colombia`s disaster management agency said they would be unloaded and the aid stored until Guaido requested their use again. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said he ordered a Puerto Rican ship carrying humanitarian aid to turn back after a Venezuelan navy ship threatened to open fire on the vessel. "This is unacceptable and shameful," Rossello said in a statement. "We have also notified our partners in the U.S. government about this serious incident." According to a Reuters witness, two aid trucks crossed the Brazilian border but did not pass through the Venezuelan customs checkpoint. In the southern town of Santa Elena de Uairen at least two people were killed in clashes with security forces, according to a doctor at the hospital where they were treated. On Friday, a married couple in a nearby indigenous community was shot dead by security forces. Rights group Penal Forum said it recorded 29 injuries from bullet wounds and two deaths across Venezuela in clashes with troops on Saturday. Colombian authorities registered 285 people injured, including those affected by tear gas, Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said. "I`m a homemaker and I`m here fighting for my family, for my children and parents, resisting the military`s tear gas," said opposition protester Sobeida Monsalve, 42, in Urena. DOZENS DEFECT Guaido had appealed to Venezuela`s armed forces to stand aside and allow aid in, promising amnesty to all officers who disavowed Maduro. Dozens of soldiers, whose families suffer from the same shortages as other Venezuelans, took up his offer. "You don`t owe any obedience to someone who sadistically, celebrates that the humanitarian aid doesn`t enter a country that needs it," Guaido said on Saturday. A social media video showed troops who abandoned their post driving armored vehicles across a bridge linking Venezuela and Colombia, knocking over metal barricades, and then jumping out of the vehicles and running to the Colombian side. "What we did today, we did for our families, for the Venezuelan people," one of the defectors said in a video televised by a Colombian news program. Venezuela`s ruling Socialist Party calls Guaido`s aid effort a veiled invasion backed by Washington and insists that the United States should instead help Venezuela by lifting crippling financial and oil sector sanctions. On Saturday, Maduro turned his ire on Colombia and said Duque was letting its territory be used for attacks against Venezuela. "For that reason, I have decided to break all political and diplomatic relations with Colombia`s fascist government," he told cheering supporters. Nearby, thousands of white-clad protesters gathered outside a military base in Caracas to demand that the armed forces allow the aid in. "This is the biggest battle that the armed forces can win," said Sheyla Salas, 48, who works in advertising. "Please join this struggle, get on the right side of history, allow the humanitarian aid to enter." HANOI: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un`s trip to Vietnam for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump was shrouded in mystery until a green train with yellow horizontal stripes was spotted crossing the Yalu river into China on Saturday evening. Kim, his father and grandfather, North Korea`s three leaders in succession since World War Two, have all loved trains, but no one knew how Kim intended to make the journey to Hanoi for his second summit with Trump, on Wednesday and Thursday, until the train rumbled over the border bridge. It is not clear if Kim will travel all the way to Vietnam by rail - it will take him some two and a half days to do so - and it is possible he could stop on the way and fly. If he does choose to stay on the tracks, he will be travelling in style. His train resembles the armoured ones his father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung, used over the years. It has 21 carriages equipped with all-white conference rooms, dining cars and sleeping quarters. Some carriages are decked out with pink leather chairs, big-screen televisions and ivory-coloured curtains hanging in the windows, North Korean state media has shown. The train also has satellite phone connections so Kim can keep abreast of developments and issue orders, according to state television. It also has a carriage loaded with his Mercedes Benz vehicle, South Korea`s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported. "His private train for sure has a luxurious interior and good-quality facilities, but it also can travel safely in China, with pretty good rail tracks there," said Ahn Byung-min, a senior analyst at South Korea`s government-funded Korea Transport Institute. The train can reach speeds of up to 80 kph (50 mph) on China`s network, compared with a maximum of about 45 kph (28 mph) on North Korea`s tracks, Ahn said. PEACE TRAIN, WAR TRAIN While Kim is taking the train to make peace this time, he has in the past used the same train to prepare for war. In 2016, state media showed him arriving back in Pyongyang in triumph, to a red-carpet celebration at Pyongyang station, from a satellite launching station in Sohae, after the successful testing of a long-range rocket that the United States said was an inter-continental ballistic missile. During a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang in September, North Korea pledged to dismantle key missile engine-testing and launch facilities at the Sohae site, and recent satellite imagery has shown that has begun. Trains have become part of the Kim family lore. In late 2011, Kim`s father, Kim Jong Il, died on a train. The carriage, painted in the same green colour, is exhibited in the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun where Kim Jong Il is lying in state. North Korea`s founding leader, Kim Il Sung, Kim`s grandfather, travelled abroad by train regularly during his rule until his death in 1994. His train journeys included a trip to Vietnam in 1958 when he transferred in Beijing to a plane, and travel to Eastern Europe in 1984, via the Soviet Union. In the 2002 book "Orient Express", Russian official Konstantin Pulikovsky described Kim Jong Il`s three-week journey to Moscow. In the train, which was a gift from Soviet leader Stalin, cases of Bordeaux and Beaujolais were flown in from Paris, as was live lobster, according to the book. Nam Sung-wook, a former South Korean intelligence official, said Kim`s decision to travel to the summit by train was part of an image he wanted to project. "Kim Jong Un is already putting on a big show, opting for more than a 60-hour train journey, when he can get to Hanoi in just four hours by flight," Nam told Reuters. "Pageantry is already winning over substance in this summit." SHARM EL-SHEIKH: British Prime Minister Theresa May promised on Sunday to offer lawmakers a vote on her Brexit deal by March 12, the latest delay in her attempt to win approval for a plan to ensure Britain`s orderly departure from the European Union. As the United Kingdom`s labyrinthine Brexit crisis goes down to the wire, May is making a last-ditch effort to get changes to the divorce package but lawmakers may try on Wednesday to grab control of Brexit in a series of parliamentary votes. After the British parliament voted 432-202 against her deal in January, the worst defeat in modern British history, May promised to seek changes that would allow lawmakers to ratify the agreement and thus avoid a potentially disorderly exit. On her way to Egypt for an EU-Arab League summit, May said further meetings in Brussels on securing changes to the deal ruled out a so-called meaningful vote in parliament this week. Instead, the new `high noon` for Brexit, May and the British parliament will be on March 12, just 17 days before Britain is due to leave on March 29. "We won`t bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week but we will ensure that that happens by the 12th of March," May told reporters on board her plane. "It is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on the 29th of March and that is what we are working to do." In Sharm El-Sheikh, May will try to win the backing of the EU`s leaders to secure the changes and ease increasing frustration in Europe over the political impasse in Britain over a deal that was agreed with London in November. The EU has ruled out reopening the Withdrawal Agreement, though both sides are looking at a possible legal addendum to reassure lawmakers who worry the Irish border backstop could keep Britain trapped in the EU`s orbit for years to come. "We have been having positive talks with the European Union ... As you know I was in Brussels last week, ministers were in Brussels last week, my team will be back in Brussels again this coming week. They will be returning to Brussels on Tuesday," May said. "I think what`s important that we are still in that process of working with the EU, looking at the ways in which we can resolve the challenge that parliament raised." TICKING CLOCK With the clock ticking down to March 29, Britain is in the deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project it joined in 1973. Both Britain`s major parties fractured last week, losing lawmakers who cast their former parties as broken remnants of a political system that was in meltdown. Some lawmakers will seek to grab control of Brexit in a series of votes in the British parliament on Feb 27, though such attempts have previously been defeated as May sought more time to get a deal. Before she set off for Egypt, three members of her cabinet publicly split with government policy and said they would side with rebels and opposition parties to stop a no-deal Brexit. "What we have seen around the cabinet table, in the party and in the country at large is strong views on the issue of Europe. That is not a surprise to anybody," May said. "We have around the cabinet table, a collective not just responsibility but desire, to actually ensure that we leave the European Union with a deal." Senior figures in the opposition Labour Party said on Sunday it was moving closer to supporting another Brexit referendum and could do so as soon as early as this week. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has so far stuck to Labour policy to keep the option of a second referendum "on the table" if May`s government fails to secure a deal with Brussels that can break an impasse in parliament. But when asked whether this would be the week Labour comes out in support of a second referendum, the party`s deputy leader, Tom Watson, told BBC TV: "It might be ... We are getting closer to that point." Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the country is moving towards declaring itself open-defecation free before October 2 this year. "I believe that you 'swacchagrahi' of Prayagraj have come forward as an inspiration for the entire nation," he added. Speaking at the Swachh Aabhaar' programme in Kumbh, PM Modi said, "The amount collected after auctioning the presents that I received in the past 4.5 years as the Prime Minister is being used in the service of Maa Ganga." Earlier in the day, he took a holy dip in the river Ganges during the ongoing Kumbh Mela and performed an aarti at the Triveni Ghat. He participated in the Swachh Kumbh Swachh Aabhaar event, organised by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and also distributed the Swachh Kumbh Swachh Aabhaar awards to 'Safai karmacharis' (sanitation employees), 'swachhagrahis', police personnel and 'naviks' (boatmen). The Kumbh Mela draws tens of millions of pilgrims over the course of approximately 48 days to bathe at the sacred confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati river. Chennai: More than 170 cars were on Sunday gutted in a major fire that broke out at Porur ground in Tamil Nadu. According to fire officials, as many as 176 cars were gutted in the blaze while 32 were saved from the fire. According to a fire service official, some vehicles that had gas in fuel tanks exploded. "The blaze is suspected to have been triggered after tall dried grass caught fire by a discarded smouldering cigarette butt," a suburban Fire and Rescue Services official told PTI. Of the total 208 parked cars, 176 were gutted and 32 were "saved from the fire," he said. Chennai: Fire breaks out at Porur ground where more than 250 cars were parked. According to fire officials, 214 cars have been gutted in the fire. The incident reportedly took place after dry grass caught fire. Police investigation underway. #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/WO5E28UuXu ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2019 A complaint has been lodged and an investigation has been initiated. The cars were parked "bumper to bumper" in close proximity and is suspected to have been one of the reasons for the blaze having spread so quickly. The parking lot is situated bang opposite a large private sector medical college and hospital at suburban Porur. (With inputs from PTI) Rabat: Britain`s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan arrived in the Moroccan city of Casablanca for a three-day visit to the north African country on Saturday According to the British embassy in Morocco, Harry and Meghan, during the visit, are expected to fly to the town of Asni near the central city of Marrakech to visit a boarding house which was set up with the aim to reduce school drop-out rates among teenage girls, Xinhua news agency reported. The couple will visit facilities for children with special needs, attend an equestrian event and meet young Moroccan athletes and social entrepreneurs. The visit to Morocco is expected to be Harry and Meghan`s last official trip outside Britain before their baby`s delivery. New Delhi: A case has been filed against Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha for allegedly not performing at an event in Delhi despite accepting the payment, reports ANI. "Case filed against 5 persons for cheating including actor Sonakshi Sinha in Katghar area y'day on a complaint filed on Nov 24, allegedly because the actor didn't perform at a function in Delhi on September 30 after taking payment of 37 lakh, " ANI tweeted. Moradabad: Case filed against 5 persons for cheating including actor Sonakshi Sinha in Katghar area y'day on a complaint filed on Nov 24, allegedly because the actor didn't perform at a function in Delhi on September 30 after taking payment of 37 lakh.(File pic of Sonakshi Sinha) pic.twitter.com/BmkkszqDeP ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 23, 2019 DSP Moradabad Gajraj Singh told ANI that an FIR has been filed against the actress. "A case of cheating filed against 5 ppl, further action will be taken. Actress Sonakshi Sinha, Abhishek Sinha, Malvika Punjabi, Dhumil Thakkar & Edgar have been named in the FIR." As per the complainant, Sonakshi had accepted the payment of Rs 37 Lakhs and agreed to perform at a show in Delhi on September 30. However, she refused to turn up at the last moment. "I tried convincing her (Sonakshi) a lot to perform at the event and even told her that I will incur huge losses if she doesn't come, but she refused to perform," the complainant told ANI. Sonakshi and her team is yet to issue a statement on the same. Kolkata: A youth was beaten up by a mob in Phoolbagan area of North Kolkata suspecting him as a child-lifter, police said on Saturday. A police officer was also heckled when he tried to rescue the youth late on Friday evening. After being informed, personnel from Phoolbagan police station reached Dom Para locality and rescued the victim. A total of 17 persons were arrested in connection with the incident, police said. Locals alleged that the youth was roaming in the area wearing a burqa and was "trying" to lift children from behind a shopping mall. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had alleged on Friday that attempts were being made to disturb peace in West Bengal, with "burqa-clad men" being sent to streets to create panic amid rumours of child lifting. "We are investigating the matter. We are trying to collect CCTV footages recorded by cameras installed at the shopping mall," a senior officer of Kolkata Police said. A case was registered in this connection and a police picket was posted in the locality, he said. "The youth is a resident of Narkeldanga area. Rumours were being spread that the youth was beaten to death, but it is absolutely false. He is undergoing treatment in a hospital and is at the moment stable," the officer said. The rumours are being spread to create confusion and foment trouble, he said. A social monitoring cell was opened at the state secretariat Saturday to keep a tab on rumours on child-lifters spread through social media, officials said. Recently there has been a spurt in incidents of mob violence fuelled by rumours spread through social media and several people were injured in different parts of the state. A mob attacked a woman suspecting her to be a child- lifter in Tikiapara area of Howrah a couple of days ago. Similar incidents were reported from other districts as well since last year. The chief minister Friday urged the people to go to the police and lodge complaint about such incidents. GUMLA: Three Maoists were killed by security forces in an encounter on Sunday morning in Gumla, Jharkhand. Police said that two AK-47 rifles have been recovered from the encounter site. A police official told ANI that the two Maoists were killed in a special joint operation carried out by 209 CoBRA battalion of CRPF and Jharkhand police. The encounter between police and Maoists at 6.20 in the morning near Gumla. The encounter is underway with firing continuing from both the sides. Further details are awaited. (with ANI inputs) GORAKHPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched his governments flagship scheme for farmers, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi digitally launches Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), a cash-transfer scheme, in Gorakhpur. UP CM Yogi Adityanath present pic.twitter.com/igE1A1PuMZ ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 24, 2019 The scheme, which is dubbed as gamechanger by many, proposes to give Rs 6,000 to around 12 crores farmers across the country in three instalments annually. Before launching the scheme, Prime Minister said that today is a historic day as the implementation of this scheme will wings to the aspirations of farmers of the country. He said that the launch of the scheme shows that BJP-led government at the Centre is committed to work for the welfare of the farmers. The scheme will benefit all those farmers who hold up to two hectares of land. The scheme was announced by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal when he presented the Interim Budget on February 1. The scheme will be rolled out at a cost of Rs 75,000 crore annually. Government sources said that about one crore farmers will receive the first instalment of Rs 2,000 on Sunday. The Prime Minister also handed over certificates under the PM-KISAN scheme to some farmers. He also interacted with some beneficiaries of the scheme through video conferencing. "The PM-KISAN scheme aims to supplement the financial needs of small and marginal farmers in procuring various inputs to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields, commensurate with the anticipated farm income at the end of each crop cycle. This would also protect them from falling in the clutches of moneylenders for meeting such expenses and ensure their continuance in farming activities," said a government statement. The PM-KISAN scheme, which is funded by the central government, became effective on December 1, 2018 for transfer of benefit to eligible beneficiaries. "The state governments and the UT administration will identify the farmer families, which are eligible for support as per scheme guidelines," added the government statement. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Union Budget 2019: Unethical Political Stance by Anup K. Sinha Budgets in India have recently become a mega event where the ruling government makes many announcements which are sensu stricto not related to the Budget at all. However, this years Union Budget presented by Piyush Goyal was arguably the most political in content and most arrogant in style in recent times. It was expected to be a low key, vote-on-account Budget by a lame-duck government, where routine, essential expenditures would be passed in Parliament. Days before the presentation there was a press report that the NDA would present a full-fledged normal Budget. The Finance Ministry clarified that it would be an Interim Budget. What was presented was a regular full-scale Budget. In this sense it was a departure from an established democratic convention. This reflected two reasons for the different approach. One was the opportunity to score important political points just before the parliamentary elections. The second was sheer arrogance in the sense that the current government seemed sure of being re-elected. Not only that, Piyush Goyal went into a long policy discourse on what the government would do till 2030. The NDA Government has been struggling with the economy for quite a while. It has manipulated macroeconomic data on more than one occasion to suit its interests. The National Statistics Commission and the National Sample Survey Office have been reduced to impotency where the Niti Ayog holds the whipping hand. The Reserve Bank of India has been under attack ever since the devastating demonetisation of 2016. Farmers have been upset over non-remunerative prices, high cost of inputs and high levels of accumulating debt. Never before were so many farmers seen marching to New Delhi to protest so many times as happened in the last few months. Farmers have been committing suicide at an alarming rate. The banking sector has been in deep trouble with astonishing levels of fraud and non-performing assets. The middle class and small trading communities have been struggling with stagnant incomes and an ill-designed Goods and Services Tax (GST). The only group happy seemed to be the big family business units and large corporations who had a free hand in exploiting the economy at will. None of the boastful commitments made by the government, especially the Prime Minister, such as doubling of farm income by 2022 was taking discernable shape. These are just the more important economic problems facing the nation. There are equally deep social wounds that are searing. In such a context the government was under quite a bit of pressure to try and hoodwink the people one last time, with the help of a pliant media. Hence the Budget was filled with sops for farmers, traders and the middle class. There were no new tax proposals. Expenditures in certain areas were hiked significantly. The fiscal deficit target was relaxed a bit. The new allocations of expenditures and the tax sops have been large enough to increase the deficit by more than 0.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Hence there have been some compensating expenditure cuts along the way. Let us consider the proposals that are directed to the middle class. The income tax exemption slab has been raised to Rs 5 lakhs. This means that someone making around Rs 6.5 lakhs per annum may avoid income taxes altogether by making permissible investments in life insurance and the public provident fund. The standard deduction has been raised to Rs 50,000 and the Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) on rental income has been raised from Rs 1.8 lakh to Rs 2.4 lakhs per annum. Similarly, TDS on bank interests has been raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000. As far as small traders are concerned, the GST exemption limit has been raised to Rs 50 lakhs and businesses with turnovers less than Rs 5 crores have to either pay a flat rate or file quarterly instead of monthly returns. Another announcement by which traders and the upper middle class might benefit is the exemption of imputing notional income from rents on a second home, if used as residence and not put on rent. For workers in the unorganised sector, which is very large in India and growing, the Budget has announced a pension scheme where a person earning less than Rs 15,000 per month can pay Rs 100 per month into a pension scheme that will give the person Rs 3000 monthly pension after attaining the age of 60 years. This is on top of the health scheme already in operation announced last year. For casual workers an additional amount has been earmarked for the MGNREGA. As far as farmers are concerned, the government has announced (Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi) that every farmer having less than two hectares of land would be paid a sum of Rs 6000 in four quarterly instalments directly into their bank accounts. This tantamounts to a partial universal basic income which is distributed independent of income and wealth. Farmers indulging in fisheries and animal husbandry as supplementary sources of income would also get certain benefits in terms of higher interest subvention on loans taken for the purpose of these activities. In the midst of all these announcements, Piyush Goyal proposed to allocate Rs 750 crores for the Rashtriya Gokul Mission for the welfare of cows! There are a number of problems with these announcements especially when coming from a government that takes delight in manufacturing data whether it is numbers for the GDP, or employment, or manufacturing output, or poverty. First of all, each of these numbers is meaningless unless the NDA comes back to power and presents exactly the same Budget for the full year. It is true for only three or four months at the very most. It is unethical to make people believe all these proposals will come to stay. Even if we assume that the NDA returns and the Budget stays exactly the same, the fiscal deficit target has to be corrected in the next Budget since a fiscal slip is not forgiven by the real financial masters who rule over democratic governments: the risk-rating agencies like Standard and Poors or Moodys. Plummeting risk ratings for investments can bring down elected governments. Their adverse appraisals can have severe impacts on the economy. Yet no one knows for sure, why a three per cent fiscal deficit target is treated as the magic number. Hence taxes are bound to rise in 2020 and expenditures rationalised. The second issue that needs to be highlighted is the fact that the middle class might be happy from a short-term tax benefit, but their real worry is the lack of employment opportunities, the systematic informalisation of work and the growth of the casual labour force. It may be recalled that less than 10 per cent individuals in India are actually liable to pay personal income taxes. Hence the electoral impact of this is likely to be small. The third issue pertains to the small traders getting some relief from the complicated process of paying GST and complying with frequent returns. While this may create some breathing space for some small traders, but many are already in the red and have been forced to go out of business after the introduction of the GST. The fourth issue is the unorganised sector pension scheme for workers below Rs 15,000 income per month. The size of this workforce is huge. Identifying their actual income is nightmarish since salary slips or payment receipts are not kept. There is huge scope for gaming the system, while deserving workers are left out. Even if this problem could be solved, the sheer budgetary allocations to be kept aside would be enormous in the future. The fifth issue regards the farmers and the introduction of a variant of the universal basic income scheme. This has been implemented with retrospective effect from December 2018. This has some procedural implications. A new scheme was introduced in the current Budget but it began from the previous Budget! Even if we do not get into the procedural complications, there are huge confusions about what happens to share-tenants or agricultural workers and whether the two hectare limit is on ownership or operation. By any standards, an additional Rs 500 per month would hardly make any tangible difference to a family of poor farmers. The political stance reflected in the Budget is unethical. First the beneficial schemes announced with aplomb may not see the light of day as the full year unfolds. Second, if the NDA returns to power, it will face enough budgetary difficulties next year, unless it raises taxes paid by the rich by a substantial dose. If a new government is installed in New Delhi it may find it politically difficult to discontinue popular schemes, but will face the same budgetary difficulties. It is myopic to a very large extent. The government is accustomed to juggle phony numbers conjured out of a black box. This time too there is no exception. It remains to be seen how many voters fall for the falsehoods this time. The answer to the question may well determine the future of Indias fragile and fractured democracy. Dr Anup K. Sinha is a former Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. The protests in Arunachal Pradesh continued on Sunday after protesters defying curfew allegedly set ablaze the private residence of Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and ransacked the office of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) in Itanagar. The ongoing protests leading to violence was triggered against the recommendations to grant permanent resident certificates (PRC) to six communities, according to news agency PTI. Six companies of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) have been deployed in Itanagar to restore law and order situation. A large number of people marched through the streets in Itanagar damaging public property and vehicles after a person who was injured in police firing on Friday succumbed to injuries at a hospital, PTI reported quoting the police. They also set on fire a large number of vehicles parked in the compound of the DC's office. The protesters also attacked the Itanagar Police station and several public properties in the state capital, the police said. The agitators also blocked the road leading to the Naharlagun railway station, as a result, many passengers, including patients, were held up at the station since Sunday morning. An indefinite curfew was clamped in Itanagar and Naharlagun on Saturday as protesters resorted to stone pelting in which 35 people, including 24 police personnel, were injured. The Army had also conducted flag marches in Itanagar and Naharlagun on Saturday. Internet services remained suspended in Itanagar and Naharlagun. All markets, petrol pumps and shops were closed and most of the ATMs in the state capital were out of cash, police said. Over 60 vehicles, including many police vehicles, were set ablaze and over 150 vehicles were damaged by the protesters since Friday, they said. On Saturday, the agitators damaged the stage of the Itanagar International Film Festival at the Indira Gandhi Park here. The organisers later called off the film festival. The Joint High Power Committee (JHPC), after holding parleys with the stakeholders, recommended granting permanent resident certificates (PRC) to six communities, who are not natives of Arunachal Pradesh but has been living in Namsai and Changlang districts for decades. The proposals evoked resentment among several community-based groups and students' organisations, who claimed that the rights and the interests of indigenous people will be compromised if the state government accepts them. The recommendation of the JHPC was supposed to be tabled in the Assembly on Saturday but was not tabled as the Speaker adjourned the House sine die. On Saturday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh appealed to the people of Arunachal Pradesh to remain calm and maintain peace. He also spoke to Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who briefed him about the prevailing situation in the border state. New Delhi: Member of National Assembly of Pakistan and member of the ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Dr Ramesh Vankwani, who was in India for the Kumbh Mela, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj during his visit. The Pakistani leader called both the countries to develop faith and sit for dialogue. " World is moving towards peace. We have to develop faith over each other and if we do not have faith on other each other our will would weaken. Negative people are present on both sides of the border. We have to sideline them. Right now people of both the countries want peace," he said. Dr Ramesh Vankwani is from the minority Hindu community of Pakistan. On meeting the PM Modi and Swaraj, he said, "Once France and Germany were enemies. But today no one asks if u stay in France or Germany. Even south and north Korea moving in a positive trajectory. US President Abraham Lincoln once said - Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" Vankwani was present at an event on in Delhi were PM Modi and Swaraj addressed delegates from 182 countries who had come for the Kumbh in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj. Asked about Pakistan's involvement in Pulwama terror attack on 14th February whose responsibility was claimed by Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad, Vankwani said, "Not at all. Don't even think Pakistan will ever allow its territory to be used against India. If there is evidence we will act. Whether Jaish is saying to take credit or if in fact, Jaish has done, you will see action by our govt." He added, "Time has moved, we now take action. Our biggest religion should be humanity. Loss due to terror is a loss for all on both sides of the border." Vankwani said that he met Swaraj for 20 minutes and was with the minister of state in the ministry of external affairs General VK Singh last week during the Kumbh Mela visit along with people of other countries. He said that he will brief Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan about his meetings in Delhi and tell about the "grievances and what could be the solution". He also requested media from both the sides of the border to talk in a positive manner for the sake of peace in the region. Vankwani is the head of the Pakistan Hindu council which is the representative body of all Hindus in Pakistan. His presence in India comes even as New Delhi is asking Islamabad to act on terror groups on its territory in the aftermath of Pulwama attack. The Pulwama attack which took place on 14th February is the worst attack on Indian armed forces in the last two decades and killed more than 40 paramilitary forces. New Delhi: The wife of an Army Major, who was killed in a fire in two years back in Arunachal Pradesh, will join the Army, paying tribute to her late husband. Gauri Mahadik will undergo training at Officers' Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai where her husband Late Army Major Prasad Mahadik was also trained. #WATCH: Late Army Major Prasad Mahadik's wife Gauri Mahadik, who will join Indian Army next year, says, "he always wanted me to be happy & smiling. I decided I'll join the forces, I'll wear his uniform, his stars on our uniform. Our uniform because it will be his and my uniform". pic.twitter.com/vrCGdn5ZfA ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2019 Gauri will join the Indian Army next year as a lieutenant following rigorous training. "I will join Army next year as a lieutenant after hardcore training at OTA in Chennai," she said. Mumbai: Gauri Mahadik who lost her husband- Army Major Prasad Mahadik in a fire at his shelter in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, in Dec 2017, to join Indian Army next year. She will undergo training at Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai where her husband was trained as well pic.twitter.com/dVmtXph6eF ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2019 Recalling her husband's demise, she said, "10 days after his demise, I was thinking about what should I do now. I decided that I've to do something for him and that I'll join the forces and wear his uniform and his stars. I will join the Army next year as a lieutenant after hardcore training at OTA in Chennai." Army Major Prasad Mahadik was killed in a fire at his shelter in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. The incident took place in December 2017. Pakistan on Sunday resorted to ceasefire violation in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, for the second consecutive day. Pakistan violated ceasefire by targeting forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector around 5.15 pm, news agency PTI reported quoting officials. The security forces retaliated effectively. "At about 1715 hours (5.15 pm), Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling with mortars and firing of small arms along the LoC in Nowshera sector," a defence spokesperson told PTI. "Pakistan continues with its nefarious designs along (the) LoC. Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively," the spokesperson said in a brief statement. A police official said dozens of mortars were fired by Pakistan from across the LoC, hitting several villages, including Kalsia, Manpur and Ganiya. No one was injured in the shelling that was still continuing when last reports were received, the official added. On Saturday too, Pakistan resorted to ceasefire violation in Rajouri district. After a lull of a day, Pakistan on Saturday targetted the forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector of the district at 4.30 pm. "At about 1630 hours, Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling with mortars and firing of small arms along the LoC in Nowshera sector," a defence spokesman said. The spokesman said the Army is retaliating "strongly and effectively". There was no immediate report of any casualty on the Indian side in the cross-border firing which was still continuing when last reports were received, he said. On Thursday, the Pakistan army fired on forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, thereby violating the ceasefire for the third consecutive day. The Pakistan army resorted to mortar shelling and small arms firing on the forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector from 1 am. Indian troops retaliated strongly, officials had said. On Wednesday, the Pakistan army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by resorting to heavy shelling with mortars and firing of small arms along the LoC in Kalal sector of Rajouri district. The Pakistan army had resorted to unprovoked firing along the LoC in Nowshera sector of Rajouri on Tuesday as well. The year 2018 had witnessed the highest number of ceasefire violations -- 2,936 -- by Pakistani troops in the last 15 years along the Indo-Pak border. Pakistan continues to violate the ceasefire understanding of 2003 despite repeated calls for restraint and adherence to the agreement during flag meetings between the border guarding forces of the two countries, officials had added. Amid mounting tension between India and Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack and increasing ceasefire violations, the people along the LoC and the International Border (IB) in this region are living under intense fear. Kolkata: A section of agitating Jadavpur University students have confined Pro-Vice-Chancellor Pradip Kumar Ghosh in his office for over 48 hours. "We will not withdraw the sit-in till we get concrete and definite assurances on holding a tripartite meeting to facilitate the conduct of students' union polls and inquiry into attacks by a handful of Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad activists on left-wing students in recent times," one of the agitating students, Ushashi Pal, told PTI. Members of the Arts Faculty Students' Union (AFSU), Science Faculty Students Union (SFSU) and Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students' Union (FETSU) have been camping outside Ghosh's chamber since Friday evening over the twin demands. They have been alleging a handful of TMCP students had been threatening them of stopping "all kinds of democratic activities" inside the university campus and demanded immediate holding of tripartite talks between the university, government and students for starting the process to hold students' union elections which were not held in two years. The unions have demanded the university authorities to enumerate the steps taken to raise the issue with the higher education department, including sharing details of the correspondence over e-mail. The All Bengal University Teachers' Association (ABUTA), JU chapter, in a statement Sunday said: "the students should protest outside the university campus against the government's attitude on not conducting student union polls instead of confining within the varsity limits." A JU teacher expressed concern over the health of the Pro-VC and said the issue should be resolved at the earliest. Education minister Partha Chatterjee had said Saturday that the students should realise that an election cannot be held in an institution when the Lok Sabha polls are around the corner and the government cannot take a decision on it at this juncture. The three unions have been on a sit-in demonstration since February 19 after a scuffle broke out between two groups of students, who wanted to approach VC Suranjan Das with their demands after the university's Executive Council meeting. While the AFSU and FETSU wanted to place their demands for facilitating election, the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) alleged unlawful activities in the campus on that day. Das, who fell on the ground during the scuffle, had to be admitted to a hospital. Ahmedabad: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Saturday the number of fighter jets required by the Air Force changes from time to time, and the situation was different in 2001 when India decided to purchase 126 aircraft. One of the questions raised by the Congress about the Rafale deal is why the Narendra Modi government decided to buy only 36 aircraft instead of 126 as planned originally. Sitharaman was answering queries after delivering a lecture on 'India's National Security and Importance of Rafale Deal'. Asked about the number of fighter jets required by the Air Force, she said, "When the decision of procurement of 126 fighter jets was arrived at in 2001, the requirement of the Air Force was higher. Now after 20 years the situation has changed." "Now you have UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles or drones), so in a situation of war are we required to send a trained pilot in a fighter plane inside the enemy borders? So requirements change from time to time. In the UPA deal, they were just procuring 18 Rafale in fly-away condition, but we are procuring 36 in fly-away condition, delivery of which will start from September. For the rest that have to be manufactured we have issued a request for information (RFI)," she said. "We have given the contract to HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd) for 83 light combat fighter aircraft. Sukhois are being manufactured in India," she said. Asked if she had any doubts about the Rafale deal, Sitharaman said neither she nor her predecessors Arun Jaitley and Manohar Parrikar had any doubts about the PM's decisions on Rafale or or any other defence deal. Under the UPA, defence procurement declined as "national security was not a priority but somebody else's financial security was a priority," the minister claimed, alleging that a "middleman (dalal) culture" prevailed then. On Congress president Rahul Gandhi's allegation that the current Rafale deal benefits industrialist Anil Ambani, Sitharaman said the government had no control over which firm was chosen for the offset. "As per the offset clause...The company (to which) we give defence contract has to invest or procure 50 per cent of deal amount from India. The government has no control over with whom they do it. In case of Rafale, the manufacturing company Dassault Aviation has not come to the Indian government so far on who will be the offset partner. So it would be premature for me to comment on who is the offset partner until the company informs the government," she said. Asked what was going to be the response of the Army to the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, the defence minister refused to give any reply. Reliance Group has denied the allegations relating to the deal under which France's Dassault is supplying the fighter jets and has entered into a joint venture with a Anil Ambani-led group firm to meet its offset requirement of the contract. To another question, the defence minister said the armed forces were not facing any shortage of ammunition. "Earlier such issues were there. But today we do not have such problems. We have given the power to the army to purchase ammunition," Sitharaman said. "We have enough quantity for ten days of intense war," she said. Paramilitary troops deployed in Jammu and Kashmir will get enhanced risk and hardship allowance every month with the special benefits of the lower ranks increased by Rs 7,600 and higher officers by Rs 8,100. The decision of the Ministry of Home Affairs came a week after 40 CRPF jawans were killed in a terror attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the MHA order, Risk and Hardship Allowance for the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) or paramilitary personnel has been enhanced from Rs 9,700 to Rs 17,300 per month for troops up to the rank of Inspector and from Rs 16,900 to Rs 25,000 for officers. The enhanced allowance will be applicable to all paramilitary personnel deployed in Jammu and Kashmir and Naxal-hit areas. The decision has been pending since August 2017. In 2017, a committee, headed by the Union Home Secretary, was formed to look into the matter and review the risk and hardship allowances in CAPFs, but no decision was taken till now. Troops deployed in terror hotbeds of south Kashmir like Budgam, Pulwama, and Anantnag and other sensitive places like Baramullah and Kupwara will get the new enhanced allowance. New areas that will cover the risk and hardship allowance include Kulgam, Shopian, Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban and Udhampur and one district in Telangana. There is no change in most of the areas where paramilitary personnel are deployed, but new districts have been added in Jammu and Kashmir to cover almost the entire state, barring some areas in Jammu near the International Border (IB). However, areas in the Jammu region that fall on the Line of Control (LoC) are covered. Dangerous Naxal-infested districts like Sukma, Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Bastar (Chhattisgarh), Latehar (Jharkhand), Gadchiroli (Maharashtra) and Malkangiri (Odisha) have also been covered. Last week, the MHA has decided to allow air travel by paramilitary troops deployed in Jammu and Kashmir. The condition of ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is stable and he will be kept under observation for another 24 hours at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), said Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Sunday. The 63-year-old senior BJP leader, suffering from a serious ailment since the last one year and recuperating at his private residence at Dona Paula, was admitted to GMCH late on Saturday night. Taking to Twitter after visiting the ailing CM, Rane refuted media reports of an endoscopy performed on the CM, adding that there no sign of bleeding either. Asking people not to dwell on rumours, Rane said further that CM Parrikar will be discharged thereafter. There was no endoscopy performed, nor is there any sign of bleeding. He will be kept under observation for another 24 hours and discharged thereafter. Appealing all to follow my tweets for latest updates on the CMs health and not pay heed to any rumours.@ANI @PTI_News VishwajitRane (@visrane) 24 February 2019 After meeting CM, Rane clarified that the doctor met the chief minister and made changes in his medication. "There was no endoscopy performed, nor is there any sign of bleeding. He will be kept under observation for another 24 hours and discharged thereafter. Appealing all to follow my tweets for latest updates on the CMs health and not pay heed to any rumours," tweeted Rane. "Met the Honble CM @manoharparrikar ji today evening to check up on his health. Dr Garg who managed his case in #AIIMS, met him and made changes in his medication. He is holding onto fine on his parameters, is stable and active," added Rane. CM Parrikar had met state Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai on Saturday evening to discuss politics and administration and was later shifted to GMCH, almost four km from his residence, around 10 pm. Parrikar had fallen ill on February 14, 2018 and was shifted to GMCH, from where he was taken to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai the next day. The chief minister returned to Goa on February 20, 2018 to present the state budget. He left for the US for treatment on March 3, 2018 and returned on June 14, 2018. He then attended monsoon session of the Assembly from July 19 to August 3, and left for the US again on August 10 for a second round of check-up. He returned to Goa on August 22, 2018 and was later shifted to AIIMS at New Delhi on September 15. After almost a month-long treatment, he returned to Goa on October 14, 2018. Parrikar resumed his office on January 2, 2019 after a gap of two-and-a-half months. On January 27, he attended the inauguration of third bridge on the Mandovi river here along with Union minister Nitin Gadkari. He also attended the Budget session on January 29 and presented the state budget next day. On the last day of the session on January 31, he was taken for treatment to AIIMS in Delhi and he returned to Goa on February 5. Parrikar also addressed Atal Booth Karyakarta Sammelan on February 9 in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah. MUMBAI: All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday lashed out at Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and said that the time has come for Imran to drop his mask of innocence. Addressing a rally in Mumbai, the AIMIM chief slammed Pakistan for being involved in the ghastly Pulwama terror attack and said: We would like to tell Pakistan PM not to give that message to India which he wants to seated before a camera. This is not the first attack. There was Pathankot, Uri and now Pulwama. And on behalf of India, I want to tell the Prime Minister of Pakistan to drop his mask of innocence. Asking Islamabad to not worry about Indian Muslims, Owaisi said that millions of Muslims are living in India by choice after they decided to refuse stand with Mohammad Ali Jinnah during 1947. He stressed that India is a secular country and Pakistan is jealous of the unity of Indian citizens, ANI reported. One of the ministers from Pakistan had said that they will stop the prayer bells from ringing in temples of India but I want to tell him that he doesnt know India. Till Muslims of this country are alive, Azaan will sound from mosques and bells will ring in temples. This is the beauty of our country which the neighbouring country sees with jealousy. People in this country live as one and when it will come to the country we all will be together, Owaisi said. Owaisi also lambasted Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which was involved in Pulwama attack and remarked that anyone who follows the teaching of Prophet Mohammed would never kill a person. I want to clearly say as a citizen of India, that this dastardly attack has links to Pakistan. It was done as per plan of Pakistan government, Pakistan Army and ISI. I would like to tell the outfit that killed our 40 men and claimed its responsibility - you`re not Jaish-e-Mohammed, you are Jaish-e-Shayateen. You are Jaish-e-Shayateen, Jaish-e-Iblis. Masood Azhar, you are not a Maulana, you are a disciple of the devil. It is not Laskhar-e-Taiba, it is Lashkar-e-Shayateen. (with ANI inputs) Itanagar: Amid widespread violence for a third day, the BJP-led Arunachal Pradesh government on Sunday scrapped its decision of granting permanent resident certificates (PRC) to six non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribes (APSTs) living in the Namsai and Changlang districts. Taking to Twitter, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said, "Arunachal Pradesh State Govt has already passed an order not to accept PRC as recommended by JHPC. Everyone must come together without blaming each other for the sake of peace. It's very unfortunate that innocent lives were lost in the violence." Arunachal Pradesh State Govt has already passed an order not to accept PRC as recommended by JHPC. Everyone must come together without blaming each other for the sake of peace. It's very unfortunate that innocent lives were lost in the violence. Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 24, 2019 Earlier in the day, a mob tried to set ablaze the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and also tried to target residence of Chief Minister Pema Khandu. At least two persons have died during the ongoing protests so far, even as 1,000 paramilitary troops have been dispatched to the state. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs has dispatched 10 additional companies of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for deployment in law-and-order duties in Itanagar and other violence-hit places. Section 144, that prohibits assembly of more than four people in an area, has also been imposed in Itanagar. Permanent residence certificate row: 6 companies of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) have been deployed in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh to restore law and order situation. Section 144 (prohibits assembly of more than 4 people in an area) has also been imposed pic.twitter.com/dNMCTeJOGF ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2019 The six communities include Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis, Mishings and Gorkhas. Most of them are recognised as Scheduled Tribes in neighbouring Assam. (With inputs from PTI) Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Agrarian Crisis and its Resolution by S.P. Shukla, Jaya Mehta, Vineet Tiwari This article was written quite some time ago before the Delhi Chalo movement of farmers in December 2018. In the introduction of the article the authors explained: We wish to present this paper for the consideration of and interaction with peasants, activists, scholars and indeed the entire Nation For Farmers which is being mobilised as part of the magnificent Delhi Chalo Movement of Farmers. We have been engaged, for more than a decade now, in the endeavour of understanding and analysing the deepening agrarian crisis and visualising a way out. We embarked on this difficult task at the instance of the Late Comrade A. B. Bardhan whose emphasis was as much on the scientific character of the exercise as on continuing and close interaction with the brave men and women who were the victims of the crisis and who, at the same time, beckoned to a transformatory way out. This paper is our humble homage to the memory of Comrade Bardhan. The neo-liberal policy frame inaugurated in the Indian economy in the year 1991 radically restructured the Nehruvian development paradigm both in economic as well as in political terms. In the 1950s, India had assumed the leadership of the postcolonial Third World. India stood for peace and justice and anti-imperialist struggle. Now India is qualified as a fast growing Asian economy, which should get entry into the rich mens club. Truein 1991, India did not have a single dollar billionaire and now there are 121 of them. Our political and economic leadership complacent with the fast growing wealth in metropolitan towns chooses to completely ignore the fact that 93 per cent of our work force is employed in the unorganised informal sector, largely characterised by abysmal living and working conditions. They choose to ignore the fact that more than 50 per cent of our work force depends on agriculture for its livelihood and the agrarian economy is engulfed in a deep and intractable crisis for more than two decades. They choose to ignore the fact that over three lakh farmers have committed suicides in India since 1995. In section I, we explain the agrarian crisis as we understand it and suggest its possible resolution. In section II, we situate women workers in the crisis-ridden agrarian economy and discuss their pivotal role in resolving the crisis. Section I Crisis in Agrarian Economy and its Resolution The Employment and Unemployment Survey of the NSSO enumerated the workforce in the Indian economy in the year 2009-10 as 460 million: 332 million men and 128 million women. Of these244 million workers (156 million men and 88 million women) were employed in agriculture and allied activities. To understand the basic premise of the agrarian crisis, it is necessary to get an overview of the manner in which these 244 million men and women are integrated in the farm production activities. Land is the main resource base for farm production. The first point to be noted is that the total land available for household operational holdings in the country is limited and over the past two decades, it has declined at an alarmingly rapid pace. According to the NSSO surveys, the total area under household operational holdings was 125 million hectares in 1991-92. It declined to 107 million hectares in 2002-03 and further to 94 million hectares in 2012-13. There were 108 million operational holdings in the year 2012-13 and the average area per holding was only 0.87 hectare. Naturally, 244 million men and women and their families cannot hope to get dignified livelihood space in these circumstances. The second point to be noted is that the distribution of farm land has always been skewed and the liberalisation era has further worsened the scenario. The NSSO survey on Household ownership and operational holdings tells us that in rural India around five to six per cent households do not have any land whatsoever, that is, not even house land. Then, 35 per cent households have only homestead land but no farm land. Next 30 per cent households, who own farmland, have miniscule size holdings. The average holding size in this group is 0.2 hectare, that is, half an acre. After that 13 per cent households have holdings of average size 0.7 hectare and 10 per cent households have farm holdings of average size 1.3 hectares. In all, only seven per cent rural households have holdings greater than two hectares in size. But they own more than 47 per cent of the land area. The remaining 93 per cent households are either without any farm land or have holdings characterised as marginal and small holdings. Their share in the total operational land is 53 per cent. It is clear from the above statistics that around 40 per cent men and women workers in agriculture are not farmers. These men and women belong to the agricultural labour house-holds. They do not have their own land to work on. They work on others land as wage labourers. At the same time, a majority of cultivator households have such small size holdings that neither can the farm accommodate the labour available in the households, nor can it provide sufficient income for bare subsistence. Income from farm activity has to be supplemented with other incomemostly wage income. In other words, the share of wage earners in the total agricultural workforce is much more than 40 per cent. Agricultural wages in India are low. In States like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand they are around Rs 180 for men and Rs 130 for women in the year 2015-16. Further, agricultural work is not available throughout the year. It is available in spurts and mechanisation has substantially reduced the demand for labour in agriculture. Most workers get agricultural work for around 100 days in a year. Migration of agricultural workers and small and marginal farmers from rural to urban areas, from one State to another, from agriculture to construction or from agriculture to trade and service is rampant. Impact of Neoliberal Policy Frame The neo-liberal policies removed all tariffs from agricultural commodities and completely handed over the input and output markets of agricultural produce to multinational and domestic companies. State support to farmers in terms of irrigation, credit, marketing and seeds etc. got diluted over the years. The new markets erected by companies demolished the traditional community linkages and governments infrastructure. This affected the entrepreneurial space available to the farmers and increased the risk factor involved. Especially, the small and medium level farmers found it difficult to cope with the new technology and new market structures. They took loans and became so vulnerable that the slightest of perturbation led to a complete breakdown. The three lakh farmers suicides have the same story repeated again and again. The farmers were not able to pay back the loans taken by them. Either their standing crops were destroyed due to weather fluctuations or pest attacks, or the markets of their produce collapsed. Individual loans were small in magnitudes but the income equilibriums of these farmers were fragile. Suicide was one option but many others relinquished their farmlands and joined the group of landless wage labour households. Another cardinal feature of the neoliberal policy frame has been to encourage transfer of agricultural land into non-agricultural uses. Under the neoliberal regime capital and its profits have acquired primacy over everything else. Industrial development and investment corporations of the State governments invited multinationals and domestic companies to set up factories and large tracts of agricultural land were encroached in the process. Many State governments invoked the antiquated Land Acquisition Act of 1864 to forcibly evict farmers from their land. Farmers across the country resisted it. The corporate staff and government administration used force which led to violence and bloodshed in many places. Violent conflicts in Niyamgiri, Jagatsinghpur, Singur, Nandigram and Bhatta Parsaul made history during the UPA rule. The government was compelled to repeal the Land Acquisition Act 1864 and replace it with the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR Act, 2013). Use of force was restricted and proper compensation was ensured, but the new Act is no barrier to the transfer of agricultural land. It should be noted here that land that was transferred through use of force made news but much more land got transferred quietly through the market. The real estate market boomed and a large number of farmers surrendered their land, sometimes willingly and sometimes under financial duress. Farmers Protests The Modi Governments policies on the agrarian front further aggravated the plight of rural households. Diluting the LARR Act, 2013 through ordinances and/or slashing the funds allotted to the MGNREGS were policy actions which hurt the rural households but did not result in explicit revolt. But the demonetisation in 2016 came as a shock. Just when kharif crops came to the market and farmers were to make preparations for rabi crops, the cash crunch was the prescription for complete ruination. The simmering discontent of the farmers exploded in open protests. The farmers are angry all over the country and are expressing their anger at the local, regional and national levels. Fifty thousand rural men and women, walking barefeet in blazing sun from Nashik to Mumbai in March 2018, expressed most eloquently that agrarian distress will no longer manifest itself in the form of individual suicides. When 50 thousand men and women come together, then their collective strength is formidable and their voice is loud and clear. It cannot remain unheard. From the extreme north to down south in every agitation the demand is common. Farmers are demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commissions recommendations. To begin with, the farmers are asking for debt waivers from banks and a guarantee for Minimum Support Price which is 50 per cent over and above the cost of production. These demands can provide relief to only a section of the farm community. The institutional debt, which can be waived by the government, is accessible only to a section of the relatively well-off farmers. Agricultural labourers and tenant farmers are mostly forced to go to informal sources for finance where they pay exorbitant interests on their tiny loans. Similarly, higher MSP will benefit those farmers who sell their produce to a procurement agency. The procurement infrastructure is lopsided. A great many geographical areas and quite a few crops are outside its purview. Further, the agricultural labour households (comprising 40 per cent of the rural population) and many small and marginal farm households are actually net buyers of foodgrains and other produce. For them, higher MSP will mean higher buying price in the market. Without access to a properly functioning PDS infrastructure, a higher MSP may have an adverse impact on many rural households. The National Commission for Farmers was set up by UPA I Government under the chairmanship of M.S. Swaminathan in 2004. The Commission submitted a comprehensive report in five volumes. The recommendations implied a radical restructuring of the rural economy and much beyond it. Neither the UPA Government nor the NDA Government could think of implementing the Commissions recommendations. It is a great advance that the report is no longer confined to government offices and libraries but is being talked about in the farm community at large. One of the prime recommendations of the Commission is to redistribute surplus land to the landless households so that maximum possible households have access to the main resource base. A Programme for Resolution of Agrarian Crisis If resolution of the agrarian crisis means that secure and dignified livelihood space is created for the 244 million men and women employed in agriculture and allied sectors then the land-labour relations in the agrarian economy have to be restructured radically. With the above basic premise we put down a pragramme for resolving the agrarian crisis for the perusal of activists, academics and the farm community A. As a first step, resolution of the agrarian crisis demands an immediate moratorium on the ongoing mindless and rampant transfer of agricultural land for non-agricultural uses. A people-friendly and scientific land use policy has to be spelt out for different agro-climatic zones (recommended in the Swaminathan Commission Report) as well. This is also absolutely necessary for ensuring food security at the macro level. Ideally, the demand for such a moratorium should come from the farmers themselves. However, with predominance of small and marginal farmers with non-viable holdings, a large proportion of the agrarian community being landless and a speculative market in land operating in and around urban/industrial/commercial hubs, this is not happening. While redistribution of land and cooperative farming, which form important substantive elements of a programme for resolution of the agrarian crisis, will eventually provide a strong impetus for the emergence of a popular demand for moratorium, an immediate government intervention is called for to eliminate the speculative market in land and prevent further transfer of land from agriculture to non-agricultural purposes, particularly through the corporate sector. It is relevant to recall that Scheduled areas regulations existed in pre-independent India preventing transfer of land from the Scheduled Tribe members to non-Scheduled Tribe persons. Similar legislation was passed post-Independence to annul such transfers as had taken place and acquired some legal status due to the passage of time and abuse of loopholes in the erstwhile legal provisions. Asking for drastic regulation of the operation of the market, particularly speculative market, in land in the wider public interest should be a feasible demand even in the bourgeois democratic polity. A moratorium will only hurt the speculators and corrupt elements in politics and bureaucracy, not the peasantry, particularly small and marginal peasantry. Particularly noteworthy in this context is the Hivre Bazaar village experiment in the State of Maharashtra where even in the absence of redistribution of land and initiation of coope-rative farming, such a moratorium is being practised voluntarily by peasants in the larger interest of the village community. B. The resolution of the crisis then demands equitable access to the main resource basethe land. While the NSSO data gives an accurate picture of landless households and households with small holdings, it fails to capture dis-proportionate control over land and other resources by rich farmers and erstwhile landlords. There are farmers controlling land far beyond the ceiling levels imposed by the respective States. Temples, trusts and plantation owners are exempted from land ceiling. The resolution of the agrarian crisis demands that all the surplus land is recovered and distributed to the landless households. The agenda of land reforms needs to be revived. C. Redistribution of land among maximum possible households is a necessary step but it is not sufficient for resolving the crisis. Numerous holdings with miniuscule-size land is not a tenable proposition in the long run. As already mentioned, very small holdings can neither make use of the labour hours available in the households nor can they generate sufficient income to fulfil the basic demands of the household. A certain minimum size of farm is required for mechanisation, optimal water management and optimal crop choice. Minuscule- size land holdings have to be pooled together to obtain optimal-size cooperative (collective) farms. To persuade the farmers to willingly convert their individual holdings into a collective holding requires patience and persistence. The farmer has to be convinced of immediate material advantages that would accrue to him by joining the cooperative farm. From Lenin to Fidel, all leaders in socialist societies offered concrete material incentives to farmers for joining a cooperative. In Brazil, when the MST occupies land and gives it to landless households, it also gives training to ensure that the land given to them promises a viable productive venture. D. When sufficient member of cooperatives are formed, they need to be federated at the village level and then at the district, State and national levels. Again, to federate the cooperatives into bigger and bigger groups at district and State levels is another uphill task. To overcome the caste and communal cleavages in a society where violent conflicts on these grounds are being actively promoted might appear to be a naive proposition. However, we should not forget that there have been successful massive experiments in the cooperative movement in some States in the area of processing, be it sugar or milk. That some of these experiments degenerated is also a fact. But that was largely because of the big operators machinations from within or the conducive policy environment provided for big capital operating from without. With a massive political movement demanding a supportive policy environment, including massive financial support in the initial stages, it should be feasible to visualise a cooperative movement enhancing itself progressively: starting from joint farming and expanding into a range of operations such as procurement of inputs; grading, storage, transportation, marketing; and value addition through processing. As these cooperative farms and related cooperative enterprises get federated at the village level and then the district, State and national levels, eventually a robust cooperative sector will emerge as an alternative institutional form of land and production relations. A national level movement to cooperativise small and marginal farm holdings is indeed a herculean project but the impact it can have on the farm economy is unimaginable. Already, the households with small and marginal holdings control 53 per cent of the household operational land. If proper land redistribution takes place, this share will further increase, If the small and marginal holdings can be brought together and decisions are taken not on the basis of profit consideration of individual units but according to what is desirable and sustainable at the macro level, then the markets will change, technology will change and cropping pattern will change. We will realise an alternative agrarian economy where small farmers will be producing what is needed by the people. We must also note here that once the land is integrated in a cooperative structure, it will not be possible to snatch it away for non-agricultural usesneither by the state nor by the market. E. The picture is not yet complete. Land redistribution and cooperativisation of small and marginal farmers will not be able to include all the 244 million men and women. Notwith-standing the most appropriate designing and most efficient implementation, the land reforms programme cannot provide land to all the landless households mainly because the land available is limited. These households have to be included in the programme by forming labour collectives which are coordinated with producer cooperatives. Labour collectives would take up entrepreneurial activities to provide inputs required by farm cooperatives. The labour collectives can take care of watershed requirements, seed requirements and organic manure and pesticide requirements, also requirements of the farm machinery. Similarly agro-processing, storage and transport and distribution of farm produce can be taken care of by the labour collectives. The concrete demand from the state should be to throw big companies out of input and output markets of the agricultural produce and reserve this sector for the cooperatives and labour collectives. Direct financial support or subsidised loan should be given to labour collectives for modest capital requirements of their enterprises. This will enable them to fulfil the input requirements of the cooperative farm sector and channelise the output forward. Thus, resolution of the agrarian crisis demands expanding the employment space beyond agriculture. This employment space will be created around the backward and forward linkages of farm produce. Feasibility of the Above Programme The economic programme that we have sketched above may sound to some like a pure fantasy which has little political relevance. Lenin talked of introducing the cooperative movement in a country where political power was in the hands of the working class and this political power owned all the means of production. In this basic premise the cooperative movement meant a transition to a socialist society. Lenin was categorical that overthrow of the exploitative ruling class and political power in the hands of working class was the necessary premise within which to build the cooperative movement. When Chavez talked of the cooperative movement in 21st century Venezuela, he had the state power although not complete control over the means of production. The Venezuelan economy is in crisis today. We do not know in detail the role which is being played by the cooperative infrastructure built in the Venezuelan economy in the early 21st century. We are canvassing for a cooperative movement of small and marginal farmers and their coordination with labour collectives from landless households when there is no state support. We are canvassing for a political pro-gramme in which the cooperative movement would arise from the ground and demand its space in the production sphere. The state representing the interests of the domestic and international capital will not offer any support. On the contrary, there would be an all-out effort by the vested interests to suppress and liquidate the movement. It is necessary that with every new obstruction the political movement becomes stronger and more impervious. And in the end the crescendo of demand as well as action is pitched so high that either the existing govern-ment yields to the masses or gets replaced by a more democratic and people-friendly govern-ment. To sum upresolution of the agrarian crisis demands a revolutionary project which restructures the character of the state and transforms the identity of India in the world theatre. Nothing else can resolve the crisis. Section II Women Workers in the Crisis-ridden Agrarian Scene We sketched the agrarian crisis in terms of households not having access to the main resource basethe land. Obviously the women workers participation in farm production depends on the category of households to which they belong. Forty per cent of women workers would belong to the landless agricultural households where they would be working on others farms for wages. The remaining 60 per cent would belong to households where farm land is available. The women who belong to households cultivating their own land should be classified as farmers. Of course, when ones own field brings little income then women farmers also do wage work. Women as Agricultural Wage Labourers When sugarcane was harvested in Sonnakhota village in Beed district in Maharashtra, 10 couples worked in a field from 5.30 in the morning till 7 pm in the evening with a short lunch break. Umesh Kedar slices the sugarcane plants one after another with his sickle. Cutting requires strength and force. His wife, Mukta, picks up the stalks, makes a bunch of 10, ties them together and carries them on her head to the truck standing nearby. The couple gets Rs 228 for every tonne of sugarcane they cut. They manage to cut two tonnes in a day. Mukta wakes up at 4 in the morning finishes cooking for the day and reaches the field at 5.30. The sugarcane cutting season is heavy work but it fetches income. (from Peoples Archives of Rural India) In the overall marginalised employment space of agricultural workers, women workers are further disadvantaged due to the gender bias. There are tasks done only by men. These are ploughing, well-digging, cane-crushing and others. Wage rates for these tasks are higher. There are tasks where both men and women are employed. For these tasks the wage rates are lower and for the same tasks the wages received by women are lower than those for men everywhere. The all-India agricultural wage rate for field labour for the year 2015-16 is Rs 281 for men and Rs 218 for women. In all the States, the wage rate for women is lower but in some States the difference is unbelievable. Maximum difference is in Tamil Nadu. For men the daily wage rate for field work is Rs 334 and for women it is Rs 142. In Kerala the wage rate is highest for men as well as women. However, the gender bias remains and is also large. The wage rate is Rs 576 for men and Rs 427 for women. At the lower end is Chhattisgarh where men get Rs 181 per day and women get Rs 134 per day. The shrinking employment-space for rural workers compelled the UPA-I Government to enact the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in 2005. The Act provides 100 days employment for the unskilled rural workforce. The women workers have taken employment under the MGNREG Scheme with much greater zeal than men. There are many stories from different quarters about the malfunctioning of the MGNREGS. This one from Munagapaka village of Andhra Pradesh is reported in PARI: T. Lakshmi worked for 95 days in a MGNREG project. Her wages were not paid because the government decided that from April 2015 onwards the MGNREG job cards would have to be linked with Aadhaar cards. The computer operator made a mistake in linking the numbers of T. Lakshmis two cards. T. Lakshmis payment got transferred in the account of P. Lakshmi from Ganaparthy village. Both the women could not withdraw the money from the bank. Bank accounts are also to be linked with Aadhaar cards. Around 700 MGNREG workers in Munagapaka village and 294 workers in Ganaparthy village are waiting for their payments of Rs 10 lakhs and Rs 4 lakhs for the last three years. Is anyone going to be punished for the non-payment of hard-earned wages of these poor and unskilled workers? Will T. Lakshmi and others get interest for the waiting period? A farmer commits suicide because he/she is not able to pay back the loan taken from the bank. With the same logic the State administration, which cannot pay what it promises to pay, has to be dismantled! Women Farmers as Unpaid Family Labour Women categorised as cultivators are largely those who work on family farms as domestic labour. The land is invariably in the name of their husbands or sons or brothers or in-laws. Traditionally, women in cultivator households take care of seeds, cattle and poultry. They are also involved in agro-processing activities for subsistence needs. The exact description of their work varies with region, the farm-size, crops grown and cultural norms dictated by caste and religion. However, what is common is the fact that in most cases they have no control over the means of production, hardly have any say in decision- making and consequently have no control over the income received from farm operations. Women participate in family farm work not as principal workers but as subsidiary workers. In fact, their participation in the family farm work is quite flexible. Their work has no separate account and of course no separate remuneration. When required they are available for work and when not required they withdraw themselves quietly. In other words, they constitute the reserve army of labour for subsistence work. Inclusion and withdrawal of women offering domestic labour in farm production activities is manifested in the fluctuations in the total count of female workforce in agriculture. Between 2004-05 and 2009-10, 20 million women withdrew from agriculture. They did not engage themselves in any other occupation. They withdrew from the workforce altogether. A large proportion of these 20 million women belong to the category of subsidiary family labour. When men moved out of agriculture in search of better employment leaving their fields to the women, the women moved in to look after the family farms. After 1999-2000, the male workforce increased in the agricultural land available and women moved out. If the need arises for additional labour they may again pool in their lot. Women as Cultivators: their De-facto Control over Land and Farm Operations The neoliberal policies leading to farmers suicides and migration of small farmers in search of better employment brought new protagonists on the agrarian scene. The women, who would have remained as unpaid helpers and unseen workers on their family farms, were forced by new contingencies to come forward and join the community of main cultivators a community which has traditionally been dominated by men. Vidya More lived in Kalamb taluk in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra with her husband, Sahadev More, and two children. Sahadev More had two acres of land. Repeated crop failures compelled him to mortgage his land for Rs 30,000. His inability to repay the debt and regain his land led to a breakdown. Sahadev doused their tiny hut in kerosene and set it ablaze. But Vidya refused to end her life and her childrens lives in this manner. When she saw the hut on fire, she threw her children out of the hut and jumped out herself. Vidya survived with some injuries. She recovered and decided to rebuild her life from ashes. It was not easy. There was no support from the family. Vidya did wage work in others farms. She also did sewing work at night to get additional income. With years of hard work she managed to continue her childrens education and also repay the debt taken by her husband. Vidya finally got the land back and became a cultivator. Joining the cultivator community was not simple either. People resented, She acts like a man. They stopped water in her field. She says, I am only acting like a responsible mother. Ten years hence her son is studying in the 11th standard and daughter in the 9th standard. (TOI, October 29, 2017) There is another story of Kamalabai Gudhe from Lonsawala village in Wardha district. Kamalabai is a Dalit farmer in her mid-sixties. In her younger days, she and her husband, Palasram, worked hard as wage labourers. For additional income, Kamalabai walked kilometres and brought fodder from the forest and sold it to farmers for their animals. With their hard-earned money they bought four-and-a-half acres of land at the edge of the forest. They along with their children worked on the farm, dug a well there but the farm was six kilometres from the house and exposed to wild animals. The crops were again and again destroyed by wild boars. The couple could never manage the money required to put fence around their four-and-a-half acres. Kamalabai and her husband continued to take wage work to supplement their income. One of their sons died, their debts mounted and then crops on their farm failed. Palasram could take it no more and one day he consumed pesticides and killed himself. Kamalabai continued working on their farm and also continued doing wage work on others farms and continued repaying old debts. She lives in a half-broken hut with her son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. People think of her as an old woman, as a Dalit woman, as a widow, but she thinks of herself as a farmer and walks six kilometres to her farm along with her grandchildren with great deal of pride. (PARI) In the above two cases the husbands died leaving their land and their debts to their widows. In other cases, farm widows have to fight for their right to cultivate the land which was being cultivated by their husbands. Brothers or other male relatives are quick to come forward and take control of the land. The widows are promised a share of the returns from their husbands land. But more and more women want to know the entire economics of farmland left behind by their husbands and take control of the assets and liabilities themselves. Taking de-facto control over land is one part of a farm widows struggle but the other prolonged and complex battle remains, which is to get the land title transferred in her name. Without the land title in her name the woman farmer cannot apply for institutional loan or any other governmental assistance. She cannot sell the land and use the money for some other investment or for any contingency. Transfer of the land title in the name of the farm widow is then necessary for making the farm operation viable. Unfortunately, it constitutes a real uphill task. In many cases, the papers are not in order. Land is owned jointly by the family and the land cultivated by the husband is only an understanding among male members. The land title in the husbands name does not exist. In other cases the in-laws refuse to give the papers to the widow. And there are, of course, cases where the woman finds that registration fees and required bribes to the officials concerned is far beyond the finance available to her. The claimant woman has to wage a long drawn struggle without a definite promise that she will succeed. De-facto control or responsibility of land is also given to women when husbands move out in search of better jobs. The farmers suicide is an individual act but migration of able-bodied unskilled labour from a village is a mass phenomenon. The labour contractor collects men and sometimes husband and wife both, and takes them in a group to another village or town for agricultural wage work or construction work. Even otherwise, unskilled migrant labour moves in a group. There are several such villages where women, children and old people are left behind and all the younger men have moved out. Betara village of Jashpur district in Chhattisgarh is one such village. In May 2004, after two years of drought, all men moved out to Nagpur for work. Even farmers with more than 10 acres of land left (there were only three). Women are left behind to take command of the nonviable farms and bad weather, with scanty resources at their disposal. Women farmers call women workers to work in the farms. Men workers have also gone to Nagpur. From the neighbouring village also, only women workers are available. Again, women dont have the land title in their names and so remain deprived of official assistance. Women workers and women farmers do not have the training to operate farm machines; so farm operations at all levels are carried out manually. Interestingly, in many cases, women take care of ploughing, sowing, weeding, irrigation etc., but at harvesting time men return back to take charge. Many such villages can be identified in Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh also. Beena Agarwal in her book, A Field of Ones Own, has given an apt description of women workers in Indian agriculture. She calls them dispossessed farmers and disadvantaged workers. We feel that the subordinate status given to women in a patriarchal society places them in situations where they acquire immense resilience to face adversities. At the same time, they also develop confidence in their collective action. Hence, their apparently weak position too can be viewed as their strength. Revolutionary Potential of Dispossessed Farmers and Disadvantaged Workers Historically, whenever the peasantry has risen to struggle for its land rights and a fair share in the agrarian economy, the women in the community have valiantly stood up in the frontline. Womens participation in historical uprisings of Telangana, Tebhaga, Punnapra-Vayalar and others are well-documented. In the contemporary scene, womens role in the Save Narmada Movement, and their participation in the struggle against the mighty multinational POSCO in Odisha have been celebrated again and again. Women are in the forefront in fighting against draconian laws like AFSPA. In the recent long march of farmers from Nashik to Mumbai, Adivasi women farmers from Nashik, Palghar, Dahanu, Ahmednagar and other districts, along with women farmers from Marathwada and Vidarbha, participated in large numbers. Adivasi women came from families with small holdings and were also engaged in wage work. Joining the week-long march meant losing one-fourth of their monthly wage income. This was a big sacrifice. The peasant struggles are directed against feudal lords, state authorities and corporate units. Incidentally, the demands for land rights or other benefits are made for the household as the unit. Women have fought bravely along with their partners to protect and enhance the households livelihood space. But their participation in struggles does not automatically grant them equal status in the household or in the village society at large. The structures of dominance and inequality and gender relations within the household and in the society remain unaddressed during and after the struggles. Womens struggles against patriarchal economic and social relations have to be fought independently. It is important that along with political and social empowerment women are given equal position in household production structures, in the village economy and beyond. Womens land rights are indeed a central issue in the unfair and warped agrarian structure and should be addressed on a priority basis in any programme which sets out to resolve the agrarian crisis. Having emphasised the need to prioritise the agenda of securing economic space for women, it is necessary to examine the overall agrarian structure within which this economic space has to be secured. As we mentioned in section I, only seven per cent of the rural households have land holdings bigger than two hectares. Ninety-three per cent households have either no land or have holdings which are not viable. Especially, the economic space available to agricultural labour households, share croppers and marginal farmer households is very small. So far as womens rights are concerned, getting a minuscule share from minuscule whole is no solution. As we spelt out in section I, the economic space of these households has to be expanded by pooling their resources together and pooling their labour together. As a first step, expansion of economic space requires converting individual spaces into a collective space. Women, who stand in the front ranks when militant struggles are undertaken against the feudal lords, state authorities and corporate units, can also take up a vanguard position in this revolutionary move of converting individual economic spaces into a collective space. In both initiatives, that is, pooling land together for joint production and pooling labour together to form a labour collective, women farmers and women workers will come forward more willingly than men. When de-facto control of land comes to a woman, on which there is a loan and there is not enough family support, then an offer of collective venture is generally received enthusiastically. It offers the security and support that she needs. As women do not have the experience of individual ownership of land, they have less hesitation in joining a collective than men. In the case of labour collectives also womens response will be more enthusiastic. In agri-culture, the division of work between men and women is such that men do individual work like ploughing, irrigation and marketing and women do work in a team like planting, weeding and harvesting. A broadbased movement to form labour collectives is more plausible among women than men. Our expectation that women by virtue of being in a weaker position are better placed to take a lead in the formation of a collective economic base is not just an empty conjecture. The expectation is based on the specific performance of collective farming by the rural women in Kerala under the Kudumbashree Mission. Kudumbashree means glory of the family. The programme started in Kerala in 1998 as a poverty alleviation programme. Poor women were first persuaded to form neighbourhood groups which were thrift and savings groups. Neighbourhood groups were federated as Area Development Societies at the ward level and then as Community Development Societies at the Panchayat level. The three-tier structure is coordinated at the district and then at the State level. The proramme now covers all the districts of Kerala and has four million members. Apart from thrift and savings, the women in the neighbourhood groups are encouraged to take various income-generating activities. The activities range from small-scale manufacturing to conducting weekly markets to providing eating joints and transport service and so on. One of the very important income-generating activities taken up by Kudumbashree women is farming on a collective basis. Joint farm operations have been taken up by around two lakh women. They are cultivating around 30 thousand hectares of land spread across the entire State. Most of these women belong to landless labour households or small farmers households. Generally, four to 10 women get together to form a Joint Liability Group directed under the NABARD scheme. They either pool together their households small holdings or jointly lease in land from a third party. In Kerala in every village, one finds land which is lying fallow because the landowner is either not interested in farming or is unable to do so because of lack of resources. Womens groups lease in these fallow holdings and work hard to make them cultivable. With their scanty resources they have worked wonders on Keralas agrarian scene. They lead the organic cultivation of vegetables, they grow special varieties of banana, they build a green army of women workers to revive paddy fields. These are material achievements in agriculture, but more importantly this experiment of collective farming or other group work has radically transformed their world view. They have acquired immense confidence in their capability to handle any contingency collectively. Their universe has extended far beyond their immediate family. It, of course, includes their fellow workers irrespective of caste and religious differences. But their extended universe also encompasses Kudumbashree members across the State, the village people in general and in a way all those people who belong to the underprivileged community. They express solidarity among themselves and with others. It makes them feel stronger. They put in all their might in rebuilding flood-ravaged Kerala. They came all the way to Delhi to express solidarity with the Rohingya refugees. Kudmbashree women willingly include transgenders in their community. One looks forward to the growth in their strength and their progressive thinking. Conclusion We have argued that women workers in agriculture have revolutionary potential not just to protect and enhance their land rights within the given institutional arrangements but to transcend to an alternative institutional arrangement in land ownership and operations. Further, forming a collective economic base is pivotal in translating this potential into a meaningful programme. We argue this fully knowing the limitations of collective entre-preneurship or cooperatives in a capitalist economy where the state represents the capitalist ruling class. However, living in a Third World country and witnessing the shrinking working class surrounded by a vast unorganised sector we are convinced that allies have to be found from this reserve army of labour. Women in agriculture constitute an important ally. True, the Kudumbashree performance cannot be replicated everywhere. The Kudumbashree mission gets state support with the Left Front heading the government alternatively. This support is not available in other States. But women will evolve their own path depending on the specific constraints they face and the specific strengths that they have. In the end we request you to consider the above analysis and the suggested programme keeping in mind the famous quote from Che Guevara: be realisticdemand the impossible. S.P. Shukla is the President of the Joshi-Adhikari Institute of Social Studies, New Delhi and a former Member, Planning Commission. Jaya Mehta and Vineet Tiwari have been working on various aspects of the agrarian crisis for the last one decade. Both are associated with the Joshi-Adhikari Institute of Social Studies. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the National War Memorial near India Gate on February 25, officials said Friday. The memorial will honour soldiers who have laid down their lives for the country since Independence. "The Prime Minister will dedicate the memorial to the nation on February 25. The defence minister, chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force will be among the dignitaries present on the occasion," a senior official said. Some other cabinet ministers are also likely to attend the event, he said. "The National War Memorial will include a wall that will carry the names of those soldiers who have laid down their lives for the country," Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat had earlier said. "The memorial would be iconic and serve as a new landmark, which would attract people from near and far," he had said. Acceding to a long-pending demand of the armed forces, the government in 2015 had approved the project for building a National War Memorial and a National War Museum near India Gate in memory of over 22,500 soldiers who laid down their lives post-Independence. "This government will be establishing a war memorial and a museum with a deep sense of gratitude to honour those brave soldiers, who laid down their lives," an official statement released after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Modi, had then said. "The memorial will promote a sense of patriotism in the minds of visitors, and will award an opportunity to citizens of this vast nation, to express their token sense of gratitude to the brave soldiers, who laid down their lives for the motherland," it said. India Gate itself is a war memorial built during the British Raj as the All India War Memorial Arch to honour the soldiers who died in the First World War (1914-1918) and the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919). The landmark has the names of soldiers inscribed on its surface. NEW DELHI: Congress state chief Sheila Dikshit on Sunday reacted to the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's call for an indefinite hunger strike for full statehood of Delhi. The former CM questioned the timing of the fast saying that only a Parliament can change the status of Delhi in the Constitution. "Only a Parliament session can change the constitution for Delhi to be accorded full statehood and no parliament session will be held now, so why is he doing this? I don't understand," she said. Kejriwal has announced that he will sit on an indefinite fast from March 1, seeking full statehood for Delhi. His decision comes at a time when the Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule for the General Election. The AAP-dominated Assembly also adopted a resolution demanding that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs take necessary legal and legislative steps to declare Delhi a "full-fledged" state without any further delay. "I will sit on an indefinite hunger strike from March 1 to organise people for the full statehood demand. Even if we die in this movement, we will gladly do so but this 'aar-paar ki ladai' will continue and Delhi will get full statehood," Kejriwal said in the House. BJP hit back at Kejriwal saying that he claims to be a Constitutional authority and is going to sit on a fast which is heard off. "He should resign and then should fast," BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said. "If as a CM he fasts, I think Delhi government should be dissolved and the President`s Rule should be imposed," he said. Kejriwal had staged hunger strikes in his earlier avatar as an anti-corruption activist before the formation of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and this will be first such stir after becoming chief minister of Delhi in 2015. At least 300 vehicles - including cars and two-wheelers - were charred in a massive fire that broke out in the parking space just outside the Aero India Show 2019 venue at Yelahanka Air Base in Bengaluru on Saturday. While there were no injuries reported, the gloomy site of vehicles completely burnt painted a dreary picture. Reaching out to its customers who may have lost their vehicles in the massive blaze, Toyota Kirloskar Motors late on Saturday night issued a special contact number - 180042500001 and 08066293001 - for assistance. Customers who may have either completely lost their vehicles to this blaze or have suffered damage of any kind here are being promised on-site assistance from Toyota's insurance arm. Customers requiring additional facilities related to insurance claim, special towing assistance and similar help will be put on conference call with the concerned Bengaluru dealers' customer relations for coordination purposes. The Minister of Roads,Kwasi Amoako-Attah, has solicited the collaboration of the 48 Engineers Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces towards the construction of 5,000 steel bridges to facilitate economic activities nationwide. The ministry would soon enter into an agreement with the Defence Ministry to enable members of the Regiment to support the rehabilitation of about 150 steel bridge components that had been knocked down. Amoako-Attah made this known at a staff durbar held at the Burma Camp, in Accra, during a visit by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to interact and listen to the concerns of both military and civilian employees of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF). Ghana Armed Forces partners Road ministry to construct 5,000 steel bridges nationwide Source: UGC Source: UGC READ ALSO: Prof Joshua Alabi congratulates Mahama on winning NDC presidential primaries The Minister said GAF had collaborated well with the Ministry in the past and the military personnel displayed a high level of professionalism, efficiency, discipline and technical prowess in the construction of steel bridges. He announced last Friday, February 22, 2019, that government was expecting about 200 components of steel bridges from the Czech Republic this year to fix the dilapidated bridges. He said due to this the Ministry would, therefore, like to rekindle that relationship and partnership towards the countrys infrastructural development. READ ALSO: GSA and CID officials shut down illegal gas plant in Accra Read more: https://yen.com.gh/123326-gsa-cid-officials-shut-illegal-gas-plant-accra.html#123326 Meanwhile, President Nana Akufo-Addo has presented 140 vehicles to the Ghana Armed Forces in fulfilment of an October 2018 pledge he made to the military. The vehicles comprised 50 Ankai buses, 40 Toyota Landcruiser Hardbody Vehicles and 50 Toyota Hilux Pickups. The President also indicated that an additional 48 vehicles, representing the second tranche of staff and operational vehicles to the Armed Forces, would be presented soon. READ ALSO: 275 Burkina national flee to Ghana due to chieftaincy clashes Ghana News Today: Zoomlion Gh Ltd Unveils New Mechanical Street Sweepers | #Yencomgh Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish on YEN.com.gh? Please contact us on Facebook. Source: Yen Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. Arizona News Phoenix, Arizona - On Tuesday, Harry Tsosie, 48, of Blue Gap, Arizona and Jeremy Tsosie, 38, of Smoke Signal, Arizona, both members of the Navajo Nation, were each sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan M. Brnovich to 84 months in prison, followed by a term of three years of supervised release. Harry and Jeremy Tsosie had previously pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon. On Jan. 14, 2017, Harry and Jeremy Tsosie tracked down the victim in the Whippoorwill Housing area on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation and shot the victim in the chest causing serious bodily injuries. The victim is also member of the Navajo Nation. The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Navajo Nation Department of Law Enforcement. The prosecution was handled by Christina J. Reid-Moore, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix. Arizona News Phoenix, Arizona - The FBI Phoenix Field Division is pleased to announce David Gillum as the recipient of the 2018 Directors Community Leadership Award (DCLA). Mr. Gillum, the Director of Biosafety and Biosecurity at Arizona State University (ASU), was selected for making outstanding contributions to his community through service. Mr. Gillum has been at the forefront of international biosafety and security. He has brought law enforcement, industry partners, and academia together to increase awareness of biosecurity risks which directly impacts the safety and citizens of our community. His efforts have also helped open dialogue, creating better trust and understanding amongst the public and private sectors, said Michael DeLeon, special agent in charge of the FBIs Phoenix Field Division. In his role at ASU, Mr. Gillum oversees more than 1,000 laboratories at ASU, which are using biological materials. Seeing a need to plan, train, and educate the community about the risks posed by advanced and emerging biotechnologies, Gillum approached the FBI Phoenix Weapons of Mass Destruction Coordinator to partner and develop the first of its kind International Biosecurity Workshop. The workshop, which has gained international attention for its size and scope, brings law enforcement and laboratory professionals to discuss issues of mutual concern regarding dangerous biological pathogens found in laboratories around the world. In addition to the workshop, Mr. Gillum established a task force to create a professional credentialing program for biosecurity professionals, partnering with FBI Phoenix and the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate to accomplish this goal. Davids innovative spirit in connecting academics, law enforcement, and industry professionals at the Arizona Biosecurity Workshop is proof of Arizona State Universitys social embeddedness design aspiration, said Morgan R. Olsen, ASU Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer. During the past three years, David has connected these individual groups that now may continue to address biosecurity and biosafety matters from a shared perspective that did not exist before. Our communities will benefit as a result of this work. David Gillum is well deserving of the 2018 FBI Directors Community Leadership Award. In 2018, Mr. Gillum also tasked a team to develop an outreach program for elementary, high school, and university students to encourage biosecurity and biosafety in classrooms. Mr. Gillum serves as president-elect for the American Biological Safety Association International. He co-founded the Arizona Biosafety Alliance and was elected President among other key positions in the organization. In 2015, Mr. Gillum established a partnership with Arizona State University and the Mexican Biosafety Association to support biosafety collaborations between Arizona, Mexico, and other South American countries. I am deeply honored to receive this award. I am extremely thankful to Arizona State University for recognizing the importance of community engagement and for allowing me to be at the forefront of these biosafety and biosecurity initiatives, said David Gillum, ASU director of biosafety and biosecurity. I never could have received this award without the support of my amazing team in ASUs Environmental Health and Safety as well as the incredible partnerships with FBI Supervisory Special Agents Philip Bates and Andrew Braun, Special Agent in Charge Michael DeLeon, and countless others in the FBI. The Directors Community Leadership Award was formally created in 1990 as a way to honor individuals and organizations that make extraordinary contributions to education and the prevention of crime and violence in their communities. Recipients of this award are nominated by each of the FBIs 56 field offices and are recognized for their service above and beyond the call of duty to help keep America and its residents safe. On May 3, 2019 Mr. Gillum will attend a ceremony at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. where he along with DCLA recipients from across the country, will be presented with the award by FBI Director Christopher Wray. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Bulandshahr: Unravelling the Anatomy of a Riot by Ram Puniyani The scene of violence in the name of emotive issues has been continuously throwing new patterns of instigating and orchestrating violence. In recent times we saw major violence following the demolition of the Babri mosque (1992), Godhra train burning (Gujarat carnage 2002), murder of a Swami (Kandhamal 2008), on the pretext of love-Jihad (Muzaffarnagar 2013) among others. The gross pattern seems to be to spread hatred against sections of society and unleash the hate, which gets converted into violence. In the last couple of years, what has dominated the scene of violence has been the accusations related to slaughter of cows. Beginning with the horrifying murder of Mohammad Akhlaq down to the killing of Junaid, cow-beef has been used as a weapon of hate. In this very series follows the Bulandshahr killings of two men, one of them being a Hindu police officer. This tragedy goes on to show the underbelly of communal violence, which in due course brings into its orbit not only the religious minorities but people from the majority religion also. As such the violence does not involve much killing of the majority community, though they also suffer in small numbers. In this case, in Bulandshahr, we see the major victim is not only a Hindu but an officer of the State Police. While full details are yet to come out with SIT probing, whatever can be gleaned from the media reports is frightening enough. In the beginning of December 2018 a large congregation of Muslims, Ijtema, took place in Bulandshahr. The congregation had participation, by a rough count, of around fifty lakh Muslims. These religious congregations do keep taking place in different parts of the country. Nearly seventy kilometres away from the place of this congregation, in village Siyana of Bulandshahr, this incident took place. It seems someone had thrown the remains of a slaughtered cow in an agricultural field. The villagers noticed the carcass, reported it to the police, which planned to initiate the action as per law. As the carcass was being taken away in a tractor, some 40-50 youth from outside descended on the village and took charge of the tractor. As per some reports, the beef was thrown in the field by those belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Morcha and Bajrang Dal. Reports by some journalists and a video report show that the whole incident was orchestrated by outsiders. The youth took the tractor to the police station, lodged the FIR and created a ruckus. Yogesh Raj, the local chief of the Bajrang Dal, who lodged the FIR, was booked as the prime accused in the incident. Various versions are in the air. What followed led to the death of Inspector Subodh Singh in a brutal manner. Suresh Chavanke of Sudarshan TV, the Right-wing channel close to the RSS, tried to link up the violence to the Muslims Ijtema. As per Chavankes tweet the violence was indulged in by the Muslims participating in the Ijtema. This was countered by the police authorities who tweeted that the incident had nothing whatsoever to do with the Ijtema, which was at a place far away and a peaceful event. Many other theories also started being thrown up. One being that one Jitendra Malik, who is part of the Rashtriya Rifles posted in Kashmir, was present on the spot and the culprit of the violence. His elder brother denied the charge and promised to prove the innocence of his brother. Malik was brought back from his duty in Kashmir, but nothing much seems to have been proven about his complicity. The usual question is: who did it? Before that lets see the very revealing facts related to the Inspector, SHO, who, as per his sister, was killed in a planned manner. Subodh Singh was the one who had investigated the Mohammad Akhlaq case leading to the arrest of many culprits. It is said that it was he who always took the right stand especially on Hindu-Muslim issues. Probably he was not letting the Hindutva groups to have their divisive ways. The local unit of the BJP-related organisations had written to the officials demanding the transfer of Singh. The other highlights related to the incident are mixed and disturbing. One is that many of those who had come to attend the Ijtema were sheltered in the Shiva temple. SHO Singhs teenager son appealed for peace and harmony in the area. He said: I would appeal to the entire country, please stop Hindu-Muslim violence. People get violent at the slightest provocation. People should understand and think that they are bound by the law. In response the DSP, in a moving face-book post, stated: I salute Abhishek who even after losing his father is not speaking the language of hatred and violence. On the other side the Chief Minister of UP, Yogi Adityanath, commented in the aftermath of this tragedy that incidents related to cow slaughter are increasing and need to be curbed. This cow-primacy got reflected in the statement of a BJP MP who advised the investigating team to examine whether the SHO came under attack as he failed to check the cow slaughters and cow smuggling! The murder of Singh, a serving police official, is relegated to the second place in the Yogi-BJP scheme of things. These are disturbing signs of times where politics is being dictated by Modi-Yogi, in which emotive issues are taking precedence over human lives, issues that do not disturb them so far as these serve their political agenda of polarisation! Meanwhile the sense of insecurity is reigning supreme in the village where the incident took place. The villagers, who repeatedly affirmed that their village had braved all the communal incidents like Babri demolition violence, Muzaffarnagar violence etc., are now fearing for their safety, feeling insecure in the places where they have been living in peace for decades. In the trajectory of patterns of violence, Bulandshahr is yet another pattern of probably planned violence, where the major victim can be from the majority community itself; yet another victim of cow politics! The author, a retired Professor at the IIT-Bombay, is currently associated with the Centre for the Study of Secularism and Society, Mumbai. Venice, FL (34285) Today Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight. Low 74F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight. Low 74F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. UPDATE - As of 4:30 p.m. Sunday, an update has been provided by the Waco Fire Department. Two Waco first responders remain hospitalized, both of them were transferred to trauma units on Saturday and remain in intensive care. According to Waco Fire Department officials, "One person had surgery today (Sunday) and that was successful. The other is to have surgery yet. Both are now stable and things are looking up. "Thank you for your support. It will take time for the department to recover from this event. But, we are fortunate for all the support." YORK Four Waco volunteer firemen were injured Saturday, Feb. 23, while responding to accidents on Interstate 80. According to information provided by Bill Lundy, the secretary/treasurer of the Nebraska State Volunteer Fire Association (NSVFA), the responses were during blizzard conditions, around 3 p.m. The York and Waco Fire Departments were dispatched to a multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 80 and while on scene, two of Waco Fire Departments vehicles were struck, resulting in injuries to four of six first responders involved. Two did not require treatment, one responder was treated and released, and three remain hospitalized. The Islamic Jihad terror organization broadcasted footage on Iranian TV of a new missile which they said can reach the central Israeli city of Netanya. The solidarity rally for French Jews held last week in Paris must have seemed impressive to Israelis. But as impressive it was seeing about half of French government ministers as well as other prominent individuals participating, it was too little, too late. The situation in France is not going to get any better. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The media only recently reported that in 2018, anti-Semitism has increased by 74% compared to the previous year. The headline only serves to confirm what we are witnessing: physical and verbal attacks against Jews, desecration of Jewish cemeteries and monuments, hate messages scrawled on Jewish businesses and vehicles, and others. Emmanuel Macron speaking to French Jewish leaders It is doubtful how much this play of unity can affect the perception of the general population in a country where radical elements are increasing. It is unfortunate to see the reaction of the progressive elite in the country who revert to the same mantras that are reminiscent of the messages we heard five years ago when then-Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared that the Jews were the avant-garde of the French Republic; an impressive compliment, but it had no practical influence. Valls was perceived as a true friend of the Jewish community but in the interim he has become an insignificant figure and left the country about a year ago. His words were forgotten, and it is hard to point to any real progress on the front. What hasnt worked in the past will not work now. Frances handling of anti-Semitism is misguided and French Jews have had enough of declarations. They do not need another protest march that condemns what is bad and praises what is good. Last weeks march included figures who lack any understanding of the matter. For the Green Party representatives, it was just another stage on which to virtue signal ahead of the elections. As far as they are concerned, anti-Semitism is merely an unpleasant matter, but nothing to get too excited about. The French population also understands this: in the past, such rallies would attract hundreds of thousands of people, but last week only 20,000 showed up. Rally against anti-Semitism Furthermore, many participants stubbornly ignore the fact that anti-Semitism has become embedded among certain segments of French society. Therefore, the presence of the elites at the rally only serves to reinforce the conspiracy that Jews control the halls of power. An appropriate response requires that the reality be confronted. Public discourse cannot continue to approach the subject as merely a universal expression of hatred of the other. Bold journalism should not be afraid of exposing the background of perpetrators of such crimes. Finding appropriate solutions requires acknowledging that today's anti-Semitism has passed from the extreme right to radical Islam. This is an open secret, but proponents of identity politics insist on minimizing and diluting it, thus preventing confronting the problem head on. Furthermore, the plight of the Jews in France is not detached from attitudes towards the Jewish state. The Yellow Vest protesters who attacked the Jewish philosopher Alain Finkielkraut in Paris last Saturday yelled slogans unrelated to the protest they were part of. Their cries of Palestine and Zionist garbage exposed what it is that bothers them about the Jews. Rally against anti-Semitism (Photo: AFP) In that respect, France is fertile ground for such unsubstantiated accusations and legitimacy for violence. No wonder it is ultimately aimed at the Jewish community. Progressive parties and their representatives in the media those who participated in the protest last week are actively fueling this hatred through the war they wage against the State of Israel. Thus, in the suburb of La Courneuve, north of Paris, the "Festival of Humanity" takes place annually, an important event for the Communist Party and its allies. Every year, the most prominent BDS activists are hosted there. Rally against anti-Semitism Perhaps it is clear to senior party officials where the line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is, but it turns out that the residents of the surrounding slum neighborhoods are less sensitive to these nuances. The authorities' position on the matter is indeed moving in the right direction. Following his conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Macron announced that expressing anti-Zionist positions would be considered among the many forms of anti-Semitism. But it is not clear how the move will not remain purely declarative. Macron already made it clear that he was opposed to incriminating those positions. The hate propagators know how to play with the limits of freedom of expression and the censor's capabilities in the era of social networks are nil. And as far as French Jews are concerned, we had to attend the march, but it will not change anything. Nicolas Nissim Touboul is a projects coordinator at the Institute for Zionist Strategies and was born in France. The Israeli Navy's entire fleet of missile boats and submarines and all of its naval commandos last week took part in a large-scale exercise in the northern arena. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The drill's scenario began with an undercover operation at sea, continued with discovery by the enemy including the involvement of the elusive, elite Shayetet 13 unit, and ended in an exchange of fire that lasted until the targets were destroyed. Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit This is the second time in recent years that the IDF has drilled for a scenario in which an activity spirals into an escalation. Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit The exercise comes following multiple IDF attacks in the northern arena over the last 12 months, as Israel moved to stop Hezbollah receiving advanced weapons and prevent an Iranian military buildup in Syria, incidents that resulted in return rocket fire into Israel. Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit The most recent incident of this nature came about a month ago, when Israel shot down an Iranian missile over the Golan Heights, following an attack on an advanced weapons shipment at Damascus Airport, which was attributed to Israel. Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit A similar training scenario was used two weeks ago at annual exercises by the Israel Air Force and the US Army air defense forces, which are intended to help Israel in real time. Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit During the two-day exercise, the two forces trained in a wide swath of the Mediterranean Sea running parallel to the Israeli coast from Haifa to Ashdod. Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit According to foreign reports in recent years, including the Sunday Times, Israeli naval submarines have carried out secret strikes on targets in Lebanon. Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit "In response to enemy fire, we operated several platforms, including the Air Force, to simulate causing maximum damage to enemy targets," said Israeli naval officer Lt. Col. Simeon Gamburg. "It was a mixed scenario, using various forces operating from a number of locations and controlled by one command post. A naval force pretended to be the enemy and acted against us in a coordinated manner that challenged us during the decision-making process." JERUSALEM -- Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said Sunday that the political alliance with the ultranationalist "Jewish Power" political party has created a "very disturbing" image that Israel's enemies could exploit. Netanyahu last week welcomed a merger that folded the "Jewish Power" party into the larger "Jewish Home" for April elections. As part of their deal, Netanyahu gave the merged party a seat on his Likud Party's list of candidates and guaranteed them two Cabinet positions if he wins. "Jewish Party" members see themselves as the ideological heirs of the banned Kach movement, which was outlawed by Israel and the U.S. because of its racist views. Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss the Syrian conflict with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the two leaders meet in Moscow next week, RIA news agency cited a Kremlin spokesman as saying on Sunday. The meeting with take place on Wednesday, RIA cited Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. Israel's state committee for granting permits, which operates alongside the state comptroller's office, on Sunday rejected a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fund his legal aid team through $2 million in donations by his cousin Nathan Milikowsky and by businessman and close associate Spencer Partridge. The prime minister was also ordered to pay back $300,000 (approx. 1 million shekels) in donations by Milikowsky to his legal defense fund and return suits given to him by Partridge. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter Netanyahu is currently facing three corruption investigations, and claims that he is innocent in all cases. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "The attorney general determined that if the committee rejects the prime minister's request to reexamine the matter, he will be obligated to return to Mr. Milikowsky the funds he received from him, according to predetermined timetables, while presenting the state comptroller and the attorney general with satisfactory written proof (of the need for legal aid)," the committee's statement read. "The applicant's declaration of capital shows he is a wealthy man. Hence, he is required, in line with the committee's previous decision, to prove that he has exhausted his abilities to use his own funds before turning to donations." The committee's decision comes after State Comptroller Yosef Shapira and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit determined in December that the prime minister was ineligible to receive $2 million in donations from Milikovsky and Partridge to fund his legal fees. In January, Shapira issued an unusual appeal to the Permits Committee, requesting it to reconvene to hear new arguments by Netanyahu's attorney Navot Tel-Zur, as the law allows the committee to reexamine the matter in the event that "circumstances have notably changed" after a decision has been made. State Comptroller Yosef Shapira (Photo: Gil Yohanan) "The rules of justice and administrative law require the committee to reconvene in order to allow the applicant to make his arguments, as he explicitly requested, and only thereafter reach a decision, in accordance with the law and while balancing all interests," Shapira said. Touching on the attire Netanyahu received from Partridge, the committee stated: "It would be appropriate for the applicant to return the suits to their owner. If he has already made use of the suits and they cannot be returned, the applicant would be obligated to return the cost of the suits to their donor or to donate the money they are worth to a proper cause determined in advance." Netanyahu's attorneys harshly criticized the committee's decision, saying: "This is an unprecedented ruling that violates (our client's) basic rights. It is unheard of for a prime minister to be prevented the basic right of legal aid, which is given to every Knesset member. "We intend to file a petition with the High Court of Justice against this outrageous decision," the lawyers said. Netanyahu's Likud ruling party also slammed the decision, insinuating that the decision was politically motivated. "In aiming to establish a left government led by (Benny) Gantz and (Yair) Lapid (they) will stop at nothing, including depriving Netanyahu of his right to fund his legal defense, a basic right that is given to every MK, but now is denied to a member of the Knesset named Benjamin Netanyahu." Netanyahu is suspected of wrongdoing in three separate cases. Case 1000 concerns allegations that the prime minister and his family received illicit gifts from wealthy donors, most notably billionaire Israeli-American film producer Arnon Milchan. Case 2000 concerns allegations that Netanyahu held talks with Yedioth Ahronoth publisher and owner Arnon Mozes about favorable coverage in return for legislation that would weaken Yedioth's rival, free daily Israel Hayom. Case 4000 concerns an alleged quid pro quo relationship between Netanyahu and investor Shaul Elovitch, who was the majority shareholder of Bezeq telecommunications and owner of the Walla! News site; Elovitch allegedly ensured Netanyahu and his family received favorable coverage on Walla! News in return for regulatory benefits for Bezeq, which sought to merge with satellite company Yes. Police in Jerusalem arrested on Sunday a senior Muslim cleric attached to the sacred compound in the Old City, two days after he re-opened a mosque sealed by Israel during a Palestinian uprising in 2003. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter Sheikh Abdel-Azeem Salhab, who sits on the religious council appointed by Jordan to oversee the Islamic sites at the compound, personally reopened the gate leading into the Bab al-Rahmeh mosque on Friday, and hundreds of Muslims went inside to pray for the first time in years. Prayer at Bab al-Rahmeh mosque on Temple Mount It followed days of tension between Israeli police and the Muslim religious authorities over access to a corner of the 35-acre sacred compound known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as The Noble Sanctuary. In the build up to Friday prayers police arrested 60 people they suspected would incite violence, and boosted the security presence in the Old City. But the day passed without serious incident. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Salhab and another person were arrested on Sunday morning, two days after the incident, for breaching an order, and that they were being held for questioning. Prayer at Bab al-Rahmeh mosque on Temple Mount X Salhab's lawyer said that Israeli police had banned him from accessing the compound for seven days, but there was no immediate comment from the police on whether they had issued such an order. The small Bab al-Rahmeh mosque that Salhab opened lies on the eastern side of the compound, which is revered by Jews as the site of the Jewish temples of antiquity. Muslims call it al-Haram al-Sharif, or The Noble Sanctuary, and regard it as the third holiest site in Islam. Its present-day skyline is dominated by two Muslim shrines, the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Border Police at Temple Mount (Photo: AFP) Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to President Mahmoud Abbas, denounced the arrests "in the strongest terms" and demanded their immediate release. Jordan's minister in charge of the Waqf and Islamic affairs, Abdul Nasser Moussa Abu al-Basal, called it "an unacceptable and dangerous escalation that impacts Jordan's role as a caretaker of Jerusalem's holy sites." Because of the religious sensitivities over the site the king of Jordan retains a role in ensuring the upkeep of the Muslim holy places in the city and Jordan appoints the Waqf Council which oversees compound. When Israel's first moon mission was set for liftoff, some of us were stuck in an endless traffic jam on the Ayalon Highway around Tel Aviv. When Israel successfully launched the spacecraft, some of us were waiting for trains that never came because that morning 35 conductors suddenly announced they were sick. Right now, Israel is on the way to the moon, while Im on the way to my mother-in-law in Hadera, who will probably tell me, "It's a shame you have to go back at this hour. They just said on the radio there are serious delays because of a car accident. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter So then I ask myself: "The moon!? Why the hell is it so pressing for Israel to reach the moon when we havent even reached the ability to have a fully functioning railway system?" Liftoff of Israel's first moon mission (Photo: Reuters) But I would be wrong to do that. This silly claim that "a country that cant get the buses right shouldn't launch a spacecraft to the moon," has been heard too many times over the past week. We should stick to the facts for a moment: the Beresheet (genesis) project does not belong to Israeli government, and when it lands on the moon, Culture Minister Miri Regev will not rush to have a photo-op with it (or maybe she will, Miri, if you're reading this, I urge you to head off into outer space!). Actually, very few shekels of taxpayers money went into financing the $100 million project and most of the funds were raised through private donors, the most prominent of whom is South African-born Israeli billionaire entrepreneur Morris Kahn, who invested $44 million of his own money and in 2011 founded SpaceIL with the sole purpose of landing a spacecraft on the moon. I had the opportunity to interview Kahn ahead of the liftoff, and the bottom line is that as well as the hundreds of millions of dollars that the man has quietly invested over the years into a groundbreaking Israeli medical studymeant to help rehabilitate disabled childrenthe lunar mission has become a passion project for him. He was able to recruit additional donors from all around the world, and when the spacecraft was complete and the mission was ready to go ahead, he opted out of attaching his name to the project, making it seem to be a national Israeli achievement. Morris Kahn at SpaceIL (Photo: Shaul Golan) Meanwhile, SpaceIL has turned the project from a strictly technological endeavour to an educational one, making its way from school to school, giving lectures on space exploration and trying to encourage children's interest in science. The successful launch of the spacecraft and the accompanying media coverage sparked an increased interest among the kids, whom I constantly hear discuss the shuttle and its trajectory. Beyond the national pride, thanks to the project, the Israeli education system has been given a scientific boost when most of the reinforcements come from the auspices of religious organizations that are somewhat less scientific in their approach. This claim that there's no need to fly into space when we have trouble reaching Nahariya, is baseless. If external donors such as Kahn, were required to bankroll state infrastructure, we would have a real problem, not to mention total bankruptcy because we would be left entirely at the mercy of private investors. It would be helpful, however, if the state were to take an example from the Beresheet project, which stumbled over countless technological, budgetary and managerial obstacles, but was eventually not only successfully completed but also found itself to be an educational outlet. If they we can do that, then surely anything is within our grasp. Even getting to Nahariya on time. North Korea's state media said on Sunday that the people of the United States would "never be cleared of security threats" if this week's nuclear talks in Vietnam end without results. The North's official KCNA news agency criticized US Democrats and others for "plotting to disrupt" a second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump on Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. KCNA accused the Trump administration of "lending an ear" to opponents of dialogue, even after the United States launched diplomatic efforts with North Korea. The three young men who came to my office almost a decade ago were disappointed. They have just finished enthusiastically showing me their plan to build a small spacecraft that could land on the moon, send a picture from there, and then leap about 500 meters and send another picture. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter "We will do this within 3-4 years, at a cost of $10 million," said Yariv, Kfir and Yonatan, "and we will win Google's $20 million prize for the first private (non-governmental) group to do it. We will donate the prize money to educational activities that will attract Israeli youth to study science and technology in general and space in particular. After all, only the United States, Russia and China did it before us!" Israel's mission to the moon (Photo: SpaceX) Their three faces fell when I told them that in my estimation, the spacecraft would cost at least $80 million, four times more than the prize money itself. I was reminded of similar situations in which I found myself when I was their age, when my ideas were met with serious doubt. I was lucky, however, and despite the skepticism I was always given the opportunity to prove my ideas. What do we have to lose? I thought. According to Israeli anti-trust laws, the investment had to come mainly from private sources, so that this would not risk any public money. "You know what," I said, "I will give you a 10-minute opportunity to present the idea at the Space Conference next week at Tel Aviv University, and we will make sure that the conference includes philanthropists who were educated in Israel and who have Zionist pride flowing through their veins." Morris Kahn at SpaceIL (Photo: Shaul Golan) And so it came to pass. In the audience for the presentation was philanthropist Morris Kahn, who donated several hundred thousand dollars on the spot to get the idea off the ground, Kahn ultimately bore the main burden of donations to the project, whose final cost (including the launch) came to about $100 million. He also worked to recruit key people to the management of SpaceIL (including me). The rest is history: the spacecraft is currently making its way to the moon. The real lesson of this story is the entrepreneurial culture in Israel. No amount of skepticism can stop a group of young entrepreneurs from trying to realize an idea they believe in. All the foundations needed to realize technological dreams - creativity, technological know-how, mobilization of talented individuals on a volunteer basis, funding, etc. - are around us in Israel; one has only to reach out and take them. This is why Israel is now considered a global center for high-tech technologies, and that is why we economy is thriving. ? Isaac Ben Israel is a general in the IDF reserves and the chairman of the Israeli Space Agency Two Israeli womenGalila Bitton, 61, from Nesher, and Dina Porat, 71, from Rishponwere killed when a boat overturned while cruising in the Serrano River in the Torres del Paine National Park in southern Chile, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter In addition, four Israelis were seriously injured, and 10 were lightly injured in the accident, all of them in their 60s and 70s. The tourists were evacuated to local hospitals, with those who sustained fractures flown in a helicopter to receive medical treatment. The Foreign Ministry said none of the injured are in a life-threatening condition. A message was given to their families. Boat overturned in Chile (Photo: Armada de Chile ) According to the Foreign Ministry's situation room, the tourists were part of the Massaot tour company tourist group. Guy Raveh, Massaot CEO, said: "Since the minute we were informed about the accident, we've been in constant contact with the Israeli Embassy in Chile. We are making sure each of the Israelis is receiving appropriate and good medical care. "It's too soon to tell what caused the accident. The group departed on February 18 for a 23 day trip in Chile, Argentina mad Brazil. Their guide is one of the best, and has been doing this route for many years. The boat, "Terry Brian," reportedly crashed into a rock and overturned after its captain lost control of the vessel. The tourists were all wearing life jackets. The authorities in Chile launched an investigation into the incident. The Serrano River in the Torres del Paine National Park in southern Chile (Photo: Armada de Chile ) Israeli Ambassador to Chile, Eldad Hayet, said that heavy rainfalls have recently hit southern Chile, which probably prompted stronger currents in the area. Israels consul in the area, Leon Suissa, arrived at the hospitals to assist the wounded. The Foreign Ministry's Department for Israelis Abroad is in constant contact with the injured as well as the relevant authorities in Chile. Noam Sela, a tour guide in Chile said: "The location (of the accident) is considered one of the most beautiful nature reserves in South America. Those who tour the area can enjoy snowy hilltops, spectacular geological shapes, lakes and rivers." Furthermore, Sela said that the course of the boat is considered very safe."This is one of the safest routes (in Chile). The Serrano River is broad and quiet, with weak currents. After 20 minutes of sailing, the tourists are asked to disembarked and walk for several minutes until they reach a second boat and continue their cruise." North Korea on Sunday confirmed for the first time that its leader, Kim Jong Un, will hold a second summit with US President Donald Trump, days ahead of the high-stakes nuclear meeting in Vietnam's capital of Hanoi. Kim left Pyongyang by train on Saturday afternoon for the February 27-28 summit accompanied by senior North Korean officials as well as his influential sister, North Korea's official KCNA news agency and its Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported. Trump and Kim will meet in Hanoi eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader, where they pledged to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Police have arrested the head of the Islamic authority that oversees Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem following recent protests. Sheikh Abdelazeem Salhab, a cleric appointed by neighboring Jordan, was arrested early Sunday. Mahdi Abdelhadi, a senior member of the Islamic Waqf, confirmed the arrest. The last thing she wants to do is to incite a war, but when Tamar Gur Krause, a Reform female rabbi, describes what sets apart the marriage ceremonies she conducts, she doesn't hide the fact she also officiates at same-sex weddings, and that in her opinion, the Orthodox wedding ceremonies seem like a parody of a prayer. And yes, she does know that there are many in Israeland not just former anti-LGBT Shas minister Eli Yishaiwho would be outraged and horrified by her words. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter "In an Orthodox wedding ceremony, the rabbi stands in front of two puppets," she says. "One puppet, who is the bride, stands covered and silent, while the other puppet, who is always male, repeats the rabbi's words in Aramaic without understanding anything. After the male puppet breaks the glass and the two puppets kiss, the party can start. The bride and groom will know what songs are going to be played at every stage of the evening, but they will have no idea what they're saying under the chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy)." In the Reform wedding ceremonies she holds, the 31-year-old Gur Krause says, "the masters of the ceremony are the bride and groom, or the bride and bride, or the groom and groom." Tamar Gur Krause conducting a wedding ceremony (Photo: Levana Photographers) Eli Yishai's campaign against a child having "a father and a father" didn't surprise her, nor did its timingbefore the elections. "There is no doubt the Bible is against homosexual intercourse," she says. "It wasn't an accepted thing. But many things that were not accepted in the past have become accepted now. It used to be acceptable to stone criminals, and this practice disappeared in our time. The Torah also says 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' but we don't do that. So why pick on LGBT marriages?" "Judaism is, after all, a living religion; it always has been and always must be in development, to adapt itself to life. This is what has been protecting it all of these yearsour ability to go with the changes," she says. "Today, as well, we must not fear change. It is our commandment to live with equality for all, no matter what a person's gender or sexual tendencies are. As far as I'm concerned, equality and love are far more important than something that was written in the distant past." So how do you explain Eli Yishai's campaign? "No more than populism; deriving of political and social considerations. LGBT marriages threaten the existing order. When Eli Yishai dares to speak in this manner and come out with such an aggressive and violent campaign, it's only because he knows the revolution is already here. The Orthodox understand that the patriarchy is losing its hegemony, and that is why they're bringing out their top guns. We have nothing left to do but respond to such a campaign with love. You can't fight the darkness. All we can do is increase the light. We can quote the verse 'Beloved is man, for he was created in the image (of God)' so the public doesn't think, God forbid, that this terrible campaign represents Judaism." Eli Yishai's controversial campaign slogan: 'So there won't be a child with a father and a father!' I met with Gur Krause on Friday afternoon after her meeting with a couple of women who came to her home to plan their wedding ceremony. Her eldest daughter saw them and said, "Mom, when I grow up, I want a bride too." The red-headed rabbi embraced her daughter and replied: "When you grow up, you will marry someone you love." Parents want a male rabbi Even though she already has hundreds of these ceremonies under her belt ("90 percent of my couples could have gotten married through the Chief Rabbinate, but chose a different ceremony," she says), there are still those who consider her somewhat of an attraction. "The initial objections come mostly from the parents, some of whom may have never been to a synagogue, but the moment it comes to their child's wedding, they demand an Orthodox ceremony and allow themselves to put their foot down, because they're the ones paying for the wedding," she says. "I meet a lot of enlightened people who threaten not to go to their child's wedding if there isn't a kippah-wearing male rabbi there. When the young couple manages to convince their parents that a Reform ceremony would be far more meaningful for them, another obstacle arises: Why a female rabbi? When I walk into the hall, I hear the murmurings of astonishment," she says. Don't they make you want to make a run for it? "On the contrary, this is a challenge. During my wedding ceremonies, there's complete silence, because the audience is involved in the ceremony, which is conducted in Hebrew and arouses curiosity and interest. More than once I had the father of the groom walk up to me after the ceremony and say 'Forgive me, I wish my younger children would get married in a Reform ceremony too.' At the end of every evening, many couples approach me and say, 'It's a shame we didn't get married this way.' When they explain that their enthusiasm is actually because of the fact the Reform ceremony includes so many elements from the familiar Orthodox one, it makes me laugh a little. What do you think, that just because I'm a Reform rabbi, I'm supposed to conduct a shamanic ceremony?" Incidentally, did you get married through the Chief Rabbinate? "Of course not. I got married six years ago, when I was still starting out, and a good friend married us according to what I taught him. Today, I'd do it differently. My husband and I would go through the process that the couples I marry go through. It's not my identity, as a Reform rabbi, that informs the ceremony, but the couple's identity. They are the ones who put the content into the ceremony, and that is why it is so meaningful for them." Tamar Gur Krause (Photo: Tommy Harpaz) Gur Krause was raised in Haifa in a secular family ("very!" she stresses, "My siblings didn't celebrate Bar Mitzvah") and the Jewish world revealed itself to her only when she was 17. "I went to Boston with a delegation of high schoolers. I was a guest of the Conservative community, and it felt like I was back home, as if it was part of a past life. I fell in love with the tune of the cantorship, as if I grew up listening to it, while I actually grew up listening to Chava Alberstein and Danny Robas. When I went back home and tried to explain I had a spiritualnot Halachicexperience, my parents panicked, thinking I may become religious. "I went to Noam, a Conservative youth group, and lived in two parallel worlds. Before Shabbat, I went to the synagogue wearing a skirt, and after the prayer, I changed into jeans and went out with friends. But when I did a pre-army service year at a preparatory program in Jerusalem, I suffered a blow. The Orthodox forbad me from serving as a cantor because I was a woman, and I felt confused. Did me going into the Jewish world require me to toss away the values I was raised on, like equality between the sexes?" After completing her IDF service, she got two degrees (the first in education, history and Bible, and the second in the study of US Jewry) and was accepted to the Jerusalem branch of the Reform Movement's rabbinical school. "After five years of studies, I was ordained as a Reform rabbi last November," she says. "It was obvious to me that I would only marry a man who believes in equality in the Jewish world. My husband has two Orthodox brothers, and I was very moved when they came to my ordination ceremony." Judaism must move with the time Her husband, Ariel Krause Gur, is a child psychologist. They live in Moshav Bat Shlomo, near Zikhron Ya'akov, and together they raise their two daughters: 4-year-old Abigail and 6-month-old Naomi. "I'm the one who recites the Kiddush blessing, because it's natural to us, and my husband is very supportive," she says. What is your authorities as a Reform rabbi? "Wow, it's complex," she says. "An Orthodox rabbi rules on Halacha. The Reform Movement sees Halacha as a source of inspiration, and so I see myself as a bridge that brings people to a life of spirituality and meaning that derive of generations of Jewish texts. The Orthodox world espouses conservativeness, while to me Halacha comes from the word 'lalechet' (to walk), because it wasn't conservativeness that protected the Jewish world, but rather its ability to adapt to changes. It's true, the Torah says that 'A woman's singing voice is considered nakedness,' but it also says 'let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.' It doesn't make any sense that in the name of religion, it's okay to exclude women, to ostracize LGBTs and to be racist." Tamar Gur Krause with one of the brides (Photo: Yarin Taranos Photography) As a female Reform rabbi, she is aware of the fact her status is more precarious than that of a male Reform rabbi. "When I get to the wedding hall and am identified as a female rabbi, the manager allows himself to say to me, 'Come, sweetheart,' something he won't dare say to a man," she says. "But the very fact a woman can be a religious authority is a mark of social change. Last year, 300 couples were interested in a Reform wedding for ideological reasons, because they wanted a ceremony to speak their language, and only eight of them agreed to have a female Reform rabbi marry them." There's still a long way to go. "The journey to my ceremony is not short, either. I hold four meetings with the couple, during which we discuss fundamental questions, such as how they see their path in life and what are their expectations from their life together. Recently I met a woman whose wedding I officiated two weeks ago, and she told me: 'We were talking about you. We have a baby, and I told my husband I wanted to go back to doing yoga twice a week. And he claimed it's impossible, because we still don't have a babysitter. Instead of getting angry, I led him to the Ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) that we wrote together with you, and which is hanging in our bedroom over our bed. The second article in the Ketubah says that "We will each do our utmost efforts to ensure the other can keep their hobbies and private world." Right on the spot, my husband promised to do all the necessary backflips to make sure it happens.' The Ketubah, which is written by the couple, is their core. In it they write how they imagine their home, the education of their children, the relationship with the extended family, and more. In reality, this is a couples' workshop done before the wedding, and not after it when a crisis emerges." What's the validity of the Reform wedding ceremony? "In the State of Israel, you can get a marriage certificate only if you register with the Chief Rabbinate or bring a marriage license from abroad. The Reform Movement issues a marriage certificate that testifies to the fact the couple are common-law spouses, and they get all of the same rights as married people do, such as taking out a mortgage and listing their shared children in their IDs. Israel is the most advanced country in the world in the field of common-law couples. At the same time, the movement encourages the couples to sign a prenup, and in case of divorce they act according to that. When we explain to the parents of the bride and groom that their children's rights won't be harmed because they chose a Reform wedding ceremony, and that their grandchildren won't be harmed either, they become convinced." During wedding season, she goes out to work almost every night. Her husband stays home with the girls. According to her, he says: "I'm not the babysitter, I'm the dad," and this is another example of full equality. Magnolia, AR (71754) Today A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 92F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Please disable your ad blocker, and refresh the page to view this content. WAPATO, Wash. The powerful drumming and singing of Northwest Medicine Horse filled the conference center of The Campbell Farm on Saturday as relatives and friends of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls gathered for support and healing. Formed in 1999 on the Yakama Indian reservation as a sobriety group, Northwest Medicine Horse is just getting back to performing after one of its founders died a year and a half ago, said Guy Gregg, lead drummer, in opening the MMIWG Healing Together Vigil. The afternoon event was hosted by Roxanne White and Cissy Strong Reyes. Roxanne requested us to do an honor song for the women, Gregg said. About 50 people attended Saturdays event, which included a small group activity, art build and poster making, an optional talking circle, candle-lighting and release of paper lanterns with messages to loved ones. This isnt a conference. This is for us here this is a healing event, said White, an advocate for families of missing and murdered indigenous women and men who speaks on the issue throughout the United States. White is also a cousin of Rosenda Sophia Strong, who is Reyes sister. Strong, 31, was last seen Oct. 2 by family when she left Wapato with a friend in an older Nissan car to go to Legends Casino in Toppenish. Saturdays event helped raise funds for a search and reward for information on Strongs whereabouts or location. He said he took her home, but he didnt, Reyes said of the friend. Shed never leave home without telling us. Im going to be her voice until I find her. She and Strong were best friends, Reyes said, and the family wants closure. Their brother, Christopher Strong, has supported her and spoken, participating alongside her in other events such as the Womens March on Yakima on Jan. 19. I hope something good comes of this, he said as his eyes welled and his voice broke. My sister had bad days, but my sister was still a person. Shes missed. I want to thank you all for being here. It really touches me and my family. Like Reyes and Strong, countless people have been affected by the long-standing epidemic of violence involving missing and murdered Native women and men across the United States. On the 1.3-million-acre Yakama reservation, the exact number of missing and murdered women and men is unknown. A lot of pain and hurt has been done with our people, Nesha Jackson said after offering an opening prayer. She was appreciative of those who attended Saturday and is glad more people are speaking out on the issue. Just your presence in this particular gathering is so deeply important. It makes my heart glad that each of one of you have taken the time. We want justice. We want an answer. We want something done, she added. Gerald George, who performed with Northwest Medicine Horse, urged others to remain hopeful as he spoke about his relative Felina Metsker. She was missing and murdered. We just buried her a few weeks ago, he said of Metsker, a Harrah woman who died nearly three years ago. Her killer was recently convicted. George encouraged Strongs family, and others with missing and murdered relatives, that theres still hope in their sad situations and that they will get answers. Keep your prayers strong and pray for that break, George said, even for the ones responsible for this. Maybe they will come forward. Others honored missing and murdered loved ones with memorial altars. Jolene Barrientes of Yakima, originally from Browning, Mont., set up a table with information about four people who were murdered, and whose killers were never convicted or received only light sentences her brother Leonard Eagle, stabbed to death in 2015 in Butte, Mont.; Matthew Grant, who went missing and was found murdered in Browning in late 2016; Brittany MadPlume of Browning, who was found beaten in a car but whose cause of death was ruled as acute ethanol intoxication; and Barrientes brother-in-law Tobin Barrientes, who was shot to death in Burien in May 1998. His killer served two years, she said. Two years is an injustice for taking a mans life, she said. A common thread running among the remarks and activities Saturday was a plea for people to break the silence and help families and friends get resolution and justice. We need people to come forward. ... Somebody please say something, White said. When we stay silent, they get to keep murdering us. We have the power as a community to break the silence. Reyes wont stop until she has answers. But as she pleaded for information about her sister, she also encouraged others to keep in touch with their families. Let your family know where youre going. Tell them you love them, she said. For years, I thought international travel was an out-of-reach luxury, like owning cashmere long johns: something I coveted but simply couldnt justify wasting money on. Then my husband, Jeff, and I updated our passports, dug out our old backpacks and headed to Cambodia and Vietnam using 20 years worth of credit card points. That trip was our gateway drug. We have been back to Asia many times. Although were decades from traditional backpacker age, were convinced its the best way to see that region. Besides, why should younger backpackers have all the fun? With an open mind and semi-closed wallet, traveling in Southeast Asia can be comfortable and an adventure for those of us with more than a few gray hairs. Touring the world with a backpack in later adulthood isnt a secret. Jeff and I encountered few Americans, but we met dozens of Australians and Europeans in their 50s, 60s and 70s who were traveling the way we were. If you havent done it, you may think budget travel means sleeping next to gap-year kids, tossing down shots of Mekong whiskey. This wasnt the case. We slept comfortably and enjoyed inexpensive transportation, meals and culture. A baseball trip through Japan is just what a jaded MLB fan needed Advertisement Getting around is usually easy. We often bought bus and train tickets at the stations, where destinations usually are marked in English as well as the language of the country. Occasionally, we spent a little more and obtained tickets online or through a travel agent because the stations in large urban areas could be overwhelming. An eight-hour train trip from Ninh Binh to Dong Hoi was one of the highlights of a Vietnam trip, thanks to karst mountains and rice paddies, all admired from our comfortable assigned seats. We loved getting to meet our fellow passengers, who could invite us for coffee. Men seemed especially interested in practicing their English and taking photos with Jeff. Sometimes we hired a car to get from city to city. That cost about what we might pay for a dinner for two at home. For instance, a trip from Dong Hoi to Hue in Vietnam, a 105-mile excursion that included stops to visit the Vinh Moc tunnels in Quang Tri and the DMZ bridge, cost $70. Seoul for beginners Carrying a backpack made taking any transportation buses, cars, boats, trains and once, a giant tricycle a breeze. We pack only a weeks worth of clothing because laundry is generally a bargain. In the morning, we dropped off dirty clothes next to our Bangkok hotel and they were not only washed but ironed by evening. Total bill: less than $5. Our hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia, washed an outfit for free each night we stayed. When an acquaintance said she could never afford to travel extensively, I recalled she had traveled to a Disney World resort and to New York City. But its cheaper to fly to many Asian destinations and travel for three weeks, especially during the off season, than it is to stay even at one of the less-expensive Disney Resorts or a New York City budget hotel for a week. Thats not to say these arent terrific destinations theyre just different types of trips. And at this point in our lives, we would rather see the wide world than the wide world of Disney. Advertisement Our Southeast Asian destinations offered us far more bang for our baht. For example, we spent four nights at a comfortable spa outside Chiang Mai, Thailand, for $15 a night. We found it through Agoda, a popular online booking site in Asia. In Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, we spent $20 to $50 a night for a clean air-conditioned room with a private bathroom, and that usually included breakfast. In Ubud, Bali, in the off season, we found a beautiful room with a pool for $30 a night. Other places in Indonesia were less expensive. in Sumatra, we spent $11 for a room overlooking Lake Toba, a freshwater lake in the caldera of a supervolcano. At this Beijing hotel, guests learn the art of shadow puppetry Food is one of the many pleasures of traveling in this region. We ate at basic restaurants, where we enjoyed noodles such as mie goreng or rice dishes such as khao man gai for about a dollar. Advertisement Although language was occasionally an issue, eating well was not. Smaller places typically sell only a few items, so pointing is easy, and larger restaurants often have photo-driven menus. We always looked for crowds and then joined them, knowing that was a promising sign. I never got sick from street food but I did after a buffet in a fancy Ho Chi Minh City hotel. (We travel with antibiotics.) We dine well and safely for about $10 a night for two and frequently less. Cultural events are usually reasonable. Some treasures are pricey (Angkor Wat in Cambodia costs about $40 a person for a one-day admission), but a night of Khmer dance from Cambodian Living Arts, an organization dedicated to reviving dance, cost $15 per person. Admission to the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City was less than $2. Phu Quoc is now a global destination. Is that a good thing? Traveling is a luxury but in many places in Southeast Asia its an affordable luxury. Were already saving for our next trip. Advertisement travel@latimes.com @latimestravel Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) on Thursday followed fellow Democratic presidential contender Senator Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) in calling for the government to pay reparations to African Americans to atone for slavery and subsequent discrimination. Warrens campaign told the New York Times that she does support some form of government reparations for the descendants of slaves, but did not specify what policy she we would pursue if elected in 2020. Warrens support for reparations came after Harris came out in support of the idea during a radio interview last week. We have to be honest that people in this country do not start from the same place or have access to the same opportunities, she said. Im serious about taking an approach that would change policies and structures and make real investments in black communities. Video: Warren Proposes Sweeping Universal Child Care Program For more news videos visit Yahoo View. Since angering much of the progressive-activist community last year by publicizing the results of her DNA test to substantiate her claim of Native American ancestry, Warren has prioritized racial equity in laying out her 2020 presidential platform. She has called for a special home-buying-assistance program that would help alleviate the effects of racial red-lining, a phenomenon in which African Americans are prevented from buying homes in certain neighborhoods. She has also presented a universal-child-care proposal that would create a network of government-backed child-care centers available to families making under 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Other prominent Democratic presidential contenders, including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, have not yet come out in support of reparations. Senator Bernie Sanders (D., Vt.) dismissed the idea of paying reparations to the descendants of slaves as impractical during his 2016 presidential run but has not weighed in on the issue since. More from National Review Miami (AFP) - US special representative Elliott Abrams departed the US on Friday for the Colombian city of Cucuta on a plane carrying American humanitarian aid for crisis-hit Venezuela. The US Air Force C-17 cargo plane left Homestead, south of Miami, and was to arrive in Cucuta later on Friday, a day before the deadline set by Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido for the entry of humanitarian assistance that President Nicolas Maduro is seeking to prohibit. Abrams told reporters at the military base the United States was sending medical supplies and enough food to feed 2,000 people for a month. "The humanitarian and the social-economic situation in Venezuela is very bad, there's a terrible need for food, for supplies, and the international community is responding," Abrams said. He reiterated the call for the Venezuelan military "not to block this desperately needed aid, aid that is needed by their own families in Venezuela." In Cucuta, Abrams will meet Colombian President Ivan Duque and his Chilean and Paraguayan counterparts, Sebastian Pinera and Mario Abdo. Since February 4, the US Agency for International Development has sent five aircraft carrying 191 metric tons of supplies, including medicine for 40,000 people for 90 days, medical equipment such as wheelchairs and crutches, and food. Maduro says the aid is a precursor for an American military intervention, while Guaido -- who has been recognized as acting president by more than 50 countries -- set a Saturday deadline for the aid to enter the country. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) More civilians were killed in Afghanistan last year than in any of the previous nine years of the increasingly bloody conflict, according to a U.N. report released Sunday, which blamed the spike in deaths on increased suicide bombings by the Islamic State group and stepped up aerial attacks by U.S.-led coalition forces. In its annual report, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said 3,804 civilians were killed last year, the highest number since the international organization began tallying figures in 2009. Another 7,189 were wounded. The report comes amid efforts to find a peaceful end to the 17-year war, which have accelerated since the appointment in September of U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who is to begin another round of talks with the Taliban on Monday in the Gulf state of Qatar, where they maintain a political office. U.N. envoy Tadamichi Yamamoto called the spiraling number of civilian casualties "deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable." Tens of thousands of Afghan civilians are displaced in their own country after fleeing fighting in their home provinces. Tens of thousands more have fled their homeland, seeking safety in neighboring countries and in Europe. According to the report, 63 percent of all civilian casualties were caused by insurgents, with the breakdown blaming the Taliban for 37 percent of the dead and wounded, the Islamic State group for 20 percent, and a collection of other anti-government groups for the remaining 6 percent. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi rejected the report blaming most of the deaths on "blind U.S. bombardments." The government and its U.S. and NATO allies were blamed for 24 percent of the dead and wounded civilians caught in the crossfire, many of them killed in stepped up aerial attacks, most of which are carried out by the U.S. and NATO, according to the U.N. The report said civilian casualties at the hands of Afghan and international forces were up significantly in 2018 compared to 2017. Story continues "For the first time since 2009 when it began systematically documenting civilian casualty figures, UNAMA recorded more than 1,000 civilian casualties from aerial operations," the report said. The U.S. military says it carried out 6,823 sorties last year in which munitions were fired the highest number in the last six years. Last year "witnessed the highest number of civilian casualties ever recorded from suicide attacks and aerial operations," according to the report. Since the U.N. began documenting civilian casualties 10 years ago, more than 32,000 civilians have been killed and another 60,000 wounded. "It is time to put an end to this human misery and tragedy," said Yamamoto. "The best way to halt the killings and maiming of civilians is to stop the fighting. That is why there is all the more need now to use all our efforts to bring about peace." The U.S. and the Taliban have openly embraced a strategy of talking while fighting, with the Taliban carrying out near-daily attacks on Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces. Afghan forces are battling the Taliban throughout the country with support from their U.S.-led coalition allies. The coalition and Afghanistan's security forces have also been pounding Islamic State positions, particularly in eastern Afghanistan, where the affiliate is based. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday said gaps remain in the ongoing trade talks between the United States and China, particularly around structural issues, but urged both sides to make a comprehensive deal as soon as possible. Officials for the nation's top business lobbying group, who said they had been engaged with those familiar with the talks, told reporters in a conference call that they also expected negotiations to continue past the March 1 deadline. U.S. and Chinese negotiators are meeting in Washington this week, seeking to hammer out a deal that would avert a scheduled increase in U.S. levies after that date, to 25 percent from 10 percent, on $200 billion worth of goods. "To us, the date is not magical. Whats important is to get a comprehensive sustainable agreement," said the Chamber's executive vice president and head of international affairs Myron Brilliant, noting he did not expect either side to impose more tariffs or increase existing ones as long as the talks continue to be constructive. Brilliant, whose group says it represents three million companies, said so far the trade war between the world's two largest economies has increased business costs with the impact of tariffs continuing to mount. "We want to go back to business, but not business as usual," Brilliant said, emphasizing that it was important any deal address the core U.S. concerns around Chinese business practices as well as ensure sustainable enforcement. President Donald Trump was scheduled to meet Beijing's Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House later on Friday. The two countries have been embroiled in a tit-for-tat tariff battle since the middle of 2018 that has cost both economies billions. The Republican president has said next week's deadline may slip. (Reporting by David Lawder and Makini Brice in Washington and Chris Prentice in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish) BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) handed over 20 foreign Islamic State fighters to Iraq last week, mostly French citizens, two Iraqi military sources said on Sunday. The foreign citizens were handed over to the Iraqi military on Thursday, in the first of two transfers of mostly Iraqi detainees, the sources said. The group includes up to 14 French citizens, a military source commanding troops near the Syrian border and close to the handover process told Reuters. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; writing by Raya Jalabi; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) As most of Southeast Asia rushes into the future new development is seemingly everywhere Laos continues to feel quiet, dreamy, old-fashioned. No place seems more so than southern Laos along the wide, slow Mekong River, where time seems to stand still. Youll see Khmer-era ruins, glittering gold Buddhist temples, crumbling French colonial mansions, myriad islands, and emerald rice paddies, and perhaps sample fish curry and coconut ice cream. I needed a break from living in hot, congested Ho Chi Minh City in neighboring Vietnam, so I spent a week during the Lunar New Year holiday in Laos. I was suffering from what a doctor had diagnosed as allergy to HCMC pollution. He said Laos would be just the ticket. (Lou Spirito For The Times) Advertisement It took about an hour to fly to the city of Pakxe, or Pakse, as its sometimes spelled, in Laos from HCMC and cost about $100 each way. At the Pakse airport, I was picked up by the River Resort, an enchanting small hotel on the banks of the Mekong River just north of Champasak town. My second-floor room had a wrap-around terrace overlooking the river, which is why I eagerly awakened for sunrise, a gorgeous, milky-pink affair reflected in the water. I also liked to watch the river from the resorts swimming pools and terrace restaurant. Actually, I liked to watch the river from almost anywhere. The River Resort also booked my two-night cruise on the handsome old Vat Phou, which took me sightseeing farther down the river toward the Four Thousand Islands, or Si Phan Don, at the Laos-Cambodia border. I joined about 20 other tourists, most of them French, German and American, installed in a snug wooden cabin with a window and private bath. Why Asia? Why now? Heres why, from a writer who now calls it home Together with five nights at the hotel (including two spa services, a sunset cruise and free use of bicycles) the trip cost about $2,000. Well worth it, Id say. Info: The River Resort; Mekong Cruises travel@latimes.com @latimestravel By Kham Nguyen and Angie Teo HANOI (Reuters) - A T-shirt bearing the face of one of the world's most infamous dictators would normally be a tough sell, one would think. But in summit-mad Hanoi, where streets are being spruced up and businesses from bars to barbers are cashing in on a summit next week between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, anything sells. "There's no need to talk about Trump as he's already a great man. Everybody knows that," said T-shirt designer Truong Thanh Duc. "But we should always encourage Kim Jong Un to give up his dictatorship for his people". "That's why I put his image on the T-shirt". Duc's shirts have attracted a curious crowd in Hanoi's Old Quarter, a bustling labyrinth of streets and market stalls popular with tourists. Duc said he had sold more than 300 of his special edition shirts, the profits of which he said would go towards buying baguettes - which are popular in the former French colony - to distribute to poor people. One of his shirts bears Kim's face, enlarged across the length of it. Another shows Trump and Kim together above the word "PEACE". "I really admire these two leaders," said Duc. "One is the leader of the most technologically advanced country in the world and the other leader, although a bit extreme, has realized his people are too poor and he wants his nation to develop". Across the Vietnamese capital, preparations are well underway for the Feb. 27-28 summit. Parts of the city close to the expected venues have been tidied up or repainted. One Hanoi barber is offering free Trump- or Kim-style haircuts, and bars are selling drinks named "Peace Negroniations" and "Kim Jong Ale". Duc is hopeful the summit can help promote reform. "Kim Jong Un is a dictator but now he has changed," said Duc. "He has to give up that status to shake hands with the developed world". (Reporting by Kham Nguyen and Angie Teo; Additional reporting by Mai Nguyen; Writing by James Pearson; Editing by Robert Birsel) By Jeff Mason and David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would delay an increase in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods scheduled for later this week thanks to progress in trade talks and said if progress continued, he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would seal a deal. Trump had planned to increase tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports into the United States if a deal were not reached by Friday between the world's two largest economies. The president said in a tweet that progress had been made on a host of divisive areas including intellectual property protection, technology transfers, agriculture, services and currency. As a result of the talks, he said: "I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. & China!" Mar-a-Lago is the president's property in Florida, where the two men have met before. The delay in tariffs was the clearest sign yet of a breakthrough the two sides have sought since calling a 90-day truce in a trade war last year. It will likely be cheered by markets as a sign of an end to the dispute that has disrupted commerce worth hundreds of billions of dollars of goods and slowed global economic growth. During talks that extended into the weekend, U.S. and Chinese negotiators were discussing on Sunday the thorny issue of how to enforce a potential trade deal after making progress on other structural issues, according to a source familiar with the talks. The two sides were discussing tariffs on Sunday as well as commodities, the source said. U.S. officials said on Friday that talks would extend into the weekend after negotiators produced a deal on currency during talks last week. Negotiators were seeking to iron out differences on changes to China's treatment of state-owned enterprises, subsidies, forced technology transfers and cyber theft. Story continues The two sides have been negotiating an enforcement mechanism. Washington wants a strong mechanism to ensure that Chinese reform commitments were followed through to completion, while Beijing insisted on what it called a "fair and objective" process. Another source briefed on the talks said that enforcement remained a major sticking point as of Saturday. Trump said on Friday there was a "good chance" a deal would emerge, and foreshadowed that he might extend the March 1 deadline and move forward with a meeting with Xi. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and David Lawder; Additional reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh and Howard Schneider; Editing by Peter Cooney) Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump said Friday he is nominating Kelly Craft, his envoy to Canada, to be the next US ambassador to the United Nations. "Kelly has done an outstanding job representing our Nation and I have no doubt that, under her leadership, our Country will be represented at the highest level," Trump said in a pair of tweets announcing his pick. If confirmed by the US Senate, she would fill the post that has been vacant since Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and rising star in the Republican Party who stepped down from the UN job late last year. Craft was nominated one week after Trump's previous choice, former Fox News anchor and State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, withdrew from consideration amid criticism that she lacked the experience for one of the top diplomatic posts. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered quick praise for the nominee. "Ambassador Craft has been an outstanding advocate for America's national security and economic interests in Canada and she is extremely well-qualified to do the same at the United Nations," he said in a statement. Craft was a major supporter of George W. Bush, who as president appointed her to serve as a US delegate to the United Nations, representing Washington at UN meetings. The businesswoman from Kentucky, believed to be 56-years-old, has been a major Republican donor. She raised eyebrows in 2017 as the new US ambassador in Ottawa -- and the first woman in that post -- when she said she believes "both sides" of climate science. "I think that both sides have their own results, from their studies, and I appreciate and I respect both sides of the science," Craft told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She is married to Joe Craft, who is president of Alliance Resource Partners, which describes itself as the second largest coal producer in the eastern United States. Joe Craft was worth an estimated $1.4 billion in 2012, according to Forbes magazine. Open Secrets, a non-profit group that tracks money in politics, says Craft donated $1 million to Trump's 2017 inauguration fund. He also donated $371,100 to candidates, all Republicans, during the 2018 election cycle, the organization said. Daniel R. DePetris Security, Asia For the first time since former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright jetted to Pyongyang to meet Kim Jong-il 18 years ago, there is a chance - however slim - for the United States and North Korea to establish a relationship that is categorized as something other than hostile and adversarial. We should give the administration the freedom to prove many of us wrong. Give Trump a Chance on North Korea With every passing day that ticks off the calendar, the world is that much closer to a summit in Hanoi, Vietnam that could determine whether the eight months of diplomacy between the United States and North Korea have a shot at success. If the first Donald Trump-Kim Jong-un meeting in Singapore last June was an attempt to break the ice and establish a personal relationship, this weeks sequel in Vietnam will be an opportunity for both men to use their new ties to accomplish something magical: a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula and North Koreas denuclearization. Thats the optimistic version. The pessimistic - and far more popular - version of the story is that the Hanoi summit will be a complete waste of time, full of meaningless photo-ops, empty gestures, and rosy talk with no actual substance attached. Washington, DC, a town chock full of North Korea hawks from institutions on the left and right, are almost assuming failure. The conventional wisdom goes something like this: Kim Jong-un is nothing more than a technologically-literate iteration of his father and grandfather. He is crafty and manipulative and has decided to use the allure of diplomacy over the past 12 months as a tool to soften Washingtons demands for complete, immediate, and verified denuclearization without actually having any intention of giving up those capabilities. Trump, eager to sell a foreign policy success in order to distract from his legal and political problems back home, will be played like a fiddle when he sits down with the North Korean leader. And the Vietnam summit, like the one in Singapore, will be all optics and no deliverables. Story continues Even Trumps own national security aides are doubting the presidents ability to negotiate. National Security Adviser John Bolton has never been supportive of talks with the North Koreans and views any concessions from the United States as Neville Chamberlain-like appeasement. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has met with senior North Korean officials in Pyongyang, Washington, and New York for close to a year, is reportedly worried that his boss will get outplayed and outmaneuvered by Kim. The U.S. intelligence community, trained to be skeptical and cautious on any issue touching North Korea, doesnt see a whole lot of evidence that Pyongyang is interested in dealing. As Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testified publicly to the Senate Intelligence Committee last month, we currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its WMD capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival. The decks are stacked against success, a byproduct of twenty-five years of one-and-off diplomacy with Pyongyang that doesnt seem to produce much beyond frayed nerves and bad feelings. Some of the conventional wisdom is accurate. The abiding pessimism meandering over Washington is not necessarily wrong. This is, after all, North Korea. Nothing will be smooth. There will be very hard bargaining at the table and some screaming matches between U.S. and North Korean negotiators. Its highly likely that some negotiating sessions will be cancelled in the heat of the moment or if positions become irreconcilable. The Kim regime will demand respect and reciprocity at every step in this process. If Washington starts dictating to the North Koreans or demanding concessions up front in order to prove their sincerity, the North Koreans will become upset and start upping the ante with their own. As former U.S. negotiator and senior State Department intelligence official Robert Carlin has observed, [p]reconditions are, to the North Koreans, a way of bullying them, of seeming to put them on a leash even before negotiations begin. The only precondition Pyongyang will accept is that there will be no preconditions, period. But President Trump and his special envoy, Stephen Biegun, deserve the time and space to negotiate with this most hardened of U.S. adversaries. Those expecting major nuclear concessions from the North or for this entire process to reach a successful conclusion after only a few high-level meetings are either operating in their own universe or are deliberately hoping for diplomacy to fail. It could very well be that Hanoi is a dud, the denuclearization train has left the station, and the peace declaration everyone is talking about is shelved for a later date. Lord knows previous negotiations with the Kim regime have died slow and painful deaths. And yet despite the history, there is also a chance the summit will produce forward momentum for more white-knuckled discussions in the future. For all his faults, Donald Trump is eager to be the U.S. president who officially ends the Korean War and introduces a stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. Whereas his predecessors put space between themselves and the North Koreans during past negotiations, Trump has chosen to dive into it. The president is personally invested in this process, which suggests he is that much more invested in a successful conclusion. There will be carping from the sidelines about whether Trump is too willing to make a deal with Kim. Those in Washington who are unable to break through the glass case of conventionality and are used to nothing but policy failure over the last quarter-century will be unhappy regardless of what Trump pockets. But for the first time since former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright jetted to Pyongyang to meet Kim Jong-il 18 years ago, there is a chance - however slim - for the United States and North Korea to establish a relationship that is categorized as something other than hostile and adversarial. We should give the administration the freedom to prove many of us wrong. Daniel DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities, a foreign policy organization focused on promoting a realistic grand strategy to ensure American security and prosperity. Image: Reuters. Read full article WASHINGTON (AP) The United States will continue to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro until he understands his days are "numbered," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday. Pompeo's comments came the day after clashes between activists trying to deliver U.S-backed humanitarian aid into Venezuela and troops loyal to Maduro. Two people were killed in a clash on the Brazilian border and some 300 injured in other violent clashes near Colombia. Pompeo tells "Fox News Sunday" and CNN's "State of the Union" that the Trump administration will continue to support opposition leader Juan Guaido. Pompeo declined to rule out U.S. military force as an option, but he added, "There's more sanctions to be had, there's more humanitarian assistance I think that we can provide." Maduro has blocked such aid at the border and resisted calls to step aside and let Guaido take power. Pompeo says the U.S. will seek "other ways" to get food aid to Venezuelans. Vice President Mike Pence travels to Bogota, Colombia, on Monday for an emergency meeting on Venezuela with foreign ministers from more than a dozen, mostly conservative Latin American and Caribbean states. Guaido said on Saturday he would meet with Pence in Bogota. Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli police arrested and later released a top Palestinian Muslim official in Jerusalem on Sunday after scuffles at a flashpoint holy site in the city in recent days. The arrest drew condemnation from Jordan, the custodian of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the disputed city. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Abdel Azeem Salhab had been arrested for violating an order preventing entry into a prohibited area of the holy site. Salhab is the head of the council of the Waqf in Jerusalem, the religious authority that governs the site. Official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that his deputy Najih Bakira had also been arrested, but police had not confirmed it. Both men were seen by an AFP photographer late Sunday afternoon leaving a police compound in Jerusalem. A lawyer for the two men, Mohammed Mahmud, said they had been barred from Al-Aqsa for seven days. Police had not commented. The Waqf condemned the arrests in a statement, calling the police actions "dangerous". The arrests followed the detention of 60 others overnight Thursday to Friday as police said they were responding to calls for unrest at the holy site surrounding Friday prayers there. Some have since been released with an order not to visit the holy site. - 'Playing with fire' - The site is the third-holiest in Islam and a focus of Palestinian aspirations for statehood. It is also the location of Judaism's most holy spot, revered as the site of the two biblical-era Jewish temples. Jews refer to it as the Temple Mount. It is a frequent scene of conflict between the two sides. Muslim worshippers' access to Al-Aqsa and the adjoining Dome of the Rock is controlled by Israeli security forces. A statement from Jordan's religious affairs minister, Abdul Nasser Abu al-Basal, said the arrests were akin to "playing with fire". Jordan's foreign ministry also said it delivered an official protest to Israel. Story continues There have been scuffles at the holy site recently over Israeli authorities' padlocking of a door leading to a side building in the compound, known as the Golden Gate or Gate of Mercy in Arabic. Access was closed by an Israeli court order in 2003 during the second Palestinian intifada over alleged militant activity there, police say, but Waqf officials have argued that the organisation that prompted the ban no longer exists. The Waqf council, which has undergone recent membership changes, has been more assertive in challenging such decisions, said Ofer Zalzberg, senior analyst for the International Crisis Group. Worshippers prayed in front of the building recently, and on Friday crowds entered and prayed inside in defiance of the court ban. Zalzberg said it seemed there were high-level contacts between Jordan and Israel to resolve the dispute, but Israeli electoral politics could interfere ahead of April 9 polls. "On the positive side, we are seeing both governments taking this seriously," he told AFP. "If this becomes an Israeli electoral issue, it will be hard for the Israeli government to act with moderation." The religious site is located in east Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community. kt-ag-cmr-jlr/mjs/dco I enjoy writing about horse racing most of the time, and then there is today. Santa Anita suffered three horse fatalities over a 16-hour period, including the death of Battle of Midway, a top flight, Grade 1 winning horse that just picked up a win in the San Pasqual. On Friday, Hot American broke down leaving the backstretch in a 1 1/8-mile turf race. On Saturday morning, Battle of Midway suffered a fracture of his hind pastern during a timed workout. Just Forget It, an unraced 4-year-old gelding, was also vanned off and euthanized after a training breakdown. The incidents occurred at different places on the track. Santa Anita has a problem this racing season. More horses are dying than last year. Thats not to say the track is to blame, in fact, I can say with 100% certainty that Santa Anita, and every other track, feels its share of pain when a horse goes down. Its the part of the business that everyone hates. I was actually doing some research for a story for later this week on the increase of fatalities at Santa Anita, more than double, when I learned of the death of Battle of Midway. And, as I and others have said so many times, the death of a top-notch Grade 1 winner such as Battle of Midway is no more or less tragic than the deaths of Hot American or Just Forget It, who also died during this span of a day. Santa Anita plans to bring in Mick Peterson , a track safety expert from the University of Kentucky to consult on this issue. The CHRB plans an emergency call with Santa Anita management on Sunday to discuss the problem. As Dr. Rick Arthur , equine director at both the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the California Horse Racing Board, said in a story I did for The Times web and print editions: One horse [dying] is too a large number, Arthur said. You can read the story here . Tim Ritvo , Stronach boss, also said the same thing about any horse loss is one too many. He also said nothing different has been done to the track but the weather has been a mitigating factor. He also mentioned the track has spent more money this year on maintaining the track. When you float [seal] the track, it makes it hard, Ritvo said. And then you have to train and race over it. The only other option is to not train or race and thats not a good option, either. Ritvo was quick to get back to The Times on this issue even though he was in Maryland. So, you know it is of major concern. And the CHRB has its share of concerns, as no doubt most other organizations that are touched by this issue have been. Its tough to get all these groups on the same page (and even impossible in the same room), but I cant think of any better issue to be pushing for a common goal than horse safety. We can all agree on that. Its doubtful it took away the sting of losing Battle of Midway in the morning, but trainer Jerry Hollendorfer won the Grade 2 $200,000 Buena Vista Stakes for older fillies and mares going a mile on the turf. The amazing Vasilika bided her time near the back, started to make a move on the far turn and motored down the center of the track to win by 1 lengths. It was a confident ride by Flavien Prat to allow her to win her 10 th race in her last 11 starts. By the three eighths pole, I could see we were making ground and probably would be able to catch the leader, Fahan Mura, Prat told Mike Willman of Santa Anita. I did have to ask her in the stretch, but as soon as I switched my stick to my left hand, she made a very nice move. I dont know if theres anything this horse cant do, if there is, we havent found out yet, Hollendorfer said. I thought going down the backside, Flavien had a good idea of how fast they were going, so he started moving a little earlier than he usually does, then she kicked in her last eighth like she always does and ran very well. If I could answer why she is so consistent and so special, I wouldnt have to work. Santa Anita has a nine-race card starting at 1 p.m. There are four turf races, one Cal-bred stakes race and two maiden specials. In other words, an OK but not great card. But, its a Sunday and, lets be honest, not a great weekend of racing nationally. Itll get better. The feature is the $100,000 Spring Fever Stakes for Cal-bred fillies and mares going six furlongs. Its a small field of five and should go about 4:55 p.m. as the penultimate race. Show It N Moe It is the even money favorite for trainer Gary Sherlock and jockey Rafael Bejarano . He is five-of-18 lifetime and won his last race, an allowance by 3 , in which he beat S Y Sky. He is four-of-10 at Santa Anita. The second favorite is S Y Sky for Phil DAmato and Joe Talamo . He won his last race on Jan. 26, an ungraded stakes at Santa Anita, where he has raced seven times, won four and finished second three times. Hes five-of-nine lifetime. In the only race on the card with more than seven entrants, let's try this 4-year-old colt from the Phil D'Amato barn as the abbreviated week closes out with $50,000 maiden claimers going one mile on turf (rails at 20 feet). He improved when switched to grass when running third to similar and has an improving pattern on numbers. Looks as good as any in an open contest. Needed the race when making first start at this oval on Feb. 1 while dropping down in distance and class. In that event 23 nights ago, the veteran mare drifted back steadily versus much quicker rivals and trailed the leader by almost 10 lengths in mid-backstretch. However, she did put together a solid run through the turn and down the lane before moving best of all past the wire and around the clubhouse turn. With that speed sharpening start out of the way, I'll gamble on this 10-time winner being closer to leader tonight while remaining the late threat with a good chance to return a nice payout. (No worries, Ed Burgart hasnt gone away, hes just on vacation. Chris Wade has been the racing analyst and host of the Los Alamitos night simulcast broadcast for nearly two decades. While Ed is on vacation, Chris also fills in as the nighttime morning-line maker.) Always looking to add more subscribers to this newsletter. Cant beat the price. If you like it, tell someone. If you dont like it, then youre probably not reading this. Either way, send to a friend and just have them click here and sign up . Remember, its free, and all we need is your email, nothing more. Santa Anita Charts Results for Saturday, February 23. Copyright 2019 by Equibase Company. Reproduction prohibited. Santa Anita, Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California. 36th day of a 61-day meet. Clear & Firm FIRST RACE. About 6 Furlongs Turf. Purse: $55,000. Maiden Special Weight. 4 year olds and up. Time 21.74 43.71 1:06.61 1:12.58 Pgm Horse Wt PP St Str Fin Jockey $1 5 Unbridled Ethos 124 5 5 3hd 31 21 1nk T Baze 11.20 3 Sir Eddie 124 3 2 4hd 4hd 1hd 22 Prat 2.00 4 Hit the Seam 124 4 4 21 1 3hd 31 Gutierrez 4.30 1 Atonarun 124 1 3 5 53 58 4 Van Dyke 5.10 6 Dubnation 119 6 1 1hd 21 4 516 Figueroa 1.70 2 Access Granted 124 2 6 6 6 6 6 Pereira 18.00 5 UNBRIDLED ETHOS 24.40 8.00 4.80 3 SIR EDDIE 3.20 2.40 4 HIT THE SEAM 3.20 $2 ROULETTE (GREEN) $9.80 $1 EXACTA (5-3) $31.40 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (5-3-4-1) $20.48 50-CENT TRIFECTA (5-3-4) $49.45 WinnerUnbridled Ethos Grr.c.4 by Mizzen Mast out of Seoul Unbridled, by Unbridled's Song. Bred by Donald Valpredo (CA). Trainer: Jeff Mullins. Owner: Donald J. Valpredo. Mutuel Pool $227,715 Roulette Pool $186 Exacta Pool $100,614 Superfecta Pool $36,281 Trifecta Pool $64,504. Scratchednone. UNBRIDLED ETHOS stalked outside then three deep on the hill, was fanned five wide into the stretch, bid outside, drifted inward in midstretch and through the final furlong and gamely prevailed under left handed urging. SIR EDDIE stalked between horses then outside a rival leaving the hill, bid between foes in upper stretch, took a short lead, fought back inside the winner through the final furlong and continued gamely to the end. HIT THE SEAM had good early speed and dueled a bit off the rail then inside, drifted out on the dirt crossing, drifted in a bit between foes nearing midstretch and held third. ATONARUN stalked the pace a bit off the rail then briefly between foes, angled in midway on the hill, bid inside into the stretch and was outfinished. DUBNATION dueled outside a rival, was fanned four wide between foes into the stretch, was in tight off heels in midstretch, came out some and weakened late. ACCESS GRANTED broke a bit slowly, pulled his way along inside and was shuffled back in a bit tight midway on the hill, came out leaving the hill and into the stretch and had little left for the drive. Rail on hill at zero. SECOND RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $36,000. Maiden Claiming. 3 year olds. Claiming Price $75,000. Time 22.12 44.95 57.33 1:10.25 Pgm Horse Wt PP St Str Fin Jockey $1 1 Platinum Nights 122 1 4 1hd 11 12 13 Smith 1.00 2 Bullion 117 2 3 24 28 28 27 Figueroa 9.10 4 Salah 122 4 2 5 32 35 38 Bejarano 11.50 3 River God 117 3 1 31 41 41 42 Espinoza 2.50 5 High Five 122 5 5 4 5 5 5 Franco 3.20 1 PLATINUM NIGHTS 4.00 2.60 2.10 2 BULLION 5.20 3.00 4 SALAH 2.80 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (5-1) $59.40 $1 EXACTA (1-2) $10.10 50-CENT TRIFECTA (1-2-4) $14.85 WinnerPlatinum Nights Grr.c.3 by Broken Vow out of Gerent, by Monarchos. Bred by Cherry Valley Farm, LLC. (KY). Trainer: Peter Eurton. Owner: Burns Racing, LLC, Exline-Border Racing, LLC, Hudock, Dan and Legan, Taylor. Mutuel Pool $229,698 Daily Double Pool $46,756 Exacta Pool $86,432 Trifecta Pool $71,372. Scratchednone. PLATINUM NIGHTS had good early speed and dueled inside, inched away on the turn, kicked clear and proved best under a moderate hand ride. BULLION sped to the early lead a bit off the rail, dueled outside the winner, stalked just off the inside leaving the turn and was clearly second best. SALAH chased off the rail then inside leaving the backstretch and on the turn, swung out leaving the turn and into the stretch was bested the others. RIVER GOD settled off the rail then outside a rival on the turn, had the rider lose the whip leaving the turn, came out into the stretch and weakened. HIGH FIVE broke in the air then bobbled in a slow start, settled outside a rival then off the rail on the turn, came a bit wide into the stretch and lacked a further response. THIRD RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $22,000. Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 4 year olds and up. Claiming Price $16,000. Time 22.10 45.22 57.42 1:10.50 Pgm Horse Wt PP St Str Fin Jockey $1 7 Come On Kat 124 7 1 11 12 16 16 Gryder 0.80 1 Pied N True 124 1 4 6hd 41 3 26 Flores 11.60 3 Magicalchic 124 3 2 51 6hd 52 3 Payeras 73.70 2 Rizzi's Honors 124 2 7 4 31 43 4 Rosario 4.10 4 Fracas 124 4 3 21 22 2hd 510 Maldonado 3.10 5 Mi Pajarito 124 5 6 3hd 51 62 66 Quinonez 9.10 6 Mama's Kid 117 6 5 7 7 7 7 Leon 39.30 7 COME ON KAT 3.60 2.80 2.40 1 PIED N TRUE 6.80 4.00 3 MAGICALCHIC 8.80 $2 ROULETTE (RED) $2.40 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (1-7) $7.60 $1 EXACTA (7-1) $11.20 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (7-1-3-2) $52.64 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (7-1-3-2-4) $7,920.60 50-CENT TRIFECTA (7-1-3) $74.25 WinnerCome On Kat Dbb.f.4 by Munnings out of Double Devils Food, by Devil His Due. Bred by David Purvis (KY). Trainer: Matthew Chew. Owner: Aulds, Chris, Johnston, Keith and Victor Racing. Mutuel Pool $258,350 Roulette Pool $683 Daily Double Pool $24,698 Exacta Pool $137,887 Superfecta Pool $68,452 Super High Five Pool $7,892 Trifecta Pool $101,967. ClaimedCome On Kat by Hat Trick Racing and Martin, John F. Trainer: John Martin. ClaimedPied N True by Matthew Chew. Trainer: Matthew Chew. Scratchednone. 50-Cent Pick Three (5-1-7) paid $43.75. Pick Three Pool $57,064. COME ON KAT had speed outside then inched away and set the pace a bit off the rail, continued inside leaving the backstretch and on the turn and drew off under some urging in the stretch then was under steady handling late. PIED N TRUE saved ground chasing the pace, came out leaving the turn and three deep into the stretch and bested the others. MAGICALCHIC stalked between horses, dropped back on the turn, angled to the inside entering the stretch, came out in midstretch and got up for third three deep on the line. RIZZI'S HONORS hopped slightly at the start, was between horse early then chased inside, came out into the stretch and was edged for the show between foes late. FRACAS had speed between rivals then stalked a bit off the rail, continued just off the fence in the stretch and was edged for a minor award late. MI PAJARITO bobbled at the start, was four wide early then stalked three deep to the stretch and gave way. MAMA'S KID pulled and steadied in tight early, chased outside, came three wide into the stretch and had little left for the drive. FOURTH RACE. About 6 Furlongs Turf. Purse: $57,000. Allowance Optional Claiming. 4 year olds and up. Claiming Price $40,000. Time 21.19 42.89 1:05.43 1:11.64 Pgm Horse Wt PP St Str Fin Jockey $1 1 What'sontheagenda 124 1 5 11 12 13 1 Delgadillo 3.10 8 Rumpus Cat 122 8 4 71 71 41 2 Rosario 2.40 3 Extrordinary Jerry 122 3 8 8 8 6 32 Bejarano 6.80 6 Castle 124 6 1 31 32 22 4ns Van Dyke 4.50 7 Passionate Reward 124 7 2 4hd 5 3hd 51 Prat 6.20 2 Acclimate 124 2 7 61 61 7hd 62 Pereira 9.80 4 Flip the Coin Jan 119 4 6 51 4hd 51 7nk Figueroa 19.10 5 Kiwi's Dream 124 5 3 2hd 2hd 8 8 Talamo 15.50 1 WHAT'SONTHEAGENDA 8.20 4.00 3.20 8 RUMPUS CAT 3.80 2.80 3 EXTRORDINARY JERRY 4.20 $2 ROULETTE (RED) $6.20 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (7-1) $14.20 $1 EXACTA (1-8) $13.30 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (1-8-3-6) $34.92 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (1-8-3-6-7) $534.60 50-CENT TRIFECTA (1-8-3) $40.15 WinnerWhat'sontheagenda Dbb.g.5 by Dialed In out of Open Agenda, by More Than Ready. Bred by Lantern Hill Farm LLC (KY). Trainer: Doug F. O'Neill. Owner: Beerman Family Trust and Sayjay Racing LLC. Mutuel Pool $480,863 Roulette Pool $658 Daily Double Pool $34,670 Exacta Pool $245,499 Superfecta Pool $92,736 Super High Five Pool $5,404 Trifecta Pool $155,774. Scratchednone. 50-Cent Pick Three (1-7-1) paid $9.80. Pick Three Pool $32,318. WHAT'SONTHEAGENDA went up inside to gain the lead, set the pace along the rail, kicked clear on the hill and held on gamely under left handed urging. RUMPUS CAT chased outside then alongside a rival, came four wide into the stretch and surged between foes late. EXTRORDINARY JERRY settled off the pace inside, came out on the dirt crossing and four wide into the stretch and also found his best stride late outside the top pair on the line. CASTLE had speed between foes then stalked outside a rival, continued a bit off the inside into the stretch and lacked a rally. PASSIONATE REWARD stalked outside a rival, came three wide into the stretch and could not offer the necessary response. ACCLIMATE pulled some and chased a bit off the rail, steadied in a bit tight between foes onto the dirt crossing, came out three wide into the stretch and also lacked the needed late kick. FLIP THE COIN JAN angled in and saved ground chasing the pace, cut the corner into the stretch, continued inside and did not rally. KIWI'S DREAM (AUS) had speed a bit off the rail then stalked just off the inside, angled in leaving the hill, came out some into the stretch and weakened. Rail on hill at zero. FIFTH RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $23,000. Maiden Claiming. 3 year olds. Claiming Price $30,000. Time 22.03 45.52 57.95 1:04.70 Pgm Horse Wt PP St 3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 4 Gran Martillo 124 4 5 31 21 1 11 Maldonado 1.30 3 Jack's a Diva 119 3 2 1 1 24 24 Figueroa 1.50 1 Golden Image 124 1 7 41 43 32 31 Payeras 29.40 6 Fright Night 124 6 8 8 6hd 5 42 Franco 8.10 2 Blue Skye Jade 124 2 6 51 51 62 51 Pereira 8.00 7 Temple View 124 7 3 6hd 71 75 62 Vergara, Jr. 30.90 5 Lu Cat 114 5 1 2hd 31 42 710 Velez 13.50 8 Tiz Me Now 117 8 4 7hd 8 8 8 Leon 53.50 4 GRAN MARTILLO 4.60 2.60 2.20 3 JACK'S A DIVA 2.60 2.40 1 GOLDEN IMAGE 4.60 $2 ROULETTE (RED) $4.40 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (1-4) $24.80 $1 EXACTA (4-3) $4.70 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (4-3-1-6) $33.62 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (4-3-1-6-2) $356.10 50-CENT TRIFECTA (4-3-1) $35.30 WinnerGran Martillo Dbb.g.3 by Macho Uno out of My Diamond Gal, by Concorde's Tune. Bred by Equus Farm (KY). Trainer: Paul G. Aguirre. Owner: Jeffrey Metcalfe. Mutuel Pool $322,759 Roulette Pool $722 Daily Double Pool $38,476 Exacta Pool $184,434 Superfecta Pool $91,989 Super High Five Pool $4,941 Trifecta Pool $133,508. ClaimedJack's a Diva by Hronis Racing LLC. Trainer: John Sadler. Scratchednone. 50-Cent Pick Three (7-1-4) paid $10.00. Pick Three Pool $61,922. 50-Cent Pick Four (1-7-1-4) 6144 tickets with 4 correct paid $27.35. Pick Four Pool $220,283. 50-Cent Pick Five (5-1-7-1-4) 922 tickets with 5 correct paid $536.00. Pick Five Pool $574,509. GRAN MARTILLO had speed between horses to duel for the lead, battled outside the runner-up on the turn and into the stretch, took a short lead in midstretch and gamely prevailed under left handed urging. JACK'S A DIVA angled in and dueled inside, fought back along the rail in the drive but could not quite match the winner late. GOLDEN IMAGE saved ground stalking the pace, came out leaving the turn and three deep into the stretch and bested the others. FRIGHT NIGHT broke a bit slowly and steadied briefly when crowded, chased outside or off the rail, continued three deep on the turn and into the stretch and lacked a rally. BLUE SKYE JADE sent between horses early, stalked a bit off the rail to the stretch, drifted in some in midstretch and did not rally. TEMPLE VIEW chased outside a rival then off the rail, angled in approaching the turn and weakened. LU CAT broke out a bit, pressed the pace t here deep then stalked off the rail on the turn, came three wide into the stretch and weakened. TIZ ME NOW chased three deep, angled in outside a rival into the turn, drifted to the inside in the stretch and gave way. SIXTH RACE. About 6 Furlongs Turf. Purse: $55,000. Maiden Special Weight. 3 year olds. Time 21.81 44.15 1:06.97 1:12.72 Pgm Horse Wt PP St Str Fin Jockey $1 3 Galloping Mischief 124 3 6 71 71 4 11 Prat 11.00 9 Alleva 124 9 1 1hd 1hd 11 2ns Bejarano 4.70 6 Mountain Spirit 124 6 4 3hd 4hd 2hd 32 Smith 0.70 2 Montana Moon 124 2 2 64 64 6hd 4 Desormeaux 15.00 5 Taos 124 5 7 21 21 31 51 Pereira 11.20 1 Whitehouse Road 124 1 9 9 9 82 6 Rosario 13.00 7 Volubile 124 7 5 5hd 3hd 5hd 74 Talamo 9.10 4 Lacazette 124 4 3 4 52 75 8 Franco 26.70 8 Caecilius 124 8 8 84 82 9 9 Pedroza 57.40 3 GALLOPING MISCHIEF 24.00 10.80 3.60 9 ALLEVA 5.00 3.00 6 MOUNTAIN SPIRIT 2.10 $2 ROULETTE (BLACK) $6.80 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (4-3) $66.60 $1 EXACTA (3-9) $59.40 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (3-9-6-2) $108.89 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (3-9-6-2-5) $2,705.70 50-CENT TRIFECTA (3-9-6) $59.70 WinnerGalloping Mischief B.g.3 by Into Mischief out of Ford Gallop, by Victory Gallop. Bred by Diamond A Racing Corp. (KY). Trainer: Richard E. Mandella. Owner: Diamond A Racing Corporation. Mutuel Pool $438,514 Roulette Pool $915 Daily Double Pool $46,896 Exacta Pool $240,376 Superfecta Pool $106,562 Super High Five Pool $3,548 Trifecta Pool $165,357. ScratchedWorthy to Stand. 50-Cent Pick Three (1-4-3) paid $45.40. Pick Three Pool $78,880. GALLOPING MISCHIEF settled a bit off the rail then outside a rival, came out four wide into the stretch and finished strongly under some urging and energetic handling to gain the lead in deep stretch and won clear. ALLEVA had good early speed and angled in, dueled inside, drifted out into the stretch, inched away in midstretch, drifted in under right handed urging in deep stretch, bumped with MOUNTAIN SPIRIT late and gamely edged that one. MOUNTAIN SPIRIT stalked a bit off the rail then inside, bid along the fence past midstretch, drifted out a bit and bumped with the runner-up in deep stretch and was edged for the place. MONTANA MOON chased a bit off the rail, swung out four wide into the stretch and continued willingly but was outfinished. TAOS dueled outside the runner-up, was fanned out some into the stretch and weakened in the final furlong. WHITEHOUSE ROAD broke in and a bit slowly, settled inside, came out leaving the hill and into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. VOLUBILE stalked three deep down the hill and into the stretch and also weakened in the final furlong. LACAZETTE close up stalking the pace between horses to the stretch, also weakened. CAECILIUS bobbled slightly at the start, chased just off the rail then inside down the hill and into the stretch and lacked a rally. The stewards conducted an inquiry into the late stretch run between the second and third finishers but made no change when they ruled both runners contributed to the contact between them. Rail on hill at zero. SEVENTH RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $22,000. Claiming. 4 year olds and up. Claiming Price $12,500. Time 21.67 45.10 57.78 1:04.63 Pgm Horse Wt PP St 3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 6 Jimmy the Juice 122 6 5 7hd 5 3hd 1 Franco 8.20 4 Croissant 124 4 7 6hd 41 2 21 Payeras 29.60 2 Papa Turf 122 2 4 21 22 43 3nk T Baze 7.20 1 Tough But Nice 124 1 8 1hd 1 11 4 Prat 2.20 8 Burn Me Twice 122 8 6 8 8 6hd 5 Pereira 5.10 7 Boy Howdy 122 7 2 4hd 71 7 61 Rosario 2.20 5 Bargaining 122 5 3 51 6hd 8 7 Figueroa 34.20 3 Market Sentiment 122 3 1 31 3hd 51 8 Gryder 7.60 6 JIMMY THE JUICE 18.40 8.00 5.80 4 CROISSANT 27.00 12.00 2 PAPA TURF 5.00 $2 ROULETTE (RED) $5.80 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (3-6) $276.20 $1 EXACTA (6-4) $156.80 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (6-4-2-1) $350.37 50-CENT TRIFECTA (6-4-2) $402.25 $1 X-5 SUPER HIGH FIVE (6-4-2-1-8) Carryover $3,669 WinnerJimmy the Juice Grr.g.6 by Speightstown out of Candy Jo, by Maria's Mon. Bred by Affirmed Investment Corp. (KY). Trainer: Reed Saldana. Owner: Johnny Taboada. Mutuel Pool $328,100 Roulette Pool $559 Daily Double Pool $34,311 Exacta Pool $166,343 Superfecta Pool $81,540 Trifecta Pool $124,108 X-5 Super High Five Pool $4,807. ClaimedTough But Nice by BG Stables and Palma, Hector O. Trainer: Hector Palma. Scratchednone. 50-Cent Pick Three (4-3-6) paid $92.40. Pick Three Pool $57,402. JIMMY THE JUICE chased outside a rival then between foes, angled to the inside entering the stretch, moved up under urging along the rail then steadied off heels in midstretch, came out and rallied between rivals late. CROISSANT stalked a bit off the rail then angled in on the turn, came out leaving the turn and three deep into the stretch, bid outside to gain a short lead in deep stretch but could not hold off the winner. PAPA TURF bobbled at the start, was sent between horses to duel for the lead, battled outside a rival into and on the turn, fell back some in midstretch then came on to edge that foe for the show. TOUGH BUT NICE had good early speed and dueled inside, inched away into the stretch, drifted in a bit in midstretch, fought back in deep stretch and was edged for third. BURN ME TWICE six wide early, settled off the rail, angled in on the turn, moved up toward the inside past midstretch, came out in deep stretch and finished willingly. BOY HOWDY had speed five wide then stalked outside, went four wide on the turn and into the stretch and was outfinished. BARGAINING stalked between horses then three deep on the turn and into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. MARKET SENTIMENT forced the pace three deep then stalked off the rail, continued outside a rival on the turn and three wide into the stretch and weakened. EIGHTH RACE. 1 Mile Turf. Purse: $200,000. 'Buena Vista Stakes'. Fillies and Mares. 4 year olds and up. Time 22.53 45.48 1:09.37 1:21.75 1:33.35 Pgm Horse Wt PP St Str Fin Jockey $1 9 Vasilika 124 8 4 71 72 61 3 11 Prat 0.80 10 Streak of Luck 120 9 7 82 83 83 5hd 21 T Baze 53.90 2 Ms Bad Behavior 120 2 2 21 21 2 1 3nk Smith 7.00 1 Take These Chains 120 1 6 32 3 31 41 4 Pereira 12.90 6 Amandine 120 5 8 61 61 71 81 5 Van Dyke 16.90 8 Elysea's World 122 7 9 9 9 9 9 6hd Rosario 4.80 7 English Dancer 120 6 5 5hd 5 5hd 71 7nk Desormeaux 50.50 5 Compelled 120 4 3 41 42 4 6hd 81 Talamo 27.20 4 Fahan Mura 122 3 1 12 15 14 21 9 Maldonado 5.70 9 VASILIKA 3.60 2.80 2.20 10 STREAK OF LUCK 18.80 6.80 2 MS BAD BEHAVIOR 3.80 $2 ROULETTE (RED) $2.60 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (6-9) $45.60 $1 EXACTA (9-10) $45.60 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (9-10-2-1) $130.44 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (9-10-2-1-6) $22,108.90 50-CENT TRIFECTA (9-10-2) $109.80 WinnerVasilika Ch.m.5 by Skipshot out of La Belle Marquet, by Marquetry. Bred by Mikhail Yanakov (KY). Trainer: Jerry Hollendorfer. Owner: All Schlaich Stables LLC, Hollendorfer, LLC, Gatto Racing, LLC and Todaro, G.. Mutuel Pool $669,744 Roulette Pool $590 Daily Double Pool $58,607 Exacta Pool $341,684 Superfecta Pool $162,119 Super High Five Pool $24,161 Trifecta Pool $236,389. ScratchedZaffinah (IRE). 50-Cent Pick Three (3-6-9) paid $113.00. Pick Three Pool $69,065. VASILIKA settled outside a rival chasing the pace, continued three deep on the second turn and four wide into the stretch, rallied under urging to the front in deep stretch and proved best. STREAK OF LUCK angled in and settled inside then a bit off the rail, came out leaving the second turn and five wide into the stretch and closed willingly. MS BAD BEHAVIOR stalked inside then just off the rail, bid outside the pacesetter to gain the lead in midstretch and just held third. TAKE THESE CHAINS (IRE) pulled inside then chased outside a rival or a bit off the inside, came three wide into the stretch and was edged for the show. AMANDINE (GB) angled in and saved ground chasing the pace, came out into the stretch and went on willingly with a late bid at a minor award. ELYSEA'S WORLD (IRE) a step slow to begin, angled in and raced unhurried along the inside, came out into the stretch and again in upper stretch and was outfinished. ENGLISH DANCER bobbled at the start, stalked outside a rival then between horses on the second turn and in the stretch and lacked the necessary late kick. COMPELLED angled in and saved ground chasing the pace, came a bit for room in the stretch, continued between horses in deep stretch and could not quite summon the needed response. FAHAN MURA sped to the early lead, angled in and set the pace inside, opened up on the backstretch and second turn, fought back in midstretch and weakened in the final furlong. NINTH RACE. 1 Mile. Purse: $28,000. Claiming. 4 year olds and up. Claiming Price $20,000. Time 23.03 46.43 1:11.60 1:24.84 1:37.68 Pgm Horse Wt PP St Str Fin Jockey $1 2 Kenzou's Rhythm 117 2 5 5hd 72 62 5hd 12 Figueroa 5.70 4 Curlin Road 122 4 6 63 52 52 3 21 Bejarano 1.70 7 Pioneerof the West 122 7 1 41 4hd 4hd 2hd 3hd Franco 7.10 5 Bedeviled 122 5 7 8 8 7hd 76 41 Rosario 5.90 1 Impression 122 1 3 22 21 2 41 5nk Pedroza 4.70 3 Holland Road 122 3 4 31 31 31 62 6 Gryder 16.90 8 Little Scotty 112 8 2 13 15 12 1hd 77 Velez 12.60 6 Clear the Mine 117 6 8 7 6hd 8 8 8 Espinoza 8.40 2 KENZOU'S RHYTHM 13.40 5.60 3.60 4 CURLIN ROAD 3.80 3.00 7 PIONEEROF THE WEST 4.20 $2 ROULETTE (BLACK) $4.40 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (9-2) $22.20 $1 EXACTA (2-4) $26.70 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (2-4-7-5) $49.89 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (2-4-7-5-1) $1,462.20 50-CENT TRIFECTA (2-4-7) $59.50 WinnerKenzou's Rhythm Dbb.g.5 by Algorithms out of American Queen, by Quiet American. Bred by Ann Fostock (KY). Trainer: William E. Morey. Owner: Gulliver Racing LLC, KM Racing Enterprises, Inc. and Morey, William E.. Mutuel Pool $328,967 Roulette Pool $568 Daily Double Pool $49,538 Exacta Pool $169,470 Superfecta Pool $81,963 Super High Five Pool $5,748 Trifecta Pool $125,762. ClaimedImpression by Acker, Tom, Brown, Rusty, Smith, Corey and Spawr, William. Trainer: William Spawr. Scratchednone. 50-Cent Pick Three (6-9-2) paid $63.95. Pick Three Pool $55,180. KENZOU'S RHYTHM steadied between foes early, angled in and chased inside, came out into the stretch, bid five wide under urging past the eighth pole to gain the lead and won clear. CURLIN ROAD chased outside a rival, came out four wide into the stretch, bid four wide in midstretch, put a head in front past the eighth pole and held second. PIONEEROF THE WEST three deep early, stalked outside a rival or just off the rail, came three wide into the stretch, bid between foes in midstretch and held third. BEDEVILED angled in and chased inside then a bit off the rail, came out into the stretch and was edged for the show. IMPRESSION sent inside early, saved ground stalking the pace, bid inside in the stretch and was outfinished. HOLLAND ROAD chased outside a rival or a bit off the fence, continued just off the rail in the stretch and could not summon the needed late kick. LITTLE SCOTTY bobbled at the start, had speed outside then kicked clear on the first turn, set the pace off the rail, was between foes in midstretch and weakened in the final furlong. CLEAR THE MINE broke slowly, settled outside a rival, came out into the stretch and lacked a further response. TENTH RACE. 1 1/8 Mile Turf. Purse: $57,000. Allowance Optional Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 4 year olds and up. Claiming Price $40,000. Time 23.04 46.97 1:11.81 1:36.29 1:47.05 Pgm Horse Wt PP St Str Fin Jockey $1 9 Mirth 122 9 1 61 6hd 61 32 1nk Prat 6.30 2 Stradella Road 124 2 5 3hd 2hd 21 2 21 Bejarano 4.20 4 Lady Mamba 122 4 10 11 12 11 11 31 Smith 10.60 3 Tammy's Window 124 3 9 101 10hd 11 7hd 41 Rosario 5.30 5 Sutro 119 5 6 8 81 91 9hd 5 Figueroa 17.00 10 Drift Away 124 10 8 4hd 51 5 5hd 6ns Atzeni 26.60 8 K P Pergoliscious 124 8 2 92 91 7hd 4hd 7 T Baze 1.60 1 Zusha 122 1 4 2hd 31 41 61 8 Pereira 54.20 6 Copper Fever 124 6 11 11 11 10 8 92 Talamo 65.40 7 Super Patriot 124 7 3 7hd 7hd 8hd 11 10 Van Dyke 13.20 11 Qafilah 124 11 7 53 4hd 3hd 10hd 11 Franco 23.30 9 MIRTH 14.60 6.80 5.20 2 STRADELLA ROAD 5.60 4.40 4 LADY MAMBA 8.20 $2 ROULETTE (BLACK) $3.40 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (2-9) $110.00 $1 EXACTA (9-2) $33.80 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (9-2-4-3) $150.55 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (9-2-4-3-5) Carryover $11,767 50-CENT TRIFECTA (9-2-4) $165.35 WinnerMirth Dbb.f.4 by Colonel John out of Di's Delight, by French Deputy. Bred by Barlar, LLC (PA). Trainer: Philip D'Amato. Owner: Little Red Feather Racing. Mutuel Pool $429,459 Roulette Pool $393 Daily Double Pool $103,936 Exacta Pool $230,709 Superfecta Pool $126,266 Super High Five Pool $15,417 Trifecta Pool $168,370. ClaimedTammy's Window by Hronis Racing LLC. Trainer: John Sadler. Scratchednone. 50-Cent Pick Three (9-2-9) paid $40.35. Pick Three Pool $193,775. 50-Cent Pick Four (6-3/9-2-9) 1160 tickets with 4 correct paid $448.85. Pick Four Pool $682,523. 50-Cent Pick Five (3-6-3/9-2-9) 92 tickets with 5 correct paid $4,658.80. Pick Five Pool $561,596. 20-Cent Pick Six Jackpot (4-3-6-3/9-2-9) 52 tickets with 6 correct paid $2,969.76. Pick Six Jackpot Pool $286,445. Pick Six Jackpot Carryover $382,001. MIRTH chased three deep, came four wide into the stretch, rallied under urging to gain the lead outside foes in deep stretch and gamely prevailed. STRADELLA ROAD stalked outside a rival, bid between horses past midstretch and continued willingly. LADY MAMBA had speed outside rivals then inched away and angled in, set the pace along the rail, fought back in deep stretch and held third. TAMMY'S WINDOW saved ground off the pace, came around a rival into the stretch, split horses in the drive and bested the others. SUTRO settled inside chasing the pace, came out a bit for room in the stretch, went between foes in deep stretch and could not quite summon the needed late kick. DRIFT AWAY three deep on the first turn, stalked off the rail then pulled some on the backstretch, went between foes on the second turn and into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. K P PERGOLISCIOUS (IRE) stalked off the rail then three deep, came out five wide into the stretch and could not offer the necessary response. ZUSHA bobbled at the start, saved ground stalking the pace and weakened. COPPER FEVER broke a bit slowly, settled outside a rival, came out on the second turn and six wide into the stretch and could not offer the needed late response. SUPER PATRIOT chased between horses, came out five wide into the stretch and did not rally. QAFILAH (IRE) bobbled and broke out a bit, pulled her way along four wide on the first turn, stalked outside a rival, continued three deep into the stretch and also weakened. TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Iran says an American detained last July is not being held on security-related charges. Michael White, 46, was arrested after traveling to Iran to visit a woman he met online. His family says he was arbitrarily detained. Iranian officials say he was detained in connection with a private complaint. Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Panahiazar told the semi-official ISNA news agency Saturday that "there is no security or espionage issue on the table." White is the first American to be detained in Iran since President Donald Trump took office. He worked as a cook in the U.S. Navy and left the service about a decade ago. Iran has detained a number of dual citizens from Western countries on security charges, using them as leverage in negotiations. Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Thousands of protesters in the Gaza Strip Sunday called on Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to resign after attempts to pressure his rival Hamas with financial cuts in the impoverished enclave. "Leave!" yelled crowds made up mainly of supporters of Hamas and Mohammed Dahlan, an Abbas rival expelled from the president's Fatah party and who now lives in exile. They called on the Palestinian Authority to pay the full salaries of public sector employees in Gaza, run by Islamist movement Hamas. Abbas, 83, has over the course of recent months reduced salaries in the Gaza Strip. Protesters demanded increased electricity supplies to the enclave, where residents receive power in around eight-hour intervals. They also demonstrated against Israel's more than decade-long blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel says the blockade is necessary to prevent Hamas, with whom it has fought three wars since 2008, from obtaining weapons or materials that could be used to make them. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 in a near civil war with Abbas's Fatah. Multiple reconciliation attempts aimed at restoring the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority to power in Gaza have failed. Separately in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, around 2,500 people demonstrated in support of Abbas in the city of Hebron. Abbas was in Egypt's Sharm El Sheikh on Sunday to attend a European Union-Arab League summit. He met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi while there, according to official Palestinian news agency WAFA. Abbas's term was meant to expire in 2009, but he has remained in office in the absence of elections. More than 100 years since it was last seen by humans, a species of giant tortoise has been found on the Galapagos island of Fernandina. According to the government of Ecuador , an adult female Chelonoidis phantasticus , more commonly known as the Fernandina Giant Tortoise, was spotted on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019. This species of tortoise was last seen alive in 1906. The International Union for Conservation of Nature had previously listed the turtle as critically endangered and possibly extinct. The tortoise is said to be in good health, but underweight. It is believed that she is about 100 years old. According to the Turtle Conservancy , shes about half to two-thirds the size of the only other Fernandina Giant Tortoise thats ever been found, a deceased male discovered 113 years ago. SEE ALSO: PETA criticized Google's Steve Irwin art and people are not happy The expedition brought park rangers and biologists across a three mile stretch of hardened lava flow, where experts believed the tortoise could possibly inhabit. Led by tortoise scat, the team uncovered a bedding site and found the giant tortoise buried deep under a pile of brush, sheltering itself from the sun. The giant tortoise has been relocated to the Fausto Llerena Tortoise Breeding Center on the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz. Theres possibly more good news as well. Based on findings of tortoise scat and track marks on Fernandina Island, theres hope that this specific animal isnt the only Fernandina Giant Tortoise living on the island. The Fernandina Giant Tortoise was located through a joint effort by the Galapagos National Park Directorate (GNPD) and the U.S.-based Galapagos Conservancys Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative (GTRI) . The search for the tortoise on Fernandina, the third largest of the Galapagos islands, was funded by Animal Planet for the series Extinct or Alive. The network says the episode documenting the whole expedition will premiere in summer 2019. Story continues Funding is already being pledged for future expeditions to find a mate for the female tortoise that could help conserve the critically endangered species. Gao (Mali) (AFP) - French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Sunday urged partners to stand with Paris in driving back jihadist violence in the Sahel. France, with troops on the ground in the region, is backing a 5,000-man joint mission among the five-nations in the G5 Sahel force on the frontline: Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad. "We require everyone's commitment to progress towards durable stabilisation. Nobody can boast of being able to do that without the backing of others," Philippe said, citing a Malian proverb at his troops' headquarters in Gao. He was speaking days after the African Union's peace and security chief Smail Chergui urged member states to tackle the root causes of extremism in the Sahel region. Chergui voiced disappointment at the difficulties in financing and equipping the force at a time when the future of the UN's MINUSMA mission in Mali is uncertain. Highlighting Mali's fragile security, two Malian troops and a civilian were wounded on Sunday when suicide bombers in vehicles attacked a military base near Bamako where European military trainers are based, local authorities said. Two assailants were killed in the attack on Koulikoro Training Centre some 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the capital, where the EUTM European training mission and Mali's officer training school is located, the Malian ministry for security and civil protection said in a statement. No Western trainers were wounded. The attackers, who were travelling in two cars, first attacked a checkpoint before guards at the camp returned fire forcing the assailants to detonate their explosives at the entrance of the military training centre, the ministry said. In Burkina Faso meanwhile, the military reported Sunday that they had killed 29 militants in a land and air operation in the east of the country last week. Special forces, army and air force units hit militants between Tuesday and Wednesday, recovering an important quantity of weapons, said an army statement. Story continues - 'As long as necessary' - The Islamist revolt in the Sahel took off after chaos engulfed Libya in 2011. Jihadist attacks erupted in northern Mali as Boko Haram emerged in the north of Nigeria. Large areas of Mali remain out of control, and the jihadists have gained ground in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, while Chad is battling unrest on its borders. France sent troops into Mali in 2013 to help drive back Islamist insurgents who took control of the north of the country. Since then its French-led Operation Barkhane anti-insurgency campaign has kept troops in the region. "It is the action of all, with Barkhane, alongside Malian forces, that will drive back jihadism," said Philippe, who arrived in Mali late Friday for a two-day visit. In an address to French, Malian, British and Estonian forces on Sunday, the French premier saluted their "remarkable and decisive" results, which included the recent killing of Djamel Okacha, a top jihadist leader accused of kidnapping Westerners in the Sahel. "Every day our enemies are suffering important losses, reducing their capacity to cause trouble," said Philippe, while conceding that the threat has not disappeared. On Saturday he said the 2,700 French forces in the region since 2014 "will remain as long as is necessary". While in Gao, Philippe, accompanied by French Defence Minister Florence Parly, visited a monument to 24 French soldiers who have died in Mali to date. The sprawling field of Democratic presidential hopefuls is on the move to places other than the traditional early voting states of Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has hopscotched from Puerto Rico to Georgia, where she met with rising Democratic star Stacey Abrams. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar stopped in rural Wisconsin after announcing her candidacy last week and spent Friday in Georgia, where she's meeting with Abrams and former President Jimmy Carter. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is concluding a two-day trip to Texas, where she toured a historically black college and an all-girls school. And former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro is touching down in Idaho and Utah next week. The flurry of activity shows how the 2020 field hopes to demonstrate appeal outside the four traditional early voting states and in parts of the country where Democrats have struggled. Polls show Democrats are eager for a candidate who can beat President Donald Trump, and some 2020 contenders hope to distinguish themselves from Hillary Clinton, whose 2016 campaign was criticized for not appealing to a wide enough swath of the country. "We're starting in Wisconsin because, as you remember, there wasn't a lot of campaigning in Wisconsin in 2016. With me, that changes," Klobuchar told reporters the day of her campaign launch, noting her mother grew up in the state. "I'm going to be there a lot." Josh Putnam, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington who tracks the presidential nominating process, said he expects more Democratic hopefuls to venture outside the familiar confines of early states, especially because a slew of states, including Texas and California, are scheduled to vote shortly after the initial four. "Over time we've seen a gradual nationalization of the process not as Iowa goes so goes everyone else, but as everyone else goes, so goes Iowa," Putnam said. Story continues Still, the political map will likely shrink as the early state primaries and caucuses loom larger later this year. "In the early days, you've got time to go to a lot of different states," said Bob Shrum, a veteran of numerous Democratic presidential campaigns. "As you get into the fall you spend more and more of your time in Iowa and New Hampshire." The 2020 Democrats are still making plenty of trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, but some are trying to emphasize the wider map. Castro was one of the earliest to announce. His first trip outside his home state of Texas was to Puerto Rico, a place filled with symbolism for the man trying to become the first Latino major party presidential nominee and for Democrats as a whole because of the Trump administration's widely criticized response to Hurricane Maria in 2017. Castro has since promised to travel to all 50 states. "More states than ever will be in play this year because it's going to be a more fractured race," Castro said in a phone interview Friday from Iowa before his western swing. "I'm going to, I believe, get a leg up in those states. Because people don't visit, it's smart to go in and make a great impression. I'm confident that's going to pay dividends when it's time for them to vote." Castro noted that he has a simpler itinerary than the bevy of senators who are running, who must spend their work weeks predominantly in Washington. But even those senators are branching out. Warren traveled to Puerto Rico last month and slammed Trump during a speech in San Juan. She held a rally in the Atlanta suburb of Lawrenceville last week and later had dinner with Abrams, who narrowly lost her bid for Georgia governor in November and delivered the party's rebuttal to Trump's State of the Union this year. She spoke to reporters after the rally about Democratic hopes that Georgia turns blue in 2020. "Georgia's like every place else in the country," Warren said. "This is a real question about what our values are and how we feel government should work. Washington's working great for the giant drug companies. It's not working for people in Georgia who are trying to get a prescription filled." On Friday, Klobuchar, too, was scheduled to meet with Abrams, as well as with Carter, and participate in a roundtable on voting rights. The state has moved toward Democrats as the population around Atlanta swells. Democrats picked up one House seat and 13 state legislative seats in November despite losing statewide races. Shrum said he wouldn't be surprised if candidates step up their early travel there. "Georgia is the state that could become blue sooner than the others," he said. Atlanta is already a staple on the Democratic fundraising circuit Klobuchar held one after her events Friday. Gillibrand held a fundraiser during her Texas trip, too, but she also made a point of stopping at two institutions vital to the Democratic base in another big southern state the party hopes to flip. She met with students at Paul Quinn College, a historically black college in Dallas, and the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in Austin, which educates grades 6-12. Gillibrand's aides said they hope the trip highlighted how the New York senator can win votes in Texas. ___ Associated Press writers Sara Burnett in Chicago and Elana Schor and Juana Summers in Washington contributed to this report. Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt) (AFP) - European and Arab leaders on Sunday opened their first summit in a bid to bolster cooperation as EU President Donald Tusk said neighbours "should not leave it to powers far from our region", alluding to China and Russia. Host Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi painted a "bleak" picture for a region hit by wars and terrorism as he appealed for deeper cooperation, in his opening summit speech at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. European Union countries view the summit as a way to protect their traditional diplomatic, economic and security interests while China and Russia move to fill a vacuum left by the United States. Tusk, the president of the European Council who organises summits for EU countries, acknowledged "there are differences between us" but said neighbours had more at stake than distant powers. "We need to cooperate and not leave it to global powers far from our region," the former Polish premier told leaders from about 40 countries. He did not name those powers but an EU source confirmed he meant China and Russia. China is increasing trade with the region and has established a military base in Djibouti. Russia militarily backs Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in his civil war. EU sources said the first EU-Arab summit is all the more important as the United States "disengages" from the region while Russia and China make inroads. "We don't want to see this vacuum soaked up by Russia and China," one of the sources told AFP. The summit in the southern Sinai desert is heavily guarded by Egyptian security forces who are fighting a bloody jihadist insurgency a short distance to the north. The presence of so many leaders shows "what brings together the two regions, Arab and European, exceeds immeasurably what divides them", Sisi told those gathered. - 'Mounting risks and challenges' - Sisi called for resolving the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict and settling more recent wars and conflicts in Libya, Yemen and Syria. Story continues "The picture is in fact bleak at present," said Sisi, who led the army's overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 following mass protests against the Islamist leader's rule. He called for Arab and EU economic cooperation and warned of "mounting risks and challenges" including terrorism and migration. "Has not the time come to agree on a comprehensive approach on combatting terrorism?" Sisi asked. Tusk issued an appeal for both Arabs and Europeans to "break the business model" of smugglers taking migrants to Europe. European leaders first mentioned the Arab summit in Austria in September amid efforts to agree ways to curb the illegal migration that has sharply divided the 28-nation bloc. But checking migration is just part of Europe's broader strategy to forge a new alliance with its southern neighbours. A UN official warned that Europe's failure to bridge divisions on migration "risks blocking all the other discussions" at the summit. The EU has struck aid-for-cooperation agreements with Turkey and Libya's UN-backed government in Tripoli, which has sharply cut the flow of migrants since a 2015 peak. But the UN official said broader cooperation with the Arab League, which includes Libya, is limited without the EU being able to speak in one voice. Marc Pierini, a former EU ambassador to Tunisia and Libya, said the Arabs are also grappling with divisions since the Arab Spring revolutions that spread across the region in 2011. British Prime Minister Theresa May held one-to-one talks with Tusk and was due to hold further bilateral meetings with EU leaders as she tries to break the stalemate at home over her divorce agreement with the EU. Most of the leaders of the 22-member Arab League attended, except for Assad, whose country was suspended from the League over the civil war, and Sudan's Omar al-Bashir, who is grappling with protests at home. Absent on the EU side were the leaders of France, Spain, Latvia and Lithuania. SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) Leaders from European Union and Arab League countries are holding their first-ever summit, meeting in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss migration, security and business deals. Under tight security on the Red Sea coast, the leaders are likely Sunday to commit to addressing conflicts in Syria and Yemen or stalled Middle East peace efforts, while papering over major differences about how to resolve them or who might be responsible. Amid this public display of unity, just drafting a summit statement has proved difficult. EU and Arab League foreign ministers failed to agree earlier this month on a text after Hungary objected to the section on migration. Europe's migration challenge is at the heart of the two-day meeting, being held under the slogan "Investing in Stability." Desperate to bring migrant arrivals under control, the EU offered the summit last October as a symbolic sweetener to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, much as they did with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2015. The EU wants el-Sissi to order the Egyptian coast guard to pick up migrants leaving Libya and take them back to the African mainland, ensuring they do not become Europe's responsibility. El-Sissi, in turn, receives high-profile European recognition, promotion for Sharm el-Sheikh, and is likely to avoid any lessons on human rights. While the number of people crossing the central Mediterranean has now dropped to a seven-year low, Europe's inability to agree on how to manage the arrivals has sparked a major political crisis, as nations bicker over who should take responsibility and whether other EU partners should help out. Some, like Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Hungary, claim that extremists are entering among the refugees. Just days before the summit, the head of the EU's border and coast guard agency praised the authorities in Cairo for preventing any migrant from setting out for Europe from the Egyptian coast since 2016. Story continues "There are no boats coming directly from Egypt to the European Union," Frontex director Fabrice Leggeri said. "The cooperation with Egypt is really encouraging and is developing." The EU routinely trumpets an agreement it reached with Erdogan for slowing migrant arrivals to a trickle in exchange for up to 6 billion euros ($7 billion) in aid for Syrian refugees there and other incentives. It has pledged to replicate the deal in northern Africa. Ahead of this inaugural summit, experts and European officials played down any expectation of major results. "The timing is very important because it comes after eight years of instability in the Mediterranean affecting Europe and the Middle East," Saeed Sadek, professor of political sociology at the Canadian University in Cairo told The Associated Press. "Both sides want to know how can we stabilize the area further, produce stability, how can we deal with the consequences and prevent any further escalations," said Sadek. "But the imbalance of power between the two sides may not produce the concrete results that people imagine." ___ Associated Press video reporter Ahmed Hatem contributed. By MSgt John Nimmo Sr. - http://www.defenseimagery.mil/imageRetrieve.action?guid=c6ba6d1d338715fdb236beafc645e628f21b7961&t=2, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26520019 Sebastien Roblin Security, Development and procurement of roughly 2,400 F-35s through 2037 is now estimated cost over $400 billion, roughly eight times the annual defense spending of Russia. The Crazy Story of How the Stealth F-35 Fighter Was Born In 2019, the first fully-combat capable of F-35 Lightning stealth fighters with Block IIIF software will finally enter servicetwenty-seven years after it was first conceived, and after over 350 aircraft have already been delivered. Just how did the F-35 go from being a glimmer in the eye of Pentagon bureaucrats to the most expensive weapon system in human history? In the 1980s, the Pentagon began looking ahead to replacing its formidable stable of fourth-generation fighters with stealth aircraft. The Air Forces Advanced Tactical Fighter competition would eventually yield a highly capable air-superiority stealth fighter, in the F-22 Raptor. But the Navy and Marines still wanted their own stealth jets, and the Air Force had a large fleet of single-engine F-16 multi-role fighters which the Raptor was too pricy and specialized to replace. Thus, in 1992 the Navy and Air Force combined their CALF and JAST programs into the Joint Strike Fighter program. Its goal was to devise a cheaper, single-engine attack-oriented stealth fighter, variants of which could be used by all three services to save on costs and which could be exported to U.S. allies across the globeunlike the F-22. Better yet, the JSF would incorporate cutting-edge digital and material technologies to improve efficiency. The requirement to use a common design for all three services, however, was the programs original sin. For example, the Navys C variant designed for carrier take-off-and landing would require larger wings for greater lift and ruggedized landing gear. More problematically, the Marine Corps insisted it needed a jump jet to replace its Harriers, which are capable of lifting off and landing vertically from the decks of smaller amphibious carriers or even primitive frontline bases. Story continues However, VTOL capability adds bulk to a fighter, and jump jets like the Harrier and Yak-38 were far inferior in speed, payload and range compared to conventional contemporaries. Unfortunately, the imperative to maintain commonality in the JSF meant even the non-jump jet versions of the JSF would share a chunky drag-inducing fuselage. Here, the F-35 origin story takes a bizarre detour to Yeltsin-era Russia. As the Soviet Union dissolved, the abruptly cash-starved manufacturer Yakovlev sought a partner to fund development of its fork-tailed Yak-141 jump jet which featured a separate lift fan and could attain supersonic speeds. In 1991, Lockheed acquired three Yak-141s and valuable test data from the Russian company for around $400 million. In 1996, the Pentagon awarded Boeing and Lockheed each $750 million to produce two prototypes which were test flown five years later. Boeings XF-32 was an infamously ugly, chunky delta-wing design which used vectored thrust by tilting the exhaust nozzles downward for vertical lift. Meanwhile, the X-35 used lift fans, like in the Yak-141, but in this case driven by a separate shaft, a more sophisticated and complicated solution. In 2001, the Air Force announced the more polished F-35 the winner of the JSF competition. The Defense Department secured development money from prospective operators, including Australia, Canada, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Turkey and the United Kingdom. F-35 partners received their own slice of the enormous component manufacturing and maintenance pie, integration of domestic missiles and other perks. However, designing a clean airframe was actually the easy partas the Pentagon planned to stuff the Lightning full of yet-to-be-developed cutting-edge technologies. One advance was to use modular panels with baked in radar-absorbent material for the F-35s skin, instead of having it laboriously applied before each flight. Other new tech included a helmet-mounted display system allowing pilots to see through the plane, upgradeable open-architecture missions computers, advanced defensive suites tied to a multi-sensor called the Distributed Aperture System, stealthy datalinks allowing an F-35 to network sensor data with friendly forces, and a discrete Low-Probability of Intercept APG-81 radar. Ground-side, F-35s would come with flight simulators instead of two-seat-trainers, and a logistics system for logging maintenance reports and procuring spare parts. Normally, its prudent to integrate new technologies into proven baseline systems. However, the Pentagon approved concurrent development of the F-35s avionics, software and airframe, meaning the baseline F-35 was constantly evolving. This resulted in cascading delays and cost overruns as the all-new technologies failed to integrate as easily as expected. The Lighting grew 2,000 pounds overweight, causing the aircraft to undershoot range specifications particularly for the F-35B jump jet model. This necessitated a slimmed redesign which may have contributed to structural flaws discovered in early-production F-35B aircraft. The Government Accountability Office began ringing the first alarm bells in 2006. By 2009, gigantic cost overruns attracted scrutiny from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who restructured the F-35 program and even contemplated canceling it. But the Lightning had grown too big to fail, having sucked money and development effort away from any possible alternative. Gates even cut production of the higher-end F-22 to just 180 aircraft out of the original planned 500. As the F-35 fell a half-decade behind schedule, the Pentagon had to invest additional money in extending the service life of older jets. Meanwhile, the Department of Testing and Evaluation kept on finding hundreds of bugs ranging from defective oxygen systems and misaligned cannons to unexpected computer shutdowns. Meanwhile, Canada canceled its F-35 order. The F-35 was only rated initial operation capable for Marine Corps service in 2015 and the Air Force in 2016, and then only by watering down requirements. Navy F-35Cs will only attain IOC in 2019. The low-rate initial production of the ostensibly affordable F-35 came out to over $200 million per planeand those aircraft lacked key features, effectively making them test beds to refine systems that would take many years more to develop. They will require expensive upgrades if they are ever to fly operationally. As for the vaunted cost-savings of operating three variants of the same plane? The three types share only 20% of their parts in common. In 2013, the F-35 also came under criticism for its limited range and inferior speed, service ceiling, maneuverability and internal weapons load compared to its predecessors. F-35 supporters contend that these deficits are less important than the Lightings stealth, and long-range sensors and missiles, which theoretically allow F-35 pilots to pick their fights and largely avoid dangerous short-range encounters. The debate over the F-35s effectiveness is further detailed in these earlier articles. Development and procurement of roughly 2,400 F-35s through 2037 is now estimated cost over $400 billion, roughly eight times the annual defense spending of Russia. Operating expenses through 2070 are estimated to cost an additional $1.1 trillion. However, though still dogged by defects, delays and low readiness rates, the F-35 program made notable progress in 2018. F-35A unit price was finally reduced to $89 million per plane, and Israeli F-35Is and Marine F-35Bs saw their debut in combat. Lightnings have dominated in air combat exercises. Belgium and Singapore recently decided to procure F-35s, and future potential clients include Greece, India, Poland, Romania and Spain. The F-35B jump jets will serve on Italian and British carriers and have even inspired Japan to resurrect its carrier-aviation branch. Love it or hate itand certainly its torturous development offers many lessons on practices best avoidedthe F-35 is here to stay. Thus, the low-observable jets success, or lack thereof, in fulfilling the Pentagons new paradigm of air warfare will remain closely scrutinized for decades to come. Sebastien Roblin holds a masters degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. He has also worked in education, editing, and refugee resettlement in France and the United States. He currently writes on security and military history for War Is Boring. Image: Wikimedia Read full article In a tragic 16-hour period, Santa Anita had three horses die while racing or training, including Battle of Midway, a star-crossed Breeders Cup winner who was pulled from the breeding shed to return to the track. The number of fatalities at Santa Anita has more than doubled from an equivalent time last year. According to track stewards minutes, which have only been released through Feb. 10, there have been 16 fatalities this racing season which began Dec. 26 compared to seven last year, the safest in 25 years. Those numbers do include non-exercise related deaths as they do for the previous year, although the majority occur on track. Santa Anita plans to bring in Mick Peterson, a University of Kentucky track safety expert, to consult on the recent number of fatalities. The California Horse Racing Board is planning an emergency call with Santa Anita management on Sunday to address this issue. One death is too many for sure, said Tim Ritvo, the chief operating officer of the Stronach Group, which owns Santa Anita, among other tracks. Were going to look at all the circumstances. Weather is a big factor. Were doing nothing different to the track. It doesnt matter if its Battle of Midway or a first-time starter, this is just such an unfortunate circumstance. Advertisement The 16 deaths reported this season do not include the three recent losses. On Friday, Hot American broke down leaving the backstretch in a 1 1/8-mile turf race. On Saturday morning, Battle of Midway suffered a fracture of his hind pastern during a timed workout. Just Forget It, an unraced 4-year-old gelding, was also vanned off and euthanized after a training breakdown. The incidents occurred at different places on the track. None of the jockeys suffered any serious injuries. Dr. Rick Arthur, equine director at both the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the California Horse Racing Board, says it is way too early to draw any conclusions. One horse [dying] is too a large number, Arthur said, echoing Ritvo. But to do an analysis of the numbers so far, its just not there. There are certainly more than the previous year. And they are doing a lot of turf races. But we havent compared it by starts on each surface. So, you cant make too many conclusions. Arthur also points to the bad, wet weather as something that is, if nothing else, a complication to this racing season. This year has been really tough, Ritvo said referring to the weather. When you float (seal) the track, it makes it hard. And then you have to train and race over it. The only other option is to not train or race and thats not a good option, either. There are also issues such as the amount of sand you have to add to a California track because of the climate that can make it a harder surface. According to the annual report of the California Horse Racing Board, racing fatalities have decreased 60% over the last 13 years, saying much of that decrease in the last year alone. Advertisement In the last fiscal year (July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018), Santa Anita had 44 horse fatalities over what is about seven months of racing. There were 10 during dirt racing and 10 on turf racing, 17 during dirt training and seven others, totaling 44. Last year, Santa Anita did not have its 16th fatality until the week that ended on March 15. The other category is mostly non-exercise induced, including illness or something unforeseen such as a horse hitting their head in a stall accident. Last year was an exceptionally safe year, Arthur said. [Statistically], it was going to be a tough year to beat. This year is not doing as well. Battle of Midway, a 6-year-old male, finished third in the Kentucky Derby and ended the year with a win in the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar. He was retired to stud but had trouble getting mares in foal and was returned to trainer Jerry Hollendorfer after the breeding season to resume his racing career. He had won three of his last four races including an upset of McKinzie in the San Pasqual on Feb. 2. Saturday was just a scheduled workout that is standard for horses in training. Advertisement Arthur said he, his team and the CHRB will be looking for commonalties in the deaths. Well study the necropsies and try and sort these things out, Arthur said. Well be looking at where the horses are in training, all sorts of things. But, with only two months, you cant make a conclusion on what is still a relatively small number. We will look at all commonalities and issues that are fixable. Saturdays 10-race card was concluded with no serious injuries or fatalities. JOHANNESBURG, Feb 23 (Reuters) - South Africa's largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), launched its manifesto for May's general elections on Saturday with pledges to create jobs and set up an anti-corruption unit. The DA faces a resurgent ruling African National Congress (ANC) under new President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has also vowed to root out graft and boost growth in Africa's most industrialised economy.. The ANC has comfortably won every parliamentary election since it swept to power under Nelson Mandela at the end of apartheid in 1994 and the DA has made ruling South Africa a long-term ambition. Still, corruption is perceived as a weakness for the ANC after years of rule by former President Jacob Zuma, who was removed from the presidency last year by the ANC after years of corruption probes. He denies any wrongdoing. "The South Africa I want to build will have no place for corruption and corrupt politicians," DA leader Mmusi Maimane told supporters at the party's manifesto launch in Johannesburg. He said his party would have "zero tolerance for corruption" and wanted to see corrupt politicians spend 15 years in jail. The DA, which has roots among white liberals from the anti-apartheid era, elected its first black leader in 2015 to widen its appeal among voters, and improved its national credentials by winning control of three major cities in 2016. Maimane also outlined manifesto pledges to create jobs by offering tax incentives to encourage new business and maximise the manufacturing, agriculture and tourism sectors to build the economy. "If we can put a job in every home we can transform our society," said Maimane The unemployment rate, which is at more than 27 percent, is a politically sensitive issue in South Africa especially ahead of national elections this year. (Writing by Tanisha Heiberg Editing by Helen Popper) Why Meghan Markle Wore Red During Her Royal Visit to Morocco [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Meghan Markle made a stylish statement in red while arriving in Morocco for her last royal visit before baby. With Prince Harry by her side, the pregnant duchess wore an embroidered Valentino cape dress in a bold crimson shade. And her elegant ensemble wasn't only for fashion's sake, either. It's believed that Meghan wore red to honor the Moroccan flag, and its bold background is meant to represent hardiness, bravery, strength, valor. We'd argue that Meghan herself shares some of the same qualities, so the color connection is completely fitting. The Duchess of Sussex toned down her outfit's bright hue with blush accents, including a clutch, heels, and gloves, which she held in her nude-manicured hands. Her beauty look was standard, with a polished updo, subtle smoky eyes, and a swipe of lip gloss. Harry and Meghan will spend three days in the North African country on behalf of the UK government. During their visit, the couple will take a trip to a boarding house for rural girls that ensures they have opportunities for education, as well as a series of other meetings centered around women's empowerment. The finale of season 16 sees the final five chefs leave Kentucky for three episodes in China. Season 16 of Top Chef has been a celebration of the Bluegrass State and Americas heartland, with its home base in Louisville, Kentucky and field trips to Lake Cumberland, Lexington, and even a quick jaunt to Nashville, Tennessee. The cheftestants have taken on Hot Browns, burgoo, and even tried their hand a creating their own KFC-inspired fried chicken. After this week's surprise return of Last Chance Kitchen winner Michelle Minori, the final elimination challenge in Kentucky whittled down the competition to Minori, Eric Adjepong, Sara Bradley, Kelsey Barnard Clark, and Adrienne Wright. But for these five lucky chefs who made it into the finals this season, a major surprise was in store: Theyd be battling it out for the title of Top Chef in Macau, China. The chefs will celebrate Chinese New Year at MGM Cotai in Macau, explore the produce and protein offerings at a local market, including a challenge involving the notoriously odoriferous durian fruit, and cook for a pantheon of culinary superstars. This seasons regular judges Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, Nilou Motamed, and Graham Elliot will be joined throughout the final three episodes by chef Mitsuharu Tsumura of the MGM Cotais Aji restaurant, chefs Jowett You, Abe Conlon, Alexander Smalls, Dan Hong, May Chow, and Alvin Leung, and Food & Wine Deputy Editor Melanie Hansche. Take a look at what's in store for the final five in Macau: How will the chefs adapt to new surroundings, unfamiliar ingredients, and the final few elimination challenges in Macau before we crown the winner of season 16? Tune in next starting week to find out. Season 16 of 'Top Chef airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. The 90-minute finale airs March 14 at the special time of 9:30 p.m. Find additional interviews, chef bios, and more at BravoTV.com/TopChef. Most visitors to Maui land at the airport in Kahului and head straight for the opposite sides of the island, but about four miles from Maui's Kahului airport is a small-town gem. The sleepy surf town of Paia, which might normally be a pass through en route to Mauis famed Hana, is an underappreciated enclave of mom-and-pop shops and boutiques, farm-to-table restaurants, and secluded beaches with views of both mountains and the waters of Hookipa, the windsurfing capital of the world. Paia is potentially the best-kept secret on the island. Related: How To Do Maui Like a Local Pai'a's History Paia was established in 1896 when the sugar industry began to change the landscape of the Hawaiian islands, and the Paia Sugar Mill needed a location to house workers. In 1946, the largest tsunami in Hawaiian history struck the islands, and Paia was forced to rebuild after extensive damage. The Sugar Mill continued to operate until 2000, when it discontinued production after more than 125 years. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Where to Eat While there is no shortage of island fare options in this quaint stopover, two Paia standouts include Paia Fish Market and Flatbread Company for their locally sourced ingredients. A cafeteria-like atmosphere with picnic table seating might dissuade passersby from Paia Fish Market, but dont be fooled there is a reason a crowd is waiting out front for their orders. The bright blue building on the corner of Hana Highway and Baldwin is owned by local restaurateurs Moonstar Greene and Yuri Soledade who only source their seafood from local fisherman to include in popular dishes like mahi burgers and fresh catch plates. Finding a time to visit Flatbread Company when the line isnt snaked around the block might be impossible, but the wood-fired clay-oven pizza is worth the wait. Flatbread has a symbiotic relationship with the farmers and producers of Maui, sourcing ingredients like beets, arugula, and various meats for pizzas directly from the community it serves. Story continues This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Where to Shop Brightly colored boutiques featuring a variety of both locally made goods and internationally sourced wares line Baldwin and the surrounding area, enticing shoppers to pick up everything from swimwear to homemade baskets and glass. Alice In Hulaland, where Willie Nelson and Steven Tyler have been known to show up to shop, pays tribute to Hawaiiana with branded hula shirts, totes, and gear for the whole family, while Sand & Sea offers handcrafted items made with local resources think jewelry made from abalone shells and ukuleles crafted from koa and mango wood. Art enthusiasts should seek out galleries: Maui Hands, By The Bay, and Maui Crafts Guild, where artists must be a resident of the island for at least 6 months before their work is considered. Windsurfing at Ho'okipa Beach Beaches to Visit Paia is surrounded by picturesque coastline with something for every visitor seeking a day of fun in the sun (in the shade of a beach umbrella). Baldwin Beach Park, just outside town, is a great place for watching waves and is quite popular with locals, who fish from the shoreline in the early morning for fresh catch from the deep waters offshore. A large stretch of sand makes this the perfect destination for long walks or to set up your towel for an entire afternoon. A lifeguard is on duty daily, and conditions are always updated on Hawaii Beach Safety. If arriving to Baldwin Beach Park later in the day, be sure to stick around for sunset. At the far end of Baldwin Beach Park sits a calm-watered cutout known to north shore Maui locals as Baby Beach. This beach is a perfect swim spot since its typically not too crowded and is great for kids and beginner swimmers. Hookipa Beach Park, five minutes northeast of town, is known as the windsurfing capital of the world. On any given day, windsurfers can be seen commandeering the water with brightly colored sailboards. Watching the surf break takes precedence here, and swimming in the rip currents (made stronger by the winds that blow through) is not advised, but visitors can wade in the surrounding tide pools to cool off. Keep an eye out for honu Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles who often pop up here to sunbathe. Be advised that touching or disturbing the sea turtles in any way is a violation of both state and federal law, so observe them from a distance. Maui Dharma Center Spiritual Connection The Maui Dharma Center, located off Baldwin Avenue about 5 minutes from the town center, seems to pop up from nowhere, and holds daily prayer sessions at 6:30 am and 5 pm that are open to visitors. The Center offers practice of Tibetan Buddhism in the Karma Kagyu and Shangpa Kagyu Vajrayana tradition, and English phonetics and translation are provided. If you cannot make the designated prayer times, visitors are welcome to walk through the 27-foot Stupa (the large white structure facing the street) to meditate while turning the prayer wheel inside clockwise. Pai'a Inn Where to Stay Travelers wishing to experience a stay in the heart of Paia should book the Paia Inn, a cozy boutique hotel situated right on Hana Highway as you enter town. Guests of the inn can easily step from their room to the beach or onto the sidewalks of town, and just downstairs is the inns cafe, a backyard patio that is open for all visitors to Paia from 8 am to 1 pm. Locally hailed for their brunch menu, avoid a wait for a table and make a reservation ahead of time on Open Table. Inn rates start at US $199/night for a full bed, but can reach $1,999/night for the 3-bedroom beach house (pictured) that sleeps 6. The Mangolani Inn, a 10-minute walk from Paias town center, is for travelers who prefer a stay off the beaten path. The Inns owner, Dave, offers three ocean-view options a four-bedroom upstairs house, an adjoining mango treehouse, and three studio units. Guests have access to a community kitchen, hammocks, and beach gear (chairs, towels and snorkel sets), making this hotel feel more like home. Prices begin at $250/night for a small studio, and a 5-night minimum stay is required for advanced bookings. Budget traveler options include the Aloha Surf Hostel, where rates begin at $42 for a dorm bed or $100 for a private room. Plan Your Visit Trying to squeeze Paia and Maui into an existing Hawaiian Islands trip? Island hopping is easy with daily flights on Hawaiian Airlines running seven days a week in and out of every major Hawaiian island airport. Related: Fun Things to Do in Maui Pregnant Jessica Simpson Says She Swears By This Product for Her Bloated Face Every expectant mama learns that swelling is an unavoidable part of pregnancy. Jessica Simpson knows this, and she just revealed exactly how she deals. In a recent Instagram video, Simpson, who's currently carrying baby number three, explained that her face has been feeling swollen lately. She was searching for a product that would relieve her facial bloat by tightening her skin, and thanks to her partnership with Teami, she found what she was looking for. The brand's Green Tea Detox Mask ($30; teamiblends.com) gets the job done, she said. "Its gentle on my skin, pulls out my blackheads (AMAZING), and leaves my skin soft and tight," she wrote in her caption. RELATED: Expectant Mom Jessica Simpson Breaks the Toilet Seat: 'Don't Lean Back When Pregnant' This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. We asked dermatologists what they think of the claim that a mask banishes bloating. Debra Jaliman, MD, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, tells Health: "This mask does have very good ingredients, and the properties could help with swelling," she says. "The matcha in this mask is rich in vitamin E, which can help with circulation... Matcha also has anti-inflammatory properties." Dr. Jaliman says lemongrass is another standout ingredient in the mask. "Its antiseptic properties make lemongrass perfect for getting even, glowing skin," she adds. RELATED: This Anti-Aging Gold Face Mask Will Give You Clearer Skin After Just One Application However, New York-based Rachel Nazarian, MD, a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology, tells Health that although the mask does have those properties, "a mild decrease in skin inflammation may cause a subtle decrease in puffiness, but it's unlikely to be dramatic." Dr. Nazarian adds that because swelling in pregnancy is typically due to hormonal changes and water retention, "a topical mask unfortunately cant make a major change with puffiness, but massaging the face can improve lymphatic drainage and decrease puffiness temporarily." Story continues Overall, both dermatologists gave the mask a thumbs-up, but they had mixed opinions about whether it could make a real difference in reducing swelling during pregnancy. Even though Dr. Nazarian was skeptical, she did say, "If it makes you feel more relaxed during pregnancy, then its worth the investment." RELATED: Jessica Simpson Shares a Sweet Photo of Her Kids Sick With the Flu Simpson also shared a trick she uses to de-bloat her face on super busy days. If she's in a hurry, she holds a mini fan in front of her face to speed up the drying process. That way she doesn't have to miss out on her mask just because she's pressed for time. Many of Simpson's followers thanked her for being so real throughout her pregnancy. "Girl, seriously...my pregnancies have been just like yours. Youre gorgeous," one user commented. Another chimed in with: "I love how authentic you are with your pregnancy. I gained 70 pounds and weighed 250 pounds when I had my son... You are beautiful!!" RELATED: 8 Unexpected Ways Your Body Might Change After You Have a Baby Tornadoes possible in South as major storm moves toward Midwest, Northeast originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Nearly 140 million Americans from the Rockies to the Northeast are under alert for dangerous weather this weekend due to a powerful storm taking shape in the central U.S. on Saturday. Dangers include a severe weather outbreak and flash flood threat across the South; near blizzard conditions from the Plains to the Upper Midwest; and strong, damaging winds from Texas to the Northeast. The complex system brought 3 to 4 feet of snow in Arizona and over 7 inches of rain in Alabama. As of early Saturday morning, Nashville, Tennessee, had recorded 11.5 inches of rain, making it the second-wettest February on record. PHOTO: At least 140 million Americans are under alert over the weekend. (ABC News) The storm system was bringing snow across the High Plains in New Mexico and Colorado on Saturday morning, as well as snow across parts of the Upper Midwest. High resolution forecast models are showing that locally 2 to 4 inches of rain could fall across parts of Tennessee and Mississippi during the morning hours of Saturday. The storm will intensify and organize Saturday as it quickly slides off to the east. While blizzard conditions will spread across the Plains and into parts of the Midwest, the greatest concern will be a developing severe weather outbreak in the South. Models show supercells developing sometime during the early afternoon hours across the Mississippi River Valley. Those supercells will head east, likely becoming quite intense during the early evening hours as they move into parts of northern Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. PHOTO: Severe storms are possible in the South, while snow will fall in the Upper Midwest on Saturday evening. (ABC News) There is a moderate risk for severe weather across northern Mississippi, southern Tennessee and western Alabama. In the moderate risk region there is the potential for dangerous tornadoes. Additionally, strong damaging winds will be likely across the entire region from Louisiana to Kentucky. Widespread wind damage is likely in this region. This region has already seen a very wet week and additional rainfall will exacerbate flooding in the region. Flash flooding and river flooding is likely across parts of the southern U.S. through the weekend. Story continues PHOTO: Strong tornadoes are possible in northern Mississippi and western Tennessee on Saturday. (ABC News) The storm will move into the Great Lakes and Northeast on Sunday with heavy rain heading for the Interstate 95 corridor, with some mixing for interior New England and some snow across Michigan and Wisconsin. However, as the storm rapidly intensifies, powerful winds will slide in behind it and spread across the Midwest and into parts of the Northeast. Wind gusts of 45 to 60 mph are possible on Sunday for a large part of the region. These wind gusts will be strong enough to cause power outages and down trees. These high winds will spread into the Northeast on Sunday evening. PHOTO: Snow is possible in the Upper Midwest through Sunday morning and the Northeast will see heavy rain. (ABC News) By Sunday night, the storm will have dumped locally 4 to 6 inches of rain across parts of the South and locally over 6 inches of snow across parts of the Midwest. This story was originally published in Spanish by Rolling Stone Colombias editors. Read the original Spanish version here. Update 2/23/18: The moment of music has long passed. It was nearing 7 a.m. on Saturday when the Colombian authorities were preparing to pass along humanitarian aid to Venezuela. The night before, however, Delcy Rodriguez, vice president of Venezuela, announced the closure of the Simon Bolivar, Union and Santander Bridges for serious and illegal threats attempted by the Government of Colombia against La Paz. By 8 a.m., members of the Bolivarian National Guard had already deserted; but Venezuelan soldiers, who prevented their passage to their country, guarded the same border. In Urena, one of the municipalities closest to the Colombian-Venezuelan border, there were protests and clashes between citizens who demanded the passage of humanitarian aid and the military that was preventing it. Colombian president Ivan Duque handed aid over to Juan Guaido, Venezuelas opposition leader, at a press conference, and Guaido said: We ask the Venezuelan military to stand on the right side and receive their brothers who are taking help to serve the people of Venezuela. Tractors loaded with supplies arrived at the Simon Bolivar Bridge, where hundreds of volunteers were prepared to pass humanitarian aid via human chain. During a demonstration in Caracas, Nicolas Maduro announced that he was breaking political and diplomatic relations with Colombia, giving all diplomatic personnel 24 hours to leave Venezuela. As the hours wore on, there were reports that at least 23 members of the Venezuelan military and police had defected at the borders. Convoys of trucks carrying food aid and medical supplies set off for Venezuela from border towns in Colombia and Brazil. Volunteers, protestors and opposition leaders were met with teargas and rubber bullets, and at least three aid trucks near the Colombian border were burned. Story continues CUCUTA, COLOMBIA 2/22/18 According to its website (where people can still donate), organizers of Fridays Venezuela Aid Live Concert sought to bring humanitarian aid across the border from Colombia to reach the most-affected Venezuelans, raise awareness of the situation in Venezuela and raise funds for a social development plan through which expatriates could return to their country. Reymar Perdomo opened the concert with Me Fui (I Left) a song that has become a hymn of sorts for Venezuelan expatriates, and with a video that went viral throughout Latin America. Perdomo is Venezuelan and has been living in Lima, Peru, playing and singing in buses. After the performance, Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Group and organizer of the festival, gave a speech in which he thanked the attendees for being in Cucuta to celebrate the lives of all Venezuelans. If we can take people into space, why is it so difficult to get people out of poverty? he said. People chanted: Richard, Richard, Richard! To hasten the change of artists on the stage, there was a revolving platform: As some musicians played on one side of the stage, instruments belonging to the following acts were simultaneously being mounted. Venezuelan singer Jose Luis Rodriguez, A.K.A. El Puma, came out and started with a very clear message. Thanks to dear Colombia and the United States, he said adding, Enough of left-wing dictatorships in Latin America! The political play was set from the start. He sang Agarrense las Manos (Hold Your Hands), with an instrumental backing track in lieu of a band. Reinaldo Armas, Cholo Valderrama and Jorge Glem ushered in a bit of llanera, a type of music from the Venezuelan countryside. Then came Jencarlos Canela with his hit Bajito (Short), while improvising verses that invited people to donate; then Venezuelan expat star Danny Ocean. Wearing a T-shirt that depicted Nelson Mandela eating an arepa, Ocean got the crowd to dance along with Dembow and his international hit, Me Rehuso (I Refuse). Later in the afternoon, the most anticipated names came out: Paulina Rubio brought her gritty pop-rock and Diego Torres sang, as would be expected, his iconic song Color Esperanza (Color of Hope). Silvestre Dangond got the party started all over again, and Maluma, accompanied only on guitar, followed amid overwhelming noise from fans. Miguel Bose, who was at the border 11 years ago for the Concert for Peace that Juanes organized, had the Tienditas Bridge brimming with emotion and tears. Then, Carlos Baute landed with Te Regalo (I Give You) and, obviously, Yo Me Quedo en Venezuela (I Stay in Venezuela). Luis Fonsi topped it off with Despacito, then Juan Luis Guerra flaunted his classic catalog with Ojala Que Llueva Cafe (I Hope It Rains Coffee). Fonseca sang Te Mando Flores/I Sent You Flowers, which (fittingly) gave way to Colombian star Carlos Vives. While there was a party on one side with attendees singing on the border between Venezuela and Brazil at the Tienditas Bridge in the Venezuelan state of Bolivar, two indigenous people died at the hands of the Bolivarian National Guard, according to the NGO Kape Kape. According to Semana magazine, they were trying to keep a road open to allow the entry of humanitarian aid when special forces broke in. In addition to the two deceased, there were also 15 injured. After 3 oclock in the afternoon, the Maduro-endorsed Hands Off Venezuela concert finally began. Mainly comprised of Venezuelan artists related to the government of Maduro such as Paul Gillman, who sang Resistire, while waving the flag of his country, as well as jazz group Skaracas it was also rumored that the band Grupo Niche refused to play in the concert. With regards to the musical production itself, Venezuela Aid Live left much to be desired due to technical difficulties, issues with instruments, the overuse of backing tracks and the crowd being excessively far from the stage. Sure, people enjoyed it and the most crucial goal of all was well beyond the experience of the show itself. If Branson wanted to put the eyes of the world on the border, he succeeded. Many international news agencies were reporting live from Cucuta, with journalists from all over Latin America in attendance, along with those from United States, Canada, Portugal and Spain. Anti-Maduro speeches by several of the artists sent a clear message that would surely annoy Roger Waters. It has yet to be seen if humanitarian aid will finally make it across the border. Every few months or so, former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon comes out of his dark lair to impart his genius takes on the status of the Trump administration and the political landscape. And the masses, including the media, are here to gobble it up. Bannon, like all villains who have been successful at achieving their evil goals, is fascinating even when he speaks the obvious. And that is what Bannon is here, in an interview with CBS News. Bannon told correspondent Seth Doane on Saturday, that the political rhetoric in the months ahead will not be polite to say the least: I think that 2019 is going to be the most vitriolic year in American politics since before the Civil War. And I include Vietnam in that. I think were in, I think were in for a very nasty 2019. Bannon added that before the president can look forward to the 2020 campaign, he has to get past the challenges hes facing now. I think the next 90 days to four months is going to be a real meat grinder I mean, the pressure on the president is coming from many different angles, he said. I think youve already seen it from what the Democrats, some of these reports theyve been dropping here without telling anybody. I think that now they control the House they can weaponize this, they could weaponize the Mueller report. Bannon said he thinks Trump will be definitely be primaried by both moderates and the left of the Republican party, but he added that those challenges will be mostly symbolic. After Californias landmark sanctuary state law limited police from collaborating with federal immigration agents, one legislator wants to prevent local government from doing business with companies that he says play a role in the Trump administrations deportation machine. Legislation introduced Friday by Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) would prohibit cities and counties across the state from entering into new contracts with any company that sells, mines or analyzes personal information for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Bonta said he plans to expand the bill to include all federal immigration agencies and move to bar the state from signing contracts with companies that do business with them. But he argues the proposal will still be narrow enough in scope to prevent only deals with companies that collect data, provide support to immigrant detention facilities or engage in so-called extreme vetting programs, such as enhanced pre-screening or background checks. It is a way to put our public dollars where our values are, Bonta said. It is a way of putting pressure on vendors. They can decide to change their behavior or lose our business. Advertisement The move could set off another clash with President Trump, who is already battling the state over its immigration policies and this month announced plans to cancel $929 million in grant funds for its high-speed rail project. Bontas legislation follows national protests to defund or abolish ICE, for which momentum began building last summer as the Trump administration sparked outcry over the separations of migrant families at the southern border with Mexico. Tech companies, including Microsoft and Salesforce, have faced mounting pressure to end their business with federal immigration agencies, and criticism over contracts that provide data processing powered by artificial intelligence, facial recognition technology and software to scrub data across social media platforms. California becomes sanctuary state in rebuke of Trump immigration policy Assembly Bill 1332, the Sanctuary State Contracting and Investment Act, would prevent cities and counties from signing new contracts, extending old ones or investing in the stocks, bonds or securities of companies that work with federal immigration agencies. It tasks the California Department of Justice with investigating violations, each of which could carry a civil penalty of up to $5,000. Some companies are unlikely to be affected because the legislation would allow waivers for local jurisdictions when there is no viable alternative to contracting with another business. That could include Microsoft, which dominates the market in providing city and county offices with computers and software, and Thomson-Reuters Westlaw, which provides research services for legal teams. But among the corporations that privacy advocates say is unlikely to qualify for an exemption is Vigilant Solutions, which granted ICE access to its national license plate reader database, according to a public contract. Law enforcement agencies that serve as its clients have since been flooded with what the company called an onslaught of information requests from privacy groups. Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), second from left, seeks to bar the state from signing contracts with companies that do business with federal immigration agencies. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Advertisement A fight simmers in the Bay Area over protecting the privacy of immigrants here illegally Another possible target is Silicon Valleys Palantir Technologies, which as of last year had one of ICEs most valuable contracts, according to federal spending reports. Among the services it has provided the agency is an investigative case management system that allows agents to search a persons personal connections, addresses, schools attended, immigration history, biometric traits and criminal records, among other data. Palantir also holds contracts with law enforcement agencies and has helped launch a homelessness initiative in Santa Clara County, a tech platform that mines court, shelter and medical records so that social services providers can identify people to help. Lawmakers first started looking for ways to limit collaboration between state and local government and federal immigration agencies soon after Trump took office. Some city leaders and privacy advocates warned that the presidents efforts to increase deportations and vetting initiatives would target Muslim Americans and affect immigrants in the country illegally who pose no threat to the public. Advertisement As Trump and his wall push Mexico away, California aims to pull it closer Others worried the sensitive government data of targeted groups could flow into the hands of federal immigration agencies. Californias sanctuary state law, which went into effect last year, limits state and local law enforcement agencies from holding, questioning or sharing information about people with federal immigration agents. Other state laws have limited law enforcement from sharing gang database information and prevented local government agencies from turning over sensitive data to immigration authorities without a criminal warrant. Bontas proposal builds on those laws and is based on a local ordinance adopted in Richmond. It was also inspired by Bay Area groups that over the last five years have worked on local policies to limit police surveillance and pushed back against law enforcements use of new technology that can sweep up the personal information of all people, regardless of whether they are criminal suspects. Advertisement Opponents say AB 1332 would be burdensome on cities and counties and harmful to investigations, including in smuggling and human trafficking cases. In Berkeley, City Council members are weighing whether to adopt a similar local ordinance, and some warn it could be costly. City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley has written a memo saying the loss of certain data brokers could impede officers from entering police reports and hinder the citys ability to perform legal research and audits and administer other programs. Surveillance bill could push other cities and counties to follow Oakland police tech policies But the #DeportIce coalition, a group of of 50 nonprofits including the American Civil Liberties Union of California and Oakland and Bay Area privacy groups, says cities and counties must shut off the data pipes to federal immigration agencies. Three cities have already rejected or tabled contracts worth a total of at least $3 million with Vigilant over similar concerns. Advertisement We are not trying to put people out of business, said Brian Hofer, co-founder of the coalition and chairman of the Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission. We are trying to get businesses to change their practices. In Southern California, civil rights groups are calling attention to cases in which federal immigration agents might have been able to locate immigrants in the country illegally by searching a state government drivers license database, even though they had no criminal history. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) said she is working with Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and Gov. Gavin Newsom to examine the cases and determine whether federal immigration agents possibly skirted Californias sanctuary laws. Finding ways to strengthen or build on state rules to protect immigrant data and limit governments role in deportations, such as Bontas proposal, will continue to be a priority, she said. ICE is operating from direction of this president, she said. The more protections we can put for law-abiding immigrants to keep their information out of ICEs hands, the better. Advertisement jazmine.ulloa@latimes.com Twitter: @jazmineulloa Glenn Close, Ethan Hawke and If Beale Street Could Talk took home the top prizes at the 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards, held Saturday on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif. Close stole the Aubrey Plaza-hosted show by inviting her dog Pip up on stage to accept best female lead, causing massive oohs and ahs and considerable distraction from her triumph for The Wife. Related stories Spirit Awards Showcase Oscar Players and Also-Rans, With Heavy Hitters on Deck 2019 Indie Spirit Awards Winners: Complete List Boots Riley: Spike Lee Yelled at Me After 'BlacKkKlansman' Criticism, but We're Good Now Its always the work, isnt it? Close said of the Sony Pictures Classics film, before thanking the women in her category including Carey Mulligan and and Regina Hall. Producers for Beale Street, led by Adele Romanski, agreed with Close in a short but sweet acceptance speech that justly gave all the credit to author James Baldwin for his lush romance. Ethan Hawke won for best male lead for Paul Schraders First Reformed, though his costar Amanda Seyfried accepted on his behalf, while Richard E. Grant took the best supporting male prize for his role in Can You Ever Forgive Me? Grant edged out stiff competition in Adam Driver from BlacKkKlansman and surprise nominee Raul Castillo of We The Animals. The star recounted his long career in indie films, thanking actors like Daniel Day Lewis for passing on roles he eventually nabbed. Grant was the third actor to be cast in his award-winning part, an accomplice and consigliere to Melissa McCarthys Lee Israel, Grant said. Netflixs big contender Roma took best international film, and saw writer-director Alfonso Cuaron pay tribute to a trio of his stars in the room with him, including best actress Oscar nominee Yalitza Aparicio. The Fred Rogers nonfiction film Wont You Be My Neighbor? took best documentary. Director Morgan Neville underscored the importance of the legacy left behind my the childrens show host. Story continues Fred knew that kindness was more than something that sounds good on bumper sticker. Radical kindness, which means civility, is something like oxygen, said Neville. In an unexpected win for best director, Barry Jenkins said he did not feel comfortable being on stage over three female nominees in his category. The If Beale Street Could Talk helmer encouraged producers, studio executives and financiers in the room to help boost the amount of projects directed by women. He specifically singled out You Were Never Really Here director Lynne Ramsay, thanking her for her guidance when he was a student filmmaker. I think this award has your DNA in it, my dear, Jenkins said. He also thanked Annapurna CEO Megan Ellison for financing the adaptation of James Baldwins novel. Best screenplay went to Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty for Can You Ever Forgive Me? Holofcener lamented that Lee Israel had not lived to see the movie they made about her, saying she would have enjoyed the awards show but probably wouldnt have been very nice. The top cinematography prize went to Sayombhu Mukdeeprom of Suspiria. In a nail-biting category for best first feature, Boots Riley brought it home for Sorry to Bother You over The Tale, Wildlife, Hereditary and We the Animals. He used his acceptance speech to applaud direct action political movements that have trickled into contemporary filmmaking, and also chided the CIA for attempting a coup for crude oil in Venezuela. Bo Burnham won best first screenplay, for his resonant coming-of-age tale Eighth Grade. I was told very often that I was a comedian for 13-year-old girls. and f yeah I am! Im proud of that. They deserve to be paid attention to, Burnham said. He also admitted he was intimidated entering Hollywoods high-art circles coming from his stand-up, and thanked the room and community at large for embracing him. The crowd also embraced host Plaza, whose deadpan shtick livened up an afternoon honoring a field of blood-and-guts dramas. They originally wanted no one to host this show, but theyre already booked for tomorrow, Plaza said, nodding to the hostless Oscars ceremony that will air live on Sunday. The Parks and Recreation star opened the ceremony with a ritual sacrifice skit where she and an army of indie actresses conjured the independent spirit awards spirit. Marcia Gay Harden, Marisa Tomei, Rosanna Arquette and Sharon Stone all made appearances, as did Brian Tyree Henry and Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard. The Spirit Awards nominations are selected by a 46-member committee and the awards are voted on by the 6,000-plus members of Film Independent. The eligibility rules require that movies be produced in the U.S. for less than $20 million. Get Out won the best feature film trophy last year. In the prior four years, Moonlight, Spotlight, Birdman, and 12 Years a Slave won both the Spirit Award and the Oscar for best picture. Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts! Keith Ablow, a prominent Boston-area psychiatrist, best-selling self-help author and former Fox News contributor, has been accused of sexually exploiting three patients, according to a report Thursday from the Boston Globe.The Globe cited lawsuits filed by three separate women over the span of one year. According to the womens suits, Ablow abused his position while treating them for depression by engaging in physically harmful and manipulative sexual relationships.Ablow denied the allegations of the three women in a tweet posted Thursday afternoon. Categorically, completely deny the allegations lodged against me. I look forward to the court proceedings and will continue to offer excellent care to any patient who needs my help, he wrote.Also Read: R. Kelly's Bond Set at $1 MillionHe began to hit me when we engaged in sexual activities, one plaintiff wrote in a sworn affidavit filed with her lawsuit. He would have me on my knees and begin to beat me with his hands on my breasts, occasionally saying, I own you, or You are my slave.'According to The Globe, Albow used a controversial treatment for depression on the women which relied heavily on infusions of Ketamine, an anesthetic that can induce a trance-like state, memory loss and hallucinations.The Globe cited one expert who said it appeared Ablow was using Ketamine in conjunction with talk therapy to gain control over a third patient, a woman from Ohio. The patient appears to have become very dependent on this medication and dependent on Dr. Ablow to supply it, wrote chairman of the psychiatry department at Columbia Universitys Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons Jeffrey Lieberman in an expert testimony filed with the lawsuits.Also Read: Time's Up CEO Lisa Borders Resigned After Son Accused of Sexual AssaultLexington psychoanalyst, Andrea Celenza, who was hired by the plaintiffs as an expert witness, said that Ablows behavior in the case of one of the women was sadomasochistic, anti-therapeutic, and constitutes a perverse use of his status and power, she wrote in a letter filed with the lawsuits.Persuaded by Albow, each of the three women moved away from their home state to be closer to the doctors office. The Ohio woman, in her affidavit, said he offered discounts for the Ketamine infusions and promised to arrange job interviews if she agreed to relocate.Three women who worked for Albow also wrote affidavits that were included in the lawsuits. The affidavits said that Ablow often came off as threatening and would display his handgun or give subtle hints that he would take action if they provided anyone with negative information about his practice.Also Read: Son of Ex-Time's Up CEO Hires Kevin Spacey's Lawyer to Defend Sexual Assault AccusationDr. Ablow has been a respected and highly regarded psychiatrist who has for decades helped countless patients, Ablows attorney A. Bernard Guekguezian told The Globe. He denies any and all allegations of improper behavior or substandard care in their entirety.Read original story Former Fox News Medical Contributor Keith Ablow Accused of Sexually Exploiting 3 Patients At TheWrap Keith Ablow, a prominent Boston-area psychiatrist, best-selling self-help author and former Fox News contributor, has been accused of sexually exploiting three patients, according to a report Thursday from the Boston Globe. The Globe cited lawsuits filed by three separate women over the span of one year. According to the womens suits, Ablow abused his position while treating them for depression by engaging in physically harmful and manipulative sexual relationships. Ablow denied the allegations of the three women in a tweet posted Thursday afternoon. Categorically, completely deny the allegations lodged against me. I look forward to the court proceedings and will continue to offer excellent care to any patient who needs my help, he wrote. Also Read: R. Kelly's Bond Set at $1 Million He began to hit me when we engaged in sexual activities, one plaintiff wrote in a sworn affidavit filed with her lawsuit. He would have me on my knees and begin to beat me with his hands on my breasts, occasionally saying, I own you, or You are my slave.' According to The Globe, Albow used a controversial treatment for depression on the women which relied heavily on infusions of Ketamine, an anesthetic that can induce a trance-like state, memory loss and hallucinations. The Globe cited one expert who said it appeared Ablow was using Ketamine in conjunction with talk therapy to gain control over a third patient, a woman from Ohio. The patient appears to have become very dependent on this medication and dependent on Dr. Ablow to supply it, wrote chairman of the psychiatry department at Columbia Universitys Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons Jeffrey Lieberman in an expert testimony filed with the lawsuits. Also Read: Time's Up CEO Lisa Borders Resigned After Son Accused of Sexual Assault Lexington psychoanalyst, Andrea Celenza, who was hired by the plaintiffs as an expert witness, said that Ablows behavior in the case of one of the women was sadomasochistic, anti-therapeutic, and constitutes a perverse use of his status and power, she wrote in a letter filed with the lawsuits. Story continues Persuaded by Albow, each of the three women moved away from their home state to be closer to the doctors office. The Ohio woman, in her affidavit, said he offered discounts for the Ketamine infusions and promised to arrange job interviews if she agreed to relocate. Three women who worked for Albow also wrote affidavits that were included in the lawsuits. The affidavits said that Ablow often came off as threatening and would display his handgun or give subtle hints that he would take action if they provided anyone with negative information about his practice. Also Read: Son of Ex-Time's Up CEO Hires Kevin Spacey's Lawyer to Defend Sexual Assault Accusation Dr. Ablow has been a respected and highly regarded psychiatrist who has for decades helped countless patients, Ablows attorney A. Bernard Guekguezian told The Globe. He denies any and all allegations of improper behavior or substandard care in their entirety. Read original story Former Fox News Medical Contributor Keith Ablow Accused of Sexually Exploiting 3 Patients At TheWrap Clarksburg, WV (26301) Today A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy. Low 69F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy. Low 69F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Former Gov. Jerry Brown famously wrote in a veto message that not every human condition deserves a law, a viewpoint worth pondering in light of the fact that a staggering 2,576 bills were introduced in the Legislature before last weeks deadline. That is likely to be a record, according to statistics compiled by Chris Micheli, a veteran lobbyist who tracks the legislative process. Even in years with lots of bills the annual average since 2013 has been close to 2,200 the first year of this current two-year session in Sacramento stands out. In part, its because so many of them are little more than empty vessels, introduced in either the state Senate or Assembly as a placeholder. A review of legislative records Saturday found 694 so-called intent bills promising details will later be announced on ideas including wildfire warning sirens and free school meals with California-grown products. Specific ways to make good on those intentions wont come for several more months. Even less clear in many cases is who actually wrote the bills. California allows lobbyists to write a proposed law from start to finish and then have a legislator introduce it as his or her own work. Its officially called a sponsored bill, but theres little consistency to knowing whos the real force behind it. Advertisement Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a key test on his embrace of a new California water tax The bills are vetted by the Legislatures lawyers at taxpayer expense and often shopped by lobbyists around the Capitol in search of a lawmaker who will be the official author. While longtime legislative watchers say good ideas shouldnt be dismissed simply because they came from interest groups, uneven transparency in the process can make it almost impossible to know the real reason the bill is being considered in the first place. Regardless of who writes them, the bills keep coming up to 40 proposals for each senator and 50 for each Assembly member during the two-year session. And now, the rush is on to get all of them heard in the proper legislative policy committee over the next nine weeks, the most significant moment for digging deep into the details. Lawmakers dont deny there are a lot of bills but often point out that citizens who grumble over lots of laws should sometimes look in the mirror. If I took every bill idea coming from my constituents, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) said, Id have a bill package of, like, 100. As chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, Gonzalez will play a key role later this year in weeding out many of the proposals another legislative tradition that isnt totally transparent. In a meeting with The Times Sacramento bureau last week, Gonzalez said perhaps what the Legislature should do to improve the law-writing process is remove most existing deadlines. If a bill could be introduced at almost any point in the legislative calendar, she said, then discussions on crafting better policy in committee hearings wouldnt be limited to just a few months and instead would be year-round. As it stands, bills with serious financial implications sometimes have to clear key committees with blank spaces for what the law in question would cost taxpayers, simply because everyone ran out of time. Advertisement The only deadline would be the end of the session, she said. Maybe that would work better. Gonzalez said shes not quite ready to push that kind of change. But with so many proposals whizzing by in late winter and early spring, it can be hard for lawmakers and citizens alike to fully understand whats at stake. As it stands, the bills constitute an incredibly long to-do list for elected officials one they must quickly make their way through starting this week. john.myers@latimes.com Follow @johnmyers on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast Charleston, WV (25311) Today A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Some passing clouds. Low 69F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Some passing clouds. Low 69F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Morgantown, WV (26505) Today A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy skies. Low 72F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy skies. Low 72F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Thank you for Reading. As a community service, our obituaries are always free to view. In order to better know our audience, we ask that you register to continuing viewing. The Democratic presidential campaign is likely to be the most crowded in decades, with 10 major candidates so far and more on the way. Hows a poor voter to tell them apart? One easy shortcut is race, gender and geography but thats mostly just for pundits trying to handicap the race. Californias Sen. Kamala Harris, for example, should do well among African American voters in South Carolina, an early primary state. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota sees fertile ground in neighboring Iowa, the first caucus state. Democrats looking beyond identity politics want a candidate they can fall in love with especially one who can beat President Trump in the general election. How are they to choose? Advertisement One natural starting point is policy as the candidates stake out positions on major issues. As in most years, the Democratic field ranges from moderate to progressive from relative centrists Klobuchar and former Vice President Joe Biden (if he gets in) to Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont on the left, with others in between. But the details of policy may not be as helpful this time. Theres not a vast gulf between the candidates on major issues such as taxes and healthcare. They all want to raise taxes on the wealthy. They all want to move toward universal health insurance. Judging from this years cast, the Democrats are a purely liberal party now, a term once so loaded that candidates ran away from the L-word. Even moderates now are well to the left of where Bill Clinton stood when he won the presidency in 1992. Clinton called for a crackdown on crime and stricter work requirements for welfare. In that, the current candidates are following the voters. Last month, the Gallup Poll reported that a record high 51% of Democratic voters describe themselves as liberal, up from 30% in 2001. The Democratic Party has moved more decidedly to the left than any time in modern history, historian Robert Dallek told me. The issues theyre debating now Medicare for all, a $15 minimum wage are the issues Bernie Sanders put on the table four years ago. Advertisement Still, theres one clear dividing line this year: the difference between radicals and reformers. Every Democratic candidate agrees that the nations economic system hasnt worked for the middle class and those struggling further down. But they offer different explanations. On the left, Sanders and Warren charge that the system is rigged, and they want to overturn it. They blame billionaires, including the Wall Street tycoons who financed Hillary Clinton and other Democratic nominees. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, left, speaks in Dallas last week. Sen. Corey Booker, right, announces his candidacy Feb. 1 in Newark, N.J. (AP, AFP/Getty Images) Advertisement Candidates such as Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York sound more like traditional reformers. To them, the system isnt working and they want to fix it. The main problem, in their view, is Trump. Even when the Democrats agree on goals, they disagree on how far to go and how fast. Health insurance may be the clearest litmus test. Sanders has drafted a Medicare for all bill that would cover every American with government-administered health insurance and virtually eliminate private insurers. Warren, Harris and Booker have endorsed the bill but all have suggested they might soften its provisions, especially on private insurance. Advertisement Another common goal is free tuition at public universities, also a Sanders proposal from 2016. Warren, Harris and Gillibrand have endorsed the idea, but dont agree on how to pay for it. But Klobuchar, who calls herself a pragmatic progressive, says its too expensive. If I was a magic genie and could give that to everyone I would, she said Tuesday. There are differences on priorities too. Harris and Booker have emphasized subsidies for low-income workers. Gillibrand has focused on universal, federally paid family leave for anyone who needs to care for a child or parent, financed by payroll taxes. Advertisement Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who is expected to join the fray, says he wants to restore the dignity of work. Beto ORourke, a former lawmaker from Texas, hasnt settled on a theme or even whether hes running. And there are differences in tone. All the candidates promise to take Trump down, but their styles of combat vary. The American public wants a fighter, says Harris, a former prosecutor. Warren answers Trumps taunts of Pocahontas with gibes in return. Booker has taken the opposite tack. He says he can overcome Trump with a campaign calling for unity and love. (Although, he admitted recently, Love aint easy.) Advertisement Democratic voters tell pollsters that theyre looking for two things. One is electability someone who will defeat Trump. Unfortunately, no one knows how to measure that enviable quality in advance. The other is new faces. In a recent USA Today/Suffolk University poll, the option that attracted the most support was someone entirely new. That suggests a path for a newcomer who can bridge the partys two wings a candidate like Booker, Brown, Harris or ORourke. Advertisement But we wont know until theyre tested in debates, town halls, primaries and caucuses. We complain about the wearying length of our campaigns, but its a good thing this one started so early. Were going to need the time to sort all these characters out. Charleston, WV (25301) Today A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy. Low 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy. Low 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. If you have a subscription, please Log In . Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. If you believe you've gotten this message in error, please Log In. EFFINGHAM, Ill. (WTHI) - We have new details about an Illinois accident involving a state trooper. According to Illinois State Police a trooper was stopped at a light at the intersection of Raney Street and Fayette Avenue in Effingham Saturday afternoon. Investigators say Tamra Wendt crashed into the driver side door as she was turning. Wendt was arrested for drunk driving. The trooper was treated for minor injuries. They struck in Los Angeles. They are striking in Oakland. Soon public school teachers could be striking in Madera County, Sacramento and other communities, seeking not only better pay but smaller class sizes and curbed expansion of charter schools. The labor unrest in K-12 classrooms leaves the impression that California teachers have launched a coordinated, statewide campaign to shake up the education establishment and reform state schools policy. But on the ground, many teachers say local problems are a driver of their dissent, though they want more from the state when it comes to funding and oversight. At a rally Friday on the second day of the teachers strike in Oakland, educator Jacob Rukin was clear that he wasnt protesting just the school district the state also bears blame for the problems that led nearly 3,000 teachers to walk out. We need more money from the state and we need to do a better job managing here in Oakland, he said. I think both things can be true. Advertisement As teachers across California become more vocal about conditions in their financially strapped districts, they are increasingly performing a delicate dance between advocating for sweeping state fixes including a need for more funding while also holding local administrators responsible for what they say is mismanagement of the resources they control. One of the few points of agreement between unions and school leaders is that, even with increases in Gov. Gavin Newsoms proposed budget, California doesnt put enough money towards educating its kids. But some teachers, and their unions, worry that too much of a push at the state level gives the public the perception that more money is the only needed answer to the problems in California schools and provides an escape from accountability at the local level where the disagreements are varied and complex. Many districts officials, faced with big deficits and unhappy teachers, have been quick to point blame at the Capitol. In Los Angeles Unified School District, where the recent teachers strike closed schools for six days, schools Supt. Austin Beutner was clear he believes the state needs to reconsider how it funds education. During the strike, he called on teachers to take the passion from picketing and translate it into asking the state for more funding. Lets get to Sacramento And lets have the conversation in the right place, Beutner said on the second day of the Los Angeles strike. When it was over, he said, We are at an historic moment to start addressing the issue of 40 years of underfunding public education. Lets work together to make sure every student gets a great education. (Last week, Beutner also expressed support for a local measure to raise funds for the L.A. Unified.) In Oakland, the message from the district regarding state funding was similar. John Sasaki, spokesman for Oakland Unified School District, said the district had a history of mismanagement but long term, we are absolutely focused on more of a state and federal approach because we need to change the way education is funded. Advertisement Theres no doubt the L.A. Unified strike emboldened teachers in other parts of California and that teachers unions north and south have shared information with each other about their tactics. In Oakland, members of United Teachers Los Angeles were on hand to help with messaging and organizing. But teachers and labor leaders say there are unique problems at the district level that, in their view, will be addressed only if school administrators are confronted. Administrators are trying to take the responsibility off a bunch of bad decisions they have made and say, Oh, its a statewide problem, said John Borsos, spokesman for the union that represents Sacramento teachers. Sacramento Unified School District has a $35-million deficit. A state audit found it will be insolvent by November and face a state takeover without massive cuts. Last week, the school board voted to move forward on layoffs, including about 120 K-12 teachers. Sacramento City Unified School District spokesman Alex Barrios said without major cuts that could stave off the state takeover, we would lose the decision-making authority that would be necessary to have the accountability they want to see. Advertisement David Fisher, president of the Sacramento teachers union, which is in the process of taking a strike vote, said he believes the district has spent too much on administration and he distrusts that cuts need to come at the expense of teachers. In our specific situation, since the state started to slowly increase funding, our district has prioritized those limited additional resources toward administration rather than the classroom, Fisher said. In L.A., union leaders acknowledged the need for greater state funding but also called on the district to use more of its nearly $2-billion reserve whether those dollars were truly free for use was a central point of contention between the two sides during negotiations. Even after the strike ended, that point remained unsettled despite the countys office of educations warnings about the LAUSDs finances. We frankly have a few differences on some key parts of the districts budget, union President Alex Caputo-Pearl said during the news conference at the mayors office that was meant to announce the agreement that would end the strike. Advertisement Pedro Noguera, a professor of education at UCLA, said with the finances so bad in many districts, unions face a danger of hurting their own members by focusing on local problems. I think actually the balance isnt being struck very well, he said. Yes, you have to hold the district accountable, but if in holding it accountable you actually make it weaker, then everybody is going to lose. Noguera said the animosity between teachers and districts may make it hard for them to work together in the future. Are they able to, are they willing to, or is there so much enmity created by the strike? he said. Advertisement While dissent and mistrust between unions and districts is high, the common ground of the need for increased funding may ultimately bring them together over another controversial issue: changing Proposition 13, the 1978 amendment to the California Constitution that limits growth in property taxes, resulting in a shift of funding from local to state sources and thus frequently targeted by those who argue schools are chronically underfunded. Voters may have a chance to partially undo the landmark law through a November 2020 ballot initiative that would allow commercial property to be more frequently assessed at market rates. The measure, which will be on the ballot unless backers agree to negotiate an alternative through the Legislature, already has the backing of some school boards, including L.A. Unified, and school administrators. On Wednesday, a group of about 35 Oakland principals went to the state Capitol to advocate for more funding, and, among other issues, to look for support from legislators for changing Proposition 13. That is common ground and that is something that we are committed to, is Prop. 13 reform, said Keith Brown, president of the Oakland Education Assn., the union representing striking teachers. The California Teachers Assn., which includes both the Oakland and L.A. teachers unions, has endorsed the initiative. In L.A. last month, union leaders emphasized their role in trying to get the statewide initiative on the ballot, while also calling on district leaders to spend more on the contract. Advertisement Prop. 13 seems to be something we can agree on that needs to change, said Carmelita Reyes, principal at Oakland International High School, who met with legislators. I think its our best chance. Times staff reporters Maria La Ganga and Nicole Santa Cruz contributed to this story. More coverage of California poitics anita.chabria@latimes.com Advertisement Follow @chabriaa on Twitter and sign up for our Essential Politics newsletter. sonali.kohli@latimes.com Twitter: @Sonali_Kohli CLARK COUNTY, Ill. (WTHI) - We have new information about a fatal accident that shutdown a portion of Illinois Route 1 Saturday morning. The accident happened near Ernst Road in Clark County. According to Illinois State Police a car ran into the back of a semi. This happened just before 8:30am. The road was closed in the area for several hours but is now back open to traffic. The driver of the car, Audria Truelove of Martinsville, Illinois was killed in the accident. Truelove was a student at Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Illinois. She was also a member of the softball team. The team posted a message on Facebook saying grief counselors will be available to students through Highland Church of Christ and First United Methodist Church. There will also be counselors at the college Monday. The two escaped from the Forrest County Jail on Friday night, and are considered dangerous, according to the Hattiesburg Police Department. They were identified as Carlos Sibley, 26, who recently pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and Donaven Harris, 29, who has an armed robbery charge as well as two aggravated assault charges. To the editor: While I agree with Nancy Rommelmanns premise in her op-ed article that we parcel ourselves into our own tribes and are unwilling to confront the world beyond our chosen side, and that we engage in spewing hatred toward those who disagree with us, I must take exception to her one-sided examples of that hatred. She cites animalistic pleasure in destroying the kid in the MAGA hat and posthumously eviscerating John Wayne based on an old interview. However, there are no references to Charlottesville, the Coast Guard lieutenant who allegedly planned a terrorist attack, or the hate-filled tweets and campaign rhetoric of the president. I do not condone the attack on her husbands business that, according to her, is now in danger of collapse because she questioned the #MeToo movement. But, just as she suggested that we all have conversations about these dangerous issues, I would like to suggest that she investigate the roots of the #MeToo movement and have conversations with victims of sexual violence. Christine Rios, Murrieta Advertisement .. To the editor: Kudos to the L.A. Times for publishing Rommelmanns excellent op-ed article. Reading it, I was struck by just how much the dynamics of our present culture increasingly represent those of a totalitarian society, where free speech is effectively squelched by economic retribution, public humiliation, disgrace and, worst of all, physical harm. One has only to recall Nazi Germanys Brownshirts to understand how thuggish behavior that begins in a relatively narrow segment of the population can get out of control. Jeff Denker, Malibu Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook A car crossed the median on Interstate 75 and struck a northbound vehicle, killing two sisters who were traveling behind their father in northern Michigan, police said. LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) Youth of Greater Lafayette are learning to live beyond perception. The Greater Lafayette Indiana Black Expo teamed up with the African-American Leaders of Tomorrow team. Together they held a conference open to all local high schooler's. The event was created to give teens a chance to communicate while discussing current social issues. The Pink Panthers of Purdue kicked off the event with a dance ice-breaker. From there the high schooler's broke into small groups. Monica Keyes, President of Greater Lafayette Indiana Black Expo Monica Keyes said the event is all about creating a space for the youth to grow and prepare for the future. We want to remove stigma and misconception, said Keyes. The country has been under a lot of turmoil and our students are looking forward to having their place, maybe without that. Isaac Armstrong, President of the AALOT Chapter of Harrison High School said this event is always a great learning experience. It's very empowering to see other black people and to see how they think and to see how they act around you, said Armstrong. This year marks the third annual event. Topics discussed this year included stereotypes of the black athlete, the superwoman effect and effective communication. JASPER COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating the death of a Rensselaer man who fell through the ice Saturday afternoon on a private pond in Jasper County. Police said 48-year-old Timothy Powers of Rensselaer and 31-year-old Anthony Ballone of Jasonville were ice fishing when both men fell through the ice. Ballone was able to reach the shore and call 911. Ballone attempted to reach back out to Powers but was unable to do so. Powers was recovered from the water by Rensselaer Fire Department and was taken to Franciscan Health Rensselaer, where Powers was later pronounced dead. Ballone was treated and released from the hospital. Police said neither was wearing safety equipment when the incident occurred. Jasper County Sheriffs Department, Rensselaer Fire Department, Rensselaer Police Department, Prompt Ambulance Service all assisted on the scene. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) Community members spent this morning freezin' for reason. Purdue University hosted its annual Polar Plunge to raise money for Special Olympics Indiana. This year the event raised $84,555. Purdue Polar Plunge is a part of a statewide fundraising event. Special Olympics Indiana is aiming to raise a total of $1 Million from all participating universities. Purdue's plunge this year brought out more than 230 jumpers. They said the cold was worth it for the cause. I've been known to do silly things and it's great to do silly things for a great cause, said one jumper. I had done stuff for Special Olympics before so I decided, why not do something like this again, It's a great cause, said another jumper. Purdue Plunge Chairman Lynne Noble said while the event is fun, the impact it'll have is most important. The main concentration is on the athletes, said Noble. We're doing this for the athletes of our area, of this state, of the world an awareness for Special Olympics. News 18-team members even took the plunge. Our team raised a total of $450. Purdue holds the record for the university to bring in the most money each year. To the editor: I appreciate Yossi Klein Halevis commitment to peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, but he gets it wrong in his criticism of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement. BDS came about from frustration with the continuous carving up of the West Bank. Yes, Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip has spawned terrorism, but the West Bank Palestinians are the ones who are losing their land. Just look at a map and see how little of the West Bank is controlled by the Palestinian Authority. I hope Halevi realizes that many BDS supporters do not question Israels sovereignty, only its expansion and its punishment of ordinary Palestinians. So yes, lets stop the blame game and enable change, starting with the withdrawal of illegal settlements from the West Bank. We need solutions, not more blame. Advertisement Kathleen Trinity, Acton, Calif. .. To the editor: Thank you for Halevis op-ed article. Lets clarify why peace talks have failed. Israel captured the disputed territories in self-defense in 1967 after being besieged and attacked. Israel returned most of it to Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994) for peace. Israel offered the Palestinians a state on nearly all of the remaining territory in 2000 and 2008. The Palestinians rejected Israels offers and responded by massacring Israelis in schools, buses, discos and pizzerias. Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005; again, the Palestinians responded with terrorism. As Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg has observed: Given the history of the attacks on Israel and the oppressiveness and aggressiveness of other countries in the Middle East and elsewhere, boycotting Israel indicated a moral blindness for which it is hard to find any explanation other than anti-Semitism. Stephen A. Silver, San Francisco Advertisement .. To the editor: Halevi wrongfully equates Airbnbs decision not to do business in the occupied territories of the West Bank with the anti-Israel BDS movement. I fully support Israels right to exist and abhor the BDS movement, but I recognize that refusing to support those institutions that directly benefit from the occupation is a completely different matter. Halevi repeats the typical myths about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The truth is that the founders of Israel engaged in terrorism and other violent acts aimed at forcing a number of Arabs to flee. These facts are not a secret and have been documented by Israeli historians, backed by archival film footage, photographs and papers. Advertisement One can support the right of Israel to exist without painting a false picture of Israels virtuousness, or conflating active opposition to the occupation with the BDS effort to destroy Israel. Jeffrey Ellis, Los Angeles Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Venezuela's self-declared interim president and opposition leader, Juan Guaido, is set to meet US Vice President Mike Pence in the Colombian capital Bogota Monday, following a weekend of deadly violence at the Venezuelan border. Fresh violence erupted after the Venezuelan military blocked food and supplies from crossing the border from Colombia. The Colombian foreign minister said 285 people were hurt, and 37 hospitalized, after the Venezuelan National Guard fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters near the Colombian border Saturday. Guaido, who is battling President Nicolas Maduro for control of the country, had called for other nations to send aid to Venezuela in response to worsening food and medicine shortages. National Assembly Representative and Guaido supporter Adriana Pichardo told CNN that at least five people were also killed in clashes with Venezuelan security forces. CNN cannot independently confirm the number of fatalities, but Michelle Bachelet, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said there were four deaths and 300 injuries Friday and Saturday. Sunday was quieter. Small clashes broke out again at a town near the border with Colombia. CNN's team in Urena, Venezuela, saw dozens of people throwing rocks toward Venezuela's National Guard, who fired back with rubber bullets. There was no report on injuries. Maduro put out a defiant message Sunday. "The people are united in the streets, mobilized and alert in every corner of the country," he said on Twitter. "I call on men and women of goodwill, not to lower their guard and to stay in the fight to preserve Venezuela's peace. Long live the Rebel homeland!" When he arrived in Bogota, Guaido said, "Yesterday we saw an unprecedented crime with the burning of humanitarian aid that generously arrived at the Colombian collection point and which was then handed over to Venezuelan volunteers, who are again insisting that it's necessary to save lives. Venezuela today is again in crisis and it could have been alleviated yesterday." Guaido declared that Saturday was the deadline to move the food and other supplies across the border. But Maduro vowed to block the supplies, denying that a humanitarian crisis exists in Venezuela and suggesting that aid efforts are part of a US plot to orchestrate a coup. Trucks torched Bogota on Saturday night said all border crossings between Colombia and Venezuela would be closed Sunday and Monday so that authorities could evaluate damage to infrastructure it said had been caused by the Maduro government. Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said Sunday -- after security forces had fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters -- that the country's security forces had protected the border in "exemplary" fashion. But Bachelet, the UN official, said the violence was excessive. "People have been shot and killed, others have reportedly received wounds from which they will never completely recover, including losing eyes," she said in a statement. "These are disgraceful scenes. The Venezuelan government must stop its forces from using excessive force against unarmed protesters and ordinary citizens." The governor of Roraima, the Brazilian state bordering Venezuela, declared a state of medical emergency on Sunday, according to a press release from the Roraima Ministry of Health. Governor Antonio Denarium is quoted in the release saying the state's largest hospital, in the capital Boa Vista, is "at the brink of collapse" following the influx of victims injured in clashes across the border in Venezuela. As of now, 20 patients are being treated in Roraima hospitals, according to the release. Trucks carrying supplies were blocked at most spots Saturday. Humanitarian aid moved through the Brazilian-Venezuelan border in Pacaraima, according to Maria Teresa Belandria, Venezuela's opposition-appointed ambassador to Brazil. Witnesses said two trucks were set ablaze while attempting to cross into Venezuela from Colombia. CNN cannot independently confirm the incident or the circumstances of how the two trucks were set on fire. Rodriguez accused Guaido supporters of burning the trucks. While a CNN team saw incendiary devices from police on the Venezuelan side of the border ignite the trucks, the network's journalists are unsure if the trucks were burned on purpose. Venezuelan soldiers faced off against protesters who were demanding to cross the border at Urena to go work in Colombia, according to a CNN crew that witnessed the scene at the Tienditas Bridge. In a sign that Maduro's grip on the military -- control of which is seen as integral to forcing new elections -- could be waning, Colombia's customs agency said Sunday that 104 members of Venezuela's security forces have defected, entering Colombia. Images of burning trucks 'sickening' In a series of tweets Saturday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the actions of Maduro's government and said the US would "take action against those who oppose the peaceful restoration of democracy in Venezuela." "We denounce Maduro's refusal to let humanitarian assistance reach #Venezuela. What kind of a sick tyrant stops food from getting to hungry people? The images of burning trucks filled with aid are sickening," Pompeo tweeted. He blamed "Maduro's thugs" for attacks on civilians, accused "Cuban agents" of directing the attacks and praised opposition leader Guaido -- recognized by 50 nations including the US as Venezuela's interim president -- for leading the effort to allow the aid through. "While Interim President Juan Guaido builds distribution networks for humanitarian assistance, Maduro blocks its entry and sends armed criminal gangs to attack the innocent civilians accompanying the convoys," Pompeo said in a statement Saturday. US leaders weigh in On Monday, Pence will travel to Colombia to address a meeting of the Lima Group -- made up of leaders mostly from Latin American countries. The White House said Pence would "voice the United States' unwavering support for interim President Juan Guaido and highlight the Venezuelan people's fight for democracy over dictatorship." A White House official said Saturday that Pence will meet with Guaido on Monday in Bogota, during Pence's visit to Colombia. Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said on Twitter that the Maduro regime had "overplayed its hand" through its actions Saturday, making it easier for the international community to isolate it and harder for regime allies to continue supporting it. "Today #MaduroRegime killed unarmed citizens of their own country to keep food & medicine from entering. They celebrated murder & burning of trucks carrying aid as a victory. The world & those inside #Venezuela will reflect on what happened today & it will give rise to action," he tweeted Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders tweeted: "The people of Venezuela are enduring a serious humanitarian crisis." Maduro cuts relations with Bogota Maduro declared Venezuela's borders with Brazil and Colombia closed, citing threats to security and sovereignty. On Saturday he told supporters he was breaking all diplomatic relations with Colombia and calling for its ambassadors and consuls to leave Venezuela. Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said all the diplomats were ordered to leave immediately for their safety. Four Colombian consuls have returned from Venezuela, Colombian immigration officials said Sunday. Maduro also threatened the United States: "If the empire dares to attack, they will be received by the strength of the Venezuelan armed forces." Maduro challenged Guaido on Saturday to call for new elections, but on Sunday Guaido's spokesman, Edward Rodriguez, told CNN they're not going to do that because "we set the agenda." Guaido has always said that he will call elections 30 days after "the usurper had left power" -- and that hasn't happened yet, Rodriguez said. ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - In New York state government news, the topic of splitting the state into separate upstate and downstate entities has popped up again at the Capitol. The idea of dividing upstate New York and the New York City metro area into two states comes up periodically in Albany. But it has never gotten beyond the proposal stage. The exercise is happening again. Sen. Daphne Jordan, a Saratoga County Republican, is proposing legislation that would authorize a study by the state comptroller's office to look into the costs and implications of such a separation. A spokesman for Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo calls the proposal "the Godzilla of pandering." Lawmakers will return to Albany on Tuesday for a three-day workweek, their longest since the Legislature convened Jan. 9 for its 2019 session. (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) 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 first time I saved my husbands life, his face was the color of saturated denim. I found him curled on the floor, body fighting itself. Limbs constricted, shoulders twitching, he snorted desperately as his lungs gasped for oxygen. I yelled his name, shook his arm, slapped his face. The sputtering sound came less often, and he was so, so blue. Has your husband ingested or administered any opioids? the paramedic asked after they pushed me aside. I shook my head no, feeling my teeth chatter. It felt like a random question. I knew what drug users looked like disheveled on street corners, rummaging through cabinets for pills. My husband was vice president of a tech company. Earlier that night, we had been planning our upcoming Finland vacation. He was no addict. I told them he was on Klonopin for anxiety and Adderall for ADD, but other than that we were an ibuprofen family. I barely knew what an opioid was, and my husband wouldnt even take Sudafed for a cold. Advertisement My husband was the smartest person Ive ever known, and an addict. Despite my answer, the paramedics gave him naloxone, which counteracts opioid overdose. It revived him in a way that seemed impossible. Propped up in the stretcher wearing his usual T-shirt and gym shorts, he looked like he was ready to binge watch Battlestar Galactica, not like someone headed to the hospital for an overdose. Driving as close behind the ambulance as I dared, I couldnt stop looking at his pink cheeks through the back windows. An instant fix. As if the blue had never happened. Opioids, I later learned, cause blood to rush to the skin where the bodys temperature receptors lie. They feed the brain an overwhelming dose of information, so the user feels nothing. Too high a dose drops blood pressure, and decreases respiration to fatal levels. Thats why my husband was blue the drug had told his lungs to stop working. Naloxone binds to opioid receptors in the brain, blocking them and stopping the flood of dopamine. Medically speaking, the drug is simple, and emergency responders have employed it with increasing frequency. The Nashville Fire Department recently reported a 93% increase to 1,777 doses last year. My husband later explained that he bought the drug he had taken online from a laboratory in China that sells synthetics. Since 2013, these designer synthetic opioids have caused more overdoses than heroin, oxycodone or hydrocodone. In a recent study, the CDC reported synthetic opioid deaths increased almost 47% to 28,400 deaths in 2017, and increased border control or drug raids arent the solution. The drugs come through the mail to anyone who can do a Google search. I didnt know any of this the night I watched him in the back of the ambulance. I didnt know that opioid users are the most likely drug abusers to relapse. All I knew that night was how relieved I was when the color returned to his skin and that I would do anything to help him, because I couldnt stop picturing the blue. It had felt like he was underwater, waiting for me to pull him back up to the surface. Later that night, he tried to explain. You know when someone has chronic back pain? A massage isnt going to fix the problem, but it makes it feel so much better for a short time. You know its going to hurt again, but relief feels so good. Thats what using is when Im depressed. For a few minutes, everything is OK. He told me how he had found entire messages boards devoted to sharing tips for the perfect high. He found online labs selling synthetic versions of everything ecstasy, amphetamines, a buffet of opioids. The drug that had nearly killed him was butyrfentanyl, which he boiled with a spoon and poured into a syringe before injecting. It is an analog of fentanyl, the drug that killed Prince and Tom Petty. Fentanyl is 80 to 100 times more potent than heroin. In late 2018, the CDC named it the deadliest drug in America. In the days following his overdose, I started unpacking the odd behaviors that hadnt made sense in recent months. His falling asleep mid-dinner, spoon in hand; the two car accidents in a month; his sudden disdain for our dogs that he normally doted on. How, living alongside this man who was my best friend and favorite person, had I missed his addiction? Advertisement Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute My husband was never disheveled on a street corner. He had enough musical instruments for a one-man-band, ran 5ks, made this amazing pie-stuffed cake every year for my birthday. He had a masters in engineering from the University of Texas and wanted to start a nonprofit to help ex-cons integrate into the corporate workplace. He invented a device that alerted his blind Boston terrier when she was about to walk into objects. He was the smartest person Ive ever known, and an addict. He promised me he would never relapse, but refused to go to inpatient rehab for fear his coworkers would learn his secret. The near-death experience had scared him too, he said, and hed get it under control. He started therapy and antidepressants. I started monitoring him constantly, and assumed that would be enough. I didnt understand then how his brain constantly begged for the drug. I didnt know how much help we needed. When my husband told me I would never find him sputtering and unconscious again, he meant it, and I believed him. Two weeks later, he picked up a small package from China at the post office. A few hours after his appointment with an addiction specialist, he injected the butyrfentanyl. He wasnt blue when I found him. His skin had a tinge of yellow, except for the patch of burgundy on his forearm where he had pushed the needle. Advertisement He was cold, and he was 36 years old. Lauren Mauldin is a creative nonfiction MFA candidate at UC Riverside and an editor for The Plaid Horse magazine. Sempra Energy operates as an energy-services holding company in the United States and internationally. The company's San Diego Gas & Electric Company segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity; and supplies natural gas. It offers electric services to approximately 3.7 million population and natural gas services to approximately 3.4 million population that covers 4,100 square miles. Its Southern California Gas Company segment owns and operates a natural gas distribution, transmission, and storage system that supplies natural gas to a population of approximately 22 million covering an area of 24,000 square miles. The company's Sempra Texas Utilities segment is involved in the regulated transmission and distribution of electricity serving 3.7 million homes and businesses, and operation of 139,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines. Its transmission system includes 18,127 circuit miles of transmission lines, 336 transmission stations, and 806 distribution substations; distribution system comprises 121,129 miles of overhead and underground lines; and 63 miles of electric transmission lines. Its Sempra Mexico segment develops, owns, operates, or holds interests in natural gas, electric, liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquid petroleum gas (LPG), ethane, and liquid fuels infrastructure; and purchases LNG, and purchases and sells natural gas. This segment operates natural-gas-fired, and wind and solar power generation facilities. Its assets/facilities consist of 1,850 miles of natural gas transmission pipelines, 15 compressor stations, and 139 miles of ethane pipelines; and 2,729 miles of natural gas distribution pipelines. The company's Sempra LNG segment develops and builds natural gas liquefaction export facilities; holds an interest in a facility for the export of LNG; owns and operates natural gas pipelines; and buys, sells, and transports natural gas. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Diego, California. Read More 10 hours ago | June 27th | 2021 6:30 AM If You Want to Do Business on the Links, You Need to Improve Your Golf Game A lot of business is done on the golf course. Especially this summer after a year in quarantine, people will be itching to get out on the links and for some relaxation and mixing business with pleasure. If you want to close a deal out on the course, you're going to want to be more focused on the deal points than your next shot. L Brands, Inc. operates as a retailer of home fragrance products, body care products, soaps and sanitizers, women's intimate and other apparel, and personal and beauty care products. It operates in two segments, Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret. The Bath & Body Works segment sells body care, home fragrance products, soaps, and sanitizers under the Bath & Body Works, White Barn, C.O. Bigelow, and other brand names. This segment operates approximately 1,735 Bath & Body Works stores in the U.S. and Canada, as well as approximately 285 stores in 30 other countries operating under franchise, license, and wholesale arrangements; and online stores at BathandBodyWorks.com. This segment also includes the Bath & Body Works merchandise sourcing and production function. The Victoria's Secret segment sells women's intimate and other apparel, and personal care and beauty products under the Victoria's Secret and PINK brand names. This segment operates approximately 930 Victoria's Secret and PINK stores in the U.S., Canada, and Greater China, as well as approximately 455 stores in 70 countries operating under franchise, license, and wholesale arrangements; and online at VictoriasSecret.com and PINK.com. This segment also includes the Victoria's Secret and PINK merchandise sourcing and production function. The company was formerly known as Limited Brands, Inc. and changed its name to L Brands, Inc. in March 2013. L Brands, Inc. was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Read More In Srinivaspuri, a large urban slum in southern Delhi, small groups of women gather in a one-room school lined with tattered alphabet posters on a pleasantly warm spring morning. Theyve come to discuss a delicate topic with us: how many children they plan to have. The women are in their teens, 20s and 30s, some single, others married. But all of them say they want better lives than their mothers lived. They want to work, to have money and to be able to stand up to the men in their lives. Two children would be perfect. This is remarkable. An Indian woman coming of age in 1960 would have had, typically, six children, according to United Nations data. If she came of age in the 1980s, she would have had four. Today, Indian women have just over two children on average. Its a shift with profound implications, and one that doesnt fit most peoples expectations. The U.N. Population Division predicts that 11.2 billion people will burden the Earth at the end of the century, almost 4 billion more than we have today. If it happens, it would trigger an overpopulation crisis that could lead to famine, war and environmental devastation. But a growing number of demographers and other authorities are beginning to doubt those predictions. They believe the future will be defined not by a population bomb, but by a population bust. And the young women of Srinivaspuri help explain why. Advertisement There is much to celebrate about a global future with fewer people. To research the planets population future, we talked about family size with people on six continents academics and statisticians and government officials, but also young women and men who agreed to sit down for a chat about their futures. In addition, Ipsos Public Affairs polled people in 26 countries developed and developing asking how many children they wanted. What we discovered is that almost everywhere women and men want about two children on average, a birth rate that will stabilize global population and may mean it will drop, rather than explode. Rapid urbanization appears to be whats driving the trend. Fifty-five percent of the people on the globe now live in cities. As people in developing companies leave the countryside, women gain access to media, to education, to information from other urbanized women, and they choose to have small families. Wolfgang Lutz, founder of Viennas Wittgenstein Centre of Demography and Global Human Capital, puts it this way: The brain is the most important reproductive organ. Once a woman receives enough information and autonomy to make an informed and self-directed choice she immediately has fewer [children]. This has long been the case in the developed world, where almost every country has a fertility rate below the 2.1 children per woman needed to sustain the population. Japan lost almost 450,000 people last year. In Italy, where government statistics show the birthrate is 1.3 children per woman, the health minister in 2015 said outright, We are a dying country. But the real news comes from the developing world The birth rate has dropped so low in China that the worlds most populous nation will start losing people in the next decade, according to World Bank projections. Brazil, the fifth-most-populous nation, will experience the same fate in the 2040s. In India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, South Africa, Malaysia and Mexico, the birth rate stands at or barely above replacement rate and is still falling. Advertisement Much of sub-Saharan Africa still struggles with overpopulation, but the even there, a woman in 1970 might have had seven or eight children; today, she has three or four. These data suggest that by about 2050, the global population will stabilize at between 8 billion and 9 billion people, and then it will start to decline. In 100 years, it could be about what it is today, and even more heavily concentrated in urban areas. The role of cities in all this is no mystery. In the country, a child is an asset another pair of hands to work the fields. In the city, he or she is just another mouth to feed. Religion and family pressure are more powerful in rural areas, encouraging early marriage and childbirth, and discouraging even prohibiting contraception. But in the city, the bonds of religion and family often get replaced by friends and co-workers. When was the last time one of your co-workers urged you to have more children? Our talking tour uncovered a myriad of rationales and mechanisms all aimed at the same low-birth-rate goal. At a dinner party in Brussels, thirtysomething couples said work was too consuming and rents too high for children, at least right now. Female graduate students at a Seoul university preferred to remain unmarried because South Korean men refused to do housework. Advertisement In Nairobi, theres an app to calculate the price that a man must pay for permission to marry a woman. As Kenyan women become better educated, the bride price increases, forcing the couple to delay marriage until the man has built up enough capital. In Sao Paolo, women and doctors conspire to have babies delivered by caesarean section, with the physician performing a tubal ligation at the same time. Its called shutting down the factory. And in the U.S., Palm Springs construction workers some in the U.S. legally, some not talked about how in their home countries the priest urged women to provide welcoming homes for their husbands, and to give them plenty of children. In America, these mens wives and girlfriends go to school, hang out together, practice contraception and, in the words of one of the workers, drink tequila like a man! Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute Advertisement There is much to celebrate about a global future with fewer people. Declining populations will ease the stress on land and water. Cities show a marked decrease in carbon emissions per person New York state, for example, has the lowest per capita carbon emissions in the U.S., thanks to New York City. Economically, however, the future could be more challenging, as societies struggle to cope with fewer young workers and taxpayers. Automation will help, but economic growth will stall: Consumption powers economies, and robots dont buy refrigerators. The United States is hardly immune. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the birth rate in America has been below replacement since 1971. However, the U.S., as a nation of immigrants, has a demographic advantage. A million newcomers a year arrive here, filling vacant jobs and paying taxes to sustain an aging population. Immigration, in fact, could make the 2000s a second American Century because of the population edge immigration gives us. But only if the nativist, anti-immigrant sentiment stoked by the White House can be prevented from taking deeper root. Global population decline isnt a good thing or a bad thing. But it is a big thing. We cant know all the ways it will play out. The U.S., like many other countries around the world, must find a way to replace its missing babies. And if we are to grow into the future, we must begin to plan for a population bust now. Advertisement Darrell Bricker is chief executive of Ipsos Public Affairs. John Ibbitson is writer at large at Torontos Globe and Mail. They are the authors of Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook Embraer S.A. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aircrafts and systems in Brazil, North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Brazil, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Defense and Security; Executive Jets; Service & Support; and Other segments. The Defense and Security segment engages in the research, development, production, modification, and support for military defense and security aircraft, as well as offers a range of products and integrated solutions that include radars, special space systems (satellites), and information and communications systems, such as command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. The Executive Jets segment develops, produces, and sells executive jets. It also leases Legacy 600 and Legacy 650 executive jets in the super midsize and large categories; Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 executive jets in the midlight and midsize categories; Phenom family executive jets in the entry jet and light jet categories; Lineage 1000, an ultra-large executive jet; and Praetor 500 and Praetor 600, disruptive executive jets in the midsize and super midsize categories. The Service & Support segment offers after-service solutions, support, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul services for commercial, executive, and defense aircraft; provides aircraft components and engines; and supplies steel and composite aviation structures to various aircraft manufacturers. The Other segment is involved in the supply of fuel systems, structural parts, and mechanical and hydraulic systems; and production of agricultural crop-spraying aircraft. The company was formerly known as Embraer-Empresa Brasileira de AeronAutica S.A. and changed its name to Embraer S.A. in November 2010. Embraer S.A. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in SAo Paulo, Brazil. Read More Antofagasta plc, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the exploration, evaluation, development, and mining of copper properties in Chile and internationally. It operates through Los Pelambres, Centinela, Antucoya, ZaldAvar, Exploration and Evaluation, and Transport segments. The company explores for copper concentrates containing by-products, such as molybdenum, gold, and silver; and copper cathodes. It holds a 60% interest in the Los Pelambres mine; a 70% interest in the Centinela mine; a 50% interest in the ZaldAvar mine; and a 70% interest in the Antucoya mine located in Chile. The company also provides rail and road cargo, and other ancillary services. In addition, it offers rail and truck services to the mining industry in the Antofagasta Region. The company was incorporated in 1888 and is based in London, the United Kingdom. Antofagasta plc is a subsidiary of Metalinvest Establishment. Read More Gov. Gavin Newsoms references to water in his first State of the State address were brief and a bit patchy, but they were enough to make fiercely competing factions each believe the new governor had their backs. Newsom made clear that Jerry Browns two-tunnel project to pipe Sacramento River water under the delta to points south was dead, in favor of a single tunnel. The gratified reaction of environmentalists was, essentially: We killed a tunnel! The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California said, more or less: We get a tunnel! But water policy in California is never that easy. Two weeks later, we still dont know much about Newsoms plans. Knowing well have one tunnel instead of two tells us little. How big? How expensive? For what purpose? The new governor and his team are still working through those questions. The twin-tunnel plan known as WaterFix was never particularly popular, but it had a purpose. The 30-mile long, 40-foot diameter tunnels would be large enough to take a big gulp of excess water during wet winters like the current one, to be shipped south and stored for drier periods. Strict operating agreements would limit them to a little sip in dry times, to keep more water flowing downriver when migrating fish need it. They would divert water around the environmentally fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, and would allow administrators to periodically shut down the plant at the deltas south end, where powerful pumps reverse river currents and draw salmon and other fish off their migratory paths. Newsom has never been a water policy wonk, so the most pleasant surprise is that he appears interested in Californias water challenges. Advertisement But they would have been enormously expensive, coming in at around $20 billion. Most water districts in the market for tunnel water opted out, potentially leaving the Metropolitan, its member agencies and their ratepayers on the hook. Delta landowners and environmental advocates questioned whether operating agreements to limit pumping in dry years would hold. If Central Valley crops were dying for lack of water and Southern Californians were rationing while the massive tunnels sat idle, they suggested, surely the deal would be tossed aside and someone would start up the pumps and drain the Sacramento River dry. Several years ago, the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental advocates proposed a single tunnel with about a third of WaterFixs maximum capacity, ensuring that more water would be left to flow through the delta but at the cost of a much smaller gulp for farms and Southern California in wet years. The Metropolitan, too, had a single-tunnel backup plan at two-thirds the capacity of WaterFix, but with many of the same cost and mistrust problems of the two-tunnel plan. Newsoms one-tunnel challenge is to find the right capacity, cost and balance of interests while keeping the factions from walking away. Perhaps he can pull it off. But if youre the glass-half-empty type, youll note that California has been seeking the magic formula for a delta water conveyance for 40 years without finding it, and that in all that time, the problems have only gotten worse. Newsom also made a lineup change at the important State Water Resources Control Board. Felicia Marcus had guided the state through the drought and, separately, toward a compromise plan to return more water to the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced rivers to sustain salmon populations as they move through the delta. The plan angered agricultural water users, many of whom cheered Newsoms decision not to reappoint Marcus. Thats ironic, given that Marcus vision of Californias water future in a time of climate change emphasized agricultures continuing important role. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute The governor instead elevated water board member E. Joaquin Esquivel to chair, and perhaps that reset can help the board and the San Joaquin Valley irrigation districts reach a settlement that works for both farms and fish. As with the tunnels, though, California has been there and done that without yet actually putting much water back in the rivers. Newsoms water signal was clearest and strongest on the subject of safe drinking water for the million or so Californians who currently brush their teeth and take their showers in toxic tap or expensive bottled water. He took top staff on a surprise visit to parts of the San Joaquin Valley where the problem is most severe, and he budgeted $25 million to jump-start cleanup efforts. Thats good news. Newsom has never been a water policy wonk, so the most pleasant surprise is that he appears interested in Californias water challenges. For the present, though, his exact path forward remains a bit liquid. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook. Motorola Solutions, Inc. provides mission critical communications and analytics in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Products and Systems Integration, and Services and Software. The Products and Systems Integration segment offers a portfolio of infrastructure, devices, accessories, and video security devices and infrastructure, as well as the implementation, optimization, and integration of systems, devices, software, and applications for government, public safety and first-responder agencies, municipalities, and commercial and industrial customers. Its LMR and video security and analytics devices include two-way portable and vehicle-mounted radios, fixed and mobile video cameras, and accessories; radio network core and central processing software, base stations, consoles, and repeaters; and video analytics, network video management hardware and software, and access control solutions. The Services segment provides repair, technical support, and hardware maintenance services. This segment also offers monitoring, software updates, and cybersecurity services; and public safety and enterprise command center software, unified communications applications, and video software solutions. It serves for government, public safety, and commercial communication networks. The company was formerly known as Motorola, Inc. and changed its name to Motorola Solutions, Inc. in January 2011. Motorola Solutions, Inc. was founded in 1928 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Read More MRC Global Inc., through its subsidiaries, distributes pipes, valves, fittings, and other infrastructure products and services to the energy industry in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers ball, butterfly, gate, globe, check, diaphragm, needle, and plug valves; and other products, such as lined corrosion resistant piping systems, control valves, valve automation and top work components, and valve modification services, as well as measurement, steam, and instrumentation products. The company also provides carbon steel fittings and flanges comprising carbon weld fittings, flanges, and piping components; stainless steel, alloy and corrosion resistant pipes, tubing, fittings, and flanges; and carbon line pipes. In addition, it offers natural gas distribution products, including risers, meters, polyethylene pipes and fittings, and various other components and industrial supplies; oilfield and industrial supplies and completion equipment, such as high density polyethylene pipes, fittings, and rods; and specialized production equipment comprising tanks and separators. Further, the company provides various services, such as product testing, manufacturer assessments, multiple daily deliveries, volume purchasing, inventory and zone store management and warehousing, technical support, training, just-in-time delivery, truck stocking, order consolidation, product tagging and system interfaces, and valve inspection and repair services; and various other services under the ValidTorque and FastTrack names. Its products are used in the construction, maintenance, repair, and overhaul of equipment used in extreme operating conditions, including high pressure, high/low temperature, and high corrosive and abrasive environments. The company was formerly known as McJunkin Red Man Holding Corporation and changed its name to MRC Global Inc. in January 2012. MRC Global Inc. was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Read More ServiceNow, Inc. provides enterprise cloud computing solutions that defines, structures, consolidates, manages, and automates services for enterprises worldwide. It operates the Now platform that offers workflow automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, performance analytics, electronic service catalogs and portals, configuration management systems, data benchmarking, encryption, and collaboration and development tools. The company also provides information technology (IT) service management applications; IT service management product suite for enterprise's employees, customers, and partners; IT business management product suite to manage IT priorities; IT operations management product that connects a customer's physical and cloud-based IT infrastructure; IT Asset Management to automate IT asset lifecycles; and enterprise development operations product for developers' toolchain. In addition, it offers security incident management, threat enrichment intelligence, vulnerability response management, and security incident intelligence sharing security operation products; governance, risk, and compliance product to create policies and controls; human resources, legal, and workplace service delivery products; safe workplace applications; customer service management product; and field service management applications. Further, it provides App Engine product; IntegrationHub enables application to extend workflows; and professional, training, and customer support services. It serves government, financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing, IT services, technology, oil and gas, education, and consumer products. It sells its products through direct sales team and resale partners. The company was formerly known as Service-now.com and changed its name to ServiceNow, Inc. in May 2012. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Read More 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. Read More 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. Science Applications International Corporation provides technical, engineering, and enterprise information technology (IT) services primarily in the United States. The company's offerings include engineering; technology integration; IT modernization; maintenance of ground and maritime systems; logistics; training and simulation; operation and program support services; and end-to-end services, such as design, development, integration, deployment, management and operations, sustainment, and security of its customers' IT infrastructure, as well as cloud migration, managed services, infrastructure modernization, and enterprise IT-as-a-service solutions. It serves the U.S. military comprising Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard; Department of Defense agencies; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; the U.S. Department of State; Department of Justice; Department of Homeland Security; and various intelligence community agencies, as well as U.S. federal civilian agencies. The company was formerly known as SAIC Gemini, Inc. and changed its name to Science Applications International Corporation in September 2013. Science Applications International Corporation was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Read More Community Bank System, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank, N.A. that provides various banking and other financial services to retail, commercial, and municipal customers. It operates through three segments: Banking, Employee Benefit Services, and All Other. The company offers various deposits products, such as checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits. It also provides loans, including consumer mortgages; general purpose commercial and industrial loans, and mortgages on commercial properties; paycheck protection program loans; installment loans that are originated through selected dealerships and are secured by automobiles, marine, and other recreational vehicles; personal installment loans and lines of credit for consumers; and home equity products. In addition, the company offers broker-dealer and investment advisory; cash management, investment, and treasury services; asset management; and employee benefit services, as well as operates as a full-service insurance agency that offers personal and commercial lines of insurance, and other risk management products and services. Further, it provides contribution plan administration, employee benefit trust, collective investment fund, retirement plan administration, fund administration, transfer agency, actuarial and benefit consulting, VEBA/HRA, and health and welfare consulting services. Additionally, the company offers wealth management, retirement planning, higher educational planning, fiduciary, risk management, trust, and personal financial planning services; and investment alternatives, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and advisory products, as well as master recordkeeping services. As of January 25, 2021, it operates approximately 230 customer facilities across Upstate New York, Northeastern Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Western Massachusetts. Community Bank System, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Onondaga, New York. Read More This is how bad things have gotten in Julian since San Diego County took control of the regions last volunteer fire department eight months ago. When first responders went out on a call, someone would paint over the marking that reserved the new county fire chiefs parking spot at the fire station, which used to be manned by the local volunteers who resided in the popular tourist destination. When responders got back from the call, they restored the designation. Then, county firefighters were falsely accused of stealing a computer hard drive from the station. Routine interactions quickly deteriorated between the volunteers, their supporters, and the professional county staff who were contracted to serve the region after the Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection Districts board voted to relinquish its independence. Advertisement Fearing an escalation that could put his people in harms way, CalFire and San Diego County Fire Authority Chief Tony Mecham last month moved his firefighters and equipment to a nearby CalFire station, leaving the district station to the volunteers. This has created an odd situation in which county and volunteer firefighters are often responding to the same medical aid and traffic accidents. Tensions in the mountain community of Julian and surrounding towns remain at an all-time high as supporters of the volunteer fire department continue to resist efforts to dissolve the 81-square-mile district in favor of the countys professional Fire Authority, which contracts with CalFire for staffing. The standoff has been years in the making. Its resolution now rests with the districts 2,482 registered voters. This past week, ballots were mailed to voters as part of a unique mail-only election conducted by the countys Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, which is responsible for overseeing changes to local governmental boundaries, including the formation, consolidation, merger and dissolution of special districts. There hasnt been such an election in LAFCOs history because the system is designed to avoid such a situation. The commissioners voted in September to dissolve the volunteer department, a move requested both by what was then a majority of the volunteer departments board of directors and the San Diego County Fire Authority. But LAFCOs rules, seldom used, said if at least 25% of the registered voters in the district filed protest letters, then a special election must be held. Twenty-six percent did so. It will now be up to residents to make the final call. The ballots must be returned by March 19 and will likely be counted within a few weeks by the Registrar of Voters. Advertisement Only registered voters who live within the jurisdiction can vote on Measure A, something that has upset homeowners who have vacation houses in the district. Most of those second-home residents appear to favor the county taking over fire responsibility, but have no say in the matter under LAFCO rules. Since Novembers elections, 29 more people have registered to vote in the district, most likely to have a say in the decision. The Fire Authority was created about a decade ago as a response to the firestorms that devastated the county in 2003 and 2007. Many of those fires began in the backcountry and then moved west into places such as Scripps Ranch and Rancho Bernardo. The county Board of Supervisors decided it was time to create a county fire department that would assume control over the many volunteer departments in the backcountry to bring more professionalism to the vast unincorporated areas. The county met with resistance, but eventually all the volunteer departments were absorbed all but Julian, which fiercely protected its independence despite having struggled for years financially. Advertisement The volunteers and their supporters insist the area is better served and safer with locals in the engines locals who know the area and care deeply for its citizens. They say the fire department is a source of great pride for the unincorporated communities it serves and that the county is making a power grab. In 2016, the volunteer departments elected directors agreed to a temporary arrangement with the county to provide services in conjunction with its volunteers. In exchange, the county obtained a promise from the district that it would seriously consider dissolution. Finally, in 2018, following several earlier votes to remain independent, three of the five board members voted to go with the county and the LAFCO proceedings began. Advertisement In June, CalFire personnel took over the station and Mecham placed many of the volunteers on non-response status because they lacked proper training. Meanwhile, in November, local voters rejected Proposition QQ, which had been placed on the ballot by supporters of the volunteer department and would have raised property taxes for fire protection from $50 to $200. The measure failed by a vote of 976 to 836. But supporters of the volunteers say the vote was not indicative of the communitys support and only showed that voters are always reluctant to raise their own taxes. At the same time, the leadership of the board of directors of the Julian department changed, and now all five members are opposed to dissolution. Cal Fire for decades has had fire stations in the area and no matter what happens will still have the responsibility of fighting wildland fires in the jurisdiction. But medical calls, traffic accidents and structure fires are the responsibility of the volunteer department. Should Measure A fail, once again the volunteer department will bear that burden alone, minus CalFires extra equipment, manpower and funding from which it has benefited the past several years. Advertisement If we get a call [with the election result] at 4:00 that they voted to be independent, at 4:01 p.m., those fire engines will be unstaffed. It will be that quick, Mecham said. We expect the first week of April to get the results, he continued. And Ive been very clear from day one on this. Independence means independence. The County of San Diego has been subsidizing Julian for 11 years. Theyve built this very robust regional fire system. The budget this year is $42 million for fire protection. Within an hour of receiving those election results, I will close the Cuyamaca CalFire station and I will close the Julian station [because high fire season will not yet have begun]. The paramedic fire engine will go away and I have also notified the district we will not do automatic aid with them. Before, we were doing automatic response, so when the volunteers didnt show up, nobody noticed that. Im not going to continue doing that. Its not my responsibility to keep financially supporting their calls. Advertisement Jones writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. The 24-year-old woman who died Sunday when the semi-trailer truck she was a passenger in crashed into Mirror Lake has been identified as Devenna Patterson of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. The crash also killed truck driver Timothy Green, 39, also from Elizabethtown. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The semi-trailer left Interstate 90/94 in Sauk County at a bridge spanning Mirror Lake, with the truck dropping about 100 feet and through the lake ice. Green's body was found inside the cab, but Patterson's body wasn't found until the next day. The southbound lanes of the Interstate were closed for hours as crews worked at the scene. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Douglas Arthur Bush, 62, of Westfield, passed away Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, at the University of Wisconsin Hospital-Madison surrounded by his family. Doug was born on Jan. 13, 1957, to Russell and Norma (Monthey) Bush. He graduated from Pardeeville High School with the Class of 1975. Life on the farm taught Doug the value of hard work and persistence. He ultimately moved to a career as a maintenance technician at Divine Savior Healthcare in 1997. He was looking forward to his retirement, but still loved his job of fixing things and making life safer and easier for the patients and staff of the hospital. Doug loved the great outdoors and was an avid hunter and fisherman. During his down time, he could be found feeding and photographing wildlife, or he could be working his land, planting and trimming trees, making firewood, or tending his blueberry patch. He loved music, especially that good old country, and while he never played an instrument, he wrote songs and poems. He attended songwriting classes and music was always in his heart. As a bachelor, he cooked for himself and would invent his own specialties. The family will always remember his famous cranberry bogs, and his made-from-scratch pizza, and he could just as easily whip up a batch of Ma Bushs homemade biscuits. Oh, what a beautiful evening for live entertainment I t was indeed a totally theatrical experience as nearly 40 performers answered the call of the Winterset Stage and utilized their acting, vocal and dancing talents to work their way into the hearts of... Great Iowa Tractor Ride stops for lunch in Truro I f the question was posed, How do you get a farm girl to like you?, the simple answer might be a tractor. Many farm girls would have been delighted to see the various makes... Iowa storyteller presents new book about local history As a group of about a dozen people gathered to listen, author Darcy Maulsby presented her new book on Madison County Thursday, June 3, at the Winterset Public Library. Published in March, Madison County, part... Summer Classics and New Favorites at the Iowa Theater A switch got flipped Memorial Day weekend I feel like I almost heard it click into place. Hugging family, smiling at people you meet on the street, and the pastimes weve missed going... Some people are upset about President Donald Trumps plan to build more boarder wall and initiate other border security. What some people forget is that the president keeps his promises. He promised a tax cut, it happened. He promised to nominate conservative judges, he did it. He promised to move the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, he did. Now he is fulfilling his promise to secure our border. He will do whatever it takes to keep his promise. Members of Congress are complaining, but they had had years to fix immigration law and have done nothing or very little. Many news people say that the president had control of the House and Senate for two years and they did nothing about immigration. We all know it takes 60 votes in the senate. Jerry Papenfuss, Winona Love 0 Funny 5 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Sacramento police broke up a fracas outside a Tea Party Build the Wall dinner Saturday night at a downtown restaurant where protesters confronted supporters of President Trump. About a dozen protesters, some wearing bandanas, gathered outside the Claim Jumper restaurant and shouted immigrants are welcome here at Trump supporters attending the sold-out dinner. The Tea Party Caucus hosted the dinner to denounce the GOP establishment for its poor showing in the midterm elections and to push for more support of Trumps policies. The state GOP was holding its annual convention down the street at the Hyatt Regency, where former White House spokesman Sean Spicer was the keynote speaker. At one point, protesters outside the Claim Jumper confronted some of those attending the dinner. Police stepped in and broke up the fracas. One person was believed have been taken into custody. Advertisement Jill Barto, a GOP convention delegate from El Cajon, said she was inside the restaurant when protesters began banging on the window. She said she and other diners went outside to ask the protesters to stop, fearful they would break the window. Right away, one of them came up to me and said, F--- you, she said. They were calling us fascists and KKK when all we wanted to do was sit down for a planned dinner. Barto said a man wearing a black bandanna and sunglasses loomed over her and grabbed the scarf she was holding in her hand, then snatched a Trump pin and a red, white and blue pin off her shirt. We had no idea who they were and when a police officer showed up, I told him I wanted to file a report, she said. The man who grabbed her scarf and pins, she said, was trying to intimidate us. She said she returned to the restaurant and that several people later escorted her back to the hotel to ensure her safety. Confrontation happening outside downtown Sacramento where Tea Party Caucus of CA is holding its "Build the Wall" dinner pic.twitter.com/HVwgeG72p1 Christine Mai-Duc (@cmaiduc) February 24, 2019 anh.do@latimes.com Twitter: @newsterrier He also points out that the workplace may become key to the problem or solution for loneliness for those who spend a lot of time there and have few social ties outside of work. The Cigna study also mentions that. John Cacioppo, a prominent psychologist, has written extensively about loneliness and has a book out Human Nature and the Need For Social Connection. He says there is today a worldwide epidemic of disconnection that until now has been regarded as little different than a personal weakness or a distressing state with no redeeming features, in other words not to be discussed in public. This is much like depressions history in all societies over centuries. There is nothing trivial, comical or poignantly romantic about being lonely. Other opinions wax that loneliness comes from a loss of self worth and being valued by someone. I would side with that. Opinions are like bellybuttons: everyone has one. This is a tough subject to define, discuss, and treat or help. Many social networks like churches, clubs or lodges are support groups for folks, but maybe not as much today as in the past. Calling someone, writing a note, or now sending an email can be significant therapy. My opinion is that we should recall front porches on summer nights. How well I remember after supper in the twilight, folks and families coming out to perch on porches until other neighbors appeared. Then one or the other would wander over to chat about stuff. You kept in touch. You learned things about your neighbors even if you didnt always agree. But you belonged to and cared for each other. Were not going back to those hot summer nights and root beer floats. But we need a modern version of front porch communication, not electronic isolation. My opinion. Your opinion? Frank A. Bures is a semi-retired dermatologist in Winona. Love 6 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 MAPLE GROVE, Minn. Magdalene Menyongars day starts with a 5:30 a.m. conference call with women from her church. They pray together as Menyongar makes breakfast and drives to work, reflecting on everything they are thankful for. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/2/2019 (854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. MAPLE GROVE, Minn. Magdalene Menyongars day starts with a 5:30 a.m. conference call with women from her church. They pray together as Menyongar makes breakfast and drives to work, reflecting on everything they are thankful for. But lately, the prayers have turned to matters of politics and immigration. They pray with increasing urgency for Congress or U.S. President Donald Trump to act before Menyongar, 48, faces deportation to her native Liberia, where she fled civil war nearly 25 years ago. In less than six weeks, the order that has allowed her and more than 800 other immigrants from the former American colony in West Africa to live in the United States for decades will end, the result of Trumps decision last year to terminate a program that every other president since George H.W. Bush supported. Come March 31, Menyongar will face a choice: return to Liberia and leave behind her 17-year-old daughter, an American citizen; or stay in the United States, losing her work authorization and becoming an undocumented immigrant. "Its hard to think about because you have built a life," said Menyongar, who works as a certified nursing assistant. "Maybe its part of my brain that I try to block out. When I think about it, all I do is pray." Menyongar is among thousands of Liberian immigrants who were given temporary permission to stay in the United States in 1999, when president Bill Clinton implemented "deferred enforced departure." DED was routinely extended by previous administrations but is set to end under Trumps effort to terminate programs for immigrants without permanent status, which also has endangered Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and temporary protected status for immigrants from 10 other countries. Temporary protected status, or TPS, was established by Congress in 1990 for citizens of countries suffering from war, environmental disaster, health epidemics or other unsafe conditions. They are given temporary permission to work in the United States and travel abroad without fear of deportation. A class-action lawsuit filed Feb. 12 in a federal court in California seeks to block the Trump administration from ending TPS for immigrants from Honduras and Nepal. In October, a federal judge in the same court issued an injunction that stalled the end of TPS for citizens of four other countries. But that court action does not apply to the smaller and lesser-known DED program, which operates purely at the presidents discretion and gives no statutory basis on which to sue. Without a change of heart from the president or new legislation from Congress Liberians living in the United States under DED will lose their work authorization and become subject to deportation. Instead of self-deporting, many are expected to stay in the United States in hopes of getting a hearing in immigration courts, a process that could take years. Trump has made curtailing illegal immigration a central tenet of his agenda, saying in his State of the Union address this month that immigrants should come to the United States "in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally." But critics say his move to end protection for Liberians, leaving them undocumented after decades in the country legally, reflects an immigration policy that is capricious and, at worst, driven by racial bias. "There comes a point where even if relief started as temporary, it needs to end with some possibility for permanence," said Royce Murray, managing director of programs at the American Immigration Council, an advocacy group. "These are people who have built their lives here, have invested in their communities and are raising American citizens." Last week, a group of DED holders from Minnesota travelled to Washington to lobby representatives, and Democrats have responded with legislative efforts. Rep. Dean Phillips, a freshman Democrat who represents Menyongars Minnesota district, pushed unsuccessfully for a DED provision to be included in the spending bill Trump signed. In addition, Sen. Jack Reed reintroduced a narrow bill he has pushed in every session of Congress since 1999 to offer Liberians with DED a chance to apply for permanent residency. A spokesman for Rep. Nydia Velazquez told the Washington Post the New York Democrat is working to include similar provisions in a broader immigration bill to be unveiled in the coming weeks. Opponents of the programs say they have outlasted their original intent, to provide temporary protection, and represent a misuse of executive authority. RJ Hauman, government relations director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favours reduced immigration and greater enforcement, calls DED and TPS "flagrant abuses of our immigration system." "Both of these temporary designations have been on autopilot for years, with one unmerited, open-ended extension after another," Hauman said. "These individuals should return to their homeland, which has since recovered, and use their skills to enrich Liberian society." Like many Liberians who fled their countrys back-to-back civil wars between 1989 and 2003, Menyongar applied for asylum when she arrived in America in 1994. Her request was denied when she was unable to reach relatives in Liberia to get proof of her family ties to a politician there, whose prominence she feared would make her a target should she return. She was able to remain in the United States under TPS until 1999, when the program expired for Liberians and DED was created to extend protection to about 10,000 people at the time. Liberians dont have to register with the federal government to qualify for DED, so theres no reliable count of how many people depend on the program. But as of March 2018, approximately 840 had work authorization under DED, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Liberians must have lived in the United States continuously since 2002 or earlier to qualify. Most of the original DED beneficiaries have since left the country, died or gained permanent status, Murray said. She estimates as many as "a few thousand" may remain in the country but have not renewed their optional work permits, which cost a total of US$495 in annual fees. Photos by Jenn Ackerman / Washington Post Magdalene Menyongar (right) and her daughter, Gabby, in their home in Maple Grove, Minn. Magdalene prays she wont have to leave her daughter, an American citizen, behind and return to Liberia. Permanent residency can come through political asylum, marriage to a U.S. citizen, family ties or an employers sponsorship. Menyongars husband, also a Liberian immigrant, died in 2011. Her attorney has advised that her surest option for a green card would be sponsorship by their daughter, Gabby Gworlekaju something the teenager cant provide until she is 21. Gabbys primary focus these days is preparing for college, possibly in Atlanta to be close to her fathers family and escape the frigid Midwest winters. She said she didnt understand that her mother could have to leave until last March, when Trump declared a one-year "wind-down period" for DED. She has told her best friend how worried she is about the situation but avoids talking about it otherwise. "Itd be a life-changing choice," Gabby said. "That would mean that my mother would have to physically be removed out of my life, and Id have to continue on. I cant even explain how I would react." Minnesota is home to the nations largest Liberian community, concentrated in the northwestern suburbs of Minneapolis. A few times each week, Menyongar makes a 20-minute drive to Bethel Robbinsdale one of several Liberian churches in the Twin Cities area where she serves as president of the womens ministry. After communion during a recent Sunday service, the band and choir struck up a euphoric tune while Menyongar joined the congregation in dancing through the pews. Dressed in a brightly coloured jumpsuit and a turquoise head wrap, she exchanged handshakes and hugs along the way. "The church is my second family," Menyongar said. "Its like a support system that we have for each other." At one point during the two-hour service, the worship paused so a church member could announce an upcoming rally at the state capitol to raise the alarm about the end of DED. Later, Rev. Natt Friday led a prayer for those affected. Friday knows Menyongar isnt the only member of his church who could face deportation, but he cant say for sure how many will. Many keep their immigration status secret. "These people, if you grant them permanent residence, they are going to be so patriotic," Friday said. "The burden would be lifted off their shoulders to know that they can finally live a normal life." Liberian immigrants have taken prominent positions in Minneapolis and its suburbs, such as Brooklyn Center, which recently elected its first Liberian-born mayor. They moved in part for the job market a shortage of nurses and other health-care workers drew many, like Menyongar, to work in hospitals and assisted-living facilities. Mary Tjosvold, who owns group homes for seniors and people with disabilities, employs more than 150 Liberians. Although she does not track how many of her employees are protected by DED, she said losing even a few workers would have wide ripple effects. "People have had these jobs for a long time. Theyre important parts of businesses," Tjosvold said. "On an economic basis, it doesnt make any sense, no matter what you think politically." An end to the policy also has economic implications abroad. Remittances sent from those working in the United States to their relatives in Liberia act as "a source of de facto foreign aid," said Paul Wickham Schmidt, a former immigration judge and current adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School. Menyongar works a combined 60-plus hours each week at two nursing homes, and her paycheques support her 97-year-old mother and other relatives in Liberia. Schmidt said the idea that Liberians losing DED will self-deport is unrealistic. "My experience is that most people go home not because theyre threatened, but because they deem it in their overall best socioeconomic interest," he said. "A lot depends on what faces you at home, which is why this administrations policy doesnt work." Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank that supports sharp immigration restrictions, argues that a president should not be able to prolong temporary programs like DED without congressional approval. Even so, he said, "When weve permitted people to lawfully reside here for decades, its practically and politically and morally problematic to say, OK, now time is up." Liberia has been emerging from war during the past 15 years and last year saw its first peaceful transfer of power since 1944. In a memorandum announcing the end of the temporary status, Trump wrote, "I find that conditions in Liberia no longer warrant a further extension of DED." Menyongar strongly disagrees with that assessment, citing violent crime, poor health care and infrastructure, and a lack of jobs in explaining why she could not return to her country of birth. "The Liberia that I knew and grew up in is not the Liberia of today," she said. Washington Post Before merchants roll up their security gates and boot up their cash registers each morning, Arla Anderson and Ruth Stefanson have finished their days business at the citys largest shopping mall. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/2/2019 (854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Before merchants roll up their security gates and boot up their cash registers each morning, Arla Anderson and Ruth Stefanson have finished their days business at the citys largest shopping mall. Instead of indulging in retail therapy, the cousins have caught up on a bit of social networking and some physical activity during their two-hour morning stop at CF Polo Park Shopping Centre. "This is like a job for us," explains Anderson, 79, who leaves her Crestview-area home at 7 a.m. to drive to Polo Park. "I dont know what I would do if I didnt come here," adds Stefanson, 83, who lives in St. James. "I would be lost." Gloria Macdangdang (left), Carmen Eisma, and Lydia Sylvia have breakfast together after their morning walk. Anderson and Stefanson walk several laps around the mall five mornings a week, and then grab the same table in the upper level food court to catch up over a cup of coffee. Often theyre joined by mall friend Shirley Hoban, who travels to Polo Park by bus. "Theres a purpose when you get up in the morning," Hoban, 83, says of her daily walk. Polo Park is home to a committed group of mall walkers, who hoof it from end-to-end multiple times before retailers open for business at 10 a.m., says general manager Peter Havens. Mall doors open at 7 a.m. "Its free, its climate-controlled, the floors are smooth without transitions," Havens says of the attractions of walking inside in winter. "You can walk fairly far, but if they (the walkers) need a break, the benches are there." Walkers of all ages traverse the tiled floors alone or in small groups. Some wear exercise gear, and others make the circuit in casual clothes. Bill Polvorosa (left) and Armand Tesoro take a break from hiking around Portage Place mall. Havens says the mall provides a coat rack for walkers on the second level, although some people prefer parking their parkas at a favourite food court table or locking coats and valuables in their car and making a chilly dash into the mall. A full lap, which involves walking along the outer edge of the malls wide hallways and into every nook and bump out, measures about a mile, or 1.6 kilometres, says Danis Thompkins, 63, who makes five rounds of the mall after walking about 7 kilometres to Polo Park from his west Winnipeg home. Putting on about 30,000 steps daily, Thompkins says walking saved his health by lowering his blood pressure and burning up excess weight. "I was so fat I couldnt even bend over to tie my shoes," he says of where he started five-and-a-half years ago. Now down more than 45 kilograms, Thompkins starts his daily trek at home at 4 a.m., pausing at 9 a.m. to meet with a bunch of friends at one of the small tables near a main floor coffee shop. "Theres a group everywhere, so you find a group you mesh with," he says of the socializing that occurs after walkers complete their laps. Cousins Arla Anderson (left) and Ruth Stefanson catch up over coffee after their morning walk. Those connections also happen informally after walkers pass each on the same circuit regularly. Gloria Macdangdang started walking alone two years ago, but soon joined up with a half a dozen other Filipino women each day. "We just met here," she explains, gesturing to the women seated at the round table at the food court. "We just talked and smiled." That same sort of chance encounter developed into a strong friendship between 75-year-old Armand Tesoro, and Marc Gregoire, 58. "I met Armand because he pulled me aside and asked what I did," recalls Gregoire, who started walking for fitness reasons after a shoulder injury ended his construction career. "When I see him, I might slow down and walk a couple of rounds with him." Tesoro alternates between working out at the Reh-Fit Centre on Taylor and walking laps with his wife Erlinda at Polo Park. The Charleswood residents used to walk in Assiniboine Park, but allergies drove them indoors. >Ruth Stefanson walks at Polo Park before the shops open. Gregoire witnessed the strong social connections his late father-in-law made by walking the mall, and he now understands the benefits of following in those footsteps. "If you put exercise and socializing together, it makes a healthy mind and a healthy spirit," he explains. Even if they dont have coffee or breakfast together later, fellow walkers acknowledge each other, and notice if someone is missing for several days in a row, says Leslie Holden, who walk five laps or 10,000 steps every morning before heading to work at Polo Park Hearing Centre, the family business located in the malls lower level. "I was away for three weeks and when I got back it was welcome back," she says of responses from fellow mall walkers. Holden usually walks alone, but frequently meets up with West End resident Dianne Malinoski, another solo walker, who used to walk with her mother, until she died four years ago at age 98. "Everyone sort of talks with each other," says Malinoski, 75. "You check up with each other and when people are away, you wonder." As widows living alone, their daily meet-ups at the mall offers a social lifeline for Anderson and Stefanson, who joke that no one would notice if they died during the night. Unless other appointments call them away, they remain committed to continuing the daily circuit they started 20 years ago. "God willing, we are here tomorrow," says Stefanson. Do you have a special place you meet and build community in Winnipeg? Email your story idea to brenda@suderman.com A man died of gunshot wounds following an officer-involved shooting in West Broadway on Saturday, according to the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, although details remain sketchy. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/2/2019 (854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A man died of gunshot wounds following an "officer-involved shooting" in West Broadway on Saturday, according to the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, although details remain sketchy. Police vehicles and crime scene tape blocked off the front and back of an apartment building at 182 Colony St. as of 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon. IIU investigators were inside the building, according to police outside. When exactly the shooting took place is unclear, wrote IIU spokesperson Barbara Czech in an email. "However, (the Winnipeg Police Service) immediately notified IIU and IIU investigators were deployed to the scene," she wrote. Joseph Towongo, who lives nearby, said he returned home from work at about noon on Saturday to find the street closed off by police. Hes lived in the area for four years, and said he considers the neighbourhood safe. But local resident Andrei, who declined to give his last name, said hes noticed more police in the area recently, citing a late January standoff in a Colony Street apartment in which a man allegedly held a woman hostage. "Of course it concerns me, and I wish police, especially later at night, they check the area more often," he said. The IIU says it will release more details about the shooting on Monday. Saturdays shooting is the third officer-involved shooting this year. The first occurred on Jan. 9, an assault victim flagged down police near McLeod Avenue and Raleigh Street in North Kildonan. The victim described an assault with an edged weapon and police began searching for three suspects fleeing in a vehicle. After the chase was called off due to excessive speed, more cruisers cornered the suspect vehicle at Panet Road and Nairn Avenue. The suspect vehicle rammed the police blockade, at which point police opened fire. Another blockade was set up near Marion Street and Archibald Street, where the suspects made a vain attempt to flee by driving on railway tracks. Three suspects, two men and one woman, were taken into custody. One, a 23-year-old man, was found suffering from a gunshot wound. He was treated in hospital and released back into custody. One officer was injured when he was struck by a moving train, though his injuries were not described as life-threatening. The second officer-involved shooting occurred Jan. 11. Officers encountered a man acting suspiciously in the Sargent Avenue and Maryland Street area. The man fled but the officers later found the man in a nearby vacant where police fired their weapons. Officers provided medical assistance to the victim, including CPR. The man died after being taken to hospital. The IIU is probing both shootings, as well. solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca @sol_israel Officials seized illegal edible marijuana products at the HempFest Cannabis Expo Saturday, taking the buzz off one entrepreneurs attempt at pushing the boundaries. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/2/2019 (854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Officials seized illegal edible marijuana products at the HempFest Cannabis Expo Saturday, taking the buzz off one entrepreneurs attempt at "pushing the boundaries." Blair, who declined to give his last name, received a $2,542 ticket from LGCA for "unauthorized sale of cannabis." As two staff from the Liquor, Cannabis and Gaming Authority of Manitoba seized packages of cannabis-infused gummies from his booth and placed them into evidence bags, Blair explained what happened. "They warned us that there wasnt to be any THC sold, and being somebody thats been part of pushing the boundaries thats helped bring cannabis to legalization, I continued to push," he said. "We had them hidden, but not hidden well enough." Blair said his company is trying to get licensed by Health Canada to sell cannabis and hes worried the ticket might affect his ability to get a security clearance. "I dont feel great, thats for sure," he said. "I guess Im glad that its a ticket, and not handcuffs. Thats sort of progress." The seized gummies from Blairs booth contained both cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating chemical compound produced by the cannabis plant, and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), another cannabis-derived compound that gets users high. Both chemical compounds are controlled substances that require a government licence to legally produce and sell. "While it is non-intoxicating, CBD still does have an effect on the body and brain," wrote Health Canada spokesman Eric Morrissette in a statement. "Health Canada has taken a precautionary approach to the regulation of cannabis as there are still questions around its long-term effects of its use." Many HempFest Cannabis Expo exhibitors on Saturday afternoon seemed to have no trouble selling products that contained CBD but no THC. Mathew Monasterski, director and CEO of Cannafam, said he spoke to the LGCA staff about the wide variety of CBD products he was selling. He said the officials told him they werent prioritizing the regulation of non-intoxicating, CBD-only products without THC. (The LGCA staff at the expo said they werent authorized to speak to the media, and LGCA did not provide further comment on Saturday.) "It has 0.01 per cent THC content or less," said Monasterski, describing the CBD tinctures, vape pens, teas, lip balms, oral sprays and bath balms he was selling. "So why is that something that they would want to control?" Vendors were warned not to sell products containing THC, but one entrepreneur couldn't resist "pushing the boundaries." Monasterski said the CBD in his products was derived from hemp, a variety of cannabis thats bred to contain almost no THC. He doesnt believe hemp-derived CBD should fall under the same legal restrictions as other cannabis products, but was still aware that there could be legal consequences for selling it. "But the thing is, theres a lot of senior citizens out there that need this product, and those (licensed) stores do not have it," he said. "So what are they supposed to do? Go back on their opiates? Go die? Thats unacceptable for me." HempFest Cannabis Expo founder and CEO Sacha Hockenhull said LGCA officials arrived on the scene at the RBC Convention Centre even before the expo opened at 1:00 on Saturday. The LGCA spoke with vendors about which products were and werent acceptable to sell, he said. "Were actually all confused, a little, and everybodys kind of asking the same question and trying to get to the bottom of what is OK and whats not," he said, adding that the expos policy was to do whatever provincial regulators asked. Mark O., who did not provide his full last name, was selling vaporizer cartridges full of CBD cannabis oil at the expo under the "Kush Oil" brand name. Mark conceded that the products werent licensed by Health Canada, and that selling them violated the Cannabis Act. Still, he said his customers needed the cartridges, pointing out that Health Canada still hasnt passed the regulations that will allow people to purchase vaporizable cannabis oils. "So there is a need for it. THC is one thing, but when youre looking at the medicinal side weve got lots of customers all across Canada who depend on us," he said. Mark said he was aware of the potential legal consequences for selling unauthorized cannabis products. "Wed like to be doing this legally," he said. "Weve filed all the applications, paid all the fees. And now were just waiting. If you give us a licence, well gladly do this legally." Thaddeus Conrad, founder and president of Med-Man Brand, said LGCA officials ticketed him Saturday for selling products that he wasnt actually selling. The products were for the personal medical use of himself and his booth staff, Conrad said. "They found a bunch of products that Im licensed to hold, and every single volunteer and every single one of my staff were actually allowed to have there. And they literally confiscated it all." Conrad plans to contest the ticket in court. solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca @sol_israel HALIFAX - One by one, seven small white caskets were carried inside a cavernous waterfront hall on Saturday, where thousands of mourners gathered for an emotional embrace of grieving parents who lost their children in a devastating house fire. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/2/2019 (855 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Firefighters investigate following a house fire in the Spryfield community in Halifax on February 19, 2019. Mourners will descend upon a large Halifax venue today for the funeral of seven Syrian children who died in a fast-moving house fire. The service for the Barho children will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Cunard Centre on the city's waterfront. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese HALIFAX - One by one, seven small white caskets were carried inside a cavernous waterfront hall on Saturday, where thousands of mourners gathered for an emotional embrace of grieving parents who lost their children in a devastating house fire. Seven black hearses lined up under the cold winter sun, the caskets brought inside the Cunard Centre by an honour guard. As they filled a stage, a heartrending sobbing could be heard, the anguish of a woman who lost all of her children in Tuesday's fast-moving fire, and whose husband was in hospital being treated for severe burns. Mourners offered love and support to Kawthar Barho, who arrived in Canada with her family 18 months ago as Syrian refugees. But the overwhelming devastation of losing seven children in one night from an infant baby to a teenager hung heavy over the funeral. "I've done many funerals but nothing like this, so please bear with me," an overwhelmed Sheikh Hamza said as he offered the ceremony's English sermon. More than 2,000 people attended the two-hour service, with every seat filled and hundreds more people standing. Imam Abdallah Yousri said he hoped opening the ceremony to the public would allow Barho to see the entire community had been united in sympathy. "On what is our darkest day, we see the best of humanity when we look out into the sea of faces in front of us," said Natalie Horne, vice-president of the community group that sponsored the Barhos' refugee claim. "Our lives were enriched as a result of our relationship with you and your children," Horne told Barho through tears. "We love them and we love you." Many of those gathered openly wept when the children's names were read: Teenager Ahmad; Rola, 12; Mohamad, 9; Ola, 8; Hala, 3; Rana, 2; and Abdullah, who was born in Canada on Nov. 9. "Together our community will find ways to honour your memories," the city's deputy mayor, Tony Mancini, said after reading the names. Caskets of the seven Barho siblings rest on a stage behind Halifax Fire and Police honour guard during the funeral for the Syrian refugees in Halifax on Saturday, February 23, 2019. The siblings, who died in a house fire earlier in the week, are survived by their parents. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese "I encourage each of you to use the sadness we share as a community to fuel acts of love and kindness towards our family, friends and neighbours." It was a common theme throughout the funeral a desire for the tragedy to lead to love and unity. "Life is short and temporary. Live it the best way possible," Hamza said. Nova Scotia deputy premier Karen Casey told Barho "we will not abandon you. We will not leave you alone." "Please accept our love," Casey said. "Please accept our warm embrace." Halifax MP Andy Fillmore told Barho the community would be there for her in the hard times to come. But he acknowledged it's family that brings the greatest comfort, and said the federal government is trying to bring her overseas relatives to Canada quickly. "We are working as hard as we can to get your family here as quickly as possible so they can be by your side," Fillmore said. Mourners, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, said they came because they had been deeply affected by the tragedy, and wanted to show their support for Barho as she faced unimaginable grief. "She doesn't know me, I don't know her, but I know I'm here. And she's our family their whole family is our family. I want to be here for all of them," Cindy Samson said in an interview. Adnan Aboushahla said it was a "shock for anyone not only for Muslim people, but for Christians and other religions," to witness such a tragedy. "We want to do whatever we can either give support, money, feelings, this grief," said Aboushahla. Following the funeral service, the combined honour guards of Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency and Halifax Regional Police carried each coffin back outside, one at a time, to the waiting hearses. There was to be a burial at a Muslim cemetery in Hammonds Plains following the funeral. Peter Andrews, Halifax fire deputy chief of operations, said it was a "huge honour to be invited to participate in this family's darkest day." He said none of the firefighters that responded to the horrific blaze were part of the funeral's honour guard. "We put on a brave face today," he said. "We'll grieve in our own way in the weeks ahead." The children's father, Ebraheim Barho, remained in hospital Friday recovering from extensive burns. He was in critical, but stable condition. The cause of the blaze in the Halifax suburb of Spryfield early Tuesday remains unclear. Mourner Tareq Hadhad, a Syrian refugee who founded Peace by Chocolate in Nova Scotia, said it is hard for the parents to handle all the pain by themselves. "I would say it's the most devastating period that I have ever lived, even though we lost family members back home in Syria. The loss of seven kids at once really has had a very devastating impact on the entire community here," he said. Mourner Mouna Manna praised the outpouring of support, and said the mother's burden is unimaginable. "I don't even know where to begin to imagine how this would be, to lose not one or two but seven of them all at once ... it's a huge, huge devastation," she said. The scale of the tragedy for the young family that arrived in Nova Scotia in the fall of 2017 as refugees has struck a chord with Canadians. A GoFundMe campaign had raised about $585,000 by Saturday evening. The Barho family lived in Elmsdale, a 30-minute drive north of Halifax, when they first arrived in Nova Scotia, and were embraced by residents there. They moved to the Halifax suburb of Spryfield to take advantage of language training and other immigrant services, and had planned to return to Elmsdale next month. The family was among 1,795 Syrian refugees who have come to Nova Scotia in recent years. The Trudeau government granted asylum to 40,000 Syrian refugees in 2015-16. A brutal civil war has raged across Syria since 2011, claiming more than 400,000 lives. TORONTO - In Dr. Joao Rezende-Neto's 25-year career as a trauma surgeon, he's only twice dealt with patients who insisted on forking over big bucks to buy equipment for a procedure. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/2/2019 (854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Trauma surgeon Joao Rezende-Neto poses for a photograph holding a working tracheotomy device at his office in St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019. In Dr. Joao Rezende-Neto's 25-year career as a trauma surgeon, he's only twice dealt with patients who insisted on forking over big bucks to buy equipment for a procedure. One of the times was in Brazil, where medical technology is far less advanced, and his patient needed a tracheostomy, a procedure involving an incision made in the windpipe to clear breathing obstructions. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette TORONTO - In Dr. Joao Rezende-Neto's 25-year career as a trauma surgeon, he's only twice dealt with patients who insisted on forking over big bucks to buy equipment for a procedure. One instance occurred in Brazil, where medical technology is far less advanced, and his patient needed a tracheostomy a procedure involving an incision made in the windpipe to clear breathing obstructions. The patient's family was so intent that the procedure be done with a specific device that minimizes the incision that they shelled out $5,000 to have the equipment imported. "In my trauma centre we had 10,000 traumas a year and every week we did 10 or 15 tracheostomies," Rezende-Neto recalled. "I thought this is unfair. Why can't we have this (device) for everyone?" The incident was so powerful that Rezende-Neto invented a device to make such procedures more efficient and less expensive. However, getting it approved and commercialized has come with challenges a hallmark of the clinical medicine field. Experts say the sector is ripe for technology, but doctors are often pushed towards research instead of entrepreneurship, and can find themselves lacking funding and support, leaving ideas for more efficient devices and cost-saving innovations unrealized. In the age of hallway medicine, patients and the Canadian health care system are left to pay the price. A 2016 Industry Canada study showed the country exports about $3.1 billion in medical device technology, including pacemakers, surgical tools and catheters, but imports far more about $8.6 billion. "To get a (medical) idea to a final product is extremely complicated and the hurdles are very high," Rezende-Neto said. "Maybe doctors are discouraged to carry on and give up when they hear about the approvals you have to do." For Rezende-Neto to get his device closer to market, he started a company called Inventorr with St. Michael's Hospital surgeon-in-chief Ori Rotstein and entrepreneur Chris Bass. They successfully tested their device in humans and animals, but still felt the need to turn to the Biomedical Zone, a four-year-old partnership between St. Michael's and Ryerson University in Toronto, which aims to provide guidance, support and access to doctors to health technology startups. Among the dozens of companies it has supported are Pilly, a prescription delivery service; RetiSpec, the creator of a tool for detecting Alzheimer's disease through the eyes; Marion Surgical, which makes a virtual reality surgery simulator; and HelpWear Wearable Technologies, which invented a what does this mean? electrocardiogram that can be worn on a wrist or arm. Dr. Linda Maxwell, the zone's founding director and a plastic surgeon, is adamant about startups she courts needing to have a clinical focus because of resistance it faces. "The culture is changing, but it has not necessarily been one to want to embrace a lot of newness (because) we don't want risk and we want to minimize risk because we want patients to always do well," she said. Joseph Ferenbok, the co-director of the University of Toronto's Health Innovation Hub, said doctors who choose to be entrepreneurial know it will be harder for them to receive grants in an increasingly competitive and under-funded sector if they are not producing results quickly. Few, he said, would step away from their jobs for the uncertainty that comes with a startup, especially when most don't have a business background. But it's people like doctors and medical professionals that health tech businesses need, he said. "(If you are a startup), you can't stand outside a hospital and solicit information from people you think are patients coming out and you can't go into a ward and make sure you understand exactly the nature of the problem unless you have access like a clinician or researcher," he said. Those who do have access can still struggle, he said, as medical policies are prone to shifting frequently. "Deep science takes a lot of time to get out and a lot of money and it takes a lot of knowledge. It is not like an app where you will get a return in six months," he said. "I am not sure we are going to be experts in making huge companies that do a lot of manufacturing because we are a small market and (startups) don't have other companies to work with here. We are the incubators of ideas and companies and what we should be thinking about is how do we help these ideas incubate and sell off their products and intellectual property to others that are bigger globally but retain the talent and knowledge." Retaining that talent and knowledge is also a fixation for Maxwell, who considers Rezende-Neto who has 13 other ideas for medical devices, including a cardiac plug already in development that allows for easy temporary hemorrhage control from wounds to the heart a rarity that she desperately wants to change. She's also keen on supporting entrepreneurial medical professionals as a way to tackle a common lament in Canada's tech scene: the growing number of companies that get acquired by American firms or migrate to the U.S., taking Canadian innovation and talent with them. "It takes so long to get things to get to market and it is so expensive that for small- or even medium-sized companies, they just cannot survive in Canada," she said. "If we want to keep our Canadian companies here, they need a lot more support around them than what we currently do." Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version stated that Canada exported $3.1 million worth of medical devices in 2016. DHAKA, Bangladesh - A man who was killed while trying to hijack a commercial flight in Bangladesh was a 24-year-old passenger from a village near the capital who had been previously arrested in a kidnapping case, officials said Monday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/2/2019 (854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. BangladeshAos state-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight is seen after it made an emergency landing at the airport in Chittagong, Bangladesh, Sunday, Feb.24, 2019. A Bangladesh air force official says the flight from the capital, Dhaka, bound for Dubai made the emergency landing, after a man allegedly attempted to hijack the plane. (AP Photo) DHAKA, Bangladesh - A man who was killed while trying to hijack a commercial flight in Bangladesh was a 24-year-old passenger from a village near the capital who had been previously arrested in a kidnapping case, officials said Monday. Mufti Mahmud Khan, director of the law and media wing of Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion security agency, said the suspect was listed in its database as Md. Polash Ahmed, and had been arrested in 2012. Khan declined to provide details about the kidnapping case. Confusion remained over whether Ahmed was armed. The plane operated by Biman Bangladesh Airlines made an emergency landing in Chittagong on Sunday after the attempted hijacking, which occurred shortly after takeoff from Dhaka. The plane was headed to Dubai via Chittagong. Officials said Sunday that Ahmed was injured in an exchange of gunfire with special forces, that he had shot at them first and was armed with a pistol. Civil aviation authorities cast doubt on that account Monday. When asked about reports that Ahmed had a toy gun, ministry secretary Mohibul Haque said they didn't know whether the pistol was a toy. "We don't know if there was any exchange of gunfire," Haque said. Bangladesh civil aviation minister Mahbub Ali told reporters that Ahmed had booked a seat on the flight from Dhaka to Chittagong, and that airport surveillance video showed him going through security with other passengers. "There was no signal that he had something" when he boarded Sunday's flight, Ali said. Khan said when the agency's bomb-disposal unit reached the scene, they found that Ahmed had fake "bomb-like material." Officials said Ahmed asked to speak to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheik Hasina before dying on his way to a hospital. A police chief in Narayanganj outside Dhaka, Mohammed Moniruzzaman, first identified the suspect as 24-year-old Mohammed Polash Ahmed. Moniruzzaman said Ahmed's parents confirmed his identity, and that residents of the village where he lived said he had a "bad reputation." A police official in Chittagong, Mohammed Alauddin, said by phone that no one had yet claimed Ahmed's body from the Chittagong Medical College and Hospital mortuary. Bangladesh, a majority Muslim nation of 162 million people, has had periodic terrorist attacks in recent years, including an assault on an upscale cafe in Dhaka's diplomatic enclave in 2016 that resulted in the deaths of 22 people, including 17 foreigners. The attack prompted a swift crackdown by Hasina, with hundreds of suspected militants arrested or killed in raids across the country. The Rapid Action Battalion has been credited with reducing militant attacks, but international human rights groups blame the elite anti-crime force for the disappearances and extrajudicial killings of dozens of people allegedly involved with radical groups. This story has been corrected to fix spelling of name to Mohammed Polash Ahmed instead of Mahmud Polash Ahmed. Simi Valley reached a $21-million settlement with a man who spent more than 38 years wrongfully incarcerated in the brutal 1978 murders of a woman and her 4-year-old son, officials said. Craig Coley, 71, was released from prison in 2017 after he was pardoned by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, who said that DNA evidence and a painstaking re-investigation of the Simi Valley murders proved his innocence. The city said Saturday that the agreement would mitigate long, costly and unnecessary legal proceedings. Simi Valley will be on the hook for roughly $4.9 million of the settlement, while the rest is expected to be paid by insurance and other sources, officials said. While no amount of money can make up for what happened to Mr. Coley, settling this case is the right thing to do for Mr. Coley and our community, City Manager Eric Levitt said in a statement. The monetary cost of going to trial would be astronomical and it would be irresponsible for us to move forward in that direction. Advertisement The state approved a separate, much smaller payout last year. Brown approved a $1.95-million payment for Coley $140 for each day he was wrongfully behind bars that marked the largest payout by the states Victim Compensation Board for an erroneous conviction. The victims were discovered by a relative who grew concerned when Rhonda Wicht didnt show up for a family get-together. The 24-year-old had been strangled with an 11-foot macrame rope, her son, Donald, smothered in his bed. Rhonda Wicht, 24, and her 4-year-old son, Donald, were killed in 1978. (Simi Valley Police Department) Coley, a Vietnam War veteran who was going through a breakup with Wicht, was held for questioning that day and ultimately charged with the two murders. He did not have a prior criminal record. A key witness against Coley was Wichts next-door neighbor, who said she heard banging noises and saw Coleys truck parked outside the apartment complex the morning of the murders. She testified that someone with medium-length hair drove it away. Another neighbor who lived downstairs told jurors that he heard noises from Wichts apartment at 5:30 a.m. At Coleys first trial, jurors spent four weeks deliberating before announcing they were deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of guilt. A second jury convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder in 1980, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. But he always maintained his innocence. A retired Simi Valley detective named Mike Bender was instrumental in pushing law enforcement agencies to reexamine the case. Advertisement Bender has said that in 2015, he caught the right ear in Browns office. A year later, Simi Valley Police Chief David Livingstone also launched an investigation, just as he was taking the helm of the department. In Coleys claim for compensation and other court filings, his attorneys and prosecutors detailed troubling inconsistencies in the evidence against him. The neighbor who heard noises from downstairs first told police, hours after the murders, that he heard the commotion not at 5:30 a.m., but an hour earlier, exactly when Coley, who worked as a night manager at a restaurant, was out socializing with former co-workers. Coley dropped one off at 4:45 a.m. The new investigation also raised questions about Wichts next-door neighbors claim that she had seen a man matching Coleys description drive away the morning of the killings. Exactly 39 years after Wichts murder, detectives returned to the neighbors apartment to peer out her window. Advertisement There was no way, they concluded, that she could have seen from her window whoever was inside a truck parked outside. But the most indisputable finding that officials said supported Coleys innocence came when detectives located DNA evidence once thought destroyed. Craig Coley when he was booked on suspicion of murder, left, and after he was informed by authorities that hed been cleared. (Simi Valley Police Department) A piece of Wichts bedsheet the night she was found dead contained another mans sperm, along with a mans epithelial cells. Coleys DNA was not found on the sheet. Advertisement Investigators also tested stains, blood and semen on a childs Mickey Mouse T-shirt that police at the time said they discovered in a pile of dirty clothes during a search of Coleys apartment after the murders. New tests on the shirt revealed the boys DNA, as well as the sperm of several individuals. None of them matched Coley. Soon after Coley was pardoned, a judge declared him factually innocent. Simi Valley police have not arrested anyone else in the killings. Ron Kaye, an attorney representing Coley, said the settlement offers some closure and vindication for his client, though no amount of money can compensate him for the life he missed while imprisoned. He now can live the rest of his life, which we hope will be really well into the future, with the security he deserves, Kaye said. Advertisement alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com Twitter: @AleneTchek Have any questions? Please give us a call at 701-572-2165 If the Oscars feel like a major, formal production like a 700-guest wedding, then the Spirit Awards, held the day before under a big white tent in Santa Monica, took on the role of the rehearsal dinner. The Saturday vibe was relaxed, eclectic and lively, and the fashion selected by attendees conveyed the sentiment. From Kiki Layne in Chloe to John Cho in Ermenegildo Zegna XXX, heres a rundown of the best-dressed celebrities on the beachside blue carpet and in the press room. Gemma Chan in Miu Miu Gemma Chan took a break from her press tour for Captain Marvel to glitz up the stage in a sequined gown by Miu Miu that mixed pink and yellow colorblocking with demure cap sleeves and side cutouts. Diamond earrings by Ana Khouri refined her soft updo. Advertisement Elsie Fisher in Paul Smith A David Bowie-rock n roll vibe was how Elsie Fishers stylist, Mary Inacio, described the inspiration for the 15-year-old actress graphic suit-and-shirt combo by Paul Smith. For the rest of the look, including hair, makeup and accessories (Freda Salvador shoes, Mulberry handbag and Karen Walker sunglasses), they turned to Kurt Cobain for aesthetic cues. To commemorate her characters catchphrase in Eighth Grade, she added a custom lapel pin, shaped as her characters Gucci hand-sign, by Ten Thousand Things. Glenn Close in Sies Marjan Glenn Closes stardom shone ever brighter in a shiny pink suit crinkled just so for a glam-rock look. Skin-toned heels by Jimmy Choo and a tan camisole from Fleur du Mal provided a discreet foundation. Working with stylist Chloe Hartstein, she accentuated her eye-catching get-up, made custom for her by Sies Marjan, with designs by jeweler Ana Khouri geometric diamond earrings and an angular diamond and ruby ear cuff, both made with 18-karat fair-mined white gold and ethically sourced gemstones. Although her daughter, The Wife co-star Annie Starke, also attended the ceremony, Close walked the blue carpet and visited the press room with her dog, Pip Close. Kiki Layne in Chloe Kiki Layne continued to revel in the 60s fashion she wore in her star-making turn in If Beale Street Could Talk. Her white maxidress by Chloe incorporated subtle but deft detailing such as a shirred turtleneck, cape sleeves and colorful stones dotting the panel softly framing her torso. The bold gold earrings were also by Chloe. Bunched into mini buns, her hairstyle by Larry Sims took the shape of a natural crown. The strappy white sandals by Gianvito Rossi added a lightness to the ensemble. Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie in Delpozo New Zealand-born actress Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie abandoned the gritty outdoors from Leave No Trace, for which she was nominated in a supporting role, to epitomize youthful grace. The 18-year-olds pink strapless dress by Delpozo was whimsically enhanced with purple and yellow appliques trailed by ivory-colored streamers. The delicate ear cuff and studs by EF Collection and Dana Rebecca Designs complemented her simple hairstyle and sleek pointy heels from Christian Louboutin. The softly smudged magenta eye shadow let her blue eyes pop. Advertisement Mens looks Lakeith Stanfield in Thom Browne Lakeith Stanfields slim Thom Browne suit could barely hold his big personality. The mesmerizing black-and-white pattern was edged with dark piping. A white turtleneck maintained the streamlined silhouette. Rectangular sunglasses by Karen Walker and gold chains enhanced the Sorry to Bother You actors swagger. John Cho in Ermenegildo Zegna XXX The leading man from Searching showed how to bring streetwear to the blue carpet in a light gray suit by Ermenegildo Zegna XXX. The stripes on his pullover zigzagged slyly to tone down the prep factor. If one is to wear white sneakers to a formal event, make sure that they are crisp and fresh as John Chos are. Advertisement Richard E. Grant Richard E. Grant was a winner onstage for his supporting role in Can You Ever Forgive Me? as well as on the blue carpet. In fact, blue was the color of choice for his suit, vest, shoes and laces. His pristine white shirt leavened the blue tones. And his decision to eschew a tie lent a hip authorial aura to his look. Finn Wolfhard in Darkoh and Etro Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard kept it together with casual flair in a multicolored paisley-print shirt by Etro buttoned to the top under a burgundy jacket and tab-front trousers, both by Darkoh. His curly hair was tousled in a similar tint. Black shoes from Tods put the teen on sure footing with industry veterans many years his senior. Advertisement Brian Tyree Henry in Talia, Untuckit and Paige Denim Brian Tyree Henry showed how he knows his way around accessories, flaunting a black pocket square, looping beads around his wrist and dangling ombre-like stones from his neck. Although the If Beale Street Could Talk actor didnt bother to tuck in his black shirt into his Paige jeans (the shirt was from Untuckit, after all), his blue patterned jacket from Tallia gave him enough polish for the awards ceremony. image@latimes.com Advertisement For fashion news, follow us at @latimesimage on Twitter. What does pure joy look like on screen? Stanley Donen gave us no shortage of possible answers. Fred Astaire suavely defying the laws of gravity in Royal Wedding is one. The marvelously inventive barn-dancing number in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is another. By now it feels almost unnecessary to mention Gene Kelly in Singin in the Rain, splashing up a storm in a sequence of such iconic power it could justify the invention of motion pictures all by its glorious lonesome. There are less obvious possibilities too. Theres Kelly dangling his sailor buddy from the top of the Empire State Building in On the Town, and also Kelly and his ex-G.I. buddies dancing with garbage-can lids strapped to their feet in Its Always Fair Weather. Theres Audrey Hepburn adrift in the Paris of Funny Face and Charade, or bickering with Albert Finney as they tear their way through the countryside in Two for the Road. Can a marital squabble be a joyful experience? In company like this, it can. The world feels less joyful without Donen, the director and choreographer who, until his death Thursday at age 94, was one of Hollywoods last remaining links to its storied golden age. A kid from Columbia, S.C., who fell in love with the movies at an early age and quickly sought refuge in them, he began as a stage dancer before becoming a choreographer and eventually a director. His filmography is one of boundless pleasures, of ebullient miracles casually and generously given, graced by a sophisticated lightness of touch and a delicate wit that seem to have all but vanished from American movies. Stanley Donen, co-director of Singin in the Rain, dies at 94 Advertisement I remember seeing those qualities on full display in the charming Cheek to Cheek soft shoe routine that a 73-year-old Donen performed at the 1998 Oscars ceremony, where he received an honorary Academy Award. It may have been a lovelier moment than the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences deserved, given that it had never nominated him for a competitive directing prize. But then, as Donen himself noted in his acceptance speech, directing wasnt so hard. Im gonna let you in on the secret of being a good director, he said. For the script, you get Larry Gelbart or Peter Stone, or Huyck and Katz or Frederick Raphael, like that. If its a musical, for the songs, you get George and Ira Gershwin, or Arthur Freed and Herb Brown, or Leonard Bernstein and Comden and Green, or Alan Lerner and Fritz Loewe, like that. And then you cast Cary Grant or Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Sophia Loren, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Gregory Peck, Elizabeth Taylor, Burt Reynolds, Gene Hackman or Frank Sinatra! Like that! And when filming starts, he said, you show up and you stay the hell out of the way. But youve gotta show up. Youve gotta show up, otherwise you cant take the credit and get one of these fellas. He was being self-effacing, of course. But there may have been a deeper layer of truth to his words. Donen was a master at conceiving and using screen space, and the most sublime passages in his movies are marked by a tremendous sense of fluidity and visual freedom: Its not just that the camera is always in the right place, but that the very world seems to have opened up around it. For Donen, perhaps staying the hell out of the way meant clearing a path for the material, allowing it to find its truest shape and most beautiful expression. It wasnt a passive act, but one that demanded enormous creativity and intense discipline. He learned as he went. For Charles Vidors Cover Girl (1944), it was Donen, an uncredited assistant choreographer, who helped conceive the elaborate visual trickery that allowed Gene Kelly to dance with his ghostly reflection in the Alter Ego number. Donen and Kelly launched their famous (and famously combative) collaboration as co-directors with the glorious On the Town (1949), which remains a notable early example of a feature-length musical shot extensively on location. Without its New York backdrops, the picture would surely have had little of the same integrity, or the same sense of wide-open possibility. To watch Donens movies is to see a genius of craft evolving alongside his medium, tinkering with the form and pushing against its assumed boundaries. Finding ingenious solutions to daunting technical challenges undoubtedly brought about some of his best-remembered sequences, like Astaires Youre All the World to Me number in Royal Wedding, or the delectably naughty split-screen that allows Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman to almost-but-not-quite share a bed in the romantic drama Indiscreet. (Donens glee at pulling a fast one on the censors with that one is palpable and impossible not to share.) A scene from the 1954 musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. (MGM) Advertisement That may partly explain why Singin in the Rain, with its unassailable reputation as the greatest of Hollywoods musicals, remains the directors most enduring and fully realized work. The story itself is a paean to collective problem solving: Hilariously spoofing the mediums difficult shift from silents to talkies, the movie follows an inventive, high-spirited group of filmmakers as they find a brilliant way to repurpose old material. That plot summary, of course, also describes the improbably grand achievement of Donen, Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald OConnor and screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green themselves, who took an old MGM song list (furnished by producer Arthur Freed, the mastermind) and spun it into a wondrously coherent fever dream of the movies. A picture like Singin in the Rain, boasting so many disparate yet beautifully harmonized contributions, might seem to gently refute the auteur theory, as did a lot of productions that came off the MGM musical assembly line. Donens Oscar acceptance speech may have been his own statement of anti-auteurist principles, his reminder that his own style invariably melded with those of his performers, choreographers and other key collaborators. But then, how to account for the unmistakable Donen touch the teasing, delicate hand with romance, the exquisite melding of humor and melancholy, the insistence on visual rapture that can clearly be seen and even more clearly felt? His work beyond MGM, from the sparkling Hitchcockian bauble Charade to the goofy Old Hollywood parody Movie Movie, shows its own restlessly creative streak, an impish gift for appropriating and reconstituting classic forms. Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney in the 1967 film Two for the Road. (L.A. Times file photo) Advertisement And also responding to new ones. Two for the Road, his 1967 triumph with Hepburn and Finney (the latter of whom died earlier this month), was the directors tribute to the creative energy and jumpy vitality of the French New Wave. An impossibly brittle and tender portrait of the dissolution of a marriage, the movie is Donen in gorgeous fragments, zigging and zagging its way through time and into your heart. It has all the surface beauty of his earlier movies, all the color, sophistication and glamour that had become his signature, but this time with a piercing undertow of uncertainty and regret. Its a reminder that Stanley Donen didnt just show up; he showed us how it could be done like that. From the archives: Stanley Donen made film sing but never got an Oscar nomination justin.chang@latimes.com Last year The Bahamas Government bought a failing hotel in Freeport, Grand Bahama to help rescue the economy up there. Some six months later, if we are honest we really don't know how and if the government can "flip" the property to a private investor. The wider issues discussed in this post from last year remain relevant, and now we must provide a thorough accounting of the tax dollars spent to date in an effort to complete a tax benefit analysis. If nothing else it will help future policy makers with their decision making. Politicians get caught in a whirlwind of opinion (sometimes of their own making) to prove their "concern" for the people of Grand Bahama by rejuvenating the economy but does buying a defunct hotel meet that objective? Of course it doesn't. Sure a "grand project" like buying a bankrupt hotel gives the impression the government is "concerned and helping" while in reality it is increasing the future tax burden for everyone. So what pray tell is the answer? To summarise Josef Filipowicz and Steve Lafleur from this article: To start, simplified, across-the-board tax policy and a reduced regulatory burden is a better approach. The web of red tape businesses have to face "means more resources allocated to regulatory compliance and less allocated to growing their businesses. By streamlining or reducing regulation, government can help firms focus on what matterscreating jobs and growing the economy." Of course these moves are met with crowing from political opponents but the governments role is setting policies to attract business, local or foreign, that results in jobs and a growing economy. "...They can also help even the playing field between small businesses and larger ones, as larger businesses are better resourced to navigate complex regulations. Rather than helping todays corporate giants, why not encourage tomorrows?" The results might not been seen over night, but if building a more equitable future is what politics is about, these few policy changes will go a long way. Interesting Policy Analysis: How "Market Failure" Arguments Lead to Misguided Policy by Ryan Bourne... Paris: Tens of thousands of people have marched in Paris and other cities and dozens were arrested as France's "yellow vest" movement staged its 15th consecutive weekend of demonstrations against the government. Some 46,600 people joined the protests nationwide, including 5800 in the capital, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday. That was up from 41,500 last week, with 5000 in Paris. A protester wears a a yellow vest with a drawing depicting French President Emmanuel Macron and the word "target" during a demonstration in the streets of Paris, France, on Saturday. Credit:AP Demonstrations have generally been smaller since a peak in December when the French capital endured some of the worst rioting, vandalism and looting in decades. The protests - named after the fluorescent jackets French drivers have to carry in their cars - began in mid-November over rising fuel prices and the cost of living, but swelled into a broader movement against President Emmanuel Macron and his pro-business reforms. Bangladeshi commandos shot a passenger who had tried to enter the cockpit of a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight after waving a gun and threatening to blow up the plane, airline and aviation authority officials say. The passenger, who had said he had a personal issue with his wife and told the pilot he wanted to speak to Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, died later from the injuries suffered after the commandos stormed the plane at Chittagong's Shah Amanat International Airport on Sunday. "We tried to arrest him or get him to surrender but he refused and then we shot him," said Major General SM Motiur Rahman of the Bangladesh Army. The man's threat to blow up the plane, which was on its way to Dubai from Dhaka via Chittagong, led its pilots to make an emergency landing. A $50,000 donation was made to the WA Liberal Party by an elderly Chinese industrialist just days before one of his Australian business associates was appointed to a powerful diplomatic advisory board by former foreign minister Julie Bishop. Ms Bishop, who said on Thursday she would not contest the next election, announced the appointment of Sydney businesswoman Margaret Jack to the board of the Australia-China Council on December 12, 2016, after Hong Kong-based manufacturing mogul Sun Kin Chao deposited the cash into Liberal coffers on December 9. Former foreign minister Julie Bishop attends an Australia China Business Council (ACBC) networking event in 2018. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Ms Jack is a director and shareholder of the Australian branch of Hong Kong-headquartered manufacturing multinational Kinox Enterprises, which was founded by the 99-year-old industrialist in the 1940s. Ms Jack and Kinox Enterprises are also significant donors to the NSW Liberal Party and the Nationals. Companies controlled by Ms Jack and the Sun family have donated $127,000 to the parties over the past decade in addition to the $50,000 WA donation. Patty Delgado, 27, is founder of Hija de tu Madre, a Los Angeles company that started when she sewed a patch bearing the revered image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, plus sequins, onto a denim jacket. She started the company in 2016 exploring what it means to be Latinx, a gender-neutral term to describe the Latina and Latino community. Shes now trying to establish it as a lifestyle brand as she expands the products she offers. Career-obsessed As a child, Delgado said, she was career-obsessed. In fifth grade, she would sell pencils and Tic Tac mints to classmates, a story that her father likes to remind her of, she said. Its really embarrassing to admit that now, but you gotta do what you gotta do, she said with a laugh. When she was younger, she considered becoming a lawyer or journalist. Family businesses Delgados parents did not stifle her dreams, she said, and instead taught her how to be her own boss. Her fathers sisters own their own businesses, and her parents, who are from Jalisco, Mexico, are also business owners who have tried their hand at different ideas, she said. Ive gotten to see my parents fail at a lot of their businesses but also succeed, she said. Her parents own a business delivering tortillas to grocery stores in the L.A. area. Advertisement Finding a path Delgado attended UCLA with the intention of majoring in English but later switched to religious studies and worked at a school magazine, where she built on her graphic design skills. But the field was mostly limited to academia and working at a church, she said, and when she graduated with a bachelors degree, she had nothing lined up. I didnt really know what my ultimate career goal was, she said. She applied for graphic design internships and began building a portfolio, which led to freelancing opportunities. The lightbulb moment In 2016, while traveling, she found a colorful sequined patch of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a familiar image in Latino households, and one that reminded her of her grandmother. When she returned to L.A., she sewed it onto a denim jacket and a lightbulb went off. She felt it was something her friends who shared a similar upbringing one filled with wafting smells of beans in the house and parents with accented English would connect with. A scrappy team With no savings, she used $500 from a recent freelancing gig to buy 30 denim jackets, a one-month subscription for a website and supplies. She called her company Hija de tu Madre, the name of her travel blog. The phrase can be used endearingly when someone, typically a child, is acting up, or you say it when youre like, Damn girl, you did that, she said. She describes her companys debut as perfect in November 2016, her jacket was featured in blogs and online publications for the holiday season. The orders came rolling in, and from her parents couch in Boyle Heights, she hand-sewed more than 100 patches onto denim jackets over the course of two months. Advertisement Her father dropped the packages off at the post office, her brothers posted the labels, and her boyfriend and mother helped sew on the patches, she said. We were really scrappy, Delgado said. Dont let anyone diminish how important your work or your creativity is, because at the end of the day, this is an extension of you, Patty Delgado, founder of Hija de tu Madre Making the leap Five months after launching Hija de tu Madre, she stopped taking on graphic design clients to focus on her business, which she expanded to include jackets adorned with Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and accessories such as jewelry and phone cases. The sales were coming in, the bills were being paid, she said. So I knew that this was something that consumers wanted. I just knew the timing was right for a business like mine. Advertisement Creating a lifestyle Delgado doesnt want to just sell outerwear she wants to create a lifestyle brand. Being Latina is a lifestyle, and I think its one that you cant get anywhere else other than Hija de tu Madre, she said. Delgado said she felt larger clothing companies werent representing the Latinx community, so she set out to explore what it meant to be Latinx and the cultures within the community. She also made products that were inclusive, and her models (mainly friends) represented a variety of ages, races and sizes. She sells necklaces and jackets bearing the names of other Central and South American countries, as well as Latinx necklaces. Advertisement Becoming a jefa Despite her companys growth (she now has two paid part-time employees and has sold more than 500 jackets), Delgado said she initially struggled with taking herself and her company seriously. In the early days of Hija de tu Madre, she had people brush it aside as just a side craft project. But once she began to take herself seriously, her mentality changed. She found other Latina entrepreneurs in the area, and she leans on them for support. Delgado considers it one of the many mistakes she has made. Her advice to others who want to become jefas, or women bosses, is to take their work seriously. Advertisement Dont let anyone diminish how important your work or your creativity is, because at the end of the day, this is an extension of you, she said. Expanding into 2019 In 2018, Hija de tu Madre made a six-figure gross profit, Delgado said. Customers asked for more office products, and she complied, offering pens that say dale, or go for it, and a nameplate that reads: La Jefa. The Boss. In December, Delgado launched a 2019 planner, Echale ganas, which translates to work hard, that she spent months perfecting, choosing the right fonts, images and affirmations. Advertisement The planners, priced at $49.99, sold out in 45 minutes, she said. The second batch also sold out. This year, Delgado said she hopes to expand her product line to include footwear and swimwear. In February, she launched beauty products, which so far include a mirror and wide-tooth comb. Delgado, who recently returned from a trip to Thailand, said that although she enjoys spending time with family and friends, she is usually itching to get back to work. This is my life now, and I think that thats how you really know that you love something, she said. Politics has moved on since the last federal election. And so have the voters. There have been some intriguing shifts in what Australians rate as their key concerns since Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten faced off at the ballot box almost three years ago. The first is a heightened worry about household finances. The Ipsos Issues Monitor survey, which regularly asks a representative sample of Australians to select the three most important issues facing the nation, shows the cost of living has replaced healthcare as our number one worry. Concerns about the cost of living have risen, according to the latest Issues Monitor. Credit:Glen Hunt Voters hip-pocket nerve is always sensitive. Whats unusual is that living costs are top of mind at a time when inflation has been very low for a long time. The main driver of voters financial worries is not higher prices but an extended period of low wages growth. Julie Bishop and Kelly O'Dwyer are but two members of the Liberal Party's 80-plus strong parliamentary group but their combined departures represent an almost incalculable loss for the Liberals. And not just because the two have been such good fundraisers. Some in the new guard may be relieved that Bishop - quietly fuming on the sidelines about last year's turmoil and a possible future leadership contender - has decided to get out. Some conservatives may likewise be pleased that O'Dwyer, with her moderate views on things like climate change, won't be around after May. Of the six women in Malcolm Turnbull's first cabinet, one has left Parliament already, two others will leave at the election, and another resigned from the frontbench. Credit:Andrew Meares But without Bishop and O'Dwyer, the Liberals don't just have a "woman problem", they have an out and out woman catastrophe. Set aside the fact that Bishop was the Liberal Party's most popular MP. And that O'Dwyer, at just 41, was really just beginning to reach her potential. Malcolm Turnbull had just been chopped down by colleagues when he neatly summarised the problem his successor has spent the last six months working to resolve. "The truth is that the Coalition finds it very hard to get agreement on anything to do with emissions," Turnbull said in his final press conference as prime minister. "Emissions issues and climate policy issues have the same problem within the Coalition of bitterly entrenched views that are actually more ideological than views based on engineering and economics." Malcolm Turnbull had a dig at the Coalition's position on climate change during his final press conference as prime minister. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Turnbull had hours earlier been axed, in part, for the high crime of trying to fix Australia's unreliable energy system and lower pollution from the electricity sector. The collapse of the National Energy Guarantee amid the August leadership turmoil left the government hugely exposed on climate change, which has catapulted to a first-order issue for many Australians - including core Liberal Party supporters - after a summer of natural disasters. Climate change was also a major factor in the Wentworth byelection thrashing of October and the Victorian state election disaster in November. Logistics giant Brambles has become the latest Australian company to unveil big rewards for shareholders, as it announced it would undertake a buyback and a cash payout in the wake of the $US2.51 billion ($A3.51 billion) sale of its international plastic containers business. Brambles announced on Monday it will sell its IFCO business, which serves large grocery retailers in Europe, North America and elsewhere, to a partnership comprising the European investment firm Triton and a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, a $700 billion sovereign wealth fund owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The pallets and container firm said it entered a binding agreement to sell its IFCO business to Triton and Luxinva. Credit:Jane Dyson Brambles chief executive Graham Chipchase said the sale would allow Brambles to focus on its strategic priorities in its core markets "while also reviewing additional opportunities in emerging markets". Shares in the company spiked to their highest level in more than two years on the news, hitting an intra-day high of $12.54 before closing at $11.93, up 2.8 per cent. Fly Geyser Not Quite of this World They look as if they were taken on another planet, or at least on the set of a new and very expensive science fiction movie. Yet these pi... 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. What we saw yesterday with the burning of aid trucks, with the use of tear gas and bullets against unarmed civilians whose only purpose was to receive that aid, we understand that what we are dealing with is not the institution of a state but a bunch of hoodlums and thugs, a second senior Trump administration official said. The legislative push comes as other Latin American countries are finally reckoning with the counterinsurgency tactics used by military forces against civilians during the Cold War. In Argentina, hundreds of human rights abusers have been convicted in the past 15 years. In El Salvador, where an amnesty law was struck down in 2016, 18 military officers are on trial for the massacre of nearly 1,000 people in El Mozote in 1981 one of the worst atrocities in Latin American history. In this 2015 file photo, a masked protester displays a sign reading: "Block reclamation of Henoko Beach." AP Residents of Japan's Okinawa go to the polls Sunday in a closely watched referendum on the controversial relocation of a US military base to a remote part of the island. The vote is seen as highly symbolic but is also non-binding, raising questions about what effect it will have, even if opponents of the move, including Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, prevail. The ballot will ask residents whether they support a plan to reclaim land at a remote coastal site for the relocation of the Futenma base from its current location in a heavily-populated part of Okinawa. The referendum was initially planned as a yes-no vote on the move, but a "neither" option was added after several cities with close ties to the central government threatened to boycott the vote. Although the referendum is not legally binding, "it is significant that people in Okinawa can express their will through the vote," said Jun Shimabukuro, a professor at Ryukyu University in Okinawa. "It can be a test to gauge if democracy is working in Japan," Shimabukuro told AFP. The relocation of Futenma to Nago, 50 kilometres (30 miles) away, was first agreed in 1996 as the US sought to calm local anger after US servicemen gang raped a local schoolgirl. But the plan has long been stalled in part over local opposition. 'Making a fool of Okinawa' The Futenma base has stoked tension with local residents over problems ranging from noise and military accidents to crime involving base residents. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government says the relocation will address those concerns, but many in Okinawa want the base relocated elsewhere in Japan. They argue that the region bears a disproportionate burden when it comes to hosting US military troops in the country. Okinawa accounts for less than one percent of Japan's total land area, but hosts more than half of the approximately 47,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan. Anti-base rallies have been staged daily in Okinawa since campaigning for the referendum began in mid-February. But the vote has not stopped reclamation work at Nago, with construction workers continuing to shovel dirt into the ocean offshore with bulldozers. "We hope the referendum will boost the momentum of our fight," demonstrator Masaru Shiroma told AFP, as more than 100 fellow activists tried to block trucks entering the construction site on Friday. "The government is making a fool out of Okinawa," he added. "Our fight will continue even after the referendum, and will go on until the government gives up the plan." 'Precious votes' Polling stations open in most parts of Okinawa at 7:00 am (2200 GMT on Saturday), though some more remote parts of the chain of subtropical islands started voting earlier in the week. The ballot closes at 8:00 pm with exit polls expected soon after and official results from as early as midnight. Okinawa's governor is required to "respect" the vote's outcome if it is approved by at least a quarter of eligible voters around 290,000 votes. Tamaki has urged residents to turn out and cast their "precious votes" in the poll. An opinion poll by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper this week found 59 percent of people in Okinawa oppose the reclamation while 16 percent support it. The survey also found 80 percent of respondents want Abe's government to respect the results. But there has been little sign Abe's government will shift course if the vote goes against the move, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga saying there were no plans to halt the relocation regardless of the outcome. Japan's military alliance with the United States is seen as a key partnership, and Okinawa's location near Taiwan has long been viewed as having huge strategic importance for US forward positioning in Asia. (AFP) I think we can look at what was proposed last November, flesh it out, recognize how it relates not only to our local situation but to the whole church, and then put something together that will probably be better thought out and will do more good in the long run, Lori said. I wasnt happy in November that we couldnt do what we attempted to do, but Im now hopeful we will do the job better come June. Thats my hope and prayer. Thats the signal were getting from Rome. North Korea was the third nation to grant North Vietnam diplomatic recognition in 1950, after the Soviet Union and China, but today, Hanois relationship with Seoul is far deeper than it ever was with Pyongyang. It is founded not just on business, but also on tourism and culture, said Pham Hong Thai at the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank. K-pop and K-dramas are popular here. AmorePacific's fragrance factory in Chartres, France / Courtesy of AmorePacific Cosmetics giant rushing to unload unprofitable assets amid sluggish sales By Nam Hyun-woo AmorePacific Chairman Seo Kyung-bae Delegates at the exchange between the Vietnam Womens Union (VWU) and the Cambodian Women for Peace and Development (CWPD) (Photo: VNA) In her remarks at the event, VWU Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thu Ha recalled the Vietnamese people and militarys efforts in the fight to protect the national southwest border as well as their support for the Cambodian people in liberating the nation from the genocidal regime. After Phnom Penh was liberated, VWU sent many experts to Cambodia to help Cambodian women to consolidate and develop their union during 1979-1988, she added. Meanwhile, CWPD Vice President Mean Som An said that the historic victory on January 7th, 1979 is a joint victory of the people and armies of Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as a significant milestone in the Vietnam-Cambodia traditional relations. She added that the exchange provided a chance for both sides to look back at history, thus deepening the comprehensive and stable cooperation and sound neighbourliness between the two countries. On the occasion, the VWU and CWPD presented gifts to former Vietnamese voluntary soldiers who fought in the Cambodian battlefield. Kien Giang provinces leaders presented five scholarships, each worth VND1 million (USD43.11), to Cambodian students who are studying at Kien Giang University./. On the other side, efforts by the Taliban to hold additional meetings in Pakistan and to send new representatives to participate in the upcoming Doha meetings have run into difficulties. The Taliban unexpectedly announced two weeks ago that it would hold new peace talks in Pakistan, but the plan, which coincided with a high-profile visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Pakistan, was canceled without explanation. Sundays was the second referendum on U.S. bases in Okinawa. In 1996, there was an even more decisive vote to reduce the number of U.S. forces in Okinawa, the result of widespread anger at the rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. service members. The plan to close Futenma and move to Henoko was born out of that vote but was later beset by delays, prevarication and legal challenges. The emerging dynamic comes at the start of a closely watched two-year stretch for each party in Florida, as both see the state as an important front in the battle for control of the Oval Office. Democrats are hoping to make a comeback after their nominees for the White House, the U.S. Senate and the Florida governorship lost in the last two elections, despite initially appearing to have good odds. Kia Motors' union head Kang Sang-ho, front row second from left, speaks to reporters at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, Friday, after the court ruled in favor of the union members' demand for the company to recalculate their salary and pay the unpaid amount. Yonhap Ruling against Kia Motors to increase firms' labor expenses By Nam Hyun-woo A high court ruling ordering Kia Motors to pay 312.5 billion won ($277.8 million) to its employees in unpaid ordinary wages is unnerving many companies as they may be ordered to do the same, shouldering tens of trillions of won in additional labor costs, industry officials said Sunday. A total of 115 companies with more than 100 employees including such companies as Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mobis, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, and Hyosung are in a legal battle against their employees over ordinary wages as of last year, according to Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the Bareunmirae Party. The Seoul High Court on Friday upheld a lower court ruling that ordered Kia Motors to pay the amount after counting regular incentives and bonuses into ordinary wages, which is the standard for calculating overtime, severance and other allowances. When more salary categories are included into the ordinary wage, those allowances also increase. In 2011, 27,400 Kia Motors union members sought 1.09 trillion won from the company and the lower court recognized a part of their demand, ordering the company to pay 312.6 billion won in unpaid wages and 109.7 billion won in interest. The amount declined slightly in the high court ruling as the court excluded meal and family allowances in calculating ordinary wages. There was a disputed point in the legal battle involving the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and the courts looked into whether the union's demand is posing a serious threat to the company's management. Kia Motors management claimed the litigation is a threat and a violation of the duty, citing its deteriorating operating profit ratio, but the courts did not recognize the claim. Companies and business organizations expressed their concern over the ruling. The Korea Employers Federation (KEF) issued a statement and described the ruling as "unacceptable." "The ruling has only recognized one side's logic and ended up creating a burden for the company," said the lobby group representing managements' side. "A company's managing status is an integrated outcome of its various internal and external factors. Judging a company's status by its accounting books has its limit." The KEF continued that other carmakers in Korea are suffering difficulties due to conflicts over ordinary wages and the country's car industry is facing a crisis stemming from high labor expenses, but the ruling overlooked such a reality. The KEF anticipated that extra labor costs stemming from potential suits for companies over ordinary wages may stand at up to 38.6 trillion won. The Korea Labor Institute also estimated the additional labor costs could amount to 21.9 trillion won. "The Kia Motors ruling has set up a precedent that union workers can collect additional payments out of their wage agreement with the company," a conglomerate official said. "Korea's conventional wage system has created this fallout and there should be a clear law defining what can be recognized as ordinary wages rather than letting companies to be swayed by each case." To accelerate growth in the manufacturing sector, Korean companies have been setting base pay low and paying high incentives to enhance productivity. However, this structure became a risk to the management as courts recognize various incentives as part of the ordinary wage in a growing number of cases, experts said. "The ruling is feared to raise uncertainties over corporate management and deteriorate industrial competitiveness," Korea Economic Research Institute researcher Choo Kwang-ho said. "To prevent both management and labor from becoming victims of the envisioned ordinary wage suits, detailed directions on applying the covenant of good faith and fair are necessary." What he said was that the efforts that had been made in Singapore this commitment that Chairman Kim made have substantially taken down the risks to the American people. Its the mission of the secretary of state and the president of the United States to keep the American people secure. Were aiming to achieve that, the secretary of state said. Breaking out from the crowd is another challenge, which is one reason Inslee thinks his particular focus on climate issues will be helpful. He sees the climate message as one that could motivate and excite voters, especially younger Americans, and allow him to do what a little-known governor did four decades ago when Jimmy Carter went from dark horse to the White House, and possibly do it more swiftly, with the help of social media. About 45 minutes before Sen. Michael F. Bennet of Colorado was supposed to address the Polk County Democrats on Friday afternoon, Deb Hansen hurried to the door of Docs Lounge, a small bar nestled in a Johnston, Iowa, strip mall, lugging a portable speaker. Organizers had thought they could use the equipment from a local band for the senators remarks, but the band wasnt due until later, so Hansen and her 6-year-old granddaughter came to the rescue. Kenna Meredith snacked at a high-top table while her grandmother bustled around to help. Volunteers hung a sign welcoming Bennet, another potential presidential candidate, as a few voters trickled in and grabbed a beer. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has planted herself on the side of the realists. Asked about college affordability at a Monday CNN town hall, she replied that she does not favor free four-year college, as some of her opponents do. Instead, she said, she would make sure kids that are in need . . . can go to college and be able to afford it, and make sure that people who can afford it are able to pay. She stressed her proposal to boost Pell Grants, federal college assistance targeted at the needy. She would also offer student borrowers opportunities to refinance their loans, and she would make two-year community college free. We wonder why wealthy students would need any more help with their loans or their community college tuition, but at least Ms. Klobuchar would refuse to give rich families a free ride for four years, too. Then there is Germany, a country whose government has imposed extremely high electricity costs on its people in the name of emissions reduction but that still burns tremendous amounts of noxious brown coal. German energy consumers investment has not paid off as much as it should have, in large part because the government surrendered to anti-nuclear-power hysteria following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster. Germanys nuclear power plants produced vast amounts of electricity with no carbon dioxide emissions. But instead of keeping them open as long as possible, giving the country more time to scale up renewables, Germany is shutting them early. The nations investments in renewable energy have gone to filling this loss of zero-carbon electricity generation, rather than to retiring coal plants. Spurning a major carbon-free energy source is an irrational indulgence that no nation can afford in the fight against global warming. SOUTH Rain causes flooding in homes, on roads Homes, highways, parks and bridges throughout the South were flooded or rendered out of commission Saturday, as the toll of days of drenching rains swelled waterways and pooled over saturated lands amid the threat of severe storms. Interstate 40 near the border of Tennessee and North Carolina was closed because of a rock slide. In Bruce, Miss., rivers broke flood stage, and water poured into homes and businesses. WMC-TV reported that a local state of emergency was declared by officials in Grenada, Miss., after dozens of streets and homes flooded. High water also threatened property in Tennessee, which has been soaked by several inches of rain over the past week. News outlets reported that water rescues have been performed in some central Tennessee counties. Flash-flood warnings and watches remained in place throughout the South. Weather officials warned residents of the possibility of severe storms Saturday in western Tennessee, northern Mississippi and eastern Arkansas. Damaging winds, tornadoes and large hail were possible, the National Weather Service in Memphis reported. Kentucky announced on Friday that it was closing the U.S. 51 bridge over the Ohio River to Cairo, Ill., because of flooding on the southern approach. The bridge , which carries 4,700 vehicles a day,will probably stay closed until Thursday, and possibly longer. The Ohio River at Cairo is predicted to crest on Sunday at its third-highest level ever recorded and stay that high into the workweek. The Tennessee River near Savannah, Tenn., also is expected to crest at near-record levels. Associated Press TEXAS Cargo plane crashes as it nears Houston An Atlas Air cargo plane with three people aboard crashed into a Texas bay on Saturday as it was preparing to land in Houston, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The Boeing 767-300, which had departed from Miami, lost radio contact about 30 miles from George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, the agency said in a statement. The FAA cautioned that the count of people on the plane was preliminary. There were no signs of survivors, a sheriff said. The plane was nearing a line of thunderstorms in an area of turbulence when it went down, said a person familiar with the data being collected. The person was not authorized to speak about the information. The flight-tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was operating for Amazons Prime Air and posted a photo of the plane painted with Primes logo. New York-based Atlas Air said in November that it delivered its 20th aircraft in 28 months to Amazon, according to Globe Newswire. (Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Atlas Air is a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings.The company also operates Polar Air Cargo, Titan Aviation and Southern Air, according to its website. Bloomberg News Afreeca TV's webpage By Jhoo Dong-chan Afreeca TV and six other me-media platforms were fined for violating various customer rights, including conducting false advertising to attract more online interaction, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) Sunday. Me-media platforms are online services that allow a user to post their own content, such as blogs, photographs and personal profiles, on the internet. The antitrust agency said Sunday that it fined seven me-media platforms a total of 20.5 million won ($18,222) for violating the electronic commercial law. The six other platforms are Global Monster, Marketing-is, cenCloud, Win Enterprise, Kakao TV and The E&M. "The seven platforms did not provide customer rights regarding their refund policies on their websites. Also, they haven't allowed customer refunds," the FTC said in a press release. "Under the electronic commercial law, customers are allowed to get a refund within seven days of purchasing an item online. However, a number of me-media platforms have claimed on their websites that their online items are all non-refundable." The nation's largest video me-media platform Afreeca TV was found to have not included value-added tax (VAT) in their online items' advertised prices in a bid to attract more customers. Under related laws, businesses should include VAT in end prices of their products. Kakao TV also did not stipulate that a customer can cancel a contract if an underage customer purchased an item online without prior consultation with his or her legal guardian. The seven platforms were all found to have not properly specified their company name, corporate registration number, address and terms of service on their websites. "In a bid to encourage the nation's online media market, the FTC hasn't actively regulated platform service providers, but things have now changed," said an FTC official. "The market is getting bigger. The agency will continue to look closely into me-media platforms to protect customer rights." Naver Blog and Facebook used to be the dominant me-media platforms a few years ago in Korea, but the trend has been turned over to video platforms such as Afreeca TV and Youtube. According to the Software Policy & Research Institute, the nation's me-media market size was estimated at 300 billion won as of 2016, and is expected to reach 2 trillion won by 2020. Me-media platforms profit through advertising and margin revenue via online currencies such as Afreeca TV's "star balloons." During the Friday meeting, these officials said, deputy national security adviser Charles Kupperman said President Trump was upset that his administration had issued in November the National Climate Assessment, which must be published regularly under federal law. Kupperman added that congressional Democrats had seized upon the report, which is the product of more than a dozen agencies, to bolster their case for cutting carbon emissions as part of their Green New Deal. Predictability is often touted as a reason for prioritizing elective admissions. But while predictability is thought to be in short supply in the ED, the data and our experience as ED doctors argue otherwise. The number of patients admitted through the ED are about the same every day of the week, whereas elective admissions peak Mondays through Thursdays and tail off toward the weekend. This is designed to minimize the need for weekend work by the doctors who perform procedures. The $350 million project became politically necessary after decades of neglect. Residents and legislators expressed outrage in 2016 when it was revealed that even as the city planned to overhaul three sewer outlets, it was delaying work on the biggest outlet, at Oronoco Bay, until the mid-2030s or later. If we go backwards and we rush to judgment, and we allow for political lynchings without any due process, any facts, any evidence being heard, then I think we do a disservice to this very body in which we all serve, Fairfax said in response to Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment (R-James City), who had briefly praised Fairfaxs ability to keep presiding over the body amid the frenzy. This one has been unlike any other. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) was hit by scandal Feb. 1 midway through the session when a racist photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook came to light. Northam at first took responsibility for the picture, which shows one person in blackface and another in Klan robes, but then disavowed it. However, he admitted to wearing blackface later in 1984 to imitate Michael Jackson in a dance contest. Of this $4, nothing goes to the state. It all goes to the men and women who are doing these safety inspections, Del. Tim Hugo (R-Fairfax), who sponsored the House bill, told lawmakers this month. It costs more to do this than they are getting reimbursed; a lot of these people are dropping out of the program. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi poses with Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo, left, and Korea-India Economic Cooperation Council Chairman Kong Young-woon during a business symposium held by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap Todays Headlines The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Another, in 1988, was for a 64-year-old construction worker named Thomas Robinson but universally known as Moose Neck. His brother was quoted as saying, He was interested in going around asking people, Have you got a dollar? Im not going to tell you a lie. Moose was a drinker. Hed go around and ask people for money, and theyd give him anything he wanted. Everybody fell in love with him. He touted his past advocacy of alcohol safety measures, such as 2016s Noahs Law, which expanded the use of interlock ignition devices for drunk drivers and was named after Noah Leotta, a Montgomery County police officer who was killed by a drunk driver. Kramer said his bill wont change the structure of the comptrollers field enforcement division but simply move it from under the comptroller, making it more independent. The Post and the Times-Dispatch were apparently inspired by an even more ambitious effort by the New York Herald and the Atlanta Journal. Those papers teamed up to send a pair of cars between their two cities. The Herald and Journal cars arrived in Washington on June 23 and were greeted by President William Howard Taft. Two weeks later on July 6, a Tuesday The Post and Times-Dispatch cars set off. THE DISTRICT Cabdriver robbed, taxi stolen in Northeast A cabdriver was robbed and the taxi was stolen in a carjacking early Saturday in Northeast Washington, police said. At 2:19 a.m., a person with a handgun walked up to the cab in the 3200 block of 16th Street and ordered the driver out of the vehicle, police said. The thief stole $900 in cash, two Android phones, the drivers silver boots and the drivers wallet. As the driver stood outside, two people jumped into the cab with the armed person and the three drove off, according to a police report. The cab had been requested with an app, police said. Keith L. Alexander MARYLAND One dead, one injured in wrong-way crash A driver is dead after traveling the wrong way on a Maryland highway early Saturday and striking another vehicle, authorities said. Maryland State Police are investigating the crash on Route 301 near Newburg. They said a Ford pickup truck was traveling north in the southbound lanes of the highway near the intersection of Route 234 at about 12:45 a.m. when it struck a Honda. The driver of the truck, whose name was not released, was killed. The Honda drivers injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, police said. Keith L. Alexander Woman stepping into street hit by police car A woman was injured Saturday in Landover when she was struck by a Prince Georges police cruiser after police say the woman stepped into the street from between two parked cars. Prince Georges police are investigating the incident, which happened about 3 a.m. on Village Green Drive near Barlowe Road. Police said the womans leg was hurt. The officer, authorities said, was not responding to a call at the time. Keith L. Alexander VIRGINIA Police dog Doby dies during robbery call A 2-year-old Fairfax County police dog collapsed and died Friday while on a robbery call, Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. said in a statement. Doby served on a canine team that responded to a call in the area of Arlington Drive in the Mount Vernon patrol district, the statement said. His handler performed CPR after the dog collapsed and stopped breathing. He was taken to Regional Veterinary Referral Center in Springfield but did not survive, police said. Officials said a necropsy will determine the cause of death. Doby was born in Hungary and started police service in March. Clarence Williams Driver killed by car going the wrong way A Fairfax County man was fatally injured in the western part of the county early Friday in a collision with a car going the wrong way on Route 28, Fairfax police said. The victim was identified as Eliseo Ruiz, 59, of Chantilly. Police said Ruiz was driving a 2005 Acura TL when his vehicle was struck head-on by a 2015 BMW 323i going north in the southbound lanes of Route 28, also known as Sully Road, in the Chantilly area. The collision occurred around 2:30 a.m. just south of Westfields Boulevard, police said, about two miles north of Interstate 66. Ruiz died at a hospital, authorities said. The driver of the BMW was not identified. Police and prosecutors are considering whether to file charges. Police said he was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. Detectives are investigating whether speed or alcohol were factors in the collision. Police have asked anyone with information to call 703-280-0543. Martin Weil Read more: Local newsletters: Local headlines (8 a.m.) | Afternoon Buzz (4 p.m.) Like PostLocal on Facebook | Follow @postlocal on Twitter | Latest local news Start-ups have stepped in. FoodMaven, which sells discounted surplus food and what it describes as imperfect produce to restaurants and commercial kitchens, announced $10 million of investment in January, from members of the Walton and Pritzker families, on top of $8.6 million from a first round of funding. Afresh Technologies, which taps machine learning to help retailers buy just enough to keep inventories in balance, followed a $1.7 million seed round in January 2018 with an undisclosed, but larger, funding round that closed in December. Other companies include Bluapple, maker of a gas-absorbing device for refrigerators that claims to add a few more days to berries and greens, and Ovie, which says its Smarterware combines Tupperware and sensors to let you know how much time that leftover fruit salad or beef stir-fry has left. Companies such as Copia and Goodr are making food donations easier. The publicly traded company specializes in digital knowledge management technology, which small and large businesses use to connect their information to more than 150 digital platforms that consumers use to look up information about local businesses. Companies including Marriott, T-Mobile and Ben & Jerrys use it to ensure that information about store locations, hours and product information is fully and accurately represented on platforms such as Google Maps, Facebook and Instagram. Most of the companys customers come from the financial services and health-care industries. By Trudy Rubin As a Trump envoy talks with the Taliban about a possible peace deal for Afghanistan, educated Afghan women fear they will be sold out. These women recall the era of Taliban rule when they were confined to their homes, while denied education, health care, and the right to work. Although Taliban negotiators claim their views have changed, they vehemently reject the 2004 Afghan constitution that enshrines women's rights (at least in principle). Fawzia Koofi, a courageous female member of parliament, fears women's rights may get short shrift in the current talks. President Donald Trump has made no secret of his eagerness to quit Afghanistan and wants to pull half the 14,000 U.S. troops there out this year, undercutting U.S. leverage at the table. "It is very worrisome that we may go back to where we were under the Taliban," Koofi told me by WhatsApp from Kabul. "They (the Taliban negotiators) pretend to be very nice," she warns, "but it is just for the show of getting Americans to leave. "We were the victims of war, and now we don't want to be the victims of peace." The U.S. envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad _ an Afghan -American and former U.S. ambassador to Kabul _ hopes to clinch a deal by July. But, although they are meeting with Khalilzad, the Taliban still refuse to negotiate with the elected Afghan government. Nor have they agreed to a cease-fire; their fighters in rural areas still destroy girls' schools. This behavior reminds me of what I saw in Kabul, during a 1999 visit in the days of Taliban rule. I met widows who could not get medical treatment (at the one hospital open to females) because they were forbidden to exit their homes, even shrouded in burkas, unless accompanied by a male relative and they had none. I shadowed 10-year-old girls who attended secret schools because female education was forbidden. While girls' education is still lagging, at least one in three young girls go to school, according to UNICEF compared to none under the Taliban. Many more girls would go in rural areas were it not for continued fighting. "There is a major generational change," says Koofi. "Elders from Badakshan ask to build girls' schools. An educated girl becomes an asset, respected in the community, a teacher, or a health worker, and she brings money to the family." There are few women better qualified than Koofi to warn about the still limited but real progress women have made over the 19 years since the end of Taliban rule and the risks these talks pose. The 19th of her father's 23 children, in the remote Afghan province of Badakhshan, she was put outside to die because she was female. She survived, and was taken to Kabul by her strong-willed, illiterate mother after her father was murdered in the Afghan civil war. She managed to get an education, only to see her liberal-minded husband jailed by the Taliban shortly after their marriage. When I visited her in her home in Kabul in 2011, she had been elected to parliament from Badakhshan (27 percent of all seats in the national legislature are reserved for women). Even then she was fighting for female representation in peace talks. Her 12- and 13-year-old daughters told me they dreamed of becoming, respectively, a political leader and a space engineer. One daughter is now studying at Montclair State University in New Jersey, the other at the American University of Afghanistan, Kabul. Recenlty, Koofi traveled to Moscow with a group of senior Afghan politicians (none from the government) for informal talks with some Taliban leaders. She told them: "If a girl was born 19 years back (after the defeat of the Taliban) she grew up with a new world, and you cannot put her back. You say women have 'Islamic rights,' but you have a different interpretation of what this means." Indeed, the Taliban back in 1999 said women had a right to "Islamic education" but insisted the time wasn't ripe for that to happen. If the current Taliban have changed their views, says Koofi, they need to prove it by opening girls' schools in areas they control. Beyond "rights in Islam," she asks, "what about women's human rights according to international conventions? They must accept this, they can't insist on religious education only." Most importantly, she asks that Khalilzad "make clear the women's issue is not negotiable." The basic provisions on women rights in the Afghan Constitution should be a red line in any talks. She adds: "It is very premature to remove American troops" while talks are ongoing. "If the United States withdraws completely and if there is no (peace) agreement with all Afghan forces, it will be a surrender to the Taliban." All the educated women, brave girl students, nurses, teachers, counselors at women's shelters, and independent female parliamentarians whose achievements U.S. presidents have touted will once more fear for their lives. That will be an ugly stain on any president who lets it happen on his watch. 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. Trees fall across Rome during gales. Rome mayor Virginia Raggi has ordered the closure of the city's parks, villas and cemeteries after strong winds battered the capital on 23 February. The closure, effective throughout Sunday 24 February, is to allow authorities to remove fallen branches and dangerous trees as well as dealing with structural damage caused by the gales. Trees and branches fell across Rome, causing several injuries and leading to the closure of numerous roads as well as the Colosseum. Verano cemetery. Photo Corriere della Sera There were two fatalities in the Lazio region: a 45-year-old man was killed in Guidonia, north of Rome, when a falling tree hit his car, while a 14-year-old boy was killed in Capena, also north of Rome, when his father was blown off the roof and landed on top of him. The boy had been holding a ladder while his father fixed the roof which was damaged by the gales. Cover photo La Repubblica Decatur, IL (62521) Today Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 85F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. End TIF zones Saving $27,000 by not having a city election seems sensible since there are no opponents. The great shame is there are no opponents. Am I the only one disgusted by the millions of taxpayer dollars given away each year to wealthy investors, most of whom are not even Waco residents? Hotels, cinemas and bars, if viable in the long term, can be built without taxpayer subsidy. If not, they will fail in spite of our initial subsidy. Tax increment financing zones were intended to redeem blighted areas such as East Waco and they were limited to 20 years. However, greedy investors were able to get the Texas Legislature to remove the time limit. Now the downtown area, which no longer needs such perks and incentives, is still paying city, county and schools taxes based on 1982 values. When do businesses outside of TIF zones or any homeowners get to do that? This month I testified in Austin about our property taxes before our state legislators. Let me assure you: Chicken Little is alive and well in the halls of our State Capitol. Lawmakers have convinced most everyone that Texas is one of the most heavily taxed states in the nation, that property taxes are skyrocketing out of control and that seniors are being taxed out of their homes. Before you get too worked up, hear me out. According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, Texas in 2016 ranked 37th in state and local tax revenue as a percentage of personal income. In other words, 36 states collect more state and local taxes than Texas. These taxes are primarily property and sales taxes. We have avoided the dreaded personal income tax and I hope always will. But wait, property taxes are skyrocketing, arent they? Maybe not You hear about huge percentage increases over the past 10 years or rhetoric about the large increase in dollars raised by local governments. But remember, we dont pay our bills in percentages, we pay in dollars. Also, remember that over the last 10 years many more people have moved to Texas. Presumably they pay taxes, too. The justification the state uses for this program: Funds paid by motorists are used for trauma care in the state of Texas, even surcharges for offenses that have no impact on trauma care such as driving without a license or insurance. These particular offenses do not contribute to people landing in the ER but unlucky motorists are still held responsible for funding trauma care. So how much does this trauma fund actually receive from the program? I did some research and only got a full accounting for fiscal year 2015. That year, the program took in only $144 million. Because of a contract with Gila Corp., whose municipal services bureau administers the program, they paid $24 million as part of a five-year, $120 million agreement. That still leaves $120 million for the trauma fund, right? Wrong! The trauma fund received only $59 million. The remainder went into the general fund and for administrative costs. One could reasonably wonder why when administration of the program already cost $24 million. Swamp, anyone? Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the SBC, wrote an opinion piece published in the New York Times on Feb. 15 in which he seemingly answers my question above about whether Southern Baptist churches are doing everything they should be doing. He writes that SBC is well past its own age of accountability. In other words, no, they have not done all they can. He continues, [t]he vital question is what we as a religious community, faced with these sins, do next? Moore suggests that Southern Baptist pastors silence over the sexual abuse and assault allegations against [their preferred] politicians is symptomatic of the issue of sexual abuse in their own denomination. He condemns the mindset of churches that cover up abuse [and] justify it by acting as if they are preventing the world from seeing scandal. If the public saw such a dark reality, they say, they might not want to hear the Gospel, the reasoning goes. Just as some Southern Baptist leaders have remained silent over credible allegations of sexual abuse by a presidential candidate, a Supreme Court nominee, a senatorial candidate, a sitting congressman and so on, they have tended to remain silent when it comes to their own clergy. And so, like Roman Catholics, many Southern Baptists seem to have joined the ranks of the willfully ignorant. They put their heads into the sand like an ostrich thinking that the threat will go away if they dont look at it. Ray M. Reeves, 92, of China Spring, passed away Thursday, February 21, 2019. Graveside services with military honors will be 10 a.m., Tuesday, February 26, at Patrick Cemetery near China Spring. Grahams outfit of the 101st went to Hue, where they camped out in a graveyard. That was their base camp. They went out from there on various missions, mostly running convoys to take supplies to fire bases and places helicopters couldnt get to. It was dangerous, to say the least, with much shooting and fighting along the way. The infantry had it bad bad, Graham said. Sometimes theyd stay out there 30 days. On his first turn at guard duty, he and another guy could see through special field glasses movement around the outside of the base. The men were scared; they didnt know whether to shoot or not. At daybreak, the movement was discovered to be Army Rangers out on maneuvers. Once, they went to Da Nang, where it took all day to drive just 60 miles. When he got there, there was a naval base with a cafeteria similar to Lubys. After months of eating C-rations, Graham was in heaven. I was stuffing food in my pockets, he said. He stayed on China Beach, one of the prettiest beaches hes ever seen. The Oglesby Lions Club kicked off its 50th annual Rattlesnake Roundup on Saturday as thousands of people descended on the Coryell County town for a day food, fun, car shows and an up close look at one of the deadliest snakes in Texas. The event continues Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. at the Oglesby Community Center, 118 Main. Ogelsby is just south of Highway 84, six miles west of McGregor. Admission is $5 per person, with children under 6 admitted free. Event festivities include snakehandler Jackie Bibby, star of Animal Planets Rattlesnake Republic. Bibby and other snake handlers perform live demonstrations about every hour in the snake pit. They also offer information on what do upon encountering a rattlesnake in the wild. The Oglesby Lions Club rattlesnake roundup started as a fundraiser 50 years ago, making it one of the oldest such events in Texas, along with one in Sweetwater. The event usually draws about 3,000 per weekend and raises thousands of dollars for vision services in local schools and a childrens camp in Kerrville. Fifty years ago we had an abundance of rattlesnakes around here, said Charles Walter, longtime member of the Oglesby Lions Club. We had people who would milk them for venom and use their skins for belts and billfolds. By Robert Neff Paul Georg von Mollendorff, circa 1883-84, from "West Goes East," Yur-Bok Lee. Julius Helm, who had recently sold his business, was looking for an opportunity while preparing to move to the United States. He wanted to go back to his roots farming. It isn't clear how, but while Helm was in Tokyo he encountered the pariah of the German community Paul Georg von Mollendorff, an adviser for the Korean government. Mollendorff was not well liked by the foreign community in Japan and "was looked upon, even by Japanese, with contempt." The Germans particularly von Brandt, who was now the German minister to Japan were especially critical of him and he was banned from the German Club in Yokohama. Mollendorff was perceived as brash and tactless and, perhaps even more damning, he wore Korean clothing. He was denigrated in an English-language newspaper published in Yokohama: "A man who adopts Corean manners and customs not only degrades himself in the eyes of the inhabitants of every other country, but also does an injury to Europe in general, by showing the Coreans that there are some men who think so little of civilization and its advantages, that, for the sake of making a few dollars, they will, so far as they can, abandon their country, and its culture and refinement" Helm, however, was not concerned with the way Mollendorff was perceived by the community; he was interested in what the Korean adviser was offering a position in Korea as agriculture adviser. Mollendorff allegedly told him: "We have any amount of uncultivated land, we have cheap laborers, and also good draught oxen. Come with me for an inspection, and if everything suits you, we can make a contract." A Korean farmer with his oxen and calf, circa 1900-1920. Helm readily accepted and, leaving his family behind, made his way to Korea. It isn't clear how he traveled to Korea. He may have accompanied Mollendorff aboard the steamship Hever, which had been chartered by E. Meyer & Co., a German company operating in Jemulpo. When the ship left Yokohama, it was filled with "quite an aristocratic crowd of passengers" including an official from the Korean Foreign Office, a large number of Korean students and "His Serene Highness the Russian Prince Dadeshkaliani and suite," who were making their first visit to Korea. Or, more likely, he may have traveled on one of the Japanese steamers that frequently called on Jemulpo but, even though we know Helm spent a couple of days in Nagasaki examining the coal mines, I could not find his name on any of the passenger lists. When Helm arrived in Jemulpo he had with him a small wagon and a couple of plows. At this time, there were no river steamers and the only way to get to Seoul (some 26 miles away) was to be carried in a sedan chair (palanquin), on a small Korean pony or walk. Helm did not relish the idea of being carried in a chair (considering his size it is likely the palanquin bearers were more than happy with his decision) and decided to walk. Apparently he pulled his wagon the entire distance, which seems odd as there were undoubtedly oxen and ponies available but, perhaps, they were unaccustomed to his harnesses. Korean farmers resting, circa 1900-1920. Undoubtedly, Helm had a Korean guide that escorted him to Seoul and helped him negotiate with the Han River ferrymen so that he could get his wagon across and enter the city before sunset. It was at Mollendorff's home that he met two men he described as being Germans. The first was August H. Maertens, who "was busying himself with putting the rearing of silk worms business on its feet," and Joseph Rosenbaum (he has been described as German, Austrian and American depending on the sources). Rosenbaum "was the establisher and the manager of a match factory" near Seoul. This was Rosenbaum's second business venture in Korea the first was a glassmaking factory on the banks of the Han River. According to Helm, "the abundance of the fine white sand through which a person had to wade knee-deep to reach the capital" had inspired Mollendorff and he, in turn, urged Rosenbaum to start a glassmaking company. It failed because the sand was not suitable for glass. Helm, like the other two men, was excited at the chance of developing Korea's natural wealth. He bought a horse and made several jaunts out into the countryside seeking a suitable place to start a government farm but was greatly disappointed. "Fallow land was to be found everywhere and that was about all. It would have taken plenty of money and more time than money to obtain good results," declared Helm. Mollendorff urged Helm to take the fields near the city the land where "owing to their primitive mode of cultivation, [the Korean farmers] could not make any success." Even when Mollendorff tried to provide him with some Korean workers to help him set up the farm, Helm refused. He was already tired of the venture and had "little confidence in Korea." Korean farmers, circa 1900-1920. A portion of the former Floyd Casey Stadium site in District 2 has been identified as a possible spot for the playground. Another site on North University Parks Drive just outside the district is also an option. Jeremy Vickers, Baylor's associate vice president for external affairs who serves with Sabido on the Inspiracion board, said Sabido will prove to be an asset on the city council. Having observed Hector work both as a community partner and an advocate for education, I think hes going to bring passion and visionary leadership, Vickers said. He said Baylor and city leadership have an important relationship as both entities grow. The alignment is important because of the rising tide, Vickers said. If Baylor grows and is successful, so is the city, but even more so as the city grows and advances. What it allows is for Hector to engage with leadership of Baylor and carry a voice, as a part of the community voice, that he carries to the council and to think about things that affect both his direct constituent community and the institution, as they are aligned in progressive growth for the city. The Central Texas Beginning Beekeepers School will offer instruction on how to produce honey and keep bees, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Brenham High School, 525 A.H. Ehrig Drive in Brenham. Cost is $65 for adults, $60 for a second adult family member, $25 for students and $10 for children 12 and younger. For more information, call 979-277-0411 or email centraltexasbeekeepers@gmail.com. Mooreville UMC An account has been set up at Bancorpsouth Bank, 164 Live Oak St. in Marlin, to help with expenses to rebuild after a fire Feb. 7 destroyed Mooreville United Methodist Church. Donations may also be made at moorevilleumc.org. Royal Closet open The Royal Closet, also known as The Prom Closet, will be open from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Performing Arts Center at Waco High School, 2020 N. 42nd St. Come to select a prom dress, shoes and accessories all free of charge. The event is sponsored by the National Charity League, class of 2021. Waco Pride Gov. Kay Ivey has issued a State of Emergency effective at 9 p.m. Saturday for several Alabama counties due to flooding caused by heavy rains over the past several days and ongoing severe weather Saturday. The counties included are: Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, Dekalb, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Jackson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Morgan, Walker, and Winston. These counties are likely to be or are already being impacted by flooding, tornadoes, and high winds. According to the National Weather Service, rain and severe thunderstorms will continue to move across Alabama throughout Saturday and into early Sunday morning. Parts of north Alabama have seen days of rain and the ground can no longer absorb it. Those rains combined with the ongoing severe weather today have caused a need for this State of Emergency, Ivey said in the press release. I pray that the people of Alabama will remain safe throughout the night and heed citizens to stay aware of weather conditions. We stand ready and are sending resource to help those who are in need tonight. At the direction of Ivey, the State Emergency Operations Center in Clanton has activated to respond to local requests as needed. Ivey also ordered the Adjutant General of Alabama to activate the Alabama National Guard (ALNG) as needed. Areas in Alabama affected by several days of rain have seen or will see historic flood levels, Alabama Emergency Management Agency Director Brian Hastings said. The State of Emergency provides the Governor with authorities to deploy resources to assist in disaster response and recovery operations, if required. By declaring a State of Emergency, Ivey is directing the appropriate state agencies to exercise their statutory authority to assist the communities and entities impacted by the ongoing flooding and impact of todays severe weather. Poor Fyre Fest guy who almost sucked a dick for bottled water. He may be getting a reality show, but at what cost? To be played by Jerry? Theres no dignity in that. Jim OHeir recounted a suspiciously similar story of how he got the water bottles for the Film Independent Spirit Awards. (Fiji Water, I see you!) Host Aubrey Plaza called OHeir up and asked him to take one for the team. Since the show had spent all its money flying out John Waters, OHeir was asked to blow a guy at Costco to secure the pallets of water necessary for the stars of independent cinema. Did he? Youll have to watch to find out. Related Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images Squeaking in just before the Oscars, Aubrey Plaza hosted the 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards. The Spirit Awards are a decidedly chiller affair than many in awards season, taking place on a beach during the day. If Beale Street Could Talk took Best Feature, and Barry Jenkins won Best Director for the James Baldwin adaptation. Boots Riley won Best First Feature for Sorry to Bother You, and he called out what he sees as the impending U.S.-backed coup in Venezuela during his acceptance speech. Ethan Hawke, Glenn Close, Regina King, and Richard E. Grant won the top acting awards. And as its been throughout the year, Wont You Be Me Neighbor? won Best Documentary. Of course, the true winner of the night was Glenn Closes dog, Sir Pippin of Beanfield, who walked up to accept Closes award with her. Get someone who looks at you as adoringly as Glenn Closes dog when she accepts an award!!! pic.twitter.com/7LKbqmjMst Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) February 24, 2019 Best Feature If Beale Street Could Talk Best Director Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk Best First Feature Sorry to Bother You Best Male Lead Ethan Hawke, First Reformed Best Female Lead Glenn Close, The Wife Best Supporting Female Actor Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk Best Supporting Male Actor Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me? Best Cinematography Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Suspiria Best Screenplay Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me? Best First Screenplay Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade Best Editing Joe Bini, You Were Never Really Here Best Documentary Wont You Be My Neighbor? Best International Film Roma (Mexico) Piaget Producers Award Shrihari Sathe The Someone to Watch Award Alex Moratto, Socrates The Bonnie Award Debra Granik Robert Altman Award Suspiria John Cassavetes Award En el Septimo Dia Government advised to undo ex-president's four rivers project A joint panel of officials and private experts recommended Friday that two of five weirs built along the Geum and Yeongsan rivers be dismantled to improve their water quality and ecosystems. This recommendation has significant implications because President Moon Jae-in is trying to keep his campaign promise to backpedal on the Four Rivers Restoration Project carried out by former President Lee Myung-bak. The proposal announced by the Four Rivers Survey and Evaluation Planning Committee calls for the dismantlement of the Sejong Weir on the Geum River in the central part of the country and the Juksan Weir on the Yeongsan River in the southwestern region. The panel proposed the partial dismantlement of the Gongju Weir on the Geum, while suggesting that the Baekje Weir on the Geum and the Seungchon Weir on the Yeongsan be opened permanently. The committee established by the Ministry of Environment made the announcement based on its months-long studies on the water quality and ecosystems surrounding the five weirs as well as their economic benefits, water management and use for drinking and irrigation, and local residents' views on the project. The ministry plans to make a final decision on whether to accept the recommendation in July after reflecting different opinions about it. However, it may face difficulties in the decision-making process because both environmental activists and local residents are against the panel's proposal. Environmental civic groups argue that the suggestion is not good enough to revive the aggravated water quality and ecosystems. They call for the complete dismantlement of all the weirs. On the other hand, some farmers along the rivers are against the proposal, saying the destruction of the weirs will cause a lack of water for agricultural use. That's why the ministry will have to make strenuous efforts to arbitrate conflicting interests and reach a consensus on the rectification of the four rivers project. In fact, the Lee administration recklessly pushed for the project by spending 22 trillion won ($19.5 billion) during his 2008-13 rule. Then President Lee ignored strong opposition to the project and pushed for it in a bulldozer style under the name of restoring the four major rivers, including the Han and the Nakdong. All 16 weirs were built on the four rivers. But they have slowed the flow of the rivers, causing the spread of harmful blooms of algae which deteriorated water quality. The Moon government should decide on how to undo the project based on a cost-benefit analysis as well its effects on the ecosystems. The panel's proposal for the dismantlement of the weirs is estimated to cost 175.2 billion won. It should not lead to another waste of taxpayers' money. To be clear, the backpedaling of the project should not be politically motivated to erase the legacy of Lee or Park Geun-hye, who was ousted from power for a corruption scandal. Instead it must be aimed at letting the rivers flow again and restoring nature. In coming days, the U.S. Senate is expected to consider the Green New Deal, the most ambitious and sweeping measure to combat climate change ever put before Congress, as Republicans push to vote on a proposal they oppose but believe will split Democrats and make them vulnerable ahead of the 2020 elections. Poll: Americans Alarmed' by Climate Change Double in Just 5 Years The proportion of Americans found to be "alarmed" by climate change has doubled in just five years, the pollsters behind a nationwide survey revealed on Tuesday. Twenty-nine percent of respondents to the poll conducted last December by Yale and George Mason universities were in the alarmed category an all-time high and twice the percentage of those surveyed in 2013. More than 1,100 adults across the United States were asked about their beliefs, attitudes and behaviors toward climate change. The The proportion of Americans found to be "alarmed" by climate change has doubled in just five years, the pollsters behind a nationwide survey revealed on Tuesday. Twenty-nine percent of respondents to the poll conducted last December by Yale and George Mason universities were in the alarmed category an all-time high and twice the percentage of those surveyed in 2013. More than 1,100 adults across the United States were asked about their beliefs, attitudes and behaviors toward climate change. The A non-binding resolution introduced earlier this month, the New Green Deal aims to rapidly forge a carbon emissions-free economy while fighting economic and racial inequality. It calls for a 10-year "national mobilization" to remake power production, transportation, manufacturing and farming. It also sets forth wide-ranging guarantees for worker retraining, higher education, health care, and retirement benefits, with special emphasis on disadvantaged sectors and those currently facing risks from a warming planet. "We choose to assert ourselves as a global leader in transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy," New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said at a recent news conference outside the Capitol. "We should do it because we should lead. We should do it because we are an example to the world." Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., speaks during a news FILE - Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. FILE - Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. "We will save all of creation by engaging in massive job creation," Democratic Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts said. "When we talk about a Green New Deal, we are talking about jobs and justice." Republicans have a different take on the resolution. "This Green New Deal is nothing more than a socialist agenda disguised as feel-good environmental policy," Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn said. "This is, in reality, a new entitlement program on steroids." Noting an estimated price tag in the trillions of dollars and the many promises the measure makes to multiple constituencies, Cornyn added, "They [proponents] might have thrown in free beer and pizza, too." Another Republican, Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, labelled the Green New Deal "a raw deal for the American public." Barrasso said, "This is just so extreme, way out of the mainstream of the American public, to the point that it is scary." But it is Republicans, not Democrats, who are pressing for a vote. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California pointedly declined to endorse the Green New Deal at a recent news conference, saying, "There are all kinds of ideas coming forward" but stressing that a "well-defined approach" is needed "to make a difference." Analysts: Insurance Can't Offset Risks of Climate Change From homeowners facing higher flood insurance premiums to investors putting money into coal-fired power plants, financial risks related to climate change are growing, analysts say. But working out how a switch to lower-carbon train travel could affect an airline or what an insurance firm should do to weather more flood claims is neither clear nor simple, they say. Help may be at hand, however, from guides published Friday to assess financial risks from the physical threats of climate change, as well From homeowners facing higher flood insurance premiums to investors putting money into coal-fired power plants, financial risks related to climate change are growing, analysts say. But working out how a switch to lower-carbon train travel could affect an airline or what an insurance firm should do to weather more flood claims is neither clear nor simple, they say. Help may be at hand, however, from guides published Friday to assess financial risks from the physical threats of climate change, as well By contrast, the Senate's Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, could barely suppress a smile when announcing a vote on a measure his entire caucus opposes. "I've noted with great interest the Green New Deal. And we're going to be voting on that in the Senate and give everybody an opportunity to go on record and see how they feel about the Green New Deal," McConnell recently told reporters. Climate change activists said they are energized. "I'm excited," Ben Beachy, director of the Sierra Club's living economy program, told VOA. "It [Green New Deal] is a bold program to transition from an economy of low wages and climate pollution to one driven by dignified work and 100 percent clean energy for all." Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Sen. Dia FILE - Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., in Washington. FILE - Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., in Washington. Some Democrats, meanwhile, are feeling the pressure. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein drew criticism on social media for her response to a youth group that urged her to vote in favor of the Green New Deal. "It [carbon emissions] is not going to get turned around in 10 years [as the resolution mandates]," Feinstein said. "I've been doing this for 30 years. I know what I'm doing." But if Republicans believe they have set a trap for Democrats, Senate Democrats are determined to fight back when floor debate on climate change begins. "Go for it. Bring it on," Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in response to McConnell's vote announcement. "I challenge Leader McConnell to say that our climate change crisis is real, that it is caused by humans, and that Congress needs to act." Diverse Democratic Presidential Field Ready to Take on Trump Varied contenders look to channel grassroots opposition to the president The forthcoming floor debate likely will expose divisions among Democrats on how to respond to climate change. But Democrats predicted Republicans will be even more exposed. "We [Democrats] have never been more fired up," Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz said. "We're going to take this opportunity to have a real debate about climate, because Republicans do not have a plan to address climate change." Proponents don't deny the Green New Deal is strong medicine, insisting the time for half-measures is over. "Climate change isn't far-off and hypothetical. It's here and now," Beachy said. "Just last year, direct impacts from climate change in the United States killed hundreds of people and cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars. So it's already here and it's only going to get worse unless we act at the scale and speed that justice and science and demand." Critics see the resolution as a costly economic disaster in the making. "It would be a central planning, one-size-fits-all solution from Washington," Cato Institute economist Chris Edwards told VOA. "While it has nice warm and fuzzy language about helping people, I think some of the top-down proposals would actually end up hurting people." Edwards noted that the free market is producing more energy efficient automobiles and appliances than existed a generation ago, arguing that a downward trend in energy consumption is already underway without massive governmental intervention. Where Edwards sees unnecessary and harmful federal meddling, Beachy sees opportunity. "We have a really big opportunity to renew our neglected infrastructure in this country. And doing so would simultaneously create new jobs, help ensure clean air and water, and tackle climate change," Beachy said. Polls show Americans increasingly concerned about a warming planet and destructive weather patterns. But that concern has yet to spur substantive congressional action. "Yes, most Americans think climate change is real, it's a problem," Progressive Policy Institute founder Will Marshall said. "But they also don't really rank it up there with health care, with the economy, with immigration, with issues they think are more pressing priorities for the country. That means that there isn't a movement now to support the most ambitious definitions of what this Green New Deal means." With Republicans opposed and Democrats divided, the Green New Deal is expected to be soundly defeated in any final Senate vote. Proponents hope, at very least, it serves to advance America's discourse on climate change and what might be done about it. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. is looking for ways to get humanitarian assistance into Venezuela, after troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro repelled aid trucks in clashes at the borders with Brazil and Colombia. In an interview on CNN Sunday, the top U.S. diplomat did not suggest how the U.S. might carry out the aid mission in the face of armed opposition. FILE - This combination of photos shows Venezuelan FILE - This combination of photos shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (L) delivering a speech in Caracas, Feb. 2, 2019, and opposition leader Juan Guaido addressing a gathering of supporters in Caracas, Feb. 2, 2019. FILE - This combination of photos shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (L) delivering a speech in Caracas, Feb. 2, 2019, and opposition leader Juan Guaido addressing a gathering of supporters in Caracas, Feb. 2, 2019. He said, however, that the United States would consider imposing more sanctions against the Venezuelan government to increase pressure on Maduro to quit in favor of the country's interim president, Juan Guaido, the president of the National Assembly. Guaido is considered by the U.S. and dozens of other countries as the legitimate leader in Caracas. Pompeo called Maduro a tyrant, saying, "I'm confident that the Venezuelan people will ensure that Maduro's days are numbered." Guaido: We Must Have All Options to Free Venezuela At least four civilians were killed Saturday as Venezuelan security forces clashed with demonstrators at the border with Brazil over deliveries of humanitarian aid.Todays events force me to make a decision to formally propose to the international community that we must have all options open to secure the freedom our country, Venezuelan opposition leader and interim-president Juan Guaido wrote on Twitter late Saturday.Also late Saturday, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced plans to meet with At least four civilians were killed Saturday as Venezuelan security forces clashed with demonstrators at the border with Brazil over deliveries of humanitarian aid.Todays events force me to make a decision to formally propose to the international community that we must have all options open to secure the freedom our country, Venezuelan opposition leader and interim-president Juan Guaido wrote on Twitter late Saturday.Also late Saturday, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced plans to meet with Maduro has blocked the aid effort spearheaded by the U.S., saying it is a pretext for an armed U.S. invasion. On Saturday, Maduro supporters fired bullets at those attempting to get aid trucks into Venezuela, while Venezuelan border troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Foro Penal [Criminal Forum], a group that tracks violence in Venezuela, reported four deaths at the Brazilian border with Venezuela on Saturday. It said the victims were shot by pro-government militia members. A spokesman for the group, Alfred Romero, posted a video on Twitter saying more than two dozen other people were wounded in the violence. Aid Enters Venezuela Despite Blockade by Government Troops Trucks carrying medicine, rice and powdered milk, part of a combined shipment of US and Brazilian aid, enter from Brazil into southern Venezuela At one border point, aid trucks caught fire, leading the crowd to rush to save the boxes of food and medical supplies. A U.S. State Department official traveling with the Brazilianaid convoy told VOA that the trucks crossed the borderintoVenezuela, but were not allowed through the military checkpoint there, and did notunload their cargo. Afterward, Guaido pressed the case for new foreign assistance to oust Maduro. "Today's events force me to make a decision: to pose to the international community in a formal way that we must have all options open to achieve the liberation of this country that is fighting and will continue to fight," he said on Twitter. Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido speaks f Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido speaks flanked by Chile's President Sebastian Pinera, left, and Colombia's President Ivan Duque in front of a warehouse housing U.S. humanitarian aid destined for Venezuela, in Cucuta, Colombia, Feb. 22, 2019. Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido speaks flanked by Chile's President Sebastian Pinera, left, and Colombia's President Ivan Duque in front of a warehouse housing U.S. humanitarian aid destined for Venezuela, in Cucuta, Colombia, Feb. 22, 2019. The European Union, also supporting Guaido, condemned Maduro's actions to repel the trucks with the humanitarian aid. "We repudiate the use of irregular armed groups to intimidate civilians and lawmakers who have mobilized to distribute assistance," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on behalf of the 28-member bloc of countries. Sunday, Pompeo deplored the fact that the Venezuelan military, despite a small number of defections to the opposition, has mostly remained loyal to Maduro. "We hope the military will take that role back in protecting their citizens from these tragedies. If that happens, I think good things will happen," he said. "We're aimed at a singular mission -- ensuring the Venezuelan people get the democracy they so richly deserve and the Cubans and the Russians who have been driving this country into the ground for years and years and years no longer hold sway," he said. Colombian officials said more than 60 Venezuelan soldiers defected Saturday. Venezuelan Army Major Hugo Parra announced his defection, telling VOA Noticias he recognizes Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela. Guaido tweeted his praise of the soldiers' actions. "They aren't deserters," he said. "They've decided to put themselves on the side of the people and the constitution." FILE - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro attend FILE - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro attends a gathering in support of his government in Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 7, 2019. FILE - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro attends a gathering in support of his government in Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 7, 2019. Maduro announced in a speech to his supporters Saturday that he is cutting off diplomatic ties with Colombia. Colombia President Ivan Duque has been making public appearances with Guaido as they work to transport aid across Venezuelan borders. Duque said Colombian ambassadors and consuls have 24 hours to leave Venezuela. Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holms Trujillo released a statement in response, saying, "Colombia holds the usurper Maduro responsible for any aggression or violation of the rights of Colombian officials in Venezuela." Maduro also said he would defend Venezuela's independence with his life. He called Guaido a puppet of the White House. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted his support for Guaido. "The people of Venezuela stand at the threshold of history, ready to reclaim their country and their future. God Bless the people of Venezuela!" Trump said. The people of Venezuela stand at the threshold of history, ready to reclaim their country and their future.... pic.twitter.com/ajxd1EN64c Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 23, 2019 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - A high-level pledging conference for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen this week will seek international support for 19 million people who are suffering from years of conflict and deprivation. In December, the U.N. asked for a record $4.2 billion for Yemen, the largest single country appeal ever launched. By any measure, the situation in Yemen is catastrophic. The United Nations calls it the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The U.N. human rights office reports nearly 18,200 civilians have been killed and injured since the beginning of the civil conflict between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels in March 2015. It says airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition are responsible for two-thirds of these casualties. The United Nations reports about 80 percent of the population, 24 million people, need humanitarian assistance and protection. Jens Laerke is Spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. He tells VOA the suffering of the civilian population has reached a scale not seen in living memory. "It has really been a horrific year for millions and millions of people in Yemen who are literally balancing on the edge of starvation and, indeed, famine," said Laerke. "And they need massive amounts of other kinds of aid in the health sector, water and sanitation, education for their children and so on and so forth." FILE - Men deliver aid donations from donors in As Men deliver aid donations from donors in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen, Sept. 23, 2018. The United Nations and independent donors are rushing food to this desperate corner of northern Yemen where starving villagers were found to be living off leaves. Men deliver aid donations from donors in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen, Sept. 23, 2018. The United Nations and independent donors are rushing food to this desperate corner of northern Yemen where starving villagers were found to be living off leaves. The World Food Program reports it plans to help 12 million people a month in 2019. This is a 50 percent increase over last year's goal. WFP says it needs $1.5 billion or nearly one third of the U.N. appeal to feed all these people. While U.N. and private aid agencies are always short of cash, they still have managed to accomplish much. For example, they have reduced the number of new cholera cases in Yemen from a historic high of one million to 370,000 last year. Tens of thousands of children have died from malnutrition-related causes. But the U.N. Children's Fund, World Health Organization and partners have saved the lives of thousands of starving children through special nutrition programs. U.N. Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres will convene the pledging conference, which is co-hosted by Sweden and Switzerland. GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet is expressing alarm at growing repression in Nicaragua and warns the increasing criminalization of dissent is promoting political and social instability in the country. Over the past six months, the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has arrested hundreds of political opponents and activists, allegedly to muzzle them and keep their opinions from being heard. The U.N. human rights office says those arrested and held in pre-trial detention for long periods allegedly had leading roles in last year's anti-government protests between April and July. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michele Bachelet warned these hard-nosed tactics are seriously undermining proposed efforts to resolve the growing political and social unrest in Nicaragua. The High Commissioner's spokesman, Rupert Colville, said guilty verdicts and extremely heavy sentences have been handed down to a number of prominent opposition and community leaders since December. He said some of these leaders had cooperated with the U.N. and have brought a number of human rights abuses in Nicaragua to its attention. "The high commissioner is deeply concerned about the apparent lack of due process and increasing criminalization of dissent in Nicaragua. The arrest and jailing of opposition leaders, she says, is possibly in some cases could be a reprisal for cooperating with the U.N. and it clearly hinders the creation of an environment that is conducive to holding a genuine and inclusive dialogue, which the government says it wants," said the spokesman. FILE - An individual watches from above as protes FILE - An individual watches from above as protestors march below during an anti-government protest in Managua, Nicaragua, Aug. 11, 2018. FILE - An individual watches from above as protestors march below during an anti-government protest in Managua, Nicaragua, Aug. 11, 2018. The government has blamed protests on criminal groups and "opposition political groups with specific political agendas." The government calls them "terrorists" and says it has "the duty to defend the security and peace." Among those convicted in recent weeks is student leader Jonathan Lopez. He was sentenced to five years and three months in prison. Peasant leaders Medardo Mairen and Pedro Mena have been sentenced to 216 and 210 years in prison respectively. Sentences are pending for two former army officers, Carlos Brenes and Tomas Maldonado. The state prosecutor is seeking jail terms of 32 and 34 years respectively. High Commissioner Bachelet is calling for these convictions and sentences to be reviewed by independent experts. This, to make sure their cases were properly handled at every stagefrom arrest to prosecution. She said all those arrested for protesting peacefully and exercising their freedom of expression should be released. ISLAMABAD - The United Nations says the armed conflict in Afghanistan last year killed more than 3,800 civilians, including 927 children, the highest number of civilian deaths recorded in the past ten years. The intensified violence injured nearly 7,200 civilians and the overall civilian casualties rose by five percent in 2018, according to a new report released Sunday by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). It blamed a spike in suicide attacks by Islamic State's local affiliate, known as Khorasan Province (ISKP), and increased harm to civilians from aerial as well as search operations by pro-government forces for the significant rise in civilian casualties. An injured boy receives treatment at a hospital af An injured boy receives treatment at a hospital after an airstrike in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Nov. 28, 2018. Civilians and Taliban fighters were killed in the strike as Afghan government forces battled insurgents. An injured boy receives treatment at a hospital after an airstrike in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Nov. 28, 2018. Civilians and Taliban fighters were killed in the strike as Afghan government forces battled insurgents. Childrens deaths shocking "The fact that the number of children killed this year is the highest on record, is particularly shocking," the report quoted U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet as lamenting. The UNAMA attributed the majority of civilian casualties - 63 percent - to anti-government forces: 37 per cent to the Taliban, 20 per cent to ISKP and 6 per cent to undetermined militants. The rest of the civilian casualties were blamed on Afghan security forces and their U.S.-led foreign partners. "This is the U.N.'s tenth annual report documenting the plight of civilians in the Afghan conflict more than 32,000 civilians killed and around 60,000 injured in a decade," said UNAMA's chief Tadamichi Yamamoto. He reiterated his call for halting the fighting to put an end to the human misery and tragedy in Afghanistan. "That is why there is all the more need now to use all our efforts to bring about peace. I urge all parties to seize every opportunity to do so," said Yamamoto. Men carry children away from an explosion site in Men carry children away from an explosion site in Lashkar Gah, capital of southern Helmand province, Afghanistan, Feb. 24, 2018. Men carry children away from an explosion site in Lashkar Gah, capital of southern Helmand province, Afghanistan, Feb. 24, 2018. Peace talks continue ?For the first time in a decade, UNAMA recorded more than 1,000 civilian casualties, including 536 deaths, from aerial operations and blamed U.S.-led international military forces for causing nearly 60 percent of them. Official data shows the U.S. military dropped 7,362 bombs and munitions in Afghanistan in 2018, the highest in a single year in at least a decade. The ramped up airstrikes have been part of the Trump administration's strategy to try to pressure the Taliban to the negotiating table, though the campaign could not break the battlefield stalemate and insurgents continued to make territorial gains. Taliban's response The Taliban swiftly declared the UNAMA report as "tendentious" and propaganda material, saying it did not offer "any proof or justification" for attributing 37 percent civilian casualties to the insurgent group. "The entire Afghan nation is a witness that the American invaders, by their own admission, have dropped over 7000 bombs against the Afghans over the course of last year," a Taliban statement noted. It accused both U.S. and Afghan forces for causing "eighty percent" of all civilian casualties, saying insurgent fighters take utmost care when dealing with civilian lives. The report on civilian casualties comes a day before the United States is due to resume peace negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar to promote a political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan. There have been several meetings between the two sides since last fall and both reported "significant progress" toward ending the war after their interaction a month ago in the Qatari capital of Doha. WASHINGTON - A Turkish citizen, wanted by the U.S. for his involvement in a terror attack that killed two U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan, has been set free by Turkish authorities following his deportation from Germany where the suspect completed an 11-year prison sentence last year. Adem Yilmaz's Germany-based lawyer told VOA that his client has been released following two days of detention at Turkey's Istanbul airport by Turkish law enforcement authorities. "There is no court case against Adem Yilmaz in Turkey since he never lived in Turkey before. Turkish authorities detained him for two days and then set him free," Michael Murat Sertsoz told VOA. "If they had not released him, that would have been a double punishment. It is not allowed for the same crime," Sertsoz added. Sertsoz was referring to what is known as "double jeopardy" in legal terminology where a suspect tried and punished for a crime in one country cannot be tried again for the same crime in a different country. Germany: No Choice But to Reject Terrorist Extradition to US An American request for the extradition of a Turkish man wanted in the United States on terrorism charges was rejected because there was no other option under German law, authorities said Thursday, in a case that has raised the ire of officials in Washington. Adem Yilmaz, who was indicted under seal in the U.S. in 2015 on charges of participating nearly 10 years earlier in attacks on U.S. military forces along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, was convicted of membership in a terrorist An American request for the extradition of a Turkish man wanted in the United States on terrorism charges was rejected because there was no other option under German law, authorities said Thursday, in a case that has raised the ire of officials in Washington. Adem Yilmaz, who was indicted under seal in the U.S. in 2015 on charges of participating nearly 10 years earlier in attacks on U.S. military forces along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, was convicted of membership in a terrorist Adem Yilmaz is wanted by the U.S. for his involvement in a suicide attack that killed two U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan in 2008. U.S. requested German authorities to hand the suspect over to the U.S. to be tried on terrorism charges, a request rejected by a German court. Arrest and trial Adem Yilmaz had been part of a four-man squad called the "Sauerland terror cell" named after a German town. The cell was affiliated with the Islamic Jihad Union, a U.S. and UN designated terror group with ties to al-Qaida terror organization. In 2007, three members of the Sauerland terror cell, including Adem Yilmaz were arrested and charged with forming a terror cell and planning car-bomb attacks on a U.S. airbase and public places with the aim of killing as many Americans as possible. German authorities found 735 kilograms of 35 percent hydrogen peroxide, which according to a U.S Treasury statement, would be enough to produce approximately 55 kilograms of explosives. "Had the attacks occurred, estimates show the casualty toll could have far exceeded the 2004 train bombings in Madrid or the 2005 transport bombings in London," the U.S. Treasury Department said during Yilmaz trial in 2008. Yilmaz was designated as a terrorist by the U.S., and was added to the sanctions list of the UN Security Council. The U.S. also indicted him in 2015 for charges of providing material support to a terror organization and aiding and abetting military-style training. In 2010, a court in Dusseldorf sentenced Yilmaz to 11 years in prison for trying to mount what the German judge reportedly called a "second September 11." U.S. Extradition request In 2016, the U.S. requested that Germany extradite Yilmaz to the U.S., but the German court sought more information from U.S authorities. Germany wanted assurances that the extradition would not lead to double jeopardy since German law forbids extraditing a person for a crime for which the sentence has already been served. "The United States, in this case, wanted to make Adem Yilmaz responsible for the recruitment of Cuneyt Ciftci, the first German suicide bomber [in Afghanistan]. Yilmaz, in fact, recruited Ciftci in 2000 and sent him to the Islamic Jihad Union. Ciftci then perpetrated a suicide attack [in 2008] that killed two American servicemen and that's why the Americans wanted to have Yilmaz extradited to the U.S.," Guido Steinberg, a Middle East expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told VOA. "It was frankly impossible to extradite him to the U.S. since the U.S. insisted on indicting Yilmaz for this same crime," Steinberg added. Deportation to Turkey Last month, a Frankfurt court decided to reject the American request to extradite Yilmaz to the U.S, citing double jeopardy as a justification for its position on the issue. "To extradite him to face trial in the U.S. on terrorism charges would constitute double jeopardy under German law," Gundula Fehns-Boeer, a spokesperson for the Frankfurt state court told the Associated Press. Instead, Yilmaz who was still deemed "dangerous" by German authorities, was deported to his native Turkey earlier this month. The United States expressed disappointment over Germany's decision to deport him to Turkey instead of extraditing him to the U.S. to face charges against him in New York. "The German government deliberately helped Yilmaz escape justice by placing him on a plane to Turkey,'' former acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said in a statement after Yilmaz's deportation. U.S. officials have been reportedly trying to work with Turkish authorities to deal with Yilmaz's case. One U.S. official told Bloomberg earlier this month that the U.S. has filed a "Red Notice" via Interpol to secure Yilmaz's detention in Turkey. Robert Palladino, U.S. State Department's Deputy Spokesperson told reporters in a recent press briefing that U.S. has been in talks with Turkish authorities over the matter. "Yilmaz is a convicted terrorist; he's charged with serious crimes by the United States. Two American service members were killed and 11 wounded as a result of a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan in 2008. And this bombing was facilitated by actions that Yilmaz took in support of terrorism," Palladino said. "So the United States will never relent in its efforts to bring Yilmaz to justice," he added. NSA Tip The Sauerland terror plot in 2007 was reportedly thwarted by German police acting on information provided by the U.S National Security Agency. Guido Steinberg of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs said that members of the Trump administration are not happy with Germany for Yilmaz's deportation because the U.S provided the intelligence to catch him in the first place. "The first information about the plots often come from the United States. That has happened in the case of the Sauerland cell," Steinberg told VOA. U.S. President Donald Trump is predicting good relations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their summit this week in Vietnam, with the White House saying the main goal of the talks is the denuclearization of North Korea. "We see eye to eye, I believe, but you'll be seeing it more and more over the next couple of days," Trump said Sunday. "We're going to have, I think, a very interesting two and a half days in Vietnam," he told a group of state governors at a White House ball. "And we have a chance for the total denuclearization of an area of the world that was very dangerous." The two leaders met last June, after which Trump declared, "there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea." But as he meets Wednesday and Thursday with Kim in Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, there is little concrete evidence that progress has been made to set the specific terms of North Korea's promised denuclearization. When asked about what the definition of such denuclearization would be, a senior Trump administration official declined to discuss those details citing the ongoing talks. "We're in the midst of negotiations with the North Koreans right now, and I would be loath to characterize their positions in that press interview while we're in the midst of those negotiations. Just suffice it to say we're discussing this and many other issues this week," the official said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CNN on Sunday "there is no change" in U.S. economic sanctions targeting North Korea until it agrees to "full verifiable denuclearization." He said the United States is "happy to make security assurances" for North Korea's survival as an independent state, to "make North Korea more like South Korea" as an economic power. He said the U.S. is offering North Korea an alternative to "becoming a pariah state." But he acknowledged "we've got work to do" to reach an agreement on how and when Pyongyang would destroy its nuclear arsenal. "A demonstrable step (toward denuclearization) is very much what President Trump is focused on," Pompeo said. The top U.S. diplomat said American officials are aware of North Korea's history, over decades, of making promises to disarm and then abrogating agreements. A view of the border station of Dong Dang train st A view of the border station of Dong Dang train station where North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to arrive, at the border town with China in Dong Dang, Lang Son province, Vietnam, Feb. 24, 2019. A view of the border station of Dong Dang train station where North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to arrive, at the border town with China in Dong Dang, Lang Son province, Vietnam, Feb. 24, 2019. Trump is scheduled to leave for Hanoi on Monday, with Kim already headed to Vietnam in an armored train. North Korea's official news media carried photos of Kim boarding his train and announced he was heading to Vietnam to meet with the U.S. president for a second time. It was the first time that North Korean state media have reported on the summit. Economic Power In the early months of his presidency, Trump said he would unleash "fire and fury like the world has never seen on North Korea for its threats against the U.S. and its allies. But on Sunday, Trump tweeted, "Great relationship with Chairman Kim!" President Xi of China has been very helpful in his support of my meeting with Kim Jong Un. The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door. Sanctions placed on the border by China and Russia have been very helpful. Great relationship with Chairman Kim! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019 The U.S. leader said Kim "realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!" Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping "has been very helpful in his support of my meeting with Kim Jong Un. The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door. Sanctions placed on the border by China and Russia have been very helpful." Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019 U.S. intelligence officials remain skeptical that North Korea intends to follow through on Kim's Singapore pledge to denuclearize. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told a congressional panel last month that North Korea "has halted its provocative behavior" by refraining from missile tests and nuclear tests for more than a year. "As well, Kim Jong Un continues to demonstrate openness to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Coats said. Vietnamese police officers stand guard outside the Vietnamese police officers stand guard outside the North Korea-U.S. summit's media center in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 23, 2019. Vietnamese police officers stand guard outside the North Korea-U.S. summit's media center in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 23, 2019. Despite the end to testing, Coats said, "We currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its (weapons of mass destruction) capabilities, and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities." "Our assessment is bolstered by our observations of some activity that is inconsistent with full denuclearization," he added. Coats said the North Korean leader and the rest of the country's rulers "view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival." Senegalese voters headed to the polls Sunday for an election President Macky Sall is expected to win after strong economic growth in his first term, although rights groups criticize him for squeezing out rivals. Senegals small fish-exporting economy expanded more than 6 percent last year, one of the highest rates in Africa, driven by an ambitious reform and development plan that included the construction of a new railway. The 57-year-old told thousands gathered for his final rally in Dakar on Friday that he would deliver universal health care and better access to education in a second term. Results due next month About 6.5 million people are registered to vote at polling stations that opened at 8 a.m. (0800 GMT) and close at 6 p.m. Official results are due Friday with a run-off for the top two March 24 if no one secures a majority. After casting his vote in the presidents hometown of Fatick, pensioner Adama Sakho, 81, said he believed Sall would win in the first round, praising his social spending policies. Im retired, and now in one month I receive the same amount of money I used to make in three months, he said. He has the hand of God. Everything he touches gets realized. And he brings luck, because its during his reign that we found oil and gas. There are hopes of an oil and gas boom in Senegal as energy majors develop previously untapped fields off its Atlantic coast. Senegalese voters line up to cast their ballot at Senegalese voters line up to cast their ballot at a polling station in Dakar, Senegal, Feb. 24, 2019. Voters are choosing whether to give President Macky Sall a second term in office as he faces four challengers. Senegalese voters line up to cast their ballot at a polling station in Dakar, Senegal, Feb. 24, 2019. Voters are choosing whether to give President Macky Sall a second term in office as he faces four challengers. Spending questioned Despite Salls popularity, some citizens question whether a high-speed train, new motorways and a swanky conference center will benefit average citizens in the former French colony of 15 million people where the average income is less than $200 a month. Many people do not have reliable water or power supplies. University professor Bakary Manga, 43, said he would vote for opposition candidate Ousmane Sonko as he was disappointed in Salls first term. It was a big nonsense with him. The cost of his projects is excessive, we can do much better with much less, he said at a polling station in Dakar. Rivals sidelined Rights groups have criticized the exclusion of two popular candidates from the race in the West African nation that has long been viewed as the regions most stable democracy. It has seen peaceful transitions of power since independence in 1960. Former mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, son of former President Abdoulaye Wade who was in power from 2000 to 2012, were barred from running because of corruption convictions. The former president himself said in a statement the vote was being rigged and told supporters of his son to boycott the poll. The government has dismissed the criticism, promising a free and fair vote. The remaining challengers are Sonko, a former tax inspector who is popular among young people, as well as third-time contender and former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck. Lawyer Madicke Niang and IT professor Issa Sall are also running. Sonko told supporters at his final rally on Thursday that he would congratulate Sall if the vote was fair. But if he steals the victory, I ask the youth to walk to the presidential palace and chase him out, he said. At least one person was killed this month in clashes between Salls backers and his opponents in the southeastern city of Tambacounda, but campaigning has been largely peaceful. DAKAR, SENEGAL - Vote counting has begun in Senegal after a peaceful day of voting in Sunday's presidential election. Polls closed at 6 p.m. local time and preliminary results are expected as soon as Monday or Tuesday, according to CENA. After three weeks of campaigning, long lines of voters formed early Sunday to either support incumbent Macky Sall's bid for re-election or replace him with one of his four challengers - Idrissa Seck, Ousmane Sonko, Madicke Niang or Issa Sall. Senegalese Head to Polls; Presidents Re-Election Likely Senegalese voters headed to the polls Sunday for an election President Macky Sall is expected to win after strong economic growth in his first term, although rights groups criticize him for squeezing out rivals.Senegals small fish-exporting economy expanded more than 6 percent last year, one of the highest rates in Africa, driven by an ambitious reform and development plan that included the construction of a new railway.The 57-year-old told thousands gathered for his final rally in Dakar on Friday Senegalese voters headed to the polls Sunday for an election President Macky Sall is expected to win after strong economic growth in his first term, although rights groups criticize him for squeezing out rivals.Senegals small fish-exporting economy expanded more than 6 percent last year, one of the highest rates in Africa, driven by an ambitious reform and development plan that included the construction of a new railway.The 57-year-old told thousands gathered for his final rally in Dakar on Friday The election process was smooth and there were no major disruptions in the election process, Doudou Ndir, president of Senegal's electoral commission (CENA) told a press conference. "Our observations show everything is proceeding in good conditions, peacefully, calmly," Ndir said. President Sall, 56, cast his ballot in his hometown of Fatick early Sunday. "I hope that at the end of this day, the Senegalese people will be the sole winner," he said after voting. "Au terme de cette journee, le peuple senegalais sera le seul vainqueur" pic.twitter.com/nb0NMHV44l Macky Sall (@Macky_Sall) February 24, 2019 "What we all have in common is our country, and we want a candidate who will work for it, for our Senegal," Mbene, an 18-year-old student who voted for the first time Sunday, told VOA Afrique after casting her ballot for Sall. Though some will renew their support for Sall, some young voters are pledging their support to the youngest of the candidates, Ousmane Sanko, 44, who is promising drastic changes from the current system. "The system has been in place for 60 years with the same men, the same heads, and we need to break from this," Pape Amadou Diop, a student in Dakar, said after voting for Sonko, whom he calls the "perfect representation of hope in Senegal." Senegalese Head to Polls; Presidents Re-Election Likely Senegalese voters headed to the polls Sunday for an election President Macky Sall is expected to win after strong economic growth in his first term, although rights groups criticize him for squeezing out rivals.Senegals small fish-exporting economy expanded more than 6 percent last year, one of the highest rates in Africa, driven by an ambitious reform and development plan that included the construction of a new railway.The 57-year-old told thousands gathered for his final rally in Dakar on Friday Senegalese voters headed to the polls Sunday for an election President Macky Sall is expected to win after strong economic growth in his first term, although rights groups criticize him for squeezing out rivals.Senegals small fish-exporting economy expanded more than 6 percent last year, one of the highest rates in Africa, driven by an ambitious reform and development plan that included the construction of a new railway.The 57-year-old told thousands gathered for his final rally in Dakar on Friday Approximately 15,000 voting stations were expected to be open Sunday. CENA chief Ndir said that by noon, about 30 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots. A candidate must win more than 50 percent of Sunday's vote to be declared Senegal's president. If no one wins an outright majority, then the top two contenders will face off in a run-off vote in March. Saudi Arabia has replaced its ambassador to the United States, a royal decree announced Saturday, as the fallout over journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder tests relations between the two allies. Princess Reema bint Bandar was appointed the kingdom's first woman envoy to Washington, replacing Prince Khalid bin Salman, who was named vice defense minister. Prince Khalid is the younger brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de facto ruler who also serves as the defense minister. The reshuffle comes as ties with Washington are under strain following Khashoggi's murder last October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. After initially denying they knew anything of Khashoggi's disappearance, the Saudis finally acknowledged that a team killed him inside the consulate, but described it as a rogue operation. U.S. lawmakers have threatened to take tougher action against Saudi Arabia over the brutal killing amid claims that the crown prince was personally responsible. The Saudi government has strongly denied he had anything to do with the murder of Khashoggi who was a columnist with The Washington Post. The killing refocused attention on a Saudi-led military coalition's bombing campaign in Yemen, which is gripped by what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Earlier this month, the U.S. House voted overwhelmingly to end American involvement in Saudi Arabia's war effort in neighboring Yemen, dealing a rebuke to President Donald Trump who has publicly thrown his support behind the crown prince. U.S. lawmakers this month also said they were probing whether Trump was rushing to sell sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia to please corporate supporters who stand to profit handsomely. The House of Representatives committee has voiced fears that Saudi Arabia could convert U.S. expertise into making a nuclear bomb, heightening already severe tensions with regional rival Iran. Former PM hit for discrediting impeachment of Park It is hard to understand why former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is running for the leadership of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, has attempted to make the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye null and void. Hwang should realize his attempt is nothing more than defiance of the rule of law and a negation of the democratic system of the nation. Hwang must have gone too far in wooing votes from stalwart supporters of Park who was ousted from power for her involvement in a massive corruption scandal. He might feel like defending the disgraced former head of state only because he was the prime minister under Park's rule. He was also her justice minister after building his 28-year career as a prosecutor. Hwang also served as acting president until the May 2017 inauguration of President Moon Jae-in from the National Assembly's passage of the impeachment motion against Park in December 2016. He received reports regularly about the prosecution's investigation of the ousted president and her confidant Cho Soon-sil. Thus, few could know about the corruption case better than Hwang. For this reason, it is surprising to see Hwang claim the impeachment process lacked legitimacy. He even raised the possibility that the evidence found on the tablet PC of Choi might have been fabricated. It is nonsense to question the validity of the evidence which was the smoking gun in impeaching Park and convicting her and Choi for abuse of power and corruption. Hwang had maintained a low profile about Park's impeachment until recently when he joined the race to elect a new leader of the LKP, whose predecessor was Park's then-ruling Saenuri Party. Now, Hwang has revealed his true colors in his bid to take the helm of the LKP. During a televised debate with two other candidates Feb. 19, he expressed his opposition to her impeachment. He implied it was improper to impeach the president for political reasons without compelling evidence. He did not stop here. When asked about the possibility of the evidence on Choi's tablet being fabricated in another televised debate Feb. 21, Hwang made an affirmative answer. But it is a wrong answer because both the district court and the appeals court confirmed the validity of the evidence proving Park's collaboration with Choi in abuse of power and corruption. Hwang is in blind pursuit of his political ambition. He appears to believe his total disregard for the court decisions might help rally far-right supporters of Park behind him in the race. But he risks going against the rule of law and democratic principles. Hwang's ludicrous remarks reflect his party's tendency to tilt toward the extreme right. Three LKP lawmakers have come under criticism for dismissing the May 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy movement as a riot instigated by North Korean commandos. One of them is Hwang's rival candidate Kim Jin-tae. The LKP decided to expel another lawmaker Lee Jong-myeong from the party, but the public's outcry is growing over the anachronistic remarks. More worrisome is that the LKP has increasingly lost its ideological identity as a conservative party since Park's impeachment. This loss seems to lend support to far-right extremists who are trying to reinstate Park's honor. If it elects such a figure as Hwang in Wednesday's party convention, the LKP has no future. This will only deepen the public's distrust and speed up the disintegration of the party which has already been mired in factional struggles. Thousands gathered in central Moscow on Sunday to mark the fourth anniversary of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov's murder. Although the events were approved by Moscow authorities, police limited access to the northern edge of the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky bridge just outside the Kremlin, where for years a makeshift memorial comprising plaques, photos, flowers and candles has marked the spot of the 55-year-old's assassination by gunshot. It was on the evening of February 27, 2015, when Nemtsov was walking across the bridge when a car stopped alongside him. A gunman emerged from the vehicle and fired multiple shots from a range of several feet, striking Nemtsov in the head, heart, liver and stomach, killing him instantly. Report: Russian Free-Speech Crackdown Intensified Since 2012 Russian laws passed since President Vladimir Putin's 2012 return to the power have dramatically strengthened Kremlin control over the flow of information online and off, according to a new study by a London-based rights group.The report, issued by PEN International's Moscow and St. Petersburg offices, outlines restrictions on free expression since the beginning of Putin's third term. Russian laws passed since President Vladimir Putin's 2012 return to the power have dramatically strengthened Kremlin control over the flow of information online and off, according to a new study by a London-based rights group.The report, issued by PEN International's Moscow and St. Petersburg offices, outlines restrictions on free expression since the beginning of Putin's third term. The attack come just hours after the activist had publicly called for a rally to protest Russia's war in Ukraine. In the days leading up to his assassination, he had said he was preparing to release a damning report entitled "Putin. War" that would undercut Russian President Vladimir Putin's denial that the Kremlin had troops on the ground in eastern Ukraine. In the center of Moscow, as in other cities across Russia, thousands took to the streets with placards in Russian and English with statements such as "Killed for freedom," "Are you going to kill us too?" and "Putin is a liar." Although five men were convicted of Nemtsov's killing, supporters say those who commissioned the hit have evaded justice. A portrait of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov and flo FILE - A portrait of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov and flowers are pictured at the site where he was killed on February 27, with St. Basil's Cathedral seen in the background, at the Great Moskvoretsky Bridge in central Moscow, March 6, 2015. FILE - A portrait of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov and flowers are pictured at the site where he was killed on February 27, with St. Basil's Cathedral seen in the background, at the Great Moskvoretsky Bridge in central Moscow, March 6, 2015. According to Evan Gershkovich of The Moscow Times, many placards visible at the rally touched on a litany of grievances frequently invoked by the Russia's anti-Kremlin communityfrom a 2018 movie theater blaze that killed scores of Siberian children to arrests over political commentary on social media threads. "For many demonstrators, the rally ... was ultimately less about [Nemtsov's] death as much as it was about keeping his spirit of opposition alive," he wrote. "This is a march in opposition to Vladimir Putin," one of the event's organizers, politician Ilya Yashin, said in a video prior to the march. "This is a march for a free and democratic Russia." According to "White counter," an independent group that specializes in assessing rally turnout, the Moscow event drew and estimated 10,600 people. Moscow police reported about 6,000 participants. The march route, which was coordinated with city officials, didn't include a stop at Nemtsov's memorial, but participants planned on walking there to deposit flowers after the rally concluded. They were met by steel slat barriers and police officers, some donning riot gear, who said access to the bridge was restricted. Thousands Commemorate Murdered Russian Opposition Leader Ahead of Elections A month ahead of presidential elections, thousands of Russians rallied in the capital city of Moscow Sunday in honor of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered on this day three years ago.In a rare sanctioned opposition gathering in Russia's capital, many carried flags, portraits of Nemtsov, placards and flowers in frigid temperatures as low as minus 14 degrees Celsius.Moscow police, who are often accused of underestimating opposition crowd sizes, said that 4,500 people attended the rally. A month ahead of presidential elections, thousands of Russians rallied in the capital city of Moscow Sunday in honor of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered on this day three years ago.In a rare sanctioned opposition gathering in Russia's capital, many carried flags, portraits of Nemtsov, placards and flowers in frigid temperatures as low as minus 14 degrees Celsius.Moscow police, who are often accused of underestimating opposition crowd sizes, said that 4,500 people attended the rally. Attempting to approach the bridge from Red Square, one VOA reporter was told access to the bridge was closed. When asked why the bridge was blocked, the officer gestured to step back. "Be on your way," he said, pointing away from the bridge. Riot control vehicles were visible in an area alongside the bridge. "For some reason, they decided to make access to the bridge as difficult as possible," said one protester named Vladimir, who has attended a number of annual Nemtsov memorial rallies. "Maybe they did it hoping that people won't reach the place. But [whomever] wants to come will come. The state, apparently, has decided people will suffer before coming and pay their respect to Boris Nemtsov." "At first, we tried to reach the bridge from one entrance. It was closed. Then we tried to go through another one," added Vladimir, who withheld his last name. "It's not the first year they are doing this. It's been expected, there's nothing new." Andrew, who hadn't planned on attempting to reach the site of the memorial in order to lay flowers there, made a last-minute effortand with success. "[Police] a little bit fenced the place around, and I asked, 'can I pass?', and they said 'yes, you can.' And then the next behind me tried to pass through, too, but they said, "the passageway is closed.' "It's somehow a bit incomprehensible," Andrew added. "A week ago, I was here, and I could pass. They don't want people to come here. They're ruining the memorial here every time flowers are laid. They are afraid." Later in the afternoon, police opened one point of access to the memorialthis time from Red Square, where marchers could walk through a gangway cordoned by crowd-control fencing with officers regulating pedestrian access in a seemingly arbitrary way. Russia to Fine Activists if Minors Join Protests Russian officials will be able to fine protest organizers if young people take part in their demonstrations, under a bill signed off by lawmakers in parliament's lower house on Tuesday.Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whose anti-corruption activism has attracted a youthful following, said on Twitter the law was proposed "specifically for me". Russian officials will be able to fine protest organizers if young people take part in their demonstrations, under a bill signed off by lawmakers in parliament's lower house on Tuesday.Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whose anti-corruption activism has attracted a youthful following, said on Twitter the law was proposed "specifically for me". ROME, ITALY - Pope Francis has compared the sexual abuse of children to human sacrifice. "I am reminded of the cruel religious practice, once widespread in certain cultures, of sacrificing human beings - frequently children - in pagan rites," Francis said Sunday. He was speaking at the close of the summit of the church's top bishops and leaders, called to design a plan on how to deal with the predatory priests who have sexually abused children and adults for decades. Sex abuse survivors and members of ECA (Ending Cle Sex abuse survivors and members of ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), hold banners in front of St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Feb. 24, 2019. Sex abuse survivors and members of ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), hold banners in front of St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Feb. 24, 2019. AFP, the French news agency, reports that the bishops were given a "roadmap" on how to stop the predatory priests that included "drawing up mandatory codes of conduct for priests, training people to spot abuse, and informing police." Mark Coleridge, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference warned the gathered Catholic clergy and leaders that "We do not have forever, and we dare not fail" as they go back to their dioceses and navigate dealing with reports of abuse. "We have shown too little mercy," Coleridge warned, "and therefore we will receive the same." Worldwide sexual abuse by priests An advocate and survivor of sexual abuse, looks at An advocate and survivor of sexual abuse, looks at the photos of Catholic priests accused of sexual misconduct by victims during a news conference, Dec. 6, 2018, in Orange, California. An advocate and survivor of sexual abuse, looks at the photos of Catholic priests accused of sexual misconduct by victims during a news conference, Dec. 6, 2018, in Orange, California. The reports of worldwide sexual abuse by priests have rocked the Roman Catholic Church. "We will do all in our power to make sure that the horrors of the past are not repeated," Coleridge said. On Saturday, German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, in an extraordinary admission, said that "files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed, or not even created." Sister Veronica Openibo speaks during the third da Sister Veronica Openibo speaks during the third day of the four-day meeting on the global sexual abuse crisis, at the Vatican, Feb. 23, 2019, in this screen grab taken from video. Sister Veronica Openibo speaks during the third day of the four-day meeting on the global sexual abuse crisis, at the Vatican, Feb. 23, 2019, in this screen grab taken from video. Sister Veronica Openibo, a Nigerian nun, addressed the group Saturday: "We must acknowledge that our mediocrity, hypocrisy and complacency have brought us to this disgraceful and scandalous place we find ourselves as a Church. We pause to pray, Lord have mercy on us." She told the summit; "Too often we want to keep silent until the storm has passed. This storm will not pass by. Our credibility is at stake." EL PASO, TEXAS - Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Saturday after visiting the U.S.-Mexico border that the government needs a broader, more effective approach to border control. He suggested the Pentagon might contribute with its expertise in surveillance and monitoring. How do we get out of treating the symptoms and get at the root of the issue, Shanahan said in an interview while flying back to Washington. Considering how the military could reinforce efforts to block drug smuggling and other illegal activity comes as the Pentagon weighs diverting billions of dollars for President Donald Trumps border wall. Shanahan said he was not volunteering the Pentagon to take over any part of border control, which is the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security. But he said his visit led him to question whether there should be a wholesale redesign of the way border control is done by the federal government. Shanahan said the Pentagon is willing to continue supporting the DHS but wants to see a longer-term solution. I dont want to just add resources and not fix the problem, he said. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, cent Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, center, greets Border Patrol Agents Carlos Lerma, second from right, Moises Gonzalez, right, and the horse they use for patrols during a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border at Santa Teresa Station in Sunland Park, N.M. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, center, greets Border Patrol Agents Carlos Lerma, second from right, Moises Gonzalez, right, and the horse they use for patrols during a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border at Santa Teresa Station in Sunland Park, N.M. ?Surveillance, reconnaissance expertise The Pentagon, for example, has agreed to temporarily provide active-duty troops to operate Border Patrol vehicles whose cameras can surveil wide areas along the border. Shanahan said this will free up the Border Patrol to do other important aspects of their mission. He said this is a function that could be developed more fully with the benefit of decades of U.S. military experience with ground and aerial reconnaissance and surveillance around the world. In addition to speaking with Border Patrol agents and other leaders during his visit, Shanahan flew in a V-22 Osprey aircraft along dozens of miles of border west of El Paso, including two areas where DHS is proposing to replace vehicle barriers with 18-foot and 30-foot border walls. Shanahan and the Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. Joseph Dunford, visited a border site called Monument Site 3 where a stretch of 18-foot border wall stands atop a huge landfill. They also got a close look at Border Patrol vehicles used for surveillance. Vehicle-mounted surveillance cameras can see as far as eight miles away. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, cen Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, center, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, left, meet with Border Patrol Agents during a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border at Santa Teresa Station in Sunland Park, N.M., Feb. 23, 2019. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, center, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, left, meet with Border Patrol Agents during a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border at Santa Teresa Station in Sunland Park, N.M., Feb. 23, 2019. High-priority projects During the visit Shanahan tried his hand at firing a couple of Border Patrol weapons, including one that fires plastic bullets. The two border control sites farther west are on a list of high-priority projects DHS submitted to Shanahan Friday to support its request for money to pay for construction of roads, replacement of vehicle barriers and dilapidated pedestrian fencing, and installation of lighting. The pedestrian fencing would include detection systems that could alert border patrol agents when someone is attempting to damage or break through the fencing. The money would come from the Pentagons drug interdiction programs. One such project proposed by DHS, dubbed El Paso Project 1, includes segments of border west of El Paso, in Luna and Dona Ana counties, in New Mexico. This is among areas DHS cites as known drug smuggling corridors used by Mexican cartels. These projects are separate from, but related to, those Shanahan is expected to pay for by diverting money that Congress appropriated for military construction projects. This could total as much as $3.6 billion, although Shanahan has not yet determined that the diversion is justified. His visit Saturday was meant to help him decide whether to approve such spending. Residential homes in the Mexican city of Ciudad Ju Residential homes in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez are seen through border fencing during Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan's tour of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, Feb. 23, 2019. Residential homes in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez are seen through border fencing during Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan's tour of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, Feb. 23, 2019. DHS has yet to provide the details that Shanahan says he needs before making his decision on the repurposing of military construction funds. He has said he is likely to provide the full $3.6 billion the White House is expecting, plus $2.5 billion from the drug interdiction program. Trump authorized the use of these military funds when he declared a national emergency to build a wall. Corps of Engineers Wall construction would be done under contracts managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, whose commander, Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, accompanied Shanahan on Saturday. The Corps has built 126 miles (203 kilometers) of border wall in the last two years mostly replacement barriers, Semonite told reporters. There are about 2,900 active-duty troops and about 2,100 National Guard troops on the border in support of Customs and Border Protection. That combined total of 5,000 is expected to grow to 6,000 by March 1 as the Pentagon provides additional support. The border mission for active-duty forces began on Oct. 30, 2018, as Trump asserted that caravans of Central American migrants posed an urgent national security threat. Critics dismissed his use of the military on the border as a political gimmick on the eve of midterm congressional elections. The active-duty mission has since been extended to Sept. 30. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline. Prak Soda and Suon Sakhen, high school sweethearts, married seven years ago. Lifelong residents of Svay Rieng province, one of Cambodias poorest, they were expecting an uneventful delivery of their second child earlier this month. Prak Soda had taken a few days off work at a nearby garment factory to rest up and prepare. But 27-year-old Prak Soda, a woman who knew how to add fun and laughter to a party, died from severe bleeding shortly after delivering her baby boy with a midwifes assistance. Her death sparked a national conversation. Suon Sakhen, also a garment worker, said his wife appeared to be in good health immediately after giving birth. My wife was OK. She asked the baby after delivering: Can you cry? he told VOA Khmer in a recent interview at his home. But Prak Soda kept bleeding, bleeding so severe Suon Sakhen said he argued with the midwife until she dispatched the new mother to the provincial hospital. Prak Soda died from the loss of blood en route to the hospital. Inside the ambulance, the medical person told me that my wife died, but I couldnt believe it. So I asked the driver to continue driving until we reached the provincial hospital, Sakhen said. They confirmed that my wife died. The next day, Feb. 5, he filed a complaint with district police alleging negligence by the midwife. VOA Khmer obtained a copy of the filing, which detailed how tragedy struck. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa A woman sits in front of delivery room at Mesor Thngork health center where Prak Soda delivered her baby and died soon after, in Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province, Feb 8, 2019. (Sun Narin/VOA Khmer) A woman sits in front of delivery room at Mesor Thngork health center where Prak Soda delivered her baby and died soon after, in Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province, Feb 8, 2019. (Sun Narin/VOA Khmer) ?Maternal mortality Prak Sodas death highlights how women risk death with each birth in developing nations such as Cambodia even though pregnancy is a normal phase of life for women of childbearing age. Approximately 830 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth each day, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which reports that 99 percent of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries. Reducing maternal deaths, defined as any death that occurs during pregnancy, childbirth or within two months after a birth or terminating a pregnancy, is a UN goal. Postnatal care is critical. According to a 2003 report by the Population Research Bureau, of the women worldwide who die of pregnancy-related causes, about a quarter die during pregnancy, about 15 percent at delivery, and 61 percent after delivery. Under the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations, world leaders pledged to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030. Between 1990 and 2015, maternal mortality worldwide dropped by about 44 percent, according to the World Health Organization. Maternal mortality is higher among women living in rural areas and among poorer communities. The maternal mortality rate in Cambodia has decreased since 2005, from 472 deaths per 100,000 births in 2005 to 161 deaths per 100,000 births in 2015, according to official data. Earlier goal achieved Cambodia achieved the United Nations Millennium Development Goal to cut maternal deaths by at least 75 percent by 2015, having decreased its ratio by 84 percent between 1990 and 2015. Because many women die during childbirth because of the dearth of trained personnel, the government trained midwives and sent them to rural areas with high infant and maternal mortality rates. To discourage unattended home births, the government paid midwives $10 for a live birth at a hospital and $15 for one at a health center. Ten years ago, we had from 15 to 18 deaths per year, said Ker Rotha, who heads the health department in Prak Sodas Svay Rieng province. Today, Cambodias improved local health centers provide basic delivery services, but any sign of complications is supposed to result in a quick transfer to the provincial referral hospital. Chan Theary, executive director of the NGO Reproductive and Child Health Alliance (RACHA), said the new protocols had significantly reduced maternal mortality, but more work is needed, including providing more extensive training to midwives. RACHA focuses on improving reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health. These advances seemingly failed Prak Soda, the first woman to die in childbirth in several years in Svay Rieng province. News of her death triggered online discussions of unsafe childbirth in Cambodia. Mam Bunheng, the minister of health, and Or Vandin, the health ministry spokeswoman, could not be reached for comment. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Mesor Thngork health center in Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province, where Prak Soda delivered her baby and died soon after, on Feb 8, 2019. (Sun Narin/VOA Khmer) Mesor Thngork health center in Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province, where Prak Soda delivered her baby and died soon after, on Feb 8, 2019. (Sun Narin/VOA Khmer) ?So much blood Feb. 4 was the first day of the Lunar New Year. While not an official holiday Cambodians celebrate the new year, Choul Chhnam Thmey, in April life often slows down a little in the big cities and larger provincial towns. Prak Soda arrived at the local health center Mesor Thngork in Chantrea district about 5 a.m., according to the complaint. Suon Sakhen accompanied Prak Soda as did her sisters and mother-in-law, a traditional midwife. Prak Sodas sister, Prak Sinuon, 37, told VOA she called the midwife who had delivered Prak Sodas first baby, a girl who is now 5 years old. The woman came to the center, checked Prak Sodas health and found nothing amiss, according to Prak Sinoun. The baby arrived around 2:30 p.m., attended by one midwife rather than the usual two, according to the complaint. After delivering the baby, the midwife, Ouk Chamrong, asked all family members to leave the room so that she could dispose of the placenta. The victims mother-in-law, Pov Sakhorn, 62, a traditional midwife, remained behind. She and I were inside the room. I was watching her, said Pov Sakhorn. I was wondering why there was so much blood coming out. Sent to hospital too late Listening through a window, Suon Sakhen said he could hear his wife complaining of a pain in her stomach. I asked the midwife, Ouk Chamrong, to send my wife to Svay Rieng provincial hospital, but the midwife said the bleeding and her overall condition was normal, read the complaint. Thirty minutes passed. Prak Soda continued to bleed. Only after Suon Sakhen argued with the midwife did she call an ambulance, according to the complaint. Prak Soda, a garment factory worker for 10 years, died en route to the hospital, about 40 kilometers from the local health center where she gave birth. The wife who had helped her husband on their rice farm had 10 days off ahead of her birth, said Suon Sakhen. My wifes health was fine. She went to the health center for checks and to take medicine every month. Only one midwife Central to Suon Sakhens complaint is the presence of only one midwife, rather than the usual two, during the birth, and the delay in sending his wife to the hospital. In the filing, he claimed health center officials, including the head of the center, Has Sophun, and his wife, Mu Narou, are responsible for his wifes death. He has requested compensation of about $10,000. Has Sophun runs a private clinic in his home treating children and the elderly. In an interview with VOA Khmer, Mu Narou said that while she was not on call the day Prak Soda died, she went in to examine her. Suon Sakhen said Mu Narou and Has Sophun examined Prak Soda once her condition was deteriorating. Mao Sopheary, another trained midwife and the deputy head of the health center, said it was her turn to oversee births at the time of Prak Sodas death, but she had requested leave for the Chinese New Year. I told my boss that if we have patients who are in labor and we cant treat them, we could send patients [elsewhere], she said. So I dont know why they accepted [Prak Soda]. When asked about why there was only one medical attendant present during the delivery, Has Sophun told VOA Khmer, Normally, there are two midwives delivering the baby. But at that time, there was only one, but when there was a problem, more people came to help. He referred questions to his superiors at the provincial health department. A weak uterus Svay Rieng provincial health director Ker Rotha said it was a mistake that there was only one midwife present during the delivery. Normally, there are two midwives helping, but because of Chinese New Year, some didnt come, he said, adding that the responsible staff would face administrative punishment. He defended midwife Ouk Chamrong, saying, She has worked for six years and she has skills in helping mothers deliver babies safely. Ouk Chamrong could not be reached for comment. Ker Rotha said, We finally hypothesized that too much bleeding caused the death. The victims uterus was weak and could not curb the blood flow. He added that if Prak Soda had reached the provincial hospital faster, she may have been saved. After Prak Sodas death, many commune residents have become wary of giving birth at the local health center. I will send [pregnant women] to Svay Rieng provincial hospital. If there is any problem, they will be helped on time, said Chab Srey, 60, a villager in Bati commune. The health center is nearby and it is good, but if there is any urgent problem, we cant [get to the hospital fast enough], she added. I am scared when there is such a problem. Prak Sodas mother said that she wanted justice for her daughter and accused the midwife of negligence. They killed my daughter. Who will feed her children? said Puth Saban. As normal people, [we] had to have faith in the midwife. Officials in northeastern India say the death toll for people who drank tainted bootleg liquor has climbed to at least 140. Authorities say another 200 people who drank the moonshine are hospitalized, some of them in critical condition. "The people came to the hospital with severe vomiting, extreme chest pain and breathlessness," Dr. Ratul Bordoloi told AFP, the French news agency. The situation has overwhelmed local hospitals. "Doctors from nearby districts and other medical colleges have been rushed in to deal with the crisis," Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told Reuters news agency. The victims, many of them women, are mainly tea plantation workers, officials say. Police have initiated an investigation and several people have been arrested. Hundreds of people die yearly in India from drinking cheap, illegally-produced brew. Less than two weeks ago, more than 100 people died in northern India from drinking tainted alcohol. Some fun and interesting facts about Tuesday's nominations for the 91st Academy Awards: -After more than 30 years and some two dozen films, Spike Lee received his first Academy Award nomination for best director for "BlacKkKlansman." It's also the first time one of his movies has been nominated for best picture. Glenn Close arrives at the 91st Academy Awards Nom Glenn Close arrives at the 91st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon on Feb. 4, 2019, at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Glenn Close arrives at the 91st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon on Feb. 4, 2019, at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. -Glenn Close's best actress nomination for "The Wife" is her seventh, and could finally mean her first Oscar. She has more nominations without a win than any other living actor or actress. -"Black Panther'' is the first Marvel movie - and the first superhero film of any kind - to be nominated for best picture. Its $700 million box-office take is more than the earnings of the other seven best-picture nominees combined. - "Roma" is the first Netflix film to be nominated for best picture. - Sam Elliott's first Oscar nomination - for best supporting actor in "A Star Is Born" - comes 50 years after his first acting credit, on the TV series "Judd, for the Defense." Rami Malek arrives at the 91st Academy Awards Nomi Rami Malek arrives at the 91st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon on Feb. 4, 2019, at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Rami Malek arrives at the 91st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon on Feb. 4, 2019, at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. -Rami Malek, nominated for playing Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody," is the only first-time Oscar nominee among the men up for best actor. He's up against multiple nominees Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Viggo Mortensen and Willem Dafoe. - Yalitza Aparicio's nomination for "Roma'' comes in her first role as an actress. Yalitza Aparicio arrives at the 34th Film Independ Yalitza Aparicio arrives at the 34th Film Independent Spirit Awards on Feb. 23, 2019, in Santa Monica, Calif. Yalitza Aparicio arrives at the 34th Film Independent Spirit Awards on Feb. 23, 2019, in Santa Monica, Calif. - This is the second of Hollywood's four versions of "A Star Is Born," to get a best picture nomination, along with the 1937 original. The 1954 and 1976 versions each got several Oscar nominations, but not for best picture. - No women were nominated for best director this year. The number of female directorial nominees in the 91-year history of the Oscars remains five. - Eighty-seven countries submitted movies to be considered for best foreign language film. Five got nominations : Germany, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico and Poland. - Bob Hope hosted the Oscars a record 19 times. No one is scheduled to host this year's ceremony. SYDNEY - Australia will be forced to confront decades of abuse of people with disabilities after parliament agreed to set up a Royal Commission, the nation's highest form of inquiry. For years Australians living with physical and mental disabilities have suffered violence and abuse at workplaces, institutions and schools, including a young boy with autism who was tied up with rope and put in an enclosed space by a teacher. All parties in Australia's federal parliament have agreed that a Royal Commission, a quasi-judicial investigation, is needed to investigate the abuses. The leader of the opposition Bill Shorten said it would be the "king of all inquiries" and that the "abuse and mistreatment of people with disability is Australia's hidden shame." Victims say that they have been marginalized, institutionalized and abused, and that their stories of mistreatment were too often ignored. Craig Wallace from Disabled People's Organizations Australia, a rights group, says as a young boy he was treated viciously in hospital. "The overwhelming feeling that I remember when I was a child and there was a nurse coming and setting fire to my hair at night is that people did not believe us. If we can have a Royal Commission into the banks then surely we can have an inquiry into the most vulnerable people in our community that are being preyed upon by monsters who come at night". It's not clear when the commission will start, but it follows years of campaigning by victims and their families. The center-right Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that the inquiry would need the support of all Australian states and territories. The Royal Commission will attempt to uncover the true scale of the problem. There is no exact data, and experts say that violence against women with disabilities often goes unreported and when it is highlighted it is invariably dismissed, ignored or covered up. It is estimated that about 18 percent of Australians have a disability. By Andre Loesekrug-Pietri PARIS Late last month, 56 years after French President Charles de Gaulle and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer signed the Elysee Treaty, the current leaders of France and Germany met in Aachen, the historic capital of Europe, to sign a new cooperation pact. The new Treaty of Aachen should be welcomed by all Europeans. Despite their domestic political difficulties, and amid a European growth slowdown and the chaos of Brexit, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel came together to reaffirm their countries' mutual understanding. The agreement lays the groundwork for a new Franco-German economic council, as well as closer cooperation on security and defense. It is, however, regrettable that the treaty's 28 articles are very vague. It is absolutely essential that this text be accompanied by a new method, adapted to the current world in which we live a world where politics is no longer conducted in the muffled debates of ministerial meetings or through convoluted communiques. Genuine involvement by civil society is the only way to stimulate two struggling governments and overcome their conservatism. After all, we have entered an era in which speed, even more than money, determines the course of events, and where the capacity for experimentation across all sectors is an essential factor for success. In today's winner-takes-all economy, the bulk of newly created wealth accrues to those who innovate the fastest. Most Europeans may not realize it, but the European Union has allocated more for research and innovation through the 77 billion pounds ($87 billion) Horizon 2020 program than the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has in the past 60 years ($55 billion). Yet while DARPA research led directly to the internet (through Arpanet), the microchip, stealth technologies, GPS, voice recognition, and autonomous vehicles, one can only wonder where the EU's world-changing innovations are. Clearly, it is the method that counts, not the size of the expenditure. We Europeans may think that we are maintaining a competitive position with respect to research, even if the United States and China are far ahead when it comes to creating "unicorns" and the digital behemoths of the future. Unfortunately, we aren't. At the latest Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, the U.S. accounted for 85 percent of published research papers on artificial intelligence (AI), compared to just 7 percent for all European countries combined. It is no surprise that Europe's disconnected, fragmented national innovation strategies are falling behind. When it comes to AI, the size of the data pool is everything, which means that national and local initiatives such as a purely French one or an "AI Made in Germany" are hopelessly insufficient. Kai-Fu Lee, the former chief of Google in China, recently described AI as a coin with only an American and a Chinese side. For many, it is as if Europe doesn't even exist. It is time to take the initiative again. The first step is to change the method. Neither French Jacobinism nor German ultra-decentralization are appropriate for today's world. Insofar as it will position Europe to pursue radically new initiatives, the Treaty of Aachen should be regarded as a welcome opportunity to restore European civil society not only as a provider of political ideas, but as a co-pilot for implementation. To that end, many concrete measures could be implemented immediately. The first is to establish an innovation agency that is open to all EU member states, oriented toward nurturing cutting-edge research and development, and driven by the innovation ecosystem to ensure maximum agility. Moreover, we must be bold in terms of cybersecurity, to protect our public infrastructure and democratic systems alike. Unlike Russia and the U.S., European countries lack the capacity to "attribute" and determine the origins of cyberattacks. Only with a cybersecurity alliance, data sharing, and law-enforcement coordination can Europe recover this essential element of lost sovereignty. Finally, Europe must be strategic about space, because that is where the race in communications, geolocation, and autonomous-vehicle technologies to say nothing of military conflicts will be decided. Unfortunately, the European rocket maker ArianeGroup has already had to shed 25 percent of its staff, owing to European member states' obsession with securing short-term returns for themselves. Such narrow-mindedness is undermining Europe's ability to act. We must adopt a radically different and more agile strategy before it is too late. The Treaty of Aachen could be a good base but bold, immediate, and decisive action is needed. Andre Loesekrug-Pietri is a technology investor and speaker of the Joint European Disruptive Initiative. Follow him on Twitter: @andrepietri and @eurojedi. Copyright belongs to Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org). Click here to log in and see all of our other subscription options for the Mesabi Tribune, including online only & auto-renewal subscriptions. Voting. It is a right for all American citizens, a right that far too many of us take for gr Murray The Magician, the headliner at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino who became an internet sensation over the last year, just featured his mentor Marvyn Roy on his first YouTube video. Roy is one of the oldest working magicians and known famously by his stage name Mr. Electric. Mr. Electric and his beautiful wife Carol toured the world over 50 years with an act in which he lit light bulbs in his bare hands including a 10,000 watt lighthouse bulb. He opened the Lido show at the late Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas, played in the Folies Bergere at the Tropicana Hotel, the Ed Sullivan Show numerous times. He covered for Siegfried and Roy when they played the MGM Grand Hotel, The Lido in Paris and toured with Liberace for over 5 years. In this new video, Marvyn is 92 years old and his magic is as good as when he was 20 years old! httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK1nq305daU&feature=em-subs_digest Mr. Electric Act on The Merv Griffin Show httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gwO0v1aTCg Better Quality Version of the Mr. Electric Act httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDOSn9GYUVQ Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila and President of Caritas Internationalis, speaks to Vatican News at the end of the four-day Meeting on "The Protection of Minors in the Church." By Vatican News In the immediate wake of the just ended Meeting on "The Protection of Minors in the Church", the The Archbishop of Manila reflects on the enormous pain and shame stemming from the clerical sexual abuse crisis, and he highlights esus' call to be a Church of disciples. Cardinal Tagle promises the Church will respond decisively to the scourge, "not only providing answers, organisms and rules - that are all important - but responding to be the Church of Jesus Christ". "The pain and the cries of the victims and of the poor are the voice telling us: be true to your calling". A hand bears the mark of an election stamp on the day of the June 13 local elections last year. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar By Jon Dunbar A letter arrived in the mail from Elections Canada, Feb. 14, confirming my right to vote in Canadian elections from overseas has been restored. This may sound crazy, but until last month Canadian citizens living overseas for more than five years didn't have the right to vote. Because we've been gone for so long, it was argued we don't have a vested interest in the politics of our country of origin. Last year, after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, China arrested two notable Canadian nationals within its territory, seemingly in retaliation. One was my friend, Michael Spavor. Michael remains in Chinese custody on absolutely meaningless charges of endangering Chinese national security, seemingly because his home country government dared to carry out an arrest as requested by America. Meng is on bail in her Vancouver home while the U.S. calls for her extradition. The Canadian government is struggling to make contact with Michael and working to secure his release. So don't tell me overseas Canadians don't have a stake in our country of origin. I have been a Canadian resident of South Korea for 15 years, and while Canada has suppressed my voting rights for years, Korea has invited me to vote in three local elections since 2012. In recognition of the growing importance of multiculturalism here, the government in 2005 allowed for permanent residents to vote in local but not national elections, after holding an F-5 visa for three years. My first time voting was in the 2012 legislative election, where I was constrained from voting in almost all categories but one or two local races. I joined a long line at a school in Yeonhui-dong to cast my vote, and not one single person in line with me or working the polling station batted an eye at this white foreigner voting. Voters decorate their hands with the ballot stamps to advertise that they'd voted, something I learned after it was too late. I walked away with stamps on my hands in the Seoul mayoral elections in 2014 and 2018, both highly consequential elections. I was able to vote for mayor, local district representative, proportional representation in which I just select a political party, and education office head. Both times, I did my research in advance and made informed choices. It does make sense that people like me can participate in selecting community leaders who have a direct influence on our local communities, but at the same time cannot vote in national or federal elections of a country in which we are not citizens. I only wish my home country, Canada, had been as reasonable. In 1993, Canada enacted a law that disenfranchised any Canadians who had lived abroad for over five years, but it wasn't enforced strictly until the 2006-15 Stephen Harper government. After being barred from voting in the 2011 federal election, Jamie Duong and Gillian Frank, two Canadians living in the U.S., challenged the law in court and won in 2014, but the Conservatives appealed and once again barred overseas Canadians from voting in the 2015 federal election while the legal battle continued. Harper's opponent Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau's winning campaign platform included a pledge to reform elections so all Canadians could vote. But after Trudeau won, there was little progress in overseas voting rights for years. Electoral reform looks less attractive once you're the party in power. We've seen a similar phenomenon in Korea's political candidates who promise electoral reform and constitutional amendments, only to give up when they take power. Citizenship does not rub off, and when you go abroad you do not leave your nationality behind. We carry Canadian passports. Our visas are hinged on our citizenship. We represent Canada in our countries of residence, except when they mistake us for American. We breathe the air that is polluted by fossil fuels like that which my home province of Alberta continues to dig out of the ground. I fulfill my duties as a taxpayer according to the Korea-Canada tax treaty. And, as seen by my friend Michael's imprisonment, our wellbeing and security hinge on the international reputation and actions of our home country. Fortunately, the Supreme Court ruled Jan. 11 that the blatant unconstitutionality of the voting restriction was, in fact, a problem, calling our right to vote a "core tenet of Canadian democracy." I hope Michael, after he is cleared of all charges and released, takes solace that during his months-long Chinese imprisonment, the Supreme Court restored his right to select his political representatives, even if he chooses not to return to Canada. Canadian election system Canadian elections work differently from Korean ones. Canada is divided up into federal electoral districts called ridings, and you vote for the representative in your riding. Whichever party wins in the most ridings reserves the right to select the prime minister. Trudeau himself had to run in a local election for Papineau, a riding in Montreal, Quebec. So if you live in Papineau, a multicultural district with 47 percent of residents claiming their first language is neither of Canada's two official languages of French and English, then Trudeau is your Member of Parliament. Thus, in restoring our right to vote, we must register a Canadian address for voting purposes, which could be: your last Canadian address where you lived before leaving the country; the current home address of a spouse or common-law partner; a relative of yourself, your spouse or your common-law partner; a person you are a dependant of; or a person you would live with if you were living in Canada. This system makes it extra difficult to justify overseas Canadians voting. While we deserve federal representation, I don't really need to vote for city mayor or provincial premier. The perfect solution to this is staring me in the face whenever I stamp a Korean ballot: Introduce a partial proportional representation system, where we don't vote for a local riding, but for a political party, and that determines how many proportional representative seats each party wins. Canada was considering electoral reform to introduce proportional representation, but Trudeau has backed down from putting it to a referendum. Nobody gets everything they want in politics, and now that I've won the right to vote in not one but two countries, I'm happy to once again share my opinions in the form of an electoral ballot. Jon Dunbar ( ) is a copy editor of The Korea Times. By Kim Sun-ae A Korean girl, at the age of 14, was drafted in to a battlefield against her will. She was forced to be a sex slave by the Japanese military. After World War II ended, the girl survived and returned to her hometown. In 1992, the survivor Kim Bok-dong made public that she was one of the victims of the Japanese military sexual slavery system. Visiting Europe, the U.S. and so on, she testified to the crime of the Japanese military. Kim became a peace and human rights activist. Even in her 90s, she went out into the street to participate in the Wednesday demonstration for the resolution of the Japanese military sexual slavery issue. She wanted the Japanese government to make a formal apology and offer legal compensation. At the same time, Kim maintained a humanitarian point of view. When a huge earthquake occurred in Northeastern Japan in 2011, she made a donation for Japanese citizens. In the past, I was angry at the Japanese government that refused to offer a sincere apology to the victims of the Japanese military sexual slavery system. But I realized that anger is not helpful to myself, others and the resolution of the issue. Now I do not feel anger at Japan's government anymore. A peaceful world will begin with inner peace. I would like to say to Japanese citizens and their government beyond anger let's make a peaceful world as fellow global citizens. Of course, I hope that the Japanese government will officially apologize to the survivors before all of them die. Courage is required to admit one's crime in the past. The courage, however, will be an important stepping stone to peace in Korea and Japan and, ultimately, world peace. It is crucial for the Japanese government to admit national responsibility for its military sexual slavery system. If Tokyo continues to deny the truth, such a tragedy, which must be prevented, may occur again. I sincerely suggest to Japanese citizens that we, together, make a world without war and without sexual violence a global community where all the people including our children and grandchildren can live happily, peacefully. This January I visited the funeral altar of the late Kim. In 2012, Kim joined in setting up the Butterfly Fund for victims of wartime sexual violence. She said, "I know too well how much the victims of wartime sexual violence in the world, like us, suffer. So I want to help them." Kim suffered too much from a young age. But she transformed the suffering into a beautiful flower understanding of and offering love for many people suffering in the world. "In future there must not be victims like us," Kim said. She wished for a world without war. She led peace and human rights campaigns to prevent wartime sexual violence. Many citizens, including young students, came to pay their respects to Kim who lived such a noble life. We will continue our efforts for a peaceful world she wanted. With the efforts, her soul will be alive in us and continue to exist through us. Kim Sun-ae (blog.naver.com/dancinglf) wrote a book of essays, "A Journey to Myself." Mavin Group has imported high-quality duck breeds from the UK and France to Vietnam and applied modern cross-breeding technologies to create breeds suitable to the local climate. (Photo: mavin-group.com) The group said it has imported high-quality duck breeds from the UK and France to Vietnam and applied modern cross-breeding technologies to create breeds suitable to the local climate. Mavin has also applied flexible and advanced breeding models, and produced antibiotic-free animal feed. The group has set up duck breed production centres in the northern provinces of Hung Yen, Phu Tho and Thai Binh, and Hau Giang and Dong Thap provinces in the southern region, with total annual capacity of 12 million ducklings. With new duck breeds and farming technologies, the group hopes to account for 40% of Vietnams duck meat market in the next five years. Founded in 2004, Mavin Group is one of few Vietnamese enterprises that have successfully implemented the From Farm to Table supply chain, and was also one of the first food firms in Vietnam to implement a highly automated system in all the production processes. Mavin became the first business in Vietnam to export fresh pork to a foreign market when the first batch was shipped to Myanmar in May 2018./. Valdosta, GA (31601) Today Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low near 70F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low near 70F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. I Agree This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Privacy Policy To describe a technical modifi cation for robotic-assisted simple prostatectomy (RASP) using three-steps reconstructive technique to achieve a 360 trigonization of the bladder mucosa. Through fi ve-trocars transperitoneal access, we perform a longitudinal incision of the bladder wall and prostate capsule. Our technique of RASP is very similar to the standard operative technique described during laparoscopic and robotic removal of adenoma, however, for reconstruction, we propose the Tunnel-Shaped Trigonization (TST). The fi rst step is the advancement of a bladder mucosa fl ap until the posterior part of the prostatic urethra. The second step, a running suture between the advanced mucosa and the prostatic capsule is done bilaterally. At this point, the prostate capsule should be totally isolated from the rest of the urinary tract. Finally, the third step is closing both sides of the capsule and bladder mucosa anteriorly identical to a tunnel conformation. Hiding the prostatic capsule optimizes the patient recovery since hematuria is the most related factor for hospital stay length. This pilot-case has shown satisfactory results without the need for continuous bladder irrigation. The prostate volume in the TRUS was 130 cm3 and the preoperative International Prostate Symptom score was 24. He was discharged at second postoperative day and no late complications were detected. In conclusion, the TST-RASP seems to be a safe and feasible modifi cation of the RASP. We hope that the application of the TST can lead us to lower rates of blood loss, transfusion and postoperative complications in comparison to the standard technique. International braz j urol : official journal of the Brazilian Society of Urology. 2019 Feb 10 [Epub ahead of print] Marcos Tobias-Machado, Cristiano Linck Pazeto, Eliney Ferreira Faria, Breno Dauster, William Enrique Pertuz Genes, Ricardo Hissashi Nishimoto Departamento de Urologia, Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Santo Andre, SP, Brasil., Departmento de Urologia Hospital do Cancer de Barretos, Barretos, SP, Brasil., Servico de Urologia, Hospital Sao Rafael, Salvador, BA, Brasil., Departamento de Urologia Hospital Alberto Cavalcanti, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil. PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30785701 Death toll in a terrorist attack in the Chanali area of Khash-Zahedan road in southeastern Iran has risen to 41 people, local media reported MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th February, 2019) Death toll in a terrorist attack in the Chanali area of Khash-Zahedan road in southeastern Iran has risen to 41 people, local media reported. According to Fars news agency, the number of victims in the attack increased to 41 people, including military personnel and civilians. Earlier on Wednesday, the IRNA news agency reported, citing an informed source, that a bus with a number of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel was blown up in an attack by a suicide bomber causing at least 20 members of IRGC killed and 20 others injured. (@FahadShabbir) MUSCAT, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 24th Feb, 2019) Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, has described the relations between the UAE and Oman as a distinguished example of "strong and well-established ties." The minister made the remarks while addressing the UAE-Oman Economic Forum, which was held in Muscat to develop investment and business opportunities between the two nations. "The forum represents a practical translation of the keenness of the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to enhance ties of cooperation in a manner that supports the prosperity of the two brotherly countries," he said. He pointed out that the volume of non-oil trade between the two countries in 2017 registered about AED36 billion, a growth rate of 12.4 percent over the year 2016 adding that the exchange during the first nine months of 2018 amounted to AED32.5 billion. He expected the exchange to continue growth to about AED45 billion, noting that the average growth of non-oil trade exchange between the two countries stood at around 10 percent over the past five years. The minister further said that the Sultanate is the second largest trading partner of the UAE at the level of GCC countries in 2017 and ranked 12th at the world level. He explained that in the investment field, the UAE is one of the most important investors in the Sultanate. The UAE investment in the Sultanate by the end of 2016 is estimated at more than AED8.8 billion while the Sultanate invested more than AED1.3 billion in the UAE until the end of the same year, he added. Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef, Chairman of Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) said the forum came as per an initiative from the UAE side. He added that the UAE delegation is formed of the UAE Chamber of Commerce and Industry and businessmen who represent different sectors while the Omani side comprising representatives of the OCCI, businessmen and businesswomen. As for the business activities, Al Yousef pointed out that the value of Omani imports from the UAE during 2017 amounted to more than OMR4.250 million. The value of Omani exports to the UAE exceeded OMR2.270 million. The UAEs investments registered in the Sultanate hit more than OMR393 million till 2016. During the forum, presentations were given by Azzan bin Qassim Al Busaidi, Director General of Planning and Studies in the Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development (Ithraa) highlighting its role in attracting foreign investments, and developing non-oil exports. A presentation was also conducted by Saleh bin Hamoud Al Hassani, Director of One Stop Station (OSS) at the Special Economic Zone Authority in Duqm (SEZAD). He addressed the most important investments in the Special Economic Zone in Duqm (SEZD), as well as matters related to the completion of infrastructure in the zone, such as port, dry dock and Duqm Airport. Khalid bin Sulaiman Al Salehi, Director of Marketing and Promotion at the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn) reviewed Madayn mission in attracting industrial investments and providing continuous support through regional and global competitive strategies, as well as availing good infrastructure, value-added services and easy government procedures. The Greater Manchesters Boys and Girls Club kicked off its summer fun activities at Camp Foster in Bedford this week. We wonder how many of the kids enjoying it know how much they (and their parents) owe to one of the individuals who did so much to make it happen. THE OTHER DAY I mentioned to a guy I know that some Buddhist monks in Nepal are fans of my song Slow Days of Summer, according to their ESL teacher Jennifer who stopped me on the street to tell me, and I said (which is the truth) that I felt enormously honored, whereupon the guy said that By Troy Stangarone We live an in era of instant analysis. When a major event occurs there is an inclination to immediately declare whether it was a success or a failure. If an agreement is reached, to say whether it is a good or a bad deal. But that can often be hasty. When Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un meet in Hanoi later this week the tendency to immediately judge the results will be on full display, but should it? During the Cold War, the Helsinki Accords were initially seen as a loss by the West. In the analysis at the time, the Soviet Union got the better end of the deal as the Accords finalized the borders in Europe after World War II and included calls for territorial integrity and the principle that boarders should change peacefully. This led to concerns that the West had permanently left those living in areas occupied by the Soviet Union during the war behind the Iron Curtain. However, in time, the human rights provisions of the Accords played an important role in helping to pave the way for the end of the Cold War. Similarly, when Ronald Reagan met Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavik the summit collapsed without an agreement over the U.S. insistence that it be able to continue testing missile defenses. However, enough progress was made to conclude the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty a little more than a year later. When Trump meets Kim, there will be certain elements the United States will be looking for in an agreement. The United States and North Korea still do not share a basic agreement on what denuclearization means. Clarity here will be one area of discussion. A timeline for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons and missile programs will be another agenda item. Kim has suggested that he may be willing to dismantle the facilities at Yongbyon. Whether an agreement only includes those facilities or other facilities, the U.S. will be seeking to establish a timeline for dismantlement. The role of inspectors will also be an issue for discussion. For an agreement to be successful the United States will need a way to verify North Korea has followed through on its commitments. North Korea has been reluctant to allow inspectors, even when Kim has suggested he would allow inspectors into North Korea's nuclear test site at Pyunggye-ri and its missile test site near Sohae, they have yet to visit the facilities. The United States will need to provide North Korea with corresponding measures for any steps agreed to in Hanoi. North Korea has been pushing for sanctions relief. In his New Year address, Kim seemed to suggest that he wanted tourism at Mount Geumgang to resume and for the Gaeseong Industrial Complex to reopen, but sanctions relief could take other forms as well. There has also been speculation that the United States could agree to an end-of-war declaration, and more recently that the U.S. would like to open liaison offices. All of these could be steps by the U.S. to match North Korea's efforts. Whatever the specific steps, U.S. Envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun indicated in his remarks at Stanford that the U.S. is prepared to take measures to fulfill the commitments made in Singapore, suggesting that the U.S. is open to taking some steps North Korea is asking for in return for progress on dismantlement. There are some outcomes, such as permanent sanctions relief without any means to inspect North Korean efforts toward dismantlement or a surprise similar to Singapore relating to U.S. troops that would clearly be a bad outcome on the path to eliminating North Korea's nuclear weapons. However, outside of those specific cases, we likely will not know if the agreement reached in Hanoi is a good deal or not until it has had time to be implemented. U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton has suggested as much. In December, he noted that a second summit is not so much about what North Korea says, but that "What we need to see is performance. And when we get performance then we can look at removing the economic sanctions." Heading into the summit, many will likely be concerned that the U.S. will not reach a good deal. That may prove not to be warranted. At the same time, even if our initial inclination is to think that the agreement reach in Hanoi is a good deal we should remember, that until there has been time for the agreement to be implemented we won't really know if the deal achieved its objectives or not. Troy Stangarone (ts@keia.org) is the senior director of congressional affairs and trade at the Korea Economic Institute. Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson have written a number of books on antiques. Do you have an item youd like to know more about? Contact them at Joe Rosson, 2504 Seymour Ave., Knoxville, TN 37917 or treasures@knology.net. If youd like your question to be considered for their column, please include a high-resolution photo of the subject, which must be in focus, with your inquiry. Six local government heads, including Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, third from right, hold signs calling for correct recognition of the May 18 Democratization Movement in Gwangju at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sunday. / Yonhap By Kim Hyun-bin Fifteen local government heads issued a statement, Sunday, denouncing the distortion and disparagement of the May 18 Democratization Movement in Gwangju by conservative politicians. They also called for a law to prevent distortion and defamation of the 1980 pro-democracy movement from recurring. "The May 18 movement was the most important democratization movement to enhance our democracy," the statement said. "However, some people are using it politically to cut down and distort its meaning. We urge the National Assembly to pass a special law that punishes distortion of history." The joint statement came after three lawmakers from the conservative main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) Lee Jong-myeong, Kim Soon-rye and Kim Jin-tae made comments on the Gwangju Uprising earlier this month, raising a conspiracy theory that the movement was a riot influenced by North Korean operatives. The 15 included Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seob and Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong, but Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin and North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo, both from the LKP, did not join. "As the distortion aims to deny the country's laws and democracy, we reject their political move to distort the historic May 18 movement," the statement added. "The absurd remarks regarding the movement created a shock throughout the nation. This is not a problem just for the city of Gwangju, but an issue that affects the whole country. We have released the joint statement in opposition to their thoughtless words," Park said. The Gwangju mayor called on the three LKP lawmakers that caused the ruckus to be expelled. "The May 1980 massacre became a massacre of absurd words, the residents of Gwangju feel victimized but are not lonely because of the support from the public. The three lawmakers Lee Jong-myeong, Kim Soon-rye and Kim Jin-tae needs to be expelled and a special law should be passed to prevent historic distortion," the Gwangju mayor said. On Saturday, members of civic groups staged a rally at Cheonggye Square in Seoul, criticizing opposition party lawmakers' recent radical comments against the pro-democracy movement. Some 10,000 people took part in the rally holding signs saying, "We condemn the LKP for distorting the May 18 Movement," and called for "enactment of a special law that will prevent historic distortion." "Political scientist Jee Man-won should be arrested for spreading false rumors via internet and the press, claiming North Korean soldiers were involved in the movement," an activist said during the rally. Jee is a controversial conservative commentator, who has claimed the uprising was masterminded by North Korean special forces. On May 18, 1980, the military carried out a bloody crackdown on demonstrators, including students who were protesting Chun Doo-hwan who took power in a military coup months earlier. It led to the deaths of around 200 people and 1,000 others were injured. The week after Rebecca Grant took away her kids' video games for a month, after a year of relaxed pandemic rules, her 10-year-old son was livid. He gave her the silent treatment, mostly ignoring her except to spit out a hurtful, "I don't love you," one night at bedtime. The Swedish armed forces reported the incident to the government, and now the foreign ministry said it wants answers. Russias ambassador to Sweden has been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explain why a Russian fighter jet flew within 20 metres off a Swedish aircraft last week. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Diana Qudhaib told SVT that the Russian ambassador will meet with the ministrys head of European security policy on Monday, The Local reported citing public broadcaster SVT. The Foreign Ministry views this incident as serious. The Russian plane acted in an improper and unprofessional manner in a way that jeopardized flight safety, Qudhaib told the broadcaster. Last Tuesday, a Swedish surveillance plane was on a routine mission over the Baltic Sea. While in international air space between Gotland and the Baltics, the Swedish plane was approached by a Russian Su-27 fighter jet which had taken off from Kaliningrad. Read alsoSweden says it built Russian fighter jet killer The Russian fighter jet pilot behaved aggressively, according to the Swedish air force's Colonel Anders Persson First they passed from the front and they came back and positioned themselves very, very close closer than usual, he told news agency TT. Persson said that the Russian Su-27 was at one point within 20 metres of his plane. He said the offensive behavior was likely a signal from Russia that it did not believe the Swedish plane should be where we were. The Swedish armed forces reported the incident to the government, and now the foreign ministry said it wants answers. This took place over international waters and the Swedish plane was fully within its right to fly in the area, Qudhaib said. Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist called the incident "unacceptable". "This was very unnecessary, provocative and very dangerous," he told SVT. Moscow threatens to strike decision-making centers controlling the Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense system if U.S. deploys missiles in Europe. Russian media report that five military decision-making centers in the United States can become targets of Russian Zircon missiles if Moscow sees a threat coming from Washington. Among such targets on the U.S. East Coast are the Pentagon HQ in Washington, which houses the highest command and control structures of the Armed Forces and the Chiefs of Staff Committee; Camp David, the government command post; Fort Ritchie, Maryland, the command post of the American President and the command center for the Chiefs of Staff Committee. Among the targets on the West Coast is McClellan (California), a site where strategic offensive forces are managed, and Jim Creek (Washington), hosting a nuclear command and control center, according to RIA Novosti. Read alsoBelarus to respond jointly with Russia if intermediate-range missiles deployed in Europe: Lukashenko As Russian President Vladimir Putin stated recently in a message to the Federal Assembly, the Russian hypersonic sea-based cruise missile Zircon will be able to reach 9 Mach speeds and hit targets at a range of more than a 1,000 kilometers. If a threat arises for Russia, Zircons will strike at the American decision-making centers, from where they manage missile defense systems in Europe, the report said. Russian authorities used a number of tools to interfere the election campaign, he told reporters. The Speaker of the Moldovan parliament, vice-chairman of the Democratic Party, Adrian Candu, accused Russia of attempting to intervene in the country's electoral process. He told reporters that the Russian authorities had used a number of tools to influence the election campaign, TASS wrote. "This is about amnesty for migrants, removal of customs duties on Moldovan products, and the situation with the pilots rescued from Afghanistan," Candu told journalists, speaking at one of the polling stations on Sunday. Read alsoMoldovans vote for new government amid talk of protests and poisoning Reuters As reported, Moldovan citizens today are choosing a new parliament, as well as voting in a consultative referendum to reduce the number of deputies and allow having their mandates withdraw in a people's vote. By Lee Min-young A Thai man has been detained after an alleged hit-and-run incident that killed one Chinese and injured four others, police said Sunday. Mokpo Police Station in South Jeolla Province said it is investigating the man, 36, whose identity is being withheld, for allegedly striking five Chinese pedestrians while driving a truck at Sinan about 8:20 p.m. on Feb. 23. He was unlicensed and under the influence of alcohol, police said. After he fled the scene, the victims were brought to a nearby hospital, but a man, 71, later died. Police said the victims were returning home after working at a spring onion farm in the county. The suspect turned himself in to police two hours after the incident. Police said the suspect and the victims were illegal immigrants overstaying their visas. Nicolas Maduro had ordered the Venezuelan military to close the border with Colombia to bar humanitarian aid, which is being supported by the opposition, from entering the country. Juan Guaido, Venezuela's self-declared interim president, proposed that Washington consider "all options" to oust Nicolas Maduro on Saturday night after troops violently repelled foreign aid convoys from the border. At least two people were killed and around 300 injured in violent clashes at border crossings, while humanitarian aid destined for Venezuela was set on fire, seemingly by troops loyal to Mr Maduro, according to The Telegraph. Volunteers working for Mr Guaido frantically tried to salvage the medical supplies and emergency rations before they went up in flames. Hours after the chaotic scenes, Mr Guaido said Mr Maduro's use of troops to violently block the entry of humanitarian aid meant he would propose to the international community that all options remain open to oust him. Read alsoMaduro tells Venezuela firms to open accounts in Russia Bloomberg "Today's events force me to make a decision: To formally propose to the International Community that we must have all options open to secure the freedom of our country, which fights and will keep fighting," said Mr Guaido, who will meet the Lima Group of regional leaders in Bogota on Monday. Mike Pence, the U.S. vice-president, will also attend the gathering. Angered by Colombia's support for Guaido, Mr Maduro announced Venezuela was severing diplomatic ties with Bogota, and gave Colombian diplomats 24 hours to leave the country. Mr Maduro had ordered the Venezuelan military to close the border with Colombia to bar humanitarian aid, which is being supported by the opposition, from entering the country. El regimen usurpador se vale de los actos mas viles e intenta quemar el camion con ayuda humanitaria que se encuentra en Urena. Nuestros valientes voluntarios estan realizando una cadena para salvaguardar la comida y las medicinas. La avalancha humanitaria es indetenible pic.twitter.com/bU2PPzSGcu Juan Guaido (@jguaido) February 23, 2019 As many as 300,000 Venezuelans are in dire need of food and medicine after years of shortages and malnutrition, according to Guaido. The country is gripped by a humanitarian crisis that has seen poverty soar during a prolonged recession. United Nations figures show that some 2.7 million people have fled Venezuela since 2015 amid the crisis, and some 5,000 Venezuelans emigrate from their country each day. Mr Guaido, recognised by most Western nations as the country's legitimate head of state, invoked articles of the constitution in January to assume interim presidency and denounced Mr Maduro as a usurper, arguing his 2018 re-election was illegitimate. The opposition leader was attempting to cross into Venezuela from the Colombian border with thousands of volunteers carrying emergency supplies. While the need for basic food and medicines is real, the effort is also meant to embarrass military officers who continue to support Mr Maduro's increasingly isolated government. According to intelligence data, on February 23, two invaders were killed and another two were wounded in action. In the past day, Russian occupation forces in eastern Ukraine violated the ceasefire 11 times. As a result of the shelling, one Ukrainian soldier was killed, reads the morning report of the Joint Forces Operation HQ. The enemy eight times employed weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements, launching a total of forty-four 120mm and 82mm mines. Ukrainian positions were fired upon from an anti-tank missile system, grenade launchers of various types, large-caliber machine guns, and small arms. Read alsoTwo killed, three injured as minibus hits anti-tank mine in Russian-occupied Donbas In the zone of responsibility of the "Skhid" [East] operational-tactical grouping, the invaders five times fired at the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the "Pivnich" [North] grouping's zone, six enemy attacks were recorded. After every enemy shelling, Joint Forces returned fire from weapons that were not prohibited by the Minsk agreements. According to intelligence data, on February 23, two invaders were killed and another two wounded in action. From midnight on Sunday, the enemy six times fired at the Ukrainian positions, using 82mm and 120mm mortars, large-caliber machine guns, the ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun, and weapons installed at an infantry fighting vehicle. One of the key messages to emerge from the study is that there is "insufficient awareness" in Ukraine about the work of some foreign NGOs. A new study published in Brussels and the Ukrainian capital Kyiv has warned that the level of "openness and transparency of foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Ukraine is worryingly insufficient." The research, by the respected Kyiv-based Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting, welcomes the work of civil society in the central European state, saying this it has a positive role to play in helping the reform process, according to EU Today. But during the presentation of the report the authors went on to demand closer scrutiny of the activities of foreign NGOs represented in Ukraine, saying it would be advisable to thoroughly study the specific aspects of the activities of NGOs, in particular, their effectiveness, relations with parent organizations, transparency and observance of legislation, as well as both declared and real goals of work. One of the key messages to emerge from the study is that there is "insufficient awareness" in Ukraine about the work of some foreign NGOs. The report, Foreign Non-governmental Foundations in Ukraine: Areas and Scope of Activities, comes just ahead of Ukraines presidential elections in March. The increasing role of, and support for, civil society in Ukraine is expected to have an influence on the outcome of the poll. Read alsoAmnesty: Ukrainian authorities 'slow to react' to attacks against journalists, rights advocates media As such, the trust placed in the NGOs in the country requires that public activists comply with the relevant moral and ethical standards, while also acting in a transparent manner. The study considers the work of organizations from Austria, the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and the U.S. which are involved in extremely diverse and numerous areas of what is called development assistance. These range from health care and decentralization to human rights and political literacy and have the financial and institutional capacity to develop and implement in different spheres. NGOs, the Armed Forces and the Church, are part of a group of social institutions that have a positive balance of public trust. The authors stress that, Due to the lack of confidence of Ukrainians in state authorities, NGOs partially share a responsibility for carrying out certain socially important changes, while taking advantage of financial support from abroad. However, it goes on to say that some NGOs conceal their incomes and expenses. This, stress the authors, shows the need for civic activists and NGOs to act in a transparent and open manner that will minimize the risks of using civil society to serve private interests and hide all kinds of trivial abuses of power. The authors caution, At the same time, the level of openness and transparency of the activities of these structures is insufficient and, taking into account their influence on the life of Ukraine, that gives a disturbing signal. The report recommends that timely and regular disclosure of NGOs information on projects and budgets should become the norm, especially if they are involved in the development and implementation of certain policies and legislative changes. The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is one of the Kremlins hybrid tools for exerting political influence on Europe and will also allow Russia expanding its aggression against Ukraine. I would like to draw the attention of the Assembly members to a project that has a significant negative impact on security in Europe. I mean the Nord Stream 2 project. Ukraine has long been a reliable country for transiting Russian gas to Europe. Over the past five years of Russian aggression against Ukraine, we have continued to ensure consistent gas supplies to Europe. And we can increase them. The Nord Stream 2 is a political project, not a commercial one. It is one of the hybrid tools to ensure domination over the whole of Europe and neighboring countries," said Tetiana Ostrikova, a member of the Permanent Delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, at the OSCE PA's winter session meeting in Vienna, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. Ostrikova stressed that the construction of the Nord Stream 2 would allow Russia to export political influence to Europe along with its gas. "The growing dependence on Russia makes countries vulnerable in terms of energy blackmail. With the launch of the project, Russia will also be able to expand aggression against Ukraine. We are convinced that this project should be thwarted because it will undermine security and be an even greater source of aggression from Russia. We urge our colleagues to argue against this project," the member of the Ukrainian delegation stressed. ol We are encouraged by Oklahomas leaders who, over the past 46 years since the dreadful Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, have consistently voted to regulate the practice of abortion and reduce the number of incidents in our state. This legislative session, however, poses a predicament for those of us in favor of life with the introduction of Senate Bill 13. The bill, which purports to abolish abortion, may in practice actually expand it. First, this measure as written almost certainly will be deemed unconstitutional by the Oklahoma State Supreme Court. Such a ruling would serve to bolster Roe v. Wade as law of the land. Whats more, the bill repeals all existing regulations we have worked so diligently to enact. Among these important regulations repealed by SB 13 is Oklahomas ban on partial birth abortion. Worse, the state supreme court could elect to leave these bad parts of the legislation intact thereby opening up our state to increased abortions, not banning them. Proponents of the bill argue that only an all-or-nothing political approach to ending abortion is acceptable. While we agree that completely ending abortion is the goal, we cannot ignore the reality that our progress over these decades equates to human lives saved. I was awe-struck by his musical gift. He soared right into playing Tchaikovskys Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy on the piano. All I could do was smile. I knew at that moment that my teaching life was about to change. Everything I had learned as a pianist and teacher was going to be put to the test by a 10-year-old. Things came full circle for me in a way since I also had achieved a good level of proficiency at his age. The difference was that I had already been taking formal piano lessons for four years and Levi Davenport had not. I asked him where he had learned to play. On YouTube, he told me. You see, most people can learn how to play ukulele or fix drywall but this is different one cannot learn how to play classical music fully through a pixel screen. Of course, there is something very positive to be said about online learning. It is opening doors to more and more people who thirst for knowledge. But then again, it would be challenging to learn the nuances of musicality to the degree that one can color notes that communicate deep emotion. A little more than 15 years ago, I attended an Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board meeting where a member turned his back to an inmate who was asking for another chance. The member was making a statement, whether of disgust, boredom or disrespect was unclear. But the majoritys philosophy was unmistakable: Do your time and do most of it. Rarely, did anyone receive a pardon, parole or commutation. That was a mistake. Oklahoma is now the worlds leader in per-capita incarceration. Our prisons bulge with inmates with costs skyrocketing to a $1.5 billion Department of Corrections budget request. A generation of drug-addicted and mentally ill Oklahomans were put behind bars instead of in treatment; hurting the workforce, tearing apart families and deepening the social costs. Up against this wall, criminal justice reform swept into the state, most notably with the passage of two state questions in 2016 to re-classify some drug felonies as misdemeanors. In this spirit, the attitude has changed at the Pardon and Parole Board, as I saw at Februarys hearings. Members not only faced the inmates but had a more engaged interaction. The first of these vaccine-preventable diseases I encountered was the mumps. At an orphanage I visited, I met several children spread out on rugs in one of the common areas hooked up to IVs filled with coconut water. At first, I had no idea what I was seeing, so thoroughly has mumps been eradicated in the United States: My guide had to explain what was making the orphans so ill. While I had seen many cases of dengue fever and malaria in my time there, the mumps was frighteningly different. The necks of several of the children were swollen several times their normal size, and they looked like they were struggling to breathe. Im unsure if that was because of the swelling around their airways, sitting in tropical temperatures with high fevers, or a combination of the two. They were immobile on the floor, ignored in the bustle of all of the other children present, lethargic and in visible discomfort. It was a painful sight to witness, and, I can only imagine, unimaginably miserable to experience, even if the children survived. Over the course of the year, I also saw children similarly afflicted with the measles, felled by a rash, pain and a raging fever in daytime temperatures of more than 100 degrees in the shade, always accompanied by suffocating humidity. I heard of children in nearby villages dying and of women miscarrying their unborn babies. A police officer loads seized articles into a vehicle after the search and seizure of Burning Sun nightclub in southern Seoul on Feb. 14. / Yonhap By Kim Jae-heun In the wake of drug-linked rape allegations at a Gangnam-based nightclub, police are set to all-out combat narcotics circulation. According to the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) Sunday, it will conduct a three-month intensive crackdown on drug-related crimes, mobilizing all narcotics agents across the country, until April. "The police will put out all its effort to eradicate crime using illegal drugs through this intensive control," a police officer said. "We will also actively protect the identity of those making reports as they are important in solving the issue at hand and will make sure that they are protected with anonymity." Some 1,063 police officers are likely to take part in the crackdown, including investigators, cyber police and officers in charge of sex crimes. The solution is obvious. The federal government offers to underwrite 90 percent of the cost of health care coverage for people who earn up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. That would bring coverage to thousands and add more than $1 billion a year to the Oklahoma economy. Under the Trump administration, Medicaid officials have been eager to allow states to shape programs to fit local political realities. SB 605 would not involve any increase in the number of people on Medicaid rolls. Instead, it would use Medicaid money to buy private insurance for eligible people through the successful and popular Insure Oklahoma program. That takes advantage of private insurance companies to control costs. The plan also includes work requirements, premium requirements for those covered and an escape clause for the state if the federal government ever backs out of its funding promise. The legislative process is long and SB 605 can be improved, but we choose to find hope in the committees passage of the measure. Perhaps, Oklahoma will one day heal the self-inflicted wound of Medicaid funding refusal. GOP chair: Oklahoma County Republican Party Chair Daren Ward entered the race for state chairman. The only other announced candidate is Tulsa County Chairman David McLain. The state convention is April 6 in Oklahoma City. Meetings and events: The National Tornado Summit, sponsored by the Oklahoma Insurance Department, is March 4-6 in Oklahoma City. See tornadosummit.org for information and registration. Fifth District Congresswoman Kendra Horn will be featured at the Tulsa Chapter of the Oklahoma Federation of Democratic Womens annual champagne brunch at 10 a.m. March 9 in the Sky Loft on the 41st floor of the First Place Tower/One Gas Building. Tickets are available at the door or through eventbrite.com. Bottom lines: Oklahoma First Lady Sarah Stitt co-hosted an Oklahoma State Department of Education summit on trauma-informed instruction and told the audience, I am living proof that there is hope and a future for everyone. ... State Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, said some people at the Capitol are concerned the Stitt administration will Tulsafy Oklahoma. ... At least three members of last years Legislature have returned to the Capitol as lobbyists former representatives Bobby Cleveland, Pat Ownbey and Josh Cockroft. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Each year as the Legislature goes into session, Thomas is tasked with the job of reviewing each bill filed and assessing whether or not it takes away access to public records. He talks to publishers and editors who serve on his board and informs members about how changes might affect access to records that are important in reporting. And he meets with legislators to let them know how those records are used, the importance of their availability. Many, many times the threat to access is turned back. But every journalist knows that the Open Records Act is not as strong as it was when it was first passed. What is more difficult for the public to understand, however, is that when journalists lose access so do you as a private citizen. Thomas agrees. The attempt to limit public records isnt an anti-media move. No one is saying, We have to keep the media from seeing this record. When a record is excluded from the Open Records Act, it is removed for everyone. The biggest threat to access he sees now is that more and more records have become available online. A lot of the records that I see being challenged at the Legislature are online records, Thomas said. We have developed all of these online systems for court records, land records, assessors records. And all of these have great benefits for all types of people. The first phase of that project is scheduled to be finished in late 2020; not long after, the city will recognize the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre. The 1921 tragedy wiped out the African-American business district that stretched along Greenwood Avenue from the Santa Fe Railroad tracks as far north as Pine Street. Obliterated by arsonists, Black Wall Street rebuilt itself and reached its peak following World War II, only to begin a gradual decline. Tulsa will be on the worldwide scene because of the massacre, Hall-Harper said by phone this month. The question, obviously and logically, will be Whats different? Is it the same? Has anything changed? In all honesty, anyone would have to say not much. Kristi Williams said that in 1961 her mother, Mary Anthony, was the first African-American woman to graduate from Owasso High School. Williams recalls stories about her great-aunt Jamie Edwards, who was in the Dreamland Theater when the massacre broke out. Part of the Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce, she now helps lead tours of Greenwood, which historically comprised some three dozen blocks. There are things to celebrate, Williams said of the upcoming commemoration. We do think of it as the black entrepreneurship mecca, and it is. But we also forget what community means. It was a strong community. Its five and a half billion dollars and right now, the governor, Ive got no authority over it. He expressed enthusiasm over what he sees as Trumps approach to use waivers to help governors who are so much closer to delivering actual services, adding he has been pushing his team to come up creative ways to use waivers to get more federal dollars into the states health care system without creating more dependence on the system and expanding the number of people on government services. Once you get it, it is hard to take it away. So I want to be very careful, Stitt said. He said he has not yet staked out a position on issues that have taken center stage in Washington, such as Trumps effort to get money for his long-promised wall on the nations southern border. I really havent been paying attention to what is happening nationally, the governor said. Of course, I am going to be very protective of any dollars going to Tinker (Air Force Base) and our military bases. Stitts comment about funds going to Oklahomas military bases was in response to a question about criticism sparked by Trumps own remarks about taking funds now under control of military generals and diverting them to wall construction. U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe spent last week leading a congressional delegation to Europe and the Middle East, with stops in Germany, Kosovo, Israel and Djibouti. At the Munich Security Conference, Inhofes group highlighted the importance of NATO and U.S. allies. Our allies and partners are an integral part of implementing the National Defense Strategy to counter Russia and China and the Munich Security Conference provides a unique opportunity to hold meaningful discussions about our shared goals, Inhofe said in a written statement. In Israel, the group met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and inspected the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, which has been the source of some controversy. In Djibouti, they observed a growing Chinese port on the Horn of Africa. It is clear that China is using cash and debt to trap countries in Africa and elsewhere around the world, forcing them to put not just their infrastructure, but potentially their very sovereignty on sale, said Inhofe. This is a strategy of malign influence and coercion that is global in scope and is a direct challenge to Americas interests and values. Dots and dashes: Congressmen Kevin Hern and Markwayne Mullin were among 62 members to sign a letter in support of work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, better known as SNAP. ... U.S. Sen. James Lankford again raised the issue of infanticide in relation to late-term abortions, which experts say typically involve what are called nonviable fetuses. ... President Donald Trumps nominee for ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Knight Craft, is the wife of Tulsa coal magnate Joseph Craft. .... Patrick Bond is 3rd District Congressman Frank Lucas new communications director. Bond most recently worked for Republican Rep. Robert Aderholt of Alabama. ... Second District Congressman Markwayne Mullin tweeted that Democrats have flat out abandon(ed) the Jewish people, citing three first-year U.S. representatives who have questioned the influence on policymakers of the American Israel Political Action Committee. ... Earlier in the week, Mullin retweeted a story about six illegal immigrants arrested for drug trafficking in North Carolina and said, What more is there to say? Dangerous people... Randy Krehbiel 918-581-8365 randy.krehbiel@tulsaworld.com Twitter: @rkrehbiel Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. As we work with new developments in downtown and new investors, we are already discussing with many projects how we can assure that garages in active areas incorporate public parking into the design and functionality, Kurtz said. It is also to ensure that garages arent built for single uses and single users. We also want to encourage as much as possible that garages are not stand-alone, that they are incorporated into larger mixed-use projects that have activity and have vibrancy within them. Expected to aid downtown flow further is Tulsas new Aero Bus Rapid Transit system, the first phase of which is expected to be online in late summer. The BRT system will run along Peoria Avenue from 54th Street North to 81st Street South. The route was selected because one in seven Tulsans live within a mile of Peoria Avenue and 1 in 5 work within a mile of it. If we can begin to help people feel more comfortable shifting their mode of transportation into this BRT thats going to have this consistent service, that will do a lot to free up additional parking spaces and help encourage people to walk a little bit more downtown or utilize other modes of transportation like bike share and Lime scooters and Bird scooters, Kurtz says. Rhett Morgan 918-581-8395 rhett.morgan@tulsaworld.com Twitter: @RhettMorganTW Subscribe to Daily Headlines Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The business news you need With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Its hard to turn anywhere in Tulsa and not run into a story. With more than 120 years of history from which to draw, they are literally standing on every corner. Some are familiar, of course. But those the ones that have been told and re-told often represent a single perspective. Still more stories are waiting to be told for the first time. Whatever the case, a consensus is growing in Tulsa that all of these stories are valuable and should be heard and preserved. Promising to further that goal, a number of notable projects have either finished recently or are coming soon. Black history Among the ways the stories of north Tulsa and the citys African-American community are being told is through public art, which has a long tradition in Tulsa. One of the most recent additions, the new Black Wall St. mural, was unveiled a few months ago and adorns a north-facing wall of Interstate 244 in the Greenwood District. Like other local murals, it tells its story the triumphs and tragedies of black Tulsans in bold colors and imagery. And it soon will be joined by more public art reflecting that theme. By Jung Min-ho Cho Hyun-ah, 44, the Korean Air heiress who made headlines around the world for the 2014 "nut rage" incident, is being investigated for allegedly attacking her husband during divorce proceedings. The Suseo Police Station in Seoul said Saturday that investigators started analyzing evidence provided by her husband, surnamed Park, 45, who claims Cho's abusive behavior against him and five-year-old twin sons destroyed their marriage. In a recently released video, Cho shouts "Die! Die!" at Park, who told investigators his wife repeatedly "strangled him" and threw a tablet PC at him, which seriously injured his toe. On Feb. 20, Park said he was preparing for a long legal battle. "I thought it would be better to put up with it, but when my child asked me, 'Dad, would you protect me?,' I was able to get up the nerve (to fight)," he wrote on Facebook. "I'm afraid of standing up to a chaebol family, but as a father, I will protect my children." Cho's lawyers denied the allegations and accused Park of being an alcoholic, which they said was the chief problem in the relationship. Cho said she may sue him for defamation. Park, a plastic surgeon, met Cho in elementary school. The two married in October 2010 and started living separately in May 2017. They have gone through divorce proceedings since Park filed for divorce in last April. Tulsas two major university-affiliated medical programs are looking to build on services for the area ranging from using culinary medicine to technology to address primary care deserts in rural parts of the state. University of Oklahoma-Tulsa and Oklahoma State University Medicine undertook major projects in 2018 and are looking to expand those and others this year. OU-Tulsa has a strong focus on training students to work in caring fields, from medicine and nursing to social work, counseling, and government/public service. We are proud to serve the Tulsa area and our state in improving the health of Oklahomans, President John Schumann said. I think the selling point for the Tulsa community, particularly in (student and new employee) recruiting, is the renewed sense of energy and vibrancy that the community has, said OSU Medicine CEO Rhett Stover. I think the other part of it is that in Oklahoma, we continue to kind of be in that last bottom quartile in states when it relates to health outcomes. We really need to rally around each others cause to help turn that around. Since education has a direct link to health, we are thrilled to expand education opportunities in northeast Oklahoma, OU-Tulsa spokeswoman Amanda Murphy said. Ultimately as we pave the way for the future of this community, our vision is for the Tulsa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to be a valuable and trusted resource to our members, corporate and strategic partners. This will benefit not only Hispanic-owned businesses, but also non-Hispanic owned businesses by establishing the Tulsa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as the premier advocate for a thriving and diverse business community in Tulsa. In case you missed it, we had a tremendous 2018, here are some of our 2018 milestones: We saw a 36 percent membership increase, partnered with Dolores Huerta Elementary School, graduated the second Hispanic Leadership Institute, sold out Tango Nights and hosted more than 15 events. At the Hispanic Chamber, we are confident that 2019 will be our best year yet. Its an exciting time for us; we have a mayor who is reaching out to our gente (people) and new leadership at the state level that understands the Tulsa immigrant business community. Just as exciting, we are re-energized and looking forward to exciting new programs and events. A few add-ons to watch for: We are planning an educational workshop series, an ambassador program, health awareness events, luncheons, a 2019 gala and more. In my first State of the State address, I defined the term Oklahomas Turnaround as a three-step process where our state stops moving in the direction of decline and begins moving in the direction we want it to go: to be Top 10 in the nation. This process requires a movement of people, a measurable plan and a defined purpose. It requires us to reimagine the possibilities and hold ourselves responsible for delivering results. Ive said it before, Oklahomas challenges are no different than any other state and Oklahomas opportunities, I believe, are the best in the nation. Being Top 10 isnt just a campaign slogan. We know this by looking at Oklahomans who are already achieving these results due to the turnaround they began in their own classroom, community and industry. Consider Donna Gradel, an environmental teacher in Broken Arrow Public Schools. Last month, she was named one of the Top Four teachers in the nation. Donna reimagined the classroom. She moved beyond the textbook by taking her classroom outside to partner with the city of Broken Arrow to clean public water and by taking the classroom to the world in developing a system to provide sustainable food sources to orphans in Kenya. Moreover, the University of Tulsa in January announced a desire to help create the Tulsa Enterprise for Cyber Innovation, Talent and Entrepreneurship, which will allow industry, federal agencies and TU to work together to defend information systems. There are so many things in manufacturing that are so exciting, so cutting-edge, Tilly said. Youre talking about data analytics, robotics, additive manufacturing, cybersecurity. As our new governor (Kevin Stitt) and his new team work toward making us a top 10 state, we have so many opportunities to really enhance that top 10 state in what we do in manufacturing. With those opportunities, however, come the challenge of lawmakers to help employers confront an aging workforce. In the United States, the 65-and-older population will nearly double over the next three decades, reaching 88 million by 2050, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2024, one in four U.S. workers will be 55 or older, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, more than double the rate in 1994 when 55-plus workers accounted for just 12 percent of the workforce. Tilly calls it the Silver Tsunami. We have a lot of good talent that is going to be retiring out in the next 5-10 years, she said. Were doing some things to help companies with succession planning to help them transfer that historical knowledge from the people who have worked there and supported and done great things with that company for decades to people who are younger and coming into manufacturing so there is a smooth transition. Rhett Morgan 918-581-8395 rhett.morgan@tulsaworld.com Twitter: @RhettMorganTW Subscribe to Daily Headlines Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The business news you need With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. FedEx Corp is seeking candidates for its seventh annual Small Business Grant Contest, which offers grants and services to 10 U.S.-based small businesses and has a prize pool of $220,500. In addition to the grants, winners will also receive an additional dollar amount in credit to use toward FedEx Office print and business services as well as packages designed to help them with website optimization, design thinking, social media and print expertise. We know its difficult for even the most promising of small businesses to grow and scale, especially at the beginning of their lifecycle, said Scott Harkins, senior vice president of Customer Channel Marketing at FedEx. The 2018 contest garnered nearly 665,000 votes and attracted more than 7,800 candidates from across the United States. The contest is open to U.S.-based for-profit small businesses that have fewer than 99 employees and have been operating for at least six months. To enter, visit fedex.com/grantcontest. Applications open for Cox education grants Tullahoma, TN (37388) Today Isolated thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Isolated thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Kenya Power (KPLC) has urged members of the public to be cautious of a fraudster who is masquerading as its employee. In a statement issued on Sunday, February 24, the power distributor revealed that the suspect was identified as Robert Korir and he uses his mobile number 0728231714 to swindle money from unsuspecting members of the public. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Kiambu man dies mysteriously while in custody after stealing beer Investigative agencies, KPLC said have been dispatched to zero in on the suspect. Photo: UGC Source: UGC READ ALSO: Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi pumps KSh 23 million towards project in Kenya According to KPLC, Korir has been terrorising consumers whom he threatens that he will disconnect them from the national grid. "Conman alert! Beware of fraudsters 'Robert Korir' - mobile number 0728231714, purporting to work for Kenya Power and is threatening our customers of electricity disconnection," warned KPLC. READ ALSO: Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru falls in love, set to wed city lawyer Kamotho Waiganjo Investigative agencies, KPLC said, have been dispatched to zero in on the suspect. Members of the public have been urged to volunteer information that will lead to arrest of the culprit. "Our security team is pursuing information leads to arrest him. Don't be conned, stay woke!" the brief statement further read. READ ALSO: JKUAT graduate threatens to end life after failing to secure job This comes to fore hardly one day after sleuths from the DCI netted seven individuals who have been conning Kenyans by impersonating government officials and celebrities. The suspects, according to DCI, mainly targeted Asians residing in the country. They will be arraigned on Monday, February 25. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. His mother sold him for 700 shillings | Tuko TV. Source: Tuko Newspaper By Park Ji-won South Korea's foreign and defense ministries expressed regret over a Chinese military plane's unauthorized flight into the South's air defense zone on Saturday, urging Beijing to stop it happening again. Lee Won-ik, director general of international policy at the Ministry of National Defense, summoned his Chinese counterpart Saturday, saying a Chinese military jet had again entered the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) without notification. "The South Korean government and its people consider it a serious problem entering into our territory and flying over conflict areas for long hours." The ministry said Lee delivered a message to the attache, asking China to take measures to prevent a recurrence and to hold a meeting to set up additional inter-country military hotlines to prevent accidental clashes between the two countries. Seoul's foreign ministry also said it summoned a Chinese official to express its regrets while urging Beijing to take measures to prevent a recurrence. The moves came after the Chinese military jet entered South Korea's air defense zone three times without notice on Saturday. The aircraft entered the zone about 8:03 a.m. near Ieodo and left at 8:27 a.m., according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Saturday, government officials said. It entered the zone again at 9:34 a.m. near Pohang and flew between Ulleung and the easternmost islets of Dokdo, leaving the zone at 12:51 p.m. The JCS said it was the first time a Chinese military plane had flown over the East Sea this year. Experts say China's move is aimed at expanding into the area by normalizing the flights. Chinese jets entered the zone without notice eight times last year. A JCS official said the aircraft involved in Saturday's incident was believed to be a Y-9 reconnaissance plane. IN THE post-vaccination world, borders will reopen to travellers from outside, with the exception of certain countries and subject to specific requirements. In this second summer under the pandemic we will be restless and chafing against our current border closure regime as large numbers of Caribbean persons want to renew our significant diaspora connections in North America and elsewhere. Trinidad and Tobagos borders will officially be reopened on July 17, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced yesterday. From that day, T&T citizens who want to return home will be allowed to do so. But there will be conditions attached, the Prime Minister said. Those conditions will depend on whether or not the person has been fully vaccinated with a World Health Organisation-approved Covid-19 vaccine, said the Prime Minister. He was speaking during yesterdays Ministry of Health media conference at the Diplomatic Centre, St Anns. pardeepdhull@gmail.com Urena, Venezuela/Cucuta, Colombia, February 24 Troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro violently drove back foreign aid convoys from Venezuelas border on Saturday, killing two protesters and prompting opposition leader Juan Guaido to propose that Washington consider all options to oust him. Trucks laden with US food and medicine returned to warehouses in Colombia after opposition supporters failed to break through lines of troops, who dispersed them with tear gas and rubber rounds, injuring dozens. Witnesses said masked men in civilian clothes also shot at protesters with live bullets. Todays events force me to make a decision: to formally propose to the international community that we must have all options open to secure the freedom of our country, Guaido said on Twitter. The United States has been the top foreign backer of Guaido, who invoked Venezuelas constitution to assume an interim presidency last month and is now recognized by most Western nations as the OPEC nations legitimate leader. President Donald Trump has in the past said military intervention in Venezuela was an option, though Guaido made no reference to it on Saturday. Guaido had given a personal send-off to one convoy carrying aid from the Colombian city of Cucuta on Saturday. The opposition had hoped Venezuelan soldiers would baulk at turning back supplies desperately needed in the country, where a growing number of its 30 million people suffer from malnutrition and treatable diseases. But while some 60 members of the security forces defected on Saturday, according to Colombian authorities, the lines of National Guard soldiers at the frontier crossings held firm, firing tear gas at the convoys. At the Urena border point, two aid trucks caught fire, sending plumes of dark smoke into the air as crowds raced to try to save the boxes of supplies, a Reuters witness said. Guaido said he would keep demanding Maduro let the aid in and would seek other routes. He said he would attend a meeting of the regional Lima Group of nations in Bogota on Monday with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence during which they would decide more actions to ramp up pressure on Maduro. Today the world saw in minutes, in hours, the worst face of the Venezuelan dictatorship, Guaido said at an earlier news conference in Colombia, alongside Colombian President Ivan Duque. Angered by Duques support for Guaido, Maduro said he was breaking diplomatic relations with Bogota and gave its diplomatic staff 24 hours to leave the country. Maduro denies his oil-rich nation has any need of aid and accuses Guaido of being a coup-mongering puppet for US President Donald Trump. Washington has warned it could seek to impose tough new sanctions on Venezuela at Mondays summit if Maduro blocked the aid shipments. What do the Venezuelan people think of Donald Trumps threats? Get your hands off Venezuela. Yankee go home, Maduro told a rally of red-shirted, flag-waving supporters in the capital, Caracas. He is sending us rotten food, thank you! Trumps national security adviser John Bolton said on Twitter that countries still supporting Maduro should take note of what they are endorsing, in a thinly veiled rebuke to China and Russia. Freedom In the Venezuelan border towns of San Antonio and Urena, troops fired rubber rounds at opposition supporters, including lawmakers, who walked toward the frontier waving Venezuelan flags and chanting Freedom. Reuters television images from San Antonio showed a dozen men on motorbikes, dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, firing shotguns and pistols at a crowd. Demonstrators in Urena barricaded streets with burning tires, set a bus alight and hurled stones at troops to demand that Maduro allow aid into a country ravaged by a meltdown that has halved the size of the economy in five years. They started shooting at close range as if we were criminals, said shopkeeper Vladimir Gomez, 27, wearing a white shirt stained with blood. At least six of about a dozen trucks that tried to reach Venezuela later returned to Cucuta, where Colombias disaster management agency said they would be unloaded and the aid stored until Guaido requested their use again. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said he ordered a Puerto Rican ship carrying humanitarian aid to turn back after a Venezuelan navy ship threatened to open fire on it. This is unacceptable and shameful, Rossello said in a statement. We have also notified our partners in the US government about this serious incident. A Reuters witness said two aid trucks crossed the Brazilian border but not the Venezuelan customs checkpoint. In the southern town of Santa Elena de Uairen at least two people were killed in clashes with security forces, according to a doctor at the hospital where they were treated. On Friday, a married couple in a nearby indigenous community was shot dead by security forces. Rights group Penal Forum said it recorded 29 injuries from bullet wounds and two deaths across Venezuela in clashes with troops on Saturday. Colombian authorities said they registered 285 people injured, including those affected by tear gas. Im a homemaker and Im here fighting for my family, for my children and parents, resisting the militarys tear gas, said opposition protester Sobeida Monsalve, 42, in Urena. Dozens defect Guaido had appealed to Venezuelas armed forces to stand aside and allow aid in, promising amnesty to officers who disavowed Maduro. Dozens of soldiers, whose families suffer the same shortages as other Venezuelans, took up his offer. You dont owe any obedience to someone who sadistically celebrates that the humanitarian aid doesnt enter a country that needs it, Guaido said. A social media video showed troops who abandoned their post driving armored vehicles across a bridge linking Venezuela and Colombia, knocking over metal barricades, and then jumping out of the vehicles and running to the Colombian side. What we did today, we did for our families, for the Venezuelan people, one of the defectors said in a video televised by a Colombian news program. Venezuelas ruling Socialist Party calls Guaidos aid effort a veiled invasion backed by Washington and insists that the United States should instead help Venezuela by lifting crippling financial and oil sector sanctions. On Saturday, Maduro turned his ire on Colombia and said Duque was letting its territory be used for attacks against Venezuela. For that reason, I have decided to break all political and diplomatic relations with Colombias fascist government, he told cheering supporters. Thousands of white-clad protesters gathered outside a military base in Caracas to demand that the armed forces allow in the aid. This is the biggest battle that the armed forces can win, said Sheyla Salas, 48, who works in advertising. Please join this struggle, get on the right side of history, allow the humanitarian aid to enter. Reuters vermaajay1968@gmail.com CARACAS, February 23 Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Saturday that his government had broken relations with Colombia and would expel some Colombian diplomatic staff after Colombia assisted the opposition's efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the country. "Patience is exhausted, I can't bear it anymore, we can't keep putting up with Colombian territory being used for attacks against Venezuela. For that reason, I have decided to break all political and diplomatic relations with Colombia's fascist government," Maduro said in a speech. He said the ambassador and consular staff would have to leave Venezuela within 24 hours. Meanwhile, a truck in a convoy attempting to bring humanitarian aid into Venezuela from Colombia went up in flames, sending plumes of dark smoke into the air, footage from a Venezuelan television channel showed. Crowds started removing boxes of supplies from a second truck, the footage showed, the same day Venezuelan troops loyal to President Maduro fired tear gas and rubber pellets at opposition supporters seeking to deliver food and medicine. The clashes occurred as Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who most Western nations recognize as Venezuela's legitimate leader, gave a personal send off to an aid caravan from the Colombian city of Cucuta. Guaido briefly boarded one of a dozen trucks carrying US-backed humanitarian aid before they set off towards the border, where they were pushed back by Venezuelan security forces. Reuters pardeepdhull@gmail.com Riyadh, February 24 Saudi Arabia has replaced its ambassador to the United States, a royal decree announced on Saturday, as the fallout over journalist Jamal Khashoggis murder tests relations between the two allies. Princess Rima bint Bandar was appointed the kingdoms first woman envoy to Washington, replacing Prince Khalid bin Salman, who was named vice defence minister. Prince Khalid is the younger brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the countrys de facto ruler who also serves as the defence minister. The reshuffle comes as ties with Washington are under strain following Khashoggis murder last October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. After initially denying they knew anything of Khashoggis disappearance, the Saudis finally acknowledged that a team killed him inside the consulate, but described it as a rogue operation. US lawmakers have threatened to take tougher action against Saudi Arabia over the brutal killing amid claims that the crown prince was personally responsible. The Saudi government has strongly denied he had anything to do with the murder of Khashoggi who was a columnist with the Washington Post. The killing refocused attention on a Saudi-led military coalitions bombing campaign in Yemen, which is gripped by what the UN calls the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Earlier this month, the US House voted overwhelmingly to end American involvement in Saudi Arabias war effort in neighbouring Yemen, dealing a rebuke to President Donald Trump who has publicly thrown his support behind the crown prince. US lawmakers this month also said they were probing whether Trump was rushing to sell sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia to please corporate supporters who stand to profit handsomely. The House of Representatives committee has voiced fears that Saudi Arabia could convert US expertise into making a nuclear bomb, heightening already severe tensions with regional rival Iran. AFP gspannu7@gmail.com Asni (Morocco), February 24 Prince Harry and his pregnant wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, are visiting a school high up in Moroccos rugged Atlas Mountains. Harry and Meghan landed in the mountain town of Asni on Sunday morning on a whirlwind official visit to Morocco. They arrived by helicopter from the capital of Rabat and were welcomed by pupils from a school run by a Moroccan foundation that emphasises education for all. The school provides education for girls from rural communities whose parents would not typically be able to afford secondary education. The brief trip is expected to be Meghans last international trip before she gives birth to the couples first child in April. The visit also includes a chance to observe horses that provide support to children with special needs. AP vermaajay1968@gmail.com Yangon, February 23 Myanmars military on Saturday said they would thwart attempts by leader Aung San Suu Kyis party to alter the essence of the countrys controversial Constitution, putting the army and civilian administration on a collision course over the politically-charged issue. Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) dominated the 2015 elections ending decades of military-backed rule. But because of a 2008 charter scripted by the military, the NLD was forced into an uneasy power-sharing agreement. The constitution grants the armed services control of security ministries and a quarter of unelected parliamentary seats. That hands the military an effective veto over constitutional change. But the NLD-dominated parliament voted earlier this month to form a cross-party committee to look at reforms of the charter, a key campaign pledge. The party will be allocated 18 out of 45 seats on the panel, the military will have eight and the remainder will be divided between other parties. There has been no detail about the specific reforms, but military MPs stood up in protest when the idea was first mooted. Major General Tun Tun Nyi told reporters in Yangon that 45 people were not enough to review the charter and the process would not be fair. Tun Tun Nyi said the army was not opposed to amendments but we are rejecting trying to change the constitution this way. Brigadier General and military MP Than Soe said they would take part in the panel, but would oppose changes to the essence of the constitution. Debates over the constitution are highly sensitive in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. The military is still fighting with ethnic armed groups in border areas and has said its role in politics is necessary for stability. AFP Sanjana cries over the body of her husband Mahesh Yadav, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldier who was killed in a bombing in Kashmir, on the outskirts of Tudihar village, some 56 kilometers east of Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh state, India, Feb. 16. / Yonhap By Park Ji-won North Korea condemned Saturday the recent terrorist attack in India, saying it firmly opposes all kinds of terrorism. "We express our grave concern over the tragic incident occurred in Jammu and Kashmir of India on Feb. 14 which killed 40 as a result of the terrorist attack," a spokesperson for the North Korean foreign ministry said in response to a question by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) Saturday. "It is our long-standing principle to oppose terrorism in all its forms," the spokesman said. Critics say the North's remarks are part of its efforts to rebrand itself as a normal state likely to seek diplomatic ties with other countries. Andrew Kim, who retired as head of the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Korea Mission Center last year, revealed talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un saying he has firm determination to denuclearize his country. "We asked specifically, the director, Pompeo asked Chairman Kim: Do you really intend to denuclearize? And the way he replied was that, the chairman said: You know, I'm a father and I'm a husband and I have children and I don't want my children to carry nuclear weapons in their bag to live through their entire life. That was his answer," Kim was quoted as saying to Yonhap during a talk at Stanford University Saturday. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was director of the CIA prior to taking his current job. However, some say the North's move is contradictory to its past actions. Regarding the killing of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea has fiercely denied any involvement in what happened even though Malaysian Judge Azmi Ariffin said there was enough evidence to suggest it was "a well-planned conspiracy between the women and the four North Koreans at large." uttara@tribuneindia.com Washington, February 24 The father of an Alabama woman who fled to Syria to marry an Islamic State fighter filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump's administration over her right to return with her 18-month-old baby after the US president said she will not be allowed back on American soil. Hoda Muthana, 24, joined the Islamic State, also known as IS, in 2014 after telling her parents she was going to Atlanta, Georgia, as part of a field trip connected with her business studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Instead, she withdrew from college and used her tuition reimbursement to purchase a plane ticket to Turkey, according to court documents. From Turkey, she traveled to Syria, where she married twice, both times to Islamic State fighters who later died in combat. Muthana fled to the al-Hawl refugee camp in December last year amid the collapse of the ISIS caliphate in Syria and Iraq. "I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!" Trump tweeted on Wednesday. "She does not have any legal basis, no valid US passport, no right to a passport, nor any visa to travel to the United States," Pompeo said in a statement. "We continue to strongly advise all US citizens not to travel to Syria." Ahmed Ali Muthana filed the lawsuit Thursday, accusing the Trump administration of an "unlawful attempt" to revoke Hoda Muthana's citizenship. Muthana has said she is willing to face federal charges upon her return. But Trump has ordered officials to bar the former IS propagandist from entering the US. The lawsuit emphasises that the woman's father is not arguing against any prosecution from the US government over her actions in Syria, but wants lawful recognition of her US citizenship and the citizenship of her child. Muthana has "publicly acknowledged her actions and accepted full responsibility," a statement announcing the lawsuit said. "In Ms Muthana's words, she recognises that she has 'ruined' her own life, but she does not want to ruin the life of her young child". Pompeo said on Wednesday that Muthana had no "legal basis" or "right" to a passport or any US visa. Pompeo confirmed her father's prior status as a Yemeni diplomat for the United Nations was behind the administration's decision. Under US law, the children of diplomats are not considered US citizens. The exact timeline of when Ahmed Ali Muthana stopped serving as a diplomat and when his daughter was born is now being contested by the Trump administration. The family maintains Muthana was previously recognised as a citizen by the US Department of State and given a US passport in 2004. Earlier this week, Muthana's lawyer, Hassan Shibly, shared a photo on Twitter of what he said was her US birth certificate. The case has similarities to that of UK-born teenager Shamima Begum who has been stripped of her British citizenship. Begum fled London to join ISIS in 2015 but is now seeking to return to the UK. PTI pardeepdhull@gmail.com Washington, February 24 US Vice-President Mike Pence plans to have his first meeting with Venezuelas Juan Guaido in Colombia on Monday, Pence aides said, in a signal of support for the opposition leader after a weekend of violence. On Saturday, troops loyal to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blocked convoys of US humanitarian aid from crossing from Colombia to Venezuela, using teargas and rubber bullets and killing two protesters. The violence could lead the United States to impose new sanctions as early as Monday to cut off the Maduros government access to revenues. Pence is travelling to the Colombian capital Bogota to meet with the Lima Group of regional leaders who recognize Guaido as the legitimate leader of Venezuela after Maduro held elections last year which were dismissed as fraudulent. A senior U.S. official told reporters on Friday that Pence would be prepared to announce new sanctions at the meeting if the aid was turned back, - adding to pressure from sanctions on state-owned oil company PDVSA. If there is any type of violence, or if there is any type of negative reaction from the hierarchy of the Venezuela armed forces, there may also be measures that are announced by the vice president and other countries in regards to closing even further the international financial circle, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The United States and allies are looking at ways to expel family members of Venezuelan military officials who are living outside the country, including some in south Florida, the official said. Maduro has denied there are shortages of food and medicine in Venezuela, and says the aid is aimed at undermining his government. Pence spoke to Guaido by phone in January before the Opposition leader, who heads Venezuelas national assembly, swore himself in as interim president. Reuters Azhar Qadri in Srinagar Azhar Qadri in Srinagar In 2013, the insurgency in Kashmir was at its lowest ebb. The number of militants had fallen to single digits only eight new men were recruited and only two groups were surviving. Six years later, in 2019, the shrinking insurgent landscape has changed. Even as 600 militants were killed in past three years, their numbers remain highest in a decade. The militant groups present in Kashmir valley have proliferated to seven. While two formerly defunct groups surfaced and their cadres were killed by security forces last year, two new groups have also emerged. The significant increase in the number of militant organisations has coincided with the rising number of readily available recruits, who have swelled the militant ranks despite these groups suffering large number of casualties. Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) Formative years: The group was formed in 1990 with a focus on consolidating a base for Pakistani sympathisers in Kashmir. The groups ideological core revolved around Jamaat-e-Islami, a socio-religious group that disowned itself from HM in 1997 after it faced a withering onslaught from a pro-India militia. HM also rivalled for influence against pro-independence JKLF, which had pioneered the insurgency and the two groups slid into deadly internecine battles leading to dissolution of JKLFs armed campaign. Founder: Ahsan Dar, a former teacher, founded HM and also served as its first chief commander. He was removed in 1991 by section of Jamaat-e-Islami loyalists. Former politician and Jamaat-e-Islami member Mohammad Yusuf Shah aka Syed Salahuddin became its new chief. Leadership: Syed Salahuddin, a resident of central Kashmirs Budgam district, has served as HMs chief commander for nearly three decades. He is based in Pakistan. The groups cadre inside Kashmir valley work under the command of Field Operations Commander. Riyaz Naikoo, a resident of south Kashmirs Pulwama district, is currently the groups chief in Kashmir. Splits: HM has faced multiple ideological splits since its formation. The first happened when a group within HM commanded by Nasir-ul-Islam opposed the move to transform the group into armed wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. Nasir-ul-Islam then founded Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen in 1990 and described it as the armed wing of Islam. In 2000, the group suffered a major split over ceasefire that later led to collapse of its command structure in Kashmir valley. In 2015, HM suffered another split when its divisional commander for north Kashmir, Abdul Qayoom Najar, formed Lashkar-e-Islam. In 2017, the groups divisional commander for south Kashmir, Zakir Musa, threatened separatists for describing Kashmirs separatist struggle as a political movement and then formed Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind. Strength: HM strength peaked in 1992 when its cadre was believed to be several thousands in number. The group, however, had fallen to less than 20 members in 2013. Its current strength is believed to be 100-120. It lost nearly 60 militants last year. Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) Formative years: JeM was formed in January 2000 and its ideological core is based on the Hanafi strand of Islam. The group introduced militant-driven car bombs in the Valley and carried out the first such attack in April 2000, which also signalled its arrival on the regions militant landscape. JeM carried out a series of fidayeen and suicide car bomb attacks, including attacks on Legislative Assembly complex in Srinagar and Parliament in New Delhi during its initial years. The group was banned by Pakistani government in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks, which led to sharp decrease in its attacks in Kashmir. Founders: JeM was founded by Masood Azhar, a militant cleric, within days of his release in exchange for the hijacked IC-814 Indian Airlines plane in December 1999. He has been critical of Pakistans policies but remains loyal to the Pakistani state. Leadership: Ghazi Baba was the first major commander of JeM and was the mastermind of a wave of fidayeen and suicide car bombs that the group carried in its initial years. He was killed in August 2003 and the group then slowly disappeared in Kashmir valley as it was banned in Pakistan. Mufti Waqas led the groups resurgence in Kashmir in 2014-15 with a series of deadly fidayeen attacks before he was killed in March 2018. He was succeeded by Kamran, a foreign national, suspected to be the mastermind of Pulwama highway blast in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. He was killed in a fierce gunfight on February 18. Splits: JeM suffered major splits in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack and several of its commanders switched sides to fight wars in Afghanistan and inside Pakistan. Its militants were also found involved in suicide attacks against Pervez Musharaf. Strength: The group was almost written off from the militant landscape in Kashmir in 2013 when almost all its cadres in the region had been killed. The group, however, has made a slow comeback since 2014 and established safe houses across south Kashmir, where it also found a steady trickle of recruits. The groups existing number in Kashmir is estimated to be around 60. Nearly 35 of its members were killed last year. Ansar Ghawat-ul-Hind (AGH) Formative years: AGH is one of the newest militant groups in Kashmir and was formed in 2017. The group is still in infancy and has remained restricted to south Kashmir region. The group was born out of feud between HMs Pakistan-based leadership and its south Kashmir commander Zakir Musa. The group was formed when a major ideological split emerged in the separatist camp following Musas threat to separatist leaders against delinking Islam from the separatist movement. HM distanced itself from Musas statement; in turn, Musa distanced himself from HM. Months later, he formed a new militant group that appears to draw inspiration from Al Qaeda. However, the exact link and affiliation between AGH and Al Qaeda is not known. Founder: AGH was founded by Zakir Musa, a young militant commander who succeeded Burhan Wani. Musa is one of the longest surviving militants in Kashmir and has emerged as a prolific ideologue within the Islamist sections. Leadership: Since its formation nearly two years ago, AGH has been led by Zakir Musa. The groups deputy chief Mohammad Soliha was killed along with five AGH militants in November last year. Its two foreign commanders Abu Dujana, who was previously with Lashkar-e-Toiba, and Abu Hamas, who was previously with Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in separate gunfights in August 2017 and March last year respectively. Strength: The group has attracted cadre from Hizbul Mujahideen as well as Lashkar-e-Toiba and has also recruited several new members since its formation. Its eight members were killed in 2017 and 10 last year. The groups existing number is estimated to be four but its exact strength is in its ideological outreach for which it has pioneered use of audio-visual statements. Tehreek-ul-Muhadeen (TuM) TuM was formed in 1990 by Yunus Khan and the organisation was ideologically centred around Ahl-e-Hadees interpretation of Islam. The group suffered major setbacks in its early years when Khan was killed in a gunfight in 1991. The groups most prominent member, Abdul Gani Dar alias Gazali, was arrested in March 2002 in Srinagar. Sheikh Jamil-ur-Rehman is the current chief of the group and is based in Pakistan. It remained defunct for nearly a decade and its recent recruitment attempts went bad as several of its cadres split to form a cell linked to Islamic State group. It recruited three youth in October last year, two of whom were immediately killed and one was arrested. Al Badr The group is headquartered in Pakistan where it is headed by Bakht Zaman. The groups ideological core is based around Jamaat-e-Islami and it was initially formed to recruit foreign militants. It gave Hizbul Mujahideen, which also had ideological roots in Jamaat-e-Islami, an excuse to maintain a semblance of indigenous character. Al Badr remained defunct for more than a decade and made a comeback in 2018 when two of its militants were killed in north Kashmir last year. In January, the group suffered a major setback when Zeenat-ul-Islam, a militant commander who was previously affiliated with Hizbul Mujahideen and had joined Al Badr late last year, was killed alongwith another associate in Kulgam district. Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK) A nascent militant group, which claims inspiration from as well as affiliation with the Iraq-based militant group Islamic State, came into formation in 2017. It lost eight militants last year, including its three commanders. The group suffered major setbacks in establishing itself as it wantonly practiced takfir declaring another Muslim as a non-believer. The group is currently believed to be in disarray. Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) Formative years: The group was formed in Pakistan as the armed wing of Markaz Dawah wal Irshad and its ideological core is based on Ahle Hadees interpretation of Islam. In the mid-1990s, LeT entered Kashmir conflict and, in 1999, pioneered the fidayeen attacks in Kashmir when its cadre stormed a paramilitary camp in Bandipora district. Since then, the group has carried out dozens of fidayeen attacks against security forces installations across Kashmir valley. Founders: The group was founded by Hafiz Mohammad Sayeed and is reported to be headquartered in Muridke near Lahore in Pakistan. Sayeed is a staunch Pakistan loyalist and had formed a party last year to contest election. Leadership: The groups leadership inside Kashmir has remained exclusively with Pakistani nationals. Its first major commander operated under multiple aliases of Bilal, Salahuddin and Haider and was instrumental in carrying out a wave of fidayeen attacks in the early years of the last decade and operated from Bandipora. Abdullah Uni was another major commander who operated from Sopore. Abdul Rehman and Abu Qasim operated from south Kashmir. Split: The group suffered a major split in 2017 when its commander in Kashmir, Abu Dujana, joined Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind. It caused major distress in LeT, which named Abu Ismail as the new chief, who died within months. Since then the group has slid into backdrop with no significant commander being able to anchor the groups operations. Strength: It continues to remain one of the largest militant groups in Kashmir valley and its cadre strength is estimated to be 100 to 150. The group has presence across north, central and south Kashmir. It lost nearly 60 militants last year. Vibha Sharma in New Delhi Vibha Sharma in New Delhi Yudh hungame se nahi, ranniti se hota hai (Wars are not fought with cacophony but strategy), says Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, in wake of public clamour for strong action against Pakistan following the Pulwama attack. In conversation with The Tribune, Naqvi, who is among the few in the PMs Council of Ministers known for their accessibility, grip and straight talk on issues, says war-mongering should be clearly avoided. Excerpts from the interview: After the Pulwama attack, there have been incidents of Kashmiris being targeted in the country. As Union Minister of Minority Affairs what would you like to tell people of Kashmir? I dont think common Kashmiris are being targeted. No country would like such separatist forces who are a danger to the countrys security and attack the very men guarding the country by throwing stones and firing at them. It is for the first time that the security of separatist leaders has been removed. So far what was happening was that some Congress and opposition party leaders would visit them in Kashmir and have biryani with them? So these leaders thought that no one can touch them and they can foment any conspiracy against India. The strong action against them has taken them by surprise. What about Kashmiri students and ordinary Kashmiris who became victims of harassment in many parts of the country? Wont such incidents alienate them? I dont think there are any such general incidents. There could be a few isolated incidents. At the same time, I must say that common Kashmiri students should not be targeted. It is wrong and the same is condemnable. Kashmiris have as much right over the country as every Indian. Those giving hype to such incidents are doing them more damage. By politicising such incidents, they are worsening the situation. Questions are being raised over the governments response to the attack. What would you like to say? After Pulwama, three major steps have been taken. First, the MFN status from Pakistan was taken away. Secondly the security cover of separatist leaders, who have all this while been openly supporting the terrorists, has been taken away, and, third, commanders of terror group Jaish have been eliminated. Before 2014, every 15 days to one month, there would be a terrorist attack in the country. Akshardham temple, Sankat Mochan temple, Mumbai attacks, Ajmer attack, Mecca Masjid, Delhi, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Kolkata, not a single part of the country remained unaffected by terror attacks killing thousands of people. There has been a complete control on such terror attacks. The situation in Kashmir too had improved but unfortunately Pulwama happened. Terrorists are breathing their last and are now operational in some parts of Kashmir only. They will be finished soon. To eliminate terrorism, strong and effective steps are being taken. You are saying that terrorism in Kashmir is on its last legs? In India, terror and terrorists have not been able to get the kind of hold they have in other parts of the world. Jis tarah duniya mein apni jarein jamayi hai us tarah se veh Bharat main nahi kar pa rahe hain (The way terrorists have able to establish roots in other parts of the world, they have not been able to do so in India). In Kashmir, if in some parts, they are being able to carry out such attacks, it should be understood that they will be finished. See, all this is Pakistan-sponsored. Pakistan is a terror factory, which is a danger not just to India but for the peace and harmony of the world. With its diplomatic policies, India has been able to expose and isolate Pakistan before the world. But people are expecting a strong visible action against Pakistan. Do you think the measures taken are sufficient to assuage those feelings? People believe in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and they also know the countrys interests are fully secure in his hands, that there will be no harm to it in any way. The government and the security forces are taking long-term and effective actions. There have been several terror attacks across the world in Paris, England, and the US, but the way our security forces managed to take retaliatory action within three to four days, the terrorists should be frustrated and worried. But we should not do war-mongering. Yudh hungame se nahi, ranniti se hota hai (Wars are not fought with cacophony but strategy). What is your response to allegations of the Congress? The problem is that the Congress has always acted irresponsibly on sensitive issues like national security. This is how it has behaved similarly this time also. Similar thing happened when our security forces were battling in Kargil. Sonia Gandhi had questioned Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was the Prime Minister then, on the action and called him kafan chor (a coffin thief). After the Uri surgical strikes, they again raised questions. On Rafale, they created a bawaal (hulabaloo) and now on this, they are raising questions again. This is nothing but poor politics. Questions are also being raised on the governments foreign policy. Have you really been able to isolate Pakistan, especially after the visit of Saudi Crown Prince there? First thing, did the Saudi Prince come here and support the terror attack on Pulwama? Did any country support the Pakistan-sponsored attack? Pakistan has been isolated in the entire world because of Indias diplomatic efforts. The visit should be seen in context of Saudi Arabias importance to India, not of Pakistan. It is only then we will be able to understand how important it is for India to have good relations with Saudi Arabia. Countries act in their own interests. We cannot change the conduct of every other country and that should not be our aim. They should be dealt purely on the basis of self-interest. But politically, it is now you (BJP) versus them (Congress). Comparisons are being made. What do you have to say about it? When I see their reactions, and that includes the Congress, I feel chot kahin lag rahi hai, dard kahin ho raha hai (Injury is being inflicted to someone and pain is being felt by someone else). With strong action against separatists, they know their political game is being spoiled. So all this will not have any effect on the BJP or its political prospects? The above-mentioned three actions plus the strong stance on river waters are all visible actions. There is no harm in people having expectations. You only have expectations from someone you believe in. But the political parties indulging in this should also be aware of their political history and geography. Did party chief Amit Shah not make that comparison with the Congress in Assam soon after the attacks? That is not politicising. None of our leaders said a word when terrorists were eliminated. None of us took any credit, leaving it to the security forces to deal with the situation. The Prime Minister himself has said we are giving a free hand to the security forces, that they will take the action and whatever, and whenever, is right for the country will be done. The Congress is worried and has, hence, jumped in and activated its machinery to create confusion. But old statements of BJP leaders are also being pulled out, for example what Prime Minister Modi said after the 26/11 attacks? Whats your take? Should we also start pulling out what Sonia Gandhi said about Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the time of the Kargil War? I think by circulating old statements and false and hypothetical stories, they will not gain anything. How do you see the Pulwama attack affecting BJPs political prospects in the coming Lok Sabha elections? We do not equate national security with political gain or loss. National security has always been our priority and it will remain that way. Neither would we like to play politics on it and nor do we want others to do so. Kashmiris should not be targeted. They have as much right over the country as everyone else. Those giving hype to such incidents are doing more damage. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Mukesh Ranjan in New Delhi Mukesh Ranjan in New Delhi Coming down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for comprehensively failing the country in preventing repeated Pulwama-like terror attacks, former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha is of the view that the government is killing terrorists in Kashmir while keeping terrorism alive and kicking. In an interview with The Tribune, he expresses his anguish over the governments directionless policy in the Valley. Excerpts: The Pulwama terror attack is probably the second biggest assault on India after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. How do you comprehend it? Firstly, it was a cowardly attack and a horrible one, as US President Donald Trump has described it. But here I must say that it represented comprehensive failure on the part of the government in preventing several such attacks, which the country, particularly Jammu and Kashmir, has witnessed in the past three to four years. Was the attack a glaring intelligence failure, particularly when such high quantity of explosives were used to blast the ill-fated vehicle? I used the term comprehensive, as the failure was on all fronts and all departments of the state machinery. Nobody is answering the questions as where did several kilos of explosives come from and where were these stored? How the state intelligence, which is under the Central rule, could not get a whiff of this? And then, the terrorists with the explosives must have taken a route to hit the CRPF convoy. In such a situation, questions must be asked as to why were precautionary measures to sanitise the route not taken, especially in view of the fact that such attacks have taken place earlier also. Itll be interesting to know that how were the officers distributed in the convoy, as I understand that in an Army bus or truck, there would always be an officer onboard. This aspect needs to be looked into. All these demonstrate complete failure of those from the Prime Minister to the Governor to the officers responsible for security in Jammu and Kashmir. Do you think that the governments hot pursuit policy in the Valley for the past three years is the right way of dealing with the Kashmir issue? I dont think so. The Kashmir issue has completely been mishandled. The fundamental mistake that the government has committed and continues to commit is the thinking that you can end terrorism by eliminating terrorists. With this, the government has ended up killing terrorists while terrorism remains alive in the state. At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi claims time for talks is over, what are the options available for India to deal with terrorism? The present government has been guilty of flip-flop in its policy towards Pakistan. For this, there are many instances, including Narendra Modis sudden visit to Lahore to attend a marriage ceremony at Pakistans former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs residence and also numerous summit meetings on the sidelines of multilateral meetings. But at the same time, India suffered incidences of cross-border terrorism. Therefore, it seems that India desperately lacks a game plan or strategy to deal with cross-border terror activities. Also it was claimed that demonetisation had broken the back of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and that the much-hyped surgical strikes were enough to quell Pakistan. But now we know that both the claims were hollow. Do you think the measures (economic and diplomatic), which are being taken by the government vis-a-vis Pakistan in the aftermath of the attack are enough? We still need to see and watch whether the steps taken would prevent such attacks in India, as there is no such evidence in generally containing Pakistan. The governments decision to withdraw the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status on Pakistan is nothing but a mere formality. In any case for India, trade has not been a strong point with Pakistan, and so it is not going to hurt the country. But if a decision against Pakistan comes at the end of the meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris, it may help in choking terror financing. Also we claim that we have isolated Pakistan internationally. This is nothing but delusion. The visit of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan after the Pulwama attack is proof enough of that. World leaders have, no doubt, condemned the attack and expressed their sympathies, but that is where it ended every time. We must realise that the fight against terror is our own fight and we will have to fight this war and win it. What have you to say on the governments decision to withdraw security cover of separatist leaders in the Valley? It will not go down well with the supporters of Hurriyat leaders, who are not inconsequential in Kashmir. And also everybody knows that their security was there in order to keep an eye on them. Do you think that the Centre and state governments need to do more to protect Kashmiri students living in other parts of the country? The biggest objective of terrorists is to intensify the feeling of alienation among the Kashmiris. If the rest of India attacks Kashmiris, they are only helping the terrorists. Every such incident is magnified thousand times in Kashmir and confirms their fear that the rest of India is interested only in acquiring the territory of Kashmir, but not the Kashmiris. The government should ensure that this is stopped immediately and the miscreants are brought to book. The targeted students and traders should be brought back from where they have left and provided full security. How is the Opposition justified in criticising the Prime Minister for his conduct in the immediate aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack? A ghastly incident like a terrorist attack should not be politicised by any party, much less the party in power. As the General Election is round the corner, will the attack have any bearing on it? It all depends on how it pans out in the coming days. The government will be well advised not to link any retaliatory action with elections. If the rest of India attacks Kashmiris, they are only helping the terrorists. The government should put an end to this and punish the miscreants. Yashwant Sinha Brig Vivek Lall (Retd) Brig Vivek Lall (Retd) Sound operational planning, weapons superiority and resource support are extremely important for any army. These are the tangible elements that indicate the probability of success in military operations. But then, there are some intangibles, difficult to list or measure, sometimes contribute to victory like luck perhaps. I believe luck matters, and sometimes luck is the only thing that can explain what could otherwise have been a sticky end. This happened in the early years of this millennium (pre-2003 India-Pakistan declaration of ceasefire), when insurgency was peaking in J&K and trans-LoC (Line of Control) operations as well as fire assaults were the norm. 'Fire assaults' are when either side brings down fire with heavy weapons (artillery, mortar or direct firing infantry weapons such as missiles, rockets, heavy machine guns etc.) on selected targets, with the aim to cause casualties or to communicate a message. These are not random acts of violence, but operations that require careful planning and preparation. Targets have to be carefully selected, any enemy pattern that can be exploited, or some terrain advantage that can be used. Preparations involve selecting points from where to fire from, movement of weapons and ammunitions, reconnaissance of targets, etc. These have to be carefully completed to ensure that surprise of action is retained. And in the area of LoC where I was deployed somewhere along the Poonch-Sunderbani road axis, we were doing all this quite well and causing heavy losses to the Pakistan army. Those were days when young Majors could fire any infantry weapon without referring to their Commanding Officer or bring down artillery fire by just asking. The situation was particularly tense after a 'trans-LoC operations 'by Pakistan in a neighbouring area. As a young Company Commander, my operating principle was simple - use all ingenuity to inflict maximum pain. By constantly shifting weapon positions, bringing down fire from different locations each time, aggressive firing, and random movement of own troops, we had our opponents forever guessing. In a large area we were able to stop their movement almost completely. It happened that despite our constant efforts to prevent routines and patterns, a foot movement from four of my posts to the Company Headquarters (HQ) became regular. This movement would take place after morning alertness drills but also made sure that soldiers would be able to reach the Battalion HQ in time for certain time-constrained administrative routines. On reaching the Company HQ, the troops would fall-in at a location we called the Jeep-Head. This was at a fair distance from Pakistani posts, at a height, and could be observed only through specialised equipment from possibly a few areas across the LoC. Transport would then move from behind its cliff cover to the 'Jeep-Head' and pick up the troops. In all probability, Pakistan observers were able to pick up the vehicle movement and maybe some soldier activity. Thereafter, common military sense and an understanding of usual drills may have led them to appreciate the target value of Jeep-Head and the best time to engage it. Firing across the LoC, other than planned assaults, was a regular affair. Whenever this firing would start with Pakistani posts, one of my eccentricities was to be the last man to fire (force them to back-down). On one such night of firing, it seemed that the Pakistani posts did not want to back down, so we just kept firing at each other through the night. Little did we know about their morning plans! One of our strengths in the field is our reporting systems. Every morning before first light, all soldiers would get into their alert positions and then a report would be given to the post commander and then upwards through the military hierarchy, that all was well and nothing unusual had taken place through the night. That morning, when I was given this report by my post commanders, I ordered a complete stop to all movement. Although a week day, I felt that the troops were not getting enough rest. I just took the decision without trying to weigh the pros and cons or seek any permission, which was rather unusual. And so, after the morning alert, leaving aside the usual guard duties, rest of my soldiers went to rest. It was 6 am when my Company HQ, specifically the 'Jeep-Head' location, was suddenly hit by Pakistan army's medium artillery, missiles and rockets. They had planned well to maximise our casualties. The timing, ferocity and surprising accuracy of the attack, was such that had I not ordered 'no movement', we could have suffered many casualties. It so happened that we remained unscathed. So, what saved us that morning? Was it a great command style followed in my battalion which gave freedom to young company commanders, or a connect which I shared with my soldiers that made me sense the need for rest. Or was it just plain luck? sanjiv@tribunemail.com Karam Prakash Tribune News Service Patiala, February 23 To attract specialist doctors, the Punjab Government has decided to give an incentive of up to Rs 75,000 over and above their monthly remuneration. Reeling under a severe shortage, the Health Department has announced the incentive for gynaecologists and paediatricians under the National Health Mission (NHM). Regular doctors will get the incentive on the recommendation of the civil surgeon. The monthly incentive Rs 25,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 75,000 will depend on the location of posting. All civil surgeons have been asked to categorise Community Health Centres (CHC), Sub Divisional Hospitals and Divisional Hospitals for the incentives. In a letter to all civil surgeons, Additional Chief Secretary Satish Chandra said: The move aims at compensating the specialist doctors for any hardships owing to the place of their posting. A week back, 58 per cent of the advertised posts for medical specialist remain-ed vacant following a walk-in interview. Of the 513 posts, only 215 doctors joined. The Tribune had recently reported that doctors were averse to joining due to low salary, clerical work (writing medico-legal report in every legal case) and VIP duties. The department has also increased the monthly remuneration of specialist doctors posted under the NHM from Rs 70,000 to Rs 1,25,000. Chandra said: Most specialists prefer to stay in Mohali and Ludhiana districts. We are short of 40% gynaecologists and 50% paediatricians. We hope we are able to address the issue. Why docs stay away editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 23 Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal on Saturday demanded registration of case against the Cabinet minister who had been named in the inquiry related to the CLU scam allegedly to benefit a multi-crore luxury apartment project in Ludhiana. Addressing mediapersons here, Sukhbir said the government department concerned had conducted a probe and action must be taken against the minister involved in the scam. He, however, did not name the minister. Meanwhile, Lok Insaaf Party chief Simarjit Singh Bains demanded from the Chief Minister to form a high-powered committee to probe political links in the case. He alleged that it was required to investigate if there was any share of Congress leaders in the multi-crore luxury apartment project on Gill Road, Ludhiana. AAP Deputy Leader of Opposition Sarbjit Kaur Manuke had claimed that a departmental inquiry by the Local Bodies Department had named Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu in the CLU scam. Bains said they would support the AAP on the issue in the Assembly. We appeal to the CM to intervene into the matter as names of some Congress leaders are cropping up in the scam. Strict action should be taken against the guilty, Bains added. Manuke said they would raise the matter in the Assembly on Monday too. We want strict action against all the persons involved in the scam. The Chief Minister should order a fair probe as the name of a minister has come in the inquiry conducted by the Department of Local Government, she said. editorial@tribune.com Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Gurdaspur, February 23 A day after BJP leader Swaran Salaria produced a letter from the Railway Ministry claiming an overbridge will be constructed on the Tibri road crossing to decongest traffic in the city, PPCC chief and Gurdaspur MP Sunil Jakhar today laid the foundation stone of an underbridge. Jakhar was accompanied by Gurdaspur MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra. Yesterday, Salaria had convened a press conference and claimed that his efforts and those of the BJP had paid dividends as the Railway Ministry had cleared the proposal for an overbridge. There was never a proposal for an overpass. I have been in constant touch with Railway Ministry officials in New Delhi, following which I got an underbridge cleared, said the MP after laying the foundation stone. MLA Pahra said Salaria was trying to pull wool over the eyes of the residents by showing off a frivolous Railway Ministry notification to the media. The project is a state government-funded one and Rs 16 crore has already been earmarked for the underpass in this years Punjab governments Budget. The Central government will not have to spend even a single rupee. Our MP worked closely with railway officials in New Delhi to get the proposal cleared, maintained the MLA. Salaria had contended that the overbridges funding would be done jointly by the Central and state governments. To this Jakhar said, Salaria is trying to take credit for something he has never done. The work will start before the model code of conduct comes into force. Credit war BJPs Swaran Salaria had on Friday produced a letter from the Railway Ministry claiming an overbridge will be constructed on the Tibri road crossing in Gurdaspur. Meanwhile, local (Cong) MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra said it was a state government-funded project. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves from his armored train before departing for Hanoi at Pyongyang Station in this photo released by the North's Rodong Sinmun, Sunday. Yonhap NK leader to make official friendly visit to Vietnam By Kim Bo-eun North Korean leader Kim Jong-un departed for Hanoi via his armored train for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump this week, Pyongyang's state media reported Sunday. According to the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim left Pyongyang Station on Saturday for the summit to be held Wednesday through Thursday. Kim's wife Ri Sol-ju was not included in the report's list of delegates accompanying the North Korean leader. The KNCA stated this would be "an official friendly visit at the invitation of Vietnam's President Nguyen Phu Trong." It said the leaders of the countries would meet, but did not specify the official period of Kim's visit to Vietnam. There is possibility Kim could take the train to Beijing or Guangzhou and fly the rest of the route to Hanoi, as his grandfather, former leader Kim Il-sung, did for his visits to Vietnam in 1958 and 1964. However, it appears more likely he will transfer at the Vietnamese border city of Dong Dang in Lang Son Province to travel the rest of the distance by road. Soldiers were deployed to Dong Dang railway station on Saturday and along the road to Hanoi, according to reports. This would mean he would travel 4,500 kilometers across China, which would take more than 60 hours, in a train whose top speed is estimated at 60 kilometers per hour. This is in contrast to the North Korean leader's choice of travel for his first summit with Trump in Singapore, to which he traveled via a Chinese plane. Kim is seen to have opted for the train to replicate trips by his grandfather as the successor of the Kim regime. The train trip could enable the leader to make stops at sites to inspect economic development, just as Kim Il-sung visited sites nearby Guangzhou with then-Chinese leader Mao Zhedong on his first trip to Vietnam in 1958. The train ride crossing China's mainland could also show that Beijing has Pyongyang's back ahead of the U.S.-North Korea summit. In addition, the train may have been opted over North Korea's state jet Chammae-1, a Soviet-era IL-62M for safety reasons. While it is capable of traveling distances of up to 10,000 kilometers, the jet is old and North Korea is known to lack pilots that have experience flying long distance. Meanwhile, the venue of the summit in Hanoi is likely to be the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel. North Korean officials led by Kim Chang-son, chief secretary the regime's secretariat of state affairs, were seen checking facilities at the hotel, along with a U.S. official, according to reports. Officials of North Korea and the U.S. are seen to have held a series of working-level negotiations in Hanoi through Sunday, on denuclearization steps and corresponding measures. Trump said scaling down U.S. troops in South Korea was not on the table this time. Attention had grown over the possibility that the U.S. president could bring this up as a corresponding measure for North Korea taking denuclearization steps. Trump, meanwhile, is set to depart Washington for Hanoi on Monday, local time. National Security Adviser John Bolton will likely accompany him. Bolton, who had been scheduled to visit Seoul to meet his South Korean counterpart, canceled his trip, which the White House said was "to focus on events in Venezuela." amansharma@tribunemail.com PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 24 In a shocking incident, a retired Junior Engineer of Powercom allegedly killed his NRI daughter and later committed suicide by hanging himself with the ceiling fan at his house in Gulmohar Avenue here on Sunday. David Masih (60) was suffering from depression, his family members said. Nilofar (35), his NRI daughter, had come to meet her parents a few days ago. Deputy Commissioner of Police (investigations) Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar reached the spot and carried out investigations. He said as per preliminary probe Masih hit his daughter on her head with an iron rod, which killing her on the spot and later he hanged himself in another room. Further investigations were under way and the bodies were sent for post mortem. Martha, wife of the deceased, said she had gone to church while her husband and daughter Nilofar were in the house. When Masih did not come to church and did not to respond the calls, she returned home and found the house bolted from inside. Later, she sent a neighbour inside the house who came out shouting after seeing the bodies. sanjiv@tribunemail.com Tribune News Service Bengaluru, February 23 From flying helicopters and fighter jets, to being air traffic controllers and doing para-jumps, it was literally a womens day at Aero India here as the Ministry of Defence had listed it to celebrate women achievers in aerospace. The two hours of morning flying 10 am to noon at the Yelahanka air base was dominated by women. Badminton star PV Sindhu became the first woman to fly the Light Combat Aircraft, the Tejas, with the official Twitter handle of DRDO, the designer of the plane, sending out congratulations to the shuttler, who did a 40- minute sortie. It was a medium altitude flight, IAF officials later said. IAF said a flight like this would have Sindhu experiencing 4 to 5 G-force. The maximum for humans is 9. G-force is the gravitational force experienced by pilots when a fighter jet takes off and flies at sonic speeds. In the past three days, Squadron Leader Sneha Kulkarni has been flying in her helicopter as part of Sarang IAFs dare-devil aerobatic display team. For the special days, the air traffic control was also handed over to the women officers Squadron Ldr Siju Unnikrishan, Squadron Ldr Kanupriya Rana, Flight Lt Angel Dutta and Flight Lt Kriti Bhatnagar. Dressed in orange overalls, six women officers, led by Wing Cdr Asha Jyothirmai, did a para jump. Other officers on the team were Wing Cdr Sangita Paulraj, Squadron Ldr Seema Sheoran, Squadron Ldr Isha Gill, Flight Lt Remya and Flying Officer Tuhina Gaur. Flying Officer Mohana Singh, who is among the first three women fighter pilots, flew the Hawk jet. Three IAF pilots who fly the Dornier surveillance plane Squadron Ldr Kamaljeet Kaur and her co-pilot Squadron Ldr Rakhi Bhandari did an over flight. Squadron Ldr Shruti Chauhan flew another Dornier. Chetak helicopter was flown by Flight Lt Amandeep Kaur, Flight Lt Sindhu Reddy and Squadron Ldr Khushboo Gupta. shalender@tribune.com Mumbai, February 23 The Shiv Sena has sacked four members of the Yuva Sena after they allegedly beat up two Kashmiri students of Dayabhai Patel Physical Education College, Yavatmal, earlier this week. Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray took to social media on Friday to say that the party was expelling those who attacked the Kashmiri youth. As of Thursday evening, the party has sacked those involved in the act. J&K is a part of India and no Indian, or for that matter, nobody should face the brunt of anger that is towards terrorism. We understand the angst but it must be against terror, not innocent people, Thackeray tweeted. Video footage of the event showed the Sena workers attacking the Kashmiri youth outside their rented accommodation. Apart from being asked to chant Vande Mataram, they were asked to leave Yavatmal immediately. Ajinkya Motke, who led the group of party workers, was sent to magisterial custody for 14 days. His three accomplices were released on bail on Friday, the police said. At least 19 J&K students have returned home following the incident. TNS uttara@tribuneindia.com Tribune News Service Jammu, February 24 Governor Satya Pal Malik has called for calm days after a militant attack in Pulwama that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force troopers led to violence in Jammu city. The governor chaired an informal meeting of the state administrative council on Sunday to review the law and order in the state in the light of the attack at Pulwama last week. Advisors Vijay Kumar KK Sharma and Shri K Skandan, Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam, Principal Secretary to Governor Umang Narula; Information Department Principal Secretary RK Goyal, Home Principal Secretary Shaleen Kabra, and Planning and Monitoring Department Principal Secretary Rohit Kansal attended the meeting. Malik was brief about the ground situation at Jammu city, where clashes that erupted after the attack left to curfew restrictions. The city is now slowly limping back to normal. He was also told about additional forces deployed in the region before election. During Panchayat Elections, over 400 additional companies of Central Police Forces were provided to conduct the Urban Local Body and Panchayat Elections over a total of 13 phases. An official press release issued by the state administration quoted the governor as saying that the additional deployment of paramilitary forces in the state must be seen only in the context of upcoming general elections, and must not be attributed to anything else. The governor also appreciated the role administration and police of other states to provide security to Kashmiri students who became targets of attacks in several parts of the country in the aftermath of the attack. Attacks and threats forced several Kashmiri students studying in various parts of the country to flee back home. amansharma@tribunemail.com Lahore, February 24 Pakistani authorities have appointed two administrators to supervise a seminary and a mosque believed to be the headquarters of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the terror outfit which claimed responsibility for the Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. The Punjab government appointed the administrators two days after it announced taking over the control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, over 400 km from Lahore. The seminary and mosque are believed to be the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit. The Punjab government has appointed Mohammad Ali, district Auqaf administrator and Ghulam Abbas, regional Auqaf administrator to supervise the administrative affairs of Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah and Madrassatul Sabir, Bahawalpur, respectively, said a senior official of the Punjab government. Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah is located in the densly populated industrial area in Model Town-B of Bahawalpur while Madrassatul Sabir is situated on Bahawalpur-Ahmed East highway on the outskirts of the city. Earlier in a complete U-turn, the Pakistan government dismissed its own claim of taking over the control of JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur and said the complex had no link with the JeM. In a video message on social media, Pakistans Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the Punjab government took administrative control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur in line with the decisions taken during the National Security Council meeting held on Thursday and as part of the National Action Plan. Rejecting his earlier announcement that the complex was JeM headquarters, Chaudhry said, This is the madrassah (seminary) and India is doing propaganda that it is the JeM headquarters. On Friday, the minister told PTI that the Punjab government had taken over the control of the JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur. The government of Punjab has taken over the control of a campus comprising Madressatul Sabir and Jama-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, allegedly the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad, and appointed an administrator to manage its affairs, he had said. It was the first time in years that the campus, about 430-km from Lahore, had been acknowledged by Pakistan to be the headquarters of the Masood Azhar-led JeM. A statement issued by the Interior Ministry on Friday also said the crackdown on Jaish has been taken in line with the decision of the National Security Committee meeting held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The Islamic seminary in the campus has a faculty of 70 teachers and currently 600 students were studying in it, the statement said, adding that Punjab police were providing security and protection to the campus. Since 2002 when the JeM was banned, different intelligence agencies have been regularly monitoring the mosque and the seminary, the Punjab government official said. Pakistan on Thursday also banned the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation. Earlier, the two outfits were kept on the watchlist of the interior ministry. The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Toiba militant group which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It was declared a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a JeM suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying a huge quantity of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. Tensions between the two countries have heightened after the attack with India asking Pakistan to take immediate and verifiable action against terrorists and terror groups operating from territories under its control. New Delhi also announced the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation status for Pakistan and hiked the customs duty by 200 per cent on goods originating from Pakistan. PTI Sets up crisis cell post border tension Islamabad: Pakistan has set up a crisis management cell in the wake of heightened tension with India. It will keep all stakeholders updated over the border situation and diplomatic contacts, foreign office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal was quoted as saying. The cell has been set up in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. PTI shalender@tribune.com Itanagar, February 23 Curfew was imposed here on Saturday as mobs protesting against the government move to grant permanent residency certificates (PRCs) to non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe communities of Namsai and Changlang districts went on a rampage, indulging in arson and stone throwing. One person was killed after sustaining a bullet injury, while several security personnel and protesters were injured in clashes at Naharlagun, an official said. Four Army columns conducted a flag march in Itanagar as security forces grappled with the tense situation. Caught in the mayhem were some 50 delegates to the first Itanagar International Film Festival (IIFF) who were evacuated after the event was cancelled. The festival venue, the Dorjee Khandu Convention Centre, was vandalised by miscreants on Friday night. The government has suspended Internet services for the next 24 hours with immediate effect to avoid rumour mongering through social media platforms. Indefinite curfew has been imposed from 3 pm to maintain law and order, SP (Capital) M Harsh Vardhan said. The situation is tense and protesters are indulging in stone throwing. We are making efforts to restore the law and order, he said, adding 40 protesters have been arrested. Protesters had set ablaze 50 vehicles and damaged over 100 vehicles on Friday evening. More than 35 persons, including 24 police personnel, were injured in the stone throwing, the police said. The agitating groups alleged the joint high power committee led by Environment Minister Nabam Rebia, constituted to look into the matter, had submitted its report without proper verification of facts and this should be rectified before it is tabled before the Assembly. Appealing people to remain calm and maintain peace, CM Pema Khandu said: The government has decided not to take up the PRC matter in the current Assembly session. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Khandu. He urged the people to remain calm and maintain peace. IANS gspannu7@gmail.com Naveen S Garewal Tribune News Service Hyderabad, February 24 Erstwhile Andhra region that has seen constant political upheavals since Independence is all set to become the fulcrum in the forthcoming general elections. Always an important region politically, both Andhra Pradesh and its newly carved out sibling Telangana have their chief ministers fighting it out to assume upon themselves the role of kingmakers. But unfortunately for the Telugu people, the two have turned bitter enemies who are garnering support to form mahagathbandans. After the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 it was left with 25 of the 42 parliamentary constituencies, giving Telangana the remaining 17. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is also the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief, was supporting the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) till March 2018 when it suddenly decided to exit the NDA citing Centres failure to fulfil promise made to the state in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014. Discrimination has since become the major issue for the 2019 elections. Interestingly, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) openly criticised the Congress but was publicly grateful to the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for making Telangana possible. But he was otherwise more inclined towards the BJP till September 2018 when he prematurely dissolved the state legislature and decided to go ahead with early polls. During the course of campaigning for the state assembly polls, KCR called Congress president Rahul Gandhi a buffoon and Prime Minister Narendra Modi a liar causing serious differences. But after a landslide victory in the December 7 polls, KCR has announced the formation of a non-Congress and non-BJP Federal Front to provide a political alternative to the nation. After winning 88 out of the 119 assembly seats, KCRs Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is hopeful of winning 16 seats, while it will support All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen sitting Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on the 17th seat. With over 2.8 crore registered voters in Telangana having already shown their political preference recently, there does not seem to be much change that will happen in parliamentary polls. In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the 25 seats will be fiercely contested by the TDP-Congress alliance on the one side and the YSR Congress and the BJP going alone to form a triangular contest where there are 3.69 core registered voters. The two Telugu speaking states remain the favourite destination for national political parties not just because the chief ministers here have vowed to change the political narrative of the nations politics, but also because all the war room activity is happening in Hyderabad and Amravati. Further the actions of both Naidu and KCR are being viewed as their political ambition to play an active role in national politics; as a result the cadres of both leaders are surcharged and have already started the ground work even before the announcement of the polls. uttara@tribuneindia.com Ravi S. Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 24 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday suspended his broadcast for two monthsMarch and Apriland said he would be back with the programme on the last Sunday of May, by when results of the Lok Sabha elections are expected to be declared. In this monthly address through the radio broadcastthe 53rd since Modi came to power in 2014he said he was doing so keeping in mind healthy democratic traditions. "Elections are the biggest celebration of democracy. In the next two months, we will be busy in the hurly-burly of the general elections. I myself will also be a candidate. Respecting healthy democratic traditions, the next episode of 'Mann Ki Baat' will be broadcast on the last Sunday (May 26) of May," Modi said. Opposition parties have in the past demanded stopping the broadcast of Mann ki Baat during elections, saying it violated the model code of conduct as the interaction amounted to the misuse of the prime minister's programme for political purposes. Sounding confident of his return to power, he said he will begin the series of conversations under the programme from May with the "power of your blessings" and will keep speaking to people through 'Mann ki Baat' for years. The fate of Modi's 'Mann ki Baat' broadcast will depend on the results of the Lok Sabha elections as the programme will continue only if he is reelected and becomes prime minister. PTI Tributes Modi paid tributes to the Central Reserve Police Force troopers who were killed in a suicide attack in Pulwama on February 14. The prime minister said the patriotism that the bereaved family showed was inspiration and set an example for the youth today. Modi also spoke about the National War Memorial, which he said was ready and would be dedicated to the defence forces on Monday. The memorial will provide panoramic view of sacrifices of personnel of the defence forces, he said, as he lauded the roles played by defence and police forces in the country. He also paid tributes to tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda and noted industrialist Jamshedji Tata. shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com Mumbai, February 24 A key Maratha outfit, that led the quota agitation in Maharashtra, has decided not to extend support to any major political party in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls for "neglecting" its demands. The Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM) will support independent candidates or nominees of smaller parties in the polls, its convener Sanjeev Bhor-Patil said on Saturday. "We are contemplating to support independent candidates or smaller parties in the polls instead of major political parties, such as alliances of BJP-Shiv Sena or Congress-NCP, as they all neglected our key demands," he said. He claimed that some members of the community were falsely framed in atrocity cases. "One of our key demands was to sort out the issue of false atrocity cases. However, no political party has taken it seriously. Our another demand was to implement the Swaminathan Commission recommendations on minimum support price (MSP) for crops," he said. Bhor-Patil said MKM leaders will meet in the coming week to chalk out strategy for the general elections. "We cannot register a political party in the name of 'Maratha Kranti Morcha' as it is against our protocol. Hence, we will either support smaller political parties or favourable candidates," another MKM leader said. The MKM had earlier spearheaded the agitation for quota for the Maratha community in jobs and education in the state. The Maharashtra Legislature had in November last year passed a bill proposing 16 per cent reservation in education and government jobs for Marathas, declared as socially and educationally backward class by the government. The quota was granted in addition to the existing 52 per cent reservation in the state. Meanwhile, members of Other Backward Class (OBC) communities from Maharashtra will organise a march here on the first day of the state legislature session on Monday for "safeguarding" their existing quota. The organisers of the protest are also opposing any probable move on part of the state government to induct Marathas into the OBC category. PTI sanjiv@tribunemail.com Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service Bengaluru, February 23 After the final operational clearance (FOC) of Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, India is now looking at a rapid multi-pronged effort to build the next class of fighter jets having more powerful engines and potent weaponry. Dr G Satheesh Reddy, who is Secretary, Defence Research and Development, and also Chairman of DRDO, said, The FOC for Tejas is a landmark for the country. From here on, we can produce faster (jets). The design for the Medium Weight Fighter (MWF) is ready. The prototype will be ready by 2021-end, the senior defence scientist added. The Tejas weighs 6.5 tonnes and the MWF is the next class and targeted to weigh around 17 tonnes. The Aeronautical Development Agency and the Indian Air Force (IAF) have designed it as per the requirement of the IAF. It will have an engine of 98 Kilonewton (Kn) thrust. Also, India is looking to take a technological leap. The DRDO is now in talks with an international partner to make a jet engine of 110 Kn power. So far, no such engine exists anywhere in the world. We are open to working on this and are in talks with partners for joint development, said Dr Reddy, adding this engine could be used on future jets. On being asked about the Kaveri engine, Dr Reddy said it would be used on UAVs. It is not being shelved. Notably, Kaveris thrust is about 75 Kn and 90 Kn is desired to power a fighter jet. The Ministry of Defence has already informed Parliament about the technological difficulties of engine-making, including non-availability of raw material/critical components and skilled manpower. On the much-debated construction timeline for the variants of Tejas, Dr Reddy, who took over as DRDO Chairman in August last year, said the first 20 of the Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) version will be ending very soon. The production of 20 jets under the FOC version would start this year and would be done in two years. We are waiting for the IAF to place an order for 83 jets of the Mark 1A version. On the engine of the Arjun tank, so far imported from MTU Germany, Dr Reddy said, A new engine is being developed and will be tested. A train believed to be carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un leaves the railway station in the Chinese border city of Dandong, in this photo taken by Kyodo on Saturday. Reuters-Yonhap Kim Jong-un begins journey across China for Hanoi summit using an armored train By Kim Yoo-chul HANOI _ There is still a chance North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will visit a cutting-edge Samsung Electronics handset factory in northern Vietnam before or after his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Vietnamese capital, two sources said Sunday. "Preparatory work on security and other issues is under way for a possible visit by North Korean leader Kim to Samsung Electronics' handset factory in Thai Nguyen during his visit to the Southeast Asian country," one source here said on condition of anonymity as she wasn't officially authorized to speak to the media. Samsung, the world's top handset maker, runs several factories in Vietnam. "The Vietnamese government wants to show the North Korean leader why reliable continued flow of foreign capital is necessary for economic growth and attracting continued foreign investment eventually matters," the source said. She said the Samsung factory in Thai Nguyen is "most accessible," being just 60 kilometers from Hanoi. Samsung officials in Seoul say they have not been notified of the possibility of Kim visiting one of its factories outside the capital. Seen is Samsung Electronics' handset factory in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam, April 2017. According to The Korea Times sources, the factory is the most "accessible" of Samsung Electronics' buildings in Vietnam as it is just 60 kilometers from Hanoi where the second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump will be held on Feb 27 and 28. / Yonhap gspannu7@gmail.com New Delhi, February 24 Paramilitary troops deployed in Jammu and Kashmir will get enhanced risk and hardship allowance every month with the special benefits of the lower ranks increased by Rs 7,600 and higher officers by Rs 8,100. The decision of the Ministry of Home Affairs came a week after 40 CRPF jawans were killed in a terror attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the MHA order, risk and hardship allowance for the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) or paramilitary personnel has been enhanced from Rs 9,700 to Rs 17,300 per month for troops up to the rank of inspector and from Rs 16,900 to Rs 25,000 for officers. The enhanced allowance will be applicable to all paramilitary personnel deployed in Jammu and Kashmir and Naxal-hit areas. The decision has been pending since August 2017. In 2017, a committee, headed by the Union Home Secretary, was formed to look into the matter and review the risk and hardship allowances in CAPFs, but no decision was taken till now. Troops deployed in terror hotbeds of south Kashmir such as Budgam, Pulwama, and Anantnag and other sensitive places like Baramullah and Kupwara will get the new enhanced allowance. New areas that will cover the risk and hardship allowance include Kulgam, Shopian, Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban and Udhampur and one district in Telangana. There is no change in most of the areas where paramilitary personnel are deployed, but new districts have been added in Jammu and Kashmir to cover almost the entire state, barring some areas in Jammu near the International Border (IB). However, areas in Jammu region that fall on the Line of Control (LoC) are covered. Dangerous Naxal-infested districts like Sukma, Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Bastar (Chhattisgarh), Latehar (Jharkhand), Gadchiroli (Maharashtra) and Malkangiri (Odisha) have also been covered. Last week, the MHA has decided to allow air travel by paramilitary troops deployed in Jammu and Kashmir. PTI uttara@tribuneindia.com New Delhi, February 24 Union minister Kiren Rijiju Sunday accused the Congress of instigating the people of Arunachal Pradesh to protest against the move to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities living in the state. Rijiju also said Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has clarified that the state government was not bringing the bill on PRC but only tabling report of the Nabam Rebia-led Joint Hight Powered Committee comprising members and student organisations. "It means the state government has not accepted it. In fact, Congress is fighting for PRC but instigating people wrongly," he tweeted. Rebia is a cabinet minister in the state government. Rijiju alleged that the Congress has supported and "instigated" non-Arunachal Pradesh STs in Lekang area to fight for PRC but in Itanagar "misguided" the innocent people. "From the beginning I have strongly urged the state government not to grant PRC unless people are convinced of full protection of indigenous rights. We must stand united," he said. People in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh have been protesting after the state government announced it was considering issuing permanent resident certificates (PRC) to six non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APSTs) communities living in Namsai and Changlang districts and to the Gorkhas living in Vijaynagar. Amongst those communities are Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis and Mishings. Most of these communities are recognised as Scheduled Tribes in neighbouring Assam. Widespread violation have been reported in capital Itanagar and some other places leading to death of a person, injury to several others and destruction of properties and vehicles. PTI gspannu7@gmail.com Shiv Kumar Tribune News Service Mumbai, February 24 Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar, who is being wooed by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party to join their alliance in Maharashtra, is demanding that the election manifesto of the secular combine promise a ban on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). This condition, more than his demand for 12 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, has resulted in a deadlock in seat-sharing negotiations between the Congress-NCP and Ambedkars Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, according to sources. The Congress and the NCP, which have almost finalised seat-sharing arrangements between themselves, have decided to allot seats to several smaller parties from their respective quotas. According to sources in the Congress and the NCP, the two are willing to accommodate Ambedkar in four seats. Some arrangements can be made in a few more seats as well, says a Congress party leader. With both sides refusing to budge, Ambedkar under the banner of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, an umbrella group of several backward caste communities, organised a massive rally at Mumbais Shivaji Park on Saturday evening. Ambedkar was joined by AIMIM leaders including its president Asaduddin Owaisi. We are angling for seats in Parliament. We wanted them to give us in writing that once in power, they will ban the RSS, Ambedkar said at the rally. He accused the Congress party of emulating the BJP by following extremist Hindu Vedic ideology. The grandson of Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, said a third front which would draw Dalit and Muslim voters could bag 10 to 15 Lok Sabha seats from Maharashtra and still make a difference. At Saturdays rally, Ambedkar indicated that he has not entirely shut his doors on the Congress-NCP. Even the AIMIM, which had cut into the votes of the Congress, NCP and the Samajwadi Party in the past, has indicated that it would not contest the polls if Ambedkars outfit was given a respectable seat share by the Congress and the NCP. Ambedkars political fortunes saw a revival last year after he organized a Maharashtra bandh last year following the attacks on Dalits who participated in the Elgar Parishad at Bhima-Koregaon in Pune. shalender@tribune.com Tribune News Service Lucknow, February 23 At least 13 persons were killed and six injured in an explosion inside a firecracker traders house at Rohta village in Bhadohi today afternoon. Such was the intensity of the blast that the entire house was reduced to rubble. The blast also forced cracks in the neighbouring houses. It is suspected that some people are still trapped under the debris. Among the dead is the factory owner, his three relatives and labourers of the unit. After a preliminary investigation, Bhadohi Superintendent of Police Rajesh S has suspended chowki in-charge Pramod Pandey and inspector Ajay Singh for the negligence of duty and carelessness. Bhadohi District Magistrate (DM) Rajendra Prasad said an NDRF team is conducting the rescue operation. The ATS and a bomb disposal squad are also on the site. IG Piyush Srivastava said prima facie, it appears the explosion was caused due to a stockpile of firecrackers kept in the house. The DM said that it was a matter of investigation to find out if the trader had a proper licence to manufacture firecrackers. The Varanasi-Bhadohi road was cordoned off following the incident and JCB machines were pressed into action to clear debris, the officer said. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed grief over the loss of lives in the incident and directed the district officials to ensure proper treatment of the injured, a spokesperson said here. (With agency inputs) editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Ludhiana, February 23 Renowned acupuncture specialist Dr Tilak Raj Kalra from Australia visited Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis Acupuncture Health and Education Center at Salem Tabri today. The hospital management organised a free treatment camp on the occasion. Over 60 patients were provided acupuncture treatment. Patients suffering from acute and chronic diseases, including PIVD, joint pain, cervical spondylitis and frozen shoulder, among others, came for the treatment. Dr Kalra briefed patients about the benefits of newly-recognised healthcare system. He said, Acupuncture is drug less traditional system which is widely practiced and is recognised for the past 30 years in Australia. The Central Government has taken a very good step by introducing acupuncture as an independendent healthcare system in India. Chinese envoy hails decision shalender@tribune.com It will never ever register that Sridevi is not there. Anupam Kher puts the sentiment of fans, family members and fraternity friends in just the right words a year after the demise of the enigmatic actress, who lived the cinematic dream for 50 years. A regular Sunday morning turned one full of disbelief as Sridevis fans the world over woke up to the news of her abrupt death in Dubai in a hotels bathtub on the night of February 24. Only a day or two earlier, social media enthusiasts were lapping up her impeccable fashion taste at a family wedding she was attending. At 54, she was gone in a jiffy. Sridevis tryst with the arc lights began at a tender age of four with a devotional film Thunaivan. There was no stopping her from experimenting with genres, languages, looks and characters, leading her to become one of the most formidable actresses of the 1980s and 1990s in Bollywood. The sea of fans during her last journey in Mumbai was proof of the love she garnered over the years. Anil Kapoor, Sridevis brother-in-law and co-star of several films, including the iconic Mr. India, says theres a certain emptiness that the family always feels whenever there is any occasion in the house or a get-together. Her presence is irreplaceable, Anil said, and added: With time, we get over people and their presence... and then there are some personalities whose presence, enigma, beauty, and body of work, everything is memorable. She is that personality. Satish Kaushik, who has acted with and even directed Sridevi, said: It was not only a personal loss, but also a huge professional loss because it is hard to find an actor who is so dedicated and disciplined.IANS shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com Tribune Web Desk Chandigarh, February 24 A complaint has been filed against actress Sonakshi Sinha and four others for allegedly accepting payment but not performing at an event in Delhi on September 30, 2018. The actress was reportedly supposed to perform but she failed to show-up last minute. Pramod Sharma, owner of a Moradabad-based company India Fashion and Beauty Award, registered the complaint against them in Moradabad on November 24, 2018. The Bollywood actress' management agency on Sunday said the organiser is using the media to release false and manipulated facts and that if he doesn't stop at this, Sonakshi and her team will be forced to take legal action. Pramod said she had accepted Rs. 37 lakh to perform. When she failed to turn up at the show, the audience vandalised the venue, causing the company huge losses. He even claims he spent an extra Rs. 9 lakh on the actress accommodation and travel. On learning about the "misinformation" doing the rounds, Sonakshi's management agency released an official statement on Sunday: "Sonakshi was approached by the event organiser in Delhi to attend an event. However, despite repeated reminders, the organiser failed to make the payments to Sonakshi before the event as contracted. "The tickets to Delhi were not in order/as were agreed, the organiser also didn't send return tickets for Sonakshi and her team, despite knowing that she had a shoot the next morning after the event. This put everyone in a tough spot." Several attempts were made to contact the organiser requesting him to make the contracted payments and send the tickets. However, he "remained incommunicado and didn't live up to his end of the bargain". The statement further read: "Due to a lack of commitment by the organiser, Sonakshi and her team were left with no choice but to return home from Mumbai airport." Ever since that day, Sonakshi's management agency has been trying to reach out to the organiser to find an "amicable solution" to the extent of offering an alternate date and tried to connect but to no avail. "The organiser is now using the media to release false and manipulated facts. If the organiser doesn't stop at this, Sonakshi and her team will be forced to take a legal course of action to set this straight. We request media to not let anyone use their platform without looking into the facts." Accusing the police of inaction, Sharma had consumed poison recently but was saved. A police official said that they have registered a case after a probe into the matter and the organiser was trying to unnecessarily exert pressure on them by acts like consuming poison. The actress has recently wrapped up shooting for upcoming multi-starrer venture 'Kalank'. As per reports, Sonakshi will begin shooting for Dabangg 3 with Salman Khan in April 2019. She was last seen in a dance number Mungda in Total Dhamaal. With agencies sanjiv@tribunemail.com Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 23 Petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A are unlikely to be heard by the Supreme Court at least till Tuesday, sources said here this evening. The matter figures in the weekly list of cases generally taken up on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Its not in Tuesdays list, a source familiar with the procedure told The Tribune, adding, It had figured in the weekly list of cases earlier as well. Earlier this month, when it was listed in the weekly list, Jammu and Kashmir Government standing counsel M Shoeb Alam had circulated a letter seeking adjournment of the matter. Amid crackdown on separatist leaders in Kashmir, there are rumours about hearing of petitions against Article 35A by the Supreme Court next week. Political parties in the militancy-hit state have been agitating against any possible move to scrap the controversial provision. The National Conference and CPM have already moved the Supreme Court in support of Article 35A. But the Supreme Court had on January 22 said it would take an in-chamber decision on listing of petitions against Article 35A for hearing. Added to the Constitution through a Presidential Order in 1954, Article 35A gives special rights and privileges to permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir and debars rest of Indians from acquiring immovable property, obtaining state government jobs and settling in the state. It denies property rights to woman marrying men from other states. This legal disability also applies to heirs of such women. Besides, being violative of right to equality and certain other rights, Article 35A has been challenged on the ground that the President could not have amended the Constitution by an executive Order without parliamentary approval and that it was to be a temporary provision. The SC had on August 31 last year adjourned to January 2019 hearing on petitions against Article 35A of the Constitution after both the Centre and state of Jammu and Kashmir sought deferment citing law and order problem and preparations for local body elections in the state. However, on February 22 the SC had said it would consider urgent listing of a PIL challenging the validity of Articles 35A and 370. Give the mentioning memo to the Registrar. We will see it, a Bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi had told Delhi BJP leader advocate Ashwini Upadhyay after he demanded urgent hearing of his petition, terming it of extreme national importance. Pope Francis attends a penitential liturgy at the Vatican, Feb. 23. The pontiff is hosting a four-day summit on preventing clergy sexual abuse, a high-stakes meeting designed to impress on Catholic bishops around the world that the problem is global and that there are consequences if they cover it up. AP A meaningful progress in the United States and North Korea relations in the wake of their second summit set for this week will provide a positive signal to Pope Francis about paying a visit to the communist nation, a South Korean archbishop said Sunday. The remark by Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong comes as U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are to meet in Hanoi, Vietnam, for their second summit. The two Korean War foes will sit down to discuss ways to get rid of Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal and decide what Washington can offer in return, including sanctions relief. "Pope Francis has said he can visit North Korea if Pyongyang sends him a formal invitation," Kim told Yonhap in an interview. "We should take his word for itself, instead of interpreting it in all sorts of ways." When conditions are met and North Korea's Kim invites him, the pope will start considering making a trip there in earnest, the archbishop said. "As long as the pope shows a willingness, it's not impossible for him to plan a trip within this year." The archbishop of Gwangju, who also serves as head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, was in the Vatican City for a conference regarding the protection of minors in the Catholic Church. He was a special presidential envoy to the Vatican City in May 2017, when President Moon Jae-in, who had just been elected, sent out a message through him to the pope asking for the Vatican's support in easing the tension between the Koreas. Moon, a Catholic, paid a visit to the Vatican in October last year during his European tour. He met with the pope and delivered a verbal invitation from the North Korean leader for the pope to visit Pyongyang, to which the pope responded positively. No pope has ever visited North Korea. The archbishop noted that the Vatican officials are paying close attention to the upcoming Hanoi summit between Trump and Kim. If the pope's visit is realized, the trip itself will mean a great deal to the ongoing process of making lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, he added. He also said the young North Korean leader seems to be a man with "an open mind." "He didn't stick to formalities and took photos (with me) at the banquet during the South-North summit in Pyongyang," he said. "I believe he'd be more open to religion than his predecessors, considering that he spent his adolescence in Switzerland." (Yonhap) A booth of Vietnam at an international trade fair (Illustrative photo: VNA) This year, based on the Ho Chi Minh City - Leipzig partnership, Vietnam has been invited to attend the fair for the first time as its main partner. Vietnamese products will be featured in the central area of the fair. Italy and Spain were chosen as partners in the two previous editions of the event. The exhibition is viewed as a chance for Vietnam to promote its socio-economic achievements over the years to international friends, and development of the agricultural and fisheries sectors, as well as bolster the countrys economic-trade and tourism relations. It is also hoped to strengthen investment between Vietnam and Germany in particular, and between Vietnam and the European Union in general. Covering a total area of about 120,000 sq.m and viewed among the largest consumer fairs in Germany, each year, the Leipzig exhibition attracts about 1,000 exhibitors from 20 countries and territories. It draws nearly 200,000 visitors annually, according to data of the FGM-Leipzig market research institute./. editorial@tribune.com Ehsan Fazili Tribune News Service Srinagar, February 23 Amid heightened tension in the Valley and apprehensions over the hearing of Article 35A, which provides special rights and privileges to the permanent residents of the state, political parties have sought its protection and said any such decision should be avoided which would have far-reaching consequences. The hearing on a bunch of petitions challenging the validity of Article 35A, filed by an NGO and others on the grounds that it had been illegally added to the Constitution, is expected to come up for hearing next week in the Supreme Court. On February 11, the Jammu and Kashmir Government had sought adjournment of the hearing on the petitions challenging Article 35A. Chief Spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party Rafi Ahmad Mir, in a statement issued here on Saturday, said the people of the state were concerned about protecting its special status and sought an assurance from the Governor about the protection of the Article. The stand of Additional Solicitor General of India in the apex court last year had put in question the official view of the state government. Now once again, with the hearing of the case next week, it is reasonable that the government clears its position to address the growing insecurities of people, Mir said. Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone has objected to what it described the Governors tinkering with the constitutional provisions applicable to J&K and cautioned him to desist from taking any decision of far-reaching consequences. Article 35A, incorporated into the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, provides special rights and privileges to the permanent residents of the state and bars people from outside from acquiring any immovable property in the state. The arguments against scrapping the Article are that this is an attack on the special status, which cannot be thrown down on the basis that it affects fundamental privileges of other Indian citizens and that it would increase the influx of Hindus in the Muslim-majority state. The petitions against it argue that it was not a part of the Constitution and was added under Article 370, itself a temporary provision. The stand of Additional Solicitor General of India in the apex court last year had put in question the official view of the state government. Now once again, with the hearing of the case next week, it is reasonable that the government clears its position to address the growing insecurities of people. Rafi Ahmad Mir, PDP Chief Spokesman sanjiv@tribunemail.com Arun Joshi Tribune News Service Jammu, February 23 Terming the February 14 Pulwama terror attack the trigger point of new uncertainties in Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah has said not holding simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha polls would be a monumental failure. In an interview to The Tribune, the former Chief Minister said elections could give breathing space to the people, who are currently choked by uncertainties revival of militancy, question mark about the education and future of Kashmiri students who have come home after facing harassment in various parts of the country, and the dangerous slide in India-Pakistan relations. We want elections immediately. That means simultaneous parliamentary and Assembly polls. There are Supreme Court directions that the elections should be held within six months of dissolution of Assembly, but what I am told is that the state government is asking for deferment of polls. If it is true, then it is a monumental failure of the government, he said. On reports of airlifting of 100 companies of Central Armed Police Force personnel ahead of the hearing of Article 35A in the Supreme Court, he said, I am hearing that they are bringing an ordinance on the Article (under contest in the SC). I am sure Governor Satya Pal Malik knows all this and he is not speaking at all. The Governor, who doesnt spare any occasion to speak on various subjects, is not saying even two words about it, he said. The Governor may be legally and constitutionally within his rights to do what hes doing, but I strongly believe it is politically and morally incorrect. Voicing his concern over the Pulwama attack, Omar said this was the first suicide bombing after 2000. It showed, he noted, the revival of militancy in its dangerous manifestations. It doesnt bode well for the state. Kashmiri students who were harassed have come back and there is uncertainty about their education and future. Omar also noted the unpredictability in Indo-Pak relations. There is a lot of rhetoric of war being exchanged. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has threatened to retaliate if his country is hit. We really dont know what is going to happen. The former CM, however, observed, When the PM goes to South Korea to pick up a peace prize, then certainly the nation is not in an emergency mode. I am not satisfied with what Pakistan says. This sort of attack (Pulwama) cannot be carried out by militants locally. There is an external angle too, he said, while questioning Pakistan for demanding actionable evidence. What happened to the evidence provided post 26/11 and after the attack on the Pathankot airbase? he asked. What is happening? Nobody knows what is happening. Those who dont know anything are reading two plus two as 22. And those who know everything are keeping mum. In the uncertainty, inimical interests thrive. Omar Abdullah, Ex-CM BSF deployed in Srinagar after 14 yrs editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Srinagar, February 23 National Conference leaders on Saturday staged a demonstration here to protest against the attacks against Kashmiri students and traders outside the Valley. Senior National Conference leaders and members were led by the partys general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar as they held a protest rally from the party headquarters. Later, they held a sit-in against the attacks on Kashmiri students and traders. Our leadership has made it clear that despite being citizens of India, Kashmiris are being targeted across the country. It has happened repeatedly but Kashmiri people cannot be suppressed, Sagar said while addressing the rally. Nasir Aslam Wani, the partys provincial president who also took part in the protest, said an atmosphere of fear and insecurity had been created against Kashmiri students and traders. We ask this question to everyone. In a Maoist attack, there were more casualties but we never saw such anger against them. We never heard people say that they should be thrown out of the country, Wani said. Those who attended the rally also included former ministers and former legislators. The protesters also held a banner which demanded an end to oppression against Kashmiris. uttara@tribuneindia.com Ishfaq Tantry Tribune News Service Srinagar, February 24 Fuel shortage has hit Kashmir as escalating tensions between India and Pakistan over a recent militant attack sent people scurrying to stock up their supplies. Most fuel stations in Srinagar and several parts of Kashmir ran dry after people, fearing a possible escalation in the tensions, queued up at gas stations on Saturday to fill up their tanks. People also stocked essential supplies fearing the escalation. Srinagar administration dismissed reports of fuel shortage in Kashmir baseless and tried to allay fears by saying more fuel was expected shortly. There has been an acute shortage of fuel stocks for almost a day now. However, with additional fleet of 250 tankers reaching in few hours, we will have one week of supply in place, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar wrote in a message. Despite assurances however, the public was still seen queuing for fuel at some places. Earlier on Saturday, the Divisional Administration in Kashmir had stated that authorities would ration fuel in Kashmir because closure of Jammu-Srinagar highway had hit supplies. The administration said the rationing would stop once they received another supply of fuel supply. Fuel situation LPG cylinders: 14435 Motor Spirit: 164 KL High Speed Diesel: 2510KL Superior Kerosine Oil: 936 KL uttara@tribuneindia.com Suhail A Shah Anantnag, February 24 Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Aman Thakur, posted with the Special Operations Group, non-commissioned officer Havildar Sombir and three Jaish (JeM) militants were killed in a gunfight in Yaripora area of Kulgam district in South Kashmir today. A Major and a soldier were injured. As men and women gathered at the encounter site, the security forces fired bullets, tear smoke shells and pellets to disperse the surging crowd, leaving at least seven injured. We have shifted four of the injured to Srinagar three with bullet wounds and one with a pellet injury in the eye, a health official said. The gunfight erupted at 2.15 pm in Tudigam village, minutes after a cordon and search operation was launched by a joint team of the security forces. The militants, hiding in a house, opened fire. A 2011-batch J&K Police Service officer, DSP Thakur was hit in the neck. He died while being flown to the Army hospital in Srinagar. He hailed from Gogla district of Doda and is survived by his parents, wife and a six-year-old son. Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh said: We have lost a brave officer. A fighter, he led Sundays operation. Thakur was posted as the DSP (Operation) in Kulgam, a terrorist-infested area, two years ago. He was awarded the DGPs Commendation Medal and Certificate for exemplary service only last month. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Jammu, February 23 The Concerned Citizens Group (CCG) has appealed to the Central government to safeguard the Kashmiris living across the country. In a statement issued here on Saturday, the CCG said: At a time when the nation is passing through trying circumstances, we appeal that the government must not take any steps which detract from the constitutional framework of the country or the universally accepted principles of rule of law. Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, Wajahat Habibullah, Sushobha Barve, Air Vice Marshal (retd) Kapil Kak and Bharat Bhushan are part of the group. It is imperative that no innocent Kashmiri, within J&K or in the rest of India, is made to feel insecure or unsafe. In this context, the recent pronouncements of the Supreme Court have brought much solace, the statement read. Former ministers vehicle torched Angry youth on Saturday torched the vehicle of former minister and Peoples Conference leader Abdul Gani Vakil in Baramulla district. The police said the vehicle was attacked by a mob when it passed through a village in Baramulla district, where the funeral of a militant was being held. Vakil escaped unhurt with the help of the police. The mob, however, torched the vehicle, the police said. IANS . editorial@tribune.com Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service Dharamsala, February 23 The spring teachings of the Dalai Lama from February 20 to 24 have brought hordes of tourists to Dharamsala in the past few days. However, the rise in footfall has led to a steep hike in the airfare. Kangra resident Yogesh, who wanted to fly to Delhi yesterday, said the airfare of both Air India and SpiceJet that operated flights between Delhi and Dharamsala was between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000 for one way. Sanjeev Gandhi, general secretary of the Upper Dharamsala Hoteliers Association, said it was surprising that the airfare to Dharamsala was so high that too in a lean month like February. In case, the airfare was not reduced, it could hit tourism in the area. He said most tourists were now taking flights to Chandigarh and Amritsar and coming to Dharamsala by road. The airfare from Delhi to Amritsar ranged between Rs 6,000 and Rs 7,000. However, the airfare to Dharamsala was unreasonably high, he said. Deepak, a travel agent, said in the lean tourist season, the airfare from Dharamsala to Delhi ranged between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 for one way. "However, during the peak season, the companies jack up the rates to make unreasonable profits. It goes up to Rs 22,000 for one way trip from Delhi to Dharamsala. Travelling to international destinations like Singapore, Thailand and Dubai is cheaper," he said. MP Anurag Thakur said the Gaggal airport in Kangra district was the only airport in Himachal that could be expanded. The Union Government had asked the state government to acquire land for its expansion. However, the previous Congress government had expressed its inability to acquire the land due to which the project could not be started, he said. Anurag said the airfare for Dharamsala remained high as bigger planes could not land here. "Only a 70-seater plane can land here due to which the airfare remain high," he said. The state government had written to the Government of India that flights to Himachal should be subsidised as was being done in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeastern states. However, to date the demand has not been accepted. sanjiv@tribunemail.com Sushil Manav & Vishal Joshi Tribune News Service Chandigarh/Kurukshetra, Feb 23 The ML Khattar-led BJP government in Haryana is consulting party leaders and the cadre on holding simultaneous Assembly and parliamentary polls, even though the CM and senior party functionaries have publicly denied any such possibility. Elections to the Haryana Assembly are due in October. It is learnt discussions are underway on whether it will be in the partys interest to prepone the polls, holding these along with those for the Lok Sabha. A senior minister said the CM and party functionaries had been holding parleys with MLAs on the issue and that most of them, citing the partys victory in the Jind bypoll and the mayoral elections in the five municipal corporations, were of the view that simultaneous polls would benefit the BJP. In Maharashtra, where like Haryana, Assembly elections are due in October, the BJP and Shiv Sena have sealed an alliance for the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha seats, fuelling speculation on simultaneous polls in the two states. Khattar categorically told party workers from Kurukshetra, Karnal, Ambala and Sonepat that only those who had been in touch with the people, taking the governments policies and programmes to their doorstep, would be fielded for the Assembly polls. But Vishwas Sarang, a senior BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh and in charge of the partys poll preparations in Haryana, told the media that the state elections would be held later this year, as scheduled. Party workers should not be overconfident because of the recent wins, he cautioned. Significantly, the CM announced on the floor of House on Friday that Assembly polls would be held on schedule. But he had also said on an earlier occasion that his government had no problem in holding simultaneous polls, if the Centre so wanted. editorial@tribune.com Our Correspondent Sonepat, February 23 National convener of the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), Dushyant Chautala, on Saturday announced that his party would support the BJP government at the Centre if it removed Article 370 of the Constitution which provides a special status to Jammu and Kashmir. He was interacting with mediapersons after addressing a workers meeting at the Gannaur anaj mandi in the district. Social activist Sandeep Pahal joined the JJP along with his supporters during the meeting. Alleging that a realtor had been helped by way of change of land use in Gurugram, he asked Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to release a white paper on the issue. He blamed the government for forgetting the promises made for the welfare of farmers and jawans. In reply to a question about the partys plan for parliamentary and Assembly elections, he said the JJP planned to contest all 10 Lok Sabha and 90 Assembly seats in the state. No final decision had been taken on an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party, he added. editorial@tribune.com Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 23 The CBI, Chandigarh, has written to the UT Adviser-cum-Chief Vigilance Officer to blacklist Selvel Media and Outdoor Communications, which had entered into a cartel formation while submitting bid documents for tenders for the maintenance and operation of city toilets with the Municipal Corporation (MC)in 2007. The premier investigating agency had earlier written to the Administration in December 2016 and July 2018 for the same. In its latest communication sent to the Adviser this month, the agency has said despite lapse of more than two years, the present status in this regard had not been informed. It further asked the Administration to inform about the status regarding blacklisting the two companies. Earlier, an audio sting regarding purported conversation between an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of the MC and the Selvel official while advising ways to the latter to evade the penalty amount had come to light. Sources said the MC had earlier debarred Selvel for two years. But after blacklisting, the companies will not be able to participate in tendering process in other states too. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had later allowed Selvel to participate in a tender floated by the MC for refurbishment of public toilets and construction of new public toilets, besides operation and maintenance of all old and new public toilets in the city under the PPP mode for 15 years. According to information, the company was to deposit licence fee of around Rs 12 lakh in connection with the contract of public toilet blocks. Later, the company deposited the fees, but still some amount of interest, along with service tax, was pending. Inventories of toilets were also not returned to the MC in same condition. Therefore, the Commissioner had ordered debarring of the firm. In another case, the company is yet to pay around Rs 16.51 crore in connection with the advertisement fee to the civic body. The CBI had registered a case against the MC and the company officials for causing a loss of around Rs 13.66 crore to the state exchequer by awarding tenders to the company for maintaining sanitation of 86 public toilets for five years in 2007. In this Feb. 23 photo provided on Feb. 24 by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves from a train before leaving Pyongyang Station, North Korea, for Vietnam. Kim is on the train for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. AP North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has departed by train for Hanoi to hold a second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump later this week, Pyongyang's state media reported Sunday. Kim left Pyongyang Railway Station on Saturday afternoon and was accompanied by senior officials, including his sister Kim Yo-jong and top aide Kim Yong-chol, the Korean Central News Agency reported. "Senior officials of the Party, government and armed forces organs sincerely wished Kim Jong-un good success in the second DPRK-U.S. summit meeting and talks and safe return," the KCNA said, using the initialism for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. But there was no mention of Kim's wife, Ri Sol-ju, in the list of those accompanying the leader. Kim is to hold his second summit with Trump from Feb. 27-28. The KCNA also reported that Kim will make an official goodwill visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong. It was the first time that North Korean state media have reported on Kim's second summit with Trump. The North's state TV aired footage of Kim's departure. The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling party, devoted its front page to relevant coverage and pictures that showed top officials and others lining up at the station's platform to see him off. North Korea's media had been mum on Kim's trip to Vietnam for weeks despite Washington's announcement on the date and location of the summit. Pyongyang is usually secretive about its leader's overseas trips for security reasons. Sunday's reporting came after Russia's Tass news agency earlier reported from Pyongyang that Kim's train departed for Hanoi at around 5 p.m. Saturday. Sources later said his train crossed into the Chinese border town of Dandong around 9:40 p.m. The train is widely expected to travel a total of around 4,500 kilometers for about 60 hours and arrive in the Vietnamese border city of Dong Dang in Lang Song province on Tuesday. From there, Kim is expected to travel to Hanoi by car. Vietnamese media earlier reported that all traffic will be banned from a section of a highway linking the border city to Hanoi between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Tuesday, but all of the reports have later been removed apparently at the instruction of authorities. Before his departure, speculation had been swirling about what transportation Kim will use. Flying on a state jet, codenamed "Chammae-1," was originally considered the most likely option, but the possibility of a train trip gained significant traction after a senior North Korean official preparing in Hanoi for the leader's trip visited a train station near the border with China. Kim used a rented Chinese plane to travel to Singapore for his first summit with Trump last June. He arrived at the summit venue two days ahead of the historic meeting. In their June summit, Kim and Trump agreed to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the U.S. This week, they are expected to focus on concrete denuclearization steps by the North and "corresponding" measures by Washington possibly including easing sanctions and improving bilateral relations. (Yonhap) editorial@tribune.com Ropar, February 23 A false alarm of kidnapping by a serving Captain had put the Army, Intelligence agencies and the district police on their toes here. The local police managed to solve the matter within one hour of the Army officer, Captain Vikram Solanki, pressing the panic button. Sources said Capt Solanki was returning with his four friends from Kasol near Kullu in Himachal Pradesh in Volkswagen Polo car when due to some reason they had to apply brakes in the middle of road near the Himachal-Punjab border. A Santro car coming from behind hit their car. Its occupants, who belonged to Sonepat in Haryana, demanded compensation for damages to their car from Capt Solanki and his friends. The latter agreed to pay the damages after reaching Chandigarh. Following this, two occupants of the Santro shifted to the officers car while two of the Captains friends sat in the Santro. The sources said on their way to Chandigarh, both parties calmed down and even had tea at a dhaba near Kiratpur Sahib. Meanwhile, Capt Solanki sent messages to his friends from his phone that he had been kidnapped by some armed persons. He even sought to summon the quick reaction force of the Army. Soon, his location was traced and the Ropar police intercepted both cars near Bann Majra village on the Chandigarh road. Senior Army officers also reached the spot and after knowing the truth, gave a dressing down to the Captain, the sources said. Legal proceedings under Section 182 of the IPC were initiated against Capt Solanki and his friends Arvind Kumar, Bal Indu Rai, Rishav Ujjwal and Raman Kumar Singh. Santro occupants Deepak Singh, Dharmender Singh, Neeraj Kumar, Vihal Kumar and Sandeep Singh were booked under Sections 107 and 151 of the CrPC. TNS editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 23 Two years after coming into being, the women police station in Sector 17 here is yet to register a case related to crime against women and children. Only cases related to dowry harassment are registered at the police station while cases related to crime against women and children are registered at other police stations in the city, defeating the purpose of having a women police station. The women cell was established in 1987. Fifteen years later, it was converted into the Women and Child Support Unit (WCSU). The unit was upgraded as the women police station in August 2015. The then UT IGP, RP Upadhyay, had decided that in addition to dowry cases, which were already being dealt with by the WCSU, all cases related to crime against women and children would be registered and investigated at the women police station. March 2017, the UT Administration had issued a notification that complaints related to crime against women should be dealt with by the women police station. It was also decided that offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act will also investigated by the police station. Almost two years have passed since then but not a single case of crime against women and children has been registered at the police station. Sources said staff crunch at the women police station to investigate cases was one of the reasons for this. In 2018, around 90 cases of rape and over 100 cases of eve teasing and stalking were registered at different police stations in the city. The Evolution editorial@tribune.com Our Correspondents Zirakpur, February 23 The police seized nearly 151 boxes of liquor from a canter near Chatt village, Zirakpur, on Friday. The police arrested Navjot Singh, alias Channi, a resident of Gujarwala village, and Satinder Singh, a resident of Ludhiana. Their two accomplices Sarabjit Singh and a liquor contractor are at large. A police team, led by ASI Vikram Singh, was patrolling near the Singhpura intersection on Friday night, when the incident took place. They received a tip-off that a canter, bearing the Chandigarh registration number, was carrying the liquor. They immediately swung into action and stopped the canter near the Chhat traffic lights. Excise officials were also informed about this. The police said the suspects used to purchase liquor from a contractor in Chandigarh without any permit.The police added that details of the truck owner were being probed. Youth held in Dera Bassi Dera Bassi: The CIA staff here on Friday recovered four boxes of illicit liquor from a house at Trivedi Camp, Mubarikpur. The suspect has been identified as Munish Arora (19), a resident of Trivedi Camp, who has been sent to judicial custody. According to sources, the CIA staff had received a tip-off that the suspect was involved in the sale of illicit liquor. Two nabbed in Kharar Kharar: The Sadar police here arrested two persons following the recovery of 132 boxes of liquor in the wee hours on Saturday. A case under the Excise Act has been registered against them. ASI Raj Pal had received information that Rahul Kumar, a resident of Ludhiana, and Amritpal, a resident of Hoshiarpur, were taking liquor from Chandigarh to Hoshiarpur in a Mahindra pick-up. pardeepdhull@gmail.com New Delhi, February 24 Concerned over its exposure to IL&FS bonds, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has intimated the Ministries of Finance and Corporate Affairs and sought its help in protecting the retirement fund money of large numbers of people. Letters have been written to the Finance Minister and also to Corporate Affairs, Central Provident Fund Commissioner Sunil Barthwal told IANS. However, he said the EPFOs exposure in the debt-ridden companys bonds is very less considering its total corpus. Till now there has been no default by IL&FS in paying our interest amount or any principal amount. Now we will have to see, what happens when our interest becomes due. That we are watching, Barthwal said without divulging the amount of investment in the bonds. Sources inform that the EPFO has invested about Rs 570 crore in the IL&FS bonds. Though it is less than 0.1 per cent of the Rs 8 lakh crore assets under its management, thousands of crores of rupees have been invested by privately managed provident fund trusts. There are over 1,500 companies, both private and public, that are exempted from putting their retirement funds with the EPFO and are allowed to set up and operate their own in-house PF trusts. These include PF trusts of state electricity boards, PSUs and banks. However, these exempted companies are regulated by EPFO guidelines and are required to file statutory returns each month. Complaints can be filed with the EPFO using the Universal Account Number (UAN) which is mandatory for even the employees of in-house trusts. Till now we do not have any problem with IL&FS but we are concerned, alert and monitoring the situation. In respect of transactions with us, they are on the mark as of now, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar told IANS restricting his reply only to the EPFO exposure. While the retirement fund body has requested the Finance Ministry for its support on its exposure to the crises-hit IL&FS, it is yet to take up the cause of exempted companies who have invested retirement funds in IL&FS bonds. Both the EPFO and in-house trusts, which have invested in the bonds, are fearing big losses as IL&FS bonds are unsecured debt and the Finance Ministry has said these bonds do not carry any government guarantee and all such instruments face market risks. These trusts have filed intervening applications in bankruptcy court NCLAT stating they fear to lose all money since bonds are unsecured debt. Trust managing funds of PSUs like MMTC, IOC, Hudco, SBI, IDBI, HUL and Asian Paints have also filed petitions. While the IL&FS faces insolvency resolution process, the EPFO and privately held trusts are worried that if payment is limited to secured creditors, then only financial creditors like banks will receive the dues and unsecured bondholders dues would not be serviced. IANS Terre Haute, IN (47803) Today Some clouds and possibly an isolated thunderstorm late. Low 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Some clouds and possibly an isolated thunderstorm late. Low 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. An etched stone sign still reads Public School at the corner of Roxbury Avenue and Sell Street. But now that sign serves as a gateway to a modern apartment building. Featuring 43 units, Roxbury Place is the first new development of its size within the city in decades and also the most energy-efficient housing project, planners said. For income-eligible residents ages 55 and older, there is no other housing option like Roxbury Place in the region, according to officials with its owner and operator, the Buckeye Community Hope Foundation. The idea was to provide all of the modern conveniences they will need here ... inside a space thats so efficient that their energy bill will be as close to zero as possible if not zero, said Dave Topian, who serves as vice president of construction for the Ohio-based nonprofit. Roxbury Place is expected to begin housing tenants by March, and more than 20 applications had already been approved, Buckeye Community Hope Foundation officials said in early February. Passive place Buckeye has developed energy-efficient properties before, but Roxbury Place is the first built on rigorous U.S. passive house standards, Topian said. That meant adding sheets of solar panels on the buildings roof and walls far better insulated than industry standards, project developers said. Triple-pane windows built in Ireland the most efficient you can find were installed while wall panels were being assembled to keep the spaces airtight, according to Tom Woodward, the project superintendent for Mistick Construction, the Pittsburgh-area construction company that built the complex. Water is provided through a recirculating system designed to quickly and cheaply deliver hot water on-demand. LED lights line every room. Other offerings inside the building have convenience in mind, he said. A wellness area was added for medical and social services professionals, among others, to make on-site visits when needed. A central gathering space with a full kitchen was added for parties, dinners and perhaps theme events to give tenants a chance to get together and relax, UpStreet Architects project manager John B Shaffer Jr. said. Theres going to be a large-screen TV in here. This could be their hub ... for Steeler games and neighborhood dinners, Shaffer said. When someones grandchildren come by for a visit, this is where they can hang out. Neighborhood history Once the space is occupant-ready, itll be decorated by images of Roxburys past including framed photographs of the onetime Luna Park and the former Roxbury School, Buckeyes Pat Torrence said. Developers worked with the Johnstown Area Heritage Association to identify and highlight some of the neighborhoods history. Inside the apartments, units are fully furnished with high-efficiency dishwashers and other kitchen necessities. Walk-in showers with seating were installed in all main bathrooms. Emergency pull-cords were installed in bedrooms to contact a 24-7 monitoring agency to connect with police, fire or medical support, Topian said. Among its 43 units, Roxbury Place offers 32 single-bedroom apartments that average 650 square feet of space, Woodward said. Bedrooms inside the spaces are approximately 160 square feet, he said. There are also 11 two-bedroom units offering nearly 950 square feet of space. Their design includes added storage space, including a walk-in closet, Woodward said. It looks beautiful Until last year, Johnstowns Roxbury School occupied the property. For decades it served as a neighborhood hub for generations of students, including Roxbury resident Nancy Mishler. Vision 2019 | From blight to bright: Modern, energy-efficient apartment complex replaces deteriorated school in Roxbury Roxbury Place in Johnstown is shown on Jan. 29, 2019. The 43-unit apartment complex is the first new development of its size within the city i Mishler has fond memories of the school but said she wasnt sorry to see Roxbury Place replace it. Over the past 20 years, the school had become her neighborhoods biggest blight. Now, a stylish three-story apartment complex is anchoring the intersection, the Roxbury Civic Group member said. Aesthetically, it looks beautiful, she told The Tribune-Democrat in January. And I think an entrepreneur in the area could put a restaurant or cafe next door and really benefit from it. According to 2018 income guidelines, a prospective tenant can earn up to $25,700 to be eligible to live at Roxbury Place or up to $30,840 for a family of two, company officials said. But the neighborhood will see a top-notch development with a modern look designed to meet the highest energy efficiency standards, Boone said. The three-story apartment building was built to passive house specifications that will keep heating and cooling costs low. Company officials have said sewer, water and gas costs are covered under the monthly rent, which ranges from $503 to $590 for a single-bedroom apartment, depending on income, and $604 to $695 for a two-bedroom, Buckeye Hope Foundation Compliance Director Beverly Patrone said. Senior housing in Hastings In northern Cambria County, funding is still being sought to develop a two-unit townhouse project for income-eligible residents ages 55 and older, planners said. The Northern Cambria Community Development Corp. is looking for a second source of funding to develop two senior citizen-designated townhouses on the former Miners Hospital site in Northern Cambria. Matt Barczak, the companys director, said the nonprofit is working with Cambria County Redevelopment Authority to find the remaining funds to support the $500,000 project. We have a waiting list for apartments like these, but we cant get this project off the ground until its 100 percent funded, he said. A bill recently signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf will help boost the states tourism industry with money expected to make its way into the region. Act 109 closes a loophole in the states tax code to ensure fairness in hotel occupancy tax remittance, the governors office said. The law requires online travel companies to remit an occupancy tax based on the final price paid by the consumer rather than a lower wholesale rate. As a result, the legislation will generate almost $24 million a year, which will be used to promote Pennsylvania tourism, said Lisa Rager, executive director of the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Pennsylvania has not been able to be out there in a big way, Rager said. And when you look at the billions of dollars of revenue that visitor spending generates for Pennsylvania, those dollars go back to help pay for other services that Pennsylvania provides (such as) education funding and social services. Over the years, our industry collectively has been looking to find a way to get designed funding for tourism marketing for Pennsylvania that isnt necessarily tied to the annual budget allocation. We were finally able to get that across the goal line when the bill was signed in October, and its a tremendous opportunity for Pennsylvania. +2 Vision 2019 | Groups working together to revive Johnstowns image, outlook During the holiday season, a Johnstown resident or visitor can stop by the Bottle Works in Cambria City to look at some locally made art, take a stroll along the Iron Street trail past where the former Bethlehem Steel Co. property is being converted for new uses, enjoy a dancing light display on the Stone Bridge, eat dinner at PRESS bistro, watch and listen as a 36-foot-tall animated tree fills Central Park with Christmas cheer, and then grab a nightcap at Balance Restaurant. Rager said its too early to know how much money will come into the Cambria-Somerset region. There is a component that allows for some grant funds out of that for the local destination marketing organizations, but right now they are still working on the plan and what that will look like, she said. Rager said these additional funds need to be used cooperatively with the state tourism office on initiatives and co-op marketing. What the state does has a ripple effect down to the local destinations, she said. In Cambria County, tourism generates $310 million annually in direct visitor spending, provides more than $16 million in state and local tax revenue, generates $68.4 million in labor income and supports 2,061 jobs, according to the Economic Impact of Travel and Tourism in Pennsylvania report. Rager said the most recent figures from the 2016 report show an increase of almost $3 million in spending from 2015. Its a combination of things its marketing, product development and taking advantage of what we have that will attract people here, Rager said. She said Thunder in the Valley is the largest event that takes place in Johnstown and generates millions of dollars in visitor spending. On good years with good weather, weve been around 100,000 to 120,000 people at our peak, Rager said. It is significant and brings a lot of people here and helps to boost the economy. Explore the area Outdoor recreation is an asset that is continuing to develop in the region. Top attractions include the Ghost Town Trail, which is ranked as one of the top-10 trails in the country; the Stonycreek River, which provides opportunities for boating and kayaking; and Prince Gallitzin State Park with its rail-trail sections. +3 Vision 2019 | WATCH VIDEO: Women leading the way for Johnstown regions resurgence Linda Thomson has been hired for four executive jobs in her career, and, in three of those roles, including currently as Johnstown Area Regional Industries president and CEO, she was the first female to ever hold the position. Rager said events such as the PolkaFest, Flood City Music Festival, Cambria City Ethnic Festival and AAABA Tournament along with Rock Run Recreation Area also bring in large crowds. There are a lot of things for people to see and do when they come into the area, she said. We get people to come here for our signature events, then work to have them learn about other things that are here that they can do. Hopefully, theyll plan a future trip back and explore the area a little bit more deeply. Rager said the community needs to start to take a look at itself as a destination location and be ready to receive people when they arrive and provide them with what theyll need. Visitors have about 14 to 16 hours a day that theyll be active, but theyre actually only active for four to six hours doing a primary activity, so the rest of the time is spent doing that secondary activity, and thats where most of the economic impact and spending occurs, she said. When theyre done doing what theyre doing for the day, theyre going to be eating and drinking, shopping and want to be entertained. So the goal is to leverage as much of that spending in our community as we can. Richard Burkert, president and CEO of Johnstown Area Heritage Association, said his organization works to promote Johnstowns profile as a heritage tourism destination by marketing the areas attractions as a whole. Tourism involves building on your assets and Johnstown has two assets the natural beauty of the area that brings people to Johnstown, and its history, because there arent many places as well preserved and significant as Johnstown as far as our national historic districts, he said. He said the strategy has been to take the areas stories and link them to specific locations. You tell the flood story downtown, you tell the story of steel and iron at the Cambria Iron Works and you tell the immigration and industrial workers story in Cambria City and make it a network for visitors, Burkert said. History made new Burkert said the creation of the Center for Metal Arts, in space once used by Cambria Iron Co. and Bethlehem Steel, is going to attract national even international attention in the artist-blacksmiths and metal-working circles. People are going to be coming here to learn about metal working, he said. Theres an opportunity to present an authentic experience of an industrial town. You can see how weve preserved the story and how we revitalized the facility. Moving forward, the plan is to begin offering public tours of the center. We did a one-day tour in December and we had over 100 people show up who didnt have reservations, so theres a hunger to see hot metal and experience this type of story, Burkert said. Open-house tours will resume, and our first step is to start offering group tours from out of town. Renovation work has been completed at the Johnstown Train Station to the tune of $1 million, which includes a new roof and repairs to chimneys, walls, gutters and downspouts. Our plan is to make the train station a visitor hub, and were trying to put a restaurant there, a culinary school and farmers market, Burkert said. This can be a multi-use community anchor and a hub for tourism where you can get personally oriented with visitor opportunities. About $1.5 million of a $3 million renovation project for the Johnstown Flood Museum has been raised in an effort to better tell the story and attract more visitors. What were trying to do is get a Commonwealth Capital Project grant to help us close the funding gap, and Im optimistic that will happen in 2019, and by summer 2020 that will be finished, Burkert said. Were going to have interactive maps and do the flood in 3-D, so itll be some really engaging experiences that we couldnt have done 30 years ago. Tourism is huge Ron Aldom, executive director of the Somerset Chamber of Commerce, said tourism is big business in Somerset County, and the chamber markets the county as a four-season recreation destination. Tourism is huge, and its one of our top three industries in the county, he said. Over 4 million people a year come to Somerset County Flight 93 (National Memorial) numbers are around 400,000, Laurel Hill State Park is half a million and the resorts (Seven Springs Mountain and Hidden Valley resorts) have 1.5 million-plus, he said. Aldom said what makes Somerset County tourism special is that its outdoor recreation driven. The Great Allegheny Passage is world-renowned, and what were working on is to create other trails off of the passage, the September 11 National Memorial Trail being one of them, he said. That will connect all three 9/11 memorials by bicycle, and our focus is to get it from Garrett to Flight 93. With 42 miles of the Great Allegheny Passage in Somerset County, that has helped boost the economics of towns along the path such as Rockwood, Confluence and Meyersdale. We have 42 of the best miles because nobody has in infrastructure that we have the Big Savage Tunnel, two viaducts, the Continental Divide and, in many places, it goes along the river, with Ohiopyle being a perfect example, Aldom said. At one point we had 50-plus businesses created almost exclusively because of the passage with B&Bs, food facilities and bike shops. Confluence had the first start on it, and the town is totally uniquely different because of the passage. He said once people are in the county, the chambers goal is to have them stay an extra day or night and connect them with additional attractions. If we get people here, we can capture them, so we really work hard with our partners to try to educate staff so they can talk about what is here,Aldom said. Weve also been working with our schools to showcase to students whats in our county in hopes that theyll become ambassadors for us. Flight 93 memorial According to the Economic Impact of Travel and Tourism in Pennsylvania report, visitors spent $1.7 billion in the Laurel Highlands region in 2016, $377 million of which was spent in Somerset County. Tourists dont see county lines, Aldom said. If theyre here for Flight 93 they might be interested in the Johnstown Flood Museum or Quecreek; if theyre here to ski can we connect them to Mountain Playhouse. The strength is partnering with the whole region because were not in this alone. Steve Clark, superintendent for the National Park Services Western Pennsylvania District, said visitation numbers at the Flight 93 National Memorial have been on a steady increase since its inception. In 2018 we saw 381,448 visitors, and the prior year we had 364,000, he said. If you look back at 2007 we had 143,000, so you can see the drastic increase, and I think that will continue to rise with the Tower of Voices and that incredible resource, and I think, ultimately, folks will want to come just to see that as well. Clark said hes impressed with the number of people coming to the memorial, even in colder months. In my mind its such an amazing place; its a place that exemplifies courage of what those 40 individuals were able to accomplish on Sept. 11, he said. Now it offers such a unique experience, so between the Tower of Voices, visitors center, exhibits, Wall of Names and Memorial Plaza its giving people an unbelievable experience for what happened that day. In addition, Clark said they see an influx of visitors coming to the memorial each year around the Sept. 11 anniversary date. Id say 20,000 to 30,000 visitors over a three- or four-day period is not uncommon, he said. Its in the news and people traveling on the turnpike may check it out after seeing a sign, so for as long as Sept. 11 stays in our memory I think well always have visitors make their way here. Kokomo, IN (46901) Today Generally cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low near 70F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Johnstown, PA (15901) Today Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. KANSAS, CITY, MO (KCTV) - Kansas City, Missouri police are investigating after someone was shot. One person has serious injuries after a shooting on Saturday afternoon at 3:25 at 40th and Tracy. Police say that there is no suspect information at this time. Stay with KCTV5 News for more updates. (Image credit: Microsoft) Today Microsoft revealed the HoloLens 2 for the first time. The upcoming device offers vast improvements over the first-gen HoloLens headset, such as intuitive controls and better comfort. Microsoft also brought the price down a smidge, but at $3,500, this ones still meant for big businesses. Microsofts HoloLens 2 is a completely redesigned headset, with an all-new exterior design, high-quality material construction, and newly-designed internal components. Microsoft said it built the new headset with three things in mind: More immersion, better comfort, and more value out of the box. Better Immersion (Image credit: Tom's Guide) To improve immersion, the HoloLens 2 displays offer double the field of view (FOV) as the original model, while maintaining the same level of visual clarity as the original device. Microsofts original benchmark for image clarity was 47-pixels per degree of visible area, and the company achieved that same benchmark in the new headset by installing two 2K MEMS displaysone for each eye. Microsoft also went back to the drawing board and re-imagined the way to interact with the mixed reality world. The original HoloLens relied on gesture controls, which werent as intuitive as you would imagine. The new method of interaction is more like interacting with the real world, meaning you can reach out and touch holographic objects as if they were real. Want to move a window? Grab onto it and drag it around. Is that object to small? Grab the corners and stretch it. Is there a button to press? Reach out and push it. The new HoloLens also includes a new feature called Follow, which enables apps to track and follow your movement so that you can bring heavily-used applications with you all the time. While we have not yet tried the new interaction system, watching the presentation demonstrates that it would be far superior to the old method. Microsoft said the HoloLens 2 is capable of these advanced interactions because it includes a brand-new Kinect sensor, which is capable of fine spatial tracking of your whole environment, the objects within it, and yourself, right down to your individual fingers. Superior Comfort For the comfort side of things, Microsoft redesigned the exterior of the headset. The new device is much more compact than the first-generation HoloLens, and its made of lighter materials. The entire front visor of the headset is made of carbon fiber to reduce the weight and aid with weight distribution. Carbon fiber is also an incredibly tough material, which should help protect it from damage in industrial settings. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) The original headset had a dual headband system that enabled you to adjust the headset to line up with your eyes, which worked well enough, but it was a cumbersome system that didnt accommodate glasses. The new headset features a balanced crown headband with an adjustment dial on the back like many of the Windows Mixed Reality VR headsets. Microsoft also gave the HoloLens 2 a flip visor, to bring the lenses out of your view without removing the headset. Not that removing the headset would be difficult. Microsoft said its as easy to put on as a regular hat. Out-of-the-Box Value The original HoloLens was an expensive device that didnt include any bundled software. Microsoft said that, on average, it would take companies who invested in a HoloLens three months before they could use it in meaningful ways. To fix that issue, Microsoft worked with partners to ensure that HoloLens 2 would have a robust software ecosystem at launch. Microsoft said that Microsoft Dynamics 365 would be updated for the HoloLens 2, with Remote Assist and Layout ready to go at launch. The company is also planning to release a new app called Guides, which would enable experienced workers to create instruction guides for recruits. The HoloLens 2 will also integrate with a new cloud service called HoloLens Azure, which will enable shared mixed reality experiences across a variety of devices. HoloLens Azure Spatial Anchors allow AR Kit, AR Core, and HoloLens devices to see the same virtual objects in real-time to facilitate collaborative work. HoloLens Azure cloud services also include Remote Rendering, which allows you to stream high-polygon content of infinite detail on HoloLens devices. HoloLens Customization Program Microsoft also revealed the HoloLens Customization Program, which allows partner companies to modify the HoloLens headset to meet specifications for industrial use cases. Trimble is the first company to take advantage of the customization program, and it announced the Trimble XR10, which is a HoloLens 2 integrated into a hard hat for first-line construction workers. Trimble didnt say how much the XR10 would cost, but the device will ship when Microsoft ships the HoloLens 2. Pre-orders Available Now Microsoft did not reveal the shipping date for the HoloLens 2, but the company is ready to take your money anyway. The HoloLens 2 is available now for pre-order at HoloLens.com. You can pay $3,500 to buy the device outright, or you can finance it for as little as $150 per month. Want to comment on this story? Let us know what you think in the Tom's Hardware Forums. HMD Global is getting serious about the Nokia brand it now manages. After rolling out a series of budget and midrange Nokia phones, the company now offers a flagship device, the Nokia 9 PureView. There's a lot to like about this phone beyond its unique camera system. The Nokia 9 has a sleek, notch-free design and its gorgeous 5.99-inch, QHD+ display is among the most colorful we've tested. But it's hard to overlook the phone's many shortcomings, such as poor battery life and finicky fingerprint reader. And, while the five-lens setup is capable of producing outstanding photos, processing times are sluggish and image quality is inconsistent. Still, the $699 Nokia 9 gets you a lot of phone for your money and has some appeal for professional photographers who want more control over shots taken with their smartphone. Price and Availability The Nokia 9 comes in a single model, with a 5.99-inch, QHD+ display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 CPU, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Blue Midnight is the only color option at launch. The phone went on sale in the United States and the United Kingdom in March for $699 and 549, respectively. Don't hesitate to place your order, because HMD is calling the Nokia 9 PureView a limited-release phone. Consumers can buy the Nokia 9 unlocked at most online retailers, including Amazon, B&H Photo Video and Best Buy. The Nokia 9 works with GSM networks like those operated by AT&T and T-Mobile; customers at Verizon and Sprint, which both use CDMA networks, are out of luck. Nokia 9 PureView Specs Price $699 Display (Resolution) 5.99-inch, QHD+ POLED (2880 x 1440) Rear Camera(s) Five 12 MP (f/1.8): 3 Monochrome, 2 RGB Front Camera(s) 20 MP (f/2.0) CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 RAM 16GB Storage 128GB microSD None Battery 3,320 mAh Battery Life (Hrs:Mins) 8:45 Colors Midnight Blue Size 6.1 x 3 x 0.3 inches Weight 6.1 ounces Design: A five-eyed jewel The Nokia 9 has an attractive if conventional design. There is no notch or hole punch interrupting the 5.99-inch display, nor are there any curved edges. Yes, there are bezels surrounding the display, but they're relatively thin, and the phone still looks sleek and modern. While I appreciate the direction HMD took with the Nokia's look, I do wish it had used the extra real estate on the top and bottom of the display for front-facing speakers, instead of placing them on the bottom. And, the now near-extinct headphone jack is also absent from this phone. The Nokia 9 may look ordinary by today's standards, but it certainly isn't boring. The phone's gorgeous Midnight Blue paint job is beautifully outlined in chrome trim and flanked by silver-lined volume and power buttons. Turn the device around and your eyes will immediately be drawn to the five lenses staring back at you. Positioned in an asterisk shape, the bizarre grouping of lenses is unlike anything I've seen on a phone before. Everyone in our office who got a glimpse of the Nokia 9 had a different opinion about the camera module reactions ranged from intrigued to horrified, though most leaned toward the latter. Personally, my arachnophobia kicks in every time I gaze at the spider-like pattern of Zeiss lenses, which makes it hard to appreciate the luxurious ocean-blue glass surrounding the camera array or the subtly curved edges that conform to your grip. If you're not smitten by the Nokia 9's blue finish, then I'm afraid you're out of luck. Midnight Blue is the only color available at launch, making it one of the few phones you can't buy in black, white or some shade of gold. While flagship phones routinely offer 6-inch-plus displays these days, the 5.99-inch screen on the Nokia 9 still leans toward the larger end of the scale. I had to stretch my fingers to swipe notifications down from the top of the display. That said, the Nokia 9 doesn't feel as cumbersome as the OnePlus 6T or the larger iPhone and Galaxy models. MORE: Best Phablet: Top Big Screen Phones (6 Inches or Larger) The Nokia 9 may not be as indestructible as its legendary forbearers, but its 6000-series aluminum frame and the Gorilla Glass 5 covering the display should guard the phone against bumps and scrapes. Security: Slow and inconsistent The Nokia 9 PureView has an optical fingerprint sensor embedded in the display for secure login. The OnePlus 6T also uses this authentication method, but its effectiveness varies from one device to the next. In the case of the Nokia 9 PureView, it's more miss than hit. There was a brief hesitation from the moment my finger landed on the sensor to when the phone unlocked. Compared with the OnePlus 6T's sensor, which instantaneously brought me to the home screen, the Nokia 9's scanner felt sluggish. That fraction of a second may not sound like a big deal, but it adds up if you check your phone dozens of times a day. And, like most optical sensors, the Nokia 9's pales in speed and convenience compared with the new generation of ultrasonic sensors found in phones like the Samsung Galaxy S10. Making things more frustrating, the area in which you can place your finger is small, and you'll receive a Not Recognized message unless you press directly in the center. Despite these annoyances, the fingerprint sensor remains the best way to unlock the Nokia 9, as long as you don't mind entering a passcode every now and then. MORE: Best Android Antivirus - Top Free and Paid Mobile Security HMD also added a facial-recognition feature (think Face ID) to the Nokia 9 in an early software update, but it's just as clumsy. The camera failed to recognize my face almost every time I tried using it after having just locked the phone. Other times, it didn't even try searching for my face. On a positive note, when it did work, TrulySecure was quicker than the fingerprint sensor. Display: Jaw-dropping colors There's a lot of hype surrounding those five cameras on the rear of the Nokia 9, but the phone's 5.99-inch QHD+ (2880 x 1440-pixel) POLED display might just be its standout feature. The Nokia 9's panel is fairly luminous, reaching a peak brightness of 430 nits. While that doesn't top the blinding display on the Apple iPhone XS Max's screen, it's brighter than the displays on the Google Pixel 3 (362 nits) and the OnePlus 6T (405 nits). Covering 252.3 percent of the sRGB color gamut, the Nokia 9's display is more colorful than those on the OnePlus 6T (223 percent), Pixel 3 (202 percent) and Galaxy S10 Plus (136.5 percent). With a Delta-E score of 0.45, color accuracy is also pretty good, although the Pixel 3 (0.35) and the iPhone XS Max notched even better results (Color accuracy scores closer to 0 are better.) MORE: How to set up screen mirroring to your Sony TV from a smartphone When I watched a trailer for the upcoming superhero film Dark Phoenix, Mystique's hair was a saturated, fiery scarlet that popped against her inky, pastel-blue skin. When compared side-by-side with the OnePlus 6T, the Nokia 9's display exhibited more vivid colors that burst off the display, and I preferred the Nokia's warmer white balance. Cameras: More promise than perfection There's a lot to unpack with the Nokia 9's five cameras, but let's start with how it all works. Unlike other phones with multiple lenses, the Nokia 9 doesn't have optical zoom or a superwide-angle feature. The Nokia 9's goal is to produce the very best image possible, not to give people millions of ways to take the same shot. To that end, each of the five 12-megapixel, f/1.8 aperture lenses captures a scene when you press the shutter button. Three monochrome sensors are tasked with capturing light at different exposures while two RGB lenses soak in the colors. Those images are then combined and processed by a digital signal processor (DSP). There are a couple of downsides to this setup. For one, images take a long time to process. Most of the images I snapped took about 10 seconds, but bokeh shots especially those in low light needed about 25 seconds. You can continue using the Nokia 9 and even take photos while the DSP works its magic in the background, but you can't check to see how your photo turned out. Another shortcoming is that none of the lenses has optical image stabilization, so you'll have to keep the phone steady when you're shooting in low-light conditions. While the Nokia 9 is capable of producing some breathtaking photos, not every picture we captured looked great. This low-light shot in a branch of the New York Public Library has a haze to it, as if someone had turned on a fog machine. While the Pixel 3 oversaturated colors a bit, the photo it produced is punchier, clearer and more dynamic. In these cupcake images, the Nokia 9 displayed tons of detail, but once again, the colors look lifeless when compared with the more natural photo taken by the OnePlus 6T. The Nokia 9 rebounded on this bookshelf shot. I really can't find fault with this photo. The scene looks crisp and perfectly exposed, and the colors are punchy and accurate. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S10e's image is too yellow, and you can't see as much detail in the wood. The Nokia 9 PureView also did a better job than the OnePlus 6T in this shot of a Manhattan street. The OnePlus 6T's photo looks washed out, so it's missing a lot of details you can see in the Nokia 9's nicely exposed image. Check out the brick sidewalk tiling or the details on the right-most building. The haziness returned in a Portrait mode picture shot by the Nokia 9 at a branch of the New York Public Library. While the Bokeh mode properly outlined my frame, my face looks ghastly in this shot. The iPhone XS' Portrait shot is brighter, and the colors are far more accurate. The Nokia 9 has a time-of-flight sensor on the back that creates a depth map of the scene you shoot. HMD claims the camera can capture more depth information (1,200 layers) than any other phone. One benefit of this tech is that Depth photos can be refocused in post using Google Photos. Furthermore, the depth tool lets you choose a focal point, then adjust the intensity of the foreground and background blur around it. All that sounds great, but as you can see in the photo below, the Nokia 9 struggled to keep only the recruiting station in focus while blurring the rest of the scene. You'll notice that the cars and buildings on the left side as well as the chairs on the right of the image remained in focus. Using its three monochromic lenses, the Nokia 9 can shoot black-and-white pictures natively. I'm pretty pleased with this image of the Flatiron Building. There is plenty of detail and the exposure is on point, even with the sun peeking through the clouds. The 20-MP, front-facing camera on the Nokia 9 maybe captures far too much detail for my liking, but in all seriousness, this shot I took in Times Square looks great. You can see individual strands of hair in my beard, and the reddish tone in my face looks natural. Professional photographers will appreciate the Nokia 9's manual controls and the ability to capture RAW DNG files. These rich files are great for editing because they retain all the information that's otherwise lost when photos are compressed into bite-sized JPEGs. The downside to RAW is that image files are massive, and without an SD card slot on the Nokia 9, photographers will really have to manage the phone's 128GB of built-in storage. Oddly enough, I prefer the RAW image compared with the JPG I shot in New York City's Grand Central Station. While perfectly exposed, the Nokia 9's photo processing drained the colors from the grand room. In fact, those circular fluorescent lights emit a warmer color than what you see in the RAW shot. One consequence of the five-lens system is that an image could be compromised if only one lens has smudges or fingerprints on it. I found myself constantly wiping my sleeve on the back of the phone to make sure that the lens glass was clean. Performance: Flagship speeds, a year late The Nokia 9 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 mobile-processing platform and comes with 6GB of RAM. The Snapdragon 845 is a good processor, and I didn't run into any performance problems during my testing, but it's still last year's CPU. Other flagship Android devices coming out this year are going to run on the Snapdragon 855, so you're giving up some performance for a lower price. The Nokia 9 scored an 8,912 on the Geekbench 4 overall performance test, topping the Pixel 3 (7,216) and nearly matching the OnePlus 6T (8,972) and Galaxy Note 9 (8,876). As expected, the new Galaxy S10 (10,732) and Galaxy S10e (10,513), both of which are equipped with the Snapdragon 855, blew away the Android competition. However, Apple phones still dominate when it comes to performance; the iPhone XS, running Apple's A12 Bionic processor, scored an outstanding 11,420. MORE: 10 Best Video Editing Apps for Smartphones and Tablets In our video-editing test, the Nokia 9 PureView needed 3 minutes and 18 seconds to transcode a 4K clip to 1080p resolution in the Adobe Premiere app. That's a somewhat disappointing result, considering most flagship phones can complete that test in less than 3 minutes, like the Galaxy S10 Plus (2:26) and Pixel 3 (2:52). Amazingly, the iPhone XS took just 39 seconds. Apps opened quickly and games ran smoothly on the Nokia 9. On 3DMark's Sling Shot Extreme OpenGL graphics test, the Nokia 9 scored a 4,653, topping the Pixel 3's score of 4,400 and the iPhone XS' 4,244. However, the Galaxy S10 Plus dominated with a score of 5,648. While the Nokia 9's performance results feel behind the curve compared with other flagships, the phone didn't feel slow in my real-world testing, which involved streaming music on Google Play Music, browsing web pages with at least a dozen Google Chrome tabs open and playing mobile games, like the racer Asphalt 9. Software: Sweet Android Pie The Nokia 9 is an Android One phone, which means it runs an unmodified, bloatware-free version of Android. It's a refreshing approach, in contrast to the heavy-handed attempts by some phone makers to put their mark on Google's streamlined operating system. MORE: Android 9 Pie Review: Google's OS Gets Smarter Since it runs pure Android 9 Pie, the Nokia 9 adopts everything we love about the latest OS version, including improvements to adaptive brightness, UI tweaks and App Actions. Better yet, the interface is clean, and none of the included features feels redundant. HMD promises quick software updates for the Nokia 9, and the company will support two years of version updates and three years of security updates. Battery Life The Nokia 9's 3,320-mAh battery is on the smaller side for a 5.99-inch phone, and it showed on our Tom's Guide battery test, which involves surfing the web over T-Mobile's LTE network with the screen set to 150 nits. The Nokia 9 lasted only 8 hours and 45 minutes, more than an hour less than the average smartphone. That below-average runtime falls hours short of the competition, including the Galaxy S10 Plus (12:35), OnePlus 6T (10:23) and even the iPhone XS (9:41). Nokia, in the company's former incarnation, was among the first to adopt Qi wireless charging in phones, so I'm happy to see that tradition continue with the Nokia 9 PureView. The Nokia 9 also supports fast charging via an included 18-W charger. Bottom Line If you're wondering if Nokia is back, the simple answer is: Yes. The Nokia 9's five-camera setup is a return to the days when Nokia was known for staking out new ground. While some kinks need to be worked out, the unique camera system is capable of producing outstanding images. Even more impressive is the Nokia 9's gorgeous 5.99-inch, QHD+ display, which is among the most vivid we've tested. Additionally, Android purists will appreciate the phone's stock Android 9 Pie and HMD's track record for keeping their phones up to date. Unfortunately, the Nokia 9's battery life, at less than 9 hours, is a major shortcoming, and its fingerprint sensor also disappoints. Photo processing is downright sluggish, and some of the images we took looked washed out. Not to mention, the Nokia 9 relies on last year's processor, and there is no SD card slot to store the supersize RAW images it supports. Overall, the Nokia 9 is a great option for photo enthusiasts who want a versatile camera that can shoot in RAW, or anyone in search of a reasonably priced flagship phone that runs stock Android. While the OnePlus 6T remains the king of the "budget" premium category, the Nokia 9 has us eagerly anticipating HMD's next move. Credit: Tom's Guide Updated May 30, 6:38 p.m. ET: We've had the chance to test the LG V50 ThinQ on Sprint's 5G network and have added more 5G test results to this hands-on. At long last, 2019 is shaping up to be the year when were finally seeing 5G smartphones. A few weeks after Samsung's Galaxy S10 5G made its debut on Verizon's fledgling 5G network, the LG V50 ThinQ has arrived, initially as an exclusive with Sprint. We first saw LG's 5G phone at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona this past February, and at the time, the V50 looked a lot like the V series phones that came before it. But now we've had a chance to see the phone's flagship feature the ability to connect to faster 5G speeds using Sprint's newly launched network, and the LG V50 is making a more distinct impression. Armed with three cameras on the rear, two on the front, a Snapdragon 855 chipset under the hood and 6GB of RAM, LGs V50 doesnt appear to be terribly different from the LG V40 ThinQ, especially when you stack the specs side by side. LG V50 ThinQ 5G LG V40 ThinQ Price $1,152 $949 Display (Resolution) 6.4-inch POLED (3120x1440) 6.4-inch POLED (3120x1440) CPU Snapdragon 855 Snapdragon 845 RAM 6GB 6GB Storage 128GB 64GB Rear Cameras Triple: 12-MP standard (/1.5), 16-MP wide angle (/1.9), 12-MP telephoto (/2.4) Triple: 12-MP standard (/1.5), 16-MP wide angle (/1.9), 12-MP telephoto (/2.4) Front Cameras Dual: 8-MP (/1.9) and 5-MP wide angle (/2.2) Dual: 8-MP (/1.9) and 5-MP wide angle (/2.2) Battery 4,000 mAh 3,300 mAh Size 6.27 x 3.0 x 0.33 inches 6.27 x 2.98 x 0.33 inches Price and Availability For now, Sprint's the only place to get an LG V50 ThinQ, though eventually the phone will be coming to Verizon. You can buy the phone from Sprint starting May 31, where it costs $1,152. Lease the phone on an 18-month Sprint Flex plan, though, and you can pay $24 a month for the phone, which is a discount from the actual lease price. Sprint is only offering the phone in cities where 5G service is available, which is limited to Dallas, Atlanta, Houston and Kansas City at the moment. More cities will follow, though. While $1,152 is a lot to pay for a phone, the V50 doesn't cost as much as the S10 5G. Samsung's phone starts at $1,299 when you buy it through Verizon. Design and Display LG has essentially stuffed the V50s 5G running gear and new silicon into the body of the V40, while also bumping up the battery size from 3,300 mAh to 4,000 mAh. The result is a device that is almost imperceptibly thicker, and the only way youd be able to tell is from the fact that the V50s triple-lens housing doesnt protrude from the handsets glass back like it did on the V40. Below those rear cameras, youll still find a rear-facing fingerprint sensor. Above that sensor, however, is where things get a little more interesting. LG has baked an LED-powered 5G logo into the back of the phone that lights up in trademark Sprint yellow when the device is in use. If you feel compelled to advertise to friends and strangers that you have one of the first 5G phones in the world, this might interest you. Personally, I find it gaudy and its certainly not helped by the fact that the logo itself is pretty ugly. The display remains LGs best a 6.4-inch POLED panel with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 3120 x 1440. We were impressed by the V40s implementation of this screen and found it to be a formidable opponent to the Galaxy Note 9s display though how it compares to the Dynamic AMOLED panel in the new Galaxy S10 series remains to be seen. 5G Ready After launching in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Kansas City at the end of May, Sprint's 5G network is expected to come to five additional cities soon: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. We got a hold of the phone in Dallas after Sprint launched its 5G network there. So how does the LG V50 perform? MORE: 5G Phones: Every Known Phone and Release Date First, don't expect the gigabit speeds commonly associated with 5G, but that's largely because of how Sprint built out its network. Sprint is going with mid-band spectrum for its initial 5G launch. That allows it to offer wider coverage but at the expense of peak speed. Still, where 5G is available, you won't mistake the speeds the V50 cranks out with LTE. In our testing around Dallas, the top speeds we saw ranged between 300 and 600 Mbps on average, which is much faster than you'd expect from an LTE network. (And much faster than you'd expect from Sprint, which fared poorly in our recent round of LTE testing when we stopped in Dallas.) It's not as fast as what we saw from the Galaxy S10 5G on Verizon's network in Chicago, but the V50 remained more consistently connected to 5G network in this round of testing. That said, a few stops around Dallas delivered some underwhelming results, with the V50 sometimes struggling to crack 200 Mbps download speeds. Some of that can be attributed to a lot of testers hitting Sprint's network at the same time, but even Sprint's engineers told us they usually topped out at 400 Mbps at some of the carrier's recommended test sites. The LG V50 had some mixed results in real world use cases. At it's best, it took us just 1 minute, 30 seconds to download the massive PUBG Moble game over 5G an impressive result. Downloading a 24-episode season of Parks & Rec on the LG V50 took a little less than 8 minutes on Sprint's network, but that wasn't much of an improvement over how long it took on an iPhone XS using AT&T's LTE network. You can read our full report on 5G testing with the LG V50, but so far, the phone is improved faster speeds (though not eye-popping numbers) with a few inconsistencies typical of a new network. Old Cameras are New Again The V50 inherits the triple-lens rear camera LG introduced with the V40 late last year. You get a 12-megapixel main shooter with a pretty generous /1.5 aperture that lets an abundance of light into the sensor, aided by an /1.9 12-MP wide-angle camera and /2.4 telephoto lens for more zoomed-in portraits with a shallow depth of field effect. We werent terribly impressed with the V40s camera when we reviewed the phone last year, but LG has assured us that the V50s hardware, recycled though it is, is still backed by the companys latest image enhancing software. That includes AI scene recognition, a new Night View mode that intelligently combines 10 frames for one evenly-exposed image, and an assortment of creative features and effects like Cine Shot for cinemagraphs with partial motion. Still, the V50 misses out on the LG G8 ThinQs real party piece: its 3D-sensing, time-of-flight-enabled front-facing Z Camera, that enables Air Motion gesture controls and Hand ID authentication. While the V50s selfie camera array is still dual-lens, the secondary camera is of the conventional, wide-angle type, unlike the G8s sophisticated 3D depth sensor. Also absent from the V50 is the G8s new Crystal Sound OLED technology, which uses actuators bonded to the display to transmit sound through the face of the phone. This negates the need for a dedicated earpiece, and improves the clarity of incoming calls because you no longer need to place the device over a specific part of your ear. It proved to be one of LGs more successful gambles with the G8 during our limited hands-on time with that device, and it would have been nice to see in the V50 as well. Finally, LG is launching a curious add-on for the V50 in select markets a second screen, called Dual Display, that clips onto the phone and functions as a cover case when closed. The panel is 6.2 inches in size, and is built to accommodate running multiple apps at once, or use as a controller while playing certain games. The accessory wont see release in the U.S., and LG is still keeping quiet on pricing for now. Outlook With the V50 ThinQ, LG is one of the first phone makers to offer a 5G-ready device in the U.S., trailing Samsung by just a few weeks. The V50 might not be an eye-catching or even entirely new device in the same vein as the Galaxy S10 5G, but that might not matter much to LG, so long as the V50 delivers fast, reliable performance in cities where 5G is available. LG should be commended for shoehorning the guts of a 5G phone into the V40s body no small feat, as Samsungs 6.7-inch monster 5G phone proves. But aside from that technological achievement, the V50 appears all too familiar. For years, LG has unnecessarily split its premium customers between its G- and V-series lines, restricting features to one model or the other, rather than pooling all its efforts into a single flagship statement that really moves the needle. And for better or worse, it would appear thats exactly what the company intends to do yet again for 2019. If youre really excited for 5G and youre a Sprint customer living in one of the carrier's early 5G markets, you should keep an eye out for the V50. But if you want LGs most experimental ideas, you might have to give up on that 5G dream and spring for LGs other high-end handset, the LG G8 ThinQ. Credit: Tom's Guide [February 24, 2019] Huawei Launches Smart Products at MWC 2019, Reaffirms Commitment to 5G Era During MWC 2019, Huawei (News - Alert) CBG launched the HUAWEI MateBook X Pro; HUAWEI MateBook 13; HUAWEI MateBook 14; the 5G foldable smartphone, HUAWEI Mate X; and the HUAWEI 5G CPE Pro. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190224005084/en/ HUAWEI Mate X (Photo: Business Wire) Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei CBG said, "With the advent of the all-scenario era, consumers are looking forward to revolutionary experiences. We will spare no effort to create world-leading 5G unlike anything before." Updated HUAWEI MateBook X Pro The HUAWEI MateBook X Pro is equipped with a 13.9-inch 3K Ultra FullView display with 91 percent screen-to-body ratio. The laptop is powered by an Intel (News - Alert) Core i7 8565 and NVIDIA GeForce MX250 with 2GB GDDR5. It featurs broadband Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 and Thunderbolt 3 port and the Dolby Atmos Sound System. The flagship features HUAWEI Share 3.0, solving data transmission difficulties between Windows notebooks and Android (News - Alert) smartphones. HUAWEI MateBook 13 and HUAWEI MateBook 14 The HUAWEI MateBook 13 and HUAWEI MateBook 14 feature a 10-point multi-touch 3:2 FullView display. HUAWEI MateBook 14 is powered by the Intel Core i7-8565U. NVIDIA (News - Alert) GeForce MX250 is available on HUAWEI MateBook 14 while the HUAWEI MateBook 13 has an NVIDIA GeForce MX150. Both notebooks have HUAWEI Shark Fin Fan 2.0 and HUAWEI Share 3.0. HUAWEI Mate X The HUAWEI Mate X combines 5G, foldable screen, AI and an all-new mode of interfacing with an unprecedented user experience. This device features a flexible OLED panel, the Falcon Wing Mechanical Hinge, Balong 5000, powerful cameras and a 4,500mAh battery supporting HUAWEI SuperCharge. HUAWEI 5G CPE Pro Powered by Balong 5000, HUAWEI 5G CPE Pro provides ultra-high speed broadband, bringing smart homes into the 5G era. About Huawei Consumer BG Huawei's products and services are available in more than 170 countries and are used by a third of the world's population. Fifteen R&D centers have been set up in the United States, Germany, Sweden, Russia, India and China. Huawei Consumer BG is one of Huawei's three business units and covers smartphones, PC and tablets, wearables and cloud services, etc. Huawei's global network is built on almost 30 years of expertise in the telecom industry and is dedicated to delivering the latest technological advances to consumers around the world. For more information please visit: http://consumer.huawei.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190224005084/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Farmington, WV (26555) Today A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Some passing clouds. Low 69F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Some passing clouds. Low 69F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. ALBANY For the first eight months of 2018, Jasper Mills was one busy lawyer. The 39-year-old married father of two young children worked full-time last year as the $112,000-a-year counsel for Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple. And he spent two-thirds of 2018 working a second job as a Rensselaer County special prosecutor in the case of Richard Wright, who faced retrial in a 1986 arson that caused the deaths of two teenagers. The two-week trial in July ended with Wright's conviction. In September, Mills submitted a bill to state Supreme Court Justice Andrew Ceresia seeking payment for more than 710 hours, which at an hourly rate of $150 meant Mills was due $106,575. Ceresia ultimately rejected 251 of those hours more than a third of Mills' time as "unnecessary and/or inefficient." The judge's rejection of such a significant chunk of the bill prompted the Times Union to review court records as well as Mills' time sheets from his full-time job with Albany County. On Friday afternoon, Mills decided to suspend his campaign for an Albany County judgeship after his campaign manager was confronted with questions about another side job Mills had pursued, as a town prosecutor with the Town of Coeymans. The results of the Times Union's examination of Mills' work for Rensselaer County show that between Dec. 21, 2017, and Sept. 7, 2018, he worked at both jobs on 70 days, including 37 days when Mills stated he worked a total of 14 hours or more between the two. On June 14, 2018, Mills' time sheet from Albany County showed he worked from 11:40 a.m. to 9:25 p.m. His bill to Rensselaer County claims that on the same day he worked seven hours on the Wright prosecution. In an interview with the Times Union, Mills said he didn't begin his work for Rensselaer County until after his Albany shift was done. On Tuesday and Wednesday, July 17 and 18 just before Wright's trial commenced Mills reported working full eight-hour days for Albany County and then devoting himself to "trial prep" for 12 hours and 10 hours, respectively. Mills' initial bill of services to Rensselaer County contained other claims that were contested by the county attorney and reduced by Ceresia. The Times Union review of the documents revealed: Mills billed 80.5 hours for his review of prior testimony and textbooks written by John Lentini, a defense arson expert from Florida who was the only defense witness in the case. The judge rejected 62 of those hours. Mills listed 42 hours of work on a "review of arson materials" over two weekends in February 2018. The judge rejected 28 of the hours. Mills claimed 29.5 hours from Aug. 20 to Sept. 4 for "motion practice." The judge rejected 17 of the hours, saying the bill lacked "requisite particularity." On seven occasions, Mills used sick time (partial or all-day) at the sheriff's office on days when he also billed for work on the arson case. Mills told the Times Union that any sick time was for his children's illnesses, not his. In two interviews at the Albany office of his campaign manager, Libby Post, Mills strongly defended his work for both counties. He said he needed to investigate the 32-year-old Wright case the first time he has worked as a special prosecutor from scratch because the majority of the evidence had been either lost or destroyed, and many of the witnesses had died or moved out of the area. Mills chalked up the judge's reduction of his hours as "par for the course." He said Ceresia himself told him it is not uncommon for him to get involved to limit hours. "Anybody that sat through that trial ... can tell how much work went into that case especially if you knew what I had when I started," said Mills, who took vacation time from Albany County during Wright's two-week trial. Mills vehemently denied padding his hours at either taxpayer-funded job and said that, if any inaccuracy exists, it was because he had under-billed his time. He noted, for example, that he had listened to Wright's phone calls from jail but had not charged that time to Rensselaer County. Mills said Ceresia "had no idea" about the amount of work he put in. "I mean, he presided over this case," Mills said, "but he wasn't with me every time I had to look into something or do something or sit down reading for 13 hours because I'm going against one of the best counter-experts in the country. " "At the end of the day, there was no rhyme or reason as to why certain numbers were cut," Mills said of Ceresia's reductions. "It was just going down the line and taking off a couple of numbers here, taking off a couple of numbers there with no rhyme or reason." The Times Union played the judge a recording of Mills' comments; Ceresia declined to respond. In his ruling, Ceresia wrote that Mills' time records were "in many instances lacking in detail as to what specific tasks were performed and completed." "As such, the time records fail to establish that all of the hours indicated were necessary," Ceresia wrote, "and the court finds that under the requisite 'reasonableness' analysis, certain amounts of time as set forth in the time records must be reduced." The judge acknowledged the "heightened complexity of preparing for and retrying this double murder case more than 30 years after the time of the original trial," and added that Mills "possesses the experience and expertise that was required to properly handle the retrial of such a serious felony matter." "Balanced against these considerations, the court is mindful of the fact that Mr. Mills is being compensated from public funds," Ceresia wrote. More for you News Mills exits judge race amid moonlighting questions Mills whose services were required because of a conflict between Wright's lawyer and then-Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove submitted his initial $106,575 bill for his work on the Wright case to Rensselaer County Attorney C.J. Kempf on Sept. 12, 2018. Two weeks later, Kempf notified Mills that due to established guidelines under county law, he could pay no more than $61,920. Mills said that after extensive discussions, he and Kempf agreed to settle the bill in October for $79,500. "I discounted 176 hours ... I gave Rensselaer County 176 hours of my time for free," Mills said. Kempf said close scrutiny of special prosecutors' bills is common, and said Mills "approached the review in a highly professional way at every step." Ceresia, who was not beholden to the agreement between Mills and Kempf, rejected Mills' bill and determined in his Nov. 20 ruling that Mills should be paid $68,925. In December, Mills appealed Ceresia's decision to the Civil Appeals Settlement Program, an arm of the state Appellate Division. On Jan. 3, retired Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi, who served as hearing officer for the matter, signed a settlement agreeing to pay Mills $79,500 for his work. Kempf told Teresi he would recommend to the county Legislature that it should pay Mills the negotiated fee. Because both sides were presenting him with what was essentially a done deal, Teresi felt no need to analyze Mills' initial bill or Ceresia's reductions. "It wasn't one of those situations where I had to get into what was acceptable or what was too much or what was too little," Teresi said in an interview with the Times Union. "They basically agreed, and I said, 'Fine with me as long as you're happy.'" Pay disputes with special prosecutors in Rensselaer County are not unprecedented. In 2002, attorney Michael Katzer battled for payment for his work as a special prosecutor in the case of former Rensselaer County Executive Henry Zwack and four others, who were acquitted in a high-profile corruption case. Katzer submitted a bill for roughly $286,000 for himself and an assistant. Judge Patrick McGrath cut it to $98,000. The attorneys appealed to the Appellate Division; Katzer later agreed to settle for $125,000. In 2013, Troy attorney Trey Smith asked a judge to hold Rensselaer County in contempt of court for not paying bills of $79,617 to him and $31,507 to co-counsel Matthew Hug for their work as special prosecutors in a complex ballot fraud case. A 2006 Albany Law School graduate, Mills is a former Albany County prosecutor and until Friday was one of three Democrats currently running for Albany County judge. Mills suspended his campaign after the Times Union asked the sheriff and Mills' campaign manager about a Jan. 1 resolution passed by the Town of Coeymans to hire Mills as its part-time town prosecutor at $12,800 annually to handle traffic ticket prosecutions including those involving the sheriff's office. The resolution came after Apple had told Mills and Coeymans Town Supervisor Philip Crandall that Mills could not take the side job due to the conflict of interest. On Friday, Apple told the Times Union he was "very disturbed" to learn of the resolution that approved Mills' hiring. Speaking earlier this month, Apple defended his counsel's work on the Wright case. He said he was clear with Mills that he could not work on the Wright case while he was on the job at the sheriff's office, a post he has held since October 2016. "If you told me there's days where there is 20, 22 hours (billed by Mills in a single day), I'd be extremely concerned," Apple said. "But eleven? Fourteen? Fifteen? Sixteen? To me, that's not a lot." Wright's 1987 arson caused the deaths of Tara Gilbert, 14, and Meredith Pipino, 13. Mills said he told Gerilyn Kancyr, Pipino's mother, he would do everything he could to get justice for her daughter. "I spent months of sleepless nights doing what I had to do because I made a promise to her," Mills said. "So if that meant me staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning, that meant me staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning." Ceresia vacated Wright's 1988 conviction after his attorney argued that modern technology debunked the methods used by investigators who claimed the fire had started with an accelerant. Mills said the extensive time spent studying the work of Lentini, who he described as a world-renowned expert, paid off at trial. After Lentini testified that there wasn't enough evidence to determine the cause of the fire, Mills attacked his professional credentials and relentlessly cross-examined him with references to his past testimony and reports he had written for prior cases. "I wasn't going to put myself in a position where I am behind the eight ball," Mills said of his preparation for the defense witness. Mills' success prosecuting the case led the state Fire Investigators Chapter 23 of the International Association of Arson Investigators to name him as its prosecutor of the year for 2018. Mills, who is black, said any implication that he could not work all of the hours he initially billed was "blatantly racist." He claimed that white corporate lawyers submit similar bills without such scrutiny. "Is their time more valuable because of them being Caucasian versus African-American?" Mills asked. Mills and Post stressed that their allegations of racism were not lodged at Ceresia or the Rensselaer County attorney's office, which balked at his $106,500 bill as well, but people they suspect directed the Times Union to Mills' bill for the special prosecution. "I know who it is," Mills said. Suspending his campaign Friday, Mills released a statement that said he had been "targeted by rumors and allegations about my professional and personal life that have caused me to re-evaluate whether running for Albany County Court judge at this point is the best course for me and my family." High winds are expected to increase as Sunday afternoon turns to evening, and that's prompted travel advisories for across New York and Massachusetts. Saturday night a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain is expected, which will turn to mostly rain by sunrise Sunday, said the National Weather Service's Joe Villani in Albany. Then come the gusts. A high wind advisory has been issued for 7 p.m. Sunday to 7 p.m. Monday. Winds speeds could reach 55 to 65 mph, Villani said. Temperatures through the period will be in the low 30s and into the 40s for a short period. A ban on empty tractor-trailers and tandems has been put into effect along highways mostly in the western part of the state, including the state Thruway west of the Utica exit beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday. Earlier Saturday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo held a storm briefing in Rochester with state and local officials on weather preparations. Cuomo has activated 100 members of the National Guard to respond to debris-clearing missions. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is also advising drivers who are planning to travel outside the state to also monitor forecasts elsewhere. MassDOT is assisting New York to inform commercial vehicle owners of the New York ban by posting messages on MassDOT temporary signs along I-90. At this time, there is no travel ban in Massachusetts but all drivers and commercial vehicle company owners should check the forecast, MassDOT said. Cuomo also mentioned he is urging the International Joint Commission, which regulates the level of Lake Ontario to immediately release water from the lake over flooding concerns. Albany Thousands of people donning black clothing prayed, prostrated and proclaimed their opposition to abortion and New York's recently-signed Reproductive Health Act during a "Day of Mourning" event at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center on Saturday afternoon. The event, which featured a series of Christian speakers and anti-abortion advocates who spoke in between musical intervals, was organized in opposition to the law signed in January by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Opponents of the Reproductive Health Act argue that it expands access and allows late-term abortions. The event's speakers painted the issue as a moral crisis facing the nation, and called on Christians of all denominations to protest outside of abortion clinics, or "killing centers", as they were described by Elizabeth Johnston, a pro-life advocate and the event's main speaker. Speakers at the Day of Mourning event included Johnston, an author and social media advocate, as well as Justin Reeder, founder of a Charlotte, N.C.-based pro-life ministry, and Blythe Mullen, an eight-year-old girl whose mother decided against abortion after an unplanned pregnancy and put her up for adoption. "We are standing with these forgotten and thrown-away children, and promising to do all that is in our power to end the bloodshed and defend the weak," Johnston said. "We are here in New York, where they just not only signed, but celebrated by lighting up the World Trade Center pink, the execution of babies." The Centers for Disease Control in November published abortion statistics from 2015, the most recent year for which data is available. The Abortion Surveillance report found that, among 46 states that submitted abortion statistics, New York state reported over 92,000 abortions in 2015, the most of any state by a wide margin. California, Florida, Wyoming and Maryland did not submit abortion numbers to the CDC. And while that figure for New York state is buoyed by the over 63,000 abortions performed in New York City alone, there were 29,326 abortions throughout the rest of the state in 2015 a number that would have been fifth-highest among the 46 states that submitted data. But the Reproductive Health Act, supporters say, codifies into state law the 1973 Roe v. Wade court decision that legalized abortion, thus securing the right for women in New York to get abortions should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the Roe V. Wade decision. The law legalized abortions after the 24th week of pregnancy, and allows health care professionals like nurse practitioners or physician assistants to perform abortions. Proponents of the law say it will make it easier for women to get an abortion should they choose, and incorporates language to the law that allows women to get a late-term abortion if their health or lives are at risk, or if there is not "fetal viability" that the baby will survive upon birth. But pro-life advocates argue that the law is vague, and compare it to legalizing infanticide. "It's so vague that it leaves it up to interpretation. The mother's mental health, her well-being. What does the health of the mother mean? She's having a bad day and she wants to kill to her child? It's very vague," said Cindy Shark, of Mechanicville. "Your choice was to use birth control, your choice is adoption ... don't kill (a baby), give it to somebody who wants it," Shark said. Throughout the event, members of the audience wept audibly and raised their arms some even prostrating on the ground throughout the convention center during prayer. At one point, around four dozen pastors from across New York went to their hands and knees onstage alongside the event's speakers. "It's time to rebuild, pick up the pieces," Reeder said to the audience. "I'm talking about a culture shift, where families stop running to the abortion center for the answer, and they begin running to the local church. That's the shift that I believe (in)." ALBANY - New York's regional off-track betting corporations could soon have the authority to merge operations. The budget proposed last month by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo includes language paving the way for combined operations, which is something the Capital District OTB would consider under the right circumstances. "If an opportunity comes about, we'll review it," said Capital OTB President John Signor. "Right now there's nothing really out there." While Signor supports the measures inclusion in the final budget, which is due on March 31, he stressed that the Capital OTB was able to turn a profit in 2018. Catskill OTB President Don Groth said his branch isn't in "active pursuit" of a merger. He added that a merger wouldn't address any of the underlying statutory challenges facing OTBs. A merger would potentially streamline administrative functions and save money for the regional OTBs, which traditionally operate on very narrow margins. Hudson Valley harness racing The Catskill OTB might soon get in the business of harness racing, thanks to legislation from Assemblyman Gary Pretlow that would let the OTB take over operations at Monticello Raceway in Sullivan County. Additionally, Catskill OTB would be allowed to operate up to 1,100 video gaming terminals at three locations outside of Tioga, Westchester and Sullivan counties. The current operator of the 1,100 terminals at Monticello is preparing to abandon them in April. "We would have interest if the Legislature allowed us to," Groth said of the potential transition. The arrangement could be similar to Western OTB's operation of the Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel, which includes video gaming and harness racing. David.Lombardo@timesunion.com - 518.454.5427 - @poozer87 FINANCIAL ASSOCIATES OF GLENS FALLS INSURANCE Chelsea Gallup joined as an account executive. Gallup is a licensed New York state insurance agent. CAP COM FEDERAL CREDIT UNION Christopher McKenna was named president and CEO, effective in May. McKenna serves as executive vice president and chief lending officer of mortgage subsidiary Homeowners Advantage. Jason Greco joined as chief technology officer. Greco founded Enginuity Technologies in 2018. Christine "Chris" Horne joined as chief experience officer. Horne previously worked at General Electric. Lee Carman joined as chief lending officer. Carman previously served as senior vice president at National Union Bank of Kinderhook. SARATOGA NATIONAL BANK AND TRUST CO. Karen Mason was named regional manager. Mason joined in 2015 and has more than 30 years of banking experience. BST & CO. LLP Tomas Nicholus was promoted to tax manager. Nicholus previously served as a senior tax associate. FENIMORE ASSET MANAGEMENT Erin Luciano was named business development manager. Luciano previously served as vice president of sales and business development at C.L. King & Associates. GLENS FALLS NATIONAL BANK AND TRUST CO. Marc Yrsha was promoted to senior vice president. Yrsha joined in 2015 and most recently served as vice president, director of business development and small business. SCHWARTZ HESLIN GROUP INC. Michael Lorka was promoted to senior associate. Lorka joined in 2018. HEALTH CARE WHITNEY YOUNG HEALTH Mackenzie Meyer Berrus joined as a physician assistant. Meyer will provide primary care directly, emphasizing accessibility, health promotion, illness prevention and continuity of care. Daun Brophy joined as a counselor for the MMTP program. Brophy will provide screenings, evaluations, assessments, individualized treatment plans and facilitate psycho-educational groups. Samantha Johnson joined as a behavioral health counselor. Johnson will conduct assessments and mental status exams. MEDIA THE EVANGELIST Michael Matvey joined as editor. Matvey previously served as a senior editor at the New York Daily News. NONPROFITS ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES OF NEW YORK Maureen Cunningham joined as senior director for clean water. Cunningham previously served as executive director of the Hudson River Watershed Alliance. PROFESSIONS COUCH WHITE LLP James E. Walsh joined as of counsel. Walsh works in the commercial and complex litigation, real estate and environmental practice groups. LEMERY GREISLER LLC Shalini Natesan joined as an associate attorney. Natesan concentrates her practice in commercial loan finance transactions, corporate transactions and estate planning and administration. REAL ESTATE PROPERTY PRO REALTY GROUP INC. Rebecca Probst joined as a licensed real estate agent and design specialist. Probst works in the real estate sales and construction management divisions. SERVICES PASSPORT FOR GOOD Sandra Sgambati joined as a business development and marketing specialist. Sgambati previously worked in marketing and communications at GE Power. BARTON INTERNATIONAL David Chandler joined as regional sales manager for the southeast territory. Chandler has more than 15 years of progressive sales experience. Jennifer Patterson Malta In many ways, the incentive deal that New York state offered to Amazon to build a headquarters in Long Island City was nearly identical to the package of cash and tax breaks offered to Advanced Micro Devices 12 years ago to build a computer chip factory in Saratoga County. In fact, with Amazon expected to hire 25,000 people in Queens with an average salary of $150,000, the $1.7 billion in grants and tax breaks offered by the state was a relative steal. After all, until the deal with Amazon was announced in August, the largest corporate incentive deal ever offered in New York state had been the $1.2 billion package promised to Advanced Micro Devices in 2006 to build a $3.2 billion computer chip factory at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta. The AMD deal, critics wailed at the time, equated to about $1 million per job. The Amazon deal on the other hand, was valued at $68,000 per job, about six months' pay for the workers Amazon expected to hire. Jon "Jack" Kelley, one of the key local economic development players who helped bring AMD to Saratoga County, said he was thrilled when the Amazon deal was announced back in November and had surpassed the AMD deal as the largest and perhaps most significant in state history. "I was more than happy to give up that title," said Kelley, who is now director of economic development for Prime Cos. "And I'd be glad to give it up again. Next time, let's go get it done." But no one can dispute that the AMD deal provided one of the best returns on investment for any economic development deal in recent state history something that will only be a 'what if' question surrounding the Amazon deal. Under the terms of the state's 2006 deal with AMD, the chip maker promised to create 1,205 jobs with an average salary of $60,000. As it turned out, the AMD deal ended up being an unqualified success for the state, with more than double the number of jobs created and four times the expected capital investment. One key ingredient that helped make it a success was when AMD spun its manufacturing operations into a new company called GlobalFoundries that was infused with billions of dollars from the oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi. Looking to diversify its economy to make it sustainable into the future, the government of Abu Dhabi has been extremely patient with its investment in GlobalFoundries, taking a long-range view that would require tens of billions of dollars in capital to succeed. As a result, GlobalFoundries didn't just beat its job creation and capital investment obligations with New York state it obliterated them. Since breaking ground at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta in 2008, GlobalFoundries has spent $12 billion building and expanding what it now calls its Fab 8 campus. Employment at the 1.3 million-square-foot facility today is 3,000, more than double its original promise, although layoffs last year reduced that from a high water mark of about 3,500. And the average salary of workers at Fab 8 is $92,000 more than 50 percent higher than what had been touted back in 2006. The total amount of state subsidies that GlobalFoundries reaped from the state over a 10-year period has actually been closer to about $1.7 billion, which includes benefits earned through the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency, which provides sales tax exemptions on the purchase of manufacturing equipment and construction materials. Similarly, the Amazon deal would have also been much larger than just the state's $1.7 billion offer. Amazon could have earned another $1.3 billion in tax breaks under two New York City incentive programs if it reached its job-creation and investment goals. Multiple studies of the GlobalFoundries deal have come to the conclusion that New York and local communities have experienced a net gain on the mega-deal in terms of jobs and tax generation, despite the subsidies. Charles Wessner, a Georgetown University professor who has studied the GlobalFoundries deal and New York's semiconductor industry strategy, says that each job created at Fab 8 has an indirect effect of creating other jobs the so-called multiplier effect. One of the most respected models of the multiplier effect was created by University of California at Berkeley economist Enrico Moretti, who found that for every innovation job created, there are five additional jobs created in other sectors of the local economy. Using the Moretti model, Wessner says it's safe to say that Fab 8 has created 17,000 additional local jobs, from real estate agents to day care workers and convenience store clerks. Wessner cited the success of New York's investment in Fab 8 at an international development conference held in Seville, Spain back in September. He said that the $360 million payroll at Fab 8 had a ripple effect throughout the Capital Region economy. "If you look at the multiplier, there is a lot of jobs created," Wessner said. "Why? Because there's a lot of money being paid to high-tech employees." Wessner's research also found that Fab 8 generated $992 million in state tax receipts between 2010 and 2016, when the annual total reached $257 million. Local tax payments and fees also reached $85 million during that period. Marty Vanags, president of the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, says it's the steady, lucrative paychecks high-tech workers earn that are the hallmark of successful deals more than anything else. That income gets recirculated back into the local economy in the form of demand for new services and pumps sales tax and other revenue into the economy that creates what Vanags calls a higher "quality of place" that in turn attracts other businesses to move to the area and leads to new business startups. "The biggest impact is the impact that wage provides," Vanags said. "I call it the economic development circle of life." On Valentine's Day, Amazon made it official that it wasn't going to be participating in the circle of life in Queens, citing opposition by a small number of local political leaders and activists. "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," Amazon said in its statement announcing it was terminating the deal on Feb. 14. "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." It's difficult to quantify what the long-term fallout will be for both the state and Amazon. In many ways, the collapse of the deal so early and quickly has been worse than any downside risks the deal posed to the state. New York officials said the Amazon deal, which offered up to $3 billion in state and city subsidies, would have generated $27.5 billion in new tax revenue over a 25-year period, a nine-to-one return on the combined state and city incentive package. And the overall economic impact over that period would have been $186 billion, city and state officials said, a huge opportunity lost for the entire state, not just New York City, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. "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," Cuomo said after Amazon delivered the bad news. Kelley, who worked for the Saratoga Economic Development Corp. back when he helped lure AMD to New York, says the failure of the Amazon deal to transpire "really puts a black eye" on the state's business image. But Kelley doesn't think that it's just a political failure but also signals that perhaps Amazon's frenzied site selection process, in which more than 200 cities showered Amazon with lavish incentive deals and praise, may not have been as effective as it seemed. "I find Amazon to be at fault as much as New York state," Kelley said. "There should be some heads that roll at Amazon. It turned out to be a flawed approach. Maybe we made it look a little too easy." Kelley believes the difference between the success of the AMD deal and the failure of the Amazon deal lies in the years that he and countless others spent getting to learn about the computer chip industry and helping local communities get comfortable with the idea of having a chip fab in their backyard. Hundreds of meetings were held over many years just to solidify local support even before an agreement was struck with AMD. And SEDC officials had learned that they had to lay the groundwork for community support long before seeking a tenant after watching residents in North Greenbush reject plans to bring a computer chip manufacturer to the Rensselaer Technology Park back in 1999. Kelley and others learned that everyone from local town supervisors to fire chiefs and homeowner associations had to be on board with the idea even before it became a reality. "We had the support of the community and elected officials," Kelley said. "It was at the lowest levels. That's really where economic development takes place. A lot of people think this just happened. It didn't." Troy Students trudging through calculus equations, geometry homework or chemistry exams can't be blamed for sometimes wondering when will I ever need to use this in the real world? One Capital Region man is tackling that question by hoping to strengthen the link between classroom teachings and the skills students will need in the workplace. "The problem is, we used to all be around the same campfire, and wisdom was passed down. Now, we're all busy, we don't find the time to pass along that expertise so we don't ," said Mike Baron, a structural engineer and project manager for the engineering consulting firm Chazen, and founder of the "Expertise Project." "The next generation needs professional mentors to kind of close that skills gap and show them the way," he said. Baron launched the Expertise Project with a website in 2016, featuring dozens of videos from local civil engineering professionals who, in short clips, answer questions students have posed about working in the profession, how to have a successful career or offering their own helpful tips. "It's the thing I wish I had," said Baron, a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduate. Several regional educators and engineering experts say the Expertise Project can fill a gap in the skills students or recent graduates have when they arrive in a workplace. The gap may arise from curricula that haven't adapted to technological change, which makes technical skills relatively less important than "soft", or interpersonal skills. "I had the same kind of experience when I graduated from RPI in engineering," said Beth Ernest, an associate professor of engineering science at Hudson Valley Community College. "You learn all this technical information and the calculus, physics, engineering. But there definitely is a gap between what you're learning in school and how you're supposed to be using that out in the workplace." The Expertise Project's concept has transformed since its inception, but Baron's goal has remained the same: provide mentorship opportunities for professionals without the complicated structure or time-consuming nature of a formal mentorship program. At the same time, the site offers a place for students with questions about the career they're considering to find some answers. Now, Baron has begun sending out email blasts for "Moment Mentoring Mondays" as he grows the platform. Students can submit questions they have about life in the working world, and professionals can take a moment and film themselves solving a problem they encounter in the field, or answering that week's selected student question. The idea, Baron said, is to one day have a large collection of archived videos spanning multiple industries and answering a wide array of questions thereby facilitating the passage of knowledge from one generation to another. "All the expertise is in the (baby) boomer generation, and it's about to go out the window," Baron said. "Trying to keep professional expertise alive in the workforce is like trying to heat a house in the winter with the windows open," he said. "It takes a lot of energy to get it all in the house in the first place...but if you don't capture that lost heat, where are we going?" About a year ago, Baron sought help in developing the Expertise Project from the Troy-based Workforce Development Institute. After a few meetings to learn about Baron's idea, the WDI provided a grant to further develop it. "We have a lot of talented people leaving the workforce every single day. If we could capture a fraction of what they know and pass it on to someone, it would be an incredible win," said Dan Cullen, regional director for the WDI. "If you can do it on video, it lasts longer." Educators at both the collegiate and K-12 levels say they see the potential of the project. For younger students in high school, the site can provide a window into different professions that could help students better choose a career path or field of study to go into, said Jeremy Rich, superintendent of the Central Valley School District. "We have a lot of students that don't really know what it is they want to do when they grow up. What they think they want to do is what they get from TV, from the movies," Rich said. Rich, who has spoken with Baron throughout the development of the Expertise Project, said he sees value in the site becoming a sort of "storefront" that can show students the day-to-day activities of workers in any number of professions and "being able to really get down to the core of what it is they do. What are the skills you need," in the workplace, he said. For educators in the engineering field, emphasis on calculations and mathematics has taken a step back in importance with the development of technology that can more efficiently solve equations. "Typically, the computer will do it all. I'm telling my students now 'I'm not training you to be a calculator', said Chris Letchford, professor and head of RPI's civil and environmental engineering department. "The problem is really interfacing with the client and the architect and making sure the solution derived is the best solution." Letchford, who is one of the industry experts featured on the Expertise Project, has emphasized for students the importance of things like curiosity and empathy in the learning process. Ernest, the HVCC professor, said it can be difficult to retain students in the engineering program because the initial classes are typically "theory-based" and students can have a hard time seeing how the schoolwork may relate to a career. "That's a big area that Mike's project could help them out with help them see the link early on," she said. "You don't have to wait until you have to do a capstone project to see what it's like. You can, as a freshman, use (the Expertise Project)." Baron has been promoting the platform in recent weeks, and has hopes to receive mentor moments from around the country to eventually make it a universally accessible platform. Baron hosted an "Experts are Human" event in September, which brought together engineering students with industry professionals in a casual environment at Revolution Hall in Troy and Baron said another event is scheduled for later this spring. "If we demonstrate that the model works here in Albany, I can see how we could expand really quickly," Baron said. "If we can all start sharing professional moments like we're throwing pennies in a jar, that's going to add up to be something valuable," he said. "Expertise Project just wants to be that jar. We'll collect it, keep it safe and distribute it out as many ways as we can." Thomasville, GA (31792) Today A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Some clouds. Low 69F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Some clouds. Low 69F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Cresaptown, MD (21502) Today A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Some passing clouds. Low 67F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Some passing clouds. Low 67F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Lincoln National Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses in the United States. It operates through four segments: Annuities, Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance, and Group Protection. The Annuities segment offers variable, fixed, and indexed variable annuities. The Retirement Plan Services segment provides employers with retirement plan products and services primarily in the defined contribution retirement plan marketplace. This segment offers individual and group variable annuities, group fixed annuities, and mutual fund-based programs; and a range of plan services, including plan recordkeeping, compliance testing, participant education, and trust and custodial services. The Life Insurance segment provides life insurance products, including term insurance, such as single and survivorship versions of universal life insurance; variable universal life insurance; indexed universal life insurance products; and critical illness and long-term care riders. The Group Protection segment offers group non-medical insurance products comprising short and long-term disability, statutory disability and paid family medical leave administration and absence management services, term life, dental, vision and accident, and critical illness benefits and services to the employer marketplace through various forms of employee-paid and employer-paid plans. The company distributes its products through consultants, brokers, planners, agents, financial advisors, third-party administrators, and other intermediaries. Lincoln National Corporation was founded in 1905 and is based in Radnor, Pennsylvania. Read More 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. Read More 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. KG, Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE, Procter & Gamble Hair Care, Procter & Gamble Hellas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Holding (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Holding France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Holding GmbH, Procter & Gamble Holding S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Holdings (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Home Products Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Hong Kong Limited, Procter & Gamble Hungary Wholesale Trading Partnership (KKT), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Inc., Procter & Gamble India Holdings, Procter & Gamble Indochina Limited Company, Procter & Gamble Industrial - 2012 C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Industrial S.C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Costa Rica, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Guatemala, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Panama, Procter & Gamble International Operations Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble International Operations SA, Procter & Gamble International Operations SA-ROHQ, Procter & Gamble International S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Investment Company (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Investment GmbH, Procter & Gamble Italia, Procter & Gamble Japan K.K., Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan Distribution LLP, Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan LLP, Procter & Gamble Korea, Procter & Gamble Korea S&D Co., Procter & Gamble Lanka Private Ltd. Sri Lanka, Procter & Gamble Leasing LLC, Procter & Gamble Levant S.A.L., Procter & Gamble Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Berlin GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Marketing Romania SRL, Procter & Gamble Marketing and Services doo, Procter & Gamble Maroc SA, Procter & Gamble Mataro, Procter & Gamble Mexico Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Mexico Inc., Procter & Gamble Middle East FZE, Procter & Gamble Nederland B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Investments B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Services B.V., Procter & Gamble Nigeria Limited, Procter & Gamble Nordic, Procter & Gamble Norge AS, Procter & Gamble Operations Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Overseas India B.V., Procter & Gamble Overseas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Pakistan (Private) Limited, Procter & Gamble Partnership LLP, Procter & Gamble Peru S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals France SAS, Procter & Gamble Philippines, Procter & Gamble Polska Sp. z o.o, Procter & Gamble Portugal - Produtos De Consumo, Procter & Gamble Product Supply (U.K.) Limited U.K., Procter & Gamble Production GmbH, Procter & Gamble Productions, Procter & Gamble Productos de Consumo, Procter & Gamble RHD, Procter & Gamble RSC Regional Service Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Retail Services BVBA, Procter & Gamble S.r.l., Procter & Gamble SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Satis ve Dagitim Ltd. Sti., Procter & Gamble Seine S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Service GmbH, Procter & Gamble Services (Switzerland) SA, Procter & Gamble Services Company N.V., Procter & Gamble Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Share Incentive Plan Trustee Ltd., Procter & Gamble South America Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Spol. s.r.o. (Ltd.), Procter & Gamble Sports and Social Club Ltd., Procter & Gamble Sverige AB, Procter & Gamble Switzerland SARL, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Limited, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Sales Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Technical Centres Limited, Procter & Gamble Technology (Beijing) Co., Procter & Gamble Trading (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Tuketim Mallari Sanayii A.S., Procter & Gamble UK, Procter & Gamble UK Group Holdings Ltd, Procter & Gamble UK Parent Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Universal Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Verwaltungs GmbH, Procter & Gamble Vietnam, Procter & Gamble d.o.o. za trgovinu, Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.C.A., Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.R.L., Procter & Gamble do Brasil S/A, Procter & Gamble do Brazil, Procter & Gamble do Nordeste S/A, Procter & Gamble-Rakona s.r.o., Progam Realty & Development Corporation, Redmond Products, Richardson-Vicks Real Estate Inc., Richardson-Vicks do Brasil Quimica e Farmaceutica Ltda, Riverfront Music Publishing Co., Rosemount LLC, SPD Development Company Limited, SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Scannon S.A.S., Series Acquisition B.V., Shulton, Surfac S.R.L., Sycamore Productions, TAOS - FL, TAOS Retail, Tambrands Inc., Temple Trees Impex & Investment Private Limited, The Art of Shaving - FL, The Dover Wipes Company, The Gillette Company, The Gillette Company LLC, The Gillette co., The Procter & Gamble Distributing LLC, The Procter & Gamble GBS Company, The Procter & Gamble Global Finance Company, The Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Company, The Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company, The Procter & Gamble U.S. Business Services Company, This is L., US CD LLC, Vidal Sassoon (Shanghai) Academy, Vidal Sassoon Co., WEBA Betriebsrenten-Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Walker & Company Brands, and iMFLUX Inc.. Wall Street Legend Who Picked Bitcoin in 2016 Shares #1 Pick for the 2020s (Ad) Picking the right investment of the decade can transform your life Microsoft in the 80sAmazon in the 90sApple in the 2000sBitcoin in 2016... Any one of these could have made you a millionaire many times over. Today, the Wall Street legend who picked the last investment of the decade The answer will surprise you. Genpact Limited provides business process outsourcing and information technology (IT) services North and Latin America, India, rest of Asia, and Europe. It operates in three segments: Banking, Capital Markets and Insurance; Consumer Goods, Retail, Life Sciences and Healthcare; and High Tech, Manufacturing and Services. The company's finance and accounting services include accounts payable, such as document management, invoice processing, approval and resolution management, and travel and expense processing; invoice-to-cash services, including customer master data management, credit and contract management, fulfillment, billing, collections, and dispute management services; record to report services comprising accounting, treasury, tax, product cost accounting, and closing and reporting services; financial planning and analysis consisting of budgeting, forecasting, and business performance reporting; and enterprise risk and compliance services, including operational risks and controls. It also provides supply chain design, planning, inventory optimization, transportation and logistics management, and after-sales services; sourcing and procurement services comprising direct and indirect strategic sourcing, category management, spend analytics, procurement operation, master data management, and other procurement and supply chain advisory services; and sales and commercial services in the lead-to-quote, quote-to-order, and customer service areas. In addition, the company offers IT services, which include end-user computing support, infrastructure management, application production support, and database management services; and transformation services that include digital solutions, consulting services, and analytics services and solutions. It serves banking, capital market, insurance, consumer goods, retail, life science, healthcare, high tech, and manufacturing and service industries. Genpact Limited was founded in 1997 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Read More EMCOR Group, Inc. provides electrical and mechanical construction, and facilities services in the United States. The company offers design, integration, installation, starts-up, operation, and maintenance services related to electrical power transmission and distribution systems; premises electrical and lighting systems; process instrumentation in the refining, chemical processing, food processing, and mining industries; low-voltage systems, such as fire alarm, security, and process control systems; voice and data communications systems; roadway and transit lighting, and fiber optic lines; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and clean-room process ventilation systems; fire protection systems; plumbing, process, and high-purity piping systems; controls and filtration systems; water and wastewater treatment systems; central plant heating and cooling systems; crane and rigging services; millwright services; and steel fabrication, erection, and welding services. It also provides building services that cover commercial and government site-based operations and maintenance; facility management, maintenance, and services outage services to utilities and industrial plants; military base operations support services; mobile mechanical maintenance and services; services for indoor air quality; floor care and janitorial services; landscaping, lot sweeping, and snow removal; other building services; vendor management; call center services; installation and support for building systems; program development, management, and maintenance for energy systems; technical consulting and diagnostic services; infrastructure and building projects; and small modification and retrofit projects. In addition, the company provides industrial services for oil, gas, and petrochemical industries. EMCOR Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Read More Families with two working parents are being urged to take advantage of a scheme to save hundreds of pounds a year on nursery or child-minder fees. Only five per cent of the families eligible have signed up for Tax-Free Childcare which tops up money they have set aside by 20 per cent. In its first year only 32 million of top-ups were made from an expected 390 million pot. Families with two working parents are being urged to take advantage of a scheme to save hundreds of pounds a year on nursery or child-minder fees (stock image) The maximum benefit is 2,000 a year per child up to the age of 12, or 4,000 for disabled children, up to 17. Families where one parent earns a salary of more than 100,000 are not eligible. The scheme suffered technical problems following its launch in 2017. But setting one up now should be straightforward and can be done via gov.uk/apply-for-tax-free-childcare. Parents who already use childcare vouchers offered by their employers instead can continue with these but they are no longer available to newcomers. Rebecca OConnor of insurer Royal London, recommends calculating the difference between the two schemes first. She says: Once you have switched, you cannot go back. Find out more at workingfamilies.org.uk/tax-free-childcare. Rich pickings: A picture of 'Lord' Walne that can be found using Google It feels uncomfortable and frankly a little narcissistic 'Googling' myself, writes Toby Walne. I was also shocked to discover more than 57,000 results from tapping 'Toby Walne' into the search engine. At the top of the list is my social media presence on Twitter hundreds of messages written by me that have appeared relating to my personal and professional life such as the one when I bumped into David Beckham on an office coffee run and noted he 'smells good'. Others include photos of my family and home. A media website known as Muck Rack reveals a self-portrait that I have painted showing outside interests along with access to hundreds of articles written mostly for The Mail on Sunday. Within a couple of clicks I can find my email address and mobile phone number. My address can also clearly be found on a Google contact list. Read: Have you been Googled by a 'dark web' con man? Here's how to clean up your digital footprint and keep away criminals Business network website LinkedIn shows I went to Bradford University and have more than 500 contacts that a cyber criminal could also mine. If I paid 25 a month it would be possible to see who has been looking me up on LinkedIn but a cursory glance at invitations to connect also gives me an idea. Moving on to the website Have I Been Pwned I tap in my email address. There are eight potential breaches where hackers could have got my personal details websites I have used in the past that cyber criminals have breached. Worryingly any passwords used to access their services may also have been stolen and could be purchased on a 'suckers list' found on the dark web. Clicking on 'images' reveals I am a lord though sadly only because I purchased the title as part of research for a story some years ago. There are lots of pictures of me as well as those of my children and wife, including some of us inside our home. It also reveals an interest in making my own beer and that I own a classic car subjects a criminal might mention to lure me into trusting them. The internet is a wonderful tool but the five-minute browse reveals we must all be on our guard as our private details are not so private after all. One of Britain's largest same-day courier companies is set to be sold for up to 250 million by an investment company backed by Lloyds Banking Group. Sources said Lloyds Development Capital, a division of Lloyds, has hired bankers from Raymond James to carry out a 'strategic review' of CitySprint, which may lead to a sale. CitySprint is set to be sold for up to 250 million by an investment company It is not clear which companies might be interested in purchasing CitySprint but past reports suggest Royal Mail could make a move. Lloyds Development Capital's appointment of Raymond James surprised some dealmakers as it only purchased the business from rival buy-out firm Dunedin a couple of years ago for 175 million. CitySprint has been growing via acquisitions including Heathrow Baggage Services. Lloyds Development Capital declined to comment. Sainsbury's workers suffered a 76.9 million paper loss on their shares last week after the supermarket's proposed merger with Asda faced a major setback. Employees, who own 6.7 per cent of the business through its share reward scheme, were hit when an interim report by the competition regulator wiped 22 per cent off the company's value. Sainsbury's workers suffered a 76.9 million paper loss on their shares last week after the supermarket's proposed merger with Asda faced a major setback Sainsbury's chief executive Mike Coupe who was caught by television microphones singing We're In The Money from the musical 42nd Street when he announced the proposed tie-up with Asda saw a 836,623 paper loss on his personal shares. Sainsbury's executives control 2.1 per cent of the company through shares plans, the value of which fell 24.1 million as the deal was cast into doubt. The Competition and Markets Authority declared that the proposed 12 billion merger which would have created Britain's biggest supermarket group would force up prices and reduce the range of products. The firms have vowed to fight the preliminary ruling, but sources believe the regulator's verdict is unlikely to change substantially before its final report. If the merger falls through, both firms appear to be forecasting bleak prospects. Britain's biggest charities stand accused of 'misleading' donors Britain's biggest charities stand accused of 'misleading' donors by including money spent on executive pay, public relations and support services in the sum they say goes to the causes they represent. Critics say the practice which is widespread, including at household names such as Save the Children, Cancer Research and Oxfam lets organisations exaggerate how much of their income goes to frontline causes. A Mail on Sunday investigation found that ten of the UK's largest charities included more than 225 million of so-called support and governance costs in 3.9 billion of 'charitable spending' in their most recent accounts. In the most extreme cases, two charities, Marie Stopes International and Save the Children International, report figures suggesting 100 per cent of their expenditure goes on 'charitable activities' even though both pay their chief executives over 200,000 a year. The findings have led to calls for a shake-up of charity sector accounting rules. Under current guidelines, charities must publish data on the website of the Charity Commission showing how much of their income is spent on 'charitable activities'. Charities say they are abiding by the rules, which permit support and governance costs to be included in the figure. Such costs which are partially broken down in the charities' annual reports, but not on the commission's website include IT, financial management, human resources, public relations, staffing, executive pay and governance. In some cases, these costs are solely attributed to the 'charitable activities' section of their accounts. In others, the costs are divided across expenditure categories, such as 'fundraising'. The commission says good support and governance are a crucial aspect of 'delivering on charitable objectives' and so can legitimately be included in that category. But critics argue that such costs should not be counted within 'charitable spending' and only serve to confuse donors who wish to see as much of their bequest as possible go directly to good causes. Gina Miller, a City investor and corporate governance expert who campaigns for transparency and tighter support costs in charities, last night called for an overhaul of accounting and regulation in the sector. Claims: Some charities state that 100 per cent of donations go on frontline 'charitable activities' Miller, who is best known for a high-profile legal challenge to Brexit and for pushing through big rule changes in fund management, said: 'Well-run charities, like any organisation, need to spend money on running their operations in an effective and efficient manner. But I believe it is misleading to donors to roll up all these costs. It is clearly absurd that charities are allowed to hide large elements of their costs within their disclosed charitable spending number. 'If a charity receives 100 and after overheads 50 is available for spending on the genuine end charitable activities, donors should be told this rather than misled.' Lord Wallace of Saltaire, a former Liberal Democrat Minister who worked on charity laws, said: 'It would be far better to separate out support costs and staff costs from charitable activities. Then you get a sense of what proportion of their income is needed to cover support costs. If it's only 5 per cent, they're doing incredibly well. If it's 10 per cent, that's probably normal. If it's up towards 40 or 50 per cent, there is something definitely wrong.' He added: 'There are a few charities that manage to spend far too much on administration. The Charity Commission's staff is far too small to check these accounts, and they don't usually intervene until someone questions them.' The Mail on Sunday investigated the accounts of Britain's ten largest mainstream charities by income Save the Children International, Save the Children's UK arm, Cancer Research UK, the National Trust, Oxfam, the British Heart Foundation, Sightsavers, Barnardo's, Marie Stopes International and the British Red Cross. Of the ten, the National Trust recorded the highest 'support service' cost. Some 61.9 million of such expenses were included in charitable spending of 533.7 million. This includes expenditure on governance, human resources, legal activity, IT, administration and finance. A spokesman said: 'Every year we spend millions of pounds protecting nature and historic places. We simply wouldn't be able to do this without our support systems that allow staff and volunteers to do their jobs, as well as ensuring visitors have the best experience.' Save the Children International claims, via its Charity Commission page, that 100 per cent of expenditure goes to charitable activities. But its accounts show its $1.3 billion (1 billion) of charitable spending includes $36.8 million 'support costs', which in turn includes $6.2 million associated with 'leadership and strategic investment'. Its chief executive, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, a former Danish Prime Minister, was paid $299,136 last year, while 18 members of staff were paid $195,000 a year or more. Save the Children Fund, the charity's UK arm, logged 42.9 million of costs in its 370.5 million of charitable activities spending, breaking this down into 18.5 million spent on management and administration and 24.4 million on support. Marie Stopes International, a birth control charity, also claims that 100 per cent of its 299.4 million-a-year expenditure was charitable. But this includes 13.2 million of support costs. The charity's highest paid employee thought to be chief executive Simon Cooke took home 300,532 last year, and 15 employees were paid 150,000 or more. A charity spokesman said: 'We are committed to transparency, which is why we also publish a clear and detailed breakdown of our income and expenditure in our annual report, free to view at the Charity Commission website and our own.' A spokesman for the National Council for Voluntary Organisations defended charities' figures, saying that they are merely following the commission's rules. He said a breakdown of 'charitable activity' costs is in the organisations' annual reports, adding: 'Charities spend prudently on things like IT or office costs, but can't do their work without them. They follow approved accounting standards, and provide full details of their support costs in their publicly available annual reports.' The commission said the accounting framework was changed in 2014 to 'create a single figure for charitable activities that included governance and related support costs'. She added: 'This reflects the fact that good governance is essential for a charity to operate effectively. 'Our annual return in 2018 requires more information than ever before, including chief executive pay. We will be reviewing in the coming year what information charities should submit and how this can best be displayed.' Bank of England governor Mark Carney The Bank of England has been known informally as The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street for more than 200 years. But Britain's central bank still pays its male employees vastly more than women and new figures show the gap is widening. The Bank, led by Canadian governor Mark Carney, last week filed data to the Government showing that its male staff are paid an average of 24.6 per cent more than their female colleagues. The median disparity is up from 24.2 per cent in the previous financial year, when UK organisations were first required to publish their gender pay gap figures. The average gap in bonuses given to men and women also grew from 25.6 per cent to 26.4 per cent. Nicky Morgan, chairwoman of parliament's Treasury Select Committee, said the figures were 'disappointing'. She added: 'What is really important is that the Bank really understands why [the gap has grown] and, as importantly, what they plan to do about it.' Noted: Carney earns far more than the Banks top woman Joanna Place (pictured centre) The data will be embarrassing for Carney, who has pledged to increase the number of women in senior positions at the Bank. Carney took home 881,574 in pay last year. The Bank's most senior woman is chief operating officer Joanna Place, who replaced Charlotte Hogg in 2017. Place's first full-year pay in the role has yet to be revealed, but it is expected to total around 355,000, in line with the deputy governors. The Bank has been caught up in a number of sexism storms in recent years, including following the departure of Hogg who left in March 2017 after failing to declare that her brother worked for Barclays. Former chancellor George Osborne tweeted at the time: 'Charlotte Hogg is a real loss to public life. Would she have gone if she had been an older man whose sister worked at a bank? I wonder...' Last year, deputy governor Ben Broadbent was forced to apologise when he described the state of the British economy as 'menopausal'. A Bank of England spokeswoman said the pay gap changes were 'accounted for by changes at deputy governor level over the last year'. She added that there are currently fewer women in senior roles and a higher proportion are at 'lower scales'. Packaging specialist Macfarlane is a Scottish success story. Based in Glasgow, the firm designs and distributes highly efficient, environmentally friendly protective packaging for 17,000 businesses across the UK and overseas. Midas first recommended the shares in 2012, when they were 27p. Today, the stock is 92p and chief executive Peter Atkinson believes there is plenty more growth to come. Stock watch: Macfarlane is based in Glasgow and the firm designs and distributes highly efficient, environmentally friendly protective packaging (stock image) The company has been on a roll, increasing profits by about 15 per cent annually for nine years. Last year was even better, as Atkinson revealed on Thursday last week. Underlying profits rose 20 per cent to 11.2 million and the firm unveiled a 10 per cent rise in the dividend to 2.3p, testimony to management confidence in the future. A fifth of Macfarlane's sales come from retail and e-commerce firms, including Burberry and Urban Outfitters. But the group makes most of its money from industrial customers, in sectors such as aerospace, defence and medical supplies. The vast majority of Macfarlane's suppliers and customers are in the UK so it is relatively protected against Brexit-related risk. But several businesses have asked it to supply them in Europe too, so Atkinson is expanding his presence there. In recent years Macfarlane has grown both organically and by acquisition. This trend is likely to continue. MIDAS VERDICT: Atkinson and his board are upbeat, the group has made good progress and the share price has tripled in seven years. Cautious investors may want to reduce their holding in case of a UK downturn. More ebullient shareholders should stick with the business. Traded on: Main market Ticker: MACF Contact: macfarlanegroup.com or 0141 333 9666 C.B. writes: I received a letter from Privacy Protect UK Ltd, thanking me for signing up to its service to eliminate telephone sales calls, and telling me that 149 would be taken from my bank account. I alerted my bank as I have never signed up with this company, nor have I given the firm my bank account details. Since then, Privacy Protect has been calling me to ask for payment, and I have received a further letter suggesting my bank account will be charged. One reader says they are being bombarded by nuisance calls from Privacy Protect UK Ltd Tony says: Ignore any demands and make sure your bank lets nothing slip through. Privacy Protect UK Ltd is a scam, linked to other scams. It is based in Bournemouth, which is a centre for these rackets. The company claims: 'Privacy Protect UK Ltd is a nationally recognised data controller and independent service, dedicated to empowering and protecting the privacy of UK consumers. 'We are registered by the Information Commissioner's Office and committed to ensure your personal data is processed fairly and lawfully.' Silent: Lloyd Smith is linked to dodgy Bournemouth firms Lies. The firm was set up in 2017 and its own accounts show it was dormant until at least March last year. It has no legal powers, and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which registers all data controllers, told me: 'It was registered from March 13, 2017 to March 12, 2018, but there does not appear to have been any renewal payment so its registration has lapsed.' So a firm that claims it will call on the ICO to take up customer complaints of nuisance calls is falsely claiming to be registered with the ICO. Since you have never even agreed to be its customer, its calls to you are nuisance calls themselves. I asked boss Lloyd Smith for a copy of any agreement he might have with you that would allow him to raid your bank account. WE'RE WATCHING YOU Investigators from the Insolvency Service last week won a High Court order to shut down a Stockport firm that claimed to run anti-drugs campaigns in schools, but was exposed by The Mail on Sunday as being part of a network of scam publishers posing as charities. Data Northern Ltd cold-called small firms, implying that it was a charity working with the police and schools. It requested donations to produce booklets warning teenagers against drugs. After I warned in 2017 that it was really a profit-making business based on deceit, investigators found it had raked in more than 880,000 through a mix of false promises and threats. Businesses were typically told that a 179 donation would pay for booklets for one school. But the cheaply produced booklets were written by the firms sole director Ashley Thorley. The court in Manchester heard that most schools did not receive them, while those that did felt they were so poor they dumped them. Once a firm had stumped up its first donation, it was told it had entered into a rolling contract to carry on paying. If it refused, Data Northern claimed that bailiffs would move in and seize goods, or that court action would follow. Two years ago I revealed that Thorley had been a boss of a similar firm calling itself the Teenage Information Bureau. It raised over 400,000 by claiming to produce booklets on sexually transmitted infections. I reported that her business partner was Gemma Reilly, wife of Roy Hasford, who is banned as a company director. His offence? Tricking firms into paying for brochures for schools through yet another firm, The Owl House Northern. Scott Crighton, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: Data Northern targeted small businesses and exploited their generous and benevolent nature, but was generating revenue only for the company itself. If there was no such agreement, then I wanted to know how he came by your bank details in the first place. Smith, 28, failed to offer any explanation or comment. I did not really expect him to say anything, as I had let him know that I was aware of his links to another Bournemouth-based dodgy director, Luke Dean Ashbee. Together, the pair ran Do Not Call (UK) Ltd. I warned three years ago that it was using high pressure sales calls to market a plug-in device that was, ironically, supposed to stop high pressure sales calls. The company failed to file accounts that were legally due and Ashbee put it into liquidation, with debts estimated at 125,000. The web gets wider. In October last year I sounded the alarm over another Bournemouth business that claimed to be nationally recognised and registered with the ICO. Its sole director Kourosh Tamjidi previously co-owned a marketing firm that folded with debts of 11,000. The other co-owner was Luke Ashbee. Since I started my enquiries, Privacy Protect's website has changed dramatically. It now advertises finance for property development. But the website is a rip-off of a real Dorset business, MSP Capital. Managing director Martin Higgins was shocked when on Thursday last week I told him the website of his genuine company had been copied word for word. He told me: 'I am not sure what we can do. Perhaps I'll ring the number on the website and see what they say.' Who is behind the rip-off? Well, there is a clue on the copycat website. It claims to have been copyrighted by SSD Studio, which is a neat trick since SSD Studio Ltd was dissolved in September last year. It was based at 3A Lansdowne Crescent, Bournemouth, the same address as Privacy Protect. And it was owned by Luke Ashbee and Lloyd Smith. Surprise, surprise. If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned. Elder abuse, which includes financial exploitation, is a growing scourge with many cold hearted perpetrators committing their hateful deeds behind closed doors. But others are able to cruelly operate in plain sight. Their victims suffer from dementia, are unaware of the ruthless actions against them and are unable to report misdeeds to relatives. The worst culprits trick targets into marriage without their families' knowledge in order to take control of their estate on death. Elder abuse, which includes financial exploitation, is a growing scourge with many cold hearted perpetrators committing their hateful deeds behind closed doors (stock image) They are able to do this, as Laura Shannon's powerful story about the late Joan Blass reveals, because of weaknesses in checks when the elderly or infirm marry in later life. Combined with the fact that marriage automatically revokes any will already in place, these loopholes allow the new spouse freedom to plunder a victim's wealth. The Mail on Sunday today puts its weight behind a campaign to tighten up protection for these vulnerable adults and get Justice for Joan and others like her. We urge families to be vigilant and seek help if they suspect financial abuse. *** Have you ever tried an escape room experience when you pay to be locked in a series of rooms with just an hour to get free by breaking codes and following a string of clues and brain teasers? I did one with my family last weekend on a Sherlock Holmes theme which was absorbing and fun and challenged my powers of deduction to the extreme. I'm sure if I had had time to smoke three pipes (vape versions, of course) I would have made a bigger contribution to my team's solving of the puzzles. The best that could be said of my role, according to organiser's debrief was that I was 'unflappable'. Sally Hamilton says after about 30 years of 'membership' AA's automatic and steep annual premium increases have begun to get on her nerves Powers of deduction, combined with a large magnifying glass are often required when checking the escape clauses in the terms and conditions of a financial product. I needed one when attempting to cancel my AA breakdown cover recently. After about 30 years of 'membership' a bit of a misnomer as this is a hard-nosed stock market listed organisation not a club the automatic and steep annual premium increases have begun to get on my nerves. The 202 deducted this time round is just not on, especially as modern cars like our Toyota Prius rarely require a call out. My husband found a suitable rival deal costing just 70. But when he tried to cancel the AA arrangement he was shocked to be denied any kind of refund. Although he knew the request was well outside the 14-day cooling off period when customers are permitted to change their mind with no penalty, he had hoped for a refund for the unused portion. A pro rata refund is common practice with motor insurance (with an admin fee deducted). But not so with AA recovery. We were pointed to page 19 of the terms and conditions where it states no refunds are paid except on death or when the member is 'permanently' unable to drive due to accident or illness. Our response? To complain to the organisation (which replied 'we will pass on your comments and suggestion to our roadside product manager'), grind our teeth and set a reminder on the calendar to ensure we break free at the next renewal. Westerly, RI (02891) Today Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 67F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 67F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. While women may no longer be fighting for the right the vote, Kenosha women are passionate about recognizing their sisters-in-arms who make a difference in their community throughout the year. On March 8 they will do so at the 29th Annual Susan B. Anthony Women of Influence Awards Dinner to be held at Madrigrano Marina Shore, 302 58th St. This year, more grants and scholarships will be given than ever before, said Rebecca Matoska-Mentink, committee member and spokeswoman for this year's dinner. Because of this there will be no keynote speech this year, she said. Some things will remain the same, however. As in previous years there will be a lifetime achievement award and three awards for "women of influence." The annual award recognition gathering was first organized by the American Association of University Women and the Kenosha Women's Network in 1985. Today the organization now known as SBA Awards Inc., consists of AAUW Kenosha, Tempo Kenosha and Kenosha Womens Network. The annual dinner commemorates Anthony, an abolitionist and an early leader for women's rights who played a key role in the suffragist movement. Nikol Pashinyan receives Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I (video) Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I on February 22. Nikol Pashinyan said: Your Holiness, Catholicos of All Armenians, Your Holiness, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, I am glad to see and meet you. Of course, we have met in the past and I recall my visit to Antelias with warmth on the occasion of the jubilee year of your activities. My meetings with the Catholicos of All Armenians are regular. Some of those meetings are covered by the media, some are not and I greatly highlight this interaction. Frankly speaking, I even think that the dialogue has not kicked off yet, because this is a period when we are very cautious towards issues and this is natural. But I think during this period we have succeeded in one thing we managed to create a sincere and open atmosphere. This particular dialogue is of key importance for the future of our country, for the future of our people, because I think that we have a very important mission to discuss our nation-wide agenda and establish a nation-wide agenda. We know one thing for sure we, our people, our church and our religious class have a shared acknowledgment that we will not be defeated and have to overcome all the challenges facing our state, people the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Artsakh and the Diaspora. I am confident that such interactions, our relations with the Church and discussions are of decisive and key importance. I am very glad for this opportunity and I am thankful for the visit. Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II said, Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, Today we have the pleasant opportunity to visit you together with the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I. We are thankful for this opportunity. As you may know, its already a few day Catholicos Aram I is in Armenia, at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and during these days we together referred to the issues concerning our Church, different issues and problems facing our Church, as well as we discussed issues referring our national life. Of course, we informed Catholicos Aram I that by your decision a working group has been established to examine issues concerning the Church and the State, and to find reasonable solutions for them. We also referred to the mission of our Church in our national and spiritual life, highlighting our role for the spiritual and national consolidation of our people, as well as for the progress of our country. We emphasized the importance of stability in our country and that the atmosphere of love prevails in our country. And the Armenian Church, like during our entire history, has always stood with the state whenever we had our independent statehood, and made a contribution to the safe and secure existence of our country. We have had numerous opportunities to emphasize that the Armenian Apostolic Church will continue the same work with the same vigor and enthusiasm, so as to enable our people to overcome all the difficulties with joint efforts, all the problems facing today our country and the world-spread Armenian people. Naturally, this goes for the issue of the recognition of Artsakhs independence, recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the stable, safe progress of our country.We once again want to thank you for todays meeting and convey our best wishes to you and the success of your efforts. Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I said in his speech, Dear Mr. Prime Minister, This is our 2meeting and this time I welcome your mission more officially, as the Prime Minister, because the efforts of anybody aimed at the progress of the statehood cannot be assessed as just work, but is mission by its nature and that mission should be carried out with the acknowledgment of the mission. And I am confident that you are set to this mission with that acknowledgment, with responsible people and young cadres surrounding you with the same mission. Therefore, I wish you all the best and full success and as I have always said, I will repeat again that your success is the success of our motherland and the success of the motherland is the success of our entire nation, because the Republic of Armenia has some responsibilities beyond its borders towards the Diaspora. Therefore, I see your mission in a more comprehensive way. My expectation is that the expectations and needs of the people are met. You set to this mission with that commitment and emphasize din all your public speeches that you come from the people, that the people is the power and its the expectations of the people that must inspire you and the Government. Of course, its necessary to be realistic and its not the right thing to bring emotions into life immediately. My final expectation is that the expectations and needs of the people are met. And my expectation in this process is also that you emphasize the benefit of pluralism. Having different opinions makes someone rich, with the condition that they will meet somewhere, interact with one another around our national values and ideals. Its necessary to avoid polarizations. If there are polarizations, they should be bridged over the same values. And for this I greatly highlight the role of the Church. I am glad you highlighted the role of the Church in your speech. The Catholicos of All Armenians also said that the Church-State relations, or I would say partnership, is a must for nation building. Naturally, there are different opinions and approaches. As I already said, these differences should become useful, because we are all in the same ring and on the same path. Therefore, Mr. Prime Minister, I once again wish you success in your mission. God protect you and our dear homeland. Shillong, Feb 24 (PTI) The Indian Navy on Sunday detected a skeleton, possibly of another missing miner, trapped deep inside the 370-feet-deep coal mine in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district, officials said. At least 15 miners were trapped after water from the nearby Lytein river gushed into the illegal rat-hole mine in Lumthari village in the Ksan area on December 13 last year. Two decomposed bodies were spotted earlier and out of the them only one body could be recovered, the officials said. On Sunday the rescue operations, the longest in the country, continued for the 74th day. The Army has also joined the rescue operations along with the Navy, the NDRF and other agencies. "The underwater ROV of the Indian Navy on Sunday detected skeletons of the third miner deep inside the coal mine. Efforts are on to retrieve it," a senior district official told PTI. He said the skeletal remains were detected over 150 feet away from the bottom of the 370-feet-deep vertical mine shaft where the miners have been trapped. Operation spokesperson R Susngi said the "completely" decomposed body was detected and efforts are on to retrieve it. The second body was detected last month and it had slipped away from the jaws of the ROV. That body is yet to be located. Only one body could be retrieved till date, he said. The process of dewatering the mine is also on with three different organisations such as the Coal India Ltd, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd and KSB, discharging over 1 crore litres of water in a span of 24 hours, he said. The Supreme Court is monitoring the operation closely and the matter will come up for hearing on Monday. The state government has paid Rs 1 lakh interim relief to the family members of each of the victims. Home Minister James K Sangma had said the operations to search for the miners will continue as per orders of the Supreme Court. He also said the government is yet to get details of the expenses incurred in the operations which involved mostly dewatering of the mine. PTI JOP SBN AQS Srinagar, Feb 24 (PTI) Authorities Sunday imposed restrictions in parts of the city as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order in the wake of a strike called by separatists. Restrictions under Section 144 CrPc have been imposed in five police station areas of Srinagar, a police official said. He said curbs were imposed in police station areas of Nowhatta, Khanyar, Rainawari, MR Gunj and Safakadal. The official said restrictions were imposed as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order in view of the strike call. Separatists, under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), Saturday called for a shutdown in the valley on Sunday against the crackdown on separatists. The strike affected normal life across the Kashmir valley. Shops, fuel stations and other business establishments were shut in Srinagar, officials said. They said public transport was off the roads, but some private cars and auto-rickshaws were seen plying in some areas of the city. The weekly flea market was also shut as no stalls were put on the TRC Crossing-Batamaloo axis through city centre Lal Chowk, the officials said. They said similar reports of shutdown were received from other district headquarters of the valley. PTI SSB MIJ DV DV Dharamsala (HP), Feb 24 (PTI) Nationalism is in the soul of the BJP and development of the nation is the party's religion, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Sunday. Addressing a meeting of BJP booth-level workers from Kangra Lok Sabha constituency here, Gadkari said, "For each BJP worker, unity and integrity of India is the sole objective. It is only due to the commitment of the BJP workers that it has become the largest political organisation of the world." "Nationalism is in the soul of the BJP and development of the nation is our religion," he added. The Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways also took a dig at opposition parties over dynastic politics. "BJP is not a party of a mother and a son or of a father and a son. BJP is a democratic party where anyone can occupy the top post as the party belongs to common man," he said. He said the BJP-led government at the Centre has ensured that India emerges as a world power. Himachal Pradesh had only 1,706 km national highways before the BJP came to power at the Centre. "Today, the state has over 7,000 km national highways," he said. He asked the party workers to work towards making the party victorious in the coming parliamentary election. Earlier in the day, Gadkari laid foundation stones of eight national highway projects in the state, worth Rs 4,459.24 crore. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur was also present at the event. PTI CORR SMN SMN New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) A day after announcing his decision to sit on an indefinite hunger strike from March 1 for full statehood to Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Sunday said it was the last option before him. The BJP has termed Kejriwal's move a "drama before elections", and alleged that the ruling AAP has nothing to show to the people as its achievements to seek votes in the Lok Sabha polls. In a series of tweets, Kejriwal accused the BJP government at the Centre of "snatching" the AAP government's powers in the last four years. "In the last four years, the Modi government, through its orders, kept snatching the Delhi government's powers. It caused obstruction in every work of Delhiites. We tried everything - pleaded with them, staged dharna, went to court. With no option left, we are going on a hunger strike," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. "Yes, Delhi is India's national capital, so let the Centre keep entire NDMC area under its complete control. How can rest of Delhi, in which Delhiites elect their own govt, be kept subservient to the Centre? No more injustice to be tolerated (sic)," he said in another tweet. In the run up to the Lok Sabha polls, the ruling AAP has been raising the statehood demand for Delhi after it's hopes of getting control over the bureaucracy of Delhi government were dashed by the Supreme Court earlier this month. The apex court on February 14 delivered a split verdict on the contentious issue of control of services in the National Capital Territory in the tussle between the Delhi government and the Centre and referred the matter to a larger bench. A two-judge bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, however, agreed on their views on disputes pertaining to the Anti-Corruption Branch, setting up of a commission of inquiry, control over electricity boards, land revenue matters and appointment of pubic prosecutors. The apex court also upheld the Centre's notification that its employees cannot be probed in corruption cases by ACB of Delhi government. Raising the pitch on the issue of statehood for Delhi, Kejriwal on Saturday said in the Assembly that he would launch an indefinite hunger strike from March 1 to press the demand, and termed it "aar-paar ki ladai" (final battle). He also accused the Congress and the BJP of "back-stabbing" Delhi over full statehood issue. On Sunday, Kejriwal wrote on Twitter, "Yes, Delhi is India's national capital, so let the Centre keep entire NDMC area under its complete control. How can rest of Delhi, in which Delhiites elect their own govt, be kept subservient to the Centre? No more injustice to be tolerated." "Advaniji, as Home Minister, in August 2003 introduced statehood for Delhi Bill in Lok Sabha. Pranab da headed parliamentary comm endorsed it in Dec 2003, but it finally lapsed. Did they intend to just play with the emotions of people of Delhi? Why this injustice with Delhiites (sic)?" he posed. The AAP national convener also accused the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "lying" on the issue and claimed that the people of Delhi will punish them for "opposing" full statehood. However, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said Kejriwal's full statehood demand was "misplaced" after the Supreme Court order. He said, "Delhi is not Kejriwal's fiefdom, it's national capital of India. It's existing governance model is based on this fact. Kejriwal is just trying to fool people one more time before the polls raising full statehood issue." "Kejriwal ji has this last option to hide his government's failures," Tiwari said. PTI VIT SLB NSD \R New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) As many as 1,000 paramilitary troops have been dispatched to Arunachal Pradesh as widespread violence erupted in the state over the recommendation to grant permanent resident certificates (PRC) to six communities, officials said Sunday. At least two persons have died as protests broke out on Saturday after the state government announced that it was considering issuing PRC to six non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribes (APSTs) living in the Namsai and Changlang districts. The communities are Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis, Mishings and Gorkhas. Most of them are recognised as Scheduled Tribes in neighbouring Assam. The Ministry of Home Affairs has dispatched 10 additional companies of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for deployment in law-and-order duties in Itanagar and other violence-hit places, an official said. The state government will deploy the troops as per the requirement of the local administration. Five ITBP companies have already been deployed in the state, the official said. A company of paramilitary comprises 100 personnel. The ITBP personnel have been sent on an urgent basis as Itanagar and other areas have witnessed widespread violence, destruction of properties and vehicles on Sunday, officials said. The mob has tried to set ablaze the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and also tried to target residence of Chief Minister Pema Khandu, another official said. PTI ACB HMB New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi Saturday said the roll-out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to identify illegal immigrants from Bangladesh has resulted in "totally containing" fresh influx of Bangladeshis into the state. Mukhi also said that the Centre was speeding up work on completely sealing Assam's land border with Bangladesh and that the riverine portion of the frontier would soon be put under electronic surveillance to stop any illegal migration from the country. "Illegal migration from Bangladesh has totally stopped because of the NRC. It is the biggest achievement of the NRC process. The government is committed to identify illegal migrants living in Assam," Mukhi told PTI. In July last year, Assam released the draft of the NRC, a list of people who proved they came to Assam by 24 March 1971, a day before Bangladesh declared independence. The list excluded nearly four million people, triggering widespread anguish and intense agitation in several parts of the Northeastern state. The authorities have initiated a process giving opportunities to those excluded from the NRC to prove their citizenship. To get their names included in the NRC, residents in Assam have to produce a specific set of documents to prove that they or their families were living in India since the cutoff date or before. Lakhs of people fled to Assam during the 1971 war between India and Pakistan and the influx continued thereafter. The infiltration of Bangladeshis, mostly Muslims, through the porous Indo-Bangla border has been a serious issue for Assam since early 1980s when the state witnessed a massive students' movement demanding deportation of the illegal migrants. Mukhi also asserted that the Centre was "fully committed" to protect the interests of all indigenous communities of Assam. "After roll-out of the NRC, it is now impossible for an illegal Bangladeshi to obtain (India's) citizenship. The foreigners have been identified. It is a major success," said the governor. The Assam governor also attributed the Modi government's close relations with Dhaka and economic growth of Bangladesh as reasons for Bangladeshis not coming to Assam illegally. On the NDA government's promise to seal Assam's frontier with Bangladesh, Mukhi said around 93 per cent of the border has already been fenced and that work on remaining portion is being done at a fast pace. Assam shares 263 km of border with Bangladesh which include riverine. Asked about fate of the illegal Bangladeshis identified under the NRC process in Assam, Mukhi did not give a direct reply but indicated that some of them may be deported to send a strong message against any illegal migration to India in future. The governor said surveillance on riverine patch is being carried out using latest electronic gadgets. The Assam governor chose not to comment on the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill which sought to relax citizenship rules for Hindus and other non-Muslim minorities from several neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh. The Lok Sabha had passed the bill but it could not be tabled in Rajya Sabha during the budget session of Parliament. PTI MPB SMN Kolkata, Feb 24 (PTI) Following are PTI's top stories from the eastern region at 4.30 pm. STORIES ON THE WIRE: CAL1 TR-SEDITION-ARREST Tripura man arrested on sedition charge for social media post Agartala: A 23-year-old man hailing from Tripura's Khowai district has been arrested on sedition charge from Karnataka for allegedly uploading an anti-national video on social media on the Pulwama terror attack, police said Sunday. CAL2 AS-LIQUOR-TOLL Assam hooch tragedy toll rises to 124, over 330 taken ill Guwahati: The death toll in Assam's hooch tragedy has shot up to 124, while 331 people are undergoing treatment in hospitals, officials said on Sunday. CAL3 WB-MINISTER-BLAST WB minister question law and order in UP, hands over cheques to kin of blast victims Malda (WB): West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim on Sunday criticised the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, a day after an explosion at Bhadohi killed 13 persons, including nine from here. CAL4 AR-PRC-VIOLENCE Protesters set ablaze Dy CM's private residence in Arunachal Pradesh Itanagar: Defying curfew, agitators allegedly set ablaze the private residence of Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and ransacked the office of the deputy commissioner here on Sunday to protest against recommendations to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities, police said. CES1 JH-ENCOUNTER 3 PLFI ultras killed in encounter with security forces Ranchi: Three ultras of the banned Peoples Liberation Front of India (PLFI) were killed in an encounter with security forces in Gumla district on Sunday, a senior police officer said. CES2 OD-BOAT AMBULANCE Odisha launches boat ambulance service for remote areas Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has launched a boat ambulance service to ferry patients to hospitals in remote areas at a cost of Rs 5.40 crore, officials said. ERG1 JH-DAS 50 lakh families in Jharkhand now have gas connection: CM Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has said that more than 33 lakh lakh families in the state received gas connection in the last four and half years. ERG2 TR-CIPET Gowda inaugurates CIPET centre in Tripura Agartala: Union Minister D V Sadananda has inaugurated a centre of the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET) in Tripura. ERG3 BH-BUSINESSMAN-SHOT Businessman shot dead in Patna Patna: A businessman was shot dead by unidentified persons here, a senior police officer said Sunday. PTI SBN SBN Malda (WB), Feb 24 (PTI) West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim on Sunday criticised the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, a day after an explosion at Bhadohi killed 13 persons, including nine from here. The state urban development minister also handed over cheques of Rs 2 lakh each as assistance to the kin of the nine persons killed in Saturday's blast. He assured jobs under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) to the wives and old-age pension to the mothers of the victims. "The district magistrate has signed cheques for distribution among the kin of the deceased from Malda, following directions from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee," Hakim stated. Officials in the northern state said Saturday the explosion took place at a shop in Rohta Bazaar in Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi district. Three adjacent buildings collapsed following the blast. Locals have claimed that an illegal firecracker factory in its vicinity could have led to the explosion. "What is the condition of law and order in Uttar Pradesh? How can Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath come to West Bengal to question the state of affairs here?" Hakim said. Adityanath recently addressed public rallies in West Bengal, claiming the "ruling Trinamool Congress goons were having a free run" in the state. Hakim demanded a proper investigation into the incident, saying "it was necessary to find out what caused the explosion of such intensity". All nine persons killed in Bhadohi blast were skilled workers and had gone to Uttar Pradesh to work in a carpet factory, he maintained. Drawing reference to the Khagragarh blast in West Bengal in 2014, which had claimed two lives, the minister said the Bhadohi explosion has led to more deaths and should be probed thoroughly to bring to book the perpetrators. The state investigators had nabbed several Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) extremists in connection with the Khagragarh blast and handed them over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), he said. The JMB extremists were found using a two-storey rented house at Khagragarh to manufacture IEDs. The state minister also said mortal remains of nine persons would be brought to Malda by Monday and district administration officials had left for Bhadohi to complete formalities. "Our officers are in touch with the Uttar Pradesh administration to bring back the bodies," he added. PTI AMR RMS KJ KJ Shillong, Feb 24 (PTI) The United Democratic Party (UDP), a key constituent of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA), Sunday expressed its discomfort with the BJP backing the coalition government in the state, after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill fiasco. The UDP had on Wednesday severed ties with the BJP-led Northeast Democratic Alliance (NEDA), an alliance of non-Congress parties in the northeast, over the bill. "We are not comfortable with the BJP in the coalition especially after all the issues of beef ban and Citizenship Amendment Bill cropping up time and again," UDP vice president Allantry F Dkhar told PTI here. The UDP is a constituent of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA), which also includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with its two MLAs. Although the BJP MLAs have openly registered their strong opposition to the bill, the UDP is facing tough questions from the electorates for hobnobbing with the national party, he added. While BJP MLA and Cabinet Minister A L Hek was a signatory to the cabinet decision to oppose the controversial bill, lawmaker Sanbor Shullai had threatened to resign from the party if it was passed. The contentious Citizenship Bill is set to lapse on June 3, when the term of the present Lok Sabha ends. It could not be passed in the Rajya Sabha during the Budget session, the last Parliament session of the present government, which ended last week. According to Dkhar, the UDP suffered a major blow in the February 2018 assembly elections in Meghalaya due to reports that it would form a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The opposition Congress took advantage and campaigned against us resulting in the UDP winning only six assembly seats, he said. Dkhar said the BJP and the Congress were "two sides of the same coin", accusing them of being behind the beef ban and the Citizenship Bill since 1945. To prove his point, he cited the resolution of the Congress Working Committee in 1947 where the party had said that it was "bound" to afford full protection to all non-Muslims who have crossed the border to save their life. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who fled persecution, after six years of residence in India, instead of 11 years, which is currently the norm, even if they do not possess any document. The UDP leader also sought a ban on national political parties intervening in the tribal autonomous district council elections in the state for conflict of interests. "National parties represent the interests of the entire nation. How can they speak for the interests of particular communities in the autonomous district council elections?" he asked. While, the Congress is contesting in all 29 seats in each of the two district council elections that will go to poll on February 27, the BJP did not field any candidate. PTI JOP SBN RHL Kolhapur (Maha), Feb 24 (PTI) Calling the CRPF jawans killed in the Pulwama terror attack "political victims", MNS chief Raj Thackeray claimed Sunday that the "truth" will come out if National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was questioned. "If NSA Ajit Doval is investigated, then all the truth about the Pulwama terror attack will come out," Thackeray said in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra. "At the time of the Pulwama attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busy shooting for a film at Corbett National Park. Even after the news of the terror attack was flashed his shooting continued," he said, echoing an allegation made by the Congress. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief further said the 40 jawans killed in the Pulwama attack were "political victims", and "every government manufactured such things but it is taking place more frequently under Modi's rule". Asked for comments, state BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, "Raj Thackeray has been doing mimicry all through his career. Now he is aping Rahul Gandhi by levelling allegations against Doval." PTI COR GK ND KRK AQS MADISON Telemarketing complaints are on the rise (4,860 complaints) and continue to top the annual list of consumer complaints collected by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. More than two out of every five complaints received by the agency in 2018 were in regard to calls from unknown numbers, unwanted sales calls or scam calls. This represents a 17 percent increase in telemarketing complaints over 2017. Consumers are frustrated with the amount of unwanted calls that they receive, said Lara Sutherlin, administrator for the Division of Trade and Consumer Protection. At best, these calls are a disruptive nuisance; at worst, they are a threat to the personal and financial information that consumers work hard to protect. Until a fix is identified, many Wisconsin consumers report having some success in minimizing the disruption of robocalls by using call-blocking apps for their mobile phones and letting unknown calls ring through to voicemail, Sutherlin added. 2. Landlord/tenant Landlord/tenant complaints held steady at the second spot with 1,188 complaints. Panaji, Feb 24 (PTI) The condition of ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is stable and he is under observation of doctors at a hospital here, an official in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said on Sunday. The 63-year-old senior BJP leader, suffering from a pancreatic ailment since the last one year and recuperating at his private residence at Dona Paula near here, was admitted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) late Saturday night. Parrikar, who met State Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai in the evening to discuss politics and administration, was shifted to GMCH, almost four km from his residence, around 10 pm. "The chief minister was under observation during the night. He is stable. Doctors will decide when he will be discharged from GMCH," the CMO official said. The CMO in a statement released here on Saturday said Parrikar was taken to GMCH for upper GI endoscopy (gastrointestinal examination). "His health condition continues to be stable," it said, adding he would be kept under observation for around 48 hours. Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had gone to GMCH late Saturday night to enquire about Parrikar's health condition. He later said the chief minister was kept in an isolated ward and that his condition was stable and he was doing well. Parrikar had fallen ill on February 14, 2018 and was shifted to GMCH, from where he was taken to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai the next day. The chief minister returned to Goa on February 20, 2018 to present the state budget. He left for the US for treatment on March 3, 2018 and returned on June 14, 2018. He then attended monsoon session of the Assembly from July 19 to August 3, and left for the US again on August 10 for a second round of check-up. He returned to Goa on August 22, 2018 and was later shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at New Delhi on September 15. After almost a month-long treatment, he returned to Goa on October 14, 2018. Parrikar stunned everyone when he resumed his office on January 2, 2019 after a gap of two-and-a-half months. On January 27, he attended the inauguration of third bridge on the Mandovi river here along with Union minister Nitin Gadkari. He also attended the Budget session on January 29 and presented the state budget next day. On the last day of the session on January 31, he was taken for treatment to AIIMS in Delhi and he returned to Goa on February 5. Parrikar also addressed Atal Booth Karyakarta Sammelan on February 9 in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah. PTI RPS GK DV DV Proposal to offer help to farmers who have more than 2 ha land: CM Mumbai, Feb 24 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Sunday that the state government was considering a proposal to help the farmers who have more than two hectares of land. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, rolled out earlier in the day, offers Rs 6,000 annually to farmers who have upto two hectares of land. Asked by reporters whether the BJP-led state government would increase the amount under the scheme, Fadnavis said, "(Many) farmers in Maharashtra's arid regions have higher (than two hectares) land holding but their plight is the same as that of small farmers. A proposal to extend some help to such farmers is under consideration." The Central scheme will benefit one crore farmers in the state, and 14.5 lakh farmers received funds Sunday itself, he said. The Centre disbursed Rs 2,000 per beneficiary across the country as part of the first phase of the PM-Kisan scheme Sunday. PTI ND KRK KRK Vatican City, Feb 24 (AFP) A top Catholic cardinal admitted Saturday that Church files on priests accused of sexually abusing children were destroyed or never even drawn up in a move which allowed paedophiles to prey on others. German Cardinal Reinhard Marx was speaking on the third day of an unprecedented summit of the world's top bishops convened by Pope Francis in a bid to tackle the crisis over paedophilia within the clergy. "Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed, or not even created," Marx told the landmark Vatican summit on a problem that has dogged the Roman Catholic Church for decades. "Instead of the perpetrators, the victims were regulated and silence imposed on them," he said. "The stipulated procedures and processes for the prosecution of offences were deliberately not complied with." The ongoing scandals over sexual abuse have escalated, engulfing countries across the globe with the latest crises hitting Chile, Germany and the US. At one point, delegates heard the testimony of a woman who was repeatedly raped by a priest when she was just 11. "Engraved in my eyes, ears, nose, body and soul, are all the times he immobilised me, the child, with superhuman strength," said the woman, who remained anonymous. Back in September, Marx apologised personally to thousands of victims who had been abused by clergy within the German Church, saying the perpetrators must be brought to justice. His admission about the documents on Saturday sparked an angry reaction from Peter Isely of Ending Clerical Abuse (ECA) association, who denounced such destruction of paperwork as "illegal" and demanded an investigation. "What he didn't tell us is... Who did it? Where did they do it? And what did they destroy?" he told AFP. Victims marched to the Vatican, holding signs accusing Francis of being deaf to their cries, and urging the expulsion from the Church of both the abusers and those who enabled them. "I didn't remember my rape -- it was very, very violent -- until 50 years after it happened," Tim Lennon, from the survivors' network SNAP, told AFP. Investigations have shown that in many cases, priests accused of assaulting minors were transferred to other parishes as bishops turned a blind eye to protect the Church's reputation. "The rights of victims were effectively trampled underfoot, and left to the whims of individuals," Marx said. The cardinal said it was essential that victims felt they could "trust the system". "There are no alternatives to traceability and transparency," he said, admitting efforts to cover-up scandals had badly undermined the Church's credibility. Francis has told his bishops he wants "concrete measures" drawn up against child sex abuse. But survivors have lambasted the centuries-old institution for not releasing the names and case files of priests convicted of abuse or possessing child pornography. The Vatican has in the past refused to hand over internal documents about child sexual abuse cases to civil authorities investigating paedophilia. On Friday, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, one of the organisers of the summit, said the call for statistics to be released was "legitimate". Marx also called for a rethink of pontifical secrecy, echoing the appeal made Friday by Linda Ghisoni, a professor of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University, who told the meeting "the current legislation on pontifical secrecy" needed rewriting. Marx said transparency was needed in other areas of the Church, such as "the area of finances". Scandals surrounding the Vatican bank have prompted a clean-up in recent years, with some 5,000 bank accounts being closed. But the decision to sack the bank's deputy director in 2017 without explanation prompted a flurry of rumours that he was dismissed because his investigations into possible illegal activity had hit too close to home. The bank's reputation first came into question in 1982 after the body of senior banker Roberto Calvi was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London. Calvi was often referred to as "God's Banker" because of his close ties to the Vatican. No-one has ever been convicted of his murder but prosecutors believe it was a mafia killing linked to money laundering via Banco Ambrosiano, the bank he chaired. (AFP) IND IND Lahore, Feb 24 (PTI) A Pakistani lawmaker from Prime Minister Imran Khan's party has met top Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as Islamabad started backdoor contacts with New Delhi to defuse tensions between the two sides in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack, a media report said Sunday. "The government has begun backdoor contacts with India and the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, who was in India last week, has met Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj," the Express Tribune reported. "I have communicated a positive note to the Indian leaders and I hope there will now be a change in their behaviour," Vankwani said on Saturday while talking to the paper over telephone. He also met Minster of State for External Affairs General VK Singh, who has also served as the chief of the Indian Army. The Sindh-based PTI leader, who is a lawmaker on minority seat, is in India as part of a 220-member delegation from 185 countries who attended the Kumbh Mela on an invite of the Indian government. His visit comes amid heightened tensions between the two countries in the wake of February 14 suicide attack by Jaish-e-Mohammad that killed at least 40 CRPF soldiers in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district. Days after the Pulwama attack, Prime Minister Modi said security forces have been given free hand to avenge the dastardly act. Vankwani said he met Modi during an event and the Indian Prime Minister met him warmly, the paper reported. He said he told Modi that he had come with a positive message and wanted to return with a positive message. He said later on Modis directive, Swaraj also held a 25-minute-long meeting with him, the paper said. "I told the Indian foreign minister that in Pakistan its captains (Imran Khan) government now; he is a Pathan and he does what he says. We assure you that no Pakistani institution is involved in Pulwama attack. If India provides evidence, we will facilitate the investigation," the paper quoted Vankwani as saying. According to the PTI leader, he told Swaraj that the two countries need to take lessons from past and not to hold on to it. "Enmity can be brought to an end by befriending the enemy," he said, adding that he himself has returned after Ganga Ashnan (ablution) and never tells lies. "I told them that we need to get out of politics of accusations," he was quoted as saying by the paper. According to Vankwani, after the meeting he "felts that the atmosphere was beginning to thaw." "Indian PM during his Rajasthan rally has hinted at holding dialogue with Pakistan," he added. PTI ZH NSA Mumbai, Feb 24 (PTI) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Sunday said he is pained that women who carry hepatitis B virus face discrimination in the society, something he will continue to fight for. Bachchan, who is the World Health Organization's Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region, said women must be treated with respect and dignity. "Discrimination against women has been most disturbing for me. This shouldn't happen. Women are half the power of the country, they are the strength of the country. They must be given the respect and dignity that all deserve," Bachchan said. "To be discriminated like this just because they are carrying hepatitis B virus is not acceptable. I will fight for this as long as I am alive," he added. The 76-year-old actor was speaking at the launch of National Action Plan on combatting viral hepatitis in India. Bachchan said this discrimination is "condemnable" and was shocked to know how things unfold for women suffering from the disease. "I have heard such horrific stories where married women were thrown out of their houses because they were suffering from hepatitis B. "I thought if my voice and face can help bring awareness, then I will be glad to do so. If I can be the living example for the citizens of the country that despite being a hepatitis B patient, I am living normally," he added. PTI JUR SHD SHD Mumbai, Feb 24 (PTI) Two National Awards and several critically-acclaimed performances later, Girish Kulkarni has caught the attention of global audience with "Sacred Games" and the actor says he is now aware of his responsibility as a public figure. Though he has featured in award-winning Marathi films like "Vihir" and "Deool", Kulkarni is known to the Hindi audience for his work in "Ugly" and "Dangal". For the actor, his turn in "Sacred Games" as politician Bipin Bhonsle was "magical". "What happens when a show becomes this popular across the world is that more people talk about you. You get more likes and retweets on Twitter and you feel slightly happy," Kulkarni quips. "But it adds on to the sense of responsibility. Not just as an actor but even otherwise you become aware of your responsibility. It is obviously good that my performance has resonated with so many and it's a great feeling," the actor told PTI. Kulkarni says though he is aware of his popularity, he would want the audience to celebrate his art. "I don't want people to gather around me. I want them to applaud me in a theatre or wherever they consume my art. If personally, I'm not doing anything great, don't follow me. I don't like hero worshipping so they should just celebrate my art." The actor can be seen in new Marathi film, "Firebrand", streaming on Netflix. Directed by National Award winner Aruna Raje, the film touches upon the concept of modern-day relationships, its complexities and chronicles the story of a woman who rises above challenges. Kulkarni says Maharashtra "is more inclined towards spirituality and pragmatic progressive movements in the state" and that reflects in Marathi cinema. "We also have theatre as a coherent part of our tradition which is reflected in cinema. Most of the people who come to cinema are from theatres. That's why the subject, approach or treatment always leans on towards exploring something new." The actor says as Marathi films have a limited reach in comparison to Hindi movies, the focus of the filmmakers is not on business but on art. "Marathi filmmakers aren't necessarily keen about the business aspect, they are more inclined towards the art. But in Hindi cinema the scale becomes so big because you're catering to a larger audience, you're compelled to think about the business," he adds. "Firebrand" features National Award-winning actor Usha Jadhav in the lead. Also starring Rajeshwari Sachdev and Sachin Khedekar, the film is produced by Priyanka Chopra's Purple Pebble Pictures. PTI JUR SHD SHD (Eds: Updating with Sinha's management agency's statement) Moradabad (UP), Feb 24 (PTI) Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha and four others have been booked for allegedly cheating an event organiser here, police officials said Sunday. However, Sinha's management agency, in a statement, alleged that the event organiser was using the media to release "false and manipulated" information, and she would be "forced" to take legal action. The case was registered against the actress and the others under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections pertaining to cheating and criminal breach of trust, police said. In a complaint on November 24 last year, an event organiser, Pramod Sharma, had alleged that he paid Rs 24 lakh to a company to invite Sinha for a prize distribution function in Delhi and that the actress had confirmed her presence, but did not turn up, the officials said. The complainant, a resident of Shivpuri in Moradabad, said in total, he paid Rs 37 lakh, which included transferring a huge amount to Sinha, according to police. Sinha's management agency has denied the charge, saying despite repeated reminders, the organiser failed to make payments to the actress before the event as contracted. "The investigating officer in the case had served a notice to Sinha and the four others, but after not getting a response an FIR was registered on Friday," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Moradabad, Ravindra Gaud, said. He said among the four others are Mumbai residents Abhishek, Malvika Dhumil and Edgar. The case has been registered at the Katghar police station. Station House Officer, Katghar, Ajeet Singh said the case was registered under section 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code. The investigation in the case has started, he said. In the statement, the agency said, "Sonakshi was approached by the event organisers in Delhi to attend an event. However, despite repeated reminders, the organiser failed to make the payments to Sonakshi before the event as contracted." "The tickets to Delhi were not in order/as were agreed, the organiser also didn't send return tickets for Sonakshi and her team, despite knowing that she had a shoot the next morning after the event.This put everyone in a tough spot," it said. Several attempts were made to contact the organiser to request him to make the "contracted payments and send the tickets, however, they remained incommunicado and didn't live up to their end of the bargain", Sinha's management agency claimed. Due to a lack of commitment by the organiser, the actress and her team were left with no choice but to return home from the Mumbai airport, according to the statement. "Ever since that day, Sonakshi's management agency has been trying to reach out to the organiser to find an amicable solution to the extent of offering an alternate date and tried to connect but to no avail. "The organiser is now using the media to release false and manipulated facts. If the organiser doesn't stop at this, Sonakshi and her team will be forced to take a legal course of action to set this straight. We request media to not let anyone use their platform without looking into the facts," the statement read. PTI CORR SHD ANB Moradabad (UP) Feb 24, (PTI) Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha and four others have been booked for allegedly cheating an event organiser here, police officials said Sunday. The case was registered against the actress and the others under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections pertaining to cheating and criminal breach of trust, police said. In a complaint on November 24 last year, an event organiser, Pramod Sharma, had alleged that he paid Rs 24 lakh to a company to invite Sinha for a prize distribution function in Delhi and that the actress had confirmed her presence, but did not turn up, the officials said. The complainant, a resident of Shivpuri in Moradabad, said in total, he paid Rs 37 lakh, which included transferring a huge amount to Sinha, according to police. "The investigating officer in the case had served a notice to Sinha and the four others, but after not getting a response an FIR was registered on Friday," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Moradabad, Ravindra Gaud, said. He said among the four others are Mumbai residents Abhishek, Malvika Dhumil and Edgar. The case has been registered at the Katghar police station. Station House Officer, Katghar, Ajeet Singh said the case was registered under section 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code. The investigation in the case has started, he said. PTI CORR PTI CORR ANB ANB Chandigarh, Feb 24 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has written to the Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal pressing for inclusion of Punjab in the Operation Greens scheme, which is aimed at supporting the production of tomato, onion and potato. In his letter to Badal, the chief minister expressed concerns over Punjab's exclusion from the list of states identified for the Operation Greens scheme and especially drew attention towards the promotion of potato production cluster. The area under potato cultivation in Punjab was nearly 1 lakh hectares with an annual production of 2.7 million tonne, the chief minister said the state was at the seventh position in area under cultivation and sixth in production of potatoes in the country. Amarinder, as per an official release here on Sunday, further noted that Punjab was the hub for seed potato production, with the advantage of an aphid-free (aphid is a small bug which feeds by sucking sap from plants) window during October-December and favourable agro-climatic conditions. Urging the minister to reconsider the decision, the chief minister further pointed out that Punjab was supplying seed potato to other states, apart from meeting its own demand. Not only that, it had great potential to enhance potato seed production in view of its geographic location and climatic conditions, he added. Arguing the state's case further, Amarinder said with the establishment of tissue culture and aeroponic technology at the centre of excellence for potato, at Dhogri in Jalandhar, the whole seed potato producing area in the state shall come under certified seed potato in the coming 4-5 years. Also, due to the soil being free from serious pathogens and pests, particularly brown rot bacterial wilt and potato tuber moth, Punjab had been considered a pest free zone for potato production, he stressed. The chief minister, in his letter, urged the union minister to appreciate the fact that due to lack of adequate processing infrastructure in the State, the production season often faces a glut in the market, resulting in low price realization for the producers. The inclusion of Punjab in the TOP scheme would enhance the investment in processing facilities, besides ensuring proper price to the farmers through price stabilisation measures, he added. Given this, he urged the minister include Punjab in Operation Greens (TOP), especially for potato clusters. The Operation Greens was announced by the Centre to stabilise the supply of tomato, onion and potato (TOP) crops and to ensure availability of TOP crops throughout the country round the year without price volatility. PTI SUN SHW MKJ Mahendragarh (Haryana), Feb 24 (PTI) Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar Sunday said that a target has been set to double the area under horticulture and to increase the horticulture products by three times by year 2030. In this direction, 340 villages would be developed as ''Horticulture Villages'' through 140 crop clusters being established in the state. He said that under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, about 10 lakh farmers of Haryana have been provided Rs 200 crore in their bank accounts today. The chief minister thanked the Prime Minister on behalf of the farmers of Haryana. He said that in the last four years, the horticulture area has increased from 4.39 lakh hectare to 5.28 lakh hectare in Haryana. At present, the area of horticulture in Haryana is 8.17 per cent of the total agriculture sector and the target is to increase this area up to 15 per cent. The chief minister said that under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Rs 1,140.98 crore has been given as compensation to 98,000 farmers of Haryana. Khattar said that in order to promote organic farming in the state, the state government has sent a scheme of Rs 450 crore to the central government. Khattar announced that the Haryana government will bear the amount of monthly share to be paid by workers of the state under the Pradhan Mantri Shramjivi Mandhan Yojana. Addressing the ''Vikas Rally'' organised on the launch of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana organized at Khudana in district Mahendragarh, the chief minister said that under the Pradhan Mantri Shramjivi Mandhan Yojana, the Haryana Government will bear the amount of monthly share of Rs 50 to Rs 200 of beneficiaries of the age group between 18 and 40 years of age. Khattar on Sunday inaugurated one project and laid the foundation stones of 12 projects amounting to Rs 452.45 crore for the development of district Mahendragarh. He said that the state government has carried out equitable development in the state. PTI SUN MKJ K9 Kibble of Kenosha is among the small business startups statewide being considered for Emerging Small Business Person of the Year. In addition, Joanne Freitag of Parrish & Freitag, Paddock Lake, is a nominee for the Financial Services Champion honor from SBA Wisconsin for 2019. The winners will be announced this month and recognized at the SCORE/SBA Wisconsin Small Business Awards Breakfast May 10 in Waukesha. K9 Kibble LLC, was started by Nicole Centeno six years ago in an effort to find the right food for her dogs food sensitivities. In just five years, she and her husband have doubled the size of their Kenosha storefront and has moved the business into a newly purchased building. K9 Kibble was nominated by Heather Lux of Wisconsin Womens Business Initiative Corp. Freitag has volunteered her accounting and financial expertise on behalf of her firm with the Wisconsin Womens Business Initiative Corp. each week for the past nine years. She provides free consultation to WWBICs clients, preparing them for loans, educating them on business structures, explaining financial statements and more. All applicantsshould send their updated CVs to info@imkconsultants.com or kasuleisaac@hotmail.com and quote theposition title as the subject line of the Email 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 Jacksonville School District 117 is cancelling school improvement days for the rest of the school year to make up instructional time. The school district said the four remaining school improvement days, which are normally half days, will have regular dismissal times. The decision is a result of the number of emergency days the district has used this year. Director of Operations Mike McGiles said the district planned for five emergency days, as required by the state, and has used seven. The district plans to apply for a waiver through the state to have the two excess emergency days approved as act of God days, meaning the district would not have to make the days up. However, McGiles said canceling the school improvement days will allow teachers and students to recoup instructional time. The time well gain back by cancelling those half SIP days gets us back a day and a half of the two days, he said. The affected days are Feb. 27, March 13, April 10 and May 8. Jacksonville High School early-release days on Wednesdays are unchanged. If more emergency days are needed, McGiles said the superintendent and board of education will decide whether to make up the days or apply for a waiver. Virginia schools Superintendent Gary DePatis said he doesnt expect the state to be understanding of the extreme weather districts have faced this winter. Virginia used seven emergency days, something DePatis said was out of the ordinary. More Information 2018-19 emergency days Here are where some area school districts stand this year so far: Beardstown: 7 Bluffs: 5 Carrollton: 3 Jacksonville: 7 Meredosia-Chambersburg: 8 New Berlin: 7 North Greene: 4 Triopia: 6 Virginia: 7 Waverly: 6 Winchester: 7 See More Collapse This is the first time Ive ever had it happen. This is a very unusual winter, he said. This winter has seen multiple heavy snowfalls and at the end of January sub-zero temperatures and extreme wind chills of more than 30 below. DePatis added that he had heard of other districts in central Illinois with emergency days in the double digits, with weather both canceling school and causing facility issues. But emergency days are not just snow days. Superintendent Thad Walker said Meredosia-Chambersburg schools had to use one emergency day in August because of a bridge demolition cutting off traffic. He said thats not something a district usually runs into. Maybe once in a lifetime in the district theyre going to blow up a bridge and open a new one, he said with a laugh. Districts in west-central Illinois generally planned for five emergency days, as the state requires. Some have already heard back on waivers for number of days over five they have had to take. EAST ALTON Seven-year-old Madison Alford of Alton did not hesitate when asked to describe the perfect scoop of ice cream. Its kind of like if you have a cold rainbow but its sugar, and then you eat it, Alford said while enjoying a cup of the frozen dessert on Saturday during the soft opening of the Blue Ice Creamery in the Eastgate Plaza in East Alton. Alford pressed her nose to the ice cream counter glass and carefully chose her ultimate creamy concoction. Cookies and cream and cookie dough! Alford exclaimed. I love cookies, and it tastes like two cookies with sprinkles! Ten-year-old Stevie Zirkelbach of Godfrey ordered vanilla ice cream with marshmallows that she described as creamy and sweet. Her 12-year-old sister Kaitlyn had the same thing, which she characterized as very sweet and soft. I didnt know what I wanted, I came in and looked at the flavors and made my decision. I wanted to try them all, Kaitlyn Zirkelbach said. Its really good and its cold, and you could eat it a lot in the summer. But its still good on a rainy day like today. Jay Higgins of St. Peters, Missouri, who was visiting with his girlfriend, tried the traditional ice cream favorite, chocolate. It was very silky and oh, it was good, Higgins said. It was definitely worth the trip, Id come back. Husband and wife Kyle and Kelley Shirley own Blue Ice Creamery, which takes its name from Kyles service in the U.S. Navy and his former employment with the U.S. Marshals service. It is now open Monday through Saturday and specializes in super premium, small-batch, hard-serve and hand-scooped ice cream like many places used to serve when Kyle was growing up in East Alton and delivering The Telegraph to earn ice cream money. When I was a kid I can remember going to get real ice cream, you had options, but nobody makes real ice cream any more, Kyle Shirley said. We saw the void and figured we would try to fill it. I mean, who doesnt like ice cream? Blue Ice Creamery serves numerous flavors of premium, hand-crafted ice cream that can be enjoyed as is or in shakes, malts, smoothies, ice cream coffee, or concretes. The business also offers regular coffees, espresso, hot dogs, chili, chips, sodas and fresh-baked cookies. Co-owner Kelley Shirley has her own favorite item on the menu. Vanilla with M&M topping. Its silky, creamy and delicious, Kelley Shirley said. Thats always been my staple and I used to eat it a lot, and Kyle said, I should just make ice cream. So here we are. Blue Ice Creamery also features wall treatments that encourage youngsters or those who want to act young to express themselves through chalk artwork. It was my husbands idea, who is also a big child himself,Kelley Shirley said. They can also color our logo on paper with crayons. Madison Alford, the youngster who described ice cream as a cold rainbow, enjoyed some quality blackboard time during Saturdays visit. I like the big drawing board, I like all of the peoples drawings, Alford said. My mom and my grandma would get super mad at me if I did this at home. EDWARDSVILLE Authorities are attempting to take possession of more than $60,000 found in the home of a suspect charged with armed violence and several drug charges. Illinois State Police drug officers claim they found the cash and drugs in the home of Zachary J.A. Smith, 26, of the 700 block of Sherman Avenue, Edwardsville, after they were notified of a suspicious package by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. They were told the department seized an envelope containing methamphetamine sent from The Netherlands to Smith at his home. The department signed the envelope over to the the state police. It contained 164 grams of Ecstasy, and police obtained a search warrant before conducting a controlled delivery at the Sherman Avenue home. An affidavit states Smith took the envelope from the mailbox and took it inside. Police then conducted the search and located postal packages from The Netherlands, four firearms, suspected Ecstasy, steroids, marijuana, magic mushrooms, two types of tranquilizers, multiple digital scales, packing materials. Officers found a cash machine counter and a hand-written note from an individual to pay Smith $10,000. Smith is charged with armed violence for allegedly possessing a .357 revolver, a .40-caliber pistol, an Olympic Arms 5.56 mm rifle and a shotgun while possessing Ecstasy with intent to deliver. He is also facing two Class X charges of possession with intent to deliver Ecstasy, and eight other drug charges for various drugs. Bail was set at $500,000. The information is included in a suit asking for possession of the money under a state law that allows authorities to take possession of assets believed used in the drug trade. The document claims Smith has a criminal history of drug arrests and/or convictions, the he could not explain the money, that he his statements lacked veracity and that he has no visible means of support. Reach reporter Sanford Schmidt at 618-208-6449. A Scott County business has been honored as the Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corp.s industry of the year. Westermeyer Industries was presented with the 2018 Harold Cox Industry of the Year Award during the development corporations annual investors meeting Thursday. Since 1990, JREDCs Existing Industry Committee has presented the award to recognize business development and activity that enhances regional economic viability. Westermeyer Industries designs, makes and distributes commercial components and accessories for the air conditioning and refrigeration industries. Its air conditioning and refrigeration components are shipped globally with about 15 percent of sales going outside the United States. In addition, about 80 percent of all U.S. supermarkets use Westermeyer Industries products. During the past four years, Westermeyer Industries has made more than $6.5 million in capital investments, with $2.5 million invested in 2018 alone. In recent years, the company has doubled its manufacturing floor space to streamline production and add products. Westermeyer Industries continued pattern of success and commitment to our area make them a great candidate for the Industry of the Year Award every year, JREDC Chairman Dusty Douglas said. JREDC is happy to be able to give the company its deserved recognition. With an 8 percent growth in business in 2017 and 30 percent in 2018, Westermeyer Industries has added 35 jobs in the past two years. Company founder Gary Westermeyer gives credit to dedicated and skilled employees for his business success. JREDC also recognized the city of Jacksonvilles Parks and Lakes Department with the 2018 Champion Award for developing two new hiking trails on the south side of Lake Jacksonville. Snaking through 1.5 miles of timber, the two trails named Crimson and Rocket are on South Lake Road between Starlite Campers Club and the Oak Grove Boy Scout area. Jacksonville Parks and Lakes Director Kelly Hall and Lake Jacksonville manager Brett Gilbreth began clearing the trails after years of planning and renegotiating an original lease with the Boy Scouts. The recreation trails include historic information provided by the Morgan County Abstract, as well as benches donated by Reynolds Consumer Products. Created in 2016, the Champion Award recognizes support for economic development in Morgan and Scott counties from an individual, agency or organization that does not have economic development as a primary purpose. Illinois Retail Merchants Association President and CEO Rob Karr served as the keynote speaker during the annual meeting. His comments focused on the states business climate, specifically a minimum wage increase signed into law this week by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Karr advocated on behalf of the associations membership for a compromise in the original legislation that would have allowed for a tiered minimum wage hike to reflect the economic diversity of the state. While Karr anticipates a few trailer bills will tweak the new law, he said it will be important for employers to share with policymakers the impact the wage hike will have on their operations. He anticipates employers will be faced with reducing employees, hours, benefits or charitable giving. At some point, there will be a financial reckoning, Karr said. Liz: I picked this category to honor actual filming in the world of cinema after the Academy announced this award would be given out during a commercial break in the show. Really? How a film LOOKS is not deemed an important award in filmmaking? But now the Academy dropped that plan after serious blowback. Dave: Roma is definitely the favorite here after all, its in black and white, which means it must be a grand achievement in cinematography, right? Liz: Sorry, Dave, theres no Marvel Studios film here for you! Will in: Liz: Im no cinematographer, but Im picking Roma. So much of the praise for the movie emphasizes the look of it. Dave: It will probably be Roma, but its not my favorite (or Favourite). On with the show! Liz: No matter who wins, Im hoping for an entertaining show tonight. I know, I know. The Oscars are a long slog, but we can hope, right? Dave: Ill just mention one thing: This is the 30th anniversary of Rob Lowe and Snow White. SMH. If you dont know about this, find it on YouTube. Youll be amazed it was ever allowed on an Oscar telecast. Liz: Proud Mary was never the same after that opening number. The 1989 telecast was also the last time the Oscar show didnt have an official host. Good or bad, we can only wish for something so memorable to happen tonight. Are you listening, Rob? Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. EDWARDSVILLE The purchase of materials to create a shoot house at the Madison County Sheriffs Department shooting range on Fruit Road was among a number of bills and other items approved at Wednesdays County Board meeting. The board approved the purchase of $45,553 in materials from Hesco Bastion Inc. of Alexandria, Virginia for berms to increase the height and safety of the range, and materials to build a shoot house for more realistic tactical training. This follows about $22,000 in concrete work at the facility, located on part of the old Nike missile base on Fruit Road. Concern about conditions on the firing range has been discussed at the County Boards Public Safety Committee in the past. The range sees heavy use several times each year when all the departments officers undergo firearms training and weapons qualification. It was also noted that with improvements other departments might use the facility, offsetting the upkeep cost. The most recent purchases will be used to increase the height of the side and back berms of the shooting range, which would make the area safer for downrange areas. The shoot house construction materials, which can be filled with sand or other materials, would be used to build simulated walls and other spaces for use in tactical training. Currently, the department uses wooden-framed materials. Additional improvements discussed in the past include building a classroom facility with restrooms. The board also approved a resolution to give Madison County Public Defender John Rekowski a raise. Rekowski will receive an additional $3,334 annually. The reason for the raise is that the state gave Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons a cost-of-living increase, and by state law the public defender must be paid at least 90 percent of the states attorneys salary. In other business, the board: Approved an agreement with Wood River to reimburse the city for $120,347.80 in costs associated with the relocation of 911 services from East Alton and Bethalto. Approved $65,750 in environmental education program funding, and $181,893 in environmental grants. The money comes from county landfill host fees. Approved paying up to $45,000 annually for stormwater policy and floodplain management consulting services with the Heartlands Conservancy of Mascoutah and SCI Engineering of St. Charles. The contract is for up to three years. Approved a memorandum of understanding with the Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District, and authorizing a $39,000 grant for the group. Approved $178,000 for supplemental preliminary engineering services for improvements to Seiler Road from Humbert Road to Seminary Road. Approved $2,900 for right-of-way acquisition for nine properties relating to the planned resurfacing of Wanda Road. Approved two resolutions appropriating $137,500 and $143,750 for the planned resurfacing of Wood River Avenue in East Alton and Wood River, respectively. Photo provided Bret and Kurt Wade present a $4,000 contribution to Monica Tiemann of The Salvation Army. The donation was from Illinois Workshops, the Wades school for professional photographers. VANCOUVERA flyer delivered to Burnaby residents over the weekend is evidence Conservative candidate Jay Shin is bleeding right-wing support to the Peoples Party of Canada, said an NDP spokesperson. The flyer, which features a photo of New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh, urges voters of all stripes to save the NDP by voting for Jay Shin, suggesting Singhs defeat would lead to his ouster as party leader. Polling shows the best way to defeat Jagmeet Singh is to lend your vote to the Conservatives, reads the flyer. Defeat Jagmeet Singh so the NDP can get a new leader. The Shin campaign confirmed Sunday the flyer originated from them. The unusual tactic shows the Shin campaign is desperate to find support following the entry of Peoples Party of Canada (PPC) candidate Tyler Thompson into the byelection, according to a statement from Singh campaign spokesperson James Smith. This is a ridiculous attack from the Conservatives who are trying to stop bleeding votes to Maxime Berniers party, I guess by any means necessary, Smiths statement said. Read more: Liberal turmoil a gift to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in B.C. byelection, expert says How Canadian populism is playing out in the Burnaby South byelection Liberals allege Jagmeet Singhs Facebook campaign ads violate election rules The flyers appeared just days ahead of the byelection which could see Singh win a seat in the House of Commons a critical toehold hes been without since winning party leadership in the fall of 2017. The PPC, meanwhile, has made space for itself to the right of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) since PPC leader, Maxime Bernier, announced the partys formation in 2018. The emergence of the PPC represents the first real challenge the federal Conservative Party of Canada has faced from the right since its formation in 2003 out of a merger between the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance. Shin said the flyer was not meant as an attempt to regain support from the right, but to target left-leaning voters by capitalizing on internal issues currently facing the federal NDP. With this most recent ad, we are highlighting what Ive heard on the streets about Jagmeet Singh, Shin told The Star Vancouver in a Sunday interview. Yearly donations to the federal NDP have tanked from $18.6 million in 2015 to about $5 million last year, according to fundraising returns filed with Elections Canada. The party subsequently mortgaged its Ottawa headquarters the Jack Layton building for $12 million. Meanwhile, the CBC reported last month that several senior members of the federal NDP caucus warned Singh in June he wont be able to stay on as party leader if he loses the Burnaby South byelection. Singh has not directly responded to the report, saying only he is confident hell be party leader during the federal election in October. Former NDP leader Thomas Mulcair has also been critical of Singh, publicly chiding his political acumen and the direction of the party under his leadership. All of these factors are on the minds of NDP voters Shin said hes encountered while door-knocking in Burnaby-South. Shin said his own campaign platform is already well-known to residents, so its time to focus on the reasons why his opponents would make regrettable choices. Chief among those, he said, is the fact Singh is using Burnaby-South as a political bus stop. This (flyer) is an opportunity for me to highlight that, and let the voters know, he said. Im here to win, at the end of the day. But Singhs campaign spokesperson said the rhetoric of Singhs ineffectiveness is further evidence his bid for a seat in Parliament represents a real threat to rival federal parties. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... While Liberals and Conservatives say they arent worried about what Jagmeet Singh brings to the table, theyre sure spending a lot of time targeting him, Smiths statement said. Voters can see through that. They can see that despite the attacks, Jagmeet is standing up for what matters most to them. Correction February 25, 2019: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly implied that NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has not held an elected office before. In fact, he was an Ontario MPP, but has not held an elected federal office. With files from Melanie Green. Read more about: VANCOUVERThe federal Liberal party has alleged that Facebook ads from NDP candidate Jagmeet Singhs campaign violated the Canada Elections Act, just days before voters head to the polls in the contentious Burnaby South federal byelection. The complaints were outlined in a letter sent to the Commissioner of Canada Elections on Friday, in which John J. Arnold, director of regulatory compliance and administration for federal Liberals, said that election ads for NDP Leader Singhs campaign lacked the required authorization tag indicating that an ad had consent from a candidate or party. Ten screen shots from the Jagmeet Singh For Burnaby South Federal NDP Facebook page were included as examples in the letter, which Arnold said had sufficient space to display the required authorization tag. The ads appear to be live as of Saturday evening, but appear to have been changed with the addition of a line which say the ad was paid for and authorized by the official agent of the candidate. Section 320 of the Election Act states that a candidate or party must mention in or on the message that an election ad had been authorized by the official agent of the candidate or by the registered agent of the party. Its essential that every party follows the clear rules that keep our democratic process transparent and accountable, and this is even more important in the final few days of an important byelection, Sangeeta Lalli, Liberal candidate Richard T. Lees campaign manager, said in an email statement. However, a spokesperson for the NDP campaign said that are in full compliance with election rules. James Smith, spokesperson for the Jagmeet for Burnaby Campaign, said in a statement that every post was shared by the Jagmeet Singh for Burnaby South Federal NDP page, which is the official account for Singhs campaign. Smith pointed to Elections Canadas guidelines from 2015 with regards to social media advertising. The guidelines say that when an authorization in an ad cannot be included due to size limitations, the requirement is that it is immediately apparent to the viewer by following the link in the advertising message, whether or not the content to which it leads is election advertising. He also said that the change to the ads was made before the NDP were made aware of the letter on Saturday. Previous to being made aware of this letter, we spoke with a representative from Elections Canada and ensured that all applicable sponsored posts contain an authorization statement so that there is no question regarding the nature of our advertising, Smith said. While it is not clear what the penalty could be if Singhs campaign was found to be in violation of the Canada Elections Act, Arnold said in the letter he hoped the Commissioner would review the ads and communicate the importance of including an authorization statement on paid elections advertising of this nature. Federal NDP Leader Singh will fight for his first parliamentary seat on Monday against the Liberals Lee, Conservative Jay Shin, Peoples Party of Canada candidate Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson and independents Valentine Wu and Terry Grimwood. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The Commissioner of Canada Elections could not be reached at the time of publication. With files from Melanie Green. Read more about: Not all that long ago, certainly in my lifetime, Ma Bell, as she was affectionately known, was a communications powerhouse; ever-present with an absolute monopoly over our American neighbours telephone service By the 1980s the American Bell System which spawned our very own Bell Canada generated over $70 billion US in annual revenues and employed a million people. That was, of course, until the United States Department of Justice brought forth an antitrust suit, which led to the dismantling of the biggest corporation in American history. It happened once. And, watch, it just might happen again. In the early days of the internet, connectivity was viewed as the great equalizer: Democratizing publishing, rendering geographic distance inconsequential, upending established power structures and disrupting traditional business models. But as the internet has grown and matured, the outcome has been just the opposite. The result? A dangerously small number of corporations have come to monopolize our digital lives. Attention is the single most important commodity in the digital economy. And the absolute titan in that regard is Facebook. After YouTube and Facebook, among the most-used platforms are WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, with 1.5 billion, 1.3 billion, and 700 million users apiece. And guess what? All three are owned by Facebook. So, how has Facebook a single company been allowed to accumulate so much of the market share? The truth is, internet companies operate in a field that is scarcely understood by either customers or regulators. But more than that, in any match between Big Government and Big Technology, Big Tech always wins. And so, between the novelty of the product, the ignorance of the consumer, and the absence of government regulation, a $445-billion company has been able to take deep root. However, that era of unimpeded growth may be coming to an end. The aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election brought with it an acknowledgement that these platforms were effectively weaponized by hostile foreign powers. The unprecedented accumulation of personal data by these companies has created all manner of potential liabilities, and foreign interference in elections is only one example. The consequence is that a new level of scrutiny has begun. The Canadian government has announced a panel of civil servants has been deputized to watch for foreign interference during an election campaign. The federal parliamentary committee on privacy and ethics has made 26 recommendations that would block hate speech, limit surveillance, and protect user privacy. And, just this week, Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould testified before the procedure and house affairs committee, suggesting a critical examination of the role of social media in democracies with a view to hold[ing] the social media companies to account. In the U.K., a select committee of the House of Commons issued its final report on the inquiry into disinformation and fake news. Among the committees findings, Facebook intentionally and knowingly violated privacy and anti-competition laws. According to the report, big tech companies must not be allowed to expand exponentially, without constraint or proper regulatory oversight. But only governments and the law are powerful enough to contain them. The legislative tools already exist. They must now be applied to digital activity, using tools such as privacy laws, data protection legislation, antitrust and competition law. Since the beginning, missteps were priced into Facebooks success. Mark Zuckerbergs motto was move fast and break things. Surely, that wasnt intended to extend to the public trust. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Short of antitrust action, Facebooks gravest threat may well be that the user of what is ultimately an advertising business, and therefore the product will eventually grow bored of the service or weary of scandal and walk away. Polls tell us the public professes to be concerned about digital privacy. And yet, when Facebook announced its annual results last month, after a bruising year of drip, drip, drip revelations of questionable conduct from Cambridge Analytica to accusations of fomenting genocide in Myanmar, usership was actually up across the board, in every region of the world. All of which, of course, asks the question: so long as users are not prepared to abandon Facebook, how much political capital will governments expend on policy prescriptions to regulate it? Jaime Watt is the executive chairman of Navigator Ltd. and a Conservative strategist. He is a freelance contributor for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @jaimewatt Read more about: The Ford government is certainly not the first to tie itself in knots over autism. By any standard, though, theyve hit a strange place very quickly. So keen to attack the last Liberal government for having a program that didnt meet all the needs of children with autism, they jumped in and actually made it worse. And their desire to distract from that fact has led them to a place where saying yada yada yada is such a serious breach that one of their own MPPs was suspended for it, but a minister threatening a vulnerable group is apparently A-okay. Last week, when the public galleries of the Ontario legislature were full of angry parents who had come to protest the governments changes, Premier Doug Ford seemed to think that throwing Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston MPP Randy Hillier to the wolves might help. As everyone was exiting the legislature, Hillier was heard to say yada yada yada. Ford quickly dispatched a news release announcing Hilliers suspension from the PC caucus for his disrespectful comments to parents of children with autism. For his part, Hillier says his comment was directed at a New Democrat MPP who was at that moment berating the government over its autism policy. That does seem rather more likely. But either way, its far less disrespectful than what Ford himself said in 2014 when he was a Toronto city councillor. Ford said then that an Etobicoke home for teenagers with autism had ruined the community, and followed that up by telling a father who complained about him to go to hell. Yada yada yada is also not as troubling as Children, Community and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeods decision to threaten the Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysis with four long years if they didnt publicly support her governments autism overhaul. But Ford rushed to defend MacLeod as an absolute all-star and ejected Hillier pending a PC caucus meeting on Tuesday to decide his future. Could that be because MacLeod is doing his bidding and Hillier, an outspoken backbencher, is not? And that gets us back to whats really unacceptable (to use Fords word for Hillier) the governments autism policy itself. To be sure, this is tough to get right. The Liberals spent 15 years in power without ever meeting all the needs, which is why the wait-list for services is so long. But the PCs fix spreads $321 million in existing provincial funding far too thinly in an effort to clear that wait-list. MacLeod can call this a fair, equitable and sustainable system all she wants, but that doesnt make it a good one. Or a system that provides kids with autism, especially those on the high needs end of the spectrum, access and funding to services they desperately need. But in the face of mounting evidence that this policy is deeply misguided and wont achieve its stated outcomes, the Ford government has reacted the way it usually does claiming victory anyway. Ford and his ministers have done this on everything from climate change and Hydro One to cancelling sex education and minimum wage increases. But the governments penchant for declaring victory where there is none and quickly moving on to the next file may finally have met its match. As one parent, referring to the efforts they put in to make the previous government improve the provinces autism program, put it: It took 96 days with the Liberals. Were not going away. These are our children. MacLeod claimed victory on Feb. 6 when she announced the governments new program. Lets call that day one. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... By day nine, MacLeod found herself apologizing if her comments to the behaviour analysts made anyone feel threatened or uncomfortable. By day 15, Hillier was suspended, seemingly in an effort to show how much the government cares. The government keeps digging itself in deeper. It should stop digging and look again at the real problem: a policy that will make things worse, not better, for kids with autism and their desperate parents. Read more about: WASHINGTON - Redefining success, President Donald Trump headed to his second meeting with North Koreas Kim Jong Un on Monday, determined to tamp down expectations that hell achieve big strides toward denuclearization. Yet he was still eager to claim an attention-grabbing victory to offset the political turmoil he faces at home. Trump is set to land in Vietnam late Tuesday and will have meetings with the host countrys president and prime minister Wednesday before sitting down later with Kim for a private dinner. Trump will be joined at the dinner by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, the White House said Monday. Kim also will have two aides with him, and there will be translators for both sides. Trump and Kim, who arrived in Vietnam Tuesday, will have a series of official meetings Thursday. Trump laid out ultimate goals for both the U.S. and Kim in an appearance before the nations governors Monday before boarding Air Force One to fly to Vietnam: We want denuclearization, and I think hell have a country that will set a lot of records for speed in terms of an economy. Worries abound across world capitals about what Trump might be willing to give up in the name of a win, but there seems less mystery about his North Korean counterpart. Survival of the Kim regime is always the primary concern. Trump was the driving force behind this weeks summit, aiming to re-create the global spectacle of his first meeting with Kim last year. But that initial summit in Singapore yielded few concrete results, and the months that followed have produced little optimism about what will be achieved in the sequel. Trump is publicly unconcerned. He once warned that North Koreas arsenal posed such a threat to humanity that he might have no choice but to rain fire and fury on the nation. However, in the leadup to the new summit, hes proclaimed himself in no hurry for Pyongyang to prove it is abandoning its weapons. Im not in a rush. I dont want to rush anybody, I just dont want testing. As long as theres no testing, were happy, Trump told the governors on Sunday. In fact, he is ready to write himself into the history books before he and Kim even shake hands in Hanoi. If I were not elected president, you would have been in a war with North Korea, Trump said last week. We now have a situation where the relationships are good where there has been no nuclear testing, no missiles, no rockets. While Trump was airborne, Kims armoured train was on the move in China, bound toward Vietnams capital. Vietnamese officials promised security at the maximum level. Reporters from 40 nations were expected to transmit the story to the world. Kim inherited a nascent nuclear program from his father, and after years of accelerated effort and fighting through crippling sanctions, he built an arsenal that demonstrated the potential to rocket a thermonuclear weapon to the mainland United States. That is the fundamental reason Washington now sits at the negotiating table. Kim, his world standing elevated after receiving an audience with a U.S. president, has yet to show a convincing sign that he is willing to deal away an arsenal that might provide a stronger guarantee of survival than whatever security assurance the United States could provide. The North Koreans have largely eschewed staff-level talks, pushing for discussions between Trump and Kim. Though details of the summit remain closely held, the two leaders are expected to meet at some point one-on-one, joined only by translators. The easing of tension between the two nations, Trump and his allies contend, stems from the U.S. presidents own unorthodox and unpredictable style of diplomacy. Often prizing personal rapport over long-held strategic interests, Trump has pointed to his budding relationship with the young and reclusive leader, frequently showing visitors to the Oval Office his flattering letters from Kim. Trump, who has long declared that North Korea represented the gravest foreign threat of his presidency, told reporters recently that his efforts to defang Pyongyang had moved Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, something Abe would not confirm or deny. Four main goals emerged from the first Trump-Kim summit: establishing new relations between the nations, building a new peace on the entire Korean Peninsula, completing denuclearization of the peninsula and recovering U.S. POW/MIA remains from the Korean War. While some remains have been returned to the United States, little has been achieved on the other points. Korean and American negotiators have not settled on either the parameters of denuclearization or a timetable for the removal of both Korean weapons and American sanctions. The key lessons of Singapore are that President Trump sees tremendous value in the imagery of diplomacy and wants to be seen as a bold leader, even if the substance of the diplomacy is far behind the pageantry, said Abraham Denmark, director of the Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... U.S. intelligence officials testified before Congress last month that it remains unlikely Kim will fully dismantle his arsenal. And many voices in the Trump administration, including National Security Adviser John Bolton, have expressed skepticism that North Korea would ever live up to a deal. Mark Chinoy, senior fellow at U.S.-China Institute at the University of Southern California, said that after generations of hostility, the convivial atmosphere of Singapore cant be discounted. But Chinoy noted that Trump had agreed to North Koreans formulation of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, which Pyongyang has long made clear meant an end to the US security alliance with South Korea and an end to the U.S. nuclear umbrella intended to defend South Korea and Japan. After the last summit, Trump unilaterally suspended some military drills with South Korea, alarming some in Seoul and at the Pentagon. But he was insistent this week that he would not draw down U.S. troops from South Korea. And American officials, even as they hint at a relaxed timetable for Pyongyang to account for its full arsenal, have continued to publicly insist they would not favour easing sanctions on North Korea until denuclearization is complete. A year ago, North Korea suspended its nuclear and long-range missile tests and said it dismantled its nuclear testing ground, but those measures were not perceived as meaningful reductions. Experts believe Kim, who is enjoying warmer relations with South Korea and the easing of pressure from Russia and China, will seek a U.S. commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief while trying to minimize any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons. Kim is doing pretty well as it is, said Scott Seaman of the Eurasia Group. The threat of a U.S. military strike is essentially zero, Kims diplomatic charm offensive has made him into a bigger player on the world stage, and he continues to whittle away at international commitment to sanctions. The Hanoi summit comes at a politically uncertain time for Trump. His potential 2020 foes have begun unleashing attacks. The newly elected Democratic House has begun its investigations of the president, calling his former legal fixer, Michael Cohen, to appear before Congress while Trump is in Vietnam. And special counsel Robert Mueller, who has investigated possible ties between Trumps campaign Russian election interference, may finalize his report within days of the presidents return to the United States. ___ Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul and Deb Riechmann, Catherine Lucey, Zeke Miller and Jill Colvin in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire ___ Follow all of APs summit coverage at https://apnews.com/Trump-KimSummit WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence are expected to be abroad at the same time for a day, an unusual bit of scheduling for the nations top two officials. On Monday, Trump will leave for a summit in Vietnam with North Koreas Kim Jong Un. On the same day, Pence will be in Colombia for a one-day emergency summit on Venezuela. The vice-presidents daytrip will involve meeting with the so-called Lima Group, made up of mostly conservative Latin American nations. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido will take part. The two leaders have been outside the U.S. at the same time before, notably last year when Trump was in Argentina for a G20 meeting and Pence travelled to Mexico for the inauguration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Latest on the California Republican Party convention (all times local): 11:30 a.m. The California Republican Party has selected party organizer Jessica Patterson as its new chair. Patterson won support Sunday from a majority of more than 1,200 party delegates to cap off a three-day convention. She bested former state Assemblyman Travis Allen and party activist Steve Frank. Patterson will now be tasked with leading the party in the 2020 election following devastating losses last November. She crafted herself as a candidate with strong ties to party donors and promised to carry the partys message into new corners of the state. She says she wants to focus on issues specific to California rather than nationalizing Republican campaigns. Her opponents had argued for a fuller embrace of President Donald Trump. Patterson previously led a candidate training and recruitment program. __ 10 a.m. The California Republican Party is meeting to choose a new chair to lead it into the 2020 election. More than 1,500 Republicans have gathered in Sacramento this weekend for a three-day convention following stinging losses in 2018. The party holds less than a quarter of state legislative seats and just seven of 53 U.S. House seats. Delegates are choosing Sunday between three chair candidates. They are Jessica Patterson, a party organizer; Travis Allen, a former state lawmaker; and Steve Frank, a longtime activist. Allen says engaging the GOPs grassroots and strongly supporting President Donald Trump are keys to the partys success. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Patterson says she is best poised to raise money and bring the partys message to new voters. Frank says his long involvement with the party is an asset. OAKLAND, Calif. - Teachers in Oakland, California, are preparing to strike for a third day after negotiations with the school district broke down over the weekend. Oakland Unified says in a statement that talks ended Sunday with no resolution on issues including salary and class sizes. The district urged the Oakland Education Association to return to the table as soon as possible. The union, meanwhile, vows that teachers will walk picket lines again starting at 6:30 a.m. Monday. Oaklands 3,000 educators went on strike last week, picketing Thursday and Friday outside many of the citys 86 schools. The teachers are asking for a 12 per cent retroactive raise covering 2017 to 2020 to compensate for what they say are among the lowest salaries for public school teachers in the expensive San Francisco Bay Area. But the neo-liberalism the left associates with Clinton and Blair came under fierce progressive assault after the 2008 economic implosion for being too financier-friendly, insufficiently attentive to rising inequality, and too confident in the benefits of free trade and deregulation. The backlash in Britain was particularly vigorous in response to Blairs strong support for President George W. Bushs invasion of Iraq. Again, whatever Republicans may claim, Democrats are a long way from embracing Corbynism. But the bitterness of the growing divide between the left and center-left in Britain is a warning of how debilitating intra-progressive strife could become in Congress and in the 2020 primaries. Given that the defeat of Donald Trump is the absolutely necessary first step toward a more humane politics, more moderate and more adventurous Democrats can ill afford to concentrate their fire on each other. The stakes are too high for self-indulgent sectarianism. And differences in approach over how to guarantee everyone health coverage or how to fight climate change are less important than agreeing that both problems are urgent and need solving. Remembering that your opponents would prefer to do nothing at all on these issues is a good way to put such disagreements into perspective. MINNEAPOLIS - Authorities have rescued dozens of people stranded by a blizzard that howled across southern Minnesota and dumped about a foot of snow in some places. In east-central Wisconsin, one person was killed and several others injured Sunday in an interstate pileup involving more than 100 vehicles during whiteout conditions. The Minnesota National Guard rescued 30 people in Freeborn County on Saturday night, Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a tweet. Sheriffs deputies rescued an additional 20 people. Forty-eight people were sheltered at a National Guard armoury in Albert Lea, near the Minnesota-Iowa border, while the Owatonna armoury housed 24 people stranded by the blizzard. Gov. Tim Walz declared a state of emergency late Saturday and ordered the guard to help stranded motorists in Freeborn and Steele counties. Conditions were so bad in southern Minnesota on Sunday that state Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Joe Kelly urged residents to stay home, or to stay in their vehicles and wait for help if stranded on the road. The Minnesota Department of Transportation said Interstate 35 is closed from Owatonna to the Iowa border and I-90 is closed from Dexter in Mower County west, due to poor driving conditions with blowing and drifting snow. Many other highways in southeastern Minnesota were closed Sunday morning. The National Weather Service reported 13 inches (33 centimetres) of snow in Kasson, 11.5 inches (29 centimetres) in Albert Lea and 11 inches (27.9 centimetres) in Ellendale. In Wisconsin, one person was killed and several others injured and taken to hospitals Sunday in a pileup amid whiteout conditions on southbound Interstate 41 that involved more than 100 vehicles, the Winnebago County Sheriffs Office said. North Dakota transportation officials closed I-29 in both the northbound and southbound lanes from Grand Forks to the Canadian border on Sunday because of blowing snow, which was creating icy road conditions, areas of zero visibility and life-threatening driving conditions. CHICAGO - Actor Terrence Howard, who plays the father of Jussie Smolletts character on Empire, is expressing support on social media for his fellow cast member, who is accused of staging an attack on himself. Howard took to Instagram on Saturday and posted a video of Smollett holding a giggling baby with the message: All your lil homies got you. Smollett, who is black and gay, is charged with felony disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report. Hes accused of staging a racist, anti-gay attack on himself last month in downtown Chicago. Police say Smollett planned the hoax because he was unhappy with his salary and wanted to promote his career. Smollett denies the allegations. Empire producers said Friday that Smolletts character will be removed from the final two episodes of this season. LOS ANGELES - Doris Tapia never imagined that she would get to watch the Oscars at a party in Los Angeles, exchanging the sneakers she wears when she takes care of children in New York for a pair of high heel shoes. The Peruvian nanny is among dozens of domestic workers who will be honoured Sunday as the heroes of our homes in a red carpet event organized by the National Domestic Workers Alliance. The event also has the support of Roma director Alfonso Cuaron, activist Tarana Burke and actresses Diane Guerrero, Eva Longoria and Olga Segura. It is a privilege to be part of this event. I could have never imagined I would be stepping in a place like this, Tapia said in Spanish, shortly before her trip to Hollywood. And yesterday trying our dresses on! It was such a lovely experience of camaraderie, she added later about the garments donated by Rent the Runway. The Mexican movie Roma is nominated for 10 Academy Awards and stars Yalitza Aparicio as Cleo, a domestic worker for a Mexico City middle-class family in the turbulent early 1970s. It has given domestic workers global visibility and started a conversation about the importance of their job after years of being poorly paid and underappreciated. There are 2 million women who do this work and are not protected by our labour laws, said Ai-jen Poo, executive director at the alliance, an organization founded in 2007 that promotes the rights of domestic workers in the Unites States. They are taking care of our families, but they cant take care of their own families doing this work, she said. We think this is a huge opportunity to expand our support for making these jobs dignified jobs and for valuing the workers. Inspired by his childhood, Cuaron has dedicated Roma to his nanny Libo. Since its August debut at the Venice Film Festival, where it earned the Golden Lion, it has received accolades and awards at the Golden Globes and the British film academys BAFTAs, among others. Meanwhile, the director has advocated for domestic workers rights and has spoken against racial discrimination in Mexico, where the success of Aparicio a newcomer of indigenous origin and the daughter of a domestic worker has generated derogatory remarks. Cuaron recently made a public service announcement calling on employers of domestic workers to pay fairly, set clear expectations, and provide paid time off. He also invited support of Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, a legislative effort to provide rights and protection denied for decades, as well as use of Alia (https://www.myalia.org/,) a benefits platform for housecleaners created by the alliance. If it wasnt for the work that domestic workers were doing in homes ... (other) people wouldnt be able to go do other jobs, said Monica Ramirez, gender justice campaign director for the alliance. On Sunday, the organization will be celebrating Roma as a beautiful movie and because of its social impact. Poo noted that the film made the experience and work of Cleo visible and also humanized her. It reminds us that women who do this work are women they are mothers, they are friends, they are daughters, she said. Shes a whole human being, and those stories are so invisible in our popular culture. So we celebrate the film. Tapia, who moved to the U.S. almost two decades ago, had attended the premiere of Roma at the Lincoln Center in New York, where there was no shortage of tears, she said. She expects to see the film win multiple Academy Awards. But in fact, to me it is already a champion, she said enthusiastically. ___ Follow Sigal Ratner-Arias on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/sigalratner . Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... ___ Online: https://www.www.domesticworkers.org/ PORTLAND, Maine - Despite costly litigation embroiling pop artist Robert Indianas estate, the foundation tasked with transforming the reclusive artists home into an art museum is moving forward. The presumptive chairman of the Star of Hope Foundation is making plans to add board members, engage with the Vinalhaven, Maine, island community where Indiana lived until his death, evaluate the art collection and overhaul his dilapidated house, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. We generally feel optimistic about this. This is a wonderful, incredible opportunity not just for Vinalhaven, but for the state of Maine, Larry Sterrs told The Associated Press. Indiana, whose iconic LOVE series is instantly recognizable worldwide, retreated in 1978 from New York City to Vinalhaven Island, 15 miles (24 kilometres) off the coast of Rockland. His home is known as the Star of Hope, after the former lodge of the fraternal organization Odd Fellows that used to be there. It has fallen into disrepair in recent years. When Indiana died at 89 in May, there was a hole in the roof and pigeons living inside. Board members say they are committed to fulfilling Indianas vision for transforming the place into a museum where the public can view the artists extensive works. But before the museum can be ready, a lawsuit filed the day before Indianas death that needs to be settled. Indianas former caretaker, Jamie Thomas, is accused in a federal lawsuit of taking advantage of the artist. It claims Thomas and an art publisher exploited Indiana in his final years by making unauthorized reproductions of his work. Thomas lawyers have said theres more to the story and it will come out in court. A trial is scheduled for October in New York. Sterrs, who currently leads the Unity Foundation, said despite the litigation, work on the museum is continuing. The expectation is that Sterrs will serve as board chairman, alongside two current directors, Thomas and James Brannan, attorney for Indianas estate. Under Indianas will, Thomas was tasked with running the museum, but hell report to the board on which he serves. Bob directed that Jamie be involved with Star of Hope Inc. because Bob trusted Jamie to turn into reality both Bobs vision for preservation of his artistic legacy and Bobs desire to make Vinalhaven Community life more sustainable, Thomas attorney, John Frumer, said. Sterrs said he plans to name two more independent directors soon. The board will immediately engage with the local community to discuss the Star of Hope project, he said. Phil Crossman, chairman of Historic Down Street LLC, which was formed to protect historical properties on Vinalhaven, said hes happy that progress is being made. Im encouraged by the prospect that it may happen sooner than later, said Crossman, who operates The Tidewater. The Star of Hope is only a shell of it what it once was. The front windows are boarded up. Clapboards are peeling. Theres no electricity or heat. The foundation plans to enlist architects and engineers but reconstruction will not begin until the conclusion of the lawsuit. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Nonetheless, both Indianas caretaker and the attorney for his estate are eager to fulfil Indianas wishes, Sterrs said. They are anxious for the wishes and the will of Mr. Indiana to be carried out, he said. If I can help with that, then thats great. LOS ANGELES - The segregation-era road-trip drama Green Book was crowned best picture at the 91st Academy Awards, delighting those who see the film as a feel-good throwback but disappointing others who ridicule it as an outdated inversion of Driving Miss Daisy. In a year when Hollywood could have made history by bestowing its top award on Netflix (Roma) or Marvel (Black Panther) for the first time, the motion picture academy instead threw its fullest support Sunday behind a traditional interracial buddy tale that proved as popular as it was divisive. But Peter Farrellys Green Book weathered criticism that it was retrograde and inauthentic to triumph over more acclaimed films and bigger box-office successes. It was an unexpected finale to a brisk, hostless ceremony that was awash in historic wins for diversity, including Spike Lees first competitive Oscar. More women and more individual black nominees won than ever before. The Oscars otherwise spread awards around for Ryan Cooglers superhero sensation Black Panther, Alfonso Cuarons black-and-white personal epic Roma and the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. It wont be known until later Monday if the Oscars topped last years record-low viewership of 26.5 million. But early indications from big-city markets are that the audience will be bigger, which would be a significant relief to ABC and show organizers. Lee, whose Do the Right Thing came out the same year Driving Miss Daisy won best picture, was among those most visibly upset by the award handed to Green Book. After presenter Julia Roberts announced it, Lee stood up, waved his hands in disgust and appeared to try to leave the Dolby Theatre before returning. Green Book also won best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali and best original screenplay. The whole story is about love, said Farrelly, a filmmaker best known for broad comedies like Dumb and Dumber and Theres Something About Mary. Its about loving each other despite the differences and find out the truth about who we are. Were the same people. Backstage, Lee clutched a glass of champagne while reflecting on the 30 years between Driving Miss Daisy and Green Book. Im snake bit, he said, laughing. Every time somebodys driving somebody, I lose! Lees win for best adapted screenplay for his white supremacist drama BlacKkKlansman, an award he shared with three co-writers, gave the ceremony its signature moment. The crowd rose in a standing ovation, Lee leapt into the arms of presenter Samuel L. Jackson and even the backstage press room burst into applause. Lee, whose film includes footage of President Donald Trump following the violent white supremacist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, urged mobilization for the upcoming election. Lets be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love and hate, said Lee, who was given an honorary Oscar in 2015. Lets do the right thing! You knew I had to get that in there. One of the biggest surprises of the night was in the best actress category. Olivia Colman won for her Queen Anne in the royal romp The Favourite, denying Glenn Close her first Oscar. Close remains the most-nominated living actor never to win, with seven nominations. Ooo. Its genuinely quite stressful, said a staggered Colman, who later turned to Close to say she was her idol, and this is not how I wanted it to be. The nights co-lead nominee Roma won best director and best cinematography for Cuaron, whose film also notched Mexicos first foreign language film Oscar. Cuaron and his Three Amigos countrymen Alejandro Inarritu and Guillermo del Toro, who presented Cuaron with best picture have had a stranglehold on the category, winning five of the last six years. Cuaron, who becoming the first director to ever win for serving as his own director of photography, referenced an especially international crop of nominees in one of his three acceptance speeches. When asked about the New Wave, Claude Chabrol said there are no waves, there is only the ocean, said Cuaron, referring to the French filmmaker. The nominees tonight have proven that we are a part of the same ocean. The wins for Roma gave Netflix its most significant awards yet, but Green Book denied the streaming giant the best picture win it dearly sought. Netflix remains to some a contentious force in Hollywood, since it largely bypasses theatres. The wins for Black Panther along with best animated film winner Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse meant the first Academy Awards for Marvel, the most consistent blockbuster factory Hollywood has ever seen. The lush, big-budget craft of Black Panther won for Ruth Carters costume design, Hannah Beachler and Jay Harts production design, and Ludwig Goranssons score. Beachler had been the first African-American to ever be nominated in the category. Beachler and Carter became just the second and third black women to win non-acting Oscars. It just means that weve opened the door, Carter, a veteran costume designer, said backstage. Finally, the door is wide open. Two years after winning for his role in Moonlight, Mahershala Ali won again for his supporting performance in Green Book a role many said was really a lead. Ali is the second black actor to win two Oscars following Denzel Washington, who won for Glory and Training Day. Ali dedicated the award to his grandmother. Bohemian Rhapsody, which kicked off the ABC telecast with a performance by Queen, won four awards despite pans from many critics and sexual assault allegations against its director, Bryan Singer, who was fired in mid-production for not showing up. Its star, Rami Malek, won best actor for his full-bodied and prosthetic teeth-aided performance, and the film was honoured for editing, sound mixing and sound editing. We made a film about a gay man, an immigrant who lived his life unapologetically himself, said Malek who after the ceremony fell and was checked out by medics before making the rounds at post-show festivities. Were longing for stories like this. I am the son of immigrants from Egypt. Im a first-generation American, and part of my story is being written right now. Queen launched Sundays ceremony with a medley of hits that gave the awards a distinctly Grammy-like flavour, as Hollywoods most prestigious ceremony sought to prove that its still champion of the world after last years record-low ratings. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... To compensate for a lack of host, the motion picture academy leaned on its presenters, including an ornately outfitted Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry and a Keegan-Michael Key who floated down like Mary Poppins. Following Queen, Tina Fey alongside Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph welcomed the Dolby Theatre audience to the one-millionth Academy Awards. Rudolph summarized a rocky Oscar preamble that featured numerous missteps and backtracks by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: There is no host, there wont be a popular movie category and Mexico is not paying for the wall. The trio then presented best supporting actress to Regina King for her pained matriarch in Barry Jenkins James Baldwin adaptation If Beale Street Could Talk. The crowd gave King a standing ovation for her first Oscar. The inclusivity of the winners Sunday stood in stark contrast to the #OscarsSoWhite backlash that marked the 2016 and 2015 Oscars. Since then, the academy has worked to diversify its largely white and male membership, adding several thousand new members and opening the academy up internationally. Still, this years nominations were criticized for not including a female best director nominee or a best-picture nominee directed by a woman. Though the once presumed front-runner A Star Is Born saw its chances flame out, it won, as expected, for the song Shallow, which Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper performed during the ceremony. As she came off the stage, Cooper had his arm around Gaga as she asked, Did I nail it? Best documentary went to Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chins Free Solo, which chronicles rock climber Alex Honnolds famed, free solo ascent of Yosemites El Capitan, a 3,000-foot wall of sheer granite, without ropes or climbing equipment. Free Solo was among a handful of hugely successful documentaries last year including the nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary RBG and the snubbed Fred Rogers doc Wont You Be My Neighbour. Thank you Alex Honnold for teaching us to believe in the impossible, said Vasarhelyi. This film is for everyone who believes in the impossible. Adam McKays Dick Cheney biopic Vice won makeup and hairstyling for its extensive physical transformations. The category was one of the four that the academy initially planned to present during a commercial break and as its winners Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia Dehaney dragged on in a litany of thank-yous and were the first to have their microphone cut off. To turn around ratings, Oscar producers pledged a shorter show. In the academys favour was a popular crop of nominees: Bohemian Rhapsody, A Star Is Born and, most of all, Black Panther all amassed huge sums in ticket sales. Typically, when there are box-office hits (like Titanic), more people watch the Oscars. ___ Associated Press writers Kristin M. Hall, Andrew Dalton and Lindsey Bahr contributed to this report. ___ This story corrects the first name of Brian Tyree Henry and the last name of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. ___ For full coverage of the Oscars, visit: https://apnews.com/AcademyAwards DENVER - Attackers who killed a man in Colorado may have held up a store in Wyoming and a bank in Utah later the same day, authorities said. The rampage began early Friday in Denver when a man was shot multiple times, and the attackers stole his black 2015 Cadillac sedan, police said. The victim was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His name wasnt released. Two hours later, a black Cadillac was used in an armed robbery at a convenience store in Cheyenne, Wyoming, 100 miles (160 kilometres) north. Cheyenne police said two men robbed the store, and one of them fired a handgun twice. No one was injured. The men took cash and merchandise and returned to the Cadillac, where a woman was waiting, police said. Six hours after the Cheyenne robbery, the same men robbed a Wells Fargo bank in Park City, Utah, 440 miles (710 kilometres) west of Cheyenne, authorities said. One of the men was armed with a handgun, the Summit County, Utah, Sheriffs Department said. Deputies said the men drove away in a black Cadillac with the same Colorado license plate as the car stolen in Denver, and a woman may have been a passenger. Authorities said they did not know what direction the car headed. The FBI was assisting with the investigation. ___ This story has been corrected to show the robbery in Utah occurred six hours after the one in Cheyenne, not four hours. SIMI VALLEY, Calif. - The city of Simi Valley, California, has reached a $21 million settlement with a man wrongly imprisoned for nearly 40 years in the killing of his girlfriend and her 4-year-old son. Craig Coley was released in 2017 after he was pardoned by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, who said DNA evidence and re-investigation proved Coleys innocence. Simi Valley officials said Saturday that the agreement would mitigate long, costly and unnecessary legal proceedings, the Los Angeles Times reported. While no amount of money can make up for what happened to Mr. Coley, settling this case is the right thing to do for Mr. Coley and our community, City Manager Eric Levitt said in a statement. The city will pay about $4.9 million and the rest is expected to be paid by insurance and other sources. The state last year approved a separate, nearly $2 million payment for Coley. He is now 71. Coley spent 39 years behind bars after he was wrongly convicted of killing 24-year-old Rhonda Wicht of Simi Valley and her son in 1978. The citys police chief and Ventura Countys district attorney asked Brown to pardon him because forensic tests showed Coleys DNA was not on the victims bedsheet, which contained DNA from an unknown man. Coley had an alibi for the time of the slayings and investigators later disproved testimony from an eyewitness who placed him at the scene. His parents died while he was in prison after mortgaging their home to pay his legal bills. Ron Kaye, an attorney representing Coley, said the settlement offers some closure and vindication for his client, though no amount of money can compensate him for the life he missed while imprisoned. He now can live the rest of his life, which we hope will be really well into the future, with the security he deserves, Kaye said. Soon after Coley was pardoned, a judge declared him factually innocent. Simi Valley police have not arrested anyone else in the killings. ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Pakistan has a desire to change its ways and be removed from an American blacklist of countries that infringe on religious freedoms, a U.S. special envoy said Sunday on a tour of a Mideast long riven by faith. Sam Brownback, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, criticized Sudans government amid protests against longtime President Omar al-Bashir during an interview with The Associated Press. He also lauded steps taken by the United Arab Emirates and promises made by Saudi Arabia while acknowledging far more needs to be done in those countries to promote and protect the right to choose ones faith. No, its not enough but its something, Brownback said in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi. Theyre not perfect countries by any means nor is the United States . but what I really think we need to do is to start people on a process and on an engagement moving forward. Brownback, a Republican who served in the U.S. Senate and later as the governor of Kansas for two terms, said he travelled to Pakistan to discuss the country being newly placed on the blacklist, which can lead to a nation facing economic sanctions. Pakistan, home to some 200 million people, has blasphemy laws that carry an automatic death sentence for a conviction of insulting Islam. Blasphemy allegations alone can lead to deadly mob violence. The U.S. put Pakistan on its religious freedom blacklist in December, though U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held back on imposing sanctions on the U.S.-allied nation. Brownback told the AP he met with Pakistans foreign minister, who promised to appoint a point person to handle the U.S. concerns. Theyve had a lot of difficulties as a nation on this topic on religious freedom so what I was there for was to talk about changing, Brownback said. However, Brownback acknowledged there are repeat offenders on the blacklist, like U.S. ally Saudi Arabia. He praised King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, saying the language coming out of the leadership is substantially different. However, Brownback himself brought up the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, calling it a horrific thing that went on. Theyve got a long way to go, he said. Brownback, who converted to Catholicism in 2002, praised the UAE for hosting the recent visit of Pope Francis. The pontiffs visit and his Roman Catholic papal Mass both were the first on the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam. Brownback also praised an Emirati effort to examine school books for children. However, he acknowledged the limits of religious freedom in the UAE as proselytizing by non-Muslims remains illegal. Conversion from Islam to another religion is illegal. Blasphemy and apostasy laws also carry a possible death sentence. Even though were in a Year of Tolerance here in the UAE, and I applaud that, tolerance is too low of a bar, Brownback earlier told a group of local journalists. We need respect between the religions. They need to respect each other as this is a legitimate search for God. Whoever it is and whatever you believe, this is this is your hearts search. And that is your right as a dignified human to do it. A member of the UAEs government-run National Media Council later criticized an AP reporters question about religious freedom in the Emirates during a news conference with Brownback. President Donald Trump picked Brownback to serve as the U.S. ambassador-at-large for religious freedom in 2017, though he only became ambassador in 2018. He had faced criticism from Democrats and LGBT groups over rescinding an order while governor that barred discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in Kansas. Brownback opposes abortion and gay marriage. Brownback as governor also ordered state agencies not to help resettle Syrian refugees amid that countrys yearslong war. As a senator, Brownback paid particular attention to the conflict in Sudans Darfur region. Asked about the ongoing protests there, Brownback declined to say whether he personally thought al-Bashir should leave. The government there has just been terrible on how its let its own people not be free and has persecuted their people for years and years and years, Brownback told the AP. Theyve had a genocide in Darfur, they had a genocide (in) what they did to the Southern Sudanese, they continue to be a huge violator of religious freedom and I dont think theyve served that nation well at all. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... ___ Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap . JERUSALEM - Israeli police briefly detained the head of the Islamic authority that oversees Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem early Sunday following recent protests there. The cleric, Sheikh Abdelazeem Salhab, was appointed to head the Waqf by neighbouring Jordan, which strongly protested the arrest. Jordans minister of Islamic affairs, Abdul Nasser Abul Basal, said the Israeli action was dangerous and an unacceptable escalation that affected Jordans role as the custodian of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, according to the Petra news agency. Israeli police confirmed the arrest Sunday, and the Waqf later said police had released Salhab and banned him from entering the site for a week. On Friday, Palestinian protesters streamed into a part of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound that Israel had sealed off in 2003 because it was home to a heritage organization allegedly connected with a militant Islamic group. Israeli police accused the Waqf, the Islamic authority that oversees the compound, of attempting to change the status quo at the sensitive site by convening in the closed area last week. Israeli police said the crowds that gathered dispersed peacefully after prayers. Tension at the shrine have escalated in recent days with similar protests turning into scuffles with police. Police have arrested 60 Palestinians in recent days suspected of causing disturbances and inciting violence. The contested site, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The compound is the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest site for Jews. It has been a flashpoint of violence in the past. SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt - Leaders from European Union and Arab League countries pledged Sunday to boost co-operation in the fight against terrorism and to tackle unauthorized migration at a first-ever summit high in symbolism but likely to yield few concrete results. Under tight security at the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi opened two days of talks with a speech celebrating what he described as historic co-operation between the two organizations. But despite the public display of unity, just drafting a summit statement has proved difficult. EU and Arab League foreign ministers failed to agree earlier this month on a text after Hungary objected to the section on migration, and work on the document is continuing. In it, the leaders are likely to commit to addressing conflicts in Syria and Yemen or stalled Middle East peace efforts, yet paper over major differences about how to resolve them or who might be responsible. Some said that merely sitting down together at the same table for the first time is a result in itself. The meeting is the message, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters, summing up the largely symbolic nature of the summit, while EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said this summit is, in itself, a deliverable. Europes migration challenge is at the heart of the two-day meeting, being held under the slogan Investing in Stability. Desperate to bring migrant arrivals under control, the EU offered the summit last October as a symbolic sweetener to el-Sissi, much as they did with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2015. The EU wants el-Sissi to order the Egyptian coast guard to pick up migrants leaving Libya and take them back to the African mainland, ensuring they do not become Europes responsibility. El-Sissi, in turn, would receive high-profile European recognition, promotion for Sharm el-Sheikh and a muting of criticism of his governments human rights record. We must work together countries of origin, transit and destination in order to break the business model of smugglers and traffickers who lure people into dangerous journeys and feed modern-day slavery, said EU Council President Donald Tusk. While the number of people crossing the central Mediterranean has now dropped to a seven-year low, Europes inability to agree on how to manage the arrivals has sparked a major political crisis, as nations bicker over who should take responsibility and whether other EU partners should help out. Some, like Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Hungary, contend that extremists are entering among the refugees. Just days before the summit, the head of the EUs border and coast guard agency praised the authorities in Cairo for preventing any migrant from setting out for Europe from the Egyptian coast since 2016. There are no boats coming directly from Egypt to the European Union, Frontex director Fabrice Leggeri said. The co-operation with Egypt is really encouraging and is developing. The EU a major trading partner and investor in the Arab world routinely trumpets an agreement it reached with Erdogan for slowing migrant arrivals to a trickle in exchange for up to 6 billion euros ($7 billion) in aid for Syrian refugees there and other incentives. It has pledged to replicate the deal in northern Africa. El-Sissi also called for a broad plan to combat terrorism that would deprive extremists of funding and include a strict security offensive to counter the terrorist organizations and other elements of terrorism. And there should also be an effective ideological offensive against their ideological platforms. Saeed Sadek, professor of political sociology at the Canadian University in Cairo, told The Associated Press that security would be of prime concern in Sharm el-Sheikh, but he too played down expectations from the summit. The timing is very important because it comes after eight years of instability in the Mediterranean affecting Europe and the Middle East, Sadek said. Both sides want to know how can we stabilize the area further, produce stability, how can we deal with the consequences and prevent any further escalations. But the imbalance of power between the two sides may not produce the concrete results that people imagine, he added. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Tusk too noted: I am aware that there are differences between us. We are not here to pretend that we agree on everything. But we face common challenges and have shared interests. ___ Associated Press video reporter Ahmed Hatem and AP writer Brian Rohan in Cairo contributed to this report. The last person who asked me that is still missing. If you need me, I'll be underwater. It's a dry heat. You call this hot? Bring it on. Vote View Results TOKYO - Donald Keene, a longtime Columbia University professor who was a giant in the field of Japanese literature and translation, died Sunday in Tokyo, the city that he had made his home. He was 96. His death was confirmed by Akira Someya, secretary general of the Donald Keene Center Kashiwazaki in Japans Niigata prefecture. Someya said the cause of death was heart failure. A grandfather-like figure to generations of students, Keene fostered the growth of Japanese studies, a field that barely existed when he started as a Columbia undergraduate in the 1940s. The prolific scholar, who worked well into his 90s, published about 25 books in English, including translations of both classical and modern writers, and some 30 in Japanese. His landmark first anthology of Japanese literature was published in 1955. He came to feel at home in Japan, where he received many honours for his work, and settled permanently in 2011. I gradually thought of Japan as a place where I would like to live, and also where I would like to die, the native New Yorker said in a 2015 interview with The Associated Press. Keene was the first foreigner to receive the Order of Culture from the Japanese government in 2008 for persons who have contributed greatly to Japanese art, literature or culture. He also was the first non-Japanese to receive the Yomiuri Literary Prize for literary criticism in 1985. His introduction to Japanese literature came in 1940 when he came across a two-volume translation of The Tale of Genji, an 11th century classic, selling for 49 cents at a Times Square bookstore specializing in remainders, he wrote in a 2008 memoir. He went on to learn Japanese at a U.S. Navy language school during World War II. He translated captured Japanese documents in Pearl Harbor and later interrogated prisoners in Okinawa, Japan. Keene earned his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1949, and taught at the University of Cambridge in England for five years. He returned to Columbia in 1955 and taught for more than five decades, delivering his last lecture as an emeritus professor in 2011. His translations included works by 20th-century writer Yukio Mishima, who was a friend. Keene also wrote a biography of the Meiji Emperor, published in Japanese in 2001 and in English in 2002. He was by all accounts an enthusiastic teacher who lectured without notes and made you fall in love with even the most boring and exasperating works, former student and Columbia professor Barbara Ruch wrote in a 2011 tribute for a symposium on Keenes legacy. Recalling her Ph.D. studies at Columbia in the 1960s, she said, His translations had already clearly launched a new field in the U.S., and he was, even then by all accounts, the one and only under whom to learn the discipline. Keene became a Japanese citizen in 2012 and adopted a Japanese man, Seiki Keene, as his son in 2013. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... ___ Associated Press video journalist Kaori Hitomi contributed to this report. CUCUTA, Colombia - The Latest on Venezuelas political crisis (all times local): 9 a.m. Chinas foreign ministry has issued a rebuke to foreign opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, saying China opposes intervention by external forces in the internal affairs of Venezuela. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang says China also opposes using the so-called humanitarian aid to serve political ends and stir up instability and even turmoil in Venezuela and its neighbourhood, which is not in the interests of any party. He said in a statement Monday that China urges both the ruling and opposition parties to seek solutions through dialogue within the framework of the constitution and laws, and calls on the international community to do things that are truly conducive to the countrys stability, economic development, and the improvement of its peoples livelihood while respecting Venezualas sovereignty. ___ 2:25 p.m. The U.N.s high commissioner for human rights is condemning violence at points on the Venezuelan border where opposition figures have been trying to bring in aid shipments. Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet focused her criticism on excessive use of force used by the Venezuelan security forces, as well the involvement of pro-government groups. She said Sunday that has led to at least four confirmed deaths and more than 300 injuries over the previous two days. She said, The Venezuelan government must stop its forces from using excessive force against unarmed protesters and ordinary citizens. Socialist President Nicolas Maduro is using his troops to block shipments of aid that are meant to undermine his authority and bolster that of opposition leader Juan Guaido. Bachelet urged Maduros government to rein in pro-government groups reportedly using force against protesters. She said: The use of proxy forces has a long and sinister history in the region, and added, it is very alarming to see them operating openly in this way in Venezuela. ___ 1:35 p.m. Renewed clashes have broken out between protesters and Venezuelan national guardsmen at the border with Brazil. Dozens of Venezuelans who had come to the Brazilian border city of Pacaraima began throwing rocks across the closed border at Venezuelan troops, who responded with tear gas and buckshot. Globo television broadcast images of a Brazilian soldier advancing to the border line on Sunday to appeal for calm on the part of the Venezuelan soldiers and to urge protesters and journalists to move back. Local officials say dozens of people were injured in more violent clashes on Saturday as Venezuelan forces blocked aid shipments from crossing the border. Brazilian Navy Col. George Feres Kanaan is co-ordinating humanitarian logistics in Roraima state, and he says two Venezuelan National Guard sergeants sought refuge in Brazil on Saturday, abandoning President Nicolas Maduros forces. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... ___ 11 a.m. Officials in the Brazilian border state of Roraima say theyve treated 22 Venezuelans who suffered bullet or buckshot wounds during a confrontation over aid shipments. A spokesman for Gov. Antonio Denarium says 18 of those required surgery. And he says dozens of other Venezuelans are being treated for other injuries suffered in Saturdays clashes at the border city of Santa Elena. The spokesman says the influx has overwhelmed the health system in the state capital of Boa Vista and officials plan to declare a state of emergency for the public health sector on Monday. That would give officials the ability to more quickly buy medicine and to contract rooms at private hospitals. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is blocking aid shipments organized by the opposition that are meant to undermine his rule. The border was closed for a third straight day on Sunday. ___ 10 a.m. Venezuelan migrants are helping clean debris from a bridge where troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro earlier fired tear gas on activists trying to deliver humanitarian aid in violent clashes that left two people dead and some 300 injured. Colombian President Ivan Duque has reinforced security around two international bridges near the city of Cucuta and ordered them closed for 48 hours to allow for the cleanup effort. Duque says that acts of barbarism committed by Maduros troops in blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid require a forceful international response something that could come as early as Monday, when U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence travels to the Colombian capital for an emergency summit on Venezuela with foreign ministers from more than a dozen mostly conservative Latin American and Caribbean states. YOLA, Nigeria - The latest on Nigerias election (all times local): 11:25 p.m. Nigerian police say 128 people have been arrested for suspected election-related offences, including ballot box-snatching, vote-trading and impersonation, while a cache of explosives was found. The police statement gives no further details about the explosives but says 38 assorted weapons also were seized. The statement says that despite the few unfortunate incidents Saturdays election was generally successful, though it expresses deep concern about hate speech by some politicians and supporters. One analysis unit recorded 39 deaths in election violence, including an extremist attack in the northeast. Africas most populous country has voted for president and more than 450 National Assembly seats. Official results are expected as early as Monday, though voting continued in scattered areas on Sunday because of various delays. ___ 4:05 p.m. Nigerias election commission says it is happy with Saturdays generally peaceful election but it reports the killing of an election worker. Chairman Mahmood Yakubu says the worker was hit by a bullet while returning from election duty: May her soul rest in peace. The chairman also says the national vote compilation centre will open in Abuja Sunday evening, with at least one state among Nigerias 36 already on the way to the capital after completing its vote count. Yakubu says voting continued Sunday in some parts of several states after the process was extended because of various issues. He says that Nigerians have demonstrated extraordinary resilience and abiding faith in electoral process. But he notes that some election workers faced intimidation, abduction, hostage-taking and violence. ___ 3:15 p.m. A Nigerian analysis unit says at least 35 people have been killed in election violence this weekend. SBM Intelligence says it is monitoring security for a nationwide civil society platform watching the election. Its head of research says they are using a network of informants and comparing their information with media reports. SBM says the 35 dead include seven people killed in a shootout between Nigerias army and political hoodlums in Rivers state in the south. The army reported the deaths late Saturday in a statement. SBM also says an extremist attack in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, was deadlier than reported, with three people killed shortly before polls opened. ___ 1:55 p.m. A spokesman for Nigerias electoral commission says voting is still taking place Sunday in several places across the country. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, the commissions director for publicity, gave no details about specific states where polls are still open. But some of the states affected by delays reportedly include Plateau, Nasarawa and Jigawa. The head of the electoral commission is expected to address the nation later Sunday as Nigerians await the results of Saturdays presidential election. The election has been marred by sporadic violence and delays at some polling stations that faced problems ranging from missing stamps to malfunctioning card readers. More than 72 million people were eligible to vote. ___ 12:25 p.m. Vote counting continues as Nigerians await the outcome of a presidential poll seen as a tight race between the president and a former vice-president. Although voting was peaceful in most areas on Saturday, there were a few outbreaks of violence in the vast West African country and many reports of delays at polling stations. Many polling stations stayed open after dark to allow people waiting in line to vote. More than 72 million were eligible to vote in the election. Amid the delays, its unclear when a winner will be announced. President Muhammadu Buhari, who won election in 2015, is seeking his second term. His main rival is former vice-president and businessman, Atiku Abubakar. ___ Follow APs full coverage of the Nigeria elections here: https://www.apnews.com/Nigeria ___ Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa SAN CRISTOBAL, VENEZUELAVenezuelas opposition on Sunday looked toward foreign allies led by the United States to take further steps to unseat President Nicolas Maduro, a day after a plan to coax his military to abandon him and allow in hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid ended in violence and relief trucks on fire. Opposition leader Juan Guaido who had secretly crossed the border into Colombia to lead the aid effort, running the risk of being barred from re-entry or arrested upon return was scheduled to meet with regional leaders, including U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence, in Bogota on Monday. In a tweet late Saturday, Guaido suggested that he would entertain more radical solutions to try to oust Maduro, a reference taken by observers to mean that he may broach the subject of additional moves by the United States, which has already imposed deep sanctions on Venezuela. The Trump administration has also repeatedly said that a military option in Venezuela is not off the table. Todays events force me to make a decision: to pose to the international community in a formal way that we must have all options open to achieve the liberation of this country that is fighting and will continue to fight, Guaido tweeted. Guaidos comments suggested the oppositions limitations after a plan they had hoped would cause deep fissures in Maduros military structure instead produced only modest cracks. In the face of Maduros military blockade of aid, they largely failed to bring in the assistance they had hoped to deliver to the neediest Venezuelans. The oppositions strongest American backers, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sharply criticized Maduro and suggested repercussions. After discussions tonight with several regional leaders it is now clear that the grave crimes committed today by the Maduro regime have opened the door to various potential multilateral actions not on the table just 24 hours ago, Rubio tweeted late Saturday. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a statement Sunday saying he was shocked and saddened by the deaths of civilians on Saturday. He denounced the use of lethal force, and appealed for calm, urging all actors to lower tensions and pursue every effort to prevent further escalation. Yet as Guaido and other opposition leaders prepared for a pivotal meeting with the U.S. and other regional allies, they also appeared to be running out of options. Last month, the United States imposed sweeping sanctions that effectively cut off Maduros biggest source of hard currency oil sales to the United States. In doing so, the U.S. has already pulled the most powerful economic lever it had. The sanctions risk worsening a humanitarian crisis here, since the nearly bankrupt government now even more cash-strapped is the chief importer of food and medicines. The U.S. calculation is that the sanctions will make Maduros rule untenable. But there are still no guarantees they will do anything more than make a bad situation worse on the ground. After an aid operation that failed to achieve its goals, the opposition is also in danger of losing its greatest ally: momentum. The opposition and its American and regional allies will continue trying to court military officials by promoting the promise of amnesty if they turn against Maduro. But observers say that worse-case scenarios loomed larger than ever. There is no question that a military intervention to resolve the Venezuela crisis is more plausible than ever, said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank. Guaidos insistence that all options are on the table echoes President Trumps words, first uttered in August 2017 and widely interpreted as serious consideration of military action. No military option would be clean or easy, while critics say its threat potentially helps Maduro an autocratic leader who has used repression against his own people portray himself globally as a leftist martyr persecuted by the Trump administration. U.S. forces, experts say, could take out Venezuelas aerial defences within hours, but an outright American invasion would be unprecedented in South America. It also risks deep divisions in the region, and could potentially spark a guerrilla war by leftists while leaving Washington with the morass of rebuilding a failed state. More surgical strikes as the U.S. operation that nabbed Panamas Manuel Noriega in 1989 remain potentially more likely, but also present massive problems. When Noriega left, the regime collapsed, and there wasnt much behind him, said Eric Farnsworth, vice-president of the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society. In Venezuela, you can decapitate the regime, but there will still be (leftists) and armed goon squads who may be spoiling to fight. Colombian officials said more than a 100 members of the Venezuelan armed forces and other security services abandoned posts on Saturday and Sunday, but the power structure of Maduros armed forces, at least for the moment, appeared intact. In a televised news conference in Caracas, Maduros communications minister Jorge Rodriguez insisted that Saturdays effort by the opposition was simply a rouse to encourage a foreign invasion. There was no humanitarian intention, Rodriguez said. The intention was to encourage aggression by a foreign country, an armed aggression against a country. Guaido, a pathetic character, can no longer explain this coup attempt based on the constitution. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Guaido is the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, a body stripped of its power in 2017. Last month, he declared Maduro a usurper after elections last year widely viewed as fraudulent, and claimed a constitutional right as Venezuelas legitimate leader. In doing so, he electrified a moribund opposition and positioned himself as a national hero. Yet, by leaving the country to lead the aid effort, he now faced a crucial hurdle. His exit violated a standing travel ban imposed on him by Maduros supreme court, meaning he now risked detention or potential exile. His calculation is that international pressure might prevent both, but there are no guarantees. All the scenarios left for the opposition are terrible scenarios, said Dimitris Pantoulas, a Caracas-based political analyst. Colombian President Ivan Duque arrived Sunday at the Simon Bolivar bridge site of intense exchanges of tear gas and rubber bullets on Saturday with a convoy of white SUVs and armoured vehicles from the Colombian armed forces. Police said American officials were among the large delegation seen touring the bridge. With tensions still high on the border, Colombian authorities on Sunday announced that Duque had ordered the closure of his countrys three main bridge crossings to Venezuela in the North Santander region through Monday night. Aid trucks had sought to cross there on Saturday before confrontations began between pro-government troops and operatives and the Venezuelan opposition. The opposition, meanwhile, said one of its leaders Freddy Superlano had been poisoned with a drug called burundanga in the Colombian border city of Cucuta and remained hospitalized. Superlanos assistant had died of the same poison. The opposition called for an investigation into the poisonings, while making no claims on who the culprits were. The bloodiest clashes took place on the border with Brazil, where pro-government paramilitary groups killed four people and injured 34 by gunfire, according to non-profit legal group Foro Penal, opposition leaders, and witnesses at the hospital that received the victims in Santa Elena de Uairen. Patients and their families panicked as buses and motorbikes with armed men swarmed outside the hospital. Too many people shot by bullets kept coming in. Its terrifying, said Yolderi Garcia, a 62-year-old volunteer at the Hospital Rosario Vera Surita. Its a horrible day; we are very worried because this is a small town. George Bello, spokesperson for the mayor of the Gran Sabana district on the Brazilian border, said the situation Sunday morning remained tense, with pro-government militias known as colectivos ruling the streets. Im in hiding, Bello said, adding that his team believed the mayor, Emilio Gonzales, was at risk of being kidnapped. On Sunday, the situation at the border between Venezuela and Colombia also remained tense. In the border town of Urena, Colombian police said tear gas volleys were fired Sunday inside Venezuela to disperse small protests. Anti-Maduro protesters were once again gathering on the Colombian side of the border, and vowing to continue the running battles they engaged in Saturday with Maduros military and irregular forces. On the Colombia side, hundreds of police arrived early Sunday in dozens of buses and trucks to the Simon Bolivar bridge. A small crowd began growing at the edge of the bridge in the morning, but Colombian authorities later dispersed them. Hector Abreu, 23, an opposition member and former mechanic from Caracas, waited outside the bridge and said he planned to protest and challenge Venezuelan guards as he had on Saturday. We want a free Venezuela, so thats why well continue, he said. Read more about: KABUL, AFGHANISTANA record-high number of civilians lost their lives last year in Afghanistan, due to a mix of increasing aerial attacks by foreign troops and militant ground attacks, the United Nations reported Sunday, as meetings were set to resume Monday in Qatar between Taliban and U.S. negotiators on a potential settlement to the 17-year civil conflict. The report from the U.N. Assistance Mission to Afghanistan said that 3,804 civilians died in 2018, including 930 children. That reflected an 11 per cent overall increase from 2017, a year that also saw near-record levels of civilian war-related deaths. In the past decade, it said, more than 32,000 non-combatants have been killed and almost 60,000 injured. The level of harm and suffering inflicted on civilians in Afghanistan is deeply disturbing, Tadamichi Yamamoto, the U.N. Special Representative for Afghanistan, said in a statement issued with the report. It is time to put an end to this human misery. He said the best way to do so is to stop the fighting and use all efforts to bring about peace. I urge all parties to seize every opportunity to do so. The expected resumption of talks Monday comes after a period of confusion, mixed signals and setbacks for the peace process that began four months ago when the Trump administration sent a special envoy, Afghan-born diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad, to jump-start the long-stalled negotiations and press for a quick settlement to the war. The Afghan government, led by President Ashraf Ghani, has remained sidelined from the talks, due to Taliban insistence that it does not legitimately represent the country. According to Afghan media reports, Khalizad is now pressing Afghan officials to name a broad, inclusive negotiating team that includes opponents and electoral rivals of Ghani, who plans to seek re-election in July. As scheduled plans for presidential elections have increasingly collided with hopes to hold successful peace talks, a new survey by an Afghan media watchdog group, NAI, reported that 90 per cent of Afghans said that successful peace talks were a higher priority than holding elections. The July polls have already been delayed by three months due to lack of preparations, and critics of the Ghani government have called for alternative solutions such as a national assembly of elders or an interim government to oversee peace talks and a settlement of the war. On the other side, efforts by the Taliban to hold additional meetings in Pakistan and to send new representatives to participate in the upcoming Doha meetings have run into difficulties. The Taliban unexpectedly announced two weeks ago that it would hold new peace talks in Pakistan, but the plan, which coincided with a high-profile visit of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman to Pakistan, was cancelled without explanation. In addition, there were new media reports this weekend that key members of the Taliban delegation based in Pakistan were not being granted visas to travel to Qatar, and questions over whether Abdul Ghani Baradar, a former Taliban leader released from Pakistani prison last fall, would be playing a key role in the talks as originally envisioned. As the jockeying continues over who is to negotiate with whom at the peace table, the violent conflict between Taliban insurgents and Afghan and U.S.-led NATO forces has continued to escalate. Both sides have intensified their attacks in recent months, in an effort to gain the upper hand in negotiations. Civilians have continued to suffer disproportionately from the upsurge on both sides. The U.N. report said suicide attacks by insurgents and aerial attacks by Afghan and foreign forces had been the main causes of the record level of civilian deaths in 2018. Ground battles between pro- and anti-government forces were the third-leading cause of civilian casualties. The report said that 1,185 civilians were killed and 1,427 civilians were injured from operations conducted by pro-government forces, and that their aerial operations caused 492 child casualties, in part because of insurgents hiding among the civilian population. It attributed 24 per cent of civilian casualties to pro-government forces and 63 per cent to insurgents, including the Taliban and the Islamic State. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Read more about: A newspaper in a small city in Alabama that drew condemnation over an editorial calling for the Ku Klux Klan to ride again has a new editor and publisher: a 46-year-old Black woman. The new editor, Elecia R. Dexter, is taking over The Democrat-Reporter, a weekly newspaper serving Linden in western Alabama, at a pivotal time, the newspaper said in a statement. You may have full confidence in her ability to handle these challenging times, it said. The newspapers longtime editor, Goodloe Sutton, stepped down this past week amid widespread criticism of an editorial he wrote railing against Democrats in the Republican Party and Democrats and calling for the return of the most infamous white supremacist group in North American history. In an interview with The Montgomery Advertiser, he went even further, suggesting that the Klan go up there and clean out D.C. The editorial made national news. The University of Southern Mississippi and Auburn University rescinded past honours given to Sutton, and the Alabama Press Association suspended the membership of The Democrat-Reporter and censured Sutton. The editorial also stung the community in Linden, a city of roughly 2,000 people 59 per cent white and 41 per cent black about 160 miles kilometres west of Montgomery. On Saturday, Dexter said she had started working at the newspaper only a few weeks ago as a clerk in the front office, after moving to the nearby town of Sweet Water, Alabama, where her father was born. She previously lived in Illinois and South Carolina, she said, and has a background in human resources. After the editorial was published, she said, she and Sutton had a very open and direct dialogue. She was debating whether to stay in the job when he offered to turn the newspaper over to her, she said. People have stopped by or they saw me in the store, she said. Now they feel like its going to be a true reflection of everyone. I do think this helps, she said of her appointment. The Democrat-Reporter, which has served Linden since 1879, had been in Suttons family for decades. But the newspaper, which has a circulation of a few thousand, had dwindled to what amounted to a one-man show in recent years. The incendiary editorial was seen as further evidence of the fall of Sutton, 80, a fixture of public life in Linden who inherited the newspaper from his father and was once widely hailed, along with his wife, for exposing corruption in the local sheriffs department in the 1990s. More recently, Sutton has published editorials that were racially insensitive and very hurtful, said the mayor of Linden, Charles Moore, who is white. He lost his wife, and all the credibility went with her, he said. She was a very good investigative reporter, and also a real sweet person. An editorial in May 2015 said an unidentified mayor had displayed her African heritage by not enforcing civilized law and referred repeatedly to Black people as thugs. And during the widespread debate over football players kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the paper published an editorial titled Let football boys kneel. Thats what Black folks were taught to do two hundred years ago, kneel before a white man, it read. Is that it? Let them kneel! Sutton said Saturday that he stepped down because of his age, not the controversy. He said he had found in Dexter a successor who can get things done and said he would be involved going forward only in an advisory role. He did not apologize for the editorial about the KKK. Thats what editorials are all about, he said. To upset people, make them take action. He said he had hoped the editorial would draw attention to corruption in Washington and the FBI, though the editorial did not mention the agency. He said he wrote it in irony to suggest that the lowlife KKK investigate the FBI, which he said he held in even lower regard. Right now, I would consider them above the FBI as far as being good guys, he said, referring to the KKK. Dexter said she had a fine relationship with Sutton and had learned a lot about the newspaper business from him in only a few weeks. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... But, she said, she did not agree with him using his platform to write about a group that evokes fear and hurt for many people, especially people of my colour. There are other ways you can talk about cleaning Washington without using that group, she said. Now, she said, she was working with Sutton in a transition. Hes supportive of what Im trying to do, and hes not trying to intervene, she said. Its been a whirlwind. In a case of profit trumping penalty, a Toronto landlord has been fined $75,000 for forcing out long-term tenants under the guise of renovations money it can recoup in a matter of months thanks to a legislative loophole that allowed the permanent installation of new renters paying three times the price. The landlord for a lowrise, eight-unit rental building at 795 College St. showed a blatant disregard for the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) when it evicted five tenants from three units for renovations, ignored their requests to return, then put those new units up for rent, the Landlord and Tenant board ruled earlier this month. But the landlord, a company called 795 College Inc., is profiting enormously from flouting the law, wrote board adjudicator Dale Whitmore in a Feb 7. decision. It was the board that ordered the original College St. tenants out, after the landlord asked to use a piece of rental housing law that allows landlords to evict tenants during renovations, a process advocates have called renovictions. Under the law, landlords must issue tenants an N13 notice, which comes with a written promise that if tenants want back in once work is done they must inform the landlord and will not face increases beyond what they would if they stayed in their homes. Tenants from three of the eight College St. units have been battling before the board to try and keep their homes. They had previously told the board the law was being used in bad faith, to get and to keep them out. The board ruled against them and so once told to leave they informed their landlord they intended to return. Instead the landlord found new renters and the board, as it turns out, doesnt have the power to order those people out or get the former tenants back in. Read more: Could eviction changes help fix a broken system or lead to good tenants being unduly turfed? Depends on who you ask Tenants occupy damaged Junction-area house rather than risk losing affordable housing Not sure where Ill go: With a renoviction looming, this 79-year-old renter is urging local governments to act now There is no doubt that in this matter, the Landlord has shown a blatant disregard for the RTA, Whitmore wrote, and the company was well aware of its duty to the tenants and has given no explanation for ignoring that obligation. In his decision, Whitmore worked out the math for those three units. The former tenants paid $1,250 for the three-bedroom units, he noted, and the new tenants between $4,150 and $4,200 meaning a monthly profit of about $2,900 per unit. For the three units over a year, the difference amounts to almost $105,000. Minus the fine, that means the landlord can still clear about $30,000 in a year. Given the profit vastly exceeds the fine, he said, if he wasnt restricted by a $25,000 maximum per unit, a $45,000 per unit fine would be more appropriate. Aurora Browne was one of five tenants who requested the board fine the landlord for acting in bad faith and issue an order that would result in them gaining repossession of their homes. In the grand scheme of things, when you look at the total profit that these guys stand to make, it is probably just the cost of doing business to them, she said. I dont think this will slow down any developer. When the Star published the story of 795 College in March, then Liberal housing minister Peter Milczyn pledged to instruct staff to look into this gap in housing law and the New Democratic Party campaigned on eliminating renovictions. Ontarios new Progressive Conservative government has consulted on ways to improve Ontarios housing supply and a housing action plan is expected in spring. Input on rental evictions was not specifically sought out, a ministry staff member said when asked about N13s, but input on that issue is in materials being considered. In a response to questions about Whitmores decision, a spokesperson for 795 College Inc. sent an emailed statement: Despite the finding in this matter and the significant financial penalty imposed, we have always believed that the Landlord and Tenant Board process is the appropriate place to adjudicate disputes between landlords and tenants and that, through it, issues will be heard in a fair and equitable manner, Danny Roth said. We also continue to believe in the public need for private companies to invest in the citys urban rental market, and support a system that encourages landlords to invest in market housing, while incentivizing them to make the same financial commitments in the affordable housing sector. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The building at 795 College St. was once deeply affordable housing in Torontos vibrant Little Italy neighbourhood and the low rent allowed a community of artists, actors and photographers to build lives and careers. In 2014, the building was sold for $1.5 million to 795 College Inc. The directors are Evan Johnsen and Neil Spiegel, co-founders of Circa, a development company that transforms lowrise buildings and older homes into luxury condominiums. The tenants were offered $4,800 to leave voluntarily and those who were ordered out were later paid three months rent as required by law. The N13 notices came in late 2016. The tenants told the landlord and Briarlane Rental Property Management Inc., the property manager for the building, they intended to return. Johnsen told one tenant, not among the five, that returning is quite frankly, something that is not going to happen, and his son would be moving in. Its no secret that the rent you were paying there was well below what that space was worth and Im not going to try to pretend that thats not part of the story thats evolving here, because obviously it is, he said, based on a transcription of a December 2016 phone call submitted to the board. The five tenants named in the case were out by summer 2017. By November, the tenants were back at the board because people were seen inside their homes. They got an interim order that would force the landlord to not rent out their apartments but, as Whitmore noted, by that point the units were filled. Despite the evidence, Whitmore wrote, rental housing law doesnt equip him with the power to get the tenants back their homes, whether empty or full. I can only conclude that, where a landlord is found to have terminated a tenancy in bad faith or failed to afford a right of first refusal, the Legislature did not intend reinstatement of the tenancy to be an available remedy, Whitmore wrote. Any potential remedies are the exclusive province of the Legislature, he said. Whitmore ordered 795 College Inc. to pay $75,000 in administrative fines to the board by April. The fine is meant to deter landlords from breaking the law. The money is not awarded to the tenants. There is a process where the former renters can apply to get back some rental costs incurred over the year. Board orders can be appealed within 30 days of notice. Browne said they hope highlighting the glaring hole in the law will result in better protections for tenants, although she is not optimistic. I hope that any other tenant facing this situation points with a huge red flag to this ruling and any N13s are stopped until this is dealt with in the Legislature, Browne said. I just dont know if this is going to slow any of this down. Raising the rent in any building in Toronto opens up another avenue for profit. Owners of luxury rental buildings can apply to convert to condominiums if the rent is 1.5 times the average market rent as reported by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The landlord for 795 College would qualify but has not applied, city staff confirmed. Any application would go to city council. While the LTB manages disputes and issues fines, higher penalties are possible through provincial court. Ontarios Rental Housing Enforcement Unit has charged 795 College Inc. with three counts of Failing to Afford a Tenant a Right of First Refusal. Each count could mean a $100,000 fine. A hearing is scheduled for August. Toronto Councillor Mike Layton has asked the city solicitor to see what can be done to provide support during that hearing. We need to send a strong message that the city will intervene, Layton said, in cases where despite a clear abuse of the law hands are tied at the board. Like tens of thousands of migrants seeking asylum in the United States, Valquiria de Faria Teixeira and her 8-year-old son arrived at a border town in Texas and made their claims. Then, an already bad situation got much worse. De Faria Teixeira was separated from her son, Abel, and thrown into detention, where she has languished for the past 11 months as she fights a legal battle to end her unduly prolonged, unjustified and punitive incarceration. They came here for safety, but they were arrested and treated like criminals, said their lawyer Eduardo Beckett in a telephone interview from Texas. Although the pair followed the proper legal channels and requested asylum at an official port of entry last March, they were immediately held at the El Paso Service Processing Center and the next day border officials took Abel away from his mother, Beckett said. Abel was detained for two weeks at a childrens facility in El Paso before he was picked up by his dad, who had previously fled their home in Brazil and now lives in Boston with Abels older siblings. De Faria Teixeira, 39, who claims to have fled drug traffickers and corrupt officials in Sao Sebastiao do Anta, in southeastern Brazil, was among hundreds of migrants who met with an Amnesty International delegation on a recent mission to investigate the impact of U.S. President Donald Trumps policy on asylum seekers and migrants travelling to the U.S.-Mexico border. The key conclusion the delegation came away with is that the U.S. is not a safe country for asylum seekers and Canada must withdraw from the Safe Third Country Agreement that restricts refugees to seeking asylum in the country they initially arrive, whether it is Canada or the U.S. At every turn during our visit along the border, I heard of cruel human rights violations against refugees and migrants at the hands of U.S. officials, Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada, told the Star in an interview. I was even more outraged that Canada defiantly maintains that the U.S. is safe. It is not even close. At this time, the U.S. is a cavalierly, cruelly and obviously unsafe third country. Canadas position is deeply troubling. Neve said de Faria Teixeiras story was one that especially stuck with him during the trip. She was found by Homeland Security officials to have demonstrated a credible fear of persecution or torture in an interview, yet was still separated from her son and detained. Valquiria and Abels story is an emblematic and heartbreaking example of one of the particularly mean-spirited policies pursued by the Trump White House, forcibly separating families, very often including young children, when they make asylum claims and are taken into immigration detention, said Neve. It violates international law, violates numerous U.S. directives and laws, and is quite simply, a cruel tactic that is meant to break the spirit of refugees and migrants and deter others from coming to the U.S. The Amnesty delegation which also included representatives from the U.S., Mexico, Belgium, Norway and Ireland visited refugee shelters, observed border crossings by migrants and met with local community support groups and asylum seekers themselves in Tijuana, El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. Trump has declared border security a national emergency in his bid to build the border wall, but Amnesty International said the situation at the border is really a crisis of conscience, compassion and justice. Neve said the delegations first views of the border were of the wall that already exists and the sea of migrants who were denied entry to the U.S. and must get on the asylum wait list. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Amnesty officials also visited the volunteer-operated Padre Chava and Al Otro Lado shelters for migrants who have yet to make their asylum claims at the border and those who have been turned back. They also escorted three unaccompanied minors from Honduras to the port of entry. When they made their asylum claims, they were told they had to leave and add their names to the unofficial list that determines which individuals can come to the border on which day to make their claims, Neve said. That was outright wrong as it is U.S. policy that unaccompanied minors do not have to wait the weeks or months for their name to slowly get to the top of the list. As for de Faria Teixeira, Beckett, who has been practising refugee law in Texas for a decade, said there is no legitimate reason for her indefinite detention. My client has no past criminal history and there is no basis to support any finding that she is a danger to the community or a threat to national security or that she would flee, Beckett said. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has no grounds to separate her from her child. Theres no evidence she is an unfit mom, or she posed a danger to her son that warranted the family separation. According to Beckett, de Faria Teixeira and her son had been following the trail of her husband and two older children, who had allegedly fled death threats in Brazil and arrived in Boston months earlier, seeking to be protected from the drug-lord and corrupt police. In a credibility interview with border officials last March, de Faria Teixeira said she witnessed uniformed police officers hanging out with and using drugs with drug traffickers in her neighbourhood and was threatened when she confronted them. The central government has lost control of the local police in many parts of Brazil due to the economic crisis and corruption, she said in an affidavit for her asylum case. We could not rely on the police for our safety. Yet, in September, a refugee judge denied her claim saying she could have moved somewhere else in Brazil and that the threat she had faced wasnt based on race, religion, political opinion, nationality or membership in an ethnosocial group. Shes now appealing the asylum decision. Valquiria suffers from anxiety attacks due to the ongoing distress of her continuing separation from Abel. Each day that goes by, her mental state worsens, said Beckett. Her son believes she has abandoned him and she blames herself for it. Read more about: The family of a Canadian man detained in Egypt is calling for the Canadian government to intervene at the highest levels after he was taken from an airport in Cairo last week. Yasser Ahmed Albaz, 51, of Oakville was returning home from a business trip on Family Day when he was stopped at the Cairo International Airport and his passport confiscated, according to a press release sent by his daughter, Amal Ahmed Albaz. This is clearly a misunderstanding, she told the Star. My father was there on business. He has no political affiliations and hes not active politically. According to the release, Ahmed Albazs family called the Global Affairs Canada emergency hotline within hours of his disappearance to open a case. Richard Walker, a spokesperson with Global Affairs, confirmed that Global Affairs is aware that a Canadian citizen was detained in Egypt. Consular services are being provided and officials are in contact with local authorities, said Walker, adding that due to the provisions of the Privacy Act no further information could be disclosed. According to his daughter, the last messages received from her father were sent via WhatsApp, one around 10 p.m. EST Monday telling his family he loved them, and another some time later to a friend in Egypt confirming he had been taken by Egypts state security. On Saturday, his familys Egyptian lawyer and the Canadian Embassy were notified that he had appeared at the Egyptian state security prosecutors office, according to the release, adding lawyers have confirmed he has not been charged, but he will continue to be held for additional questioning on Tuesday. As of Sunday, Amal said the family had been informed her father had been transported to Tora Prison. She said they are concerned for his well-being due to the prisons notoriety for harsh conditions. She said members of the familys community in Oakville have been quick to help, reaching out to their MPs to draw more attention to the issue. While Amal says she and her family are appreciative of the Canadian governments involvement so far, more pressure is needed to get her father back safely. Its ironic that on Family Day, the day that families are supposed to come together, my family was torn apart, Amal told the Star. We need our foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, and our prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to intervene, she said. They need to pick up the phone today. He needs to come home today. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Rhianna Jackson-Kelso is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Stars radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @RhiannaJK Read more about: When it came time to redesigning her familys new home in Forest Hill, Krista Rowe knew what she didnt want: laptops in bedrooms. What she got instead was a bright, open kitchen/family room that serves as the heart and hub of the house for her, husband Jason and their three daughters, Willa, 8, Maren, 9, and Leia, 12 plus their two-year-old schnoodle Peggy Schuyler (named for a character in the Broadway mega-hit Hamilton). The reimagined 1,020-square-foot space brings everyone together for doing homework, cooking, eating, watching TV or just hanging out. Its really awesome, Krista declares about the recently finished 12-month, $2-million renovation (including furnishings) of their 7,600-sq.-ft. home purchased in late summer 2017. The family moved to Toronto from New York after Jason was appointed CEO of the Canadian arm of investment bank and financial services company Goldman Sachs. He arrived first, to begin work and hunt for a house. Krista, an actress and filmmaker, made half a dozen trips to check out his finds before they finally landed the two-storey Tudor/Georgian-style house. With its convenient location, five bedrooms on the same floor and move-in condition except for a dark, dingy floor the 10-year-old abode hit all the marks, says Krista. The snow-melt feature on the driveway was a big seller! At first, she recalls, We thought, Oh well, maybe well just change the floor then we met Abe. Thats Abraham Chan, a Toronto-based designer they met through a friend. Chan started his own design firm, ACDO, five years ago after working on upscale residential and commercial projects in Canada, the U.S. and Asia. He agrees the chemistry was definitely there when we first met. During consultations in the Rowes three-bedroom loft apartment in New York and later in Toronto, it became apparent that the houses elegant, traditional interior didnt suit the pace and lifestyle of a modern, young family. The kids are transitioning from little to big kids so we wanted a space that would grow with them, says Krista, adding the words super warm and super welcoming. A home should reflect its owners, Chan explains, describing them as a fun couple, very intelligent and progressive. The Rowes wish was to transfer the spirit of their contemporary loft, with its big windows and open floor plan, to their new home, he continues. His goal was to make sure all the rooms talk together through continuous design elements like flooring and a palette of neutrals and cool greys. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... When the couple identified things they didnt like about the house, Krista says, Chan instantly came up with a solution, whether it was removing a wall to facilitate flow or eliminating the butlers pantry to enlarge the kitchen. The Rowes didnt set a budget initially, opting instead to choose from among differently priced design features as they went along. A nice floor changes the dynamic, says Jason in explaining their decision to spend $20 per square foot on wide-plank European oak for the flooring and staircase. He also wanted a full basement makeover, including a big gym, bathroom, home theatre and wine room with kitchen facilities. I wanted it to look like part of the house, a place where everyone brings friends and hangs out together, he says. Work on the lower level began a couple of months after the family moved in. Six months later, they relocated to the finished basement while the first and second floors were done over the following six months. On the main floor, three separate rooms were combined to create the kitchen/family room. Big, modern windows were added, along with sleek lacquered wood cabinetry, custom designed by ACDO and built by Renca + Heilimo in Woodbridge. The same millwork was used in the gym. For practicality and efficiency Krista loves to cook and Leia is a budding baker two high-end ovens and Caesarstone counters were installed, and a large island with seating was repositioned. Chan also ordered a custom leather banquette for the eating area after Krista told him: I have kids who love ketchup. She says the designer was a genius in providing small private spaces such as the little library tucked alongside the family room. Renovations were also done in the main-floor office and upstairs master bedroom, walk-in closet and luxurious bathroom where a glass shower was lined with limestone. Other areas like the living and dining rooms and girls bedrooms were given a cosmetic rejuvenation. Leia appreciates the fact that each sister now has her own ensuite. My room in New York was small, like a closet, and everyone else used my bathroom, she says. A smart lighting system was installed throughout the house along with other high-tech features such as hidden speakers in the sound-proofed home theatre. Staying put during the transformation was a pain in the butt, Krista says, but you learn about a house by living in it. And the contractors, Ripple Projects, https://rippleprojects.com/ were great about working around us, Jason adds. NEW YORKR. Kelly is planning an international tour, but an Australian lawmaker wants the country to bar him from performing there. The embattled musician announced on social media Tuesday that hell be going to Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. See yall soon the post said, accompanied by a picture of Kelly and the declaration The King of R&B. No dates or venues were revealed. Kellys career has been stifled since a #MuteRKelly campaign gained momentum last year to protest his alleged sexual abuse of women and girls, which Kelly denies. Lifetimes documentary series Surviving R. Kelly last month drew even more attention to the allegations, and his record label has reportedly dropped him. Australia has denied entry to other foreigners on character grounds, among them troubled R&B singer Chris Brown, convicted classified document leaker Chelsea Manning, anti-vaxxer Kent Heckenlively and Gavin McInnes, founder of the all-male far-right group Proud Boys. If the Immigration Minister suspects that a non-citizen does not pass the character test, or there is a risk to the community while they are in Australia, he should use the powers he has under the Migration Act to deny or cancel their visa, senior opposition lawmaker Shayne Neumann said in a statement. Read more: Dilemma of having a R. Kelly-penned hit: Sing it or sink it? Sony drops R. Kelly after furor over allegations, says reports Documentary puts new attention on R. Kelly sex allegations Australias Home Affairs Department said it did not comment on individual cases. But the department said in a statement there were strong legal provisions to block entry to anyone found not to be of good character. Kelly is a multiplatinum R&B star who has not only notched multiple hits for himself, but also many high-profile performers. CALGARYWhen Josue Ramirez was marked a traitor and barred from returning to Venezuela in 2017 over a petition urging Canadian leaders to implement sanctions over the Maduro government, it only strengthened his resolve to support his country. I do it because, you know, we need to help more people. The situation is really, really terrible. People dont realize what is happening in Venezuela, he said. Its not only political its the worst humanitarian crisis we ever have (had) in Latin American history. Ramirez, who has been fighting to help Venezuelans ever since he left the country in 2005, was at the helm of a downtown rally held Saturday to show support for the unprecedented humanitarian crisis unfolding in the South American country. Over a hundred people joined Ramirez at the event, held at the west downtown Music Club, as he spoke about the ongoing crisis in Venezuela and the latest conflicts along its borders. Vamos bien, Ramirez shouted, as the crowd echoed him and threw their hands up in support. It means we are doing well and is a phrase coined by the interim president who is attempting to bring aid into the country, he said. A screen behind Ramirez flashed to scenes in Venezuela, where the countrys U.S.-backed official opposition leader, Juan Guaido, recently organized caravans of aid shipments including food and medical supplies into Venezuela. However, the aid trucks were met with violence by the countrys security forces who attempted to block the shipments by orders of President Nicolas Maduro, whom Ramirez calls corrupt. But back in Calgary, Ramirez has been a longtime supporter for humanitarian aid in Venezuela, having started an NGO, which he led from Calgary for three years. He is dedicated to doing what he can to help, especially since much of his family still lives in Venezuela. His aging mother in Venezuela suffers from mental health disorders and cant access the medication she needs within the country. Instead, Ramirez orchestrates a smuggling mission where medication is bought in Colombia and then is concealed across the border until it eventually reaches her. Another one of his relatives, who lived in Valencia, wasnt as lucky. She died in January over an infection that Ramirez said was preventable. She was suffering from a kidney disease and was forced to use the same catheter for months, which caused a fatal infection that went untreated due to her not having access to antibiotics. Hows it possible in a country like Venezuela with all the revenue that we have and somebody died because of an infection because no (antibiotics), he said. Where does the money go? People are facing a terrible situation in terms of food and medical supplies. Marianela Umerez, who has been living in Canada for the last 14 years, said she also fears for her parents and siblings, who still live in Venezuela. Theres no drugs, no medicine, no help. So I really want to help them and really want Venezuela to be free, Umerez said. Its really hard to see how they are struggling there (while there is) not much to do from here. But shes grateful Ramirez took the lead to hold a supportive rally for her birth country. She said it helps create a sense of closeness. We feel we have a bridge to communicate with Venezuela and feel we can help, and we can have all this community together supporting each other. Ramirez plans to collect donations, including medical supplies, over the coming weeks to ship to Venezuela. He said hes grateful for being in Canada where he has the resources to offer aid. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... We have a way to help, he said. Correction Feb. 24, 2019: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said Josue Ramirez was marked a traitor and barred from returning to Venezuela over a petition against the Maduro government in 2011. In fact, this occurred in 2017. With files from Bloomberg. Read more about: White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said hes working to remove U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico, after a Canadian minister signaled that his government may not ratify a new North American trade agreement if the duties remain. Kudlow made the comments on a panel at the National Governors Associations winter meeting in Washington on Sunday. He spoke after Marc Garneau, Canadas transport minister, said I dont know if we are going to get there in approving the deal if the tariffs arent removed. The duties are no longer needed now that the two countries and Mexico have agreed on the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, Garneau said. Kudlow also suggested that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was working toward having the tariffs removed. Ambassador Lighthizer and his group, we are working on that, we are hard at work on that, to solve that issue, Kudlow said of the metals tariffs after Garneau spoke. Earlier in the panel discussion, Kudlow said the new three-nation agreement was very strong and that Trump taught him tariffs can be a good negotiating tactic to break down trade barriers. Canada retaliated dollar-for-dollar against U.S. tariffs last year, and Garneaus comments on Sunday were some of the sharpest about the dispute since then as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leads his government toward an October election. Garneau said that while political energy may shift to other issues in coming months, the tariffs alone are a major stumbling block to ratification. Unnecessary Tax Those tariffs are an unnecessary tax which is weighing down on both countries, said Garneau, a former astronaut who served on U.S.-led space missions. He also said the original U.S. justification for tariffs on national security grounds was never justified. This will present us with real challenges as we begin the process of ratification in Canada -- I dont know if we are going to get there, Garneau said. Canada would quickly drop its metals tariffs and ratify the agreement in response to a U.S. move, Garneau said. We want to go ahead and do it because this is very good for both of our countries, Garneau said of ratifying the trade agreement. Garneau appealed to the governors in the audience to push the Trump administration to drop the tariffs, noting that Canada is the top export market for many U.S. states. The U.S. also has a $2 billion surplus in steel trade with Canada, and the bilateral deficit on aluminum is because America needs more of that metal than it can produce, Garneau said. Letter to Ross Mexican officials have also called for the metal tariffs to be removed, and a coalition of business, agricultural and trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote a letter in January asking the same of Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Kudlow touted the new trade agreement on Sunday before Garneau spoke, saying it was a template for other pacts and would bring $62 billion of auto investment to the U.S. Such agreements are better than broad, multilateral trade pacts that sink to the lowest common denominator, Kudlow said. Passing the USMCA would also be helpful as a show of unity by North America against other trade competitors like China, he said. With assistance from Mark Niquette and Jenny Leonard. Read more about: Sarah Mearhoff Forum News Service PIERRE, S.D. After weeks of buildup, the battle over LGBTQ+ rights in South Dakotas Legislature peaked the week of Feb. 18, when lawmakers sparred over three bills that activists have called discriminatory. Oliver Dickman, a 17-year-old transgender high school senior from Yankton, traveled over two hours to the Capitol amidst a blizzard on Friday, Feb. 22, to testify to lawmakers on two of the bills I would like to live as a normal high school student and not have to come to Pierre to fight against bills like this, Dickman said after Fridays hearings. But it is worth fighting for. One of the bills, House Bill 1243, would have added sexual orientation or gender identity to the states hate crime laws. South Dakotas current hate crime statute already includes religion, race, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin. The House Judiciary committee ultimately killed the bill by a 8-5 vote, citing concerns that it would inhibit First Amendment rights to free speech and free thought. Rep. Isaac Latterell, R-Tea, said even South Dakotas existing hate crime law should be reevaluated. Chris Motz, a lobbyist for the South Dakota Catholic Conference, said, all children of God are eminently lovable, but that all people should be equally protected under the law. Dickman and other proponents of the bill argued that the extra layer of protection for LGBTQ+ people is necessary because they face a disproportionate amount of violence. According to the FBIs 2017 data, hate crimes based on sexual orientation bias increased by 5 percent from the previous year, and made up nearly 16 percent of all hate crimes committed. Dickman told committee members that since transitioning, he has felt intimidated and harassed, calling it a constant battle. Walking into a bathroom is as terrifying as walking off a cliff somedays, he said, describing incidents where peers threatened that they would set him straight. He said strangers have told him to kill himself, or that he shouldnt exist. One time, Dickman said someone ziptied a port-a-potty shut while he was still inside. Asked if he feels safe in South Dakota as a transgender person, Dickman said, Honestly, no I dont. Also on Friday, the Senate State Affairs committee voted a bill which would have prohibited public school teachers from instructing on gender dysphoria. The committee voted to send House Bill 1108 to the 41st legislative day effectively killing it. The bills prime sponsor, Rep. Tom Pischke, R-Dell Rapids, said that schools are confusing and scaring children, and making them more susceptible to this dysphoria. Opponents of the bill, including representatives from schools in the state, said that this doesnt happen in schools. They added that the bill could even prevent children from having private conversations with teachers or guidance counselors about their own gender identity something advocates warned could be detrimental to students mental health, especially if they did not feel supported at home. Earlier in the week, the House Health and Human Services committee revived from the dead a bill which would require transgender high school athletes to compete according to their birth sex, as proven by their birth certificate or a medical examination. The bill is nearly identical to one that was killed early in the legislative session on the Senate side. After the bill was killed by the Senate Education committee in late January, it was reintroduced under a different name on the House side. Ocean Spray: The graffiti artist painting the town blue for a good cause Mai Khao is one of few Phuket beaches that sea turtles use as a nesting spot. Between the November to February breeding season, these incredible reptiles use the Earths magnetic field to navigate their way back to the very beach on which they were born and lay their eggs. A monumental commute and feat of nature. Art By Amy Bryant Sunday 24 February 2019, 10:00AM This piece shows how fragile the future is and how we have to care about it for [children] and create something peaceful. To protect and raise awareness of endangered sea turtle species and conserve their marine ecosystems, JW Marriott Phuket opened the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation (MKMTF) on-site almost 17 years ago. Just last week, the foundation welcomed Ricky, a hawksbill turtle with a damaged shell, and Ya-whan, an olive ridley turtle with a missing flipper. Both were found stranded in the sand, tangled in fishing nets. They join long-standing residents Tommy, who was born blind, and Kaew, whose internal GPS isnt quite working as it should. Ricky and Ya-whan will be released back into the ocean during an annual ceremony later this year; other turtles are unable to be rehabilitated and will be taken care of at the facility permanently. Ricky and Ya-whans arrival was a colourful affair as it coincided with a visit from Patrick Redl Wehrli known as REDL a Zurich-based graphic designer, illustrator and graffiti artist who flew to the resort to spray a marine mural for the foundation. The world-renowned artist has been active since the rise of hip hop and graffiti culture in Europe in the 1980s. At the beginning, there were no graffiti magazines and no internet. If you wanted to know how they painted in Paris, you had to go to Paris and meet people there, often in neighbourhoods you didnt want to go. If you had the phone number of a graffiti artist, you were the boss. I went to New York once to find an artist in the South Bronx. All I had was his phone number. REDL would find himself forgetting to eat for days on these trips, fuelled solely by the adrenaline of the cross-continent chase. Creative horizons expanded, he would return to Switzerland each time with new skill sets in tow. He eventually became one of the main exponents of this new form of creative expression in Switzerland in the 90s. REDLs dynamic 3D urban art adorns walls in Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Egypt, Brazil and Hong Kong. He splits his work into three themes, the first being one of the cornerstones of graffiti: lettering. With 26 letters, you can say anything in the world. You can say love, you can say hate. For me, an A is not just an A, its three lines and there are so many possibilities to change its dynamics. The second is detailed, illustrative depictions of humans, often his own children. When I paint human beings recently, Ive found its usually kids. Largely because Im a dad of two girls now, but also in the sense that they represent the future. I painted one of my daughters standing in a paper boat on a 24 x 12 metre wall (right). It shows how fragile the future is and how we have to care about it for them and create something peaceful. Thirdly, and aptly for the MKMTF, animals. I like to add a surrealistic touch and make small things big, like bees and dragonflies. We now know these animals are very important and I want to show the beauty of their architecture. I want to give them a big stage. Although youre more likely to come across facades of insects and land mammals, like lions and camels, in his portfolio, he appreciates the special beauty of the underwater world and is grateful for the opportunity to paint part of it. It fascinates humans, including me, because its this other world. REDLs work at the MKMTF is a dynamic, vibrant seascape of elkhorn corals, butterfly fish and larger-than-life sea turtles. It took eight hours of preparation sourcing images, combining them, scouring Bangkok for the correct paint and 16 hours of painting. Graffiti art takes a great deal more work and is far more physically demanding than many of us might imagine, especially under a mask in the punishing Phuket heat. However, hes happy to suffer both for his art and in the name of such a good cause. Asked how graffiti is viewed around the world, REDL replies, The funny thing is, in Switzerland, if Im painting with a roller or brush, people see me as an artist. As soon as I have a spray can in my hand, people have perceptions of painting in the night illegally. However, he thanks and respects Banksy for how his simple yet powerful works have shifted the public perception of urban art over the years, allowing him to forge an international career in a creative industry he loves. The MKMTF is open on weekdays from 9am to 3pm. Website www.maikhaomarineturtlefoundation.org REDLs other works can be found at www.redl.ch. He is also available for commissions and can be contacted at post@redl.ch This subscription will allow curernt subscribers of The News Guard to access all of our online Subscriber-Only content, including the E Editions area. NOTE: To claim your access to the site, you will need to enter the Last Name and First Name that is tied to your subscription in this format: SMITH, JOHN If you need help with exactly how your specific name needs be entered, please call us at 1-541-994-2178 or email admin@countrymedia.net. The following companies are subsidiares of Eastman Chemical: BP - Aviation Turbine Oil Business, CP Films Vertriebs GmbH, Commonwealth Laminating & Coating (Hong Kong) Limited, Commonwealth Laminating & Coating Inc, Crown Operations International LLC, Dynaloy, Eastman Administracion S.A. de C.V., Eastman Chemical (Barbados) SRL, Eastman Chemical (China) Co. Ltd., Eastman Chemical (China) Co. Ltd. - Guangzhou Branch, Eastman Chemical (China) Co. Ltd. - JingAn Branch, Eastman Chemical (Gibraltar) Limited, Eastman Chemical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Eastman Chemical (PPU) Pte. Ltd., Eastman Chemical AMI GmbH, Eastman Chemical AMI LLC, Eastman Chemical AP Holdings B.V., Eastman Chemical Adhesives (Hong Kong) Limited, Eastman Chemical Advanced Materials B.V., Eastman Chemical Argentina S.R.L., Eastman Chemical Asia Pacific Pte Ltd-Indonesia Rep Office, Eastman Chemical Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Eastman Chemical Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. - Vietnam Representative Office, Eastman Chemical Australia Pty LTD - New Zealand Branch, Eastman Chemical Australia Pty. Ltd., Eastman Chemical B.V., Eastman Chemical B.V. - Czech Republic Representative Office, Eastman Chemical B.V. - Denmark Branch, Eastman Chemical B.V. - Filiale Italiana, Eastman Chemical B.V. - France Branch, Eastman Chemical B.V. - Hungarian Commercial Representative Office, Eastman Chemical B.V. - Poland Representative Office, Eastman Chemical B.V. - South Africa Representative Office, Eastman Chemical B.V. Taiwan Branch, Eastman Chemical B.V. The Hague Zug Branch, Eastman Chemical Canada Inc., Eastman Chemical Company Investments Inc., Eastman Chemical EMEA B.V., Eastman Chemical Europe Middle East and Africa LLC, Eastman Chemical Europe S.a.r.l., Eastman Chemical Fibers IP GmbH, Eastman Chemical Fibers IP LLC, Eastman Chemical Finance B.V., Eastman Chemical Finance CN S.a.r.l., Eastman Chemical Finance EUR S.a.r.l., Eastman Chemical Finance GBP S.a.r.l., Eastman Chemical Finance SGD S.a.r.l., Eastman Chemical Finance USD S.a.r.l., Eastman Chemical Financial Corporation, Eastman Chemical GDL S.a.r.l., Eastman Chemical Germany Holdings GmbH & Co. KG, Eastman Chemical Germany Management GmbH & Co. KG, Eastman Chemical Germany Verwaltungs-GmbH, Eastman Chemical Global Holdings LLC, Eastman Chemical Global Holdings S.a.r.l., Eastman Chemical GmbH, Eastman Chemical HK Limited, Eastman Chemical Holdings do Brasil Ltda., Eastman Chemical Hong Kong B.V., Eastman Chemical Iberica S.L., Eastman Chemical India Private Limited, Eastman Chemical Intermediates (Hong Kong) Limited, Eastman Chemical International GmbH, Eastman Chemical International Holdings B.V., Eastman Chemical International LP LLC, Eastman Chemical Japan Ltd., Eastman Chemical Korea B.V., Eastman Chemical Korea Ltd., Eastman Chemical Latin America Inc., Eastman Chemical Ltd., Eastman Chemical Ltd. - Australia Branch, Eastman Chemical Ltd. - Singapore Branch, Eastman Chemical Ltd. - Taiwan Branch, Eastman Chemical Luxembourg Finance S.a.r.l., Eastman Chemical Luxembourg Holdings 1 LLC, Eastman Chemical Luxembourg Holdings 1 S.a.r.l., Eastman Chemical Luxembourg Holdings 2 S.a.r.l., Eastman Chemical Luxembourg Holdings LLC, Eastman Chemical Luxembourg Holdings S.a.r.l., Eastman Chemical Malaysia B.V., Eastman Chemical Middelburg B.V., Eastman Chemical Netherlands Limited, Eastman Chemical Products Singapore Pte. Ltd., Eastman Chemical Regional UK, Eastman Chemical Resins Inc., Eastman Chemical S.C.S., Eastman Chemical Singapore Pte. Ltd., Eastman Chemical Switzerland GmbH, Eastman Chemical Technology BVBA, Eastman Chemical Texas City Inc., Eastman Chemical US Finance LLC, Eastman Chemical Uruapan S.A. de C.V., Eastman Chemical Workington Limited, Eastman Chemical do Brasil Ltda., Eastman Cogen Management L.L.C., Eastman Cogeneration L.P., Eastman Company UK Limited, Eastman Fibers Korea Limited, Eastman Fibers Singapore Pte. Ltd., Eastman Foundation, Eastman Global Holdings Inc., Eastman International Holdings LLC, Eastman International Management Company, Eastman Italia S.r.l., Eastman Kimya Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Eastman LAR Distribucion S. de R.L. de C.V., Eastman Mazzucchelli Hong Kong Limited, Eastman Mazzucchelli Plastics (Shenzhen) Company Limited, Eastman Servicios Corporativos S.A. de C.V., Eastman Spain L.L.C., Eastman Specialties Corporation, Eastman Specialties Holdings Corporation, Eastman Specialties OU, Eastman Specialties S.a.r.l., Eastman Specialties Wuhan Youji Chemical Co. Ltd, Eastman de Argentina SRL, Ecuataminco S.A., Flexsys America L.P., Flexsys America LLC, Flexsys Chemicals (M) Sdn Bhd, Flexsys K.K., Flexsys Rubber Chemicals Limited, Flexsys Verkauf GmbH, Flexsys Verkauf GmbH - France Branch, Flexsys Verwaltungs- und Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Genovique Specialties Corporation, HDK Industries Inc., Holston Defense Corporation, Huper Optik (GP) L.L.C., Huper Optik International Pte. Ltd., Huper Optik U.S.A. L.P., Industriepark Nienburg GmbH, Kingsport Hotel L.L.C., Knowlton Technologies LLC, Monchem International LLC, Mustang Pipeline Company, Nanjing Yangzi Eastman Chemical Ltd, Novomatrix Inc., Novomatrix International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Qilu Eastman Specialty Chemicals Ltd, S E Investment LLC, Sakra Hyco Pte. Ltd., Sakra Island Carbon Dioxide Pte Ltd, Scandiflex do Brasil Ltda., Solchem LLC, Solchem Netherlands C.V., Solutia (Thailand) Ltd., Solutia Brasil Ltda., Solutia Canada Inc., Solutia Chemicals France S.a.r.l., Solutia Chemicals India Private Limited, Solutia Chemicals India Private Limited - Branch, Solutia Deutschland GmbH, Solutia Europe BVBA - Portugal Representative Office, Solutia Europe BVBA - Russia Representative Office, Solutia Europe SPRL/BVBA, Solutia Greater China LLC, Solutia Hong Kong Limited, Solutia Inc., Solutia International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Solutia Italia S.r.l., Solutia Japan Limited, Solutia Performance Products (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Solutia Performance Products Solutions Ltd., Solutia Singapore Pte. Ltd., Solutia Solar GmbH, Solutia Therminol Co. Ltd. Suzhou, Solutia Tlaxcala S.A. de C.V., Solutia UK Holdings Limited, Solutia UK Investments Limited, Solutia UK Limited, Solutia Venezuela S.R.L., Southwall Europe GmbH, Southwall Insulating Glass LLC, Southwall Technologies Inc., St. Gabriel CC Company LLC, Sterling Chemicals Inc, SunTek Australia Pty. Ltd., SunTek Films Canada Inc., SunTek UK Limited, TX Energy LLC, Taminco Argentina S.A., Taminco BVBA, Taminco BVBA - France Rep Office, Taminco BVBA - Hungarian Commercial Representative Office, Taminco BVBA - Oficina de Representacion en Espana, Taminco BVBA - The Philippines, Taminco Chile S.p.A, Taminco Choline Chloride (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Taminco Corporation, Taminco Finland Oy, Taminco Germany GmbH, Taminco Global Chemical LLC, Taminco Group BVBA, Taminco Group Holdings S.a.r.l., Taminco Holding Netherlands B.V., Taminco Intermediate LLC, Taminco Italia S.r.l., Taminco Limitada, Taminco Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Taminco US LLC, Taminco Uruguay S.A., Taminco de Guatemala S.A., Taminco de Honduras S.A. de C.V., Taminco do Brasil Comercio e Industria de Aminas Ltda., Taminco do Brasil Produtos Quimicos Ltda., Te An Ling Tian (Nanjing) Fine Chemical Co. Ltd., TetraVitae Bioscience, V-Kool International Pte. Ltd., and Yixing Taminco Feed Additives Co. Ltd.. 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. CrossAmerica Partners LP engages in the wholesale distribution of motor fuels, operation of convenience stores, and ownership and leasing of real estate used in the retail distribution of motor fuels in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The Wholesale segment engages in the wholesale distribution of motor fuels to lessee dealers, independent dealers, commission agents, and company operated retail sites. The Retail segment is involved in the sale of convenience merchandise items; and retail sale of motor fuels at company operated retail sites and retail sites operated by commission agents. As of March 1, 2021, the company distributed fuel to approximately 1,700 locations; and owned or leased approximately 1,100 sites. CrossAmerica GP LLC operates as the general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as Lehigh Gas Partners LP and changed its name to CrossAmerica Partners LP in October 2014. CrossAmerica Partners LP was founded in 1992 and is based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Read More 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. 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. Read More The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and Global Wealth Management segments. The company offers financial advice and solutions, and day-to-day banking products, including debit and credit cards, chequing and saving accounts, investments, mortgages, loans, and insurance to individuals; and business banking solutions comprising lending, deposit, cash management, and trade finance solutions to small businesses and commercial customers, including automotive financing solutions to dealers and their customers. It also provides wealth management advice and solutions, including online brokerage, mobile investment, full-service brokerage, trust, private banking, and private investment counsel services; and retail mutual funds, exchange traded funds, liquid alternative funds, and institutional funds. In addition, the company offers international banking services for retail, corporate, and commercial customers; and lending and transaction, investment banking advisory, and capital markets access services to corporate customers. Further, it provides Internet, mobile, and telephone banking services. The company operates a network of 952 branches and approximately 3,540 automated banking machines in Canada; and approximately 1,400 branches, 5,200 ATMs, and 22 contact centers internationally. The Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Halifax, Canada. Read More 9 hours ago | June 27th | 2021 6:30 AM If You Want to Do Business on the Links, You Need to Improve Your Golf Game A lot of business is done on the golf course. Especially this summer after a year in quarantine, people will be itching to get out on the links and for some relaxation and mixing business with pleasure. If you want to close a deal out on the course, you're going to want to be more focused on the deal points than your next shot. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Karina M. Tehusijarana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, February 24, 2019 20:38 854 acca405afacc7201380025f21a18b35c 1 SE Asia Philippines,Indonesia,Mary-Jane-Veloso,execution,drug-abuse,human-rights,AGO Free The Attorney General's Office (AGO) denied rumors in the Philippines that death-row inmate Mary Jane Veloso had been executed in Indonesia. "No, no it's not true," AGO spokesperson Mukri told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. "There have been no [executions]. Just wait for information about the next round." Veloso's Indonesian lawyer, Agus Salim, confirmed that she was still being held at the Wirogunan women's prison in Yogyakarta. "The information [about the execution] is not true. Mary Jane is still in prison, awaiting a ruling from the Philippine court," he told the Post on Sunday. Veloso was sentenced to death by the Sleman District Court in Yogyakarta in 2010 after being caught with 2.6 kilograms of heroin hidden in her luggage at Adisutjipto International Airport. She was set to be executed during the wave of executions in April 2015 but was granted a last-minute reprieve after a woman came forward in her home country to admit that she had duped Veloso into smuggling drugs to Indonesia. Philippine authorities have since asked for her to testify as a witness in the ongoing trial of her alleged trafficker, which remains pending at the Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court. Activists in both Indonesia and the Philippines have repeatedly called for Veloso's release, saying that she was a victim who was being used by a drug cartel. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 25 2019 East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) exported 24 tons of octopus to China in January at a total value of US$63,000. The 24 tons of octopus were caught in Flores Island waters and were sent to China through Surabaya, said NTT administrations fish quarantine and quality control station head, Jimmy Elwaren, in Kupang on Friday, adding that the exports were carried out by local company PT Okishin Flores. Octopus was first exported to China in late 2018, with total export volume of 15.8 tons, he said Jimmy added that the province had also exported other products, such as seaweed, to the country in January. We have exported 75 tons of seaweed to China that was harvested in Sumba Island waters, he added, adding that the seaweed was exported in the form of alkali treated cottony chips (ATCC), with total expo... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dewi Hutabarat (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 25 2019 Indonesias villages existed even before the republic was born, but they have been neglected and weakened for decades, especially under Soehartos regime. Despite a law on villages passed in 2014, problems have persisted, preventing villagers from reclaiming their sovereignty in Indonesian politics. Before the nation was born, many groups of people lived as self-regulating communities within tribes or small and large kingdoms. Nusantara (archipelago) had been a melting pot of thousands of communities, some with their own governing systems. After independence, Nusantara became the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, incorporating those communities under the government. During the early years of independence under Sukarno, villages were still recognized of their rights, including their right to govern themselves as entities that e... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Evie Breese (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, February 25 2019 All smiles: Author Eka Kurniawan (right) poses with his Prince Claus Award certificate alongside Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Rob Swartbol in Jakarta. (Courtesy of Erasmus Huis/Andri Astarisanna) At an intimate ceremony within the newly refurbished library of Erasmus Huis in Jakarta, author Eka Kurniawans joy was apparent in the broad smile across his face. Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands originally presented Eka with the Prince Claus Award in December 2018 during a ceremony at the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. As is the case for all of the awards laureates, a ceremony is then held by the Dutch ambassadors of the respective countries where the laureates live and work.. Though a smaller and far less grand affair, for Eka, the ceremony in his home city was a chance to invite some of his friends and family to celebrate together. As a writer... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Karina M. Tehusijarana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, February 24, 2019 15:02 854 acca405afacc7201380025f21a181e57 1 Politics Prabowo-Sandiaga,212-Alumni,212Rally,presidential-candidate,presidential-election,general-elections,MUI Free A poem read by opposition activist Neno Warisman at the 212 Munajat prayer event at the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta has drawn criticism for implying that Indonesia would become a godless society if Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto lost the upcoming presidential election. The poem called on God to help leaders who have slandered, ulema who have been imprisoned and warriors who have been obstructed in an apparent criticism of President Joko Jokowi Widodos administration, which the 212 movement has often attacked for being anti-Islam. Midway through the poem, Neno read out in a tearful voice: Do not abandon us [but] give us victory Because if You do not give us victory We are worried O Allah We are worried O Allah That there will be no one to worship You anymore. Ini doa atau ngancem Allah?? Denger Neno baca puisi munajat atau apalah ini, kok malu sendiri. Ga ada adem2nya... pic.twitter.com/yfqvNHIMFQ IG: narkosun (@narkosun) February 22, 2019 This portion of the poem has since gone viral, with many netizens condemning Neno for threatening Allah. The line was a reference to a prayer Prophet Muhammad made during the Battle of Badr, which is considered a key turning point in Muhammads struggle against his opponents in the early days of Islam. According to a hadith, upon seeing that his army, which consisted of the earliest Muslim converts and was vastly outnumbered by the enemy, Muhammad appealed to God for victory, saying: O Allah, if this small band of Muslims is destroyed, Thou will not be worshipped on this Earth. Robikin Emhas, an executive of Indonesias largest Islamic mass organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), criticized Nenos apparent comparison between the presidential election and the battle. Jokowi is a Muslim, [Jokowis running mate] Maruf Amin is a Muslim, Prabowo is a Muslim, [Praowos running mate] Sandiaga Uno is a Muslim. All the presidential candidates are Muslims. So, what is the basis of the fear that there will be no one to worship God if a certain ticket loses? he said in a statement on Saturday. Remember, the God that we worship is Allah SWT. Not the presidential election. The central Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has also criticized the Jakarta MUI branch for its role in organizing the political 212 Munajat prayer. As a religious organization, the MUI should not be dragged into practical politics because that is not compatible with the character, policy and identity of the MUI as a big tent for the Muslim faith, MUI deputy chairman Zainut said on Saturday as quoted by Antara. The 212 movement is linked to the massive sectarian rally held on Dec. 2, 2016, staged to demand the prosecution of then-Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama for blasphemy. The movement has claimed to be non-political, though it has been seen as an anti-Jokowi group and many of its members are supporters of the Prabowo-Sandiaga campaign. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan Sun, February 24, 2019 18:21 854 acca405afacc7201380025f21a189235 1 National crime,palm-oil,oil-palm-plantations,deforestation,environment,#2019GeneralElections,North-Sumatra,Anif-Shah,Edy-Rahmayadi Free An oil palm plantation land conversion case in Langkat, North Sumatra, has dragged into the mix a family involved in politics and business in the province. The case emerged when the police named Musa Idishah, the son of palm oil businessman and philanthropist Anif Shah, a suspect in relation to the alleged conversion of 366 hectares in the regencys three districtsSei Lepan, West Brandan, Besitangwhich the police claimed to be protected forest areas. Idishah, the director of PT Anugerah Langkat Makmur (ALAM), is accused of violating Law No. 18/2013 on the prevention of forest clearing and destruction, Law No. 39/2014 on plantations and Law No. 32/2009 on environmental protection and management. The case is the first to implicate members of the family, which has been involved in the palm oil and property business for two generations. North Sumatra Deputy Governor Musa Rajekshah, who is also Idishahs brother, said his family would cooperate with police, but maintained that ALAM and his brother had done nothing wrong since they had obtained the necessary permits for the plantation. There are many plantation companies in the location. If the same regulation is applied, why would only one company come up [as a suspect]? he questioned. The businessman-cum-politician has also been summoned as a witness in the case as a former director of the company. Anif, the patriarch of the family, has made his fortune mainly through the palm oil and property business. Along with ALAM, he also founded PT Anugerah Sawindo and the Alam Group. His family is also in control of several housing areas in the province, including the affluent Cemara Asri. He also runs the Haji Anif and Anugerah Pendidikan Indonesia foundations, which are committed to the welfare of students and teachers. The family entered the local political scene after Rajekshah secured a victory in the gubernatorial election last year alongside former army strategic reserves commander Edy Rahmayadi. They were supported by the Gerindra Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Golkar Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the NasDem Party. The familys business had faced accusations regarding land ownership previously. Among accusations emerged in 2013, when Anugerah Sawindo was accused of fraudulent land acquisition in Sampali village, Deli Serdang. The case was reported to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) but there was no follow up. The case related to ALAM has been surrounded by controversy because many parties, including relevant local agencies, have said that the land mentioned in the case was permitted to be used for plantations since it was located in production forests. North Sumatra Forestry Agency head Harlen Purba said ALAMs plantation in Langkat was on limited production forest areas, in which only selective logging could be carried. Concession holders are not allowed to cut down all trees in the forests under this category because it will make the areas, usually located on hills or mountain slopes, prone to floods and landslides. Harlen was also puzzled by the case since there were other companies and residents that operated plantations in the area. There are other parties aside from ALAM that cultivate the production areas, said Harlen. There has been speculation that the case came to light on account of the familys support for presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, after a 17-minute video went viral recently about a raid at the familys house. In the video, a woman who recorded the raid could be seen confronting police members. [The reason for this case is] not clear, right? We are obliged to vote for [candidate number] one but we refused, so this is why you all have come here, right? Traitor, the woman in the video says to the police in anger. She was referring to the candidacy number of incumbent President Joko Jokowi Widodo. The police later identified the woman recording the video as Wara, the daughter of Anif. They have summoned her for questioning, but she has fled the country. Despite the support of Jokowis opposition partiesGerindra, the PKS and PAN, Edy and Rajekshah said they remained neutral in the April presidential and legislative elections. Political observer Sublihar from the Medan-based North Sumatra University said that while Idishah and his company might have violated the law, the timing of the case had caused people to link it to the elections. It is better for the police to proceed with the case after the April elections, he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, February 24, 2019 10:50 854 acca405afacc7201380025f21a17d477 1 City land-certification,land,BPN,anies-baswedan,Joko-Widodo,sofyan-djalil,City-administration Free Abdul is a resident of Pancoran subdistrict in South Jakarta who paid his areas subdistrict and community unit (RW) heads an administrative fee of Rp 750,000 (US$ 53.51) for a reference letter he required in order to complete his documents for a land certificate from the Jakarta office of National Land Agency (BPN). He paid the amount four months ago but was not given a receipt. He and his wife Malihatun have yet to receive any news or updates about their requests. Fortunately, the couple finally received their land certificate at an event in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, on Friday, during which President Joko Jokowi Widodo handed over 3,000 land certificates to South Jakarta residents. The certificate was free. Though they were forced to spend Rp 750,000 on a process that produced nothing, the couple was happy to finally get a certificate that legally acknowledged them as the rightful owner of their 70-square-meter plot of land in Pancoran, which they had bought in 2014. We were lucky because [the administrative fee] was not as high as in other subdistricts. In Pejaten [South Jakarta], some people I know had to pay up to Rp 12 million," Abdul told The Jakarta Post. The next step, Abdul said, would be to take care of a right-to-build (HGB) permit, which he plans to arrange himself with the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry now that he has a land certificate. Like Abdul and Malihatun, residents of North Grogol, also in South Jakarta, have also complained about fees they had to pay when registering for a land certificate through the comprehensive systematic registration program (PTSL). The issue garnered widespread public attention after North Grogol resident Naneh, 60, revealed she had given her local subdistrict head and RW chief Rp 3 million to get a land certificate, even though she had attended an event in which Jokowi distributed 5,000 land certificates in October last year. She was contacted by someone who told her that she needed to pay the fee for her land certificate to be issued. "They promised that I would get it by December 2018, but I havent received anything to date, Naneh said as quoted by tempo.co last week. She added that she had also been told to pay Rp 200 million for a right-to-build permit. "I can't afford it. I want to cancel the process, Naneh said. City Secretary Saefullah had previously warned the public about illegal fees, reminding residents that subdistrict, RW and neighborhood unit (RT) heads were not allowed to charge them for registering their land. Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil conceded that complaints of illegal levies have emerged across the country but claimed that local administration officers were behind the requests, not ministry officials. Sofyan added that local administrations could charge an administration fee under the 2017 Joint Ministerial Decree (SKB) on land registration preparation fees, including a maximum fee of Rp 150,000 to help residents measure their land. "If they take more than the maximum amount, people should report them to the police. The police are currently following up on some of these reports, Sofyan said on Friday. Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan urged the BPN to take firm action against officials asking for illegal levies. He also asked residents to file a report to prevent more cases from happening. As for his own officials, he said that he would remove subdistrict heads who were proven to have requested illegal fees from residents. "We will rotate them immediately, he said. Meanwhile, Jakarta Council Deputy Speaker M. Taufik said his office would summons city administration officials and representatives of the BPNs Jakarta office on Tuesday following reports to the council over rampant illegal levies in the registration of land certificates. (ggq) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, February 24, 2019 14:40 854 acca405afacc7201380025f21a1814e0 1 National young-muslim-generation,tolerance,Islam,Internet,UIN Free A study suggests that young Indonesian Muslims who use the internet more often tend to have radical and intolerant views compared to their peers who rarely go online. Conducted by the Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University (UIN Syarif Hidayatullah) in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in late 2017, the study found that 88.55 percent of 1,859 respondents believed the government should ban religious minority groups altogether. In addition, 49 percent of respondents comprising students from hundreds of schools and universities across the country disagreed with the governments protection of Islamic minority groups like the Ahmadiyah and Shia. Nearly 85 percent has access to the internet. The studys lead researcher, Jamhari Makruf of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, explained that there was one positive correlation between internet use among young Muslims and the way they perceive religious diversity. "We found that religious websites are dominated by exclusive and intolerant views," Jamhari said on Wednesday. The study further revealed that preachers popular among Muslim youths included those who often conveyed radical narratives, like controversial Indian ulema Zakir Naik and Indonesian preacher Khalid Basalamah. Meanwhile, Muslim figures who promote tolerant and moderate views, including Quraish Syihab, Ahmad Syafii Maarif, Mustafa Bisri and Haedar Nasir, did not interest them. Jamhari called on large Islamic organizations such as Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah to promote moderate values and create more youth-friendly religious content on social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram to counter more extreme narratives. "The youths want to access religious knowledge as easily as they access information about food; we have to accommodate them," he emphasized. Another researcher from UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Irfan Abubakar, revealed on a separate occasion that learning from the internet was not enough for young Muslims to gain a thorough understanding of Islam. UIN Syarif Hidayatullah's Center for the Study of Religion and Culture (CSRC), led by Irfan, revealed that more young Muslims who are digital-savvy are abandoning mosques as they preferred to study religion via social media. Low religious literacy, as the result of learning religion only from the internet, can lead to absolutism, which refers to an attitude of regarding one's own beliefs as the absolute truth. "Absolutism is a threat to the country's pluralistic society," he said. Therefore, he urged the younger generation of Muslims to learn Islam through legitimate forums, such as pengajian (Quran reading). Muhammadiyah leader Haedar Nashir separately conceded that ignorance among large Islamic Organizations had contributed to the rising radicalism and intolerance in the country. He added that Indonesias second-largest Islamic organization was committed to preparing its members to be "social-media preachers" and spread al-wasatiyyah (religious tolerance) and Islamic moderation as counter-narratives to extremism. "Muhammadiyah has a strong network in society, including among the younger generations. We will turn [al-wasatiyyah] into a massive movement," Haedar said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, February 24, 2019 14:16 854 acca405afacc7201380025f21a18065f 1 City mental-health,mental-health-problems,mental-illness,mental-disorder,mental-illness-treatment,system,supports Free Lysa was diagnosed with bipolar disorder three years ago. She now regularly attends therapy and takes medication to treat her manic depression. Lately, she has felt like the treatments only addressed the symptoms of her condition, rather than prevent them. I cant continue like this. Taking medication in the long term might affect me [physically]. So, I want to try other alternatives, the 22-year-old told The Jakarta Post on Saturday. She said that in January, she had a mental breakdown that kept her from her job for three days. Fortunately, her coworkers and supervisors know about her condition. Her manager had even informed her about the Support Circle Jakarta Instagram account. Feeling the weight of one of her depressive episodes, she contacted the administrators of the account. She was initially informed that she could no longer register with the support group because it was full but was later allowed to join. By the time she attended one of its sessions, the group had met for the second time. Still, she was grateful for the opportunity to meet people who were going through the same hardships as she was. At Support Circle, I was able to share my experience and I also relate to what others are feeling, Lysa said. Support Circle Jakarta is a mental illness support group created by Alifah Syamsul, 22, alongside another ITB alumna Dyasanti Vidya Saputri to provide a space and community for urbanites seeking help other than through medication and private therapy. Alifah said she had created the support group as she had also struggled with a mental illness. She was diagnosed with depression in late 2016 but after taking medication and undergoing therapy, she was able to repress her symptoms by May 2017. I was in the same position as well. And in that condition, a person needs a support system before going to a professional to seek help. But the issue is, there hasnt been a good support system yet [in Jakarta], Alifah said. She initiated Support Circle when she was still registered as a student at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in West Java, collaborating with Rama Giovani from Yayasan Sehat Mental Indonesia. At the time, I didnt promote the group, using only Instagram stories. It turned out that a lot of people were interested, she said. She returned to Jakarta in 2018 and thought about what a difference a support group would make in the capital, considering that many participants of the Bandung group had shown signs of improvement in dealing with their depression. When Alifah opened the registration for Support Circle Jakarta on Jan. 27, 17 people signed up within 15 minutes. Of the 17 people, Alifah screened them to limit the participants to 10 people, so the support group would be intimate and effective for its members. Alifah said each batch would meet for at least eight sessions, during which participants can privately share their struggles with mental illness and receive guidance on how to cope with their condition and to seek help. She hopes that once a batch completes all its session, participants will be able to function well [in society] and know where to seek help by themselves. She said that the current batch was limited to ages 18 to 24, so participants could easily relate to each other because they are in the same demographic. She assured that future batches would target different age groups to deal with their specific problems. The support group is supervised by Tarakan Hospital psychiatrist Zulfia Oktanida. Alifah said that the doctor was also kind enough to provide a space for Support Circle at the hospital. Zulfia said the concept of a support group had been around for a while and could be used by those needed to seek help but did not know where to find one. A support group to deal with depression might be challenging because its not easy for those with depression to meet with new people and talk. But when they want to share their struggles with others, that is the starting point [to seek help], she said. She added that the best environment for those struggling with a mental illness, besides a support group, was a society free of stigma toward mental health. If we want to [help people], we have to raise awareness that its okay to have a mental illness, she said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, February 24, 2019 13:45 854 acca405afacc7201380025f21a17f7f8 1 City fire-accidents,Fire-and-Rescue-Agency,fire-department,firefighters,vessel,Penjaringan-North-Jakarta Free A fire in Muara Baru, Penjaringa, on the coast of North Jakarta, destroyed about 30 vessels and injured three people on Saturday. We have yet to ascertain the exact number of vessels that were destroyed. So far, we predict that 30 vessels were razed in the fire, North Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency head Satriadi Gunawan said on Sunday morning as quoted by kompas.com. The agency received a report of the fire at 3.16 p.m. and a fire and rescue team arrived at the scene four minutes later. Twenty-three fire trucks were deployed, extinguishing the flames by 5.16 a.m. the next day. When the fire and rescue team arrived, only three vessels were ablaze, but strong winds and the position of the vessels anchored side by side allowed the flames to spread easily and quickly, Satriadi said. Three people were administered to Atma Jaya Hospital for smoke inhalation. They were two employees from a factory located near the scene and a fire rescue officer. Thick, black smoke from the blaze prompted the police to evacuate workers from nearby fish and shrimp factories. Tanjung Priok Police chief Sr. Adj. Comr. Reynold Hutagalung said the fire had been started by welding activities on one of the vessels. We believe the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit from welding activities on the Artamina Jaya, he said on Saturday as quoted by kompas.com. Police are questioning seven eyewitnesses, including the captain and crew members. The extent of the damage caused by the fire is still unknown. The cause of the incident is under police investigation. We are waiting for the results from our forensic laboratory, Satriadi added. (sau) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, February 23 2019 For low-income workers who happen to be singles, there are few housing options in the city. Many opt to rent a room in a boarding house near their workplace to save money, as high-rise apartments are often not affordable for them. However, hundreds of working professionals have found a solution with a city-owned low-cost apartment (Rusunawa) complex located in North Jakarta. The Rawa Bebek apartments, which border Bekasi, West Java, is a prime option for low-income singles with its affordable monthly rent of Rp 460,000 (US$32.7) per apartment, excluding electricity and water bills. For couples, 26.4-square-meter studio rooms are available. The apartments were built in 2016 under the administration of then-Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, who has asked to be referred to as BTP from ... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, February 24, 2019 09:05 854 acca405afacc7201380025f21a17ad48 1 National social-media,control,bill,data-protection-bill,data-protection,freedom-of-expression,freedom-of-speech,Press-Council Free A bill proposed by media organizations aims to tighten control over negative content proliferated via social media, a growing problem that threatens social harmony in Indonesia, where 130 million people are active internet users. The proposal was initiated by the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), the Indonesian Television Journalist Association (IJTI) and the Press Council with the purpose of curbing the spread of fake news, hate speech and extremist propaganda online. Like many countries, Indonesia has been confronted by the spread of fake news and other forms of negative content online. In recent years, the problem has been exacerbated by political rivalries, sectarianism and religious conservatism. The initiators said if the bill was endorsed, the law would become a legal basis for social media platforms to self-censor their own content. It would also complement relevant legislation already in place, such as the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law and a recent bill on private data protection. None of the existing laws specifically regulate the platforms. As one of the initiators, IJTI chairman Yadi Handriana said the bill would facilitate the process of removing negative online content by providing a legal basis for social media platforms to exercise the necessary self-censorship. He cited the 2017 case of an Indonesian man who live-streamed his own suicide on Facebook, which put the platform's liability in the spotlight. Facebook took the video down 12 hours after its broadcast following a government warning. Social media platforms should be responsible for negative content and currently there are no laws by which social platforms can be held to account, Yadi told The Jakarta Post. Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) researcher Wahyudi Djafar said that the ITE Law, which is usually used to remove negative online content, was weak when it came to regulating social media platforms, as it only prescribed criminal sanctions for individuals. A case in point is Article 40 of the ITE Law that allows the government to block access to pornographic or terrorism related content, as well as other content deemed negative. Articles 27, 28 and 29 on defamation, hate speech and extortion, respectively, have also stirred controversy. Recently, a West Nusa Tenggara court sparked controversy for convicting a woman, Baiq Nuril Maqmun, under Article 27 for defaming her alleged sexual harasser while the man remains free. The ITE law does not clearly define negative content and specific reporting mechanisms, which meant the process of taking down content had lacked transparency and accountability, Wahyudi said. Currently, reports are made through the Communications and Information Ministry, which will then remove content that includes false information, pornography, hate speech or radicalism, among other forms of content. Likewise, Wahyudi said the private data protection bill was weak as it would only solve problems related to the privacy of social media users. The [proposed] bill would probably emphasize more the responsibility of social media platforms while pushing them to create a self-regulatory mechanism [] But the bill should not limit the function of the social media platforms themselves, Wahyudi said. The idea has previously caught the attention of House of Representatives Speaker Bambang Soesatyo. I think the bill could be an answer to our concerns, Bambang said recently. Wolfgang Schulz, an internet expert and critic of a social media law in Germany, said in Jakarta that lawmakers should exercise utmost caution in drafting the law so as not to kill freedom of expression. He said that lawmakers should clearly define what needs to be removed from the internet, taking local culture and contexts into consideration. You could only forbid speech when there is specific harm. It cannot be just something that a society or even a majority does not like or [when the information] contradicts their values, Schulz said. In 2018, the Communications and the Information Ministry handled 6,123 cases from Instagram and Facebook and a further 3,521 cases from Twitter and 1,530 from the video-sharing platform YouTube. The ministry also removed 912,659 posts and websites between 2014 and October last year, including 453 websites linked to radicalism and 186 websites deemed offensive to ethnicity, race or religion. (mai) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Bogor Sat, February 23 2019 Eating fish and mussels from Jakarta Bay is dangerous because of toxic and hazardous compounds that damage fish organs and paralyze mussels, an expert has said. A professor at Bogor Agricultural Universitys maritime affairs and fisheries department, Etty Riani, told reporters on Thursday that the quality of fish depended on the quality of the environment. People who consume fish from Jakarta Bay are susceptible to cancer and degenerative diseases like kidney failure, she said. In a polluted environment, fish are prone to contamination from hazardous compounds, such as metal compounds that can damage fish tissues, carcinogens and mutagens. Etty explained that metal compounds entered the body of a fish through its skin pores, gills or when it was eating. The compounds then accumulate in the organs... At a glance, twin sisters Alvika Saniya and Alvira Saniya, 15, look similar to other teenage girls who love K-Pop bands and play with their phones. However, in the past two years, both have battled scoliosis, a medical condition in which a persons spine is curved to the right or left. Their mother Pretty Meliana told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that she first noticed the abnormal curvature of their spines when the twins hit puberty. Since 2017, she had taken Alvika and Alvira to doctors and they received several treatments, such as physiotherapy and wore a Boston brace, a back brace for scoliosis. In the beginning, Alvikas spine curve was 48.5 degrees, while Alvira was 45 degrees. Now, its below 40 degrees, she said. However, the doctor recently mentioned that her daughters might need to undergo surgery if there was no further improvement, which led her to bring the twins to the Spine Clinic Family Holistic in West Jakarta, the only place in Indonesia that offers the Schroth Method, a customized exercise to return the curved spine to a more natural position. Money is not the issue, but Im scared of [the surgery], said Pretty. Founded in 1921 by German-born physiotherapist Katharina Schroth, it is a nonsurgical option for scoliosis, featuring 3D treatment designed to correct the curvature of the spine, vertebral rotation and lordosis (a healthy inward curve of the lower back). Dr Budi Sugiarto Widjaja studied the Schroth Method in Germany. (JP/Jessicha Valentina) In Indonesia, the method was introduced by Dr Budi Sugiarto Widjaja in 2015, who studied the treatment in Germany. During the Schroth Best Practice seminar at the clinic on Feb. 23, Budi said scoliosis usually appeared during puberty, between ages 10 and 14, and 80 percent of the cases were idiopathic, meaning the causes were unknown. Read also: Dealing with scoliosis Budi stressed the importance of early detection, saying that it was best to do the treatment during puberty, especially if the patient also used The Gensingen Brace by Dr Weiss , a scoliosis brace made from polythene, which is designed for specific curve patterns, following the users posture. Scoliosis is manageable, he said. However, the Schroth Method is also suitable for adults with scoliosis who want to correct their posture. The method features various exercises, including physiology and activities daily living. During the treatment, the patient will learn how to correct their posture while standing, sitting, walking and even breathing. The method shift the [bones], not bend it, said Budi, adding that it targeted specific muscle based on the curvature of the spine. Budi said the Schroth Method was also useful for adults. After puberty, the development of scoliosis might slow down. However, if [the patients] do not know how to maintain the right posture, it could get worse, he said. (asw) Wielding a weapon made of dollar bills, tackling Barack Obama, challenging George Soros to an arm wrestle -- Donald Trump is the hero of a Tirana art show by an Albanian painter who considers the US president an "idol". The 61-year-old artist, Avni Delvina, says the work is his response to international media's broadly negative reaction to the Republican president's unorthodox approach to politics. "It is the product of two years of work from my strong anger about the reactionary attack on Trump," Delvina told AFP, describing the former reality TV star and real estate tycoon as a "free spirit". Read also: Trump and Kim to have one-on-one meeting at Vietnam summit The art exhibit in Tirana, titled "The Donald", showcases nearly 50 Trump-inspired paintings, including one with First Lady Melania sitting in for Mona Lisa. When asked to explain his adulation of Trump, Delvina cites a George Orwell quote: "In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act." Although the US president is routinely accused of flubbing the facts, the artist sees him as a brave warrior in a fight against "fake news" -- a label Trump likes to use against critical media. There is a strong pro-US sentiment in much of Albania, where American flags are a common sight. After Trump's shock electoral victory in 2016, a town in central Albania renamed a boulevard in his honor. Versace married luxury with grunge at Milan Fashion Week on Friday, presenting an Autumn/Winter 2019 line featuring leather, faux furs and ripped jumpers, as well as plenty of the Italian luxury label's signature safety pins. Creative director Donatella Versace, sister of the fashion house's late founder Gianni Versace, sent models including sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner down a catwalk with a giant safety pin sporting the label's Medusa logo, where they were joined by 1990s models Shalom Harlow and Stephanie Seymour. The line, which also featured Barocco-style V logos, nodded to the golden safety pins that adorned a black dress from Versace's Spring/Summer 1994 line, made famous when actress Elizabeth Hurley wore it to the "Four Weddings and a Funeral" premiere. Safety pins were omnipresent on the runway - securing cut draped mini dresses, on jumpers and skirts and as earrings. Several looks also paid tribute to "Versace's storied relationship with fashion photography", with tops printed with portraits of Donatella Versace by American photographer Richard Avedon, who shot campaigns for the brand. Read also: Four Indonesian designers light up 2019 New York Fashion Week There were plenty of vibrant colors on tops, tights, stockings, dresses and bags. Outfits were layered: ribbed tops under silk shirts, dresses and jackets, all in different shades. "Bold women feel free to stay away from what is expected," Versace said in a press release. "With this collection, I wanted to show that side of a woman that isn't afraid to step outside of her comfort zone because she knows that imperfection is the new perfection." Knits, sometimes with silk straps on top, had ripped sleeves and hems, and were matched with a mock croc quilted leather two-piece or slit tweed skirts. Barocco prints appeared on sleeves of a trench. Lace was used for neon colored hems on silky slip dresses, usually in contrasting colors or on black trousers suits. Evening gowns were luxurious - a sparkly orange number with Medusa medallions straps or black frocks with plenty of golden embellishments and belt buckle straps. The brand, which was bought by Capri Holdings Ltd, formerly Michael Kors, last year, also presented herringbone coats and dresses and Vittoria print silks. Footwear was embellished with buckles. Those with a passion for making pastries, bread or chocolate are blessed with the chance to make others happy with their creations. But when the pastry chef, baker or chocolatier wish to contribute to the culinary industry for their own benefit, thats another story. To help them, chef Louis Tanuhadi, a chocolate and pastry expert with vast experience including teaching at The Chocolate School by Tulip, one of the largest chocolate companies in Indonesia, recently established Academy of Pastry and Culinary Arts (APCA) Indonesia. In the establishment of the school, Louis teamed up with award-winning pastry chef Niklesh Sharma, who founded the Academy of Pastry Arts Group with schools in Malaysia, the Philippines and India. At the inauguration of APCA Indonesia earlier this year, Louis said he had been entertaining the idea of establishing a pastry school in Indonesia since around 2002. I said at the time, it was still too far-fetched to start a [pastry] school, said Louis, who was studying with Jean Francois Arnaud, a Frenchman with the title Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (MOF), which is bestowed on select artisans by the French Ministry of Labor. Louis crossed paths with Sharma in 2011, when the latter envisioned opening a pastry school in Indonesia. They said we have to open in Indonesia, and if it is not happening now, we will be left behind, Louis recalls in his schools inauguration speech. Louis expressed that he was driven to educate aspiring Indonesian pastry chefs to become champions on the global stage, especially since he had seen fellow Asian chefs in the international limelight. Japan and Singapore, for instance, and now Malaysia. Indonesia should not be left behind. Read also: Award-winning 'Samurai' chocolate dessert you need to look for in Jimbaran Arnaud will be among the prominent pastry chefs teaching at APCA Indonesia, alongside master chocolatier Christophe Morel. Both were present at the inauguration, supervising young Indonesian pastry chefs who prepared all the desserts for guests of the inauguration night. Louis took The Jakarta Post along with other guests to tour the APCA facility following his speech. There were rooms for ovens where students will bake cake and bread. The oven room is separated from the pastry kitchen to prevent overheating in the room where a colder temperature is required. He explained that there were separate rooms for students to learn making pastry, bread and chocolate. Each room has its own specific equipment. During a nine-month study program, students will learn to make cakes and cookies for three straight months as part of the basic curriculum and then move on to boulangerie, chocolate, ice cream, sorbet, gelato and cake decoration. APCA Indonesia is located at The Flavor Bliss in Alam Sutera Boulevard, South Tangerang, Banten. It occupies a stand-alone building amid cafes and restaurants. A guest at the inauguration night asked Louis whether there would be a cafe in the APCA building. No, there are already so many cafes next door, Louis answered with a laugh. All the creations of students will have to be enjoyed by the students themselves. Oscars night is quickly approaching -- on Sunday, all will be revealed. Will Alfonso Cuaron sweep the awards for his cinematic masterpiece "Roma?" Will another contender swipe the best picture Oscar from him? Can Glenn Close finally claim her first Academy Award? The ceremony will be without a host for the first time in three decades -- a fact sure to create some surprising moments. Here are five things to watch for on Sunday when the stars gather for the 91st Oscars: - Can Netflix's 'Roma' make history? - Streaming giant Netflix could take a major step forward in its quest to be both a distribution king and a purveyor of quality original content if "Roma" becomes its first film to take home a best picture Oscar. "Roma" earned a whopping 10 nods, leading the proceedings in a tie with "The Favourite." The film earned nominations in several top categories including best director and best actress, also a new high for Netflix. Amazon Studios already broke through in the best picture category in 2017 with a nomination for "Manchester by the Sea" -- but did not grab the win. A best picture victory for "Roma" would also make history as it would be the first foreign-language film to do so. And it would be the crown jewel in a rich awards season for Alfonso Cuaron, whose black-and-white film pays homage to his mother, his nanny and his childhood in 1970s Mexico City. Four of the 10 nominations for "Roma" are his: for best picture as a producer, best director, best original screenplay and best cinematography. He joins illustrious company with his achievement: Warren Beatty did the same, scoring four nominations in four different categories -- twice -- for "Heaven Can Wait" and "Reds." Joel and Ethan Coen did it for "No Country for Old Men." Read also: 'A Star Is Born' expected to win big at Golden Globes - At last, Glenn Close's turn? - Glenn Close is a veteran stage and screen actress and is revered by her peers. She is a winner of three Emmys, three Golden Globes and three Tony Awards. But Oscar has never smiled on her. This year, with her seventh nomination, could finally be her year. Close, 71, earned rave reviews for her portrayal of Joan Castleman, a woman who finds herself at a crossroads in her marriage to an author husband in "The Wife," opposite a formidable Jonathan Pryce. She has swept the major prizes so far this awards season, from a Golden Globe in January to a Screen Actors Guild prize to the Critics' Choice Award she shared with Lady Gaga. Oscarologists are near-unanimous in their prediction that Close will strike gold on Sunday. We'll see when the envelope is opened. - What about Spike Lee? - Spike Lee is still bitter about what is perceived as one of the most egregious Oscar snubs: the choice of "Driving Miss Daisy" for best picture in 1990, when his "Do The Right Thing" was not nominated. But this year, his "BlacKkKlansman" is up for six Oscars, and Lee himself was nominated three times: for best picture as a producer, best director and best adapted screenplay Lee was given a honorary Oscar a few years ago for lifetime achievement but has never taken home a competitive Academy Award. Many hope his tale of a black cop who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan will break the unhappy streak. Read also: Ave Maryam: Of Lust and Guilt - Is a hostless Oscars a better Oscars? - For the first time in 30 years, the Oscars will go on without a host. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences initially offered the job to Kevin Hart, but backlash over a series of old tweets quickly ended that. So gala organizers are going without an emcee for the first time since 1989 -- a disastrous year remembered for a musical duet between actor Rob Lowe and ... Snow White. Will the hostless gala mean a shorter gala, which many viewers and industry A-listers have asked for? Organizers have promised to try to keep the show at about three hours. We'll see. - A-list music performances - Lady Gaga, Queen with Adam Lambert, Bette Midler: some of music's biggest stars will be front and center on Oscars night to perform Oscar-nominated songs, and otherwise entertain the A-listers. Gaga and Bradley Cooper will sing their power ballad "Shallow" from "A Star Is Born" live for the first time on television. Midler will do "The Place Where Lost Things Go" from "Mary Poppins Returns," and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson will sing the theme song "I'll Fight" from the documentary "RBG" about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Also added to the schedule were Queen -- "Bohemian Rhapsody," the story of the band's rise to fame, earned five nominations including for best picture and best actor (Rami Malek as the late Freddie Mercury). Kendrick Lamar and SZA had been due to perform their song "All the Stars" from "Black Panther," but Variety reported that they would not attend, citing a "logistics and timing" issue. U.S. President Donald Trump and a comedic movie take on Sherlock Holmes on Saturday topped the annual Razzie awards for the worst performances and films of 2018. "Holmes & Watson," starring Will Ferrell and John. C. Reilly, was the biggest "winner," taking four trophies including worst film and "worst rip-off." Reilly also was named worst supporting actor in what Razzie founder John Wilson called the "clueless parody" of the classic British detective tale. The tongue-in-cheek Razzies, created in 1980, serve as an antidote to Hollywood's Oscars. Winners were announced a day before Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony - the highest honors in the movie industry. Trump won two worst actor Razzies for appearing as himself in the 2018 documentaries "Death of a Nation," from conservative film maker Dinesh D'Souza, and liberal Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 11/9." White House aide Kellyanne Conway was voted worst supporting actress for her archival footage in "Fahrenheit 11/9." Read also: Hollywood royalty set for Oscars night In an unusual twist, Melissa McCarthy was deemed worst actress, for her puppet comedy "The Happytime Murders," as well as getting the Razzie Redeemer Award for her Oscar-nominated role in literary drama "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" "Gotti," about late New York Mafia boss John Gotti, escaped with no "wins" despite getting six nominations, including worst picture, actor and "worst screen combo" for stars John Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston. Nominees and winners of the Razzies are voted for online by around 1,000 Razzie members from 24 countries, who sign up online and pay a $40 membership fee. The 2019 Ubud Food Festival (UFF) presented by food company ABC will be held on April 26-28 in Ubud, Bali. Themed Spice up the World, this years event is said to feature collaborations among local food heroes and chefs from across the globe, aiming to encourage cross-cultural exchanges and forge new professional pathways. UFF founder and director Janet DeNeefe said in a press release, We chose them to show food lovers across the globe that its time to add some Indonesian dishes to their list of favorites and, through this, learn something about Indonesia. Food is, after all, the easiest way to access a culture, she added. Among the special events, visitors to the fifth installment of UFF can see a collaboration between Potato Head Beach Club; Kaum Global executive chef Wayan Kresna Yasa; Thitid Tassanakajohn, popularly known as Chef Ton, a chef and owner of Bangkoks one Michelin-star restaurant Ledu; and Judy Joo, Korean-American chef and TV personality. Read also: Ubud Food Festival: Brings flavors and knowledge to the table Similar to previous years, the annual culinary event will return with some of its popular programs, such as Long Table Lunch and Teater Kuliner (Culinary Theater). This time around, the Long Table Lunch will feature Kris Syamsudi, founder of eco-tourism initiative Cengkeh Afo and Gamalama Spices in Ternate, North Maluku. Along with DeNeefe, Kris will present traditional Ternate dishes slow-cooked in bamboo. Meanwhile, Jakarta-based chef Ragil Imam Wibowo is set to return to free-cooking stage Teater Kuliner and will share two Acehnese dishes containing over 20 spices. Ragil will be accompanied by the Aceh Culinary Festival representatives, who will present the regions specialties, kopi tarik, which literally means pulled coffee, and martabak (omelette pancake). The culinary collaborations between international and Indonesian chefs at Ubuds top restaurants and resorts will strengthen cross-cultural exchanges and professional opportunities. From Aceh to Ternate, well have more regional Indonesian cuisine on the table than ever before, said DeNeefe. (jes/wng) EDWARDSVILLE Local prosecutors are looking over a recent Supreme Court decision on civil forfeiture to determine how it might impact both future and past cases regarding asset seizure. A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling handed down Wednesday could have a major impact on seizure of property by police and the courts. Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons said he had just read the case, Timbs v. Indiana, and passed it on to other attorneys in his office. Jersey County States Attorney Ben Goetten had not had time to read it Wednesday. I think its consistent with the increasing scrutiny of asset forfeiture by the courts, Gibbons said. The court ruled in the case that the seizure of a $42,000 Land Rover was excessive. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion, which was joined by all the justices except Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, who wrote separate concurring opinions. The decision handed down Wednesday stems from the 2013 arrest of Tyson Timbs, of Marion, Indiana, who later pleaded guilty to dealing a controlled substance, heroin. At the time of the arrest, police seized a $42,000 Land Rover SUV he had recently purchased with money from an insurance settlement. Police attempted to seek civil forfeiture of the vehicle, claiming it has been used in the commission of the crime. One fairly unique factor is that the vehicle seized was purchased with legal funds, according to Gibbons. More Information Incorporation "When ratified in 1791, the Bill of Rights applied only to the Federal Government." Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that as part of Timbs v Indiana, a case involving civil forfeiture handed down Wednesday. However, the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, one of the "Civil War Amendments" to the U.S. Constitution, incorporates, or makes protections in the Bill of Rights applicable to the states. One of the issues was whether the Eighth Amendment's Excessive Fines Claus had been incorporated and now applies to the states. The court ruled it is. In her opinion, she referred to McDonald v Chicago, the last major case to deal with incorporation. It dealt with incorporating 2nd Amendment rights to bear arms to the states. Ironically, Ginsburg was one of the dissenters in that case. See More Collapse You are actually taking something away that the person owns lawfully, Gibbons said. Courts have said that has a higher level of scrutiny to it. When a drug dealer uses drug money to buy a car, the drug dealer didnt have the right to that money in the first place, he added. The decision could have far-reaching impact on law enforcement agencies, which routinely seize vehicles and other property. In many cases, including locally, seized vehicles are routinely used by law enforcement agencies. The case drew interest from liberal groups concerned about police abuses and conservative organizations opposed to excessive regulation. Timbs was represented by the libertarian public interest law firm Institute for Justice. The decision is an important first step for curtailing the potential for abuse that we see in civil forfeiture nationwide, said Sam Gedge, a lawyer with the Institute for Justice. After pleading guilty, Timbs was sentenced to one year of home detention, five years probation and court-supervised addiction treatment, and fines totaling $1,203. Police also attempted to seize the Land Rover, but the state court denied the request, observing that Timbs had recently purchased the vehicle for $42,000, more than four times the maximum $10,000 monetary fine. The court determined the seizure would be grossly disproportionate to the gravity of Timbs offense, hence unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendments Excessive Fines Claus. The Eighth Amendment reads: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. The ruling was affirmed by an Indiana appellate court, but the Indiana Supreme Court reversed the opinion, in part because it said the excessive fines clause applies only to federal action and does not apply to the states. As part of the ruling, the clause was incorporated, or applied to states, through the 14th Amendment. Ginsburg wrote that the historical and logical case for incorporating the Excessive Fines Clause is overwhelming and deeply rooted in this nations history and tradition. Ginsburg also noted the excessive penalties invoked by the seizure. Exorbitant tolls undermine other constitutional liberties, Ginsburg wrote. Excessive fines can be used, for example, to retaliate against or chill the speech of political enemies.. I think its fairly sound reasoning on the courts part, Gibbons said. Its an interesting opinion. Were reviewing it, he said. I had not seen the case, so I went and read it. I sent it to the attorneys that handle those types of cases to make sure we remain in full compliance. He was unsure how or if it would be applied retroactively. If there are questions raised about past cases, well have to go back and look at the cases, he added, noting that the source of funds used to purchase the asset will be the deciding factor. The case was remanded, or sent back, to be reheard by the Indiana court system using the new ruling for guidance. In his concurrence, Thomas agreed with the decision, but made a different legal argument. He wrote that freedom from excessive fines was protected by the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States in the 14th Amendment. Some information was provided by The Associated Press. On March 1, we celebrate Nebraskas 152nd birthday and we have a lot to be cheerful about. Our state continually ranks as one of the happiest, our agriculture continues to feed nations around the world and our school systems consistently rank among the best in the country. Its also worth pausing to appreciate a man whose democratic legacy endures today. McCooks George Norris fundamentally changed the ways we pass laws in Nebraska and continuously worked to better the lives of people across our nation. In Nebraska history circles, Norris is perhaps best known as the man who brought unicameralism to our state. Children and adults touring the State Capitol are told about how he ventured to Australia, saw the virtues of a one-house government and brought the gospel of a unicameral system back to Nebraska. But Norris legacy is so much more than just creating a unique state legislature. He helped bring electricity to the most rural parts of the country and moved the United States to more democratically elect its leaders. Not only that, but the chefs start preparing chili days before the event. They started on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. You cant just wake up Saturday morning and start cooking it, Rother said. In deciding whether to go ahead, the board had several impromptu board meetings during the week. In addition to asking if they could hold the cook-off, they asked, Can we do it safely, because safety is our No. 1 priority for everyone involved, Rother said. If they went ahead with the cook-off, they asked, Can we still have a good turnout? On Wednesday, organizers felt good that projections were changing so much that we were going to hold it, he said. On Thursday and Friday, the conversations were more along the lines of are we doing the right thing? On Friday evening, they sent out a final email to the chefs saying, Its a go. Were having it. The goals of the cook-off were to raise awareness and money. A Red Cross booth highlighted the organizations services. Everyone knows the Red Cross for disaster services and donating blood, Rother said. But they rarely know everything that the Red Cross does, like services to the armed forces, for instance. The Red Cross does a lot for this community. Schrunk directing campaign for United Way Tiffany Schrunk has begun work as director of campaign for the Heartland United Way in Grand Island. Most recently, Schrunk served as the loaned executive from Principal last fall to assist with the United Ways annual campaign. In her new role, she will be working with a network of community partners to build brighter futures for youths and families in the areas of education, health and financial stability. She will engage donors via year-round communications with focused efforts on the United Way annual campaign. Schrunk was an assistant manager at Principal Financial Group from 2005 to 2018. She is a graduate of Leadership Tomorrow Class 29, served as Leadership Tomorrows board secretary in 2018 and currently serves as the organizations vice chairwoman. She also teaches Junior Achievement in Grand Island Public Schools. Ravenna woman to receive Womens Business Center Entrepreneur Award Danelle Nutt of Ravenna will receive the 2018 Rural Enterprise Assistance Project Womens Business Center Entrepreneur Award on March 8 from the Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons. Nigerians have taken to social media to celebrate unconfirmed results that the ruling All Progressive Congress(APC) is currently leading in Kwara State(Both Presidential Election and National Assembly). While the authenticity of the results making rounds on social media is yet to get a confirmation from the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), Nigerians are already saying Kwara has been liberated from Sarakis 20 years grip. Reactions: https://twitter.com/DOlusegun/status/1099442945307131905 Its official: SARAKI LOST ALL THE 16 LGS IN KWARA STATE Saraki is now Politically dead & buried #Otoge abuskiiy007 (@abuskiiy0007) February 24, 2019 Otoge votes in Kwara will shock Nigerians when they wake up. Olakunle Abiola Somoye (@MrSomoye) February 24, 2019 The Beazley family is celebrating 40 years of ownership of G.I. Loan Shop, which has nearly a 100-year history in the community. The business was purchased from Don Terry and Bill Eppert in June 1979 by Joy and Marietta Beazley and their son and daughter-in-law, Darlo and Patricia Beazley. When the Beazley family purchased the shop, it was located in part of the building at 108 N. Pine St. Several years later, they moved to the former Band Box Cleaners location in the same building. The loan shop has been at its current location 1004 W. Second St. since August 1985. According to Darol Beazley, the shop has been expanded three times at that location. The most recent addition was made five years ago. While G.I. Loan Shop started out as a pawn shop that buys, sells, trades and offers cash loans on items large and small. It also has a wide selection of firearms, firearms equipment and jewelry. Firearms and jewelry are our forte, Darlo Beazley said. We do a lot with firearms and ammunition components. From June 2018 to now, Stuchlik said, Remie has seen 36 doctors. She added Remie was only diagnosed with microgastia limb reduction disorder after a geneticist in Lincoln read a news article about it. She said if the geneticist had not read the article, her daughter probably would not have been diagnosed with the disorder as soon as she was due to how rare it is. Remies brothers told their classmates Friday that despite her condition, their sister does a lot of things. She rolls around everywhere and gets into stuff, first-grader Jaitlyn Harwell said. She grabs stuff with her feet and tears stuff with them. She has really strong toes. Martin said she has heard stories of famous painters who use their feet to paint. She suggested Remie could do this when she is older. Stuchlik said she is amazed by how much her daughter is able to do with just one arm. Remie had a rough start because she was super stiff. But, gosh, she does so much, she said. I always said, How is she going to do this? Every day, it was something new. She just continues to amaze me; I have no words for it. It just seems crazy to me that she can compensate so much with her feet. Recently, I heard from one of my readers who wrote about hydrogen peroxide something Ive written about in the past but not so much in the context of this readers personal report. I loved her story and outcome but needed to confirm that hydrogen peroxide is safe, reasonable and recommended as a mouthwash. In the process, I ran into a whole lot more than I was looking for: multiple uses for hydrogen peroxide around the house some new, some not so new but perhaps forgotten. Kitchen counters. Clean your counters and tabletops with hydrogen peroxide to kill germs and leave a fresh smell. Simply put a little on your dishrag when you wipe, or spray it on the counters. Cutting board. After rinsing off your wooden cutting board, pour hydrogen peroxide on it to kill salmonella and other bacteria. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved hydrogen peroxide as a sanitizer. Teeth whitening. Mix salt, baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to make a paste for brushing your teeth. Not only will this help reverse the early stages of gingivitis but if used regularly, it will also remove stains and whiten your teeth. A federal judge in Texas has ruled that an all-male draft is unconstitutional. The ruling by Judge Gray Miller was made public late Friday. The case, which was brought forward by the National Coalition for Men, argued that both men and women should be draft-eligible, saying the current system was unfair. READ THE FULL RULING HERE Currently, under the Military Selective Service Act, men who do not register with the Selective Service System upon their 18th birthday, can be denied student loans or benefits from the federal government. "Forcing only males to register is an aspect of socially institutionalized male disposability and helps reinforce the stereotypes that support discrimination against men in other areas, Marc Angelucci, attorney for the Coalition, said in a statement to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The government had asked the court to either dismiss the case or delay the decision until a congressional commission dedicated to study the possibility of admitting women to the draft. The government pointed out a 1981 Supreme Court ruling that placed combat ineligibility on women in the military. But in 2015, the Pentagon lifted all past restrictions placed on women in military service, allowing female soldiers to be placed in combat roles. Congress has been debating the male-only registration requirement since at least 1980, Miller wrote, denying the governments request. If there was ever a time to discuss the place of women in the Armed Services, that time has passed. At this point, its unclear how the SSS will go about making the change to add women to the system. The Miller ruling did not include direction at how the government should go about making the change. Venezuelan interim president Juan Guaido (C) speaks during a press conference, flanked by presidents Ivan Duque (R) of Colombia and Sebastian Pinera of Chile (L) in Cucuta on the Colombian side of the Tienditas International Bridge before the attempt to cross humanitarian aid over the border into Venezuela on Feb. 23, 2019. (Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images) Venezuelas Guaido Calls for International Help After Maduro Blocks Aid Troops loyal to illegitimate socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro violently drove back foreign aid convoys from Venezuelas border crossings on Feb. 23, drawing condemnation from the United States, and prompting interim President Juan Guaido to propose that the international community consider all options to secure the impoverished nations freedom. Maduros troops set fire to two trucks laden with food and medicine, and forced others to return to warehouses in Colombia, after Guaidos citizen volunteers failed to break through the blockade. Troops dispersed crowds at several border crossings and towns with live rounds, tear gas, and rubber pellets, killing two protesters and injuring hundreds. Rights group Penal Forum said it recorded 29 injuries from bullet wounds and two deaths across Venezuela in clashes with troops on Feb. 23. Colombian authorities said they registered 285 people injured, including those affected by tear gas. Todays events force me to make a decision: to formally propose to the international community that we must have all options open to secure the freedom of our country that is fighting and will continue to fight, Guaido wrote on Twitter. Hope was born not to die, Venezuela! The United States was the first to recognize Guaido as the legitimate leader, when he invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency last month. More than 50 free-world nations now recognize Guaido, while a handful of current and former communist and socialist regimes back Maduro. President Donald Trump has warned members of the Venezuelan military that they stand to lose everything if they harm fellow citizens and continue to side with Maduro. Trump also has said that military intervention is one of the options on the table. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the violence and aid blockade, and on Feb. 23 said the United States will take action against those who oppose the peaceful restoration of democracy in Venezuela. We denounce Maduros refusal to let humanitarian assistance reach Venezuela. What kind of a sick tyrant stops food from getting to hungry people? The images of burning trucks filled with aid are sickening, Pompeo wrote on Twitter. While Guaido leads the effort to get the aid to the people, Maduro sends armed gangs to attack innocent civilians. We denounce Maduros refusal to let humanitarian assistance reach #Venezuela. What kind of a sick tyrant stops food from getting to hungry people? The images of burning trucks filled with aid are sickening. pic.twitter.com/bJ1Qsxkgx8 Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) February 24, 2019 Guaido had given a personal send-off to one convoy carrying aid from the Colombian city of Cucuta on Feb. 23. Guaidos volunteers hoped Maduros troops would balk at turning back supplies desperately needed in the country, where millions suffer from malnutrition and treatable diseases. Some 60 members of Maduros armed forces defected Feb. 23, according to Colombian authorities. But the lines of National Guard soldiers at the several border crossings held firm, and fired tear gas and rubber pellets at the convoys. Television images from one border crossing showed an all-female unit of Maduros forces locking arms to block the aid convoy. Some of the women appeared to break down in tears as volunteers begged them to allow the aid to proceed. Maduros forces set two aid trucks on fire at the Urena border point, sending plumes of dark smoke into the air as crowds raced to try to save the boxes of supplies. CCTV footage of the moment Venezuelan aid convoy reached blockade held by Maduros forces. pic.twitter.com/UEscsbUEXu Ivan Pentchoukov (@IvanPentchoukov) February 24, 2019 Guaido said he would attend a meeting of the regional Lima Group of nations in Bogota on Feb. 25 with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, and they would decide on more actions to ramp up pressure on Maduro. Today the world saw in minutes, in hours, the worst face of the Venezuelan dictatorship, Guaido said at an earlier news conference in Colombia, alongside Colombian President Ivan Duque. Angered by Duques support for Guaido, Maduro said he was breaking diplomatic relations with Bogota and gave its diplomatic staff 24 hours to leave the country. Maduro, whose socialist policies have crippled the once oil-rich nation, denies his nation has any need for aid. Washington has warned it could seek to impose tough new sanctions on Venezuela at the Feb. 25 summit if Maduro blocked the aid shipments. Witnesses said masked men in civilian clothes also shot at protesters with live bullets. Pompeo noted that the attacks were perpetrated by Cuban agents on behalf of Maduro. In a thinly veiled rebuke to China and Russia, Bolton asked how these countries could back such behavior. Masked thugs, civilians killed by live rounds, and the burning of trucks carrying badly needed food and medicine, Bolton said on Twitter. This has been Maduros response to peaceful efforts to help Venezuelans. Countries that still recognize Maduro should take note of what they are endorsing. Masked thugs, civilians killed by live rounds, and the burning of trucks carrying badly-needed food and medicine. This has been Maduros response to peaceful efforts to help Venezuelans. Countries that still recognize Maduro should take note of what they are endorsing. pic.twitter.com/KlSebd2M5a John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) February 23, 2019 The United States considers Maduro a puppet of the communist regime in Cuba. More than 90,000 Cuban proxies are embedded in Maduros government. The communists in Havana have also deployed more than 20,000 security-force personnel to Venezuela to support Maduro. Freedom In the Venezuelan border towns of San Antonio and Urena, troops fired rubber rounds at opposition supporters, including lawmakers, who walked toward the frontier waving Venezuelan flags and chanting freedom. Television images from San Antonio showed a dozen men on motorbikes, dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, firing shotguns and pistols at a crowd. Demonstrators in Urena barricaded streets with burning tires, set a bus on fire and hurled stones at troops to demand that Maduro allow aid into a country ravaged by a meltdown that has halved the size of its economy in five years. They started shooting at close range as if we were criminals, said shopkeeper Vladimir Gomez, 27, wearing a white shirt stained with blood. At least six of about a dozen trucks that tried to reach Venezuela later returned to Cucuta, where Colombias disaster management agency said they would be unloaded and the aid stored until Guaido requested their use again. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said he ordered a Puerto Rican ship carrying humanitarian aid to turn back after a Venezuelan navy ship threatened to open fire on it. This is unacceptable and shameful, Rossello said in a statement. We have also notified our partners in the U.S. government about this serious incident. In the southern town of Santa Elena de Uairen, at least two people were killed in clashes with security forces, according to a doctor at the hospital where they were treated. On Feb. 22, a married couple in a nearby indigenous community was shot dead by security forces. Dozens Defect Guaido had appealed to Venezuelas armed forces to stand aside and allow aid in, promising amnesty to officers who disavowed Maduro. Dozens of soldiers, whose families suffer the same shortages as other Venezuelans, took up his offer. You dont owe any obedience to someone who sadistically celebrates that humanitarian aid doesnt enter a country that needs it, Guaido said. A video on social media showed troops who abandoned their posts driving armored vehicles across a bridge linking Venezuela and Colombia, knocking over metal barricades, and then jumping out of the vehicles and running to the Colombian side. What we did today, we did for our families, for the Venezuelan people, one of the defectors said in a video televised by a Colombian news program. Reuters contributed to this report. Twin Toddlers Found Drowning in Pool; 1 Dead, 1 Fighting for Life Two 2-year-old brothers were found drowning in a backyard pool near Austin, Texas, earlier in February. One of the twin boys died and the other is fighting for his life, KEYE reported on Feb. 23. Their mother, Demi Schroeder, woke up on Feb. 16 only to find the twins, Noah and Levi, missing from a guest bedroom at her grandmothers house. A two-year-old boy is fighting for his life at Dell Children's just days after his twin brother became the fifth child to drown in Texas this year. Posted by CBS Austin on Thursday, 21 February 2019 They were staying at the grandmothers home after her husband died, the report said. Schroeder and her grandmother split up to try to look for the boys after they were discovered missing. She then heard her grandmother yell that the boys were in the pool. Noahs organs were donated and have helped the lives of five recipients. Levi is now breathing on his own in the hospital. Posted by WSMV News 4, Nashville on Sunday, 24 February 2019 All of a sudden, I hear my Nanny say theyre in the pool back here and I run from the front yard to the back yard and my grandma is pulling my kids out of the pool, she also told ABC13. She called 911 and the police arrived in a few minutes. Boy Levi and Noah, Schroeder said, were taken to a nearby hospital. Levi was able to be saved, and Schroeder believes he went into the pool after Noah. Noah couldnt be saved, she said, adding the toddler loved the water. The ABC13 report said Noah up the fight for his life. One of the boys is fighting for his life after his brother became the fifth child in Texas to drown this year. Posted by ABC13 Houston on Sunday, 24 February 2019 They ask me what they need from me and I said I need you to sing for him, so we all sing his favorite song and he had a little heartbeat, she told the station. I think that was the last time his heart beat on its own. Doctors told KEYE that Levi is now breathing on his own in the hospital and Schroeder said he began opening his eyes. Any love and support anybody can give us is what we need and what we want right now, Schroder told KEYE. Hes opening his eyes and hes so groggy from medication, Schroeder added to ABC13. Right now, were just fighting for Levi and thats all were worried about is him. KEYE reported that Noah has been the fifth child to drown in the state of Texas this year. A GoFundMe page was set up for the family to deal with funeral and hospital costs. All of a sudden, I hear my Nanny say theyre in the pool back here and I run from the front yard to the back yard and my grandma is pulling my kids out of the pool. Posted by Fox 8 News on Sunday, 24 February 2019 According to the page, Being so young, the family did not have insurance coverage. This will help with the funeral cost and extra expenses they may have while his brother is still recovering. Other details about the incident are not clear. Drowning Prevention The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that everyone should know the basics of swimming (floating, moving through the water) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). And also, a four-sided isolation fence with gates is necessary if children are present. This can help keep children away from the area when they arent supposed to be swimming. Pool fences should completely separate the house and play area from the pool, it says. The agency also calls on parents to use life jackets. When kids are in or near water (including bathtubs), closely supervise them at all times. Because drowning happens quickly and quietly, adults watching kids in or near water should avoid distracting activities like playing cards, reading books, talking on the phone, and using alcohol or drugs, it says. Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has dismissed allegations by the All Progressives Congress, APC campaign organization that he has recruited thugs. In a statement via his spokesman, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president asked why PDP would recruit thugs when it is very clear that victory is theirs, as results continue to pour in, from yesterdays presidential elections. Atiku, who hailed PDP supporters who conducted themselves so peacefully despite the significant provocations and threats of violence, asked APC to rather call the wilder elements , among them to order. See part of statement below General Buhari you have promised our people and the world that you would conduct free, fair and credible elections so please call off the wilder elements within your party and deliver on your promise. I am familiar with how brazen and the complete lack of shame the APC can exhibit, but even I was shocked to witness just how low they went last night by accusing the PDP of recruiting armed thugs to do just that. Why would we want to do that when we are winning? Trump: Amazons Dropped Deal A Big Loss for Hometown NYC WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump is calling Amazons decision to drop its plans for new headquarters in New York a big loss for the city. Trump tells reporters the city could have hashed out a much better deal, but is still bemoaning the decision. Hes also blaming what hes calling radical left thinking, which he said isnt good for jobs or the economy. Amazon abruptly dropped plans last week to build one of its new headquarters in Long Island City, Queens, which could have delivered 25,000 jobs. Some politicians and activists had objected to the nearly $3 billion in incentives promised to one of the worlds richest, most powerful companies. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday called the reversal the greatest tragedy hes seen since hes been in government. NY Gov. Raps Critics Amazon Amid Report of Headquarters Move Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned on Friday, Feb. 8, about what he called political pandering to critics of Amazons proposed secondary headquarters amid a report that the company is reconsidering its planned New York City headquarters. But opponents said theyd keep fighting a project they consider corporate welfare. The back-and-forth came after The Washington Post reported that Amazon is having second thoughts because of some local politicians opposition to the nearly $3 billion incentive package. The report cited two unnamed people familiar with the companys thinking. In response, Amazon only said that its engaging with small business owners, community leaders, and educators, pointing to its pledges to fund high school computer science classes and contribute to job training. We are working hard to demonstrate what kind of neighbor we will be, the Seattle-based company said in a statement. Noting the Posts report, Cuomo accused the state Senatewhose leader recently tapped an Amazon critic for a board that might have sway over the projects subsidiesof governmental malpractice and siding with those who are pandering to the local politics. And thats what could stop Amazon, he said at an unrelated event on Long Island. Ive never seen a more absurd situation where political pandering, and obvious pandering, so defeats a bona fide economic development project. It is irresponsible to allow political opposition to overcome sound government policy, he said. Cuomo and the Senate leadership are Democrats, as are many of the deals critics. Cuomo and Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio said Amazon will transform Queenss Long Island City area into a high-tech hub and spur economic growth that will pay for the $2.8 billion in state and city incentives many times over. The mayor fully expects Amazon to deliver on its promise to New Yorkers, spokesman Eric Phillips said in response to the Posts report. Construction-industry groups urged the public and officials to get behind a plan projected to create at least 25,000 jobs in a decade, Its time to stop the showboating, declared Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, a group of unions. Critics see the project as an extravagant giveaway to one of the worlds biggest companies and argue it wont provide much direct benefit to most New Yorkers. Several welcomed the news that Amazon might be rethinking the plan. We rose up and held the line. Its not over, but Im proud of the values we fought for, Democratic City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who represents Long Island City, said in a statement. I dont know if theyre serious or not, and frankly, I dont care, said Sen. Michael Gianaris, a Democrat who represents Long Island City and calls the agreement bad policy. If their view is Were going to extort New York or were going to leave, then they should leave. State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins nominated Gianaris earlier this week to a little-known state panel that could ultimately be asked to approve the subsidies. Cuomo has the final say over appointments. After Cuomos remarks Friday, a spokesman for Stewart-Cousins said it was unfortunate that the governor is trying to divide the Democratic Party at this crucial and historic time. A Quinnipiac University poll released in December found New York City voters support having an Amazon headquarters, by 57-26 percent. But they were divided on the incentives: 46 percent in favor, 44 percent against. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. By Jennifer Peltz and David Klepper An Fengshan, spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, gestures toward the media at a press conference in Beijing on Dec. 28, 2016. (Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images) Taiwan in Uproar Over Beijings Encroachment on Academic Freedoms TAIPEI, TaiwanThe Chinese regime is extending its overarching academic censorship to its democratic neighbor across the strait. An unidentified mainland Chinese exchange student studying at Taiwans Fu Jen Catholic University, located in New Taipei City, recently filed a complaint with the Beijing-run Taiwan Affairs Office, an administrative agency that deals with issues regarding Taiwan. The student complained about how some professors in his class were sharing their political views, according to local media reports. While it isnt known precisely what the professors may have said, certain topics involving Taiwan are considered taboo by Beijing. For example, discussion about calls for Taiwan to formally announce its independence from mainland China is forbiddensince Beijing considers the self-ruled island one of its provinces that must be united with the mainland, by military force if necessary. Taiwan is a de-facto independent, democratic country with its own constitution, military, elected officials, and currency, after successfully hosting its first presidential election in 1996. In response to the students complaint, the Taiwan Affairs Office soon filed a protest with Taiwans University Entrance Committee for Mainland Chinese Students, an agency run by Taiwans Ministry of Education that handles issues related to mainland Chinese students studying on the island. The office demanded that the entrance committee reduce the number of enrollment spots allocated to Fu Jen for mainland Chinese students. According to a July 2018 report by Taiwanese daily newspaper China Times, Taiwanese colleges and universities accepted a total of 733 mainland Chinese students for the 2018-2019 academic year. Of the 733, Fu Jen accepted 46, placing the school in fourth for mainland Chinese student acceptance. The committee subsequently passed the protest on to officials at Fu Jen Catholic University, asking the school to clarify the situation. In response, university officials drew up an official document agreeing to the agencys demands, according to local media, although they didnt further elaborate on the contents of the requests. The university also sent the document via email to different academic departments. The email message stated that the document was sent in order to uphold the quality that students receive their education, and asked teachers not to overly speak about topics not related to the academic course. The university email that indicated its capitulation to Beijing authorities was first made public by Ho Tung-hung, an assistant professor of psychology at Fu Jen, after he posted a screenshot of the email to his Facebook page on Feb. 19. Hos Facebook post quickly ignited an uproar among Taiwanese. Taiwans Ministry of Education quickly responded, calling the university and the entrance committees actions inappropriate, in a statement released on Feb. 19, according to Taiwans Central News Agency. The ministry asked that both the committee and Fu Jen make amends to their errors, respect the professionalism of university teachers, and safeguard the education rights of students. Taiwanese legislator Wang Ding-yu also expressed his frustration at this apparent act of academic censorship. If our own [Taiwanese] government is not even allowed to interfere with academic freedom, how could we tolerate a foreign regime, like Chinas, to make irresponsible comments about Taiwans academic environment. This is extremely inappropriate, he said in a phone interview with the Taiwan branch of NTD, part of the Epoch Media Group. Wang suggested that Taiwanese authorities be allowed to revoke the rights of foreign exchange students to study in Taiwan if they report incidents to Beijing authorities as the most recent mainland Chinese student did. We would never allow the Chinese regime to use its dictatorial and anti-freedom tactic to interfere with Taiwans academic freedom, he said. In March 2017, another Taiwanese private university, Shih Hsin University, faced similar criticisms when it signed an agreement with three mainland Chinese schoolsJiangsu Normal University, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Communication University of Zhejiangpromising that courses offered to mainland exchange students at Shih Hsin wouldnt include any mentions of One China One Taiwan, Two Chinas, and Taiwans independence, according to reports by local newspaper Liberty Times. One China One Taiwan and Two Chinas all hint at Taiwan being a formal independent country. At the time, Taiwans Ministry of Education also criticized Shin Hsin for failing to report the agreement to the ministry before signing. According to local law, any cooperative agreement with a mainland Chinese school must be filed in advance with the ministry. Islamic state members walk in the last besieged neighborhood in the village of Baghouz, Deir Al Zor province, Syria, on Feb. 18, 2019. (Rodi Said/Reuters) Special Forces Soldiers Make Grisly Find in Last ISIS Stronghold: Report British soldiers have reportedly discovered the heads of 50 women slaves who were killed by ISIS terrorists in Syria. The Daily Mail on Feb. 24 reported that ISIS militants beheaded dozens of Yazidi women before dumping their remains. The British Special Forces troops made the finding when they entered Baghuz, located in eastern Syria. Baghuz has been under siege as ISIS attempts to make its last stand. A source told the paper that ISIS terrorists cruelty knew no bounds. They conducted a cowardly slaughter of these desperately unfortunate women as a final act of depravity and left their severed heads behind for us to find. The motivation for such a sickening act is beyond comprehension for any remotely normal human being, the source said. The report said the women were being held as sex slaves. None of the SAS troops who entered Baghuz will forget what they saw, which some soldiers likened to a scene from the film Apocalypse Now. Their only solace is that they have contributed to bringing [ISIS]s reign of terror to an end, said the source. A U.S. official with knowledge of the situation on the ground said that more than one thousand terrorists could be living among civilians in Baghuz, describing the land as one thats riddled with defensive tunnels, Reuters reported. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has surrounded the village in recent days. Theyre now trying to carry out an evacuation of civilians. 'It was like Apocalypse Now' Posted by Daily Mail on Sunday, 24 February 2019 It is expected that there are still undiscovered tunnels, even rooms underground, said Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the SDF. This creates a military problem for us. Another source told the Mail that the battle for Baghuz began Feb. 9, saying that 37 ISIS fighters were killed in the first two days. An advance by the SAS and SDF troops caused [ISIS] to go underground, utilizing a network of tunnels under the town, but the rats couldnt escape because, even with the heavy cloud cover and dust storms, we were able to use drones effectively and identify openings to these tunnels, said the person. There was then a lull in the fighting while a humanitarian corridor was established, allowing around 1,500 civilians to be driven out of Baghuz in a column of 17 trucks, said the source. Most of those leaving the town were women and children, but the convoy also included [ISIS] fighters disguised as women, who were taken into captivity. Bali noted that around 6,000 civilians have come out of Baghuz in recent days, saying many were the wives of ISIS terrorists and had their children with them, Reuters reported. About 20,000 had already left the area before the final phase of the siege began. There could be about 1,000 fighters there still, he added, saying theyre all foreigners in Syria. They are very fierce and professional, with high levels of experience. These are the elite fighters of Daesh who have gathered here from all over the world, he said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. Report: Aunt of 10-Year-Old ISIS Slave Escapes, Says Girl Was Pregnant The aunt of a girl who was kidnapped by ISIS terrorists in Iraq in 2014 has spoken out after escaping captivity herself. Marwa Khedr was just 10 years old when she was taken by ISIS in Sinjar before being taken to Raqqa, which used to be the capital of the so-called terrorist groups caliphate before it was re-taken by security forces. The girls aunt, Mahdya, said over the weekend that she had seen Marwa months later, and she was pregnant despite her young age, reported the Daily Mail, in a grotesque sign of the barbarism inflicted by the group. Its not clear where Marwa, who is Yazidi, was taken after that. Her aunt revealed some children are beaten with cables and 'raped by 100 men' Posted by Daily Mail on Sunday, 24 February 2019 There are a lot of girls like her, Ziad Avdal, a former teacher who tries to help Yazidis escaping ISIS, told the publication. It is not just terrible that she is pregnant, he said, adding that the girls may have been raped hundreds of times. Mahdya said she fled Baghuz, the final remaining ISIS stronghold with her daughters, after she was kidnapped during ISISs heyday. Over the years, Mahdya said, she was frequently sold, raped, forced to marry, and her daughters were also raped. I dont know how many times I was sold, she said. One man only had me for three days, then sold me again. They also held me underground for two months. It was so dark I could not tell night and day. Her daughters were also beaten with cables by ISIS brides, the report said, and older men threatened to rape them, she added. At one point, she saw the girl, Mahdya, being held by a white Westerner who joined ISIS after spending years in prison. He was buying girls, washing them, dressing them in beautiful clothes and then selling them, she told the publication. For five years, she added, she was forced to work as a cleaner for ISIS families. She was beaten frequently, showing the Mail reporter a fresh scar on her face. I had to do everything for the women, Mahdya said of the ISIS wives. All the women, even their children, would beat us, she added. She didnt offer any more details about her missing niece. ISIS Bride Update The mother of Shamima Begum, who had married three ISIS jihadis, told The Sun on Feb. 24 that she fears that her grandson will be indoctrinated by her, and now she wants the child taken away and brought to the United Kingdom. Her mum doesnt even recognize her, family lawyer Tansime Akunjee said, adding, Theyre eager to take the baby and bring him up as her situation is sorted. Shamima is highly damaged and the family dont want the newborn brought up by her in that state of mind, he said. Begum ran away to join ISIS at the age of 15, but she turned up at a refugee camp in Syria, asking to be allowed back into the UK. According to reports, she named her son Jerrah, which means able fighter or one who wounds in Arabic. Historian and author Tom Holland tweeted: If shed wanted to signal that she was returning to Britain in peace, she might have considered naming her baby after someone other than Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah. [He was] a general from the early days of the Arab conquests chiefly famed for beating the [expletive] out of infidels. Pompeo Rejects Lawsuit by ISIS Wifes Family: Shes Not Coming Back Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected a lawsuit filed by the father of a woman who left the United States to join the ISIS terror group years ago. Pompeo told Fox News on Feb. 24 that she is a non-citizen terrorist, adding shes not coming back. Ahmed Ali Muthana, the father, claimed his daughter, 24-year-old Hoda Muthana is an American citizen, and that the White House should recognize her citizenship. Shes a non-citizen terrorist; she has no legal basis for a claim of U.S. citizenship, Pompeo told the news outlet. Shes not coming back to the United States to create the risk that someday shed return to the battlefield and continue to put at risk American people, American kids, American boys and girls that were sent to help defeat ISISshe put them at risk, shes not a U.S. citizen. Shes not coming back. According to reports, she was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, in 1994. Huthana said she expects to receive jail time for her actions. Even though she was born in the U.S.Im just trying to get understand the issueis the issue that her father was a diplomat at the time? Fox News Chris Wallace then asked him. Because they say he had stopped being a diplomat before she was born. So theres litigation ongoing, Pompeo responded. Heres what I can tell you: we have a strong legal basis for our claim that shes not a citizen, and shes not coming back. President Donald Trump last week wrote on Twitter that he had instructed Pompeo to deny her attempt to come back. I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2019 According to her fathers lawsuit, Muthana publicly acknowledged her actions and accepted full responsibility, the BBC reported. In Ms Muthanas words, she recognizes that she has ruined her own life, but she does not want to ruin the life of her young child. Muthana and her son are in a Kurdish camp in Syria. In a statement to CNN last week, she claimed she was a naive, angry and arrogant young woman when she left years ago to join an international terrorist organization. During my years in Syria I would see and experience a way of life and the terrible effects of war which changed me. Seeing bloodshed up close changed me. Motherhood changed me. Seeing friends, children, and the men I married dying changed me, she said. But there have been reports she posted messages on social media calling for terrorist attacks against Americans on holidays. Americans wake up! Men and women altogether. You have much to do while you live under our greatest enemy, enough of your sleeping! she once wrote. Muthana also wrote: Go on drivebys, and spill all of their blood, or rent a big truck and drive all over them. Veterans, Patriots, Memorial, etc day Kill them. New York Chef Who Won First Place in Competition Was Once Imprisoned and Tortured in Jail The content is not available due to expiration. Mother of Highly Damaged ISIS Bride Fears Daughter Will Brainwash Grandchild The mother of remorseless jihadi bride Shamima Begum has expressed fears that her highly damaged daughter might brainwash her newborn son with ISIS propaganda. Speaking through family lawyer Tansime Akunjee, Begums mother, Asma, was cited by the British news outlet The Sun as saying that she wants her grandson to be taken away from Begum and brought to the UK because she doesnt want the grandchild indoctrinated. Her mum doesnt even recognize her, Akunjee said, adding, Theyre eager to take the baby and bring him up as her situation is sorted. Shamima is highly damaged and the family dont want the newborn brought up by her in that state of mind, he said. After running away from London at the age of 15 to join the murderous jihadi cult, a heavily pregnant Begum surfaced in a refugee camp several weeks ago, pleading to be allowed back to Britain. She recently gave birth to a baby boy, whom she named Jerrah, which according to the Mirror in Arabic means able fighter or one who wounds. Historian and author Tom Holland said in a tweet: If shed wanted to signal that she was returning to Britain in peace, she might have considered naming her baby after someone other than Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah. [He was] a general from the early days of the Arab conquests chiefly famed for beating the [expletive] out of infidels. Honestly, she has the moral self-awareness of a brick. https://t.co/xbFylA2shV Tom Holland (@holland_tom) February 17, 2019 Shamima Begums mothers comments come just hours after her father told The Daily Mail that he agrees with the British governments decision to revoke her citizenship and prevent her entry into the UK. Ahmed Ali, 60, told the news outlet: I know they [the British government] dont want to take her back, and in this, I dont have a problem. 'She doesn't deserve to come back to Britain' Posted by Daily Mail on Saturday, February 23, 2019 I know she is stuck there [in Syria] but thats because she has done actions that made her get stuck like this, Ali added, who spoke to The Mail from his home in north-eastern Bangladesh. Shamima Begum, meanwhile, spoke to The Sunday Telegraph at the al-Hol camp in Syria where she is staying with her newborn son, saying: They are making an example of me. I regret speaking to the media. I wish I had stayed low and found a different way to contact my family. Thats why I spoke to the newspaper. She admitted, however, that she had benefited from extraordinary treatment at the camp due to the international exposure. They gave me my own tent. Theyre being a bit nice to me right now because Im all over the news. No Regrets Begums father told The Daily Mail that he was shocked by the lack of remorse she showed about joining ISIS in a series of media interviews. If she at least admitted she made a mistake then I would feel sorry for her and other people would feel sorry for her, Ali said, adding, but she does not accept her wrong. In recent interviews, a largely unrepentant Begum said that while she did not agree with everything the terror group had done, she has no regrets about joining ISIS and suggested that air strikes against the terror group in Syria somehow justified the Manchester Arena terror attack. Its a two-way thing, really, she told the BBC, adding that the suicide bomber that killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester was a kind of retaliation for bombardments of ISIS-held enclaves, adding, So I thought, ok, that is a fair justification. "I didn't want to be IS poster girl" London teenager Shamima Begum, who fled to join Islamic State group in Syria, says she now wants the UK's forgiveness [Tap to expand] https://t.co/9KwR4TYUqA pic.twitter.com/JWsgeHHppl BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) February 18, 2019 Asked about her take on the particularly graphic atrocities the jihadi extremists are known to have carried out, Begum told The Times of London that seeing beheaded heads in bins did not faze her. When asked by a Sky News reporter, Did you know what Islamic State [ISIS] were doing when you left for Syria? Because they had beheaded people. There were executions, she replied, Yeah, I knew about those things and I was okay with it. Begum also insisted that during her time with ISIS she was just a housewife and there was no evidence of her doing anything dangerous. Potentially Very Dangerous Security experts like British intelligence service head Alex Younger have warned, however, that would-be returnees like Begum were potentially very dangerous because having been in that sort of position people like her were likely to have acquired certain skills or connections. Survivors and other victims of the murderous cults reign of terror, meanwhile, are furious at the prospect of ISIS women getting a sympathetic hearing in the Western press, or worsea free pass. Ali Y. Al-Baroodi, who survived ISISs bloody occupation of Mosul, told the Jerusalem Post that claims on the part of jihadi brides that they were just housewives, as Begum has so insisted, are simply false. It was hell on Earth and every single one of them made it so, he said, asking sarcastically if perhaps local victims of the jihadi women should apologize for disturbing their stay there. [ISIS] demolished cities and hundreds of mass graves, [and left] thousands of orphans and widows, he added. Its impossible to muster sympathy for her, author and academic Idrees Ahmad wrote in reference to Begum, according to the Post. She went to Syria as a colonizer, several months after ISIS beheaded journalists and aid workers. Joining the Jihadis Begum ran away from London at the age of 15 with two friends to join the self-proclaimed caliphate of the ISIS terror group. Heavily pregnant, she surfaced several weeks ago at the al-Hol refugee camp after fleeing a losing battle against Western allies push to break the jihadi grip on Baghuz, the terror cults final stronghold in the region. Her pleas to be allowed back into the UK sparked a storm of controversy, fueled by incendiary comments she made in interviews in which she expressed no remorse about joining up with the jihadis and suggested terror attacks on civilians were justified. Begum was blocked from re-entry into Britain by a Home Office decision to revoke her citizenship. A British-based group of her family members told the British government in a letter they are sickened by the comments she has made in interviews, but want authorities to reverse the decision to strip her of citizenship. In a letter to British Home Secretary Sajid Javid, reportedly seen and cited by the BBC, the family said they wish to make clear, that along with the rest of the country, we are shocked and appalled at the vile comments she has made to the media in recent days, but that the family cannot simply abandon her and called for a British court to review the ban. Speaking about the legal aspects of revoking Begums citizenship, her father said: I cant say whether it is right or wrong, but if the law of the land says that it is correct to cancel her citizenship, then I agree. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington on Feb. 12, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Missouri Lawmakers to University: Provide Due Process in Sexual Assault Cases State lawmakers in Missouri are threatening to withhold funding from the embattled University of Missouri if it fails to provide adequate due process to students accused of sexual assault. Critics say men accused of sexual assault or sexual harassment on college campuses are tried by college-administered kangaroo courts in Missouri and throughout the nation. They say the funding cutoff may be needed to curtail a flood of false claims of sexual abuse on campus. Critics also say that an Obama administration guidance to colleges forced those institutions to adopt Kafkaesque rules for trying sexual abuse complaints that take away from accused students the most basic procedural rights. During the nomination ordeal of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaughwho was suddenly accused, during the confirmation process, of sexual improprieties in his youth that have never been corroboratedon Oct. 2, 2018, a reporter said to President Donald Trump that his son, Donald Trump Jr., had remarked that in the #MeToo era, he feared more for his sons than his daughters. Trump said it was a very scary time for young men in America. My whole life, Ive heard youre innocent until proven guilty, Trump said. But now, youre guilty until proven innocent. That is a very, very difficult standard. Missouri state Sen. Bob Onder, a Republican, said the cutoff of funds may be necessary after hearing from attorney Chris Slusher, who said Mizzou students due process rights are routinely abrogated. He complained that in one case, he was given a mere five days to prepare to defend an accused student and that schools seem to disregard exculpatory evidence, Ashe Schow reports at The Daily Wire. About the five-day period, Onder asked Thats the University of Missouris policy? Yes, was Slushers answer. They might need to be asked that in appropriations hearings, too, Onder said. Missouri lawmakers are considering proposals to change how state colleges process complaints made under Title IX, which refers to Public Law 92-318, or the federal Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX amended four federal education-related statutes. It begins: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. For its first quarter-century, Title IX enforcement aimed at equalizing the participation of the sexes in high school and college sports. But that changed in 1980, when the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Alexander v. Yale University that under Title IX, sexual harassment constituted sex discrimination. The legal team representing the students who brought the case was advised by radical feminist law professor Catharine MacKinnon, who has described rape as whenever a woman has sex and feels violated. As a result of adverse publicity while the case was pending, Yale first, and then most U.S. universities, adopted grievance procedures for claims of sexual harassment. After the Alexander case, in a unanimous 1986 ruling in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, the Supreme Court reinforced the key finding in Alexander, determining that sexual harassment ran afoul of federal laws against discrimination. Missouri Rep. Dean Dohrman, a Republican who is sponsoring the legislation, said it provides a safeguard for due process. Title IX has a lot of vague language in it, he said. It leaves a lot of the administrative portions of the bill to the particular university or college and we just want to make sure that everybodys rights are protected in the process. Defenders of the status quo say the proposed changes would be unfair to accusers because it would give accused students more rights than students accused of sexual abuse at colleges in other states. Title IX litigator Wendy Murphy told the Kansas City Star the changes would hurt women seeking justice. I see this system as designed to message females that, especially in the context of education, youre supposed to be raped and be quiet. Because theres no upside. Theres no upside. Its all burdens, hurdles, punishment, stigma, suffering, thats what you get for reporting, Murphy said. Critics point out that procedures for dealing with sexual abuse allegations became unbalanced under President Barack Obama. In 2011, the Department of Education sent a Dear Colleague letter to the nations 7,000-plus colleges that take federal funding to, according to critics, deny procedural fairness to accused students. The letter ordered the use of the weaker standard of proof, the preponderance of evidence standard used in civil lawsuits, as opposed to the tougher beyond a reasonable doubt standard used in criminal proceedings, in campus sexual abuse adjudications. The letter also allowed double jeopardy and strongly encouraged that the accused not be allowed to cross-examine the accuser. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has proposed a new rule under Title IX to compel colleges to afford students the right to cross-examine their accusers. There must be clear policies and fair processes that every student can rely on, she said, adding this is the very essence of how Americans understand justice to function. Liberal Turmoil a Gift to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in B.C. Byelection: Expert BURNABY, B.C.The stakes are high for NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in a Metro Vancouver byelection race, but an expert says recent Liberal turmoil has been a gift to his campaign. The 40-year-old former Ontario legislator has lacked a voice in Parliament since becoming party leader in the fall of 2017. Now he finally has his chance in Burnaby South as voters in the riding cast their ballots on Monday after a six-week race. The Liberals got off to a rocky start when their first candidate, Karen Wang, resigned after pointing out Singhs ethnicity online. In recent weeks, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been besieged by allegations his office pressured former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to stop a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. Singh said hes not taking anything for granted but hes confident his hard work to connect with voters will pay off. I think people are very disappointed with whats going on with the Liberal government, he said. Canadians expect our government works in our interest. It looks more and more like this government and Mr. Trudeau and the Liberal party are working in the interest of a massive multinational corporation. Trudeau has denied he or his office directed Wilson-Raybould on the matter. Michael Wernick, clerk of the Privy Council, recently said Trudeau repeatedly assured Wilson-Raybould a decision on the prosecution was hers alone to make. Richard T. Lee, the Liberal candidate who replaced Wang in Burnaby South, said few people are raising the issue on the doorstep. I understand some people are concerned about that, but the office of the prime minister and the prime minister himself have made a statement already, he said. Byelections typically have low turnouts, but there is evidence the results of them are driven by the popularity of the government and its leader, said Richard Johnston, a University of British Columbia political science professor. (Singh) may have been handed the gift of some voters as a result of all this, he said. Although its just one thing amongst many, boy, he could use a win right now. Singh has faced criticism for poor fundraising and low poll numbers. Burnaby South occupies historically strong NDP territory, so if Singh cant win in the riding, it adds to the interpretation that he hasnt secured the support of party loyalists, said Johnston. The NDP beat the Liberals by just over 500 votes in the riding in 2015, but Johnston said he never expected the Liberals to do as well this time in Burnaby South. That was kind of a high point and their support might drop even further, he said. Lee said local issues, especially affordable housing, are more important to Burnaby South voters than the situation in Ottawa. He has touted the Liberal governments national housing strategy, which promises $40 billion over 10 years, while Conservative candidate Jay Shin has called for lower taxes and job-creation measures to help residents earn and save more money. Singh has unveiled a plan to build 500,000 affordable homes across Canada. He challenged Trudeau to eliminate the GST for developers building affordable homes, subsidize low-income renters and double the first-time homebuyers tax credit. Byelections will also take place in York-Simcoe in Ontario and Outremont in Montreal on Monday. The results might provide insight into whether Quebec MP Maxime Berniers new right-wing Peoples Party of Canada can snatch votes from the Conservatives. Popular comedian, Freedom Atsepoyi, aka Mr Jollof has blasted the party chairman, Omoyele Sowore, who is also the Presidential candidate of the party over the lack of agents for vote monitoring. Mr Jollof is aspiring to become a member of the house of representatives for Warri Federal Constituency. Watch the video below; KTLA News Anchor Chris Burrous Cause of Death Revealed KTLA news anchor Chris Burrous died after overdosing on methamphetamine at a Days Inn two days after Christmas, according to his autopsy report. The Los Angeles County coroners office said that Burrous, 43, who anchored the Southern California news stations weekend coverage, had hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which factored in his death, reported the Los Angeles Times. However, the office said that methamphetamine toxicity was his cause of death. The office said he was taking meth during a sexual encounter at the motel, the paper reported. The other person in the hotel room said they performed CPR on him before paramedics arrived, said the report. First responders arrived and were unable to revive Burrous, who was taken to a hospital. He leaves behind a wife and a 9-year-old daughter. According to a police news release in December, The Glendale Fire Department responded to the scene and found a man down inside a room suffering from a medical emergency. The man was not breathing and CPR was administered as paramedics prepared to transport him to the hospital. It said, The man was later pronounced dead at the hospital. The release at the time suggested that he died of a drug overdose. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Burrous family, KTLA President and General Manager Don Corsini and News Director Jason Ball told Deadline Hollywood. Chris loved sharing the stories of Southern California and connecting with our viewers. He will be remembered as a great journalist and a wonderful friend to many. He brought a kindness to his work and will be deeply missed by the entire KTLA family. Burrous joined KTLA as a reporter and anchor in 2011, and he helped expand the stations Morning News to seven days per week. Burrous formerly worked at PIX11 in New York City. He also had jobs at stations in the Bay Area and South Dakota before joining KGET in Bakersfield, California, in 1999. KTLA wrote on Twitter at the time, We have some sad news to report. Chris Burrous, a fixture on the KTLA 5 Morning News since 2011, passed away Thursday. He was a beloved member of the KTLA family and will be deeply missed. He was 43. Meth Overdoses Increase The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the number of fatal meth overdoses has more than tripled between 2011 and 2016, according to Medical Xpress. Some people who were using opioid drugs like fentanyl or heroin, which are the biggest killers in the United States, have turned to meth, a stimulant, to offset the downer effects of the drugs, Theodore Cicero, a Washington University researcher, told the website. Its a very dangerous drug to mess around with, Cicero said. Fentanyl Overdoses In August, President Donald Trump urged the Senate to pass a measure to stop synthetic opioid drugs such as fentanyl from being transported into the United States via the U.S. Postal Service system. It is outrageous that Poisonous Synthetic Heroin Fentanyl comes pouring into the U.S. Postal System from China, he wrote on Aug. 20. The shipment of fentanyl from China to the U.S. is almost a form of warfare, Trump said in August. In China, you have some pretty big companies sending that garbage and killing our people, Trump said at the time. More than 71,500 Americans have died of drug overdoses in 2017, according to data released the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majorityor least 68 percentof those deaths could be attributed to opioids such as fentanyl. [Chinese drug makers] have been using the internet to sell fentanyl and fentanyl analogues to drug traffickers and individual customers in the United States, said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in a statement on Oct. 17, 2017. ISIS Brides Father Supports Stripping Her Citizenship and Banning Her From UK The father of remorseless ISIS bride Shamima Begum said he is on the side of the government in its decision to strip his daughter of her British citizenship. Ahmed Ali, 60, spoke to The Daily Mail saying, I know they [the British government] dont want to take her back, and in this, I dont have a problem. I know she is stuck there [in Syria] but thats because she has done actions that made her get stuck like this, Ali added, who spoke to the news outlet from his home in northeastern Bangladesh. 'She doesn't deserve to come back to Britain' Posted by Daily Mail on Saturday, February 23, 2019 Shamima Begum, meanwhile, spoke to The Sunday Telegraph at the al-Hol camp in Syria where she is staying with her newborn son, saying: They are making an example of me. I regret speaking to the media. I wish I had stayed low and found a different way to contact my family. Thats why I spoke to the newspaper. She admitted, however, that she had benefited from extraordinary treatment at the camp due to the international exposure. They gave me my own tent. Theyre being a bit nice to me right now because Im all over the news. Joining the Jihadis Begum ran away from London at the age of 15 with two friends to join the self-proclaimed caliphate of the ISIS terror group. Heavily pregnant, she surfaced several weeks ago at the al-Hol refugee camp after fleeing a losing battle against Western allies push to break the jihadi grip on Baghouz, the terror cults final stronghold in the region. Her pleas to be allowed back into the UK sparked a storm of controversy, fueled by incendiary comments she made in interviews in which she expressed no remorse about joining up with the jihadis and suggested terror attacks on civilians were justified. Begum was blocked from re-entry into Britain by a Home Office decision to revoke her citizenship. A British-based group of her family members told the British government in a letter they are sickened by the comments she has made in interviews, but want authorities to reverse the decision to strip her of citizenship. In a letter to British Home Secretary Sajid Javid, reportedly seen and cited by the BBC, the family said they wish to make clear, that along with the rest of the country, we are shocked and appalled at the vile comments she has made to the media in recent days, but that the family cannot simply abandon her and called for a British court to review the ban. Speaking about the legal aspects of revoking Begums citizenship, her father said: I cant say whether it is right or wrong, but if the law of the land says that it is correct to cancel her citizenship, then I agree. Dozen More British ISIS Brides Surface Ever since she began her campaign to be allowed back into Britain, it has emerged that at least a dozen more British jihadi women may similarly seek re-entry to the UK. The BBCs Middle East correspondent, Quentin Sommerville, who interviewed Begum shortly after she gave birth to a son, revealed the wave of British female jihadi arrivals at the camp. This whole issue of what to do with these IS [ISIS] women and other IS [ISIS] supporters isnt going to go away, he said, referring to the wives of ISIS fighters. We know that in the last week alone, 12 British women have arrived at displacement camps here in northern Syria. So for the British government, this headache of what to do doesnt end with Shamima Begum. No Regrets Begums father told The Daily Mail that he was shocked by the lack of remorse she showed about joining ISIS in a series of media interviews. If she at least admitted she made a mistake then I would feel sorry for her and other people would feel sorry for her, Ali said, adding, but she does not accept her wrong. In recent interviews, a largely unrepentant Begum said that while she did not agree with everything the terror group had done, she has no regrets about joining ISIS and suggested that air strikes against the terror group in Syria somehow justified the Manchester Arena terror attack. Its a two-way thing, really, she told the BBC, adding that the suicide bomber that killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester was a kind of retaliation for bombardments of ISIS-held enclaves, adding, So I thought, ok, that is a fair justification. "I didn't want to be IS poster girl" London teenager Shamima Begum, who fled to join Islamic State group in Syria, says she now wants the UK's forgiveness [Tap to expand] https://t.co/9KwR4TYUqA pic.twitter.com/JWsgeHHppl BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) February 18, 2019 Asked about her take on the particularly graphic atrocities the jihadi extremists are known to have carried out, Begum told The Times of London that seeing beheaded heads in bins [trah cans] did not faze her. When asked by a Sky News reporter, Did you know what Islamic State [ISIS] were doing when you left for Syria? Because they had beheaded people. There were executions, she replied, Yeah, I knew about those things and I was okay with it. Begum also insisted that during her time with ISIS she was just a housewife and there was no evidence of her doing anything dangerous. Potentially Very Dangerous Security experts like British intelligence service head Alex Younger have warned, however, that would-be returnees like Begum were potentially very dangerous because having been in that sort of position people like her were likely to have acquired certain skills or connections. Survivors and other victims of the murderous cults reign of terror, meanwhile, are furious at the prospect of ISIS women getting a sympathetic hearing in the Western press, or worsea free pass. Ali Y. Al-Baroodi, who survived ISISs bloody occupation of Mosul, told the Jerusalem Post that claims on the part of jihadi brides that they were just housewives, as Begum has so insisted, are simply false. It was hell on Earth and every single one of them made it so, he said, asking sarcastically if perhaps local victims of the jihadi women should apologize for disturbing their stay there. [ISIS] demolished cities and hundreds of mass graves, [and left] thousands of orphans and widows, he added. Its impossible to muster sympathy for her, author and academic Idrees Ahmad wrote in reference to Begum, according to the Post. She went to Syria as a colonizer, several months after ISIS beheaded journalists and aid workers. President Donald Trump signs an executive order to establish the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) look on at the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Dec. 12, 2018. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Investors Seeking Big Tax Breaks Eye Opportunity Zones Despite uncertainties, new federal program has created tremendous buzz among investors WASHINGTONInvestors have started to take advantage of a new incentive provided by President Donald Trumps tax reform, funneling capital to economically struggling areas. The Opportunity Zones program, a little-publicized incentive in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, began to take shape in October last year, when the Treasury Department rolled out guidelines for investors. More regulatory guidance will be released soon to clear up confusion about the rules. Despite a lack of clarity, there is strong investor appetite for this federal program across the country. Through substantial tax breaks, the plan encourages private funds to invest in overlooked areas and communities. We are super excited, said David Bramble, managing partner of MCB Real Estate, a commercial real estate development and investment firm, based in Baltimore. I can tell you that theres massive interest and therere all kinds of people forming funds, putting things together, trying to make deals. MCB is currently working on several projects in areas recently designated as opportunity zones, including the Yard 56 development in East Baltimore. Yard 56, which is a mixed-use project with retail, office, hotel, and residential space, has already attracted considerable investment from Prudential Financial. Investors such as Prudential can defer taxes on capital gains by rolling them into a qualified opportunity fund, a vehicle organized to make investments in opportunity zones. The financial services giant, one of the first movers in the program, announced last month that it would invest in the first phase of Yard 56, which would be the funds first opportunity zone investment. The program has created tremendous buzz among investors including hedge funds, venture capital firms, banks, real estate investment funds, and wealthy families. So the process of finding money and forming an opportunity fund isnt too complicated, according to Bramble. The challenge will be finding strong development deals and strong operators, he said. The Yard 56 project, which sits on the former site of an abandoned porcelain factory, is expected to revive the surrounding Greektown and Bayview communities of East Baltimore. These deals are intended as economic development tools and they require substantial investments, Bramble said. Investors are mindful of difficulties as these development deals involve a long entitlement process and working closely with the neighborhoods and government authorities, he said. Turning Neglected Zones Into Attractive Investments Across the city of Baltimore, there are 42 census tracts designated as opportunity zones. Last year, the heads of each U.S. state, territory, and the District of Columbia identified 25 percent of their low-income census tracts as opportunity zones. Based on the nominations received from these jurisdictions, the Treasury Department certified 8,700 distressed communities across the country as qualified opportunity zones. The designation will apply for 10 years. Ben Seigel, coordinator of opportunity zones in Baltimore City, said that private investors alone wouldnt be able to achieve the broad intent of this federal program. While the legislation has no formal role for cities, we believe that there is an opportunity for citiesand, in our case, Baltimoreto really maximize the potential of opportunity zones, he said. Seigel defines his role as matchmaking between investors and the projects across the citys 42 census tracts. Were positioning ourselves to be the epicenter for opportunity zones, and want Baltimore to be the top city in the country, he said. Critics have raised questions about whether the tax breaks will benefit economically under-served communities. They argue that the program will help wealthy investors and real estate developers only. Many of the funds that Ive been in touch with are certainly in it for the economic returns, but they also recognize the social impact and they care about that as well, Seigel said. Unlike other federal programs, investors in opportunity zones dont have to meet certain job-creation requirements to receive the tax benefits. The expectation is that if capital is deployed, the jobs will naturally follow, according to experts. Were trying to walk a fine line where we dont want to discourage investment, Seigel said. But at the same time, we want investments to be accountable to communities and to achieve real job creation and other economic outcomes that benefit local communities. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin projected as much as $100 billion in private capital could be funneled into distressed areas over the next 10 years. The program offers three tax benefits for investing in these low-income communities. First, investors can defer tax on any prior capital gains invested in a qualified opportunity fund until 2026 (or the sale of the investment). Second, the program incentivizes long-term investments and hence, investors can reduce capital gains over time. If the investment is held for longer than five years, there is a 10 percent exclusion of the deferred gain. If held for more than seven years, the exclusion increases to 15 percent. And the third benefit is that the investors pay no capital gains tax on any opportunity zone investment if they hold it for at least 10 years. We expect to see a good amount of investment in 2019 because thats where opportunity fund investors will take full advantage of the seven-year deferral period in the provision of the tax law, Seigel said. The opportunity zones project has the potential to become Americas largest economic development program. It aims to revitalize underserved neighborhoods. Almost 50 million Americans live in economically struggling communities. While many cities and towns in the United States are flourishing, these communities have been left behind in terms of investment and jobs growth. Michael Jackson announces plans for Summer residency at the O2 Arena at a press conference held at the O2 Arena on March 5, 2009, in London. (Whitby/Getty Images) HBO Sued by Michael Jackson Estate Over Documentary: Leaving Neverland The Michael Jackson estate, Optimum Productions, is suing HBO after the television network released a trailer for Leaving Neverland, claiming that HBO has breached a nondisparagement contract by producing a Jackson related documentary without consulting Optimum Productions, according to court documents obtained by the Hollywood Reporter. Additionally, the Jackson estate complained that the documentary falsely claims Michael Jackson was abusing children. Directed by Dan Reed of @amospictures1, #LeavingNeverland premieres 3/3 and 3/4 at 8PM on HBO. pic.twitter.com/VaWJw36wFJ HBO (@HBO) February 19, 2019 Though there is no law that protects the deceased from defamation in the United States, HBO promised that it would not make any disparaging remarks concerning performer or any of his representatives, agents, or business practices or do any act that may harm or disparage or cause to lower in esteem the reputation or public image of performer, which the Jackson estate claims is a promise HBO violated. According to the court documents, the director of the documentary violated every rule of responsible journalism and documentary filmmaking. Accounts of Abuse Leaving Neverland is about the experiences of James Safechuck and Wade Robson, who were both befriended by Michael Jackson when they were boys, according to HBO. In their interviews, Safechuck and Robson, who are now 40 and 36, describe their sustained abuse. #LeavingNeverland investigates Michael Jacksons alleged child abuse. The film comes to HBO next month after a controversial Sundance premiere. Watch the trailer: https://t.co/5fGfCppJg8 pic.twitter.com/XZkjILvtcJ IndieWire (@IndieWire) February 19, 2019 The documentary was produced and directed by Dan Reed, known for Three Days of Terror (2016), The Paedophile Hunter (2014), and other films. Reed told the Hollywood Reporter, I didnt characterize Michael Jackson at all in the filmI think if you watch it youll have noticed that its a story about these two families and Jackson is an element of that story. The film itself is an account of sexual abuse. However, the Jackson estate claims that Reed did not devote even one minute of the documentary to evidence showing that Robson and Safechuck lied under oath during the trials. Reed even ignored the fact that these men are still pursuing claims against the Jackson estate for hundreds of millions of dollars so they have hundreds of millions of reasons to lie, states the court documents. HBO programming president Casey Bloys tells @THR that he has no plans to meet with Michael Jackson Estate over controversial doc #LeavingNeverland: No plans to not air it https://t.co/XStHt6J7Ur pic.twitter.com/tJE2rVZ3O1 Lesley Goldberg (@Snoodit) February 8, 2019 Possible Damages, Possible Compensation The Jackson estate will seek all damages proximately caused by HBOs reprehensible disparagement of Michael Jackson, which could exceed $100 million should HBO succeed in the damage it is intending to cause to the legacy of Michael Jackson. HBO released a statement after the Jackson estate sued, announcing that it will continue to broadcast the two-part documentary on March 3 and March 4, stated Hollywood Reporter. This will allow everyone the opportunity to assess the film and the claims in it for themselves, HBO told Hollywood Reporter. Watch the trailer for controversial Michael Jackson doc Leaving Neverland https://t.co/OKX6xcuk77 pic.twitter.com/hQbwajN4VU billboard (@billboard) February 19, 2019 From NTD News Protesters wearing yellow vests march down the Champs Elysees in Paris on Feb. 23, 2019. (Philippe Wojazer/Reuters) Frances Yellow Vest Protests Reach Week 15 PARISTens of thousands of people marched on Feb. 23 in Paris and other cities and dozens were arrested as Frances yellow vest movement staged its 15th consecutive weekend of demonstrations against the government. Some 46,600 people joined the protests nationwide, including 5,800 in the capital, the Interior Ministry said. That was up from 41,500 last week, with 5,000 in Paris. Demonstrations have generally gotten smaller since a peak in December when the French capital saw some of the worst rioting, vandalism, and looting in decades. The protests began in mid-November over rising fuel prices and the cost of living, but swelled into a broader movement against President Emmanuel Macron. Police said 28 people were arrested in Paris, but protesters marched mostly peacefully through the capitals wealthier neighborhoods surrounded by a heavy police presence. As the march wound down, scuffles broke out and police used tear gas to disperse crowds at the Place du Trocadero overlooking the Seine river and across from the Eiffel Tower. Two people were injured. Some 18 people were also arrested in the central city of Clermont-Ferrand and potentially dangerous objects were seized ahead of a march in which police said 2,500 participated. Another 18 people were arrested in the western city of Rennes where six police officers were slightly injured and six protesters were hurt by large riot control pellets fired by police. The movement has posed the biggest challenge to Macrons authority since he came to office in May 2017, although it faces increased infighting as some members have sought to run in upcoming European Parliament elections. Macrons popularity has recovered from lows reached in the wake of violent clashes during protests in December, after he launched a series of debates across the country aimed at reconnecting with voters. He received a mostly warm welcome Feb. 23 at a farm show in Paris, taking selfies with the public. Soldiers assigned to 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, prepare to clear a building during a combined arms live-fire exercise at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Aug. 9, 2018. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Ryan DeBooy) Federal Court Rules Male-Only Draft Is Unconstitutional A federal judge ruled that a men-only draft is unconstitutional, but stopped short of ordering the Selective Service to register women for service. U.S. District Judge Gray Miller of the Southern District of Texas sided with a San Diego-based mens advocacy group that challenged the federal government having only men sign up to get drafted, reported the San Diego Union-Tribune. This case balances on the tension between the constitutionally enshrined power of Congress to raise armies and the constitutional mandate that no person be denied the equal protection of the law, Gray wrote. The suit was filed against the Selective Service System by Texas resident James Lesmeister. He later added San Diego resident Anthony Davis and the San Diego-based National Coalition for Men as plaintiffs. Both Lesmeister and Davis were eligible for the draft when the suit was filed. In 2015, the Pentagon lifted restrictions on women in military service, including combat roles. Lawyer Marc Angelucci said in a statement that hes happy with the judges decision. Forcing only males to register is an aspect of socially institutionalized male disposability and helps reinforce the Posted by Boone Cutler on Sunday, 24 February 2019 Forcing only males to register is an aspect of socially institutionalized male disposability and helps reinforce the stereotypes that support discrimination against men in other areas, he said, noting child custody, domestic violence services, and divorce. Women are now allowed in combat, so this decision is long overdue, he stated. After decades of sex discrimination against men in the Selective Service, the courts have finally found it unconstitutional to force only men to register. The ruling came in the form of a declaratory judgment and wasnt an injunction, USA Today reported. The court didnt order the federal government to make changes. With women in combat roles, a federal court rules the male-only draft unconstitutional Posted by Air Force amn/nco/snco on Sunday, 24 February 2019 Yes, to some extent this is symbolic, but it does have some real-world impact, Angelucci said, according to the newspaper. Either they need to get rid of the draft registration, or they need to require women to do the same thing that men do. According to the Union-Tribune, the government asked Judge Miller to dismiss the lawsuit or stay a decision until a commission could make further recommendations. Congress has been debating the male-only registration requirement since at least 1980, Judge Miller wrote, adding that he disagreed with the governments notion that drafting women could be an administrative burden as more women will be found physically unfit than men. A federal judge in Texas has ruled that an all-male draft is unconstitutional. Posted by WYFF News 4 on Sunday, 24 February 2019 Miller said Congress is less concerned about physical ability, but it focused more on the consequences of young mothers fighting in a war. If there was ever a time to discuss the place of women in the Armed Services, that time has passed, Miller said. Rules According to the U.S. Selective Services website, Virtually all male U.S. citizens, regardless of where they live, and male immigrants, whether documented or undocumented, residing in the United States, who are 18 through 25, are required to register with Selective Service. It says: The law says men must register with Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday. That means men are required to register with Selective Service sometime during the 30 days before their 18th birthday, their 18th birthday, and the following 29 days after their 18th birthday that is a 60-day registration period. Cowboys for Trump rode from Cumberland, Md. to Washington to support President Trump and border security, as well as defending life and the second amendment. (Cowboys for Trump/Shawn Cummings/Facebook) Cowboys for Trump Ride to Washington to Support the President and Border Security Twelve Americans loyal to their country and their president set off on horseback from Cumberland, Maryland on Feb. 15, through the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal along the Potomac River on a ride to Washington. The purpose of the journey was to show their support for the president and his announcement of a declaration of a national emergency to secure funds for border wall construction and address border security in the Southwest. With the help from Kina Davis of Spring Gap Farms, who donated the use of the horses, trucks, and trailers for the ride, cowboys from across the country set off in the snow on the 173-mile ride. I dont know if you believe in God, and higher powers, but I truly believe the cause of this was bigger than all of us, said Kina. And if they didnt get these horse from me, they would have somehow been provided for. Kina said she gets hundreds of calls a year to rent horses to ride in the canal, and that she usually says no, because no matter what kind of experiences customers say they have, it might not be accurate. However, there were key points that resonated with her when organizers Couy Griffin and Josh Davis of Cowboys For Trump contacted her by phone. Consequently, even though she was thinking there was no way she was going to give out horses to ride to Washington, and that most people wouldnt even do that with bicycles, those key words changed her mind. Everyone that has something to protect, or something they love, you put a wall around it, whether it be a house or a fence, said Kina recalling the conversation with the organizers. We really need this wall. Sense of Security Kina believes no matter who you are: We do all believe in some sort of security. And the whole reason were having so much trouble is that they hate President Trump, said Kina. Well lets kind of go beyond that. According to Cowboys For Trumps gofundme page, the ride was a symbol of support for the president and a symbol for unity and righteousness. This hatred for our president is why we cant get anything done in America, said Josh Davis, an organizer for Cowboys For Trump. Nobodys looking at facts. I mean look at the unemployment rate, look at the economy. Nobodys looking at facts on anything, and if people would just look at facts they would understand that he is doing whats best for America. It didnt matter to us, we were just there to support our president, said Josh. A lot of the men that were there were from down in New Mexico, they live on the border, they deal with the immigration problems every day, they have illegal immigrants crossing their farms, crossing their ranches, stealing from them, their friends are getting beat up and murdered and robbed, and I think a lot of people that are opposed to the wall and are against it, have no clue what goes on down there, and they dont want to know, because the only reason why theyre opposed to it is because Trump wants it. Please support the bipartisan trail ride on Washington, DC in support of a solution to the #BorderCrisis, including Nai-post ni Cowboys For Trump noong Martes, Enero 29, 2019 Josh said the Cowboys received great support along the way. What Ive noticed about putting this ride on is a lot of the conservative people are more than happy to jump in and help, we had amazing support group throughout this whole thing, said Josh. As far as the horses go there were people coming out of the woodwork, he said. Offering their farms, their barns, offering places to put horses up, and Spring Gap Farms right outside of Cumberland, Maryland they supplied horses, trucks, trailers, feed, hay. Southern states in Cumberland, Maryland donated forty bags of cedar shavings for the stalls in the trailers, said Josh. It was just an amazing experience. Unity for America The Cowboys For Trump Facebook page says that Cowboys For Trump is an organization founded upon like-minded Americans who are concerned about the direction of our country. We believe that the liberal progressive agenda is drastically moving us away from the identifying principles that make us proud to be American. When a group of men and women stand up, a lot of other people are gonna follow, said Josh. I think that if more people, instead of sitting back and talking about it, or Facebooking about it, or tweeting about it, stand up and do something, youre gonna have a lot more people to jump in and help, and I think that this is just the beginning of Cowboys For Trump, he said. This is not the end, this ride might be over, but I promise you we will be back and well be back bigger and better. Only the Beginning Josh said that the Cowboys are talking about organizing another ride, and for people to check back on their page. Tell em to stay tuned, to look us up on Facebook, you know this was a pretty costly event, but it was well worth it, he said. It was just unreal how people jumped in and helped, and again Spring Gap Farm in Cumberland Maryland, Kina Davis, she was the key component to this. None of us knew each other before this ride when all the other men flew in, that was the first time we ever met, said Josh. That is an example that it doesnt matter where youre from, you can come together for a great purpose. Thats what we have to work for and strive for as Americans, is we have to understand that theres gonna be disagreements, said Josh. But this hatred and bitterness that were dealing with today is gonna be the death of this nation if we dont learn how to agree to disagree. Braving the elements, heavy snow, freezing rain, ice, and a few detours were some of the challenges faced along the way. We rode through the snow, we rode through the freezing rain, and we did so because, we want to stand strong as our president has stood strong, said Couy Griffin, in an interview with Fox. At one point, one of the experienced riders, Shawn Cummings, a rancher from New Mexico, was thrown off his horse when it lost its footing while crossing a small bridge over a creek. That was somewhat towards the beginning of the day so he rode the rest of the day in the cold, wet like that, said Josh. Ok. Ive been holding this video all week. But since we are at the end of the ride I gotta release the video of the week. This is Shawn Cummings doing the cannon ball on the first day of the ride. Enjoy. Nai-post ni Cowboys For Trump noong Biyernes, Pebrero 22, 2019 Kina said after resaddling the horse, and Cummings had mounted again, the horse proceeded to shake off the water like a dog would, again throwing its rider off. These guys bounce, said Kina. Im sure he was sore but theyre cowboys, theyre tough. The 15th of February is not the most pleasant day to ride out here in Maryland, said Griffin. Every guy here is cowboy enough to get it done. Griffin said they averaged 20-25 miles a day to show the president their appreciation. We didnt come out here to meet the president, we came out here to support the president, said Griffin. Its a grassroots movement on every front, he said. Ramie Harper, a hat maker from New Mexico, built a hat for the president. Inside the hat, it was labeled: Custom made for Donald J. Trump, president of the USA. Griffin called it: The nicest cowboy hat that money can buy. Defending Life Gavin Clarkson, Owner & Managing Director at Native American Capital, in an interview with Breitbart, said: the Cowboys For Trump are riding to defend life. This is not a political ride per-say, we support the president because hes our president, said Clarkson. Regardless of what party youre with. We encourage democrats to join the ride, we encourage independents to join the ride. This is something where we are trying to say that we need a secure southern border, we need to defend life, and we need to defend the lives of the unborn. We need to defend the lives of the brave men and women of customs and border protection, and we need the right to defend our families and our loved ones with our second amendment rights, and unfortunately, all of those are under assault in New Mexico. Thank you President Trump !! Nai-post ni Cowboys For Trump noong Biyernes, Pebrero 22, 2019 The Cowboys arrived in Washington, on Feb. 22, completing their adventure. While they were not able to get their fine custom hat to the president, they got their message out to the public. Josh said talks are underway with the Whitehouse to have the hat delivered. Couple Dies One Day Apart After 70 Years of Marriage For the past seven years, Warren Chapple made sure he visited his wife Joan at the nursing home twice a day. The couple has been married for 70 years and nothing seemed to be able to separate themnot even death. Joan Chapple, who suffered from Alzheimer, passed away on Feb. 17, at the Van Rensselaer Manor nursing home in New York at age 87. Warren then followed his wife, passing away the next day at age 92. Break out the tissues. Fox 8 News 2019223 In an interview with Times Union, the couples son Marc said his father Warren made a 10-mile trip to feed Joan breakfast every morning. He would then keep her company for two hours before returning home to rest. At around 5 p.m., he would make another trip to the nursing home so that he could feed his wife dinner. He would accompany her until the nurses put her to bed. Marc said only illness and bad weather would keep Warren, who was living at his sons home at the time, from his routine. He lived for my mother, Marc said. He kept her alive with that love, Marcs wife, Pattie, added. When they were younger, Warren worked as a service technician for Harts Fuel Service. Joan was a seamstress for Standard Manufacturing in Lansingburgh. But at 92 years of age, Warrens health was also deteriorating. He suffered from esophageal cancer, which recently had made him too weak to continue his journeys to the nursing home. The final time he visited his wife was on Jan. 28. One day, Warren asked about his wife out of the blue, as if he knew something was happening. Hows mom? Warren asked, reported Times-Union. Is she like me? Hours later, Joan passed away. Shes gone, Marc told his father. You can go now. It was not clear whether Warren understood his sons message but he did follow his wife the next day. The couple shared a funeral together on Feb. 23 and will be buried at Elmwood Hill Cemetery side by side, according to the news website. They are survived by two sons; Bruce Chapple and Marc, three grandchildren; Kari (Keith) Hankle, Brian (Lea Peplowski), and Brittany Chapple, as well as 3 great-grandchildren, according to a joint obituary. Couple Dies Within Hours of Each Other In a similar story, a couple in Massachusetts died within hours of each other after 63 years of marriage. Richard Chick Nylen told his daughter before his death that her mother, Blanche Nylen, who had been battling cancer, wasnt doing well. My dad said, Mom said shes ready, but shes not going to go before the holidays. She doesnt want to ruin the holidays, Christina Queeney, the couples daughter, told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette of a conversation they had just before Christmas. And he said, She wants me to go with her. Queeney told her dad that things dont work like that. I said, Dad, this is not The Notebook, this is not TV, she recalled. He winked at me and he said, Were going to go together. Richard Nylen died on Feb. 2. Blanche Nylen died just hours later. A few days later, the Nylens were cremated and entombed in the same vault at the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery. According to the couples joint obituary, they were both 85 when they died. Reporter Zachary Stieber contributed to this report Watch Next: How a Traditional Spiritual Practice Changed the Lives of These People The practice has attracted tens of millions across the world and at its core are just three simple principles: truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Canadians Michael Spavor (L) and Michael Kovrig have been detained in China since shortly after Canada arrested Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver in December 2018. (AP Photo) Canadian Foreign Ministry Official Urged Canadian Students to Study in China Despite Detention of Kovrig, Spavor OTTAWAEight days after Chinese authorities imprisoned Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, a senior Canadian foreign ministry official urged Canadian students to apply for a program to study in China. Sarah Taylor, the director-general of the north-Asia bureau at Global Affairs Canada, made the pitch for the 45-year-old Canada-China Scholarship Exchange Program during a Dec. 18 event at the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa. My department is proud to support the CCSEP and is eager to see a broader representation of Canadians from across the country, at the university and college level, Taylor said in prepared remarks released under Canadas access-to-information law. The government continues to promote the lucrative exchange program, which has a final application deadline of next Friday, even though it has elevated its travel advisory to China with a warning that Canadians are at risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws. David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said Taylors remarks might have been well-intended but Canada simply cant continue to conduct business as usual with China. It sends the message to the Chinese that, no matter what we say, we want the relationship to continue as if nothing had happened. I simply cant see us holding such an event with any other country if they were holding two of our citizens hostage, said Mulroney, who served as Canadian ambassador to China from 2009 and 2012. Adam Austen, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, said Canada continues to call for the release of Kovrig and Spavor after their arbitrary detentions, but the exchange program is good for relations. These exchanges provide international academic experience to both Canadian and Chinese students and researchersand foster co-operation between our two countries, he said. Kovrig and Spavor were detained nine days after the RCMP arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the request of the United States, which is seeking her extradition on fraud charges. Nine days later, China detained former diplomat Kovrig and entrepreneur Spavor on allegations that they were endangering the countrys national security. China denies the arrests are retaliation for Mengs detention. Kovrig and Spavor have not been formally charged, have been denied access to a lawyer or family members, and are being granted only monthly access by Canadian diplomats. Meng has since been released on bail and is living in a Vancouver mansion. There was little mention of the diplomatic dust-up at the Dec. 18 event at the Chinese Embassy, which was attended by a several dozen people, including leading Canadian academics and business leaders, as well as past students in the program. We are currently accepting applications from Canadians wishing to study, research or pursue language-training in China during the 2019-2020 academic year. I encourage you to share this opportunity with your respective networks so they can apply before the deadline on March 1, 2019, Taylor said. Canadas continued engagement with China on the education exchange is indicative of its national myopia in relation to the Peoples Republic, said Mulroney. If any other country had detained Canadians in a similar manner, all government-sponsored exchanges would immediately be put on hold, said Mulroney. Its not our fault that China has made it riskier for scholars to work there, nor should we be so eager to contribute to the fiction that its business as usual, he added. To get our future engagement of China right, were going to have to change things, and see the relationship in entirely new ways. Thats really hard to do, but its absolutely necessary. PHOENIXAward-winning writer and book author Alan Korwin decided to go see Shen Yun Performance Arts after his 98-year-old father recommended the production. Korwin went in thinking Shen Yun was just another dance showas described by his fatherbut he left the theater feeling enlightened and touched by the productions message. The stories were very emotional. Id have to see it again to absorb it all. I will be talking about it for months. Well, it was about the divinity within each of us, how humans are an expression of the divine, and the show was a divine presentation, Korwin said. It was beautiful! I feel it now. I am going to go home on a cloud of air. Apart from writing, Korwin also runs a publishing business that has become the largest publisher and distributor of gun-law books in the United States. He has written business and strategic plans for large companies and is also a columnist for The Daily Caller and Townhall. The 69-year-old saw Shen Yun at the Orpheum Theater with family in Phoenix during the matinee on Feb. 23. He said there were parts of the performance that moved him to tears. They are consummate performersthe acrobatics, the dancing, the leaps, the way they work with each other, words cant describe it. When you see it, it just fills you with awe. It moved me to tears in places. It was wonderful, Korwin said. New York-based Shen Yun is in the midst of its 2019 tour where it will perform in over 100 cities, with a mission to revive Chinas 5,000 years of semi-divine culture that was destroyed after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seized power. Korwin was excited to see genuine Chinese culture portrayed on stage and Shen Yuns portrayal of modern China. I have been warning my friends that [the Chinese regime] is really communistits evil. And Shen Yun is expressing that in dance and song and trying to get the message out to Americans because that message is not getting out in the way it needs to. Communist China is an accurate expression, [while just calling it] China is a misdirection. Shen Yun is the real China, the writer said. This is the 5000-year worth of beauty of China, and its being suppressed. Portraying a Real Picture of China Many Shen Yuns audience members are surprised when they hear from the emcees that Shen Yun cannot perform in China today. Little does the audience know, the CCP sees traditional Chinese culture, which is deeply rooted in Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, as its greatest rival. Korwin thinks Shen Yuns message is so important that it needs to reach more people. Unfortunately, very few people see it. The theater holds just a few hundred people. Millions of people need to get this message. I wish [Shen Yun] had a videotape. I would have brought several and played it for my friends, he said. Over the past several decades, China has experienced many movements aimed at wiping out 5,000 years of civilization and traditional culture. One of these movements was the Cultural Revolution, which occurred between 1966 and 1976. It was an unprecedented move to systematically eradicate traditional culture and replace it with Mao Zedongs way of thinking and style of discourse, as Shen Yun explained on its website. Seeing that genuine Chinese culture was at its brink of being wiped out, a group of artists was determined to bring back everything that truly defined the Chinese people. This was how Shen Yun was born. Today, it has become a window into a cultural treasure that is nearly lost. These are things the CCP has tried to hide, and Korwin liked how Shen Yun portrayed the persecution and highlighted the fact that the performance cannot be shown in China. Here, the media doesnt give you an inkling of that. They keep saying China, they never say communist China. [The CCP members] are an enemy of ours but they present them as a trading partnerno big deal. That is a deception and [Shen Yun] unveiled the deception, he said. He felt Shen Yun tells the truth about Chinas traditions, and how the communist regime treats people who want to follow the real culture. Brought me to tears Shen Yuns performances depict stories that showcase historical events, myths and legends passed down generation after generation, and even modern day pieces portraying todays real-life human rights abuses in China like the persecution of Falun Gong. Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, teaches Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance and has helped over 100 million Chinese people today understand and return to the essence of traditional Chinese culture. But the Chinese regime banned the practice in 1999 and has since continued to systematically persecute Falun Gong adherents in China. People who are caught practicing the discipline in China face severe persecution, including torture, imprisonment, and even death. These stories portray themes like spiritual devotion, the benevolence of gods, good and evil retribution, and the search for the meaning of life, according to the companys website. Such values are foundational to traditional Chinese culture and are not political in nature. Instead, they encourage audience members to reflect on modern society and the world around them. The 69-year-old said he was moved to tears by one of these stories, in particular, the piece The Final Moment, saying that it had a powerful impact on him. It was a story of good versus evil, with a triumphal finale. Korwin described the evil that was shown, and what beauty they were trying to use to defeat that evil. That brought me to tears, that was a very powerful part of the show, he said. With reporting by NTD Television. 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. According to INEC chairman, Professor Yakubu Mahmoud, in a press briefing on Sunday has informed Nigerians to disregard results circulating on social media. He said that only INEC had the right to declare results. Professor Yakubu also informed the media that voting is still on in some areas affected as a result of technical issues card readers experienced. Aunt and Great-Grandmother Arrested in Connection With 6-Year-Olds Asthma Death Police officials have announced the arrest of two Oklahoma women on child neglect charges in connection with an incident last December in which a 6-year-old girl died from asthma complications. The two Del City women were reported by KFOR as being the deceased girls aunt and great-grandmother. The childidentified in court documents only by her initials A.C.was being looked after by the two women when she died. Meta Cruikshank Hudspeth, 60, and Vanuda Lee Holloman, 82, were taken into custody by Del City Police officers on Wednesday, Feb. 20. If her caregivers would have intervened and provided medical attention, then we very well wouldnt be here right now, said Del City Police Capt. Bradley Rule, according to KFOR. [Holloman and Hudspeth] were both, actually, former CNAsformer certified nursing assistants. The little girl died on Dec. 9 after being rushed to the hospital by paramedics who responded to a call that she was unresponsive at home on the floor. What Happened? Arrest records cited by KFOR show that several days before her death, the girl was sent to the nurses office at Del City Elementary School because she was having trouble breathing. School officials unsuccessfully tried to contact Hudspeththe childs primary listed guardianbefore reaching Holloman and asking her to pick up the little girl because her condition was bad enough that she needed to go home and be seen by a doctor that day. Holloman reportedly refused to pick up the child and also declined the schools offer to call an ambulance. School staff finally took the girl home. The girls siblings later told investigators that when they arrived home from school on that day, A.C. was sick in bed and complained of a headache. The children reportedly also said that at one point Holloman had the girl on her lap, before placing her on the floor. They said at one point Holloman left the room and when she came back, A.C. had urinated on herself and was not breathing. Paramedics were called to the house, found the girl unresponsive and immediately tried to resuscitate her. The 6-year-old was then rushed to the hospital and two days later pronounced dead. An autopsy listed the cause of death as complications from asthma. Healing Fracture The girls three siblings were asked about an injury and said A.C. broke her arm several months ago doing back-flips. They said she was crying for three days because of the pain, but that Holloman and Hudspeth dismissed the injury as benign and did not seek medical attention for the child. Investigators found no DHS medical records showing the girl sustained a broken arm, nor that she suffered from asthma. School medical records showed Hudspeth indicated A.C. did suffer from chronic lung disease, had been seen by the nurse in the past and checked out of school by Hudspeth. During the investigation it was learned that the grandmother and the aunt stated that they didnt seek medical attention because they didnt have the money, nor did they have insurance to have the child treated, Rule said. It was a tragedy that shouldnt have happened. Deeply Saddened Neighbors interviewed by KFOR called the girls death a tragedy. School officials expressed regret at the girls death and said they would review their procedures for dealing with students who fall ill. We are deeply saddened by the loss of our student, Mid-Del Community Relations Director Stacey Boyer told KFOR in a statement. As situations warrant, we take time to look at our practices to determine if changes need to be made. Police said the girls siblings have been removed from the custody of the two women. Holloman and Hudspeth were booked into the Oklahoma County jail, with charges pending. Animalistic Attacker Slams Policemans Head Into Concrete Like a Rag Doll Disturbing footage has emerged in Australia showing an individual repeatedly slamming a policemans head into the concrete. Victoria Police in a statement described the incident as a brawl and subsequent assault on police members. Law enforcement officials stated that while a 26-year-old man was being arrested, several people attacked the officers and started violently assaulting them. Australias Nine News reported that the attack occurred after emergency services were called to a disturbance in the countrys second most populous city Melbourne at about 3 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 24. A taxi driver who witnessed the incident recorded the footage, which shows a man wearing a grey shirt and light-colored pants hold the head of a policeman in his hands and bring it down hard onto the pavement several times. **Warning: Graphic Footage Disturbing footage has been released of a Melbourne thug savagely beating a police officer during a brawl in St Kilda. #7News pic.twitter.com/2iUtKumLIQ 7 News Brisbane (@7NewsBrisbane) February 24, 2019 Rag Dolling the Victim Officers responding to what local media described as a brawl in Melbournes St. Kilda area took off in pursuit of a male suspect. When they caught up with the mandescribed as Caucasian and in his 20sthey were surrounded by an angry mob of six or seven revelers and viciously assaulted. Victoria Police Superintendent Tony Silva said the attack was one of the worst he had ever encountered, calling it animalistic. I would describe it as rag dolling him, smashing his head into the concrete roadway, he told Nine News. GRAPHIC WARNING: Vicious thugs have smashed a police officer's head into the ground, and brutally beaten another in St Kilda. @LanaMurphy #9News pic.twitter.com/K9DPh1nCif Nine News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) February 24, 2019 The alleged attackers dispersed only after officers used pepper spray. The policemen were immediately taken to an area hospital. According to a report by The Age, the officer whose head was smashed against the pavement was in his 50s. He was treated and subsequently released with facial swelling, cuts, and bruising to his forehead. The other officer was also attacked and received serious injuries to his arm. The news outlet reported the injured officer would require surgery. Worst of Society Victoria Police were cited by the news outlet as saying that the attackers had a pack mentality and pounced on the unsuspecting officer as he was arresting one of their group. This is the worst of society they will find the full force of the law is their future, Silva said. Police have described the group of suspects as consisting of five men and a woman in their 20s. Police Association Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt was cited by The Age as saying this was one of the most horrific assaults on a police officer Ive seen. He said he hoped for swift justice to meet the perpetrators. What we have to hope is that our court system does its job in bringing these people to justice as they indeed deserve. Gatt urged witnesses and people with knowledge in the case to come forward. We shouldnt accept this. Anyone who knows who these people are should dob them in. Hit With Rock, Shot With Own Gun In July, a Massachusetts police officer died after a man attacked him with a rock before stealing his gun and shooting him several times, according to officials. Reports said that a woman was also killed in the shooting. Weymouth police officer Michael Chesna was identified as the officer who was gunned down, MassLive.com reported. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Michael Chesna, who leaves behind a wife and two children. He was a 6-year veteran of the #Weymouth Police Department. #EndOfWatch https://t.co/D8EFUGWVWW pic.twitter.com/9325PAq4jr WCVB-TV Boston (@WCVB) July 15, 2018 Chesna, 42, was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, and later succumbed to his wounds. He was an Army veteran who had a wife and two children. Police sources told WCVB that the suspect, identified as Emmanuel Lopes, hit Chesna with a rock in the head before taking his gun and opening fire. Officers ran after Lopes, and he fired several shots with Chesnas gun, hitting a woman who was inside her house, killing her, according to the stations report. NBC Boston also reported on the womans death. She was not identified in the reports, but the report described her as elderly. I opened up the back door and instantly there was an officer there and then more came running out behind all those houses, a witness told CBS Boston, adding that the shots took place at around 7:30 a.m. local time. I did hear the cops telling him put the gun down, put the gun down. Epoch Times staff writer Jack Phillips contributed to this report. Alleged Russian Agent Maria Butinas Links to Obama Administration Commentary Maria Butina is a Russian national who was arrested in July 2018 and charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation within the United States. Butina, 30, reportedly attempted to forge connections with officials at the National Rifle Association (NRA), conservative leaders and candidates in the 2016 U.S. presidential race in hopes to exert influence over policy decisions concerning Russia. She is again under the microscope after fresh scrutiny on Feb. 15 from the Senate Committee on Finance, which is investigating high-level meetings held in 2015 between Butina, Russian official Alexander Torshin, and the Obama administration. The Senate Finance Committee has a constitutional responsibility to engage in vigilant oversight of entities and government agencies within its jurisdiction, wrote committee members Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). A critical issue facing the Committee and the country is the extent to which the Russian government engaged in efforts designed to undermine our political system and governmental policy through obfuscation and manipulation. The committee noted that Butina and Torshin met with Obama administration officials from the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve in 2015. At the time, Mr. Torshin was Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and later, in April 2018, he was added to a list of Russian nationals sanctioned by the Treasury Department. Yet, within months of her meeting with Obama administration officials, she was cozying up to Republicans and even wrote an op-ed stating, It may take the election of a Republican to the White House in 2016 to improve relations between the Russian Federation and the United States. When investigative reporter John Solomon learned of Butina in 2015, he phoned contacts within the FBI and U.S. intelligence. He was told they were aware she was an agent of influence, she was already on their radar, and they were aware of what she was trying to do. Solomon was surprised that no one within FBI counterintelligence intervened, and said in a 2018 interview, It sounds like they sat around and watched this for three or four years until it was convenient to create a headline. This series of events suggests a setup. As per usual, a compliant U.S. media establishment was all too happy to play its role in pushing the contrived anecdote. When news of her indictment broke in 2018, the media breathlessly reported her attempts to infiltrate conservative organizations. Hardly a day could go by without paranoid accusations. Conservative leaders such as Dana Loesch, spokeswoman for the NRA, incurred interminable attacks, insults, and accusations of being a Russian agent. But no serious attention was given to the fact that this alleged spy had been a part of multiple meetings with the Obama administration. In my Feb. 14 column, I discussed Russian influence in the creation of the Steele dossierthe unverified document used to secure illegal wiretaps against the Trump administrationand Russian business ties to the Obama administration. This week, inexorably embedded into the collusion narrative, we have Butina re-emerging as another Russian who just happens to have had extensive contact with the Obama administration prior to accusations of Trump colluding with the Russians. The Senate Finance Committee said, Given what is now known about them from public court filings, it is concerning that Ms. Butina and Mr. Torshin were able to gain access to high-level administration officials and that it is imperative to understand the substance and extent to which Ms. Butina and Mr. Torshin lobbied other administration officials in an effort to change U.S. policy toward Russia. The more we learn about collusion, the more we see a web connecting the Russians not to President Trump, but to his predecessor. 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. America is about to explode -- and we may never be the same again. Indications are that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is ready -- after almost two years -- to issue a report on the efforts, if any, of Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. How much of that report -- or even if it is a report -- we will get to see is in question. It will be up to new Attorney General William Barr to decide what to make public. That's not an enviable position to be in right now. Barr could simply say that Mueller's investigation is over and let it go at that, although that is not likely to happen. Whatever information is released, it is bound to please half of the country and infuriate the other half. It could get ugly. Under the terms of his appointment, Mueller must issue a confidential report to Barr on why he chose to prosecute or decline to prosecute the subjects of his probe. Already, dozens of indictments have been handed up based on information gleaned by Mueller and his team. If there are any more to come remains unknown at this time, but rumors abound. Thanks to the efforts of Grimes County Sheriffs Office deputies and donations from local businesses, basic individual first aid kits (IFAKs) have been purchased for every classroom in three school districts, as well as an additional elementary school. Grimes County Sheriffs Office Investigator James Ellis has worked for several months on raising funds to acquire the kits, which provide the user with the ability to apply tourniquets to limbs experiencing arterial bleeding. Ellis grew up in Iola, where he attended school. As an adult, he has joined the Iola District Safety Committee and watched as school shootings have injured children across the country. After growing concerned the schools in his community didnt have the proper resources in responding to such a deadly reality, he took action. Last year I started a little research project in developing an active shooter response program, just in case we had something like that happen in one of our districts, Ellis said. ... Just seeing how tragic this type of event can be, and with it becoming all too common, I eventually decided I wanted to do everything in my power [to ensure] that, if it happened in Grimes County, I would be as prepared as possible to get ahead of the curve as possible. College Station firefighters quickly doused a fire on Saturday that ignited in a condo bedroom. According to College Station Fire Department Assistant Chief Joe Warren, around 3:15 p.m., firefighters responded to the Sutters Mill Condominiums on Stallings Drive, near Oaks Park. A fire had started in an upstairs bedroom of a two-story condo unit. A woman and two dogs were able to escape the home safely. The fire was contained to one room, and the flames were out within 30 minutes. CSFDs Community Action Response Team were called to the scene to assist the now-displaced occupant. Warren said although the structure was not a total loss, as of Saturday afternoon he was not sure of the extent of the damage. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. No injuries were reported. The College Station Municipal Court, which handles Class C misdemeanors, is offering a warrant amnesty period through March 1, during which people can take care of outstanding warrants. From March 2 through March 10, local law enforcement will be focusing on arresting those with Class C warrants. College Station municipal Judge Ed Spillane III said anyone with such a warrant who doesnt take advantage of the amnesty period has a good chance of being arrested in the roundup. Citizens uncertain of whether they have outstanding warrants should contact the particular court where they think their case may be, or visit cstx.gov/warrants. The College Station Municipal Court can be contacted at 979-764-3683. Frieda M. Scanlon, 85, of Westville, died Friday morning, June 25, 2021, at home. Calling hours will be from 5 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 29, at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, June 30, at the funeral home wit A former minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode has said that the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar has defeated the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate and incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari hands down. Fani Kayode says, as results continue to trickle down from yesterdays presidential election, which held in every part of Nigeria. The former minister urged president Buhari to kindly accept defeat, if things go against him, when the final result is announced. According to the PDP chieftain, any attempt for Buhari or APC to tamper with the result, wouldnt be taken likely. His words: Clearly Atiku has won hands down. He has defeated Buhari almost everywhere in the south and the north central with the exception of Kwara. He has also defeated Buhari in parts of the core north. My advice to Buhari: do not tamper with the results or we will Venezuela you! This is the temporary subscription pass for users returning from the Vision Data subscription process. Your subscription will be updated within 24 hours, after your information is verified. Please click the button below to get your pass. This subscription will allow current subscribers of The St. Helens Chronicle to access all of our online Subscriber-Only content, including the E Editions area. NOTE: To claim your access to the site, you will need to enter the Last Name and First Name that is tied to your subscription in this format: SMITH, JOHN If you need help with exactly how your specific name needs be entered, please call us at 1-503-397-0116. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/2/2019 (854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Jody Hunter believes artists dont need a big budget to capture a big sound. Since opening Studio 23, his RM of Ste Anne recording studio, last spring, Hunter has caught the attention of several Winnipeg bands and a local film project. Last week, he also won the Start Up Entrepreneur category of the annual Just Watch Me! video contest for rural Manitoba entrepreneurs living with a disability. "I was really surprised when I found out I won," Hunter said in an interview at his studio last Friday. Nestled on Hunters rural property north of the Trans-Canada Highway between Paradise Village and Richer, Studio 23 consists of a spacious live tracking room, control room, and lounge that are a far cry from the cramped quarters often found in many urban recording studios. While hes always enjoyed music, Hunters career didnt always revolve around sound. From 2005 to 2015, he served as a corporal in the Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry at CFB Shilo near Brandon. (Hed later name his studio after his Afghanistan unit, platoon 2-3.) As he prepared to transition to civilian life, he began working security at Winnipeg music venues, a job that allowed him to forge connections with the citys vibrant music scene. "I do like the atmosphere, the environment of the music industry," he said. In 2016, he enrolled in a 10-month audio engineering course at Winnipegs Mid-Ocean School of Media Arts. After completing the program, he set to work designing his studio, breaking ground in the fall of 2017. Hunter fabricated the blue acoustical panelling that lines the tracking rooms walls and ceiling. The floor joints rest on rubber couplers to further dampen vibrations. Construction wrapped up last spring, and since then hes been hard at work building a clientele. He also continues to work security at Pyramid Cabaret. The 31-year-old said "passion and determination" are behind his success. Community Futures Triple R, an economic development and entrepreneur support organization in Morris, supplied financial assistance and a bookkeeping mentor who helped him identify hidden expenses in his business plan. Hunter said he learned the importance of taking it slow. There were times when opening a studio in a rural area felt risky, but he noted its a common challenge. "Opening any business, theres a gamble to it." In his contest submission video, Hunter said being his own boss allows him to have a more balanced family life. His studio, which was quickly accredited by Manitoba Film and Music, is just steps away from his home. "Everyone thats been here has really enjoyed the atmosphere of the studio," he said. When it came time to establish studio rates, Hunter knew the high cost of studio time was often a barrier for bands outgrowing do-it-yourself garage and basement recording. He realized there was a market niche for affordable but professional studio space. "I think having affordable rates will help musicians on a smaller budget," he explained. Hunter charges $375 for a 10-hour recording session with an in-house engineer, a service that typically costs between $450 and $600 in Winnipeg. He schedules pre-production meetings to ensure studio time is spent efficiently, and will record any genre of music. "Its definitely not limited to what I listen to," he said. While musicians are his bread and butter, Hunter is also equipped to handle sound editingreplacing or recreating sounds captured on a film setfor film and television projects thanks to four Foley pits sunk into the floor of his tracking room. During construction, a friend suggested he install the shallow boxes, which can be filled with a variety of materials to simulate the crunch of snow under foot or tires on a gravel road. "When I initially thought about opening a studio, I did not think of that revenue," he said. The work requires him to think creatively and problem-solve. He recalled using macaroni to mimic the sound of a bag of drugs for a film project still in production. Going forward, Hunter hopes to diversify even more by branching into radio commercials and video game sound editing. He said its "very fulfilling" to see his projects released into the world and appreciated by listeners. Operating a studio also gives him the chance to watch homegrown talent succeed. "It has made me more aware theres more music out there than whats on the radio," he said. Hunter also enjoys the chance to research new software and recording techniques. "Ill never turn down any opportunity to learn more about sound," he said. "Music is all about perspective." With a contest win already under his belt, Hunter said he wants to make more inroads into the provinces flourishing film and television sector. His dream is to one day work on a Juno Award-winning album. Best New Automotive Innovations for 2019 Announced by Automobile Journalists Association of Canada Winners celebrated at Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto TORONTO, Feb. 20, 2019; The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) announced today the winners of its 2019 Innovation Awards at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto. The winners are: Best Green Innovation Infiniti, for the VC-Turbo engine. Best Safety Innovation Subaru, for DriverFocus. Best Technical Innovation Mercedes-Benz, for Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX). "The Innovation Awards now recognize safety, environmental awareness and technology," said Mark Richardson, President, Automobile Journalists Association of Canada. "This is an opportunity to recognize the very best and most innovative examples of new automotive products available to Canadian drivers." In 2018, AJAC members nominated 30 different automotive innovations for consideration. The awards were judged by a panel of nine journalists who specialize in automotive technology. They independently reviewed briefs on all nominated entries, and from that initial review the jurors established a short list of finalists in each category. In late October, they convened for a day of presentations and questioning with manufacturer representatives on each of the short-listed entries. The jurors then voted a second time by secret ballot. As with the Canadian Car of the Year awards program, these votes were compiled and authenticated by accounting firm KPMG. Infiniti's VC-Turbo engine is the world's first production-ready variable compression ratio engine and one of the most advanced internal combustion engines ever created. More than 20 years in development, it represents a major breakthrough in internal-combustion powertrain technology. It delivers the power of a high-performance 2.0-liter turbo gasoline engine with a high level of efficiency. Subaru's DriverFocus utilizes a camera angled at the driver's face and facial recognition software to monitor fatigue or lack of attention. When the driver begins to lose focus, DriverFocus immediately sends out a helpful alert it's like an automated co-driver. Mercedes-Benz's MBUX uses artificial intelligence to adapt to suit the user, creating an emotional connection between the vehicle, driver and passengers. It includes the high-resolution widescreen cockpit with touchscreen operation, navigation display with augmented reality technology, plus intelligent voice control with natural speech recognition, which is activated with the keyword "Hey Mercedes." ABOUT AJAC The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) is an association of professional journalists, writers, photographers, and corporate members whose focus is the automobile and the Canadian automotive industry. Collectively, our primary objectives are to promote, encourage, support, and facilitate professionalism in Canadian automotive journalism and to ensure factual and ethical reporting about the automobile and automotive issues to Canadian consumers. This is achieved through the work of our members and AJAC's annual vehicle testing and evaluation events, the Canadian Car of the Year Awards (CCOTY), Canadian Green Car of the Year Awards, Innovation Awards, and EcoRun. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham says protectionism may be playing a role in China's moves to slow down imports of Australian coal, as the Morrison government examines whether the restrictions are in breach of world trade rules. While he said it was too early to articulate specific concerns about the most recent slowdown in coal exports, Senator Birmingham accepted protection of China's local industry could be a factor. Chinese workers taking samples of imported coal at a port in Rizhao. Credit:AP "We hear that there may be some localised quotas being implemented," he told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. "I don't want to get ahead of what we do or dont know. "Right now wed like to get clarity around why theres a slowdown. Once we know the facts we can assess whether or not we're concerned." Police have described the alleged sexual assault of a young girl in the early hours of Saturday morning as a terrible and abhorrent crime. Sex assault squad detectives will allege the young girl was sexually assaulted by a man at her home south of Perth on Saturday morning. It is alleged the 29-year-old man broke into the home and attacked her as she was sleeping. Police have not specified the age of the victim or the suburb at which the alleged offence occurred in order to protect the girl's identity. St Vincents Hospital in Melbourne has launched a review into its fledgling anti-bullying initiative amid a staff backlash. The Ethos Program, which began at St Vincents Melbourne in July 2017 and St Vincents Private in June 2018, has been blamed by some for triggering too many trivial complaints, which have caused significant stress for those against whom some complaints have been made. 'Ethos' complaints are anonymous, and if you're the subject of a complaint a fellow staff member from the hospital known as an 'Ethos Messenger' is charged with conducting an informal meeting with the accused to handle the issue, instead of a human resources professional or that person's manager. St Vincent's Hospital: carrying out a 'temperature check' on its anti-bullying procedures. Credit:Scott McNaughton Staff have used Ethos to complain about how they were spoken to when changing a dressing incorrectly, for example, with the system's opponents believing these less-severe incidents should be quickly dealt with in an open manner by managers with both parties identified, or if they are of a more serious nature, handled by the hospital's HR department. Senate president Bukola Saraki may have lost his chance to return to the senate after results from the third LG came, with the All Progressives Congress, APC taking the lead. The senate President who has already lost three out of the four local government areas in Kwara central senatorial district, is likely not to return to the 9th senate. The results of the election in Ilorin south, Ilorin west and Asa local government areas have been declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and they have favoured Saraki so far In all, Ibrahim Oloriegbe secured 72,277 while Saraki trailed with 38,919 votes, leaving a margin of 33,358. A man has been rushed to hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to his leg in Melbourne's east. Police were called to an address at Donne Court about 8.50pm on Sunday in Mooroolbark following reports of a gunshot. A short time later a man attended a local hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg. Police have detained four people and are trying to ascertain how the man sustained his injuries. The investigation is ongoing. It might be in the Blue Mountains, but Springwood High School is stinking hot. "It's a solar oven," said one parent. So, to arm itself with ammunition for an airconditioning application, the P&C decided to prove it. It enlisted the help of urban heat specialist Sebastian Pfautsch from the Western Sydney University to install 20 temperature sensors four in the playground, and 16 inside classrooms over December and January. The results created a vastly different picture to the one suggested by measurements from the Bureau of Meteorology. Students from Springwood High cool off in the shade after a hot day in their unairconditioned school Credit:James Brickwood According to the bureau, the school had an average January maximum of 28.5, just shy of the January mean maximum of 30 degrees (as averaged over 20 years) required to qualify automatically for airconditioning. Friends of a local registered nurse and mother are mourning after she was fatally shot on Bourbon Street early Sunday during a fight that didnt involve her. Julie Couvillon, 36, had spent Saturday at Carnival parades with friends before heading to Bourbon for a rare late night out, said her close friend and former co-worker, Rosaleen Brown. Brown said she and countless others were heartbroken to learn Couvillon was the woman who authorities say when killed when gunfire erupted during a struggle at a Willies Chicken Shack between a security guard and a rowdy patron the guard was trying to toss out. It doesnt make any sense, Brown said. It just breaks my heart that her daughter doesnt have a mom anymore. According to Brown and social media posts, Couvillon was a graduate of Mount Carmel Academy. State records show she obtained her license to work as a registered nurse in 2005, and she spent 13 years as an employee of Ochsner Health System, the hospital group said in a statement Sunday. "Julie was a beloved nurse who dedicated her life to caring for others," Ochsner's statement said in part. "This is a devastating loss to the nurses, employees, physicians and staff across our system. We offer our deepest condolences to her family and the families of the other victims. Can't see video below? Click here. Brown said she spoke with Couvillon shortly before Couvillon went out with friends Saturday. Brown recalled telling Couvillon to enjoy herself but be careful, never imagining that would be the last time they spoke. Authorities havent officially identified Couvillon. But Brown and multiple posts on social media said Couvillon was the woman who was nearby when a security guard at Willies Chicken Shack was removing a 37-year-old patron named Louis Barnes. Barnes was getting kicked out for trying to sell drugs in Willie's, the business said. Police said Barnes stole the guards gun outside and started shooting, wounding himself, the guard, and the woman identified to The Advocate as Couvillon. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Brown said it was almost impossible to comprehend that a man being kicked out of an eatery would grab a gun, pull the trigger on a crowded street, and take a life. She was such a great person I wouldve done anything for her, Brown said of Couvillon. A lot of my friends are completely devastated. Barnes was jailed later Sunday on counts of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. He was wearing a hospital gown when his mug shot was taken, and it appeared that there was a bandage over his right shoulder. Barnes would face mandatory life imprisonment if eventually convicted of murder. Sunday was the latest of several run-ins with the law that Barnes has had. He was in court just over a month ago to be arraigned on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender. He pleaded not guilty in a case for which he was out on a $5,000 bond, and he was due back in court on that matter Monday, records show. Barnes was required to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty in 2015 to carnal knowledge of a juvenile, admitting he had sex with a 15-year-old girl roughly four years earlier, according to Jefferson Parish court records. He received a two-year prison sentence. Willies Chicken Shack issued a statement Sunday extending the most sincere condolences to the victims and their families. We take extra measures in hiring our own security detail to make sure our patrons and staff are safe at all times, the statement said. This tragedy during the Mardi Gras season should serve as a message that our community needs to be as diligent as ever to combat crime in the French Quarter. The company providing security at the Willies Chicken Shack in question is Elite Protection Solutions LLC, which was formed in June. Elite's owner, Willie Harris, said the wounded guard could move most of his extremities except his left arm. Harris said the guard began working with Elite within the last month and was properly licensed through the state to work as a private, armed security guard. Harris pledged that Elite would take care of him as he recovered from Sunday's shooting. He said Couvillon's slaying was "tragic" and that his company extended its condolences to her friends and family as well. He said the bloodshed Sunday morning was a frightening example of how dangerous private security work can be, especially on Bourbon, where late-night revelry occasionally turns violent with little notice. "We hire and train these officers to do the best they can, but sometimes you don't know who's coming up to you," he said. A man who was being removed from a Bourbon Street bar by a security guard early Sunday struggled with the guard, stole his gun and started shooting, killing a woman and injuring himself and the guard, New Orleans police said. The shooting happened after 3 a.m. at Willie's Chicken Shack in the 400 block of Bourbon Street. Updates The bystander who was fatally shot, a 36-year-old local woman, was pronounced dead at University Medical Center. A spokesman for Willie's Chicken Shack said she was walking down Bourbon and was struck by a bullet as the suspect and the guard struggled over the gun in the threshold of the business. The suspect, whom police identified Sunday morning as Louis Barnes, 37, was also shot in the shoulder during the struggle over the gun. Barnes was in surgery Sunday and will be booked with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder once he is released from the hospital, police said. The spokesman said the guard had told Barnes he had to leave because Barnes was trying to sell drugs inside Willie's. The security guard, whom police have identified as a 23-year-old local man, is in stable condition after being shot in the neck. The spokesman for Willie's described the guard's wounds as critical but said he is expected to recover. On its website, the local private security company Elite Protection Services lists Willie's Chicken Shack as a client. Elite Protection Services is registered with the state's private security licensing board. A message to the company's owner wasn't immediately returned. WWL-TV spoke with a man who described seeing the deadly gunfire erupt. He said the security guard and the man who snatched his gun had fallen over when the bullets started flying. "Everyone ran ... (when) they heard a pop," the man said. The man told the station he was in town on a trip with friends and told them to go into their nearby hotel. He went up and grabbed one of the wounded people, and police who are stationed throughout the French Quarter and surrounding areas for Carnival arrived on the scene immediately. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Can't see video below? Click here. A video being circulated on the social media platform Snapchat showed a man in a dark shirt, jeans, and a neck brace being taken by stretcher into an ambulance on Bourbon while a large crowd on both sides of the street watched. One voice can be heard saying, "This is crazy." The street was crowded enough at the time of the shooting that police had officers on horseback come and order people back from the scene to create space for officers to process it. Sunday was the latest of numerous brushes with the law that Barnes has had. In 1999, he was booked with disturbing the peace and battery of a school teacher at the age of 17. The resolution of those charges was unclear. In 2002, he was booked with burglary and possession of stolen things. He was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison on those charges. He had later arrests and convictions for marijuana possession, being a felon in possession of a firearm and bail jumping, the records show. In 2012, he pleaded guilty to the firearm charge and was sentenced to five years in prison. Sunday's deadly shooting comes during the first major weekend of Carnival. No parades were rolling at the time of the shooting. Police said they have been aggressive about confiscating illegally carried guns in areas crowded with Carnival revelers. Ferguson told reporters that NOPD had seized seven guns off Bourbon Street so far this weekend, and both Ferguson and Mayor LaToya Cantrell praised the NOPD's quick response to Sunday morning's events. Ferguson said officers were on the scene "within seconds." In a briefing early Sunday, Ferguson initially said the suspect shot the security guard and two others. But in a update around 9 a.m., police said the second injured bystander was not struck by gunfire. The incident was the second shooting in the last week that has injured innocent people in the city. On the night of Feb. 17, a man exchanged fire with law enforcement officers at a busy bus stop at Tulane Avenue and Elk Place before being fatally shot. Five innocent bystanders were hit. Editor's note: This story was updated at 9 a.m. with new details from police. Staff writers Ramon Antonio Vargas and Gordon Russell contributed to this report. John ONeal Jr., a civil rights activist, playwright and actor who co-founded the Free Southern Theater in 1963 and Junebug Productions in 1980, died Feb. 15 in New Orleans. He was 78 and had been suffering from dementia. The Free Southern Theater was often described as the cultural arm of the civil rights movement, with the word free in its name referring both to the price of admission and its work toward equality. My job is to make art that supports and encourages people who are trying to make change, ONeal said. Thats what gives the art its path, its direction. ONeals work broke new ground for aligning art with social change. If you work at the intersection of arts and activism or cultural organizing, John ONeal is one of the people who helped make that possible, said his daughter Wendi Autumn Moore-ONeal, 45, a local educator and organizer. Though he was intense, he also had a twinkle in his eye and a charm that put people at ease. Even in his last days, said Carol Bebelle, executive director of the Ashe Cultural Arts Center, when asked how he was, he would offer his longtime response: If I was any better, I couldnt stand it. Born in Mound City, Illinois, ONeal graduated from Southern Illinois University and joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, where he worked as a field secretary and coordinator for the Freedom School Program of the Freedom Summer in Mississippi project of 1964. Though it would soon move to New Orleans, the Free Southern Theater was founded in 1963 at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, where ONeal and co-founders Gilbert Moses and Doris Derby were involved with SNCC, one of the nations main civil rights groups. They aimed to create a theater that was as unique to the Negro people as the origin of blues and jazz. Their first donation, a $15 check, came from poet Langston Hughes. We considered framing that check, ONeal recalled in an interview. But we needed that $15. Shortly afterward, when ONeal went home and said that he wanted to be a playwright, his father said, What do you intend to do for a living? ONeal replied: I dont intend to work for a living. I intend to live for my work. The theater company traveled through Mississippi and Louisiana, living with black families and performing on makeshift outdoor stages and inside private homes and churches. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up From the start, ONeal told audiences, You are the actors, and audience members often chimed in during performances and sometimes even got on the stage. In 1964, Free Southern Theater moved into an empty warehouse near the Desire housing project in New Orleans, then into an abandoned supermarket on Louisa Street. Writers like Tom Dent and Kalamu ya Salaam became integral parts of the company, which gained national prominence. Though ONeal was a prolific writer, penning hundreds of essays, comedies, poems and dramas, he was best known for his one-man shows starring folk character Junebug Jabbo Jones. As ONeal described him, Junebug is heir to a long tradition of trickster characters found in the folklore of African and other oppressed peoples who have been obligated by history and circumstance to oppose power with wit. In 1980, when Free Southern Theater closed, ONeal founded Junebug Productions. He served as its artistic director until he retired in 2011, while also traveling the nation, working as a playwright and visiting professor. Always, during his visits, he stressed the power of story circles. The story circle is perhaps the most important development that John ONeal made, said Kalamu ya Salaam. During the 1950s and 1960s, the overwhelming majority of black people lacked formal education. But in story circles, everybody the janitor, the cleaning lady, or anyone else most of us overlook has an equal contribution to make to the group to society, if you will. Survivors include his wife, Bertha ONeal; a son, William Edward Burkhardt ONeal of Greenbelt, Md.; a daughter, Wendi Moore-ONeal of New Orleans; a brother, Wendell ONeal, of Cincinnati; a sister, Pamela ONeal Moody of Greenbelt; a stepson, Arnold Ragas; seven grandchildren; and a great-grandson. Visitation will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday at Rhodes Funeral Home Chapel, 3933 Washington Ave. A memorial service will be held later. An expectant mother due Feb. 23, Baton Rouge's Nydia Harmon smiles while the audience applauds, as she explains how people praying outside the Delta Clinic caused her to rethink the abortion she was considering, during her testimony at a pro-life program held after the Louisiana Life March South in Baton Rouge, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. State officials are planning to push the Trump administration this spring to forgive $2 billion in interest the state estimates it is on the hook to pay for the multibillion-dollar New Orleans-area flood prevention system. The move marks a retreat for state leaders, who previously asked to have both interest and principal a total of about $3 billion forgiven. But that was a nonstarter in Washington, according to Chip Kline, the governor's executive assistant for coastal affairs. If the new push fails, however, state leaders are contemplating more adversarial ways to try to get some of the debt written off, such as demanding that a third party inspect the projects or even filing lawsuits. Gov. John Bel Edwards had hoped to meet with administration officials, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers leaders and members of the state's congressional delegation this month as part of a trip to Washington, Kline said, but schedules could not be lined up to make the meeting happen. State leaders now are looking at a possible March or April date. The payments, whatever their final level, are part of the state's obligation to pay a portion of the costs for the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System, a system of more than 350 miles of levees, pump stations and other flood reduction and prevention measures built by the Army Corps in a five-parish area in and around New Orleans. The project, conceived in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, involved building and armoring levees, upgrading pump stations and adding gates where needed. Under an agreement signed in 2009, the state is obligated to pay about $1.1 billion of the cost of what was projected to be about a $15 billion project. Its payments were to be deferred over a 30-year period, during which interest accrues. But Kline noted that the state is not required to pay back any of the money until the Corps hands over the system to the state for operation and maintenance, something that can't be done until the project is fully complete. That handover, originally projected for 2011, is now projected for the second half of 2020. The nine years of delays have cost the state an additional $519 million in interest, Kline said. That interest, combined with the principal and the other interest that will accrue over the 30 years, will bump the state's total tab to nearly $3 billion, meaning Louisiana will have to pay about $100 million per year for 30 years, Kline said. "We are willing to pay our fair share," he said, referring to the $1.1 billion in construction costs Louisiana pledged to pay, before describing the interest amounts as "insane." Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up "Our approach has now changed to the forgiveness of the interest," he said. Going through the Trump administration may be the simplest way to get that done: All that is required is a "stroke of a pen," Kline said. But should that effort prove fruitless, state officials are also looking at other ways to get relief. Going to Congress is one option, he said. Kline and other state coastal officials have also cited design flaws in some of the projects. Some of the levees have sunk below the 100-year-flood level required by the agreement, and some walls have corroded faster than expected, he said. That has led the officials to consider alternative ways to get the debt reduced. The state could refuse to take control of the system until an outside party reviews the completed projects to make sure they fit the criteria outlined in the agreement, Kline said. That could buy the time needed to persuade the administration to forgive the interest. +3 After last director resigns, Bren Haase will lead Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Gov. John Bel Edwards has appointed Bren Haase to head the state's coastal restoration agency, less than six months after the previous directo Yet another alternative would be to seek to renegotiate the 2009 agreement that stipulated what the state was required to pay. To gain added leverage in those negotiations, Edwards administration officials have discussed filing a lawsuit against the Corps alleging breach of contract because of the design flaws, according to documents obtained by The Advocate. U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, who often champions state coastal causes in Congress, said he hopes the state and the Trump administration can come to an agreement. "I do think there is some culpability on the part of the Corps" for the delays and problems, Graves said. "Our best strategy is to find something to bridge us for several years" until a solution can be worked out, he added. After a lengthy debate, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board broke along racial lines as it approved a plan to shrink the number of alternative schools for students with academic or disciplinary problems. The vote Thursday night is not the end. The plan still needs approval from state education officials. The mergers are scheduled to take effect in August with the start of the 2019-20 school year. Heres how the vote broke down: For: board members Mark Bellue, Connie Bernard, Jill Dyason, Michael Gaudet and David Tatman. Against: board members Dawn Collins, Tramelle Howard, Dadrius Lanus and Evelyn Ware-Jackson. All five board members voting for the change are white, and all four board members voting against are black. The four board members shared a wide array of concerns about not just the plan but the school systems approach to alternative education in general. Debate gets hot over proposed mergers of alternative schools in Baton Rouge A proposal to shrink the number of alternative schools for students with academic or disciplinary problems sparked heated debate Thursday from Collins said the plan lacks detail: Theres not much meat in the plan as it stands. Ware-Jackson was confused by some of the explanations from staff: This plan is as clear as mud. Lanus said the performance measures are too vague: I need to see outcomes in some of these plans. In contrast to her colleagues, board member Bernard supported the proposal, arguing that the consolidation will concentrate resources. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up It improves (the students) social and emotional learning with all the support that is going to be available to do that in one place, she said. Tamara Johnson, executive director of school leadership, promised board members that her team is still working on a long-term plan to improve alternative schools in Baton Rouge. The plan approved Thursday would merge five of the alternative schools into three. All five of those schools, which collectively serve almost 600 students, have F academic grades from the state. The school system is trying to trim its spending by at least $30 million in advance of the 2019-20 school year. School officials have not yet offered an estimate of the likely savings from the changes approved Thursday. The state recently created a new accountability system just for alternative schools. The school system has until Friday to submit an application as part of that new system. The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is expected to vote on that application in April. Howard objected to moving Arlington Preparatory Academy from its longtime home southeast of LSU at 931 Dean Lee Drive to the former campus of Howell Elementary School, seven miles north at 6125 Winbourne Ave. The Dean Lee Drive school would then be torn down and is a potential site for a future new school serving south Baton Rouge. The board members in opposition, each from north Baton Rouge, had problems moving another low-performing school into north Baton Rouge while taking it out of the relatively more affluent south Baton Rouge area. We create this classism within ourselves and within our school district when we do this, Howard said. School officials have countered that more families at Arlington Prep live near Howell Park than Dean Lee Drive. Of the 76 students who attend the school, 43 live north of Florida Boulevard, many of them not far from Howell Park. Collins and Lanus floated the idea of moving Arlington Prep to a vacant elementary campus in downtown Baton Rouge, formerly home to a foreign language immersion program. To improve the Howell Park facility, the school system also agreed Thursday to spend $600,000; only Collins voted no. The bulk of that money is to make the facility compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act; high schools that receive federal money must be ADA compliant. The school previously received about $1.4 million in renovations in 2010, plus another $500,000 to repair damage from the August 2016 floods. Mary Thomas used to admire the freshly painted houses overlooking green grass and trimmed hedges in her Fairfields neighborhood. She loved watching the children play outside. That was 32 years ago. When Thomas and her husband moved to their Plank Road apartment, it was a nice place to live, a neighborhood that she was proud to call home. Now the lawn outside her building has turned to mud, littered with empty beer cans and overturned plastic chairs. Other families have moved elsewhere, leaving behind blighted properties and dilapidated houses. Violent crime is a persistent threat, and one that has touched Thomas' own family. Her grandson was shot and killed in a 2015 triple homicide outside the B's Seafood convenience store about a block from her house the same place her nephew was gunned down less than two years later. The Fairfields neighborhood where Thomas lives is one of several across Baton Rouge that researchers have labeled "very high risk" for homicides based on geographical factors. That approach is gaining traction among criminologists who have started focusing more on where crimes occur in addition to who's involved. Baton Rouge crime data shows that killings happen most often in areas with a high concentration of blighted properties close to a convenience store. Experts say fixing environmental problems offers a relatively cheap and effective way to discourage violence. And now local officials are planning to expand their efforts to address blight in Baton Rouge, hoping crime reduction will follow. Thomas, 72, said she'd move out of her neighborhood tomorrow if she could afford to do so. "This place is so rundown and it's got violence everywhere," she said. "I want something better." +7 East Baton Rouge officials targeting blight; many see connection with crime When they crunched the numbers, the map of blighted property in Baton Rouge looked like another map the District Attorney's office already had 'Forecasting homicide' Research has long shown that crime is not distributed evenly across communities. It's highly concentrated in certain neighborhoods or blocks or street corners and almost nonexistent in others. The same goes for blighted properties. Researchers from LSU and the East Baton Rouge District Attorney's Office noticed that correlation and used a software program to test their theory. They found that the concentration of blighted properties and the presence of convenience stores could be used to predict where future homicides are most likely to occur. Those "very high risk" areas are scattered across the city with pockets in some neighborhoods long known for frequent violence. The researchers specifically identified high risk areas in parts of the Brookstown, Fairfields, Istrouma, Old South Baton Rouge and Scotlandville neighborhoods. Researchers also found the risk of homicide becomes about 13 times higher within a few blocks of blighted properties. The findings were published in December in the academic journal "Social Science Research." And the study titled "Forecasting homicide in the red stick: Risk terrain modeling and the spatial influence of urban blight on lethal violence in Baton Rouge, Louisiana" notes it's the first to explore the relationship between specifically homicides and "the novel environmental risk factor" of blighted properties. Stephen Martinez, an investigator with the district attorney's office, conducted the study alongside LSU researchers Matt Valasik and Elizabeth Brault. He said their findings represent "a new way of looking at crime" in Baton Rouge. The researchers point to several explanations, including that vacant lots and abandoned buildings can provide spaces for people to engage in criminal activities with less fear of being detected and caught. The study also notes that a high concentration of blight lowers property values among surrounding homes, ultimately "reducing a neighborhood's equity and wealth." "Furthermore as distressed properties and crime proliferate, an outward flow of residents occurs, usually to surrounding communities," researchers wrote. "The cumulative results of crime and violence can produce an environment that is not conducive to economic development." Streets in decline Mary Thomas grew up in south Baton Rouge, the daughter of a Baptist minister and one of 12 siblings. She graduated from McKinley High School in 1965 and married Willie Thomas two years later. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up He worked as an auto mechanic for nearly a half a century until a vehicle ran over him on the job in 2013, leaving him disabled. The couple never had any children of their own, but raised about a dozen over the years: The first was just nine months old when his mother gave him up because she was using drugs. Others were the children of relatives who grew up in the Thomases' home. Mary Thomas remembers letting her kids walk themselves to the school bus and play outside with their friends in the neighborhood off Plank Road where she still lives. Now when her grandchildren visit, she makes sure they're supervised whenever they leave the house and worries about stray bullets piercing the walls at night. Her nephew and grandson were two of six people killed at the same nearby intersection in less than two years. "You never know who's got a gun and who don't," she said. "All these youngsters are getting killed. They don't fight anymore, they just shoot." Thomas said she's watched the area become more rundown as job opportunities have declined. She said people just don't have the money to maintain their houses and in some cases landlords continue renting places that are in dire need of repairs. Thomas isn't convinced that cleaning up blighted properties would solve the crime problem, but she's hoping something changes before more people lose their lives on her block. People and places The 'Forecasting homicide' study found that about one quarter of Baton Rouge homicides in 2017 occurred within "very high risk" areas, which cover only 3 percent of the city's physical landscape. The number of homicides in the parish spiked that year to a historic 106 killings. Experts argue that studying the spaces where crimes are occurring is an important step. "Over last 25 years or so, there's been a change, an additional way of thinking about crime," said David Weisburd, a professor of criminology at George Mason University in northern Virginia. "It used to be about 'who done it' and we tried to find the person. Now people are getting interested in where, and why it was done at this place." Weisburd, who has spent decades studying where crimes occur, said the key is focusing on micro units of place: small street segments that allow researchers to pinpoint problem "hotspots." "One of great failings of police agencies is focusing on a whole neighborhood and saturating all the streets," he said. "People in that neighborhood now feel like they live in a police state, even though there's probably only a few streets where crime is occurring." Studies conducted in several large cities have found that 50 percent of crime is committed on about 5 percent of streets. Similarly, about 5 percent of people commit 50 percent of crimes. Weisburd noted that studying places doesn't mean ignoring the individuals committing crimes. He said addressing the problem from both angles is most effective, as long as "we keep thinking small, not generalizing in terms of where crime is occurring and who's involved." Moving forward Research shows that reducing blight can be effective in curbing violence. A 2016 study out of Philadelphia also concluded that the investments actually save taxpayers money, in part because fewer people become involved with the criminal justice system. "Are you trying to apprehend someone who's committed a crime or are you trying to prevent crime before it happens? If you're trying to prevent crime, it's much more effective and cheaper and easier to focus on places than people," said Jim Bueermann, a policing consultant and former president of the nonprofit National Police Foundation. "Controlling crime is not always about putting more cops on the problem." Local leaders have bought into that idea since the LSU research has brought it to light. "How can we fund the repair that needs to take place and the change that needs to take place?" said East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III. "That's what we're giving some thought to now." Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome has made it a priority of her administration to address a long backlog of blighted properties across the city, citing homeowners for code violations and demolishing dilapidated buildings. She said officials are prioritizing properties with the highest number of both 911 and 311 calls, which is the number residents can call to report possible building code violations. "These are environments that seem to breed criminal activity," she said. "This is all part of the holistic approach we're taking to address violence in our city. When you have the community vested, and when people become stakeholders in their own neighborhoods, we know that will have a positive impact on crime." Dhaka, Feb 24 (UNI) A Dubai-bound flight from Bangladesh made an emergency landing at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong on Sunday over reports of hijacking attempt. However, all the passengers on board the plane that belongs to national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines are evacuated, the national civil aviation chief said. According to witnesses and airport officials, Flight BG-147, which was on its way to Dubai from Dhaka via Chittagong, landed at the airport around 1740 hrs. An airport official, seeking anonymity, told the UNI that a gunman tried to take command of the cockpit after the plane took off from Dhakas Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and forced the pilot to land at the Chittagong airport. Shakil Meraj, the general manager (Public Relations) of the national flag carrier, confirmed the the UNI of the incident, and added that all passengers had safely disembarked after the plane landed. But according to media reports, the gunman and two crew members were still on it. Police, Rapid Action Battalion and Armed Police Battalion cordoned off the area and have the plane surrounded on the runway. Operational activities at the airport were also suspended, while traffic on adjacent roads was either halted or diverted. Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Mohibul Haque also told UNI over phone that all passengers were evacuated from the aircraft, and a crew member was talking to the suspected hijacker. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told UNI that the hijacker had the pilot at gunpoint when the plane landed. However, all passengers and the pilot made it out safely. We know this so far. But it is confirmed that the suspect is still in the plane. We are trying to find out why and how this happened, said the minister. Meanwhile, Chittagong 8 MP and leader of a Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal faction Moin Uddin Khan Badal, who was also on the flight, told UNI that the hijacker had opened fire. The pilot told that this man, a Bangladeshi, fired a shot. When the pilot pursued him, the hijacker said that he wanted to talk to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Now the law enforcement agencies are trying to take him into custody, Badal said. The Prime Minister was in Chittagong earlier in the day to inaugurate a development project. A witness also said that they heard a gunshot when the pilots tried to stop the armed hijacker from entering the cockpit. The hijacker then claimed he was wearing a suicide vest and demanded a direct line of communication with the prime minister and senior government officials. Mohibul said they were yet to confirm whether anyone was shot on the plane. Image courtesy: Airport Wbcams Twitter page The slaying of Janessa "Nessa" Hartley, who was shot by a masked gunman on the evening of Jan. 15 as she was chatting with a friend in a car, shocked residents of the Sherwood Forest area and prompted local crime district leaders to ramp up existing plans for security cameras. Hartley was dropping off her friend, Linda Donnelly, at her Brookshire Avenue home around 8 p.m. when the gunman approached the car and fired one shot into the driver's side door. More than a month later, the case remains unsolved. "We're very concerned that this person has not been caught," Donnelly said in an interview. "The police have all the information we can give them, and we're hoping they can track this person down." Donnelly declined to elaborate on what she witnessed that evening because those details could interfere with the investigation. She continues to grieve over the loss of her friend and said she believes the police are doing everything they can to solve the case. "Nessa and I have been dear and close friends for 36 years," she said. "We shared our lives and raised our families together. Her children and grandbabies were her world. This senseless crime has devastated all of those close to her." +2 Woman killed by masked gunman in Sherwood Forest was dropping off friend after dinner A woman shot and killed in a Sherwood Forest neighborhood Tuesday evening was dropping off a friend after dinner when a masked gunman approach Leaders of the Sherwood Forest Crime Prevention District said they've been working for years on a plan to get security cameras and license plate readers installed at every entrance to the neighborhood. And they hope that system will finally be operational within the next few months. District chair Gary Patureau said it's unfortunate the cameras weren't installed before Hartley's killing, but there's a process district leaders have to follow under state guidelines that takes time to complete. The crime prevention district one of 32 across Louisiana was created five years ago. District chair Gary Patureau said residents wanted to prevent the infiltration of crime from surrounding areas and voted in favor of a crime district, which means the neighborhood's more than 3,000 homes are each required to pay $75 per year toward its operations. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Most of the money goes toward paying off-duty Baton Rouge police officers to patrol the neighborhood, which is generally quiet and safe, experiencing on average a few car or house burglaries a month, according to crime district leaders. The district extends south roughly from Florida Boulevard to Old Hammond Highway, and east from Sharp Road to South Flannery Drive. Leaders planned from the beginning to install cameras at the 16 entrances and were saving up to cover the cost, Patureau said. But, he said, those plans were delayed after the 2016 floods because some of that money was diverted to ramping up security patrols to ward off potential home burglars. The current plans include a pilot program with the Baton Rouge Police Department's Real Time Crime Center, which is also under construction at department headquarters and expected in coming months. Patureau said Sherwood Forest's cameras and license plate readers will be integrated into the department's system so crime analysts and responding officers can use the findings. The Real Time Crime Center will provide a central hub for the department to analyze data and push out information to responding officers, allowing them to be more informed when they arrive on scene. Baton Rouge police requesting home surveillance video to help solve Sherwood Forest homicide Baton Rouge police are asking Sherwood Forest residents to provide home surveillance footage that could help detectives solve a recent homicid Patureau said he believes the pilot program in Sherwood Forest will be duplicated in other communities later on. In the meantime, Baton Rouge police have requested surveillance footage from Sherwood Forest residents whose cameras may have captured images of Hartley's killer. Authorities have released little information about the case aside from reassuring people that investigators are following all leads. Patureau said he's optimistic it will ultimately be solved. "We're all grieving with the Hartley family for the loss of our neighbor and friend," he said. "This is truly a worst-case scenario and we want this person caught and held to the very highest standard of the law." The two apparent frontrunners for vacant State Representative seats in District 18 and District 62 narrowly missed wins Saturday, and are headed to a runoff next month. According to complete but unofficial voter records posted on the Secretary of State website Saturday, Jeremy LaCombe in District 18 came away with 43 percent of the vote, and Dennis Aucoin in District 62 garnered 45 percent of the votes. If no individual candidate captures more than 50 percent of the vote, it goes to a runoff between the top two candidates in an election on March 30. That means the District 18 race will pit LaCombe against Tammi Fabre, who yielded 23 percent of the vote. In District 62, the runoff election will be between Aucoin and Roy Adams, who secured an unofficial 31 percent of the vote. District 18 covers all of Iberville, West Baton Rouge, and Pointe Coupee parishes and part of West Feliciana parish. District 62 covers the majority of East and West Feliciana parishes and the northern area of Zachary. +5 Five seek seat legislative seat from northern Zachary, Felicianas in special election Saturday Voters in large portions of East and West Feliciana parishes and the northern part of Zachary will choose from among five candidates who are l LaCombe, a New Roads attorney, focused his campaign on healthcare and education. A Democrat, he's served on multiple boards and committees, including the home rule charter committee that drafted Pointe Coupee Parish's constitutional document. He's cited a new bridge, traffic and infrastructure needs on the west bank as main priorities. Fabre, a long-time real estate broker in Pointe Coupee Parish, ran as one of two Republicans in the race, saying it was time for the historically Democratic-run area to be flipped. She talked during her campaign about the need for a more business-friendly environment in her district, she echoed the need for another bridge and spoke about increasing opportunity for agricultural businesses. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up In District 62, logger and outdoors enthusiast Aucoin was just 4 percent away from securing the 50 percent in unofficial votes Saturday. Aucoin, a Republican, served on the East Feliciana police jury for eight years and earlier this week said he believed he could provide local and political knowledge to the state representative position. He said improving roads, education and industry are necessary to fuel further growth in the Felicianas and Zachary. Aucoin's challenger, independent Adams, has been a fixture in the Jackson community through work at the family grocery store, Adams Enterprises. He said his decision to run for the vacant seat was spurred from seeing his customers' everyday problems and wanting to be able to help. He promised to take on the State Representative position full-time if elected, saying he wanted to "be there for the people." He also spoke of Zachary's roads and infrastructure as a priority, along with education. +7 Meet the six candidates running for District 18's vacant state rep seat The candidates campaigning for the vacant District 18 state representative seat come from wildly different backgrounds and political experienc The seats in both districts were vacated in late 2018 when their respective representatives were voted in as leaders in parish government. Major Thibaut, who represented District 18, was elected in November as Pointe Coupee Parishs first president as the parish moves from a police jury to a council system. He took on the role officially in January. Kenny Havard vacated the District 62 seat in December for the same reason, but to join West Feliciana government as president. Voter turnout in District 62 was 16.5 percent and District 18 recorded 28.2 percent turnout, according to the Secretary of State site. Paul Poupart made headlines a decade ago for allegedly posting a photo of a Louisiana sheriff's deputy with a woman posed suggestively on his patrol car outside a bar. It would lead to Poupart's arrest and a 20-year prison sentence under a state law that the federal courts have recently declared unconstitutional a ruling that could now allow his release from prison. He's one of 58 inmates who received letters from the Louisiana Department of Corrections last week saying they may be eligible for a chance at release because of a court's recent finding that Louisiana's law on public intimidation is unconstitutional. Louisiana law on public intimidation is unconstitutional; federal appeals court upholds ruling A Louisiana law that makes it a crime to threaten a public official is overly broad and thus unconstitutional, a federal appeals court has ruled. Poupart was convicted in 2011 of public intimidation for posting the compromising photo of a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputy who had testified against him in an earlier battery case. The photo that appeared on a website called "The Dirty" showed the deputy next to his patrol car as a scantily clad woman, described in the caption as a stripper, lounged atop the hood. An investigation traced the photographs back to Poupart, who admitted taking them but denied posting them on the website. Prosecutors alleged Poupart, just days before his trial on a battery charge weeks earlier, conveyed a threat to the deputy through the owner of the bar where the assault took place. If the deputy, who had been working an off-duty detail, testified against him at the battery trial, Poupart allegedly said, he would "go public" with unspecified photos. Poupart has long claimed the case brought against him was a cover-up to protect Jefferson Parish law enforcement from embarrassment. He has also claimed that authorities falsified evidence and retaliated against him for taking the case to trial. Jefferson prosecutors pushed the case and secured a conviction for public intimidation. The crime has a maximum penalty of five years, but prosecutors invoked Louisiana's "habitual offender" law, citing Poupart's three previous convictions, for battery, drugs and attempted burglary. It landed him 20 years in jail. "Personally, I think he was perceived as having struck close to law enforcement, to the parish authorities, and I think they viewed that as unjustifiable that he would attempt to impugn this detective," said Justin Harrell, an attorney who has represented Poupart. "I think he received the max for that reason." The Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office declined to comment. Is it a crime to threaten an officers job? One federal judge calls La. law 'obviously unconstitutional' Two federal judges have called into question a Louisiana law that makes it a felony crime to threaten a public official, saying the law is unc Poupart could be getting out sooner, though, as a result of a federal court ruling last year that the state's public intimidation law is overly broad and unconstitutional. Experts say it could be Poupart's ticket out of prison, if he files a court appeal. The decision could also affect as many as 57 other inmates in prison for this crime, as well as people with this conviction on their record. In the letter sent to inmates last week, DOC General Counsel Jonathon Vining suggested the prisoners seek legal advice about their options. "This decision may affect the validity of your conviction, and I encourage you to seek advice of legal counsel regarding the potential impact of the court's judgment," he wrote in a letter dated Feb. 19. Vining's letter included a copy of a ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last summer, which found that the law criminalized free speech, as well as illegal threats, making it unconstitutional. "Because the meaning of 'threat' is broad enough to sweep in threats to take lawful, peaceful actions such as threats to sue a police officer or challenge an incumbent officeholder (the law) is unconstitutionally overbroad," the opinion issued in August by the appeals court read. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has decided not to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, effectively putting an end to the litigation and opening up the possibility of appeals. "Fixing the constitutional defect will take legislative action. We are prepared to assist them if they decide to address this issue," said Jacques Ambers, a spokesman for Landry. Ken Pastorick, a spokesman for DOC, said the department waited to send out such a letter until it was clear the AG would not file an appeal; that happened in the past few weeks. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Poupart has been following news coverage of the court opinions and shared with The Advocate a copy of a petition he is drafting based on the appellate ruling. "Petitioner continues today to serve a sentence based on an unconstitutional statute," Poupart wrote in a draft filing. "The retroactive determination by this court for petitioner would be the proper judgment in the interests of justice." The felony public intimidation law prohibits any person from using "violence, force or threats with the intent to influence (a person's) conduct in relation to his position, employment or duty." The law is meant to protect public employees, jurors, trial witnesses, election officials and school bus drivers. The appellate ruling stemmed from two lawsuits filed by men in Livingston and Tangipahoa parishes who were booked on public intimidation after threatening to get the officers arresting them fired. In one case from Tangipahoa, a Hammond man was accused of threatening to shoot his neighbor. When deputies arrived to investigate, the lawsuit alleges, they put Travis Seals in handcuffs and pepper-sprayed him in the face. Seals threatened to file a complaint against the deputies, and allegedly said he would get them fired, for which he was booked with public intimidation, aggravated assault and other counts. In a case from Livingston Parish, a Denham Springs man was arrested after allegedly objecting to what he said was a sheriff's deputy calling him a vulgar term while investigating a reckless driving complaint involving a neighbor. Police reports say William Aubin Jr. told the deputy, "I'm calling your supervisor; I'm going to have your job; I'm gonna get you fired." In both cases, the 21st Judicial District Attorney's Office declined to prosecute the men on any charges. But others are doing time for the challenged charge. The Advocate reviewed five cases, beyond Poupart's, on a list of inmates provided by DOC under a public records request. All five were also serving time on other charges, which would affect their ability to get a sentence reduction. In some cases the inmates threatened violent action if officers arrested them. Brandon Baltz was accused in Jefferson Parish of threatening to blow up the Sheriff's Office as deputies transported him to jail. In other cases, the threats were directed at civil actions. John Farmer was charged in Tangipahoa Parish after authorities said that, on his way to jail after being arrested for beating someone with a rake, he told deputies, "I swear on my dead relatives, my grandma and my son, you will lose your job over this one! according to a police report. Experts say that those prosecuted under the now-unconstitutional law should have a relatively easy time getting their convictions vacated and sentences overturned if they file post-conviction applications with the court that sentenced them. "As hard as it is to get relief, no court is going to hold someone in prison on a law that has been held unconstitutional, said Chris Aberle, director of the Louisiana Appellate Project. But there is no public agency that does post-conviction relief, Aberle said. So, inmates would likely need to work with other inmates who specialize in legal work or hire private attorneys to get help. There remain some open questions about who exactly will be affected. As the Attorney General's Office sees it, the appellate court ruling only affects the part of the law criminalizing threats, and leaves intact the part that involves using force or violence. But Ken Levy, a professor of criminal law at LSU Law School, said he reads the court's decision as invalidating the entire law. Levy said he is "shocked" that the attorney general is not appealing, because he believe the state has a strong case to appeal. He said in an interview that he doesn't think the public intimidation law is as broad as portrayed by the appellate court, and that it mostly criminalizes threats that are illegal. By allowing the law to remain invalid, the AG's Office is allowing people to go free who committed crimes like extortion or blackmail but were charged with public intimidation, Levy said. "That's the tragedy of this decision," he said. The Attorney General's Office would not elaborate on its decision to quit appealing the case. Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission Rancher Dallas May (L) and Billy Gascoigne of Ducks Unlimited on the May Ranch in Prowers County, Colo. (Courtesy photo) Hohhot, Feb 24 (UNI) A total of 21 people have been killed and 29 others injured after a vehicle lost control due to faulty brakes at a mining company in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,local authorities said on Sunday morning. The accident took place around 0820 hrs on Saturday at a lead, zinc and silver mine under Yinman Mining Company in West Ujimqin Banner, Xilingol League. Fifteen people were killed on the spot and five others died later. The 29 who were injured were in stable condition, Global Times reported. The regional emergency management department said that the vehicle taking the 50 workers to the underground lost control due to brake failure and crashed into the side of the tunnel. The injured have been hospitalized. The Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a working team to guide and assist rescue and investigation at the site. Deadly mining accidents remain common in China despite efforts to improve conditions and crack down on illegal mines, particularly those that produce coal. Animal rights activists are protesting a controversial hippo culling that is set to begin this May. According to them, there is no proof of hippo overpopulation, and even if there is, the culling might just make things worse. Controversial Hippo Culling In a statement, the Zambia Department of National Parks & Wildlife announced that a hippo culling exercise is set to commence in May, at the beginning of the hunting season. The said culling was previously scheduled in 2016 but was shelved because of protests by activists and animal rights groups. It was in a Jan. 31 report that the department stated that the hippo population in Luangwa River, where the culling is set, declined by 800 compared to previous count but that the population is still above the rivers capacity. According to the activists, the department was unable to provide scientific data about a supposed hippo overpopulation and that the water levels are too low to sustain them. Furthermore, the activists say that the department also has no proof that previous cullings worked to reduce hippo population. In fact, they even cited scientific evidence suggesting that culling hippos actually stimulates breeding and increases the population even more. So far, the Zambian government has no response to these statements. Hippos Hippos are actually considered vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. All around the world, there is estimated to be about 115,000 and 130,000 hippos, which is why they should be protected in the countries where they exist. These include Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Burundi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone, among others. They are extinct in Egypt, Algeria, Eritrea, Liberia, and Mauritania. In the countries where hippos exist, some of the threats to the species include droughts, ecosystem modifications, housing and urban areas, war, civil unrest, and military exercises. Poachers are also major threats because hippos are being hunted for their canine to be sold as an alternative to elephant tusks. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. What just happened? In a letter sent to CEO Satya Nadella and president Brad Smith, employees are calling for Microsoft to cancel their contract with the U.S. Army. The contract would see Microsoft deliver as many as 100,000 HoloLens headsets to support the Army's Integrated Visual Augmentation System program. Employees feel the contract is not only amoral, but an erosion of their ability to have a say in how their work is used. Microsoft employees have issued an open letter addressed to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and president Brad Smith protesting the controversial $480 million contract Microsoft inked with the U.S. Army to provide AR technology. Under the terms of the contract, Microsoft would supply as many as 100,000 HoloLens headsets to support the Army's Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS. IVAS is a program designed to increase lethality by enhancing the ability to detect, decide and engage before the enemy. Microsoft's employees, particularly those who have worked on HoloLens development, have vehemently objected to this. The letter, allegedly signed by more than 50 employees already, was published Friday afternoon and outlines employees' moral stance on the contract. We are a global coalition of Microsoft workers, and we refuse to create technology for warfare and oppression. We are alarmed that Microsoft is working to provide weapons technology to the U.S. Military, helping one country's government "increase lethality" using tools we built. We did not sign up to develop weapons, and we demand a say in how our work is used. The letter, which also cites Microsoft's past dealings with the military, states that the company is crossing the line into weapons development with the contract. The employees state that they believe IVAS will turn warfare into a simulated video game, while distancing soldiers from the reality and bloodshed of war. Moreover, the employees feel they've lost their say in how their work is used, believing "it would be used to help architects and engineers build buildings and cars, to help teach people how to perform surgery or play the piano, to push the boundaries of gaming, and to connect with the Mars Rover (RIP)." As such, the letter demands that Microsoft: Cancel the IVAS contract Cease any and all weapons technologies and development, and draft a public policy to back that commitment Appoint an external ethics review board to enforce the policy and ensure compliance This is the latest manifestation of an increasing dissent between tech companies and their employees. Last year, Microsoft again faced internal criticism for their involvement with ICE amidst the policy of separating families at the border. Google halted their partnership with the Pentagon to work on drones after widespread, internal backlash. Google also faced protest and walkouts over their handling of misconduct and discrimination, leading to the trending #GoogleWalkout late last year. While Microsoft has stated that they remain receptive to the voice of their employees, the company also reiterated its longstanding relationship with the Department of Defense. It remains to be seen whether or not Microsoft will accede to any of the employee demands. On behalf of workers at Microsoft, we're releasing an open letter to Brad Smith and Satya Nadella, demanding for the cancelation of the IVAS contract with a call for stricter ethical guidelines. If you're a Microsoft employee you can sign at: https://t.co/958AhvIHO5 pic.twitter.com/uUZ5P4FJ7X Microsoft Workers 4 Good (@MsWorkers4) February 22, 2019 ONEIDA COUNTY, N.Y. -- Those who might be tempted to set out on the ice today should reconsider, Oneida County Sheriff Maciol said Sunday. Maciol is urging ice fishermen, snowmobilers and others should stay off all lakes and waterways until further notice. This is for the safety of the public but also first responders, he said. Oneida County and the rest of Upstate New York is bracing for high winds and winter storm conditions, expected this evening into tomorrow afternoon. Do you already have a paid subscription to any of the SWNewsMedia newspapers? If so, you can Activate your Premium online account by clicking here. Activation will allow you to view unlimited online articles each month. To activate your Premium online account, the email address and phone number provided with your paid newspaper subscription needs to match the information you use in setting up your online user account. If you are having trouble or want to confirm what email address and phone number is listed on your subscription account, please call 952-345-6682 or email circulation@swpub.com and we'll be happy to assist. Auckland Due to an increase in workload we are looking for a number of people to assist with our laundry operations across all our... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz Click the image above to watch the video This week has been a full one for the Bay of Plenty art community with two new galleries launching and two others having new exhibition openings. The Atrium Gallery in Whakamarama opened its doors to the public for the first time this week. The Black Sheep Bar and Grill has long been a patron of local artists and artisans with their sponsorship and continued support of the Affordable Art and Artisan Fair. Now they have taken their support to the next level and created a new space for local creative people to share their work. Atrium Gallery is a place to buy and sell local art and artisan products as well a space for workshops, concerts, and other creative events. As well as receiving sponsorship from The Black Sheep Bar & Grill, the gallery opening was also sponsored by Susan Brauchli, Guthrie Bowron, Leveret Estate Winery & Cellar Door, Steve Bird Wines Affordable Art & Artisan Fair and Wheelco. Western Bay of Plenty District Council Mayor Garry Webber attended the opening launch with his wife Carole. Garry is delighted to see another gallery open in the Western Bay, and the support and opportunity to exhibit given to artists in the area. Peta Clavis from Black Sheep, Western Bay of Plenty District Council Mayor Garry Webber, Deb Bowden and Birgitt Shannon Carole Webber, Western Bay of Plenty District Council Mayor Garry Webber, and Peta Clavis from Black Sheep The gallery features, sculpture, paintings, jewellery, wall hangings, photography and cushions. The exhibition also includes a solo exhibition by Birgitt Shannon. Birgitt was runner-up in the 2018 Trustpower/TSA Supreme Award, and recently selected as a finalist for the 2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards. She is also the event coordinator for the monthly Affordable Art & Artisan Fair held at the Black Sheep. Her paintings hang in private collections in Australia, NZ and England, as well as one that is hanging in a Research Centre at The Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles. She has been involved in many solo and group exhibitions since arriving in NZ in 2013, including painting the cow outside the Morrinsville Museum for the Morrinsville Herd of Cows Street Art Project. Deb Bowden and Birgitt Shannon with Birgitts exhibition The Atrium Gallery at 21 Plummers Point Rd, Whakamarama, will be open from Wednesday to Sunday each week from 11am to 5pm. At the Historic Village, the Incubator Gallery launched The Art of Ukulele, a painted ukulele exhibition, with over 80 painted ukuleles on display. Painted ukuleles We have a ukulele group that meets every Monday, says Simone Anderson, director of The Incubator Creative Hub. I saw this thing on Instagram for these blank ukuleles for sale. I went and researched it, and then bought the whole lot in bulk. We put out a registration of interest to the public, because I had to order them, so I had to get people to commit before I ordered them. I expected we might get 40 or 50 people interested, but we had to order 85 ukuleles. The Incubator Creative Hub team put out the call for registrations of interest in December, allowing two months for the artists to complete their designs. Across the village road, at the The Peoples gallery Toi ka rere, the Antimatter 2019 exhibition launched at the same time. Tui by Harley Moore at the Antimatter 2019 exhibition This popular exhibition has been running for the past four years, and has again attracted imaginative entries made from recycled and upcycled materials, representing an environmental statement. The exhibition aligns with and celebrates NZs sustainable backyards month held every March. Nicci Baxter in front of her work Pollution and Politics at the Antimatter 2019 exhibition Mandy Williams Gallery and Studio Also opening this week at Taurangas Historic Village is the new studio and gallery of contemporary NZ artist Mandy Williams. Mandy is well-known for her Giclee art prints, using archival paper, framed using plantation grown timbers. Her often commissioned work captures the freedom and joy of being a child with bold vibrant colours showing a whimsical energy, her figures often painted with large eyes sparkling with innocence and anticipation. Her Capturing your family on canvas works are in high demand. Mandy has been exhibiting in Auckland, Rotorua, Hamilton and the Bay of Plenty since 2008. Mandy Williams These are just four of the galleries showing local artists work, so if you're looking for something to do, go check them out! State troopers line up outside Paciorek Funeral Home on Hoosac Street. PreviousNext Adams, First-Responders Honor Late State Trooper Kleiner's family is given an honor guard as they exit St. Stan's Church on Saturday. ADAMS, Mass. First-responders turned out in force on Saturday to bid farewell to retired State Trooper Michael Kleiner. Dozens of state police vehicles with lights flashing, local police cruisers, ambulances and fire trucks lined Hoosac Street for his funeral on Saturday for four hours. At least 100 state troopers and other emergency personnel attended calling hours at Paciorek Funeral Home and then marched to St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, led by State Police Col. Kerry Gilpin. Kleiner, 47, was remembered as a "gentle giant" with a penchant for small, fast cars. An officer of the law dedicated to serving and protecting. A great friend focused on improving his community. And a man who spent his final months exploring his faith and searching for answers as he battled cancer. "Mike wasn't a great trooper because the state police trained him, Mike was a great trooper because he was born to be a trooper," said Gene Baker, a retired state trooper who'd first met Kleiner when he was delivering pizzas and Baker was an Adams patrol officer. "He was everything a trooper should be." Kleiner would eventually work Baker's beat on the Adams Police force and then follow his career path into the state police. A career-ending injury on the job in 2016 forced him into retirement after 16 years as a trooper. But instead of having the opportunity to do what he wanted in his retirement, he would turn his investigative skills in trying to fight cancer and searching for answers. The Rev. Steven Montesanti, pastor of St. John Paul II Parish, who with the Rev. A. Peter Gregory, pastor emeritus, of St. Charles Church in Pittsfield, officiated the service, recalled how Kleiner had come to him with questions, approaching his faith, like his disease, by looking at outcomes like a detective. "I was impressed by Michael's profoundly inquisitive mind," he said. "Michael wanted to know about the whole God thing ... he wanted to know how it operates." Montesanti spoke of how the more than 6-foot-tall Kleiner had impressed him: he was a "big guy," he said, with a just-the-facts attitude and a straight-shooter who, if he'd stopped Montesanti, the pastor joked, "I wouldn't have a prayer of getting out of a ticket." Michael Kleiner State Trooper Glenn Lagerwall, who was in the 75th Recruit Training Troop with Kleiner, remembered how his friend had had one of those tough weeks when the instructors seemed to pick him out. Bay of Plenty Our client has plenty of work in the pipeline and as such they are in need of hammerhands for an immediate start.The successful... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz Stillwater, OK (74074) Today Generally cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 75F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low 68F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Its no secret that the major IT and media companies are overwhelmingly and unashamedly predisposed to Liberal ideology. This indisputable fact has made life very hard for the Conservative message to get a fair hearing in the Land of the Free. Moreover, the modern news consumer never knows if he is being told the truth or not. Increasingly, it seems, hes not. And if you listen close enough, there are cries for help emanating from inside and outside the mainstream fortress. Lara Logan, former CBS News foreign correspondent, provided a nice analogy as to how the chips are stacked against conservatives inside of the media jungle. Visually, anyone who has ever been to Israel and been to the Wailing Wall has seen that the women have this tiny little spot in front of the wall to pray, and the rest of the wall is for the men, Logan said in an interview with retired Navy SEAL Mike Ritland. To me, that is a great representation of the American media, in that in this tiny little corner where the women pray, you have Breitbart and Fox News and a few others, and from there on, you have CBS, ABC, NBC, HuffPost, Politico, whatever, right? All of them. Logan acknowledged that her comments guaranteed professional suicide. Aside from Logan, there are a number of fed-up females struggling to get out a message that does not parrot the government-approved Official Story. In an age when outright censorship by private IT companies is dressed up as an act of social responsibility against so-called conspiracy theories, this is no small thing. So without further ado, here is a small sampling of right-minded female voices now rocking the mainstream media boat. With any luck theyll help to sink it. Agree or disagree with their messages and tactics, it cant be denied they provide much-needed new perspective on global events. Tomi Lahren While other teenagers had shopping and dating on their pubescent minds, the fondest memories of this self-described constitutional conservative was discussing political issues around the dinner table. Thus, it came as no surprise to family and friends when Lahern, at the tender age of 22, walked into One America News Network for an interview and walked out with an eponymous political talk show, On Point with Tomi Lahren. What really boosted her popularity, however, aside from having a fallout with Glenn Beck over her views on abortion (anathema to conservative beliefs, she believes women should have a choice in the matter), was a video made in the aftermath of a shooting at two U.S. military recruiting centers in Tennessee by Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez. The clip, which heaped criticism on then president Barack Obama regarding his fight against terrorism, received millions of views and sent Lahrens star to new heights. Lahren now works for Fox News as a contributor. Quotable: LEGAL immigrants and ILLEGALS are very different. Respect the country enough to do it the right way and this country will love you back. Simple! Candace Owens Youve certainly heard of BREXIT, but are you familiar with BLEXIT? Thats the portmanteau Black + Exit being advanced by right-wing commentator Candace Owens, 29, to encourage African Americans to dump the Democratic plantation in favor of the Republican Party. Owens got her start on YouTube, where she built up a respectable following as a political commentator. Her breakout moment came when Kanye West tweeted out seven magical words to his 29.3 followers: I love the way Candace Owens thinks. Now millions of others agree. Owens, who works as communications director of Turning Points USA, a youth group that espouses the principles of conservatism, tours the country thumping for Donald Trump and the Republican cause. Needless to say, not everyone supports her mission. In what must be the high point of irony in her career, The Southern Poverty Law Center, in taking cheap pot shots at Owens, attempted to link Turning Points USA to white supremacy. Quotable: The entire concept of Trumps America is a hoax on minorities being executed by the Left. Its wealthy Democrats attempting to regain power by using blacks and our historical fear of racism. Its important that all minorities raise their emotional IQ, or risk being used. Laura Loomer Formerly a reporter for the Canadian far-right website Rebel Media, Loomer, 25, is better known these days for her disruptive tactics aimed at exposing Liberal hypocrisy. Some have been outright theatrical. For example, she once jumped on stage during a 2017 production of Julius Caesar in New York City where the actor playing the part of the Roman emperor was a dead ringer for Donald Trump. Following the incident, Loomer served a brief stint in prison for disorderly conduct and trespassing, later explaining on Hannity that she was repulsed by the assassination porn being peddled by the Left. In November, she was banned from Twitter after posting controversial comments about Minnesota Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), calling her "anti-Jewish" and belonging to a religion in which "homosexuals are oppressed" and "women are abused." Following her ban, Loomer handcuffed herself to the entrance of Twitter headquarters in New York City while wearing a yellow "Jude" patch. So numerous are her public outbursts that her name has been verbalized loomered approximately meaning to get in someones face while hurling abuse. Quotable: I will stop at nothing to make sure justice is served for the way Silicon Valley has disenfranchised me, falsely accusing me of being a white supremacist, a Nazi, anti-Muslim, a racist, a bigot, and every other smear in the book." Diamond & Silk If youre impression of a Trump supporter is that of a beer-swilling unemployed steelworker from Appalachia who attends Tiki torch White supremacist rallies on the weekends you may wish to watch a Diamond & Silk video to revise your stereotypes. Former lifelong Democrats, the African-American duo (real names Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson) switched political affiliations after they became familiar with Trump and his campaign platform. In an effort to get out their newfound political message, they took to social media and began to make a name for themselves. Following claims that Facebook had banned them for being unsafe to the community, the two women agreed to an invitation by Republican Congressman Steve King to appear before a House Judiciary Committee entitled Filtering Practices of Social Media Platforms. Hardaway (Diamond) told lawmakers that Facebook along with other social media sites have taken aggressive actions to silence conservative voices like ourselves. The pair said Google-owned YouTube had demonetized many of their videos, thereby denying them a livelihood. The major IT companies denied the claims. Aside from appearing alongside Trump at rallies, the women host a website that provides information how Democrats can ditch and switch and support Trump. Quotable: We love and support our President. He's done more for black people than any other President in our lifetime. While others may stab him in the back, we will always have his back! Caitlin Johnstone Born in the land down under, Johnstone employs a devastating writing style as she strives to reveal the hideous features of the American empire that the mainstream media goes out of its way to cosmetically hide. Perhaps the best way to understand Johnstones contribution in the battle against media prejudice is to go right to the source: I write about US politics because thats where I reckon the head of the beast is, Johnstone explains on her blog page. Australia is essentially an intelligence/military asset of the US-centralized international empire, so theres no point writing about Aussie politics if Im interested in helping our species avoid extinction. And thats really the only reason I write. Everything I write these days is focused on pointing to the fact that our world is becoming increasingly dominated by a sociopathic plutocracy with no loyalty to any nation or government, whose power-hungry manipulations keep marching our species toward extinction via nuclear annihilation or climate chaos. Quotable: If CNN is so worried about Russian media influence in America, all theyd have to do is put on a few shows featuring leftist, antiwar and pro-justice voices and that would be the end of it But they dont. They dont, and they never will. Because Russian media influence is not their actual target. Their actual target is leftist, antiwar and anti-establishment voices. Thats what theyre really trying to eliminate. Ann Coulter Coulters prominence as a political commentator and author is so well known it almost seems redundant to speak about it. The mother of anti-Liberal screeds, Coulter, 57, has been annoying Liberals ever since her university days when she walked around Cornell campus wearing fur. The author of a dozen books that carry humble, unassuming titles like, How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter and If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republican, Coulters first book, High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton (1998) launched her into the limelight. Coulter writes a weekly syndicated column where she regularly eviscerates her political opponents with savage wit. Indeed, if there are red lines in political discourse, she crossed them all many years ago. As one of the most controversial examples, she once accused a group of 9/11 widows of reveling in their husbands deaths for political advantage. These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by griefparrazies. I have never seen people enjoying their husbands death so much. Another soft spot for the right-wing opinionator is the illegal immigration situation, which she has argued is decimating the White population. In 1960, whites were 90 percent of the country, she wrote in a 2007 column entitled Bushs America: Roach Hotel. The Census Bureau recently estimated that whites already account for less than two-thirds of the population and will be a minority by 2050. Other estimates put that day much sooner. Today, with the immigration issue continuing to fracture the country, not even Donald Trump is safe from her wicked broadsides. Trump has declared a national emergency and stated his intent to use military funds to build the wall, Coulter wrote this week. This is absolutely the right thing to do. Now that all other opportunities have been egregiously squandered over the past two years, it is, in fact, the only hope left. Trump responded by saying, I like her, but shes off the reservation. We can only imagine what the title of her next book will be. Quotable: "You can always count on Liberals to root for savages against civilization." Blonde in the Belly of the Beast Yes, you read that right. This rising YouTube star (real name Rebecca Hargraves), with over 100,000 subscribers, dissects everything that is wrong with feminism, gender relations, the modern media, and a number of other modern maladies affecting Western civilization. In other words, this womans views are not for the faint of heart social justice warrior. In one of her early videos, entitled Living in Libtard, USA, Hargraves expressed her candid views on males in Western society. They have been emasculated, she argues, to the point where they dress effeminately, have effeminate voices, and they cannot hear any contrary ideas without being absolutely personally offended. And what is the ultimate source of this grand male fail? According to Hargraves, the problem is rooted in the fact that all of us have been raised by a generation of idiot feminists who never taught their children about gender differences. The video received an overwhelming number of positive responses among thousands of comments. For anyone who believes blondes cannot juggle deep thoughts, I leave you with this quote to ponder over. Quotable: College kids arent capable of independent thought any more. They view the world through the lens of potential offense not intellectual curiosity or self-development as was formerly the objective of academia before its Marxist takeover. Faith Goldy In this Whos Who list, last does not necessarily mean least. Not by a long shot. Goldy, 29, is a smart and savvy woman of Canadian nationality who has worked for a number of media publications, including The Catholic Register, the Toronto Sun and The Blaze. However, it is her views on illegal immigration which she argues is having a detrimental effect on Canadas budget, not to mention the native population that put her not only on the media radar, but the political as well. Tired of watching politics as usual, she decided to run for Mayor in the 2018 Toronto election on a platform of fixing the citys infrastructure and removing illegal immigrants from the city. Despite encountering obstacles every step of the way, she managed to place a very respectable third place. Goldy graciously agreed to answer some questions regarding her views, as well as her first foray into the world of politics. Q. As a Canadian citizen, you participated in the 2018 Toronto mayor's race. What was the biggest lesson you learned from that experience? What motivated you to get involved in politics? Will you continue to seek political office? FG: What motivated me to run for political office was our lack of good options. The incumbent turned Toronto into a sanctuary city and allowed our citys murder rates to climb above New Yorks As a voter, I didnt have an option on the ballot which reflected my wishes to but Torontonians first, so I decided to become that option! The biggest lesson I learned from my run: The system is rigged. Despite consistently polling in the top three, I was banned from debates, mainstream media refused to cover me, and my television ads were illegally barred from running on cable news. To boot, when I took Bell Media to court for illegally banning my ads (in what should have been an open-and-shut case) a judge threw my case out despite admitting his jurisdiction. All told, the ordeal to just be treated like every other candidate with the right to free speech and a fair shot at election cost me $93,000! Q. You have been known to support tough anti-immigration policies for Canada, and this has caused some people to label you 'xenophobic' and a 'White nationalist.' When you are confronted by such accusations, how do you explain your position to people? FG: Such terms are a tool of oppression, used to intimidate normal people and shut them up. Well, Im not intimidated! And I wont shut up! We are living in an upside down world where citizens are expected to fork over half their earnings to pay for undemocratic, reckless open-border policies as opposed to using their hard-earned income to grow and support their own families! And things are only going to get worse for national populations. The trajectory our governments thrust us on, without our consent, is unsustainable and they know it. The question is: Will enough of us wake up to the fact were sacrificing our futures on the altar of diversity and pathological altruism, quick enough to do something about it? Q. Is there a lot of public opposition in Canada to the hyper-Liberal attitudes (both on the cultural and political front) now sweeping not only Canada, but much of the West? Public opposition is growing, especially in the West and Quebec. The trouble is: [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau is cracking down on opposition. Hes in the process of issuing a media bailout (read: bribe) so to incentivize the failing mainstream media to provide him with positive coverage. And, hes just announced a federal policy to crack down on so-called fake news, which will no doubt simply apply to critical media which he couldnt buy off. Q. How do you see Canada in 25 years? FG: Canada was the first nation to institute a police of state-enforced multiculturalism and currently the country is facing the fastest rate of ethnic change in the world. Mass migration and multiculturalism has been a bipartisan project and I expect few of the major parties will take a stand against it as we continue to recruit from non-traditional source countries for migration. I anticipate political polarization and identity politics will reach fever pitch as immigration overtakes natural replacement rate and Old Stock Canadians become a minority in their own country. Are Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton and (farcically titled) Special Envoy for Restoring Democracy to Venezuela Elliott Abrams agents of influence for Russia and China? The idea has a lot more going for it than most of the ridiculous paranoia sweeping Washington over the past years. If Russia and China really wanted to subvert the national security of the United States, they would seek to plunge Washington into a completely new, open-ended war with no practical resolution in sight on another continent far away from either of them where the United States itself had absolutely no major strategic interests at all, apart from fantasies of domination and greed. Such a war would also serve the purpose of burning up an increasing share of the defense budget that otherwise could be spent on modernizing the US armed forces. Repeated congressional testimony over the past two years by Service chiefs confirms that these forces remain woefully aging and out of date despite record size defense budgets. This is testimony to the incompetence, corruption and sheer wastefulness of the military-industrial-congressional-complex (MICC). Most of all, such a war would weaken the US armed forces and distract them from what is now supposed to be their primary strategic goal, as set out by the Trump administration itself of focusing on great power competition, primarily with Russia and China. The sudden obsession with provoking a full-scale military confrontation with Venezuela does not fit this ambitious agenda: Instead it subverts it and guarantees US failure and defeat. Pompeo and Bolton appear to have successfully sold the Venezuela adventure to President Donald Trump on the grounds of eliminating Russias main friendly nation in the Western hemisphere that has hosted flights by Tuploev160 supersonic White Swan nuclear strike aircraft, the best strategic bombers in the world. However, it is clear that Trump was sold a bill of goods and that Bolton and Pompeo are energetically pushing for mission creep to eventually insert major US military forces in Venezuela to topple legitimate President Nicolas Maduro and replace him with the farcical National Assembly Speaker Juan Guiado. The US Fourth Fleet has been activated in the Caribbean and Bolton has been preparing to deploy thousands of US ground forces in neighboring Columbia which incidentally continues to pose a far greater threat to US national security by its cocaine production and exports than Venezuela has ever done. But why are they doing it? Venezuelas vast oil supplies certainly make a tempting target. But previous US efforts at regime change, most notably in Iraq and Afghanistan have proven woefully incompetent in securing control of their victims strategic resources, much less organizing them for profit. The British Empire which seized and ran Irans oil resources for more than 40 years from 1911 to 1953 and Iraqs from 1918 to 1958 proved vastly more efficient in its day at arranging such matters. On the other hand, the recklessness and indeed plain stupidity of charging into Venezuela and risking opening up an endless war in a tropical jungle environment for the first time in half a century since Vietnam ought to be obvious to the National Security Adviser of the United States. US forces remain overstretched and exhausted, caught up in major unending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and sucked into highly dangerous commitments in Georgia and Ukraine and the Baltic States any of which could escalate through recklessness or sheer incompetence into global war. The US armed forces desperately need a time of peace and retrenchment such as they enjoyed under President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s and President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s to rest, recover and re-equip themselves. But Bolton, with his usual explosive cocktail combination of recklessness, gambling and hard-charging ignorance is not giving them that. Bolton and his neocon coconspirators have always narcissistically prided themselves on being strategic geniuses much as Wile E Coyote, the endlessly hapless comic buffoon of the classic Warner Brothers Road Runner cartoons always did. Instead, in reality they have always been catastrophic clowns who did not have a clue what they were stumbling into. Venezuela is repeating that classic nightmare pattern. A quarter of a millennium ago, a real strategic genius King Frederick the Great (Friedrich der Gross) of Prussia cautioned, He who tries to defend everything defends nothing. One hundred and twenty years ago, the masters of the British Empire preserved their far-flung domains by applying the same principle: They settled all their outstanding differences with Russia and Japan in order to focus on the one primary existential threat arising for them with Imperial Germanys construction of a new High Seas Fleet. However, Bolton, Pompeo and their minions are deaf to such precedents. They reckon themselves far wiser than old King Frederick or than Winston Churchill, who appealed in vain through the 1930s for Britain to forge an alliance with the Soviet Union and resolve its differences with Italy in order to focus on the one true threat to everyone Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime in Germany. Getting involved in Venezuela does much more to weaken US power in Afghanistan, Eastern Europe and the Middle East than anything the governments of Russia, China and Iran combined could come up with, even if they wanted to. It is a classic case of strategic overstretch and dissipation of effort. Bolton and his friends have become victims of their own rhetoric, drunk on their own mad delusions. They really believe that the United States has become an eternal hyper-power, virtually omnipotent and inexhaustible able to project limitless power in every direction simultaneously. Friedrich Nietzsche was right: Those who the gods would destroy, they first make mad. Who and where Shirley Lodes of Highland stands in front of an old home located outside the Central Museum of Textiles in Lodz, Poland. The trip Lodes traveled to Poland in August to visit friends who live in Skotniki, which is just outside of Lodz. Travel tip Poland has had a remarkable and stormy history, with it being invaded by the Germans during WWII and then being ruled by the Communists until 1990. There is still evidence of that in the architecture in the cities. The weather is changeable, so dress in layers and carry an umbrella. Contribute Email your photo to stlpost@gmail.com. Include the full names of everyone in the photo, including where they are from and where you are standing in the photo. Also include your address and phone number. Please also tell us a little about the trip and a travel tip. Were looking for interesting, well-composed, well-lighted photos. GET OUT OF TOWN with our weekly newsletter full of tips, tales and reviews. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Beware! The wealthy and well-connected are trumpeting the benefits of Better Together. But theyre selling a pig in a poke to citizens of St. Louis city and county. The consolidation of the city, county and municipal police departments is one of the many things being hawked by Better Together. Better Together hired the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington, D.C., think tank, to survey police services in St. Louis city and county. The group's examination of police services was extensive. Their subsequent report, Overcoming the Challenges and Creating a Regional Approach to Policing in St. Louis City and County, is dated April 30, 2015. Some key findings of the report: St. Louis city and many municipalities have high rates of crime; policing is fragmented; police standards vary greatly; and that these and other issues are hurting St. Louis. The report offered many recommendations to fix the problems. The think tank writes in conclusion: Our study revealed a complex policing and justice environment that cannot be fixed by any one measure, such as consolidating all of the police agencies in the city and county. They recommend consolidation of certain municipal departments, which would result in three police clusters in the county. "Jobs in the front of house are, by British people, seen as a stopgap, something that you do at university or looking for another job. On the continent it seems much more like a career choice," he said. "A restaurant manager is France is regarded in the same way as a bank manager so it's taken very seriously." The UK government has promised that the 3.7 million non-British Europeans already living in the UK would be allowed to stay post-Brexit but Brown worries about the cost of any potential work visas for his staff. "If suddenly we had to help all our staff pay tons of money in visas, if we had to lose a lot of staff really quickly it would be a massive hurdle for us to get over in a restaurant," he said. "The thing is more the uncertainty," Brown said. "I mean I probably know as much as the government about Brexit, which is nothing." With just over a month to go until "Brexit Day" -- Britain's planned departure from the EU on March 29 -- uncertainty stains what the EU-UK divorce will actually look like, how it will work or whether it will happen. From port to plate, wading through fishing rights, trade taxes and immigration controls, looking at British seafood it's obvious why. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris said that she wants special counsel Robert Mueller's forthcoming report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election to be made public and that "we be as transparent as possible." "This is an extraordinary moment in terms of the need that the special counsel has to investigate the conduct of the President of the United States' campaign and issues surrounding it. I believe that given, in particular, all the misinformation that we can, I think, rightly believe we've heard, that it is important that the American public receive as much information and that we be as transparent as possible," Harris told CNN's John King in an interview that aired Sunday. "I am an advocate for transparency. I am an advocate for a public report. And certainly that we in the United States Congress would receive all of the supporting information, be it in a classified hearing or not," she added. The highly anticipated report has been making headlines as elected officials and the public await the conclusion of Mueller's investigation and the findings of it. The University City council will consider at its meeting Monday a resolution to officially oppose the pro-merger advocacy group Better Togethers plan to consolidate St. Louis, St. Louis County and the countys 88 municipalities, which include University City. The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. The resolution says that Better Together seeks to impose significant and potentially damaging changes on municipalities through a statewide vote and resolves to oppose that vote. It also urges the St. Louis County Council and the St. Louis Board of Aldermen to pass similar resolutions. University City was one of many St. Louis County municipalities that sent Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway a letter in recent weeks alleging that Better Togethers proposal would result in a substantial deficit in the citys budget. The state auditors office is charged with estimating the fiscal impact of initiative petitions. Separate from that diversion, Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, proposed carving as much as $12 million out of the Fast Track line item for core university funding, but abandoned the effort before it came to a vote. University of Missouri System President Mun Choi told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday that he wished the state would increase core funding as well as offer new scholarship programs. Though public colleges and universities likely wont see a cut to core funding this year, core funding has flat-lined. We need more money for scholarships, Choi said. We also need more money for core budget. Rep. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, said a new, bipartisan MU Caucus would seek to keep funding levels for public universities constant this year, as per Parsons budget recommendation. My hope is that we can sustain what the governor has recommended, he said. Theyve trimmed all the fat that they can trim, Razer said. In the future, my hope is that we can start finding a way to get more resources to our institutions. The top diplomat for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro denied Friday that soldiers were involved in deadly clashes with indigenous people near his countrys border with Brazil, while Venezuelas US-backed self-proclaimed acting president, Juan Guaido, made a surprise appearance at a star-studded benefit concert in Colombia. What happened this morning has nothing to do with the versions that have circulated. In fact, some of the wounded are wounded by sharp weapons, machetes, even arrows, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza told a press conference at UN headquarters. The weapons used do not correspond to those carried by Venezuelan soldiers, Arreaza said, denouncing what he called a strategy of blaming Maduro for anything bad that happens in Venezuela. He warned that the United States and its allies will try to blame the Maduro government for anything untoward that may occur on Saturday as supporters of Guaido try to bring US aid into the country over the objections of authorities. The original report of two deaths in the southeastern Venezuelan state of Bolivia came from an opposition lawmaker. The deaths came amid clashes that began after Maduro ordered the closure of the Brazil border in a bid to block the entry of humanitarian aid, Americo De Grazia said. Rolando Garcia ... is the second fatal victim of (National Guard) Gen. Jose Montoyas criminal operation, De Grazia said on Twitter, adding that three other individuals had suffered serious gunshot wounds Members of the Pemon indigenous group clashed with soldiers to prevent them from blocking the cross-border flow of aid, according to De Grazia. Maduro refuses to permit the aid to cross the border, saying it is a Trojan horse for a US-led military intervention. He also has said he is considering closing the border with Colombia, where more aid supplies have been stockpiled. Venezuelas armed forces have remained solidly behind Maduro even though the US and dozens of other countries recognize Guaido as interim head of state. Donations of aid from the US and other countries are being stockpiled in Colombia and Brazil, as well as the island of Curacao. The largest concentration of aid is in the Colombian border city of Cucuta, which was also the venue for Fridays Venezuela Aid Live concert, organized by British billionaire Richard Branson. Guaido arrived in Cucuta late Friday in time for the finale of the show meant to raise money for humanitarian relief in Venezuela. The speaker of Venezuelas opposition-controlled National Assembly was embraced by the presidents of Colombia, Ivan Duque; Chile, Sebastian Pinera; and Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benitez; and by Organization of American States chief Luis Almagro, who spent the day in Cucuta for the Venezuela Aid Live event. Guaido, the trio of presidents and Almagro made their way through the crowd and took spots in front of the stage to watch Colombian superstar Juanes and Venezuelan performers Chyno Miranda finish their set. This is the first time Guaido has set foot outside Venezuela since declaring himself acting head of state on Jan. 23. Venezuelas Supreme Court, which is allied with Maduro, barred Guaido from leaving the country while he remains under investigation for his attempt to seize power. A video posted online showed Guaido and a handful of aides and supporters jogging across a bridge linking Venezuela to Colombia. Thank you. Here we are. This bridge is mine. We can, we can, of course we can, Guaido is heard to say as he advances toward Colombia. The concert took place at the Colombian end of the Tienditas bridge, a modern span completed in 2016 that has never been opened to traffic. Warehouses in Cucuta are holding 600 tons of humanitarian aid meant to be brought into Venezuela on Saturday. The aid has been provided by the US and other countries in response to an appeal from Guaido. Organizers said that more than 200,000 people attended the concert, whose stated aim was to raise $100 million within 60 days to be used for assistance to Venezuela. The 32 performers from Argentina, Colombia, Spain, the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Sweden and Venezuela agreed to donate their time and talent to the project, Branson said. Bransons friend Bruno Ocampo, a Colombian businessman, said that the idea for Venezuela Aid Live took shape during a video-conference among him, Branson, Guaido and Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who remains under house arrest for his role in an abortive 2002 coup against Maduros predecessor, Hugo Chavez , and in violent anti-government protests in 2014. Venezuelas opposition, as well as much of the international community, regards Maduros May 2018 re-election victory to be fraudulent. Besides the US, the major European nations - save Italy - are among the roughly 50 governments that have recognized Guaido. Several dozen other countries, including Russia, China and India, continue to recognize Maduro as Venezuelas president. The new meeting of the Chief Veterinary Officers (CVO) organized during Romania's Presidency at the European Union Council will take place in March and the main focus will be bio-security as a unitary strategy for the surveillance and protection of animal health in the EU. "A new meeting of the Chief Veterinary Officers will take place in March and the topic we have chosen is bio-security in the context of the African swine fever that claims the bio-security point-related problems, whether we are talking about bio-security at the level of the populations' courtyards, households or at the level of professional holdings of different sizes. Romania's situation is unique, as more than 75 percent of the pigs raised in households of all the member states are in our country. If we take a look on a map, anywhere we see human settlements we also can find pigs. Under these conditions, it is extremely difficult to manage a disease that spreads so powerfully. In this context, bio-security, the only one that can provide us general protection, comes out again in the foreground," President of the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) Geronimo Branescu told AGERPRES. He argues that currently in Romania, it's very difficult to apply bio-security measures in people's courtyards, but he believes that "in an immediate future, those who want to breed pigs will adapt."The conclusions of the last mission carried out by European experts in Romania on this subject showed that low bio-security measures in the pig breeding system in the households and insufficient control of animal movement, namely the trade and transport of pigs without respecting sanitary veterinary legislation, are among the most important risk factors.In Romania, the African swine fever currently is reported in 299 localities from 21 counties, with 1,131 outbreaks (18 of which in commercial farms), and in other two counties cases have been reported only for wild boars. In total, 365,197 pigs affected by the disease were eliminated. Over 1,007 cases were identified in wild boars.Also, the ANSVSA President underscored the importance of the provisional agreement obtained under Romania's Presidency regarding the proposal for a Regulation on the General Food Law, one of the most difficult files in this area.In his view, "the burden on this file has passed," and at present, the proposal for a regulation has reached translation stages in the EU official languages. "After the translation, the proposal will be presented to the plenary of the European Parliament for adoption, the estimated date being the end of March, after which it will go for publication and come into force with the deadlines agreed in the regulation. This was a very difficult file because we are talking about a law that will basically govern, from now on, food at the level of the European Union market," the ANSVSA official added.Last but not least, Branescu said that the regulation of the issue of double standards of food quality does not come within the European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE), but in consumer protection, which watches unfair commercial practices.He also said that Romania has succeeded in introducing the issue of food safety into the upcoming meetings of the CVO.According to the quoted source, during 12 and 14 June, the CVO Informal Working Group will be held in Romania, when all 27 EU Veterinary Officers will come to Romania."It will be the first time in Romania's history when chiefs of the EU veterinary services will gather in Romania and we will discuss in Bucharest and Constanta the problems on the agenda," ANSVSA President Geronimo Branescu concluded. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila met on Sunday in Bucharest with Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, with the Romanian PM expressing the special interest of the Government in Bucharest to promote cooperation with the Arab states. "Within the talks, the Romanian Executive head conveyed the special interest of the Government in Bucharest to promote cooperation with the Arab states, highlighted in the 2017-2020 Governing Programme. When referring to the special friendship relations between Romania and the Gulf Cooperation Council member states, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila reiterated the entire availability of Romania's Government to increase their level to a new degree of development. Moreover, she evoked the visits paid to the United Arab Emirates, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman and the State of Qatar, which were carried out between October and November 2018, context in which she commended the openness and interest showed in respect to strengthening and diversifying cooperation with Romania," a Government release informs. The two officials discussed about the collaboration prospects in areas of shared interest and tackled the possibility of creating some mutually beneficial partnerships. Moreover, they voiced support for a better connection of the business milieus of Romania and Gulf countries, as well as for capitalising on the business opportunities offered to the respective states."At the end of the meeting, Romania's Prime Minister underscored her appreciation for the Gulf Cooperation Council activity, as a highly important organisation for the regional security architecture, showing that Romania enjoys traditional collaboration relations with all the member states of the Council. In this context, the head of the Romanian Executive pointed out that Romania, the holder of the rotating Presidency of the EU Council will further endorse the EU efforts to promote peace and stability in the Middle East region," the quoted source mentions. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila invites on Monday, at the Victoria Parliament, one representative of each magistrates' associations, as well as of the the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM), in view of discussing the legislation in the justice area, a Government release informs. "Taking into account the opinions expressed in the public space by different professional associations of the juridical milieu, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila invites on Monday, 25 February 2019, at 15:30hrs, at the Victoria Palace, one representative of each magistrates' associations, as well as representatives of the CSM, for discussions on the legislation in the judicial area. Furthermore, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila assures the magistrates' associations of the Government's entire availability to endorse all the institutions in the judicial system in act of making fair justice, with the observance of all fundamental rights of the citizens," the quoted source informs. Prosecutors and judges of several cities organised or announced to organise protests in the upcoming period against the emergency ordinance initiated by Justice Minister Tudorel Toader, including by suspending their judicial activity.The Government adopted on Tuesday an emergency ordinance amending the Justice Laws, which refers, among other things, to the mandates in high offices at the Public Prosecution Service. Flu has killed 149 people so far this season. The latest fatality is a 39-year old man of Prahova County, who was confirmed to have had the type-A flu virus. According to a release issued by the National Centre for Communicable Disease Supervision and Control with the National of Public Health Institute, the man hadn't preexisting medical conditions and had not been vaccinated against flu. The plenary sitting of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) will convene on Monday, at 10:00hrs, solely to discuss the effects of adopting OUG No.7/2019, in view of the necessary demarches to be taken, the CSM press office informed. "The Superior Council of Magistracy assures, in this way, both the body of magistrates and the public opinion, of its constant concern for strengthening the status of the judge and prosecutor position, necessary to effectively protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens," the announcement posted on the website of the CSM shows. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila invited on Monday at the Victoria Palace, one representative of each magistrates' associations, as well as CSM representatives to discuss on the legislation in the justice area, a Government release informed. Blog Archive Apr 2010 (22) May 2010 (25) Jun 2010 (8) Jul 2010 (12) Aug 2010 (18) Sep 2010 (19) Oct 2010 (29) Nov 2010 (30) Dec 2010 (18) Jan 2011 (13) Feb 2011 (21) Mar 2011 (23) Apr 2011 (19) May 2011 (31) Jun 2011 (36) Jul 2011 (46) Aug 2011 (26) Sep 2011 (12) Oct 2011 (15) Nov 2011 (17) Dec 2011 (7) Jan 2012 (18) Feb 2012 (4) Mar 2012 (12) Apr 2012 (18) May 2012 (10) Jun 2012 (21) Jul 2012 (8) Aug 2012 (15) Sep 2012 (7) Oct 2012 (17) Nov 2012 (20) Dec 2012 (10) Jan 2013 (58) Feb 2013 (59) Mar 2013 (60) Apr 2013 (98) May 2013 (135) Jun 2013 (204) Jul 2013 (293) Aug 2013 (351) Sep 2013 (363) Oct 2013 (348) Nov 2013 (374) Dec 2013 (442) Jan 2014 (547) Feb 2014 (476) Mar 2014 (526) Apr 2014 (527) May 2014 (469) Jun 2014 (408) Jul 2014 (472) Aug 2014 (522) Sep 2014 (443) Oct 2014 (472) Nov 2014 (497) Dec 2014 (536) Jan 2015 (539) Feb 2015 (520) Mar 2015 (582) Apr 2015 (658) May 2015 (679) Jun 2015 (673) Jul 2015 (728) Aug 2015 (803) Sep 2015 (923) Oct 2015 (924) Nov 2015 (802) Dec 2015 (791) Jan 2016 (782) Feb 2016 (835) Mar 2016 (929) Apr 2016 (866) May 2016 (947) Jun 2016 (1044) Jul 2016 (882) Aug 2016 (1035) Sep 2016 (967) Oct 2016 (918) Nov 2016 (854) Dec 2016 (885) Jan 2017 (881) Feb 2017 (777) Mar 2017 (897) Apr 2017 (872) May 2017 (851) Jun 2017 (851) Jul 2017 (971) Aug 2017 (1040) Sep 2017 (998) Oct 2017 (1144) Nov 2017 (1046) Dec 2017 (838) Jan 2018 (873) Feb 2018 (769) Mar 2018 (885) Apr 2018 (809) May 2018 (827) Jun 2018 (820) Jul 2018 (840) Aug 2018 (854) Sep 2018 (844) Oct 2018 (852) Nov 2018 (870) Dec 2018 (912) Jan 2019 (919) Feb 2019 (827) Mar 2019 (957) Apr 2019 (913) May 2019 (1007) Jun 2019 (935) Jul 2019 (950) Aug 2019 (936) Sep 2019 (910) Oct 2019 (920) Nov 2019 (874) Dec 2019 (908) Jan 2020 (942) Feb 2020 (849) Mar 2020 (898) Apr 2020 (848) May 2020 (822) Jun 2020 (789) Jul 2020 (819) Aug 2020 (858) Sep 2020 (841) Oct 2020 (873) Nov 2020 (812) Dec 2020 (780) Jan 2021 (765) Feb 2021 (716) Mar 2021 (819) Apr 2021 (805) May 2021 (815) Jun 2021 (744) La familia de Chris Watts: Revela como el esposo ahorco a su pareja y arrojo a sus ninas en un tanque de petroleo para quedarse con su amante The U.S. ethanol industry faces serious challenges at present, given a combination of factors: production that has exceeded demand, low selling prices, hefty Chinese tariffs and delays by the federal government in enabling year-round sales of a 15 percent ethanol blend nationwide. The U.S. ethanol industry was rocked by low prices in 2018, the University of Illinois said in a recent report, especially in the second half of the year when prices reached their lowest levels in over a decade. Although domestic and export use for U.S. ethanol increased since 2014, both production capacity and actual production have increased even faster, the report said. For example, ethanol production in the U.S. looks to have topped 16 billion gallons for the first time in 2018, and this has simply been too much for the domestic and export fuel markets to absorb. Ethanol firms have responded by lowering production in recent months. The University of Illinois study looked at multi-year investment returns and concluded that the ethanol sector remains a sensible investment opportunity, despite current complications: Ethanol plants have a more than respectable record of investment performance over the last dozen years. Quinn faces up to five terms of life in prison plus 177 years at his sentencing on Sept. 15. "I want to thank the victim for having the strength to come forward with the truth," Attorney General Doug Peterson said. CHADRON The Nebraska Sheep and Goat Producers Association and Nebraska Extension are hosting a lambing kidding school, Saturday March 2, at 9 a.m. in the Chadron Fire Hall. The school consists of six presentations and a hands-on tour. Presentations include: How to keep ewes and does healthy through disease control and treatment presented via webinar by Dr. Brian Vander Ley, DVM and Veterinary Epidemiologist at the UNL Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center Economical Feeding programs for the doe presented by Dr. Steve Hart, Goat Extension Specialist with Langston University, Tulsa, Oklahoma Movi bacteria and how to prevent it in sheep herds presented by Laura McHale, Wildlife Biologist with South Dakota State University Economical Feeding programs for the ewe presented by Dr. Ivan Rush, sheep producer, Scottsbluff Good Sheep Management Practices presented by David Ollila, Sheep Specialist, SDSU Rapid City, South Dakota. Treating Chilled Newborns presented by Dr. Regina Renkin, DVM, and Vicki Milner, Crawford Companion Animal Clinic Alands Penningautomatforening (Paf) has seen a number of important supply deals with gaming specialists in recent months. The online casino operator, still licensed and controlled by the regional government of Aland, has been keen to increase its portfolio, especially given possible future changes in Finnish gambling laws that could mean increased licencing opportunities for foreign competitors. The most recent tie-up is with Pragmatic Play, an award-winning games developer with around 80 titles in its portfolio. Paf will have access to all of those games in Pragmatic Plays library, including well-known titles like Da Vincis Treasure and Great Rhino. However, Finnish slots fans will likely be most excited about being able to play one of the hottest slots around: Wolf Gold. It won Best Slot Game at the 2018 Malta Gaming Awards, a notable achievement giving the huge number of slots being released on an annual basis. Possibly going under the radar, however, is Pragmatic Plays interest in the live gaming market. The company recently acquired control of Extreme Live Gaming, one of the big players in live dealer solutions. This format of playing real dealer casino games, where live streams and console technology allow players to play with real dealers, is growing in importance, both in the minds of players and operators. Having the tie-up with Pragmatic Play will only enhance Pafs position as the possibilities of live gaming are further explored. Gaming deals boost operators However, in the face of increased competition from bigger European rivals, Paf has had made other moves in recent times to beef up its portfolio. Most notably, it signed up to a licensing agreement with Yggdrasil in late October of last year. Yggdrasil is relatively new to the world of casino games development, having been founded in 2013, but it has quickly become one of the fashionable names in the industry. Screen-grab from Yggdrasil's new game Boost Technology can improve player experience Aside from Yggdrasils game library, which includes hugely popular slots like Vikings Go to Hell and Lucha Maniacs, Paf will also benefit from the access to Yggdrasils Boost technology. This is a series of in-game promotional tools that can make for a better experience for the casino players, as well as allowing for operators to take advantage of cross-selling opportunities. In the end, Pafs mission to expand its portfolio seems like a good thing, both for the company and players based in Finland. Finnish gaming laws have long been a bone of contention between Finland and the EU, with the former seemingly reluctant to let foreign operators muscle in on the local market. There have always been loopholes though, with many Finnish players playing at European casinos like those listed above. Yet, expanding its portfolio means that Paf can offer more to players should they choose to play with the Aland-based company, or simply that Paf is better prepared should Finland follow Sweden by opening up its licensing opportunities to foreign competitors. Paul Kostner 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 X iaomi kicked off Mobile World Congress today with the global launch of its new Mi 9 smartphone, the first time the company has ever launched a phone at the annual European tech conference. The successor to last years Mi 8 Pro, the new phone has a whopping 48-megapixel camera and features Qualcomms new Snapdragon 855 chip. As well as the new Mi 9 device, the Chinese tech company also unveiled a 5G version of the Mi Mix 3, its sliding smartphone released in Europe in January this year. Also fitted with the Snapdragon 855 chip, these are two of the first devices to feature Qualcomms new tech. Speaking at the launch in MWC, Xiaomis senior VP Wang Xiang said: Xiaomi has spent tremendous efforts developing a 5G smartphone solution and Mi MIX 3 5G represents Xiaomis quest to create innovative products for everyone. "We are also delighted and honoured to be working with our partners to make 5G a reality for even more users all over the world, he added. Heres what you need to know about the new Xiaomi flagship and the 5G updates for the Mi Mix 3. Mobile World Congress 2019: What to expect Xiaomi Mi 9: Design A solid entry in the Xiaomi smartphone line-up, the new Mi 9 has a 6.39-inch Super AMOLED screen with a tiny teardrop notch to house the front camera, protected by Gorilla Glass 6 which means it should be virtually unbreakable. That teardrop notch also means there is a lot more screen to the Mi 9, and the chin at the bottom of the device has been minimised too. It has an all-curved back glass cover design to fit comfortably in your hand. The curved design means that it offers an iridescent light effect, which is visually pleasing in the lavender violet and ocean blue colours. Xiaomi also says the curved back was inspired by the work of Antoni Gaudi, apt given this phone is receiving its global launch in Barcelona. Xiaomi Mi 9: Camera Xiaomi is going big on the camera with the Mi 9, adding an extra lens to the back of the device, one 48-megapixel main lens, an ultra wide 16-megapixel lens and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens with two times optical zoom. The selfie camera on the front is 20-megapixels. This isnt the first 48-megapixel camera to come out this year, Honor took that crown with the View 20 back in January. However, all those megapixels dont necessarily lead to a better camera. In fact, when comparing the View 20 to Xiaomis Mi Mix 3 device, which has two 12-megapixel lenses, images take on the Mi Mix 3 came out better than the View 20. The Mi Mix 3 appeared to capture the colours and clarity better in the images, whereas the View 20 shots tended to look over-edited and grainy. Itll be interesting to put this camera to the test. Xiaomi Mi 9: Specs Theres an in-screen fingerprint scanner, a feature were coming to expect from our smartphones now. It has been improved from last years Mi 8 Pro so the scanner now unlocks the phone up to 25 per cent faster than before. As Xiaomi makes Android devices, the phone features Android 9 operating system, with Xiaomi's MUI skin. That new Qualcomm chip means the device should have a better battery life and improved performance compared to last years phones. As well, the device has a 3,300mAH battery and features a 20W Mi wireless charging pad, which can fully charge the device in only 90 minutes - which is pretty fast as far as wireless charging goes. The Mi 9 will be available in two variants: 6GB RAM with 64GB of storage, and 6GB RAM with 128GB storage. Xiaomi Mi 9: Release date and price The price for the Xiaomi Mi 9 device is from 449 for the 64GB version and from 499 for the 128GB variant - UK pricing will be confirmed soon. This puts the device in the same price range as last years Mi 8 Pro, but with improved features, keeping with Xiaomis promise to make innovation affordable. It will be available to buy from February 28 across Europe or from mi.com What about Mi Mix 3 5G? The specs for the Mi Mix 3 5G are largely the same as last years device, just with the addition of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chip to give the phone the 5G edge. Its a little bit more expensive than the non-5G version, retailing with a starting price of 599 - yet thats still only 100 more or so than the device without the next generation in mobile technology. UK pricing will be confirmed soon. We dont know yet how much the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G version will cost, but it will likely be a whole lot more than this. The new Mi Mix 3 5G will be available to buy in May in two colours: Onyx Black and Sapphire Blue. The company is partnering with Three and Vodafone so expect to see the device on their respective networks in a few months, The Mi Mix 3 comes in two colours: black and blue / Xiaomi Xiaomi also took the time at its MWC conference to reveal it now has 224 million monthly active users of its MUI device worldwide. Its an impressive feat for a company that only reached the European market last year. It looks like Xiaomi is coming for the big smartphones guns and is ready for the challenge. P ETA has sparked a huge backlash after posting a series of tweets criticising TV conservationist Steve Irwin on what would have been his 57th birthday. The animal rights group condemned the decision by Google to create a doodle celebrating the life of the Australian, who was best known for his Crocodile Hunter series. PETA said Irwin spent his career "harassing" animals that should be "left alone in their natural habitats". The Australian was killed by a stingray in 2006. PETA has been slammed by Steve Irwin's fans / Getty In a tweet to their one million followers, the group said: "Steve Irwin was killed while harassing a ray; he dangled his baby while feeding a crocodile & wrestled wild animals who were minding their own business. "Todays Google Doodle sends a dangerous, fawning message. Wild animals are entitled to be left alone in their natural habitats. "Steve Irwins actions were not on target with his supposed message of protecting wildlife. A real wildlife expert & someone who respects animals for the individuals they are leaves them to their own business in their natural homes. "It is harassment to drag exotic animals, including babies taken from their mothers, around from TV talk shows to conferences & force them to perform as Steve Irwin did. "Animals deserve to live as they want to, not as humans demand - the Google Doodle should represent that." PETA has since said it stands by its words, despite criticism from across the world. Many people branded the organisation "insensitive" and disrespectful". American author Maureen Johnson responded: "Steve Irwin and his family reclaim land for animals and run a massive wildlife rescue. "His life mission was to save animals and educate people about them. Im one of many vegetarians who rip out their hair when PETA weighs in. Shame on you." South African actress Lesly-Ann Brandt said: "That man dedicated his life to saving Australian wildlife and he is still doing so from the grave as Ive seen first hand while visiting Australia over the years. "You guys need choose your battles wisely. Attacking Steve Irwin does not save animals." One Twitter user said: "Steve Irwin got up close and personal with wildlife (at the risk of his own safety) to show us, the sheltered masses, the beauty, majesty, and amazing things to be found in nature. "You, PETA, are just a bunch of sharks who feed on controversy while doing nothing useful." "PETA shoots itself in the foot with posts like this. Steve Irwin got a generation of kids interested in animals," added another. Another wrote: "I'm vegan & Steve Irwin taught me & countless others of my gen a lot about animals. He sparked our curiosity & interest in wildlife. He made education on them accessible. N orth Korea has issued a warning to Donald Trump, telling him not to listen to US critics who were disrupting efforts to improve ties. President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are set to meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday for their second summit in eight months. Last June in Singapore, the two leaders pledged to work towards the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. But their vaguely worded agreement has produced few results and U.S. Democratic senators and U.S. security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions. The North's KCNA state news agency said such opposition was aimed at derailing the talks. "If the present U.S. administration reads others' faces, lending an ear to others, it may face the shattered dream of the improvement of the relations with the DPRK and world peace and miss the rare historic opportunity," the news agency said in a commentary, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The Trump administration has pressed the North to give up its nuclear weapons programme, which, combined with its missile capabilities, pose a threat to the United States, before it can expect any concessions. But in recent days Mr Trump has signalled a possible softening, saying he would love to be able to remove sanctions if there is meaningful progress on denuclearisation. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with US President Donald Trump in Singapore / AFP/Getty Images Mr Trump also said he was in no rush and had no pressing schedule for North Korea's denuclearisation, hinting at a more gradual, reciprocal approach, long favoured by Pyongyang. The North also wants security guarantees and a formal end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a treaty. Mr Trump said on Sunday that he and Kim expect to make further progress at this week's summit and again held out the promise that denuclearisation would help North Korea develop its economy. "Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!" Mr Trump said in a tweet. He also said Chinese President Xi Jinping has been supportive of Trump's meeting with Kim. "The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door." On Saturday, North Korea announced that Kim Jong-un has started his journey from Pyongyang to Hanoi by train. N orth Korea has confirmed that Kim Jong-Un is on a train bound for Vietnam for his second summit with President Trump. The country's news agency confirmed that he is accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, a key negotiator in talks with the US and Kim Yo Jong, the leader's sister. Kim and Mr Trump will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday. According to US officials, Mr Trump will show the North Korean leader the positives of following through a commitment to final and full denuclearisation. Mr Trump has four priorities for the summit which are transforming relations between the US and North Korea, establishing a permanent peace regime on the Korean peninsula, denuclearisation and the return of troops killed in action during the Korean War. Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea leader Kim Jong-un at historic summit / AP The men are expected to have a meal together as well as one on one meetings. They met for the first time in June last year in Singapore. U S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has vowed to continue piling pressure on Venezuelas president Nicolas Maduro a day after troops clashed with protesters at the countrys border with Colombia. Two people were killed in a clash on the Brazilian border and some 300 were injured in other violent clashes near Colombia. Mr Pomeo said the US will continue piling on the pressure until Mr Maduro realises his days are numbered. He told both Fox News Sunday and CNNs State of the Union that the Trump administration will continue to support opposition leader Juan Guaido. A demonstrator holds a Venezuelan flag on the Francisco de Paula Santander international bridge in Urena / AFP/Getty Images Mr Pompeo declined to rule out U.S. military force as an option, but he added, "There's more sanctions to be had, there's more humanitarian assistance I think that we can provide." Mr Maduro has blocked such aid at the border and resisted calls to step aside and let Guaido take power. Mike Pompeo says the US will continue to pile on the pressure / AP Mr Pompeo says the U.S. will seek "other ways" to get food aid to Venezuelans. Vice President Mike Pence travels to Bogota, Colombia, on Monday for an emergency meeting on Venezuela with foreign ministers from more than a dozen, mostly conservative Latin American and Caribbean states. People throw stones at Venezuelan National Guards, at the border, as seen from Pacaraima, Brazil / REUTERS Mr Guaido said on Saturday he would meet with Mr Pence in Bogota. On Sunday, officials in the Brazilian border state of Roraima say they had treated 22 Venezuelans who suffered bullet or buckshot wounds during a confrontation over aid shipments. Venezuela's opposition supporters wave from a truck carrying humanitarian aid for Venezuela on the outskirts of Cucuta / REUTERS A spokesman for Governor Antonio Denarium says 18 of those required surgery. He says dozens of other Venezuelans are being treated for other injuries suffered in Saturday's clashes at the border city of Santa Elena. The spokesman says the influx has overwhelmed the health system in the state capital of Boa Vista and officials plan to declare a state of emergency for the public health sector on Monday. That would give officials the ability to more quickly buy medicine and to contract rooms at private hospitals. R adiant mother-to-be The Duchess of Sussex swept in a diplomatic reception in a custom cream dress by Dior teamed with glittering diamond earrings and a satin clutch. Prince Harry, 34 and Meghan, 37, who arrived in Casablanca last night to kick off a three-day tour, were guests of honour at the dinner hosted by the British ambassador, Thomas Reilly, and his wife Leah, at their official residence in Rabat. Harry and Meghan arrived to the sounds of a Moroccan band and were greeted by the ambassador's daughters, Orla, 12, and Elsa, eight, with a welcome gift of flowers. They were introduced to the ambassadors wife, Leah, and given a traditional rosewater greeting. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive for a reception hosted by the British Ambassador to Morocco / PA The Duchess of Sussex issued a clarion call to feminists around the world. Looking glamorous in the floor-length cream kaftan, a nod to her hosts, she told guests at a reception held at the residence of Britains ambassador Thomas Reilly that women in the North African country and all over the world need to push the boundaries to advance their cause. Women have to challenge everywhere in the world, she told a group of female executives and entrepreneurs. The Duchess of Sussex receives a posy as she arrives for a reception hosted by the British Ambassador to Morocco / PA The Duchess, who has made womens empowerment a key part of her campaigning work, was responding to Meriem Bensalah, chief executive of a finance and agricultural firm called the Holmarcom Group, who told her that Moroccan women had made great advances towards equality but still faced disadvantages. We were discussing how there are still many boundaries all over the world, the business executive said. Meghan, 37, and Harry, 34, met around 130 influential Moroccans at the reception, including captains of industry, military officers, disabled athletes and young entrepreneurs. Meghan talks to influential Moroccans at the event / EPA The royal couple were invited to wash their hands in scented rose water in a traditional welcome when they arrived at the ambassadors residence. Most Moroccan families make their own rose water from seeped rose petals to offer their guests the chance of freshening up when they arrive at their home. At tonights reception two embassy workers, Rachida Benaniba and Rachida Jouji, poured rose water from ornate sprinklers onto the royal couples hands and then gave them towels to dry their hands. Merci, said Meghan. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry the Duke of Sussex are greeted on their arrival / EPA Earlier Harry and Meghan, who touched down in Casablanca last night, visited the town of Asni to learn about the Moroccan NGO Education For All (EFO founded by British entrepreneur Michael McHugo as their royal tour of Morocco began in earnest. During their visit today, Meghan apologised for her 'high school French' but while her linguistic skills earned her compliments Harry admitted he doesn't speak the language 'at all' - prompting one girl to remark: 'She was better than her husband!' Meghan, 37, was casually dressed in a 394 Alice + Olivia blazer and skinny jeans teamed with 90 Birdies slippers and a 67 'blanket scarf' from Wilfred a far cry from the dazzling couture Valentino gown she wore to touch down in Casablanca last night. A terrorist who tried to hijack a plane has been shot dead by Bangladeshi military forces, officials have said. The suspect reportedly asked to speak to the countrys prime minister before he was gunned down in an exchange of gunfire with commandos. The Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Dhaka to Dubai was forced to return to Chittagong, where it had stopped off, during the incident on Sunday. All 143 passengers and seven crew members aboard the Boeing 737-800 were safely evacuated, Air Vice Marshal Mofidur Rahman said. File photo: A Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane lands at Heathrow Airport / Steve Parsons/PA Wire The flight took off from Dhaka at 4.35pm before the pilot made the emergency landing in Chittagong about 40 minutes later, officials said. A crew member had reported "suspicious behaviour" by the man, a Bangladeshi. The commandos fired at the suspect after he shot at them when they asked him to surrender, army Major General Motiur Rahman told reporters. He said the suspect was carrying a pistol, but did not say where the shooting took place. The army official said the suspect, whose name has not been released, asked to speak to his wife and to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The suspect died before reaching the hospital, he said. The suspect appeared to be "mentally imbalanced," said the chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority. "I am saying this because of his behaviour. He wanted to talk to the prime minister." Before the suspect was pronounced dead, Rahman had described him as a "terrorist" and said that he had been arrested and was being questioned. Bangladeshi soldiers could be seen during a live TV broadcast taking positions inside Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong, 156 miles southeast of Dhaka. I slamic State bride Shamima Begum has said the British government is making an example of her and that she regrets ever speaking to the media. It came as her father dramatically intervened in the debate surrounding her UK citizenship, insisting he "does not have a problem" with the Government's decision not to allow her to return home. The teenager, who fled London for Syria aged 15, recently gave birth to a baby boy and has said she wants to come back to the UK to look after him. But last week she had her British citizenship revoked. TODO: define component type apester Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph from the al-Hol camp in Syria, Ms Begum said: "They are making an example of me. I regret speaking to the media. "I wish I had stayed low and found a different way to contact my family. That's why I spoke to the newspaper." She was one of three schoolgirls to leave Bethnal Green to join IS in 2015 and resurfaced heavily pregnant at a Syrian refugee camp last week. Ms Begum was one of three schoolgirls to flee the UK for Syria in 2015 / AP Speaking to the Mail on Sunday at his home in the Sunamganj region of north-east Bangladesh, her father, Ahmed Ali, 60, said: "I am on the side of the Government. I can't say whether it is right or wrong, but if the law of the land says that it is correct to cancel her citizenship, then I agree. "If she at least admitted she made a mistake then I would feel sorry for her and other people would feel sorry for her. "But she does not accept her wrong." Shamima Begum shocked at Home Offices decision to revoke her citizenship Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked her British citizenship in a move only permissible under international law if it does not leave the individual stateless. It was speculated that Ms Begum, who is of Bangladeshi heritage, may have citizenship there but Bangladesh's minister of state for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam denied this. Her family have written to Mr Javid asking for his help to bring her newborn son to Britain. The letter said the baby boy was a "true innocent" who should not "lose the privilege of being raised in the safety of this country". Her sister Remu Begum, writing on behalf of the family, asked how they could help the Home Secretary "in bringing my nephew home to us". The family said they have had no contact with Ms Begum and had only learned she had given birth to a boy through media reports. They made clear that they were "shocked and appalled" at the "vile comments" Ms Begum had recently made to the media. Mr Javid's removal of Ms Begum's citizenship came amid heated debate over whether the teenager should be able to return to the UK after she was found in a refugee camp with the terror group's reign nearly over. While many do not want to see Ms Begum return to the UK, others have argued she should face prosecution for her actions, and attempts at deradicalisation. A family of seven have been found close to the Kent coastline after an empty dinghy was seen floating in the Channel. Border Force officials were alerted at 4.20am after the dinghy was seen floating a few miles from the Kent coast in Kingsdown. The Home Office confirmed that the mother, father and five children had been transferred to immigration officials for interview. A spokesperson for the Home Office said: Border Force are confident the vessel was used for a migrant crossing. "Since the Home Secretary declared a major incident in December we have tripled the number of cutters operating in the Channel, agreed a joint action plan with France and increased activity out of the Joint Coordination and Information Centre in Calais. Less than a week ago, a boat carrying 34 migrants was intercepted by Border Force officials off the coast of Dover. The group included men, women and children. They were transferred to immigration officials for an interview. According to the Home Office, the number of people attempting to cross the Channel went down from roughly 250 in December to 90 in January, with about half of the January attempts being intercepted in France before reaching British waters. M Ps have criticised Theresa Mays decision to delay a meaningful vote on her Brexit deal. The Prime Minister ruled out putting a vote to the Commons this week, as had been expected following continuing negotiations with Brussels, however she did insist that one would be held by March 12. Labour's Yvette Cooper accused Mrs May of drifting on Twitter with just over a month until the deadline date for exiting the EU. Ms Cooper said: Still no progress. Nothing has changed. Getting ever closer to a chaotic No Deal. This is incredibly irresponsible when food prices, manufacturing jobs, medicine supplies ad security are all at stake. Makes it even more important to support our Bill this week. Yvette Cooper accused Mrs May of drifting / AP Ms Cooper vowed to push a cross party amendment this week paving way for a bill to safeguard against a no deal. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also attecked the PM, saying: "Theresa May is putting the country at risk by recklessly running down the clock to force MPs to choose between her bad deal and a disastrous No Deal. "Labour will work with MPs across the Commons to prevent No Deal, break the deadlock and build support for our alternative plan." Mrs May told reporters as she made her way to an EU-League of Arab States summit in Sharm sl Sheikh: I was in Brussels last week. Ministers were in Brussels last week. My team will be back in Brussels again this coming week. They will be returning to Brussels on Tuesday. As a result of that we wont be able to bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week. But we will ensure that that happens by March 12. But it is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29. SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford branded the move 'unacceptable' / PA Ian Blackford, the SNPs Parliamentary Leader in Westminster branded the move unacceptable. He added: We will be two weeks from leaving the EU with citizens and businesses not knowing what to prepare for. It is the height of irresponsibility to allow to clock to run down to such an extent. Theresa May has to go, she cannot show leadership. Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer said the decision to delay the vote was the height of irresponsibility and an admission of failure. He said: "Theresa May is recklessly running down the clock in a desperate attempt to force MPs to choose between her deal and no deal. Parliament cannot stand by and allow this to happen." Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer accused Mrs May of 'running down the clock' / PA Mrs May also said that extending Article 50 would not deal with the issues surrounding Brexit. She added: Often people talk about the extension of Article 50 as if that will actually solve the issue. Of course it won't. It defers the point of decision. There comes a point where we need to make that decision. "Extension of Article 50 doesn't solve the problem. "There will always come a point where we have to decide whether we accept the deal that's been negotiated or not. "And that will be a decision for every member of Parliament across the House. TODO: define component type apester "Every member of the Commons will have to face that decision when that point comes. T heresa May would win a 34-seat majority if a general election was held tomorrow, a new poll has found. Research by Deltapoll for The Mail on Sunday suggested the Conservatives would win 39 per cent of the vote, with Labour behind on 31 per cent. It comes after a week of resignations from both parties, with eight Labour MPs and three Tories joining the newly formed Independent Group. The poll indicated the Independent Group would win 11 per cent of the vote, with the Liberal Democrats on 5 per cent and Ukip on 4 per cent. TODO: define component type apester The survey also suggested that if Jeremy Corbyn was not the Labour leader, 40 per cent of people would vote for the party, giving it a three per cent lead over the Conservatives. A total of nine MPs quit Labour this week, eight of them to join the Independent Group, amid anger over the party's position on Europe and anti-Semitism within its ranks. One of the defectors, Chuka Umunna, said this morning that Labour has "become unbearable". Theresa May saddened by MP departures He told Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday: "After really soul searching on this issue can I in all conscience say that I want to make Jeremy Corbyn prime minister and the team around him, put them in charge of our national security... in all conscience I can't do that. He added: "If you look at what has transpired in the party, the awful appalling culture which is illustrated vividly by the disgraceful anti-Semitism in the party, a visceral hatred of people of other opinions, a refusal to accept that actually it might be OK not to necessarily think that everything that Jeremy Corbyn says is golden, it's become unbearable and I think ultimately that is what has driven people to leave the party." Yesterday Mr Corbyn hit out at the ex-Labour Independent Group MPs for working alongside former Tories. Jeremy Corbyn: 'Walking away from our movement achieves nothing' He said the MPs, who fought the last election on a Labour manifesto opposed to Conservative austerity, were now working with the likes of Anna Soubry, who supported the cuts. Speaking at a rally in Ms Soubry's Broxtowe constituency, he said that he was "sad" some had left but had no intention of changing the policies which delivered the biggest increase in the Labour vote since 1945. "I'm obviously very sad at some of the things that have happened and very sad at some of the things that have been said," he said. "Walking away from our movement achieves nothing. Not understanding where we have come from is a bad mistake. "So, when the media talk about the bravery of those who walk away, Anna Soubry voted for austerity and said it was a good thing. T he government must maintain an absolute focus on delivering Brexit, Theresa May said in a speech to Tory activists on Saturday. The Prime Minister said the government must not, and I will not, frustrate what was the largest democratic exercise in this country's history. In her address to the National Conservative Convention in Oxford, she also said the worst thing we could do is lose our focus. Her comments came after three pro-EU Cabinet ministers signalled they could back moves in Parliament to delay Britain's withdrawal to prevent a "disastrous" no-deal break. Protesters from Right to Vote gathered outside the meeting in Oxford on Saturday / PA They told the Daily Mail they are prepared to defy the PM unless there is a breakthrough on her deal next week. The intervention by Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and David Gauke led to calls for their resignations by furious Tory Brexiteers - comments said to have been echoed in private by some Cabinet ministers. The speech also came after a difficult week in which Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston left the party for the newly formed Independent Group. However Mrs May said: "We are not a party of purges and retribution. We called a referendum and let people express their views - so we should not be seeking to deselect any of our MPs because of their views on Brexit. "Our party is rightly a broad church - on that and other issues. And we will only save our country from the threat of Jeremy Corbyn if we remain one." Heidi Allen, Sarah Wollaston and Anna Soubry left the Tory Party earlier this week / AFP/Getty Images The Prime Minister is flying to Egypt for an EU-League of Arab States summit where she is expected to hold talks with key EU figures as she battles to break the deadlock in the Brexit talks. Downing Street has played down hopes of a breakthrough during the course of the two-day gathering in the Red Sea resort, despite the presence of major players including European Council president Donald Tusk. Mrs May is pressing for changes to the Northern Ireland backstop which she hopes will finally convince MPs to back her Withdrawal Agreement following last month's crushing Commons defeat. But Northern Minister John Penrose warned taking no-deal off the table could undermine Mrs May's efforts to secure concessions on the backstop. He told the Sunday Telegraph: It could torpedo Brexit completely, leaving us in a 'Hotel California' Brexit, where we'd checked out but could never leave. Theresa May and Donald Tusk will both be attending the Egypt summit / Getty Images "We'd have built an enormous elephant trap for ourselves, and there'd be no way to climb out." However former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said extending Article 50 "is now the only sensible game in town. He wrote in the Sunday Mirror: "It would let us reflect, reconsider and renegotiate Mrs May's botched terms. "We have only three days to draw back from the brink." MPs are preparing for a potentially crucial series of votes on Wednesday which could see Parliament seize control of the Brexit process if Mrs May cannot secure an agreement with Brussels by mid-March. There will be more votes on Brexit in the Commons on Wednesday / AP On Wednesday, the Commons is expected to consider an amendment tabled by Labour MP Yvette Cooper and Conservative former minister Sir Oliver Letwin enabling the House to extend the Article 50 withdrawal process if there is no deal by mid-March. A similar amendment was defeated by MPs last month, but there is speculation that enough Tory rebels, alarmed that there is still no deal in place, could be prepared to back it this time round for it to pass. Downing Street has said if there is no deal by Tuesday, the Prime Minister will at that point make another statement to the House and table an amendable motion to be debated and voted on the following day. I ndependent Group MP Chuka Umunna has branded the Labour Party institutionally anti-Semitic as he hit out at Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour Partys lack of action over the matter. He said the Labour leader was just as bad as Theresa May but now feared he could win a general election. Appearing on Ridge on Sunday, the Mr Umunna also said he disagrees with fellow group member Anna Soubry about austerity. He said: First of all, it starts from the top. You have a leader who backed up and promoted an anti-Semitic mural. You have a leader who has talked about Jewish people not having an English sense of irony. You have a leader who has attended a wreath laying ceremony for terrorists. On top of that, there have been people who have been guilty of egregious anti-Semitism and the sanction is just being reminded of the guidelines. That is not a party taking it seriously. I don't know whether he is personally anti-Semitic. His actions would seem to suggest he's got questions to answer on that front. Mr Umunna left to join the Independent Group with eight other Labour MPs / AFP/Getty Images Ive been very clear, the Labour Party is institutionally anti-Semitic, and you either put your head in the sand and you ignore it or you actually do something about it. The failure to do something about it made my position untenable. My family has been victims of racism. One of the reasons I joined the Labour Party was because it was this anti-racist ideal, but if that isnt matched by its actions then I cant have anything to do with an outfit that goes along with that. Mr Umunna left the Labour Party on Monday along with Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Ann Coffey, Angela Smith, Gavin Shuker and Mike Gapes, to sit as part of a new faction. Labour MP Joan Ryan joined on Tuesday, while Tories Anna Soubry, Sarah Wollaston and Heidi Allen joined the group on Wednesday. During the interview, he also said he believes the traditional party system is broken, and that he doesnt want either a Labour or Tory government. But shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner hit back at Mr Umunna, claiming the reason he left the Labour Party was because he knew he could never be the leader. T heresa May has said MPs will not get a "meaningful vote" on her Brexit deal this week. The Prime Minister today ruled out putting a vote to the Commons this week, but insisted one would be held by March 12. The UK is due to leave the EU on March 29, just over two weeks later. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said the decision to delay the vote was "the height of irresponsibility and an admission of failure". Sir Keir Starmer called the move "the height of responsibility" / PA He said: "Theresa May is recklessly running down the clock in a desperate attempt to force MPs to choose between her deal and no deal. Parliament cannot stand by and allow this to happen." Speaking on her way to an EU-League of Arab States summit in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, Mrs May said: "I was in Brussels last week. Ministers were in Brussels last week. My team will be back in Brussels again this coming week. They will be returning to Brussels on Tuesday. Theresa May met with European Council president Donald Tusk on Friday afternoon / AFP/Getty Images "As a result of that we won't bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week. But we will ensure that that happens by March 12. "But it is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29." Jeremy Corbyn: Theresa May must end her red lines to avoid no-deal Asked how the Government would treat non-binding motions expected this week which call for the ruling out of a no-deal exit, and which demand an extension of Article 50, Mrs May added: "We don't know what amendments are going to be tabled. "We don't know what amendments are going to be selected. "You haven't even seen what motion the Government is going to put down - as I say, it won't be the meaningful vote. "I will be making a statement to Parliament on Tuesday. And then, obviously, we'll be having the debate the next day." TODO: define component type apester The PM said the Government was still in talks with the EU about the Northern Ireland backstop. She said: "We are still in that negotiation. We are still talking to the EU about various ways in which we can find a resolution to the issue that Parliament raised." She also insisted collective cabinet responsibility had not broken down after the intervention by Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and David Gauke indicating that they could back parliamentary moves to stop a no-deal. "What we have seen around the cabinet table, in the party, and in the country at large is strong views on the issue of Europe," she added. "That is not a surprise to anybody. "We have around the cabinet table a collective, not just responsibility, but desire, to actually ensure that we leave the European Union with a deal. That's what we're working for and that's what I'm working for." Fun things to do in London to escape Brexit 1 /9 Fun things to do in London to escape Brexit Spend the night at a museum late No matter how tense the mood in the capital is, theres plenty of fun to be had at the after-hours events at Londons museums. The Natural History Museum, Science Museum and the V&A are just a few big names that hold monthly late-night sessions. These offer an eclectic mix of activities, from talks and workshops to DJs and performances so theres certainly something for everyone. They're also a chance for guests to explore exhibitions once the peak-time crowds have hurried home. Ben Fisher Get crafty Evenings and weekends don't have to be spent watching the latest political debacle unfold on TV London has plenty of crafty activities to tempt you out the house. Life drawing classes may seem intense, but they're a great introductory activity for those who havent put pencil to paper since school and the National Portrait Gallery runs sessions every Friday. If pots are more your thing, artist Amanda Cotton runs Ceramic Socials in her studio at Trinity Buoy Wharf, where guests can make mugs, vases, bowls or whatever vessel of their choosing. More artistic folk can get arty at one of the capitals paint-your-own classes such as MYO Peckham Levels which is also bring your own booze. Amanda Cotton Try an escape room Londoners can put their problem solving skills to good use at one of the citys escape rooms. Sherlock: The Game Is Now is one of the newest to launch in the capital and live actors really add to the experience. Groups of up to six are taken through a series of rooms, with puzzles to solve and codes to crack in the 100-minute immersive experience. HintHunt in Euston is another one to try, if you're looking to put your brain through its paces. Check out London's comedy scene In the immortal words of David Brent: laughter is the best medicine. The British people could do with a good giggle at the minute, and thankfully Londons comedy scene is one of the best in the world. The Bill Murray, home to the Angel Comedy club, is the best venue of its kind in the city. It's a great place to catch intimate work in progress shows from some of the most established comedians around. The Soho Theatre, the Comedy Store and Rich Mix in Bethnal Green also play host to brilliant line-ups throughout the year. Ewan Munro/Flickr Lose yourself in an independent cinema Enjoy an afternoon of pure, unadulterated escapism at one of Londons brilliant independent cinemas. The Prince Charles in Leicester Square is one of the quirkiest movie theatres in the city, screening international releases and arthouse offerings that the big chains often miss. They regularly put on 1 screenings for members, so it's affordable too. Elsewhere, north London film buffs should head to the beautiful Arthouse Cinema in Crouch End, or check out the Phoenix in East Finchley, which fans fought hard to keep independent last year. James Nash/Flickr Go to a daytime rave Clubbing in London has often been the preserve of the night owls, but now the capitals party scene is shifting towards daytime raving. It means you can dance away any Brexit woes and then be tucked up in bed, drifting off into a blissful, politics-free slumber before the clock strikes midnight. A number of major London clubs have embraced the sunshine shindig. Phonox in Brixton runs regular Sunday parties, kicking off at 4pm with big name DJs, while Fabric hosts a similar thing, also on Sundays. Fold, the Canning Town club, has a 24-hour license and runs marathon club nights that you can turn up to at any time often, the tickets that grant you entry at around midday are the cheapest type, too. Jake Davis Tear it up at a jam session Not the jam that Theresa May scrapes mould off Londons jam sessions are much more appealing. Every night of the week, in dingy basements, in the back rooms of pubs and in opulent jazz clubs, the citys musicians come together and play, often with little of idea of what the plan is but the outcome is usually lots of fun. For musicians, the sessions tend to be lots of fun, a chance to step up. For the punters, its a thrilling opportunity to see great live music, often for free. Aint Nothin But, Ronnie Scotts, the Blues Kitchen and Troy Bar host some of the best jams in London. Take part in an immersive dining experience If Brexit is making you want to transport to another time, another place and another world, then youll be pleased to hear that its perfectly possible to so in London and enjoy some comfort food when you get there. Immersive dining experiences across the capital are on hand to take you away: the Gingerline group is currently running a dinner themed around grand expeditions of the Victorian age (with hot air balloons included), while Waterloo event space The Vaults is set to soon welcome Game of Thrones fans into a murderous wedding feast inspired by the hit show. Eat up and drink in a view Get up, up and away from all the talk of the B-word by quite literally rising above it. Treat yourself and head to one of Londons sky-high restaurants to enjoy a meal with a view across the capital. Hutong, Oblix and Aqua Shard offer stunning views from the Shard, while Jason Athertons City Social boasts a stellar vista of the Gherkin and more. Darwin and Fenchurch come with the chance to take in a 360 degree panorama of the city at Sky Garden, while Sushisamba at Bishopsgate offers interiors almost as spectacular as the scenes beyond the window. Whatevers about to happen in the country over the next few months, the views will still be as breathtaking. Asked if the three ministers should remain in government, Mrs May said: "What we see around the cabinet table is strong views held on the issue of Europe." She went on to say extending Article 50 would not deal with the issues surrounding Brexit. The PM added: "Often people talk about the extension of Article 50 as if that will actually solve the issue. Of course it won't. It defers the point of decision. There comes a point where we need to make that decision. "Extension of Article 50 doesn't solve the problem. "There will always come a point where we have to decide whether we accept the deal that's been negotiated or not. "And that will be a decision for every member of Parliament across the House. "Every member of the Commons will have to face that decision when that point comes. "The Government will be bringing back, working with the EU, and will want to put a deal to the House of Commons in a meaningful vote." A teenager is fighting for life and three boys have been arrested after a stabbing in south London. Emergency services rushed to Grange Road in Bermondsey at 11.15pm on Saturday, where the 17-year-old victim was found with stab injuries. He was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to hospital. He remains in a critical condition. Three boys, two aged 15 and one aged 14, have been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. They remain in custody at this time, police said. It comes after two boys, aged 16 and 14, and a 16-year-old girl were injured in a knife attack which reportedly took place at a church party in Camberwell, also in the borough of Southwark, on Friday night. T his is the first picture of a young man who was stabbed to death in what police described as a premeditated, targeted attack at a south London youth club. Glendon Spence, 23, from Lewisham, was chased into the Marcus Lipton Community Centre in Brixton and knifed to death on Thursday evening. Paramedics battled to save him but he died at the scene shortly before 7.30pm. A relative told the Standard: It hurts me to hear this because he is young only 23... now there is no future for him. Police and detectives at the crime scene / NIGEL HOWARD Detective Chief Inspector Richard Vandenbergh, of the Met Police, said: My officers are piecing together a sequence of events that led up to and immediately followed Glendons murder. We know that the incident started outside the youth club and that Glendon was chased into the building and stabbed in what we believe was a premeditated, targeted attack. If you were there and you havent spoken to officers please do get in touch and share what you saw or what you know, no matter how insignificant it may seem. All information will be treated in the strictest confidence and your call could help us remove violent criminals from your area. Police said a post-mortem examination that took place on Friday gave the cause of death as stab injuries. No arrests have been made. Back-slapping, tears and too many breathless "thank yous" to count are in store when stars take to the podium for their acceptance speeches at the Oscars this Sunday. But what lessons can the winners learn from past speeches? In preparation for the big night, we've rounded up some of the best, funniest and most awkward Oscars speeches. Sally Field's Oscar speech for Best Actress in 1985 In 1984 Sally Field joined the Academy Awards speech hall of infamy with her excitable speech accepting an award for Places in the Heart. The actress exclaimed, I cant deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me! James Cameron's Oscar speech for Best Director in 1998 People. Fashion. Power. Delivered weekly. Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} James Cameron won for the inescapable Titanic in 1998 and celebrated with a particularly memorable (and, at times, very uncomfortable) acceptance speech. It was full of cliches, including "my heart is full," but really took off when he shouted "I'm King of the world!" in an homage to the movie, with whooping worthy of the Insane Clown Posse. Quoting your own movie during a speech is the equivalent of wearing your band's tee-shirt onstage. Gwyneth Paltrow's Oscar speech for Best Actress in 1999 When GP took home the Best Actress award in 1999 she was winning a pink Ralph Lauren gown that would quickly become iconic - but her speech for Shakespeare in Love was also particularly indelible. Paltrow famously wept in her acceptance speech, thanking her parents through her sobs. In a recent interview with Marie Claire, Paltrow recounted how her father had kept her in check after her Oscars win. I was just believing my own hype, thinking that I was super awesome, Paltrow told the magazine. And he was like, Youre getting weirdyoure acting like a d*ck. When you achieve the kind of fame that I did by the time I was 25 or 26, the world starts removing all your obstacles because youre now a special person. You dont have to wait in line at a restaurant, and if a car doesnt show up, someone else gives you theirs. Angelina Jolie's Oscar speech for Best Actress in 2000 It wasn't just Jolie's speech that was noteworthy - it was how she celebrated her win for Girl Interrupted. Most winners smooch their significant others when their name is called out, but Jolie's brother, James Haven, was the target of her affections. That in itself wasn't particularly strange, but Jolie then added, "I'm so in love with my brother right now!" on stage. She had also given him an open-mouthed kiss on the red carpet earlier on. Adrien Brody's Oscar speech for Best Actor in 2003 When Adrien Brody won for The Pianist in 2003, he surprised the audience by kissing presenter Halle Berry. This wasn't the usual polite kiss on the cheek while grabbing the statue. Brody gave her an entirely unplanned full body lip lock. Sandra Bullock's Oscar speech for Best Actress in 2010 When America's sweetheart won her first Academy Award for The Blind Side, she greeted the crowd with "Did I really earn this or did I just wear y'all down?" Bullock had gone through quite a few flops in her time, and her thank you felt particularly authentic. Anne Hathaway's Oscar speech for Best Supporting Actress in 2013 Anne Hathaway has always been a fairy divisive character, but her acceptance speech for Les Miserables was universally panned. The most toe-curling bit? When The Princess Diaries actress quietly told her award "It came true!" Jennifer Lawrence's Oscar speech for Best Actress in 2013 Jennifer Lawrence famously took a tumble when she went onstage to accept her Oscar for The Silver Linings Playbook. "You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell and that's really embarrassing but thank you," she said to the audience who gifted her with a standing ovation. Helen Mirren's Oscar speech for Best Actress in 2006 When Dame Helen Mirren won (besting Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada and Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal) her Oscars acceptance speech was just as impressive as she is. She likened the award to getting a gold star in class and offered to share it with her equally impressive fellow nominees. Jordan Horowitz, Marc Platt, and Fred Berger's Oscar speech for Best Picture in 2017 In 2017 one of the biggest blunders in Oscars history occurred when presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced the wrong Best Picture winner. The winner was Moonlight, but the card they were given read La La Land. "I opened the envelope and it said: Emma Stone, La La Land, Beatty later explained. That's why I took such a long pause and looked at Faye, and at you. I wasn't trying to be funny." Accounting firm PWC who were in charge of the Oscars ballot cards later apologised for the mistake. Olivia Colman's speech for Best Actress in 2019 "Ooh it's genuinely quite stressful!" said a visibly shocked Colman when she picked up the award for Best Actress for The Favourite at the 91st Academy Awards. Colman went on to charm the room with a flustered stream of excited "thank yous", including an amusing apology to her fellow nominee and idol Glenn Close ("this is not how I wanted it to be") and an excited, "ooh Lady Gaga!" to Gaga who was sitting front row. A 2,000-capacity music and events space is to open in central London in a boost to the capitals live music scene. The venue opposite Tottenham Court Road Underground station will form part of Outernet London which will include broadcasting and media facilities, offices, bars and restaurants, and flats when it opens in 2020. One of the largest spaces inside the complex will be the 2,000-capacity music venue. The owners say the cultural amphitheatre will take inspiration from and continue the cultural heritage of nearby cult Soho venues. The space will neighbour Denmark Street, home to the musicians hang-out Tin Pan Alley where David Bowie, The Rolling Stones and Sex Pistols recorded. It is also yards from former music venue The Astoria which closed in 2009. Soho institution Madame Jojos where Lorde and The XX have played is another example of a nearby venue forced to close in recent years. Also part of The Outernet will be The Now Building, a live broadcast environment that will contain 360-degree, 8k enabled floor-to-ceiling screens. There will also be additional live music space, a hotel to be named Chateau Denmark pop-up and fixed retail environments, restaurants and bars, and residential homes. Soho area guide: The highlights 1 /15 Soho area guide: The highlights Bar Americain Barrafina Dean Street Ronnie Scott's My Place Freedom Marian Goodman Gallery Leonor Antunes / Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, Paris & London Soho Theatre Brasserie Zedel Queen's Theatre PA Archive/PA Images The Photographers' Gallery Kate Elliott / Courtesy of The Photographers' Gallery Prince Edward Theatre Club 49 Palace Theatre PA Wire/PA Images Ain't Nothin But Milk & Honey The London site is the first in a series of similar venues planned for Los Angeles and New York in coming years. Those behind the building, which they claim will see about 400,000 visitors daily, say it has been over a decade in the making. The development, which includes 30,000 sq ft of office space and 50 apartments, is being driven by the president and chief executive of Outernet Global, Philip Bourchier OFerrall. He said: [It] will reinvigorate the music scene of Denmark Street, acting as a catalyst for the next wave of re-investment in this iconic part of London. Fake news, active measures, Twitter bots: not since the 1980s have espionage and disinformation so captivated our collective mind. Many have looked back to the Cold War to understand the implications of these phenomena. After all, Russia, America's Cold War nemesis, is considered the primary culprit in today's most controversial disinformation campaigns. Yet our current media landscape, the breeding and feeding ground of questionable information, also has many similarities to the 18th century. The information wars of this earlier period not only provide perspective - they provide a solution to the political divisions that disinformation campaigns seek to exploit: the need for renewed emphasis on education and a return to dispassionate behavior in the public square. In the world of the smartphone and internet-fueled connectivity, it is hard to imagine that printed media like pamphlets and newspapers were once mankind's fastest method to disseminate written information. But during the 1500s in Europe, the pamphlet became the preferred method to quickly influence public opinion and spark transformative historical events. Martin Luther was one of the first to use pamphlets as an effective political weapon in his fight against the Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation. Luther's satirical pamphlet "Die Lugend von S. Johanne Chryosostomo," for example, mocked Catholic hagiography in an attempt to undermine official Church orthodoxy. Protestant pamphlets such as these, written in the vernacular German to reach as many people as possible, likely numbered in the millions by the time the Reformation had gained full steam. But it was in the 18th century that pamphlets reached their peak political influence. By then, pamphlets had become so central to shaping public opinion that they were frequently used by political actors in secret information wars against their enemies. During the American Revolution, for example, both the British government and the American revolutionaries secretly employed spies and other "agents" in the Dutch Republic to sway Dutch public opinion about the American revolutionary cause. Both sides hoped to gain political support and, perhaps more important, the benefits of the Dutch commercial and financial enterprises. The relatively uncensored printing press and the widespread literacy in the Netherlands made pamphlets particularly effective tools. But it went further. In their quest for Dutch support, both the Americans and the British exploited the deep political polarization in Dutch society through the creation of inflammatory material about the revolutionary struggle. Biased accounts of the war in America and inflammatory pamphlets, such as Thomas Paine's "Common Sense," were sent to the Netherlands and translated to stir up pro- and anti-British sentiments. Homegrown pamphlets likewise shaped the information war in the Netherlands. Joan Derk van der Capellen tot den Pol, a pro-American polemicist in the Netherlands, unleashed a pamphlet war against the British government's request for Dutch forces to fight the American colonists. Van der Capellen's pamphlets not only successfully prevented the British from deploying these troops in America, but also polarized Dutch society along pro- and anti-American lines. These kinds of polemical publications heightened the already existing polarization in Dutch society and laid the foundation for the Dutch Patriot Revolution during the 1780s. The faction of the Stadtholder, a quasi-monarchical position in the Dutch Republic, was supported largely by the people in the countryside who overwhelmingly favored an alliance with Great Britain and a large land army to guard against the threat of French invasions. In contrast, the merchant faction in the west of the Republic despised the Stadtholder's monarchical pretensions and British naval dominance, in part because their businesses suffered from Britain's navigation laws. Though originally unrelated to the American Revolution, these factions were perfectly aligned with the divisions in the American conflict, allowing them to be exploited by both the British and the Americans for their benefit. Much like our 18th-century predecessors, we live in a world in which we consume increasingly opinionated news through matured technologies, making our media prime targets to exploit for nefarious ends. Today, competing social media and cable news channels thrive on "news" that aims to please their audience politically, driving viewership and blurring the distinction between opinion journalism and news reporting. Pundits and Twitter influencers eagerly spread the latest outrage that satisfies their politically biased audience, a trend that has trickled down into mainstream journalism. In our society of gluttonous punditry and divisive politics, it is not surprising that disinformation can spread so easily. Given that these media trends are not likely to be reversed anytime soon, how do we defend ourselves against disinformation that undermines our faith in our political system, the press and the search for truth more broadly? Political revolutionaries in the 18th century had insights on how to defend against disinformation. Rather than advocating for censorship, they doubled down on the importance of the free press, a freedom that they had so successfully leveraged against Britain during the Revolution. Unlike authoritarian systems, which favor control over information by the state, every individual in a liberal democracy possesses the tools to counter disinformation. Even the Founders, who rarely shied away from participating in the information wars of their age, believed that a free press was essential to keep the republic they created. In addition, the Founders also stressed the importance of institutions that would create a resilient and well-informed citizenry, imbued with a healthy skepticism toward the information they consume. Figures like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were responsible for creating important institutions of reason and learning, such as the University of Pennsylvania and University of Virginia, precisely for the purpose of educating America's citizens. Inspired by this, the humanities can play a critical role in creating a modern disinformation vaccine. Schools, colleges and universities should spend more time educating future generations on the complexity of society and the various ideas and interests that shape the information we consume. As Thomas Jefferson put it, if the people are "not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education." These are the lessons we need to remember today. As in the 18th century, there are invisible forces that try to incite our passions, whether that is for geopolitical gain, ad income or even something as innocent as seeking our votes. If we want to keep the free society most of us cherish, it is our responsibility to be reasonable and not rush to judgment, to consume news from multiple perspectives and be open to changing our minds every now and then. If we don't, the makers of disinformation and "fake news" will easily abuse our passions for their benefit, and we will allow them to undermine the free society we have painstakingly built over the last few centuries. --- Tieleman is a P.h.D candidate in history at UCLA and the Society of the Cincinnati dissertation fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's McNeil Center for Early American Studies. Last week, GRAMMY, ACM and CMA Award-winning country band Shenandoah performed during Country Radio Seminar 2019 (CRS) for the first time in nearly 20 years. The band kicked off the three-day event on Wednesday, February 13, 2019, by surprising attendees at Blake Shelton's Nashville bar, Ole Red,where they took the stage to perform a 30-minute set. Before a packed house, Shenandoah introduced their brand-new single, "Little Bit of Livin,"to a mix of country radio programmers and fans. It's been 31 years since the Shenandoah boys were CRS New Faces and performed during the annual convention. "The first time I heard the song 'Little Bit of Livin,' it made me think of our hit song, 'Next to You, Next to Me,'" says Shenandoah frontman Marty Raybon. "It's got that fun, bouncy lyric and melody that has folks already singing and clapping along. We've been trying it out a few places, and it seems to be working just fine!" Continuing the momentum, Shenandoah debuted the new single on TBN's nationally televised variety show Huckabee this past weekend.The band also chatted with show host Mike Huckabee about their recent album release, Reloaded. Watch the performance HERE. The new album and single are available for purchase now at iTunes and Amazon. This weekend, Shenandoah is set to return to legendary Texas club Billy Bob's in Fort Worth, Texas as their 2019 tour continues across the country. Shenandoah 2019 Tour Dates: Feb 23 - Fort Worth, TX - Billy Bob's March 1 - Nashville, TN - Grand Ole Opry March 2 - Fairfield, IA - Sondheim PAC March 9 - Erath, LA - QSA Spring Bash March 16 - Hopewell, VA - Beacon Theatre April 6 - Pittsburg, KS - Kansas Crossing Casino April 8 - Green Cove Springs, FL - Clay County Fair April 13 - Bremen, GA - Mill Town Music Hall April 27 - Polola, OK - Gilly's Choctaw Casino May 4 - Denham Springs, LA - Country Jam 2019 May 10 - Pigeon Forge, TN - Country Tonite Theatre May 11 - Mullens, WV - Dogwood Festival May 25 - Scribner, NE - Miles for Heroes Festival May 31 - Granger, TX - Cotton Country Club June 1 - Durant, OK - Choctaw Casino June 7 - Galax, VA - Houston Fest June 8 - Norman, OK - Riverwind Casino June 13 - Bean Blossom, IN - Bill Monroe Park June 15 - Sesser, IL - Homecoming Days June 22 - Camp Verde, AZ - Cliff Castle Casino July 5 - Franklin, NC - Smokey Mountain PAC July 6 - Jamestown, KY - Lakefest July 11 - Beaver Creek, CO - Vilar PAC July 13 - Rhinelander, WI - Hodag Festival July 17 - Hastings, NE - Adams County Fair July 20 - Santa Fe, NM - venue TBA July 26 - Cave City, AR - Watermelon Festival July 27 - Rural Retreat, VA - Heritage Days Festival Aug 3 - Benton, KY - Kenneth Shadowen PAC Aug 8 - Sioux Falls, SD - Sioux Empire Fair Aug 9 - Billings, MT - Montana Fair Aug 10 - Sterling, CO - Logan County Fair Aug 14 - Aberdeen, SD - Brown County Fair Aug 17 - Imperial, NE - Chase County Fair Aug 24 - Woodford, VA - The Groove Outdoors Aug 30 - Belington, WV - Barbour County Fair Sept 7 - Arenzville, IL - Burgoo Festival Sept 9 - Spokane Valley, WA - Spokane Fair Sept 14 - Branson, MO - Silver Dollar City Sept 20 - Jackson, OH - Apple Festival Sept 25 - Yakima, WA - Central Washington State Fair Sept 28 - Wharton, TX - Wharton Civic Center Oct 5 - Woodford, VA - The Groove Outdoors Oct 12 - Catulla, TX - Catulla Music Festival Oct 18 - Walhalla, SC - Walhalla PAC Oct 19 - Liberty, NC - Liberty Theatre About Shenandoah Shenandoah originally formed in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1985. The band has charted 26 singles on the Billboard Hot Country charts, including No. 1 hits "The Church on Cumberland Road," "Sunday in the South" and "Two Dozen Roses" from 1989, "Next to You, Next to Me" from 1990, and "If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)" from 1994. The single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart," which featured guest vocals from Alison Krauss, won both artists a GRAMMY, Award for "Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal." To date, the group has sold millions of albums worldwide and is a recipient of the Academy of Country Music's coveted "Vocal Group of the Year" award. For more information on Shenandoah, visit shenandoahband.com. Tags : shenandoah little bit of livin' shenandoah little bit of livin' shenandoah news Holy smokes! An aurora that resembles a dragon recently loomed in the skies over Iceland, and NASA scientists aren't exactly sure why it showed up when it did. (Image credit: Jingyi Zhang & Wang Zheng) A gargantuan green dragon hisses in the sky over Iceland. Either "Game of Thrones" really upped its production budget for its final season, or the sun belched a barrage of charged particles into our atmosphere again. As much as any of us would like to see a real dragon breathe flames into the winter sky, buzzkill NASA blames solar activity as usual for the writhing, "fire-breathing"- aurora that loomed over Iceland earlier this month. Auroras like this occur when some of the sun's many magnetic field lines twist together and burst, creating sunspots. Charged particles gush out of these spots and soar on the solar wind deep into space. If Earth happens to be in the way of such a stellar energy storm, the particles crash into our planet's own magnetic field and careen through our atmosphere toward the poles. Along the way, those particles interact with molecules of oxygen, nitrogen and other elements in our atmosphere to create the dazzling light show we call the aurora. Related: Spaced Out! 101 Astronomy Photos That Will Blow Your Mind While auroras themselves are not an unusual sight, NASA noted that this Icelandic dragon (which also resembles evil queen Maleficent's dragon incarnation from Disney's "Sleeping Beauty") appeared at an unexpected time. "No sunspots have appeared on the Sun so far in February, making the multiple days of picturesque auroral activity this month somewhat surprising," the editors of NASA's astronomy picture of the day blog wrote on Feb. 18. Photographers Jingyi Zhang and Wang Zheng were equally surprised to see the mythical beast appear in the sky over Iceland. According to NASA, Zhang's mother was so excited by the unusual auroral activity that she ran outside with the photographers (and ended up in the foreground of Zhang's picture). Dragons weren't the only supernatural beings to haunt the skies during the light show; a picture of a phoenix aurora was snapped the same night. (Image credit: Jingyi Zhang & Wang Zheng) And the dragon wasn't the only supernatural creature to appear in the aurora that night. "Interestingly, my partner photographed a phoenix at the same time," Zhang told Live Science in an email. Originally published on Live Science. Marc A. Thiessen South Bend Tribune The left complains that conservatives are obsessing over Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Well, there is a reason for that: Ocasio-Cortez is driving the agenda of todays Democratic Party and her economic illiteracy is dangerous. Case in point: Last week, Ocasio-Cortez celebrated the tanking of a deal negotiated by her fellow Democrats in which Amazon promised to build a new headquarters in Long Island City, New York, right next to her congressional district. Amazons departure cost the city between 25,000 and 40,000 new jobs. Forget the tech workers whom Amazon would have employed. Gone are all the unionized construction jobs to build the headquarters, as well as thousands of jobs created by all the small businesses restaurants, bodegas, dry cleaners and food carts that were preparing to open or expand to serve Amazon employees. They are devastated by Amazons withdrawal. Ocasio-Cortez was not disturbed at all. We were subsidizing those jobs, she said. Frankly, 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. We can fix our subways. We can put a lot of people to work for that amount of money if we wanted to. No, you cant. Ocasio-Cortez does not seem to realize that New York does not have $3 billion in cash sitting around waiting to be spent on her socialist dreams. The subsidies to Amazon were tax incentives, not cash payouts. It is Amazons money, which New York agreed to make tax-exempt, so the company would invest it in building its new headquarters, hiring new workers and generating tens of billions in new tax revenue. As New York Mayor Bill de Blasio explained, the Amazon deal would have produced $27 billion in new tax revenue to fuel priorities from transit to affordable housing a nine-fold return on the taxes the city and state were prepared to forgo to win the headquarters. Unlike Ocasio-Cortezs imaginary $3 billion slush fund, that is real money that actually could have been used to hire teachers, fix subways and put people to work. With Amazon leaving New York, that $27 billion leaves with it. Genius. Ocasio-Cortez does not seem to understand that by helping to drive Amazon away, she did not save New York $3 billion; she cost New York $27 billion. There is a difference between having bad ideas and not grasping basic facts. Reasonable people can disagree about whether New York should have offered Amazon $3 billion in tax incentives or anything at all to build its headquarters in the city. But that is different from not understanding that New York is not writing a $3 billion check to Amazon. Sadly, Ocasio-Cortez doesnt learn from her mistakes. She made the same kind of error in December when she tweeted, $21 TRILLION of Pentagon financial transactions could not be traced, documented, or explained. $21T in Pentagon accounting errors. Medicare for All costs ~$32T. That means 66 percent of Medicare for All could have been funded already by the Pentagon. But, as Pentagon spokesman Christopher Sherwood told The Post, DoD hasnt received $21 trillion in (nominal) appropriated funding across the entirety of American history. Once again, Ocasio-Cortez did not grasp that the Pentagon did not have a magic pile of $21 trillion in cash sitting in a vault somewhere. Her economic illiteracy matters because she is the principal author of the Green New Deal, which has been endorsed by most of the leading Democratic candidates for president. From this unschooled mind has sprung the most ambitious plan for government intervention in the economy since Vladimir Ilyich Lenins train pulled into Petrograds Finland Station. If Ocasio-Cortez doesnt understand how tax subsidies work, how can she be trusted to plan the federal takeover of the health care, energy and transportation sectors of our economy? Think she and her allies have any idea how to, as her now infamous talking points put it, upgrade or replace every building in America ... or replace every combustible-engine vehicle ... or connect every corner of America with high-speed rail ... or replace all fossil-fuel energy with alternative energy sources all in 10 years time? Apparently, they think we just have to find all the magic pots of cash the government is hiding. When this kind of ignorance is driving policymaking in Washington, America is in profound danger. Amazon left New York because Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow democratic socialists created a hostile environment in the city. And if Ocasio-Cortez has her way, Democrats are going to do to the rest of America what they just did to New York. Staff reports South Bend Tribune What do you get when you remove sexual orientation, gender identity, race and a list of other characteristics from a hate crimes bill? In Indiana, you get yet another embarrassment. The Senates gutting of bias crime legislation which had been prioritized by Gov. Eric Holcomb came on Tuesday, after a legislative committee voted 9-1 to advance the bill. That earlier vote raised hopes that Indiana would finally drop its dubious distinction as one of only five states without a hate crimes law. But the amendment stripping the bill of the list of biases was approved 33-16, with only Republicans in favor, and seven Republicans joining nine Senate Democrats in opposing the change. The amendment gutting the legislation deleted a provision that would have allowed judges to impose additional penalties against anyone convicted of committing crimes fueled by those and other biases. It also eliminated a requirement that current police officers and recruits be trained in recognizing, investigated and reporting bias motivated crimes, and a mandate that all Indiana police agencies regularly submit bias crime data to the state. The changes effectively gutted the bill. In a statement, Holcomb called the revised measure inadequate and it does not get Indiana off the list of states without a bias crime law. Holcomb vowed to continue fighting for the right ultimate outcome for our state and citizens this year so were not right back here in the same place next year. Also coming out against the amendment: The Indiana Chamber of Commerce, which views passing hate crimes legislation as a top priority, part of removing barriers to recruiting skilled and talented workers. The group hopes that the bill can be changed and the list of protected classes re-inserted. Sen. President Rod Bray, R-Martinsville, said he believes the amended version is better and stressed its still early in the legislative process and we can have conversations about whether there needs to be other changes or tweaks in it. We certainly hope that its not too late to pass meaningful hate crimes legislation. Forty-five states with bias crimes laws on the books have found a way to provide protections to residents and send an important message to all about rejecting hate. In its failure so far to do the same, Indiana is sending a different message, one that is shameful. Jack Colwell South Bend Tribune Former Sen. Birch Bayh of Indiana, author of the 25th Amendment on presidential disability, an amendment now in the news, almost brought about another constitutional change that would have abolished the Electoral College. What a difference that would have made. In the future, the American people rather than the faceless, undemocratic Electoral College should choose the two highest officials in this land, said Bayh back in 1977 as he spoke at a Senate hearing on his proposed amendment to provide for the direct popular election of the president and vice president. There was bipartisan support then. Bayh, a Democrat who came close at times in over a decade of trying to get the two-thirds vote in the Senate needed to send the proposal on for ratification by the states, had the backing then of such prominent Republicans as Bob Dole and Howard Baker. But filibusters or the threat thereof, mostly by senators from small states and in particular southern states wanting to keep clout in the Electoral College, always halted the proposed amendment. Some Democrats, including South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, in his candidacy for the partys presidential nomination, now urge another try to replace the Electoral College with a direct popular vote. Buttigieg notes that Bayh came close, a sign that its possible. Chances of a bipartisan effort now, however, are remote. The reason is that the danger Bayh warned of in 1977 electoral roulette bringing election of a president who actually lost in the total popular vote has happened twice since then. In 2000, Democrat Al Gore won by more than half a million votes over Republican George W. Bush in nationwide voting, but Bush won the presidency in the Electoral College when Florida was found in a Supreme Court decision to have gone his way. In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton won more than five times bigger than Gore had in the popular vote by 2,868,686 votes over Republican Donald Trump. As we know, Trump won huge in the Electoral College. So, since that electoral roulette has spun twice in favor of a Republican, what are the chances of Republicans in Congress now joining in a bipartisan two-thirds vote in the House and Senate to send repeal of the Electoral College on to the states for ratification? The reason for bipartisan support back when Bayh almost pushed through his amendment was that nobody knew then which party might win the most votes and still lose in the Electoral College, where each state has a number of electors equal to members in its congressional delegation. After all, it had looked in 1960 as though Republican Richard Nixon might get the most votes and still lose to Democrat John Kennedy. Nixon finally fell short by just 112,827 votes nationally. So, Kennedy just barely won in both popular vote and with electors. Before the Electoral College became so defined now as a Republican institution, Donald Trump in 2012 labeled it as a disaster for democracy. Trump mistakenly thought it would lead to President Barack Obama winning re-election unfairly in the Electoral College. The theory was that black voters would swing enough support to Obama in some big states to enable him to win, even though a vast majority of American voters had turned against him. Partisan political advantages aside, one of the most persuasive reasons to abandon the Electoral College is that if no presidential candidate gets a majority of the electors, selection of the president goes to the House of Representatives. And each state has one vote. A strong independent candidate winning a state or two could send the selection to the House in an era of crumbling congressional approval. Electoral roulette? That would be Russian roulette, playing with a gun pointed at democracy. Mary Beth Spalding South Bend Tribune If one tiny house can be the right answer for an individuals housing needs, maybe a bunch of them can be the right answer at least in part for a community. Thats what the city of Niles is thinking as it considers opening the door wider to tiny house construction, and its what one developer is thinking as he plans a TLC project thats for tiny living community in South Bend. We see it as an important option that has not been widely available in the market, sustainable development specialist Mike Keen, who runs the consulting practice Thrive Michiana, said about tiny houses. Keen, a retired IU South Bend professor and founder of the IU South Bend Center for a Sustainable Future, would use his diminutive dwellings to showcase sustainable building techniques and materials, too. Keens not talking about the tiny abode of 100 or 200 square feet that looks like a playhouse on wheels, like you might see on TV. That type generates a lot of interest and buzz. But the kind hes talking about, Keen said, are another branch of the tiny house movement. Theyre little homes of, say, 500 square feet that sit on permanent foundations and are built to conventional housing codes. They used to be more prevalent decades ago, until housing tastes and zoning rules sized up and often squeezed them out. Tiny houses have gained popularity in recent years as a throwback answer to desires for affordability and greener living, and the yen of a millennial generation for less house and a more urban lifestyle. Tiny houses are one option to help rebuild deteriorated urban housing, the so-called missing middle between the downtown core and the suburbs, Keen said. Studies for both South Bend and Niles in recent years have found a need to replenish these housing choices for different lifestyles and incomes. Ideas range from small apartment buildings to duplexes to different sizes of single-family homes, including tiny houses. Tiny houses could be used in a couple of different ways, such as in groups for small urban developments or as infill on random lots where ratty houses have been razed and left irregular gaps. Sanya Vitale, community development director for the city of Niles, would like to see tiny houses used in both of those ways in Niles. Vitale thinks theyre a vital affordable housing choice and knows firsthand. Late last year, she moved into a 500-square-foot house in Niles and immediately began saving about $500 per month in rent and utility costs, she said. Tiny house enthusiast Nikki Stillson and her husband, David, had a similar experience. The Stillsons, both in their 30s, lived in a 182-square-foot house on wheels in southern St. Joseph County in Indiana for three years, socking away money instead of working to pay bills that didnt get us anywhere, Nikki said. They enjoyed their time together, traveled and saved money for a down payment on a conventional-size home, which they bought last year after their daughter was born. Stillson knows other lovers of tiny houses who chose country living, too, because cities couldnt accommodate them. Allowing portable or permanent tiny houses in town? Its nothing but a good idea, Stillson said. Its providing affordable housing solutions, so people can bike or walk to stores, their jobs. A housing development vision Niles planners recently created includes a couple of clusters of tiny houses near downtown. This year, Vitale will be shepherding the process including taking public input of revising zoning rules to allow for tiny houses as infill on empty city lots. Itll be up to City Council to OK any changes. She estimates there might be up to a hundred empty lots around town, many of which the city owns and maintains, that no one can build on because theyre deemed too small under current rules, including a 1,250-square-foot minimum for a house. Larry Wilson, of Niles, a longtime builder and instructor at Southwestern Michigan College in Dowagiac, who sits on the Niles board of zoning appeals, favors amending rules to allow for small house building, in part so idle lots can generate more property tax revenue. Wilson is using the current popular interest in little dwellings for SMCs Construction Trades Green Technology program. A couple of years ago as he evangelized about the building trades to high schoolers, he announced SMC students would build a small house. Enrollment that fall jumped by a third, he said. Vitale had hoped the city of Niles could buy the 504-square-foot house from SMC when its done and use it as a way to generate enthusiasm for tiny houses as an affordable housing choice. The idea was to move the small house to an empty lot in town, raffle off buying rights and offer a 15-year lease mortgage. But the city currently doesnt have the money to pursue the plan, she said. Keen and his building partner, Dwayne Borkholder of New Energy Homes, hope to generate tiny house enthusiasm in South Bend. They plan to break ground at the end of March on a single tiny house at 813 Van Buren St. in the Near Northwest Neighborhood. It will be about 500 square feet, showcase high performance materials and be net-zero energy efficient. We decided to just build the single one so we could give people an idea of just what a tiny house feels like, Keen said. Keen hopes within a couple of years to start a tiny living community of six to 10 little houses near Portage and California avenues, northwest of downtown South Bend. Thats if he can get zoning approvals and nods from neighbors, he said. If not, Vitale said, hes welcome to come north. Ed Semmler South Bend Tribune Nicole Mills learned the hard way there really are very few regulations when it comes to adopting or buying a pet in Indiana. In fact, its new pet owner beware as rules vary widely depending on where the animal is coming from. Mills learned from her veterinarian that her 2-year-old boxer/pit bull mix had heartworm a potentially fatal parasitic disease in October following his adoption from South Bend Animal Care & Control. Now, she is trying to raise money on gofundme to pay for the treatment. According to the citys adoption contract, Animal Care & Control makes every effort to adopt only healthy animals but makes no guarantees or representations about any animals health and will not be liable for any future veterinary care or treatment the animal may need. The agency is required by city ordinance only to ensure animals have been spayed or neutered and have a state-mandated rabies vaccine, according to Mark Bode, a spokesman for the city. Most dogs also are checked for heartworm, but Bullet was missed because he was in foster care prior to his adoption, he said. Heartworm testing is not required, Bode said via email. However, when it was brought to SBACCs attention that Bullet tested positive for heartworm, the shelter offered treatment on the condition that the dog be temporarily relinquished so that SBACCs veterinarian could treat the animal. The owner declined the treatment plan. Mills, a South Bend resident, said she preferred not to even temporarily relinquish control over Bullet as her family had grown very fond of him and they wanted to ensure he had the best heartworm treatment available. Thats why they launched the gofundme campaign so they could pay for the treatment through her veterinarian. SBACC uses shelter medicine, which is different than vet medicine (and is substantially more affordable for shelters with comparatively limited resources), Bode explained. All treatments are done under the supervision of SBACCs veterinarian. But Mills dilemma is one that is repeated throughout Indiana and sometimes with far more serious consequences as there are basically no rules governing the adoption or purchase of animals. The state requires only that dogs, cats and ferrets be vaccinated for rabies once they are 12 weeks or older and that owners maintain the rabies vaccination throughout the life of the animal, said Denise Derrer, public information director for the State Board of Animal Health. There also are laws against abuse and neglect and regulations for commercial dog breeders with 20 or more females of breeding age, but largely nothing that stipulates what other shots or tests an animal should receive before it is adopted or purchased, she said. Some counties in Indiana dont even have an animal control agency, so it might be up to a sheriffs department to deal with strays, puppies and kittens, and those that do have animal control to deal with strays and unwanted pets have widely differing guidelines. Derrer said prospective pet owners should visit the site where the animal is coming from and ask questions. Pet Refuge in South Bend, for example, quarantines its animals for a couple of weeks even if they are in foster care to ensure they dont have any contagious diseases and can be thoroughly checked out for health and temperament, said Nancy Whiteman, a volunteer at the agency. After animals are spayed or neutered, tested for various diseases and receive their inoculations, animals are made available for adoptions, she said, adding that prospective owners are vetted to ensure they will have the right environment to match the personality of a dog or cat, she explained. A similar protocol is followed by the Humane Society of St. Joseph County and the Humane Society of Elkhart County. Beyond tests for various animal diseases, spaying, neutering and inoculations, some agencies such as Elkharts Humane Society and Pet Refuge also install chips so animals can be returned to where they belong if they are ever lost. To a large extent, the services offered by any shelter are dependent on the donations, volunteers and other money it has to work with, said Genny Carlson, director of St. Joseph Countys Humane Society. The local facility is fortunate to have the resources to provide a wide variety of testing, treatment and other services, but every facility wishes it could do even more to help stray and abandoned animals, Carlson said. Mills said she doesnt want her experience to dissuade anyone from adopting or rescuing an animal. She understands Bullet fell through the cracks, but the disagreement with Animal Care & Control aims mostly on how to treat her pet for heartworm. It would be wise for the person making the adoption to ask about the health history of the animal, Derrer said. Ask about a specific agencys policies. Dont assume anything, because there are no laws stipulating what services have to be performed. Deb Semmler Tribune Correspondent Drive & Shine might have the answer to all of that winter grime thats been building up inside and outside your vehicle the past several weeks. After months of construction, the local chain has opened a self-service interior cleaning operation adjacent to its newest wash at 4035 S. Michigan St. in South Bend. It offers customers the ability to clean the inside of their vehicles in a climate-controlled environment that is, away from snow, rain, wind or cold. But instead of just offering vacuums, the new facility also provides a mat-cleaning machine at each of the 22 bays as well as an air hose that can be used to dislodge interior dust or blow away water that might be hiding around mirrors and other crevices following a wash. Its going to allow customers the ability to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer while cleaning their cars, said Matt Tehrani, vice president of technology and new product development for the locally based business. Haji Tehrani, CEO and president of the company, got the idea for the indoor facility during his travels as board chairman of the International Carwash Association. In Germany, he explained, motorists can be pretty particular about their vehicles, and many people like to do the work themselves. Though Drive & Shine provides detailing services at most of its area locations, the newest South Bend location offers the self-service option for those want to do the work themselves. For an additional $5, any wash customer can use the equipment for 15 minutes, but its free for those who are enrolled in the unlimited Ruby program. Thats because Drive & Shine is always looking for ways to expand relationships with customers by offering discounts and other incentives for those enrolled in its unlimited wash programs. The new interior cleaning service is connected to Drive & Shines newest wash, which opened several weeks ago and uses a belt rather than a conveyor to move vehicles through the 200-foot wash tunnel. After completing a wash, customers can opt to make use of the new indoor facility or outside vacuums that will be operational soon. Tehrani said he believes the new wash will ultimately draw customers from a wide circle because of the new indoor facility as well as its proximity to U.S. 31 and the Bypass. I dont know of another such facility in Indiana, he said. The South Bend opening is the latest expansion for Drive & Shine, which just recently opened a detailing center at its original location at 5406 N. Main St. and has more ideas in the works. Our goal is to never stop improving, said Tehrani, who started the business more than 20 years ago. Were always looking for new concepts to wow our customers. Becky Malewitz South Bend Tribune The Protestant Reformation began in 1517 when Martin Luther wrote the Ninety-five Theses. The religious revolution led to a split from the Roman Catholic Church and the founding of Protestantism. In 2017, to commemorate the Reformations 500th anniversary, The National Lutheran Choir commissioned Norwegian composer Kim Andre Arnesen to compose a Mass. We wanted to commission something that would be somewhat of a lament of the divide, choir director David Cherwien says from Minnesota. But, maybe more importantly, bring Lutherans and Roman Catholics back together to what we do have in common. What resulted was the Holy Spirit Mass, which the National Lutheran Choir premiered in October 2017 in Washington, D.C. On Thursday, the choir performs the piece at the University of Notre Dames Sacred Heart Basilica. The piece is really supposed to be about reconciliation, Cherwien says. It includes the text of the Mass, which we, of course, have in common, and a hymn, Veni Creator Spiritus, which we have in common. The seven-movement work for strings and choir also includes a stanza of Luthers hymn Come Holy Ghost God and Lord. It talks about restoring your church as it was, which is the culmination of the piece, Cherwien says. He hopes that both Catholic and Lutheran listeners of the Holy Spirit Mass learn from the piece that were not all that different. Music can accomplish what theologically we struggle with, and thats coming together, he says. Music just has that power to do what words cant. It just goes to a different place in the brain. He says there is a bit of underlying lament between Catholics and Lutherans in that they cant celebrate the Eucharist together. So part of the commission was to celebrate 50 years of dialogue between Lutherans and Catholics. (The dialogue) came up with the agreement on justification by faith but is also kind of pointing to theres more work to be done looking at the Eucharist and how we understand that and co-celebrate that, Cherwien says. So its interesting that (the piece is) a Mass, but its not a Mass that gets celebrated liturgically. Since its debut, he says, the Holy Spirit Mass has garnered attention from both Catholics and Lutherans. At Notre Dame, they have two bishops, one Roman Catholic and one Lutheran, both speaking and committing to be a part of this, he says. Thats what were finding everywhere we want to go with this piece. With a running time of about 45 minutes, the Holy Spirit Mass makes up only half of the choirs program for the evening. The concert also features the spiritual Ive Got the Keys to the Kingdom, Bachs Sing to the Lord a New Song and Palestrinas musical setting of Psalm 42, Sicut Cervus. So thats like a Roman Catholic composer, and also the Lutheran composer and then theres this new piece, Cherwien says. So what thats doing is touching our roots and also at the same time, helping pave the way for a trajectory for whats in the future, to be a part of that tradition. So its important that we keep that going. Cherwien says new commissions such as the Holy Spirit Mass are important because its important to make music which reflects our faith today. You look at any hymnal, its not just a snapshot of one time, he says. Its a whole compilation of music from time and places. So its important that we not only celebrate and remember our past, but that we also help create the future. The Effects of Tariffs Trade Treaty in Peril? Governors Doing It For Themselves Governors don't expect to become experts on foreign affairs, but focusing on international relations has become an increasingly prominent part of the job description.As the Trump administration seeks to renegotiate trade deals with countries around the world, governors have been stepping up their own efforts to promote their states abroad , acting as salesmen and women for home-state companies and trying to bring in foreign investment.Appearances by foreign leaders have become almost a standing feature of National Governors Association events. At the NGA's winter meeting in Washington this weekend, governors met with provincial counterparts and trade officials from Canada, Mexico and Japan."If their companies want to grow and expand and hire more citizens, governors have to help their companies sell around the world, as well as attracting new companies in their state," said Gary Locke, a former Washington governor who was Commerce secretary under President Barack Obama.Locke now serves as honorary chair of Pass USMCA, a coalition lobbying for Congress to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a treaty President Trump negotiated last year to update the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told the state leaders gathered in Washington that passage of USMCA will bring billions of dollars in new investment to America and update NAFTA for the digital age. "This is a huge priority for the United States and our administration," he said.Kudlow sought to assure governors that, despite his "America first" reputation, Trump supports international trade. "The president's view on trade -- free, fair and reciprocal," he said as part of an NGA panel. "Many of his critics, some including my conservative friends, have argued that he's a protectionist. I don't believe that to be the case."Kudlow, who directs the National Economic Council, said the administration's goal ultimately is "three zeros" -- zero tariffs, zero subsidies and zero non-tariff barriers. He described the president's policy of imposing import tariffs on friends and foes alike as a "negotiating tool" that has forced other countries to the negotiating table.But both Republican and Democratic governors expressed concern about the pain their farmers and manufacturers are now experiencing, while also questioning the logic that putting up trade barriers is the way ultimately to eliminate them."Our trade with the Canadians is a huge part of our economy in Michigan," Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said. "That's why anytime we see policy being decided on social media, as opposed to a really thought out, forward-looking plan, it's troubling."Governors proselytize around the world for the goods and services produced in their states, while assuring foreign companies seeking new locations that their workers, infrastructure and supply chains can't be beat."Mexico is Arizona's No. 1 trading partner, and it's not even close -- it's times four," said GOP Gov. Doug Ducey, who has established a close relationship with Claudia Pavlovich, governor of the neighboring Mexican state of Sonora.Ducey backs passage of USMCA and described himself as "happy to hear" a fresh expression of the president's support for trade."I love the aspirational goal of no tariffs, no subsidies and no barriers," he says. "That's the definition of fair and free trade, and I'm supportive of that."But some other governors remain nervous about the administration's approach. Republican Gov. Gary Herbert of Utah suggested to Kudlow that it's "counterintuitive if you want to get to zero.""South Dakota has been devastated by the trade wars that are going on," that state's GOP Gov. Kristi Noem said Friday at a conference sponsored by Politico.Kudlow defended the idea of "three zeros" as a "useful goal," but conceded it might not be achieved during his lifetime."'America first' is a Trump phrase, a Trump watchword, absolutely," Kudlow said, "but he would argue that America first does not mean America alone."USMCA would bring Canada, Mexico and the U.S. closer to having tariff-free trade in agriculture. The new agreement would require that a greater share of parts used to make vehicles in North America must themselves be manufactured on the continent. It would also raise some labor standards throughout the trading area."It's vitally important that the members of Congress act on this as soon as possible," said George Allen, who served as governor of Virginia in the 1990s. "Whatever you think of NAFTA, this is an improvement."But Marc Garneau, Canada's transport minister, pleaded with governors to talk with Trump about removing tariffs and other barriers. Canada will begin its ratification process next month.He described USMCA as a "good deal," but recalled that the president said he would remove tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum if Canada renegotiated its trade arrangements with the U.S. That hasn't happened."At this point, those tariffs are an unnecessary tax that is weighing down on both countries," Garneau said. "This will present us with real challenges as we begin the process of ratification. I don't know if we can get there."Trade missions have long been an important part of any governor's schedule. But governors have stepped up their efforts recently, at least partially in response to Trump administration policies. Negotiations between subnational levels of government are becoming more routine.Governors can open a lot of doors for companies overseas. Major corporations have huge, sophisticated sales teams, noted Locke, the former Washington governor. But smaller companies can often use a boost."Governors are really just helping introduce these exporting companies -- small and medium businesses, farmers -- to additional opportunities," he said. "That cachet of a mayor or governor can go a long way to helping those medium sized companies."Times may change and administrations may do more to promote trade, or hinder it. But regardless of what's happening in Washington, governors have to act as the primary advocates for their own states, said Penny Pritzker, another Commerce secretary in the Obama administration."At the end of the day, the federal government can't prefer one state over another in trying to attract foreign direct investment," Pritzker said. "The states are going to have to go out and market themselves and market their strengths." With eye of A1+ or when there are no banned topics (video) 17 years ago, on April 2, A1+ was taken off air. In 2002, A1 + was a young, yet up-to-date TV channel which was the first channel that covered the crime of October 27, Poghos Poghosyan's murder because of saying "Privet Rob," and so on. A1+ starts a new series. Let's recall the significant events that took place since 1991 till today, the majority of which was recorded only by the A1+'s camera,and was first voiced by A1+. This time we present the 1991-2002 events. That is, the Artsakh war, the election of Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the resignation, September 25, 1996, October 27, murder of Boghos Poghosyan, the National Commission on Television and Radio of Armenia (NCTR) historical session. That is until April 2, 2002. when A1+ was taken off air. By the way, Robert Kocharyan says to A1+ journalist on the way to Tashkent on the morning of April 2, before the NCTR session: "Once I told your colleagues that if there were no A1+, I would create A1+ Company. Somerset, KY (42501) Today A shower or two around the area early, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight A shower or two around the area early, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%. Los Angeles: YouTube, under fire for facilitating the spread of conspiracy theories and other misinformation, says it will no longer serve ads on channels that espouse anti-vaccination rhetoric. The Google-owned video giant cited its advertising policy that bans "dangerous and harmful" content from eligibility in its monetisation program. "We have strict policies that govern what videos we allow ads to appear on, and videos that promote anti-vaccination content are a violation of those policies," YouTube said in a statement. Social media giant Google says its You-Tube channels will no longer serve advertisements on channels promoting anti-vaccination views. Credit:Wayne Taylor "We enforce these policies vigorously, and if we find a video that violates them, we immediately take action and remove ads." Though more than 18 months away, the 2020 presidential race is well under way in the United States. With an unpopular Republican incumbent, the Democratic Party is attracting a huge field, with at least 10 major candidates already declared and undoubtedly more to enter in the coming months. It is an ethnically diverse field, full of women, ranging from two 37-year-olds, just old enough to run, to two candidates who will be over 70 by election day. Democratic senator Bernie Sanders has announced his 2020 presidential run. Credit:AP But as diverse as the slate of candidates is, it is relatively united in its vision for the future: one in which the federal government plays a much larger role in the economy. From Medicare for All to the Green New Deal to universal childcare, Democrats are embracing an agenda that sits significantly to the left of the party in the 1990s and 2000s. And while the new Democratic agenda in some ways reflects a return to its roots - calls for universal healthcare and a higher minimum wage were part of the partys platform in the 1940s - it also reflects a new reality: after years of congressional inaction, the party is looking for sweeping solutions. Victims groups had hoped for a lot more. Some said they felt duped. Anne Barrett-Doyle of bishopaccountability.org called it a stunning letdown. We needed [Francis] to offer a bold and decisive plan. He gave us instead defensive, recycled rhetoric, she said. Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Vatican. Credit:ANSA Pete Saunders, a British survivor of sexual abuse as a child who set up Britains National Association for People Abused in Childhood and was in 2014 appointed to the popes advisory commission on the protection of children, said it was a damp squib. Prior to this summit the reputation of the church on this issue, of child protection and dealing with abusers was in tatters, he said. Today I think the reputation of the church is in absolute shreds its turned out to be a non-event despite the fact there were some fairly powerful speeches made. Saunders said he had hoped the pope would change canon law to ensure that any priest convicted of abuse was permanently removed from the priesthood and that the same would apply to anyone found to have covered up such crimes. But instead he saw the same attitude he saw when he was advising the pope: a total denial of having to be held accountable to anybody, he said. Sex abuse survivors and members of the Ending Clergy Abuse take their message to the Vatican on Wednesday. Credit:AP Brisbanes archbishop Mark Coleridge, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, conceded the announcements on Sunday were not world-shattering. I can understand those who were expecting it to be more, perhaps a declaration of new policies, but [Pope Francis] clearly chose not to do that, he said. But he said he expected more changes would follow. Or, at least, he said this was the crucial challenge to have emerged from the summit. Coleridge said he expected more transparency and access to church files, particularly a revisiting of the pontifical secret, an over-used status of Vatican confidentiality. Brisbanes archbishop Mark Coleridge. Credit:The Age/SMH And he predicted a practical step on bishops being held to account for abuse cover-ups. [On] episcopal accountability, whether bishops have been abusers themselves - and weve seen that - or have been derelict in dealing with abuse, there has to be some very practical and effective way of dealing with that, Coleridge said. This is something we havent really looked at or tackled in Australia but after this meeting its pretty high on the agenda. Coleridge said the conference had seen an important shift in thinking from bishops from around the world. Loading It is very clear now that anyone in the Catholic Church in any part of the world who thinks he or she can get away with sexual abuse of the young and vulnerable has absolutely nowhere to go, he said. There is no place certainly in leadership for anyone who abuses the young. Tying that down in detail is the challenge but that principle is crystal clear. Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, the Holy Sees prosecutor on clerical sex abuse cases, said the summit had made a very clear point that abuse is a clear crime and so is cover-up. The summit was the moment that second point became clear, he said. For decades we were concentrating on the crime. We now also realise that covering up is also equally egregious. Loading But he said he understood the frustration of victims and their supporters, saying they had legitimate expectations of further action. Jesuit father Hans Zollner, from the summits organising committee, asked for patience. We are in the process of turning around, he said. This is not going to be over tomorrow, or in two weeks or in two months time. Oswald Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India and on the summits committee, echoed this call for patience. Its not like the Holy Father stamps his feet and everything happens at once, he said. Implementation will have to be done at the local level. Thats what he expects. The main meetings of the summit were held in the Sala Regia, a grand room next door to the Sistine Chapel, built in the 16th century as an audience hall for the pope to receive kings. It is adorned with art commissioned to emphasise papal and Catholic primacy. There is the victory of Christian troops over the Turks at the sea battle of Lepanto. There is a celebration of the Massacre of the Huguenots. There are multiple paintings of kings and emperors humbly donating gifts of territory to the church. But there remains some resistance to the idea that sexual abuse is a pressing global church crisis. Though that notion no longer has much traction among top Vatican officials, church watchers say, some bishops still claim abuse is primarily a problem of the West, the result of secularisation or corrupted sexual and family values. Other bishops acknowledge that abuse might be a problem in their own backyards, but say they are facing other grave crises, including warfare, famine, and climate change. Archbishop Mark Coleridge, of Brisbane, Australia, said this week that some bishops, during discussion sessions that are not open to the media, have asked why there is a church "obsession" with sexual abuse. Sex abuse survivors and members of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse) march in downtown Rome holding a banner reading "stop excuses", on Saturday. Credit:AP "Bishops from Africa and Asia are saying, 'Well, why are we just talking about sexual abuse? Because abuse in my country takes many forms: child labor, child soldiers,'" Coleridge said. "To come to an agreed approach that embraces all of those cultural differences will be one of the big challenges of the meeting." National-level Catholic leaders have typically enacted reforms only after damaging revelations - and only under intense pressure. The countries that now have the most rigid anti-abuse rules - including the United States, Ireland, Australia and Canada - have governments and media outlets willing to investigate the church. Abuse remains little-discussed not just in Africa and Asia, but also in parts of Europe, including Italy, where the dioceses do not automatically cooperate on cases with criminal investigators, and where the many media outlets are reluctant to cover stories that might hurt the church. But activists say that it is in other major Catholic countries - Brazil, the Philippines, and Democratic Republic of Congo - where the scale remains the least explored and the most potentially explosive. In the Philippines, no priests have been convicted on child sex crimes, according to Anne Barrett Doyle, the co-founder of a website, Bishop-Accountability.org, that tracks abuse cases. Sex abuse survivor Alessandro Battaglia is hugged by survivor and founding member of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), Denise Buchanan, right, during a march in Rome on Saturday. Credit:AP And in the Congo, there are only a few known cases, including that of Kitobo, who says he was sexually abused for four years by a priest who had been sent to the country from Belgium. In large swaths of the world, victims are reluctant to come forward because of societal pressures or legal dangers. Kitobo said that in the Congo, the church is deeply-engrained in schooling and in medical care. "The church owns everything," he said. The Reverend Lambert Riyazimana, a priest in Burundi, said taboos prevent reporting. "Priests are respected," Riyazimana said. "So it's first of all hard to report if anything happens, because it wouldn't be believable in the eyes of the public." Before the summit began, one archbishop from Ghana told the Catholic outlet Crux that, although he had enacted anti-abuse initiatives, he felt the problem was "very, very, very minimal". Archbishop Philip Naameh of Ghana said abuse did not happen on the same scale as in the West "because children are generally looked at as a great gift from God". Naameh, speaking Saturday evening to fellow bishops, struck a different tone, telling the gathering, "We have not afforded people the protection they are entitled to." More than a half-dozen African and Asian bishops this week declined requests for interviews. Another bishop, Rochus Tatamai, the president of the episcopal conference representing Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, said the church in his territory was consumed in dealing with malnutrition, low mortality rates, dangerous sanitation standards, and living conditions that are "far from the basic standards." He said he had never heard about a case of clerical abuse, among 22 dioceses. Loading "For us - some of the African and Asian countries - it is not really a priority," Tatamai said of abuse. But, he said, "This has been like a wake-up call." In 2011, the Holy See had asked countries to draw up their own child protection guidelines, but not every country has followed the request. On the website it created for this event, the Vatican posted such procedures for 31 different countries. Only two countries in Africa are listed, South Africa and the Central African Republic. Only Sri Lanka and South Korea represent Asia. The Vatican also included guidelines from Kerala, a southern Indian state. Cardinals and bishops selected to speak this week have emphasized that national-level Catholic leaders need to take new steps to handle accusations of abuse, including creating clear outlets for people to come forward with claims. Kitobo said that, in his former country, people will come forward - eventually. "It is just a matter of time until this explodes," he said. "You need a trigger." Kitobo said the trigger could be anything that makes people feel less shame about their experiences, or anything that gives people more confidence that the church will listen to them. Helsinki: Sweden says it will summon Russia's ambassador on Monday to explain why a Russian fighter jet flew just 20 metres away from a Swedish reconnaissance plane in international airspace over the Baltic Sea earlier this week. A Russian SU-27. Credit:Japan Air Self-Defence Force Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Diana Qudhaib told Swedish public broadcaster SVT on Sunday that Sweden considers Tuesday's incident serious, saying the Russian Sukhoi Su-27 plane acted in "an improper and unprofessional manner in a way that jeopardised flight safety." The Swedish Gulfstream aircraft was flying on a routine surveillance mission when the Russian jet passed by at a very close distance. The Swedish military published a photo of the incident. In January, a Russian reconnaissance plane escorted by two Su-27 jets briefly violated Sweden's airspace. Kim Jong-un's arrival in Vietnam this week for a second meeting with US President Donald Trump may be most remarkable for how normal it's becoming. The summit in Vietnam will be the second meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Credit:AP Since opening talks with South Korea last year, the once-reclusive North Korean leader has turned into one of the most sought-after guests in Asia. At each stop from Beijing to Singapore and now Hanoi Kim is being escorted down red carpets by officials eager to build early ties with the head of one of the world's last untapped markets. The swing from international pariah to guest of honour is a testament to Kim's success in wresting power from military chieftains and eliminating rivals since his father died in 2011. It also illustrates his long-held desire to restore an economy drained by decades of famine, state planning and military expansion under his father and grandfather. The NSW Nationals have warned regional voters against the insidious threat of minor parties and independents, as they announced billions of dollars in election promises in a bid to secure a third term in office. Launching the Naionals state election campaign, Deputy Premier John Barilaro urged party faithful not to change the jockey mid race as he promised an extra $500 million to upgrade regional roads, and a new cabinet ministry for regional youth. Premier Gladys Berejiklian joined Deputy Premier John Barilaro for the Nationals launch. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Its been 50 years since weve won a third term, so the reality is we dont take it for granted, Mr Barilaro said on Sunday. We are the underdogs. People when they are feeling comfortable, and feel that things are going well, may give the opposition or someone else a go. Thats the challenge. "It means a better chance for people to have a proper test with their doctor," Health Minister Greg Hunt told Nine's Weekend Today show on Sunday. The Australian Medical Association welcomed the commitment by both major parties to invest an estimated $170 million extra over five years for general practice. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Health Minister Greg Hunt, seen in a file picture, have both pledged millions for heart check-ups. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen One Australian dies of cardiovascular disease every 12 minutes, with one Australian experiencing a heart attack or stroke every five minutes. Both the federal government and Labor have committed millions to funding potentially life-saving heart health checks. "They can see whether there are any issues either around their lifestyle or whether any further action needs to be taken." The checks will be available through Medicare from April. "Heart disease is Australia's silent killer," Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told reporters in Melbourne on Sunday. "My father died prematurely at the age of 70 with a catastrophic heart attack. We will make sure the funding is available so that everyone who wants to get a heart health check will be able to do so. "It is good the government has agreed that to this proposition as well." The complaint includes allegations ranging from bullying, intimidation and inappropriate workplace behaviour to the questionable use of public funds and removal of cases from individual coroners without proper consultation. Interviews with numerous past and present court staff, as well as internal emails and staff surveys obtained by The Age, provide a detailed portrait of an increasingly dysfunctional and, at times, hostile, workplace between 2016 and 2018. Judge Hinchey has strenuously denied wrongdoing and has expressed confidence that she would be able to rebut every allegation against her. She declined to comment, but said through a spokesman that she was focused on her work at the County Court and had made her responses to the Judicial Commission where she was hopeful of a good outcome. Whereas WorkSafe has been able to progress from the assessment phase to an investigation, the Judicial Commission appears to be struggling to cope with the biggest test of its two-year existence. More than six months after receiving the complaint about Judge Hinchey, the commission is unable or unwilling to inform the public about what it is doing. The commissions lack of progress and perceived lack of communication is frustrating both Judge Hincheys supporters and the complainants. Judge Hincheys legal team filed its response to the complaint in October but has heard nothing since from the commission. Past and present Coroners Court staff linked to the complaint also say they have no idea what is going on. The whole thing is a debacle, said a former court manager who contributed to the complaint. Worksafe has moved to an investigation, but the Judicial Commission appears to be struggling with the biggest test of its existence. The options available to the commission include dismissal of the complaint, referral to the head of jurisdiction or the creation of a special investigative panel. But the commission is refusing to say what course of action it has taken, saying only that the matter is progressing. Newly appointed court chief executive Carolyn Gale said that over the past six months there had been several new initiatives designed to build a more positive, supportive and inclusive working environment at the court. Some programs to improve staff well-being, particularly having to deal with daily trauma through the cases before the court, began under Judge Hinchey. Victorias legal fraternity is closely watching the handling of the Judge Hinchey case. Law Institute of Victoria president Stuart Webb said the Judge Hinchey case was the first real test the commission faced since its 2016 establishment as the place where the public could raise complaints about the conduct of judicial officers. While Mr Webb did not wish to comment on the length of time involved, he said it was important the public was properly informed when the commission concludes its work to ensure confidence in the independence of the process. There is nothing in the Judicial Commission of Victoria Act that prevents it from informing the public about an investigation into the conduct of a judge or magistrate. The act makes clear that the commission may release information about the handling of a complaint or the status of an investigation if it deems it in the public interest. A possible explanation for the commissions difficulties is Judge Hincheys status as a head of jurisdiction through her role as State Coroner. This meant Judge Hinchey sat on the commissions board alongside Supreme Court chief justice Anne Ferguson, County Court chief judge Peter Kidd, chief magistrate Peter Lauritsen and VCAT president Michelle Quigley. Acting state coroner Iain West has taken Judge Hincheys place on the board for the time being. Two men arrested over the shooting of an ex-detective in Point Cook have been released, pending further inquiries. Sid Morgan, a former NSW police officer, was shot in the face on Spraypoint Drive around 11pm Thursday night. Mr Morgan remained in the Royal Melbourne Hospital on Sunday evening in a critical condition. Mr Morgan worked as a real estate agent after leaving the police force. Credit:Facebook On Thursday, police began a manhunt for the offenders, who allegedly fled the scene. Victorian firefighter Troy Thornton, who had multiple system atrophy, travelled with his wife Christine to a Swiss euthanasia clinic. The mother of veteran Victorian firefighter Troy Thornton who died in a Swiss euthanasia clinic is calling on Australian politicians to "take notice" of his story. Barbara Spencer said her 54-year-old son, who had multiple system atrophy - a progressive neurodegenerative disorder - had to travel to a clinic in Switzerland because he wasn't considered as having a terminal illness under Victorian law. Mr Thornton died by lethal injection late on Friday, Australian time, after prominent voluntary euthanasia advocate and founder of Exit International, Philip Nitschke, helped connect him with Life Circle in Basel. Victoria is set to become the first Australian state to legalise voluntary assisted dying, which takes effect on June 19. Three men and a woman have been charged after a police officer was allegedly "ragdolled" and had his head smashed into the ground while another was seriously injured during an arrest in the early hours of Sunday. The horrific assault occurred after police were called to Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, just before 3am after reports of an attack on a vulnerable woman. A 26-year-old St Kilda man, a 27-year-old Langwarrin man, a 25-year-old Langwarrin woman and a 38-year-old Frankston man were arrested on Sunday night. They have all been charged with two counts of assault police, affray, violent disorder, intentionally cause injury and other assault-related offences. Local history podcast producers Lee Hooper, left, and Carly Godden at the grave of Emily Mather, who was murdered in 1891 by her husband, Frederick Deeming. Credit:Paul Jeffers Carly Godden and Lee Hooper were appalled by what they read on the gravestone at Melbourne General Cemetery. At the time, Ms Godden and Ms Hooper were researching the 1891 killing of 26-year-old Emily Mather by her husband, serial killer Frederick Deeming, for a new history podcast they were producing. At the cemetery, they found that Mather was victim shamed on her own tombstone for marrying the wrong bloke. Under the heading Advice, a poem on Mathers grave, signed by a public official claiming to be a friend, warns other women they too could come to a sad ending if they marry in haste. They used to be a mainstay of the festive season, but in recent years Christmas beetles havent been showing up to south-east Queensland barbeques. Many locals will have memories of the iridescent beetles showing up in great numbers at outdoor gatherings in the past, but anecdotal evidence suggests that is no longer the case. When was the last time you saw a Christmas beetle? Credit:Nick Moir A straw poll of Brisbane Times readers found over half of those surveyed either had not seen one of the beetles in the last six months, or could not remember the last time they had seen one. Just 8 per cent said they had seen a Christmas beetle in the last month, while 6 per cent said they had seen one in the last week. Ex-tropical Cyclone Oma may be gone but abnormally high tides and dangerous surf have continued in south-east Queensland coast and Islands. A severe weather warning was also issued for parts of Wide Bay and Burnett as well as the south-east on Sunday. A Bureau of Meteorology statement said ex-tropical cyclone Oma was over the southern Coral sea, about 970 kilometres east north-east of Brisbane by 5am. "The tropical low is forecast to move northwards over the Coral Sea during the next few days, remaining well offshore of the Queensland coast," it said. Picture each day knowing you're likely to deal with a kid who bites the inside of his mouth enough to make it bleed and then spits in your face. Thats a daily reality for officers in the NSW juvenile justice system. Its not just spitting. Biting, punching and kicking are common. Members of our union tell me stories of young offenders using screws between their fingers as make-shift knuckle dusters. Or light filaments unscrewed and used as weapons. Threats of cutting out tongues or chopping off heads are par for the course. At one centre there are more than 20 officers off on workers' compensation. An inmate inside the Cobham Juvenile Justice Centre. Credit:Kate Geraghty The Public Service Association recorded more than 70 violent incidents against staff in the past six months, for a statewide offender population of 280. Those are the ones that were reported. We estimate violence against our members has trebled in the three years since Corrections NSW took over control of the Kariong centre on the Central Coast from Juvenile Justice NSW. Previously, Kariong had been used to manage high-risk juvenile offenders. Perhaps, muses Charles Davies-Scourfield of Moss Vale, there was a greater nuance in the name Starboard (C8). "In marine parlance it requires that all others give way to him, particularly those coming at him from the left (port)." While the father of Paul Coffey from the Gold Coast (Qld) "an ex-Royal Navy man from WWII always said: 'Port is better left alone'." Neil Feller of Potts Point was confounded by an item in the Herald Letters section where somebody claimed to be '49% Irish, 48% English, 3% Norwegian' (Wednesday 20). "If I'm me, I'm 100%. Therefore my parents (2) are 50% each. My grandparents (4) are 25% each. My great-grandparents (8) are 12.5% each. And my great-great-great grandparents (16) are 6.25% each. And so on. Surely these percentages can't change. So, how can anyone declare their ancestry as anything other than these percentages?" At least 49, 48 and 3 do actually add up to 100, unlike some other ancestry profiles that are sometimes bandied about. Beware the wrath of the Oma (C8). Deirdree Wallwork of Beecroft thinks Oma is a fine name for a cyclone. "I am Omi to my grandchildren and I whirl in with devastating consequences to any who even look like they might harm my grandkids. A totally appropriate name for a cyclone, hurricane, typhoon or a marauding grandmother." While Joy Cooksey of Harrington thinks "most modern nannies and grannies and other little old ladies can still be a force to be reckoned with, especially when dealing with those under the weather". Following on from ferocious Omas, Jeff Sprague of Woodford admires the unwavering fortitude of his mother-in-law. "Recently my wife accompanied her independent 98-year-old mother to the local RSL club to renew her membership. When asked whether she wanted it for one or five years, my mother-in-law replied without a moment's hesitation: 'five'." Reports that the NRL is determined to introduce a strict code of conduct where misbehaving players will be banned or suspended led Bob Doepel of Greenway (ACT) to write: "Oh well, seven a side games are quite entertaining." Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter has agreed to "significant" changes to his proposed merger of the Federal Circuit and Family Courts in a bid to convince the crossbench to agree to the plan in the final sitting days before the federal election. But the proposed amendments have not persuaded the peak body for the legal profession, the Law Council of Australia, to back the plan. Attorney-General Christian Porter has compromised on his bill to merge the Federal Circuit and Family Courts. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer The bill to abolish the Family Court of Australia as a stand-alone court and merge it with the lower-level Federal Circuit Court, which handles some family law matters alongside migration cases, has been roundly criticised by Labor and senior figures in the legal profession. Key crossbench senator Rex Patrick, who is in negotiations with Mr Porter about the bill to merge the courts, said Mr Porter had abandoned a proposal to scrap the Family Court's appeal division and send appeals from the new court to the Federal Court. You wont be seeing a gloating tabloid front page about this one. With great fanfare last year, Racing Minister Paul Toole ramped up the governments tough-love approach to bookies, promising to smash gambling giants advertising bonus bets to lure in gamblers. Fair enough. Despite prosecuting some of the countrys largest operators including BetEasy, Ladbrokes and Tabcorp, Liquor & Gaming NSW managed just $97,400 in fines, leaving Toole fuming. Ladbrokes has had criminal charges brought against it by NSW authorities quashed. Credit:Shakespeare A memo to our man in Bathurst - theres a bigger problem. A renewable-energy investor will challenge the major parties' grip on the ACT's Senate seats with an appeal to moderate voters disenchanted with the Liberals and Labor. Anthony Pesec is launching his campaign on Monday after watching the rise of independent MPs interstate, believing it will change the way Canberrans vote too. Anthony Pesec, campaigning to become an independent senator for the ACT, says the efficiency dividend imposed on government departments including national institutions is unrealistic. Credit:Jamila Toderas The former investment banker and civil engineer has the backing of former Canberra Liberals president Gary Kent and could draw the support of Alex Turnbull, the son of the deposed prime minister. Fighting the long-established hold of the Labor and Liberal parties on the ACT's two Senate seats, Mr Pesec says a change in the political wind has created an opening for a centrist in the federal election, expected in May. Richard Gill: Celebration of a life Hamer Hall, 21 February A few days before his death in October, a gathering of talent took place outside the Sydney home of conductor, educator and artistic leader Richard Gill. More than 70 top-rank musicians from across that city came to play one last time for a man whose colossal contribution to Australias musical culture is all but impossible to overstate. A similarly well-heeled coming together celebrated the life and legacy of Gill in Melbourne last week. The assembled artists read like a whos who of Victorias classical music elite, each ensemble sharing a close association with Gill. But beyond those professional ties, every musician also shared another commonality: an abiding love for a man whose passionate, generous spirit touched thousands across the country and beyond. A life lived large: Richard Gill. Interspersed with deeply moving tributes from family and friends, the program was a perfect reflection of Gills enduring influence. In addition to the chorus and orchestra of Victorian Opera and the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, two world-class organisations Gill was instrumental in founding, young musicians featured prominently. Staff and students of the Australian National Academy of Music and the Australian Youth Orchestra paid homage to Gills pioneering work championing Australias musical youth. A high proportion of out-of-area students also suggests its local students are going elsewhere. In Marrickville, which has become relatively wealthy, many locals are opting for private schools such as Newington, Trinity Grammar and St Scholastica's. Some of the most popular schools have the lowest out-of-area numbers because there is such demand from within the catchment. Year 6 student Andrea Ceccarini wants to attend The Forest High but is one street out of the catchment. Credit:James Alcock Those schools include Cherrybrook Technology High (home to celebrity maths teacher Eddie Woo), with just 14 per cent of students living out-of-area, The Ponds High (17 per cent), which has grown rapidly since it opened in 2015, and Killara High (17 per cent), which consistently performs well in the HSC. Maurie Mulheron described the high number of out-of-area students across the public secondary system as "a serious problem. It means [those schools] take kids away from another high school. "The creation and existence of specialist schools has given people the false notion there's a hierarchy of choice. And then the last choice is the local school. Secondary education in NSW has really been in a difficult position because of this hierarchy of choice." Loading But Ms Hoddinott said parents had come to expect choice in their children's schooling. "Once a government begins a policy, it's very difficult to go back," she said. "People would go into the private system if that sort of thing happened." Myriad factors prompt parents to apply for schools further afield. They can include a school's links to transport, the kind of support and subjects it offers, its results, and its reputation. School shopping is more prevalent at secondary than primary school because older students can travel independently, and parents are more likely to consider factors such HSC performance. Chris Presland from the Secondary Principals Council said research showed that many families were aspirational in relation to their child's education, and sought schools with greater levels of social advantage than the area in which they lived. "What you see happening, particularly in a big metro area like Sydney, is people are realising you don't have to pay a fortune for a good education by going to a private school. You can get to a public school in a higher socio-economic area," he said. "People have an over-inflated idea of the differences between schools. Mostly it's garbage. The truth is there's very little difference." Some parents go to great lengths to access a high better school. Some move to the catchment in order to ensure their child a place, pushing up real estate prices in suburbs such as those surrounding Cherrybrook High. About 60 per cent of secondary students in NSW attend public schools, while the remainder attend Catholic or independent schools. Mr Mulheron said the NSW Department of Education needed to put more resources and effort into the transition from primary to high school. "There is no data on where children go to high school when they finish at the local primary. Loading "We need to collect that data, see where the leakage away from the local primary school and fix it. Parents feel they have to shop around, be worried about high school, gossip at the gate. We could do this so much better." Chris Bonnor from the Centre for Policy Development said schools were required to accept all applications from inside their catchment zone but could then take their pick of the students applying from outside, creating de facto selective systems in some schools. Belrose mum Giovanna Boccanfuso has already filled out the paperwork to apply next year for The Forest High School, where 61 per cent of enrolments are from outside the catchment zone. Many other parents at Allambie Heights Public School are doing the same, she said, because of the school's good name. "She really wants to go there as she wants be with her friends," said Ms Boccanfuso. "It just seems to be more about the community than our local high school, and the kids there are relaxed and happy." Highest out-of-area enrolments: Holroyd High - 87 per cent Strathfield South High - 73 per cent Plumpton High - 72 per cent Beverley Hills Girls High - 71 per cent Arthur Phillip High School - 78 per cent Lowest out-of-area enrolments Heathcote High - 12 per cent Cherrybrook Technology High - 13 per cent Barrenjoey High - 14 per cent Northern Beaches Secondary College Cromer Campus - 15 per cent The Ponds High School - 17 per cent Chameli often goes hungry and earns about 51 an hour making clothes in a factory that supplies Australia's $23 billion fashion industry. She lives in a nine square metre room with her husband and three daughters, aged between 5 and 14, and shares two stoves and one bathroom with five other families. Because she is unable to make ends meet on poverty wages making clothes supplied to Australian brands including Big W, her children no longer attend school and the eldest works in a clothing factory. "The thing that motivates me the most ... I just think if I don't work, my children won't get any food," she says. Garment worker Chameli, 30, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Credit:Fabeha Monir/ OxfamAUS A landmark Oxfam Australia investigation, the first of its kind into the lives of workers in supply chains of Australian brands including Big W, Kmart, Target and Cotton On, has revealed they sometimes go hungry and without basic healthcare. Oxfam is urging the retailers to ensure factory workers are being paid a living wage that is enough for basic essentials including food, healthcare and housing. Facebook enabled advertisers to target Australians who have expressed an interest in extremist ideologies including "fascism", raising concerns the social media platform could be used to stoke civil unrest and destabilise local politics. Ahead of a Federal Election expected to be contested heavily on border protection, Facebook's advertising tools could, as of last week, also be used to target Australians interested in "opposition to immigration" and "nationalism", the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have confirmed. A man walks past a Facebook sign in an office on the Facebook campus in Menlo Park, California. Credit:AP They could also be used to target users interested in "far left politics"and "far right politics" as well as fringe conspiracy movements such as "vaccine controversies", "climate change denial" and "flat earth". In a statement, Facebook defended its ad-targeting tools, but several interest categories highlighted by the Herald and Age in this story are now under review. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Whats one state when you have 49 others? More than 16,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org to sell Montana to Canada for $1 trillion -- enough money to eliminate the national debt. We have too much debt and Montana is useless. Just tell them it has beavers or something, wrote Ian Hammond, who created the petition. Some residents of Big Sky Country appear to approve of the idea, too, with one writing, Im Montanan and hoping to join Canada without the moving costs. Lets do this. Please adopt us. Honestly most Montanans are totally ok with this lets do it Im fine with being out of this hellhole, another wrote. Lawmakers, however, dont seem so keen on the idea. Rep. Forest Mandeville, chair of the states House Administration Committee, jokingly proposed a resolution to oppose the plan, according to USA Today. While he got three-quarters approval (15-5) to authorize a draft of the resolution, the lawmakers reportedly reconsidered the request. Mandeville didnt seem too upset by the decision, though, the report said. I dont think anyone really believes there is a snowballs chance in Florida that the U.S. will sell Montana to Canada, he told USA Today. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A second-grader severely scalded five years ago by a paraprofessionals cup of hot tea has settled his lawsuit against the city and Department of Education for $2.25 million, said his lawyers. Court records said the incident occurred on Dec. 10, 2013, in a classroom at PS 225 in Brooklyns Brighton Beach section. The boy was 7 then, said his Eltingville-based attorneys Jonathan DAgostino and Glen Devora. Devora said the boys teacher and the paraprofessional brewed tea in an electric teapot in a closet in the classroom. Doing so violated the schools policy prohibiting teachers from having hot beverages in classrooms and hallways, said the lawyer. After brewing some tea, the paraprofessional placed a mug of the hot beverage near a window in the classroom next to where tissues were kept for students use, Devora said. At one point, the boy went over, reached for a tissue and tapped the mug, said the attorney. The mug overturned and the liquid spilled onto the boy, seriously scalding his left arm and hand as well as the left side of his chest, according to court papers and Devora. He suffered second- and third-degree burns and permanent scarring, court papers said. The child was taken to Staten Island University Hospitals Jerome L. Finkelstein MD, Regional Burn Center for treatment. Devora lauded the care the child received at the hospital. Ekaterine Kotova, the boys mother, sued the city and Department of Education in Brooklyn state Supreme Court, alleging negligence. The case recently settled. Devora said the boy has made an excellent recovery with respect to the use of his arms and legs. At this point, its more about the scarring, but with burns like this theres a potential increase of the risk of certain kinds of cancers, he said. He added: While Im sure that student safety is a priority for our many wonderful teachers and school administrators, I hope this case serves as a reminder that when such tragic accidents happen, there must be accountability. Kimberly Joyce, a city Law Department spokeswoman, said, The settlement was in the best interest of all involved parties. Lawsuits stemming from hot-beverage scalding incidents are not uncommon. Over the years, hundreds of customers around the country, including a number on Staten Island, have sued retailers after they were allegedly scalded by coffee they had purchased. Stella Liebeck, an Albuquerque, N.M. woman, was involved in perhaps the most notorious case of a customer suing over a coffee scalding. She suffered third-degree burns when McDonald's coffee that was 180 to 190 degrees spilled onto her lap. A jury awarded her $2.9 million in damages, which the trial judge later knocked down to $640,000. Afterward, the two sides reached an undisclosed settlement. As an outgrowth of that case, McDonalds and other coffee outlets began printing warning labels on their hot-beverage cups. Were highlighting some of the activities Staten Island students are engaged in -- both inside and outside the classroom. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In honor of National Childrens Dental Health Month, St. Pauls School of Nursing Staten Island provided Staten Island children with a visual checkup, tooth brushing demonstration and more. The school hosted a Give Kids A Smile event last month to provide the checkups for underserved local children and the children of St. Pauls students and instructors. By participating in Give Kids A Smile Day, we are filling a critical need in our communities while giving our students hands-on experience its a win-win, said David Smith, president of St. Pauls School of Nursing Staten Island. In addition to the services, the school also offered dental-related arts and crafts and games, including dental tic-tac-toe. The American Dental Association (ADA) Foundations Give Kids A Smile program launched nationally in 2003, as a way for dentists to join with others in the community to provide dental services to underserved children. The annual events provide free, easily accessible dental services to qualifying individuals, raises awareness of the epidemic of untreated dental disease and create local public and private partnerships to increase access to oral health care. As part of our education column, In Class, we are highlighting some of the activities Staten Island students are engaged in -- both inside and outside the classroom. Heres a look at some additional recent education-related happenings. COLLEGE AWARENESS DAY Students at PS 54 in Willowbrook learned about potential careers during College Awareness Day last month. College Awareness Day, held on Jan. 11, is the city Department of Educations (DOE) citywide celebration of college attendance and the opportunities a college education can bring to students and families. The day is dedicated to helping students realize that college and other postsecondary programs can make their dreams possible, according to the DOE. This years theme was Best of the Boros: College Access Edition. During the day, schools led in-class discussions with students, hosted alumni events and provided early college awareness workshops. At PS 54, students dressed up as their intended career path. They were able to shadow professionals in the school building to learn more about their careers. Professionals visited each class, from pre-K to fifth grade. College Awareness Day is supported by the DOEs College Access for All initiative. BANDS PERFORM AT FESTIVAL Bands from Susan E. Wagner High School, Sea View, and Curtis High School, St. George, were two of more than 275 featured bands during a jazz festival last month. The bands played at Berklee College of Musics 51st High School Jazz Festival at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Mass. Berklee College of Music said the festival is the largest of its kind in the United States. Students were awarded for their musical skills, while others were honored for outstanding achievements in composition. Bands competed to win an intensive five-week summer musical performance program. The full day of activities included clinics, which are informal meetings with musicians, jam sessions, concerts, tours of Berklee and more. Guest clinicians included saxophonist for the Dave Mathews Band Jeff Coffin; trumpeter Keyon Harrold; and the Almas Antiguas Quintet presented by Marco Pignataro, managing director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. Do you have a story idea for the new In Class education column? Email education reporter Annalise Knudson at aknudson@siadvance.com. FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. You are now listening to the sounds of the New Generation. A podcast created for those who desire a new way of gaining information rather than reading a traditional newspaper. In our show we will discuss everything from sports, pop culture, politics, and local news. To stay up to date on our latest episodes every week be sure to follow us on your favorite podcast service. And dont worry, we keep it short. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. This includes cookies from third party social media websites and ad networks. Such third party cookies may track your use on Sharedots sites for better rendering. Our partners use cookies to ensure we show you advertising that is relevant to you. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on Sharedots website. However, you can change your cookie settings at any time. Learn more Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images VATICAN CITY A prominent Nigerian nun blasted the culture of silence that has long kept clergy sexual abuse hidden in the Catholic Church, telling a Vatican summit Saturday that transparency and an admission of mistakes were needed to restore trust. A German cardinal backed her up, telling the summit that church files about abusers had been destroyed, victims silenced and church procedures ignored, canceled or overridden all in an attempt to keep the scandal under wraps. VATICAN CITY Pope Francis ended a landmark Vatican meeting on clerical sexual abuse with an appeal for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors, which he compared to human sacrifice, but his speech did not offer concrete policy remedies demanded by many of the faithful. Francis argued that even a single case of abuse in the Roman Catholic Church must be met with the utmost seriousness. To combat this evil that strikes at the very heart of our mission, the pope said, the church needed to protect children from ravenous wolves. Faithful Catholics especially those in the United States and other countries that have grappled with the problem for years had demanded more than homilies: They wanted action that would hold their leaders accountable, once and for all. They did not get it from the popes speech. But church officials have hinted that concrete policy changes were on the horizon, especially on issues of transparency and bishop accountability that were discussed during the meeting. Pope Francis had sought to get the churchs leaders on the same page for the first time, summoning them to the meeting in September. He sent a message to his bishops and the faithful that he, too, wanted concrete remedies to come out of the meeting. After the popes speech on Sunday, the Vatican announced several forthcoming measures, including one that church officials described as toughening up child protection laws in the Vatican City-State itself. Another was what the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, called a handbook for bishops to understand their duties and tasks on cases of sexual abuse and the introduction of a new task force of experts and canon lawyers to assist bishops in countries with less experience and resources to handle the issue. But when asked about the measures on Sunday, the Vatican acknowledged that all had already been in the pipeline well before the meeting began Thursday, and Lombardi said that none included any input from the four-day meeting. Some advocates for abuse survivors considered the popes remarks a failure. Pope Francis talk today was a stunning letdown, a catastrophic misreading of the grief and outrage of the faithful, said Anne Barrett Doyle, a leader of BishopAccountability.org. Jason Horowitz and Elizabeth Dias are New York Times writers. KABUL More civilians were killed in Afghanistan last year than in any of the previous nine years of the increasingly bloody conflict, according to a U.N. report released Sunday, which blamed the spike on increased suicide bombings by the Islamic State group and stepped up aerial attacks by U.S.-led coalition forces. In its annual report, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said 3,804 civilians were killed last year, the highest number since the international organization began tallying figures in 2009. Another 7,189 were wounded. The report comes amid efforts to find a peaceful end to the 17-year war, which have accelerated since the appointment in September of U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. He is to begin another round of talks with the Taliban on Monday in the Gulf state of Qatar, where the militant group maintains a political office. U.N. envoy Tadamichi Yamamoto called the spiraling number of civilian casualties deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable. Tens of thousands of Afghan civilians are displaced after fleeing fighting in their home provinces. Tens of thousands more have fled their homeland, seeking safety in neighboring countries and in Europe. According to the report, 63 percent of all civilian casualties were caused by insurgents, with the breakdown blaming the Taliban for 37 percent of the dead and wounded, the Islamic State group for 20 percent, and a collection of other anti-government groups for the remaining 6 percent. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi rejected the report and blamed most of the deaths on blind U.S. bombardments. The government and its U.S. and NATO allies were blamed for 24 percent of the dead and wounded civilians, many of them killed in stepped up aerial attacks, most of which are carried out by the U.S. and NATO, according to the U.N. The report said civilian casualties at the hands of Afghan and international forces were up significantly in 2018 compared to 2017. The U.S. military says it carried out 6,823 sorties last year in which munitions were fired the highest number in the last six years. Kathy Gannon is an Associated Press writer. SAN JOSE (BCN) The San Jose Sharks, along with Vitalant and the East Valley YMCA, will be hosting a blood drive Sunday in which each donor will get two tickets to a future Sharks game, according to Vitalant officials. The "Turn Up in Teal" blood drive starts at 9:30 a.m. At least 180 donors will receive a pair of tickets each to a future game - while supplies last. Vitalant officials said the cold and flu season is having an impact on the blood supply, and appointment cancellations across the region have led to a decline in donations. The YMCA will hold a Wellness Fair at the same time featuring financial wellness experts giving seminars, group exercises and other activities. Blood donors must be at least 16 years old (with parental consent), weigh at least 110 pounds and must be in general good health. Anyone wishing to donate blood at a blood center in the Bay Area can visit www.vitalant.com or call (877) 258-4825 to make an appointment. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Friends and colleagues were in mourning Saturday after learning of the death of longtime San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi. Adachi, who was 59, was having dinner with a friend in North Beach on Friday night when he began to have trouble breathing, according to Katy St. Clair, spokeswoman for the public defender's office. Emergency crews were able to recover a pulse but Adachi later died at the hospital, St. Clair said Saturday. Adachi, who started in 1987 as deputy public defender and went on to become a five-time elected public defender for the city, is survived by his wife Mutsuko and daughter Lauren. A cause of death has not been released. San Francisco Mayor London Breed said Adachi "always stood up for those who didn't have a voice, have been ignored and overlooked, and who needed a real champion. "He was committed not only to the fight for justice in the courtroom, but he was also a relentless advocate for criminal justice reform, Breed said. One person was killed Saturday morning in a crash on State Highway 4 in Antioch, according to the CHP. The crash occurred on eastbound state Highway 4 at the Contra Loma Boulevard off-ramp. The incident was first reported at 1:59 a.m. Two students were stabbed Friday at James Logan High School in Union City. One of the students suffered a serious puncture to the lower abdomen, and the other suffered minor injuries, according to the Union City Police Department. The student who was seriously injured was transported to the hospital and was in stable condition Friday night, police said. The incident occurred Friday at 10:35 a.m. in the 400 wing of the high school campus. During the initial investigation into the incident, the school was placed on lockdown as officers searched for the suspect. Detectives located and arrested a juvenile suspect at a grocery store in Hayward within a few hours of the incident. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said. Police are searching for a man suspected of trying to lure a 13-year-old girl into his car Friday evening in San Ramon. The girl was walking in the 500 block of Fallen Leaf Circle about 5:30 p.m. when a man driving a white car pulled up and told her "Your dad asked me to pick you up and drop you off at your house," San Ramon police said. The victim refused to get in when the suspect, while still inside the car, opened the door for her. The man then reached across and tried to grab the girl by her clothing, police said. She ran away and hid in some nearby bushes until the suspect had left the area and then phoned her parents, according to police. Officers searched the area but were unable to locate the suspect or his car. The suspect is described as an South Asian Indian male between 35 to 50 years old. The girl told police he has a dark complexion with a light blue circle around one of his eyeballs, between the white portion and the iris, shaggy hair and a mustache. The suspect had an accent and a lisp, police said. He was wearing a grayish blue shirt with a white Nike logo on it and a black hooded jacket. The girl also said the suspect was wearing a ring on his right hand with a design of two overlapping snakes. The suspect's vehicle is described by the victim as possibly a white Nissan 4-door hatchback, similar to a Rogue or Versa, with dark tinted back passenger windows and a yellow star with a smiley face on the front windshield. A partial license plate was provided as 7HM....6. Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to contact the San Ramon Police Department at (925) 973-2779. Contractors currently working on repairs to Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, damaged by falling concrete this month, will remain for several months to make additional replacements to joints on the span's upper deck, Caltrans announced Friday. The added work means the opening of a bicycle/pedestrian path set for late spring will be delayed by at least two months, according to Caltrans. A large concrete chunk hit a car on the bridge's lower deck the morning of Feb. 7, and more concrete fell in the afternoon. No one was injured, but the bridge was closed much of the day. Crews are currently replacing the upper deck expansion joint responsible for the falling concrete and expect work to be finished by March 2. When that's done, nearly identical work on 31 additional upper deck joints will start on March 4. Caltrans engineers regularly inspect the span and have re-inspected all joints on the 63-year-old bridge in recent weeks, Tavares said. Crews will begin installing temporary steel plates on the upper deck roadway on Monday night, and work will take place overnight from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., with one lane of traffic to remain open in each direction. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) A new trail through some of the city's oldest coast live oaks opened Friday in Golden Gate Park and was dedicated to a longtime advocate for local parks. The Phil Arnold Trail is just under a mile long and begins at the intersection of JFK Drive and Conservatory Drive East, just west of McLaren Lodge, park official said. The trail through the Oak Woodlands of Golden Gate Park continues over knolls, past the horseshoe courts, crossing Arguello Boulevard and ending at Sixth Avenue. The Oak Woodlands is a remnant forest located in the northeast corner of the park along Fulton Avenue between Stanyan Street and Sixth Avenue. The area has some of the oldest coast live oak trees in San Francisco and was added to the Old Growth Forest Network in 2015. It provides significant wildlife habitat, park officials said. Arnold, chair of the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council Board and 33-year city employee, provided instrumental support for the realignment of the Bay Ridge Trail that connects Twin Peaks, Mount Sutro and the Oak Woodlands, park officials said. He worked for the Recreation and Parks Department from 1986 to 1997, and later for the City's Human Services Agency. He has served on the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission since 2013, the San Francisco Parks Alliance Board of Directors since 2011 and as a member of the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council Board of Directors since 2005. He became board chair in 2016. "Phil Arnold wore many hats in his service to the City, but his ability to inspire, lead, and work hard on projects benefiting our entire community remains constant," said Recreation and Park General Manager Phil Ginsburg. The San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission approved the naming in October 2018. The trail is for both pedestrians and bicyclists and is part of the newly finished Golden Gate Park Oak Woodlands Trail Improvement Project, funded by the 2012 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond as well as a private grant and state Habitat Conservation Fund grant. Construction began in June 2018 and included repair of existing trails in the area, erosion control and restoration of native plants. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. PLEASANT HILL (BCN) A consent calendar item on the Pleasant Hill City Council's Monday night agenda figures to mark the official end of a joint Martinez-Pleasant Hill agency that, as used by Martinez, will end up costing that city millions of dollars. The Pleasant Hill council will likely not talk at all Monday about the dissolution of the Pleasant Hill-Martinez Joint Facilities Agency, created in 1975 to operate and staff the two cities' recreational facilities. There is no proof this joint agency ever served its intended purpose, or ever held meetings in either city. But in 1983, almost three-quarters of Martinez's total workforce were technically made employees of the Joint Facilities Agency, and not the city. That meant the workers paid into a CalPERS retirement fund, and not into Social Security, as is typical for most city workers. This remained the case in Martinez for many years until a 2015 report by the California Public Employees' Retirement Systems Office of Audit Services contended that those 100 or so workers - non-sworn Martinez police department employees, administrative assistants, corporation yard employees and managers - should have city employees and paying into Social Security all along. In July, the Martinez City Council voted to take out a five-year, $4 million line of credit to cover three years of back Social Security taxes and other expenses the city must pay in connection with the JFA - the maximum penalty. The exact amount of that repayment has yet to be determined. The Martinez City Council voted in January to dissolve the joint agency. Monday's Pleasant Hill City Council meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Pleasant Hill City Hall, 100 Gregory Lane. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. CONCORD (BCN) Four people were arrested in Concord on suspicion of driving under the influence during stepped-up DUI patrols in the city on Friday night, police said. Along with the DUI arrests, police made 35 vehicle enforcement stops and cited 20 drivers for various vehicle code violations. One drug arrest was also made, police said. Besides possible jail time, drivers caught driving impaired and charged with DUI can expect a DUI arrest to cost about $13,500, police said. The costs include fines, fees, DUI classes, license suspension and other expenses. Concord police will conduct another DUI patrol on March 29, 2019 between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) An autopsy on the body of San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi is expected to be performed either Sunday or Monday, a San Francisco Medical Examiner's investigator said Saturday night. A spokeswoman for the public defender's office on Saturday said the 59-year-old Adachi was having dinner with a friend in North Beach Friday night when he began to have trouble breathing. Adachi was brought to an apartment near Coit Tower, and then taken to a local hospital, where he died shortly before 7 p.m. Medical Examiner's Investigator Zack Smith said Saturday night an autopsy could be done Sunday or Monday. He wouldn't comment further on the investigation, or the circumstances of Adachi's death. San Francisco police said Saturday night the investigation into Adachi's death is in the medical examiner's hands, with the police department assisting. "This is a death investigation with cause to be determined," according to a San Francisco Police Department statement Saturday night. "There are no signs of foul play." Adachi, who started in 1987 as deputy public defender in San Francisco, was first elected public defender in March 2002 and won re-election four times after that. He was widely hailed Friday night and Saturday as a champion of defendants who needed help the most. Adachi "was committed not only to the fight for justice in the courtroom, but he was also a relentless advocate for criminal justice reform, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said in a statement Saturday. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. As far as crazy lines go, bakeries can be among the worst in the Bay Area. For years, customers have been queuing up at Tartine in the Mission. Acme Bread in North Berkeley can take 45 minutes just to score a loaf of levain and an apple tart. In the Inner Richmond, folks stand single-file hoping to get one of Armando Lacayo's croissants at Ariscault Bakery. And this became especially true once it was named the best new bakery in America by Bon Appetit. Even when they don't become too long, the pace of lines at these bakeries can be glacial. Maybe customers get so overwhelmed by all the goodies they become paralyzed. You can be only five feet from the door your bread rage about to blow as customers ask endless questions about tarts versus turnovers or what kind of spelt a certain roll is made of. And now in the East Bay, there is a new bakery that has people willing to wait and wait, rain or shine,, in hopes of buying their sweet, buttery creations. Located on San Pablo Avenue in Albany, Patisserie Rotha has had people lining up almost since it opened last July. Owner Rotha leng says, "The neighborhood has been very welcoming. The first day people were just coming. I think they they seem to like it." This is a slight understatement. These days, leng sells out his croissants well before closing time. And closing time is 11 in the morning. Business went from brisk to complete madness for Patisserie Rotha after a Berkeleyside article two months ago that ranked it the best croissant in the East Bay. Since then, leng says "the line kept getting longer and longer. We have to close at 11 instead of 12. We run out of food at 10 or 10:30. We stopped taking orders on the phone." Leading up to this success, leng did zero marketing and he had no following. Before he opened his doors on San Pablo Ave,. he worked as an administrative assistant in a Berkeley private school. While at this job, he spent three years in search of a location where he could become a full-time patissier. But, having trained at the prestigious Ecole Ferrandi in Paris, leng knew exactly what to do once he got a space to call his own. He's at work every day perfecting his sweets for the public, though customers can only buy his goodies between Thursday and Sunday and only until 11 in the morning. And to do so, they will most likely have to wait a while on San Pablo Avenue for the privilege. RTHK: North Korea could be powerhouse: Trump US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that North Korea could become one of the world's "great economic powers" if it relinquished its nuclear arsenal, ahead of his summit with Kim Jong Un. In a series of tweets on the eve of his departure for this week's summit in Hanoi, Trump also praised China and Russia for enforcing sanctions on North Korea while insisting he had a "great relationship with Chairman Kim." "Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the world. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!" he wrote. Trump said he and Kim "both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Denuclearization?" Their groundbreaking summit in June produced only a vague statement on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Kim is demanding the lifting of punishing sanctions while Washington insists that the measures must remain in place until North Korea gives up its nuclear arsenal. In his tweets, Trump spoke highly of China's President Xi Jinping, saying he had been "very helpful" in his support for the summit. "The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door. Sanctions placed on the border by China and Russia have been very helpful." (AFP) This story has been published on: 2019-02-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Liz Moughon / The Chronicle SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. In one of his final visits to China Basin last season, the late owner Peter Magowan apologized to outfielder Mac Williamson for putting the bullpen mounds on the field when the Giants built the ballpark two decades earlier. Williamson sustained a concussion that wrecked his 2018 season on April 24 when he tripped over the home bullpen mound in foul territory and crashed head-first into a wall. LOS ANGELES Filmmaker Stanley Donen, a giant of the Hollywood musical who through such classics as Singin in the Rain and Funny Face helped provide some of the most joyous sounds and images in movie history, has died. He was 94. Donen, who often teamed with Gene Kelly but also worked with Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and Fred Astaire, died Thursday in New York City from heart failure, his sons Joshua and Mark Donen said Saturday. The 1940s and 50s were the prime era for Hollywood musicals and no filmmaker contributed more to the magic than Donen, among the last survivors from the era and one willing to extend the limits of song and dance into the surreal. He was part of the unit behind such unforgettable scenes as Kelly dancing with an animated Jerry the mouse in Anchors Aweigh, Astaires gravity-defying spin across the ceiling in Royal Wedding, and, the all-time triumph, Kelly ecstatically splashing about as he performs the title number in Singin in the Rain. Steven Spielberg recalled Donen as a friend and early mentor for whom life and film were inseparable. His generosity in giving over so many of his weekends in the late 60s to film students like me to learn about telling stories and placing lenses and directing actors is a time I will never forget, Spielberg said. A 2007 American Film Institute survey of the top 100 American movies ranked Singin in the Rain, with its inventive take on Hollywoods transition from silent to talking pictures in the 1920s and Kellys famous dance in a downpour, at No. 5. Donen was asked in 2002 whether the filmmakers knew that Singin in the Rain, released in 1952 and also starring Debbie Reynolds and Donald OConnor, would be revered decades later. You cant get through a movie if you dont think its good, he said. Certainly we thought it was good. More than that? I dont know. You dont think about that. You just think about how you can do it. Born in Columbia, S.C., Donen would remember movies especially those with Astaire and Ginger Rogers as a needed escape from the tensions of being one of the few Jews in his community. He took tap dancing lessons in his teens and began his show business career as a performer, dancing in the original Broadway production of Pal Joey at age 16. The title role was played by Kelly, and the shows success propelled Kelly into the movies. Donen received his first Hollywood break when Kelly got him a job helping choreograph the 1944 film Cover Girl. Over the next few years, he worked on choreography for such films as The Kissing Bandit, starring Sinatra, and Take Me Out to the Ballgame, starring Sinatra and Kelly, who teamed with Donen on choreography. Singin in the Rain was one of three films credited to Kelly and Donen as co-directors; the others were On the Town, the 1949 Kelly-Sinatra musical about sailors on leave in New York City, and the darker Its Always Fair Weather, in which three soldier friends reunite a decade later. Jake Coyle is an Associated Press writer. Erin Schaff / New York Times 2018 WASHINGTON Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort committed crimes that cut to the heart of the criminal justice system and over the years deceived everyone from bookkeepers and banks to federal prosecutors and his own lawyers, according to a sentencing memo filed Saturday by special counsel Robert Muellers office. In the memo, submitted in one of two criminal cases Manafort faces, prosecutors do not yet take a position on how much prison time he should serve or whether to stack the punishment on top of a separate sentence he will soon receive in a Virginia prosecution. But they depict Manafort as a longtime and unrepentant criminal who committed bold crimes, including under the spotlight of his role as campaign chairman, and who does not deserve any leniency. COLUMBUS, Miss. Weekend storms raked parts of the South, leaving deaths and injuries in their wake as a tornado smashed into a commercial district in a small Mississippi city and drenching rains fed a rising flood threat. A woman was killed when a tornado hit Columbus, Miss., and a man died when he drove into floodwaters in Tennessee, officials said. Columbus Mayor Robert Smith Sr. said Ashley Glynell Pounds, 41, and her husband were renovating a house Saturday evening when the building collapsed and killed her. Smith said 12 other people were injured, but the injuries did not appear to be major. City spokesman Joe Dillon said the tornado also seriously damaged a school and two community center buildings. At First Pentecostal Church in Columbus, the Rev. Steve Blaylock said the building was a total loss, with a wall pushed in, holes in the roof and substantial water damage. He and his congregants were trying to salvage what they could Sunday. We will rebuild. Weve got a good church here, Blaylock said. Itll be a testimony of God. Residents on the east side of Columbus were out Sunday with chain saws, clearing away branches of the many trees that had snapped or were uprooted in the storm. Metal siding and roofing material was scattered throughout the neighborhood. While the houses generally remained standing, sheds and outbuildings were mostly demolished. Lee Lawrence, who said he has been selling used cars for decades in Columbus, said four buildings on his car lot were destroyed. He said trees toppled across vehicles and car windows were blown out. Lawrence said he was at home getting ready to take a bath when the storm struck. The wind all of a sudden just got so strong and it was raining so much you could hardly see out the door, and I could hear a roaring. Evidently it came close, he said. Elsewhere around the South, homes, highways, parks and bridges were flooded or put out of commission amid the heavy rains and severe storms. Water rescues were performed in some middle Tennessee counties. Flash flood warnings and watches remained in place throughout the South and one Mississippi community reported large hail. In Knox County, Tenn., officials said a man died after his vehicle became submerged in high water. The sheriffs office said emergency crews got the man out of his vehicle and took him to a hospital, but he was later pronounced dead. Interstate 40 near the Tennessee line with North Carolina was closed by a landslide, one of the dozens of roads and highways shut down throughout the region, transportation officials said. Officials said a mudslide also destroyed a Subway restaurant in Signal Mountain, Tenn. No injuries were reported. In Bruce, Miss., rivers broke flood stage and flash floods poured into homes and businesses. Officials in Grenada, Miss., declared a local state of emergency after dozens of streets and homes flooded. A 6-mile stretch of the Natchez Trace Parkway was closed in Mississippi after water covered part of the road. The Ohio River at Cairo was predicted to crest at its third-highest level ever recorded. This story originally appeared on KCRA. The search for a 73-year-old Sacramento man is now a potential homicide investigation, Sacramento police said Friday. Risetruth Vang is believed to be a victim of foul play, police said. "We haven't found him," Sgt. Vance Chandler said. "But based on the information that we have and the follow-up investigation our detectives have conducted, we believe it could potentially be a homicide." Vang was last seen on Monday at his home in the 2900 block of N. Meadows Place. Police said family members had not heard from Vang and he was not at his home. ALSO: Missing El Dorado Hills mom found dead, officials say Officers initiated the missing person investigation on Wednesday. When patrol officers got to the apartment, they called homicide detectives. "They suspected foul play," Chandler said. "Then our homicide team took on the investigation based on what they learned on the scene." Investigators said Vang may be badly hurt or even deceased. "We are seeking the community's help," Chandler said. "If anyone has information related to this incident, please contact our police department." The investigation is ongoing. Police said this is believed to be an isolated incident. Neighbors said, for the most part, the apartment complex is quiet. "Everyone keeps to themselves," said Jesus Ibarra, who lives nearby. "It's pretty calm here." Ibarra said Vang's disappearance and the possibility of living near a crime scene are alarming. "It is scary to think about something like that," Ibarra said. "It's just scary for me." No other details were released. Anyone with information is urged to call the Sacramento Police Department at 916-808-5471 or Sacramento Valley CrimeStoppers at 916-443-4357. This year's Chinese New Year Festival and Parade in San Francisco managed to stay rain-free for attendees, as thousands came out to watch the 161-year-old tradition. Considered to be the largest Lunar New Year celebration outside of Asia, the area was decked out in honor of the Year of the Pig, with families attending the festival ahead of the parade. For San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who died Friday night at age 59, keeping silent about injustice was never an option. For Adachi, who spent decades defending people who were poor, forgotten, discriminated against and, all too often, guilty, it was societys duty to stand up for all of them. Prosecutors, with near unlimited resources and the full backing of the government, are trying to take away a citizens freedom. Thats a big deal and something we want to get right, Adachi said in a 2014 opinion piece he wrote for the Sacramento Bee. Defense attorneys safeguard against vigilantism, kangaroo courts and mob justice. Shortly before 6 p.m. Friday, paramedics were dispatched to a home on the first block of Telegraph Place, a residential street just west of Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill, on the report of a medical emergency, Fire Department officials said. They found Adachi unresponsive and rushed him to California Pacific Medical Center on Buchanan Street, where he was pronounced dead at 6:54 p.m. Although officials believe he suffered a heart attack, the medical examiner still has to determine an official cause of death. Once hospital officials determined the man was Adachi, they notified police, who began an investigation into the death, several sources said. No information has been released about the investigation. Adachi was raised in Sacramento. His parents and grandparents spent time during World War II in a Japanese relocation camp in Arkansas. From a young age, he enjoyed solitary pursuits, like writing and reading, he told The Chronicle in 2010. He studied business at Sacramento City College before transferring to UC Berkeley. He graduated from UC Hastings College of the Law in 1985. A year later, the Public Defenders Office hired him. Adachi had been sworn in for another term as a public defender in January after running unopposed in Novembers election. Accolades came in from across the state after the news of his death, including many from people who had plenty of issues with Adachi over the years. San Francisco lost a dedicated servant of the public (Friday) night in Jeff Adachi, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. He was passionate about fighting for fairness and leading the charge on progressive criminal justice policy. In 2009, however, Newsom, then San Franciscos mayor, battled Adachi over a proposed $1.9 million cut in the public defenders budget, Adachi arguing it would force him to lay off as many as 15 attorneys. While Newsom had asked every city department to come up with 25 percent cuts to balance the budget, Adachi instead sent in a department budget with a $1.7 million increase. The mayors proposed budget is shortsighted, he said. I do not control the number of criminal cases that are filed. When Newsom refused to fill two paralegal slots earlier that year, Adachi refused to assign his attorneys to complex legal cases, saying they required resources he couldnt provide. Chief defenders cannot permit a level of substandard representation of the poor that would otherwise be unacceptable for paying clients, he said in an opinion piece he wrote for the Recorder, a legal newspaper. Sen. Kamala Harris, who knew Adachi for 30 years from her work as a San Francisco prosecutor, district attorney and state attorney general, called the public defender an outspoken fighter for justice and police accountability and a fierce and talented advocate for his clients, adding that Adachi never stopped working for a justice system that provided equal dignity and never stopped believing in our power to make it better. Harris words were less kind in 2010, when she accused Adachi of playing politics with public safety when he sought to have her turn over the names of police officers with arrest records or misconduct histories whose trial testimony had helped to convict defendants. Adachi was scornful of Harris argument that her office needed to review the cases first to ensure that the police officers privacy rights were upheld. Harris is putting the privacy interests of police officers who have misconduct records and who have been convicted of crimes above the rights of citizens to a fair and honest trial, Adachi said. Adachis aggressive efforts in defense of his clients didnt diminish when Harris became attorney general. In 2016, he slammed her for not immediately taking tougher measures after a series of fatal shootings by San Francisco police officers. Its mind-boggling to me why the attorney general has refused to step in. Particularly when San Francisco is suffering, Adachi said. Could this last shooting have been prevented had the AG not refused to step in? Her offices involvement would have signaled to police that there will be increased oversight. In defense of his clients, all of them poor and many of them people of color, Adachi was willing to take on anyone, regardless of the potential political costs. Although the more than 100 attorneys in his office appear before San Francisco judges every day, Adachi was willing to challenge the jurists, including by name. Last September, for example, he sought to have Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman removed from a complex murder case against a tenant-rights attorney, arguing that the judge expresses bias against Latino persons and exhibited racial insensitivity. In 2017, Adachi took on local judges and the state Judicial Council over their opposition to eliminating Californias cash bail system. He described the council as a bloated policymaking body that ... is out of touch with the people most affected by bail reform and said the judges opposition was the height of arrogance. Nonetheless, Presiding Judge Garrett Wong, on behalf of the court, said in a statement that Adachi was a tireless advocate for all San Franciscans and passionate in his pursuit of justice in our city. Police officers and public defenders are natural adversaries, and Adachi was happy to accept that role. In 2014, more than 200 public defenders and their supporters held a hands up, dont shoot protest on the steps of San Franciscos criminal courthouse in reaction to police shootings across the country. As public defenders, it is our responsibility to ensure that there is justice for all in the courts, Adachi said. We are here to say that our criminal justice system has no credibility when it fails to hold police officers accountable for the killing of black and brown people. Adachis calls for a state investigation of San Francisco police officers who sent racist and homophobic texts, his exposure of officers accused of stealing from rooms in residential hotels, and charges that officers are much more likely to stop and arrest African Americans won him few friends on the police force. At times he said things about my members that I took concern to, said Tony Montoya, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association. My concern is sometimes our profession was painted with a broad brush over some bad apples. Adachi was a regular target in the unions newspaper, which often accused him of being anti-police. His death didnt necessarily heal those rifts. Whether we like someone or dont, no one wishes death on anyone, Montoya said. I sent our condolences so we may let the man rest in peace, whether you liked him or not. Adachi acknowledged he was all too willing to speak out when he saw something that offended the well-honed sense of justice he built up during his decades as a public defender. After being sworn in for his fifth term in office last month, after running unopposed, he said that the day had left him speechless, which I never am. But that same sense of justice made Adachi a hero to the people he worked with and those he represented. Mayor London Breed, in a statement on Adachis death, said the public defender always stood up for those who didnt have a voice, have been ignored and overlooked, and who needed a real champion. She was there when Adachi was sworn in in January, saying she first met him at the housing project where she lived, when he was visiting clients. The lawyers in his office always knew that Adachi had their backs. Adachi was one of the most compassionate, fierce, fearless, dedicated agents for social change this city has ever seen, said Niki Solis, a deputy public defender. He broke the mold, not making decisions based on political expediency, but on simply what was right. At his core, Jeff lived and breathed public defense, and he was visionary in reimagining and implementing the work that a Public Defenders Office can do in support of justice and our indigent clients, said Tal Klement, an attorney in the office. For Adachi, the role of his office went far beyond the courtroom and he spent years trying to keep people from ever needing a public defender. In 2009, he received the Program of the Year award from the California Public Defenders Association for his The Children of Incarcerated Parents effort, designed to provide help to children of a parent in prison or jail. The Bayview MAGIC program, which he helped found in 2004, every year provides low-income students with school supplies and family services in an effort to keep them out of the juvenile justice system. But its the people in trouble who remember the help Adachi was always willing to provide. Adachi brought social workers into the Public Defenders Office to help people getting out of prison, and founded the Clean Slate program, which helps people expunge their criminal records, where possible. Shanell Williams, a City College trustee who is running for District Five supervisor, called Adachi a mentor and friend whose office helped her turn her life around after she became involved in the juvenile justice system for petty theft and drug offenses. He was always standing up for those that were trapped in the system and trapped in cycles of incarceration, she said. For people who are low income and dont have the resources, being able to have an advocate like that was a miracle. He is survived by his wife, Mutsuko, and his daughter, Lauren, according to the Public Defenders Office. Information on services was unavailable Saturday. John Wildermuth, Evan Sernoffsky, Trisha Thadani and Dominic Fracassa are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com, esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com, thadani@sfchronicle.com, dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth, @EvanSernoffsky, @TrishaThadani, @DominicFracassa SACRAMENTO The California Republican Party elected Jessica Millan Patterson as its chairwoman Sunday, making her the first woman and first Latina to lead the 140-year-old organization. The 38-year-old Patterson, a longtime political operative who was raised in Hacienda Heights (Los Angeles County) and lives in Ventura County, promised to expand the beleaguered party into communities of color. Latinos and Asian Americans in particular have been fleeing the party for decades as the GOP adopted harsh rhetoric and restrictive policies on immigration. Lets serve notice to the Democrats in California that we are back and we are ready to deliver on the Republican comeback, Patterson said Sunday. Were going to take the fight to Democrats. Were going to fight them in the press, at community gatherings ... and were going to beat them in elections. Patterson has long-standing ties with the partys deep-pocketed donors as executive director of California Trailblazers, an organization that trains Republican candidates. She has extensive experience in the field, having worked on GOP campaigns for former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 2010 gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman and 2008 presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. Patterson, whose paternal grandfather was born in Mexico, stressed that her top priority will be broadening the partys appeal beyond its base of white voters. On Sunday, the 1,383 delegates meeting at the Sacramento Convention Center also elected Peter Kuo, who is Taiwanese American, as party vice chair and Greg Gandrud, who is openly gay, as treasurer. We need to get back into communities. We need to start engaging people. People are not going to reregister as Republican as long as they think that we are one thing, Patterson said Saturday during a candidates debate. We need to make them feel comfortable and welcomed into our party. Its going to be the solution for a lot of our issues. Patterson won 54.6 percent of the vote in the chairs race to defeat former Orange County Assemblyman and 2018 gubernatorial candidate Travis Allen, who got 30.7 percent, and longtime party activist Steve Frank, who won 14.7 percent. On Sunday, Patterson invited Allen and Frank to lead a task force on improving the partys voter registration efforts. Republicans now make up only 24 percent of Californias registered voters, trailing not only Democrats but people who decline to state a party preference. Allen had criticized Patterson as a representative of the state partys failed establishment. He noted that she was endorsed by nearly every Republican in the state Legislature, many of whom served with Allen in Sacramento, along with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield. Allen said those endorsements and her leadership of California Trailblazers were an example of the failing status quo. Other Republicans, however, hoped Patterson would help Californians take a second look at the party. Shes a woman, shes a Millennial, shes Latina shes looks like the future. She looks like California, said Todd Cranney, a national political consultant who worked with Patterson on the Schwarzenegger and Whitman campaigns. And shes the best political operative Ive ever worked with. Cranney, who now lives in Idaho, was one of several national political consultants who flew in for the weekend to support Patterson, a sign that people are excited about the party again, he said. To have a woman at the top, yes, it sends a different message, said Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, a Republican from Riverside who supported Patterson. It widens the tent for the Republicans. Patterson is a strong social conservative, particularly on abortion. She is married and has two young daughters. She promised that, as chair, she would not be giving long speeches. My parents told me that talk is cheap, Patterson said Sunday. Your actions speak louder. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli SACRAMENTO The California Republican Party is moving toward a two-pronged strategy for returning from electoral Siberia: Talking about how unaffordable California has become, while tearing into Democrats as socialists proposing extreme solutions for economic inequality. Freshman Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who claims a democratic socialist label, and California Sen. Kamala Harris, one of several Democratic presidential candidates competing for progressives votes, have replaced Al Gore as reliable punch lines this weekend among the 1,383 delegates gathered at the partys three-day convention. Ocasio-Cortezs Green New Deal, a nonbinding resolution calling for a carbon-free U.S. energy landscape within a decade, is a juicy target for small government conservatives as it also includes a guarantee of universal health coverage and government support for making college affordable for all. It contains no cost estimates or funding sources. What the Democrats are trying to do with the Green New Deal is begin the process of turning us into a socialist nation, Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney told the convention Saturday in a speech that received a standing ovation. And, Cheney continued, when people see Harris presidential campaign slogan, For the people, I want you to remember that her real agenda is to take power from the people and give it to the federal government. But Cheney was light on specific prescriptions for how the California Republicans win back an electorate that has abandoned them over the past two decades. The party has no statewide elected officials and no ability to block legislation in the state Assembly or Senate. Just seven of Californias 53 House members are Republicans, nearly all of them from inland areas with few population centers. Some Republicans mingling in the Sacramento Convention Center said the party needs to spend less time mocking Democrats and responding to or defending President Trump, and more on telling people what the party stands for. Now Playing: President Trump supporter Cindy Verdugo explains how she went from putting a Trump/Pence bumper sticker on her car to creating a brand celebrating the president - in a state where Trump is very unpopular Video: San Francisco Chronicle San Diego-area businessman John Cox, who lost the governors race last year to Gavin Newsom, is working on a project to help reach independent voters dissatisfied with liberal Democratic policies that he said have contributed to the high cost of housing in California. As a party, I believe housing affordability is the best issue we can concentrate on, said Cox, who said he will reveal details about his project within 60 days. Voters need to know why their rent is so high. At the same time, Cox said, Democrats have given us a gift by electing people like Ocasio-Cortez. Socialism doesnt work, and (Democrats) are not afraid of it, Cox said. If they look at history, they can look at Venezuela now, they can look at Cuba, they can look at what happened in Argentina. Competition and free markets deliver better products and better services. That has been proven over millennia. Former GOP Rep. Darrell Issa, who retired from his San Diego-area seat last year after nine terms, said that in California, crazy left is in. He said Newsom and legislative Democrats are already speeding leftward, giving Republicans a chance to be the sensible alternative for voters outside the GOP base. We have to be ready when they fail. Socialism always fails, Issa said, referencing a line from Trumps recent State of the Union speech. We really are talking about a state that has gone so far that the Swedes are looking and saying, No, no, we dont go that far. Jessica Millan Patterson, one of three candidates for state GOP chair, joined the parade of Republicans linking Democrats and socialism as she implored the party to unite behind a common message. Let me tell you what we should be resisting. Its the socialist Democrat policies that are destroying our state and nation, Patterson wrote in response to challengers Steve Frank and Travis Allen uniting in a pact to resist against her candidacy during Sundays election. If you want to unite and fight, lets challenge the absolutely outrageous philosophy promoted by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Whether using socialism as a political slur will broaden Republicans appeal in California is an open question. In particular, the attack may do little among voters who were born after the Berlin Wall fell. A survey by Harvard Universitys Institute of Politics in October found that 39 percent of voters under 34 dont care if a candidate identifies as a democratic socialist, and 1 in 4 said it would make a candidate more appealing. Its not 1950 anymore, said Ben Tulchin of San Francisco, national pollster for Vermonts democratic socialist U.S. senator, Bernie Sanders. The Soviet Union no longer exists, Joe McCarthy is dead and the Red Scare is long gone. Chronicle staff writer Alexei Koseff contributed to this report. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli Justice Clarence Thomas, long distinguished by his silence on the highest court of the land, spoke loudly last week with a stunningly terrible idea for American democracy. In a bizarre 14-page opinion, Thomas challenged the validity of a half-century-old landmark ruling that is essential for journalists to do their job of holding public officials accountable. That 1964 ruling, Times vs. Sullivan, established that public figures must meet a higher standard than an average citizen in pursuing a libel claim. The justices declared unanimously that a public official must show that the accusation against him or her was made with actual malice, meaning knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth. It is taken as not only one of the landmarks of free speech jurisprudence, but one of the bedrocks of free speech jurisprudence, said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UCs Berkeley Law. In the 1964 ruling, the justices said the higher standard on public officials was consistent with the First Amendments intent to promote uninhibited, robust and wide open public debate. There also are sound practical reasons for the higher threshold. People in power, unlike private citizens, should be subjected to public scrutiny and even criticism for their actions. They also have opportunities to correct or counter negative stories or statements about them. The idea is that if something false or misleading is said about them, because they are public people they have the bully pulpit, they have access to a microphone so they can correct the record, said Jessica Levinson, professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Thomas suggested the clock should be rolled back to when the First and 14th amendments were ratified in 1791 and 1868, respectively and libel law did not require public figures to satisfy any kind of heightened liability standard as a condition of recovering damages. He derided Times vs. Sullivan and subsequent rulings extending libel defenses for journalists as policy-driven decisions masquerading as constitutional law. The conservative justice is not alone in objecting to the treatment of public figures under libel law. President Trump had pledged on the campaign trail to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money ... So when the New York Times writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace or when the Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because theyre totally protected. Of course, Trump was misstating the law. Under the Times vs. Sullivan standard, a hit piece that the writer either knew was false or demonstrated reckless disregard for the truth would be fair game for a libel suit regardless of the targets prominence. Chemerinsky and Levinson emphasized that journalists are not the only beneficiaries of Times vs. Sullivan: it also respects Americans right to know. Libel ruling one of the bedrocks of free speech New York Times vs. Sullivan, 1964 Origin: The Times was sued by Montgomery, Ala., police and fire supervisor Lester B. Sullivan over a full-page advertisement that condemned a police "wave of terror" against civil rights demonstrators. The ad did not name names, but Sullivan argued that the use of word "police" pointed to him. One basis for the lawsuit under Alabama law: several factual errors in a 10-paragraph ad. Supreme Court ruling: 9-0 in favor of the Times Majority opinion: The First Amendment was designed to protect "uninhibited, robust and wide open" public debate. Justices rejected the notion that critics of public officials had to guarantee the absolute truth of their statements. The precedent:The court ruled that a public official who sued for libel would need to meet a higher threshold than that required of an ordinary citizen. The official would need to show not only damage to his or her reputation, but that the the accusation was made with "actual malice," meaning "knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth." Subsequent rulings: Extended the higher standard for libel to all public figures. See More Collapse Its a speakers right and a listeners right, Levinson said. Curiously, coverage of the private and professional backgrounds of Thomas and Trump demonstrate the wisdom of the justices differentiation between the libel standard for a public or nonpublic figure. Allegations that Thomas had sexually harassed a former employee, Anita Hill, were absolutely relevant to consideration of his nomination for the Supreme Court in 1991. Scrutiny of the Trump family finances including an extensive New York Times investigation last year that debunked his claim of being a self-made businessman as well as suspicions that his wealth came in part from dubious tax schemes are a matter of public interest. So, too, is his involvement in hush-money payments to mistresses that resulted in a prison sentence for his former lawyer Michael Cohen for violation of campaign finance laws. Absent Times vs. Sullivan, news organizations might be more reticent about pursuing such stories. New York Times vs. Sullivan has proven desirable for over a half century, Chemerinsky said. No one has pointed to serious problems with its approach. To want to reconsider it now is disturbing. For Trump, his posturing on libel laws is merely one example of his unrelenting efforts to delegitimize, if not neuter, the free press. Just last week, he tweeted that the New York Times was a TRUE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! For now, at least, Times vs. Sullivan does not appear in imminent danger of being overturned. Even Trumps most recent high-court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, appeared comfortable with respecting its precedent when asked at his March 2017 confirmation hearing. But this is no cause for complacency. I find absolutely no comfort whenever a Supreme Court nominee says something is settled law, Levinson said. All you need to changed settled law is to get to five votes. John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnDiazChron San Francisco police continued to investigate the death of Public Defender Jeff Adachi on Sunday, but officials said they have found no evidence of foul play after he was discovered unresponsive at a residence on Telegraph Hill. It is not unusual for police to get involved after the death of a public official. But some of the circumstances around Adachis death remain unknown, including the whereabouts of a woman he was with when he suffered an apparent medical emergency, according to sources familiar with the matter. The death of the only elected public defender in California, a hard-charging champion for the accused and watchdog against police abuses, stunned civic leaders and residents across the city and beyond. Josh Edelson / Special to The Chronicle Tributes to Adachi, who leaves behind a wife and daughter, continued to flood in Sunday, as Adachis colleagues organized a vigil for their former leader, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the public defenders office at 555 Seventh St. Jeff was a tireless advocate for justice who never wavered from his fight for San Franciscos most vulnerable communities, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, wrote on Twitter. He will be missed here in the Bay Area, and my thoughts are with his family at this difficult time. Matt Gonzalez, chief attorney and second-in-command at the office, will assume control of day-to-day operations until Mayor London Breed appoints a new public defender. The seat will be added to the Nov. 5 ballot. Police have been told that Adachi had dinner with a woman in North Beach on Friday night and began feeling ill, according to sources familiar with a preliminary police incident report who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly. A woman called 911 from Adachis phone at 5:41 p.m. to report that he was having a medical emergency, the sources said. Paramedics soon arrived at a home on Telegraph Place, a narrow and quiet dead-end street near Coit Tower, said police and fire officials. Adachi, 59, was rushed to California Pacific Medical Centers Pacific Campus on Buchanan Street, where he was pronounced dead at 6:54 p.m., according to the city medical examiner. Once hospital officials identified Adachi, they notified police, who began an investigation and headed to the scene at 8:37 p.m., according to the the preliminary report. As police headed to the scene, they were called off by the medical examiner but proceeded to the home after speaking to their supervisors at Central Station, sources said. At the location, a woman met the officers and let them into a unit that Adachi had recently arranged to use for the weekend, according to the preliminary report. Inside, officers took pictures of alcohol, cannabis-infused gummies and syringes believed to have been used by the paramedics. Police learned that the woman who called 911 had been performing CPR on Adachi when paramedics arrived. Investigators were working to contact that woman, a source familiar with the investigation said. Josh Edelson / Special to The Chronicle The medical examiner is the lead agency in this investigation. The (Police Department) is assisting, Sgt. Michael Andraychak, a department spokesman, said on Twitter. This is a death case with cause to be determined. There are no signs of foul play. Authorities did not publicly provide further details on the investigation. The residence where Adachi was found on Telegraph Place is a three-story, four-unit building roughly 150 yards west of Coit Tower. Efforts to reach the owner and residents were unsuccessful Sunday. Records show the building is owned by the Kaplan Family Trust. One neighbor, who declined to provide her name, said she was awakened later Friday night by banging on the door of the home where Adachi was found, and an officer yelling, Its the police! Open up! Adachis colleagues at the public defenders office said they believe he suffered a heart attack, but the medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine an official cause and manner of death. The public defenders office also said Adachi was having dinner with a friend when he began to have trouble breathing. A spokeswoman for the office, though, said Saturday that the office doesnt know exactly what happened, and if theres an investigation, were awaiting more information. Evan Sernoffsky, Phil Matier and Trisha Thadani are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com, pmatier@sfchronicle.com, tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @evansernoffsky, @philmatier, @trishathadani This years Chinese New Year Festival and Parade in San Francisco managed to stay rain-free for attendees, as thousands came out to watch the 161-year-old tradition. Considered to be the largest Lunar New Year celebration outside of Asia, the area was decked out in honor of the Year of the Pig, with families attending the festival ahead of the parade. NEW YORK Rita Moreno plays one of TVs best villains. Or is she one of its snidest heroines? Either way, her sassy grandmother on the Netflix reboot of One Day at a Time is truly a funny concoction. Her Lydia wears makeup to bed, has a gun on hand and still is seductive in her 80s. I came out of the womb wearing stilettos, she purrs in a Cuban accent. The show has retooled Norman Lears old sitcom for a Latin family. Moreno, one of the rare EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winners, is enjoying a purple creative patch lately with the shows third season and an upcoming role in the Steven Spielberg-led remake of West Side Story, for which Moreno won an Oscar as Anita in 1961. The Puerto Rican-born actress recently spoke to the Associated Press about her brassy Netflix role, the regrets she had doing the original West Side Story and her thoughts on the #MeToo movement. AP: Youre clearly having too much fun with this Netflix character. In one scene, you try to hit on your own daughters boyfriend. Moreno: Shes shameless. This woman, Lydia, is absolutely shameless. Shes vain. Shes a bit of a liar when its convenient. The interesting thing about this character is that she has a lot of negatives on her side but people love her. People love her because of her foibles. AP: After the role was offered, you asked for something, didnt you? Moreno: I did ask a favor. I said, I know shes a grandmother and I know shes supposed to be in her late 70s, but she has to be sexual. Otherwise Im not interested. And they loved the idea. So now theyve really taken advantage. Sometimes I say, You really want me to say that? AP: Why was her sensuality important to you? Moreno: I think its because its not seen enough on television and because people have an odd notion of what a woman of 80 well actually Im 87. Im playing younger. Shes supposedly about 77, 78 something like that. And you dont see that but it exists. And thats why I insisted that she be a sexual being. AP: Are there any drawbacks to playing her? Moreno: The difficult part of playing this particular role is that shes very big. Shes very theatrical. Shes a diva and its very easy to go too far with that. So Im always constantly on the lookout and Im always saying, I dont think shed say that to the writers. That just seems arbitrary or whatever. And then we have to have a discussion about that. Sometimes they agree with me. And sometimes theyll play along with me. AP: Youll soon revisit West Side Story. Any regrets about the original, particularly the way they handled the racial aspect? Moreno: Puerto Rico was colonized by the French, the Dutch and the Spanish and so we are many colors. I am one, and I really resented it when they put very dark makeup on me because thats not my color. I thought the Sharks should have all of their own natural colors. Some were dark, some were copper skin, some were fair. AP: Your skin was darkened, too, right? Moreno: I remember one time saying to the makeup man who was making me up, I really hate this color because this isnt the color I am. And he actually said to me What, are you racist? I was so stunned that I didnt say anything. I didnt know what to say. Thats really also how little people know about Puerto Ricans. AP: You have fundraised for Puerto Rico storm relief and support Meals on Wheels and a nonprofit clinic. What motivates you to act? Moreno: Anything that involves hunger, particularly food banks. I just cant imagine being hungry all the time, and I cant imagine how anyone can function properly if theyre hungry. So thats my thing. Everyone has their particular interest and, for me, its hunger, always. AP: Are you encouraged by the #MeToo movement? It feels like change has come, but only after years of sitting on our hands. Moreno: I think we were sitting way, way, way too long. But I also come from an era when you had to be nice to men. I remember my mom saying that to me. She said, You be a nice girl and if a man tells you to do this or that, you do it. OK? And let me tell you, that has its effect. Its lasting. It took me a very, very, very long time to feel independent. I would tell you until about 10 years ago. Why are you surprised? Thats how I was raised, really. And it is surprising and its shocking, but I didnt know how to even write a check for the longest time. My husband did that. Things have changed so quickly and Im so happy about that. Mark Kennedy is an Associated Press writer. Nick Dor, a 42-year-old San Francisco resident, has no regrets about missing out on a million-dollar bonus. The week before Christmas, Juul Labs gave out $2 billion in employee bonuses, part of a deal with tobacco giant Altria that gave the e-cigarette maker a valuation of $38 billion. Dor worked on the Juul, a vaporizer used for puffing on flavored nicotine pods, at Pax Labs, the San Francisco company thats also behind the eponymous Pax marijuana vaporizer. But when the companies split to focus on their respective vices in 2017, Dor lobbied to stay at Pax. I had always felt that cannabis had been vilified and misunderstood for many, many years, said Dor, whos now vice president of brand operations. At Pax Labs, I could help tell the true story of cannabis and provide people with a way to consume it in a responsible and predictable manner. In a tale of two San Francisco companies, the marijuana startup became the less controversial. Pax Labs has avoided negative press as it embarks on a nationwide hiring spree. The company builds devices used for vaporizing marijuana flower, oil and waxy extracts, but it doesnt grow or sell the plant. While Juuls troubled image has been a turnoff for some tech workers, recruiters say Pax Labs is one of the most in-demand companies in the pot sector. Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle In another distinction from Juul, which makes its own nicotine pods for its vaporizers, Pax designs empty pods that cannabis producers fill with oil. Having other companies deal with the actual cannabis is part of why Pax has escaped federal scrutiny. But it also means that suppliers like Level Blends and Bloom Farms that sell filled pods at dispensaries help promote Pax vaporizers. Pax Labs is growing quickly. It more than quadrupled its workforce since the spin-off and is seeking a bigger headquarters in San Francisco as it plans to hire at least 100 workers in 2019. Few employees had a choice in where they ended up after the split. The companies have separate staff and leadership, though they share the license on certain patents. Some employees who stuck with Pax rather than defect to Juul say they feel vindicated. Workers can get behind the companys mission of bringing ease and predictability around using marijuana. Although a federally controlled substance, it is less controversial than ever, with 62 percent of Americans in support of legalization, according to the Pew Research Center. Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle Establishing marijuana as a force for good is a popular refrain inside the cramped Mission District headquarters, situated two floors below the offices of Burning Man. Its vaporizers connect to a mobile app that lets users dial in the temperature and size of each hit, giving them more control than the clunky desktop vaporizers of the mid-2000s delivering heavy hits. Pax Labs is working on a new product that fine-tunes these controls and brings even more transparency, employees say. This is the most excited Ive felt about things that were working on the entire time Ive been at Pax, said Dor, whos coming up on four years at the startup. Employees would not comment on Juuls business or team. Its against corporate policy to do so, a spokeswoman said. Without ever dropping the name, employees made it clear: Pax Labs is very different from its bigger stepsister. The core promise is that youll never have to be ashamed to work here, said chief executive Bharat Vasan, turning in his chair in a sunlit conference room. Juul did not respond to a request for comment. Three years ago, Pax Labs, whose flagship product has been called the iPhone of vaporizers, branched into tobacco with a new kind of e-cigarette. Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle The Juul, which started out as another product in the Pax Labs portfolio, changed everything. Within a year it was on pace to eclipse sales of the companys second-generation marijuana vaporizer and became the dominant e-cigarette on the market. In 2017, Pax Labs and Juul Labs spun into different companies, with the tobacco upstart taking both co-founders and about 160 designers and engineers, leaving Pax Labs with 32 employees. Tyler Goldman, who held the top position at both companies, disappeared from the corporate masthead a few months later. Juul replaced him quickly with Kevin Burns, a seasoned executive from Chobani, while Pax went leaderless. The situation left heads of departments in charge for about two months. When the company hired Vasan, he tasked employees with figuring out what kind of company they wanted Pax Labs to be. A reset. Vasan left an illustrious career in consumer hardware he was president of August Home, a company that makes internet-connected door locks and doorbells, before it sold to Swedish lock maker Assa Ablow in 2017 to take the helm at his first pot startup. Employees from across the company formed a committee of 15 people. They met every couple of weeks in conference rooms and coffee shops to develop a set of corporate values. Lauryn Livengood, who was recruited to build brand strategy in 2013, likened those early meetings to therapy sessions. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Those values are now displayed on poster boards throughout the office. Reinvent constantly. Empower our customers. Change the conversation. The last hit home for Livengood, whose role as senior brand manager involves telling stories about responsible, adult marijuana users who defy stereotypes. Its important for us to get this right from the beginning so that when other folks get on board, they know what train theyre getting on, she said. A recent report from Glassdoor showed Pax had more openings than any other marijuana startup in San Francisco, one of the hottest metropolitan areas hiring in the sector, in the month of December. Karson Humiston, whose Vangst job-search site is dedicated to the pot sector, saw a huge influx of candidates asking us about roles at Pax, she said. They only hire A-plus players, Humiston said. Its hard to get a job there. Dor said plenty of candidates apply for jobs at Pax because they want in on the marijuana green rush which has also spurred other companies, like Firefly and Mighty, to make vaporizers. Legal pot could soon become a bigger industry than soda, with sales expected to hit $75 billion by 2030 if marijuana is made legal nationwide, analysts say. We really want to make a difference, make cannabis that force for good, Dor said. People who want to make a quick buck probably wont make it to Pax. Melia Russell is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: melia.russell@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meliarobin Airbnb, long a flash point for controversy in its hometown, has achieved detente with San Francisco at the cost of slower growth while pursuing other expansions that could stir new issues. San Francisco is not alone in reining in Airbnb. Cities from South Lake Tahoe to New York to Paris are cracking down on short-term rentals, concerned about housing availability and neighborhood impact. As one of the worlds most valuable venture-backed companies prepares for an initial public offering valuing it in the tens of billions of dollars more than any hotel chain how fast Airbnb can grow as regulations tighten is a key question. Though San Francisco is a small part of Airbnbs business, it is the companys oldest market and a key laboratory for change. A year after strict new rules forced Airbnb to jettison thousands of listings, the companys core business of homes and rooms for short-term rentals is fairly static in San Francisco. However, its seen a big growth in places rented for 30 days or more, which are exempt from city requirements that the properties be inhabited by permanent residents. Airbnb now has 2,058 whole homes, 1,608 rooms and 23 shared rooms for temporary rent in San Francisco, according to data from the Office of Short-Term Rentals. That totals 3,689 listings, just 44 more than a year ago, shortly after Airbnb ditched thousands of unregistered listings. (It includes hosts who have applied for city registration, but not yet been confirmed as eligible.) The citys information come both from its registry of properties and from Inside Airbnb, a firm that uses automated scripts to extract data from Airbnbs website. Airbnbs data show that it has about 4,100 listings, an increase of 400 since last year. Why the discrepancy? Numbers fluctuate from day to day as hosts add and remove listings or hide their calendars. Meanwhile, Airbnb says that the number of exempt listings homes rented for 30 days or more, boutique hotels, and bed and breakfasts went from 2,600 a year ago to 3,700 now. HomeAway/VRBO, which has always had a smaller presence here because it focuses on second homes, has 210 entire-home listings, down from 229 a year ago, according to city records. The number of registered hosts grew even though listings did not, rising from 2,206 a year ago to 2,769 now. The city attributes this to hosts whose listings were on conditional status winning approval. Both San Francisco and Airbnb say they are happy to have reached a rapprochement after years of conflict as the city tried to rein in the conversion of homes to hotels to preserve scarce housing, while Airbnb defended the rentals as helping people make ends meet in an expensive city. The year one numbers are encouraging and show that the system is largely working as it was designed, said Supervisor Aaron Peskin, whos been among Airbnbs fiercest critics. Obviously, the reduction of short-term rentals after implementation last year was positive. Airbnb has stuck to its word, and seems to be implementing its obligation in good faith. A judge compelled Airbnb and rival HomeAway/VRBO to let the city vet all listings through its registration process. In mid-January last year, those companies had to ditch unregistered listings except those that were exempt because they are rented for longer periods, or qualify as a boutique hotel or a bed and breakfast. Airbnb scrubbed 4,780 listings, but noted that many had been inactive. The consequence is what wed hoped for for a long time, said Kevin Guy, director of the Office of Short-Term Rentals. Were having people stay on the platform who are truly eligible and people removed who are not eligible. As Airbnb gears up for an initial public offering this year or next, it welcomes stability around rules. It was quick to say that the changes didnt hurt its bottom line, even though the rapid growth it had enjoyed in San Francisco has slowed. This was a winner-winner-chicken-dinner scenario, said Chris Lehane, Airbnb head of global public policy and public affairs. Interests were aligned; everyone emerged as a winner. Airbnb said the value of its bookings in San Francisco for 2018 was the same as in the prior year, which started with more than twice as many short-term listings. Its explanation: The number of nights hosted per listing rose 42 percent. The increase in exempt listings, which coincidentally also increased 42 percent, is another factor. At the same time, Airbnb said, it had 44 percent annual growth in guest arrivals in the five counties surrounding San Francisco, without specifying how that affected regional revenue. Prices of Airbnb rentals have been relatively flat, other than seasonal variations, according to data from Beyond Pricing, a service that helps hosts decide what to charge. Entire homes in San Francisco are now $254, up just $20 over the past four years, and corresponding to the average cost of a hotel room, although Airbnb homes can have several bedrooms and can accommodate several people, making them cheaper per person. We havent seen a dramatic increase in Airbnb prices because there are still all the hotel alternatives, said Ian McHenry, the Beyond Pricing CEO. He tracked higher occupancies last year, especially during the peak summer months when Airbnbs San Francisco occupancy rate hit 82 percent, up 10 percentage points from two years earlier. Amid the newfound harmony, there remains a potential point of conflict: homes rented for 30 days or more, which are exempt from the registration requirement. They can easily be multiple units controlled by a single landlord, or peoples second homes exactly the type of properties the city wants returned to permanent housing stock. Many appear to be listings that couldnt qualify as short-term rentals. As we deny applications, maybe because we find they dont live in the unit, some hosts pivot to a 30-plus-day listing, Guy said. Peskin said hes working on a way to rein in the 30-plus-day rentals, which can advertise on lots of venues. This is a problem that predates Airbnb where you have housing meant for San Franciscans thats taken off the market and turned into long-term corporate rentals, he said. Thats the next frontier that weve got to get our arms around. Airbnbs Lehane bristled at a suggestion that hosts who switched to 30-plus days are skirting regulations, noting that they are exempt from the rules. The marketplace ends up being incredibly adaptable, he said. The citys laws work and were able to continue to grow. Airbnbs adaptability manifests itself in myriad other ways as it looks to become a full-service travel provider, helping people figure out how to get somewhere, where to stay and what to do while theyre there. This month, it hired aviation pioneer Fred Reid, the former CEO of Virgin America, for the new position of global head of transportation. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes The company is actively pursuing new ways to boost revenue. A division called Backyard will design and build homes that can be rented to travelers. Its Friendly Buildings Program encourages landlords and property managers to allow tenants to host on Airbnb, averting the decidedly unfriendly reaction Airbnb received from a landlords group, the San Francisco Apartment Association. One of its broadest new offerings, called Experiences, consists of tours, classes and hands-on activities taught by hosts making paella in Barcelona, dancing with drag queens in the Castro neighborhood, learning salsa in Miami, for instance. Its now in 1,000 cities. Mission District resident Marieke Von Rotz Johnson said she had a great time renting rooms on Airbnb to help make mortgage payments on the Victorian she inherited from her father. Recently, like the company itself, she added Experiences, teaching visitors to throw clay on a pottery wheel. Its been so well received that she quit her day job to devote herself to ceramics. Airbnb was the bridge for me to leave that security and see what I can do on my own, she said. A host since 2011, she predated the citys registration system. I was a bit surprised at how much paperwork and how serious it was, she said. But she had some perspective from having taught art at Hospitality House, which works to help Tenderloin residents develop community. Housing is a big issue, and the nonprofit wanted Airbnb to not be taking housing opportunities from people who want to be here long term, she said. It made it more understandable to me when that change (registration requiring proof of residency) happened. Meanwhile, some longtime hosts who agreed with the purpose of the registration system now say the city is going too far in enforcement. Kepa Askenasy has rented spaces in her Potrero Hill home through Airbnb since 2010, racking up frequent bookings and five-star reviews for the four suites, which are rooms with bathrooms, coffee bars and private entrances from her homes courtyard. She was disconcerted in January when the city revoked her short-term rental registration and gave her four days to cancel all bookings. Her homes unusual configuration led planners to conclude that she didnt live in the same dwelling as her rentals. Not wanting to leave the visitors high and dry, she offered that they could stay for free as her personal guests. The way the city enforces the law is to shut you down right away with a very cryptic description, said Askenasy, who is appealing the decision. A building inspector determined that three of the suites are part of her house, leaving a stand-alone cabana still at issue, but she cannot host guests until her registration is restored. It appears to me that they are considering us guilty until proven innocent. Guy, the short-term rental official, said his office, which used to exert lots of detective work to track down rental scofflaws, now has more time to review new registrations and those up for renewal. It is tricky when people have unique parcel or building arrangements, he said without commenting directly on Askenasys case. But the flagrant violations landlords renting more than a dozen units on Airbnb, for instance seem to be a relic of the past. We have much more confidence now that people are operating short-term rentals within the expectations and the confines of the regulations, he said. Editors note: This story has been updated with additional information about the source of San Franciscos short-term rental data. Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid San Franciscos Transbay Transit Center may have a new problem on its hands not enough room in its $700 million underground train station to handle the projected Caltrain rail service when, or if, it arrives. Thats what we are looking into now: what level of projected future service we will have and how much the station will accommodate, said Caltrain spokesman Seamus Murphy. At issue is the two-story-high, three-block-long train box that sits under the terminal. It was built as part of a plan to bring both Caltrains Peninsula rail service and California high-speed trains directly into the terminal via a 1.3-mile tunnel to the Caltrain station at Fourth and King streets. High-speed rail appears to be on life support after Gov. Gavin Newsom seemed to say in his State of the State address that California would concentrate on the Central Valley portion, leaving the connections to San Francisco and Los Angeles. And because the Trump administration has cut funding and even asked for the return of money already spent, it may never arrive in San Francisco. That isnt stopping San Francisco officials from moving ahead on building the tunnel. Their argument: Even without high-speed rail, Caltrain ridership alone justifies the $6 billion tunnel. And indeed, Caltrain expects to see its ridership more than quadruple over the next 20 years to 250,000 riders a day, once it converts from diesel to electric trains. But now there are questions over whether there is enough room in the underground station to handle the 12 to 16 trains per hour Caltrain may need to run into the city to handle all those new passengers. Our initial analysis shows that at least 10 trains per hour can be accommodated in the terminal, Murphy said. Meaning that Caltrain could be two to six trains short on platform space. And thats without high-speed rail, if it ever comes. There is still optimism that the final analysis will show opportunity for additional capacity, but its too early to say for sure, Murphy said. But the goal remains on track. Bringing rail to the transit center will realize the centers full potential as a multi-modal, 21st century transit hub and connect the Bay Area, Transbay spokeswoman Christine Falvey said. Whatever the case, Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who is also chairman of the County Transportation Authority, said San Francisco is committed to getting the tunnel built, even as federal and state funds are evaporating. Well find the money somewhere, Peskin said. Falvey offered a timeline. If funds are available, we can start construction three years from now and finish 10 years from now, she said. The question of adequate space for trains is the latest challenge facing the terminal. Bay Area planners dream of the $2.2 billion terminal becoming the Grand Central Terminal of the West has taken a serious hit now that the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco high-speed rail plan has been scaled down, making the transit center pretty much a local bus station although one with a very nice park on top. And that bus station isnt even open. Just six weeks after it opened, workers discovered cracks in two key beams, causing officials to close the terminal until repairs are made. Theres still no date set to have it up and running again. Seems like the fun never ends. Party favors: Friends of Gov. Gavin Newsom raised a party-hearty $2.5 million for his inauguration festivities. The biggest donor to the inaugural and the two days of parties was organized labor, which ponied up $775,000 to help stage the events, with $150,000 coming from the states prison guards union and $100,000 from the California Teachers Association Political Action Committee. The states Indian casinos chipped in $525,0000, including $200,000 from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, owners of the Graton Resort and Casino in Rohnert Park. Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press The biggest individual donor was former San Diego Padres owner Jennifer Moores, who gave $200,000. Netflix founder and charter school advocate Reed Hastings gave $50,000. Other big-dollar contributors included AT&T ($100,000), the State Democratic Party ($100,000) and the California Association of Hospitals ($100,000). In other words, pretty much your usual collection of organizations, businesses and trade associations that do business with the state. Donors to the California Rises charity concert held the night before the inauguration included the Silicon Valley Community Foundation at $250,000 and $50,000 from the San Francisco Giants. The concert, which featured Pitbull and Common, along with the X Ambassadors and Betty Who, raised $5 million for the California Fire Foundation. So for all the fun, some good came out of the festivities. Special of the day: Its official name is the Wildlife Highway Interface Act, but it has quickly been dubbed the you-kill-it, you-grill-it bill. SB395 is a bill proposed by state Sen. Bob Archuleta of Cerritos that would allow motorists who hit large game animals to take the kill, have it cleaned, butchered and ready for the diner table. They would also have to record the site of the kill. Brant Ward / The Chronicle 2010 Not only would highways be cleaner, recording the kill would also help the state assess where wildlife highway crossings are needed most, Archuleta said. And while the idea of roasted roadkill may seem a bit off-the-wall to many people, similar laws or policies are in place in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Too early to say if the bill is going to make it out of the kitchen until then, bon appetit! San Francisco Chronicle columnist Phillip Matier appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call 415-777-8815, or email pmatier@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @philmatier Deborah Green is a scavenger. The chairs in the Oakland Technical High School art teachers classroom are a mix of plastic, wood and metal. Green said she didnt have enough seats for her students, and the school district wouldnt provide her with more. So she started bringing in chairs she found on sidewalks and street corners. The chair her mother once used in her home office is in the classroom, too. I stop and pull over, Green said. I see comfortable chairs, and I want those. Im not getting what I want. For almost two years, the Oakland public school teachers whove been working without a contract since July 2017 havent been getting what they want. The citywide teacher strike that began Thursday is bigger than teachers demanding higher pay. This strike is about the direction of public education in Oakland. Its about making what happens in Oaklands classroom or, really, what hasnt been happening the school districts primary focus. Teachers contend that Oakland Unified School District is underfunding classroom education and students are paying the price. The Oakland Education Association, the teachers union representing 3,000 workers, is demanding a 12 percent raise, smaller classes, and more counselors and nurses. They dont want schools closed, and they want the closed school libraries opened and staffed. The district has about 37,000 students who have been affected by the strike. Oakland is the latest school district where educators walked out. Teachers in West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona have also gone on strike. Los Angeles public school teachers returned to their classrooms last month after a six-day strike. Their new contract includes smaller class sizes and more librarians, nurses and counselors. The teachers union had asked for a 6.5 percent raise for teachers but settled for 6 percent. Last week in Oakland, teachers chanted in front of schools while holding signs that flapped in the wind. They cheered at the horns honked by passing drivers. Lara Trale, an English teacher at Oakland High School, spent two days in front of her school last week. Most of us are going into it with the clear understanding that it could be a long haul, she said. Just not having an end date in mind is unsettling. No, this isnt like the recent one-day walkouts. This time teachers said they arent coming back without a new contract. Trale said she has colleagues who live in shared rooms because their salaries dont cover rent for a room to themselves, much less an apartment. Then there are food costs, car payments and student loans. Its hard to build a life and a career when youre struggling to make ends meet. Thats why teachers are leaving Oakland for higher salaries in nearby school districts. Last year, the district reported a teacher attrition rate of 22 percent higher than the 11-year average of 18.5 percent. Oakland teachers pay begins at $46,500, and the average salary is $63,100. Administrators have balked at meeting teachers demands because they need to cut $22 million to help close a $30 million budget deficit. And after years of financial mismanagement by past administrators, teachers are tired of hearing what the district cant do. They could certainly be using the money that we do have much better, Trale said. But I also think ultimately to solve our education crises, we need to be able to pay our schoolteachers something that is livable for the areas in which they live. I met Green on Feb. 4, the day it was announced that teachers voted overwhelmingly to authorize the strike. She showed me her classroom where sea animals molded out of recycled cardboard from science fair projects hover near the ceiling. The animals stingray, whale, turtle and more are stuffed with plastic, which can end up floating in the ocean and threatening wildlife. The project taught students about their impact on our environment. The kids were amazing, Green said as we sipped tea from scavenged coffee mugs. They were really engaged. Green, who let students use her classroom to make signs and prep for a gun violence protest last year, has to write grants for the art supplies she cant scavenge. What does she want now? I want the kids respected. They will benefit from smaller classes, said Green, whos in her sixth year at Oakland Tech. I want the teachers respected. The schools will be more stable if teachers could afford to live on their salaries. According to my colleagues Kimberly Veklerov and Ashley McBride, the school district did not have estimates for how many teachers or students missed school Thursday and Friday. A couple of hundred of the districts central office staff had been assigned to Oaklands 87 public schools to cover staff absences. As of Sunday, it was still anyones guess how long the strike will last. As Ive noted before, the teachers demands more pay, smaller classes are similar to the ones made in 1996. That year the teachers went on a strike for a month. The conditions that we teach in every day are absolutely absurd, Carrie Anderson, a fifth-grade teacher at New Highland Academy, told me. Its just gotten worse and worse and worse over the years. Anderson has taught in the district for 14 years, teaching in deep East Oakland in underserved communities where she says the schools are underfunded. She said the time to change the school districts course is now. Thats what teachers want. We are definitely not backing down, Anderson said. Thats for sure. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Mondays and Thursdays. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr Kayvon Tehranian was lifting weights at his gym on Sept. 10 when he passed out and hit his head on the floor. Somebody asked him to name the president, and he said Barack Obama. Wishful thinking, maybe. But it was reason enough for another gym member to drive him to the nearest emergency room, San Francisco General Hospital, just in case. He had two CT scans, spent two hours at the hospital, and talked to a doctor for five minutes. The diagnosis? A concussion. He was sent home. The real headache came later in the mail. The hospital billed the 33-year-old tech workers insurance company, Anthem Blue Cross, $12,393. The insurance company informed him it would pay $5,209.64 and that he owed S.F. General $7,183.36. Tehranian said the medical care was excellent, but his attempts to lower his portion of the bill have been maddening. Its cold, faceless and unfair, he said of the hospitals billing procedures, which hold privately insured patients responsible for any charges their insurance company wont pay. If two San Francisco state legislators have their way, S.F. General and other California hospitals will be prohibited from sticking patients like Tehranian with these kinds of shocking bills. Assemblyman David Chiu and state Sen. Scott Wiener plan to announce joint legislation Monday to ban balance billing on all patients who receive emergency care in California. The legislation would require that patients be charged only the same co-pay or deductible theyd be charged by an in-network hospital, even if they receive emergency care at an out-of-network facility. A similar state law already exists for nonemergency medical care. At S.F. General, all private insurance is out of network, because the citys sole trauma center doesnt enter into contracts with any private insurance companies. Instead, it bills insurance companies the full rack rate for services, which are approved each year by the mayor and the Board of Supervisors. Because theres no contract, the insurance company can pay whatever it wants, and patients get stuck with the rest. Last year, that left 1,700 patients with bills that often reached into the tens of thousands of dollars for common illnesses and injuries such as appendicitis, migraines, bruises and broken bones. If patients cant or wont pay, the hospital often sends them to collections, which can put their credit rating in jeopardy. A hospital shouldnt be allowed to send a patient an outrageous bill or send them to collections for anything other than their co-payment or deductible, Chiu said. The type of astronomical bills were seeing should not be a routine practice for thousands of patients every year who have the random luck of ending up on a gurney at San Francisco General. Wiener said he knew some patients occasionally received large hospital bills, but he didnt realize how widespread the practice was at S.F. General until recent media coverage. Thats how I learned this was a systemic issue, and I was horrified, he said. San Francisco General is probably the most extreme, but this is happening in other parts of the state as well. Wiener said he has talked to administrators at the hospital in recent weeks and that their top concern is caring for the poor, the homeless and the uninsured. Private insurance just doesnt rate high on the priority list, Wiener said. Its philosophy is, Thats not our focus. We dont want to be a hospital that deals with a lot of private insurance. We want to deal with poor people who dont have insurance, Wiener said. I respect that philosophy, but part of that means not bankrupting people who have insurance. Thats just not fair. Chiu and Wieners legislation would also lower hospital bills overall for insurance companies when their patients are treated at out-of-network emergency rooms. Payment from insurance companies to hospitals would be limited to the greater of 150 percent of what Medicare would pay for the same services or the average rate the hospital would charge insurance companies with which it has contracts. Rachael Kagan, spokeswoman for the Department of Public Health, which manages S.F. General, said she couldnt comment on the legislation because she hasnt seen it. However, we absolutely agree that there is a role for policy changes to improve patients experience with billing, she said. That includes local, state and federal efforts. Meanwhile, we are working at the department and hospital level on making the improvements that we can. Its clear that hospital billing practices are confusing, even to the people in charge of them. The Department of Public Health had previously said it was illegal under state law to balance-bill patients on HMO insurance plans, but legal to do it for those on PPO plans. The department said the hospital was balance billing PPO patients legally. But that distinction is incorrect. According to Chiu, Wiener and the states Department of Managed Health Care, its illegal in California to balance-bill patients who have health insurance thats fully insured, meaning an employer pays a set amount to the insurance carrier and the carrier bears the risk for employees falling ill or getting injured. Those are often HMO plans but can be PPO plans as well. Theyre regulated by the states Department of Managed Health Care. In 2014, the state took enforcement action against S.F. General for balance-billing PPO patients in a fully insured Blue Shield plan. The hospital agreed to cease billing those patients and stop efforts to collect on their outstanding bills. It also agreed to refund patients in that plan whod been billed since 2009. The Department of Managed Health Care is asking patients whove received big bills from S.F. General to call its help center at 888-466-2219. It is currently legal to balance-bill patients in self-insured plans, in which employers generally pay less for insurance for their employees but bear more of the risk if their employees become sick or injured. Those plans arent regulated by the state but are regulated by the federal government. Under Chiu and Wieners legislation, it would be illegal to balance-bill anybody who receives emergency care in California, regardless of the specifics of their private insurance plan. The legislation, if passed, will head to the governors desk in September and, if he signs it, will take effect Jan. 1, 2020. S.F. General and Mayor London Breed have halted balance billing for 90 days while they come up with a fairer system. That may include entering into contracts with some insurance companies, setting out-of-pocket maximums for individual patients, expanding the definition of who may qualify for charity care and doing a better job of explaining to patients what bills theyll face. Much of that could be moot if Chiu and Wieners legislation passes. Tehranian, for one, supports any change that would end unfairly high bills like the one he received. He said its especially important because his family lives just a few blocks from S.F. General and needs to be able to count on it in case of an emergency. I cant accept the anxiety we all feel about going there now, he said. I want to be able to sleep soundly knowing that S.F. Generals services are available to me and my family without exorbitant expense. For a public hospital with an annual budget of about $1 billion, thats not too much to ask. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf A cosmic rift has opened between Bay Area astronomers and a splinter group of San Francisco stargazers who are hell-bent on contacting space aliens, hang the consequences. The schism pits the traditionalists, who believe humans should only look and listen for extraterrestrials to avoid tipping off evil aliens, against a rebel faction that wants to broadcast messages to intelligent beings, assuming they are altruistic. The battle is so heated that one prominent scientist quit the Mountain View group known as SETI, or Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, to form METI, or Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Are there intelligent beings out there? We dont know, but the only way we can find out is if we look, said Douglas Vakoch, who founded METI International in San Francisco after the SETI board voted in 2014 against beaming messages into space. Weve always assumed the extraterrestrials were looking for us, Vakoch said. But what if their position is, No, you are the ones who are new to this game. You send us a signal first. SETI has been searching for radio signals or some other sign of life beyond Earth from its Mountain View headquarters for 35 years, but with nothing to show for its effort, Vakoch and other restless alien hunters are insisting on a more active search, including employing radar and laser technology to beam more powerful multidirectional messages into space. The problem, many SETI astronomers warn, is that, instead of an intergalactic kumbaya, intelligent extraterrestrials might very well be more inclined to enslave Earthlings and mercilessly plunder and destroy Earth. Those who adhere to this dark theory imagine humanity as a childlike form of life lost in an Amazonian jungle crawling with skulking predators, said Andrew Fraknoi, a SETI Institute board member. Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle We wonder whether the galaxy that we are in is maybe a dark forest, where it is dangerous to scream because there are creatures out there unhappy with new life forms, said Fraknoi, an astronomer who will be teaching a course in April called Aliens in Science and Science Fiction at the University of San Franciscos Fromm Institute. With every strong signal we send out, we advertise our presence, and you dont want to advertise your presence in a dark forest. The clash represents the first major division in the traditionally tight-knit community of astronomers, astrophysicists, philosophers, psychologists and science fiction writers who are convinced intelligent beings are out there somewhere. Vakoch and his supporters, including some astronomers at SETI, call the dark forest analogy silly. Any predatory civilization would probably have detected us by now simply by analyzing our atmosphere, they reason. Humans, Vakoch said, have been using radar, which can purportedly be detected 70 light-years away, since World War II. Television and radio signals would long ago have signaled our presence to malevolent space ruffians, he said. Unconcerned about an invasion of intergalactic invertebrates who are out for our heads, Vakoch adapted a transmitter and used a Norwegian observatory in late 2017 to send a message 12.4 light-years away to Luytens Star, a red dwarf with a large planet in the constellation Canis Minor. He spent years developing the message, combining mathematics and the fundamentals of language that he believes even a blind alien could understand. It was the first of what Vakoch hopes will be many signals sent by his group. Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle Our goal is to say we are interested in making contact, Vakoch said. We may have to target hundreds and thousands and maybe millions of stars before we find anything. I view this as a reflection of the natural growth of SETI. There is little doubt in the minds of the stalwarts at both SETI and METI that some form of intelligent life exists out there. There have been planets like Earth for billions of years, Fraknoi said, and that means some civilizations in the universe may have been tinkering with robotics and artificial intelligence before our solar system was even a twinkle in Gods eye. The sun is, after all, only 4.6 billion years old. The Milky Way Galaxy, one of about 2 trillion galaxies visible through telescopes, has been around for 13.5 billion years. It is now believed that at least half of the stars in the Milky Way have planets. Fraknoi speculates that civilizations that have existed in other solar systems for billions of years could be a self-replicating mix of the biological and the mechanical. Its possible, he said, that such a mix could travel through space for thousands of years and still be alive to tell about it when the trip is over. That would be a handy trick for humanity because, using Earths current technology, it would take 80,000 years for an astronaut to reach the closest star, Alpha Centauri, a little more than four light-years away. The vast majority of the other 200 billion stars in the Milky Way are 100 light-years or more away from Earth. Even if aliens receive Vakochs electronic message 12.4 light-years away and immediately reply, we wont know for about 25 years, assuming the communique is sent at the speed of light. Barcroft Media 2017 Thats the point, said Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute who supports Vakochs work. Given the enormous distances, he said, we may never find intelligent life if we dont get out there and look for it. This notion that you have to be cryptic doesnt make sense to me, Shostak said. We have not examined very much of the sky. You dont want to cripple technology in the future by saying, No transmissions into the sky because there might be nasty aliens out there. Thats just paranoia. Paranoia is not a good long-term policy. The seeds of the current debate were planted in 1974 when a team led by Frank Drake, a Cornell University astrophysicist who was later on the faculty at UC Santa Cruz, sent a digital message describing Earth and its life-forms from Puerto Ricos Arecibo Observatory to a distant star cluster. Several astronomers expressed concerns at the time, but they were largely ignored. The issue began to move to the forefront in 1989 when scientists involved in SETI published a declaration of principles, including protocols on how humankind should handle a confirmed detection of intelligent extraterrestrials. No reply should be sent, the document said, until there had been international consultation on what we would say and how we would say it. A committee of the International Academy of Astronautics released a second set of protocols in the 1990s, urging consultations with world leaders before anyone broadcasts a powerful message into space that is likely to be detectable by alien life. Stephen Hawking, the famous scientist, was among those who warned against messaging on grounds that aliens may not see us as any more valuable than we see bacteria. Vakoch and Shostak were adamantly opposed to any rules that would prevent such messaging, describing it as akin to a violation of their freedom of speech. Vakoch formed METI after a vote in 2014 by the SETI Institute board rejecting his plans to broadcast messages. Michael Michaud, an author and onetime director of the State Departments Office of Space and Advanced Technology who helped write the protocols, holds out hope that the two sides will eventually reach a compromise. He and other astronautics experts have proposed an inclusive consultative process to approve or reject powerful signals those that could be detected dozens or hundreds of light years away before Earths coordinates are beamed out to potential interstellar fly swatters. Human history is littered with examples of societies disrupted by direct contact with others, even when it was led by idealistic missionaries, said Michaud, who has written extensively about the subject. Ignore the Hollywood scenario of reptilian aliens landing on Earths surface to conquer our planet. They would not need to use futuristic weapons; the correct pesticide would do. Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite Thank you for reading! You have reached your 30-day limit of free access to SentinelSource.com, The Keene Sentinels website. If you would like to read two more articles for free at this time, please register for an account by clicking the sign up button below. We hope you find The Sentinels coverage of the Monadnock Region valuable. We rely on our subscribers to bring you strong local journalism and hope you will consider supporting our work by taking advantage of this special subscription offer here. While many campaigns have kicked off making promises about 2020, Seattle Pacific University is making a very specific Seattle Promise: a tuition break to students who transfer to the university after earning a community college degree in Seattle's three community colleges. Starting in 2020, SPU will give students who transfer from North, Central or South colleges in the city's new Seattle Promise program at least 50 percent off tuition. Though it's hard to believe that the "snowpocalypse" was just two weeks ago, it all comes screaming back whenever the possibility of more snow dips into our forecast. Thankfully, the latest National Weather Service radar points to mostly showers across the area on Sunday morning. And officials expect that to last through Monday, in most areas. "Forecast models are increasingly in agreement that moisture associated with a low pressure system passing through Oregon will mostly remain south of Washington," Seattle's NWS said in an early-morning statement. "Some may creep as far north as Lewis County and southern portions of Thurston and Pierce counties, allowing for some lowland snow risk, although minimal." RELATED: Cliff Mass: Seattle should buy more snowplows NWS later updated their forecast to issue a snow advisory for the Hood Canal area, and along the Strait for 1 to 3 inches of snow through 2 p.m. on Sunday. They also noted that areas along the water may see a rain and snow mix, with mainly snow from North Seattle-Everett to Skagit County. Even so, NWS expects it to be 1 inch or less of slushy snow in most areas. Even in their worst case scenario, NWS is predicting little to no accumulation in areas where it does snow. RELATED: Time-lapse video shows Seattle waterfront hammered with snow: Those chances of precipitation are expected to gradually decline as Sunday wears on. Monday, flurries may be possible in areas around Puget Sound, but light snow is only expected in portions of Pierce, Lewis, and Thurston counties. Tuesday will mark this week's mostly dry day, before another system moves in on Wednesday and Thursday. Bob Prince has never taken off the simple gold signet ring that his late wife, Barbara, gave him after they were married at Seattle's Church of the Epiphany on Jan. 31, 1942. It can be seen in a 50-year-old photo taken around their third anniversary, when Prince was an Army Ranger serving an ocean away from Barbara, in the Philippine Islands. Then he was Capt. Robert W. Prince, 25, of the Army's elite Sixth Ranger Battalion. Prince, known for his coolness, just had been hand-picked by a man he deeply admired, Lt. Col. Henry Mucci, to lead 120 Rangers, Army Alamo Scouts and Filipino guerrillas to rescue 512 prisoners of war from a nightmarish Japanese prison camp near the town of Cabanatuan. The "Great Raid," the subject of a new movie, was cloaked in secrecy and draped with urgency. The POWs included many who endured three years of starvation, disease and torture after the battle for Corregidor and the Bataan Death March. In August 1944, with defeat imminent, the Japanese War Ministry issued a "kill all policy" to cover up war crimes by executing the witnesses. Before the Cabanatuan raid was carried out, prisoners in a camp near Palawan had been drenched with aviation fuel and burned alive. "Our wedding anniversary was three years to the day that we brought out those prisoners," Prince, now 85, recalls, tapping the signet ring engraved with a "P." "I didn't think about it being my anniversary at the time, though," he adds with a soft chuckle, glancing out the window of his condominium in Port Townsend that overlooks Puget Sound. The story, with embellishments that Prince says don't diminish the truth, is in the film "The Great Raid," which is playing in area theaters. The movie draws its story from the best-selling books "The Great Raid on Cabanatuan" by William B. Breuer and "Ghost Soldiers" by Hampton Sides. Prince read the books and previewed the movie two years ago at home for director John Dahl, before production was delayed a year. Actor James Franco portrays Prince as the bookish but decisive narrator of the film -- and wears a similar ring. Benjamin Bratt plays Mucci, who died in 1997. Prince has not met the actors but says he's happy with the film, saying it captures the spirit and significance of the mission. "Dahl wanted to get inside my head, to know what I saw and felt," Prince says. He cautioned Dahl against turning him into a John Wayne. Dahl, apparently struck by the modesty and bluntness of old veterans, decided the facts spoke for themselves and resisted attempts to turn the movie into a "Dirty Dozen." "Let's set something straight," Prince says, leveling a gaze as intense as the one in his old photo. "We all worked together. I had no bigger impact than Colonel Mucci. The only reason the story has any legs at all is because we saved people in addition to beating up on the Japanese," he says. "The heroes of the thing are the POWs." The rescue was widely celebrated nationwide for weeks but slipped into the shadows of history as the war entered its waning months. As old soldiers sometimes do, Prince, a self-effacing man, was content to let his soldiering fade away, too. He returned from the military as a major on the day before Thanksgiving 1946. He traded in his green Army Ranger uniform to market apples in Wenatchee with the firm of Gwin, White & Prince, and to begin a family. The couple had two sons. One is now dead. Prince moved to Port Townsend 18 months ago, after his wife died, to be near his son, Jim, and his grandchildren. "It's nice to see him getting this recognition now," Jim Prince, a commercial fisherman, says. "He never talked much about the raid except once when we were growing up, when my mom told him to tell us." Prince grew up in Seattle's Madrona neighborhood. He graduated from Garfield High School and Stanford University, studying history and economics. As war clouds gathered, he joined the ROTC and was commissioned a second lieutenant in early 1941. A few months after he married the former Barbara Harrison, Prince was in New Guinea marching troops and mules across a 10,000-foot mountain range to support two divisions battling the Japanese army. The fighting ended a week before his group arrived. "We sat there in New Guinea a year -- they didn't know where to use us," Prince recalls. Then the Army created a Ranger battalion in the Pacific, and Mucci sought volunteers. By late 1944, Japan's defeat was imminent and Prince was tasting combat in the Philippines. In January 1945, with word of the massacre of Allied POWs at Palawan, Mucci was ordered to hand-pick a team to rescue prisoners at Cabanatuan. Mucci, who embarrassed Prince by calling him "my wonderful captain," was to get the rescuers to the camp; Prince's job was to get in and out. What made the "Great Raid" so tactically incredible was that there was no time to rehearse. "Some have months to rehearse, we only had hours," Prince says. "We were successful because we had all trained together and knew each other" and had the support of Filipino people, he says. Intelligence was gathered from Alamo Scouts working behind enemy lines and Filipino guerrillas protecting the unit's flanks. Civilian spies risked lives gathering information -- though the film's love interest was one of the Hollywood embellishments but based on a real woman spy. Odds seemed overwhelming. The prison had more than 200 guards and sat 30 miles inside enemy territory. A Japanese battalion was a mile from it. The nearby town of Cabanatuan was a transit hub with up to 8,000 Japanese troops. Surprise was key. Yet the biggest obstacle was 300 yards of open ground through a dry, stubbled rice paddy. Rangers, laden with ammunition, rifles, machine guns and bazookas, crawled on their bellies. To divert attention, a P-61 "Black Widow" night-fighter flew over. "While we were crawling across the open field, he was flying 500 feet above the camp, cutting his motor, doing every crazy thing he could to attract attention," Prince recalls. It worked. Prince set the attack for 7:30 p.m. Jan. 30, when F Company, crawling up a river to the camp's rear, was to open fire. The deadline passed. "I was getting antsy," Prince recalls. Ten tense minutes went by before F company arrived and began firing. Prince gave two of his platoons different assignments. "Second platoon was not to fight but to get the POWs going right away" while first platoon held off prison guards, he said. The film also embellishes some action. Rescuers faced two mortar attacks, not three. A Japanese truck, not a tank, was blown up. "I was watching and directing what was needed," Prince says. Removing the prisoners -- American, British, Canadian and others, who had dubbed themselves "Ghost Soldiers" -- was an unexpected obstacle. Conditioned by captivity, many POWs thought the raid a trick to kill them as they fled. Few recognized the green Ranger uniforms that evolved from blue or khaki uniforms during their years in captivity. "One guy said, 'Who are you?' We answered, 'We're Yanks.' He said, 'No Yank ever wore a uniform like that,' " Prince recalls. Rangers literally booted and shoved some POWs out. Rangers also removed their shirts to make stretchers to carry away sick and wounded prisoners and gave their clothes and boots to the emaciated, threadbare, barefoot men. The fighting was over in 35 minutes. "It was pretty one-sided," Prince says. He checked each building himself before firing the flare that ended the assault, then met up with Mucci and began a long trek to freedom. Filipino guerrillas held off pursuing Japanese soldiers as the group made its escape. In the end, Allied casualties counted two Rangers dead and several wounded. No Filipinos died. More than 500 Japanese soldiers were killed or wounded. All 512 prisoners survived. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Prince's role on Feb. 3, 1945, identifying "the son of Mr. and Mrs. A.A. Prince of 226 Maiden Lane" as a leader of "one of the most dramatic exploits of the war in the Pacific." Prince and Staff Sgt. Homer Britzius were the only two Seattleites in the raid. Exuberant prisoners returned under the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco amid screaming sirens, salutes from Navy blimps and crowds waving flags. One former prisoner told reporters: "I think I was the first American out of the prison camp. First thing I knew I was standing outside with a big Yank. His name was Capt. Prince of Seattle, Wash. The first thing I did was to grab the captain and hug and kiss him right there." Accompanied by his wife, Prince and 11 Rangers were sent after the raid on war bond tours of the States and met with President Franklin Roosevelt. Mucci and Prince received the nation's second-highest award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross, and in the late '90s were named to the Army Ranger Hall of Fame. Prince returned to the South Pacific to help plan a November 1945 invasion of Japan, but the war ended in August. Today, Prince still soldiers out, unrecognized, from his condo for a daily half-mile walk. Of his new celebrity, he seems most excited about an invitation to a banquet with Fort Lewis' 75th Ranger Regiment. He wants to meet this generation's soldiers. Prince, meanwhile, reads an April 16, 1945 interview with the P-I when he was home on leave. "People everywhere thank me," he said then. "I think the thanks should go the other way. ... Nothing for me can ever compare with the satisfaction I got from freeing those men." Reading his words again, Prince snaps: "True then, true now." Heres a way that by being last, South Carolina lawmakers could do something really good: Pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Only one more state legislature has to approve it for it to become part of our nations basic protections. You might have forgotten about the amendment, first approved by Congress in 1972, following the rise of the womens movement in the 1960s. After approval, the amendment went to the states for ratification. Thirty-eight states are needed for ratification. Right out of the gate, states forged ahead with Hawaii approving on the same day as the final congressional vote. In 1972, 28 states of the 38 needed to ratify approved the amendment. It looked like it was on its way. But when conservative organizer Phyllis Schlafly started a Stop ERA movement that year, things slowed down. Schlafly argued that the ERA, rather than guarantee equal protection for women under law, would create problems for them receiving Social Security, alimony and other benefits. While those arguments were batted down over time, they took the steam out of the ratification push. Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. New Delhi, Feb 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the National War Memorial near India Gate on February 25, officials said Friday. The memorial will honour soldiers who have laid down their lives for the country since Independence. "The prime minister will dedicate the memorial to the nation on February 25. The defence minister, chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force will be among the dignitaries present on the occasion," a senior official said. Some other cabinet ministers are also likely to attend the event, he said. "The National War Memorial will include a wall that will carry the names of those soldiers who have laid down their lives for the country," Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat had earlier said. "The memorial would be iconic and serve as a new landmark, which would attract people from near and far," he had said. PM Modi to inaugurate National War Memorial Acceding to a long-pending demand of the armed forces, the government in 2015 had approved the project for building a National War Memorial and a National War Museum near India Gate in memory of over 22,500 soldiers who laid down their lives post-Independence. "This government will be establishing a war memorial and a museum with a deep sense of gratitude to honour those brave soldiers, who laid down their lives," an official statement released after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Modi, had then said. "The memorial will promote a sense of patriotism in the minds of visitors, and will award an opportunity to citizens of this vast nation, to express their token sense of gratitude to the brave soldiers, who laid down their lives for the motherland," it said. India Gate itself is a war memorial built during the British Raj as the All India War Memorial Arch to honour the soldiers who died in the First World War (1914-1918) and the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919). The landmark has the names of soldiers inscribed on its surface. New Delhi, Feb 24: With the government set to transfer the first instalment of Rs 2,000 to about 2 crore farmers over the next few days, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday termed it as a bribe for votes and said the greater shame is that the Election Commission is unable to stop it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday will launch the Rs 75,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, by transferring the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Today is the 'Cash for Vote' day. The BJP government will officially give a bribe of Rs 2000 per agricultural family to get their votes, Chidambaram said in a series if tweets. The money will go to the cultivating farmer as well as the absentee landlord, the former finance minister said. Nothing can be more shameful in a democracy than 'Bribe for Votes'. The greater shame is that the Election Commission is unable to stop the 'Bribe for Votes', he said. Chidambaram terms PM Kisan scheme as 'bribe for votes' Under the scheme, another one crore farmers will be covered in the next 2-3 days, an Agriculture Ministry official had said. In the interim Budget 2019-20, the central government had announced the PM-KISAN scheme under which Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three instalments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to two hectares. New York, Feb 24: Filmmaker Woody Allen will reportedly start shooting his new film this summer. According to New York Times, the 83-year-old Oscar-winning director will head to Spain to shoot the project. Barcelona-based conglomerate Mediapro, which previously worked with Allen on "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and "Midnight in Paris", is reportedly working with the director on the film. Woody Allen to film new movie in Spain The news comes weeks after Allen filed a lawsuit against Amazon for allegedly backing out of a multi-film deal, including the shelving of his completed comedy "A Rainy Day in New York", due to reports of alleged sexual abuse against him. The suit claimed that Amazon was aware of the "25-year-old, baseless allegation" when it signed Allen to a multiple-film contract, but backed out after Allen's adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, resurfaced allegations of past abuse against her father in a Los Angeles Times open letter in 2017 after previously writing about it in a 2014 New York Times op-ed. Allen has long denied Farrow's accusation that he abused her when she was a child. "We have a 10-year relationship with Mr Allen. Like all projects we produce, we judge the creator by its work," Mediapro told the Times in a statement regarding its decision to work Allen despite public backlash stemming from Farrow's allegations. Kim Jong-un is accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the US, and Kim Yo Jong, the leaders sister. The Trump-Kim meeting is slated for Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. The colonial-era Government Guest House in central Hanoi is expected to be the venue for the Trump-Kim meeting. Vietnam has announced a traffic ban along Kims possible arrival route. Kims overseas travel plans are routinely kept secret. It could take more than two days for the train to Vietnam. Kim on train Experts say Kim will seek a U.S. commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief. Last year, North Korea suspended its nuclear and long-range missile tests and unilaterally dismantled its nuclear testing ground and parts of a rocket launch facility. Washington has called for more concrete steps from Pyongyang toward denuclearisation. Previously, Kim declared: Im a father and a husband. And I have children. And I dont want my children to carry the nuclear weapon on their back their whole life. North Korea is willing to negotiate the shut down of its Yongbyon plutonium production plant. Washington could offer to lift economic sanctions, reopen military and diplomatic ties with North Korea, and formally sign a peace treaty to end the 1950-1953 Korean war. At the same time, South Korea wants to reopen the mothballed joint Kaesong industrial park, and push ahead with joint rail and road links between north and south. Graduating in International Business from an Institute in Sydney, Australia, in 2015, Jack Chen returned to China to start managing his family-owned jewellery business. Besides holding a certificate in a practical diamond course at Gemological Institute of Australia, Jack Chen also completed Gemstone appreciation and marketing certificate course from the Asian Gemmological Institute and Laboratory Limited. In 2018, he also completed a course in Introduction to Rough Diamond Sorting and Planning in HRD Antwerp Education. During his stay in Sydney, Jack Chen also worked in a local retail chain store as service manager for 3 years to gain experience in customer services and store management. Presently, as General Manager at DLX-Jewellery, Jack Chen is totally engrossed in expanding and diversifying his family-owned business. In an Interview with Rough & Polished, Jack Chen draws out all the companys plans that are in place to expand and diversify his family-owned business. Some excerpts: Please walk us through your company, DLX-Jewellery, right from inception to the present. What kind of education and experience in jewellery manufacturing, etc., did you acquire before joining your family business? Please, give more details. DLX-Jewellery was founded in 2008 as a family-owned business. During the years from 1996 to 2008, DLX-jewellery was called XuHuiJewellery and mainly focused on diamond retail. Due to the increasing number of customers, demand and also to meet the diversity of customer requirement, DLX-jewellery was officially registered and expanded from jewellery retailer to a partnership manufacturer as well. The core passion of DLX-Jewellery is the retailing of fine jewel that includes jadeite, diamond, south sea pearl and gemstone, as well as manufacturing furniture redefined with jadeite. The mission of DLX-Jewellery is to use the finesse quality of natural material combined with innovative design and exceptional craftsmanship in order to present a one of a kind masterpiece to our exclusive customers with incomparable taste. DLX-Jewellery fully utilizes its advantage of the unique skill in manufacturing furniture and rich experience in jadeite sourcing by launching a unique production line as jadeite furniture MING DYNASTY FURNITURE. At present, Im working at DLX-jewellery as General Manager. Before I entered the jewellery industry I completed Practical Diamond Course in Gemological Institute of Australia. After I entered into the jewellery industry, I also finished Gemstone appreciation and marketing course in Asian Gemological Institute and laboratory. In 2018, I also finished Introduction to Rough Diamond Sorting and Planning course through HRD Antwerp Education. What is the size and strength of DLX- Jewellery in terms of employees, production volume, etc.? What type of jewellery does your company manufacture? DLX currently holds 10 employees and 1 retail store in Zhongshan. The majority business of DLX is custom-made jewellery pieces. However, DLX presents 10 to 20 jewels creations every 3 months continuously. From raw material sourcing, designing to manufacturing DLX strictly follows the rules and regulations set by DLX director Mr YONG GUI CHEN, which is to seek after the best quality and fashionable jewels for our customers. DLX focuses on manufacturing jewellery pieces with materials of jadeite, diamond, south sea pearl and gemstone. Since 2012 DLX had innovated a new combination of Chinese jadeite and redwood to create Chinese style types of furniture such as screens, chair and table. Does your company cater to only the local market or is it into exports as well? Are you into e-commerce and have a presence on the online platform too? Do you think it's the future of jewellery retail? What's your opinion? DLX-jewellery has been focusing on catering to the local customers only for over 2 decades. Because of the nature of the company, e-commerce market has not been fully developed yet. But as the company grows, we intend to present more product information via e-commerce in the near future. As of now, DLX is using local social media such as WECHAT in order to communicate with local and foreign customers. What is the current demand situation in China for diamond and colour stone studded jewellery in comparison to gold jewellery? Is gold jewellery looked upon more as an investment even now as in the past? Comments? Color Stone and Diamond is versatile when it comes to jewellery designing. Thus, it is definitely higher in demand compared to gold jewellery in China. That is why DLX-jewellery will focus more on colour stone designed pieces as well as diamond jewellery sets going forward. But gold jewellery will always have a special place in Chinese culture since it represents wealth and prosperity in the marriage ceremony. In investment perspective, Chinese consumers are definitely more familiar with the idea of investing in gold since it is more efficiently converted into cash in the financial sector such as the bank. Does your company manufacture coloured diamond jewellery? Whats the demand situation in China on the diamond jewellery per se and coloured diamond jewellery in particular? DLX-jewellery only emphasizes the white diamond and gemstone jewellery pieces for now. But DLX will outsource coloured diamond jewellery with partnership company which specialize in coloured diamond manufacturing. The demand for coloured diamond jewellery is increasing and will become more popular in the Chinese market. According to third-quarter sales index from DLX-jewellery, the percentage of the coloured diamond product had dramatically increased. Therefore, DLX-jewellery has plans to shift the percentage of diamond design product from white diamond to coloured diamond. Are luxury products/experiences like fancy overseas travel, high-end cars, artwork, etc., are of more interest to Chinese millennials? Has this trend hit demand/sales of gold, diamond and colour stones jewellery sales in the country? Your thoughts... The demand for luxury products/experiences is definitely high with the Chinese millennials. Since the economic growth in China, especially the real-estate boom, the millennials are willing to spend their money on the worldwide luxury brand in all aspects. This only has helped worldwide luxury brands, but as a local jewellery retailer like DLX, it is harder to attract these millennials as customers. They rather spend more money on purchasing a branded design, rather than focusing on the quality and value of the jewels itself. Whats your opinion about De Beers lab-grown diamond fashion jewellery company Lightbox Jewelry. Do you think it will hit the natural diamond jewellery demand when its launched in China? Your thoughts? Since De Beers announce their new product line of lab-grown diamond, there is much voice of the influence between lab-grown and natural diamond. In my personal perspective, I think the lab-grown diamond is going to be a new trend in the jewellery industry. Because of more affordable prices, consumers are more likely to purchase more jewellery pieces with the much friendlier price range. However, although lab-grown diamond has its own advantage in price, it will still take time for Chinese customers to get to know the technology behind lab-grown diamonds. But in the mindset of Chinese customers, the natural diamond will be irreplaceable in value since each diamond is unique and precious due to the process of how they are formed. Whats your opinion on the current diamond and jewellery industry globally? How do you think the trade-war between US & China affect the jewellery industry in China? Your opinion? In the current situation, the global diamond and jewellery industry will suffer a lot of pressures due to the global economic recession. In addition, the trade-war between US and China has created a significant impact on diamond buyer from China. Unstable exchange rate and weak purchasing power are the two main factors slowing down the diamond and jewellery industry directly. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished The Christiansburg EMS Rescuers were: Kevin Hamm (who didnt just help Bruce on Halloween night, he also visited us in the Medical Center in Salem), Justin Gross, Angela Case and Courtney Stover. They were assisted by: David Perfater, Katie Hougasian, Steve Erickson, Elizabeth Haydu and Brittany Benemann. The Christiansburg Police Department representative was Lt. C.H. Altizer who gathered the appropriate information and helped with traffic control for the EMS vehicles. I want to thank the emergency room personnel at LewisGale Montgomery Hospital and the LewisGale Medical Center and the Medivac Personnel. They all did excellent jobs. All of these people are my HEROS. I was dead and then I was alive because of them. We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas because of their outstanding care. We are looking forward to celebrating Valentines Day which is really the HEART day of the year. We will never be able to thank them enough for giving me a second chance at life. This letter of thanks is to say thank you to the people who helped me. I will always be grateful to them for the outstanding care they gave me. It is also a plea for people to take training to become qualified in CPR. Look at your loved ones and others around you and understand they could be gone in a second if you do not know what to do. I was so lucky that Bruce, the registered nurse and the person who knew how to administer mouth-to-mouth were there. You could be the HERO who saves a loved ones or a strangers life. Britains preeminent position was challenged in 1890 by a unified Germany under Prussian control. Berlin decided to build a powerful navy to challenge Britains dominance of the seas and carve out a colonial empire in Africa. Meanwhile, costly wars in Crimea and South Africa had damaged Britains economic power as it was preparing to fight Germany on the continent when war broke out in 1914. The First World War produced a major drain on Britains economy, but London chose not to cut back on its vast empire obligations, especially in India. That enabled British leaders to postpone overseas retrenchment until the Second World War left their country all but bankrupt. A new Labour government, elected in 1945, decided to raise taxes on the wealthy, dismantle its far-flung empire, and raise living standards of the British people. Pulling out of Greece and the Middle East and giving India its independence made Britain dependent on the United States for protection and economic support. The reality is that Britain could not sustain great power status because of its economic decline. He does, however, have a day job he is reluctant to neglect. And he soon will become chair of the National Governors Association. So, he clearly is not eager to mount a losing challenge which it surely would be just to unfurl the tattered flag of recognizable Republicanism. Opposing any incumbent president is not a day at the beach, and campaigning against todays uniquely smarmy incumbent would be especially disagreeable. Hogan has, however, undergone, while governor, six rounds of chemotherapy (24 hours a day, five days a week, times six, spanning 18 weeks) to defeat an advanced and aggressive cancer (non-Hodgkins lymphoma), so has endured something almost as unpleasant as Donald Trump. Furthermore, his father, a former FBI agent and a Maryland congressman on the House Judiciary Committee in 1974, was the only Republican to vote for all three articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon. Probably for this reason he lost the 1974 Republican nomination for governor. It is unlikely that Hogan will gratify those who are offering to hold his coat while he brawls with Trump. Still, this town on the Chesapeake Bay will remain known as the incubator of something else germane to todays discontents. A man was found dead outside a Roanoke business early Sunday after city police said they responded to a report of shots fired. Police identified the victim as Jean De Dieu Nkurunziza, 26, of Roanoke. The investigation indicates the victim engaged in a verbal dispute with an unidentified individual which escalated to a shooting, according to a police news release. The news release said police arrived shortly before 1 a.m. at the 2600 block of Cove Road Northwest. Officers found Nkurunziza and pronounced him dead there. Police said the investigation is continuing. No other information was immediately available. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call (540) 344-8500. A text can be sent at 274637; please begin the text with RoanokePD to ensure its properly sent. Both calls and texts can remain anonymous. In a subsequent phone call, Chelak clarified that Riggleman would not necessarily vote to overturn Trumps emergency declaration. Such a measure is expected to come up in the House on Tuesday. I told Chelak it sounded to me like Riggleman was trying to have it both ways. So now you may have a better idea of where your congressman stands, as lawyers begin churning out reams of court documents that both oppose and favor Trumps attempted end-run around Congress constitutionally mandated spending authority. People who believe the sky is falling on the matter see it as another power grab by an authoritarian-leaning occupant of the White House. If Trump gets away with this, theyve reasoned, what dictatorial move will he pull next? But its also possible theres a silk lining to this sows ear. Because if a court ultimately finds a loophole in the constitution that allows a president to ignore congressional spending authority, that raises interesting possibilities for the future. Ones in the area of climate change, which from a military perspective isnt theoretical. Already, parts of the Norfolk naval base headquarters for the U.S. Navys Atlantic Fleet flood almost every time theres a full moon. Virginia State Police have identified 19-year-old Brent E. Harrell, of Pulaski, as the suspect who was arrested in connection with a Saturday morning killing in Pulaski County. He is charged with second degree murder, according to a news release from state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller. The arrest came after Harrell and Chandler S. Dowell, also 19, got into a verbal altercation outside Harrells residence in the 7800 block of Cleburne Boulevard in Pulaski County, according to the release. During the altercation, Dowell was stabbed, according to the release. Dowell, of Fairlawn, was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead. A weapon was recovered at the scene and Harrell was arrested without incident, according to the release. He was being held Sunday at New River Valley Regional Jail without bond. Carilion Clinic announced the following new employees: Matthew Barr , vice president of accounting; Dr. Aashit Shah , section chief of neurology in the Department of Medicine; and Dr. Gregory Dehmer , director of quality and outcomes for Carilions Cardiovascular Institute. The following Carilion Clinic employees were recently honored: Dr. David Hartman, addiction psychiatry and addiction medicine, has been appointed to the Governors Advisory Commission on Opioids and Addiction; Nicholas Conte, executive vice president and general council, was awarded lawyer of the year for 2019 by Best Lawyers in America; Dr. Tamera Howell, section co-chief, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Carilion Clinic New River Valley Medical Center, was one of 18 women from 16 health organizations selected to be part of the Carol Emmott Fellowship Class of 2019. Richmond, KY (40475) Today A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy. Low around 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy. Low around 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. NEWCOMBE, Shawna L., 46, of Sandston, Va., went home to be with her Savior on Wednesday, February 20, 2019, her loving husband of 17 years, Michael Newcombe by her side. She was born on November 28, 1972, in York, Pa., to the late Robert and Faye Dubbs. For the past six years, Shawna worked for AARP Virginia as a Senior Program Assistant. She was formerly a member of Bible Baptist Church in York County, Pa. and most recently a longtime member of Belmont United Methodist Church in Richmond, Va. In addition to her husband, Shawna is survived by her sisters, Tracey Eckenrode and Melinda Kagarise; brother, Robert Dubbs Jr.; five nieces, five nephews and three great-nieces. The family will receive friends on Thursday, February 28, 2019, from 5 to 8 p.m. and Friday, March 1, 2019, from 9 to 11 a.m. at Nelsen Funeral Home, 4650 S. Laburnum Ave., Richmond, Va. 23231, where services will be held on Friday, March 1, 2019, at 11 a.m. Interment will follow in Forest Lawn Cemetery. Online condolences may be made at nelsenrichmond.com. The session was particularly difficult for Democrats, poised to potentially seize control of one or both legislative chambers, only to watch successive scandals engulf Northam, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, and Attorney General Mark Herring, who were elected in a Democratic sweep less than two years ago. Fairfax is now battling two accusations of sexual assault, one in 2004 and another in 2000. Herring acknowledged, after calling for Northam to resign, that he, too, once appeared in blackface at a University of Virginia fraternity party in 1980. I really tried to focus every one of the members on why were here, said House Minority Leader Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, who became the first woman to lead a party caucus in either chamber. House Democrats, who picked up 15 seats in 2017 and narrowed the Republican edge to 51-49, forced the assembly to return for an additional day to give lawmakers more time to review a budget agreement reached Friday night, less than 24 hours before the originally scheduled adjournment. Budget questions Vanessa Tyson, a California professor, has accused Fairfax of forcing her to perform oral sex in a Boston hotel room in 2004. Meredith Watson has accused Fairfax of raping her while the two were students at Duke University in 2000. Neither has filed criminal charges, but the allegations resulted in calls for Fairfax to resign. Fairfax has said both encounters were consensual. The lieutenant governors comments Sunday came after Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City, praised him for his professionalism during a trying time. I would have to say that everyone in this body understands the stress that you have been under throughout these weeks, Norment said in a Senate floor speech. I just want to personally thank you for your professionalism and the manner in which you have presided over the Senate during these times that were stressful for you and your family. And were most appreciative of your evenhandedness, your genteel manner and the professionalism that you have demonstrated throughout this session, so I thank you, sir. Fairfax then thanked the senators, staff and Capitol Police. Virginia lawmakers struck a deal Saturday to create a 16-member redistricting commission that will redraw the states political map after the 2020 U.S. census, voting to approve the plan despite objections from African-American lawmakers. The initial passage of a constitutional amendment was a breakthrough for anti-gerrymandering advocates who for years have pushed to take map-drawing power away from the General Assembly and give it to an independent panel. Although this bipartisan plan does not reflect every provision we urged in our original proposal, make no mistake: This reform will end partisan gerrymandering in Virginia, said Brian Cannon, executive director of the anti-gerrymandering group OneVirginia2021. The proposal that passed the House of Delegates and the Senate on Saturday evening calls for a bipartisan commission made up of eight citizen members and eight legislative members, four from the Senate and four from the House. Legislative leaders would each come up with a list of possible citizen members, and a panel of five retired judges would select an equal number of citizen members from the lists proposed by each party. A short session of the General Assembly just grew a day longer, after Democrats in the House of Delegates refused on Saturday to waive a rule giving lawmakers a minimum of 48 hours to review the proposed state budget before voting on it. The House and Senate voted to extend the legislative session through Sunday to allow 24 hours instead of 48 hours to review proposed revisions to the state budget. Lawmakers reached the compromise after hours of private haggling among Republican and Democratic leaders from both chambers. The vote in the Senate was unanimous, but not in the House, where the one-day extension passed on a 79-13 vote. Both chambers will convene Sunday at 11 a.m. This allows us to finish our business ... in a timely and thoughtful manner, House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, said before the vote. The impasse over budget action arose two days after Gilbert and Republican leaders insisted on a procedural rule to prevent Democrats from bringing ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the House floor for a vote. ERA ratification was defeated in a House committee earlier in the session. Capitol Police are searching for a woman who may be connected to a vandalism at the Robert E. Lee Monument along Monument Avenue in Richmonds Fan District. The law enforcement agency is distributing two photos of a woman in a plum coat standing on the pedestal of the monument, seemingly writing on it. Police say the monument was defaced with a black laundry marker on three of its sides. When asked to specifically describe the vandalism, a Capitol Police spokesman said, Were not releasing that at this point. She knows what she wrote. We see no reason to promote her vandalism. Police are asking that anyone with information to contact the Capitol Police Communications Center at (804) 786-2120. Mel Leonor Employees who feel they are treated fairly will be less likely to behave violently. Get help if needed: Employers should seek help from employee assistant program counselors or workplace violence experts such as the Threat Assessment Group if an employer has an employee who has been demonstrating concerning aggressive behaviors causing the employer to fear for coworker safety. Vendors with employee assistant programs have resources on staff who can provide advice to the employer or management in these situations if a disciplinary action is being considered against a troubled person. If an employer has a reasonable fear of violence, contact the police, but in my experience they only can get involved if there is an actual threat and by then its too late. Prepare: Now is the time to set a plan in place in case of an active shooter. I recently conducted training around the country for an employer and, regardless of the location, each meeting started with a discussion of an exit plan in case of an emergency. I was fascinated how the company was able to be so intentional across all of their sites around safety and emergency planning. Yoga is known for its physical benefits, but Amy Secrist has found it to be much more than a good form of exercise. The Mansfielder says its strengthened her spirituality. And no not in the context of Hinduism, as yoga is commonly associated with. Rather, her faith in Jesus. The 41-year-old identifies as The Catholic Yogi, a name she adopted at the encouragement of a friend who insisted that she chronicle her journey as a Catholic and a yogi. The dichotomy between these titles was something Secrist had wrestled with for years, based on others comments and out of self-doubt, she said. "As I reflect on this period I realize that the struggle created a space for me to practice discernment through intense prayer, which massively strengthened my relationship with God, she said. Finally, I came to the conclusion that practicing yoga and loving God bring me joy, and that God is big bigger than any doubts, bigger than any conflicts, bigger than anything we can conceive. Secrist, a mother of four, was introduced to yoga 21 years ago at the Mansfield Art Center. I initially signed up for the class to see if yoga was as weird as seemed, she said. Turns out, it wasn't, and I never stopped. She was hooked and found another class at the old YMCA taught by Claudia Cummins. She is a wonderful teacher and has shared so much wisdom with me over the years, she said. It was through one of Cummins' yoga workshops that she discovered Martha Marcom and the other founding members of Yoga on High Marcia Miller and Linda Oshins. She took a yoga teacher training course at Yoga on High, a yoga studio in Columbus Short North, without any intention of becoming a yoga teacher, she said. She received her teaching certification in ashtanga yoga in March of 2003 and has been teaching ever since. Currently, she holds classes at No Limits Studio in Lexington and the Butterfly House in downtown Mansfield. In the summertime she teaches outdoors on the lawn at the Mansfield Art Center. She said her personal yoga practice has gone through many phases over the years, from weekly classes, to no classes, to home-based online classes. She aims to practice daily, whether using a guided online session one of her own design. I find that yoga practice, for the most part, brings my mind and body into fuller states of health and wellness, and into stillness, into a state of calm alertness, which feels like happiness and wholeness, she said. I'm sure the spiritual experience of yoga practice is different for everyone, but I find that my spirit is much more open to God's presence and loving action when I have a regular/daily yoga practice than when I dont." She said yoga has acted as a magnifying glass on her Catholic tradition. I began to realize and to see that as many jewels as I found in yoga, so, too, were there that many jewels in Christianity, she said. It was only that I hadn't been shown what they were, nor had I been taught how to discover them. My study of yoga informed, supplemented and inspired my study of Christianity. Shes found the predictability and rhythmic movements of the sun salutations and the ashtanga primary series comforting, the sound of the ujjayi breath, (breathing with sound) grounding. "The ashtanga primary series and the celebration of Sunday mass are similar in that they each stay exactly the same no matter where in the world they are practiced, she said. A mass in Rome and a mass in Mansfield are very much the same. A primary series practice in Shelby is the same as a primary series practice in India. She feels God has gifted her with yoga. Truly, I see yoga as one of the greatest blessings in my life, she said. I also feel that because I found yoga at a relatively young age, it's as if I've grown up a yogi, just as much as I've grown up a Catholic. Interestingly, I was raised Roman Catholic, but now find myself identifying as simply Catholic, meaning universal, all-inclusive and without boundaries. And I feel like I was raised an ashtangi, but now identify as simply a yogi, meaning one who practices yoga, or one who practices surrendering to the divine, embracing the divine will, which I see as benevolent. Secrist studies the works of Fr. Richard Rohr, a Fransiscan Catholic priest and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation who described yoga as it exists in Hinduism, as well as Bryan Kest, a founder of Power Yoga. Bryan Kest grew up, like I did, studying ashtanga yoga. Then he evolved his practice into Power Yoga (like an alternative ashtanga). This speaks to the way I used to identify as a Roman Catholic but now just Catholic. I used to identify as an ashtangi, but now just a yogi, she said. Asked how being The Catholic Yogi impacts how she practices and teaches yoga, Secrist said theres no short answer in fact she could write a book on this question alone. Being the Catholic Yogi hasn't changed anything about the way I practice or the way I teach, but walking around with this name as my identity has, indeed, had an impact on me as a person, she said. The name holds me accountable; it implores me to maintain my integrity as a teacher through daily practice of movement, prayer and meditation, no matter what. It's also been a wonderful conversation-starter." More than anything she hopes the label will open peoples hearts and minds. My presence in the world shows Christians that yoga can strengthen one's relationship with God, and it shows yogis that the Christian God might not be all that bad if a yogi is also a trinity-lover, she said. But even beyond the labels of Christian and yogi, I hope my presence in the world inspires all hearts to be even just a little bit more open and embracing of fellow human beings, regardless of their given or chosen identity. COLUMBUS The powerful painkiller Oxycontin, widely blamed for kickstarting the nations opioid crisis, will no longer be newly prescribed for injured workers in the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensations system starting July 1. Following a recommendation from BWC Chief Medical Officer Terry Welsh, the agencys Board of Directors voted today to drop the drug from the BWC formulary and replace it with what Welsh calls an equally effective but harder-to-abuse drug named Xtampza ER. Xtampza is a sustained-release form of oxycodone, like OxyContin, but it utilizes a unique abuse-deterrent technology that makes it difficult to manipulate crush, snort or inject for aberrant use, said Welsh. Thanks to technology, this just seems like the next responsible step to protect our injured workers from potential addiction and overdose death to dangerous drugs. Welsh said the agency will phase out the use of Oxycontin and generic oxycodone sustained-release tablets over time, following best clinical practices and consultation with prescribing physicians. When an on-the-job injury causes someone serious discomfort, we want that worker to get the needed pain relief, but we also want to ensure that work injuries dont lead to addiction, said Governor Mike DeWine. Changing BWCs formulary and replacing Oxycontin with a comparable painkiller that is less susceptible to abuse is the responsible thing to do. I commend BWC for taking this step to prevent addiction among injured workers. Welsh added the move was recommended by BWCs Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, a diverse group of pharmacists and prescribing physicians who advise the bureau on matters regarding appropriate prescription and authorization of medicines. The committees recommendation follows a thorough consideration of current literature, accepted treatment guidelines, best clinical practices, FDA recommendations and information published by drug manufacturers. The boards vote follows other critical changes since 2011 by the agency to mitigate the opioid epidemics impact on Ohios workforce. This includes the creation of a pharmacy and therapeutics committee; the development of BWCs first-ever, and now nationally-recognized, formulary; and the 2016 Opioid Rule that holds prescribers accountable if they dont follow best practices. Between 2011 and 2018, the number of opioid doses prescribed in the BWC system fell 66 percent. I applaud Dr. Welsh, our medical staff and the BWC Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee for their concerted efforts in this area, said BWC Administrator/CEO Stephanie McCloud. As Gov. Mike DeWine has stated, no one single person or agency will solve this crisis it takes a collective effort. Our work continues, and I am proud we are doing our part. MANSFIELD -- Discovery School hosted its first annual Intercultural Fair Saturday in the schools gymnasium. Staff and Discovery families enjoyed more than 20 booths devoted to different cultures. "I could not be more thrilled with this event for the first year," said Julie Schwartz, Head of School at Discovery. Visitors to the fair received passports to have stamped as they travelled around the world. Each booth was unique but included something to learn, see, do, taste, or keep. Represented were: Ghana, Cherokee, United Kingdom, Colombia, Russia, China, Japan, Ireland, Greece, Belize, Germany, Scandinavia, Cajun/Creole, and Appalachia. The Discovery 6th grade class also prepared a table of projects they completed on World Religions. There were live musical performances, as well. Every student at Discovery School contributed to the decorations for the Intercultural Fair by coloring a pair of interlockands that make a heart. These were strung together down the hallways leading to the gymnasium. Discovery School is the areas only International Baccelaureate Primary Years Programme. The curriculum celebrates diversity, multiple language learning, and International mindedness. Moldovans have been voting in a general election. Voters from Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region came by bus to the government-controlled villages of Dorotcaia and Cosnita to cast their ballots on February 24. Moldova's mainly Russian-speaking Transdniester declared independence from Moldova in 1990, which resulted in a short but bloody war in 1992. The conflict ended with a cease-fire agreement after Russian troops in the region intervened on the side of the separatists. Some 1,400 Russian troops remain in Transdniester, despite UN calls to remove them. Mourners have laid flowers at an improvised memorial to slain Russian politician Boris Nemtsov in downtown Moscow. The former deputy prime minister and opposition leader was shot dead on a bridge overlooking the Kremlin on February 27, 2015. Rallies commemorating Nemtsov took place in Moscow and other Russian cities on February 25. BUCHAREST -- Thousands of Romanians have taken to the streets of Bucharest and other cities across the country to protest against government measures they say undermines the independence of the countrys judiciary. More than 10,000 people gathered in the capital on the evening of February 24, while thousands more rallied in other cities including Cluj, Timisoara, Constanta, and Baia Mare. In Bucharest, the demonstrators blocked traffic outside government headquarters, chanting slogans such as "Justice, not corruption," and "Shame." The rallies were prompted by measures recently imposed by the government of Prime Minister Viorica Dancila that critics say will exert more political control over the judiciary. Romania, which currently holds the EU's rotating six-month presidency, needs to "very urgently put the reform process back on track" and abstain "from steps which reverse progress" in fighting corruption, the European Commission said on February 20. With reporting by dpa and Reuters From kittens tossed into blazing furnaces to prisoners losing fingers slaving for hours at sewing machines in a rat-infested sweatshop, IK-14 prison for women in Russias central region of Mordovia is one of the most dreaded female correctional facilities in the country. Such is the notoriety of the prison, women condemned to serve there often take extreme measures to avoid it, including slitting their wrists. And Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova said the reputation of prison IK-14 was known across Russia. "As the inmates say, If you havent done time in Mordovia, you havent done time, " said Tolokonnikova, who herself served prison time at the facility in 2013. In a letter published in September 2013, Tolokonnikova complained about the slave-labor conditions at the prison, as well as abuse faced by prisoners. She wrote that women were forced to work 16 or 17 hours a day with one day off every eight weeks. Such was her experience at the prison that Tolokonnikova campaigned for prisoner rights once she was released under an amnesty in December 2013. According to the latest official data, 557,684 individuals are incarcerated in Russian correctional facilities. Of these, 44,474 are women. More than six years after Tolokonnikova penned her letter, the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) admitted she was "correct," in the words of FSIN Deputy Director Valery Maksimenko. On December 24, Maksimenko announced the FSIN had requested that prosecutors open a criminal probe into allegations of slave-labor conditions at the prison in Mordovia. The director of prison IK-14, Yury Kupriyanov, was dismissed, along with other officials, Maksimenko said. Kupriyanov had forced the prisoners to sew clothing for him, his relatives, friends, and business associates, Maksimenko explained. Some of the inmates who have served time at IK-14 have told of their experience there to the Volga Desk of RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service. Inspected Like Horses Gelena Alekseyeva, a former deputy minister for investment in Saratov Oblast, was sentenced in 2013 to 3 1/2 years in prison for abetting commercial bribery. Between March 2014 and May 2015, Alekseyeva served part of her sentence at IK-14 in Mordovia. Alekseyeva said such is the dread of being sent there, that women take extreme measures to avoid it. "When the girls find out that theyre going to Mordovia, they cut their wrists, do everything possible: get sick, swallow nails, just so they dont have to go there. Its reputation is known, especially after the letter by Nadia Tolokonnikova," Alekseyeva told RFE/RL. Alekseyeva was picked to work in the sewing shop, cutting fabric to size. "The saw cuts the fabric along a chalk line continuously. God forbid, if the saw cuts somewhere else [and not on the chalk line], then all 100 cuts are ruined. I can say that fingers on the saw are chopped off, cut, blood flows. This is definitely unsafe, requiring some training. I was saved by the cons themselves," Alekseyeva explained. Kittens Tossed Into Furnace Like others, Alekseyeva said conditions at the facility were downright medieval. "Mice lived with us. Rats lived with us in the industrial zone. Before you went into the bathroom, you needed to knock -- there were special poles for that. So that the rats would scatter, you understand," Alekseyeva recounted, adding that cats are also kept to hunt the rodents. As the felines reproduced, however, the prison found a cruel method to keep their numbers down. "They [the kittens] are collected in a sack and burned in the furnace," Alekseyeva said, explaining the cats are used as a kind of bargaining chip with the prisoners. "There is nothing more dear to the inmates than these kittens and cats. But they can also be used for punishment. So, if you sewed badly today then we will burn the cats! They dont punish one or two people -- they punish a whole brigade," Alekseyeva said. 'Unbearable Conditions' When Veronika Krass entered prison IK-14 in October 2014, a few words scrawled on the wall at the entrance grabbed her attention. "At the entrance to IK-14 there is a sign: Welcome To Hell. When someone enters the colony, theres a lineup in the yard. Everyone yells, Fresh meat has arrived. The inmates react of course to this -- they are afraid," Krass told RFE/RL. In April 2014, Krass was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty on narcotics and robbery charges. She served part of her term in the Mordovian prison from October 2014 to March 2017. She was 41 years old when she was imprisoned at prison IK-14. Krass explained that up till the last moment, she had no idea she was headed to prison IK-14. "After the sentence is handed down everyone is very afraid about ending up in Mordovia. They sit in their cells and nervously wait. In the end, quite unexpectedly in the middle of the night, people are taken out," Krass said. "I was taken at midnight and they told me I should be ready to leave in 40 minutes. As I was led out, I asked where I was going. No one answered me. During the trip no one answers any of your questions." Like others, Krass complained that the conditions in the sewing shop were unbearable, with daily quotas constantly raised. Krass says once she complained to prison administrators that she couldnt keep up with her sewing quota, a mistake she quickly realized. "They told me if I didnt sew what I had to -- and it was minus 20 [Celsius] outside -- then I would stand in the spot outside. That means, in the evening after work, you cannot return to the barracks." Arguing with administrators only got Krass thrown in the isolation cell for a few days. Laws And Rules Can Only Hurt You Yelena Federova was sentenced to 12 years in prison after being convicted on a murder charge when she was 20 years old. She served part of that sentence from June 2007 to April 2016 at prison IK-14. Federova was quickly moved to work in the medical unit. Originally relieved that she had avoided the horrors of the sweatshop, Federova said she witnessed "really horrible things." "I repeatedly saw beaten women -- young and old. They cried, begging for help. I went to Yury Kupriyanov to put an end to this madness -- end the beatings and uphold the law," Federova recounted. Ultimately, she turned to independent media and NGOs with the shocking details of what was going on in the prison. A criminal probe was opened but quickly shut after Fedorova refused to give the names of any witnesses. "They were afraid to open their mouths again, fearing theyd be killed this time," claimed Fedorova. WASHINGTON -- Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office has told a U.S. judge that President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, "repeatedly and brazenly" broke the law and does not deserve any leniency at his sentencing. The recommendation came from the special counsels sentencing memo that was filed on February 22 and made public on February 23 in the second of two cases Manafort faces. Mueller is investigating Russia's role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and whether Trump's campaign team conspired with Moscow. Trump rejects any charges of collusion, and the Kremlin denies meddling in the election. At least 34 people and three entities have pleaded guilty or have been indicted in the Mueller probe and related prosecutions. The 69-year-old Manafort, who is also facing a long prison sentence for an earlier conviction in Virginia, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Washington last September to conspiracy against the United States. The charges also include money laundering, unregistered lobbying, and conspiracy to obstruct justice through attempts to tamper with witnesses. 'Bold Criminal Actions' He can be sentenced up to 10 years in total for those charges. Sentencing is scheduled for March 13. "For over a decade, Manafort repeatedly and brazenly violated the law," Mueller's team said in the sentencing memo. "His criminal actions were bold, some of which were committed while under a spotlight due to his work as the campaign chairman and, later, while he was out on bail from this court." Any sentence imposed in Washington could run concurrently or consecutively to an expected long term for the charges in Virginia. A sentencing date in Virginia has not yet been set. In a February 15 filing, the special counsel said it agreed with federal sentencing guidelines that would set a prison term of between 235 months and 293 months based on the charges Manafort has been convicted of and to which he has pleaded guilty. Manafort was a longtime Washington political operative, allied mainly with Republicans. He headed up the 1996 presidential campaign for U.S. Senator Bob Dole, and he also built a lucrative lobbying career working with foreign clients, including Russian metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska and, later, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Manafort was instrumental in getting Yanukovych elected in 2010. According to court records, after Yanukovych was forced to flee in February 2014 amid mass street protests, Manaforts lucrative Ukraine work dried up. In March 2016, he joined Donald Trumps presidential election campaign and was named chairman in June. But Manafort was fired by the campaign three months later, after a secret accounting ledger showing the extent of his work for Ukrainian politicians was revealed. In October 2017, Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, were indicted in Washington federal court by Mueller on foreign agent and conspiracy charges related to their work for Yanukovych and his Ukrainian allies. In February 2018, new charges of bank and tax fraud were filed against both men by a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia. Gates later pleaded guilty to the Virginia charges and agreed to testify against Manafort. In June 2018, Mueller hit Manafort with new charges of obstruction of justice and witness tampering, stemming from his alleged communications, along with Russian-Ukrainian operative and longtime partner, Konstantin Kilimnik, aimed at influencing potential witnesses. A Virginia federal jury found Manafort guilty on the tax and bank fraud charges in August 2018. Days before his Washington, D.C., trial was due to begin, in September 2018, Manafort pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with Muellers prosecutors. But Mueller later accused Manafort of violating their plea agreement by lying, something a judge subsequently agreed with. With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters A court in North Macedonia has ordered that former Transport Minister Mile Janakieski should be detained at home after he was slightly injured in a prison-yard assault by other inmates. The Skopje court ruled late on February 22 that Janakieski should serve his 30-day pretrial detention at home after the ex-minister appealed his detention following the incident. Janakieski, who is awaiting trial in connection with the violent storming of parliament in 2017, suffered minor injuries after being punched and kicked by inmates in the prison yard late on February 21. Following the incident, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev forced Gjoko Kotevski, the head of Skopjes main prison, to resign his position. Spiro Ristovski, a former education and labor minister facing similar charges to Janakieski, was also reportedly attacked upon his arrival for pretrial detention and slightly injured. He remained in detention but was moved to another area of the facility. Police in North Macedonia on February 20 arrested former parliament speaker Trajko Veljanovski and the two ex-ministers in the previous government, alleging they played roles in a violent invasion of the legislature in 2017. They have denied the accusations. Veljanovski, who is a current lawmaker, cited his parliamentary immunity and was released. The invasion of the parliament, which included masked men, resulted in dozens of journalists and lawmakers being injured, including then-opposition leader Zaev. Prosecutors alleged that Veljanovski, Ristovski, and Janakieski prepared and implemented the parliament invasion plan with the intention of preventing the peaceful transfer of power. Based on reporting by AP, dpa, and IBNA Iran has test-fired a cruise missile from a submarine during annual naval exercises near the Strait of Hormuz, according to state media. The missile test on February 24 comes amid heightened tensions with the United States. Iran has previously threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, in retaliation for any hostile U.S. action. The official news agency IRNA reported that a Ghadir-class Iranian Navy submarine successfully launched a cruise missile on February 24. It did not specify the missile's range. Iranian media said it was the first time the country had launched a cruise missile from a submarine. IRNA reported that Iran's other submarines -- the Tareq and the new, domestically-built Fateh -- have the same capability. Iran often claims it has made breakthroughs in its military capabilities. But many of the claims have been challenged by Western experts who have said Iran often exaggerates its capabilities for propaganda purposes. U.S. President Donald Trump in May withdrew from a landmark 2015 deal to curb Irans nuclear program and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. Trump said the deal was flawed because it did not include curbs on Irans development of ballistic missiles or its support for proxies in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq. Iran has expanded its missile program, particularly its ballistic missiles. Based on reporting by Reuters and AP Iranian authorities have released a French businesswoman detained for four months, according to local media. "A French national who had been detained for unauthorized entry into Iran was released in the recent days after legal proceedings took their course and other charges were dropped," the official IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying on February 24. Qasemi did not give the name or gender of the French citizen. But Frances Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on February 20 that Nelly Erin-Cambervelle was arrested on the Iranian island of Kish on October 21 for allegedly "signing an illegal mining contract and carrying out an unauthorized trip." Le Drian said that the French authorities had been in touch with Iran with a view to improving the conditions of the 59-year-old businesswoman from the French Caribbean island of Martinique. Details of Erin-Cambervelle's arrest first appeared in local Martinique media earlier this month after a friend and colleague was quoted as saying that she had been arrested for illegally buying gold after originally going to Kish to negotiate a minerals contract. The friend, Patricia Gros-Desirs Dicanot, said that the Iranian authorities were demanding 40,000 euros ($45,392) for her release. Relations between Paris and Tehran have been strained in recent months despite the two sides committing to uphold the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers -- which the United States exited in May last year. Paris suspended nominating a new ambassador to Iran after accusing the Iranian Intelligence Ministry of being behind an alleged plot to bomb a rally by an exiled opposition group in June. Tehran has rejected the accusation. With reporting by IRNA and Reuters Tajik and Russian officials have arbitrarily detained and forcibly returned to Tajikistan an opposition activist who resurfaced in Dushanbe earlier this month from self-imposed exile, human rights groups say. The Association of Central Asian Migrants, the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee said in a February 24 statement that Sharofiddin Gadoev should be released from Tajik custody and allowed to return immediately to the Netherlands, where he is a recognized refugee. Steve Swerdlow, Central Asia researcher for HRW, said that Gadoev was facing "trumped-up charges in Tajikistan for his peaceful exercise of freedom of expression." Gadoev, 33, is a member of the Europe-based oppositionist National Alliance of Tajikistan and co-founder of the banned Group-24 opposition political movement. He has lived in the Netherlands since 2015. The government of President Emamoli Rahmon, who has ruled Tajikistan since 1992, has long been criticized for its crackdowns on dissent. Sources investigating Gadoevs case learned that Russian security services officers forced Gadoev into their car in Moscow on February 14 and drove him to Domodedovo Airport, where the activist was placed on a flight to Dushanbe, the human rights groups said in their statement. HRW quoted relatives as saying that the officers beat Gadoev in the car. On the flight, Gadoev was accompanied by officers from the Tajik security services, who beat him and placed a sack over his head, the statement said, adding that he was delivered in that condition to the Tajik Interior Ministrys agency for the fight against organized crime on February 15. 'Troubling Questions' Gadoev was reportedly transferred to house arrest on February 20, but officers from the Interior Ministry and special police force OMON remained with him, and the following day he was moved to an undisclosed location by Tajikistans security services, according to the human rights NGOs. Meanwhile, the government issued a a series of "choreographed" videos in which Gadoev stated that he had voluntarily returned to Tajikistan and criticized the opposition, they also said. On February 19, Gadoevs colleagues published a video recorded earlier by Gadoev in which he said he was traveling to Moscow to meet with officials from Russias Security Council to discuss some problems that have occurred in Tajikistan [and] the situation of Tajik labor migrants." if I suddenly appear on Tajik television or some YouTube channel, saying that I have returned of my own accord you must not believe it," he warned in the footage. "I am not planning to go to Tajikistan willingly. Never," he added. The Interior Ministry announced initially that Gadoev has been charged with possession of contraband and forgery. On February 21, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said that Tajik authorities had confirmed that Gadoev was arrested on charges of "criminal activities." The ministry is investigating "whether and how it can assist Mr. Gadoev. We are following the case closely," a spokeswoman said in a statement sent to RFE/RL. Marius Fossum, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee's regional representative in Central Asia, urged the Tajik authorities to "stop the smoke and mirrors," adding: "There are troubling questions that Tajik authorities may have ill-treated Sharofiddin Gadoev." "Tajikistans international partnersshould seek access to visit with Gadoev and call on the Tajik government to provide him with unimpeded access to an attorney of his choice and visits with family members," Fossum added. Thousands of Montenegrins joined an antigovernment march organized by civil activists in the country's capital, Podgorica, on February 23. The protesters have accused top officials -- including President Milo Djukanovic and Prime Minister Dusko Markovic -- of being reluctant to fight corruption and they have demanded their resignations. The march ended outside the headquarters of the Montenegrin public broadcaster, RTCG, which the protesters say is a government mouthpiece. The United Nations says a record number of Afghan civilians were killed in 2018, blaming the increase on unprecedented suicide bombings by militant groups and air strikes carried out by U.S.-led forces. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the conflict in Afghanistan killed 3,804 civilians and wounded another 7,189, an 11 percent increase from 2017, in its annual report released on February 24. The civilian death toll is the highest number since UNAMA began tallying figures in 2009. The UNAMA report said 2018 "witnessed the highest number of civilian casualties ever recorded from suicide attacks and aerial operations." According to the report, 63 percent of all civilian casualties were caused by militants -- with the Taliban being blamed for 37 percent of the dead and wounded, the Islamic State (IS) militant group for 20 percent, and other antigovernment groups for 6 percent. The Afghan government and its U.S. and NATO allies were blamed for 24 percent of the dead and wounded civilians, many of them killed in increased air strikes carried out mostly by international forces. "For the first time since 2009, UNAMA recorded more than 1,000 civilian casualties from aerial operations," the report said. The U.S. military said it carried out 6,823 sorties last year in which munitions were fired, the highest number in the last six years. 'Deeply Disturbing' UNAMA said women and children comprised almost two-thirds of all civilian casualties from aerial operations. The uptick in violence in 2018 also coincided with a significant increase in the number of deaths caused by the "deliberate targeting of civilians," according to the report, mostly stemming from suicide attacks by the Taliban or the IS group. At least 65 suicide attacks were recorded in 2018, the majority hitting the capital, Kabul. The report said the Taliban was responsible for 1,751 civilian casualties in 2018, compared to 916 in 2017, while the IS group killed or wounded 2,181 civilians last year -- the highest number ever recorded for the militant groups. The report's release comes a day before U.S. and Taliban negotiators hold another round of peace talks in Qatar aimed at ending the 17-year conflict. U.S. peace enjoy Zalmay Khalilzad has held a series of direct talks with Taliban negotiators across the Middle East in recent months, raising the prospect of peace. Tadamichi Yamamoto, the head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, called the spiraling number of civilian casualties "deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable." "It is time to put an end to this human misery and tragedy," said Yamamoto. "The best way to halt the killings and maiming of civilians is to stop the fighting." Since the UN began documenting civilian casualties 10 years ago, more than 32,000 civilians have been killed and another 60,000 wounded in Afghanistan. Beckley, WV (25801) Today A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Clear to partly cloudy. Low around 65F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Clear to partly cloudy. Low around 65F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. February 24, 2019 21:19 IST A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, en route Dubai from Dhaka, made an emergency landing at an airport in a coastal city in the country after a man allegedly attempted to hijack the plane, officials said. The lone suspect has been detained and is being interrogated, Bangladesh's Air Vice Marshal Abdul Matin said. Army, Navy and elite police cordoned off the plane soon after it landed at the Chattogram airport in southeastern Bangladesh. All the passengers were evacuated safely. "No one was hurt during the rescue operation," Matin said. According to eyewitnesses, minutes after the Flight BG-147, which was on its way to Dubai from Dhaka via Chattogram, flew from the Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport, it returned and made an emergency landing. The emergency exit was opened through which the passengers disembarked immediately. The captain and the first officer of the flight also came out later, they said. Though the identity of the hijacker is yet to be known, according to unconfirmed reports the hijacker was a foreign national and was equipped with a handgun. Source: February 24, 2019 17:52 IST Defying curfew, agitators allegedly set ablaze the private residence of Arunachal Pradesh deputy chief minister Chowna Mein and ransacked the office of the deputy commissioner in Itanagar on Sunday to protest against recommendations to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities, police said. A large number of people marched through streets in Itanagar damaging public property and vehicles after a person who was injured in police firing on Friday succumbed to injuries at a hospital, police said. The protesters set ablaze the private residence of the deputy chief minister at Niti Vihar and ransacked the office of the deputy commissioner of Itanagar. They also set on fire a large number of vehicles parked in the compound of the DC's office. The protesters also attacked the Itanagar Police station and several public properties in the state capital, police said. The agitators also blocked the road leading to the Naharlagun railway station as a result many passengers, including patients, were held up at the station since Sunday morning. An indefinite curfew was clamped in Itanagar and Naharlagun on Saturday as protesters resorted to stone pelting in which 35 people, including 24 police personnel, were injured. The Army had also conducted flag marches in Itanagar and Naharlagun on Saturday. Internet services remained suspended in Itanagar and Naharlagun. All markets, petrol pumps and shops were closed and most of the ATMs in the state capital were out of cash, police said. Over 60 vehicles, including many police vehicles, were set ablaze and over 150 vehicles were damaged by the protesters since Friday, they said. On Saturday, the agitators damaged the stage of the Itanagar International Film Festival at the Indira Gandhi Park in Itanagar. The organisers later called off the film festival. The Joint High Power Committee, after holding parleys with the stakeholders, recommended granting permanent resident certificates to six communities, who are not natives of Arunachal Pradesh but has been living in Namsai and Changlang districts for decades. The proposals evoked resentment among several community-based groups and students' organisations, who claimed that the rights and the interests of indigenous people will be compromised if the state government accepts them. The recommendation of the JHPC was supposed to be tabled in the Assembly on Saturday but was not tabled as the Speaker adjourned the House sine die. On Saturday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh appealed to the people of Arunachal Pradesh to remain calm and maintain peace. He also spoke to Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who briefed him about the prevailing situation in the border state. Union minister Kiren Rijiju has accused the Congress of instigating the people of Arunachal Pradesh to protest against the move to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities living in the state. Rijiju also said that Arunachal Pradesh CM has clarified that the state government was not bringing the bill on PRC but only tabling report of the Nabam Rebia-led Joint Hight Powered Committee comprising members and student organisations. "It means the state government has not accepted it. In fact, Congress is fighting for PRC but instigating people wrongly," he tweeted. Rebia is a cabinet minister in the state government. Rijiju alleged that the Congress has supported and "instigated" non-Arunachal Pradesh STs in Lekang area to fight for PRC but in Itanagar "misguided" the innocent people. "From the beginning I have strongly urged the state government not to grant PRC unless people are convinced of full protection of indigenous rights. We must stand united," he said. Source: February 24, 2019 15:30 IST Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme transferring the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers, as he slammed the opposition alleging they "remember farmers once in 10 years -- just before elections". Initiating the electronic transfer of Rs 2,000 each, he said the first instalment of money under the scheme has been deposited in accounts of 1.01 crore farmers and those who have been left out will get it soon. "The first instalment of money under the scheme has been deposited in the bank accounts of the farmers directly...those who have been left out will get it soon," Modi told the gathering at the Fertiliser Corporation of India ground Gorakhpur. The prime minister also interacted with a select group of farmers, representing different states, through video-conferencing and took a swipe at his political rivals. "They remember farmers once in 10 years -- just before elections. They get fever of loan waiver and distribute it as 'revari" (dole) to garner votes....they did not know that Modi will expose them this time," he said. Modi started his speech by chanting 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan' and said that for his government, the Rs 75,000-crore scheme is not an election promise. He said he talked about it in Parliament only after making budgetary allocations for it. "Loan waivers would have been easy and convenient for us too. We could also have distributed 'revari' for political and election benefits, but we can't commit such a sin. Loan waiver benefits only a select few," he said. The PM urged the farmers to beware of any trap and rumours stressing "this is your money and it will not be taken back". "The previous governments did not have the intention to help the farmers so they could not take the right decisions...and so in 2014 you gave the BJP an opportunity to change this situation," he said. Modi said his government was working with complete honesty to provide all possible resources to help farmers double their incomes by 2022. "The days are gone when the Rs 85 of the Rs 100 sent by the government used to be siphoned off by the middlemen," he said. There is no role of middleman in this scheme, he said. This scheme has been made foolproof and will be implemented with complete transparency, Modi said and asked state governments to come forward with list of farmers who would be its beneficiaries. In the interim Budget 2019-20, the central government had announced the PM-KISAN scheme under which Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three instalments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to two hectares. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party said the timing of government launching any welfare scheme should not be questioned as no time frame can be attached in advance to such measures. BJP Kisan Morcha president and Bhadohi MP Virendra Singh Mast said, "It is wrong to say that the government is reminded of farmers during the election season only. There is no time frame decided in advance for taking any welfare step. The opposition parties have nothing to say." Mast said that a number of farmers welfare schemes were launched by the government in the past nearly five years. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh had termed the scheme, announced in the interim budget, as a mere "eyewash" and said it would not reach the genuine beneficiaries. President of Rashtriya Kisan Manch Shekhar Dixit had also questioned the intention and the reach of the scheme. Mast said, "It is amazing that those who had not even given even six paise for agriculture, are now questioning the move by the government to give Rs 6,000 a year to the farmers (under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana). By the end of February, the farmers will start getting the money in their accounts," he said. Mast also challenged Congress president Rahul Gandhi to differentiate among various crops. "He cannot distinguish among the plants of paddy, barley, wheat and (maize). If he is able to distinguish the plants, I will garland and welcome him. "Somebody might have told him that if he speaks against the prime minister, he will become a national leader," Mast alleged. Last updated on: February 24, 2019 20:49 IST Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took a holy dip at the 'Sangam' and offered prayers at the ongoing Kumbh mela at Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj, after which he washed feet of sanitation workers and lauded their efforts to ensure a Swacch Bharat. The prime minister also paid tributes to National Disaster Response Force personnel Rajendra Gautam, who sustained a severe spinal injury while rescuing an elderly pilgrim from drowning at Kumbh Mela, passed away at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital where he was airlifted for treatment. The mela draws tens of millions of pilgrims over the course of approximately 48 days to bathe at the sacred confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati river. "Had the good fortune of taking a holy dip at the #Kumbh. Prayed for the well being of 130 crore Indians," the PM tweeted after stepping into the river and offered prayers with folded hands. Photograph: Courtesy @BJP4India/Twitter He said no stone was left unturned to make this "Divya Kumbh" a "Bhavya (grand) Kumbh". Photograph: PTI Photo Modi who was received by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath at Kumbh mela earlier performed the 'Ganga Aarti'. Photograph: Courtesy @BJP4India/Twitter WATCH: PM Modi takes a holy dip in Sangam at Kumbh Modi also praised the "naaviks' (boatmen), calling them the "sevak" of Lord Ram. The prime minister described himself as their, the boatmen's, pradhan sevak (principal servant). "Boatmen play an important role during Kumbh. There is a strong relationship between Prayagraj and boatmen. They are the dedicated soldiers of Maa Ganga. Without them, the Ramayana of Lord Ram is incomplete," Modi said. Talking about washing the feet of the workers, the prime minister said he would cherish the moment for his entire life. "There is an unforgettable moment in every person's life, today I experienced that moment in my life while washing the feet of sanitation workers," Modi said. Photograph: Courtesy @BJP4India/Twitter Source: February 24, 2019 21:48 IST Curtains came down on Sunday on the five-day Aero India 2019, Asia's premier show, which saw the indigenously developed light combat aircraft Tejas being given the final operational clearance. IMAGE: The Yakovlevs aerobatic team manoeuvre on the last day of the 12th edition of AERO India 2019 at Yelahanka Air Base in Bengaluru. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo The mega event began on a sombre note on February 20 as a mid-air collision between two Surya Kiran jets of the Indian air Force aerobatic team during rehearsals, left one pilot dead and two injured. Following the mishap, the team was taken off the air show on the inaugural day. However, the Surya Kiran team took to the skies on Saturday, drawing cheers from visitors as they flew in an incomplete diamond formation, known as "The Missing Man" (aerial salute), as a mark of respect to Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi, who died in the accident. The Rafale team also paid tributes to the pilot by flying at low speed during the air display. The event was hit by yet another tragedy after a fire erupted at the parking lot of Yelahanka Air Base in Bengaluru on Saturday, gutting about 300 vehicles. However, the show went on as per schedule after a brief delay. IMAGE: Yakovlevs aerobatic team thrills Bengaluru. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited the site and took stock of the situation on Sunday. On the inaugural day, the defence minister had invited investors to capitalise on the ecosystem prevailing in the aero space and other sectors and pitched for joint venture partnerships, saying it offered a big market in defence manufacturing. During the five-day event, ace India shuttler P V Sindhu created history by becoming the first woman to fly the Tejas. Army Chief General Bipin Rawat also flew a sortie on the Tejas. IMAGE: IAF's Surya Kiran aerobetic display team takes off. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo The aero show witnessed the handing over of the FOC certificate and release to service document relating to Tejas Dhanoa on the opening day. FOC involves addition of key capabilities to the Initial Operational Clearance aircraft which are Beyond Visual Range Missile capabilities,Air-to-Air Refuelling, Air-to-Ground FOC earmarked weapons and general flight envelope expansion. Combat aircraft Rafale was the star attraction at the show as the breathtaking display of manoeuvres by the aerobatic team cast a spell on the aviation enthusiasts. Around four lakh people who attended the event were treated to a spectacular flying display of fighter, civilian aircraft and helicopters. IMAGE: IAF's Sarang helicopters perform . Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo As part of the women's day celebrated on Saturday, five women flew high in the skies. Mohana Singh, one of India's three women fighter pilots, flew a Hawk-i while flight lieutenants Amardeep Kaur, Sindhu Reddy and Second Lieutenant Khushboo Gupta, flew Chetak. The aerobatic team of Sarang that comprised four Dhruvs, included one chopper piloted by Second Lieutenant Sneha Kulkarni. IMAGE: Around four lakh people who attended the event were treated to a spectacular flying display of fighter, civilian aircraft and helicopters. Photograph: ANI Besides, several foreign and domestic companies, which took part in the event displayed various models of military aircraft. Ahmedabad-based Adani group along with its Israeli partner Elbit Systems showcased the Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicles, which are being produced in Hyderabad and sold by the joint venture company. Also, French aviation giant Airbus and American defence firm Lockheed Martin displayed their H225M helicopter and new F-21 fighter jets, respectively. IMAGE: Parked Army helicopters during the last day. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo In yet another development, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited delivered three Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv aircraft to the Indian Army. The Indian Army had placed an order for 40 Druv aircraft-22 ALH Mk III and 18 Mk IV Rudra, with HAL in August of 2017. Belgium-based pilot training device and flight simulator company Euramec also announced plans to open a regional sales and technology centre in Bengaluru in 2020. Source: February 24, 2019 16:57 IST An overheated silencer of a vehicle was the probable cause of the fire that gutted about 300 cars in the parking area of the Aero India show in Bengaluru, defence minister Niramala Sitharaman was informed by officials on Sunday during her visit to the spot. Sitharaman inspected the mishap site outside the Yelahanka Air Force Station, a day after the fire, and was briefed by the Indian Air Force officials, DG Fire Services and the head of Disaster Management Team about the incident, a defence spokesman said. A major fire swept through the parking area, far away from the venue of Asia's premier air show, gutting about 300 cars on Saturday, but there were no casualties. The five-day biennial air show went on unaffected by the fire incident, which came four days after two jets of Indian Air Force's aerobatic team Surya Kiran crashed, killing a pilot a day before the opening of the event on February 19. The fire brigade and Rapid Action Force and the National Disaster Response Force teams had doused the blaze in about 40 minutes after it was noticed around noon. The Indian Air Force has ordered a Court of Inquiry into the cause of the fire. The officials, who briefed Sitharaman on Sunday, told her that the probable cause of the mishap was fire from an overheated silencer of one of the parked cars and accentuated by strong wings, it spread quickly, the spokesman said. Within minutes after the fire broke out, response was activated and there was quick assessment of the situation and joint planning by stakeholders, the spokesman said, adding some cars were broke open. The cars then were pushed out of the fire area to create an artificial break in the fire, he added. As many as 77 vehicles were broken open, of which 16, were already on fire to an extent, he said. A help desk with phone numbers 9480801415 and 080-22942536 had been set up under DCP (Law and Order) to help those who had lost their vehicles in the fire to get certificates for facilitating insurance claim, the spokesman said. The survey of damaged vehicles by insurance companies was also being facilitated by the help desk, he added. The defence ministry expressed its concern and sympathy towards visitors who lost their vehicles in the accident. Potato chips are viewed by many of us as just a convenient snack, and its packaging as nothing more than something to be thrown out after cons Becoming Empowered through Education Inc. (B.E.E. Club) hosted a four-day leadership camp for rising senior girls at Cedar Shoals High School from June 24-27. With the completion of the camp, rising seniors will become mentors for younger female high schoolers beginning in August. A crowd of over 20 students stood in a circle around the memorial at Baldwin Hall to discuss what black history meant to them and to honor the people who built the university. Traverse City, MI (49684) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds light and variable. , We're sorry, this article is not currently available Property details: You Are Bidding On the Full Purchase Price for 20.43 Acres in Northern California! Mountain Property. Expansive Mountain and Valley Views for Miles. Trees. Wildflowers. Parcel: This auction is for legal description: Lot 41 Moon Valley Ranch Unit No. 2. This is a 20.43 ACRE +/- parcel of land in Lassen County, California. This land is about 6 miles west of Madeline, California approximately 6 miles west of Highway 139. The property is located on Lone Pine Trail. The property is located in the mou... Price: $ 14,900 Property Address: Lone Pine Trail State/Province: California Seller State of Residence: Arizona Zip/Postal Code: 96119 Zoning: Mixed City: Madeline Type: Recreational, Acreage Location: 852**, Tempe, Arizona You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Recreational, Acreage "They will help bring a sense of solace to kids who are in traumatic situations, while reassuring the young victims that our officers will protect them from any further harm," said Janelle McGregor, Tampa Police Spokeswoman. Magnovo Training Group had the recent privilege to facilitate a charity teambuilding workshop in Tampa, Florida. In just a few hours, the event was able to create 35 stuffed animals for the Tampa Police Department to use in situations involving children. Police officers must often interact with children and because of the circumstances, many of these interactions can be frightening or stressful for the children involved. Stuffed animals are a small way that children can be comforted and reassured during these times. According to Tampa Police Spokeswoman, Janelle McGregor, the organization is beyond appreciative of the donation that will benefit kids in their communities. We are very grateful for these stuffed animals, and the community members who carefully and compassionately constructed them, McGergor said. They will help bring a sense of solace to kids who are in traumatic situations, while reassuring the young victims that our officers will protect them from any further harm. Rescue Buddies is an engaging stuffed animal team building workshop that highlights the importance of sharing resources and expertise to meet the needs of others. Within an organization, when individuals work in silos it hurts the company as a whole. But when we break down those barriers everyone benefits! This message carries through to helping others in your community as your team assembles stuffed animals that come with a unique backpack and birth certificate. Understanding your specific goals will help us select the activities that are the best fit for your team in this fast-paced, fun learning environment. Magnovo partners with businesses and organizations of all sizes to provide various teambuilding workshops to their associates. The charity team building events not only develop a stronger and more cohesive team, but each one has a philanthropic twist giving back through local charities and community organizations. These workshops were created with the goal of inspiring significant, positive change within organizations and communities. The Tampa Police Departments Mission: To Reduce Crime and Enhance the Quality of Life Through a Cooperative Partnership with all Citizens. About Magnovo Training Group Magnovo Training Group is a professional development company dedicated to creating meeting experiences that matter with an extensive range of customized workshops, charity team building, and performance consulting throughout the Indianapolis region, as well as across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Offering workshops that focus on leadership, public speaking, and team building activities, the company features an energized group of soft-skills experts. Magnovo Training Group strives to inspire positive change for clients. Every workshop is tailored to the clients needs in order to create impactful, experience-based events that educate, inspire leaders, and develop teams. The company emphasizes philanthropy: each of its team building workshops contribute to the community. For more information, please visit http://www.magnovo.com. Martin Avila was sentenced to three years of formal felony probation Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced today that on February 21, 2019, Martin Roy Avila, age 35, a former resident of La Selva Beach, was sentenced by Monterey County Superior Court Judge Andrew Liu for three felony counts of vehicle theft and one felony count of forgery. As reported, People of the State of California vs. Avila, Martin Roy: Case No. SS170185A, between the months of May and June 2015, Avila stole three antique cars from the ranch property of the late Sherman Ball who was a resident of Monterey County. Immediately after Mr. Ball had passed away in May 2015, Avila went to the Ball ranch in Royal Oaks and removed a 1960 Ford truck. In June, he returned to the ranch and removed a 1940 Packard sedan and a 1950 Pontiac Chieftain from the barn located there. He then filed false documents with the California Department of Motor Vehicles to have the cars registered in his name. Avila repeatedly lied to the Ball family and to law enforcement when questioned about the vehicles, and even created a fake will as an attempt to steal more of Mr. Balls property. Avila was sentenced to three years of formal felony probation, 210 days in jail, and ordered to pay $8500.00 in restitution to the rightful heirs of Mr. Balls estate. This case was investigated by California Highway Patrol Officer Chuck Rodriguez http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/home/showdocument?id=74414 "We found that there were more Th1 cells in children who were exposed to the wildfire smoke...dysregulation can lead to changes in the bodys response to allergic diseases, such as asthma, rhinitis, hay fever and food allergy." - Mary Prunicki, MD, PhD Controlled burns are often used to help reduce and contain wildfires, but it turns out which burn is occurring can actually have an effect on your health, according to research presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI). Data collected from seven year olds in Fresno, California was retrospectively analyzed to investigate what health impacts individuals might face post wildfire or controlled burn. Subjects resided 70 miles away from the site of the prescribed burn, and 90 miles away from the site of the wildfire. Data collection occurred three months after each type of burn to analyze blood, blood pressure and pulmonary function tests. Asthmatic subjects were taken note of prior to data analysis (38% for prescribed burn, 25% for wildfire). Linear regression models were then performed to investigate the effect of health outcomes between each group. The bodys immune system is in a state of constant flux, with various cell types increasing or decreasing depending on what the body is being exposed to, said first author Mary Prunicki, MD, PhD. In this study, we found that there were more Th1 cells in children who were exposed to the wildfire smoke, which was more pollution exposure overall. These cells are in a state of balance with other cells and dysregulation can lead to changes in the bodys response to allergic diseases, such as asthma, rhinitis, hay fever and food allergy. Similar immune changes can occur with air pollution exposure in general. The study found pollutant levels were higher during wildfires compared to prescribed burns, noting that a limitation of the study was that their measurement of pollutants was not able to distinguish wildfire smoke from other air pollutants. Pollution is associated with an increase in methylation of the Foxp3 gene, which renders the gene less active and therefore, fewer immunoregulatory cells are produced, Dr. Prunicki added. The result is that the body is less able to keep immune homeostasis and may predispose the child to increased allergic disease. Controlled burns are only performed during optimal weather conditions and as a result, people are exposed to less smoke. Even so, data on controlled burns and the health impacts of different types of fires is lacking. Rodd Kelsey, PhD, a co-author and lead scientist with The Nature Conservancy of California that provided support for the research, provided context as to why this study is so important. Prescribed fire is a critical tool to increase the resilience and health of our fire-prone forests. Public concern about smoke impacts is one of the barriers to increasing the use of prescribed fire. Our hope is that, through better understanding of the comparative public health impacts of prescribed and unmanaged wildfire, we will be able to get more good fire on the ground in a way that benefits both nature and people." Visit aaaai.org to learn more. Research presented at the AAAAI Annual Meeting, February 22-25 in San Francisco, California, is published in an online supplement to The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) represents allergists, asthma specialists, clinical immunologists, allied health professionals and others with a special interest in the research and treatment of allergic and immunologic diseases. Established in 1943, the AAAAI has nearly 7,000 members in the United States, Canada and 72 other countries. The AAAAIs Find an Allergist/Immunologist service is a trusted resource to help you find a specialist close to home. ### New Barn, Inc. announced an updated brand name today, moving from New Barn to New Barn Organics. The company also added food industry veterans Melanie Knitzer, Becca Ray, and Simone Powers to their team. The new brand name better aligns the companys mission with a younger consumer base who increasingly prefer organic foods and beverages. Recent Neilsen data suggest that millennials and Generation Z spend more on organic products than other generations and make more frequent trips to the grocery store to buy them. According to the report, organic products continue to sell at a much higher rate than conventional products. We are thrilled to announce our new brand name and some fantastic new folks to our team, say CEO Ted Robb. We have committed to organic agriculture since day one, and we felt it was important to continue highlighting this commitment right in our brand name, which touches everything we do. The company also added several industry sales veterans Becca Ray and Melanie Knitzer, who will join current V.P. of Sales, Rick Tidrow to form a national sales team. Together they have over fifty years of combined food and beverage industry experience, having worked with leading brands such as Q Mixers and Honest Tea. Simone Powers will join the company to support marketing and e-commerce activities. A trained chef and product developer, Simone brings a unique blend of food and marketing experience to New Barn Organics. We are so much stronger with the addition of our newest team members, Robb continued. Melanie and Becca bring industry knowledge and an incredible network to help grow New Barn Organics, and Simone is a special talent, whom we feel brings a unique food perspective to our marketing. We are extremely lucky to have attracted such talented folks to our already strong team. New Barn Organics is exhibiting at EXPO West (Booth #5023), March 8-11, in Anaheim, California. About New Barn Organics New Barn Organics makes and markets best-in-class super-premium Organic Almondmilk and non-dairy Organic AlmondCreme ice cream. Founded in 2015 by a tight group of natural industry veterans, it has quickly become the nations leading innovative, branded Organic Almondmilk range in the combined Natural/Specialty channel, guided by the principles of Organic and fewest, cleanest, simplest ingredients. New Barn is distributed nationally to thousands of Natural, Specialty, Conventional, and Mass accounts by UNFI, KeHE and other leading distributors. For more information, visit: http://www.newbarnorganics.com. For more information, or press inquiries, please contact: Simone New Barn, Inc. 415.323.5657 marketing@newbarnorganics.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/newbarnorganics/ https://www.instagram.com/newbarnorganics/ https://www.facebook.com/newbarnorganics/ Howard Safe & Lock Co, a reputable locksmith agency in Houston, recently unveiled a host of deal coupons for Houston residents who might require their specialized services. The 24 hour locksmith Houston service providers told that the deals and coupon codes are meant to encourage people in availing professional Houston locksmith services instead of applying DIY hacks during emergency lockout situations. There are many people in Houston who just try to puzzle out lock malfunctioning or damaged lock issues by applying the DIY tricks that they pick up from the internet. While rekeying a lock or trying to break a lock using DIY tricks can be a no-cost or low-cost locksmith Houston solution for the lockout situation they accidentally fall in, the home, automobile and commercial space owners often end up irreversibly damaging their lock systems, said a co-founder of Howard Safe & Lock Co who is a certified locksmith himself. We always advise people to opt for professional car locksmith Houston services as it really does not burn a hole in their pockets. Now that we have unveiled the exciting deal coupons, we hope to see many people coming through our shop door or simply getting in touch with us using our website, added the co-founder of the cheap locksmith Houston service provider. At present, the 24 hour locksmith Houston service provider offers flat discount on locksmith services exclusively for military personnel or ex-military personnel. The company does not stop at offering discounts and special offers to the military personnel although. Aside from that, they also offer discount on bill amount for any new home owner in the Houston area. Other exciting offers that are up from grabs are discount for anyone who buys a car key and looks to buy a second one, discount on new lock changes for home or office owners opting for three or more lock changes, and flat discount for anyone availing mobile locksmith Houston services. The new offers are meant to build brand awareness around the Houston area and to encourage more people to go for professional auto locksmith Houston services, said the co-founder while commenting on the latest offers. About the Company Howard Safe & Lock Co is a locksmith shop in Houston, Texas. Company name: Howard Safe & Lock Co URL: https://howardsafeandlock.com/ Phone: (713) 869-0581 Full Address: 826 E 14th St, Houston, TX. 77009 Email Address: service (at) howardsafeandlock (dot) com LendingUSA is the countrys leading at-need funeral financing solution. LendingUSA has announced that through Tennessee Funeral Security Inc., or TFSI, it has received the endorsement of the Tennessee Funeral Directors Association, or TNFDA. TNFDA is the states largest professional association for funeral directors representing over 250 members in Tennessee. The partnership goes into effect immediately, providing several benefits to TNFDA members who enroll and fund families with LendingUSA. As a special welcome offer, LendingUSA is offering a $500 gift card to any TNFDA member that enrolls and funds their first loan by March 31, 2019. Members also receive an exclusive pricing discount on prime loans, allowing them to save hundreds when financing non-prime borrowers. TNFDA is proud to advocate the services of LendingUSA to all TNFDA members. It can be difficult for families to consider financial issues at such a difficult time. LendingUSA presents a unique opportunity for families, while offering funeral homes a trustworthy resolution when payment options are limited. Bob Batson, TNFDA Executive Director. Other benefits of LendingUSA to funeral homes include no merchant fees on prime loans, and fast, direct funding within a few business days. Families get the convenience and peace of mind of a low monthly payment for their loved ones funeral, with fast decisions and six-month promotional financing. The TNFDA is one of the chief advocates of the funeral profession in the state of Tennessee and works to provide professional development and increased economic opportunities to its over 400 members. Recognized nationally for its forward-thinking agenda and high-value programs and services, the organization offers training, career resources, and other services. Working with the TNFDA is an important step as we continue to promote our solution to at-need families, says Camilo Concha, founder and CEO of LendingUSA. Financing will only continue to grow as a payment option in the funeral space, and were pleased to be at the forefront of that change and work to redefine the way families pay for funerals. About LendingUSA LendingUSA is the #1 funeral financing solution in the country, and the only financing option of its kind to be exclusively endorsed by the NFDA. Its mission is to redefine how families pay for funerals, with pre-approval decisions in seconds and fast, direct funding to funeral homes. Designed to help funeral home owners grow their business, it helps to limit undercutting by competitors and the need for recourse or collections. For more information on LendingUSA, TNFDA members can call (866) 372-5267 or sign up for a free demo at LendingUSA.com/tnfda. All loans are made by Cross River Bank, a New Jersey State Chartered Bank. Member FDIC. About TNFDA The purpose of TNFDA is to advocate and provide continuous professional development and enhance the economic viability of member funeral service practitioners in order to provide services as desired by consumers. TNFDA is recognized nationally by the profession for its progressive thinking and the value of its programs and services. For more information, visit https://www.tnafda.org/ I cant imagine a more ideal person to be involved with this event and organization, considering his alignment with our purpose and mission. The Pipers Angels Foundation is excited to announce that legendary musician Jimmy Buffett will serve as Advisor to the Board for its 2019 Crossing For A Cure event, an 80-mile endurance paddle from the Bahamas to Florida that raises money for the cystic fibrosis community, which will take place this year on Saturday June 15th, Fathers Day weekend. Buffetts many years as an ocean enthusiast, advocate and donor make him ideal to be involved with the event, which promotes ocean-based activities for cystic fibrosis patients due to the proven health benefits of salt water. In an interview for the Crossing For A Cure, Buffett spoke to the impact the ocean has had on his life, saying, I just wanted to get involved in the simple fact that we come from the ocean and we need to do everything we can to make sure the ocean is sustainable. Buffetts relationship with Pipers Angels Foundation founder Travis Suit dates back four years, when the two had a chance encounter on Palm Beach and Buffett expressed enthusiasm for the ocean-based initiatives Suit has spearheaded. Pipers Angels is focused on utilizing a healthy ocean to enhance the quality of life for cystic fibrosis patients. Its flagship event, the Crossing For A Cure, supports the Foundations Salt Supply and Forever Stoke programs, which encourage kids and adults battling cystic fibrosis to participate in ocean-based activities and facilitates opportunities to do so. Its an absolute honor to have Jimmy Buffett as an Advisor to the Board for the Crossing For A Cure and Pipers Angels Foundation, said Suit. I cant imagine a more ideal person to be involved with this event and organization, considering his alignment with our purpose and mission. Additional information about the 2019 Crossing For A Cure, including sponsorship, donation, and volunteer details, can be found online at https://www.crossingforacure.com. About Pipers Angels Foundation For more information, please go to: http://www.pipersangels.org Pipers Angels Foundation supports and improves the lives of families with cystic fibrosis by raising awareness through education, offering life-expanding activities, providing urgent financial support, and funding critical research. The organization aims to inspire action, make an impact and transform the lives of those affected by this disease. ISP Supplies, a leading distributor of wireless solutions for the Internet service industry, announced today, their distribution partnership with Redline Communications. Since Redline was founded, the company has become the go-to communications expert for hundreds of companies around the world in military, oilfield and automation as well as telecommunications. Redlines certified, award-winning patent-protected products set the standard for versatility and reliability in secure network solutions, and through partnering with ISP Supplies, it will now reach a broader customer segment. Redline and ISP Supplies both have deep roots in the Internet Service industry, said Denis Lambert, Vice President of Business Development Service Provider for Redline Communications. Entering the distribution partnership with ISP Supplies will allow us to expand the reach of our products into the WISP industry, while providing a new channel of customer service and training to Redline customers. We know this partnership is mutually beneficial, and are excited to partner with them. Redline sells over 200 different products through ISP Supplies, including a multitude of antennas and accessories. The Virtual Fiber TV White Space gear, the newest product from Redline, has grown extremely popular due to its adaptability in remote locations and non-line-of-sight applications. Steve Discher, founder and President of ISP Supplies said We have known and used Redline gear in our WISP for almost 20 years, all the way back to the original AN-80i backhaul gear. Redline products are solid and I knew their entry into TV Whitespace would be successful and well engineered. Their partnership with Microsofts AirBand program sealed the deal for us. About ISP Supplies ISP Supplies is a leading provider of high quality wired and wireless networking equipment and services including all aspects of network design and deployment, RF planning, and frequency coordination. Centrally located in College Station, Texas, our experienced team of network engineers help customers build, operate and maintain point-to-point and point-to-multipoint licensed and unlicensed TDMA and LTE networks. For more information, visit https://www.ispsupplies.com/brands/redline-communications/all-redline. About Redline Communications Redline is the worldwide leader in private wireless networks for commercial, industrial and mission-critical applications. We help our clients transform their businesses with private, secure, reliable wireless networks. From the needs analysis, all the way to deploying secure fixed and nomadic private wireless network or a secure, private LTE network offering true mobility, Redline and its partners are there. For more information, visit http://www.rdlcom.com. Mark A. Schusterman, MD, FACS Board-certified plastic surgeon, Mark Schusterman of the Texas Center for Breast and Body, wants patients to know its possible to safely have both breast enlargement and breast lift (mastopexy) procedures done in the same surgery. Many plastic surgeons refuse to perform a breast augmentation and breast lift in one operation, as its more challenging to achieve perfect breast symmetry when the procedures are performed together. Some doctors are also concerned about a greater risk of complications, such as wound separation and nipple loss. Yet, a study of 297 patients comparing patients who had only a breast lift to patients who had combined breast augmentation with breast lift found that complications were not significantly different between the two groups. The study, published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, found that just 12.4 percent of patients who had combined breast implant surgery with a breast lift required an additional operation, while 100 percent of those who had staged breast augmentation and breast lift procedures required at least two operations (by definition). There are significant advantages to lifting and augmenting the breasts in the same surgery, including a single recovery, lower costs, and less anesthesia, says Dr. Schusterman. But not all plastic surgeons have the experience or skill level to perform a combined procedure. Its critical for patients who are considering cosmetic or reconstructive breast procedures to choose experienced, board-certified surgeons who have an in-depth understanding of human anatomy, says Dr. Schusterman. We use state-of-the-art plastic surgery techniques in our practice, and were committed to excellent patient-centered careits why our peers named us The Best Doctors in America for five straight years, he adds. The Texas Center for Breast and Body offers a full range of breast, body, and facial plastic surgery procedures as well as a suite of non-surgical cosmetic treatments, including dermaplaning, laser treatments, and injectables. Visit http://www.alwaysyouthful.com/ to learn more. About Mark A. Schusterman, MD, FACS Dr. Schusterman is a board-certified plastic surgeon practicing in Houston, TX. His pioneering work on the research and development of microsurgical reconstruction techniques for patients with head, neck, and breast cancer have helped Dr. Schusterman establish a reputation as a leading surgeon in his field. Over time he has developed considerable knowledge and understanding of the human body and has finely honed his surgical skills, particularly when it comes to plastic and cosmetic surgery. Dr. Schusterman has won numerous honors and awards and is a member of numerous medical associations, including the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the Texas Surgical Society, and the Texas Society of Plastic Surgeons. HealthyChildren.org St. Patrick's Day Sweepstakes HealthyChildren.org encourages parents to try their luck in the site's 2019 St. Patrick's Day Sweepstakes event. Seven lucky winners will receive a $300 Visa gift card. The contest begins March 11 and ends on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2019. Registered users may enter once each day during the event. Winners will be drawn on or about March 18, 2019. Full rules and more information can be found here. About HealthyChildren.org The only parenting website backed by 67,000 AAP member pediatricians, HealthyChildren.org offers trustworthy, up-to-the-minute health advice and guidance for parents and caregivers, along with interactive tools and personalized content. Registered users enjoy a customized home page that features articles geared to the ages of their children. The site also offers a Find a Pediatrician service, an Ask the Pediatrician tool, the KidsDoc Symptom Checker, and more than 5,000 articles on childrens health and safety in English and Spanish. Our insurance experts will explain you the best ways to save money on car insurance, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. Compare-autoinsurance.org has released a new blog post presents 10 efficient ways to get lower car insurance prices. Insurance expenses can rise to several thousands of dollars per year. It all depends on several factors, including the model of the vehicle, driving experience and history, coverage limits, annual mileage and so on. Drivers can get better rates if they: Combines insurance services. A person can easily bundle car insurance with homeowners/renters/condo insurance and earn a valuable discount. When completing online questionnaires, the user is asked if he owns the home/apartment where he/she lives. If the user owns it, he will be provided with a bundle option. In some cases, a person can save as much as 20% simply by bundling coverage. Combine multiple vehicles under the same contract. Covering multiple vehicles under the same insurer will also be financially rewarding. Multi-vehicle plans also provide a discount. The value of the discount is directly proportional to the number of insured vehicles. Adjust the value of deductibles. It is up to the policyholder to set deductibles. The usually recommended value is $500, for both comprehensive and collision coverage. However, the policyholder can choose higher values and lower the overall premiums. Drop full-coverage on older cars. If the car is older than 10 years, keeping full coverage is likely to make the owner overpay. Since a cars value diminishes over time, keeping full coverage for cars older than 5-6 years can lead to unnecessary costs. Avoid committing traffic violations. Whenever a person tries to obtain online quotes, he will be asked for claims and traffic violations in the recent 3-5 years. Traffic violations and accidents will not only increase premiums but can also determine a carrier to consider a client high-risk driver and eventually, drop him. Buy a safe-to-drive car. Consider a cars safety rating before buying it. Look for annual crash-test ratings and NHTSA safety rankings. A safe car is cheaper and easier to insure. Install extra safety and anti-theft devices. Investing in a cars safety will be greatly appreciated by insurance companies. Drivers can qualify for several discounts. Furthermore, installing car recovery systems will lower the comprehensive component of the premium. Graduate a defensive driving course. The client will improve his driving skills and will get a discount. Many online questionnaires ask drivers (especially the young ones) if they have participated in courses provided by the local DMV or they are willing to participate in defensive driving classes. Get only quotes every six months. It is recommended to get car insurance quotes at least once every 6 months and check the average premiums costs. Being permanently aware of the average costs will help drivers decide if they stay with the same carrier upon renewal or not. Pay-in-full. Paying for the whole coverage period will help drivers save around 10% on their insurance. Use online quotes and see how much it can be saved by paying for everything in advance. Compare-autoinsurance.org 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://compare-autoinsurance.org/. Hanoi: This photo, taken on Feb. 24, 2019, shows the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel, located in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. The hotel has been cited as one of the most likely venues for the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and N Image Source: IANS News WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2019 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump (L) welcomes Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (not in the picture) at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Feb. 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Ting Shen/IANS) Image Source: IANS News Washington, Feb 25 : US President Donald Trump has said that he will depart for Hanoi on Monday for his second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, early tomorrow for a Summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore," Trump tweeted on Sunday. Trump hailed his "great relationship" with Kim, adding that North Korea could "fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World" in the absence of nuclear weapons, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim left Pyongyang on Saturday afternoon by train for Hanoi for the second US-N Korea summit. Trump told the press last week that his trip to Vietnam would be "very successful," anticipating his two-day meeting with Kim would "accomplish a lot." Trump's first meeting with Kim in Singapore in June last year resulted in improved US-N Korea relations. However, differences on such key issues as a roadmap for denuclearisation, the lifting of sanctions and whether to issue a war-ending declaration still hinder negotiations. Sanaa, Feb 25 : Three people, including a woman and her two daughters were killed when a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a house north of Yemen's capital Sanaa, a relative and local health authorities said. The father was injured in the airstrike on Bait al-Tawki's house, according to Mohammed al-Tawki, a relative to the family, who spoke with Xinhua news agency over phone. The attack took place in the southern part of Nehm district, about 30 km north of Sanaa, reported Xinhua. Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile and seized much of the country's north, including Sanaa. The four-year-long civil war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, displaced 3 million others, and pushed the country to the brink of famine. Fred Snyder is a Gettysburg Times columnist. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper. Contact Fred at fsnyder@gburgtimes.comor 717-334-1131, ext. 2850. Around Town is published in the Gettysburg Times every Tuesday. Lucknow, Feb 24 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said that quality health for everybody was a shared goal and he was happy that the government, civil society, private and charitable institutions and other stakeholders were working together towards this. Bhopal, Feb 24 : The Madhya Pradesh Police on Sunday recovered the bodies of minor twins -- Priyansh and Shreyansh, both six-year old -- from the Yamuna river in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh, who were kidnapped for ransom on February 12, an official said. The police also arrested six persons in this connection. The deceased brothers, sons of businessman Brijesh Rawat, were kidnapped by armed men on February 12 on their way to home from Sadguru Public School in Chitrakoot area of Madhya Pradesh's Satna district. Soon after the local people got to know about the death of children, they came out on roads and started protesting against the police. The police had to use tear gas to disperse the mob. According to Inspector General of Police (Rewa Range) Chanchal Shekhar, the kidnappers had killed the minors on February 20 as they were afraid of getting identified. "After two days of the incident, they called on Rawat's phone and demanded a ransom of Rs 2 crore. "Every time the accused used different phone numbers and used passersby's phones on the pretext of 'urgent help'. But when a passerby sensed something fishy about their activity, he clicked the photo of kidnappers' motorbike using his phone," Shekhar said. In-between, the kidnappers had succeed in collecting Rs 20 lakh from the businessman. The IGP said: "During the investigation when police approached that passerby, he showed the motorcycle's photo, which finally helped nab one of the accused, Rohit Dwivedi." "Thereafter, the police succeed in arresting other accused -- Raju Dwivedi, Padam Shukla, Lucky Singh and two others," he said. A country-made pistol, three motorbikes and a Bolero were recovered from the accused, along with Rs 20 lakh they took from Rawat. The police have claimed that the Bolero vehicle sported a BJP flag and two of the seized motorcycles had "Ram Rajya" written their number plates. On the other hand, some pictures went viral on social media which were claiming that the mastermind of the kidnapping Padam Shukla is the brother of local Bajrang Dal leader Vishnu. Earlier, Chief Minister Kamal Nath had call up Rawat and assured him of swift action in the case. New Delhi, Feb 24 : The housing industry on Sunday hailed the decision of the GST council to lower tax on under-construction housing properties to 5 per cent from 12 per cent, and on affordable housing to 1 per cent from 8 per cent. The Council also made changes in the definition of affordable housing carpet area and cost. Properties costing up to Rs 45 lakh will now be considered as affordable. Houses with a carpet area of 90 square metre in metro cities and 60 square metre in non-metro cities will be considered affordable, the Council said. Abhishek Jain, tax partner at Ernst & Young, said the reduced goods and services tax (GST) is good news for the real estate industry as the earlier higher rates were a bit of deterrent for buyers of under-construction properties. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said, "The decisions more than meets the expectations of the real estate sector and will go a long way towards addressing the needs of the homebuyers. By reducing GST on under-construction houses and affordable housing, the GST council has provided great relief to the sector. The real estate and housing sector drives construction and is a key employment generator. We believe these decisions for a better and simpler tax regime will boost the offtake of housing, thereby, contributing to job creation." Aashish Agarwal, head (consulting services), Colliers International India, said, "The decision will remove the final barriers for fence-sitters from investing in real estate. The government has been taking steps to revive the sentiment and this decision will allow a more balanced sale of inventory between under-construction and ready-to-move-in apartments, providing relief to developers, buyers and lenders. With 1 per cent GST on affordable housing, young buyers and nuclear families in metros will be encouraged to deploy their savings in real estate. A wider spectrum of home sales in non-metros will now see significant reduction in cost, thanks to the revised cost and area definition." Commenting on the decision, RK Arora, Chairman, Supertech Ltd, said, "The reduction in GST is a welcome move. It will provide much-needed impetus to the real estate market that is facing severe liquidity crunch. But it is disappointing that the council has chosen to not allow developers claim input tax credit. The real estate sector is in a very poor shape and needs significant help from the government to finish the current projects and grow at the rate that is needed for the economy as a whole." "GST was introduced to replace the cascading and multi-layered taxation system with a unified tax. It was expected to not just simplify the systems, but also improve adherence. But taxes like stamp duty and property tax were not subsumed under the GST, forcing homebuyers to pay higher amounts for the same homes. The government should remove stamp duty and reduce the GST applicable, keeping in mind the 'housing for all' target of 2022," he said. Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director at Knight Frank India, said the reduction in GST for under-construction projects is the most decisive move by the council with a clear focus on demand stimulation. "The move will give the necessary fillip to demand in the under-construction segment, which has been suffering from low sales for the last many quarters. The elimination of input credit tax benefit may hit profitability on the supply side. But the potential demand generation will far outweigh negative aspects, leading to greater sales numbers and revenues," he said. The reduction in GST would potentially reduce buyers' payout 6-7 per cent on the overall purchase, depending on the category, he said and added, the consequent accelerating sales would bring down the unsold inventory, which has been afflicting the real estate sector. "The reduction in GST, coupled with incentives proposed in the budget and reduction in prime lending rates by the RBI completes the sops for the residential property market," he said. The GST cut gives the beleaguered realty sector the much-needed breathing room and will certainly help it maintain some forward momentum in 2019, said Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Property Consultants. "Another booster shot by the government is new definition of the budget-range of affordable housing. Extending the definition to houses priced within Rs 45 lakh is credible. It will bring more premium properties into the affordable segment, thus benefit buyers in cities like the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) where prices are exorbitant," Puri said. Parth Mehta, Managing Director, Paradigm Realty, said, "It is a buyer-centric move. Developers will be burdened with GST payments to vendors, suppliers, agencies and contractors and it will increase the cost further admid the already shrinking margin due to the dynamic policies of the government." Rohit Poddar, Managing Director, Poddar Housing and Development Ltd, said, "the reduction in GST shows pro-activeness of the government in addressing issues facing the real estate sector since the past few months. "The new definitions for affordable houses will provide clarity to developers under this segment, although absence of input tax credit will probably result in increased prices for customers. The GST rationalisation for under-construction properties is a comprehensive move, which will help developers in liquidating inventories. It will boost the sector and the consumers." Amit B. Wadhwani, Co-founder, Sai Estate Consultants Chembur Pvt Ltd, said, "The revised GST will be an added boost for homebuyers' across the sector, especially in concurrence with the recent budget announcement and alteration in the RBI repo rate. Rationalising GST for affordable houses is a level-headed move by the council. It will further enhance purchasing power of buyers and help the "housing for all" mission." While the move would aid the lower income groups and economically weaker sections, we were yet to understand just how much will the realty sector or the builder community benefit from this as the revised rates come with no input tax credit, Wadhwani added. New Delhi, Feb 24 : With the hearing on the constitutional validity of Article 35A at the Supreme Court likely this week, the Jammu and Kashmir government is yet to decide its stand. It is the first time that hearing will be held on the provision when the state is under the Governor's rule. Advocate General of Jammu and Kashmir D.C. Raina told IANS on Sunday they would discuss the position and finalise the stand in a day or two. Speaking from Jammu, Raina said the matter was with the Law Department and without their instruction, he cannot spell out the stand. The matter is on board for quite some time but did not reach the hearing stage earlier, he said, adding they expect it to come up for hearing on Wednesday or Thursday. However, the Jammu and Kashmir government submitted to the apex court about three weeks ago, seeking adjournment on the grounds the issue involved is sensitive, and there is no elected government in the state. The last hearing took place on August 31, 2018. The matter was adjourned to the second week of January as Attorney General K.K. Venugopal pleaded postponement on the grounds of panchayat polls in the state. Article 35A was incorporated in the Constitution by the 1954 Presidential order which conferred special rights including government employment, acquisition of immovable property, settlement in the state, grant of scholarship and any such form of aid to the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir by the state government. To guarantee these special rights and privileges, the 1954 Presidential order said no existing law in force in Jammu and Kashmir, or that enacted by the state legislature in respect of the special rights and privileges of the permanent residents "shall be void on the grounds that it is inconsistent with or takes away or abridges any rights conferred on the other citizens of India by any provision of this part (III)". In the past, the President's power to issue orders taking recourse of Article 370(1) were unsuccessfully challenged twice before the Supreme Court. The first time the President's powers to issue orders in respect of Jammu and Kashmir was upheld on March 30, 1961 by a five-judge Bench, comprising Justice K.N. Wanchoo, Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar, Justice A.K. Sarkar, Justice K.C. Das Gupta and Justice N. Rajagopal Ayyangar. Addressing the challenge to the Presidential order introducing indirect election to the six Lok Sabha seats from the state, the court said: "Article 370 clearly recognises the special position of the State of Jammu and Kashmir and that is why the President is given the power to apply the provisions of the Constitution to that state subject to such exceptions and modifications as the President may by order specify." The apex court had in 1961 also stated: "We are therefore of the opinion that the President has the power to make the modification, which he did in Article 81 of the Constitution. " Article 81 provides for the composition of the Lok Sabha. The Supreme Court Bench, comprising then Chief Justice M. Hidayatullah, Justice Vashishtha Bhargava, Justice J.M. Shelat, Justice G.K. Mitter and C. A. Vaidyalingam, by its October 10, 1968 judgment had said the "Article 370 of the Constitution has never ceased to be operative and there can be no challenge on this ground to the validity of the orders passed by the President in exercise of the powers conferred by this Article." (Parmod Kumar can be contacted at saneel2010@gmail.com) New Delhi, Feb 24 : In a big relief to the realty sector and homebuyers, the GST council on Sunday lowered tax on under-construction properties to 5 per cent from 12 per cent, and affordable housing projects to 1 per cent from 8 per cent. The council also made changes in the definition of the affordable housing. The new rates will be applicable from April 1. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: "It is a milestone decision to promote affordable housing for all. The expanded definition of affordable housing is to encourage aspiring people buy bigger flats. The council did not accept the super carpet area concept as many developers have made it variable and flexible. "We will have to see how new rates can be passed on to incentivise people to buy under-construction flats. We believe competition will take care of price benefits to be passed on to consumers." "However, developers won't be able to claim input tax credit (ITC)," Jaitley said. The group of minister (GoM) on housing had suggested 3 per cent affordable housing projects. The council also decided that properties costing up to Rs 45 lakh will be considered affordable as well as properties with a carpet area of 90 square metres in metro cities and 60 square metres in non-metro cities, he said. On issues like transfer of development rights, sale or transfer of floor space index (FSI) and joint development rights, Jaitley said it was suggested that these be exempted from the goods and services tax (GST) for the sector's growth. The council, he said wanted guidelines for the transition to be prepared for the law & fitment committee to take it up on March 10. "Transition is a challenge. The notification will have to be carefully drafted. The law & fitment committee will draft notifications and the GST council will approve the same through video-conferencing," he said. Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said the decision will help the common man afford a house, while also enabling the industry to emerge from the "recent tough time". Though praising the decision, the housing sector and property experts, also called for caution. Niranjan Hiranandani, National President, NAREDCO, said, "Industry lauds the GST rate cut on real estate to 5 per cent on non-affordable and 1 per cent on affordable housing without input tax credit as a welcome and positive move. It will bring a big relief to the homebuyers and help narrow the demand mismatch gap." The announcement would give an impetus to affordable housing and enthuse homebuyers to close the sale deals. "The GST on cement has not been reduced as was expected. At 28 per cent, it remains among the highest taxed inputs for construction -- and there will be no input tax credit, developers will face a challenging time," he said. He said the changes should have been applicable 'with immediate effect'. As it would be effective from April 1, "we will see rise in sales figures only in the next financial year," he added. Rajat Mohan, Partner, AMRG & Associates, said lowering of tax rates at the cost of the tax credit in the realty sector could be a good populist measure. But businesses may witness a quick bloodbath, and after that the sector will reboot itself to a higher equilibrium price to justify the margins, he added. "This may prove to a costly affair for businesses as they will see incremental costs due to breakage of credit chain," Mohan said. M.S. Mani, Partner, Deloitte India, said, the real estate sector needed rate reductions to prop up sales. "The reductions announced today for normal housing and specially for affordable housing could lead to an uptick in demand. With these reductions, the GST on normal under-construction apartments would be a little lower than prior to introduction of GST and affordable housing would be significantly lower than before," he said. "The combination of the increase in the threshold to be termed as affordable housing together with the lower rate of 1 per cent could lead to significant upswing in demand. The lower rates would lead to a revival of demand for under-construction apartments, which had tapered down as buyers were preferring ready apartments that did not attract any GST," the Deloitte India partner said. "Having certain categories that are not eligible for input tax credits is an aberration of the basic principles of a good GST, in addition to issues of traceability of transactions and making the transactions opaque," Mani said. Jaitley also said the lottery issues have been referred back to the GoM. A GoM had suggested a single rate of 18 per cent or 28 per cent on lotteries, which are of two types -- state-organised and state-authorised. Washington, Feb 24 : US Special Counsel Robert Mueller in a court filing has said Donand Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort does not deserve leniency. According to a court filing released on Saturday, Mueller said, "Nothing about Manafort's upbringing, schooling, legal education, or family and financial circumstances mitigates his criminality". "For over a decade, Manafort repeatedly and brazenly violated the law, his crimes continued up through the time he was first indicted in October 2017 and remarkably went unabated even after indictment," Xinhua reported on Sunday citing the document. "Manafort engaged in witness tampering while on bail and, even after he was caught for engaging in that, Manafort committed the additional crimes of perjury and making false statements after making his guilty pleas herein," it says. Manafort joined Trump's campaign team in March 2016 and spent three months as Trump's campaign chairman until mid-August. He was convicted in a Virginian federal court trial on charges of tax and bank fraud last year and pleaded guilty in Washington on others. The charges largely stem from his working for a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine years before the 2016 US elections. They do not directly address any alleged collusion between Trump associates or officials and the Russian government, which the Mueller team has been investigating since May 2017. Trump has repeatedly attacked the Mueller probe as a "rigged witch hunt". Manafort was scheduled to be sentenced in Washington on March 13. The US media said he was also awaiting a sentencing date in Virginia. Colombo, Feb 24 : Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday handed over 155 houses built under an Indian project to people in the island nation's tea-producing region populated by "Indian Tamils". Present on the occasion here was Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu. The houses were built under the Indian Housing Project for people at the Bridwell Estate in Bogawantalawa at Hatton. Wickremesinghe thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the development support extended to Sri Lanka, where a dragging ethnic insurgency ended in May 2009 as the military crushed the Tamil Tigers. Sandhu congratulated the owners of the newly built houses. Sandhu said the Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka with a grant of US$ 350 million (close to 50 billion LKR) was the largest Indian grant assistance project in any country. He said that of the total commitment of 63,000 houses, 47,000 had been built. Tamils of Indian origin, popularly known as "Indian Tamils", populate the tea estates in Sri Lanka's central hills. New Delhi, Feb 24 : With the hearing on the constitutional validity of Article 35A at the Supreme Court likely this week, the Jammu and Kashmir government is yet to decide on its stand. It is the first time that hearing will be held on the provision, when the state is under the Governor's rule. Advocate General of Jammu and Kashmir D.C. Raina told IANS on Sunday they would discuss the position and finalise the stand in a day or two. Speaking from Jammu, Raina said the matter was with the Law Department and without their instruction he can't spell out the stand. The matter is on board for quite some time, but did not reach the hearing stage earlier, he said and added they expect it to come up for hearing on Wednesday or Thursday. However, the state government submitted to the top court, about three weeks back, seeking adjournment on the grounds that the issue involved is sensitive and there was no elected government in the state. The last hearing took place on August 31, 2018. The matter was adjourned to second week of January as Attorney General K.K. Venugopal pleaded postponement on the ground of panchayat polls in the state. Article 35A was incorporated in the Constitution by the 1954 Presidential order, which conferred special rights including government employment, acquisition of immovable property, settlement in the state, grant of scholarship and any such form of aid to the permanent residents of J&K by the state government. To guarantee these special rights and privileges, the 1954 Presidential order said no existing law in force in J&K or that enacted by the state legislature in respect of the special rights and privileges of the permanent residents "shall be void on the grounds that it is inconsistent with or takes away or abridges any rights conferred on the other citizens of India by any provision of this part (III)." In the past, President's power to issue orders taking recourse of Article 370(1) were unsuccessfully challenged twice before the top court. The first time the President's powers to issue orders in respect of J&K was upheld on March 30, 1961 by a five-judge Bench, comprising Justice K.N. Wanchoo, Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar, Justice A.K. Sarkar, Justice K.C. Das Gupta and Justice N. Rajagopal Ayyangar. Addressing the challenge to the Presidential order introducing indirect election to the six Lok Sabha seats from the state, the court said: "Article 370 clearly recognises the special position of the state of J&K and that is why the President is given the power to apply the provisions of the Constitution to that state subject to such exceptions and modifications as the President may by order specify." The apex court had in 1961 also stated: "We are therefore of the opinion that the President has the power to make the modification, which he did in Article 81 of the Constitution. " Article 81 provides for the composition of the Lok Sabha. The SC Bench, comprising then Chief Justice M. Hidayatullah, Justice Vashishtha Bhargava, Justice J.M. Shelat, Justice G.K. Mitter and Justice C.A. Vaidyialingam, by its October 10, 1968 judgment had said the "Article 370 of the Constitution has never ceased to be operative and there can be no challenge on this ground to the validity of the orders passed by the President in exercise of the powers conferred by this Article." Chennai, Feb 24 : DMDK Treasurer Premalatha on Sunday said alliance talks are being held with major parties and politics discussed with leaders who called on party chief A. Vijayakant. She also said the DMDK will chalk out its plan and score a massive victory in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls. Speaking to reporters here Premalatha, wife of Vijayakant, thanked DMK President M.K. Stalin for calling on Vijayakant to enquire about his health. She said apart from enquiring about Vijayakant's health, other issues were also discussed. Recalling what Congress leader S. Thirunavukarasar told the media after meeting Vijayakant, she said when two leaders meet other issues would also be discussed. She said electoral alliance cannot be decided in a hurry while DMDK has not hesitated to go it alone. According to Premalatha, there is no space for a third front as almost all the political parties have aligned with either AIADMK or DMK. The DMDK first held alliance talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the AIADMK. The ruling AIADMK is maintaining that talks with DMDK are on and soon an alliance would be finalised. She said Kamal Haasan has said his party would contest alone in all the Lok Sabha seats. On Friday, Stalin called on Vijayakant a day after Congress leader Thirunavukarasar met the DMDK leader and urged him to take a decision on the alliance that is good for the nation. Speaking to reporters Stalin said Vijayakant has returned from the US after treatment and he had met him to enquire about his health. Stalin said he did not speak about politics with Vijayakant as the purpose of his visit was only to enquire about his health. On Thursday, Thirunavukarasar called on Vijayakant at his residence and requested him to take "a good decision" taking into consideration the prevailing condition in the country. "He (Vijayakant) is a leader of a political party. I am also a leader and a politician. This is election time. If we say we did not talk politics, I would be lying," Thirunavukarasar told reporters. On being queried about whether he asked the DMDK to join the Congress-DMK alliance, Thirunavukarasar said he had asked him to take "a good decision" in the interest of the nation. New Delhi, Feb 24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday inaugurate the National War Memorial near India Gate that has been built to commemorate the valour and sacrifice of the armed forces personnel who laid down their lives in the service of the nation post Independence. Since Independence, more than 25,000 personnel have been martyred during the Indo-China War in 1962, the Indo-Pakistan wars in 1947, 1965 and 1971, the Indian Peace Keeping Force operations in Sri Lanka and the conflict in Kargil in 1999. The National War Memorial also commemorates the soldiers who participated and made supreme sacrifices in United Nations peace-keeping missions, Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, counter insurgency operations and Low Intensity Conflict Operations (LICO). "It is a tribute to our fallen heroes and the bravest of the brave. It epitomises a rich saga of courage, valour and selfless sacrifice made by our heroes in the rich military tradition," Lt. Gen. P.S. Rajeshwar, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, said at a special media briefing. The Prime Minister will inaugurate the memorial by lighting the eternal flame and laying wreaths. All the traditional wreath laying will be done at the National War Memorial now though the Amar Jawan Jyoti would still remain there, he said. "I am sure the future generation will be inspired by the National War Memorial and it will help inculcate a sense of belonging and national pride," Rajeshwar added. Built at a cost of Rs 171 crore, the memorial has a 15.5 metre tall obelisk with an eternal flame and 16 circular walls of honour on which names of 25,942 martyrs have been carved in golden on granite tablets. The pattern of the walls symbolise the ancient Indian war formation "Chakravyuh". The design of the memorial has a layout comprising four concentric circles, namely the "Amar Chakra" or Circle of Immortality, the "Veerta Chakra" or Circle of Bravery, the "Tyag Chakra" or Circle of Sacrifice and the "Rakshak Chakra" or Circle of Protection. The memorial complex includes the central obelisk, an eternal flame and six bronze murals depicting the famous battles fought by the Indian Army, the Air Force and the Navy in a covered gallery. The outermost circle, the Rakshak Chakra, comprises rows of more than 600 trees, representing the soldiers who guard the territorial integrity of the nation. The busts of the 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees have been installed at the Param Yoddha Sthal and include those of three living awardees - Subedar Major Bana Singh (retd), Subedar Major Yogendra Singh Yadav and Subedar Sanjay Kumar. The proposal for creating a National War Memorial was under consideration since early 1970s. The Union cabinet cleared it in October 2015 while the sanction for the construction at India Gate was issued on December 18 the same year. This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. New Delhi, Feb 24 : The GST Council on Sunday lowered the tax on under-construction residential properties to 5 per cent from 12 per cent to boost the realty sector. The new rates will be implemented from April 1. The council also reduced goods and services tax (GST) on affordable housing projects from 8 per cent to 1 per cent without input tax credit. It also modified the definition of affordable housing, both in terms of size and cost. "For affordable housing, GST rate reduced from 8% to 1% and for non-affordable from 22% to 5% without ITC. Definition of affordable changed to 90 and 60 sq mtr for non-metro and metro with a cap of Rs 45 Lakh for both," Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said in a tweet. In metros houses with a carpet area up to 60 square metres, and in non-metros houses with a carpet area of up to 90 square metres will be classified as affordable housing. Properties worth Rs 45 lakh will be also be classified as affordable. The council, comprising the central and state Finance Ministers, said the new rate on all housing projects, which were not in the affordable housing category, will be 5 per cent, down from 12 per cent, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. There are around 6 lakh unsold under-construction house in the top seven cities. The move is expected to boost their sale. "This will boost real estate, and give relief to middle class," Jaitley said. The meeting did not take any decision on lotteries as some states were absent. Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungatiwar has recommended a uniform rate of 18 per cent or 28 per cent on lotteries. Due to divergence of views, the proposal on fixing GST rates on lotteries has been referred back to the group of ministers (GoM). London, Feb 24 : Tuberculosis (TB) patients are more likely to adhere to treatment administered over video on a smartphone than through face-to-face appointments, a study has found. Directly observed treatment (DOT) has been the standard of care for TB since the early 1990s, but it is inconvenient for patients and service providers. The smartphone-enabled video-observed therapy (VOT), recommended by the World Health Organization as an alternative to DOT, is a more effective approach to TB treatment, stated the study published in The Lancet. "VOT is likely to be preferable for many patients across a broad range of settings, providing a more acceptable, effective, cheaper option for supervision of multiple daily doses than DOT," said Andrew C. Hayward from the University College London. The study tested whether levels of treatment observation were improved with VOT. The team randomly assigned 226 patients -- 112 to VOT and 114 to DOT. Seventy eight of 112 patients on VOT achieved 80 per cent scheduled observations successfully completed during the first two months compared with 35 of 114 on DOT. VOT also supported daily dosing, was effective for socially complex populations and had a lower drop-out rate than DOT. The absence of face-to-face contact did not reduce the identification of adverse events or lead to more unscheduled appointments. VOT reduced staff time requirements, especially compared with home-based DOT, the study showed. "There is an urgent global need for more effective and cheaper alternatives to DOT to enable effective ambulatory care of both drug-sensitive and MDR TB," Hayward said. According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), TB is one of the world's deadliest diseases. In 2017, 10 million people around the world became sick with TB disease. There were 1.3 million TB-related deaths worldwide. It is also a leading killer of people who are HIV infected. Amritsar, Feb 24 : The blood of 40 CRPF martyrs in the Pulwama terror attack will not go waste and terrorists will be taught a lesson that they will remember for long, said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah here on Sunday. "The blood of the 40 (CRPF) martyrs will not go waste. The government will teach them (terrorists) a lesson," Shah said while addressing BJP workers ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He said only the BJP could provide a strong and stable government at the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he would take the country forward. "The next Prime Minister will be Narendra Modi," he asserted. Taking a dig at the opposition, Shah said the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) do not even have a leadership face for the top post. It cannot take the country forward, he added. Shah said while Rs 12 lakh crore scam took place during the Congress-led UPA government (2004-2014), the opposition cannot accuse Prime Minister Modi of corruption of even a single penny. Referring to Punjab, he accused the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh-led Congress government of halting development works initiated by the previous government. "A number of schemes started by the SAD-BJP government has been stopped by the Congress government," he said. Poking fun at the Punjab Chief Minister, Shah said: "He has started spending time in Chandigarh and visiting office because elections are near". Remarking that promises made by the Congress before Assembly elections had not been met, the BJP chief said, "The farm debt waiver is a sham. No farmer has received any benefit.". On Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Shah said he had lowered "the dignity of the country by embracing Pakistani Army Chief, who is killing our soldiers everyday". The BJP has an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab and will contest 3 of the 13 Lok Sabha seats, leaving the rest for the SAD. New York, Feb 24 : Being socially ostracised inspires feelings of anger, sadness and revenge in humans, some of whom even express interest in joining gangs after being left out, finds a research. According to Andy Hales, a postdoctoral researcher in social psychology from the University of Virginia, human motivation is to maintain four basic psychological needs: belonging, self-esteem, control over one's environment, having a meaningful existence. Hales and his team created several different scenarios to see how people reacted when those basic needs were threatened by ostracism. "In order to restore those needs, people can engage in a variety of behaviours. Some of them are pretty positive," Hales said. "But there are also times when aggression may be a more attractive alternative, especially if people are trying to restore their needs for meaningful existence or control over the environment." In a study, published in the Journal of Social Issues, the team studied the reactions of people who would not ordinarily be interested in identifying with extreme groups. "But when you are ostracised and starved of social connection, you might be temporarily more open to groups that would be otherwise unappealing," he said, much like a very hungry person might be more open to eating food that normally would not be tempting. Another study, detailed in the Journal of Social Psychology, examined how people feel when their companions paid more attention to their cellphones than their partners. "What we found is that people reported greater threats to their basic needs when they had recalled an experience where their conversation partner had used a cellphone," Hales said, adding that phone-induced ostracism hurt women more than men. In a third collection of experiments, Hales revealed that feeling ignored or unacknowledged is worse for a person's mental health than receiving bad news. On the other hand, being acknowledged eased the pain of the rejection. "We know ostracism is a hurtful experience," Hales said. "You're essentially being treated like a ghost, like you're not even there." New Delhi, Feb 24 : After a suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF troopers in Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre has hiked the "Risk and Hardship" allowance of all paramilitary forces deployed in highly sensitive areas in Jammu and Kashmir and Maoist bastions. A Home Ministry order accessed by IANS was sent out on February 22 to all six paramilitary forces -- Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Sashastra Seema Bal and Assam Rifles -- regarding the step taken by the government with "immediate effect". The order, which came a week after the terror attack in Pulwama, speaks about "substantial enhancement" of the Risk and Hardship allowance. The Home Ministry order reclassified 10 districts of Jammu and Kashmir -- Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama, Badgam, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Kuwara, Bandipora and Srinagar -- in "R1H1 matrix" category. "Around 55,000 CRPF personnel posted in the region and other CAPFs (Central Armed Police Forces) will directly benefit from this move," a CRPF officer who sought anonymity told IANS. The allowance has been substantially enhanced from Rs 9,700 to Rs 17,300 per month for troops up to the rank of Inspector and from Rs 16,900 to Rs 25,000 for officers, the order said. The order has also benefited paramilitary personnel deployed in eight most Maoist-affected districts across four states. These are Bastar, Dantewada, Bijapur, Sukma and Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh; Latehar in Jharkhand, Gadchiroli in Maharastra and Malkangiri in Odisha. Around 33,000 personnel of CRPF -- the lead paramilitary force mandated for internal security and anti-Maoist operations -- will be the main beneficiary, said the CRPF official, adding other paramilitary personnel posted in these districts also stand to gain. The decision was taken by a committee constituted under the chairmanship of Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba for classification of field areas for grant of the allowance. As per the order, the personnel of CRPF's CoBRA Battallion -- a specialized unit proficient in guerrilla tactics and jungle warfare and originally established to counter Maoists -- will continue to get the allowance at the existing "RH matrix" and "R1H1". This is the second major move taken by the Centre for the welfare of paramilitary troopers after it authorized air travel to those deployed in the Kashmir Valley from Jammu and Delhi to Srinagar when they go on tour, leave and official duty. The order after the car bomber struck a CRPF bus in a 78-vehicle CRPF convoy on February 14, killing 40 personnel. The attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed group. The convoy, carrying 2,547 security personnel, was moving on the Srinagar-Jammu highway. It was the worst terror attack at one go on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) Kolkata, Feb 24 : The Border Security Force (BSF) seized gold worth Rs 21 lakh from West Bengal's Nadia district and arrested a female smuggler, a BSF official said on Sunday. Acting on a tip off, the BSF troopers intercepted a woman near the Indo-Bangladesh international border in Nadia district's Haritalapara village on Saturday afternoon and seized gold ornaments weighing around 650 grams. "Lalita Mondal (30), a resident of Haritalapara village, was arrested with 136 pieces of gold rings and 20 pieces of gold bracelets, from near the border road at 2.40 p.m. on Saturday," a release issued by the BSF's south Bengal frontier said. Interrogation revealed that she received the consignment from a local named Sammer Paul to be delivered in Bangladesh's Kalpur. "The woman has been handed over to Nadia's Dhantala Police Station along with the seized gold," the release said. The south Bengal frontier of BSF in 2018 had seized gold worth Rs 8.85 crore and apprehended 13 smugglers. Srinagar, Feb 24 : A senior police officer and a militant were killed on Sunday in an ongoing gunfight between security forces and militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district, police sources said. Deputy Superintendent of Police Aman Thakur and the militant were killed in Turigam village in fighting that also injured an Army Major. "The body of the slain militant is lying at the encounter site and is yet to be recovered," a police official said. Reports said two to three militants from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), which claimed responsibility for the February 14 suicide bombing that killed 40 CRPF troopers, were hiding in the village. Clashes occurred near the gunfight site as civilians tried to disrupt the operation against the militants. Security forces used tear smoke and pellets to disperse the mobs. The Army's Rashtriya Rifles, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of state police started a cordon and search operation in Turigam after being tipped off about the presence of militants there. "As the security forces tightened the cordon, militants fired at them, triggering an encounter which is going on," a police officer said. New Delhi, Feb 24 : Delhi's textile lovers can now head to an exhibition-sale of the unique textile craft of Ajrakh, showcased as saris and stoles by UNESCO-recognised master craftsperson Abdul Jabbar Khatri. Ajrakh, a resist dyeing block printing technique, has been part of the Indian culture since centuries, says Khatri, a ninth generation member of Gujarat's traditional textile-making family, and a key player in transforming Ajrakh as a fashion fabric for global urban markets. Saris, stoles and yardage, crafted by him in cotton and silk in natural dyes, are on display at the Dastkari Haat Studio here. The exhibition has been organised by non-profit Dastkari Haat Samiti and can be viewed till March 9. The exhibition features Khatri's contemporary yet traditional textiles in earthy hues and intricate patterns, ranging from rich floral to complex geometric combinations, reflecting what the painstakingly-done Ajrakh printing is famous for. Dastkari Haat's 76-year-old president Jaya Jaitly recalled seeing Jabbar at work as a teenager. "That time, his father used to say he is not working properly. Now he has grown into a true master craftsman. His other brothers specialise in fine Ajrakh printing, block and natural dye-making. Jabbar is now designing much finer and smaller blocks. He wants to design on his own too," Jaitly, a former Samata party leader, told IANS. Terming Jabbar a committed guardian of India's craft heritage, Jaitly said the exhibit-sale invites craft connoisseurs to see and own Khatri's masterpieces. A platform to bring the consumer closer to Indian craft, it is also an opportunity for the 2003 National Craft Award recipient to display his work and "show what all can be done with the Indian textiles and traditional techniques", the master craftsman said. Khatri has been awarded the prestigious UNESCO Seal of Excellence both in 2006 and 2007, and he now helms a large block printing enterprise, which generates income for several hundred women in Dhamadka, his village in Gujarat. New Delhi, Feb 24 : Reem Ibrahim Al-Arfaj is the first certified yoga trainer in Saudi Arabia. On her first visit to India this past week, she was left mesmerized by the Kumbh mela at Prayagraj. Clad in a black burqa and a hijab, her excitement was palpable when IANS asked about her experience at the Kumbh. "It was amazing. Everyone was smiling and they were excited to meet us. The security there was very high and we felt very safe among those people," said Reem, who is in her 20s. Among the delegates from 181 countries who were invited by the Indian government to visit the Kumbh and participate in the cultural activities there, she has completed 500 hours of yoga training for trainers under an expert at the Indian embassy in Riyadh last year. She feels she is very good in aspects like yogic sukshma vyayam, shat kriya, surya namaskar, yogasana, pranayama and meditation. "I am a businesswoman and help my father in his business. I heard about yoga and it attracted me. So I enrolled for this programme at the Indian Embassy in Riyadh. Now I can train others in yoga," she said with a glitter in her eyes. Though Reem did not take a dip in the Ganga, Goran Pejakovic from Croatia not only took the holy dip but also recited the Gayatri mantra while he was in the river. He has been practising Vaishnavism since 1991. "I read Bhagavad Gita and since then I was attracted towards spirituality and Vaishnavism," Goran said as he flaunted his 'bodi' (tuft) and the 'janeo'. Born in a Christian family, Goran finds no contradiction in the faith of his forefathers and his own "spiritual path". "They believe in one god and I also believe in one god and that is Krishna," he added with a smile. His wife and daughter too are devotees of Lord Krishna and the family is vegetarian. Konstantinos Kalaitzis from Greece loves to sing bhajans, including Mahatma Gandhi's favourite one 'Vaishnav jana..." On his 44th visit to India since 1986 and having travelled to all major Hindu pilgrimage sites including Kailash Mansarover, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamnotri, Nanda Devi, this was his first chance to visit a Kumbh mela. "But Kumbh was a different feeling. I went in the Ganga and swam. I felt very good after that," he said. Delegates from other Arab countries including the UAE, Oman and Syria also came. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, the President of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) that organised the entire exercise, said it was the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "While the Kumbh is happening for millenia together, for the first time a conscious attempt was made to have representation from each and every country on the globe. Invites were extended to those people who were interested in culture," Sahasrabuddhe told IANS. An orientation programme was held explaining the idea, history and significance of the Kumbh besides the aspects of management that go into organising such a big event. "The idea was to enhance the literacy about the idea of India and Indian culture. Because many a time India and events like Kumbh are seen like a puzzle or riddle. It is an exercise to demystify events like Kumbh," Sahasrabuddhe added. He hoped that similar participation from across the world be arranged in future Kumabh melas too. Asked if the exercise could be seen as India extending its soft power, he said: "To a certain extent, yes. Soft power is how people perceive your country. And since this does away with some misconceptions and create some right perceptions, so yes." However, he disagreed if it could be seen as proselytising. "This should not be seen with that narrow angle. India spreads the message of humanity, be it yoga or Kumbh. Whatever is associated with Indian culture is above any narrow consideration. For a long time, India remained apologetic about our cultural treasures including yoga. Now this government is promoting it," he said. (Asim Khan can be contacted on mohd.a@ians.in) . 7 , 67 . , . 139, 120 . 174, . 19 ... Tokyo, Feb 24 : Voting was underway on Sunday in a referendum on the relocation of US military base in Japan's Okinawa prefecture. Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki hoped that the referendum, which is not legally binding, would show opposition on the part of the local electorate to the relocation of the US Marine Corps Futenma air station to the Henoko Bay from a residential area, reports Efe news. The land reclamation work, on in the Henoko Bay, has been opposed over potential damage to environment. The voters must choose one of three options to say if they support, oppose, or neither support nor oppose the relocation of the air base. Around 1.15 million Okinawa residents, over the age of 18, are eligible to cast vote. Counting is set to begin immediately after polling stations close at 8 p.m. Tokyo and Washington signed an agreement in 1996 to relocate the base following a controversy, triggered by rape of a 12-year-old Japanese girl by three US soldiers. The Okinawa authorities, however, moved court to stall the project despite Japan's Supreme Court ruling in favour of the relocation in 2016. Approximately one fifth of the main island of Okinawa forms part of the US military base. It houses more than half of the nearly 47,000 troops that the US maintains in Japan, as well as 74 per cent of military facilities in Japan. New Delhi, Feb 24 : The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and University College London (UCL) on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding to explore potential areas of collaboration, including research-oriented activities, staff and student exchange programmes, research fellowship programmes, workshops and other events related to medical science. They will be conducting research-based study, focusing on environment and its effect on Indians, for which the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi has also been roped in, Randeep Guleria, Director of AIIMS told IANS. "Pollution is a rising concern in India. The research will focus on impact of environment, particularly pollution, on the health of pregnant women, lungs and maternal health," Professor Michael Arthur, UCL President, said. As part of the ongoing research collaborations, the AIIMS has joined the International Centre for Genomic Medicine in Neuromuscular Diseases (ICGMN), which is led by the UCL. The ICGMN brings together skills and resources from five countries (India, the UK, Brazil, South Africa and Turkey) and aims to advance the genetic diagnosis and therapy for patients with muscle wasting neuromuscular diseases, including motor neurone disease and muscular dystrophy. Itanagar, Feb 24 : Mobs protesting against the permanent resident certificate (PRC) continued their violence spree in Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday, burning down the house of Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, authorities said. Security forces resorted to blank firing as the the unruly protesters defied curfew and marched towards Chief Minister Pema Khandu's residence. "The situation is very tense and uncontrollable. The state is taking all steps to calm the situation," Home Minister Kumar Waii told IANS on Sunday. It was not clear if anyone was injured in Sunday's firing. The protesters also torched and vandalized two police stations in Itanagar and adjoining Naharlagun, while a Superintendent of Police officer was reportedly injured. Authorities on Saturday imposed an indefinite curfew in Itanagar and Naharlagun as demonstrators protesting against the government's move to grant PRCs to non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe communities went on a rampage, indulging in arson and stone pelting. One person was killed after sustaining a bullet injury in Naharlagun. Governor B.D. Mishra, a retired Brigadier, has condemned the violence. Appealing for peace, Mishra said: "Arunachalis have always demonstrated their rationality, sagacity and maturity in their conduct under all circumstances." Mishra advised the state government to take all precautionary measures to prevent further mayhem. Four Army columns have been deployed in the Arunachal Pradesh capital while authorities have suspended Internet services across the state to avoid the spread of fake news via social media platforms. The protests were called on Friday evening by 18 student and civil society groups. Later that day, protesters set ablaze 50 vehicles and damaged over 100 vehicles. The mobs alleged the a committee led by Environment and Forest Minister Nabam Rebia had submitted its report on PRC without proper verification of facts. New Delhi, Feb 24 : Slabs of marble "rhythmically" sculpted into natural subjects like creepers, flowers and even bonsai plants, are currently on display at the Triveni Kala Sangam's open Sculpture Court here. Udaipur-based sculptor Amit Singh's unique interpretation of the "versatile medium" is converted into 40 works of stone art in the series "Rhythm of Marble" that depict elements of nature: the roots, creepers, the patterns created naturally. The series, done in different colours of marble like white, black and pink, also presents human figures suggestive of the female body, Singh told IANS. "I have tried to play the rhythmic form inherent in marble, hence the title of the exhibition," added Singh, who combines the contemporary artistic styles with ancient Indian art. Often used across India in historic monuments like the Taj Mahal, marble is quarried abundantly from certain parts of Rajasthan, where the College of Art sculptor is from. Having spent time around marble and stone in his childhood, he gradually moved from sketching and visualising his creations and finally sculpting them in the third dimension. Singh now works with metal and marble sculptures, and continues to compose different forms from the mediums that are gifts to us from nature. As his contribution, he returns it to nature with a human touch. An exhibited sculpture shows two faces atop a building, conveying the young artist's thoughts on how urbanisation has destroyed the environmental balance. The marble sculptures with their notable texture carving and colour tones, are open for public viewing till March 4 here. New Delhi: Ahmed Ali, 82-year old rickshaw puller from Assam's Karimganj district who was mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his "Mann Ki Baat" for setting up nine schools in Madhurband village of state's Patharkandi, during a programme in Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Ahmed Ali, 82-year old rickshaw puller from Assam's Karimganj district who was mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his "Mann Ki Baat" for setting up nine schools in Madhurband village of state's Patharkandi, during a programme in Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Ahmed Ali, 82-year old rickshaw puller from Assam's Karimganj district who was mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his "Mann Ki Baat" for setting up nine schools in Madhurband village of state's Patharkandi in New Delhi on Nov 25, Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Ahmed Ali, 82-year old rickshaw puller from Assam's Karimganj district who was mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his "Mann Ki Baat" for setting up nine schools in Madhurband village of state's Patharkandi in New Delhi on Nov 25, Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Feb 24 : Ahmed Ali from Assam's Karimganj district, while pulling his cycle rickshaw one day in the late 1970s, felt miserable at the realization that like him his soon-to-be-born child too will remain illiterate and may have to pull a rickshaw for a living. Hailing from Madhurband village, when Ali, now 82, moved to Karimganj town, about 300 km from Guwahati, he often saw children attending school and getting educated, and sometimes even ferried them to and from their homes to their schools in his rickshaw. The thought of his child not getting proper education hit him so hard that he decided he should do something about it so that poor children of the coming generation, including his own, do not suffer in privation like him. Since then, Ali has gone on to build nine schools and, because of his singular effort, he even found a mention in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' radio programme. "I feel it was Allah's wish and blessings from locals that I could achieve whatever I wanted," says a humble Ali. "I could not attend school due to poverty. People of my village were poor and it pained me to see the children there were not able to attend schools due to the same reason. I don't want to see dropouts from poor families any more," Ali told IANS during a function in Delhi where he was invited as a guest. For establishing the first school, he sold a portion of his land and donated another portion on which the building now stands. The funds for the schools were also arranged by him from his savings, daily earnings and some from charity. "There were some people in the area who supported the cause and helped in whatever way they could," he said. To ensure there was no fund crisis for the school, he used to pull his rickshaw in the morning and cut wood at night. He sold that wood and used the money to build the school and later to run it. "There was not even a single school in the area. I had this very strong feeling that when my children will be born, they too will not have any school. After the birth of my first child (a boy), the feeling became more strong," he said. The school, he added, was even more important for girls as "boys get a chance to go out and get an education, but girls do not". With a firm resolve that he should do something about it, Ali met an education officer, whom he used to ferry in his rickshaw, and with his help, he established a middle school in his village in 1978. "Soon after it was established, I realised that first, we needed a primary school. Until children were educated at the primary level, who will get enrolled in middle school? In 1980, three-LP (Lower Primary) schools were opened," he said. In all, Ali has opened three lower primary (class I-V) schools, five middle (class VI-VIII) schools and one high school in Madhurband and nearby villages. "Education is an important thing, and everyone should get a chance to get educated. It is a sin for anybody to not be educated," he said. "Although I may be illiterate, I get respect from people. They now come to seek my blessings. I feel joy when I see that boys and girls from the village have been attending school. This joy inspired me and I never felt tired," said Ali. "I get satisfaction when girls come and tell me how helpful these schools were for them. Every year, the overall number of girls in schools is higher than boys." The high school, started in 1990, has 228 students in the current year. Every year, hundreds of students appear for the Class X exams, but they don't have a place to study further. "I could only manage to make arrangements for students till Class X. They don't have a place to study Class XI and XII. I need both the government's approval and funds for setting up the higher-secondary school," Ali said, in the hope that he will soon accomplish that as well. "There is no nearby college. The nearest college is also 15 km away. I also want to build a college for students, but that will come at a later stage. First we need a junior college (for students passing Class X)," he added. Ali came to limelight in March last year when Prime Minister Modi spoke about him in his monthly "Mann Ki Baat" address. Ali feels proud that the Prime Minister acknowledged his work and he desires to meet Modi. Asked what he will tell Modi, Ali said he wanted all that the schools should be government-recognised so that funds were never an issue. "I will also ask him for a junior college and a college, if possible." (The weekly feature series is part of a positive-journalism project of IANS and the Frank Islam Foundation. Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in) Anantapur : , Feb 24 (IANS) South Korean automobile giant Kia Motors' plant is set to transform Anantapur, one of the country's most backward districts. The sprawling plant, which has come up over 536 acres of land in Erramanchi village in a span of just 14 months, is changing the landscape of Anantapur, one of the four districts in the backward Rayalaseema region. In a region with one of the lowest rainfall in the country and once notorious for brutal killings by rival groups fighting for supremacy, the plant, which began trial production on January 30, has come as a breath of fresh air. Located just 125 km from Bengaluru airport, the plant has come up with an investment of $1 billion dollars while an equal amount pumped in by ancillaries. It is billed as one of the biggest Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in India in the automobile sector. Kia Motors, the world's eighth-largest automaker, plans to manufacture 300,000 cars at this plant every year. The commercial production will start after July with SP2i, a SUV based on the Kia SP Concept, first showcased at India's Auto Expo 2018. With over 3,000 direct and 7,000 indirect jobs, Kia will become the single largest employer in the drought-prone region. The ancillaries, including 18 South Korean companies, are expected to provide an additional 5,000 jobs. Officials say the Korean township and other supporting infrastructure would generate more employment for locals. The Kia plant houses a five-acre training facility that offers a Basic Technical Course (BTC) in automobiles in collaboration with the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corp (APSSDC), helping develop manufacturing skills among young people, 400 of whom have been selected in the first batch. "The plant is a great boon for the region in terms of employment, investment and in terms of creating confidence among young people. People used to say that since the region is not endowed with resources, there can't be development here but it has great human resources which need to be trained properly," K. Lakshminarayana, Director, APSSDC, told IANS. He pointed out that APSKDC helping Kia in getting the students recruited and trained in Siemens Centre of Excellence at the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Anantapur. Siemens Centre of Excellence has 14 labs to train students in emerging technologies. With a Korean township, hostels and hotels coming up in the area, students are also learning Korean and other foreign languages. The Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur, is providing a Korean language course, while the Rayalaseema Development Trust is also training local youth in foreign languages, including Korean and French. Officials believe the eco-system will also give a fillip to micro, small and medium enterprise and turn Rayalaseema often termed as 'Ralla Seema' or land of stones due to recurrent droughts into 'Ratnala Seema' or land of diamonds. (Mohammed Shafeeq can be contacted at m.shafeeq@ians.in) Amaravati : , Feb 24 (IANS) Former Union Minister and Congress leader V. Kishore Chandra Deo on Sunday joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) along with his supporters. Deo formally joined the TDP in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu at an event here. Chandrababu Naidu welcomed Deo and other leaders from Vijayanagaram and Visakhapatnam districts into the TDP and said this would further strengthen the party in north coastal Andhra. Deo, a five-time Lok Sabha member and one-time Rajya Sabha member, had called on Naidu earlier this month to convey his decision to join the TDP. He said he joined the TDP in the larger interest of the state and the nation. Deo, who was Minister for Tribal Welfare and Panchayat Raj in the Manmohan Singh government from 2011 to 2014, is likely to get a TDP ticket to contest from the Araku Lok Sabha seat. He, however, said his decision to join the TDP was unconditional. One of the key politicians from north coastal Andhra, Deo had also served as Minister of State for Steel, Mines and Coal in the Charan Singh Government (1979-80). Jammu, Feb 24 : Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Sunday urged people to stay calm and not to pay heed to rumours, saying the deployment of a large number of security personnel in the state was linked to upcoming Lok Sabha elections. "The Governor appealed to the people that the induction of forces be seen only in the context of conducting elections and should not be attributed to any other cause," said an official statement after Malik chaired a meeting of the State Administrative Council (SAC) to review the situation in the state in the aftermath of the suicide bombing on a CRPF convoy. "The Governor appealed to the people not to believe in rumours of any extreme nature which are circulating widely in some quarters and to remain calm," the statement said. "These rumours are unnecessarily creating an atmosphere of fear in the minds of people leading to stress and disruption to normal life. Rumours about curfews and other actions should not be believed," he was quoted as saying. The Governor was reacting to mass panic in the Kashmir Valley on Saturday as rumours gripped the region that Article 35-A of the Constitution that gives special rights to people in the state was set to be abrogated. The Governor's advisors, the Chief Secretary and senior officials attended the SAC meeting. An official statement said the Governor was briefed about the current security situation in Jammu city, where property of a community came under attack following the suicide bombing, and the Kashmir Valley. The recent induction of central armed forces for election duty was also discussed. "The Governor was informed that for a smooth conduct of general elections in the state, a much larger number of central security forces is required as the security concerns have increased after the (February 14) Pulwama terror attack. "After the Pulwama incident, the security concerns are much higher with the possibility of terrorist organisations increasing their activities against candidates and voters on a much larger scale. "In this context, a much larger number of additional security forces are needed for conducting the general elections. "Normally, forces are inducted a month before elections so that they settle down and familiarize with the ground situation. It is in this context that 100 companies of central forces are being inducted into the state at the moment. "This is less than the actual additional forces required and more would be inducted in the coming weeks," the statement added. The Governor also said security measures were being taken for the safety of Kashmiris living outside the state. Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Governor said there was no fight against Kashmiris and it was the responsibility of the country to take care of their safety wherever they may be. He said over 22,000 Kashmiri students were studying outside the state and the media had played up a few scattered incidents of attacks on them. This, he said, had caused fear and anxiety among parents whose children were studying outside the state. Caracas/Bogota, Feb 24 : At least five people were killed and hundreds injured as violence broke out along the Venezuela-Colombia border, where international aid intended for Caracas is awaiting transport. The violence broke out on Saturday night as opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim Venezuelan President Juan Guaido named Saturday as the deadline for the aid to cross the border resulting in incumbent President Nicolas Maduro severing diplomatic relations with Colombia, CNN reported. Maduro has vowed to stop the supplies from coming into the country, calling the plan part of a coup attempt. The toll was confirmed to CNN by opposition National Assembly Representative Adriana Pichardo, adding that 51 people were arrested. Meanwhile, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, the Colombian Foreign Minister, said 285 people were injured after the Venezuelan National Guard fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters near the country's border. Three trucks of aid were set on fire by tear gas grenades as they approached the first border checkpoint at the Santander bridge connecting Venezuela to Colombia. Also Saturday, humanitarian aid moved through the Brazilian-Venezuelan border in Pacaraima, according to Maria Teresa Belandria, Venezuela's opposition-appointed ambassador to Brazil, CNN reported. In the wake of the violence, Guaido vowed that "we will not stop until we see freedom in Venezuela" and "we must keep all our options open for the liberation of our homeland". Guaido will head to Bogota for a meeting on Monday with US Vice President Mike Pence, and regional leaders in the Lima Group -- Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru. Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, blasted Maduro on social media, calling him "a sick tyrant" and saying: "The US will take action against those who oppose the peaceful restoration of democracy in Venezuela. Now is the time to act in support of the needs of the desperate Venezuelan people." The US recognises Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela. Agartala, Feb 24 : The Tripura Police has arrested a youth for uploading video clips supporting the Pulwama terror attack on Facebook, a police official said on Sunday. The 23-year-old Pramesh Debbarma, a resident of Khowai in Tripura, was arrested from a hotel in Mysuru on Saturday for uploading video clips supporting and encouraging the attack on his Facebook page, Khowai district police chief Krishnendu Chakraborty told IANS. He said the accused will be brought back to Tripura on Sunday for taking further action. Central intelligence agencies may also interrogate the detainee. Chakraborty said the accused was arrested from the hotel, where he worked as a helper, with the help of the Mysuru police. A case was registered against the youth under Section 124 (a) (sedition charges) and 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, he added. The February 14 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district left 40 CRPF personnel dead. Would Warthogs gut tourism? Free Access It was no surprise that members of the Potter County Tourist and Recreation Work Group took a dim view of the proposed A-10 Warthog training flights swooping across the county.... Potter County targeted for ATV trails Free Access Much of the region is bracing for the ATV season that traditionally kicks into gear on Memorial Day weekend and continues until late September. Those dates coincide with the opening... Tractor Supply plan revealed Free Access Details on the plan to bring a Tractor Supply chain store to Coudersport were revealed last week. Blueprints were reviewed by both the Coudersport Borough Planning Commission and the Potter... Rural Renaissance underway here Free Access Americans are itching to get away after being cooped up for a year or more. Some 72 percent are planning summer trips, up 37 percent from a year ago. State... Delray Beach, Feb 24 : Defending champion Juan Martin del Potro has withdrawn from the Mexican Open because of discomfort in his troubled right knee, just days after being granted a wild card for the ATP 500 event. The 30-year-old Argentine announced his decision to miss the tournament after his defeat to American MacKenzie McDonald in the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach Open in Florida, reports Xinhua news agency. "I won't be going to Acapulco," the World No. 4 said. "It was always going to depend on how I felt here (at Delray Beach). And as I progressed I've given myself fewer chances of going to Mexico. I have to listen to my body." The Delray Beach Open was Del Potro's first event since he suffered a fractured knee cap at the Shanghai Masters last October. The 2009 US Open champion has been beset by injuries in recent years and long periods on the sidelines saw his career ranking plummet to 1,045th place in 2016. Last year he won two ATP titles and reached the final of the US Open, where he was beaten by Novak Djokovic. Lucknow, Feb 24 : A case of fraud has been registered against Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha in Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh, police said on Sunday. Four others have also been named in the police complaint alleging that the actress along with four others -- Malvika Punjabi, Dhumil Thakkar, Edgar Sakaria and Abhishek Sinha -- have defrauded the complainant of Rs 32 lakh. In the police complaint, Pramod Sharma has said that an amount of Rs 32 lakh had been transferred to Sonakshi's account for her presence at an event but she did not turn up. Accusing the police of inaction, Sharma had consumed poison recently but was saved. A police official said that they have registered a case after a probe into the matter and the organiser was trying to unnecessarily exert pressure on them by acts like consuming poison. The official told IANS that the India Fashion and Beauty Award programme had been organised on September 30 last year. Talent Full On Company was roped in for the event and after talking to the private secretary of Sonakshi, Rs 32 lakh was deposited in her account. At the last minute however, Sonakshi cancelled her appearance causing losses to the organisers. Riyadh, Feb 24 : Saudi Arabia has named Princess Reema Bint Bandar Bin Sultan Al Saud as the Kingdoms first female ambassador to the US, the media reported on Sunday. According to the appointment by royal decree on Saturday night, Princess Reema will replace Prince Khalid bin Salman, a son of King Salman and a younger brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who took the post in 2017. She is the daughter of former Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, a towering figure in Saudi diplomacy who served from 1983 to 2005, reports Gulf News. Following the announcement on Saturday night, Princess Reema tweeted: "I extend the sincerest thanks and deepest gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince... for the generous and precious trust by appointing me as ambassador to the United States of America. "I will, God willing, serve my country, its leaders and all its people, and I will spare no effort to do so," she posted in Arabic to her 78,000 followers. Princess Reema is a graduate of George Washington University, and has served as an adviser to the Crown Prince office. She is also known for her fashion business and philanthropy. She is the 11th Saudi Ambassador to Washington. The royal decree on Saturday also named Prince Khalid as Deputy Defence Minister under the Crown Prince, who heads the Ministry. Mumbai, Feb 24 : Actress Zareen Khan, who will be seen in a Punjabi film titled "Daaka", feels that actors shouldnt limit themselves when it comes to working in films in different languages. Talking about working in various film industries, Zareen said: "Earlier also, I had worked in a Punjabi film. I don't understand why people ask 'You are a Bollywood actor then how are you working in a Punjabi film." "I am an actor. I would like to work in Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi or Bengali films. I don't think any actor should have a language restriction. If I like a film script in whatever language, then I will do that film." The actress was interacting with the media at Parfait lingerie's plus size fashion show 2019 here on Saturday. Does the film industry put pressure on actors to be fit or look in a certain way? She said: "I don't know about industry pressure but I try to be fit because fitness has become a part of my lifestyle. When I was a plus size teenager, that time I realised that my mother and maternal grandmother had to deal with a lot of diseases because after their marriage and after having kids, they didn't look after their fitness so, I feel you have to be fit for your well-being." "I think you shouldn't stay fit under any kind of pressure. People should stay fit so that they can stay away from various kinds of diseases." Caracas, Feb 24 : Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced that he is breaking off all political and diplomatic ties with the Colombian government. "My patience is exhausted, I can no longer bear it that the territory of Colombia lends itself to aggression against Venezuela, so I have decided to break off all political and diplomatic relations with the fascist government of Colombia," Efe news quoted Maduro as telling his supporters on Saturday. He cried out that Colombian "ambassadors and consuls must leave Venezuela within 24 hours," and added, "oligarchy, get out...out of here, oligarchy, enough is enough." Maduro said it has become obvious "how Colombian territory is being used by the government of Mr (Ivan) Duque" to attack him, a reference to the help the neighbouring country has provided so that the humanitarian aid stored there can be transported into Venezuela. "Never before has a Colombian President fallen so low or has worked against Venezuela the way Mr. Ivan Duque has done, never before, never - it's like he's throwing stones," Maduro said. "He has the face of a little angel but I'd like to grab his cheeks and say...you're the devil, Ivan Duque." For several months humanitarian aid has been stored at the Colombian border city of Cucuta to meet the needs of Venezuela, a country that for some five years has suffered severe shortages of food and medicines. On Friday, the "Venezuela Aid Live" concert was held in Cucuta with the participation of 30 local and international artists to hail the arrival of humanitarian aid. Opposition leader Juan Guaido made an appearance at the event, a month after proclaiming himself the interim President of Venezuela. Guaido is staying in Cucuta and has been received and accompanied not only by Duque, but also by the Presidents of Chile, Sebastian Pinera, and of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benitez, as well as by Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS). The Venezuelan President also said this Saturday that under no circumstances will he ever "bow down" to those people and asked the military, the militia and his supporters to defend him if ever he is ousted. "My life is dedicated solely to the defence of the homeland, and under no circumstances will I ever bow down. I will never surrender, I will always defend our homeland with my own life if it is necessary to defend it," the president told the thousands of supporters who poured into the streets of Caracas "to defend the revolution." In his statement he asked the military, militia and supporters to come out in a "civil-military union...if something happens to me someday." Rabat, Feb 24 : Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan arrived in the Moroccan city of Casablanca for a three-day visit to the north African country on Saturday. According to the British embassy in Morocco, Harry and Meghan, during the visit, are expected to fly to the town of Asni near the central city of Marrakech to visit a boarding house which was set up with the aim to reduce school drop-out rates among teenage girls, Xinhua news agency reported. The couple will visit facilities for children with special needs, attend an equestrian event and meet young Moroccan athletes and social entrepreneurs. The visit to Morocco is expected to be Harry and Meghan's last official trip outside Britain before their baby's delivery. , 74, of Morrisonville, NY, died on June 24, 2021 at home. He was born in Ticonderoga, NY on March 21, 1947 the son of Bernard and Frances Clifton. At his request there will be no services. The soaking rain overnight will come to an end Sunday. However, a pair of cold fronts will usher in sweeping changes, literally, as whipping winds dominate into Monday. Rain will continue to pound South Jersey as we go into Sunday. Temperatures will be in the 40s. Areas of roadway flooding will be possible early in the morning. Rain will lighten up around 9 a.m. Bring the rain gear. Winds will pick up out of the southwest, with sustained winds around 15 mph and gusts in the 30s. This will pull in warmer air as a warm front lifts to the north of us. However, the warm wedge does not look to be as long lasting than thought in the original forecast. Therefore, expect a mild day. However, no 60s will be likely. It will just be mid to upper 50s for all. The rain will end between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. One to 1.75 inches of rain total will yield areas of stream and creek flooding through the day. We enter the next weather story the winds. We have a strong low pressure on our hands, the same one responsible for the 35.9 inches of snow in Flagstaff and flakes in Vegas. So, we will be talking about some powerful stuff. Meteorologist Joe Martucci to speak at Stockton GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP Press Meteorologist Joe Martucci will discuss the unique weather-related Ryan said Wednesday that most of the mold has been removed from Station Four. According to Varallo, problems with mold and a leaking roof have been years in the making, after the city and state did not immediately act on department reports he said detailed these problems in the past. Its the lack of the capital improvement and the lack of political will to fix these problems before they balloon, and now were here with a station closed, he said. Varallo reported that Station Two, where he works, is now also dealing with a mold removal process. Realistically we should have two fire stations closed, but were trying to make due with this one because as of right now were hoping this will only take a week or two to get done, Varallo said. Ryan stated that Station Fours closure for repairs has not affected the number of fire companies protecting the city, and that all fire companies are operating. Varallo also said that firefighters are still making their response times even though they are dispersed elsewhere. However, he sees the closure as another challenge after increased hours with lower pay and less manpower that puts stress on firefighters. ATLANTIC CITY A Newark man was arrested Friday morning after police found 520 bags of heroin, 25 grams of cocaine, marijuana and a digital scale in his car. At 9:50 a.m., Officers Alberto Valles and Chris Dodson stopped a car at Arkansas and Pacific avenues after the car crossed over the centerline into oncoming traffic, police said in a news release. The officers could smell marijuana inside the vehicle, according to the release, even though the driver, Marquis Mans, 38, had multiple air fresheners and dryer sheets in the car, which are commonly used to mask the odor of drugs. Atlantic City police say crime down in 2018 ATLANTIC CITY Violent crime in the resort in 2018 was down just shy of 30 percent from 201 Mans was arrested after he got out of the car, leaving a small bag of cocaine behind, police said. While searching the car, police found the heroin, cocaine, marijuana and the scale. Mans is charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a public zone, as well as several motor vehicle violations. He was released on a summons. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. ADVERTISEMENT Some security personnel escorting election results from Ipokia, Ogun State to the collation centre at Oronna Town Hall were ambushed on Sunday. Two persons were later rushed to the hospital. The results got to Oronna around 10:14 p.m. amidst heavy security. Ipokia is a local government area in Ogun West bordering the Republic of Benin. Its headquarters is Ipokia town. The security personnel claimed they were ambushed at Eredo village situated between Owode and Ilaro. They were on their way to Oronna Town Hall, where they were expected to deliver the local governments House of Representative and senatorial election results. Nigerians on Saturday went to the polls to elect legislative members who will represent them at the National Assembly. As the elections end, election results are being collated across the states. Ambushed One of the electoral officers who followed the team said they were coming from Ipokia Local government with the results when they were attacked. The EO, who was overheard narrating the incident to someone on the phone said they ran into an ambush when they were waylaid at Eredo village. He said they were able to protect the results because they had heavy security. During the attack, a security officer and a driver were shot and have been rushed to the hospital. No life was reported lost. PREMIUM TIMES attempt to speak with the INEC spokesperson in Ogun was not successful as he declined to comment. Also, the police spokesperson in Ogun State said he would get back to the reporter. He was yet to fulfil his promise at the time of this report. ADVERTISEMENT Tension is currently brewing in Ogbomoso town in Oyo State over the relocation of the collation centre for Ogbomoso North Local Government Area. Arowomonle, which is the headquarters of the local government area, is the collation centre for the council for the presidential and National Assembly elections held on Saturday. Ogbomoso North is one of the five local government areas in Ogbomoso town and has 10 wards and 183 polling units. Staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and agents of political parties who were already collating results from various wards abandoned the exercise and fled the centre following reports that armed hoodlums were planning attack it. The tense situation also forced people around INEC office to flee the area to seek protection elsewhere. The commissions officials were reconciling the results of the 10 wards in the local government when the report of security threat came. The charged atmosphere compelled INEC to immediately order the suspension of the collation. The Returning Officer in the local government area, Rasheed Okunola, a professor in the department of Sociology, University of Ibadan and other collation officers were forced to leave the collation centre and relocate to the Ogbomoso Town Hall. The town hall is located beside the palace of Soun in Ogbomoso. The new centre is being guarded by armed soldiers. It was also gathered that the Chairman of Ogbomoso North Local Government Area, Bukola Badmus, who is a member of the APC, was attacked by hoodlums suspected to be working for an opposition party. His car windscreen was reportedly damaged during the attack. The spokesperson of INEC in the state, Ayodele Folamin, told PREMIUM TIMES that the commission was yet to be briefed about the incident. Mr Folamin said that the commission would only base its report on the report of the electoral officer in the local government area. You are just telling me now. I am not aware. You have the information, but I am yet to have it. But, we will base our report on the report of the collation officer in the local government area, he said. ADVERTISEMENT From Atanda Adebayo South-west Shittu Abstract: APC won all the elections in Adebayo Shittus polling unit. The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, on Saturday won in his polling unit for President Muhammadu Buhari and other candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the presidential and National Assembly elections. The victory seemed to vindicate the minister against those who said he is not popular among his people. Mr Shittu, a former member of the old Oyo State House of Assembly, hails from Saki in Oke Ogun geo-political zone of Oyo State. The APC won in Unit 20, Ward 2, Cornerstone Secondary School, Koomi Road, Saki, where Mr Shittu voted. The minister has been running for governor of the state since 2011. He was barred from contesting this years governorship by the APC after a PREMIUM TIMES report revealed he skipped the mandatory National Youth Service Corps. In the official results released by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), APC candidates floored those of other political parties in the polling unit. For the presidential election, the party scored 302 votes, while the PDP got 93 votes. In the senatorial election, the APC got 220 while PDP got 117. In the House of Representatives, the APC got 188 to defeat PDP which got 153. ADVERTISEMENT There is confusion in Ilesa Grammar School venue of the Osun East senatorial district collation centre after the returning officer noticed an error in the results. At about 10:50 p.m. on election day, the collation officers and ad-hoc staff walked into the collation centre and started making corrections to the results they have with them. The Returning Officer, Professor Aransi, the Dean of Division of Students Affairs of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, who arrived earlier was waiting for the wards results at about 11:45 pm as the officials continued making corrections to their results. At about 6 a.m on Sunday, the RO was yet to call the results from the wards. The situation which lasted for hours drew the attention of the security personnel at the centre to join the returning officer in ensuring accurate election results. Osun East comprises Ilesa and Ife and is expected to be a direct battle between the APC and the PDP. ADVERTISEMENT The Peoples Democratic Party has won the presidential elections in the polling unit of former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose. The results for the Afao Ekiti polling unit 1, ward 1 in Afao/ Irepodun Ekiti indicate that the PDP polled 225 votes to APCs 82. Other parties, ANDP, NIP, RBNP, PPA, SNC and UPN all had one vote each; the DPP had two votes and PCP secured three. Mr Fayose is one of the PDPs staunch chieftains who has spoken consistently against the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. The former governors attempt to ensure his protege succeeds him in office was unsuccessful. ADVERTISEMENT The Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has won with wide margin the senatorial elections results in Ideato South Local Government Area (LGA) of the state. Running under the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Okorocha who is from Ogboko, a village in the LGA, scored 24, 102 votes to beat his closest challenger, Jones Onyeriri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mr Onyeriri, a member of the House of Representative polled a paltry 3108 votes. He was closely followed by the candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and a former senator of the district, Osita Izunaso, who polled 2801 votes. In the presidential polls, Muhammadu Buhari also scored 20,663 votes in the LGA to beat Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the PDP who polled 8,844 votes. Action Alliance won the House of Representatives in the LGA with 22,231 votes against the APC and PDP who scored 5534 and 2266 respectively. By this result, the outgoing governor has won one of the 12 local governments in his Imo West (Orlu) zone. Other results from the zone are currently being collated and summed up at the INEC office in Orlu LGA amidst tight security and tension. The governor is angling to replace Hope Uzodinma, the senator of Imo West who, in turn, is angling to replace Mr Okorocha in the governorship race coming up on March 9, in what is considered the first test of his political foray. While Mr Okorocha is hoping to deliver the district for President Buhari, he is also rooting for his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, candidate of the AA in the upcoming governorship elections. Mr Okorocha, while casting his vote earlier Saturday, confirmed incidents of ballot box snatching in some polling units in the state. There were also several reported cases of invasion and harassment by thugs mostly because there were inadequate security personnel at polling centres within the district. Shortly before the governors arrival, PREMIUM TIMES reported a journalist, duly accredited to cover the polls, was harassed and briefly detained by the thugs in Mr Okorochas polling unit 10:14 am. This happened in the watching eyes of two female police personnel at the centre. Even when the journalist reported the matter to the nearby Ogboko area command, he was further advised by the police to stay away from the area. The Imo West zone is famed to have produced most of the notable names from the state. Apart from being the largest senatorial district made up of 12 LGAs, Imo west 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 governed two terms each. ADVERTISEMENT The outgoing Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, while voting on Saturday confirmed incidents of ballot box snatching in some polling units in the state. The governor, who contested for Imo West Senatorial seat under the All Progressives Congress (APC), however, said the presidents warning to ballot snatchers helped reduce such incidents during elections. Though there are few cases of ballot box snatching at Umuobom and Osomotor, the Presidents speech on ballot box snatching has scared people from snatching ballot boxes. That is good for our democracy. Mr Okorocha spoke while casting his vote alongside his wife at 11:18 a.m. at Polling Unit 1 in Ogboko Ward 1, Ideato South Local Government Area, according to Punch Newspaper. Mr Buhari had, on Monday, said those planning to snatch ballot boxes may be carrying out their last illegal acts. The comment generated heated debates in the polity with many saying the presidents statement is a veiled directive to security operatives to kill (extra-judicially) those who run afoul of the electoral law. There were, however, several cases of ballot snatching during Saturdays polls. In Lagos state, ballot boxes and papers in some centres were set ablaze by suspected thugs. The Imo State governor further expressed optimism over his victory and that of Mr Buhari at the polls. If the number of people at rallies translates to voting, Buhari will win. I will also win, as always. Also, the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance, Uche Nwosu, had raised the alarm of incidents of ballot paper snatching and scarcity of ballot papers in some local government areas of the state. Mr Nwosu, who addressed journalists after voting at his Eziama Obaire in Nkwerre Local Government Area said he was impressed with the massive turnout of voters. There were also several reported cases of invasion and harassment by thugs mostly because there were inadequate security personnel at polling centres within Mr Okorochas Imo West. Shortly before the governors arrival, PREMIUM TIMES reported that a journalist, duly accredited to cover the polls, was harassed and briefly detained by the thugs in Mr Okorochas polling unit 10:14 a.m. This happened under the watching eyes of two female police personnel at the centre. When the journalist reported the matter to the nearby Ogboko area command, he was further advised by the police to stay away from the area. ADVERTISEMENT The senator representing Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District, Godswill Akpabio, and his main challenger in Saturdays election, Chris Ekpenyong, have relocated to INECs collation centre in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state, ahead of the announcement of the election result. Mr Akpabio, a former governor of the state, is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He is seeking re-election to the Senate. Mr Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor of the state, is of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the duo have been at the centre for more than seven hours. By 12:30 pm, they were still in the centre, anxiously awaiting the official declaration of the result by the electoral body.. It was learnt that the decision of the two top politicians to relocate to the centre was borme out of fears that the electoral process in the area could be manipulated to favour either party. Supporters of both politicians are already claiming victory in the Saturdays election. The atmosphere around the collation centre looked tensed amid the heavy presence of army and police. Party agents, members, and supporters are seen milling around outside. A fight almost broke out between a media aide to Governor Udom Emmanuel and a media aide to Mr Akpabio, which prompted the security officials to send journalists out of the centre. INEC official, who did not want his name mentioned, told PREMIUM TIMES that the commission as still receiving results from different local government areas that make up the senatorial district. Widespread violence that disrupted the elections on Saturday in Rivers State is affecting the collation of results across the state. Voting was disrupted in various places across the states amid incidents ranging from disputes over the location of polling units to armed attacks. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was forced to cancel the elections in two local government areas (LGAs), Bonny and Akuku Toru, due to violence. In Akuku Toru LGA, the Nigerian Army said seven persons, including a soldier, lost their lives. The army, according to its spokesperson, Musa Sagir, lost one soldier while six suspected hoodlums who ambushed an army convoy in Abonnema were killed. Election officials and materials could not leave the INEC office for polling units in Bonny LGA as a standoff ensued between partisans and security operatives. Aside Bonny and Akuku Toru where elections did not hold LGA-wide, several wards and pollings across other LGAs were hit by violence and irregularities. In Khana LGA, PREMIUM TIMES observed that materials and personnel left INEC office for polling units as late as minutes past 10 a.m. Even when the elections started belatedly, there were shootings and ballot box snatching. In Okrika LGA, INEC said sensitive materials for one ward was diverted, therefore the decision to reschedule voting in the ward. There were also incidents of card reader malfunction. PREMIUM TIMES observed the failure of card readers across polling units in Onne, Eleme LGA. Voters were manually accredited there as were in ward 7 of Port Harcourt City LGA. As a result of these developments on Saturday, collation exercise is now taking a slow pace. Across the state, collation is still at ward level, that is summation of results from polling units, several hours after voting ended. In the Port Harcourt City LGA, as of 10:30 am on Sunday, results from pollings units were still being collated ward by ward at the Model Primary School, Elekahia. We may not leave here today, one party agent said. The collation exercise will still progress to the LGA level before returns are made in the National Assembly and presidential elections. No local government is ready, confirmed Edwin Enabor, the spokesperson for INEC in the state. Asked how many days to wait before the results are known statewide, Mr Enabor replied: You can not say how many days. The exercise is at various stages across the state. Another source of disputes between the parties at various collation centres would be the failure of card readers. This would mean discrepancies in the number of accreditted voters recorded by the card readers before failure and the number of those manually accredited. ADVERTISEMENT At the collation centre in Port Harcourt, APC agents were disputing results from polling units in ward 7 where card readers failed. They said the PDPs votes exceeded the accreditation recorded on the card readers. They said polling staff helped the PDP to write fake results. But the presiding officers denied that allegation. ADVERTISEMENT The Nigerian army has accused the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, of making attempt to bribe a military chief because of the 2019 general elections. The state government has denied the accusation, saying the military was rather trying to divert attention from the atrocities they are committing in Rivers because of the elections. The army in a statement issued on the Election Day said, It is indeed no secret to the military authorities that Governor Wike has on various occasions made attempts to compromise the integrity of the GOC 6 Division, Maj Gen Jamil Sarham. Having failed, despite series of overtures and monetary pledges of millions of dollars, both in person and from cronies, it is no surprise that the frustrated Governor has resorted to this appalling campaign of calumny. The statement was issued by the acting spokesperson of the army, Sagir Musa. The statement was in response to an allegation that the army attempted to assassinate the Rivers governor, Mr Wike. The Nigerian Army does not train assassins, as such the institution or her personnel cannot be involved in sending assassins to murder a state governor as alleged by Gov Nyesom Wike, the army said. The army, which said it was neutral in the nations elections, challenged the governor to prove his allegations against it within seven days or he could as well, save face and keep his peace. The Rivers government, speaking through the Commissioner for Information, Emma Okah, said the armys allegation was mere blackmail to cover the evil perpetrated by soldiers in the state. You have seen what happened yesterday. You have seen how innocent people were being killed for nothing. You have seen how military people are sacking all the collation centres, everywhere in Rivers state, and taking control, in order to rig the elections for the APC, Mr Okah told PREMIUM TIMES, Sunday morning. Different groups in the PDP have been crying about what the army is planning to do in Rivers, particularly a week before now. Mr Okah said soldiers were holding INEC official and others hostage in Isiokpo, in Ikwerre Local Government Area, since Saturday night. Governor Wikes arch political rival, Rotimi Amaechi, who is the minister of transportation, is from Ikwere. Mr Okah said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the elections in Ikwere. He said the army was trying to help Mr Amaechi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate the election results. PDP won at all the units in Ikwerre, we have all the results. Amaechi is the one bringing all the soldiers, Mr Okah said. ADVERTISEMENT The police in Kaduna will not take it lightly with anyone who stages any unlawful protest in the state, Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State command, Ahmad Abdurrahman, has said. Mr Abdurrahman, on Sunday, warned anyone planning to stage a protest in any part of the state on Monday to shelve the idea. The police chief said he has information that some disgruntled elements are planning to stage protests in the parts of the state. He addressed journalists in his office Sunday evening. There are some intelligence reports that some disgruntled elements are planning to stage a protest in Kaduna tomorrow (Monday) We dont know their intention, but we know that the state government has banned all forms of protests, procession and demonstration. That is why we are warning that those planning such protest should have a rethink; otherwise the police and other security agencies in the state would not take it lightly with them, he said. Mr Abdurrahman did not clarify what constitutes an unlawful protest. He also did not state the source of his privileged information. An appeal court has in the past ruled that protesters embarking on a peaceful march need no police permit for such. On Saturday, some voters in the southern part of the state capital protested late arrival of election materials in their area. Some of them who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES earlier said the delay constitutes a systematic disenfranchisement of voters in the region. This newspaper reported that election materials were yet to leave many RAC centres as at 8 a.m., official time set for commencement of polls. ADVERTISEMENT Official senatorial results for four of the nine local governments in Oyo South Senatorial District have been announced. The senatorial candidate of the ruling APC in the state, Abiola Ajimobi, lost in all four. Mr Ajimobi, the outgoing governor of Oyo State, seeks to return to the Senate to occupy a seat he held before becoming governor. The PDP won in all four local governments announced so far. Kola Balogun is the partys flagbearer. In Ibadan Northwest local government, APC had 8,916 votes, while PDP scored 12,144 votes. In Ibarapa North and Ibarapa East local governments, APCs respective votes were 5,837 and 6,951. Both were inferior to PDPs 8,083 and 9,982. Also, in the Ibadan North local government result, APC scooped 17,946 votes. It was, however, edged by PDPs 18,690 votes. However, in Ibadan North, according to the Returning Officer of the senatorial district, Wole Akinsola, results of three polling units are missing. They are PU 001 in Ward 008 and Agbowo Ward (Ward 012) in PU 025. In the latter, security operatives were said to be interrogating the officials involved. The other polling unit is Unit 019 on Taiwo street in Sango area of Ibadan. The presiding officer of the PU was said to have absconded. Collation of results from other local governments was still ongoing at the time of this report. ADVERTISEMENT The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won the three elections held on Saturday in the Madobi Local Government Area of Kano State. A former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, is from the local government. Mr Kwankwaso is the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano and one of the principal officers of the PDP presidential campaign organisation. Announcing the results on Sunday, the INEC collation officer for the presidential election in the local government, Sani Umar, said the local government has 84,067 registered voters with 40,764 accredited voters. He said the APC presidential candidate scored 26,110 while that of the PDP got 13,113. The collation officer for the National Assembly elections, Mansur Bindaw, also announced the Senate result. In the Senate election, the APC scored 22,731 while the PDP got 15,913. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how Mr Kwankwasos polling unit was won by the PDP. Atiku Abubakar of the PDP scored 278 while President Muhammad Buhari of the APC got 215 votes in the polling unit. ADVERTISEMENT The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, won at the polling unit of Sule Lamido in Jigawa State. Mr Lamido is a former governor of Jigawa and an influential member of the PDP. The polling unit is Bamaina C, located at Bamaina town, the country home of Mr Lamido in Birnin Kudu Local Government Area of Jigawa State. For the presidential election, the PDP got 259 votes while the APC got 20 votes in the polling unit. For the senatorial contest, the PDP had 278 votes and APC had 6 votes. In the House of Representatives, PDP got 267 and APC got 17 votes. ADVERTISEMENT The senator representing Nassarawa South Senatorial Zone in the National Assembly, Suleiman Adokwe, survived an attack by hoodlums on Sunday in Lafia, Nasarawa State. Mr Adokwe, who is the Senate Committee Chairman on Information, said he was attacked at St. Williams Primary School Lafia, the collation Centre for Gayam Ward during the presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday. The lawmaker said the incident occurred when he went to confirm reports from his agents that government officials were at the collation centre trying to influence the result of the polls. Mr Adokwe is seeking his fourth term at the Senate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He is being challenged by the outgoing governor of the state, Umaru Al-Makura, who is contesting on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He said all through Saturday night, he had also been getting reports of ballot materials stealing and stuffing across the zone. When my agent at the Gayam Ward collation Centre, Lafia, called at about 1:00 p.m. to intimate me of the presence of some state government officials there, I decided to go there and see things for myself. On sighting me, some hoodlums around the centre began shouting that I should go away, that I was not from Lafia and as such I did not belong there. Before I could understand what was happening, they started rushing at me with clubs, stones, and spear. It took divine intervention for me to escape with my life, he said. He decried the violent dimension the electoral process in the state was taking and called on the Police to act accordingly to restore normalcy. Mr Adokwe, however, said he had reported the attempt on his life to the Police. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Bola Longe, confirmed the senator called to inform him of the incident. Mr Longe promised to investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators to justice. He reiterated the commitment of the police to providing maximum security to all law-abiding citizens of the state. He said the police was not relenting, especially during this period of elections. You can see that our men have been everywhere to ensure security of lives and property. I had to personally lead a patrol to various parts of the state till about 2:00 a.m. this morning, Mr Longe added. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress is leading his rival, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP in Gombe State, according to the results of nine local government areas announced on Sunday. Gombe is a PDP state being governed by Ibrahim Dankwambo, who is running for the Senate. The results of Saturdays presidential and National Assembly elections received in Gombe, show that the APC, is ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in seven of the nine LGAs results announced. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the collation was being presided over by Kyari Mohammed, Vice Chancellor, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola. The presidential elections results from Gombe LGA showed that APC polled 86, 162 votes, while PDP scored 7,634 votes. In Nafada LGA, APC scored 15, 417 votes while PDP scored 5, 792 votes. In Yamaltu-Deba LGA, APC scored 56, 157 votes to defeat PDP which scored 13, 248 votes. In Dukku LGA, APC scored 36, 010 votes against PDPs 7,435 while in Kwami LGA, APC polled 36, 317 to beat PDP which had 6,614 votes. In Balanga LGA, APC scored 29, 647 to defeat PDP which had 14, 614 while in Kaltungo LGA, APC scored 20, 944 against PDPs 20, 733. However, PDP defeated APC in Shongom and Billiri LGAs. In Shongom LGA, PDP scored 12, 871 votes against APCs 9, 642 while in Billiri LGA, APC scored 15, 331 votes while PDP scored 21, 328 votes. Results for Funakaye and Akko LGAs are yet to be presented.(NAN) ADVERTISEMENT An aide to Sani Danladi, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Taraba, and three others were shot dead in Karim Lamido local government area of the state on Sunday. Sources said the aide and three party agents were escorting results at 3 am from Kambari ward to Amar collation center under Karim Lamido LGA when they were attacked. The state police spokesperson, David Misal, in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES said the attack had no political undertone. He identified the aide as Isa Muhammed. The attack had nothing to do with the ongoing election, he said. The victims are not party agents, its not true. On Sunday morning, the police received a report that four persons were moving from a community called Kambari to another community and they came under (the) attack of unidentified gunmen who opened fire on them, killed four on the spot, he said. He said the late Mr Mohammed is the special assistant to the APC governorship candidate Sani Danladi. He said the police are yet to identity the three other victims as investigations commence. Efforts to speak with official from Taraba APC prove abortive. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has claimed victory in Saturdays election for Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa constituency of Bauchi state. Mr Dogara made the victory claim through a Facebook post by his spokesperson, Turaki Hassan, although the Independent National Electoral Commission is yet to formally announce the result of the election. The Speaker, who ran on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said he scored 72,334 votes to beat his All Progressives Congress challenger who he said got 51, 664 votes. INEC had rescheduled election at a polling unit in Kopti for Sunday (today) due to the failure of the smart card reader deployed there. But Mr Dogara, 51, suggested he had already won the election because only 600 votes are available to be earned at Kopti. The Speaker has served as a member of the House of Representatives since 2007. He started off as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party but ran on the platform of the APC in 2015. He returned to the PDP last year after falling out with the leadership of the APC. Below is the post by Turaki Hassan announcing the result. RESULT FOR BOGORO/DASS/TAFAWA BALEWA FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY OF SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HON. YAKUBU DOGARA Bogoro PDP 25,339 APC 3,216 DASS PDP 10,222 APC 16,664 TAFAWA BALEWA PDP 36,773 ADVERTISEMENT APC 31,784 Grand Total PDP 72,334 APC 51,664 Only about 600 votes outstanding from Kopti unit where elections didnt hold yesterday due to faulty card reader. Washington, MO (63090) Today Partly cloudy early followed by scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High around 85F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. ADVERTISEMENT YIAGA AFRICA, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), assures Nigerians that the organisation would verify the accuracy of the votes declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the Saturdays presidential election. Samson Itodo, Executive Director of the organisation, gave the assurance at a news briefing on the preliminary report of YIAGA AFRICA Watching The Vote (WTV) in Abuja. He said through its parallel vote tabulation (PVT) method; the group would not hesitate to expose fraud if detected in the election outcome. Please, we appeal to the media to tell Nigerians that YIAGA AFRICA will be in the position to verify the accuracy of the votes declared by INEC. We are assuring Nigerians that any fraud detected in the votes declared by INEC will be exposed. So there is no need for anyone to incite violence in the course of vote collation, he said. Also speaking, YIAGA AFRICAs Board Chairman, Hussaini Abdu, while presenting the preliminary statement, urged all the stakeholders in the election to refrain from acts that could plunge the nation into chaos. According to him, YIAGA AFRICA employed the parallel vote tabulation (PVT) methodology- the gold standard for citizen observation. On Feb. 23 WTV deployed 3, 030 observers to a representative statistical sample of 1, 515 polling units, 46 observers to 23 voting points and 822 mobile observers located in all 774 LGAs. This strategy enables YIAGA AFRICA to provide timely and accurate information on accreditation, voting and counting as well as to independently verify the official results of the presidential election as announced by INEC, he said. Abdu said that immediately INEC announced the official results for the presidential election, the group would hold its news conference and issue its statement publicising its independent estimates of the election results. If the announced results reflect the ballots cast at polling units, then we will confirm the outcome. If the announced results have been manipulated and do not match the results posted at polling units, then YIAGA AFRICA will expose this, he said. Abdu, who reminded Nigerians that the process was not yet over, urged them to remain peaceful while waiting on INEC to announce the official results. Political leaders should urge their supporters, in particular, to calmly await the official results and take appropriate actions against any party members who engage in violence or incite violence, he said. He said it was disheartening that the groups preliminary estimates indicated that turnout for the presidential elections would be less than the voter turnout rate for the 2015 presidential election. This, he said was based on official turnout figures collected from the PVTs representative statistical sample. The Head of the ECOWAS Observation Mission to Nigeria and former Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, also attended the briefing. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The Speaker of the House of Representatives has been declared the winner of the Tafawa Balewa/Bogoro Federal Constituency election in Bauchi State. Mr Dogara, the candidate of the PDP, scored 73,609 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Dalhatu Kantana, who scored 50,078 results. He was declared the winner by the returning officer for the constituency few minutes past 10 p.m. on Sunday. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Dogara had claimed victory in the election before the official announcement. His main challenger, Mr Kantana, promptly responded that the speakers claim was false. The announcement by INEC now means Mr Dogara will return to the House and may choose to seek election as the speaker again. ADVERTISEMENT The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended the announcement of results in Akwa Ibom North-West District, where Godswill Akpabio contested for re-election. An INEC official in the state told PREMIUM TIMES, Sunday night, that Mr Akpabios challenger, Chris Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was leading in the results announced so far before the commission took a decision to suspend further announcement. We are having some issues with the election in Essien Udim Local Government Area, said the official who did not want his name mentioned in this report because he was not authorised to speak on the matter. If we accept the results from the local government area, Akpabios votes will overshoot that of Chris Ekpenyong. There are issues in the results which we are yet to be resolved, the official said. Messrs Akpabio and Ekpenyong are yet to speak on the development. Essien Udim, where Mr Akpabio comes from, is said to be one of the local government areas with a large voters population in the state. The senator in a result released on Saturday by INEC in his own polling unit, Ukana West Ward 2, scored 1, 533 votes, while Mr Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor of the state, scored just four votes. Mr Akpabios party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), before the commencement of the elections, had accused the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Akwa Ibom, Mike Igini, of being partisan in favour of the PDP. The APC had called for Mr Iginis re-deployment from the state. The PDP responded by saying the APC was agitated because the REC refused to be compromised by the party. Mr Igini has a reputation in Nigeria as being an incorruptible electoral officer. If Mr Akpabio fails to win re-election, it would be a major political upset in the state. ADVERTISEMENT The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed the declaration of the results for the 2019 presidential election. INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, made the announcement in a live broadcast in Abuja Sunday night while declaring the collation centre open. He said announcements of the presidential results will commence on Monday by 11 am. Mr Yakubu said the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) would present the results of the elections from their states. As collation of results for the Saturdays general elections continues across the country, major incidents are happening at the collation centres. There have been cases of attacks by thugs, soldiers chasing out reporters and observers, and other unfortunate incidents at the collation centres. Millions of Nigerians went to the polls on Saturday to elect a president that will lead the country for the next four years. They also voted lawmakers who will represent them at the National Assembly for the next four years. There are 468 slots available for grabs at the National Assembly: Senate 109 and the House of Representatives 360. These elected lawmakers will be in charge of legislative duties for the next four years. Although there are 73 presidential candidates, the result is expected to be a straight fight between President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP. ADVERTISEMENT The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, is in clear lead ahead of his major challenger, Atiku Abubakar of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in seven local government areas that have been displaced by Boko Haram insurgency. Despite the reclaim of most local government areas that were once under the control of Boko Haram fighters, many of the displaced persons still live in camps. These camps are either located in Maiduguri, the state capital, or at various local government headquarters. Analysts expect that the opposition parties, especially the PDP, might be able to make some inroads in these displaced local governments, especially over residents fixation on the ruling partys inability to effectively degrade the insurgents. But despite the impressive presidential campaign rally that Mr Abubakar had in Maiduguri about three weeks ago, the voter return in his favour does not seem to be commensurate with the promises made to Mr Abubakar. According to results so far announced at the Borno state presidential collation centre, Mr Buhari continues to maintain a comfortable lead in all the seven council areas that were brought in. In Nganzai local government, Mr Buhari polled 6,804 votes, while Atiku got 975 votes. The local government had 8,058 votes while about 335 ballots were rejected. In Magumeri LGA, with a total registered vote of 50, 991 and 14, 364 accredited voters, Mr Buhari polled 12,079 votes, while Mr Abubakar got 692 votes out of a total the 13,738 total valid votes. In Mobbar local government, Mr Buhari polled 13,112 votes to beat Mr Abubakar who got only 280 votes. Mr Buhari won Gubio local government area with 10,207 votes to beat Mr. Abubakar who got 510 votes. In Dikwa, Mr Buhari got 17,805 votes to defeat Mr Abubakar, who managed to get only 100 votes. In Abadam local government where there was a serious voter aparthy, the displaced people who had challenges with their voting centres gave Mr Buhari 5,907 votes with only 270 of them thumbprinting their ballots for Mr Abubakar. Abadam has a total of 45,707 votes. In Guzamala, another local area with low voter turnout, only 6,284 votes were received. And of that figure, Mr Buhari swept 5,370 votes and left only 521 votes for Mr Abubakar. Collation will continue at 7pm when other remaining 20 local government areas would have arrived. ADVERTISEMENT The Nigeria Police in Kogi State Command on Sunday confirmed three deaths following the crisis that erupted during the presidential and National Assembly elections in the state. The commands spokesperson, William Aya, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said in Lokoja that a police inspector, Mohammed Hammani, was killed on Friday in Okene while in the company of an aide to the state governor. He said two others lost their lives on Saturday during the elections. The police spokesperson said the deaths were recorded in Ayingba, Dekina Local Government and Odolu, Igalamela Local Government all in Kogi East Senatorial district. He said the situation has since been brought under control. Mr Aya described the situation in the state as calm and commended the residents and candidates for their peaceful conduct. He also dismissed reports that some candidates in the election were prevented from the state on the eve of the elections, explaining that the stop and search carried out on the day was normal. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the violence in some parts of the country during Saturdays election in Nigeria. Several people have been confirmed killed during the elections including 11 in Rivers State. Mr Abubakar, in a statement by his spokesperson, Paul Ibe, reiterated his pre-election statement that his ambition was not worth the blood of any Nigerian. Read Mr Ibes full statement below. The presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party and former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, condemns the brutal violence that claimed the lives of innocent Nigerians during Saturdays presidential and National Assembly elections in the country, restating that no one deserves to die over a process to elect their leaders. Reacting to the reports of violence in some parts of the country, the PDP presidential candidate reiterates his previous position that no politicians ambition is worth the blood of any innocent Nigerian. According to Atiku, no politician should celebrate his political gains if they are written in the blood of innocent Nigerians, and that no Nigerian, including innocent youth corps members, deserve to die for the sake of any mans political ambition. He said those innocent Nigerians that died wont be forgotten for their sacrifices, adding that political violence which is being aided and abetted by desperate politicians, is giving our democracy a bad name. The PDP presidential candidate said those politicians who climb the ladder of human lives to attain power have brought our democracy into disrepute, and that it was high time the Nigerian youth opened their eyes to resist being used to kill and maim. He explained that any politician who is sincerely interested in the progress of the youth shouldnt be using them as cannon fodder for his/her ambition. He stressed that the youth deserve jobs and not death. Atiku added that the real enemies worth fighting are poverty, unemployment, hunger, nepotism, division, despair and uncertain future. He extends his condolences to the families and friends of those innocent Nigerians that tragically lost their lives. ADVERTISEMENT The campaign council of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party of planning to release fake election results. The APC campaign team also called for the arrest of one of the spokespersons of the PDP presidential campaign organisation, Buba Galadima, over a controversial video. The spokesperson of APC campaign, Festus Keyamo, made the call in a statement Sunday. Mr Keyamo also alleged that the PDP is planning to hire hoodlums to stage sponsored protests in some parts of the country. See Mr Keyamos full statement below: PRESS RELEASE BY APC PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN COUNCIL: WE CALL FOR THE IMMEDIATE ARREST OF ALHAJI BUBA GALADIMA AS PDP AND ATIKUS CAMPAIGN PERFECT PLANS TO RELEASE FAKE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULTS AHEAD OF INEC; PLANS TO MOBILISE HOODLUMS FOR CHOREOGRAPHED PROTESTS Devastated by authentic results filtering out of polling units nationwide, our usual sources within the camp of the PDP have informed us that an emergency meeting of the main opposition party has been summoned for today somewhere in Abuja. Top on the agenda of the PDP is to activate the last strand of their Dubai strategies that have since collapsed like a pack of cards: they plan to release fake results of the Presidential Election later today or early Monday morning that they claim to have compiled themselves. Our information is that they aim to create crises and confusion that will lead to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claiming victory in a day or two from today ahead of the official announcement of the results by INEC. Then, what would follow will be some carefully choreographed protests by pockets of hoodlums in some parts of the country. The ultimate aim is to curry the sympathy of our foreign friends and push us to the Venezuela situation. Our call is therefore to INEC, NIGERIA BROADCASTING COMMISSION and all law-enforcement agencies to continually warn the PDP and all their surrogates like the amorphous CUPP and their likes that anyone who flouts the law on announcement of official results will be made to face the law. Opposition does not confer immunity on anyone to flout the law. In preparation for this reckless move, some PDP social media agents are already flying some kites on-line as to the number of States allegedly won by PDP. In fact, Alhaji Buba Galadima, an official spokesperson for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has made a short video announcing PDP as the winner of the Presidential Election. As an official spokesperson, he is clearly acting on behalf of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and on his instruction. We, therefore call for the immediate arrest, interrogation and prosecution of Alhaji Buba Galadima in this regard. The world is watching and waiting on Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to say something on the video by Alhaji Buba Galadima. Consequently, we urge all well-meaning Nigerians, the International Community and even reasonable members of the Opposition not to be bought by these cheap antics of the PDP. Lets restrain our wards from being used by these unscrupulous elements. Nigeria will continue to exist after this election. Over the years, the PDP had been declared winner of Presidential elections under controversial circumstances. On those occasions, President Muhammadu Buhari never took laws into his hands and declared himself President. He also never declared parallel results. He availed himself of constitutional means to address his grievance by approaching the law courts. Their latest devilish plot against the country is a clear indication that their apology to the Nigerian people was just a hoax. They have learnt nothing and they have forgotten nothing as they just cannot win any election fair and square. ADVERTISEMENT The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has said that with the results collated so far, he is sure of winning the presidential election. Mr Abubakar stated this on Sunday morning in a statement by his campaign spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu. With strong shares of vote in SS, SE as well as an increased share in SW and NC we are very pleased with the progress the PDP has made. We look forward to sharing some exciting news in other parts of the country very soon, which will confound all the armchair pundits, Mr Shaibu said. Mr Abubakar is the main challenger to President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress. See full statement below. Presidential candidate of the People Democratic Party and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has thanked Nigerians for turning out to vote for him in their millions and confirmed that the initial indications from the PDPs Simultaneous Vote Count show a PDP victory is assured. Atiku in a statement issued in Abuja by his Special Assistant On Public Communication,Mr. Phrank Shaibu said I would like to sincerely thank the millions of people who, despite having to bear the additional burden of a postponed election, came out yesterday to vote for me and the other PDP candidates standing in this election. The statement said with the PDPs high tech, cloud-based SVC system which is able to collate in real-time the results from the 176,000 voting points across the nation the Presidential candidate could boldly assure his supporters that victory was at hand. With strong shares of vote in SS, SE as well as an increased share in SW and NC we are very pleased with the progress the PDP has made. We look forward to sharing some exciting news in other parts of the country very soon, which will confound all the armchair pundits. The people of Nigeria can take solace that very soon the living Nightmare of the last four years will come to an end so that together we will get Nigeria working again. The PDP Presidential candidate urged Nigerians on the need to maximise their eternal vigilance in the next 48 hours to prevent the majority votes recorded at the polling units being disrupted by force by the APC at the collation centres. I am familiar with how brazen and the complete lack of shame the APC can exhibit, but even I was shocked to witness just how low they went last night by accusing the PDP of recruiting armed thugs to do just that. Why would we want to do that when we are winning? Furthermore I would like to say how proud I was of PDP supporters who conducted themselves so peacefully despite the significant provocations and threats of violence, removal and burning of ballot boxes and the likes. The statement also thanked the security forces and election officials who in the main conducted their duties with exemplary professionalism but tasked General Buhari on his promise of a free and fair election. General Buhari you have promised our people and the world that you would conduct free, fair and credible elections so please call off the wilder elements within your party and deliver on your promise. ADVERTISEMENT The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded the unconditional release of its member, Buba Galadima, who was allegedly arrested by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS), on Sunday. The PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, in a statement he issued on Sunday in Abuja, said that the party condemned the arrest in the strongest possible terms. He described Mr Galadima a `patriot, whose patriotism had been previously and strongly highlighted by various Nigerians including President Muhammadu Buhari. What crime has he committed? I answer my own question and say none. Mr Galadima is constitutionally guaranteed a right of freedom of speech and freedom after the speech. Mr Secondus said that there were issues of concern in the country that no action had been taken by the law enforcement authorities, yet a patriot and pro-democracy activist is arrested. He expressed concern that the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council called for the arrest of Mr Galadima at noon on Sunday and the arrest was duly carried out by the DSS an hour later. I call for the immediate release of Galadima by the DSS, even as I remind the service and other security agencies that their oath of allegiance was sworn to Nigeria and not to the APC. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The Nigeria Police Force says it has arrested 128 persons for alleged electoral offences across the country. A statement by the force spokesman, Frank Mba, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, on Sunday in Abuja, said the offences ranged from homicide-related crimes, vote trading, ballot box snatching, among others. He said that 38 assorted weapons and a cache of explosives were recovered from the suspects. Mr Mba added that the Inspector-General of Police ( I-G), Mohammed Adamu, has directed the Special Election Investigation Team to begin an investigation of all the offences. He said Mr Adamu also directed the team to ensure that persons found culpable were brought to book in accordance with the law. The spokesman said the I-G has warned against the continuous use of hate speech and comments capable of inciting Nigerians against each other. He said the force would not hesitate to bring the full wrath of the law on any person(s) found wanting in this regard. Mr Adamu also warned against unauthorised announcement of election results, especially social media users, adding that only Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was authorised to do so. He said the police boss has directed the Zonal AIGs and Command CPs to ensure adequate post-election security arrangement in their Areas of Responsibilities (AORs). Mr Adamu commended Nigerians for the massive turn-out and the orderly conduct during the Saturday elections. The I-G also commended personnel of the force and other security agencies for the sacrifices made towards the successful conduct of the elections. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT The United States envoy in Nigeria, John Bray, on Sunday called for an end to the violence that has marred elections in Rivers State. There has been been enough violence, Mr Bray reportedly said when he visited Governor Nyesom Wike at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Sunday. The text of Mr Brays comments when he addressed the press at the Government House was shared by Mr Wikes spokesperson, Simeon Nwakaudu. Authorities have confirmed at least 12 persons, including a soldier and an ad hoc INEC official, Amakiri Ibisaki, lost their lives in the elections that held yesterday in Rivers State. This forced the commission to declare there was no voting in Bonny and Akuku Toru LGAs. The envoy was quoted to have further said that: I am here as an international observer. We have been watching elections in Rivers State. I am not here to grade elections or anything like that . I am just here to say that there has been enough violence. Enough people have died. I am here today to speak with all the different candidates and party leaders. ADVERTISEMENT There is a disagreement between a Supervisory Presiding Officer (SPO) and the ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the payment of their allowance. The ad hoc staff had worked at Ward 4 collation centre for Ikotun/Ijegun, Alimosho Local Government, Lagos West Senatorial District. As at the time of filing this report, an official of Alimosho Local Government INEC office had warned that if the situation is not contained, they (the SPO and Adhoc staff) will all be evacuated from the collation centre. However, he promised the ad hoc staffs that their money will be paid by their respective SPO. ADVERTISEMENT The Nigerian army has denied reports that its officers attempted to kill Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike. In a statement on Saturday night by the army spokesperson, Musa Sagir, the Nigerian army described the report as bogus and an outright falsehood. Mr Wike was reported to have highlighted the recent attempt at his life after receiving members of the British entourage at the states government house on Friday. According to the report, Mr Wike alleged that soldiers attached to the General Officer Commanding Division; (GOC) 6, attempted to kill him, after they barricaded the road leading to his private residence, ahead of the postponed election on February, 15. In the response, the army said Mr Wike was acting out of frustration from the failure of the state governors repeated attempts to tarnish the image of the army. The Nigerian Army (NA) wishes to respond to the bogus and unsubstantiated allegations being peddled by the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Nyesom Wike. Some of his rancorous claims were that the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 6 Division, Maj Gen Jamil Sarham purportedly sent troops to cordon off his residence prior to the rescheduled General Elections on the 15th of February 2019. The Governor further went on to allege an assassination attempt on his life, which he claimed, was orchestrated by the GOC 6 Division. The NA is appalled that a Governor, who should epitomize leadership and good example in all senses, could descend so low to employ smear campaign against the person of a GOC whose only responsibility amongst other things, is about the safety and security of lives and properties in his Area of Responsibility. The NA does not train assassins, (and) as such, the institution or her personnel cannot be involved in sending assassins to murder a state Governor as alleged by Gov Nyesom Wike. According to the statement, the army accused Mr Wike of staging a smear campaign against the military officers. It is indeed no secret to the military authorities that Governor Wike has on various occasions made attempts to compromise the integrity of the GOC 6 Division. Having failed, despites series of overtures and monetary pledges of millions of dollars, both in person and from cronies, it is no surprise that the frustrated Governor has resorted to this appalling campaign of calumny. One would have thought that the resolute and uncompromising stance of Maj Gen Jamil Sarham in the face of several kinds of mouth-watering inducements would have earned him a commendation from any conscientious leader. Alas, this was not the case from the embittered governor of Rivers State but rather, these slanderous allegations. Despite these unsubstantiated ramblings however, the NA has deemed it fit to clear the air by letting Governor Wike and the general public at large, know that it would not be dragged into any form of political gerrymandering concocted for the furtherance of any persons interest or notoriety. The army challenged Mr Wike to bring evidence of his claims or desist from making further allegations. As a noble institution, the NA is apolitical, neutral and would not compromise its constitutional roles under any guise. Additionally, the NA would like to give Governor Wike the benefit of doubt, to within 7 days, bring forth evidence that can substantiate the bogus claims, or he could as well, save face and keep his peace. ADVERTISEMENT President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has scored 12,197 votes in Tarka Local Government Area to floor Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who had 4,875 votes. Announcing the results on Sunday in Makurdi, the INEC Collation Officer for the election in Tarka local government area, Simon Ejembi, said the local government area had 10 registration areas with 50,180 total number of registered voters. According to him, the total accredited voters were 18,749 while the total number of valid votes were 17,424. He said the total number of rejected votes stood at 1,089 and the total number of votes cast was 18,513. Also announcing the result of the presidential poll for Ado Local Government Area, the collation officer, Idugba Echi, a professor, said PDP polled 8,614 to defeat president Buhari of the APC. He said APC polled 5,373, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) polled 689. The collation officer said the local government council, which has 10 registration areas, had a total of 73,129 registered voters with 16,747 accredited voters, while 1,093 votes were rejected. He explained that the total number of votes cast was 16,413. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the results of the presidential polls in 21 other local government councils were been awaited. NAN also reports that of the 13 National Assembly seats in the state, none was declared by the electoral umpire. (NAN) Senegalese voters on Sunday headed to the polls for an election President Macky Sall is expected to win after strong economic growth in his first term. However, rights groups criticised him for squeezing out rivals. Senegals small fish-exporting economy expanded over six per cent in 2018, one of the highest rates in Africa, driven by an ambitious reform and development plan that included the construction of a new railway. The 57-year-old told thousands gathered for his final rally in Dakar on Friday that he would deliver universal healthcare and better access to education in a second term. Victory in the first round is inevitable, Mr Sall told a crowd earlier in the week. About 6.5 million people are registered to vote at polling stations that opened at 8 a.m. (0800 GMT) and close at 6 p.m. Report says official results are due out on Friday with a run-off for the top two on March 24 if no one secures a majority. Opinion polls are banned in the run-up to the vote; however, a survey by a Senegalese data company in November gave Mr Sall 45 per cent support. Of his four rivals now lined up in the smallest field of candidates since 1988, none had over 16 per cent. In spite of Salls popularity, some citizens question whether a high-speed train, new motorways and glamorous conference centres will benefit average citizens. The rights groups stressed that many people do not have reliable water or power supplies. They have criticised the exclusion of two popular candidates from the race in the West African nation that has long been viewed as the regions most stable democracy. It has seen peaceful transitions of power since independence in 1960. Former mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, son of former President Abdoulaye Wade who was in power from 2000 to 2012, were barred from running due to corruption convictions. The former president himself said in a statement that the vote was being rigged and told supporters of his son to boycott the poll. The government has dismissed the criticism, promising a free and fair vote. The remaining challengers are third-time contender and former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck, and Ousmane Sonko, a former tax inspector who is popular among the youth. Lawyer Madicke Niang and IT professor Issa Sall are also running. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Sonko told supporters at his final rally on Thursday that he would congratulate Mr Sall if the vote was fair. But if he steals the victory, I ask the youth to walk to the presidential palace and chase him out, he said. No less than one person was killed this month in clashes between Salls backers and his opponents in the southeastern city of Tambacounda, however campaigning has been largely peaceful. (Reuters/NAN) Police Officer Gives Life in Exchange for Hostage In March 2018 a lone gunman took several people hostage in a French supermarket. Arnaud Beltrame, a French police officer, offered to trade places with a hostage during the standoff. Because of his actions the hostage lived, but the officer died. A spokesperson for French President Emmanuel ... Child Receives Homework Help from 911 Operator As is her role as police dispatcher and call-taker, Antonia Bundy answered the call and rendered help where it was needed. But her caller presented an unusual request. You had a bad day at school? she asked the young boy on the line. Yeah, I just called to tell you that. Nine times out of ten, such an admission might be met ... I agree with Jonah Goldberg that the The Lives of Others is the best Cold War movie, at least of those Ive seen. Now, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who wrote and directed that film, has written and directed Never Look Away. I wouldnt call Never Look Away a Cold War movie. It encompasses the Cold War, but also World War II. And the last hour or so of this three-hour film has nothing much to do with the Cold War. Never Look Away is mostly about art and memory, I think. But its certainly a political movie, as well. The film opens in the late 1930s with a Nazi denouncing degenerate art. The same basic denunciation is later presented by an art instructor at an East German academy in the 1950s. The movies heavy, played by Sebastian Koch (who starred in The Lives of Others), mocks art. Kochs character is indomitable. He shifts seamlessly from criminal Nazi doctor, to East German medical star, to eminent Western consultant. He doesnt crack even under interrogation by the Soviets. But he flinches near the end of the film when art confronts him. Kyle Smith of NRO calls Never Look Away a masterpiece. He considers it superior to The Lives of Others. Smith discussed Never Look Away here and here. Armond White, also of NRO, dissents. He thinks both Donnersmarck films are overrated, and seems particularly annoyed by Never Look Away. I see merit in some of Whites criticisms there are too many Hollywood touches for my taste but I disagree with overall assessments. His review is marred, I think, by the assumption that Never Look Away adopts the work without author theory of art. Yes, the German title translates as Work Without Author. But the film invites us to conclude that this is irony. The protagonist (based on the German painter Gerhard Richter) doesnt break through until his West German instructor reprimands him because his paintings arent you. And nothing could have been more connected to the protagonists breakthrough art than the authors personal history. White finds fault with Never Look Away because it eschews the artistic complexity and uncomfortable approach to storytelling of filmmakers like Jean-Luc Godard and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Call me middlebrow, but I didnt mind a bit. In recent history, self-described conservatives have generally outnumbered liberals by a ratio of 1 1/2 or 2 to 1. According to Gallups latest survey, that gap has narrowed. Conservatives had a 21-point edge in 2004; that is down to nine points today. The state-by-state breakdown is interesting. Gallup emphasizes the fact that there are 19 highly conservative states, in which the conservative margin is 20 points or more. There are only six states in which more people identify as liberals than conservatives, and there is no state where liberals hold a 20-point edge. The widest gap is Massachusetts, where liberals are +14. Weirdly, California has as many self-described conservatives as liberals, at 29% each. My own state, Minnesota, is often seen as deep blue, yet conservatives outnumber liberals by 32% to 25%. What is going on here? Why do voter populations that identify as conservative elect so many liberals? One possibility is that self-described moderates, the largest group in many states, mostly lean left. In some states, that could be true. But take, for example, Minnesota. My organization, Center of the American Experiment, does quarterly polling. We find that Minnesotans express mostly conservative views on nearly all policy issues. To take just one example, supposedly deep-blue Minnesotans support income tax cuts in all four state brackets by an overwhelming 65% to 31%. But I am not sure there is a single politician in the state advocating such cuts. I think part of the answer must be that the press effectively buoys liberal politicians. Incessant attacks on conservatives, combined with kid glove treatment of liberals, no doubt skews voting patterns away from voters philosophical inclinations, to some degree. Still, Gallups findings raise serious questions about the wisdom of the Democratic Partys headlong embrace of socialism. Here is Gallups map; click to enlarge: "Anyone who grew up within a mile of there knew about it, but as we got older, we thought it deserved more respectful treatment than just being left there to decay." -- Daniel Flickinger Pull Quote Note: We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email circulation@postregister.com for help creating one. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low 73F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low 73F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. 908 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising North Korean state media on Sunday broadcast an editorial blaming Democrats and U.S. intelligence officials for undermining this weeks planned summit between President Trump and North Koreas Kim Jong Un. They also issued a veiled threat, saying the U.S. could face security threats if criticism of the summit continued. The state news agency KCNA accused the Democrats and U.S. intelligence officials of chilling the atmosphere before the two leaders meet in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. The Democratic Party of the U.S. and other opponents to the negotiations move overtly and covertly to disrupt them as supported by scepticism backed by all sorts of groundless stories and misinformation even at such a crucial moment as now, state media said. Advertising The commentary was published under the name Jong Hyon. The editorial also warned that people who speak out criticizing the talks between Trump and Kim might expose Americans to security threats. Trump has been optimistic in advance of his second meeting with Kim. He has suggested North Korea could become an economic power if it abandoned its nuclear arsenal, and on Sunday morning said the two leaders expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Very productive talks yesterday with China on Trade. Will continue today! I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, early tomorrow for a Summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Denuclearization? Very productive talks yesterday with China on Trade. Will continue today! I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, early tomorrow for a Summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Denuclearization? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019 Trump has also said that he would like to see denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, but that hes in no rush to make that happen. Trumps positive outlook on a possible deal with North Korea contrasts the findings of his own intelligence officials, who said at a congressional hearing last month that it was unlikely North Korea would give up its nuclear weapons. Democrats expressed concerns in the wake of the last summit that Trump had given up too much to Kim and in exchange received very few concrete assurances that anything would change. And, in fact, nothing has changed since then. Its unknown what specifics, if any, will result from this weeks summit, and Trump administration officials have provided few answers during calls and meetings with reporters. The officials did, however, say that a priority for the summit is to reach an agreed definition of denuclearization, something that negotiators have yet to accomplish. Just a few minutes ago Trump tweeted the following: Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation! Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019 1.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) is not a person to trifle with. He has already taken steps to hold Donald Trump and his administration accountable since taking charge of his committee on January 3. And there is no reason to think that in the coming months he will let up and go easy on the president or any of his appointees. In a radio interview on Sunday, Nadler made very clear where he stands on the current occupant of the White House when he called Trump the greatest threat to U.S. democracy since the Civil War. Speaking with radio host John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York Nadler said: I view this president and his conduct as the greatest threat to the democratic system and to the constitutional government since the Civil War. Advertising Whether its threatening the newspapers or threatening the judiciary or calling people who criticize him treasonous. Nadler is one of the key Democratic committee chairmen who will soon begin to investigate many different aspects of the Trump administration. This morning he said that the his committee will soon be holding hearings into abuse of power and obstruction of justice. Clearlythere have been major abuses of power, major obstruction of justice, obvious violations of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, Nadler said. All of these have to be looked at. He also make clear that his hearings would look at all actions, including those conducted in a noncriminal manner, to determine of governmental norms have been violated. He said he will investigate whether Trump administration policies have threatened the U.S. democratic system. Nadler also said that Democrats in the House will introduce legislation which requires that special counsel Robert Muellers final report be made public. As chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Nadler will be in charge of an impeachment investigation if Democrats pursue that course of action. In public comments last week Nadler stated that if Attorney General William Barr tries to stop Congress from using Muellers work for its own probes, he will have a major fight on his hands. He also said that he will not hesitate to subpoena the Mueller report if necessary. Nadler also plans to continue to investigate former acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker for possible perjury committed during his sworn testimony before Nadlers committee. During his testimony Whitaker was nonresponsive, rude and evasive in all of the questions posed to him by Nadler. 965 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he has zero doubt that President Trump will run for reelection in 2020. He also said that he thinks Trump will win. I happen to think now, the president is going to run again in 2020 and I think hell win. I think hell win bigger than he won in 2016, Bannon said on CBSs Face the Nation, citing the strong economy. The former publisher of Breitbart News also expressed his opinion that the release of the Mueller special counsels report will shake up the political landscape in ways we cant completely predict, saying: I believe that were going to enter into an extraordinary time in American politics. Advertising Weve allowed the Democrats, because they take control of the House, to weaponize a whole bunch of investigations. Theyve been- Theyre going to be able to weaponize the Mueller report, 2019s going to be quite vitriolic. BANNON IN ROME: Mueller report release will trigger "quite a vitriolic time," the former White House chief strategist tells @sethdoane More from Doane's interview airs tomorrow on @FaceTheNation https://t.co/hdykDUi9xG pic.twitter.com/KTw0WXUntb Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) February 24, 2019 Trump has often stated that he plans to run for reelection in 2020. He has already put together a campaign organization, and taken other steps that show he is serious. He held his first campaign rally of 2019 in El Paso, Texas, earlier this month, and has tweeted regularly about Democratic plans to defeat him next year. A large and growing field of Democratic challengers has come out in recent weeks. Among those who have declared their candidacy or formed exploratory committees are Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). Former Vice President Joe Biden and former Rep. Beto ORourke (D-Texas) are among those expected to decide on a 2020 bid in the coming weeks. Bannon, who served in a top role on Trumps 2016 campaign, left the White House in the summer of 2017. He and Trump later had a falling out after Bannon was quoted extensively in the book Fire and Fury criticizing the president and his family. It remains to be seen whether Steve Bannons predictions prove to be correct or not. There are many unknown factors which will surely influence the 2020 election and Donald Trumps personal role in them. It might be better if Steve Bannon and others like him refrain from making predictions until we see Muellers report and his evidence which will probably show that Trump committed numerous crimes, and also that he conspired with Russia to win the presidency in the first place. 1.3k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff that he would subpoena Robert Mueller if Trump tries to bury the Russia report. Adam Schiff Will Subpoena Robert Mueller Transcript via ABCs This Week: STEPHANOPOULOS: You you say you say the Justice Departments going to have to live by that precedent, but what if they dont? What if they say no, were not going to release the underlying evidence. What options do you have. SCHIFF: Well we will obviously subpoena the report, we will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress, we will take it to court if necessary. And in the end, I think the department understands theyre going to have to make this public. I think Barr will ultimately understand that as well. Barr comes into this job with two strikes against him. He applied for the job by be demonstrating a bias against the Mueller investigation. Indeed thats part of the reason he was hired. Hes also not been willing to commit to following the advice of the ethics lawyers. Indeed that was part of the reason he was hired. Advertising Video: Adam Schiff Is 3 Steps Ahead Of Trump Trump is playing corrupt Candyland while Rep. Schiff is playing chess. None of Trumps moves is a surprise to Democrats in Congress. Trump has always been about saving his own skin. The president will do whatever it takes to save himself from ruin and or prison. Trumps biggest problem is that Adam Schiff is already ahead of him. The administration will try to bury the Mueller report, but Democrats will subpoena, and then sue. If Trump drags his feet, Democrats will subpoena Robert Mueller to testify. Donald Trump would be better off releasing the report, but he is not going to do that. Trump is going to try to fight, and he is going to lose because Adam Schiff will not stop until the American people have the facts about the president and Russia. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 459 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising By Nelson Renteria SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) A Salvadoran transgender woman who sought asylum in the United States was killed weeks after she was deported, a rights group said on Friday, underscoring the dangers of the Trump administrations hardening policy on asylum seekers. El Salvadors ASPIDH Rainbow Trans Association said Camila Diaz Cordova, a 29-year-old sex worker, applied for asylum in the United States in August 2017 to escape death threats and extortion by multi-national gang Barrio 18. The gang is one of two criminal organizations that control large urban swathes of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Advertising U.S. immigration authorities have confirmed they deported Diaz Cordova in November 2017. After her return, she went back into sex work in the capital San Salvador, where she was eventually kidnapped and beaten, according to her close friend Virginia Flores. She died in hospital on February 3. We demand that the authorities investigate, clear up the case and find those responsible, regardless of who they are, Rainbow Trans director Monica Linares told Reuters. El Salvadors security authorities did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Thousands of Central Americans each year cross Mexico to reach the United States, fleeing violence and poverty, despite high rejection rates in U.S. courts and more recent measures by the Trump administration designed to stop them. (U.S. authorities) forced her to sign (her deportation letter) and she signed, but she did not know what she signed because it was in English, Flores told Reuters. Members of the LGBTQ community have been fleeing high rates of persecution in their home countries. Three transgender women have been murdered in El Salvador this year, according to rights groups. In 2018, they reported a total of 19 homicides. In neighboring Honduras, 97 trans women have been killed since 2009, and 303 people murdered for their sexual orientation since 2009, according to Cattrachas, a Honduran-based LGBTQ-rights organization. Those statistics, rights workers and researchers say, likely undercount the number who are murdered or injured as targets of hate crimes in Central America. Along with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have among the highest national homicide rates in the Americas. (Additional reporting by Delphine Schrank; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Sonya Hepinstall) 5.7k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising The NRA is trying to incite violence against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and former Rep. Gabby Giffords who almost lost her life in a mass shooting. The NRA Is Trying To Get Nancy Pelosi Shot The NRA referred to Pelosi and Giffords as target practice: This is a call for violence by the @NRA against @GabbyGiffords, who was nearly killed by gunfire and @SpeakerPelosi, the most powerful legislator in America. The NRA should face legal consequences. But lets put them out of business with boycotts and ballot boxes. #EnoughIsEnough pic.twitter.com/XFTAg5XJWI Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) February 23, 2019 There is no other way to interpret the phrase target practice. The NRA was calling for violence against the most powerful woman in the United States. The NRA is an extremist organization that blocks efforts to curb gun violence because they are not an organization that represents the interests of responsible gun owners. The NRA is the powerful gun lobbying arm of gun manufacturers. Advertising Every position that the NRA takes is designed with the intention of boosting profit for gun makers. Pelosi and Giffords represent a threat to their profits, which is why the NRA has taken a violent posture. The NRA Is Under Multiple Federal Investigations For Their Connections To Russia Both federal law enforcement and Congress are investigating the NRA for potentially accepting money from the Russians and funneling it to the campaign of Donald Trump and other Republicans. The Senate Finance Committee is investigating the NRAs financial relationship with Russia. The FBI has been investigating the; NRA for Russian money laundering. The NRA is trying to incite violence against Speaker Pelosi because the law is coming, they are running low on cash, and public opinion has turned against them. Like any criminal enterprise, they are getting desperate and extreme. Nancy Pelosi wont be bullied, and she definitely wont back down to threats from the NRA. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook Advertising By Nathan Layne (Reuters) Special Counsel Robert Muellers team told a U.S. judge on Saturday that President Donald Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort repeatedly and brazenly broke the law, and argued he did not deserve leniency at sentencing. The recommendation from Mueller, who is investigating Russias role in the 2016 U.S. election and whether Trumps campaign conspired with Moscow, increases the likelihood that Manafort will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Manafort pleaded guilty in a federal court in Washington last September to conspiracy against the United States a charge that includes a range of conduct from money laundering to unregistered lobbying and conspiracy to obstruct justice for attempts to tamper with witnesses. Advertising He can be sentenced up to five years for each count, for a statutory maximum of 10 years. While Mueller did not recommend a specific sentence he portrayed Manafort as a hardened criminal who was at risk of repeating criminal behavior if released from prison. As part of an earlier plea deal with Mueller, the special counsel dropped five other charges and Manafort agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. But Muellers team in November accused Manafort of violating the agreement by repeatedly lying to prosecutors on subjects including his interactions with a business partner they have said has ties to Russian intelligence. The judge this month ruled Manafort had breached the deal. For over a decade, Manafort repeatedly and brazenly violated the law, Muellers office said in a sentencing memorandum released by the court on Saturday. His criminal actions were bold, some of which were committed while under a spotlight due to his work as the campaign chairman and, later, while he was out on bail from this Court. Manafort, a 69-year old veteran Republican political consultant who earned millions of dollars working for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, faces up to 25 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines in a second case in Virginia in which he was convicted last year of financial crimes. Trump has not ruled out issuing a pardon for Manafort, who worked for the campaign during five pivotal months in the middle of 2016 including during the partys national convention. But the Manhattan district attorneys office is pursuing criminal charges against Manafort which would be outside of Trumps pardon power for federal crimes. So far, 34 people and three companies have pleaded guilty, been indicted or otherwise been swept up into Muellers inquiry. Russia denies trying to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and Trump says his team did not collude with Moscow. A senior U.S. Justice Department official said on Friday that Mueller will not deliver a long-awaited final report next week, amid expectations that the document was imminent. Judge T.S. Ellis, who oversaw Manaforts trial in Alexandria, Virginia, will sentence him on March 8. He will be followed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who will decide on March 13 how much of the 10-year statutory maximum to give Manafort in the Washington case and whether her sentence will run concurrent or consecutive to his punishment in Virginia. Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago, said he expected Jackson to take her cue from Ellis. If Ellis goes easy on Manafort, Jackson will likely run her sentence consecutively to ensure a lengthy prison term, he said. I dont have any doubt she is going to give him a significant sentence, Mariotti said. (Reporting by Nathan Layne in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Alistair Bell) 1.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Advertising The Manafort sentencing document from Robert Mueller paints a picture of a career criminal that Trump picked to chair his campaign. The Sentencing Doc Contained No Russia Bombshells But Painted a Damning Picture Read the sentencing document: 2-23-19 US Sentencing Memo by on Scribd Advertising Video: The sentencing document shows Trump had a career criminal chairing his campaign. pic.twitter.com/EjPKin0TVI Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) February 23, 2019 It is possible that Mueller is just keeping his powder dry and he doesnt need to show any of his evidence of Russia collusion with this filing, but people who were breathlessly hyping this sentencing document might be a little disappointed. Trump had a career criminal working for him because he worked for free Donald Trump doesnt hire the best people. He hires the cheapest, and the takeaway from this sentencing document is that the no character president hired the worst of the worst. Robert Mueller has been a great poker player. He hasnt tipped his hand yet, and he didnt show his cards today. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook Must-Read Travel Guides EAST ASIA SOUTHEAST ASIA Featured Articles Contact Copyright Disclosure If you wish to contact me for questions, advertising, collaboration inquiries, comments, suggestions, reviews or just about anything, please send an email to. I will try my best to reply quickly! Unless, of course, I'm on a trip! :D All rights reserved. All photos and content in this blog are owned by(unless otherwise stated). Parts of the articles may be excerpted (a link to this site should be provided), but not reproduced as a whole. Photos may not be used without permission. Thank you very much!Unless otherwise stated, I personally write my blog posts and it expresses my own thoughts and opinions. I pay for all the expenses of my trips (unless otherwise stated). I welcome collaborations, advertorials and reviews as long as they are beneficial to my readers. All reviews on collaborations contain my own views and opinion and were not influenced by anyone. For inquiries, you may contact me here . Thank you very much! Police are looking for these three men in connection with a local paving scam. Thank you for reading the Philadelphia Tribune. You have exhausted your free article views for this month. Please press the "subscribe" button below and see our introductory price of $0.25 per week for 13 weeks. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you next month. (Bloomberg) Kushner Cos., the real estate firm owned by the family of President Donald Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner, has sought financing from federally-owned lenders for its biggest purchase in a decade. The company has been in talks with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about a loan for a $1.15 billion purchase of apartments in Maryland and Virginia, according to two people familiar with the discussions, who asked not to be named discussing a private transaction. Such a deal would increase Kushner Cos. exposure to government-backed mortgages at the same time its former chief executive officer is one of the most powerful people in the White House. Jared Kushner divested ownership in many of the companys assets to close family members when he joined the government. Kushner Cos. had more than $500 million in loans from Fannie and Freddie at that time. Government-backed financing on this latest deal could more than double that figure. Spokesmen for both Fannie and Freddie said they had no information to share. Peter Mirijanian, a spokesperson for Jared Kushners attorney Abbe Lowell, said that Kushner has no involvement in the companys management. Walled Off As part of an ethics agreement he has and has followed, Mr. Kushner has had no role in the Kushner Companies or its activities since joining the government over two years ago, Mirijanian said. He is walled off from any business or investment decisions and has no idea or knowledge of these activities. Laurent Morali, Kushner Cos. president, Emily Wolf, the companys general counsel, and Karen Zabarsky, a company spokeswoman, didnt respond to multiple requests for comment. President Trump appointed Joseph Otting to oversee the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie and Freddie. Otting previously served as CEO of OneWest Bank, founded by now-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, an ally of Kushners in the West Wing. Kushner Cos. latest deal is for 6,030 apartments across 16 properties in Maryland and Virginia from private equity firm Lone Star Funds, according to a representative for Michael Campbell of the Carlton Group, a real estate investment bank which is helping to arrange financing for the deal. Lenders Concerns Both lenders discussed funding the acquisition last year, according to people familiar with the matter. Even lenders that arent owned by the government have fretted about exposure to the White House. Executives at Deutsche Bank, the largest of the Trump Organizations lenders, considered extending the terms of loans issued to the presidents company, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Weighed Extending Trump Loans on Default Risk Officials at the German bank feared a public-relations nightmare would ensue if ever they found themselves in the position of having to collect on a sitting president. Government ethicists have raised similar concerns about Kushner Cos. and the federal agencies, for fear of the complications that could arise from refinancing or foreclosure scenarios. The purchase from Lone Star is the latest sign that Kushner Cos. is returning to its roots as an owner of suburban properties. It sold almost $2 billion of apartments in 2007 to help finance the purchase of 666 Fifth Ave. The company set a record with the $1.8 billion purchase of the 41-story Manhattan office tower, which was then plagued by outsized debt payments for more than a decade. Kushner Cos. reached a deal to sell a 99-year lease on 666 Fifth to Brookfield Asset Management Inc. last year, and has been pivoting back to the sprawling multifamily complexes that Charlie Kushner, Jareds father, built his fortune on. In 2017, Kushner Cos. teamed up with Israel-based Psagot Investment House to buy Quail Ridge, a 1,032-unit complex in Plainsboro, New Jersey, that the Kushner family had owned until a 2007 sale. This past April, the firm bought the 360-unit Prospect Place in Hackensack, New Jersey. With assistance from Patrick Clark and Shahien Nasiripour. To contact the reporters on this story: Lily Katz in New York at lkatz31@bloomberg.net;David Kocieniewski in New York at dkocieniewsk@bloomberg.net;Caleb Melby in New York at cmelby@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rob Urban at robprag@bloomberg.net, Alan Goldstein 2019 Bloomberg L.P. VATICAN CITY Pope Francis declared an all-out battle against sexual abuse on Sunday as he concluded a high-stakes summit that Catholic bishops hailed as a turning point for the church, even as victims lamented that little had actually been accomplished during the unprecedented four-day meeting. In a closing address in the Apostolic Palaces opulently frescoed Sala Regia, the pontiff declared priests who abuse children to be tools of Satan and described their crimes as utterly incompatible with [the churchs] moral authority and ethical credibility. Both, he said, had been further damaged by the hierarchys own history of cover-up and inaction. In the peoples justified anger, the church sees the reflection of the wrath of God betrayed and insulted by these deceitful consecrated persons, Francis said. This cry will shake the hearts of those dulled by hypocrisy and power. Much of the popes lengthy speech, however, focused outside the Vaticans walls, citing abuse in families and other institutions while condemning the spread of internet pornography and ideological disputes and journalistic practices that often exploit the tragedy. But Mark Coleridge, the archbishop of Brisbane, Australia, who delivered a homily before Francis speech, laid blame for the scandals that have plagued the church directly at the hierarchys feet. We have been our own worst enemy, he said. We have shown too little mercy, and therefore we will receive the same. We will not go unpunished. He called for a Copernican Revolution in church leaders thinking on the issue, referencing the 15th-century paradigm shift in which the world abandoned past notions that the sun revolved around the Earth. Those who have been abused do not revolve around the church, but the church around them, he said. Whether the conference that played out over the last week was enough to cement that change remains to be seen. The roughly 200 bishops and superiors of religious orders in attendance will return home with no immediate solutions, despite the popes call at the conferences opening for concrete and effective measures to be put in place. Still, several church leaders said their eyes had been opened by the summits speakers including an African nun who condemned the churchs male hierarchy for hypocrisy and a Mexican TV journalist who vowed the media would continue to be your worst enemy unless they changed their ways. All the while, dozens of victims kept constant vigil outside the cloistered meeting hall, near St. Peters Square, demanding that their voices be heard. Many of them found little comfort in Francis words Sunday. There hasnt been any firm commitment to eject from the church the perpetrators of this crime, said Peter Saunders, a sex-abuse victim from the United Kingdom and former member of the popes pontifical commission for the protection of minors. Francis has asked the summits organizers -- a hand-picked committee that includes American Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago to remain behind in Rome to begin translating some of the measures discussed during the week into concrete policies. Were not going to delay things, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, summit moderator. Tomorrow starting at 9 a.m., we will be there and will start working." Among the possible reforms are 21 points that Francis distributed to the prelates at the start of the summit, including expanding roles for Catholic laity in investigations and requiring prelates to report abuse to civil authorities in their countries a measure already adopted by bishops in the United States. The pope laid out eight more priorities during his speech Sunday, calling for an end to the knee-jerk defensiveness of some members of the hierarchy and a vow to end cover-ups in all forms. At an afternoon news conference, Lombardi outlined a handful of additional measures that he said the Vatican was prepared to adopt within months, including issuing guidance to bishops on how to handle abuse claims and establishing a task force to assist bishops in shoring up protocols to bring them in compliance with church edicts. Whats more, he said, the Holy See is close to finalizing its own child-protection policy a development that it had ordered every bishops conference in the world to complete seven years ago. We want the church to once again be absolutely credible and reliable in her mission of service and education for the children, the pope said later during his weekly appearance before throngs of tourists and faithful in St. Peters Square. Cupich, along with Cardinal Sean OMalley, archbishop of Boston, said Friday that Vatican officials were hoping to strengthen a 2016 edict that was supposed to make negligence in handling abuse claims a fireable offense. (Cupich has floated his own proposal for dealing with bishops accused of mishandling abuse cases or facing sexual-misconduct allegations themselves.) That aspect of the crisis has emerged as a particular problem in the United States, where a series of scandals over the last year, including the defrocking of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick earlier this month and the landmark Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sex abuse, have prompted law enforcement in more than a dozen states to launch civil and criminal investigations. U.S. bishops were prepared last fall to vote on their own set of reforms to better hold themselves accountable including the establishment of a panel led by Catholic laity to investigate problem prelates. But the Vatican blocked their efforts, fearing that the suggestion would run afoul of church law. In Cupichs proposal, floated in an address to the summit Friday, he suggested responsibility for investigating negligent and abusive bishops be placed with regional authorities, such as the archbishop of the closest metropolitan area. Speaking Saturday, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and its representative at the Vatican summit, said it was likely that the nations prelates would vote on some combination of Cupichs proposal and the lay-led board at their next general meeting in June. When I get back home, I think I can go before all the bishops and say that I think there is some affirmation from this meeting of what we wanted to do, said DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, in an interview with Crux, a news outlet that covers the Catholic Church. But as Coleridge, the Australian archbishop, closed out his homily Sunday he starkly described the stakes of any further missteps. We will do all in our power to make sure the horrors of the past are not repeated, and the church is a safe place for all, he said. All this will take time. But we dont have forever, and we dare not fail. Four people, including two Philadelphia police officers on duty, were injured in a three-vehicle crash Saturday night, police said. According to police, the officers were in a police vehicle traveling northbound on 60th Street in Southwest Philadelphia at 8:34 p.m. when they collided with a 2003 Ford Focus traveling eastbound on Springfield Avenue and a 2007 Nissan Quest that was westbound on Springfield. Police transported the officers to Methodist Hospital, where they were expected to be treated and released. No details about them and their injuries were immediately available Saturday night. The driver of the Focus, a 36-year-old man, was to be taken to a hospital for minor injuries, police said. Medics transported the driver of the Quest, a 56-year-old man, to Hahnemann University Hospital for undisclosed injuries. The police vehicle had heavy front-end damage, police said. No arrests were made. CUCUTA, Colombia - A high-stakes showdown over humanitarian aid began unfolding on Venezuela's western frontier on Saturday, with bursts of tear gas from President Nicolas Maduro's military forces and defiant vows from Juan Guaido and the opposition to end a blockade of U.S. and other foreign aid. Saturday's operation has been billed by the opposition and its allies in the Trump administration as a pivotal moment in its bid to topple Maduro's socialists. The attempts to haul in aid from neighboring nations are meant to test the military's loyalty by encouraging the armed forces to disobey Maduro's order to keep the aid out. At one border crossing blocked by Maduro's forces - the Simon Bolivar bridge linking Colombia and Venezuela - the opposition plan to divide Maduro's military began to take shape with four members of the Venezuela National Guard abandoning their posts. They walked across the border as members of the Colombian armed forces wrapped fraternal arms around them. "They have just deserted the dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro," declared Migracion Colombia - Colombian's migration agency - in a statement. A convoy of 14 trucks bearing 280 tons of aid was being prepped near a warehouse loading dock here in Cucuta, where thousands of volunteers had camped overnight following a massive benefit concert for Venezuela put on by British billionaire Richard Branson. Guaido - the opposition leader who claimed the nation's legitimate mantel of power exactly one month ago - was poised to lead an attempt to get the trucks over a bridge where Maduro's forces had welded containers together to physically block aid from getting across. "Venezuela, the day has arrived in which we will take the step to enter humanitarian aid. From our borders, by land and sea, we will bring hope, food and medicines for the ones who need it the most," Guaido tweeted Saturday. "We call everyone to go out massively to the streets in the whole country, to protest in peace at barracks, to urge the armed forces to let humanitarian aid in." Yet after an attack by the Venezuelan military near the Brazilian border that left two civilians dead and 11 wounded, fears mounted that the attempt could be marred by further violence in this collapsing socialist state. The Venezuelan government late Friday announced the temporary closing of three key border crossings with Colombia. Just before the 8 a.m. start time for the effort to try to break the blockade, a violent confrontation broke out on the Santander bridge in the western border town in Urena - one of the crossings to Colombia ordered closed by the Maduro government on Friday. About 200 people - a mixture of protesters seeking to bring in aid and Venezuelan workers with jobs on the Colombian side of the border - began throwing rocks at border guards, who responded with volleys of tear gas. "They think they are the owners of Venezuela," Maria Zambrano, a 46-year-old engineer who arrived in Urena to join the aid effort, said of the guards. She said a cousin of hers with cancer cannot find medication for treatment. "But we are all united, and we will get this aid in. They won't be able to shoot us all." In Venezuela, groups of volunteers and opposition leaders boarded early-morning buses, cars and motorbikes en route to the eastern Colombian border. In addition to vows of bringing in aid by sea and land - and via human chain if necessary - the opposition also planned large-scale rallies in cities nationwide to demand the admittance of international relief. "I'm very concerned with the information we've received about paramilitary groups and other irregular groups already at the border with the intention to spread violence," said opposition politician Nora Bracho. "We have no doubt that there will be violence, absolutely no doubt." In defiance of a ban against leaving the country, Guaido made a secretive trip to Colombia on Friday to lead the aid effort and meet with regional leaders. He suggested the Venezuelan armed forces had helped him spirit across his nation's western frontier. But he was also running the risk of being barred from reentry or arrested upon return. The attention on Saturday remained focused on the single largest staging ground for aid in Cucuta. Organizers in Cucuta had called for "every available Venezuelan" to turn up Saturday morning at 8 a.m. and await further orders. Many began to awake before dawn on a rocky ground of a camp set up for them and began moving toward arranged meeting points to join the effort. "We're betting everything on this," said Ricardo Justo, a 24-year-old salesman from Caracas who traveled 27 hours in bus with a group of 30. "We'll do whatever they tell us to." Overnight, Lester Toledo, head of Guaido's delegation in Cucuta, addressed the crowd, telling them to have faith that the Venezuelan border guards would let them pass. Volunteers said they were prepared to make a leap of faith. "What else can we do? I'll fight until I can't fight anymore," said Jose Antonio Perez, 24, a health worker from nearby San Antonio. "This is the most anticipated day ever in Venezuela." Venezuelan opposition officials say they'll be at each border crossing to meet protesters and give further instructions. The opposition leaders assured their supporters that they, and not the volunteers, would walk out front when they confronted Maduro's border guards. Mari Rivera, 46, a Venezuelan living in Cucuta, said she believes they have enough people to push the shipping containers over. If not, she said, they'll take the aid under the bridge and through a shallow river. Air raid sirens on bull horns awoke the camp at 5:20 a.m., rousing them for a day of action. Folk music began playing. Kleibysad Saab, a 47-year-old Venezuelan from the state of Carabobo, lead a crowd in chants of "freedom" before offering a prayer. "No man can close the doors that God has opened," she said. "Here we go!" The crowd roared an amen. Eduardo Espinel, a Venezuelan opposition politician, said the opposition would try to move aid over the border via human chains if truck convoys could not get through. Here in the western city of San Cristobal, about 150 people divided in four buses were stationed at one of the points where the opposition called yesterday for residents to gather to be taken to the border. But around 35 soldiers with shields and a convoy were blocking the way, telling them they had orders to only let cars pass. Three drivers decided to order people to leave their buses because they heard vehicles were being impounded en route. About 110 people began to walk up a hill toward the border, hoping they would get a ride on the way. But they were quickly blocked by armed guards, and began shouting "let us pass, let us pass." Within minutes they were allowed. "They know which is the right side," said Julian Pozo, 54. "They are suffering too." Many marchers wore white shirts that read "freedom for Venezuela." "I want to free Venezuela from this yoke. The abuse has to end," said Asdrubal Castillo, a 65-year-old farmer said. "This is a historical moment. It's either now or never." Besides the threat of military force, volunteers faced perhaps the even more dangerous possibility of violence by unruly pro-government militias, known as colectivos, as well as Colombian guerrilla groups that control large swaths of the border. William Barrientos, an opposition politician trying to get to the border from San Cristobal, said that colectivos had already begun attacking buses overnight. "Colectivos attacked one of the buses with our colleagues and took everything from them," he said. He said the opposition would seek to overwhelm Maduro's forces through sheer numbers, vowing that the military would need to use force on an equally massive scale to stop them. "And if they do, it would be a genocide," he said. Even Maduro's foreign minister, Arreaza, sounded a note of alarm, though he said the opposition would seek to falsely blame the government for violence that it might start. "We are worried that a situation to lament will take place tomorrow because there's many Colombian military groups at the border," he said. "Never would the armed forces shoot against the people. . . . We hope reason reigns and that this doesn't end up being a show to open the doors for a military intervention." Ahead of Saturday's operation, opposition leaders who had arrived in the western city from Caracas were re-strategizing their trips to the border to account for higher threat levels. After receiving information from "internal sources" of possible violence and blockades on the way, they said, they were still weighing the most secure way to proceed. Alexis Paparoni, an opposition lawmaker, said that "if the buses are blocked, we will have motorbikes following us to continue going." Paparoni said there were signs Saturday could be violent, including the killing of two indigenous people and acts of official repression - including the use of tear gas - against opposition politicians on their way to the border from Caracas. But, he said, "we hope the armed forces will join our side and avoid violence." - - - Baddour reported from Cucuta, Colombia. The Washington Posts Rachelle Krygier in San Cristobal, and Anggy Polanco in Urena, Venezuela, contributed to this report. (Bloomberg Opinion) One word holds the key to the major Trump-related court cases that youll be hearing a lot about in the next few months: deference. In the lawsuits against President Donald Trumps border wall, and in the U.S. Supreme Court case over whether the census will include a question about citizenship, a central issue will be whether the courts should defer to the assertions that the Trump administration says provide a basis for the decisions theyve taken. If the judges choose deference to the executive branch, that will mean wins for Trump. If, however, the judges trust their own judgment, expect Trump to lose. The basic idea of judicial deference is that, when it comes to some situations, judges shouldnt make their own assessment of the facts or the law, but instead yield to the assessment made by someone else, usually an actor from within the executive branch. The concept of judicial deference is slightly weird in a legal system devoted to the idea that, in the words of Chief Justice John Marshall, it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is. According to this dictum, which dates back to the seminal 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison, courts have to decide legal issues, not duck them. Consequently, courts have to give reasons when they choose to defer. Sometimes the reason is that Congress has directed the deference, either expressly or implicitly. But its exceedingly rare that Congress directs judicial deference in so many words. More often, courts defer because they want to defer. Judges say that the executive will do a better job of deciding certain things, or that they want to show respect for the constitutional prerogatives of the executive, or occasionally that they cant do a good job of exploring the fact themselves. The important thing to know about these rationales for deference is that they are makeweights: easy excuses for judges to avoid hard decisions or to find a way to reach unpalatable outcomes. When judges want to decide something without deference, they nearly always find a way. Consider, for example, the wall-related cases. Deference will come up first when the challengers say that there is no national emergency that requires the president to divert money to build a wall along the border with Mexico. Justice Department lawyers will answer that the courts should defer to the president about whether there is an emergency. The national emergencies law, they will point out, doesnt specify the criteria the president must use. Therefore, they will conclude, the law must mean to give the president wide discretion to decide if there is an emergency or not. Deference will next come up in the wall cases when the challengers assert that the wall isnt a defense measure, as Trump has claimed in order to invoke a statute that allows presidents to reallocate defense appropriations for certain emergency purposes. Trumps lawyers will say that the executive as commander in chief is in charge of defense, and therefore the courts should defer to his judgment about whether the military and the wall are needed at the border. In both parts of the argument, the courts could refuse to defer on the ground that Trump has so baldly flouted federal law as to forfeit any deference. Then the courts could find that there is no emergency at the border and no defense connection. Yet it is also possible that a court seeking to uphold the wall spending could avoid the embarrassment of saying that the emergency is real and wall related to national defense by simply saying it was deferring to the executive. In the census case, a federal district court already refused to defer to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Rosss explanation for why he wants to add a citizenship question to the census questionnaire. Instead, the court held that Ross had given a false, pretextual reason for the decision, thus violating the Administrative Procedure Act. It would be hard for the Supreme Court to reverse the lower courts factual findings. But the conservative justices could hold that the court should have deferred to the commerce secretarys stated explanation rather than trying to look behind the statement and into the actual decision-making process. If this talk of deference is giving you some Russian Doll-style deja vu about Trump and deference, it isnt something you smoked. In the first marquee Supreme Court case of the Trump administration, the challenge to the ban on people entering the U.S. from a group of majority Muslim countries, deference ended up playing a decisive role. The courts majority didnt want to deal with the extensive evidence that Trump was motivated by anti-Muslim bias. So it said that because the president was acting in the realm of immigration, where Congress has given him lots of power, the court would defer to his official explanation for the ban. That saved the court from having to consider the presidents tweets and statements that made the bias clear. Heres hoping Chief Justice John Roberts now regrets using deference to give Trump cover to violate the Constitution. The time for deference is over. To contact the author of this story: Noah Feldman at nfeldman7@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stacey Shick at sshick@bloomberg.net This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a professor of law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. His books include The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President. 2019 Bloomberg L.P. A Mays Landing man has been charged with human trafficking in connection with keeping three women captive, the Office of the Atlantic County Prosecutor said Sunday. El Joshua, 36, forced the women to engage in various forms of labor, including prostitution and domestic servitude, through violence, threats of violence, and providing them heroin over a period of time," the prosecutors office said in a news release. One of the women escaped through a window and told authorities about the others, according to the statement. Joshuas arrest Thursday followed a two-month investigation by the Township of Hamilton Police Department and the FBIs Child Exploitation Task Force. Joshua was charged with five counts of human trafficking, two counts of criminal restraint, and one count of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. He was being held Sunday in the Atlantic County Justice Facility. A detention hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the prosecutors office would not answer any questions about the arrest. Staff reports The Petoskey News-Review Eight area robotics programs recently received $500 grants from the Northwest Michigan Industrial Association. The Petoskey Paladins, Charlevoix Raydernators, Mancelona Ironbots, Suttons Bay Norsemen, Boyne City Blaze, Ellsworth Cybertronic Lancers, Traverse City Central Raptors and St. Francis Xavier Crusaders ROV all received $500 grants for the 2019 FIRST Robotics Competition season. This is the fifth year that the industrial association has formally provided grants to area teams. According to the Northwest Michigan Industrial Association president, Allan Hopkins of Petoskey Plastics, An important role of the NWMIA is assisting our future workforce. Approximately 75 percent (of) the associations annual membership dues fund the grants and scholarships we award. We are very excited to be able to provide these grants, and the general membership of the NWMIA is equally pleased to see a portion of their annual dues earmarked for these amazing programs and endeavors. In May, the industrial association will continue its tradition of awarding several $1,000 post-secondary academic scholarships by way of an essay competition, which is open to member companies employees and their families. The Northwest Michigan Industrial Association, established in 1974, represents businesses in seven counties: Emmet, Charlevoix, Antrim, Otsego, Grand Traverse, Cheboygan and Kalkaska. More information about the Northwest Michigan Industrial Association can be found at www.nwmia.org/ Get 25% off of the regular $65 annual All Access rate. With this subscription you will get: Digital access to ElPasoInc.com and archives (value $45) Print subscription home or business delivered (value $65) Book of Lists (annual rate only, value $50) El Paso Inc. Magazine (value $20) El Paso Kids Inc. Special sections - OR - Get 15% off of the regular $45 annual Digital-only rate. With this subscription you will get: Complete digital access to ElPasoInc.com. Now that we know that Jussie Smollett staged his own hate crime, the media are trying to portray conservatives as racists for criticizing the lefts rush to judgment. But this is hardly the first time weve been unjustly maligned based on fabricated claims. The rationalization and justification for this hoax, which the entire media establishment used to attack Donald Trump, was on full display following the news of Smolletts deception. No shade: but if a single instance of a hoax hate crime makes you disbelieve all people reporting hate crimes, it feels like you were already looking for an out, New York Times reporter Astead Herndon tweeted as news reports confirmed what we all knew from the start about the Jussie Smollett MAGA Country attack [emphasis added]. Excuse me, but a single instance? Did Herndon mean this week? Was he not around last month when the entire establishment media,including his own newspaper, tried to crucify a group of teenagers from Covington, Kentucky over another hate incident that plainly never happened? Lets go back to the one of the most famous hoaxes in recent history for perspective. In 1987, America became acquainted with the granddaddy of all hate-crime hoaxes. A black 15-year-old, Tawana Brawley, told police she had been abducted and raped for days by a group of men in her predominantly white and conservative Upstate New York town. She alleged that these white men, driven by racial hatred, smeared excrement and wrote the worst racial slurs all over her body. Now-MSNBC host Al Sharpton spun the story into a national sensation, and the media ate it up. Once Sharpton got involved, the story grew even more compelling: one rapist was a uniformed police officer and another was a local prosecutor. It took months of expensive police investigation and grand jury inquiry to prove exactly what most reasonable people suspected from the get-go: it was all a hoax. It took almost 11 years before one of the victims of the hoax the innocent assistant district attorney who Al Sharpton repeatedly accused of gang raping a teenager was finally vindicated in court. This is relevant to the Smollett saga, because the media clearly learned nothing from the Brawley hoax. Instead, they continue to take their cue from the type of left-wing activists who pushed the Brawley hoax. The attitude of Herndon and his fellow liberal journalists toward the Smollett case reminds me of critical race theorist Patricia Williams and her 1991 contention that "Tawana Brawley has been the victim of some unspeakable crime. No matter how she got there. No matter who did it to herand even if she did it to herself" [emphasis added]. The facts of any particular case, liberals seem to argue, do not matter. Theyre absolutely convinced that hate crimes are rampant in Trumps America, so people who question any hate crime, no matter how outlandish the circumstances, must be dismissed as conspiracy theorists. Thats why parts of the media breathlessly reported a Muslim womans claim that three drunk white men screamed Donald Trump and called her a terrorist while they pulled off her headscarf on the New York City subway. Of course, that incident turned out to be a hoax, just like three other times when similar claims were made and proved to be false. Likewise, Trump supporters didnt burn down a black church in Mississippi, or cut a feminist with a safety pin in Michigan, or leave threatening notes for an LGBT student in Chicago, or throw stones at a black teenager in New York. They also didnt beat up Jussie Smollett, wrap a noose around his neck, pour bleach on him, and yell, This is MAGA Country! at two oclock on a frozen morning in a ritzy Chicago neighborhood. But the mainstream media are happy to run with any narrative that seems to confirm their delusions about Trumps America, or refuse to retract a story when its proven to be fake. In short, it is not a single instance that makes conservatives skeptical of media narratives that paint them as bigots who tacitly encourage violent hate-crimes. The media have in dozens of instances either reported obvious hoaxes as fact or distorted real events to fit their fantasy of an America where conservatives, and particularly white male conservatives, roam the streets looking for black, Hispanic, Jewish, Muslim, or gay people to attack. Hoax after hoax is exposed, yet liberals continue to amplify patently absurd stories when and only when those stories fit their ridiculous notions about a violent and hateful Trumps America. Conservatives are not looking for an out; were fed up with being called far-right extremists for challenging a fabricated storyline that inaccurately portrays us as monsters. For the record, conservatives dont disbelieve all people reporting hate crimes, we just approach those cases with a little skepticism when they raise as many red flags as Smolletts story did. -- Candace Owens is communications director for Turning Point USA. Monday will be an important day. That is the day Senate Bill S130 will be voted on, and the American people and, especially, Pennsylvanians will be able to see what type of leadership they voted into office. The bill, known as the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, authored by Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., and co-sponsored by 48 other Republicans, is a perfect opportunity for leaders who consider themselves to be pro-life to exercise their belief. Sasses legislation simply requires that, when a botched abortion results in the live birth of an infant, health care practitioners must exercise the same degree of professional skill and care to protect the newborn as would be offered to any other child born alive at the same gestational age. Put in even simpler terms, a human being born alive is given humane care to continue living. Why is such a bill even necessary? Isnt that basic health care? Isnt that what hospitals and doctors are trained to do, to save lives? There recently was a chilling bill passed in New York that took that basic human right to life away from a baby. What has happened to us in America? New Yorks Reproductive Health Act now allows a broader definition of the health of mother exception to the states former ban on abortions from 28 to 42 weeks of gestation. It also drops the requirement that abortions need to be performed by a doctor and removes all penalties for abortion from the state law. Lets consider each of these. Just what exactly does allowing an abortion for the health of the mother mean? According to Doe v. Bolton, the companion case to Roe v. Wade, health is defined by the Supreme Court as The medical judgment (for a late-term abortion) may be exercised in the light of all factors physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the womans age relevant to the well-being of the patient. All these factors may relate to health. This allows the attending physician the room he needs to make his best medical judgment. Basically, any reason. Previously, New York allowed abortions through the end of the pregnancy, but only if the life of the mother was at risk, a rarity in the past 50 years with advances in medical technology. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 19 states allow for a life of the mother reason to kill third-trimester babies. What most Americans have failed to understand is this has been legal since Roe v. Wade in 1973, happening in various states based on their laws. New York is simply the latest. Second, any medical practitioner can perform the abortion, not just a doctor. So a nurse practitioner, physician assistant or other health care professional can perform an abortion at up to 42 weeks,the point of birth. Can less-experienced nonphysicians be better, or safer, for women and their infants? In their quest to make New York the abortion capital of the country, they also did away with needing a second doctor be present during the late-term procedure. This is health care? It is now legal, but I, as a woman, do not consider it safer. Finally, as the New York State Catholic Conference states, Moving abortion from the Penal Law to the Public Health Law is a major policy shift that removes accountability for those who would harm unborn children outside the context of medical termination of pregnancy. The crime of abortion is the only place in New York law that allows for additional criminal charges for violent attacks against pregnant women that are intended to and result in harm to the unborn children. You might have seen in the news that Virginia is trying to pass the same type of bill. In a radio interview, Gov. Ralph Northam said, If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen, he said. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if thats what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother. (The bill also only requires the attending physicians consent, not more than one.) The definition of infanticide, which these bills are being called by their opponents is, according to Merriam-Webster, The killing of an infant. There we have it. This is what we want? Really? But this is where we in Pennsylvania come in. Our Democratic senator, Bob Casey Jr., has always called himself pro-life, yet his voting record has received a 90 percent approval rate from NARAL Pro-Choice America. Mondays vote is a chance for him to vote pro-life. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., is a co-sponsor of SB 130. What about Casey? When asked what he means by calling himself a pro-life Democrat, Casey have been quoted as saying, I try to support policies that help women and children both before and after birth. Pennsylvania, let him hear from you. -- Mary Ellen Caris of Sadsbury Township, Lancaster County, is a former business owner and an advocate for the unborn. Drugs, including alcohol and marijuana are used because, to some extent, they artificially change our thinking, bodily function, perception, emotions, mood and actions. If they do not produce significant effects, people would not take them. Making THC legal will have intended and unintended outcomes. One of the functions of government is to protect all of its citizens in the areas of safety, security and stability. Our state needs to look at the big picture with a cautionary approach in any changes to its drug laws. Labeling marijuana as medical or recreational does not change the fact that there are inherent personal, societal and governmental problems. Cannabis has been made medically available without conducting the research, testing and controls that any other drug is required to undergo. This means that the possible beneficial results and the inevitable side effects of its prescribed usage are still in question. Now, without the standard due process to protect the public, the State of Pennsylvania is considering bypassing normal restraint to legalize this mind-altering substance. The main justification for legalizing recreational cannabis is that we can tax this vice to fund our government; but the human and public costs will minimize the value of the taxes collected. It is assumed that cannabis is safer than alcohol or opiates, but safer does not mean safe; not legalizing recreational marijuana is far safer. I am against making this mind-altering substance legal, readily available and seemingly acceptable in our state. PAUL MAULFAIR, Middletown Hes back. Bernie Sanders, the self-proclaimed socialist senator from Vermont is running for president again. Although hes not a Democrat (Hes not registered with any party, a true independent, but caucuses and votes with Democrats in the Senate), hes had profound influence over the Democrat Party since he nearly bested Hillary Clinton for the nomination in 2016. Its one thing about which Sanders and President Trump are agreed. Sanders boasts that the ideas he promoted and were considered radical just three years ago are now mainstream among national Democrats. President Trump clearly thinks Sanders is right about that, saying, hes already won the debate in the Democrat primary because every candidate is embracing his brand of socialism. Many of the socialist ideas championed by Sanders are now me-tooed by other Democrat contenders. From Medicare-for-all (socialized medicine) to free college-for-all (socialized higher ed) the Democrat contenders are jostling to see who can get closet to the far-left without actually falling off the edge. Theyre all promising tons of free stuff without even a hint of the oppressive taxation of every working American it will take to pay for any of it. Four years ago Bernie Sanders was an obscure senator from one on the nations smallest states with some unconventional views about just about everything. Yet he challenged the partys front-runner and the medias darling to the very end. Many of his supporters argued that without party rules that allowed so-called superdelegates to give Clinton an insurmountable lead, Bernie would actually have won the nomination at their convention. Interestingly, it was the first Democratic National Convention that Sanders had ever attended. Today Bernie is a household name with a fund-raising prowess capable of raising $6 million dollars in the first 24 hours following his announcement. His radical ideas are not truly mainstream, at least not along the Main Streets of America, but are widely accepted by the large and growing field of Democrat presidential hopefuls. Bernie is still Bernie outspoken, straight-talking and authentic. Many who espouse his views now try to differentiate themselves by saying that theyre not REALLY Democratic Socialists. Bernie hasnt strayed far from when he said, As a socialist, the word socialism does not frighten me It ought to scare the hell out of the rest of us. The socialism that Bernie Sanders, and increasingly more and more of his comrades, espouses had him championing Fidel Castro, Danny Ortega and Hugo Chavez not that long ago. They were all swell guys, but youll have a hard time finding many Americans who would trade their current residence for the chance to live under one of their repressive regimes. Socialism doesnt work and the fact that Sanders defended those thugs should cause every thinking person to pause. Sanders once said that breadlines in communist countries are a good thing. Hard to imagine. John F. Kennedy and other Democrats like him must be rolling over in their graves. They were hard-line anti-communists and rejected the socialist model at every turn. Ask not what your country can do for you, rings loudly in the cacophony of cries for free everything. The Democrat Party has historically been a capitalist party and unabashedly so. It wanted a bigger safety net and a bigger bureaucracy to administer it. Those were subjects of legitimate debate. Rejecting our capitalist successes for the unmitigated disaster of socialism isnt. Yet that is what Bernie has managed to do. His hard-left agenda has moved the debate and the national Democrats significantly farther to the left. Thats bad news for the Democrat Party and bad news for America. As Democratic candidates fall over each other trying to get as close to Bernie and his agenda as possible they increasingly distance themselves from the voters they need to win a national election. President Trump is right: America will never be a socialist country. -- PennLive Opinion contributor Charlie Gerow is the CEO of Quantum Communications in Harrisburg. His Donkeys & Elephants column appears this week opposite former Pa. Lieutenant Governor Mark S. Singel. One of the suspects in the shooting death of Nashville musician and Carlisle-area native Kyle Yorlets may have had a loaded gun while in the back of a police car. An officer put three of the five suspects in the back of his patrol car hours after Yorlets was pronounced dead Feb. 7, and when he returned, a gun was on the front seat, apparently tossed there by one of the three suspects, The Tennessean reports. Though the juvenile suspect turned in the gun , a police spokesman told The Tennessean the incident could have had an extreme consequence, according to reports. The officer is receiving preventative counseling, reports indicate. Five juveniles from the ages of 12 to 16 have been charged in connection with the killing of Yorlets during a robbery outside of his Nashville home. The 24-year-old Yorlets was a member of the band Carverton, and his death set off a wave of mourning in both Nashville and central Pennsylvania. Nashville Police have released the names of three of the five suspects -- Decorrius Wright, 16, Diamond Lewis, 15, and Roniyah McKnight, 14. From R-L: Decorrius Wright, 16, Diamond Lewis, 15, and Roniyah McKnight, 14, are charged in connection with the death of 24-year-old Kyle Yorlets. Three of the teens were ordered removed from the courtroom Thursday for laughing and talking, according to reports. An early Saturday fire in York County caused an estimated $70,000 worth of damage, according to a social media post by local firefighters. According to a York County emergency dispatcher, firefighters were called about 1:46 a.m. to 49 E. Cottage Place in York, where it was reported that a building was on fire. The dispatcher described the building as a residence. According to a Facebook post by the York City Department of Fire, fire crews were on scene shortly after the call. The blaze, firefighters said, was contained to the single address. Firefighters estimated that building sustained about $70,000 worth of damage during the fire. Firefighters did not say in the post whether anyone was in the home at the time of the blaze or whether anyone was injured as a result of the fire. A message left for firefighters late Saturday afternoon was not immediately returned. Firefighters said the cause of the blaze has not yet been determined but that it remains under investigation. Patna: Making a mockery of the improved law and order situation in the state capital, armed criminals in Patna on late Saturday evening shot and killed the owner of iconic Pal Cake and Sweets on Dak Bungalow Road and escaped with an undetermined amount of cash. The incident occurred around 7:45 pm on Frazer Road when 43-year old Purushottam Kumar, the owner of Pal Cake and Sweets and two other shops in Patna, was going from his home in Daldali area under Gandhi Maidan police station to his shop on Dak Bungalow crossing. As his motorcycle reached near Surya Apartments past Hotel Maurya, he was forced to pull over by four men on two motorcycles. When Purushottam hesitated in handing over his money bag to them, one of them shot him in his chest from close range and after snatching the cash bag, disappeared in the cover of darkness before people in the area had a chance to stop them. He was rushed to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) where he was declared dead on arrival. Senior police officials arrived at the crime scene where they found an empty cartridge. DSP Suresh Prasad said police were talking to eyewitnesses and were also preparing to look into the surveillance footage from the area. Devastated family members said Purushottam did not have any known enemy and was not carrying any cash when he was going to his store. Police are probing the matter from many angles. The victim, the eldest of the three brothers, is survived by his wife, a 13-year-old son, and a 7-year-old daughter besides other family members. Meanwhile, enraged businessmen blocked roads on Sunday morning demanding justice for the victims family. Blasting the district administration of failing to protect the citizens, they demanded Rs. 50 lakh for the family, a government job for a member of the family, and immediate arrest of Purushottams killers. Patna: Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi doesnt seem to be able to find a taker for him or his party as he continues to lobby in Patna, Delhi, and Ranchi to see which alliance was willing to offer him a deal that he just could not refuse. Just days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Patna indicated they would not mind Manjhis return to the NDA fold, the former Chief Minister of Bihar flew to Delhi to meet certain leaders but came back empty-handed. On Saturday he flew to Ranchi where he met Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the jail where he remains incarcerated in connection with many cases related to fodder scam. Talking to the reporters after his meeting with Yadav, Manjhi appeared anything but enthusiastic. Congress is the one responsible for the chaos in the Mahagathbandhan. It is demanding an unreasonable number of seats leaving practically nothing for other alliance members like HAM or Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP). I have expressed my concerns to Lalu ji and he has assured me of giving us a respectable number of seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections and has directed Tejaswi Yadav and Congress leader Akhilesh Prasad Singh to see we are not ignored when the seats are being distributed, he said. Sources say Manjhi is demanding 6 seats but may settle for four and anything less than that would not be acceptable to him. Insisting HAM deserves a lot more seats than Upendra Kushwahas RLSP and fledgling Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) led by Mukesh Sahni, Manjhi said that these two parties were new in the Grand Alliance and therefore, deserved much less seats than his own party. When asked about his possible return to the NDA, the HAM chief said that while everything was fine in the NDA, he left it due to some serious ideological differences on the topic of reservation. Or, how I spent my weekend. For eight years, I have, for one weekend a month, for most months of the school year, I have sent one or more sons off on Boy Scout outing, and, more often than not, my husband as well. November through March, they cabin-camp (yeah, I know, dont @ me) or have a one-day outing, April, May, September and October they tent-camp, and in the summer they go to summer camp and the older boys, to a High Adventure or Boundary Waters canoe trip. On Friday, my husband left for a weeklong business trip. And on Saturday, several of the troops boys, including my son, needed transportation to this weekends outing, since the Middle School Dance prevented them from going with the rest of the crew on Friday. And even though the location was only 1 1/2 hours away, I decided to stick around and finally learn first-hand what my crew is up to when they head out. And you know what? It turned out to be really worthwhile. The outing itself, as the traditional February outing, is to a national guard base where they (we) stay at an empty barracks; there are four large dormitory rooms with bunks to accommodate everyone (adults/kids and men/women separately) and a central kitchen/activity area. We are able to use their FATS system (Fire Arms Training Simulators though its called something else lately), in which boys can shoot weapons which have their innards replaced by a laser system, at simulated targets. Its also a half-hour drive away from Starved Rock and Mattheison State Parks, so a hike at one of these is always on the agenda. Also, a bit of further background: were a small troop, and have been shrinking for a number of years now, partly because the troop has largely drawn from the parish school, which is itself shrinking, and partly because parents, thinking they are wisely avoiding overscheduling their kids, say, Johnny is too busy with travel sports. This particular outing was comparatively well-attended, with a bakers dozen of boys, ranging in age from 5th 8th grade, and with 8 adults (leaders/parents) in attendance for all or part of the time. Now, as it happens, we missed one of the activities that is often cited as part of what makes for a great Scout outing that is, we arrived just after breakfast, and missed the Mountain Man Breakfast, Train Wreck, and Monkey Bread that are the traditional breakfast at this outing, and which the Scouts themselves prepare. Instead, the last of the crock pots were being washed up and everyone was getting ready to go to FATS. And the FATS system took a while to get set up (and our own Scout leader, who works in IT and has been to this outing for years and years, was key in finally getting it going, rather than the soldiers tasked with this), and when it was clear that it was going to take a while, one of the soldiers, an enlisted soldier in his early 30s, talked to the boys (and the parents) about his experiences, which included a tour of duty in Iraq though not combat, but as a mechanic and Botswana, and invited questions. Some of the more interesting questions and answers: Q: Were you afraid? A: When youre 18, 19 years old, youre not afraid. Q: Do you support the war in Iraq? A: People who oppose the war dont understand what its really like there. Its completely different than here. Q: What are the different ranks? A: Well, theres E-1 through E-9. It starts with Private and goes through Sergeant that is, I thought it was interesting that his world was that of the ranks of the enlisted; only with a follow-up question did he talk about officers.) Anyway, where was I? Finally, the FATS system was working, and everyone took their turns firing at the targets, though there was less time than was planned. Even the adults took some turns even me! Then we headed back for lunch crock pot-heated hot dogs, chips, fruit, and cookies, and then, after some huddling among the adults and consulting of radar maps, concluded that there would be enough of a break in the rain to manage a hike, though, in the end, there was a fair bit of rain which the kids (and adults) were more-or-less prepared for, with waterproof gear and boots of some sort or another. (Yes, I had a rain poncho.) I was not a big fan of the often-icy path, and we didnt actually hike along a particularly scenic path, but the boys didnt complain. We then made it back to the cars before the heavy rain returned, went back to the barracks to get into dryer (and less muddy) clothes and studied the applicable websites to find a church, which turned out to be a mass in a teeny-tiny church which clocked out at 40 minutes, tops (no music!). Then it was off to dinner at the traditional pizza place, followed by a return to the barracks, where the remaining adults (some had left mid-afternoon) played euchre and the boys well, the boys played some sort of hide-and-seek/tag game, followed by the building of forts with the mattresses and settled into some sort of group card game, which I presume to have been Mao due to hearing the phrase All Hail the King as I checked in briefly. Sunday morning was clean-up (including the disassembly of forts), followed by the eating of donuts and muffins, and return home. So heres what I found particularly worthwhile in the outing: In the ideal Scout troop, there are subgroups of boys, typically the same-aged ones, who form patrols, and do activities together as a patrol, plan and cook their meals together, and so on. We lost this structure a while back when there simply werent enough boys to maintain it, but the trooop still has the Senior Patrol Leader and the Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, two boys, typically 8th graders, who are asked to be leaders to the other boys. And look, theyre 8th grade boys, so you have to keep your expectations in check. Theyre not planning outings themselves, or getting up on the stool and saying, listen up, everyone, its time for the hike! But it was still nice to catch glimpses, such as one of them supervising the younger boys to make sure they got ready for the hike with their cold-weather gear, for instance, or, on the hike, making a decision and giving the younger boys permission to go down to the river bank. The boys also got along really well, so far as I could see. These arent a group that are fast friends at school as I said, its a mix of grades but I didnt see any evidence of exclusion or unhappiness. Unlike, say, a school trip where the kids eat at restaurants and sleep in hotels, theres work to be done. The boys cook the meals, and set-up and take-down the tents in spring/fall, and, in this case, do the pre-inspection cleaning, with, again, the objective of having the older boys lead the younger ones in these tasks as much as possible, and, in any case, instilling in them the willingness to do these tasks cheerfully or at least without complaint. And at the end of the outing, its traditional to do thorns, roses, and buds, where the boys list what they liked, disliked, and want to improve for next time. A generally-agreed on rose was the fort-building, as well as the FATS, but also the rain-hike (!), though boys also listed the rain on the hike as a thorn, as well as the difficulty getting FATS set up and the long wait for the pizza at the pizza place. And among the responses for the adults was listing getting to church as a rose (I was just happy to miss the cardinals recorded pitch for money that was on the schedule for this weekend) as well as the musicless nature of the mass (which I dont think was entirely just because it was shorter, but also because of the nature of the mass), which our nonreligious-but-compliant-with-the-activity-schedule dad seconded. So to sum up: look, I know there are people who are unhappy that Scouts has either become too liberal (because of the limited co-edness of girl Scout troops and girl Cub Scout dens/packs, which they are often misunderstanding as fully co-ed) or too conservative (because of the affiliation in many cases, with religious organizations, their willingness to allow chartering organizations to make individual decisions about leaders, and the fact that they are, in fact, not fully co-ed). But Scouting is worthwhile. All the complaints about kids being fragile and dependent on their parents long past the point when they should be more independent, Scouting is meant to counter, by developing kids who are resilient (rain-hikes), independent (outings without mom & dad), are able to lead and work together to get things done (cooking and cleaning), and skilled in outdoorsmanship (camping, hiking, fire-building). So if youre a parent, check out your nearest Scout troop, or even look into multiple troops to see which type of troop (large, small, religious or comparatively secular) best suits your family. And its OK if they missed Cub Scouting, because, quite honestly, even though Cub Scout packs are supposed to have family camping on the agenda, Boy Scouts (or, yes, Scouts BSA)s regular outings mean that, even if Cub Scouts wasnt a good fit for you, Boy Scouting might be just right for your late-elementary or middle school son (or, yes, daughter). Image: Yes, there are more than 13 boys here; this was a picture from a prior years outing. Matthew 6:1-6 Its a sore temptation to want to point to ones good deeds in order to gain the admiration of others, or, even (and perhaps somewhat less unjustifiably), to silence unfair condemnation from critics. But I know several people whove made substantial, even massive, donations to various worthy causes, yet whose names virtually never appear in connection with such generosity. Right now, Im thinking of three men, in particular, whose silence about their kindliness (in the face of reputations much to the contrary) has especially impressed me over the course of my indefensibly long lifetime. One was a convert to the Church whom I met when he was my bishop in a BYU student ward. Now long dead, he had a reputation as a really tough and competitive businessman. And, for all I know, he was. Certainly he was highly successful. Some people that I met actually disliked him. (He was their landlord, and he was quite businesslike while some of them, umm, may not have been.) But I was in his ward for two years before my mission, and several members of the congregation, I began to realize, were being kept in school and in their apartments by quite generous anonymous gifts; they themselves didnt know the source of their money and, so far as Im aware, they didnt know about each other. But, by means of a chance discovery, I eventually learned that at least one of them was being supported by that very bishop, and I was able to figure out that several others among them most likely were, as well. Ironically, I eventually learned of another, a tenant in one of the bishops apartments, who griped bitterly about how strict his landlord was about on-time payment though he was grateful, he said, that some anonymous person was helping him to meet his bills. Another is a non-Latter-day Saint a non-Christian, in fact who provided some of the early funding for the Middle Eastern Text Initative, the project that I founded at BYU and that I led until being purged in 2012. (It has now been given away to E. J. Brill, in the Netherlands.) Hes more or less out of the public eye nowadays, but he was very visibly involved for years in a quite unpopular industry, and he was often demonized and vilified in the media. Still, he wouldnt allow me to publicize his generous gifts to my project and I know that hes also been very generous to other humanitarian and scholarly efforts in Utah, as well as nationally and internationally. To seek publicity for his gifts, he told me, or even to allow such publicity, would be morally wrong. And, he said, his mother would have been very unhappy with him. The third, now dead, was extraordinarily wealthy, and, frankly, had a public reputation as something of a a miser and a skinflint. I happen to know, however, of millions of dollars in private, unpublicized gifts from him that have made many very public things possible including, but far and away not limited to, the reconstruction of the Nauvoo Temple (and, on a much smaller scale, the initial launch of the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative). I strongly suspect that he even derived some amusement from the contrast between his public reputation and the private, quiet reality. I admire these men for their refusal to draw attention to their good deeds. In this regard, they plainly conform to the Saviors admonition. My friend Bill Hamblin and I published this article in the Deseret News back on 9 August 2013: The Middle East has faced an abundance of conflicts, rival groups and, for many Americans, difficult names. Its often hard to tell the players without a scorecard. Here, as a possible aid to understanding the background behind the headlines, is a brief primer on two of those organizations, Hezbollah and Hamas. The first of these the Hizb Allah or Party of God, whose name is properly pronounced with emphasis on the last syllable is a radical Shiite Muslim group that was formed in reaction to the Israeli invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon in 1982. Not surprisingly, its strongly anti-Western and anti-Israeli. Although its quite capable of acting on its own initiative, Hezbollah, being Shiite in an overwhelmingly Sunni neighborhood, is closely allied with, and has often apparently been directed by, the Shiite government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. As a proxy in Irans campaign against Israel and the West, it has received substantial financial assistance, training, weapons and explosives and political, diplomatic and organizational aid from Tehran and, at least before Syrias current troubles, from Tehrans allies in Damascus. Hezbollah is known to have been involved in numerous anti-U.S. terrorist attacks and was notorious in the West for its seizure of Americans and other hostages during the decade of 1982-1992. Its viewed by most local Lebanese Shiites, however, as the only effective organization to have offered resistance to rival Lebanese groups during the Lebanese civil war, and against U.S., Syrian and Israeli attacks and oppression. Hezbollah has its base in the Bekaa Valley slightly less than 20 miles to the east of Beirut, in the southern suburbs of the city itself, and in southern Lebanon, but it has established cells in Europe, Africa, South America, North America and Asia. In recent years, it has become a significant military and political force within Lebanon, including representation in Parliament. Its status was considerably enhanced by its stout resistance to Israel during the 2006 Lebanon War. Hamas or, perhaps more properly, HAMAS, since its name, which plays off the Arabic word hamasa (valor, courage), is an acronym from the Arabic of its official title, Islamic Resistance Movement is a Sunni organization that emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood during the first Palestinian intifada or uprising against Israel in 1987. (Emphasis, again, should be placed on the last syllable of the name.) It has become the primary anti-Israeli religious opposition in the occupied territories, with centers of strength in the West Bank and with dominant popularly elected political power in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is rather loosely organized, but is mainly known to Americans for the volleys of rockets that it sends into southern Israel and for its use of suicide bombers, which it pioneered along with the non-Muslim Tamil Tigers or Liberation Tigers of Sri Lanka. While it condemns American policies favoring Israel, it has not targeted the U.S. directly. Instead, it focuses on attacking Israel itself, whose right to exist it has adamantly refused to recognize. Hamas is willing to agree to occasional truces, but wont sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state. In this respect, it maintains a more overtly radical position than does Fatah, the largest faction of the more secular Palestine Liberation Organization or PLO, which dominates the West Bank area and is much more open to negotiations with Israel. Hezbollah and Hamas (along with the Muslim Brotherhood itself in Egypt) have garnered a great deal of popular support through their willingness and ability to provide social services to the poor hospitals, welfare, educational facilities, free clinics and clean water, for example in places where governments have long been corrupt and ineffective while, at the same time, autocratic and oppressive. In effect, theyve filled vacuums of social and economic services that badly needed filling. Tyrants throughout the Middle East most recently Bashar al-Asad of Syria have ruthlessly suppressed political opposition but have been generally unwilling to suppress Islam. This has left resistance to Middle Eastern dictators largely in the hands of Muslim religious movements. The rise of Islamic fundamentalism over the past three decades rests on many factors, but the fecklessness of secular institutions and ideologies across the Muslim world, including the lack of freedom and of vibrant, open markets and opportunities for socio-economic advancement, ranks prominently among those factors. In a sense, todays Islamic extremism represents the unpaid socio-political bills of modern Muslim states, which have gravely failed their citizens. It was reported last Monday that U.S. companies were growing more concerned about efforts by Chinese firms to obtain their intellectual property. All eyes are now on Huawei Technologies, which the U.S. government recently accused of stealing trade secrets and it appears that Apple just happens to be one of Hauwei's major targets. Earlier today Patently Apple posted a report about Huawei's new folding smartphone and noted how Huawei's CEO Richard Yu went out of his way to compare their new Mate X to Apple's iPhone XS Max even though they're not in the same smartphone category. The Mate X is foldable smartphone. It was almost an obsession. Monday's report by The Information noted that "The U.S. Justice Department said Huawei had a formal program that rewarded employees for stealing information, with bonuses that increased based on the confidential value of the information. Huawei employees were encouraged to post stolen information on an internal company website, and they were also given an email address where they could send the information, which was then reviewed by what was known internally as the 'competition management group.' Huawei assured employees they wouldnt be punished for taking such action, the indictment said. Later in the report The Information noted that "In another incident, Huawei is suspected of copying a connector Apple developed in 2016 that made the MacBook Pro hinge thinner while still attaching the computers display to its logic board, according to a person familiar with the matter. A similar component, made of 13 similar parts assembled in the same manner, showed up last year in Huaweis MateBook Pro, which was released as a competitor to Apples MacBooks, the person said. Apple submitted a patent for the component in 2016, and it remains pending. Huawei approached multiple Apple suppliers with expertise making the component and provided them with the same schematic. Those suppliers recognized the component as Apples design and refused to make it for Huawei, the person said. But Huawei eventually found a willing manufacturer." For more on this read the full report here. I don't know if Apple is waiting for the U.S. Patent Office to grant them their hinge patent before suing Huawei or if there's enough proof to bring Huawei to court on the matter of the hinge in Huawei's MateBook X Pro. Only time will tell. Huawei updates MateBook X Pro Talking about Huawei's notebook, earlier today Huawei introduced their next-gen MateBook X Pro today during their keynote in Barcelona. OneHop: Fast File Transfers between Smartphone and Notebook One new feature is called OneHop which allows a Huawei phone user to simply tap the OneHop decal on the MateBook X Pro's palm rest and have videos, photos or documents instantly transferred. The demos were super speedy. The MateBook X Pro part of the Keynote starts at the 55 minute mark below. The OneHop feature is introduced at the 1:06:54 mark of the video. From the keynote demo, it appeared that Huawei's new OneHop feature for transfering files from a phone to a notebook is much easier than Apple's AirDrop that uses multiple steps to achieve the same thing as demonstrated in AirDrop videos here or here. Intel's VP Client Computing group came on stage today and made it clear that they were thrilled to be partnering with Huawei. This week Axios reportedly was told by Intel that that Apple would switching to ARM processors in the future. Whether Apple is working with Intel on this project is unknown at this time. Intel has an ARM license and could provide x86 emulation for ARM. Intel warned Qualcomm last year not to introduce x86 on their Snapdragon chips without a license from them and the same may be true for Apple. That aside, Huawei has the branding in China that may be able to boost MateBook notebooks enough to bypass Apple's current volume. That would help Intel with any losses from Apple. 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. A federal judge ruled on Thursday that President Donald Trumps Secretary of Labor, Alexander Acosta, illegally withheld the details of sex offender Jeffrey Epsteins plea deal from the victims when Acosta was serving as a federal prosecutor in Miami. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra of Palm Beach County found that not only did evidence demonstrate Epstein paid his workers to obtain minors not only for his own sexual gratification but also for the sexual gratification of others, but that Acosta was instrumental in helping the multimillionaire and his unnamed accomplices avoid federal prosecution, as Newsweek reports. The Miami Herald exposed Acostas role in a deal that let Epstein plead guilty to two prostitution charges and serve 13 months in prison, in exchange for immunity from federal prosecution. Acosta gave Epsteins legal team unusual freedoms in dictating the terms of the non-prosecution agreement, the Herald reports. The now-secretary of labor allowed the deal to be sealed, so the victims would not have the chance to object in court, which violates the Crime Victims Rights Act. This particular act allows victims to look through the details of possible plea deals with prosecutors. Acosta and fellow prosecutors gave Epstein this incredibly lax plea deal in spite of 103 Jane Doe victims, many of whom were between 13 and 16 when abused, and a multitude of evidence displaying his horrific history of sex trafficking and sexual assault. Oh, and to make matters worse, Acosta is literally the person in charge of overseeing international human trafficking and child labor violations as the U.S. secretary of labor. In the wake of the Heralds coverage, two of Epsteins victims filed a suit saying the prosecutors had broken the Crime Victims Rights Act. Marra wrote in his ruling: Particularly problematic was the Governments decision to conceal the existence of the [agreement] and mislead the victims to believe that federal prosecution was still a possibility. When the Government gives information to victims, it cannot be misleading. While the Government spent untold hours negotiating the terms and implications of the [agreement] with Epsteins attorneys, scant information was shared with victims. Epsteins case shows once more how men of wealth and influence are given preferential treatment in the U.S. justice system. He was not only a hedge fund manager, but also friends with President Bill Clinton, Donald Trump (who in 2002 told New York magazine, It is even said that [Epstein] likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side) and Prince Andrew (himself no stranger to allegations of sex abuse). People like Acosta allow American inequality and injustice to proliferate. 100 years ago Feb. 24, 1919: A Navy deserter traded gunshots with a federal agent in downtown Bloomington and escaped from custody. Police caught him at a home at 1503 W. Washington St., and hes in custody again. He claimed insanity in court but no one believes him. 75 years ago Feb. 24, 1944: Gunners Mate Third Class Howard Conover won a special Navy citation for heroism. He was manning a machine gun aboard a merchant ship when 25 German fighters attacked it. Conover and his fellow gunners shot down two Germans and drove the others off. 50 years ago Feb. 24, 1969: Normals worst fire in 17 years struck the Rich Plumbing & Heating Co. office. Loss is estimated between $70,000 and $100,000. It was the second fire in the same location in less than 24 hours, the first being minor. Theres no word yet on the cause. 25 years ago Feb. 24, 1994: State trooper Robert Comens, 37, was hit by his own squad car as he stopped to help a stranded motorist on I-55 near Lexington. Hes in serious condition at BroMenn. A 20-year-old Mundelein woman hit Comens car at 65 mph, and the squad car then hit Comens. Compiled by Jack Keefe; jkeefe@coldwellhomes.com. The national immigrant debate has landed on our doorstep. Central Illinoisans need to commit time to become better educated on this subject that will probably be the central theme of the 2020 campaign, at least if Donald Trump has his way. Im grateful to the Dwight Zoning Committee for allowing the public hearing on the proposal from ICA, a private company that wants to build a detention facility in their community. The issue is providing humane treatment for asylum seekers. Its obvious that this detention center in Dwight would promote family separation. But will the treatment of 1,200 detainees be more or less inhumane than that of asylum seekers today? Local citizens have good intentions that they can do good and provide compassionate care; however, the battle to do that will be intense as this private company attempts to be profitable at any cost and during a questionable period of time dealing with political directives from Washington. I understand the desperation of a rural area having experienced business losses. How can we expect them to place the treatment of refugees above their own? While many other communities have rejected detention facility proposals in their towns, this may be a perfect match for Dwight. There are so many questions and so few answers. With a critical vote on Feb. 25, I recommend a postponement until adequate research can verify the risks involved. I dream of more sustainable opportunities for Dwight and Central Illinois! Roger Hellman, Bloomington Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 I am disappointed with the cancellation of the "olive" Connect Transit bus route for Normal as of March. The elimination of this route will affect many in this community. This bus route is crucial for transportation for senior connections to the ARC Senior Center, Normal, but also is crucial transportation for the lower income who are not able to afford adequate transportation for necessary services needed for them to obtain help. It will affect those who need to visit One Normal Plaza (the old soldiers and sailors complex), which will affect children and families. This would include individuals who want to take park classes, visit the unemployment office with Illinois Job Link and Career Link, and to have help through education and job training. Oftentimes, these families commute from the Bloomington area. This also will affect Goodwill career services and thrift store. The olive route is greatly needed for providing transportation to these vital resources for assisting for the lower income community's needs, such as education, food, meals, job training skills, along with the seniors having transportation to be able to come to the ARC Senior Center, which is important for meals, community, classes, socializing, and the need to belong. I would ask that Connect Transit reconsider canceling the olive route, as this bus route is crucial for this community, especially for the lower income and the seniors. The cancellation of this important bus route will affect this community. Jane Fairchild, Normal Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 0 Picture an onion. The papery coat is peeled to reveal the bulb's shiny epidermis. Then another layer just underneath. Then more and more. We bring up this imaginary onion because we see a parallel between it and Illinois government. Both have numerous layers and are plenty tear-inducing. And we mean numerous. Illinois has 7,000 units of government, give or take. There are the big-name ones counties, cities, school districts and townships down to the obscure, like cemetery districts, water reclamation districts and regional transportation authorities. In other states, some overarching entity, like a county, would oversee these duties. But in Illinois, for political and we've-always-done-it-this-way reasons, these responsibilities are divvied among individual boards and a patchwork of panels that spend our taxpayer money. The argument is that local control ensures better services a voice of the people at the table. What's wrong with that? The problem is, each layer of the onion translates into a line item on your property tax bill. Each one charges and spends. Speaking generally, there is no incentive to eliminate overlapping duties, no upshot to exploring ways of saving money, no benefit to searching for efficiency among these groups. So they plod on, sucking in tax dollars. In fact, this pungent onion is a big part of why Illinois property owners are wholly overtaxed. It's not a coincidence we have the second-highest property tax rates in America (behind New Jersey) and the most layers of government. It's also not a coincidence our state is rapidly losing population. The tax burden is just too high. The government is too cumbersome. It's even difficult to find enough citizens to serve on these boards or run for election. The obvious fix is to rein in these units of government, yet by design mothballing one is borderline impossible under state law, and efforts to eliminate such layers have run into the Springfield buzzsaw. Former GOP Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti chaired a whole commission looking at this issue, but momentum fizzled. Eliminating a political steppingstone and potentially alienating power-brokers tends to be not so popular. Yet in this new session, legislation is again floating around to address the issue. The Citizens Empowerment Act would allow voters to dissolve certain units determined to be redundant. Gov. J.B. Pritzker in breakneck speed was able to deliver on his core campaign pledge of raising the minimum wage. Let's see if he or any other lawmakers have the political courage to address government consolidation. Let the people decide whether this onion's time is up. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Ward Graff Freitag, 91, of Stanford, passed away peacefully with family by his side at 5:52 p.m. Feb. 11, 2019, at Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, Normal. Most recently he resided at Westminster Village, Bloomington. A graveside memorial service with military rites for family and friends will be at a later date. Calvert & Metzler Memorial Home, Bloomington, is handling arrangements. Memorials may be directed to Community Cancer Center, Normal, or Alzheimers Disease Research in Maryland. Ward was born Aug. 9, 1927, in Bloomington, to Carl and Myrtle Graff Freitag. He married Kathleen P. Evers on Aug. 10, 1948, in Bloomington. She preceded him in death May 21, 2004. He was also preceded in death by his parents; one sister, Carleen Brenneman; and a son, William Carl. Ward is survived by his six children, Colleen (Darrel) Oehler, Bloomington; Kaye (Gary) Gwin, Bloomington; Jane (Dave) Kruger, Bloomington; Doug (June Stoyer) Freitag, Brookeville, Md.; John (Amy) Freitag, Danvers; and Scott Freitag, Stanford; as well as 12 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. In 1944 he enlisted in the Army at the age of 17. He was stationed in Germany, serving in the 97th Signal Battalion 3rd Army motor pool. He was a member of American Legion Post 635 in Normal. Upon his return home from the Army he married Kathleen. They had seven children and farmed the Freitag family farm in Stanford. At the age of 31 he received the McLean County Outstanding Young Farmer award. He hosted many groups from various countries showing them his automated silage cattle feeding system and hog farrowing facility. He was a visionary in terms of farm operations. He was always pursuing ways to improve farming efficiencies and was selected by many implement manufacturers to test their latest tillage innovations. In 1970 he was chosen to host the M&W Farm Power Show. He loved his community and was very civic-minded. He served on the Stanford Fire Department, Stanford Community School board and Stanford State Bank board. He belonged to the Masonic Comet Lodge 641, Minier. Upon retirement he spent his remaining years residing in Tempe, Ariz. He loved the southwest and became friends with many of the Native American artists and enjoyed collecting their pottery, rugs, jewelry and carved Kachina dolls. Ward was known for always wearing one of his hand-woven vests and his bolo ties. Ward was a hard-working father who gave his children a great life filled with lots of wonderful memories of living on the farm, annual trips to the Ozarks and a ski trip to Colorado. He loved being with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and will be missed by all. We will always remember his hearty laugh. He was always there to help his family and friends. We were all blessed to have him in our lives. Condolences may be left at www.calvertmemorial.com. CHAMPAIGN As a funeral home owner, Seon Williams has firsthand experience of the carnage gun violence leaves in its wake. As an activist, he knows the roots of the violence run deep. No place illustrates the link between guns and death more clearly than a funeral home. To bring that point home to at-risk teens, Williams recently took them to "the worst streets of our community. We had guys who had been to prison meet us on that block and they had the hard conversation about what happens in the block," he said. The tour ended with a walk through Williams' funeral home and a discussion on what the families of gun violence go through. Williams is a member of CU Fresh Start, a coalition of stakeholders who have partnered to address a marked increase in gun-related incidents in Champaign-Urbana. A team of law enforcement, ministers, government officials and representatives of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the central district of Illinois oversee the program now in its third year. The 2009 shooting of 15-year-old Kiwane Carrington by a Champaign police officer sparked a dialogue on police-community relations. Williams joined the conversation as a member of the Community Coalition. "We started a conversation on how we could be proactive in the community. We wanted to bring everyone to the table because we knew we needed all hands on deck," said Williams. The Fresh Start initiative uses focused deterrence to identify individuals likely to be involved in gun crimes, said U.S. Attorney John Milhiser. Once identified, the potential offenders are invited to a meeting, known as a call-in, with team members. The Fresh Start message to known gun users is blunt, said Milhiser: "Look, we know who you are, we know you're committing these crimes, you're going to be prosecuted and locked up, or you're going to go this way and you're going to start making the right decisions." The team conducting the attempted intervention includes a relative of a gunshot victim, church leaders and a person who served time for a gun crime, said Milhiser. The biggest challenge now, he said, "is the age of the offender. They are younger and younger." Former McLean County Sheriff Mike Emery, who now works as law enforcement coordinator for the U.S. Attorney's Office, also serves on the Fresh Start team. The new path offers targeted individuals help with employment, mental health services and housing. Another program, Operation Ceasefire, was developed in Boston and serves as the model for Fresh Start and similar programs in 70 communities across the country, including Peoria's Don't Shoot initiative. So far, 70 people have met Fresh Start's criteria of being over 18, on parole or probation and having a prior conviction for a violent or gun-related offense. Of the 70, 36 could not participate because of incarceration, work issues or a pending court case. Sixteen of the remaining 34 call-in participants accepted the offer for services. Half of the 16 participants were working or not in the criminal justice system, according to 2018 data. Of the 18 who refused, only three were not in the system; others were on parole or incarcerated and two were dead. When guns are used to settle a dispute, the ensuing violence often begets more violence, Williams acknowledged. Neighborhoods become war zones of retaliation as innocent bystanders are caught in the crossfire between members of gangs, or cliques, as law enforcement refers to offenders without ties to organized gangs. Team members volunteer to respond to shooting incidents as part of an effort to quell fear and prevent more violence. "Their role is to bring calm to the neighborhood," said Williams. Tracy Parsons, community relations manager for the city of Champaign, said data collection is a key part of Fresh Start's work. Information on every shooting where, how and who was involved is reviewed. "Data helps determine the solution," said Parsons. Measuring the program's impact is not limited to a drop in gun-related crimes. In 2018, Champaign-Urbana saw a total of eight homicides all gun-related and up from five the previous year. The 182 incidents involving guns did not reach the 2016 level of 193, but the concerning uptick was higher than the 122 reported in 2017. "It's getting these guys to put their guns down and building a collaboration to address gun violence," said Parsons. Funding for Fresh Start comes from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority and the Champaign County Mental Health Board. Contact Edith Brady-Lunny at (309) 820-3276. Follow her on Twitter: @pg_blunny Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. EUREKA When a group of small colleges joined together to offer online courses to each others' students as a way to boost enrollment in those classes and help students who couldn't get into a class they needed, Eureka College leaders got an idea. We heard about it and we started to use it for an entirely different reason helping students recover from a bad grade, said Eureka College Provost Ann Fulop. This approach, tried for the first time last summer, already is proving successful. Twenty-two students in academic jeopardy took online courses in the summer and all but one returned in the fall, said Fulop. If a student fails a class, they can take it elsewhere, such as Heartland Community College, and the credits would transfer, but it would not change their grade point average at Eureka, explained Fulop. If they take the online course as part of the Council of Independent Colleges program, the new grade replaces the old one. We gave them very specific goals, telling them exactly what grades they needed, she said. Fulop said it works well for students who just need that one more chance. Nathan Schertz of El Paso was one of those students. The communications major, now in his senior year, said he ran into a rough patch last year. When grades came out, I got a call from the provost, said Schertz. Fulop outlined what he needed to do to stay in school, he said. He took four classes over the summer both online and on campus and liked the flexibility it gave him to work at his own pace. It really taught me time management, he said. I found it a fantastic option, said Schertz. It gave me an opportunity to succeed. Students pay Eureka the usual tuition rate and Eureka pays a portion of that to the college offering the online course. Eureka has agreements with the school offering the course, ensuring it matches what Eureka offers. Students in academic trouble weren't the only ones to sign up. Fulop said a total of 47 students enrolled in 112 online classes. Some saw it as a way to pick up classes for a double major or minor and still graduate in four years, she said. The online course option is only one way Eureka seeks to help struggling students. Fulop said, We're doing a lot of other efforts to support students. For several years, Eureka, like many schools, has had an early warning system under which anyone can send a retention alert if they see a student who is in danger of dropping our or not returning, said Fulop. Sometimes the problem is financial rather than academic, but the college tries to help any way it can, she said. For struggling students, Fulop said, I put students in a study hall, which they are supposed to attend from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. It's not detention. It's not punishment, she explained. Rather, it's similar to study tables many schools have for athletes. Fulop said there is math center, writing center and library support present to help those in the study hall. Many of the students are grateful, she said. I'll probably continue to do it. As for Schertz, I'm grateful for the opportunity to get my grades back on track. It showed me people can do whatever they make up their minds to do. Contact Lenore Sobota at (309) 820-3240. Follow her on Twitter: @Pg_Sobota Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. By The Guardian , Feb . 23, 2019 Chinas first emperor ordered his subjects to search for the elixir of life in a quest for immortality. In 16th century France, nobles would drink gold in a bid to extend their lifespans. Gilgamesh, the Sumerian king at the heart of humanitys earliest epic poem, found a magic herb, but a snake ate it. In 2015, a woman on the MTV series True Life: Im Obsessed With Staying Young bathed in pig blood. In 2019, the quest for everlasting life is, largely, though not always, more scientific. Funded by Silicon Valley elites, researchers believe they are closer than ever to tweaking the human body so that we can finally live forever (or quite a bit longer), even as some worry about pseudoscience in the sector. Read More: Join us - become an Elderado today at: LarryElder.com Follow Larry Elder on Follow Larry Elder on Twitter "Like" Larry Elder on Facebook Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Mission for the Stabilization of Mali (UNMISMA) deplored Saturday what it called "the cowardly murder of three of its peacekeepers in the Siby area, about 40 kilometres from the Malian capital", a statement to PANA in Bamako said Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The Senegalese president, Macky Sall, seeking a second five-year term, has commended his compatriots for filing out peacefully on Sunday for the country's presidential election Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) The presidential candidate of Nigerias major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has called on all Nigerians to embrace peace and avoid all forms of violence Spring will be here before you know it and if youre craving an adventure, you may want to consider a getaway to Weasku Inn (5560 Rogue River Highway, Grants Pass; 541-471-8000). Even the pronunciation of this charming inns name is welcoming: We-Ask-U Inn. This historic lodge has been home away from home for guests since 1924. Restoration to the lodge and the original A-frame cabin were completed in 1998, retaining the authentic feel and decor. Nearly a dozen riverfront cabins and a three-bedroom river house are nicely appointed; stone fireplaces and Jacuzzi tubs are in some cabins. Additional amenities include a delicious continental breakfast, afternoon appetizers and nightly freshly baked cookies and milk; the hospitality at Weasku is truly first-class. If you enjoy fishing, I suggest that you bring your pole, as a trail leads from the property down to the river, where youll find an excellent fishing hole. Join Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Carole Lombard and Walt Disney, who left Tinseltown behind to vacation at this tranquil Rogue River retreat. Unleash your artistic bent and create a glass ornament, heart paperweight, pumpkin, tumbler or wave bowl at The Glass Forge Gallery & Studio (501 S.W. G St., Grants Pass; 541-955-0815). Customers are paired with trained instructors to blow and twirl molten glass until it takes shape. The creative process takes about 30 minutes, but cooling takes overnight. The artists display and sell stunning large and small one-of-a-kind pieces ranging from vases and lamp shades to glasses, stemware and more at the onsite gallery. Reservations are a must for glassblowing activities, although visitors are welcome to come by the studio to see where and how the magic happens anytime between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday. The gentlemen who run this establishment are personable, knowledgeable and always happy to give a tour. Plaques noting that the Oregon Caves became a national monument during the administration of President Howard Taft. (Terry Richard/2015)LC- Terry Richard/Staff While youre in the area, Oregon Caves National Monument (19000 Caves Highway, Cave Junction; 541-592-2100), located about 30 miles south of Grants Pass in the Siskiyou Mountains, is an Oregon treasure worth visiting. During this time of year you can expect snowfall through the spring, but with that being said, the incentives are magnificent marble caves of recrystallized limestone, hiking, wildlife and nearby camping. Tours of the caves (fee applies) are offered late March through early November and are weather dependent; there is no fee to visit the surface trails and monument facilities. There are two visitor centers, one at the monument and one in Cave Junction. (Tours can be a bit strenuous, so children must be at least 42 inches tall.) The all-new fourth edition of Gerry Franks Oregon guidebook is available through oregonguidebook.com; 503-585-8411; gerry@teleport.com; amazon.com; Macys; and P.O. Box 2225, Salem, OR 97308. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort repeatedly and brazenly violated the law and shows a hardened adherence to committing crimes, prosecutors told a Washington federal judge. They recommended no specific punishment for those crimes, saying that is the practice of the special counsel. Prosecutors noted that federal guidelines call for a sentence of 17 to 22 years, although under Manafort's guilty plea in his Washington case, the statutory maximum he faces is 10. The special counsel said that they may ask for Judge Amy Berman Jackson to impose a sentence that runs consecutive to whatever punishment Manafort is given for related crimes in Virginia federal court. Friday's sealed filing, an unredacted version of which was published Saturday, helps pave the way for his sentencings in Washington and Virginia scheduled for next month, as Robert Mueller begins wrapping up his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. As part of his plea deal in September, Manafort, 69, acknowledged he was guilty of everything he was accused of both in Washington and Virginia: making millions as an unregistered lobbyist for Ukrainian politicians, hiding that money to avoid paying taxes, defrauding banks to pay his debts when his oligarch patrons fell out of power, and lying to cover up his crimes while trying to persuade witnesses to do the same. But when he appears in front of Jackson on March 13, he will already have been sentenced for related crimes in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, barring any change in the scheduling as now set for those hearings. Jackson could make the sentence she imposes run during or after his Virginia prison term. In Virginia, where Manafort was found guilty of bank and tax fraud at trial, there is no upper limit to his sentence. In Alexandria, prosecutors have also asked only for a "serious" sentence. Federal guidelines in that case call for him to spend roughly 19 to 24 years in prison. Mueller's prosecutors have been handing off other pending legal matters to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Washington, and the Department of Justice is readying for Mueller to formally conclude his work. In New York, the Manhattan district attorney is preparing to charge Manafort with violating state tax laws and committing other financial crimes, a move designed to ensure Trump's former campaign chairman spends time in prison if the president pardons him for the convictions stemming from Mueller's probe, Bloomberg News and The New York Times reported Friday. Trump has not indicated whether he intends to pardon Manafort, though he repeatedly expressed support for him as his trial played out last year. New York's double jeopardy law, which protects defendants from being prosecuted twice for the same crimes, could pose a challenge for the district attorney's office, however. Attorneys for Manafort are not due to file their sentencing recommendation in Washington until Monday, having told Jackson that this week's snowstorm made it harder to meet with their client in the Alexandria jail where he has been held, and asking for a delay. Under his plea agreement in Washington, federal prosecutors had agreed to ask Jackson to give Manafort credit at sentencing for cooperation. But because she found he lied to investigators and breached that agreement, they are no longer bound by it. Jackson found Manafort lied about his interactions with Konstantin Kilimnik, a longtime aide who the FBI assessed to have ties to Russian intelligence. Those contacts, prosecutors said in court, go "very much to the heart of what the special counsel's office is investigating." Manafort gave inconsistent accounts of an August 2016 meeting in New York City at which he and Kilimnik discussed a peace plan for Ukraine, a top foreign policy priority for Russia. At the time, Manafort was still leading Trump's campaign. He also lied about sharing polling data with Kilimnik in 2016, prosecutors said in describing how he broke his deal to cooperate truthfully. The judge also concluded that Manafort lied about a payment that he claimed was a loan and as part of another Justice Department investigation whose focus has not been described publicly. Defense attorneys have maintained that Manafort did not intentionally give false information and that any inconsistencies were honest mistakes. In 2017, Kilimnik denied to The Washington Post having connections to Russian intelligence. He was indicted with Manafort on charges of conspiring to obstruct justice through witness tampering. Kilimnik is believed to be in Moscow and therefore probably safe from arrest because Russia does not extradite its citizens. A 20-year-old man was killed and another arrested Saturday after an early morning DUII crash in Salem, the Oregon State Police said. The State Police said an initial investigation found Jacob Bowlsby, 20, of Gresham, lost control of his 2003 Kia Rio around 5 a.m. and came to a stop in the middle of Interstate 5. Another driver, Oscar Aguilar Esparza, 20, of Salem, crashed his 1997 Honda Civic into Bowlsbys car, the authorities said. Bowlsby was taken to an area hospital after the crash and pronounced dead, according to the State Police. Its unclear what caused Bowlsby to lose control of his car, said Capt. Timothy Fox. Aguilar Esparza was arrested on accusations of driving while intoxicated, the authorities said. The Marion County Jail inmate roster shows Aguilar Esparza is also facing accusations of manslaughter, assault, reckless driving and reckless endangerment. -- Gordon R. Friedman In a heads up to Portland, news sources report Zenith Energy is building new infrastructure in Northwest Portland to greatly increase the number of oil trains it can ship into Portland. These oil train cars are filled with a heavy oil from Canadian tar sands operations, an oil much heavier and harder to contain than the oil in the Mosier train wreck. An oil spill from this type of heavy oil into the Kalamazoo River in 2010 took five years to clean up. These long oil trains will get to their terminal either through the St. Johns neighborhood or across the Steel Bridge, traveling right through my neighborhood. The threat to our city and the Willamette River is considerable. Please ask our city council and mayor to step up to this environmental threat by Zenith Energy. Donna Murphy, Portland Three days before a September 2017 rally by the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, a sergeant with Portland Police sent a text confiding the bureaus plans for managing the rally and the expected counterdemonstration by antifascist activists: So, I will let you know now we are going to set up fencing like Seattle has done in the past, states the Sept. 7 text sent by now-Lt. Jeffrey Niiya. We are making a space for the Patriot Prayer group just north of the fountain. There will be a gap and then more fencing by SW Taylor to allow counter protesters a spot close enough to be seen and heard but far enough away to not have interactions. The message sounds like texts Niiya sent to controversial Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson that have generated public outcry since Willamette Week and The Portland Mercury reported on the exchanges earlier this month. Only that Sept. 7 text wasnt sent to Gibson. It was one of hundreds Niiya sent to June Gia Davies, an activist organizing against Patriot Prayer. Niiya, who served as the bureaus liaison to protest organizers, texted Davies during the summer and fall of 2017 disclosing elements of police plans, offering advice on keeping safe and even jokingly complimenting Davies on some of her suggestions for police. Such outreach and relationship building are a fundamental part of community policing, in which officers aim to intervene in a situation before it turns criminal or de-escalate brewing conflicts. And Patriot Prayer rallies, which routinely attract white supremacists and seem primarily aimed at trolling progressives, are exactly the kind of volatile situations that call for pre-emptive measures. Thats important context for Portlanders and Portlands elected leaders to consider in evaluating text messages between Gibson and Niiya, who has been taken off the bureaus crowd-control team while under investigation for the texts. Considering how violent brawls have broken out in previous confrontations, shouldnt Portlanders want the bureaus liaison to encourage Gibson to move away from advancing counter-protesters, as Niiya advised? If police are tasked with keeping the peace, preventing the two groups from getting too close to each other is an effective way of achieving that. Its not hard to see, however, why people would take the texts and view them as confirmation that Portland police sympathize with Patriot Prayer. Activists opposing the right-wing group have frequently argued that police treat them more harshly, and have pointed to a city report that quoted a lieutenant saying that Patriot Prayer members seemed much more mainstream than the counterprotesters. And certainly, some of Niiyas messages seem protective, such as one telling Gibson that police wont likely arrest fellow protester Tusitala Tiny Toese for an outstanding warrant at an upcoming rally as long as he stays out of trouble. Its easy to focus on the dont worry about the warrant part of the message while skipping over the keep Toese in line portion. And these texts are subject to individuals interpretation. In that sense, the investigation into Niiya and police bias as a whole will be helpful for sorting truth from suspicion. The bigger problem is that Portlanders are so legitimately distrustful of Portland Police that they find it hard to believe anything but the worst. The reasons go back decades: fatal shootings of unarmed African Americans and people in mental health crises; jury verdicts and legal settlements over cases of police bias; and the cultural or contractual inability of Portland Police to hold officers accountable for a wide range of transgressions, from racist statements to dangerous behavior. The rift between many Portlanders and the police force goes far deeper than Niiyas texts, as last Thursdays listening session, which devolved into shouting, confrontation and chaos, showed too well. But thats where leadership comes in. Or where it should have come in when the texts were first revealed. Mayor Ted Wheeler, as police commissioner, should have explained how police officers routinely seek to develop a rapport with people from all corners of the city as part of community policing. He could have urged patience as additional public records releases have shown Niiyas friendly texts to protest organizers from across the political spectrum. He could have reviewed the police reports Niiya filed that show the lieutenants goal of keeping the public safe while allowing people to exercise their rights to protest. And finally, he could have talked with his own senior policy advisor who, as The Oregonian/OregonLives Maxine Bernstein reported, repeatedly pressed Niiya to update him on Gibsons plans a task that required Niiya to maintain a relationship with Gibson to fulfill. Instead, Wheeler called the texts disturbing and said they contribute to distrust of police. City Commissioners Jo Ann Hardesty and Chloe Eudaly also jumped in the fray to criticize the texts and conclude that police officers are collaborating with white supremacists. Effective leaders seek to defuse explosive situations by providing facts, context and a measured response that recognizes the complexity and sensitivity of the underlying issues. But with their rhetoric, Wheeler, Hardesty and Eudaly simply turned up the heat, deepening the rift and making it even harder for Police Chief Danielle Outlaw to repair the police bureaus relationship with the community. Unfortunately, leadership doesnt seem to be on Wheelers, Hardestys and Eudalys agenda. Playing to the crowd is. -Helen Jung for The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board Oregonian editorials Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung, Therese Bottomly and John Maher. Members of the board meet regularly to determine our institutional stance on issues of the day. We publish editorials when we believe our unique perspective can lend clarity and influence an upcoming decision of great public interest. Editorials are opinion pieces and therefore different from news articles. However, editorials are reported and written by either Laura Gunderson or Helen Jung. To respond to this editorial, post your comment below, submit an OpEd or a letter to the editor If you have questions about the opinion section, email Laura Gunderson , editorial pages editor, or call 503-221-8378. By TC Palm , Feb . 22, 2019 Billionaire equity firm owner John Childs is one of several men accused of soliciting prostitution in connection with a Florida spa tied to an international human trafficking ring, police said Thursday. Childs, who lives seasonally in Indian River Shores, is wanted on a solicitation of prostitution charge, according to a warrant for his arrest. He has not been arrested. Read More: Join us - become an Elderado today at: LarryElder.com Follow Larry Elder on Follow Larry Elder on Twitter "Like" Larry Elder on Facebook SUNDAY 2019 Oscars red carpet coverage: It starts at 10 a.m. with Oscars Countdown: The Red Carpet Live! on ABC, and continues with E! Countdown to the Red Carpet," also at 10 a.m., on E! Then comes On the Red Carpet at the Oscars, at 2 p.m. on ABC, and E! Live From the Red Carpet - Oscars 2019 with Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic hosting, also at 2 p.m., on E! And, finally, comes the official pre-show, Oscars Live on the Red Carpet, hosted by Ashley Graham, Maria Menounos, Elaine Welteroth, Billy Porter (Pose), and with Ryan Seacrest, popping up for the final half hour. It starts at 3:30 p.m. on ABC. The 91st Academy Awards: The ceremony has no official host this year, but plenty of interesting nominees. (5 p.m. ABC) Whiskey Cavalier: The new series starring Scott Foley and Lauren Cohan as sexy spies gets a post-Oscar preview. (10 p.m. ABC) MONDAY Oregons Black Pioneers: A new Oregon Experience documentary tells the story of African Americans history in the state, and the challenges they faced as a result of racist laws and policies. (9 p.m. OPB) The Enemy Within: Jennifer Carpenter and Morris Chestnut star in a new spy thriller. (10 p.m. NBC) TUESDAY World of Dance: The competition returns for Season 3. (9 p.m. NBC) WEDNESDAY Gone: Chris Noth and Leven Rambin star in a drama about a task force specializing in abductions and missing-person cases. The series is inspired by Portland-based author Chelsea Cains novel, One Kick. (9 p.m. WGN America) Documentary Now!: John Mulaney, Taran Killam, Richard Kind, Renee Elise Goldsberry and more star in Original Cast Album: Co-op, a parody of D.A. Pennebakers documentary about the recording of the original cast album of Stephen Sondheims musical, Company. The episode was filmed at Clackamas Community College, in Oregon City. (11 p.m. IFC) THURSDAY Better Things: Pamela Adlon returns in Season 3 of her funny, smart and surprisingly moving series about a woman contending with her daughters and making a living as an actress in Los Angeles. (10 p.m. FX) FRIDAY Gold Rush: Season 9 continues, with Parkers parents showing up, and more developments up north. (9 p.m. Discovery Channel) SATURDAY Saturday Night Live: Heres more John Mulaney, who returns to guest host. Thomas Rhett is musical guest. (8:30 p.m. NBC) -- Kristi Turnquist kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Portland Public Schools and the labor union representing Portland teachers have agreed to extend their contract by one year, the school district announced Saturday. The deal, reached Friday morning after rounds of late-night negotiating, includes a 3 percent cost-of-living raise for teachers during the next school year. This outcome will help provide some stability for our schools and our students at a time of continued inadequate funding for public education in Oregon, Rita Moore, chairwoman of the school board, said in a statement. In its announcement of the agreement, the district said work continues on some elements of the contract, including provisions relating to student safety and professional conduct. Carol Hawkins, the districts senior director of labor and employee relations, said those ongoing negotiations include efforts to establishing minimum standards for teachers conduct and correct problems with preservation of personnel files pointed out by an investigation published last year. That investigation, launched in response to stories in The Oregonian/OregonLive exposing the school districts failure to stop a teachers sexual abuse of children over more than three decades, found that purges of personnel files mandated by the teachers union contract helped the abuse to continue. The agreement announced Saturday is tentative and requires ratification by teachers union members. -- Gordon R. Friedman Two men accused of a multistate crime spree were arrested Saturday after police said they attempted to steal a car from a Red Robin in Roseburg, setting off a pursuit down Interstate 5 in which one of the men fired a gun at several passing vehicles. Oregon State Police arrested Jose Lopez-Jovel, 31, and Matthew Anthony Fanelli, 30, and booked them into the Douglas and Josephine county jails. Both had warrants for their arrest in other states, and Fanelli faced 11 charges, including attempted murder. Matthew Anthony Fanelli, left, and Jose Lopez-Jovel At 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Roseburg police found Lopez-Jovel at a Red Robin, where they were called on the report of an attempted carjacking. Oregon State Police said that Lopez-Jovel was left at the restaurant while Fanelli escaped in the car he arrived in after failing to steal a car from the parking lot. Lopez-Jovel was arrested and booked into Douglas County Jail on a Utah warrant. Police then found the car suspected of fleeing the Red Robin heading south on Interstate 5. They chased Fanelli and say that he shot at them several times during the pursuit. Police said Fanelli fired shots that hit a commercial vehicle, an Oregon State Police car and a childs car seat with a child in it. The police car was disabled from the shooting. Fanelli then crossed into Josephine County and lost the cops chasing him. Police were called later to another carjacking, this time on Picket Creek Road in Grants Pass. Police say Fanelli tried to steal a car from a couple who had just arrived home. He shot the man, seriously injuring him, and assaulted the woman who were in the car. The man was taken to a hospital. Oregon State Police did not identify either victim or disclose the extent of their injuries. He didnt take the car, however, and fled in the car in which he arrived. After police located the vehicle again, it broke down, and Fanelli was booked into Josephine County Jail. Fanelli was charged with four counts of attempted murder, three counts of attempt to commit aggravated murder, assault in the first degree, and three warrants from another state for crimes that include two counts of homicide and one of robbery. Police in Taos, New Mexico, listed a warrant for Fanellis arrest on Feb. 20, saying he skipped out on his parole. He was convicted of larceny and assaulting a police officer. Two days later, he was accused of assaulting a dancer at a strip club in El Paso County, Colorado, according to local paper The Gazette. A sheriffs office release says that Fanelli is suspected of shooting at the manager and bouncer of the club when he was asked to leave. The El Paso Sheriffs Office issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of attempted murder in the first degree and illegal discharge of a firearm. 2019 Sugar Free Chocolate Market 2019 Analysis By Hershey (U.S.), Godiva Chocolatier, Inc. (U.S.), Lindt & Sprungli SAS (France), Russell stover (U.S.), Ghirardelli Chocolate Company (U.S.), Think Thin LLC (U.S.) Sugar Free Chocolate https://www.reporthive.com/enquiry.php?id=1776636&req_type=smpl&utm_source=SP https://www.reporthive.com/enquiry.php?id=1776636&req_type=purch https://www.reporthive.com Global Sugar free chocolate by category is segmented into two type 100% sugar free and no added sugar. The 100% Sugar Free segment is projected to reach USD 3.05 Bn by the end of 2023 and will grow at a CAGR of 7.02%. However, no-added sugar segment will grow at CAGR of 6.66 % and market value will reach USD 2.78 Billion.The Sugar Free Chocolate Market research report peaks the detailed analysis of industry shares, growth factors, development trends, size, key players and 2024 forecast. The report also analyses innovative business strategies, value added factors and business opportunities.Key players promote largely in supermarket, particularly in hypermarkets, where they can display huge varieties of their product line. Finest supermarkets feature some form of in-store promotional display for chocolate product line. Promotions staff offers customers samples and also provide them with product information such as ingredients, formulation and others.Get sample Report @The following manufacturers are covered in this report: Hershey (U.S.) Godiva Chocolatier Inc. (U.S.) Lindt & Sprungli SAS (France) Russell stover (U.S.) Ghirardelli Chocolate Company (U.S.) Think Thin LLC (U.S.) Guilin chocolates (Belgium)The report focuses on the Sugar Free Chocolate 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.Study Objectives of sugar free chocolate Market Forecast to 2023 Detailed analysis for individual micro and macro markets for sugar free chocolate To estimate market size by Category, Type, Ingredients, Distribution Channel and Region To understand the supply and demand dynamics of sugar free chocolate To provide region level market analysis and future outlook for U.S., U.K., Germany, France, and South-East Asia Company profiling of major players & competitive positioning for the sugar free chocolate market Value chain analysis and supply chain analysis of sugar free chocolate Analysis of historical market trends, and technologies, and current government regulatory requirements related to sugar free chocolate marketTable of Contents1 Report Prologue2 Introduction3 Research Methodology4 Premium Insights18 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Sugar free chocolate18.1 Hershey (U.S.)18.1.1 Company Profile18.1.2 Company Snapshot18.1.3 Product and Specifications18.1.4 Key development18.1.5 Business strategy18.1.6 SWOT Analysis18.2 Godiva Chocolatier (U.S.)18.2.1 Company Profile18.2.2 Company Snapshot18.2.3 Product and Specifications18.2.1 Key development18.2.2 Business strategy18.2.3 SWOT Analysis18.3 Lindt & Sprungli (France)18.3.1 Company Profile18.3.2 Company Snapshot18.3.3 SWOT Analysis18.3.4 Business strategyContinued..Enquire before purchase@: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.500, North Michigan Avenue,Suite 6014Chicago, IL - 60611United StatesContact UsMike RossMarketing Managersales@reporthive.comPhone Number: +1-312 604 7084 Neuromorphic Chip Market 2026 | Qualcomm Technologies Inc., Hewlett Packard Labs., HRL Laboratories, LLC, BrainChip Holdings Ltd https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/sample/110114808/Neuromorphic-Chip-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/discount/110114808/Neuromorphic-Chip-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/rd/110114808/Neuromorphic-Chip-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/ Research Report Insights offers a 10-year forecast for global Neuromorphic Chip Market: Global Industry Analysis, size, sales and Forecast by 2026. In terms of value, the market is expected to register a CAGR of 20.7% during forecast period. This study demonstrates the market dynamics and trends globally across 7 regions North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APEJ, Japan, and MEA which influence the current nature and future status of the neuromorphic chip market over the forecast period.This research report provides detailed analysis of neuromorphic chip market and offers insights on the various factors driving popularity of these chips. The report includes an extensive analysis of key industry drivers, restraints, market trends and market structure. The market study provides comprehensive assessment of stakeholder strategies and imperatives for succeeding in the business. The report segregates the market based on neuromorphic chip applications across different regions globally.Request For Report Sample:The market is witnessing growth in the adoption and development of neuromorphic chips. Market growth of neuromorphic chips is driven by growing demand for artificial Intelligence systems and increasing government investments in R&D. These factors along with the benefits provided by neuromorphic chips over conventional computing is rapidly creating opportunities for growth of the neuromorphic chip market. Additionally, increasing convergence of next-generation technologies and integration of neuromorphic chips in smartphones, is expected to further drive the growth of the market.The report starts with an overview of the neuromorphic chip market in terms of value. In addition, this section includes analysis of key trends, drivers and restraints from the supply, demand and economy side, which are influencing the neuromorphic chip market. Impact analysis of key growth drivers and restraints, based on the weighted average model is included in this report to facilitate clients with crystal clear decision-making insights.Neuromorphic chip market is classified on the basis of application and vertical. On the basis of application, the market is segmented as image recognition, signal recognition, data mining and others. On the basis of vertical, global neuromorphic chip market is segmented into aerospace & defence, automotive, consumer electronics, healthcare, industrial and others and others.A detailed analysis has been provided for every segment in terms of market size analysis for neuromorphic chips across the different regions. The section provides a detailed analysis covering key trends, absolute dollar opportunity and BPS Analysis.The next section highlights detailed analysis of neuromorphic chips across various countries in the region. It provides a market outlook for 20162026 and sets the forecast within the context of neuromorphic chips, including latest technological developments as well as offerings in the market. This study discusses key trends within countries contributing to growth of the market, as well as analyses degree at which drivers are influencing this market in each region. Key regions and countries assessed in this report include North America (U.S., Canada), Latin America (Brazil, Argentina and Rest of LATM), Western Europe (Germany, UK, France, Switzerland, Nordic, and Rest of WE), Eastern Europe (Russia, Poland, Rest of Eastern Europe) APEJ (China, India, South Korea, ASEAN, ANZ, and Rest of APEJ), Japan, MEA (North Africa, South Africa, GCC, and Rest of MEA).This report evaluates the present scenario and the growth prospects of the neuromorphic chip market across various regions globally for the period 2016 2026. We have considered 2015 as the base year and provide data for the trailing 11 years.These neuromorphic chips are not completely commercialized yet, and are still in the research and development stage. We have considered research & development expenditure towards neuromorphic chips by players in this market, along with the monetary investments by governments based in various regions, to calculate global neuromorphic chip market size. Forecasting models are developed in order to quantify the impact of each of these factors on industry spending. A forecast scenario for each causative factor is then created and the contribution of each factor on a prospective basis is identified.The forecast presented here assesses the total revenue by value across the market. In order to offer an accurate forecast, we started by sizing the current market, which forms the basis of how the neuromorphic chip market will develop in the future. Given the characteristics of the market, we triangulated the outcome of different types of analyses, based on the technology trends.In addition, it is imperative to note that in an ever-fluctuating global economy, we not only conduct forecasts in terms of CAGR, but also analyse on the basis of key parameters such as year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right opportunities across the market.Request Report Discount:As previously highlighted, the global neuromorphic chip market is split into a number of segments. All segments in terms of application and vertical, and based on different regions are analysed in terms of basis points to understand individual segments relative contributions to market growth. This detailed level of information is important for identification of various key trends of the global neuromorphic chip market.Also, another key feature of this report is the analysis of all key segments in terms of absolute dollar opportunity. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales and delivery perspective in the global neuromorphic chip market.In the final section of the report, we included a competitive landscape to provide clients with a dashboard view, based on categories of provider in the value chain, presence in neuromorphic chip portfolio and key differentiators. This section is primarily designed to provide clients with an objective and detailed comparative assessment of key providers specific to a market segment in the neuromorphic chips value chain and the potential players for the same. Report audiences can gain segment-specific vendor insights to identify and evaluate key competitors based on in-depth assessment of capabilities and success in the marketplace. Detailed profiles of providers are also included in the scope of the report to evaluate their long-term and short-term strategies, key offerings and recent developments in the neuromorphic chips space. Key competitors covered are IBM Research, Inc., Intel Corp., General Vision Inc., Qualcomm Technologies Inc., Hewlett Packard Labs., HRL Laboratories, LLC, BrainChip Holdings Ltd., and Knowm Inc.Key Segments CoveredBy ApplicationImage RecognitionSignal RecognitionData MiningOthersBy VerticalAerospace & DefenceAutomotiveConsumer ElectronicsHealthcareIndustrialOthersKey Regions CoveredNorth AmericaS.CanadaLatin AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of LATMWestern EuropeGermanyUKFranceSwitzerlandNordicRest of WEEastern EuropeRussiaPolandRest of Eastern EuropeAPEJChinaIndiaSouth KoreaASEANANZRest of APEJJapanMEANorth AfricaSouth AfricaGCCRest of MEAKey VendorsIBM Research, Inc.Intel Corp.General Vision Inc.Qualcomm Technologies Inc.Hewlett Packard Labs.HRL Laboratories, LLC.BrainChip Holdings Ltd.Knowm Inc.Report Analysis:About Us:Research Report Insights (RRI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver a host of services including custom research reports, syndicated research reports, and consulting services which are personalised in nature. RRI delivers a complete packaged solution to clients; this combines current market intelligence, technology inputs, statistical anecdotes, valuable growth insights, 360-degree view of the competitive framework, and anticipated market trends.Contact Us:Research Report Insights (RRI)42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website:Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com Dental Imaging Equipment Market 2024 | Planmeca Oy, Acteon Group, Danaher Corporation, VAtech Co. Ltd., https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/sample/110114804/Dental-Imaging-Equipment-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/discount/110114804/Dental-Imaging-Equipment-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/rd/110114804/Dental-Imaging-Equipment-Market https://www.researchreportinsights.com/ Global Dental Imaging Equipment Market to Grow at a Moderate CAGR of 6.8%Attributed to surge in cosmetic surgeries for dental globally is a factor that has significantly contributed towards demand for the dental imaging equipment. The global dental imaging equipment market is expected to register a moderate CAGR of 6.8% over the forecast period, 2024.Market Dynamics: Growing instances of dental ailments such as tooth decay, dry mouth and gingivitis in regions such as North America, Asia Pacific and Europe will further impact market growth of the dental imaging equipment positively. In addition, growing awareness regarding dental hygiene is a significant factor that is boosting demand for advanced dental imaging equipment.Request For Report Sample:However, less lifetime of accessories that find application in such equipment and lack of skilled professionals are factors that inhibit growth and expansion of the dental imaging equipment globally.Global Dental Imaging Equipment Market to Grow at a Moderate CAGR of 6.8Extraoral X-ray system among various types of products will retain dominance in the dental imaging equipment market. Whereas, the cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging product will grow rapidly in terms of revenue and reached US$ 395.7 Mn in 2016.Request Report Discount:Outpatient surgery centres and dental clinics will witness relatively high adoption of dental imaging equipment in the span of next eight years. The independent dental clinics will grow exponentially in terms of market revenue and contribute US$ 1.4 Bn in the market globally in coming years. Moreover, hospitals and forensic laboratories will also be significant end-users of dental imaging equipment due to surgical and pathological use of the devices.Regional AnalysisDue to surge in adoption of CBCT imaging products in the U.S, North America will be a major market for dental imaging equipment globally. However, in 2016, APEJ and Europe collectively accounted for over 40% of the revenue share.Vendor InsightsMarket players operating in the dental imaging market globally are Planmeca Oy, Acteon Group, Danaher Corporation, VAtech Co. Ltd., Carestream Health and Dentsply Sirona among other market players. Danaher Corporation will retain its dominance in the global market due to leading product range of innovative CBCT equipment.Report Analysis:About Us:Research Report Insights (RRI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver a host of services including custom research reports, syndicated research reports, and consulting services which are personalised in nature. RRI delivers a complete packaged solution to clients; this combines current market intelligence, technology inputs, statistical anecdotes, valuable growth insights, 360-degree view of the competitive framework, and anticipated market trendsContact Us:Research Report Insights (RRI)42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website:Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com Global Candidiasis Therapeutics Market To Grow With Healthy CAGR 2026 by industries top companies Amgen, Bayer-Algeta, Ablynx, Galapagos NV, Medivir AB etc with key regions:North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific etc Global Candidiasis Therapeutics Market To Grow With Healthy CAGR 2026 by industries top companies Amgen, Bayer-Algeta, Ablynx etc https://www.amplemarketreports.com/sample-request/global-candidiasis-therapeutics-market-297555.html https://www.amplemarketreports.com/report/global-candidiasis-therapeutics-market-297555.html https://www.amplemarketreports.com/enquiry-before-buy/global-candidiasis-therapeutics-market-297555.html https://www.amplemarketreports.com/buy-report.html?report=297555&format=1 www.amplemarketreports.com Global Candidiasis Therapeutics market research report covers the overview, summary, market dynamics, competitive analysis, and leading player's various strategies to sustain in the global market. The Candidiasis Therapeutics report covers the five top regions of the globe and countries within, which shows the status of regional development, consisting of market value, volume, size, and price data. Apart from this, the Candidiasis Therapeutics report also covers detail information about various clients which is the most significant element for the manufacturers.Get Sample Copy of this Report @At company level, Global Candidiasis Therapeutics report focuses on the production capacity, ex-factory price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer/Key Companies covered in this report. Novartis AG Amgen F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. Bayer-Algeta Merrion Pharmaceuticals Plc. Ablynx Genta Incorporated Galapagos NV Catena Pharmaceuticals Inc. Digna Biotech S.L. Medivir AB Amura HoldingsAccess Full Comprehensive Industry Insights @The classification of Candidiasis Therapeutics includes Doxorubicin, Cisplatin, 7Carboplatin, Etoposide, Ifosfamide, Cyclophosphamide, Methotrexate & Vincristine and Other,By Application, the Candidiasis Therapeutics market can be split into Multispecialty Hospitals Cancer Research Institutes OthersThis report focuses on Candidiasis Therapeutics volume and value at global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents overall Candidiasis Therapeutics market size by analyzing historical data and future prospect. Regionally, this report focuses on several key regions:North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific etcInquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on this report @Major Table of Contents of Mentioned in the Candidiasis Therapeutics Report 2015-2024Part 1: Candidiasis Therapeutics Market Overview, Development, and Segment by Type, Application & RegionPart 2:Global Candidiasis Therapeutics Market by company, Type, Application & GeographyPart 3-4:Asia-Pacific Candidiasis Therapeutics Market by company, Type, Application & GeographyPart 5-6:Europe Candidiasis Therapeutics Market by company, Type, Application & GeographyPart 7-8:North America Candidiasis Therapeutics Market by company, Type, Application & GeographyPart 9-10:South America Candidiasis Therapeutics Market by company, Type, Application & GeographyPart 11-12:Middle East & Africa Candidiasis Therapeutics Market by company, Type, Application & GeographyPart 13:Company information, Sales, Cost, Margin etc.Part 14:ConclusionGet Complete Report in your Inbox within 24 hours:If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you wantAbout Ample Market ResearchAmple Market Research provides comprehensive market research services and solutions across various industry verticals and helps businesses perform exceptionally well. Attention to detail, consistency, and quality are elements we focus on. However, our mainstay remains to be knowledge, expertise, and resources to make us industry players.Our end goal is to provide quality market research and consulting services to customers and add maximum value to businesses worldwide. We desire to delivery reports that have the perfect concoction of useful data.Our mission is to capture every aspect of the market and offer businesses a document that makes solid grounds for crucial decision making.Ample Market Research & Consulting Private LimitedWilliam JamesMedia & Marketing ManagerAddress: Jamuna Tower, 501, MIDC Road, Miragaon, Mira Road East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 401107Call: +1 (530) 868 6979Email: sales@amplemarketreports.comWebsite: Prague iGaming Affiliate Conference PIAC Set to Unite Gambling Specialists in the Czech Republic Published February 24, 2019 by Lee R The affiliate world will gain a new foothold in the iGaming feature event in Prague. Prague is going to unite iGaming specialists for its feature event very soon. Inaugural Journey On April 18th, Smile-Expo is set to hold the first Prague iGaming Affiliate Conference event for affiliate programs in the online casino industry. Demozone The event will be presented as a conference demozone bringing together a global collection of expert professionals from arbitrage, marketers and game developers to meet industry specialists who will focus on affiliate marketing along with gambling and online casinos. Speakers and Moderators Conference Moderator Vojtech Chloupek is also President at Bird & Bird. The panel discussion will revolve around regulation of online casinos work in the Czech Republic and other European countries, with participants to include Petros Sedlackova Legal Attorney Jan Rehola; WH Partners Senior Advisor Robert Skalina; Secretary General of the Austrian Association for Betting and Gambling Raffaela Zillner; Bird & Bird Senior Associate Gabor Helembai; and Head of Blockchain and Gaming at WH Partners Joseph Borg. Expert Topics The experts on hand are set to speak about high-quality gambling traffic; marketing automatization; gambling business success; future of affiliate marketing; eSports regulation; and cooperation with affiliate programs. Demo and Networking Zone The demo and networking zone will serve as an exhibition of leading companies in the gambling and affiliate marketing spheres which presents new solutions for online casinos. Further Participation Event guests will also participate in the networking through a gathering of marketers, gaming soft providers and affiliate specialists giving guests the opportunity to seek new partners for business development. The Venue The event will take place in Prague's historical center Hotel Grandium Prague, at Politickych veznu 913/12, 110 00, Prague 1, and organized by world class regular Smile-Expo, a 13 year B2B event organizer, with more details and the complete website at Prague iGaming conference. Outlook April represents is a great opportunity for the affiliates of the world to enter a new territory in Prague. According to Mikhy there is more to the story of the leakage and its not just him whos behind it all. He also said that he had contracted HIV in prison and that he was denied medication. Macy Kienbaum of Mesa is equally skilled at playing the violin and firing a shotgun for the ASU Gun Devils. Why it is not a good idea to let Kerala ISIS operatives in Afghanistan return to India Pakistan violating our territory, Afghanistan complains to United Nations again International oi-Shubham Ghosh Kabul, Feb 23: As two of Pakistan's neighbours - India and Iran - have slammed the country over its support for terror units that recently killed their soldiers near the borders both to the East and West, the third - Afghanistan - has expressed its dissent over "violations" of its territory again. In its second letter to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) inside a week, the government in Kabul has raised the issue of "consistent violations of Afghanistan's territory" by Pakistani forces and has asked the international body to initiate "necessary measures" to deal with the issue effectively, Afghanistan's TOLO News reported. Pakistan does a U-turn, says Bahawalpur seminary not linked to JeM In the first letter that the Afghan government wrote to the UN, it stressed on the meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Taliban's representatives in Islamabad. Kabul said the meeting "undermines" the peace process in Afghanistan and violated its sovereignty. The meet was eventually called off by the Taliban who cited restrictions imposed on them by the UN and US. "The nature of these violations mainly includes persistent shelling of Afghan territory, particularly in districts and villages of Kunar and Nangarhar provinces; violation of Afghan air space by Pakistani military aircrafts, as well as construction of military posts, barbwire fence and barriers inside Afghanistan's territory, most recently in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar," Nazifullah Salarzai, Deputy Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to United Nation, said in a letter to the UNSC on February 22, the report added. Afghanistan, which doesn't share a good relation with Pakistan over its security situation, said the cross-Duran Line violations dated back to 2012 but the frequency has increased in the last two years. In its letter, Afghanistan told the world body that almost 29,000 artillery shells were fired into Afghanistan by Pakistan that led to deaths of over 80 people and injured almost 190. It also said that since January 1, the instances of violations by Pakistan in Afghanistan stood at 161 and they included firing of over 6,000 artillery shells into Afghanistan's territory. Also Read | Watch out, Pakistan! First Afghan cargo to India via Chabahar Port to start today Taking a dig at the Afghanistan policy of PM Khan, Salarzai indicated in the letter that even though Islamabad reiterated its commitment to Afghanistan Pakistan action plan, the reality has only seen its "continued violations". The plan was agreed upon by former prime minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and the Afghan government for proclaiming peace between the two nations. Its done: The 3.45 am call to NSA Doval after Balakot was hit and Operation Bandar was competed Pakistan does a U-turn, says Bahawalpur seminary not linked to JeM International oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa Islamabad, Feb 24: Taking a complete U-turn, the Pakistan government dismissed its own claim of taking over the control of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) headquarters in Bahawalpur and said the complex has no link with the terror outfit, which claimed responsibility for the deadly Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. In a video message on social media, Pakistan's information minister Fawad Chaudhry said the Punjab government took administrative control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur in line with the decisions taken during the National Security Council meeting held on Thursday and as part of the National Action Plan. Rejecting his earlier announcement that the complex was JeM headquarters, Chaudhry said, "This is the madrassah (seminary) and India is doing propaganda that it is the JeM headquarters." Amid, 'will hijack plane to Pakistan' threat, all Indian airports on very high alert On Friday, the minister had told PTI that the Punjab government has "taken over the control of the JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur", about 400 km from Lahore. "The government of Punjab has taken over the control of a campus comprising Madressatul Sabir and Jama-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, allegedly the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad, and appointed an administrator to manage its affairs," he said. This was the first time in years that the campus, about 430 km from Lahore, had been acknowledged by Pakistan to be the headquarters of the terror outfit JeM led by Masood Azhar. A statement issued by the interior ministry on Friday also said the crackdown on Jaish "has been taken in line with the decision of the National Security Committee meeting held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan". The Islamic seminaries in the campus has a faculty of 70 teachers and currently 600 students were studying in it, the statement said, adding that Punjab police is providing security and protection to the campus. Meanwhile, the Pakistani government on Saturday took a group of local journalists to the campus in Bahawalpur and claimed that it is a "routine seminary having no link with JeM". Bahawalpur deputy commissioner Shahzaib Saeed accompanied a group of journalists to the campus showing "business as usual" there. The commissioner denied association of the seminary and the mosque with Masood Azhar. Pak Hindu MP appeals for peace, offers to play role of mediator "Some 600 students are studying here and none of them is associated with any banned organisation or involved in any terror activity," he said. A local journalist, who visited the seminary and spoke to some students and teachers there, said, "When asked about the JeM and Masood Azhar, they showed complete ignorance about them. Perhaps they were briefed before our visit." For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 24, 2019, 8:32 [IST] Imran Khan responds to PM Modi's 'pathan' remark, says he stands by his words International oi-PTI Islamabad, Feb 24: Pakistan PM Imran Khan on Sunday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "give peace a chance" and assured him that he "stands by" his words and will "immediately act" if New Delhi provides Islamabad with "actionable intelligence" on the Pulwama attack. PM Khan's remarks came a day after Modi in a rally in Rajasthan said, "There is a consensus in the entire world against terrorism. We are moving ahead with the strength to punish the perpetrators of terrorism...The scores will be settled this time, settled for good...This is a changed India, this pain will not be tolerated...We know how to crush terrorism." Imran Khan told me he is 'Son of a Pathan', now it's time to prove it: PM Modi Recalling his conversation with Khan during a congratulatory call after he became Pakistan's premier, PM Modi said he told him "let us fight against poverty and illiteracy" and Khan gave his word - saying he is a Pathan's son - but went back on it. A statement released by the Pakistan Prime Minister's Office said, "PM Imran Khan stand by his words that if India gives us actionable intelligence, we will immediately act." PM Modi should "give peace a chance", Khan said in the statement. Earlier on February 19 also, Khan assured India that he would act against the perpetrators of the deadly Pulwama terror attack, carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group, if it shares "actionable intelligence" with Islamabad, but warned New Delhi against launching any "revenge" retaliatory action. India said Khan's offer to investigate the attack if provided proof is a "lame excuse". "It is a well-known fact that Jaish-e-Mohammad and its leader Masood Azhar are based in Pakistan. These should be sufficient proof for Pakistan to take action," the Ministry of External Affairs said. "The Prime Minister of Pakistan has offered to investigate the matter if India provides proof. This is a lame excuse. In the horrific attack in Mumbai on 26/11, the proof was provided to Pakistan. Despite this, the case has not progressed for the last more than 10 years. Likewise, on the terror attack on Pathankot airbase, there has been no progress. Promises of 'guaranteed action' ring hollow given the track record of Pakistan," it said. Khan said during his meeting with Modi in December 2015, "we had agreed that since poverty alleviation is a priority for our region, we would not allow any terrorist incident to derail peace efforts, however, long before Pulwama, these efforts were derailed in September 2018". The Pakistani premier was referring to India calling off the foreign minister-level talks with Pakistan in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September last year after following the "brutal" killing of three BSF jawans by Pakistani soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the release of postal stamps "glorifying" Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani by the Pakistan government. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, February 25, 2019, 0:04 [IST] 'If Pak attacks with one atomic bomb, India can finish us with 20,' says Pervez Musharraf International oi-Deepika S Islamabad, Feb 24: Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf on Sunday ruled out prospects of any nuclear attack from Pakistan on India even after the relations between the two nuclear countries have reached "dangerous level". "If Pakistan will attack India with one atomic bomb then the neighbouring country could finish us by attacking with 20 bombs," Musharraf was quoted saying by Dawn. Addressing the press conference in UAE on Friday, Musharraf said: "Indian and Pakistan relations have again reached a dangerous level. They will be no nuclear attack. If we would attack India with one atomic bomb, then the neighbouring country could finish us by attacking with 20 bombs. Then the only solution is that we should first attack them with 50 atom bombs so that they cannot hit us with 20 bombs. Are you ready to first launch an attack with 50 bombs." Pak Hindu MP appeals for peace, offers to play role of mediator" title=" Pak Hindu MP appeals for peace, offers to play role of mediator" /> Pak Hindu MP appeals for peace, offers to play role of mediator The former Pakistan president's reaction comes days after 40 CRPF jawans were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama. Pakistan-backed terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has rejected India's accusation of Islamabad having a hand in the Pulwama terror attack, and said his country will retaliate in case India starts a war. "I have been hearing and seeing on Indian media that their politicians are calling for revenge on Pakistan. If India attacks, then Pakistan will not think but retaliate," he said. Khan said that he understood it was India's election year and the narrative of blaming Pakistan would make it easier to get votes from the masses but he hoped that better sense will prevail and that India would be open to dialogue. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 24, 2019, 21:43 [IST] Four men hijack SUV in Pathankot, high alert sounded over fears of 2016 attack repeat How Bangladesh forces pinned down man who tried to hijack plane Man held after threatening to hijack planes from MP and take them to Pakistan Attempt to hijack Dubai-bound plane in Bangladesh foiled, suspect killed International oi-Deepika S Dhaka, Feb 24: A Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane en route to Dubai from Dhaka made an emergency landing at the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong following a hijacking attempt. The armed suspect was later killed in an exchange of fire with Army commandos. The state-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines Flight BG-147, which was on its way to Dubai from Dhaka via Chattogram, landed at the Chattogram airport at around 5:40 pm. Air India hijack threat: Call was received at Airoli BPO Eyewitnesses said minutes after the aircraft flew from the Chattogram airport, it returned and made an emergency landing and opened the emergency exit through which the passengers disembarked immediately. The captain and the first officer of the flight also came out later. Though the identity of the hijacker is yet to be known, according to unconfirmed reports the hijacker was a foreign national and was equipped with a handgun. "There were 142 passengers and all of them have come out from the aircraft safely," an officer told Reuters. The hijacker was armed and opened fire during the incident, a local legislator who was on the plane told Somoy TV. "He fired a shot. When the pilot pursued him, he said he wanted to talk to the prime minister," the witness said. Bangladeshi politicans Moin Uddin Khan Badal told the Dhaka Tribune that he was on board the plane and he heard a gunshot. He also said hijacker had demanded to speak to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Watch: PM Modi washes feet of sanitation workers at Kumbh Mela India oi-Deepika S Pragaraj, Feb 24: At Kumbh Mela, Prime Minister Narendra Modi honoured sanitation workers at the Swachh Kumbh Swachh Aabhaar event, organised by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. In an unexpected gesture, PM Modi was seen washing the feet of a group of sanitation workers as a mark of respect. PM Modi in his speech said that the amount collected after auctioning the presents that he received in the past 4.5 years as the Prime Minister are being used in the services of Maa Ganga. PM Modi said that the country is moving towards declaring itself open-defecation free before 2 October 2019. "I believe that you Swacchagrahi (sanitation workers) of Prayagraj have come forward as an inspiration for the entire nation," said PM Modi. PM Modi takes holy dip, offers prayers at Kumbh in Prayagraj Dubbing the sanitation workers "karmayogis" (saints focussed on work), he said, "These safai karamcharis were my brothers and sisters who were waking up early, sleeping late, all to ensure the cleanliness of the area. They did not want any praise but they were doing their jobs without any fuss". The moment, he said, "would stay with me for my life". For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 24, 2019, 17:58 [IST] Are the migrants responsible for spread of coronavirus in Maharashtra? Here's what Raj Thackeray has to say Probe NSA Ajit Doval, truth of Pulwama attack will come out: Raj Thackeray India oi-PTI Kolhapur, February 24: Calling the CRPF jawans killed in the Pulwama terror attack "political victims", MNS chief Raj Thackeray claimed on Sunday that the "truth" will come out if National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was questioned. "If NSA Ajit Doval is investigated, then all the truth about the Pulwama terror attack will come out," Thackeray said in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra. "At the time of the Pulwama attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busy shooting for a film at Corbett National Park. Even after the news of the terror attack was flashed his shooting continued," he said, echoing an allegation made by the Congress. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief further said the 40 jawans killed in the Pulwama attack were "political victims", and "every government manufactured such things but it is taking place more frequently under Modi's rule". Pulwama attack: Maruti team holds key to ownership details of car Asked for comments, state BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, "Raj Thackeray has been doing mimicry all through his career. Now he is aping Rahul Gandhi by levelling allegations against Doval." PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 24, 2019, 23:33 [IST] Analysing ISIS Voice of Hind: How it is being used to provoke Muslims against the government Meddling with the Indian elections: How Jamaat-e-Islami is the face of the problem India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Srinagar, Feb 24: The Jamaat-e-Islami has come under the radar in Jammu and Kashmir and nearly 150 of its members, including its president and spokesperson were taken into police custody. This is the first major crackdown on the Jamaat, which has been termed as the parent political party of the Hizbul Mujahideen. The crackdown on the outfit is a significant one and it may be recalled that the National Investigation Agency had recently learnt that there was a major plot being hatched to carry out a wave of terror attacks in India ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The plot was unearthed after the NIA busted an Islamic State inspired module that went by the name Harkat-ul-Harb e Islam. The NIA learnt that two calls made by the alleged kingpin of the module were to Pakistan and Bangladesh. The NIA said that the module was being headed by Mufti Suhail, a resident of Amroha in Uttar Pradesh. Amid, 'will hijack plane to Pakistan' threat, all Indian airports on very high alert During the course of the investigation the NIA learnt that Suhail was being handled by a Pakistani. The chat transcripts with the agent, Abu Malik unearthed clearly suggested that the instructions were coming from across the border. However a call that was made by Suhail in October 2018 to a member of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh has made the case even more curious. The call was made in October from the United Kingdom in which Suhail is told to start preparing to launch operations. He was told that the operations would be launched and from January onwards there would be a series of attacks running up to the elections. The revelation comes in the wake of various reports suggesting that the ISI was trying to meddle in the recently concluded Bangladesh elections. Both the ISI and the Jamaat have opposed India's support to the Awami League. The operative who called Suhail tries to indicate that India's support to the Awami League must be avenged and hence a series of attacks need to be launched. India faces a very crucial election this year. The intelligence agencies are reporting extensive activity by ISI moles and agents to disrupt the polls and create havoc ahead of the polls. The recently busted module by the NIA was one part of that operation, officials tell OneIndia. How this de-radicalisation programme by ATS is changing those who came under ISIS influence However Pakistan wants the deniability factor and hence uses the name of the Islamic State to launch new operations in India. Intelligence agencies in India have always maintained that the operations of the so called ISIS inspired modules in India are not being handled from Iraq or Syria. In the busting of every module, we have come across clear instances of the events being staged by Pakistan. The ISIS problem in India have been two-fold. One is the setting up of modules, while the other is regarding recruitments for the mainland. Be it modules in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi or Uttar Pradesh, they have all been staged by Pakistan. In each case, the Pakistan link has cropped up and the handler has always been traced to that country. Mann ki Baat: Second wave of COVID has shaken country; we will soon come out of crisis, says PM Modi It was Mann Ki Baat, not business: Jharkhand CM on PM Modis call to him Mann Ki Baat: Modi signs off, says will hold season 2 in May post elections India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Feb 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on the 53rd episode of his monthly radio-broadcast Mann ki Baat' at 11 am on Sunday. It will be PM Modi's second broadcast of Mann Ki Baat this year. Also, this will be the prime minister's first 'Mann ki Baat' after the dastardly Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed by the Jaish-e-Mohammed. The year's second edition of Modi's 'Mann ki Baat' will be broadcast on All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan. Newest First Oldest First With the power of your blessings, once again I shall begin this series of conversations through Mann Ki Baat and shall keep doing Mann Ki Baat with you for years: In maintaining respect for healthy democratic traditions, the next episode of Mann Ki Baat will be broadcast on the last Sunday of the month of May. Friends, elections are the biggest celebration of democracy. In the next two months, we will be busy in the hurly-burly of the general elections. I myself will also be a candidate during this election. During conversation with one of Divyang, a visually challenged young man mentioned that he happened to be a stage artist, and specialized in mimicry during entertainment programs, so just like that I asked him as to who all he could imitate! And he told me that he could mimic PM My dear countrymen, some days ago I went to Kashi and there I got a chance to spend time with my divyang brothers and sisters. My dear countrymen, no mention of India can be complete without citing its festivals. In a few days from now, Mahashivrartri will be celebrated, and that too on a Monday, and when a Shivratri falls on a Monday, it becomes all that special in our heart of our hearts! All the students, their teachers and parents can watch the recording of this entire event on YouTube, and I take this opportunity to wish all the best to all my exam warriors, for their upcoming examinations. All the students, their teachers and parents can watch the recording of this entire event on YouTube, and I take this opportunity to wish all the best to all my exam warriors, for their upcoming examinations. One of the focal points of '#ParikshaPeCharcha' was that there were lively interactions on various topics related with the entire process of examinations. There are many such aspects which emerged out of these discussions which are definitely going to be beneficial for students. A few weeks ago, an immense event entitled 'Pariksha Pe Charcha' was organised in Delhi in format of a Town Hall programme. In this Town Hall programme, I had the opportunity to talk with crores of students from India and abroad, and also with their parents and teachers. My best wishes to all the students whore going to appear for their examinations, their parents and all the teachers as well. My dear countrymen, exam time in schools throughout nation is soon going to dawn upon us. In next few weeks various education boards across country will initiate process for board examinations of 10th and 12th standards. If you know a poor person who is unable to procure treatment due to lack of money, do inform him about PMJAY scheme. My dear countrymen, today I wish to narrate a heart rending experience with you which Ive been wanting to do past few days. At present, whenever Im touring, it is my sincere effort to meet people beneficiaries of PMJAY scheme under Ayushman Bharats umbrella. Madurai Chinna Pillai is same person who at first tried to empower downtrodden and the exploited through the Kalanjiyam movement in Tamil Nadu and initiated community based micro financing. Among recipients of Padma award, Shabbir Sayyed of Marathwada is known as the servant of Gau-Mata. The manner he has spent his entire life in the service of Gau-mata, is unique in itself Take case of Abdul Ghafoor Khatri of Gujarat, who has done an amazing job of reviving traditional Rogan painting form of Kutch. I had gifted a Rogan painting titled 'Tree of Life' done by Abdul Gafoor, to former President of USA, Mr. Barack Obama. You must have heard about Odisha's Daitari Nayak, who is not nicknamed 'Canal Man of Odisha' for nothing, he chiselled through mountain literally with his hands and carved 3 kilometers long canal in his village, and put to rest forever problem of irrigation and water My beloved countrymen, this year too, there was a great buzz about Padma award. Today as we head towards a new India, in which we want to honour those who are doing their work at the grass-root level without any care for a reward. The 44th amendment, made it mandatory that the proceedings of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies were made public through the newspapers. Coincidentally, 3rd of March is also birth anniversary of Jamsetji Tata. He further states that despite both personalities hailing from diverse family backgrounds, they enriched legacy and history of Jharkhand During former PM Desai tenure, 44th constitutional amendment was introduced. This was important because 42nd amendment which was brought during emergency, curtailed powers of Supreme Court and implemented provisions which stood to violate our democratic values was struck down. My dear countrymen, our former Prime Minister Morarji Desai was born on the 29th of February. All of you know that this day comes just once in four years. A simple, peace loving personality, Morarji bhai was one of the most disciplined leaders. Jamsetji Tata knew very well that making India a hub of science, technology and industry was imperative for her future. It was his vision that culminated in the establishment of the Tata Institute of Science, which we know as Indian Institute of Science today. Birsa Munda, Jamsetji Tata brought glory & honour not just to Jharkhand, but entire country. The country is indeed grateful for their contribution. Today, if an inspiring personality is required for ably guiding our youth, it certainly is that of Bhagwan Birsa Munda. In the month of October last year, I was blessed with opportunity to dedicate the National Police Memorial to the nation. I do hope that you will pay a visit to the National Soldiers Memorial and the National Police Memorial. One falls short of words in assessing enormous contribution of our Armed Forces, Police and Para Military Forces in the strides of progress achieved by country. Sending a tough message to cross-border terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that sacrifices of CRPF jawans won't go in vain. India has taken punitive actions within 100 hours of Pulwama attack. The concept of the National Soldiers Memorial is based on the notion of four concentric circles, which depicts the journey of a soldier from coming into being, culminating in his martyrdom. This new memorial has been instituted in the heart of Delhi, in close vicinity of India Gate and #AmarJawanJyoti. The National Soldiers Memorial is a symbol of the nations gratitude to those men who made the supreme sacrifice after we gained Independence My dear countrymen, Namaskar. I begin #MannKiBaat today with a heavy heart. 10 days ago, Mother India had to bear loss of many of her valiant sons. s a consequence of the Pulwama terror attack and sacrifice of brave jawans, people across country are agonized and enraged. All around, there is a deluge of strong feelings of sympathy for the martyrs & their family members. I respectfully bow to all the brave sons of the country, who laid down their lives, protecting the honour of their motherland, India. This martyrdom will keep inspiring us relentlessly to uproot the very base of terrorism; it will fortify our resolve. We shall have to take up this challenge facing our country, forgetting all barriers of casteism, communalism, regionalism and other difference, so that, our steps against terror are firmer, stronger and more decisive. Our armed forces have consistently displayed unparalleled courage and valour. On one hand, they have displayed exemplary capabilities in restoring peace; on other, they have retaliated in equal measure, in language attackers understand. The Army has resolved to wipe out terrorists and their harbourers. The martyrdom of these brave soldiers brought to the fore, through the media, touching, inspiring stories of their kin, which give hope and strength to the entire country. The fortitude displayed by Ram Niranjan ji, father of Martyr Ratan Thakur of Bhagalpur, Bihar, in this moment of tribulation is truly inspiring. He has expressed the wish of sending his second son too, to take on the enemy; if need be, he himself would go and fight. The country salutes the indomitable courage of Meena ji, wife of Martyr Prasanna Sahu of Jagatsinghpur, Odisha. She has vowed to send her only son to join the CRPF. When the mortal remains of Martyr Vijay Soren, draped in the tricolor reached Gumla, Jharkhand, his innocent son iterated that he too would join the armed forces. Whether it be the family of Martyr Vijay Maurya of Devariya, the parents of Martyr Tilakraj of Kangra or the six year old son of Martyr Hemraj of Kota the story of every family of martyrs is full of inspiration. To understand virtues of patriotism, sacrifice and perseverance, one doesnt need to revert to historical events. These are but living examples before your eyes these very examples are source of inspiration for future of a rising & glowing India. My dear countrymen, long wait after Independence for a War Memorial is about to be over. It is natural for our countrymen to be curious about it. On the Narendra Modi App, Shri Onkar Shetty ji of Udupi, Karnataka has expressed his happiness on completion of National War Memorial. India not having a #NationalWarMemorial used to surprise me, pain me a Memorial that would house the valour saga series of our brave soldiers who laid down their lives, safe guarding their nations security. And I took a resolve that the country must have such Memorial. We decided to erect the National War Memorial and I am contented to see it attaining completion in so little a time. Tomorrow, that is on the 25th of February, crores of we Indians will dedicate this National Soldiers Memorial to our Armed Forces. This new memorial has been instituted in the heart of Delhi, in close vicinity of India Gate and #AmarJawanJyoti. The National Soldiers Memorial is a symbol of the nations gratitude to those men who made the supreme sacrifice after we gained Independence The concept of the National Soldiers Memorial is based on the notion of four concentric circles, which depicts the journey of a soldier from coming into being, culminating in his martyrdom. Sending a tough message to cross-border terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that sacrifices of CRPF jawans won't go in vain. India has taken punitive actions within 100 hours of Pulwama attack. One falls short of words in assessing enormous contribution of our Armed Forces, Police and Para Military Forces in the strides of progress achieved by country. In the month of October last year, I was blessed with opportunity to dedicate the National Police Memorial to the nation. I do hope that you will pay a visit to the National Soldiers Memorial and the National Police Memorial. Birsa Munda, Jamsetji Tata brought glory & honour not just to Jharkhand, but entire country. The country is indeed grateful for their contribution. Today, if an inspiring personality is required for ably guiding our youth, it certainly is that of Bhagwan Birsa Munda. Jamsetji Tata knew very well that making India a hub of science, technology and industry was imperative for her future. It was his vision that culminated in the establishment of the Tata Institute of Science, which we know as Indian Institute of Science today. My dear countrymen, our former Prime Minister Morarji Desai was born on the 29th of February. All of you know that this day comes just once in four years. A simple, peace loving personality, Morarji bhai was one of the most disciplined leaders. During former PM Desai tenure, 44th constitutional amendment was introduced. This was important because 42nd amendment which was brought during emergency, curtailed powers of Supreme Court and implemented provisions which stood to violate our democratic values was struck down. Coincidentally, 3rd of March is also birth anniversary of Jamsetji Tata. He further states that despite both personalities hailing from diverse family backgrounds, they enriched legacy and history of Jharkhand The 44th amendment, made it mandatory that the proceedings of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies were made public through the newspapers. My beloved countrymen, this year too, there was a great buzz about Padma award. Today as we head towards a new India, in which we want to honour those who are doing their work at the grass-root level without any care for a reward. You must have heard about Odisha's Daitari Nayak, who is not nicknamed 'Canal Man of Odisha' for nothing, he chiselled through mountain literally with his hands and carved 3 kilometers long canal in his village, and put to rest forever problem of irrigation and water Take case of Abdul Ghafoor Khatri of Gujarat, who has done an amazing job of reviving traditional Rogan painting form of Kutch. I had gifted a Rogan painting titled 'Tree of Life' done by Abdul Gafoor, to former President of USA, Mr. Barack Obama. Among recipients of Padma award, Shabbir Sayyed of Marathwada is known as the servant of Gau-Mata. The manner he has spent his entire life in the service of Gau-mata, is unique in itself Madurai Chinna Pillai is same person who at first tried to empower downtrodden and the exploited through the Kalanjiyam movement in Tamil Nadu and initiated community based micro financing. The monthly radio show, where the prime minister shares his thoughts can also be heard live on the official Narendra Modi App. The programme will also be live-streamed on the Youtube channels of the Prime Minister's Office, AIR and DD News. In his last address, the PM spoke about the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections and praised the Election Commission of India (ECI) for strengthening the democracy. He also urged youngsters to register themselves as voters this year, if they are eligible. Delimitation, holding of polls in J&K important milestones in restoring statehood: says Amit Shah At all party meet, PM Modi says priority is to strengthen democracy at grassroots in J&K Chidambaram slams government for insisting on polls in Jammu and Kashmir before granting statehood Restore statehood first, if you want elections in J&K: Omar Abdullah to Centre Hope Centre would not reject demand for restoration of statehood in J&K before polls: Ghulam Nabi Azad Jammu IAF station blast: FIR registered under UAPA; NIA likely to take over probe Kulgam encounter: DSP, Army man martyred, 3 Jaish terrorists killed India oi-Deepika S Srinagar, Feb 24: A deputy superintendent of police, an army jawan and three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists were killed in an encounter in Kulgam district of south Kashmir on Sunday. The encounter took place in the Turigam area of Kulgam after the police got an intelligence input about the presence of a group of terrorists in the area Security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Turigam area of Kulgam district following information about presence of some militants there, a police official said. J&K: Two terrorists killed in Baramulla encounter, arms and ammunition recovered The militants fired upon the security forces, who retaliated, triggering a gun-battle. The approaching police party was fired upon, in which Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Aman Thakur got seriously injured in the neck. The officer succumbed to his injuries when he was being flown to the army hospital, the officials said. An army major and two soldiers were also injured in the encounter, officials said, adding that a non-commissioned officer, Havaldar Sombir, succumbed to his injuries subsequently. The other injured persons, including the major, are out of danger. Two terrorists were also killed in the encounter, but their identity is yet to be ascertained. A 2011-batch JK Police Services officer and a resident of Doda district in the Jammu region, Thakur was leading the police team from the front in the encounter with JeM terrorists. Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh said, "It is an unfortunate incident, in which we have lost a brave officer. He was a fighter and he led Sunday's operation himself." Thakur was posted as the DySP (operation) in Kulgam, a terrorist-infested area of south Kashmir, two years ago and had successfully carried out anti-terror operations in the area. He was awarded the DGP's Commendation Medal and Certificate for his exemplary service only last month. At all party meet, PM Modi says priority is to strengthen democracy at grassroots in J&K Restore statehood first, if you want elections in J&K: Omar Abdullah to Centre Hope Centre would not reject demand for restoration of statehood in J&K before polls: Ghulam Nabi Azad Kashmir tense ahead of Article 35A hearing India oi-Deepika S Srinagar, Feb 24: Unease and growing anxiety was palpable in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, a day ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on Article 35A, which empowers the State legislature to define "permanent residents" and provide special rights and privileges to them. The government has taken stringent measures in Kashmir including deployment of some 12,000 additional paramilitary forces in the valley. The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday said its stance remained unchanged that only an elected government would be able to take a stand on Article 35-A before the Supreme Court, which is hearing a bunch of petitions challenging its validity. J&K governor asks people to remain calm, says troop movement part of poll exercise Addressing a press conference, senior bureaucrat Rohit Kansal, who has been designated as the chief spokesperson of the governor's administration, said, "The stand of the state government on the request of deferment of hearing on Article 35A in the Supreme Court remains the same as requested by them on February 11." He was replying to a question on whether there was a change in the stand of the governor's administration on the contentious issue. Kansal also urged the people of the state not to pay heed to rumours and get panicky on the basis of unsubstantiated and exaggerated pieces of information which were in circulation. "In the past few days several rumours have been circulated and panic messages disseminated. Most of these have been based on unsubstantiated or exaggerated pieces of information," he said. The Jammu and Kashmir government's counsel had sought permission from the Supreme Court for circulating a letter among the contesting parties for adjourning the upcoming hearing on the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A, which provides special rights and privileges to the natives of the state, saying there was no "elected government" in the state. The apex court is scheduled to hear the petitions challenging Article 35A soon. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna was told by lawyer Shoeb Alam, representing the Jammu and Kashmir government, on February 11 that he was seeking its nod to circulate the letter among the parties for getting the scheduled hearing deferred. "On the day of listing, the undersigned (Alam) shall be requesting for an adjournment in the matter since presently, there is no elected government in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the state is under President's Rule. "The present matter involves a sensitive issue regarding a challenge to Article 35A of the Constitution of India. A short reply has been filed by the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the lead matter 'We the Citizens' and notices have not been issued on the other petitions. It will therefore be requesting that the matter may kindly be heard when an elected government is in place," the state government said in the letter. Article 35A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and bars people from outside the state from acquiring any immovable property in the state. It denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state. The provision, which leads to such women from the state forfeiting their right over property, also applies to their heirs. The bench is hearing several petitions including the one filed by NGO 'We the Citizens' through lawyer Barun Kumar Sinha. Several petitions, including those by political parties like the National Conference and the CPI-M, were also filed in the Supreme Court in support of Article 35A that also empowers the state Assembly to define "permanent residents" for bestowing special rights and privileges to them. The state government, while defending the article, had cited two verdicts of the constitution benches of the Supreme Court in 1961 and 1969, which had upheld the powers of the president under Article 370(1)(d) of the Constitution to pass constitutional orders. with (PTI) inputs For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 24, 2019, 22:21 [IST] Mumbai fire: Death toll rises to nine in blaze at Covid hospital in Bhandup, 76 patients rescued Karnataka: Major fire continues to rage at Bandipur Tiger Reserve and National Park India oi-Madhuri Adnal Bengaluru, Feb 24: A major fire which started on Friday continued to rage in the forest area of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka on Sunday morning, destroying hundreds of acres of foliage. The fire has spread across Kundakere, Bandipur and Gopalaswamy Betta ranges of the tiger reserve aided by strong winds which helped propel it. According to reports, the forest fire was set by some miscreants at the Gopalaswamy Betta (GS Betta) range attached to the Bandipur National Park which has devastated large tracts of forest area, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Bengaluru: 4 days after air crash, fire guts 300 cars at Aero India The forest fire started at the GS Betta range on Friday afternoon continued to rage on Saturday too, with forest officials struggling to stop the fire from spreading to neighbouring areas. However, there was no immediate information about loss of wildlife in the fire noticed this evening in the area which was two kms away from MTR and bordering Bandipur in neighbouring Karnataka, forest department sources said. Aided by high velocity wind and dry grass in the area, the fire was spreading in the forest land, they said adding more than 90 forest personnel of both the states were involved in the fire fighting operation for over four hours. Tourists visiting Bandipur were stopped at a checkpost at the entrance to the reserve. Earlier, another minor fire reported in the BR Hills range of the reserve burnt down around 30 to 50 acres of forest area. It was extinguished on Friday night. (with PTI inputs) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 24, 2019, 10:03 [IST] Karnataka SSLC Exams 2021: COVID-19 positive students too can take exams, here is how Bengaluru: After protests Karachi bakery covers its name, later clarifies it is 'Indian by heart' India oi-Madhuri Adnal Bengaluru, Feb 24: One of the famous Hyderabad-based Karachi Bakery's outlet located in Bengaluru's Indiranagar was forced to cover up the word 'Karachi' on its main name board on Friday after a mob protesting the reference to Pakistan gathered in front of it. The incident happened at around 8 pm on Friday evening on 100 Feet Road in Indiranagar when a group of 20-25 men assembled in front of the bakery and raised slogans against Pakistan for its involvement in February 14 Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir and insisted that the establishment change its name. Ever since the attack in Pulwama, many people have been demanding that the company close its branches. However, Talking to Twitter, the famous outlet on Saturday clarified that it is an Indian company and urged all to refrain from any misconceptions. The clarification came after protest at one of its outlets in Bengaluru, demanding the change of name for its connection with Pakistan. "The essence of Karachi Bakery is absolutely Indian by heart and will remain so. We request everybody to refrain from any kind of misconceptions," the company said in a statement posted on Facebook. This is however not the first time that Karachi bakery is becoming a target. In 2016, they faced a boycott campaign, as they were reported to be selling Israeli dates as part of Ramadan gift hamper. Many social media users said that sentiments of Muslims were hurt as they perceive Israel to be an aggressor in the ongoing occupation of Palestine. Karachi Bakery, is famous for Osmania and fruit biscuits, and was set up in Hyderabad in 1953 by Khanchand Ramnani, who migrated to India from Pakistan province Sindh during the partition. Karachi Bakery, first set up at Moazzam Jahi Market in the heart of Hyderabad, has expanded operations in recent years by opening over 15 stores in various parts of the city. Arunachal Pradesh: Mob burns Deputy CMs house, curfew imposed India oi-Madhuri Adnal Itanagar, Feb 24: A curfew was imposed after Protesters in Arunachal Pradesh burnt down the bungalow of Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein's multi-storeyed private residence as anger and unrest continues against the state government in Itanagar. Chowna Mein was moved out from state capital Itanagar and shifted to Namsai district early Sunday morning. His residence was under attack and being ransacked despite the fact that the Army has been called in on since February 21. Separate groups of people also advanced toward Chief Minister Pema Khandu's private residence apart from vandalising the city's main police station and the office of the deputy commissioner. China has this warning after Modi visits Arunachal Pradesh Violence erupted ever since the government's move to provide permanent resident certificates (PRC) to six non-tribal communities living in the Frontier State for decades, appeared to have subsided after Khandu announced on February 22 night that the PRC issue would not be discussed during the ongoing Assembly session. Citizenship rights that have turned entire North East into a region of protests for different considerations, have led to violence, tear gas, firing. The state has lost connectivity with an internet clampdown, and curfew that has been extended till Monday until further orders. CM Pema Khandu has been unable to control the situation, with tear gas unable to quell the stone pelting mobs opposing the citizenship rights to the six communities that many see as being non-indigenous. This despite the fact that these groups have been living on the Arunachal side of the border for centuries, as well as in Assam. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 24, 2019, 15:30 [IST] Since 80s China occupying this area, construction of villages not a new thing: BJP MP Tapir Gao Amid violent protests, Arunachal Pradesh scraps Permanent Residency move India oi-Deepika S Itanagar, Feb 24: Amid violent protests, the BJP-led Arunachal Pradesh government on Sunday scrapped the decision of granting permanent resident certificates (PRC) status to two tribes from outside the state. Union minister Kiren Rijiju said that the state government has decided to not accept the recommendations of a high-level committee to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities, and blamed the Congress for "instigating" a section of people. Arunachal Pradesh State Govt has already passed an order not to accept PRC as recommended by JHPC. Everyone must come together without blaming each other for the sake of peace. It's very unfortunate that innocent lives were lost in the violence. Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 24, 2019 In separate tweets, Rijiju said the Arunachal Pradesh government has passed an order to not accept the recommendations of the Joint High-Powered Committee to grant PRC to six communities living in Namsai and Changlang districts. Chief minister Pema Khandhu called for an all-party meeting in the wake of persistent violence in the state. The announcement came after daylong protests during which Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein's private house was torched. The incident happened despite an indefinite curfew being clamped in Itanagar and Naharlagun after protesters resorted to stone pelting on Saturday, in which 35 people, including 24 police personnel, were injured. Arunachal Pradesh: Mob burns Deputy CM's house, curfew imposed The protests escalated after a person who was injured in police firing on Friday succumbed to injuries at a hospital. On Sunday, people gathered in droves and damaged public property and vehicles, PTI quoted police officials as saying. In the violence, the private residence of the deputy CM at Niti Vihar was set on fire. However, Chowna Mein was not at his residence at that time. Besides ransacking the deputy commissioner's office, the protesters also set ablaze a large number of vehicles parked in the compound and also attacked the Itanagar Police station. Commuters too faced hurdles after the road leading to Naharlagun railway station was blocked by the agitators. Internet services have been suspended in Itanagar and Naharlagun. With all markets, petrol pumps and shops closed and most of the ATMs running out of cash, normal life was thrown out of gear in the state capital. People in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh have been protesting after the state government announced that it was considering issuing permanent resident certificates (PRC) to six non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APSTs) communities living in the Namsai and Changlang districts and to the Gorkhas living in Vijaynagar. Amongst those communities are Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis and Mishings. Most of these communities are recognised as Scheduled Tribes in neighbouring Assam. Agree with Indian govt on need to safeguard citizens' privacy: WhatsApp State vs national issues: Key lessons for the BJP to learn in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana Ambareeshs wife Sumalatha to contest Lok Sabha Polls, says 'want to serve people of Mandya' India oi-Madhuri Adnal Bengaluru, Feb 24: Ending all the speculations late actor M H Ambareesh's wife Sumalatha, a popular multi-lingual actress herself said that she will be contesting for Lok Sabha elections 2019 from the Mandya constituency. Taking a decision on entering politics, Sumalatha Ambareesh, wife of late parliamentarian and minister Ambareesh, said that she will be contesting from Mandya Lok Sabha constituency and that she wants to serve the people of Manday. Taking a decision in a conflicting situation whether to contest from Congress or the JD(S), Sumalatha also hinted that she is inclined towards Congress party. Pulwama attack: Sumalatha Ambareesh offers half acre land to martyr's family Ever since the death of her husband, actor-turned politician Ambareesh, there has been growing pressure from fans and Congress supporters that she contest from Mandya in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Over the last several days, Congress leaders from Mandya are meeting Sumalatha at her Bengaluru residence and have been requesting her to contest the Lok Sabha poll from Mandya constituency which was once represented by her husband. Congress leaders from Mandya district, including former minister N Cheluvaraya Swamy, had suggested that the party should retain the constituency and field Sumalatha. According to them, Ambareesh had a huge following in the district and that will help the party in the Lok Sabha polls. The JD(S), which is demanding 12 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, has ruled out any negotiation on Mandya, which the party considers its bastion. Currently, Mandya is represented by L R Shivarame Gowda of the JD(S) in the Lok Sabha. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 24, 2019, 13:17 [IST] Chidambaram slams government for insisting on polls in Jammu and Kashmir before granting statehood Addiction is neither cool nor a style statement: PM Modi on International Day against Drug Abuse Mann Ki Baat: 'Our country accomplished an unprecedented feat by vaccinating over 7 mn people', says PM All you need to know about the National War Memorial India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, Feb 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the National War Memorial near India Gate on February 25, officials said. The memorial will honour soldiers who have laid down their lives for the country since Independence. "The prime minister will dedicate the memorial to the nation on February 25. The defence minister, chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force will be among the dignitaries present on the occasion," a senior official said. Amid, 'will hijack plane to Pakistan' threat, all Indian airports on very high alert Some other cabinet ministers are also likely to attend the event, he said. "The National War Memorial will include a wall that will carry the names of those soldiers who have laid down their lives for the country," Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat had earlier said. "The memorial would be iconic and serve as a new landmark, which would attract people from near and far," he had said. Acceding to a long-pending demand of the armed forces, the government in 2015 had approved the project for building a National War Memorial and a National War Museum near India Gate in memory of over 22,500 soldiers who laid down their lives post-Independence. "This government will be establishing a war memorial and a museum with a deep sense of gratitude to honour those brave soldiers, who laid down their lives," an official statement released after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Modi, had then said. PM Modi to dedicate National War Memorial on Feb 25 "The memorial will promote a sense of patriotism in the minds of visitors, and will award an opportunity to citizens of this vast nation, to express their token sense of gratitude to the brave soldiers, who laid down their lives for the motherland," it said. India Gate itself is a war memorial built during the British Raj as the All India War Memorial Arch to honour the soldiers who died in the First World War (1914-1918) and the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919). The landmark has the names of soldiers inscribed on its surface. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 24, 2019, 9:07 [IST] Chidambaram slams government for insisting on polls in Jammu and Kashmir before granting statehood Addiction is neither cool nor a style statement: PM Modi on International Day against Drug Abuse Mann Ki Baat: 'Our country accomplished an unprecedented feat by vaccinating over 7 mn people', says PM PM-KISAN scheme launched: 'Why make farmers bear brunt of politics', asks Modi India oi-Madhuri Adnal Gorakhpur, Feb 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday noon where he launched the Rs 75,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, announced by interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal during the vote-on-account Budget session on February 1, 2019. "We welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Uttar Pradesh. We are proud of the PM for having been honoured with Seoul Peace Prize," said UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Newest First Oldest First Congress along with other parties in Opposition alliance remember the farmers of the country on when polls are near, said PM Modi. You might belong to Opposition, but why involve farmers in politics, why harm them, they belong to the country, said PM Narendra Modi alleging that Opposition parties in other states are deceiving farmers by spreading rumours. The first installment has been transferred in the bank accounts of one crore and one lakh farmers. Money will also be transferred to more farmers in a course of few weeks, said PM Modi. Earlier governments made schemes for farmers only on paper, they never implemented any such scheme. However, our NDA government is commited to to provide the farmers with all the facilities so that by 2020 his income doubles, said PM Narendra Modi at launch of PM-KISAN. Warn those state govts who are looking to play politics with PM Kisan Yojna, if you indulge in this then curse of farmers will destroy your politics.I appeal to farmers, don't be misled by anyone PM Narendra Modi chanted Jai jawan, jai kisan, after launching KISAN income scheme from Uttar Pradeshs Gorakhpur. Prime Minister Narendra Modi digitally launches Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), a cash-transfer scheme, in Gorakhpur. UP CM Yogi Adityanath present pic.twitter.com/igE1A1PuMZ ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 24, 2019 Prime Minister Narendra Modi digitally launches Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), a cash-transfer scheme, in Gorakhpur. UP CM Yogi Adityanath present PM Narendra Modi arrived in Uttar Pradeshs Gorakhpur to launch his governments flagship scheme for farmers, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN). PM Narendra Modi arrived in Uttar Pradeshs Gorakhpur to launch his governments flagship scheme for farmers, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN). Prime Minister Narendra Modi digitally launches Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), a cash-transfer scheme, in Gorakhpur. UP CM Yogi Adityanath present pic.twitter.com/igE1A1PuMZ ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 24, 2019 Prime Minister Narendra Modi digitally launches Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), a cash-transfer scheme, in Gorakhpur. UP CM Yogi Adityanath present PM Narendra Modi chanted Jai jawan, jai kisan, after launching KISAN income scheme from Uttar Pradeshs Gorakhpur. Warn those state govts who are looking to play politics with PM Kisan Yojna, if you indulge in this then curse of farmers will destroy your politics.I appeal to farmers, don't be misled by anyone Earlier governments made schemes for farmers only on paper, they never implemented any such scheme. However, our NDA government is commited to to provide the farmers with all the facilities so that by 2020 his income doubles, said PM Narendra Modi at launch of PM-KISAN. The first installment has been transferred in the bank accounts of one crore and one lakh farmers. Money will also be transferred to more farmers in a course of few weeks, said PM Modi. You might belong to Opposition, but why involve farmers in politics, why harm them, they belong to the country, said PM Narendra Modi alleging that Opposition parties in other states are deceiving farmers by spreading rumours. Congress along with other parties in Opposition alliance remember the farmers of the country on when polls are near, said PM Modi. Calling it a historic day, Modi said this is a scheme that will give wings to the aspirations of crores of hardworking farmers of India who feed our nation. By sealing alliances, BJP shows it's a step ahead of Opposition in alliance-making game? The launch of the scheme demonstrated two things, Modi said - NDA's unwavering commitment to farmer welfare and speedy decision making, being launched on February 24 after having announced it on February 1. While rival parties are working for the upliftment of their families, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that welfare and dignity of the farmers will be his top priority. In his five-year tenure he has launched several scheme's," said Union agriculture minister, Radha Mohan Singh. But the Bible tells us that all who exalt themselves will be humbled and all who humble themselves will be exalted. Maybe we became a little too convinced that we had put away the evils of a racist past. And now in 2019 with both Virginias 2019 Commemoration and a national commission to recognize 400 years of the presence of Africans and African-Americans in Virginia and the nation we find ourselves confronting again what it means that Virginia was the beginning point for slavery in our country, the Capital of a Confederacy dedicated to white supremacy, and a place where even today, hateful rallies in Charlottesville or photos of whites lampooning African-Americans are an undeniable part our complex tapestry. The events of this month are an ugly reminder of Virginias past, but they are also indicative of the racism that still plagues our Commonwealth and entire nation. Air travel As of 9:15 p.m. Saturday, 49 flights had been cancelled in and out of Omahas Eppley Airfield. That 49 accounts for a combined total of incoming and outgoing cancelled flights, said Tim Schmitt, director of airport operations. Another 17 flights already have been canceled for Sunday morning, he said. Airport officials advise travelers to check with their airline for their flight status to avoid unnecessary inconvenience. The airport, however, remained open overall Saturday, and some planes still were flying in and out. Schmitt said crews were out on the runways clearing snow. It is the individual airlines, not Eppley officials, who determine whether to cancel flights, he said. Power outages Power outages had been a concern during the blizzard, but by 11:15 p.m. a relatively few number of people were without power, according to Omaha Public Power District. As the snow moved out of the area, more than 150 customers without power in the area, OPPD said. That number was down from about 9:15 p.m. when there were about 450 outages, many in the area of 60th and Dodge Streets. Garbage collection The concept of water conservation is not new to Nebraskans. It was a necessity in 1884 when Lewis E. Hicks, a newly appointed geology professor and the second director of the State Museum, began to conduct geological surveys of the state. While examining reported coal strikes in northeastern Nebraska, Hicks found no coal but observed that each boring became an artesian well flowing with abundant excellent water. He told landowners that the water would be more valuable than their supposed coal. Hicks and his students later discovered abundant water and natural springs as they dug for geological samples in the Nebraska Sand Hills. The source would later be known as the Ogallala (High Plains) Aquifer. Critical of the federal policy focusing only on surface water resources, Hicks became an early advocate of the need for surveying groundwater resources and for using groundwater to irrigate crops in Nebraska. Today, with more than 100,000 registered irrigation wells in the state, Nebraska irrigates 8.6 million acres, the most in the nation. Professor Hicks would be proud. Water-related research at the university provides valuable information for policymakers and the public. Projects include groundwater monitoring, watershed planning and management, agricultural irrigation optimization and stormwater management. The young artists are taught to sketch, and sketch, and sketch some more, until they feel inspired, Crane said. A rough sketch could turn into a project or product. By working in studios all the time, it makes for better art, he said. Joslyn places its teen camps in the Union or Creighton Universitys Lied Center for the Arts to introduce students to the wider arts community, new art-making resources, and college life, Smith said. The campers also have at their disposal new types of tools and equipment that are not available at Joslyn or at their schools. For example, the Alternative Art camp will use the Unions photo-emulsion screen printer to create their T-shirts, said Crane, who has a bachelors in fine arts in print-making from the Kansas City Art Institute. This camp is often an introduction to print-making for teens because many schools dont have screen-printing machines, and those that do usually have bare bones equipment, he said. Thats exactly why Ellie Stricklett was attracted to the Alternative Art camp. The eighth-grader at St. Patricks School in Elkhorn said she wanted to do more than what she is doing at her school. I wanted to elevate my level of creativity, she said. After a car accident in 1998, Meg Busing was left struggling with seizures and figuring out how to deal with her new way of life. After trying different medications with no relief for a decade, Busing underwent brain surgery. The surgery was a success, and she has been seizure free since. Busing, who served as a counselor at a summer camp in California for families of kids with cancer before she went to nursing school, wanted to do the same thing in Nebraska for kids with epilepsy. Meg, along with husband Kael Busing, started Camp YouCan and their own nonprofit, the Midwest YouCan Foundation. We named it Camp YouCan because kids are always reminded of the things they cant do, Busing said. We just want them to see all that they can do and meet other kids with epilepsy. Being in community with one another is important for these kids because it gives them a chance to talk and just be normal, Busing said. This sense of community can be felt throughout the camp. My favorite part of camp is that I can be myself here and not have to worry about being different, said Sara Vance, a veteran of three camps. Glen Mackie, Omaha Not a national emergency As an attorney you learn that it is against the law, despite freedom of speech, to trip a fire alarm when there is no emergency. The classic case you study in law school is when someone yelled fire when there was no fire. It is against the law. In this case President Donald Trump, during his campaign, invented an emergency at the southern border. We are faced with a situation much like we did with the Jews seeking asylum in the U.S. at the start of World War II. This country shamefully turned away the Jews and did not grant requests for asylum and, even more shamefully, in at least one case refused to let a refugee boat dock in the United States. It is believed by historians that those actions were taken due to prejudice against the Jews. The results in part led to mass extermination and are a huge black mark in our history. The immigrants at the border are for the most part facing the same terror. This is not a national emergency; it is political gamesmanship. The University of Nebraska, now celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding in 1869, has commendably built on a solid foundation by early academic leaders. Lets look at some important continuities that link todays achievements to the pioneering work by NU figures who came before. Agriculture: Land-grant universities were intended to be close to the people, directly supporting the publics needs, President Abraham Lincoln said in signing the Morrill Act, which established these centers of learning. Charles E. Bessey, the botanist and administrator who brought the universitys botanical and horticultural study into national prominence in the late 1800s, championed that land-grant vision. Science with practice, he called it. NU had a key obligation to pursue high-level agricultural research, Bessey said, and then to help Nebraska producers understand the practical application of the findings. In the 21st century, the agricultural and natural resources programs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln pursue that goal in a variety of ways. UNL conducts on-site research through its research and extension centers and other facilities across the state. The universitys research is internationally respected on such topics as drought-resistant crops and water science. WASHINGTON The left wing of the Democratic Party has been getting much of the media attention since the new Congress convened, overshadowing the rise of a group of young Democratic military and intelligence veterans who may prove more important for 2020 and beyond. These pragmatic Democrats accounted for some of the flipped Republican seats that gave their party control of the House. The progressive wing of the party may be potent, but many of its victories came in reliably Democratic seats, like the Bronx-Queens district that elected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a charismatic media favorite. A good showcase for these new Democrats is the House Armed Services Committee. The Democrats installed 14 freshmen on the panel, nearly half their partys total first-year membership. Seven have served in the military, foreign service or CIA, and 10 are women. If youre looking for bright new faces in the Democratic Party, this may be the most compelling group snapshot. The media have chosen to focus on progressive members, I understand that, says Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, one of the new Armed Services members and a former CIA officer with three tours in Iraq. But when it comes to the 2020 presidential election, the voters in the states we must win are moderate, pragmatic voters. McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain, is chairwoman of the board of trustees of the McCain Institute. Udall, son of the late Rep. Mo Udall, served as a Democratic congressman and senator from Colorado. This first appeared in the Washington Post. Every year, Americans of all political persuasions make pilgrimages to Grand Canyon National Park, which will mark its 100th anniversary on Feb. 26. They stand in awe at the rim of this natural wonder, grateful for the forebears who preserved it for generations and, for the most part, unaware that the Grand Canyon isnt nearly as protected as people think it is. The clock is ticking on a 20-year ban on new mining claims on about 1 million acres of public land surrounding the national park. Thousands of uranium claims were put on hold in 2012 because of mounting evidence that uranium mining in the headwaters of Grand Canyon creeks can contaminate life-giving seeps and springs in the desert basins below. After examining evidence of harmful effects, five federal agencies recommended the temporary halt to new uranium claims. Ken Salazar, then the interior secretary, said his precautionary decision would allow more time to assess the impacts of active and abandoned mines, adding, We have chosen a responsible path that makes sense for this and future generations. Yet while Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez identify as democratic socialists, most of the presidential field does not. "I am not a democratic socialist," Harris, D-Calif., told reporters Monday in New Hampshire, as she campaigned for president. Asked by a reporter for his response to Trump's attacks on Democrats, Booker, the former mayor of Newark, emphasized his efforts at bipartisanship. "I was a guy that had to manage a city. You do that by bringing people together and governing, getting things done," he said. He added, "I'm a guy that has worked with President Trump's administration across the aisle to get things done." At a crowded house gathering in Manchester on Sunday, Booker delivered an introductory speech stressing themes of unity, while making brief mention of health care and climate change. During a question-and-answer session, he was asked about Medicare-for-all. "My firm belief is that we need to get to a system where everyone has access - that's why I signed onto the Medicare-for-all bill," Booker responded. "But I'm not going to be one of these presidential candidates that's not going to tell you the hard truth." Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News, pushed through a revision to the Virginia Juvenile Crime Control Act that opens up the state's recently expanded youth services to teenagers who are at risk of getting into trouble before they reach the point where probation officers have to step in. "Seeing that area, as beautiful as God ever made, we thought young people would discover their own beauty, " Kenney said. "They learn to ask new and better questions." The priest saw old friends Saturday night at a $50-per-plate dinner at Prep. The event raised money for the foundation and Operation Others. Dan Kenney grew up in Milwaukee in a family ravaged by alcoholism. Eight aunts and uncles died of alcohol-related conditions. His two siblings became alcoholics, too. In the Sunday Nation, an English-language newspaper in Kenya, Kenney was featured this year on a magazine cover. The headline: "Why I Hate the Bottle: Father Dan Kenney's Struggle Against Alcoholism." Though he hasn't drunk alcohol for 25 years, he said, he suffered and hurt others when he drank. In Kenya, he said, alcohol abuse is the "silent partner" in the spread of HIV/AIDS. Kenney is founding trustee of the Raphaelites, dedicated to serving alcoholics and other addicts in East Africa. The priest will return to Kenya on Sept. 12 to oversee a rehabilitation center scheduled to open soon. Amid all the suffering in villages and slums, he walks with Buford, making people smile. This column was first published on June 27, 1992. Among the many charity groups in the Omaha area is the Buford Foundation. So who is Buford? Hmmm, isn't that the investor, Warren E. Buford? No? Well, maybe it's Herbert M. Buford. Peter F. Buford? Buford W. Johnson? Actually, Buford is a monkey. Not a real monkey, but a hand puppet that the Rev. Daniel Kenney has used to entertain children for nearly 30 years. The foundation, with assets of about $1 million, is named for the puppet. Kenney is called "the monkey priest." It all started at Bergan Mercy Hospital in 1964, when he reassured children by saying he had his tonsils removed and showed a picture of how he said he used to look it was a monkey. The kids would laugh. A couple of them presented him with a hand puppet, which Kenney used for a few years but then lost. He soon learned, he said, that without the monkey, the monkey priest had lost some of his identity. At about the same time, a Marian High School senior, Kathy Gregory, was dying of cancer. She and Kenney talked about happy people being those who bring happiness to others. You've got another day to get your homework done, OPS kids. The Omaha Public Schools has announced that Monday classes are canceled. The district posted the announcement on Twitter about 6 p.m. Sunday. About two hours later, the Bellevue Public Schools followed suit in an announcement by Superintendent Jeff Rippe on Twitter. Omaha Catholic Schools, the Papillion-La Vista Community Schools, the Elkhorn Public Schools and more also canceled classes. About 6:15 p.m., Millard Superintendent Jim Sutfin said the district still planned on having school, but later in the evening, he announced that classes were canceled. Check out the complete list of cancellations, closings and delays. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Officially, Omaha received 7.5 inches of snow over the weekend. Some neighborhoods, however, recorded as much as 10 inches. With some neighborhood streets still difficult to travel Sunday night, the Omaha Public Schools and most other metro area districts announced that they would cancel classes on Monday. About 18,000 of OPSs 53,000 students travel by bus, and the district wasnt confident that its kids could get to school in a timely, safe fashion, said OPS spokeswoman Monique Farmer. Trash pickup was canceled Monday in Council Bluffs because of the accumulated snow. It will resume Tuesday in the Bluffs and will be a day behind for the rest of the week. The city has said it will be Tuesday at the earliest before crews begin tackling those long rows of snow in the middle of major thoroughfares. City crews have been plowing snow to the middle to aid in clearing a driving lane. Affected streets include Dodge from downtown to Happy Hollow, other downtown streets and Maple Street in Benson. The weekend storm was nastier than the areas other recent heavy snowfalls. For David Hartman, one of the best aspects of Core Banks new headquarters is proximity. The senior vice president of real estate lending now has all of his Omaha staff in one office spot that is designed to foster all types of meetings, from the scheduled to the impromptu. It will be great with the synergies that can go on among all the groups in the new setting. People can run into each other at the coffee bar and decide to have a quick meeting in one of the open-seating areas situated among employee workspaces. Hartman expects to see far more joint sales and marketing meetings with other areas of the bank that were not possible when bank employees were scattered among various office sites. Even the headquarters lunchroom can boost employee interactions, Hartman said. We are encouraging people to use the lunchroom and not eat at their desks, as many of us do, he said. Hartman said he believes all the employees moving to the headquarters are excited to be in one location. Despite his claim that immigrants take jobs away from Americans, President Donald Trump has touted the guest worker program, acknowledging the difficulty in finding American manual laborers and pledging to make it easier for farmers to hire workers legally. The countrys temporary foreign worker program includes a category for nonagricultural jobs, known as H-2B visas. Despite a huge demand from industries that are also struggling to replace undocumented workers such as shrimping and hospitality H-2B visas are capped annually at 66,000. This year, employers applied for 97,800 nonagricultural visas in the first five minutes of the visa lottery, far more than ever before, crashing the Labor Departments website, the department said in a news release. There is no such limit for workers on agricultural visas, and U.S. employers apply to bring in workers for up to 10 months per year on unskilled visas for agriculture, known as H-2A visas. Without them there would be no broccoli or lettuce, said Tony Tew, an area manager for Foothill Packing, a labor contractor in Yuma, Ariz. They want to come here to work, and they work hard. Their aim, if they have to welcome any chicken farms, is to limit their size to half the size of the Camenzinds latest proposal, he said. Our feeling is they have reduced the amount of barns as Dodge County requested, Ruppert said. That leaves us still fighting any chicken barns in Dodge County. The 10-barn chicken farm proposal, like this one last week, sailed through the Dodge County Planning Commission with just a handful of conditions. But the Dodge County Board, with two new members, rejected the proposal 4-2 on Jan. 15, though some expressed openness to a smaller proposal. The Camenzinds say they want the chicken farm so their son, Case, and daughter-in-law, Joscelyn, can afford to farm full time. Theyve argued that neighbors concerns about the health risks of modern chicken farms are unfounded, that they plan to live and raise kids on the land. Joscelyn Camenzind said they added more trees, bushes and other vegetation as a windbreak and to help contain more of the livestock smell. They took the first step toward a Constitutional amendment to create an independent redistricting commission to recommend legislative and Congressional districts to the General Assembly, an effort to keep legislators from drawing themselves safe seats. This measure would have to be approved next session before it could be put on the ballot for a vote by the public. On March 7, 2016, doctors at the Cleveland Clinic introduced the nation to Lindsey McFarland, the first person to undergo a successful uterus transplant in the United States. Within hours, however, McFarland was back in surgery: A life-threatening infection forced the organ's removal, crushing hope she might one day give birth. McFarland later learned the culprit was Candida albicans, a fungus common in women's reproductive tracts. In her, it flared into a raging infection that damaged at least two of her arteries, including one that supplied blood to the newly-implanted uterus. What she did not know is the transplanted uterus had come from a donor suffering from a Candida infection in her bladder a fact made clear by routine testsconducted by the Miami organ group that provided the uterus. That group, the Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency (LAORA), claims it alerted McFarland's surgeons to the infection soon after discovering it. But officials at the Cleveland Clinic said they were not told until weeks later, after the infection had forced the uterus' removal. "No one reported the bladder infection to us," said a Cleveland Clinic official, who asked for his name to be withheld because he was not authorized to speak about the case. "We would have treated it and acted differently." Joslyn also has its main exhibitions mapped out for 2019. We have a couple of really terrific programming things happening, Becker said. On Feb. 2, the museum opened its 30 Americans exhibition, which features artwork from contemporary African-American artists. It includes paintings, works on paper, sculptures, installations and videos from Nina Chanel Abney, Kehinde Wiley, Xaviera Simmons, Nick Cave and Wangechi Mutu, among many others. Joslyn also will host a 20th-century design show (The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design) this summer and an exhibition of the first handwritten illuminated bible commissioned by Benedictine monks in centuries (Word and Image: The Saint Johns Bible) this fall. Last year, artist Ed Ruscha donated 18 paintings, prints and sculptures spanning his career. An Omaha native, Ruscha also donated 20 more works from colleagues and friends, including Terry Allen, Joe Goode and Ed Moses. Joslyn is still deciding how to handle the glut of artwork. Because of 30 Americans, the exhibition is so large, theres not a lot of space in the gallery, Becker said. Were trying to figure that out as we speak. Dancing With the Stars' Demi Isaac Oviaweand dance partner Kai Widdrington will join Ray to talk about life after elimination on the Ray D'Arcy show tonight, Saturday, February 23. Theyll be giving viewers all the backstage gossip as well as sharing their favourite moments. Demi reveals her post Leaving Cert plans and how shes looking for a date for her Debs! Eamon Dunphy will be in studio to discuss the Republic of Ireland's new management set-up and our chances of qualifying for the Euros, his love for Liverpool FC and what's exercising him at the moment. From Russia with Gra! Victor Bayda tells Ray about his remarkable journey from Moscow to Kerry. A fluent Irish speaker, Victor has just been appointed as the Irish language officer in a South Kerry Gaeltacht and will spearhead attempts to revive the language there. Ray will also be joined by the parents of award-winning Swedish journalist Kim Wall, who was brutally murdered on a submarine in Denmark in 2017. And they'll be a live performance from the hit musical Jersey Boys ahead of its return to the Bord Gais Energy Theatre next month. The Ray D'Arcy Show, Saturday, February 23, at 9.40pm on RTE One O'Keefe emphasized key differences in ALDI compared to other grocery stores, such as 25-cent grocery cart rentals, requests for shoppers to bag their purchases and the selection of products. Stores dont carry two dozen types of peanut butter, O'Keefe said. The focus is carrying the best options at the best prices. ALDI makes the hottest food trends affordable and accessible, carrying a wide variety of award-winning products. In fact, ALDI has earned more than 300 product awards and recognitions since 2017 for its exclusive brands. The store also purposefully randomizes specific foods and household items known as ALDI Finds to sell in a limited time frame for opportune seasons, like galoshes for spring and Dutch ovens in the fall. Everyone deserves great food at affordable prices, OKeefe said. This is our mantra at ALDI, and were excited to introduce it to customers in Opelika with our brand new store. ALDI stores are designed with shoppers time and money in mind, and were proud to bring the community a better grocery shopping option. Further expansion Biden, a lifelong educator and daughter of a Navy signalman, called apprenticeships one of the best investments the nation can make. Were going to need to see a lot more of them in the United States if were going to keep up with the rest of the world, she said. Nikol Pashinyan receives MEP Frank Engel Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received MEP Frank Engel on February 18. As the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the PM congratulated MEP Frank Angel on being elected the Chairman of Christian Social Democratic Party of Luxembourg and wished him productive activities. Pashinyan highly appreciated the MEPs pro-Armenian activities and thanked him for regularly raising issues of Armenian concern at the European Parliament, as well as presenting the real situation of Artsakh issue at the international platforms. Frank Engel assured that he will continue the active cooperation with his Armenian partners. He also presented to Nikol Pashinyan the plans of Christian Social Democratic Party of Luxembourg and spoke about the current political situation in the country. The sides discussed issues related to the relations between Armenia and Luxembourg, as well as Armenia-EU. Nikol Pashinyan and Frank Engel also touched upon the issues related to strengthening of democracy in Armenia, fight against corruption, economic development, and reforms in various spheres. The sides also exchanged views on the Karabakh conflict settlement process. ZURICH A former Swiss soldier who commanded a Christian militia fighting the Islamic State in Syria has been found guilty of violating Swiss neutrality. The case of the former soldier, Hanna Johannes Cosar, is a rare example of European countries prosecuting citizens for fighting against, rather than with, jihadist forces in Iraq and Syria. Mr. Cosar was convicted on Friday of breaching Switzerlands ban on fighting for another country without first obtaining permission from the government. He was fined 500 Swiss francs, or about $500, a relatively lenient punishment. A former sergeant in the Swiss Army, whose family had moved to Switzerland from Syria three generations ago, Mr. Cosar was accused of joining a private army the Syriac Military Council whose aim was to defend Syriacs, one of the worlds oldest Christian communities, against Islamic State forces. The popes bishop-focused approach carries real risks both for him and the church he leads. While Vatican officials believe it is the right course, it is one in which change may come more slowly than the faithful in some countries ravaged by the abuse crisis have begun to demand. The Roman Catholic Church has been devastated, and Francis legacy threatened, by a cascade of investigations by civil authorities into clerical sexual abuse. There have also been accusations from within his own hierarchy that he covered up the misconduct of a top prelate, Theodore McCarrick, a former cardinal and archbishop of Washington who has been defrocked. Francis has begun to be unsparing in the language he uses to describe the problem. On Sunday, he compared the abuse of minors to sacrificing human beings, frequently children, in pagan rites. Consecrated persons, chosen by God to guide souls to salvation, let themselves be dominated by their human frailty or sickness and thus become tools of Satan, he said. In abuse, we see the hand of the evil that does not spare even the innocence of children. No explanations suffice for these abuses involving children. But high-profile cases involving the negligence by bishops, the abuse of nuns and other misconduct added to the pressure on Francis to do more than just talk. Francis had sought to tamp down expectations about the Vatican meeting, fostered by some of his own bishops, that the conference would deliver instant remedies to end the scourge. He said the meeting was intended to educate all the bishops on the gravity of the problem of sexual abuse. Still, at times, the four-day summit did seem like a significant turning point for the church. Outside the Vatican walls, abuse survivors marched and held rolling news conferences. LONDON The archbishop of Canterbury wants to organize five days of public prayers starting the day after Britain withdraws from the European Union, a local news outlet reported on Sunday. Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury and principal leader of the Church of England, is seeking to pray in public with the leaders of the Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and United Reformed churches starting on March 30, one day after Britain is scheduled to leave the bloc, The Sunday Times reported. Prime Minister Theresa May, a practicing Anglican, and Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, are being invited to join them, the report said. The archbishop of Canterbury could not be immediately reached for comment on Sunday, but Archbishop Welby, a 62-year-old former oil executive and staunch supporter of Britains European Union membership, has been vocal about the possible pitfalls of Brexit, as the withdrawal is known. I thought I was going crazy, Ms. Bropho, who is now 37, said of her time in jail. I couldnt eat; I couldnt sleep. Social scientists note that an arrest can have cascading effects, particularly for poor women. If no alternative child care arrangements are in place, the Department for Child Protection may place children in state custody. Unpaid fines can also lead to the loss of a drivers license, which in a state almost four times the size of Texas, can put ones employment at risk. John Quigley, the state attorney general, said he planned to unveil legislation this year that would see no people go into jail for unpaid fines. He called the current system inhumane and stupid, and said he was optimistic about the bills chances. But for members of the opposition, the issue is not so clear cut. Michael Mischin, a deputy with the conservative Liberal Party and the shadow attorney general, said that any changes must include an alternative punishment that demonstrates that breaking the law and ignoring a court order carries consequences. Despite the government data, Mr. Mischin said the law did not discriminate against Aboriginal Australians, who he said had the options of not offending, paying fines or complying with arrangements to pay them off. Over all, he added, only a small number of people were affected. Other legislators have also taken a hard line. Internationally there are m any countries, including Western democracies like the United States, that imprison people who fail to pay fines, though the practice has been challenged in the courts in America. Some countries, like Sweden, scale fines according to ability to pay and imprison only those whom the state deems to have willfully failed to pay. Mullah Baradar, one of the Talibans founding leaders, was instrumental in their regrouping as a strong insurgency after the United States toppled their regime in 2001. Around eight years later, he made contacts with the Afghan government at the time, drawing the ire of the Pakistani military, which has been supporting the Taliban as a proxy force and giving its leadership sanctuary. The mullah was arrested in a joint operation of Pakistani and American agents, at a time when the United States military was still pursuing a victory on the battlefield and had not embraced a political resolution to the war. Mullah Baradar was released from Pakistani custody in October at the request of the American government, which hoped he could help end a war the Trump administration desperately wants behind it. But his delay in arriving in Doha repeatedly raised doubts about how free he actually was with Afghan officials and some Taliban sources suggesting Pakistan was still closely watching him. Mullah Baradars arrival for peace talks gives the Americans a senior interlocutor who can finalize a deal and then use his weight with the Talibans rank and file to put it in place. Even so, moving the peace talks to the next stage, with Afghan government involvement, still seems daunting. The Taliban have refused to meet with the Afghan government, while President Ashraf Ghani has insisted that the peace talks will not go anywhere unless the insurgents formally sit with his administration. A large group of Afghan politicians, led by former President Hamid Karzai, met with the Taliban in Moscow this month in what they hoped could be an icebreaker for broader talks between the groups. But officials in the Ghani government heavily criticized the move, saying it undermined the fragile Afghan state at a critical time. The government and the opposition have also vehemently disagreed over the makeup of a negotiating team for when the Taliban do agree to formal talks with Afghan officials. Mr. Ghanis choice a group of negotiators that would include several government ministers and be led by his chief of staff was denounced as unrepresentative by the opposition. Mr. Khalilzad, the American envoy, has also said the government would have to make its team inclusive for negotiations to move forward. BEIJING The young leader of North Korea likes to present himself as a modern man projecting his isolated country onto the world stage. But for his meeting with President Trump in Vietnam this week, Kim Jong-un is traveling south through China in an armored train not even a high-speed one and then planning to drive the last leg to Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital. The journey is expected to take as long as two days from the starting point in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, instead of a few hours by plane. His unusual itinerary can be explained by geopolitics, the rickety state of North Korean aircraft and a bit of history. Mr. Kim, who left the railway station in Pyongyang on Saturday, appears to be indulging China by taking such a protracted trip. His khaki-green train will take him past glistening cities and productive countryside that show off the countrys four decades of blazing economic growth. KABUL, Afghanistan Even with peace talks underway, the war in Afghanistan killed almost 4,000 civilians last year, including a record number of children, officials said Sunday, making it the single deadliest year for Afghan civilians since the United Nations began documenting casualties a decade ago. In a report released Sunday, the United Nations attributed almost two-thirds of civilian casualties 63 percent to insurgent groups, primarily the Taliban and the Islamic State. Afghan and American forces were responsible for 24 percent 14 percent by Afghan national security forces, 6 percent by American forces and 4 percent by government-backed armed groups. Responsibility for the rest could not be established. The single biggest cause of civilian casualties was suicide bombings and related attacks by insurgents, the report found. The numbers of civilian casualties caused by suicide bombings and by American and Afghan government airstrikes were each the highest recorded since the United Nations issued its first report in 2009. The figures reflected a surge in fighting as both sides in the conflict, which is in its 18th year, stepped up attacks as they sought leverage in peace talks between the United States and the Taliban. Hes an institutionalist, and hes done some things well, starting with rejuvenating the State Department after Rex Tillerson dismantled so much, Mr. Burns said, referring to the presidents first secretary of state. But on policy, he has been the voice of unilateralism, of our way or the highway. And hes discovering, just recently, that the world is pushing back. This article is based on conversations with more than two dozen current and former American officials, foreign diplomats and policy advisers, most of whom agreed to discuss Mr. Pompeo on the condition of anonymity. Sticking to Trump, While Rebuilding an Agency John R. Bolton, the national security adviser, sometimes expresses his own views and tries to bend policy, as he did on Syria, when he said American troops would stay as long as Iran had troops on Syrian soil. Mr. Trump quickly quashed that thought. By contrast, Mr. Pompeo unfailingly sticks to the presidential line. For example, he publicly refuses to acknowledge the intelligence agencies assessments including those prepared by his former staff at the C.I.A. that contradict Mr. Trump on matters like North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Islamic State. The president has rewarded Mr. Pompeos loyalty by anointing him the point person on several signature issues. Those include North Korea and Afghanistan, a subject on which one American official said Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Trump speak directly to each other, sidelining Mr. Bolton. Mr. Pompeo, an evangelical Christian, also talks of global religious freedom as a priority. The American foreign policy establishment is ambivalent toward Mr. Pompeo, praising him for reinvigorating the diplomatic corps while criticizing him for his policies and ideology. After he took over the State Department last April, Mr. Pompeo promised to return swagger to the ranks, which had been depleted and demoralized under Mr. Tillerson. He resumed hiring young diplomats and appointed respected career officials to top positions. Still, many ambassadorships remain empty, which he blames on a Senate backlog. SHANNON, Ireland When it came time to stretch his legs during a refueling stop in Ireland on his recent Europe trip, Vice President Mike Pence left his cabin suite at the front of Air Force Two dressed in a flight jacket with the vice-presidential seal. As he disembarked to stroll a few laps around the airport terminal like a Midwestern mall walker, his wife, Karen, made a beeline to an assortment of souvenirs in the duty-free shop. Back across the Atlantic, President Trump, Mr. Pences boss, was in the midst of firing off his early morning tweets, including one addressed to the Senate Intelligence Committee denying, once again, that there was any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The vice president, for his part, seemed worlds away, enjoying a brief stop with the second lady as if they were tourists on a long-planned vacation. Appearing together in Washington, Mr. Trump, a former reality show mogul, and Mr. Pence, an evangelical Christian, are a strikingly odd couple, with the vice president usually seen as a meek helpmate casting a ciphers gaze in the presidents direction. But with at least 10 diplomatic trips to six continents under his belt, Mr. Pence appears to have mastered the art of stepping out of Mr. Trumps shadow on his own terms. He avoids taking any perilous steps into the presidents limelight by staying relentlessly on message, whatever the diplomatic cost. Its a challenge, but its what I signed up for, Ms. Spanberger said in an interview after the town hall. She made a point of thanking her more critical questioners, including Dale Swanson, a founder of the local conservative womens coalition, for their presence and their questions. If youre only walking into comfortable spaces and comfortable rooms, she added, youre probably not doing your job. But Ms. Spanberger said she has had conversations with colleagues in more solid blue districts about the impact of both hard-line liberal policy and the tone of opposition, which have prompted her to emphasize in town halls, sometimes unprompted, that she is absolutely not a socialist. When people say things in snarky ways or disrespectful ways or flippant ways, that creates an issue in districts like ours, she said. Its real easy to be kind of snarky in the majority. At a pair of town halls last week in the deeply Republican suburbs of Salt Lake City, Mr. McAdams, an affable and mild-mannered former Salt Lake County mayor, fielded pointed questions about whether he supports the Green New Deal and socialism. More broadly, constituents worried how their moderate congressman might fare in the same caucus as the liberal bomb throwers. Richard Hansen, a Republican county commissioner and one of the two dozen constituents who attended the town hall in Nephi, a mountain town of 6,000, shared a wish with the Utah Democrat: I hope they dont corrupt you. They wont, Mr. McAdams pledged. There have been some articles about this, a little bit of tension on the Democratic side: Are we going to veer to the far left or are we going to stay in the center? I dont know where the Democratic Party will go, but I tell you what, I will stay in the center. People are going to have to take it or leave it. BLADENSBURG, Md. In the back room of the Colmar Manor American Legion post, about a mile from a 40-foot cross honoring soldiers who died in World War I, the veterans were worried. They feared the Supreme Court would order the cross to be removed. It would be like a slap in the face, one of the veterans, Stan Shaw, said this month. These men gave their lives for our country and you cant build a memorial? If they tear it down, it would be a desecration. The cross sits on public land, on a highway median in Bladensburg, Md., in the suburbs of Washington. After dodging heavy traffic to reach it, Fred Edwords, a former official of the American Humanist Association and one of the plaintiffs in the case, explained his objection. We have nothing against veterans, he said. But this cross sends a message of Christian favoritism and exclusion of all others. WASHINGTON Representative Adam B. Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday that House Democrats were prepared to go to court to force the release of the final report from the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, and subpoena Mr. Mueller to testify if it was not made public. Mr. Mueller, who has spent nearly two years investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russia and whether President Trump tried to obstruct justice, is expected to submit his report to the Justice Department in the coming weeks, but the department is not required to release it. We will take it to court if necessary, Mr. Schiff, Democrat of California, said on ABCs This Week. And in the end, I think the department understands theyre going to have to make this public. Justice Department regulations dictate that Mr. Mueller must submit a confidential report outlining his investigation and decisions to the attorney general, William P. Barr, who will then submit a summary to Congress. What You Really Want to Know About the Candidates for Chicago Mayor CHICAGO No, Rahm Emanuel isnt running. But practically every other power player in Chicago is on the ballot on Tuesday in a race that is perhaps the most unpredictable mayoral contest in a generation for the nations third-largest city. Its a free-for-all with no clear front-runner. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote an extremely difficult bar, given that 14 candidates are on the ballot the top two finishers will head to a runoff in April. The nine candidates who, according to some recent surveys, stand the best chance to be the next mayor stopped by our Chicago bureau, and we asked them some essential and not so essential questions. [The latest from Chicago as the votes are counted on Election Day.] Black inventors paths to securing a patent in the United States have historically been jammed with obstacles. Before the abolition of slavery, the United States Patent and Trademark Office excluded slaves from owning patents. Because slaves themselves were considered property, they could not own property. After the Civil War, black inventors faced widespread and virulent racism from white institutions that doubted their ingenuity and stood in the way of their success, Rayvon Fouche wrote in Black Inventors in the Age of Segregation. Black Americans had limited opportunities to receive technical training, Mr. Fouche wrote. And professional organizations that were often vital for making business connections did not allow black people in their ranks. Mr. Lee and Prince first met when the musician, impressed by the directors 1986 debut feature film, Shes Gotta Have it, flew him out to Paisley Park in Minnesota, around the time that Prince was working on the film Graffiti Bridge. There was an immediate sense of understanding between the two men. They remained close, despite not seeing each other very often. It might be six, eight months before we talked but when we talked it was like, we see each other, Mr. Lee said. The last time he saw his friend was after a performance of the musical Hamilton, Mr. Lees seventh time seeing it. After the show, Mr. Lee said he went backstage and cast members told him that they were going to an after-party hosted by Prince. It was a book party, so he invited the whole cast of Hamilton, Mr. Lee said of Prince. So I get there and its just him and a D.J. And Damaris Lewis, who was dancing. And that was the last time I saw him. We sat and talked like an hour and then he got up on stage and played for like another two hours and he was giving me shout-outs on stage, stuff like that. To the Editor: Re Workers Before Buybacks, by Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders (Op-Ed, Feb. 4), calling for the limitation of corporate stock buybacks: The senators seem to believe that they know how best to allocate capital across our $20 trillion economy. Limiting stock buybacks disincentivizes aspiring entrepreneurs to go public and hinders individual shareholders and retirees from building equity. Management and boards of directors for public companies have a fiduciary obligation to maximize long-term appreciation for their shareholders. This requires a thorough knowledge of the companys growth, capital needs and stock valuation. Policymakers interfering with this fiduciary obligation undermine the free market, possibly leading to unintended consequences for the investor. As shareholder values fall, stock returns to investors will be noncompetitive, and the spotlight will shine on the leaders of the company that made poor capital allocation decisions. Government policy has no business meddling with capital allocation. Boards should take full responsibility for the decisions that affect their shareholders. [Read more about the public advocate race in New York Today.] It is a special election the likes of which New York has never seen: 17 candidates vying to become the citys public advocate, in a nonpartisan battle featuring past and present members of the state Legislature and City Council. It has been an expensive endeavor. The citys Campaign Finance Board doled out $7.1 million in matching funds to candidates, and its Board of Elections expected to spend $11 million to $15 million to organize the election on Tuesday, which was made necessary after Letitia James vacated the public advocate job to become the state attorney general. Why all the trouble and interest, especially for a position that some say should be abolished? First, the public advocate is next in line to replace a mayor departing in midterm. Second, others, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, have used the office as a springboard to higher positions. The public advocate also serves as an ombudsman, fielding complaints from residents and examining how city agencies are functioning. Then again, all of the effort put forth by the candidates, the Campaign Finance Board and the Board of Elections is technically for the honor of serving 10 months: Another election will be held in November to fill out the final two years of Ms. Jamess term. Primaries were scheduled for June. Pooja Patel and Alastair Eric Rami were married Feb. 22 at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau. Angel L. Lopez, a staff member of the city clerks office, officiated. On March 5, Jacob Ritter, an interfaith minister, is to lead the couple in an exchange of vows in a ceremony on the beach at the Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort on Ko Phi Phi Island, Thailand. Ms. Patel, 30, works as a director of legal affairs at Glossier, a cosmetics company in New York. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maryland and received a law degree from Harvard. She is a daughter of Margi Patel and Navin J. Patel of Gaithersburg, Md. The brides father is an independently contracted software engineer for United States Customs and Border Protection in Alexandria, Va. The brides mother is a division chief at the Department of Defense in Arlington, Va. Mr. Rami, 34, works as a team lead at Bridgewater Associates, an investment firm in Westport, Conn. He previously served as the deputy chief of staff and legislative director to Representative Henry Cuellar, Democrat of Texas. He graduated from Northwestern and received an M.B.A. from Stanford. Naomi Tanya Levin and Avraham Shneur Zalman Cohn are to be married Feb. 24 at Crystal Plaza, an events space in Livingston, N.J. Rabbi Naftali Citron is to officiate. The bride, 35, will be taking her husbands name. Until 2018, she was a software developer at Yext, an online business-management technology company in New York. She ran in the 2018 election as the Republican candidate in New Yorks 10th Congressional District. She is on the board of Endowment for Middle East Truth, a pro-Israeli nonprofit group in Washington informing legislators and policy decisions on national security and the Middle East. She is also a vice president on the board of the Manhattan Republican Party. She graduated from Boston University with a dual bachelors degree in computer science and biology. Ms. Levin is a daughter of Larissa V. Levin and Leonid A. Levin of Newton, Mass. Her father is a computer science professor at Boston University. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Mass. Until 1992, her mother was a biochemist focusing on cancer research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. The groom, 31, who is known as Abe, is an intellectual property lawyer at the Cohn Legal Group in New York, a division of Howard M. Cohn & Associates in Cleveland, in which his father, Howard M. Cohn, a patent lawyer, is the managing partner. The groom graduated cum laude from the University of Maryland and received a law degree from Yeshiva University. Jessica Rose Brandt and Dr. Jeffrey Alan Tornheim were married Feb. 20 in Westmoreland Hills Park in Bethesda, Md. Rabbi Hannah Goldstein, a friend of the couple, officiated. On Feb. 24, Rabbi Adam J. Baldachin also a friend of the couple, is to lead a Jewish ceremony at Casa Maya Kaan, a private villa in Tulum, Mexico. Ms. Brandt, 35, is a fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, where her research focuses on multilateral institutions and the geopolitical consequences of state fragility. She is a David Rockefeller fellow of the Trilateral Commission and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations in Manhattan. She graduated with honors from Johns Hopkins University and received a masters degree in public policy from Harvard. She is a daughter of Janet E. Ribardo of Lakewood Ranch, Fla., and Alan J. Brandt of West Nyack, N.Y. The brides father retired as the principal at Intermediate School 193 in the Bronx, and then retired as the director of curriculum for kindergarten through Grade 12 at the College Board in Manhattan. Her mother retired as an independent nurse practitioner, based in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Dr. Tornheim, 37, an infectious disease doctor, is an assistant professor of medicine and a physician-scientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. His research focuses on the application of new diagnostic technologies to improve health outcomes in the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis in India. He graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University and received a medical degree and a masters degree in public health from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, now known as the Icahn School of Medicine. MILAN The awards red carpet is not the only fashion show that seems to have fallen relatively silent on the subject of #MeToo: the runways, which in recent seasons focused broadly on a redefinition of female empowerment, at least as far as it relates to image, have almost entirely dropped that theme. Indeed, as the Milan collections drew to a close, they seemed to have largely discarded any effort to address bigger political or social issues, including sex, once a joyful playground for designers in this city (admittedly, its a very fraught subject in Italy at the moment), and climate change, despite the fact it has been almost 60 degrees all week. Instead, they were dominated by family values! Not of the far-right kind; of the most branded, uncontroversial, personal/company history kind. A database of every pigs face. Voice scans that detect hogs with a cough. Robots that dispense just the right amount of feed. This could be Chinas pig farm of the future. Chinese companies are pushing facial and voice recognition and other advanced technologies as ways to protect the countrys pigs. In this Year of the Pig, many Chinese hogs are dying from a deadly swine disease, threatening the countrys supply of pork, a staple of Chinese dinner tables. So Chinas ebullient technology sector is applying the same techniques it has used to transform Chinese life and, more darkly, that the Chinese government increasingly uses to spy on its own people to make sure its pigs are in the pink of health. If they are not happy, and not eating well, in some cases you can predict whether the pig is sick, said Jackson He, chief executive officer of Yingzi Technology, a small firm based in the southern city of Guangzhou that has introduced its vision of a future pig farm with facial and voice recognition technologies. 1. President Trump has openly criticized the special counsels investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, calling it a witch hunt and those who cooperate with investigators rats. But our team of Washington reporters uncovered a more secretive layer of Mr. Trumps public war on the investigations encircling him. Dozens of interviews and a review of confidential White House documents revealed numerous unreported episodes in a two-year drama. The special counsel is expected to deliver a report on the results of his investigation within weeks. Once the report is submitted, it is not certain how much of it will become public or when. The Oscars air on ABC. And for those without cable, three other movies our chief critics liked in 2018 but werent nominated are streaming. Whats on TV THE 91ST ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS 8 p.m. on ABC. Will Netflix win an Oscar for best picture, further legitimizing streaming services as a viable outlet for A-list filmmakers? Will Glenn Close pick up her first statuette? And just how many speeches will Alfonso Cuaron end up giving? These are some of the questions wafting through the Hollywood air in the lead-up to the Academy Awards, which will go on, hostless, steeped in controversies and ready to prove (or disprove) your predictions. Look out for Jennifer Hudson singing a song from Mary Poppins Returns, plus duets from Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper and Gillian Welch and David Rawlings; a showdown in the wide-open best supporting actress category; and the potential glory of an acceptance speech from Spike Lee, who, for the first time in his career, has a shot at the award for best director. Whats Streaming Did you know that the F.B.I. is your square dad and the C.I.A. is your hot mom? I didnt either, until I watched two new midseason television series, NBCs The Enemy Within and ABCs Whiskey Cavalier. Theyre at opposite ends of the spectrum of network formulas: a scaremongering thriller about domestic terrorism (Enemy); and a globe-trotting romantic caper (Whiskey). But beneath the shootouts and chases theyre kind of the same show. A sad, honest man from the F.B.I. a beta male despite his considerable physical skills is forced to partner with a charismatic, rules-breaking woman from the C.I.A. Sparks fly, though perhaps not enough to light a fire. Neither show engages directly with current political battles (through two episodes, anyway) theres no angry president accusing the intelligence agencies of deep-state plotting. The Enemy Within, however, eagerly taps into our continuing post-9/11 paranoia. Mondays premiere begins with the stark announcement: The F.B.I. estimates there are one hundred thousand foreign spies working within the United States today. I cant find any evidence that the F.B.I. has ever said that, but no matter. The show breathlessly doubles down, having a character warn of highly trained, deadly operatives in every city and every state, hiding in plain sight, as teachers, engineers, husbands and wives. Thank you for reading The Cascadia Advocate, the Northwest Progressive Institutes journal of world, national, and local politics. Founded in March of 2004, The Cascadia Advocate has been helping people throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond make sense of current events with rigorous analysis and thought-provoking commentary for more than fifteen years. The Cascadia Advocate is funded by readers like you and trusted sponsors. We dont run ads or publish content in exchange for money. Help us keep The Cascadia Advocate editorially independent and freely available to all by becoming a member of the Northwest Progressive Institute today. Or make a donation to sustain our essential research and advocacy journalism. Your contribution will allow us to continue bringing you features like Last Week In Congress, live coverage of events like Netroots Nation or the Democratic National Convention, and reviews of books and documentary films. Become an NPI member Make a one-time donation "If I wanted the language to look like that, I would have put it in that way," Bohacek said. "But that's OK. The process works, and we're going to send it to the House, and the House is going to have to do something." All nine Senate Democrats in attendance and state Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, chairman of the Public Policy Committee that shaped the comprehensive bias crime legislation, voted no on the revised proposal that was gutted Tuesday on a 33-16 Senate vote. Indiana Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary, quoted the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as he decried the changing of the original bill. "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter," Melton said. "Indiana is becoming more diverse. The nation is becoming more diverse. This is not going anywhere. This is going to come back in some shape or form." Indiana Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kevin Brinegar also chimed in. Evidently, the problem goes beyond the United States. It has been seeping predominantly through our southern border, lining detainment camps for illegal immigrants, also into their native countries. The immensely powerful push factors that certain Latin American countries radiate put a halo onto America for these refugees. This aura of freedom regarded by illegal immigrants, or should I say refugees, compels them to embark on a trek no less than 1,000 miles. The irony is extremely ubiquitous: Latinx refugees flee the traumatizing experiences from their native country only to undergo a potentially equally terrifying journey, just to either a) be forced to turn back around to where they started, b) be forcibly removed from families by strangers, or c) live in fear of a xenophobic and discriminatory community, only furthering the trauma. For some, emigration is the only means of survival especially children. Growing up, they have been subject to firsthand violence, malnourishment and physically, mentally and emotionally draining experiences. Arriving at a newfound hope only to be let down and torn away, these children whose only resilience is dependent on familial attachment cannot cope with the overwhelming situation out of their control. As a nation, we should not be promoting a problem to noncitizens that we ourselves seemingly procrastinate on solving. YEMEN AND INTELLIGENCE GATHERING: The House passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., to a bill (H.J. Res. 37) to require the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Yemen. The amendment would exempt intelligence gathering and sharing activities from the withdrawal requirement. Buck said that by allowing continued monitoring of terrorist and other security threats coming from Yemen, the exemption "ensures our country will not face another major terrorist attack or be caught flat-footed in battle because the necessary intelligence information didn't reach our leaders." An amendment opponent, Rep. Eliot L. Engel, D-N.Y., said it was unnecessary because the bill would not curtail intelligence activities in Yemen. The vote, on Feb. 13, was 252 yeas to 177 nays. INTERVENTION IN YEMEN: The House passed a bill (H.J. Res. 37), sponsored by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to require the removal from Yemen, within 30 days, of U.S. soldiers stationed there, barring congressional authorization of the use of force in Yemen. Khanna said U.S. assistance for Saudi Arabia in its intrusion into Yemen's civil war has put 14 million Yemenis in danger of starvation because a systematic bombing campaign is preventing food and medicine from reaching the Yemenis. A bill opponent, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said it would not bring relief to Yemenis, but would damage the military's ability to combat terrorist threats coming from Yemen and would clear the way for Iran to increase its interference in Yemen's civil war, with lasting consequences for Iran's ability to destabilize the Middle East. The vote, on Feb. 13, was 248 yeas to 177 nays, with one voting present. PORTAGE A turtle, possum, skunk and a pair of owls visited students Thursday morning at Nativity of Our Savior School. Students in grades prekindergarten through second grade listened as Nicole Harmon described the animals she brought from Humane Indiana. Harmon, humane educator for the group, brought just a few of her friends to visit the students. The students were introduced to Carrot, a box turtle; Oreo, a skunk; Tuna the possum and two owls. "At Humane Indiana we take care of wild animals that have been hurt," Harmon said. "We nurse them so that they can go back into the wild, but sometimes we have to keep them because they are too injured to go back into the wild." Harmon described the animals to the children and told them about each species. "I come out and talk to people and I share with them all about my wildlife," Harmon said. Harmon also stressed that it is important not to take in wild animals as pets. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 VALPARAISO Hilltop Neighborhood House will celebrate 20 years of soups dinner from 4 to 7 p.m. Feb. 27. The annual event has a new venue this year. It will be held at Harre Union at Valparaiso University with valet parking available. Tickets are $25. Jennifer Wright, Hilltop CEO, said they have moved the event to the grand ballroom because of space. This annual fundraiser helps to raise money for the child care programs at Hilltop. The money helps provide scholarships for needy families to afford quality child care while improving family situations. "We have outgrown previous spaces for this soups dinner and they were all wonderful," Wright said. "But we needed more space and we can have it all in one room and people won't have to wait for seats anymore." In years past the dinner had two seatings to accommodate all the people. This year people can come and go. With the larger space, there will be room to accommodate. This year there will be about 17 soups and 30 different kinds of desserts, with 20 restaurants and about five churches donating to the cause. Guests will get the chance to vote for the best overall soup that evening. Instead, Weaver said, she was asked to provide her first marriage certificate, issued in Tennessee, which she didn't have with her. The marriage certificate was deemed necessary because the Valparaiso woman uses her former married name as her middle name on her present paperwork, she said. Weaver initially contacted someone at the county level in Tennessee, was told they didn't have her paperwork, and then they referred her to an office in Nashville. Rapport with a clerk there led her to get the marriage certificate, only to find her ex-husband's name was misspelled. "At first she said she couldn't change the spelling, but then she looked at his signature, which had the correct spelling, and she agreed to correct it," Weaver said. Weaver said she went back to the local branch for a second time and was told that time that the first name on her birth certificate was spelled differently, JoAn, instead of the way she has been spelling it, Joann. "They wouldn't accept it," Weaver said. She petitioned the state of Tennessee, which went back in its archives and made the change to the spelling on her birth certificate. Maple Sugar Time Enjoy a taste of spring at the Indiana Dunes National Park's 41st annual Maple Sugar Time festival on Saturdays and Sundays from March 2-10. Take a one-hour tour to see how American Indians first made the sweet syrup as well as how the Chellberg family did and the most modern tapping methods. Visit nps.gov/indu for details. Two Symphonies with NWI Symphony Orchestra Tickets are available for the NWI Symphony Orchestra's performance of Mozart's Symphony No. 34 and Brahm's Symphony No. 2 on March 8. The two symphonies take place at Living Hope Church in Merrillville/Crown Point. Tickets can be purchased at nisorchestra.org. A Taste of Gerry Hundt Music + Burn 'Em Brewing The legendary one-man-band, Gerry Hundt returns to Lubeznik Center for the Arts, in Michigan City, from 5 to 8 p.m. on March 1. Enjoy tastes of Burn 'Em beers while enjoying Hundt's music. This is an all ages event; beer tasting and bar for ages 21+ and over. Learn more by visiting lubeznikcenter.org. Savor the South Shore Each year, Brashier said they try to do something a little different and put something on the plate that people may not have tried before, or something new theyre introducing. One item offered in the $20 three-course meal is the L.A. Caviar, which he described as a black-eyed pea salsa served with crackers, a traditional snack he enjoyed growing up in Birmingham, Alabama (the L.A. stands for lower Alabama). The entree is a two-meat platter of pulled pork and chicken legs with choice of two sides. Were trying to expand on our wings. The legs have the same flavor, but with more meat on the bone, he said. They are currently available only on Mondays, but depending on how they go over during Savor the South Shore, they may find a permanent place on the menu. Fahrenheit Two-Twelve will be a participating restaurant this year for the third time. We think it's a fantastic idea to get new customers in during these winter months where all of us need to get out of the house, especially since we have had a delightful, polar vortex type of winter, said General Manager Missy Gleason. The program drums up business for local restaurants by inviting customers to try something new that they normally wouldn't order. Pricing for lunch is $25.99 and dinner is $43.99. The meal is for two people with a shared appetizer, two entrees and a dessert. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 If you've got a brilliant idea for a new business, you can make your best pitch at The PNW Big Sell to try to scare up some startup capital. Purdue University Northwest is bringing back its annual entrepreneurial pitch contest, sponsored by NIPSCO, from 1 to 4 p.m. April 27 at the Purdue University Northwest Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center at 7150 Indianapolis Blvd. in Hammond. We are happy to host our annual pitch competition that is not only open to Purdue students, but any person willing to share their unique vision and ideas said Hulian Terrell, a student who will help stage the competition and judge contest entries. Mont Handley from College of Technology's Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center and Entrepreneurship Professor AJ Moran from the College of Business will co-chair the annual competition, which Purdue University Northwest's CEMC took over in 2017. The national entrepreneurship contest was founded by Dushan Nikolovski in 2011 to promote innovation and a culture of entrepreneurship in Northwest Indiana. Long held at the now demolished Radisson at Star Plaza, the Big Sell has helped launch local businesses like Loopy Cases, Brace To Play and Pool Python. Community Reporter Erica Welch is the special sections editor for The News-Review, mother of two and a native of Roseburg. She is an alumni of RHS, UCC and Western Oregon University. Contact her at ewelch@nrtoday.com or 541-957-4218. The Mid-Plains Board of Governors will discuss tuition and fees as well as room and board charges for the 2019-20 school year at Wednesdays meeting. Also on the action agenda is a new program proposal for electrical automation control. The oath of office will be administered to Karen Knisley, who was absent from the previous meeting when new and re-elected board members were installed on the board. The board will also hear reports on the Legislative Day/National Legislative Summit, retention and enrollment report and the monthly president and vice presidents reports. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the NPCC North Campus, 1101 Halligan Drive, in Room 200. Lincoln County commissioners will consider a proposal for a road maintenance bond Monday. They will also consider bids to remodel the restrooms on the ground floor of the courthouse. The meeting will take place in the Lincoln County Commissioners Room at 8 a.m. At the commissioner meeting on Feb. 11, Roads Superintendent Carla ODell made her case for a $2 million to $3 million bond for extra road maintenance. On Monday, Paul Grieger of D.A. Davidson & Co. will present a bond proposal to the board. In other business, commissioners will: Receive the fee report submitted by the county treasurer. Consider authorizing the chairman to sign the fire alarm inspection agreement with Nebraska Safety and Fire Equipment Inc. Consider appointing Mitch Moorhead to the Lincoln County Planning Commission to finish the term of Betty Sones, which expires in August. Consider certificates of correction and refund, if any, as submitted by the county assessor. Have a closed session concerning pending litigations. Soybean producers are cautioned to test the germination rate of their seed before putting it in the ground this spring. The Nebraska Crop Improvement Association reported that samples submitted to them have averaged around 85 percent germination. They have ranged from 43 to 98 percent, however, according to a press release from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, which houses NCIA. If the germination rate is lower than usual, seeding rates may need to be increased. Fungicide treatments can also help plants that are struggling to emerge through cool soil or areas prone to fungal diseases. The NCIA germination tests may actually be worse than what was reported. Dead, moldy seeds were removed before germination testing, similar to what would happen in commercial seed production, said the release. Concerns over soybean seed quality issues are widespread across the U.S. production area due to an unusually wet fall that delayed harvest in seed-producing areas of Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, the sources for much of Nebraskas seed, the release said. Wet weather in the fall contributed to development of phomopsis seed decay and other seed diseases. I watched an eagle catch a group of mallards off guard when it approached low from over the carousel and concession stand. It banked hard as it got to the lake and dived toward the ducks on the ice. The ducks did not see the eagle until it was almost upon them and they exploded into the air in every direction. One mallard drake did not make it off the ice. After a few seconds of wrestling around on the ice, I watched the eagle fly off with the mallard to a spot somewhere north of the river. Watching eagles is great way to spend some time in the outdoors, but be careful not to disturb them, even around Cody Park. There are federal laws that protect them, even if you have no intent of doing them any harm. Enjoy the spectacle of nature but do it at a distance. Cedar View Campground It may be a little early to think about camping, but the Cedar View Campground at Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area will be closed for a while this spring to allow for the completion of some upgrades to campground electrical service and facilities. The upgrades include all new electrical and water utilities for 85 camping sites with 50/30/20 amp pedestals. Eight existing campsites will be updated to meet Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines and there will be some renovations to the existing shower facility. The incorporation of manure into a farming operation is great for increasing soil organic carbon and increasing water infiltration while reducing bulk density. While manure is a great source of fertilizer, it is important to protect the environment during applications by making sure that manure is applied according to crop nutrient requirements and soil test results. Nebraska Extension is offering a series of webinars for educational outreach efforts on improving soil health. There will be a webinar available on Using Manure to Improve Soil Health from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. Friday for those who would like to learn more. The webinar will give an overview on current manure research conducted in South Dakota and Michigan and what they have found that works to enhance soil organic matter, manure quality and the use of other organic sources to improve soil health. Presenters include Anthony Bly from South Dakota State University, Sieg Snapp from Michigan State University and Christina Curell from Michigan State University. Handouts in PDF form will be available following the webinar. Continuing Education Credits for Certified Crop Advisors and members of the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists have been applied for this webinar. Individuals interested in participating in this webinar need to register ahead of time at www.extension.org/58813. Elizabeth City, NC (27909) Today Sun and clouds mixed. High 86F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mostly clear. Low 71F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. OnePlus' first 5G phone will be released in partnership with the carriers EE and Elisa in the second quarter of the year. They are located in the UK and Finland respectively, and are the only companies to be associated with the release of this phone so far. OnePlus' CEO has indicated that the device will cost under US$1000. 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 5G , Accessory , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker Pete Lau, the CEO of OnePlus, has offered further details on the OEM's plans to release a 5G phone this year. In accordance with the company's drive to be one of the first to do so, it will launch its device through the carriers EE in the UK and Elisa in Finland. However, Lau also stated that the OEM plans to make more 5G devices for use in other countries, the US included, in the future. The first 5G OnePlus phone is to be unveiled at MWC19, in only a few days from today (February 23, 2019). Lau, speaking in the course of an interview with USA Today, also alluded to the existence of a new 4G device from the company. It will apparently differ in some slight ways from the 5G version; however, they may essentially have the same design or hardware. On that note, the 5G variant has been confirned to be powered by the Snapdragon 855 premium SoC. As with the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, it will connect using the X50 Qualcomm modem. Despite the impending deadline of its release, Lau claimed that the new 5G phone has not yet been assigned a name. The CEO was equally vague about its price. On the other hand, he assured the interviewer that it would cost somewhat less than US$1,000: a price-point at which the phone seemedly becomes "too expensive". Some leaks have pointed to the 6.2 as Nokia's first phone to feature a punch-hole camera. However, it appears we will have to wait a while to confirm this. A HMD-focused leaker has asserted that the brand intends to focus on the 9 PureView instead at its MWC event. 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 5G , Accessory , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker The Nokia 9 PureView is likely to be the HMD Global brand's newest flagship, and may be unveiled soon at the Mobile World Congress 2019 (MWC19). It has been linked to a revolutionary penta-sensor rear camera arrangement. However, other leaks have suggested that another new Nokia device will be first to get similarly next-gen tech in its front panel. This phone is the 6.2, which is a name associated with leaks showing a punch-hole camera like those found in the Honor View 20 and Samsung Galaxy S10 series. However, the Nokia 9 PureView is not linked to this feature; in fact, its renders have shown that it has a distinctly old-school display. However, it appears that the Nokia 6.2 will not get a launch at MWC19. This development has been alleged by the tipster Nokia anew on Twitter. On the other hand, this leaker did not go into further detail on the basis of this assertion. However, some other new models may arrive on the MWC stage alongside the 9 Pureview. These have been rumored to include the budget-level Nokia 1 Plus, as well as the 4.2 and 3.2. WILLIAMSPORT -- Northcentral Pennsylvania Alternatives to Violence Project (NCPAAVP) will be offering a weekend workshop March 22-24, 2019 at Northway Presbyterian Church, 1520 Northway Road, Williamsport. Are you seeking to nonviolently resolve conflicts? Do you want support and encouragement? Do you want to give support and encouragement to others? And do you want to do this while having fun and learning? This AVP workshop is designed to refine our skills in nonviolent resolution to conflict. Sign up for personal growth or as a first step to becoming a facilitator of future workshops, in the community, in schools, in prisons and other situations where conflict arises. AVP, a nonsectarian and nonpolitical nonprofit, has held workshops for over 40 years in over 50 countries, in communities, schools and prisons. Recognizing that community building is facilitated when people learn from and about each other, exercises involve one-on-one sharing, cooperative small group activities, and open-ended role plays. Many individuals have found them life-changing helping in areas such as self-esteem and empowerment, reflection and values clarification, community building and relationships, communication and leadership skills, and deescalating conflict and reaching consensus. One participant from a workshop last year in Williamsport said " This is a positive experience that would grow you to become a leader, while seeing others grow. The interactive experience visually shows you how a supportive community is formed!" The AVP workshop will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday March 22; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday March 23 and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday March 24. Lunch will be provided on Saturday, snacks and beverages will be available throughout, transportation and child care are available if requested. Donations accepted. Pre-registration required for planning purposes. To register or for more info, find "AVP Workshop Williamsport" on Eventbrite.com, email ncpaavp@gmail.com, or call 570-971-9509 WILLIAMSPORT - The United States Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania recently announced that Franklin Mejia, age 48, of Paterson, New Jersey, was indicted by a federal grand jury on drug trafficking charges. According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, the indictment alleges that Mejia distributed and possessed with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine on February 5, 2019, in Lycoming County. The case was investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney George J. Rocktashel is prosecuting the case. The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is 40 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant. Norman, OK (73070) Today Generally cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 79F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. The dual-divided concept is designed to reduce crashes caused in part by traffic that previously had to merge between tightly spaced interchanges, Suhr said. Studies predict a reduction in crashes of about 21 percent annually once the Bluffs dual lanes are in service. Anytime a crash does occur and traffic begins to back up, authorities will be able to open special gates and allow vehicles to move from the freeway into the local lanes. The dual-divided freeway is part of a massive reconstruction project sparked by a needs study completed in 1999. The study identified problems such as outdated design and inadequate capacity for future travel numbers. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Reconstruction began in 2006. The project, Suhr said, is one of the largest individual programs undertaken by the state transportation agency. As reconstruction ramped up in 2013, HDR Inc. of Omaha was hired to manage some aspects. So far we are on schedule and on or under budget, says Mark Pohlmann, project manager for HDR. We have accomplished a lot. Work has gone really well on the highly complex project, which has an overall price tag of about $1.6 billion. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Lisa Miner used her Heritage Scholarship to attend a second dry needling course in a series of three courses. I just completed the third course as well, and I have become certified as a myofascial trigger point therapist, she said. I have been using what I learned to perform dry needling on appropriate patients to reduce myofascial pain. Trigger point dry needling offers another treatment option when a patient does not get better with manual massage techniques alone. The funding from the Heritage scholarships has enabled many of our staff to be able to attend these conferences, learn about best practices from other institutions and network with peers, said Denise McNitt, vice president of patient care services. We are very fortunate to receive the support from the Heritage Awards Dinner to enable Mercy to continue on its journey to excellence. This years Heritage event will be on March 23 at the Mid-America Center, 1 Arena Way. The four individuals who will be honored are Tom Hanafan arts and humanities; Doug Goodman business; Warren Weber education; and Sister Claudia Robinson health and human services. Chairing the 36th annual event are Dr. Mark and Kim Otto. Co-chairs are John and Erica Bracker. Council Bluffs Community School District officials are encouraged after receiving lower-than-expected bids on the Madison Campus renovation project. The Council Bluffs Board of Education is expected to approve a bid on the project during its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Educational Service Center. We had a great pool of bids with good companies, so we felt really good about that process that we went through, Superintendent Vickie Murillo said. The school district received nine bids, which were opened on Feb. 13 by representatives from the district and BVH Architecture, she said. The bids ranged from $4.01 million to $4.68 million, with Prairie Construction submitting the lowest bid while including carpet installation in the classrooms. An evaluation process determined that Prairie Construction has the experience, expertise and capacity to complete the project in the established time frame, Murillo said. As a result, the administration recommends that the board award the contract to Prairie. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} We were very pleased with the bids, she said. We had nine good bids, and the range was in a really good place for us. Learn about your landlord's liability for mold problems, how to get rid of mold, and how to prevent it in the first place. Mold is an environmental hazard that can cause concern among renters. Across the country, tenants have won multimillion-dollar cases against landlords for significant health problemssuch as rashes, chronic fatigue, nausea, cognitive losses, hemorrhaging, and asthmaallegedly caused by exposure to "toxic molds" in their building. If you suspect there is mold in your rental unit, learn what to look for and when your landlord might be liable. Even better, take steps to prevent mold before it becomes a problemor clean mold up before it does become a problem. Where Mold Is Found Mold comes in various colors and shapes. The villainswith names like stachybotrys, penicillium, aspergilus, paecilomyces, and fusariumare black, white, green, or gray. Some are powdery, others shiny. Some molds look and smell disgusting; others are barely seenhidden between walls, under floors and ceilings, or in less accessible spots, such as basements and attics. Mold often grows on water-soaked materials, such as wall paneling, paint, fabric, ceiling tiles, newspapers, or cardboard boxes. Humidity sets up prime growing conditions for mold. Buildings in naturally humid climates of Texas, California, and the Southern U.S. have experienced more mold problems than residences in drier climates. But whatever the climate, mold can grow as long as moisture is present. Mold and Your Health Mold is also among the most controversial of environmental hazards. There is considerable debate within the scientific and medical communities about which molds, and what situations, pose serious health risks to people in their homes. There is no debate, however, among tenants who have suffered the consequences of living amidst (and inhaling) mold spores. Keep in mind, however, that most mold is not harmful to your healthfor example, the mold that grows on shower tiles is not dangerous. It takes an expert to know whether a particular mold is harmful or just annoying. And it's very tricky to find out whether a person who has been exposed to mold has actually inhaled or ingested it. New tests that measure the presence of a particular mold's DNA in a blood sample are the only way to know for sure whether the mold is present in the body. Landlord Legal Responsibilities for Tenant Exposure to Mold With a few exceptions, landlord responsibilities regarding mold have not been clearly spelled out in building codes, ordinances, statutes, or regulations. (But, as explained below, landlords can be held responsible for mold problems even absent specific laws governing mold.) No federal law sets permissible exposure limits or building tolerance standards for mold in residential buildings, and only a few states (including California, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, and Texas), and a few cities (including New York and San Francisco), have taken steps toward establishing permissible mold standards or guidelines and regulations for mold in indoor air. For information on mold rules and regulations in your state, check with your state department of environmental protection or your state department of public health. To see whether your state is considering mold-related legislation that might affect residential rentals, you can search the National Conference of State Legislatures' Environmental Health State Bill Tracking Database. Check the "Indoor Air QualityMold" box in the "Topics" column, and check the box next to your state. For local mold-related rules, contact your city manager, mayor's office or other local government department. Mold and the Landlord's Duty to Maintain Habitable Premises Even if your state or city doesn't have specific mold laws, your landlord could still be liable for a mold problem in your rental, as a result of landlords' responsibility to provide safe and livable housing. Depending on the situation, state law might give you options such as rent withholding if your landlord fails to fix a serious mold problem, or you might be able to file a lawsuit for mold-related health problems. Mold Caused by a Landlord's Failure to Fix Leaks Landlords in all states but Arkansas are responsible for maintaining fit and habitable housing and repairing rental property, and this extends to fixing leaking pipes, windows, and roofsthe causes of most mold. If the landlord doesn't take care of leaks and mold grows as a result, you might be able to hold the landlord responsible if you can convince a judge or jury that the mold has caused a health problem. Mold Caused by Tenant Behavior The liability picture changes when mold grows as the result of your own behavior, such as keeping the apartment tightly shut, creating high humidity, or failing to maintain necessary cleanliness. Tenants have some duties to maintain their rental unit, so when a tenant's own negligence is the sole cause of injury, the landlord is not liable. To avoid causing any mold problems, practice good housekeeping, such as ventilating your apartment. Mold Clauses in Leases Some landlords include clauses in the lease that purport to relieve them from any liability resulting from mold growth. At least one court (in Tennessee) has refused to enforce such a clause, ruling that to do so would be against public policy. More cases from other parts of the country are sure to arise as mold litigation makes its way through the courts. Some states require landlords to disclose information about mold to tenants. A smart landlord will try to prevent the conditions that lead to the growth of moldand tenants should be the landlord's partner in this effort. This approach requires maintaining the structural integrity of the property (the roof, plumbing, and windows), which is the landlord's job. You can help by preventing mold problems in your home in the first place and promptly reporting problems that need the landlord's attention. Resources on Mold For more information on mold, including what it looks like, how to test for mold, the health effects of mold exposure, and how to clean up mold, check out the Mold section of the EPA website. A LaPlace man died after he lost control of his motorcycle and was ejected into another car in St. John the Baptist Parish Saturday afternoon (Feb. 23). Excessive speed played a factor in the fatal crash, according to State Police. Anthony Silvestri, 37, was driving above the speed limit at a very high rate on Louisiana 44 in LaPlace before he lost control of his 2010 Suzuki SX 1300 around noon, police said. Silvestri lost control after a driver traveling eastbound in a 2017 Toyota Camry made a turn onto Bradford Place, police said. Silvestri then laid the motorcycle on the ground and was ejected into the Toyota, police said. The driver of the Toyota Camry was not injured in the crash, police said. Silvestri, who was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, police said. Several witnesses told police he was operating the motorcycle in a reckless manner. Toxicology tests will be performed to determine if Silvestri was impaired at the time of the crash, police said. The driver of the Toyota Camry took a breath test and alcohol was not detected in her system. The crash remains under investigation. Silvestris exact speed at the time of the crash was not immediately clear. As a resident of south Louisiana who has been told by the worlds smartest scientists that the homes, businesses and futures of my area could be consumed by the rising Gulf of Mexico in 40 years unless emissions are curbed, what is the Green New Deal and what should you think about it? Glad you asked. For starters, despite what you have heard from fulminating hosts on talk radio and at FOX News, its not a raft of legislation that will nationalize all industries and outlaw your hamburgers, airline travel and fine farmers for farting cows. Heres what the New Green Deal really is: A non-binding resolution setting aspirational goals for Congress to reduce the impacts of warming and relieve some major social problems the country is struggling with. If it is actually approved by Congress, no laws or regulations will have been changed. Now, what do I think about it? First, I wish it had been introduced as the New Green Deal instead of the Green New Deal. Its not that some of the social issues the New Deal part addresses are not in need of attention; they are. But solutions to confront global warming are far more urgent because that disaster is already underway and our window for mitigating some impacts is rapidly closing. By linking the two, supporters have given the fossil-fueled opponents of carbon reduction a shovel to bury the entire package. And that would be a tragedy for the nation, but especially Louisiana. This states own coastal emergency plan endorsed unanimously by its GOP Legislature says the key to saving most of whats below U.S. 90 depends on the world dramatically reducing emissions over the next 10 to 12 years. And the world cant get there without the United States doing its part. This resolution is the first comprehensive strategy to accomplish that by addressing our entire emissions infrastructure. By that I mean looking at eliminating or reducing every source of emissions from heavy industry to commuting, to agriculture, to the way we control the climate in our homes and buildings. Here are some of its main ideas: --Shifting 100 percent of the nations energy supply to clean, renewable and zero-emission energy sources. --Developing energy grid for the transmission and storage of green energy as much as technologically feasible." --Upgrading all buildings and requiring new buildings to achieve maximal energy efficiency. --Overhauling transportation systems in the United States to eliminate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector as much as is technologically feasible. --Removing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing and industry as much as is technologically feasible. --Working collaboratively with farmers and ranchers in the United States to eliminate pollution and emissions from the agricultural sector as much as is technologically feasible." The authors have set a goal of accomplishing most of that within 10 years but even that aspiration is seriously modified with the qualifier as much as technologically feasible found on almost every one of these proposals. Many experts (from the left and right) say the only way that might possibly be accomplished is if, in the words of one, we were to mobilize around the climate problem the way we mobilized around the fight against Germany and Japan. Given the consequences of the emergency there is a sound argument thats exactly what we should do. But politically there are many reasons its a reach too far. The first is that the majority of Americans would not be willing to make the financial and social sacrifices required. Just a few months ago voters in Washington state, one of the bluest in the nation, soundly defeated a carbon tax initiative because of the personal cost. The second reason is that, unlike the bombs being dropped by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1941, the real impacts of climate change remain a distant threat to most people. Further, because its impacts are likely to advance only incrementally, many communities will be lulled into false security by short-term adaptations (sea walls and levees) while putting off the real fix until its too late to avoid permanent disaster. None of that means the Green New Deal is a waste of time. Just the opposite. You can tell by the furor of its opponents it is already accomplishing what they were most afraid of: Making climate change a headline issue in the next election cycle and setting forth concrete solutions backed by science and facts on the ground. But the challenge will remain steep not just in petro states like Louisiana where many jobs are tied to producing the sources of carbon pollution but in a national electorate still refusing to accept the science. While the Green New Deal opened the long-delayed serious discussion in Congress, there is still some serious educating that needs to be done in the nation at large. The Yale Climate Opinion Maps 2018 show that while 77 percent of adults support regulating carbon as a pollutant, and 70 percent think global warming is happened only 57 percent think it is caused primarily by humans. Thats why many parts of the Green New Deal that likely will exact a price in extra costs or inconvenience will remain aspirational. But at least its a start. Louisianas coast loses a hero Louisianas coast suffered a loss last week with the passing of Len Bahr, Ph.D., one of the coasts earliest and most effective champions. A longtime professor at LSU, Len combined a deep scientific knowledge of the causes of our crisis with the passion of an uncompromising advocate for the best cures regardless of who that might offend. Not everyone agreed with his stands, but the respect he earned was evident by his recruitment as a policy adviser by every governor from Buddy Roemer through Bobby Jindal. As the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority noted in recognizing Len at its Wednesday meeting, He was here at the establishment of CPRA, serving in the Governors Office of Coastal Activities following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. His insistence on letting science rule our planning is still a guiding principle we follow today. We salute you, Len Bahr, for your great wisdom, influence, and years of service to Louisiana. Even after being stricken years ago with a disabling disease, Len remained active in the fight for the coast with his pithy blog, the LaCoastPost, a place for energetic and informative debate on coastal issues. He will be missed by all those who care about the future of coastal Louisiana. Bob Marshall, former Outdoors editor for The Times-Picayune and former environmental reporter for The Lens, writes a regular column. He can be reached at bmarshallenviro@gmail.com. Once youve served the time in prison ordered by a court, you should be released. That seems obvious. Courts have consistently ruled that prisons cant indefinitely hold people after their sentence is completed. A ruling by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2011 found that it's clearly established law that a prison official must ensure an inmates timely release from prison. Timely release has been defined as less than 48 hours. Louisiana isnt abiding by that standard and its not even close. The Department of Corrections, the Orleans Justice Center and other local jails routinely hold people for weeks or even years past their release dates, according to a 2017 state audit and court records. One state inmate was jailed an extra 960 days, almost three years beyond the official end of his sentence. Thats not justice. The criminal justice system is based on the idea that if you do a crime, you serve your time and then you go free. And that going free part is not being carried out correctly in Louisiana, civil rights attorney William Most told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reporters Emily Lane and Richard Webster. He has lawsuits pending against state prison officials and local sheriffs alleging overdetention of five clients. Its hard to be in prison. But its even harder to be in prison knowing that you should be free and not having any idea when youre going to get out, Mr. Most said. The Department of Corrections response to criticisms about how slow it is in releasing people was: Its hard to do math. In his official written response to the 2017 legislative audit, prisons Secretary James LeBlanc said calculating release dates is a very complex and ever changing process with as many as 20 criteria. The process has been further complicated by the criminal justice reforms passed in 2017, he said. But this is their job. The prison system is charged with holding people safely during their sentence and then releasing them promptly. And they are failing too often on the second part. In 2017, the auditor asked two DOC employees to calculate release dates on the same offender, and each used a different method. The two results differed by 186 days. That amounts to a difference of about six months. If you are waiting to get out of jail and go home, six months is a long time. Its not just the Department of Corrections. The Orleans Parish Sheriffs Office (OPSO), which runs the city jail, contributes to the problem. The sheriffs office has a policy of holding inmates in custody regardless of whether they should be free until the Department of Corrections says, Mr. Most, the civil rights attorney, wrote. As a result, there is a whole class of people who are regularly and automatically being overdetained by OPSO policy. Johnny Traweek was one of them. He was sentenced to time served, so he should have gotten out of the Orleans Justice Center right away. But when he was still in jail seven days later, New Orleans public defender Stanislav Moroz contacted the sheriffs office. An OPSO employee wrote back that his paperwork hadnt been sent to the state yet. When Mr. Moroz checked again with the sheriffs office five days later, he got this message: He cant get released until DOC sends him a release. The whole process takes about 2 weeks. He has to wait!!!! Part of the problem is that the sheriffs office drives inmates paperwork to the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel once a week. Let that sink in for a minute. They DRIVE the paperwork to St. Gabriel instead of emailing or faxing it. OPSO acknowledged that it would be better to send the records electronically. And that is what Jefferson Parish does. So, OPSO should be able to do that, too. It took 22 days for Mr. Traweek to be released. There was a personal cost to him, but there also is a cost for taxpayers who pay for the daily expense of holding inmates in the city jail or state prison. The cost for holding one inmate for an extra 22 days may not seem like much. But hes not the only one. Shreveport attorney Nelson Cameron said the state held his clients a combined 2,216 days too long. The average cost to house an inmate is $54.20 per day, which would come out to an extra $120,107 paid by taxpayers. That is multiplied many times over the course of a year. Its widespread, Mr. Cameron said. There also are the costs of court settlements in lawsuits challenging the overdetention of inmates. There are some obvious solutions. The legislative auditor recommended replacing the departments 1980s-era data system the Criminal and Justice Unified Network, or CAJUN. That system has a history of inaccurate and incomplete record-keeping, auditors said. The Department of Corrections actually tried to replace CAJUN in 2015, but the new system only lasted 46 days because the department didnt properly test it or train staff, the audit said. That was a waste of $3.6 million. The Department of Corrections also should make sure the people who are calculating sentences are trained properly and know how to do their jobs. And there should be a way to ensure that if a judge rules an offender should be released for time already served, it happens within hours, not weeks. Emily Washington, an attorney with the Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center, said overdetention cases arent about mere paperwork and bureaucracy. Its about holding public actors accountable. And its about the value we place on liberty, whether that is a day, a week, or months in someones life. The state of Louisiana needs to abide by the law, stop wasting taxpayer money and fix this problem. The first few steps into the world of Maurice Carlos Ruffins We Cast a Shadow are dizzying. There is a party, the narrator finds out he is dressed inappropriately too assertively, in fact, for a competition that he didnt know he had entered. As one of the three black junior employees at his law firm, he is competing for a more permanent position. One of his bosses, the only woman shareholder, helps him change into something more humbling. He wins that competition. We learn quickly that the nameless narrator is desperately seeking this promotion for a bonus, which he intends to use for a specific purpose: to de-melanize a dark birthmark on his biracial sons face. As Jarvis DeBerry wrote in a recent profile of the New Orleans author, the opening scene foreshadows the narrator saying yes to a series of more horrible things. The reader can only follow him into the choices that determine his fate in the City, a maybe-future New Orleans where, we slowly realize, racism has gotten worse, not better. As the narrative jumps from mansion to executive office building to plantation to the Tiko (a housing project where most of the black citizens have been forced to live) to the Musee de Nubia du Afrique (a last-ditch effort to memorialize black history), we become acquainted with a world gone even more horribly wrong. He says of the past, when it looked as though we might get a black woman president, it seemed as if the country were running away from systemic racial oppression. but those hopes died fast. Sometime after the last African American mayor of the City, there were riots and protests and the black residents were confined to the Tiko, which seems to have afforded them nearly full-time police supervision and harassment. Our narrator came up there, and hes been trying to run from his blackness ever since leaving. There is a common critique among fiction writers who read each others work. When writers flinch, they shy away from the tough moments, a characters worst choice, the controversial topic, the thing that might hurt too much to put to paper. In We Cast a Shadow, Ruffin never flinches. The unnamed narrator makes the worst choices; Ruffin presents black experience in clear and uncompromising terms. As buzz for We Cast a Shadow grows, New Orleans novelist Maurice Ruffin steps into spotlight The hardest parts of the novel are those moments when the narrator cant see how destructive a force he is. He says of a black police officer whose sole purpose seems to be to harass the black citizens of the Tiko: So much depends upon a man with a hatred of his own. Meanwhile, he rationalizes his desperate desire to fix his sons face: there may be beauty in my blackness and dignity in the struggle of my people, but I wont allow my son to live a life of diminished possibility. I see a constellation of opportunity that those of my ilk rarely travel to. I see my Nigel at the center of those stars. The narrator is so blinded by his own desperation he cannot see himself as the terror he is. Readers might want to shake the narrator for his myopic fixation, but that is precisely the point. Ruffins narrator demonstrates to us the constant experience of walking around a white world in a black body. His hypervigilance might seem comical if it wasnt so tragic. And it might seem paranoid, but the reality is, the world his describes is not that far from our own. At times, it is difficult to sympathize with him. The world Ruffin has created is initially jarring, but his writing shines best in the second half of the novel. As readers settle into the world both familiar and foreign, what emerges is a tale of inherited trauma manifested in this narrators misguided pursuit of his son. As we are ushered along on his wild ride, his choices snowballing to an inevitable conclusion, and as we learn more about his life, his incarcerated professor father, his extended family who has lost so much, his lifetime of near misses and close calls, a clear picture arises. This is a man who has reacted in the extreme, but its the system that made him this way. The novel has been compared to Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man, a deserved comparison that solidifies its place among great American novels. It has been included on at least ten preview lists for 2019, with a rave review from The Boston Globe and put Ruffin on a list of writers to watch from the Los Angeles Times. Ruffin has certainly earned the praise. New Orleans readers will see their city in these pages, not just through the experience of race but also through the Citys obsession with pre-Civil War history, the complicated school system, the mansions on the avenue of Streetcars, and the economic disparity. But they will also see their city in the joy of a festival on Dr. King Day. Ruffin has captured his home beautifully while rendering tragedy. As the brilliant Roxane Gay wrote of the novel: We see just how pernicious racism is, how irrevocably it can alter how a man sees the world, himself, those he loves. [a cautionary tale] we should all read and heed. The woman fatally shot along Bourbon Street early Sunday (Feb. 24) has been identified by colleagues and family as local nurse Julie Couvillon. The 36-year-old mother, who worked at Ochsner Health System for 13 years, was walking in the 400 block of Bourbon Street around 3 a.m. when a man who was being removed from Willies Chicken Shack took a security guards gun and started firing. Two others the security guard and the man accused of firing the shots were also hit by bullets. A third man was also injured in connection with the shooting, but police said his injuries were not from gunfire. Police arrested Louis M. Barnes, 37, on second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder charges. Bourbon Street shooting suspect has extensive criminal history A statement from Ochsner Health System confirmed Couvillons role as a long-time employee and extended condolences to her friends and family. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up We are terribly shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic passing of our friend and colleague," the statement said. "Julie was a beloved nurse who dedicated her life to caring for others. This is a devastating loss to the nurses, employees, physicians and staff across our system. We offer our deepest condolences to her family and the families of the other victims. We ask for respect and privacy for all of the families and others involved during this difficult time. Friends of Couvillon shared messages Sunday on social media to remember her and express condolences. A statement from Willies Chicken Shack extended condolences to the victims and their families. A company spokeswoman said the security guard is employed by Elite Protection Solutions. We take extra measures in hiring our own security detail to make sure our patrons and staff are safe at all times, the statement said. "This tragedy during the Mardi Gras season should serve as a message that our community needs to be as diligent as ever to combat crime in the French Quarter. A 49-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a crash in New Orleans East on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 24), New Orleans police said. The man, who has not yet been identified, was driving a Suzuki motorcycle when he struck a red 2012 Ford Explorer at a traffic light at Dale Street on Chef Menteur Highway around 3:20 p.m., police said. The Explorer was taking off from the traffic light when the motorcycle crashed into the right rear of the SUV and veered off the roadway. The motorcyclist was ejected from the motorcycle, which struck an unoccupied car in a nearby parking lot. EMS pronounced the motorcyclist dead on the scene. The driver and passenger of the Ford Explorer refused medical treatment, police said. The crash is still under investigation. Toxicology tests will be performed to determine if impairment played a role in the fatal crash. NOPD initially reported the accident around 3:44 p.m., but later confirmed that it occurred at 3:20 p.m. Note: This story was updated Monday (Feb. 25 with additional information from police. New Orleans police arrested five armed robbery suspects, including three juveniles, Saturday (Feb. 23) after a car chase throughout New Orleans East and St. Claude. Officers responded to a call of an armed robbery in the 14000 block of Explorers Avenue around 10:30 a.m. The victim told police that an unknown man arrived in a greenish yellow small SUV and ran toward the victim, while holding his hand underneath his shirt. He repeatedly told the victim to get on the ground and hand over car keys. The victim complied and the man fled the scene in the victims 2018 Ford F150, according to NOPD. Later that afternoon, at around 2:00 pm, officers spotted the truck and attempted to stop the vehicle. The driver refused to stop. The officer requested assistance and permission to pursue. Additional officers from the Seventh and Third Districts responded to the multiple areas to assist. One officer crashed his vehicle while en route to the scene, police said. The cause of the crash and his condition were not immediately known. When the driver finally stopped the truck near the intersection of Louisa and North Roman streets in St. Claude, a group exited and fled on foot. Officers set up a perimeter and utilized police dogs to locate the suspects, ultimately apprehending 18-year-old Reginald Smith, 17-year-old Alkia Edwards and three other juveniles, police said. Officers transported Smith and Edwards to the Orleans Parish Justice Center, where they were booked on charges of aggravated flight from an officer, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, simple burglary and illegal possession of a stolen thing. The three juveniles were transported and booked at the juvenile detention center. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges may be forthcoming. Anyone with information on these incidents is asked to contact Seventh District detectives at 504-658-6070 or call anonymously to Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP. And its sort of a misnomer to say that weve increased taxes on the rich five times over the last 15 years because if were just doing it by a sliver every time, were never actually addressing the problem. If you look at California, they have a top tax rate of 13 percent. New York and New Jersey are around 9 percent. And so theres no reason why we cant be taxing the wealthy a little more. Don Brady, a Loyola University drama professor who directed more than 50 plays, ranging from the classics to a production based on students encounters with homeless people, died Saturday (Feb. 23) of complications of cancer at Chateau de Notre Dame. He was 85. He was always pointing to his head saying, Im thinking, Im thinking, said Linda Cook, an actress and longtime friend. His last words were that he was going into the mind of God. Mr. Brady, who was introduced to show business by the family of the actor Guy Kibbee while in the Air Force in Texas, believed in helping people, Cook said. He wanted to bring to light the social issues through directing or writing a play. Perhaps the most dramatic example of this concern was Aint Nothin But a Thing, a 1993 Loyola production based on what students found on the streets and in shelters and emergency rooms. They didnt want to do just another play, Mr. Brady said at the time in a Times-Picayune interview. They wanted to do something original, something with some relevance. We found a lot of pain, said Robert Imani Cooper, one of the students, in the newspaper interview. In discussing the play, Georgia Gresham, co-chair of Loyolas drama department, left no doubt in a Times-Picayune interview about how she felt about the production and the man who inspired it. "I am in awe of Don Brady, she said. "He organized this octopus and kept it sane and creative. It's been a wonderful project, especially for the students who are discovering the joy and pain of creativity. In addition to possessing a strong social conscience, Mr. Brady had a sly wit. In a 2004 Times-Picayune interview, the playwright Dan Godoy recalled bringing his first play to Mr. Brady when he was a Loyola student. It was about the size of Alaska, Godoy said. Two weeks later, he handed me back some pages the size of a travel brochure. He just smiled that glorious smile of his, winked and said, Less is more! Mr. Brady also was a busy performer, appearing in about 40 commercials and 30 movies. Among his motion-picture credits were The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Dallas Buyers Club, In the Heat of the Night, Pretty Baby, Cat People, Angel Heart, the 1996 remake of Lolita, Mandingo, 99 Homes, A Love Song for Bobby Long and Waiting. Waiting, a 2005 comedy about the off-the-wall antics of restaurant employees, has developed a local following among cooks and servers, said Cook and David Cuthbert, a former theater writer for The Times-Picayune. Because of a scene Mr. Brady had with star Ryan Reynolds, cooks would venture out of the kitchen to catch a glimpse of Mr. Brady, Cook and Cuthbert said, and servers would ask if he was, indeed, the actor whose role was described in IMDb.com, the online movie database, as Old Man. People recognize him to this day, Cook said. This acclaim was a sharp contrast to his early life. Born on May 20, 1933, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, Mr. Brady suffered an abusive childhood that, Cook said, included two years in an orphanage. Consequently, she said, Mr. Brady couldnt wait to escape, so he joined the Air Force and was sent to Korea, where, she said, he first dabbled in theatrical productions for fellow service members. From there, he was stationed in El Paso, where he fell under the influence of Guy Kibbees family. Kibbee, who appeared in such cinematic classics as 42nd Street, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Footlight Parade, Captain January and Captain Blood, came from a family that had worked on Mississippi River showboats and operated a theater in the West Texas city where Mr. Brady worked. The Kibbees stoked Mr. Bradys interest in theater, and he graduated with a degree in that subject from Texas Western University (now the University of Texas at El Paso). He got a scholarship to Tulane, where he earned a masters degree in theater history and criticism and a doctorate in American theater history. He joined the Loyola faculty in 1964 and taught there until his retirement in 2007. In addition to teaching and performing, Mr. Brady wrote dramas such as Abraham for the Loyola Institute of Ministry, a translation of Lysistrata, Goldfish Ritual and A Quartet of Regrets, which was in a Contemporary Arts Center competition. The playwright Terrence McNally, who judged it, praised Quartet as the work of a unique voice in American theater. Mr. Brady also worked with handicapped performers and organizations to fight homelessness and drug addiction. He was always trying to make the world better, Cook said. He received the Big Easy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. Though Mr. Brady retired 12 years ago, his creativity never stopped. In his last days, Cook said, Mr. Brady was reciting and creating poetry, as well as a piece about the worldview of a rabbit in a magicians hat. In a Loyola interview, Mr. Brady had a simple explanation for his diverse, voluminous output: I daydream all the time. There are no survivors. His body was donated to science. A memorial service will be held at a later date. It was a dreary finish to the weekend Sunday morning, as rain and high winds swept through the state. And, unfortunately, more of the same is expected for Monday. According to the National Weather Service, rain will spread across the state on Sunday morning with the heaviest bands hitting South Jersey. The rain is expected to taper off around noon, but then the heavy winds settle in. Wind gusts could reach up to 60 mph in some parts of the state. The good news is that temperatures will warm to the 50s for most of the state. Temperatures in New Jersey on Sunday will hit the 50s. (Courtesy of Accuweather.com) The National Weather Service issued high wind warnings for all of New Jersey. The winds will start in the Lehigh Valley and move across the rest of the state. The first warning goes into effect Sunday at 2 p.m. for Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties. The second warning, which starts at 4 p.m. on Sunday, covers Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Camden, Gloucester, Monmouth, Middlesex, Burlington, Salem and Ocean counties. The wind warning for Essex, Bergen, Hudson, Union and Passaic Counties goes into effect Sunday at 6 p.m. Across the state, winds are expected to be between 25-35 mph, with gust up to 60 mph in certain areas. The National Weather Service warns that the winds could blow down trees, tree limbs and power lines, and could cause scattered power outages across New Jersey. The risk will be the greatest in South Jersey, where trees are more likely to uproot thanks to soil being saturated by the rain earlier Sunday. The winds will blow throughout Sunday and into Monday, with all of the warnings expiring Monday evening at 6 p.m. Looking further ahead, the National Weather Service warned that weather systems moving over the Midwest and Canada this week may lead to storms in New Jersey this coming weekend. Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Displaced riders of the Atlantic City line and Princeton shuttle, both suspended since the fall, should learn next month when their trains will return. Commuters on those lines and riders who use direct off-peak Raritan Valley Line service to and from New York have been given a generic second quarter 2019 time period for when service would resume by NJ Transit officials. That could be anywhere from April 1 to the end of June. NJ Transit officials narrowed that down a little for Atlantic City and the Princeton Shuttle, known as the Dinky. We remain committed to reopening the Atlantic City Rail Line in the second quarter, said Jim Smith, an NJ Transit spokesman. Within the next three weeks we will provide a date certain. That also includes the Dinky, he said. No date has been set to announce resumption of RVL New York service. Those rail lines were suspended in early fall by NJ Transit as the agency raced to meet a Dec. 31, 2018 federal deadline to complete the first phase of a mandated safety system called Positive Train Control. Angry commuters expected service to resume last month. Atlantic City line riders peppered NJ Transit and DOT officials with similar questions about when service would resume at a customer forum at the dormant Atlantic City rail terminal on Thursday evening. Another meeting is planned at at 6 p.m., Feb. 27, in the Cherry Hill municipal building at 820 Mercer Street. Its an on or off switch, said Kevin Corbett, NJ Transit executive director about restoring Atlantic City rail service. We are pushing to get the engineers and equipment to get it functional. Assemblymen Vince Mazzeo and John Armato, D-Atlantic, asked Gov. Phil Murphy to restore service himself. Both rode the replacement bus to see what displaced rail commuters experience. If NJ Transit wont open the rail line on its own, the Governor should use his authority over the agency to get the Atlantic City line back open, Amato said. While the Assemblymen want NJ Transit to answer that question now, they will hold NJ Transits feet to the fire to ensure they meet their self-imposed deadline in three weeks, said Danielle DeSisto, a spokeswoman. A bus load of displaced Atlantic City rail riders also demanded answers from NJ Transits Board of Directors on Feb. 13 and told them their travel time has doubled and requires multiple transfers. Now, AC rail line riders are taking buses. While they receive a 25 percent discount off the cost of train tickets that are honored on buses, some said they now spend double the commuting time. Others had to link a bus, a PATCO and a SEPTA trains to 30th Street station in Philadelphia, the same destination NJ Transits rail line takes them to directly. Riders of the Princeton Shuttle will get a 25 percent discount on tickets between Princeton station and Princeton Junction that they now use on a shuttle bus, starting on March 1. That discount doesnt apply to the whole trip. Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters It was one year ago when Gov. Murphy pledged that his fiscal 2019 budget would nearly triple funding to NJ Transit an additional $242 million investment to get the agency back on its feet, and crowed that this would send a strong signal that a better day and better service (are) coming. Only it was really $98 million, and the agency, reeling from almost a decade of horrendous neglect, spent the year dealing with a cacophony of customer outrage the inevitable result of rampant cancellations, unbearable delays, reduced schedules, engineering shortages, technology updates, and the dysfunctional underpinnings left behind by eight years of patronage hires. Wait, dont say it: You cant wait to hear what Murphy has in store for Year 2. This is not to suggest that this governor created the miasma of gloom hovering over NJ Transit. It is merely another reminder that talk is cheap, and that nothing will resuscitate the countrys third-largest commuter rail system until our lawmakers accept that the root of its problems is financial. And with his fiscal 2020 budget address just a few weeks away, this is Murphys chance to show some imagination and finally address a state fiscal crisis that is preventing NJT from regaining its footing. Everyone knows how we got here. Chris Christie made it his annual practice of strangling NJTs operating budget, with the direct state subsidy slashed from $348 million the year before he took office to $33 million in 2016. That forced NJT to fill budget holes by siphoning off revenue from the Turnpike Authority, diverting money from the Clean Energy Fund, and in a definite no-no, raiding the separate capital budget. Murphy castigated Christie for this reckless practice. Then he did the same thing, only he took $50 million more out of the capital budget than his predecessor did a total of $511 million that is supposed to pay for new rail cars and buses and long-term infrastructure improvements and by the time the Legislature finished mangling it, the operating budget only got a 4.4-percent increase. This is worse than can-kicking. This is promoting decay, because capital investment is needed for economic development and quality-of-life enhancement. Its a cycle were committed to breaking, says Department of Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti. Yet she admits it isnt likely to happen in the foreseeable future. And that should tell the governor that he has two choices: Solve our fiscal crisis, or watch it devour transit, education, health care, and every other public necessity that has been underfunded in this state. Until Murphy takes a bold step, a once-superb transit system will remain in triage mode. This isnt just about bringing down the average age of the rolling stock, which still includes dozens of 40-year-old Arrows. They also need to upgrade the stations, modernize their tedious procurement system, install a modern communications system, update computers, and replace their radio dispatch system. Put it this way: NJ Transits HR department still uses paper job applications. Or consider this: When you ask the commissioner what her long-term wish list looks like, she doesnt wax poetic about billions falling from the sky for Gateway or transit villages sprouting throughout Central Jersey. Gutierrez-Scaccetti says her greatest wish is to get a true planning cycle. If I retire knowing Transit is on a trajectory to do routine capital planning, I will be a happy person. Because sometimes you feel like youre ducking a series of incoming missiles. Thats the Chairman of the Board of NJ Transit speaking. Theres no denying that NJT, despite its recurring traumas, has taken legitimate steps under Murphy. Much of it is related to hiring pros to run the place. It also has a more expert board, there is more legislative oversight, it performed a near-miracle installing positive train control, and engineer staffing issues have been mitigated by aggressive recruitment. They could also explore more revenue sources that dont include fare hikes: The many commercial opportunities suggested by Tri-State Transportation Campaign which recommends right-of-way leases for utilities, wider pursuit of sponsorship, selling naming rights to stations would be a smart place to start. But as long as the operating budget remains a political pie fight, thats just working the margins. The governor is obligated to offer a fiscal strategy that addresses the herd of elephants in the room unfunded pension mandates, school mergers, tax structure, health benefits and more as Senate President Steve Sweeney has. Until then, this state is dancing on the third rail. Last June we had a fight on taxes in the state budget. On one side was Gov. Phil Murphy. He wanted to raise the income tax to go after rich people. On the other side was Senate President Steve Sweeney. He wanted to raise the corporate tax on businesses. They compromised. Each got a somewhat smaller version of the type of tax hike he demanded. Last month we found out who won that fight: Sweeney and by a knockout. The decision came when the Treasury Department released revenue figures for the final quarter of the 2018 calendar year, which had to be paid by Jan. 15, 2019. The report said corporate tax revenues were up 74.5 percent compared to the prior year after Sweeneys 2 percent surcharge went into effect. So that was good news. Meanwhile on the income tax side, Murphy got some bad news about the hike to 10.75 percent in the top rate of the so-called millionaires tax. How much did income-tax receipts go up? Zero. In fact, revenue dropped 6 percent compared to the prior year - despite the booming economy and the tax hike. When I asked Sweeney about this last week, he said there was nothing surprising about that result. It was entirely predictable after the Trump tax reform ended federal deductions for state and local taxes - SALT for short. There were some people in this state who said the SALT deductions wouldnt have an impact, Sweeney said. They had a huge impact. The governor of our neighboring state to the north certainly seems to think so. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is a Democrat like Murphy and Sweeney, has been telling anyone who will listen that the loss of the SALT deductions had the effect of raising tax rates on the wealthy by a third. And that in turn led to a $2.5 billion drop in revenue, he said. Tax the rich, tax the rich, tax the rich and then the rich leave, Cuomo said on one of the many talk shows hes been appearing on lately. The point of Cuomos appearances is to encourage the Trump administration to restore the SALT deductions, a point Cuomo made when he met with Trump recently. But until those deductions return, Cuomo said, high-tax states like New York risk having their highest earners relocate to Florida, which has zero state income tax. Sweeney agrees. We cannot tax ourselves out of this. This state is over-taxed, the Gloucester County Democrat said. The people who can leave are leaving. That was the reason Sweeney argued for increasing the business tax instead of the income tax. Unlike individuals, businesses still get to write their state taxes off against their federal taxes. And they cant move to Florida as easily as individuals can. So Sweeney won that argument. And Murphy should consider himself lucky that he did. The growth in business tax revenue is offsetting the loss of income-tax revenue at least partially. But revenues as a whole are up only 3 percent over last year. The state needs a 7.5 percent increase by June 30 to balance the budget. Perhaps that money will show up by then. But it certainly wont show up by a week from Tuesday when Murphy must give his budget address. Another senator named Steve said the governors in a tight spot. Steve Oroho, a Republican from Sussex County who serves on the Budget Committee, noted that last year the governor argued that the revenue from those tax increases was just a down payment on his plans to have the state offer such services as free preschool and county college for everyone. But the loss of revenue following the imposition of the Murphy tax hike shows that theres not even enough revenue for current programs, never mind new ones, he said. They always say people dont react to tax rates, Oroho said. But this is a prime example that they do. Instead of raising taxes, Oroho said, Murphy has to start cutting costs. He has been an ally of Sweeney on the Path to Progress, an effort to get pension and benefit costs under control. Murphy argues that pensions and benefits cant be cut. But he also refuses to fully fund the pensions as the deficit increases at a rate of about $2 billion a year. How is he going to sort this out in a mere 10 days? That fight will be fun to watch. ADD - POT REVENUE GOES UP IN SMOKE: Another problem that Phil Murphy faces in trying to balance this years budget concerns revenue from taxing adult-use marijuana: There wont be any. The effort to legalize pot remains stalled in the Legislature. Sweeney said Thursday that he has high hopes of passing legalization soon - but not soon enough to produce any tax revenue in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. The budget for this year calls for $80 million in revenue for that tax. So that $80 million now has to come from somewhere else. Where? No one I interviewed has any idea. But Murphy has to balance that budget before he can pass a new one. By the way, he also needs to come up with an additional $2 billion if he hopes to fully fund pensions for public employees. Hes already said he cant find that revenue. But if he cant pay current bills hes got no business running up new ones. UPDATE: Since this ran the Treasury Department contacted me to say that the $80 million dollar revenue projection for marijuana taxes is not in the budget. Heres a link to the Budget in Brief that is posted on the states website. The tag on the link says New. You will see the projected revenue figure on Page C-3. I asked for an explanation but have not yet gotten one. By Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin Last week, the Archdiocese of Newark published a list of clergy against whom there are credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor, dating back to 1940, in an effort to do what is right and just. On that same day, all four of the other dioceses in New Jersey published similar lists. It is my sincere hope that this information as an initial step provides some comfort to those who suffer from the reprehensible acts of some members of the clergy, as well as from those who failed to act appropriately when confronted with the knowledge of such horrendous abuse. The sexual abuse of a child and minor is evil both a crime and seriously sinful. I continue to express my profound sadness and regret to the victims of clerical sexual abuse. Our Church cannot move forward until we have fully addressed the past. Hence, it is crucial to emphasize to the victims, their families, the faithful, and the public at large that the publication last week does not represent an endpoint in our efforts. Rather, it is a beginning. The release of this information represents our commitment to a new level of transparency in the reporting and response to allegations of abuse. Victims, their families, and the faithful are rightfully outraged over the abuses perpetrated against minors and the failure of Church leadership to immediately and effectively remove suspected abusers from ministry. Just as important, this disclosure is part of our ongoing commitment to protect our children and to ensure safe environments for minors. We must protect our children, first, foremost, and always. The Archdiocese of Newark has a zero-tolerance policy for any type of misconduct with children and young adults. No member of the clergy with a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor remains in ministry. We are committed to the ongoing reporting of names of clergy with a credible allegation of child sexual abuse to law enforcement, to removing from ministry any such clergy, and to keeping the public informed. Since 2002, it has been our policy to report every allegation of sexual abuse of a minor to law enforcement. We continue to work in full cooperation with the New Jersey Attorney Generals Clergy Abuse Task Force to seek justice for survivors. It is important to note that significant progress has been made to ensure that children are safe in todays Church. Since 2002, we have fully implemented comprehensive Safe Environment programs through training, reporting, and awareness. These programs are reviewed regularly and verified by an external audit. Additionally, the five dioceses have established an Independent Victim Compensation Program that allows those sexually abused as minors by clergy to seek compensation in a compassionate, expeditious, transparent, and independent manner. While no degree of financial compensation adequately addresses the suffering endured, this is a genuine expression of our remorse at the evil that was done and our hope of restoring justice. There is much talk about caring for victims and holding perpetrators responsible. However, this talk would be tragically incomplete, if there are not clear norms, policies, and education aimed at preventing abuse. A compensation program alone whatever form it takes does not represent proactive efforts to prevent the sexual abuse of minors. I am grateful for the strides this Archdiocese and the Catholic community across the United States has made in the vital concern of protecting children from the death-dealing scourge of sexual abuse. Of course, there is much more to be done. Despite best efforts to produce a complete list the size, magnitude, and age of the Archdiocese make it difficult to guarantee that all historic abuse has been captured. We urge any victim of abuse, no matter the length of time passed, to report it to law enforcement and to the Archdioceses Victim Assistance Coordinator at 201-407-3256. Additionally, we realize that the lists from the state dioceses do not include clergy ordained for service within a religious order. That is because such allegations are handled and reported directly by the order to which they belong. I want to take this opportunity to call upon our brothers in those orders and implore them all to take these same measures immediately. I also want to extend that call to action to all dioceses and religious orders throughout the U.S. and beyond. Today, every leader in the Catholic Church should realize that action, not talk, is what is crucial. I intend to do all I can to restore justice, promote healing and enact structures of accountability and transparency. Over the last two years, I have listened to many victims who were sexually abused by trusted members of the Church. For the sake of those and all victims, I must spare no effort. I accept that I will be judged by my actions. Pope Francis named Cardinal Joseph Tobin to serve as the sixth Archbishop of Newark in November 2016. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. A judges order Friday gives the police in Vernon Township the power to stop dump trucks from going to a 75-foot high dump that has stirred tensions in the small mountain community. The Vernon Township Police Department can now enforce a long-ignored stop work order issued to local resident Joseph Wallace by the Sussex County Soil Conservation District, according to a verbal ruling made by Judge Thomas Critchley in Superior Court. Critchleys decision explicitly gives the Vernon police the authority to enforce the soil districts stop work order, an authority that had been missing from a previously toothless order. Critchley gave the verbal order in the Newton courthouse, according to Greg Mueller, the first assistant prosecutor for the Sussex County Prosecutors Office. A written order is expected to come early next week. Lt. Keith Kimkowski, a spokesman for the Vernon police, confirmed that the department had gotten Critchleys blessing. Critchleys decision came days after NJ Advance Media published an in-depth report that found Wallace for years he had dirt and debris dumped on his personal property in a secluded neighborhood along a private road in Vernon. The pile is now estimated to be 75-feet tall. Also following the report, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced that Wallaces pile had been classified as an illegal solid waste facility. The state is now seeking a court order to stop all activity at the Wallace property, force Wallace to identify exactly what is in the pile and allow the state to take its own samples from the pile for testing. Wallace has told NJ Advance Media that he is only importing clean soil and fill to the property, though he acknowledged that he pleaded guilty to six counts of illegal dumping in New York in 2017. He has not received any criminal charges in New Jersey. On Friday, Wallace was in court to appeal a $75,000 fine that had been imposed on him last May for violating the soil districts initial stop work order. Critchley reduced that fine to $12,500. While the Vernon cops now have the power to enforce the soil districts stop work order, the NJDEP continues to monitor the situation. On Friday, NJDEP officials were handing out letters to dump truck drivers warning that any dumping at the Wallace property could result in fines. Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Not all four-year college students follow the same path. Some live on campus, some commute. Some get a meal plan, some do not. And some are hungry. Not for snacks and munchies, but basic, life-sustaining food. Awareness about food insecurity among college students, and even homelessness in some cases, has been expanding in the past few years. And on Monday, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) will do their part, opening a food pantry for students. Other colleges and universities have opened similar ones in the past few years. They all operate different, and TCNJs will also be open to the local community. Starting off, it'll be open Mondays and Wednesdays for a few hours each day, offering non-perishable food and drinks. Its called The Shop @ TCNJ and like others, items are free and no questions asked. The idea came from students. "Over the past three years, the TCNJ CARES program has received increased requests from students to provide emergency aid to those struggling to eat consistently or find adequate housing, especially during times when the college is on extended breaks, according to Beth Gallus, associate dean of students. TCNJ CARES is the colleges support network, which provides an array of wellness programs, from intellectual and physical, to emotional and social. Gallus said national data shows 30 to 40 percent of college students have some level of food insecurity. Moreover, a 2016 study by the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness found 48 percent of students had experienced some type of food insecurity within 30 days of being surveyed, with 22 percent qualifying as "hungry" due to low levels of meal stability. Students of color and first-generation college students were even more likely to struggle with hunger. Gallus said its another way to keep students focused on education. "For students, this type of support can decrease the barriers preventing them from peak performance both in and out of the classroom, she said. A number of agencies are partnering on the pantry, including the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank, TCNJ Campus Police, the Bonner Institute and TCNJs student and academic affairs offices. The Shop @ TCNJ is located in the TCNJ police substation in Campus Town, behind the fitness center in the north side of building 700. Campus police donated a dedicated parking space for the pantry. It opens Monday Feb. 25, and will be open Mondays from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The college said special arrangements can be made if someone needs to use it outside of the regular hours. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. WEST NEW YORK A resolution introduced this week by Mayor Felix Roque to install a $500,000 camera system has ignited political drama three months before the towns election, with the mayors opponents accusing him of politicizing a heinous crime and trying to use it to score political points. Roque introduced the resolution during a meeting Wednesday night. After the resolution was voted down 3-2, the mayor then held a press conference the following day on 61st Street, where 19-year-old Union City resident Steven Flores was shot and killed two months prior. "On December 24, a tragedy struck West New York," he said. "A young man from Union City died right here, and it was one of those situations where it took time to find out who the culprit was because we had no videos at the scene." Roque announced he would be running for a third term earlier this year with a new slate of candidates that include incumbent Commissioner Susan Colacurcio and three newcomers. He said that keeping the town safe "has been my highest priority," adding that during his eight-year tenure, his administration hired more than 30 police officers, restored department morale and "through modern initiatives, reduced the crime rate in our city by 17 percent." Had the resolution passed, the cameras would have been positioned in parts of the city with high areas of crime, high areas of drug abuse and in areas that need to be surveilled, Roque said. He said he plans on reintroducing the resolution next month. Not everyone was thrilled with the mayor's proposition, however. West New York Commissioner Gabriel Rodriguez in a statement said the mayor was politicizing this heinous crime and trying to use it to score political points, adding that doing so is a disservice to the family and friends of Steven Flores and to all residents of West New York. "Mayor Roque's plan to spend half a million dollars on a poorly thought out camera system with no bidding process and no protections for taxpayers is absurd," he said. "These cameras would not have prevented this crime, and it's sad to see Mayor Roque resort to more cheap political stunts at a time when we should be rallying together as a community to heal and move forward." Rodriguez is running against Roque on the New Beginnings West New York slate with incumbent Commissioners Cosmo Cirillo and Margarita Guzman, as well as newcomers Victor M. Barrera and Yoleisy Yanez. Political tensions began heating up this month, but boiled over during Thursdays press conference. Roque called out Rodriguez during his remarks, saying he has decided that this is not important. Rodriguez shot back: I think you should be embarrassed that youre trying to politically posture, trying to spend $500,000 in the name of cameras, when only 24 months ago another child was killed and you had no concern about that referring to the July 2015 murder of Jose Lazaro Urias-Hernandez. Rodriguez in his statement said that Mayor Roque had eight years to make improvements to the police department but he did nothing. Roque, in a call with The Jersey Journal, said that Rodriguez is totally incorrect. My respects to him, but the reality is (Rodriguez) said $500,000 is a lot of money, he said. He should sit down with the father of (Flores) like I did, and he can sit down with the prosecutors office and they can explain why we had such a hard time catching this guy. Im trying to save life, thats what Im trying to do, he added. The performing arts and residential building that will anchor New Jersey City Universitys ambitious University Place development on the West Side of Jersey City is nearly doubling in size. The building, which will feature a 500-seat theater, was originally planned for six stories and 160 residential units, but will now rise 10 stories and comprise 320 residential units, according to the projects planner Anthony Bastardi, CEO of Strategic Development Group. The facility will serve as the centerpiece of the University Place development NJCUs $400 million venture that will transform a 22-acre tract off West Side Avenue into a college town, featuring restaurants, a supermarket, residential projects and university buildings. Construction on the $90 million centerpiece is set to begin in the fall. It will also be home to the universitys Center for Music, Dance and Theater which will include the theater, a 100-seat recital hall and three large dance studios. The 320 residential units will occupy the upper floors of the building. Were very excited about the project, and were looking forward to building that piece of University Place, Bastardi said, adding that the project is expected to have a positive impact on student life and the development of the neighborhood. We like to do urban transformation. The performing arts and residential building, which is expected to be completed in 2021, will also be home to the Manhattan-based Joffrey Ballet School and its near 200 students. NJCU will offer the dance students a bachelors of fine arts in addition to the certifications offered by the ballet school. Bastardi also serves on the board of directors for the NJCU Foundation, a private, non-profit university affiliate thats leading the project. He said NJCU owns the land and is leasing it to the developers. When complete, University Place will feature five market-rate apartment buildings, in addition to an NJCU residence hall for more than 400 students. Rivet, a 163-unit luxury apartment complex on University Place Boulevard, is also complete. One of the five luxury apartment buildings is expected to break ground this month. I think its a good project, Ward A Councilwoman Denise Ridley said. I think its going to bring new life to the west side of Jersey City. Its important because theres been a lack of development in Ward A. University Place is kind of spearheading the resurgence of development in the area." Ridley said that when the height of the performing arts and residential project was increased, the developer held a presentation to nearly 50 residents during a quarterly meeting on Feb. 7, and the change was well-received. I think that the added height is a good thing. To me, 10 stories isnt too bad in that area, adding that she hopes the increased height will reduce the need for tax breaks for the developer. A city spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment regarding the projects tax structure. But Ridley wants to see more community engagement on the part of NJCU. There couldve been more meetings, she said. I just took it upon myself to talk about development, adding that she and other residents are concerned about development. Jodi Drennan, president of the West Side Community Alliance, echoed Ridleys sentiments. NJCU does not have enough public meetings. They do not reach out to the public enough and flesh this kind of stuff out, Drennan said. These are big projects. This isnt something that you have one or two public meetings on ... That might be the requirement, but thats certainly not enough. Drennan, who lives near Lincoln Park, said its hard to have an opinion if the people dont know whats going on. We encourage them (NJCU) to reach out to the community and get community input before they do these things." Bastardi declined to comment on the number of meetings NJCU held with residents. Later, he also bought the freedom of his wife, Meg, whom he had married at age 22, and their three children. In an odd and discomforting twist, he also bought three African-American men. Its unclear exactly what relationship he had with them. He tells us that he redeemed them from slavery, but also says that one of them ran away from him and another wanted to return to his former master, suggesting that he kept both as slaves. The third, he parted with soon after buying him. A version of this post was previously published on Jan. 22. Roma, the critically acclaimed film from director Alfonso Cuaron, has emerged as a favorite at the 2019 Oscars. The movie, which is nominated for best picture as well as best foreign film, claims a total of 10 Oscar nominations, tying The Favourite, funnily enough, for the most nods this year. If Roma wins the evenings top prize, it would become Netflixs first best picture winner. Roma would also become the first film nominated in the foreign language category to win best picture. Cuaron is nominated for best director, and Yalitza Aparicio, the films star a newcomer to acting is nominated for best actress. Aparicio is the first indigenous actress, the fourth Latina actress and the second Mexican actress to enter the category (the first was Salma Hayek in 2003 for Frida). Aparicios co-star, Martina de Tavira, is nominated for best supporting actress, and the film scored nominations for best original screenplay, foreign language film and cinematography. Cuaron is the first person to earn nominations for directing and cinematography in the same year for the same film. If he won both of those categories, he could also be the first to take home Oscars for cinematography, directing and original screenplay. In January, Cuaron won the Golden Globe for best director. The Spanish-language movie also won the Globe for best foreign language film. Another first that would come to pass if Roma won best picture: Gabriela Rodriguez would become the first Latina producer to win. In August, Roma won the Golden Lion for best film at the Venice Film Festival. The honors piled up from there. The film claimed a special award from the American Film Institute; best picture, director, foreign language film and cinematography at the Critics' Choice Awards; best picture at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards; best film, director and cinematographer from the New York Film Critics Circle; and best director, cinematography and foreign language film from the National Society of Film Critics. Heres a brief guide to Roma," including how you can see the film, the actress at the center of the movie and what critics are saying. The black-and-white film, Netflixs first best picture nominee, is based on Cuarons childhood in Mexico City. More specifically, its a love letter to the women who raised him, following the life of a character inspired by his own nanny. Roma chronicles events that test and upend a family but also rests on the smallest details the sights and sounds of the directors childhood. So why is it called Roma? The film follows a family over the course of the year in the early 70s. Like Cuaron did when he was a child, they live in Mexico Citys Roma, or Colonia Roma neighborhood. The movie includes the whole family but focuses on Cleo Gutierrez (Yalitza Aparicio), who works as their nanny and maid. Cuaron, 57, became the first Latino director to win the Oscar for best director, for Gravity, in 2014. He previously directed films including Y Tu Mama Tambien, Children of Men," Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Great Expectations and A Little Princess." For Roma, Cuaron had the actors, including Aparicio, rely on improvisation, supplying no script or storyline (though he did write a screenplay for the film that he shared with an executive producer). She never knew what was going to happen, the director told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. Working without a script but aided by plenty of memories from the directors upbringing, the producers and crew painstakingly recreated the most specific details of Cuarons Roma childhood. Actress Yalitza Aparicio at the 2019 AFI Awards on Jan. 4. 'Roma' was her first film. Getty Images Yalitza Aparicio, 25, stars in Roma as Cleo, a nanny and housekeeper for the upper middle-class family in Mexico City. This was actually the first movie for the newcomer, who won the New Hollywood Award at the Hollywood Film Awards in November and graced the cover of Vogue Mexico. Aparicio stars opposite Marina de Tavira, 44, who plays Sofia, the mother of the family. De Tavira was nominated in the supporting actress category. Variety reports that Cuaron cast Aparicio, who intended to be a preschool teacher, after launching a nationwide search for a Mexican actress to fill the role. He found the actress, who is of indigenous Mixtec descent, in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, which was also the home state of Liboria Libo Rodriguez, the inspiration for Cleo. Rodriguez raised Cuaron from when he was a baby. Libo, like so many domestic workers, they go beyond a normal job and take on all these roles that are supposed to be covered by the parents, Cuaron said of Rodriguez in an interview with Variety. She reminded me of my mom, Aparicio told Variety of the character. When Alfonso told me about Libos past and how she was part of his family, I remembered my moms job and how the children that she took care of value her. La vida de esta oaxaquena paso de la discrecion de su hogar en Tlaxiaco a las pantallas del cine. Apartada de los reflectores, damos eco a la voz de una mujer tan genuina que es capaz de opacar a las mismas estrellas: Yalitza Aparicio. #YalitzaEnVogueMx #Vogue20 pic.twitter.com/94WVD10f4i Vogue Mex y Latam (@VogueMexico) December 17, 2018 Aparicio also has something in common with Cleo she cant swim. So when she had to face down the ocean in a beach scene, she felt real fear, she told Variety. Like all of the actors, she was not given a script or story for the film and had to react to developments as they happened. But the actress found that Cuarons decision to shoot the film in sequence chronological order helped her work through the character (though if shes going to continue to pursue acting, shed like to take some classes). She says that one of the best parts of being a part of the project has been getting to travel the world with the film (she had previously only taken school trips to neighboring Mexican states). The actress, who was selected after Cuaron reviewed tapes of 3,000 women for the role, first saw the film at the Venice Film Festival in August. She told The New York Times she started crying 30 minutes in and could not stop. Sumamente feliz, cuando desperte hoy tan temprano, (claro, a la hora de aqui) no esperaba esta noticia, gracias Ale A. Garcia y @marielmmayorga por despertarme pic.twitter.com/PdziTnDKxh Yalitza Aparicio Martinez (@YalitzaAparicio) January 22, 2019 The Times reports it was actually Aparicios sister Edith who had intended to audition, but Yalitza, who had just finished her teaching degree and was waiting to apply for jobs, ended up getting a callback. Well, I think I can do it," she told Cuaron. I have nothing better to do. A character named Adela, who works as a cook for the family in the film, is played by Aparicios best friend, Nancy Garcia Garcia, and their relationship came in handy when improvising scenes for the film. As a result of the buzz surrounding Roma, Aparicio became a familiar face overnight as well as the first Mixtec woman to cover Vogue Mexico. Her appearance on the cover of the magazine and in Vanity Fair and other media has triggered racist comments. But it has also started a discussion about the lack of visibility for indigenous women in Mexican culture and media. And as The New York Times reports, the movie itself has stirred debate about the treatment of domestic workers and indigenous people. Director Alfonso Cuaron, at left, with actress Yalitza Aparicio on the set of 'Roma.'AP Before the Oscars announcement, Aparicio said that if she were to be nominated for an Oscar, it would mean something greater than just a personal achievement (see tweet above for her reaction to the nomination). Id be breaking the stereotype that because were Indigenous we cant do certain things because of our skin color, she told the Times. Receiving that nomination would be a break from so many ideas. It would open doors to other people to everyone and deepen our conviction that we can do these things now. On reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Roma has a 96 percent rating among critics and an audience score of 83 percent. On Metacritic, the film has a Metascore of 96. Heres what individual critics had to say about the film: Christopher Orr, The Atlantic: 'Roma captures , as well as any film I have seen, the spirit of magical realism, without ever hinting at the supernatural. Its magic is pure, stunning cinematic technique. Manohla Dargis, The New York Times: Its an expansive, emotional portrait of life buffeted by violent forces, and a masterpiece . Richard Brody, The New Yorker: Cleo remains a cipher; her interests and experiencesher inner liferemain inaccessible to Cuaron ... For all its worthy intentions, Roma is little more than the righteous affirmation of good intentions. Alfonso Cuaron, at left, accepts the award for best picture for 'Roma' alongside Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira at the Critics' Choice Awards on Jan. 13. Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP After reading all of the films accolades, you may want to see Roma for yourself. The main way to watch the movie is on Netflix, its distributor in the United States, where it was released on Dec. 14, after a short theatrical run that started in November. But you can also still see Roma in theaters. Just dont expect it at your local multiplex (at least not right now). In this region, Roma is currently playing at the IFC Center and the Landmark at 57 West, both in New York. Have a tip? Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. A 28-year-old New Milford man was jailed after being charged with beating an infant unconscious, the Bergen County Prosecutors office said this week. Travis Weber was charged with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child. The child was rushed to Valley Hospital in Ridgewood after a 911 call for an unresponsive child who was not breathing. An examination determined the child had head trauma injuries. The child was in Webers care at the time of its injury, authorities said. Weber was arrested on Feb. 14 after the investigation, the prosecutors office said this week. It was not immediately reported what Webers relationship was with the child. Weber was awaiting a hearing in Hackensack at the time of the news release of his arrest. Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Ask Alexa for New Jersey news Newsfrom Japan Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 6 (Jiji Press)--Voices urging the Nepalese government to conclude an agreement with the Japanese government for greater transparency in movements of migrant workers are rising within Nepal. In April, Japan will introduce a new program to accept more foreign workers by creating new visa categories. Under the new system, the number of Nepalese people wanting to work in Japan is expected to increase. The voices reflect a sense of danger after cases in which malicious brokers have joined hands with employers in countries accepting Nepalese workers and force such people into hardship. As Nepal does not have major industries that can absorb all of its labor, many people head overseas in search of work. According to a survey by the International Labor Organization, overseas remittances accounted for one-third of Nepal's gross domestic product in 2015. A survey by Japan's Justice Ministry showed that over 85,000 Nepalese were residing in Japan as of June last year, ranking sixth in the list of nationalities of foreign residents in the country. Of such people, one-third were students. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Niagara Falls, NY (14301) Today Windy early with showers becoming likely after midnight. Low 71F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Windy early with showers becoming likely after midnight. Low 71F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 40%. MERIDEN Employees will protest Monday a planned closure of local AT&T call centers. The company announced Friday plans to close three call centers in Meriden. This would mean 89 local workers would need to move to Tennessee or Georgia to keep jobs with AT&T, according to a press release from the union. Many of those employees have worked at AT&T for more than 30 years, the press release said. In a statement, AT&T said the company is consolidating some of the work done in Meriden into two other facilities in an effort to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Most employees will keep their jobs, but affected workers will be offered a job at other facilities, as well as a $20,000 relocation allowance, spokeswoman Kate MacKinnon said. We hope as many of the affected employees as possible choose to stay with the company, she said. Any who decline the relocation offer have the opportunity to seek other jobs within the company. The transition will occur throughout the year, MacKinnon said. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal will join the affected workers at 10 a.m. for a protest outside of the AT&T office on Deerfield Lane. AT&T should have to explain why its rolling out closure after closure, and upending lives of workers whove given the company so much, David Weidlich, president of CWA Local 1298, said in a statement. The union has criticized the telecommunication company for closing call centers and laying off employees around the country, despite seeing $20 billion in savings from the 2017 federal tax cuts, according to Communications Workers of America. AT&T announced last month that it would close a call center in Syracuse, N.Y., affecting 150 people. The company also closed calls centers in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, while cutting 10,700 jobs since the tax bill passed, according to a release from the union. To be out in front of the tax bill making promises about jobs and then pushing workers to relocate far awaythere is simply no excuse, Weidlich said. AT&T is profitable, theres plenty of work to do in the company and no good reason why these jobs need to be moved out of Connecticut. MacKinnon said nearly all the employees in these other cases were offered another job in the company and a relocation allowance. She added the company has invested $1 billion in the country last year after the tax cut, in addition to giving a $1,000 bonus to U.S. employees, totaling $200 million. The company also invested $800 million toward its employee and retiree medical trust, as well as nearly $100 million in the AT&T charitable foundation, MacKinnon said. AT&T also hired more than 20,000 people in the country last year, including over 150 in Connecticut. Were adding people in areas where were seeing increased customer demand for products and services, MacKinnon said. At the same time, technology improvements are driving higher efficiencies and there are some areas where demand for our legacy services continues to decline, and we must sometimes adjust our workforce in some of those areas. WEST HAVEN The developer of The Haven, a planned high-end outlet mall, has hired a security company to monitor the area of boarded up houses following two recent fires, according to Mayor Nancy Rossi. But a city council member in the district says the public also wants answers from the developer about the project that has not started more than four years after it was announced. People dont know whats happening. They never get an update. People have been suspicious, jaded, said Councilman Aaron Charney, D-3. Let the developer come and tell usOur imaginations are going wild. However, Rossi said in an email Friday, The Haven is still coming. She said in the email that the developer is waiting for a certificate from the Office of State Traffic Administration or OSTA which falls under the state Department of Transportation. That will take 30 to 45 days, she said. The city will also begin the street closure process for the project, as that is required as part of the city development agreement with The Haven Group and it may make the project more secure, Rossis said in a release. Messore said recently at the podium of a City Council meeting that the project is awaiting approval by OSTA. DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick confirmed recently that the project is being reviewed by OSTA because it is considered a major traffic generator. He said that application is following the normal course and the developer may be required to make changes to roads and traffic patterns in that area. While residents have publicly expressed concern about whether the project will come to fruition in their financially troubled city, the security of the area has become the more pressing topic in the last few weeks following fires at two of The Haven properties: a boarded up house on Richards Place on Feb. 8 and the former Bilco Co. on Water Street. The fire at Bilco on Feb. 17 was determined to be likely intentionally set, while the other is not conclusive, but fire officials said they are taking another look at that case to see if the two are related. Rossi said in an email and a prepared statement Friday that the The Haven group has engaged a security company to monitor The Haven. This will provide security at the development site as a result of the recent fires. The Register sought further information, but after contacting city Commissioner of Planning and Development Fred Messore, The Haven spokesman Matt Armstrong, and Rossi, received an email from Messore saying, The mayors office and developer are preparing a press release which will be distributed when ready. Rossis release regarding security also said that for the previous four nights until Sunday when the security company was to begin, the city Police Department sent officers to monitor the site. She said the developer will pay for the police coverage that took place. The Center Fire District, the fire marshal and the Building Department have been inspecting the properties and will issue a report to the city, Rossi said in the release. The City will also do what is necessary to keep the site safe, Rossi said. There are 57 properties within the 24-acre project area, which is bounded by Main Street, First Avenue and Elm Street. The project includes what is now Water Street, which will be closed and eliminated as The Haven is built. The site plan application for the 265,000 square feet of retail and restaurant development has approval of the Planning and Zoning Commission. At the time, a representative of the developer said the target date for The Haven to open was June 2020. Developer Armstrong didnt return a call seeking clarification on that date or other comment. Rossi has said she is very excited about The Haven project, and at the time of approval called it a Game changer. The city has financial oversight by a state Municipal Accountability Review Board. Rossi said at the time of project approval, Were going to do everything we can to facilitate everything ... because I would like to see this project done sooner rather than later. The project along New Haven Harbor at the mouth of the West River between Elm and Main streets, back when John Picard was mayor and was first announced over four years ago by Mayor Ed OBrien. The project has been billed by the developer as Americas first upscale waterfront outlet mall. In addition to 80 stores and five restaurants, it would offer a public waterfront promenade with a 200-seat amphitheater. Charney said hes heard from at least 200 residents regarding concerns about The Haven security and future and has consistently brought that issue up at the beginning of City Council meetings. He said the developer should answer questions. There is talk among residents of homeless and others breaking into the boarded up homes and increasing the risk for fire, but that can neither be confirmed nor denied, Deputy Chief Joseph Perno said. Most buildings are in very poor condition inside, Perno said. Charney said area residents report witnessing changes at the properties, such as windows being open and shut and conditions being present that werent there before. I just want progress, he said. Representatives of The Haven developers have said designers have worked to preserve and enhance the sites connection to Long Island Sound. Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group later joined The Haven Group. Simon, owner of the Clinton Crossing outlets in Clinton and the Crystal Mall in Waterford, is one of the largest shopping center developers in the world. The plans include 80 stores and five full-service restaurants. The Haven spent years in the acquisition stage as the developers negotiated with 57 property owners. Armstrong has said The Haven would pay $2 million in annual property tax and create more than $15 million in incremental sales tax for the state, as well as 800 full-time and 400 part-time jobs, plus 800 construction jobs using all Connecticut-based contractors. Hearst Connecticut Media file photo TORRINGTON No one was injured in a porch fire at a single-family home early Sunday morning. The fire damaged the side of the house and the floor of the front porch, but the family is able to stay in its home, Torrington Fire Battalion Chief David Casper said. He said he did not know how many people lived in the home on Benham Street, but that everyone escaped when the fire started. On 2/11/2019 the Lord called home Mary Lou Dolce after a great ride of 94 years on this earth. She was the eldest of 4 daughters of Etelvina and Jose Alverde from Spain and grew up in a loving extended family in New Britain. Married to a devoted husband for 54 years until his death, Orlando Dolce, they did their best to raise a solid Christian family. Mary Lou worked for many years at Comet Manufacturing until her retirement; She was then able to enjoy her husband's retirement also, and together shared some travel vacation adventures. Along with her sisters and parents she was an active member for many years of the Spanish American Cultural Club in New Britain. During all this time in our family's opinion, she became a world class mother and wife and we are awed by her example. After Orlando's death in 2004, Mary Lou enjoyed the company of a long time friend and widower Frank Daddabbo who treated her with absolute kindness until his death. One of her great joys was also the friendship of her sister Fina Bordonaro, longtime neighbors, Dot Zientarski, Gladys and Fenmore Feigenbaum, Betsy Tierney and her brother/sister in law, Katherine and Bill Peterson. Together they watched out for each other, sharing both good and bad times. They remember her deceased sisters, Anita and Ethel. Left behind with her memory are her twins:Dennis Dolce and Denise Dolce-Maule with respective spouses, Laura and Paul. Her grandchildren: Jay (Maggie) Maule, Kristin Maule (Dan), Maria (Dave) Horan and Adam and Andy Dolce were perhaps the premier joy in her life, except maybe for her great grandchildren, Chris and Allie Maule who provided even more happiness. She also leaves many wonderful nieces and nephews. Though we truly miss our Maria Luisa, we would not deny her the heavenly reward and rest she so deserves. Please join us for a Memorial Service and a Celebration of her Life on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 at 10:30AM with a Service to follow at 11:00AM at New Britain Memorial Donald D. Sagarino Funeral Home, 444 Farmington Ave., New Britain. In lieu of flowers, please just perform an act of kindness deliberately in her name and pay it forward, making someone else's day a little brighter.For directions or online messages, please visit newbritainsagarino.com. New Britain Memorial-Sagarino Funeral Home 444 Farmington Ave New Britain 06053 8602290444 Website Dr. Walden Rhines, Chief Executive Officer, Mentor Graphics talked about the semiconductor industry. Semiconductors are critical to global technological competition. The world-class semiconductor companies are in the USA, South Korea and Taiwan. Japan and Europe have solid semiconductor technology as well. China lags about 5-10 years behind in this critical technology. China will invest hundreds of billions to catch up. AI, 5G, Internet of things and other technological competition have semiconductor technologies as the foundation for competitive advantages. China has put $170+ billion into its semiconductor industry. The government gave $20 billion to private equity to fund semiconductor companies and technology. There was another $97 billion from commercial sources and regional government. There is a new $47 billion funding. However, China is still fabricating at 14 nanometers while the leading edge is at 7 nanometers. China is two generations behind but has leading edge designs. The leading edge designs from Huawei and other companies are fabricated at Taiwan Semiconductor. Deloitte Global predicts that revenues for semiconductors manufactured in China will grow by 25 percent to approximately US$110 billion in 2019 from an estimated US$85 billion in 2018. China still only supplies 30% of its domestic demand of about $330 billion in 2019. Growth is increasing to meet the increasing domestic demand for chipsets driven in part by the growing commercialization of artificial intelligence (AI). Deloitte Global further predicts that in 2019, a Chinese chip foundry will begin producing semiconductors specialized to support AI and machine learning (ML) tasks. Chinas Potential to Catch Up Why is China better positioned than ever before? Five current conditions make Chinas ascent in semiconductors more likely: 1. Domestic demand. China is now the largest global consumer of semiconductors, importing about US$200 billion worth each year. It has large population with 800 million internet users. 2. There is huge state and private funding is tens of billions per year. At the end of 2017, China had plans to build at least 14 new chip foundries. 3. China is trying to keep pace with the new age of AI hardware and software. Many of Chinas largest companies are hoping to win an edge in the market for AI. Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent have a combined market capitalization of over US$1 trillion. They have invested billions in other companies, both domestically and overseas. They positions in more than half of Chinas 124 unicorn startups, including SenseTime, the worlds most valuable pure-play AI company. 4. Onshoring foreign operations and hiring foreign talent. Yangtze Memory Technologies has invested US$24 billion to build Chinas first advanced memory chip factory and has lured thousands of engineers away from foreign chipmakers. They announced progress on its 32-layer NAND memory chipa good sign which is still behind the state-of-the-art 64-layer chip that other memory manufacturers are achieving. SMIC hired a senior executive away from Taiwans TSMC, the worlds largest contract foundry and one that is considered to be two to three generations ahead of SMIC. TSMC has begun constructing a foundry in Nanjing to gain a stronger foothold in the Chinese market. 5. Chinese designs and IP for chip architectures are now globally competitive. Huawei designed its new mobile chipset at 7 nm and claims that it performs better and uses less energy than its top competitor. China goal is to grow domestic chip production as a percentage of total chip consumption to 40 percent by 2020 from 30%. SOURCES- Mentor, DARPA, Deloitte Written By Brian Wang. nextbigfuture.com The tragic death by suicide of 16-year-old Hailey Nailor has left Danbury and the surrounding communities in a state of shock and grief. This is a very natural reaction given the age of Hailey and the way in which she chose to end her life. It has the school districts examining, and as was quoted in a recent The News-Times article, revisiting policies on bullying and mental health issues. As the parent of a teenager who was plagued by bullying and clinical depression, which eventually led to suicide at 14 years of age in 2008, I understand the gravity of this event. My husband and I know the depth of grief that Haileys parents are feeling and will continue feeling in the coming years. After Alexa passed away, the Brookfield School Districts response seemed inadequate. It felt as if the superintendent, at the time, didnt want the district to be associated with suicide or bullying. Later in time, as an employee of the school system, I felt bullied by him. This was puzzling because we did not take the schools to task on that issue. We were advocating for educating and raising awareness while still grieving. It also surprised us, that there was no public outcry from the Brookfield community or the neighboring towns regarding Alexas suicide. It seemed like she did not matter. Having read all of the published articles in The News-Times since Haileys suicide, I realize that there is a lot of variation in how communities handle tragic incidents like this. It was encouraging to read the article about the specific protocols that already are in place at some of the local school districts, especially Brookfield. Fortunately, it is becoming more acceptable to discuss bullying, suicide and mental illness. However, communities continue to require ongoing education regarding the prevalence of the stigma. Three years after Alexa took her life, Connecticut legislators revised the bullying law, strengthening it, and including cyberbullying. Asked to testify on its behalf, I deemed Alexas suicide a quiet one. Quiet because she did not jump off of a well-known bridge, like Tyler Clemente, a Rutgers student who was outed as gay and jumped off of the George Washington Bridge; or Phoebe Prince, a new Massachusetts high school student from Ireland who was gang bullied; or was not a celebrity like Robin Williams or Kate Spade. Those suicides garner much attention. The public typically insists that steps be taken to prevent them from happening in the future. Quiet suicides like Alexas happen every day all over the country, but dont receive a rallying cry demanding change. Now, we have Haileys loud suicide. Due to the horrific nature everyone is on high alert. High alert is good because the school systems are revisiting their curriculum, policies, and support services in the area of mental health. Because of my loss, I look through a different lens. From where I stand, revisiting is too weak a word. Once implemented, policies, curriculum, and support services require constant review and updating for all grade levels K-12. School districts, parents, and communities must be vigilant. Keeping our children safe and supporting their mental health must be an ever-present priority. Debbie Zegas Berman, a Brookfield resident, is a youth advocate and presenter on suicide, bullying and mental health issues. For more information, go to her website: www.shemattered.com RIDGEFIELD With the sounds of Twisted Sisters Were Not Gonna Take it echoing through the village, townspeople, town leaders, and legislators led a rally opposing school regionalization on Saturday on the steps of Ridgefields Town Hall. Around 200 people stood on the sidewalks of Main Street, many of them holding signs protesting the proposed change. Moved here for the schools, Stay here for the schools, Hands Off Our Schools read a sign held by Wilton resident Caroline Unger. Lets ensure that Governor Lamont is fully aware of the statewide, crosstown opposition to regionalization, said Ridgefielder Liz Floegel, one of the organizers of the rally. The bills being discussed will negatively impact our educational quality. They will force our kids into large, bureaucratic districts. They will be difficult to manage, and not one of these bills has any metric of school quality improvement in it. Several people passing by on the street and sidewalk gave a thumbs up or honked to show their support for the protestors. Tammy Ward, a Wilton organizer for Hands Off Our Schools, took down names of people interested in taking a bus to Hartford on March 1 to testify in front of lawmakers against one of the proposals. Bills There are currently three bills before the state legislature that include language that would regionalize school districts. Senate Bill 738, introduced by Sen. Martin Looney, D New Haven, the president pro tempore of the senate, would create a commission to combine the central offices but not the schools themselves of any town with a population of less than 40,000. A second bill, SB 457, introduced by state Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, would combine school districts with less than 2,000 students. The third bill, Governors Bill 874, was introduced by Gov. Ned Lamont this week as part of his budget plan. Of the four state legislators who spoke state Rep. John Frey, R-Ridgefield, state Sen. Will Haskell, D-Westport, state Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, and state Rep. Kenneth Gucker, D-Ridgefield, all said they were opposed to forced regionalization. Haskell Haskell, who took a moment to recognize his Republican predecessor in the state senate, Toni Boucher, said he would oppose any bill that includes forced regionalization. I think its time in Connecticut that we bring every district up to the level of exceptional schools that we provide here in Ridgefield, here in Wilton, here in Westport, Haskell said. Haskell was later asked point-blank by a member of the audience whether he opposed all three bills. I will oppose any bill that includes forced regionalization, he told the crowd, without specifying if that includes Gov. Lamonts proposal. Asked after the rally if he was opposed to all three bills by Hearst Connecticut Media, Haskell said he still has to read the full text of the governors proposal. If it leaves the door open to forced regionalization, Im not going to support it, he said. But there are towns out there that operate inefficiently, and Fairfield County taxpayers are being asked to pick up the funding ... One out of every 10 income tax dollars comes from a district that I represent not to pick on one, but Sterling, Connecticut, has around 400 students and they get around $3 million in ECS funding every single year, Haskell said, referring to the Educational Cost Sharing grant, one of the main drivers of school funding aide provided by the state government. Frey Frey, the first legislator to speak at the rally, was adamant in his opposition to all three proposals. A Realtor in Ridgefield, he told those gathered someone backed out of a real estate deal over the prospect of school regionalization. My concern is this these bills are not [dead on arrival], this year, said Frey. A couple of things could happen. One of them could pass. I would say the one that governor introduced has got the most meat to it, its a 42-page bill. He said one of the bills could become a study bill, which keeps the bill alive for another year while the details are fleshed out. Ridgefield state representative also feared that one of the proposals could become a pilot program that would be tested in some school districts. He reiterated that he was opposed to all three bills. No, and hell no, he said. Im not going to vote for any of these three bills. Lunch for three days Lavielle, who sits on the education committee of the General Assembly, said the governors proposal would create a commission of people who were not elected by anybody to find efficiencies in the states school systems. Every town is affected, Lavielle added, noting that there is not a word in any of the three bills about improving the quality of schools. Gucker, who represents Ridgefields 138th district and parts of Danbury, said he couldnt imagine a student being bussed from a small town to go to a larger regional schools. He said the change could mean more time spent on a bus. If you hit Waterbury at the wrong time, you have to pack lunch for three days, he said. The driver Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi said all the representatives from the Connecticut Council of Small Towns (COST), which includes 110 communities, would vehemently oppose all three bills. Were proud of our schools, its the engine that drives our town, Marconi said. Dick Moccia, a member of the Ridgefield Board of Finance and former mayor of Norwalk, was the final official who spoke. There is a regional district, Amity High School, which has three towns: Woodbridge, Orange, and Bethany, Moccia said. For that town, they have four superintendents one for each town and one for the high school. Contributed Photo / Danbury Fire Department / Contributed Photo DANBURY On the 37th anniversary of the death of a fire lieutenant and a firefighter, Danbury firefighters had a moment of silence in their memory Saturday. On Feb. 23, 1982, Lt. Martin Butch Melody and firefighter Joseph Halas were battling a fire at the Russo Fur Company on Osborne Street. During the fire, the two members of the fire department made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives, officials said. Any new contract must ensure that Stop & Shop can continue to offer customers the service, selection and value they expect, according to the statement on the companys website. And it must enable us to continue investing in our people, stores and business as well as in critical technological innovations to insure our long-term success. Much has been said about millennials recently, most often focusing on how their habits have changed traditions and products. Branding agency Moosylvania has been studying millennial consumers for five years. Each year, the company asks members of the cohort how they view themselves, how they connect with brands and what emotions their favorite brands evoked during a recent 30-day span. New Delhi: US President Donald Trump has said he may host his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at his personal Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida next month to discuss the final terms of a trade deal that is being negotiated by the two countries. Earlier, Donald Trump had said a trade summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was likely to occur next month and hailed two days of "very good talks" by negotiators. "Probably fairly soon in the month of March." Details remained scant about any concrete progress in the seven-month-old trade war, which has rattled the global markets and prompted stark warnings about the risks to the world economy. "I think there is a very, very good chance that a deal can be made," Trump told reporters at the White House on the second day of trade negotiations with Chinese officials. The world's two largest economies are locked in a trade war since Trump imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium items from China in March last year, a move that sparked fears of a global trade war. In response, China, the world's second largest economy after the US, imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of American imports. Top trade officials from America and China are currently holding talks in the US to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal before their self-imposed deadline of March 1. Trump, after his meeting with a visiting Chinese trade delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He, told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday that he would probably meet Xi next month. (I would be meeting Xi) Probably at Mar-a-Largo, probably fairly soon, during the month of March. We have two schedules and we'll be planning, the US President said. The meeting, however, depends on the pace of the US-China negotiations on a comprehensive trade deal, he said. During a dinner summit in Buenos Aires on December 1, the two leaders agreed to give a pause to their trade war and set a deadline of negotiating a trade agreement by March 1. So far, at least eight rounds of talks have been held. Trump said that they have made considerable progress. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The US is not reversing course in Syria, President Donald Trump has said as he defended his decision to keep a small number of troops in the war-torn country after the withdrawal of American forces. Trump agreed on Thursday to keep about 200 US troops as part of the planned multinational force that would maintain a safe zone in north-eastern Syria, the official said. This force would be in addition to the 200 troops the US is planning to maintain after the withdrawal at its base in at-Tanf, Syria, the official said. "I'm not reversing course," Trump told reporters responding to a question on his decision on keeping some 200 US troops in Syria as against his previous decision on full withdrawal of more than 2,500 troops. "I have done something that nobody else has been able to do. In another short period of time, like hours, you'll be hearing about the caliphate. It'll 100 per cent defeated. Nobody's been able to say that," Trump said. "That doesn't mean there aren't some very bad people walking around and strapping on bombs and all of these things. But we've done a job that nobody else has been able to do," he said. ALSO READ | Meeting with Xi on cards, says Trump amid high-level trade negotiations Earlier, Donald Trump surprised the world and his country as well when he suddenly announced that the US is pulling out its troops from Syria. "In Syria, Erdogan said he wants to knock out ISIS, whatever's left, the remnants of ISIS. And Saudi Arabia just came out and said they are going to pay for some economic development. Which is great, that means we don't have to pay. We are spread out all over the world. We are in countries most people haven't even heard about. Frankly, it's ridiculous," Trump added. Trump's sudden decision sparked turmoil in his administration, prompting the resignation of Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, as well as of Brett McGurk, the special envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition. The US initially planned to only provide air support -- not ground troops -- to the observer force, but NATO allies objected and said they would not contribute troops toward such a mission without a US troop commitment, the official said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The Long Wharf turns the play into something less comic, more dramatic and more realistic. The most obvious way this has been done is by casting Jordan Lage as "Larry the Liquidator" Garfinkle, the blustery New Yorker whose acquisition of stock in a rustic Rhode Island business sets the plot in motion. Lage has appeared in many plays by David Mamet, and brings an aggressive, acerbic attitude to the character that's so intense you may forget to laugh. Lage is also thin and attractive, a contrast from such deliberately dumpy Garfinkles of yore as Jon Polito or (in the movie version) Danny DeVito. New Delhi: Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has warned its country that if Pakistan launches a nuclear bomb on India, the neighbouring country could "finish us by attacking with 20 atom bombs", according to Karachi-based newspaper Dawn. Addressing a press conference in the UAE on Friday, Musharraf said: "Indian and Pakistan relations have again reached a dangerous level. There will be no nuclear attack. If we would attack India with one atomic bomb, then the neighbouring country could finish us by attacking with 20 bombs. Then the only solution is that we should first attack them with 50 atom bombs so that they cannot hit us with 20 bombs. Are you ready to first launch an attack with 50 bombs?" Musharrafs statement came days after 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide attack by a terrorist of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama. The former Pakistan dictator also claimed that Israel wanted to establish ties with Pakistan. The chief of All-Pakistan Muslim League (APML), who is leaving in self-exile in the UAE, said he was ready to return to Pakistan as he sees the political environment in his country favourable. "In my opinion, the political environment is good and favourable. Half of the ministers are mine. Law minister and the attorney general were my lawyers," said Musharraf. Musharraf also took pride that half of the ministers in the current government were a part of his cabinet. The law minister is my own and the attorney general is my own lawyer, he added. He, however, dismissed reports of critical illness and said. An impression is being given that I am suffering with an illness owing to which I cannot move. I have no such issue. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Bangladesh commandos on Sunday killed an armed man, who allegedly made a foiled bid to hijack a Dubai-bound flight of the state-run Biman Airlines carrying 148 passengers, the army said. The flight, en route Dubai from Dhaka via Chattogram, made an emergency landing at the Shah Amanat International Airport in the coastal city of Chattogram following the hijack bid. Army, Navy and elite police cordoned off the plane soon after it landing. All the passengers, pilots and crew members were evacuated safely. According to army Major General Matiur Rahman, the suspect, a Bangladeshi national identified as Mahadi, refused to surrender when asked to, forcing "the commandos to go for action (firing)", which "lasted eight minutes". "He (hijacker) succumbed to his wounds after the military commandos captured him (with gun shots)," Rahman told a media briefing at Chattogram airport, adding that the suspect was carrying a gun. Air force's Chattgram base commander Air Vice Marshal Mufidur Rahman, who was also present at the media briefing, said he kept the hijacker engaged in talks while special forces units prepared for the raid. "The man repeatedly wanted to talk to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he said, adding that the hijacker allowed the passengers to disembark the plane during the negotiation process. Meanwhile, in a press conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal Naim Hassan said the hijacker was equipped with a handgun and explosives. An investigation would be carried out to determine how the man boarded the aircraft with arms and explosives, he said. According to eyewitnesses, minutes after the Flight BG-147, which was on its way to Dubai from Dhaka via Chattogram, flew from the Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport, it returned and made an emergency landing at 5:40 pm. The emergency exit was opened through which the passengers disembarked immediately. The captain and the first officer of the flight also came out later, they said. Meanwhile, the Navi Mumbai police in Maharashtra has registered an offence against the unidentified caller who had threatened to hijack an Air India aircraft and take it to Pakistan. The call had been made to a Navi Mumbai-based call centre which provides service to the national carrier Friday night. "We have registered a case at Rabale MIDC station under IPC sections 505 (public mischief) and 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication)," said deputy commissioner of police Sudhakar Pathare on Sunday. "We are probing the case with the help of Cyber Cell," he added. Following the threat call, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai was put on high alert and the security there was beefed up. Though it was classified as a non-specific threat, Air India took it seriously in view of the situation in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: India's largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd said that 5G spectrum auction should not be held before 2020 to allow for more time to evolve India-specific use cases and added that it's current holding of radio waves helps it to offer many 5G-like services. The operator - which holds 35.6 per cent of the total wireless subscriber market share as per latest TRAI data - also said it will comply with the decision of the Indian government on the issue of the use of communications equipment of Chinese vendors, such as Huawei. "In the Indian context, the government has not taken a position, unlike some other countries...Australia, New Zealand, and the US have taken a clear position...Of course, we will follow whatever the Indian government decides and we will work with the government to ensure that India's strategic needs and security are fully looked after," Vodafone Idea Chief Technology Officer Vishant Vora told reporters here. The comments come at a time when some countries, including Australia, have banned Huawei equipment from 5G rollout, while the US has gone on an outright offensive against the Chinese telecom gear firm alleging security concerns. In India, Swadeshi Jagran Manch has called for a ban on Chinese telecom equipment as also Chinese social media and e-commerce apps. Vora declined to speak on specific arrangements the operator has with its equipment vendors. He said that the full integration of the two telecom networks - Idea Cellular and Vodafone India - post the mega-merger last year is "on track" and expected to be completed by June 2020. Last year, Idea and Vodafone completed the merger of their India operations to create the country's largest telecom operator to take on competition from rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. British telecom major Vodafone holds 45.1 stake in the combined entity, while Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Aditya Birla Group controls 26 per cent and Idea shareholders own 28.9 per cent. "We, at the time of the merger, had said it will take three years for completing the integration of the network. We have since then revised that estimate and said we will complete this by June 2020 which is half the time. We are on track for that," Vora said. Asked whether the company is in favour of auction of radiowaves this year, Vora said that the firm has the capability of near-5G services even with its current spectrum repository. "The year 2020 (timeline) and spectrum issue is different. It is not about us running out of spectrum. It is more related to developing India specific use cases for 5G. And given the current focus on giving high-speed broadband services across vast geography of India, we believe the industry needs to stay focused on that mission and 5G is something much more suitable that can come after 2020," he said. Vora added: "The most appropriate time to hold auctions will be somewhere after 2020" but did not specifically comment on whether the company would, at all, participate in auctions if they were to be held this year. The telecom sector has been bruised by falling tariffs, eroding profitability, and mounting debt in the face of stiff competition triggered by disruptive offerings of Reliance Jio, owned by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani. The industry has been seeking urgent relief measures entailing debt restructuring, cut in levies, and release of GST input tax credit locked up with the government. The total debt of Vodafone Idea, alone, stood at Rs 1,23,660 crore at the end of December 31, 2018, while its consolidated loss for the third quarter of 2018-19 stood at Rs 5,005.7 crore. The company is also planning to raise Rs 25,000 crore through rights issue, in which the promoter shareholders -- Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group -- have reiterated to the board that they plan to contribute up to Rs 11,000 crore and Rs 7,250 crore, respectively as part of such rights issue. San Francisco: Samsung has unveiled a smartphone that folds open to be a tablet, becoming the first major manufacturer to offer the feature as it strives to stoke excitement in a slumping market. The South Korean giant also appeared to get the jump on rivals by announcing the first smartphone for fifth-generation -- or 5G -- wireless networks, while stepping up its efforts in artificial intelligence and wearables. The Galaxy Fold, unveiled at a San Francisco event, serves as a smartphone with a 4.6-inch display and opens like a book to become a 7.3-inch tablet. "We are giving you a device that doesn't just define a new category, it defies category," said Samsung's Justin Denison at the event. The Fold will be available April 26 starting at USD 1,980, the company said. The launch comes as the smartphone market experiences its worst-ever decline with consumers keeping devices longer and waiting for new innovations. Samsung made the announcement on the home turf of rival Apple, with the two giants battling in the premium segment of the market. Denison touted the Fold as "a one of a kind luxury device" and boasted that it lets three apps operate simultaneously on its large screen. "You can watch a YouTube video of Hawaii; text your friend about it, and browse travel options all at the same time," Denison said while showing off the device. Samsung also announced new Galaxy S10 models, upgrading its current line of flagship handsets to include a 5G device. Rivals are expected to make 5G smartphone announcements at next week's Mobile World Congress. "We are pushing beyond the limits of today's technology to inspire a new generation of smartphones and recharge growth for our industry," said DJ Koh, head of mobile communications at Samsung Electronics. "For those who say everything possible has already been done, I say open your mind and get ready for the dawn of a new mobile era. Buckle your seatbelt, the future is about to begin." He said the Galaxy Fold was designed "for those that want to experience what a premium foldable device can do, beyond the limitations of a traditional smartphone." Analyst Bob O'Donnell of Technalysis Research said on Twitter: "As expected, it's not cheap, but the #GalaxyFold will still be THE device for gadget lovers." The S10 handsets, coming in four versions, will offer rich color displays, longer battery life and sophisticated cameras. They will feature AI-enhanced software and wireless charging capabilities that allow Galaxy smartphones to be used as charging pads to power up other devices. No price or release date was announced for the S10 5G version. Other options include the S10e starting at USD 749, and the largest version, the S10 Plus, at USD 999 -- which will be available March 8. ALSO READ | Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro with 48MP rear camera expected launch next week "Samsung launched a halo product, the Fold, along with multiple still expensive but more affordable and more traditional Galaxy S smartphones," said Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart. "They are trying to ensure that they have something exciting for early adopters, and at the same time have a refreshed line-up of phones people actually buy." Earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show, Chinese startup Royole showed off what it claimed was the first foldable smartphone, which can fit into a pocket but unfold into a full-sized tablet computer. It is available in China and the US for some USD 1,300. Greengart and other analysts did not expect foldable or 5G smartphones to be mass-market successes this year, reasoning that apps, software, and networks were not yet in place to support wide adoption. Samsung also announced that its digital assistant Bixby will be available in new languages -- British English, German, Italian and Spanish -- in addition to the already available US English, Korean and Mandarin Chinese. The move helps Samsung step up efforts in the rapidly growing field of voice-based artificial intelligence dominated by Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant. "We are strongly committed to our AI business, and continuously expanding Bixby's intelligence capabilities to provide more users with the best possible AI experience," said Eui-Suk Chung, Samsung's head of software and AI. The company also introduced a new lineup of wearable tech devices including its Galaxy Watch Active smartwatch, Galaxy Fit trackers and its cord-free earbuds, called Galaxy Buds. The smartwatch will support apps designed to monitor blood pressure and stress indicators and is designed to detect a variety of workouts including running, biking and rowing. "Consumers are increasingly putting their overall well-being at the center of their lifestyle decisions, and they're looking for wearables that make it easier to get active and stay balanced every day," said Koh. Samsung is opening three US retail stores to promote its Galaxy line of smartphones, stepping up competition with Apple. New Delhi: NASA on Friday gave SpaceX the green light to test a new crew capsule by first sending an unmanned craft with a life-sized mannequin to the International Space Station. "We're going for launch, we're going for docking," said William Gerstenmaier, the associate administrator with NASA Human Exploration and Operations. If the capsule successfully makes it to the orbit, SpaceX will be one crucial step closer to putting the first humans on board its spacecraft. A Falcon 9 rocket from the private US-based SpaceX is scheduled to lift off, weather permitting, on March 2 to take the Crew Dragon test capsule to the ISS. Since the Shuttle program ended, NASA has relied on Russia to ferry its astronauts to and from low Earth orbit an expensive arrangement that limited the types of missions NASA could run. NASA signed contracts in 2014 with SpaceX and Boeing for the companies to shuttle US astronauts to the ISS. This will be the first time the US space agency lets a private-sector company transport its astronauts. NASA ended its space-shuttle program in 2011 and since then has relied on buying spots on Russian Soyuz rockets to send US astronauts to the orbiting ISS. "This is an absolutely critical first step that we do as we move towards returning the crewed launch capability back here to the US," said Gerstenmaier, speaking at a press conference in Cape Canaveral, Florida. ALSO READ | Gene editing therapy may reverse ageing: Study The March 2 flight will be identical to a flight that is set to take two astronauts to the ISS later in the year, possibly in July. The Crew Dragon capsule has seven seats. It should dock with the ISS on March 3, then detach and return to Earth on March 8. "I guarantee everything will not work exactly right, and that's cool, that's exactly what we want to do," said Gerstenmaier. "We want to maximize our learning so when... we're ready to go do a real crewed mission, and it'll be the right safety for our crews." SpaceX has already made more than a dozen unmanned trips since 2012 carrying supplies to the ISS with the cargo version of the Dragon capsule. But the safety criteria for manned flights are higher, and NASA said that the Crew Dragon still has some problems, including with its parachutes. "It's a really big deal for SpaceX," said Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of the company founded by billionaire Elon Musk. "This vehicle, inside, has a lot of instrumentation, Kathy Lueders, said during a press conference at Kennedy Space Center today. Were getting a lot of imagery of the vehicle as its coming back. The capsule will be weighted similarly to how a Crew Dragon will be when it has astronauts on board, and it will also be carrying a test dummy, suited up in one of SpaceXs custom flight suits. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Amidst violent protests in Arunachal Pradesh, Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said that the state government has decided to not accept the recommendations of a high-level committee to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities living in Namsai and Changlang districts. In separate tweets, Rijiju blamed the Congress for "instigating" a section of people. Widespread violence has been reported in the state capital Itanagar and other places, leading to the death of at least two persons, injury to several and destruction of properties and vehicles. The central government has dispatched 1,000 paramilitary personnel to the state to help the administration in maintaining law and order. What is Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC)? Permanent Residence Certificate is a legal document that serves as an residential proof and, therefore, must be submitted wherever an evidence is required. Some of the purposes include - admission in educational organisations, job reservation under specific quotas, applying for ration card, availing the provisions of various schemes or claiming scholarships of the state government. The State Government of Arunachal Pradesh issues the Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC) to the residents of the state who stayed therein over a period. Those citizens who are not currently residing in the state but are sure of permanently staying therein can also apply for it. What happened so far? The BJP-led government in the state was considering issuing the certificate to the six non-APSTs communities living in Namsai and Changlang districts and to the Gorkhas living in Vijaynagar. Those communities include Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis and Mishings. Most of these communities are recognised as Scheduled Tribes in neighbouring Assam. A Joint High Power Committee (JHPC), after holding discussions with the stakeholders, recommended granting PRC to the six communities, who are not natives of Arunachal Pradesh but have been living in Namsai and Changlang districts for decades. Why are people in Arunachal protesting against PRC? There is resentment among several community-based groups and organisations in Arunachal Pradesh, who claimed that the rights and interests of indigenous people will be compromised if the government accepts those communities. The recommendation of JHPC was supposed to be tabled in the Assembly on Saturday. However, in the wake of agitations by various groups, it was not tabled as the Speaker adjourned the House. (With inputs from agencies) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a day-long visit to the ongoing Kumbh Mela, on Sunday addressed the 'Swachh Kumbh, Swachh Aabhaar' programme in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Speaking at the holy event, the prime minister said the country is moving towards declaring itself open-defecation free before Gandhi Jayanti on 2 October 2019, adding that the 'swacchagrahi' of Prayagraj have come forward as an inspiration for the entire nation. Congratulating all the sanitary workers for keeping the vast field of Kumbh Mela clean and clear, Modi said "I really appreciate the hard work and contribution of the sanitary workers who were continuously involved in keeping the place clean even being not in notice". Kumbh Mela 2019 has given a very strong definition of cleanliness, Modi added. Moving on to the cleanliness of River Ganga, the prime minister said, "the amount collected after auctioning the presents that I received in the past 4.5 years as the Prime Minister are being used in the service of Maa Ganga". Modi also stated that serving poor and deprived is the real humanity. Early in the day, PM Modi took a holy dip in the river Ganges and offered prayers at the Sangam ghat, the holy confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati river. The prime minister wore a robe as he stepped into the water and later changed to a saffron kurta and shawl to perform an aarti at the Triveni Ghat. Modi was accompanied with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the mela. "Had the good fortune of taking a holy dip at the #Kumbh. Prayed for the well-being of 130 Crore Indians (sic)," PM Modi tweeted. Had the good fortune of taking a holy dip at the #Kumbh. Prayed for the well being of 130 Crore Indians. pic.twitter.com/jTI2QbmWxb Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 24, 2019 As a mark of respect to sanitation workers, Modi was seen washing the feet of a group of 'safai karmacharis' at the 'Swachh Kumbh Swachh Aabhaar' event, organised by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Besides, safai karmacharis, swachhagrahis, police personnel and naviks were also distributed 'Swachh Kumbh Swachh Aabhaar' awards on the occasion. On honouring the safai karmacharis in Prayagraj, PM Modi wrote, "Moments Ill cherish for my entire life! Honouring remarkable Safai Karamcharis, who have taken the lead when it comes to realising the dream of a Swachh Bharat! I salute each and every person making a contribution towards a Swachh Bharat". Moments Ill cherish for my entire life! Honouring remarkable Safai Karamcharis, who have taken the lead when it comes to realising the dream of a Swachh Bharat! I salute each and every person making a contribution towards a Swachh Bharat pic.twitter.com/IsjuCgjlkn Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 24, 2019 The Kumbh Mela draws millions of pilgrims over the course of approximately 48 days to bathe at the Sangam. The Sangam is considered especially holy and Hindus believe bathing there during the Kumbh helps cleanse sins and brings salvation. The world's largest religious gathering began on January 15 on Makar Sankranti and is scheduled to culminate on March 4 - Mahashivratri day. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the UP Police suspects that terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed, which had carried out a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy killing 40 of its soldiers on February 14, is training youths in Western Uttar Pradesh over mobile phones and video callings, sources in the police said. Besides, simulating fake IDs and spreading the groups network is part of its planning. The ATS received the inputs following the arrest of two men who were believed to be linked to Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed from Deoband in Western Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. One of the arrested men is Shahnawaz Ahmad, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam, who used to recruit members for the Jaish, Uttar Pradesh police chief OP Singh said. He is also believed to be a grenade expert. The other man is Aqib Ahmad Malik, a resident of Pulwama. According to the sources, the two men had been receiving messages from terrorists based in Pakistan and Pakistani Army officials. The police found a handgun and bullets in their possession. The sources added that Ahmad and Malik were getting all instructions from the terrorist group related to the recruitment of youths, and for that, they had been receiving hefty money. The sources added that several youths in Western UP are on the radar of the ATS. Last week, security forces gunned down the mastermind of the Pulwama terror attack. Ghazi Abdul Rasheed was among the two Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists killed in the encounter, which claimed the lives of four army personnel, including a major. Kamran alias Ghazi Rasheed was captured by the Indian Army along with two other terrorists. A joint team of 55 Rashtriya Rifles, CRPF, and Special Operation Group launched a cordon and search operation early on Monday, after receiving inputs on terrorists taking refuge in the area. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), identified as Aman Thakur, an Army personnel and three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists were killed in an encounter in Turigam village of Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district on Sunday. Besides, one Army Major and a bodyguard sustained injuries in the gunbattle. Following specific input about the presence of terrorists, the security personnel launched a cordon and search operation in the area. The operation has been concluded after the troops recovered all of the three dead bodies of the terrorists. Two of them have been identified as Rakib Ahmad Sheikh and Gulzar Ahmad Bhatt. The approaching police party was fired upon, in which Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Aman Thakur got seriously injured in the neck. The officer succumbed to his injuries when he was being flown to the army hospital, the police officials said. A 2011-batch JK Police Services officer and a resident of Doda district in the Jammu region, Thakur was leading the police team from the front in the encounter with JeM terrorists. Thakur was posted as the DySP (operation) in Kulgam, a terrorist-infested area of south Kashmir, two years ago and had successfully carried out anti-terror operations in the area. He was awarded the DGP's Commendation Medal and Certificate for his exemplary service only last month. Speaking to news agency PTI, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh said, "It is an unfortunate incident, in which we have lost a brave officer. He was a fighter and he led Sunday's operation himself". Last week, four Army officials were killed and several others injured during an encounter at Pinglan in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district. Four army personnel, including a major, a police head constable and a civilian lost their lives in south Kashmir. Armymen and cops who sustained injuries are Brigadier Harbir Singh of 12 Sector Rashtriya Rifles (RR), Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police South Kashmir range - Amit Kumar, a Lieutenant colonel, a Captain, and a sub-inspector. These incidents came days after the gruesome terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district left 42 CRPF personnel dead and dozens of others injured. 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 a suicide bomber, identified as Adil Ahmad, rammed his vehicle into a bus carrying 39-44 jawans on February 14, 2019. Meanwhile, panic has gripped the Kashmir Valley after the government on Saturday issued several notices, asking residents and officials to stock up on essential items, including ration, petrol, diesel, LPG and medicines, for some time. Furthermore, the Border Security Force (BSF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Force (ITBF) have been ordered to replace the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for static guard duties in Srinagar. The move came after the Union Home Ministry issued the deployment of 100 more companies of central armed forces in Jammu and Kashmir. The order states that the move to give static duties to BSF and ITBP has been taken to strengthen the law and order grid in Kashmir region. According to the police, it is a practice to place new force as static guard outside as the new force is not well versed with law and order. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: More than 100 cars have been gutted in a major fire at a parking lot in a ground opposite to Ramachandra Medical College in Chennais Porur on Sunday. Fire engines had to battle for more than two hours to douse the fire. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined. The incident came a day after 300 cars were gutted in a fire at a parking lot at the Aero India show in Bengaluru. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. An Amber alert said police last heard from McGrath in Sealy, Texas, and believe the children are in grave or immediate danger. The five are believed to be traveling in a maroon 2002 Volvo S60 with Connecticut license plates. New Delhi: Sridevis untimely demise last year on February 24 sent shockwaves across the country. The veteran actress tragically passed away at the age of 54 due to accidental drowning in a hotel room in Dubai. On her death anniversary, daughter Janhvi Kapoor shared a heartmelting post on social media. Janhvi shared a throwback picture on her Instagram account which shows her hands intertwined with that of her mother. She captioned the photo, ''My heart will always be heavy. But Ill always be smiling because it has you in it.'' Check out the heartwarming post below: In a recent interview with Filmfare, Janhvi had revealed that her mothers passing away is still a shock to her and she has still not been able to process it. I think, I was still in that state of shock, to be very honest. I think I am still in shock. None of it has been processed. Like, I have no memory of three or four months. You know at the end of the day, we have the same blood in us. I don't remember anything of those four months but I do remember that one day when we were sitting in Harsh (Anil Kapoor's son) Bhaiya's room and Arjun Bhaiya and Anshula (Arjun Kapoor's sister) Didi came in -- I think that was the one day when I felt like, 'Ok maybe we might be okay, the Dhadak actress had said. Meanwhile, Janhvi along with Khushi and Boney Kapoor recently held a Puja in Chennai to mark a year since Sridevi left. Sridevi was last seen in Mom (2017), which received good reviews from fans and critics alike, and was huge box-office success. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Uttar Pradeshs Gorakhpur on Sunday. He transferred the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to as many as 1 crore farmers as part of the Rs 75,000-crore scheme. Another 1 crore farmers are expected to be covered in the next two to three days. Tomorrow is a historic day! The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi will be launched from Gorakhpur. This is a scheme that will give wings to the aspirations of crores of hardworking farmers of India who feed our nation, the Prime Minister had tweeted on Saturday. Tomorrow is a historic day! The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi will be launched from Gorakhpur. This is a scheme that will give wings to the aspirations of crores of hardworking farmers of India who feed our nation. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 23, 2019 Here are the highlights from Gorakhpur: 17:24 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Narendra Modi in Prayagraj: The amount collected after auctioning the presents that I received in the past 4.5 years as the Prime Minister are being used in the service of Maa Ganga. 17:19 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Modi at Swachh Kumbh, Swachh Aabhaar programme: The country is moving towards declaring itself open-defecation free before 2 October 2019. I believe that you 'swacchagrahi' of Prayagraj have come forward as an inspiration for the entire nation. 16:29 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Taking to Twitter PM Modi wrote, "Had the good fortune of taking a holy dip at the Kumbh. Prayed for the well being of 130 Crore Indians". Had the good fortune of taking a holy dip at the #Kumbh. Prayed for the well being of 130 Crore Indians. pic.twitter.com/jTI2QbmWxb Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 24, 2019 13:31 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Our government is spending about Rs. 1 lakh crore on the Pradhan Mantri Krishi irrigation scheme. We are putting such a huge amount so that the irrigation projects in the country were incomplete for 30-40 years, to be fulfilled. We had selected 99 projects across the country from which more than 70 are now coming into being completed, says PM Modi. 13:31 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In A number of efforts are being made to the farmers to get fair prices of produce and lower their costs. The e-NAM platform is working to connect hundreds of markets across the country. This will give the farmers the option to sell their produce online in any market in the country directly, says PM. 13:31 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In It is our government which meets the years old demand of farmers at MSP. More than 50% of the support price cost of 22 Rabi and Kharif crops has been fixed. Prime crop insurance scheme to save farmers from weathering has also been created, says PM Modi. 13:22 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The timing of launching the scheme shouldn't be questioned, says PM Modi. 13:19 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The limit for the Kisan credit cards has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.6 lakh. Animal husbandry and fisheries will be also given credit card up to Rs 2 lakh, says PM Modi. 13:17 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In For us also loan waivers would have been easy and convenient, we also could have distributed 'rewri' for political and election benefits, but we can't commit such a crime. Loan waiver benefits only a select few, says PM Modi. 13:05 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In We will not discriminate on the basis of religion, caste, creed. Any farmer who has up to 5-acre land, will get the benefits of the scheme: PM Modi. 13:01 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I warn those state govts who are looking to play politics with PM Kisan Yojna. If you indulge in this then the curse of farmers will destroy your politics. I appeal to farmers, don't be misled by anyone, says PM Modi in Gorakhpur. 12:59 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Warning non-BJP ruled states to not deprive farmers of this benefit, says PM Modi. 12:59 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In When this scheme was announced, the opposition was dismayed, says PM Modi. 12:57 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I have been told that farmers of 21 states, Union Territories are included in this scheme, says PM. 12:54 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I want to reiterate that those farmers who didn't get the first instalment today, they will get it in their bank account directly in a few days/weeks time, says PM Modi. 12:53 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Farmers don't have to beg for money to buy seeds. They can use this money for their use, says PM. 13:32 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The government will spend as much as Rs 75,000 crore on the scheme, says PM Modi. 12:51 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In This is just the beginning. As many as 12 crore farmers, who have up to 5-acre land, will be directly benefitted. 12:50 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In As much as Rs 2021 crore have been already transferred. More will be transferred in the coming weeks: PM 12:49 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The previous government only did lip-service that is why people of the country elected the NDA in 2014: PM Modi in Gorakhpur 12:48 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The intention of the previous government was bad. They did nothing for the farmers: PM Modi. 12:47 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Farmers to get Rs 6,000 in three equal instalments. The first instalment of Rs 2,000 transferred: PM Modi. 12:44 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The biggest scheme related to farmers launched from the holy city of Gorakhpur: PM. 12:34 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Prime Minister Narendra Modi is communicating with the farmers of different states through video conferencing. 12:29 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Prime Minister Narendra Modi digitally launches Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), a cash-transfer scheme, in Gorakhpur. UP CM Yogi Adityanath present. 12:29 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In As many as 14 crore farmers of the state are going to be benefitted by Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme: CM Adityanath. New Delhi: A 28-year-old man was arrested here on Saturday after he was found carrying a country-made pistol inside a metro station on the Blue Line of the Delhi Metro, the police said. The accused was held by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials when the firearm was detected in his bag by a scanning machine at the Noida Sector 15 metro station, a police official said. He has been identified as Ankit Kumar Singh, 28, a resident of Palam village in Delhi. Singh told investigators that he is a final year engineering student at a college in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, police said. His claims about his age and other details are being verified, said Rajveer Singh Chauhan, in-charge of Sector 20 police station, where the case has been lodged. Singh told police that he had returned from a wedding in Saharanpur and wanted to board the metro to reach Palam, where he had to attend another wedding, the official said. He has been arrested under the Arms Act and would be produced in a court, Chauhan said. For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Satna (MP): The six-year-old twin sons of a businessman kidnapped at gunpoint in Madhya Pradeshs Satna district have been found dead in the Yamuna River in Uttar Pradesh, the police said on Sunday. Sporadic protests erupted in Chitrakoot town of Satna soon after the news of their death reached the place, prompting police to step up security. The children, both in kindergarten and sons of oil merchant Brijesh Rawat, were kidnapped at gunpoint by two masked persons from Chitrakoot when they were returning home in their school bus on February 12. The kidnappers had later demanded a ransom from the childrens father, Chitrakoots Nayagaon police station in-charge K P Tripathi said. He said the bodies of the children were found floating in the Yamuna river near Baberu village in Uttar Pradeshs Banda district late Saturday night. The bodies were later fished out from the river and sent for post mortem to a hospital in Banda, he said. Six people were so far arrested in connection with the kidnapping and killing, Tripathi said, adding that an investigation was underway into the incident. Meanwhile, as the news of the childrens death came in, locals forced closure of shops and other business establishments in Chitrakoot town, a police official said. Some angry locals also burnt tyres on streets and vandalised private properties at some places, he said. Tripathi said additional police force was deployed in Chitrakoot following the protests. After the boys were kidnapped, Madhya Pradesh police had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for information about the twin siblings. The police of both Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were working on the case since Chitrakoot is a border town. The two masked men had come on a motorbike and abducted the two children at gunpoint when their bus was about to leave the premises of Sadguru Public School on February 12, a police official earlier said. The children were residents of Ramghat in Chitrakoot Dham (Karwi) district of Uttar Pradesh. They used to travel four km across the border to their school every day, Satnas Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh Gaur had said after the incident. For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The kidnapping and murder of twins of a businessman from Madhya Pradeshs Chitrakoot have led to the political parties trading barbs at each other. While the Congress blamed the Opposition, the BJP said that the ruling state government should have taken the matter seriously. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath said that he was angry and sad on knowing about the deaths of the twin sons of Chitrakoot businessman Brijesh Rawat. Speaking to news agency ANI, the chief minister said, I have to the victims father and the politics behind it will also be exposed. Police are looking into the matter. The vehicle in which the children were abducted had a flag. Whose flag was it? The Opposition is scared because their people are involved. On the other hand, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also took at the ruling Congress government and said, I pay my homage to the two children. It was an unfortunate incident. We had hoped that the government and administration would take the matter seriously and rescue the children. This incident shook me, as quoted by ANI. The six-year-old twin sons of a businessman kidnapped at gunpoint in Madhya Pradeshs Satna district were found dead in the Yamuna river near Uttar Pradeshs Baberu village in the Banda district late on Saturday night. The children, both in kindergarten and sons of oil merchant Brijesh Rawat, were kidnapped at gunpoint by two masked persons from Chitrakoot when they were returning home in their school bus on February 12. The kidnappers had later demanded a ransom from the childrens father, Chitrakoots Nayagaon police station in-charge K P Tripathi said. For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. the complete review - fiction The Women's Courtyard by Khadija Mastur general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author Title: The Women's Courtyard Author: Khadija Mastur Genre: Novel Written: 1962 (Eng. 2018) Length: 390 pages Original in: Urdu Availability: The Women's Courtyard - US The Women's Courtyard - UK The Women's Courtyard - Canada The Women's Courtyard - India Urdu title: Translated and with an Afterword by Daisy Rockwell Previously translated as Inner Courtyard by Neelam Hussain (2001) by Neelam Hussain (2001) Aangan was made into a TV series that started airing in 2018 - Return to top of the page - Our Assessment: B+ : rather persistently downbeat, but an impressive vibrancy to it too See our review for fuller assessment. Review Summaries Source Rating Date Reviewer Dawn . 25/11/2018 Asif Farrukhi The Hindu . 24/11/2018 Keshava Guha India Today . 24/12/2018 Rakhshanda Jalil New Indian Express A 11/11/2018 Anuja Chandramouli From the Reviews : "It is gratifying to see that the book takes its place as a Penguin Classic. Even more important, it is sheer reading pleasure to discover in the translation the unrequited desires and the sepia shades suffused in melancholic tones, true to the spirit of the original. (...) The busy world of the aangan and the larger hustle and bustle of the independence movement are minutely covered in the original and beautifully rendered in Rockwells sensitive translation." - Asif Farrukhi, Dawn "Within this confined setting, Mastur gives us a narrative on the epic scale, ranging across four generations, the life-arcs of dozens of characters -- births, marriages, suicides, imprisonments, sexual assault, divorce -- and taking in Gandhis leadership of the national movement, the rise of the Muslim League, and the birth of Pakistan. The narrative is always gripping, although it can strain from the sheer quantity of event. (...) Rockwells translation is superbly judged. Her English renders the spareness of Masturs Urdu, the efficiency of her physical descriptions, and the devastating concision with which she handles tragedy." - Keshava Guha, The Hindu "Daisy Rockwell's immaculate translation of Khadija Mastur's Aangan is welcome not only for bringing the work to English readers, but also as a feminist tract that questions love, marriage and the need for happy endings." - Rakhshanda Jalil, India Today is welcome not only for bringing the work to English readers, but also as a feminist tract that questions love, marriage and the need for happy endings." - "Ill go right ahead and write this down: Khadija Masturs The Womens Courtyard is one of the most satisfying novels I have ever read. It is elegant, poignant and utterly unputdownable. (...) A magnificent book that depicts the bitter battles women fight, far from the battlefield." - Anuja Chandramouli, New Indian Express 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. - Return to top of the page - The complete review 's Review : The Women's Courtyard is set in the India and then Pakistan of the 1930s and 1940s, and centers around a girl and then young woman named Aliya. It is a housebound novel, with all the action restricted to the houses Aliya inhabits during this time. It's not that Aliya does not venture beyond her four walls -- indeed, there's one extended period when she goes, by herself, to study in Aligarh, to get her degree, spending ten straight months away from home -- but rather that, whether the move from one house (or country) to the next, the daily routine of work, or the extended absence studying in Aligarh, almost everything that happens elsewhere, beyond the homes' gates, is simply passed over. The world of this novel is entirely domestic; the outside world, and what transpires there, little more than incidental -- even as, of course, it often has great bearing on the household itself. The novel is divided into two parts, the much shorter first describing Aliya's childhood -- 'Past' -- and ending with the arrest of her father for striking a British officer (good enough for a charge of attempted murder). The rest is 'Present', as they then move into the house of one of Aliya's uncles, living there until Partition, when she and her mother go to Pakistan. Aliya's family is Muslim, and while the actual practice of religion, such as rituals and prayers, barely figures here (or barely rates a mention: you'd almost never notice when Aliya is veiled or not), Aliya's mother, called Amma, has a strict sense of propriety, especially about the role and position of women. She loathes the nephew Sadfar that her husband had brought into the household, because he's the offspring of disgraced relatives and their shameful behavior (who unforgiving Amma would have treated even more harshly: "She should have been buried alive, she says of Sadfar's mother). Sadfar's presence, and Aliya's father's support of him is like a poison in the household -- though Amma turns out to be the kind of woman who seems to be displeased with absolutely everything about her fate (and shares her displeasure freely). The only one Amma has anything good to say about is her brother, Mamoo, who can do no wrong in her eyes -- though Mamoo (and his English wife) do their best to keep Amma at a safe distance, helping out only to the extent necessary and carefully avoiding ever allowing Amma a foothold in their own household. Aliya's older sister, Tehmina, was in love with Sadfar, but of course this wasn't a relationship Amma could stand for. After Sadfar was sent off to study, a marriage was arranged for Tehmina -- but she couldn't bear the thought of going through with it, leading to tragedy. (Tehmina's close friend, Kusum, a Hindu married in her early teens and already widowed a few months later, already served as an example of a young woman broken by the strictures of society; Muslim or Hindu, women's roles -- and what was permissible -- were closely circumscribed, with any challenges to them crushed by the overwhelming forces of this society.) After her father was arrested, Aliya and her mother moved into his brother's home. Among those there is another relative whom Amma can look down on, the bubbly Chammi, yet another victim of a family broken in yet another way, more or less abandoned by her father, who has gone on to marry repeatedly and merely sends a bit of money to cover her support; when she gets married he can't even be bothered to make an appearance. Chammi is notable also for how active she is in the neighborhood, often going out and visiting neighbors (though always donning her burqa), always returning: "wildly enthusiastic and full of gossip". She stands in considerable contrast to her cousin Aliya, who isn't adventurous in this way and willingly remains mostly housebound. Her uncle does provide Aliya with the keys to his library (which, oddly, he keeps from his son, Jameel), allowing her to lose herself in a world of books -- though it's not the great escape that this is usually presented as: though Aliya does often retreat into this world of reading, she's not one to find inspiration of a different world there; Aliya remains very much down to earth in this respect (and, indeed, repeatedly expresses suspicion of books -- finding her sister read much to much into them, for example). Chammi was in love with Jameel -- who, however, seems mostly to have used this affection to obtain support from her while he studied. He, in fact, is more drawn to Aliya, and his attempted wooing of her is a constant during their time together; it also complicates Aliya's relationship with Chammi. Another boy interested in Chammi, Manzoor, goes to fight in the Second World War, leaving her feeling abandoned yet again; as Aliya comes to see: "The world had simply killed off her ability to trust". Eventually, a marriage is arranged for Chammi -- the preparations for which are kept secret from her. (This is long somewhat hard to believe -- everyone working away at the trousseau and the like, for the longest time and in quite plain view -- but ultimately almost believable in Chammi simply not wanting to see the truth she would have to face soon enough.) Needless to say, this arranged marriage turns out to be less than ideal as well -- though ultimately Chammi stands up against her husband (and clobbers her mother-in-law) and not only returns to the fold but finds happiness there, the one reasonably happy ending to all the stories. Another son of the household is Shakeel, who gets Aliya to support him -- ostensibly for books to help him with his studies, though it's pretty clear that Shakeel is not very serious about these. He, too, eventually disappears from the household, going his own happy-go-lucky way. Among the others in the uncle's household is Asrar Miyan, a figure of almost comic relief who, not being part of the inner circle, keeps purdah, avoiding any interaction with the outside females, including Aliya, and is mostly seen (or heard) asking for his food to be brought to him. There's also Najima Aunty, who also studied in Aligarh and considers herself better than everyone else for having that education and the degree to prove it, and constantly points out her superiority, putting Aliya in her place even after she too gets a degree and becomes a teacher: 'We do the same work, but you are called a lecturer and I am called a teacher. Even if the difference didn't disappear, would that be the end of the world, Najima Aunty ?' Aliya responded tartly. 'Hah ! How could that difference ever disappear ? Have you done an MA in English ? Surely there's a difference between a donkey and a horse,' retorted Najima Aunty The politics of the time play a significant role in the background, and especially among the male figures. Aliya's father is increasingly outraged about continued British rule -- to the extent that he can't hold back, and gets physical with a British officer, so that he ends up in jail, sentenced to seven years. In the next household they move into, her uncle is a supporter of Congress, working towards an independent but united India, while his son Jameel supports the Muslim League, with its ambitions for a separate Pakistan. The men are increasingly fixated on independence -- to the frustration of the women in the households, who wish they would focus more on day-to-day life (and, for example, running their businesses) -- with Aliya's father lost to them because of his fixation on it, and her uncle also imprisoned for a while because of it. Still, her uncle can't help but fixate on it, explaining to Aliya: When we get independence, our work will be done ! Everything about life will become simple. The housekeeper -- another woman unimpressed by the obsession with politics and focused on the here and now -- also notes the disconnect between the national ideal being struggled for and the constant domestic discord: What I want to know is, will anyone really get independence by destroying a household ? Independence and partition do not, of course, bring the dreamed-for paradise. News of the horrors that follow do find their way to the household, just as earlier the news of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had, but the real world only intrudes so far. They're not at the center of things, which helps: There had been no riots in their own city, but everyone constantly worried about what would happen next. Aliya's uncle Mamoo commits his services to Pakistan and is willing to bring his sister and niece along, and for Aliya's mother there is no question about what they must do, her brother finally rescuing her. Almost overnight, they uproot themselves and go to Pakistan -- conveniently flying, which also means that they do not see first-hand the worst of the sectarian violence. Before independence, Aliya had allowed herself to dream of a domestic idyll: She was praying to herself that Allah would quickly make this country independent and that Uncle would come back home, and then in the evenings he'd lie here and chat with Aunty, and he'd ask after Chammi, and he'd write for Sajidah to come visit, and he'd look for a bride for Jameel, and he'd search for Shakeel and bring him home. (Revealingly, there's apparently no place for her bitter mother in her fantasy .....) Reality, then, turns out differently, her uncle broken by the violent, warped turn independence takes. Aliya's mother, on the other hand, is, briefly, in heaven: Her long-standing desire to live with her brother and her British sister-in-law had now been fulfilled. She intended to live with them her entire life, and was offended when Aliya remained aloof from everyone else. Of course, Mamoo -- and especially his wife -- have different ideas, and after a few days they break open a local house that had belonged to a Hindu family that had fled and install Aliya and her mother there; for good measure, Mamoo soon gets transferred to Karachi, leaving his sister behind again. Aliya and her mother do then have a comfortable, spacious house to live in -- but there's no more family anywhere near. So also then: After Mamoo's departure, Aliya gave up purdah. She knew no one here, what was the point of clutching on to old customs ? Already back in the old country she had lamented, when Chammi had a child, that: "all the customs had died out in their household"; and now, alone with her mother, the death knell was final. Aliya got a job as a teacher, and also volunteered at the Walton Camp for refugees -- to the chagrin of her mother, who can't understand why she would bother wasting her time in this way. Figures from their past crop up surprisingly, but any flash of hope is quickly dashed: Aliya finds only disappointment in what has become of them. A doctor from the refugee camp woos her, too -- but she can't see marrying him either. Her disillusionment with love and romance -- even where she has a say in it -- is complete. The domestic focus of the narrative is impressively done. The Women's Courtyard isn't claustrophobic, even if Aliya occasionally feels hemmed in. Mastur presents the separation -- and overlaps -- between outside and domestic world exceptionally well. Aliya seeks a comfort in this interior, in the family unit that never really coheres. It is constantly being undermined: her parents stand in opposition to each other, and she loses other, smaller holds, like her sister and Sadfar. She can embrace her uncle as a stand-in pater familias, but in that household too the conflicts, of personality and politics, make for impossible rifts. If not quite as isolated as the ridiculous Asrar Miyan or Najima Aunty, Aliya only occasionally feels part of a happier larger whole. Never mind with her uncle Mamoo and his family, who are always very careful to keep at a proper distance. Where older sister Tehmina was a hopeless romantic, Aliya sees no happy examples around her, and can barely imagine the possibility of love and romance. She does have feelings -- drawn even to the insistent Jameel, at times -- but does not give in to them, right to the end (when she is tested several times in quick succession), as though not convinced by what they might cost her, given the examples she has grown up with. The loss of her sister, barely harped on when and after it happens -- with Amma not a particularly grieving mother --, does run like an undercurrent through the novel, as a defining experience for Aliya, as is also made clear by her bringing it up again in the novel's conclusion (though there's never a hint, earlier or then, of Aliya being tempted by anything resembling her sister's despairing resignation). It makes for a rather dark tale, but Mastur leads readers through this narrative in a way that even the ultra-bitter and unpleasant mother-figure can't completely poison the story. Even if the joys the characters feel are limited, and there's fairly little sense of optimism, of the possibility of bright futures ahead, The Women's Courtyard isn't grim. There's a vibrancy to it, and also to Aliya, which invigorates the whole novel. Even as Aliya is arguably a fairly passive figure throughout the novel, she proves to be a strong character. If she rarely stands up directly to others' overbearing ways, she nevertheless finds and makes her own way in this unusual but successful character portrait, of life in these particular times. Others escape in a variety of ways, from Tehmina to Chammi to their male cousins, with even Najima Aunty -- on her terms (she thinks ...) -- and Asrar Miyan fleeing, while Aliya seems stuck under the thumb of and alone with her mother the whole while, and yet in many ways she is the most independent (for better but also for worse, it must be noted). So also The Women's Courtyard is an impressive novel of Partition, even as that too is largely kept off-scene. Some aspects are too simply black and white -- the opposition between father and Jameel, representatives of Congress and the Muslim League (and their positions) respectively -- and some a bit rushed (including things such as the trickle of news of Sadfar's distant fate), but the overall impression is still a strong one; Mastur might tend to under- rather than over-writing, but that seems the more effective choice here. The Women's Courtyard unfolds impressively, and makes for a quite gripping read. A substantial Afterword by translator Daisy Rockwell provides additional context as well as information about the author; among the interesting points discussed is also Rockwell's choice to retranslate a novel that was already available in English translation (by Neelam Hussain (2001)) -- as she notes, something that is: "still a rarity in the context of South Asian literature" - M.A.Orthofer, 24 February 2019 - Return to top of the page - : The Women's Courtyard: Penguin India publicity page Sang-e-meel publicity page Excerpt Afterword (edited for length) Q & A with translator Daisy Rockwell Reviews: The Bookish Tales Dawn The Hindu India Today Livemint New Indian Express Open The Pioneer Scroll Aangan - the TV series: Official site IMDb page Other books of interest under review: See Index of Indian and Pakistani literature - Return to top of the page - About the Author : Urdu-writing Khadija Mastur ( ) lived 1927 to 1982. - Return to top of the page - 2019-2021 the complete review Main | the New | the Best | the Rest | Review Index | Links Please purchase a subscription read this premium content. If you have a subscription, please sign up for a digital website account or log in. Venezuela's opposition and activists have confronted troops stationed along the country's borders to block their plan to bring in food and medicine that authorities are calling a veiled US-backed invasion. Opposition volunteers in neighbouring Brazil and Colombia arrived at the border to help carry humanitarian aid to a sick and hungry population suffering from an economic meltdown under President Nicolas Maduro. While the need for basic food and medicines is real, the effort is also meant to embarrass military officers who continue to support Maduro's increasingly isolated government. Juan Guaido, recognised by most Western nations as the country's legitimate head of state, defied court orders not to leave Venezuela by arriving on Friday in the Colombian border city of Cucuta, where aid from the US and Colombian governments is stockpiled in warehouses. Guaido, 35, head of the opposition-run Congress, has provided few details on the transport plan. Trucks were driven by Venezuelan volunteers and some opposition figures suggested forming human chains. "Today the obstacles that the dictatorship created will tomorrow be rivers of unity of peace," Guaido said in a news conference in Cucuta, where he was received by Colombian President Ivan Duque. Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said in a tweet late on Friday that Venezuela's government shut the Tachira border that connects it with Cucuta temporarily "due to a series of illegal threats" by Colombia. One of three bridges linking Cucuta to Venezuela has been blocked with shipping containers, while the other two have been shuttered to vehicle traffic for years. Maduro has also shut the Brazilian border and the maritime border with nearby Dutch Caribbean islands. He blames the country's dire situation on U.S. sanctions that have blocked the country from obtaining financing and have hobbled the OPEC nation's oil industry. Rodriguez says the aid is poisoned. Concerns about the potential for violence flared on Friday when the Venezuelan army opened fire in an village near the Brazilian border after indigenous leaders attempted to prevent them from advancing, killing a woman and her husband. Nearly 200,000 people attended a festive benefit concert in Cucuta on Friday featuring Latin pop stars, including Luis Fonsi of 'Despacito' fame, many of whom called on Maduro to step down. Guaido in January invoked articles of the constitution to assume interim presidency and denounced Maduro as a usurper, arguing his 2018 re-election was illegitimate. Reuters The small East Coast settlement of Wairoa had its annual horse racing meeting today, and it might be the last. An industry report has recommended the Te Kupenga racecourse be shut down. But locals say closing the track would rip the heart out of the community. In the evening before race day, a plate of fresh crayfish was carried out to the white marquee where 60 people were having dinner at Wairoa Racing Club. "You don't get that at any other race courses," a local told Newshub. It's tradition for the club volunteers to put on a BBQ for the trainers and the locals. We asked 91-year-old Tom Winiata how long he's been coming to the Wairoa races. "Oh, at least 80 years," he replies. Te Kupenga racecourse is one of the 28 slated for closure in an independent review of the racing industry. "If they close this they might as well close the bloody lot," Mr Winiata says. "You see jokers from all over the North Island come here." As well as trainers and owners, the day attracts 2500 punters - more than half Wairoa's population. It's proposed that the racecourse be closed and the land sold, with the revenue generated by the sale going towards the renovation of other race tracks and facilities around the country. But club president Paul Toothill says the course pays for itself. "We've got cattle and that's how we make our profit; we farm it and we farm stock out on other farms, other farmers support the club." Mr Toothill invited New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) chief executive Bernard Saundry along to the race meeting to show him what stands to be lost. "[Mr Saundry] rang me on a Tuesday and said we're proposing to shut Wairoa and we'll move you to Gisborne," Mr Toothill recounted. "And I said you'll rip the heart out of the community by doing that, Bernard." But Mr Saundry says the racing industry needs to change to secure its future. "The club model is under pressure. We've got to evolve as a business - we've got an obligation to 15,000 owners and 50,000 people involved in some way with racing." Two prominent trainers say closing provincial tracks will ruin New Zealand racing. "It's a community thing. Why take it away? We need the people of Wairoa to bet on NZ racing and stay interested," trainer Graeme Rogerson says. "A place like Wairoa, with a great president, he'll fight and we'll back him up," trainer Bob Autridge says. Mr Saundry says New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing is "not in the business of ruining New Zealand racing." "We do understand the importance to the community." The Te Kupenga racecourse learns its fate next month. Newshub. The Government's new standards for rental homes have come at the wrong time, a tenancy advocate says. Under new rental property rules announced on Sunday, landlords will have to provide a living room heater, an extractor fan in the kitchen and bathroom, better insulation, a ground moisture barrier, adequate drainage, as well as draught-stopping tape. And while the new standards have been welcomed by some, others are concerned about hitting rental property owners with thousands of dollars of additional compliance requirements, during a "housing shortage". Mike Butler, spokesperson for tenancy advocacy group Tenancies War, has claimed there is "not a crisis in the condition of rental property" and that the new standards could cost around $7000 per property. "Owners have three options: Absorb the extra costs, raise rents, or sell. Ask any accountant. Owners are selling. Then where will renters live?" When Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced the new standards, he said current standards are impacting people's health, with "approximately 1600 mostly older New Zealanders" dying prematurely in winter. Mr Butler questioned the new requirements, in particular the additional insulation rule, saying it "looks like Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford has let the insulation industry write the rules". He also cited the Building Research Association of New Zealand's finding in a 2017 report that only 2.7 percent of renters felt their dwelling was cold and damp. It found that 82 percent of tenants were happy with their accommodation. However, the 2016 HRV State of Home Survey found that mould was prevalent in 48 percent of all homes rented, and that almost 40 percent of renters contacted their landlords about the cold, damp conditions of their homes. Mr Butler insisted there is not a crisis in the condition of rental property. There is a crisis in the availability of rental property, he said, and "Mr Twyford's extra compliance requirements will make this worse". In Auckland the housing shortage has been getting worse, according to recent calculations by interest.co.nz. The figures calculated in October suggested a shortage of 19,908 dwellings had accumulated over the five years to June 2018. However, it also found that while Auckland's annual population is still growing faster than new homes are being built, the "rate at which new homes are being built is increasing while the rate of population growth is declining". National leader Simon Bridges has also expressed concern over landlords having to absorb the cost of the new standards. He said that by "being kind" the Government was actually "being cruel" by passing on the cost to the "poor old renter". Mr Twyford has rejected that stance, saying the new standards are "pragmatic, enduring and don't impose an unreasonable burden on landlords and industry while being mindful that renters need to have warmer and drier homes as soon as possible". Newshub. An English tourist drowned at a Coromandel beach on Saturday, police have revealed. Andrew Massey, who lived in Kent, went to Ocean Beach in Tairua as part of a trip to New Zealand. The 68-year-old got into trouble while he was swimming with his family just before 6pm. He was brought to shore where CPR was attempted. Unfortunately, he was unable to be resuscitated and died at the beach. Police have offered their condolences to Mr Massey's family and loved ones, and his death has been referred to the Coroner. In October, a man drowned at nearby Hot Water Beach while he was trying to save a struggling child. Newshub. Today Mainly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds light and variable. Tonight Mostly cloudy with some showers after midnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Tomorrow Rain showers in the morning with scattered thunderstorms arriving in the afternoon. High 83F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%. Communism doesnt work, but when a community bands together to build a park for the young, thats a form of communism that works for them. Capitalism works best because its based on greed and run by the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest and every man for himself. That works great if you are running a business, but unless you are willing to let the unproductive people die in the streets, that is no way to run a nation. Besides, it has to be the most un-Christian philosophy ever. Didnt greed used to be one of the seven deadly sins? Not in America; here it is the main religion. When you look at the fact that 1 percent of the people own 40 percent of the wealth of the country and see the outsized effect their wealth has on our politicians and our lives, its not good. We left the jungle; we created a civilization for the common good and must be willing to use whatever program will work regardless of what label somebody wants to slap on it. Maybe Jamestown rejected socialism a long time ago but where we live today is actually called the Commonwealth of Virginia. Gee, that doesnt sound communist at all, does it? JIM TODD Pamplin With that goal in mind, if Putin could design American policy, at the top of his wish list would be for the U.S. to alienate our friends and allies around the world. Trump has done that, going out of his way to antagonize the Germans, the British, the French, the Canadians . Putin would love to destroy NATO, which has been the bulwark of American power and against Russian empire-building for 70 years. We now know from White House sources that Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to withdraw from NATO. Retired Adm. James Stavridis, the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, says that Even discussing the idea of leaving NATO let alone actually doing so would be the gift of the century for Putin. Putin has shown himself single-minded in his quest for power and adept in that pursuit. First, this former colonel in the Soviet KGB worked his way up to becoming president of Russia, and then he magnified his role from president to dictator. In the years hes been in power, Putin has advanced Russia from being a minor power (that happened to have a big nuclear arsenal) to an expanding imperial power. He has seized parts of neighboring nations (Georgia and Ukraine) and re-established Russian influence in the Middle East. John Wilder Cure lll, of Lynchburg, Va., passed away peacefully on Wednesday, February 20, 2019, after an extended illness. Mr. Cure was born on August 25, 1930, to the late John Wilder Cure Jr. and Martha Eulalia Wolfe Cure. He graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1952 with an Electrical Engineering degree and continued his education at Vanderbilt University, where he obtained a Masters of Physics. He served in the United States Air Force at the Kirtland Airbase in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before returning to Lynchburg to begin a 40-year career at Babcock and Wilcox as a Health Physicist. Mr. Cure is well remembered by his coworkers as a mentor, leader, and loyal friend. After his retirement from B&W, he founded Heath Physics Consultation and continued to enjoy his career in the health physics occupation until he turned his focus to full retirement, travels, family, and spending time at his home on Smith Mountain Lake. Throughout his life, Mr. Cure remained a devoted and active alumnus of Virginia Military Institute and through his travels with Mary Dillon, made friends and memories they both would cherish for a lifetime. Mr. Cure is remembered by his family as a kind and dedicated man of good character, showing generosity, patience, and fairness. He leaves a legacy of love and was a model to his children of how to be a loving, faithful husband and father. This is evidenced by his devotion to his wife of 66 years, Mary Dillon Dovel Cure, who he leaves behind. He and Mary Dillon were married in Richmond, Virginia on August 23, 1952. Mr. Cure was a proud grandfather and he thoroughly enjoyed visits from his children and grandchildren. John is also survived by his son, Preston Allen Cure and wife, Deborah Weatherman Cure; daughter, Paula Cure Shaham and husband, Nadav Shaham; and son, Dr. James Dillon Cure and wife, Katherine Ryan Cure. He was preceded in death by his grandson, the late Robert Wilder Cure, Mr. Cure is survived by grandchildren, James Ryan Cure, Jessica Dianne Cure, Dillon Alene Cure, Shannon Darcey Cure, and Claire Elizabeth Shaham; and great-granddaughter, Kaisley Elise Cure. He is also survived by his sister, Jane Hill Taylor. Mrs. Taylor and her husband, Robert Price Taylor reside in Madison, North Carolina. The entire family of John W. Cure III, wish to express their gratitude to the staff of Westminster Canterbury Lynchburg who have lovingly cared for Mr. Cure during his illness and in his final days. Additionally, we express our thanks to the dedication of the care providers from Elite Health Care services. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church where he and Mary Dillon attended and served as faithful members for many years. A visitation will be held at Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, February 26, 2019, with a celebration of life to follow at 12 p.m. Mr. Cure will be laid to rest at Fort Hill Memorial Park with family and friends. A reception will follow the interment atQuaker Memorial Presbyterian Church for those who wish to honor and share memories of Mr. Cure. Diuguid Funeral Service & Crematory, Wiggington Road Chapel, 385-8900, is serving the family. On-line condolences may be sent to www.diuguidfuneralservice.com. Its not just about keeping the engine in good condition, Howell said. You also have to protect the skin and frame of an aircraft from the elements. Liberty aeronautics student Matthew Moyer said working on the L-3 will help him in the general aviation field after he graduates. Its pretty practical experience, Moyer said. And its nice to work on something that will be on display. I wanted to play a part in getting that plane ready for D-Day. In August, the program brought the L-3 from the memorial in Bedford to its shop on Airpark Drive in Lynchburg to start a restoration project on the aging aircraft. There were some beehives inside the plane so we wanted to make sure that we have it sealed so that doesnt happen again, Howell said. There also was some water that had leaked inside and caused some of the wood inside the fuselage to rot and we wanted to get that fixed. Howell said the project will help minimize damage to the L-3 from exposure to weather while the plane is on display in Bedford. The most important thing we are doing is preserving the aircraft, Howell said. There arent many of these around anymore and we want to make sure this one lasts for a while. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading. To subscribe, click here. Already a subscriber? Click here. Longview, TX (75601) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 73F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Trinity Lutheran Church at 107 Kent Road (Route 7) in New Milford will hold its annual St. Patricks Irish Night Dinner March 2 at 6 p.m. The dinner will consist of corned beef and cabbage, potatoes, carrots, rolls, desserts and prizes. The New Milford Youth Agency will offer a NAMI Family to Family program, a free 12-session education program for families, partners, friends and significant others living with mental illness beginning March 7 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The sessions will be held at the John Pettibone Community Center on Pickett District Road. BRIDGEPORT Over the last four years the city made nearly $13.6 million worth of deals with three contractors that are now part of an FBI criminal probe. That multimillion dollar figure would surprise anyone who visited Bridgeports Open Budget website for information on what these or other companies are earning while doing business with the city. Thats because those expenses cant be found on Open Budget. G. Pic & Sons Construction was awarded more than $9.1 million worth of work, VAZ Quality Works received over $4.3 million in contracts, and Seaview Equipment got about $89,400, according to data put together by Hearst Connecticut Media. Though touted as a major step forward for transparency when the Open Budget online portal was launched in 2016 by Mayor Joe Ganim, the bulk of the G. Pic, VAZ and Seaview contracts are not there. The FBI in early February subpoenaed all documents and communications involving those companies and City Hall dating back to Jan. 1, 2015. None of the contractors has been accused of wrongdoing. Instead, the section of Open Budget Open Checkbook that details payments only shows that G. Pic earned a total of $9,180 from two contracts in 2016 and 2017, that VAZ earned $32,405 since late 2015, and that Seaview was paid $1,602.04. Absent, for example, is all the money G. Pic made doing repairs on portions of Bridgeports 450 miles of public and private sidewalk. In 2017 the Ganim administration launched a $3 million initiative to split the cost of private sidewalk repairs with willing homeowners, and G. Pic was awarded the contract. Open Checkbook does not provide details on the project that earned VAZ the bulk of its revenues construction of a $3 million plus new garage for the public facilities department that the City Council has been reviewing due to a spike in paving costs. An anonymous letter from last fall accusing public facilities of awarding too many no-bid contracts and of illicit scrap metal sales helped trigger the ongoing FBI probe. That letter writer alleged the public facilities department gave no-bid work to VAZ and to G. Pic and bought unnecessary equipment from Seaview. Transparency: local, state Bridgeports Open Budget website piggybacked off of a similar initiative launched by state Comptroller Kevin Lembo called Open Connecticut. And in many ways Bridgeports effort is a big improvement in access for taxpayers or any other members of the public seeking a user friendly way to delve into operating budgets of hundreds of pages. Ganim in 2016 said the local initiative had thrown open the doors to city government. But not completely. Rowena White, Ganims director of communications on Thursday confirmed that data for G. Pic, VAZ, and Seaview is unavailable because the Open Checkbook does not include capital projects. Capital projects are pricey, mostly infrastructure related items road paving, building construction that the city essentially puts on its credit card. White said Open Checkbook provides information on operating budget expenses. Theyre two totally different funds youre talking about, she said. So another Bridgeport contract that has drawn recent attention the nearly $544,000 replacement of 100 plus decorative light fixtures in the Black Rock neighborhood also does not show up on Bridgeports website. In contrast, payments for state capital projects can be researched on Open Connecticut. Tara Downes, a spokesperson for Lembo, said while Open Connecticut has some limitations capital projects are not generally found in the Open Budget section the Open Checkbook feature does include payments made related to capital projects. For example, President Donald Trumps former campaign manager, Paul Manaforts family owns a Connecticut-based construction company. Manafort Brothers Inc., according to Open Connecticut, made $35.79 million from state contracts last year. The Ganim administration as of Friday had offered no further details about why Bridgeports capital expenses could not likewise be detailed on Open Bridgeport. There could be a legitimate reason why they have not incorporated payments related to capital projects, Downes suggested. Perhaps those are made through a different accounts payable system in Bridgeport that would require an add-on to the Open Bridgeport site. However, we have no knowledge as to whether that is, in fact, the reason or not. John Marshall Lee is a city activist known for his focus on and efforts to research municipal finances. Lee a few years ago had praised Open Bridgeport. The door was beginning to open, Lee said Friday, adding the shortcomings involving Open Checkbook should be fixed. Any time the city writes a check, everybody ought to know about it. Staff writer Kaitlyn Krasselt contributed to this story. Help support your local hometown newspaper/website. Independent local news reporting matters. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription, for as little as $3, so we can continue to provide independent local reporting on our communities. Police are searching for a suspect who they say struck an officer while fleeing from a traffic stop in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Wellesley police say an officer stopped the suspect's car around 7:09 p.m. Saturday on Worcester Street at Route 128. The vehicle was a silver 2017 Nissan Altima with a temporary registration tag 38C7291 from an unknown state. While performing a records check, the officer discovered the car was stolen out of Delaware. When the officer attempted to take the suspect into custody, a struggle ensued and the suspect began driving eastbound on Worcester Street, dragging the officer. The officer was able to free himself from the vehicle after approximately traveling 15 feet. He was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The officer has not been identified but Wellesley police say he has been with the department for two years. Police believe the suspect is 37-year-old Theodore William Newton, of Newark, Delaware. He is described as a black male, around 190 pounds with a thin build, approximately 5'9", with close trimmed facial hair and brown eyes. Newton was last seen wearing a black winter wool cap, black winter puffy jacket and dark colored jeans. He is wanted by the Wellesley Police Department for various motor vehicle related charges, assault and battery on a police officer with a dangerous weapon, and resisting arrest. Wellesley police say the suspect has a lengthy police record throughout the East Coast. Police are reviewing dash cam video as part of this active investigation. Lawmakers in Rhode Island are renewing their efforts to exempt feminine hygiene products from the state sales tax. A bill that would eliminate the tax on tampons and pads has been introduced in the House by Democratic Rep. Edith Ajello and in the Senate by Democratic Sen. Louis DiPalma. Both sponsors have filed the bills since 2016 and their measures have stalled. Other states have already passed similar exemptions, including neighboring Massachusetts and Connecticut. Ajello, of Providence, says taxing these products makes a regular necessity more expensive, and amounts to a tax on being a woman. DiPalma says the products should be exempted from the tax as a necessity, like food and clothing. They say the state collects 44 cents on a box of 36 tampons costing $6.29. A Massachusetts woman is facing several charges, including operating under the influence, after her car flipped into a ditch and then she allegedly left a child behind at the scene. Police say 37-year-old Cecilia D. Miranda, of Revere, was driving on Route 16 near the Route 1 on-ramp when she rolled her Nissan Kicks. The car came to a rest in a ditch adjacent to Route 16. Two children were seriously injured in the crash. State police were called to the scene for reports of a single-vehicle crash just after midnight Sunday, but the driver and occupants were gone when they arrived. Witnesses told investigators that the driver took the youngest of the two children, identified later as a 6-year-old boy, and left in a bystander's car. Witnesses said the older child, later identified as a 10-year-old boy, was left behind. Both children were reported by witnesses to have severe injuries. Witnesses told police that a bystander stopped and took the 10-year-old boy in their vehicle, reportedly to a local hospital. State police troopers located Miranda and the 6-year-old boy at Massachusetts General Hospital. Miranda was subsequently arrested. Officials at East Boston Neighborhood Healthcare Center later called police to report that a 10-year-old boy had been dropped off at their facility with severe injuries. Troopers responded to the center and determined that the injured child was involved in the crash. The 10-year-old boy was transferred to Boston Childrens Hospital due to the severity of his injuries. Police say both children have severe but non-life-threatening injuries. Miranda is facing numerous charges: operating under the influence of alcohol with serious bodily injury and negligent operation, two counts of child endangerment while operating under the influence, open container of alcohol, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, abandoning a motor vehicle, having a child under eight years old without a car seat, and a marked lanes violation. Miranda was bailed and released Sunday. She will be arraigned Monday in Chelsea District Court. It's unclear if she has an attorney. No other vehicles were involved in the crash, which remains under investigation. New Hampshire State Police are investigating after a body was found on a road in Gilmanton. Multiple authorities responded Saturday to a report of a body that had been located on Middle Route. Official identification of the male victim is pending autopsy and next of kin notification. An autopsy is tentatively scheduled for Sunday. Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact Trooper Stephen McAulay at 603-223-8920. Three residents have been displaced after a fire in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. The Boston Fire Department responded to the building fire at 53 Brookside Avenue around 6:45 p.m. Saturday and quickly knocked it down. Upon arrival, smoke could be seen billowing out from the third floor of the 2.5-story building. No one was home at the time of the fire, and there are no reported injuries. Fire officials estimate there is approximately $100,000 in damages. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Virginia lawmakers voted to add an extra day to this year's legislative session because of a heated disagreement over whether they'd had enough time to study a proposed budget before voting on it. It's a contentious end to a legislative session marked by an unprecedented wave of scandals involving the state's top elected officials that have roiled the Capitol and exposed deep fault lines among Democrats. A large majority of the 140 legislators was ready to finish work Saturday evening when a group of House Democrats balked at the idea of waiving a procedural rule that requires a 48-hour waiting period before voting on a budget after it is introduced. The House and Senate budget committees unveiled a compromise spending plan Saturday morning that makes adjustments to the two-year state budget that was approved last year. "We adopt the rules, and they should mean something," said Del. Charniele Herring, explaining why some members of her caucus did not want to vote Saturday on a budget. House Democrats were also angry that House Republicans had used procedural maneuvers earlier this week to defeat a bid to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, a gender-equality measure. Under pressure from Senate Democrats, House Democrats eventually relented to wait 24 hours instead of 48 hours. The extra day will cost taxpayers about $30,000 in per diem costs. Many lawmakers in both parties, eager to leave town after an emotionally trying legislative session, said they felt the House Democrats were being unreasonable. Democratic Sen. Mamie Locke blasted some House Democrats on Facebook, calling them a "wrecking crew" who didn't know "what the hell they're doing and think they know everything." The compromise budget unveiled Saturday, and likely to be finalized Sunday, includes increases to already-planned raises to state workers and public school teachers. It also freezes tuition increases at state universities and pads Virginia's rainy day accounts. A stronger-than-expected state economy helped give lawmakers hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funds to spend this year. Much of it is going into public education, including money for more school counselors and increased undergraduate financial aid. Lawmakers had previously passed a tax cut package that returns most of the extra state revenues to taxpayers that were projected to be generated by changes in the federal tax code. That includes refunds later this year of up to $110 to single taxpayers and $220 to joint filers. The GOP-led General Assembly balked at Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam's initial proposal to keep most of the money and spend it on areas he said the state has long neglected. The compromise budget includes new money for many of the priorities outlined by Northam, though not always at the funding levels he requested. Northam has been the subject of national ridicule after a bungled response to a racist photo in his medical school yearbook that surfaced earlier this month. Scandals involving the state's other top Democrats soon followed. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax has lost staff and been placed on leave at his law firm after two women accused him of sexual assault, which he denies. And Attorney General Mark Herring has all but disappeared after acknowledging to dressing in blackface in college, an admission that came days after condemning Northam for similar behavior. The trio of scandals has divided Democrats on how best to respond, with mixed calls for resignations and differing views on how and whether to investigate the allegations against Fairfax. Northam has resisted widespread calls to resign and said he plans to focus the rest of his term on addressing issues of inequality. Black lawmakers said Saturday they plan to press the governor to increase funding for school districts with a high concentration of low-income students than what's currently proposed in the compromise budget. Northam can suggest changes to the budget after it passes Sunday. Lawmakers will reconvene April 3rd to take up the governor's vetoes and amendments. Weekend storms raked parts of the Southeast, leaving deaths and injuries in their wake as a tornado smashed into a commercial district in a small Mississippi city and drenching rains fed a rising flood threat. A woman was killed when a tornado hit Columbus, Mississippi, and a man died when he drove into floodwaters in Tennessee, officials said. Columbus Mayor Robert Smith Sr. said 41-year-old Ashley Glynell Pounds of Tupelo and her husband were renovating a house Saturday evening, and when the husband went to get them something to eat, the building collapsed in the storm and killed her. Smith said 12 other people were injured, but the injuries did not appear to be major. City spokesman Joe Dillon said the tornado also seriously damaged a school and two community center buildings. "There was pretty extensive damage," Dillon said Sunday, a day after the Columbus twister struck. "But the streets today have been filled with workers and volunteers, all working hard to clean up the mess." In Knox County, Tennessee, officials said a man died after his vehicle became submerged in high water. Saturday afternoon's tornado in Columbus was confirmed on radar, said meteorologist Anna Wolverton with the National Weather Service in Jackson. She told The Associated Press that experts were dispatched Sunday to the east Mississippi city of about 23,000 people to gauge the tornado's intensity. Officials said a second, smaller twister damaged a mobile home and a shed and snapped trees in a small community in the region that same afternoon as severe storms rolled through. At First Pentecostal Church in Columbus, the Rev. Steve Blaylock said the building was "a total loss," with a wall pushed in, holes in the roof and substantial water damage. He and his congregants tried to salvage what they could on the morning after the storm. But he said they still held a Sunday prayer service and even went ahead with a scheduled baptism, using a borrowed portable baptismal pool. "We will rebuild. We've got a good church here," Blaylock said. "It'll be a testimony of God." Residents of one street on the east side of Columbus were out early Sunday morning with chain saws, clearing away branches of the many trees that had snapped or were uprooted in the storm. Metal siding and roofing materials were scattered throughout the neighborhood of older homes. While the houses generally remained standing, sheds and outbuildings were mostly demolished. Lee Lawrence, who said he has been selling used cars for decades in Columbus, told The AP that four buildings on his car lot were destroyed. He said trees toppled across vehicles and car windows were blown out. Lawrence said he was at home getting ready to take a bath when the storm struck. "The wind all of a sudden just got so strong and it was raining so much you could hardly see out the door, and I could hear a roaring. Evidently it came close," he said, speaking with AP in a phone interview. "It will be a start-over deal," Lawrence said. "I can't say it will come back better or stronger, but we'll come back." A photographer working for The AP in Columbus said some antique cars on Lawrence's lot were resting in the debris of a destroyed building a nearby pet grooming business appeared now to be mostly twisted piles of metal. A printing shop had been speared by a pipe. Elsewhere around the South, homes, highways, parks and bridges were flooded or put out of commission amid the heavy rains and severe storms. News outlets report that water rescues have been performed in some Middle Tennessee counties. Interstate 40 near the Tennessee line with North Carolina was closed by a rockslide, one of the dozens of roads and highways shut down throughout the region, transportation officials said. Officials said a mudslide destroyed a Subway restaurant in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. No injuries were reported. In West Virginia, authorities have evacuated 11 families in the southern part of the state after low-lying areas flooded from heavy rains. Workers cleaned up from mudslides and high wind warnings remained in effect Sunday for much of the state. More than 50,000 customers were without power at one point, emergency officials said, warning driving would be difficult in high winds and more power lines could fall. In Bruce, Mississippi, rivers broke flood stage and flash floods poured into homes and businesses. News outlets report that officials in Grenada, Mississippi, declared a local state of emergency after dozens of streets and homes flooded. A 6-mile (9-kilometer) stretch of the Natchez Trace Parkway was closed in Mississippi after water covered part of the road. Kentucky announced Friday that it was closing the U.S. 51 bridge over the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois, because of flooding on the southern approach. The bridge, which carries 4,700 vehicles a day, is likely to stay closed until Thursday, and possibly longer. The Ohio River at Cairo was predicted to crest Sunday at its third-highest level ever recorded, and stay that high into next week. The Tennessee River near Savannah, Tennessee, also was forecast to crest at near-record levels. Associated Press writers Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee and Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama, contributed to this story, along with staff photographer Rogelio Solis and freelance photographer Jim Lytle working in Columbus, Mississippi. Virginia lawmakers have wrapped up this year's scandal-marked legislative session. Lawmakers finished the session Sunday after passing a state budget that includes pay raises for teachers and state employees and significant new spending on public education. This year's session has been unlike any other in recent memory, marked by a wave of scandals involving the state's top Democratic elected officials. Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring admitted to wearing blackface years ago, while Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax has been accused by two women of sexual assault, which he denies. Some notable legislation that passed this year includes a tax overhaul that will mean refunds of up to $220 for many taxpayers, a study on legalizing casinos, and a measure requiring Dominion Energy to clean up coal ash pits. A new interactive exhibit in the Panda House at the Smithsonian National Zoo opened Saturday, drawing fans of D.C.'s famous Chinese expatriates. The interactive exhibit features a series of games and activities, which teach visitors about the ecology, conservation, history and care of giant pandas. On Saturday, The Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China hosted a housewarming party sponsored by Airbnb to celebrate the exhibits opening. Steven Monfort, the institute director, welcomed visitors to the ceremonial ribbon-cutting. So much has changed for giant pandas, for the better, in the past decade, Monfort said at the ceremony. This updated exhibit is really inspiring because it shows how much of a difference we can make with science and cooperation. Throughout the ceremony, the exhibits star pandas, Bei Bei, Tien Tien and Mei Xiang, as well as the other pandas, received special frozen treats, created by the zoo's Department of Nutrition Science to look like noodle bowls. Through new spinning and maze games, visitors of the Panda House can now navigate the effects of habitat loss on bamboo forests. A digital matching game that uses real camera-trap photos from Smithsonian scientists work in China invites trivia buffs and future scientists to put their knowledge of the panda exhibit to the test. Spectators can also explore the new videos and photos included in the exhibit to see how the keepers keep the pandas active and stimulated, as well as how the pandas prepare for veterinary exams. The exhibit is now open to the public. What to Know The bodies of two Virginia teenagers, Edvin Escobar Mendez, 17, and Sergio Arita Triminio, 14, were found in Holmes Run Park in March 2017. Eleven alleged MS-13 gang members, including a leader, were indicted Thursday on charges that could carry the death penalty. The new indictment implicates an alleged high-ranking gang leader who directed lower-ranking members to commit the crime, prosecutors say. Eleven alleged MS-13 gang members, including a leader, were indicted Thursday on charges that could carry the death penalty in the kidnapping and murder of two Virginia teens whose bodies were found in a Fairfax County park, prosecutors say. The bodies of Edvin Escobar Mendez, 17, of Falls Church, and Sergio Arita Triminio, 14, of Alexandria, were found in Holmes Run Park on March 3, 2017 after police received a tip. The chilling discovery came during a surge in gang homicides. Charges connected to the killings were brought against 11 men age 20 to 27 and announced last June. Most of the suspects were charged with conspiracy to kidnap, which would carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. One man was charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Prosecutors did not detail the charges in the new indictment but said the new charges are death-eligible. The new indictment focuses on one member who was not implicated in last year's indictment in Trimino's and Mendez' deaths: Edenilson Misael Alfaro. The indictment alleges Alfaro is a high-ranking MS-13 leader who directed several lower-ranking members in one gang clique to lure, kidnap and kill Mendez and Trimino, prosecutors say. Alfaro, along with six others, were charged in their role in luring the older victim to a park, where he was attacked and killed. Prosecutors say gang members filmed the attack to get promoted within the gang. Mendez and Triminio disappeared just weeks apart. Mendez disappeared in late August 2016. His family reported him missing Sept. 1, 2016. Later in September, Facebook information led his brother to track down a friend Sergio Triminio. Triminio gave him bad news, saying Mendez had been "abducted or killed" because MS-13 members thought he was a spy for a rival gang. Two days later, on Sept. 27, Triminio disappeared. His worried mother contacted police to report him missing. Triminio lived in an apartment not far from Holmes Run Park. Triminio's mother, Karla Triminio, told News4 that one night in September he walked to a dumpster outside their apartment to throw out the trash. "He never came back," she said. In December 2017, a reliable source told detectives both teens had been killed and buried by MS-13 members. Investigators believe Triminio was killed because the gang members thought he had been cooperating with law enforcement, according to a federal indictment. Detectives received a tip about the bodies buried in Holmes Run Park in late February 2018, according to court documents. Police started searching there in March. Both bodies were found buried about 300 yards into the park. According to court documents, Triminio was on probation and wearing a court-ordered electronic monitoring device when he disappeared. It stopped connecting the day he disappeared, police say. If convicted, the 11 alleged gang members could face the death penalty. One person is dead and another was airlifted to the hospital Saturday after two vehicles collided on U.S. Route 301 in Charles County, Maryland, in a possible drunk driving crash, police say. A driver in a 1995 Ford F-150 began traveling north in the southbound lanes of U.S. Route 301 in Newburg about 12:40 a.m., according to Maryland State Police. Krystal Daniella-Lyn Lewis, a 22-year-old of Newburg, Maryland, was traveling on a southbound lane in a 2017 Honda Civic at the same time, police say. The Ford F-150 collided head-on with the Honda Civic, flipping the Ford F-150, which landed on its roof. The driver of the Ford F-150 was pronounced dead on the scene. Their name has not yet been released. Lewis was airlifted in a helicopter to the University of Maryland Prince Georges Hospital for treatment. Police say alcohol was likely a factor in the crash. The crash is continuing to be investigated by Corporal J. Zimmerman of the Maryland State Police CRASH Team. Anyone who may have witnessed this crash is asked to contact Zimmerman at 301-392-1231. North Korea leader Kim Jong Un was on a train Sunday to Vietnam for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, state media confirmed. Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the U.S., and Kim Yo Jong, the leader's sister, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported. Late Saturday, an Associated Press reporter saw a green and yellow train similar to one used in the past by Kim cross into the Chinese border city of Dandong via a bridge. The Trump-Kim meeting is slated for Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. Their first summit last June in Singapore ended without substantive agreements on the North's nuclear disarmament and triggered a months-long stalemate in negotiations as Washington and Pyongyang struggled with the sequencing of North Korea's nuclear disarmament and the removal of U.S.-led sanctions against the North. Kim's overseas travel plans are routinely kept secret. It could take more than two days for the train to travel thousands of miles through China to Vietnam. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry announced Saturday that Kim would pay an official goodwill visit to the country "in the coming days" in response to an invitation by President Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also the general secretary of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party. In his upcoming meeting with Trump, experts say Kim will seek a U.S. commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief while trying to minimize any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons. While Kim wants to leverage his nuclear and missile program for economic and security benefits, there continue to be doubts on whether he's ready to fully deal away an arsenal that he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival. Last year, North Korea suspended its nuclear and long-range missile tests and unilaterally dismantled its nuclear testing ground and parts of a rocket launch facility without the presence of outside experts, but none of those steps were seen as meaningful cutbacks to the North's weapons capability. While North Korea has repeatedly demanded that the United States take corresponding measures, including sanctions relief, Washington has called for more concrete steps from Pyongyang toward denuclearization. Hanoi has been gearing up for the summit with beefed-up security. Officials say the colonial-era Government Guest House in central Hanoi is expected to be the venue for the Trump-Kim meeting, with the nearby Metropole Hotel as a backup. Streets around the two places have been beautified with flowers and the flags of North Korea, the U.S and Vietnam. Workers were also putting final touches on the International Media Center. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry says some 2,600 members of the foreign press have registered for the event. Meanwhile, Vietnam has announced a traffic ban along Kim's possible arrival route. The Communist Party's mouthpiece Nhan Dan newspaper late Friday quoted the Department of Roads as saying the ban will first apply to trucks 10 tons or bigger, and vehicles with nine seats or more on the 170-kilometer (105-mile) stretch of Highway One from Dong Dang, the border town with China, to Hanoi from 7 p.m. Monday to 2 p.m. Tuesday, followed by a complete ban Tuesday on all vehicles from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. The People's Committee in Lang Son province, where the Dong Dang railway station is located, issued a statement Friday instructing the road operator to clean the highway stretch and suspend road works, among other things, on Feb. 24-28 as "a political task." To help make sure you stay informed, each Sunday we'll revisit five stories from the previous week and capsulize them in this digest with the most recent updates. Today's collection highlights some of the positive news events that happened this week. 1. It's Official: Manny Machado is a San Diego Padre Of course, at the top of our good news list this week is Machado! The superstar infielder signed a record-setting $300 million contract with the Friars and, at a press conference in Peoria, Arizona, finally donned Padres white and blue. Machado said the deal came together in less than two months and said "the whole thing was perfect." We agree, Manny. We agree. See more clips from press conference here. NBC 7's Darnay Tripp and Derek Togerson report from Padres Spring Training in Arizona. 2. San Diego Makes Forbes Travel Guides 14 Top Destinations of 2019 List We didn't need Forbes to tell us San Diego is a great city to visit. But it sure is nice to be included amongst the likes of Singapore, Istanbul, St. Barts and Vietnam as one of the best destinations in the world. The magazine said San Diego made Forbes Travel Guides 14 Top Destinations List because of an influx of new food places -- some fronted by celebrity chefs -- and the craft beer scene. 3. USD Biology Instructor Launches Study to Track the Wild Birds Parrot pandamonium! A University of San Diego professor has launched a program to study and monitor a flock of wild parrots that has lived within the local communities. The parrots have been spotted at the El Cajon Courthouse, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Oceanside, Escondido and Point Loma. The study will look at how the birds came to reside in San Diego and how these "urban" parrots vary from other parrots. A new study being launched by a University of San Diego instructor and her students will track the wild parrots to learn more about them. NBC 7's Audra Stafford reports. 4. Students in Coronado Try Out F-35 Simulator Future U.S. Navy officers got a declassified look at a cool new gadget at Naval Base Coronado. The college students trained to fly in stealth fighters by piloting an F-35 flight stimulator, experiencing what it is like to soar through the sky at speeds more than 1,000 miles per hour. Some residents told NBC 7's Erika Cervantes they couldn't even get out of there houses, let alone take their kids to school. 5. Nearly 2 Feet of Fresh Powder Dumped on Mount Laguna Let it snow! San Diego mountains were covered in snow after a two-day storm system moved through the region. Most of San Diego's peaks saw at least a dusting -- at elevations as low as 2,000 feet. On Mount Laguna, that took the form of 20 inches of fresh powder. On Julian, more than 14 inches of snow fell and in Pine Valley, more than 6 inches were recorded. It may be time for a snow day. After announcing the end of Finish Chelsea's Run last October, the parents of Chelsea King announced Sunday they have a new mission. After Chelsea King, 17, was murdered while jogging in 2010, the Kings have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship through the Chelsea's Light Foundation and events such as Finish Chelsea's Run. Her parents, Brent and Kelly King, announced they would like to concentrate their efforts on promoting legislation designed to protect children. There will no longer be a Finish Chelsea's Run but a mission called Protect the Joy. "As beautiful as each of these events and accomplishments are, they come with a toll," the Kings wrote in a letter posted to the Chelsea's Light page on Facebook. "There is always a balance now in our lives that has pain on one side, and joy on the other. It never goes away. Its the paradigm of loss. With this said, we are choosing to change the way Chelseas Light Foundation accomplishes its mission." The King said they wanted to be a "voice for our nation's children" in state legislatures and in Congress. It was the same statement they released in October when they announced the end of Finish Chelsea's Run. Chelseas Light Foundation will continue its Sunflower Scholarship program which has awarded more than $650,000 to students who embody the "service over self" traits that Chelsea lived by, her family has said. The non-profits goal is to support youth and spread positive change in the community. NBC 7 was the television media partner for the Finished Chelseas Run event. Our NBC 7 team participated in the run and was there in support of participants and Chelseas loved ones. Chelsea was running in Rancho Bernardo Community Park when she was attacked and killed. The Poway High School seniors body was found five days later in the Lake Hodges area. On May 15, 2010, her killer was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for Chelseas murder, as well as that of Escondido teenager Amber Dubois, 14, who vanished in a similar, disturbing case in February 2009. The following year, the King family worked to pass Chelseas Law in California, which enhances criminal sentences for violent sexual offenders who commit crimes against children. Brent King continues to work with other states to enact similar laws. The Kings want people who participated in Finish Chelsea's Run and Home Run for Chelsea to channel their support to the new organization. "We humbly ask for your patience as we assemble the foundational blocks and embark on this new and necessary journey to 'Protect the Joy' of all children," they said in the statement. For more information or to register your support, visit protectthejoy.org. The woman shot to death Saturday afternoon in the driveway of an Alpine home was identified Monday as the 27-year-old girlfriend of the man suspected in her killing. Gunfire was reported at around 2:15 p.m. in the 2800 block of Victoria Drive, according to the San Diego County Sheriffs Department. The Alpine sheriff's substation received several calls about a man, later identified as Paul Paraschak, allegedly running around shooting a gun. When officials arrived, they found Melanie Benitez lying by the passenger side of a car in the driveway with multiple gunshot wounds, Lt. Rich Williams said. Benitez was pronounced dead at the scene, he said. Paraschak, 42, was found about a half mile away and was taken into custody. Deputies said they found two handguns on him. The suspect may face one count of first-degree murder, SDSO said. Deputies said Benitez was Paraschak's live-in girlfriend and that the two lived together in Alpine, though not at the home where Benitez was found. Kim Kramer, who owns the house where Benitez was found, told NBC 7 she did not know who the dead woman was and didn't know where the car came from. She said she never thought someone would be shot to death in her driveway. "Not in my neighborhood, not at my house," she said. "My grandkids are here all the time. I'm grateful they weren't there (at the time of the shooting)." Kramer was not home when the shooting happened. She received a call from deputies saying they needed to search her home as a precaution. "I gave them my keys so they could go in and take a look at the house," she said. "I don't want to go and check the house but nobody was there so that's a good thing." Paraschak is being held without bail. Anyone with any information about the shooting was urged to contact the Sheriff's Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330, after hours at (858) 565-5200, or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. A Southern California man wrongly imprisoned for nearly 40 years for two murders he didn't commit has reached a $21 million settlement with the city of Simi Valley. Craig Richard Coley was convicted of the 1978 murder of his former girlfriend, Rhonda Wicht, 24, who had been strangled, and her 4-year-old son Donald, who had been smothered in his bed. Simi Valley police reopened the case at the urging of a retired officer. The reopening of the case led to the discovery of DNA evidence, which exonerated him. He was freed from prison in 2017. "While no amount of money can make up for what happened to Mr. Coley, settling this case is the right thing to do for Mr. Coley and our community," said City Manager Eric Levitt in a statement. "The monetary cost of going to trial would be astronomical and it would be irresponsible for us to move forward in that direction." Coley was arrested the day police found the bodies on Nov. 11, 1978. Over the next 39 years, he had maintained he had never killed anyone. Eventually, the police chief and district attorney indicated they believed him. Coley was pardoned by Gov. Jerry Brown and walked out of a high desert prison just hours before Thanksgiving 2017, becoming the latest of numerous prisoners to be freed after advanced forensic technology that analyzes DNA showed they either didnt commit the crime or someone else did. In an application for clemency that Coley himself filed from prison four years ago, he said a former police detective had framed him by destroying crucial evidence. "The crimes were not committed by me and had the detective not destroyed the exonerating evidence (including semen and hair), the real suspect(s) could have been apprehended," Coley said. Weather Alert ...DANGEROUS HEAT CONTINUES THROUGH THE FIRST OF THE WEEK... .Strong high pressure will remain over the Pacific Northwest through much of the coming week. Very hot and dangerous temperatures today through Tuesday before temperatures cool slightly rest of the week but still remaining hot. ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT THURSDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with temperatures of 110 to 118 degrees today through Tuesday. * WHERE...In Washington, Lower Columbia Basin of Washington. In Oregon, Lower Columbia Basin of Oregon. * WHEN...Until 8 PM PDT Thursday. * 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 the 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. && EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was so stupefied after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attacked his migration policies that he publicly muttered "I cannot believe what I read." When Orban's party later targeted him in a virulent election poster campaign, Juncker was again dumbfounded, saying "You can't really act against lies." Enemies from opposing camps? No, they belong to the same EPP Christian Democrat group, the dominant force in the European Parliament, and should, in theory, be close allies in May's European Union election. Instead, this political fratricide is front and center in this massive exercise of democracy, which spans 27 nations and involves close to half a billion people. The May 23-26 European Parliament vote could prove to be a tipping point in post-war European politics. Some traditional political powerhouses might start to crumble, allowing extremist, populist parties to gain more clout and throw a new wrench into the EU's political machinery. "We've never seen something like this in EU elections," said European politics Professor Hendrik Vos of Ghent University about the abrasive election climate. The EU parliamentary election is run as national ballots in 27 member states. National political parties with common ideology then unite in EU-wide groups like the center-right EPP, the center-left S&D Socialists and the liberal, pro-business ALDE. Over the years, the major political groups started looking at adding unattached national parties to expand their bases. Even if these newcomers might not be as close to their core values, they still could boost their seat totals in Parliament. Some factions, however, have developed sharply contrasting agendas within their groups and can vary as widely as the geographic spread from Finland to Hungary to Portugal. Some could now splinter off like Orban's staunchly anti-migrant, right-wing Fidesz party weaken the center and reinforce the fringes. The EPP, for example, welcomed a populist Italian, Silvio Berlusconi, two decades ago. Orban's Fidesz party followed soon after. Other groups also face similar internal trouble the ALDE with populist Czech leader Andrej Babis, who has been accused of misusing EU farm subsidies, and the S&D with Romania's Social Democrats, who critics say are weakening the judiciary's fight against corruption. But nowhere has it produced political fireworks like at the EPP. Orban was first embraced for his anti-Communist credentials but over the years turned into an anti-immigration populist calling for an "illiberal" society with autocratic leadership, something that increasingly jarred with EPP values. It came to a boil over the past month when Orban fired up his anti-Brussels rhetoric portraying Juncker as conniving to keep nations like Hungary under their thumb and opening EU borders to all migrants. He plastered Budapest with posters showing Juncker as a gloating force of evil. "I consider the formulations in the poster campaign in Hungary against Jean-Claude Juncker, which is meeting with incomprehension in large parts of the EPP, unacceptable," Austrian Chancellor and EPP heavyweight Sebastian Kurz said Friday. Now the EPP faces a political dilemma: should it jettison Orban over principles, whatever the consequences, or try to keep him in a chokehold so he won't unite with other anti-EU populists? "In these new dynamics there are new opportunities," noted Italian political analyst Alberto Alemanno. Since the last EU election in 2014, Britain has voted to leave the EU and Italy and Austria have government coalitions that include the far right. Over a dozen EU nations have fragile minority governments and Poland has turned as hostile toward Brussels as Hungary. "After the fall of London, Rome, Warsaw, Budapest, or Vienna into the hands of anti-European and/or xenophobic forces, we no longer speak of the 'enemy at the gate' but of the 'enemy inside the gates,'" wrote Jose Ignacio Torreblanca for the European Council on Foreign Relations. And all this comes at a time when the European Parliament now has more powers. All too long a posh retirement post for over-the-hill politicians, the parliament is now an effective decision-maker with a real say on everything from Brexit to anti-pollution regulations. The first projections for the 705-seat legislature, produced this week by the parliament itself, show the EPP Christian Democrats struggling with 183 seats, the S&D Socialists losing big to land at 135 seats and their grand coalition short of a majority for the first time. Populists would gain more clout during the upcoming five-year session. The influential VoteWatch Europe think tank said "right-wing nationalists are set to gain, although they are likely to fall short of getting over 25 percent of seats." But it said a united group of right-wing nationalists could become the second largest group in the legislature. So far, populist and extreme parties have added decibels and eyebrow-raising rhetoric to the EU plenary but have had precious little impact on parliament events. But with higher numbers and better coordination, the anti-EU forces could start weighing in more on decision-making in Europe and battle back against pro-EU French President Emmanuel Macron's vision of an ever-closer union. That would be music to Orban's ears and a massive defeat for Juncker. Since Juncker is not running for another term as Commission president, the vote in May could be the last round of their fight. That round is not over and Juncker wants to protect his pro-EU legacy. "I'm not giving in. I'm not like that. I want to be exactly the opposite of that," Juncker said. What to Know David Allen Turpin and Louise Ann Turpin were each charged with counts of torture and false imprisonment and other counts. The investigation began after a 911 call from a daughter who escaped from the Perris home. The Turpins pleaded guilty Feb. 22, 2019 as part of a plea agreement A Southern California couple accused of torturing and abusing some of their 13 children pleaded guilty in a Riverside courtroom Friday to all 14 felony counts against them. The counts against David and Louise Turpin included torture, willful child cruelty and false imprisonment in what was described as a house of horrors in Perris, located about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The abuse accusations involved their 12 oldest children. The case now moves to the sentencing phase, set for April 19, instead of a trial. The Turpins face a maximum sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. District Attorney Mike Hestrin said the couple's first chance for a parole hearing would be in 25 years. Hestrin said the guilty pleas were important to protect the children from having to testify in a trial. "This is among the worst, most aggravated child abuse cases that I have ever seen or been involved in," Hestrin said. Defense attorneys declined to comment outside the courthouse. The case was brought to light on Jan. 14, 2018, when the couple's 17-year-old daughter escaped the family's house, called 911 and told the dispatcher that her two younger sisters were "chained up to their beds," shackled so tightly their bodies were bruised, according to testimony from the defendants' preliminary hearing. The testimony further revealed what authorities described as a torture chamber where the brothers and sisters, ranging in age from 2 to 29, appeared to be held captive. After responding to the family's home on Muir Woods Road in Perris, authorities said they found malnourished siblings shackled to furniture in filthy conditions, leading to the arrest of the couple accused of keeping them captive. The intervention by authorities marked a new start for the children, who lived in such isolation that the teen who called for help didn't know her address and some of her siblings didn't understand the role of the police when they arrived at the house. Two girls had been hastily released from their chains when police showed up, but a 22-year-old son remained shackled. The young man said he and his siblings had been suspected of stealing food and being disrespectful, a detective testified. The man said he had been tied up with ropes at first and then, after learning to wriggle free, restrained with increasingly larger chains on and off over six years. Authorities said the children were deprived of food and things other kids take for granted, such as toys and games, and were allowed to do little except write in journals. Although the parents filed reports with the state that they home-schooled their children, the oldest child had only completed the third grade, and a 12-year-old couldn't recite the full alphabet. An investigator testified that some suffered from severe malnutrition and muscle wasting, including an 11-year-old girl who had arms the size of an infant. The kids were rarely allowed outside, though they went out on Halloween and traveled as a family to Disneyland and Las Vegas, investigators said. The children spent most of their time locked in their rooms except for limited meals or using the bathroom. All the children were hospitalized immediately after they were discovered. Riverside County authorities then obtained temporary conservatorship over the adults. Jack Osborn, an attorney who represents the seven adult children in probate court, said they were happy the guilty plea spared them from testifying. "They are relieved they can now move forward with their lives and not have the specter of a trial hanging over their heads and all the stress that would have caused," Osborn said. The adult children are all living together, attending school and getting healthy while leading lives similar to their peers. He said they value their privacy. The social services agency tasked with overseeing the younger children declined to comment on their cases, citing confidentiality laws. Jessica Borelli, a clinical psychologist and professor of psychological science at University of California, Irvine, said children who suffer such trauma face many challenges, but she has seen people make miraculous recoveries. The guilty pleas from their parents, she said, could help, especially since many abuse survivors struggle with feelings of self-doubt. "It is a pretty clear affirmation of how they were mistreated," she said. "If there is any part of them that needs validation that how they were treated was wrong and was abuse, this is it." The degree to which the pleas help will largely depend on the children's perceptions of their situation, including their sense of justice, said Shefali Gandhi, director of clinical services at Childhelp Children's Center of Arizona. "The plea is the start of their journey to heal, not the end," she said. The children have not spoken publicly, though they will be allowed to speak at the sentencing if they choose to, Hestrin said. "I was very taken by their optimism, by their hope for the future, for their future," Hestrin said. "They have a zest for life and huge smiles, and I am optimistic for them and I think that's how they feel about their future." Associated Press reporters Amy Taxin, John Antczak and Brian Melley in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Should New York be the Empire States? The topic of splitting the state into separate upstate and downstate entities has popped up again at the Capitol. A lawmaker representing a suburban-rural district in eastern New York this week proposed legislation that would authorize a study into the up-front and long-term costs of separating the upstate and downstate regions into two states, along with the legal implications and economic impact. The idea of splitting upstate New York and the New York City metro area into two separate states comes up periodically in Albany, never getting beyond the proposal stage. Republican state Sen. Daphne Jordan says it's time to at least examine what a split would look like and cost. "Let's look at it, get definitive figures," said Jordan, from Halfmoon in Saratoga County. Jordan's measure would create a 15-member working group overseen by the state comptroller's office, tasked with figuring out the cost of separating long-established state agencies, settling land disputes, and examining constitutional steps needed to split the state. The group would then present the results of its study to the governor and Legislature. Ultimately, it would take an act of Congress to split New York into two states. Jordan's measure defines downstate as all five New York City boroughs, Long Island's Nassau and Suffolk counties, and Westchester and Rockland counties. The state's 53 other counties would be considered upstate. "There's all kind of things being passed (in Albany) that aren't necessarily of upstate interest," said Jordan, a first-year lawmaker whose 43rd Senate district covers parts of Saratoga, Rensselaer and Washington counties and all of Columbia County. Splitting upstate from downstate has been discussed on and off in Albany for years. Supporters of the idea have pointed to the growing divide between the two regions' political and social leanings. Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by more than 2-to-1 statewide, with most of that dominant voting block concentrated in the New York City metro area. With every statewide elected office, the Assembly and now the Senate controlled by Democrats, Republican upstate lawmakers say their region's needs will be ignored more than ever. In 2015, some upstate residents angry over earlier passage of gun-control laws and a ban on hydraulic fracturing proposed that their towns along the Pennsylvania border succeed and become part of the Keystone State. Four years later, full Democratic control in Albany has resulted in a string of progressive laws being passed already this year, fostering a growing feeling among many in upstate New York that it's time to seriously look into splitting off upstate from downstate. "The impulse is understandable. There are real differences between upstate and downstate," said E.J. McMahon of the Albany-based Empire Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank. But given the upstate region's lagging economy and shrinking tax base, McMahon cautions that losing access to downstate-generated revenues would be felt from the Adirondacks to Buffalo. "Upstate would need to do a really significant reset of the way government is funded and what it spends, and upstate politicians have not exactly been clamoring for the reforms that it would take to make that happen," he said. Jordan's measure doesn't have a sponsor in the Assembly. Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, called Jordan's proposal "the Godzilla of pandering." She responded by saying she loves monster movies and comparing the impact of the governor's policies on New York as "the curse of Dr. Cuomostein." What to Know Advocates want to impose new tolls on motorists entering Manhattan as a way to raise money for New York City subways They say passing their proposal is vital to minorities and low-income New Yorkers A coalition of supporters plan to rally in support of the tolls Monday in Albany Advocates for imposing new tolls on motorists entering Manhattan as a way to raise money for New York City subways say passing their proposal is vital to minorities and low-income New Yorkers. A coalition of supporters plan to rally in support of the tolls Monday in Albany. They say that African-American and Latino New Yorkers make up more than half of all public transit riders in the city and that improving subway and bus service is an issue of racial and economic justice. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and many lawmakers say tolls are the best way to raise money for the city's transit system while also addressing gridlock. Lawmakers are now studying the proposal, which could be included in the state budget expected to pass by April 1. A ship that left Puerto Rico with 250 tons of humanitarian aid planning to dock in Venezuela was redirected to Bonaire after the Venezuelan Navy intervened. NBC 6's partner station Telemundo 51 was exclusively aboard the craft. The ship reported it would move to Bonaire after two Navy vessels approached the ship near the territorial waters of Venezuela and refused to allow the ship to dock in the state of Carabobo's Puerto Cabello. The governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosello, and the interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, confirmed the vessel received threats from the Venezuelan ships. Personnel aboard the aid ship established contacts with the Venezuelan Navy to be allowed to dock in Venezuela. The Navy said their request was denied because they lacked necessary permits. "It is a game of force, but we are hoping that there will be a break within the Venezuelan Navy and they will lend us support to accomplish the mission," a Venezuelan aboard the aid ship told Telemundo 51. Venezuela is undergoing an economic and political crisis. A U.S.-backed drive to deliver foreign aid to Venezuela met strong resistance as troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro blocked the convoys at the border and fired tear gas on protesters in clashes that left two people dead and some 300 injured. A resident of Palmetto Bay told NBC 6 he's concerned that a mother manatee and two of her calves are lost in a neighborhood canal known for "careless, speeding boaters." Craig Merwitzer said he saw the manatees swimming in the canal behind his house Saturday afternoon. "The problem is that the manatees were swimming in the wrong direction to get back out to open water," Merwitzer told NBC 6 in an email. "And, this C-100 canal is notorious for careless, speeding boaters who could possibly cause great harm to these manatees." Miami-Dade County Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava has contacted numerous authorities about possibly rescuing the animals, according to Merwitzer. In January, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced 119 manatees were killed by a boat strike in 2018 a record number. Toxic red tide algae killed some 91 manatees and is suspected in 118 other deaths. Overall, 804 manatees died in Florida waters, just shy of the record 830 recorded in 2013. The numbers were larger than the last two years and among over 800 deaths of the animal in the state last year. Here are some of the top stories for last week from the NBC 6 Weekend Digest: Florida Mayor Charged With Shooting at Deputies Suspended A Florida mayor accused of shooting at deputies trying to arrest him on allegations of practicing medicine without a license has been removed from office. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order suspending Port Richey Mayor Dale Massad. Citing alleged history of drug use, violence and threats, the Pasco County sheriff said it carried out a raid in which Massad fired on deputies before he surrendered. For more information, click here. Woman Wanted in $500,000 Watch Theft in Miami: Police Police in Miami are searching for a woman wanted for questioning in the theft of nearly $500,000 worth of watches from a man after she met his friend at a club. Officials said the woman met the man who was in town from the Netherlands at a club and they went back to the man's condo. Among the watches stolen was a Rolex worth about $200,000, and three or four other watches worth a total of $300,000, police said. For more information, click here. Miami police are looking for a woman who they say stole $500,000 worth of watches from a man visiting from the Netherlands after he took her back to a condo. NBC 6s Marissa Bagg reports. Police Urging Safety Around Bald Eagle's Nest in Pembroke Pines A rare sight of a bald eagles nest in Pembroke Pines has brought out onlookers and concerns from police about making sure everyone stays safe. Officers showed photos of the nest located near U.S. 27 where two baby eagles are currently living with visits from their mother and father. Anyone who sees suspicious activity with the eagles or the nest are advised to call police immediately. For more information, click here. Officials are reminding residents and travelers to be cautious around the nest located near U.S. 27. Decoding Your Dog's Behavior: Owners Turn to Pet Psychiatrists Sometimes pets need more than training, which is why some owners are turning to pet psychologists. A lot of dogs may have issues because some disorders are hereditary. "A lot of dogs are born just like this," Dr. Lisa Radosta, a veterinary behaviorist based in Coral Springs, told NBC 6. "People blame themselves. They really blame themselves, like they must have done something wrong." For more information, click here. Sometimes pets need more than training, which is why some owners are turning to pet psychologists. NBC 6s Jamie Guirola speaks to Coral Springs-based veterinary behaviorist Dr. Lisa Radosta. A state trooper has shot and killed a man who authorities say had earlier stabbed two men in separate incidents south of San Antonio. Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Jason Reyes told the San Antonio Express-News that a 37-year-old man was a suspect in the stabbing Friday of a man in Jourdanton. Reyes says it appears the suspect then traveled to nearby Poteet where he stabbed a second person. Both victims were taken to a hospital but their conditions were not known Saturday. A trooper spotted the suspect in Poteet and Reyes says the man pulled a knife. The trooper fired multiple shots and it's not clear how many times the suspect was struck. He died at the scene. The Texas Rangers are investigating the shooting. A 3-year-old girl is in critical condition after Fort Worth police detectives discovered she was shot in the head Friday morning, police say. Fort Worth police officers found the girl with a "severe head injury" when they responded to the 1300 block of Clinton Avenue just before 11 a.m. Friday. The girl was immediately taken to Cook Children's Hospital, police said. Police said the girl's mother and father were the only two adults home at the time of the incident, but there were also twin 2-year-olds present. Child Protective Services removed the children from the home. As of Saturday afternoon, the 3-year-old was still alive, no arrests had been made and police were working to determine how the gun was fired. To help make sure you stay informed on the most shared and talked about stories across North Texas, each Saturday and Sunday we'll revisit 5 stories from the previous week and capsulize them in this digest with the most recent updates. In our 5+5 format, we published the first 5 on Saturday morning, while you can find the second five below. Week Before Accident, Elevator Company Warned JPS Hospital to Stop Untrained Employees From Making Repairs An elevator repair company demanded that untrained John Peter Smith Hospital employees stop making repairs or resetting elevators themselves a week before a nurse was seriously injured in an elevator accident. Click here to read more about this story. An elevator repair company demanded that untrained John Peter Smith Hospital employees stop making repairs or resetting elevators themselves a week before a nurse was seriously injured in an elevator accident. After 50-Foot Fall, Teen Warns Others of Taking Dangerous Selfies Triston Bailey, 18, came close to dying after he tried to take a selfie with the Dallas skyline. Now, he is discouraging other of risking their lives to get the perfect shot. Click here to read more about this story. Triston Bailey, 18, came close to dying after he tried to take a selfie with the Dallas skyline. Now, he is discouraging other of risking their lives to get the perfect shot. UNT Set to Acquire Properties, Possibly by Eminent Domain The UNT Systems Board of Regents has approved the acquisition of four privately owned properties on Avenue C through the use of eminent domain, if necessary. Click here to read more about this story. The University of North Texas is set to continue its expansion, last week the board of regents voted to acquire four properties by purchase or eminent domain. One business owner says his restaurant is not for sale. Deadly Crash, String of Organ Donations Connect Families After a couple loses both of their children in a car crash, the organ donations made saved the lives of five others -- including the crash victim's mother months later. Click here to read more about this story. After a couple loses both of their children in a car crash, the organ donations made save the lives of five others -- including the crash victim's mother months later. Celina BBQ Restaurant Receives High Praise A BBQ restaurant in Celina is getting high praise from Yelp users. Click here to read more about this story. A BBQ restaurant in Celina is getting high praise from Yelp users. A driver struck two Dallas Sheriffs vehicles, sending one deputy to the hospital Sunday. At about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, two Dallas Sheriffs deputies were working an accident on the left hand side of I-35E going northbound. The deputies were blocking two left lanes and had their emergency lights on for an 18-wheeler that stalled. A 2005 Dodge pickup truck then struck both Dallas Sheriffs vehicles and attempted to flee the scene going northbound on 35 N Louisiana. The impact from the hit caused an item that one of the deputies had in the center console to hit her in the head, leaving a small lump. A search was initiated and the suspects vehicle was found abandoned at a Wednys restaurant off of 510 S. Beckley Avenue. Shortly after that, the suspect, identified as 39-year-old James Craig Supplee, was found a couple of blocks away in an alleyway off of 115 S. Beckley Avenue and was taken into custody for a DWI. The deputy who suffered a head injury was treated at the hospital and discharged. One man is dead after his kayak overturned on Lake Ray Hubbard Saturday afternoon, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue officials and Texas Game Wardens. The man was in a group of five kayakers -- four males and one female -- whose vessels flipped on the lake, Dallas Fire-Rescue said. Two of the five made it to shore, while the other three -- including the man who died -- were pulled onboard by a boater. The man, identified as 23-year-old Linto Philip, was unresponsive and transported to a local hospital, while responders attempted life-saving measures. The Dallas County Medical Examiner is working to determine Philip's cause of death. Rescuers responded around 3:50 p.m. Saturday when the boater called 911 after he spotted the kayakers in the water, according to Dallas-Fire Rescue. The two kayakers who made it to shore were expected to be OK, Dallas Fire-Rescue said. The Dallas Police Department and Texas Game Warden were investigating the scene. The people of Okinawa voted Sunday on a plan for a U.S. military base relocation in a referendum that will send a message on how they feel about housing American troops in Japan, who many see as a burden on the group of tiny southwestern islands. The referendum is technically not binding but interest is high for testing the public sentiment about the plan to relocate Futenma air base, which is pushed by the national government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The plan has its beginnings in 1995, when outrage erupted against U.S. service members over the rape of a 12-year-old girl. Futenma was long criticized as dangerous, being in a residential area. Washington also agreed to transfer some personnel to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. A replacement base is on a coastal landfill in an area called Henoko. Critics say wildlife such as coral reefs and the dugong will be hurt. "There are so many American troops here. Of course, 99 percent of them are good people, but then there is that 1 percent who do evil things. It's hard for us," said Tomomichi Shimabukuro, who runs a seaside inn called Churaumi-kun. "I feel most people of Okinawa are going to vote in protest of the plan," he said in a phone interview. Japanese media surveys have shown voters are likely to reject the Henoko plan. Nearly 1.16 million residents were eligible to vote. Interest has been strong, not only in the rest of Japan but among pacifists internationally. The referendum asked: "On the landfill for the construction of the U.S. military base planned by the government in Henoko, Nago city, to replace Futenma air base," with the answers being: "I agree," ''I oppose," or "Neither." Although Okinawa makes up less than 1 percent of Japan's land space, it houses about half of the 54,000 American troops stationed in Japan, and makes for 64 percent of the land used by the U.S. bases, under a bilateral security treaty. Japan relies heavily on the U.S. for its defense, and the government has said it will not abide by the referendum, even if the Henoko plan is rejected. Over the years, Henoko has drawn countless protests and sit-ins. The election last year of Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki, the son of a Japanese woman and a U.S. Marine he has never met, has injected renewed energy to the movement. Skeptics are worried the costs for a landfill base like Henoko may keep growing, the runway may end up being too short and the government may not close Futenma, after all. Some in Okinawa are wondering why U.S. military operations can't be moved to other parts of Japan. Such plans have been repeatedly brought up with little progress, making some in Okinawa feel they are getting second-class treatment. Col. John Hutcheson, spokesman for U.S. Forces Japan, said the Henoko agreement is a bilateral deal aimed at closing Futenma, while maintaining what he called vital capabilities for regional security. He declined to comment on the referendum, saying it was a domestic political issue. "We are committed to maintaining good relations with local communities on Okinawa and do our best every day to balance their concerns with the necessity to maintain readiness in support of our treaty commitments," he said. Connecticut lawmakers have scheduled a hearing for the public to weigh in on the reappointment of several state judges, including Chief Judge Alexandra DiPentima of the state Appellate Court. The Judiciary Committee hearing is set for 10 a.m. Monday in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. The committee plans to vote on the reappointments later in the day. State judges serve eight-year terms and reappointments must ultimately be approved by the Judiciary Committee and by both the state Senate and House of Representatives. DiPentima has been on the state's second-highest court since 2003 and has been chief judge since 2010. Also up for reappointment is former state Supreme Court Justice Lubbie Harper Jr. as a state trial referee. Referees are judges over 69 years old who hear certain cases. To help make sure you stay informed on the most shared and talked about stories, each Saturday and Sunday we'll revisit 5 stories from the previous week, including the most recent updates. Robert Kraft Charged With Soliciting Prostitute New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was charged Friday with soliciting a prostitute in Florida. Kraft was one of several people arrested in a prostitution sting centering on a day spa in Jupiter, Florida, according to police. Kraft is facing two counts based on two separate visits to the spa, police said. A spokesperson for Kraft categorically denied that Kraft engaged in any illegal activity. Read more about the arrest here. State Senate Candidate Fires Campaign Manager Over Controversial Tweet Republican State Senate candidate Bill Wadsworth fired his campaign manager Thursday over what many are calling an anti-Semitic tweet. Nicole Palmieri tweeted a photo of Wadsworth's opponent, Derek Slap, standing with Sen. Richard Blumenthal and the text "Even Dick isn't safe from Slap's money grabbing." Wadsworth said the tweet appeared anti-Semitic and he apologized to Slap. Read more on the story here. A candidate for the state Senate has fired his campaign manager over what many are calling an anti-Semitic tweet. Coast Guard Lt. Accused of Planning Mass Killings A lieutenant at U.S. Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C., is under arrest for weapons violations and stands accused of plotting a major attack and creating a list of targets who are Democrats and media personalities. Prosecutors said 49-year-old Christopher Paul Hasson is a domestic terrorist who "intends to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country." Among those on the list was Sen. Richard Blumenthal. See more about the arrest here. Hartford police are investigating several recent armed robberies related to a pair of online buy-and-sell applications. UConn Health Says Data Breach Could Impact More Than 300,000 UConn Health is warning patients about a data breach that could impact more than 300,000 people. People who might have been affected will be receiving letters by mail if UConn Health has a valid mailing address for the person. The company is offering free identity theft protection services to those impacted. Learn more here. UConn Health is warning patients about a data breach that could impact more than 300,000 people. Pope Francis Holds Vatican Summit on Sex Abuse Bishops from around the world gathered at the Vatican for a summit to address clergy sexual abuse and the cover-up that has gone on for decades. Pope Francis offered the bishops 21 proposals to consider to help combat sex abuse by priests. The bishops were told their flocks want concrete actions and not just words. For more on the Vatican summit, click here. Doris Tapia never imagined that she would get to watch the Oscars at a party in Los Angeles, exchanging the sneakers she wears when she takes care of children in New York for a pair of high heel shoes. The Peruvian nanny is among dozens of domestic workers who will be honored Sunday as the "heroes of our homes" in a red carpet event organized by the National Domestic Workers Alliance. The event also has the support of "Roma" director Alfonso Cuaron, activist Tarana Burke and actresses Diane Guerrero, Eva Longoria and Olga Segura. "It is a privilege to be part of this event. I could have never imagined I would be stepping in a place like this," Tapia said in Spanish, shortly before her trip to Hollywood. "And yesterday trying our dresses on! It was such a lovely experience of camaraderie," she added later about the garments donated by Rent the Runway. The Mexican movie "Roma" is nominated for 10 Academy Awards and stars Yalitza Aparicio as Cleo, a domestic worker for a Mexico City middle-class family in the turbulent early 1970s. It has given domestic workers global visibility and started a conversation about the importance of their job after years of being poorly paid and underappreciated. "There are 2 million women who do this work and are not protected by our labor laws," said Ai-jen Poo, executive director at the alliance, an organization founded in 2007 that promotes the rights of domestic workers in the Unites States. "They are taking care of our families, but they can't take care of their own families doing this work," she said. "We think this is a huge opportunity to expand our support for making these jobs dignified jobs and for valuing" the workers. Inspired by his childhood, Cuaron has dedicated "Roma" to his nanny Libo. Since its August debut at the Venice Film Festival, where it earned the Golden Lion, it has received accolades and awards at the Golden Globes and the British film academy's BAFTAs, among others. Meanwhile, the director has advocated for domestic workers' rights and has spoken against racial discrimination in Mexico, where the success of Aparicio a newcomer of indigenous origin and the daughter of a domestic worker has generated derogatory remarks. Cuaron recently made a public service announcement calling on employers of domestic workers to "pay fairly, set clear expectations, and provide paid time off." He also invited support of Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, a legislative effort to provide rights and protection denied for decades, as well as use of Alia (https://www.myalia.org/,) a benefits platform for housecleaners created by the alliance. "If it wasn't for the work that domestic workers were doing in homes ... (other) people wouldn't be able to go do other jobs," said Monica Ramirez, gender justice campaign director for the alliance. On Sunday, the organization will be celebrating "Roma" as a "beautiful movie" and because of its social impact. Poo noted that the film made the experience and work of Cleo visible and also humanized her. "It reminds us that women who do this work are women they are mothers, they are friends, they are daughters," she said. "She's a whole human being, and those stories are so invisible in our popular culture. So we celebrate the film." Tapia, who moved to the U.S. almost two decades ago, had attended the premiere of "Roma" at the Lincoln Center in New York, where "there was no shortage of tears," she said. She expects to see the film win multiple Academy Awards. "But in fact, to me it is already a champion," she said enthusiastically. President Donald Trump announced Friday that he has selected Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, as his nominee to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Trump said in a pair of tweets that Craft "has done an outstanding job representing our Nation" and he has "no doubt that, under her leadership, our Country will be represented at the highest level." Two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters had told The Associated Press that Trump had been advised that Craft's confirmation would be the smoothest of the three candidates he had been considering to fill the job last held by Nikki Haley. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had backed Craft for the post, and she also has the support of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton, the people said. Trump's first pick to replace Haley, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, withdrew over the weekend. McConnell praised Craft as "an exceptional choice for this critical post." He added, "She has a long record of service to her state and the nation and I'm confident she will continue to serve with distinction as America's voice to the world at the United Nations." Craft, a Kentucky native, was a member of the U.S. delegation to the U.N. General Assembly under President George W. Bush's administration. She is also friends with McConnell's wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and thanked Chao for her "longtime friendship and support" at her swearing-in as ambassador. As U.S. ambassador to Canada, she played a role in facilitating the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, a revamp of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump had also considered U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell and former U.S. Senate candidate John James of Michigan for the post. Nauert's withdrawal from consideration came amid a push within the administration to fill the position, given a pressing array of foreign policy concerns in which the United Nations, particularly the U.N. Security Council, is likely to play a significant role. From Afghanistan to Venezuela, the administration has pressing concerns that involve the world body, and officials said there had been impatience with the delays on Nauert's formal nomination. Trump said Dec. 7 that he would pick the former Fox News anchor and State Department spokeswoman for the U.N. job, but her nomination was never formalized. Notwithstanding other concerns that may have arisen during her confirmation, Nauert's nomination had languished in part due to the 35-day government shutdown that began Dec. 22 and interrupted key parts of the vetting process. Nauert cited family considerations in withdrawing from the post. With Nauert out of the running, officials said Pompeo had been keen on Craft to fill the position. Although Pompeo would like to see the job filled, the vacancy has created an opportunity for him and others to take on a more active role in U.N. diplomacy. On Thursday, for example, Pompeo was in New York to meet with U.N. chief Antonio Guterres. Trump has demoted the U.N. position to sub-Cabinet rank, in a move backed by both Bolton and Pompeo, according to three other officials. Grenell had suggested he wasn't interested in a non-Cabinet role. The officials were not authorized to discuss internal personnel deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity. Haley had been a member of the Cabinet and had clashed repeatedly with former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and others during the administration's first 14 months. Bolton was not a Cabinet member when he served as U.N. ambassador in President George W. Bush's administration, and neither he nor Pompeo is eager to see a potential challenge to their foreign policy leadership in White House situation room meetings, according to the officials. Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said Craft was appointed ambassador to Canada because of her financial contributions to the Trump campaign, but said that's not unusual as past ambassadors have also contributed to presidents who have appointed them. "I think Ottawa has regarded Craft as a light weight, partly because of her background and partly because the sense is that Trump, unlike his predecessors, doesn't listen to his ambassadors or care what they think," Wiseman said. Craft is married to billionaire coal-mining executive Joe Craft, and they are major Republican donors. Craft has been ambassador during a low point in relations. Last year Trump called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weak and dishonest, words that shocked Canadians. President Trumps former personal attorney Michael Cohen, facing jail in just over two months, has been speaking with and providing information to federal prosecutors in New York, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News. According to those sources and public statements, Cohen was questioned about a donor to the presidents inaugural committee, Imaad Zuberi, who is a political fundraiser with a history of donating to both Republican and Democratic candidates. In addition, the sources said Cohen has discussed matters relevant to the Southern District of New Yorks investigation into certain members of the Trump Organization and the Trump Inaugural Committee, investigations that have previously been reported publicly. Minister of Defense participates in International Defense Conference Armenias Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan has participated in the Abu Dhabi International Defense Conference, as well as the IDEX 2019 exhibition. The minister also visited the Armenian pavilion where the countrys military production is presented, the ministry said in a news release. On February 17, Tonoyan met with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE military Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as well as Ruler of Dubai, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. During the meetings the sides discussed possibilities for enhancing defense cooperation between Armenia and the UAE. Speaking about prospects for developing bilateral military cooperation, Tonoyan attached importance to the necessity for placing the cooperation on planned and contractual bases. In Abu Dhabi, Tonoyan also held a meeting with his Greek counterpart Evangelos Apostolakis. Tonoyan congratulated Apostolakis on assuming office and invited him to pay a visit to Armenia. The Armenian and Greek defense chiefs discussed a broad range of issues concerning military cooperation. Highlighting the significant achievements in defense cooperation, the ministers expressed readiness to enhance it. Tonoyan, accompanied by Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Vahagn Melikyan, also visited the Armenian Embassy to the UAE in Abu Dhabi where they took part in a symbolic tree planting event. Tonoyan then visited the Abu Dhabi St. Martyrs Church, where the Ara Khanoyan National College is located. After welcoming a respite from the wet weather, the Bay Area will once again see deluges of rain return to the region during the early part of the workweek, according to weather officials. The incoming atmospheric river storm system is expected to hit the North Bay the hardest, dumping anywhere from 5 to 9 inches of rain in the region's hills and mountains and 3 to 5 inches along the coast and in the valleys, according to the National Weather Service. Those expected rainfall totals have prompted the weather service to issue a flood watch for Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties between Monday afternoon and Wednesday night. The weather service warned that the inundation of rain across already waterlogged terrain could cause the Russian River, Napa River and low-lying areas to flood. Flash flooding could also be possible between late Monday and Tuesday night. "Do not attempt to cross flooded roadways," the weather service advised. San Francisco, the Peninsula, the East Bay and the South Bay will all be under a flash flood watch between Monday afternoon and late Tuesday night, according to the weather service. Between Monday and Tuesday night, 4 to 6 inches of rain could fall in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the weather service reported. Spots near the coast and along the San Francisco Bay could pick up 2 to 4 inches. Locations in the Santa Clara Valley are slated to collect 1 to 2 inches. This winter's rounds of wet weather have drastically improved California's standing when it comes to the state's battle against drought. As of last Tuesday, just over 67 percent of the state was free from any drought. At the start of the calendar year, that number was just below 8 percent. (Natural News) The fake news media is once again using a bogus story to push left-wing dogma on an unsuspecting public. This time, multiple media outlets have been spreading news of a fake study designed to showcase sexist hiring practices in the tech industry. Anyone with a brain should find it hard to believe that the overwhelmingly leftist tech industry is guilty of the extreme sexism theyve been accused of. But it seems the intolerant Left just cant get enough of eating its own. Indeed, the mainstream media was quick to condemn the entire tech industry for sexism. Over Twitter, posts about raging sexism in tech got thousands upon thousands of likes and shares and all of this outrage was based on nothing but pure lies. Will The New York Times and the Washington Post be given the scarlet letter for their continued abuse of power and their failure to engage in honest reporting? Probably not. Fact-checkers like NewsGuard dont actually serve to preserve truth they exist to advance the left-wing narrative, and to help usher in an age of totalitarianism. Sexism study is a sham As Breitbart reports, multiple mainstream media outlets reported on an experiment allegedly conducted by a tech recruiting firm named Speak with a Geek. This study supposedly found that the tech industry was overwhelmingly biased against women. An article by The New York Times declared, In a 2016 experiment conducted by the tech recruiting firm Speak With a Geek, 5,000 resumes with identical information were submitted to firms. When identifying details were removed from the resumes, 54 percent of the women received interview offers; when gendered names and other biographical information were [sic] given, only 5 percent of them did. The Times, the Post, Bloomberg and other media big shots were quick to publicize the findings and admonish the tech industry. News of the study spread like wildfire, with left-leaning social media users sharing the story and expressing their pseudo-outrage over the purported findings. But for Vox writer Kelsey Piper, something just didnt add up. And Piper was right: None of the articles about the study ever actually linked to the evidence. Speak With A Geek, the firm that led the study, doesnt have a web page and appears to be defunct. The study doesnt seem to exist. You cant read it anywhere. The only info we have is whats in the media, Piper stated further. It would seem that this study is noting more than a fake news ploy, dealt right into the hands of blood-thirsty leftists. Fake news gets a free pass As Breitbart notes, NewsGuard a highly contested anti-fake news app gives the Times piece on the bogus research a green or true rating. In fact, there are a number of stories about sexism in the tech industry, with many accusations that women are under-represented in tech. But is that really true? Statistics from Catalyst show that women make up about 20 percent of the workforce in high-tech occupations. This, leftist say, is a clear indication that women are being marginalized and maligned by the entire industry. And if you were to look at only the number of women working in tech, you might find that to be true. However, it is also important to look at how many women actually want to work in tech. The same stats published by Catalyst also show that only 18 percent of female college students are earning degrees in tech-related fields. In other words, the number of women working in tech accurately reflects the number of women graduating college with degrees in tech which indicates there is no bias at all. Except, of course, for the bias of the liberal media. See more coverage of the mainstream medias latest scams at Propaganda.news. Sources for this article include: Breitbart.com Catalyst.org (Natural News) Researchers at the Center for Lighting Enabled Systems & Applications (LESA) at Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York and the controlled environmental agriculture (CEA) team in Ithaca-based Cornell University are teaming up to work on a $2.42 million program to promote urban farming, which is the production of food in a heavily populated city. The grant for the three-year program comes from the National Science Foundation through its new funding initiative called Innovation at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water (INFEWS). Researchers say that CEA, which include greenhouses or plant factories, can provide new options other than the usual systems of field-based production and multi-state transportation to provide metropolitan areas with locally produced vegetables. Other benefits of metro CEA include less frequent transportation of the food, decreased water use as compared with field-based production, job generation, and inevitably, economic growth. (Related: How to get your communit moving towards food independence.) Through the RPI and Cornell partnership, this research addresses many challenges currently being faced by metropolitan food producers. We look forward to utilizing advanced technologies to increase resource use efficiency across the urban farming industries, Tessa Pocock, TESSA senior research scientist and a global expert on photobiology and relationships between lighting and plant physiology, said. Pocock will study how light-emitting diode (LED) light programs affect water use efficiency and nutrient content of crop plants. She will be helped by Rensselaer department of civil and environmental engineering associate professor Marianne Nyman. I look forward to being a part of this exciting project in advancing the field of urban farming research by inventing new analytical measurement methods for selected xanthophylls (nutrients) as these types of standards are very expensive for general use. The collaboration with researchers from RPI and Cornell will create opportunities for us to also evaluate novel systems to optimize economic benefits as well as water, energy, and other resource use efficiencies in CEA vegetable production, Nyman said. Completing the band of researchers is a team of CEA experts led by Neil Mattson, the lead investigator of Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering Consortium (GLASE) at Cornell and associate professor in the Horticulture Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell on CEA economic modeling, system design, and workforce development. France tops food sustainability list, U.S. all the way down at no. 21 France topped the Food Sustainability Index in 2017, which London-based Economist Intelligence Unit uses to assess 35 countries based on standards such as environmentally friendly agriculture, quality nutrition, and food waste. In 2016, France became the first country to require supermarkets to give unsold food to charities. So where does the United States figure in all this? The U.S. is at number 21. This probably might have something to do with the fact that America faces huge problems when it comes to food waste. Food waste is the second largest component of the countrys waste stream, right behind paper, and comprises 18 percent of the material that is collected by the waste management system annually. Too much food waste decays in a landfill is bad for the environment, as they cause the release of methane gas in the air, thus polluting the atmosphere as it becomes a greenhouse gas. To gain more knowledge on food sustainability, urban farming, and food independence, visit FoodSupply.news. Sources include: News.RPI.edu OneGreenPlanet.org (Natural News) For at least the past decade and especially since Donald Trump was elected president the Left has been engaged in a full-scale, hate-driven, identity politics war against conservative Americans. Even as they claim to somehow be the perpetual victims of hate, Leftists are actually the ones that have kept themselves busy, day in and day out, inciting as much hatred as they can get away with against people who support President Trump and more specifically, against people who reject the godless religion of liberalism as societys moral compass. You might even say that hate is the currency of the Left, and that Leftists manufacture it on an as-needed basis much like the private Federal Reserve with its fake funny money in order to push whatever agenda of division is on the days menu. One week, Leftists are spreading lies about white kids wearing MAGA (Make America Great Again) hats while mocking Native American elders, fueling sentiments of anti-white racism. The next week, theyre spreading myths about gay, black men being lynched by yet more white guys in MAGA hats, again promoting racial animosity against white people. Back in the fall, Leftists were busy dredging up ridiculous conspiracy theories about an innocent white man who they falsely accused of sexually assaulting some woman he barely even knew, creating more societal division. And on and on goes the Leftist merry-go-round of hate, hate, and more hate. All the Left knows how to do is hate, in other words. And yet Leftists are notorious for projecting their hatred onto conservatives, as if conservatives are the ones constantly spreading all this hate. But to anyone whos actually paying attention, nothing could be further from the truth. For more related news, be sure to check out Evil.news. The Left Cult is an extremist religion based upon the doctrine of hate In all truth, the Left Cult is actually a religion centered around hate, with hate as its number-one doctrine. Theres nothing that gets Leftists going more than something new to hate, whether that be white people, straight people, conservative people, or really any people with whom they disagree on pretty much anything. The mainstream media is filled with Left Cult haters who openly trumpet their hatred for Christian people, as another example, drumming up fake news story after fake news story in order to tarnish the reputation of Christians, simply for kicks. However, in many ways, the thing Leftists hate the most is themselves, as they constantly project their self-loathing as contrived outrage over what they falsely claim other people are doing. Whether its concepts like white privilege or systemic racism, Leftists love to pretend as though everyone else is guilty of the things for which they, themselves are guilty. Remember: Everything the Left does is rooted in fakery and fraud, Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, reminds us all. Even the Russia collusion narrative is a complete hoax. Hands up dont shoot was a hoax. The rape train claims against Kavanaugh were a hoax. Many observers say the Charlottesville vehicle attack was instigated or staged, too. Barack Obama and Eric Holder tried to pull off a massive gun crime hoax with Operation Fast and Furious, and there are elements of nearly every mass shooting that raise huge questions about the authenticity of the reports surrounding those events (such as the fact that Broward County sheriffs deputies were ordered to stand down outside the school and did nothing while the shooting took place). For more news about the Leftist obsession with hoaxing the public, be sure to check out Hoax.news. Sources for this article include: NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) If youve had the misfortune of getting sick this winter, theres a good chance the experience has left you seeking ways to enhance your immunity. While eating foods rich in vitamins and using herbs like echinacea can make a difference, theres one way you can help out your immune system that you might have overlooked: addressing the effects of glyphosate on your system. Glyphosates link to cancer rightfully gets the most attention, but its also important to keep in mind that it can threaten your bodys defenses by lowering your levels of glutathione. This is your bodys top antioxidant, and one study even suggests that its so important that the amount of it in your cells can predict your life expectancy. Unfortunately, glyphosate has been found to cause significant changes in your cells by depleting the body of glutathione, reducing their ability to protect from bacteria and other invaders. If youre not already sticking to organic food, switching should be your first course of action. Even if youve made the switch a long time ago, however, youre not out of the woods; there is simply too much glyphosate in our food supply and environment to successfully avoid every last trace of it. Moreover, factors like aging and stress can also deplete glutathione, so even a little bit of glyphosate exposure, when combined with other factors, can leave you lacking this master antioxidant. Thankfully, researchers have found ways that you can reverse its effects when it comes to antioxidant depletion. Supplementing with vitamins C and E can raise your levels of glutathione as well as another important antioxidant, superoxide dismutase, reducing the damage that glyphosate causes. You can also get vitamin C from foods like red peppers, strawberries, and oranges. In addition, vitamin C can protect against the effects of other synthetic chemicals. For example, one study showed that taking vitamin C prior to exposure to a neonicotinoid insecticide known as imidacloprid protected mice from the oxidative stress it causes. The researchers believe it has this effect by reducing fat oxidation and boosting the livers antioxidant defense systems. You can also choose foods that are known to help decrease the oxidative stress in your body and raise glutathione levels. Those rich in sulfur, like onions, garlic and eggs, are a good starting point. You can also start eating more cruciferous vegetables like kale, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. Glyphosate impacts immunity in several ways You might already be aware that glyphosate has been linked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which is a cancer of the immune system. In fact, a recent analysis found that it raises your risk of cancer by 41 percent, despite Roundup manufacturer Monsantos insistence it isnt harmful. Thousands of people with the condition are suing the company; a former school groundskeeper with the disease was awarded $289 million in damages by a jury last year, although this was later reduced to roughly $78 million after Monsanto appealed. Another way glyphosate can compromise your immunity is by destroying the beneficial bacteria in your gut, such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. These helpful bacteria assist your body in absorbing nutrients, producing vitamins and fatty acids, and neutralizing toxins, in addition to giving your immunity a boost. If you want to help restore your bodys good gut bacteria, one step you can take is eating fermented foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir, or kimchi. You should also eat foods that are rich in polyphenols, such as dark chocolate and cocoa, green tea, blueberries, and red wine. You are likely exposed to more glyphosate than you think, no matter what steps you take to minimize your exposure, so protecting your immunity with the help of probiotics and vitamin C should be a top priority. Sources include: NaturalHealth365.com Edition.CNN.com (Natural News) Isnt it quite ironic that there is not one single photo or video clip of President Donald J. Trump being a racist, when 50 million Americans have been brainwashed by the media to believe that he is one? In fact, before he ran for POTUS, there was never any mention of it ever, because hes quite the opposite a fair, just, and considerate human being. Its all been a media hoax thats been scripted, staged, and perpetuated with propaganda, just like the Jussie Smollett lynching hoax. Can you see it now? There is a formula for insanity in America, and its mixed carefully and methodically, then prescribed to the masses. Nothing else would explain why tens of millions of Americans would literally murder a Trump fan in cold blood if they knew they could get away with it, right now. Any sane, responsible person whos not doped up and dosed up on chemicals and propaganda would not have so much rage built up inside them over a couple years of political rip-rap. There were plenty of Americans who figured out that Obama was a traitor who sought the destruction of the Republic, yet still, we werent all going around mauling Obama fans to vent our frustrations, or staging hate crimes for attention and to fuel dissonance and division in our country. The Left is wrought with triggered freaks acting like neanderthals with their smart phones. Oh, the irony of it all. The formula for insanity boils down to a combination of toxic food, toxic medicine, and toxic news It all boils down to a combination of toxic food, toxic medicine, and toxic news, thats all repeatedly consumed for months, and even years on end. To date, not one single Trump supporter has outright started a riot, murdered anyone for not supporting Trump, or staged a hate crime to make it look like they were attacked by the Left. Not one. Yet we see hundreds of hate crimes coming from the Left. We see real ones from Black Lives Matter and Antifa, all funded by you-know-who (Nazi-Sympathizing Billionaire George Soros). We see fake hate crimes planned, funded, staged, and then blasted across mass media (MSM) and all of social media like a Blitzkrieg, with no proof theyre real, from the Covington Catholic School MAGA teens to the latest with Jussie Black on Black Smollett. And why do 50 million Americans believe all these lies, propaganda, staged events, and funded domestic-terrorism propagated from the Left? Well, because the message is repeated a million times over, while all the Democrats are doped up on chemicals. Its a simple formula for simple minds that watch the boob tube over their GMO dinner each night, and who all read the bloody newspapers, thinking all fake news is real. They know nothing of real news. It never reaches them. They wouldnt believe it if it did. Did you know heavy metal toxins impair cognitive ability? The high doses of mercury in the influenza vaccine arent there because its the only preservative the vaccine industry can use to keep bacteria out of the multi-use jabs. No. That thimerosal is in there to dumb down society so the sheeple will believe the mentally challenged fake news on CNN. Why do you think CNN is the only news on TV at every airport, bus station, and train terminal in the USA? Did you know that most prescription medications dont work at all? They are designed in laboratories to cause horrific side effects. Thats not some byproduct or rare happenstance after taking your medication as directed. Nope. Brain fog, dizziness, depression, anxiety, irritable bowels, drowsiness, headaches, and trouble sleeping are all part of the design. Thats what keeps the masses from engaging in any critical thinking that may have them challenge the shallow official narrative thats plastered across all media. Get it? Its all about ignorant, emotional reactions to fake news on a daily basis and its all controlled by the Tech Giants and the Deep State Did you know consuming chemical pesticides affects your ability to rationalize, communicate, navigate, and remember previous events? Even pollinators, like bees, lose their way and fail to do their job correctly when dosed with toxic neonicotinoids, a very popular, systemic agricultural pesticide. All genetically modified U.S. crops contain pesticides inside the genetic makeup of the seeds and plants, so you cannot wash off that poison. This fuels confusion, memory lapse, and yes, dementia. Still blaming and hating on Trump? Did you know that the fluoride in most U.S. tap water lowers IQ? Same goes for canola oil. It sure does. In-depth research already proves both of those points as scientific fact. Have you noticed over the past two years, that if you are a Trump supporter, and you are accused of a crime, you are GUILTY until proven innocent (youre basically tried and torched by the media immediately and relentlessly); however, if you are a Trump hater and you are accused of a crime, you are INNOCENT until proven guilty, and the media bastardizes, censors and blacklists anyone who says otherwise? The evil MEDIA SPIN controls 50 million or more American sheeple right now will they wake up before theyre doomed forever? That, my friends, is called the media spin. The controlled narrative. The official narrative, and CNN, New York Times, and the ultimate rag Washington Post, are always the first to jump on the hoax train and find the Right guilty and the Left innocent, of everything. Remember the Bret Kavanaugh scandal? Then, just last month, when three lead Democrat politicians from Virginia were all accused of racism and horrendous crimes, including sexual assault charges, the media said they were all innocent. Even when they get caught, you never see the fake news media or any celebrities retract, apologize, or recant their lies and propaganda. They just go silent. The formula for insanity only works, though, if you take it. So, if you just eat organic food, tune into truth media, use natural remedies for immune building and ailments, then you will be able to think critically and know the difference between freedom and total tyranny. This has been a public service announcement from Natural News. Sources for this article include: NationalSentinel.com NaturalNews.com Censored.News NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com WorldHealth.net (Natural News) One of the most astonishing truths of our modern information age is that the vaccine truth movement is winning the information war, despite the incessant, coordinated censorship of nearly all online content that questions the supposed safety of vaccines. The vaccine deep state, as I have called it, now finds itself in an all-out panic. The CDC and Big Pharma propagandists have been waging a desperate war to pressure the tech giants into censoring all information that questions the official vaccine narrative. Pinterest is in such a panic that they blocked all searches on vaccines, and Facebook has announced theyre going to start blocking all content that questions vaccine safety. YouTube also just initiated a massive site-wide demonetization of vaccine skeptics videos, while burying those videos in search results for good measure. The desperation is clear: The vaccine industry absolutely cannot allow people to question the propaganda of the vaccine deep state, which depends on ignorance and lies to maintain its own existence. No scientific questions are allowed, since the vaccine industry isnt based on science its a dangerous dogma, and dogmas are not allowed to be questioned (or they might implode). Thats why we all need to keep asking questions like: What are the ingredients in vaccines? (Hint: Theyre incredibly toxic and deliberately harmful to human neurology.) Where is the science that proves the safety and efficacy of vaccines? (Hint: It doesnt exist for most vaccines, and this admission is printed right on the vaccine insert sheets.) Why are vaccine companies granted total legal immunity from faulty products and the damage they cause to children? (Hint: Because the vaccine industry is steeped in corruption and a total lack of quality control, having zero motivation to make their products meet even the most basic safety standards.) Why are so many children made autistic within hours after being vaccinated? (Answer: Because the vaccines cause the autism, of course a simple, biological fact the vaccine industry desperately hopes you never discover.) Why are the tech giants running a coordinated mass censorship agenda targeting all content that questions vaccine safety, even when the U.S. government itself publishes quarterly statistics detailing the number of children who are harmed and killed by vaccines? (See VAERS data via HHS.) The vaccine industry wont debate any of these questions. Instead, they silence all vaccine skeptics and mandate dangerous vaccine injections at gunpoint. Then they feign astonishment that people dont believe their science The FDA says it may force nationwide vaccines of all children, essentially at gunpoint Now, the FDA is threatening to enforce nationwide vaccine mandates, essentially at gunpoint (meaning the government will use coercion and threats to force vaccine injections onto children). Alex Newman from The New America has penned an outstanding essay that explains the medical tyranny behind this recent push. Were publishing part of his noteworthy article here. FDA Boss to States: Eliminate Vaccine Exemptions, or Else by Alex Newman, The New American Unable to convince Americans to fully trust vaccines with endless marketing propaganda and even government mandates, Food and Drug Administration boss Scott Gottlieb (shown) is now threatening to use federal force. Indeed, in bizarre comments made to national media, the senior health bureaucrat threatened that growing nationwide resistance to vaccination mandates may force the hand of the federal government. In short, Gottlieb wants to force states to vaccinate children, even if it goes against the religion or conscience of the parents. Critics lambasted the comments and the sentiments as authoritarian and unacceptable. One obvious problem with Gottliebs threats is that the federal government has no power to mandate vaccines or tell states what to do on the issue. In fact, according to the U.S. Constitutions 10th Amendment, all powers not delegated to the federal government are retained by the states or the people. Of course, vaccine mandates are not listed as a federal power; therefore, as the Supreme Court has recognized, this is a state issue. Another problem for Gottliebs agenda is that his own boss, President Donald Trump, has repeatedly suggested that vaccines may not be as safe and effective as Big Pharma and its government cronies want people to think they are. But none of that appears to have phased the federal governments top food and drug bureaucrat. Speaking to CNN, a media outlet described by Gottliebs boss Trump as very fake news, the FDA commissioner tried to make his case for federal intervention. Some states are engaging in such wide exemptions that theyre creating the opportunity for outbreaks on a scale that is going to have national implications, he claimed this week, adding that if states continue down the path that theyre on, I think theyre going to force the hand of the federal health agencies. No specifics were provided, with Gottlieb saying only, You could mandate certain rules about what is and isnt permissible when it comes to allowing people to have exemptions. Right now, only three states do not allow non-medical exemptions. But Gottlieb said he is deeply skeptical of those exemptions. Before that, Gottlieb made similar comments to Axios last week, exploiting a handful of measles cases many of them in vaccinated children, ironically to push vaccination of children by fiat. Its an avoidable tragedy, Gottlieb told the online news service about measles cases, adding that he is normally a proponent of states rights but not when it comes to informed consent on vaccines. Too many states have lax laws. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has been making similar noise on the issue. By contrast, on the campaign trail, their boss sounded a drastically different tune. For instance, Trump openly and repeatedly suggested that vaccines may cause autism, highlighting the growing epidemic that he and many other prominent voices have linked to vaccinations. Dr. William Thompson, a senior scientist at CDC, became a whistleblower after discovering that the CDC was omitting important data linking vaccines to autism. We lied about the scientific findings, he explained. The CDC can no longer be trusted to do vaccine safety work. Seizing on those concerns, among other problems with mandatory vaccination, Trump called for families to have discretion in decisions about whether and when to give their children vaccines. Other 2016 GOP presidential candidates agreed. But Gottliebs comments come amid a broader global war on informed consent, religious freedom, and parental rights in vaccination. Citing the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), which is run by a known communist, the New York Times published a totalitarian screed last month calling for state and federal authorities to crack down on vaccine skeptics. In the editorial, headlined How to Inoculate Against Anti-Vaxxers, Times called on states to emulate California, where Big Pharma-funded lawmakers eliminated personal-belief exemptions in 2015. The paper also said that the federal government should consider tightening restrictions around how much leeway states can grant families that want to skip essential vaccines. Interestingly, the UN WHO, which has been caught on multiple occasions using vaccines laced with sterilizing agents in Africa and Latin America, called on governments to punish those who refuse to accept vaccines. The UN body also urged healthcare workers to lie to patients, specifically instructing them to tell concerned parents vaccines cannot cause harmful side effects, illness, and even death. In reality, the package inserts for vaccines all admit that they can cause injury or death. Even the federal government acknowledges this when it forces taxpayers not Big Pharma to accept the liability for injuries and deaths caused by vaccines. Billions have been paid out to victims of vaccine injuries and families of those who have died. But critics are fighting back. President Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), which opposes vaccination mandates, slammed the exploitation of a few measles cases to push draconian policies. It is highly inappropriate for federal officials, particularly the commissioner of the FDA who is legally responsible for regulating vaccines, to threaten state legislators with federal action if they do not tighten exemption laws, she told The New American in a phone interview, adding that vaccine laws have always been a state issue dating back to a 1905 Supreme Court case. It is our position that the federal government should not be interfering in what is clearly a state issue. To make their point, the group put up a giant ad in Times Square demanding health freedom and urging people to research the risks associated with vaccines. Also of great concern, she said, is that the vaccine industry is completely immune from liability when its products cause injuries and death. Instead, thanks to intense lobbying by Big Pharma, American taxpayers end up compensating victims of vaccines, a subsidy that is unique and unprecedented among any industry. This makes personal-belief exemptions very, very important in vaccine laws, Fisher noted. This is an informed consent issue. And informed consent has been defined as a human right since after WWII. This is also a first amendment issue freedom of religion and freedom of conscience are at stake. For federal officials to be rattling their swords and threatening state legislators is not appropriate it is interfering with states rights. Noting that there have been just over 120 measles cases so far this year out of a population of 320 million, the NVIC chief said this was not a public health emergency of any kind. However, similar media-driven hysteria was exploited by Big Pharma allies in the California legislature in 2015 to end all personal-belief exemptions there, including religious objections. They are using 127 cases of measles this year to do the same thing in other states, Fisher added. And already, there are almost 115-vaccine related bills pending in state legislatures across the country, including many that would eliminate exemptions. She urged concerned Americans to get involved in the fight using the NVIC Advocacy Portal to contact their elected officials. Read the rest of the article at TheNewAmerican.com. and be sure to follow Vaccines.news for daily updates on the governments coercion, propaganda and fake science lies that are routinely being used to push toxic vaccines onto innocent children. (Natural News) Australian researchers warned that Melbournes waterways contain high levels of dozens of different pharmaceutical drugs. These chemical antibiotics, antidepressants, and painkillers have not just contaminated the water itself, but have also tainted the local aquatic animals. According to their survey of creeks in Victoria, animals in the most heavily contaminated creek could accidentally ingest up to 50 percent of the prescribed dose of antidepressants for use by an adult human. And the animals are getting this every single day. Monash University (MU) researcher Erinn Richmond expressed her concern regarding the lack of information on the effects of human pharmaceuticals on animals. The presence of 69 different drugs in the bloodstream and organs of any animal will not end well. These pharmaceutical drugs leave the body of patients through their bodily wastes. The chemicals join all of the other toxic stuff in sewage water, which will eventually end up dumped into the nearest body of moving water. Drug-based water pollution is not just a problem in Australia. Increasing concentrations of pharmaceutical are found in waters around the world, including Antarctica. (Related: Comprehensive review finds that Arctic root is a safe and effective natural antidepressant.) Treated wastewater is not the same as clean water In most developed countries and areas with the right infrastructure, sewage ends up in a wastewater treatment plant. The bacteria in the treatment tanks can break down some of the harmful contents of sewage, which includes several pharmaceutical drugs. However, many drugs are much more resilient against the biodegrading effect of bacteria. Synthetic estrogen is one of the most infamous examples. While the latest wastewater treatment technology can deal with these sturdier chemicals, the upgraded plants are also very expensive to build and run. Richmond and her fellow researchers wanted to identify the pharmaceutical drugs in the waters of Melbourne. From 2014 to 2015, they took water samples and specimens of aquatic invertebrates from local creeks. They also caught spiders that lived near water and preyed on newly-hatched adult insects. All samples underwent testing for 98 different pharmaceutical chemicals. In their report, the researchers found traces of pharmaceutical drugs in water, invertebrates, and spiders at all sites. They even came across traces of these chemicals in a creek in the middle of a nature preserve. They identified the most common drugs as memantine, codeine, fluconazole, clotrimazol, and mianserin. Wildlife are getting huge doses of human pharmaceutical drugs The contaminated insects are eaten by bigger animals, who are eaten themselves. The concentration levels of a chemical compound increase as it goes up the food chain. That means a pharmaceutical drug will be found in much greater amounts in a high-level animal. Richmond identified the Brushy Creek in suburban Melbourne as the surveyed site with the highest levels of chemical contamination. A brown trout in those waters would get 25 percent of a adult humans dose of mianserin. Platypuses are not found in the aforementioned creek. However, the duck-billed monotreme is present in the Yarra River, which Brushy Creek empties into. The MU researchers theorize that a platypus in Brushy Creek could be exposed to 50 percent of the human dose of antidepressant. This is considered to be surprising by ecotoxicologists, given a platypus is much lighter than a human. And just because a sample set bucks the trend does not mean the water there is safer. The spiders at Brushy Creek showed lower levels of pharmaceutical drugs. This was attributed to the extremely polluted water killing off most aquatic insects, which forced the arachnids to catch non-aquatic and less contaminated prey. See PsychDrugWatch.com for more reporting on the dangers of psychiatric drugs. Sources include: ABC.net Nature.com Watch the trailer for a new film by Story in Progress following a team of scientists, explorers and conservationists surveying the effects of climate change on a remote region of the Great Barrier Reef. The full film is available to watch now. By Jerri-Lynn Scofield, who has worked as a securities lawyer and a derivatives trader. She is currently writing a book about textile artisans. The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) last week released a report, Plastic & Health; The Hidden Cost of a Plastic Planet. Its conclusion: Plastic is a Global Health Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight. Lifecycle Approach The principal contribution of the report: it takes a comprehensive look at the health impacts of plastic throughout its life cycle. This begins with the extraction and transport of fossil feedstocks for plastic, continues onto refining and production of plastic, creating consumer products and packaging, fostering toxic releases from plastic waste management. Waste disposal isnt the final stage either, as afterwards, theres the fragmentation and creation of microplastics to consider, as well as cascading exposures as plastic degrades, and finally, ongoing and continuing environmental exposures over the hundreds of years plastic remains before it disintegrates completely.. This report breaks new ground, as thus far, theres been little systematic attention to the collective problems created by the ubiquitous and increasing use of plastic throughout its lifecycle from when the fossil fuel is extracted from the ground, to final waste disposal and what happens to plastic that finds its way into the environment: To date, discussions of the health and environmental impacts of plastic have usually focused on specific moments in the plastic lifecycle: during use and after disposal. However, the lifecycle of plastic and its related human health impacts extends far beyond these two stages in both directions: upstream, during feedstock extraction, transport, and manufacturing, and downstream, when plastic reaches the environment and degrades into micro- and nanoplastics. Increasing research and investigation are providing new insights into the hidden, pervasive impacts of micro- and nanoplastics on human health and the environment (report, p.6). I encourage readers to take a brief look at the entire report, which only runs to 75 pp. I warn you, however, that its deeply depressing. In common with many others whove written about or studied the plastics problem, I realize that so far, Ive limited my focus on plastic pollution only to specific stages of this lifecycle largely waste reduction and waste management. What the CIEL reports comprehensive approach reveals is a far, far worse catastrophe unfolding as the potential cumulative health risks of effects of plastic are considered throughout its life cycle. A too-narrow focus on one stage or even several in that of that cycle underestimates the full scope of the problem. Dont Drink That Water! Just a couple of things I thought Id mention from the report. Microplastics contaminate the water we drink, the food we eat, even the salt we use to season our meals: The evidence that humans are increasingly exposed to microplastics is mounting. Recent reports suggest that microplastics are entering the human body through the water we drink, food we eat, and air we breathe. In 2018, a study from the Medical University of Vienna and the Environment Agency of Austria analyzed stool samples from participants across Finland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Austria. Every sample tested positive for the presence of microplastics and up to nine di erent types of plastic resins were detected. On average, the researchers found 20 microplastic particles per 10g of stool. The study demonstrated that plastic reaches the human gut and that all food chains are likely contaminated.202 Increasing evidence that human food and water sources are contaminated with microplastic will continue to shed light on the routes of exposure (p. 37). Tap water is contaminated by micro plastics across the globe, according to a recent study by Orb Media cited in the CIEL report: Researchers at Fredonia State University of New York analyzed 159 tap water samples from 14 countries, half from developed and half from developing nations. Of these samples, 81 percent showed particles ranging from 0 to 61 particles per liter. The results included an overall average of 5.45 particles per liter, with the US having the highest average (9.24 particles per liter) while EU nations had the four lowest averages. Water from more developed nations had a higher average density (6.85 par- ticles per liter) while the average density from developing nations was lower (4.26 particles per liter). Ninety-eight percent of particles were fibers.203 (report, p. 37). Pentagon swear jar funds entire border wall after one week Duffel Blog (The Rev Kev) A Doomsday Vault In India Holds Frozen Storage For The Survival Of Future Generations Forbes (David L) Permafrost, the climate change time bomb SCMP A software glitch is throwing riders off of Lime scooters Quartz (The Rev Kev) Right to Repair Legislation Is Officially Being Considered In Canada Motherboard Southwest Airlines mechanics are worried the planes are falling apart Salon Catholic Church destroyed secret files on paedophile priests, cardinal admits ABC News (Australia)(The Rev Kev) Camille Paglia: Sexism and the Star Is Born Films (Guest Column) Hollywood Reporter New Cold War Putin rattles sabre as nuclear pact collapses Asia Times. Pepe Escobar This new history of the Christian genocide during the Ottoman Empire sounds a dark warning for the future Independent Robert Fisk Brexit Watchdog permits 170,000 wild bird killings in five years Guardian Gilets Jaunes French boy suspected of reintroducing measles to Costa Rica DW News India China? Syraqistan Green New Deal Heres the @SenFeinstein video threaded #DianneFeinstein To recap: she engaged on substance, told them she might vote yes, and OFFERED ONE OF THEM AN INTERNSHIP. pt 1 pic.twitter.com/2Qgob2CH1V Tommy MMXIXtopher (@tommyxtopher) 23 February 2019 There seem to be various edited versions of this video floating around this threaded version is the most complete one I could find (part one above: link to six parts). New Jersey Said 10 Years Ago It Would Rank Its Most Contaminated Sites. It Never Did. ProPublica Our Famously Free Press Class Warfare AOC 2020 Big Brother IS Watching You Watch These Apps Reportedly Shared Sensitive Personal Information With Facebook Gizmodo (The Rev Kev) Police State Watch Another California Court Rules Against Law Enforcement Secrecy, Says Agencies Must Release Old Misconduct Files Above the Law Trump Transition Venezuela Antidote du jour (via): See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. THE Zimbabwe Republic Police has amended its recruitment policy that will see the age one can be accepted at Constable level reduced from 30 to 22 years, while a pass in a Science subject at O-level is now compulsory. In addition, one has to have passed five subjects in not more than two sittings including Mathematics, English Language and Science. Before the changes, minimum entry requirements into ZRP at Constable level included being aged between 18 and 30, and having five Ordinary Level passes (Grade C or better) in not more than three sittings, with English Language and Mathematics being compulsory. Chief police spokesperson Commissioner Charity Charamba said applicants who were on the waiting list had been done away with. As stated in the statement, there are no recruitments and there is no waiting list. What we have done is we have amended our policy, which will see the recruitment of an elite and capable officer. Once recruitment begins we will advertise in both the print and broadcast media, she said. Comm Charamba said the process would be inclusive of a vetting process that would weed out any criminal elements with intent to join the force to perform criminal activities under the guise of the law. Applicants should also have a good, clean background with no criminal record, read part of the statement. She said applicants would then go through a rigorous selection process. The ZRP wishes to express appreciation and gratitude to all applicants who had shown interest in the service and were on the waiting list, she said. SundayNews Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News A soldier and a Zimbabwe Republic Police Support Unit officer on Friday night opened fire at the Beitbridge Border Post towards a cross-border transporters vehicle, sending the public and other border officials scurrying for cover. Although no one was injured, the soldier, only identified as Gwaze, shot twice at the vehicle as it was passing the Customs and Excise Last Man Point near the Vehicle Inspection Office as it headed towards the exit for northbound gate. A policeman who was at the exit gate said bullets cracked and sparked on the tarmac as Gwaze fired from an AK 47 assault rifle aiming at tyres of the trailer towed by the vehicle as the driver, now known to be Gumbo Chiweshe, proceeded to the exit gate. We took cover as he shot oblivious of the danger posed to people in the direction of the car he was firing at, said the policeman. He must have fired seven times with the last two as he emerged from the VID gate shouting stop him to surprised policemen manning the gate. One policeman fired two shots towards the car which had driven past. Gwaze and another soldier ceased firing after failing to stop the vehicle, said the policeman, and the two went back picking some objects, which must have been spent cartridges.. It has since been established the two shot at vehicle number AEJ 8714 which had gone through and been cleared by the Customs and Excise Department and authorised out, a process signed for by security guards deployed at the Malume Section of the border post. Matabeleland South police spokesperson Chief Inspector Philisani Ndebele did not deny nor confirm the incident, but referred The Standard to his national boss Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, who was yet to get the report. Zimbabwe National Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Alphios Makotore had not responded to questions sent to him in the morning and his mobile phone went unanswered The Standard Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News President Emmerson Mnangagwas multi-party initiative for a national dialogue could soon reach a dead-end after three political parties withdrew citing lack of credibility among other reasons. Sources who were present during the closed door meetings said some of the political parties were beginning voice concerns over the direction the talks were taking. United Democratic Alliance (UDA)s Daniel Shumba wrote on his Twitter handle soon after the meeting saying he had formally withdrawn from the National Dialogue process which he described as insincere, choreographed, and highly compromised, with some political principals singing for their supper. We disagree with the process, purpose, issues and level of engagement. Clearly, no outcomes can be expected from this facade. The process starts with a predetermined agenda even before agreeing on the moderator, issues, or milestones. Its inconsequential and of no effect, he said. While many had hoped for a national dialogue facilitated by the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC), the organisations chairperson Selo Nare told this publication that the OPC was handling the dialogue. With regards to the facilitator, Shumba added: It (meeting) was presided over by a Nare (Selo Nare), who is clearly out of his depth, and following a Zanu PF script. They refuse to broaden the participation to include other stakeholders, he added. Some political parties who snubbed the meeting echoed Shumbas sentiments questioning Mnangagwas model of dialogue which fails the credibility test. In a letter addressed to Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet (OPC) Misheck Sibanda, Build Zimbabwe Alliance leader Noah Manyika said: No meaningful dialogue can happen without neutral and credible convener being agreed on to facilitate a broad and inclusive dialogue that will include trade unionists, political parties, civic groups and all stakeholders to ensure that the views and interests are represented. He added: It is in my view that a dialogue without MDC Alliance and any other critical stakeholders the (dialogue) will not pass credibility tests locally and globally and it is our collective responsibility and specifically that of our convener that would emerge from this process to ensure that everyone who needs to be at the table is included. While this could have been a significant development which could signal the beginning of fresh dialogue to normalise politics in Zimbabwe, another political party also slammed the door to dialogue. Peoples Progressive Party of Zimbabwe leader Timothy Chiguvare also wrote: We regret to inform you that we will not be taking part in the national dialogue due to the position we have taken as a party and intend to make our position public very soon. DailyNews Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Former President Robert Mugabe has castigated his predecessor Emerson Mnangagwa for sending soldiers to brutalise protesting civilians. Mugabe was speaking at his Blue Roof mansion in Borrowdale where hundreds of invited guests were celebrating his 95th birthday. He said, Vamwe vanofunga hukuru hunoreva kuponda vanhu, handizvo! (Some believe being a leader entails murdering people, thats not it.) Vana vaNkomo, vaMuzenda, nevanwe vakaenda handizvo zvatakasikira masoja. Masoja haatungamirire politics. (Mr Nkomo, Mr Muzenda and I did not create the army to kill people. The army does not lead politics) Ko zvino tinonzwa kunemakuva nemakuva evanhu akafa vachiurawa nemasoja, vachafushunhurwa nani? (Now we hear there are countless graves of people killed by the army, who is going to unearth or exhume those bodies?) Zvamurikuita [zvekuuraya vanhu] izvi zvichakudzokerai, mangwana, mangwana, chaiwo. (What you are doing [killing people] is going to catch up with you very very soon. Just tommorrow, it would have caught up with you) Anoda kuona mutumbi wevanhu every day, achazoona kuti vanhu vachazoda kuona mutumbi wake iye.Ndinoti kumasoja stop killing people! (He who is obsessed with seeing corpses every day will soon realize that people would clamour to see his corpse one day. I say to soldiers stop killing people!) I say to soldiers be followers of the people u want to lead, you are not even qualified to lead them. Take your places in recognition that you are not trained to lead but to follow the people, to protect them Iwe uri pamusoro uri kuda kuzvirumbidza? (you who is on top, you brag?) You are not God ED (Mnangagwa). Today you are at the top, tomorrow u will be at the bottom. Zvizive izvozvo (know that). God has his own way of punishing rogues and cruel people. You cant do without seeing dead bodies? Uri munhu akaita sei anopona nendufu? (What kind of a person are you? You feed on death? ) No! no! no! to soldiers being leaders of the people? Get the soldiers to their rightful place. Hatimbotaura zvekunyara, zvekutya kwete.(We will not shy away or be afraid to talk, no!) Lets be frank with each other. Hatingati vanhu varambe vachingorohwa musoro. (We cant continue with people being bashed on the head.) So I say to you, get your lessons correct. Lets create an environ where our people are happy, not whats happening now. Vanhu ngavade masoja, not vamatye (People shld love their army, they shld not fear the army.) This is not the environment we wanted to create navaMsika nanavaNkomo.Tinoda kuti vanhu vafare. (This is not the environ we wanted to create with Mr Msika and Mr Nkomo [late VPs], we wanted people to be happy . Tinoda kuti vanhu vaone nyika senyika yavakarwira kwete yakarwirwa nevamwe vasiri ivo. Kwete yakarwirwa nemasoja chete. We want people to see the country as the one they fought for, not one that was fought for by soldiers alone) Ndiri kukuudzai (I am telling you) straight forward. I dont care what will happen to me Ndoda kutenda kunyange vandirikutuka ivava, tinovatenda nokuuya kuzoterera (I want to thank even those I am chiding, we thank them for coming to listen). We are one pple in Zimbabwe. Tinosungirwa kubatwa nevatungamiri sevanhu vaMwari kwete sezvikara zvemusango. (Leaders are bound to treat us like Gods pple, not beasts of the forest) When we started our struggle we had principles and those principles have been abandoned. There seems to be no love lost between the two former comrades although it is ironic that Mugabe is now preaching against the use of violence. During his 37 years in power, particularly during the last 17 years, Mugabe was accused of using state security agents to unleash violence against opposition politicians and supporters, particularly during elections. Mugabe even pulled the country out of the Commonwealth of Nations after Zimbabwe was censured for violence and human rights abuses which took place after Zimbabweans rejected the Constitutional referendum of 2000. Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Theres bipartisan consensus that spiraling prescription costs and drug shortages must be addressed. President Donald Trump called this his next major priority at his recent State of the Union address. Physicians know the urgency firsthand. Consider a patient with markedly decreased vision. On examination, she had advanced cataracts but also significant retinal changes, uncontrolled hypertension, kidney failure and clouded judgment from complications of diabetes. Her condition was the direct result of stopping her diabetic medications when her insurance quit covering them. She simply couldnt afford them. According to a Consumer Reports survey, 1 in 7 patients dont fill their prescriptions because they cost too much. Contrary to the claims of some politicians, the answer is far more complex than simply legislating lower drug prices. Anyone trying to understand the root issue finds a bewildering maze of rebates, pharmacy benefit managers, backroom deals, exclusive access to formularies, and wild swings in price and availability for the same drug. Last month, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a new rule that took an important first step toward lowering prescription drug prices by reforming the Soviet-style prescription drug supply chain. Specifically, the rule would outlaw the roughly $150 billion paid by drug manufacturers to insurance pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, in the form of kickbacks, euphemistically called rebates. These are used to garner preferential positions on insurance drug formularies. These hefty kickbacks inflate the prices that patients pay and stifle competition. Middlemen expenditures are estimated to consume one-third of the cost of drugs. Additionally, HHS proposed last fall tying U.S. drug prices to those in other developed countries. While it is true that part of Americas inflated drug prices offset the markedly lower prices negotiated by government-run foreign health care systems, such a move would counteract the administrations drug channel simplification efforts by adding yet another administrative layer to the supply chain. It could also threaten prescription drug availability. If drug manufacturers cant match the price demanded by these foreign governments, that drug simply wont be offered in that health care system. According to a recent analysis, only two-thirds of newly released medications are available in the U.K, half in Canada and one-third in Australia. As a headline in the British newspaper The Guardian explained, Drugs are too expensive for (Britains National Health Service) and people are paying with their lives. The article details the many drug treatments that the government refuses to cover because of cost. Even for covered drugs, patients in other countries had to wait an average of 16 months after their launch to access them. No wonder Britain has higher cancer mortality rates than the U.S. Price controls further threaten innovation and new drug development. Researchers from the University of Connecticut and the consultancy Thomson Medstat estimate that cutting prescription drug prices by 40 percent to 50 percent, roughly equivalent to Trumps proposal, will lead to a 30 to 60 percent reduction in prescription drug development. Anti-kickback legislation would provide a much more effective initial step in reducing drug prices by eliminating the 30 percent to 40 percent middleman fees. That move, coupled with transparent pricing reforms, would launch a new era of accountability and affordability. Physicians and patients would know the cost of proposed and existing medications leading to a more rational utilization of health care resources. Insurance would have less of a role in attempting to dictate drugs to which a patient has access based on its financially interconnected middleman relationships. We have an opportunity to take the first step in reforming the pharmaceutical portion of our health care system without disturbing the drivers of innovation and availability of drugs. More government distortion to the system in the form of price controls is not the answer. Understanding the root causes driving the cost of drugs and the potential negative consequences of price controls leads to our best chance for reduced drug prices. Removing protections for the kickback structure inherent in the insurance PBM system coupled with transparent drug pricing would provide true market-based reform leading to competition and the best chance that our patients will be the recipients of the price breaks. Dr. Jane Lindell Hughes is a practicing ophthalmologist and a clinical professor at UT Health San Antonio. Arriving on campus for the first time as a freshman can be stressful for a multitude of reasons, so keeping yourself busy is key to settling into a healthy routine. In order to get into this new college lifestyle, Virginia Tech provides its students with plenty of opportunities outside the c With a highly-anticipated announcement about its flights to Hawaii expected any day now, Southwest Airlines found itself shaking off a week of unexpected delays, cancellations, labor strife, investor anxiety, and word of an ongoing federal investigation into how it weighs its baggage. The airline could surely use a little aloha spirit right now... Here's a quick recap: > Southwest last week issued an operational emergency and ordered mechanics to work after the carrier saw an increase in the number of out of service jets. This week, airline Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven lashed out at the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which represents 2,400 Southwest mechanics, suggesting it was a work disruption related to ongoing labor talks between the airline and the association. AMFA said the airline was "scapegoating" its members and was pressuring mechanics to put planes back into service. The out of service jets have led to the cancellations of hundreds of flights nationwide. > We also found out the airline is the subject of a year-long Federal Aviation Administration investigation into how it calculates the weight of customers' bags that are loaded onto the belly of Southwest jets. FAA investigators found Southwest ramp agents were hand-counting bags and then calculating totals using federally-approved average weights. But the figures were not always accurate. The FAA found the totals were sometimes 1,000 pounds heavier than the number given to pilots. In extreme cases, these weight differences can affect flight controls. The carrier said it has rolled out new digital scanners to read baggage tags to calculate precise weights, similar to how other larger U.S. airlines do it. The investigation began in February 2018, but was reported this week by the Wall Street Journal. > Southwest said Wednesday it expects to take a $60 million hit because of last month's partial shutdown of the federal government. During an earnings call in January, Southwest originally put the shutdown's impact to be $10-$15 million. The carrier reported softer than expected government-related travel bookings after the federal government fully reopened. > Southwest stock was further dragged down this week after a Goldman Sachs analyst downgraded the carrier because of the delayed launch of flights to Hawaii. The analyst said she believes Southwest will need to offer rock bottom bargain fares to fill its planes, once fares are announced and go on sale which is not something investors typically want to hear. (But it is sure music to the ears of travelers!) The carrier said customers should expect a very short timeline of when sales begin and when the first flights depart. The Dallas-based airline has not yet announced publicly whether it has obtained Extended Twin-Engine Operating Performance Standards, or ETOPS, certification from the FAA. But it is getting close: "We've completed ETOPS validation flights last Tuesday. We are now continuing our dialogue with the FAA to receive their feedback so that we may complete the final phase of the ETOPS application process to their satisfaction," a spokesman told SFGate on Friday. The airline tells SFGate it will not announce routes, sales or introductory fares until it receives the necessary federal approval. Don't miss a morsel of important travel news! Sign up for our free bi-weekly email updates! > Mother nature also dealt Southwest a bad hand at its busy Las Vegas operation yesterday. More than 250 Southwest flights in and out of McCarran International Airport were cancelled Thursday because of a rare snowstorm there. Las Vegas is one of the busiest airports for Southwest with 225 daily departures. > And then finally, on Friday morning, a computer glitch grounded Southwest flights nationwide for less than an hour. Since the problems started overnight, only a few Southwest flights on the U.S. West Coast were impacted by the outage. At Oakland International Airport, where Southwest has its largest operation in the San Francisco Bay Area, nine flights were cancelled by late morning, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Nine Southwest flights were also cancelled at Mineta San Jose International Airport, and only one Southwest flight at San Francisco International Airport was nixed. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Get twice-per-week updates from TravelSkills via email! Sign up here Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis. ADULT FICTION The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh: King has tenderly staked out a territory for his wife and three daughters, Grace, Lia and Sky. He has lain the barbed wire; he has anchored the buoys in the water; he has marked out a clear message: Do not enter. Or viewed from another angle: Not safe to leave. Here, women are protected from the chaos and violence of men on the mainland. The cult-like rituals and therapies they endure fortify them from the spreading toxicity of a degrading world. When their father, the only man they have ever seen, disappears, they retreat further inward until the day two men and a boy wash ashore. Can they survive the men? ADULT NON-FICTION The Edge of Memory: Ancient Stories, Oral Tradition and the Post-Glacial World by Patrick Nunn: This book explores the science in folk history. The author looks at ancient tales and traditions that may be rooted in scientifically verifiable fact and can be explored via geological evidence. The Edge of Memory celebrates the predecessor of written information the spoken word, tales from our ancestors that have been passed down, transmitting knowledge from one generation to the next. DVD A Simple Favor: This domestic comedy centers on Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), a mommy vlogger who seeks to uncover the truth behind her best friend Emilys (Blake Lively) sudden disappearance from their small town. JUVENILE NON-FICTION Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilots World War II Story by Marc Tyler Nobleman: After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, America was drawn into World War II. What most people do not know is that, several months later, a Japanese pilot dropped bombs on a town in Oregon. Twenty years later, he returns to that small town to apologize. This true tale is a dramatic and moving account of reconciliation after war. JUVENILE FICTION Love to Everyone by Hilary McKay: Clarry has always been a good girl, doing as she is expected. She longs for a real education and, when her brothers position at a boarding school comes open, she comes up with a plan. You will love this inspirational, funny and heart-warming story of a girl who dares to open doors that the world would rather keep closed. Did you know? At 4 p.m. today the library will welcome back Switchback to its Music Under the Dome concert series. Switchback, the award-winning duo of Brian Fitzgerald and Martin McCormack, draws on traditional Celtic music and original Americana songs that reflect their Irish heritage and Midwestern roots. This concert is free and open to the public. You do not want to miss it. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription, or activate your access, to continue reading. Muskogee, OK (74401) Today Thunderstorms. High near 85F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Numbers that tell the story of the tremendous growth expected in the Permian Basin kicked off the two-day Permian Basin Water in Energy Conference Wednesday at the Horseshoe Pavilion. Sandra Woodley, president of the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, which is presenting the conference, said that by 2025, the United States is forecast to be the world's top oil producer at 14.4 million barrels a day. Of that, 40 percent -- or 6.1 million barrels a day -- will come from the Permian Basin. By 2030, the Permian Basin already short 15,000 workers in 2017 will need 60,000 more workers, she said. That growth illustrates the challenges facing Permian energy producers, said David Helstrom, associate partner, energy insights with McKinsey & Co. "The Permian Basin is the growth engine for U.S. production; we have to do it right," he said. "There's a lot of space for growth but we have the responsibility to manage that growth." Water management is not just a challenge for operators but for the region's municipalities, as well. Midland City Council member Spencer Robnett said the city's recent agreement with Pioneer Natural Resources is a win-win for local taxpayers and for Pioneer. Under the agreement, Pioneer will pay to upgrade the city's wastewater plant and receive the treated water in return for use in its completions. Robnett said that without the agreement, Midlanders would have had to pay $174 million in taxpayer-supported debt to fund the upgrades and higher fees. The deal "let the city execute its road bond, upgrade parks, the animal shelter, police and fire facilities and more," he said. Robnett said smaller communities have been discussing the deal and how it can serve as a template for their own arrangements. And, he said, State Rep. Tom Craddick told him other legislators want similar arrangements for their own communities. Beth McDonald, president of Pioneer Water Management with Pioneer Natural Resources and vice president, Permian infrastructure development and operations, agreed the public-private partnership can serve as a model. "When you look at the partnership between Midland and Pioneer, it is a tremendous effort," she said. "But it's also an advantage for the citizens and our employees, who also are citizens and taxpayers," she said. The goal in forming Pioneer Water Management was to create safe, reliable, environmentally friendly water-handling facilities to reduce the company's fresh water use, provide a long-term supply of water for operations and an expansive infrastructure that would leverage automation and remote operations to reduce traffic and environmental impact, McDonald said. Growing water demand has challenged the Colorado River Municipal Water District, which sells water to Midland. "If you're not planning 50 years out, you're blind," said David Holt, CRMWD board president. The district has expanded its system of reservoirs, pipelines and treatment facilities to sell to customers. RELATED: Researcher details issues that could hamper production growth "Our primary purpose (for being) is to ensure their employees have water to use," he said of the operators active in the region. Produced water in the Permian Basin is projected to grow 5 percent a year to between 7.5 billion and 8 billion barrels a day by 2025, according to Helstrom. "Just the amount of produced water coming online will strain the system without everyone working together to find solutions," he said. He said the water cut is very high in the Permian Basin, with two to four barrels of water produced with each barrel of oil. If those water barrels can't be managed, operators may have to shut in wells and limit production, he said. Moultrie, GA (31768) Today Isolated thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Isolated thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. At the table, panelists Parris Smith of Lorain, Javier Espitia, of South Lorain, Shirley Reeder of Cleveland and Stanley Miller, a pastor in Lorain and Oberlin, talk about the theme The Hate That You Give - Let's Bridge the Gap" on Feb. 23, 2019. They were the speakers for the Lorain County Section of the National Council of Negro Women Inc. celebration of Black History Month in Lorain. Seated at left is moderator Sylvia DuVall, program chairwoman for the council. Jury selection and opening statements kicked off the murder trial of a Kentucky man accused in the 2016 death of a Lorain man. @MJ_JournalRick on Twitter Richard Payerchin covers Lorain City Hall, business news and other interesting stories for The Morning Journal. Reach the author at rpayerchin@MorningJournal.com or follow Richard on Twitter: @MJ_JournalRick. Richard Hogrefe, owner of the Cooke building and marketplace, will transform the space into an area for small businesses. John Hustons The Maltese Falcon, again with Bogart, is a classic and also tops my list. This film started the genre film noir, described by Webster as a type of crime film featuring cynical malevolent characters in a sleazy setting and an ominous atmosphere that is conveyed by shadowy photography and foreboding background music. Yes thats a perfect description of this fantastic film and Bogart shines in it. Thats westerns and crime, but what about romance? A top contender in the romance category has got to be Ship of Fools directed by Stanley Kramer and nominated for eight Oscars. The romance in this tense 1965 drama was delicate yet deliberate between Simone Signoret and Oscar Werner, who were both nominated for Oscars. The eyes of both are filled with pain, sadness, compassion and passion and every scene theyre in grips you like a vice. They only kiss once, keeping all their clothes on, and yet it is perhaps the best moment of any movie on my list that truly defines romance. Signoret was also in Room at the Top, a 1959 British film that won her an Oscar for her amazing performance. Laurence Harvey plays a cad and was also nominated for an Oscar. Signorets gritty performance makes it a classic. Marshall coal ash basins resolution Chairman James Mallory announced the boards resolution identifying closure-by-removal as its members preferred coal ash basin closure method. Duke Energy has described three methods of closure for the remaining unlined coal ash basins around North Carolina: closure-in-place, closure-by-removal and hybrid closure. For closure-in-place, Duke will cap the basins with an impermeable barrier where the ash is now. Closure-by-removal is the complete excavation of coal ash from the basins into a lined landfill. A hybrid closure is a mixture of the two where some ash is excavated and some is capped in place. In the past, Duke has argued against total excavation because of cost, time and community disturbance. Duke says the time it would take to excavate the ash at Marshall would stretch well past state and federal timelines for coal basin closure. The Marshall Steam Plant on Lake Norman in Catawba County is one of six sites where Duke Energy is proposing to leave its coal ash alongside a river or lake, the resolution reads. There are 17 million tons of coal ash in the unlined basin at Marshall Steam Plant where Duke Energy is balancing the risk of keeping coal ash onsite with the cost of evacuation. February 24, 2019 Venezuela - There Was A Riot At The Border But What Else Did The "Aid" Stunt Achieve? Yesterday's "humanitarian aid" stunt at the Colombian-Venezuelan border was supposed to achieve four points: to breach the border and thereby open venues that could later be used for the passage of arms and fighters, to incite large scale defections from the Venezuelan army and police forces, to demonstrate to the outside world that the Random Guyaido, who declared himself president, has a large following and is thereby legitimate enough to support him, to deliver justification for further steps against Venezuela. Point 1 was clearly not achieved. A few hundred young men attacked the Venezuelan National Guard force that closed off the border. Attempts were made to ram "aid" trucks through. Random Guyaido was nowhere to be seen. The whole thing ended in a minor riot. The violent attackers received gasoline and made Molotov cocktails to attack the guards and set the "aid" trucks alight. Here is a video that proves that. The riots continued (vid) until about midnight but neither any rioters nor the aid passed through the border. The New York Times headlines, and Guaido claimed, that some "aid" passed into Venezuela from Brazil: Some Aid From Brazil Pierces Venezuelas Blockade, but Deadly Violence Erupts Down in paragraph 17 of its story the NYT admits that its headline is fake: But as of Saturday night, the trucks remained stranded on the border, according to Jesus Bobadillo, a Catholic priest in Pacaraima, the Brazilian border town. Bloomberg's bureau chief in Venezuela confirmed that the "aid" never entered the country: Patricia Laya @PattyLaya - 4:31 PM - 23 Feb 2019 An important note from our reporter on the Brazil border @SamyAdghirni: while the aid is technically on Venezuelan territory, it hasn't crossed security or customs checkpoints The attempt to incite defections of Venezuelan security forces largely failed. A handful of National Guard foot soldiers went over to the Colombian side. But the National Guard lines held well even under a hail of stones and fire and the units were quite disciplined in taking and holding their positions. The military of Venezuela stays firmly on the side of the state. The "aid" nonsense did not help to brush up Guaido's legitimacy. Defying a court order Guaido left Venezuela and entered Colombia. If he ever goes back he will have to go to jail. The large mobilization inside and outside of Venezuela he had promised completely failed to appear. The melee at the border crossing only showed that his followers are a gang of brutal thugs. Guaido also lost his original legal position. He claimed the presidency on January 23 under this paragraph of article 233 of the Venezuelan constitution: When an elected President becomes permanently unavailable to serve prior to his inauguration, a new election by universal suffrage and direct ballot shall be held within 30 consecutive days. Pending election and inauguration of the new President, the President of the National Assembly shall take charge of the Presidency of the Republic. That the "elected President becomes permanently unavailable" was never the case to begin with. But if article 233 would apply Guaido would have had 30 days to hold new elections. The 30 days are over and Guaido did not even call for elections to be held. He thereby defied the exact same paragraph of the constitution that his (false) claim to the presidency is based on. All the above will not change the U.S. urge to "regime change" Venezuela. But it will certainly lower Guaido's support within the country as well as his international standing. It demonstrated aptly that he is nothing but an empty suit. The last aim of yesterday's stunt was to give justification for the next steps towards "regime change" - whatever those steps may be. The success of achieving that aim was never in question as all U.S. media and politicians were already backing Trump's plans by accepting the "humanitarian aid" nonsense in the first place: Bernie Sanders @SenSanders - 18:47 utc - 23 Feb 2019 The people of Venezuela are enduring a serious humanitarian crisis. The Maduro government must put the needs of its people first, allow humanitarian aid into the country, and refrain from violence against protesters. This response to the fake socialist is warranted: Roger Waters @rogerwaters - 22:27 utc - 23 Feb 2019 Replying to @SenSanders Bernie, are you f-ing kidding me! if you buy the Trump, Bolton, Abrams, Rubio line, humanitarian intervention and collude in the destruction of Venezuela, you cannot be credible candidate for President of the USA. Or, maybe you can, maybe youre the perfect stooge for the 1 %. When the day was over Guaido and his U.S. handlers put out some statements that they probably wrote even before their "aid" stunt failed: Juan Guaido @jguaido - 2:33 utc - 24 Feb 2019 Translated from Spanish Today's events force me to make a decision: to raise the international community formally that we must have open all the options to achieve the liberation of this country that struggles and will continue to fight. Hope was born to not die, Venezuela! To advance on our route, I will meet on Monday with our allies of the international community, and we will continue ordering upcoming actions to the internal of the country. Internal and external pressure are essential for liberation. Hope was born not to die! Marco Rubio @marcorubio - 2:43 utc - 24 Feb 2019 Marco Rubio Retweeted Juan Guaido After discussions tonight with several regional leaders it is now clear that the grave crimes committed today by the Maduro regime have opened the door to various potential multilateral actions not on the table just 24 hours ago. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will arrive in Colombia tomorrow to tell Guaido how to proceed. The focus will most likely be on how to start a sabotage campaign and a low level guerrilla war within Venezuela. Both will certainly hurt the country and its people but they are unlikely to achieve the larger "regime change" aim. Fact free propaganda by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is already preparing a wider field: Secretary Pompeo @SecPompeo - 3:25 utc- 24 Feb 2019 Cuban agents are directing attacks on the people of #Venezuela on behalf of Maduro. The Venezuelan military should do its duty, protect the countrys citizens, and prevent the Havana puppeteers from starving hungry children. #EstamosUnidosVE The Economist is speculating about the consequences of military intervention in Venezuela, also known as a war of aggression. It is not (yet) convinced that it is the immediate way to go, but foresees that it is likely the only way to actually "change the regime": Outsiders tend to play down the ideological commitment of some in the armed forces. [...] There are many guns in the hands of pro-regime militias. Venezuela has a tradition of guerrilla warfare. An American invasion would thus be highly risky. It would also be counter-productive, because it would deprive a new government of legitimacy and revive anti-imperialism across Latin America when the main issue is the defence of democracy. Yes, Cuba is intervening in Venezuela, and there is scant evidence that Mr Maduro will go peacefully. Even so, maintaining the broadest possible political front against him remains the best option. The next steps the U.S. will take will "soften up" its target for an upcoming invasion. They will include further measures to make Venezuela ungovernable and to starve its people into submission. One possible step, even while legally unjustifiable, is a sea and air blockade. The "soften up" phase will take many month, if not years, to achieve some noticeable changes on the ground. Only then will further action be merited. The actual point in time will depend on how it may influence Trump's domestic standing. Would launching a war on Venezuela help him to get reelected or will the war have to wait until he won his second term? Posted by b on February 24, 2019 at 14:48 UTC | Permalink Comments next page next page mothers and daughters were not meant to go to war with each other so why was I born with a battle cry for her blood Shelby Eileen, author of the fantastic poetry collection Soft in the Middle, presents the reader with sunfish, a new book exploring a fractured family and the ways in which grief and love can intermingle. The collection is loosely structured in four main parts: poems/letters addressed to her father, mother, Zaidy (a Yiddish word meaning grandfather) and Bubbie (a Yiddish word meaning grandmother). In each, the reader receives a brief insight into Eileens relationship with them. I thought that the mother and Bubbie sections were particularly strong, although this may be because I had a personal connection to these relationships. In particular, I related to the lemon language that her grandmother taught her, and their connection in being women who are hard to love. Throughout, Eileen references her Jewish faith and ancestry, describing her relationship with it alongside her grandparents, who passed away years ago: youve left me a religion that I love but a religion that I was made a stranger to I wish you had been there to stop our history and culture from being made villainous Mental health is another area that she explores throughout the collection, asking her grandmother how many times did people call you crazy. And although she clearly has a lot of complicated and twisty emotions regarding this topic, I really loved how it wasnt at all bitter or caustic. Instead, it felt like she was softly prodding a bruise, just to see how much it would hurt. She also briefly touches upon her sexuality, wondering if her grandmother would approve. If youre looking for more about sexuality and relationships, I would take a look at Soft in the Middle, Eileens debut poetry collection. Although sunfish is a short collection (fewer than 100 pages), I felt that its sharp and succinct style really allowed Eileen to quickly get to the heart of her family, and the complex histories (like riddles/like math) of the relationships. Her newest collection, Goddess of the Hunt will be published on February 20th, 2019. Trigger warnings: death of a family member, grief, mourning, emotional abuse, ableism, mention of knives, mention of blood, strong language, anti-semitism. About the author: Shelby Eileen is a Canadian writer in a perpetual state of stress concerning her unmapped future. Eileen studied at Brock University, where she earned her bachelors degree in English Language and Literature. She uses the knowledge and skills gained from her degree throughout her daily life, even if others hardly notice that she does so. One of her many dreams is to live alone in a little apartment with a cat and good writing energy. Connect with her on twitter @briseisbooks. Tagged in: poetry, book, reviews PM Modi only no. 1 in party | Asked who was the number 2 in the party, Shah said: There is only number one in our party and that is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Were you to look for a number two after him, you would not find any. As far as the leadership of the party is concerned, I am very happy to be leading the worlds largest party and often seek suggestions from my seniors whenever occasion arises. Launching a scathing attack on the Congress dispensation in Punjab, BJP president Amit Shah on February 24 alleged that the "raja-maharaja" government brought to a standstill the development projects and schemes started during the SAD-BJP rule. He also hit out at Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for hugging Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa at Imran Khan's swearing-in ceremony in Islamabad last year. Addressing a state-level BJP workers' meet here, Shah made light of the opposition parties' effort to stitch up a 'Mahagathbandhan' saying a leaderless alliance cannot take the country forward. The people of this country have made up their mind to bring the BJP-led NDA back to power, Shah said. "This grand alliance cannot take the country forward, it cannot make the country superpower. Only a government under PM Modi can do so. Can Congress party give befitting reply to terror attacks? Only Narendra Modi government can," he claimed. At the meeting, a two-minute silence was observed in memory of the 40 CRPF personnel killed in the February 14 Pulwama terror attack. Of the slain jawans, four belonged to Punjab. "I want to tell the families (of the slain CRPF men) that the blood shed by the 40 jawans will not go in vain. Our government will teach terrorists a lesson," the BJP president said. Touching upon how Punjab for decades has been meeting the country's foodgrain needs and safeguarding its borders, he said the Centre has left no stone unturned to ensure the state's development. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were always liberal in giving grants to Punjab, and the state got Rs 1,61,907 crore under the NDA dispensation as against the UPA's Rs 30,157 crore, Shah said. Shah spelled out several schemes and projects for Punjab by the Modi government, including an IIM for Amritsar, AIIMS in Bathinda, improved road network, upgradation of road network and 41 projects sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries led by SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Describing the Amarinder Singh-led Congress dispensation as "raja-maharaja government", he claimed there is no match for the previous SAD-BJP regime led by Parkash Singh Badal. "These days Capt Sahab (Amarinder Singh) has become vocal, may be because polls are near. Sometimes he also goes to office. Now, he has started saying the Centre has not done this and that. He is seeking accountability from us," Shah said. "But what about his promises to farmers, on ending the drug menace, about unemployment allowance? Even Rahul Gandhi had vowed loan waiver for Punjab farmers, but the way they came out with a loan waiver, it has not benefitted the state's peasants," Shah claimed. He alleged that several schemes started by the SAD-BJP government has been stopped by the Congress dispensation. "I do not know whether this government is the one to carry development or stop it. Raja Sahab (Amarinder Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile Patiala royals), you stopped development works," Shah said. About the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, the BJP national president said Modi government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to give justice to the victims. "For 30 years, not even a single person was punished. Now, Sajjan Kumar is behind the bars," he said. Slamming Sidhu, the BJP chief said, "He claims that he went to Pakistan and made Kartarpur Sahib corridor possible... The Pakistan Army chief who is responsible for killing our soldiers, you gave him a warm hug and the lowered country's image." "You (Sidhu) did not bring Kartarpur, but you are in that party which handed over Kartarpur to Pakistan at the time of partition, which could easily have been a part of India." Shah, instead, credited the Modi government for the corridor, linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev's - to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district to facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims. About the proposed "mahagathbandhan" of opposition parties, he sought to know from Congress president Rahul Gandhi who is the leader of this alliance. "Can the grand alliance do any good to this country? Rahul baba who is the leader of this alliance? If people elect you, who will become prime minister?," Shah posed. "The leaders of this alliance are seeking mandate from public, but they have not decided who their leader is. Whereas, we are clear that on getting majority, Narendra Modi will once again become prime minister. The BJP, the Akali Dal and our other allies are going to fight under Modi ji's leadership. "I can see the writing on the wall. Modi is once again going to be PM... Congress can daydream," he said. On the Centre announcing Rs 6,000 annual financial assistance for small and marginal farmers, Shah said Rahul Gandhi makes jokes about this scheme while demanding loan waiver. "During the 10 years (of UPA rule), they waived Rs 52,000 crore of three crore farmers. Through our scheme, farmers will get Rs 75,000 crore every year, which works out to Rs 7.5 lakh crore for 10 years," he said. Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia on February 24 said Bharti Airtel will conduct trial of the former's homogeneous fronthaul solution which can support 4G and 5G services. "The modernisation of the transport infrastructure is crucial for ensuring the ultra-high speed and extremely low latency, promised by 5G. We look forward to this trial with Bharti Airtel, which is a crucial step towards preparing the networks for 5G," Sanjay Malik, Head of India Market, Nokia, said in a statement. This trial is part of Bharti Airtel's strategy to make its network future ready to meet the growing demand for high speed data in India, it added. A Nokia official said that no final date to start trial has been decided but it is ready with the solution for trial. Nokia said this trial has the potential to improve the performance of service providers' existing network even as it prepares the network for 5G and to meet the future demand. Fronthaul equipment are installed between antenna, which receives signals, and baseband unit, which processes and directs communication in telecom network. With 5G coming in, networks will require huge capacity to process data. Nokia's converged fronthaul transport solution helps bring down fibre requirement, the statement said. "The upgrade of the transport network is also essential to cater to the booming consumption of mobile broadband services and enable world-class digital services. Nokia is our longstanding partner and we look forward to their support in our journey towards 5G," Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel, said. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. File image Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on February 23 appealed to the leaders and office bearers of his party to ensure the victory of BJP-Sena alliance in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Thackeray held a meeting of party MPs, district and taluka chiefs at the party headquarters to devise a strategy for the polls. It was the first meeting after a decision was taken to join hands with the BJP for the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls. The directives assume significance as a section of grassroots party workers are not happy with his decision to ally with the BJP. Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said, "Uddhav ji believes in a two-way approach towards party workers. He gives them guidance and takes their advice." He said Thackeray was conducting meetings at various levels, to clear doubts and answer queries of grassroot workers regarding the alliance. Meanwhile, another Sena leader quoted Thackeray as saying tthe Sena-BJP alliance's victory was very important for the country and all party workers should strive hard for it. He also said efforts should be made at the local level to pave the way for the alliance's victory. Congress president Rahul Gandhi on February 23 said he held "no animosity" towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing the hug he gave him in Parliament last July. Gandhi said he hugged the prime minister, despite Modi criticising his family in the House. The Congress chief referred to the incident, which had created a flutter last year, in response to a question during an interaction with university students here. "You (Modi) may have anger and hatred toward me, but it is not in my heart. I have love," Gandhi said. "In reality, I hold no animosity towards him," the Congress chief said. He also took a veiled dig at the prime minister, claiming that after the hug, "Modi felt how someone showed love to me (Modi)?" Gandhi went on to extol the virtues of hugs, and urged the youth to try it with those classmates who harbour any grudge or feeling of animosity towards them. "Try it, it is magic," he said. He also recalled an incident after his grandmother Indira Gandhi's death to emphasise the power of hugs. "My grandmother was more than my mother, as my mother was a disciplinarian and I would often hide behind my grandmother. After her assassination, I was very disturbed. I was very angry," he said. Gandhi said his father, Rajiv Gandhi, was in Bengal during that time. "When my father came back, he hugged me and that anger dissolved," he recalled. The condition of ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is stable and he is under observation of doctors at a hospital here, an official in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said on February 24. The 63-year-old senior BJP leader, suffering from a pancreatic ailment since the last one year and recuperating at his private residence at Dona Paula, was admitted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on February 23. Parrikar, who met State Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai in the evening to discuss politics and administration, was shifted to GMCH, almost four km from his residence, around 10 pm. "The chief minister was under observation during the night. He is stable. Doctors will decide when he will be discharged from GMCH," the CMO official said. The CMO in a statement released on February 23 said Parrikar was taken to GMCH for upper GI endoscopy (gastrointestinal examination). "His health condition continues to be stable," it said, adding he would be kept under observation for around 48 hours. Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had gone to GMCH on February 23 to enquire about Parrikar's health condition. He later said the chief minister was kept in an isolated ward and that his condition was stable and he was doing well. Parrikar had fallen ill on February 14, 2018 and was shifted to GMCH, from where he was taken to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai the next day. The chief minister returned to Goa on February 20, 2018 to present the state budget. He left for the US for treatment on March 3, 2018 and returned on June 14, 2018. He then attended monsoon session of the Assembly from July 19 to August 3, and left for the US again on August 10 for a second round of check-up. He returned to Goa on August 22, 2018 and was later shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at New Delhi on September 15. After almost a month-long treatment, he returned to Goa on October 14, 2018. Parrikar stunned everyone when he resumed his office on January 2, 2019 after a gap of two-and-a-half months. On January 27, he attended the inauguration of third bridge on the Mandovi river here along with Union minister Nitin Gadkari. He also attended the Budget session on January 29 and presented the state budget next day. On the last day of the session on January 31, he was taken for treatment to AIIMS in Delhi and he returned to Goa on February 5. Parrikar also addressed Atal Booth Karyakarta Sammelan on February 9 in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah. Ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was admitted in the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) late February 23 night, a statement said. The Chief Minister's Office in the statement said he was taken to the GMCH for upper GI endoscopy. "His health condition continues to be stable," the CMO said, adding Parrikar would be kept under observation for around 48 hours. Parrikar, 63, has been suffering from a pancreatic ailment since the last one year and is recuperating at his private residence. State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane arrived at the GMCH to inquire about Parrikar's condition. He said the chief minister was kept in an isolated ward, but his condition was stable and he was doing well. "I spoke to him (Parrikar), tomorrow he will go home. He has come here for a check up," Rane told reporters outside GMCH. "The chief minister is a fighter. He told me to go home. He is under observation. There is nothing to worry about or speculate. He is absolutely fine," the minister added. "He will be admitted for a day under observation. The doctors must have wanted some tests to be done. By tomorrow evening he should be back home, he said. The chief minister, who met State Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai in the evening to discuss politics and administration, was shifted to GMCH, almost four km away from his residence, at around 10 pm. Parrikar was diagnosed with the ailment in February last year. On February 14, 2018 he fell ill and was shifted to GMCH from where he was taken to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai next day. The chief minister had returned to Goa on February 20, 2018 to present the State Budget during then ongoing Assembly Session. He left for the US for treatment on March 3, 2018 and returned on June 14, 2018. Parrikar attended Monsoon Session of State Legislative Assembly from July 19 to August 3, and left for the US on August 10 for a second round of check up. He returned to Goa on August 22, 2018. As he continued being treated at a make-shift medical facility at his residence, Parrikar was shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences at New Delhi on September 15. After almost a month-long treatment, he returned to Goa on October 14, 2018. Parrikar stunned everyone when he joined the office on January 2, 2019 after a gap of two and a half months. On January 27, he attended the inauguration of the third bridge on River Mandovi along with Union minister Nitin Gadkari. He also attended budget session on January 29 and presented State Budget next day. On the last day of session, on January 31, he was taken for treatment at AIIMS, New Delhi and returned to Goa on February 5. Parrikar also addressed Atal Booth Karyakarta Sammelan on February 9 in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah. Union minister Kiren Rijiju Sunday accused the Congress of instigating the people of Arunachal Pradesh to protest against the move to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities living in the state. Rijiju also said Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has clarified that the state government was not bringing the bill on PRC but only tabling report of the Nabam Rebia-led Joint Hight Powered Committee comprising members and student organisations. "It means the state government has not accepted it. In fact, Congress is fighting for PRC but instigating people wrongly," he tweeted. Rebia is a cabinet minister in the state government. Rijiju alleged that the Congress has supported and "instigated" non-Arunachal Pradesh STs in Lekang area to fight for PRC but in Itanagar "misguided" the innocent people. "From the beginning I have strongly urged the state government not to grant PRC unless people are convinced of full protection of indigenous rights. We must stand united," he said. People in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh have been protesting after the state government announced it was considering issuing permanent resident certificates (PRC) to six non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APSTs) communities living in Namsai and Changlang districts and to the Gorkhas living in Vijaynagar. Amongst those communities are Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis and Mishings. Most of these communities are recognised as Scheduled Tribes in neighbouring Assam. Widespread violation have been reported in capital Itanagar and some other places leading to death of a person, injury to several others and destruction of properties and vehicles. Indian troops and police have detained more than 160 separatist leaders and activists, mainly from the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), in two successive nights of raids in disputed Kashmir, and placed new curbs on people's movements. The clampdown in towns and villages follows a suicide car bombing that killed 40 Indian paramilitary police in a military convoy on February 14 claimed by another group, the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Police say they are rounding up separatists to head off trouble ahead of a general election that must be held by May. Authorities overnight detained 60 more people from the Jamaat-e-Islami, besides more than 100 held the previous night, said a senior police officer who asked not to be identified. "Since JeI has a wider network across Kashmir and they are mobilising anti-India protests, their arrest could help in curbing such protests ahead of elections," he told Reuters. The authorities have also been detaining JeM militants, sympathizers and relatives since the attack. Separatists called for a strike to protest against the detentions and the crackdown. In response, many shops, petrol stations, and businesses closed, with fewer people and vehicles on streets in sensitive areas, except for troop patrols. In some areas of the main city of Srinagar, the government clamped down on the movement of people and vehicles. "The restrictions have been imposed as a precautionary measure to avoid any untoward incident," police said in a statement. RAISES TENSION WITH PAKISTAN Indian paramilitary troops in riot gear arrived in strength at first light, said Shakeel Ahmad, a resident of Nowhatta in the Srinagar district. "At places, they have blocked the main roads with steel barricades and concertina wire," he said. Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who chairs the region's Hurriyat Conference, said arbitrary arrests and jailing of leaders, activists and young people for their political beliefs has happened across Kashmir for 30 years. "Intimidating activists and leadership will not deter them from their path, nor will it stop people from demanding the resolution of the Kashmir dispute through self-determination," he said. Those detained include JeI's leader, Abdul Hamid Fayaz, and Yasin Malik, the head of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front that also wants independence.A Reuters' telephone calls to the Indian home ministry's media and communications department and Home Minister Rajnath Singh's residence to seek comment went unanswered. The attack has raised tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours that both claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part. India blames Pakistan for harbouring militant groups operating in Kashmir, which Pakistan denies. After the attack, India dropped trade privileges for Pakistan, and is preparing to send as many as 10,000 more troops to the contested area, according to a home ministry letter seen by Reuters. Kashmir is likely to be a key election issue, distracting from concerns about how Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party have managed the economy. Modi has promised a strong response to the attack, saying in a monthly radio broadcast on February 24 that it had caused anguish to victims' families and all of India. "This attack has filled us with angst and pain and these emotions are shared by the people of the world and those who believe in humanity," Modi said, adding that the resolve to wipe out terrorism requires Indians to sink their differences. "Within 100 hours of the attack, our soldiers have given them a befitting reply," Modi said, adding that the army had vowed to destroy the militants and those who helped them. Islamabad has warned it would respond with "full force" if attacked. The Supreme Court will hear a case next week seeking to drop a constitutional provision that bars non-residents from moving to the state of Jammu and Kashmir that encompasses the Muslim-majority region. If passed, it could further escalate tension there. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Shabbir Kayyumi Nifty took support from the previous swing low placed around 10,583 and lower Bollinger band around 10,580 levels on February 19 and index bounced back sharply. Nifty formed morning star pattern on daily time frame justifying short term bottom placed at 10,585 marks. Market is trading below its three key simple moving averages 20 DMA, 50 DMA and 200 DMA which are placed between 10,825-10,860 levels, suggesting strong resistance zone on the higher side. Middle regression line of linear regression channel is placed around 10,850 levels, while a normal bounce back towards this strong confluence zone is awaited. Sustained trade above 200 DMA (10,860) will resume the up move taking the index higher towards immediate resistance zone of 10,980-11,000 levels. Moreover, a close below the strong support (10,640) will push prices back towards 10,580 marks. Looking at the derivative structure, highest Open Interest (OI) in PUT is seen around 10,700 strikes and maximum Open Interest (OI) in CALL is around 11,000 levels. Option data indicates an immediate trading range between 10,700 and 11,000 marks. Bank Nifty - Banking index has taken support from its 200 DMA placed around 26,632 and trading higher. The immediate trading range of 27,300 on higher side and 26,500 on lower side remains intact. Trade recommendation Vedanta | Buy around Rs 165 | Target: Rs 188 | Stop Loss: Rs 155 | Upside 14 percent Vedanta has corrected from the peak of Rs 124 and currently it has shown signs of bottoming out around Rs 74-77 levels. Formation of Tweezers bottom on weekly chart is showing positive move on upside. Long bullish candle near demand zone on weekly chart is showing the possibility of bounce back further on upside. With decent volume participation witnessed, we recommend a buy in this scrip at Rs 165 with stop loss of Rs 155 for an upside target of Rs 188 levels. Jindal Stainless (Hisar) | Buy around Rs 83 | Target: Rs 93 | Stop Loss: Rs 78 | Upside 12 percent Jindal Stainless seems bottoming out at its lower levels of Rs 74-75 marks from where it is going to form double bottom pattern on daily chart suggesting upsurge on higher side. Weekly RSI seems to be bottoming out from its oversold levels and daily RSI has been taking support from its rising line which is giving cues that scrip can take a turn on northward side. Rising histogram in MACD in the negative territory showing its upside moves in coming sessions. Aforementioned rationale suggests buying in the scrip around Rs 83 for the target of Rs 93 with the stop loss of Rs 78 marks on closing basis. Hero Motocorp | Buy Above: Rs 2,680 | Target: Rs 3,000 | Stop Loss: Rs 2,581 | Upside 12 percent Hero Motocorp bottomed out near the levels of Rs 2,600 and has been forming double bottom on daily chart. Emergence of hammer on weekly chart is showing upswing move towards upside. Sustainability of RSI above 50 and positive divergence adds the conviction of buying the scrip above Rs 2,680 for the target of Rs 3,000 with stop loss of Rs 2,581 marks. Tata Steel | Buy around: Rs 498 | Target: Rs 548 | Stop Loss: Rs 468 | Upside 10 percent Recently Tata Steel gave falling channel line break out on upside which suggest trend reversal is round the corner. From last few days, it has been taking support above from its upward sloping line which implying strength. Formation of bullish belt hold while giving trend line breakout indicates stock can upsurge further higher. Buy Tata steel around Rs 498 with stop loss of Rs 468 for the target of Rs 548 levels. Eicher Motors | Buy around: Rs 20,500 | Target: Rs 22,500 | Stop Loss: Rs 19,500 | Upside 10 percent Eicher Motors has witnessed a decent correction from the peak of Rs 29780 has bottomed out at near Rs 18800 to make the chart very attractive for accumulation. Strong support is seen near Rs 20270 where 20 SMA is seen. RSI has indicated a trend reversal with a positive bias and has signaled a buy. With good volume activity witnessed, we recommend a buy in this stock around Rs 20,500 for an upside target of Rs 22,500 keeping a stop loss of Rs 19,500. (The author is Head - Technical & Derivative Research at Narnolia Financial Advisors.) 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. Representative image Kapil Sharma With the roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with effect from July 1, 2017, there has been a paradigm shift in the indirect taxation in India. With the introduction of GST, the ultimate expectation of stakeholders of the real estate sector was reduction in the effective tax rate, the benefits of which could be passed on to the home buyers making houses affordable. In order to successfully achieve this aim, the government enforced Section 171 of the CGST Act containing provisions relating to anti-profiteering. This was to ensure that the benefit of reduction in tax resulted in lowering of cost of goods/services in the hands of consumers. Section 171 deals with passing on the benefit of reduction in the rate of tax and the second pertaining to the passing on the benefit of input tax credit (ITC). It is pertinent to note that the GST authorities had been receiving complaints by home buyers against the real estate developers across India for not passing on the benefit of the increased input tax credit to the customers by way of commensurate reduction in prices as required under Section 171. In light of such countless apprehensions, a group of states finance ministers has recommended the GST Council to lower the GST rate on residential properties to 5 percent and 3 percent for those under affordable housing. The Council is expected to discuss the proposal in its meeting on February 24. Impact of anti-profiteering on the realty sector Under the service tax regime, credit of service tax charged on procurement of input services was available to the developer or builder. Further, the developers were eligible to take credit of VAT charged on procurement of goods under the regular scheme. However, the credit of taxes such as excise duty, entry tax etc. which were leviable on procurement of goods was not available to them. For the affordable housing scheme, since the service tax was also exempt, the benefit of taxes paid on procurement of services was not available to the developers. However, the introduction of GST opened up the input credit pool in respect to taxes paid on procurement of goods and services. This led to significant savings on the tax front. The focus of the scheme therefore was to pass on the increased benefit in the hands of developers (i.e. saving in tax cost) to the buyers. But if the developers did not reduce the costs, the same may be deemed to be profiteering under Section 171. Developers claim credit on input costs such as steel, cement and sand used for under construction buildings to offset the GST liabilities. Eligibility of input tax credit for real estate developers depend on whether the apartments are sold before receipt of occupation certificate and the proportion of activities completed in a project before and after July 1, 2017. For buyers, it is not possible to ascertain the amount of reduction in the price of a unit. As an alternative, home buyers can have a cost accountant or chartered accountant certifying that the anti-profiteering computation has been done and that the benefit due to the buyers has been given. Anti-profiteering on projects launched in the pre-GST regime The GST regime has led to confusion among buyers on whether the benefit of anti-profiteering will be available to those who had booked under-construction flats under the pre-GST regime on an agreed price. Construction service is a continuous activity and generally the collection from the buyers occurs on completion of various milestones. The developers are required to compute the GST savings on the residual construction cost as on the transitional date i.e. on the date of entering the GST regime. Post ascertaining such savings, the same should be passed on to the customers by recalibrating the price of units in terms of Section 171 of the CGST Act which can be adjusted with the future instalments. A dispute may arise that the actual amount of saving can only be worked out at the end of the project and it is not feasible to pass on the saving without realising it. To overcome this issue, some developers may adopt a practice to reckon the saving provisionally on reasonable basis initially, and the same can be followed by the final intimation or adjustment to the buyers at a later stage. It is worth noting that though the government is issuing various press releases, FAQs, advertisements to encourage developers to pass on the maximum savings to the unit-buyers by way of commensurate reduction in prices, it has still not suggested any definite criterion to compute the said savings. Due to this, the developers are facing a challenge in computing the amount of benefit to be passed on the unit buyers. Anti-profiteering in projects launched under the GST regime For projects launched during the GST regime, the prices need to be re-defined in the light of the anti-profiteering provision and the same shall apply to the entire housing unit. Such prices should indicate the reduced price which shall be arrived at after taking into account the quantum of savings under the GST regime and accordingly, the benefit should flow to the consumer through revised pricing structure. However, the subsequent benefits floated by the government for developers should be passed on to the buyers in light of anti-profiteering provision. Anti-profiteering on affordable housing projects From the aspect of anti-profiteering applicability on the affordable housing projects, it is clear that the price of unit shall stand reduced to the extent of increase in the benefit available to the developers. To substantiate, even the government policy on affordable housing has said time and again that the price shall be reduced (to the extent of increase in input tax credit) and the buyers should get some relief from the developers. To cite an example, if the price of the unit launched prior to July 7, 2017 was Rs 4,000 per sq. ft., an amount arrived at keeping in mind the tax of goods and service which went into the construction of the unit. And assuming that the cost was Rs 1,800 per square feet for construction and the average tax cost was approximately in the range of 15 percent which works out to be Rs 270 per square feet, this Rs 270 per square feet is the anti-profiteering amount, the amount that needs to passed on to the buyers. It cannot be denied that the reduction in cost owing to availability of credit on account of stock in hand, work-in-progress and unfinished work shall result in overall savings in the tax cost which should be passed on to the buyers by way of reduction in prices of their units. The open issue in our understanding remains about the bookings which have been made post July 7, 2017 wherein the price is controlled by the affordable housing policy - whether in such cases it is correct to assume that the developers have accrued the benefit on account of savings in tax cost. For passing on the above contemplated benefit, the argument given by the developer has been that there has been an increase in the cost of construction post GST implementation which has made it difficult to redeem the above benefit from the sub-contractor. In simple words, the benefit of Rs 270 as cited in the example above, is to be sought from the various sub-contractors which post GST has become a challenge as the sub-contractors are not passing on such benefit to the developers. Furthermore, the contention of developers is that the price has already been fixed and there is no flexibility provided under the scheme of the affordable policy to raise the price level. From the buyers prospective therefore, there is no loss which has been incurred as the price pre and post GST for the unit remains the same. From the buyers perspective, the point to note is that the outer ceiling of the price has been restricted under the affordable housing policy and if developers launch the project within that range, then the saving in tax cost leads to savings in the cost of the unit which by law should be passed on to the buyers. In the example cited above, the amount of Rs 270 realised by the developer should be passed on to the buyers as retaining any sum from the said amount should lead to unjust benefit to the developer which he is not entitled to. Interestingly, in both, normal projects and affordable housing projects, there are no clear guidelines about how anti-profiteering provisions would work for the units which are sold post July 1, 2017. While buyers are of the view that the price of residential units ought to come down as there is better tax efficiency post GST, developers opine that prices are driven by the market and other forces and hence, the prices can be revised for the sale of the unit post July 1, 2017. To support the above view, the developers have been citing that the anti-profiteering scheme is applicable to the units booked prior to July 1, 2017 wherein the unjust benefit should not be retained by developers and should be passed on to the buyers. For the units which are booked post July 1, 2017, the prices and other factors have been determined keeping in mind the new tax regime and in such a case the savings in tax cost does not actually arise. What remains to be seen is whether the authority which is pro-active in conducting investigation shall team up with the ministry of finance to lay down some clear parameters about how such provisions shall implemented. In the absence of clearly defined guidelines, neither the applicability of such provision can be ensured, nor the manner in which such benefit is to be arrived, at can be computed with reasonable certainty. (The author is partner, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Attorneys) Italian two-wheeler maker Piaggio is looking to expand its sales network in India to over 350 dealerships by the end of this year as part of scaling up its business in the country, a top company official said. The company, which currently has around 250 sales outlets, will however stick to its premium lineage even as it seeks to grow its volume in the world's largest two-wheeler market as it does not want to be perceived as mass segment player. "We plan to expand our volumes in both domestic and export markets. Currently, our sales network is very limited (in India) as we are one of the last players to come on board here," Piaggio Vehicles India Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer Diego Graffi said during an interaction. There is huge area in India where the company is not present in terms of sales network, he said adding that it has only been 6 years since the company re-entered the country. "Through this expansion of sales network, we plan to expand our presence...we are planning to have 350 active dealerships by the end of this year," Graffi said. When asked if the company would like to compete with mass market players in the country, Graffi said: "Wherever we are present all across the world in the two-wheeler space, we do not want to be perceived as a mass segment player." He further said: "We are not interested in that (mass segment). We are not interested in market share...we are among the top when it comes to brand recall...that is what we are looking at." The company, which sells Vespa and Aprilia brands in the country, sold 74,704 units in India in 2017-18. Piaggio has a manufacturing plant in Baramati in Maharashtra, where it manufactures the iconic Vespa alongside the Aprilia SR 150. Graffi also supported the call for reduction in GST on two wheelers. "In two-wheelers, we have seen a lot of challenges starting from mandatory third-party insurance which came into force from September 2018...then we have new legislations like mandatory usage of ABS from April 2019," Graffi said. Then there is BS-VI challenge as well, so due to all these factors, the industry is going to provide better service, content, safety to consumer, he added. "So, my idea is that reduction of GST rates on two-wheelers from 28 per cent to 18 per cent is quite recommendable from even our point of view," Graffi noted. The company sees two-wheelers as a normal medium of mass transportation and "we don't see having such high GST applied (on the segment), he added. Earlier, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor Company had asked the government to slash GST on two-wheelers from the current 28 per cent slab to 18 per cent to give relief to the customers. The DGCA is unlikely to make it compulsory to print cancellation charges on air tickets, with the Indian aviation watchdog suggesting that the charges be "indicated prominently" at the time of booking, according to an official document. In a presentation last month to Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suggested that the proposed regulation of "cancellation charges must be printed prominently on the ticket in a conspicuous manner" be replaced with "cancellation charges must be indicated prominently at the time of booking". The regulation is part of a draft passenger charter. However, the deliberations on the matter are still on and Sinha has "desired" that the draft passenger charter "be finalised and released" by February-end, according to the minutes of the meeting where the presentation was made. The draft passenger charter regulation, which was issued on May 22 last year, stated that, "Cancellation charges must be printed prominently on the ticket in a conspicuous manner". Explaining the regulation, a government statement on May 22, 2018, said: "Cancellation charges must be printed prominently in the ticket itself in a minimum font size of 12 and not as fine print. This information must also be provided as part of the reservation and ticket documentation." PTI has accessed the copy of the DGCA's presentation to Sinha. The regulation was changed in the presentation after opposition by airlines, according to a senior DGCA official, who spoke to PTI on the condition of anonymity. According to the presentation, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) had told the DGCA that "cancellation charges to be indicated on the e-ticket, if space allows. Airline to provide customers notice of fare conditions before the purchase is made." The IATA, the trade association for the world's airlines, represents some 290 airlines or 82 per cent of the total air traffic. The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) had told the DGCA that this regulation should "not be made mandatory due to their system limitations, especially on GDS (Global Distribution System)", according to the presentation. Vistara airlines had told the DGCA that this regulation's "feasibility" is "subject to technical capability of software", as per the presentation. Jet Airways, GoAir, IndiGo and SpiceJet are part of the FIA. The GDS is a computer network system, owned by a company, which allows smooth and quick transactions between hotels, airlines, travel agencies and cab operators among others. Airlines believe that it will take a lot of time and money to devise a system where the air ticket, whether issued by an airline or the GDS company, will have the same cancellation charges printed on it, according to the DGCA official. There are three major GDS companies in India and globally - Amadeus, Sabre and TravelPort. Each GDS company has its own software system. Parliament Speaker holds meeting with Bulgarian Ambassador Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan on February 18 received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Bulgaria to Armenia Maria Pavlova Tzotzorkova-Kaymaktchieva. The Parliament Speaker highlighted the ancient historic ties, cultural and diplomatic relations between the two peoples and attached importance to the unique role of the Armenian community in the development of the bilateral ties. Speaker Mirzoyan said the parliamentary friendship group will play a major role for boosting the bilateral contracts. Touching upon the complete ratification process of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Ararat Mirzoyan thanked the Bulgarian authorities for ratifying the document. In her turn the Bulgarian Ambassador congratulated the Speaker on assuming office and conveyed the invitation of the Bulgarian Parliament Speaker to visit Bulgaria. The Ambassador highly valued the current relations between the two countries and attached importance to the cooperation of parliamentary friendship groups, as well as the deepening of mutual partnership in various international structures. As for the CEPAs ratification by Bulgaria, the Ambassador noted that it will contribute to deepening the relations of Armenia and the EU member states, including Bulgaria. The sides also discussed the bilateral cooperation agenda and emphasized that there is a great potential for the development and expansion of the Armenian-Bulgarian mutual partnership which is not utilized. The government of Nicolas Maduro is doing far more for the people of Venezuela than the US administration by providing free services for its population, anti-war activist Sara Flounders told RT, condemning the US-led intervention. The activists, opposing the US-led intervention, organized some 150 demonstrations around the globe on Saturday to show that ordinary people are against any form of foreign interference. Rallies have been taking place across the US, Flounders told RT after attending a No War on Venezuela rally in New York City. In Venezuela today, there is more than six million families who are provided every single week a basic basket of essential supplies. It far exceeds any kind of food distribution program in the United States, Flounders said. Among the average working people, there is zero support for another war or for any war. US militarism is the greatest cause of poverty, inequality, disenfranchisement right here in the US, the prominent author and anti-war activist explained, warning that if the US intervenes, it will raise a firestorm across Latin America. While the American people oppose any sort of meddling in the affairs of other countries, however, the US media is operating under the outrageous and arrogant assumption that the government of Maduro is ready to fall. In reality, Flounders said, people in Venezuela mostly support Caracas socialist policies. The people of Venezuela and President Maduro are showing great, great determination and resistance. And that is what is inspiring people to act on their own regardless of what their governments are saying, she said. English rock musician and co-founder of Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, posted a video in support of Venezuela on Twitter. In a short clip, the longtime critic of the US interventionist foreign policy performed part of his song We Shall Overcome. He had earlier criticized suggestions of hosting a Western-backed humanitarian concert for Venezuela. Rallies were also held in Ottawa, Berlin, Rome, and Sydney, among other places. At the same time, the governments of these nations openly support the US-backed opposition in Venezuela. Protests were staged in Asian countries as well, including India and South Korea. President Nicolas Maduro thanked the Americans who took to the streets to oppose US intervention, posting a video of himself behind the wheel in Caracas, noting that it is calm and quiet in the Venezuelan capital. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has challenged US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo amid border clashes over US aid. He lashed at Pompeo and his 'hitmen' saying they were searching for the pretext for war. "The CIA expert in false flag operations, Pompeo, thinks he can fool the world with a truck set ablaze by his own agents in Colombia," Arreaza tweeted on Saturday in response to recent clashes along the Venezuelan-Colombian border. The opposition-led attempt to drive trucks from Colombia into Venezuela carrying what they say was humanitarian supplies provided by USAID sparked tensions and clashes with police. The Venezuelan government refused to let the trucks through, denouncing the operation as a PR stunt and warning that the vehicles may be loaded with weapons. The standoff at the Francisco de Paula Santander Bridge near the Venezuelan city of Urena ended with one of the trucks being burnt out. It is still not clear who was responsible for setting the truck ablaze. Also on rt.com FLAMES devour aid truck during bridge stand-off on Venezuela-Colombia border (PHOTOS) In his tweet, Minister Arreaza posted several photos which appear to show the burnt truck on the Colombian side of the bridge, where it was set on fire after failing to cross the border. "If you want to find those who burnt the truck with fake humanitarian aid, look among your own employees," Arreaza wrote. Pompeo and his hitmen are desperately searching for a pretext for war. Mike Pompeo, who previously led the CIA, had earlier denounced Venezuelas refusal to let the trucks in. Calling the nations President Nicolas Maduro a "sick tyrant," he vowed to "take action" against authorities who "oppose the peaceful restoration of democracy." Also on rt.com Embrace democracy, Venezuela! Bolton threatens new sanctions, Pompeo vows action Washington, along with its allies in South America and the EU, is openly backing the leader of Venezuelas opposition, Juan Guaido, who declared himself 'interim president' last month. Current leader Maduro dismissed the move as illegitimate and accused the US of attempting to oust him. Nations like China, Russia, Iran and Mexico continue to recognize Maduro as the ruler of the country. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! The US-backed oppositions call for a human avalanche to force American aid into Venezuela has erupted in violent clashes. Tensions were running high and the opposition soon claimed that government forces have killed civilians. Self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido had called on his followers to create a human wave and bring the avalanche of humanitarian aid across the borders from Brazil and Colombia on Saturday. Hed crossed into Colombia unmolested the day before, to attend a concert extravaganza in support of regime change and organized by British mogul Richard Branson. Rather than lead the charge across the bridges himself, however, Guaido was nowhere to be seen on Saturday afternoon, RT correspondent Dan Cohen reported from Cucuta, Colombia. Also on rt.com Embrace democracy, Venezuela! Bolton threatens new sanctions, Pompeo vows action Rocks, fire & tear gas Opposition supporters clashed with Venezuelan border security forces in several hotspots on Saturday, pelting police officers with rocks and setting tires on fire. In one instance, protesters ripped up a tree and used it as a battering ram against Venezuelan police vehicles. While the Tienditas bridge featured in a lot of Western media reports about the tensions on the Venezuela-Colombia border, but never opened for traffic remained calm, there were several incidents at the other two bridges in the area, and police had to use tear gas on several occasions, Cohen said. Also on rt.com Horrifying VIDEOS show RAMMING at Simon Bolivar bridge in Venezuela Fake Red Cross & torched aid trucks At least one truck attempting to get into Venezuela was apparently set on fire before it could cross the border. Opposition supporters circulated a photograph of the burning vehicle on the Francisco de Paula Santander bridge, though it was not clear who torched it and whether is was done deliberately or happened accidentally. Also on rt.com FLAMES devour aid truck during bridge stand-off on Venezuela-Colombia border (PHOTOS) Meanwhile the worlds largest international aid organization has demanded that unaffiliated activists at the Venezuela-Colombia border not use their insignia, as it risks jeopardizing our neutrality, impartiality & independence, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said. Also on rt.com Red Cross denounces unsanctioned use of its emblems to smuggle US aid to Venezuela Armed masked men & reports of casualties With a lot of unconfirmed reports and videos circulating on social media, two people were reportedly killed in Santa Elena de Uairen, which is near the Venezuelan border with the Brazilian state of Roraima. One of the videos shows people being carried away after what were said to be clashes between security forces and Guaido supporters. Another video was apparently filmed in San Antonio del Tachira, on the Venezuelan side of the border with Cucuta, Colombia, and shows a masked man holding what appears to be a pistol, and several shots ringing out as a distressed woman recording the scene cries out that colectivos were shooting people in the street referring to supporters of the Venezuelan government that the US and the opposition have accused of extortion and political violence. The video ends with several still photos of masked men. RT has not yet been able to verify its authenticity. US aid a Trojan horse & PR stunt? While the opposition claims that some of the US aid shipments have managed to enter the country, there has been no confirmation of this. Independent journalist Eva Golinger has warned that there is lots of false news and videos circulating, with the goal to provoke violent confrontation as a means to justify intervention and opinion shared by other political experts RT spoke with. Also on rt.com PR stunt to justify intervention in Venezuela: Experts slam US regime change gangsterism Caracas has denounced the US aid shipments as a trojan horse intended to bolster Guaido and undermine its authority, pointing out that US sanctions and its trade blockade were the cause of Venezuelas economic woes. Father Sergio Munoz, a clergyman interviewed by Cohen in Cucuta, explained that the US humanitarian aid is symbolic and meant to create an uprising inside Venezuela. Also on rt.com We are defending our borders and freedom: Maduro amid humanitarian aid tensions Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Frances Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire has put renewed pressure on Berlin to drop its restrictions on arms exports to Saudi Arabia, imposed last year in the wake of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It is useless to produce weapons through improved cooperation between France and Germany if we are unable to export them, Le Maire told Germanys Welt am Sonntag newspaper. If you want to be competitive and efficient, we need to be able to export to countries outside Europe. France and Germany have signed contracts for several major new projects in the past year alone, including Future Combat Air Systems (FCAS) a next-generation system that will unite planes, drones, satellites and ground missiles into a single operating unit. However, the plans were derailed as emerging facts made it harder to deny Saudi Arabias role in the death of Khashoggi inside the countrys consulate in Istanbul last October. The following month, Berlin imposed an embargo on future arms deals with Riyadh, and informally froze existing supplies without canceling the contracts outright. Also on rt.com Think of the billions! UKs Hunt urges Germany to drop Saudi arms sales ban Following in the footsteps of UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt's pronouncements earlier this week, Le Maire also urged Germany to get off the high moral ground. When you live in a violent world, your first task is to protect your people. If they want to protect their people, they need defense, a strong army and, from an economic point of view, more innovation, more investment, more protection, Le Maire said on Sunday. Thats exactly what we want to build together with Germany and the other European states. It appears that the combined pressure from politicians and arms manufacturers is having the desired effect, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel promising to move step-by-step towards common export controls guidelines during her speech at the Munich Security Conference last week. Also on rt.com EU adds Saudi Arabia to list of nations considered hotbeds of terrorist financing The German media also subsequently revealed a publicly undisclosed adjunct to a bilateral treaty signed last month, which promised to drop restrictions on joint exports, forcing Merkels government to deny that she had made a secret deal with French President Emmanuel Macron. US President Donald Trump made social media go wild after pronouncing the name of the Latin American country in a very strange way that didnt go unnoticed by users. In a speech delivered in Miami, Trump called for the military to abandon President Nicolas Maduro. Also on rt.com Et tu, Bernie? Sanders shamed for joining US hawks in Venezuela regime change push Video of POTUS began circulating online as tensions ran high on the border with Colombia. Viewers mocked the president, who repeatedly mispronounced Venezuela. Some users invented other potentil mistakes. Twitter freaks out as Trump struggles to pronounce Venezuela Twitter freaks out as Trump struggles to pronounce Venezuela Source : RT - Daily news Iran has something in store for Trump in case all countries bow to his pressure and stop buying its oil, Tehrans top officials have said. They warned that there are many ways to retaliate in such a scenario. The Islamic Republic has other means at its disposal besides the much-feared closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Switzerlands Basler Zeitung. He evaded further questions, only saying: Trump loves the element of surprise, so well entertain him. Also on rt.com Iran has new potential buyers for its oil, defying US sanctions Last year, the Trump administration unleashed fresh sanctions on Iran, hitting its oil exports as well as its banking and shipping industries. Specifically, it hampered mutual trade between oil-rich Iran and European countries, including France, Germany and the UK. The EU states objected to the sanctions but stopped importing Iranian hydrocarbons, according to Zarif. The Europeans must ask themselves: if they allow for this precedent, what would they do if the US demands to end trade with China? Other high-ranking officials were more specific about retaliatory measures being put in place in the event of a worst-case scenario. Apart from closing the Strait of Hormuz, we have other options to stop oil flow if threatened, Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council, told the semi-official Tasnim news agency. Tehran has repeatedly threatened to cut off the strait, through which about 30 percent of all seaborne oil is transported each year. However, it has yet to follow through on these threats. Without revealing full details, Shamkhani said that Iran has plans in place that will neutralize the illegal US sanctions against Irans oil exports. The current Washington administration lacks goodwill, and therefore engaging with it is useless, he stated. Also on rt.com Switzerland & Iran developing payment channel to bypass US sanctions There is still a host of countries outside Europe that are continuing to buy Iranian oil. These include India, Turkey, South Korea and China. They were granted 180-day US waivers, though there is little hope that these will be extended after they expire in May. In 2018, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), citing its supposed flaws. The historic document was signed in 2015 between Iran and the UK, the US, France, Germany, Russia, China, and the EU. All other parties condemned the US withdrawal. Since then, Washington has steadily been re-imposing new restrictions, but the latest package seems to be the most significant. Aside from the oil trade, over 700 individuals, entities, vessels and aircraft have now been added to the sanctions list. The US says that more than 100 big international companies quit Iran because of the looming sanctions last year. EU states are trying to preserve fragile trading ties with Tehran by working on a so-called Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to facilitate financial transactions between the bloc and Iran in order to bypass US sanctions. to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media wont tell you. The battle over humanitarian convoys is just a big PR operation designed to provoke scenes of violence and justify further US intervention to oust Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela, political experts have told RT. This is an attempt to set out a pretext for some kind of intervention, political analyst and journalist John Wight told RT. The Red Cross and all the other international aid agencies are refusing to touch this because they know that this is a Trojan horse, deployed to try to foment the kind of scenes we're seeing at the border. Also on rt.com Red Cross denounces unsanctioned use of its emblems to smuggle US aid to Venezuela Considering the US history of regime-change operations in Latin America, in particular how the hawkish US envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams helped smuggle weapons into Nicaragua, William Mallinson, a professor at Guglielmo Marconi University in Italy, warned that leopards dont change their spots. Were seeing a very big PR operation US doesnt care about welfare of Venezuelan people. The crisis in Venezuela was to a high degree directly caused by the United States' sanctions and embargoes, Mallinson said, asserting that opposition leader Juan Guaido was simply picked by the US to do their bidding, selected to secure Washingtons political and economic interests. Also on rt.com Venezuelan government condemns US-orchestrated propaganda show at Colombian border While Mallinson stressed that the US-led humanitarian intervention might be aimed at keeping the country as much as possible away from Russia and China, Wight slammed the American policies as a pure form of gangsterism. Does anybody really think that Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, John Bolton Elliott Abrams care one bit about the welfare of the Venezuelan people? he wondered, rhetorically. These are thugs in tailored suits whose views are far closer to Al Capone than to Thomas Jefferson. This is gangsterism masquerading as statecraft. They want their hands on the oil, this regime change; and this is about US hegemony, red in tooth and claw, Wight added. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! A resurfaced interview with US President Donald Trumps nominee for next UN ambassador, Kelly Craft, where she said she believes the science on both sides of the climate change argument has ignited fiery debate on Twitter. In a resurfaced 2017 interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Craft whose billionaire husband, Joe Craft, is president of one of the largest coal producers in America was asked if she believes in climate change. I believe there are scientists on both sides that are accurate, Craft said. When asked to clarify whether or not she believes humans are responsible for climate change, Craft reiterated that: I think both sides have their own results from their studies, and I appreciate and I respect both sides of the science. This got everyone confused as the two sides of the debate are widely known people who think climate change is a hoax, and those who believe the scientific evidence indicating the alarming impacts are already underway. The US president has previously come under fire from many in the scientific community for denying climate change, calling it a hoax by China and, more recently, for confusing seasonal weather with good old fashioned Global Warming. Trump named the serving US Ambassador to Canada to represent the US at the UN on Saturday, after the previous front-runner for the nomination former Fox News presenter and State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert withdrew her name from consideration last weekend. READ MORE: Im the boss: Ocasio-Cortez slams climate plan critics, unleashes internet scorn Like this story? Share it with a friend! British Prime Minister Theresa May has rescheduled a meaningful vote on Brexit in the Commons for up to March 12 just two weeks before the UK is due to leave the union sparking criticism both in London and Brussels. We wont bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week, May told journalists on her way to an EU-League of Arab States summit in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. She explained her decision by saying that her team was engaged in some positive talks with the EU about some details of the future deal, particularly those concerning the contentious Irish backstop something which the EU have publicly ruled out, thus far. I was in Brussels last week. Ministers were in Brussels last week. My team will be back in Brussels again this coming week. They will be returning to Brussels on Tuesday, the prime minister said, vowing that her team will ensure that a vote on Brexit will be held by March 12. She also attempted to sound optimistic as she said it is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29, even though the date she set for the vote is dangerously close to this deadline. Her optimism, however, was not very convincing to either the opposition in the UK or EU officials. Also on rt.com Diminished country: Dutch PM claims Britain is on the decline due to Brexit Mays decision is nothing but an admission of failure, the Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer said, calling it the height of irresponsibility. He also assumed that the prime minister seeks to make MPs accept her deal, which was previously rejected, by offering them a choice between it and no deal at all. Parliament cannot stand by and allow this to happen, he said. The prime ministers decision was also met with little enthusiasm in Brussels. Kicking the can down the road only adds to the crippling uncertainty for businesses on both sides of the channel & for millions of citizens. I have seen many surprising decisions in a lifetime in politics. But this is close to being one of the most reckless, Guy Verhofstadt, the EU parliaments representative in the Brexit negotiations, wrote on Twitter following the development. The EU is even considering making the UK stay in the block until 2021 if May cannot get her deal approved by parliament, Bloomberg reports citing sources. If by the beginning of March theres no support for the deal then I think it would be good to postpone Brexit because a no-deal scenario is bad for the EU but extremely bad for the UK, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said. According to Bloomberg, the 21-month plan has already received some backing from senior officials in the European Commission and in the European Council chaired by EU President Donald Tusk, although not all member states are ready to agree with it. Under the existing rules any delay to Brexit beyond the existing deadline should be requested by the UK and agreed by all other EU member states. However, May herself seems to be skeptical about the usefulness of such an option, which would amount to the extension of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which currently gives London two years to leave the bloc since the start of the negotiation process. Extension of Article 50 doesnt solve the problem .There will always come a point where we have to decide whether we accept the deal thats been negotiated or not, the British prime minister said. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Former Detroit Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias has finally found a new home with the Cincinnati Reds, but he was forced to settle for a minor-league deal and a potential role as a utility man. Iglesias will reportedly be paid $2.5 million plus incentives if, as expected, he makes the team. Iglesias, 29, made $6.3 million in 2018, his final year with the Tigers. Most expected he would command at least that much on the free-agent market and might even get a two-year deal. But the market never materialized. The Tigers signed Jordy Mercer for $5.25 million in December, essentially closing the door on a reunion. Other free-agent shortstops like Freddy Galvis and Adeinny Hechavarria signed for less money or minor-league deals. After Manny Machado signed his megadeal with the Padres earlier this week, Iglesias opted to take the best deal available. At this point I just want to turn the page and go out there and help this team win games, he told Cincinnati reporters. Thats the priority. Iglesias is projected to serve as a bench player, backing up young Red shortstop Jose Peraza and second baseman Scooter Gennett. UPDATE: As of 2:20 p.m., the number of outages has climbed to more than 13,300 across West Michigan. WEST MICHIGAN At least 13,320 West Michigan residents are without power Sunday due to storms producing powerful high winds. Widespread outages are being reported off and on Sunday, Feb. 24, leaving thousands of customers around Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Muskegon without power. Smaller outages have been reported across the region, according to the Consumers Energy online outage map. Power was restored in some areas at around of 10 a.m., but the number of outages has grown exponentially in West Michigan since 11 a.m. As of 2:20 p.m., the number of outages has climbed to more than 13,300 across West Michigan. That includes 2,135 without power in Kent County, 1,818 residents in Muskegon County and 1,692 in the dark in Kalamazoo County. Outages in Ottawa, Ionia, Montcalm, Van Buren, Allegan, Barry, Branch, Calhoun and St. Joseph counties have also affected thousands of customers starting around 8 a.m. Each county along the Lake Michigan shoreline from Manistee County to Consumers Energys Michigan boundary at Van Buren County are reporting outages, according to the map. Wind gusts across Michigan could top 60 mph in some places Sunday, MLive Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa has said. The storm system was reported to rapidly intensify this weekend as the storm center crossed over Wisconsin and Michigan. This intensification was enough to consider the storm bombing out. A storm that bombs out creates very strong wind gusts. The rapidly deepening low pressure center is what causes winds to increase as a storm system passes by. Its a situation very similar to when a hurricane intensifies and then the winds increase. The term bomb cyclogenesis was developed in the 1950s and tweaked in the 1980s. The criteria over the Great Lakes is a 19 millibar pressure decline in 24 hours. A millibar is a unit of measure used to gauge the weight of the air. This story was updated at 2:20 p.m. UPDATE: The boy has been found safe, according to Croswell-Lexington Community Schools. He was found by Michigan State Police troopers, according to the Croswell Police Department. ST. CLAIR COUNTY, MI -- Law enforcement officials are asking for publics help to find a missing St. Clair County boy. A Saturday, Feb. 23 statement on the Croswell Police Department Facebook page states Nathaniel Weaver, an eight-grade student at Cros-Lex Middle School is missing from the Croswell area. Nathaniel did not return home last night, reads the statement. He was last seen wearing a black and blue zip up hoodie and a tie dye underneath. Nathaniel Weaver stands 5-foot-11 inches tall, weighs 175 pounds, and had strawberry blonde hair. Anyone with information on his whereabouts may contact Michigan State Police at 810-648-2000, ext. 2 or send a direct message to the Croswell Police Department Facebook page to provide information and remain anonymous. UPDATE: FLINT, MI -- Police have released the identification of the man killed in an officer-involved shooting in Flint. A vehicle pursuit involving Flint police ended around 2:20 a.m. Feb. 24 in an officer-involved shooting. The person shot has been identified by Michigan State Police as Tommy Kirby, 41, of Flint. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A Flint police officer is receiving treatment for a minor injury sustained during the incident. Traffic was diverted off westbound Interstate 69 at Center Road for several hours as police combed over the scene. The incident started when Flint police were dispatched to the area of Iowa Avenue and Broadway Boulevard to investigate a suspicious person. When an officer made contact with the person, the person fled the area in a vehicle. The Michigan State Police Crime Lab out of Bridgeport responded to the interstate along with the Michigan State Polices Third District Special Investigations section. Michigan State Police Lt. Duane Zook noted they were not involved in any other portion of the incident aside from assisting Flint police on the interstate. He added the police officers injuries did not come as a direct result of the shooting. The incident remains under investigation. LAKE SUPERIOR, MI - Todays dangerously high winds across Michigan - and the monster waves this is expected to whip up on Lake Superior - has a somber significance for Great Lakes ship enthusiasts. This fast-dropping, low-pressure system is called a bomb cyclone, and its similar to the storm conditions on Lake Superior the night the Edmund Fitzgerald tragically sank and broke in two, taking all 29 men aboard down with her. The big freighter was just 17 miles from the safety of Lake Superiors Whitefish Point when she went down in a violent storm on Nov 10, 1975. Today, wind gusts are expected to top 60 mph across much of the state. But one of the places they will likely max out is Whitefish Point in Michigans Upper Peninsula. A storm warning that goes into effect for that area today calls for strengthening winds and waves on Lake Superior that will reach their peak after dark tonight. The National Weather Service said that area can expect sustained winds of up to 56 mph, with gusts topping 72 mph. The largest expected significant waves will be 23 feet, with a maximum wave height of up to 34 feet possible, the NWS office in Marquette said. The maximum winds are expected around 8 p.m. Sunday, with the largest waves expected around 11 p.m. Sunday. Meteorologists have issued this warning for anyone out on the lake: Commercial vessels should remain in port, or take shelter until strong winds and waves subside. Commercial vessels should prepare for very strong winds and dangerous sea conditions. On the night the 729-foot Fitzgerald went down, the big, ore-hauling laker was in the worst spot of the storm, at the worst time possible. Meteorologists later determined there were sustained winds of 55 mph during that time, with some waves topping 25 feet. Jim Lehocky, one of the editors who contributes to the Facebook page of DRE Designs - Great Lakes Marine Products, mapped out the similarity between todays low-pressure system and the Fitzgeralds storm: Lets focus on the storm as it departs the region Sunday afternoon into the overnight hours, he wrote. The predicted central area of lowest pressure as it moves to the east of (Sault Ste. Marie) Sunday afternoon is around 28.65. It will continue to deepen (get stronger) a bit more as it moves well east of us. The central area of low pressure on the storm that help bring down the Edmund Fitzgerald was around 28.95. Wind speeds associated with that storm across eastern Lake Superior were incredible. This produced estimated sustained winds of 52 mph for 6-7 hours ... with gusts over 80 mph at times. MLive Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa concurs its a similar low-pressure system. The big difference now, of course, is that winter means the Soo Locks are drained of their water and closed for maintenance, and big ships are not crossing in and out of Lake Superior. MACKINAW CITY, MI - One person reportedly suffered minor injuries today when a chunk of ice fell from the Mackinac Bridge and smashed through a trucks windshield as the vehicle was crossing the span. Nicole Rogers told NBC TV station WPBN today that she was a passenger in a car crossing the bridge from the Upper Peninsula to the Lower Peninsula around 10:15 a.m. Sunday when she saw chunks of ice falling from the top of the bridge. The car she was in moved into another lane to avoid the ice. But the truck in front of her was hit by one of the pieces. The trucks male driver was the only person in that vehicle, and he pulled into a gas station once he arrived in Mackinaw City, Rogers told the station. She said the man looked like hed suffered cuts in the incident. Witnesses reported at least two vehicles crossing the bridge were hit by falling ice today, just before the bridge closed briefly to all traffic this morning. It re-opened a short time later, with an escort required. High winds and blizzard conditions are forecast for all of today, and and are expected to intensify late this afternoon and evening, according to the National Weather Service. Poor visibility, high winds and falling ice are a few of the reasons the Mackinac Bridge Authority can decide to shut down the span that connects Michigans two peninsulas. To see the current conditions on the bridge, check here. Since 1995, the Mackinac Bridge has closed at least 20 times for weather issues. Its longest closure - nearly 20 hours, was in January 2018. Future of Pakistan & Islamic world linked to knowledge: Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri President MQI Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri addressed hundreds of students of COSIS on the occasion of the Quaid Day. He said that Pakistans future and prosperity of the Islamic world is linked with knowledge. He said that the students should build a relationship of friendship with the books. He said wherever Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri went in the world, he only bought books, stating that his life is connected with the books. Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri further said that education and education and worship are two activities that place humans on the pedestal of being the crown of creations. He said that the act of a teacher teaching with sincerity and a student getting knowledge with sincerity is a form of worship. He said when a columnist or a writer writes for improvement of the nation, it is his worship. In the same way, when a lawyer and a judge vows to uphold the law and administer justice, their act will be considered as worship. The COSIS ceremony was attended by renowned columnist Amir Khakwani, Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, Mufti Abdul Qayyum Khan Hazarvi, Prof Muhammad Nawaz Zafar, Mumtaz-ul-Hassan Barvi, Col. (r) Muhammad Mehdi, Mohibullah Azhar, Dr Shafqatullah Baghdadi, Noorullah Siddiqi, Jawad Hamid, Syed Amjad Ali Shah, and Sabir Hussain Naqshbandi. Speaking to the students, senior journalist Amir Khaqwani said that the students studying at the Minhaj University are lucky that they have the intellectual patronage of Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri and that these students are persuaded to do booking reading. He said that Dr Qadri is a multi-dimensional personality whose entire spectrum of intellectual work has not come to the fore fully due to his political role. He said that he was greatly pleased to learn about the compilation of the Quranic Encyclopedia, stating that he wonders how a single person could accomplish such a stupendous task as is performed by a set of organizations. Amir Khaqwani said that Dr Tahir-ul-Qadris teachings and books have tolerance written all over them, something that the Pakistani society needs today. He said that it is due to the moderate personality and thought that Dr Qadri is acceptable to all schools of thought and sections of society. He said that the books and speeches of Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri are a great blessing in this day and age of Takfeer. He said that he has set up great institutions such as MUL in the country, stating that his weapons are books and logic. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the teachers and the students of COSIS cut the birthday cake and made a Dua for the long life of Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri. Quranic Encyclopedia getting massive acclaim Dr Hassan Mohi-ud-Din Qadri (Chairman Supreme Council of MQI) delivering his keynote speech at the "Introduction to the Quranic Encyclopedia by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri" ceremony in Copenhagen, Denmark. Dr Hassan Mohi-ud-Din Qadri (Chairman Supreme Council of MQI) delivering his keynote speech at the "Introduction to the Quranic Encyclopedia by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri" ceremony in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Quranic Encyclopedia compiled by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri is getting massive acclaim from public circles as well as the European chapters of the MQI. The hundreds of sale orders for the eight-volume work are being received from across the world. Chairman Supreme Council Dr Hassan Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, who is on tour of the European countries, is addressing inaugural ceremonies of the Encyclopedia. One such ceremony was held in Copenhagen, Denmark in which Dr Hassan Mohi-ud-Din Qadri was the chief guest. Addressing the ceremony, he said that the Quranic Encyclopedia is not just for the common people to easily understand the subjects of the Holy Book but the judges, lawyers, civil servants, teachers, scholars, students, and researchers could also greatly benefit from it. He said that it is a great scholarly service and now the researchers can get access to the material under the one roof without needing to look up books and research work in the libraries. Dr Hassan Mohi-ud-Din Qadri said that Allah Almighty endows understanding of the Holy Book on some people in every age who then make it possible for the common people to understand the Quran. He said that this process has been since the last 1400 years and will continue till the Day of Judgment. He said that it is with the blessings of Allah that Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri contributed his share to this work by compiling the 8-volume Quranic Encyclopedia. He said that this amazing Encyclopedia has made it possible for the people of different mental capacities to understand the holy Quran. Marine Corps Gen. Charles Krulak had just played for a room full of other top officers his service's next recruitment commercial -- a now iconic mini-drama depicting a young man who slays a fearsome dragon and becomes a Marine. It was the 1990s, and Krulak, the 31st commandant, was interested in hearing what the others thought of the campaign to get more grunts to walk through the door. The initial reviews were mixed at best, and some even said they didn't like it very much. "Well, that's just tough because it's not for you. It's for the generation we're trying to recruit, and it speaks to them, not to you," he reportedly replied. It was a moment recalled by Jeffery Peterson, a retired Marine colonel who now works as a research lead at CNA, a data analytics and research organization outside Washington, D.C. Peterson said he cites Krulak's thinking because recruiting strategies need to follow that model. In other words, it isn't about the service. Or the recruiter. Or a bunch of old guys in a room. It's about the young man or woman coming through the door or, these days, Skyping in or reacting to a message posted on Facebook or YouTube. Military recruiters today face a daunting number of challenges: Fewer young people meet basic qualifications for military service, and the ones who do face competitive offers in the private sector, thanks to a booming economy. Many Americans don't fully understand military service, and recruiters often must win over not only the prospective recruit, but also skeptical or overprotective parents. On top of that, recruiters must tailor their message to a rising new generation -- young people with different priorities and means of communication than their predecessors. In response, the military services are getting more creative than ever before in devising ways to connect with prospective recruits and tell their story. Related content: And when it comes to telling that story, the more tailor-made the message, the better. "The most important language in the world is the language of the person you're trying to speak with," Peterson said in a recent interview with Military.com. Peterson, who commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1982, was a recruiting station commander in Montgomery, Alabama, between 1995 and 1998. He served in staff, commanding officer and chief of staff positions throughout the Corps' manpower, recruiting and training services for 30 years. Military recruitment has had its challenges in recent years, with each service rebranding its strategy, from the Army's recently released soldier-created rap video to the Navy's new tagline, "Forged by the Sea." An improved economy, with more jobs available in the private sector, has been a major challenge to recruiting. Stepping up to serve may not be as appealing an option to some teens, experts told Military.com in recent weeks. Other obstacles include a shrinking pool of qualified prospective candidates due to rising obesity rates and other health issues, and a lack of awareness of what an all-volunteer force does. A lingering stigma about the military being too tough on kids during boot camp, or sending them off to war zones at a moment's notice, has some parents telling recruiters, "Thank you for your service, but this is not for my child," one recruiter said. So what needs to be done to be effective in ushering in the next generation? For one thing, eliminate the one-size-fits-all approach, Peterson said. "People love to ask, 'Well, what works?' And to quote a friend of mine the key to recruiting is 'Why does somebody enlist?' And the reason they enlist is because they have a large number of impressions over a long period of time through different mediums," he said. "There's always been this notion that we ought to save money by having joint advertising, but the reality is, each of the services have very different cultures and missions and characteristics," he added. "Converting interest into an enlistment is a big step." More Awareness in the Information Age Peterson said it's tough to tell whether certain campaigns -- a commercial, a branded logo at a sporting event -- are effective, because there's not much statistical evidence that shows they are. But "you have to try it" all, he said. The retired colonel said the military operates like an all-recruited force. A relatively small number of aspiring young service members actually walk through the door knowing the military is for them from the end of their high school education, he said. "The other 90 percent start from a position of indifference at best, and at worst they're a 'no,' and that's where the recruiters come in," Peterson said. Generation Z -- including those born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s -- is also a tough nut to crack. They are too young to have memories of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, only knowing what they read in history books or heard from family members. "Perhaps more than their predecessors, 'Gen-Z' will expect and demand that civilian and military leaders explain America's role around the world -- both the persistent fights in the Middle East and our commitment to the liberal world order we've maintained over the last 70 years," Brendan R. Stickles, former U.S. Navy commanding officer and executive officer of Electronic Attack Squadron 130, recently wrote in a Brookings Institution article. "No two members of Gen Z are alike, and their recruiting experiences won't be either," Air Force Recruiting Service officials said in a statement. "We look to generational cues to inform our tone, media channels and certain messaging priorities, but we take a more data-driven approach to each individual." AFRS said the statement provided to Military.com could not be attributed to a single individual because multiple officials had contributed to it. Older members of Gen Z -- those born after 1997 -- now represent "the true bullseye" of military recruitment, AFRS explained in the statement. But the Air Force is also thinking ahead. "We are already looking to Generation Alpha (born after 2010) and what might be on the horizon as we position the Air Force for long-term success," AFRS said in an email. "Complementing broad-reaching media like television -- which still plays an important role -- with unique brand experiences like Augmented Reality, 360 video, gaming and personalized communications ensures we are meeting the needs of the audience to help them see the positive impact the Air Force can have on their life." The more information in the information age, the better, Peterson added. "We also think about all those influencers out there who have an effect on these youngsters," he said. "To make sure they have knowledge and information, that's a real challenge. To try to get that awareness up." In 2016, the Navy took note of these hurdles when appealing to the next generation. The service began focus groups with input from 17-to-21-year-olds -- what it calls the "Centennial Generation." "The research revealed that there was nearly 100 percent awareness of the Navy, but zero understanding of the Navy's full mission, reach and influence," said Capt. Matt Boren, chief marketing officer of Navy Recruiting Command. It's something the Army in particular says it struggles with. The service missed its 2018 recruiting goal by 6,500, adding 70,000 new soldiers. "But it's still the highest [number of accessions] we've had since 2010," said Lisa Ferguson, spokeswoman for U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC). The other services reached their targets last year, but by a narrow margin. The Air Force brought in 29,831 new enlisted airmen in fiscal 2018, as reported by Air Force Times. The service slightly exceeded its goal of 29,700 new airmen. The Navy and Marine Corps also exceeded expectations, although marginally. The Navy added 39,018 active-duty recruits, exceeding its goal of 39,000; the Marine Corps signed up 31,567 new members to surpass their 31,556 goal, according to the Defense Department. "There's a lot of factors that make someone ineligible to join," Ferguson said, referencing obesity and health concerns. But roughly "50 percent of youth admits it knows little to nothing about military service in general," said Sgt. 1st Class Robert Dodge, a recruiter and media relations noncommissioned officer for USAREC. Fewer civilian communities are exposed to military members, said Jeb Blount, an author and CEO of Sales Gravy, a sales recruitment and training firm. Blount has researched the cause-and-effect challenges in the war for talent for his next book, "Fanatical Military Recruiting." He said that the mere 0.4 percent of the American population in the armed forces shows a declining trend in service. "Military bases have consolidated or [closed]" in the last few decades, "and that means young people are less exposed to the military lifestyle, careers or opportunity than ever before," Blount said. As a result, recruiters "have a massive weight on their shoulder, and they have to work harder than ever to go find these young people," he said. Localizing Recruiting Efforts Each of the services has relied heavily on enlisting recruits from more rural areas and southern states. "The Army typically gets its recruits from the southeast," Dodge said. But it's important to reach a diverse pool of talent, so the Army is expanding its reach, he said. The service has begun a "22 cities" initiative to give areas where the service has had difficulty attracting recruits more attention, he said. That includes adding 700 new recruiters in urban areas across the country. Ferguson said there's even a marketing pilot effort starting in Chicago that is so customized, it is reaching out to potential recruits by city blocks and neighborhoods because where someone grows up makes a difference in his or her worldview. The pilot, Marketing-Recruiting Integration Pilot (M-RIP), began last fall. The targeted approach is relying on metrics to see if it resonates. "We are using web analytics through the Army's advertising agency to determine [whether] web traffic increases based on targeted messaging in different areas," Ferguson said. The Navy has similar efforts. The service launched its new brand identity, tagline and marketing strategy in March 2018, Boren said, with an intentional shift from traditional marketing toward digital and online efforts. "We've developed new online products like our video series, 'Faces of the Fleet' and our podcast, Sea Story, intended to make the Navy more tangible in the heartland, a place where often people may have never encountered a Navy sailor," he said in an email. Faces of the Fleet, a documentary series, has tallied more than 135 million total impressions and led to 31 million engagements on social media, contributing to an increased Centennial engagement with the Navy's official Facebook page, up to 68 percent from 23 percent during fiscal 2018, the service said. Boren continued, "We've also put a greater emphasis on community outreach. We've adopted a new process we are calling 'swarming,' which involves Navy partnerships with high-profile events to allow an enhanced Navy presence in targeted markets across the country. Our first swarm events, for example, were Miami Heat home games, where we brought in not only additional Navy recruiters, but also an Oculus Rift-based virtual-reality simulator experience, allowing participants to feel the adrenaline of piloting a high-speed assault craft to extract SEALs who are under fire." Oculus Go virtual-reality headsets gave attendees the chance to experience 360-degree video on aircraft carrier flight decks, and to find themselves in the middle of other real-life Navy operations, he said. The current engagement strategy has prospective new recruits asking more informed questions about the Navy lifestyle, Boren said. The Air Force Recruiting Service stood up its own "innovation cell" last July in conjunction with the AFWERX program -- a catalyst for "agile Air Force engagement across industry, academia and non-traditional contributors," according to the service -- to look for better, more tech-savvy ways to attract potential airmen. For the Army, the key is to tell teens there are options -- that's "it's not just infantry jobs," Ferguson said. "A part of it is making them understand there are 150 jobs they can choose from." And they must relay that message not only to the recruit, but the recruit's parents. Dodge said he's encountered helicopter parents "numerous times." They're defined as overprotective or taking excessive interest in their kids, often keeping them on a short leash. Another type, Peterson said, is the "lawnmower parent," who removes obstacles for their children to prevent them from facing hardships or failures. "This, again, is because people don't understand what the Army is all about," Dodge said. "All they associate with the Army is war. So if a recruiter gets a chance to sit down with that parent, a lot of times we can combat that obstacle." Peterson agreed. "There's nothing new in that. Regardless of where parents are in that spectrum of involvement, it's really important to bring parents into the conversation." A lot of it is just being honest, the experts said. "Be transparent, genuine and honest and be who you really are, because Gen Z and Millenials can see if you're not being truthful about something," Ferguson said. "Not everything is great, and not everything is awful either. It's rarely any extreme on the spectrum." She added, "Trying new things is what's going to position us for the next five years," referencing how the Army is tackling various mediums, including virtual and digital recruiting teams. Ferguson said some Army recruiters have worked as substitute teachers, volunteering to teach at high schools and be involved. "Old methods don't always work in every location. What works in Montgomery, Alabama, doesn't necessarily work in Orange County, California," she said. Authenticity goes a long way, Boren said. "Centennials seek authenticity, and they quickly turn away from anything that is less than genuine or doesn't speak to them in compelling ways," he said. "When it comes to messaging, the Navy is competing with every brand that targets this generation. There is a lot of noise out there, and we remain focused on engaging with prospective sailors on their terms and providing compelling content on the platforms they most regularly use to gather information." Tackling Perceptions Blount said a looming threat most aren't thinking about is the growing civilian-military divide. "It is an existential threat to our military," he said. It's a broader problem that may not have an immediate solution, said Beth Asch, a senior economist at Rand Corp. who studies labor economics, defense manpower and recruitment of military personnel. "There's evidence that shows that the general population doesn't know what military service entails and quickly they fall to the stereotypes: that people in the military aren't paid very much, or people who join the military are not very smart or, if you join, you have a high chance of experiencing PTSD," Asch said. "Data shows that none of these statements are true, or they're not as extreme." Another notion is that those who join the military can't express ideas that may be considered innovative or "outside the box" because they will be seen as breaking rank. Peterson said that's simply not true. Last year, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright said airmen who come up with solutions that can help the service achieve results shouldn't feel like they're boxed in. And failure is OK. "Do you have a culture in your organization that allows airmen to fail?" Wright asked during the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida. "That's how we get there. Creative thinking. We have so many right airmen in our ranks that are just waiting to provide us ideas, innovative concepts, that are also waiting to be disruptive." Peterson agreed. "This notion that the military is this very structured place -- you want people to say, 'Yes sir,' 'No sir' -- and we don't want you to get outside your box, we don't want you to be disruptive. The reality of it is, that's never really ever been true." He continued, "There is always been a place for a youngster who comes in who has new and different ideas, who thinks in a way that perhaps the institution maybe hasn't thought about yet, and the idea that those types of people are beaten down or told to be quiet is more of a stereotype more than anything else. "Those people, in my opinion, have been celebrated and encouraged," Peterson said. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. The patrol boats, which have been in the Persian Gulf region since 2003, have been replaced by two of the service's newest... NEW HAVEN In a world that divides people into male and female, Sasha Carney doesnt identify as either gender. So Carney, a sophomore at Yale University, is feeling some relief that the university is taking steps to recognize transgender and other nonbinary people in their student records. Yale Registrar Emily Shandley announced this month that students can register their identity in three ways in the student information system: M, F or N, for male, female and nonbinary. According to a statement from Maria Trumpler, director of Yales Office of LGBTQ Resources, Allowing students to change and enter non-binary genders is a basic best practice that we identified about 8 years ago, and it has taken this long to find the technology to implement it. Trumpler is also a senior lecturer in Womens, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Students also have pressed for the change, including petitioning the administration. The Common Application implemented ways for students to express nonbinary gender preferences in the 2016-17 academic year. Carney, who asks to be referred to by the pronouns they, them and theirs, said in an email to the New Haven Register that navigating a world that labels people as either male or female can be frustrating and disheartening. I think its a shame that birth sex, or the gender you were assigned or thought to be at birth, is so enshrined in our legal and registration systems, Carney wrote. Getting a gender marker formally changed on official records, identification, etc. can be a long and complicated process, requiring proof of surgery in some states, and even when a transgender person does succeed in getting a gender marker change, the marker can still put them at risk. Carney said discrimination is rampant against transgender people who identify as one gender but may appear to be another, or to those who register their gender as X, which is allowed in Oregon, Washington state, Maine, Washington, D.C., and New York City. California allows residents to register as nonbinary on identification and birth certificates. Other universities go beyond Yales three choices. Princeton University offers six choices: cisgender, genderqueer/gender nonconform, man, other, trans/transgender and woman. Students may select multiple gender identities, according to campusreform.org. Other Connecticut universities have not gone as far as Yale, however. At the University of Connecticut, students can identify as male or female at registration and can change their designation by request, according to spokesman Mike Enright. Julia Anderson, program coordinator at the Rainbow Center, the LGBTQ resource center at UConn, said, We do not ask gender questions at all of enrolled students except for registration and in the housing application, where the student can enter any preferred gender. Anderson said incoming students are asked to choose between male and female for federal reporting purposes. For example, males are required to register with the Selective Service System (in case of a military draft) while females are not. Leigh Appleby, spokesman for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, which include Southern Connecticut State University and Gateway Community College, said the system has a preferred name policy and a restroom/locker room policy, but only allows students to identify as male or female in its registration system. Appleby said the Student Advisory Committee is looking at proposing a change to the policy. Quinnipiac University Registrar Joshua Berry said that school allows students to identify as male, female or undeclared. The University of New Havens Gender Identity/Expression Policy states, The University, and this policy, support an inclusive educational environment, which respects individual identities and the right of an individual to express themselves within the University community, but does not specifically list gender choices. Andrea Kovacs, spokeswoman for Albertus Magnus College, said the school follows the federal requirements and allows only for female and male choices. As an example of the complexity of nonbinary gender identification, the Washington state Department of Health published a rule change in 2018 saying that X means a gender that is not exclusively male or female, including, but not limited to, intersex, agender, amalgagender, androgynous, bigender, demigender, female-to-male, genderfluid, genderqueer, male-to-female, neutrois, nonbinary, pangender, third sex, transgender, transsexual, Two Spirit, and unspecified. Yale is required to report gender as male or female to the federal government, and, according to a memo leaked to the New York Times in October, the Trump administration wants to define sex strictly under Title IX, which prohibits discrimination in education on the basis of sex. Sex means a persons status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth, according to the memo drafted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Times reported. The sex listed on a persons birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a persons sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence. Mary Bernstein, a sociology professor at the University of Connecticut who focuses on sexualities, said, The Trump administration is basically trying to make it mandatory that you can only identify with the sex you were assigned at birth and theres a huge amount of pushback. There are about 1.4 million Americans who identify as a sexual identity other than male or female. She said the LGBTQ movement has evolved to increase awareness of nonbinary sexualities. Even though for a long time the movement has been called LGBT, the T part has been given short shrift even within the movement itself, she said, referring to the acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. In 2014, Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nations largest LGBTQ civil rights group, apologized for not being more aware of transgender issues. HRC has done wrong by the transgender community in the past, and I am here to formally apologize, he said at a national conference. I am sorry for the times when we stood apart when we should have been standing together. Even more than that, I am sorry for the times you have been underrepresented or unrepresented by this organization. What happens to trans people is absolutely central to the LGBT struggle. And as the nations largest LGBT civil rights organization, HRC has a responsibility to do that struggle justice, or else we are failing at our fundamental mission. But while there is more awareness of trans and other nonbinary sexualities among the general public, Bernstein said, It cant be understated how important the current attacks are on transgender people and the attempts to reduce their rights and protections. Bernstein said gender has become more public with the achievement of same-sex marriage nationwide, but also with the current presidential administration and debates about bathrooms and debates about transgender people in the military that transgender people are very much under attack. Young people, especially, are becoming more vocal, she said. The idea of challenging the gender binary is not new but its become much more common. I think its part of a growing acceptance of people who are lesbian and gay and I think that has also expanded to understanding sexuality as fluid. I often find it frustrating that gender has to be known within the system at all, and an optimal world would be one where that doesnt have to be registered on e.g. drivers licenses or school systems, Carney wrote in the email. I really appreciate the steps the administration has been taking to mitigate the discomfort this causes trans & nonbinary students, Carney said, calling the nonbinary ID option a huge relief, as trans & nonbinary people often run into gatekeeping of their gender from official systems, the notion that they are not really their gender, or, often in the case of nonbinary people, that their lived experiences and comfort with their identity doesnt really exist at all. Yale also allows students to register a preferred name in addition to their legal name. Students also may record the pronunciation of their name and list their preferred pronouns. More and more, professors are being encouraged to ask students their pronouns in introductions, which saves trans and nonbinary students the discomfort of feeling singled out when they say their pronouns, or having to have difficult conversations after class, Carney wrote. In emphasizing the importance of recognizing nonbinary gender identities, Carney referred to an October 2018 study in the journal Pediatrics, which found that 14 percent of teenagers had attempted suicide, but among those who did not identify as male or female the rate was much higher. Slightly more than half of male-to-female transgender adolescents had attempted suicide, and those who identified as not exclusively male or female tried to kill themselves at a 41.8 percent rate. Its exhausting to live in a world which invalidates your identity at every turn, Carney wrote. Ive met a lot of people, many of them well-meaning, who need a full-scale explanation of my personal experiences with being nonbinary, as well as a political explanation of who nonbinary people are and what position we occupy in society, before they will agree to use my pronouns, or not call me a girl. Formal systems that allow us to take back a little bit of that control as to how we are referred are so important, particularly at college, which for many people (as it was for me) is their first experience of discovering their gender, or being fully out as nonbinary. Casey Odesser is a Yale junior who identifies as nonbinary, which she called unstable, dynamic, fluid. She said she was a bit wary of how the university would use the information and of the wisdom of adding nonbinary to an existing male-female system. Its not natural to have two sexes. Its something thats been manmade, she said. I personally feel that gender is just not a binary and anytime we enforce the fact that it is I feel a whole history of patriarchal violence and sexism. edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382. Heres your General Assembly on budget day. Its 11:30 in the morning and the historic House chamber is not quite buzzing. There doesnt even appear to be an oh-so-simple majority among the historic, 151 tiered seats. Well, there are several ultra-cons in unsteady Earth orbits, as if their bucket-sized, iceberg-laden sodas were a clever idea for a zinger toward Gov. Ned Lamonts proposed cent-and-a-half-per-ounce tax on teeth-rotting, life-shortening sodas. So, I guess theyre buzzed, possibly surfing the fructose waves tube on their way to diabetic comas. But their diminished relevancy, with the return of whopping Democratic majorities, is more of the comic-relief variety for the next couple years, even as the defeated GOP elite from Big Bob on down, have hunkered into a guerrilla-style sniping Twitter war. Lawmakers and staffers are drifting in and by noon the place is full, with standing-room-only along the walls. The over-worked, under-appreciated custodians (No, theyre not state employees, so dont blame them for the pension tsunami set to inundate Connecticut in four years, if the legislature balks on re-amortizing.) have filled the area between the banks of House seats and the podium, with a few dozen chairs for the 36 senators. Its the governors big day, when hell slip on his ah-shucks penny loafer homespun persona and offer a $21.2 billion bottom line. Thats really the only number you need to know, seething taxpayers. That and the $1.5 billion deficit that the General Assembly with limited guidance from Lamont, the freshman governor have to deal with in time for the June 5 adjournment, or the July 1 start of the next fiscal year. Shortly after noon Lamont comes out to a decent ovation, but the lawmakers saw him in the same room six weeks ago, so its time to put up or shut up. Theyve already heard the major points: the smoothing out of the teachers pension program, turning a 12-year problem with a huge multi-billion-dollar bulge of red ink into a 30-year guest at the table; the oh, I guess were going to have to toll all vehicles, and not just trucks. Campaign promises? Please. Its a big leap from running for governor and having the govern. I need you at the table, the governor says. Lets try a different kind of politics. Well yeah, who wants to be alone out there tackling this foreign-sounding stuff. The word deficit was never uttered on the Greenwich Board of Selectman, back when Lamont was a lonely Democrat in the states richest town. Smoothing is something the plastic surgeons do for the ladies who park their sparkling Range Rovers down on Greenwich Avenue. I want an anti-Wisconsin moment, Lamont says in response to the union busting that went on out there in the Midwest under a seething Republican governor. I want a Connecticut moment. Yes, someone got paid good money to come up with that line. But in fact, Lamont wants state unions back at the bargaining table to cough up some more health care benefits, because they seem to never give enough. Again, the numbers must add up at the end of the day, he says, around the time that I thought the cheerleadings was kinda boring, halfway through his 35-minute speech. When he touts The Travelers Companies and Stanley Black & Decker offering college loan forgiveness, resulting in a standing ovation among Democrats and even a few Republicans, I look up at House Minority Leader Themis Klarides of Derby and Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano of North Haven. Theyre talking back and forth, apparently asking whether they should stand. I see Fasano mouth no. Back to Fasano during the highway toll pitch. Absolutely not, he seems to say. Sports betting and retail marijuana get the briefest of mentions at around the 27-minute mark, but the bills are winding their way through the legislature already. Lets get this done, Lamont says at 35 minutes, throwing the entire process, all the heavy lifting, into the laps of lawmakers and the non-partisan staff in the Office of Fiscal Analysis, the Legislative Commissioners Office and the Office of Legislative Research to come up with something that can pass the House and Senate and get signed into law. By 12:40, when Lamonts back in his second-floor office and the legislative leaders are playing spin sessions with reporters, the clock starts running. The race is on. Which will have the longer shelf life? The bananas on the counter back home, or the budget? Hint: the fruit. 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. I grew up in a country where equality was inked on parchment and generations have fought to ensure that justness remained in place long after the ink dried and the parchment aged. I grew up amidst the assassinations of peaceful leaders, the murders of peace activists, the chaos of violent riots sweeping across the country and the march for civil rights. And I grew up in an era where the men and women in blue who swore an oath to protect and serve all citizens turned dogs loose on blacks and whites for seeking equality. It was pretty depressing growing up and made to feel white people I talked to everyday and went to school and played with everyday looked down on me and thought I was less simply due to the color of my skin. It left me and other blacks doubting the validity of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the American flag that flied so brightly after the Greatest Generation helped solidified Americas presence as a world power and was still basking in the glow decades later. And it was enough to make any black kid doubt his or her self-worth as they reached adulthood and set out to bring the bacon home. But I also grew up with a generation of white men and women who walked, talked and sang of peace, love and harmony and many who solidified that harmony by sitting crossed-legged in a circle and passing around a pipe of peace in unity. It was white men and women who burned the flag and demanded that America live up to her promises. They were the ones who made me believe in my self-worth to America. They were the ones who reinforced my confidence that I belonged standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them. And despite racial tension, I grew up at a time when many men of all races sought peace with an embrace and adopted the phrase brother, which was used even when they were talking to men of other races. That is still true today. At the time, it was a phrase largely popularized by black men to show solidarity to each other during a turbulent time. And out of that mix of hate and love during the 60s and 70s came a shared camaraderie for many. But in 2018, if you are eavesdropping on Americans, the racial divide has come roaring back with words that spit out like acid, meant to scar and debilitate. Depending on who or what you are, if its not white this, then its black that and when that same old clash runs out of steam, it is on to the Mexicans, and when they have been cursed and damned to no end, then its on to the illegal immigrants. And when were not screaming and hollering about who and what is or is not an American, we make up tales of hate and blame other races for our own shortcomings. Maybe it is time to bring back the peace pipe. The 28 days celebrating Black History Month in America are about to come to an end. I will be at Bernard Environmental Magnet School in New Haven on Wednesday with other guests to help them close out the month where kids for another year learned about the blacks of yesteryear. But I wonder how much having a separate month to learn about blacks actually hurts and divides us as it keeps our histories separated when they should mesh. Black history is American history the good, the bad and the ugly and there shouldnt be separate books or a month set aside to teach and acknowledge it. I think it leaves little black kids subliminally thinking there is only one month out of 12 when they are relevant and it keeps little white kids feeling guilty for the sins of their fathers. Carter G. Woodson began the month because blacks at the time only knew about their history of slavery and not of the achievements and contributions blacks had and were making to America. That has changed over the decades. Since 1976, every president has acknowledged February as Black History Month. But it is the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose face and words represent most of the images or literature about black Americans struggle for equality and unity. King was a man who believed in equality and unity for all people. He was shot dead for that belief. There is a holiday named after him for that belief. There is a statue of him on the National Mall in Washington for that belief. That is why I think Black History Month should be retooled into a month-long celebration of the different cultures that make up America and use the time to have a rap on race. After all, other than saying hi and goodbye, many of us really dont know a lot about one another other than what we see and read in the news. I believe we would all be better served by such a change. Since I began writing columns, many people have contacted me to share their thoughts on race and express dismay this is still an issue. So I know, we are all pretty much on the same page; we just have to turn it. But we dont need a St. Bernard with a barrel of peace around its neck to lead us down from the mountain so there can be peace in the valley. We just need to take a trip to the lost and found to find our way again. Because what has been lost can be found and what can be found can be saved. I dont know whatever happened to the peace, love and harmony that once defined my generation but I do know there are still peaceful leaders and a bevy of peace activists. Color? A rap on race is overdue. James Walker is the New Haven Registers senior editor and a statewide columnist for Hearst Connecticut newspapers. james.walker@hearstmediact.com. She was funny, caring and musically inclined in happier times. But her teenage life was such a battle with mental health that she felt there was nowhere she could escape her anxiety and depression. The day she took her own life at the Danbury Fair mall was supposed to be the day that took away the cascade of pain. But on Feb. 9, the pain was just beginning for the family of 16-year-old Hailey Nailor, and everyone who loved her. Somewhere in Connecticut each day, her story is repeated in its own way. The high-profile suicide of Nailor is elevating the discussion here and across the state about suicide prevention, and the larger issue of mental health reform. All of the research says that suicide doesnt stand alone, said Tom Steen, the father of a young man who took his own life, and the chairman of the Connecticut chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Something else is almost always going on such as depression or anxiety or bipolar disorder, which then puts pressure on someone to self-medicate and you can easily see how complicated this issue becomes. Kevin Nailor, Haileys father, said there was a direct connection between the inability to get her the mental health treatment she needed and her suicide. No doubt - sadly, they go hand in hand, Nailor said. The systematic letdowns were just too great. The good news is Connecticut has the nations sixth-lowest suicide rate in part because of a coordinated effort undertaken by nonprofits and government agencies after the Sandy Hook massacre to pool resources and attack the problems many facets from all sides. The bad news is suicide remains the second-leading cause of death for people in Connecticut aged 15 to 34. And the overall number of suicides in the state has been increasing every year since 2014. In life, you have to stay a couple steps ahead, and kids and young adults cant always do that, Connecticut Assistant Child Advocate Faith Vos Winkel said. Its hard to see the outside world with all the depression and darkness surrounding you. A drop in youth suicide 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 Vos Winkels office, which tracks untimely deaths of Connecticut youth and investigates them when warranted, reports that the seven suicides of kids aged 11 to 17 in 2018 represented a 50 percent drop from the 14 suicides reported from that age group in 2017. But she cautioned against making too much of the steep one year drop saying she has seen a similar dip in year-over-year youth suicides before, and that if she and her colleagues understood how to replicate the conditions of the down year, they would have already done so. The spotlight on suicide prevention comes at a time of rising awareness about the need to reform the mental health system. Part of that awareness is due to small signs of change resulting from the 2016 Mental Health Reform Act co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. One small sign is more substance abuse treatment is being covered by insurance companies. Heightened attention about the link between suicide and mental health is also happening at a time when self-inflicted death nationwide is on the rise. The 47,000 suicides reported in 2017 was the highest its been in at least 50 years, according to the Associated Press. Moreover, over the last 20 years, the national suicide rate has climbed 33 percent. That makes suicide the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, and a top-five cause of death for the school-aged, the middle-aged, and young professionals. In Connecticut, a coalition of nonprofits and state agencies is awaiting final 2018 suicide numbers from the state medical examiners office to look for trends that need immediate attention. For example, while white, middle-aged men are consistently at the highest risk for suicide here and nationwide, advocates are also watching suicide increases among other population groups, such as farmers. We have been working with the Department of Agriculture to train people who work with farming communities who may be at risk, said Andrea Duarte, behavioral health program manager at the states Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Between the fiscal crisis and climate changes that are unpredictable, these are major stressors for people. In 2017, the last year complete numbers are available, 400 people committed suicide in Connecticut, an increase of 3.6 percent over the previous year and a 53 percent increase over 2007, the year the Great Recession began. The medical examiners office expects to release the final 2018 suicide numbers in early March. Reason for hope One reason advocates believe Connecticut is ahead of most of America in suicide prevention is the states tough gun laws including those passed after 2012, when a chronically isolated 20-year-old with Aspergers syndrome, advanced anorexia and anxiety disorder shot his way into a locked Sandy Hook School and murdered 26 first-graders and educators. But advocates would also like to believe that their comprehensive and holistic approach to suicide prevention and mental health treatment is gaining traction in the war on Connecticuts 11th leading cause of death. Social health, spiritual health and community health are all connected to make up our mental health and our overall well-being, Vos Winkel said. We cannot look at kids in isolation by saying mental health is over here and spiritual health is only when you are in church. Among the new prevention initiatives is the Signs of Suicide program, administered by Newtown-based Sandy Hook Promise. The program teaches peers how to spot the warning signs of suicide, and how to tell a trusted adult at the first sign of a red flag. Duarte agrees with the approach. The message is that you have to take care of your mental health just like you need to take care of your physical health, Duarte said. And just like you have a plan to take care of your physical health, you should have a plan if you need mental health help. Duarte and other members of a coalition that runs Connecticuts suicide prevention website are gearing up to revise the states five-year suicide prevention plan in 2020. The plan aims to accelerate promising work to improve substance abuse screening, to detect mental illness earlier in children and to ensure that as much time and money is being spent on behavioral health as physical health. They say you can never get to zero suicide, but that is the goal, Vos Winkel said. That should be our goal. Meanwhile the Nailors are taking each day hour by hour. Talking about it and shedding light on something that is so dark and secretive really seems to help, Kevin Nailor said. Removing the stigma is step No. 1. rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342 The fashion industry happens to be one of the most fast-paced and constantly evolving industries in the world. Fashion trends come and go in the blink of an eye, but if there is one thing that doesn't change, it is the idea and possibility that inspires it. Two friends decided to change India's unfamiliarity with beachwear and herald a bigger change in the Indian fashion scene by reimagining the way swimwear was incorporated into mainstream fashion choices in their home country. What started out as a passion project turned Shivan and Narresh's life around, and soon the duo was christened as bikini boys of India. (c) MensXP But there is a lot of history behind their success and raging popularity as India's first luxury beachwear brand. Swimwear as a fashion category was non-existent in the the Indian subcontinent, when Shivan and Narresh first set foot in the industry. Freshly out of college, the NIFT graduates were told that the big money lay in selling lehengas. Industry veterans tried to sell the Indian festive wear category as the it thing to make their debut with. But research and personal inclination told the duo to explore other avenues and turned out that swimwear was a category they could dig into. (c) MensXP It all started when Shivan and Narresh was had just joined NIFT, New Delhi. While Narresh was specialising with women's wear, Shivan was studying leather corsetry at a prestigious design school. They were introduced by a common friend during their first year, but, it was design competitions that brought them together. Their complementary skills helped them bag most competitions, and they soon realised that sticking together would be best. Yet, when they set out, people around them were apprehensive and discouraging. That plunged Shivan and Narresh into a dark phase when they didn't know the right answers or how to seek them. But eventually it was their passion and creativity that won, and they decided to sell swimwear as a lifestyle. (c) MensXP For the makers of the brand 'Shivan & Narresh' their constant job and passion is to send people on holidays. What started off as swimwear, soon morphed into resort wear, followed by menswear. But more recently it is their celebration wear that has got the town talking. But for Shivan, their greatest design invention they lent to the fashion dictionary was the, bikini saree which has been adorned by the who's who of the industry and Bollywood divas. Their menswear is equally popular and eye-catchy. And though Shivan and Narresh have personalities that are poles apart, their talents and quirks make them the perfect partners to work with. (c) Shivan & Narresh/MensXP They started out with a sum of Rs 1 lakh that they had won through a competition, and combined it with another 50,000 rupees borrowed from their parents, and bought three machines that would help them breathe life to those killer swimsuits. From their first store in Hauz Khas to their first flagship store in one of India's most expensive malls, Emporio, they have come a long way in the last seven years. (c) Shivan & Narresh/MensXP And when it comes to giving a wise piece of advice to aspiring designers, both Shivan and Narresh believe that a designer must always represent himself or herself, and bring that to the table. Knowing who they are, what they represent and where they are coming from, and pick your line of work keeping it in sync with who you are. All else will automatically fall into place." (c) Shivan & Narresh/MensXP Learn from these two fashion innovators, as they share industry insights and personal lessons with us, about how to make it in the industry on your own terms. Shivan Bhatiya and Narresh Kukreja have been nominated in the category of 'Aspirational Icon of Newhood' in Times Prime presents MensXP 'Icons of Newhood', to be held on 4th May 2019, at The Lalit, New Delhi. Marietta, GA (30060) Today A few thunderstorms this evening. Mostly clear skies late. Low 69F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight A few thunderstorms this evening. Mostly clear skies late. Low 69F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Richard Neal does not want Trumps tax returns to be released. The American people would be able to see how Congressmen on the tax-writing committee have turned the tax code into a block of Swiss cheese, to benefit the wealthy: loopholes, deductions, credits, incentives, write-offs, corporate tax shelters, special provisions, and foreign subsidiaries. Richard Neal is the Chairman & highest-ranking member of the tax-writing committee, and he has been on this committee for 25 years. Richard Neal would have to explain how these loopholes got into the tax code in the first place. Incumbent Democrats and Incumbent Republicans do not want to be forced to expose the loopholes they have baked into the tax code. Frederick Mayock, Springfield A union representing Stop & Shop workers in Massachusetts has voted to authorize a strike after the employees contract expired at midnight. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1445 voted Sunday morning to authorize a potential strike during its meeting in Randolph. It is the first of five unions representing Stop & Shop workers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut to authorize a strike. The remaining four are expected to follow suit, according to Local 1445 President Jeff Bollen. The vote came just hours after employees three-year contracts expired at midnight. UFCW 1445 represents 10,000 Stop & Shop workers in Massachusetts. Bollen said contract negotiations will continue over the next few weeks, but the vote gives the union the power to call a strike at any time. The union has asked members to keep working in the meantime. Theres a large percentage that were going to be going on strike this year, Bollen said in a video posted to Facebook. The company doesnt seem to be backing off on things -- they are adamant about their proposals. Stop & Shop said in a statement that it will continue negotiations next week. The grocery chain said it is one of the few remaining union grocers in New England and is forced to compete with non-union companies like Market Basket, Wegmans and Trader Joes that have much lower labor costs. We look forward to having productive discussions with the unions next week and remain committed to reaching new agreements as quickly as possible, the company said. Stanley Donen, a director of Hollywood musicals who secured an enduring place in cinema history as the filmmaker who captured Fred Astaire dancing on a ceiling and Gene Kelly singing in the rain, died Feb. 21 at a hospital in New York City. He was 94. His death, from an apparent heart attack, was confirmed by his son Mark Donen. A former Broadway dancer, Stanley Donen first drew notice as a wunderkind whose innovations in movie choreography literally animated film in new ways. At 20, he conceived and directed Kellys timelessly endearing dance duet with Jerry the cartoon mouse - a pioneering concept - in Anchors Aweigh (1945). Donen's alliance with Kelly resulted in some of the finest work either of them achieved onscreen. They co-directed three films: "On the Town" (1949), "It's Always Fair Weather" (1955) and, towering above Donen's dozens of credits, "Singin' in the Rain" (1952). The musical starred Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor and lampooned silent-era Hollywood studios during their bumpy transition to the "talkies." It ranks fifth on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest American movies of all time. Scores of influential critics have lauded its witty script by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, brisk pacing and imaginative dance numbers. Under Donen's direction, the title song sequence climaxed with the camera swooping back into the air as Kelly spins in circles, riding his umbrella like a sail. The image is considered one of the most extraordinary explosions of joy ever captured on film. In an interview, film scholar David Thomson called Donen "one of the handful of absolutely vital contributors to the American movie musical." He achieved much of his best work in the collaborative ambience of the studio system of the 1940s and 1950s. He teamed with choreographers Bob Fosse and Michael Kidd as well as esteemed producers Arthur Freed and Roger Edens. But he forged his most important working relationship with Kelly, although the Kelly-Donen partnership eventually shattered over dueling egos. "If you substitute the word 'fight' for 'co-direct,' then you have it," Donen once said. Donen had strong ideas about what worked in film, but without Kelly's star clout, he did not always see them realized. Film historian and critic Andrew Sarris saw "intermittent flashes of inspiration" in Donen's non-Kelly musicals such as "Royal Wedding" (1951) and "Funny Face" (1957), both with Astaire, and his movie versions of the Broadway shows "The Pajama Game" (1957) and "Damn Yankees!" (1958). In making "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954), a musical about macho backwoodsmen on the American frontier, Donen and Kidd persuaded producers who wanted name actors in several leading roles to cast professionally trained ballet dancers instead. Donen said producers feared that the dancers would seem unmanly to a mass audience. But the result was the unforgettable and richly acrobatic barn dance sequence, which featured men cartwheeling on planks and wielding axes. It was, a Time magazine critic wrote, "a high old roister-doister of a show." Donen advocated liberating the camera from the studio set - an expensive and extremely rare practice. He was disappointed to have lost that battle in "Seven Brides," when he was forced to use a studio backdrop that looked artificial then and seems severely dated now. He had better luck, with Kelly's pull, when it came to filming the musical "On the Town" in New York. The opening sequence, aided by Leonard Bernstein's brassy score, was bursting with dynamic energy and starred Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munchin as sailors on shore leave. "It was important, in 'On the Town,' to be on the town," Donen once quipped. Location shooting at the Louvre in Paris also proved effective in "Funny Face," starring Astaire as a worldly photographer and Audrey Hepburn as a young mouse he transforms into a Givenchy-clad fashion goddess. In a scene that embodies Donen at his most effervescent, Hepburn rushes down the stairs in a pose that resembles the looming marble sculpture "Winged Victory." "I can't stop," she tells Astaire to swelling Gershwin music. "Take the picture!" Stanley Donen was born April 13, 1924, to a Jewish family in Columbia, South Carolina, where his father managed a dress shop. To escape anti-Semitic taunting at school, he took refuge in Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals that offered a "fantasy world where everything seemed to be happy, comfortable, easy and supported." He trained as a dancer and, at 16, won a role in the Broadway chorus line of "Pal Joey" (1940), a hit musical starring Kelly. The next year, Donen became an assistant to Kelly, who was choreographing the musical "Best Foot Forward" in New York. Their partnership deepened in Hollywood. Donen's breakthrough as a movie choreographer was the "Alter Ego" sequence for the 1944 musical "Cover Girl." He used double exposure - a novel technique to Hollywood movies - to simulate Kelly dancing with a ghostlike figure of himself on a lonely street block. "The sequence occurred to me because two people dancing together is more powerful, precise, and fun than one person dancing alosne," Donen told his biographer, Stephen M. Silverman. "Then I thought: What if those two people are the same person? So I went to Gene and asked him, 'How'd you like a number where you dance with yourself?' Well, the idea appealed to him on a number of levels." Veteran director Charles Vidor did not think Donen's idea was possible. But the young choreographer achieved the effect by shooting the precise camera movements and dance steps twice. Kelly's perfectionism - and his vouching for Donen - were crucial to the success. The actor described being drawn to Donen, who was 11 years his junior, because he recognized someone who matched his energy and ambition. But Kelly's demanding ways and temper eventually led to a falling-out. It didn't help that the first of Donen's five wives, dancer Jeanne Coyne, subsequently married Kelly. Kelly died in 1996. "I'm grateful to him," Donen remarked in a 1992 interview, "but I paid back the debt 10 times over. And he got his money's worth out of me." Donen's later marriages to actress Marion Marshall, socialite Adelle Beatty, actress Yvette Mimieux and saleswoman Pam Braden ended in divorce. For several years, he was the companion of writer, actress and filmmaker Elaine May. Survivors include a son from his second marriage, Joshua Donen, a producer of the Netflix series "House of Cards" and the 2014 film "Gone Girl" of Los Angeles; a son from his third marriage, Mark Donen of Paris; a sister; and three grandchildren. A son from his second marriage, movie visual effects specialist Peter Donen, died in 2003. Donen made his solo directing debut with "Royal Wedding," a film best remembered for Astaire's tap dance around a hotel room, from floor to wall to ceiling and back again. To achieve the dizzying effect, Donen attached his camera to the base of rotating cylindrical set. The cylinder would turn as Astaire danced, leaving the impression of a man defying the laws of gravity. To add to the illusion, background "draperies" were made of wood, and Astaire's jacket was sewn into a chair that was anchored to the floor. Donen repeated his wizardry in 1986 when he directed a music video of Lionel Richie's bestselling single "Dancing on the Ceiling." As big-budget musicals went into decline in the late 1950s, Donen moved to London and made a series of sleek European-set stories. The most notable was the popular romantic-comic thriller "Charade" (1963), which featured a sexy slapstick sequence in which Cary Grant takes a shower fully clothed as Hepburn watches. In 1967, Donen made the popular hit "Bedazzled" featuring the comedy team of Dudley Moore and Peter Cook. That same year, the director tried a nonlinear storytelling approach to "Two for the Road," a fractured romance starring Hepburn and Albert Finney. The film failed commercially but has since attracted a devoted following for its avant-garde style. Donen dismissed many of the movies he made in the 1950s and 1960s as well-intentioned trifles best forgotten. They included "Staircase" (1969), with Rex Harrison and Richard Burton as an aging gay couple. He ended his feature-film career on a sour note with "Blame It on Rio" (1984), a dirty-old-man farce starring Michael Caine. An exception to his poorly received later film work was "Movie Movie" (1978), a send-up of a 1930s double feature that included a fake trailer for a World War I flying-ace drama ("War at Its Best!"). The movie, starring George C. Scott, was a deeply felt and riotously silly homage to Donen's earliest memories at the movies. He also produced a well-received 1986 Academy Award telecast that included Robin Williams as a host. In 1998, Donen received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement "in appreciation of a body of work marked by grace, elegance, wit and visual innovation." Director Martin Scorsese presented the award to Donen, who celebrated the moment by tap dancing to the Irving Berlin song "Cheek to Cheek" with the Oscar statuette. "Singin' in the Rain" influenced later films, including the Oscar-winning "The Artist" (2011) and Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" (1971), which borrowed a dance scene for nightmarish effect. For all its later acclaim, "Singin' in the Rain" drew favorable but not ecstatic reviews when it was released. Donen said it was overshadowed by director Vincente Minnelli's "An American in Paris" (1951), which also starred Kelly and won the Oscar for best picture. "Singin' in the Rain" was nominated in two minor categories the next year but lost. We were ignored, Donen told his biographer. Not that its such a big to-do. The year of Singin in the Rain,' the best picture went to The Greatest Show on Earth, one of the worst movies ever made. The Forbes Library in Northampton is turning the page on its first 125 years and beginning a new chapter in the life of the public library that opened in 1894. During the anniversary year Forbes Library is hosting special events and presenting exhibits both online and in its gallery about the library's history. Histories about prominent people and events connected to Forbes Library will be published along with photos and personal stories. "We are so proud of having served the community in the same building with virtually the same mission for 125 years. This anniversary is an opportunity to share that history with the community," says Lisa B. Downing, library director. "We are also viewing this as an opportunity to think about the future of not only library services but our community as a whole." The celebration of the library's 125th year began with a community sing in September, marking the100th anniversary of the community sings in the summer of 1918 when, as World War I was drawing to a close, thousands gathered on the Forbes Library lawn to sing and socialize. To honor the anniversary, the community was invited to gather on the lawn to raise spirits, support peaceful resolutions of conflicts and confirm a sense of community by singing together. Janet S. Gross, a frequent patron and member of the 125th Anniversary Committee, hopes anniversary events will make the people of Northampton more aware of the "treasure" in its midst. "The library staff works tirelessly on behalf of the city and its residents. Their efforts deserve greater recognition and reward," she said. "As a retired academic researching the women of Northampton's Round Hill Road, I particularly value the Forbes' extensive local history collection and its amazing librarian, Elise Bernier Feeley." Upcoming events include a variety of images and historical items from the Hampshire Room for Local History and Special Collections. There will be a new display each month until September. There is also a corresponding talk on the third Thursday of each month at 3 p.m. in the "Cookies with a Curator" series that will use books, photos and other items from the special collections to bring the topics to life. A grant-funded program, "Community Conversations," will explore difficult and complex topics that affect the community including racial justice, climate change, deepening divides (socio-economic disparities) and safety and justice. These fit within the context of the anniversary theme, "Working for the Common Good." "We see one role of the library working for the common good is as a place to provide people with information and opportunities for productive conversation," Downing said. "This feels very important these days." The schedule is still being finalized, but she hopes to have one of the outdoor movie screenings this summer to be a library-themed movie. Also, the community will be invited to share library memories, favorite books and ideas about the future that will be captured in exhibits at the library as well as preserved in a time capsule to be stored in the library archives and opened on its 150th anniversary. The unveiling of a digital timeline of the library's history is expected soon. Forbes Library was founded through a bequest by Judge Charles E. Forbes who wrote in his will, "It has been my aim to place within reach of the inhabitants of a town, in which I have lived long and pleasantly, the means of learning, if they are disposed to learn." William Brocklesby designed the three-story stone building, which is on the National Register of Historic Buildings. It was completed in 1893 and then took a year to open while the newly-hired director, Charles Ammi Cutter, went to Europe to assemble a collection in time for its opening in October 1894. He had created the Cutter Expansive Classification System when he was librarian at the Boston Athenaeum, and he implemented his system at Forbes Library, which is one of only five libraries in the world still using the Cutter System. "We use it largely because of its historic tradition as well as the prohibitive cost if we were to reclassify our system," Downing explains. "We think of it as one of the many things that makes Forbes unique." A complete interior renovation of the library was finished in 2001, accentuating many of the library's unique features likes the glass mezzanine floors, expansive spaces and Guastavino arches that support the second floor. "Forbes Library is one of our community's collectively held resources that enriches individual lives as well as the community at large through its collections and services," Downing says. "The gorgeous and iconic building itself is a collectively held resource that welcomes everyone in our community to enter through its doors and supports people to leave richer in knowledge and more closely connected to others." According to Katy E. Wight, a member of the library's board of trustees and chairman of the 125th Anniversary Committee, Forbes is providing the same basic services as it did when it opened its doors in 1894. "But today the library is so much more than a place to borrow books from," she says. "It still fulfills its mission of providing access to information and resources, but the library also supports the civic, intellectual and cultural pursuits of our community in many other ways." It is a safe space for tweens and teens to learn or be entertained. It's a place to research starting a business or a health issue, learn new skills or hunt for a job. For members of the community who don't have Internet at home, Forbes offers access. It is a place to study, see art, check out a movie, discover books, learn new things and view the world from a different perspective. "Public libraries are a cornerstone of democracy and are safe and welcoming spaces for everyone without regard to income, ability or background," Wight says. "There are no other institutions like them, and I feel privileged every day that I am able to serve as a steward for such a place." The theme for the library's anniversary year is "Working for the Common Good," inspired by the book, "The Common Good," by Robert Reich, secretary of labor in the Clinton Administration. "The common good is a concept that dates back to ancient Greek philosophy and refers to the collectively held resources of a society that are there for the benefit of everyone as well as the active participation by members of a society to allow it to function," Downing explains. "Reich's book explores the political history that has led us to a focus on individual wealth and a decreased engagement in civics that is crumbling away at our modern society." The "common good" refers to what is shared by a given community for the benefit of all members, as well as what is achieved through active participation in a society through public service or collective action. "Public libraries are an embodiment of this principle and a cornerstone in our democracy," she adds. The Forbes Library collections include popular fiction and non-fiction as well as arts and music and children's departments and an art gallery. It houses an extensive local history and genealogy collection for Hampshire County and the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum. Technology is probably the most obvious change at the library over the years. The other major change is the emphasis on programming for all ages as well as the opening of rooms for the public to use. The library has been focused on providing outstanding collections, outreach to underserved populations, preserving local history, supporting students needs, being a place to study and think since the beginning," Downing said. To learn more about Forbes and its programs, go online to forbeslibrary.org. Daniel J. Smith doesn't remember much of the past year. Until he came to the Soldiers' Home in Holyoke last spring. Although he was a member of the home's Board of Trustees, Smith arrived this time in need of care. Desperately in need of care. He can remember falling at home one Saturday night last January as he prepared to go to bed. Earlier in the week, he'd taken a bit of tumble when he was putting in a new light bulb, Smith recalls. He awoke the next morning, unable to get out of bed. Thus began a journey of several months, during which he was diagnosed with a rare infection in three vertebrae in his back. He's been told he spent weeks and months in two hospitals and two rehab centers, most of the time unaware of what was happening to him and where the message from doctors and caregivers was always the same: "We can't help you. You'll never walk again." For a man who had spent virtually all of his adult life working, serving his community and seldom at rest, this was not a message that either he or his family wanted to hear. An educator by profession, Smith had a 23-year career as a math teacher in the Westfield Public Schools before spending nearly 15 years as the director of the Westfield Housing Authority. He was an elected member of the Westfield Municipal Light Board that oversees the city's utility company, an original board member of the Westfield Community Development Corp. for 13 years, a registrar of voters, and active with nonprofits ranging from the Greater Westfield chapter of the American Red Cross and the YMCA to the Sarah Gillett Services for the Elderly. Smith will joke that he did so much community work "it's no wonder I have a great marriage. I'm never home." All kidding aside, though, Smith was honored by his alma mater, Westfield State University, in 2013 with its Horace Mann Award for Public Service. At the time, he remarked, "You don't get involved in public service for the awards. You participate because you believe in the missions of the organizations." So it was when he stepped up in 2014 after the sudden death of fellow Westfield resident and good friend Walter J. Zarichak to accept appointment to the Soldiers' Home Board of Trustees by Gov. Deval Patrick. Ironically, it was a sort of homecoming for him as Smith had grown up just down the street in Holyoke, and the hillside where the home now sits was a place for kids of his generation to play and explore. Not once, he says now, did he ever imagine he'd wind up becoming a resident as the veterans of the Soldiers' Home are regarded. Or at least a patient for a time. "I am just about ready to get out of here. That's not bad for a guy they told would never walk again," the 83-year-old Smith remarked this week. He still uses a walker, he says, but he's confident he'll pass muster to head home sometime this spring. Smith credits his walking again to the help and guidance of four very special physical and occupational therapists. His next goal is to walk out of the Soldiers' Home on his own to return home to Westfield and get back to living the life he once had. Not, however, before letting all who will listen know just how good the care is at the Soldiers' Home. His tenure as a trustee saw the home come under scrutiny for its record on safety and falls prevention when concerns were raised by three employees, at least one resident and the family of another who had died while in the care of the home. A federal clinical review subsequently found the Soldiers' Home staff was providing high-quality care and making improvements when needed. Smith arrived at the Soldiers' Home by ambulance last April in a body brace that required he stay in bed for almost three weeks. Then, he came under the care of a team of physical and occupational therapists who, Smith says, "would not take no for an answer." Becca. Michelle. Linda. Elvira. He speaks of them all as if they are daughters. "Without those four people, I'd still be in bed. They are the motivating factor that has kept me going." Twice a day, every day for four months, Smith, an Army veteran of the 3rd Infantry who had served as a member of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's honor guard company in the 1950s, did everything the therapists asked of him and was finally able to maneuver on his own. The therapy continues. Close personal friends from Westfield like Richard K. Sullivan and James Shea will tell you they think Smith's devotion to his family, his faith and determination have also contributed to his recovery. "His attitude is absolutely unbelievable," says the 84-year-old Sullivan, who calls Smith daily to check in and visits as regularly as he is able. "His disposition and outlook have been outstanding." Adds Shea, retired Westfield school superintendent, "Dan's a fighter, but he won't show it. He keeps it within him." Shea is among those who had seen Smith at his worst, only to be blown away during a holiday visit by having to keep up with him as he walked along the corridors of the Soldiers' Home. In the past six months, Smith's term as a trustee was up, and Gov. Charlie Baker opted not to reappoint him, choosing instead to name former Holyoke City Councilor Kevin Jourdain as his successor. Smith, a lifelong and active Democrat, understands well the ways of partisan politics. While not surprised by the move, though, he believes the governor and veterans affairs secretary Francisco Urena missed an opportunity by replacing him. Smith says the secretary spoke to him about reappointment. "He asked me, 'If we reappoint you, will you represent the trustees or the veterans who are residents?' I told him, 'That's a stupid question. I don't put them in categories. I represent all veterans.'" His time inside the Soldiers' Home has given him what Smith believes is a far different view than he had as a trustee. "I see just how hard these people work. I've had more young people on the staff here say they enjoy serving the veterans," he says. "I've learned things from them I didn't know as a trustee. People who are in management just don't always see these things." "The service here is outstanding for everyone. I don't care who you are," Smith says. "I laid in bed for 21 days, never got out of bed and I never got a bedsore." He adds, "Some of these guys here are old and cranky and give the younger people (on staff) a hard time, but they are given good service. Everyone here, the nurses, the (certified nurse assistants), they just want to help you." Smith had already gotten to know and come to respect Bennett Walsh, the current superintendent at the Soldiers' Home, and still believes strongly that Walsh is doing a "fine job." "Being a military man and with his family history in the military and his 24 years in the Marine Corps, we're very fortunate having him as superintendent." Another military man, state Rep. John C. Velis, D-Westfield, hopes Baker (or a future governor) considers Smith when another opening for a trustee opens. Army Reserve Maj. Velis, who was on duty for a six-month tour in Afghanistan when Smith's appointment was under review, says he was disappointed with what transpired. "(Smith) is a principled man who says and stands up for what he believes in," Velis says. "He did a phenomenal job (as a trustee), and it is a profound loss for the Soldiers' Home to not have him on the board. When you have someone like Dan, who served in the 3rd Infantry and wanted nothing more than the best for the residents...anytime you can get a person of that quality on a board, you should preserve it at all costs." While the legislator acknowledges that it is the governor's prerogative in making the appointment, Velis says, "I don't like the way this happened, but it is what it is." Asked if he'd ever consider return to the board, Smith says, "It might take me 10 minutes to decide, but, yes, I'd do it." Cynthia G. Simison is managing editor of The Republican. She may be reached by email to csimison@repub.com. Guest violinist William Hagen, Maestro Kevin Rhodes and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra brought the Symphony Hall audience to its feet Saturday evening with a magnificent concert-closing performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto. Hagen was engaged last week when health issues sidelined the intended Brahms soloist, Rachel Barton Pine. Only 26, he is indeed a seasoned performer, with a third-prize win at the 2015 Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition under his belt, along with acclaimed orchestral and recital performances across the United States. Hagen delivered the Brahms with a natural ease, as if he was improvising - unfolding the composer's masterful architecture with organic sensibility. He was master of the moment as well as of the big picture. A fourth-finger stretch to a perfectly tuned high D glinted like a ray of sunshine on a distant mountain peak. Extended sequences of octaves and arpeggios in the mammoth opening Allegro were exquisitely paced, reserving their tonal and emotional payoff for just the right moment. Dedicatee Joseph Joachim's challenging first-movement cadenza seemed child's play under Hagen's able fingers. SSO Principal oboist Nancy Dimock ushered in the Adagio with a lovely solo, which Hagen echoed and expanded, exploring the softest, most captivating tone of his 1732 Stradivarius (on loan from the Rachel Barton Pine foundation). He struck fire from the strings in the romping Rondo finale, leading Rhodes and the orchestra in a merry dance that culminated in a standing ovation, to which he responded with a dashing encore of the Allegro from J.S. Bach's Sonata for Violin in C Major, BWV 1005. At 26 the virtuoso Hagen is only five years older than Felix Mendelssohn was when he traveled to Italy and began writing his effervescent Italian Symphony, Op. 90. Rhodes and company concluded the first half of Saturday's concert with a bubbly, energetic account of that (mostly) sunny score. The relentless gallop of the opening Allegro gave way to a somber, reverent Andante, a songful Moderato, and finally the maniacal Saltarello with its fierce triplet workout for winds and strings alike. The SSO musicians employed light, nimble articulation and achieved remarkable precision at very high velocity! The first two numbers on Saturday's program involved members of the Springfield Youth Orchestra (also celebrating its 75th anniversary this season) seated next to their professional counterparts. The combined SSO and SYO opened the concert with Prayer and Celebration by Augusta Read Thomas. The brief, peaceful essay demanded and received incisive intonation from the strings and expressive interpretation within a reserved emotional scope. As Rhodes remarked before playing the piece, it was "...not a Rossini Overture," however it proved an excellent, introspective choice to open an active, dramatic, and weighty program. As an added bonus, Hagen also joined the combined orchestras in Amy Beach's Romance, originally written for violin and piano, but recently orchestrated by Chris Trotman and published by Women's Philharmonic Advocacy. Rachel Barton Pine had suggested the piece as a vehicle for her to collaborate with the combined SSO and SYO, and Hagen agreed to undertake that solo as well as to replace Pine in the Brahms. He played deeply into the strings, wringing a rich, chocolaty tone from his violin, and making the most of Beach's effusive, lyrical writing. How technology changes with the times! When Beach played the first performance of Romance with violinist Maud Powell at the 1893 World Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, the audience applauded so vigorously that the duo had to repeat the piece. The sheet music fell off Powell's stand, but she had memorized the work and finished the performance, undaunted. 126 years later, Hagen had the score digitized on an iPad, with a foot pedal for turning pages - no danger of that music falling off the stand! You'd never think the federal government shutdown would mushroom to the point where it was affecting, well, mushrooms. But that was the case for Julia Coffey, owner of Deerfield's Mycoterra Farm. After receiving grants for a new walk-in cooler to improve food safety and for installing a solar array on a south-facing roof of their new building, she was in the process of getting reimbursement when the shutdown occurred. "At first I didn't think too much of it, but now three weeks into the shutdown, I am concerned this political standoff will not be resolved in time to secure funding and complete my projects within the grant timelines," Coffey shared in mid-January. "While I am looking at other options (the Farm Service Agency) was my best option." It doesn't mean the mushroom business will stop blooming for Coffey and Mycoterra. The business has experienced solid growth over the past few years, prompting a lot of expansion. Initially, when Coffey operated the business by herself, she marketed directly to customers at Western Massachusetts farmers markets and through the River Valley Food Co-op in Northampton. Back then, she was harvesting perhaps 20 pounds of mushrooms a week. Today, it is 500 pounds a week. "My partner Chris (Haskell) joined the farm in 2013-2014, and we expanded into Boston-area farmers markets and starting to pick up some restaurant clients," she says. "Then, we hired more people to help with production and farmers markets, further expanding our market and restaurant reach." The move to Deerfield increased Mycoterra's production capacity, she says, "allowing us to expand our market through building relationships with distributors." Coffey started the business when she was renting the Westhampton home next to her parents' house in 2010. She then bought the house in 2012 and continued to operate the business there up until she bought the Deerfield property in 2016 and moved in late 2017. The evolution of the business from its infancy in Westhampton was as dramatic as the latest expansion, according to Coffey. "After operating the business out of the basement, garage, and seasonal outbuildings for a couple of years, we constructed two 1,000-square-foot greenhouses at the back of the (Westhampton) property," she explains. "While that seemed like a grand improvement when we began the project, when we started operating in the new space, we quickly filled it to capacity." Coffey quit her day jobs in 2014, and the business was utilizing every square foot possible in Westhampton by that summer. "Demand outpaced our growth, and we had reached the capacity of our site in Westhampton," she says. Thus, came the move to the former Stillwater Equestrian Center horse stable and arena that is Mycoterra's home. Lion's mane. Oyster. Chestnut. Shiitake. The farm grows a variety of gourmet and exotic mushrooms that are shared on the tables of many fine-dining restaurants in the Pioneer Valley as well as by home chefs who search them out at farmers markets across the region and state. The move to Deerfield also allowed Mycoterra to open its own farm store to share its produce with the public. One interesting fun fungi perk that Mycoterra provides its customers is its "Mushroom Club Card," which Coffey describes as "our alternative to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture farm shares). "Customers pay upfront for their card, which can be redeemed at farmers' markets. A $10 discount is built into the $80 card, a $20 discount is built into the $140 card," she explains. "For us it has the same benefit of a CSA giving us upfront funds that go into production. For the customer, in addition to the discount, there is flexibility in redemption. They can redeem for any of our products, at any market without being tied to a CSA pick-up schedule." There is no "typical" mushroom customer for Mycoterra, according to Coffey. "We market to a wide demographic," Coffey says. "Income, age and ethnic backgrounds are all pretty diverse at our table." There does, though, seem to be agreement about people's favorite type of mushrooms: Shiitake mushrooms, which have a great shelf life and are familiar to many people. It's a choice with which Coffey agrees. "Shiitake is my favorite," she says. "Known for the umami taste, shiitake is a natural flavor enhancer. It has a pleasant strong flavor, firm, pleasing texture and goes great with just about everything I cook." Massachusetts State Police have arrested a Delaware man accused of dragging a Wellesley police officer with a stolen car Saturday night. WBZ reported that 37-year-old Theodore William Newton of Newark, Delaware, was arrested on Interstate 84 in Sturbridge around 12:50 a.m. when the car he was traveling in was pulled over. Police said Newton dragged a Wellesley police officer with a stolen car on Route 9 earlier in the night after being pulled over. The the officer was dragged approximately 15 feet after he tried to take Newton into custody, according to the Wellesley Police Department. The officer was brought to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston with serious injuries that are not expected to be life-threatening. Newton is expected to be arraigned in Dedham District Court Monday. Authorities have identified the two men killed in a Mansfield plane crash Saturday as 18-year-old Julian Latterman of Dover and 32-year-old Sydney Miti of Waltham. Massachusetts State Police said Latterman and Miti were flying in a fixed-wing, single-engine plane that crashed at the Mansfield Municipal Airport around 12:30 p.m. The aircraft caught fire and both men were pronounced dead at the scene. Miti, an instructor, was flying the plane at the time of the crash, according to the Mansfield Police Department. Latterman was a student, the department said. The 2002 single-engine Cessna 172S aircraft left the Norwood Airport at 11:26 a.m., police said. At 12:30 p.m., a radio transmission from the plane indicated a missed approach. Moments later, authorities said the Cessna flew past the Municipal Airport Administration building and crashed nose-first into the turf landing area. The cause of the crash remains under investigation by local authorities, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration. The mood was somber Friday afternoon as firefighters and other officials worked in the aftermath of a house fire on Country Club Drive in Martinsville. The house, at 1006 Country Club Drive, belongs to Tom and Rebecca Fitzgibbons, according to Henry County GIS. Traffic in the area was closed off to allow for emergency vehicles. Martinsville Fire Chief Ted Anderson provided no immediate details but said he would have an update later Friday evening. After the fire was extinguished, the top floor on the left side the two-story house was burned. The roof was missing, and the chimney, which runs up the left side of the house, was charred. Tom Fitzgibbons taught at Fieldale-Collinsville High School and was the principal at Bassett and Martinsville High Schools before working in health care administration, according to Bulletin reports. His wife, known as Lynn, has been an educator with Henry County Schools, and the couple have an adult son, John. The house fire was the third in as many days. Wednesday, the former home of the Short family Michael, Mary and Jennifer, who were murdered in 2002 was destroyed by fire. Thursday, a house on Canton Drive in Fieldale was burned to the ground. Martinsville-Henry County is a great place to work. Thanks to the hard work of our local governments, EDC and other partners and elected officials, we have had a number of exciting economic announcements in recent months. We are seeing growth and expansion across all business sectors meaning great career opportunities are readily available. We are also extremely fortunate to have an abundance of training and educational resources such as NCI, PHCC and others to prepare our local workforce for these career opportunities, Knight said. Martinsville and Henry County continues to grow and we are constantly taking steps to make sure we are providing our businesses with a highly skilled, job-ready workforce. We strongly encourage anyone interested in learning more about career and training opportunities to attend the expo. The Guardia Civil say that people arrested on Friday during another major drugs operation are part of a gang that has been organising illegal immigration. They have arranged for immigrants to make the journey from Algeria in small boats and have also provided false documentation for those who managed to avoid being picked up. Those immigrants have moved on to the mainland, to France and Belgium. The drugs operation, dubbed 'Janu', was carried out in Palma, Inca and Sa Pobla. The investigation had started towards the end of 2017 when the security forces became aware of a group of Algerians engaged in drug dealing in different parts of Majorca. Investigators also ascertained that this group could be linked to the movement of illegal immigrants. They have been able to establish that people arrested on Friday were associated with the arrival of five boats in Cabrera and the south of Majorca last September. Those boats, which were intercepted by the Guardia Civil, were carrying sixty immigrants in all. As well as providing immigrants with false documents, the gang was also offering them mobile phones and accommodation in squats. Seven people were arrested on Friday. Six addresses were raided. The Guardia seized false documents, 1,000 marijuana plants and various stolen items, such as bikes, televisions and electronic devices. I had the most amazing experience of my life. It was unreal. It was mad from start to finish. It was a pure joke that led Edgeworthstown's Colette Conway to apply for First Dates Ireland last autumn and she never for a second thought she'd get on the show. But the self-confessed mad yoke will be appearing on the current series of the popular dating show in March. The application came about when Colette was spending time with her best friend, Tina Buzdar (another mad one, according to Colette), who dared her to fill out an application for the craic. We had brilliant craic filling it out. We laughed and joked but that's just the reality of my life: I'm actually a bit mad, Colette told the Longford Leader. But anyway, I put it all down and sent it off and then I passed no heed on it whatsoever. It went out of my head. Three weeks later, Colette received an email stating that she was longlisted for the show, and things took off from there. She had an hour-long phone interview with the producer of the show, and before she knew it, she had a camera crew at her house recording a video interview ahead of First Dates. We had such craic with it. They asked me 'what was your most embarrassing date?' I said 'I don't even need to think about that one: it has to be the one with the fella with the red runners'. There's red runners and then there's red runners and these were completely red runners, Colette recalled with a laugh. And we had a fire extinguisher so I said 'they were even redder than that'. They were that red, I said, if he was walking down the road, people would think they were traffic lights and get stuck behind these shoes. When the day of the big date came, Colette got dressed up and travelled up to Dublin on her own. At the Gibson Hotel - where First Dates Ireland is shot - she was treated like a VIP. I had the most amazing experience of my life, she recalled. It was unreal. It was mad from start to finish, the recording of the whole day was phenomenal. Like you're a VIP. It was a brilliant day. It was a brilliant experience. And the date didn't go too badly either, she added. It was lovely; he's a very nice person. He was very friendly. He was a lovely person actually. He's from not too far from here - about an hour's drive from here, she added, not able to give away too many details about her mystery date. The pair are friends now and will meet up to watch their episode of First Dates Ireland together. The appearance on First Dates was exactly what Colette needed to improve what she said was a very bad year for her. I lost my house because it went on fire. And my relationship... he walked out before Christmas last year. I had a very hard year of crying, she explained. Even when I did my date, it was good fun and we were meant to do a second date, but it didn't happen because there was just so much going on. But after the year that I had, I said I was going to ring in 2019 with a smile. And I haven't stopped smiling since. In fact, Colette met up with a former partner of 13 years ago on New Year's Eve and has been seeing him ever since - so things are looking up for her. You bounce back. I've found who I am. Now, it was very hard. It was tough time but I've never felt as good as I do feel today. Top form, she said. And it was her children, Aaron (20) and Leeroy (9), who helped to keep her going through the tough times. If you'd said to me this time last year, there's light at the end of the tunnel, I wouldn't believe that, she said. I was like, 'where is that tunnel because I'm going through it the whole year'. And now this year, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It's you finding your path, isn't it? Bringing yourself back there. That's the way it is at the end of the day, but no regrets. Everyone has a bad year. Thank god mine's over. Everything fell for me in the one year, so this year has to be good. So as I said, good year ahead, and everything's been great so far. I'll never regret First Dates Ireland. I had great fun, great production, great crew. It's amazing. It is amazing. It's a class day. And anyone out there who ever thinks they should go for it, do it, because I swear to God it's the most amazing thing you'll ever do. It was phenomenal. It really was. It was like you're a star for a day. Colette's episode of First Dates Ireland will air on RTE2 at the end of March. A Dublin woman battling alcohol and mental health issues and who is accused of assaulting three gardai following a skirmish at Longford Garda Station earlier this month, has been told she is a fine person behind it all. Ciara ORiordan, of 5 Kingston Hall, Harolds Grange Road, Sandyford, Dublin 18 appeared for a second time in the space of two weeks at last Tuesdays sitting of Longford District Court. The 42-year-old had been remanded in custody the week previously after details relating to an incident at Longford Train Station, Convent Road, Longford was heard. That resulted in Ms ORiordans arrest and subsequent transferral to Longford Garda Station where the alleged assaults on three members of Longford Gardai occurred.She was consequently denied bail and remanded in custody for a week by Judge Seamus Hughes. Upon her reappearance last week, Ms ORiordan, who was sporting a pink jacket and blue jeans, handed a letter into Judge Hughes. Though the contents of the letter were not read out, Judge Hughes asked what Ms ORiordan was doing to try and curb her drinking habit. The Dubliner, in response, said she was attending an agency called Smart Recovery and explained how the service was an alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Im going twice a week and I see a psychiatrist, she said. After reading her letter, Judge Hughes said he was quite satisfied that Ms ORiordan was a respectable person who had just lost her way. My view is if this girl stuck to her medical regime she would be fine, he said. Self medicating and drink makes you manic and increases your depressive episodes. In passing on those observations to Ms ORiordan, he told her much of the difficulties she now found herself in was self inflicted. You will be under the control of the court for the foreseeable future, he told her. Its either enjoy your liberty or go into custody for six months. Ms ORiordan claimed she had a victim of harassment but didnt name her alleged assailant, saying she had rang gardai on several occasions but to no avail. Gardai wont pay attention to anyone who is manic and incoherent at the end of a line, replied Judge Hughes. In saying that, the Mayo native said there was an inoffensive side to Ms ORiordan. She is a fine person and she is a fine person when she acts within certain boundaries. Its when she acts outside of those boundaries that she is a handful. The case is due to return before Longford District Court on May 7 2019. Lockport, NY (14094) Today Partly cloudy this evening followed by mostly cloudy skies and a few showers after midnight. Low 72F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening followed by mostly cloudy skies and a few showers after midnight. Low 72F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30%. In the debates about the southern border, it is easy to overlook our native plants and animals, which cannot speak for themselves even though they are deeply affected. The plants and animals of Texas are our heritage and our legacy to our children, grandchildren and future generations. The existing walls and fences harm them, and additional walls and fences will increase the harm. Surely there are ways to deal with border issues without leaving such a legacy of damage. Texans know that in a dry land, water is life. In dry lands, the greatest numbers and the most varieties of plants and animals live along streams and rivers. Near the southern border of Texas, water means, above all, the river that forms this border, called the Rio Grande in the U.S. and the Rio Bravo in Mexico. Ecotourists from all over the world come to the Rio Grande in South Texas to see birds found nowhere else in the United States. In West Texas, visitors enjoy the animals and plants that the river supports there, as well as the spectacular scenery of its canyons in Big Bend National Park. All along the Rio Grande, plants and animals would be harmed by new border walls or fences. South Texas is also the home of agriculture, ranches and cities, and little habitat for native plants and animals remains. Habitat for the ocelot, a small spotted wildcat, is already too scarce and too scattered to allow the few remaining Texas ocelots to form a single population with Mexican ocelots, threatening the remnants of the formerly connected population. Unfortunately, ocelots are far from the only native species already threatened by habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and habitat degradation in South Texas. Bird habitat is also scarce and fragmented, as is the habitat of numerous small plants, insects and other animals. Fortunately, the land along the Rio Grande in West Texas is still mostly intact, except for the agricultural region near El Paso. A section of wall or fence together with the roads along it and its access roads, lights, vehicle traffic and effects on water flow destroys habitat. Two populations of endangered plants that I study would simply be paved over. Walls and fences also block the movements of any animal that walks rather than flies and even some low-flying animals, including pollinating bees and butterflies. For example, there is an anecdotal report of a mass drowning of turtles that could not reach dry land when the river flooded because of one of the existing sections of border barrier. Not only animals will be blocked by new walls and fences. Engineering constraints mean that barriers have to be up to 5 miles from the river. As a result, many preserves, especially those most valued by bird-watchers, will be either divided by a barrier or accessed only through a barrier. Passport checks for bird-watchers and park visitors? Abandon the walled-off land? Parks, preserves and wildlife refuges, including some areas painstakingly restored to native vegetation, are particularly at risk from new walls and fences along the Rio Grande. Because they are mostly public land, they do not present the substantial challenges that negotiating or litigating a fair price for private land do, so they are prime targets for new wall segments. And by law, the construction of barriers along the border is exempt from all environmental protection laws. If walls and fences are built along all of the Texas border, most of the green ribbon of life created by the river, with its fascinating birds, colorful butterflies, flowering shrubs and the rest of its plants and animals, will be lost forever. Much of it will be replaced by a sterile expanse of concrete, steel and asphalt. Besides the immediate loss to those who now enjoy this piece of wild Texas, present and future generations of Americans will lose an irreplaceable piece of our heritage. The debates about southern border barriers are complex. It is easy to overlook the many negative effects on our native plants, animals and ecosystems. For their sakes and for the sake of the legacy we leave our descendants, I hope Americans, and especially my fellow Texans, remember them. Norma Fowler is a professor of integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin. Vatican City A prominent Nigerian nun blasted the culture of silence that has long kept clergy sexual abuse hidden in the Catholic Church, telling Catholic leaders Saturday that they must transparently admit their mistakes to restore trust among the faithful. A Mexican journalist followed up, telling the bishops and others at Pope Francis' abuse summit that their collective failure to report abuse and inform their flocks about predator priests made them complicit in the crimes. In between those admonitions, a German cardinal admitted that church files about abusers had been destroyed, victims were silenced and church procedures were ignored all in an attempt to keep the scandal under wraps. Sister Veronica Openibo, Mexican correspondent Valentina Alazraki and German Cardinal Reinhard Marx delivered powerful speeches to nearly 190 church leaders on the third day of Pope Francis' four-day tutorial on preventing abuse and protecting children. The first two days focused on the responsibility of church leaders in tending to their flocks, and how they must be held accountable when they fail to properly protect young people from predator priests. Saturday was dedicated to issues of transparency and breaking the code of silence. And it was dominated by women. Openibo was one of only a handful of women invited to the meeting, and she used her time at the podium to shame the church leadership for their silence in the face of such crimes. "How could the clerical church have kept silent, covering these atrocities?" she asked. "We must acknowledge that our mediocrity, hypocrisy and complacency have brought us to this disgraceful and scandalous place we find ourselves as a church." Alazraki, the longtime Vatican correspondent for Mexico's Televisa, challenged the leaders to decide whether they are on the side of the priests accused of abuse and those who cover up the crimes, or the victims. "We have decided which side to be on," she said, warning that unless they side with victims "journalists, who seek the common good, will be your worst enemies." Marx called for a redefinition of the Vatican's legal code of secrecy and for the publication of statistics about cleric sex abuse. He said such transparency would be a first step toward restoring trust with the faithful. Francis demanded that the conference be held to impress on church leaders that sex abuse isn't just a problem confined to a few countries, but the whole church. He did so after he botched a case of cover-up in Chile and after the scandal exploded in the U.S., sparking a crisis of confidence in the Catholic hierarchy. Survivors who have gathered in Rome to protest marched toward the Vatican shouting "Zero tolerance!" Among them was Alberto Athie of Mexico, one of the original accusers of the pedophile founder of the Legion of Christ, the Rev. Marcial Maciel. The decades-long cover-up of Maciel's well-documented crimes has been a stain on the legacy of St. John Paul II. SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela - The Trump administration is preparing to make a more forceful push this week to unseat Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, after a weekend plan to coax his military to abandon him and allow in hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid ended in deadly violence and with little clarity about what comes next. Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Colombia on Monday to meet with regional leaders - including the head of the Venezuelan opposition, Juan Guaido - and discuss potential options for a more muscular front against Maduro. While the White House originally cast Saturday's aid push on the Venezuelan border as a potential tipping point for ousting Maduro, administration officials said Sunday that the weekend's violence had frustrated those plans, making new action necessary. Pence plans to announce "clear actions" to respond to the weekend's clashes, though he is not likely to address whether the U.S. military would get involved, a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans, told reporters Sunday. Asked whether President Donald Trump would deploy the military to intervene, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that "every option is on the table." "We'll continue to build out the global coalition to put force behind the voice of the Venezuelan people," he said in an interview on "Fox News Sunday." Guaido suggested Saturday that he would entertain more radical solutions to try to oust Maduro, whom opposition figures blame for the deaths of at least eight people as a result of Saturday's border violence. "Today's events force me to make a decision: to pose to the international community in a formal way that we must have all options open to achieve the liberation of this country that is fighting and will continue to fight," Guaido tweeted. The opposition leader - who had secretly crossed the border into Colombia to lead the aid effort, running the risk of being barred from re-entry or arrested upon return - will have an opportunity to make his case directly to Pence during their face-to-face meeting Monday. Guaido's comments suggested the opposition's limitations after a plan they had hoped would cause deep fissures in Venezuela's military instead produced only modest cracks. In the face of Maduro's military blockade of aid, the opposition largely failed to bring in the assistance they hoped to deliver to the neediest Venezuelans. Pence will have "concrete steps" for addressing the weekend's violence when he talks to regional diplomatic gathering in the Colombian capital, Bogota, a Trump administration official said. The official, one of two who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, would not describe any specific proposals or U.S. actions Pence may announce. "What we saw yesterday with the burning of aid trucks, with the use of tear gas and bullets against unarmed civilians whose only purpose was to receive that aid, we understand that what we are dealing with is not the institution of a state but a bunch of hoodlums and thugs," a second senior Trump administration official said. Maduro celebrated the retreat of the aid trucks; he had called the aid a pretext for a U.S. invasion. But the U.S. official called that a "tactical victory" at best, and one that is "perishable." Last week, Trump delivered an ultimatum to members of the Venezuelan military, warning that they would "lose everything" if they stood with Maduro and harmed innocent civilians. The opposition's strongest U.S. backers, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sharply criticized Maduro and suggested repercussions. "After discussions tonight with several regional leaders it is now clear that the grave crimes committed today by the Maduro regime have opened the door to various potential multilateral actions not on the table just 24 hours ago," Rubio tweeted late Saturday. In a provocative move Sunday, Rubio tweeted out two photos - one of former Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi sitting in a gold chair while in power and the other of his bloodied face and body as he was surrounded by a crowd of rebel fighters shortly before his death in 2011. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a statement Sunday saying he was "shocked and saddened" by the deaths of civilians on Saturday. He denounced the use of lethal force and appealed for calm, urging "all actors to lower tensions and pursue every effort to prevent further escalation." Yet as Guaido and other opposition leaders prepared for Monday's meeting in Bogota, they appeared to be running out of options. Last month, the United States imposed sweeping sanctions that effectively cut off Maduro's biggest source of hard currency - oil sales to the United States. Having done that, the United States has pulled the most powerful economic lever it had. The sanctions risk worsening Venezuela's humanitarian crisis, since the nearly bankrupt government - now even more cash-strapped - is the chief importer of food and medicines. The U.S. calculation is that the sanctions will make Maduro's rule untenable. But there are still no guarantees that they will do anything more than make a bad situation worse on the ground. After an aid operation that failed to achieve its goals, the opposition is also in danger of losing its greatest ally: momentum. The opposition and its U.S. and regional allies will continue trying to court military officials by promoting the promise of amnesty if they turn against Maduro. But observers say that dangerous scenarios loomed larger "than ever." "There is no question that a military intervention to resolve the Venezuela crisis is more plausible than ever," said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank. "Guaido's insistence that 'all options are on the table' echoes President Trump's words, first uttered in August 2017 and widely interpreted as serious consideration of military action." No military option would be clean or easy, and critics say its threat potentially helps Maduro - an autocratic leader who has used repression against his own people - portray himself globally as a leftist martyr persecuted by the Trump administration. U.S. forces, experts say, could take out Venezuela's air defenses within hours, but an outright U.S. invasion would be unprecedented in South America. It also risks deep divisions in the region and could potentially spark a guerrilla war by leftists while leaving Washington with the burden of rebuilding a failed state. More-surgical strikes - like the U.S. operation that nabbed Panama's Manuel Antonio Noriega in 1989 - remain potentially more likely, but they also present massive problems. "When Noriega left, the regime collapsed, and there wasn't much behind him," said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society. "In Venezuela, you can decapitate the regime, but there will still be (leftists) and armed goon squads who may be spoiling to fight." Colombian officials said more than a 100 members of the Venezuelan armed forces and other security services abandoned their posts Saturday and Sunday, but the power structure of Maduro's armed forces, at least for the moment, appeared to be intact. The meeting of Latin American leaders is expected to yield a new condemnation of Maduro by his neighbors, a relatively new development that the Trump administration counts as a diplomatic coup. Maduro retains backing from Russia, China and other nations, as well as control of the military and security services. The meeting of the "Lima Group" was planned before the weekend showdown over aid delivery. In a televised news conference in Caracas, Maduro's communications minister, Jorge Rodriguez, insisted that Saturday's effort by the opposition was a ruse to encourage a foreign invasion. "There was no humanitarian intention," Rodriguez said. "The intention was to encourage aggression by a foreign country, an armed aggression against a country." He added: "Guaido, a pathetic character, can no longer explain this coup attempt based on the constitution." Guaido is the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, a body stripped of its power in 2017. Last month, Guaido declared that Maduro's election to a new term in 2018 was fraudulent, and he claimed a constitutional right as Venezuela's legitimate leader. In doing so, Guaido electrified a moribund opposition and positioned himself as a national hero. But after leaving the country to lead the aid effort, he faces a crucial hurdle. His exit violated a standing travel ban imposed on him by Maduro's supreme court, meaning Guaido is at risk of detention or potential exile. His calculation is that international pressure might prevent both. "All the scenarios left for the opposition are terrible scenarios," said Dimitris Pantoulas, a Caracas-based political analyst. Colombian President Ivan Duque went Sunday to the Simon Bolivar International Bridge - site of intense exchanges of tear gas and rubber bullets the day before - with a convoy of white SUVs and armored vehicles from the Colombian armed forces. Police said U.S. officials were among the large delegation seen touring the bridge. Pence plans to meet with Duque while he is in Colombia. With tensions still high on the border, Colombian authorities announced Sunday that Duque had ordered the closure of his country's three main bridge crossings to Venezuela in the North Santander region through Monday night. Aid trucks had sought to cross there on Saturday before confrontations began between pro-government troops and operatives and the Venezuelan opposition. The opposition, meanwhile, said one of its leaders, Freddy Superlano, had been poisoned with a drug called burundanga in the Colombian border city of Cucuta and remained hospitalized. Superlano's assistant had died of the same poison. The opposition called for an investigation into the poisonings, while making no claims of who might be behind them. The bloodiest clashes took place on the border with Brazil, where pro-government paramilitary groups killed eight people and injured 34 with gunfire, according to the nonprofit legal group Foro Penal, opposition leaders and witnesses at the hospital in Santa Elena de Uairen that received the victims. Patients and their families panicked as buses and motorbikes with armed men swarmed outside the hospital. "Too many people shot by bullets kept coming in. It's terrifying," said Yolderi Garcia, a 62-year-old volunteer at the Hospital Rosario Vera Surita. "It's a horrible day. We are very worried because this is a small town." - - - Rachelle Krygier and Mariana Zuniga in San Cristobal, Dylan Baddour in Cucuta, Colombia, and Carol Morello in Washington contributed to this report. ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - The Russian company that gave the world the iconic AK-47 assault rifle has unveiled a suicide drone that may similarly revolutionize war by making sophisticated drone warfare technology widely and cheaply available. The Kalashnikov Group put a model of its miniature exploding drone on display this week at a major defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, where the world's arms companies gather every two years to show off and market their latest wares. The tiny item was dwarfed by the tanks, armored vehicles and fighter jets that were also on display. But it has as much potential to change the face of war as its older cousin, the AK-47, widely referred to simply as the Kalashnikov. With its low price, high efficiency and ease of use, the Kalashnikov rifle became the weapon of choice for revolutionaries and insurgents around the world, empowering disgruntled citizens against their governments in Latin America, Africa and Asia. It remains a potent tool to this day: The Pentagon purchases secondhand Kalashnikov rifles for its allies in Syria and Afghanistan, rather than give them more expensive American-made guns. The Kalashnikov drone - officially named the KUB-UAV - will likewise be simple to operate, effective and cheap, its manufacturers claim - and just as revolutionary. It will mark "a step toward a completely new form of combat," said Sergey Chemezov, chairman of Russia's state-owned Rostec arms manufacturer, which owns a controlling stake in Kalashnikov, according to Kalashnikov's news statement on the launch. The KUB is four feet wide, can fly for 30 minutes at a speed of 80 mph and carries six pounds of explosives, the news release says. That makes it roughly the size of a coffee table that can be guided to explode on a target 40 miles away - the equivalent of a "small, slow and presumably inexpensive cruise missile," according to a report by the National Interest website. Whoever buys one will have the ability to steer a bomb with a high degree of accuracy unparalleled except by some of the U.S. military's smartest bombs, said Nicholas Grossman, a professor of international relations at the University of Illinois and author of the book "Drones and Terrorism." "I think of it as democratizing smart bombs," he said "It means disseminating smart bombs more widely. This would shrink the gap between the most advanced militaries and the smaller ones." Suicide drones are not new. The Islamic State pioneered the art of attaching explosives to commercially available drones and detonating them on advancing troops and enemy bases during the battles for the cities of Mosul and Raqqa in Iraq and Syria. Russian troops in Syria were targeted by the biggest-ever suicide drone assault in Syria last year, when a swarm of more than a dozen crudely assembled devices incorporating explosives and GPS guidance systems descended onto Russia's Hmeimim air base in Syria. The U.S. and Israeli militaries have incorporated suicide drones into their arsenals - but controls on the export of technology mean the devices aren't shared outside a small circle of close allies. The KUB drone will be faster and more accurate, and will deliver twice the explosive charge and have a greater range than any of the crude homemade devices that have been patched together by terrorists, according to the Kalashnikov representatives at the exhibition. And unlike U.S. and Israeli exploding drones, the KUB will be "very cheap," said one of the Kalashnikov representatives. He declined to name the price and spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to communicate with the media. The target market will be "smaller armies" around the world, he said, meaning the availability of the KUB will bypass controls imposed by the United States and its allies that are designed to keep weaponized drones out of the hands of their foes. The potential for terrorists to use drone bombs to carry out attacks is one of the biggest worries surrounding the proliferation of the technology, experts say. Two such drones were used in an apparent attempt to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in August. Recent shutdowns of airports in London, Dublin, New York and Dubai due to mysterious drone incursions demonstrate Western governments' lack of readiness to address threats posed by drones, Grossman said. Terrorists are more likely to continue to improvise their own ways of jury-rigging explosive drones using cheaply available commercial devices and their own bombmaking expertise rather than spend on a ready-made version, said Nick Waters, a former British army officer and drone expert. The spread of kamikaze drones will also intensify efforts to counter them, Grossman pointed out. "This will definitely enhance the capabilities of various state and nonstate actors, but it's not something that can't be countered," he said. However, he added, "I'm quite nervous of the capabilities being unleashed without knowing where it will lead." Dandong, China North Korea leader Kim Jong Un was on a train Sunday to Vietnam for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, state media confirmed. Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the U.S., and Kim Yo Jong, the leader's sister, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported. Late Saturday, an Associated Press reporter saw a green and yellow train similar to one used in the past by Kim cross into the Chinese border city of Dandong via a bridge. The Trump-Kim meeting is slated for Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. Their first summit last June in Singapore ended without substantive agreements on the North's nuclear disarmament and triggered a months-long stalemate in negotiations as Washington and Pyongyang struggled with the sequencing of North Korea's nuclear disarmament and the removal of U.S.-led sanctions against the North. It could take more than two days for Kim's train to travel through China to Vietnam. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry announced Saturday that Kim would pay an official goodwill visit to the country "in the coming days" in response to an invitation by President Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also the general secretary of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party. In his upcoming meeting with Trump, experts say Kim will seek a U.S. commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief while trying to minimize any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons. While Kim wants to leverage his nuclear and missile program for economic and security benefits, there continue to be doubts on whether he's ready to fully deal away an arsenal that he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival. Last year, North Korea suspended its nuclear and long-range missile tests and unilaterally dismantled its nuclear testing ground and parts of a rocket launch facility without the presence of outside experts. Jim Nicholson's advice to young reporters was to start their careers, as he had, writing investigative stories. "If it doesn't burn you out," he liked to say, "you will eventually be put out on the curb in a baggie by the very people you work for. If you are good enough, long enough, they will begin to fear you." His prophecy, he later wrote in an essay, was fulfilled not in his favor. After a decade of investigative projects for several Philadelphia publications - about outlaw motorcycle gangs and the city's violent black underworld - editors at the Daily News, the tabloid where he then worked, removed him from the enterprise beat in the late 1970s after numerous conflicts. He spent the next three years on beats he described as the "netherworld of a newsroom outcast" - working overnight cops or covering the farthest ring of outer suburbia. He felt he had reached a dead end. In a way, he had. In 1982, he was asked to become the paper's first obituary writer. Nicholson, who spent the next 19 years as one of the country's most influential chroniclers of "common man" obituaries, the Everyday Joes and Joannes who labored on docks, drifted from one address to another and filled or fell off bar stools, died Feb. 22 at a hospital in Camden, New Jersey. He was 76. The cause was a heart ailment, said his brother Robert Nicholson. The obituary-writing job took some adjustment. At first, Nicholson had to endure colleagues whose eyes betrayed a distinct sense of pity. The one upside, he figured, was having a desk seven floors above the main newsroom, a distance he relished. He readily agreed to an editor's dictum about the parameters of his job. As he described it: "The newsroom handles the big guys, Nicholson writes about the nobodies." There was a sense of liberation, he said, in writing feature-length obituaries for people of seemingly meager accomplishments. His style, almost from the start, was colloquial but tart: "He had the digestive juices of a shark"; "They were married three months later and not because they had to." Local newspapers had long been home to obituaries about non-newsmaking citizens, filled with quotes as barren as an abandoned home and anecdotes as predictable as the sunrise. In that shopworn approach, flaws were never exposed. Lives, as the platitude went, were all well lived. Nicholson was one of the first writers for a leading metropolitan daily to see the potential in redefining the community obit, to bring an audacious flair to the form. He chose poker-playing grannies and a man he ranked as "a world-class scammer." When detailing the life of a tradesman, such as a plumber, he tried to include at least one useful tip, like using hot water and Tide to clean a clogged toilet. A sister-in-law of one Lou Koreck, a writ server, conjured a most unusual memory to convey his personality. "I had unfortunately burned up my cat Smokey in the dryer," she told Nicholson. "Lou gave me a book, '1001 Uses for a Dead Cat.' You loved him and at the same time you wanted to strangle him." One of Nicholson's finest obits was a 1993 ode to a man named Christopher Kelly. "Society today," he wrote, "does not assign extraordinary attributes to a 35-year-old heavy-equipment mechanic who is living with his parents and whose possessions do not appear to much exceed a Miller Light and a pack of Marlboros on the bar before him, a union card in his pocket and a friend on either side." Another, in 1988, was for a 64-year-old construction worker named Thomas Robinson but universally known as Moose Neck. His brother was quoted as saying, "He was interested in going around asking people, 'Have you got a dollar?' I'm not going to tell you a lie. Moose was a drinker. He'd go around and ask people for money, and they'd give him anything he wanted. Everybody fell in love with him." Readers responded, and Nicholson gained national attention. Newspapers from California to Georgia began to parrot his approach, and he was featured by author Marilyn Johnson in her acclaimed 2006 book about obituaries, "The Dead Beat." In an interview Saturday, she described him as a "remarkably perceptive man with a talent for memorializing his neighbors." James David Nicholson was born in Philadelphia on May 30, 1942, and grew up accompanying his family on his father's Marine Corps assignments. He was an Eagle Scout in childhood and worked construction and in oil fields as a young man. He received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1964, while serving in the Marine Corps Reserve. He later was in the Army Reserve as a counterintelligence officer and retired in 2002 with the rank of lieutenant colonel, with tours of duty in Panama and on the U.S.-Mexico border. His wife, the former Betty Pratt, died in 2011; they were separated, but he cared for her during her struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Survivors include three sons, David G. Pratt of Prescott, Arizona, Jeffrey B. Pratt of San Francisco and James S. Nicholson of Round Rock, Texas; two brothers; and five grandchildren. Nicholson had a peripatetic career, working at nearly 10 newspapers, three magazines and a radio station - and stints as a private investigator in Philadelphia and a police intelligence analyst in Camden, New Jersey - before landing at the Daily News by the late 1970s. He lived in Gloucester City, New Jersey, and described his retirement to the King's Journalism Review, a Canadian publication: "I watch TV, smoke Camels and drink black coffee." In 1987, he received the American Society of Newspaper Editors first Distinguished Writing Award for Obituary Writing. More than 20 years later, the Society of Professional Obituary Writers honored him with a lifetime achievement award. Nicholson recognized the enduring skepticism toward his specific craft, the burying of people others might dismiss as "nobodies." "Who would you miss more when he goes on vacation," he often said as a rejoinder, "the secretary of state or your garbage man?" SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Julian Castro had shaken every hand in an Iowa lawyer's living room, and he patiently waited to deliver his presidential stump speech to the 57 Democrats who'd turned out to hear it. But the people in the dining room nibbling on pita chips hadn't gotten the message - and didn't tune into the former San Antonio mayor until a man standing near the front blew a loud, shrill whistle to silence the room. A day later and 200 miles across the state in Ankeny, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., marched onstage to a standing ovation and looked out on a room still filling with voters. Her first public Iowa campaign event drew 760 people and left staffers scrambling to add extra seats. Half a dozen prominent Democrats descended on Iowa this weekend, seeking momentum for a primary presidential campaign or testing whether to plunge into an already-crowded field. This weekend, Iowa forked into two campaigns. On one side was Harris, who continues to draw the large, selfie-seeking crowds she has had since announcing her bid. On the other side was everyone else, Democrats like Castro, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose crowds numbered in the double digits and who dubbed themselves underdogs as they implored Iowans to keep an open mind. "When I ran for (Denver) mayor, no one thought I had a chance," said Hickenlooper, who is exploring whether to enter the race and spoke over the sounds of the espresso machine and an uncooperative sound system at a coffee house in Sioux City. "When I ran for governor, no one thought I had a chance. Now, no one thinks I have a chance." The point of his joke was underscored a few minutes later during an impromptu news conference with reporters. The first question he was asked was how to say and spell his name. Then he was asked his title. "Free agent. Until about six weeks ago, I was the governor of Colorado," he said. About 45 minutes before Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado was to address the Polk County Democrats Friday afternoon, Deb Hansen hurried to the door of Doc's Lounge, a small bar nestled in a Johnston, Iowa, strip mall, lugging a portable speaker. Organizers had thought they could use the equipment from a local band for the senator's remarks, but the band wasn't due until later, so Hansen and her 6-year-old granddaughter came to the rescue. Kenna Meredith snacked at a high-top table while her grandmother bustled around to help. Volunteers hung a sign welcoming Bennet, another potential presidential candidate, as a few voters trickled in and grabbed a beer. "You should complain to the Polk County Democrats," a voter joked to Bennet's staff, comparing his welcome to that of the Democratic senator from Minnesota. "Amy Klobuchar's sign was twice that size." About 45 minutes before Harris was scheduled to address the Asian and Latino Coalition at the Iowa Capitol on Saturday - what was supposed to be a smaller, private event before her town hall - national and local news cameras were set up in the back of the room. Chairs around a grand table were labeled with names of participants, each with a microphone nearby, and staffers worried whether the room, intended for an event of 60 onlookers, would hold the more than 100 or so who had already RSVP'd. When she answered a question about U.S. failures in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria with the words "as president, because I intend to win this election," the room cheered. "She is already trying to bring people together," said Prakash Kopparapu, chairman of the Coalition. At the town hall, Harris seemed to imply a heightened status as she spoke of "leadership qualities," "a vision for America" and a "track record of public service" that voters should consider. "I have served as a leader in local government, state government, and now the federal government. I have seen how government impacts the lives of people at each level, and the experience I've had - including running an office of almost 5,000 people when I was attorney general of California - tells me the importance of thinking when we have these powerful positions about how our work impacts real human beings and prioritizing that." Other Democratic presidential candidates who have raised millions of dollars and have brought in large crowds were not in Iowa this weekend. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey campaigned in Nevada on Sunday, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts spent the weekend in New Hampshire. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who announced his candidacy Tuesday, will start his campaign events next weekend. Still, the sense of candidate haves and have-nots was apparent across the state - and occasionally across the room. At one point, Harris, Castro and Hickenlooper were at the same event, a Saturday night soup dinner in Ames. Castro entered quietly from the back and dutifully went up to tables, shook hands and introduced himself. When people noticed Harris had arrived, attendees and TV cameras gravitated toward her, blocking the room's central aisle. Candidates and voters were hesitant to draw meaning from the duality of one weekend in Iowa nearly a year out from the caucuses that will kick off 2020 voting. The field of candidates already is larger than most caucus veterans can recall others being. And voters said they had never received this much attention from candidates so early in an election cycle. Iowans who attended the events said they were dizzy but also delighted, hoping to fulfill Iowa's traditional role of thinning the field. "Iowans see it as, you know, 'this is our job in American democracy,' " said Al Sturgeon, a Sioux City lawyer and a member of the Truman Club, which hosts Democratic presidential candidates, including Castro on Friday. Almost all of the candidates who campaigned in Sioux City had been mayors or governors - executives who touted bipartisan success in solving problems, not just debating them. "We need people who have visions," Hickenlooper told reporters after spelling his name. "Many of the senators out there, they're dreamers, good at debating back and forth. I'm a doer." De Blasio, who said he has not decided whether to run, told voters in Sioux City that Democrats need to nominate an "unapologetic progressive" who could excite the party's voters and provide a clear contrast to Trump. But few voters seemed to have picked a candidate in a field of Democrats with similar positions on issues like health care, criminal justice and climate change. "A lot of the people running as Democrats have the same or similar messages," said Tim Bottaro, a personal-injury lawyer who leads the Truman Club. "So in a lot of ways, it's about who is the best messenger." That might give an advantage to someone like Castro if the party thinks the best contrast to Trump is "someone who is young and fresh-faced," Bottaro said. But the Iowan said he has only talked to a few candidates face to face and is far from done evaluating the entire field. He expects the next year to be much like this weekend, full of stump speeches and handshakes from people trying to build steam. It was unclear whether Castro had succeeded in doing that after his speech at Sturgeon's house. Of the nearly 60 Democrats who showed up, a handful wrote down their contact information so they could receive mailings from Castro's campaign. Most didn't grab a free bumper sticker on the way out. The pita chips devoured, Sturgeon and Bottaro were already looking beyond Castro. There were still more candidates to invite to town, including, perhaps, the senator from Ohio. "Are you still OK with hosting Sherrod Brown?" Bottaro asked. NEW YORK Just a day after Joaquin Guzman Loera, the drug kingpin known as El Chapo, was convicted of all 10 counts in a drug conspiracy case in Brooklyn, the Justice Department unsealed another indictment against two of his younger sons. That brief four-page indictment, announced by the department Thursday more than a week after it was unsealed Feb. 13, charges Joaquin Guzman Lopez and Ovidio Guzman Lopez with one count of conspiracy to knowingly, intentionally, and willfully distribute cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana for importation into the United States. The indictment entails a period from April 2008 when their father was running the Sinaloa cartel with his partner, Ismael Zambada to April 2018. The two brothers have yet to be arrested and authorities believe they are in Mexico. If they are arrested there, the United States would have to extradite them to bring them to trial, which would be held under Judge Rudolph Contreras of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. A. Eduardo Balarezo, one of El Chapos lawyers, questioned the timing of the indictment. The recent indictment against Joaquins two sons smacks of a concerted attempt by the government to paint the entire family as being involved in criminal activity when the only evidence they have of it is based on cooperator testimony, he said. Related: 'El Chapo' was facing life in prison. Here's why he may get a new trial. One of the prosecutors Mr. Guzmans case, Anthony Nardozzi, of the criminal divisions Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, has been named a lead prosecutor in the case involving El Chapos sons. Nardozzi played a small role in El Chapos conviction, examining a handful of the 56 witnesses presented by prosecutors. Among those he questioned included Guzmans mistress, with whom he eluded authorities by sneaking down a tunnel under his bathtub, as well as Isaias Valdez Rios,his former bodyguard and pilot, who recounted to jurors bloody killings and tortures. Nardozzi also interviewed several government agents, among them a supervisory special agent for Homeland Security Investigations. That agency also led the investigation against El Chapos two sons as part of a coordinated effort between federal, state and local enforcement agencies. HSI special agents from HSI Nogales investigated El Chapo, said Scott Brown, a special agent in charge of Phoenix. And it was special agents from the same office whose investigative efforts led to the indictment of two of his sons. The drug kingpins older sons, who helped take over the reins after his arrest in 2016, have been previously charged. Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar was charged in 2014 in a case in San Diego that involved, among others, his father. Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar was charged in 2015 in Chicago. Both remain at large. The latter has been added to the Drug Enforcement Administrations most wanted fugitives list. Related: Claims in El Chapo case highlight perils of 'Googling juror' Guzmans sons were brought up frequently over the course of his 11-week trial, usually just by name and picture. But a few anecdotes stood out, among them that they helped to orchestrate El Chapos famous tunnel escape from a maximum-security prison in Almoloya, Mexico, in 2015. It remains to be seen if and when the two younger sons will stand trial. At one time, their father had seven cases pending against him in the United States. The case against him in the Eastern District of New York, where he was tried, was filed in July 2009. It would be almost a decade before he was convicted. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. There are family members who still want to know why Willie Edwards, a 24-year-old husband and father, was abducted and beaten by members of the Ku Klux Klan in 1957, then forced to leap to his death from a bridge over the Alabama River near Montgomery, Alabama. There are still friends of Louis Allen, a farmer and father of four in Liberty, Mississippi, who want to know why he was shot to death on his own property in 1964, possibly by the county sheriff. The deaths are just two of 128 lynchings of black Southerners in the decades after World War II that have been investigated by the Justice Department. But its civil rights division, and a unit formed specifically to revisit such cases, analyzes the episodes solely with an eye toward prosecution. Most of the participants and witnesses are now dead, leading the department to rule most of the cases "closed." But a group of high school students in New Jersey learned that many families want another kind of justice: The information about how their loved one died. How it was investigated. Why it wasn't prosecuted. Why it happened. So the Hightstown High School Advanced Placement government and politics class set out to make sure details of the long-ago cases were not hidden forever. They drafted a bill requiring all the civil rights cold-case files to be collected in one place and released to the public, without the bureaucracy and delay of the Freedom of Information Act. The class lobbied to line up sponsors, get the bill out of committees in both chambers of Congress, have it voted on and approved just before Christmas, and then signed into law last month by President Donald Trump. A number of congressional historians believe it may be the first time a high school class successfully drafted a federal bill that was signed into law on any subject, much less one exposing some of the darkest secrets of the events that helped inspire America's civil rights movement. The students weren't born during the civil rights era and none of the crimes happened in New Jersey, but they understood the importance of unearthing records that could provide solace, and answers, to those interested in the unvarnished facts of the cases. "The civil rights movement continues to this day," said Ali Husaini, 19, who took the AP government class immediately after the violent uprising in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. "Racism today is a continuation of racism in the past, no matter where you are in the country, and fixing the problem begins with addressing its past." "The American people have a right to know this part of our nation's history," said Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., as he introduced the bill on the Senate floor last July. As a U.S. attorney, Jones successfully prosecuted the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham more than 37 years after it happened. He said in an interview that after the bombing case ended in 2002, "it had such a healing effect for families and communities. It was just incredible. Not just in Birmingham but all over the country. . . . Not every case can be prosecuted. But the importance of finding out the facts and getting to the truth is still important." Jones said the Hightstown students first contacted him in 2016, before he even considered a run for the Senate. "It is such a wonderful story about how government should work on many levels," he said. "From students in high school all the way to the president's desk." Although the bill was signed, the legislative process isn't over, and neither is the work of the Hightstown AP government class. A civilian panel must be appointed by the president to oversee the review and release of the cold-case files, and the Congressional Budget Office estimates it would cost about $10 million to finance the operation. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., a bill co-sponsor whose district includes Hightstown, said she would push the House Appropriations Committee to fund the panel, as authorized by the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018. Jones said he will be making a similar request in the Senate, and said, "I think we can get this done this year." "We need to be transparent as a country," Coleman said, "with regards to history and our current affairs." The initiative for the cold-case act started with Stuart Wexler, the teacher of the Hightstown High government class and author of several books on domestic terrorism. In 2015, he was discussing the Birmingham bombing case in class, and the fact that newspaper reporter Jerry Mitchell had discovered evidence in public records that led to prosecutions in 2001 and 2002. Still, there were dozens of unsolved cases where the records were sealed. Wexler said he asked the class, "Should we try to do something? Out of that discussion came the idea of doing something along the lines of pursuing a JFK Records Act for the civil rights cases." The John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act was passed in 1992, and has gradually forced the FBI, the CIA and other agencies to release nearly all of their files on the 1963 killing, though Trump last year ordered some records withheld for three more years at the request of the investigating agencies. "None of us had ever seen a congressional bill before," said Oslene Johnson, 19, who was in the first class to work on the project. The students divided into groups and began drafting a bill. Then in 2016, they began taking field trips to Washington to lobby the staffs of senators and congressmen to sponsor the bill. In May of that year, student Aditya Shah published an op-ed in Politico headlined, "How to get justice in civil rights cold cases," which outlined their effort. "If any justice is to be served and closure brought to the victims' families," Shah wrote, "the government must 'crowd source' the investigation and allow the public to review the raw case materials." The article caught the eye of Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., and he agreed to launch the bill in the House. Ryan Johnson, a spokesman for Rush, said the veteran congressman was "inspired by these students' dedication and persistence and wanted to stand with them on this meaningful legislative journey." Rush waited until 2017 to introduce the bill so that it would have an entire session of Congress to work its way through committees in both houses. In November 2017, the prosecutor of the Birmingham bombings the class had studied - Jones - won a surprise election to the Senate after the campaign of his Republican opponent, Roy Moore, imploded in scandal. Jones agreed to carry the bill in the Senate. "When he introduced the bill," said student James Ward, "we were in the Senate gallery. When he referenced the school and the class, it was really amazing." Ward and Wexler said that Jones's speech on the Senate floor apparently inspired Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, then presiding over the Senate, to co-sponsor the bill, and soon the bill had co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle in both chambers. Meanwhile, the class was invited to Selma, Alabama, by Northeastern University law professor Margaret Burnham, whose Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project has been investigating cases of racial injustice in the South. Only Wexler and two of the students were able to travel to Selma, but it was a powerful experience. "It's something different when you're experiencing and talking to these people," said Anna Trancozo, who is now a college freshman. "Family members of some of the victims, that was what really hit home. A lot of the people are still alive and still living with what they went through." Among the people the students met in Selma was Josephine Bolling McCall. In 1947, her grandfather, Elmore Bolling, a beloved deacon and businessman, was shot to death outside Montgomery by a white man who supposedly claimed Bolling had insulted the man's wife. The man was never charged. Josephine Bolling McCall investigated the case for 30 years and found that the true cause was the white man's resentment over Bolling's superior business operations. "He was jealous and he filled him with bullets," McCall told the Los Angeles Times last year. The students' cold-case bill passed out of the House Oversight Committee in October, then the Senate Homeland Security Committee in December, followed by a unanimous voice vote in the Senate on Dec. 17 and a vote of 376 to 6 in the House on Dec. 21. It headed to the White House with the clock ticking on the end of the two-year congressional session. Students began tweeting at the president, at Trump's friends, at broadcasters watched by Trump, at anyone who might influence the president to sign the bill during the government shutdown. At one point, Hightstown teachers stopped all classes at once and allowed their students to tweet messages to the president, Ward said. Trump signed the bill Jan. 8, but issued a three-page statement indicating he had qualms with delegating authority to a review board. "I have signed the act on the understanding that the public disclosure of records may be postponed where necessary to protect executive privilege," Trump said. Still, he noted that the bill did not contain any funding for the project, and concluded, "I encourage the Congress to appropriate such funds." Wexler said crowdsourcing the civil rights cases, with journalists, historians and family members examining the files, could turn up leads that would produce new developments, in addition to satisfying the curiosity of victims' families. "People want different kinds of justice," said Trancozo, whether in the form of simply learning the details of a case or getting a street sign dedicated to a loved one. "A lot of people are still trying to reach that." Two candidates are vying for position 6 on the Humble ISD Board of Trustees Colin Carney, the position 6 incumbent since 2017, is seeking his first full term on the board. He was appointed to the board following the resignation of Heath Rushing, who moved out of the district to serve as CEO of Memorial Hermann Cypress and Memorial Hermann Katy hospitals. Lori Twomey, a parent of two Humble ISD students, is seeking a term on the school board. Early voting starts on April 22, and the election will be held May 4. Why run? Carney is seeking another term on the school board to continue the work he has been doing with the other board members. Much of my time on the board has been spent addressing important challenges, such as passing the largest bond in Humble ISD history with overwhelming public support and helping the district to address the myriad of issues relating to Hurricane Harvey, Carney said. The next 4 years will undoubtedly have new challenges, with possibly the largest challenge being the impact of impending reform of the Texas public education finance system. Twomey has been involved and advocated for several Humble ISD issues for the past 11 years. I have attended countless school board meetings, advocated to the board on various issues, worked with the zoning committee on zoning options, and served on the Citizens Bond Advisory Committee, Twomey said. During this time, I have been very comfortable working in the background, but I felt now was the time for me to step up, open myself up to public scrutiny, and seek to serve. Background Twomey is an attorney who graduated from the University of Houston Law Center in 2002 where she started teaching law in 2006 for nine years. She currently runs her own practice. During that time I taught courses on writing, research, contract and legislative drafting and interpretation, and Texas civil procedure. I thoroughly loved teaching. I loved my students. I loved seeing my students eyes light up when they finally mastered the material. Towards the end of 2015, I entered another phase of my life, Twomey said. I decided to return to my legal practice, but with a different focus. For the last 3.5 years, I have maintained a small civil practice and have spent most of my time advocating, pro bono, for special needs children, children surviving abuse, and families in crisis. In addition to being a lawyer, educator, and advocate for children with special needs, I also have experience in commercial construction and managing multi-million dollar project budgets and both commercial and residential real estate. Aside from serving on the board since 2017, Carney is a Certified Public Accountant and has served on the Humble ISD audit committee, the board and superintendent evaluation committee, the education foundation, the finance committee and the legislative committee. My background as a CPA will be especially important to help us manage (public education financing changes). Further, I've developed significant relationships and understanding of the district during my time on the board, and I want to use this experience to positively impact the district for years to come, Carney said. I think the current board and administration is a stellar team, and I want to continue to work with my colleagues to make smart decisions for our community. Top priorities One of Carneys top priorities for Humble ISD is to make sure every all graduates are college ready by using his finance and accounting experience to ensure responsible stewardship of taxpayer funds and work with community stakeholders to properly address growth in Humble ISD and the Lake Houston area. As a district taxpayer and person with a background in tax and accounting, I'm also focused on the district responsibly deploying taxpayer funds and not being overly aggressive. This is why I spoke up during our board meeting regarding the bond referendum, voicing some concern about the overall size of the bond package, which eventually resulted in the package voted on by the board being reduced from the original proposal before the board, Carney said. I think it's especially important that the bond referendum proceeds are spent efficiently. Some of Twomeys top priorities for Humble ISD to help manage school funds and balancing the needs of the district. I have the desire to use my skillset to help the district overcome the many challenges it faces. These issues include managing school funding changes, balancing the needs of a district that is both fast growing and has aging facilities, implementing school safety measures, and many more. I would also like to encourage the decentralization of the district's CTE programs, further evaluation of classes offered and needed in support of the high school pathways, and reevaluation of certain programs designed to benefit at-risk, special needs, and (gifted and talented) students, while not neglecting the needs of the general student population, Twomey said. Bond projects Twomey was a member of the bond committee and is also pleased with the projects that is being used by the bond. As with any committee output, the bond package recommendation was a matter of compromise. There were things included within the bond package that I probably would not have included and there were items not included that I would have liked to see in the final package. For example, one potential project was to build a facility specifically for Quest Early College High School, Twomey said. Over the last few years, Quest has been relocated several times and I would have liked it to receive a permanent home. I would have also liked more money to be allocated to expand campus based CTE programs. Carney, like the rest of the Humble ISD board, approved for Humble ISD to hold a $575 million bond election in 2018 for some district improvements. The incumbent is satisfied in how the bond committee and district personnel have identified key district needs to include in the bond package. Like any district, I think we would like to have more bond monies to modernize more of our aging facilities and to build new facilities to bring down the teacher-to-student ratio, but that may not be feasible beyond what is in the existing package for at least the next few years, Carney said. Beyond the bond package, I would like for the district to be able to increase the number of security resource officers at certain campuses and to be in a position to hire more behavioral-focused counselors; however, given the current funding environment and limited discretionary resources within the operating budget, that remains challenging. kaila.contreras@chron.com A vehicle struck two undocumented immigrants about 7 miles north of Bruni in a rural road used to circumvent the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint, authorities said. READ MORE: LPD seeks 17-year-old man wanted on theft, burglary charges The Webb County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation. Preliminary reports indicate it was an accident, according to the Sheriff's Office. The incident occurred early Tuesday, when Border Patrol agents from the Freer and Hebbronville stations responded to the auto-pedestrian incident. A vehicle had struck two pedestrians on FM 2050 Road, a remote area frequently used by undocumented immigrants to attempt to circumvent the checkpoint, federal authorities said. An investigation showed they were walking alongside the road when they were struck. Agents arrived at the scene and began rendering assistance until the Webb County Volunteer Fire Department arrived, Border Patrol said. An individual appeared to have sustained "broken extremities" while the other was found unresponsive and suspected of having sustained head injuries, according to Border Patrol EMS crews rushed both individuals to a Laredo hospital for further treatment. Agents determined that both individuals were from Guatemala. READ MORE: Laredo bar owner arrested for allegedly serving alcohol past curfew, police say "The quick action taken by our Border Patrol EMTs today, show that our agents are always ready to assist in life preservation situations by providing medical care to the individuals who were involved in this terrible accident this morning," said Laredo Sector Acting Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Jose Martinez. A Thursday event will focus on the challenges and successes of local veterans as they make the transition from military to civilian life. One of them is Norman C. Massry, decorated Gulf War veteran and Colonie town justice. He will be the keynote speaker at the event, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Hearst Media Center, 645 Albany Shaker Road, Colonie. Denham Springs, LA (70726) Today Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 81F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 72F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. This is the most detailed view of the distant object Ultima Thule. The photo is a processed composite combining nine individual images taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft just 6.5 minutes before the spacecraft's closest approach to Ultima Thule on Jan. 1, 2019. The best-ever photos of Ultima Thule have made it down to Earth, and they heighten the intrigue about the frigid and faraway world. On New Year's Day, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft zoomed past the 21-mile-long (34 kilometers) Ultima Thule, setting a record for the most distant planetary encounter in history. (Ultima lies about 1 billion miles, or 1.6 billion km, beyond Pluto, which New Horizons flew by in July 2015.) New Horizons has been beaming flyby data and imagery home to its handlers ever since, and will continue to do so for approximately another 18 months. The early returns have been spectacular, revealing Ultima Thule to be a weird, snowman-pancake hybrid with mysterious features, such as a bright "collar' where the body's two lobes meet. [New Horizons at Ultima Thule: Full Coverage] And now we have our best look yet. New flyby photos released today (Feb. 22) show Ultima in even more stunning detail, capturing bright ring-like features and dark pits, whose origins remain mysterious. "Whether these features [the pits] are craters produced by impactors, sublimation pits, collapse pits or something entirely different is being debated in our science team," New Horizons Deputy Project Scientist John Spencer, of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement. The newly released images boast a resolution of about 110 feet (33 meters) per pixel. They're the highest-resolution pictures New Horizons has ever taken, and may ever take during its operational life, mission team members said. The photos were captured just 6.5 minutes before the craft's closest approach on Jan. 1. At the time, New Horizons was 4,109 miles (6,628 km) from Ultima Thule and 4.1 billion miles (6.6 billion km) from Earth, mission team members said. (Closest approach brought the probe within a mere 2,200 miles, or 3,500 km, of Ultima.) There was no guarantee we'd ever get to see Ultima Thule whose official name is 2014 MU69 in this dazzling light. Capturing the newly released images was a "stretch goal," that demanded a precise square-up of Ultima in the narrow field of view of New Horizons' telescopic camera. "Getting these images required us to know precisely where both tiny Ultima and New Horizons were moment by moment as they passed one another at over 32,000 mph [51,500 km/h] in the dim light of the Kuiper Belt, a billion miles beyond Pluto. This was a much tougher observation than anything we had attempted in our 2015 Pluto flyby," New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern, also of SwRI, said in the same statement. "These 'stretch goal' observations were risky, because there was a real chance we'd only get part or even none of Ultima in the camera's narrow field of view," Stern added. "But the science, operations and navigation teams nailed it, and the result is a field day for our science team! Some of the details we now see on Ultima Thule's surface are unlike any object ever explored before." New Horizons launched in January 2006 to lift the veil on Pluto, which had remained largely mysterious since its 1930 discovery. The Ultima Thule flyby was the centerpiece of an extended mission that runs through 2021. New Horizons is in good health and has enough fuel to fly by yet another distant object, if NASA grants another mission extension, Stern and other mission team members have said. Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate) is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook. IM all for the latest local government reform proposal announced last week, so long as it doesnt send the property tax soaring or impact in any way on our territorial autonomy. I mean whos to say that the first executive Mayor of Limerick wont want to make his or her mark by plundering the neighbours and confiscating our hurling fields? Nevertheless, I have to admit directly elected mayors (DEMs) appear to be exactly what we need in this populist, personality-obsessed society. But for the life of me, I cant see why there isnt one for everyone in the audience. Here in Tipperary, weve been playing second fiddle to metropolitan Ireland for too long and if neighbouring Limerick opts in May to be able to choose its own executive mayor from now on, then we may as well quit the orchestra altogether. Well be at a serious disadvantage when it comes to self-image, not to talk of self-promotion. Some people, admittedly, couldnt give a toss how their mayor is chosen. A lot of them would be hard put to even name him or her in the first place, but maybe thats because they didnt get a chance to pick him themselves. The Cabinet and Minister John Paul Phelan seem to think that, whatever about the potholes, wed all engage more with local government if we could elect our own mayors. But those noble sentiments apply only to Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Galway and Waterford. The rest of us have a long way to go before we can even be considered for such advanced political manoeuvring. The proposals, however, are not new. Theyve been in the pipeline for the last 20 years and since we havent kicked up a stink in the meantime, it looks as if were already in the slow lane. Dublins hopes of an executive mayor have already been put on hold because one County Council Fingal feared that a directly elected mayor would concentrate on the city and forget about the outskirts. What about us then, the people of rural Ireland who have been on the outskirts all our lives? Why cant we have our own directly elected mayors? I hear you. A directly elected mayor in every local authority area would break the country. What am I saying? It would break the country to even hold a plebiscite to find out if we really wanted one in the first place. The thing is, in the eyes of the Cabinet, our historic recalcitrance is not to be trusted. If we had our way, Michael Lowry would surely get the job if he was interested. And the Healy-Raes would be invested with the Kerry chain for as long as democracy lasts, and that, certainly, might be no bad thing for the Kingdom. Meanwhile, as we all head for the polling booths in May to elect our local authority representatives for the next five years, the worthy citizens of our bigger cities will be asked if they would like to choose their own mayor. Dublin will have to wait for the decision of the Citizens Assembly whoever they are. The rest of us will have to make do with leaders who emerge from the political machinations of the current system of indirect selection by the councillors we elect. Does it matter, you may ask? Of course it does. The status is immense, and if John Paul Phelan isnt careful, the new executive mayors of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway could yet be vying with Leo Varadker for prestige and honour. With our penchant for personality politics, wed be made up. Hosting about 30 directly elected mayors wouldnt be a bother to us. Before the Norman invasion we had up to 185 kings in the country, each directly elected by his own personal Tuath. I dont know whether we can afford it or not, but if the new mayoral system helps to improve legitimacy, accountability and public engagement with local government, then maybe it will be worthwhile. But like pay parity in the public service it wont work, if everyone isnt treated equally and able to participate in the brave new world of directly elected executive mayors. Its a five year job, apparently, so at least well get a chance to get acquainted. By the way, I have no idea how a mayor can be impeached or kicked out if he or she proves unworthy, but thats for another day. On the other hand, maybe Im being premature. Our worthy Metropolitans may yet decide in May that they dont want to elect their own mayors after all. They could well be of a mind to tell the Cabinet and John Paul that they have a surfeit of rulers already and the only way they could ever properly engage with local government would be if the puppet strings were loosened once and for all. A 12-YEAR old girl remains in a critical condition following a boating incident in Limerick on Saturday morning. The young rower, who became trapped under an overturned boat, was rushed to University Hospital Limerick after four girls and one boy got into difficulty on the Abbey River, a tributary of the River Shannon. Their overturned rowing boat was discovered by the Limerick Fire rescue boat FireSwift while the crew was on their morning checks. The crew was accompanied by a safety boat operated by their rowing club, Athlunkard Boat Club, at the time of the incident. An investigation into the incident is ongoing according to Rowing Ireland, the national rowing association. Our thoughts are with the family, club and girls who were in the boat at the time, a spokesperson said. This is an ongoing investigation and therefore we are unable to make further comment at present. On Saturday, the girl received medical assistance quayside before she was transferred to University Hospital Limerick in a critical condition. She was later transferred to Temple Street Childrens Hospital. In a statement, Athlunkard Boat Club said it continues to monitor the situation. "We are monitoring the situation and are in constant contact with the family and Rowing Ireland." "Our thoughts are now focused on supporting the family, the girls and boy who were in the boat at the time and our club members." Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider subscribing to our ePaper and/or free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. HUNDREDS of Community Employment (CE) Scheme supervisors and assistant supervisors from all over the country went on strike this Monday in a bid to force the government to set up a pension scheme for them. And as part of their strike action, up to 20 CE supervisors from Limerick travelled to Cork to take part in one of five protests held around the country. Among them was Liz McAuliffe from Ballingarry who worked as a supervisor in the Ballingarry Adare area for 20 years before retiring without a workplace pension over four years ago. For 20 years I was doing government work, she pointed out. Yet I have nothing to show for it. Moreover, like a number of other female supervisors, Liz also discovered, on retirement, that rule changes meant she was only eligible for a reduced state pension. The government sets out all the rules and regulations and provides the money for the schemes. Yet the government is telling us it is the community schemes that are the employers, not the government, she explained. But Community and voluntary groups dont have money to pay pensions. The battle for a workplace pension plan, Ms McAuliffe explained, goes back to 2002 when supervisors and assistant supervisors first demanded a plan be put in place. But nothing happened until a Labour Court hearing in 2008, which recommended that a pension scheme be set up , to be funded by the funders, i.e. the government. Since then, however,government after government has chosen to ignore the recommendation, even though it was represented at the hearing by FAS. Last October, in a further bid to highlight their case, some 200 supervisors brought their grievance into the Dail chamber where opposition TDs quizzed the government on its inaction and supported the supervisors demand. Unfortunately, Ms McAuliffe explained, the governments lack of response has remained unchanged and she has accused the government of arrogance in ignoring their demand. We feel the issue is being ignored by government, she told the Limerick Leader. This weeks strike was intended to increase pressure on the government and make them acknowledge and implement the Labour Court recommendation, she said. The strike was backed by the Irish Congress of Trades nions who said they were taking action as a last resort. Essentially, the supervisors, members of SIPTU and of Forsa, are seeking a gratuity payment instead of a pension for those who have retired since 2008. They are also demanding a retirement gratuity be paid to older supervisors who will be retiring shortly and who would not have any significant pension pot built up. They are also demanding a pension scheme be put in place now for all other supervisors and assistant supervisors. THREE County Limerick brothers have risen to the top of their chosen field. Liam, Garrett and Brian ORourke, from Hospital, were honoured at the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association national breeding and racing awards ceremony in The Heritage, County Laois. The Wild Geese award went to the ORourkes for individually and collectively flying the Irish flag with pride on the global bloodstock stage over many decades. Liam, the eldest, is director of studs, stallions and breeding at the Godolphin owned Darley Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket. Garrett is general manager of Khalid Abdullahs Juddmonte Farms in Lexington, Kentucky. While Brian manages Copgrove Hall Stud in Yorkshire. Along with their sister, Fiona, solicitor, they are the children of Frances and the late Willie ORourke, a veterinary surgeon in Hospital and managing director of Tattersalls Ireland. He passed away in 1993. Frances recalls that racing legend Michael Osborne told her husband that their young sons were gifted with horses and that they should follow a career in the industry. Willie told me and I said, Horses, will you go away from me! I dont want to hear about it, she laughed. In hindsight, the proud mum said they would never have been happy doing anything else. They are good lads, they have a great work ethic. They got the love of horses from Willie. He was in veterinary practice in Hospital until 1974. We used to breed, we had a few mares, not very many. The boys loved it. They were messing about with ponies as well. It was never going to be anything else that they were going to do, said Frances, who attended the ceremony. It was a marvelous night. It was a lovely family reunion. The boys are very good to me. They are very humble. They havent forgotten their roots in County Limerick, said Frances, who resides in Hospital. On behalf of his brothers, Liam said it was a great honour, a great privilege and a humbling one for us all. We were very proud to be chosen and had a great evening, said Liam. Frances gives all the credit to Willie for imbuing a love of all things equine but Liam says she was just as important. Frances worked on reception in Tattersalls Ireland. He was a great influence on all our careers but so was our mum. Our parents were great in equal measure and encouraged us. They didnt stand in our way when they could see we had a vocation of sorts for the industry. My father, besides being a vet, had a small farm with a brood mares. We grew up with it and hence our interest was born. Weve been very fortunate. Weve worked with great people and had great employers as well. We have a huge amount to be thankful for. We have had a lot of luck, one creates luck to an extent. Were very blessed to have the award, said Liam. Coincidentally, the brothers were presented with the Wild Geese award by a fellow Limerick man - Eamon Moloney, from Knocklong. He is nominations manager at Darleys Kildangan Stud. He is a son of John Moloney, former manager of Galway Racecourse. Like the ORourkes, you cant beat breeding. THE IFA says confirmation by British environment secretary, Michael Gove that the UK would apply tariffs in a no-deal Brexit scenario demonstrates the gravity of the situation for the Irish farming sector. Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed has confirmed that tariffs on Irish food imports would amount to approximately 1.7bn per annum. The minister and the EU Commissioner Phil Hogan must come forward immediately with a plan for comprehensive market supports including direct payments to Irish farmers in the event of a no-deal Brexit, says the IFA. The UK is Irelands largest beef export market, accounting for 298,000 tonnes (52%) in 2018. Livestock farmers are already encountering severe income difficulties as a result of falling prices, increased costs and reduced direct payments. The situation is now a crisis due to the fall in cattle prices, the weakness of sterling and uncertainty around Brexit. Limerick IFA chairman, Shay Galvin went to Dublin on the day before Valentines Day to lobby TDs and senators on the beef crisis. There wasnt much love in the air. Mr Galvin said a hard Brexit would devastate Irelands 3bn beef and livestock sector. IFA estimates the imposition of WTO tariffs in a hard-Brexit will impose a direct cost on the beef sector of 800m per year. While the government and other sectors are talking about preparing for Brexit, beef farmers are already counting their losses. Cattle prices are down 100 per head on this time last year. Brexit uncertainty and the weakness of sterling has already hit hard on beef prices and farm incomes. The income situation on beef and livestock farms is at crisis point. The latest independent data from Teagasc shows farm incomes are down 16% in 2018 and incomes on cattle are between 10,175 and 15,412, said Mr Galvin. Our local representatives must now put the pressure on the Minister for Agriculture to get his act together on this issue before it is too late, continued the Croom man. The IFA presented a detailed set of proposals including an EU Brexit Emergency Support Package to politicians, demanding that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed take urgent action with the EU Commission to address the beef and Brexit issues. Limerick IFA livestock chairman, Denis Duggan said IFA has requested that for every 5c/kg change on the price, Minister Creed needs to secure 20 per head additional direct payment compensation. IFA proposals include: l EU Brexit Emergency Support Package involving a comprehensive set of market supports and direct aid for farmers from the EU Commission. l Challenge the meat factories to immediately increase prices and prioritise the young bull kill. Increase factory controls on trim, classification and weights. l Strong support for the live export trade to double numbers in 2019 and ensure that no further restrictions are imposed on the trade. l Reward quality suckler stock with a significant price premium. Increased funding for suckler to 200 per cow. l Insist on an increase in the CAP budget. l Continue to resist Mercosur trade deal. l Climate change recommendations which focus on the Teagasc roadmap with no carbon-based production quota. Meanwhile, Tom Blackburn, Limerick ICMSA chair, said given the growth in the dairy sector over the last number of years, the focus should now be on maximising the potential of beef from the dairy herd rather than indulging in a negative running-commentary on alleged problems with beef from the dairy herd. It has become fashionable and popular to blame the expansion of the dairy herd for all the problems in the beef sector. As is very often the case with these easy explanations, once you look at the facts you quickly discover that they are just simply not true. For instance, the problems around farmer profitability in our beef sector were there long before the expansion of the dairy herd. The other fact that dispels the myth that the problems are arising from dairy beef is the record that shows that dairy beef production has always been in excess of 50% of total beef production in Ireland. This figure is growing, more beef will come from the dairy herd so everyone is going to have to deal with that and shift focus to maximising the return from dairy beef production rather than talking it down and undermining it, said Mr Blackburn. The Effin man said that the current severe drop in beef prices is an issue for all types of beef production - whether dairy or suckler - and suggestions recommending further shifting price differentials to favour one sector over the other are completely unfair and not supported by independently verified data. LIMERICK City and County Council is currently seeking a third-party company to keep detailed written records of all activities on halting sites in the metro area as part of 2million project. The detail is included in a current request for tender that will see significant repairs and caretaking works undertaken at eight Traveller specific sites, including Toppins Field, Clondrinagh and on the Childers Road. LCCC also expects this company to prevent unauthorised people from accessing the sites, submit detailed written reports of any anti-social behaviour and assist the Council when identifying tenants who comment any offences or breach litter by-laws. Limerick City and County Council has very good and open relationships with the Travelling Community and there is constant engagement between the two, a LCCC spokesperson said. When asked if the families living in these sites had been consulted prior to this request for tender, the spokesperson said: All work plans will be discussed in detail once the winning tender has been chosen. As part of works for 2019, LCCC plans to invest 4.8 million in sites across Limerick, he added. According to the tender documents seen by the Limerick Leader, the successful company is expected to control the entrance barriers to each facility to ensure authorised entry and exit only. The company is also expected to prevent access to the sites by any unauthorised person and liaise with gardai, the tender document states. The company is also expected to work with the Council to make sure that all tenants are following relevant waste management acts and by-laws, including the control of horses. The company will also be expected to attend court as necessary in connection with any prosecutions instituted by Limerick City County Council, the document states. The successful company will also provide a 24-hour emergency caretaking callout service seven days a week, and will be responsible for maintaining facilities in a tidy manner. This includes power washing footpaths and yards, and organising pest control services as required. This also includes the transport of general rubbish for disposal, with costs to be passed onto LCCC. The contract of a maintenance plan currently running with the capital programme will end shortly, a spokesperson for LCCC said. As with all public sector projects, the contract for the provision of maintenance services must now be put to tender and this has been done through the eTenders portal. As a matter of course, Limerick City and County Council always seeks to enhance service provision in all of its tenders in order to procure the most economically advantageous tender for the council. TRANSPORT is a major issue for Limericks biggest employers, with small and local businesses also affected by ongoing issues with the service. Several of Limericks major firms have raised concerns over the reliability of the current bus service, the Limerick Leader has learned. The chief executives of many of the main employers around would be in contact with the council, Mayor of Limerick City and County James Collins told the Limerick Leader. They have been highlighting the fact that public transport is not where it should be. If you look at one of our large employers in Limerick, they are looking at doubling the size of their facility. This means they might have to put on a multi-story car park beside it, which makes no sense. Every city in the world has a bus service where people can take the bus to work. Mayor Collins, who is also on the board of the Limerick Twenty Thirty company, said the main issues stem from the punctuality of the service, as well as the routes taken. If you are starting work in the city centre at 6am but you are living in Castletroy, it's very difficult to get in, Mayor Collins said. Likewise if you are living in the city centre and you need to get out to Raheen, its very difficult to use public transport. It's not reliable. If we are really going to be advising people to use public transport to commute to work, it has to be frequent and it has to be reliable. Unfortunately the bus service that we have at the moment isnt. I have asked the chief executive to bring together the relevant organisations to see are there some actions that we can implement quickly, to try and get the buses moving as they should be. In Limerick, a large number of employees depend on bus transport to get to and from work, economist with Limerick Chamber Dr Catriona Cahill explained. The poor level of reliability on the part of Bus Eireann has resulted in issues around punctuality. The poor level of service outside of regular working hours is also an issue. Businesses are concerned for the safety of their staff and have had to organise alternative transport for their employees. Efficient public transport plays a key role in attracting FDI to the region and in attracting individuals who want live and work in the city, she added. Due to irregular working hours, employees at one company based in the city centre rely on lifts or taxis to get home from work, one employee told the Limerick Leader. Shauna Duggan, who lives in Castletroy, works for Uber on Thomas Street. I work two weeks of 8am to 7pm and then two weeks from 1pm to midnight, she explained. There are no buses at 12 so I have to try and get a lift home, or more likely I have to get a taxi. We also have people working 7am to 6pm, but there is no bus before 7am so they either have to drive or get a taxi. LIMERICK councillors will this Monday formulate a robust objection to a controversial new plan. Mayor James Collins has called a special meeting, set for 3.30pm in County Hall, to decide on an objection to the Draft Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy. Unveiled last week to members of the economic committee, the proposals have been sharply criticised by members, who are concerned it will put Cork in the driving seat in terms of future investment. It 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. 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. Senior planner Maria Woods last week 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. Her 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. Members of the public can attend the meeting, entry is free. LATENESS, bus services not turning up and alleged rudeness of some drivers - these were among some of the many complaints the National Transport Authority (NTA) received from local bus passengers, writes Nick Rabbitts. The NTA, which regulates transportation in this country, has provided the Limerick Leader with a rundown of formal complaints from local bus passengers, with a key problem being no-shows of bus lines. One passenger wrote to the NTA on October 23 last, complaining that at 5.30pm, the 304A route a service launched last year to serve from Raheen to Monaleen did not show up. Its drivers seem to be hiding in Raheen, the complainant said. At the University Hospital stop, I took the 301 back into the city. There should have been more than two buses back into the Ladbrokes stop in Parnell Street. There seems to be a constant problem with this service. The same bus service, it was claimed, did not turn up at Monaleen National School on all but one day on a week last November. One passenger lodged a formal complaint against the driver of the 302 bus (Caherdavin), who accused them of not paying the fare, causing them great embarrassment. We arrived at the Henry Street bus stop at ten minutes to eight and watched the bus drive away. We are unsure if this was the 7.30pm bus leaving town 20 minutes late or if it was supposed to be the 8pm bus leaving town 10 minutes before schedule. We waited neither the electronic bus timetable on Henry Street, nor the real-time smartphone app were giving accurate readings as to when the next bus would arrive, the correspondent said. There are countless people complaining about how unreliable the Limerick bus service has become. People have been voicing their anger but nothing ever seems to change. I have complained to Bus Eireann on several occasions, but all I have ever received in return is an automated generic email response, they added. What will be done about this sub-par public service? Nobody can depend on bus routes in Limerick to get them to/from work/school/university on time. On the 302 service, one person added: More often than not, the bus does not come and its at the point the service is unpredictable even though there is a timetable and an app for the bus. What can be done about this? The issue of the 323 bus service to Castleconnell, and its lack of total connection in the village was raised by one staff member at the University of Limerick. As you can imagine, with the growing shortage of student accommodation and rising rent prices, students are forced to live further out from the University of Limerick than in previous years. Therefore, many students are now commuting to and from Castleconnell, where they have secured accommodation, they wrote, pointing out the irregular service only covers some parts of the village, leaving out areas like Scanlan Park, Cedarwood Grove Park, Lacka and the Tonvilles among others. The authority also received complaints about services on the Limerick-Dublin corridor. One passenger complained the X12 service from Dublin Airport to Limerick City was cancelled on March 5 last year, forcing them into a two hour wait for another. There was a call for an additional service from Colbert station to Dublin Airport to plug the gap between 5.20am and 7.45am. Bus Eireann pledges upgrade on Raheen to Castletroy routes Bus Eireann has claimed that the percentage of complaints per 100,000 city passengers is just 0.01%. The disclosure comes in a response sent to this newspaper following several queries by members of the Limerick Leader team. The company also confirmed improvements are due on the 304 and 304A bus service in the coming months something exclusively revealed in this newspaper last month. The changes will be implemented in the next six weeks, while further, more enhanced changes, will take place later in the year which will see the introduction of more vehicles on the cross-city route. In response to separate queries issued by the Limerick Leader team, the spokesperson also said that punctuality on this, the busiest route in the city, linking Raheen, the city and the university, is being severely impacted by factors outside its control. They cite a lack of bus priority, significant travel congestion, as well as illegal parking of private vehicles of bus priority, something which in particular was a bone of contention several years ago by many OConnell Avenue residents. Currently, there is only nine kilometres of bus priority in Limerick city, and this lack of infrastructure is severely impacting journey times and reliability, a Bus Eireann spokesperson added. Mayor James Collins, who met with Blaithin McElligott, the local service manager of the semi-state firm this week, said: What they are doing is they are revising the timing. At the moment, a round trip from Raheen to UL and back again is 120 minutes, which is ridiculous. They are changing the timings to be more realistic. If it takes 135 minutes for a round-trip, they will change the times to reflect this. The scheduled bus time will be closer to when it actually shows up. Bus Eireann is working with the National Transport Authority on these new timetables. Mayor Collins has pledged to work with council boss Conn Murray to put together a plan to get the busses moving. Can we start an initiative to stop people parking at bus stops, can we work with An Garda Siochana, can parking wardens act quickly on people parking in bus stops? Can we keep the bus lanes free. But also, can we speak to the gardai about some of the problems we experience at peak time, he said. With many passengers complaining about the time it takes to get on the buses and pay for a ticket, the spokesperson said a software upgrade will be introduced in the next six weeks, which will quicken the time, particularly for those people paying with a prepaid Leap card. However, the Limerick Leader understands that unlike buses in Dublin, where people can tap on, without conversing with the driver, stand-alone Leap terminals will not be introduced here just yet. Since the beginning of 2017, the Bus Eireann spokesperson pointed out passenger journeys have grown by 20%, with ridership topping three-and-a-half million last year. This growth was aided by timetable enhancements introduced in 2017 as well as the delivery of new double-deck vehicles. These new double deck vehicles have comfortable seating, a dedicated wheelchair space, complementary wi-fi and CCTV security cameras throughout, they added. The improvements Bus Eireann intend on bringing to Limerick have already been brought in in Waterford and Galway. It has seen punctuality improve by 38% in the Deise, and 56% in the City of the Tribes, the firm added. The German ambassador to Ireland, Deike Potzel, visited Newbridge last week to find out more about the Newbridge Bad Lippspringe Twinning Committee. It was a very productive meeting, said Cllr Murty Aspell, She was really interested in our twinning committee and how it began 20 years ago and grew over the years. Its such a sucess story and she was very impressed with it, especially the exchange programme. The twinning committees Peter ONeill also welcomed the ambassador on Monday February 11, along with Cllr Aspell and Joe Boland from Kildare County Council. We informed her how the whole twinning project started and how it developed over the years. We talked about the importance of getting the business chambers more involved, the possible impact of Brexit and other issues. Mr ONeill explained how Newbridge will welcome 70 visitors from Bad Lippspringe on April 27. The entourage will include 25 scouts who will be brought to visit the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation. From 1945 to 1950, after World War II, Glencree became a temporary refugee centre for thousands of German war orphans before being fostered by Irish families. Many came from Paderborn, a town near Bad Lippspringe. A Newbridge College student was one of 24 pupils from across the island of Ireland to travel to the European parliament recently as part of a Rotary Ireland initiative. The Youth Leadership Development Competition, which has been running for over 20 years, saw the winning students have the experience of a lifetime, giving them a real taste of what it is like to make decisions and to lead. James Sexton and his fellow students began their trip by visiting Stormont in Belfast, the EU Office and Dail Eireann in Dublin and finally, the EU Parliament in Strasbourg where they took part in the Euroscola event. Last weeks experience was truly amazing, I met some amazing people and Ive made new friendships which I know will last a life time. Getting to see how the EU parliament works was incredible, its a week I will never forget and Id like to thanks Rotary for making it happen, said James. These leaders of tomorrow discussed the issues of today and set forth a vision for the future that they will be proud to be a part of. The final 24 competed against more than 1,000 young people to secure themselves a place on this trip of a lifetime. Spanning five days, the students further developed their debating and leadership skills, made new friends along with important contacts, and also gained a platform to speak at a time when their future is at stake. Topics up for debate included; the environment, human rights and security, European elections, migration and integration, youth employment and the future of Europe with Brexit featuring heavily. Past programme participants include TDs Simon Harris and Robert Troy. The 61st annual Kildare Drama Festival gets underway in Kildare town later this month. A jam-packed week and a half of drama is in store at the CMWS hall, kicking off on Wednesday, February 27. The festival has been running since 1958, and is one of the longest-running amateur drama festivals in the 32 counties. It has been held every year since then, except for 2001, when it was cancelled due to Foot and Mouth. Several well-known actors and producers have trod the boards at the Kildare Drama Festival. Famous names to have starred on the Kildare stage include Naas man Tom Hickey (later Bengy in The Riordans); RTE presenter and author Deirdre Purcell; Fair Citys Joan Brosnan Walsh (Mags); Myles Dungan and Gabriel Byrne, who performed there in 1975 with the Dublin Shakespeare Society; Riverdance supremo Moya Doherty and actress Simon Delaney. The Leinster Leader is proud to have a long-running association with the Kildare Drama Festival, as the Leinster Leader Cup is awarded to the overall winner on the final night. Adjudicator This years festival adjudicator is Limerick woman Gene Rooney, a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. She began her professional life as an acturess in Australia when she was cast as Edith in Blithe Spirit with Canberra Rep. Gene returned to Ireland and studied at the Gaiety School of Acting. Since graduating, she has appeared on almost every stage in Ireland in over 40 productions, and in film, TV and radio, and as a voiceover artist and teacher. Gene is just back from Sri Lanka where she adjudicated the Festival of Glory. Tickets Advance tickets for the festival are available at Kildare Town Heritage Centre, The Square, Kildare town, which is open between 10am and 5pm. Call 045 530672 or email info@kildareheritage.com. Tickets are: 12 (General Admission), 10 (students/OAPs), 50 (season ticket); 5 (schoolchild ticket on Friday, March 1). Tickets are also available at the door. See www.kildareheritage.com/ kildaredramafestival. PROGRAMME Kildare Drama Festival, in association with Kildare Drama Group, is at the CMWS Hall, Kildare town, from Wednesday, February 27 to Friday, March 8, excluding Sunday. Performances start at 8pm nightly. Wednesday, February 27: Eclipsed by Patricia Burke Brogan. Tinahely Variety Group. Thursday, February 28: The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh. Holycross/Ballycahill. Friday, March 1. County Kildare Youth Night of Drama. Saturday, March 2. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Newpoint Drama Group. Monday, March 4. An Enemy of the People, adapted by Rebecca Lenkiewicz. Prosperous Drama Group. Tuesday, March 5. Its The Real McCoy by Tommy Marren. Wayside Players, Wexford. Wednesday, March 6. A Fine Bright Day Today by Philip Goulding. Ballyduff Drama Group. Thursday, March 7. The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh. Mullingar Drama Group. Friday, March 8. Philadelphia Here I Come by Brian Friel. Brideview Drama Group. Ive a confession to make I hate cooking. Im terrible at it. Recently, I was listening to chef Nevin Maguire telling radio presenter Ian Dempsey how he thinks every student from first year to third year should do Home Economics to teach them life skills, and also help stem the tide of growing obesity and reliance on processed food and takeaways. These are undoubtedly valuable skills and will aid people later in life. However, some of us were just never meant to be in a kitchen, let alone master a chicken curry, spaghetti bolonese or a simple stew. You are dealing with a person who has set the grill on fire more than once. Im an expert at cookery camouflage. When I was about 16 and in charge of cooking the dinner for the family one evening, I thought I had done a good job. That was until my mother was dishing out the cabbage and scooped out a green J-cloth amongst the green leaves. Needless to say, the contents of the whole saucepan had to be tossed out. My disasters are too many to mention. Ive dropped an apple crumble on the ground, created the flattest Christmas cake in history and cooked dinners only our dogs could appreciate. With no instinct as to what flavours go together, Ive undercooked food and overcooked food. Im afraid to invite anyone to dinner in case I poison them. Apart from the fact that Im a useless cook, the fact is I hate being in the kitchen, I just dont enjoy it. While I dont condone eating takeaway every evening, the odd one doesnt do any harm. More than often, when I do make an effort to summon my culinary talent, the resulting dish ends up in the bin. Just recently I decided to make a pasta bake. Having assembled all the ingredients, all was going well until I got to the sauce. While stirring the flour to make the white sauce, all of a sudden it started to go lumpy until it resembled the consistency of porridge another dish for the dogs. It was ham and cheese toasties again that night. Dont get me wrong, I love food and have a great appetite its the making of it that totally stumps me. I get hangry if I havent eaten in a while, to which my colleagues will attest. I just dont get how people can spend hours in the kitchen baking and cooking. On my J1 student visa trip to Chicago, I wasn't known for my waitressing prowess at the House of Hughes restaurant. Having dropped an ice cream sundae into a teacher's handbag at a conference, and a tray of champagne at a wedding, I managed to win people over with my Irish accent rather than my skills. My name was a big issue. The manager asked me to change the spelling to Neve on my dockets. Mistaking the v for an n, the guys in kitchen would ring the bell and call Ne -ne, your food is ready! So I went by the name of Ne- ne for three months. There are now so many cooking appliances available which are supposed to make life easy air fryers, grills and slow cookers of every description. Having heard so many good reports about the slow cookers, I decided to acquire one. Brimming with hope that this would be my saviour, I threw in onions, a few vegetables, chicken pieces, a tin of tomatoes and some other bits and pieces. The resulting meal was terrible and so acidic, it could have eroded concrete. Subsequently, I tried a bit of beef in it and it just fell apart. While Nevin Maguires idea of making everyone do Home Economics is laudable, in my view there will always be some people who cant cook and I am just one of those people. The Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday, February 25, officially declared President Muhammadu Buhari the winner of the presidential election conducted in Ekiti state. In the result announced by the returning officer, Professor Idowu Olayinka, vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 219,231 votes, while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party got 154,032 votes. Earlier reports by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) claimed that total valid votes were 381,132, rejected votes 12,577, while total votes were 393,709. READ ALSO: INEC reportedly set to declare election results in Kwara The APC has already won two of the Senate seats for the state and several House of Representative seats. Check the full result below: Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that President Buhari reportedly defeated the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar at his polling unit. There was a wild jubilation following the announcement that Buhari scored 186 votes to defeat Atiku. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update However, supporters of Atiku claimed the former vice president put up a remarkable showing despite losing to President Buhari, adding that the president has always won in the polling unit in nearly all previous elections. Follow live updates of situation reports and collation of results across Nigeria NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo casts his vote, boasts of APC victory - on Legit TV: Source: Legit - Tonto Dikeh recently flushed a troll who called her a troll social media - The mother of one had hoped to gain the admiration of fans when she shared new stunning photos of herself - She got burnt when a troll called her a witch and an idiot Actress and philanthropist does not take it lightly when social media trolls trash her on the gram. Just recently, the mother of one fired at a troll who called a witch and an idiot. Tonto had hoped to get the admiration of fans and followers when she released new, stunning photos of herself on social media. While she got thousands of likes and comments, the actress still seemed disturbed by a rather hateful comment. The social media user identified as Emmi-Gbillions took to her page to call her derogatory terms including "idiot" and "witch". Dikeh immediately responded describing the person as broke and stating that poverty is why they are frustrated. READ ALSO: Falz shares result of his polling unit in Ikoyi, Lagos The exchange got many social media users talking, saying Tonto really does not have the patience for trolls on her Instagram page. Tonto Dikeh ridicules troll who called her a witch Source: Instagram PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group However, nothing seems to big to doll Tonto's shine especially with her son by her side. Meanwhile, Nigerian male barbie, Bobrisky, recently attended the birthday of Tonto Dike's son, King Andre and from the post he put up, he went all out to join her in celebrating the three-year-old. Did you know? NAIJ.com (naija.ng) is now-> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app Nigeria Celebrities: How Much Do They Spend On Luxury Life? on Legit TV: Source: Legit.ng - Senator Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party has defeated Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress in Mopamuro local government area of Kogi - Melaye who is seeking re-election, is the senator representing Kogi West senatorial zone - The PDP senatorial candidate won 5112 votes, while his closest rival got 3658 votes Dino Melaye, a senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has won the highest votes in Mopamuro local government area, Kogi West senatorial zone. Melaye is seeking re-election for second term into the red chamber of the National Assembly, with his toughest rival, Smart Adeyemi of the APC, New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. Legit.ng gathers that Ibrahim Ismaila, the INEC collation officer of Mopamuro LGA, announced the interim results at the collation centre in INEC LG office in Mopa at about 3: 20 a.m on Sunday, February 24. READ ALSO: 2019 election violence: Army apprehends 15 political thugs, recovers arms in Bayelsa According to Ismaila, the PDP senatorial candidate won 5112 votes, while his closest rival got 3658 votes, ADC 784 and SDP 26 votes out of the 9717 valid votes cast. There were 336 rejected votes, making total votes cast to be 10055. In the House of Representatives, the PDP also beat APC with 3703 votes. The APC got 3157 votes and ADC 2609 votes. A total of 10042 votes were cast, 9704 votes were valid, while 338 votes were rejected. In the presidential election, the PDP scored 5336 votes to the APCs 3646. He added that out of 10055 votes cast in the election, 336 were rejected while 9507 were accepted as valid. The collation of final results would be done at Yagba federal constituency headquarters in Isanlu in Yagba East LGA. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, defeated his opponent President Muhammadu Buhari in the polling unit of the senate president Bukola Saraki in Kwara state. Atiku garnered 219 votes while President Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 68 votes. In the senatorial poll, Saraki scored 269 votes to defeat the APC which polled 60 votes while PDP also recorded victory in the House of Reps election with 253 votes to APCs 53 votes. Follow our live updates to get more updates. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better Vice President Yemi Osinbajo casts his vote, boasts of APC victory - on Legit TV Source: Legit - The PDP reportedly won in the polling unit of Professor Yemi Osinbajo - The vice president's APC lost in the presidential, senatorial and House of Representatives elections in his unit The Peoples Democratic Party has won elections in the polling unit of vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. According to Premium Times, the PDP won the elections for all positions conducted at the polling unit of the vice president. READ ALSO: PDP replies APC on allegations of plot to disrupt collation 2019 election results The opposition party reportedly won in the two voting points of the Polling Unit 033. For the presidential election, the PDP had 425 votes while the APC had 229. In the senatorial election, the PDP polled 414 votes while the APC had 261. For the House of Representatives election, the PDP had 268 while the APC had 190 votes. It was reported that the last voter cast his vote at exactly 7 p.m. while vote counting ended 12:20 a.m. on Sunday, February 24. Meanwhile, former Lagos state governor and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Ahmed Tinubu has knocked those allegedly monitoring his residence in Bourdillon, Ikoyi. Channels TV reports that Tinubu said those who raised the alarm over bullion vans reportedly sighted in his premises are mere mischief makers. Tinubu said this after he cast his vote in Lagos on Saturday, February 23. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Who are those watching my house and looking at bullion vans, they must be mischief makers, Tinubu said. According to him, bullion vans coming out of his home do not in any way imply that his party is plotting to rig the elections. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better Vice President Yemi Osinbajo casts his vote, boasts of APC victory -on Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - A 19-year-old young voter identified as Daniel Usman was reportedly shot dead during presidential election on February 23 - Top Nigerian comedian, AY Makun has mourned the young voter who many are calling a 'hero' - Usman was reportedly shot dead at his polling unit in Kogi for refusing to vote a certain party after being forced Reports reaching Legit.ng claim that a young Nigerian voter aged 19 was reportedly shot dead at his polling unit in Ajetachi, Ayangba, Kogi state on February 23, during the presidential elections. Just before stepping out for elections, Daniel shared a post on social media, where he warned Nigerians to stay safe during the elections and vote instead of fighting. His last words remain a strong message to thousands of Nigerians who are now mourning his passing. Reports claim that the young man was being forced to vote for a certain party and when he refused, got bullets buried in his body. According to Twitter user identified as @I_Am_Ilemona, Usman was a victim of electoral violence where he stood his ground and refused to vote for any candidate except his choice. READ ALSO: Davido monitors election, gives situation report Another report claims that he was killed by stray bullets fired by thugs at the polling area while elections was on-going. Many Nigerians are calling late Daniel a 'hero' for standing firm in the face of injustice and oppression and for boldly defending his vote. Top Nigerian comedian, AY Makun has joined Nigerians in mourning passing of the brave young man who wanted his vote to count. Here are some more reactions below: PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group May his soul rest in peace. Read live update for situation reports from polling units across Nigeria here Did you know? NAIJ.com (naija.ng) is now-> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app 2019 Election: We are retrogressing in Nigeria 83-year-old man on Legit TV: Source: Legit.ng The time to elect new leaders to direct the affairs of Nigeria is now and many of Nigerian celebrities are not left out. Some of them are taking time on their social media handle to sensitise their fans on the on-going presidential election of Saturday, February 23. While some of them have been involved in the electioneering campaign, some are actively involved as they are contestants and contenders in the election. Davido who has been actively involved in the electioneering campaign since 2018 when his uncle contested on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the gubernatorial election took to his Twitter handle to admonish the electoral commission, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Nigeria Curvy Nollywood actress Mercy Johnson-Okojie on her part enjoined Nigerians to vote and not fight. She told her fans that no politician is worth their blood so they she play safe. Foluke Daramola-Salako is one actress who has been actively involved in the campaign for President Buharis re-election bid. She, as early as possible cast her vote and took to her Instagram handle to show off her voters card. READ ALSO: Live updates of Nigerias 2019 presidential election For mother of three boys, Omoni Oboli, she has been at her polling unit as early as 6am to cast her vote. Legit.ng's eagle-eyed cameraman also caught Omoni performing her civic responsibility. Omoni Oboli working on election day at her polling unit Source: Original Actress Kate Henshaw shared photos of herself on duty as an election observer alongside the former head of state General Yakubu Gowon. She also shared a video of people ready to cast their votes. Nigerian music sensation 2baba Idibia who has for being the champion of the Vote Not Fight campaign shared a video of him observing his civic responsibility in Festac Town Lagos. He also showed off his voters card. Well-endowed Nollywood actress Anita Joseph is not in Nigeria for the election, she is faraway in New York, US, but still took time to remind Nigerians and her followers to vote wisely. Actor Saidi Balogun on his part decided to educate voters on what to do at the polling units while also showing his support for the ruling party, APC. Music sensation, Tiwa Savage is not left out in the decision making process of electing a good leader for Nigeria as she also went out to vote. she took to Twitter to share photo from her polling unit. Legit.ng had earlier reported that there was a mild drama at the polling unit of the vice president, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, minutes after he had voted. The card readers deployed to the unit malfunctioned, preventing other individuals, including ANN presidential candidate, Fela Durotoye, from voting. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better 6 things that may happen on Election Day | Legit TV Source: Legit Raigad, February 24: A major fire broke out at an oil factory in Maharashtras Raigad district on Sunday. A total of 12 tenders rushed to the spot. Till now no injuries have been reported yet. However, the exact of the fire has still not been ascertained. More details are still awaited. Mumbai: Fire Breaks Out in Local Train at Juinagar Station; Services Disrupted on Trans-Harbour Line. Earlier this week, a massive fire incident was reported from Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road in Mumbai. A crane caught fire and was seen engulfed in flames. No one was injured in the fire. The link road, where the incident took place, is an important road connecting the eastern suburbs to Navi Mumbai. The construction work of Ghatkopar-Mankhurd flyover is currently underway. Fire at Raigad oil factory: Raigarh: Fire broke out at an oil factory earlier today; 12 fire tenders present at the spot. No injuries reported. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/2ioxKHcEKi ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2019 In a similar incident last month, a fire broke out at a plastic factory in Kandivali. The cause of the fire was believed to be a short-circuit. Meanwhile, Last year, on December 24, at least four men were killed in a fire that gutted a cloth godown in suburban Kandivli area. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 24, 2019 05:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas' wedding was one of the most talked about celebrity weddings. On the couch of Karan Johar's talk show Koffee With Karan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas made sure to give out some of the sauciest details about her relationship with Nick and their wedding. Apart from finding out that Nick proposed to PC in Greece, we also got to know something interesting about their wedding. When PC tied the knot with Nick Jonas in December 2018, fans had to wait for a long time to get a glimpse of PC as a bride. There were hardly any pictures from her wedding ceremonies that surfaced online and there was one big reason for that. Just like Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh's wedding, where the guests weren't allowed to use their phones, Priyanka too managed to have mobile policing of sorts at her wedding. Priyanka Chopra in Talks to Sign Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Next Starring Salman Khan? Talking about it, the actress said, "Literally, at my wedding, we had to take people's phones and deposit them. So Serena Williams did this amazing thing which is like a little bag that you have, you give people the bags, they put their phones inside and you lock it. So if you ever want to use your phone you have to come back to get it unlocked. We had a mobile police stand." Well, eventually we got to see Priyanka and Nick's pictures after they were officially released by the couple on their social media pages as well as People magazine. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 24, 2019 08:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). MISSOULA- The Big Sky Documentary Film festival has announced the winners of the 16th annual festival at an awards event Friday. 35 of the 181 in this year's festival competed in four different categories. The 2019 competitions were incredibly strong this year, which made for some very difficult decisions by the juries, said Big Sky Executive Director Rachel Gregg. We are delighted to have so many filmmakers and their teams attending in anticipation of the announcements this weekend, and extend our heartfelt congratulations to the winners! Winners were selected by the festival juries. The juries also had the option to award a second prize in each category for artistic vision. Winners in each category received a $500 cash prize. Winners in the Short and Mini-Doc competitions automatically qualify for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for an Oscar in the Documentary Shorts category. The winning films in each category are listed below: Mini-Doc Competition films 15 minutes and under Jury: Maikiko James, Talena Sanders, Jeff Zimbalist Mini-Doc Winner: SCENES FROM A DRY CITY Simon Wood and Francois Verster, 2018, South Africa 13 minutes Gripped by a fear of drought, SCENES FROM A DRY CITY uses the lens of water to explore Cape Town South Africas current water crisis. Juxtaposing vignettes in different areas of the city, the film examines how the scarcity of mans most precious resource causes cracks in the citys complex social fabric. Mini-Doc Artistic Vision Award: LOTUS JURY STATEMENT: We chose to give an Artistic Vision Award to one film whose artistry and craftsmanship stood out. For its controlled and intentional use of pacing, natural light, and mis-en-scene; its disciplined focus on one woman's painfully patient, singular mission; and its innovative subjective motifs rich with symbolism and emotion, we give this award to LOTUS. Mini-Doc Artistic Vision Winner: LOTUS Mohammadreza Vatandoust, 2018, Iran 13 minutes In April of 2010, after the construction of the Lafour dam, Lafourak and several other villages were flooded under 80 meters of water. One old woman has waited 12 years for permission to cross the lake to an island where the last resident of Lafourak waits for her. Short Competition films between 15 and 40 minutes in length Jury: Mia Bruno, Emily Buder, Eric Gulliver Short Winner: ST. LOUIS SUPERMAN Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan, 2019, USA 28 minutes Bruce Franks Jr., a Ferguson activist and battle rapper who was elected to the overwhelmingly white and Republican Missouri House of Representatives, must overcome both personal trauma and political obstacles to pass a critical bill for his community. Short Artistic Vision Award: EL DESIERTO JURY STATEMENT: This film speaks volumes without saying a word. The film is stunning and spare.The verite cinematography and attention to intimate spaces communicated much about human isolation, climate struggles and the life of migrant workers and the intersection therein. It was a bold artistic vision to exclude dialogue that paid off. An exemplary use of cinema to convey anguish-both environmental and human, EL DESIERTO is proof that a telling documentary does not necessarily need words to underscore its point. Short Artistic Vision Winner: EL DESIERTO Carly Jakins, Jared Jakins, 2019, USA 19 minutes Amid a terrible winter drought, a lone migrant worker struggles with his task of caring for thousands of sheep in the Great Basin desert. El Desierto poetically explores themes of isolation, climate change, and the Sisyphean plight of migrant workers in the United States. Big Sky Award Presented to one film that artistically honors the character, history, tradition and imagination of the American West. Jury: Ben Popp, Sean Flynn and Michael Zimbalist Big Sky Award Winner: THE BLESSING Hunter Robert Baker, Jordan Fein, 2018, USA 74 minutes Personal and crucial, The Blessing follows a Navajo coal miner raising his secretive daughter as a single father, and struggling with his part in the irreversible destruction of their sacred mountain at the hands of Americas largest coal producer. The Blessing is a feature-length documentary film, co-directed by the Emmy Award-winning filmmaking team Hunter Robert Baker and Jordan Fein. Big Sky Artistic Vision Award: FIRE ON THE HILL: THE COWBOYS OF SOUTH CENTRAL L.A. JURY STATEMENT: The jury also decided to award an Artist Vision Prize to Fire on the Hill by Brett Fallentine, which transported us into the unexpected world of urban cowboys struggling for personal freedom and for the well-being of their community. The film's masterful visual storytelling and deeply empathetic portrayal of its subjects builds on the artistic tradition of the Western genre while complicating and expanding the mythology that has defined the American West. Big Sky Award Artistic Vision Winner: FIRE ON THE HILL: THE COWBOYS OF SOUTH CENTRAL L.A. Brett Fallentine, 2018, USA 86 minutes When a sudden and mysterious fire wipes out the Hill Stable the last public horse stable in South Central a culture of urban cowboys comes under threat. This western documentary follows the life and struggles of three inner-city cowboys and the line they must walk between the gang-filled streets of L.A. and the path of an American black cowboy. Feature Competition films over 40 minutes in length Jury: Toni Bell, Robert Chang, Bahman Nooraei Feature Winner: PARIAH DOG Jesse Alk, 2019, USA 77 minutes A poetic documentary focusing on several eccentric street dog caretakers in Kolkata, India. Shot over three years, the film paints a kaleidoscopic picture of the city of Kolkata, seen through the prism of four outsiders and the dogs they love. Feature Artistic Vision Award: DARK EDEN JURY STATEMENT: Set in Fort McMurray, located at the Athabasca Oil Sands in Alberta, Canada, DARK EDENS haunting voice-over coupled with images of sweeping, decimated landscapes forces the viewer to wrestle with the complexities and conflicts that arise when dreams of economic stability clash with harsh environmental realities. Feature Artistic Vision Winner: DARK EDEN Jasmin Herold and Michael Beamish, 2017, Germany 80 minutes A wildfire, cancer, oil, and the need for work: DARK EDEN is a self-awakening descent into a toxic reality of our modern world. A deeply personal and moving story about love, life, and death in one of the worlds most destructive industries, the Canadian oil sands. The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival runs through Sunday, February 24. Winning films and other docs will screen throughout the weekend. Click here for more information. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California was confronted by a group of children about her stance on the Green New Deal and it got a little heated. Senator Feinstein met with the children who ranged in age from seven to sixteen. They urged her to support the Green New Deal resolution championed by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But Feinstein made it clear she's not supporting the resolution, and said it will not pass the Senate. The impromptu lecture she delivered to the children at her office in San Francisco has since gone viral. It should be noted the video was edited and the following clip does not capture the entire exchange. A child said, "The government is supposed to be for the people and by the people and-" Senator Dianne Feinstein said, "You know what's interesting about this group is I've been doing this for 30 years. I know what I'm doing. You come in here and you say it has to be my way or the highway. I don't respond to that. I don't respond to that. I've gotten elected. I just ran. I was elected by almost a million vote plurality. And I know what I'm doing." The Democratic senator says she's not for the Green New Deal because there is no way to pay for it. Senator Feinstein has since called Friday's exchange "a spirited discussion" and she wanted the children to know "they were heard loud and clear." Hundreds joined the family of the late Sen. Ted Stevens for the unveiling of the statue commemorating the Alaskan of the Century at the Ted Stevens International Airport Saturday. Made possible by numerous community organizations, the bronze statue of Fmr. Sen. Stevens sitting on a bench with arm extended in a welcoming gesture will now greet bustling airport travelers with a smile. The Ted Stevens Foundation, formed to honor the senators legacy, spearheaded the project. Executive Director Karina Waller started the unveiling ceremony with a reminder of the senators contributions. This project represents the history of Alaska, and the Senator Stevens legacy, Waller said. But, it was also designed to inspire all of us to address the challenges and find opportunities by joining together for a common purpose. In 2000, the Alaska State Legislature renamed the airport in Anchorage after Sen. Stevens, and along with the name now comes a physical embodiment of the man himself. Some special speakers joined in the memorial ceremony the first, the Governor of the State of Alaska. Senator Stevens guided the Last Frontier through its first 50 years of statehood, Gov. Dunleavy began. He had a prominent role in shaping some of our most significant public policies. When the governor finished, he handed the microphone over to a long-time colleague of the late senators, Congressman Don Young. This was a man who was small in stature, but great in heart, Congressman Young began, his voice shaking with emotion. A man who was small in stature, that had great belief in his state; a man that was small in stature, and had a lovely family and had belief in the future of the state. Before Congressman Young handed the microphone off, he had one last comment regarding his concern over the metal chosen for the statue cast. Bronze means third place. He was never third place, Young said. He was always first place. And I would suggest, with respect to the Pennies, that it oughta be made of gold. Alaska's current U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan also paid their respects at the ceremony. This is about us coming together as Alaskans as we visit with one another, as we share with one another, as Ted did with us for so many years, to celebrate his greatness but in a way that is so human and humble, Sen. Murkowski said. Sen. Sullivan said Stevens legacy of respect and patriotism still lives on in Washington, D.C. That legacy, the Ted Stevens legacy, lives on almost daily in the U.S. Senate. It really does, he said to immediate applause. Listed on the ceremony brochure was a quote from Sen. Stevens highlighting a strong love and vision for his state: "We live in a profound moment in Alaska's history. This is a chance for real, lasting change. It is our opportunity to make the kinds of contributions which could forever alter the course of our state. This is not a moment to look back at the past. We need to look ahead and dedicate ourselves to the hard work that will build our future." Supporters of self-declared interim president Juan Guaido clashed with Venezuelan police at the Colombian border Saturday, where they demanded that international aid be let into the country. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports from Colombia. Weather Alert ...LAKE WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING... ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO MIDNIGHT MDT THURSDAY NIGHT... * WHAT...For the Lake Wind Advisory, northeast winds 15 to 20 MPH with gusts up to 30 MPH expected. For the Heat Advisory, temperatures from the mid 90s to around 100. Overnight lows in the 60s will be common in many areas. Daily record highs, monthly records for June, all time record highs, and streaks of consecutive days at or above 100 may be threatened. The heat may last through the July 4th weekend. * WHERE...For the Lake Wind Advisory, American Falls Reservoir. For the Heat Advisory, the lower Snake Plain including but not limited to Pocatello, Chubbuck, Fort Hall, Blackfoot, American Falls, Aberdeen, and Shelley. * WHEN...For the Lake Wind Advisory, from 9 AM to 9 PM MDT Sunday. For the Heat Advisory, from noon Tuesday to midnight MDT Thursday night. * IMPACTS...Strong winds and rough waves on American Falls Reservoir will create hazardous boating conditions. Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Boaters on American Falls Reservoir should use extra caution since strong winds and rough waves can overturn small craft. Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on family, neighbors, and friends. 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. && Mariza, a certified nurse, made the journey across the border from Venezuela to Colombia two years ago, leaving behind her mother and three children. Troopers: Gresham man dies in vehicle crash on I-5 in Marion Co., driver arrested for DUII Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 82F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms. Low 68F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov speaks in this undated photo. / Embassy of Azerbaijan The following is the Q&A with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan's foreign policy this year. - ED. Q. What are the results of the ongoing negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict? How do you see their prospects, especially against the background of recent encouraging statements? The position of my country regarding the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been repeatedly stated at the highest level within all platforms. The conflict must be resolved on the basis of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders. Coming to the legal basis of the settlement, it is necessary to recall that this basis consists primarily of the four resolutions of the U.N. Security Council, a body responsible for ensuring peace and security worldwide, adopted in 1993, numerous resolutions and decisions of other international organizations, including the OSCE, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Non-Aligned Movement, NATO, the European Parliament and etc, as well as joint documents adopted in bilateral and multilateral formats. Unfortunately, negotiations held over the years haven't yielded any results. But the recent developments taking place in Armenia, the conversations that took place between the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, as well as four meetings with my Armenian counterpart create certain grounds for advancing the negotiation process. The press statement by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs released on the latest meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Paris on Jan. 16, 2019 expressed appreciation for the ongoing efforts of the sides to maintain an environment conducive to intensive results-oriented negotiations. It stated the agreement of both sides upon the necessity of taking concrete measures to prepare the populations for peace. The statement also outlines that the sides considered next steps toward a possible summit between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in order to give a strong impulse to the dynamic of negotiations. Here I would like to be clear that Azerbaijan stands for tangible results of the negotiations, not talks for the sake of talks and this is our principled position. In general, I would like to note that the current leadership of Armenia should demonstrate the political will to resolve the conflict and, in accordance with good-neighborly philosophy, act in the name of achieving peace, stability and sustainable development in the region. We hope that this year certain progress will be achieved in terms of withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and the normalization of relations between the two countries. Progress in the conflict resolution, creating conditions for peace, security and stability in the entire region, opens up opportunities primarily for economic growth in Armenia itself. Our country, in the same way as it ensures the safety of its citizens of different ethnic groups, in accordance with its international obligations is ready to do so with respect to its citizens of the Armenian origin in Nagorno-Karabakh and to grant them the right of high-level self-rule within the internationally recognized borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani Community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of our country is ready to return to their homes, and this issue was again stressed in the recently released statement of the Community. Some time ago there were contacts between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, but, unfortunately, due to the "efforts" of the previous leadership of Armenia, these contacts were interrupted. You know, it is impossible to take the land and move with it to another place. After the settlement of the conflict, of course, these two communities will have to live together. That is why it is important to promote and restore contacts between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh. Q. What are the prospects opened by the agreement on the legal status of the Caspian Sea signed this year by the Caspian countries from the point of view of development of new oil and gas fields and the construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline? The Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, signed by the leaders of the "Caspian Five" in August of this year, opened up new, unique opportunities for cooperation among states. The Convention regulates the rights and obligations of the parties regarding the use of the Caspian Sea and its rich natural resources. It defines the delimitation parameters in the Caspian Sea. The signing of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea was a truly historic event that marked the goodwill of the five littoral states. The main significance of this document for our country is that it defines the sovereign and exclusive rights of coastal states to use the rich natural resources of the sea. Thus, the Convention ensures the consistency and safety of the implementation of various projects in the field of oil and gas industry, as well as the implementation of other economic activities at sea. It creates conditions for freedom and safety of navigation, which plays an important role in terms of development of trade in the Caspian Sea and growth of the economies of our countries. In general, the implementation of the Convention's provisions will ensure the achievement of its announced goal - the transformation of the Caspian Sea into a zone of peace, good neighborliness, friendship and cooperation. Azerbaijan, as a country that has historically been a pioneer in the implementation of large projects in the Caspian Sea, plans to continue and expand cooperation with coastal states here. Due to a successful energy policy, Azerbaijan has managed to guarantee its economic security, as well as to gain the image of a reliable partner, producer and transit state, contributing to the energy security of Europe. Currently, by the initiative and with the participation of Azerbaijan, the construction of the largest infrastructure and energy projects like, for instance, the Southern Gas Corridor is going on. This project plays a great role in terms of transporting natural gas from the Caspian Sea region to Europe, and we are always ready to provide our capabilities to neighboring, friendly countries wishing to use transit routes through Azerbaijan. Q. What are the priorities of Azerbaijan's foreign policy for 2019? As in the current year our country will continue its independent, diversified, balanced and active foreign policy based on the national interests of our country and will defend our national interests in the international arena during the upcoming year under the direct leadership of the President Ilham Aliyev. Today, Azerbaijan is the initiator and participant of large-scale projects promoting regional cooperation and an influential state in the international arena. Today, the foreign policy achievements of our country, which is regarded as a reliable partner, are of course based on establishing balanced relations with neighboring countries and other countries of the world, as well as implementing equal dialogue and cooperation based on mutual interests. Of course, our foreign policy priorities in 2019 will include the strengthening of sovereignty and independence of our country, elimination of consequences of military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan and restoration of territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders, as well as, the continuation of large-scale infrastructure projects implemented with the initiative and participation of Azerbaijan, further development of mutually beneficial cooperation with all international actors, including states, associations and international organizations. A one-year-old baby in South Carolina is in the hospital after he was shot by his six-year-old brother at this home Saturday, authorities say. Woman was wrestling with her dogs before they mauled her to death, police say A Michelin-starred restaurant in the Spanish city of Valencia is at the center of a food poisoning outbreak that has killed one woman and affected 28 further diners. Campylobacter are among the most common cause of food poisoning and diarrhea. A conservative activist reported he was attacked while recruiting students for Turning Point USA at UC Berkeley, according to campus police. (From left to right) Graeme Bylsma, Rhys Bylsma and Justin Bylsma Full Credit: Arizona Department of Transportation Interstate-35 north of Ames will likely remained closed until Monday morning. The Iowa DOT released the following statement Sunday night: AMES, Iowa FEB. 24, 2019 The Iowa Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the Iowa State Patrol, is stating that Interstate 35 north of the U.S. 30 interchange at Ames will likely remain closed until tomorrow morning due to continued blowing and drifting snow. In addition, roadways adjacent to I-35 as well as other roadways around the state are impassible due to the dangerous weather conditions. Travel in these conditions can be life threatening. If you do not need to make a trip, stay off the roadways for your safety. Commuters and others traveling north and west of Des Moines should expect that travel will be seriously impacted through tomorrow morning. If you can adjust your trip, it is recommended to do so. Conditions are life threatening. If you are in a stranded vehicle call 911 for assistance. It is extremely dangerous to attempt to remove stranded vehicles at this time. Vehicles should not be removed until weather conditions improve. The Iowa DOT will issue a notification when I-35 will be safely reopened. ------ Cerro Gordo County has pulled all plows off the roads. Worth County followed suit a short time later. And now the Avenue of the Saints is closed. The following is from the Floyd County Sheriff's Office: The Iowa DOT is closing the Ave of Saints from Nashua to Clear Lake. The roadways are impassable and will worsen at sundown. Plows are being pulled untill tommorow morning. This is a life threatening situation. The Sheriff's Office will only be able to respond to medical emergency situations if we can. If you travel and get stuck, there is a real chance we will not be able to get to you until morning. For your safety, and the safety of all emergency responders, please stay off the roads until the weather clears. In Cerro Gordo County, "We cannot even get through to stranded people, travel is not advised and dangerous. Roads will be impassable until Monday. If people are stuck there is a real chance we will not be able to get to them," the county said said. The Cerro Gordo County Sheriffs Office said it will only respond to medical emergencies. As Worth County pulled plows, the county also announced the Hanlontown Community Center will be opened as a shelter for any stranded motorists. Wright County has declared a State of Emergency because of a dangerous winter storm. Travel is not advised anywhere in Wright County. The Iowa DOT said that I-35 is closed from Ames to the north. The DOT issued the following statement: AMES, Iowa FEB. 24, 2019 The Iowa Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the Iowa State Patrol, has closed Interstate 35 in both directions north of the U.S. 30 interchange at Ames to the Minnesota border due to blowing and drifting snow and limited visibility. The gate system at the U.S. 30/I-35N interchange has been activated and the gate arms are down. Northbound I-35 travelers must exit at U.S. 30. Traveler services are available at the nearby U.S. 30 exits into Ames. In addition to restricting travel on the mainline interstate roadway, all entrance ramps to I-35 at each of the intersecting roadways will be closed by gates. Travelers already within the closed section will be allowed to exit the roadway. If vehicles are stranded, emergency crews will attempt to assist travelers to safety. Persons who have sought shelter in any available rest area facilities will be allowed to remain there, unless directed by Iowa DOT or law enforcement personnel to relocate to another designated safe location. The decision to close an interstate roadway means a serious safety condition exists and rescue crews may be in the area. Persons should never attempt to enter a closed roadway or go around barricades or gates. In addition, travel conditions on roadways near the interstate are dangerous and many are listed as travel not advised. For your safety, it is best if you delay your trip in this area, if you do not need to travel. --- ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Minnesota is joining the mass of states holding 2020 primaries on so-called Super Tuesday. At least nine other states will hold their primaries on March 3, including California and Texas. Minnesota Public Radio reports the date was confirmed Friday, a week before the state's political parties had to inform the secretary of state's office. The change means Minnesota could play a role as the Democratic field of presidential hopefuls is likely to be thinned out. Super Tuesday states aren't the first to vote Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina have their own earlier primary dates but they are the first big batch. Next year's primary election replaces a system in which Minnesota's parties had expressed presidential preference via a caucus system. Weather Alert ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM PDT THURSDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously hot temperatures will continue through the week. * WHERE...Portions of North and North Central Idaho. Portions of Central, East Central, North Central, Northeast, and Southeast Washington. * WHEN...Until 7 PM PDT Thursday. * IMPACTS...Unprecedented 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. && 1K Shares Share I write for several publications, and Im always pitching to new venues. Recently I pitched an idea to an editor. I wanted to write about gun research from the perspective of a rural physician. In particular, I wanted to ask what might physicians say if researchers found answers that were uncomfortable. What if they found that intact families, strong fathers, religious engagement or familiarity with guns were factors that reduce violence? Would the house of medicine accept that? Or does it want research in order to say, Heres why we must ban guns? The editor in question was kind but declined. In fact, he said, I want to keep my job. I respect him. I have no interest in causing him any sort of discomfort. However, the point was telling. Once a narrative is established, it cannot be questioned without danger. And this is nowhere more true now than in the house of medicine. For instance, a physician treads on perilously thin ice if he (or she) suggests that perhaps the wage gap in medicine is more a function of hours worked or specialty chosen than of gender discrimination. Even though this seems to be the case in much of the research on wage disparity. Women and men choose different careers and work in different ways. It has nothing to do with the fact that women shouldnt do a particular job, or men should. And nothing to do with their work ethics, or the quality of the work that they do. Certainly to the extent that a woman or man do the same work, they should be paid the same. And no question about it. Moving on, a physician may be in deep trouble for asking about the wisdom of replacing physicians with nurse practitioners and physician assistants. This trend has been gaining momentum for years, and while I have worked with excellent clinicians from both types of training programs, I still maintain that they are not physicians. And this is true especially when they are recently graduated, or from online programs. It is considered unkind to say things like, I didnt do my residency online. I have learned of physicians fired, or threatened with firing, for merely making such allegations. And yet, if we cant ask the question, we can never know the truth. True comparisons may reveal that we should change our entire approach to medical education and make it shorter and more focused! But if we cant ask, and ask honestly, well never know. I could go on. Im confident that you, dear reader, if you value truth and inquiry, have a few things youd like to ask. And yet, you know better. The thought police have done a wonderful, thorough and monstrous job of suppressing dissent today. Germans feared the Gestapo and Russians the NKVD; and were not there, to be sure. Dissent in those regimes often meant torture or death. But how far is it from you cant say that or Ill ruin your career? to I heard you said that; get in the car. We have questions for you. Is this hyperbole? I dont think so. For a very long time, we were told that religious believers were the impediments to science and progress. That hasnt been true in the West for a very long time. Now its social justice, political correctness, the great leveling wherein everyone has to be exactly equal on every point. The great purge, the great Witch Hunt, wherein anyone who acts differently, looks different or (Science forbid) thinks differently, must be hauled out before the tribunal for repentance and penance or punishment. Ironically, modern academia (with the force of government, the refuge of the courts and the theater of the media) may be the greatest impediment ever to the growth of knowledge and pursuit of truth. And medicine, my beloved medicine, is among the worst of all offenders. Edwin Leap is an emergency physician who blogs at edwinleap.com and is the author of the Practice Test and Life in Emergistan. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Another portion of the film is spent exploring contamination concerns, especially the 2015 fight against a Colorado company who sought permission to use an abandoned oil well in Sioux County as a wastewater disposal site. Sioux County landowners eventually won their appeal and state lawmakers reformed the process in which permits are granted. I documented almost everything, and there is a lot of that in there, along with newspaper clippings she said. The physical thing is really important, because I couldnt have told any of this story without the work of reporters from back in the 1800s on to the present day. And those are the little things, McMillen said. I saw articles where they hung effigies of law makers because they were going to shut the water off, she said. Theres always a fight about water. One guy will say I was here first, and another guy will say, hey I need that. And just because you were here first doesnt mean you get to have all of it. And over the course of making the film McMillen said that shes learned that there needs to be change to protect and preserve not only the Valleys greatest gift, but the way of life for Farmers and Ranchers who live here. Nebraska LEAD Program Fellow Kyle McCarthy of Chadron returned home after participating in a ten-day National Study/Travel Seminar conducted by the Nebraska LEAD Program, February 6-15, 2019. Dr. Terry Hejny, Director of the Nebraska LEAD Program served as group leader for the study/travel seminar to Kansas City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. During the seminar Nebraska LEAD Fellows met with business, industry and government leaders. Several highlights included visits to: the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, Dairy Farmers of America in Kansas City; American Farm Bureau Federation, the Embassy of the Canada, University of the District of Columbia, and the Nebraska Congressional Breakfast in Washington, D.C.; NuFarm, the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, and Chicago Council on Global Affairs in Chicago. Also included in this years experience were briefings and factory tours of the John Deere operations in Moline, IL. Deere & Co., the worlds biggest tractor maker, reported first-quarter profit that trailed estimates by analysts amid higher costs for raw materials and customer concerns over tariffs and trade policies. The trade issues have weighed on market sentiment and caused farmers to become more cautious about making major purchases, Chief Executive Officer Samuel Allen said Friday in a statement. The shares fell. With its iconic yellow and green tractors, Deere posted results that added to an increasing number of red flags in the U.S. agriculture economy beset by slumping soybean trade and commodity prices, sagging farmer incomes and tightening credit. The company affirmed its annual forecast, while citing unsettled conditions in some of our key markets. Allen cited strong sales of forestry and construction machinery on the plus side in reporting higher earnings for the quarter. Deere dropped 4 percent to $156 at 7:33 a.m. in pre-market trading in New York. Because of steel tariffs, the trade wars are increasing costs of making some equipment, making them less competitive. U.S. President Donald Trumps trade dispute with China has persisted for months, with more talks planned for next week in Washington. On Thursday, the farm belts malaise deepened after the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted soybean exports would stay below their pre-trade war levels until the 2026-2027 season. That followed a report that sales of the oilseed in early January had the worst week ever. Finally, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City warned that farm incomes were likely to have a weak start in 2019 and that credit was tightening at lenders. The 2020 NWCA Conference will be in North Platte. The annual conference was the first opportunity of 2019 for weed superintendents to get required continuing education. The next training will be NWCA Spring Training set for April 3 and 4 in Kearney, with new superintendent training on April 2. Area students named as corn, soy ambassadors LINCOLN This year, nine University of Nebraska-Lincoln students, as part of the 2019 Corn and Soy Collegiate Ambassador Program, are getting the chance to learn more about the corn and soybean industries. The Nebraska Corn Growers Association and Nebraska Soybean Association launched the program to give students a comprehensive understanding of the industries. The programs goals are to educate the students about state and federal policy issues affecting agriculture, and opportunities available to them from supporting organizations like the Nebraska Corn Board, Nebraska Soybean Board and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. KLAMATH BASIN, Ore. -- Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley used his poisiton to successfully fight for funding for bipartisan agricultural investments. Representatives from the Klamath-area irrigation districts worked with Merkley to get the funding that will have a long lasting impact on the rural communities throughout Oregon. Siginificant investments were included in the 2019 spending bills that were recently passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump. Mason Terry, board member of Morocco Point Irrigation District, said Merkley has been working hard for Oregon's farms. Over the last three years, Merkley secured over $75 million with $25 million in the last year for irrigation and modernization. Stability for our farms, survival of the species and success of our community all hinge on addressing the issues in collaborative, creative ways, said Tricia Hill, owner of Gold Dust & Walker Farms. To have support of Senator Merkley not only helps to bring us together, it gives us the ability to actually come up with a long-term solution that benefits us all. Thank you, Senator. Merkley helped write the new Agriculture and Rural Development bill. In that bill, fundng to help address water resource issues in the Klamath Basin were included. Four million dollars was secured for local efforts for the Klamath Basin Water and Wildlife Conservation. Of that $4 million, $3.5 million is specifically for supporting strategies to restore fish habitat and scale ongoing USFWS and Klamath Tribes' efforts to restore healthy populations of shortnose and Lost River sucker fish. Other aspects of the bill included funding for payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) - $500 million to fund vital services, like public safety, for rural communities; agricultural research - $300 million to fund cutting-edge research to improve productivity and sustainability; water conservation and habitat restoration - $150 million for irrigation didstricts that need to improve water efficiency; wildlife prevention - funding for increases for programs to prevent wildfire and reduce hazardous fuels; wildlife prevention - $2.5 billion for fire fire suppression (100 million more than last year); collaborative forest management - $40 million for the Forest Landscape Restoration Program; salmon management - $37 million to help management populations, hatcheries and the Pacific Salmon Treaty; salmon recovery - $65 million to address declining Pacific salmon and steelhead populations. Merkley says he will continue to make sure agricultural communities across Oregon have all the resources they need to thrive. JOSEPHINE COUNTY, Ore. -- UPDATE: Summit County Sheriff's Office sent out a tweet saying that three suspects have been arrested in connection with the robbery of a Wells Fargo bank in Summit County, Colorado. Two of these suspects were arrested in the attempted car-jacking and chase, but Oregon State Police and partner law enforcement agencies soon discovered that these two suspects were associated with the multi-state crime spree. INITIAL REPORT: Two men are in jail this morning after a high speed chase that started in Roseburg and ended in Josephine County. According to Oregon State Police (OSP), troopers responded to a call of a carjacking at the Red Robin in Roseburg. Police say the suspects were not able to steal the vehicle and left the restaurant in their original car. Officers from the Roseburg Police Department were able to take one of the suspects into custody at the scene. The Department said that 31-year-old Jose Lopez-Jovel of El Salvador was left behind by his accomplice. He is currently being held in the Douglas County Jail, and reportedly has a fugitive warrant from Utah as well. When the other suspect, Matthew Anthony Faneli, left the restaurant police were able to find him on the streets. Police say he escaped from authorities and headed southbound on Interstate 5. While driving southbound police say he shot a firearm several times and struck a semi-truck, a car (hit a car seat with a child in it) and an Oregon State Police Patrol Car. This continued along I-5 southbound and police say they lost sight of Faneli. Faneli attempted another carjacking near Pickett Creek Road in Josephine County. A couple was inside the car at the time. Faneli shot the man and assaulted the female. OSP says the man was critically injured and his name and status will be updated at a later time. Faneli was unable to steal their car. Authorities were able to locate Faneli once again when his car broke down. He was taken into custody. He is currently at the Josephine County Jail. OSP and Oregon Law Enforcement agencies say these two suspects are associated with a multi-state crime spree of violent criminal activity. Law enforcement is working with out-of-state and federal partners. Oregon State Police included this precautionary information in the press release, "As a matter of precaution, citizens along the route of the vehicle chase and associated crime scenes should be vigilant of their surrounding area, hitchhikers and securing of their property. Additionally, motorists traveling Interstate 5 during the vehicle pursuit, are requested to check their vehicles for evidence of firearm damage." Here are the agencies who helped with this: Roseburg Police Department, Douglas County Sheriffs Office, Grants Pass Department of Public Safety and Josephine County Sheriffs Office. The Federal Bureau of Investigations is also assisting. OSP says this is still an ongoing investigation. Any new information we received will be posted here. Potted Crab This Potted Crab Recipe is a classic appetizer from the pubs of Ireland and England and it is a great way to showcase such an extravagant ingredient like crab. It's so easy to make, and is wonderful for both picnics and dinner parties. How do you make potted crab? All you need to do is mix the crab with some spices and melted butter, press it into a ramekin, and top it with some melted butter to seal the top. Serve it with some buttered toast, and you have a delicious appetizer or snack. More Irish Recipes from Karen's Kitchen Stories: More St. Patricks Day Recipes From the Our Dinner Table group: crab, appetizer, potted crab, Irish food appetizers Irish Yield: 4-6 servings Author: Karen Kerr Print Recipe With Image Without Image Potted Crab Recipe ingredients 1 large cooked crab or one pound lump crab meat 1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg Salt and pepper to taste 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper Juice of one lemon 1 cup salted butter Buttered toast to serve instructions Mix together the crabmeat, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and cayenne pepper. Add the lemon juice to taste. Melt the butter and add half of it to the crab mixture. Pack the mixture into four to six small ramekins. Pour the rest of the melted butter over the top of each ramekin. Chill the ramekins in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours. Serve with buttered toast. https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2019/02/potted-crab.html Karen's Kitchen Stories Created using The Recipes Generator The Complete Irish Pub Cookbook Recipe adapted from How to stay up to date with Karen's Kitchen Stories? Facebook food photo sharing group (you don't have to be a blogger). While youre here please take a minute to Finally, please . Its a great way to stay up to date on all the latest and greatest blog recipes. Be sure to follow me on Facebook . Do you like taking photos of the food you make? You can also join my(you don't have to be a blogger).While youre here please take a minute to follow me on Pinterest . Im always pinning great recipes from fellow bloggers.Finally, please follow me on Instagram . Its a great way to stay up to date on all the latest and greatest blog recipes. Potted crab comes from the method of "potting" meats and fish to preserve them from the pre-refrigeration days. Now it's a great way to stretch crab a little further as well as make it spreadable.Potted crab is traditionally served with buttered toast. We loved it with toasted slices of. Any multigrain bread will be delicious with this potted crab.You can also substitute cooked and chopped shrimp or lobster for the crab for this appetizer.You prepare potted crab in small pots and then top it with a layer of melted butter to preserve the mixture and to prevent any air from getting into the dish.This potted crab is excellent with fresh cooked crab, including both light and dark meat. You can also use good quality lump crab meat.I have been to Ireland a couple of times. My husband was born in Dublin and emigrated with his parents to the U.S. when he was twelve. We had met a few of the aunts and uncles who visited the U.S. but he had not been back to Ireland at all since his family moved to California. Plus, my kids (at the time, 18 and 21) had no concept of what Ireland was like.When we finally were able to afford it, we took the kids on a trip to Ireland to meet all of the aunts, great aunts, uncles, and cousins in Dublin and surrounding cities. It was an amazing trip. My kids had so much fun with their cousins running around Dublin (and my 18-year-old loved the legal drinking age).One of my favorite ways to spend a day in Ireland was to pass some time in the pubs. I have great memories of the friendly people and the comforting food.With your pint of beer or glass of wine, you can grab an appetizer, bowl of chowder or Irish stew, some bread, or a bit of cake.Granted, it's been a few years, and things may have changed since our last trip, but I suspect that the pub scene is alive and well.Either way, this potted crab brings back memories of our trips to visit my husband's Irish family.Pub food at its best!We share Recipes From Our Dinner Table ! Join our group and share your recipes, too! While you're at it, join our Pinterest board , too!Check out my recipe index for more amazing recipes. RALEIGH Although I write regularly about politics and public policy, my day job, so to speak, is to give money away. Its not as easy as you might think. Or, to be more precise, it may be easy to give money away but its exceedingly difficult to give money away wisely. If donors are too prescriptive and heavy-handed with the recipients of their gifts, they may destroy what makes those recipients special and effectual. On the other hand, simply giving money away year after year to the same individuals or organizations based on stated good intentions or friendly relations, without regard to the long-term consequences, can be not just wasteful but counterproductive. It can foster dependency, encourage indolence and stifle innovation. At the John William Pope Foundation, the grantmaker where I serve as president, we believe that thoughtful philanthropy plays an indispensable role in human progress. It ought to alleviate immediate needs and address immediate crises, to be sure. But philanthropy should also promote the virtues and practices that help human beings flourish, both individually and as part of communities. What is noteworthy in all these is not the brazenness and stupidity of the alleged wrongdoers but the precision of our legal system. If prosecutors such as Acosta misbehave, the law catches up with them. If you try to con the police, as Smollett is alleged to have done, police and prosecutors amass a mound of evidence revealing the actual course of events. If you hire someone to steal an election, there will be a public proceeding, testimony under oath and a reasoned judgment. This is not to say that the justice system is perfect; its certainly not colorblind. However, the system is set up with enough backstops to lead more often than not to punishing wrongdoers while preserving civil liberties for all involved. We have rules both to protect the accused and to let victims be heard, public determinations that press and public can view and heres the kicker judges, police, prosecutors and lawyers who actually are committed to the rule of law. Yes, facts do matter; the letter of the law does count. High water also threatened property in Tennessee, which, like many other areas of the South, has been soaked by several inches of rain over the past week. Officials said a mudslide destroyed a Subway restaurant in Signal Mountain, Tenn. No injuries were reported. News outlets reported that water rescues had been performed in some Middle Tennessee counties. Flash flood warnings and watches remained in place throughout the South. Weather officials warned residents of the possibility of severe storms Saturday in western Tennessee, northern Mississippi and eastern Arkansas. Damaging winds, tornadoes and large hail were possible, the National Weather Service in Memphis reported. Kentucky announced Friday that it was closing the U.S. 51 bridge over the Ohio River to Cairo, Ill., because of flooding on the southern approach. The bridge, which carries 4,700 vehicles a day, is likely to stay closed until Thursday, and possibly longer. Near Jamestown, Ky., the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it was increasing releases from the Wolf Creek Dam on the Cumberland River. Areas located downstream of the dam, from Rowena to Burkesville, could be affected by flooding as a result, officials said. An educational loan provided by the Winston-Salem Foundation allowed him to overcome the financial restraint of attending. Theyd never had a black doctor or a black student, they hadnt seen black people in the hospital before, Kennedy said. The biggest thing to me, the honest truth, I did not have a single incident. Nobody called me (the n word), nobody said they didnt want me touching their child. That, to me, was the amazing part. Only once, during his medical board exams in Tennessee, did Kennedy have a disheartening encounter with an examiner who was dismissive of him because of his race, he said. He clearly wanted nothing to do with black folks, Kennedy said. He asked me two questions that didnt really have a right answer. Then he said, Have a good trip back home. When you go into a situation like that, you just have to give it your best shot. But others, including the chief of pediatrics at Baptist at the time, stepped in with support and told Kennedy: We know what happened to you in there, and proceeded to test his medical knowledge. The next day, Kennedy received a call and was told he had done extremely well and had passed his boards. Six Triad and Northwest North Carolina counties, including Forsyth, will benefit from a $98,273 federal grant aimed at improving telehealth technology. The grant comes from the Appalachian Regional Commissions Power fund and covers 20 western counties that include Alleghany, Ashe, Surry, Watauga and Wilkes. The Office of Rural Health within the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and the N.C. Department of Information Technologys Broadband Infrastructure office were the applicants. The grant is aimed at investigating existing resources to implement telehealth infrastructure. We can use technology to help people lead healthier lives, and this grant will help us bring that possibility to more people in North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement. Cooper is co-chair of the commission, which covers 13 states. Telemedicine has been defined for the bills purpose as the use of interactive audio, video or other electronic media for the purposes of diagnosis, consultation or treatment. The service is aimed at individuals who live in rural areas and/or who have difficulty getting to an urban hospital. On the opposite end of the parenting spectrum from Felts is the troopers father, who is currently serving a 2-year, 6-month-prison sentence following convictions for being a felon in possession of a weapon, felony obtaining property by false pretenses, felony breaking and entering and larceny. Thats the guy who pressed a claim for a third of his sons death benefit, and hired a lawyer to try and get his ex-wife to agree. The guess here is that Felts, like any number of other weary single moms tag-teamed by unreliable partners and a system that doesnt do a whole lot to enforce child-support, went along with the proposal just to have it done. She was far more concerned with the loss of her son than the division of any death benefit. Before any checks could be written, Deputy Commissioner Silver had to OK the deal. He pumped the brakes instead. He wrote that he hadnt signed off on the proposed agreement between mother and father, and found that Bullard had displayed minimal love, care and affection for his son but willfully abandoned the care and maintenance of (the trooper) and is precluded from sharing in the workers compensation death benefits at issue here. Armenia: Statement by the Spokesperson on the early parliamentary elections Armenias Parliamentary Elections PRESS STATEMENT COVID19:77 new cases Armenias early parliamentary elections were competitive and well run, but polarized and marred by aggressive rhetoric, international observers say International election observers to Armenias early parliamentary elections held press conference Drop Charges Against Rights Defender Sashik Sultanyan The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia The European Union in Armenia calls all parties to contribute to a peaceful Election Day to celebrate democracy 22 ventilators to Armenia PACE to observe the early parliamentary elections in Armenia With Ucom's level up tariff plans subscribers have unlimited access to Tiktok, Spotify and Coursera PACE rapporteur welcomes Azerbaijans release of Armenian captives and Armenias handing over of mine-maps to Azerbaijan Armenia/Azerbaijan: Statement by High Representative Josep Borrell on the latest developments Pashinyan to publicly apology to Khachatryans During EURO 2020 Ucom subscribers to take part in the uMeter voting and draw USA to continue to press for the return of Armenian prisoners of war and detainees: Philip Reeker Google Ad Post-war Prospects for Nagorno-Karabakh: Crisis Groups new report Ucom-1 team was recognised the winner of the 2021 futsal tournament of the Galaxy Group of Companies: The award ceremony took place COVID 19: 11 deaths Statement of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia regarding the criminal prosecution against the Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijan The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia UCOM introduced new level up packages of voice service President Michel has discussions with President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Acting Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia COVID19:108 new cases Ucom launches "Hello, summer" offer and presents "U!hoo" kids magazine 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group What our Homeland, Armenia and Artsakh will be like depends on us. President Armen Sarkissians message on the Republic Day Ucom Digital lab students keep on getting high-quality technical education South Africa: Kenyans to get a taste of SA Kenyans will get a taste of South Africas culture and cuisine when they host the South African Cultural Season next week. The weeklong session, which starts on Monday, is aimed at cementing and deepening the people to people relations between the two countries, promoting regional integration and supporting efforts towards expanded cultural diplomacy which is part of governments broader socio-economic agenda. The Cultural Seasons Programme in Kenya is crafted to pay particular attention to sharing experiences through various art forms, with a specific focus on forging unity and integration, as well as collaborations between South African and Kenyan artists through the master classes that are planned, the Department of Arts and Culture said on Saturday. The South African star-studded line-up will include musicians Amanda Black, Thee Legacy, Nelisiwe Sibiya, Madala Kunene, Natalia Molebatsi, the Poet and Hlubi Kwebulana the creative and show director. Under the theme, Celebrating 25 Years of Democracy and Freedom, South Africa will also showcase talented dancers from INGOMA while Chefs Nompumelelo Mqwebu and Lesego Semenya will give the Kenyans a taste of local classics. Movies telling the South African story and history will be aired. These include Mandela Long Walk to Freedom, Beyond the River, Khumba and Fanie Fouries Lobola. Kenya is an important partner to South Africa in the advancement of inter- and intra-African trade and investment. Economic relations are solid between the sister countries with total trade between South Africa and Kenya standing at over R9.7 billion in 2017. Currently, over 60 South African companies are operating in Kenya and South Africa is the sixth largest investor in Kenya after China, the United Kingdom, United States of America, India and Nigeria.-SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-02-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Do you have a legal question you would like answered without charge? This coming Friday, you can do just that during the 12th 4ALL event, a public service program of the N.C. Bar Foundation. State residents can talk to an N.C.-licensed lawyer for free from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Imagine that. The 4ALL effort, widely acclaimed nationally, was started in 2008 under the leadership of then-President of the NCBA Janet Ward Black, a prominent lawyer in Greensboro. Over 500 lawyer volunteers will work together to answer calls at six call centers statewide: Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Raleigh and Wilmington. Last year, volunteers answered over 9,900 calls. The program mission is to help address the access to justice gap by providing access to a lawyer for members of the public who otherwise are unable to access legal services. Who can call? Any adult. The callers are not limited because of their level of income. What kinds of calls will be answered? Governmental benefits, criminal and traffic, consumer/bankruptcy, education, employment, estate planning, family law/child issues, foreclosure, housing, personal injury, corporations and medical. 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 cant afford land, people who cant move, said David Barrett, 62, an excavation equipment operator who lives in Florence Commons. Yes Communities, the investors company that owns Florence Commons, says it is helping to meet the nations 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 4 percent a year or more, residents said and most have little choice but to pay up: For practical reasons, they cant move. The dwellings are called mobile, but they are costly to transport and sometimes owners are contractually forbidden to move them. Tom Hallberg covers a little bit of everything, from skiing to long-form feature stories. A Teton Valley, Idaho, transplant by way of Portland and Bend, Oregon, he spends his time outside work writing fiction, splitboarding and climbing. Matt Gyde, group executive of security, Dimension Data; John Karabin, Australian director of cyber security, Dimension Data; and Martin Schlatter, chief information officer and APAC chief executive, NTT Security, Security firm NTT Security has opened a security operations centre in North Sydney to cater to its Australian clients and help them assess and mitigate cyber security threats. The new SOC is part of network of 10 such centres and is powered by a single global managed security services platform. It consists of a secure advanced threat monitoring and incident response centre. NTT Securitys global chief information officer and regional chief executive for APAC, Martin Schlatter, said, Cyber security risks are less predictable than before, and attackers are developing more sophisticated ways of breaching defences. "The role of the SOC has evolved from a standalone security monitoring and alerting environment to one that is much more proactive in hunting for threats and more integrated with each clients environment not just the technology but also at an operational and business level. Together with our NTT Group companies, were providing the necessary services across the entire information and communications technology stack and throughout the full security lifecycle globally." The North Sydney SOC will house local cyber security specialists who will work closely with clients to define specific use cases for the services offered. Dimension Datas Australian director of Cyber Security, John Karabin, added, The level of analytics and automation we have in the SOC, and the instantaneous access we have to threat intelligence globally is a clear differentiator for us in the Australian market. "We also now have access to highly specialised security skills and resources from geographies where particular technologies and applications are already in more widespread use, such as IoT deployments in manufacturing industries and critical infrastructure. Tarquin Bellinger, chief operating officer of NTT Communications in Australia, commented, This SOC launch is another fantastic example of NTT Groups commitment to the Australian IT market. "By leveraging the global network and security infrastructure of the NTT Group, we can now offer world class resilience capabilities to our enterprise and government clients, delivering tangible business benefit and reduced risk in this digital age. NTT Security is part of the Japanese NTT Group, which includes NTT Communications, NTT DATA and Dimension Data. On Friday, officials with the Walker County Hospital District board announced that they have finalized a $7.8 million purchase of Huntsville Memorial Hospital. Do you feel like this is a good use of tax dollars, and is this the right direction for the struggling health care facility? You voted: My British friends are often confused by Irish politics. The idea of a parliamentary system that doesnt have a distinct left/right divide tends to baffle them. Yes, but thats because its unionist and republican politics over there, attempt some of the more confident armchair pundits before I remind them that Im not talking about Stormont. I explain about the Civil War, pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty factions, and the ultimate formation of Fianna Fail (no, not pronounced to rhyme with sail) and Fine Gael (actually That one kind of does rhyme with sail), but it never quite resonates in a culture where politics has been, in living memory, about Left v Right. Labour v Tories. Never the twain shall meet. A photograph showing the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Brexit is changing this. Brexit is changing a lot of things about Britain, but perhaps one of the most long-term impacts will be the evolution of the British political system. Before the referendum to leave the EU in June 2016, politicians from across the party spectrum joined forces to campaign for both Leave and Remain votes. Many Remainers argue that one of the reasons Leave won - and why Britain is in its current crisis state - is that not enough politicians would cross the divide and campaign on the issue at hand, choosing instead to focus on the usual party politics (Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is a good example of one such MP, refusing to share a platform with Conservative politicians during the referendum campaign). When the British Government began its Brexit negotiations with the EU, the Prime Minister and other Cabinet Ministers departed for Brussels instead of a cross-party delegation representing all sections of the British voting public. This decision seems particularly bizarre now given the current parliamentary deadlock at Westminster, but at the time it wasnt even seriously considered - neither of the two major parties would even conceive of putting the national interest before partisanship. Blue or red before blue, red and white, clearly. But in recent months, the mood has shifted. Last week, a group of seven Labour MPs announced they were defecting to form an independent group within the House of Commons, citing the partys position on Brexit as one of their reasons. Three Conservative MPs joined them soon after, along with another Labour colleague. While eleven MPs out of 650 is not exactly seismic, it is undoubtedly a sign of the times, and perhaps of more change to come. As Theresa Mays Withdrawal Agreement makes about as much progress in Parliament as water flowing uphill, MPs from all parties have formed unofficial factions to vote on a range of amendments in an attempt to curtail the potential damages of Brexit for their constituents. Brexit is the biggest political issue facing the UK in a generation, and it isnt a matter of Left v Right. The parties themselves may not want to admit it, or indeed be ready to, but the new Independent Group are correct in saying that Britain needs a new politics. What they dont seem to be fully acknowledging, however, is that this new politics has been unveiling itself over the past few years. The Brexit referendum was not fought - or won - on party lines. Not at all dissimilar to the pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty narrative that we are so familiar with in Ireland, are you Leave or Remain? has become the common refrain in British politics since 2016. Another way of looking at Leave v Remain is along the lines of traditionalism (with its isolationist, localist approach to politics and economics) v cosmopolitanism (with followers embracing globalisation and progressivism). Which side of that particular fence a British voter falls on can easily reveal their referendum vote. An independent group of eleven centrist MPs is unlikely to wield much influence, much less irrevocably redraw party lines at Westminster, but at a time when the Government regularly loses parliamentary votes yet somehow stays in power, stranger things have certainly happened. Britain could well see the beginning of a new party based on the Remainer Brexit position. Of course, come a general election - and there always seems to be one of those looming in Britain these days - party politics will once again be king. And with a First Past the Post electoral system, this is unlikely to change any time soon. No new, small party can expect to make any significant headway without proportional representation. But with politics in Britain evolving faster than the system to fit it, perhaps it wont be long before we see a true shift from Left v Right. A political future based on a generation- and nation-defining issue, with parties drawn along the lines of where MPs and voters stand on a question of significant national interest. Perhaps future generations will ask each other, were your grandparents pro-Brexit or anti-Brexit? Maybe then Irish politics wont be so difficult to understand. Margaret Donnellan London, UK If you would like to have your say on the issue of the day then visit here or send your submission to digitaldesk@examiner.ie. Awards season is in full swing but as the Oscars approach there is one group of cinema professionals who will not be preparing to take their place on the red carpet: audio describers. For blind cinema goers, audio description is a crucial part of any film. It is just as important as acting, cinematography and score. Yet many sighted movie fans have no idea that audio description even exists and it is not a skill that is awarded at the BAFTAs, Oscars or any other of the countless film institute ceremonies around the world. Have you ever seen someone wearing a headset at the cinema? Chances are they are listening to a detailed description of characters, costumes, locations and actions cleverly timed to fit around dialogue and sound effects. By including essential details, such as characters names, facial expressions and actions, audio description gives blind audience members enough information to understand and appreciate what is happening on screen. But it is more than just a description of what is on the screen, it enables blind people to enjoy cinema just as sighted people do. It is a mixture of description, interpretation and conjecture which must quickly and concisely take into account the cumulative effect of the work done by all the other facets of the film. Without it, a film barely exists for a blind person, with it, cinema becomes an extraordinarily immersive experience. When sighted spectators try audio description they are often pleasantly surprised. It provides information that sighted viewers may have missed, and tells them which shots are significant. Apparently some people like to switch on Netflix audio description so that they can consume box sets while cooking or driving as they would an audio book. During my recent trip to see The Favourite, my (sighted) companion found it hard to distinguish between Nicholas Hoults character Robert Harley and Samuel Masham, played by Joe Alwyn. I was delighted to be able to whisper clarifications to him thanks to the voice in my ear who named each character just before they appeared. Audio description began as an accessibility aid but since then it has developed into an art form which can quite simply transform the cinematic experience. I had my first experience of audio description back in 2012 and it really did feel like I was watching a film properly for the first time in my life. The artistic decisions made by the audio describer mean much more to me and other blind viewers than decisions about costume design and special effects. As my research shows, audio description is a valid and valuable creative art. Why, then, are audio describers not even acknowledged, let alone awarded, at cinemas most glittering ceremonies? Making the first move to address this injustice, in 2018 the French Confederation for the Advancement of Blind People created an award to honour the writers of this essential component of the blind cinema-going experience. The first Marius de l'Audiodescription (named after Marius Pontmercy, the dashing young hero of Victor Hugos Les Miserables) was awarded to Hubert Charuels Petit Paysan and the second was awarded this week to Pupille directed by Jeanne Henry. To pick their winner, the jury of around 60 blind and sighted film fans, watched the seven films nominated for the best film Cesar awarded annually by the Academie des Arts et Techniques du Cinema while listening to the audio description soundtrack. Everyone voted for their favourite description and the film with the most votes won. At the time of writing the 2019 best film Cesar is yet to be announced but the 2018 winner, Petit Paysan, went on to win that prize too. There is no doubt that the time has come to take audio description seriously as a key creative component of film. Audio describers are imaginative writers who use language in clever and inventive ways to translate between the visual and the verbal. As such they deserve to receive proper acknowledgement for their work from other institutions such as the BAFTAs and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It may be too late for this year but it seems only right that an audio describer is properly awarded at the 2020 Oscars. Hannah J Thompson is a Professor of French and Critical Disability Studies at Royal Holloway. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article here. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will again insist Ireland's Brexit backstop position cannot be changed in private meetings with EU leaders today - just 33 days out from the EU-UK divorce. Mr Varadkar will repeat the Government message during talks in Egypt as part of the first-ever EU-Arab League joint summit at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The two-day summit, which is taking place under tight security in the troubled country, will focus specifically on the migration crisis, peace in the middle east, human rights and increased opportunities for both political groups to work together. However, the meetings - which will also be attended by European Council president Donald Tusk, European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker, British prime minister Theresa May and 22 other EU member state leaders - will also be used by Mr Varadkar to press home Ireland's Brexit position. "While Brexit is not on the agenda for the summit, the event will provide me with the opportunity to discuss latest developments with many of my EU counterparts who will be in attendance," Mr Varadkar said in a statement on Sunday morning. The view was repeated by Tanaiste Simon Coveney on Sky News this morning when he said" the withdrawal agreement is not up for re-negotiation, the withdrawal agreement wording is not going to change". Government sources have said that while Ireland is open to finding a way to offer firmer legal re-assurances to Britain that the backstop is not intended to be permanent, it and the EU will refuse to re-open last November's withdrawal treaty. The position is a key stumbling block for Ms May, who will face a crucial House of Commons vote on her deal on Wednesday - a ballot which will also see MPs decide on a separate motion on whether to take a no deal option off the table. If such a step is taken, it would place further pressure on all sides of the crisis to agree to extend the Friday March 29 Brexit divorce date. However, while this may be backed by the majority of the House of Commons and some EU leaders, an extension can only occur if it is also backed by the European parliament - something which is not guaranteed. Meanwhile, it is expected Mr Varadkar and EU leaders will press home the need for greater focus on human rights issues in Egypt and other Arab nations affected by violence, uprisings and at times viscious clampdowns over the past decade. The discussions will be of particular interest to the family and supporters of Irish-Egyptian Ibrahim Halawa, who spent a number of years in jail in Cairo without conviction until his release in October 2017. A review of legislation is underway to consider further regulations following the conclusion of one of Ireland's largest every puppy farm rescues. The Minister of State for Rural and Community Development says the three-year prison sentence handed down to a licensed dog-breeder in County Carlow, sends a strong signal to rogue dog-breeding establishments. A family, who lost their much-loved mother due to a medical misdiagnosis, are calling for tighter guidelines and procedures to be put in place in public hospitals nationwide, as they do not want others to suffer like they did. The mother of five and grandmother of six, Christina 'Chrissie' McGagh, a nurse, suffered seven rib fractures after a serious fall down her stairs at home but the injuries were not identified despite being X-rayed at St Lukes General Hospital in Kilkenny in October, 2012. Five months later she was dead. Her devastated family had no other option but to allow doctors to turn off the machines which were keeping her alive. Now they want no other family to face what they and their mother had to endure. They want to highlight, how hospital failings in treatment led to their mothers death, in a bid to stop others loosing a loved. Mrs McGagh, from Ballon, Co Carlow, died in March 28 2013. An apology was read in the High Court last week as Ms McGagh's son Tom, who had sued the HSE on behalf of the family, settled his action for 265,000. Family spokesperson Kathryn McGagh, said that the past six years have been such a struggle for everyone, from dealing with our mothers accident, misdiagnoses, battle with hospital authorities, to her death and the length of time it took for this case to go to court. The award of which, 175,000 is directly going to our father due to losing his wife, who was his carer and for his future medical needs. He now needs 24/7 care following his own fall and the entire family are looking after him. We hopefully have changed things the better in how care and carers are looked after. "The remainder of the award goes to our medical insurance company, as we are very grateful for her having health insurance and felt a portion of the compensation should go back to them. Kathryn explained the torment the family went through is never far from their thoughts. We regret not moving her sooner to a private or more specialised hospital but when you are told by the experts you have no injuries you believe them and trust them. My brothers, Thomas Jnr, Micheal, Brian, Helen and I on behalf of the entire family, now feel it was the best thing we could have done for our mother in taking this case. Thomas Jnr went through so much from dealing with medical staff, solicitors and barristers while trying to deal with his loss. His bravery to bring this case, resulted in us being able to highlight the past mistakes, and shortcomings of the hospital and HSE to the nation, in the hope that no other family has to ever experience the hardship and stress that was put upon us due to medical negligence. We hope above all else that the evidence which came out in this case causes policies and procedures at St Lukes General Hospital in Kilkenny to be reviewed and changed for the betterment of every patient and family way into the future. The past cannot be changed but we hope our case changes the future for others out there especially HSE Management systems in order to truly give proper health care in Ireland going forward. The Court outcome ends an era for our family but we pay the price every day for the loss of our wonderful mother, who was taken far too early. Had basic care been given, and a proper diagnosis made, her death could have so easily been avoided. Kathryn, herself a nurse, revealed that it took the hospital and the HSE until the night before the case was to go into the High Court to apologise to them and agree a settlement. No one should have to endure that psychological torment. Unfortunately, the failing of a weak hospital system in the HSE caused un-told damage for our family and for all concerned and there is no compensation that can make up for the lost time without our mother around. St Luke's General Hospital and the HSE apologised for the failings in the treatment and care provided to Mrs McGagh and "the tragic consequences of these failings". The apology stated: "The hospital regrets the tragic consequences of these failings, and we would like to express an unreserved apology to you and your family for the failings in treatment and care afforded to your mother. "The hospital regrets the tragic circumstances of these failings and we extend our deepest sympathy to you and your family arising from her subsequent death. Kathryn explained that following their mothers death at Easter, a time she really loved, the family did not want her death to be in vain. After her death and as the family reflected on what had been allowed to happen to her, we felt that a wife, mother and granny had been wronged and should have made a full recovery. Without the staff of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Beacon Hospital and especially Mr Maher Shahibar (Cardiac Thoracic Surgeon) who gave our Mum first-class care, attention and tried everything possible to save her life for five months and our legal team we would not have gotten the accountability we wanted. Mr Shahibar never gave up on Mum until he had tried over and over again to turn the tide for her. The family are truly grateful to him and our legal team Coonan Morgan solicitors, especially Kevin Morgan who guided through all of those awful months and years. Kathryn explained that her mother was a, very wise woman, had ideas and thoughts that were way before her time. She was a very well educated lady and guided everyone with her knowledge and is missed everyday for the past six years and will never and could never be replaced. Had the mistakes that were made on the evening she fell down the stairs been spotted and the right medical intervention been put in place then she most likely would be still alive today. The High Court case was not taken lightly by us. There had to be a plaintiff in order to take the case and as our father Thomas Senior is aged 89, Thomas Junior bravely took on the HSE on behalf of the family. Kathryn recounted what happened to her mother following her fall and subsequent care. Mum was taken by ambulance to St Lukes General Hospital that night but was discharged home on the same evening. "The usual X-ray and checks were carried out and she was told she was the luckiest woman alive to have fallen down the stairs and not to have broken a single bone. Christina 'Chrissie' McGagh. This was the start of a long difficult journey for her family and their much-loved mother. For the following few weeks, she continued to complain of right-sided chest pain and was brought again for X-ray and was told that she was fine, however, they did find an old fracture that they thought hadnt heal well in her right shoulder. We were advised that a full body brace was needed to fix it, added Kathryn. Mrs McGagh was taken to another hospital and there a body brace was fitted and told to wear it for four hours per day. But she found it unbearable and it had to be removed after only one to two hours most days. She was re-assessed at home by our local GP as she was very unwell. The family were told that their mother needed to go back to the hospital that day. Mum had shortness of breath, dry mouth, was not able to have a normal conversation and was very weak. The family were so alarmed by the care she was receiving that they requested to move her themselves to somewhere there was a cardiac thoracic surgeon and a bed for her with her health insurance cover in place. It was very frustrating as you put your trust and your mothers health in the hands of these people and yet no one was helping us, she was being completely ignored as unwell as she was. The family managed to get her transferred to the private Beacon Hospital that same day and were told by a surgeon there, who read the X-rays from the night their mother initially fell down the stairs, which showed that Chrissie had suffered multiple fractured ribs. We were informed she had been misdiagnosed, that she had developed a collapsed right lung, was septic and in renal failure as a knock on effect, explained Kathryn. Mrs McGagh remained intubated and in the Intensive Care Unit at the Beacon Hospital until she died five months later. Someone in the country has woken up this morning 10 million richer as lottery fever continues to grip the country. A whopping 10,288,699 was one by one lucky Irish player in last nights Lotto Draw. The jackpot win comes the same week a large family syndicate from North Dublin scooped 175 million in the EuroMillions. The National Lottery has appealed to all of its players across the country to check their tickets to see if they have become the 21st Lotto player in the history of Lotto to win over 10 million The winning numbers are: 3, 19, 21, 29, 31, 35 and bonus number is 22. A National Lottery spokesperson said it hopes to reveal the name of the winning store in the next couple of days. With a jackpot win of this amount we need a little time to inform the shop owner and to give the winner time and space to let this huge win sink in. This jackpot was close to being shared as another Limerick Lotto player fell one number short, matching five numbers and the bonus ball. This lucky player has won 87,874 and bought their ticket at Deerpark Dairies on Davis Street, Limerick City. This morning National Lottery CEO, Dermot Griffin, said: This has been an extraordinary week in the 32-year life of the National Lottery. We had our highest ever jackpot prize winner with a family syndicate winning an incredible 175 million on EuroMillions. Now, just days later, we have a lucky Lotto player who has won this amazing 10.2 million prize. Since the Lotto game was launched in 1988, 21 lucky players have won jackpots that exceed 10 million. The highest Lotto Jackpot in the history of the National Lottery was 18.9 million in Hegartys, Staplestown, Co Carlow, in June 2008. The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe has ruled out the use of contraceptives as a means of controlling the wild deer population in the Phoenix Park. Last month, the State-funded shooting dead of 34 deer in the Phoenix Park came under fire from animal rights activists. However, in a written response to Clare Daly TD, Minister Donohoe has ruled a series of alternatives including contraception, sterilisation of males and live capture as a means of controlling the deer population there. In his reply, Minister Donohoe states that there are no contraceptives licensed for use on wild deer in Ireland. He pointed out that steroidal contraceptives are a significant risk in respect of pollution to both the environment and the food chain e.g. crows and foxes eat deer that have perished from natural causes. Minister Donohoe added: Oral contraceptives, similar to those used by humans, cannot be given to wild animals because other animals would potentially pick on leftovers of deer feed and would be adversely affected. Droppings and urine from the deer would also contaminate the habitat. Minister Donohoe also pointed out the impracticalities of administering steroidal contraceptives. He stated: The main challenge in administering these steroids is that each female must get the correct dose. The only way to do this is to get close enough to each female deer to make sure that it receives the correct dose." Minister Donohoe said: "This is entirely impractical in a large, wild herd as this form of artificial feeding would disrupt normal herd behaviour and, based on a study by UCD, a success rate of only 10-15% is achievable. The Minister also ruled out the sterilisation of males pointing out that it is deemed inefficient as just one fertile male remaining in the herd is sufficient to sire a very large number of deer. The Minister also stated that the use of contraceptives for female deers would have a significant effect on male stress and behaviour. The males would inevitably fight for the limited number of oestrus females available. Male stress levels would be higher due to increased male competition for access to the fewer oestrus females. "Many males would likely roam the Park in the continuous search of oestrus females, increasing the likelihood of being involved in traffic accidents and, as recorded in other study sites, they may attempt to leave the Park to look for females in the wider urban setting. Minister Donohoe also ruled out live capture as a means of controlling the deer population in the Phoenix Park. He said: A live capture was carried out in 1991 with over 100 persons involved from Ireland and the UK. However, with current health & safety requirements, skills shortage and the size of the current herd, it is not practicable or safe to undertake this exercise today." Minister Donohoe said that live capture takes hours to be completed. He stated: Stress levels can reach abnormal levels in the animals leading to immune-depression and abortion in females. He also ruled out the use of tranquillizer for the administration of contraception. He said: Darting of deer for capture to administer contraceptives would be an extremely dangerous procedure to undertake in a public park. "Darts are often lost during such operations resulting in a dangerous hazard to the public and other wildlife. The quantities of tranquillizer required to sedate a deer could be fatal for humans which is obviously of particular concern in a park frequented by large volumes of visitors. Minister Donohoe said that such an exercise would be costly, time-consuming and ineffective. Ultimately, this would be an extremely dangerous procedure for the deer -if carried out from long-distances with the intention of capturing more animals - and for the public. The wild deer herd is an integral part of the biodiversity of the Phoenix Park and has been such for over 350 years. Adopting measures that would significantly reduce numbers instead of maintaining them at sustainable levels would have a major impact on the biodiversity of the Park and result in significant change to other wildlife habitats. The Office of Public Works (OPW) will continue to monitor options available to it in managing the wild herd and will continue to engage with the School of Biology and Environmental Science in University College Dublin, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Irish Deer Society in this regard. A 16-year-old male has died following a single vehicle crash in Co Carlow. The incident occurred near The Nine Stones Mount Leinster, Borris, Co Carlow at approximately 5am this morning. The 16-year-old was fatally injured when the car he was driving struck a wall. He was pronounced dead at the scene and his body has been taken to Waterford Hospital. Four other male occupants of the car, all in their late teens, were taken to St Lukes Hospital and Waterford University Hospital for their injuries. One is believed to be in serious condition. This stretch of road is currently closed to facilitate an examination by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators and local diversions are in place. Gardai wish to appeal for witnesses to contact Carlow Garda Station on 059 9136620, the Garda Confidential Telephone Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station. Gardai have said they have formally requested the assistance of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, after a 12-year old girl sustained serious injuries in a boating incident in Limerick yesterday. The girl and three others had been travelling in a rowing boat when it capsized near the Salmon Weir, near Thomondgate, around 10am on Saturday. The overturned boat was found by members of Limerick Fire Service who were performing a routine check of the river. The firefighters cut the girl free from underneath the boat as her hair had become entangled in the boats outriggers. They performed emergency first aid on route to a slipway in Limerick city where the girl was met by paramedics who helped stabilise her. The girl was taken by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick but has since been transferred by road ambulance to Temple Street Childrens Hospital in Dublin where she remains in a critical condition. Members of the boat club where the girl had set off from yesterday have so far not made any comment. Its understood a support boat was travelling alongside the girls boat at the time it capsized. It is unclear if the girls were equipped with flotation or life jacket devices. Gardai said they had to wait until 9.30pm last night for a low tide to safely remove the boat from the river. The boat will be examined as part of the investigation into why the serious incident occurred. Danny and Susan Ryan. Picture: Brendan Gleeson. The (MCIB) conducts investigations into Marine casualties in Irish waters. Eye witness Danny Ryan said he will be forever haunted by friends of the girl screaming for him to help them after their boat ran into difficulty in the river. I could see the boat turned over and a girl waving and screaming. My stomach is sick over it. It was scary, Mr Ryan said. Im haunted all day. Its the screams. I can still hear the girls screaming, help, help, help. Mr Ryan, 49, from Thomondgate, said the current in the river at the time was going very fast. A widebody cargo plane hauling packages for Amazon abruptly plunged out of the sky and slammed into a bay on Saturday as it was preparing to land in Houston. All three people on board were killed. The Boeing Co. 767-300, operated by Atlas Air on a flight that had departed from Miami, disappeared from radar and lost radio contact, landing in a bay about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Houstons George Bush Intercontinental Airport, said Robert Sumwalt, the National Transportation Safety Board chairman whos leading the investigation. The jet fell thousands of feet in seconds after what had been a routine descent, according to Sumwalt and the flight-tracking website FlightRadar24. Human remains were recovered at the scene, the FBIs Houston office said in a tweet. The aircraft was in what I would characterize as a normal descent, Sumwalt said. When it got to about 6,300 feet, it then began a very, very rapid descent. Shallow Water Photographs and video of the scene show aircraft debris including one piece with the Amazon logo in a marshy bay. Sumwalt said it landed in very very shallow water, in some cases mud flats. Air-traffic controllers and the pilots on Atlas Flight 3591 could be heard discussing how to fly around a line of thunderstorms shortly before the crash, according to a recording of radio calls posted on the website LiveATC.net. There was no indication that the pilots made any distress calls or declared an emergency. After the plane disappeared, controllers tried to reach the plane and asked other aircraft to look for wreckage. How Do You Hear? Thirty-five ninety-one heavy, said one controller, using the planes call sign, how do you hear? There was no reply. Planes flying over the same route were in the clouds and couldnt see the ground. See if you can make ground contact, a controller radioed to another flight. Were looking for a lost aircraft. No ground contact from here, a pilot responded. The pilots were members of Teamsters Local Union 1224, which represents Atlas flight crews. Our focus is on our friends and colleagues who were on that plane, and we are doing everything we can to support their families, Captain Daniel C. Wells, president of the union, said in a statement. Atlas, which was operating the plane for Amazon.com Inc.s Prime Air, confirmed the deaths and said its working with authorities to examine what happened. Sudden Drop Atlas Air is a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. and specializes in leasing aircraft complete with pilots and maintenance crew to other companies. The holding company also operates Polar Air Cargo, Titan Aviation and Southern Air, according to its website. The planes final seconds were far outside the norm for commercial jets, according to FlightRadar24. After flying level at about 6,000 feet altitude, it began a sudden drop at 12:38 p.m. local time, according to instruments on the plane that were monitored by FlightRadar24. It went from 5,800 feet to about 1,300 feet in about nine seconds, according to the website. After that, no further position reports were received. In the final seconds, it was plummeting at 30,000 feet per minute, far outside a typical flight envelope. Black Boxes One of NTSBs top priorities will be to recover the planes two crash-proof recorders, known as black boxes, Sumwalt said. Investigators are hopeful the recovery will be easier than some underwater crash cases because the water is so shallow, he said. There is a massive effort under way, led by multiple jurisdictions, to assist the NTSB in the recovery of those boxes, he said. While U.S. passenger airlines are in the safest period in history, cargo carriers using similar aircraft havent had as good a record. Theres been just one fatality on a U.S.-registered passenger airline since Feb. 12, 2009. During the same period, according to NTSB, four cargo jets have crashed, killing 13, not including Saturdays accident. Before Saturday the most recent cargo jet crash occurred Aug. 14, 2013, when a United Parcel Service Inc. plane hit a hill as it prepared to land in Birmingham, Alabama. Two pilots died in that incident. Boeing said in a tweet on Saturday that it would provide technical assistance to the NTSB as it investigates the accident. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics Aviation Trucking Amazon Transportation Flash Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro vowed to devote his life "to the defense of the country," as countries including Cuba and Bolivia reiterated their support for the Venezuelan government. On Saturday, which marks one month after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the "interim president," Maduro said he is "tougher than ever" to continue taking the country's reins before tens of thousands of Venezuelans gathering in central Caracas. He said he would be "tough, and standing, governing this country now and for many years, facing destiny, with the reins in hand." He also said he would not back down and would defend the country from any attack with his life, if necessary. "My life is devoted to the defense of the country, in whatever circumstance I will never bend, I will never give up," Maduro said. On the same day, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel reaffirmed his country's support for Venezuela's ruling party, saying Venezuela is "not alone." The Communist Party of Cuba has called for international mobilization to prevent a war in Venezuela, denouncing in a statement the "escalation of U.S. pressures and actions." In Bolivia, President Evo Morales also warned that any intervention in Venezuela "will only bring war." "Our Latin American brothers cannot be complicit to a military intervention. Defending Venezuela is defending the sovereignty of Latin America," Morales tweeted. Their remarks were made amid an aid standoff in which the United States and other countries in the region, in coordination with the Venezuelan opposition, declared a plan to deliver humanitarian aid to Venezuela, which was rejected by the Venezuelan government, fearing that it might be the first step toward a foreign invasion. Maduro announced severance of relations with Colombia on Saturday, asking its embassy staff to "leave within 24 hours." Three bridges serves as the most important border crossings between Venezuela and Colombia were closed a day before. Venezuela also sealed off the country's border with Brazil and suspended aerial and maritime communications with the neighboring islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official said that the United States and its allies could upgrade sanctions on Venezuela if the aid is not allowed to pass. The White House said Thursday that the U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Colombia on behalf of President Donald Trump on Monday to voice support for Guaido. Pence will attend a meeting of the Lima Group in Colombia where members will discuss the situation in Venezuela. The Lima Group, comprised of 13 Latin American countries and Canada, is a multilateral body established in August 2017 to focus on Venezuela's situation. Some members of the group recognized Guaido as the country's rightful interim president. The opposition leader declared himself the "interim president" on Jan. 23 and was immediately recognized by Washington. In response, Maduro announced he was severing diplomatic and political ties with the United States, ordering all U.S. diplomatic and consular personnel to leave Venezuela. Maduro has accused Washington of orchestrating a coup d'etat in order to install a puppet regime in Venezuela. He was also the founding chairman of the Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre, a policy thinktank established in 2006. Norman has been leading the HKMA since 2009 and has worked tirelessly over the years to strengthen the citys monetary and banking systems and promote Hong Kongs position as an international financial centre in Asia, said Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan in a government statement. I respect his wish and decision to retire upon completion of his second term as chief executive of the HKMA. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the world has been focusing on reforming the international financial system to increase its resilience against future shocks. Norman has played a pivotal role in the international financial system reform agenda. Chans successor has yet to be identified, and a selection panel, chaired by the Financial Secretary, has been formed to determine the next HKMA chief executive. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here. Submit Being a police officer is no easy task, and yet some people go beyond their call of duty to save lives. A police officer in MP constable Poonam Billore is now being hailed a hero for carrying an injured man to the hospital, on his back. #WATCH: Police constable Poonam Billore ran for more than a kilometer along the railway tracks with an injured man on his shoulders in Hoshangabad today, after the ambulance couldn't reach the spot to rescue the man who had fell down from a train. #MadhyaPradesh pic.twitter.com/SqpdjgBZnd ANI (@ANI) February 23, 2019 According to ANI, the incident took place in Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh. The man fell off a train grievously injured himself close to Paghdal railway station. The police received reports of the same and reached the spot to find the man lying near the tracks. Due to the hilly terrain, it was almost impossible for an ambulance to reach the spot in time and there were no other vehicles around. So constable Billore hoisted the man on his back and started running along the tracks. He ran for over a kilometre with the injured man identified as Ajit on his back. Police constable Poonam Billore:The spot was around 2km away from the railway gate,even ambulance couldn't reach. We went by foot & found him critically injured. So to save his life, I carried him on my shoulders to a railway crossing over 1.5km away.He was then taken to hospital pic.twitter.com/4EaImXKwum ANI (@ANI) February 23, 2019 Constable Billore told ANI, The spot was around two kilometres away from the railway gate and even an ambulance couldn't reach there. We went by foot and found him critically injured. So, to save his life, I carried him on my shoulders to a railway crossing over 1.5 km away. After reaching Pagdhal railway station he was taken to a health centre in Seonis Malwa area and then shifted to Hoshangabad district hospital. People on the internet rightfully hailed him a hero for his actions: 1. I SALUTE FROM MY HEART. .. DIPESHKUMAR .A SHAH (@DIPUANNA) February 23, 2019 2. Bravo Man real hero Barada (@baradasarangi) February 23, 2019 3. Salute You Sir ! You are our TRUE hero !! Respect !!! (((Sushant))) (@spati2012) February 23, 2019 4. Salute you sir..for doing your duty with sincerity & showing humanity Abhishek Gupta (@abhigupta_ak) February 23, 2019 5. My heart filled with pride after reading the news. Salute to Mr. Poonam for his dedication towards his duties. Thank you brother for inspiring many fellow policeman. Keep it up! Pankaj Soni (@PankajSoniJpr) February 23, 2019 6. kudos poonam billore, because of people like there is still faith in humanity! hardik (@hardikng82) February 23, 2019 7. Real Nayak! pandurang escobar (@Bhavessshh) February 23, 2019 Ajit (the injured man) suffered head injuries, but thanks to constable Billores prompt action he is now out of danger and recovering. Hats off to him for having done what he did instead of waiting for help to arrive or for someone else to do the needful. Following the Pulwama terror attack which killed over 40 CRPF personnel, people across India and Indians living abroad have been putting their heart out and generously contributing to the Sainik Welfare Fund to support the families of the Salim men. But the Telangana High Court on Friday granted bail to a cheating case accused on the condition of donating Rs 1 lakh to the Sainik Welfare Fund. BCCL Justice B Shivashankara Rao asked the applicants, the organizers of Sun Pariwar Group were asked to make the donation to get bail. The accused, Methuku Ravinder, CEO of Sun Pariwar Group of Companies and his associates were arrested in December on charges of cheating. They were accused of cheating around 14,000 investors for over Rs 150 crores, promising huge monthly return. BCCL While this could be the first time a court has asked accused to donate to the Sainik Welfare Fund, in the past there have been instance where courts have ordered donations for a cause. Last year, during the Kerala floods, two courts in Gujarat, one in Ahmedabad and one in Vadodara had asked three litigants to deposit a total of Rs 26,000 to the relief fund. In a similar case in Jharkhand, the High Court had granted anticipatory bail to a cheating and forgery case accused on the condition that he would deposit Rs 7,000 in the relief fund. Ahead of the crucial hearing in the Supreme Court on Article 35A the government has taken stringent measures in Kashmir including deployment of some 12,000 additional paramilitary forces in the valley. On Friday the Home Ministry had ordered the deployment of 100 companies of central forces to the valley. These included 45 companies of CRPF, 35 companies of BSF, 10 companies each of SSB and ITBP. One company has about 120 personnel. AP/ REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE The massive troop movement comes amid the heightened tensions in the region following the terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama on February 14 which killed over 40 paramilitary paramilitary personnel. There is growing fear in the valley that the escalation could result in an all out confrontation between India and Pakistan. There are also reports that locals have started stocking up essentials like food and medicines in the fear of further escalations. Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik, however, played down the additional troops deployment claiming that it was part of pre-election induction and there was no reason to panic. Along with the increase in troops presence, there was also a crackdown on separatists and pro-Pakistan organization like the Jamaat-e-Islami. The security provided to many prominent separatists have been withdrawn following the Pulwama terror attack. AP/ REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE Separatists including JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik have been detained by police who also cracked down on the leadership of pro-Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami . According to reports, 150 Jamaat activists and leaders including its chief Abdul Hamid Fayaz and spokesman Zahid Ali have been arrested. The crackdown comes ahead of the crucial hearing in the SC on Article 35, which has been for long a point of contention. AP/ REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE The article grants special privileges to permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir, which defines who is a permanent resident of the State and confer on them special rights and privileges in public sector jobs, acquisition of property in the State, scholarships and other public aid and welfare. When it comes up for hearing on Monday, the government is exported to take a stand in favour of scrapping it. Howerer, both mainstream political parties and separatists have warned the government against any such move. Whenever you think about your childhood, theres some things that always come back to you and send you down memory lane. One such thing happens to be memories from the very first car that the family owned. We all were born at a time when owning a car was still a luxury but things were slowly changing. As Indias economy grew, a whole lot of lesser-priced options came in to being and bit by bit, our families started investing in cars. We all remember our first family car. The excitement of getting inside a brand new car as a kid will always retain a special place in our memory, wouldnt it ? I can still recall our first family car. It was 2.30 in the afternoon and I had just finished a nice lunch post school. I was getting ready for my 3pm Maths tuition class but suddenly my father walked into the room and asked me and my younger sister to get ready. Our entire family of four took an auto to a nearby Hyundai showroom and it was only when we were almost there that my father told me and my sister that we are getting a new car. I was in such disbelief that I asked him what have I done to deserve it. Very cleverly he told me that its a reward for getting an A on my Science test and very naively I believed him. We bought our first ever car, a silver Santro. I remember being so happy that day that it seems silly now. Its just a car after all, right? Perhaps, it was not just a car. It was a sign of progress, a sign or change and freedom to achieve more. We took an auto to the showroom that day but came home in a car. unsplash That car saw my sister and I grow up. From having driven us all the way to Mussoorie during summer vacations to chasing down the school bus when we missed it, the car was a very dependable companion. Its held our silences very conveniently whenever my sister and I fought over sitting next to the drivers seat with dad. It has driven us to countless anniversary and birthday dinners. It has also driven us from home to the railway station for our first trip away from parents. My dad ended up getting a new car only a couple of years after the Santro but I think even he didnt have the heart to part away with the very first family car; thats the car we used to learn driving in as well. It was a companion even when I bumped into walls or sneaked out of the house. unsplash I think for a whole lot of us, the first family car came as a sign of progress to begin with but over the years, we realised its importance of taking us through experiences and creating memories that would last a lifetime. A whole lot of years passed before our beloved Santro finally gave up but it will always have a very special place in our hearts because its the space we used to create our childhood memories. Flash Afghan special forces have killed two Taliban militants, including a Taliban shadow district chief, in eastern province of Nangarhar, provincial government said on Sunday. "Special Operation Forces of National Security Directorate (NDS) conducted an operation to arrest a Taliban local leader named Shir Zaman in Muhmand Dara district Saturday night. Upon arrival of the security forces, the militants engaged with the troops, leading to armed clashes," the government said in a statement. Shir Zaman, who served as shadow Taliban chief of neighboring Lal Pur district, was killed along with one of his subordinates during the exchanges of fire, the statement said. The NDS is the country's primary intelligence agency. Two armed militants were arrested by the security forces and identity and linkages of the arrestees are being investigated, the statement added. The security forces and civilians have not suffered any damage in the stand-off, the statement said, adding amount of weapons, ammunition and narcotic drugs were destroyed after the raid. Afghan security forces, backed by the NATO-led coalition troops, have increased ground and air offensives against militants within the past months as the Taliban militant group has been attempting to take territory and consolidate its positions during the winter in the mountainous country. The militant group has not made a comment on the report so far. remaining of Thank you for Reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Bollywood has given us many evergreen couples whose on and off screen chemistry both were loved by the fans whether it be Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, John Abraham and Bipasha Basu. We want to see these duos more in the movies. But there are few couples whom we will never see sharing screen space with each other for a film. So here's the list of B-town duos who might never come together for a film. Check it out: 1. Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor: Shahid and Kareena have worked in a number of movies comprising Milenge Milenge, Chup Chup Ke, 36 China Town, Fida etc. Their super duper hit flick together was Imtiaz Ali's "Jab We Met". Even today, the great chemistry between Kareena and Shahid is discussed by their keen buffs. A lot of filmmakers tried their best to sign the two together after their breakup. The duo was seen in 2016 film Udta Punjab but they didn't share screen space with each other. Seeing the duo together for a film is a dream of every movie lover but that might not come true. 2. Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: From their loving chemistry in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam to the burning controversies that went on for years after they broke up, the Salman Khan-Aishwarya Rai affair has been the subject of much discussion and speculation in Bollywood. This duo will never reunite On screens. 3. Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra: It is no secret that Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra have not been in touch for a very long time. Even if the rumours of their alleged affair is ignored, the two actors have always dodged questions asked about the other for a while now. SRK and PeeCee's chemistry was loved by fans in the films like Don series but seeing them both for a film seems to be difficult. 4. Bipasha Basu and John Abraham: Bipasha and John were one of the very few couples who went on record to accept that they are in a live-in relationship. After living together for about nine years, they split up. This came as a shock to many. They were one of the favourite couples of the audience in the early 2000s but now the couple might never work with each other. 5. Priyanka Chopra and Shahid Kapoor: Priyanka and Shahid were among the most loved on-screen couples of B-town. Fans were loving their on screen as well as off-screen chemistry. Their relationship soon took an unexpected turn and the two parted ways. And so seeing them both together for a film is just a dream for the fans. Do you want to add any names we've missed in the list? Comment down below, Stay tuned for more updates. Thats why well hear a lot of the same speeches by Democrats between now and 2020. Theyll hit the same emotional buttons over and over, intent on portraying themselves as supporters of the common man and upholder of values that bring the factionsmany of their own creationtogether for the common good. Well hear of how climate change needs to be corralled, within 12 years, no less, and for the good of mankind, of course. Well hear of how the rich need to be put in their place, lest they subjugate we the commoners. In one sense, Democrats have trumped Trump himself. His ability to speak to the American public has become his Achilles heel. Democrats have managed to turn his words against him in ways that often lack merit or substance. This leads to a larger point, one made in this space before. The need for an informed public has never been greater. We must carefully consider the words we hear, and we must do so with knowledge and the ability to freely judge issues, filtering out the biases of others as well as our own. The lesson from a book championing simple, impactful language is this: We must channel our best William Strunk as we listen to the unending political rhetoric over the next 20 months. George Mendonsa, who died last Sunday aged 95, had the most credible claim to being the sailor famously photographed kissing a woman in Times Square, New York, on V-J Day on August 14, 1945. The photograph, by Alfred Eisenstaedt, was first published in Life magazine and became one of the most famous images of the 20th Century. A naval photographer, Victor Jorgensen, captured the same moment in another photograph which, unlike the Eisenstaedt version, which remains protected by copyright, is in the public domain. Neither photograph showed the faces of the people involved, and numerous people have claimed to be the subjects, though most commentators accept the claims of Mendonsa and Greta Friedman, a dental assistant in a nurse's uniform whom Mendonsa had never met. As Mendonsa recalled, he had been on leave from his ship and was watching a film at Radio City Music Hall when people started screaming that the war was over. After a few drinks in a bar he joined the jubilant crowds on the streets outside. When he saw a woman in a white dress walk by, on a whim he took her into his arms and kissed her: "I had quite a few drinks that day and I considered her one of the troops - she was a nurse." In 1987 Mendonsa filed, but later dropped, a lawsuit against Time Inc, owners of Life, alleging that they had violated his rights by using the photograph without his permission. In 2005 a team of US navy researchers identified Mendonsa as "the kisser" after painstakingly 3-D mapping then reverse-ageing his face and comparing his scars and tattoos to those on the photograph. However, their findings were subsequently challenged by other researchers who argued that, according to Mendonsa's account, the kiss should have occurred at approximately 2pm, though the shadows in the photograph (and the hands on a visible clock) suggest that it must have been taken after 5pm. Mendonsa was proud to be a small footnote in history: "How many people in a lifetime do something famous?'' he asked The Daily Mail in 1995. "There isn't a Navy man alive who didn't serve in World War II who hasn't looked at that photo and said, 'I wish I were that guy'." In the days of #MeToo, the honour seems a little more dubious, especially since Greta Friedman said in a 2005 interview that it had not been her choice to be kissed: "The guy just came over and grabbed! That man was very strong. I wasn't kissing him. He was kissing me." In 2014 Time's website claimed that "many people view the photo as little more than the documentation of a very public sexual assault, and not something to be celebrated.'' Yet Greta Friedman and Mendonsa became friendly and remained in touch after meeting in 1980. George Mendonsa was born on February 19, 1923 in Newport, Rhode Island, to Portuguese immigrants. His father was a fisherman and George left school to join him on his fishing boat before enlisting in the Navy in 1942. He served on a destroyer during the war and afterwards went back to being a fisherman. In 1946 he married Rita Petry, who survives him with their son and daughter. Telegraph Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] North Korea leader Kim Jong Un is travelling to Vietnam for his second summit with US president Donald Trump, state media confirmed. Mr Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the US, and Kim Yo Jong, the leaders sister, the Norths official Korean Central News Agency reported. TV footage and photos distributed by the Norths state-run news agency showed Mr Kim inspecting a guard of honour at the Pyongyang station before waving from the train. Expand Close The second summit between US president Donald Trump and Kim will be held in Hanoi (Lee Jin-man/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The second summit between US president Donald Trump and Kim will be held in Hanoi (Lee Jin-man/AP) The Trump-Kim meeting is due to take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. Their first summit last June in Singapore ended without substantive agreements on the Norths nuclear disarmament. It also triggered a months-long stalemate in negotiations as Washington and Pyongyang struggled with the sequencing of North Koreas nuclear disarmament and the removal of US-led sanctions against the North. Expand Close Kim Jong Un salutes while reviewing troops at Pyongyang Station before leaving (Korean Central News Agency/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kim Jong Un salutes while reviewing troops at Pyongyang Station before leaving (Korean Central News Agency/AP) Mr Trump sought to manage expectations for the meeting. He tweeted on Sunday that he expected it to be a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. He added: Denuclearization? Mr Trump added that Mr Kim knew that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Mr Kims overseas travel plans are routinely kept secret. It could take more than two days for the train to travel thousands of miles through China to Vietnam. Vietnams foreign ministry announced on Saturday that Mr Kim would pay an official goodwill visit to the country in the coming days in response to an invitation by president Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also the general secretary of Vietnams ruling Communist Party. Expand Close People ride motorcycles past a poster featuring the upcoming second summit between the US and North Korea in Hanoi (Minh Hoang/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People ride motorcycles past a poster featuring the upcoming second summit between the US and North Korea in Hanoi (Minh Hoang/AP) In his forthcoming meeting with Mr Trump, experts say Mr Kim will seek a US commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief while trying to minimise any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons. While Mr Kim wants to leverage his nuclear and missile programme for economic and security benefits, there continue to be doubts on whether he is ready to fully deal away an arsenal that he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival. Last year, North Korea suspended its nuclear and long-range missile tests and unilaterally dismantled its nuclear testing ground and parts of a rocket launch facility without the presence of outside experts, but none of those steps were seen as meaningful cutbacks to the Norths weapons capability. While North Korea has repeatedly demanded that the United States take corresponding measures, including sanctions relief, Washington has called for more concrete steps from Pyongyang toward denuclearisation. Flash DPRK leader leaves Pyongyang for Hanoi for second DPRK-U.S. summit - Xinhua | English.news.cn Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), left here Saturday afternoon by train for Vietnamese capital Hanoi for the second DPRK-U.S. summit, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Sunday. Kim will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump there on Feb. 27-28. Their first meeting was held in June 2018 in Singapore, which resulted in improved bilateral relations. Kim will pay an official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong before his meeting with Trump. Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, Ri Su Yong, Kim Phyong Hae and O Su Yong, members of the Political Bureau and vice-chairmen of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), Ri Yong Ho, member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and foreign minister, No Kwang Chol, alternate member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and minister of the People's Armed Forces, among others, said the KCNA. Kim was seen off at Pyongyang Railway Station by Kim Yong Nam, Choe Ryong Hae and Pak Pong Ju, members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK, and other senior officials of the party, government and armed forces, said the KCNA. Metro Bank will be in the spotlight next week (PA) Metro Bank chief executive Craig Donaldson will be in the spotlight next week as the lender continues to grapple with the fallout of an accounting error that saw nearly 40% wiped off its value in one day. The challenger bank will reveal its full year results on Wednesday, just weeks after Metro told the market it had miscalculated the risk weighting of commercial loans secured on property and certain specialist buy-to-let loans. As a result, City analysts expect Metro to raise as much as 300 million in fresh capital and rein in expansion plans as it looks to plug the shortfall. John Cronin, analyst at Goodbody, said: We believe one of the key levers that management will call out next week is a material slowdown in short to medium-term growth ambitions. However, we dont believe that a capital raising will be stitched up as soon as next week as management is likely to want to engineer a share price recovery. While we know that some shareholders are supportive of growth tapering, it will disappoint others. Mr Donaldson has come under particular fire for insisting that it was the bank that detected the accounting error as part of a review of its year-end accounts. We feel nervous coming into next weeks updateJohn Cronin, Goodbody Analyst But Metro later admitted that it was in fact pointed out first by the Bank of England and not unearthed by the lender. The episode has raised serious questions over the chief executives future and he will be probed over the saga at the results. At the time, the revelations led to shares in the high-street bank dropping almost 40% and Mr Cronin is predicting another sell off. We feel nervous coming into next weeks update. We think selling pressure will ensue in response to a slowing growth message. Indeed, any wider strategy recalibration is unlikely to excite given Metro has not proven its ability to deliver and we struggle to see how new shareholders can be attracted to the story. In better news for Metro, the bank on Friday won the biggest portion of a fund aimed at boosting competition in the business banking sector. Metro will receive a grant with 120 million, followed by Starling with 100 million and then 60 million for ClearBank. Figures out next week are also expected to show Metro booked underlying pre-tax profits of 50 million for 2018, a rise of 138%, but below forecasts of 59 million. On a pre-tax basis, profits are tipped to rise from 18 million to 48 million. Metro has grown rapidly since it was founded by US banking tycoon Vernon Hill in 2010, operating from over 60 branches across the UK and employing nearly 4,000 people. However, it made headlines last year after Mr Hill, the banks chairman, came under fire over payments made by the lender to his wifes architecture firm. A hundred miles from the tarpaulin tent that Shamima Begum now calls home, the caliphate she once crossed the world to join was in its death throes. A dwindling band of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fighters were surrounded by advancing Kurdish forces and facing annihilation beneath American and British airstrikes. But the 19-year-old from east London was indifferent to the end of the jihadist territory. She was worried instead about finding baby formula for her week-old son, Jarrah. "I don't really care what happens to Islamic State. That's why I left," Ms Begum told reporters. "I just care about my son." The young woman who once symbolised Isil's ability to lure young adherents from the West today cuts a despondent figure. If she reintroduced herself last week with a certain bravado - boasting of being unfazed at seeing severed heads - she now looks exhausted and frightened. In the last seven days she had gained a son but lost her UK citizenship. She seemed unsure what to do about either. "I'm just trying to survive here," she said. "I don't know what's going on. I don't have a phone, I don't have internet. What am I supposed to do if I don't have any information?" Despite being cut off from the world, she was aware of the attention her case had garnered and compared it to the frenzy when she and two other schoolgirls from Bethnal Green first left for the Islamic State in 2015. "It's like it was four years ago, it's nothing new to me," she said. She was sorry she had allowed herself to be publicly identified, sparking a public furore which she blamed for the loss of her British citizenship. "I regret speaking to the media. I wish I had stayed low and found a different way to contact my family." Her more immediate priority was reaching her husband, a 27-year-old Dutch Isil fighter named Yago Riedijk. The young couple agreed on their son's name shortly before they left Isil territory and surrendered to the Syrian Democratic Forces. Riedjik is now in a Kurdish prison and Begum is trying to contact him through the Red Cross. "I don't know if he knows our son is born," she said. Begum is the most well-known of the 45,000 residents of al-Hol, a sprawling camp where Kurdish forces are sending women and children who emerge from the last fragment of Isil's caliphate. Families from 47 nations are living in fields of white tents supplied by the UN. Two other British women are in the camp, according to Kurdish officials, and around a dozen more are expected to arrive in coming days. The women, once united under the black banner of Isil, have now splintered into tribes along language lines. "For our own self-preservation, people are sticking with their own groups," one Canadian Isil wife told reporters. "You put women under these conditions and you could have something explosive no matter where you are." The foreigners' section where Begum is living is dominated by Russian speakers from across the former Soviet Union. They are the most assertive and a crowd of women has gathered at the section gate to shout their demands to the one harried Kurdish guard who speaks Russian. Begum's tent is in an anglophone corner at the edge of the foreigners' area. Her neighbours are from the US, Trinidad, and the Seychelles. She gestured warily towards the busy centre of the section. "Over there is too exposed for me and my child." The women tend to refer to each other by Arabic titles and often do not know each other's real names. Begum is known as Umm Saraya, meaning mother of Saraya, her baby girl who died inside the caliphate. While some of the foreigners claimed to completely disavow Isil, others were eager to replicate its fundamentalist rules. A trio of Westerners grudgingly veiled their faces after being screamed at by another woman, who accused them of immodesty. The foreigners are a vulnerable minority within the camp as a whole, where Syrian and Iraqi are the majority. When they venture into the muddy market of the main camp, it is often under the escort of female Kurdish guards armed with Kalashnikovs. The contrast is striking between the Isil women in their black niqabs and the female Kurdish fighters in green fatigues, who patrol the camp with face and hair uncovered. One Iraqi Isil wife stabbed another to death with a kitchen knife, according to a Kurdish official. They had apparently quarrelled over the legacy of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the caliphate who is now the world's most-wanted fugitive - if he is still alive. The camp echoed with the cries of children, many of whom were born in the caliphate and have no formal citizenship papers. Five orphans sat on a bench outside the camp administrator's office, all wheezing with sickness. Their mother had been killed in an airstrike and they were waiting for their uncle to adopt them and add them to the 15 children he already has. "It's not easy, we need God's help," the uncle said. An Iraqi woman named Hadeel Shadhan sat on the opposite bench, one son being breastfed under the folds of her abaya while another had fallen asleep against her side. His little feet were swollen from the long walk out of Isil territory. Like Begum, Shadhan is 19 years old, a mother, and a refugee of the Isil. Yet while the British woman said she no longer cared about the fate of the caliphate, the Iraqi was mourning its downfall. She praised Baghdadi's leadership and defended the jihadists' widespread rape and murder of Yazidi and Kurdish women. "Only God knows what will happen," she said. "But I think the caliphate will return and the war will continue. I hope the Islamic State will come back and I hope there will be justice." Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] A woman casts her vote at a polling station at the Malkohi refugee camp in Adamawa State in Nigeria. Malkohi is an internal displaced camp for people who fled their homes from areas affected by the conflict with the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. Photo: AFP/Getty Nigeria began counting votes in yesterday's closely fought presidential election although the electoral commission extended voting hours in some places where polling stations opened late or ballot machines malfunctioned. President Muhammadu Buhari and his main challenger, businessman Atiku Abubakar, both said they were confident of victory when casting their ballots in an election which has already been delayed by a week. Analysts say the vote in Africa's biggest economic power is too close to call, with the outcome set to hinge on which man voters trust the most to revamp an economy still struggling to recover from a 2016 recession. Buhari, a former military ruler who was later elected president, is seeking a second term in charge of Africa's most populous nation and top crude producer. Atiku, a former vice president, has pledged to expand the role of the private sector. The two men lead a field of more than 70 candidates in an election which the commission postponed last Saturday just hours before voting was due to begin, citing logistical issues. The country has 72.8 million eligible voters. Voting had been completed in some areas across Nigeria and counting of ballots was taking place. Senior Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) official Festus Okoye said the commission had extended hours in polling stations that had experienced delays. He also said problems encountered during the voting, including security issues, were being addressed. These included malfunctioning of voter card machines which would be replaced. Gunfire and explosions were recorded during the day - however police in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, said that they had triggered the explosions, shortly before polls opened to deter Islamic extremists. Contradicting this, security sources said a rocket hit a displaced persons' camp, while a blast at an army garrison killed one solider and injured four others. Gunfire also was heard in Port Harcourt, where the military presence was heavier than in past elections. One convoy in Delta state contained more than 25 vehicles with battle-ready soldiers. Turnout appeared to be light as authorities tried to calm panicked, sceptical residents. Atiku later cast his ballot in the eastern Adamawa state. "I am impressed by the turnout of the people," he told reporters shortly after voting. "I look forward to a successful transition," he said. After voting in the northern Kano state, Hadisa Hayatu, a 38-year old housewife, said: "I voted for Buhari because he has assured us that he is going to build on what he has done on security and other issues." I don't particularly care that Karl Lagerfeld thought feminists were ugly - though I consider myself to be one. I don't care that Karl Lagerfeld hated tracksuit bottoms, that he thought they were a sign of a person out of control - though I am a dedicated scholar of elasticated waistbands and a true believer in soft things. I don't care about Karl Lagerfeld, particularly - and I didn't think anyone else still did either. I was surprised about the 'outpouring' of grief (is there any other kind?) last week, because I thought we'd quietly decided to pretend he was already dead, given his unambiguous and proudly public misogyny and general intolerance. When a few prominent people pointed this out, it all kicked off. Apparently it was disrespectful, when someone had died. But Karl isn't 'someone', he was an extremely public figure who revelled in being an extremely public figure - to say he courted controversy would be a disservice to a man whose love for dressing thin women in clothes could only be matched by his passion for pissing people off. Expand Close In this Tuesday July 9, 1996 file photo, Karl Lagerfeld is surrounded by Canadian model Linda Evangelista, left, and British model Naomi Campbell, right, and other models after the presentation of his 1996-97 fall-winter haute couture fashion collection for Chanel in Paris / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp In this Tuesday July 9, 1996 file photo, Karl Lagerfeld is surrounded by Canadian model Linda Evangelista, left, and British model Naomi Campbell, right, and other models after the presentation of his 1996-97 fall-winter haute couture fashion collection for Chanel in Paris Karl Lagerfeld's words hurt people. And I'm not talking some wounded snowflake PC-gone-mad feelings - it's the most influential man in fashion publicly stating that models shouldn't model if they don't want their "pants pulled about". That's giving predatory men in fashion carte blanche to do what they want. That's telling models who are victims of abuse to sit down and shut up. That's bolstering the untouchability of the kind of men who have abused their way through the fashion world, never fearing consequences because they could pay their bills comfortably, and their models could not. Karl Lagerfeld was not an eccentric old man, from a different time whom we should tolerate like your racist grandad who never goes out anyway. Karl Lagerfeld was the creative director of Chanel and Fendi until the day he died. His opinions mattered, and they materially damaged real people in his industry and beyond. I can't say he was taken too soon. ******* "The worst pain is getting hurt by a person you explained your pain to," read one quote on Khloe Kardashian's Instagram story. The next: "Somebody needs to hear this that betrayal was your blessing!!!". And then, the poetic: "If they ask you about me, tell them: 'She was the only person that loved me with honesty, and I broke her'." It was not a press release or an official statement, but this is how the world knew that the rumours were true: Khloe's partner, Tristan, had cheated on her. As the entire Kardashian/Jenner family unfollowed Jordyn Woods on Instagram, it became clear that she was the Other Woman. Gwyneth Paltrow, who is fluent in 2019's currency of social status, commented on a meme about the drama: "Can someone explain what's going on? I have never heard of half of these people" - because the only thing more chic than jade vaginal eggs is pretending not to know who the Kardashians are. Gwyneth: this wasn't simply a betrayal of Khloe by Tristan. The 21-year-old he cheated with was allegedly Jordyn Woods - Kylie Jenner's BBF. Joined at the hip, Jordyn was a part of the family. The Kardashians referred to her as a sister. She collaborated with Kylie on a line for the incredibly lucrative Kylie Cosmetics. She had partnership deals with fashion and beauty brands. She had built a seriously successful career around being Kylie Jenner's other half. Now, Jordyn has apparently moved out of Kylie's and back into her mum's house. In a move so petty it brought tears to my eyes, Kylie Cosmetics slashed the price of the "Jordy" Velvet Liquid Lipstick Lip Kit. The kit has completely sold out now, as fans scrambled to secure this rare cultural artefact, this era-defining relic. I'd like to throw my hat in the ring for the role of Kylie's new best friend. I'm sexually unthreatening and it would be an awful waste to have the guest house sitting empty. ******* I have watched Missy Keating, daughter of Ronan, on The Voice several times now - at various volumes, on a selection of devices. I can't work it out. Obviously, I don't actually watch The Voice. I, like all millennials, get all the nail-biting drama and sad backstories I need from the Instagram account of the Kardashian/Jenner sisters. But when I heard about young Missy and the miscarriage of justice that saw not a single judge press their mad button and spin their silly big chair around for her, I became deeply invested in The Voice UK, season eight. Missy Keating auditioned with her school friend Georgia Gaffney, who she has played music with for a while now. They're lovely. And they were lovely on the show - lovely voices, lovely girls, Missy even played some lovely guitar. I never thought I'd have occasion to have any strong feelings about Olly Murs, breakout star of 2009's X-Factor - but as I watched him tease us, hand hovering over his big red button of validation before snatching it back, I confess - I hated him. In that moment, I could have hurt Olly Murs. In that moment, there was nothing I wouldn't have done to protect Yvonne, watching from the wings. In Ireland we are proud of our republic, proud to live in a meritocracy where the mere accident of birth won't land you with a crown and a few dozen palaces. But we have our own kind of monarchy - the internationally successful Irish celebrity. And we couldn't help feel that who Missy's father was should mean something, that her lineage should have ensued her success that day. Perhaps it opened ancestral wounds, seeing our lovely Irish girls of good Louis Walsh pedigree so publicly snubbed on English television. I don't know. I'd say we haven't seen the last of Missy; the poor kid deserves a break. After all - her dad is Ronan Keating. Beatrice Valli attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Olivia Culpo attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Ambra Angiolini attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Giulia Gaudino and Frank Gallucci attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Giulia Gaudino attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Leonie Hanne and Tamara Kalinic attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Martina Colombari attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Leonie Hanne attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Tamara Kalinic attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Leonie Hanne attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Beatrice Valli and Marco Fantini attend the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Valentina Ferragni attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Liz Uy attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Valentina Ferragni wearing grey striped suit attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Diletta Amenta attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Jessica Kahawaty attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Anna dello Russo attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Jessica Kahawaty attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Mary Leest attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Guest attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Xenia Adonts attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Jessica Kahawaty attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Tatiana Catic and Xenia Tchoumitcheva attend the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Xenia Adonts attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Guest attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Jessica Kahawaty and Carlo Sestini attend the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Giulia Gaudino and Frank Gallucci attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Guest attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Matilde Gioli attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Nataly Osmann wearing orange ruffled dress attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Xenia Tchoumitcheva wearing red dress, black jacket, sheer tights attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Guest attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Matilde Gioli attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Marta Lozano and Angela Rozas Saiz attend the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Elisa Taviti attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Tiany Kiriloff attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Gabrielle Caunesil attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Olivia Culpo attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Hadia Ghaleb attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Teresa Andres Gonzalvo attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Olivia Culpo attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Angela Rozas Saiz attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Aida Domenech attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Marta Lozano attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) A guest attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Marica Pellegrinelli attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Nieves Alvarez attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Renata Zanchi attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) Elisabetta Gregoraci attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) A guest attends the Ermanno Scervino show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images For Ermanno Scervino) There are always two key elements to success during Fashion Month: runway and street style. While insiders and A-listers enjoy comfortable seats from inside the venue - which, depending on the brand and budget, can range from warehouse to the Trevi Fountain - often times, the action outside can sometimes eclipse the runway show. Milan is currently abuzz with activity after dedicated followers wrapped up London and New York, with only Paris left to finish off the busiest month in fashion. Observers dress to be seen and and will walk their walk as many times as necessary to get the right street style shot, which is unique to each city: in New York, the freezing cold weather tends to dictate practicality; London is a colourful mish-mash of boho and neon; Paris prefers all black as expected and Milan is like a beautiful surprise. Guests flocked to the Ermanno Scervino show on Saturday with inspired suiting, floaty mini-dresses and micro bags to lust over. Model Olivia Culpo was a haute couture dream in a black leather cropped jacket and a pleated leather skirt with tulle underlay, a noted departure from her usually upbeat attire. Culpo flew into Italy last week where she has been enjoying the benefits of the industry's new influencer-focused marketing campaigns, which includes front row seats to some of the biggest brands in the world. Expand Close Olivia Palermo attends Ermanno Scervino "u2013 Street Style - Milan Fashion Week 2019 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Olivia Palermo attends Ermanno Scervino "u2013 Street Style - Milan Fashion Week 2019 on February 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Christian Vierig/Getty Images for Ermanno Scervino) Olivia Palermo and husband Johannes Huebl, who previously studied at King's Hospital, Palmerstown, were typically dressed for their close-up as the model couple have spent the last number of weeks flying around the world in the name of fashion - even moreso than usual. Italian journalist and Vogue Japan's editor-at-large Anne Della Russo arrived to the show arm in arm with a friend, wearing a tweed suit, clutching a monogrammed iPhone cover. Lesser known names like Spanish model Nieves Alvarez, in a jaw-dropping camel leather dress and coat, led the charge of best dressed guests, including Italian influencer Valentina Ferragni and Serbian bloggr Tamara Kalinic. For the best street style pictures, see our gallery below: The Duchess of Sussex shows two girls the henna design on her hand (Yui Mok/PA) The Duchess of Sussex has called on women to challenge everywhere in the world as she met leading faces from Moroccan society. Meghans message to women across the globe came as she attended the British ambassadors reception with Harry and turned on the glamour by wearing a Moroccan inspired Dior outfit. Among the guests invited by Thomas Reilly, Britains top diplomat in Morocco, were young leaders, business representatives, the military and other influential people from girls education, sport and sustainable tourism. The duchess, who earlier had a henna tattoo painted on her left hand which had now faded, told a group of female executives and entrepreneurs: Women have to challenge everywhere in the world. Expand Close The Duchess of Sussex shows two girls the henna design on her hand after a visit to the 'Education For All' boarding house in Asni Town, Atlas Mountains on the second day of her tour of Morocco with the Duke of Sussex / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Duchess of Sussex shows two girls the henna design on her hand after a visit to the 'Education For All' boarding house in Asni Town, Atlas Mountains on the second day of her tour of Morocco with the Duke of Sussex Meghan has made womens empowerment a key part of her campaigning work and during the day she and Harry visited the NGO Education For All, which provides secondary education for girls from the remote Atlas mountains who would miss out due to cultural and economic reasons. The duchess comment was in response to Meriem Bensalah, chief executive of a finance and agricultural firm called the Holmarcom Group. She told the royal that Moroccan women had made great advances towards equality but still faced disadvantages, the business executive adding: We were discussing how there are still many boundaries all over the world. The heavily pregnant duchess had her left hand decorated by a student with a floral henna design when she visited Education For Alls teaching centre in the Atlas mountains town of Asni. Expand Close The Duchess of Sussex during a visit to the 'Education For All' boarding house in Asni Town, Atlas Mountains on the second day of her tour of Morocco with the Duke of Sussex / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Duchess of Sussex during a visit to the 'Education For All' boarding house in Asni Town, Atlas Mountains on the second day of her tour of Morocco with the Duke of Sussex Samira Ouaadi, 17, who is receiving secondary education thanks to the NGO, created the design which was a good luck gesture for Meghan and Harrys baby. The artwork had faded by the time the duchess appeared at the reception in the capital Rabat with only a pale pattern visible. When the duke and duchess, who are on a three-day visit to Morocco, first walked into the ambassadors official residence, they were given a traditional rosewater greeting, where the fragrant liquid was poured into their hands and they wiped them dry on a towel. On hand to greet them was the ambassadors physiotherapist wife Leah Reilly and earlier his two daughters, Orla, 12 and Elsa, eight, had presented the duchess with two bouquets. Expand Close The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arriving at the 'Education For All' boarding house in Asni Town, Atlas Mountains on the second day of their tour of Morocco / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arriving at the 'Education For All' boarding house in Asni Town, Atlas Mountains on the second day of their tour of Morocco Afterwards Orla said: We were quite nervous meeting them but they were really nice. Prince Harry asked us if we lived here all the time or whether this was a temporary house and asked us if we had parties like this every week, which we dont otherwise it would be a lot of work. I was caught unawares last Tuesday on BBC Radio Ulster's Stephen Nolan morning show by Mary Lou McDonald's latest gaffe. I had come on to talk about votes at 16, but the person I was supposed to be disagreeing with wasn't there so I was asked to comment instead on what Ms McDonald had said last Monday night about the selection of the next PSNI Chief Constable. Mr Nolan reported her statement that she couldn't identify anyone in the PSNI senior leadership capable of doing the job, which - put on the spot - I said I thought reflected her ignorance about the police and, indeed, Northern Ireland. To my relief, as well as surprise (for it's not often we agree), rather than claiming her knowledge was second only to his own, it emerged that Gerry Kelly (that's the unrepentant bomber of the Old Bailey, proud participant in an escape from the Maze that brought death and injury to prison officers and currently Sinn Fein's representative on the Northern Ireland Policing Board) had said in her defence that she didn't know people in the top PSNI team except the two she had been introduced to the day before. How would she? The main purposes of her visits up North are to placate hardliners and galvanise supporters rather than to learn anything that doesn't fit the same old republican narrative. That her remarks had been foolish in the extreme was indicated by the retweet from the normally cautious and diplomatic Chief Constable George Hamilton of a tweet from the Police Federation for Northern Ireland: "'This amounts to extraordinary interference in an open and transparent selection process.' Our full statement on this extraordinary outburst to follow." Mr Kelly did not, of course, directly criticise his boss, but he put it on the line that there were "clearly people capable of doing the Chief Constable's job wherever they come from, whether that is within the PSNI or outside." In fairness to her, Ms McDonald had been at an emotional meeting the previous evening with victims of loyalist sectarian murders who had learned that a report from the Police Ombudsman was being delayed because of the discovery of a cache of relevant PSNI papers about to be disclosed for purposes of impending civil proceedings. To many republicans this was evidence of the deliberate subversion of justice by cops covering up collusion. To anyone fair-minded, it was incompetence, since otherwise the material would have been secretly destroyed and made available to nobody. As the PSNI explained it to the Ombudsman, it was a combination of "human error" in searching "44 million pieces of paper and microfilm records" stored in several locations and different "sometimes archaic" IT systems. You wouldn't have to go far in Northern Ireland to find distressed IRA victims who had been let down similarly, there are myriad such failures in the Garda and in the British police forces, and they, like the PSNI, are among the best in the world. It's hard enough catching criminals, but dealing with the paperwork in an age of bureaucracy, accountability, and massive technological change is hell. Anger is the prime characteristic of Sinn Fein North and south. Feeding off real and alleged grievances, they assail, attack, berate, denounce, condemn (and all the rest of the thesaurus) anyone who isn't one of them who can be accused of any kind of error or wrongdoing. And Ms McDonald is a mistress of all that, a fitting leader of Sinn Fein, the Angry Party, the Belligerent's Belligerent. She has no difficulty in being equivocal about IRA terrorism, while attributing the worst motives to someone who misplaced a folder. Rightly acknowledged to be infinitely superior to Gerry Adams as a Dail performer and an interviewee, she lacks his political adroitness and, of course, his pedigree, and among her failings as Sinn Fein president is her ignorance about Northern Ireland. She follows instructions from the Boys in the Belfast backroom, but she doesn't get the nuances, and her limp deputy Michelle O'Neill isn't much help. Because of their military records, Mr Adams, Martin McGuinness and, indeed, Gerry Kelly, were licensed to show a softer side, whether it be teddy bears, being nice to Ian Paisley or being constructive about the police, whereas she feels it necessary to be consistently obnoxious. Indeed Mr McGuinness really enjoyed his job and would have kept Stormont going had it not been for his fatal illness. Mr Kelly seems to love his, and last week he was straining to hang onto it, as from north and south came angry denunciations. Former Assistant Chief Constable, Alan McQuillan, said her remarks were "dangerous", "very sad given the positive and constructive role her party has played on the Policing Board in the past decade", undermined Sinn Fein's credibility and caused the board significant problems. Arlene Foster thought she had jeopardised the recruitment process and compromised the panel. The Equality Commission wrote to remind the Policing Board "of its responsibilities under equality legislation to recruit in a non-discriminatory way". And the board itself has sought legal advice. But Ms McDonald has not given an inch. "There is nothing to apologise for, there's no retraction to be made," she said, it was just "political huffing and puffing". As Fianna Fail TD Billy Kelleher put it during the pointless no-confidence debate on Simon Harris, with the State potentially facing "a catastrophic event", all Sinn Fein "is interested in is having political chaos across the island because it thrives in it". Every year the website politico.eu chooses the 27 Doers, Dreamers and the Disruptors who will shape Europe in the year ahead. Ms McDonald is 2019's Number 1 Disrupter. The runner up is a Danish politician who has moved from communism to becoming a migration hardliner working with the far right. Jeremy Corbyn, at Number 3, might give Mary Lou a run for her money, but she won't be easy to beat. "We've got to bomb the Vatican, there is no other choice..." Clerical sex abuse survivor and Englishman Peter Saunders was the speaker. He was, of course, joking - up to a point. He made his remark as he and other survivors gathered with the world's media behind the colonnade in St Peter's Square, waiting outside a meeting last Wednesday between clerical abuse survivors and Vatican officials. Saunders used provocative language to make a point. You need to do something "to get the dirt and filth out of that place", he later told the Sunday Independent. It was that sort of week, an extraordinary week in the Holy See as the world's media gathered to follow an unprecedented summit on clerical sex abuse. Around every second street in the Holy See, you came across a vigil, a protest march or indeed an ad hoc news conference on the footpath. It remains to be seen what impact this summit will have had on the life of the Catholic Church. For the time being, though, it has proved to be a gift to a myriad range of articulate lobby groups with a critical axe to grind - clerical child abuse victims, vulnerable adult victims, the right-wing homophobic lobby, disenfranchised Catholic women as well as the children of priests. Incidentally, a New York Times report on the work of Irishman Vincent Doyle's Coping International support group elicited a comment from senior Vatican spokesman, Alessandro Gisotti. He confirmed that the Holy See does indeed have its own secret guidelines for priests who father children but these are "for internal use". In short, there was a lot of energy and anticipation in the air. Yet, when Pope Francis delivers his final word on the summit at Mass this morning, most of the lobbyists expect little or nothing by way of radical, "concrete" change. "The Pope is giving us survivors, victims and in a sense children the two fingers. This whole summit is clearly going to be little more than a whitewash, there isn't any real action on the agenda," says Peter Saunders, someone who sat alongside Irishwoman Marie Collins on the Vatican's Council For The Protection Of Minors. Are the victims' groups right? Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that it is impossible for Francis or anyone else to produce a magic wand that will provide some hitherto, unthought of solution. No, in the sense that the real significance of last week's summit is that it happened at all. Called in the immediate wake of last year's devastating abuse scandals in Chile, Australia, Honduras, the USA and elsewhere, last week's Vatican gathering was an unprecedented and candid admission that of clerical sex abuse is a global problem. Remember, there was a time back in the 1990s and even the early 2000s when senior Vatican figures were fond of dismissing the clerical abuse issue as merely "an Anglo-Saxon problem". No one says that anymore around here. Furthermore, sex abuse offences are now called "crimes" in VaticanSpeak. The fact that the largest delegation of bishops at the summit came from Africa makes a point. For the record, there were 36 African bishops, 24 from North and South America, 18 from Asia and 32 from Europe. (There were also only 10 women delegates but that is to open a whole other, huge debate). The fact, too, that three of the first anonymous survivors to address the Vatican summit came from Latin America, Africa and Asia only underlined the point. Then, too, there was the remarkable "group therapy" moment when the 190 or so cardinals and bishops gathered in the Synod Hall listened to testimony such as this... "From the age of 15 I had sexual relations with a priest. This lasted for 13 years. I got pregnant three times and he made me have an abortion three times, quite simply because he did not want to use condoms or contraceptives. At first I trusted him so much that I did not know he could abuse me. I was afraid of him, and every time I refused to have sex with him, he would beat me" Even if the so-called developed world, including Ireland of course, has been dealing with clerical sex abuse on a daily basis for the last 25 years, not all local churches in Africa, Asia and indeed Latin America (and also in Europe) are quite so prepared. Anne Barrett Doyle, of Bishop Accountability, last week analysed the records of some of the Bishops' Conference presidents here in Rome. Her findings are interesting - Brazil's Cardinal Sergio Da Rocha spoke publicly about sex abuse for the first time ever last week in Rome; Mexican Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera Lopez says that he has dealt with only one abusive priest in six years; Philippinnes Archbishop Romulo Valles leads a church in a country where not one priest has been criminally convicted of sex abuse crimes; the UN Committee for the Rights of the Child this month called on Italy to "make it mandatory for religious personnel to report any case of alleged sexual abuse" to Italian state authorities; French Archbishop Georges Pontier has had nothing to say about Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, currently on trial in Lyon for covering up the crimes of an abuser priest; last year, the Colombian Archbishop Oscar Urbina Ortega praised his recently deceased countryman Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, a Vatican official who coined the "Anglo-Saxon" remark and who praised bishops who covered up for their priests. The list goes on and on... It is little wonder then that the Archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge, spoke last week of being on a "journey of exploration". That journey continues this morning when the Pope draws his conclusions. Francis surprised many when he produced 21 "reflection points" on the first morning of the summit. Sounds like he means business. Yet, will that incorporate "mandatory reporting" and "bishop accountability tribunals"? We will see this morning. In his welcome note to Fianna Fail delegates at this weekend's Ard Fheis, Micheal Martin reminds them that we are "in uncertain times". Naturally, he is talking about Brexit but the cliched line could apply to both the party and his leadership. No other Fianna Fail leader has spent so long in continuous opposition. Martin has one last shot at becoming Taoiseach in a general election that is likely to happen later this year. Polling day will definitely be in 2019 if his grassroots members have any say. They are fed up with confidence and supply. Reports back from the local election doorsteps suggest that many candidates find themselves justifying why they tolerate the mistakes of Fine Gael in government. "It's like defending the indefensible. We know the logic of extending confidence and supply but at best you get two or three minutes on a doorstep - and when you're explaining, you're losing," one local election candidate told the Sunday Independent. But Micheal Martin has been around the block. A TD since 1989, he has served in the departments of health, enterprise and foreign affairs. Arguably these are the three most important offices at this time of national trepidation. The 58-year-old has led Fianna Fail since 2011 when there were questions about its very survival. The Soldiers of Destiny's fall from grace was unprecedented. However, Martin was one of very few to stand firm and continue the fight. The recovery has been paradoxical. Fianna Fail heads into May's elections as the largest party in local government but have zero representation in Europe. While Brian Crowley was elected on the FF ticket, it's no secret that he abandoned its ALDE group in the European Parliament, and, in any event, didn't show for votes due to illness. Writing in the brochure sent to delegates attending the Ard Fheis, General Secretary Sean Dorgan said: "Fianna Fail is determined to approach these elections with great care and preparedness and we will field strong tickets across the three Euro constituencies. Our objective is to significantly improve the party's footprint in Europe." There are at least three seats to be won for Fianna Fail if it manages it right. That would be a lovely result for Martin, except there's always a 'but'. In Ireland South, it appears likely that former Minister of State and current Jobs Spokesman Billy Kelleher will be on the ticket. Kelleher approached the party leader after Crowley announced his retirement and expressed an interest in Brussels but was shot down. However, given the way Fianna Fail works these days, that hasn't stopped the Cork North Central TD from pursing the European nomination. Depending on who you talk to, Kelleher is either hugely enthusiastic about going to Europe at a time when it's top of the news agenda or pessimistic about getting a decent ministry in the next government. Cork is not short of Fianna Fail TDs with expectations for office. By moving to Brussels, Kelleher would be ruling himself out of any leadership bid in the event that the party isn't back in power after a general election. Part of Martin's strength is that there are no overt contenders to the throne. When Enda Kenny led Fine Gael in the 2016 election, we all knew that Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney, Richard Bruton, Frances Fitzgerald, Paschal Donohoe and even Simon Harris were clipping at his heels. Martin doesn't have a wave of talent preparing to undermine his position in order to further their own. Michael McGrath is seen as the favourite to succeed him but constituency rules mean he won't make a move. Others in the reckoning include Dara Calleary, Timmy Dooley, Jim O'Callaghan and Barry Cowen, while newcomer Lisa Chambers sometimes gets an honourable mention. None will heave in the foreseeable future. It's hard to picture Martin's cabinet, mainly because we haven't seen it. Much like the Aras election, we knew what Michael D Higgins looked like as president but struggled to see any of the challengers in that context. Of course there are some in the party who are ready to knife Martin at a moment's notice - but he gives TDs like John McGuinness no notice anymore. As far as the leader is concerned, the party is taking the moral high ground by continuing with confidence and supply during Brexit. The bet is that at a time when international politics has gone rogue, sensible Irish voters will repay the sensible politics. He told delegates: "There has been enough chaos in London and we have already seen the damage done to Ireland by Sinn Fein and the DUP's refusal to have working democratic institutions in Northern Ireland. I was determined not to allow this to happen in Dublin." It's a solid argument that has been almost universally endorsed by the media, who Martin is often sceptical about. But some in the party, particularly the grassroots, remain unhappy about how the extension to confidence and supply was handled. A 'review group' of Calleary, McGrath, Chambers and Agriculture Spokesperson Charlie McConalogue was set up - but ultimately the decision was made by Martin and his close advisers who are often referred to disparagingly by TDs as the "unelected crowd". They include Dorgan, who made sure to pay tribute this weekend to staff at Party HQ in Mount Street and at Leinster House for continuing "to serve the party selflessly". They include Martin's chef de cabinet Deirdre Gillane and press adviser Pat McParland. Gillane, a former trade unionist, is the brains of the operation and not to be underestimated as Varadkar's inner circle have found since he became Taoiseach. There is some resentment at the gap in the food chain between Martin and his advisers at the top and the parliamentary party on the next rung down. The recent partnership with the SDLP is one obvious example. While Colum Eastwood gave his membership a vote on the curious deal, it was presented to Fianna Failers as a fait accompli. A promised white paper from The Republican Party on a reunified Ireland has never developed either - despite being announced in March 2017. On the flipside, Martin's decision to blindside his TDs by backing abortion up to 12 weeks ahead of last year's referendum is now seen as a crucial one. Given the result, a large section of Fianna Fail risked being seen as totally out of touch with the electorate - but not Martin who prides himself on weekly canvasses in different constituencies. However, he can't get into government on his own. Several of his front-bench spokespeople have failed to produce detailed policy platforms. They have put forward individual pieces of legislation or private members' bills but not a fully teased plan for childcare, agriculture or social welfare reform. Whatever about policy, the party is well-fixed financially to fight an election. Ironically they are in a better position than during the boom when money seemed no object. Total fundraising and membership income in 2017 totalled 1,260,840, a 2pc increase on the prior year total. This has delivered an overall surplus of 1,396,261 and left the party in a position to use its surplus to clear debt, which historically stood at nearly 4m. Fundamentally Martin is well fixed heading towards an election if he can find the right issues to campaign on. But there are also issues outside of his control, not least Brexit. Timing will be everything. You are here: World Flash Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Saturday appointed Mohamed Tahir Ayala as prime minister. "Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Saturday issued a Republican decree appointing Mohamed Tahir Ayala as prime minister," Sudanese Presidency said in a statement. Ayala, who was born in 1951, graduated at the University of Khartoum's faculty of economics. He served as director of Sudan Seaports Corporation and later became federal minister for roads and bridges, federal minister of foreign trade and federal minister of communications. Ayala also served as governor of the Red Sea and Gezira States. Al-Bashir on Friday declared state of emergency all over Sudan for one year and dissolved the central and states' governments in the wake of protests which the country has been witnessing since Dec. 19 last year over the deteriorating economic conditions and price hikes. I lay in the heat of summer listening to the competing rattles of Orange drums and a British army helicopter. It was a Saturday afternoon and I was after unpacking my slim belongings in the attic room of a house in the Holy Land, the student-dominated enclave of redbrick houses lying between Queen's University and the Ormeau Road. University Street, Jerusalem Street, Palestine Street, Damascus Street, Carmel Street, Cairo Street, Fitzroy Avenue, the last immortalised by Van Morrison in Madame George, the best song set in Belfast ever by anyone. In those days - the middle of the 1980s - the war was still going. There was a pub at the bottom of the road where a man was shot in a republican feud. The Ormeau Road was a place where sectarian tensions rose in the loyalist marching season. I lived there for several months and then I moved to a house in the Village area. Friends wondered if I was wise. The area is strongly loyalist. But there was never any bother. Maybe I was just lucky. After that I lived in East Belfast and then we bought our first house in Stranmillis. This was back close to where I had started in Belfast, but middle class and the atmosphere sedate. You could still hear bomb blasts from West Belfast and the choppers rattling afterwards. For most of my first year, I was overcome with the strangeness of the place. Shootings, bombings, funerals, bodies on border roads. The condemnations, the widows appealing for no vengeance, the preachers who fanned the flames, the look in the eyes of the child at the funeral of Nathaniel Cush, blown up by the IRA at Tomb Street post office on June 15, 1987, the raw sectarian hatred of the man in Portadown telling me that me and all like me should be stuck on a bonfire with our priests. And also, not in opposition to but alongside the narrative of division: the road down to Coney Island along the Ards Peninsula on a day in autumn when my head was exploding with rage at the politics of death being played out in the city and how that beach and sea connected me to a longer coastline that, if followed south far enough, would take me home to Cork and on to Ardmore. The unity of geography gave me a powerfully consoling connection. I was still travelling south every weekend across the hard border with its watchtowers and checkpoints. Newry to Dundalk or, if going west, through the smaller roads of Armagh or Fermanagh. But as time went on I began to spend more of my weekends in the North. I made good friends. I went out of my way to know people beyond the circle of journalists with whom I worked day to day. It was often said that there existed up North a silent majority opposed to the ''men of violence''. I can't speak for majorities but I knew there was another reality to that which was reported on the news. It existed among my Protestant and Catholic friends. They did not all live in comfortable middle class enclaves. But they had in their marrow a rejection of tribalism, even when the events of the day could easily have driven them into the laager. If you had asked me then about the possibility of a united Ireland, I would have said not in my lifetime. Now I am not so sure. The longer- term effects of Brexit and demographic changes could create the circumstances for what appeared unimaginable. For three decades, it was a concept associated, wrongly, with the violence of the Provos. The southern parties maintained a rhetorical commitment but thought little about how the south might be made a more attractive proposition to Ulster Protestants. There is too little discussion of this in the Republic. We have traditionally been skittish about a United Ireland, fearful of what it might unleash, of what might be asked of us. But if it is a real possibility, the south needs to start thinking and debating in earnest. Of course, it is not simply a question of what the Protestants want. For years, the Catholics of the six counties felt, with considerable justification, that southerners cared little about them. Partition wasn't simply the Border. It was embedded in our consciousness long before the Government of Ireland Act created the state of Northern Ireland in 1920. The 19th Century giants of Irish nationalism - O'Connell and Parnell - both failed to engage with the complexities of the North and largely kept away from those places where Catholic and Protestant were in conflict. When my forebears fought in the War of Independence, they cared little about the politics of Belfast or Ballymena. The Civil War that followed was not fought over partition but the feeling that the struggle for a true Republic had been abandoned. The Oath of Allegiance caused more blood to be spilled between Irish nationalists than any concern about the Northern Catholics or territorial unity. The Troubles deepened the alienation. The North was bad news. Whatever their religion, they were irredeemably different, we told ourselves. Minds and hearts closed. It was an embarrassment. Our own bloodletting of 47 years before was conveniently forgotten. Our leaders gave us the myth of the old war as a clean war. But the time has come when we need to mentally prepare for at least the possibility of significant constitutional change in our lifetime. The thinking cannot be left to the politicians and academics alone. There are big questions for everyone. What is the Ireland you would like to see? What changes would you accept or visualise to address Protestant fears of domination? I wrote recently of the imperative of getting the power-sharing government at Stormont up and running again. Achieving stability and addressing sectarianism are immediate tasks. The row over Brexit and the hard border has complicated an already perilous situation. Of course, a united Ireland might not happen in my lifetime and it ultimately depends on the will of the people of the North. The principle of unity by consent is sacrosanct. A significant number of Catholics may decide they wish to remain in the United Kingdom. Many Protestants in the North will wish it never happens. But we need to be ready for all possibilities. It is time we started a conversation about a new Ireland. The partition of the mind must end. These are my last words in these pages. I have enjoyed your company. Travel safe into the future, dear readers, and do it with open hearts and minds. These are what can save us from the failures of the past. Fergal Keane is a BBC Special Correspondent Regardless of how David Byrne may have lived his life, pictures of the aftermath of his murder at Dublin's Regency Hotel three years ago, as he lay in the reception in a pool of blood after being shot six times in the head and body by gunmen dressed in Garda Emergency Response Unit-style uniforms, still have the power to shock. No parent should ever have to see that, and it's understandable that Byrne's surviving family are now distraught at the collapse of the trial on murder and firearms offences of 26-year-old Patrick Hutch at the Special Criminal Court. Hutch was not accused of being the actual killer, but it was claimed that he was the man photographed running from the hotel, carrying a gun while pulling off a female wig. It was the State's contention that he was part of a "shared intention" to murder the dead man in what senior prosecutor Sean Gillane told the court was a "resourced, carefully planned, targeted attack" carried out "with perfect callousness to a prone man". That trial began last year, but heard only four days of evidence. It finally collapsed for good last week when it was decided that "the prosecution is not in a position to lead evidence on a number of evidential topics" due mainly to the death last year of the leading investigating detective. Patrick Hutch is now expected to leave the country, if he hasn't already, for his own safety, meaning that no one is now facing charges for David Byrne's murder, and, without fresh evidence, it's unlikely that anyone will again. The man in the flat cap pictured running away from the scene alongside the man in a wig was Kevin Murray, a former republican prisoner from Northern Ireland. The gardai obtained a European Arrest Warrant for his extradition in 2016, but it couldn't be completed as he was deemed too ill to stand trial. He died the following August at his home of motor neurone disease. Another of the murder gang was also later killed in the feud, so certainly no one is in jail, hence the family's dismay. "All I want is justice for my child," said Byrne's mother, Sadie, afterwards. It does seems absurd that the death of the lead detective should be sufficient to collapse a major criminal trial which has been some years in the preparation, however mysterious the circumstances. Detective Superintendent Colm Fox was found dead of a single gunshot wound at Ballymun Garda Station last February; the Garda Ombudsman is conducting an investigation but foul play is not suspected, though he did leave notes suggesting that mistakes may have been made in the investigation. That was sufficient to cast a shadow on the trial, because, as a source said, Patrick Hutch's defence team was "not in a position to examine or cross-examine [Colm Fox]on what he meant". A person can only be convicted if it's "beyond reasonable doubt", but that has never been clearly defined. As DCU criminal law lecturer Dr Yvonne Daly explained after the trial of Graham Dwyer for the murder of Elaine O'Hara: "Proof beyond reasonable doubt is not the same as proof beyond a shadow of a doubt." The issue then is whether it's reasonable that, because the lead detective left a note before his death suggesting he'd made a "grave error of judgment", despite an investigation finding no evidence that he'd done so, no one can be held accountable? There may be complex legal arguments over that, but to the layperson it seems bizarre. Innocent until proven guilty is an important cornerstone of Irish justice, but so is protecting the public from the scourge of gangland violence. The victim's family deserve every human sympathy, but some of the things which they said after the trial collapsed were hugely irresponsible. In court they said the gardai were "afraid of the Hutches". Outside, they held up placards going further. One read: "Where were the garda... when David Byrne was murdered?" Below: "No help from 999 calls. Who gave the go-ahead for the Regency massacre?" There is a plethora of similarly absurd and offensive conspiracy theories floating around on social media which seek to blame innocent parties for the mayhem inflicted on Dublin by criminal gangs. The gardai are not the villains of this piece, and no reasonable person could possibly argue that they were. David Byrne's family say the collapse of the trial proves that there is "no justice in Ireland", but justice is rarely neat and tidy in the milieu in which he chose to spend his life. The State can only clean up the mess; its efforts to do so don't make for a perfect world, but it's better than the one he and his cohorts helped create. David's mother stoutly denies that her dead son was a gangster, but then she also insists that her other son, Liam, is not a gangster either, when it's well known that he is a high-ranking member of the Kinahan gang, a chunk of whose assets was seized last year by the Criminal Assets Bureau on that basis. A mother will always defend her children, but all the evidence is that David Byrne was also up to his neck in the gangland swamp. Have the victims of his crimes ever got justice? Did drug addicts whose lives have been ruined by the trade he facilitated get justice? Since the Regency, 18 people have died, some of whom merely happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. There could have been dozens more murders but for the gardai's prompt action. The Byrnes swear they're just an ordinary family, and that they don't want the feud to continue. "Who wants to live like this?" says Sadie. The answer, unfortunately, is people like her late son and his associates. The State doesn't want it. The gardai don't want it. People in Dublin don't want it. To be honest, most people struggle to keep up with who's on what side. The only people with the power to end it are those keeping it going. The real injustice is that they show no sign of doing so. There's too much money and pride involved. Garda Assistant Commissioner Pat Leahy thinks all this could still be going on in 20 years' time. You can't protect everyone, least of all former brothers in arms who've fallen out over the proceeds of crime, like characters in some lurid TV mafia drama. At some point they need to take responsibility for what they've created, instead of blaming everyone else for their tragedies. It's noteworthy that those who say they want to "break the mould of politics" always seem to come together around a nostalgic call to make things go back to how they've always been. That's certainly the case in Britain with the new Independent Group of breakaway Labour and Tory MPs, who seem to harbour a longing to return to what they regard in retrospect as the halcyon days before Brexit, when the middle ground of British politics just accepted EU membership as unchangeable, like the weather. That doesn't mean they're wrong. It's just interesting that this fundamentally conservative (with a small c) world view should be seen as somehow ground-breaking. The big question for Ireland is: how significant are these developments across the water? Do they really herald a shift in thinking on Brexit to a position much closer to what this country wants? That's impossible to say. There are only around 800 hours to go until Brexit, but it's still early days when it comes to possible political realignment. There was genuine excitement in the 1980s at the launch of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), whose members had also resigned from Labour in protest at its drift to the hard left. In all honesty, the new Independent Group (TIG) doesn't feel anything like as momentous yet. It's only a snapshot but the lack of enthusiasm from the audience on Question Time on BBC TV last Thursday night was striking. Momentum may build, but it's far from guaranteed. The UK's two-party system is stubbornly resistant to change. At some point in the next few years, they'll all have to fight a general election, when the odds must be that most then lose to official Tory or Labour candidates. A total of 28 MPs defected to the SDP in those early days; just six were re-elected. The chances of some big Emmanuel Macron-style movement sweeping to power look slim. For one thing, there's not enough people in the UK enthusiastic about the EU. Even a majority of those who voted Remain in 2016, and would do so again, are lukewarm about Brussels. They may be scared of the economic consequences of leaving the EU, but that doesn't mean they like the federalist project. Britain is not Ireland. If nothing else, the emergence of the new group at least confirms that, for many voters, the current system does not offer an obvious fit for their beliefs; but there are dangers in that too. Nice, metropolitan types in England hate it that the DUP holds the balance of power in Westminster. Well, imagine a rump of MPs from former UKIP leader Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party entering Parliament under a more proportionately representative system. It might be more democratic, but it wouldn't necessarily make politics more centrist or agreeable. That's always been the advantage of the "first past the post" system. It's not representative of the broad range of political attitudes, certainly not at the moment, with everything in flux, but it does offer stable government. Minority governments might be more reliant on smaller factions than they are now. Of course, the Tories who left last week to join TIG claim their party is already in hock to extreme "hard right" Brexiteers, but that does seem an odd thing to say when those she's talking about believe the exact opposite, namely that the party is firmly in the hands of "wets", to use a term coined in the 1980s for those unenthusiastic about Thatcherism, all pushing for the softest of possible Brexits. But even if it was true that small extremist factions inside parties currently have too much power, on both left and right, the chances are that, after Brexit, the woolly centrism beloved of TIG will eventually come to the fore again. This has so far been the main criticism of the new group from Labour supporters of Jeremy Corbyn. That the defectors were quickly joined by Tories such as Anna Soubry, who still enthusiastically defends the post-crash austerity programme of the Tory/Liberal coalition after 2010, only confirmed that. Where's the radicalism? The Corbynites do have a point. They have little respect for those who don't stay and fight their corner. The hard left in Labour held their ground through a succession of centrist leaders that they despised, not least Tony Blair. Did they cut and run? The TIGs think Labour has gone too far left this time to be saved, and they may be right, but the hard left always took the longer view and eventually won the party back. Labour moderates will never win it back from the outside. All TIG MPs have in common right now is the desire for a second referendum on Brexit. It could be that their actions breathe new life into that campaign, just when it was looking hopeless, but there has to be a suspicion they've left it too late. There must be an equal suspicion, as articulated by The Guardian's Owen Jones last week, that TIG has no obvious demographic outside of middle-class journalists and politicos in London. European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker is not the only one suffering from "Brexit fatigue". Everyone is punch drunk after months of wrangling, and the media is at this stage just going round in circles. This gives them something new to write and talk about. It's fun to play Fantasy Politics with all the permutations. Whether TIG can become more than a metropolitan dinner party conversation made flesh remains to be seen, but the biggest consequence of its creation has probably been achieved already, and that is to destroy once and for all Jeremy Corbyn's chances of becoming prime minister. Opinion polls show that TIG has taken support mainly from Labour, leaving the Tories with a double digit lead after a prolonged period in which the two parties were, give or take the odd percentage point, neck and neck. Theresa May would be foolish to call an election on this basis. Her lead was even bigger before the 2017 election and she threw that away with her utter uselessness as a communicator. There's no guarantee she wouldn't blow it again. That's the problem with Fantasy Politics. Anything is possible. Could there in the next few months, for example, be what would amount to a cross-party government of national unity, led by Tories but with the assistance of pro-Remain Labourites, "Tiggers" and Lib Dems? That's complicated because it would either mean the latter lot voting for the exit agreement, in other words actually leaving the EU, which they don't want to do, or the Tories abandoning the clean Brexit which is supported by an overwhelming majority of their members and supporters, if not MPs. It's hard to see how they could do that without doing serious long-term damage to the party. All outcomes are possible, except arguably that Britain will end up staying in the EU. There's no guarantee that this would even solve the problem. It would be welcomed by the political establishment in London, Dublin, Brussels and the media, but that doesn't mean it would be more than a phoney truce. Sometimes, as in a marriage, too much has happened to go back to how things were. No one even knows what a vote to Remain right now would do to British politics, or whether it would unleash a wave of populist anger against arrogant political elites. Because that's one thing on which both the hard left and hard right do agree - that there has been a fatal disconnect between the people and the polity. They're surely right about that. They just happen to disagree on how to fix it. Overturning Brexit would offer some respite, and perhaps that's all people want at the moment; but the EU has been a faultline in British politics since it joined the EEC in 1973, and there's no reason to suppose that staying in would end it. It might even make it more important, leading to further fractures of which the emergence of the TIG faction is just the beginning. That probably won't turn out to be the seismic change in British politics that some are hailing, but for Ireland the real significance may be in making Tory Brexiteers and Labour moderates coalesce around whatever deal is cobbled together in the next few weeks to avoid a No-Deal exit. That gives pro-Brexit voices the exit that they want, and anti-Brexit voices some consolation that the sky won't fall in; but it would be naive to hope that the trouble ends there. The next hurdle of negotiations over the final shape of the deal would still to be cleared, and that could prove every bit as turbulent. Ivan Yates has revealed that he buys his cars by gambling on horses and football games. In a stark admission that is sure to have gambling addiction support groups up in arms, the popular broadcaster said he places sizeable bets once every decade to drum up 40,000 for a car - rather than get tied up in loan-to-buy schemes with motor finance companies. "We have a policy for our main family car, because [my wife] Deirdre drives and I don't with my back and so on - for long journeys I lie in the back - so once every 10 years we change the car," said the Newstalk presenter. "We drive it till it drops. I don't do anything through [finance] companies or benefit-in-kind, so once every 10 years I have to raise a humongous amount of money, up to about 40,000, to pay for a car. So what I do is I line up a bet, no word of a lie." The presenter then went on to explain how his first car was bought on the back of a hurling tip from a minister. "In 2006 [former environment minister] Phil Hogan said to me 'I am just after coming from Nowlan Park training ground'. Cork were favourites in the final to beat Kilkenny and he said 'this Kilkenny team will go through that wall. They are definitely going to win on Sunday'. So I backed them enough to win a Volvo car," said Yates. "And then the car was up to be renewed last year. Deirdre said 'we have to get a lovely Skoda car, one of these nice ones', and 36k [had to be raised] to pay for it. "We were getting rid of the old Volvo, which had been to Wales and so on. It was clapped out, because I am not into cars. I met Aidan O'Brien at the Breeders' Cup when I was on my year off and so I was talking to him and he said 'look, I am going to give you one horse that is going to win the 2000 Guineas. It's the best horse I have ever trained, Churchill. And I backed it to win 36,000 so I called the car 'Churchill'." Asked what sum of money he had to gamble in order to win the five-figure sum, Yates joked: "You need to talk to my auditors, accountants, my tax advisers, consultants and all that. I would have to shoot you if I told you." He then went on to describe how a special gift - an expensive coat for his wife - was also named after a winning steed, Gunga Din. "I said to Deirdre 'that coat is called Gunga Din'. We won a lot of money on a coat she got one day." The winning horse was named after a character in the famous Rudyard Kipling poem which contains the lines: "Though I've belted you and flayed you, By the livin' Gawd that made you, You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!" Yates added: "So sometimes I use a nickname on the basis of the circumstance [in which I got the car or a piece of clothing]. I don't need to buy another car for 10 years." Asked what he would do if his bet didn't win, he replied: "Aidan said this wouldn't be beat and it wasn't beat. He wouldn't say that very often. He might only say it once every 10 years." On taking the risk, Yates, who recently celebrated becoming Newstalk's most listened to presenter, helping the station to its highest ever market share, said: "You need ice cold [blood]. This only happens once every 10 years." However, Yates's winnings are not the norm for gamblers in this country. Latest figures show that the vast majority of people have not been so lucky - and for those who have been lucky, their good fortune eventually runs out. Ireland now has the third highest per capita rate of gambling losses in the world. As a nation, we lose about 470 per adult a year on different forms of gambling. In 2016 alone, gambling losses in Ireland totalled 2.1bn. The research by industry experts H2 Gambling Capital was published in The Economist and showed Ireland behind only Australia and Singapore in gambling terms. About half of the gambling losses in Ireland come from online, with traditional betting the second most popular method. Meanwhile, Problem Gambling Ireland, which is dedicated to reducing gambling-related harm, says that in the last three years alone it has had 100,000 unique visitors to its website. Esras sister, Berna Fidan, and Bernas daughter, Ayda, in Bray, holding a new missing person poster appealing for information on the wherabouts of Esra Uyrun Berna Fidan will never give up trying to solve the mystery of her sister's disappearance. Gardai were told her sister Esra's last words were about popping out to the local shops before she drove away from her home in Dublin. After that, she vanished. That was at 7.15am on February 23, 2011. This weekend marks the eighth anniversary of the disappearance of the 38-year-old mother of one. "Hope keeps me going," said Berna, who flew into Dublin recently from her home in London. Every year she arrives in Ireland to renew her crusade to find out what happened to Esra. Berna is seven years older than Esra and played the role of a second mother to her in their family home in London. Four years before she vanished, Esra moved to Dublin with her husband, Ozgur Uyrun. The couple both came from Turkish families. Expand Close Esra Uyrun / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Esra Uyrun Esra, a strikingly attractive woman, was an amateur artist with a keen interest in fashion design. The couple's son, Emin, was born in Ireland. They were living in Collinstown Grove, Clondalkin, when Esra was reported missing. At 11pm on the day she disappeared, her car was found on the Bray seafront in Co Wicklow. Her purse, with cash and credit cards, was found locked in the boot of the car. Berna (54) is passionately convinced Esra would never have willingly left her little son and her home. "Whatever happened to Esra, happened against her will," she said. She ruled out any possibility that Esra could have taken her life. She had been busily preparing for the arrival from London of her mother and mother-in-law and was excited about their expected arrival the next day. And so, every year, Berna takes annual leave from her job in London to travel to Ireland. She is accompanied on her journeys to Dublin by Esra's lifelong friend Ilknur MacCormick (48). The women put up fresh posters all over Clondalkin, Bray and elsewhere, appealing for anyone with information to contact gardai in Bray, or the Garda Confidential Line. They also do the rounds of media outlets to raise awareness. This year, the two women were accompanied by Berna's daughter, Ayda (25), a frequent ally on their Irish expeditions. "Over the years, I've felt the stress of not getting a breakthrough. At times I've felt close to having a breakdown but I keep going," said Berna. Her friend Ilknur said she feels Esra is still alive somewhere in the world. Berna said she still believes there is a "50-50" chance she is alive. Ayda believes her aunt is definitely dead. Berna once more outlines what she wants the Irish public to know. Esra was reported by her husband to have left the house in the family's grey Renault Twingo car at 7.15am. He said Esra assured him she only needed the car for a few minutes to go to the local shops and she would be back in time for him to drive to his job in Sportingbet.com. The grey Twingo was picked up on CCTV at the Power City roundabout in Clondalkin at around 8am and was seen being driven erratically in Bray at 8.30am. The car entered and left a car park near the Star Amusements on the seafront and re-entered the car park moments later, having almost collided with a silver Skoda Octavia. None of the CCTV footage showed the driver, so gardai do not know if it was a man or a woman behind the wheel. The car was found in the car park that night but it was in a position not covered by CCTV cameras. Among those who have helped in the search were volunteers who used a paraglider and diving equipment to search land and sea near Bray. On the first anniversary of Esra's disappearance, something intriguing happened. Berna's daughter, Ayda, went into a local retail business in Neilstown, where Esra had been a regular customer. Ayda handed in a new poster of Esra. After she walked out, a staff member came running out and handed Berna a set of car keys, telling her they must have belonged to Esra. There were photos on the keyring showing Esra, husband Ozgur and little Emin. The staff member said the bunch of keys were found on a counter in the shop a few months earlier. It was explained that no one had identified the Esra photo at the time the keys were found. Berna said Esra had lost car keys in August 2010, six months before she disappeared, but strongly believes the keys found in the shop were not those she lost then. Gardai conducted inquiries in the shop but there was no CCTV footage of the keys being left on the counter as it had happened several months before, she said. "I remember I was shaking after being handed the keys. It was so disappointing that nothing came of it," she said. As time passed after Esra's disappearance, Ozgur moved back to London with his son. Berna has continued to make the journey back to Ireland, year after year. She declared: "I will never give up. No matter how many years it takes. I will keep returning to Ireland until we find out what happened to Esra," she said. Ireland is "not playing chicken" on the Brexit backstop, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said ahead of a meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Egypt. Mr Varadkar is to meet the UK leader for a private discussion on the fringes of the first ever EU-Arab League of States summit. But in advance of the talks, he laid down a marker by publicly warning that there are no circumstances under which the EU will compromise further on the backstop. Were not playing chicken, were not playing poker. We are just standing by our position which has been solid from day one, Mr Varadkar said. It comes after Mrs May told reporters on her arrival in Sharm El-Sheikh that a meaningful vote planned for Wednesday will not now happen. My team will be back in Brussels again this coming week. They will be returning to Brussels on Tuesday. "As a result of that we won't bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week. But we will ensure that that happens by March 12, she said. Asked whether he was concerned that the vote will now take place with just two weeks to the UKs scheduled exit from the EU, Mr Varadkar said it made no difference. The decision on when this vote happens in the House of Commons isnt under my control. I havent had a chance to speak to Prime Minister May yet. I will today or tomorrow. I understand she has taken the decision to defer the vote until some time around mid-March but for the European Union, that doesnt change anything. It doesnt take anything from Irelands point of view either, he said. Mr Varadkar described the Brexit deadline of March 29 as a self-imposed deadline, suggesting again that the EU would modify it if a request came from London. Responding to comments from UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove who claimed progress is being made on either a time-limit to the backstop or unilateral exit mechanism for the UK, the Taoiseach said if people dont understand thats not going to happen. I dont think there is any more I can do to help them." He said the EU would offer assurances and clarifications on the ambition for the backstop to be temporary but Ireland needs legal guarantees about its purpose. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meets with Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz before the first European Union and Arab League Summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, February 23, 2019 in this handout picture courtesy of the Egyptian Presidency. The Egyptian Presidency/Handout via REUTERS A so-called Brexit deal in the desert is being ruled out as Europes leadership including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and British Prime Minister Theresa May decamp to Egypt today. Amid heavy security in the troubled country, prime ministers from across EU and the Arab League of States have gathered for a first of its kind summit. Expand Close Mr Varadkar and Mrs May Photo: Maxwells / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mr Varadkar and Mrs May Photo: Maxwells Brexit is not on the agenda but with both Mr Varadkar and Prime Minister May both in attendance they will be vying for the attention of other EU leaders. Mrs May is expected to meet with EU Council President Donald Tusk on the fringes of the conference to discuss changes on the Irish backstop. However, sources have ruled out a deal in the desert. Read More Ahead of arriving in Sharm El-Sheiki, Mr Varadkar said: While Brexit is not on the agenda for the Summit, the event will provide me with the opportunity to discuss the latest developments with many of my EU counterparts who will be in attendance. The main purpose of the two-day summit is for leaders to consider how to strengthen cooperation on issues of mutual interest including multi-lateralism, regional peace and stability, migration, human rights, counter-terrorism, trade, economic development and climate action. The Taoiseach will make a formal statement during the plenary sessions, and will take the opportunity to highlight Irelands priorities and perspective on a range of foreign policy issues. It is expected he is to canvass support for Irelands bid to win a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in June 2020 for the 2021-2022 term. Expand Close Taoiseach Leo Varadkar / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Taoiseach Leo Varadkar This is the first time that leaders from EU member states and the Arab League have come together in this format to discuss shared priorities. Ireland has strong links with a number of Arab League states, through trade, our peacekeeping efforts in the Middle East and our significant expat communities in the Gulf. Also, we will soon open new embassies in Amman and Rabat, Mr Varadkar said. Although we do not agree on everything, this Summit will provide an important opportunity for open dialogue on how we can enhance the Euro-Arab partnership and take on regional challenges, including co-operation on migration, security and counter-terrorism. The League of Arab States is the only pan-Arab grouping gathering all Arab countries. It includes 22 member states from Africa and the Middle East: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Syria's membership was suspended in 2011, and it is not participating in the summit. Gardai have released CCTV images of an Icelandic man who has been missing in Dublin for over two weeks. Detective Inspector Michael Mulligan today renewed an appeal for the publics assistance in locating Jon Jonsson, who was last seen on February 9 on Swords Road in Dublin. Mr Jonssons family have travelled from Iceland to aid Gardai in their investigation. Following an extensive search yesterday, which saw Gardai and the 41-year-olds family aided by Icelandic search and rescue specialists and a large number of Irish volunteers, Mr Jonssons brother, Daniel Wiium, said that they are hopeful of finding him. Im very hopeful, he said We had a lot of people yesterday, really helpful people. We had people this morning asking if they could go searching again today so we gathered a lot of intel and we talked to a lot of people. Hopefully someone will remember something. The police are going over all of the evidence we collected yesterday and we are supposed to meet them sometime today so that well get a better view of what we have. Id like to ask the people to just keep an open eye, check your CCTV footage and just try to remember, I know its hard, two weeks back in time and see if you have any recollection of anything which was out of the ordinary and just help us find our brother. Mr Jonsson, who arrived in Ireland on Friday, February 8 to take part in a poker tournament with his fiancee, was last seen in Whitehall, exiting McGettigans pub at 11.07am the following day, having left the Bonnington hotel. Detective Inspector Michael Mulligan said that there is concern for the mans safety because of the lack on contact that Mr Jonssons family have received from him. This is an appeal in relation to a missing person Jon Jonsson who has been missing since the 9th of this month from the Bonnigton Hotel, he said. There are serious concerns for his safety at this stage as he has been missing now for over two weeks. While we have nothing to indicate that anything sinister may have happened to him, we are appealing to the media, and the public at large, for any information in relation to his disappearance. We have conducted numerous enquiries here in the area behind me [Swords Road]. It has been searched by our air support and also the dogs unit. The family has conducted a search in the area. We have liaised with international colleagues and nothing has come to the fore. CCTV footage of Mr Jonsson shows him leaving McGettigans pub and travelling northbound on the Swords Road towards Dublin Airport, where he was last seen near Highfield Hospital. While he left his passport, phone and his full suitcase in the hotel, Mr Jonsson was in possession of his credit cards when he left, and his brothers estimate that he was also carrying a few thousand euros in cash. There has been no activity on his credit cards since going missing. While the Ballymun Garda said that they currently have no reason to believe that foul play was involved, he admitted that the circumstances of his disappearance are unusual. Our concern is that it is unusual for him to go missing and not to make contact with family, either at home or here with him, he said. Its just over two weeks now since he was last seen. He left with the clothes he was wearing. The suitcase and his passport and mobile phone were in his room. Mr Mulligan added that this was the Mr Jonssons first time in Ireland and that he had no friends or family here. The Gardai, he said, received several calls of possible sightings which they will look into along with any other leads. The man is described as being six foot tall and of a medium build, with short brown hair and was wearing a black padded jacket when he was last seen. Gardai ask anyone that may have information about Mr Jonssons whereabouts to contact them on the confidential line, 1800666111, or to contact Ballymun Garda Station directly A MAN appeared before a special court sitting charged with possession for sale or supply of cannabis after a Garda operation which resulted in the seizure of an estimated 700,000 worth of drugs on a Cork farm. Michael 'Mick' O'Brien (44) of Bweenagemeil, Bweeng, Co Cork appeared before Mallow District Court on two charges brought contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act. O'Brien is charged with two counts of possession of drugs for sale or supply at Bweeng on Saturday, February 23. The charges arose from a Garda operation at a remote farm holding in north Cork on Saturday in which a quantity of drugs was discovered. The property involved is around 20km outside Mallow. Judge David Waters was told the defendant made no reply to Detective Garda Patrick Sexton when he was arrested, cautioned and formally charged with the two counts.. Mallow District Court was told by Inspector Michael Corbett that Gardai had no objection to the defendant being remanded on bail once specific conditions were met. Defence solicitor, Cathal Lombard, confirmed to Judge Waters that all bail conditions stipulated by Gardai would be met by his client. He said his client would, if required, surrender his passport and sign on at Mallow Garda Station at specified dates. Judge Waters was told that the State was seeking an adjournment of all matters until April to allow for the preparation of the book of evidence in the case. He remanded O'Brien on agreed bail conditions to appear again before Mallow District Court on April 23 next. You are here: World Flash Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets of the capital Caracas on Saturday in defense of peace and Bolivarian revolution. Supporters of the ruling party gathered to hear President Nicolas Maduro rail against attempted U.S. military intervention under the guise of humanitarian concern. "Thirty days later, the coup has failed," Maduro said, referring to Jan. 23 when right-wing opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president and launched a push to unseat the president. Maduro said peace had prevailed by successfully securing the country's borders against the forced delivery of U.S. aid, which was believed to be a pretext for an eventual military incursion. "We are fighting for the right to peace with justice, with independence," Maduro told a receptive crowd that occasionally chanted pro-government slogans. Before supporters rallied in the capital, opponents had concentrated at key border points with neighboring Colombia and Brazil to press for the aid to pass. Health authorities are assessing three possible cases of rubella as fears grow over a significant spike in childhood diseases. While confirmed cases of rubella have been extremely rare in Ireland in the past decade, its possible re-emergence comes amid mounting concern over the rise of diseases prevented by the MMR (measles mumps and rubella) vaccine. Public health chiefs had already expressed concern at the huge increase in the number of cases of mumps, while new figures also show a rise in cases of measles in recent weeks. The HSE is now stepping up plans to alert the public about the importance of ensuring they have received the MMR vaccine. Public health bodies have attributed the resurgence of measles and mumps to inadequate MMR vaccine uptake. Vaccination rates from MMR began to drop in the late 1990s after research - which has since been completely discredited - claimed it was linked to autism. Parents have been urged to make sure their children are up to date with all their vaccines. The HSE has contacted colleges, GPs and public health staff about the issue and plans to step up public awareness and vaccination encouragement campaigns in the coming days. Provisional data shows that 320 cases of mumps have been notified to the HSE in the first seven weeks of 2019, compared with 52 cases in the same period last year, a rise of more than 500pc. A total of 576 cases of mumps were notified to the HSE in 2018, almost double the 291 cases reported in 2017. The majority of mumps cases to date in 2019 have been in teenagers and young adults, with nine mumps outbreaks reported in community, school, university, private homes and other settings so far this year. At least 15 people have been hospitalised. Some sporting events involving teenagers have been cancelled in Dublin because of mumps outbreaks, while third-level institutions including Trinity College Dublin and UCD have contacted students and staff warning of symptoms, suggesting at-risk students get vaccinated, and telling those who may be affected to avoid other students. In addition, there have been 23 cases of measles reported to the HSE in the first seven weeks of 2019, also up from this time last year. In 2018 a total of 81 cases of measles were reported in Ireland, significantly up from the figure of 25 in 2017. Ireland is not the only country being affected by a surge in measles and mumps cases. In 2018, more than 82,000 cases of measles were reported across the European region, including 72 deaths. In 1998, Dr Andrew Wakefield's research claimed that the MMR vaccine was linked to the development of autism. Despite Dr Wakefield eventually being struck off the medical register in the UK, and his research being absolutely discredited, distrust of the MMR vaccination lingered and helped spawn the anti-vax movement which has spread similar unfounded distrust about other vaccines. While uptake of the MMR vaccine among children in Ireland is about 92pc, this remains below the 'herd immunity' target of 95pc required to prevent the spread of these diseases. Furthermore, about 10pc to 30pc of the Irish population under the age of 40 - those largely being impacted by the current outbreaks - have not received the necessary two doses of the MMR vaccine. Dr Suzanne Cotter, HSE specialist in public health medicine, warned that many people do not realise they have not received the MMR vaccine. She advised those unsure or who discover that they are unvaccinated to consider getting vaccinated. Symptoms of mumps include fever, headache, tiredness and swollen salivary glands as well as the appearance of swollen cheeks or jaws. While it usually resolves after 10 days, mumps can cause viral meningitis, and in rare cases deafness, encephalitis and other complications. Older Irish women are dying at a higher rate since the recession than anticipated under long-term life expectancy rates. A new study has found there has been a spike in the death rates of women in the 10-year age bracket of 65 to 74 between 2014 and 2016. In 2016, over 10pc more women in this age group than expected died, while the figure for their male counterparts was just over 5pc. The research paper, published in this month's Irish Medical Journal, examined the mortality rates between 1986 and 2008 when the global recession hit, and measured them against Irish death rates of people aged from 65 to 84 during the five-year period from 2011 to 2016. The authors, Professor Danny Dorling, from the University of Oxford, and Professor Jan Rigby, from Maynooth University, investigated 82,707 deaths between the ages of 65 and 84 between 2011 and 2016. They concluded that 1,723, or just over 2pc of the men and women, died earlier than would have been predicted under the 20-year life expectancy patterns from before the recession. "Since 2014, it's the female 65- to 74-year age group that has seen significantly more deaths than we would expect in [terms of] patterns of life expectancy," said Professor Rigby. "We would have expected fewer deaths if those long-term trends had carried on." The research paper titled 'Recession, Austerity and Life Expectancy' has probed the effects of the global financial crash and the austerity policies that were introduced across Europe in the aftermath. The paper revealed that life expectancy in some areas of England has fallen by more than one year since 2011 -which was described as "an extraordinary reversal" - while in the USA life expectancy has now been falling for at least two years. In Ireland, life expectancy at 65 has continued to increase, but has slowed substantially from a gain of three years between 1995 and 2005 to 1.9 years between 2005 and 2015 for men and from 2.6 years down to 1.2 years for women. The research paper examined life expectancy in 10 western European countries from 1993-2015 and found rates in Ireland, Sweden and Denmark had stalled. The rates in the UK, Germany, France, Greece and Spain are falling while Norway and Finland are continuing to see life expectancy rise. Professor Rigby said there had been a noticeable change in the trends of life expectancy across Europe since the crash in 2008. "With life expectancy you normally expect it to increase about two years every 10 years and this has been going on since the 1950s, so it is a long, long-term trend and all of a sudden in this period for some countries things have started to change. "It's dramatic in the UK because their life expectancy has actually fallen as it has in the US." She said in Ireland life expectancy rates are "slowing down much more than we would expect". Professor Rigby said the higher rate of deaths of Irish women in the age group of 65 to 74 would have had an impact on the overall life expectancy rates of the nation. "It certainly made a major contribution to the slowing down in life expectancy. "Whatever normally happens with events like the economic crash you wouldn't expect that to reflect in death rates instantly - it would be further down the line. "I think where Ireland did well is it maintained old age pensions and it didn't do what the UK did in terms of the social care budget. It has certainly slowed down, we don't know which way it's going to go." The family of a man with intellectual disability is resisting efforts to send him to a nursing home more than 70km away from his family home. Ken Hurley (49) has been ready for discharge from a mental health unit at Cork University Hospital for more than two months. But efforts by the HSE to send him to Co Limerick for nursing home care have upset his family, who said he should be closer to the home of his 85-year-old mother Elizabeth in Cork city. "It's important that Ken is not sent too far away so that our mother, who is quite frail, can visit him often," said Ken's sister Celine. The family's plight has led to a public call for more resources for the care of people with disabilities. Ken has lived all his life with his mother in the family home in Bishopstown, Cork. After attending a school for pupils with special needs, Ken later made daily visits to an adult day centre run by the Cope Foundation. In early 2017, he stopped attending the day centre as his mental health began to deteriorate. It was suspected he could be suffering from early onset dementia, said Celine. In August 2017, he was admitted to the mental health unit at Cork University Hospital after he began to harm himself. After six months, he was transferred to a nursing home in east Cork, 30 minutes drive from the family home. When he began to suffer outbursts at the nursing home in August last year, he was transferred back to the mental health unit. He remained a patient there and in November a chest infection developed into pneumonia and he was treated in the intensive care unit in the main hospital. He recovered following treatment and was returned to the hospital's mental health unit in early December and was later deemed ready for discharge. Health officials have been seeking to discharge him since December, she said. His elderly mother is no longer able to provide care for Ken in the family home. "The HSE's delayed discharge team want to sent him to nursing homes in Co Limerick, one is 75km from the family home and another 86km away. It's not fair to expect our 85-year-old mother to travel so far to see her son," said Ms Hurley. "We want residential care closer to home." The family also believe he is too young to live with elderly patients in a nursing home. Ms Hurley said officials informed them charges of 1,365 a week could be incurred for Ken's continued stay in the mental health unit. A spokeswoman for the HSE's Cork Kerry Community Healthcare said the personal details of patients are never disclosed for ethical and legal reasons. "However, we can say that our teams and staff have engaged fully with Mr Hurley and his family, and will continue to do so," she said. "As a general comment, when someone has complex medical and mental health needs, our priority is to identify a suitable residential placement that can meet all of those needs. Various factors will be considered, including the need for appropriate medical care, appropriate psychiatric care and the need for contact with friends and family. "While we are not commenting on these particular circumstances, it should be noted that in particular cases where there are very complex needs, only certain facilities will be able to provide the right care," she added. Catherine Cox of Family Carers Ireland said: "What is urgently required is a plan for the future care and housing needs of people with disabilities and investment in a range of independent living and community-based residential centres. "This would allow people with a disability to live with dignity and independence and their carers can have peace of mind knowing their adult child will be looked after when they are no long able to provide care." Leading Irish academics have warned that demoting geography in the Junior Cert will have a detrimental impact on young people and the country. Photo: Stock image Leading Irish academics have warned that demoting geography in the Junior Cert will have a detrimental impact on young people and the country. In a letter published in today's Sunday Independent, the heads of six university geography departments expressed deep concern at the removal of geography as a core subject in the Junior Cert. They said geography was key to solving global problems such as climate change and poverty, and in proposing solutions to issues such as the housing crisis. It is vital that students have a geographical training so they can become "active participants in tackling national and global issues", they said. Geography and history were removed as core subjects from the Junior Cert last year, making them optional. The dropping of history as a core subject is currently being reviewed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). The academics said it was vitally important geography be reinstated, citing its contributions to climate change, rural diversification and marine spatial planning, while geographers are increasingly being sought as experts on a myriad of emerging global issues, such as microplastics, forced migration, globalisation and sustainable consumption. "Geography plays an essential role in the evolution of societies, their ideas, places and environments and this geographical training is vital for Irish students in an ever-changing Europe," the letter said. Undermining the importance of the subject in the curriculum may "compromise" this in the future. Some Agatha Christie classics need no reminder. Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express are works so frequently exhumed that watching a new version is more an act of suspending memory than disbelief. Not so with The Mirror Crack'd however. The Miss Marple mystery is set in St Mary Mead of 1953, and is, as with seemingly all such stories of such vintage, a simmering brew of class war, snobbery, sexual politics, impropriety and intrigue. The locals - prim, buttoned-up and self-contained - appear almost as alien when compared to the American actress who descends upon the village to join her new husband at his pile. With tantalising echoes of modern celebrity, a strand of British versus American culture, this is a surprisingly apposite work. The contrast between the glamorous Americans and the timid British could not be more striking. And given current comparisons between the Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex, it appears that despite being published in 1964, we still ruminate on the same obsessions. Susie Blake plays Marple. But she is instantly recognisable to Irish viewers as Hilary, Maria Brown's snobbish mother from Mrs Brown's Boys. She took over the role from Sorcha Cusack in series two and three and the subsequent specials. She doesn't think she will return to Hilary, however, as she feels she may have exhausted Mrs Brown's patience and is prepared to quit while Hilary is ahead. "I think that's probably it for me because she was so nice to Hilary the last time. So I don't know where that can go." Brendan O'Carroll himself is, of course, something of a divisive figure in showbusiness. "He's Marmite," she agrees. "But he's honest and he loves the fans and he really looks after them. Even after the recording he'll always go out and talk to the audience. He really values the audience." It so happens that another recent prime time role involved an Irish household name. She acted alongside Keith Duffy in his early Coronation Street days when she was playing cougar-of-note Bev Unwin, a character who generated oodles of column inches. "Lovely Keith Duffy. We had a snog. And gorgeous Bill Ward, we had a snog. I was very lucky, wasn't I?" Blake admits that, at the time at least, her character was something of an anomaly. "I was around 50 when I did that and seeing a 50-year-old woman with slightly younger men is still quite surprising. But people seemed to be very supportive and saying thank you for representing older women as still having a sex life basically." She liked working with Duffy, she says, finding his honesty particularly charming. "He was huge fun. He was quite new to it and he was honest about that, but he knew what he was doing. It's very hard doing soap because you don't record anything in order. We had a scene together which was quite fiery and argumentative and then he was going off to propose to somebody. And I said, 'Oh great, now you know what you're feeling when you do that. And he said, 'Ah no, we've already shot that'. "That's what's hard about soap. It's not like in theatre where you can use the scene you've just come from to inform the next one," she says. "It's gruelling because they have so many episodes and a massive cast. They have two or three storylines. The people that work the hardest are the crew and makeup and wardrobe. They just never stop. I had no social life." Now she's returning to the stage in a role once played famous by Angela Lansbury in an exceptionally star-studded 1980 movie, which featured Liz Taylor, Kim Novak, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis and a cherubic Pierce Brosnan in his film debut. Where the film took a certain amount of poetic licence, this is a more faithful adaptation of the original book, The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side. This production has a new script (by Rachel Wagstaff, who most recently adapted a stage production of The Girl on the Train) and the cast have just begun rehearsals when I meet Blake. And while Marple might not seem an especially controversial choice, given the current culture wars this particular work seems more contentious than usual. There is snobbery aplenty, but it is the unalloyed phrases of the characters which now sound antediluvian. These, she says, have not been censored for a modern audience. But this is not without purpose. "It is really up to date but it sticks to the 1962 influences with music and fashion and also what seems to us really shocking - the expressions and the un-PC way people saw the world. "What Melly Still, the director, has impressed upon us is to go for it, as in the course of the play, we all learn something. Rachel Wagstaff has interpreted the book so even if you read it you would still get a few surprises," she says, sitting by the gas heater in the yawning third-floor rehearsal space. "There are a few clues and outcomes that are different but the characters are still all there." Christie was a most astute observer of the human condition and never failed to illuminate its flaws. Here, too, one has to look to find a likeable character. "Inspector Craddock is brought up short by Marple when he says things that are inappropriate. And she realises that she's being inappropriate when she talks about the people that live on the development as somehow less worthy than the people who live in the village. There's that whole thing, which still exists today, let's be honest. So all of that is brought into sharp focus from the very beginning." Blake herself was born in North London's Highgate, now home to the likes of Kate Moss and Jude Law. At one she moved to Broadstairs in Kent - a quaint seaside town on the east coast of England and perhaps best known in recent times for being the seat which was contested by UKIP's Nigel Farage. Her career was a passion project. From the age of eight, she says, there was no doubt as to her ambition. "The superstar when I was seven or eight was Margot Fonteyn. It wasn't to do with film stars, it was to do with ballet. Maybe my mother sowed that seed because she wanted to get me into boarding school. And I loved boarding school. Absolutely loved it. I know that's not very fashionable to say. "I went to Elmhurst Ballet School, because some of my cousins went there first. And then I went to Arts Ed school and then to LAMDA (London Academy of Dramatic Arts)." Having started in theatre, she is self-deprecating on her move into comedy. "You leave drama school and you think you're going to go into the Royal Shakespeare Company and then suddenly I was doing Russ Abbott Madhouse which was quite surprising, although I'm glad I did because Victoria Wood saw it and knew me from there." Her stints on Victoria Wood - you can watch some of the sketches on YouTube - made her a household face. (For evidence of how popular Wood remains, a tribute Twitter account, @VictoriaQOTD has over 35,000 followers.) Her continuity announcer, "she never had a name, but in my head she was always a Penelope or a Pamela", was a key part of the show, the character being deliciously bitchy. When Wood approached her for the part, however, there was nothing in her routine which made her an obvious casting. "I was working in the King's Head, which was a pub theatre, when she met me. I was playing three different American characters. She wanted people around her who could act. She didn't need to typecast. If she thought you could do it then she'd give you a part. It didn't have to be immediately what you would assume. "We met there and I went along to read. At the time the scripts were long monologues of this woman who was left alone in the studio at night with the television on and she's got the controls and so she just rabbits on and on. And then she thought, 'No, I'm going to use her as a continuity lady throughout the programme. And that was amazing. What a gift!" "She was a complete craftperson. She tried things. She knew what worked so nothing was altered - at all. None of her scripts were altered, a comma or a full stop." It's clear that she was very fond of Wood, who died from cancer in 2016, and speaks of her with great warmth. "She was huge fun to work with. In those early days she didn't have the pressure that she did, I think, afterwards." The stage production comes to Dublin on March 12 and then on to Cambridge and Cardiff. I ask her what she's up to next. "I've no idea. No actor plans. And if they tell you otherwise, they're lying." Well, no censorship there then. 'The Mirror Crack'd' runs at the Gaiety Theatre from March 12 to 16. See gaietytheatre.ie Richard E Grant and Roma were among the winners at the Film Independent Spirit Awards as Hollywood makes its final preparations ahead of the Oscars (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Richard E Grant and If Beale Street Could Talk were among the winners at the Film Independent Spirit Awards as Hollywood makes its final preparations ahead of the Oscars. Held each year to celebrate the best in independent film, the ceremony took place in a tent on Santa Monica beach a day before the Academy Awards. British actor Grant, 61, became emotional on stage as he accepted the prize of best supporting male for his role as Aids-stricken Jack Hock in Can You Ever Forgive Me? Expand Close Glenn Close, left, embraced Richard E Grant as he picked up his best supporting actor award (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Glenn Close, left, embraced Richard E Grant as he picked up his best supporting actor award (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) It was the first major award of Grants career. Grant said he was absolutely astonished and emotional to have won in a category also containing Paul Castillo for We The Animals, Adam Driver for BlacKkKlansman, Josh Hamilton for Eighth Grade and John David Washington for Monsters And Men. Grant told the audience he was third choice for the part of Hock, behind Sam Rockwell and Chris ODowd and that his casting was arbitrary and its luck. Hock is diagnosed with HIV in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and Grant said the role was an homage to men wiped out by that disease. He said his portrayal of Hock was inspired by Scottish actor and star of Chariots Of Fire Ian Charleson, a family friend of Grants who died aged 40 in 1990 after being diagnosed with Aids. Expand Close Glenn Close and her dog, Pip, who arrived together at the Film Independent Spirit Awards (Jordan Strauss/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Glenn Close and her dog, Pip, who arrived together at the Film Independent Spirit Awards (Jordan Strauss/PA) Grants win sets up a tantalising showdown for the best supporting actor gong at the Oscars, with Mahershala Ali still the narrow favourite for his turn in Green Book. It was not Can You Ever Forgive Me?s only win of the night, with Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty taking home the best screenplay award. If Beale Street Could Talk, Barry Jenkins drama based on James Baldwins 1974 novel, won best feature, the main award of the night. Jenkins, who was snubbed at the Oscars, also won best director. Glenn Close won best female lead for his role as a disillusioned spouse in The Wife. However, Close, who is favourite for the best actress Oscar, was upstaged by her dog, Pip. The white Havanese who also joined Close on the blue carpet before the event trotted up to the stage alongside her and had the audience in uproarious laughter as he rolled on the floor while his famous owner paid tribute to her fellow nominees. Expand Close Barry Jenkins won best director at the Indiie Film Awards for If Beale Street Could Talk (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Barry Jenkins won best director at the Indiie Film Awards for If Beale Street Could Talk (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Bo Burnham, who was also snubbed at the Oscars but had joy at both the writers and directors guild of America awards, picked up the prize for best first screenplay for coming-of-age drama Eighth Grade. Best male lead went to Ethan Hawke for First Reformed, a drama in which he plays a Protestant minister grappling with his faith. Best international film went to Alfonso Cuarons black-and-white semi-biographical picture Roma and the filmmaker immediately predicted the growing diversity in the industry would make the category obsolete. The Netflix film has enjoyed tremendous success this awards season and is heavy favourite to win best picture at the Oscars on Sunday. Accepting the prize on stage, Mexican filmmaker Cuaron said he is optimistic about diversity in Hollywood and that it could soon mean there is no need for an international film category. Expand Close Alfonso Cuaron accepts the award for best international film for Roma at the 34th Film Independent Spirit Awards (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Alfonso Cuaron accepts the award for best international film for Roma at the 34th Film Independent Spirit Awards (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Speaking backstage, he laughed off questions about having multiple acceptance speeches ready for the Oscars, where Roma leads the way in nominations with 10. Best supporting female went to Regina King for her role in If Beale Street Could Talk. King is also nominated for an Oscar. The Truer Than Fiction Award, presented each year to the emerging director of a non-fiction feature, was awarded to Bing Liu for Minding The Gap. Boots Riley picked up the prize for best first feature for his dark comedy Sorry To Bother You. Best documentary went to Wont You Be My Neighbor?, which examines the life and legacy of beloved US childrens TV host Fred Rogers. The prizes were handed out by non-profit organisation Film Independent, comprising actors, film-makers and critics. In 2017, Nicole Flattery won the White Review Short Story Prize, which if you haven't heard of it is the award for hungry writers. She flew to London, attended a hot literary party in her honour, then came home and cashed in a cheque for 3,000. She was 27. Back in Galway, she went into the Social Welfare office to explain where the money had come from. "The woman was my mother's age. She said, 'you're a great girl, you must be very good'." For this writer, it was a meaningful endorsement from inside the system that had supported her while she did nothing else but write. "The dole allowed me to do these things. It has for so many writers in Ireland." It is exactly two years later, and Nicole is drinking coffee in the Library Bar in Dublin. The actor Stephen Rea is at the next table having a hushed conversation. "Is that Stephen Rea?" she whispers excitedly, unaware, it seems, that there is more than one interesting person in the room. Her debut collection of stories, Show Them A Good Time, is about to be published here by The Stinging Fly Press and there'll be a UK launch next month after Bloomsbury snapped up the rights in a reported six-figure two-book deal. Flattery's next book, a novel, is slated for publication in 2021. Frank O'Connor wrote that good short stories are always about "outlawed figures wandering about the fringes" rather than "normal" characters - the preserve of novels. The isolated, exploited, emotionally abused characters in Flattery's stories carry on this fine tradition, but are chillingly current. She grew up in Kinnegad, Co Westmeath, where her mother was as an accountant and her father an English teacher. Speech and drama classes had a profound effect. "You would leave school, go into a space where you got to do something different to your ordinary life. It was very freeing. I always loved improv. In drama, the whole idea is there are no wrong impulses." Flattery studied Theatre & Film at Trinity and credits Irish playwrights - Beckett, Enda Walsh, Marina Carr - as big influences, next to David Lynch and Wes Anderson. Studying plays in particular taught her the rigours of writing dialogue, and the power of a good setting. "I put characters in small places. That's a real playwright trick, just get them all into a tight space." Flattery did a master's in Creative Writing at Trinity, but "didn't write much". For a few years she worked in various minimum-wage jobs, "trying to stay alive and things". A greeting-card shop, selling cards for "way longer than anyone should do that job for". The cloakroom of a pub/nightclub, checking in coats and "sometimes losing coats and things". Writing a play was an obvious thing to do, and she had written a "really bad" play while in college. A novel seemed "too daunting", but short stories were a way in: "I like a good sentence, and I think stories give you that." Her fiction first saw the light four years ago, when she was working as an intern at the Lilliput Press. Her friend, the writer Thomas Morris, then editor of The Stinging Fly, asked to read a story she was working on about a young woman who discovers a hump on her back. "He made me do several drafts," says Flattery. "It's a good thing to send someone back again to keep trying. A lot of editors don't do that." It is unusual, but not surprising, that after 'Hump' was published, an agent took her on immediately (Tracy Bohan, who also represents Nicole's good friend Sally Rooney). The story was extremely funny, intimate and disturbing. She moved to New York and landed a job as assistant to a top literary agent, from which, after "a fraught few months", she was fired. (She describes the debacle in a personal essay in The Stinging Fly, 'Dance, Sing, Earn Your Keep': "She would just look at me in a way that said: if I had hired a person to be incompetent, I couldn't have found anyone better.") "I guess work, the precarity of work, is definitely a theme in the book. The title story is about the JobBridge scheme. All the frustration I felt towards that," she says, referring to the story which begins: "The schemes were for people with plenty of time, or people not totally unfamiliar with being treated like shit". Alienation runs through the stories, peopled by nameless women in meaningless roles, who are often seduced by powerful, awful men. And no matter now bleak, there is always plenty to laugh at. The woman in the story 'Parrot', who temps and makes poor romantic choices: "She treated these temp jobs like cocktail parties, draping her sparkling self across surfaces, trying to dazzle in a limited amount of time." The narrator in 'Hump', whose predatory boss "had a way of looking me up and down like I was a CV full of errors and misspellings". And the frightening circumstances of the girl in 'Track', who is swept into a relationship with a wildly narcissistic comedian, set in a lonely, almost post-apocalypitic New York City. That story won her the White Review prize, and around that time the publisher of Stinging Fly, Declan Meade, proposed she work towards a collection. She had returned from New York "a little bit disenchanted, not very happy. I didn't feel like coming back up to Dublin. I thought, I guess, I can write. I chose to go to Galway. "That was a great time," she says. "I had been on the dole for quite a while. Your confidence gets kind of low, any writer will tell you that. Everything felt kind of impossible." In contrast to her stories, Nicole is softly spoken, unassuming, not given to linguistic pyrotechnics. She admits that attention doesn't sit naturally with her. That White Review party was, she recalls, "surreal - I'd never been at a party where that many people wanted to talk to me. I don't think I want to do that again." She seems happier discussing her favourite writers - Laurie Moore, Maggie Nelson, Mary Gaitskill, Jane Bowles, Ottessa Moshfegh - and her favourite play - The Walworth Farce - than unpacking the motivations behind her own stories or revealing the secrets of her craft. She will say that she is "not a very disciplined person, I don't think. I'm quite easily distracted." She writes "on anything". "Notebooks, little receipts. Really messy," and handwrites in "terrible handwriting". "I can't type directly into a computer, it just doesn't look right to me." This new star seems not so much reluctant as insouciant, unfazed by the likelihood of success. She is about to fly to New York where she will continue research for that next novel, Nothing Special, which is based on two teenage girls working in The Factory for Andy Warhol. "It's going to be tricky," she says, just as we say goodbye. "I wonder how much I can get away with." Quite a lot, if her short stories are anything to go by. Nicole's ex-boss, the literary agent, really missed a trick. 'Show Them a Good Time' by Nicole Flattery is published by The Stinging Fly Press There was a time, a decade ago, when a certain type of attention-seeking celebrity wouldn't dream of being seen in public without wearing a knotted red string on their left wrist. England footballer David Beckham sported one prominently over his tattoos at the Euros in 2004 (including when he missed a penalty). Kylie Minogue, Demi Moore and Mick Jagger, among others, brandished theirs as a hint that, when away from the cameras, they were in fact deeply spiritual people. The bracelet in question is the outward sign (to devotees) of the inner grace of Kabbalah, a mystical tradition within Judaism that, in its many manifestations over the past 900 years, has appealed to those hankering after one-to-one spiritual intimacy with a divine creator who sustains the universe. Nothing so unusual in that, and both Islam and Christianity also have their own mystical traditions in Sufism or the likes of Julian of Norwich, who experienced visions of God. Mainstream religion, though, has generally been rather suspicious of mystics because they tend to be solitary, ungovernable types, whose revelations of the divine attract devotees, but diverge significantly (and dangerously, from an orthodoxy point of view) from the doctrines of their faith traditions. And so it has been with Kabbalah, long before the Catholic-raised Madonna latched on to it in the 90s and made it - as is her way - simultaneously fashionable, newsworthy and controversial. Her plans, for instance, to fill her swimming pool at the Wiltshire estate she shared with Guy Ritchie with "Kabbalah water" at 3 a bottle were lampooned when it turned out that she was being overcharged for tap water by a network of Kabbalah Centres whose sincerity was called into question by their business practices. "Unfortunately," reflected Madge's mate, Sandra Bernhard, another one-time devotee, "money corrupts everything, even spirituality". It is that core spirituality, however, what lies behind all the hype and stunts, that fascinates Harry Freedman. He has academic bona fides (a PhD in Aramaic, the language spoken by the Jews of Galilee, including Jesus, in the first century, and by Kabbalists), but in this book he is on a quest to explain (rather than sell) Kabbalah. It is quite a daunting challenge, not just because of the recent clouds that hang over its reputation, but on account of it being so self-consciously esoteric. The roots of Kabbalah, he shows, lie in the visions of heaven and hell that were found in Jewish holy books and teaching from the third century BC onwards, which had been prompted by a series of military reverses the Jewish people had suffered. They were questioning whether they could any more claim to be God's chosen people, and found solace in apocalyptic visions shared by mystics of an almighty cosmic battle where God would defeat their enemies and establish a heavenly kingdom on Earth. Those texts continued to resonate from the third to ninth centuries - where there were further reverses for the Jews - but it wasn't until the 12th century that Kabbalah (which means "reception", in the sense of a received tradition) first emerged among the small, inward-looking, Jewish community in Provence, and then spread into Muslim-controlled northern Spain. The Kabbalists hold that it was an oral tradition, but its first written version is found in the Zohar (meaning "splendour" or "radiance") in 13th-century Castile. This is claimed to be a lost-and-found second-century text in Aramaic by a noted teacher, Shimon bar Yohai, which somehow had made its way from a cave in the Israeli desert into the hands of one Moses de Leon, who had translated it into Hebrew. Some Kabbalah devotees still accept this version, but the consensus now is that de Leon either made it up or assembled it from a variety of older sources. There was no single original he had worked from. At the time, though, such was the Zohar's impact that it spread across Europe, even prompting a Christian version, known as Cabala, in the Renaissance Florence of the Medicis. But when the Jews were expelled from the newly reunited and Christian Spain in 1492, the Zohar was taken to Israel, where a community of Spanish exiles established a community at Safed in Galilee. A succession of great teachers there created the version of the Kabbalah that we still have today. Many aspects of that core story are disputed and, like all mystical teaching, Kabbalah has been a dancer to the music of different times. Freedman navigates the story with great skill and good judgment, explaining the "how" of Kabbalah's survival and regular revivals, but provides too little on the "why". Why has this complicated, often unfathomable tradition, with its multitudes of angels and talk of sefirot, or channels of divine energy flowing backwards and forwards between the created world and "concealed" world, continued to strike such a chord with individuals right down to Madonna? In a secular age such as our own, when popular theological literacy is at an all-time low, Freedman has undoubtedly done a great service by rescuing Kabbalah from the pile that a sceptical world labels "mumbo-jumbo". Yet by the end of his account, there is no real sense of having nailed down his subject. Perhaps the impossibility of defining it is, in fact, the real reason for Kabbalah's continuing appeal. Peter Stanford's 'Angels: A Visible and Invisible History' is out on March 7 Huawei has been at the centre of a row over whether its next generation 5G mobile infrastructure represents a security risk for western countries. Tomorrow, the world's most important communications conference kicks off in Barcelona. But 2019's Mobile World Conference will not be dominated by Samsung's new folding phone, Apple's augmented reality plans or mobile broadband. Instead, the big story is Huawei. For those who haven't been following it, the Chinese telecommunications company has been at the centre of a row over whether its next generation 5G mobile infrastructure represents a security risk for western countries. A rump of defence hawks, mainly US-based, have been arguing that the company's ties with Chinese authorities are too tight. Thus, Beijing might have too much control over critical communications systems that might control our cars and electricity grids, as well as our mobile phones. (The difference between 4G and 5G is that the former is about fast data speeds while the latter is about connecting millions of previously standalone machines and devices.) Up until a few weeks ago, this anti-Huawei side were looking strong. Led by some in the US intelligence community and a few American government officials, they had convinced Australian and New Zealand authorities - as well as US mobile phone carriers - to block any new deployment of Huawei equipment in critical 5G infrastructure. It appeared that British operators were considering a similar course, with BT reportedly marginalising Huawei kit to "non-core" functions. But the last seven days have seen the tide turn in favour of Huawei. A number of senior European countries - which are key as to whether the US push becomes a global one - look to have rejected the thrust of security fears over deploying the Chinese company's gear in 5G networks. German chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet, briefed by German security sources, has reportedly dismissed US concerns. Critically, the British government - America's strongest ally on issues such as this - also appears to have come to a similar conclusion as the Germans. UK Prime Minister Theresa May's administration will have done so after being briefed by GCHQ, which has had a good look at Huawei's systems and which is itself no debutante when it comes to matters of potential data collection or spying. But the most surprising intervention appears to have come from the US's own President Donald Trump. Instead of railing about the dangers of using Huawei kit in 5G networks as everyone might expect, Trump tweeted that Americans should instead focus on competing with leading 5G network competitors, not "blocking" them. "American companies must step up their efforts or get left behind," he tweeted. "I want the United States to win through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies." Most commentators interpreted this as a distinct softening from the US on the issue. By focusing on competition rather than security, Trump appeared to be taking a very different approach to the most talked-about issue in the current 5G rollout. The timing of these remarks was interesting. They came a few days after the founder of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, told the BBC that there is "no way the US can crush" Huawei. "The world cannot leave us because we are more advanced. Even if they persuade more countries not to use us temporarily, we can always scale things down a bit." The Huawei founder has personal matters at stake in this. His daughter, Meng Wanzhou, has been arrested on foot of a US warrant, with American authorities pursuing criminal charges that include money laundering and stealing trade secrets. The Huawei founder said that he believes these are "politically motivated" charges, something US authorities deny. So what's actually going on? Is Huawei a risk to security for countries in Europe? Is it a risk to use in Ireland? I've asked almost every major telecoms operator in Ireland this question over the last number of months, given that most either use or are planning to use some Huawei equipment as part of their networks. Each carrier has largely said the same thing: Huawei's technology is either on par or substantially ahead of rivals when it comes to 5G networks. As such, they can't afford not to use it. As for security, there's nothing they can detect at their level of due diligence. "We're very confident in Huawei as a partner, they're in every network in Ireland," Eir chief executive Carolan Lennon said the week before last when launching Eir's new fibre-to-the-home network. Imagine Communications boss Sean Bolger said something similar at his company's wireless broadband launch later that week. Obviously, this doesn't disprove what US administration figures are alleging, which is that Chinese corporate customs overly defer toward Chinese state requests for security access and controls. But it does suggest that big telecoms companies don't have a problem with Huawei's equipment. Increasingly, it looks like European governments and security agencies agree. All of this might create trouble for some international security arrangements, such as the so-called 'Five Eyes' alliance between the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Last week, the chief executive of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, Ciaran Martin, made a speech in Brussels where he indicated that Britain might control any risk from working with Huawei's equipment in the country's communications networks. If the UK resists US pressure on Huawei, there is little chance that any other European country will accede to American lobbying on the issue either. In theory, that could cause a schism in security relations between the US and the UK. But will it? Are Trump's remarks an indication that when it actually comes to the wire, the US may soften its hard line approach on Huawei? This is the impression that is in the ascendancy on the eve of the biggest deal-making conference in the communications world, Mobile World Congress. This is the last major event before 5G network plans are finalised and rolled out. It's probably the last shot that the Americans have of convincing allies to pare back on their plans to install Chinese infrastructure. A 20-year-old student from Cork is aiming to be the next Paddy Cosgrave after landing six heavy-hitting CEOs for a business event that he has organised. Executive Summit 2019 is the brainchild of UCC second-year economics student Barry O'Sullivan. The Cork student described the event - which takes place at Dublin's Clontarf Castle on April 5 - as akin to "TED talks for CEOs". O'Sullivan said he was financing the event himself through his earnings from part-time jobs on a building site and in an Asian restaurant. The first speaker to confirm was US businessman David McCourt, the CEO of Granahan McCourt Capital. Also due to speak are Daryl Byrne, CEO, Euronext Dublin; John O'Connor, CEO, Housing Agency; Michael Dawson, CEO Leinster Rugby; Pat McCann, CEO Dalata Hotel Group and Michael O'Flynn, CEO O'Flynn Group. O'Sullivan is in discussion with other high-profile CEOs and hopes to have up to 12 speakers on the day, he said. The event will also include an in-depth panel discussion amongst the CEOs on Brexit, just days after Britain is due to leave the EU. "This is an opportunity to have a gathering of commercial leaders on an annual basis to gain the insight and the views of Irish CEOs and bring that to the Irish business community," said O'Sullivan. "This year I'm focused on selling out the event but in year two I aim to have a much more far-reaching event. This is a business I plan to scale." The last Irish person to take a small niche event and grow it into a huge global phenomenon was Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave. "Anyone running an event would certainly want to replicate the growth they've had over the past nine years and to scale to the extent they have scaled. I think Paddy Cosgrave gets too much flak and I see him as a trailblazer," said O'Sullivan. Dalata boss McCann described the summit as "an excellent idea to bring together senior people from across different sectors to share their experience". "Barry O'Sullivan is a great ambassador for the next generation of entrepreneurs, and it's a remarkable achievement to have put together such an event while still in college. I very much look forward to contributing." You are here: World Flash UN Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame on Saturday pledged to provide support for the southern Libyan city of Murzuk. Salame made his remarks during a meeting with representatives of Murzuk, some 900 km east of the capital Tripoli, the UN Mission said. "Special representative of the UN secretary general received a delegation from Murzuk in southern Libya. They briefed him on the dire security and humanitarian conditions in their city," the Mission said in a statement. "He promised to provide all possible support including protecting civilians, assisting the injured and securing essential medical and food supplies," the statement said. The eastern-based Libyan army has been leading a military campaign in southern Libya since mid-January against crime and terrorism. The army announced taking over Murzuk a few days ago, following clashes with militants of Chadian opposition. The army also launched several airstrikes against the militants in the city recently. The army has made significant progress since the beginning of the military action, and also taken over two major oil fields. When the early episodes were on, showing tea in a lovely drawing room, I realised I wanted people to experience the same thing, in the same kind of dress, says Audrey Whelan. Photo: Tony Gavin In Downton Abbey, the TV drama that's being adapted for the big screen, the redoubtable Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, mourns the demise of the aristocracy in the post-Edwardian England, loathes early 20th-century middle-class concepts such as weekends and telephones, and ridicules nouveau-riche Americans. Audrey Whelan is Arklow's less haughty answer to Violet. The 59-year-old Downton Abbey fan was so transfixed by the grand drawing rooms depicted in the series that she set about transforming her vacant business property into Victorian-style tea rooms. There, dressed up as a Victorian matriarch, she provides plenty of period drama - albeit without Violet's biting remarks - to paying guests. Victorian Tea Times, as Whelan's business is called, gives customers the chance to dress up in period costume and enjoy afternoon tea served by uniformed 'parlour maids' while wistfully reminiscing about living in a more genteel and elegant time. "I just love Downton Abbey," Whelan says. "When the early episodes were on, showing tea in a lovely drawing room, I realised I wanted people to experience the same thing, in the same kind of dress, in a place that wasn't a hotel or a cafe. "Victorian Tea Times is like coming into someone's drawing room. If there's a big crowd, I play the part (of Violet) in front of parlour maids dressed in black and white, who have to stand back and pour the tea." Unlike Violet, Whelan starts baking at 7.30 every morning to prepare finger sandwiches, scones, Victoria sponge and dainty pastries for her guests, who pre-book the experience. The most expensive package organised by Victorian Tea Times, at 34 a head, is the royal tea, which uses silver service for a menu that includes smoked salmon and strawberries. The afternoon tea is popular with groups gathering for occasions such as birthdays and hen parties, but Whelan also runs events in the tea rooms, like the Miss Havisham Halloween Tea, summer soirees, and opera nights where her soprano granddaughter Karla performs. "We had people in for a woman's 60th birthday and they didn't tell her where she was going - the lady just stood there speechless for three minutes, wondering where she was," Whelan says. "I have about 20 costumes for ladies, with lace gloves, hats and jewellery, and three costumes for men, including top hats." Whelan grew up with eight siblings on Arklow's Main Street, next door to what are now the tea rooms. Her late father, Paddy O'Connell, was a farmer and her mother, Ann, ran a hairdressing salon on the ground floor of their home. "We grew up behind the counter of the salon, so we were good with people," she says. "I went into hairdressing with Mammy and my sister Geraldine. Then I met my husband, Norman. Years ago, you gave up work when you got married, so I stayed at home with the two children. They've grown up now and moved out." Whelan comes from a long line of entrepreneurs. Through the years, the extended O'Connell family's interests on Main Street included a bakery, butcher shops, a bar, and undertakers. When Whelan's parents died, they gave a premises or land to each of their children. Whelan inherited the property next door to her childhood home. "Daddy had let it out to different people over the years, so there was a hairdressers and then a cafe there," she says. "It was vacant for seven years during the recession, like a lot of shops in Arklow at the time." Whelan's grandfather, Patrick O'Connell, bought the premises in 1933 and photos of him and her parents adorn the walls of the tea rooms, where she regularly regales guests with the history of the premises and shows them the 1596 deeds of the property. Before setting up Victorian Tea Times, Whelan spent more than two years collecting antique furniture and decor for the space, with the help of an antique dealer who picked up items at auctions. The tea rooms are now decorated with embossed wallpaper, velvet sofas, lace curtains and ornate candelabras. Guests are served with bone-handled butter knives, silver teapots, three-tiered server stands and fine hand-painted china. The space was "four blank walls when I started out", Whelan says. "I had to source the Victorian-era tiles, pictures, delph, cutlery, china cups, and serviettes. I went to auctions and second-hand shops, where old ladies would leave in amazing delph after clearing out a house. "Now that we're open, little old ladies and elderly gentlemen bring in old delph to me. One woman brought me a big old Victorian housekeeping book that is bound in leather. It contains instructions on tasks like how to clean out a fireplace and recalls what the duties of a butler and scullery maid are. "It's like a bible of housekeeping. When I have a hen party, I'll read out a passage of what the poor maids had to do. It was a different life." Husband Norman was tasked with carrying out the decoration of the new space - though he didn't fully understand her vision until the work was nearly complete. "My husband did all the work - I just had the idea," she says. "He thought I was a bit crazy. But once we had finished the library and its big bookshelves, and the huge candles went up and sofa was in, he totally got it." The result, a space that can accommodate up to 22 people for afternoon tea, was due to open on March 1, 2018. But the arrival of Storm Emma and the ensuing travel disruptions put paid to those plans. "We had sent the invitations out for March 1 and I had the food and champagne ready, but no one could get out that day, so we held the opening on March 8," Whelan says. One of the first events hosted by Victorian Tea Times was an Easter Bonnet afternoon tea. "We bought blank bonnets and had a table with ribbons, bows and pearls and everyone made a bonnet," Whelan says. "Then we held a competition, so the guests paraded up and down in their bonnets. The winner took it very seriously - you could have worn that hat to a wedding. This year's event is going to be bigger and better." In addition to the Easter Bonnet event, there will be a week of afternoon teas for this year's Mother's Day, due to the tea rooms being "so inundated with bookings for the day that we had to extend it". Whelan's future goals for Victorian Tea Times include attracting film production companies seeking one-room locations for scenes of period feature films, and incorporating the tea rooms into a permanent tour of Arklow. "We have a lovely heritage centre opening shortly in Arklow and there's a maritime museum here," she says. "So, if people come to Arklow to visit us, we don't want them walking out the door wondering what to do next in the town." In the meantime, business at Victorian Tea Times is poised to be brisk when the Downton Abbey film is screened in cinemas in the autumn. "We might send the cast an invitation to come for tea," Whelan says. The past year has been one of the most successful ever for attracting Nigerian students to Ireland. For the 2018/19 intake, there were over 800 student visas approved from Nigeria - up from 150 a year ago. For Nigerian students - and their parents - Ireland is firmly on the map as a destination for higher learning. What is driving the surge? Nigeria is not only the largest African economy, it is also the fastest growing, and most populous. With 196 million people, it accounts for almost half the population of West Africa and 15pc of the continent. Incredibly, Nigeria's population has quadrupled in just 50 years. At the current birth rate, the UN estimates it will be the third most populous country in the world by 2050. This means that Nigeria is a young country. Almost two-thirds of its population is under the age of 25. In Ireland, which has the youngest population in Europe, one third of the population is under 25. Until recently, Nigeria was heavily dependent on oil. A sharp fall in the price of oil in 2016 encouraged diversification. Rapid development of non-oil sectors (agriculture, mining, technology, education) has created opportunities - but also highlighted a need for broader skills. Demand for degree-level qualifications continues to grow, and total tertiary enrolment is forecast to more than double from two million (2016) to five million by 2024. However, Nigeria's educational infrastructure is struggling to keep up with the population growth. Students and their parents are looking elsewhere - and it's our job to make sure they're looking at Ireland for a world-class standard of education in an international setting. Enterprise Ireland, under the Education in Ireland brand, promotes third-level education to overseas students. We work with Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), our universities and colleges, assisting them with their own ambitions for internationalisation, creating a rich and diverse learning environment made up of young people from every corner of the world. Using Enterprise Ireland's global network of offices and contacts, we bring Irish HEIs into contact with potential students and their parents, showcasing Ireland's tradition of academic excellence, and the country's contemporary ranking among the world's best education systems. Each HEI we represent has unique attributes, in terms of options, courses and environment, but Ireland also has universal attributes as a "campus" - our culture, a healthy study and life balance and friendliness of our people are valued highly. The visa 'stayback' option gives graduates the opportunity to stay on and work in Ireland for a year or two, depending on the level at which they have studied. This, coupled with the often practical nature of our third level education, the closeness to industry and future employability of graduates, is key for every international student. The success of our education system is reflected in the unprecedented volume of applications from Nigerian students to Irish HEIs in the past 12 months for courses in business and finance, politics and law, nursing, IT/data, engineering and humanities/environment. In most cases, students are acquiring specific skills that they need to take back home to take over, or get involved with, the family business or start their own careers. Education in Ireland is hosting fairs in Abuja (April 25) and Lagos (April 27), with 14 Irish HEIs confirmed to take part. The commitment that Irish HEIs have for this market has been tremendous, and with the help and support from the Irish Embassy and visas team in market, we expect another strong year. More and more young Nigerians are finding out about Ireland, learning about it, considering it, with many taking that leap to study and live in Ireland for a while. The level of interest is a sure sign that more people are talking about Ireland. We want to keep that conversation going. Penny Buthelezi is a market adviser with Education in Ireland, specialising in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Government is to begin paying older people to downsize and move into age-friendly neighbourhoods, a major new report reveals. Stock photo John Moran, chair of the Land Development Agency, in Limerick, where he developed his new vision of urban life. Photo: Oisin McHugh True Media The Government is to begin paying older people to downsize and move into age-friendly neighbourhoods, a major new report reveals. The unpublished report says older people living in social housing will be offered financial incentives before the end of the year, ahead of extending the scheme to private homeowners. The Housing Options for Our Ageing Population Policy Statement says the Government wants to encourage older people to "right-size to appropriately sized units". It also says 50pc of all new apartments and 30pc of houses should be suitable for older people and those with mobility issues. The report comes as the recently appointed chair of the Land Development Agency (LDA), John Moran, says the new State body should focus on developing rental-only apartments in city centres. In his first major interview since his appointment, Mr Moran, a former Department of Finance secretary general, says he wants the agency to develop State-owned apartment complexes where people can rent for their entire lives. The rental model would allow a couple pay enough rent during their working lives to allow them to stay in the apartment until they pass away. Mr Moran says the Government should encourage people to move away from three-bedroom semi-ds in rural and commuter belt towns by reducing property tax for city centre apartments. "Little tweaks might actually make a big difference, not because they are big amounts of money but because they send a strong message that the State is supporting one form of living over another," he says. However, he also believes property tax is "very low" in Ireland when compared to other countries. He says there should be a debate about the rights of people who are "lucky enough" to own houses in good areas which have seen their value rise due to government investment and those struggling to find accommodation or paying sky-rocketing rents. "The reason the value has gone up is because the Government has intervened and put in a tramway, put in some services, make the area more desirable, done up the public area and this (property tax)is just a little bit of recovery that the State gets back for improving the quality of the neighbourhood, and, therefore, that is why property taxes in other jurisdictions are at much higher rates than in Ireland because they, in effect, reward good behaviour by local authorities," he says. Mr Moran wants to examine the country's Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) powers as it is currently "too easy for people to drag out a process". He says the Government should look at systems in other countries where the state has "a right of first refusal" to buy property in areas they want to redevelop. He says the Government must "reverse the magnetic force of Dublin" by developing other cities to avoid sparking "social unrest" which has "caused divisions in society" in other countries. Meanwhile, the housing report calls for significant capital investment in public and private housing developments for older people. In the report, Minister for Older People, Jim Daly, said the Government is examining new housing models for the elderly which "fall between home care and full-time nursing home care". He added: "The objective is to ensure older people stay socially connected within their community and to provide essential care where needed." Few things make consumers more furious than banks that broke their own businesses imposing the cost of repair on loyal customers. (Image posed by models) IN a new bout of biting the hand that feeds, our mainstream banks are again punishing their customers. Thousands will now be sucked into paying fees for their everyday banking as both Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank are making it much more difficult to qualify for fee-free current account. The latest changes will mean that most banks now make it hard to avoid paying transactions and maintenance fees. Few things make consumers more furious than banks that broke their own businesses imposing the cost of repair on loyal customers. Ulster Bank is to introduce transaction charges for operating its current accounts. It comes weeks after bailed-out bank Permanent TSB said it was changing the rules for those with its older current accounts, which would force many to pay fees. Currently, Ulster Bank charges its current account customers a monthly maintenance fee of 4, but it has no transactions charges for the likes of ATM withdrawals or for paying with a debit card. It now plans to reduce the monthly maintenance fee to 2, but will charge customers transactions fees for using the current account for their day-to-day banking. The bank will impose a 20c charge for the likes of direct debit payments, point-of-sale transactions, and electronic payments into and out of the account using online, telephone and mobile banking. Customers will be able to avoid the transaction charges if they keep a balance of 3,000 in their account. But they will not be able to avoid the 2-a-month maintenance fee. Permanent TSB drew the ire of loyal customers when it said its new terms and conditions will make it harder to qualify for fee-free banking on its older current accounts. Customers who do not qualify for free banking will have to pay 18 a quarter. This works out at 72 a year. Unless you are a pensioner, most banks have made it more difficult to qualify for fee-free banking despite massive competition from fintech operators N26 and Revolut. They offer low-cost debit cards which are proving popular with Irish people, particularly those in their 20s and 30s. Revolut claims it has 200,000 customers here. It is reported to be opening an office in Dublin and planning to offer loans and overdrafts. Younger people are opting in their droves for the new digital operators. But sure why wouldn't banks punish us with higher charges for operating current accounts when just 1pc of those with a existing current account ever switch banks? The banks are cynically exploiting this inertia. The cost of preparing for Brexit was one of the main contributors to an 8pc fall in after-tax profits at Kerry Group as the company prepares for Britain's possible no-deal exit from the EU. Kerry Group, Ireland's largest quoted food company, unveiled its 2018 results last Tuesday. The results were broadly in line with market expectations with a 3.1pc increase in sales to 6.6bn while trading profits were also up 3.1pc to 805m. Volume growth was slightly higher, about 3.5pc, reflecting price deflation brought about by lower raw material costs. For Kerry boss Edmond Scanlon the highlight of the results was a 8.6pc increase in adjusted earnings (basically after-tax profits) per share in constant currency terms to 3.53. Unfortunately, when adverse currency movements are taken into account, the gloss comes off the Kerry results - with the increase in adjusted EPS falling to 3.6pc. Add in a number of one-off charges and basic EPS actually fell by 8.3pc to 3.06. Kerry took a 67m hit, of which 17.3m went to cover possible Brexit-induced losses at its consumer foods division, which is heavily exposed to the UK market. Between the jigs and the reels, despite the increase in sales and trading profits, Kerry's after-tax profits actually fell by 8pc to 540m in 2018. "A solid steady set of results," is how Investec analyst Ian Hunter describes the numbers. The Brexit-related charge has once again focused attention on Kerry's disparate collection of businesses. These are its taste and nutrition division and its consumer foods arm. Taste and nutrition produces flavourings and ingredients for food, beverage and pharmaceutical companies while consumer foods mainly supplies British and Irish retailers with dairy and meat products. Apart from sharing a common parent, taste and nutrition and consumer foods could hardly be more different. In 2018 taste and nutrition sales grew by 4.1pc to 5.35bn and trading profits increased by almost 5pc to 805m . By comparison consumer foods sales increased by less than 1pc to 1.34bn while its trading profits fell by 7pc to 100m - head office costs and double-counting resulting from intra-company transactions came to almost 100m to give a total group trading profit of 805m. While taste and nutrition had trading margins of 15.1pc in 2018, up from 14.9pc in 2017, consumer foods' margins fell by 0.6pc from 8.1pc to just 7.5pc. Put it another way: taste and nutrition contributes 81pc of Kerry's sales and 89pc of its trading profits while its sales are growing more than five times as quickly as those of consumer foods. Which inevitably begs the question: why is Kerry still persisting with its legacy consumer foods business? At the end of December 2018 consumer foods' gross assets were valued on the Kerry balance sheet at 938m. Surely this is capital that could be redeployed into the more profitable and faster-growing taste & nutrition businesses? In 2018, taste and nutrition's trading profits were the equivalent of 15.8pc of its average gross assets while consumer foods' trading profits were the equivalent of just 10.6pc of gross assets. Reallocating the capital tied up in consumer foods into taste and nutrition has the potential to lift Kerry's annual trading profits by almost 49m. And there is a precedent. Glanbia, which also reported its 2018 results last week, hived off its Irish dairy-processing business to the farmer-owned Glanbia Co-op in 2017. The new company, Glanbia Ireland is 60pc owned by Glanbia Co-op with Glanbia PLC owning the remaining 40pc. However, converting the legacy businesses back to co-op ownership is an extremely fraught process - as Glanbia can testify. An earlier attempt to hive off its Irish dairy-processing businesses to the Glanbia Co-op failed in 2010 when the proportion of co-op shareholders voting in favour of the transaction fell marginally short of the legally-required 75pc. One possible trigger for Kerry hiving off its consumer foods arm might be the option held by Kerry Co-op, which still owns 14pc of Kerry Group PLC, over Kerry Group's agribusiness division, which must be exercised by 2020. While the agribusiness division represents only a small proportion of consumer foods operation, would a move by the co-op to bring it back under farmer ownership be the opening gambit in a wider corporate restructuring? What is indisputable is that the market reaction to what was widely seen as a set of so-so Kerry results was underwhelming. After closing at 91.40 on Monday, the shares jumped by 2.7pc to 93.90 in the first couple of hours after the announcement. They quickly fell back after that and were trading at about 91.40, ie virtually back to their pre-announcement level, by the end of the week. The market response to the better-than-expected Glanbia results was much more positive with the shares jumping by over 10pc to 18 in the first few hours after the announcement. Unlike Kerry, Glanbia shares held to most of their post-announcement gains and were trading at 17.85 at the end of the week. While a spin-off of consumer foods would undoubtedly play well with Kerry Group shareholders it might struggle to find favour with Kerry Co-op shareholders. The Kerry Co-op board has discussed whether or not to exercise the option before it expires. The co-op board has also consulted with its members on the topic. However, only 307 of the 1,507 co-op shareholders who responded to the survey were in favour of exercising the option. With 67pc of co-op shareholders needing to vote in favour, the support for such a deal may not exist. The campaign by the Kerry Co-operative Shareholders Alliance, which represents some co-op shareholders, for the co-op to 'spin-out' all or most of its remaining Kerry Group PLC shares also doesn't augur well. However, the biggest obstacle is almost certainly the determination of Kerry Group to hang on to consumer foods. "Kerry has long had a successful dual strategy for growth and return on investment and our deep dairy heritage has significantly benefited both businesses," says a Kerry spokesperson. "Our strategy is to invest and grow globally while maintaining that strong dairy heritage and connection with our home markets. Our world-leading innovation capabilities deliver optimum responsiveness to the significant opportunities and challenges that arise and afford us a clear advantage in both businesses." At Sisk's joinery training centre at its Naas Road headquarters, apprentice carpenters are busy making door frames for a range of jobs under way at Ireland's biggest construction firm - from a new hotel to the CenterParcs resort in Longford. Sisk director Pat Lucey, who has responsibility for its civil engineering unit in both Ireland and the UK, is extremely proud of a training programme that sees young people complete an apprenticeship before broadening their construction experience on building projects and at third-level courses. It's the type of apprenticeship model that was neglected for a long time by many in the industry. "As an industry we need to do more," says Lucey, who has just taken over as president of the Construction Industry Federation, which itself is about to launch a campaign to attract young people into the industry. "It all comes back to certainty. If someone takes on an apprentice they want to make sure they have four years' work ahead of that person to make it worthwhile. A lot of contractors are struggling with that," he says. Lucey has been in the industry for 36 years and has been involved in a range of high-profile projects with Sisk over that time, including the Luas cross-city connection, Limerick Tunnel, and the tunnelling for the huge Crossrail project in London. Right now, despite the ever growing need for infrastructure, there are surprisingly few large-scale civil engineering projects at the construction stage. Roads, public transport, water, energy are all sectors earmarked for massive investment but there is a paucity of on-the-ground activity. "People see cranes in Dublin and they see a lot of large building projects going on and they think construction is booming," says Lucey. "Yes, construction is booming in Dublin. It is not booming in the regions or for small builders in the west of Ireland. And for civil engineering, it hasn't come out of the recession. In fact, civil engineering has been in recession for more than 10 years." This will have undoubted consequences in the future, he says. "You almost need to have a crisis before people look at it. But civil engineering and infrastructure doesn't cause a crisis that is in your face. But what it does is it undermines the economy and stops it performing better in the future. We have seen how putting in the motorway network has allowed to country to blossom." He points to the housing market as an area in which failure to think ahead has led to a crisis. When housing completions fell to record low levels and stayed there over a number of years "someone should have been raising a red flag", he says. Lucey said the length of time a project such as Dublin's metro has taken to date is frustrating. "But at the same time you realise that every project that ever happened had a long period of talking about it like the metro. It's not unusual for a project to have 20 to 40 years of a life before it happens. We all know that so why don't we get better at it? Because the problems tend to be the same old problems." The southern half of the metro project looks set to be put on hold after thousands of objections to the closure of local roads and the shutdown for a period of the tram service. Local stakeholder influence always adds cost to projects and always causes delays to projects, said Lucey. "It's really important to have that consultation. Locals have a point of view and they are looking after their community. If they don't look after their community nobody will look after it for them. But then you need for someone to take an overall balanced view of what is best overall and maybe we are not as good at that as we should be." The real frustration for Lucey is that projects are not started early enough. Every large project needs a four- to five-year initial period of assessments, surveys and consultations but the money to do this on a range of projects is always the first money to be cut in a downturn, he said. "It doesn't cost an awful lot of money, but it takes four to five years. If you don't do that you can't get to the point of going for planning and sometimes it is said we can't afford to do this." He cites the proposed new billion euro-plus Cork-to-Limerick motorway which is crucial to help create a counterbalance to the Dublin region and the various promised Luas extensions as examples. Politicians from time to time approach the industry looking for 'shovel ready projects', he says. There is no such thing: "Shovel ready comes after four or five years." About 15m over four years must be spent to get the motorway project through its initial phase, says Lucey. "That money is always a casualty in a downturn but with construction you can't just throw a switch and tomorrow be building." The spiralling budget for the National Children's Hospital has caused a major political issue and Lucey hopes that a PwC report into the project can help to open up a wider discussion on budgeting practices in the industry. The project itself is hugely complex and coming up with the correct budget ahead of time would be extremely difficult, says Lucey. "What you would like to see [in the PwC report] is lessons learned, both positive and negative, not just a focus on the budget. I have no doubt there was a lot of good stuff in there." But Lucey is fearful that the furore around the new hospital is going to cause a retreat from other big projects. "You'd have to have some concerns. Very often when something goes wrong on a major project people with the best intentions put in rules to deal with that exceptional occasion that are actually detrimental to the normal run of the mill work that we do all the time and about which there are no problems. There can often be, and in fact invariably are, unintended consequences of introducing something to deal with an extraordinary situation that won't happen." "As long I've been in construction there has always been an issue about the budgets put to projects at the very start. There is an approval process and a business case that has to be put forward. If the number is too high the business case will fail. That pushes people into as low a number as they can to get the business case approved, knowing full well that it is going to rise afterwards. That's common in all projects." The Children's Hospital project is just the latest and most obvious example in the construction sector where an initially low tender price has subsequently ballooned as labour and other costs jumped in a rising economy. Critics have pointed the finger at contractors for 'low-balling' bids in order to win work, while the construction sector itself has long argued that government tendering practices and contracts are not fit for purpose and do nothing to stop the practice. "Every contractor needs work right now and has done for the last 10 years. Some contractors went in below cost on jobs with the hope they would recover the money somehow or other. But if you take any company submitting a bid for any project and they want to win the job, in the mind you would be thinking 'I can do it better than those guys up the road, I can go faster, I can get better output out of my equipment, the sun is going to shine every day, when I dig a hole in the ground it's going to be exactly like the site conditions said.' Now, of course, that never happens - it rains, the ground is never the same as the exploratory holes you dug - but contractors will never be able to stop that. As we always say, there is always one. You can have six contractors on a list, five can be completely sensible but there will always be one that will think that it will work out for them. We actually need the clients to protect us from that." A lot of clients realise that and want the best price rather than the lowest price so as to have less problems when it goes to construction, said Lucey. Complex EU procurement rules make it difficult to put together a tender that is not focused on lowest price, according to Lucey. But he cites Transport Infrastructure Ireland as a client that operates on that basis with two new pilot evaluations - for roads in Cork and Mayo - that could potentially become a benchmark for the rest of the public sector. "Their new system does give marks for the lowest price but it also gives marks for how deliverable the job is at that price. If they can make that work it will be a game-changer for construction. There are clients out there who don't care about contractors and don't care if they go bust. But most certainly the State should not be that way. The State should be trying to build a resilient industry that delivers value for money, that makes a profit but not super profits." An artists impression of the new National Childrens Hospital which has been hit by cost overruns The fallout from cost overruns on the new National Children's Hospital could hit other badly-needed infrastructure projects, according to the new president of the Construction Industry Federation. There are fears that extensive plans for major public transport, roads, water and energy projects under the Government's capital plan could face delays and complications because of a fear of further political damage should they go wrong. "You'd have to have some concerns," said Pat Lucey, who is also director of civil engineering at John Sisk & Sons. "Very often when something goes wrong on a major project, people with the best intentions put in rules to deal with that exceptional occasion that are actually detrimental to the normal run-of-the-mill work that we do all the time and about which there are no problems," he said. "There can often be, and in fact invariably are, unintended consequences of introducing something to deal with an extraordinary situation that won't happen." Building the hospital on a greenfield site would have been easier, he said. But he hailed the Government's determination to push on with the project at St James's as "a major positive despite the political pitfalls that have opened up". "We are a great nation at revisiting decisions made. There is always someone who wants to revisit a decision. If we keep revisiting decisions we will never do anything. So often we have seen projects stopped and stalled for that reason. Construction and infrastructure needs the kind of brave decisiveness that says 'go ahead and do it'." Lucey also backed the rights of residents in Ranelagh to object to Metrolink plans, but he said it was vital that, even if delayed, a suitable design for the southside portion of the line was progressed. Financial expert Karl Deeter said that Ireland was facing a catch-22 situation as he said that banks would not be able to amass the deposits needed to meet demand.. The Irish banking system could be unable to meet the needs of the mortgage and construction lending markets in five years' time, a new government study has warned. In an as-yet unpublished report titled 'The Funding Gap', the Department of Finance stated that Irish banks needed to double their loan-to-deposit ratio from 0.8 to 1.6 by 2024 in the event that 50,000 new homes were needed each year. Estimates for the number of new homes needed in the coming years vary dramatically, with some estimates as low as 18,000 a year while others forecast 50,000. The ratio means that for every 100 the bank is lending currently it is holding 80 on deposit. Finance suggests that banks need to grow that to a level where for every 100 lent they would have 160 on deposit. "Although the loan-to-deposit ratio is not a sufficient measure of the overall stability of the banking system, a rise of this magnitude may be problematic," the department stated. "Institutional investment in the residential sector has the potential to reduce reliance on bank funding for development, which is important in building broader capital markets." The report stated that investors would also help "de-couple the financial health of the banking system from the vagaries of the residential investment cycle". Finance also described housing as a "historically volatile asset class". A number of socio-economic issues were raised by the Department as cause for concern of a growing influence of institutional investors in Ireland's property market. These included a reduction in the ability of a first-time buyer to purchase a home in their own locality. It also warned that investors had typically serviced the "premium" end of the market and that it was "unlikely to have a direct impact on increased affordability". Finance also suggested that an over-reliance on these investors would force average income earners out of purchasing or renting from the private rental market. Financial expert Karl Deeter said that banks would not be able to lend at the levels needed in the department's hypothetical scenario. "Our system cannot cope with the demands that will be necessary in the years to come to fund housing, to fund the supply of construction and mortgages," he told the Sunday Independent. "Where are these deposits going to come from to get the ratio up to 1.6? The money needs to come from somewhere, and in this case it looks as though the shortfall will be met by institutional investors." Deeter said that Ireland was facing a "catch-22" situation as he said that banks would not be able to amass the deposits needed to meet demand. "The problem from an indigenous perspective is that it will do massive damage if institutional investment crowds out individual investment," he said. "It isn't a good idea to outsource home ownership." An Post is launching a new prepaid Mastercard with multiple currencies as it seeks to take on innovative fintech players such as Revolut and N26. The new An Post Currency Card - which will be available from today at over 900 post offices nationwide - is the semi-state company's latest move to diversify its business away from mail delivery into more lucrative areas. The card, which can be used at millions of merchants and ATMs worldwide, allows users to hold ten different currencies and use them either online or in store via contactless payments. The single An Post Currency Card will replace the company's existing FX currency cards which were previously available on a one currency per card basis for sterling, US dollar, Canadian and Australian dollar denominations. The new card will now allow users to hold the US dollar, sterling, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, South African rand, Swiss francs, Turkish lira, United Arab Emirates dirhams and euro. The card allows for commission-free point of sale transactions outside the eurozone. It is particularly targeting overseas travellers looking to avoid costly fees, as well as online shoppers. The Sunday Independent reported last year that An Post was planning an ambitious financial services strategy that would see it offer mortgages, personal loans and fintech services. "In launching the An Post Currency Card, we're responding to the needs of customers travelling for business or pleasure, and those who want to feel secure shopping online," said Debbie Byrne, managing director of An Post Retail. "Consumers can enjoy no fees outside the eurozone with considerable savings on transactions fees, clarity on foreign exchange rates and complete security. "With ten currencies on one card, this is your ultimate travel companion, offering you complete peace of mind abroad helping you take control of your money," she claimed. Byrne said the card would also complement An Post's AddressPAL service, launched two years ago to allow Irish consumers order goods online from US and UK retailers who don't deliver to Ireland. The An Post Currency Card will be available free of charge directly from participating post offices, subject to a minimum top-up of 50. Following set-up, the card can be topped up at any post office or online with euro. Cardholders can then use an online portal to change their euros into the currency or currencies of choice either for online shopping or for travel purposes, as well as to keep track of purchases. An Post said that in the coming months the service would be enhanced with the addition of apps for both iOS and Android devices. The property is set on 22ac of parkland and grazing ground The house near Eyrecourt in east Galway has been fully refurbished I rarely pass an opportunity to visit a property with a bit of character and on Friday I travelled with Niamh Madden of Sherry FitzGerald O'Toole Madden to Eyrecourt, Co Galway to look at a glebe house on 22ac. The house in question was once the Church of Ireland rectory associated with the Eyre estate that gave its name to the village. John Eyre and his brother Edward were Cromwellian adventurers who came to Ireland with the Puritan leader in 1649. For their services to Cromwell they were granted huge tracts of land in east Galway after the surrender of 1652. The Eyres chose to build their house on the site of an O'Madden castle - the O'Maddens, along with the clans Kelly, Horan and Burke, were dispossessed. Their lands were given as a reward to the Eyres and by 1679 the family controlled 10,500ac in east Galway and built Eyrecourt as a model plantation village. Expand Close The property is set on 22ac of parkland and grazing ground / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The property is set on 22ac of parkland and grazing ground It was rather ironic that I should be in the company of someone with the surname 'Madden' while visiting a glebe house built for a Rev Richard Eyre. The latter lived there until 1872. The residence is a genuine, fully refurbished Georgian home set out in two storeys over basement. On 22ac of grazing ground and parkland, the property includes a one-bedroom self-contained apartment and a three-bedroom cottage refurbished to builder's finish. This unique rural home has the potential to generate a self-catering income that would help wash its face. The place is for sale by private treaty with a guide price of 720,000. Just outside Eyrecourt and within shouting distance of the Shannon at Banagher and Meelick, the house was built in the grounds of Eyrecourt Castle. The accommodation includes a spacious main hall leading to the main reception room. A more informal lounge is located to the rear, and other spaces on this floor include the dining room, and a library/reading room. The kitchen and breakfast room in the basement create a lovely warm space. This part of the residence has under-floor heating, while cast-iron radiators are used in the rest of the house. Upstairs are three bedrooms, two of which have new high-end ensuite facilities. The current owners took great care in the renovation of the property preserving all the distinctive features. The refurbishments included re-roofing along with new plumbing, wiring and insulation and the installation of the underfloor heating system in the basement. Internet access is provided by 4G broadband. A courtyard to the rear includes a range of storage spaces, while the upstairs of the old coach house has been turned into a fully fitted modern one-bedroom apartment. With its own access and its own views over the orchard and parkland, the space is finished to a high standard and includes a fully equipped kitchen/living/dining area and a top-class bathroom/shower room. A three-bedroom cottage on the grounds has the makings of an excellent self-catering unit. The house is set on mature parkland with excellent specimens of old oak trees. The 22ac of land is good undulating grazing ground laid out in one block around the house with plenty of road frontage. Flash Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (C) inspects the armed forces after the presidential inauguration ceremony in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 10, 2019. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in before the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) to begin a new six-year term on Thursday. [Photo/Xinhua] Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Saturday the severance of his country's diplomatic and political relations with neighboring Colombia, following the latter one's support for Venezuela's opposition and military defectors. "I have decided to break off all types of political and diplomatic ties with the fascist government of Colombia," Maduro told a pro-government rally in Caracas. Colombia's embassy staff must "leave within 24 hours," he added. Colombian President Ivan Duque has repeatedly expressed his administration's support for the opposition and criticized Maduro's government. "Patience has run out. ... We cannot continue to put up with Colombian territory being used for an attack against Venezuela," said Maduro. Maduro ordered the "immediate return of all diplomatic and consular personnel in Colombia," according to a statement issued later by Venezuela's foreign ministry, which stated that "it was the Colombian government that has forced this lamentable situation." The statement also said the ministry will offer all the means necessary for compliance by the Colombian diplomatic and consular personnel. The Venezuelan government argued that the breaking off of relations was due to violation of "practically all the principles and resolutions of the Charter of the United Nations." The Colombian government later on Saturday ordered the return of its diplomatic officials in Venezuela following the severance of diplomatic and political ties between the two countries. "Colombia does not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro; Colombia recognizes president (in charge) Juan Guaido," and Colombia is "grateful for his (Guaido's) invitation for Colombian diplomatic and consular officials to remain in Venezuelan territory," the Colombian foreign ministry said in a statement. "However, in order to safeguard the life and integrity of the Colombian officials, they will make their return to Colombia as soon as possible," the statement added. Venezuela closed its key border crossings with Colombia and Brazil after the United States and other countries in the region, in coordination with the Venezuelan opposition, declared their plan to deliver aid into Venezuela, which is seen as a possible first step toward a foreign invasion. Armenia: Statement by the Spokesperson on the early parliamentary elections Armenias Parliamentary Elections PRESS STATEMENT COVID19:77 new cases Armenias early parliamentary elections were competitive and well run, but polarized and marred by aggressive rhetoric, international observers say Google Ad International election observers to Armenias early parliamentary elections held press conference Drop Charges Against Rights Defender Sashik Sultanyan The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia The European Union in Armenia calls all parties to contribute to a peaceful Election Day to celebrate democracy 22 ventilators to Armenia PACE to observe the early parliamentary elections in Armenia With Ucom's level up tariff plans subscribers have unlimited access to Tiktok, Spotify and Coursera PACE rapporteur welcomes Azerbaijans release of Armenian captives and Armenias handing over of mine-maps to Azerbaijan Armenia/Azerbaijan: Statement by High Representative Josep Borrell on the latest developments Pashinyan to publicly apology to Khachatryans During EURO 2020 Ucom subscribers to take part in the uMeter voting and draw USA to continue to press for the return of Armenian prisoners of war and detainees: Philip Reeker Google Ad Post-war Prospects for Nagorno-Karabakh: Crisis Groups new report Ucom-1 team was recognised the winner of the 2021 futsal tournament of the Galaxy Group of Companies: The award ceremony took place COVID 19: 11 deaths Statement of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia regarding the criminal prosecution against the Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijan The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia UCOM introduced new level up packages of voice service President Michel has discussions with President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Acting Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia COVID19:108 new cases Ucom launches "Hello, summer" offer and presents "U!hoo" kids magazine 182 hearing aids and 2 buses by benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan for students of Special Educational Complex Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group What our Homeland, Armenia and Artsakh will be like depends on us. President Armen Sarkissians message on the Republic Day Ucom Digital lab students keep on getting high-quality technical education We set a new record here on the farm yesterday. I had 40 people out in the fields picking daffodils and they came in with a haul of over 500,000 stems. There's neat symmetry in this moment in that yesterday's single day of picking is exactly half of my total production of daffodil flowers during the first year that I started supplying supermarkets exactly one decade ago. The business back then was more of an add-on to the other enterprises here at Elmgrove. But it has now grown to the point that we are exporting to several countries and supplying two major supermarkets. The downside is that my price is actually lower now than when I started 10 years ago and it has become real high-wire stuff when you deal in large volumes of what is basically another commodity, even if it is one of the more unusual ones. After a strong week of picking you could end up with flowers worth about 100,000 stuffed into your fridge. That's great if you manage to turn them all into money, but unfortunately customer demand does not mirror nature's growth patterns. Instead you end up gambling on finding an extra outlet for a product that only gives you a few days grace. This is what the experts tell us is diversification and niche. But it's baloney to think that it's everybody's cup of tea. It's stressful, and demands almost every moment of my waking thoughts at this time of year. But while it's easy to lose yourself in the stresses and strains of the day-to-day grind, days like yesterday are a reminder of the huge progress we're making in developing a world-class business. I see the same process happening quietly in farm-yards all around me. Whether they are putting up another acre of glasshouses, calving down an extra 60 cows, or signing up leases on another 100 acres of land, many of the 'strong' farms that I see pushing on around the country are now turning over more than 1m annually. The farmer feeding 350 cattle in a shed is probably hitting the one million mark as well. But it's worth noting that the biggest cattle sheds to go up in these parts over the last few years have all been built by tillage men looking to add value to their grain and straw, as well as generate a ready supply of organic manure. The Achilles heel of these larger units is the public perception that they are 'factory' farms wreaking havoc on the world around them. The irony is that the larger units tend to be more professionally run, with the resources to invest to constantly improve standards. The twinned impact of veganism and ubiquitous video and photos on social media means that the farm sector cannot tolerate any sloppy operators anymore. In the past it was the Department of Agriculture's job to get dodgy farmers to clean up their act. But when a video of a neglected animal goes viral on Facebook and tarnishes a whole sector, suddenly every farmer relying on the sector for a living suffers as a result. It's not hard to see how these pressures might force further consolidation in the sector, but I wonder what role traditional farm representation will have in this future dominated by social media agendas? Just before Christmas I attended the AGM of my local IFA branch in east Meath. The organisers decided to merge the AGMs for the three branches in the eastern half of the county, presumably in an effort to bulk up numbers for the guest speaker at the meeting. Despite this, the number of farmers there totalled a miserable nine, including three branch chairs and former president Eddie Downey and his brother. What does this say about the strength of IFA? It's not as if there is a shortage of farmers in east Meath, or that they are so hard pressed for time that they cannot make it to one annual meeting a year. Maybe the era of meetings has become obsolete now that we can have a collective chat on Whatsapp? My fear for the Beef Plan group is that Whatsapp is the one thing that they've successfully tapped into, and have mistaken the support shown there as proof that Ireland needs another farm body. However, the break away of the hill farmers and malting barley growers from the IFA in recent years is more evidence of a fracturing of the farming landscape. As yet another CAP reform package is hammered out, can the IFA really claim to represent all farmers with a single voice? Any result that is better than the 5pc cut promised by the EU will be hailed a victory by the IFA, but I feel that we're missing an opportunity to regain some public support by embracing a suite of measures to make Irish farms more environmentally friendly, especially in relation to emissions. Instead, we are going to squabble over who keeps the most for the next seven years, even though much of that money will leak out of the sector into over-priced inputs and land costs. I was told this week that the former Fine Gael Minister for Agriculture complained back in the 1950s that he had to deal with 46 different farm groupings. We may see history repeat itself. While every farmer knows there's strength in unity, the growing gulf between the enterprises makes a unified voice a nigh impossible task when it comes to one-size-fits-all policies like CAP. Irish-owned construction and engineering giant Laing O'Rourke plans to cut down on competitive tendering and aim for higher gross profit margins of between 5pc and 10pc. The move comes as it seeks to recover from its third year of losses, potentially higher labour and material costs due to Brexit, and a 206m loss on a problematic Canadian hospital project. The UK-headquartered firm, owned by brothers Ray and Des O'Rourke who grew up in Mayo and Leitrim, employs 12,800 people around the world. It reported a 46.5m loss for last year - down from 67m in 2017 and 246m in 2016. However, last year's revenues of 2.9bn were down from 3.2bn in 2017. It also said it had completed a 177m refinancing of its UK business, consisting of a revolving credit facility that will be in place until 2021. The firm spent 19.8m on refinancing costs over the past two years, largely in fees to advisers, it is understood. The figures emerged after majority stakeholder Ray O'Rourke said last year that the company was on track to get back to profit. The firm has an order book of 8.1bn which could generate gross profits of between 400m and 800m, if it achieves its new profit target. Doing so will mean a move to negotiated contracts, with the aim of making a profit next year, financial director Stewart McIntyre said. Margins in the industry have been under 2pc in recent years, chairman John Parker said. The company took in 90m from asset disposals including an equipment business, a pre-cast concrete business and a project stake last year, followed by a further 40m from selling another project stake and an interest in an Australian business. In the past two years it has invested 70m in R&D. Laing ORourke has operations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as Hong Kong, Australia and Canada. About 2bn of its revenues come from the UK, Canada and the UAE. In recent years it has worked on hospital projects, Manchester airports new terminal and Londons Crossrail, new tube stations and other infrastructure such as Londons 4bn super sewer, and a nuclear power station. It employs hundreds of Irish people in the UK, and at one stage laid on a charter flight with the help of CityJet and the British and Irish Trading Alliance so that workers based here could commute to one of its projects. Commenting on the results last week, Ray ORourke said: Getting to this point has not been easy, and we have no doubt that the road ahead will be no less challenging. If the UK were to hit Irish beef exports, it wouldnt be facing down Devs Ireland, it would be confronting the entire EU bloc Don't bank on the European Union to bail out our beef industry if the UK decides to favour a cheap meat policy after Brexit. Suggestions that the British government may allow low tariff Brazilian beef into the country, while punishing Irish beef exporters with higher tariffs, are worrying. So it was no surprise that Tanaiste Simon Coveney was quick to point out that our EU colleagues could come to the rescue with some kind of financial supports for the sector. We definitely should not rely on a package of supports. The EU would only be willing to provide some kind of compensation or subsidy package for a limited period of time. It would not form the basis on which to rebuild our beef industry which would undoubtedly be very badly hit, given that 52pc of exports go to the UK. The issue prompted comparisons with de Valera's Economic War between Ireland and the UK in the 1930s where we slapped tariffs on each other's produce for several years and we came off the worst. But the world is a very different place than it was in the 1930s. First of all, slapping tariffs on Irish beef imports to the UK would involve slapping tariffs on EU beef. This would have to be factored in to any wider future trade deal yet to be negotiated between the EU and the UK after Brexit. We have become so focused on the diplomatic tension around the backstop, it is easy to forget that Britain's future trading relationship with the EU has yet to be negotiated. Even if they crash out, at some point they will have to sit down and negotiate a trade deal. Flooding UK supermarkets with cheap Brazilian beef while taxing Irish beef would have reciprocal consequences in what the UK could sell to the EU. The Economic War involved tiny Ireland going up against the buying power and financial resources of the UK. Would the British jeopardise a better trade deal with 500 million EU citizens in order to give the Irish beef sector a slap? Maybe, but the situation is a little more complicated these days. In fact, the economic might of the EU could come to the rescue of Irish farmers in this scenario a lot more effectively than a temporary compensation package. If the UK crashes out without a deal, then in the immediate short term there would be extensive tariffs placed on Irish beef imports to the UK. This would require short term financial assistance for the sector. But any move by Britain to flood its supermarket shelves with cheap Brazilian beef would have to be weighed up against the needs of a future trade deal with the EU which would involve everything from food and car manufacture to financial services. In a worst-case scenario, where Irish beef exporters are sacrificed on the altar of Tory expediency and the need for cheap food on British shelves, Ireland would have to look further afield for new markets. China holds some prospects, but there would be no easy win here. Other countries have got a bigger foot in the door although Ireland is catching up. The EU has been steadfast in keeping Brazilian beef imports to relatively low numbers. There is of course the question of consumer taste preferences, food safety and traceability. Brazil may be the biggest exporter of beef in the world, but it still has lots of questions to answer around health and safety in the industry. Surely questions would be asked about the wisdom of such an approach even if it kept beef prices down. How would consumers, politicians and the farming industry in the North feel about it? It is hard to see that the wider British public would be given the "mushroom treatment" by their own government i.e. kept in the dark and fed lots of sh**e. Datalex triple whammy Bad news comes in threes, they say. Travel software group Datalex had the third instalment of a triple whammy this week when its chief financial officer Donal Rooney said he was leaving the company after just three months in the job. The first instalment came in January when Datalex issued a profit warning and announced that it may have misstated its 2018 results based on difficulties recovering certain costs on a piece of service work with a client. The shares crashed by 59pc on the day as the market doesn't like negative surprises and it raised obvious questions about how this happened, and was it just a one-off. Datalex said it was calling in PWC to do a review of what went wrong. The inference seemed to be that much of the costs would be recovered but just not in 2018 as had been accounted for. The second instalment came when Datalex's stock took another hit ten days ago as it disappointed investors with its earnings guidance for 2019 and 2020. It also unveiled plans to cut jobs and contracted positions to save up to $10m annually from next year. This was a smart and positive response from management but it also suggested that the previous issue wasn't just a minor blip. This week saw the third instalment when Rooney announced he was leaving. It was reported that Rooney had taken the view in recent times that the job was vastly different to the one he signed up to last year. If that were the case, one can see how slashing costs and headcount numbers, dealing with a PwC review and battling a shattered share price, would represent a very different job to what appeared last year. Or perhaps there were other issues around this whole saga that changed his perspective towards the company. Datalex will have to beef up its management team with a new CFO, at a time when lots of questions still hang over what happened. It is hard to see how much can change or move on until PwC reports back. During the week the shares were trading at 72c, well below the 1 they sank to in the aftermath of the profit warning in January. Hotels escape Vat apocalypse January can be a tough month for a lot of businesses, including hotels. But this year hotels faced a 4.5pc higher Vat rate, which led some in the sector to make apocalyptic predictions about what would happen. No apocalypse yet it seems. Revenue per available room (Revpar) figures published last week showed that hotels in both Dublin and regional Ireland reported higher RevPARs in January, despite the Vat headwind from January 1. Dublin RevPAR grew 0.9pc in January, with occupancy down 0.8 percentage points, and average daily rate up 2.1pc. In regional Ireland, RevPAR increased 4.9pc in January, with occupancy up 0.5 percentage points and average daily rate up 3.9pc. A single month's figures are hard to read but it seems that lower occupancy in Dublin hotels might have been due to higher prices but the sector could still manage to take in more money. If the occupancy rates were to fall further however, Dublin hoteliers would sit up and take notice. Visitor numbers and continued growth in the economy suggest that Dublin hotels will continue to rake it in. Hotels elsewhere have managed OK in the first month but it is early days. No figures are available for restaurants which stood to take a bigger hit in what is a more competitive business in the capital city. German visitor numbers were up 18pc last year. This should be seen as a positive response to Brexit as the industry and Tourism Ireland pursue a better result from markets outside the UK. Continental Europe now accounts for the larger portion of foreign visitors having overtaken Britain. Willkommen to you all. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May attends a summit between Arab league and European Union member states, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, February 24, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany Theresa May has admitted she will not get a Brexit deal in time for MPs to hold a "meaningful vote" this week, amid warnings time is running out for an agreement before Britain leaves the EU . The Prime Minister, attending an EU-League of Arab States summit, said negotiations with Brussels on the Northern Ireland backstop were still ongoing. However she pledged that MPs would be given a final say on the terms of Britain's withdrawal from the EU by March 12 at the latest. Speaking to reporters on the flight out to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Mrs May insisted she was sticking to her timetable for the UK to leave in less than five weeks' time. "It is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29," she said. However, her acknowledgement that she cannot get a deal to put to MPs this week, means there will now be a further series of votes in the Commons on an amendable Government motion on Wednesday. A cross-party group of MPs seeking to block a no-deal break immediately confirmed they would be tabling an amendment giving the House the power to demand a delay to Brexit if an agreement is not in place by mid-March. Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who drew up the plan with Conservative former minister Sir Oliver Letwin, said it would become the "real meaningful vote" on the Brexit deal. "The Prime Minister isn't acting responsibly in the national interest, but MPs from all sides need to do so," she said. Mrs May denied collective Cabinet responsibility had broken down after three pro-EU ministers signalled that they could vote for the Cooper amendment. Expand Close Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May poses with European Council President Donald Tusk during a summit between Arab League and European Union member states, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, February 24, 2019. Francisco Seco/Pool via REUTERS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May poses with European Council President Donald Tusk during a summit between Arab League and European Union member states, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, February 24, 2019. Francisco Seco/Pool via REUTERS Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and David Gauke said there was now a clear Commons majority in favour of extending the Article 50 withdrawal process rather than see a "disastrous" no-deal break. The Prime Minister said it was "not a surprise to anybody" that there were strong views around the Cabinet table on the issue. But with reports that up 100 Tory MPs could be prepared to defy the whips and back the amendment - with up to 20 ministerial resignations - Mrs May said a delay would not resolve the deadlock. "Now, often people talk about the extension of Article 50 as if that will actually solve the issue. Of course it won't. It defers the point of decision," she said. "There will always come a point where we have to decide whether we accept the deal that's been negotiated or not. And that will be a decision for every member of Parliament across the House." The intervention of the three ministers infuriated some Tory Brexiteers, who demanded they were sacked - a call reportedly echoed by some ministers in private. However Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who was one of the leaders of the official Leave campaign in the referendum cautioned against a "heresy hunt". "They are good colleagues," he told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show. "I think it would be completely inappropriate, given the nature of the conversations that the country is having about Brexit, to try to strike macho postures when what we really need is unity." Mrs May is using her attendance at the summit to hold a series of one-to-one meetings with key EU figures, including European Council president Donald Tusk who she met on Sunday. Talks between Mrs May and Mr Tusk 'focused on practicalities', according to an EU source. The source stated that Mr Tusk "recalled the need for EU27 to have clarity that a proposal for the way forward can command a majority in the UK, before the issue is tackled by the European Council." The 30 minute meeting was conducted without tensions, and the PM updated Mr Tusk on the work and timeline to find a way forward on Brexit, particularly regarding plans in relation to the meaningful vote, the source said. Talks are due to resume in Brussels on Tuesday in an attempt to resolve the impasse over the backstop, with the Government seeking legally binding assurances it will not leave Britain tied to EU rules indefinitely. "We are still in that negotiation. We are still talking to the EU about various ways in which we can find a resolution to the issue that Parliament raised," Mrs May said. Downing Street has been at pains to play down the prospect of any breakthrough at Sharm el-Sheikh. However Labour said the latest delay to the meaningful vote was "the height of irresponsibility and an admission of failure". Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer said: "Theresa May is recklessly running down the clock in a desperate attempt to force MPs to choose between her deal and no-deal. "Parliament cannot stand by and allow this to happen." THE Cabinet was given a stark warning on the impact of a no-deal Brexit on the countrys extradition laws, the Sunday Independent can reveal. Ministers were told serious criminals may have to be released from prison if Britain crashes out of the EU next month because European extradition laws will no longer apply. They were also told the country would be forced to rely on an almost 60-year-old piece of legislation to keep prisoners locked up in the event of a disorderly Brexit. European arrest warrants are a staple of EU legislation and allow member states to almost seamlessly transfer prisoners between countries. Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan told colleagues that every effort was being made to minimise the number of extradition cases affected by Brexit. He said the number of cases in Ireland was relatively small but it included people accused of very serious crimes. Mr Flanagan added that Ireland faced serious international reputational damage if new extradition laws were not swiftly introduced after a hard Brexit. Under the current system, those held under European arrest warrants would have to be released from custody if Britain left the EU on March 29 without any deal. The Government plans to fall back on a piece of legislation from 1957 to ensure potentially violent prisoners are not released because of a disorderly Brexit. However, ministers were told the 1957 Council of Europe Extradition Convention would make extraditions procedurally onerous and it would suffice only as an interim measure. The Government included new laws to address concerns over extraditions in the Brexit Omnibus Bill which was published last Friday. The 70-page Bill bids to address the serious legislative issues that would be caused by a hard Brexit. The emergency legislation is also aimed at protecting cross-border health services, benefit payments and transport links in the event of a crash-out Brexit A Department of Justice spokesperson said officials were taking steps to mitigate the potential impact that Brexit would have on cases where the UK has requested the arrest and surrender of a person under a European arrest warrant. Work has been ongoing for some time across a number of divisions in the Department of Justice, An Garda Siochana, the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the DPP to ensure that new arrangements are ready to be applied immediately and there is minimal disruption to extradition procedures, a spokesperson said. The 1957 Council of Europe Extradition Convention will be applied by order as a fallback. While it is more cumbersome than existing arrangements, it will ensure that there is a workable system in place for when the UK leaves. The Government has defended the practice of culling deer in Dublins Phoenix Park. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe ruled out contraceptives as an alternative to managing wild deer populations. Mr Donohoes comments come after animal rights groups criticised deer being shot dead in the capitals park in January following orders by the Office of Public Works. A total of 34 deer were shot at the start of the year. Expand Close A deer cull is carried out in Phoenix Park in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A deer cull is carried out in Phoenix Park in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA) It is understood the carcasses were then sold onto meat suppliers. Campaigners called for a more humane way of managing the wild deer. In a written response to a question in the Dail by Independents 4 Change TD Clare Daly asking whether alternatives to deer culling in the park had been considered, Mr Donohoe said alternatives had been examined but they were not deemed feasible. Deer culling is of course an activity that OPW would prefer not to have to carry out, Mr Donohoe said. However, the cull, as undertaken, is considered to be the most appropriate and humane way to sustainably manage the population of deer in the park. Mr Donohoe said contraceptives were not a viable alternative because no contraceptives are licensed for use on wild deer in Ireland. Although not licensed yet, there are different contraception strategies available for deer, but in most cases, they refer to heavily managed herds (not wild herds), he said. The minister said the most common strategy would be steroids, which are given to each female on a yearly basis, but he said administration of these steroids in the correct quantities would be entirely impractical in a large, wild herd as it would disrupt their normal herd behaviour. Such steroids would be administered via dart and Mr Donohoe said the darting of deer for capture to administer contraceptives would be an extremely dangerous procedure to undertake in a public park. Darts are often lost during such operations resulting in a dangerous hazard to the public and other wildlife, he said. The quantities of tranquilliser required to sedate a deer could be fatal for humans which is obviously of particular concern in a park frequented by large volumes of visitors. Mr Donohoe also said live capture, which was carried out in 1991 with over 100 persons involved from Ireland and the UK, was not an option as current health and safety requirements and the size of the current herd meant it was not practical or safe to undertake this exercise today. Live capture takes hours to be completed. Stress levels can reach abnormal levels in the animals leading to immune-depression and abortion in females, he said. Live capture requires the gathering of many deer in limited spaces (e.g. temporary corrals) and this can lead to severe or sometimes lethal injuries especially among fawns and younger deer injured by bucks. He also ruled out transporting the deer to other locations as it would be very stressful for wild animals. The OPW has previously said that culling prevents a rise in the fallow deer population which can lead to an increase in road traffic accidents in the popular park. Phoenix Park was originally formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s and opened to the public in 1747. The park is home to Dublin Zoo and the residence of the president of Ireland Michael D Higgins. Just when you thought the situation in Yemen couldnt get any worse, the latest analysis shows that, in fact, it has, with more than 60,000 additional people on the brink of famine over the past two months. But what can we do about it? The best thing we can do is stop the fighting. Im currently in Yemen, and people have told me they are fed up with this war. They keep thinking it will be over soon, and are continually disappointed. The wider reverberations of war affect more than 24 million Yemenis, making this the largest humanitarian disaster in the world today. The longer the war continues, the worse it gets. We need our government, and all governments, to insist on an immediate ceasefire for the whole country. There have been multiple violations of international humanitarian law, including airstrikes and ground attacks killing civilians, and significant blockages of access for humanitarian aid. Decembers ceasefire in Hodeidah is just about holding, but attacks continue across the rest of the country. In many areas they have increased. Yemenis have told me they want every country around the world to honour the arms trade treaty. All countries must stop selling arms to all and any parties to this conflict you can help by telling your MP that this is what you want the British government to do. Food aid for Yemenis stolen Show all 21 1 /21 Food aid for Yemenis stolen Food aid for Yemenis stolen People walk in a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen People stand near their rooms inside a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A baby sleeps inside a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A woman sits with her baby inside a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen Sisters play in their room at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen The entrance of the hangar of the United Nations in Aden, Yemen, in this 23 July 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A man sells aid supplies at a market in Aden, Yemen, in this 23 July 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen The entrance to the port where aid is received, in Aden, Yemen, is shown in this 23 July 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen This 24 July 2018 photo shows a gas station on a road in Shabwah, Yemen. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A worn-out list of registered names for aid by Relief International, part of the World Food Program, is posted in Aden, Yemen in this 23 July 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A truck carries aid on a road in Aden, Yemen, in this 23 July 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A man fixes his scarf at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen Children play in a room at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen Children look out of their room at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A woman holds her baby as she leaves her room in a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A family poses for a photograph in their room at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A family sits in their room at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A bucket filled with bread at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, is shown in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A family poses for a photograph in a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A child stands in a room at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, is shown in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) We also need our government to use all of its diplomatic might to ensure the current peace talks are meaningful. That means including womens rights as a condition for any funding. Ive seen with my own eyes how our humanitarian workers are stopped and checked on a daily basis as they try to help people in need. We need the authorities throughout Yemen to do everything they can to facilitate and not frustrate the provision of humanitarian aid. In the absence of peace, aid is keeping millions of Yemenis alive. The UN estimates that well over 17,000 innocent people have been killed directly since the conflict began. This week I have been in the vital port city of Hodeidah, where 70 per cent of Yemens food and fuel come in. The economy is in crisis and millions of people simply cant afford to eat, because they have lost their livelihoods. Their business might have been destroyed, or they were forced to flee from where they work. An offensive last summer unleashed fighting that displaced 650,000 people. I heard that people left behind their homes, their childrens schools and toys, and their jobs, to find safety. At least 3.3 million people have been forced to flee many people, including aid workers, have been forced to move more than once. One man called Adam told me he used to earn a living by using his motorbike to give taxi rides, but because of the war he no longer earns anything. People are not allowed to move around and people in his community dont have enough money to pay him. While $80 a month in humanitarian aid gives his family of 10 people just enough calories to keep going, it is still not enough. But all he really wants is peace so he can work again. A lack of clean water caused a cholera epidemic last year. I saw children walking with jerry cans to collect water. A woman called Habiba told me she had to walk for three hours every day to collect water. We are repairing water supplies to hundreds of thousands of people. Habiba now has metered water piped right up to her mud and straw home. This long-term solution means we can help people for many years after the war has finished. Children have time for school and Habiba has more time to try to earn a living. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events As in all crises, women are disproportionately affected, experiencing domestic abuse in the home and harassment in the street. In a Care International survey last year, displaced women talked about how it is rare for them to go outside without being sexually harassed. Some reported giving up and going home without vital supplies rather than enduring hours of harassment by men in aid queues. Others said they bitterly accept harassment as the price to pay for feeding their families. We are now ensuring there are separate queues for men and women. On Tuesday, governments will gather in Geneva for a high-level pledging conference to raise $4bn for the humanitarian response in Yemen. It is vital that the UK and other governments increase aid for Yemen, investing not just to save lives today and tomorrow, but also ensuring people have long-term livelihoods to build on, long after this conflict is finally over. Laurie Lee is a spokesperson for Care International UK By Jeckonia Otieno, The Standard This year the world came together in February in support of World Wetlands Day. Climate change is said to be a strong focus this year, pushing the theme - healthy wetlands, healthy communities - as it is said one cannot survive without the other. The Ewaso wetlands in Laikipia County, which is also home to Kenya's second largest wildlife population outside the Maasai Mara, stretches for 9.6 square miles and supports Kenya's multi-million pound horticulture industry. The wetlands also locally known as Marura play a critical role in the ecosystems of northern Kenya. The river is a lifeline to not only local communities of Laikipia, Samburu, Isiolo and Wajir counties but also urban centres, ranches and wildlife conservancies. There is pressure mounting from local governments to have these wetlands protected as they are a critical lifeline for local communities as well as wildlife in the region. Leaders are asking that management plans be implemented that could be replicated throughout Kenya that could help nurture bigger water bodies like rivers and lakes. Such synergy is necessary for all wetlands across the country before it's too late. During the February celebrations, the importance of water conservation was magnified for members from local communities especially during dry spells to avoid in order to avoid conflict. El Karama, a cattle ranch thats also home to wildlife and an award-winning eco-lodge located in the heart of the Laikipia eco-system on 14,000 acres of private land, among other eco practices, harvests the surface runoff water and stores it in tanks for use during the dry season. The local government say that if this can be emulated, it can not only avert crises during dry seasons but also save local communities and urban centres along the river from disastrous flooding. This can also be replicated in other parts of the country to save wetlands that face pressure during drought. County and national governments, therefore, hold the key to creating an enabling environment to ensure water harvesting during the rainy season. Among activities lined up during the World Wetlands Day is planting trees. Though this is welcomed, governments are urged to stop making the planting of trees ceremonial, but instead, make it the norm so as to save and strengthen ecosystems. One thing of note is that as it stands now, there are so many fragmented efforts with conservation in Kenya. While it is a good thing to have many players in conservation, an audit is necessary to find out what exactly is being conserved. That aside, the organisations themselves need to work in synergy if they are to make a significant impact. Working in isolation has plagued public institutions that are charged with conservation. A glaring example is the renowned Lake Naivasha Basin, located 60 miles northwest of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, where the Water Resources Authority and National Environment Management Authority are at loggerheads over plans to revise the riparian zone inward towards the lake. Therefore it is time the country changes tack on wetland conservation; above everything else, Kenyans must work together to conserve their natural resources. This article is reproduced here as part of the Giants Club African Conservation Journalism Fellowships, a programme of the charity Space for Giants and supported by the owner of ESI Media, which includes independent.co.uk. It aims to expand the reach of conservation and environmental journalism in Africa, and bring more African voices into the international conservation debate. Read the original story here One of the Yazidi women abducted by Isis in 2014 has escaped the caliphate with her five-year-old son after spending four years as an Isis slave. He was terrified, she said, recounting their escape this month. I held his hand and we just kept walking. The walk to freedom lasted 53 hours, and the little boy cried all the way. It wasn't their first escape attempt Faryal had tried five times before to flee Isis but they would be shot on the spot if the militants caught them now. They passed corpses in the darkness, and when exhaustion overwhelmed them, they huddled together and slept on the dusty path. Faryal whispered reassurances to her five-year-old son, telling him that his grandparents were waiting and that, after four years as prisoners of Isis, they were finally going home. He wouldn't believe her. As members of Iraq's Yazidi minority, a largely Kurdish-speaking religious group, the pair had escaped what the UN has called a genocide. Isis militants kidnapped thousands of Yazidis on a single day in August 2014, massacring the men and dumping them in mass graves, and forcing the women into sexual slavery. During her captivity, Faryal said she had six different owners, at times being passed on when a fighter wanted a new sexual partner or simply to settle a debt. Monsters who treated us like animals, is how she described them. The atrocities committed against the Yazidis had initially prompted the US to launch airstrikes against the militants and begin a military campaign to roll back Isis's caliphate that now, four years later, could end within days. US-backed forces have the last Isis holdouts surrounded in the eastern Syrian hamlet of Baghouz. In photographs, taken by aid workers on the night of her escape, a male companion hides his face but Faryal looks straight out at the camera. Her hazel eyes are fixed in a quiet stare. Her son's face is wet with tears, and he is sobbing. I can't put into words how I was feeling at that moment, she said. All I could think was: 'Please, take me away from here.' Recommended Yazidi refugees are using drones to collect evidence of genocide Faryal, 20, told her story last week in the northern Syrian town of Amuda after being transferred there by the US-backed Kurdish forces that rescued them. Throughout the interview, she kept a watchful eye on Hoshyar, her son, pulling him close as he cried and then trying, without success, to make him laugh. Details of her account were corroborated by members of her family in northern Iraq and through a team of Yazidi activists that had communicated with her secretly for months before the escape in attempts to smuggle her to safety. The day before Faryal's life changed forever in 2014 had dawned like any other in the Iraqi village of Tel Banat. She pottered around the house looking after her infant son Hoshyar, she recalled. By midday, the sun was roasting, and although rumours had swirled for weeks that Isis forces were drawing closer, few in Tel Banat were aware of the coming storm. The Islamist militants arrived at dusk. We couldn't run fast enough, Faryal remembered, describing how she and 10 members of her extended family had piled into a car and joined an epic exodus. Yazidi towns and villages around Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq emptied within hours as more than 100,000 people fled to higher ground. Faryal and her husband, Hashem, made it only a few miles before militants blocked their path. Yazidis have long faced persecution from more powerful religious groups for their beliefs, in part because of a false but commonly-held impression that they worship the sun, or the devil. There are fewer than one million Yazidis worldwide, and according to the UN, Isis had intended to entirely wipe out those within their reach. Yazidi men and boys who had reached puberty were separated from the women and other children and often shot dead at roadsides. Women were bused to temporary holding sites and then sold to Isis fighters at slave markets. Isis clerics had decided that having slaves was religiously sanctioned, institutionalising sexual violence across their caliphate. Women have reported being tied to beds during daily assaults. They were sold from man to man. Gang rape was common. Many women and girls committed suicide in the opening months of captivity, according to Yazidi rights groups. Others harmed themselves to appear less appealing to fighters who might consider buying them. Faryal recalled that an Isis fighter who was Iraqi and called himself Abu Kattab was her worst abuser. Hoshyar was abused, too, Faryal said. Abu Kattab beat him so badly there were hand prints on his face. Another had forced the boy's arm onto a hot plate. He was so small, but for some reason the fighters hated him, Faryal said. I could never explain to him why. 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 As the boy sat beside his mother last week, his eyes moved slowly from side to side as if scanning the room for threats. His blond hair was cut in jagged chunks. He did not speak and he did not smile. At its height in 2014, Isis's self-proclaimed caliphate covered territory in Syria and Iraq the size of Britain, and the movement drew recruits from around the world. In the intervening years, thousands of Yazidi women fled the territory held by the militants, but Faryal couldn't escape. With each unsuccessful attempt to escape, the punishment grew harsher, she said. By 2017, she said, she had given up. Keeping her head down and accepting the abuse seemed the only way to keep Hoshyar alive, and the child was fraying badly. Their owners starved him and often forbade him to go to the toilet. I knew that if I fought back, they would take him from me forever, she said. They did that to so many women. There was one final act of resistance, though: a tattoo of her husband's name, inked in kohl and water on the back of her right hand. It took five days to complete, and the pain lasted even longer. It was, she sometimes told herself, a reminder of a life that could still be hers. At other times, she lost all hope. In its final months, as the caliphate shrank to a sliver, her captors were moving weekly to outrun US airstrikes. But the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were closing in. Food supplies ran so low that Faryal said she sometimes went days without eating, spending her money instead on small sandwiches for Hoshyar. When the pair was struck by shrapnel in the Syrian hamlet of Baghouz in January, no medical care was available. The village clinic had been abandoned, left littered with empty drug packets and syringes. We were pushed out onto the street, still bleeding. There were no drugs left, and we saw people in the road being left for dead, she said. Their chance to escape came when several Isis fighters grew desperate and plotted to use Faryal and Hoshyar as their ticket out. After years of abusive behavior, the militants decided to style themselves as the Yazidis' guardians and surrender to the forces surrounding their last stronghold. At 2.30pm one afternoon, they all set out from their tent in Baghouz. An Uzbek fighter and his family pushed the young mother out in front of them as they started down the dusty path. They walked for two days in the cold, following the only path out of what had once been the caliphate. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events At 8pm on the second day, they heard shouting. Beams from flashlights bounced off the sky. It was the US-backed soldiers. Isis fighters raised their hands above their heads and cried out for mercy. They claimed that they were helping a Yazidi escape and had kept her safe, according to someone present at the screening point that night. The appeal fell on deaf ears, and the men were detained as Faryal and Hoshyar carried on walking. It took three days for the pair to finally believe they might be free. They still fear that the extremists will come back for them. As long as I'm alive, I'll be scared of them, Faryal said, tensing her shoulders as she gripped her tattooed hand with the other. My spirit might be strong, but my mind will never rest. Washington Post Saudi Arabia supports Chinas right to carry out so-called anti-extremism drives that have seen hundreds of thousands of Uighur Muslims detained in re-education camps, its crown prince has suggested. Mohammed bin Salman indicated during an economic summit that he would not challenge Beijings actions in Xinjiang province, where up to 1 million Muslims and people from ethnic minority groups are thought have been detained. We respect and support Chinas rights to take counter-terrorism and de-extremism measures to safeguard national security, Mr Bin Salman was reported as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency on Friday. We stand ready to strengthen cooperation with China, he said added during a summit with premier Xi Jinping as the pair cemented a $10bn (7.7bn) deal for a refining and petrochemical complex in China. It came during Mr Bin Salmans tour of Asia that has already seen promises of huge investment in Pakistan and India. 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 Mr Xi told the crown prince the two countries must strengthen international cooperation on de-radicalisation to prevent the infiltration and spread of extremist thinking, Chinese state television said. Inmates in internment camps have allegedly been forced to consume pork and alcohol, and made to denounce their religion. Beijing says the camps are designed for de-radicalisation. Recommended China cuts off BBC news report after Muslim detention camps mentioned In the US congress, criticism has been building for months over Saudi Arabias handling of the war in Yemen, where it is accused of causing widespread casualties and suffering among civilians. China has refrained from adding its voice to criticism of the kingdom on issues such as the war or the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate. Saudi Arabias ruling family has portrayed itself as the defender of Muslims across the world and protector of Islams two holiest shrines. Additional reporting by agencies Six months ago, the manager of the Gopal Gau Sadan literally a home for old cows on the outskirts of Delhi was forced to declare that enough was enough; it couldnt take any more animals. With more than 4,000 cattle living on just 16 acres of land, the shelter wrote to the Delhi city authorities to say it would have to stop rehousing cows who, despite their revered status among Indias 1.2 billion Hindus, have been left to fend for themselves on the streets. Its a similar story at all of the five government-supported cow shelters in the greater Delhi area. Indeed, since Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist BJP swept to power in the 2014 election, stray cattle crises have been seen breaking out across the nation. Figures from a government survey estimate there are more than 60,000 abandoned cows living in the capital. Tourist snaps of Delhi often feature a robust-looking bovine stray, walking down the street and forcing rickshaws, cars, even buses to grant it right of way. They are less likely to show the more unsavoury sight of the same cows grazing on piles of plastic household waste, at collection points and rubbish dumps throughout the city. Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Show all 10 1 /10 Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Shri Krishna Gaushala houses 8,400 cows who have been abandoned by their owners or picked up from the streets of the capital Adam Withnall/The Independent Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Managers admit the shelter cannot provide the cows the recommended 3.5m2 space per animal Adam Withnall/The Independent Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Inside the cow shelters of Delhi A special shed gives extra space to cows that are blind, reducing the risk that they hurt themselves or each other Adam Withnall/The Independent Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Inside the cow shelters of Delhi The animals are given a daily diet of mixed greens, processed by a team at the shelter and distributed to all the sheds Adam Withnall/The Independent Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Staff even provide the cows with cooked meals - huge cauldrons bake bulgur wheat over the course of a full day Adam Withnall/The Independent Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Shri Krishna Gaushala is one of the only shelters in Delhi that has its own fully functioning 'cow hospital' Adam Withnall/The Independent Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Inside the cow shelters of Delhi The hospital has an operating theatre and four full time vets, and performs surgery to remove plastic from stomachs of around 12 cows a month Adam Withnall/The Independent Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Inside the cow shelters of Delhi The shelter also provides education to 65 children from poor local families at a school on site Adam Withnall/The Independent Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Inside the cow shelters of Delhi At the Gopal Gau Sadan shelter, new arrivals are kept apart from other cows in a special enclosure for a month Adam Withnall/The Independent Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Inside the cow shelters of Delhi Space is more cramped for cows who are exhibiting sickness. The shelter doesn't have its own hospital, so send cows to other facilities for major operations Adam Withnall/The Independent Unlike other stray animals, cows lack the dexterity to pick out food from the mass of polythene, glass, rubber and other inedible and hazardous garbage they stumble across. Some extreme cases have made the news where up to 80kg of plastic have been pulled from the stomachs of a single cow during life-saving surgery. But there is not one cow brought in off the streets that has not ingested at least a significant amount of plastic, says Dr Showkat, the head vet at Shri Krishna Gaushala, one of the citys largest shelters. Once a cow has consumed around 25kg of plastic it starts to affect their digestive system, he says. First they stop eating, then they stop defecating, at which point urgent surgery is required to remove the blockage. Many dont survive the operation. At least 12 cows per month passing through the shelters operating theatre for plastic removal surgery, according to the sick patient register on Dr Showkats desk since the cow is revered in Hinduism as mother, the animals are patients, the veterinary surgery is a hospital and the vets are all doctors. We try to be as fast as possible, but it can take more than two, three hours to pull out all the plastic, Dr Showkat says. The maximum I have seen is 50kg, and it is not just plastic. Sometimes we find whole shoes, sometimes needles, or pieces of wood but mostly it is polythene. The problem is definitely getting worse over time, he said. I have been working here since 2014, and when I first arrived we were performing surgery on only one or two [plastic] cases a month. Since 2014, whether it is political or something else, we are receiving more and more cows. I think there is an apathy towards cows, and animals in general. At home, we say this is our cow-mother, but then from this home we throw it out. Our statements of love [for cows] are one thing, but the situation on the ground is very different. The political situation Dr Showkat refers to is the rise of Mr Modis BJP and, with it, the growing phenomenon of violence in the name of cow protection one of the core issues that has defined the Hindu nationalist movement. In speeches, Mr Modi has condemned the widespread killing of our cows. According to IndiaSpend, 45 people were killed in cow-related violence between 2012 and 2018, and many states now have laws banning all cow slaughter. It means that when cows stop producing milk, where once they might have been sold for slaughter, the animals are instead cast out onto the streets by farmers who cannot afford to keep feeding an unproductive animal. In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere, growing herds of stray cattle are roaming the countryside and damaging crops, angering farmers many of whom who say the issue will make them think twice about voting BJP in the upcoming general election. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Mr Modi and other Hindu nationalist leaders, like Uttar Pradeshs chief minister and prominent right-wing monk Yogi Adityanath, have addressed the problem by setting aside more money for cows and demanding strays be moved to shelters more promptly. But like all other major existing facilities, Shri Krishna Gaushala is already full beyond capacity. Its campus resembles a city of cows stretching as far as the eye can see, complete with a temple, a school, its own food processing unit and Dr Showkats hospital. It is home to more than 8,400 animals up from around 5,000 in 2012, according to workers. The cows have all the food and medicine they need, paid for by both private donations and a government stipend of 1,200 rupees per animal, per month no small amount, given many unskilled labourers in India get by on monthly salaries as small as 6,000 rupees. The cows even get cooked meals. Sunita Tivari, stirring one of five vast cauldrons of bulgur wheat, speaks warmly of her work looking after the gau mata the cow-mother. She has been working at the shelter for seven years, and says she believes it will bring her good fortune not only in this life but the next. The only thing they lack is space. Deputy manager Mohan Garh admits the cows do not have the minimum 3.5sq m per animal recommended by veterinary science. We will be able to take maybe another 50 cows and then we will have to say no more, Mr Garh says. He says that since Mr Modi has urged people to take any cows they see to shelters, pressures on existing facilities will only grow unless more facilities are built. The only way to reduce the [plastic] problem is to get the cows inside a shelter, he says. Even if we tell people they are harming the cows, it is difficult to get people to stop throwing away plastic. People for Animals, a rights charity founded by the BJP minister and prominent animal welfare campaigner Maneka Gandhi, says it has raised the issue of the capitals stray cows with the Delhi High Court. It wants a complete ban on plastic bags in the city, but also a crackdown on the commercial dairies that cast the animals out when they stop producing milk. Running dairies in unregistered premises is a violation of law, and so is abandoning animals on the streets to fend for themselves, but the implementation of these laws is negligible, says Gauri Maulekhi, a trustee for the charity. Frustration at a lack of solutions to Delhis stray cow woes is a sentiment that unites all the workers at the capitals shelters that and their expressions of fondness for the creatures in their care. Rashtra Pal, manager of the Gopal Gau Sadan, says he was deeply saddened by two recent incidents where cows dropped dead, he says, because of the amounts of plastic they had ingested. After all, it is a human being, he says, referring to the popular belief in Hinduism that equates the life of a cow to that of a high-caste Brahmin. When they bring them here you will find them all looking fat and healthy. But that fat is because of the polythene inside them, he says. So you cant call them healthy they look good but they are full of plastic. We do all we can to care for them but usually they dont survive long. People need to be made aware of the harm they are doing to the cows by letting them eat plastic, he says. They should remember all the benefits they are receiving from cows, and the importance of cows in their lives. A Dubai-bound plane was forced to make an emergency landing at an airport in Bangladesh after an armed passenger attempted to hijack the flight. Police and military surrounded the Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft at Chittagong airport before all 143 passengers and seven crew members were allowed to leave. The suspect, a Bangladeshi, asked to speak to the countrys prime minister before dying from injuries in an exchange of gunfire with commandos, according to military officials. The soldiers fired at the suspect after he shot at them when they asked him to surrender, Major General Motiur Rahman told reporters. All of them have come out from the aircraft safely, said the airlines general manager, Shakil Miraj, of the passengers and crew. 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 airline said the Boeing 737 aircraft left Dhaka for Dubai at 4.35pm, and landed at Chittagong airport around 5.40pm local time. The pilot had decided to make an emergency landing after being told by a member of the cabin crew that the passenger was behaving suspiciously, said Mr Miraj. Bangladeshi politican Moin Uddin Khan Badal told Bangladeshi media he had been on board the plane and a gunshot had been fired. He also claimed the hijacker had demanded to speak to Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangladeshi security forces stand guard at Chittagong airport (EPA) Bangladeshs home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told bdnews24.com the hijacker had threatened the pilot with a gun. So far we know, an armed man pulled a gun at the pilots head. But all the passengers have disembarked. The pilot has also got off. An army official later said the suspect, whose name has not been released, asked to speak to his wife and the prime minister. The suspect died of his injuries before reaching the hospital, he said. The suspect appeared to be mentally imbalanced, said M. Naim Hassan, chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority. I am saying this because of his behaviour. He wanted to talk to the prime minister. Flights were suspended at the airport when police cordoned off the area around the plane. Additional reporting by agencies A Republican politician from Kansas has apologised and removed his name from a bill characterising same-sex unions as parody marriage after his daughter publicly shamed him for sponsoring it in an open letter. Christel Highland, the daughter of state representative Ron Highland, wrote the letter to her father on Facebook this week, asking him why he would openly attempt at policy that elevates hate and hurts my family or friends. Soon after, the legislator admitted endorsing the bill was a mistake. In a statement to the Wamego Times, according to the Mercury, Mr Highland said: The bill that I should not have signed on to cosponsor contained some hateful language which I do not condone, and it is against our Lords command to love our neighbours. I have asked for my name to be removed from the bill. The process for doing so is in motion. Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade Show all 8 1 /8 Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AFP/Getty Images Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AFP/Getty Images Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Mr Highland could not be reached for comment. The recent controversy surrounds House Bill 2320 which aims to have same-sex marriages deemed parody marriages and allow the state to deny them. The bill defines parody marriages as: Parody marriage means any form of alleged marriage that does not involve a man and a woman. The term parody marriage refers to a variety of so-called marriages that do not involve a man and a woman that amount to doctrines that are inseparably linked to the religion of secular humanism. The term parody marriage refers to so-called marriages between more than two people, persons of the same sex, a person and an animal, or a person and an object. The bill appears to be seeking to stop same-sex unions. The bill reads: The state shall no longer be in the parody marriage funding and endorsement business and shall disentangle itself from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) secular humanist church pursuant to this section and the establishment clause of the 1st amendment of the constitution of the United States. The state shall not, through any government action create, enforce or respect any LGBTQ or any other secular humanist policy whether directly or symbolically. The state shall maintain the separation of church and state, which includes separating itself from the non-institutionalised religions such as secular humanism, expressive individualism and postmodern western individualistic moral relativism. Christel Highland describes herself on Facebook as a proud member of Kansas Citys LGBTQ+ community, a mother, a partner to the love of my life, an artist active in my creative community, and a hard-working businessperson. She said in a post that she was personally offended by the egregious nature of Kansas Representatives proposed legislation, most notably, my fathers. She told her father in the letter on Wednesday that this moment presents an opportunity for you to set a principled example to your colleagues and constituents. Your most sacred job as an elected official is to serve and protect people, she wrote. Your God did not elect you, living, breathing humans beings did. Further isolating the marginalised among the population you serve is far from your duty. Hate has no place in public policy. I respectfully request an apology on behalf on my family and beloved friends that this cruel attempt at legislation impacts viable or not and I beg that you show yourself to be the honourable man Ive always known you to be. Ultimately, what is right can never be something that hurts another. You taught me that. I love you, I always will, in spite of your flaws, Christel Highland told her father. Then she added: I cannot, however, condone your cruel actions. Shame on you. Christel Highland said in a statement on Saturday to the Washington Post that she wrote the letter because I had friends in Kansas whom I knew were reeling from yet another attempt to legislate hate. I wrote that letter from a place of exhaustion as a result of our divisive political climate, she said. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The overwhelmingly positive response to my message shows that I am not alone in my longing for kindness, respect, and acceptance to return to our policy-making process. Following her fathers public apology, she said that she was proud of him for setting an excellent example. It took strength to do what my father did, and Im proud of him for setting an excellent example to his colleagues and constituents by removing his co-sponsorship from HB 2320, she said in the statement. I think this situation is an example of what is possible if we work together towards good with love in our hearts. I can only hope that this is a step in a positive direction where we work to make the pursuit of happiness easier for one another irrespective of birthplace, race, beliefs, or orientation. Washington Post Adam Schiff has warned the Justice Department that any effort to conceal special counsel Robert Muellers final report into Russian interference in the election of Donald Trump will be met with swift legal action. Mr Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he was considering taking the Trump administration to court and forcing Mr Mueller to testify before Congress if Attorney General William Barr tries to keep the report secret. We are going to get to the bottom of this, Mr Schiff told ABCs 'This Week'. We are going to share this information with the public. And if the president is serious about all his claims of exoneration, then he should welcome the publication of the report. We will obviously subpoena the report. We will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress; we will take it to court if necessary. And in the end, I think the [Justice] Department understands theyre going to have to make this public," Mr Schiff continued. Mr Schiff, a Democrat, took the helm of the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year after Democrats took over the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections. The comments come as reports indicate Mr Mueller will soon deliver his report, ending a two-year investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 election. Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Show all 20 1 /20 Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Donald Trump's Cabinet Donald Trump's Cabinet is one the richest in American history, filled with billionaires, conservatives and several career politicians. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Mike Pence US Vice President Mike Pence has defended Donald Trump throughout his presidency while walking a fine line to avoid any public involvement in major scandals. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Mike Pompeo Secretary of State Mike Pompeo replaced Donald Trump's previous appointment to the post, Rex Tillerson, and has led talks with North Korea in establishing high-profile summits between the president and Kim Jong Un. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Wilbur Ross Secretary of Commerce Wibur Ross raised controversy when he was accused of falsely claiming to have sold stock in a bank and violated a government ethics agreement. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Robert Lighthizer US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has been a fixture in Donald Trump's ongoing trade spat with China. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet William Barr Attorney General William Barr replaced Jeff Sessions as the nation's top cop in early 2019 and has refused to commit to recusing himself from the Russia probe despite an unsolicited memo he sent to the Justice Department decrying the investigation. EPA Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Rick Perry Energy Secretary Rick Perry has held his post throughout Donald Trump's presidency despite previously undermining the need for the agency he now leads in past public statements. Ken Shipp / United States Department of Energy Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Betsy DeVos Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has also held her post throughout the presidency, despite major backlash to her apparent undermining of the nationwide public school system and advocacy for charter programmes. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Steven Mnuchin Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has faced numerous controversies throughout his tenure as the head of Treasury, including costing taxpayers at least a million dollars in travel expenses. AP Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Robert Wilkie Veterans Affairs secretary Robert Wilkie was appointed after Donald Trump's White House doctor Ronny Jackson withdrew over allegations he provided prescription drugs to patients without prescriptions. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet David Bernhardt Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt took office in January 2019 after the resignation of Ryan Zinke after previously serving as Zinke's deputy. Before taking office Bernhardt worked for many years as a solicitor for the Department of the Interior. Tami Heilemann / United States Department of the Interior Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Elaine Chao Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has held her post throughout the presidency and has mostly avoided controversy, despite a report claiming her office has been in frequent coordination with her husband's, Mitch McConnell. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Kevin McAleenan Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan took over from Kirstjen Nielsen after she resigned in April 2019. He previously worked as the executive director of the executive director of the Office of Anti Terrorism in the Customs and Border Protection agency United States Customs and Border Protection Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Ben Carson Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson was appointed shortly after Donald Trump took office and raised controversy over an exorbitant furnishing bill for his office. Reuters Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Gina Haspel CIA Director Gina Haspel was appointed in 2018 and faced backlash surrounding her oversight of Guantanamo Bay. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Dan Coats Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats could be the next person to leave Donald Trump's administration over his refuting the president's claims surrounding ISIS. Reuters Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Sonny Perdue Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has been dogged by ethics questions throughout his tenure and faced controversy when emails showed the agency appeared willing to eagerly work with lobbyists under his leadership. Reuters Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Alex Azar Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is a former pharmaceutical lobbyist and former drug company executive. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Mick Mulvaney Acting Chief of Staff and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has described himself as one of the most conservative officials in the White House. EPA Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Robert Wilkie Secretary of State for Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie has spent his career on Capitol Hill serving in various roles in foreign affairs and defence. He holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force Reserve. Gene Russell / United States Department of Veterans Affairs Mr Muellers investigation has resulted in several indictments against individuals close to Donald Trump, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, lawyer Michael Cohen, and political strategist Roger Stone. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Mr Trump has insisted there was no collusion between his campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 election, and has frequently criticised the investigations into the issue. A Florida mayor accused of shooting at police officers who were attempting to arrest him based on allegations of practising medicine without a licence has been suspended from office. On Friday, Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order officially suspending Dale Massad from his position as mayor of Port Richey. Mr Massad allegedly shot at deputies during a raid on Thursday early morning before suspending, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco told the Associated Press. No one was hurt. The sheriff said a Mr Massad had history of drug use, violence and threats and owned several guns, which prompted deputies to raid the home. Florida state officials alleged that the 68-year-old was treating patients at his private residence despite losing his physicians licence in 1992. Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC Show all 12 1 /12 Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC Protesters hold up signs and flags to show solidarity with House Democrats after they staged a sit in over gun-control laws on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on June 23. 2016. Andrew Caballero/AFP/Getty Images Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC A lone protester wears tape printed with the U.S. flag on her mouth while attending an open hearing of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence where intelligence chiefs, including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, testified at the U.S. Capitol February 25, 2016 in Washington, DC. Clapper said that the group known as the Islamic State, or ISIS, has become a greater global threat than al-Qaida ever was. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) waves to supporters along with House Democrats after their sit-in over gun-control law on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC Supporters of House Democrats taking part in a sit-in on the House Chamber shout encouragement from outside the U.S. Capitol on June 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Led by civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) Democrats, have maintained control of the House chamber since this morning demanding a vote on gun control legislation. Pete Marovich/Getty Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC U.S. House Democrats walk out on the East Front on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., after their sit-in over gun-control law, June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC A poster for the gun-control law support is left on the ground on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (R) applauds as Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) (L) waves to supporters along with House Democrats after their sit-in over gun-control law on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC Supporters of House Democrats taking part in a sit-in on the House Chamber shout encouragement from outside the U.S. Capitol on June 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Led by civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) Democrats have maintained control of the House chamber since this morning demanding a vote on gun control legislation. Pete Marovich/Getty Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (R) and Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) (L) walk out with House Democrats on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., after their sit-in over gun-control law, June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC U.S. House Democrats walk out on the East Front on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., after their sit-in over gun-control law, June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC U.S. House Democrats walk out on the East Front on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., after their sit-in over gun-control law, June 23, 2016. Yuri Gripas/Reuters Protests call for stricter gun-control laws in Washington DC Protesters hold up signs and flags to show solidarity with House Democrats after they staged a sit in over gun-control laws on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on June 23. 2016. Andrew Caballero/AFP/Getty Images In addition to illegal medical practice charges, Mr Massad faces five counts of attempted murder. Port Richey is located about 40 miles, or 65 kilometers, north of Tampa. Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has accused critics of not trying to tackle climate change following opposition to her ambitious Green New Deal programme. Ms Ocasio-Cortez addressed criticism she has faced from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress at a New York Hall of Science event. You know what? I dont care anymore, because at least Im trying and theyre not, she said. I just introduced the Green New Deal two weeks ago and its creating all of this conversation, why? Because no one else has even tried. Her comments came during a discussion with Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani and young women of colour who have designed apps which address social issues. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez greets fellow lawmakers ahead of the State of the Union address Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez participates in an event with Democratic members of Congress EPA Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures The Democrat senator speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol January 30, 2019 Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and fellow Democrat Rashida Tlaib AP Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the Senate chamber to watch two votes on January 24, 2019 Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrives with Chellie Pingree at a House Democratic Caucus meeting Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio-Cortez during Donald Trump's State of the Union address Reuters Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures New York State Assembly member Catalina Cruz with Ocasio-Cortez AFP/Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Nydia Velazquez talks with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Reuters Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio-Cortez casts her vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House EPA Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez poses with a campaign worker during a whistle stop in the Queens borough of New York Reuters Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio-Cortez outside the US Capitol AFP/Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio-Cortez after casting her ballot in the 2018 midterm general election at a polling site in New York EPA Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez looks on during a march organised by the Women's March Alliance in Manhattan Reuters Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio Cortez looks on at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 16, 2019 AFP/Getty Critics have claimed the Green New Deal resolution is too extreme and unworkable, with Donald Trump incorrectly suggesting it would permanently eliminate all planes, cars, cows, oil, gas and the military. Ms Ocasio-Cortez added: So people are like Oh its unrealistic, oh its vague, oh it doesnt address this little minute thing and Im like You try! You do it! Because youre not, so until you do it, Im the boss, How about that? Recommended Why the Green New Deal strategy is doomed to fail The resolution, which has been proposed by Ms Ocasio-Cortez and senator Edward J Markey, sets out broad changes to American society which aim to reduce the effects of climate change. It includes key goals of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero over 10 years and 100 per cent renewable energy in the US by 2030. The proposal currently has the support of major Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand. Senator Amy Klobuchar has said she would vote for the non-binding resolution but suggested she would oppose certain elements of the proposal when it came to the details of legislation. Former vice president Al Gore and former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon have also supported the idea in principle. However, the resolution has faced opposition from fellow Democrats, such as California senator Dianne Feinstein. Ms Feinstein was recently filmed arguing with a group of school children over the proposal, saying she could not support it because theres no way to pay for it. Ive been doing this for 30 years. I know what Im doing, she said. You come in here and you say it has to be my way or the highway. I dont respond to that. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has said he intends to bring forward a vote on the Green New Deal, which would force Democrats to formally decide whether to back the proposal. The resolution is not expected to pass the Senate, which is controlled by a Republican majority, and the planned vote has been criticised by Democratic leader Chuck Schumer as a "cynical ploy" to split the party. A school for just one pupil is to be opened in a remote Midwest mountain range in the US. Cozy Hollow Elementary will serve the single student whose family live in the Laramie Mountains in rural Wyoming. A modular classroom is already on site in the tiny 240-person hamlet of Rock River but it has not been used for almost a decade when it also acted as a one-child school for the son of a ranching family living in the district. Speaking in 2004, that particular pupil, Joe Kennedy, said of his one-to-one tuition: It feels pretty good, theres no one there to bug us. Cozy Hollow itself - located 60 miles north of the city of Laramie is only a few miles from another single-student school. But officials with the Albany County School District say roads between the two become so treacherous for most of winter that it is safer and easier to run two separate centres. 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 Such arrangements are unusual but not unique in the US. Single pupil schools also exist in Nebraska, Montana and North Dakota. Wyoming law requires on-site education for isolated students when it's impossible to transport them to other schools. The district tried live-streaming classes for isolated students but it didn't work well, especially for young children, officials have said. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The cost of the new school will be about $75,000. An unvaccinated French boy is suspected of having reintroduced measles to Costa Rica after the Central American country had been free of the disease for five years. It is unclear why the five-year-old French tourist had never received a measles jab, but the arrival of the highly contagious, potentially deadly disease in a country that has been measles-free since 2014 is likely to increase anxiety about the effects of the worldwide anti-vaccine movement. The reintroduction of measles to Costa Rica comes a month after the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that vaccine hesitancy is in the top 10 of the worst health threats facing humanity in 2019. Costa Ricas health ministry said the French five-year-old had arrived in the country with his parents on 18 February. The Costa Rica Star reported that the boy and his mother had not been vaccinated. The parents were said to have consulted a private doctor in Costa Rica about their sons rash, and confirmed that other children who had attended the boys school in France had come down with measles. The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Show all 7 1 /7 The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Charlie Sheen Sheen fought a legal battle against ex-wife Denise Richards to try and block her from vaccinating their children. Richards of course won and Sheen was reportedly so bitter that he paid the paediatrician bill entirely in nickels Getty The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Gwyneth Paltrow Paltrow's "health and wellness" company Goop hosted a notorious anti-vaccine speaker at their 2018 Goop Summit Getty The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Rob Schneider Schneider demanded the freedom to decline vaccination Getty The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Jenny McCarthy McCarthy has claimed that "people are dying from vaccinations", believes that her son caught autism from a vaccine and has pushed her opinions on the topic publicly for many years AFP/Getty The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Bill Maher Maher has long spoken against vaccines sating on Larry King live that "a flu shot is the worst thing you can do." His stance appears to stem from a distrust of government AFP/Getty The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Alicia Silverstone In Silverstone's book The Kind Mama, she wrote that "there is increasing anecdotal evidence from doctors who have gotten distressed phone calls from parents claiming their child was never the same after receiving a vaccine." Getty The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Andrew Wakefield Godfather of the anti-vax movement, disgraced doctor Andrew Wakefield famously published a report in the medical journal Lancet claiming a link between the MMR vaccine and autism in 1998. The Lancet retracted the report in 2010 and Wakefield was struck off the medical register PA The health ministry said the boy was now being treated and kept in strict isolation at the Monsenor Sanabria Hospital in the port town of Puntarenas. The health ministry is seeking to establish who may have come into contact with the infected child, including during his flight, at a San Jose hotel where the family stayed for one night and at the beach village of Santa Teresa, near Puntarenas, where they were having their holiday. The French authorities have also been informed about the boys illness, so they can track whether anyone else has been infected in the European country. Costa Ricas health ministry said the last time one of its own citizens had measles was in 2006. Before the five-year-old French boy fell ill, the last case of measles being imported to Costa Rica had been in 2014. The health ministry issued a statement saying: Our country enjoys very good vaccination coverage in general. However, in order to avoid particular cases and their possible complications, it is important that those in charge of minors ensure that children have the complete vaccination scheme. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The ministry of health requests that if you know of someone who has symptoms of measles (fever, nasal congestion, cough, conjunctivitis, skin rash that starts in the head and expands through the body to the feet, reaching the hips around the second day) it is vital that they notify the health authorities as soon as possible. The above symptoms are of particular importance for people who in the previous 20 days have been in countries with measles transmission or in contact with an eventual imported case. The measles-struck town battling anti-vaccine propaganda The WHO has said that despite the availability of a safe and cost-effective vaccine, there were 110,000 measles deaths globally in 2017, mostly among children under the age of five. The WHO has warned that the number of measles cases worldwide had risen by more than 30 per cent between 2016 and 2017, with increases recorded in rich European countries like Germany where vaccination coverage had previously been high. Martin Friede, the WHOs director of immunisation, vaccines and biologicals, said that supposed experts making accusations against the vaccine without any evidence had adversely affected parents decision-making. The WHO also warned that complacency was stopping some parents from getting their children vaccinated. Placing vaccine hesitancy the reluctance or refusal to get immunised among the worlds top 10 health threats, the WHO warned: Some countries that were close to eliminating measles have seen a resurgence. In the UK a wave of anxiety about the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine was triggered in 1998 when Dr Andrew Wakefield published a paper linking the jab to autism in children. In 2010, Mr Wakefield was struck off the UK medical register after the General Medical Council held him responsible for offences relating to dishonesty and failing to act in the best interests of vulnerable child patients. The editor of an Alabama newspaper who called for the return of the Klu Klux Klan and lynchings of Democrat politicians has been replaced by an African-American woman. In a press release, the Democrat-Reporter announced Elecia R Dexter would become the newspapers new editor and publisher after longstanding editor Goodloe Sutton resigned following an editorial he published entitled Klan needs to ride again. When asked about his resignation, Mr Sutton said he was going to drink beer and sex young women. I am not going to do anything with it [the paper]. Im going to be a dead beat an out-of-work dead beat, he told the Alabama Political Reporter. Ms Dexter has previously worked as a strategic leader with expertise in human resources, operations and change management for the Democrat-Reporter, according to a statement from the newspaper. 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 Mr Sutton will retain ownership of the paper, which does not publish online and had a circulation of around 3,000 in 2015, but Ms Dexter will handle everything else. Alabama senator Doug Jones welcomed the resignation and said Mr Suttons dangerous views do not represent Alabama or the small-town papers in Alabama that do great work every day. Terri A Sewell, a congresswoman for the state, said: Mr Sutton has made a lot of poor decisions, but stepping down is the right thing to do. Now, he must apologise. In the editorial, published on 14 February, Mr Sutton called for a raid on the homes of Democrats and Democrats in the Republican Party for plotting to raise taxes in Alabama. When asked to elaborate on his statement, he told the Montgomery Advertiser he wanted the KKK to clean out DC. Well get the hemp ropes out, loop them over a tall limb and hang all of them, he said. His final edition as editor of the paper published letters praising the editorial on the front page, including one from a self-professed Klansman. White woman goes on racist rant against black officer in Florida: 'KKK's got your a** boy' Ms Dexter said she had spoken to Mr Sutton about his editorial. I told him there were some different ways you could have made your point," she told The Associated Press. Following the publication of the KKK editorial, local journalists said they found a history of racist, sexist and homophobic editorials published by the newspaper. One allegedly claimed slavery was a good lesson for the Jews and another said foreigners to America brought in HIV, AIDs, etc. The Alabama Press Association voted to censure Mr Sutton and suspend membership of the Democrat-Reporter earlier this week. Three people are thought to have died after a plane carrying Amazon cargo crashed into Trinity Bay in Texas on Saturday afternoon. The Boeing 767 cargo jetliner was travelling to Houston from Miami and was just 30 miles southeast of its destination, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, when air traffic controllers lost radar and radio contact with the craft. Controllers in Houston tried at least twice to contact the plane but received no response. After losing contact, they asked a United Airlines pilot if he had seen any wreckage to his right or behind him. "That's a negative," he said. The cargo plane plunged from 6,525ft to 3,025ft in 30 seconds, according to tracking data from FlightAware.com. 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 Aviation authorities said they did not believe there were any survivors. Brian Hawtorne, Chambers County Sherriff, told The Houston Chronicle that human remains were recovered from the crash site. The plane was operated by Atlas Air on behalf of Amazon, according to a statement from the airline. The crash left cargo debris scattered across the bay. "There's everything from cardboard boxes to women's clothing and bed sheets," the sheriff said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the flight crew, their families and friends along with the entire team at Atlas Air during this terrible tragedy," said Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations at Amazon. "We appreciate the first responders who worked urgently to provide support." Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Additional reporting by agencies Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson has said Jeremy Corbyn must intervene and personally order the expulsion of antisemites to help resolve his partys problems. Mr Watson also criticised one of Mr Corbyns closest allies, saying reforms that were supposed to tackle racism in the party implemented by new general secretary Jennie Formby had very patently been unsuccessful. The shadow cabinet member went on to call on colleagues including Emily Thorberry to dial down the rhetoric, after the shadow foreign secretary said she would rather die than leave the Labour Party. It comes after a tumultuous week in which nine MPs walked out of Mr Corbyns party in frustration over antisemitism, his handling of Brexit and his leadership more broadly with eight forming the new Independent Group alongside three ex-Tory MPs. Discussing the scourge of antisemitic abuse within the party, which was a key factor in the departure of Jewish MP Luciana Berger, Mr Watson said: He has said that its not done in his name. The problem is the test for us, the test for him as a leader, is to eradicate antisemitism, and its not other Labour Party members that will be the judge of that, its the British Jewish community. And I think he understands now, that if he is ever to be prime minister he needs to rebuild that trust. And the way you do that ... is to review those cases and go to the NEC [national executive committee], where he is in control. They will back him if he says these people need to be thrown out. And thats the only solution now, because time is against us. Ms Formby arrived in post having previously worked for Len McCluskey at Unite the union, Mr Corbyns biggest financial backer. Protests against Labour antisemitism Show all 14 1 /14 Protests against Labour antisemitism Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters clashed during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of the Jewish community hold a protest against Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and antisemitism in the Labour Party AFP/Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters hold placards and flags during a demonstration, organised by the British Board of Jewish Deputies for those who oppose antisemitism, in Parliament Square Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Hundreds of people gathered in Parliament Square to protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP Luciana Berger speaks during the protest PA Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester blows through a shofar during the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of London's Jewish community protest in support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn outside parliament EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP John Mann speaks during a protest against antisemitism PA Protests against Labour antisemitism People protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party as Jewish community leaders have launched a scathing attack on Jeremy Corbyn, claiming he has sided with antisemites again and again PA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour politicians Stella Creasy and Chuka Umunna leave after attending the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A pro-Jeremy Corbyn protester holds a placard during a counter-protest Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A support of the Labour Party hold up a placard during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Jeremy Corbyn supporters during the demo Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester holds up a sign reading For the many, not the Jew AFP She said she would make dealing with allegations of antisemitism in the party a priority, and brought in new rules to ensure they were properly dealt with. But Mr Watson said they were inadequate: The situation is so grave now that [Jeremy Corbyn] understands he needs to make a personal intervention. You know, we appointed a new general secretary and made it her priority to deal with it, and very patently the Jennie Formby reforms have not been adequate, they have not succeeded, and therefore it requires another sort of push. As well as Ms Berger, those who have left Labour to join the Independent Group include Chuka Umunna, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Ann Coffey, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes and Joan Ryan. In impassioned language on Saturday, Ms Thorberry told a rally that she and others would rather die than join any other party, going on to attack those leaving as abandoning Labour to cuddle up to the Tories. Mr Watson said: I was born into the Labour Party, but I think dying is a virtue that is overrated. And I think its incumbent on all of us to sort of dial down the rhetoric, to try and understand the reasons that people feel theyre leaving the main political parties, to try and bring the country back together, that is divided by Brexit. The Independent Group of 11 MPs plans to meet on Monday to discuss its future. One of the questions they are bound to discuss is: who is going to be their leader? Our chief political commentator assesses the candidates. (AFP/Getty) 1. Chuka Umunna The early favourite. Heidi Allen, one of the Conservative defectors, said she thought it was obvious it should be him. This caused some irritation among other members of the group who thought this was taking the idea of being liberated to say what they think too far. Umunna is an articulate communicator who was already the most visible face of the campaign for a second referendum and we have an interest to declare a columnist for The Independent. His negatives are a string of positions taken in the past from which he has now moved on, such as voting to invoke Article 50 and arguing to leave the EU single market, and a reputation for indecision dating from the time when he pulled out of standing for the Labour leadership after a few days in 2015. He has the advantage of plainly wanting the post I want to play the biggest role that I possibly can, he told The Times yesterday but his strongest claim may be that he has been the organising force of the weeks defections, which, with the exception of Joan Ryan and Ian Austin, were coordinated by Umunnas staff through his House of Commons office. (AFP/Getty ) (AFP/Getty) 2. Luciana Berger The star of the launch of the new group on Monday, she came into the room first and spoke first, with real sincerity and clarity. Even her opening mistake, introducing herself as the Labour MP for before correcting to just the MP for Liverpool Wavertree, was a testament to the personal struggle each of the defectors has been through to give up longstanding party identity. It would send a powerful message to the Labour Party, which has yet to have a permanent female leader, for her to lead the Independent Group, the first parliamentary group to have a majority of female members (seven women and four men). But there are practical problems in that she is eight months pregnant; if she were chosen as leader the group would need a deputy to stand in for a while. (AFP/Getty ) (AFP/Getty) 3. Anna Soubry The most experienced of the group, having served as a minister, attending cabinet if never a full cabinet minister. Huge confidence and a forceful speaker. Tendency to speak her mind to the extent of saying, unhelpfully for the rest of the group, that she supported George Osbornes fiscally responsible policies as chancellor in the coalition government. It would also be curious positioning for the group to have a former Conservative as leader, when the richer recruiting grounds are on the Labour benches in the House of Commons. That said, the Conservative defectors are valuable to the groups identity with the voters outside parliament, giving it a cross-party appeal and cutting against what would otherwise be the groups image as simply a reversion to the pre-Corbyn Labour Party. Soubry would therefore be a strong contender as deputy leader. (AFP/Getty ) (AFP/Getty) 4. Heidi Allen If she hadnt already endorsed Umunna as leader, Allen could have been a contender herself. She was the star of the Tory defectors event on Wednesday, in that she was the least known of the three and yet came across well. None of the three seems to be a traditional Conservative, but Allen has often sounded like a Labour MP in the House of Commons. Last week, for example, she asked Theresa May to end the benefits freeze at Prime Ministers Questions, and at the launch of the three defectors she said the government had deepened the suffering of people on benefits, while having the power to fix it. (EPA (EPA) 5. Chris Leslie The strength of the Independent Group is that it has several members who could easily lead a political party. Leslie is another experienced politician, having been the youngest postwar minister at the cabinet office at the age of 29 in 2001, and even serving briefly as shadow chancellor for four months after Ed Balls lost his seat in 2015. His waspish sense of humour was on display on BBC Question Time this week. Andy McDonald, the sacrifice offered by the Labour Party, said it was dealing with the problem of antisemitism and mentioned the report by Shami Chakrabarti. Baroness Chakrabarti? asked Leslie, adding that he thought there was a problem with an independent inquiry carried out by someone immediately elevated to the shadow cabinet via the House of Lords. If Umunna has second thoughts about the leadership, and Berger doesnt want it, Leslie could capably step into the breach. Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner has claimed fellow MP Chuka Umunna only helped to form the Independent Group because he knew he could never be the leader of the Labour Party. The show cabinet member also cast doubt on antisemitism as a primary motivation for most of the defecting Labour MPs. Several of the eight opposition MPs who announced earlier this week they were joining a new independent collective cited the partys failure to tackle antisemitic abuse as a key reasons for quitting. Mr Gardiner said he was deeply saddened that one of the MPs, Luciana Berger, felt she had to leave over the harassment she suffered in her constituency. I have no time for the others at all, because actually their reasons are varied but different, he told Sky Newss Ridge on Sunday. What Im clear about is that I dont believe that [antisemitism] is the sole focus of why theyve left the Labour Party. Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Show all 12 1 /12 Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Change UK Details on the individual MPs are in the following photos Reuters Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Heidi Allen Anti-Brexit MP for South Cambridgeshire resigned from the Conservative party on February 20 PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Chuka Umunna MP for Streatham since 2010 and prominent People's Vote supporter PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Anna Soubry The prominent anti-Brexit MP for Broxtowe resigned from the Conservative party on February 20 PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Luciana Berger MP for Liverpool Wavertree since 2010, resigned from the Labour Party over bullying and anti-semitism PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Sarah Wollaston Anti-Brexit MP for Totnes resigned from the Conservative party on February 20 PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Joan Ryan MP for Enfield North resigned from the Labour party on February 19 citing its tolerance of a "culture of anti-Jewish racism" PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Ann Coffey MP for Stockport since 1992 Chris McAndrew / UK Parliament Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Gavin Shuker MP for Luton South since 2010 Getty Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Chris Leslie MP for Nottingham East since 2010 PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Mike Gapes MP for Ilford South since 1992 PA Which MPs defected to form Change UK? Angela Smith MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge since 2010 The MP for Brent North accused Mr Umunna, one of the leading figures in the new collective of breakaway MPs, of being motivated by frustrated personal ambitions inside Labour. It was fairly clear to me that in effect the reason he wanted to leave the Labour Party was he knew he could never be the leader of the Labour Party, he said. The Labour spokesman also said only a small number of Labour members were guilty of antisemitism. Were talking about a very tiny minority in the party that are causing huge distress by the appalling way in which they are behaving, said Mr Gardiner. Antisemitism not 'sole focus' of former Labour MPs who joined Independent Group, shadow cabinet member Barry Gardiner says The frontbencher claimed 61 members of the party had been expelled or had quit in the process of disciplinary investigation into antisemitism over the past 18 months. We have changed the way in which we deal with them to deal with them faster, we werent dealing with them fast enough, he added. Earlier on Sunday, however, Labours deputy leader Tom Watson said the party still had more work to do to stamp out antisemitism and revealed he had passed on 50 cases of abuse to leader Jeremy Corbyn this week alone. Jeremy needs to understand that to be in No 10 he needs to change the Labour Party. We have got to eradicate antisemitism, anti-Jewish racism in all its forms. This week I have had 50 complaints of antisemitism from my party colleagues which I shared with Jeremy. I think he needs to take a personal lead on examining those cases and, if necessary, recommend to our NEC what has to be done. On Saturday Mr Corbyn denied there was a widespread antisemitism problem in the party and said any bad behaviour was dealt with. Theresa May has ruled out putting a new Brexit deal to a vote in the House of Commons this week, but insisted one would be held by March 12. The prime minister claimed that there is progress being made in talks with the EU to secure changes to the existing Brexit deal, but said more time is needed for them to be locked in. It sets her up for a cabinet battle with at least three ministers who have demanded she take a no-deal Brexit off the table, if a new agreement was yet to be secured by this week. But speaking to reporters on the plane to Sharm el Sheikh where she will hold further Brexit meetings on Sunday and Monday Ms May denied cabinet responsibility had crumbled. The prime minister said: I was in Brussels last week. Ministers were in Brussels last week. My team will be back in Brussels again this coming week. They will be returning to Brussels on Tuesday. As a result of that we wont bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week. But we will ensure that that happens by March 12. But it is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29. Now that Ms May is not putting a new deal before the house, MPs will on Wednesday vote on alternative plans for Brexit, including one which could see it delayed, being put forward by Labours Yvette Cooper and ex-Tory minister Oliver Letwin. Pensions secretary Amber Rudd, Justice secretary David Gauke and business secretary Greg Clark have indicated could back the plan, though colleagues have warned it will damage the UKs negotiating position. Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Show all 20 1 /20 Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Brexit supporters outside parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester adjusts her pro-EU wig AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A message to Jeremy Corbyn in support of a peoples vote Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A mock Titanic captained by Theresa May heads towards an iceberg in a stunt by campaigning group Avaaz AP Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters outside parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides are in close contact outside of parliament PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Paintings of Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage speaks to the media at the protests outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A pro-Brexit protester in Parliament Square Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Opposing protesters share the space outside parliament Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester holds EU balloons outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters stand on Westminster Bridge PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage speaks to the media at the protests outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament EPA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A pro-Brexit protester sets up outside parliament Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An Avaaz campaigner holds a Peoples Vote life float Reuters Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament A demonstrator holds a sign advocating a no-deal Brexit outside parliament AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament An anti-Brexit protester waves an EU flag on Westminster Bridge PA Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides demonstrate outside parliament AFP/Getty Brexit deal vote: Opposing groups of protesters gather by parliament Protesters of opposing sides stand near parliament Reuters The prime minister indicated that in a statement she makes on Tuesday, she will try to persuade the three ministers not to back a delay, and could taylor the wording of a motion she puts before the commons to that end. Ms May said: We dont know what amendments are going to be tabled. We dont know what amendments are going to be selected. You havent even seen what motion the Government is going to put down as I say, it wont be the meaningful vote. We wont bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week. But we will ensure that that happens by March 12. But it is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29 Prime minister Theresa May I will be making a statement to parliament on Tuesday. And then, obviously, well be having the debate the next day. Ms Rudd, Mr Gauke and Mr Clark said earlier in the week that they would be prepared to defy the government in order to vote for a delay. They warned Brexiteers in the backbench European Research Group that Parliament will block the UK leaving without a deal, stating that if there is one they will have no-one to blame but themselves. But despite their stance flying in the face of the governments stated position, Ms May said: What we have seen around the cabinet table, in the party, and in the country at large is strong views on the issue of Europe. That is not a surprise to anybody. Michael Gove says 'no deal' Brexit could lead to higher food prices We have around the cabinet table a collective, not just responsibility, but desire, to actually ensure that we leave the European Union with a deal. Thats what were working for and thats what Im working for. Asked if the three ministers should remain in Government, Ms May repeated: What we see around the Cabinet table is strong views held on cthe issue of Europe. Ms May said that extending Article 50 would not deal with the problem, but instead would only defer the decision on whether the UK should accept the prime ministers negotiated settlement. She added: There will always come a point where we have to decide whether we accept the deal thats been negotiated or not. And that will be a decision for every member of parliament across the house. Every member of the commons will have to face that decision when that point comes. The government will be bringing back, working with the EU, and will want to put a deal to the House of Commons in a meaningful vote. Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson has said he could join next months march demanding a new referendum on the UKs membership of the European Union. Mr Watson said the partys Brexit policy was moving in that direction of supporting a peoples vote, with hundreds of thousands set to descend on London to back a new referendum on Saturday 23 March. The shadow cabinet members comments come as nine MPs left his party last week, partly in protest over Mr Corbyns handling of Brexit policy. Recommended May rules out vote on Brexit deal in commons this week The Independent has campaigned for a new public vote through its Final Say campaign, with its petition gaining almost 1.5 million signatures. Asked on Sunday if Mr Watson will be on the new march, he said: Well, I might well be. He went on: If Theresa May cant find it within herself to meet our red lines, closer economic union, then obviously our conference policy says that the next stage would be in favour of a peoples vote. So if we get to that point, then yes, I will be on the march. Labours conference policy stated that if Ms Mays Brexit deal is rejected and Labour cannot secure a general election, which it has so far been unable to, then all other options including a new public vote are in play. Car manufacturers cutting UK jobs Show all 5 1 /5 Car manufacturers cutting UK jobs Car manufacturers cutting UK jobs Jaguar Land Rover Britain's largest automotive manufacturer announced in January that it plans to cut 4500 jobs from its 40,000 workforce Getty Car manufacturers cutting UK jobs Nissan The Japanese car company announced early in February that it would no longer be making the new X-trail model at its Sunderland factory Getty Car manufacturers cutting UK jobs Honda Honda has announced that it is planning to close its Swindon plant with the loss of 3,500 jobs PA Car manufacturers cutting UK jobs Michelin Michelin announced in November that it will close its Dundee tyre factory which employs over 800 people by 2020 PA Car manufacturers cutting UK jobs Schaeffler Shchaeffler's Llanelli plant is to close by the end of 2019. The company provides automotive and and industrial parts worldwide and the Llanelli plant employs over 200 people. Juergen Ziegler, chief executive for Europe, said that while Brexit was not the only factor, it has "brought forward" the decision to relocate Google But Mr Corbyn has been accused by some in his own party, including those MPs who recently quit, of not staying true to the agreed policy. The eight departures from Mr Corbyns Labour party to form the Independent Group include Chuka Umunna, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Ann Coffey, Angela Smith, Mike Gapes and Joan Ryan. Ian Austin also left but did not join the group. Mr Watson said in his interview on BBC1s Andrew Marr Show that Labour had to be a party in which different traditions on the left of politics can rub up against each other. He said that the ideas of MPs from the social democrat wing of the party need to be given some greater weight or more MPs would leave, and he outlined plans to give them a platform and demanded they be listened to by the shadow cabinet. The deputy leader denied he was raising a rebel flag against Mr Corbyn within the party, but said he was instead standing up for pluralism within our ranks. Saying that times were now perilous for Labour, he added that the new platform for social democrats did not yet have a form. But he added: My central point is, that social democratic voice has to be heard, because that is the only way will you keep the Labour Party unified and prohibit other colleagues from potentially leaving the PLP. Temperatures may continue to climb across the UK as the country enjoys an unseasonably warm February, forecasters say. Becky Mitchell, a Met Office meteorologist said figures of 17C and 18C were expected in the coming days, adding: It could possibly get even warmer still. Sunday night is expected to be clear for many, although there will be patches of cloud across Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland. Patches of fog and mist are also likely to develop across central, northern and eastern England. The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for fog, which will be in force between 8pm on Sunday and 10am on Monday over parts of northeast England and Yorkshire. UK weather: Britain enjoys unseasonably warm days Show all 5 1 /5 UK weather: Britain enjoys unseasonably warm days UK weather: Britain enjoys unseasonably warm days Crocuses bloom in the Walsall Arboretum as the warm weather continues PA UK weather: Britain enjoys unseasonably warm days Paddle boarders enjoy the warm weather and calm seas off of Boscombe beach in Dorset PA UK weather: Britain enjoys unseasonably warm days People leave the sea after an early morning swim on Boscombe beach in Dorset. PA UK weather: Britain enjoys unseasonably warm days A woman enjoys the sun on the South Bank in central London PA UK weather: Britain enjoys unseasonably warm days A man enjoys the sun on the foreshore of the river Thames in London PA The fog is likely to lead to travel disruption in the area on Sunday evening, the authority believes. Slower journey times with delays to bus and train services are possible. There is a chance of delays or cancellations to flights, a spokesperson for the Met Office said. Overnight frost is also likely to develop in parts of central and southern England. A woman reads outside as the warm weather continues (PA) (pa) Mist and fog patches will clear on Monday morning, but the afternoon is expected to be largely dry and sunny with some rain in northern Scotland. A weak front will move into Scotland by Tuesday, bringing slightly cooler weather to the region. While Tuesday will be very mild and warm in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, conditions will be colder and damper in Scotland. Much of the warm weather in the coming week is forecast for Wales, where temperatures hit 18.8C on Sunday, making it the warmest February day in the country since 1990. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The temperature might have been affected by a phenomenon known as the Foehn Effect, a dry and warm down-slope wind that occurs to the lee of hills or mountains. Should temperatures rise to 20C before Friday, it will be the earliest in the calendar year that such a milestone has been reached anywhere in the UK. Additional reporting by agencies Shamima Begums father has said he does not have a problem with the governments decision to remove her British citizenship, and condemned her lack of remorse for joining Isis. Ahmed Ali, 60, said the 19-year-old was stuck in a Syrian detention camp because of her own actions, adding: I am on the side of the government. I cant say whether it is right or wrong, but if the law of the land says that it is correct to cancel her citizenship, then I agree. Speaking to the Mail on Sunday from his home in the Sunamganj region of Bangladesh, Mr Ali claimed his daughter was normal and did not appear religious before travelling to Syria with two friends in 2015. If she at least admitted she made a mistake then I would feel sorry for her and other people would feel sorry for her, he added. But she does not accept her wrong. 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 He spoke as Ms Begum said she regretted speaking to the media and had only done it as a means of contacting her family. Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph from the al-Hawl camp in Syria, Ms Begum said: They are making an example of me. I regret speaking to the media. I wish I had stayed low and found a different way to contact my family. Thats why I spoke to the newspaper. Ms Begum was tracked down after fleeing Isiss last pocket of territory, and pleaded to be repatriated to Britain while admitting she was not fazed by a severed head and calling the Manchester bombing justified. Her family have written to the home secretary asking for his help to bring her newborn son to Britain. The letter called the baby a true innocent who should not lose the privilege of being raised in the safety of this country. Ms Begums sister, Renu Begum, asked how they could help the government in bringing my nephew home to us. Relatives said they have had no contact with Ms Begum and had only learned she had given birth through media reports. Shamima Begum's child could retain British citizenship, admits Sajid Javid They made clear that they were shocked and appalled at the vile comments Ms Begum made to the media. A lawyer representing Ms Begums family said they would appeal Sajid Javids decision to remove the teenagers British citizenship, accusing the home secretary of making her to all practical purposes stateless. Tasnime Akunjee told The Independent the teenager was born in London and had never visited Bangladesh or had a passport from the country. The Bangladeshi government has denied Ms Begum is a dual national and said there was no question of her being allowed to enter into Bangladesh. The government has presented citizenship deprivation as a public protection measure, but it was warned three years ago that the power may be an ineffective and counterproductive weapon against terrorism. A 2016 report by the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation said it left extremists free to continue terrorist activities abroad, prevented monitoring and encouraged the dangerous delusion that terrorism can be made into a foreign problem. Home Office statistics show the government has stripped more than 150 people of British citizenship for the public good since 2010. The power was used only a handful of times a year, until deprivations rocketed from 14 people in 2016 to 104 in 2017. An alleged right-wing extremist has been arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism. Counterterror police are searching the 33-year-old mans home in Leeds following an intelligence-led operation. Investigators said the man was arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of terrorist acts. He has been taken to a police station in West Yorkshire for questioning, a spokesperson for Counter Terrorism Policing North East said. This is a pre-planned, intelligence-led arrest as part of an investigation into suspected extreme right-wing activity. Brexit racism and the fightback Show all 9 1 /9 Brexit racism and the fightback Brexit racism and the fightback Demonstrators protest against an increase in post-ref racism at London's March for Europe in July 2016 PA Brexit racism and the fightback These cards were found near a school in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, the day after the EU referendum Twitter/@howgilb Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback Romford, Essex, June 25 @diamondgeezer Brexit racism and the fightback A worker at this Romanian food shop was asleep upstairs at the time of this arson attack in Norwich on July 8, but escaped unharmed. Hundreds later participated in a love bombing rally outside the shop to express their opposition to racism and their support of the shop owners. JustGiving/Helen Linehan Brexit racism and the fightback This neo-Nazi sticker was spotted in Glasgow on June 26 Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback But after news emerged of neo-Nazi stickers appearing in Glasgow, some in the city struck back with slogans of their own. Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback More signs began to appear in some parts of the UK, created by people who wanted to show their opposition to post-referendum racism Courtesy of Bernadette Russell Superintendent Chris Bowen urged anyone with concerns to speak to local officers, or contact the national counterterror reporting service. I understand our communities will have concerns about this police activity but I want to offer my reassurance that public safety is our top priority, he said. It comes after the head of UK counterterror policing warned of a rise in far-right activity. Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu told The Independent: Were dealing with a record number of operations and the potential of a growing extreme threat from the extreme far-right community for all kinds of reasons not just because of the Islamist threat but things like Brexit, and some of the far-right political rhetoric which hasnt helped. Speaking last month, he urged the public to stay alert and warned of insidious tactics being used to recruit online. The counterextremism group Hope Not Hate has found that children as young as 13 were becoming involved in a new wave of neo-Nazi groups that are gathering support on the internet. The trend towards younger, more violent Nazis is a real concern and needs to be monitored closely, researchers said. The threat of far-right terrorism comes from both organised groups, like National Action, but increasingly from lone actors who get radicalised on the internet. Terror police appeal for public help to thwart plots Security services say the dominant terror threat to the UK comes from Isis and other Islamist groups, but have warned of the growing risk posed by the far right following the Finsbury Park attack and murder of Jo Cox. Neo-Nazi group National Action became the first right-wing group banned in Britain in 2016. Former members include a man who plotted to murder a Labour MP, another who tried to behead an Asian man in Tesco, a teenager who tried to make a pipe bomb and an extremist who planned a massacre at an LGBT+ pride event. The proportion of far-right terror suspects has been rising in the UK, and the number of people referred to the Prevent programme over suspected far-right extremism has rocketed by 36 per cent in a year. In the year to September, 40 per cent of terror suspects arrested were white, 33 per cent were Asian, 12 per cent were black and 14 per cent were recorded as other. Police say 14 Islamist terror plots and four from far-right extremists have been foiled since the Westminster attack in March 2017. A lorry driver who endangered dozens of lives when he deliberately took his 7.5 tonne vehicle the wrong way down a motorway has been jailed. John Taylor was filmed speeding down the M18 for several miles narrowly avoiding several collisions. He had previously rammed a police car with the vehicle before joining the motorway near Doncaster during the incident on 10 January. He eventually performed a U-turn before dumping the lorry in the emergency carriageway and running across three lanes of traffic. Police later found him hiding in a caravan. The drive of our lives: 50 Years of Britain's motorways Show all 7 1 /7 The drive of our lives: 50 Years of Britain's motorways The drive of our lives: 50 Years of Britain's motorways 88835.bin ALAMY The drive of our lives: 50 Years of Britain's motorways 88834.bin GETTY IMAGES The drive of our lives: 50 Years of Britain's motorways 88833.bin GETTY IMAGES The drive of our lives: 50 Years of Britain's motorways 88832.bin GETTY IMAGES The drive of our lives: 50 Years of Britain's motorways 88831.bin The drive of our lives: 50 Years of Britain's motorways 88830.bin The drive of our lives: 50 Years of Britain's motorways 88829.bin The 30-year-old, of Riverside Traveller Park in Kirkhouse Green, Doncaster, admitted dangerous driving at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday. He also pleaded guilty to breaching a suspended sentence and two counts of assaulting police officers. Recommended Driver films cars and lorries skidding into deadly motorway crash He was sentenced to 28 months in prison. Detective Constable William McClean, of South Yorkshire Police, who investigated the case, said: "He endangered countless lives that day through his reckless and dangerous actions. "He put responsible road users at risk not only whilst in the vehicle, but by dumping the lorry and then running through three lanes of traffic on a busy motorway." Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Det Con McClean added: "We are pleased with the sentence he has received and hope that it acts as a deterrent for anyone else who drives dangerously on our roads." A gangsters haul of designer trainers have been auctioned off for thousands of pounds by police. Gloucestershire Constabulary said the proceeds from Isaiah Hanson-Frosts collection of more than 55 pairs of shoes would go towards preventing crime. Buyers from as far away as Trinidad, the US and Romania bid for pieces from Jimmy Choo, Gucci, Christian Louboutin, Valentino, Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton. The shoes were originally estimated to be worth up to 18,500 but sold for almost 5,000 on Thursday. There were just short of 600 bidders, a spokesperson for Gloucestershire Constabulary said. Funds will go towards projects across the county which help deter young people away from criminality. Isaiah Hanson-Frost was jailed for six years after admitting possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence (Gloucestershire Police) Hanson-Frost, of Millbrook Street in Gloucester, is currently serving a six-year jail sentence for firing a gun at a car of rival gang members in 2017. He was jailed in April after admitting violent disorder and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence in relation to the shooting, on an industrial estate in Gloucester. The 22-year-old was cleared of possession of criminal property after he agreed to give up the trainers and prosecutors chose not to proceed with the case. Hanson-Frost was allowed to keep any Nike trainers valued at less than 100. Footage released by police in December showed the shoes stacked up in evidence bags, alongside designer clothes seized under the Police Property Act. Detective Inspector Dave Shore-Nye said: We often see the reason for someone to commit crime is down to their own personal greed and to make money. We are keen to put a stop to anyone who is living a lavish lifestyle which has been funded through crime and this shows the level Gloucestershire Constabulary will go to in order to strip a criminal of their assets and then put the money to good use. Proceeds will go to a fund aiming to turn young people away from crime, with projects including taking teenagers to court to show the consequences of making the wrong choice later in life. An NHS mental health patient who spent 10 days detained in a general hospital because of a shortage of psychiatric beds has said she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from the ordeal. Clare, who is in her 30s and asked not to be identified, told The Independent her health had deteriorated as a result of being sectioned by Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust following a suicide attempt in November. While she went into hospital feeling awful, she came out feeling no better, having been offered no meaningful psychotherapy and placed on a lower dose of medication, and now had the added joy of a PTSD diagnosis. A big part has been the admissions process, not being listened to and having people around me making decisions without taking my ideas into account while being stuck in the hospital for 10 days, Clare said. Im having trouble sleeping after my time in hospital because of all that, the trauma of that. Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis except themselves Show all 6 1 /6 Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis except themselves Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis except themselves The elderly We acknowledge that there are pressures on the health service, there are always extra pressures on the NHS in the winter, but we have the added pressures of the ageing population and the growing complex needs of the population, Theresa May has said. Waits of over 12 hours in A&E among elderly people have more than doubled in two years, according to figures from NHS Digital. Getty Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis except themselves Patients going to A&E instead of seeing their GPs Jeremy Hunt has called for a honest discussion with the public about the purpose of A&E departments, saying that around a third of A&E patients were in hospital unnecessarily. Mr Hunt told Radio 4s Today programme the NHS now had more doctors, nurses and funding than ever, but explained what he called very serious problems at some hospitals by suggesting pressures were increasing in part because people are going to A&Es when they should not. He urged patients to visit their GP for non-emergency illnesses, outlined plans to release time for family doctors to support urgent care work, and said the NHS will soon be able to deliver seven-day access to a GP from 8am to 8pm. But doctors struggling amid a GP recruitment crisis said Mr Hunts plans were unrealistic and demanded the Government commit to investing in all areas of the overstretched health service. Getty Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis except themselves Simon Stevens, head of NHS England Reports that key members of Ms Mays team used internal meetings to accuse Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, of being unenthusiastic and unresponsive have been rejected by Downing Street. Mr Stevens had allegedly rejected claims made by Ms May that the NHS had been given more funding than required. Getty Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis except themselves Previous health policy, not funding In an interview with Sky Newss Sophy Ridge, Ms May acknowledged the NHS faced pressures but said it was a problem that had been ducked by government over the years. She refuted the claim that hospitals were tackling a humanitarian crisis and said health funding was at record levels. We asked the NHS a while back to set out what it needed over the next five years in terms of its plan for the future and the funding that it would need, said the Prime Minister. They did that, we gave them that funding, in fact we gave them more funding than they required Funding is now at record levels for the NHS, more money has been going in. But doctors accused Ms May of being in denial about how the lack of additional funding provided for health and social care were behind a spiralling crisis in NHS hospitals. Getty Images Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis except themselves Target to treat all A&E patients within four hours Mr Hunt was accused of watering down the flagship target to treat all A&E patients within four hours. The Health Secretary told MPs the promise introduced by Tony Blairs government in 2000 should only be for those who actually need it. Amid jeers in the Commons, Mr Hunt said only four other countries pledged to treat all patients within a similar timeframe and all had less stringent rules. But Ms May has now said the Government will stand by the four-hour target for A&E, which says 95 per cent of patients must be dealt with within that time frame. Getty Images Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis except themselves No one Mr Hunt was accused of hiding from the public eye following news of the Red Crosss comments and didnt make an official statement for two days. He was also filmed refusing to answer questions from journalists who pursued him down the street yesterday to ask whether he planned to scrap the four-hour A&E waiting time target. Sky News reporter Beth Rigby pressed the Health Secretary on his position on the matter, saying the public will want to know, Mr Hunt. Sorry Beth, Ive answered questions about this already, replied Mr Hunt. But you didnt answer questions on this. You said it was over-interpreted in the House of Commons and you didnt want to water it down. Is that what youre saying? said Ms Rigby. Its very difficult, because how are we going to explain to the public what your intention is, when you change your position and then wont answer the question, Mr Hunt. But the Health Secretary maintained his silence until he reached his car and got in. Getty Clare works in a mental health role in the NHS and has not yet been able to return to work. She has supportive family and friends, but says it should not be up to them to care for her when the NHS says she is ineligible for psychotherapy or the help of its community home team. When Clare tried to kill herself, shortly before Christmas, it was her second attempt in less than six months. I think they panicked, she said. It was my second suicide attempt and I think they were worried their previous response hadnt been good enough and they went to another extreme. After a 17-hour wait at A&E, doctors decided to detain Clare under the Mental Health Act, but told her there were no psychiatric beds available anywhere in the UK. The Act is intended to keep patients who may be a risk to themselves or others detained and make treatment decisions for them. But a major independent review of its powers triggered by a 30-per-cent increase in people being sectioned between 2011 and 2015 called for sweeping reforms. This included better consultation with patients about their wishes and powers to challenge decisions that deviate from it. It also said there was a pressing need for investment in community services to stop patients reaching crisis point. Clare said there was no treatment and little contact from the psychiatric liaison team during her time in hospital, and says her frustrations were compounded by knowing she was medically fit and occupying a hospital bed that could be used by someone else. The view from the hospital bed where Clare was detained for 10 days at Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (NA) While the staff member who recommended she be sectioned came to apologise for the situation eight days in, it took another two days before an NHS-funded bed was eventually found at a branch of the private Priory group, better known for rehabilitating celebrities with addiction issues. Three days later, after seeing a consultant, they agreed she could be sent home. But two months on Clare says she has now been discharged by the community health team as well, despite feeling she is struggling and desperate for help. Ive been told, if I am in crisis, to access the crisis line and phone their [Surrey and Borders] services I dont feel able to do that because I believe my current state of crisis is caused by them. The trauma of having to wait so long and not receiving appropriate treatment has made my condition worse, rather than helping me to get better. Dr Ranga Rao, who leads on acute care for the Royal College of Psychiatrists, is on the other side of contending with these bed pressures on a daily basis. He says it also poses a significant burden for staff, who first have to look at nearby NHS hospitals before searching further afield. We were meant to invest in community mental health beds, but the number of acute beds has come down faster, he told The Independent. We have more patients in NHS hospitals waiting to come in, and we have an increase in the number of out-of-area placements and rising numbers admitted into the private sector. A report last year found the NHS spends 350m a year on out-of-area placements and private facilities where there is no capacity locally. But this can be far from ideal as patients can be sent hundreds of miles away from supportive family members for months at a time. Maggie Gairdner, director of mental health services at Surrey and Borders, said its was investigating Clares concerns, adding that she was still under the care of the community team although this is not what Clare understands. She said: We are sorry that [Clare] feels her care and treatment have fallen short of the high standards we aim to offer everyone who needs our support. A horse with an injured ankle, a stressed cockatoo that plucked out the feathers on its wings and a peacock suffering from an inflamed eye were just some of the patients undergoing treatment at Turkeys largest animal hospital recently. The Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Faculty of Veterinary Science Hospital opened in 1987 and treats thousands of sick animals every year. After visiting the centre two years ago, Erdem Sahin felt compelled to visit once again in order to see how its 60 veterinarians nurse poorly animals back to health. The first patient he came across was a dog in a basket, who looked to be in pain. It transpired the canine, who was called Duman, which is Turkish for smoke, was suffering from constipation. Duman had to undergo five days of treatment before seeming very happy and relaxed, according to the photographer. Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital Show all 20 1 /20 Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital A veterinarian feeds a baby cat at the Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Faculty of Veterinary Science Hospital in Turkey EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital A woman hugs her dog before it gets a narcosis for tomography screening EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital Veterinarians examine a cat at the hospital which opened in 1987 and treats thousands of sick animals every year EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital A veterinarian prepares a parrot for X-ray EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital A dog sits in a basket as it waits for treatment. The hospital is split into five departments specializing in internal diseases, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, artificial insemination and wild animal reproduction EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital It also has an emergency room that is staffed 24 hours a day EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital A woman cries after she has learned that her dog will remain paralysed EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital A veterinarian holds a canary bird for the examination. The hospital treats some 50,000 animals every year, mostly pets EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital Surgical equipment at the university EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital The Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Faculty of Veterinary Science Hospital is funded by vet bills paid by owners EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital A dog lies under narcosis before surgery EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital A veterinarian checks a drip of a patient dog EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital A veterinarian holds a parrot for examination EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital Head of Department of Wild Animal Diseases and Ecology professor Dr Serhat Ozsoy (left) treats a peacock EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital A Veterinarian student holds a hawk with a broken wing after surgery EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital Veterinarians give a narcosis to a parrot before surgery EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital A woman waits with her cat EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital Veterinarians operate on a cat EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital Veterinarians prepare a cormorant for X-ray screening EPA Inside Turkey's largest animal hospital A patient horse stands in the horse examination room EPA Another canine, wearing a diaper and confined to a stretcher, was undergoing treatment for cancer. While that dog had a long and difficult road ahead, the vet treating him was hopeful about the animals future. The hospital is split into five departments specialising in internal diseases, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, artificial insemination and wild animal reproduction. It also has an emergency room that is staffed 24 hours a day. Doctor Serhat Ozsoy, the head of the department of animal diseases and ecology, was treating a wild hawk that had been found in another part of the city and brought in with a broken wing. The bird would be released back into the wild once it had made a recovery. The hospital treats some 50,000 animals every year, mostly pets, and is funded by vet bills paid by owners. EPA The team that cracked the case of the amphibian plague devastating frog and toad populations around the world are worried that worse is still to come. A killer fungus known as Bd has triggered a mass amphibian extinction that has spread across every continent and been described as among the worst infectious diseases ever recorded. Scientists have described rainforests struck silent as the plague wiped out entire populations of local frogs in mere months, stifling their night-time chorus of croaks. At least 200 frog species are thought to have been driven to extinction since the 1970s, with particularly heavy losses in Bd-infested parts of Latin America. Intense research efforts have identified the disease and traced it to its source in east Asia, and local conservation groups have worked tirelessly to quarantine the fragmented populations that remain. Environment news in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 Environment news in pictures Environment news in pictures Davos 2019: David Attenborough issues stark warning about future of civilisation as he demands practical solutions to combat climate change Sir David Attenborough has issued a stark warning about climate change to business figures gathered in Davos, telling them that "what we do now...will profoundly affect the next few thousand years". On the eve of this year's World Economic Forum, the renowned naturalist told the audience that the worlds of business and politics should "get on with the practical solutions" needed to prevent environmental damage. "As a species we are expert problem solvers. But we've not yet applied ourselves to this problem with the focus it requires. "We can create a world with clean air and water, unlimited energy, and fish stocks that will sustain us well into the future. But to do that, we need a plan," he said. The broadcaster made his speech after receiving a Crystal Award, which is awarded by the forum to "exceptional cultural leaders". AFP/Getty Environment news in pictures At least 60% of wild coffee species face extinction triggered by climate change and disease Two decades of research have revealed that 60 per cent of the worlds coffee species face extinction due to the combined threats of deforestation, disease and climate change. The wild strain of arabica, the most widely consumed coffee on the planet, is among those now recognised as endangered, raising concerns about its long-term survival. These results are worrying for the millions of farmers around the world who depend on the continued survival of coffee for their livelihoods. As conditions for coffee farming become tougher, scientists predict the industry will need to rely on wild varieties to develop more resilient strains Alan Schaller Environment news in pictures Warming Antarctic waters are speeding the rate at which glaciers are melting The Antarctic ice sheet is losing six times as much ice each year as it was in the 1980s and the pace is accelerating, one of the most comprehensive studies of climate change effects on the continent has shown. More than half an inch has been added to global sea levels since 1979, but if current trends continue it will be responsible for metres more in future, the Nasa-funded study found. The international effort used aerial photos, satellite data and climate models dating back to the 1970s across18 Antarctic regions to get the most complete picture to date on the impacts of the changing climate. It found that between 1979 and 1990 Antarctica lost an average of 40 gigatonnes (40 billion tonnes) of its mass each year. Between 2009 and 2017 it lost an average 252 gigatonnes a year. This has added 3.6mm per decade to sea levels, or around 14mm since 1979, the study shows Nasa/Getty Environment news in pictures Greater Manchester to ban fracking, paving way for confrontation with government over controversial industry Greater Manchester is to effectively ban fracking, raising the prospect of fresh confrontation with the government over the controversial industry. All of the regions 10 councils are to implement planning policies which create a presumption against drilling for shale gas in their areas, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has announced. Campaigners said the move was the latest sign that the tide was turning against fracking, which has been the subject of multiple legal battles across the country. Critics of fracking say it poses environmental and health risks. Drilling at the UKs only operational fracking site, run by Cuadrilla in Lancashire, has repeatedly been halted due to earth tremors. But ministers support the industry and last year unveiled plans to accelerate the development of new drilling sites Ross Wills Environment news in pictures Japan confirms plan to resume commercial whaling in its waters from next year Japan will resume commercial whaling next year for the first time in more than three decades, in a move that has provoked strong criticism from campaigners and the international community. Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said his nation would leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to resume hunting the marine mammals in Japanese waters. However, he stated the activity would be limited to Japans territory and the 200 mile exclusive economic zone along its coasts. This means controversial scientific trips to Antarctica in which Japanese vessels killed hundreds of whales, as well as activity in the northwest Pacific, will stop in 2019 AP Environment news in pictures COP24: Environmental groups criticise morally unacceptable climate deal reached after major Poland summit Diplomats from around the world have agreed a major climate deal after two weeks of United Nations talks in Poland. But climate campaigners warned the deal effectively a set of rules for how to govern the 2015 Paris climate accord agreed between almost 200 countries lacked ambition or a clear promise of enhanced climate action. Activists cautiously welcomed elements of the plan, saying important progress had been made on ensuring that efforts to tackle climate change by individual nations can be measured and compared. But environmental groups were also highly critical of the agreement, warning it lacked ambition and clarity on key issues, including financing for climate projects for developing countries. The COP24 deal, which is aimed at providing firm guidelines for countries on how to transparently report their greenhouse gas emissions and their efforts to reduce them, was confirmed on 15 December, after talks overran Reuters Environment news in pictures Unprecedented changes needed to stop global warming as UN report reveals islands starting to vanish and coral reefs dying Greenhouse gas emissions must be cut almost in half by 2030 to avert global environmental catastrophe, including the total loss of every coral reef, the disappearance of Arctic ice and the destruction of island communities, a landmark UN report has concluded. Drawing on more than 6,000 scientific studies and compiled over two years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings, released this morning, warn enormous and rapid changes to the way everyone on Earth eats, travels and produces energy need to be brought in immediately. Though the scientists behind the report said there is cause for optimism, they recognised the grim reality that nations are currently nowhere near on track to avert disaster AFP/Getty Environment news in pictures Africas three biggest elephant poaching cartels exposed using DNA from illegal ivory shipments DNA taken from massive shipments of ivory has been used to identify the three largest wildlife trafficking gangs operating at the height of Africas elephant poaching epidemic. Ivory tends to be shipped around the world from African ports in bulk, and scientists have used genetic evidence gleaned from intercepted batches to reveal their origins. Led by Dr Samuel Wasser from the University of Washington, they traced a number of these shipments to three cartels operating out of Kenya, Uganda and Togo. Evidence collected by Dr Wasser has already helped convict ivory kingpin Feisal Mohamed Ali, and as his team joins the dots between shipments they plan to shore up the cases against more of the continents most prolific smugglers Art Wolfe However, with the international trade in amphibians continuing unabated, the team credited with discovering the disease are concerned about what the future may bring. In particular, the melding of different Bd strains from around the world has the potential to create hybrids that are even deadlier than current incarnations. If we keep hauling amphibians back and forth, you dont know what the outcome is going to be, you might get something thats more pathogenic [capable of causing disease], said Dr Joyce Longcore, the scientist who first identified the unusual aquatic fungus known as Bd. Unless you stop international travel and international trade, things like this are going to continue, and you can make your rules stronger for trade but if you have any volume at all something is going to get through. For decades amphibians have been traded for food, as pets, or even in the case of the African clawed frog for use in crude pregnancy tests. This transport of living amphibians has already been identified as the trigger for the original Bd outbreak, and recent lab tests revealed hybrid forms emerging in Brazil and South Africa that appear to be deadlier than the original. Frogs resist deadly fungus Dr Longcore warned that not enough concern was given to the international transport of microscopic creatures, and this had already led to comparable losses in North American trees infected with foreign diseases. She said she was afraid that more enormous declines in animals and plants were bound to follow in the coming years. Its one of those things where Im glad to be 80 Im a country person and I dont want to lose all our biodiversity, she said. Dr Longcore was first enlisted in the 1990s to crack the case when poison dart frogs at the Smithsonian National Zoo kept dying of a mysterious infection. Tiny creatures appeared to be infecting the animals skin, affecting their ability to regulate water and ultimately leading to death. Immediately recognising it as belonging to an unusual group of fungi known as chytrids more known for infesting algae and rotting plant material, she set about investigating the problem. Soon, reports were flooding in of die-offs around the world that appeared to be linked to the disease. Ultimately, Dr Longcore and a small team that had assembled to investigate Bd or Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis realised the disease was not restricted to zoos and was in fact a driver in the mysterious disappearance of amphibians all over the world. Since then efforts have been made to treat frogs infected with the fungus, and Dr Don Nichols who worked on the original poison dart frogs said there was some evidence populations are developing resistance to the disease. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events With another chytrid variety now emerging as a threat to salamanders living in Europe and Asia, scientists are resolved to stop it spreading across the oceans. We dont seem to have it in the US where we have some of the biggest salamander populations in the world, said Dr Allan Pessier, a pathologist who also helped identify the disease. Using rigorous surveillance and testing before animals are moved, he said he hoped the same mistakes made with Bd could be avoided with this disease. This time, we are able to do a little bit better, he said. He is a rock star who has never shied away from sharing his political views. Roger Waters has previously called for a cultural boycott of Israel, demanded bands performing at the Super Bowl take a knee and labelled Julian Assange an Australian hero. Now the former Pink Floyd frontman has weighed into the economic and humanitarian crisis engulfing Venezuela and demanded the US lift sanctions placed on the South American country in a furious video message. In selfie footage he said was to be played at the Hands Off Venezuela concert organised by embattled socialist president Nicolas Maduro, Waters also suggested US-led aid headed for the country was the precursor for a coup or invasion. I have admired you from afar, certainly since 1998, but before that, he told concert-goers at the event on the countrys border with Colombia. I have watched you from afar resisting all the attempts of the great imperial powers to destroy your revolution. You resisted in 2002 and you are resisting now These dreadful sanctions that are being used against you, all of you, every single one of you, I condemn absolutely. Venezuela aid protests: Civilians demand food and medicine Show all 5 1 /5 Venezuela aid protests: Civilians demand food and medicine Venezuela aid protests: Civilians demand food and medicine Demonstrators push a bus that was torched during clashes with the Bolivarian National Guard AP Venezuela aid protests: Civilians demand food and medicine Demonstrators are seen through the cracked windshield of a torched bus AP Venezuela aid protests: Civilians demand food and medicine A woman moves away from the flames of a burning bus AP Venezuela aid protests: Civilians demand food and medicine A bus that was torched during clashes with the Bolivarian National Guard AP Venezuela aid protests: Civilians demand food and medicine Demonstrators push away a bus that was torched during clashes AP Showing off a puppet of Boris Johnson but appearing to indicate it was a stand-in for Donald Trump, the 75-year-old who says he has friends in the capital, Caracas added: I have a message lift the sanctions. If you care about the Venezuelan people, lift the sanctions. Recommended Two killed in violent clashes over Venezuela aid supplies Do not invade Venezuela. This is a proud, independent sovereign nation and they can figure it out for themselves. The last thing they need is Elliott Abrams and John Boltons stamping all over their country with heavy boots Viva Venezuela. Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon MusicSign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up He concludes the message, posted on Twitter on Sunday, by downing a shot of an unnamed spirit. It came just days after he criticised Richard Branson for organising a separate concert on the Colombian side of the border to raise aid for people suffering there. The country once one of the richest in the world has seen its economy collapse in recent years. Millions of citizens have emigrated in what has been called one of South Americas biggest ever refugee crises. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Some blame corruption and mismanagement of Mr Maduros regime, while others say American sanctions are the root cause. John Brown Named Assistant Director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division Washington, DC - FBI Director Christopher Wray has named John Brown as assistant director of the Counterintelligence Division at FBI Headquarters. Mr. Brown most recently served as the special agent in charge of the San Diego Field Office. Mr. Brown entered on duty as a special agent with the FBI in 1999 and was first assigned to the Chicago Field Office, where he investigated counterintelligence matters. Over the course of his career, Mr. Brown has held multiple notable leadership positions. In 2004, he deployed to Iraq as a member of an FBI team working counterterrorism operations with the Department of Defense. The next year, Mr. Brown was assigned to FBI Headquarters as a supervisory special agent in the Counterterrorism Division and was later promoted to unit chief, where he provided oversight for international terrorism investigations and led the creation of the FBIs first unit dedicated to investigating terrorists use of the Internet. In 2008, Mr. Brown moved to the Chicago Field Office, where he supervised a counterterrorism squad. In 2010 and 2011, Mr. Brown served on active duty with the U.S. Armys 10th Mountain Division and deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Mr. Brown returned from active duty in 2011 and resumed his position supervising a counterterrorism squad in Chicago. Mr. Brown was promoted to section chief in the Cyber Division at FBI Headquarters in 2012, where he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of all FBI cyber investigations. In 2014, he returned to the Chicago Field Office to lead an innovative social media cyber squad and was later named assistant special agent in charge of the Chicago Field Offices cyber and counterintelligence operations. In 2016, he was promoted again and assumed the role of special agent in charge of cyber and counterintelligence in the Los Angeles Field Office. Prior to entering the FBI, Mr. Brown served in the United States Army as an air defense and military intelligence officer. Bay Area Contractors Convicted In Scheme To Rig Bids For Department Of Energy Building Contract San Francisco, California - Clifton Burch and Peter McKean were convicted by a federal jury today of conspiring to defraud the United States in connection and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud all in connection with a federal construction contract, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett, and Department of Energy Inspector General Teri L. Donaldson. The guilty verdicts follow a two-week trial before the Honorable Charles R. Breyer, U.S. District Judge. The jury found that Burch, 50, of San Lorenzo, and McKean, 50, of San Mateo, conspired with Derf Butler to submit fraudulent bids to construct a building at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The investigation arose out of the investigation of Senator Leland Yee, Raymond Shrimp Boy Chow, and others. In the course of that investigation, Derf Butler was overheard discussing a bid-rigging opportunity. Butler stated that he had contractors who would play ball and help with a scheme to commit bid-rigging. Butlers comments led to an undercover investigation of bid-rigging in the Bay Area. Building contracts at LBNL are paid for and overseen by the U.S. Department Energy (DOE). Contractors seeking construction work with LBNL and the DOE are legally required to obtain work through a competitive bidding process. In this case, Burch and McKean agreed with Butler to submit, or participate in the submission of, fraudulent and non-competitive bids to perform the renovation of LBNL Building 84. Specifically, Butler agreed to take steps to ensure that a particular developer in reality, an undercover agent won the contract by ensuring the lowest bid on the renovation project was provided by the developer. Butler helped to orchestrate the submission of bids by Burch and McKean in amounts dictated by Butler and the developer. The evidence at trial showed that Burch and McKean understood the bids were not genuine bids and were intended to be higher than the bid submitted to the DOE by the developer. Burch and McKean expected to get payment and work after the developer secured the contract. Butler met with the developer in July of 2013, at which time Butler agreed to locate contractors to submit bids for the DOE contract in amounts higher than the contractors bid. On July 30, 2013, Butler met with Burch and McKean, each of whom agreed to submit a separate bid that would be higher than $5.7 million, the amount of the bid that would be submitted by the developer. Butler also was given additional payments after Burch and McKean submitted the fraudulent bids. Specifically, on August 26, 2013, Burch mailed a bid for the contract to the LBNL in the amount of $7,125,000 and on October 3, 2013, McKean emailed a bid in the amount of $6,300,000. Burch and McKean both were told they would be given work as a sub-contractor and the construction manager on the project after the developer was awarded the bid. A federal grand jury handed down a superseding indictment on November 8, 2018. Burch and McKean both were charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the Unite States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371, and one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S. C. 1349. Pursuant to todays verdict, the defendants were convicted on all counts. Butler pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme on October 17, 2018. Judge Breyer scheduled Butlers sentencing hearing for March 27, 2019. Judge Breyer scheduled the defendants sentencing hearing for June 19, 2019. The maximum statutory penalty for conspiring to defraud the United States is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for the conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud count is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Further, additional periods of supervised release, fines, and restitution also may be imposed, however, any sentence will be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. 3553. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cynthia Frey and William Frentzen are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Helen Yee, Rosario Calderon, Bridget Kilkenny, and Danielle Allison. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the DOE Office of the Inspector General. Former Hillsborough Resident Pleads Guilty To Investment Fraud Scheme San Francisco, California - Michael James Frew pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering charges in connection with a fraudulent real estate investment scheme, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett, and Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Kareem Carter. The guilty plea was accepted by the Honorable Vince Chhabria, U.S. District Judge. According to the plea agreement, Frew, 70, formerly of Hillsborough, Calif., admitted that starting no later than 2010 and continuing through March of 2014, he solicited investments from numerous individuals on the false premise that he would invest their money in real estate. Frew sometimes claimed the real estate was in foreign countries and usually explained that the areas in which he would invest recently had been struck by a natural disaster. In truth, Frew did not invest his victims money in real estate. Instead, he used the money to speculate in the stock market, to make expenditures for personal expenses, and to repay other victim investors. Frew admitted that on several occasions he paid some of the money back to investors to make it seem like their investments were legitimate, which lulled his victims into a false sense of security that their money was properly invested. He further admitted he caused losses to his victims of up to $3.5 million. A federal grand jury indicted Frew on July 26, 2018, charging him with two counts each of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1343; mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1341; and money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1957. Frew pleaded guilty to all the charges except one count of mail fraud, which will be dismissed at sentencing if Frew complies with the terms of the plea agreement. Judge Chhabria scheduled Frews sentencing hearing for July 17, 2019, at 10:30 a.m. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment for the mail fraud count and for each count of the wire fraud counts. Frew faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment on each count of money laundering. In addition, Frew faces fines of $250,000 on each count in the indictment and restitution for the losses he is alleged to have caused. However, any sentence will be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. 3553. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert David Rees is prosecuting the case with assistance from Bridget Kilkenny. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the IRS-CI. Imperial Valley News Center Victim Businesses Issued Fraudulent Workers Compensation Insurance, Health Care Insurance, and Pension Plan Policies sought by FBI San Francisco, California - The FBI is seeking to identify businesses that may be victims of an alleged nationwide workers compensation insurance, health care insurance, and pension plan fraud scheme. Businesses that purchased policies from American Labor Alliance (ALA) or one of its many subsidiaries nationwide should contact their state insurance regulator to ensure the validity of their policies. If you believe you/your business may have been a victim of this alleged fraud, please call 1-800-CALL-FBI or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. On January 10, 2019, ALA and two of its executives were charged with mail fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and money laundering by a 14-count federal grand jury indictment. Court documents allege ALA and its subsidiaries sold what was purported to be workers compensation coverage that, in actuality, may offer no coverage. From at least 2011 onward, ALA offered what it purported to be a retirement pension plan to its clients, known by a variety of names including ALA Trust, the ALA Retirement Plan Trust, or the ALA Retirement Plan and Trust, that may also be invalid. Furthermore, according to court documents, ALA and its affiliates allegedly purported to offer a broad range of financial services to potential clients, including tax preparation and drafting of incorporation and other documents. It fraudulently marketed itself as a special type of labor organization under federal law and advertised that its customers could join ALA and receive financial services. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI, United States Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, San Francisco Regional Office, and California Department of Insurance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Tierney is prosecuting the case. Note: We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email circulation2@journalnet.com for help creating one. Community Information If you would like to submit an upcoming event or community announcement, please contact our staff at 208-232-4161 or send an email to cjohnson@journalnet.com. We will also accept news from local clubs and engagement, wedding and anniversary announcements. You can post your community or club events on our calendar. Obituaries Submit an obituary/notice All obituaries must be placed by your mortuary or onlineDeadline is 3 p.m. for publication the next day. The ISJ is not responsible for spelling, grammar, or basic mistakes. We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email circulation@idahopress.com for help creating one. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. A recent survey by China's State Post Bureau said 35.8 percent of delivery workers considered their occupation "promising" and would like to continue in that position. The survey consisted of 6,000 delivery people across China mostly born in the 1980s and 1990s. About 76 percent of the delivery workers are from rural areas, while nearly 16 percent are from towns or counties, according to the survey. Major sources of stress for delivery workers include low wages and insufficient benefits, lack of understanding of their job from customers and the public, long working hours and little chances of promotion, the survey said. Most of those surveyed earn less than 5,000 yuan (743 U.S. dollars) per month but generally gain more during the annual Double 11 online shopping spree in November, during which over 80 percent of the country's delivery workers handle more than 200 packages per day. China's express delivery industry is rapidly developing, with around 3 million delivery workers. "Delivery worker" was added to the revision of the national occupation list of China in 2015, meaning it has been recognized by the state as an occupation. Houston, MO (65483) Today Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High near 85F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Black History Month should remind us that Americas greatness resounds in the ability of ordinary people to transform the status quo of racial segregation and oppression into a new dawn of racial justice, freedom and citizenship. The study of the black freedom struggle from slavery to Jim Crow to the modern civil rights era and the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement underscores how Americans might enable a brighter future by coming to terms with our racial past. But many students in Texas learn only some, if any, of this history because the Texas education system does not require students to take at least one annual unit of black history. This needs to change. Our nations history is a melting pot of races and cultures that contributed equally into what America is today. And it doesnt matter whether the school is public or private. Simply put, more Texans need to learn more about black history. And this includes colleges, universities and other institutions of higher learning. Perhaps no figure looms larger in Texas as a trailblazer than Houston-born Barbara Jordan. Jordan represents one of the most important political leaders in American history. She broke color lines and gender barriers as the first black Texas state representative since Reconstruction and as the first southern black female U.S. representative ever. Jordan distinguished herself, using her inimitable crisp and sonorous voice, during the Watergate hearings as a passionately erudite defender of the Constitution. She co-sponsored voting rights legislation in 1975 that helped extend voter access to Spanish speakers in Texas and the Southwest. The next year she became the first black person to deliver the keynote address to a major party convention. That speech made her into a national icon and helped pave the way for more racial breakthroughs, most notably the election of President Barack Obama, who first gained national attention after his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. But, despite this progress, race continues to shape the lives of American citizens and institutions. The most recent example is the controversy over the admission by elected officials in several states that they appeared in blackface. Blackface is intimately connected to black history and histories of racial segregation, Jim Crow and white supremacy that continue to harm our democracy . Our political leaders have an ethical and moral duty to support equal citizenship and justice for all. Blackface, through its dehumanization of African-Americans , reinforces segregation politically and racial violence locally . Black History Month is, most profoundly, American history. Every student in public and private schools across Texas should be required to take a unit of this history annually. In doing so, we could accelerate not only knowledge of African-American history and the struggle for black citizenship, but also enable the deep empathy that comes from recognizing strangers as part of the wider human family. Texass racial history is filled with examples of both racial oppression and racial justice. Students need to understand the impact of racial slavery on the Lone Star State, how the attempt during Reconstruction to guarantee black citizenship failed amid racial violence and how the modern civil rights struggle helped open doors for not only African-Americans but all people. Black history is a pivotal key to unlocking the relationship between race and democracy in Texas historically and how it continues to shape where we live, how we vote and how we are treated by the criminal justice system. In times of racial crisis, politicians, educators and community leaders often talk about the need for racial dialogue or a national conversation about race. Such a dialogue should be built on the extensive knowledge of that history and the way it courses through the veins of our larger national identity and collective memory. By requiring every student to actively engage in the study of black history, Texas could lead the way toward the long-term goal of transforming American race relations for the better. Joseph is the Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values in the LBJ School of Public Affairs and a professor of history in the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. Regarding Anti-BDS laws do not impede free speech, (Outlook, Wednesday): The op-ed contains a number of bad arguments. First, the authors deny that Texas anti-BDS law, which opposes boycotts, divestment and sanctions directed against Israel, is an infringement of free speech. They compare the anti-BDS laws to anti-discrimination laws that protect women, racial minorities and LGBTQ people. This is a false analogy. Sanctions imposed on person because of race, gender or sexual orientation are clearly discriminatory. Refusing to purchase goods or services from a nation to protest policies of that nations government is in no sense discrimination but is clearly an instance of legitimate protest and should be protected as free speech. Further, the authors state the anti-BDS laws do not and are not intended to restrict an individuals right to speak against Israel. But the law, as it presently exists, does and is applied to individuals. Bahia Amawi, a U.S. citizen, had worked as a speech pathologist with special needs children for nine years at a public school in Austin, but she was denied re-employment when she refused to sign an oath not to boycott Israel. Texas current anti-BDS law is therefore a direct assault on the freedom of conscience of individuals. As for corporations, if Hobby Lobby is allowed to deny its employees access to contraception for religious reasons, other corporations should suffer no penalty for boycotting Israel for moral reasons. Finally, the authors associate the BDS movement with terrorist groups such as Hamas. This is not an argument but a smear tactic. The same sort of despicable tactic was used during the civil rights movement to associate civil rights leaders with communism. Keith M. Parsons, Friendswood Market economy Regarding Socialism (Letters, Feb. 19): I hate to pop the writers belief that Denmark is a socialist nation because it is not. The Danes changed several years ago. As proof, may I refer you to an article in the Huffington Post, a left leaning publication. It outlines what the Danes will tell you: They are a market economy, not a socialist economy. The article is titled, Denmark: Not As Socialist (Nor As Successful) As You Might Think. Too many people have the same misconception as the writer, and I thought the facts should be presented. Don Pollock, Houston Real teaching Regarding Districts get say in how theyre rated (Front page, Feb. 18): The flaws in understanding the problem and designing the solution are so egregious as to deserve no more than a D-plus. Students should be taught those subjects which MESH (Math, English, Science, History) with the expectations of college and real life. Teachers who teach to the test should be reprimanded but arent because ISDs need high scores for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is economic. Good teachers teach. They illustrate, discuss, argue and debate the cogent points of the lesson. Their classes are electric. The other teachers rely on Chromebooks, laptops, Google searches, downloaded curriculum apps, etc., to provide content, explanation and validation of students having learned. Sad! Clyde Miner, Friendswood Sarah DePalma, a pioneering transgender-rights activist in Houston who died recently, will be remembered at a private gathering on March 6. She was a freedom fighter for transgender rights more than 20 years before Caitlyn Jenner came out to the world, wrote Michael Long, editor of the new book We the Resistance: Documenting a History of Nonviolent Protest in the United States. DePalma died Feb. 11 at age 67. In an age when transgenders were beaten and killed with impunity," said Long, "DePalma, like her good friend Phyllis Frye, put her life on the line in defense of one of the most marginalized groups in the latter half of the 20th century transgenders. Born on July 12, 1952, as Leonard DePalma, she grew up in Waterbury, Conn. According to her life partner, Lori Rice, DePalma always thought of herself as a girl, even while she lived as a boy and a man. Starting in her early teens, Rice said, DePalma leaned toward civil rights and the counterculture, pretending to be older so she could join a Freedom Riders bus ride to the South, attending Woodstock and joining the Abbie Hoffman effort to levitate the Pentagon. She moved to Texas for a job in retail, and in the 1980s attended Texas A&M, a school that prided itself on military discipline and tradition, and was extremely hostile to gays and lesbians. DePalma was active in Gay Student Services, a group then suing the university for official recognition and to be allowed to meet on campus. By 1992, she had moved to Houston and was transitioning to live as a woman when she met Rice, her partner-to-be, at a party. She was a firebrand, remembers Rice. She was one of an extremely small number of transgender people who dared to live openly. A Houston statute banned cross-dressing, and Texas had a law against sodomy. Few employers were willing to hire transgender people. Gay-bashing was a fresh new phrase in the American vocabulary, and transgender people were particularly likely to be bashed. DePalma chose not just to live openly, but to campaign for change. To lobby the Texas Legislature, she formed a group called Its Time Texas. Over the years, it morphed first into the Texas Gender Advocacy Information Network, and now survives as the Transgender Education Network of Texas. She certainly knew how to organize and how to raise hell, said her friend Phyllis Frye, a fellow trans activist. I was proud to have her at my side. DePalma was a master at wrangling transgender volunteers. It seems that Sarah always showed up, remembers former state representative Debra Danburg, but never alone. One of her volunteer squadrons worked the phone banks when Annise Parker, an open lesbian, ran for a seat on Houstons City Council unsuccessfully in 1991 and 1995, but finally winning a seat in 1997. Perhaps because of those loyal volunteers, Parker, who went on to be elected the nations first openly homosexual big-city mayor, became an ally of the transgender community, pushing to include trans people in what were then largely just lesbian-and-gay-rights groups. Both in Houston and nationally, many gay-rights organizers argued that people who were transgender hindered their cause, too foreign and unpalatable to mainstream America. DePalma would have none of that. Transgendered people and drag queens cannot be hidden without our cooperation, she wrote in a 1994 letter published in the gay magazine This Week in Texas, and we refuse to hide. Get used to it, Houston. In Longs book, he describes how in April 1995 DePalma tried to include transgender people in a march for hate crimes legislation sponsored by the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas. But the group refused to add transgender people to the list of people protected by their model legislation. Sarah grabbed her friends, some banners and signs, and headed to the march in Austin, Long wrote. She and her friends distributed about 2,500 flyers about their protest, and better yet, they stood directly in the path of the marchers, about 6,000 of them, so that they would have to face their hurtful discrimination against transgenders. DePalma would not step aside. Ever. Perhaps DePalmas greatest victory in Austin came in 1999. That year, remembers fellow activist Vanessa Edwards Foster, they hoped to entice 50 transgender people to go lobby Texas lawmakers, but ended up with more than a 100. It ranked not just as the largest transgender lobbying effort in Texas, but the largest ever at any statehouse a the time including those in far more liberal places such as California and New York. But in the end, DePalmas most powerful effect may not have been changing other peoples minds about transgender people, but helping transgender people see themselves not as isolated weirdos but as a community, one more powerful when it united. In the mid-90s, along with Jimmy Carper, a campy gay man, she co-hosted KPFT-FMs After Hours, which billed itself as a queer variety show. People across the globe would listen via the stations live internet stream. Cristan Williams, now the executive director at the Transgender Foundation of America, was a fan. Williams hadnt yet transitioned, and was living in Galveston then, where KPFTs signal didnt reach. So that she could listen, Williams said, shed call the radio station and ask to be put on hold. The show was a lifeline. DePalma withdrew from activism in the late 90s. For the past 15 years, she suffered from Parkinsons disease and Lewy body dementia. For information on the private memorial gathering, email pfrye@aol.com. lisa.gray@chron.com Democrat Melissa Noriega mined for votes under the cover of a dull fog Thursday in the southern tip of House District 145, knocking doors in one of the districts few Republican-heavy precincts. Nearing the end of a whirlwind campaign, Noriega and Christina Morales, two Democrats locked in a special election runoff for the open House seat here, are block walking daily and working to secure much-needed endorsements and donations, all in anticipation of a low-turnout March 5 election. As she bounced from house to house, Noriega fielded questions from residents, some of whom wondered why she was courting their vote in mid-February. At one point a voter inquired: Why was Noriega a better choice than her opponent? Well, the experience that I have in my professional career is a nice match with the issues theyre talking about in Austin, Noriega said, detailing her resume that includes a long career with Houston ISD, a brief stint in the Texas House and three terms as an at-large member of Houston City Council. Experience matters, Noriega added. Knowing how government works matters. More Information Early voting begins Monday in the House District 145 special election runoff. Polls are open each day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Here's where you can vote: County Attorney Conference Center, 1019 Congress Ave. Moody Park Community Center, 3725 Fulton St. Ripley House Neighborhood Center, 4410 Navigation Blvd. HCCS Southeast College, 6960 Rustic St., parking garage Harris County Scarsdale Annex, 10851 Scarsdale Blvd. See More Collapse One of the only notable contrasts to emerge in this low-profile special election, Noriega, 64, has contended from the start that her background in government and ties to public education better position her to fill the seat amid a fast-moving legislative session. Morales, 50, says that she has deeper ties to the district, as the longtime president of her familys East End funeral home and while running the Morales Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit that provides school supplies and health services primarily to low-income Latino families. Running the funeral home since age 23, Morales also said shes developed a keen eye for talent that will help her hire the right staff to get her up to speed quickly at the Legislature. What matters is, it needs to be someone that's well-connected with the community and has been here, said U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Houston Democrat who has endorsed Morales. She's a lifelong resident, she was born here, her parents and the legacy they leave behind - she's picking up on that. Voter fatigue The special election came about after Garcia, a former state senator, won the race for Texas 29th Congressional District in November. The seats prior occupant, Gene Green, did not seek re-election. About a month later, then-state Rep. Carol Alvarado won the special election to replace Garcia in Senate District 6, opening up her House District 145 seat. Morales and Noriega finished atop an eight candidate field in the Jan. 29 election for Alvarados seat, but neither received enough votes to avoid a runoff. First round of voting results in the Texas Hosue District 145 race See which candidates performed the best in the first round of Texas House District 145 race. Christina Morales and Melissa Noriega are the two remaining candidates. Source: Harris County Clerk's Office| Created by Jordan Rubio Coming on the heels of the November midterms, the two candidates have come across a district plagued by serious voter fatigue. The runoff marks the fourth election in the last four months for those who also live in Senate District 6. Expecting another low-turnout election, the candidates have campaigned furiously the last few weeks, searching for new supporters and doubling back on their strongholds to remind people to vote once again. Education, Medicaid Subtle differences aside, Morales and Noriega appear to line up on the policy matters that are set to dominate this years legislative session. They both want to put vastly more funding into public education, for instance, and they each devote space atop their campaign literature to the topic. Ive been block walking, you know, First Ward, Second Ward, Magnolia Park, Idylwood, all these neighborhoods, and theres one common thread, Morales said. People are concerned about education. And I think right now is a perfect time to be a state legislator, and go in and be part of that movement to make sure our schools are run properly. Both believe the states refusal to expand Medicaid is an instance of unfounded political stubbornness by Republican leaders. They each are eager to help with state flood mitigation and recovery efforts, though Noriega claims particular expertise in that area, helping set up a large shelter at NRG Center for Harvey victims and running long-term relief efforts since then at BakerRipley, a Houston nonprofit. She's eminently qualified for the position, said former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, who has endorsed Noriega. Coming in late to the session, she doesn't have a learning curve. Parker contended that Noriega brings her own community ties, from her time on City Council and as a super neighborhood executive board member. I have nothing bad to say about Ms. Morales. I think she has a lot of potential, Parker said. I just think Melissa brings the experience and the deep ties to the neighborhood, and understanding what the needs are. The runoff winner will serve on the House Urban Affairs and Corrections committees. Both candidates have pitched those positions to their advantage: Morales serves as a Houston planning commissioner, an apt position for Urban Affairs, while Noriega previously served on the Corrections Committee in 2005, when she held the House District 145 seat in place of her then-husband, Rick Noriega, while has was deployed to Afghanistan. Tapping into her web of local contacts, Morales said she has raised more than $100,000 for her campaign, though the candidates have not released campaign finance reports since January. Garcia also has stepped in to help Morales by block walking, recording a digital ad and stumping for Morales at senior centers and campaign fundraisers. Also aiding Morales is a campaign team staffed with strategists from Alvarados winning special election campaign. Grassroots help Helping Noriega, meanwhile, is the Texas Organizing Project, a progressive grassroots group. Noriega also has secured the endorsements of three Democrats who failed to make the runoff: Elias De La Garza, Oscar Del Toro and Alfred Moreno. The trio combined for just 227 votes, though any potential vote is significant with such low turnout. Morales topped Noriega by 161 votes in the first round. The district mostly runs along Interstate 45, reaching the Heights at its northern point and cutting southeast through downtown, South Houston and Pasadena. In the January election, Noriega had her best support in the north part of the district, while Morales had a strong showing in precincts along the interstate. Republican Martha Fierro, the third-place finisher, won the southern part of the district, leaving some uncertainty about where those precincts will fall on Election Day. Early voting for the runoff begins Monday and ends Friday. Election Day is March 5. jasper.scherer@chron.com | twitter.com/jaspscherer Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Sunday that House Democrats will subpoena special counsel Robert Mueller III to testify before Congress if his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election is not made public. Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on ABC News' "This Week" that Democrats will also subpoena Mueller's report and are prepared to go to court against the Trump administration. With Mueller's nearly two-year investigation believed to be coming to an end, Democrats are seeking to ramp up pressure on Attorney General William Barr to release the full findings of the report - and setting down a marker for what course they will take if he doesn't. "Well, we will obviously subpoena the report. We will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress. We will take it to court if necessary," Schiff said. "And in the end, I think the Department (of Justice) understands they're going to have to make this public. I think Barr will ultimately understand that, as well." A Justice Department spokeswoman and a Mueller spokesman declined to comment. During his confirmation hearing last month, Barr said his goal would be to "provide as much transparency as I can consistent with the law." His testimony prompted concern among Democrats that he could choose not to release any of the findings of Mueller's team that have not already been made public through indictments. Rumors swirled last week that the report could be delivered before the end of the month. But a senior Justice Department official said Friday that the report will not be coming this week. President Donald Trump is traveling to Hanoi this week for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Justice Department regulations call for Mueller's report to be a confidential account of the individuals charged, as well as those who were not charged. Barr, who was confirmed earlier this month, will then summarize the work for Congress. Democrats have been pressing the Trump administration to make available as much of the Mueller report as possible. On Friday, Schiff and five other House committee leaders sent a letter to Barr emphasizing their expectation that he will release the report to the public "without delay and to the maximum extent permitted by law." Schiff on Sunday stepped up his focus on Barr, saying that if the new attorney general withholds any part of the report, his legacy will be "tarnished." Ultimately, the Democratic lawmaker added, Trump should welcome the report's release, given his repeated claims that there was no collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. "We are going to share this information with the public, and if the president is serious about all of his claims of exoneration, then he should welcome the publication of this report," Schiff said. Other Democrats echoed Schiff's pledge to take action. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass.,. said on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that if Barr "sanitizes" the report, lawmakers of both parties "have a responsibility to ensure that the American people know what happened in 2016." In a CNN interview, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., a 2020 presidential candidate, described herself as "an advocate for a public report" but also said that lawmakers should be given any supporting information, including in a classified hearing if necessary. Some have viewed Barr's criticism of former FBI director James Comey during last month's hearing as an indication of how he might handle the Mueller report. Barr argued that Comey was wrong to have announced during the 2016 campaign that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would not be charged for her use of a private email server. "If you're not going to indict someone, you don't stand up there and unload negative information about the person," Barr said at the time. His remarks stoked speculation that he might be inclined to keep secret all or part of the Mueller report, depending on its findings. Complicating matters is the Justice Department's long-standing position that a sitting president cannot be indicted. The six House Democratic committee leaders touched on that point in their letter Friday, arguing that withholding evidence because the president will not be charged "is to convert (Justice) Department policy into the means for a cover-up." Republicans have pushed back by increasingly directing their criticism at Schiff, with many arguing that he has rushed to proclaim Trump guilty without waiting for the facts to come out. Trump earlier this month derided Schiff as "a political hack" when asked about his expanding investigations into the president's finances. Former congressman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., mocked Schiff on Fox Business Network's "Sunday Morning Futures," saying that while no witnesses so far have alleged conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, "that three-eyed raven, Adam Schiff - who can see things nobody else can see - says he has evidence." In a separate appearance on the program, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned that if Democrats "keep pushing" the issue of collusion, "It's going to blow up in their face in 2020" among voters at the polls. Opinions on whether Democrats would be able to successfully subpoena Mueller were split on Sunday. In an appearance on NBC News' "Meet the Press," Neal Katyal, who was acting solicitor general in the Obama administration, said it was "certainly possible" that Mueller would testify before Congress. If Mueller ends up finding information that points to potential wrongdoing by the president, Barr not only has the discretion to turn the report over to Congress, "indeed, he has to," said Katyal, who drafted the special counsel regulations. "The overall intent of the regulations - it's said time and time again - is public confidence in the administration of justice. And any sort of suppressed report about presidential wrongdoing will flunk that test," he said. On CBS News' "Face the Nation," Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., voiced uncertainty about whether Democrats could enforce a subpoena against Mueller. "I don't know that you can," he told host Margaret Brennan. Blunt also declined to say whether the Senate Intelligence Committee, of which he is a member, may pursue its own effort to have Mueller testify."I think we'll have to wait and see what's in the report," he said. Stephen Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist, said the next three to four months are going to be "a real meat grinder" for the president because of the Mueller probe and the ongoing investigations into Trump's inaugural committee and other organizations tied to him. "The pressure on the president is coming from many different angles," Bannon said on "Face the Nation." Much of the Mueller report, he predicted, will focus on potential obstruction of justice, and the report's reception will hinge on whether the public believes the president, as "chief law enforcement officer, has the right to make those decisions or not." In the coming weeks, Barr is likely to face pressure not only from Congress but also from the president. If Trump asks Barr to let him read the Mueller report, that is "perfectly fine," said Solomon Wisenberg, who was deputy independent counsel in the probe of President Bill Clinton. But the problem will be if Trump orders Barr to take a certain action on the report, Wisenberg said on "Meet the Press." "I don't think Barr will stand for that," Wisenberg said. --- The Washington Post's Devlin Barrett, Karoun Demirjian and Peter Holley contributed to this report. Photo: Cowboy hats, cattle and country music dominate RodeoHouston. But in a city like Houston, youve got to dig deeper. Look no further than this years performer lineup, which reflects the diversity of the city. Yes, weve got George Strait and Brooks & Dunn. But theres also Cardi B, Zedd and Panic! At the Disco. In fact, one-third of this years lineup is well outside the country genre. Even country acts Kane Brown, Luke Combs and Turnpike Troubadours appeal to a younger audience. That may seem like a huge shift to longtime fans. Or is it? Historically, its really not that big of a departure, says Joel Cowley, RodeoHouston president and CEO. Its kind of whats hot at the time. Think back to some of the highlights from recent years: Usher arriving on a motorcycle, Miley Cyrus fans blowing out the speakers, Fergie leading a thunderous Big Girls Dont Cry singalong, Pitbull and the worlds biggest happy hour, Enrique Iglesias inciting full-on hysteria. Even the 1974 lineup stretched far beyond country. It included The Jackson 5, Sonny & Cher, Doc Severinsen, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Vicki Carr and Elvis Presley. In other words, its always been about more than country music. Maybe you just havent been listening. joey.guerra@chron.com twitter.com/joeyguerra R. Kelly's attorney held a press conference in response to his client's bond being set at the princely amount of $1 million. With the media all assembled in one place, attorney Steve Greenberg began discrediting his client's accusers one after the other. "On one of the cases, there are a number of interviews where the young lady says, 'I lied about how old I was,'" Greenberg tells reporters at the 8:05 mark of the above video, - "and then recently said, 'Oh no, I lied about lying about how old I was.'" Soon after making those claims, Jim DeRogatis, an American music critic based out of Chicago, interrupts Greenberg to point out a negligible error, because theoretically speaking, the accuser in question did show R. Kelly an ID card, after coming to grips with their dysfunctional arrangement. "Dont misquote a victim, Mr. Greenberg," DeRogatis interjects. "That's not what she said.. she was here today. Did you see her tears?" At this point, Greenberg singles DeRogatis out by questioning his objectivity - suggesting the writer's upcoming book on the R. Kelly case, past and present, is the reason to believe he's part of the opposition party. "I don't give a fuck about selling a single book," DeRogatis fired back. "I've talked to that woman, and I've talked to 47 others. I'm not Mr. [Michael] Avenatti and I'm not you." Greenberg eventually alleviated the tension by skipping ahead in the discussion. He later reiterated that R. Kelly was a "Rock Star" to quote the 2007 Kellz hit, his point being: "Rock Stars" don't have a need for "nonconsensual sex," - riddle me that. You are here: China Beijing will further strengthen food safety management in schools, requesting school officials to dine with students, according to the municipal education authority. Students in primary and middle schools and kindergartens should be accompanied by staff during each meal served at school, the Beijing Municipal Education Commission announced earlier this week. Staff who eat with the kids are required to keep a record, find and solve the problems they find in a timely manner. School canteens are not allowed to serve cold dishes, kidney beans or other food that are considered risky. A food tracing system will be established. Schools are also required to be well-prepared to handle food safety incidents, make a risk list and carry out emergency drills. Offset added a layer of depth to the expressions like "lane switch" and "autopilot" after he survived a scary car accident with his life in his hands in 2018. Offset's vocabulary expresses a different type of gratitude, normally reserved for Ma Dukes. On his solo debut, Offset explores a genesis of ideas, which point to an insurrectionist moment taking place right before he got around to figuring out the song lyrics, and the enveloping idea of the whole project. Why else squander such a symbolically important first chance at the altar? I am most certainly referring to his prospects as a solo artist, not the cards he's been dealt. Similar in nature to the choice he made in recruiting Big Rube on the album's intro, CeeLo Green's contributions to "North Star" help the insurgent rapper set an apologetic tone, once again. When CeeLo Green sings of the North Star for its intended purpose as a guiding light, it's made all the more conceivable. Who better to deliver a hoarse but melodic singing voice, within the state of Georgia. I think you know the answer. Quotable Lyrics: I'm beginning to question what I believe It's so lonely in the light, it's lonely, I repeat But I cannot cry And I'm acting like I cannot die But I've gotta burn brighter To be the North Star. - CeeLo Green In August of 2018, musician and director Boots Riley took to social media to express his disdain for Spike Lees BlacKkKlansman film, accusing the veteran director of pushing pro-law enforcement propaganda in his latest body of work. The critique took on the form of a three-page statement in which Riley asserts that Lee fabricated story notes to push a police officer as a protagonist. "It's a made-up story in which the false parts of it to try to make a cop the protagonist in the fight against racist oppression," Riley wrote in the essay. "It's being put while Black Lives Matter is a discussion, and this is not coincidental. There is a viewpoint behind it." In his critique, Riley did make sure to note that Spike Lee is a huge influence on his career, revealing that he was the reason he went to film school in the first place and that he was also the first person he sent a demo tape to when Lee still had his 40 Acres And A Mule Musicworks. In an interview with the Times UK, Spike Lee issued a respectful response, defending his choice to portray the main character of Ron Stallworth, a black cop who infiltrates a local chapter of the KKK, a protagonist. Look at my films: They've been very critical of the police, but on the other hand I'm never going to say all police are corrupt, that all police hate people of color. I'm not going to say that," Lee said. "I mean, we need police. Unfortunately, police in a lot of instances have not upheld the law; they have broken the law." According to Boots, though, that isnt all Spike Lee had to say. On Saturday, while walking the red carpet for the Independent Spirit Awards, Boots Riley revealed that at an industry event, Lee shouted a response of choice. He yelled at me as he walked away, saying 'I'm Miles Davis, you're Chet Baker!" Riley tells Variety. "Then I saw him at the DGA luncheon and he said, 'Come here' and said Squashed? Squashed.'" Clearly, neither men should be too caught up in criticism as Riley's Sorry To Bother You took home the award for Best Feature Film at the Independent Spirit ceremony while Spike's BlacKkKlansman is nominated for six total Academy Awards at this years ceremonies. (Martinsville) Reporter-Times The Times-Mail MARTINSVILLE Special prosecutor Michael Steiner filed felony charges against Martinsville Police Chief Matt Long Friday in Morgan County Superior Court I. Long is accused of official misconduct by a public servant who knowingly commits an offense, and theft where the value of property is between $750 and $50,000, both Level 6 felonies. The charges have a listed charge date of Dec. 1, 2016, less than three months after he was sworn into office on Sept. 28, 2016. They appeared on the public court database around 2 p.m. Friday, along with a motion to seal the records and a filing of the probable-cause affidavit. Within an hour, however, all entries on the public database had disappeared. Long was placed on paid administrative leave by the city on Jan. 18 the same day Martinsville Clerk-Treasurer Becky Tumey sent out a news release stating that the Indiana State Board of Accounts had opened an investigation on a city employee for possible misuse of time and overtime compensation. By the end of January, the Indiana State Police confirmed that a criminal investigation had been opened on a city of Martinsville employee, which followed a motion by the Morgan County Prosecutors Office requesting a special prosecutor in the case. The motion was filed by Morgan County Prosecutor Steve Sonnega, based on the fact that this matter involves a local law enforcement official and an agency with which the Prosecutors Office does business on a daily basis. While the case is currently filed in Morgan County Superior Court I, Judge Peter R. Foley could recuse himself and send it to another county court or to an out-of-county court. Normally, Morgan County cases are venued to Hendricks County. The case could be unsealed if probable cause is found and/or an arrest warrant is issued and served. After Long was put on leave in January, Martinsville Mayor Shannon Kohl appointed MPD officer Roger Wiltermood to serve as the interim chief during the investigation. Wiltermood was the citys police chief in 2014-15 and has been with the department for 30 years. Brian Paul Kaufman bkaufman@tmnews.com BEDFORD Local heroes were in the spotlight Tuesday when the Bedford Noon Lions Club honored four area law enforcement officers. Receiving Officers of the Year awards were: Bedford Police Officer Chase Hamilton Lawrence County Sheriffs Deputy Tyler Trueblood Indiana State Police Trooper Cory Knight Indiana Conservation Officer Jim Schreck The Bedford Noon Lions hosted an officer appreciation luncheon in their honor at American Legion Post 33, according to Jack Voightschild, vice president of the Bedford Noon Lions Club. Voightschild said he came up with the idea for the program about six years ago after he was disgusted by the bad rap police were getting in the media. It wasnt hard convincing his fellow Bedford Noon Lions Club members that honoring local law enforcement was the right thing to do. They were onboard immediately, Voightschild said. This past Tuesday during the lunchtime reception and meal, Hamilton, Trueblood, Knight and Schreck were introduced to those attending the meeting by their commanding officers. Then, they shared why the men were chosen. Chase HamiltonBedford Chief Terry Moore said later that Hamilton was picked because of his work ethic, character and the way he represents Bedford police. Hes a team player and hes willing to stop what hes doing, on or off-duty, and goes to help, Moore said. Hes one of the officers ... you know things are going to be handled the way they should be handled. ...And Chase is very family-oriented. Hamilton was also named Bedford Police Officer of the Month in November. He was hired by the BPD in Feb. of 2017. Tyler Trueblood Lawrence County Sheriff Mike Branham said Tyler Trueblood began his career with the LCSO in July 2011. He was promoted to the detective division in 2015 and most recently moved to the drug task force. Trueblood is part of the Sheriffs fatal crash team, as well as serving as second in command of the SWAT team. Trueblood has now been nominated by his peers for Officer of the Year three years in a row, and would have won it sooner, but the competition was that tough, Branham said. Trueblood has spearheaded some of the most challenging investigations in the detective division, including a child homicide and multiple crimes against children, Branham said. While working a case that involved battery on a child, evidence Trueblood collected helped solve a 13 year old rape case, Branham said. In addition to that, Trueblood is true team player, he said. Cory KnightKnight was introduced by ISP Sgt. Brian Beauchamp. Knight began solo patrol in Lawrence County in April of 2015. Hes a Johnson County native and graduated from Speedway High School in 2012. Knight had served in the National Guard as a military police officer prior to becoming an Indiana State trooper, according to an ISP news release. Beauchamp said later that Knights selection was based on his excellent performance in four areas: Traffic and criminal enforcement, public service and school assistance. Knight works a 7 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. shift patrolling Lawrence County, which makes it difficult to do much else, Beauchamp said. Yet, Knight finds the time to be involved in local schools, he said, an ISP priority. In addition, Knight has been actively involved in many Lawrence County cases involving arrests for possession of heroin, cocaine and meth. Hes made it his home and hes part of the community, Beauchamp said. Jim SchreckSchreck was introduced by Lt Philip Schuetter. Picked by his fellow conservation officers at District 8, Schreck serves a 10-county area in south central Indiana, including Lawrence County. In addition to assisting local enforcement when necessary on such incidents as police searches and chases, conservation officers enforce hunting, fishing and boating laws as well as investigating and prosecuting crimes at state parks and lakes, Schreck said later. Theres always something to do, he said. If you to get bored, theres something wrong. A 15-year veteran, Schreck is also a defensive tactics and taser instructor, a field training officer, and serves on a cave rescue team, as well as the District 8 public information officer. Each officer was awarded a plaque from the Bedford Noon Lion Club to commemorate the honor. We think they need more recognition for the good work that they do, Voightschild said. Enter the Once Upon A Child Spring Style Sweepstakes today for the chance to WIN! Refresh your child's wardrobe! You could be the LUCKY WINNER of $200 in Store Cash! 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. Lima, OH (45805) Today Partly cloudy. Isolated thunderstorms possible. High 88F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Low 71F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. You are here: China Five people were missing as a fishing boat crashed into a cargo ship and sunk in the sea near east China's Zhejiang Province, according to local authorities. The accident happened at around 1:40 p.m. Saturday. Local governments have organized 23 fishing boats in the surrounding areas and dispatched multiple official ships for the rescue. The fishing boat, with the capacity for seven people, is 32.2 meters long and 6.5 meters wide. The cargo ship is 224.98 meters long and 32.2 meters wide with a tonnage of 35,890 tonnes. The rescue is underway. 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. Vote View Results You are here: Business China had 75,178 private equity (PE) funds by the end of January, with a combined value of 12.74 trillion yuan (about US$1.87 trillion), latest data showed. Some 24,458 securities, futures trading and venture capital institutions managed these funds, according to a statement on the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The private equity industry employed 244,300 people by the end of January, the statement added. China's private equity fund market has expanded quickly in recent years. It jumped 15.1 percent year on year in 2018. The steady expansion of the PE fund offers capital for enterprises to innovate and grow, said Hong Lei, head of the Asset Management Association of China. China's PE industry is on a healthy growth track with improvements in the structure of PE managers, Hong said. Pakistan wants peace, but India is creating a war frenzy, foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi claimed on Sunday, amidst simmering tensions between the two countries following the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel. Addressing the media, Qureshi also said Pakistan was trying to defuse tensions and has written to the United Nations, seeking the world bodys intervention. The local media reported that Pakistans Foreign Office has set up a crisis management cell in view of heightened tensions. An official at the FO spokesmans office confirmed the development. Tensions between the neighbours have spiralled in the wake of the suicide attack by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) on a CRPF convoy, an attack the sparked outrage in India. Days after the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said security forces were given a free hand to avenge the dastardly act. In a recent meeting, Pakistans National Security Committee authorised the armed forces to respond to any Indian action. Pakistans Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa visited Line of Control to review the preparedness and morale of troops. Pakistan wants peace and I want to give clear message that India is creating war frenzy but if it thinks that it can bring Pakistan under pressure or browbeat us, then it should get rid of this notion because this nation is united like a fist, Qureshi said. Qureshi has also initiated regional outreach to Saarc countries, and has spoken to his Sri Lankan and Nepalese counterparts. In a letter to the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Qureshi has said the Indian government chose to immediately externalise blame for the Pulwama attack without investigation. Day before leaving for the upcoming Hanoi summit, President Donald Trump teased the prospect of denuclearization as an outcome with a question mark and said Chairman Kim Jong-un is aware North Korea could become one of the great economic powers if it gave up its nuclear weapons. Denuclearization of the Korean peninsula getting rid of North Koreas nuclear weapons, essentially is the chief US goal but the two sides remain far apart on it and President Trump is under pressure to show progress on one of his administrations signature foreign policy initiative amidst criticism that he has been played so far by the younger Chairman Kim. I dont know if North Korea has made the choice to denuclearize, a senior administration official said last week, previewing summit. Trump leaves for Hanoi, Vietnam Monday morning and will Kim, who is already on his way by train, on Wednesday and Thursday. US and North Korean negotiators have reached in advance and hammering out outcomes, if any, that could include the two countries exchanging liaison offices. Trump and Kim will hold multiple meetings, following the Singapore template from last summer, their first summit a one-on-one, then one with their officials and a lunch, US officials have said. We both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore, Trump wrote on Twitter Sunday. Denuclearization? he ended that post with a question mark. Also read | Very, very bad situation between India and Pakistan: Trump on Pulwama attack But did not provide an answer. He went on, instead, reprise for North Korea the prospect of economic prosperity in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons programme: Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation! Complete and verifiable denuclearization by North Korea is the key US goal but experts and US intelligence officials insist Pyongyang has not even made a start yet, though they agree it has also not conducted nuclear and missile tests since the two sides began talking earlier 2018, leading up to the June summit. North Korea is seeking, in return, a peace treaty to formally end the Korean war to replace the 1953 armistice, lifting of economic sanctions, and security guarantees. Kim hasnt managed any of that yet yet, but his June meeting with Trump has given him a leg up over his father and grandfather, who ruled the country before him, as the first North Korean leader to meet a sitting American president. Also read | Get Trump alone: Kim Jong Uns game plan ahead of Vietnam summit Opposition parties on Saturday trained their guns on the NDA government in Bihar over the escape of seven minor girls from a short stay home in Mokama alleging a conspiracy aimed at thwarting the Supreme Court monitored probe into Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case from reaching a logical conclusion. The seven girls were found later in the day in Darbhanga town. Five of the girls are witnesses of the infamous Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual exploitation case, whose trial is to be held in a fast track court in Delhis Saket. Also read: Shelter home case: Muzaffarpur court transfers papers to Delhi court Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav led the charge to target the government. Remaining witnesses in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case have been abducted. Who is daring to carry out such an act in a SC monitored case and at whose behest, Yadav asked in a tweet. The RJD leader alleged that the victim girls, who were moved to Mokama for safety reasons, were still not safe. Who are the persons in the top echelons of power corridor to directly benefit from the disappearance of the victims? he asked, alluding to a conspiracy. Terming the lapse in ensuring safety and well being of Muzaffarpur shelter home victims, lodged in Mokama short stay home, as a very serious lapse, Bihar Congress unit president Madan Mohan Jha said, The development points at conspiracy to neutralise the probe and hints at the involvement of senior administrative officials, without which it does not seem possible. Demanding strong action, Jha said that the government must initiate serious efforts to nab and expose those involved in the conspiracy to deny justice for the hapless victims. The security lapse has to be probed. It acquires significance in the backdrop of a similar instance on August 3 last year, when a 13-year-old girl, also a witness in the sexual exploitation case, had gone missing from Madhubani, he said. Also read: Enough is enough: Supreme Court rebukes Bihar govt in shelter home abuse case, transfers Muzaffarpur case trial to Delhi RLSP chief and former union minister Upendra Kushwaha also attacked the government. It appears that the inmates have not fled, but have been assisted by the government in running away from the Mokama short stay home. The chief minister should immediately resign, he said In a strong rebuttal to the Oppositions charges, BJP state vice president Devesh Thakur said, Everything is being probed. The government always co-operates with the CBI. This is a case of lapse in security and guilty will face action. As the ruling and opposition alliances are all set to take on each other, the week-long budget session may witness a heated debate on drought in the state, state finances and reservations for various communities. On the eve of the Maharashtra governments budget session on Sunday, the opposition announced it would corner the government on its failures, while the ruling combine claimed it had performed better than the earlier regime of the Congress-led alliance over four-and-a-half years. Opposition parties, while boycotting the customary tea party in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack, demanded the state government extend the cut-off of the loan waiver scheme up to 2018. The demand is expected to be raised by the Opposition in the past two days earmarked for the debate on the agrarian crisis. Opposition leader in the Assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (Congress) said the opposition boycotted the tea party in wake of the attack and to protest the governments failure on several fronts. Vikhe Patil attacked the state government on various counts including failure to tackle drought, implement farm loan waiver, and said the government should not announce populist decisions in the interim budget. The six-day budget session of the Maharashtra Legislature will begin on February 25 and is expected to be a heated one as it would be the last before the Lok Sabha elections. Supplementary demands will be tabled on the first day and will be passed on the Tuesday. The vote-on-account, which will have budget provisions till July 31, will be tabled on February 27. The state government has failed to prevent farmer suicides in the past five years. Severe drought has gripped the state and we have not seen any relief measures provided by the state in the affected areas. The government has failed to solve the issues and woes of the farmers. The opposition parties are going to demand that the cut-off for the loan waiver be extended up to 2018 so that more farmers benefit, Vikhe Patil said. Under the current scheme, crop loans from April 1, 2009, to June 30, 2016 are waived. The government is going to table 11 bills and will have a debate on drought during the session. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the government has begun distribution from the drought relief fund without waiting for the Centres disbursal to expedite relief work in drought-affected areas. Of the 82 lakh farmers affected by the drought, relief funds have been disbursed to bank accounts of 42 lakh farmers. The disbursal for the remaining 40 lakh farmers is in process, Fadnavis said. In the 15 years of their government, 1 crore farmers were given crop insurance and the funds disbursed came to 2,931 crore. And in the four years of this government, 2.26 crore farmers have received crop insurance worth 13,135 crore. Apart from that, insurances for pink bollworm and other cases. amounting to 3,336 crore, have been given in the past four years. The state government has supported the government whenever farmers are in distress, said Fadnavis. Besides that, in the minimum support price (MSP) too there is a huge difference between the two governments. Nearly 8,000 crore of MSP has been given in our term, while the previous government just spent 450 crore, Fadnavis added. He also advised the Opposition to put their own house (alliance) in order, instead of criticising the BJP-Sena alliance. Opposition leader in the council Dhananjay Munde (Nationalist Congress Party) took on the BJP over the Central governments income support scheme, called Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi or PM-KISAN, as an insult to farmers. The Centres scheme of giving 6,000 per year, which comes to just 3.25 per person for a family of five, is an insult to the farmers, Munde said. Munde took on the Sena and said that the party pushes for Dhangar reservation only before elections. In 2014, before the elections, they wrote a letter demanding reservation for Dhangar. Recently, they met the CM over the issue. Now, we think that they will remember the issue in 2024, Munde said. Vikhe-Patil also said he will file a public interest litigation (PIL) against the new development plan for Mumbai, alleging that it favours the builders lobby. Asked if he would withdraw the PIL later, he said he was not Uddhav Thackeray to make a U-turn, in an apparent dig at the Shiv Sena president who has revived the alliance with the BJP after publicly saying his party would not. Vikhe Patil reiterated the allegation that the BJP used Enforcement Directorates powers to force the Sena to form alliance. We discussed and announced our alliance. They are still in discussion for two months now. They should get their house in order. Our house is fine. For the ruling party, ED means efficient development. They (the opposition) should fear the ED, they have done such deeds, Fadnavis later responded. Its one of the highlights of every award function, but do we really know about the origins of the red carpet? Another question which arises is its changing colour. In certain instances, its colour changes to green or orange or another colour according to the event. For instance, for events which are to do with environmental issues, there is a green carpet or in the case of the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, an orange carpet is rolled out according to the channels primary colour. During the Video Music Awards, MTV uses a blue carpet. But when it comes to the origins of the red carpet, most dont know about its peculiar history, unlike the glamorous present it is associated with. History behind the carpet According to Greek playwright Aeschylus, the first written mention of a red carpet dates back to 458 BC. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae (in Greece) had gone to fight in the Trojan Wars. In the meantime, both he and his wife, Clytemnestra, found new lovers. Agamemnon brought home with him Cassandra, his new love. Clytemnestra, extremely unhappy with the situation, had said, Let all the ground be red / Where those feet pass; and Justice, dark of yore, / Home light him to the hearth he looks not for. This is where the concept of the red carpet being the ultimate stage began. According to differing versions, Clytemnestra either murders Clytemnestra or he is killed by her lover. According to Amy Henderson, historian emeritus at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, who spoke to CNN, the red carpet was next associated with the railroads, when in 1902, New York used crimson carpets in order to direct people who were boarding trains. This was mostly done for those who held a first class ticket. The red carpet in Hollywood The first time Hollywood used the red carpet was by theater tycoon Sid Grauman. It was on October 18, 1922 during the premiere of the movie, Robin Hood, a movie which at that time had cost a whopping $1 million. After that, the red carpet started to become a common occurrence at premieres. However, it was finally in 1961 when Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to add a red carpet as part of its television viewing spectacle. In current times, events such as the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Grammy Awards and Met Gala all roll out the red carpet, and it is no longer only for film stars. The worlds longest red carpet ever measured 6,358.60 meters and was used in the streets Almeria, Spain and was included in The Guinness Book of Records. Generally, the phrase red carpet treatment or rolling out the red carpet is used to denote special efforts made when offering hospitality to someone. And if you want to witness the red carpet at the Oscars this time, make sure you tune in on February 25 and witness the glamour in all its glory! Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter The brawl inside the Jaipur central jail, in which 45-year-old Pakistani prisoner Shakir was killed, could have been averted if the jail authorities had taken precaution and followed the jail manual. In the inquiry conducted so far, three shortcomings by the jail administration have surfaced, said an official who requested anonymity. According to the inquiry, it has been found that Ajeet Jat, Manoj Pratap Singh, Kulwinder Gurjar and Bhajan Meena, the accused in the case, had entered the cell number 10 of ward number 58, which is also called TV cell, between 11.30am and noon on the day of the incident. As per the jail manual, every inmate should be inside their cells before 11am. It is duty of the warden and other supervisory officers to ensure that every cell should be locked on time and re-opened at 3pm. But here the question is how they entered the cell between 11.30am and noon? It means the jail staff didnt adhere to the rules of jail, the official said. A ward is also called cell-block. Ward number 58, where the incident took place, is a high-security ward where hardcore criminals are kept. It has around 65 cells. As per the jail schedule, the jail is opened around 7am for four hours, which means an inmate comes out of his or her ward. In these four hours, they take bath, have breakfast, interact with other people, buy something from canteen and do other works. At 11am, the jail gets closed, which means the inmates go to their wards, and again it is reopened at 3pm. The second shortcoming which has come to the fore is that nine hardcore criminals had gathered inside the TV cell. The general instruction passed to jail staff is that not more than four inmates should assemble in a cell or a cell block, said Radhakant Saxena, former inspector general, Jaipur jail. But here nine hardcore criminals were sitting inside the TV cell of high-security ward. According to the FIR, around 1.25 pm on February 20 warden Ramswaroop heard a loud voice of someone shouting from the cell number 10 where nine inmates Shakir Ullah alias Mohammad Hanif, Ajeet, Manoj Pratap Singh, Bhajan Meena, Kulwinder Singh alias Kullu, Hazi Khan, Mahesh Lota, Nandlal and Mallaki were watching TV. Few minutes later warden Ramswaroop reached the door of the cell where four inmates Hazi Khan, Mahesh, Mallaki and Nandlal told him that Ajeet, Manoj Pratap Singh, Kulwinder Gurjar and Bhajan Meena had a brawl with Shakir Ullah while they were watching a television channel. Ullah was hit by a marble slab after which he fell unconscious and died within minutes. Another point of negligence from the jail staff was that they didnt remove the marble stone slab using which Shakir Ullah was killed. Commissioner of city police Anand Srivastava said, The marble slab was kept on a raised platform made up of bricks where earlier an old model TV was placed. But recently, the old model was removed and a wall-mounted TV was placed inside the cell. When reached for comments on these revelations, IG (prisons) Rupinder Singh said, The investigation is on. We have received some input and we are trying to ascertain them. Singh is conducting the inquiry into the matter. Ajeet, a resident of Jaipur, is serving a life term for raping a Japanese tourist in 2015. Gujjar, a resident of Jaipur, is charged with murder. Singh, who hails from Maharajpur district of Uttar Pradesh, is on death row for the 2013 rape-and-murder of a child. Meena, a resident of Karauli in Rajasthan, is also on death row for murder, and is facing trial in three other counts of murder. All of them were booked under section 34 (act done by several persons) and 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code. The deceased Ullah, also known as Mohammad Hanif, hailed from Sialkot in Pakistan and was arrested by Jaipur anti-terror squad (ATS) from a jail in Ferozpur. ATS intercepted his phone calls to some locals in Jhalawar in south-east Rajasthan while coordinating LeT terror activities in the region, an officer of the ATS said, requesting anonymity. On December 6, 2017, he was found guilty of recruiting for LeT, sending the recruits for training to Pakistan and arranging funds for terror activities. Seven other persons were also convicted with him. Two of those convicted, Asgar Ali and Mohammad Iqbal, are Pakistani nationals and lodged at Jaipurs Central Jail. The other convicted in the case are all Indians. There were six Pakistanis in the jail, including Ullah, said prison officials. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday questioned the BJP and Centres intentions over granting statehood to Delhi. Kejriwal, who plans to sit on an indefinite fast from March 1, accused the BJP of playing with the emotions of Delhiites. The Delhi CM tweeted that in 2003 then home minister LK Advani had introduced Delhi statehood Bill in Lok Sabha but it lapsed even though it was endorsed by a parliamentary panel headed by Pranab Mukherjee. He said that injustice wont be tolerated anymore. BJPs opposition to statehood for Delhi now is its confession that Modi ji lied to the people of Delhi in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. People of Delhi will respond to lies & decades of deceit appropriately now, Kejriwal tweeted. Arvind Kejriwal said his government tried all meansmade requests, protested, went to court and had decided to go an indefinite fast as a last resort. On Saturday, the Delhi Assembly also adopted a resolution demanding that the Union home ministry take steps to declare Delhi a full-fledged state without any further delay. From 1 March we will launch the movement to make Delhi a full state Even if we die in this movement, we will gladly do so but this fight will continue and Delhi will get full statehood, Arvind Kejriwal said. Earlier this week, Kejriwal had stepped up his campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and promised full statehood for Delhi in two years if his party won all seven seats. Ten years from the day Delhi is given the status of full statehood, I will give every Delhiite a concrete house to live in. This time do not vote to elect the Prime Minister. Vote to get full statehood for Delhi, he had said. The Delhi chief minister had also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Delhi full statehood. Reacting to the Prime Ministers tweet on Arunachal Pradeshs statehood day, Kejriwal had tweeted, Sir. Delhi is also waiting for its statehood day. U had promised to the people of Delhi that you wud grant full statehood to Delhi. Kindly do it sir. People of Delhi have faced injustice for 70 years now. Arvind Kejriwal has accused both the Congress and the BJP of back-stabbing Delhi over the statehood issue. He claimed that full statehood will make Delhi a clean city like London and Paris with better law and order and safety for women. Even the Britishers did not commit so much atrocities. Delhi people pay Rs 1.5 lakh crore as Income Tax and received only Rs 325 crore from the Centre. No matter which party was at the Centre, they sucked Delhis blood, the chief minister alleged. AAP leaders said Kejriwal will hold meetings with party MLAs, MPs and office bearers over the weekend to plan the full statehood movement. Hyderabad-based Karachi Bakery on Saturday clarified it is an Indian company and urged all to refrain from any misconceptions. The clarification came after protest at one of its outlets in Bengaluru, demanding the change of name for its connection with Pakistan. A group of people also raised slogans against Pakistan for its involvement in February 14 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed lives of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers. The protest forced the shop at Indiranagar to cover the name Karachi on its signboard and put up an Indian flag. Karachi Bakery, famous for Osmania and fruit biscuits, was set up in Hyderabad in 1953 by Khanchand Ramnani, who migrated to India from Pakistan province Sindh during the partition. The essence of Karachi Bakery is absolutely Indian by heart and will remain so. We request everybody to refrain from any kind of misconceptions, the company said in a statement posted on Facebook. The incident in Bengaluru was due to some misunderstanding. We have convinced all that this is an Indian company that has nothing to do with Pakistan, Girish Varindhani, Manager (Operations), Karachi Bakery, told IANS. He said there was no problem at any other outlet in any other city as most people know who founded Karachi Bakery. Karachi Bakery, first set up at Moazzam Jahi Market in the heart of Hyderabad, has expanded operations in recent years by opening over 15 stores in various parts of the city and its twin city Secunderabad. Taking its brand beyond Hyderabad, it also opened stores in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and other cities. A national sensation since the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration earlier this month has affirmed the Forbidden City's status as one of the public's favorite landmarks and is an indicator of China's consumption upgrade. A rare New Year exhibition and a Lantern Festival light show in the former royal palace in central Beijing have created a social media frenzy over the surprising popularity of the limited tickets in the otherwise freezing off-season. All tickets to the Forbidden City, which allows 80,000 visitors per day, during the week-long Spring Festival holiday were sold out before the holiday season began. The online ticket booking system suffered from temporary crashes as people rushed to grab the 3,000 free tickets for each of the Lantern Festival night tours on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was the first time the Forbidden City, now also known as the Palace Museum, was open to the public for free at night in the museum's 94-year history. Shan Jixiang, the curator of the Palace Museum, said the museum is considering similar cultural activities during other traditional Chinese festivals, such as the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival. Social media landmark Against the backdrop of the Forbidden City's roughly 600-year-old walls, one after another of ancient China's most renowned paintings unrolled before a rapt audience as a part of the Lantern Festival light show. The Palace Museum was packed with visitors for the two-day event, with even more people watching the live broadcast on Sina Weibo, a popular social media platform in China. The museum's journey toward a social media landmark began in 2013 when it rebranded its online store to market creative cultural products with a particularly down-to-earth approach. Popular items include royal beads-shaped headphones, smartphone cases bearing royal calligraphy and the latest lip-gloss that made customers "feel regal." Another factor that adds to the museum's hype is the 2016 documentary series "Masters in the Forbidden City." The three-part series about cultural relic restorers at the museum got more than 4.3 million views on the streaming site Bilibili. The documentary has inspired around 40,000 young people to apply for the job this year, according to Shan. Traditions revived Analysts believe the museum's going viral proved a successful traditional culture-oriented development model. "The knack is to take the cream of Chinese traditional culture and express it in a younger generation-friendly tone," said Chen Shaofeng, vice dean of the Institute for Cultural Industries at Peking University. Since 2016, the museum has cooperated with several internet giants, such as Alibaba, Tencent and NetEase Games, in areas of ticketing, creative cultural products, publications and games. "To be creative means that we should closely study and cater to people's needs," said Shan. According to data from the museum, 40 percent of the customers for its creative cultural products are under 30 years old. To further endear itself to the masses, the museum launched an app, The Palace Museum, for users to accrue piecemeal information about its antiques on a daily basis. Token of consumption upgrade "The Palace Museum phenomena showcased China's consumption upgrade," said Wei Pengju, a culture and communications professor at Central University of Finance and Economics. "Culture-related expenditures are on the rise and becoming more diversified and so is involvement in hands-on cultural experiences," he noted. The museum has developed more than 10,000 kinds of cultural and creative products, raking in 1.5 billion yuan (223 million U.S. dollars) in sales revenue in 2017, the museum's figures show. The museum's success is shored up by the prospect of China's cultural and related industries, whose added value totaled about 3.5 trillion yuan in 2017, accounting for 4.2 percent of the GDP. Shan said that revenue from creative cultural products has funded more than 60,000 non-profit cultural and educational activities last year in China and countries like Malta, Singapore, Thailand and Australia. "Our mission is more about increasing the influence of the Palace Museum and promoting traditional Chinese culture," he said. Action by Diocese Church of Toronto to suspend sales of AGBU community center Action by the Diocese Church of Toronto to suspend sales of AGBU community center Open letter to His Grace Bishop Abgar Hovakimian: "Dear Bishop, My understanding is that the Holy Trinity Churchs option to buy the Center (AGBU Cultural Centre on 930 Progress Ave), who deed is owned by AGBU Armen Ontario will expire on Jan. 29, 2019. The churchs challenge is to match the price which has been advertised as CAD$8.5Miilion. Firstly I like to thank you for certain level of transparency that the church has demonstrated, there are some serious reservations that I would like to share with you on the record. Below is my understanding of some of the relevant and material facts. I have collected them either from your announcements, website or the two meetings that were made public to the community in Toronto. First one in the church Nov 11, 18; and second in the hall below Dec. 16, 18. I had publicly announced in the church that through my smartphone, I will record the conversations; and as such considerable sections of the meetings were actually recorded. In the meantime, your committee seems did not take any minutes of meeting. There doesnt seem to appear any investor from Toronto, Ontario to buy the Centre by Jan. 29,19; that was the message that Fr. Zareh conveyed to the attendants in the 2nd meeting, as well as you confirmed to me Last Tuesday. Although you mentioned that you are making efforts that the Armenia Church will bring in a foreign investor to buy the Centre. I presume again that the deadline is Jan 29, 2019. The 140 or so parking spots that belong to the Centre (and used to be shared by the church) will be sold to the Centennial college. The church will have access to those spots. However once the sales is consumed, the church goers will compete with thousands of the Centennial students that will use the same. The committee informed us that the Centennial delegation visited the church, to discuss potential purchase. The estimated offer would have been less than 3 million when size of he property is compared with the centre. Mr. Boyajian estimated that replacement cost of the church would be CAD$15M. In other words, while AGBU was selling for $8.5Million, it was crippling the 15M dollars worth church into 3-4Million. A loss of for the church and community of over CAD$10M. In response to one of the questions by attendants in the 2nd meeting, Mr. Stepanian confided that he believed that AGBU had run deficits in as far as he was aware. The rest of the members of the committee did not disagree with him. Attached you will find three schedules taken from CRA website that shows year endings from 2015 to 2017, both AGBU and Armen Ontario had surplus. Furthermore when our community was facing challenges due to Armenian refugees pouring from Syria, AGBU and AGBU Armen Ontario were transferring funds to AGBU New York estimated at $160,000 in 2016. Attached you will find some calculations, I advise that your members do their own calculations. A certain Mr. Jirair acknowledged by the committee ( I just have his name from the recordings), mentioned that about $4Million was raised from the community about 35-40 years ago, and that Mr. Alex Manoogian contributed only by $1M. His testimony together with a lots like him, may be crucial in the next action plan that I will suggest. The church is in unique position to access these testimonials, since hundreds if not 2,000 members all donated smaller amounts for the acquisition of the properties both Center as well as the church. I consider myself admirer of the former Bishop Bagrat whom I feel was unfairly and undersuspicious circumstances was ousted to Armenia. My phone call with you a month ago, instilled me confidence of your integrity and courage. The announcement that the church put out in the wake of the AGBU sales is one evidence. While you owe your allegiance to His Holiness Karekin II, however, your fiduciary duties as member of Board of Directors of the Canadian Armenian Diocese Church is to the best interest of the Charitable Not for Profit organization. With all due respect, the Catholicosse is Honorary member of AGBU which constitutes in this case, conflict of interest. His Holiness may engage in horse trading negotiations with Mr. Berge Setrakian (President of AGBU Central Board of Directors,) for the alleged best interest of Armenians worldwide, however all the parishonersand diocese members own their allegiance to the Toronto Armenian community. ACTION PLAN: questioning the legitimacy of the decision of the sales by the current Directors of Armen Ontario who have been appointed by the Central Board of Directors. AGBU AO has not disclosed Governance documents nor has AGBU responded to two members who have asked to see the bylaws. So far they have not received. The committee also told us that Centennials intention is to convert the Centre into Students Recreational center; that may imply that students may attend the centre on Sundays also. This may seriously demotivate church goers, especially in the winter knowing that parking spots may be harder to find. Currently the church is facing financial challenges, and is finding difficulty to break even. All the above will further impact its financials. Revenues from renting out the hall on Saturday nights will be less attractive.I presume it is the church or the Parish who preselected the four members of the committee who are all qualified bankers, or principals of commercial real estate properties. The exception could be Mrs. Imasdounian who is a real estate agent. When they agreed to join the committee they had a duty to do their best effort to seek the best interest of the church. Also one of their key mandates was to find a solution or investors which meant that they had to do due diligence. During the 2meeting it became obvious that neither the committee nor some of the financial analyst (at least one of them whom I confronted during the meeting) had the basic information or data. Since the Center on 930 Progress had two tenants whose rent would not expire until another year, the committee members should have at least enquired on the amounts of those contracts whether the Stanford International college, or the Catering company who revenues had become a controversy. While Mr. Boyajian argued that investors were interested in the future potential of the property, however he forgot that the current tenants were staying at the Centre, and their revenues from their contracts were relevant.I think it will be helpful to the media both in Armenia, and Canada that church directors did pursue the best interest of the community.I suggest that the committeee contact churchs lawyers with Denton Law Firm ( Mr. Boyajian identified them in the 2meeting), and explore expeditiously with the judge an injuction on the sales of the 930 Progress Ave. It is Section 10 of the Charitable Accounting Act. Any two persons can start it. I am willing to contribute $15,000 of the legal fees, provided it is applied to this section. Also Section 6 of the same Act. I expect that some of the financially well off people in the committee contribute also. The primary premise is breach of trust, andSince the churchs first meeting, I had planned to lead this legal process through a Not for Profit that I created named Armenian Diaspora Watch. The strategy was to distribute letters to the community to tap Public Guardian, while at the same time asking the Superior Court Judge an injunction; However the law firm that I hired as of Nov 8, who are leaders in Charitable category, ran down the clock to abandon me on Jan 9. 19.I have started process to complain to the Law Society.Two more downtown law firms acted similarly suspicious. Furthermore, I received a letter from AGBU Armen Ontario To cease and desist otherwise they will go after me for damages. I will not be deterred by the letter, but I want to weigh my options after obtaining legal counsel. It is shameful that a Charitable organization is bullying members who exercise their constitutional right as a Canadian citizen. May God help Armenia, and its population. If the church adopts these legal measures, they should not face the same obstacles that I did. For one thing, they have moral resources that individuals dont, and they are more directly affected (after all in 1978, both the church was moved from Yonge St.; and AGBU real estate was on Hwy 7 & Bathhurst with the intention to share parking spots and feed off each other). As I may run out of options, I put this email together at a relatively late stage. But it is never too late, that is the idea of the inunction. I havent given up yet. I had asked the Der Zareh, on New Year to contact me, so far I havent heard from him. I will be available for sharing information or any support you need. You may call me at 416 731 2633. Please contact me if you are interested to follow up with the legal opinion from one of the larger law firms specialized in Charitable organizations. It must be dealt with discretion. Best Regards, Sarkis Yacoubian Armenian Diaspora Watch Cc: Mrs. Rose Imasdounian Mr. Ara Boyajian Mr. Jack Stepanian Mr. Ohan Ohanessian. The years Kumbh gave out the message of cleanliness: PM Modi This years Kumbh wasnt confined to a religious gathering but also gave out the social message of cleanliness: PM Modi PM Modi praise work of police force PM Modi praised the police for their constant efforts. He said the police force helped people who got lost in Kumbh get in touch with their family at remarkable speed. Whatever I have gotten as PM in these past few years, Ive contributed to Maa Gange: PM Modi Ive never seen a more cleaner Ganga previously and it has been because of Namami Gange project. The amount collected after auctioning the presents that I received in the past 4.5 years as the Prime Minister are being used in the service of Maa Ganga: PM Modi Ive contributed the amount of Seoul Peace Prize of around Rs 1.3 crore to Namami Gange mission: PM Modi Swachh Kumbh is coinciding with Mahatma Gandhis birth anniversary: PM Modi Swachh Kumbh is taking place at a time when we were celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi: PM Modi The country is moving towards declaring itself open-defecation free before October 2 this year. I believe that you swacchagrahi of Prayagraj have come forward as an inspiration for the entire nation: PM Modi The moment of washing their feet will stay with me forever: PM Modi The moment of washing the sanitation workers feet will stay with me forever: PM Modi Big responsibility to keep clean a gathering area of 20-22 crore: PM Modi It was a big responsibility to keep clean an area where 20-22 crore people had gathered. You have proved there is nothing impossible in the world. The sanitation workers kept doing their work without any recognition and praise: Modi PM Modi addressing Swachh Kumbh, Swachh Aabhaar Addressing the Swachh Kumbh, Swachh Aabhaar programme in Prayagraj. PM Modi meets sanitation workers After offering prayers at sangam, PM Modi met sanitation workers. PM Modi takes holy dip in Sangam PM Modi took holy dip in sangam and performed Ganga pujan. PM performs dughdabhishek by pouring milk in sangam water and also performed Ganga Aarti. PM Modi offers prayers PM Modi along with Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath in Prayagraj. PM Modi arrives in Prayagraj Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the Kumbh venue in Prayagraj. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath received him. Rs 1,60,000 loan using kisan credit card: PM Modi Earlier farmers could only take a loan of Rs one lakh without guarantee using the kisan credit card, they can now take a loan of Rs. 1,60,000 using the card. 17 lakh solar pumps will be provided for the help of farmers. They will not have to spend extra on irrigation, he added. Cant commit the crime of distributing rewri: PM Modi For us also loan waivers would have been easy and convenient, we also could have distributed rewri for political and election benefits, but we cant commit such a crime. Loan waiver benefits only a select few, said PM Narendra Modi. Congress remembers farmers only when polls are near: PM Modi Congress along with other parties in Opposition alliance remember the farmers of the country on when polls are near, said PM Modi. Why make farmers bear brunt of politics: PM Modi You might belong to Opposition, but why involve farmers in politics, why harm them, they belong to the country, said PM Narendra Modi alleging that Opposition parties in other states are deceiving farmers by spreading rumours. PM-KISAN only translates to Rs 17 per day for a farmer: Mayawati Minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the cash transfer scheme, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) boss Mayawati slammed it as an insult to farmers. She said the PM-KISAN only translated to Rs 17 per day for a farmer which is a pittance. Giving @ Rs 17 per day to few farmers just before Lok Sabha elections is pure hoodwinking. BJP reflects poor in their thinking towards farmers and solving their misery. BJP misused govt power & machinery in a brazen manner and still not hesitating. Mayawati (@Mayawati) February 24, 2019 First installment transferred to 1 crore and 1 lakh farmers: PM Modi The first installment has been transferred in the bank accounts of one crore and one lakh farmers. Money will also be transferred to more farmers in a course of few weeks, said PM Modi. Earlier govts made schemes for farmers only on paper: PM Modi Earlier governments made schemes for farmers only on paper, they never implemented any such scheme. However, our NDA government is commited to to provide the farmers with all the facilities so that by 2020 his income doubles, said PM Narendra Modi at launch of PM-KISAN. Jai jawan, jai kisan, chants PM Modi PM Narendra Modi today chanted Jai jawan, jai kisan, after launching KISAN income scheme from Uttar Pradeshs Gorakhpur. PM Modi interacts with farmers via video conferencing PM Narendra Modi today rolled out Rs 75,000 crore KISAN income scheme for farmers from Gorakhpur. He then began interacting with farmers via video conferencing. PM Modi launches Rs 75,000 crore farmer income scheme in Gorakhpur Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday launched Rs 75,000 crore farmer income scheme from Uttar pradeshs Gorakhpur. Proud of PM for receiving Seoul Peace Prize: CM Yogi Adityanath We welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Uttar Pradesh. We are proud of the PM for having been honoured with Seoul Peace Prize, said UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. PM-KISAN scheme, a big gift to farmers: Union agriculture minister Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana will be big gift to farmers by PM. While rival parties are working for the upliftment of their families, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that welfare and dignity of the farmers will be his top priority. In his five-year tenure he has launched several schemes, said Union agriculture minister, Radha Mohan Singh. PM-KISAN ensures supplemental income Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) would not only provide assured supplemental income to the most vulnerable farmer families, but would also meet their emergent needs especially before the harvest season. PM-KISAN would pave the way for the farmers to earn and live a respectable living, the agriculture ministry has said. Over 12 crore farmers to be benefitted Over 12 crore farmers holding up to two hectares of land are expected to benefit from the scheme which is being rolled out at a cost of Rs 75,000 crore annually. About one crore farmers are set to be given the first instalment of Rs 2,000 on Sunday. The money will be directly transferred into the accounts of beneficiaries. PM Modi arrives in Gorakhpur PM Narendra Modi today arrive in Uttar Pradeshs Gorakhpur to launch his governments flagship scheme for farmers, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN). Prime Minister Narendra Modi today donated $ 2,00,000 prize amount received as part of Seoul Peace Prize to Namami Gange Fund run by the Centre to clean the Ganga. PM Modi had announced his decison to contribute Rs 1.4 crore award money to the environment ministry-run fund in his speech at the award ceremony. He had also spoken of the effort to clean river Ganga, which is not just the economic lifeline of millions of people but is also held sacred by us. An official said the PM made the contribution before heading to Uttar Pradeshs Prayagraj today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred the Seoul Peace Prize on Friday. He dedicated the prize to the people of India. News agency IANS reported that expressing his gratitude after receiving the prize, Modi said, I believe that this award belongs not to me but to the people of India. It belongs to the success India has achieved in the less than five years powered by the strengths and skills of 1.3 billion Indians and on their behalf, I humbly accept the award and express my gratitude. He added that the award was a recognition of the philosophy that gave the world the message of Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam (the world is a family). A Hindu parliamentarian from Pakistan, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, on Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and junior external affairs minister VK Singh on the sidelines of an event, according to people familiar with the developments. Vankwani is a member of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and, while the details of his meetings are not known, he told news agencies at the event that he will help mediate between the governments of both countries to defuse tension in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack. If you have any apprehension, tell me about it. I will share it with my government. I will also speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj in this regard, news agency PTI quoted him as saying at an event organised in New Delhi in connection with the Kumbh Mela. Vankwani is the founder of Pakistan Hindu Council and was earlier in former prime minister Nawaz Sharifs PML-N. At the event in Delhi, Vankwani said he shared a spiritual connection with India and visited the country twice every year, even if he was not on a government-sponsored trip. Pakistani authorities have appointed two administrators to supervise a seminary and a mosque believed to be the headquarters of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the terror outfit which claimed responsibility for the Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. The Punjab government appointed the administrators two days after it announced taking over the control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, over 400-km from Lahore. The seminary and mosque are believed to be the headquarters of JeM outfit. The Punjab government has appointed Mohammad Ali, district Auqaf administrator and Ghulam Abbas, regional Auqaf administrator to supervise the administrative affairs of Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah and Madrassatul Sabir, Bahawalpur, respectively, said a senior official of the Punjab government. Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah is located in the densly populated industrial area in Model Town-B of Bahawalpur while Madrassatul Sabir is situated on Bahawalpur-Ahmed East highway on the outskirts of the city. Earlier in a complete U-turn, the Pakistan government dismissed its own claim of taking over the control of JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur and said the complex had no link with the JeM. In a video message on social media, Pakistans Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the Punjab government took administrative control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur in line with the decisions taken during the National Security Council meeting held on Thursday and as part of the National Action Plan. Rejecting his earlier announcement that the complex was JeM headquarters, Chaudhry said, This is a madrasa and India is doing propaganda that it is the JeM headquarters. In an interview with Hindustan Times Kumar Uttam, Ravi Shankar Prasad, the minister for law, and electronics and Information Technology speaks of his ministries work over the past 58 months a period during which the electronics and IT ministry has overseen growth in electronics manufacturing, and the law ministry dealt with a turbulent period as far as judicial appointments (and the methodology for the same) are concerned. What have you been able to achieve as the Electronics and IT minister in the last five years? The foundation of Digital India was laid by the Prime Minister during the campaign of 2014 when he said IT (Indias talent) plus IT (information technology) is equal to IT (India tomorrow). Digital India is to bridge the digital divide. It is more for the poor and designed to bring digital inclusion; and is based upon a low cost technology. Indias population is 1.3 billion. There are 1.23 billion Aadhaar numbers, 1 billion phones, nearly 500 million smart phones. The mobile internet is one of the fastest in India. We opened 340 million bank accounts for poor people through Jan Dhan. We spoke of JAM Jandhan, Aadhaar, Mobile trinity. Then we started sending direct benefit transfer to poor from MNREGS payment to ration to other subsidies. Rs 6.24 lakh crore have been transferred to bank account of poor in last four years and eight months. We have saved Rs 1.10 lakh crore, which used to be pocketed by middle men and fictitious claimants. Then there is digital delivery of services. People come to AIIMS in New Delhi for treatment and used to struggle for appointment. Today, you can get an appointment for AIIMS digitally from any part of India. 321 government hospitals are there as e-hospitals. E-scholarships, again linked with Aadhar, have been given to 18.44 million beneficiaries and the total value is Rs 2009 crore. There is Jeevan Praman for pensioners, who are settled abroad or in places other than from where their retired, to prove digitally that they are alive. Nearly 10 million pensioners are using it. E-visa is extended to 161 countries. More than 220 million farmers are using soil health cards. 585 markets are linked with e-NAM. We have UMANG app where 1,200 government services are available. About 400 have already been loaded. What proportion of government services have been digitised over the last four years? BHIM UPI is a low cost technology. The number of transaction was just 4,000 per day in November 2016 and it rose to 20 million in December 2018. The value of transaction was 5000 crore in September 2017 and it was 1 lakh crore in December 2018. There are common service centres, or digital kiosks delivering service. They were 84,000 when we came to power. Now there are 3.20 lakh CSC; and 2.15 lakh of them are in gram panchayats. 1.2 million boys and girls work there, delivering services such as banking, insurance and railway ticketing. We had to make 60 million people digitally literate, 20 million of this have become. We opened BPOs (business process outsourcing centres) in small towns. I gave a subsidy of 1 lakh per head if you open a BPO in tier 2-3 towns. Nearly 260-plus BPO have started operating today; note the places Kohima, Imphal, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and others. This shows digital appetite of India. Close to 50,000 young boys and girls are employed in these. There has been a controversy about safety of Aadhaar data. How do you respond to it? This is my Aadhaar (shows his card). It contains my photograph, my gender, my name, my permanent address in Patna and my fathers name. Thats all. What it does not contain is my religion, my community, my caste, my income, my education, my medical records and my sexual preferences by which I can be profiled. The system contains my finger prints and my retina scan. 37 million authentication were done through Aadhaar the day before yesterday. The system is federated. The authentication centre doesnt know what any query is for. They just check that this is number of Aadhaar and he is Ravi Shankar Prasad. They just match. It is query based. It is again a low-cost technology developed of India. These are living dynamic examples of Digital India. What have you achieved on the front of electronic manufacturing? India has become a big centre of mobile manufacturing. There were just two mobile factories when we came to power. Now we have 127. If we include the component part, then India has 268 mobile factories. We have become the second-largest mobile manufacturer of the world. There are 94 units of electronic manufacturing in Noida and Greater Noida alone. Samsung is making 10 million mobile phones per months (in India). Has all this helped create jobs? How much jobs have we created? Nearly 1.2 million people work in CSCs, 5 lakh-plus in mobile-electronic manufacturing; and nearly 50,000 plus in rural BPOs. IT is offering about 4 million direct jobs and one-third of it is for women. I am keen to push Indias digital economy to a 1 trillion dollar economy. 500 billion dollar is our aim by 2025; that and 6.5 million jobs. We have also come up with an electronics policy that will help us make India a hub of electronic manufacturing close to $400 billion plus about 10 million jobs. Are you satisfied with what you have achieved? I am not fully satisfied, but I can claim some modest satisfaction with the transformation I have been able to do. Will you share some credit with the previous UPA government, which started some of these projects? There were 2 mobile factories then, only 80,000 CSCs and not a single such BPO. After all, when they (Congress) have been in power, I cannot say straight away that no scheme was thought of (during their term). But take just one example of national optical fiber network, which was a scheme of the Manmohan Singh government. How many km between 2011 and 20114? Just 352 km. How much we have done? 2 lakh kms in close to four years and five months and 1.22 lakh panchayats have been connected. We were brought to power to expedite things, to deliver and work honestly. That is what we are doing. What have you been able to achieve as law minister? Nearly 20,000 courts are digitized. We have got very big national judicial data grid, which has about 100 million cases decided and pending. At a click of the mouse, we can know which case is pending where. 1400 old laws have been scrapped and access to justice has been improved. There has been a lot of controversy about judicial appointments. How do you respond to them? Highest number of judges has been appointed in the last four years. And dont forget one thing; one year went by in the fight on national judicial commission. 126 high court judges were appointed in 2016, which is the highest in last 30 years. It was close to 118 in the next year. Last year it was 110-115. We have already done about 15-appointments this year. What is the status of the Memorandum of Procedures? There is a substantial agreement already. Some issues keep on coming, such as screening of lawyers for appointment. I can only tell you that it is a work in progress. Where they have taken a view, we have certain reservation. We keep on discussing it. Regardless of MoP part, we never held up the appointment process. Will you push for the early release of the land in the Ram temple case? I do not wish to make a comment. The date (for the hearing in the Supreme Court) has been fixed for February26th. I only hope and wish that hearing will be expedited. I would earnestly urge for an expeditious hearing. The suit is 70 years old. Lets not forget it. There has been this debate about court cases delaying development work. Do you see any merit in this argument? Separation of power is also a basic structure. The law of the land is binding on all of us, including the judiciary. Governance is a complicated business. Lots of pros and cons and feedback has to be taken, and there has to be accountability. I know all the judges dont do, but if some judges have a feeling that we will also take govenance upon ourselves, then I would gently like to tell them, under the Indian Constitution, governance and accountability go hand in hand. You cant govern and not be accountable. Accountability is to the mechanism of parliament and ultimately to people of India. I always support PIL in cases of corruption. PIL should be really for the needy and the underprivileged, but the present habit of headline observations and PIL filing is something to be considered. Let us move to politics. Will you contest the Lok Sabha election from Patna? It has to be decided by the party. Why should I even comment on something, which is not in my jurisdiction? I am a party worker, I remain like that. Why is there a delay in dentifying the seats that Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan will get in alliance with the BJP? That work is on. Allow us to handle politics in our own way. You first say apka alliance hoga ki nahi hoga (whether your alliance will happen)? When it happens, you ask seat banta ki nahi banta (have you distributed seats)? When we have distributed that, you ask kaun si seat ladenge (which are the seats you will fight)? Have some patience. We will handle it. The BJP got a majority in 2014. Do you think BJP can return to power with full majority in 2019? 100%. India of 2019 is not the India of 90s. Indian voter is mature and knows whom to vote for in parliamentary, assembly and municipal elections. Because of Narendra Modi, his leadership, his persona, his gravitas, his performance and the BJP and the NDA; people loathe the idea of having four to 11-month prime ministers. Modi could do so much, because he is a leader with authority. The authority flowed from the majority he commands. Who is the leader of the maha-milawat on the other side? The BJP lost three states to the Congress. Will the opposition alliance be a challenge for the BJP? We had more votes than the Congress in Madhya Pradesh. In spite of the convention politics of Mohan Bagan and East Bengal in Rajasthan (a reference to electors preference to vote out an incumbent government), we gave a good fight. I am willing to acknowledge that we were defeated in Chhattisgarh. But you take all three states and the surveys; people also said they will vote for Modi as PM. In case of UP, though there is an agreement, how far it will relate on the ground is a debatable question. They (the opposition) are leader-less and program-less. Their only common agenda - Modi hatao (remove Modi). Do you see any sign of revival for the Congress? I can not comment on that. Yes they have won three states, but will they will be an effective player in the Lok Sabha? I dont think so. You must understand that Congress will have to bring back their basic support base in India, which has been washed away. Congress is a fringe player in Bihar, minor player in UP and Maharashtra and finished in Bengal. Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas Athawale, a Union minister and an ally of the National Democratic Alliance, has said if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not offer his party a seat from Uttar Pradesh and Assam for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a message could go out that it does not walk the talk on Dalit empowerment. Athawales party was not offered a seat from Maharashtra, where the BJP and the Shiv Sena stitched up an alliance last week. There is anger against the party among some Dalit sections; if they do not give a chance to my party it will cement the perception that the party only used us before elections, Athawale said. Modiji [PM Narendra Modi] has worked very hard and we would like to support him and ensure he gets a second term. But, the BJP must recognise the support RPI has drummed up for it, he added. Athawale said he has spoken to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to consider giving RPI at least three seats in the politically crucial state that sends 80 MPs to Parliament, and to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal for fielding an RPI candidate from Barpeta, which is represented in the Lok Sabha by Sirajuddin Ajmal. There is a large Dalit population in the state [UP] and my party stands a good chance to counter the combined force of the Mahagathbandhan [an alliance between the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party], In Barpeta the BJP has no chance of winning against Ajmal; but RPI has some support, he said. In 2011, RPI announced it will join the NDA. The party does not have an election symbol and its presence is largely confined to Maharashtra, where Dalit population is 11% but the partys vote share is less than 1% . On whether he has sought a meeting with the BJP functionaries to sort out seat-sharing issues, Athawale said he has spoken to Maharashtra CM Devender Fadnavis. I played a key role in getting the BJP and Sena to overcome their differences and contest together. I feel there should be no ghamand [ego] among allies. I hope the party will reconsider and prevail upon the Sena to give RPI the seat we are asking for, he said. A BJP functionary, who asked not to be named, said the party will not comment on Athawale s statement, but concerns of all allies will be dealt with within the party forum. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at the Opposition for remembering farmers just before elections as he launched the Rs 75,000 crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) cash transfer scheme for small and marginal cultivators. The scheme was announced in the interim budget on February 1 ahead of national polls due this summer. Rs 6,000 would annually be transferred in three instalments into bank accounts of farmers with less than two-hectare land holdings. Modi contrasted the scheme with farm loan waivers. He said the waivers, unlike the scheme, benefit a select few as he initiated the electronic transfer of the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each into the bank accounts of 10.1 million farmers under PM-KISAN. Modi said the earlier farm loan waiver schemes only benefitted Congress workers and added the PM Kishan scheme will benefit all farmers. Loan waivers would have been easy and convenient for us too. We could also have distributed lollypops for political and election benefits, but we cannot commit such a sin. Loan waiver benefits only a select few, said Modi in UPs Gorakhpur. Farm loan waiver was among the Congresss key promises as it wrested power from the BJP in December in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, which account for 65 out of 545 Lok Sabha seats. Modi insisted PM Kishan was not just an election promise and warned the farmers against rumours that the money being given under the scheme will be taken back. This is your money and it will not be taken back. Modi said the first instalments under the scheme have been deposited into the bank accounts of farmers directly and those left out will get them soon. There are no middlemen in this scheme and it is being implemented with complete transparency, Modi told a gathering after interacting with a select group of farmers from different states via videoconferencing. Modi, who also launched several other projects worth Rs 10,000 crore in Gorakhpur and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, said his government was working to provide all possible resources to help farmers double their incomes by 2022. The Opposition parties linked the schemes launch to the national polls to oppose it. In a series of tweets, former Union finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram said the BJP government will officially give a bribe of Rs 2,000 per agricultural family to get their votes. Nothing can be more shameful in a democracy than Bribe for Votes. The greater shame is that the Election Commission [EC] is unable to stop the bribe for votes, he said. The EC can stop a scheme only after the model code of conduct comes into forces. The code prevents a government from announcing schemes that may influence voters in the run-up to elections. It comes into force only after a poll schedule is announced. The EC is expected to announce the dates for national elections in the first week of March, according to people aware of the developments. Former UP CM and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav criticised the scheme calling it a poll sop. The farm crisis is a national crisis and needs a national solution, no poll-sop can implement change at this scale we stand with farmers and promise to bring about a #GoldenRevolution for all farmers regardless of caste, creed or religion, he tweeted. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, whose party in contesting the national elections in UP in alliance with SP, attacked Modi for launching the scheme just before polls. She called the scheme an insult to farmers. Mayawati added a farmers family will get Rs 17 daily under the scheme and called the scheme an election year stunt which the people have seen through. On the day much of the Valley remained under a shutdown, Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik asked citizens not to believe in rumours that are creating an atmosphere of fear. In a statement, Malik tried to allay apprehensions over the deployment of troops in the state where tension is building in the wake of the February 14 attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy by a suicide bomber in south Kashmirs Pulwama that killed 40 security personnel. Malik, the administrative head of the state that is under governors rule, added that the induction of para-military forces should be seen in the context of conducting the upcoming elections and the overall security situation. People should not believe in rumours, which are of extreme nature and circulating widely in some quarters. They should remain calm. These rumours are unnecessarily creating an atmosphere of fear in the minds of people, leading to stress and disruption to normal life. Rumours about curfews and other actions should not be believed, the governor said. Malik, who held a meeting of the state administrative council, said some security-related actions were being taken after the Pulwama attack. The statement said security concerns were much higher after the Pulwama incident, with the possibility of terrorist organisations increasing their activities against candidates and voters on a much larger scale. It is in this context that 100 companies of Central Forces are being inducted into the State at the moment. This is less than the actual additional forces required and more would be inducted in the coming weeks, the statement said. Maliks appeal came on the day separatists called a strike against what they termed arbitrary arrests and warned against tampering with the Constitutions Article 35-A, which gives special status to the state. On Friday, Jammu and Kashmir police cracked down hard on separatist groups, especially the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), arresting its local chief Abdul Hamid Fayaz and 150 other activists, as the central government reinforced the strength of paramilitary forces. On Saturday night, the crackdown continued against JeI, while a few office-bearers of another religious organisation, Jamiat Ahli Hadees (JAH), were detained in a raid in south Kashmir. JeI adherent and hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Ghulam Nabi Sumjhi, too, was detained. Muslim Conference president and moderate Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Ghani Bhat was put under house arrest in Srinagar. On Sunday, markets were deserted and shops closed. Traffic movement on Srinagar roads was hit. However, people rushed to shops selling medicines and essentials at several places to stock up items of daily use following apprehensions that the situation in the Valley could deteriorate further. Authorities imposed restrictions in parts of Srinagar to prevent large gatherings. A police official said steps were being taken to maintain peace. The administration said it was rationing essentials as supply of petroleum and other products in the Kashmir Valley was low due to a blockade of the Srinagar-Jammu highway. As a precautionary measure, the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir has rationed petrol and diesel supply, so as to conserve whatever is available for emergency purposes. People of the state should not read anything more into this but see it only as an administrative measure in a shortage situation. On the medicine front also, the instructions to hospitals to increase availability of medicines is also to be seen in the context of shortage of supplies, the governors statement said. The Centre may give cabinet nod for key metro rail projects in Agra and Kanpur before Election Commission of Indias model code of conduct for the assembly polls kicks in, an official aware of the development said. The Uttar Pradesh budget for the financial year 2019-20 has set aside an amount of Rs 1.75 billion for each of the two projects that were first announced by UP state chief minister Yogi Adityanath in December 2017. This is the first metro rail project for both, Agra and Kanpur. The metro currently operates only in Lucknow in the countrys most populous state. A provision of Rs 1.5 billion for preliminary works on Varanasi, Meerut, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj and Jhansi Metro Rail projects was also announced in the state budget. The Public Investment Board (PIB) note for the Kanpur and Agra metro rail is being prepared and will be sent for cabinet approval soon. Projects for Lucknow are also in the pipeline, a senior official at the ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said, requesting anonymity. The development was confirmed by another ministry official. The first phase of the Lucknow metro became operational in September 2017 and was built at an estimated cost of 69.28 billion. In the 2019-20 interim budget, the union government allocated an amount of Rs 190 billion for Mass Rapid Transit System and metro projects an increase of 22% over the previous budget (revised estimate), which stood at Rs 156 billion. At present, about 585 km of metro rail lines are operational in 10 cities, including Delhi & NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Gurugram. Another 287 km of metro rail line construction are underway in nine cities after being commissioned in May 2014, according to the ministry. Approximately 60 km of metro lines are likely to be opened in the next one month in Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Nagpur and Ghaziabad, the official said. Besides these, 15 new metro projects (397 km) at an estimated cost of Rs 1036.79 billion have been approved for Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Gurugram, Delhi-Meerut and Pune. On Tuesday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave the approval for Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase-II and the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut semi-high speed rail corridor. In an attempt to soothe frayed nerves in Kashmir amid rumours of war-hysteria and unconfirmed reports of attempts to repeal Article 35-A via an ordinance, the Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik on Sunday appealed the people to stay calm and not believe in rumours. In an impromptu meeting of the State Administrative Council in Jammu, Malik was briefed about the security situation in Jammu city after the lifting of the curfew a few days ago and also the restoration of normalcy. He was also informed of the situation in the Kashmir Valley and the gradual induction of additional central forces for election purposes. The governor allayed apprehensions of the people in Kashmir about the movement of 100 companies of paramilitary forces a couple of days ago and said they were taken to the Valley for the upcoming elections. Additional police forces are needed for conducting general elections. Normally, forces are inducted a month before elections so that they settle down and familiarize with the ground situation. It is in this context that 100 companies of central forces are being inducted. This is less than the actual additional forces required and more would be inducted in the coming weeks, said an official statement. The governor appealed to the people that the induction of forces be seen only in the context of conducting elections and should not be attributed to any other cause. He appealed to the people not to believe in rumours of any extreme nature which were circulating widely in some quarters and to remain calm. These rumours are unnecessarily creating an atmosphere of fear in the minds of people, leading to stress and disruption to normal life. Rumours about curfews and other actions should not be believed, the statement said. There is some security related action being taken by the forces, but this is purely related to the Pulwama attack which is unprecedented one. The response of security forces is guided solely by the need to counter both the impact and any further action that may be taken by terrorist groups who are still out to disrupt our country and its democratic processes, it said. The governor also clarified that the Jammu-Srinagar highway remained closed due to snowfall and landslides for over a week creating shortage of essential supplies in Valley, which prompted his administration to ration petrol and diesel. The government is taking measures to enhance the supplies to the Kashmir region. People of the state should not read anything more into this but see it only as an administrative measure in a shortage situation, he said. On the medicine front also, the instructions to hospitals to increase availability of medicines is also to be seen in the context of shortage of supplies as a result of the prolonged disruption in transport. On the issue of safety and security of Kashmiris residing outside the state, the governor clarified that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given clear directions to the country on Saturday. The PMs statement that there is no fight against Kashmiris but that it is a fight for Kashmir is a clear signal that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are not only the integral part of India but it is the responsibility of the country to take care of their safety wherever they may be, he added. Malik also wanted to re-assure all government employees and their families who stay in Jammu that their safety and security was of primary importance from day one and measures were taken to ensure their safety. The situation in Jammu city is normal and government employees should feel safe as they go about their normal work. The student, whose name was not immediately available, was taken into custody and is expected to be charged Monday with felony possession of a firearm because it was on school property, Janda said. The death toll from the hooch tragedy in Assams Golaghat and Jorhat districts climbed to 143 on Sunday, four days after first death due to the drinking of toxic bootleg liquor was reported. Additional director general of police Mukesh Agarwal confirmed the toll had gone up to 143 and said they have arrested over 20 people in connection with the states worst hooch tragedy. Police said that at least two more deaths were reported from Halmira Tea Estate in Golaghat and added that 45 workers from there were now among the dead. Deputy inspector general of police Dilip Kumar De said that they suspected that methanol used in the hooch was the reason behind the deaths. But the exact cause will be known only after tests are done, he added. De said that they were in touch with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to find out about any possible similarities in deaths in these two states. Over 100 people died after consuming illicit liquor in the two states earlier this month. As of now there is nothing to suggest that both the incidents are related, De said. Police raided a godown of one Lalchand Agarwal in Golaghat on Sunday and recovered jaggery, alum, and urea, the main ingredients used in making the illicit liquor. People like him are the main persons behind the illicit liquor trade, said De. Excise department superintendent (Golaghat) Shantanu Hazarika said that the poor quality jaggery meant for cattle feed, is routed for making hooch. It is impossible to check its sale. But records furnished by the excise department suggest a lapse on its part. In December 2018, the department records note arrests of two people from Jugibari village in Golaghat. It is this village, adjacent to Halmira Tea Estate, which would supply hooch to local distributors, according to tea estate workers and the police. The local distributors would mostly buy it in five-liter cans for anything between Rs 350 to Rs 450. Bitul Phukan, a resident of Jugibari, said there were as many as three people in the village, who instead of making hooch from jaggery just mixed spirit with water and sold it openly. It was happening for many months, he said, pointing to the house of one Babu Phukan who has been arrested after the tragedy. At least two other sellers from the village are absconding, the police said. I have been drinking Sulai [hooch] made from jaggery by others. I had it the other day also. But some people were mixing spirits which led to deaths, he said explaining how even one of his cousins who procured Sulai from Babu Phukans house was among the dead. Interestingly, while the police note that as many as five suspected distributors of Sulai were among the dead, none of the manufacturers in this cottage industry, as one of the police officials described it, are among the victims. The phenomenon of Sulai consumption is not just restricted to Assam but all of the Northeast, said Parimal Suklabaidya, Assam excise minister. He promised to clamp down on the network of illicit distribution and take action against excise officials after inquiry. According to a spokesperson for the Assams excise department, more than seven lakh liters of illegally distilled liquor was seized in the state from April 2016 to November 2018. In a move likely to dilute the norms for setting up medical colleges, the Union health ministry is set to notify a regulation giving institutions the licence to function with fewer students if they do not meet the eligibility criteria for clinical work and faculty strength. Ministry officials privy to the matter said the new norms, expected to be notified within 10 days, propose to grant such medical colleges the approval to function with the condition that the number of students can be increased when the institution meets infrastructure requirements. Under the Indian Medical Council (MCI) Act, 1956, licences to run a medical college or add seats are denied when institutions do not meet the minimal requirements for infrastructure, faculty and clinical work, among others. Dr VK Paul, chairman, board of governors, MCI, confirmed the proposed change in norms. We have modified the rules. It can be called ease of business, as we arent flouting norms but only asking colleges falling short at, say, one level to admit students in proportion to their standards. We are allowing them to function the same year, rather than asking them to come back again the next year, he said. Several private medical colleges are found to be deficient in clinical requirements, having an inadequate number of patients visiting the out-patient department (OPD) and not enough occupied beds in the associated hospital where students get mandatory hands-on skill training in treatment and care. While private colleges struggle to get adequate number of patients, government colleges get rejected mostly because of faculty shortfall. But around 90% of licences rejected are for private colleges because they apply hoping that by the time of inspection, they would have things in place, said a health ministry official requesting anonymity. Last year, only 21 of 80 applications were approved as the others didnt meet the required criteria of proportion of patients treated in the attached hospital to the number of students they wanted to admit, said another senior health ministry official not authorised to speak to the media on condition of anonymity. Once the new norms are notified, colleges with adequate infrastructure to run the first-year undergraduate course will get approval for one year. Approval for the remaining years will come once they have added the required infrastructure. What is the point of wasting resources? We have a shortage of colleges, so if a college is functional, we should give it a chance to improve while its running. The norms, however, will apply only if the college agrees to it, said Dr Paul. Reacting to the proposal, Dr KK Talwar, former chairman of the board of governors, MCI, said, Its not a bad move as it makes efficient use of the existing system, but the evaluation process has to be thorough and transparent. A deputy superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir police, an army soldier and three Jaish-e-Mohammed militants were killed in an encounter in Tarigam area of the states Kulgam district on Sunday. Deputy superintendent of police, special operations, Aman Kumar Thakur was hit in the encounter with militants when police,army and CRPF cornered them in a cordon-and-search operation in Turigam village of Yaripora in Kulgam. Militants opened firing on the security forces, who retaliated, triggering a gun-battle. DySP Aman Thakur and three Jaish militants were killed in the gunfight, police said. Two Army personnel including a major were injured, according to army sources. One soldier succumbed to injuries later. Three to four militants are believed to be trapped inside a house. As soon as the encounter started in the afternoon, locals came out of their homes around the encounter site and threw stones on security forces triggering clashes. A health official of the district said that eight persons with pellet and firearm injuries were brought to district hospital Kulgam. Three persons with firearm injuries were referred to Srinagar hospitals, he said. A senior police officer pays tribute to Aman Thakur, DySP, who was killed in an encounter with militants in Jammu and Kashmirs Kulgam district on Sunday. (Waseem Andrabi/HT) Aman was a 2011 batch KPS officer who was leading the operation. He had been heading the counter terrorism wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police in Kulgam district for the last one and a half years and had played an instrumental role in killing terrorists in the area, a police spokesman said. A resident of Gogla in Doda district of the state, Aman is survived by his parents, wife Sarla Devi and 6-year-old son Arya. Director General of Police(DGP) Dilbag Singh, IG operations CRPF Zulfiquar Hassan and deputy commissioner Srinagar Shahid Iqbal Choudhary paid homage and laid floral wreaths on the slain officers mortal remains at district police lines Srinagar late in the evening. Another brave @JmuKmrPolice officer lays down his life in the course of doing his duty to the state & the nation. Aman was a young officer with a bright future ahead of him. Gone too soon. God speed Aman. May you rest in peace young brave-heart, tweeted former chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah. On February 18, in a major operation against Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM) leadership in south Kashmir, three top militants, including two Pakistanis, were killed in south Kashmirs Pulwama which also led to the killing of four army personnel, one of them a major, and a policeman. South Kashmir deputy inspector general of Police Amit Kumar and a brigadier from Rashtriya Rifles were wounded in the encounter. The JeM militants were killed within 100 hours of a deadly car bomb attack on a CRPF convoy in Lethpora Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel and a local JeM militant, who was the driver of the car, were killed on February 14. On February 22, two militants of JeM were killed in an encounter with security forces in Sopore area of Baramulla in north Kashmir. This year, 37 militants have been killed in various encounters with security forces across Kashmir while seven army personnel and three policemen have lost their lives in the state. Four civilians have also died in various violent incidents since the beginning of 2019. Minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Rs 75,000 crore cash transfer scheme for farmers, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati slammed it as atrocious, arrogant and an insult to farmers. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme is meant to benefit 12 crore farmers transferring Rs 6,000 to farmers in three instalments annually. Mayawati said the annual payout of Rs 6000 to the farmers translated to Rs 500 per month and Rs 17 per day. This she said was a pittance and accused the BJP of merely doing lip service to the farmers. Rs 500 a month to poor farmers under is an insult. Farmers believe in their labour and want remunerative price of their produce but BJP mentality to give them little monetary help is atrocious and arrogant. BJP has failed to fulfil their promise, Mayawati tweeted. PM Modi launched the PM-KISAN scheme in Uttar Pradeshs Gorakhpur on Sunday and slammed the opposition for not doing enough for farmers. He said they were all the same and were scared when the BJP announced the scheme during the interim budget. They turned pale when we announced the PM-Kisan scheme in Parliament, he said. Also Read | Congresss P Chidambaram calls govts farmer income scheme a bribe for votes Mayawatis BSP has entered into an electoral alliance with the Akhilesh Yadavs Samajwadi Party for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BSP will contest 38 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh while the SP would field candidates in 37 constituencies. Akhilesh Yadav had termed the alliance with BSP as a political revolution and said it was necessary to bring down the soaring arrogance of the BJP. On Sunday, Mayawati described the Modi government Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme as half baked comparing it with Modi governments previous decisions like demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST). She said the scheme was an election year stunt which the people have seen through. The BSP chief went on to say the PM-KISAN scheme was similar to previous decisions of the BJP that reflected their narrow-minded approach and asked farmers to be cautious. Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the previous governments and opposition parties as he launched the Rs 75,000 crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) - a cash-transfer scheme for farmers - in Uttar Pradeshs Gorakhpur on Sunday. Modi who started his speech by invoking former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastris famous slogan Jai Jawan, Jai Kisaan, questioned the intention of earlier governments. Earlier governments talked lot, made scheme on papers but did nothing for farmers empowerment. Farmers were harassed and exploited, he said. He ticked off opposition parties for remembering farmers once in a decade. Congress, SP, BSP remember farmers once in ten years. They just misguide farmers to seek vote, Modi said and added that the farm loan waiver announced by Congress state governments is a sham. They made a hue and cry by giving Rs 52,000 crore in 10 years while the PM-KISAN scheme will disburse 7.5 lakh crore. Intended to benefit 12 crore farmers across India, the cash transfer scheme scheme proposes to give Rs 6,000 to farmers in three instalments annually. The Centre had announced the PM-KISAN in the interim Budget 2019-20 for 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to two hectares. Modi said he did not favour writing off loans because loan waiver scheme would have benefitted Congress people. The PM said Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra had sent the list of farmers to whom money could be transferred under the scheme. He warned state governments which did not send the list not to harass farmers. Some state did not send the list. You warn them that politics with farmers will destroy you. You might have problem with Modi but not harass the farmers. Minutes after Modi launched the cash transfer scheme for farmers, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati called it atrocious, arrogant and an insult to farmers. Mayawati said the annual payout of Rs 6000 to the farmers translated to Rs 500 per month or Rs 17 per day. This she said was a pittance and accused the BJP of merely doing lip service to the farmers. Rs 500 a month to poor farmers under is an insult. Farmers believe in their labour and want remunerative price of their produce but BJP mentality to give them little monetary help is atrocious and arrogant. BJP has failed to fulfil their promise, Mayawati tweeted. Her alliance partner, Akhilesh Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party also took to Twitter to say that the farm crisis is a national crisis and needs a national solution, no poll-sop or individual state can implement change at this scale. The farm crisis is a national crisis and needs a national solution, no poll-sop or individual state can implement change at this scale we stand with farmers everywhere and promise to bring about a #GoldenRevolution for all farmers regardless of caste, creed or religion Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) February 24, 2019 Ahead of Modi launching the scheme, Congress leader and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram described it as a bribe for votes and said the greater shame is that the Election Commission is unable to stop it. The Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed was the biggest failure of the Narendra Modi government, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said here Saturday. Addressing a massive poll rally with Dalit leader and Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh president Prakash Ambedkar, Owaisi also slammed Pakistan and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) founder Masood Azhar. JeM has owned responsibility for the attack. The Pulwama attack is a political, bureaucratic and intelligence failure, he said. Masood Azhar is not a maulana (cleric) but a satan. Pakistan should remember that when its the question of our country, we (Indians) are all one, he said. Saying that the Pakistan government was responsible for the terror attack, he said the neighbouring country should not worry about Indian Muslims as they chose to remain here ignoring (Pakistan founder) Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Slamming both the ruling as well as prominent opposition parties in Maharashtra, Owaisi said this was the last chance to ensure the BJP and Congress did not come to power again. Muslims should not support the Congress as the party has only caused trouble for the community, he said. Ambedkar, who has formed an electoral tie-up with AIMIM, alleged that the BJP government was diverting 35 TMC water of the Tapi river to Gujarat rather than utilising it for drought-affected areas of Marathwada in Maharashtra. This water could have solved the water woes of Aurangabad, he said. The condition of tribals is deteriorating. The government is not concerned about the `vanchit (deprived) community. We will solve their issues, Ambedkar said. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) In what can be seen as a small victory for India, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has issued a statement condemning the suicide bombing in Pulwama. More crucially, the statement, signed off by all permanent members of the Security Council, including China, names the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). As is widely known, China has been the primary obstacle in Indias efforts to get JeM chief Masood Azhar sanctioned by the United Nations under Resolution 1267. So, does the UNSC statement mark a veritable shift in Chinas position? For starters, China has not yet agreed to Azhar getting listed under Resolution 1267. The UNSC statement is good but carries no punitive implication against Azhar or Pakistan. This is not the first time China has signed off a statement condemning Pakistan-based terrorist groups. The September 2017 BRICS declaration in Xiamen mentioned both JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba. It needs to be recalled that the Xiamen summit was preceded by the end of the 73-day stand-off between Indian and Chinese forces in Doklam. In fact, India used, according to some experts, a threat to boycott the Xiamen summit. And then in February 2018, China agreed to put Pakistan on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that targets money laundering and terrorist financing. In return, other countries consented to Chinas vice-presidency of FATF. The lesson is clear: Beijing will support Pakistan as long as it is not costly to do so. The moment China sees that the cost of supporting Pakistan exceeds short-term benefits, it will stop doing so. Here lies a message for India. To get China on board for designating Azhar in the UN, New Delhi needs to increase the costs for China. India could do this using the support of friendly countries like the US and France. In the long run, India and the global community need to increase the reputational costs of standing with terrorism. We are going through a difficult phase of grief, anger tears and resentment. The Pulwama terror attack has brought about a tsunami of emotions. There have only been a few times in the history of independent India that we have witnessed this kind of rage against Pakistan. Pakistan must be dealt with firmly. There can be no doubt about the fact that those who challenge the sovereignty of our country while residing here should also be taught a lesson. But for this, its necessary that our reaction should be articulate. The world expects greater responsibility from India. Imran Khans statement is an example of how shameless the leaders of Pakistan tend to be. After the Pulwama attack, he remained silent and on the fifth day when he broke his silence, what did he say? That our country has nothing to do with this attack. We ourselves are the victim of terrorism. If India wants, then we are ready for a dialogue. But, if Pakistan is attacked then we will retaliate. We have been hearing the same thing from Pakistans leaders after every such attack. Pakistans politicians are always obliged to read the script prepared by the army. How can such people earn our trust? We know that the limitations of the person occupying the prime ministerial seat in Pakistan are determined by the power centre at Rawalpindi. Today, Imran Khan is the victim of this. As far as Pakistans army is concerned, it has been living in denial. The present regime thinks that the contemporary global situation is in its favour. America needs Pakistan because it has been fighting in Afghanistan for past 18 years using Pakistans resources. And now it needs an Islamabad-Rawalpindi tie-up to get itself out of this mess. China also needs Pakistan for the construction of economic corridor and to establish its dominance over the Arabian Sea. Saudi Arabia too needs our neighbours help to deal with Iran. In this confusion, Imran Khan seems to have forgotten that the representatives of Masood Azhar who is handled by the ISI issued a statement immediately after the Pulwama attack taking responsibility for it. This audacity of the terrorists is the result of the protection of the Pakistani army. However, India has made it clear that it is not about to compromise on this. The crown prince of Saudi Arabia was in Islamabad last week and just to demonstrate to the world how informal and warm the relations between the two countries are, Imran Khan himself drove the crown prince from the airport. The meaning was clear. But what happened afterwards is more interesting. The crown prince wanted to come to New Delhi straight from Islamabad. But India requested him to go back to Saudi and come to New Delhi from there instead of taking a straight flight from Islamabad. And that is what happened. Not only this Muhammad Bin Salman also criticised the Pulwama attack in his statement. Meanwhile, more than 40 countries have praised and appreciated Indian stance. The US has openly condemned Pakistan. The UK and France have given the assurance that they will raise the issue in the United Nations to put pressure on Masood Azhar. The question now arises, will China, which was shielding this dreaded terrorist, display any change in its Pakistan policy? New Delhi can avenge Pulwama only when the conditions are positive on the domestic front. But some people here too dont seem to realise that. One of them is Meghalaya governor Tathagata Roy who has made some unfortunate remarks on the issue. People in such responsible positions should refrain from making such statements. They should be dealt with strictly. Not only this, some people are making sarcastic comments on the Kashmiris living in rest of India. Dozens of Kashmiri students living in Dehradun fled from there out of fear. These distressed students found refuge in the gurudwaras of Mohali. Isnt this an insult to the memory of the security forces? By threatening Kashmiris, these people are contributing to destroying our unity and integrity. The state governments should deal with such elements with an iron hand. Do our rulers not understand that only the separatists and the ISI will benefit from such careless statements? Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan The views expressed are personal The GST Council, which is set to meet on Sunday, is expected to announce a cut in Goods and Services Tax (GST) for real estate. A panel of ministers on real estate sector led by Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel had suggested bringing down the rates on under-construction properties to 5%, without input credit, from 12% and for affordable housing, 3% from 8%. The move was not implemented as non-BJP ruled states had opposed announcing of the decision in their absence in the last meeting, held through video conference. Interim finance minister Piyush Goyal had favoured a cut in tax rates for real estate. Our government wants the GST burden on home buyers to be reduced and accordingly we have moved the GST Council to appoint a Group of Ministers to examine and make recommendations in this regard at the earliest, Goyal had said. A PTI report had said that the move would boost buying of under-construction houses as the current GST rates forced buyers to go for ready-to-move-in properties. A Business Standard report said that Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal was opposed to the move as different states have different taxation procedures and a uniform rate without discussing these would not be proper. Sundays meeting is also expected to address the issue of tax rate on lottery. No discussion was held last time on the matter as opposition ruled states wanted a physical meeting over a video-conference one. A panel headed by Maharashtra fiannce Sudhir Mungatiwar has recommended a uniform rate of 18% or 28% on lottery. Currently a state organized lottery comes under the 12% tax slab while those authorized by the state attract 28% tax. Veteran actor Sridevi died in a year ago but her family, friends and fans are yet to get over the loss. On her death anniversary, several Bollywood celebrities paid tribute with emotional messages and rare pictures on social media. Farah Khan shared a heartfelt note along with a throwback picture of the actor from their world tour in 1994. She wrote along with the picture, When i was just starting out in my career She was so supportive, so encouraging.. getting to Choreograph a Sridevi show or a song for her was like a dream.. no wonder I never got awed or starstruck with any other star in my entire career because I started from the TOP! There never was n never will be anyone like SRIDEVI.. love her always ( this photo is from 1994- world tour). Choreographer and reality show judge Geeta Kapur also agreed with Farah with a Ditto in the comments section. Sridevis sister-in-law Maheep Kapoor, (Boney Kapoors brother Sanjay Kapoors wife) shared a few lovely pictures. The two can be seen dancing in one of the pictures and are wearing in traditional ensembles in another. She captioned them, Will always remember the good times. Earlier, Sridevis daughter Janhvi Kapoor had shared a picture of a pair of hands, probably of her and her mother and had captioned it, My heart will always be heavy. But Ill always be smiling because it has you in it. Boney Kapoors niece Sonam Kapoor simply shared two pictures of the actor on her Instagram stories. Sonam Kapoor shared two pictures of Sridevi on her Instagram. Shabana Azmi wrote, A year already .. #Sridevi . You will live on through your work .. A year already .. #Sridevi . You will live on through your work .. Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) February 24, 2019 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also expressed her feelings on the untimely demise of the actor. She tweeted, Fondly remembering Sridevi, legendary actress, on her death anniversary. She is gone too soon. Fondly remembering Sridevi, legendary actress, on her death anniversary. She is gone too soon Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) February 24, 2019 Also read: Sridevis death anniversary: Janhvi Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Boney Kapoor on how they coped with tragic loss as a family Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur took to his Twitter handle to express grief over her death. Still cant get over that this bundle of life, of energy, of love, left us when she has so much much more to give, he tweeted. Still cant get over that this bundle of life, of energy, of love, left us when she has so much much more to give @SrideviBKapoor @SrideviKapoor https://t.co/KWiC5xTdKy Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) February 23, 2019 Anupam Kher simply wrote, I miss #Sridevi. She was one of the finest actresses i worked with anywhere in the world. Follow @htshowbiz for more The presence of a loose paper clip on a work surface in an office environment such as a city clerks office is not unusual and, standing alone, does not enable us to conclude that a conclusion opposite to that reached by the (electoral b)oard is clearly apparent, Hudson said in his opinion. A case of fraud has been registered against Bollywood actor Sonakshi Sinha in Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh, police said on Sunday. Four others have also been named in the police complaint alleging that the actor along with four others -- Malvika Punjabi, Dhumil Thakkar, Edgar Sakaria and Abhishek Sinha -- have defrauded the complainant of Rs 32 lakh. In the police complaint, Pramod Sharma has said that an amount of Rs 32 lakh had been transferred to Sonakshis account for her presence at an event but she did not turn up. A police official said that they have registered a case after a probe into the matter and the organiser was trying to unnecessarily exert pressure on them by acts like consuming poison. The official told IANS that the India Fashion and Beauty Award programme had been organised on September 30 last year. Talent Full On Company was roped in for the event and after talking to the private secretary of Sonakshi, Rs 32 lakh was deposited in her account. At the last minute however, Sonakshi cancelled her appearance causing losses to the organisers. Sonakshi Sinha at her friends wedding reception in Mumbai. (IANS) Promod told Times of India in a report, Sonakshi had also released a promotional video of the award show after accepting the payment. She had also signed an memorandum of understanding for the event. On the day of the event, seven return air tickets from Mumbai to Delhi were booked -- two in business class and five in economy class. They then called me up to change the timing of the event which I denied. The function timing was fixed at 4pm and the tickets for the event were sold out. Sonakshis team has issued the following statement: Sonakshi was approached by the event organizers in Delhi to attend an event. However, despite repeated reminders, the organizer failed make the payments to Sonakshi before the event as contracted. The tickets to Delhi were not in order/as were agreed, the organiser also didnt send return tickets for Sonakshi and her team, despite knowing that she had a shoot the next morning after the event. This put everyone in a tough spot. Several attempts were made to contact the organiser requesting hum to make the contracted payments and send the tickets, however they remained incommunicado and didnt live up to their end of the bargain. Due to a lack of commitment by the organiser, Sonakshi and her team were left with no choice but to return home from Mumbai airport . Ever since that day, Sonakshis management agency has been trying to reach out to the organiser to find an amicable solution to the extent of offering an alternate date and tried to connect but to no avail. The organizer is now using the media to release false and manipulated facts. If the organiser doesnt stop at this, Sonakshi and her team will be forced to take a legal course of action to set this straight. We request media to not let anyone use their platform without looking into the facts. Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor couple Ajay Devgn and Kajol are about to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary (WHEN?) and have spoken about how theyve managed to stay together for so long. Talking to DNA ahead of their wedding anniversary, Ajay shared the secret to their relationship and said, The best part is that weve never asked each other to be what we arent. If she needs space, she can have it and if I need space, she never grudges that. We can sit together in a room for hours, doing our own thing and we dont feel uncomfortable that were not talking. You can only get along with people who are unobtrusive yet, at the same time, were together. Defining his equation with Kajol, he said, If you dont have it, then you cant be together for so long. We have a bond where we can tell each other whatever we want. Even at home, we are a chilled-out couple. Ajay and Kajol had tied the knot at his residence in Mumbai (WHEN), though they once confessed that there was never a formal proposal from either of them. The couple were guests on the chat show Koffee With Karan earlier this season and were a riot as they unravelled several secrets about each other. Even host Karan Johar had made fun of Kajols fixation with taking selfies and editing them for social media, and her habit of never buying anything expensive. Also read: Sridevis death anniversary: Janhvi Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Boney Kapoor on how they coped with tragic loss as a family In the the episode, Ajay went on to comment on her social media habits, saying, She has never done this in her life and I dont know budhaape mein aake (in her old age)... But Kajol had a prompt interjection, Tumhara budhaapa hoga, mera toh nai hai. Follow @htshowbiz for more The police on Sunday found the bodies of twin brothers kidnapped from their school on February 12, on the banks of Yamuna river in Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh, a day after six persons were arrested by the Madhya Pradesh Police for kidnapping them and taking ransom of Rs 20 lakh from their father. Chitrakoot is a small town on Uttar Pradesh-Madhya Pradesh border, and police of both states were investigating the case. Soon after the bodies were recovered, locals staged a protest against the failure of the police to save the twin boys, and damaged property of the school from where the two were abducted from on gunpoint, and adjoining shopping complex. Police lathi-charged and fired tear gas shells to bring the situation under control, said inspector general of police, Rewa, Chanchal Shekhar. According to police, the kidnappers had allegedly demanded a ransom of Rs 2crore from the father of the twins, but killed the boys on February 21 even after receiving Rs 20 lakh. The mastermind of the crime is the elder brother of a Bajrang Dal convener in Madhya Pradesh, the IG said, adding that the police were investigating whether he was also involved in the crime or not. Inspector general Shekhar said as many as six accused were arrested Raju alias Rakesh Dwivedi, Lucky Singh Tomar, Rohit Dwivedi and Ramkesh Yadav, all residents of Banda district in Uttar Pradesh; Pintoo Yadav, a resident of Hamirpur district in Uttar Pradesh, and Padm Shukla, a resident of Nayagaon, Chitrakoot, in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh. Padm Shukla, the alleged mastermind of the crime, is the elder brother of a local Bajrang Dal convenor, the IG said. Police said on the basis of information provided by the accused, who were arrested on Saturday, they searched for the bodies through the night, which were found near a temple in Bakul village of Baberu police station area the next morning. The bodies have been sent for post mortem, he said. The twins were studying in upper kindergarten in Sadguru Public School, Chitrakoot, in MP, from where they were kidnapped on the afternoon of February 12. They were allegedly taken to the Uttar Pradesh side of Chitrakoot. The MP police had announced reward of Rs 50,000 for information leading to the kidnappers. The father of the twins, Brijesh Rawat, got the ransom call two days after the kidnapping. The kidnappers demanded Rs 2 crore. The phone was traced to Banda in Uttar Pradesh. The kidnappers didnt use their phone but a mobile phone borrowed from a passerby. Later, they made several calls to the twins father but used different mobile phone of passersby every time, he said. The IG said the father gave Rs 20 lakh to the kidnappers without informing the police on February 19. The kidnappers allegedly made the father speak to his children. During investigation, police found out that a passerby, whose phone was used to make one of the ransom calls, had taken pictures of the kidnappers bike. The registration number of the vehicle led the police to one of the kidnappers, Rohit Dwivedi, and later to Rakesh Dwivedi. During interrogation, they confessed to having committed the crime with their accomplice Padm Shukla and Lucky Singh Tomar. Padm and Lucky were arrested. Two more persons who helped them in the crime were also arrested, Shekhar said. According to the IG, police seized country made pistols, three motorbikes and a jeep from the accused. Out of Rs 20 lakh Rs 17.67 lakh have been recovered. According to the police, the kidnappers allegedly kept the twins in a house after making them unconscious with the help of medicines, barely half a kilometre from the spot from where they were kidnapped. They later managed to enter Uttar Pradesh. The Madhya Pradesh government will need about 6,000 acres of land to accommodate one lakh cows and its progeny as proposed by chief minister Kamal Nath, said the state government officials. There are about seven lakh stray cows in the state and the state government plans to develop 1,000 cow shelters (gaushalas) to provide home to one lakh of them initially. The Congress in its manifesto in the run-up to the state assembly elections in November last year had promised a cow shelter at every gram panchayat in the state. There are more than 23000 panchayats in the state. According to a proposal of Panchayat and rural development department, Madhya Pradesh, each cow shelter will be built on one acre of land to house 100 cows and will have five acres of land for grazing purposes. If we have to provide shelter to all the seven lakh stray cows and its progeny in the state, we will need 42,000 acres of land as per the norms to set up 7000 cow shelters, said a government official familiar with the discussion on the subject. The official said the department has started looking for land to set up 1,000 cow shelters in the first phase as decided by the state government. However, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that there was not enough land to set up these cow shelters as the then Digvijaya Singh government in 2003 introduced a policy to reduce grazing land to 2% from 5% to allocate the land to landless people resulting in cattle in villages being deprived of grazing land. Leader Opposition in state assembly and BJP leader, Gopal Bharagava, said, There is hardly any land available at panchayats since Digvijaya Singh government reduced grazing land norms for villages. The government also knows it will. Hence, the governments only intention is to keep the issue alive till Lok Sabha polls for Congress political gains. Animal husbandry minister, Lakhan Singh Yadav, said, Unlike BJP which talks of cows just for political gains the Congress government is committed to opening the goshalas. It has already started the initiative and results will be there for all to see. The then BJP government had fixed a meagre amount of Rs 4.50 per cow for expenses in goshalas. The Congress government has increased the amount to Rs 20 per cow. It may seem as arguably the biggest irony of the century that despite the majority of the worlds population knowing well about the ill effects of pollution, wildlife habitat destruction, climate change and deforestation, they are not able to translate into mass public movements. The hullabaloo about these issues remain limited to discussions among a group of intellectuals already well versed in the subject. Its like preaching to the converted. As far as the wildlife conservation is concerned, we face a dichotomy between the issues over-romanticisation by the elite and lack of knowledge among some of the poorer sections of society. A large part of India lives in villages and is unaware of the melting polar ice or Himalayan glaciers and the ramifications it has on their daily lives. A farmer working on the field is more worried about crop yield than the worsening ground water level due to his/her overdraw. Governments do not work with a long-term vision either. They are worried about the short-term development goals such as roads, bridges, canals, etc. That is because they will be judged on the basis of new projects rather than for protecting something which will have positive effects years down the line. This non-wholesome judgment by the public combined with the electoral-political system only makes us miss the wood for the trees. The air pollution levels in Delhi are a glaring example of the deleterious effects the stubble burning in the villages of Punjab and Haryana bring. In the current scenario, there seems to be some realisation to work at grass root levels in order to combat the pollution arising out of agricultural practices. The stakeholders have realised this and the action has shifted to sensitising the farmers about the ill effects of stubble burning. The disaccord is not prevalent on the field only. The recent Davos summit saw a record number of private jets a 15% increase over the last year ferrying the leaders to talk on climate change. This gap between climate talks and climate action is disturbing and needs to be addressed at the earliest by a greater involvement of the masses. Though such talks and conventions do play an important role in increasing awareness to a certain extent, but for a country such as India where the masses suffer from the aforementioned lack of awareness increasing their proactive participation is of prime importance. The field experience suggests incentivising the local communities for conservation provides better results. About eight million residents of Bogota city get water from Chingaza and Sumapaz National Parks. The New York Watershed Protection Program is a bright example of how protection of water at source through regulations and incentives can reduce the investment on filtering the citys nearby watersheds provide drinking water to nine million people since 1990s. The Bishnois tradition of protecting the nature has survived decades without any annual summit and fancy conference. Mass movements that focus on active conservation is what the world needs today. Parveen Kaswan and Akash Deep Badhawan are officers of the Indian Forest Service The views expressed are personal MAPLE GROVE, Minn. Magdalene Menyongar's day starts with a 5:30 a.m. conference call with women from her church. They pray together as Menyongar makes breakfast and drives to work, reflecting on everything they are thankful for. But lately, the prayers have turned to matters of politics and immigration. They pray with increasing urgency for Congress or President Donald Trump to act before Menyongar, 48, faces deportation to her native Liberia, where she fled civil war nearly 25 years ago. In less than six weeks, the order that has allowed her and more than 800 other immigrants from the former American colony in West Africa to live in the United States for decades will end, the result of Trump's decision last year to terminate a program that every other president since George H.W. Bush supported. Come March 31, Menyongar will face a choice: Return to Liberia and leave behind her 17-year-old daughter, an American citizen, or stay in the United States, losing her work authorization and becoming an undocumented immigrant. "It's hard to think about because you have built a life," said Menyongar, who works as a certified nursing assistant. "Maybe it's part of my brain that I try to block out. When I think about it, all I do is pray." Menyongar is among thousands of Liberian immigrants who were given temporary permission to stay in the United States in 1999, when President Bill Clinton implemented "deferred enforced departure." DED was routinely extended by previous administrations but is set to end under Trump's effort to terminate programs for immigrants without permanent status, which also has endangered Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and temporary protected status for immigrants from 10 other countries. Temporary protected status, or TPS, was established by Congress in 1990 for citizens of countries suffering from war, environmental disaster, health epidemics or other unsafe conditions. They are given temporary permission to work in the United States and travel abroad without fear of deportation. A class-action lawsuit filed Feb. 12 in a federal court in California seeks to block the Trump administration from ending TPS for immigrants from Honduras and Nepal. In October, a federal judge in the same court issued an injunction that stalled the end of TPS for citizens of four other countries. But that court action does not apply to the smaller and lesser-known DED program, which operates purely at the president's discretion and gives no statutory basis on which to sue. Without a change of heart from the president - or new legislation from Congress - Liberians living in the United States under DED will lose their work authorization and become subject to deportation. Instead of self-deporting, many are expected to stay in the United States in hopes of getting a hearing in immigration courts, a process that could take years. Trump has made curtailing illegal immigration a central tenet of his agenda, saying in his State of the Union address this month that immigrants should come to the United States "in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally." But critics say his move to end protection for Liberians, leaving them undocumented after decades in the country legally, reflects an immigration policy that is capricious and, at worst, driven by racial bias. "There comes a point where even if relief started as temporary, it needs to end with some possibility for permanence," said Royce Murray, managing director of programs at the American Immigration Council, an advocacy group. "These are people who have built their lives here, have invested in their communities and are raising American citizens." Last week, a group of DED holders from Minnesota traveled to Washington to lobby representatives, and Democrats have responded with legislative efforts. Rep. Dean Phillips, a freshman Democrat who represents Menyongar's Minnesota district, pushed unsuccessfully for a DED provision to be included in the spending bill Trump signed. In addition, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., reintroduced a narrow bill he has pushed in every session of Congress since 1999 to offer Liberians with DED a chance to apply for permanent residency. A spokesman for Rep. Nydia Velazquez told The Washington Post the New York Democrat is working to include similar provisions in a broader immigration bill to be unveiled in the coming weeks. Opponents of the programs say they have outlasted their original intent, to provide temporary protection, and represent a misuse of executive authority. RJ Hauman, government relations director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors reduced immigration and greater enforcement, calls DED and TPS "flagrant abuses of our immigration system." "Both of these 'temporary' designations have been on autopilot for years, with one unmerited, open-ended extension after another," Hauman said. "These individuals should return to their homeland, which has since recovered, and use their skills to enrich Liberian society." Like many Liberians who fled their country's back-to-back civil wars between 1989 and 2003, Menyongar applied for asylum when she arrived in America in 1994. Her request was denied when she was unable to reach relatives in Liberia to get proof of her family ties to a politician there, whose prominence she feared would make her a target should she return. She was able to remain in the United States under TPS until 1999, when the program expired for Liberians and DED was created to extend protection to about 10,000 people at the time. Liberians don't have to register with the federal government to qualify for DED, so there's no reliable count of how many people depend on the program. But as of March 2018, approximately 840 had work authorization under DED, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Liberians must have lived in the United States continuously since 2002 or earlier to qualify. Most of the original DED beneficiaries have since left the country, died or gained permanent status, Murray said. She estimates as many as "a few thousand" may remain in the country but have not renewed their optional work permits, which cost a total of $495 in annual fees. Permanent residency can come through political asylum, marriage to a U.S. citizen, family ties or an employer's sponsorship. Menyongar's husband, also a Liberian immigrant, died in 2011. Her attorney has advised that her surest option for a green card would be sponsorship by their daughter, Gabby Gworlekaju - something the teenager can't provide until she is 21. Gabby's primary focus these days is preparing for college, possibly in Atlanta to be close to her father's family and escape the frigid Midwest winters. She said she didn't understand that her mother could have to leave until last March, when Trump declared a one-year "wind-down period" for DED. She has told her best friend how worried she is about the situation but avoids talking about it otherwise. "It'd be a life-changing choice," Gabby said. "That would mean that my mother would have to physically be removed out of my life, and I'd have to continue on. I can't even explain how I would react." * * * Minnesota is home to the nation's largest Liberian community, concentrated in the northwestern suburbs of Minneapolis. A few times each week, Menyongar makes a 20-minute drive to Bethel Robbinsdale - one of several Liberian churches in the Twin Cities area - where she serves as president of the women's ministry. After communion during a recent Sunday service, the band and choir struck up a euphoric tune while Menyongar joined the congregation in dancing through the pews. Dressed in a brightly colored jumpsuit and a turquoise head wrap, she exchanged handshakes and hugs along the way. "The church is my second family," Menyongar said. "It's like a support system that we have for each other." At one point during the two-hour service, the worship paused so a church member could announce an upcoming rally at the state capitol to raise the alarm about the end of DED. Later, the Rev. Natt Friday led a prayer for those affected. Friday knows Menyongar isn't the only member of his church who could face deportation, but he can't say for sure how many will. Many keep their immigration status secret. "These people, if you grant them permanent residence, they are going to be so patriotic," Friday said. "The burden would be lifted off their shoulders to know that they can finally live a normal life." Liberian immigrants have taken prominent positions in Minneapolis and its suburbs, such as Brooklyn Center, which recently elected its first Liberian-born mayor. They moved in part for the job market - a shortage of nurses and other health-care workers drew many, like Menyongar, to work in hospitals and assisted-living facilities. Mary Tjosvold, who owns group homes for seniors and people with disabilities, employs more than 150 Liberians. Although she does not track how many of her employees are protected by DED, she said losing even a few workers would have wide ripple effects. "People have had these jobs for a long time. They're important parts of businesses," said Tjosvold. "On an economic basis, it doesn't make any sense, no matter what you think politically." An end to the policy also has economic implications abroad. Remittances sent from those working in the United States to their relatives in Liberia act as "a source of de facto foreign aid," said Paul Wickham Schmidt, a former immigration judge and current adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School. Menyongar works a combined 60-plus hours each week at two nursing homes, and her paychecks support her 97-year-old mother and other relatives in Liberia. Schmidt said the idea that Liberians losing DED will self-deport is unrealistic. "My experience is that most people go home not because they're threatened, but because they deem it in their overall best socioeconomic interest," he said. "A lot depends on what faces you at home, which is why this administration's policy doesn't work." Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank that supports sharp immigration restrictions, argues that a president should not be able to prolong temporary programs like DED without congressional approval. Even so, he said, "When we've permitted people to lawfully reside here for decades, it's practically and politically and morally problematic to say, 'Okay, now time is up.' " Liberia has been emerging from war during the past 15 years and last year saw its first peaceful transfer of power since 1944. In a memorandum announcing the end of the temporary status, Trump wrote, "I find that conditions in Liberia no longer warrant a further extension of DED." Menyongar strongly disagrees with that assessment, citing violent crime, poor health care and infrastructure, and a lack of jobs in explaining why she could not return to her country of birth. "The Liberia that I knew and grew up in is not the Liberia of today," she said. This article was produced in partnership with the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, where Donovan-Smith is a student. But you see, through many books, I read and learned of the background of the early black man, and of what honors my ancestors had earned and how we the black man helped build this land, Bridges said, in a poem-style sermon. Uniontown, PA (15401) Today Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. St. Joseph, MI (49085) Today Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Staff reports The Herald-Mail We can learn from officials use of offensive language To the editor: Representative Ilhan Omar did not condemn the faith, beliefs or practices of Judaism. She used language offensive to Israelis and other Jews. There was no condemning of the Jewish religion. She used unfortunate words out of ignorance. My father-in-law also used unfortunate words some 50 years ago to talk about the Italians, the Irish and the Jews who were his neighbors. Those words were denigrating and prejudiced. So were Omars words. For this, she has been and should be criticized. Let us hope that these moments have been a learning experience for her. There was concern about the political influence in her words: on the American way of life, on democracy and on international politics. Some have thrown the baby out with the bath water by allowing their personal prejudices rather than their own ability to interpret and learn from her mistakes to determine what they take away from her ignorance. Ignorance can be overcome by openness to new understanding. In all probability, she wont make the mistake of name-calling again. How about us? In this current world of imprecise language, can we learn to overcome the language that is limited by our all-or-nothing understanding? Can we recognize the prejudice of the words we use every day to evaluate our own vision of what is happening in our lives, in our country, in our world? The opening is there for each of us to consider and respond to what our representatives are doing: the language they are using, the decisions they are making. The questions for us are: Can we pay attention to what they say? Can we deal with our own prejudices? Shall we become citizens who care enough to respond, or will we continue to observe in condemnation or silence? This decision is personal. May you make it wisely. Valerie Wills Hagerstown LLOYD "PETE" WATERS The Herald-Mail Uh-oh, the Dargan Boy is at it again! He is throwing around some big words he can hardly spell. I wonder what hes trying to tell us. Get your glasses, Dorothy; youre going to want to read this one! I never once heard the word oxymoron used during my first six years of higher learning at the old Dargan University. This word has a unique definition. It means a word or group of words that is self-contradicting. For example, consider bittersweet and plastic glass as illustrations. As I considered this word the other night with my Malbec friend, I thought about another group of words, democracy at work, which seems equally contradictory to me. How many of you believe the smartest candidate always gets elected? The Founding Fathers had a serious concern about a direct democracy form of government. They believed that the uneducated and uninformed voter would be a serious threat to our countrys future. Do you think all our senators and representatives in Congress, and other political figures across the land represent the very best problem-solvers? How about our chief executive? Do you have confidence that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, recently elected to the House of Representatives from New York and probably still paying off her student loans, is fully prepared to take us to the promised land or help solve our many problems? How about the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general in Virginia? All terribly good (an oxymoron) candidates elected by the voters but two of them are now accused of racism in their past and the other of several sexual assaults. How then do you rate our democracy at work today? Lets take a look at California, where in 2008 voters approved a ballot initiative to build a bullet train from Los Angeles to San Francisco. This 800-mile project was originally budgeted to cost $40 billion. After some $11 billion has been spent, estimates to complete the project now stand closer to $100 billion, and the new governor has put a halt to this spending. An educated dummy (an oxymoron) must have designed this project. There is no penalty for a $50 billion mistake made by politicians either; a bunch of wise fools (an oxymoron) still at work. The academic author of the proposal which resulted in the Affordable Care Act seemed to make a fine mess (an oxymoron) of things as well. The bill actually did help some Americans but created chaos for many others. Health care for all still remains an elusive promise for many. And now we wake up one morning and discover this grand design from a New York columnist calling for a program aptly titled Green New Deal. Its a plan with extreme changes and costs to confront climate change. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez has embraced the Green New Deal plan and has proposed a 70 percent tax increase on the rich to pay for its implementation. She seems to demonstrate a shrewd dumbness (an oxymoron) in spending other peoples money and solving problems. Alan Greenspan, a former Federal Reserve chairman, calls this approach a terrible idea. Obviously, this young representative, not yet 30 years of age, does not possess a lot of budgetary wisdom yet. Will this Green New Deal proposal end up like todays costly derailed bullet train to nowhere in California? You already know the answer to that one. I can only imagine what Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton and other Founding Fathers might say. I suspect many of these problems could be resolved or made better with some wise leadership. Unfortunately, a democracy offers no guarantee for wise leadership. Just look at those few examples mentioned earlier. In our own county, when our local government officials forgive the sewer debt for one entity of our community and transfers that cost to other entities, does this decision represent fairness, favoritism or the only choice (an oxymoron) in town? I have discovered the enemy and he or she most likely is us. If we declare a national emergency to build a border wall, might we one day also declare a national emergency for this Green New Deal legislation? Or perhaps another to reduce our Social Security and Medicare benefits because our debt has bankrupted our nations treasury? Oh, by the way, our current debt now exceeds $22 trillion and every announced 2020 candidate for President will make even more promises to increase spending. I doubt we will hear any campaign promises to reduce our national debt, and if we do, that candidate will surely not be elected. The American voter will be unfazed. One day, however, this increasing debt, if left unaddressed, will lead the U.S. government off a scenic high cliff like some blind buffalo and not one political person will assume any responsibility. If our Founding Fathers could offer one last comment from the grave about todays democracy at work they just might say too: Thats an oxymoron! Lloyd Pete Waters is a Sharpsburg resident who writes for The Herald-Mail. Ryan W. Miller The Herald-Mail While charges against New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft for soliciting prostitution brought national attention to the issue of sex trafficking on Friday, data, expert opinion and cases from around the USA show how widespread the problem is. Sex trafficking accounted for 6,081 of the more than 8,500 reported cases of human trafficking in the United States in 2017, according to statistics from the National Human Trafficking Hotline. There is no official estimate of the total number of human trafficking victims in the U.S. Polaris, a non-profit that operates the hotline on human trafficking, estimates that the total number of victims nationally reaches into the hundreds of thousands when estimates of both adults and minors and sex trafficking and labor trafficking are aggregated. Illicit massage or spa businesses, similar to the ones in the Florida case, were the top location or industry where sex trafficking occurred in 2017, with 714 reported cases, according to the hotline's data. More than 9,000 illicit massage businesses operate in every state around the country, bringing in a stunning $2.5 billion each year, according to estimates in a 2018 report by Polaris on trafficking in these businesses. "It's not accurate to understand these cases as local," Bradley Myles, CEO of Polaris, told USA TODAY on Friday. "The places are being overlooked and underestimated." More:'Were talking tens of millions of dollars': Sex spas are big business, investigator says Characteristics of the average illegal spa that Polaris details fit with how prosecutors described ones in Florida. Ten spas were shut down in Orlando, Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast after a several months of investigation revealed women there were in "sexual servitude," according to arrest records. At Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida, where Kraft allegedly paid for sexual services, women many of them from China lived in the spa and were not permitted to leave, according to Martin County Sheriff Will Snyder. Kraft, who has been charged but not arrested, denied the allegation. He is one of hundreds of alleged clients facing charges in the recent Florida stings. More:Robert Kraft investigation: What we know about Patriots owner's sex solicitation allegations Like some of the spas that allegedly engaged in sex trafficking in Florida, the average illicit massage business is connected to at least one other, according to Polaris. Myles said most are tied to larger criminal networks that have links to the countries where many of the women at the spas are from. Many of the women are coerced to work in the businesses and often earn no wages and have no autonomy, Myles said. "These girls are there all day long, into the evening. They cant leave and they are performing sex acts," Vero Beach police Chief David Currey said of the investigation. "Some of them may tell us theyre OK, but theyre not." Beyond sex-trafficking at just massage spas, the United States prosecutes hundreds of cases each year and wins scores of convictions on charges of trafficking with respect to slavery and sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion, according to an analysis of federal records by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. In fiscal year 2018, 189 cases resulted in convictions, according to TRACs data. Here's a look at how sex trafficking has affected areas across the country: 'Mecca of sex trafficking' In March last year, a report estimated 340 young adults and children have been victims of sex trafficking in Milwaukee in a four-year period. "We've heard from different sources that we're the mecca of sex trafficking, but we need to be able to measure that," Mallory O'Brien, director of the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission, which participated in the report, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at the time. "This was our opportunity to do that," she said. Research found 340 people ages 25 and younger who were confirmed or believed to have been victims of sex trafficking in Milwaukee between Jan. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2016. Overall in Wisconsin, child welfare workers confirmed 99 incidents of children and youth sex trafficking statewide from June 2017 through August, 2018, the state Department of Children and Families said in January. Backpage and effects of its shutdown The CEO and co-founder of Backpage.com, Carl Ferrer, pleaded guilty in April to charges of facilitating prostitution and money laundering after the Justice Department seized the controversial online classifieds site. The website's other co-founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin, as well as five other executives, faced 93 charges involving facilitating prostitution through the Backpage site and money laundering. While some praised Backpages demise as a blow to an abusive industry, sex workers across the United States and Canada swarmed social media to air concerns rarely heard in political discourse: To them, Backpages demise meant the end of safeguards and a reliable revenue stream in a profession thats not going anywhere. More:Sex workers 'devastated,' look to alternatives after Backpage closure Theyre devastated, Laura Dilley, executive director of PACE, a Vancouver-based non-profit that advocates for decriminalizing prostitution, told the Arizona Republic in April. While many sex workers said they would keep posting on smaller websites, they also worried about the future. "Theres a lot of uncertainty; a lot of grief and fear," Jelena Vermilion, a sex worker based outside of Toronto told the Arizona Republic in April. "A lot of people are essentially planning to be homeless, planning how to fall gracefully as much as possible." On the flip side, Backpage's shutdown affected law enforcement trying to help victims of sex trafficking. Before Backpage was terminated, Cpl. Chris Heid could locate sex trafficking victims exclusively on the website. Backpage was responsive to the Maryland State Police corporal's requests for records and his agency's warrants and subpoenas. When he asked the site to remove advertisements he determined were trafficking-related, moderators complied sometimes within minutes. While anti-trafficking operations by Maryland State Police yielded three more arrests in 2018 (when Backpage was seized) than the year prior, the number of victims police came in contact with dropped 38 percent, from 113 in 2017 to 70 last year, the Salisbury Daily Times reported in February. 'Theres a place for them. They just dont know it yet' Opened in February 2018, Sanctum House became the first human trafficking shelter of its kind in southeastern Michigan. Survivors who come to live there enter a two-year program that includes drug and alcohol rehabilitation as well as education, counseling, job training and support. Speaking with the Detroit Free Press, founder Edee Franklin described human trafficking as a snare of tiny strings that pulls victims back again and again. One by one, she's trying to snip those strings to free women who want to get out, but have yet to find a way because they don't have a safe place to live or are without access to drug or alcohol rehab, financial security, job training or an education. "There are women out there right now that are being raped and brutalized and they are saying, 'Dear God, get me out of this.' And theres a place for them. They just dont know it yet," Franklin said in December 2017. "Somebody is going to say to them whether its at the jail or the ER or the judge somebody is going to say: 'Well, you can go to a three-night shelter or you can go to jail or you can go to a detox for three weeks. You can go back to your pimp, you can go to the streets or to your abusive family or you can go to Sanctum House if you would like to change your life." Need help? See something? The National Human Trafficking Hotline is confidential, toll-free and available 24/7 in more than 200 languages. Call: 1-888-373-7888 Text: BeFree (233733) Chat: humantraffickinghotline.org Contributing: Cara Kelly and Bart Jansen, USA TODAY; Mary Helen Moore and Will Greenlee, Treasure Coast Newspapers; Ashley Luthern and Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Megan Cassidy and Richard Ruelas, The Arizona Republic; Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: It's not just the Florida spa investigation allegedly tied to Robert Kraft. Sex trafficking is rampant across US Sherry Greenfield sgreenfield@herald-mail.com Dom, a male pit bull mix, was deemed vicious and dangerous, after he attacked and caused the death of another dog Scruffy on May 26, 2018. In testimony before the Washington County Animal Control Authority just weeks after the attack, Wilbur Brunner Jr. of Halfway, said the pit bull mix not only went after his dog, Scruffy, but during the attack Brunners prosthetic leg fall off. I was in hysterics, said Brunner, who asked not to recount the events because it was too difficult. I dont want to go through it again. (Scruffys) bone was sticking out and a huge gash under the stomach. Scuffy was rushed to an animal hospital and euthanized. This was just one of the many harrowing cases the Animal Control Authority hears monthly. As is typical, it was up to this all-volunteer board to decide Doms fate. An attorney for Doms owner asked them to lessen the charges of vicious and dangerous, but to no avail. The authority voted unanimously to keep the designation, which according to the countys Animal Control Ordinance, requires Dom to be muzzled and kept on a leash when outside. Its the job of the authority to render decisions based on the county ordinance a document that outlines the rules for animal care, including punishments for breaking those rules without being swayed by emotional and at times, gut-wrenching testimony. It does not come easy. It takes a lot of soul searching, said Randall Wagner, who served eight years on the authority, before stepping down after being elected to the Washington County Board of Commissioners in November. Its one of the hardest boards Ive ever served on, because its so emotional. Dogs make up a majority of the cases before the authority. Its evident that the men and women that go before the authority consider their pets nothing short of family. Doms case was one of a handful the authority ruled on that Thursday night in June. They also deemed that Levi, a male chocolate Labrador retriever, was vicious and dangerous, after he attacked the neighbors dog, Bentley, a bichon poodle mix. Bentley was euthanized as a result of his injuries. We lost a dog, Wagner said, that evening. We lost (a persons) pet. ...I really have a problem with a persons pet killing another dog. The law takes precedence over emotions The four-member Animal Control Authority hears between three-to-five cases a month. Cases typically start with the Humane Society of Washington County. They issue a citation to the animal owner, who has the right to appeal the infraction to the authority. The humane society responds to some 200 calls a month, said Crystal Mowery, field service director. Calls that range from barking dogs, to roaming farm animals, to an animal attack. When we go out we may issue a citation, Mowery said. The (owners) have the right to appeal that to the authority. The authority can dismiss the citation or affirm it. The humane society is like the police, and the authority is the judge and jury, said authority Chairman Travis Poole. Poole contends that the authority must remain objective. Its up to the (authority) to interpret the Animal Control Ordinance, said Poole, who also works as an attorney for the Washington County Department of Social Services. We need to be objective. At the same time, its important that pet owners be allowed to make their case. People want to be heard, Poole said. Were not unsympathetic, but were required to take the law and the facts given and decide if there is a violation. If emotion creeps in, we may not (decide) appropriately. Mowery agrees. They are there to hear both sides, and come to a conclusion, she said. People care deeply for their pets, and its stressful. Its also stressful for her officers. Especially when they see an animal suffering, Mowery said. Poole, the owner of five-year-old Hunter, a basset hound/beagle mix, said the authoritys objective is to keep the hearings from turning into a barroom brawl. Emotions ran high back in 2014, when the humane society confiscated a Hagerstown womans mallard duck, Quackers. The humane society took Quackers after the woman called to report a neighborhood dog had attacked her duck and, in the process of defending the waterfowl, she was bitten, according to reports from The Herald-Mail Media, at the time. The dog was ordered to be quarantined. Officers then put Quackers in a cage, since federal law requires the duck to either be released into the wild or euthanized. Quackers owner fought to get the duck back. She had raised Quackers from an egg, and feared that the duck would be euthanized. She made an emotional appeal to the authority, who agreed in a 3 to 2 vote, to give Quackers back. An audience of about 25 people burst into cheers, reports stated. Wagner was one of the board members to vote in favor of the appeal. Today, Wagner said the authority serves a vital purpose, as it involves people and their pets. Its a very important board, he said. Theyre there to protect the citizens and the animals. Jennifer Fitch waynesboro@herald-mail.com Having opened with choreography to the song Im a Lady on Saturday, the Miss Washington County and Miss Western Maryland pageants set out to celebrate the traits of community service, poise, public speaking, fitness and talent. The night culminated with the crowning of Brooke Nixon of Finksburg, Md., as Miss Washington County and Allison Redman of Bel Air, Md., as Miss Western Maryland. Erika Long and Emily Yi, both of Frederick, Md., were named Miss Washington County Outstanding Teen and Miss Western Maryland Outstanding Teen, respectively. All will compete in June in the statewide pageants held under the Miss America Organization umbrella. I believe the Miss America Organization has made me who I am. It makes me motivated and driven, said Redman, who graduated from Towson (Md.) University with a degree in music education. The 24-year-old daughter of David and Andrea Redman described building a network of people involved in pageants, particularly among the young women competing. She was most nervous for the talent portion of the weekend competition, for which she played a violin. Nixon is a freshman at Virginias Christopher Newport University, where she is studying information science and psychology. She said she would encourage others to join the pageant realm like she did a year ago. Its such a supportive organization and group, she said. Nixon, 18, is the daughter of Bert and Bonnie Nixon. She played piano as her featured talent and was relatively calm before the pageant. I knew if it was meant to happen, it would happen, she said, adding that she enjoys expressing her thoughts on current events during the interview portions of competitions. Runners-up were Lindsay Miller for Miss Western Maryland Outstanding Teen; Madison Carbaugh for Miss Washington County Outstanding Teen; Megan Cox for Miss Western Maryland; and Gretchen Stenger for Miss Washington County. The pageants at Hagerstown Community Colleges Kepler Performing & Visual Arts Education Center featured farewell remarks from the 2018 titleholders. The 2019 competition had seven candidates for the miss titles and four candidates for the teen titles. I would like to take the time to congratulate Hazel Crests public works department for doing a good job this winter by keeping snow and ice off our streets. For several weeks, we had snow on weekends. But trucks were out on the streets. They did their jobs. Thank you for making it easier for us to make it through some tough days. The Herald-Mail ANNAPOLIS A bill authorizing a smartphone application for parents of substance-exposed children to use to check in with social workers failed last year in the House Health and Government Operations Committee. But last week, a revised version of the measure appeared to be gaining traction with committee members. The bill, filed both years by Del. Mike McKay, R-Washington/Allegany, would require local departments of social services to assess safety risks to an opioid-exposed newborn or a child whose parent has been found guilty of possession of an opioid. Depending on that assessment, the parent could be required to use the app to check in with the department verifying somebody is conscious in the household to care for the children, McKay told committee members Wednesday. The measure is the brainchild of Allegany County resident Elizabeth Stahlman, who suggested the idea following the death of 5-month-old Summer Chambers in December 2016 in Johnstown, Pa. The baby died from starvation and dehydration in her bassinet possibly five days after her parents died from fentanyl overdoses, according to the Cambria County, Pa., coroners office. All three bodies were found inside their home on Dec. 22, 2016. The Im Alive app would help social services offices prevent such tragedies in Maryland, McKay says, because a check could be performed if authorities didnt hear from the parents within the time allotted. McKay noted that more than 2,300 babies were born with exposure to dangerous substances in 2017 a 17 percent increase from 2016. According to the Maryland Department of Human Services, there were 164 substance-exposed newborns in Washington County during 2018. Last year, the Maryland General Assembly approved legislation requiring health care practitioners to report all substance-exposed newborns to local departments of social services, bringing the state into compliance with the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. As a result of that legislation, a plan for safe care is required for substance-exposed newborns regardless of whether the mother was taking a prescribed drug in accordance with that prescription, according to the Department of Human Services. McKay argued the phone app, which would allow the parent to check in with a click, would be one more tool to help social services departments help families. This is a stop-gap measure to protect children as communities grapple with addiction, McKay said. Heres how it would work: The application would send an alert on the parents smartphone at prescribed times during the day. Parents would click a button to confirm they are conscious and able to care for children. If theres no response, a child protective services officer would be alerted. McKay said the Department of Human Services would be responsible for creating regulations governing its use. This is really a tool to help people, McKay said. The bill does not have any penalties in it, its not used as a hammer to hurt families. Its just to come aside them with technology. No information used to determine whether parents should use the app would be admissible in court cases, he said. IBM and Frostburg State University have expressed interest in developing the app, McKay said, and theres been interest from other states in using the app once its developed. But in response to a question from Del. Ric Metzgar, R-Baltimore, McKay said IBM wants to see where the General Assembly will go on this before committing funding for development. Without that commitment, legislative analysts predict the application would cost a minimum of $50,000 in FY 2020, and would cost a minimum of $50,000 each year thereafter to administer not counting what DHS might have to spend to supply clients with cell phones. For each of those clients, the cost is estimated at $600 per year for cell phone plans in addition to the cost of the phone. And for every new caseworker required, the annual cost could be $64,300, DHS estimates. And that concerned Del. Sheree Sample-Hughes, D-Dorchester/Wicomico. She wanted to know whether some of the state money already earmarked for combatting opioid addiction could be used. But McKay said he doesnt believe more positions in the department will be needed, because last years legislation already requires them to monitor these households. The bill is opposed by Advocates for Children and Youth and the Maryland-DC Society of Addiction Medicine. Jennifer Bevan-Dangel, executive director of ACY, said her organization is opposed solely because of implementation and practical thoughts about how it would affect mothers and families. But Bevan-Dangel said the group would welcome the opportunity to stay in dialogue on the issue. Dr. Joseph Adams, representing the Society of Addiction Medicine, said the bill was very well-intentioned, but there would be a problem with patient autonomy and privacy. Del. Robbyn Lewis, D-Baltimore City, said shed like to know more about how parents with substance abuse disorders are supported. Why wouldnt this bill be supportive? she asked. Adams replied that hes concerned some parents might be reported unnecessarily. Social services workers, he said, can be judgmental. Bevan-Dangel added that the bill seemed to have a universalist approach that deepens the divide for children of color. But Del. Steve Johnson, D-Harford, was undeterred. Dont you think this would help an addicted parent? he asked. If they didnt check in, he said, social workers checking on the family could direct them to resources or help. You seem to be more worried about the inconvenience of someone than the health and welfare of the children. Adams said he thought the app could be a good thing if it were not mandatory. Dave McMillion davem@herald-mail.com One of the members of a Cowboys for Trump group who rode on horseback through Washington County last week en route to Washington, D.C., said Sunday he was getting ready to fly back home when he got one of the coolest phone calls. Couy Griffin said Sunday in a Facebook video that he was getting ready to fly out of Newark, N.J., when he got a call from the White House. Someone on the other end of the line told Griffin, a county commissioner from Otero County, N.M., that President Donald Trump wanted his phone number. A short time later, Griffin said he got a call from an unknown caller, who turned out to be Trump. Griffin said he got a knot in his throat and could hardly contain his composure. But after he did, Griffin said he and the president had a nearly 30-minute conversation. What an awesome guy he is, Griffin said in his video. He was kind of aggravated that he didnt get more notice, or he would have welcomed us in. He kept just saying that you guys are my kind of guys, and I just kept telling him, youre my kind of president, Griffin said. Griffin told Trump that his group is planning another horse-riding trip into Washington, D.C., this summer and that they plan to give Trump a customized cowboy hat that they hoped to give him last week. He said, I got 20 acres on the back lawn. Ill open the gates up and you guys can ride right in, Griffin said. Griffin said he and Trump talked about issues, including a problem with overgrown forests where Griffin lives. Griffin said Trump asked him to write a report about the issue, and Trump added that someone from the U.S. Department of Agriculture would be contacting Griffin. Cowboys for Trump planned a horseback trip from Cumberland, Md., to the nations capital last week to support Trumps stance on border security and other issues. They rode along the C&O Canal. When the group stopped at the Cushwa Basin on Feb. 18 while passing through Williamsport, Griffin said his community has witnessed the effects of illegal immigration. About a dozen members of Cowboys for Trump rode into Williamsport on Conococheague Street and stopped momentarily in front of Williamsport Town Hall before heading down the canal towpath. A woman from Clear Spring said at the Cushwa Basin that she hopes local residents will be allowed to join the ride if there is another one. Mike Lewis mlewis@herald-mail.com Sheetz ranks as one of the 100 Best Places to Work in America, according to Fortune Magazine. This list, now in its 22nd year, recognizes companies that have exceptional workplace cultures. Sheetz, which ranked 85th, was the only convenience store chain on the roster. Companies opt to participate in a selection process, which includes an anonymous employee survey and an in-depth questionnaire regarding their programs and employee practices. Great Place to Work then evaluates each company on five dimensions, including credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie. This is the fifth time in six years we have been named to this prominent list, and that would not be possible without our employees, Sheetz CEO Joe Sheetz said in a news release. Day in and day out, our company strives to create a place where employees know they are valued and have the opportunity to grow while also instilling a culture of respect and ensuring all employees understand the importance of their job and the role they play in the larger company. The family-owned company is based in Altoona, Pa., is celebrating its 67th anniversary this year. It employs about 19,000 people and operates more than 585 stores in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland. Treating our employees as our most valuable asset is a key value my uncle Bob Sheetz instilled when he founded Sheetz in 1952 and is a value we strongly believe in still today. Thats why were excited to announce a starting wage increase for new and recently hired employees, Travis Sheetz, president and COO, said in the news release. Sheetz announced an increase for starting wages this month. Effective Feb. 1, 2019, new employees and employees hired within the last six months will earn an additional 50 cents per hour (starting wages vary by geographic region). The Herald-Mail Halfway through As of Friday, the Maryland General Assembly reached the midpoint of this years 90-day legislative session. So far, 1,009 pieces of legislation have been introduced in the Senate and 1,404 have been filed in the House of Delegates, for a total of 2,413. Here are some dates to keep in mind for the second half of the session: March 18 Crossover Day. By this date, each chamber is to send to the other the bills it intends to approve. April 1 Deadline for passing the budget in both chambers. Its always due by the 83rd day; the fact that its also April Fools Day this year is a mere coincidence. April 8 Sine Die. The legislative session ends at midnight. Del. Terri Hill, D-Baltimore/Howard, took a moment Wednesday during discussion of her bill to allow minors to consent to take medication to prevent HIV infection to wish her colleagues Dels. Erek Barron, D-Prince Georges, and Sid Saab, R-Prince Georges, a happy birthday. The delegates were born three years apart on Feb. 20. Saab later thanked Hill for her birthday wishes. Im still not voting for your bill, though, he added. Easy for her to say or not As House Health and Government Operations Committee Vice Chairwoman Joseline Pena-Melnyk, D-Prince Georges/Anne Arundel, introduced Del. William Wivell, R-Washington, to present one of his bills Wednesday, she inadvertently mispronounced his last name, and then apologized. That was OK, he replied. In my committee, they pronounce it weevil, he said. Somebodys gotta do it Former Washington County Del. Bruce Poole served in the General Assembly for three terms in the 1980s and 1990s, and was House majority leader. But while hes no longer part of the Legislature, he is often asked to serve in various capacities related to state government. This past year was no different. Poole was in Annapolis last week in his role as chairman of a task force that reviewed Marylands regulation of alcohol last fall. Asked during a news conference Thursday why House Speaker Mike Busch asked him to chair the panel, Poole quipped, he gives me all the lousy work. Compiled by Tamela Baker Jennifer Fitch jenniferf@herald-mail.com Contestants are still being accepted for the Miss White Oak/Miss University City Scholarship Pageant which will be held on Saturday, March 9, in the grand ballroom of the Ali Ghan Country Club in Cumberland. The miss contestants will compete in four categories including private interview, swimwear, talent and evening wear. Contestants must be between the ages of 17-25 and a Maryland resident. For more information, email trwhetzel@yahoo.com. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m. and the pageant will begin at 3 p.m. Tickets cost $15 and will be sold at the door. The winners of Miss White Oak/Miss University City will go on to compete for the title of Miss Maryland which will be held June 22-25 at The Maryland Theatre in Hagerstown. Miss Maryland will compete at the Miss America Pageant held in Atlantic City, NJ, in September. Staff reports The Herald-Mail CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. The Jefferson County Museum will celebrate the beginning of the 2019 season with a free, public reception from 1 to 4 p.m. March 16. Visitors can view three new exhibits, Businesses in Jefferson County, 1900 1950, 100 Years of Dolls, and Four Who Served in World War II. Guests can also enjoy refreshments from Alfredos Mediterranean Grille. The museum is at 200 E. Washington St. in Charles Town. For more information, visit jeffcomuseumwv.org. Staff reports The Herald-Mail The pen is mightier than the sword. Aspiring writers can learn how to use that pen at the first-of-its-kind Creative Writing Colloquium on March 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Wilson Colleges Brooks Science Center. English professors and authors will be sharing their expertise with earnest students. Its an opportunity for those of us who teach creative writing at Wilson to share our passion and share our art with others who are interested in art on any level, said Michael G. Cornelius, professor of English and director of the Masters and Humanities program at Wilson. This is for students who may go to Wilson or may not go to Wilson. Cornelius said that writers must be 14 or older. Its an opportunity for them to learn about writing technique, to talk to published authors, and to learn to be better writers, he said. Speakers include Wilson staffers such as Cornelius and Matthew Dilitz McBride. Seth Fried, author of The Municipalists, will be giving a lecture on creating compelling plot lines. We have Seth Fried coming, who writes for The New Yorker and has a novel coming out from Penguin Books, Cornelius said. We have a couple of poets coming from the Harrisburg area that are doing some fantastic work. McBride, a poet in his first year at Wilson, promises to be a good speaker. Hes a real emerging talent; he has a really distinctive voice and Im really excited for the community to hear him, Cornelius said. Showing vs. Telling Cornelius, the author of 2012s The Snow Vampire, will be giving a presentation on how to actively engage readers by showing what characters are up to. Im running a seminar called Showing vs. Telling, he said. One of the common mistakes that new writers do is that they tell things rather than show things. In creative writing, when you show something, it puts things into the moment, so they experience whatever is that youre writing. Becoming a good writer means to be constantly reading. Cornelius relishes reading as many books as he can, gaining influence from each. I think whats great about writing is that people find something that speaks to them in ways that can be very unique, he said. Ive never met a good writer that wasnt a good reader. We really learn from works that we read. You can learn technique and inspiration from anything you read. Im always finding authors that inspire me. Its like a proverbial kid in a candy store, when we go to a book store we always have too many books to read. Listening to the other staff members discuss the creative process is exciting for Cornelius, but he is also eager to learn what he can from the students. Im most excited to listen to all the other faculty. I want to learn from them, he said. Im excited to learn about people who are excited about writing, talking to people who may be brand new as a writer and all the possibilities that lay before them. When I teach at Wilson, my students are very much a source of information for me, and I think that these students could be the same way. Cornelius advises to register quickly for the colloquium, as there is a limit of 100 people. The deadline is Friday. Staff reports The Herald-Mail The Shenandoah Scholarship Organization recently announced the 35th Miss Jefferson County and Miss Jefferson County Outstanding Teen Pageant will be held on March 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Wright Denny Intermediate School, 209 W. Congress St., Charles Town, W.Va. The Miss Jefferson County Pageant is an official local preliminary to the Miss America Pageant, the largest scholarship organization for young women. Deadline for forms and contracts is March 17. Teens ages 13 to 17 and who are not yet a high school senior must compete in Interview, Onstage Question, Physical Fitness, Talent and Evening Gown. Miss Jefferson County is open to those living or attending a local college or university in West Virginia. Misses ages 17 to 24 must compete in Private Interview, Evening Wear/Social Impact Statement, Talent and Onstage Interview. Winners of the Miss Jefferson County and Miss Jefferson Countys Outstanding Teen will compete for the titles of Miss West Virginia and Miss West Virginias Outstanding Teen. Interested contestants should contact Veronica Marcus, vice president and contestant coordinator at veronicamarcus87@gmail.com for more information. Matthew Umstead mumstead@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. Secretary of State Mac Warner announced on Friday that five Eastern Panhandle students had been selected as an honorary Secretary of State for their efforts to register fellow classmates to vote. Spring Mills High School student Jaelyn Wratchford, Hedgesville High School students Logan Scott Riffey and Finnegan Hall and Berkeley Springs High School students Matthew Steven Rubeck and Kaylee Schlaefli were recognized as part of the voter registration-focused program. The five students were among 25 from 16 high schools statewide to receive the honor, Warner said in a news release. The group of students also were recognized by the West Virginia Senate, Warner said. Working with other classmates, Wratchford led the effort at her school to register 48, 17- and 18-year-old classmates to vote, Warner said. Riffey and Hall combined to lead efforts to register 177, and Rubeck and Schlaefli registered 145 students. Student-led high school registration drives include support from the schools administration and teachers, according to Warners office. Warner, who took office in January 2017, said that 109,163 West Virginians had registered to vote in the last two years, including 30,616 high school students and more than 17,000 newly registered Eastern Panhandle residents. These are incredible numbers for a small state with our population (of 1.8 million), Warner said in a news release. Getting young people registered and participating in the election process is very important in maintaining our republican form of government, Warner said. Their votes will affect policy for many years to come. Wratchford said in the news release that it is crucial to develop a sense of responsibility among young people in order to strengthen the future of the nation. We are blessed to live in a country where we are free to express our opinions through means of voting, Wratchford said. It is extremely important for students to be registered to vote in order to be productive, contributing members of society, Schlaefli added. I have been working hard to encourage my peers to want to get out and vote and to be excited about it. Your vote, through elections, allows us to decide who represents us in government, Rubeck said. Being an educated, participating citizen is what it means to be American, Riffey said. Civic participation is one of the greatest duties a citizen has to their county, Hall said. Through voting, citizens can voice their opinion and impact the environment they live in. In Berkeley County, there were 10,571 new registrations overall since January 16, 2017, followed by 5,216 in Jefferson County and 1,540 in Morgan County, according to figures Warner released on Friday. As of Feb. 11, there were about 1.2 million people registered to vote in West Virginia, with 78,947 in Berkeley County, 40,718 in Jefferson County and 13,624 in Morgan County for a three-county total of 133,289, according to the figures. All three counties gained new registrations in the last two years, despite ongoing voter list maintenance that resulted in nearly 12,000 voter records being changed from active or inactive status to cancelled, according to the data. In Berkeley County, 8,812 voter records or 11.2 percent were cancelled in the last two years, followed by 2,292 or 5.6 percent in Jefferson County and 853 or 6.6 percent in Morgan County. Back in the early 2000s, a Civil War-era house on Front Street changed ownership, and when the new owners acquired it, it was in borderline demolition condition it was in pretty rough shape and had seen better days. Luckily, the new owners saw its full potential, spruced it up, and now it'll easily stand for another 150 years, he said. But unfortunately, my experience has shown that it's usually the other way around, as was seen this time with the Kiniry House; a property will be a prime candidate for official landmark status, but something crops up along the line that leads to an untimely demolition. Provo, UT (84601) Today Plenty of sunshine. High 87F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mostly clear. Low 62F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. UPDATE: Sullivan County Deputy Steve Hinkle is in serious condition at a local hospital after being shot this morning by a suspect who was found dead inside the house in Blountville, Sheriff Jeff Cassidy announced during a news conference tonight. Hinkle is a 27-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office. No information was released about the extent of his injuries. Found dead inside the house on U.S. Highway 11W was Jackie Pendergrass, Cassidy said. Preliminary information indicates that the incident started early Saturday morning when Sullivan County deputies responded to the 3600 block of U.S. Highway 11W after receiving a request to check the resident's welfare. As deputies approached the residence, Pendergrass fired at least one shot, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Deputies retreated and attempted to communicate with Pendergrass. A short time later, Pendergrass began firing at officers again. Deputies returned fire. At some point during the exchange, Deputy Hinkle was struck by gunfire. He was transported to a local hospital where he is in serious condition. So far Republican leadership is sticking with the president at the expense of fidelity to the Constitution and the stature of their own branch of government. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, who is spearheading the resolution, predicted that if Trump gets away with it this time, he will certainly try it again. Unspoken was the corollary: If Trump gets away with it, the next Democratic president will try it, too. It was reassuring to see a politician as stirred up about the Constitution and as eager to enlist the other party in protecting it. We will fight in Congress, in the courts and in public, Pelosi vowed. This is about upholding the oath of office. She added that if they didnt act, We would be negligent in our duties. And so, in just a few days, Republicans will be unmasked. Those who want conservative judges to uphold the letter of the Constitution, who lambasted President Barack Obama for issuing by executive order the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals and who claim to be defenders of limited government yet nevertheless support a bad-faith invocation of emergency to sidestep the legislative process will be revealed as not just unconservative but anti-democratic (small d) and hostile to the Constitution. Now, I suppose in their continual enabling of an authoritarian president with no respect for the norms and institutions of democracy, they have already told us that they dont believe their own talking points. Having a clean vote, however, will provide an unmistakable and irreversible marker. Does the Republican Party believe in Trump or in the Constitution? I fear it is the former, but Id be delighted to be proved wrong. Jennifer Rubin writes reported opinion for The Washington Post. The state can only issue one casino license per city, if approved by a local voter referendum. The bill was approved 30-10 by the Senate and 64-33 by the House. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} A release on Saturday from the Bristol Resort and Casino group states: We are pleased that the General Assembly has created a framework for moving forward with this project. We look forward to working with the Governor on this legislation. The resort and casino will provide a major economic boost to the city of Bristol, as well as the entire Southwest Virginia and Tri-Cities region. We appreciate the strong support of our entire legislative delegation, who all see the importance of bringing more jobs and additional tax revenue to the region. As we take the next steps to make this project a reality, we will continue working closely with our local and state elected leaders. The Senate bill and a House substitute were before the conference committee for 10 days before being finalized on Saturday. The bill would impose a tax ranging from 13 to 15 percent of the adjusted gross receipts of licensees, based upon a licensees annual adjusted gross receipts, and provide for how the tax proceeds would be disbursed. Hopeful. Thats how five local families are feeling after advocating to Tennessee lawmakers in Nashville earlier this month for Katie Beckett Waiver legislation, which would cover most of their disabled childrens medical costs. Theres some debate about what insurance coverage options are available for Tennesseans to provide all the medical care necessary for their children who have lifelong disabilities, but several legislators believe an approach is needed that waives parents income when determining eligibility for TennCare coverage of disabled children across the state. The waiver is named for Katie Beckett a girl who contracted a virus shortly after birth in 1978, which led to long-term complications that left her disabled and whose parents were forced to keep her in the hospital so she could keep her Medicaid coverage. After they lobbied politicians and bureaucrats, President Ronald Reagan waived the rules to allow Beckett to go home without losing her benefits. Since then, every state in the U.S. except Tennessee has adopted a waiver program. The Hatchers and the McInturffs, of Johnson City; Michelle Gross, of Jonesborough; the Ledfords, of Piney Flats, and the Foxes, of Gray, attended Disability Day on The Hill on Feb. 12 with their five disabled children. The event is held every year by the Tennessee Disability Coalition to facilitate meetings between legislators and their constituents to discuss issues families have with available services. Four out of the five children have been denied TennCare coverage and disability benefits because of their parents income. Thats why their families are speaking out about the need for a waiver program and they said theyre seeing momentum toward legislation being passed this year. The families talked to Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, Deputy Comptroller Jason Mumpower, and Speaker of the House Glen Casada as well as Representatives Timothy Hill, Matthew Hill, Rusty Crowe, John Holsclaw Jr., Micah Van Huss, Gary Hicks, Sam Whitson, Andy Holt, and Darren Jernigan and Sens. Kerry Roberts and Becky Massey. The families said they were impressed with how attentively the legislators listened to them and could tell that not only their stories, but witnessing 16-month-old Noah Ledford have seizures and 4-year-old Claire Fox be fed through her feeding tube, was eye opening for them. Legislators told the families funding is the biggest hurdle that will have to be crossed to find a solution to providing TennCare coverage for disabled children despite income. Rep. Timothy Hill told the Bristol Herald Courier the goal is to provide TennCare coverage through a waiver program to 1,000 disabled children in the state, which would cost $8 million. He said its been estimated there are 3,000 children in the state that would qualify for the waiver. Federal funding would come into play, Hill added, which is typically a 35/65 percent split, so the state would receive $16 million from the federal government if it puts up $8 million. Hill and Sen. Jon Lundberg said Senate bill 476 and House bill 498 are place holders for waiver legislation that is being drafted now. Whitson is carrying the bill in the House and Roberts in the Senate. Hill is a co-sponsor for the House bill and Lundberg for the Senate bill. Lundberg said there is a great deal of positive discussion going on among legislators about a waiver program, and he expects legislation to move in the next few weeks. The Tennessee Disability Coalitions policy team is working with bill sponsors and the General Assemblys Legal Department to draft language for the bills, according to Sara Scott, East Tennessee organizer for Family Voices of Tennessee, a program of the coalition. The Houses TennCare Subcommittee will meet on Wednesday and Katie Beckett Waiver legislation is on the agenda. They will hear testimony from Michelle Gross about the condition her 5-year-old daughter Asher has and her familys need for TennCare coverage. Hill said House Republican leaders announced a plan on Thursday to adopt federal programs, like the Katie Beckett Waiver; to streamline medical billing; provide more transparency and data on health care prices; request Medicaid block grants to fund TennCare, and make prescriptions more affordable. These five families believe that being united in advocating for the waiver program is critical in making a difference for their childrens health care needs. They said they told legislators what the limitations of private insurance are that theyre constantly dealing with, which includes limits on the number of therapy sessions their children can have in a year and skilled nursing care and some medications and adaptive equipment not being covered. The children Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Robert and Mallorie Hatchers 5-year-old son, Nolan, has a rare unnamed chromosome syndrome that caused a microduplication of one of his chromosomes resulting in growth, learning and speech delays, feeding problems, epilepsy, structural defects in the base of his skull and cerebellum, sensory processing disorder, and gastrointestinal issues. The couple estimated they spend several hundred dollars to $2,000 a month on therapy sessions, medications, and medical supplies. Having this waiver would definitely give us an extreme amount of peace knowing that we would be able to keep giving him the care that he needs to try his best and be the best him he can be, Mallorie Hatcher said. Its important for legislators to be able to hear our personal stories and know how people really are affected by the decisions they make. Daniel and Lauren McInturffs 5-year-old son, Brody, has spina bifida and is paralyzed. Lauren said she and her husband were told by TennCare, just as other families have been, that because their income level is too high they would have to move out of the state, quit their jobs or get a divorce for their son to qualify for Medicaid coverage. We didnt really want to divorce to just try to screw the system to get what we needed so we swallowed that hard pill about four years ago and just faced the fact that this was how it was going to be, Lauren McInturff said. When they heard the Foxes and the Ledfords stories, they got their spark back to fight for something to help, she said. Daniel McInturff said going to the event in Nashville was the first time he and his wife felt like they had a voice and were able to push for change. Even if my son never benefits from something like this [waiver program], if somebody does at some point in time, now or later on down the road, then thats a positive, and thats what were trying to do, he said. The McInturffs spend an average of $800-$1,000 a month on medical and travel costs for appointments with specialists in Nashville plus thousands on replacing his wheelchairs and other medical equipment when he grows out of them and the cost of at least one surgery a year. Michelle Gross said her 6-year-old daughter, Asher, isnt the typical poster child for the Katie Beckett Waiver because she does have TennCare coverage and receives disability benefits, but Michelle is still advocating for the program because it would allow her to go back to school for a masters degree so she could make more money to provide for her family without losing Ashers benefits. Asher was born with a cleft lip and palate and a rare unnamed chromosomal syndrome that caused duplication and deletion of chromosomes resulting in Asher not being able to speak or walk and to have poor fine motor, adaptive, and sensory processing skills, an intellectual disability, cardiac anomalies, feeding problems, hearing loss, growth restrictions, genitourinary anomalies, airway and lung complications, and several other health issues. Currently, the single mother and her two children live with her parents and shes only able to work one day a week. Even though Asher is covered with TennCare and private insurance, Gross is still struggling to pay her hospital bills, one of which without insurance wouldve cost $1.8 million. Gross said Ashers benefits unlimited therapy visits and paid skilled nursing care is an example of what disabled kids could have with the waiver for TennCare coverage. No one anticipates having a medically complex child whether youre married or youre gainfully employed, Gross said. Youre dealt the cards and you struggle to try to make the best [of it]. We just need better options for people who are medically complex and the long-term disability kiddos. Were being heard and steps are being taken. Jeff and Jenn Ledfords son, Noah, was diagnosed with cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 disorder, or CDKL5, at nearly 3 months old. Its a rare genetic condition that is caused by mutations in the CDKL5 gene, which is found on the X-chromosome resulting in seizures, developmental delays, autism, low muscle tone, apraxia, cortical blindness, scoliosis, absent or limited speech, limited hand skills, feeding difficulties and gastrointestinal problems. The Ledfords said they think their conversations with legislators made a difference and that there is more support for a waiver program now than ever before. Claire Fox has a rare genetic syndrome called Cri Du Chat, or 5p-syndrome, which is the result of a missing piece of one of her chromosomes resulting in an intellectual disability, delayed development, small head size, a heart defect at birth, low birth weight, weak muscle tone and speech problems. Sean Fox said he and his wife, Jessica, have always felt isolated caring for a child with special needs but attending the Nashville event showed them theyre not alone. Just to know that we could actually possibly make a change, I think, as a group, we no longer feel hopeless, Jessica Fox said. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Forecast Highs are expected to reach 60 today, with a 25 percent chance of rain, according to Accuweather.com. Strong winds are expected, with gusts of up to 40 mph possible during the day, then gusts could hit 55 mph tonight. Heavy rains on Saturday prompted road closures across the greater Bristol region including Abingdons East Main Street, where Town Creek sliced the historic town in half with its overflow in Southwest Virginia. With this much rain, everything is at capacity, said Abingdon Police Chief Tony Sullivan. Our water table is full, the ground is saturated, and there is nowhere for the water to go. We have not seen rains like this for a long time. Abingdon town officials closed Tunnel Street at 10 a.m. Saturday due to flooding, Sullivan said, then blocked off East Main Street at noon, between Tanner and Deadmore streets, due to high water levels. Town officials created a detour using Tanner, Valley, and Hutton streets yet issued a release, noting, This detour is not wide enough to accommodate large towed vehicles or tractor-trailers. The town also posted High Water signs on East Main Street (U.S Highway 11). We try to leave Main open as long as possible because we have no way to detour truck traffic, Sullivan said. However, once the water level reaches a point where cars cannot cross, we have no choice but to close it for the safety of the motorists. Town Creek has had a history of flooding in Abingdon, and finding a solution for the problem recently landed on the agenda of the Abingdon Town Council. Elsewhere on Saturday, flooding affected about five roads in Smyth County, 10 routes in Washington County and as many as 10 roads in Russell County, said Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Michelle Earl. Theresa Kingsley-Varble, the emergency management coordinator for Washington County, made note of multiple roads with water across, multiple basements flooded in an email at 8 p.m. Saturday. There is some flooding in the county, said Darrell Dickenson, public information officer for the Washington County Sheriffs Office. Any low-lying roads near creeks or rivers are seeing water standing in the roads. On Saturday, Dickenson said, water was reported standing in Washington County on Rush Creek Road; Wyndale Road near Providence Road; Old Saltworks Road at Walden Road; North Fork River Road; Tunnel Street; Cornett Road at McCann Road; Cedar Creek Road near Ramblewood Drive; Alvarado Road near Sweet Hollow Road; and Rattle Creek Road behind Food Country in Abingdon off U.S. Highway 19/58-A. Several flooding issues, in turn, affected Russell County on Saturday, largely in the Cleveland area, due to that towns proximity to the Clinch River, said Jess Powers, the emergency management coordinator for Russell County. Artrip Road will be closed until Monday, Powers added. Typically, that road, when it gets a lot of rain, it floods anyway. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} On Saturday, around 7:30 p.m., a black Honda Pilot stalled in deep water on Artrip Road, trapping two females and a dog that had to be rescued by fire and police officials at Cleveland, Powers said. The Clinch River flows onto Artrip Road, and they drove through the flooded roadway and stalled their vehicle, Powers said. Honda Pilots are high profile, and the car stalled. ... So Im thinking 3 to 4 feet deep in the roadway. Powers advice: Turn around and dont drown. Heavy rains also prompted rockslides in Russell County, officials said. About 20 houses in the Roanoke Hill subdivision of Dante were blocked by a rockslide on Saturday that closed both lanes of Roanoke Hill Road, Powers said. A highway crew is working on that, Powers said at 10:15 p.m. And that is the only way in to cross the bridge and its very steep terrain on all other sides. Another rockslide blocked state Route 63 at St. Paul for about two hours around sundown on Saturday, said Earl Carter, chief of the St. Paul Volunteer Fire Department. That roadway was cleared around 7 p.m., but huge rocks about 8-foot square by 12-or 14-foot long remain at the site, Carter said. Last week, St. Pauls fire department also dealt with downtown flooding issues in St. Paul on Fourth Avenue, due to construction in the area, Carter said. Carter blamed the rainfall in recent days for the rockslide at St. Paul. Also on Saturday, a fallen tree on Ivy Ridge Road took down some Verizon phone lines in an isolated area where there is no cell phone service none whatsoever, Powers said. Just north of Bristol, Virginia, normally timid Clear Creek in the Wallace community only inches deep at mid-summer took on the roar of a river fork by sundown Saturday, escaping the confines of its banks to flood trees at the creeks edge in Washington County, Virginia. Miles downstream, Beaver Creek gushed near Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday as it rushed south toward Boone Reservoir in Sullivan County, Tennessee. On Saturday afternoon, the Tennessee Valley Authority issued a statement on Twitter: To keep Boone Reservoir within its operating range we are generating at full capacity with both available units and sluicing from the dams low-level outlet sluicing is a normal operation. We are also initiating spill operation downstream at Fort Patrick Henry Dam. Later on Saturday, TVA issued another statement on Twitter, noting, Heavy rain will cause water levels to rise across NE Tenn. Boone Dam is already sluicing & could soon spill water, too. Lake levels could approach 1359, but dam remains safe. Fort Pat may also increase spilling so Kingsport may see flooding in low-lying areas. Stay alert! Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. UPDATE: A flood warning has now been issued by the National Weather Service office in Morristown, Tennessee, until 11:45 p.m. The warning covers much of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee, including both Bristols, Sullivan and Washington counties. Up to 3 inches of rain has fallen across the region today alone, according to the NWS. The water will be slow to recede because the ground is saturated by the record-breaking rainfall of recent weeks. Tonight, there is a 90 percent chance of precipitation with half an inch of additional rain possible, the NWS said. Rain is likely before 10 a.m. Sunday. Some roads are closed in the area. In Bristol, water is high around Bristol Motor Speedway and Beaver Creek. ........................................................................................... BRISTOL, Va. - Heavy rain continues to impact the Mountain Empire, but local officials report that they are only seeing minor flooding in the Bristol area. Representatives from both sides of the city have reported that no major roadways are being impacted by flood waters, but that there are a few side roads that are seeing minor flooding. You see his children stating proudly that their father, along with Elvis Presley and Mickey Mouse, was their favorite celebrity. Ernie Fords younger son, Brion, died in 2008 at the age of 56 from lung cancer. Another reel of material included highlights from his long-running television show, showed him and his amazing baritone voice performing cutting edge duets with the likes of blues greats Ethel Waters and Odetta as well as comedic pairings with icons such as Jerry Lewis and Ernie Kovacs. The segment of This Is Your Life featured such guests as Ernies parents and grandmother, which offers viewers a genuine glimpse of what life was like for Ernie in Bristol. He truly never forgot the place from which he came and was proud of his father, whom he noted was a mail carrier for the Bristol Post Office for 37 years. This included routes on foot, bicycle and mule. My first introduction to Tennessee Ernie Ford was, of course, his three appearances on I Love Lucy. I didnt know until many years later that he was born just an hour away from my hometown. Emily and I drove past the Anderson Street Methodist Church where Ernie first discovered he could sing. He even recorded an album there with the real life church choir. This Bristol native was clearly a legend who increases the pride of being from this area exponentially. Support local journalism We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story. Food is universal, it connects different people and cultures. But how people enjoy, eat and talk about food varies widely, sparking some truly contentious food debates. Some shake people to their very core and cause quite a stir on social media. These food debates, in particular, have taken hold of the discourse around food, sparking countless fights and conversations. (Carolyn Menyes and Kaitlin Miller, The Daily Meal) Betty Faye Isham, 90, of Greenville, passed away on June 20, 2021, in Greenville. Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 23, 2021, at Coker-Mathews Funeral Home Chapel with Mr. Amos Lowry officiating. Visitation will be Noon until service time at the funeral home. Interment will be Area residents have a chance this week to learn the latest information on the status of both the City of Greenville and Hunt County, and where each may be headed in the near future, during the Greenville Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Membership Luncheon. Note: We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email customercare@heraldandnews.com for help creating one. Interview with Ambassador of India: More Indians will come to Armenia (video) The Indian Independence Act came into force in 1947 and the country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, raised country's first national flag of Independence in Delhi. The Independence Day in India is celebrated without taking into account national affiliation or denomination, and it symbolizes the aspiration for a democratic Indian unity. On this day, a flag raising ceremony is taking place in the presence of state officials and public figures in all the cities of the country. The 71st anniversary of the independence of India was also celebrated also at the Indian Embassy in Armenia with the ceremony of raising the national flag. "It is important for us that we have invited all Indians living in Armenia and friends of India to this events," Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India to Armenia and Georgia Yogeshwar Sangwan told "A1 +." Armenia and India have established diplomatic relations since 1992, and these relationships, according to the ambassador, have always been wonderful. "Regardless of which government or president was the head of country, our relations with Armenia have been wonderful. The three former presidents of Armenia visited India and our two vice presidents were in Armenia. Vice President Hamid Ansari visited [Armenia] last April. We have wonderful political relations with Armenia, we support each other on the international platforms in the UN. During a recent meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, he personally reaffirmed that India is one of the five countries that Armenia will develop relations with. So, Armenian-Indian relations will continue to grow and develop," said the Indian Ambassador. He also noticed that at present, they concentrated on expanding trade, economic and cultural relations between Armenia and India. According to the Ambassador, most of the time try they to deepen business ties, and connections between the people. Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) President Gagik Tsarukyan has recently invited about 100 Indian businessmen to Armenia during the meeting with the Indian Ambassador. According to Ambassador, this process is going on and will continue. To remind, since November 21, 2017, Armenia has simplified the process of granting visas to Indian citizens. The positive shift is already visible. "It's not a problem for Armenians as well to go to India. They can come to the embassy and get a visa on the spot, as well as receive an e-visa. Now, as a result of this process between the two countries, people will come to Armenia more, tourism will develop, more businessmen and Bollywood producers will come because Armenia is a beautiful country. Recently Air Arabia Company invited famous Hollywood actress Huma Qureshi and her brother to Armenia. He was also a famous Bollywood director who thinks about filming in Armenia. So, the interest towards Armenia has been growing," said the Ambassador. By the way, an agreement was reached between the heads of India's Harian province and the Shirak province of Armenia last year to expand cooperation, especially in the spheres of culture and sport. The Indian ambassador welcomed the initiative. "The idea is good, I think it will develop business ties between Harian and Shirak, and connections between the people." Published on 2019/02/24 | Source Cheong Wa Dae plans to make April 11 a one-off national holiday this year to celebrate the centennial of the government in exile in Shanghai, China in 1919. Advertisement "The office is currently gathering opinions of various bodies, and it has not been confirmed yet", one insider at the presidential office said. A temporary holiday can be declared by Cabinet approval. The anniversary used to be April 13, according to a government decision in 1989, but it was changed to April 11 this year because newly discovered historical documents show it was wrong. Academics proposed April 11 based on the day when the name of the country, the charter, and the cabinet were decided. Read this article in Korean Published on 2019/02/24 | Source Pets are no longer just consumers of canned or dried food, they are hotel guests and cafe customers, and businesses are adapting apace. Pet-friendly hotels are springing up everywhere, and now even condos and apartments are starting to lift their strict ban on residents' four-legged friends. Advertisement According to a study by the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, 5.11 million Korean families owned pets as of last year, or one in four. The Korea Rural Economic Institute forecast that the country's market for pets, which has grown at an average of 14.1 percent annually over the last three years, will be scaled at W6 trillion by 2027 (US$1=W1,129). A growing number of homes built in Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province in recent years have catered to pet owners. They were designed for pet owners and the companies that manage them even rent out pet-care equipment. One apartment block that was built in August last year has specially coated floors designed to keep pets from slipping and falling and sound-proof windows to keep barking and other noises from being heard by neighbors. One staffer at a housing unit exclusively designed for pet owners said, "Tenants mostly own many large dogs and moved here despite higher rents after facing complaints from their neighbors in their former residences". More and more hotels in Seoul are setting up separate floors for pet owners and providing pet-care equipment to guests L'Escape, a boutique hotel run by Shinsegae, allocated 14 rooms on its ninth floor for pet owners. They have no carpets, and the hotel's Chinese restaurant allows owners to bring their pets too. Several hotels in Seoul like the Four Seasons Hotel and Sheraton Seoul Palace Gangnam Hotel allow up to two pets per guest. According to industry insiders, homes designed for pets are 15 to 20 percent more expensive than regular housing units. Also, hotels in Seoul charge an additional W30,000 to W250,000 per pet. Park Joon-young at the Korea Pet-codi Association, which advises businesses and individuals on pet-care services, said, "We get a lot of inquiries by builders interested in building homes catering to pet owners. We will see a growing number of homes catering to pets as the pet-care industry is growing rapidly". Published on 2019/02/24 | Source The number of people who report that they are suffering from insomnia is increasing each year, according to data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service on Monday. Advertisement Visitors to doctors due to insomnia increased from 461,790 in 2014 to 560,855 in 2017, reaching 400,035 in the first half of last year alone. Prescriptions of sleeping pills also rose from 1.23 million in 2014 to 1.6 million in 2017. One reason may be that Korean society is aging, and older people find it harder to go to sleep. But insomnia complaints are also rising among people in their 20s and 30s, mostly from depression and anxiety. Insomnia patients among women in their 20s and 30s increased only five percent over the last four years, but among men it surged 25 percent. "In Korean society, men tend to suffer from more stress than women if they fail to find a job", Na Hae-ran at St. Mary's Hospital in Seoul said. "Some men in their 20s suffer from even more stress since they face being drafted into the military". Insomnia is also impacting middle-aged people, particularly women undergoing menopause. One out of five people who went to see a doctor for insomnia in 2017 were women in their 50s. Many of them complained about other symptoms of the menopause, such as hot flushes as well as depression. Many retired men in their 60s and 70s suffer from insomnia because they no longer lead such active lives. Choi Tae-kyu at CHA Medical Center in Bundang said, "People usually go through changes in their lifestyles after retirement. Also, they sleep less when they get older. So many retired people go to bed early and wake up early but then can't find anything to do". But another reason for the increasing statistics is growing awareness of insomnia as an ailment. In the past, most people passed it off as a simple nuisance. Doctors recommend searching for the fundamental cause of insomnia rather than relying on sedatives. "If insomnia is caused by depression or anxiety, treating such illnesses will effectively fix it", Choi said. The same goes for insomnia caused by work stress, jet lag and working night shifts. Prolonged use of sleeping pills increases tolerance, requiring higher doses. Haiti - Diplomacy : The Ambassador of the United States supports President Moise Friday on the Voice of America (VOA) Creole in Port-au-Prince, US Ambassador Michele Sison accredited in Haiti, expressed her support for President Jovenel Moise, who has been the subject for two weeks of demonstrations nationwide demanding his resignation "We have always underscored, in our statements as well as our diplomatic conversations ... our belief in the legitimacy of Haiti's institutions and its elected officials." When asked if the United States was willing to help mediate multi-party negotiations to try to resolve the political crisis in the country, the Ambassador said the burden lay on the Haitians themselves to solve their problems. "Many people are talking about the need for a national dialogue. The United States wants to encourage such a dialogue but it must be inclusive, it must be constructive, in good faith where all the stakeholders, political, economic, young people, women, the private sector, religious leaders get together to dialogue without preconditions." Asked about the return to the United States of 7 people (5 US and 2 Serb residents in the USA) arrested on February 17 while driving in Port-au-Prince in unregistered vehicles with powerful weapons, drones and satellite communication equipment, https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26963-haiti-flash-a-mysterious-commando-of-heavily-armed-foreigners-arrested-in-port-au-prince.html , Ambassador Sison replied "The return of these individuals was coordinated with the Haitian authorities," reiterating the State Department position, she did not elaborate. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27020-haiti-flash-pm-demands-explanations-from-minister-aly-on-the-transfer-to-usa-of-7-foreigners.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27011-haiti-flash-the-haitian-arrested-with-the-armed-commando-would-not-be-part-of-the-group.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27009-haiti-flash-back-in-the-united-states-the-members-of-the-commandos-are-free.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27001-haiti-flash-not-a-transfer-but-an-extraction-of-the-members-of-commando.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26991-haiti-flash-the-7-foreign-oof-commandos-have-left-haiti-without-handcuffs-for-the-usa.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26981-haiti-flash-mess-at-the-palace-around-the-commandos-of-foreigners-arrested-at-pap.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26972-haiti-flash-the-mystery-remains-around-the-mission-of-the-commando-of-foreigners-arrested-to-pap.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26963-haiti-flash-a-mysterious-commando-of-heavily-armed-foreigners-arrested-in-port-au-prince.html SL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Social : 2nd flights of Haitians expelled from the Bahamas Following the announcement on Thursday of Hubert Minnis, Prime Minister of the Bahamas of the resumption of repatriation of Haitians in irregular migration situation, suspended temporarily on Sunday, February 17 https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-26969-icihaiti-politic-the-bahamas-temporarily-suspend-deportations-of-haitians.html estimating that the situation had improved in Haiti, Friday 112 Haitian nationals in irregular migratory situation left New Providence, the main island of the archipelago of the Bahamas aboard a flight of the national airline Bahamasair at 7:00 in the direction of Port-au-Prince. This is the second flight of Haitians repatriated after the one of January 14, when 45 Haitians were sent back to Haiti https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26652-haiti-flash-first-flight-of-haitians-deported-from-the-bahamas-expected-today.html The Ministry of Immigration of the Bahamas said in a statement that the 112 Haitians included the 18 survivors of the sinking off the islands of Abaco February 16 last https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26829-haiti-flash-shipwreck-off-the-islands-of-abaco-16-dead-and-15-haitian-survivors.html , the 64 Haitian migrants recently apprehended in the Exumas and 30 people arrested in New Providence and in the islands Family. Recall that nearly 70,000 immigrants (18% of the population of the Bahamas) live in the archipelagos of the Bahamas, most of them in an irregular situation, including at least 50,000 Haitians... In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that after consultations, the diplomatic and consular staff of the Bahamas Embassy in Port-au-Prince had returned to the Haitian capital and resumed their diplomatic and regular consular duties on Friday, stressing that he would continue to monitor the situation on the ground. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26979-haiti-social-towards-an-exodus-of-haitians-in-the-bahamas.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-26969-icihaiti-politic-the-bahamas-temporarily-suspend-deportations-of-haitians.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-26934-icihaiti-bahamas-the-embassy-of-haiti-wants-to-solve-the-madness-of-boat-people.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-26723-icihaiti-security-rescue-of-31-haitians-by-the-us-coast-guard.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26652-haiti-flash-first-flight-of-haitians-deported-from-the-bahamas-expected-today.html SL/ HaitiLibre A mid-level restaurant, like Chilis, Red Robin or Panera. Light industry to keep jobs in the area. More retail so we don't have to go to Tucson. Better and more mass transit options. All of the above. Vote View Results Update: Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G was announced with the Snapdragon X50 modem for 5G speeds. The Xiaomi Mi 9 was next, and the event revealed its low price tag of 449 in Spain and Italy, but the device comes with 6 GB RAM and 64 GB storage. Original story follows: Xiaomi announced the Mi Mix 3 back in October with a promise to introduce a 5G version in the first quarter of 2019. The time has come and the company is gathering the spotlights for the introduction, taking place at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya in Barcelona. We are at the event and expect to see the Xiaomi Mi 9 appear on the global scene, along with its pricing and availability across the world. Hello from MWC 2019 The Xiaomi Mi 9 already arrived in China and we managed to review the smartphone. It is among the first devices with Snapdragon 855, and even if 5G is not part of the package, the device is still a thoughtfully designed and nicely executed flagship. The Mi Mix 3 is also a stunner - it was introduced with an attractive price tag and Snapdragon 845, but the new version with 5G connectivity, based on the Snapdragon's X50 modem and 855 chipset surely will set you back more than the initial 500. It has some setbacks, but the slider mechanism just clicks with you. We are also hoping to see the Xiaomi Mi 9 SE on stage since it was introduced alongside the flagship Mi 9 back on Wednesday. If you cant see the YouTube video we have given you, make sure you follow the link below for a stream from the official Xiaomi account on Facebook. Introduction There is no shortage of announcements this MWC. Today we see four new devices from Nokia from the feature-phone category progressively through to the top of the midrange. It has only been just over two years since HMD Global began marketing smartphones with the Nokia brand and its portfolio keeps getting bigger despite the overall global smartphone market declining. Nokia's ambitions are very strong and its software strategy with Android One is serving it very well. Today, the majority of Nokia's device portfolio is already updated to Android Pie and it is one of the best brands to buy in the midrange if timely Android updates is a top priority. Leading up to the MWC, Nokia has been constantly rolling out Android Pie updates to devices released back in 2017. Last month, Nokia announced three new North American partners as it solidifies its presence in the US and Canada following a year of rapid global expansion. These new devices build on the same design philosophy and pure Android software strategy that has catapulted Nokia into the mainstream over the past couple of years. Feature phones are still in demand, and Nokia is feeding that demand with the brand new Nokia 210. Meanwhile, the Nokia 1 Plus is HMD's new entry-level offering with a removable battery. Next up is the Nokia 3.2, a successor to the 3.1, with a much larger display and dedicated Google Assistant key. Finally, there is the Nokia 4.2, which has a notched display and dual camera for less than 200. Nokia 4.2 specs Body: polycarbonate frame, 2.5D glass on rear polycarbonate frame, 2.5D glass on rear Screen: 5.71" HD+ with teardrop notch; 2.5D glass; 19:9 aspect ratio 5.71" HD+ with teardrop notch; 2.5D glass; 19:9 aspect ratio Camera: 12MP+2MP main 12MP+2MP main Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 Memory: 2GB/16GB and 3GB/32GB ROM versions 2GB/16GB and 3GB/32GB ROM versions Software: Android One (Android Pie) Android One (Android Pie) Battery: 3,000mAh 3,000mAh Connectivity: NFC NFC Misc: Rear fingerprint; White notification LED integrated into power key Rear fingerprint; White notification LED integrated into power key Average MSRP: $169 for base model and $199 for high-spec, expected in end of April 2019 Nokia 3.2 specs Body: Polycarbonate unibody design Polycarbonate unibody design Screen: 6.26" IPS LCD with tear-drop notch 6.26" IPS LCD with tear-drop notch Camera: 13MP main/ 5MP selfie 13MP main/ 5MP selfie Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 429 Qualcomm Snapdragon 429 Memory: 2GB/16GB & 3GB/32GB versions 2GB/3GB RAM; 16GB/32GB ROM 2GB/16GB & 3GB/32GB versions 2GB/3GB RAM; 16GB/32GB ROM Software: Android One (Android Pie) Android One (Android Pie) Battery: 4,000 mAh battery 4,000 mAh battery Connectivity: Misc: Notification LED integrated into power key; Dedicated Google Assistant key; Fingerprint sensor for higher specs model; White notification LED integrated into power key Notification LED integrated into power key; Dedicated Google Assistant key; Fingerprint sensor for higher specs model; White notification LED integrated into power key Average MSRP: $139 for base model and $169 for high-spec, expected in end of April 2019 Nokia 1 Plus specs Body: Interchangeable back covers with nano 3D pattern, polycarbonate frame; 8.55mm thick Interchangeable back covers with nano 3D pattern, polycarbonate frame; 8.55mm thick Screen: 4.5" IPS LCD; 18:9 aspect ratio 4.5" IPS LCD; 18:9 aspect ratio Camera: 8MP main with AF; 5MP selfie 8MP main with AF; 5MP selfie Chipset: Mediatek MT6739WW Mediatek MT6739WW Memory: 1GB RAM + 8GB/16GB ROM 1GB RAM + 8GB/16GB ROM Software: Android Pie Go edition Android Pie Go edition Battery: Removable 2,500 mAh battery Removable 2,500 mAh battery Connectivity: MicroUSB 2.0; 3.5mm audio jack; Dual SIM support; Bluetooth 4.2; MicroUSB 2.0; 3.5mm audio jack; Dual SIM support; Bluetooth 4.2; Average MSRP: $99, expected in March 2019 Nokia 210 specs Body: Polycarbonate build Polycarbonate build Screen: 2.4-inch QVGA (320x240px) 2.4-inch QVGA (320x240px) Camera: VGA (0.3MP) camera with flash VGA (0.3MP) camera with flash Chipset: Memory: 16MB ROM 16MB ROM Software: S30+ platform, Opera Mini, Facebook, Classic Snake, Mobile AppStore S30+ platform, Opera Mini, Facebook, Classic Snake, Mobile AppStore Battery: removable 1,020 mAh battery removable 1,020 mAh battery Connectivity: dual SIM, FM Radio, 3G dual SIM, FM Radio, 3G Average MSRP: $30 Finally,Join us on the next page as we let's take a look at the Nokia 4.2 first. This is a device with many features you'd normally find on a premium phone for less than 200. HMD unveiled three budget smartphones mere hours before the start of the annual MWC in Barcelona - the Nokia 1 Plus, Nokia 3.2, and Nokia 4.2. One feature phone is also on the list - the Nokia 210. Nokia 4.2 The Nokia 4.2, despite what the model name might suggest, isn't a successor to a specific device. Not only that, but it's the first Nokia phone ever to use the number 4 at that start of its model number. The Nokia 4.2 is a dual-glass smartphone with a plastic frame, which makes its build the most premium of the newly announced budget offers. The 4.2 model packs a waterdrop-notched TFT display of 720p and 5.71" in diagonal. The 4.2 runs on a Snapdragon 439 chip - it has octa-core A53 processor and Adreno 505 GPU. Then you can have the Nokia 4.2 with 2GB or 3GB RAM depending on the storage - 16GB or 32GB - both expandable. Nokia 4.2 has a dual-camera on the back - a 13MP f/2.2 snapper with a 2MP depth sensor, phase-detect autofocus, and a LED flash. The main camera supports the trendy night mode, which stacks a couple of images to produce a better exposed low-light photo. There is also a fingerprint scanner at the back, just below the camera. The small curvy notch has the 8MP selfie camera, which can also be used for AI-driven Face Unlock. And speaking about AI, we should note the Nokia 4.2 has a dedicated Google Assistant key, so talking to Google's smart assistant is just one click away. Finally, the Nokia 4.2 has a pulsating white notification light in its power key, just like a couple of other Nokia phones. It supports 4G, there is FM radio, NFC, and vanilla Android Pie courtesy of Android One is 4.2's operating system. The Nokia 4.2 will launch in Black and Pink Sand colors this April and will retail at $169 for the 16GB model and $199 for the 32GB one. Nokia 3.2 The Nokia 3.2 expands on the Nokia 3.1 and 3.1 Plus with an even bigger screen with smaller bezels, larger battery, newer chipset and up to date Android OS. The Nokia 3.2 packs a 6.26" TFT screen of 720 x 1,520 pixels with a tiny waterdrop-shaped notch for the selfie camera. That's a lot bigger than Nokia 3.1's 5.2" display and a bit taller than the 3.1 Plus 6.0" screen. The Nokia 3.2 is powered by the Snapdragon 429 chipset (4xA53 CPU, Adreno 504 GPU) with either 2 or 3 gigs of RAM, depending on the storage option - 16 or 32 GB - both expandable. The 3GB/32GB model is the only one to feature a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. The main camera of the Nokia 3.2 is a single 13MP shooter with autofocus and a LED flash. There is no night mode here. The front 5MP camera not only works for selfies, but it supports Face Unlock as well. The new Nokia 3.2 features a beefy 4,000 mAh battery, which should deliver some outstanding battery scores. The Nokia 3.2 runs Android Pie as part of Android One, so regular security updates are to be expected monthly. Nokia 3.2 has a bright notification light within its power key, just like the 4.2. 4G support, FM radio, and a dedicated Google Assistant key complete the Nokia 3.2 specs. The phone is expected to launch in April in black and steel colors and cost $139 for the 16GB model and $169 for the 32GB one with the fingerprint scanner. Nokia 1 Plus The Nokia 1 Plus, as the name suggests, is a larger version of the Nokia 1 launched a year ago. It's still the same budget phone running Android Go edition, but with a taller 5.45" screen and a larger 2,500 mAh battery. So, the new Nokia 1 Plus has a 5.45" IPS LCD display of 480 x 960 pixels (18:9 aspect ratio). Under the hood, the chipset is still the same MT6739 one with a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor and PowerVR GE8100 GPU. There is also 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage - the same as on the original Nokia 1. Obviously, that's quite a feeble hardware and hence the Android Go Edition though this time around it's version 9 Pie. It will receive monthly security updates, as usual. The camera department got an upgrade, too. The Nokia 1 Plus has an 8MP camera with autofocus and LED flash at the back and a 5MP selfie snapper at the front with Beauty mode. The Nokia 1 Plus will be available in black, red, and blue options and will retail at $89. A limited 16GB model will go on sale for $99 in Latin America at some point. The Nokia 1 Plus has interchangeable back covers and a removable battery. Nokia 210 Yes, HMD still makes Nokia feature phone and it was actually happy to share that it's the world's Top 1 feature phone maker. So it should not be surprising that they've announced one new feature phone side by side with those three Android smartphones. We are talking about the Nokia 210 although there is really not much to talk about. The Nokia 210 has a 2.4" QVGA screen, the usual clicky numpad, and it packs a VGA camera on the back with a LED flash. The phone runs on S30 software that offers Opera Mini Browser, Facebook, and Classic Snake game. There is a Mobile Store for app downloads, though the storage for app installation is really scarce, so your choice is extremely limited. Still, the Nokia 210 will go on sale in a month and will set you back just $35. Heres how much the Xiaomi Mi 9 will cost in Spain, France, and Italy Xiaomi introduced the Mi 9 flagship in China on Wednesday, but today the phone made a global appearance during an event in Barcelona, prior to MWC 2019. Donovan Sung, president of product management at the company, took the stage and announced how the price of the smartphone along with a new memory combo - 6 GB RAM and 64 GB storage. Xiaomi Mi 9 Price in China Price in Italy & Spain Price in France 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage N/A 449 469 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage CNY 2,999 499 N/A 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage CNY 3,299 N/A N/A We already reviewed the Xiaomi Mi 9 as one of the first smartphones with Snapdragon 855 in the world. It has a triple camera, the main sensor being 48 MP, Android Pie and plenty of new features. Fans in France, Spain, and Italy can already pre-order the smartphone at Mi.com, the physical Mi Store and at selected retailers. Currently, only the Black option can be pre-ordered, with the Violet Black and Ocean Blue variants nowhere to be seen. Source The Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL are both great phones but perhaps Google is feeling a bit pressured with all the new releases during this year's MWC in Barcelona, especially from the Samsung Galaxy S10-series. So Google's Store responds with an awesome limited time offer for its US customers. The Pixel 3 and 3 XL can now be bought for $599 and $699, respectively, which is a $200 discount that lasts until March 3 at 11:59 PM PT. Hurry up because the promotion may end sooner if the store runs out of stock. Source A man wearing a gorilla suit broke into a Louisiana home and hid under a mattress but officers found and arrested him anyway, officials said. News outlets quote Sulphur Police Department spokesman Mel Estes in Thursday reports as saying that officers saw Jeremie Moran walking through yards in the costume. They had received calls about a suspicious person looking into homes. On Tuesday, Tucker Carlson of Fox News began a segment on "hate crime hoaxes." He called the case of Jussie Smollett "exceptional, but only to the extent that it has received much more publicity than most hate hoaxes - and there are many of them." Then on Thursday, radio host Rush Limbaugh said the "left is nothing but phony hate crimes, phony alleged hate crimes, phony charges, made-up stories." Hate crime is increasingly becoming a political weapon, with some conservatives seizing on the recent arrest of Smollett, who allegedly concocted a racist and homophobic attack, to spread the belief that hoaxes are fueling the rise in hate crimes in America. Conservative news outlets are now routinely running pieces listing chronologies of "hate hoaxes." Websites, bearing names like "fakehatecrimes.org," are categorizing every perceived incident. A Republican lawmaker in Minnesota said this week he planned to introduce legislation to crack down on false reports of hate crimes, lamenting on Twitter "the recent rise in fake victimization." And a conservative publishing house will put out a new book next week premised on the notion that "we're not experiencing an epidemic of hate crimes . . . but we might be experiencing an unprecedented epidemic of hate crime hoaxes." The nascent culture war over hate crime obfuscates what researchers call the empirical truth of hate crimes: They are rising in America. And exceptionally few are faked or "hoaxed." "What's been disturbing in the sciences is that we've gone from fair-minded professional critiques to downright conspiracy theories," said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University at San Bernardino. "The American public has a right to know [hate crime facts] but there is an orchestrated campaign by political pundits not to only point out limitations in the data - which is appropriate - but to obscure the real information that is out there." The number of hate-crime incidents rose 17 percent in 2017, according to the FBI, which doesn't track the rate of false allegations. Hate crimes have grown in major American cities in each of the last five years, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University at San Bernardino. The trend has been particularly pronounced in places like the District of Columbia, where the number of hate crimes has nearly doubled since 2016. Since then, according to the center's preliminary figures, there have been fewer than 50 false reports of a hate crime across America, out of an estimated 21,000 reported hate crimes over that time period - a rate of 0.3 percent. The FBI categorizes hate crimes as a crime "motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity." "I've been doing this since the 1980s, and we don't have any indication where lying about this is a widespread phenomenon," said Jack McDevitt, the director of the Institute on Race and Justice at Northeastern University in Boston. The tendency to dispute claims of hate crimes - that victims are making it up for attention - has historic roots. There were allegations during the mid-1990s that some burnings of black churches - carried out by young white male racists - were made up, said James Nolan, a hate crime expert with West Virginia University. White supremacist groups have for years called hate crimes faked, or described whites as their true victims. But such allegations have accelerated in a media environment where news stations and websites have clear political leanings, social media amplifies every political difference, and accusations of "fake news" and "media hoaxes" are regular and pervasive. That perception has deepened when high-profile liberals and Democrats have seized on allegations of hate crimes - sometimes to show solidarity with minority communities - which turned out to be untrue or more complicated than originally presented. Before Jussie Smollett, there was a Long Island woman who recanted claims she made to police that teens yelled "Trump 2016, told her she "didn't belong here," then slashed her tires. And before her, there was an 18-year-old Muslim woman who was charged with filing a false report after she claimed three men attacked her, tried to pull off her hijab and yelled "Donald Trump!" Those incidents - and the way they reinforce a conservative media narrative of fake hate crimes - could lead large swaths of Americans to doubt hate crime research, experts worry. Such denial is "morphing and becoming more mainstream," said Peter Simi, a professor at Chapman University who has extensively studied hate in America. Rising hate crime in the country has, to a certain degree, become a referendum on President Trump, whose election coincided with a spike in hate crimes, research shows. "It is another element in a very profound and pervasive culture war," said Jack Levin, co-director of Northeastern University's Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict. "Those who voice their concerns about the growing number of hate crimes against a variety of vulnerable groups are seen as anti-Trump. . . . And some of the pro-Trump detest the idea of hate crimes and refuse to acknowledge the idea that there are certain victimized groups in America who deserve our attention." Wilfred Reilly, an associate professor at Kentucky State University and the author of the new book that will be released next week, Hate Crime Hoax: How the Left is Selling a Fake Race War, said the left was as guilty of the polarized debate. "It's politicization to say there's a massive surge of hate under our president." He said liberals often characterizes all hate crimes as "attacks on innocent people of color," when "you don't know what happened." The divisiveness has made political targets out of some researchers charting the rise of hate crime in the country. Levin says he has been accused of being funded by George Soros, the billionaire investor and liberal donor, or Nicolas Maduro, the embattled and socialist Venezuelan president. He said he often gets phone calls from people angry about what his work has shown - the product, he said, of an "orchestrated attack against truth." He played one of them for a Washington Post reporter. "You liberal lib," the voicemail said. "There are not as many white supremacists or whatever as there are this piece of trash on the left who has been paid to create more hate. ... It's horrible how you left has created so much hate in America." Another awards show, another chance to see Hamden-raised musician Anthony Rossomando vie for a coveted trophy for co-writing "Shallow," sung by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper from "A Star is Born." The song is up for Best Original Song at the 91st Academy Awards on February 24. Rossomando, a musician with the band Dirty Pretty Things, co-wrote "Shallow" with Gaga, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt. The song won a Critics' Choice Movie Award, a People's Choice Award and Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's performance it garnered them the Grammy for Best pop duo/group performance at the 2019 Grammys. "'Shallow' speaks to the power of vulnerability," said Rossomando in an email exchange recently. "I'm proud to have written it with friends and deeply touched that it resonates with so many people. An award is icing on a cake." Anthony's father Fred Rossomando is a longtime Wallingford music teacher. In a recent panel put on by the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Variety, Rossomando revealed that he, Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt originally wrote "Shallow" with a much different tone. "Mark had a little bit more groove production to it, but I reckoned the epic power ballad couldn't be contained," he said. "The 'in the shallows' used to be a little more '60s doo-wop when we did it, but it rubbed a little weird. [Lady Gaga] pulled a lot of the 'la-las' and 'ah-ahs' out and it gave it much more resonance. There were little nips and tucks after that original production." He added he thought Bradley Cooper's input on the direction the songs vital, and "I think his vision should be recognized just as much as the writers' on this." But the familiarity of the four writers helped during the "Shallow" writing session. "I've been doing a ton of stuff with Mark. They're two of my best friends, and I spent a lot of time to Stephanie. We really come from a very similar place. We're all like tri-state area kids we could have been in a band together," he said. GREENWICH One sign that spring is on the horizon is when the maple sap begins to run. The Greenwich Land Trust shared a lesson in how to tap a sugar maple tree with a demonstration on Saturday at its 4-acre Mueller Preserve. Update: According to the Florida assistant states attorney, a nolle prosse has been issued in the case against Jonathan S. Weiss. Although there was probable cause to make an arrest, the evidence cannot prove all legally required elements of the crime alleged and is insufficient to support a criminal prosecution, the states attorney said. GREENWICH Although more than half of the people charged along with Patriots owner Robert Kraft are full- or part-time Florida residents, one Connecticut resident also faces charges. GREENWICH A Cos Cob woman died Saturday from injuries sustained in a four-vehicle crash on Monday in East Hartford. The victim is 67-year-old Kathryn Kesseli Guimard, of Valleywood Road in Cos Cob. She was driving one of the four vehicles involved in a crash on Route 5/15 south in East Hartford on Monday afternoon, according to the Connecticut State Police report of the incident. Guimard was a former member of the town Board of Estimate and Taxation. Troop H in Hartford dispatched troopers to a reported rollover crash on Route 5/15 south near the Exit 90 onramp in East Hartford around 2:20 p.m. on Monday. When troopers arrived, they found one of the drivers, Guimard, suffered serious injuries. Due to the extent of injuries involved, and that the vehicles involved were across all lanes of the highway, Route 5/15 was shut down to conduct the investigation, state police said. An initial investigation found all vehicles involved were headed south in the right lane just south of the Exit 90 onramp in East Hartford when they approached congested traffic. As the vehicles were slowing to a stop, the car driven by a 33-year-old Glastonbury resident, rear-ended Guimards vehicle. The impact pushed Guimards vehicle forward and caused her to hit the vehicle in front of her, which was occupied by four Wappingers Falls, N.Y., residents. The vehicle with the Wappingers Falls residents then hit the vehicle in front of them, being driver by a Huntington, N.Y., resident. Other than Guimards injuries, five people in the Wappingers Falls vehicle reported possible injuries. and the others reported none, according to the state police report. Guimard was taken to Hartford Hospital to be treated for her injuries. She was pronounced dead at 1:40 p.m. Saturday, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The investigation is active, pending further investigation. Witnesses are asked to contact Troop H at 860-534-1000. When the Smithsonian opened the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C., in 1987, its namesake was hailed as a philanthropist and connoisseur who had amassed one of the world's greatest collections of Asian art. Now the Smithsonian is one of several blue-chip cultural institutions dealing with the blowback from the Sackler family's other legacy - the American opioid crisis. The most dramatic of these recent demonstrations occurred last weekend, when viral videos showed hundreds of activists chanting, "Shame on Sackler" inside the Guggenheim Museum, as they rained fake prescriptions through the cavernous atrium, where empty pill bottles rolled on the floor in protest of the family at the center of the ongoing public health epidemic. The Sackler name is displayed in museums worldwide in recognition of gifts made by Arthur Sackler; his brothers, Mortimer and Raymond; and, after their deaths, their heirs. For more than five decades, individually and jointly, Sackler family members have donated to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the American Museum of Natural History and the Dia Art Foundation. There's a Sackler gallery at the Princeton University Art Museum and Sackler museums at Harvard University and Peking University in Beijing. The family and its foundations also have donated to European cultural institutions, including the Louvre in Paris, and London's Royal Academy, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate Modern and the Old Vic theater. They have supported science education and research, with schools, institutes and centers named for them at Tufts, Cornell, New York and Yale universities, among others. But the Sackler name is becoming increasingly tied to the opioid crisis, thanks to the efforts of activists who have spotlighted the source of Mortimer and Raymond Sackler's wealth: the pharmaceutical giant Purdue Pharma, which since 1996 has manufactured and marketed the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin. Lawsuits have been filed, and protesters have used social media and demonstrations to raise awareness of what they call tainted donations. Students and arts advocates have called on the museums to renounce the donors and remove their names from their buildings. Three decades after Arthur Sackler's death, his family's legal problems and deteriorating public image are proving to be a grave threat to his cultural legacy. --- Arthur Sackler, who died four months before the Sackler Gallery opening, had donated 1,000 works worth an estimated $50 million to the Smithsonian, along with $4 million for a museum to house them. His gift created a world-class center of Asian art and culture adjacent to the Freer Gallery of Art, which opened on the National Mall in 1923 to showcase the collection of Detroit businessman Charles Lang Freer. Sackler made his fortune as a physician and medical marketer who popularized Valium and other drugs through direct advertising to doctors. In the 1960s, he became publisher of the Medical Tribune, a weekly newsletter to doctors. He was posthumously inducted into the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame. The Sackler brothers bought Purdue Frederick Co. in 1952, and Raymond and Mortimer bought out Arthur's one-third share after his death. Purdue Pharma was formed in 1991. In 2007 - 20 years after Arthur Sackler's death - Purdue Pharma and three of its executives pleaded guilty to misleading doctors about OxyContin's potential for abuse and paid more than $600 million in fines. But recent lawsuits for the first time name members of the family that profits from the company with participating in the deception. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 400,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2017. Not all were related to OxyContin. Controversial donors are not a new phenomenon - think of the robber barons Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and Henry Clay Frick - but they have become increasingly problematic in today's polarized climate. Consumers boycott products advertised on television shows they don't like, and alumni pressure universities to rename buildings paid for by disgraced donors. Concerns about income inequality have challenged the very notion of allowing billionaires to gild their reputations by making tax-deductible gifts that result in their names being etched in stone. Public opinion is divided about whether the money should be returned or the names removed. But observers all agree - the problem is only getting worse. "It is more difficult and more salient now because we are more aware of built-in inequities," said Amir Pasic, dean of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. "Putting people's names on a building in today's atmosphere seems to be giving people of privilege something extra. We're more allergic to elevating some people over others." Outrage over the source of the Sacklers' wealth and what some view as their complicity in the epidemic have led to guerrilla protests by the anti-opioid group Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (PAIN). On Saturday at the Guggenheim, they launched a surprise protest - as they did last year at Harvard, the Met and the Smithsonian. Photographer Nan Goldin, who started PAIN after she says she became addicted to OxyContin, has spent the past year calling on arts institutions to remove the Sackler name, publicly denounce the family and refuse future gifts. The group's protest at the Guggenheim, home to the Sackler Center for Arts Education, funded by a gift from the Mortimer D. Sackler Family, was one of its largest. "We're raising awareness. It's getting out there," Goldin said. A Purdue Pharma spokesman said the company continues to support initiatives in law enforcement, education and health care aimed at addressing the opioid crisis. It says its opioid medications account for less than 2 percent of all opioid prescriptions. "Purdue Pharma is deeply concerned about the toll the opioid addiction crisis is having on individuals and communities across the nation, and we are committed to working collaboratively with those affected by this public health crisis on meaningful solutions to help stem the tide of opioid-related overdose deaths," the spokesman said in a statement. --- The issue of toxic donors is even more complicated in the case of the Sackler family, which is worth an estimated $13 billion. Its three branches and multiple generations are often - and, according to some descendants, unfairly - lumped together as a single entity. "It is a gross injustice to blame my late husband, Arthur Sackler, for the public health crisis surrounding opioids," Jillian Sackler, who continues to support the Sackler Gallery, said in a statement Monday to The Washington Post. "Arthur was never involved in Purdue Pharma, a company owned by his brothers Mortimer and Raymond and their families; he had nothing to do with OxyContin. "This drug came onto the market nearly a decade after Arthur's death in 1987. He never profited from it, nor is his estate named in any lawsuit. Not a penny of his philanthropy derived from the sale of OxyContin, and it is a disservice to the institutions he founded to suggest otherwise. Arthur would be horrified to see how this drug has been misused and would be working to find solutions." Smithsonian officials said that the gift agreement with Arthur Sackler, signed in 1982, included naming rights in perpetuity and that they had no plans to remove the name or return the donated money or art. "We give careful consideration to the process of naming," Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said in a statement. "The museum was named in recognition of Sackler's generous gift to the Smithsonian. The donation agreement requires the Smithsonian to designate the facility as the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in perpetuity." The museum's director, Chase F. Robinson, declined to comment. Since her husband's death, Jillian Sackler has been a significant donor to the gallery, contributing more than $6 million, including a donation last year. Other gifts from the family include $1.4 million from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, run by Arthur's daughter, Elizabeth, and $88,000 from Theresa Sackler, Mortimer's widow, whose most recent gift was 2016, according to the Smithsonian. While standing by the Sackler name, the Smithsonian no longer accepts naming gifts in perpetuity. In 2011, at the launch of a national fundraising campaign, it adopted a policy that limits naming of spaces to a "term of 20 years or until the next major renovation," St. Thomas said. Institutions have several options when faced with problematic gifts, said Pasic, the Indiana University dean. "Should they consider a new name? Would it be appropriate to give the money back in some way? There are no easy answers," Pasic said, adding that families with multiple branches and generations make the situation that much more complicated. "What do you do? Decide these are the bad Sacklers, these are the OK Sacklers?" A thoughtful discussion is required, he said, one that focuses on the changing perceptions of the donors and changing attitudes of constituents. "It goes to the core of the identity of the institution. This is a different era. A different time." U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New Yorks uncertainty about how to eat fried chicken has been ruthlessly mocked. U.S. Elizabeth Warrens candidacy was in trouble even before she declared because of the Massachusetts senators identifying herself as Native American. (This was a real blunder, to be sure, but not the career-ending one it is often portrayed as.) And theres so much more, even a year away from the 2020 Iowa caucuses. But why? There is a narrow universe of acceptable behavior for women, explained Heidi Moore, a media consultant who is a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal and former business editor of the Guardian U.S. online newspaper. In politics as in so many other spheres women get bashed far more than their male counterparts for personality quirks, vulnerabilities and actions of all sorts. Not to mention their appearance and speaking voices. Think of how far a female candidate would get if she came off like the rumpled and ranting Bernie Sanders. We see in coverage of women lawmakers that even minor flaws are treated as disqualifying, Moore told me, while mens flaws get brief attention but are glossed over as a case of nobodys perfect. But Roman Catholics and Southern Baptists have something else in common. Each is controlled by all-male leadership and power structures that exclude women from decision-making and oversight. Only men can be Roman Catholic priests and bishops. And only men can be Southern Baptist pastors. It should not be surprising then that men dominate the oversight processes that could demand accountability and honesty. In 1964, Addie Davis was ordained to Gospel ministry by the Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham. She was the first woman minister to be ordained in the Southern Baptist Convention, or SBC, and her ordination opened the door for other women as well. But those continuing challenges to the gender barrier were eventually viewed as a threat to theological purity, and the SBC amended the Baptist Faith and Message, its doctrinal statement, to affirm that the office of pastor is limited to men. But the issue was never just about who could be ordained. The theology of male leadership, also known as complementarianism, provides justification that underwrites the all-male leadership structure that marginalizes womens voices in the churches. Our gun rights are under attack like never before. While gun-control activists say they simply want to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, not a single one of their proposals would do anything to stop those who break the law. H.R. 8, a bill currently being debated in Congress, is described by supporters as a universal background check bill. But it would not be universal because criminals will not subject themselves to this new government mandate. Instead, H.R. 8 would only make it harder for law-abiding Americans to protect and defend themselves. For more than 20 years, every licensed gun dealer in America has had to conduct federal background checks on prospective buyers, regardless of where the gun is sold. There is no such thing as a gun show loophole or an unlicensed dealer. Every licensed dealer must conduct a background check without exception. There is a good reason Congress did not apply that same mandate to private firearms transfers because they are private! It is none of the governments business if a private citizen wants to loan, give or sell a gun to a close friend, co-worker or relative. H.R. 8 would give the federal government new authority to intrude into our private lives and criminalize everyday acts of law-abiding gun owners. Democrats could use Mueller's findings as the basis of impeachment proceedings. In a letter Friday, Democrats warned against withholding information on Trump on the basis of department opinions that the president can't be indicted. "We are going to get to the bottom of this," Schiff said. "If the president is serious about all of his claims of exoneration, then he should welcome the publication of this report." Many Republicans have also argued that the full report should be released, though most have stopped short of saying it should be subpoenaed. "We need to get the facts out there, get this behind us in a way that people thought that anybody that should have been talked to was talked to any question that should have been asked, was asked," said Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. But asked if he thought there could be a subpoena, Blunt, R-Mo., said, "I don't know that you can." The Senate committee also has been investigating whether Trump's campaign conspired with Russia. Blunt suggested a conclusion in that probe might wait until after Mueller's report. There may have been no better illustration of Harris' plight than his abrupt departure from the hearing. After announcing his belief that a new election was in order, he stepped off the dais and walked out of the room with his wife Beth. His lawyers, still in the midst of the proceeding, stayed behind leaving the Harrises to fend off a phalanx of television cameras alone. A black woman is the new editor and publisher of an Alabama newspaper after her predecessor stepped down Thursday following widespread condemnation of his Feb. 14 editorial that called for mass lynchings, and him saying that the Ku Klux Klan needed to "clean out" Washington. "Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again," the editorial in the weekly Democrat-Reporter read. The text asserted Democrats, along with some Republicans, were planning to raise taxes in Alabama. "Seems like the Klan would be welcome to raid the gated communities up there," it continued. When confronted, the paper's publisher and editor Goodloe Sutton stood by his words, telling the Montgomery Advertiser that people who were upset could call him, write a letter or boycott the paper if they wanted. He inherited the publication, which is based in Linden, Ala. and has a circulation of about 3,000, from his father in the 1980s. On Thursday, however, Sutton had an apparent change of heart. He turned control of the paper over to Elecia Dexter - an African-American woman from Chicago who served as the paper's front office clerk. "Everything has been a little surreal, and there's a lot going on," Dexter said in an interview Saturday. "I'm grateful for this opportunity." Dexter is a graduate of Eastern Illinois University where she received a bachelor's degree in speech communication, according to a news release announcing her appointment. She also received a master's degree in human services from the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, and a master's degree in counseling from Argosy University. Dexter, 46, said she's only worked at the paper for six weeks and was disappointed when she saw the editorial. She's fielded phone calls, questions and emails from supporters of the newspaper who were dismayed over the editorial and negative publicity. Dexter told The Post she'd planned to leave if no change took place. She said that she and Sutton had an "open and honest" dialogue about his comments, in which he explained his decision to invoke lynchings and the KKK in the editorial. "[He] took a group that has a lot of negativity associated to it, especially for people like me, of color," Dexter said. "There are different ways to communicate you wanted Washington to be cleaned up without using that particular reference," she added. Dexter said Sutton approached her Thursday to say he was resigning as editor and publisher. He told Dexter she could carry on the legacy of his family, who has operated the Democrat-Reporter for decades, by taking the paper in a "new direction." Sutton, who did not immediately return a phone call requesting comment, will maintain ownership of the Democrat-Reporter but will no longer oversee its day-to-day operations. Two decades ago, Sutton was praised by his peers and discussed as a potential contender for the Pulitzer Prize, News of the editorial disturbed many Democrat-Reporter's readers, who "don't want to be identified or defined by what he put in that paper," Dexter said. However, longtime readers pointed out that it wasn't the first time that the paper's editorial page had endorsed extreme or openly racist views. In May 2015, an editorial stated that the mayor of a city "up north" had "displayed her African heritage by not enforcing civilized law." Another, published in June of that year, called for drug dealers, kidnappers, rapists, thieves and murderers to be hanged "on the courthouse lawn where the public can watch." Archives reveal many more examples. The contentious editorials ran without a byline, so it's unclear which, if any, were written by Sutton. Dexter said she did not know about the editorials before joining the paper, but "started to hear little things" as she became familiar with the community. She moved to her father's hometown of nearby Sweet Water, Ala. in December and joined the Democrat-Reporter shortly afterward. "When that article came out, I saw what other people had seen years and years ago," she said. But the Feb. 14 editorial went viral and drew strong rebukes from Sutton's peers, lawmakers and the head of the Alabama NAACP, who called for an FBI investigation. Sutton didn't back away from his editorial, telling the Advertiser, "If we could get the Klan to go up there and clean out D.C., we'd all been better off . . . We'll get the hemp ropes out, loop them over a tall limb and hang all of them." Dexter described Linden as a small, diverse town with traditional values. Moving forward, she said she wants to broaden the paper's scope and begin putting its stories online to highlight the "great things happening" in the community. She knows it will take time to repair the paper's image and restore faith in it for those who read it. An announcement on the leadership change was sent to subscribers of the paper. "One thing that sticks out to me as we move forward is making sure the people of this community feel this paper represents them and their views," she said. "Family, community looking out for each other - I would like to take a personal component moving forward, so people feel like it's their paper, which it is." The Washington Post's Antonia Noori-Farzan contributed to this report. This story was first published in The Washington Post. Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content. Volta Power Systems is partnering with Hydrauliska Industri AB (Hiab) on hybrid-electric energy storage systems for the companys WALTCO brand liftgates. With the Volta system, liftgates perform more than 80 lifts on a single charge, significantly lowering idle time and carbon emissions to meet anti-idle regulations. Many states and cities have developed their own idle regulations. Idling allows trucks to power auxiliary taskssuch as liftgates. Without idling, trucks cannot maintain adequate power levels between stops, even when using multiple batteries per truck. Whether its no-idle in Chicago or five-minute idle on the east coast, drivers need the ability to make multiple stops and still operate their lifts while meeting regulations. With the Volta system, drivers can run efficient routes and still have all the power they need to run their lifts, allowing them to save money, operate more efficiently and access more power. Jack Johnson, co-founder of Volta Power Systems The Volta system creates enough energy to lift twice the weight, up to four times faster using a lighter, smaller system and less fuel overall. The industrial grade system lasts the life of the truck and decreases downtime, requiring less maintenance and saving money otherwise spent on replacement batteries. Founded in 2014, Volta Power Systems provides safe, powerful and simple lithium-ion energy storage solutions for small to mid-size businesses. The thing about this race, all the margins and polling youve seen, no outcome would be surprising other than Neal Sales-Griffin being in the runoff, he said of the low-key tech entrepreneur whos been a virtual ghost in the campaign. Preckwinkle has the best chance to get in the runoff, said Axelrod, who now runs the University of Chicagos Institute of Politics. He says former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley has a shot, as does Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, ex-federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot, businessman Willie Wilson and public policy consultant Amara Enyia. Note: We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email circulation@skagitpublishing.com for help creating one. Theres the building that served as the headquarters of the Danville chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, one of the nations premiere civil rights organizations in the 1950s and 1960s. It was in this building that many of the demonstrations and protests were planned. And down the street is a building that essentially was a black medical clinic, housing offices of black doctors and dentists. A movie theater and several restaurants were also located on Union Street, all serving Danvilles black residents when they were banned from setting foot in the white parts of town. But the beating heart of North Union Street was First State Bank, which was founded in 1919 and for decades was Virginias oldest black-owned bank. It was only in 2017 that it was sold to North Carolina-based Movement Bank. During its heyday, First State was known for providing capital to local, black-owned businesses that the white-owned Main Street banks refused to serve. Like other black-owned banks throughout the South, First State played a key role locally in the civil rights struggle, stepping in when jailed protesters needed bail money. First State was equally important in helping to build literally the black neighborhoods of segregated Danville by providing home mortgages to African-Americans when no other financial institution would have anything to do with them. Cadets from Dan River High Schools JROTC prgram were selected to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Quantico Marine Corps base outside of the nations capitol served as the base of operations for the 15 cadets and 4 chaperones. While there they toured the National Marine Corps Museum, the National Mall, (including the Lincoln Memorial, National World War II, Korean War, and Viet Nam Veterans Memorial), along with a somber visit to the National Holocaust Museum. The tour concluded with the wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. On a sunny and breezy winter afternoon, cadet cadet Lt. Col. Haley Guerrant and Sgt. Maj. Tomi McGinnis, accompanied by soldiers from the Third Infantry Division, solemnly laid the wreath at 4:15 p.m. on Feb. 16. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier rests atop a hill overlooking Washington, D.C., and is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in any weather, by sentinels. Official wreath laying ceremonies are limited to just several a day with a maximum of four presenters. This was something we could do to commemorate and honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, said Dan River High JROTC instructor Sgt. 1st Class Michael Coder. It was an honor to be part of this ceremony and show our appreciation, said senior Army instructor Maj. James Durham. We wanted to show the cadets how important sacrificial service and dedication to duty are to the preservation of our country. HOLDEN has identified the need to improve consumer knowledge of its current product range particularly its SUVs as a crucial element in its quest to bring more prospective buyers into showrooms and reverse its current sales downturn. The embattled lion brand this week launched a new This is how we SUV marketing campaign to build awareness of its SUV nameplates and help the company achieve a targeted four per cent increase in SUV sales to 35 per cent of its overall volume. Holdens Colorado ute is expected to also make up 35 per cent of the brands total sales, leaving passenger cars which last year accounted for 38 per cent at a much lower 30 per cent this year, pushing what has long been Holdens strong suit behind SUVs for the first time in its history. In overall terms, Holden is now expecting to reverse its 33 per cent sales freefall last year and return to growth, improving on the historic low figure of 60,751 units posted in its first year out from local manufacturing. The new SUV marketing campaign recognises the fact that the company has a number of relatively new nameplates in the sector and only managed 18,763 sales in 2018 well behind the combined SUV sales from rivals like Toyota, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Hyundai and Honda. Of its SUV portfolio, the longest-lasting nameplate is the Trax small SUV, which launched in Australia in September 2013. Along with small SUVs, the two other most popular SUV segments are medium and large SUVs, in which Holden fields two new nameplates the Equinox and Acadia respectively. The Equinox mid-sizer landed in Australia in late 2017, while the Acadia only just lobbed in October last year. Holdens other bona fide SUV, the Colorado-based Trailblazer seven-seater, switched its name from Colorado 7 in September 2016. GM Holden chairman and managing director Dave Buttner said this week that he and the company were satisfied with the current product portfolio, but admitted that not enough people were familiar with the brands offerings. We have a current, solid product portfolio that competes in the segments in both Australia and New Zealand where the growth is, he said. Our issue is, people dont know about it. So the whole idea of this campaign is we have to land once and for all, heres our products by name, land one unique selling proposition for each Equinox is power, (Acadia) is class, towing power for Colorado. Its then at least a consideration, people will consider buying a Holden for their next car, which of course then leads to enquiry at the dealership. Mr Buttner took the reins of Holden in August last year and one of his first moves was to travel the country to sit down and talk with dealer council members, who echoed the same sentiment about wanting to boost the profile of the vehicles in their showrooms. They just simply wanted to ensure that from their point of view that the buying public was aware of their product, that they were on the consideration set and the enquiry was coming through either on their front or through their telephone or internet site, he said. Holden is launching a TV commercial highlighting its entire range, based around an action-packed storyline of returning a stolen painting to a museum, switching in and out of Holdens SUV range. In following months, individual campaigns will begin for each of its SUVs, including the Trax, Equinox, Acadia, Trailblazer and Commodore Tourer soft-road wagon. Mr Buttner said the SUV advertising campaign would take up the majority of Holdens 2019 marketing budget. The Road to Recovery podcast series Statement on Move To Indict Turkish Civil Society Leaders Press Statement Robert Palladino Deputy Spokesperson Washington, DC February 23, 2019 The United States is gravely concerned by reports that prosecutors in Turkey moved to indict 16 civil society, media, and business leaders. Exercising the right to freedom of expression should not result in an aggravated life sentence. The ability to exercise the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association is fundamental to any healthy democracy. We urge Turkey to respect these freedoms and to release all those held arbitrarily. From my experience there were many, many groups that we would see on technology with camera radar or something like that that we could not go address because there were not enough border patrol agents, he said. These agents sometimes left to take a truck and then walk two miles through terrible terrain to get to these groups only to have them run while theyre already exhausted and they get lost in that chaos. So is it down? Maybe. Militants Keep Preventing Refugees From Leaving Rukban Camp - Russian Military Sputnik News 03:43 23.02.2019 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Militants are still stopping refugees and their families from leaving Syria's Rukban camp and providing them false information about true intentions of Russia and Damascus, head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Syrian Reconciliation Lt. Gen. Sergei Solomatin said on Friday. According to Solomatin, two checkpoints were opened on Tuesday to facilitate the refugees' withdrawal from the Rukban camp, which lies in the area controlled by the United States. Soldiers from the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria and crews of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are working at the checkpoints, and are prepared to provide assistance for those who want to leave the camp, he added. "At the same time, illegal armed groups operating in the area [spanning] 55 kilometers [34 miles], are preventing the refugees from leaving the Rukban camp, providing them misleading information about true intentions of the Russian side and Damascus," Solomatin told a briefing. He called on the United States to put pressure on the leadership of opposition groups and prevent them from disrupting the evacuation of civilians from the camp. Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the government forces fighting against numerous opposition groups and militant and terrorist organizations. Russia, along with Turkey and Iran, is a guarantor of the ceasefire regime in Syria. Moscow has also been providing humanitarian aid to residents of the crisis-torn country. Sputnik Dunford Says Confident Allies Can Maintain Campaign in Syria After US Exits Sputnik News 04:00 23.02.2019 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford told reporters that allies will step up in Syria after Washington withdraws troops. President Donald Trump at a cabinet meeting earlier in the day said he will not reverse course on his decision to pull US troops out of Syria. The comment came just hours after reports that senior officials confirmed the United States would leave some 400 troops in the country. "I am confident we can maintain a campaign," Dunford said on Friday. Dunford also said there is no change in basic campaign, resources are being adjusted to the threat. On Thursday, the White House said a small contingent of forces would be left behind in Syria that will include 200 in a peacekeeping role. In December, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington would pull out its forces, which had been operating in Syria for years as part of the international coalition fighting against the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia). Notably, the US forces have been operating in Syria without the authorization of the Middle Eastern country's government or the UN Security Council. Washington has been supporting the Kurdish-led militia controlling the territories to the east of the Euphrates and opposing the Syrian government. Ankara, in its turn, sees the militia linked to the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which the authorities have listed as a terrorist organization. Sputnik Turkish Defence Minister Warns Pentagon Against Vacuum of Power in Syria Report Sputnik News 11:03 23.02.2019(updated 11:28 23.02.2019) Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed the same stance on the issue saying that "it is critical not to allow a vacuum [of power] to replace the American troops in Syria once they withdraw". During a visit to the US, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Ankar has warned Pentagon officials against a vacuum of power in Syria during the American troop withdrawal from the country, Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported. The news comes amid reports of US plans to leave roughly 400 troops in Syria beyond the pullout targeted for the spring. About 200 troops will be located in northeastern Syria in addition to another 200 personnel near the Jordanian border, The Washington Post reported on Friday citing a senior official. Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Dunford told reporters that allies will step up in Syria after Washington withdraws its military contingent. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders in an earlier statement said that the United States would leave a small peacekeeping group of about 200 personnel in Syria "for a period of time". "I applaud President Trump's decision to leave a small contingent of American forces in Syria as part of an international stabilizing force", US Senator Lindsey Graham said on Thursday. "This will ensure ISIS [IS]* does not return and Iran does not fill the vacuum that would have been left if we completely withdrew". In January, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that it is important to prevent the emergence of a vacuum of power in Syria following the withdrawal of US troops from the war-torn Arab republic In December, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington would pull out its forces, which have been operating in Syria for years as part of an international coalition fighting against the Daesh terrorist group. The US forces have been operating in Syria without the authorisation of the Middle Eastern country's government or the UN Security Council. Washington has been supporting a Kurdish-led militia that controls the territories to the east of the Euphrates and opposing the Syrian government. Ankara, for its part, sees the militia as linked to the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which the authorities have listed as a terrorist organisation. * Daesh (also known as ISIL/ISIS/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia Sputnik Iranian FM Not Ruling Out Military Action Against Militants in Syria's Idlib Sputnik News 15:46 23.02.2019(updated 16:01 23.02.2019) GENEVA (Sputnik) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has not ruled out that an offensive against terrorists in Syria's Idlib province could be launched because all other options to secure the area have proved fruitless and armed groups have only strengthened their positions in the region. "We are moving in this direction. We have never wanted a military operation [in Idlib] and we have been working to avoid it because we know that any kind of military action in Idlib would turn into a catastrophe. However, other approaches have failed, while the Nusra Front* has come to control even more [of the province's] territory", Zarif said in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Basler Zeitung, published on 22 February. The statement comes after Bouthaina Shaaban, a political and media adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad, said earlier the same day that Damascus had decided to regain control over Idlib province and was already discussing the time frame and ways to implement that decision. Idlib province was captured by Nusra Front jihadists in 2015. Two years later, when Iran, Russia, and Turkey reached an agreement on the establishment of Syrian de-escalation zones, militants from various armed anti-government groups that refused to surrender to the Syrian government forces were transported to Idlib from across the country. The Idlib de-escalation zone now remains the last major stronghold of terrorists and armed rebels in Syria. In September 2018, ceasefire guarantors Russia and Turkey agreed to set up a 9-12 mile wide demilitarised zone in Idlib that would be cleared of heavy weapons and militants. However, despite progress being made in the withdrawal of weapons and fighters from the area, the remaining militants regularly commit ceasefire violations by shelling nearby provinces. In addition, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in January that al-Nusra Front had taken over around 70 percent of the demilitarised zone. *al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra, known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham is a terrorist group banned in Russia Sputnik US plot aims to prevent displaced Syrians from returning home, warns Hezbollah official Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 02:26PM A high-ranking member of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement has warned about a US plot to prevent the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland so that the displaced people could be used as a pressure "lever" against the Damascus government. "Tens of thousands have already returned to Syria, and are now living normal lives. Why do some people in Lebanon are standing against the return of displaced people?" Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Saturday. He said there was a global scheme, spearheaded by Washington, which sought to prevent the return of Syrian refugees under the pretext that the situation in the Arab country was still unstable. "After they failed to advance their projects through support for militant groups, they have now organized this conspiracy," Sheikh Qassem pointed out. The senior Hezbollah official underlined that the US was harming Lebanon through the issue of displaced Syrians as it wanted the Beirut government to remain at the minimum level of efficacy. Sheikh Qassem, however, said "some political parties in Lebanon will frustrate this scheme, and will sustain the country's sovereignty." "I want to ask those who do not want the return of Syrians: What is your justification? If you are referring to the Lebanese Constitution, the Constitution makes mention of privileged relations with Syria. If you are talking about Lebanon's interests, then it is in the country's best interests that the refugees return to their country. We have a very difficult economic and social situation" the Hezbollah deputy secretary general added. On January 20, Lebanese President Michel Aoun urged world powers to "make all efforts" to help the repatriation of Syrian refugees as Damascus forces continue to liberate the country from the clutches of foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorist groups. "Lebanon calls on the international community to make all efforts possible and provide suitable conditions for a safe return of displaced Syrians," Aoun told an Arab economic summit in Beirut. Lebanon's official National News Agency reported on December 24 last year that more than 1,000 Syrian refugees had returned to their homeland from various areas in Lebanon. The return of refugees took place in the southern Lebanese cites and districts of Tripoli, Arsal, Tyre and Nabatieh, and under the supervision of Lebanon's General Security in cooperation with the UN refugee agency. The refugees returned home in buses sent by Syrian authorities throug al-Zamrani, Jdeidat Yabous and al-Dabbousiya border crossings. The refugees underwent medical checks and polio vaccines were administered to children. They were then transferred to Syria's northern and central provinces of Idlib and Homs in addition to other areas in the crisis-stricken Arab country. More than 1,000 Syrian refugees also returned to their homeland from different areas in Lebanon, including Nabatieh, Bekaa, Tripoli and Shabaa on December 16, 2018. The Arabic-language Elnashra online independent newspaper reported that the return of refugees took place under the supervision of Lebanon's General Security Directorate in cooperation with the Lebanese army. More than one million Syrian refugees are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon. The Beirut government estimates that the true number of Syrians in Lebanon stands at 1.5 million. Militants hamper exit of refugees from Rukban camp in southern Syria: Russian official Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 04:45PM Foreign-sponsored Takfiri militant groups are preventing the safe exit of thousands of displaced Syrians stranded in a camp near the Jordanian border toward government-controlled areas, and continue to terrorize them, the chief of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria says. "Illegal armed groups inside the 55-kilometer zone impede the refugees' exit from the Rukban camp, intimidate them and spread fallacy concerning the real intentions of the Russian side and Damascus," Sergei Solomatin said on Friday. The chief of Russia's National Defense Control Center, Major General Mikhail Mizintsev, said earlier this week that the Russian and Syrian coordination centers on returning Syrian refugees had managed to open two humanitarian corridors for internally displaced people inside Rukban. "The Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria is calling upon the US side to exert pressure on the leaders of opposition groups and prevent disruption of the evacuation of civilians from the Rukban camp," Solomatin said in a statement on February 19. "Efforts will continue to help restoration of infrastructure and creation of conditions for the refugees to return home," the Russian official added, noting since February 21, some 31,265 apartment units, 816 educational facilities and 139 medical ones had been restored while 1,008.8 kilometers of roads had been repaired. Russian officials have accused the US and Washington-backed militants of holding people in Rukban hostage. "We call on the American command and leaders of illegal militant groups in al-Tanf region to put an end to the forcible keeping of women and children, mostly affected by cold, illness and malnutrition in the camp. All of them will be given necessary assistance," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said on February 15 as a humanitarian convoy of the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) delivered aid, including medical supplies and basic commodities, to Rukban. Konashenkov added that Russia and Syria would jointly establish a temporary housing area for refugees from the camp. The UN says about 45,000 people, mostly women and children, are trapped inside Rukban, where conditions are desperate. This is while Geneva-based international aid agency Doctors Without Borders has put the number there at some 60,000. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that US forces were unlawfully deployed to al-Tanf region in southern Syria, training terrorists, who carry out acts of terror across Syria and prevent the return of displaced people in Rukban to their hometowns. On January 12, a Syrian mother attempted to torch herself and her children to death in the camp after she failed to find food for her family for three straight days. In October, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said people in Rukban had been without access to food and humanitarian aid for several months, highlighting that the tough situation was further complicated with a closed border by Jordan. Saudi Arabia appoints daughter of former spy chief as US ambassador Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 09:52PM Saudi Arabian government has appointed the daughter of Bandar bin Sultan, the notorious former intelligence chief, as its new ambassador to the United States. Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz received the royal decree on Saturday to become the new Saudi envoy to Washington. Reema, who has lived in the US for a long time, would be the first female Saudi ambassador. His father, Bandar bin Sultan, also served as the Saudi envoy to the US for 22 years ending in 2005. He is well known for his alleged role in massive arms deals between Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom that ended in 2006. He is believed to have pocketed about two billion dollars in bribery from more than 43 billion pounds earned by the British defense company BAE Systems. Bandar also served as Saudi intelligence chief between between 2012 and 2014. The appointment come as part of series of royal decrees which also ordered the former Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Khaled bin Salman, a son of reigning monarch King Salman, to serve as deputy to his powerful brother Mohammed bin Salman in the ministry of defense. Bin Salman the senior, only 33 and considered the de factor ruler of Saudi Arabia, is currently leading a devastating war on Saudi Arabia's southern neighbor Yemen. As part of the decrees, it was announced that Saudi soldiers fighting on southern brothers will receive a one-month salary bonus. More than 1,500 Saudi soldiers have been killed during nearly four years of war on Yemen, many of them in counter-attacks by Yemenis on military positions in southern Saudi territories. The illegal Saudi war on Yemen has left thousands of Yemeni civilians dead while inflicting huge humanitarian catastrophe on the impoverished nation. Putin: Russia to keep upgrading weapons even as they have no analogs in world Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 09:06AM Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised his country's advanced military prowess, saying Russian weapons are unparalleled in the world and would likely stay ahead of their rivals for the foreseeable future as Moscow plans to constantly upgrade them. "You know that we prioritize equipping our army with the most modern weapons, control and communication systems. Our prospective weapons do not have any analogs in the world, at least for now, and I think that they won't for a long time," Putin said at the Grand Kremlin Palace on Friday. The Russian leader added that the achievements were the result of the country's systematic and targeted measures as well as efforts by a large team of scientists, engineers and government officials. "Their unique achievements represent the basis for successful development of the army and the fleet in future decades, as well as for security and peace for Russia, for our successful and dynamic development," he said. Putin further noted that Russia, while being a peace-loving country, would continue to develop its defense capability for the sake of ensuring the country's security. "Russia is a peaceful country, and we conduct responsible foreign policy and strive for strengthening international stability," he said. "We will continue further strengthening the country's defense potential, developing and upgrading the Armed ForcesEnsuring the security of Russia and our citizens remains an absolute priority for us." Putin made the remarks days after he warned the US not to deploy medium and short-range nuclear missiles in Europe, saying the measure would "dramatically exacerbate the international security situation," and create serious challenges to Russia. Putin said Moscow wanted good ties with Washington, but was ready with its defensive response if necessary. Tensions between Russia and the US escalated following Washington's recent move to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty over claims that Moscow had violated the Cold War-era arms control treaty. US President Donald Trump announced last year that Washington would withdraw from the treaty, which was signed toward the end of the Cold War in 1987 by then US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Under the treaty, both sides were banned from creating ground-launch nuclear missiles with ranges from 500 to 5,500 kilometers and led to the elimination of nearly 2,700 short- and medium-range missiles. The pact also banned either side from deploying short and intermediate-range, land-based missiles in Europe. Washington insists that Russia's new 9M729 missile is in violation of the treaty and should be dismantled immediately. Russia rebutted the claim last month by unveiling the missile and its key specifications. Major General Mikhail Matveevsky, the Russian chief of missile and artillery troops, said the missile's maximum range is about 480 kilometers, well within what is allowed under the INF. Putin on February 2 responded to Trump's move by suspending the INF and authorizing his military forces to push ahead with the development of new missiles. However, he said that Moscow will not deploy any new missiles unless Washington does so, because Russia does not want to enter a new arms race with the US. Tokyo intends to ignore referendum on US base in Okinawa: PM Abe Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 10:36AM Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he intends to ignore Okinawan people's opinion and proceed with the government's controversial plan to relocate a US airbase on the island. Okinawa residents are set to vote on the issue in a referendum on Sunday and decide whether they approve the relocation of the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station to the remote coastal region of Henoko. The relocation plan, backed by the government of Abe, offers the closing of the base, currently located in the densely-populated part of the island and opening of a replacement facility some fifty kilometers away at Nago district. "We are proceeding with the transfer of drills conducted at Futenma to locations outside the prefecture. We will continue to put all our efforts into reducing the burden on Okinawa," Abe told the parliament on Friday. Local authorities have long objected to the plan. Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki has denounced the central government's move, saying in the past that he hopes the referendum will offer Okinawans an opportunity to voice their opposition to the move. The outcome of the Sunday vote is not legally binding. According to a poll conducted by Japan's Kyodo News earlier this month, more than two-thirds of the Okinawan voters said they would vote against the base relocation. Only one in six planned to vote in favor, according to the survey. Okinawa hosts more than half of the nearly 47,000 American military service members stationed in Japan. While Tokyo insists that the base is necessary on the island, residents oppose the presence of US forces in their homeland. They argue that moving the base to another part of Japan is not a solution, since it would still pose an environmental threat. Okinawa residents have long demanded the US base's closure, citing concerns about the long records sexual abuse on other crimes by the American soldiers. Anti-US sentiments have even been on the rise after a US serviceman was found guilty in December 2017 for rape and murder of a 20-year-old Okinawa woman. Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, who worked at the Kadena air base in Okinawa, admitted to charges of rape resulting in death of Rina Shimabukuro in April 2016. Late last year, a high court in Japan upheld a lower court's ruling that sentenced Shinzato to life in prison. They have also been frustrated over numerous US aircraft mishaps and a range of safety concerns as well as noise pollution caused by the military presence. Critics say Abe has prioritized his government's alliance with Washington over the rights of his own people. "Okinawan residents have long campaigned for the removal, reorganization and downsizing of military bases," said Hiroyuki Teruya, a professor of political science at Okinawa International University. "However, the Japanese government has prioritized the stability of the security treaty and ignored this issue." US President Donald Trump and Abe have said both governments are committed to the relocation plan. The two agreed on the need for the "long-term, sustainable presence of US forces" in Japan during their first meeting back in 2017. Iran Warns Of 'Options' To Neutralize U.S. Oil Sanctions By RFE/RL February 23, 2019 A senior Iranian official has said Tehran has many options to neutralize the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on its oil exports, the semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported on February 23. The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Council, Ali Shamkhani, also said Tehran's clerical rulers had no plans to hold talks with Washington. "Apart from closing the Strait of Hormuz, we have other options to stop the flow of oil if threatened.... The U.S. administration lacks 'goodwill.' No need to hold talks with America," Shamkhani told Tasnim. He also said Iran has achieved 90 percent of its goals in Syria, Tasnim reported. U.S. President Donald Trump in May withdrew from a landmark 2015 deal to curb Iran's nuclear program and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. Trump said the deal was flawed because it did not include curbs on Iran's development of ballistic missiles or its support for proxies in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq. Iran has expanded its missile program, particularly its ballistic missiles. Other signatories to the nuclear deal -- Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia, and the European Union -- have been working to keep it alive and have resisted U.S. pressure to abandon the accord. Shamkhani's comments come a day after Iranian state media reported that Tehran had launched large-scale naval drills at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. State agency IRNA said that more than 100 vessels were attending the three-day drills held in an area stretching from the Strait of Hormuz to the Indian Ocean. Iran has in the past threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route, in retaliation for any hostile U.S. action. Meanwhile, the UN nuclear watchdog said in its latest report that Iran has abided by the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran stayed within the accord's uranium enrichment limits and complied with limitations on its stock of enriched uranium. The report was distributed to IAEA member states on February 22 and reviewed by Western news agencies. IAEA inspectors also said in the report that they did not find any irregularities related to Iran's Arak nuclear research reactor, which originally was designed to produce plutonium as a byproduct. With reporting by Reuters and Tasnim Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-warns -of-options-to-neutralize-u-s-oil -sanctions/29786638.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. Today I lift up to you (the boy) and his mother, and his family, Brown prayed. In the name of Jesus, even right now in a state of emergency, as the doctors are trying to figure out what the progress is, Im asking you to guide them. I pray that you would speak to the body of (the boy) and that you, God, would be the healer and the miracle worker that we know you to be. Iran has new plans to neutralize US sanctions, needs no deal with Washington: Shamkhani Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 04:01PM A senior Iranian official says the Islamic Republic has devised new plans to counter US sanctions, which eliminate the need for a deal with Washington. "Basically, [negotiating] a deal with the administration of [US President Donald] Trump is wrong because it would indicate [our] acceptance of US violations of its commitments [under a 2015 nuclear deal]," Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said in an interview with Tasnim news agency published on Saturday. He added that there was no way to guarantee that the future US administration would comply with a possible new agreement. He emphasized that Washington had better prove its goodwill, lost as a result of its excessive demands, by living up to its commitments under the nuclear accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Trump withdrew Washington in May 2018 from the landmark Iran nuclear agreement, reached between Tehran and the P5+1 group of countries, and decided to re-impose unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Trump's administration announced re-imposition of the "toughest" sanctions ever against Iran's banking and energy sectors with the aim of cutting off the country's oil sales and crucial exports. Under the deal, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions. Pointing to the ongoing tension in Venezuela, Shamkhani said the situation in the Latin American country proved that Iran should not trust the US or engage in any talks with it. "Venezuela has neither a nuclear program nor missile capabilities but the US seeks a coup and a regime change there," he added. The senior Iranian official also said that Tehran had many options at hand, apart from closing the Strait of Hormuz, to "neutralize the illegal US sanctions" on its oil exports. "Cutting off oil exports does not necessarily mean the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and there are various methods to implement it, but we hope we will not be forced to use them," Shamkhani added. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday that Tehran's measures to cushion the impact of the US sanctions against the country would take the US president by "surprise." Speaking in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Basler Zeitung published in German, Zarif pointed to the US' bid to cut Iran's oil exports down to zero, and said it was still unrealistic to think Washington could exclude Iran from the oil market. However, he said, even if all customers of the Iranian crude oil decided to bow to the US pressure, the Islamic Republic had "other means" at its disposal. The SNSC secretary further played down the war rhetoric by the US and its allies against Iran and said they were intensifying their threats because they knew they could not go to war with the Islamic Republic. Trump does not seek to engage in a war with Iran but he makes such threats in order to prevent a war, he pointed out. In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with NBC News earlier this month, the Iranian foreign minister warned the US and its allies that it would be "suicidal" to go to a war with Iran. "I'm not saying President Trump's administration, I'm saying people in President Trump's administration are trying to create the same eventually and I believe they will fail," the Iranian foreign minister said. Iran Navy launches cruise missiles, torpedoes in massive drills Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 06:22PM The Iranian Navy has test-fired three cruise missiles and several types of torpedoes on the second day of major drills held in a vast area from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. The Qader and Qadeer missiles were fired from Iran's Shaheed Naqdi destroyer and the missile-launching frigate Tabarzin respectively on the second day of the massive three-day drill, codenamed Velayat 97, on Saturday. A surface-to-sea missile system also fired a Qader missile that destroyed designated marine targets. The missiles, which have ranges from 250 to 300 kilometers, can be fired from vessels, onshore systems and aircraft. The Iranian Navy's unmanned aerial vehicles, equipped with various bombs and defense units, also successfully destroyed their targets. The Navy's air defense division managed to intercept and destroy an intruding drone belonging to the mock enemy with a range of domestically-built systems, including the Misaq shoulder-fired missile. The domestically-made Tareq submarine fired an electric torpedo while the Ghadir submarine launched a domestically-manufactured torpedo called Valfajr. In another operation, an SH helicopter fired a Mark 46 torpedo to detonate a marine target. The exercises also involved commandos, who parachuted onto the ground to launch operations against mock enemy targets. The Velayat 97 drill is being held in an area of two million square kilometers, from the Strait of Hormuz to the southeastern coasts of Makran, the Sea of Oman and the northern parts of the Indian Ocean, down to the 10-degree latitude. In recent years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and hardware. Iran has also conducted major military drills to enhance the defense capabilities of its armed forces and to test modern military tactics and state-of-the-art army equipment. The Islamic Republic maintains that its military might poses no threat to other countries, stating that its defense doctrine is merely based on deterrence. IAEA once again stresses Iran commitment under JCPOA ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sat / 23 February 2019 / 10:20 Tehran (ISNA) - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in its 14th report, reiterated Iran compliance with its commitments under the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). IAEA says Iran's nuclear activities have remained within key limits of Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers -- despite growing economic pressure from U.S. sanctions reimposed after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the accord. The United Nations' nuclear watchdog, which monitors Iran's nuclear activities under the 2015 agreement, said in a quarterly report that Iran stayed within the accord's uranium-enrichment limits and complied with limitations on its stock of enriched uranium. According to AFP, the report was distributed to IAEA member states on February 22 and reviewed by Western news agencies. IAEA inspectors also said in the report that they did not find any irregularities related to Iran's Arak nuclear research reactor, which originally was designed to produce plutonium as a by-product. The IAEA's latest report showed that over the past three-month period, Iran's stock of heavy water had risen from 122.8 to 124.8 metric tonnes and that it held 163.8kg of enriched uranium, up from 149.4kg in November. Both levels are within the limits foreseen by the JCPOA. End Item Staying in JCPOA or not depends on public will: FM Zarif ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sat / 23 February 2019 / 11:09 Tehran (ISNA) Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday that staying in JCPOA or not depends on public demand. In an interview with Swiss newspaper Basler Zeitung on Friday, he added, "Some 51 percent of the Iranian people favor staying in the deal and we cannot do something against public demand". Reiterating that European states should make practical measures in addition to taking political stances, Zarif said that when the US withdrew from the deal, these countries gave commitments in 12 cases. Special financial mechanism was not among the commitments; rather it was a prerequisite, he said, noting that the deal was concluded with the aim of normalizing economic ties. Asked about US waivers for selling Iran's oil, he said such licenses have been issued not out of respect for Iran or the agreement; rather they are based on US evaluation about oil market. Global community should decide whether US' encouraging and discouraging will be in their interest all the time, he said, noting that if they were asked to cut their trade ties with China, then what reaction they would show. Responding to a question if Iran's oil customers obey the US sanctions, how Tehran will react, Zarif said that there are other options available. Asked about western media hype for inducing crisis in Iran, Zarif said that Iran is fully stable and calm, as it never relies on foreign elements. Its stability is rooted inside the country. However, the people are suffering from sanctions, he said. Elsewhere in his talk, he said that fighting terrorism is still underway, adding that Al-Nusra Front forces are still holding big parts of Idlib and a number of Daesh terrorists are present near Deir ezzur and even inside Iraq. Terrorists have assumed new face. They went home and waiting for resurface, Zarif said, warning about the situation. Referring to Zionist regime's adventurism in the region, he said that such adventurisms are always dangerous, according to IRNA. Iran is in Syria at the request of the Syrian government, but Israel has violated Lebanese airspace and international regulations, Zarif said, noting that if there is something to worry about, it is Israel's behavior. End Item Iran launches 3 cruise missiles from shore, vessles ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sat / 23 February 2019 / 11:58 Tehran (ISNA) During the second day of a massive three-day drill, codenamed "Velayat 97", Admiral Naghdi destroyer, Tabarzin missile boat and shore based missile system destroyed predetermined naval objects. Iranian naval forces on Friday started the "Velayat 97" drill in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. The drill is being held in an area of two million square kilometers, from the Strait of Hormuz to the southeastern coasts of Makran, the Sea of Oman and the northern parts of the Indian Ocean, down to the 10-degrees latitude. During the second day of the drill, Admiral Naghdi destroyer and Tabarzin missile boat launched two Qader and Ghadir anti-ship cruise missiles, destroying their naval objects. Along with the two vessels, shore based missile system has also launched a Qader anti-ship cruise missile, targeting its object in the sea. The Ghadir missile with a range of 330 km and the Qader missile with the range of 250 km are capable of being employed both from shore and from ships afloat. End Item Iran minister hails country's defense conditions IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Feb 23, IRNA -- Iran has good conditions in many fields, especially defense, said the country's Minister of Defense Brigadier General Amir Hatami on Saturday. 'Iran is rich both in terms of spirituality and assets, and can easily move toward progress,' said General Hatami on the sidelines of a conference about industry and technology. He said based on the existing conditions of the second phase of the Islamic Revolution, Iran is on a platform that can move with a different speed. Saying that the good conditions are because of using domestic capacities, he said, 'If we move forward maintaining our unity, we can find creative ways to breeze thorough the sanctions.' 9417**2044 Iran launches torpedo in Velayat-97 wargame IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Bandar Abass, Feb 23, IRNA -- Iran's Tareq and Qadir submarines launched electric and Valfajr torpedoes in the second day of Velayat 97' wargame which is underway in the Sea of Oman on Friday. During the military drills, Tareq submarine launched electric torpedo and Qadir fired Valfajr. Meanwhile, a SH helicopter launched Mark-46 torpedo. More than 100 of the Navy fleet, including different kinds of destroyers, missile launching vessels, logistic navies, light and heavy submarines, hovercrafts, fixed wing aircrafts, and helicopters have participated in the parade. The parade covers an area of more than two million square kilometers east of Hormuz Strait, Oman Sea and north of the Indian Ocean (up to 10 degrees) and the participants in the parade exercise defense and air defense tactics to safeguard the territorial waters, while hoisting banner of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Earlier, Deputy Commander of the Islamic Republic Army for Coordination Affairs Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said Iranian army is vigilantly monitoring all threats in the region. Threats have always existed against Iran, he said, stressing that the important fact is the armed forces' capabilities and readiness for confrontation and deterrence. 9376**2050 Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un to Pay Official Goodwill Visit to Vietnam Korean Central News Agency of DPRK Date: 24/02/2019 | Source: KCNA.kp (En) | Read original version at source Pyongyang, February 24 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, will soon pay an official goodwill visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at the invitation of Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. During his visit, the top leaders of the two countries will have a meeting and talks. -0- Reports: North Korea Mulls Economic Reforms Amid GDP Contraction Sputnik News 15:30 23.02.2019 Analysts from the Bank of Korea (BOK) believe the North Korean economy is becoming increasingly market-oriented despite the state's strict planned economy rules, which might suggest that Kim Jong-un is open to introducing sweeping reforms in the country. Kristian Rouz A report from a North Korea research group with the South Korean central bank suggests that the North could be seriously considering market reforms to revive its planned economy. Analysts say that Pyongyang has been concerned with the falling GDP and poor living standards for many North Koreans, and the nation's leader, Kim Jong-un, could be up for an experiment. According to officials at the Bank of Korea (BOK), North Korea's GDP contracted 3.5 percent in 2017 to roughly $32.3 bln, which is roughly 1/40 the size of South Korea's economy. BOK officials also suggest North Korea's GDP per capita stands at about $1,300, among the lowest in the world. The North Korean economy is believed to have expanded by 3.9 percent in 2016. Experts admit that these assessments might be inaccurate due to the lack of data, as well as fluctuations of the North Korean won against the US dollar, which currently stands at some 8,500 KPW per 1 USD, according to estimates from Daily NK. Other estimates of the won's exchange rate provide other figures, while market data isn't available due to the lack of practical exchange of North Korea's currency into dollars or other currencies. "The job of estimating the North Korean economy has become more and more difficult", Cho Tae-Hyoung, the head of the North Korea research team with the BOK said. Macroeconomic data on North Korea isn't widely available in general, and many experts admit they have to rely on informal assessments, satellite images, and customs data from third-party countries to evaluate the size of the nation's economy, foreign trade, and recent trends in both. Analysts have ramped up their discussions of the North Korean economy after top US officials said that Pyongyang could become an "economic miracle" if it commits to full denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. BOK experts say North Korea could be inclined to try and undertake a market-based economic reform. Cho says that the macroeconomic models used by his team to assess the state of North Korea's economy suggest that the nation is experiencing massive growth in its services sector, which is becoming more prominent amid a contraction in the nation's manufacturing base. However, analysts say, growth in the services sector demands greater openness of the national economy to the international market. This might suggest that officials in Pyongyang could be open to deepening North Korea's ties with other economies in the region, while the ongoing denuclearisation talks provide the right opportunity to do so. A separate report from the Daily NK suggests that North Korea's food prices have been stable, at roughly 5,000 KPW per 1 kilogram of rice. This price stability has been maintained despite the tough international sanctions imposed in 2017, restricting the nation's already limited trading relations with the world. However, analysts say that food security in North Korea is still a problem despite the growing rice harvests over the past few years. The nation is reliant on its domestic production of food, as well as international humanitarian aid, for its food security, and economists believe North Korea's lack of access to international markets contributes to the economic uncertainty in the country. Meanwhile, North Korean officials have recently warned the UN that international sanctions have had negative effects on its economy. "The DPRK government calls on international organisations to urgently respond to addressing the food situation", read a recent North Korean memo to the UN Security Council. However, US officials reiterated that the "maximum pressure" campaign will remain in place until Pyongyang shows substantial progress towards abandoning its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. For their part, the BOK analysts say that North Korea's growing services sector has contributed to a rise in mostly informal market-based money relations between the country's citizens. According to satellite images, there is a growing number of markets appearing across the country every year, although it remains unclear what goods are being traded and at what price. In this light, Kim Jong-un might be inclined to accept the reality of ongoing structural changes in North Korea's economy, experts say. However, it is still unclear whether the ongoing international discussions will result in a "Pyongyang thaw". Sputnik Trump: US troops withdrawal from South Korea 'not on table' in Hanoi meeting with Kim Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 10:58AM US President Donald Trump has ruled out reducing the number of American troops in South Korea as part of a deal to be discussed during his upcoming summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong-un. "No, it's not. That is not one of the things on the table," Trump said at a White House event on Friday when asked if he would consider pulling some of the 28,500 troops from South Korea. Trump and Kim are scheduled to meet in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on February 27 and 28. Senior US officials had said on Thursday the two sides would not discuss withdrawing US troops from the Korean Peninsula and would instead focus on seeking a common understanding about denuclearization. The United States has stationed some 28,500 American troops in South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War. Washington has scaled back military exercises in South Korea over the past year as part of efforts to expedite talks aimed at dismantling the North's nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs. Trump and Kim reached a vague denuclearization agreement in their first summit in Singapore last June but the ensuing talks between Washington and Pyongyang seem to have had little progress since then. Kim is demanding a solid guarantee of its security and the removal of Washington's nuclear umbrella protecting allies South Korea and Japan in exchange for denuclearization. Pyongyang has also complained about continued US and UN sanctions despite its commitment to diplomatic efforts, calling them a "source of mistrust." The US, however, says any sanctions relief would be possible only after the complete and irreversible denuclearization. The North has denounced the Trump administration's "gangster-like behavior," accusing Washington of betraying the spirit of the June summit by making unilateral demands while keeping the sanctions in place. South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday that Seoul was ready to resume inter-Korean cooperation as a "concession" if it helped the denuclearization of its northern neighbor. The US insists that UN sanctions must remain in place until North Korea gives up its weapons, while Pyongyang wants them immediately eased. Minutes before 11 a.m. Nov. 1, 2017, someone shot at Russell while he was driving in the 2700 block of East 80th Street, near Manistee Avenue, police said. He crashed his car, and was pronounced dead at the scene, the Tribune reported. He had lived in the 8400 block of South Dante Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiners office. Andranik Kocharyan: Robert Kocharyan is like recidivist who violates the constitution There would not be March 1, if Defense Minister Mikael Harutyunyan opposed Robert Kocharyan in 2008 and did not bring the army against its own people. "I consider it the worst year for our army. We have never had such a weak defense minister who was able to be forced to do not only unlawful actions, but also he made a decision to use the army against its own people," said member of the former Pastahavaq Group Andranik Kocharyan in a conversation with "A1 +." According to Andranik Kocharyan, Mikael Harutyunyan, who is now wanted, should be detected and questioned as soon as possible. "I used to say that he had to wake up his officer's honor, but I realized he had lost that feeling long ago, when signing such orders. When Mikael Haruyunyan said in Pastahavaq Group, 'Dear Andranik, why did you give me that matter?' He immediately revealed that this issue should not be given to him." Member of Pastahavaq group excludes that Robert Kocharyan was unaware of the 0038 order. "Robert Kocharyan forgets that if he had been the president of Armenia, they were obliged to report him, and those legal issues would have to be noticed by Kocharyan's advisers, and we know he had a very prominent, powerful legal advisers, including David Harutyunyan, who would hardly miss that." In the case of March 1, former Pastahavaq group, especially the 5th report, which refers to the involvement of the army, has a weighty role for the reopened of the criminal case. "Seyran Ohanyan and Mikael Harutyunyan can say more than Yuri Khachaturov. The entire ideology of this order formation came from Robert Kocharyan, but I was sure that chief of the general stuff was involved in the preparation of the order and that defense minister of that time was a mandatory participant. Yuri Khachaturov was in charge of managing this new command structure in the preparation of this order." According to Andranik Kocharyan, all the military-related processes in the framework of the March 1 criminal case must be completed quickly, keeping the armed forces away from discrediting, especially when the police, the NSS and the investigative bodies remain in shadow. "Do not accept the words of Robert Kocharyan. He is like a recidivist who violates the constitution. He must also show his masculinity, when he does not have the power," said Andranik Kocharyan and added, "Robert Kocharyan will never tell you the truth, so do not have big hopes. Neither he nor his surroundings will ever say that the yoghurt is white, and if it has to be said that the yoghurt is black, they will invite David Harutyunyan, who will definitely find a legal justification for it." He is convinced that the discovery of March 1, 2008, will open a road for revealing October 27, as it will reveal investigators who will be able to identify 27 by their qualifications. Trump aides worry he may get outmaneuvered in summit with Kim Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 10:12PM US President Donald Trump's aides worry that he may get outfoxed in the scheduled summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. That is why figures such as national security adviser John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Defense Secretary James Mattis have distanced themselves from the talks, Politico reported. "There is not optimism in the administration," said Ian Bremmer, founder and president of the Eurasia Group. "Pompeo is deeply skeptical that we are going to get anything of substance on denuclearization from Kim Jong Un, and Pompeo believes the North Koreans are just playing for time." Pyongyang has already confirmed that Kim has left on a train to go to the summit. Trump, however, has shown unprecedented excitement at the meeting scheduled next week, voicing joy over "wonderful letters" he has received from the North Korean leader, and the "good rapport" he has developed. Bolton said at The Wall Street Journal's annual CEO conference in December that North Koreans "have not lived up to the commitments so far That's why I think the president thinks another summit is likely to be productive." A joint declaration after last year's Singapore summit demand that Pyongyang "work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." There has been no indication that differences over Washington's demands that Pyongyang abandon its nuclear weapons program had been settled. Trump has claimed that Washington's diplomacy with Pyongyang has eliminated a purported threat posed by North Korea to the US national security. According to Politico, "satellite images revealed that North Korea has continued to build out a number of hidden missile bases whose existence it has never acknowledged." U.S., DPRK to seek understanding of denuclearization at Hanoi summit People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 09:09, February 23, 2019 WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will seek a shared understanding of the denuclearization at the upcoming Hanoi summit, a U.S. senior official said Thursday. At a background briefing on Thursday, the senior official from the U.S. State Department said that the two sides would work toward a shared understanding of what denuclearization means at the upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un. The official said that it was possible for the DPRK to denuclearize, while pointing out that it was yet unknown if Pyongyang has decided to do so. "I think we actually need to move very quickly in this process and need to move in very big bites," the official said, referring to the DPRK denuclearization process. "I hope we can make real progress that Chairman Kim will begin to fulfill the commitment he made in June in Singapore of last year to denuclearize his own country," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in an interview on the same day. Trump said Tuesday that he would like to see the "ultimate denuclearization" of the DPRK, but noted that he was "in no particular rush" given that the sanctions remain in effect and Pyongyang has refrained from nuclear and missile testing. The official said that the U.S. side would keep engaging with their DPRK counterparts until the start of the summit. Stephen Biegun, U.S. special representative for DPRK affairs, has arrived in Hanoi in preparation for the summit. An official from the National Security Council (NSC) told the briefing that the removal of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea had not been a subject of discussion. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, vestigal of the 1950-53 Korean War which ended with an armistice. According to the NSC official, the Hanoi summit would consist of a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Kim and expanded talks with their respective delegations. The two leaders are expected to issue a joint statement after the meeting. Trump told the press Wednesday that his trip to Vietnam next week would be "very successful," anticipating his two-day meeting with Kim would "accomplish a lot." Trump announced on Feb. 8 that his second meeting with Kim would take place in Hanoi on Feb. 27-28. His first meeting with Kim in Singapore in June resulted in improved U.S.-DPRK relations. However, differences on such key issues as a road map for denuclearization, the lifting of sanctions and whether to issue a war-ending declaration still hinder negotiations. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's train predicted to arrive in Beijing on Sunday Global Times By Bai Yunyi Source:Global Times Published: 2019/2/24 3:31:12 The city of Dandong, which borders North Korea in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, was hoping to welcome North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's train on Saturday, and the city had apparently put on a light show on the landmark China-North Korea Friendship Bridge and enhanced street patrols, say local residents. According to media reports, Kim set off by train to Vietnam on Saturday for his second meeting with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi on February 27 and 28. No details of the North Korean leader's travel arrangements have been officially released. South Korean news agency Yonhap, however, reported on Saturday that a train, with Kim likely on board, was due to arrive in Dandong around 9:40 pm on Saturday, and it was expected to arrive in Beijing on Sunday. A display of lights was seen along the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge which links the two contries around 8 pm on Saturday, a local resident told the Global Times. He said that normally the lights are turned off to save energy, and are seen only when "important guests" arrive. Lights of all the guest rooms in the Dandong Zhonglian Hotel, which is next to the bridge, were turned off on Saturday night. This was another sign that "important figures" from North Korea were coming to the city, local residents say. A resident contacted by the Global Times said that police were seen patrolling the streets on Saturday evening, while another resident said several streets had been cordoned off at around 10 pm. Roads in Dandong are normally blocked off the day important North Korean figures come to visit, said local residents. If Kim has chosen to travel by train and expects to arrive in Hanoi on February 25, he would have needed to depart Pyongyang sometime Saturday, Lu Chao, a research fellow at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times. The distance between Pyangyang, capital of North Korea, and Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, is more than 4,500 kilometres by train. If Kim makes the entire trip by train, China will have a lot of work to do to make proper track and hospitality arrangements, said Lu. It's unlikely Kim will change to a high-speed train while traveling through China. "The North Korean leader's special train is armed and bulletproof, and Chinese high-speed trains cannot meet those requirements," Lu noted. Kim's train will stop at the Vietnamese border station of Dong Dang, where he will disembark and drive 170 kilometres to Hanoi by car, Reuters quoted sources as saying on Wednesday. Lu said it is possible for the North Korean leader to take a train through part of China but then take a flight for the last leg of his journey to Vietnam. The distance between Pyongyang and Hanoi by air is 2,700 kilometers and it takes 3.5 hours on a special aircraft, according to Yonhap. The North Korean leader's travel time by train would likely be more than over 48 hours, according to the Tass News Agency. North Korean leader heads to Vietnam ahead of Trump meeting, follows grandfather's footsteps Global Times Source:Global Times Published: 2019/2/23 23:15:32 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un set off by train to Hanoi, capital of Vietnam on Saturday, ahead of his second meeting with US President Donald Trump next week. Kim will make an official visit to Vietnam in the coming days, North Korean foreign ministry announced on Saturday. The North Korean leader is scheduled to meet Trump in Hanoi on February 27 and 28, eight months after their first historic meeting in Singapore. Kim's visit to the Southeast Asian country comes 55 years after his grandfather Kim Il-sung visited Hanoi in 1964. North Korea and Vietnam established diplomatic relations in 1950. Kim Il-sung paid visits to Vietnam in 1958 and 1964. Vietnam's top leaders have also visited North Korea twice. Kim Il-sung first visited Vietnam in November 1958 after he paid his first publicly announced official visit to China. After visiting Beijing, Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province, and Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, Kim Il-sung arrived in Hanoi on a special plane provided by China. During this visit to Vietnam, Kim Il-sung met then Vietnam leader Ho Chi Minh, and introduced to him North Korea's experience in building socialism and his country's free education and medical policies. Kim Il-sung's visit lasted six days. He visited the famous Nam Dinh textile plant, the Vietnam People's Army Museum, military academy of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and other landmarks. After visiting Vietnam, Kim Il-sung returned to China and visited Shanghai, Wuhan and other places. Kim Il-sung flew on a Vickers Viscount commercial airplane, provided by China during his second visit to Vietnam in October 1964, when he once again met Ho Chi Minh and visited Ha Long Bay and Hanoi's West Lake. He also visited several Chinese cities including Beijing, Wuhan and Nanning that year. Trump may extend China trade deadline, but final deal remains elusive Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 04:43PM US President Donald Trump says the United States and China were moving closer toward a trade agreement and that he was inclined to extend his March 1 tariff deadline and meet soon with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but a final deal still remains elusive. US and Chinese negotiators had made progress in their trade talks and will extend this week's round of negotiations by two days through Sunday, Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday. "I think that we both feel there's a very good chance a deal will happen," Trump said as he met with his top trade negotiators and their Chinese counterpart. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, China's top trade negotiator, agreed there had been "great progress". "From China, we believe that (it) is very likely that it will happen and we hope that ultimately we'll have a deal. And the Chinese side is ready to make our utmost effort," he said at the White House. The Republican president said he probably would meet with Xi in March in Florida to decide on the most important terms of a trade deal. Extending the tariff deadline would delay Trump's threatened tariff increase to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion of Chinese imports into the United States. That would prevent a further escalation in a trade war that already has roiled stock markets. Despite Trump's optimism, his advisers were more cautious because China has not offered the kind of commitments that would ensure the economic transformation the White House has sought, people with knowledge of the talks said. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Trump's top trade negotiator, warned that Washington and Beijing still have "very big hurdles" to overcome. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he's encouraged by this week's negotiations, but "it's a little early for celebration." Lighthizer, one of the administration's most ardent hard-liners on China, believes that China needs to make substantive and structural changes to its trade policies, as opposed to only minor changes it has offered in the past. The US Chamber of Commerce on Friday urged the Trump administration to ensure the deal was comprehensive and addressed core issues, rather than one based on more Chinese short-term purchases of goods. Significant gaps remain between the United States and China on structural issues, such as ending China's policy of forced technology transfer, said Myron Brilliant, an executive vice president and the head of international affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce. "The real question is whether the president wants a deal that requires real change in China or just a series of press talking points and some high-profile sales that add up to little in the long term," Michael Wessel, a member of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, told the New York Times. Trump, who has set the bar for a trade deal extremely high, has repeatedly accused China of unfair trade practices that have hollowed out American manufacturing. Chinese president meets Saudi crown prince People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 09:14, February 23, 2019 BEIJING, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Saudi Arabia's crown prince, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi asked Mohammed to convey his cordial greetings to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. "China regards Saudi Arabia as a good friend and partner and is ready to work jointly with Saudi Arabia to build on past achievements to open up a new horizon for bilateral friendship and strategic relationship," said Xi, noting that with the guidance of high-level leaders at both sides, the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries have formed a new pattern in recent years, in which the relationship is being advanced in an all-around way, at multiple levels and in a wide variety of fields. China and Saudi Arabia should continue to extend mutual support on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns and promote political mutual trust, he said. China firmly supports Saudi Arabia's efforts on promoting economic diversification and social reforms and safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and stability, stated Xi, saying that China opposes any moves to interfere in Saudi Arabia's internal affairs. The Chinese president called on the two sides to reinforce synergy of development strategies and cement the integration of each other's interests. "The two countries should speed up the signing of an implementation plan on connecting the Belt and Road Initiative with the Saudi Vision 2030," Xi said, also expecting further progress on pragmatic cooperation in areas such as energy, infrastructure, trade, investment and high value-added industries. The two countries should jointly press ahead with the construction of China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) free trade zone. Xi said China supports peace appeals of the people in the Middle East, supports efforts of the countries in the region on reform and transformation and appreciates Saudi Arabia's active efforts to maintain regional peace, stability and development. China is ready to work with Saudi Arabia to jointly explore a governance path in the Middle East featuring the moves of "promoting peace through development" and to work toward a solid foundation for peace and stability in the region through jointly building the Belt and Road and strengthening regional development cooperation, said Xi. The two sides should jointly encourage and support all parties to resolve hot issues by political channels through dialogue and consultation, he said. "The two sides should promote counter-terrorism cooperation in the Middle East, strengthen international de-extremism cooperation and prevent the spread and infiltration of extremism," Xi said. Mohammed conveyed cordial greetings and best wishes for Xi from Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Saudi Arabia and China have a long history of friendly exchanges, enjoy an amicable relationship and a rapid development in economic and trade cooperation at present and there is no divergence between the two sides, Mohammed said. "Saudi Arabia is full of confidence in the bright future of China's development under the leadership of President Xi," He said, "We see China as an important strategic partner and appreciate China's support for the domestic reforms and development of Saudi Arabia." Noting that the Arabian Peninsula is a part of the ancient Silk Road, Mohammed said Saudi Arabia supports the Belt and Road Initiative and hopes to align it with the Saudi Vision 2030 to deepen bilateral practical cooperation in various fields. "Saudi Arabia firmly adheres to the one-China policy. We respect and support China's rights to take counter-terrorism and de-extremism measures to safeguard national security. We stand ready to strengthen cooperation with China," he said. Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to China's positive role in global and regional affairs and wishes to further strengthen communication and coordination with China, Mohammed added. Trump Says Would Veto US Congress Bill to Block National Emergency at Border Sputnik News 04:08 23.02.2019(updated 07:56 23.02.2019) WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House he would veto legislation introduced in the House of Representatives aimed at blocking his national emergency declaration on the US-Mexico border. "Will I veto it? 100 percent", Trump said on Friday when asked if he would veto the Democrat-led resolution to terminate his national emergency issued to build a wall on the southern border. Trump added that he does not think the measure would survive his veto. The House will vote Tuesday on a resolution to block Trump's national emergency declaration. Democratic lawmakers introduced the legislation earlier in the day. On 15 February, Trump declared a national emergency on the US border with Mexico after Congress refused to allocate the $5.7 billion he requested for border security. The national emergency declaration will free up $8 billion in federal funding to build a wall on the southern border. The Trump administration aims to divert military funding to install 234 miles of steel barriers along the country's 1,950-mile border with Mexico. Sputnik Trump vows veto as Democrats launch resolution to stop border emergency Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 01:47AM President Donald Trump has vowed to veto a possible resolution that aims to stop his declaration of a national emergency to build a wall along the US southern border. Trump's threat came on Friday a few hours after Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, said the House would vote on the measure on Tuesday. The resolution was introduced by House Democrats in a bid to challenge Trump's assertion that he could get funding from Congress to build his promised wall along the US-Mexico border. Speaking to reporters, Trump vowed to veto the measure if it passed both chambers and got to his desk. "On the wall? Will I veto it? One hundred percent. One hundred percent, and I don't think it survives a veto. We have too many smart people that want border security, so I can't imagine that it could survive a veto," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "What the president is attempting is an unconstitutional power grab," Democratic US Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas said in a conference call with reporters. Congress needs the two-thirds majority to be able to override Trump's veto in order for the measure to take effect. About 226 House lawmakers have joined the sponsor, Castro, in supporting the legislation, whose co-sponsors so far include one Republican, Representative Justin Amash of Michigan. On February 15, Trump declared a national emergency to bypass congressional approval and secure funding for the construction of the wall. The move will potentially divert billions of dollars from other projects such as military construction and drug-interdiction programs to finance the president's wall. Congress' refusal to provide Trump with the $5.7 billion he needs to build the wall resulted in the longest government shutdown in the US. On January 25, the president signed legislation to temporarily end the 35-day partial government shutdown, dropping his previous insistence on immediate funding for wall construction. Democrats have called the wall unnecessary and accused Trump of trying to create the illusion of a security crisis on the border. US Aid Deliveries to Venezuela Pursuing Political Goals - Foreign Minister Sputnik News 00:42 24.02.2019 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said that the deliveries of humanitarian aid to Venezuela were pursuing political goals. "The agencies of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross are not taking part in the US-Colombian show on the [Venezuelan] border due to a certain reason: it is absolutely clear that this operation has political goals and could not be described as humanitarian," Arreaza wrote on his Twitter page. The Venezuelan opposition earlier announced that the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country would begin on Saturday. The country's president Nicolas Maduro said that he completely closed the land border with Brazil, home to one of hubs for humanitarian aid, and is considering the possibility of closing the border with Colombia, saying the aid deliveries are a ploy to topple his government. The situation in crisis-torn Venezuela escalated on January 23 when the opposition leader, Juan Guaido, declared himself interim president, disputing last year's re-election of Maduro. Guaido was almost immediately recognized by the United States and some other countries. Russia, China, Mexico, among other nations, voiced support for Maduro, who, in turn, accused Washington of orchestrating a coup. Sputnik Sudan Declares National Emergency as Protests Continue By Ayen Bior February 23, 2019 Sudan President Omar al-Bashir declared a national emergency for one year, and dissolved local and national governments amid widespread demonstrations in Sudan. "I call on the parliament to delay looking into the constitutional amendments to open the door for enriching the political life through constructive dialogue and candid patriotic initiatives," Bashir said in a speech late Friday. The decision comes after two months of protests have rocked Sudan, triggered by a dire economy and rising commodities prices, that have evolved into demands the country's 75-year-old president step down. Omer Ismail, senior adviser at the Washington-based Enough Project, said Bashir is imposing a national emergency to enforce martial law, giving the president power to unilaterally make decisions. "There is no parliament, there is no Cabinet. He has all the powers in his hands. He can order the army to be in the streets, the tanks, any unit of the army," Ismail said. "The security forces have free hands to arrests people, to detain them, to get in their homes, to stop and search anybody at any given time of the day." Opposition arrests On Thursday, the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), an opposition party in Sudan, said security forces arrested Mokhtar al-Khatib, the Communist Party leader; Mariam Sadiq al-Mahdi, the deputy head of the Umma Party, and party Secretary-General Sara Nugdallah. SCP said the move was to prevent planned protests. Activists say at least 56 people have died during the protests, a figure the government challenges. Speaking Friday to advisers outgoing ministers, according to media reports, Bashir said, "Our country is suffering from a difficult and complicated situation, the most difficult in its history. ..." "The economic issue needs to be tackled by qualified people and for this I will form a government made of people of quality," he said, without saying when the new government would be announced, according to a French news agency report. Sudan diaspora The Sudanese diaspora has paid close attention to developments in their home country, staging a handful of protests across the United States. A week ago, more than 1,000 members of the diaspora protested in Washington, demanding change in Sudan's leadership. "I think this revolution is belonging to the youth," Virginia-based Sudan activist Remaz Abdelgader said. "We have waited for 30 years and unfortunately nothing has happened. So this is our future. So we are the ones who are carrying this revolution and we are the ones who are making it our responsibility because this is for our children's generation, this is for our generation," she said. Speaking during a protest at the Sudanese embassy in Washington in January, Sudanese native Rowa Kodi said this round of protests, now the longest since Sudan gained independence in 1956, feels different. During the protests in Sudan in late 2013, Kodi said, "People used to push us out of their houses, not to welcome us in their houses, but what I see this time in the streets, people are welcoming us." "This time in the streets people are giving us water, people are providing food, people even providing first aid. They prepare themselves the night before so that they will be ready for injured people," Kodi said. She said there is a strong sense of solidarity among Sudanese that has helped energize demonstrators seeking change. While no amount of money can make up for what happened to Mr. Coley, settling this case is the right thing to do for Mr. Coley and our community, City Manager Eric Levitt said in a statement. The monetary cost of going to trial would be astronomical and it would be irresponsible for us to move forward in that direction. Sudan Opposition Vows to Press on Against Bashir, Despite 'Emergency' By Edward Yeranian February 23, 2019 Sudanese opposition groups, including the influential trade union association that is leading political protests against the government, are saying that they will continue their demonstrations against President Omar al-Bashir, despite a series of political shuffles he has made during the past 24 hours. Bashir declared a "state of emergency" in a Friday night speech, and replaced most of his government. Protesters continued to chant slogans against the government and President Bashir overnight after initial hopes that he was stepping down were dashed by a televised speech he made to the nation. He said that he was declaring a "state of emergency" across the country for a one-year period, and dissolving both the national and provincial governments, urging citizens to shun chaos in the streets, and promising leniency to young people involved in demonstrations. Bashir made further changes Saturday, naming defense minister Gen. Awad Mohammed Ibn Auf as his new vice president. He also named former provincial government official Mohammed Taher Eyla to be the new prime minister. Fresh impetus for opposition Sudanese journalist Osman al-Mirghani told several Arab news channels that he did not think the changes Bashir announced were sufficient, insisting that the goal of the opposition remained the ouster of the president. Mirghani said that the changes announced by the president were just a fresh impetus for further popular protests and the next step in the ultimate ouster of the Bashir. Arab media reported that Mirghani was arrested after calling for Bashir's ouster. Sudan's intelligence ministry also continued to prevent opposition figures from speaking to Arab TV channels, interrupting many people as they spoke. U.S. broadcaster al-Hurra TV reported that several dozen opposition figures have been arrested during the past 48 hours. The Sudanese Association of Trade Unions has called for more protests against the government and Bashir, insisting that he must step down. Despite the calls, the intensity of protests appeared to diminish a notch Saturday afternoon, as many people adopted a "wait-and-see" attitude. No way out for Bashir Egyptian political sociologist Said Sadek told VOA that he thinks the goal of Bashir's political shuffle was to divide the opposition: "The aim was that he wanted to break down the opposition between those who would accept the concessions and feel that this is enough... and the fanatics. He wants to isolate and then target them," he said. Sadek, however, does not believe that the strategy will work in the long term. "Bashir," he argued, "is making the same kinds of concessions that [former Egyptian president] Hosni Mubarak and (former Tunisian president) Zein al Abidine Ben Ali made before they were forced to resign." But the "problem with Bashir is that he has nowhere to go. This is the problem with all dictators in the Middle East. There is no safe exit for them." Vote Counting Underway in Nigeria Presidential Poll By VOA News February 23, 2019 Vote-counting began Saturday in Nigeria's hotly-contested presidential election that was marred by violent outbreaks in the northeastern and southern parts of the oil-rich nation. President Muhammadu Buhari was among the first of the country's more than 72 million eligible voters to cast a ballot in his hometown of Daura when the polls opened Saturday for the country's delayed election. Just hours before voting began, explosions were heard in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the capital of the Borno State. After initially denying an attack, Nigerian security forces confirmed that Boko Haram insurgents tried to infiltrate the capital by launching artillery fire. Borno State police added that "some missiles strayed into vulnerable locations," but no one was killed and the insurgents retreated. Other security sources said one soldier was killed and four others wounded. In the northeastern town of Geidam, a military outpost was attacked before voting started. Military spokesman Colonel Musa Sagir said there were no casualties and people in the area were allowed to vote after calm was restored. Despite these and other reports of occasional violence, there appeared to be no significant disruptions across the West African country. Some polling stations, however, opened so late in the day that voting in affected areas may be extended to Sunday. Voting hours were also extended in some areas Saturday due to ballot machine malfunctions. Preliminary results are expected by early next week, elections observers said. Buhari and his primary opponent, businessman Atiku Abubakar, both said as they cast ballots in an election that was delayed one week, they were confident of victory. In a nationally televised address Friday, Buhari said security had been mobilized across the country for the polls, and pledged that people will be able to vote without intimidation or fear. Political tensions were high as Nigerians prepared to elect a new president and parliament. During the campaign, Buhari's All Progressives Congress and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party accused each other of attempting to fix the outcome. Earlier this week, Buhari urged the military to be "ruthless" with anyone who tries to interfere in the voting process. The remark drew sharp criticism from Abubakar, who said the military has "no role to play" in the elections. Nigeria's elections were initially planned for last Saturday but the electoral commission, citing logistical issues, abruptly postponed them just five hours before polling stations were set to open. The commission said Friday it was ready to deliver free and fair elections. The chief spokesman to the commission chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said officials resolved most of the problems that led to the postponement of the February 16 election. Some 84 million Nigerians are registered to vote, but more than 72 million had received voting cards before the election began. The presidential contest is widely seen as a tight race between President Buhari and Abubakar, a former vice president. After ruling briefly as a military dictator in the 1980s, Buhari won the 2015 election, becoming the first opposition candidate to defeat a sitting president. VOA's Peter Clottey contributed to this story from Abuja and VOA's James Butty contributed from Washington. Venezuela Updated UN Chief on US Plan to 'Force' Humanitarian Aid Into Country Sputnik News 01:54 23.02.2019(updated 09:10 23.02.2019) Previously, the Venezuelan opposition stated that the delivery of US aid to Venezuela would begin on 23 February. The government of President Nicolas Maduro plans to prevent the aid from being supplied to the country. The president has slammed the US move as an attempt to overthrow government. Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said that Venezuela had updated UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Washington's plan to "force" aid into the country, adding that the UN chief was watching the situation closely. "We brought him [Guterres] up to speed with the propaganda machinery on the way on our borders and this is in violation of international law without the authorization of the United Nations and without even the authorization of the International Red Cross," Arreaza said on Friday. "We see theoretically humanitarian assistance being forced into Venezuela without compliance with the most elemental principles required to do so. The Secretary General is watching this closely." Arreaza also said that blaming deaths at the Venezuelan border on Maduro is a part of Washington's "script". He added that reports of light weapons use at the border are incorrect and that the military would never have orders to fire at civilians. On Friday, local media reported that clashes between the Venezuelan security forces and indigenous people living in the southeastern state of Bolivar resulted in two people killed, while 22 others have been injured. "Your question is full of venom, [it] is poisonous, it is no way related to the versions that I have had," Arreaza told reporters on Friday answering a question about alleged civilian casualties. "Members of the Venezuelan military will never have orders to fire on the civilian population. They are there to defend Venezuelan territory from any armed attack against our country." The minister reported that Venezuela has a meeting pending with US Special Envoy Elliott Abrams to discuss the status of American diplomats. "With respect to the prior agreement we are in discussions and we can only hope that in the days while we are here in New York that there is a meeting pending as suggested by Mr. Elliott Abrams where we would meet," Arreaza said on Friday. Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia stressed that the United Nations Security Council should react immediately to any provocative incident that might occur on the borders of Venezuela. "I think that the Security Council should react to it immediately," Nebenzia said on Friday responding to a question about what should be done in case of a provocation on the border. On 21 February, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, alongside members of the opposition-led parliament, set off to the country's border with Colombia to welcome the delivery of US aid despite Maduro's pledge to turn it back. The US relief aid had been collected at logistics hubs in Brazil's Roraima, Colombia's Cucuta and on the Caribbean island of Curacao. Maduro previously said during televised comments that Venezuela would close the border with Brazil and was considering closing the border with Colombia. Guaido, the speaker of Venezuela's parliament, proclaimed himself the country's interim president on 23 January. Maduro has called Guaido a US puppet and accused Washington of organising a coup in the country. The United States, followed by a number of other countries, immediately recognised Guaido's administration, while Russia, China, Mexico and Turkey, along with others, have emphasised that Maduro is the legitimate president and called for dialogue. Sputnik Venezuela Temporarily Closes Three Crossings at Colombian Border Sputnik News 05:16 23.02.2019(updated 15:09 23.02.2019) MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) The Venezuelan authorities have decided to temporarily close three bridges connecting Colombia and Venezuela ahead of humanitarian aid deliveries to Venezuela, planned by the country's opposition, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said. "The Bolivarian government is informing the population that, due to the grave and illegal threats from the government of Colombia to Venezuela's peace and sovereignty, it was decided to fully temporarily close the bridges of Simon Bolivar, Santander and Union," Delcy Rodriguez wrote on Twitter on Friday. The opposition, led by Juan Guaido, who proclaimed himself Venezuela's interim president, expects humanitarian aid to begin arriving in the country on Saturday. The US relief aid has been so far collected at logistics hubs in Brazil's Roraima, Colombia's Cucuta and on the Caribbean island of Curacao. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro previously said that Venezuela would close the border with Brazil and was considering closing the border with Colombia. He has warned that the US and its allies were using "the pretext of delivering humanitarian aid" to try to "destroy the independence and sovereignty of the country." Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said earlier in the day that Venezuela had updated UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Washington's plan to "force" aid into the country, adding that the UN chief was watching the situation closely. He has also noted that blaming deaths at the Venezuelan border on Maduro is a part of Washington's "script". He also disputed reports about indigenous fatalities at the border and said President Nicolas Maduro's government would never order troops to fire on civilians. Political situation in Venezuela has been especially tense since Guaido, the leader of the opposition-run National Assembly, proclaimed himself the country's interim president on 23 January. Maduro has reacted to the move, calling Guaido a US puppet and accusing Washington of organising a coup in the country. Guaido almost immediately was recognised by Washington and its allies. Russia, China, Mexico, among other nations, stated that they recognise Maduro as Venezuela's only legitimate president. Sputnik US Adviser Bolton Cancels Trip to South Korea to Focus on Venezuela Crisis Sputnik News 07:26 23.02.2019 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - White House National Security Adviser John Bolton has cancelled his trip to South Korea to focus on the situation in Venezuela, a National Security Council Spokesperson said in a statement. "Ambassador Bolton has cancelled his travel to the Republic of Korea to focus on events in Venezuela," the National Security Council spokesperson told CNN on Friday. Tensions have escalated ahead of Saturday's due date set by Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido for US aid to be forced into the country via Columbia without the host government's consent. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has maintained that the US assistance is part of Washington's plan to overthrow the government. Bolton was set to go to South Korea ahead of the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un which is set for February 27-28 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. On Friday, local media reported that clashes between Venezuelan security forces and indigenous people living in the southeastern state of Bolivar resulted in two people killed, while 22 others have been injured. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza during a press conference disputed reports about indigenous fatalities at the border and said Maduro's government would never order troops to fire on civilians. The United States delivered enough food to Columbia that could feed some 2,000 Venezuelans for a period of one month, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) said in a press release. Earlier on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the United States is deploying special forces and weapons closer to the Venezuelan border. A State Department spokesperson told Sputnik the allegations are "preposterous." UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric in a press briefing on Friday said that the Secretary-General is concerned about the politicization of the delivery of humanitarian aid in Venezuela and called for avoiding violence. Maduro said that Venezuela has agreed to accept an EU humanitarian aid offer worth $2.3 billion that will be delivered via the UN system. The International Center of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Columbia last week said it would not help distribute the goods because it does not consider the US assistance to be true humanitarian aid. Guaido escalated Venezuela's political crisis last month by declaring himself interim president, with US support, which prompted Maduro to accuse Washington of trying to orchestrate a coup. Russia, China, Mexico, among other nations, have reaffirmed their support for Maduro as the country's only legitimate head of state. In addition, the United Nations also still recognizes Maduro as Venezuela's president. Sputnik India Threatens to Block Rivers to Pakistan After Attack in Kashmir - Minister Sputnik News 11:16 23.02.2019(updated 11:38 23.02.2019) NEW DELHI (Sputnik) - Indian authorities decided to build dams to block the supply of fresh water from Indian rivers to Pakistan after the recent deadly terror attack in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Minister of Transport, Shipping and Water Resources Nitin Gadkari has stated. "Under the leadership of Hon'ble PM Sri @narendramodi ji, Our Govt. has decided to stop our share of water which used to flow to Pakistan. We will divert water from Eastern rivers and supply it to our people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab", Gadkari wrote on Twitter. The minister recalled that the construction of one of the dams on Ravi river, Shahpur-Kandi, had already begun. All government-approved projects under this plan have the status of national projects, he added. The relations between New Delhi and Islamabad worsened after 14 February, when a car carrying over 100 pounds of explosives was detonated on the Jammu-Srinagar highway next to a security convoy, killing 45 Indian paramilitary officers. This was the biggest terrorist attack in India since 2008, when a terrorist attack in Mumbai killed over 150 people. India has named Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed residing in Pakistan, as the person responsible for ordering the attack. The group, which used to perpetrate attacks in the Jammu and Kashmir state, is affiliated with Taliban movement and al-Qaeda* terrorist organisation and aims to separate Kashmir from India and to merge it with neighbouring Pakistan. After the attack, India blamed Pakistan for harbouring and protecting terrorists, accusing the country of having a "direct hand" in the incident. As a punitive measure, India has withdrawn Pakistan's most-favoured nation (MFN) status and raised customs duties on goods imported from Pakistan to 200 percent. Pakistan has, in turn, rejected the allegations of its involvement in the attack and said that this was New Delhi's strategy to divert international attention from human rights violations taking place in the Kashmir region. Sputnik Venezuela Builds Up Troops on Border With Colombia For Security Reasons Sputnik News 15:04 23.02.2019(updated 15:55 23.02.2019) Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez announced the day before that the country's authorities had decided to temporarily close three bridges connecting Colombia and Venezuela ahead of humanitarian aid deliveries to Venezuela. The Venezuelan army is building up troops on the border with Colombia following instructions given by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The opposition, led by Juan Guaido, who proclaimed himself Venezuela's interim president, expects humanitarian aid to begin arriving in the country on Saturday. The US relief aid has been so far collected at logistics hubs in Brazil's Roraima, Colombia's Cucuta and on the Caribbean island of Curacao. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro previously said that Venezuela would close the border with Brazil and was considering closing the border with Colombia. He has warned that the US and its allies were using "the pretext of delivering humanitarian aid" to try to "destroy the independence and sovereignty of the country". Caracas would not allow such aid into the country, Maduro said, adding that the country was coping with its difficulties and that US "concerns" over Venezuela's humanitarian crisis had been "fabricated by Washington over the last four years to justify intervening in our country". Sputnik Guaido Claims Humanitarian Aid Crossed From Brazil Into Venezuela Sputnik News 18:48 23.02.2019(updated 21:46 23.02.2019) Earlier, Colombian President Ivan Duque announced that his country had handed over the humanitarian aid to the self-proclaimed interim Venezuelan President Juan Guaido, going on to demand a "peaceful" transfer of the aid to Venezuela. Venezuelan opposition leader, who recently proclaimed himself an interim president, Juan Guaido announced that humanitarian aid is on its way to Venezuela. Reuters reported, citing the opposition lawmaker Miguel Pizarro, that trucks carrying the aid have crossed the Brazilian-Venezuelan border. However, a witness interviewed by the news agency claims that while the trucks are de-facto on Venezuelan territory, they haven't passed the border security point. According to the AP, the trucks coming from Brazil are stuck at a Venezuelan border checkpoint, contradicting earlier statements by Guaido, who claimed that they had made it into the country. Another humanitarian convoy is set to be unloaded at the Simon Bolivar Bridge and the aid will be passed across the Colombian border with Venezuela via a human chain, Reuters reported, citing Colombia's migration agency. Guaido later announced on Twitter that the trucks carrying humanitarian relief from Columbia had already reached Venezuelan territory, but added that their progress was being impeded by Maduro's forces. On 21 February, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido set off to the country's border with Colombia to welcome the arrival of the US humanitarian convoy. The relief aid was gathered at logistics hubs in Roraima in Brazil, Cucuta in Colombia, and on the Caribbean island of Curacao. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has denounced the humanitarian aid, calling it a pretext for a US invasion of the country, ordering the closure of the borders in a bid to stop the aid delivery. Allegations of High-Ranking Officials Fleeing Venezuela Juan Guaido also claimed on 23 February that a number of high-ranking officials had revoked their support for Nicolas Maduro, with some of them having already fled to Turkey. The opposition leader also alleged that some of Caracas' soldiers have stopped recognising Maduro as president. Sputnik Thousands In Belgrade Protest Against Vucic For 12th Straight Saturday February 23, 2019 Thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of Belgrade for a 12th straight Saturday on February 23 an act of protest against Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. In what has become a routine, the demonstrators assembled at a central square in Belgrade and marched toward the headquarters of Serbia's state television -- chanting slogans in protest of Vucic's control over state media and calling for fair elections. The crowd followed a large banner bearing the protests' motto of "1 of 5 million," which refers to Vucic's dismissal of demands put forward by protesters in December. Vucic said in December that he "wouldn't bow to a single demand" even if there were 5 million demonstrators in the streets. Protest organizers have so far refused to be placed under the leadership of any political bloc. But they agreed a week ago to what they describe as a "contract" with opposition politicians in order to pursue reforms. Meanwhile, opposition leaders last week launched a boycott of the national and local legislatures in a show of support for the protesters. Many of the older protesters demonstrated against the government of the late Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s. Now they say they are disillusioned by the lack of change more than 18 years after Milosevic lost power. Vucic was Milosevic's coalition partner from 1998 to 2000 and was information minister at the time of Serbia's harshest crackdown on independent media. But protesters also mistrust the opposition, saying they have done little to fight against corruption, economic inefficiency, and poverty in Serbia. Based on reporting by dpa and AP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/thousands-in- belgrade-protest-against-vucic-for-12th- straight-saturday/29786984.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. Moldova's Elections Could Determine Whether Country Moves East Or West By RFE/RL's Moldovan Service February 23, 2019 CHISINAU -- Voters in Moldova are going to the polls on February 24 in parliamentary elections that could determine whether the tiny, impoverished Eastern European country moves closer to Moscow or the European Union. Opinion polls suggest the Socialist Party -- led by Igor Dodon until he became Moldova's president -- will secure the most votes. But the pro-Russia Socialists do not appear to have enough support to win an outright majority in parliament. Challenging the Socialists are the pro-EU opposition ACUM coalition and the Democratic Party, the main party in the ruling coalition which has called for balancing ties between Russia and the West. The elections come after a campaign marked by accusations of poisoning of two ACUM members and the removal by Facebook of fake accounts suspected of targeting Moldovans ahead of the ballot with false or misleading information. In an extraordinary development, Moscow announced just two days before the vote that it was opening an investigation into a suspected money laundering scheme that allegedly involved a leader of the ruling Democratic Party. The timing of that announcement was seen by some critics as an attempt by Moscow to influence the results of the election, as it allegedly attempted to do in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and in several European Union countries. Moldova's Prime Minister Pavel Filip, of the Democratic Party, is among those who have complained about developments that could be "considered an intervention" by Russia in the campaign. The former Soviet republic of 3.6 million people has had three governments since 2015, following the disappearance of some $1 billion -- about 12 percent of the country's gross domestic product -- from the banking system plunged it into a political and economic crisis. Dodon is a vocal supporter and staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has traveled to Moscow for talks with Putin. In December, Dodon praised what he called "the openness of the Russian leadership" and its "great interest" in developing a strategic partnership between Russia and Moldova. Ahead of the February 24 vote, Dodon said Moldova needs to maintain good relations with Moscow because of what he said was uncertainty about the future of the EU. "I don't know what will happen to the EU in 10 to 15 years from now," he told the Associated Press on February 21. "Why should we have objectives and make promises?" Dodon said, noting Britain's scheduled departure from the 28-nation bloc. Russia supplies Moldova with 95 percent of its natural gas. It also has troops stationed in the Russian-speaking breakaway region of Transdniester -- despite repeated UN calls for them to leave. Chisinau's relations with Russia, however, deteriorated after Moldova signed an association agreement with the EU in 2014. Russia then placed an embargo on some Moldovan goods. Now, 70 percent of Moldovan exports head to the EU. The ACUM, a coalition led by former Education Minister Maia Sandu and protest leader Andrei Nastase, has accused Moldova's governing coalition of rampant corruption. It has pledged not to enter a coalition with either the Democratic Party or the Socialists in the case of a hung parliament. Days ahead of the vote, Sandu and Nastase accused authorities of poisoning them. Medical tests showed they had elevated levels of mercury in their blood in recent months. Medical files provided to RFE/RL's Moldovan Service on February 22 show that Nastase had a mercury blood level of 8.7 at the start of December, well above the normal value of less than two for that type of test. Sandu had a level of 2.7. The Democratic Party rejected the accusations of poisoning. The charges came after Facebook announced it had removed 168 accounts, 28 pages, and eight Instagram accounts after they were discovered to be "engaging in coordinated unauthentic behavior targeting people in Moldova." Facebook's cybersecurity policy chief, Nathaniel Gleicher, said on February 14 that the suspicious accounts focused on local news and political issues, and shared "manipulated photos, divisive narratives, and satire." Gleicher said "some of this activity was linked to employees of the Moldovan government." In a statement on February 22, the Russian Interior Ministry said it is investigating a money laundering scheme through two Russian banks which it believes was organized by two of Moldova's richest men -- Vladimir Plahotniuc and Veaceslav Platon. Plahotniuc is the leader of the Democratic Party and one of the most influential people in the country. Russian police say they have detained a Russian national in connection with the case. With reporting by AP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova- elections-dodon-socialists-acum-democrats- russia-eu/29787009.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. White House Now Says 400 'Peacekeepers' To Remain In Syria, Up From 200 By RFE/RL February 23, 2019 The White House has clarified its plans for U.S. forces in Syria, now saying it will leave 400 troops in the war-torn country a day after saying the number of "peacekeepers" would be 200. A White House official on February 22 confirmed the revised number and said they will be based as part of the Tanf garrison in northeastern Syria. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on February 21 had said that a "peacekeeping" group of about 200 troops would remain in Syria for a "period of time." There was no immediate explanation for the revised figure of troops. The U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) hailed the U.S. decision to keep military personnel in northern Syria as a "positive" sign, saying it might encourage other members of the U.S.-led coalition to maintain forces in the country. President Donald Trump denied on February 22 that his decision to leave troops in Syria represented a backing off of an earlier pledge to pull all U.S. forces out of the country. "I am not reversing course," Trump said at the White House, adding that the number remaining was "a very small tiny fraction" of the original U.S. force in Syria. Trump surprised U.S. lawmakers and international allies in December by announcing he intended to withdraw all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria. The president said the troops were no longer needed, asserting that Islamic State (IS) insurgents had been defeated. Trump received criticism from Republicans, Democrats, and some foreign officials for what they have called a hastily planned withdrawal of the troops, with many saying it leaves Kurdish allies at the mercy of the Turks and hands a victory to Russia and Iran. Ankara accuses the Kurdish fighters in Syria of having links to Kurdish separatists operating in Turkey. Moscow and Tehran back the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's seven-year civil war and have provided key military support to keep his government in power. The United States and Turkey back differing antigovernment forces. With reporting by dpa and AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-keeping- peacekeepers-syria-pullout-kurds-russia- iran-turkey/29786293.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. US makes contradictory statements on number of forces remaining in Syria Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 06:26AM A senior official in the administration of President Donald Trump says the US will keep approximately 400 troops in Syria after the planned pullout, contradicting an earlier statement putting the number at 200. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters on Friday that Trump had been persuaded by advisers that about 200 American troops would - along with European forces -observe a potential safe zone in northeastern Syria. Some 200 other troops would remain at the US al-Tanf base, situated in Syria's Homs Province near the Iraqi border, he added. The remarks came hours after White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that only "a small peace-keeping group of about 200 [US soldiers] will remain in Syria for a period of time." Trump ordered the withdrawal of all 2,000 American forces from Syria in December 2018 amid preparations by Turkey to launch an operation against US-backed Kurdish militants in the Arab country. His abrupt move sparked concern among officials in Washington, prompting Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to step down in protest. The planned pullout also raised worries among Kurdish militants in Syria and left them feeling abandoned by Washington. Now, with the apparent shift in Washington's Syria plan, Trump claimed on Friday, "I'm not reversing course." The remaining troops, he argued, would be "a very small, tiny fraction" of the forces who would ensure that the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group does not regroup. Elsewhere in his comments, the American official stressed that he had "asked the president for a couple hundred - he said yes." "It's not a firm number, and the president understood that when we asked him," he noted. The US is looking for its allies to deploy hundreds of troops to Syria following the withdrawal of American soldiers. Recently, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford has begun talks with his European counterparts about the safe zone in northeastern Syria. So far, however, there have been no firm commitments on troops for the Syria de-escalation zone from European allies. Reports say Kurdish militants have presented a road map for a deal with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to safeguard the territory under their control in northern Syria after US troop withdrawal. Bouthaina Shaaban, a senior adviser to Assad, rejected the idea, saying, "Autonomy means the partition of Syria. We have no way to partition Syria." "Syria is a country that is a melting pot for all people and all people are equal in front of Syrian law and in front of the Syrian constitution," she told Reuters on the sidelines of a Middle East conference in Moscow on Thursday, calling the Kurds "a precious and very important part of the Syrian people." US instigating 'dangerous provocation' in Venezuela using aid supplies: Russia Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 08:17AM Russia has warned that the United States is using humanitarian aid to instigate a "dangerous provocation" in Venezuela by arming the country's opposition while moving its own forces closer to Venezuelan borders in preparation for a military invasion. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Washington and its allies were planning to supply Venezuela's self-proclaimed president, Juan Guaido, and his supporters with a wide range of weapons as they challenge the legal government of President Nicolas Maduro. "We have information that companies from the US and its NATO allies are considering the possibility of buying a large batch of weapons in one of Eastern European countries in order to provide them to the Venezuelan opposition," she told the media in Moscow on Friday. "The batch will reportedly include heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, portable missile launchers and ammunition for light weapons and artillery systems. So this is what they mean when they talk about delivering humanitarian aid," Zakharova added. Guaido, who has already welcomed US threats of potential military intervention in his country, has set a Saturday deadline for the government to let in the alleged US "aid" supplies. Maduro has said that US President Donald Trump wants to facilitate regime change in Venezuela under the cover of manufacturing a humanitarian crisis there. On Thursday, he ordered Venezuela's border with Brazil to be shut and threatened to also close the border with Colombia as well. Guaido, however, has claimed that 300,000 Venezuelans could die without aid and that he would rally a million volunteers to start bringing the US shipments into the country by Saturday. Zakharova said Friday the plan to use aid shipments as a cover allowed Washington to move special forces and military equipment "closer to Venezuelan territory" by causing tensions at the border. Guaido's intentions to bring the supplies across the border were aimed at provoking violence, she further noted. Earlier in the day, deadly clashes erupted near the border with Brazil, where at least two people were killed and several others injured after trying to confront Venezuelan troops in the southern town of Kumarakapay. Venezuelan troops were forced to open fire on a group of people who tried to block a road with the aim of preventing military vehicles from passing, according to witnesses. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino has made it clear that the military is on alert at the country's frontiers and will block any territorial infringement. The Russian ministry spokeswoman warned that a US military intervention in Venezuela would lead to a "sharp increase in tensions" around the world. Trump said in a recent interview with CBS that military action against Maduro remained "an option." Other US officials have doubled down on the possibility of military action, with National Security Adviser John Bolton going as far as warning the Venezuelan military to join Guaido and take his "amnesty" before they lose the chance. Bolton cancels Korea trip to focus on Venezuela Bolton, a known war hawk whose name has been tied with possible US military plans to invade Venezuela and many other countries, on Friday canceled his trip to South Korea next week to follow the developments in Venezuela instead. "Ambassador Bolton has canceled his travel to the Republic of Korea to focus on events in Venezuela," his spokesman Garrett Marquis said in a statement. The trip to South Korea was aimed at facilitating a two-day summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam which begins on February 27. The Venezuelan military has reaffirmed its support for Maduro despite Trump's threat to wither abandon him or face dire consequences. The South American defense minister, appearing alongside senior officers, said on Wednesday that any attempt to impose a new government would have to be done over "our dead bodies." Citing political analysts, Reuters said on Saturday that Washington's "looming showdown" at the border "is less about solving Venezuela's needs and more about testing the military's loyalty to Maduro by daring it to turn the aid away." A possible showdown between the army and Guaido supporters could trigger a deadly confrontation and lead to divisions among the army ranks and possible defections by some -- something which the US is apparently counting on. The scenario reminds of the wars in Syria and Libya where an initially small-scale unrest morphed into brutal conflicts which continue to this day. US troops entered the war in Syria in late 2015 under the pretext of fighting Daesh but ended up training Takfiri militants against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Rival concerts at Colombia border On the Venezuelan side of the border with Colombia, hundreds of people gathered Friday for a three-day concert dubbed Hands off Venezuela to express support for President Maduro.. A line-up of Venezuelan and Cuban artists took to the stage against a screen with the message "#Trump Hands off Venezuela". "I'm here to support President Nicolas Maduro because we're always loyal, never traitors," said a young man. "We'll be here to denounce all the barbarity, the conspiracy, the blockades with which the United States government have been attacking the democratic stability in Venezuela," said Dario Vivas, from the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela. Maduro's "Hands off Venezuela" festival was taking place only several hundred meters from a concert held to support Guaido. The opposition music festival, known as Venezuela Aid Live, was organized by British entrepreneur Richard Branson on Friday. The opposition leader, who defied a travel ban by a Venezuelan court, also traveled to Colombia on Friday. He appeared arm-in-arm with Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez at the concert. The presidents of Chile and Paraguay were also attending the festival in Colombia. India vows all options to win 'decisive battle' against Pakistan Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 11:19AM The Indian government has denounced Pakistan as a "rogue state," stressing that the country will exercise all options required to overpower Islamabad, which New Delhi holds accountable for a deadly terrorist attack in the disputed region of Kashmir last week. "We (India) have to act in a manner that this battle has to be decisively won by us because Pakistan is not willing to give up its traditional role in our neighborhood as a rogue state," Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday. At least 44 Indian paramilitary personnel were killed and dozens more wounded after a bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a military convoy in Kashmir on February 14. The Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), one of the several armed outfits fighting Indian rule over Kashmir, took responsibility for the deadly car bombing in the disputed region. Jaitley accused Pakistan of not acting against perpetrators of the attack in Pulwama district despite the militant group's own announcement. Earlier in the day, Pakistan's army said Islamabad had no intention to initiate war but would respond to any attack by India with "full force." Following the incident, India's Foreign Ministry called Pakistan's ambassador to New Delhi and "issued a very strong demarche in connection with the terrorist attack in Pulwama." India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi also vowed a strong response to those behind the attack. In a televised speech on February 19, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan said Islamabad had nothing to do with the bombing and called for dialog with India to ease tensions. He said the Indian government had leveled allegations against Pakistan "without any evidence" and expressed the Pakistani government's readiness to cooperate with New Delhi in investigating the bombing. Pakistan said on Friday Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has written a letter to the United Nations Security Council accusing India of threatening regional security. "It is with a sense of urgency that I draw your attention to the deteriorating security situation in our region resulting from Indian belligerence and threats of use of force against Pakistan," the letter said. "The situation poses a threat to international peace and security," Qureshi said in the letter addressed to UN Security Council president Anatolio Ndong Mba. Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since partition in 1947. Both countries claim all of Kashmir and have fought three wars over the territory. Indian troops are in constant clashes with armed groups seeking Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan. 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. Sudan appoints new vice president, premier Iran Press TV Sat Feb 23, 2019 04:55PM Sudan's Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf has been appointed as the first vice president of the country. Ibn Auf will take office while remaining as the defense minister, the presidency announced on Saturday, adding that Mohamed Tahir Ayala, the governor of Gezira state, is to be appointed as the new prime minister. The new appointments came after President Omar al-Bashir declared a one-year nationwide state of emergency on Friday. Bashir, who has set up a caretaker administration, has replaced all the state governors with military officials. The country's dire economic situation has prompted protesters to take part in mass anti-government demonstrations in the past months. The protests started after food and fuel prices increased and shortages started to plague the country. The anti-government protesters demand an end to the decades-long rule of Bashir over the country. Witnesses say police have used live munition to disperse the protesters in some cases. Earlier this month, Ibn Auf, who previously served as the head of the military intelligence, made an effort to ease tensions by saying that the younger population who participated in the recent protests had "reasonable ambition." In November, Bashir said he would support Ayala in the 2020 presidential election if he decided to run. Venezuela seals border to block U.S. aid shipment amid fears of "Trojan horse" People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 09:09, February 23, 2019 CARACAS/BEIJING, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Venezuelan government led by President Nicolas Maduro has sealed off the country's border with Brazil and suspended aerial and maritime communications with the neighboring islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The military has also placed freight containers at the Tienditas bridge linking Venezuela with the Colombian city of Cucuta to block U.S. aid, as Maduro warned that the forceful humanitarian aid is fake and might be the first step toward a foreign invasion. The United States and other countries in the region, in coordination with the Venezuelan opposition, have declared their plan to deliver aid into Venezuela on Saturday. It coincides with the date that self-proclaimed Acting Venezuelan President Juan Guaido set for himself to take presidential powers. Guaido, head of the Venezuelan National Assembly, declared himself interim president during an antigovernment rally on Jan. 23, a move which was immediately recognized by the United States. Maduro accused Washington of orchestrating the show to impose, through a coup d'etat, a puppet regime in Venezuela. Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia told reporters on Wednesday that his country is "categorically" against regime change in Venezuela. "Russia is categorically against this regime change that we see is being implemented," said Nebenzia, adding that he hopes that "there are no foreign troops whatsoever coming to Venezuela from whatever country." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Friday that China opposes military intervention and any action that could lead to heightened tension or even turmoil in Venezuela. The government of Venezuela has "remained calm and exercised restraint," effectively preventing large-scale clashes, Geng said. "If so-called 'humanitarian aid' is delivered into Venezuela by force, once violent conflicts are caused, serious consequences will be brought on," he warned. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said Wednesday that the country's internal order and proper protection of its borders are guaranteed. The Venezuelan government has arranged cultural activities and medical and nutritional assistance trips for Colombian citizens who live along the border, she said. On the other side, the opposition has arranged a charity concert called "Venezuela Aid Live" to hype up its momentum and rally support. Rodriguez said: "The first thing I would tell (U.S.) President Donald Trump is that his coup attempt in Venezuela failed, and even his own media are beginning to tell him that." She said that the way out of the crisis is through dialogue, and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza had held a very important and lengthy meeting with the European Union and Uruguay contact group. "There is a minority of world governments that intends to become hegemonic through force, but the only power we recognize is the power of international law," Rodriguez added. Maduro on Thursday met commanders of different components of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) in person, and with leaders of the main regions and military zones through a video conference. He praised the morality and disposition of the FANB in the face of the current psychological war waged by the United States. The U.S. government has been plotting a set of provocations, but it "underestimated the capacity, preparation, moral firmness, professionalism and Bolivarian character of the Venezuelan military," Maduro warned. The current U.S. provocation takes the form of "fake humanitarian aid," he stressed. According to Rodriguez, the United States is blocking Venezuelan state funds to be used on treating children with cancer or kidney problems. "They have refused (to hand over) funds that the (state oil firm) PDVSA, through the Simon Bolivar Foundation and Citgo, earmarks and channels annually to treat cancer and kidney patients, mainly children," she said. "These patients, which are under the protection of this PDVSA program, are being turned out of medical centers," Rodriguez said. "We have had a death in Brazil and we have serious kidney transplant and cancer cases." While Washington insists on delivering "humanitarian aid" to Venezuela, it is causing a humanitarian crisis among the sick, said Rodriguez, calling the announced delivery of aid on Feb. 23 "a big circus, a big show." Venezuela has said it will block the delivery of U.S. aid, which it believes is a pretext to launch a military incursion. U.S. prepares provocation in Venezuela: Russian FM People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 10:40, February 23, 2019 The United States is preparing a provocation in Venezuela disguised as humanitarian aid and aimed at toppling its legitimate government, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Friday. "The situation in Venezuela has reached a critical point: on Feb. 23, a dangerous large-scale provocation is expected in the form of Washington-led crossing of the Venezuelan border by a so-called humanitarian convoy," Zakharova said at a news briefing. This provocation is fraught with clashes between supporters of the Venezuelan government and its opponents, and is forming a convenient pretext for a military action to oust the current legitimate president, she said. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido published Thursday on his Twitter account a decree to allow humanitarian aid into the country while the Venezuelan authorities strongly opposed it. Washington is preparing for the provocation with the humanitarian convoy in accordance with military science rules and is transferring special forces and equipment closer to the Venezuelan border, Zakharova said. According to Zakharova, there is evidence that U.S. companies and its NATO allies plan to acquire a large cargo of weapons and ammunition in an Eastern European country for subsequent transfer to Venezuelan opposition forces. She said the cargo includes large-caliber machine guns, grenade launchers, portable air defense systems, and ammunition for shotguns and artillery weapons. The delivery of the cargo to Venezuela is planned for early March with shipments in several batches through a neighboring country using transport planes of an international freight company, Zakharova said. Ukrainian state aircraft manufacturing enterprise Antonov will be involved, Zakharova added, without providing more details. "If the plans of the organizers of the provocation come true, it will mean the transition of the aggressive U.S. foreign policy to a new level, that of military adventures. But this is the way down, as there will be a sharp exacerbation of tension and a confrontation leap in the world," she said. Mesa County should go with the flow of national popular vote New charter schools may have to apply with district What is your plan to pass on the business? MWC 2019: HMD Global unveils flagship Nokia 9 PureView with 5 ZEISS lenses News oi-Sandeep Sarkar The smartphone has been priced at $699 (Rs 49,653 approx) and will be available in midnight blue color option. The MWC 2019 has kick-started and we have already seen the latest developments from the brands such as OPPO, Xiaomi, and Huawei. HMD Global also took it to the MWC 2019 taking place in Barcelona, Spain to launch the next-gen Nokia. The Finnish smartphone company has announced its premium Nokia 9 PureView smartphone for which we all have been waiting eagerly. The flagship offering by Nokia offers a similar set of features which the leaks and rumors had suggested. The key highlight of the Nokia 9 PureView is the Penta-lens camera setup with ZEISS lenses at the rear panel. Let's have a look at the specifications and features that the latest Nokia flagship packs. Nokia 9 PureView specifications: The Nokia 9 PureView is milled out of single block of 6000 series aluminum series with a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 layer both at the rear and the front. It has an 8mm thick body with no camera bump at the rear panel. The smartphones offer a 5.99-inch Q2K plastic OLED display panel and come with a QHD resolution and an under-display fingerprint scanner. The device also has a Face Unlock feature for biometric authentication. As we all know the Penta-lens camera setup is the key highlight of the Nokia 9 PureView smartphone. Out of the five ZEISS lenses, two of them are RGB sensors and the remaining three are monochrome sensors. The camera sensors are placed in a circular ring shape along with the LED sensor, this comes in line with the previous leaks. The camera setup offers a full view 12MP depth map for enhanced imaging capabilities. With the Nokia 9 PureView smartphone, you will have the option to edit the captured RAW images in Google Photos. Another highlight of the camera is the Atmospheric black and white feature which captures some good quality black and white images. At the front, the smartphone comes with a 20MP camera for selfies and video calls. The IP67 rated smartphone is powered by the last year's premium Snapdragon 845 chipset under its hood which is paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of inbuilt storage. The smartphone is backed by a 3,320mAh battery with fast charging support and also features an integrated wireless charging technology. It has a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfers. Nokia 9 pricing and availability: The smartphone has been priced at $699 (Rs 49,653 approx) and will be available in midnight blue color option. The pre-orders of the smartphone will begin immediately for the select markets and the shipment will begin March. Best Mobiles in India HMD Global launches Nokia 4.2, Nokia 3.2, Nokia 1 Plus and Nokia 210: MWC 2019 News oi-Sandeep Sarkar The Nokia 4.2, Nokia 3.2, Nokia 1 Plus and Nokia 210 have been announced at the MWC 2019along with the Nokia 9 PureView smartphone. HMD Global announced the new Nokia mobile phone lineup at the MWC 2019 event today in Barcelona. The Finnish brand which is a house for Nokia smartphones launched its highly anticipated Nokia 9 PureView smartphone at the event. The company also introduced four other phones including one feature, one Android Go Edition, and two Android One powered smartphones, i.e, Nokia 210, Nokia 1 Plus, Nokia 3.2 and Nokia 4.2 respectively. Nokia 4.2 specifications: The Nokia 4.2 is an affordable Android One smartphone announced by the company. It packs a 5.71-inch TFT display panel that has an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1520 pixels. The 2.5D glass display comes with a notch on top and offers a pixel density of 295 PPI. For optics, the Nokia 4.2 has a dual-lens camera module with a 13MP primary sensor with f/2.2 aperture and a 2MP additional depth sensor with f/2.2 aperture. The rear camera supports Auto Focus as well as Phase Detection. Up front, there is an 8MP camera for selfies and video calls. The Nokia 4.2 is powered by Snapdragon 439 chipset which is combined with either 2GB or 3GB of DDR3 RAM. Just like the RAM, the device offers two storage options to choose from, i.e 16GB or 32GB. The internal storage is expandable to up to 400GB via micorSD card slot. It is backed by a 3,000mAH battery unit with no fast charging support. Nokia 3.2 specifications: The Nokia 3.2 offers a tall 6.26-inch LCD display panel with an aspect ratio of 19:9 and a screen resolution of 720 x 1520 pixels. The display comes with a notch to store the front camera. It features a single lens primary camera with a 13MP sensor and has a 5MP camera at the front for selfies. For device security, the smartphone has Face Unlock as well as fingerprint scanner feature. Under the hood, the Nokia 3.2 is backed by a Snapdragon 429 chipset which is paired with either 2GB or 3GB of RAM for multitasking. The smartphone has 16GB/32GB inbuilt storage which is expandable to up to 400GB via microSD card. Backing up the smartphone is a big 4,000mAH battery unit. Nokia 1 Plus specifications: The Nokia 1 Plus smartphone is an Android Go device launched by the HMD Global. The smartphone comes with a 5.45-inch FWVGA+ IPS display panel that has an aspect ratio of 18:9. It is powered by a quad-core MediaTek MT6739WW chipset that clocks at 1.5GHz. The device comes with 1GB of RAM and has 16GB of onboard storage. It will ship with Android Pie (Go Edition) out-of-the-box. It packs a 2,500mAh battery which is said to offer a talk time of up to 12.7 hours on 3G network. Nokia 210 feature phone specifications: Nokia 210 smartphone: Finally, HMD Global also announced a feature phone at the MWC 2019. The Nokia 210 feature phone is the most affordable phone to surf the web on. It packs a 2.4-inch QVGA display panel and weighs just 80gms. IT comes with 4MB of RAM and 16MB ROM and runs on Nokia series 30+ firmware. It has a BL-5C 1020mAh battery unit and uses a microUSB port for charging. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Gillette, WY (82718) Today Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 71F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Some clouds. Low near 50F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. The latest: Selph was arraigned Tuesday in Linn County Circuit Court on charges of attempting to elude, reckless driving, criminal driving while suspended, reckless endangerment and possession of methamphetamine. His next scheduled court appearance is a status check set for Monday morning. Corvallis skate park The latest: The city of Corvallis has applied for a $64,000 grant from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department to add improvements to the park that are intended new and more challenging terrain. The project is expected to cost $128,000, with a donation paying for the rest of the work. No timetable was available on when the city will learn if it has received the grant or when the work might be completed. Northwest Medical Isotopes plan is to buy time in some of those research reactors at OSU, the University of Missouri and possibly other institutions to create a redundant, distributed production line for molybdenum-99. But producing the moly is only the first step. Once youve done that, you still have to separate it from all the other isotopes generated during the fission reaction, and then you have to deliver it to the hospitals where its needed. And heres the kicker: You have a very limited time to get the material to end users all over the country before it becomes useless. One of the things that makes technetium-99m such an ideal radioisotope for medical imaging is how rapidly it decays. With a six-hour half-life, the radioactive material has to be used almost immediately after its produced, but it also breaks down quickly in the body, minimizing the chance of harm to the patient. Molybdenum-99 is also a radioactive element, and as it decays it continually produces technetium. But moly, too, has a short use-by date. Its delivered to hospitals in radiation-shielded containers called technetium generators jokingly referred to as moly cows which dispense technetium as needed. morning odds for the 2019 Oscars appear below for the major categories and only on the contenders as most nominees in each category are long shots to win. The overnight andappear below for the major categories and only on the contenders as most nominees in each category are long shots to win. Best Film - Roma has been the 1/3 favorite. William Hill had brought these odds down to 1/2, the shortest we have seen. Green Book still pays $5 for every $2 bet. Best Director - Alfonso Cuaron is a lock and will win at a steep -2000 (1/20) price tag. Best Actor - Rami Malek has moved to 1/7 at some books, up from 1/5. Christian Bale looks less likely to win at 5/1 odds. Best Actress - Glenn Close was now as high as 1/9 odds and beginning to look like a lock here. Olivia Colman was at 5/1 odds. Best Supporting Actor - Mahershala Ali is a lock at 1/14. Best Supporting Actress - Regina King is at 1/3 odds. Amy Adams is at 4/1 odds. - Jordan Bach, Gambling911.com Galveston, TX (77553) Today Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 81F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Have any questions? Please give us a call at 907-352-2250 Virginia must address lingering issue of racism With the current furor caused by the revelations of Gov. Northams 1984 yearbook page, I was spurred to examine my own past. As a 1964 graduate of Arlingtons WashingtonLee High School, I paged through the entire 1964 yearbook and found not one instance of blackface. That was one of the first years of African-American graduates at WLHS. Perhaps the 17- and 18-year-old editors either were sensitive to that moment in history or were more mature than the mid-20s editors of Northams yearbook 20 years later! In any event, in my estimation, the lingering attitudes that continue Virginias sad, long history of racism must be addressed. Sen. Norments explanation that things were changing after his stint as 1968 VMI yearbook editor is disingenuous, since the person he was then allowed those words and those images to be published. As voters, we should each hold ourselves responsible to discern if candidates actions since their youthful transgressions balance out for the good of our entire society. Charles Brewer Locust Grove NOW ITS clear: The agenda pushed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Virginia Governor Ralph Northam with regards to Planned Parenthood is unlimited abortion, on demand and at taxpayer expense. It also, evidently, involves targeting and attempting to silence people who are pro-life and doing the charitable work of reaching out to moms and babies in need. But neither Gov. Cuomo, nor Gov. Northam, represents me or the rest of my generation. According to a poll commissioned by Students for Life, only 7 percent of millennials agree with their unlimited abortion, on demand and at taxpayer expense agenda. Furthermore, the poll found that 7 of 10 millennials support limits on abortion through specific policies like parental notification, limiting abortions later in pregnancy (such as five months gestation), and opposition to government funding of abortion. Cuomos campaign against life-saving pregnancy resource centers is an embarrassment to the state of New York and Catholics everywhere. Pregnancy resource centers serve hundreds of thousands of women a year. Depending on the center, they provide a range of services, including pregnancy testing, job counseling, and housing assistance. Many are even starting to offer STI testing & treatment. Virginia lawmakers have struck a deal to create a 16-member redistricting commission that will redraw the states political map after the 2020 U.S. census, but the compromise has not yet been put to a vote in the General Assembly. The House of Delegates and the Senate had passed dramatically different redistricting reform plans, but a panel of lawmakers trying to hash out the differences reached an agreement Saturday afternoon. After years of failure, anti-gerrymandering advocates are hoping for a significant breakthrough this year that will take map-drawing power away from the General Assembly and give it to an independent commission. But the details of how that commission should work have proved to be a sticking point. The compromise plan, which would require an amendment to the state Constitution, calls for a bipartisan commission made up of eight citizen members and eight legislative members, four from the Senate and four from the House. Legislative leaders would each come up with a list of possible citizen members, and a panel of five retired judges would select an equal number of citizen members from the lists proposed by each party. Former Democratic leader David Toscano said Saturday that hes retiring from the Virginia House of Delegates at the end of his term, a surprise announcement that comes as Democrats prepare an all-out push for control of the chamber. In a floor speech, Toscano said his retirement has been in the making for some time and wasnt driven by the recent political turmoil involving the states Democratic leaders. There comes a time to write a new chapter, Toscano said. And for me that time is now. A lawyer and former Charlottesville mayor, Toscano, 68, served as the Democratic leader from 201118. Calling his service in the House the experience of a lifetime, Toscano said he was most proud of his vote to for Medicaid expansion last year and spoke of the democratic importance of strong minorities. While I cant say I always enjoyed serving in the minority, I always recognized the important role we played in challenging assumptions, in raising questions and forcefully articulating opposing points of view, Toscano said. But Matt Townsend, supervisor of planning and GIS, said none of the numbers were changed. The consultant felt the projection model is working as it is intended to be working, he said. Last time, we were looking at the fourth year, so we were totally dependent on the projections. This time, were looking at the first year as well. The school board had scheduled a tentative work session for Monday night to go over the new plans in detail. However, Scott Horan, assistant superintendent for operations, said it would take staff working all weekend to put together data showing how many students from each area planning unit would be affected by each of the plans and which specific neighborhoods would be moved, as board members requested. The board rescheduled the work session for Thursday evening. At that point, it will choose two of the three plans to present to the public. Citizens will have an opportunities to address the board on the two selected plans at public hearings on March 13 and 14, one in north Stafford and one in south Stafford. During her second town hall in as many months in office, freshman Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D7th District, fielded questions on topics as far-flung as broadband access in rural America, the immigration debate and the massive solar farm set for a vote in Spotsylvania County next week. More than 100 people gathered in the auditorium of the Marshall Center on Courthouse Road on Saturday afternoon in a county where a majority of votes went to Spanbergers opponent, Republican incumbent Dave Brat. The former CIA operatives narrow win marked the first time in almost 50 years the 7th District went blue. I didnt win by a lot. Im aware of that, said Spanberger, who immediately struck a conciliatory tone in her opening remarks. Regardless of political leaning, I thank you for being here today. Spanberger began by offering that she had helped introduce 13 bills in just more than 50 days since she took officea dozen of them bipartisan. I am committed to places we can agree, she said to an overwhelmingly friendly audience that met her arrival with cheers and applause. Later, she added: We make progress as a country when we listen to a broad spectrum of voices. To find out about Klingel and the two years it took to research and flesh out the new film, I caught up with Miller at Stratford Hall. Miller said hed heard Klingels name in passing at different times, but didnt have any idea the breadth of the mans adventures until some friends in Matthews and on the Eastern Shore suggested him as a topic of study. Miller learned that Klingel was the son of German immigrants who owned a pharmacy in Baltimore, and he was expected to follow in the family business. But on a family trip to Gwynns Island, something clicked when the young Klingel was exposed to the rich natural world there. He began to teach himself about the environment, eventually becoming the director of herpetology for the Natural History Society of Maryland. Miller said that Klingels interests were always expanding, as when he built a series of boats that eventually included a 37-foot sailboat. With the support of the American Museum of Natural History, he outfitted it as a biological laboratory to be used on expeditions to the tropics. A King George man was charged with multiples offenses, including attempted capital murder, following a high-speed chase Friday that covered parts of at least three localities. King George Sheriffs Capt. Chris Giles said county deputies got involved between 3 and 3:30 p.m. after Maryland authorities reported that a stolen truck was heading into the county via the Harry W. Nice Bridge. King George deputies picked up the pursuit in the Dahlgren area, Giles said. Police say the suspect sped through parts of the county, weaving in and out of lanes and forcing other motorists off the road. The driver also passed a school bus that was stopped with its lights flashing. King George deputies followed the suspect into the Oak Grove area of Westmoreland County, where the driver passed another stopped school bus that was letting off students. Police say he also veered toward a deputy who was setting up tire-flattening devices, picking up the attempted capital murder charge in Westmoreland. The pursuit finally ended after the suspect drove down a long driveway into a field, Giles said. He got out of the truck and was taken into custody by Westmoreland deputies. The good thing is that nobody got hurt and there was no damage to county vehicles, Giles said. Napolean Antwan Sharpe, 39, is charged in King George and Westmoreland with charges that include assault on a law enforcement officer, eluding police, multiple counts of reckless driving, driving without a license and possessing stolen goods. He is being held in the Rappahannock Regional Jail. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. 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. We welcome your letters and columns! Use the button below to send us your thoughts. Remember: Letters must include your real name, town of residence and daytime phone number, which we use for verification. We do not accept anonymous letters or letters written under a pseudonym. Letters should be no more than about 400 words. Those of no more than 200 to 300 words are more likely to be published. Submit 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 Lee Frank Wilson was wanted on Friday in Beaver, Utah. Wilson is wanted for murder out of Clark County. Please either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. (CNN) -- Pope Francis, speaking on the final day of a historic summit on clergy sexual abuse, called priests and other Catholics who abuse children "tools of Satan," but offered no concrete steps to address the church's massive and morally damning abuse crisis. "The brutality of this worldwide phenomenon becomes all the more grave and scandalous in the church, for it is utterly incompatible with (its) moral authority and ethical credibility," the Pope said in a speech in Vatican City on Sunday. "Consecrated persons," he continued, "chosen by God to guide souls to salvation, let themselves be dominated by their human frailty or sickness and thus become tools of Satan." The Pope's speech, delivered at the end of Mass at Sala Regia in the Apostolic Palace, came at the end of an unprecedented gathering of 190 Catholic leaders, including 114 bishops from around the world, to address a clergy sexual abuse scandal that stretches across several continents. In his wide-ranging speech on Sunday, Francis framed the church's abuse crisis within the wider context of society, even saying that pagans, in history, had "sacrificed children" in rituals. "We are thus facing a universal problem," the Pope said, "tragically present almost everywhere and affecting everyone. Yet we need to be clear, that while gravely affecting our societies as a whole, this evil is in no way less monstrous when it takes place within the church." The Pope also appealed for an "all-out battle" against child abuse. Related: Church 'can't be trusted to police itself' Anger over inaction Dozens of survivors of sexual abuse perpetrated by Catholic clergy have also been in Rome this week to protest and offer testimonies about their experiences. In St. Peter's Square on Sunday morning, many expressed anger and frustration over the Pope's address and the lack of concrete results from the summit. "I'm going to go away bitterly bitterly disappointed but not entirely surprised," said Peter Saunders, a former member of the Pope's commission on the protection of minors. "I can't say that I honestly thought the world was going to change -- because I know this institution too well -- and it seems incapable of change. And yet, it could do it." "So will the Pope act?" Saunders said. "He had his chance. I think history will judge him." Virginia Saldanha, a member of the group Ending Clergy Abuse, said she was angered by the Pope's address on Sunday morning. "I was very angry because I see just nice words over here, no concrete framework for implementation," said Saldanha, who is from India. "He says a change of mentality is needed to combat a defensive and reactive approach. You mean all these years when survivors were pleading with the church, they didn't know it was wrong?" The four-day summit has included two speeches by the Pope, talks outlining best practices and small-group discussions among bishops. John Allen, a Vatican analyst for CNN, said that, while Pope Francis is often seen as a charismatic champion of underdogs around the world, that side of the pontiff was seldom seen during the four day summit. "He is typically at his best when he speaks spontaneously and from the heart. For whatever reason the world didn't see much of that Pope Francis during the four days of his anti-abuse summit. Instead what the world saw was largely familiar boilerplate rhetoric that church officials have used about the abuse crisis since its onset more than three decades ago," Allen said. Francis began the unprecedented summit on Thursday by saying that Catholics are not looking for simple condemnation, but concrete actions. "The holy people of God are looking at us and expect from us not simple condemnations," Francis continued in his opening address, "but concrete and effective measures to put in place. We need to be concrete." Related: Nun reads the riot act to Catholic bishops over abuse What next? The bishops have discussed several measures, including a proposal to hold bishops accountable and lift the Pontifical Secret that often keeps abuse victims in the dark about how their church trials are processing. But they did not appear to vote on or immediately adopt any new measures. Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago said on Saturday there was a kind of consciousness raising about clergy sexual abuse, though, among some of the 116 bishops from around the world. "What is so very noticeable is the movement in attitude of people, especially among people who think this isn't happening in their country. There is is real ownership now that this is global issue." Cupich also said there is momentum among top Catholic officials to revoke or reforming the "Pontifical Secret," with regard to abuse cases. The policy too often keeps victims in the dark about how their cases are proceeding, Catholic leaders said here in Rome. At a press conference on Sunday, Rev. Federico Lombardi, the summit's moderator, said the church was "committed to translating into concrete action" the meetings' themes of responsibility, accountability and transparency. "We will return to our dioceses and communities in various parts of the world with a deeper understanding of the terrible crimes of sexual abuse against minors committed by members of the clergy," he said. Lombardi also outlined three "first steps" the Vatican will be taking in the near future: a new papal decree "on the protection of minors and vulnerable persons" for members of church who live and work in Vatican City; a handbook for bishops on how to handle cases of clergy sexual abuse; and the creation of task forces to help bishops' conferences and dioceses around the world implement guidelines. All were in the works well before this week's summit, Lombardi acknowledged. Lombardi also said top Vatican officials will meet Monday morning to follow up on measures discussed during the summit. Some church experts, though, said the meeting failed to meet expectations. "This summit was full of promising rhetoric about reform," said Allen. "What it did not provide is a single new concrete detail about what reform would mean." If you are old enough to remember the hit comedy movie of 1980, Caddy Shack, then you will recall that a gopher infestation was threatening a golf course in Nebraska. The somewhat deranged groundskeeper was tasked with getting rid of the pest. His efforts at eradication include shooting, f COLUMBUS, Miss. (Meredith/AP) A tornado smashed into a commercial district in the small Mississippi city of Columbus on Saturday afternoon, shattering businesses as severe storms raked the South amid days of drenching rains and a rising flood threat. The tornado struck about 5 p.m. in the east Mississippi city and was confirmed on radar, said meteorologist Anna Wolverton with the National Weather Service in Jackson. She said by by phone with The Associated Press that a team would go to the city of about 23,000 people Sunday to gauge the tornado's intensity. There were no immediate reports of any deaths or injuries. Lee Lawrence, who said he has been selling used cars for decades in Columbus, told The AP that four buildings on his car lot had been destroyed. He said trees toppled across vehicles and car windows had been blown out. And he said he had no idea about how badly his collection of antique cars fared. He said he was at home getting ready to take a bath when the storm struck. "The wind all of a sudden just got so strong and it was raining so much you could hardly see out the door, and I could hear a roaring. Evidently it came close," he said, speaking with AP in a phone interview. He said someone called him soon after about the damage to his business and he rushed over. "It will be a start-over deal," Lawrence said. "I can't say it will come back better or stronger, but we'll come back." A photographer working for The AP in Columbus said some antique cars on Lawrence's lot had been crushed and a nearby pet grooming business appeared now to be mostly twisted piles of metal. A printing shop had been speared by a pipe with great force and what seemed to be a vacant commercial building nearby appeared heavily damaged. Firefighters and law enforcement officers had cordoned off the area, making it difficult to determine the extent of the damage after nightfall. Power also was blacked out in the area. Elsewhere around the South, homes, highways, parks and bridges have been flooded or put out of commission amid the heavy rains and severe storms. News outlets report that water rescues have been performed in some Middle Tennessee counties. Flash flood warnings and watches remained in place throughout the South and one Mississippi community reported large hail. Interstate 40 near the Tennessee line with North Carolina was closed by a rockslide, one of the dozens of roads and highways shut down throughout the South region, transportation officials said. Tennessee Department of Transportation spokesman Mark Nagi said on Twitter that a "full scale detour" was in place, with traffic being diverted to Interstate 81 and Interstate 26. In Bruce, Mississippi, rivers broke flood stage and flash floods poured into homes and businesses. News outlets report that a local state of emergency was declared by officials in Grenada, Mississippi, after dozens of streets and homes flooded. A six-mile (nine-kilometer) stretch of the Natchez Trace Parkway was closed in Mississippi after water covered part of the road. The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning for northwestern Lafayette County in Mississippi after emergency officials reported that a local dam was at risk of failing. Meteorologist Kole Fehling says emergency officials reported the threat involved the Audubon Dam, which blocks a creek on the northside of Oxford and a subdivision. Emergency management officials were not immediately available for comment Saturday. High water also threatened property in Tennessee, which, like many other areas of the South, has been soaked by several inches of rain over the past week. Officials said a mudslide destroyed a Subway restaurant in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. No injuries were reported. Weather officials said the storm system threatened areas from eastern Arkansas across the South to Alabama. Kentucky announced Friday that it was closing the U.S. 51 bridge over the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois, because of flooding on the southern approach. The bridge, which carries 4,700 vehicles a day, is likely to stay closed until Thursday, and possibly longer. Near Jamestown, Kentucky, the Army Corps of Engineers said it was increasing releases from the Wolf Creek Dam on the Cumberland River. Areas located downstream of the dam, from Rowena to Burkesville, could be affected by flooding as a result, officials said. The Ohio River at Cairo is predicted to crest Sunday at its third-highest level ever recorded, and stay that high into next week. The Tennessee River near Savannah, Tennessee, also is forecast to crest at near-record levels. ___ Associated Press writers Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee and Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama, contributed to this story, along with freelance photographer Jim Lytle working in Columbus, Mississippi. Marijuana stocks have been on fire so far in 2019, and investors are flocking to the space in hopes of capturing some huge investment gains. Among the top players in the budding cannabis industry, Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ:ACB) has built a reputation for fast growth and rapid expansion in production capacity. Meanwhile, Canopy Growth (NASDAQ:CGC) is a favorite among many marijuana investors, with its collaboration with beer and spirits giant Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) lending Canopy both credibility in the broader consumer goods industry and capital to use to pursue its ambitious aspirations. Many investors are intimidated by the marijuana industry, and it can be nerve-wracking to try to compare young, innovative companies seeking to stake their claim to an explosive growth market. Here, we'll look at Aurora and Canopy based on some common measures to see which one looks like a better marijuana stock buy for investors. Valuation and stock performance Both Aurora and Canopy have done well to start of 2019, with the stocks seeing gains of 44% and 68%, respectively, year to date. Yet when you look back a full year, the picture gets more mixed. Canopy still has impressive gains, having climbed 93% since February 2018. But Aurora has lost ground over the same period, falling 18%. Trying to assess Aurora and Canopy on valuation is tricky. Neither company is consistently profitable, and the way in which cannabis companies account for their business operations makes quarter-to-quarter net income and losses hard to compare in any event. Even revenue has some challenges, but it's the more reliable number for comparing marijuana stocks at this point. Aurora Cannabis has an enterprise value of about 18 times its projected revenue for the coming 12 months, compared with Canopy's valuation of 36 times forward revenue estimates. On a trailing basis, both companies have price-to-sales ratios of 100 or more, but Canopy remains considerably higher. That, combined with the underperformance from Aurora's stock lately, makes Aurora look like the more attractive candidate from a valuation standpoint. Partnerships One of the key factors determining the success of cannabis companies so far has been whether they've been able to negotiate deals with existing well-known companies in related areas. For Canopy Growth, the collaboration with Constellation has been important, with the beverage king's $4 billion investment in Canopy helping to give the marijuana producer the flexibility to make big strategic moves. Of course, the investment comes with a catch, because it gives Constellation the ability to take majority control of Canopy if it chooses. Nevertheless, with access to capital being a non-issue, Canopy hasn't hesitated to take steps to bolster its growth, and shareholders have been able to evaluate the potential dilution of Constellation's investment in one fell swoop. By contrast, Aurora has largely decided to go it alone in the cannabis space. A rumored partnership with Coca-Cola didn't end up materializing, and it's not evident that any other partners are in the picture. That's had advantages for shareholders, in that they don't have to worry that a major partner would reap outsize benefits from a collaboration. However, it also forces Aurora to do its own work in raising capital, and that's resulted in considerable use of stock-based acquisitions that have had dilutive impacts of their own for shareholders. In terms of partnerships, Canopy has the clear edge. Growth prospects and risks There's no doubt that both Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth have ambitious growth plans. For Aurora Cannabis, the most recent financial results show the extent to which the company has benefited from the opening of the recreational cannabis market in Canada. Quarterly revenue was up more than 80% from just three months earlier, and production of 7,800 kilos of cannabis represented a sixfold increase from year-earlier levels. Some investors are worried about the uptick in expenses that Aurora has had to bear as it brings new facilities fully online and into production, but Aurora sees those costs as being temporary in nature. With ambitious plans to keep boosting capacity and expand its distribution internationally, Aurora has plenty of room to run in its efforts to be the industry's leader. Meanwhile, Canopy has kept seeing success in its own expansion plans. In its most recent quarterly report, Canopy said revenue soared more than 250% from where it was three months earlier, again citing the Canadian rollout of recreational products as the catalyst. Canopy sold more than 10,000 kilos of cannabis during the period, and it had success in boosting average selling prices for its medical marijuana products as well as its international segment. Canopy has gotten traction from its popular Tweed brand, and it's seeking the same expanded capacity as Aurora. Moreover, Canopy made an aggressive move to capture the new opportunity that legalized U.S. hemp offers, with a planned facility in upstate New York marking its first foray into American cannabis-related business activity. Which stock will take you higher? Both Aurora and Canopy have advantages and disadvantages, and their prospects are both bright. At this point, Aurora's relative share-price weakness leaves it more room to recover. But if the company keeps making dilutive acquisitions using its shares, then I'd quickly switch my view back over to Canopy Growth. Check out the latest Canopy Growth earnings call transcript. After a dismal performance in 2018, Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ:ACB) is rocking so far this year. Shares of the Canadian marijuana producer have soared by nearly 40% year to date. In January, Aurora announced the acquisition of Whistler Medical Marijuana, which has earned a reputation for its high-quality cannabis products. But is everything really so rosy for Aurora right now? Not necessarily. Here are three of the biggest worries investors should have about Aurora Cannabis. 1. Mediocre international sales growth Aurora Cannabis Chief Corporate Officer Cam Battley stated last year that "not everyone has fully appreciated" the potential for the global medical marijuana market. The company plays up the fact that it's active across five continents and 22 countries, with a leading market share in Europe and Latin America. Aurora's management team believes the global medical marijuana market could reach around $70 billion Canadian, which translates to more than US$50 billion. But despite all this, international sales still barely move the needle for Aurora Cannabis. Even worse, the company's international sales growth is only mediocre. Aurora reported its second-quarter results on Feb. 11. International sales accounted for only 6% of total revenue. And those sales increased by only 1.8% from the previous quarter. Granted, it's still early for most international medical marijuana markets. But Germany, which is the biggest market in Europe, legalized medical cannabis nearly two years ago. Battley said in Aurora's Q2 conference call that Aurora Cannabis is "a medical company at heart." The company will need significantly greater international medical marijuana sales in the future to prevent shareholders from experiencing heartburn. 2. Slowness to move into the U.S. hemp market The U.S. legalized hemp in December, and Aurora's top rival, Canopy Growth (NASDAQ:CGC), quickly announced its intention to enter the U.S. market. Less than a month later, Canopy followed up with an update stating that it had secured a hemp license in New York state and planned to invest more than $100 million to build a large-scale hemp production facility. Aurora has been vocal about in the past about its desire to enter the U.S. market. The company is no stranger to hemp production, with several subsidiaries that focus on hemp. And the U.S. hemp market could be as large as $22 billion by 2022, according to projections from the Brightfield Group. With all of this in mind, you might think Aurora Cannabis would be hot on Canopy's heels in entering the United States. Nope. When asked about the company's plans in the Q2 conference call, CEO Terry Booth replied that Aurora would "enter when it's proper to enter, and when it's legal to enter into the United States market." For Canopy Growth, the time to enter the U.S. already appears to be both proper and legal. Aurora Cannabis investors should be concerned about the company's slowness to expand into a potentially massive new market. 3. No big partner on the horizon Two of Aurora's chief rivals, Canopy Growth and Cronos Group, have landed important deals with significant equity investments by big companies outside the cannabis industry. A couple of other Canadian marijuana producers have also partnered with large alcoholic-beverage companies but without equity investments. Aurora Cannabis, however, has been left out of the party so far. Sure, there have been rumors of deals. Last September, there were even stories circulating that Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) was in discussions with Aurora. But nothing happened. Securing a deal with a major partner isn't just a status symbol. Constellation Brands' $4 billion investment has given Canopy Growth a huge cash stockpile to fund expansion -- including, as previously mentioned, into the United States. The longer Aurora goes without a big partner -- and the big dollars that come along as a result -- the more worried investors should be about the company's ability to go toe-to-toe with Canopy on a global scale. Worry not? It could simply be a matter of time before all three of these worries subside. As international medical marijuana markets mature, Aurora's sales in those markets will increase. The company might be slow to jump into the U.S. hemp market, but perhaps the early cautious approach could pay off over the long run. And if global cannabis sales begin to grow as much as many expect they will, it's likely that big partners from outside the cannabis industry will come calling on Aurora. However, Aurora's lofty market cap assumes rapid growth for the company. If one or more of these big concerns aren't resolved, Aurora's share price could plunge -- making the stock's great start in 2019 only a temporary hurrah. Check out the latest earnings call transcripts for companies we cover. General Electric's (NYSE:GE) stock has lost more than 30% of its value in the past year and is down more than 80% from its all-time high. While that sell-off catches the eye of value-focused investors, it's almost impossible to peg the industrial giant's value. Not only is its profitability unclear because of the challenges facing several of its businesses, which make a traditional earnings-based valuation tricky, but the sum of its parts also suggests the company might not worth all that much because of its debt and other liabilities. Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM), on the other hand, offers value-conscious investors a clearer picture not only of its value today but also of what it could be worth in the future. That's why value investors should forget about GE and instead take a closer look at Brookfield. GE remains a mess GE is in the midst of a massive turnaround effort. The company is working to simultaneously improve the profitability of several of its struggling operating groups, including its troublesome power division, while selling or spinning off more valuable businesses to reduce debt. The industrial giant has a long way to go before investors will have a clear picture of the long-term earnings power of the new GE. Earnings and cash flow will probably therefore remain under pressure in the near term as the company works to address the issues plaguing its power and aviation units. That uncertainty makes it nearly impossible to value the company using earnings-based metrics. Meanwhile, GE is working on a whole host of transactions to separate several of its major business units to improve its financial profile. The company already combined its oil and gas division with Baker Hughes (NYSE:BKR) and is in the process of merging its transportation unit with Wabtec (NYSE:WAB). After that, it intends on spinning off its healthcare unit. These deals, however, haven't marked complete separations, as GE initially took a 62.5% stake in Baker Hughes and planned to hold 24.9% of Wabtec while spinning off 24.3% to shareholders. While those stakes are valuable pieces, GE hasn't yet proved that it can maximize that value since it unloaded a 12.5% interest in Baker Hughes last year, right as shares of the oilfield service giant had plummeted because it needed the cash. If the company gets desperate again, it could unload more shares of either Baker Hughes or Wabtec at unattractive prices. That makes it hard to get a sum-of-the-parts value, since the company's focus isn't on maximizing the value of its assets, as it's more concerned with managing its large debt load. Brookfield looks attractive While there's no doubt that GE's turnaround potential is intriguing, it's a risky situation since the company still has so much work to do before it's back on solid ground. Brookfield Asset Management, on the other hand, offers investors a much clearer picture of value both today and in the future. The company walked through that math at its investor day last fall. Currently, Brookfield Asset Management, which not only manages private equity funds but also operates in the renewable power, infrastructure, and real estate sectors, has a market value of about $45 billion, or about $44 per share. The company, however, owns more than $30 billion of real assets across those three core sectors and several others, mainly through its interest in renewable power companies Brookfield Renewable Partners and TerraForm Power, private equity business services company Brookfield Business Partners, real estate companies Brookfield Property Partners and Brookfield Property REIT, and infrastructure owner Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. On top of that, it operates a valuable asset management business that the company believes is worth more than $25 billion, given its current earnings potential. That implies a $55 billion, or $56-per-share, value for the company, suggesting it currently sells for a roughly 25% discount to the value of its assets. Furthermore, given the predictable nature of the businesses Brookfield Asset Management operates, the company believes that the value of the assets it owns will increase to $56 billion over the next five years. Driving that view is the embedded growth within its controlled subsidiaries, since Brookfield Renewable, TerraForm, Brookfield Property, and Brookfield Infrastructure all expect to grow their earnings and dividends by a mid- to high-single-digit annual rate over the next five years as they complete expansion projects and make acquisitions. On top of that, Brookfield pegs its asset management business as being worth $63 billion in five years, given the projected growth in fee-related earnings and its expected share of the profits from its various private equity funds, which it anticipates harvesting in the future. Add it up, and this implies a per-share value of Brookfield at about $119 in five years, or a 24% compound annual growth rate. Looking out even further, Brookfield believes that its businesses should generate $60 billion of cumulative free cash flow over the next decade. That's a jaw-dropping amount of money for a company currently valued at $45 billion. Go where there's a clear value proposition There's a temptation to see value in GE's beaten-down stock. While it might be there, it's hard to pin down because of the lack of clarity in its earnings potential, as well as its assets. Brookfield, on the other hand, offers investors a much clearer picture of value not only today but also in the future. That's because the company trades at a significant discount to the value of its assets, which should be worth even more in the future, given the predictable growth embedded in each entity. That's why value investors should forget about GE for now and instead take a closer look at Brookfield Asset Management. Check out the latest earnings call transcripts for companies we cover. Photo: Twitter A land mine left by the Islamic State group struck a van packed with workers in eastern Syria, killing more than 20 of them, Syria's state news agency said on Sunday. The agency earlier reported that 24 people were killed. SANA said the explosion on Sunday morning near the central town of Salamiyeh was caused by explosives left behind by the militants when they controlled the area. A mine exploded in a nearby area earlier this month, killing seven people. SANA said the workers hit by Sunday's blast were on their way to pick desert truffles. IS has been driven out of virtually all the territory it once held in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, but the extremists left behind countless bombs and booby traps, and large areas have yet to be cleared. IS fighters are now cornered by U.S.-backed Syrian forces in a small area near the Iraqi border. An estimated 300 IS militants are besieged in the village of Baghouz, hemmed in by the Euphrates River and the U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led militia spearheading the fight against IS following an intense push since September. Thousands of civilians have fled the area held by the extremists in recent weeks. The presence of so many civilians and possibly senior members of the militant group in Baghouz has surprised the SDF and slowed down the expected announcement of the extremist group's territorial defeat. Also Sunday, a Syrian Kurdish official denied that the SDF had handed overs scores of Iraqi IS fighters to neighbouring Iraq. The foreign affairs official in the Kurdish-led administration, Abdulkerim Umer, who is in charge of handing over foreign fighters, said there has been no contact with the Iraqi government over the issue and no Iraqi nationals whether fighters of family members have been handed over. He said all handovers had happened through his office, adding that they included an American woman and four children, two Sudanese, an Indonesian family and Chechens and Russians. He said there are more than 800 foreign fighters in northeastern prisons, which don't include the latest foreign fighters detained in recent weeks after leaving the village of Baghouz. "Everyone is evading their responsibilities," he said. IS "is a burden on the international community. Their presence in our community doesn't mean they are not a danger still." He warned that any chaos or vacuum in eastern Syria or a new wave of violence could "lead to their escape and they will once again constitute a danger to the international community and us." Umer said that in addition to those in detention there are also thousands of family members living in camps, and as many as 2,000 foreign children "if not rehabilitated, they are potential terrorists and a danger to the international community." Umer's comments came a day after two Iraqi security officials said Baghdad received on Saturday custody of a second batch of 150 Iraqi IS fighters from the SDF. The Iraqi officials said the SDF has told authorities in Iraq it has captured 650 Iraqi militants in the fighting for Baghouz and handed over 150 in the first significant transfer to Iraq. Weather Alert ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Heat index values of 95 to 99 degrees expected. * WHERE...Niagara, Orleans, Monroe, Wayne, Northern Cayuga, Oswego, Genesee, Livingston, and Ontario counties. * WHEN...Until 8 PM EDT this evening. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur. 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. && Situs Judi Slot Online Terbaik Indonesia Situs Judi Slot Online yang telah lama muncul di perjudian situs judi online slot pada saat kemajuan teknologi dan zaman mengalami perubahan besar oleh karena itu sistem judi game online sekarang masuk ke dunia digital. Banyak dari agen judi sekarang sudah berinovasi dan beralih ke teknologi, sebab sangat mudah di mainkan melalui perangkat pribadi anda seperti hp, laptop atau jenis perangkat yang mendukung untuk bisa membuka layanan situs casino slot judi online terlengkap tersebut. Situs Judi Slot Online Terpercaya Pertama-tama harus mencari situs taruhan judi online benar, jika anda mendapati situs judi online slot kami maka sudah tidak salah masuk situs lagi. Sejak awal mula situs taruhan judi online slot ini di buka para pejudi yang datang bukan hanya puluhan, ratusan, ataupun ribuan melainkan berjuta pejudi mulai mencoba permainan dan peruntungan mereka melalui jalur teknologi digital. Bermain mengandalkan koneksi yang tersambung pada perangkat anda sudah bisa memilih permainan judi seperti: slot online, casino online, poker online, judi bola sbobet, dan masih banyak lagi. Pelayanan permainan judi 24 jam customer service slot akan menemani anda, serta jackpot dengan kemenangan terbesar setiap hari dibagikan kepada anda. Permainan besar dan menarik bisa di dapatkan pada bandar slot online kami. Game Judi Slot Online Terpercaya Banyak sekali situs agen judi slot online indonesia sultan play dan situs judi online slot serta judi casino online terpercaya yang beredar untuk saat ini, tetapi anda jangan sampai salah memilih. Untuk itu kami hanya merekomendasikan situs slot online terlengkap uang asli sudah memiliki lisensi dan penghargaan sebagai agen permainan judi online terpercaya di Indonesia. Game situs slot online kami sediakan merupakan game online kelas dunia yang sudah beredar diseluruh daerah bahkan pemukiman kecil sekalipun bisa mengenal permainan judi online slot dan casino online terpercaya hadir sebagai slot online indonesia sultan play yang terbesar. Deposit pulsa tanpa potongan bisa dilakukan melalui rekening bank atau penyedia layanan emoney seperti dana, ovo, gopay, linkaja, sakuku. Proses deposit hanya 1 menit dan jika member menang dan melakukan withdraw akan diproses paling lama 3 menit setelah membuat form pada situs judi online slot hscbet. Mengapa Harus Main Situs Judi Slot Online? Seperti yang kita ketahui permainan slot judi online sultan play dan casino online jackpot terbesar di Indonesia sudah banyak sekali hadir pada saat ini setiap tahun, akan tetapi kami selalu memberikan pelayanan terbaik kepada anda sebagai member setia dan akan membayar berapapun kemenangan anda didalam setiap permainan mesin slot judi online maupun casino online, maka dari itu jangan ragu kepada kami sebagai salah satu penyedia layanan judi online terbaik dunia siap menemani anda bermain bandar slot online judi 24jam. Situs judi terlengkap kami akan membantu menjawab semua pertanyaan anda melalui customer service online kami. Situs slot online selalu memberikan jackpot besar. Jika ada pertanyaan seputar taruhan slot judi online maka anda bisa menghubungi situs slot judi online hscbet maka kami akan membantu anda menemukan solusi untuk membantu menyelesaikan permasalahan yang di hadapi. Taruhan situs agen judi bola juga menjadi salah satu permainan game banyak di minati kaum orang Indonesia. Jadi untuk para member kenapa harus slot judi online indonesia sultan play seperti kami harus anda pilih? temukan jawaban langsung dengan cara daftar situs agen judi slot online kami. Cara Daftar Situs Judi Slot Online Terpercaya Untuk cara daftar situs judi slot online sultan play dan agen judi casino online sangat mudah sekali, Anda bisa mendaftarkan melalui perangkat mobile phone atau melalui laptop dan perangkat yang mendukung untuk mempermudah anda bermain situs slot online qqslot. Kesempatan ini hanya bisa diraih di situs judi online kami, jika pendaftaran sudah selesai maka langkah selanjutnya adalah mengisi saldo di user id anda untuk bisa bermain permainan yang telah kami sediakan. Kunjungi situs game judi resmi kami dan disitu harus mengisi sesuai dengan identitas anda sebagai pemain judi situs slot online, bandar slot resmi. Cara Menang Main Judi Slot Online Terpercaya Begitu pula dengan cara menang main judi slot online bisa di lihat melalui youtube atau pun agenda dan jurnal lain yang tersedia dalam internet. Jackpot slot online akan diberikan oleh HSCBET sangat besar sekali setiap hari nya, karena situs slot online gacor menjamin para member betah bermain pada situs judi online hscbet. Setelah menonton sejumlah cara menang bermain sangat mudah sekali untuk meraih kesuksesan kepada member. jika sudah menang bermain, pakailah keuntungan untuk mendapatkan kesempatan menang dengan bermain game judi online lainnya telah di sediakan disitus judi online kami. Judi Slot Online Jackpot Terbesar Untuk mendapat jackpot besar harus sabar bermain dan pintar dalam memilih game. Tinjau permainan tersebut sebelum bermain, amati dan ikuti langkah bermain yang benar. Gunakan waktu spin dan taruhan dengan tepat, waktu bermain di sesuaikan budget tabungan bank. Situs slot online akan benar bisa membuat anda ketagihan dalam permainannya, maka dari itu ketika mendapatkan jackpot slot, atur permainan anda dengan baik dan jangan sampai habis setelah mendapatkan jackpot di situs judi slot online kami. Keuntungan Main Situs Judi Slot Online Dalam setiap game pasti ada keuntungan yang bisa di dapatkan dengan cara main judi online dan menang jackpot slot online sultan play dan agen judi casino online Indonesia. Begitu banyak jenis permainan mesin perjudian online bisa dipilih untuk menemani waktu luang kapanpun dan dimanapun bettor atau member berada. Salah satu menjadi jutawan merupakan sebuah keuntungan yang bisa diraih oleh setiap orang di dunia. Mari gabung dengan kami sebagai daftar situs judi slot gampang menang dan casino online indonesia resmi terbaik dan terpercaya mewujudkan semua keinginan yang di mimpikan oleh semua orang tahun ini. Pelayanan terbesar akan diberikan kepada para member yang telah bergabung bersama kami segera daftarkan diri anda sebagai salah satu pemenang sejati pada situs judi online kami. Cara menang berapapun akan kami bayar! Ketika sudah meraih kemenangan pada situs judi online indonesia dan casino online sultan play terbaik kami, jangan lupa untuk mendownload mobile aplikasi yang telah kami sediakan, itu akan mempermudah supaya bisa langsung masuk kedalam situs judi slot online kami dengan sekali klik seperti anda mencari aplikasi lain pada smartphone. Bonus Situs Judi Slot Online Bonus new member Bonus ini akan kami berikan kepada pemain baru atau new member yang bergabung dengan situs judi online kami. Jika anda ingin mengklaim bonus ini harus memberitahukan kepada kami terlebih dahulu karena adanya ketentuan yang harus dibaca terlebih dahulu. Bonus besar Kami akan membagikan bonus kepada para member yang sudah daftar pada situs slot online kami cukup besar. Bonus akan di bagikan pada setiap hari senin pada setiap minggunya kepada member dan bonus jackpot slot akan masuk ke user id secara otomatis jadi tidak perlu untuk mengkonfirmasi pada jam yang telah di tentukan. Cashback besar Selain bonus, kami akan membagikan cashback juga disetiap minggu pada hari senin. Jenis cashback dibagikan adalah semua permainan yang ada di dalam situs judi slot online kami. Jika ingin mendapatkan cashback besar, anda harus sering mengunjungi situs slot online kami dan melakukan deposit sesering mungkin. Bonus rollingan Sistem rollingan bonus dan cashback judi online slot yang diberikan adalah double, artinya para pemain bisa mendapatkan sekaligus rollingan dan bonus sudah ada pada sistem judi slot online kami. Situs Judi Slot Online Resmi Sultan Play Agen Judi Casino Online Hscbet merupakan situs judi online resmi dan terpercaya dalam menyediakan permainan judi secara online dan masuk sebagai situs terbaik no 1 di Indonesia. Bahkan melalui situs ini, para petaruh tidak hanya menemukan satu jenis game saja melainkan banyak judi lainnya seperti slot online sultan play dan juga live casino online uang asli. Untuk semua jenis pilihan judinya akan membuat para pemain begitu senang, karena seperti judi slot sultan play memiliki RTP tinggi dan tersedia banyak jackpot terbesar. Sedangkan untuk judi casinonya dikenal sebagai permainan dengan berbagai kemudahan dalam bermain dan memberikan pengalaman seperti bermain sungguhan di gedung-gedung casino. Karena itu, jika petaruh ingin membuktikan semua itu maka segera bergabung di situs Hscbet dan semua kemudahan dalam bermain judi bisa pemain temukan di sana. Kelebihan Situs Judi Slot Online QQSlot Resmi Indonesia Hscbet Sebelum para bettor mengenal seperti apa judi qqslot dan juga casino secara online di situs Hscbet, maka sebaiknya mengetahui terlebih dahulu kelebihan dari situs ini. Di mana dengan kelebihan yang dimiliki oleh situs tersebut, maka bisa dimanfaatkan untuk kemudahan dalam bermain judi keduanya. Berikut ini akan disebutkan juga dan dijelaskan apa saja kelebihan dari bermain judi online di situs Hscbet. Di antaranya adalah : Untuk games slotnya memiliki RTP tinggi dan juga tersedia banyak sekali jackpot dalam jumlah besar Banyak pilihan provider judi slot dan juga casino sehingga membuat permainan lebih berbeda dan juga berwarna. Memberikan pelayanan terbaik melalui customer service yang tersedia selama 24 jam lamanya. Berbagai transaksi bisa dilakukan dengan lebih mudah dan juga cepat bahkan simple dan praktis. Semua transaksi dilakukan secara transparan dan tentu tidak ada yang ditutup-tutupi karena ini berhubungan dengan uang. Banyak bonus yang menggiurkan dan jika bisa didapatkan para bettor, maka akan membantunya untuk memasang taruhan lebih besar dan bisa terus bermain. Nama Nama Permainan Judi Slot Online Mpo Slot di Situs Hscbet Para bettor yang begitu tertarik untuk bermain judi slot secara online, maka sudah bisa mendapatkannya melalui situs judi resmi dan terpercaya seperti Hscbet. Dengan berbagai kemudahan akan menjadikan games semakin menarik dan tidak bosan untuk dimainkan oleh siapa saja. Namun sebelum taruhan slot dimainkan, maka akan lebih baik untuk para petaruh memahami jenis qqslot secara keseluruhan. Dengan begitu permainan ini bisa dimainkan sampai dengan selesai tanpa ada kesulitan dan juga kebingungan. Berbagai provider slot yang tersedia di situs Hscbet, di antaranya adalah : Spade Gaming Joker123 Habanero Micro Gaming Playn Go Pragmatic Play RTG SLot Playtech CQ9 Pg Soft Semua platform yang sudah disebutkan di atas adalah provider terbaik dalam menciptakan taruhan judi qqslot online. Melalui situs ini, maka semua kalangan pemain bisa dengan mudah memainkannya tanpa harus merasa kebingungan lagi. Selain provider slot itu, pemain juga akan menemukan berbagai pilihan mesin slot. Di mana mesin itu sekaligus mewakili jenis taruhan yang akan dipilih petaruh itu. Untuk pilihan mesin Slotnya akan dijelaskan sebagai berikut : Mesin Slot Single Line : Pilihan mesin yang satu ini sangat memungkinkan untuk member di Hscbet memasang taruhan di 1 line saja. Walaupun keuntungan jika berhasil memenangkan jenis mesin ini tidaklah besar, namun peluang untuk menang lebih besar dan tinggi. Mesin Slot 3 Reel : Jenis mesin ini memiliki 3 gulungan gambar atau reel dan akan lebih sederhana juga sedikit. Tapi tipe mesin ini sangat direkomendasikan bagi para pemain slot yang masih pemula. Di mana tetap memiliki peluang menang yang besar melalui pilihan mesin ini. Mesin Slot Progressif : Untuk pilihan mesin slot ini tentu akan menawarkan keuntungan paling besar di antara jenis mesin lainnya. Jackpot dijadikan sebagai hadiah dengan jumlah fantastis untuk pemain yang berhasil memenangkan jenis mesin tersebut. Mesin Video Game : Mesin yang satu ini mempunyai roll digital yang nantinya akan menampilkan di layar dan tombol spinnya. Sehingga memilih jenis mesin Slot ini akan lebih menarik untuk dimainkan. Games slot online terpopuler berdasarkan jenis provider yang sudah disebutkan di atas tadi. Berikut 12 daftar situs judi slot online terbaik QQslot sultan play joker123 terpercaya Indonesia telah kami sediakan kepada member yaitu: SLOT ONLINE PRAGMATIC PLAY Judi online mesin slot ini sudah tidak usah di ragukan lagi. Situs judi online slot pragmatic telah menjadi yang terpopuler dan menjadi peringkat pertama kami rekomendasikan. Kepada para pemain harus mencoba mesin slot jackpot yang satu ini. SLOT ONLINE JOKER123 Bandar slot judi online joker123 merupakan judi online kedua yang telah dirangkum sebagai situs judi casino online akan memberi kenyamanan bermain dengan fitur menarik ada di dalam semua permainan game nya. SLOT ONLINE INDONESIA PGSOFT Mengenai situs slot online terbaik satu ini akan menemani anda disaat anda sedang santai. Game slot judi online didalam provider ini sangat menarik sekali dan memiliki banyak situs judi online terbaik pada game tersebut. SLOT ONLINE SULTAN PLAY SPADEGAMING Situs Judi online slot jackpot online yang satu ini sudah modern dengan gambar animasi menyenangkan dan tidak bosan tentunya. Sesuai dengan namanya ada dalam kartu permainan poker online dan casino online akan menjawab impian anda menjadi orang kaya. RTG SLOT ONLINE TERBESAR Provider situs judi online slot yang satu ini identik dengan hero dan pahlawan pada judul film layarkaca21. Slot online indonesia sultan play ini sangat mudah menang sekali jika anda memainkannya dengan benar dan memilih permainan yang sesuai dengan selera anda sebagai bagian judi online. SLOT ONLINE TERBAIK MICROGAMING Terdengar seperti sangat kecil tapi mengejutkan. Judi slot online terbaik ini akan membuat anda terkagum dengan permainan mesin slot online memberi sesuatu yang tidak bisa anda bayangkan sebelumnya. SLOT ONLINE TERBAIK PLAYTECH Sebagai salah satu game situs slot online terbesar yang telah mendunia ini dengan menciptakan program game judi online yang sangat kreatif dan inovasi. Permainan ini bisa anda mainkan disemua hp smartphone dengan mencari judi online terbaik. SLOT ONLINE INDONESIA FLOWGAMING Perusahaan judi online yang menyediakan layanan terpercaya kepada tim mereka untuk meluncurkan permainan slot online yang menarik kepada semua orang di dunia ini. Pengalaman dalam game ini akan tertuang kebebasan dan keberhasilan sebagai bentuk usaha bermain situs agen judi slot online. ONETOUCH GAMING SLOT Slot online indonesia, satu sentuhan akan membuat anda menjadi miliarder jika bonus game telah anda dapatkan dalam spin slot judi online di game tersebut. Mulai bermain judi online dan jangan biarkan kesempatan ini lewat begitu saja. QQSLOT ONLINE INDONESIA Slot judi online ini sudah sangat populer sekali di setiap telinga umat manusia. Seluruh tempat judi casino online dengan gedung mewah juga menyediakan slot sultan play yang satu ini, tetapi sekarang telah bisa anda mainkan dimana saja dan kapan saja untuk menemani waktu luang anda. SLOT ONLINE TERPERCAYA CQ9 Peluncuran permainan judi slot jackpot game ini pada awal tahun 2016 - 2017 dengan pengerjaan yang sangat detail sekali sampai game ini di munculkan di dunia. Ini adalah salah satu situs judi online terbesar dan terpopuler untuk saat ini. SLOT ONLINE JACKPOT HABANERO Game populer dalam situs judi slot online resmi satu ini adalah koigate, dengan ikan besar koi seperti pula dengan kemenangan besar yang akan anda dapatkan di situs judi slot online sultan play sekarang. Alasan Judi Slot Menarik dan Banyak Dimainkan Oleh Member di Hscbet Dari berbagai informasi yang sudah dijelaskan di atas, maka tentu para bettor akan sangat tertarik untuk bergabung di situs judi online Hscbet. Selain menawarkan berbagai judi seperti slot online dan juga casino online, Hscbet menyediakan berbagai pilihan games dari keduanya. Bahkan untuk permainan slot paling banyak disediakannya. Ada sejumlah alasan kenapa judi slot begitu menarik untuk dimainkan oleh para member di situs Hscbet, di antaranya adalah : Gamesnya begitu mudah untuk dipelajari setiap pemain bahkan dari pemain pemula sekalipun. Menyediakan banyak pilihan taruhan seperti dari pemilihan mesin slot yang akan digunakan nantinya. Permainannya sangat aman dimainkan, di mana situs Hscbet itu menggunakan sistem keamanan bermain yang paling berkualitas baik. Sehingga tidak akan ada kecurangan dan juga penipuan yang akan merugikan para membernya. Menyedikan banyak jackpot dalam jumlah besar. Apalagi jika para petaruh memilih mesin slot Progresif yang menyediakan banyak jackpot dalam jumlah besar walaupun memenangkannya akan sedikit sulit dibandingkan mesin slot lainnya. Setiap petaruh akan merasa lebih aman dan juga nyaman ketika bermain judi slot secara online. Di mana tidak harus ke tempat-tempat yang menyediakan judi slot tersebut untuk bisa bermain. Cukup hanya dengan menggunakan perangkat yang dimiliki, maka taruhan judi sudah bisa dimulai dengan sesegera mungkin tentunya dengan sistem online. Setiap bettor akan mendapatkan pengalaman bermain yang sangat profesional bahkan akan menambah kemampuannya jika di asah terus menerus. Ada banyak cara untuk bisa menangkan games qqslot di situs Hscbet. Di mana cara ini akan memudahkan para petaruh untuk bisa menang dalam setiap permainannya. Bandar Judi Casino Online Terpercaya Setelah judi slot online, kita juga menyediakan permainan agen situs judi casino online kepada para bettor. Para petaruh yang sudah bergabung di situs Hscbet juga akan menemukan jenis games lainnya yaitu casino online. Yang mana casino online ini adalah permainan yang sering dimainkan diberbagai tempat Kasino, hanya saja saat ini sudah dibuat sepraktis mungkin agar bisa dimainkan oleh semua kalangan bettor di dunia melalui sistem online. Para bettor yang ingin bermain judi casino secara online, maka sebaiknya memahami dan juga menguasai games dengan sebaik-baiknya. Dengan begitu, taruhan akan lebih mudah dimainkan dan berikan kesempatan untuk dapatkan kemenangan. Karena itu sebaiknya setiap pemain harus tahu apa saja hal-hal yang berhubungan dengan games ini. Berikut 8 daftar bandar situs judi casino online terpercaya indonesia : IDN CASINO Permainan baccarat bisa di temukan serta roulette dan juga bisa bermain poker online pada saat santai. PRETTY GAMING Game situs casino online yang tersedia adalah dragon tiger dan baccarat bisa dimainkan pada waktu senggang. PRAGMATIC PLAY Selain bandar slot online pargmatic juga menyediakan game judi online casino antara lain baccarat, sicbo, dragon tiger dan lain-lain. EVO GAMING Tersedia lima taruhan online dalam game judi casino tersebut yaitu 12sec baccarat, dragon, rolet, sicbo dan slot online sultan play. SBO GAMING Ada tiga permainan seperti Vip table dan baccarat situs casino online. Kemenangan besar dibagikan kepada member setiap hari. SEXY BACCARAT Provider ini juga menyediakan game judi online baccarat, dragon tiger, sicbo yang menghibur pastinya. DREAM GAMING Mimpi menjadi jutawan dengan menang situs judi slot online sultan play berawal dari permainan casino online. 9GAMING ONLINE Perusahaan game judi online yang membuat sebuah terobosan baru dengan membuat perjudian ini dengan permainan digital situs casino online. Untuk jenis games dari casino yang populer di kalangan para bettor juga harus diketahui para pemain terlebih pemain itu adalah seorang pemula. Di antaranya adalah : Baccarat : Menggunakan kartu remi sebagai alat bermainnya di mana terdapat 3 pilihan taruhan seperti Banker, Player dan juga Tie. Pemenang dari games ini dihitung apabila kartunya memiliki nilai terbaik yang mendekati angka 9. Sehingga wajarn saja jika games ini dikenal paling simple dan sangat direkomendasikan untuk para pemula. Roulette : Jenis permainan yang masih saja populer dari dulu hingga sekarang. Di mana menggunakan mesin atau alat putar lainnya yang berisikan bola. Bagi petaruh yang ingin bermain judi ini dan juga memenangkannya, maka sebaiknya gunakan insting yang tepat, karena insting sangat dibutuhkan. Sicbo : Sicbo atau lebih dikenal dengan taruhan dadu menggunakan 3 buah dadu yang nantinya akan dikocok menggunakan alat kocok seperti mangkuk dan sebagainya. Tugas pemain hanya menebak jumlah angka yang akan keluar dari dadu tersebut dengan menghitung jumlah titik-titik pada dadunya itu. Blackjack : Dikenal sebagai permainan angka 21, blackjack sangat cocok untuk dijadikan pilihan games casino online para bettor. Hal itu dikarenakan games ini sangatlah menarik untuk dimainkan bahkan cukup populer di kalangan para petaruh dan pemain tugasnya hanya mengalahkan bandar games ini saja. Hal Yang Menarik Dari Games Casino Online di Hscbet Pada saat petaruh mengambil keputusan untuk bergabung di situs judi online seperti Hscbet, maka itu adalah keputusan paling tepat. Di mana situs ini menyediakan games Casino yang paling menarik sekali. Bahkan games ini memiliki berbagai ketertarikan untuk mengajak para petaruh bermain dan bisa memenangkannya. Berdasarkan hal itu, maka berikut akan disebutkan dan juga dijelaskan apa saja hal-hal yang menarik dari games casino yang dimainkan secara online di situs Hscbet. Di antaranya adalah : Memberikan pengalaman bermain bagi para member di Hscbet dengan berbagai pilihan permainan judi casino secara online yang paling komplit dan juga lengkap. Casino online merupakan games judi yang paling tua atau paling lama di Amerika. Di mana kemunculannya dari tahun 1931 di Las Vegas dan masih populer sampai dengan sekarang. Sedangkan di Indonesia sendiri games ini masuk di tahun 90-an. Apabila penjudi berhasil mendapatkan kemenangan maka berhak memperoleh keuntungan dengan nilai yang sangat besar. Maka tak sedikit dari para penjudi menjadi kaya raya setelah menang main judi casino secara online. Games ini juga dikenal begitu praktis dan sederhana untuk dimainkan. Bahkan sejak hadirnya sistem online, maka semua kalangan bettor bisa bermain dengan menggunakan Smartphone atau pun laptop. Tentu kedua perangkat itu akan sangat mudah dibawa kemana saja. Menggunakan sistem transaksi paling mudah melalui bank dan metode pembayaran lainnya. Sehingga itu akan lebih aman dan juga cepat untuk memulai taruhan judinya dibandingkan harus membawa uang tunai saat memasang taruhan, semua pemain akan tahu dan tertarik untuk merebut uang tersebut. Bagi para pemain yang menyukai games kartu, maka casino secara onlinelah pilihan paling tepat. Karena hampir semua gamesnya menggunakan kartu seperti kartu remi dan juga kartu domino. Sehingga para petaruh yang ingin bisa main dengan mudah, maka sebaiknya memahami dan menguasai sistem kerja dari kedua kartu tersebut. Semua games yang ditawarkan di situs Hscbet adalah permainan terbaik sepanjang masa yaitu slot online dan juga casino online. Ditambah lagi kelebihan dan keunggulan yang dimiliki oleh situs judi online ini menjadikan games akan semakin menarik untuk dimainkan. Dengan berbagai keuntungan yang menarik ditawarkan untuk para member yang bergabung di dalamnya itu. Anda harus cermat dalam memilih situs judi online slot. Maka dari itu kami sebagai situs judi slot online qqslot sultan play terbaik dan terpercaya di Indonesia serta resmi pada saat ini akan memberi pelayanan dengan sebaik mungkin kepada pemain judi online kami. Terima kasih atas kepercayaan anda telah memilih kami sebagai situs judi slot online terlengkap. In the Venezuela border towns of San Antonio and Urena, troops fired rubber rounds at opposition supporters, including lawmakers, who walked toward the frontier waving Venezuelan flags and chanting freedom. Urena/Cucuta: Troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro turned back foreign aid convoys from Venezuelas border using teargas and rubber rounds on Saturday, killing two protesters and putting his socialist government on a collision course with Washington. Trucks laden with US food and medicine for Venezuela returned to warehouses in Colombia after opposition supporters failed to break through lines of troops, leaving dozens of demonstrators injured. Witnesses said masked men in civilian clothes also shot at protesters with live bullets. Angered by the Colombian governments support for opposition leader Juan Guaido, Maduro said he was breaking diplomatic relations with Bogota and gave its diplomatic staff 24 hours to leave the country. Guaido, who most Western nations recognise as Venezuelas legitimate leader, had given a personal send-off to Saturdays convoy carrying aid from the Colombian city of Cucuta. The Opposition had hoped Venezuelan soldiers would baulk at turning back supplies desperately needed in the country, where a growing number of its 30 million people suffer from malnutrition and treatable diseases. But while some 60 members of the security forces defected on Saturday, according to Colombian authorities, the lines of National Guard soldiers at the frontier crossings held firm, firing tear gas at the convoys. At the Urena border point, two aid trucks caught fire, sending plumes of dark smoke into the air as crowds raced to try to save the boxes of supplies, a Reuters witness said. Guaido, speaking later from Colombia, said he would keep demanding Maduro let the aid in and would seek other routes. He said he would attend a meeting of the regional Lima Group of nations in Bogota on Monday with US Vice President Mike Pence. Today the world saw in minutes, in hours, the worst face of the Venezuelan dictatorship, Guaido said, alongside Colombian President Ivan Duque. We saw a man who doesnt feel pain for his Venezuelan people, who ordered the burning of necessary food for the hungry. Maduro denies his oil-rich nation has any need of aid and accuses Guaido of being a coup-mongering puppet for US President Donald Trump. Washington has warned it could seek to impose tough new sanctions on Venezuela at Mondays summit if Maduro blocked the aid shipments. What do the Venezuelan people think of Donald Trumps threats? Get your hands off Venezuela. Yankee go home, Maduro told a rally of red-shirted, flag-waving supporters in the capital, Caracas. He is sending us rotten food, thank you! Trumps national security adviser John Bolton said on Twitter that countries still supporting Maduro should take note of what they are endorsing, in a thinly veiled rebuke to China and Russia. 'Freedom' In the Venezuelan border towns of San Antonio and Urena, troops fired rubber rounds at opposition supporters, including lawmakers, who walked toward the frontier waving Venezuelan flags and chanting freedom. Reuters television footage from San Antonio showed a dozen men on motorbikes, dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, firing shotguns and pistols at a crowd. Demonstrators in Urena barricaded streets with burning tires, set a bus alight and hurled stones at troops to demand that Maduro allow aid into a country ravaged by an economic meltdown that has halved the size of the economy in five years. They started shooting at close range as if we were criminals, said shopkeeper Vladimir Gomez, 27, wearing a white shirt stained with blood. At least six of about a dozen trucks that tried to reach Venezuela later returned to Cucuta, where Colombias disaster management agency said they would be unloaded and the aid stored until Guaido requested their use again. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said he ordered a Puerto Rican ship carrying humanitarian aid to turn back after a Venezuelan navy ship threatened to open fire on the vessel. This is unacceptable and shameful, Rossello said in a statement. We have also notified our partners in the US government about this serious incident. According to a Reuters witness, two aid trucks crossed the Brazilian border but did not pass through the Venezuelan customs checkpoint. In the southern town of Santa Elena de Uairen at least two people were killed in clashes with security forces, according to a doctor at the hospital where they were treated. On Friday, a married couple in a nearby indigenous community was shot dead by security forces. Rights group Penal Forum said it recorded 29 injuries from bullet wounds and two deaths across Venezuela in clashes with troops on Saturday. Colombian authorities registered 285 people injured, including those affected by tear gas, Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said. Im a homemaker and Im here fighting for my family, for my children and parents, resisting the militarys tear gas, said opposition protester Sobeida Monsalve, 42, in Urena. Dozens defect Guaido had appealed to Venezuelas armed forces to stand aside and allow aid in, promising amnesty to all officers who disavowed Maduro. Dozens of soldiers, whose families suffer from the same shortages as other Venezuelans, took up his offer. You dont owe any obedience to someone who sadistically, celebrates that the humanitarian aid doesnt enter a country that needs it, Guaido said on Saturday. A social media video showed troops who abandoned their post driving armored vehicles across a bridge linking Venezuela and Colombia, knocking over metal barricades, and then jumping out of the vehicles and running to the Colombian side. What we did today, we did for our families, for the Venezuelan people, one of the defectors said in a video televised by a Colombian news program. Venezuelas ruling Socialist Party calls Guaidos aid effort a veiled invasion backed by Washington and insists that the United States should instead help Venezuela by lifting crippling financial and oil sector sanctions. On Saturday, Maduro turned his ire on Colombia and said Duque was letting its territory be used for attacks against Venezuela. For that reason, I have decided to break all political and diplomatic relations with Colombias fascist government, he told cheering supporters. Nearby, thousands of white-clad protesters gathered outside a military base in Caracas to demand that the armed forces allow the aid in. This is the biggest battle that the armed forces can win, said Sheyla Salas, 48, who works in advertising. Please join this struggle, get on the right side of history, allow the humanitarian aid to enter. YELENOVKA, Ukraine (Reuters) - A minibus hit a landmine while crossing the border between Ukraine and the breakaway Donetsk region on Saturday, killing two civilians and injuring a third, local authorities and witnesses said. The bus, carrying three people, hit the mine after swerving off road in the buffer zone between two border posts, a statement on the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic official website read. The driver was killed along with one passenger. YELENOVKA, Ukraine (Reuters) - A minibus hit a landmine while crossing the border between Ukraine and the breakaway Donetsk region on Saturday, killing two civilians and injuring a third, local authorities and witnesses said. The bus, carrying three people, hit the mine after swerving off road in the buffer zone between two border posts, a statement on the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic official website read. The driver was killed along with one passenger. The other passenger, a 61-year-old man, was being treated in hospital. He told a Reuters journalist that the passenger who was killed was his mother. The incident occurred near the village of Yelenovka, outside Donetsk. The passengers were returning to the rebel-controlled region after collecting their pensions, the statement said. Fighting broke out in 2014 between separatist forces in eastern Ukraine backed by Moscow and forces loyal to the pro-Western Ukrainian government in Kiev. Despite an internationally brokered ceasefire that ended major fighting in 2015, deadly flare-ups of fighting occur regularly. The unresolved conflict will be an issue when Ukraine holds a presidential election in late March. (Reporting by Alexander Ermochenko; Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Peter Graff) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Pakistan on Thursday also banned the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF). Lahore: Pakistani authorities have appointed two administrators to supervise a seminary and a mosque believed to be the headquarters of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the terror outfit which claimed responsibility for the Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. The Punjab government appointed the administrators two days after it announced taking over the control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, over 400-km from Lahore. The seminary and mosque are believed to be the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit. "The Punjab government has appointed Mohammad Ali, district Auqaf administrator and Ghulam Abbas, regional Auqaf administrator to supervise the administrative affairs of Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah and Madrassatul Sabir, Bahawalpur, respectively," said a senior official of the Punjab government. Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah is located in the densely populated industrial area in Model Town-B of Bahawalpur while Madrassatul Sabir is situated on Bahawalpur-Ahmed East highway on the outskirts of the city. Earlier in a complete U-turn, the Pakistan government dismissed its own claim of taking over the control of JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur and said the complex had no link with the JeM. In a video message on social media, Pakistan's Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the Punjab government took administrative control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur in line with the decisions taken during the National Security Council meeting held on Thursday and as part of the National Action Plan. Rejecting his earlier announcement that the complex was JeM headquarters, Chaudhry said, "This is the madrassah (seminary) and India is doing propaganda that it is the JeM headquarters". On Friday, the minister told PTI that the Punjab government had "taken over the control of the JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur". "The government of Punjab has taken over the control of a campus comprising Madressatul Sabir and Jama-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, allegedly the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad, and appointed an administrator to manage its affairs," he had said. It was the first time in years that the campus, about 430-km from Lahore, had been acknowledged by Pakistan to be the headquarters of the Masood Azhar-led JeM. A statement issued by the Interior Ministry on Friday also said the crackdown on Jaish "has been taken in line with the decision of the National Security Committee meeting held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan". The Islamic seminary in the campus has a faculty of 70 teachers and currently 600 students were studying in it, the statement said, adding that Punjab police were providing security and protection to the campus. "Since 2002 when the JeM was banned, different intelligence agencies have been regularly monitoring the mosque and the seminary," the Punjab government official said. Pakistan on Thursday also banned the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF). Earlier, the two outfits were kept on the watchlist of the interior ministry. The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It was declared a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June, 2014. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on 14 February in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a JeM suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying a huge quantity of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. Tensions between the two countries have heightened after the attack with India asking Pakistan to take immediate and verifiable action against terrorists and terror groups operating from territories under its control. New Delhi also announced the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation status for Pakistan and hiked the customs duty by 200 percent on goods originating from Pakistan. Photo: The Canadian Press A vacant commercial building along highway 50 in Columbus, Miss., sits in ruins after a tornado struck the area Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. Witnesses say a tornado has destroyed or heavily damaged several businesses in the city's commercial district, toppling trees and blacking out power in the local area. (AP Photo/Jim Lytle) The full extent of the damage was coming into view Sunday after a tornado smashed into a commercial district in a small Mississippi city, killing at least one person and shattering businesses as severe storms raked the South on a weekend of drenching rains and a rising flood threat. The tornado Saturday afternoon in Columbus was confirmed on radar, said meteorologist Anna Wolverton with the National Weather Service in Jackson. She told The Associated Press that experts would be headed Sunday to the east Mississippi city of about 23,000 people to gauge the tornado's intensity. A woman died after a building collapsed on her and three other people, the Columbus mayor's office said Sunday in a statement on Facebook, citing information from Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant. The statement said 41-year-old Ashley Glynell Pounds of Tupelo was with three other people when the building collapsed Saturday evening. The statement gave no information on the condition of the other three people. Residents of one street on the east side of Columbus were out early Sunday morning with chain saws, clearing away branches of the many trees that had snapped or were uprooted in the storm. Metal siding and roofing material was scattered throughout the neighbourhood of older homes. While the houses generally remained standing, sheds and outbuildings were mostly demolished. Lee Lawrence, who said he has been selling used cars for decades in Columbus, told The AP that four buildings on his car lot were destroyed. He said trees toppled across vehicles and car windows were blown out. Lawrence said he was at home getting ready to take a bath when the storm struck. "The wind all of a sudden just got so strong and it was raining so much you could hardly see out the door, and I could hear a roaring. Evidently it came close," he said, speaking with AP in a phone interview. He said someone called him soon after about the damage to his business and he rushed over. "It will be a start-over deal," Lawrence said. "I can't say it will come back better or stronger, but we'll come back." A photographer working for The AP in Columbus said some antique cars on Lawrence's lot were parked among the damage and a nearby pet grooming business appeared now to be mostly twisted piles of metal. A printing shop had been speared by a pipe with great force and what seemed to be a vacant commercial building nearby appeared heavily damaged. Firefighters and law enforcement officers cordoned off the area, and power was out in the area. Elsewhere around the South, homes, highways, parks and bridges were flooded or put out of commission amid the heavy rains and severe storms. News outlets report that water rescues have been performed in some Middle Tennessee counties. Flash flood warnings and watches remained in place throughout the South and one Mississippi community reported large hail. Pope Francis compared the sexual abuse of children to human sacrifice as he addressed the Catholic Church's top bishops at the end of a landmark summit to tackle paedophilia. Vatican City: Pope Francis on Sunday compared the sexual abuse of children to human sacrifice as he addressed the Catholic Church's top bishops at the end of a landmark summit to tackle paedophilia. "Our work has made us realise once again that the gravity of the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors is, and historically has been, a widespread phenomenon in all cultures and societies," he said. "I am reminded of the cruel religious practice, once widespread in certain cultures, of sacrificing human beings frequently children in pagan rites," he added. Francis was speaking after a four-day meeting which he had opened by calling for "concrete measures" on tackling priests and handing 114 senior bishops a roadmap to shape the debate on how to stop a global scandal. "If in the Church there should emerge even a single case of abuse which already in itself represents an atrocity that case will be faced with the utmost seriousness". The ongoing scandals have hit countries around the world, with recent cases affecting Australia, Chile, Germany and the US. Francis said those who priests who pray on children are "tools of Satan". "No explanations suffice for these abuses involving children," the Argentine pontiff said. "The echo of the silent cry of the little ones who, instead of finding in them fathers and spiritual guides encountered tormentors, will shake hearts dulled by hypocrisy and by power." "It is our duty to pay close heed to this silent, choked cry," he added. Investigators have recovered parts of the Atlas Air cargo plane operated for Amazon that crashed just east of Houston Houston: The Latest on the crash of a cargo jetliner near Houston (all times local): 7:30 pm Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne tells the Houston Chronicle that investigators have recovered parts of the cargo plane that crashed just east of Houston. "There's everything from cardboard boxes to women's clothing and bed sheets," Hawthorne said. The sheriff tells the newspaper that the largest piece from the Boeing 767 that police have recovered is 50 feet long. The flight was being operated for Amazon by Atlas Air, according to a statement from the airline. It had had departed Miami earlier and an FAA alert was issued after officials lost radar and radio contact with the craft when it was about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. ___ 7 pm A cargo flight that crashed Saturday afternoon into a bay just east of Houston was being operated for Amazon by Atlas Air, according to a statement from the airline. Dave Clark, senior vice president of Worldwide Operations at Amazon, said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the flight crew, their families and friends along with the entire team at Atlas Air during this terrible tragedy. We appreciate the first responders who worked urgently to provide support." The Boeing 767 had three people aboard. The flight had departed Miami earlier and an FAA alert was issued after officials lost radar and radio contact with the craft when it was about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. ___ 6:30 pm Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne tells the Houston Chronicle that police had found human remains at the site of the crash of a Boeing 767 cargo jetliner heading to Houston. The airplane reportedly had three people aboard it when it crashed into a bay just east of the city. Air traffic controllers in Houston tried at least twice to contact the plane but received no response. After losing contact, then they asked a United Airlines pilot if he had seen "ground contact" wreckage to his right or behind him. "That's a negative," he said. They also asked a Mesa Airlines pilot, "See if you can make ground contact. We are looking for a lost aircraft ... it's a heavy Boeing 767," meaning it's a big, two-aisle plane. "No ground contact from here," the Mesa pilot said. The cargo plane made a steep descent from 6,525 feet to 3,025 feet in 30 seconds, according to tracking data from FlightAware.com ___ 4 pm A Texas sheriff says a Boeing 767 cargo jetliner disintegrated when it crashed into a bay east of Houston, and no survivors are expected to be found. Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne told reporters that witnesses saw the twin-engine plane strike Trinity Bay "nose first" and that they heard the plane's engines surging. He says a debris field extends for about three-quarters of a mile. Hawthorne says recovering parts of the plane and any remains of the three people on board will be difficult in muddy marshland that's about 5 feet deep in the area. Air boats are needed to access the area. The Federal Aviation Administration says Atlas Air Flight 3591 had departed Miami earlier, and an FAA alert was issued after officials lost radar and radio contact with the craft when it was about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. ___ 2:15 pm Authorities say a Boeing 767 cargo jetliner heading to Houston with three people aboard has crashed into a bay just east of the city. Lynn Lunsford with the Federal Aviation Administration says the twin-engine plane crashed Saturday into Trinity Bay. Lunsford did not know the status of the people aboard and the Chambers County Sheriff's Office could not immediately be reached for comment. The office said in a Facebook post the plane has been located at the north end of the bay. No other details were immediately available. Lunsford says Atlas Air Flight 3591 had departed Miami earlier and an FAA alert was issued after officials lost radar and radio contact with the craft when it was about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Taking a complete U-turn, the Pakistan government on Saturday dismissed its own claim of taking over the control of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) headquarters in Bahawalpur and said the complex has no link with the terror outfit, which claimed responsibility for the deadly Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. Lahore: Taking a complete U-turn, the Pakistan government on Saturday dismissed its own claim of taking over the control of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) headquarters in Bahawalpur and said the complex has no link with the terror outfit, which claimed responsibility for the deadly Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. In a video message on social media, Pakistan's information minister Fawad Chaudhry said the Punjab government took administrative control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur in line with the decisions taken during the National Security Council meeting held on Thursday and as part of the National Action Plan. Rejecting his earlier announcement that the complex was JeM headquarters, Chaudhry said, "This is the madrassah (seminary) and India is doing propaganda that it is the JeM headquarters." On Friday, the minister had told PTI that the Punjab government has "taken over the control of the JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur", about 400 kilometres from Lahore. @fawadchaudhry Federal Minister for info @fawadchaudhry on #Bahawalpur Mudrassa issue: pic.twitter.com/XncoPOJdTj Fawad Chaudhry (@FawadPTIUpdates) February 22, 2019 "The government of Punjab has taken over the control of a campus comprising Madressatul Sabir and Jama-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, allegedly the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad, and appointed an administrator to manage its affairs," he said. This was the first time in years that the campus had been acknowledged by Pakistan to be the headquarters of the terror outfit JeM led by Masood Azhar. A statement issued by the Interior Ministry on Friday also said the crackdown on the JeM "has been taken in line with the decision of the National Security Committee meeting held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan". The Islamic seminaries in the campus have a faculty of 70 teachers and currently 600 students were studying in it, the statement said, adding that Punjab police is providing security and protection to the campus. Meanwhile, the Pakistani government on Saturday took a group of local journalists to the campus in Bahawalpur and claimed that it is a "routine seminary having no link with JeM". Bahawalpur deputy commissioner Shahzaib Saeed accompanied a group of journalists to the campus showing "business as usual" there. The commissioner denied association of the seminary and the mosque with Masood Azhar. "Some 600 students are studying here and none of them is associated with any banned organisation or involved in any terror activity," he said. A local journalist, who visited the seminary and spoke to some students and teachers there, said, "When asked about the JeM and Masood Azhar, they showed complete ignorance about them. Perhaps they were briefed before our visit." By James Macharia and Ahmed Kingimi ABUJA/MAIDUGURI (Reuters) - Nigeria began counting votes in Saturday's closely-fought presidential election although the electoral commission extended voting hours in some places where polling stations opened late or ballot machines malfunctioned. President Muhammadu Buhari and his main challenger, businessman Atiku Abubakar, both said they were confident of victory when casting their ballots in an election which has already been delayed by a week. By James Macharia and Ahmed Kingimi ABUJA/MAIDUGURI (Reuters) - Nigeria began counting votes in Saturday's closely-fought presidential election although the electoral commission extended voting hours in some places where polling stations opened late or ballot machines malfunctioned. President Muhammadu Buhari and his main challenger, businessman Atiku Abubakar, both said they were confident of victory when casting their ballots in an election which has already been delayed by a week. Analysts say the vote in Africa's biggest economic power is too close to call, with the outcome set to hinge on which man voters trust the most to revamp an economy still struggling to recover from a 2016 recession. Buhari, a former military ruler who was later elected president, is seeking a second term in charge of Africa's most populous nation and top crude producer. Atiku, a former vice president, has pledged to expand the role of the private sector. The two men lead a field of more than 70 candidates in an election which the commission postponed last Saturday just hours before voting was due to begin, citing logistical issues. Voting had been completed in some areas across Nigeria and counting of ballots was taking place, Reuters witnesses said. Senior Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) official Festus Okoye said the commission had extended hours in polling stations that had experienced delays. He also said problems encountered during the voting, including security issues, were being addressed. These included malfunctioning of voter card machines which would be replaced. "We are on top of the situation and we are confident that as we progress in this particular election, most of the issues that arisen relating to this particular election will be addressed," Okoye said. The country has 72.8 million eligible voters. Buhari, who voted in his hometown of Daura in the northern state of Katsina, said: "I will congratulate myself, I'm going to be the winner" when asked by reporters if he would congratulate his rival, should Atiku win the election. Atiku later cast his ballot in the eastern Adamawa state. "I am impressed by the turnout of the people," he told reporters shortly after voting. "I look forward to a successful transition," he said. GRAPHIC: https://graphics.reuters.com/NIGERIA-ELECTIONS/010090P00RR/index.html VOTING DELAYS Voting officially began at 8:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) and was due to close at 2:00 p.m. but Kingsley Moghalu, a presidential candidate for the Young Progressives Party, said he had only managed to vote at noon in the southeastern state of Anambra. He said polls opened two hours late and machines to read voting cards were not working. "If as a presidential candidate my polling unit can be treated in this manner, I can imagine what a lot of Nigerians are going through in many parts of the country," he said. Other voters echoed his concerns. "Ive been to 10 polling units today. Ive been redirected many times," said Victor Kanoba a voter in Lagos. John Tomaszewski, an observer with the joint U.S. National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute delegation, said delays had been somewhat expected given the logistical challenge of getting materials to the polling stations in time for opening. "Logistics weren't properly managed despite the postponement of the polls," said Idayat Hassan, director of Abuja-based think tank Centre for Democracy and Development, which is also observing the election. However, in Lagos' business district of Victoria Island, Reginald Anthony, 45, who runs a transport business, said: "We are seeing a transparent election, everything is open for everyone to see". MAIDUGURI BLASTS After voting in the northern Kano state, Hadisa Hayatu, a 38-year old housewife, said: "I voted for Buhari because he has assured us that he is going to build on what he has done on security and other issues." An Atiku supporter in Kano, stylist Laurie Isaac, 27, said: "We need change. I need more work. I need my salary to increase." In the country's northeast, where insurgent groups like Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have waged a decade-long war, blasts were heard in the city of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. Boko Haram had warned people not to vote. Security sources said militants had struck at parts of Maiduguri and a Reuters witness said he had heard gun shots and Nigerian air force jets were flying overhead. Colonel Sagir Musa, acting director of army public relations, said there had not been an attack on any part of Maiduguri, where activity had been part of an exercise by the military. "Our people defied Boko Haram threats and came out," Kashim Shettima, Borno's governor, said after voting in Maiduguri. Shettima's motorcade was attacked by insurgents on Feb. 12 on route to an election rally. "The world should know we may not have a perfect exercise but the process is still OK." (Reporting by Paul Carsten, Seun Sanni, Aaron Ross, Abraham Achirga, Adewale Kolawole, Afolabi Sotunde, Ardo Hazzad, Didi Akinyelure, Garba Muhammed, Mike Oboh, Nneka Chile, Ola Lanre, Percy Dabang, Camillus Eboh, Christian Merenini and Tife Owolabi; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Alexis Akwagyiram and Toby Chopra) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The first thing that is likely to strike visitors as they set eyes on the Louvre Abu Dhabi is how unlike the rest of its overly glamorous, painfully shiny, modern Emirati architectural context it is. Standing just 30 meters tall with a dome of 180 meters in diameter, the structure is a picture of tranquility and calm. Interior spaces of the Louvre Abu Dhabi under the museums iconic light filtering dome The unique design of the grey, multilayered aluminium dome brings to mind images of many disparate things all at once, from a multi star-shaped spiders web, to a mechanical honeycomb, or even a space ship. Seemingly floating over a multitude of white cubes that house the gallery spaces (55 of them, to be precise), the structure actually weighs in at a hefty 7,700 tones. However, the effect is undoubtedly that of lightness and weightlessness. Turquoise water surrounds the entire complex and completes the tranquil tricolor palette of grey, white and blue, juxtaposed with the yellow and beige colour tones of the surrounding desert. The museum complex was designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Jean Nouvel, who considers himself to be a contextual architect, taking his inspiration from the locality in which his projects are situated. In the case of the now iconic dome design, he is said to have been inspired by the way sunlight falls through date palm tree leaves. The overall effect of light filtering though the 7,850 stars in the domes latticework and scattering droplets of light onto the white walls and grey floor of the museum body below is ethereal, memorable and otherworldly. In the foreground: Walking Man, on a Column, by Auguste Rodin, cast in 2006 by Fonderie de Coubertin The deal struck between France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to create this cultural oasis in the desert is the first of its kind and has not gone without controversy. Attracting as much in the way of awe and excitement as it has in the way of outrage and criticism, this has been a game of high stakes, high-level investment and high hopes for high gains. The main point of criticism has been the working conditions of the labourers hired for the construction of the museum, and their alleged abuse. This issue attracted international attention from Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights group, accusing the Abu Dhabi authorities of failing to tackle multiple abuses of foreign workers. The Observer, a major UK newspaper, embarked on its own investigation into the state of the labourers working conditions, which they concluded were akin to modern day slavery. The consequent media outrage led to labour law reforms in the UAE, which continue to be criticised for systemic problems and failures. Exterior spaces of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Additionally, opposition also came from both the academic and artistic circles in France, led by the art historian Didier Rykner, resulting in an online petition to block the deal signed by over 4,500 curators, art historians and archaeologists, whose stand was clear: French museums are not for sale. Despite this level of opposition, the deal went through, not least because politically it was seen as raising Frances profile internationally, and economically it would bring in revenues, which could then be spent on further French art investment, according to the French Minister of Culture, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres. The deal is arguably a shrewd move in Abu Dhabis strategy to put itself on the world cultural map. It is just a part of a much wider plan to build up Saadiyat Island (Happiness Island), where the Louvre is located, into a cultural spectacle, housing a number of major museums, including the yet-to-be-realised plan to create the biggest Guggenheim Museum in the world there. Investing over a billion dollars in the Louvre project, Abu Dhabi has in effect managed to take on loan the Louvre brand for a period of 30 years, buying in to their management expertise along the way, along with the respect and authenticity that the name of the biggest museum in the world brings with it. It has also gained access to the collections of 13 major French museums in the process, from which it will loan artworks over a period of 10 years. The loans will buy the new museum time to invest in its own collection, and are planned to diminish over time, as the young museum gathers pace, acquiring its own artworks. Fragment of a plaque in the form of a mihrab, Iran 1250-1350 Currently 300 of the 600-plus artworks displayed at the museum are on loan through the Agence France Museums organisation, which includes the Louvre Museum, the Georges Pompidou Centre and Versailles among others. Also part of the deal are four temporary international exhibitions per year, over the course of 15 years, which will be brought to the new Abu Dhabi museum. Currently planned exhibitions range from Charlie Chaplins avant-garde cinema, to an exhibition examining the age of chivalry, and an exhibition focused on luxury items from different ages and cultures. The strategy seems to be working the Louvre Abu Dhabi has attracted one million visitors in its first year. 60 percent of those were international visitors, with India topping the list. So how does a branch of a Western museum, situated in the Middle East, and visited by people from a multitude of nations, many of whom are coming from the East, find that cultural balance and make it work? What kind of art should it exhibit, and how best to do so? These were always going to be tough questions to answer, but the approach chosen by the curators focused on highlighting cross-cultural connections through the ages, and attempted to build a collection which would tell a multicultural story of humanity for a multicultural audience. Winged Dragon, Northern China 475-221 BCE The experience presented by the Louvre Abu Dhabi is essentially a walk through the cultural history of humanity, illustrated by objets dart, and curated in such a way as to draw on the similarities between cultures, suggesting connections, and removing the traditional regional boundaries between them to demonstrate a multifaceted multicultural story of humanity. Jean-Francois Charnier, scientific director of Agence France Museums, calls it the first universal museum. He says, It is the first time we not only have the decompartmentalisation of museum departments, but a means of reflecting on unexpected dialogues between artifacts." While the timeline is predictably chronological, the curation is anything but predictable. Instead of grouping the artworks and artifacts by their place of origin, as is the more traditional approach in major museums across the world, here they have been arranged in 12 chapters of human history, from pre-history to the present day, the number 12 being significant across various peoples and civilisations, often used in the calculation of the passing of time (hours, months, zodiac). Objects from different civilisations and cultures are presented in the same space, according to the time of their creation, rather than the place, highlighting the equality of their historical value, and covering up what might otherwise have been a perceptible lack of breadth in the young museums collections. Sphinx, mythological creature, Greece, 500-600 BCE There are plenty of classical Western art big hitters on show, from Leonardo da Vincis portrait of an unknown lady 'La Belle Ferronniere', to Jaques-Louis Davids imposing portrait of Napoleon on his reared up horse, to Pablo Picassos Bust of a Woman, and Whistlers iconic portrait of his mother. However, it is perhaps inevitable that despite all the efforts of the curatorial team to highlight the multicultural nature of this museum, criticism about it being Western-centric have been leveled. While in the earlier chapters of human history there are many objects from Eastern civilisations on show from a charming Chinese winged dragon, to an Indian sculpture of Lord Shiva and an Iranian mihrab plaque the later, more modern chapters of human history seem to have a degree of Western bias. One Asian standout from the contemporary art period is the crystal chandelier inspired installation Fountain of Light by Ai Weiwei, inspired by the concept of a utopian Communist monument, which is not only huge and visually striking but given pride of place, not least because it was commissioned by the museum. To balance out these Western-centric criticisms, however, it is worth pointing out that the Louvre Abu Dhabi is only one of a plethora of art spaces in the UAE, showcasing a wide range of contemporary art both from across the Middle East and from across Asia. In fact, the entire UAE art scene has been going from strength to strength over the course of the last decade or so. Dubai, Abu Dhabis more glamorous neighbouring emirate, has seen an injection of vibrancy into its art scene with the opening of Alserkal Avenue art hub in 2007, which is a cluster of architect-designed warehouses, spread across an area of 5,00,000 square feet, housing an array of public art spaces and galleries. Artworks from the Iranian artist Khosrow Hassanzadehs solo show at the 1x1 Gallery in Alserkal Avenue titled Khonyagar They house art by emerging and established artists from all across the world, many of whom are from South and Central Asia. Artworks from the Iranian artist Khosrow Hassanzadehs solo show at the 1x1 Gallery in Alserkal Avenue titled Khonyagar Also of note is the 1x1 Gallery, founded by Malini Gulrajani in 1996, and later moved to Arserkal Avenue. Its focus is usually on Indian modern and contemporary art, though recently they have been adding some Middle East-based artists to their roster, as part of collaborative initiatives with a predominantly cultural orientation. Departure by Chirahu Shiota, Japan, on view at the Jameel Arts Centre The New York-based Leila Heller Gallery has opened its first international branch in Alserkal Avenue. Its focus is on promoting a creative dialogue between Western, Middle Eastern and South and Central Asian contemporary artists, and it is the largest gallery in the UAE. Madonna of the Oranges 1997, by Ismail Shammout, Palestine, on view at the Sharjah Art Museum Sharjah, the emirate which lies on the other side of Dubai from Abu Dhabi, was named the UNESCO Cultural Capital of the Arab World in 1998, and in 2014, USESCO named it its Islamic Culture Capital. The Sharjah Art Foundation runs a wide variety of exhibitions and cultural and art programs throughout the year, and hosts a bienniale every two years; the next one starts on 7 March 2019. View of the Tigris 1934, by Abdul Qadir Al Rassam, Iraq, on view at the Sharjah Art Museum The Sharjah Art Museum focuses on the diversity of modern and traditional art from the Arab world during the past 50 years. It has permanent collections by artists from a geographically diverse area, including Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan, Jodan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and more, as well as a program of temporary exhibitions. Dana Awartani, a Palestinian-Saudi Arabian artist, during a walk through of her solo show The Silence Between Us at the Maraya Art Gallery Dana Awartani, a Palestinian-Saudi Arabian artist, whose solo show The Silence Between Us is currently on view at the Maraya Art Gallery, Sharjah, and whose artworks are included in a number of major collections around the world, including The British Museum, reflects on the rise of the UAE art scene: Its so exciting to see the art scene in the UAE thriving and being well on its way to becoming the next global cultural hub. I especially love how multicultural the art community is here, and how strongly it represents and supports art and artists from the Middle East and South Asia, which is lacking anywhere else in the world. 'The Platonic Solid Duals by Dana Awartani All photographs by Polina Schapova In his upcoming meeting with Trump, experts say Kim will seek a US commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief while trying to minimise any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons. Dandong: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was on a train to Vietnam on Sunday for his second summit with US president Donald Trump, state media confirmed. Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong-chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the US, and Kim Yo-jong, the leader's sister, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported. TV footage and photos distributed by the North's state-run news agency showed Kim inspecting a guard of honour at the Pyongyang station before waving from the train. Late on Saturday, an Associated Press reporter saw a green-and-yellow train similar to one used in the past by Kim, cross into the Chinese border city of Dandong via a bridge. The Trump-Kim meeting is slated for Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. Their first summit last June in Singapore ended without substantive agreements on the North's nuclear disarmament and triggered a months-long stalemate in negotiations as Washington and Pyongyang struggled with the sequencing of North Korea's nuclear disarmament and the removal of US-led sanctions against the North. Kim's overseas travel plans are routinely kept secret. It could take more than two days for the train to travel thousands of kilometres through China to Vietnam. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that Kim would pay an official goodwill visit to the country "in the coming days" in response to an invitation by President Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also the general secretary of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party. In his upcoming meeting with Trump, experts say Kim will seek a US commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief while trying to minimise any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons. While Kim wants to leverage his nuclear and missile program for economic and security benefits, there continue to be doubts on whether he's ready to fully deal away an arsenal that he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival. Last year, North Korea suspended its nuclear and long-range missile tests and unilaterally dismantled its nuclear testing ground and parts of a rocket launch facility without the presence of outside experts, but none of those steps were seen as meaningful cutbacks to the North's weapons capability. While North Korea has repeatedly demanded that the United States take corresponding measures, including sanctions relief, Washington has called for more concrete steps from Pyongyang toward denuclearization. Hanoi has been gearing up for the summit with beefed-up security. Officials say the colonial-era Government Guest House in central Hanoi is expected to be the venue for the Trump-Kim meeting, with the nearby Metropole Hotel as a backup. Streets around the two places have been beautified with flowers and the flags of North Korea, the US and Vietnam. Workers were also putting final touches on the International Media Center. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry says some 2,600 members of the foreign press have registered for the event. Meanwhile, Vietnam has announced a traffic ban along Kim's possible arrival route. The Communist Party's mouthpiece Nhan Dan newspaper quoted the Department of Roads as saying the ban will first apply to trucks 10 tons or bigger, and vehicles with nine seats or more on the 170-kilometre stretch of Highway One from Dong Dang, the border town with China, to Hanoi from 7 pm Monday to 2 pm. Tuesday, followed by a complete ban Tuesday on all vehicles from 6 am to 2 pm. The People's Committee in Lang Son province, where the Dong Dang railway station is located, issued a statement on Friday instructing the road operator to clean the highway stretch and suspend road works, among other things, on 24-28 February as "a political task." A Dubai-bound flight from Bangladesh made an emergency landing at Chattogram on Sunday after a man apparently attempted to hijack the aircraft. A Dubai-bound flight from Bangladesh made an emergency landing at Chattogram on Sunday after a man apparently attempted to hijack the aircraft, Bangladesh's civil aviation chief said. "All 150 plus passengers are safe," Air Vice Marshall Nayeem Hasan told AFP of flight BG 147, which had taken off from the capital Dhaka, adding that the man's intentions were unclear. "We think he is a suspected madman. He is saying that he has a bomb, but we are not sure," Hasan said after the plane landed at Chattogram's Shah Amanat International Airport in southeastern Bangladesh, where the passengers were evacuated. The Bangladesh Police have surrounded the flight, which has been identified as flight BG 147. The plane belonging to national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines was supposed to to fly to Dubai from Dhaka with a stopover at Chattogram. Biman Station Manager at Chattograms Shah Amanat Mahfuzul Alam said the plane was hijacked, but could not provide any additional details. With inputs from AFP By Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir appointed a first vice president and a new prime minister on Saturday, a day after declaring a state of emergency that did little to halt street demonstrations, the most sustained of his 30-year rule. Mohamed Tahir Ayala, the governor of Gezira state who was previously touted by Bashir as a potential successor as president, was appointed prime minister. Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, an ex-military intelligence chief, became first vice president while retaining his defence portfolio. By Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir appointed a first vice president and a new prime minister on Saturday, a day after declaring a state of emergency that did little to halt street demonstrations, the most sustained of his 30-year rule. Mohamed Tahir Ayala, the governor of Gezira state who was previously touted by Bashir as a potential successor as president, was appointed prime minister. Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, an ex-military intelligence chief, became first vice president while retaining his defence portfolio. Bashir declared a one-year nationwide state of emergency on Friday and set up a caretaker administration. He replaced all state governors with military officials. In his televised speech he urged his opponents to join a "path of national reconciliation" and dialogue. He called on parliament to postpone constitutional amendments that would allow him to seek another term in 2020, but he stopped short of saying explicitly that he would not run. There was no sign Friday's speech had calmed the streets. Protests continued late into the night across the capital Khartoum. Stones and debris from burned tyres and branches littered many streets on Saturday. The National Consensus Forces, one of the main opposition groups, said the state of emergency was aimed at countering a "popular revolution", and vowed to push ahead until he Bashir is toppled. The National Umma Party, headed by Sudan's last democratically elected prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, who was toppled by Bashir in a 1989 military coup, sharply criticised the speech in a statement on Saturday. "It was a contradictory speech and does not relate to the reality of the current crisis in our country in any way," National Umma, one of the main opposition parties, said. "It does not fulfil the least of the Sudanese street's demands." Activists say nearly 60 people have been killed since the protests began more than two months ago, while authorities put the death toll at 32, including three security personnel. Sudan last had a nationwide state of emergency in 1999. States of emergency had been declared in several states as protests intensified. Security forces arrested Osman Mirghani, the editor-in-chief of prominent independent newspaper Al-Tayyar, late on Friday, his family told Reuters. Mirghani appeared on regional broadcaster Al Arabiya Al Hadath and criticised Bashir's Friday evening speech. He then returned to Al-Tayyar's bureau where security forces detained him, his family said. As he has faced mounting unrest at home, Bashir has sought support abroad from fellow Arab leaders. Bashir and Defence Minister Ibn Auf met on Saturday with the emir of Qatar's envoy Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah. Earlier this month, he struck a conciliatory tone towards the protests, saying that young people caught up in the recent turmoil had "reasonable ambition". Bashir, an Islamist and former military officer, is wanted by the International Criminal Court in the Hague over charges of masterminding genocide in the Darfur region, which he denies. He has been lobbying for Sudan to be removed from a list of countries which Washington deems state sponsors of terrorism. The listing has blocked the investment and financial aid that Sudan was hoping for when the United States lifted sanctions in 2017, economists say. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Yousef Saba; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Trump and Kim's first meeting in Singapore was a blockbuster piece of diplomatic theatre criticised as light on substance. For the sequel, set in Hanoi this week, they will have to contend with harder questions. Seoul: Their first meeting in Singapore was a blockbuster piece of diplomatic theatre criticised as light on substance. For the sequel, set in Hanoi this week, US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will have to contend with harder questions. Here is a look at what was exactly agreed in Singapore last year and what has transpired since then: What did the Singapore statement say? The inaugural summit between the leaders of two countries that never signed a peace treaty after the 1950-53 Korean War was brief from 9 am to 2 pm. In a short pronouncement, they pledged to seek a "lasting and stable peace regime", with Kim committing "to work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula". There were no specific details, and disagreement over its interpretation has caused follow-up negotiations to stall. Even South Korea's dovish President Moon Jae-in, who seized on last year's Winter Olympics to broker talks between rivals who had been trading personal insults and threats of war, has since described the text as "somewhat vague". What does Washington say? In the months since Singapore, Washington has pushed to maintain sanctions against the North until its "final, fully verified denuclearisation" and has repeatedly referred to "the denuclearisation of North Korea as agreed to by Chairman Kim". But that is not what the words in the statement say, and throughout the process with Trump, Pyongyang has never made a public commitment to give up its weapons, rather than denuclearising the peninsula as a whole. Diplomats say Washington's phrasing could be a negotiating ploy by the Trump administration, effectively daring Pyongyang to come out and deny it. At the same time, Trump said last week: "I'm in no rush. There's no testing. As long as there's not testing, I'm in no rush." What is Pyongyang's view? The North has condemned US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's insistence on its nuclear disarmament as "gangster-like". It has long understood the denuclearisation of "the peninsula" as taking in issues such as the US military presence in South Korea and Washington's nuclear umbrella over Seoul, and a lengthy commentary carried by the official KCNA news agency in December urged the US to "study geography". "When we talk about the Korean Peninsula, it includes the territory of our republic and also the entire region of (South Korea) where the United States has placed its invasive force," it said. Pyongyang says it has already taken substantive measures by stopping missile and nuclear testing and the time has come for the US to respond with moves of its own, such as lifting sanctions. And in his New Year's Speech, North Korean leader Kim said Pyongyang is committed to denuclearisation of the peninsula but only if Washington drops economic sanctions. Is there a way through? Stephen Biegun, the US Special Representative for North Korea, has stressed that Washington has no intention of easing its US or United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang. But, he has said, "we are prepared to explore (a) number of other things that could build trust". Earlier this month he told a Stanford University audience: "I have this perfect outcome moment where the last nuclear weapon leaves North Korea, the sanctions are lifted, the flag goes up in the embassy and the treaty is signed in the same hour. "Now that's ideal, I know, and these things are going to move haltingly along different courses." How do Trump and Kim get on? In 2017, as missiles flew and North Korean ground shook to the blast of a nuclear test, they called each other "dotard" and "Rocket Man". But the Singapore meeting began with a one-on-one meeting, with only their translators present. Trump has since hailed his "great chemistry" with Kim and says he has "gotten to know him and fully understand how capable he is", dangling the prospect of the impoverished, sanctions-hit North becoming a "great Economic Powerhouse" under Kim. "He wrote me beautiful letters," the US president told a rally in October. "And they're great letters. We fell in love." tech2 News Staff While the big brands Huawei and Nokia are all up for their big smartphone launch events at the Mobile World Congress, the Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi will also take the stage today for its pre-MWC event. Notably, the Chinese brand well-known for its feature-packed budget smartphones is hosting its first MWC event this year. Xiaomi's MWC 2019 press event will start at 10.30 am local time. The company will be hosting a live stream for the same as well. For those who wish to get all the live updates of Xiaomi's MWC event can check for the details mentioned below. Xiaomi MWC live stream India timings As mentioned earlier, Xiaomi will be running a live stream of its MWC event today at 3 pm IST. The company is hosting the live stream on its official YouTube channel. Users can get updates on their official Twitter handle and Facebook page as well. Xiaomi MWC 2019 event: What to expect? Like HMD Global, Xiaomi is widely expected to showcase a bunch of products at the event. From the list, the supposed Mi Mix 3 5G is creating much hype on the e-hub. Among other product, Xiaomi is expected to yet again showcase its new Mi 9 series that was launched recently. The 2019 flagship Mi 9 carries a few next-gen aspects including Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, fifth-gen in-display fingerprint reader, 20W wireless charging support, 48MP camera sensor and glass-encased body. How do you want to live the #5G life? #MakeItHappen with Xiaomi. Don't miss the livestream of our launch in Barcelona on Feb. 24th. See you at #MWC19! Twitter: Follow @xiaomi and turn on the notification Facebook: https://t.co/mLnoQO08SD YouTube: https://t.co/aawPHKshnr pic.twitter.com/sjq6gnWMK5 XiaomiUK (@XiaomiUK) February 22, 2019 The Chinese OEM also showcased Mi 9 special edition and Mi 9 SE at the Mi 9 series launch event in China. The special edition packs a massive 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB storage and translucent back cover which although is fake. Meanwhile, the Mi 9 SE is a trimmed down version of Mi 9 that carries Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 712 SoC. Besides these smartphones, reports widely point out on Xiaomi's foldable phone disclosure as well in today's event. The company had already confirmed to be developing a foldable phone and that it will be launched this year. While the specific timeline for the launch hasn't been shared yet, Xiaomi a few days back explained about the working mechanism of the 'double-folded' smartphone. Interestingly, the company previously released an official video of a Xiaomi executive holding a foldable phone which looked like a prototype. But whether Xiaomi showcases a fully developed commercial foldable phone at its MWC event, that remains to be seen. As always, you can head here if you wish to keep yourself apprised about the latest developments at MWC 2019 Photo: wikimedia commons A flight bound for Dubai from Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, made an emergency landing Sunday at the airport in Chittagong, Bangladesh, after a man attempted to hijack the plane, an official said. There were no casualties from the incident on the state-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, Air Vice Marshal Mofidur Rahman of Bangladesh's air force said at a news conference broadcast live on Somoy TV late Sunday. He said a suspect, a Bangladeshi man, had been arrested and was being questioned. Rahman described the suspect as a "terrorist." Rezaul Karim, an official with the Bangladeshi military's inter-service public affairs office, told The Associated Press that the suspect was injured when military commandos opened fire on him. It was unclear where the shooting occurred. Bangladeshi soldiers could be seen in the live broadcast taking positions inside Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong, 252 kilometres (156 miles) southeast of Dhaka. Rahman declined to provide more details about the incident, but said that all 143 passengers and seven crew members aboard the Boeing 737-800 jet had been evacuated and were safe. The flight took off from Dhaka at 4:35 p.m. for the flight to Dubai via Chittagong. The pilot made the emergency landing in Chittagong about 40 minutes later, officials said, after a crew member reported "suspicious behaviour" by the man. Bangladeshi air force spokesman Nur Islam told The Associated Press by phone that "the situation was under control." tech2 News Staff HMD Global, which owns the Nokia brand, is all set to host its pre-MWC event in Barcelona tonight. The Finnish company is expected to showcase its flagship model for the year, the purported Nokia 9 PureView. Apart from unveiling the premium phone, HMD Global may also give the users a glimpse of a few other Nokia branded mid-range and feature phones at the event. Notably, the company last year showcased a total of five Nokia devices with the banana-shaped Nokia 8110 being one among them. The company is expected to play on the nostalgic factor this year as well with the Nokia N9, which was the Windows phone that came with an eye-catching design at that time (October 2011). HMD Global's pre-MWC event will begin at 4 pm Barcelona time. Here are all the details on how to watch the live stream, India timings and what we can expect from Nokia's MWC event. How to watch the live stream, India timings As mentioned earlier, HMD Globals Nokia event will start at 4.00 pm Barcelona time which is 8.30 pm in India. The company is hosting a live stream as well on its official YouTube channel which you can watch in the embed below. We will be running a liveblog as well where you can get live updates from Nokia's big launch event tonight. Nokia MWC 2019: What to expect Like the previous year, HMD Global is expected to continue its tradition of unveiling a bunch of smartphones across varied price points. The most talked about phone is the Nokia 9 or Nokia 9 PureView which is heavily speculated to come with a penta-camera setup. The five cameras at the back are said to be arranged in a circle. However, the type of sensors (wide-angle, telephoto lens etc) and the configurations are not known yet. HMD Globals chief product officer Juho Sarvikas just recently shared an Instagram post from a photographer, which gave hints of a photo being captured and edited on a Nokia device. The photo showed good detail and dynamic range but it's not clear if it was taken from the Nokia 9 flagship. The phone is said to run Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 5.99-inch 2K resolution display with HDR10 support, 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage. Other Nokia devices expected to be showcased at the event are Nokia 4.1 (2019), Nokia 3.2, Nokia 2.2 and Nokia 1 Plus. The Nokia 3.2, Nokia 2.2 and Nokia 1 Plus are said to be entry-level devices that might carry decent RAM/storage and mid-tier chipset. HMD Global might also display a revamped version of Nokia N9, the squared-off designed Windows smartphone. The smartphone is tipped to run on KaiOS software. tech2 News Staff HMD Global launched its much-awaited five rear camera sporting Nokia 9 Pureview today at MWC, but the company also refreshed a bunch of their lower-end smartphones. We're not talking one or two but as many as four new phones apart from the Nokia 9 Pureview. Nokia 210: Price and features The only feature phone in the list of today's launches, the Nokia 210 bares a familiar design, something we've come to expect from the company. The 210 certainly doesn't feature the latest and greatest internals but does the job of a feature phone quite well. The phone features its distinctive Nokia physical keys and also features the Opera Mini browser built-in for basic web-browsing. For nostalgia-sake, you can still play Snake on the Nokia 210. The phone has been priced at $30 which translates to roughly Rs 2,100. The phone comes in three colours - a basic black, a dull white shade and a peppy red colour. Nokia 1 Plus: Price and Specifications The Nokia 1 Plus is the successor to last year's entry-level Nokia 1. The phone offers pretty much the same as its predecessor did, running Android Pie Go edition, but this time gets a slightly larger, 5.45-inch display with a resolution of 480 x 960 pixels and a larger 2,500 mAh battery unit. Another area where the Nokia 1 Plus sees an upgrade is the camera. The Nokia 1 Plus comes with an 8 MP rear-facing camera with autofocus and a LED flash and a 5 MP selfie snapper on the front. Nokia's also tossed in a beauty mode in there for those who love taking selfies but are on a tight budget. Inside, nothing changed much. The Nokia 1 Plus is powered by a MediaTek MT6739 quad-core CPU coupled with a PowerVR GE8100 GPU. There is also 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage which is further expandable via a microSD card. The Nokia 1 Plus comes in black, red and blue colour options and has been priced at $89 (approximately Rs 6,300). Nokia 3.2: Price and specifications The Nokia 3.2 succeeds last year's Nokia 3.1 Plus with a few improvements all-round. The phone features a larger 6.26-inch display with smaller bezels and a resolution of 720 x 1,520 pixels. The phone feature a waterdrop-styled notch on top which makes room for the selfie camera. Inside, the Nokia 3.2 is powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 429 chipset with either 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of storage or 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of storage. The higher RAM model also features a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. The rear-facing camera of the Nokia 3.2 is a single 13 MP shooter with autofocus and a LED flash. On the front, we have a 5 MP shooter which works for selfies but also doubles up to allow Face Unlock. The Nokia 3.2 features a beefy 4,000 mAh battery and runs on Android Pie. HMD Global has also added a bright notification LED on the side of the phone along with a dedicated button to trigger the Google Assistant. The phone is expected to launch in April in black and steel colours and cost $139 for the base 16 GB model and $169 for the 3 GB RAM variant with a fingerprint scanner. Nokia 4.2: Price and specifications The most premium of the four entry-level smartphones, the Nokia 4.2 is the successor to the Nokia 4.1. The phone features a 5.71-inch HD display with an aspect ratio of 19:9. The design of the phone is similar to that of the Nokia 3.2, with a waterdrop-styled notch cut-out on top of the display. As far as cameras go, the phone features a 13 MP primary rear camera and a secondary 2 MP depth sensor. On the front, there's an 8 MP selfie camera with Face Unlock support. Just as the Nokia 3.2, the 4.2 also gets a dedicated notification LED on the side and a button to trigger the Google Assistant. Like all Nokia smartphone, the 4.2 also runs Android 9 Pie and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 processor. RAM and storage combinations are the same as the Nokia 3.2 and the phone gets a 3,000-mAh battery. The Nokia 4.2 comes in two colours - Black and pink and is priced at $169 for the 16 GB storage model and $199 for the 32 GB variant. As always, you can head here if you wish to keep yourself apprised about the latest developments at MWC 2019 tech2 News Staff Huawei is holding its event at the world's biggest phone-centric exhibition, MWC 2019 (Mobile World Congress) ahead of its formal commencement. While its rival Samsung just a few days back showcased its first foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold, Huawei is pulling up socks for its in-house foldable phone's disclosure at its pre-MWC event. Huawei's MWC 2019 keynote is scheduled to happen at 2 pm Barcelona time. The Chinese OEM will be hosting a live stream of its MWC 2019 press brief as well. Interested users can catch all the live updates of Huawei's MWC event by following the details mentioned below. Huawei MWC 2019: Livestream, India timings Huawei is holding its MWC event at 2 pm local time which is 6:30 pm in India. The company will be hosting a live stream of the event in its official Huawei Mobile YouTube handle as well as on Facebook. Huawei MWC 2019: What to expect? Huawei since the past few months had sporadically discussed its foldable phone. However, the company recently confirmed that this year's MWC will witness the world's first 5G foldable phone. While details about the phone are not known yet, the hype around the phone began to levitate when an early leak showed off Huawei 5G foldable phone's design. A photo posted by a user on Twitter which showed few people at MWC 2019 installing a billboard of a Huawei phone. The phone under the moniker Huawei Mate X was seen featuring a double folded display. The poster revealed the tagline "Meet the world's first 5G foldable phone" that seemingly confirm that the phone could be named Huawei Mate X. From what one can notice, the Huawei Mate X will likely feature a different design strategy as opposed to Samsung's foldable phone. While the Galaxy Fold features two discrete screens, with one smaller screen on the outside and the larger panel folding internally, Huawei Mate X's larger display appears to wrap on the outside around the gadget instead. As per reports, the Huawei Mate X is said to equip a Balong 5000 chipset to support 5G network. Notably, Balong 5000 chipset which is the Chinese consumer tech giant's first commercial 5G router. Other details about the phone are scarce as of now. However, the Mate X is expected to carry Huawei's latest high-end processor Kirin 980 with Dual NPU. Reports suggest that Huawei might announce a few more products at its MWC press brief besides its foldable phone. We will likely get to know more details about Huawei's smartphone plans at its press event in the evening. Stay tuned and check our live blog for all the latest updates and trivia. As always, you can head here if you wish to keep yourself apprised about the latest developments at MWC 2019 Yogi Adityanath also hit out at regional parties in Uttar Pradesh and pointed out their failure in providing adequate facilities to the farmers. Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh): Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday attacked the Opposition saying that during their regime, "the country's security was under stake". "We all know that 55 months ago, India was ruled by a government which had no credibility and there was a lot of distrust in the milieu. All corrupt governments had also promoted terrorism and Naxalite movements. During their reign, the country's security was under stake," said Uttar Pradesh chief minister in Gorakhpur. Speaking at the launch of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, Adityanath also lauded the prime minister for winning the Seoul Peace Prize. "We would like to congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi as after gaining the respect of the world as 'champion of the earth', he was honoured with Seoul peace prize last week," Yogi added. "Today is the launch of the biggest farmer's scheme, which has come in after 70 years of India's independence. The prime minister has decided to pioneer the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur which is going to benefit more than 2 crore farmers in Uttar Pradesh," he said. PM-KISAN scheme, announced in the interim Budget on 1 February, will provide Rs 6,000 per year to small and marginal farmers having combined land holding/ownership of up to 2 hectares. The amount will be given in three instalments of Rs 2,000 each. He also stressed on other developmental schemes that were recently brought by the central government. "Remember 1990, when places of storage of fertilizers were closed and farmers could not receive fertilizers. With the arrival of Modi government, in July 2016, not just Gorakhpur, but in Baroni and Dalchar also, a project was brought to develop places of storage of fertilizers. And 60 percent of the work has been completed." The Uttar Pradesh chief minister also hit out at regional parties in the state and pointed out their failure in providing adequate facilities to the farmers. "Let's not forget that corrupt parties like Samajwadi Party, Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party had sold 21 sugar mills which adversely affected farmers. But today we are thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he had done immensely for sugarcane and other farmers of the country. These 55 months of his work, are going to create a lot of pressure on all those who ruled the country for 55 years." While concluding his address, Adityanath stressed on various promises which were put forth by the prime minister ahead of the Lok Sabha 2014 elections and have been successfully fulfilled. It included the development of AIIMS hospital and air connectivity in Uttar Pradesh, and gas connection to the poor and downtrodden. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday appealed to the leaders and office-bearers of his party to ensure the victory of BJP-Sena alliance in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday appealed to the leaders and office-bearers of his party to ensure the victory of BJP-Sena alliance in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Thackeray held a meeting of party MPs, district and taluka chiefs at the party headquarters to devise a strategy for the polls. It was the first meeting after a decision was made to join hands with the BJP for the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly polls. The directives assume significance as a section of grassroots party workers are not happy with his decision to ally with the BJP. Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said, "Uddhav ji believes in a two-way approach towards party workers. He gives them guidance and takes their advice." He said Thackeray was conducting meetings at various levels to clear doubts and answer queries of grassroots workers regarding the alliance. Meanwhile, another Sena leader quoted Thackeray as saying the Sena-BJP alliance's victory was very important for the country and all party workers should strive hard for it. He also said efforts should be made at the local level to pave the way for the alliance's victory. Union Social Justice Minister and RPI (A) president Ramdas Athawale rued Saturday that his party was not spared a single seat by NDA allies BJP and Shiv Sena while announcing their alliance for the coming polls. Nagpur: Union Social Justice Minister and RPI (A) president Ramdas Athawale rued Saturday that his party was not spared a single seat by NDA allies BJP and Shiv Sena while announcing their alliance for the coming polls. In politics "doors are always open" but he still wanted the next government to be formed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the Dalit leader said in Nagpur. "We are happy that the Shiv Sena and BJP have come together, but they did not leave a single seat for RPI, and this is unfortunate. RPI had been instrumental in garnering votes for the BJP in the 2014 Assembly elections (in Maharashtra)," Athawale told reporters. His party should have been taken into confidence by the Sena and BJP while sealing their deal, he said. The RPI was not even called for the joint press conference (held Monday to announce the alliance), he said. "Our party cadre and people are disappointed that RPI is not getting a single seat. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and (Sena chief) Uddhav Thackeray should think about our demands," the Union minister said. RPI leaders will be meeting in Mumbai on 25 February to discuss this issue, he said. His party was not thinking of switching allegiance to the Congress, Athawale said. Asked if he had met NCP supremo Sharad Pawar recently, Athawale answered in the negative. "I got a message from (NCP leader) Chhagan Bhujbal inviting me for a meeting. But I replied that our stand is still not clear, so nothing will come out of a meeting. Let's see. In politics, doors are always open," he said. "If injustice continues, then we will see what to do." Overcoming their strained ties, the BJP and Shiv Sena on 18 February announced a seat-sharing pact for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Maharashtra. The BJP will contest 25 and the Shiv Sena 23 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. The two parties said they will contest equal number of seats, after allotting allies their share, in Assembly elections, which are due this year. Talking about his visit to families of CRPF personnel from Maharashtra who were killed in the Pulwama terror attack, Athawale urged the Dalit youth to join the armed forces in large numbers. He has demanded reservation for Dalits in the Army as they are very brave, he said. Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said paramilitary personnel who are killed in the line of duty will be accorded 'martyr' status if his party comes to power. New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said paramilitary personnel who are killed in the line of duty will be accorded 'martyr' status if his party comes to power. He said this in response to a question on 'martyr' status to the jawans during an interactive session with university students at the JLN Stadium here. "I agree with you. Paramilitary jawans don't get 'martyr' status. They should get it, and if we come to power, they will be accorded that status," Rahul said. His comment comes days after 40 CRPF jawans were killed in the Pulwama terror attack. "If you see, I am much in contact with paramilitary forces because of the security provided by them to me (during events). These jawans, whether from the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, or CISF, they suffer more casualties, but they get less infrastructure support, which is not good," Rahul said. After the terror assault in Pulwama, the Congress president had tweeted, "The brave are martyred. Their families struggle. 40 Jawans give their lives but are denied the status of 'Shaheed'." In response to another question, he said "violence could not be defeated with violence, but only conquered through love". "When I went to Shamli to meet the family of a jawan killed in the Pulwama terror attack, I could relate to the sentiments," Rahul said. "My father was also killed by a bomb, I have been in that situation. I knew what it felt to know your father was blown to pieces." Rahul said her grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her security guards with several rounds of bullets. "Satwant Singh, who shot my dadi, taught me to play badminton... I had anger... But when my father came back and hugged me, my anger dissolved," he said. "So as someone who has lost two close family members to violence, if you ask me, if violence is the answer to that, I would still say no, it isn't." "Those who have understood, felt violence will never think of violence as a solution. Violence is a never-ending cycle and can only be defeated by love," Gandhi said. Look at history, Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha, Mahavira, King Ashoka, violence is never the answer to violence. BJP vice-president Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday called Congress president Rahul Gandhi a habitual 'liar' and accused his party of indulging in 'allegation politics'. Guwahati: BJP vice-president Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday called Congress president Rahul Gandhi a habitual "liar" and accused his party of indulging in "allegation politics". "I accept Rahul Gandhi is the greatest liar of the country. He does not lie once, twice or thrice, but he lies every day," he said, referring to Gandhi's allegations that the Rafale jet deal was compromised by corruption. "He has Rafaia," Chouhan added, apparently trying to rhyme the term with Malaria. Continuing his tirade against the Congress, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said the party was indulging in "dirty politics" at a time when the country is united in condemning the Pulwama terrorist attack in which 40 CRPF soldiers died. Congress has raised questions on intelligence failure and also asked how the suicide bomber managed to procure huge quantities of explosives to carry out the attack. It has also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was shooting for a film till late after the attack in the afternoon on 14 February. The government has denied the allegation as "baseless charge". The party said the prime minister was in Ramnagar, where Jim Corbett National Park is located, for an official event related to tiger conservation. On efforts by Opposition parties forge a grand alliance, Chauhan said, "If it is formed, then it will be only a union for a purpose and not of the mind. Their agenda is only to criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday termed the PM-KISAN as a bribe for votes and said the greater shame is that the Election Commission is unable to stop it. New Delhi: With the government set to transfer the first instalment of Rs 2,000 to about 2 crore farmers over the next few days, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday termed it as a bribe for votes and said the greater shame is that the Election Commission is unable to stop it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched the Rs 75,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, and was scheduled to transfer the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers. Today is the 'Cash for Vote' day. The BJP government will officially give a bribe of Rs 2000 per agricultural family to get their votes, Chidambaram said in a series of tweets. The money will go to the cultivating farmer as well as the absentee landlord, the former finance minister said. Nothing can be more shameful in a democracy than 'Bribe for Votes'. The greater shame is that the Election Commission is unable to stop the 'Bribe for Votes', he said. Under the scheme, another one crore farmers will be covered in the next two or three days, an Agriculture Ministry official had said. In the Interim Budget 2019-20, the Centre had announced the PM-KISAN scheme under which Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three instalments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to two hectares. The Army has resolved to wipe out terrorists and their harbourers following the Pulwama attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said New Delhi: The Army has resolved to wipe out terrorists and their harbourers following the Pulwama attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday, asserting that the martyrdom of 40 CRPF soldiers will keep "inspiring us relentlessly to uproot the very base of terrorism". In his 53rd and last Mann ki Baat broadcast before the Lok Sabha elections, Modi asked people to rally together to take on the challenge of terrorism facing the country by forgetting barriers of casteism, communalism, regionalism and other differences so that the steps against terror are firmer and more decisive. In an apparent reference to the killing of Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists, who the Army said were masterminds of the Pulwama attack, in an encounter, he said "retributive action was accomplished" within 100 hours of the incident. He also mentioned responses of families of deceased CRPF men and said that the story of every family of martyrs is full of inspiration. Paying tributes to security forces, Modi said he will dedicate the National War Memorial to them on Monday and added that not having such a memorial always pained and surprised him. "I do believe that for our countrymen a visit to the National War Memorial will be akin to a pilgrimage to a holy place. The National Soldiers' Memorial is a symbol of the nation's gratitude to those men who made the supreme sacrifice after we gained Independence," he said. During the address, he paid tributes to tribal warrior Birsa Munda, who was arrested by the British forces on 3 March in 1900, pioneering industrialists Jamsetji Tata, whose birth anniversary falls on 3 March, and former prime minister Morarji Desai, who was born on 29 February. Describing Desai as one of the most disciplined leaders, Modi noted that the first post-Emergency government headed by Desai had brought about 44th Constitutional Amendment, which restored powers of the Supreme Court and undid many excesses of the Emergency. The amendment restored certain powers of the Supreme Court and declared that the fundamental rights granted under Article 20 and 21 of the Constitution could not be abrogated during the Emergency. "For the first time, constitutional safeguards guaranteed that the President could only announce the Emergency upon the written recommendation of the Cabinet, and that the period of Emergency could not be extended more than six months at any stretch of time. In this way, Morarji Bhai ensured that the way democracy was assassinated in 1975 by imposition of Emergency could never be repeated again in the future," Modi said. The prime minister also referred to the humble origins of the latest group of Padma awardees. He said many people began enquiring about them after they were given the honour which shows that they worked selflessly on the ground while not making it to media headlines. Modi discussed works of several of these awardees and noted that 12 of them were farmers. Photo: Contributed South Okanagan-Similkameen MP Richard Cannings presented two petitions with hundreds of constituent signatures to Parliament Thursday, both supporting an end to testing cosmetic products on animals. The petitions support Bill S-124, which aims to outlaw cosmetic testing on animals nationwide. Cannings said this cause is an easy one to get behind. "I don't know who wouldn't," he said. "It seems like a very straightforward issue to support." Cannings pointed out that Canada is behind on this kind of law, since the European Union banned the practice in 2013. But the clock is ticking when it comes to action on these petitions. "[Parliament] would have to start moving quickly because we're running out of time before the summer recess and the election and all that," Cannings said. He has no word at this time as to when the petition will actually be seen in the House. BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya stoked a controversy by referring to a Muslim MLA of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh a beef-eater Bhopal: BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya stoked a controversy on Saturday by referring to a Muslim MLA of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh as a "beef-eater" during a party event. The BJP leader, known for making controversial statements, was talking about party candidate Surendra Nath Singh's defeat from the Bhopal (Central) assembly seat. Speaking at the gathering of BJP workers here, Vijayvargiya said, "Your (Singh's) loss caused me the greatest anguish. It is surprising that a nationalist government which stopped cow slaughter was in power (in the state), but a beef-eater won against you. It is a matter of shame for all of us." In the November 2018 elections, Congress's Arif Masood defeated Singh by 14,757 votes. The Congress ended the BJP's 15-year rule in the state in the polls. Reacting to the comment, Masood said, "Vijayvargiya should produce evidence as to when I ate beef. I have never had a meal with the BJP general secretary. This (the remark) only shows his frustration." Masood claimed he had never eaten beef in his life, and he won from a seat where Hindus are in a majority. "I was elected by all sections of society while the BJP only focused on dividing people," he said. State BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal said he was not aware of Vijayvargiya's statement and hence could not offer any comment. While Opposition leaders said that PM-KISAN is a 'political stunt' which is not really helping the farmers, BJP leaders lauded the scheme as a 'mark of commitment to farmers' welfare'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched the Rs 75,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur. Under the PM-KISAN programme, vulnerable landholding farmer families, having cultivable land up to 2 hectares, will be given direct income support of Rs 6,000 per year. This income support will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of beneficiary farmers in three equal installments of Rs 2,000 each. Modi, while launching the scheme, warned that anyone politicising the scheme will face the wrath of farmers. "I warn those state governments who are looking to play politics with the scheme, if you indulge in this, then curse of the farmers will destroy your politics. I appeal to farmers, don't be misled by anyone," he said at the Gorakhpur rally. Launching a scathing attack on Congress over its loan waiver schemes in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Modi said, "For us, loan waivers would have been an easy and convenient option...We also could have distributed freebies for political and election benefits, but we can't commit such a crime. Loan waivers benefit only a select few." "This is new India. The money that the central government sends to the farmer, the full amount goes to his account. Gone are the days when the government sent 100 paise, out of which 85 paise went into the pockets of the middlemen. We have made this scheme foolproof so that no one can steal the rights of the farmers," he said. After the scheme was launched, various Opposition leaders took to social media to share their thoughts. Many said the scheme is not really bettering the ongoing farmers' crisis: Modi throws a pittance to few land owners as a sop just before elections, with no concern for our annadatas as we have seen since 2014. Farmers have never suffered after independece, as in the last few years and the only thing Modi cares for are his PR shoots and rich friends. Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) February 24, 2019 Giving @ Rs 17 per day to few farmers just before Lok Sabha elections is pure hoodwinking. BJP reflects poor in their thinking towards farmers and solving their misery. BJP misused govt power & machinery in a brazen manner and still not hesitating. Mayawati (@Mayawati) February 24, 2019 The money will go to the cultivating farmer as well as the absentee landlord. P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) February 24, 2019 The farm crisis is a national crisis and needs a national solution, no poll-sop or individual state can implement change at this scale we stand with farmers everywhere and promise to bring about a #GoldenRevolution for all farmers regardless of caste, creed or religion Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) February 24, 2019 An installment of Rs. 2000 will not address the issue of more than 11,000 crores in unpaid dues to sugarcane farmers. The installment alone does not cover the cost of cultivation and PM-KISAN is merely a political stunt.#PMKisan @PMOIndia @yadavakhilesh #GoldenRevolution Juhie Singh (@juhiesingh) February 24, 2019 #PMKisan will not address systemic issues in agriculture such as shortage of Mandis, delays in #MSP payments, issues of lessee farmers and sharecroppers etc. @narendramodi govt has created an agricultural crisis, @BJP4India needs to accept this.@yadavakhilesh @samajwadiparty Juhie Singh (@juhiesingh) February 24, 2019 Conversely, BJP leaders lauded the scheme as a "mark of commitment to farmers' welfare": A scheme which has been designed to see the smiles, and honor the hard work of Crores of Farmers across the Nation. Uttar Pradesh being the biggest beneficiary state. Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) February 24, 2019 #PMKisan Yojana is a mark of our commitment for ensuring the welfare of our #farmers. Sharing a photo with some of the beneficiaries who were among the first recipients of the #PradhanMantriKisanSammanNidhi in #Tripura during the inauguration programme held in #Agartala today. pic.twitter.com/4rxoBqPjmK Biplab Kumar Deb (@BjpBiplab) February 24, 2019 Towards Supporting our Annadata! A great initiative towards farmers welfare launched today #PMKisan by our PM @narendramodi ji, will provide assured income support to small & marginal farmers. Let us all be connected to this launch of the biggest farmers welfare scheme PMKISAN https://t.co/RySrP99owS Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) February 24, 2019 Joined the #PMKisan Samman Nidhi function at Gorakhpur, UP via VC from Mumbai. I am happy that 14,26,927 farmers from Maharashtra received 2000 directly in their respective accounts today as a part of first instalment ! pic.twitter.com/uzdUcRH1y9 Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) February 24, 2019 In addition, the BJP in Odisha has criticised the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government for ignoring the scheme. State BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan took to Twitter to remind residents that "farmers in Odisha will also benefit from the PM-KISAN Yojana. Initially the Odisha government was unwilling to implement the pro-farmer yojana in the state. But later, the state govt has only shared details of 9 lakh farmers with the Centre." The Centre's PM-KISAN scheme is expected to benefit 12 crore small and marginal farmer families. The programme was made effective from 1 December, 2018, and the first instalment for the period until 31 March, 2019, will be paid this year. The cut-off date to determine the eligibility of beneficiaries was 1 February. Changes, if any, in the cut-off date to check for eligibility to avail of the scheme for the next five years will only be considered with the approval of the Union Cabinet. With inputs from ANI 'The apathy and incompetence of the Assam government has resulted in the tragic deaths of over 140 people,' Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter. New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday that the "apathy and incompetence" of the BJP government in Assam has resulted in "tragic" deaths of over 100 people due to intake of toxic alcohol. The death toll in Assam's hooch tragedy has shot up to 124, while 331 people are undergoing treatment in hospitals, officials said on Sunday. "The apathy and incompetence of the Assam government has resulted in the tragic deaths...with scores of victims in hospital, poisoned by toxic alcohol," Gandhi tweeted on Sunday afternoon. He added, "My condolences to the families of those who have died. I also pray that those in hospital make a speedy recovery." A large number of labourers of two tea estates of Golaghat and Jorhat districts had fallen ill after drinking spurious liquor on Thursday night and many of them died in the past few days. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal met the affected people at Jorhat Medical College Hospital (JMCH) on Saturday and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs two lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those who fell ill. Sonowal said Saturday the guilty would not be spared, even as the opposition Congress accused the BJP government in Assam of not taking adequate steps to stop the sale of illicit liquor and demanded the resignation of the state excise minister. Expressing dismay over the killing of 40 CRPF jawans in a terror attack in Pulwama orchestrated by Pakistan-based terror outfitJaish-e-Mohammad, Ramdev said: 'No one is purified without war.' Haridwar (Uttarakhand): Pakistan does not understand any other language other than that of war, said Yoga Guru Ramdev on Sunday. "We should go to war with Pakistan as Islamabad does not understand any other language," he said while speaking to media persons. Expressing dismay over the killing of 40 CRPF jawans in a terror attack in Pulwama on 14 February orchestrated by Pakistan-based terror outfitJaish-e-Mohammad, Ramdev said: "No one is purified without war." "We have no complaints against the people of Pakistan, but those in power are naive and will not understand without a war. We have been talking to them for the last 70 years and we have lost over 50,000 people," he said. "There is no point of sacrificing our jawans. There should be a war to solve the matter for once and all," he said, while stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a "strong dynamic leader and the nation expects him to take a strong step." "The time, and the kind of warall this will be decided by our prime minister since he holds the position to take the final call. The nation certainly expects a strong step from a leader of his stature," he said. He also clarified that the fight is against terrorism and anti-national forces, and not against common Kashmiri. "Our fight is against terrorists and anti-nationals, and not against Kashmiris," he said. The six-year-old twin sons of a businessman kidnapped at gunpoint in Madhya Pradesh's Chitrakoot have been found dead in the Yamuna River in Uttar Pradesh. Satna: The six-year-old twin sons of a businessman kidnapped at gunpoint in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district have been found dead in the Yamuna River in Uttar Pradesh. Sporadic protests erupted in Chitrakoot town of Satna soon after the news of their death reached the place on Sunday, prompting the police to step up security. The children, both in kindergarten and sons of oil merchant Brijesh Rawat, were kidnapped at gunpoint by two masked persons from Chitrakoot when they were returning home in their school bus on 12 February. The kidnappers had later demanded a ransom from the children's father, Chitrakoot's Nayagaon police station in-charge KP Tripathi said. He said the bodies of the children were found floating in the Yamuna river near Baberu village in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district late on Saturday night. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath was quoted by ANI as saying, "I spoke to the victims' father. The politics behind it will also be uncovered. Whose flag was there on the vehicle in which they were travelling, police is exposing all those details. Opposition is scared because their people are involved." Madhya Pradesh: Protest in Chitrakoot after two children who were abducted from a school bus in the district on February 12 were found dead in a river in Uttar Pradesh's Banda today. Section 144 (prohibits assembly of more than 4 people in an area) imposed in Chitrakoot pic.twitter.com/9G8KdDiHpU ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2019 The bodies were later fished out from the river and sent for post mortem to a hospital in Banda, he said. Six people were so far arrested in connection with the kidnapping and killing, Tripathi said, adding that an investigation was underway into the incident. Meanwhile, as the news of the children's death came in, locals forced closure of shops and other business establishments in Chitrakoot town, a police official said. Some angry locals also burnt tyres on streets and vandalised private properties at some places, he said. Tripathi said additional police force was deployed in Chitrakoot following the protests. After the boys were kidnapped, Madhya Pradesh Police had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for information about the twin siblings. The police of both Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were working on the case since Chitrakoot is a border town. The two masked men had come on a motorbike and abducted the two children at gunpoint when their bus was about to leave the premises of Sadguru Public School on 12 February, a police official earlier said. The children were residents of Ramghat in Chitrakoot Dham (Karwi) district of Uttar Pradesh. They used to travel four kilometres across the border to their school every day, Satna's Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh Gaur had said after the incident. With inputs from agencies Tension prevailed in Kashmir after over 100 companies of Central Armed Police Forces were deployed in the region. The situation worsened after authorities limited the sale of petrol each day to 3 litres for consumers. Srinagar: Tension prevailed in Kashmir after over 100 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were deployed in the region, including personnel of the Border Security Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police. The situation worsened after authorities limited the sale of petrol each day to 3 litres for consumers, and the health department issued directions to staff to stock up on medicines and surgical equipment at hospitals, asking them to not leave their postings without permission. The health department has asked Chief Medical Officers to collect "available supplies of drugs, medicines, surgical items and other allied items" for hospitals from the drug warehouse of the Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation on Sunday. The order, issued by the director of health services of Kashmir, read that this was to be done "in view of the prevailing situation" in the Valley. After news of the deployment of additional forces spread, there was panic buying of petrol, which led to long queues outside petrol stations in Srinagar. Former chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah voiced his concern over the situation and tweeted: To put a personal touch to the tweets Ive been putting out about panic buying at petrol pumps, my sister just went to 4 pumps to put fuel in her car & didnt get a drop from any of the 4. Thats what people in Srinagar are dealing with. Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) February 23, 2019 Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti also took to Twitter to express concern over the situation prevailing in Kashmir. There is a sense of unease and panic in Kashmir. Nobody has a clue about what is to come but an ominous feeling of impending doom hangs in the air. In such a surcharged atmosphere, public anger has been diverted towards Kashmiris. Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) February 24, 2019 However, divisional commissioner of Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan clarified that the orders limiting the sale of petrol were issued to regulate the consumption of fuel, given the shortage in Kashmir due to the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar Highway. "The last time, too, we had limited the sale of petrol to 3 litres per day. It is simply because the stocks are in short supply. We had done this 15 days ago, as well. Tankers are on the way, and the supply will be replenished." Director of health services of Kashmir, Dr Kunzes Dolma, said the order directing staff to stock up on medicines had been issued keeping the tensions in the Valley in mind on account of the separatist leaders' call for a strike on Sunday as well as the shortages at hospitals. "We have issued directions to have medicines picked up from the drug warehouse at Bemina. We get an annual supply from the Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation on annual basis, but this did not come yet this year. We were intimated that they had received the supplies, and that we should go collect them," she said, adding that the staff were told not to leave their postings because of the upcoming parliamentary elections. The separatist conglomerate, Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), has urged people in Kashmir to observe a shutdown to protest "mass arrests, censorship and any tampering with Article 35A", which prohibits non-Kashmiris from buying land in Jammu and Kashmir or applying for government jobs. After reports said the Supreme Court will hear a case on Article 35A of the Constitution on Monday, the JRL called for the shutdown, saying the "challenge to the heredity state subject law is an extremely important issue for the people as it is akin to our very existence as a people and directly linked to the Kashmir dispute". On Saturday, after the arrest of several separatist leaders, there were clashes between security forces and protesters at a number of locations in Kashmir. Also, in view of the call for a strike, the police said they will restrict the movement of people in a number of areas that fall under the jurisdiction of a few police stations in Srinagar city. Furthermore, senior government officials perceived the swift deployment of security forces in the Valley as well as the restrictions on the sale of petrol as an indication of the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. Shahidul Islam, hailing from Assams Barpeta district, has served in Baramulla in north Kashmir, and at the Siachen Glacier. 'I have been posted in Kashmir, Kargil, and Siachen. I love my country and stand to protect it. But back home (in Assam), I am (seen as) a doubtful citizen,' he said. An Indian Army soldier named Shahidul Islam, hailing from Assam's Barpeta district and currently posted in Kolkata, is fighting to prove his Indian citizenship in Assam to be included in the National Register of Citizens (NRC). He is now contesting a case at the Foreigners' Tribunal Number 11 of Barpeta district to prove that he is an Indian citizen. The 43-year-old told The Indian Express that he served in Baramulla in North Kashmir and at the Siachen Glacier before being posted in Kolkata in October 2018. "I have been posted in Kashmir, Kargil, and Siachen. I love my country and stand to protect it. But back home in Assam, I am seen as a doubtful citizen," he said. The newspaper quoted Islam as saying that he received the first notice to appear at the Foreigners' Tribunal in October 2018. Sources in border police confirmed to The Indian Express that the reference case against Shahidul Islam and his family members was made in 2003 Shahidul, his mother and his brother were to appear in court on 9 November. His brothers 27-year-old CISF trooper Mizanur Ali and 29-year-old Delbor Ali, with Army Medical Corps since 2010 are also mentioned with their father Abdul Hamid as minors in the 2003 reference case. Their father died in August 2005. The next hearing in his case has been scheduled for 18 March, but the army subedar says there is a chance he may not be able to make it as he may "be on the move". The government began to update the Assam NRC in 2018 in a bid to weed out illegal immigrants. At least 40 lakh people were left out of the final draft, after which they began to file their claims to citizenship in September. The news also comes amid a row over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which seeks to grant nationality to non-Muslims who fled religious persecution from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before 31 December, 2014. The Lok Sabha passed the controversial bill on 8 January. With inputs from agencies Air India's Mumbai control centre on Saturday received a phone call threatening to hijack its plane, after which the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) ordered all airlines and CISF to follow specific enhanced measures to ensure security, according to an official note. New Delhi: Air India's Mumbai control centre on Saturday received a phone call threatening to hijack its plane, after which the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) ordered all airlines and CISF to follow specific enhanced measures to ensure security, according to an official note. "A telephonic message received by the station duty office, AI (Air India) AOCC (Airport Operation Control Centre) Mumbai, stating information regarding a threat to Indian Airlines flight getting hijacked to Pakistan on 23 February, 2019," stated the BCAS note. The note added, "In view of the above, APSU (Airport Security Unit)/ASG (Aviation Security Group) and all aircraft operators shall adopt the following (eight) measures with immediate effect." Both APSU and ASG are part of the Central Industrial Security Force. According to BCAS note, the measures to be followed are: - Strict access control to regulate entry to terminal building, airside, all operational area and other aviation facilities - Intensive checking of vehicles entering car parking area to preclude possibility of car bomb attacks - Enhanced screening of passengers, staff and visitors including enhanced random screening at the main gate -Enhanced screening and protection of hold baggage, cargo, cargo terminal, catering, mails, etc - Surveillance through CCTV cameras as well as manual surveillance in and around the terminal building and operational areas - Quick reaction team and perimeter patrolling to be strengthened - Manning of all cargo gates and vehicle entry gates will be strengthened with strong armed support - Any other security measures based on local intelligence inputs The Parliament passed the Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill in 2014 to lay down new protocol to deal with hijacking of an airplane. "The bill provides death penalty for the offence of hijacking, where such offence results in the death of a hostage or of a security personnel; or with imprisonment for life and the moveable and immovable property of such persons shall also be liable to be confiscated," the Central government said in a statement on 3 December, 2014. In a crackdown on trolls and vitriolic sentiments being spread via social media, the DoT has provided a platform to those receiving abusive and inappropriate WhatsApp messages and asked them to report them with screenshots and contact number of the abuser. In a crackdown on trolls and vitriolic sentiments being spread via social media, the Department of Telecom on Friday provided a platform to those receiving abusive and inappropriate WhatsApp messages and asked them to report them with screenshots and contact number of the abuser. DoT official Ashish Joshi tweeted, "If anyone is receiving abusive, offensive, vulgar or death threat WhatsApp messages, please send screenshots of the message along with the mobile number to ccaddn-dot@nic.in. We will take it up with the telecom operators and police heads for necessary action." DoT Secretary Aruna Sundararajan was tagged in Joshi's tweet. Senior journalists, including Barkha Dutt, who were subjected to "vicious trolling" on social media platforms like Twitter and WhatsApp after the Pulwama attack, welcomed the move. In response to the DoT announcement, Dutt said she would get in touch with the department and "thanked" them for the information. Journalists like Dutt and Ravish Kumar, among others, were trolled on social media after they pointed out the harassment Kashmiris were facing in several parts of the country in the aftermath of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on 14 February. The Jaish-e-Mohammed attack on a CRPF convoy killed 42 personnel of the paramilitary force. On 19 February, Dutt publicly shared her complaint to Twitter authorities after receiving violent threats and obscene messages over the microblogging site. Dutt had tweeted that an army of trolls was constantly harassing her with death and rape threats after "someone circulated her phone number on social media". She shared some of these inappropriate messages on Twitter, but then got "locked out" of the website till she took down many of these details. She then wrote to Twitter India. "I had close to 1,000 abusive messages and calls in a coordinated and violent mob attack. These included a message to shoot me, a nude photo and many sexually abusive messages," she wrote in a tweet. On 20 February, various press organisations spoke out in solidarity with the journalists facing abuse on social media and released a statement, asking the Ministry of Home Affairs to book the people spreading vitriol against them. These included the Women's Press Corps, Press Club of India and Press Association. "Such messages have the potential to incite hatred and invariably lead to hate crimes. We urge the government to look into this with the urgency it deserves," they said. With inputs from agencies Permanent residence certificate row agitators allegedly set ablaze the private residence of Arunachal Pradesh deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein Itanagar: Defying curfew, agitators allegedly set ablaze the private residence of Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and ransacked the office of the deputy commissioner here on Sunday to protest against recommendations to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities, police said. A large number of people marched through streets here damaging public property and vehicles after a person who was injured in police firing on Friday succumbed to injuries at a hospital, police said. The protesters set ablaze the private residence of the deputy chief minister at Niti Vihar here and ransacked the office of the deputy commissioner of Itanagar. They also set on fire a large number of vehicles parked in the compound of the DC's office. #WATCH Permanent residence certificate row: Violence broke out in Itanagar during protests against states decision to grant permanent resident certificates to non-#ArunachalPradesh Scheduled Tribes of Namsai & Chanaglang; Deputy CM Chowna Mein's private house also vandalised. pic.twitter.com/FrcmqWbL8c ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2019 The protesters also attacked the Itanagar Police station and several public properties in the state capital, police said. The agitators also blocked the road leading to the Naharlagun railway station as a result many passengers, including patients, were held up at the station since Sunday morning. An indefinite curfew was clamped in Itanagar and Naharlagun on Saturday as protesters resorted to stone pelting in which 35 people, including 24 police personnel, were injured. The Army had also conducted flag marches in Itanagar and Naharlagun on Saturday. Internet services remained suspended in Itanagar and Naharlagun. All markets, petrol pumps and shops were closed and most of the ATMs in the state capital were out of cash, police said. Over 60 vehicles, including many police vehicles, were set ablaze and over 150 vehicles were damaged by the protesters since Friday, they said. On Saturday, the agitators damaged the stage of the Itanagar International Film Festival at the Indira Gandhi Park here. The organisers later called off the film festival. Permanent residence certificate row: Police station and a fire station in Itanagar vandalized after violence broke out during a strike called by 18 student&civil society orgs. Protesters allege a youth was also killed in police firing. #ArunachalPradesh pic.twitter.com/XSyf282Y3d ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2019 The Joint High Power Committee (JHPC), after holding parleys with the stakeholders, recommended granting permanent resident certificates (PRCs) to six communities, who are not natives of Arunachal Pradesh but has been living in Namsai and Changlang districts for decades. The proposals evoked resentment among several community-based groups and students' organisations, who claimed that the rights and the interests of indigenous people will be compromised if the state government accepts them. The recommendation of the JHPC was supposed to be tabled in the Assembly on Saturday but was not tabled as the Speaker adjourned the House sine die. On Saturday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh appealed to the people of Arunachal Pradesh to remain calm and maintain peace. He also spoke to Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who briefed him about the prevailing situation in the border state. Martin sat on the floor of the New Life Center, her back against a counter, filling out greeting cards and checking emails on her smartphone while she waited. She had arrived around 9:20 a.m. and was still waiting as of shortly after 11 a.m. She was among about 35 people who either stood in line or sat in chairs around the New Life Center lobby. No one was injured in the shelling in Rajouri, which still continued when the last reports were received, the Jammu and Kashmir Police official added. Jammu: Pakistan violated ceasefire by targeting forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Sunday, officials said. "At about 17.15 hours (5.15 pm), Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling with mortars and firing of small arms along the LoC in Nowshera sector," a defence spokesperson said. "Pakistan continues with its nefarious designs along (the) LoC. Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively," the spokesperson said in a brief statement. A police official said dozens of mortars were fired by Pakistan from across the LoC, hitting several villages, including Kalsia, Manpur and Ganiya. No one was injured in the shelling that was still continuing when last reports were received, the official added. Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase assistance under PM-KISAN to Rs 10,000 from Rs 6,000 per year. Bhubaneswar: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase assistance under PM-KISAN to Rs 10,000 from Rs 6,000 per year. In a letter written to the prime minister, Patnaik also appealed for the inclusion of landless labourers, sharecroppers and vulnerable agricultural households under the Central sector scheme PM-KISAN. "These categories of agricultural workers are at the bottom of the agriculture economy pyramid, and they deserve special care and attention. Rural prosperity and reduction in poverty cannot be achieved without an adequate focus on these weaker sections of the populace," the letter read. He also cited his state's flagship KALIA scheme and wrote, "Under the KALIA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) scheme of the state government, not only small and marginal farmers but landless labourers, sharecroppers and vulnerable agricultural households are also covered. Under KALIA scheme, annual financial assistance of Rs 10,000 is envisaged for every small and marginal farmer." Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme from Gorakhpur on Sunday. Under the scheme, the Central government will, on the same day, make the first installment of Rs 2,000 in the bank accounts of beneficiary farmers. About one crore farmers are expected to receive the first installment on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday will launch the Rs 75,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday will launch the Rs 75,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, by transferring the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers, a senior agriculture ministry official said. Another one crore farmers will be covered in the next two or three days, the official said. In the Interim Budget 2019-20, the Centre had announced the PM-KISAN scheme under which Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three instalments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to two hectares. The prime minister in a tweet said, "Tomorrow is a historic day! The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi will be launched from Gorakhpur. This is a scheme that will give wings to the aspirations of crores of hardworking farmers of India who feed our nation." He further said that "tomorrow's launch of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi demonstrates two things: NDA's unwavering commitment to farmer welfare and speedy decision making a scheme announced on 1 February has become a reality in such a short span. This is the new work culture of New India". The scheme has been made effective from this fiscal itself and as a result, farmers are set to get one instalment before March-end. This programme is part of the government's effort to address farm sector distress, caused by lower sales realisation on bumper production of foodgrains, oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton and horticulture crops. "To provide an assured income support to the small and marginal farmers, the government is launching the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)," the Union agriculture ministry said in an official statement on Saturday. The ministry in its statement did not mention the number of farmers who will get their first instalment of Rs 2,000 on Sunday. However, the senior official said over one crore farmers from 14 states, including Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, will get their first instalment on Sunday and one crore more beneficiaries, spread over 28 states and one union territory, will get their instalment in the next two or three days. Explaining the modalities of cash dole, the ministry said this income support will be transferred directly into the bank accounts of beneficiary farmers, in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each. "The Centre will transfer the amount to the bank account of the beneficiaries through State Notional Account. For transfer of benefit, district-wise beneficiaries' list has to be certified and uploaded by the states/union territories on the PM-KISAN portal of the central government," it added. The funds would be electronically transferred to the beneficiary's bank account by the Centre through State Notional Account on a pattern similar to MGNREGS. "PM-KISAN would not only provide assured supplemental income to the most vulnerable farmer families, but would also meet their emergent needs especially before the harvest season. PM-KISAN would pave the way for the farmers to earn and live a respectable living," the statement said. A small and marginal landholder farmer family for the purpose of the calculation of the benefit has been defined as "a family comprising of husband, wife and minor children (up to 18 years of age) who collectively own cultivable land up to 2 hectare as per land records of the concerned State/UT". The existing land-ownership system in the concerned states/UTs will be used for identification of beneficiaries. Those whose names appear in land records as on 1 February, 2019, are eligible for benefit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the National War Memorial near India Gate on 25 February, officials said Friday New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the National War Memorial near India Gate on 25 February, officials said Friday. The memorial will honour soldiers who have laid down their lives for the country since Independence. "The prime minister will dedicate the memorial to the nation on February 25. The defence minister, chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force will be among the dignitaries present on the occasion," a senior official said. Some other cabinet ministers are also likely to attend the event, he said. "The National War Memorial will include a wall that will carry the names of those soldiers who have laid down their lives for the country," Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat had earlier said. "The memorial would be iconic and serve as a new landmark, which would attract people from near and far," he had said. Acceding to a long-pending demand of the armed forces, the government in 2015 had approved the project for building a National War Memorial and a National War Museum near India Gate in memory of over 22,500 soldiers who laid down their lives post-Independence. "This government will be establishing a war memorial and a museum with a deep sense of gratitude to honour those brave soldiers, who laid down their lives," an official statement released after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Modi, had then said. "The memorial will promote a sense of patriotism in the minds of visitors, and will award an opportunity to citizens of this vast nation, to express their token sense of gratitude to the brave soldiers, who laid down their lives for the motherland," it said. India Gate itself is a war memorial built during the British Raj as the All India War Memorial Arch to honour the soldiers who died in the First World War (1914-1918) and the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919). The landmark has the names of soldiers inscribed on its surface. Under the PM-KISAN programme, vulnerable landholding farmer families, having cultivable land up to 2 hectares, will be provided direct income support at the rate of Rs. 6,000 per year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday has launched the Rs 75,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, by transferring the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers, a senior official of the agriculture ministry said. Another one crore farmers will be covered in the next two or three days, the official added. The scheme, which was announced in the NDA government's Interim Budget this year, various Opposition leaders took to social media to criticise it on Sunday. Many said the scheme is not really bettering the ongoing farmers' crisis. What is this farmers' scheme? Under the PM-KISAN programme, vulnerable landholding farmer families, having cultivable land up to 2 hectares, will be given direct income support of Rs 6,000 per year. This income support will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of beneficiary farmers in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each. Around 12 crore small and marginal farmer families are expected to benefit from this scheme. The programme was made effective from 1 December, 2018, and the first instalment for the period until 31 March, 2019, will be paid this year. The cut-off date to determine the eligibility of beneficiaries was 1 February. Changes, if any, in the cut-off date to check for eligibility to avail of the scheme for the next five years will only be considered with the approval of the Union Cabinet. However, the benefit will be allowed on the transfer of ownership of cultivable land only on account of succession due to the death of the landowner. Who is eligible? A small and marginal landholder farmer family is eligible for the PM-KISAN scheme. To calculate the benefits, the "family" is defined as "a family comprising of husband, wife and minor children (up to 18 years of age) who collectively own cultivable land up to 2 hectares as per land records of the concerned state or Union Territory". The following are ineligible to get the benefits: - All institutional landholders - Farmer families where one or more of members belong to the following categories: i. Former and present holders of constitutional posts ii. Former and present ministers/state ministers and former/present members of Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha/state legislative assemblies/state legislative councils, former and present mayors of municipal corporations, former and present chairpersons of district panchayats iii. All serving or retired officers and employees of Central/state government ministries/offices/departments and its field units Central or state PSEs and attached offices/autonomous institutions under the government as well as regular employees of local bodies (excluding multi-tasking staff/Class IV/Group D employees) iv. All superannuated/retired pensioners whose monthly pension is Rs 10,000 or more (excluding multi-tasking staff/Class IV/Group D employees) v. All Persons who paid income tax in last assessment year vi. Professionals like doctors, engineers, lawyers, chartered accountants and architects registered with professional bodies and carrying out profession by undertaking practices The existing land-ownership system in states and Union Territories were used to identify beneficiaries. Those whose names appear in land records till 1 February, 2019, are eligible to avail of the benefit. If a landholder farmer family has land parcels spread across different village/revenue records, then the land will be pooled to determine the benefit. Aadhaar mandatory Having an Aadhaar card is mandatory to avail the benefits of the farmers' scheme. In cases where the beneficiaries do not have Aadhaar identification, alternate prescribed documents can be presented. But all beneficiaries without an Aadhaar card will have to sign up for the scheme after receiving their first instalment to receive subsequent instalments of the PM-KISAN funds. How does it work? Funds will be transferred to the bank account of the beneficiaries through a state notional account. For transfer of benefit, district-wise lists of beneficiaries will be certified and uploaded by the states or Union Territories on the online portal of the PM-KISAN. The Centre will transfer the funds electronically to the beneficiary's bank account through the state notional account on a pattern similar to MGNREGS. How much does it cost? For the 2018-19 financial year, a Budget provision of Rs 20,000 crore has been allocated for the disbursal of this financial benefit to the eligible landholding small and marginal farmers' families. Similarly, a budgetary provision of Rs 75,000 crore has been kept aside for the 2019-20 financial year. For more information, visit the official website for the scheme pmkisan.nic.in. Opposition parties flayed the NDA government in Bihar, alleging that five of the girls were 'witnesses' in the Muzaffarpur scandal and claimed their escape was a 'conspiracy' hatched by the ruling dispensation to protect 'big shots'. Patna: Seven minor girls escaped from a care unit at Mokama town in rural Patna in the early hours of Saturday following which six of them were found in Darbhanga district, police said. Darbhanga Senior Superintendent of Police Babu Ram said, "Six of the minor girls were found in Gangauli village under the Sakatpur police station area late in the evening". He said a police team had come from Patna district in search of the missing girls based on the inputs they had gathered during the investigation. One of the girls belonged to Gangauli village. The girl, along with five others, was found at the village and the visiting police team has taken them into custody for interrogation, the SSP said. Opposition parties flayed the NDA government in Bihar, alleging that five of the girls were "witnesses" in the sex scandal being probed by the CBI under the supervision of the Supreme Court, and claimed their escape was a "conspiracy" hatched by the ruling dispensation to protect "big shots". "Seven girls have escaped from the shelter home. They are said to have fled after cutting the grill of a window at about 3 am. They were under treatment for their violent behaviour," Social Welfare Department Director Raj Kumar told PTI. It is yet to be ascertained whether the girls include former inmates of the Muzaffarpur Balika Grih. Hours later, Deputy Inspector General (Patna Range) Rajesh Kumar reached the spot for inspection and said, "We are conducting investigations taking all possible angles into account." Sniffer dogs and forensic experts were pressed into service to trace the girls who had fled the home situated around 100 kilometres from the state capital. Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in state Assembly Tejashwi Yadav tweeted: "Five witnesses of the Muzaffarpur rape case have been made to disappear from Mokama shelter home to protect the chief minister and the government machinery." Yadav's mother Rabri Devi, who is the leader of the opposition in the Legislative Council, said, "Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should tell us why he is so scared." The girls went missing a few hours before hearing in the Muzaffarpur case commenced at a Delhi court, where trial was transferred from the north Bihar town following a Supreme Court order earlier this month. RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha slammed the Nitish Kumar government over the incident. "It appears that the girls have not flee of their own accord, but their escape has been facilitated by the government since the Supreme Court and the CBI have questioned the role of the chief minister in the scandal. Nitish Kumar should resign as other surviving victims face threat to their lives from him," Kushwaha said in a tweet. Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra said, "It appears that attempts are being made to save some people in the Muzaffarpur case. The Supreme Court should take note of the disappearance of girls from Mokama." Hindustani Awam Morcha president Jitan Ram Manjhi issued a statement from Ranchi, alleging that the chief minister and Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey be held accountable for the disappearance of the seven girls "which has been made possible to affect the probe into Muzaffarpur sex scandal". The scandal had come to light in May 2018 after an FIR was lodged by the Social Welfare Department based on the social audit report of Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences. More than 30 girls were lodged at the shelter home when the scandal came to light and medical examinations confirmed that most of them had been subjected to sexual abuse. The shelter home was subsequently sealed and its inmates were moved to care units in Madhubani, Patna and Mokama. The case was later handed over to the CBI on the recommendation of the state government which, thereafter, also decided to give up the practice of awarding contracts for running shelter homes to state-funded NGOs. Aman Kumar Thakur, a senior official in the Jammu and Kashmir Police, was killed after being hit by a bullet in the head during an encounter in Kulgam. Aman Kumar Thakur, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Operations in the Jammu and Kashmir Police, was killed on Sunday after being hit by a bullet in the head during an encounter. The gunfight took place at the Tudigam area in the Yaripora region in south Kashmirs Kulgam district. Thakur was part of a team that led a counter-insurgency operation against militants trapped in a residential area. An army jawan also lost his life in the incident. It was a difficult operation, a police officer based in Kulgam said. "Militants fired a volley of bullets, and three soldiers were injured. He (Thakur) was hit in the head." Earlier, a joint team of the armys 34 Rashtriya Rifles, CRPF and Special Operations Group, Jammu and Kashmir Police had launched a cordon and search operation in the area. Three militants have been killed in the encounter. During the gunfight, an Indian army Major also sustained a bullet wound in his leg and was hospitalised. He is reported to be stable. Soon after the encounter broke out, several people came out on the streets and clashed with the forces. Security forces resorted to tear gas and smoke shells to chase away protesters, resulting in injuries to several of them. Sources said that the injured persons have been taken to a hospital for treatment. The incident comes ten days after the Pulwama suicide bomb attack. Thakur hailed from Gogla village in Doda district, and had been posted in the volatile area of Yaripora for the past two years. He had joined the Jammu and Kashmir Police in 2011. He is survived by his parents, wife Sarla Devi and 6-year-old son Arya. Imtiyaz Hussain, a police officer in Jammu and Kashmir, said on Twitter, "We have lost a very brave Jammu and Kashmir police officer, DySP Aman Thakur, in an encounter with terrorists in Kulgam. Such an irreparable loss for Jammu and Kashmir Police family and nation. A police statement said, We pay rich tributes to our colleague Martyr DySP Aman Kumar Thakur for his supreme sacrifice made in the line of duty today at Kulgam. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this critical juncture...DySP Aman Kumar was a 2011 batch KPS officer and he had been heading the counter terrorism wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police in district Kulgam for the last one-and-a-half years and had played an instrumental role in killing dreaded terrorists in the area." The Yaripora belt in Kulgam had witnessed heavy casualties of militants last year. At least 250 militants, a majority of them Kashmiris, were killed last year by security forces. This area has been affected by militancy after the killing of Burhan Wani in July 206. The encounter on Sunday was the second anti-militancy operation in south Kashmir after the suicide attack at Lethpora along the Srinagar-Jammu highway, which left 40 CRPF personnel dead. On 18 February, four soldiers, including a Major, died in an encounter, which also took place in Pulwama. Three top commanders of the Jaish-e-Mohammad were killed in the gunfight. The encounter took place on Sunday even as a tense atmosphere is prevailing in Kashmir due to rumours on social media that the Supreme Court is going to strike down Article 35A of the Constitution, which, among other things, bars people from outside Jammu and Kashmir from buying property in the state. A Kim Jong-un lookalike, the Hong Kong-based impersonator who uses the name Howard X, posted on Facebook that about 15 police or immigration officers demanded a mandatory 'interview' with them following a talk they gave at the state-run VTC station. Hanoi: Vietnamese authorities are not amused by the antics of two impersonators of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump. The duo has been making rounds of Hanoi, taking pictures with curious onlookers ahead of the second summit of the two leaders next week. However, on late Friday, a Kim lookalike, the Hong Kong-based impersonator who uses the name Howard X, posted on Facebook that about 15 police or immigration officers demanded a mandatory "interview" with them following a talk they gave at the state-run VTC station. "They then said that this was a very sensitive time in the city due to the Trump/Kim summit and that our impersonation was causing a 'disturbance' and ... suggested that we do not do the impersonation in public for the duration of our stay as these presidents have many enemies and that it was for our own safety." According to Howard X, there was a back-and-forth with an unnamed Vietnamese officer who "did not seem pleased with my answer" and threatened the impersonators with deportation, saying they were breaking immigration rules. Finally, he said they were driven back to their hotel and told to stay put until authorities decide how to treat them. "Although I am not surprised that I got detained for doing my impersonation in Vietnam, it's still pretty annoying. What it shows is that Vietnam has a long way to go before they will be a developed country and I wonder if they ever will under these conditions," he wrote on his Facebook page. "If the Vietnamese authorities are willing to give this kind of harassment over something as trivial as an impersonation to a high profile foreigner, imagine what all the Vietnamese artists, musicians, film producers and all the political activists have to endure for simply wanting to release a controversial film, songs or for simply speaking up about real injustices in this country." Vietnam is a tightly controlled communist country that tolerates no dissent. Howard X was also questioned by Singaporean immigration authorities when he and his colleague appeared in the city-state for the first Kim-Trump summit last June. The impersonator's real name is Lee Howard Ho Wun. Describing Jayalalithaa as a 'fine administrator and compassionate leader', Modi said her welfare measures had 'benefitted countless poor people'. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tributes to former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on her 71st birth anniversary, recalling her contributions towards the development of the state and upliftment of the poor. "Tributes to Jayalalithaa Ji on her birth anniversary. Her contribution towards the development of Tamil Nadu will be remembered for generations," he tweeted. Describing the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader as a "fine administrator and compassionate leader", Modi said her welfare measures had "benefitted countless poor people". On her demise in December 2016, the union cabinet had passed a resolution hailing her as a people's leader. Such resolutions are passed on death of prominent leaders. As panic-gripped people queued outside petrol pumps across Kashmir, the administration on Saturday ordered rationing of fuel, citing low stocks due to persistent closure of the Jammu-Srinagar highway. Srinagar: As panic-gripped people queued outside petrol pumps across Kashmir, the administration on Saturday ordered rationing of fuel, citing low stocks due to persistent closure of the Jammu-Srinagar highway. "The divisional administration in Kashmir has stated that rationing of fuel in the division has been ordered because of shortage of stocks having resulted from persistent closure of the Srinagar-Jammu highway," an official spokesperson said. The statement came after long queues were seen at petrol pumps across the Kashmir Valley as panic-gripped people started filling their vehicles with fuel and also stocking up essentials. The administration said the efforts were underway to replenish the stocks at the earliest and the rationing order would be withdrawn as soon as the stocks are received. The divisional administration asked the general public not to heed the rumours suggesting other motives and sought their cooperation, the spokesperson said. Meanwhile, the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, which provides ration to people through its outlets, late night revoked its earlier order in which it had directed its staff in South Srinagar to ensure complete sale of food grains in their respective areas by Saturday evening. The outlets were also directed to keep the ration depots and sale outlets open on Sunday, as well. "The Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs has clarified that the order to lift ration from its stores is a routine monthly exercise to make way for dumping next supplies. This is a routine monthly exercise and people are advised not to panic," the spokesperson said. He said the earlier order has been withdrawn to clear any confusion. Still, we suspect the bill may be a tough sell for pro-choice Democrats who would be needed to get any legislation passed in Annapolis. Last year, the bills were co-sponsored exclusively by Republican lawmakers. Thus far, the legislation has not drawn many co-sponsors though it is worth noting two Democrats, freshman Dels. Regina Boyce of Baltimore City and J. Sandy Bartlett of Anne Arundel County, have co-sponsored the House version of the bill. Six jawans of the Army's 7 JAK Rifles four from Himachal Pradesh, one each from Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir were buried under the avalanche that occurred near the Shipki La border outpost in Himachal Pradesh's tribal Kinnaur district around 11 am on Wednesday. Shimla: Five army jawans, who were trapped in an avalanche that struck near Shipki La on Sino-India border in Himachal Pradesh three days ago, were still untraceable, officials said on Saturday. Six jawans of the Army's 7 JAK Rifles four from Himachal Pradesh, one each from Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir were buried under the avalanche that occurred near the Shipki La border outpost in Himachal Pradesh's tribal Kinnaur district around 11 am on Wednesday. The body of one of the jawans, Havaldar Rakesh Kumar, was recovered the same day while the five others were still missing. About 220 Army and 30 Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawans restarted search and rescue operation to trace the five jawans on Saturday at 7 am, Kinnaur district public relations officer Mamta Negi said. She said two teams from Jammu and Kashmir and a sniffer dog have also been brought at the spot for search operation but the buried Army men have still not been found. ITBP personnel in search and rescue operations at avalanche site in Kinnaur District, Himachal Pradesh. #himachal pic.twitter.com/MoVeHLRfOR ITBP (@ITBP_official) February 23, 2019 According to a defence spokesperson, specialised rescue dogs, rock drills and chain saws have been deployed into the search operation. The track leading to the avalanche site is under heavy snow, he said. Due to the concerted efforts of the army and the Border Road Organisation (BRO), the track has been partially cleared, he added. The search and rescue operations are being closely monitored by the Headquarters Western Command, he said. Lieutenant General PM Bali, Chief of Staff, Headquarters Western Command, visited the site of avalanche Saturday and assured that all efforts were underway for the search of the missing Army persons. Expressing dismay at "slow" pace of rescue and search operation, Himachal Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore urged Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to take up the matter with the defence minister and carry out the operation more intensively. On Friday, the last rites of Havaldar Rakesh Kumar were performed with full military honours at his native Ghumarpur village in Bilaspur district, a defence spokesperson said. The Army, civil and police officers paid homage to Kumar in Kinnaur before airlifting his body to Bilaspur at 12.10 pm on Friday, officials added. Kumar's mortal remains were consigned to flames in Bilaspur district by his son, Manish, they said. Thousands of people, including from neighbouring areas, paid their last respects to Kumar at the Ghumarpur village crematorium. Though the Jammu and Kashmir government claims it makes all efforts to preserve the Dal Lake in Srinagar, there is little proof of effective implementation on the ground of cleanup projects. Editor's Note: A network of 60 reporters set off across India to test the idea of development as it is experienced on the ground. Their brief: Use your mobile phone to record the impact of 120 key policy decisions on everyday life; what works, what doesn't and why; what can be done better and what should be done differently. Their findings straight and raw from the ground will be combined in this series, Election on the Go, over a course of 100 days. Read more articles from the series here *** Srinagar: Sitting near a shop in the interiors of Dal Lake, 65-year-old Abdul Rehman is old enough to remember a time when the lake's water was clean enough to drink. Today, he gazes sadly at the highly degraded state of its water. "Even after filtering multiple times, this water will not be fit to drink," he said. Rehman now makes it a point to ask every tourist in a shikara who glides by his shop to not throw waste overboard. "This city's tourism economy is heavily dependent on the lake," he added. "But we keep blaming each other without doing anything to preserve it." Over the years, both state and Central government leaders have made umpteen promises and allocated hundreds of crores to clean up the Dal Lake. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah currently represents Srinagar in Parliament. The National Conference held the constituency the most number of years, but the Peoples Democratic Party claims it did nothing to stop the lake's degradation. "It was during the term of the Mehbooba Mufti-led government that the Centre sanctioned further funds to preserve the Dal Lake, but due to the fall of our government, we could not continue the work," said Rafi Ahmad Mir, chief spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party. While National Conference general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, who has represented Srinagar's Khanyar constituency several times in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, claimed the exact opposite, he admitted that despite the various cleanup efforts initiated by his party when it was in power, there have been very little changes on the ground. "We need to rehabilitate people from there (near the Dal Lake), but the government also has to provide them sources of livelihood. We need to set up new sewage treatment plants, as well," he added. In a nutshell, these are the main problems that successive governments have tried and failed to address. Take one shikara ride on the lake and there will be no denying the extent of its degradation. In 2016, research by Dr Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, head of the Earth Sciences Department at University of Kashmir, found that 32 percent of the Dal Lake faced severe degradation, 48 percent medium degradation and 20 percent of the lake's water was relatively clean. Various studies have pointed out that the lake faces multiple pressures from unplanned urbanisation, high population growth and nutrient load due to intensive agriculture that act as fertilisers for weed to grow in abundance. Livelihoods go down the sewage Experts say one of the main reasons for the deterioration of the lake's condition is the dumping of huge amounts of untreated waste. "At least 44.2 million litres of sewage goes into the Dal Lake every day," said Tariq Ahmad Patloo, a houseboat owner. "Around 5 million litres of waste is generated from the inhabitants of the lake, while only 0.8 percent sewage is generated from houseboats. Why are only we (houseboat owners) blamed for the deterioration?" According to a report by the Jammu and Kashmir State Pollution Control Board, Srinagar generates 201 million litres of sewage daily but has the capacity to treat only 53.8 million litres. "Disposal of untreated sewage into the Dal Lake and Jhelum river is one of the main reasons for the degradation of the quality of the water," the report explained. The government has also failed to upgrade the technology of the three Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) around the lake, as recommended by scientists from the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and promised by the government in 2014. "We use old technology at STPs, which do not treat the sewage properly," admitted an official of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority. Over 50,000 people live on the Dal Lake, including houseboat owners, vegetable growers, and fisherfolk. Tourism, agriculture, and fishing form the backbone of the economy on the lake, and these are the activities that are facing the heat. People like Bashir Ahmad, a 45-year-old who lives on the lake and grows vegetables all year around, said the government cleans a portion of Dal Lake around the Shar-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC), where national and international conferences are held. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi was shown only the small, clean portion of the lake when he visited. De-weeding around the SKICC is done manually and using machines, but the interior of the lake is turning into a swamp," he said. Nashir Geelani, a Srinagar resident, explained the impact the lake's deteriorating condition has on the state's economy. "The production of fish and vegetables has decreased, affecting the livelihood of many people," he said. "Now, even tourists don't stay for more than a day on the lake due to the increasing pollution. Even the growth of lotus stem (called nadru in Kashmiri), used in the local cuisine, and fish has been adversely affected." Bashir Ahmad Dar, a 55-year-old fisherman, catches 1 kilogram of fish daily these days. "During summers, I catch around 3 kilograms. Fifteen years ago, I would catch around 10 kilograms of fish every day. We hardly find fish in the lake anymore," he rued. Dar's two sons do casual labour and masonry work. "Why would they take up this profession when it has no benefit? My wife sells fish in Ganderbal, which is exported out of Kashmir," he said. Rehabilitation gone wrong The government has rehabilitated some fishermen to Srinagar's Habak area, but Dar said they want to return and live on or around the lake. "We were rehabilitated 10 years ago on the promise of being provided all facilities. But there are no facilities, and our colony is always waterlogged," he explained. In 2007, the Jammu and Kashmir government began a Rs 416-crore project to depopulate the lake and rehabilitate these families at a site called Rakh-I-Arth Bemina on the outskirts of Srinagar. It was meant to be developed with infrastructure like housing, roads, water supply, electricity, drainage, sewerage and other community facilities for the displaced. The project was supposed to be completed in three years, but even till 2018, authorities managed to allot only 2,600 of the proposed 10,500 plots. These exclude the fisherfolk families that were rehabilitated to Habak. Most of them are now involved in casual labour or drive taxis, while some sold the land they were given and went back to live around the lake to continue doing what they did before. Most people visiting Rakh-I-Arth say the government failed to provide them even with basic facilities. "There is no drainage system and sanitation facilities are poor. Who would like to live here?" asked Shabir Ahmad, a Dal Lake dweller who shifted to Rakh-I-Arth. He said his cousins had refused to relocate from the lake and are among the hundreds of manual labourers the state has hired to clean the Dal. "At least those who live on the Dal Lake have employment opportunities. There is tourism, and they can earn their livelihood from it," he added. Over the past 16 years, numerous high-sounding lake-cleaning and preservation projects were launched, and over Rs 800 crore were spent on these but with no visible signs of effective implementation on the ground. For instance, a National Lake Conservation Programme was launched in 2005 at a cost of Rs 298.76 crore. The Prime Ministers Reconstruction Programme' was launched in 2010 to acquire land and structures on the Dal and Nigeen lakes for Rs 356 crore. Environmentalist Dr Abdul Majeed Kak said, "The money released would have filled up the springs of the lake. But on the ground, even the de-weeding was not being done scientifically." However, Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan said the government was making all efforts to preserve the Dal Lake. "People from there are being rehabilitated, and the cleaning process has been expedited," he said. "There will be a visible change in the coming months. The high court is also monitoring the work." But his assurance is of little comfort to people like Biba, who sells fish at Srinagar's Lal Chowk and remembers a time when she and her fisherman husband would catch and sell fish worth Rs 1,200 every day. "I now sell 2 kilograms of fish and earn less than Rs 400 every day," she said. Her husband, who used to go out every evening to catch the fish to sell the next day, has given up fishing and started his own mini bus service. The author is a Srinagar-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters People in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh have been protesting after the state government announced that it was considering issuing PRCs to six non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe communities. New Delhi: Amidst violent protests in Arunachal Pradesh, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said Sunday the state government has decided to not accept the recommendations of a high-level committee to grant permanent resident certificates (PRC) to six communities, and blamed the Congress for "instigating" a section of people. In separate tweets, Rijiju said the Arunachal Pradesh government has passed an order to not accept the recommendations of the Joint High-Powered Committee to grant PRC to six communities living in Namsai and Changlang districts. Widespread violence has been reported in the state capital Itanagar and other places, leading to the death of at least two persons, injury to several and destruction of properties and vehicles. The central government has dispatched 1,000 paramilitary personnel to the state to help the administration in maintaining law and order. "Everyone must come together without blaming each other for the sake of peace. It's very unfortunate that innocent lives were lost in the violence," Rijiju, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, said. The Union minister of state for home accused the Congress of "instigating" people of the state to protest against the move to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities. Rijiju said chief minister Pema Khandu has clarified that the state government was not bringing the bill on PRC, but only tabling the report of the Nabam Rebia-led committee consisting of members and student organisations. "It means the state government has not accepted it. In fact, Congress Party is fighting for PRC but instigating people wrongly," he said. Rebia is a cabinet minister in the state government. Rijiju alleged that the Congress has supported and "instigated" non-Arunachal Pradesh STs in Lekang area to fight for PRC but "misguided" innocent people in Itanagar. "From the beginning I have strongly urged the state government not to grant PRC unless people are convinced of full protection of indigenous rights. We must stand united," he said. People in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh have been protesting after the state government announced that it was considering issuing permanent resident certificates (PRC) to six non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APSTs) communities living in the Namsai and Changlang districts and to the Gorkhas living in Vijaynagar. Amongst those communities are Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis and Mishings. Most of these communities are recognised as Scheduled Tribes in neighbouring Assam. The crackdown on the separatist leaders in Kashmir continued with the police making several overnight arrests on Saturday. Srinagar: The crackdown on the separatist leaders in Kashmir continued with the police making several overnight arrests on Saturday even as the hearing on Article 35A, that grants special job and property rights to state residents, was deferred in the Supreme Court. After the deployment of 100 companies of paramilitary forces in Kashmir, people turned panicky as government cut down on the sale of petrol and even asked the staff to keep open their ration depots last evening to provide rice and flour to the consumers. The ration depots remained even open today. But Director Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Mohammad Qasim Wani, said that the opening of the ration depots on Sunday was a routine exercise to clear up the available stocks. The authorities arrested several separatist and religious leaders in the past two days even as hearing on the Article 35A case was deferred in the Supreme Court. Law Secretary, Anchal Sethi, said that the hearing was earlier slated for Tuesday, but has now been deferred. The hearing is not listed for Tuesday. The case was carried forward as per the cause list issued earlier. Our Advocate on Record (AOR) has informed us that it is not listed for Tuesday, he said. The state government had earlier sought the deferment of the case in the Supreme Court, fearing protests. The BJP has, however, favoured the abrogation of the law, saying it was a constitutional blunder. Article 35A prevents any non-residents of Jammu and Kashmir from buying property, voting in elections, working in government jobs or getting benefits of scholarships. But Kashmir continued to remain on edge after the heavy deployment of forces and amid public fears that the situation between India and Pakistan will deteriorate. Heavy cross-border shelling was witnessed between India and Pakistani troops along the border in Jammu region in past few days. The authorities, however, continued with the arrests of separatist leaders in Kashmir following the shutdown call that was given by the separatist conglomerate Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), over the arrests and attempts to abrogate Article 35A. In response to the strike call, the shops and commercial establishments remained closed in Kashmir, while public transport was off the roads. Several separatist leaders including Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yaseen Malik have been arrested while scores of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) cadres including its head Abdul Hamid Fayaz were arrested during the night raids on Friday. The JRL put the number of JeI activists who have been arrested at 200. Many religious leaders were also arrested during the raids that continued at their houses in Kashmir on Saturday night. The situation in Kashmir continued to remain grim and the possible indication of escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan triggered a widespread scare here. The government not only rushed in the paramilitary force personnel, but the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) replaced the Central Reserve Police (CRPF) from static guard duties at many places. However, the authorities have said that the deployment of forces has come ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in the state. But the military aircraft and the fighter jets hovered in the sky in Kashmir, further adding to the chaos and panic. Governor Satya Pal Malik has asked the people to observe calm and not to pay any heed to the rumours. However, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asked both the Government of India (GoI) as well as the state government to clarify its position over the series of emergency measures which have been taken in the state recently as well as whether it was a prelude to a war against Kashmir and its citizens. Senior PDP leader and former minister, Naeem Akhtar, said that the state of Jammu and Kashmir is in very unsafe hands at present and that in a sensitive situation like this when Kashmir is trying to come to terms with the heavy loss of life in Pulwama and its fallout in the rest of the country, a deliberate attempt is being made to destabilise Jammu and Kashmir. Press Release 24 February 2019 BARCELONA, SPAIN -- Nokia today issued the following statement from Rajeev Suri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nokia, following a presentation he gave today to an audience of media and analysts in advance of this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. "Nokia arrives at Mobile World Congress as a world leader in 5G, with the industry's only end-to-end portfolio that is available in all markets around the world. We are remarkably well-positioned with more than 20 5G contracts, and almost 100 5G engagements with customers in every region of the world. We also believe that there will be a virtuous circle of investment as networks are upgraded to meet the demands of 5G and Nokia has the right portfolio at the right time to meet that need. "2019 will be a big year for 5G and Nokia stands ready and able to deliver for customers everywhere. 5G is a truly transformational technology that will improve people's lives, increase productivity and efficiency and enhance the sustainability of our planet." In advance of Mobile World Congress, Nokia made several product announcements that further enhance and strengthen its 5G end-to-end portfolio, including: Nokia accelerates 5G roll out with launch of Fixed Wireless Access FastMile 5G Gateway (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2019/02/24/mwc19-nokia-accelerates-5g-roll-out-with-launch-of-fixed-wireless-access-fastmile-5g-gateway/) Enhancements to Nokia's packet core and radio access network solutions announced in conjunction with the industry's first 5G Maturity Index (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2019/02/21/mwc19-nokia-5g-maturity-index-reveals-best-practices-as-operators-make-critical-5g-network-and-service-investment-decisions/) Additions to Nokia's AirScale small cells portfolio (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2019/02/20/mwc-19-nokia-small-cells-provide-new-mmwave-and-mid-band-options-to-ensure-optimal-indoor-and-outdoor-5g-coverage/) Enhancements to Nokia's Anyhaul transport portfolio (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2019/02/19/mwc19-nokia-expands-anyhaul-transport-portfolio-with-25-gbps-speeds-to-support-operator-network-investment-for-5g-rollouts/) Opening a network of Cognitive Collaboration Hubs (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2019/02/14/mwc19-nokia-launches-cognitive-collaboration-hubs-to-help-operators-design-5g-networks-and-create-ai-enabled-use-cases/) Expansion of Nokia's WING offering with new IoT applications (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2019/02/12/mwc19-nokia-expands-its-wing-offering-with-iot-applications-for-operators-to-address-new-vertical-markets/) Nokia today and in recent days also announced several deals and projects that showcase Nokia's capabilities and innovations in 5G, such as: Nokia, Korea Telecom to conduct 5G trials for service automation, network virtualization and slicing (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2019/02/24/mwc19-nokia-korea-telecom-to-conduct-5g-trials-for-service-automation-network-virtualization-and-slicing/) Sony Pictures takes "Spider-Man: Far From Home" to new heights with 5G powered by Nokia and Intel (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2019/02/24/mwc19-sony-pictures-takes-spider-mantm-far-from-home-to-new-heights-with-5g-powered-by-nokia-and-intel/) Nokia and Optus establish multiple world firsts with 5G roll out in Australia (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2019/02/24/mwc19-nokia-and-optus-establish-multiple-world-firsts-with-5g-roll-out-in-australia/) Nokia and Vodafone collaborate on active antennas to boost 5G radio capacity and reduce costs (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2019/02/24/nokia-and-vodafone-collaborate-on-active-antennas-to-boost-5g-radio-capacity-and-reduce-costs/) Bharti Airtel to trial Nokia's 5G-ready fronthaul solution (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2019/02/24/mwc19-bharti-airtel-to-trial-nokias-5g-ready-fronthaul-solution/) Nokia anticipates issuing additional press releases during Mobile World Congress. To stay updated, please subscribe to our press release webpage (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/press-and-stock-exchange-releases/). To learn more about Nokia's product and services portfolio at Mobile World Congress, visit the Nokia Experience Center in Hall 3, stand 3A10. Join the MWC19 discussion and get real-time updates via Nokia's social media channels (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/social-media/). Resources: Replay of Mr. Suri's February 24 presentation (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/events/calendar/mwc19-barcelona/press-analyst-update/) Nokia's MWC19 webpage (https://www.nokia.com/networks/mwc/) Nokia 5G (https://networks.nokia.com/5g) About Nokia We create the technology to connect the world. We develop and deliver the industry's only end-to-end portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing that is available globally. Our customers include communications service providers whose combined networks support 5.7 billion subscriptions, as well as enterprises in the private and public sector that use our network portfolio to increase productivity and enrich lives. Through our research teams, including the world-renowned Nokia Bell Labs, we are leading the world to adopt end-to-end 5G networks that are faster, more secure and capable of revolutionizing lives, economies and societies. Nokia adheres to the highest ethical business standards as we create technology with social purpose, quality and integrity. nokia.com (https://www.nokia.com/) Media Inquiries Nokia Communications Phone: +358 10 448 4900 Email: press.services@nokia.com (mailto:press.services@nokia.com) 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: NOKIA via Globenewswire Another strong year of growth, reinforced by new shareholders and a rapidly-growing shared customer base of nearly 14 million members Following Minor Hotel Group and Pan Pacific Hotels Group becoming new shareholders at the end of last year, Global Hotel Alliance ("GHA"), the world's largest alliance of independent hotel brands and operator of the award-winning, multi-brand loyalty programme, DISCOVERY, today revealed another strong performance in 2018, as it embarks on a year of activities to mark its 15th anniversary. Overall like-for-like room-revenue produced by its DISCOVERY loyalty programme members increased by over 10% to US$1.6 billion, of which cross-brand revenue (i.e. revenue produced by members who enrolled at one brand and then stayed at another) grew 17% to reach US$108 million. In the best performing hotels, the DISCOVERY programme is now producing more than half of total room-nights sold and adding up to 8% in incremental occupancy from cross-brand customers. The rise in revenues was driven largely by a further 21% growth in DISCOVERY membership, which reached 13.6 million members by the end of 2018. Six million of those members reside in North America, but there was strong growth in Asia (now 2.3 million members), Europe (2.2 million) and more stellar growth in Australasia (1.3 million). In 2018 elite tier customers (DISCOVERY Black- and Platinum-level members) represented 2.6% of the active member database but produced US$400 million. GHA's CEO, Chris Hartley feels the alliance is reaching maturity, but still has significant growth potential: "In an industry that consolidated faster than ever in 2018, our alliance's performance demonstrated that there is a well-established and attractive alternative global platform for brands wishing to remain independent. We offer the scale and reach of the mega-players at a lower cost, while leaving our member brands to build their own individual identities. We believe we are now the natural choice for the independent brand sector." In terms of channel, more DISCOVERY members booked direct than ever before with a 24% growth in rooms revenue booked on discoveryloyalty.com. The new DISCOVERY app saw a 100% increase in bookings to over $1m a month. DISCOVERY members who booked direct did so at a rate premium of 47% over the average DISCOVERY rate, which was despite the popular 10% direct booking discount benefit launched in 2017, that is now available in most of the 500 hotels participating in the DISCOVERY programme. Local Experiences, DISCOVERY's innovative rewards, are now more widely embraced by members than ever before. 2018 saw a further 25% growth in Black- and a 37% growth in Platinum-level Local Experience redemptions respectively. In terms of destination performance, Dubai led the way with 26% growth in cross-brand bookings, while London, helped by a weak pound, was up 20%; and Bangkok continues to attract travellers from around the world and saw 15% growth. While 87 new hotels joined the DISCOVERY portfolio in 2018, the three most popular hotels booked on the DISCOVERY website in 2018 were Pan Pacific Singapore, Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin and Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort in Honolulu Editor's Notes: About Global Hotel Alliance Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) is the world's largest alliance of independent hotel brands, bringing together more than 30 brands with over 500 hotels in 75 countries. GHA uses a shared technology platform to drive incremental revenues and create cost savings for its member brands. GHA's award-winning loyalty programme, DISCOVERY, provides 13 million members exclusive opportunities to immerse themselves in local culture wherever they travel. GHA's hotel brands currently include: Alila, Anantara, Atura, Avani, Corinthia, Discovery Destinations, Doyle, Elewana, GLO, JA Resorts, Kempinski, Leela, Lungarno, Marco Polo, Meritage, Meydan, Mysk, Niccolo, NUO, Oaks, Omni, Outrigger, Pan Pacific, PARKROYAL, QT, The Residence by Cenizaro, Rydges, Shaza, Thon, Tivoli, Ultratravel Collection and Viceroy. For more information, visit globalhotelalliance.com About DISCOVERY Loyalty A memorable trip demands more than a comfortable stay. DISCOVERY, an award-winning global loyalty programme, provides 13 million members recognition and perks across over 500 hotels, resorts and palaces in 75 countries. Elite members have the opportunity to immerse themselves in local culture through Local Experiences, distinctive activities that capture an authentic taste of each destination. For more information, visit discoveryloyalty.com *Source: AETOSWire View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190224005082/en/ Contacts: Global Hotel Alliance Jelena Kezika, Strategic Planning Director, +97144214287 jelena.kezika@gha.com Press Release Real-world network measurement data verifies ability of Machine Learning to boost 5G massive MIMO capacity and RFIC based massive MIMO active antenna applicability to urban macro coverage. 24 February 2019 Espoo, Finland - At Mobile World Congress 2019, Nokia and Vodafone will demonstrate two massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (mMIMO) innovations to improve 5G capacity and performance. The companies will jointly showcase how 5G services can be delivered using low power, compact form factor and more easily deployed RFIC based mMIMO antennas, which reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) compared to conventional mMIMO antennas. They will also demonstrate an industry-first Machine Learning powered scheduler for 5G massive MIMO, which can improve radio resource management and boost 5G radio performance. Massive MIMO active antennas are essential for achieving the very high capacity potential of 5G radio. However, deploying the initial Massive MIMO products might be challenging on typical busy base station sites due to their size, weight and power consumption. Furthermore, optimizing the operation and performance of multiple antenna elements is extremely complex. Vodafone and Nokia have jointly conducted extensive simulation studies concluding that the RFIC1 based Nokia mMIMO active antenna is a more suitable solution to those challenges than the other radio solutions like for example using passive antennas and remote radio heads. The RFIC based Nokia mMIMO active antenna is an industry first solution to implement mass-manufactured terminal technology for more flexible, lower impact mMIMO antenna solutions. Vodafone will be the first mobile operator in Europe to field-test the Nokia active antennas incorporating RFIC. Rapid mobile data traffic growth and 5G's ability to prioritize different performance parameters, such as capacity, coverage, reliability and latency, make optimization and radio resource management (RRM) a constantly changing challenge. Machine Learning (ML) algorithms reduce the complexity as well as the amount of processing capacity and other resources needed. The ML-powered mMIMO scheduler for RRM and optimization can substantially improve 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) performance by optimally allocating radio resources (e. g. large numbers of antennas/beams/layers) to users and simplify the operation of 5G mMIMO. Nokia has developed the ML-powered scheduler and supporting architecture in collaboration with Vodafone, which provided relevant anonymized real-world data from its network. The scheduler solves the highly complex task of mMIMO scheduling in real-time to provide superior 5G user experiences. The fruitful collaboration between Nokia and Vodafone started a year ago, initially focusing on enhanced RRM using ML for Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) optimization. This has now reached a proof of concept using Nokia commercial hardware and leveraging analysis of anonymized data provided from Vodafone network. Santiago Tenorio, Head of network strategy and architecture, Vodafone Group said: "Vodafone is a technology leader in the development of 5G. These demonstrations of the first intelligent 5G mMIMO scheduler and compact RFIC mMIMO active antenna underline the importance of our strategic collaboration with Nokia. The technologies will help us to accelerate Vodafone 5G in global markets to provide superior customer experiences by introducing new services based on high capacity, extreme reliability and ultra-low latency." Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia said: "Implementing the ML-powered 5G mMIMO scheduler and RFIC mMIMO adaptive antenna, as part of the Nokia end-to-end 5G portfolio, will ultimately help our customers achieve wider coverage, higher capacity and easier operations of their 5G service deployments. Both innovations are applicable to Nokia radio network hardware, such as AirScale Base Stations and AirScale Active Antennas." Notes 1 Part of the Nokia Reefshark chipset family, RFIC (Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit) introduces a higher level of RF integration in a single System on Chip (SoC), which supports ML automation via analog sensing and digital logic for optimized real-time active antennas. Resources About Nokia We create the technology to connect the world. We develop and deliver the industry's only end-to-end portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing that is available globally. Our customers include communications service providers whose combined networks support 5.7 billion subscriptions, as well as enterprises in the private and public sector that use our network portfolio to increase productivity and enrich lives. Through our research teams, including the world-renowned Nokia Bell Labs, we are leading the world to adopt end-to-end 5G networks that are faster, more secure and capable of revolutionizing lives, economies and societies. Nokia adheres to the highest ethical business standards as we create technology with social purpose, quality and integrity. www.nokia.com (http://www.nokia.com) Subscribe (https://pages.nokia.com/1701SubscriptionCtr.html) press releases to receive information on specific areas of interest. Media Inquiries: Nokia Communications Phone: +358 10 448 4900 Email: press.services@nokia.com (mailto:press.services@nokia.com) 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: NOKIA via Globenewswire An FIR has been filed against Sonakshi Sinha because she absented from an event where she was supposed to perform. A company in Delhi registered a case against Sonakshi because she allegedly did not show up to an event she was supposed to perform at after collecting the fee. This apparently damaged the event company's reputation and the spectators who had gathered at the event vandalized property out of anger. Sonakshi's team has issued a statement to the media clarifying their side of the story. Read up. According to ANI, Pramod Sharma, owner of the event company based in Moradabad, told them that Sonakshi was supposed to perform at their award show on September 30th of last year. She had even been paid a fee of Rs. 37 lakh, but bailed on them in the last moment. The company had apparently paid her Rs. 28.17 lakh in June of last year, and had spent Rs. 9 lakh on commission. They had also arranged for Sonakshi's travel and accommodation, but she cancelled her 10 AM flight and booked another one at 3 PM on the day of the event. Pramod told ANI, "I tried convincing her (Sonakshi) a lot to perform at the event and even told her that I will incur huge losses if she doesn't come, but she refused to perform." Moradabad's DSP Gajraj Singh confirmed that an FIR had been filed against Sonakshi. Sonakshi's team, however, had a different version of the story and explained their position in the statement that they released. "Sonakshi was approached by the event organizers in Delhi to attend an event. However, despite repeated reminders, the organizers failed to make the payments to Sonakshi before the event as contracted. The tickets to Delhi were not in order/as were agreed, the organizer also didn't send return tickets for Sonakshi and her team, despite knowing that she had a shoot the next morning after the event. This put everyone in a tough spot. Several attempts were made to contact the organizer requesting hum to make the contracted payments and send the tickets, however they remained incommunicado and didn't live up to their end of the bargain. Due to a lack of commitment by the organizer, Sonakshi and her team were left with no choice but to return home from Mumbai airport. Ever since that day, Sonakshi's management agency has been trying to reach out to the organizer to find an amicable solution to the extent of offering an alternate date and tried to connect but to no avail. The organizer is now using the media to release false and manipulated facts. If the organizer doesn't stop at this, Sonakshi and her team will be forced to take a legal course of action to set this straight. We request media to not let anyone use their platform without looking into the facts," read the statement. MOST READ: Kriti Sanon Heads Out For Lunch At A Popular Club; Tara Sutaria Looks Serene In White When Spotted Kriti Sanon Goes Out For Lunch On Sunday Kriti Sanon was snapped by the paps when she headed out for lunch at a popular club in Juhu on Sunday afternoon. Kriti looked very pretty in a sleeveless yellow striped jumpsuit, and a snazzy pair of sunglasses. She had left her beautiful long tresses open. Kriti has been busy promoting her upcoming comedy drama film Luka Chuppi which is set to hit the theatres on March 1st. She will be starring opposite Kartik Aaryan in the movie which will be a quirky take on live in relationships. Tara Sutaria Looks Absolutely Serene In White Tara Sutaria looked absolutely serene when she was spotted by the paps at the famous Farmers' Cafe in Bandra on Sunday afternoon. She was a vision in white, wearing a long white kurta with matching palazzo pants. She carried a checkered print handbag, and wore very pretty silver sandals. Tara will be making her big screen debut in Student of the Year 2. She will be seen alongside Tiger Shroff and Ananya Pandey in the movie. This will be Ananya's debut movie too. Taimur Goes For A Piggyback Ride On Dad's Shoulders Again Little Nawab and daddy Nawab, Taimur Ali Khan and Saif Ali Khan, got papped as they headed out for a walk on Sunday afternoon. Taimur loves his regular piggyback rides on his dad's shoulder and is so evident in the picture. He looked adorable in a navy blue t-shirt and grey shorts, teamed with white sneakers. Tim Tim was also delighted to see the paps as he usually is, and the smile on his face is sure to make your Sunday! Khushi Kapoor & Boney Kapoor Snapped At The Airport Khushi Kapoor and her father Boney Kapoor were snapped at the airport in the early hours of Sunday morning. It is the late Sridevi's first death anniversary today, and the deep hole she left in all hearts will take a long time to mend. Boney Kapoor, in order to mark Sridevi's death anniversary, auctioned a Saree of hers and will be giving the proceeds collected from the auction to a charity. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category The meeting was initially addressed by Zeynep Ebru Aksoy who was elected chairman of the meeting. In respect and accordance with Turkish Custom the National Anthem of Turkey was played prior to the start of the meeting. Brenda Singleton was then invited by the chairman to summarise to past 3 months since the charity was inaugurated. Brenda explained that 25300tl was raised to support the Seydikemer Dogs that were dumped in Korukoy, this money was ring fenced from the general ACU fund raising accounts and all monies raised have been specifically accounted for. A pop-up shop was opened in Uzumlu Village centre on the 7th December 2018 and is open every Friday except when the Uzumlu Group have their Monthly Bake Sale. The total number of animals that were neutered were 11 dogs and 27 cats. The charity helps to feed and care for approximately 150 animals every day and whilst finances are stretched at times, fundraising activities, sponsorship, sales, events and donations usually cover the expenditure. The reading of the statement was unanimously approved by the members present. Projects for 2019 Projects for 2019 are to run a neutering program for animal owners in Uzumlu, to encourage more residents to provide food and water for the street animals and to erect signage to promote these initiatives. The Charity will try to hold more events to attract a more multi cultural group, increase the number of volunteers and to increase the number of business and private sponsors. It was explained that ACU Charity can be used as a conduit to legally raise funds by other groups that are still too small to set up their own charities, HANDS, Seydikemer, and AFOT being examples. 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. The following companies are subsidiares of Emerson Electric: A.P.M. Automation Solutions Ltd., AE Valves, AGI Mexicana S.A. de C.V., ALCO CONTROLS spol. s.r.o., APM Automation Solutions, ASC Investments Inc., ASCO (Japan) Company Limited, ASCO L.P., ASCO Numatics (India) Private Limited, ASCO Numatics Holding Inc., ASCO SAS, ASCO Valve (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ASCO/JOUCOMATIC s.r.o., ATX SAS, Advanced Protection Technologies, Aegir Norge Holding AS, Alliance Compressors LLC, American Governor, Aperture, Apple JV Holding Corp., Appleton Electric LLC, Appleton Electric S.A. de C.V., Appleton Group, Appleton Group Canada Ltd., Appleton Grp LLC, Appleton Holding Corp., Appleton Holding Sarl, Artesyn Embedded Technologies, Artesyn Hungary Elektronikai Kft., Artesyn Technologies, Asco AB, Asco Controls AG, Asco Controls B.V., Asco Joucomatic Ltd., Asco Joucomatic ZA B.V., Asco Magnesszelep Kft., Asco Numatics GmbH, Asco Numatics S.A., Asco Numatics Sirai S.R.L., Asco Numatics Sp. z o.o., Ascomatica S.A. de C.V., Ascomation (NZ) Ltd., Ascomation Pty. Ltd., Ascotech S.A. de C.V., Ascoval Industria e Commercio Ltda, Automatic Switch Company, Aventics, Aventics, Aventics AB, Aventics AG, Aventics AS, Aventics ApS, Aventics B.V., Aventics Corporation, Aventics Holding S.A.S., Aventics Holding S.a.r.l., Aventics Hungary Kft, Aventics Inc., Aventics India Private Limited, Aventics Limited, Aventics Ltd., Aventics Oy, Aventics Pneumatics Equipment (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., Aventics Pneumatics Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Aventics S.A.S., Aventics S.R.L., Aventics Services Germany GmbH, Aventics Singapore Pte. Ltd., Aventics Sp. z.o.o., Aventics Spain S.L., Aventics spol. s.r.o., Avtron LoadBank, Bannerscientific Limited, Beckman Industrial B.V., Beijing Rosemount Far East Instrument Co. Ltd., Bettis Canada Ltd., Bettis Holdings Limited, Bettis UK Limited, Biffi Italia S.r.l., Bioproduction Group, Branson Korea Co. Ltd., Branson Ultrasonic S.A., Branson Ultrasonics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Branson Ultrasonics B.V., Branson Ultrasonics Corporation, Branson Ultrasonics a.s., Branson Ultrasonidos S.A.E., Branson Ultrasons SAS, Branson Ultrasuoni S.R.L., Branson de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Bray Lectroheat Limited, Bristol Babcock Limited, Bristol Inc., Buehler Europe Limited, Buehler UK Limited, CR Compressors LLC, CSA Consulting Engineers Ltd., California Emerson LLC, Cascade Technologies, Cascade Technologies Holdings Limited, Cascade Technologies Limited, Chemat GmbH Armaturen fur Industrie - und Nuklearanlage, Chloride Koexa S.A., Componentes Avanzados de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Computational Systems, Computational Systems Incorporated, Conception et Representation de Technologies de Controle C.R.T. Controle SAS, Control Products Inc., Controles de Temperatura S.A. de C.V., Cooligy Inc., Cooper-Atkins, Cooper-Atkins Corporation, Cooper-Atkins Pte. Ltd., Copeland Access + Inc., Copeland Compresores Hermeticos S.A. de C.V., Copeland Corporation, Copeland Corporation LLC, Copeland Limited, Copeland Redevelopment Corporation, Copeland Scroll Compresores de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Copeland de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Copesub Inc., Crosby Valve LLC, Damcos A/S, Damcos Holding A/S, Daniel Automation Company, Daniel Europe Limited, Daniel Industrial Inc., Daniel Industries, Daniel Industries Canada Inc., Daniel Industries Inc., Daniel Industries Limited, Daniel International Limited, Daniel Measurement Solutions Private Limited, Daniel Measurement and Control Inc., Daniel Measurement and Control S. de R.L. de C.V., Danmasa S.A. de C.V., Dar Ibtikar Al Iraq for General Services and General Trade LLC, Decision Management International, Dieterich Standard Inc., Digital Appliance Controls (UK) Limited, Dixell North America Inc., Dixell S.R.L., Do+Able Products, E. Business Development E.B.D.Com Ltd., E.G.P. Corporation, EECO Inc., EGS Comercializadora Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., EGS Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., EGS Private Ltd., EMERSON CLIMATE TECHNOLOGIES s.r.o., EMR (Asia) Limited, EMR (Mauritius) Ltd., EMR Emerson Holdings (Switzerland) GmbH, EMR Europe Holdings Inc., EMR Foundation Inc., EMR Holdings (France) SAS, EMR Holdings Inc., EMR Worldwide B.V., EMR Worldwide Inc., EMRSN HLDG B.V., EMRSN Process Management Morocco Sarl, ENPDOR2012A Limited, ENPESNA Inc., EPM Tulsa Holdings Corp., EPMCO Holdings Inc., ETC International Holdings Ltd., Easy Heat Europe SAS, Easy Heat Inc., El-O-Matic B.V., El-O-Matic Valve Actuators (F.E.) Pte. Ltd., Electrische Apparatenfabriek Capax B.V., Emerald Advanced Technology Limited, Emerson (Philippines) Corporation, Emerson (Taiwan) Limited, Emerson (Thailand) Limited, Emerson Arabia Inc., Emerson Argentina S.A., Emerson Asia Pacific Private Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Actuation Technologies Holdings Inc., Emerson Automation Solutions Actuation Technologies Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Sichuan) Co. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Taiwan) Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Thailand) Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Africa (Pty) Ltd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Australia Pty Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Czech Republic s.r.o., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Denmark A/S, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control France SARL, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Germany GmbH, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Hong Kong Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Hungary Kft, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Italia S.r.l., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control LLC, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Middle East FZE, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Netherlands B.V., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Polska Sp. Z.o.o., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Sales Australia Pty Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Sales Holding LLC, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Singapore Pte. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control UK II Ltd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control UK Ltd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control US LP, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Emerson Automation Solutions GmbH, Emerson Automation Solutions Intelligent Platforms (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Intelligent Platforms Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Intelligent Platforms Private Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Intelligent Platforms do Brasil Ltda, Emerson Automation Solutions Ireland Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Isolation Valves Inc., Emerson Automation Solutions SSC UK Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions UK Limited, Emerson Beijing Instrument Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Services LLC, Emerson Climate Technologies (India) Private Limited, Emerson Climate Technologies (Shenyang) Refrigeration Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, Emerson Climate Technologies (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies (Suzhou) Trading Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies - Solutions (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies - Transportation Solutions ApS, Emerson Climate Technologies Arabia Limited Co., Emerson Climate Technologies Australia Pty. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies FZE, Emerson Climate Technologies GmbH, Emerson Climate Technologies Inc., Emerson Climate Technologies Limited, Emerson Climate Technologies Mexico S.A. de C.V., Emerson Climate Technologies Refrigeration S.A., Emerson Climate Technologies Retail Solutions Europe S.R.L., Emerson Climate Technologies Retail Solutions Inc., Emerson Climate Technologies Retail Solutions UK Limited, Emerson Climate Technologies S.A., Emerson Climate Technologies S.R.L., Emerson Climate Technologies Sarl, Emerson Commercial & Residential Tools LLC, Emerson Commerical & Residential Asia Limited, Emerson Comres de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Emerson DHC B.V., Emerson Dietzenbach GmbH, Emerson Dominicana Srl, Emerson Egypt LLC, Emerson Electric (Asia) Limited, Emerson Electric (China) Holdings Co. Ltd., Emerson Electric (M) Sdn Bhd, Emerson Electric (Mauritius) Ltd., Emerson Electric (South Asia) Pte. Ltd., Emerson Electric (Thailand) Limited, Emerson Electric (Tongling) Co. Ltd., Emerson Electric (U.S.) Holding Corporation, Emerson Electric (U.S.) Holding Corporation (Chile) Limitada, Emerson Electric (Zhuhai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Electric CR Limitada, Emerson Electric Canada Limited, Emerson Electric Company (India) Private Limited, Emerson Electric Company Lanka (Private) Limited, Emerson Electric Holdings (Switzerland) GmbH, Emerson Electric II C.A., Emerson Electric International Inc., Emerson Electric Ireland Limited, Emerson Electric Korea Ltd., Emerson Electric Nederland B.V., Emerson Electric Overseas Finance Corp., Emerson Electric Poland Sp. z o.o., Emerson Electric U.K. Limited, Emerson Electric de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Emerson Electric do Brasil Ltda, Emerson Energy Systems (UK) Limited, Emerson FZE, Emerson Final Control US Holding LLC, Emerson Finance LLC, Emerson Fusite Electric (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Emerson Gabon SARL, Emerson Hazardous Electrical Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Holding Company Limited, Emerson Holding Sweden AB, Emerson InSinkErator Appliance (Nanjing) Co. Ltd., Emerson Industrial Automation USA Inc., Emerson International Holding Company Limited, Emerson Japan Ltd., Emerson Junkang Enterprise (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Korea Limited, Emerson LLC, Emerson LLP, Emerson Machinery Equipment (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Emerson Mexico Finance S.A. de C.V. SOFOM ENR, Emerson Middle East Inc., Emerson Network Power DHC B.V., Emerson Paradigm Holding LLC, Emerson Process Management (India) Private Limited, Emerson Process Management (South Africa) (Proprietary) Ltd., Emerson Process Management (Tianjin) Valves Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management (Vietnam) Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management A/S (Denmark), Emerson Process Management AB, Emerson Process Management AG, Emerson Process Management AS, Emerson Process Management Angola Lda, Emerson Process Management Arabia Limited, Emerson Process Management Australia Pty Limited, Emerson Process Management B.V., Emerson Process Management Chennai Private Limited, Emerson Process Management Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Distribution Limited, Emerson Process Management Europe GmbH, Emerson Process Management Flow B.V., Emerson Process Management Flow Technologies Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management GmbH & Co. OHG, Emerson Process Management Holding AG, Emerson Process Management Holding LLC, Emerson Process Management Kft., Emerson Process Management LLLP, Emerson Process Management Lda, Emerson Process Management Limited, Emerson Process Management Ltda, Emerson Process Management Magyarorszag Kft., Emerson Process Management Manufacturing (M) Sdn Bhd, Emerson Process Management Marine Solutions Korea Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Marine Solutions Singapore Pte. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Marine Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management NV, Emerson Process Management New Zealand Limited, Emerson Process Management Nigeria Limited, Emerson Process Management Oy, Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions Inc., Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions India Private Limited, Emerson Process Management Qatar W.L.L., Emerson Process Management Regulator Technologies Inc., Emerson Process Management Regulator Technologies Tulsa LLC, Emerson Process Management Romania S.R.L., Emerson Process Management S.A., Emerson Process Management S.A. de C.V., Emerson Process Management S.L., Emerson Process Management S.R.L., Emerson Process Management SAS, Emerson Process Management Shared Services Limited, Emerson Process Management Sp. z o.o., Emerson Process Management Ticaret Limited Sirket, Emerson Process Management UAB, Emerson Process Management Valve Automation (M) Sdn Bhd, Emerson Process Management Valve Automation (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Valve Automation Inc., Emerson Process Management Verwaltung GmbH, Emerson Process Management d.o.o., Emerson Process Management de Colombia SAS, Emerson Process Management del Peru S.A.C., Emerson Process Management s.r.o., Emerson Professional Tools (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Puerto Rico Inc., Emerson Retail Services Europe GmbH, Emerson S.R.L., Emerson Sales UK Limited, Emerson Saudi Arabia LLC, Emerson Scroll Machining (Thailand) Limited, Emerson Sice S.R.L., Emerson Sweden AB, Emerson TOV, Emerson Technologies GmbH & Co. OHG, Emerson Technologies Verwaltungs GmbH, Emerson Tool Company de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Emerson Tool and Appliance Company S. de R.L. de C.V., Emerson Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson UK Trustees Limited, Emerson USD Finance Company Limited, Emerson Valves & Controls Japan Co. Ltd., Emerson Ventures Inc., Emerson Vulcan Holding LLC, Emerson Xi'an Engineering Center, Emersub 1 LLC, Emersub 10 LLC, Emersub 11 LLC, Emersub 12 LLC, Emersub 14 LLC, Emersub 15 LLC, Emersub 16 LLC, Emersub 3 LLC, Emersub 4 LLC, Emersub 5 LLC, Emersub 7 LLC, Emersub 8 LLC, Emersub 9 LLC, Emersub CII Inc., Emersub CV Inc., Emersub Italia S.R.L., Emersub LXXXIV Inc., Emersub LXXXVI Inc., Emersub Mexico Inc., Emersub Treasury Ireland Unlimited Company, Emersub XLVI Inc., Emersub XXXVI Inc., Emirates Techno Casting FZE, Emirates Techno Casting Holding Limited, Emirates Techno Casting LLC, Enardo, Endura-Greenlee Tools, Energy Solutions International (India) Private Limited, Energy Solutions International GP LLC, Energy Solutions International Ltd., Energy Solutions International SAS, Energy Solutions International Sub LLC, F-R Tecnologias de Flujo S.A. de C.V., FC QSF LLC, FMC Technologies, Fiberconn Assemblies Morocco Sarl, Fincor Holding LLC, Fire & Safety Group.Com Ltd., Fisher Controles de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Fisher Controls International LLC, Fisher Jeon Gas Equipment (Chengdu) Co. Ltd., Fisher Regulators (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fisher Sanmar Limited, Fisher-Rosemount Systems Inc., Flow Control Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Flow Control Holding Verwaltungs GmbH, Flow Control US Holding Corporation, Francel SAS, Fromex S.A. de C.V., Fusite B.V., Fusite Corporation, Fusite Land Company, GSEG LLC, General Equipment and Manufacturing Company Inc., Generale de Robinetterie Industrielle et de Sytemes de Surete, GeoFields, GeoFields Inc., Greenex Ltd., Greenfield (UK) Limited, Greenlee, Greenlee Communications, Greenlee Tools Inc., Gulf Valve FZE, Gustav Klauke GmbH, H.T.E. Engineering Limited, HD Electric Company, HTE Engineering Services Limited, Hindle Cockburns Limited, Hiross India Private Limited, Hiter Industria e Comercia de Controles Termo-Hidraulicos Ltda., Humboldt Hermetic Motor Corp., Hytork International Ltd., I Solutions Inc., ICC Intelligent Platforms GmbH, ISE-MagTech, Industrial Controls Canada ULC, Industrial Group Metran JSC, Instrument & Valve Services Company, Intelligent Platforms LLC, Intellution, International Gas Distribution SA, Intrinsic Safety Equipment of Texas Inc., JCF Fluid Flow India Private Limited, JSC Metran-Export, Joucomatic S.A., K Controls Limited, Keystone Germany Holdings Corp., Keystone Valve (Korea) LLC, Keystone Valve (U.K.) Limited, Klauke, Klauke (Jiangsu) Electrical Connection Technology Co Ltd., Klauke France SARL, Klauke Handelsgesellschaft mbH, Klauke Iberia S.L., Klauke Polska Sp. z.o.o., Klauke Slovakia s.r.o., Klauke UK Ltd., Knurr, Liebert, Liebert Swindon Limited, Locus Solutions LLC, Locus Traxx Worldwide, Locus Traxx Worldwide Europe BVBA, MDC Technology Limited, MDC Technology Trustees Limited, METCO Services Limited, MYNAH Technologies, Management Resources Group Inc., Mecafrance (Deutschland) GmbH, Metallurgical Services Laboratories Limited, Metaserv Limited, Metco Services Venezuela C.A., Micro Motion Inc., Mobrey Group Limited, Motores Hermeticos del Sur S.A. de C.V., NetworkPower Ecuador S.A., Nippon Fisher Co. Ltd., Novel Environmental Technologies Ltd., Novel Extinguishing Agent Technology Ltd., Numatics Incorporated, Nutsteel DHC B.V., Nutsteel Industria Metalurgica Ltda, O.M.T. Officina Meccanica Tartarini S.r.l., Open Systems International, P I Components Corp., PT Emerson Solutions Indonesia, PT. Emerson Indonesia, PT. Paradigm Geophysical Indonesia, Pactrol Controls Limited, PakSense, PakSense Inc., Paradigm, Paradigm (UK) Holding Limited, Paradigm B.V., Paradigm France S.A., Paradigm Geophysical (India) Private Limited, Paradigm Geophysical (KL) Sdn. Bhd., Paradigm Geophysical (Nigeria) Limited, Paradigm Geophysical (U.K.) Limited, Paradigm Geophysical B.V., Paradigm Geophysical Corp., Paradigm Geophysical Italy SRL, Paradigm Geophysical LLC, Paradigm Geophysical Limited, Paradigm Geophysical Pty Ltd, Paradigm Geophysical S.A., Paradigm Geophysical Sdn. Bhd., Paradigm Geophysical Spain S.L., Paradigm Geophysical de Venezuela C.A., Paradigm Geophysical do Brasil Ltda., Paradigm Geoservices Canada Ltd., Paradigm Geotechnology (Egypt) S.A.E., Paradigm Kazakhstan LLP, Paradigm Middle East FZ-LLC, Paradigm Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Parex Industries Limited, Pentair Valves & Controls, Pentair Valves and Controls India Private Limited, Permasense, Permasense Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd, Permasense Limited, ProSys, ProTeam Inc., Progea, RAC Technologies (Israel) Ltd., RIDGID Inc., RPP Europe GmbH, RPP LLC, Rey-Lam S. de R.L. de C.V., Ridge Tool (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Ridge Tool Company, Ridge Tool Europe NV, Ridge Tool GmbH, Ridge Tool GmbH & Co. OHG, Ridge Tool Manufacturing Company, Ridge Tool Pattern Company, Ridgid France SAS, Ridgid Italia S.R.L., Ridgid Online Inc., Ridgid Scandinavia A/S, Ridgid Werkzeuge AG, Rosemount China Inc., Rosemount Inc., Rosemount Measurement Limited, Rosemount Nuclear Instruments Inc., Rosemount Specialty Products LLC, Rosemount Tank Gauging India Pvt. Ltd., Rosemount Tank Gauging Middle East SPC, Rosemount Tank Gauging North America Inc., Rosemount Tank Radar AB, Rosemount Tank Radar Properties AB, Roxar, Roxar AS, Roxar Flow Measurement AS, Roxar Flow Measurement Sdn Bhd, Roxar Limited, Roxar Maximum Reservoir Performance W.L.L., Roxar Saudi Co., Roxar Services AS, Roxar Services OOO, Roxar Software Solutions AS, Roxar Technologies AS, Roxar Vietnam Company Ltd., Roxar de Venezuela C.A., Rutherfurd Acquisitions Limited, S.F.T. Group Ltd., SABO-Armaturen Service GmbH, Safety Systems UK Pte. Ltd., Sakhi-Raimondi Valve (India) Limited, Scroll Compressors LLC, Scroll Mexico LLC, Sempell GmbH, Shanghai Virgo Valves Technology Consulting Co. Ltd., Sherman + Reilly, Soluciones 0925 C.A., Spectra-Tek Holdings Limited, Spectra-Tek International Limited, Spectra-Tek UK Limited, Spectrex, Spectrex Inc., Spectronix Ltd., Spensall Engineering Limited, Steel Support Systems Limited, Stratos Lightwave, System Plast International B.V., System Plast Ltda, System Plast USA de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., TDM-avtomatizatsiya, TV&C GP Holding LLC, Taiwan Valve Co. Ltd., TechnipFMC, Termocontroles de Juarez S.A. de C.V., Tescom Corporation, Tescom Europe GmbH & Co. KG, Tescom Europe Management GmbH, The Automation Group Inc., The J.R. Clarkson Company LLC, Therm-O-Disc Europe B.V., Therm-O-Disc Incorporated, Thunderline Z Inc., TopWorx UK Limited, Tranmet Holdings B.V., Tranmet Holdings Limited, Verdant Environmental Technologies, Vilter Manufacturing LLC, Virgo Valves & Controls (ME) FZE, Virgo Valves and Controls Sdn Bhd, Von Arx AG, Vulsub 1 Limited, Vulsub Brasil Holding, Vulsub Brasil Ltda., Vulsub Chile SpA, Vulsub Gulf Holding Limited, Vulsub Holding III (Denmark) ApS, Vulsub Holding Ltd, Vulsub Holdings A LLC, Vulsub Holdings B LLC, Vulsub Holdings C LLC, Vulsub Holdings D LLC, Vulsub Italia S.r.l., Vulsub Middle East Holdings LLC, Vulsub Peru S.A.C., Vulsub Property Holding LLC, Vulsub Property Limited, Vulsub S.A., Vulsub South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Vulsub VZ C.A., Westinghouse Electric Pvt. Limited, Westlock Controls Limited, Westlock Equipamentos de Controle Ltda., Woodstock Land Company LLC, epro GmbH, iSolera Inc., iSolutions Private Limited, and intelliSAW. The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, produces, distributes, and markets gas in Hong Kong and Mainland China. It is involved in the provision of liquefied natural gas, methanol, and coal and other chemicals; conversion and utilization of biomass, and industrial and agricultural waste; and operation of natural gas refilling stations, piped city-gas projects, upstream and midstream developments, water and wastewater treatment projects, energy exploration and utilization ventures, and aviation fuel facilities. The company supplies town gas to approximately 1.9 million customers. It also provides network connectivity, and data center and cloud computing services; and engages in the software development, solution implementation, and systems integration activities. In addition, the company offers consultancy and engineering contractor services, including utilities installation, infrastructure construction, and civil and building services engineering for public and private projects; and designs and manufactures gas meters and metering systems. Further, it is involved in water supply and wastewater treatment serving 2.4 million customers. Additionally, the company manufactures polyethylene piping and fittings; and engages in the customers center, cafA, restaurant, retail sale, automatic meter reading system development, laboratory testing, payment gateway and related, project management, landfill gas project, financing, logistics, oil, research and development, property development, and securities investment activities. The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in North Point, Hong Kong. Read More Sociedad QuAmica y Minera de Chile S.A. produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine and its derivatives, lithium and its derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services worldwide. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers for crops, such as vegetables, fruits, and industrial crops. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and industrial applications comprising x-ray contrast media, polarizing films for LCD and LED, antiseptics, biocides and disinfectants, pharmaceutical synthesis, electronics, pigments, and dye components. In addition, the company offers lithium carbonates for various applications that include electrochemical materials for batteries, frits for the ceramic and enamel industries, heat-resistant glass, air conditioning chemicals, continuous casting powder for steel extrusion, primary aluminum smelting process, pharmaceuticals, and lithium derivatives. Further, it supplies lithium hydroxide for the lubricating greases industry, as well as cathodes for batteries. Additionally, it offers potassium chloride and potassium sulfate for various crops, including corn, rice, sugar, soybean, and wheat; industrial chemicals, including sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, potassium chloride, and solar salts; and other fertilizers and blends. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Lithia Motors: 797 Valley Street LLC, Albany CJD Fiat, Baierl Auto Group, Baierl Auto Parts LLC, Baierl Automotive Corporation, Baierl Chevrolet Inc., Baierl Holding LLC, Broadway Ford, Buhler Ford Inc, Cadillac of Portland Lloyd Center LLC, Camp Automotive Inc., Carbone Auto Body LLC, Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Fiat of Morgantown, Cranberry Automotive Inc., Crater Lake Ford Lincoln, Crater Lake Mazda, DCH (Oxnard) Inc., DCH Auto Group, DCH Bloomfield LLC, DCH CA LLC, DCH Calabasas-A LLC, DCH California Investments LLC, DCH California Motors Inc., DCH DMS NJ LLC, DCH Del Norte Inc., DCH Essex Inc., DCH Financial NJ LLC, DCH Freehold - V LLC, DCH Freehold LLC, DCH Holdings LLC, DCH Investments Inc. (New Jersey), DCH Investments Inc. (New York), DCH Korean Imports LLC, DCH Mamaroneck LLC, DCH Mission Valley LLC, DCH Monmouth LLC, DCH Montclair LLC, DCH Motors LLC, DCH NY Motors LLC, DCH Nanuet LLC, DCH North America Inc., DCH Oxnard 1521 Imports Inc., DCH Riverside-S Inc., DCH Simi Valley Inc., DCH Support Services LLC, DCH TL Holdings LLC, DCH TL NY Holdings LLC, DCH Temecula Imports LLC, DCH Temecula Motors LLC, DCH Thousand Oaks-F Inc., DCH Torrance Imports Inc., Dah Chong Hong CA Trading LLC, Dah Chong Hong Trading Corporation, Daron Motors LLC, Day Auto Group, Downtown LA, Driveway Motors LLC, Elizabeth Collision LLC, Florida SS LLC, Ford Lincoln of Morgantown, Freehold Nissan LLC, Fuse Auto Sales LLC, Hamilton Honda, Hazleton Honda, Hutchins Eugene Nissan Inc., Hutchins Imported Motors Inc., Jaguar Landrover Mission Viejo, LA Motors Holding LLC, LAD Advertising Inc., LAD Carson-N LLC, LAD Mission Viejo-JLR Inc., LAD Mobu Inc., LAD-AU LLC, LAD-MB LLC, LAD-N LLC, LAD-P LLC, LAD-T LLC, LAD-V LLC, LBMP LLC, LFKF LLC, LGPAC Inc., LLL Sales Co LLC, LMBB LLC, LMBP LLC, LMOP LLC, LSTAR LLC, Lithia AcDM Inc., Lithia Aircraft Inc., Lithia Anchorage-C LLC, Lithia Anchorage-H LLC, Lithia Armory Garage LLC, Lithia Auction & Recon LLC, Lithia Auto Services Inc., Lithia Automotive Inc., Lithia BA Holding Inc., Lithia BNM Inc. (nonoperating), Lithia Baierl-S LLC, Lithia Bryan Texas Inc., Lithia Buffalo-A LLC, Lithia CCTF Inc., Lithia CDH Inc., Lithia CIMR Inc., Lithia CJDO Inc., Lithia CJDSA Inc., Lithia CJDSF Inc., Lithia CM Inc., Lithia CO Inc., Lithia CSA Inc., Lithia Community Development Company Inc., Lithia Crater Lake-F Inc., Lithia Crater Lake-M Inc., Lithia DE Inc., Lithia DM Inc., Lithia DMID Inc., Lithia Des Moines-VW LLC, Lithia Dodge of Tri-Cities Inc., Lithia Eatontown-F LLC, Lithia FLCC LLC, Lithia FMF Inc., Lithia Financial Corporation (previously Lithia Leasing Inc. and Lithia Credit Inc.), Lithia Florida Holding Inc., Lithia Ford of Boise Inc., Lithia Fresno Inc., Lithia HDM Inc., Lithia HGF Inc., Lithia HMID Inc., Lithia HPI Inc. (nonoperating), Lithia Hamilton-H LLC, Lithia Hazleton-H LLC, Lithia Idaho Falls-F Inc., Lithia Imports of Anchorage Inc., Lithia JEF Inc., Lithia Klamath Inc., Lithia Klamath-T Inc., Lithia LBGGF Inc., Lithia LHGF Inc., Lithia LSGF Inc., Lithia MBDM Inc., Lithia MMF Inc., Lithia MTLM Inc., Lithia McMurray-C LLC, Lithia Medford HON Inc., Lithia Middletown-L LLC, Lithia Monroeville-A LLC, Lithia Monroeville-C LLC, Lithia Monroeville-F LLC, Lithia Monroeville-V LLC, Lithia Moon-S LLC, Lithia Moon-V LLC, Lithia Morgantown-CJD LLC, Lithia Morgantown-F LLC, Lithia Morgantown-S LLC, Lithia Motors Support Services Inc., Lithia NA Inc., Lithia NC Inc., Lithia ND Acquisition Corp. #1, Lithia ND Acquisition Corp. #3, Lithia ND Acquisition Corp. #4, Lithia NDM Inc., Lithia NF Inc., Lithia NSA Inc., Lithia Northeast Real Estate LLC, Lithia Orchard Park-H LLC, Lithia Paramus-M LLC, Lithia Pittsburgh-S LLC, Lithia Ramsey-B LLC, Lithia Ramsey-L LLC, Lithia Ramsey-M LLC, Lithia Ramsey-T LLC, Lithia Real Estate Inc., Lithia Reno Sub-HYUN Inc., Lithia Reno-CJ LLC, Lithia Reno-VW LLC, Lithia Rose-FT Inc., Lithia SOC Inc., Lithia SSP LLC, Lithia Salmir Inc., Lithia Sea P Inc., Lithia Seaside Inc., Lithia Spokane-B LLC, Lithia Spokane-S LLC, Lithia TA Inc., Lithia TO Inc., Lithia TR Inc., Lithia Uniontown-C LLC, Lithia VAuDM Inc., Lithia VF Inc., Lithia Wexford-H LLC, Lithia of Abilene Inc., Lithia of Anchorage Inc., Lithia of Bend #1 LLC, Lithia of Bend #2 LLC, Lithia of Bennington - 1 LLC, Lithia of Bennington - 2 LLC, Lithia of Bennington - 3 LLC, Lithia of Bennington - 4 LLC, Lithia of Billings II LLC, Lithia of Billings Inc., Lithia of Casper LLC, Lithia of Clear Lake LLC, Lithia of Concord I Inc., Lithia of Concord II Inc., Lithia of Corpus Christi Inc., Lithia of Des Moines Inc., Lithia of Eureka Inc., Lithia of Fairbanks Inc., Lithia of Great Falls Inc., Lithia of Helena Inc., Lithia of Honolulu-A Inc., Lithia of Honolulu-BGMCC LLC, Lithia of Honolulu-F LLC, Lithia of Honolulu-V LLC, Lithia of Killeen LLC, Lithia of Lodi Inc., Lithia of Maui-H LLC, Lithia of Missoula II LLC, Lithia of Missoula III Inc., Lithia of Missoula Inc., Lithia of Pocatello Inc., Lithia of Portland I LLC, Lithia of Portland LLC, Lithia of Robstown LLC, Lithia of Roseburg Inc., Lithia of Santa Rosa Inc., Lithia of Seattle Inc., Lithia of South Central AK Inc., Lithia of Spokane II Inc., Lithia of Spokane Inc., Lithia of Stockton Inc., Lithia of Stockton-V Inc., Lithia of TF Inc., Lithia of Troy LLC, Lithia of Utica - 1 LLC, Lithia of Utica - 2 LLC, Lithia of Utica - 3 LLC, Lithia of Utica - 4 LLC, Lithia of Walnut Creek Inc., Lithia of Wasilla LLC, Lithia of Yorkville - 1 LLC, Lithia of Yorkville - 2 LLC, Lithia of Yorkville - 3 LLC, Lithia of Yorkville - 4 LLC, Lithia of Yorkville - 5 LLC, Medford Insurance LLC, Milford DCH Inc., Northland Ford Inc., PA Real Estate LLC, PA Support Services LLC, Paramus Collision LLC, Paramus World Motors LLC, Personalized Marketing LLC, Prestige Auto Group, RFA Holdings LLC, Ray Laks Acura, Ray Laks Honda, Sacramento-L Inc., Salem-B LLC, Salem-H LLC, Salem-V LLC, Sharlene Realty LLC, Shift Portland LLC, Southern Cascades Finance Corporation, Subaru of Morgantown, Tampa-H LLC, Tustin Motors Inc., Wesley Chapel-H LLC, Wesley Chapel-T LLC, Zelienople Real Estate I L.P., and Zelienople Real Estate L.L.C.. Ad Legacy Research 3,264 Interested This Week [URGENT] MAJOR BUY ALERT 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. Picking the right investment of the decade can transform your life Microsoft in the 80sAmazon in the 90sApple in the 2000sBitcoin in 2016... Any one of these could have made you a millionaire many times over. Today, the Wall Street legend who picked the last investment of the decade Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes products to the oil and natural gas industry in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Drilling & Downhole, Completions, and Production. The Drilling & Downhole segment designs, manufactures, and supplies products, and provides related services to the drilling, downhole, and subsea markets, as well as other markets, such as alternative energy, defense, and communications. This segment offers drilling technologies consisting of capital equipment and a line of products consumed in the drilling; downhole technologies, such as cementing and casing tools, and protection products for artificial lift equipment and cables; and subsea remotely operated vehicles and trenchers, specialty components and tools, and complementary subsea technical services. The Completions segment provides products and related services to the coiled tubing, stimulation, and intervention markets. This segment offers pressure pumping, hydraulic fracturing and flowback services markets, including hydraulic fracturing pumps, cooling systems, flow iron, wireline cable, and pressure control equipment, as well as related recertification and refurbishment services; and coiled tubing products, such as coiled tubing strings and line pipes. The Production segment designs, manufactures, and supplies products, and provides related equipment and services to the production and infrastructure markets. This segment supplies production equipment, including well site production and process equipment; and a range of industrial and process valves. The company was formerly known as Forum Oilfield Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. in August 2010. Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Read More Wall Street analysts have given iShares Latin America 40 ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but iShares Latin America 40 ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. The Curb Market, located in the 1300 block of Evans Street in Morehead City, has not been used since Hurricane Florence. (Dylan Ray photo) Oi S.A., a switched fixed-line telephony services concessionaire, provides telecommunication services in Brazil. The company offers fixed telephony services, including voice, data communication, and pay TV services; local and intraregional long-distance carrier services; domestic and international long-distance services; mobile telecommunications and corporate solutions; and maintenance, and repair services. It also provides call center and telemarketing, Internet, network, and Wi-Fi Internet services; and financial, and payment and credit system services. In addition, the company engages in the investment management activities, as well as raising funds in the international market. It serves residential, subscription and prepaid, mobile broadband, small, medium-sized, and large corporate customers. The company was formerly known as Brasil Telecom S.A. and changed its name to Oi S.A. in February 2012. Oi S.A. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On June 20, 2016, Oi S.A. along with its subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy protection. Read More WATERBURY An Amber Alert has been issued for three children abducted out of Waterbury who were last seen in Texas. Missing are 7-year-old Maddison McGrath, 5-year-old Dylan McGrath and 2-year-old Maryah Mathew. The three were last seen on Feb. 19 in Sealy, Texas, according to the alert. The alert said law enforcement officials believe the children are in grave or immediate danger. The Waterbury Police Department is searching for the three, who were apparently seen in a maroon 2002 Volvo S60, with Connecticut license plate 417-YTY. Maddison McGrath was described as 4 feet tall and weighing 75 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a leopard print sweatsuit. Dylan McGrath was described as 3 feet tall and weighting 45 pounds with brown hair and green eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue and white sweater, blue pants with a white stripe and black shoes. Maryah Mathew was described as 2 feet tall and weighing 30 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a blue shirt, white T-shirt, white vest with gold hearts, blue pants and black boots with hearts. The Amber Alert indicated police are looking for Crystal McGrath, 29, and Lester Joy, 38, in connection with their abduction. It was unclear how either suspect is related to the children. Crystal McGrath was described as 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. Lester Joy is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighting 160 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. The suspects were last heard from in Sealy, Texas, the alert said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Waterbury Police Department at 203-574-6911. The CEO of Croatia Airlines, Jasmin Bajic, has said the airline requires some 33 million euros in order to launch a new investment cycle and better compete against its rivals. The comments came after the Croatian government kick-started the carrier's privatisation process this week. "The situation is not good because we cannot develop. Currently, we can only stagnate and shrink. Therefore, we need a new investment cycle and capital which is why the ownership structure should change through recapitalisation. This will not be a sale in the traditional sense, rather a recapitalisation for the sake of development", Mr Bajic said. Recapitalisation would entail changes to the airlines capital. This may occur, for instance, when a creditor exchanges a loan for a stake but does not require changes to the companys management structure. Mr Bajic noted that Croatia Airlines will not go bankrupt if it fails to secure a new partner but warned that the carrier would likely downsize its operations. "Competition will become more fierce and we will seek ways in which to survive. We don't want to back down. I guarantee the process will be successful", the CEO said. He added, "The main issue with Croatia Airlines are the losses it accumulates over winter. During the winter season, when Croatia Airlines has no competition and faces only ten carriers who maintain services to the country, we generate losses. When we compete against a hundred airlines in the summer we attempt to make up for those losses. During the summer season we handle almost half of our annual traffic. The key problem is economies of scale because we are leasing more expensive aircraft, buying more expensive fuel and paying for more expensive services than our competiton, who find it more affordable due to the amount they purchase, so the economy of scale gives them an advantage". Mr Bajic noted that he is unaware whether the carrier generated a profit or loss last year as the results are still being accounted. Earlier this week, the Croatian government set up a multi-member, inter-agency committee whose main task will be to seek out potential investors for Croatia Airlines. The main task of the committee will be to consider further steps that will secure a quality strategic partner with significant experience in the air transport sector who would, among other things, ensure the expansion of the network and an increase in the airline's market share", the Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butkovic, said. Mr Butkovic noted the government would secure greater funding for Croatia Airlines for Public Service Obligation services through the European Union next year. Currently, the carrier receives 10.3 million euros per year to maintain its domestic network, on which it handled 526.578 passengers in 2018. Two years ago I put country over party in an attempt to stop Donald Trump from ascending to the presidency. I was willing as a member of the Electoral College to find an alternative to the crisis of 2016. Today, another crisis is in front of us. It is the media-fueled narrative that Howard Schultz, former Starbucks CEO, should run for president. CNN sponsored a town hall with the businessman, but in reality it showed Schultz to be a bad decaf option. Schultz came to the discussion with the same policy depth as a snowfall in Del Rio. In 2016, America elected a naive, policyless businessman who told us I alone can do it. The result has been catastrophic. American farmers have lost agricultural subsidies to a trade war we were told is easy to win. Schultz shows up to tell us Washington is bad. He alone, as a know-it-all from outside, can clean up the mess in Washington. The problem is that he doesnt know where the broom closet is. On several issues, Schultz showed this vanity candidacy serves his ego. It does nothing for the American voter. Easy example? Schultz completely misunderstands the current climate on race relations. A Houston coffee-shop owner asked about the Philadelphia Starbucks location that racially profiled two black men. His response was that of a corporate stockholder, not a community leader. He reminded us of the terrible impact that incident had on the company. His only mention of the victims in that case was to be thankful they didnt resist police arrest. He completely misses the point that those men were harmed. They were far more affected than his shareholders. Worse, he says he doesnt see color a catchphrase from the 20th century. The 21st century is you have to see color and find understanding. He doesnt get that people persons of color have an different American experience. He misses that brown people in Tornillo and across America are being locked up. Locked up regardless of their citizenship because of their skin color. ICE arrests and questions them because they are brown and might not be Americans. He ignores that black men are incarcerated at a higher rate than their white counterparts. Schultz said what we all know Trumps tax plan is horrible for the American middle class. His glib answer was to congratulate himself for lobbying against the plan. The same plan most of America was against unless you are a big business special interest. He says he should pay more in taxes but cannot say how much. He has no answer for why 70 percent is too high to pay on his income that exceeds $10 million. All he has is that he should pay more, but not that much. On questions about his $2 billion in Starbucks stock, Schultz has the same answer as Trump: Well deal with that in the future. He could not differentiate how he would avoid the same conflicts of interest infecting the current administration. When asked if he would avoid the role of spoiler in the 2020 race, he demurred, offering no serious response. His campaign is nothing more than a spoiler. He is no different from Jill Stein in 2016, Ralph Nader in 2000 or Ross Perot in 1992. Schultz likes to attack Washington and talk about transparency from the stage. In his best opportunity to be transparent, he was unavailable, out on his coffee break. America cannot take another chance on an unproven presidential candidate who talks a good game but misses our point. Howard Schultz can make your latte, but leave him out of your presidential planning. Howard Schultz is a campaign coffee boy. His campaign is a decaf microwave brand that shouldnt sell in America. Christopher Suprun was a Republican member of the 2016 Texas Electoral College who voted independently for John Kasich. As the strains of The Final Countdown boomed from speakers inside of the auction barn at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, the 2019 Grand Champion Market Steer poked its snout out of the staging area, ready to stomp onto the hay-strewn stage. On Saturday morning, Claire Riley McCormick led Homer, a tan Charolais, before 300 cheering people at the junior steer market auction. The crowd, clad in Western wear and cowboy hats, filled the bleachers, rows of folding chairs and aisles. Auctioneer C. Jason Spence reeled off dollar amounts that prompted bidders to jab their hands in the air until W.M. Rusty Rush stood up from the front row. Rush, CEO and president of Rush Enterprises, stood beside an empty chair reserved for his late father, Marvin Rush. He gave the winning bid of $119,939 for the company in honor of his dad, a major supporter of the stock show and rodeo scholarship program and rodeo hall of fame inductee. After congratulations from Rush, McCormick led Homer out to the pen area, where her family celebrated her biggest win with the Canyon Future Farmers of America. Fortune has shined upon her before, in a different arena. Her father, Jay McCormick, said she has been fortunate to have grand champion pigs at Fort Worth, the Dallas State Fair and Denver. McCormick, 18, said she is undecided where she will attend college, but wants to become a radiographer. At that moment she was still numb from the honor that came after a year of working countless hours after school, with help from her family, tending to Homer. As far as raising more steers, she said it was her last hurrah and she was happy to go out on top. Im on cloud nine, McCormick said. I feel like I won the Super Bowl. A dozen buyers bid $85,000 for Reserve Grand Champion Market Steer, Mobamba, shown by 16-year-old Madellyne Saige Adams. The teenage member of the Brown County 4-H club agreed with McCormick. She said the achievement took every single day and an abundance of help from her family to raise the black-and-white Maine-Anjou. Its what I do for a living, she said, as moos from the cattle echoed through the barn. Its a lot of hard work, and it takes a lot of dedication. This years bid beat the last years $110,000 winning bid cast by a group of 11 buyers for a Maine-Anjou, named Checkers. In 2018, the rodeo contributed $12 million to Texas collegiate, through scholarships, auctions, show premiums, calf scramble, endowments and grants. Before leaving the barn, well wishers stopped by to congratulate McCormick, standing near her steer, both bound for separate paths. Hell go to be harvested Jay McComick said, and go join part of the food chain. Neal Brodbeck, junior auction chairman, said all auction proceeds go to the young exhibitors. A $10,000 scholarship is awarded to top contestants of public speaking contests, breed competitions and other events. He said hopefully the auction will raise $6 million to benefit 993 exhibitors and help with education for youth involved in agriculture. Brodbeck said the three-day auction, where 15 breeds of cattle are shown, wouldnt be possible without their committee of 270 volunteers Brodbeck credited San Antonios business community, and its residents, for their passion to support the young exhibitors. The buyers are top notch, he said, with opening their hearts and wallets for the kids. Vincent T. Davis is a reporter in the Greater San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | vtdavis@express-news.net | Twitter: @vincentdavis A former pharmacy representative from San Antonio has pleaded guilty for her role in an $8.8 million health care fraud scheme that earned her more than $1 million. Holly Blakely, 45, admitted to paying more than $400,000 in kickbacks and bribes to health care providers prescribing compound medications for pain to people who did not need them. On ExpressNews.com: S.A. pharmaceutical rep indicted in multi-million dollar health care fraud case She was charged in 2017 amid a wide-ranging investigation in at least four states, including Texas, of pharmacies that provide compound pain medication to military veterans and others with private insurance. Compounding pharmacies create their own drugs by combining two or more prescription ingredients. Blakely faced trial on Feb. 25 on 30 counts but instead pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, health care fraud, bribery, and paying kickbacks. She faces sentencing June 13. Blakely admitted that she conspired with two compounding pharmacies that would submit claims for reimbursement to health care benefit programs, including Tricare, for compounded medications based on the prescriptions. In exchange for her role in the conspiracy, the two compounding pharmacies paid Blakely nearly $1.15 million between 2013 and 2014. Blakely and her co-conspirators disguised the kickbacks and bribes by writing fictitious and back-dated consulting agreements, and occasionally forged the signature of a medical professional on prescriptions, U.S. Attorney John Bash said in a news release. From approximately February 2013 through December 2014, health care benefit programs, including Tricare, reimbursed the two compounding pharmacies more than $8.8 million. On ExpressNews.com: Clinic raid in San Antonio came from federal probe of compound drug makers The news release does not identify the pharmacies, but the Express-News confirmed that, in 2015, the federal government reached a settlement with one of them, MediMix Specialty Pharmacy of Jacksonville, Florida, and a top-referring physician, Dr. Ankit Desai, for more than $3.7 million. Under the deal, the parties resolved allegations that, from Jan. 1, 2009, until December 2014, Dr. Desai sent hundreds of prescriptions to MediMix. Desai was married to a vice president of MediMix. Health care providers are generally prohibited from referring business to entities where they have a financial interest, said a Florida news release announcing the settlement. Guillermo Contreras covers federal courts in San Antonio and international legal issues. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland Investigators scoured the shallow waters of Trinity Bay Sunday, trying to determine why a Boeing 767 cargo plane fell out of the sky the day before, killing three and leaving a trail of debris. Capt. Sean Archuleta of Houston, Capt. Ricky Blakely of Indiana and First Officer Conrad Jules Aska of Antigua were being mourned Sunday by friends and family on social media. Authorities have not confirmed the identities, but did say that all three on board died when Atlas Air flight 3591 crashed near Anahuac shortly before 12:45 p.m. Saturday. Two of the bodies have been recovered, authorities said Sunday. 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. Now Playing: Investigators scoured the shallow waters of Trinity Bay Sunday, trying to determine why a Boeing 767 cargo plane fell out of the sky the day before, killing three and leaving a trail of debris. Video: Chambers County Sheriff's Office Archuleta, 36, had been living in The Woodlands for a few years as a pilot for Mesa Airlines. He was a new father and had just landed his dream job at United Airlines, said Don Dalton, his roommate of three years. He was supposed to start next week and caught a ride in the jump seat of the cargo plane to return to Houston from Miami. "He got his dream, almost," Dalton said. "Now he'll never fly it ... that's the part that kills me." Archuleta's wife and children live in Colombia. Dalton was at the scene Sunday in case he was needed to identify Archuleta's body. He said Archuleta's wife had been contacted. "She's devastated," he said. "They just had their baby. I'm not an emotional guy, but this tore me up today. I lost a guy that I truly looked forward to opening the door and seeing. I miss the guy. I miss him already." The plane, contracted by Amazon Prime Air Fleet and operated by New York-based Atlas Air, was just minutes from arriving at Bush Intercontinental Airport when it crashed into shallow water. Parts disintegrated on impact, and the largest piece police have recovered is 50 feet long. "This is a sad day for the entire Mesa Family as we mourn the loss of Captain Sean Archuleta," said Jonathan Ornstein, chairman and chief executive officer of Mesa Airlines. "Our thoughts are with Sean's family, the families of the two Atlas Air pilots, and the whole Atlas Air organization. This is a loss for all of aviation." Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne described the scene as "total devastation" hours after the crash and urged witnesses and people who find debris to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI. A five-second clip of the plane nosediving into the water was captured on a security camera at the Chambers County jail. CHRON CATCH-UP: Don't miss out on what's happening in Houston. Sign up for the newsletter at HoustonChronicle.com. Real-time flight data published by FlightAware.com shows the aircraft departed Miami International Airport at 10:33 a.m. Central Time. At 12:38 p.m., the aircraft descended 11,750 feet in about 30 seconds. The Federal Aviation Administration lost radar and radio contact with the plane when it was about 30 miles southeast of Bush, the agency said. Some witnesses reported hearing the aircraft's engines sputtering, while others reported hearing a sound resembling a thunderclap, Hawthorne said. It crashed into the bay shortly before 12:45 p.m., according to the FAA. The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent federal agency that investigates civil aviation accidents, will handle the investigation. Investigators called the process ahead "painstaking" and estimated it would take over a year. There was no distress call or hazmat materials on the plane. Pieces of the wings and landing gear have been identified in the debris field, which spans 200 yards by 100 yards, authorities said. They are continuing to search for "perishable evidence" and the black box, which records flight data and voices in the cockpit. "We have to get those recorders," said Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. "We will stay here as long as it takes to get that." Black boxes emit ultrasonic "pings" to make them easier to find after a crash, but the muddy landscape could prevent the pingers from being heard. Sumwalt said that if that is the case, they may need to physically comb the landscape with scuba divers or even dredge the area. A storm band moved through the Houston area at the time of the crash, though heavy rain is nothing new for pilots approaching Bush Intercontinental. Air traffic controllers warned the pilots of the rain, which was significant in spots. In some of the last communication between the plane and the ground, one of the pilots says he will aim west of the heaviest rain. Controllers warn him of departing planes headed that way. "Oh, OK, then we'll go on the east side, just go ahead and direct us," one of the pilots says. After some back and forth among the controllers, one last transmission comes from the plane's pilots, with one of them saying "OK." Moments later, air traffic controllers continue to hail the plane but receive no communications. They start hailing other planes in the area, asking if they can see anything in the area of the plane's location. It could take months to unravel why the plane nose-dived into the bay, officials said. "We urge everyone to not become involved in speculation or rushes to judgment," Capt. David Bourne, Teamsters airline division director said in a statement. "We are very fortunate to have the experts from the FAA, NTSB, FBI and so many other organizations that will; in due time, determine the cause of this accident." The Boeing 767 is a large twin-engine jet airliner used to transport cargo or up to 280 passengers. They are a workhorse of American aviation with more than 1,000 in service, nearly 600 of which are the third-generation extended-range version that crashed into Trinity Bay. The aircraft that crashed Saturday was built in 1992 and was converted to a cargo plane in recent years, FAA records show. Boeing 767s have been involved in six fatal crashes since its debut in 1981, according to research compiled by the Flight Safety Foundation. The vast majority of fatalities have been related to terrorism, notably the two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Other incidents have been related to pilot error, such as 2002 Air China Flight that crashed into a hillside in South Korea during a storm. A handful of times, the GE engines the same as the ones on the Atlas Air plane burst apart, spraying debris. In a 2016 incident, an engine on an American Airlines plane leaving Chicago's O'Hare Airport burst apart in a fiery incident that led the pilots to quickly abort takeoff. The "uncontained failure" of the engine, as it is was determined by the NTSB, sent parts of the engine more than half-mile from runway. Following the Chicago crash, General Electric urged airlines to inspect the turbine discs the blades the convert the engine's combustion into thrust, similar to a windmill on both the high and low pressure turbines inside the engines. In August, the FAA required inspections using ultrasound equipment to detect cracks in the turbine discs. Witnesses Saturday told television stations they heard a thunderclap or sonic boom sound around the time of plane's plunge into the bay. In the 2016 Chicago incident, those on the plane said the engine burst apart with a loud bang. The pilot, in his testimony to the NTSB, likened it to hitting a pothole at 115 mph. A 767 operated by Air New Zealand that had just departed Brisbane lost its left engine in a similar incident in December 2002. The pilots were able to turn that plane at about 10,000 feet and make an emergency landing back at the airport. No one was seriously injured in the two incidents. The 767 is capable of flying with only one of its two engines. Reporters Dug Begley and Andrea Leinfelder contributed to this report. rebecca.schuetz@chron.com; twitter.com/raschuetz Sarah Hirsch was teaching a second-period art class at Manvel High School in November when she felt as if the room was spinning. It was unnerving enough that she went to the school nurses office to lie down and soon felt better. But when she stood, the dizziness came back. The cause of Hirschs symptom was never determined, but the doctor who saw her the next day quickly discovered fluid in her ears, a common cause of dizziness that usually requires no immediate treatment. Yet, by the time she left the Montrose Emergency Center, a free-standing emergency room, Hirsch had accumulated more than $15,000 in charges that included two CAT scans, an electrocardiogram, two urine tests, blood work, and an IV of saline solution to prevent dehydration even though she was told she was not dehydrated. She now owes $13,794.49 because insurance covered less than 10 percent of the charges since it was out-of-network. Hirschs staggering bill raises many familiar and troubling questions about medical care and costs, including the proliferation of excess tests and procedures, the uncertainty of insurance coverage and the responsibilities of providers to clearly disclose network affiliations and potential charges faced by patients. It also highlights a twist in the impenetrable maze of medical billing in the United States, one that patients rarely know about, much less how to fight back. About one-fourth, or $3,500 of Hirschs nearly $14,000 bill was the facility fee, an overhead charge imposed by emergency rooms and hospitals for just walking in the door. Attached to the fee was a five-digit code, used in billing to describe the severity of the condition and scope of treatment. Those codes can spell the difference between paying a few hundred dollars or many thousands on top of bills for doctors and treatment. Montrose Emergency Center, part of the SignatureCare chain of free-standing emergency rooms, rated Hirschs visit at the highest level of severity, typical of life-threatening conditions. She was never given a diagnosis or explanation for the extensive testing. She got a potassium tablet and some motion-sickness medicine and told to go home and rest. This is a total scam, said Hirsch, who has challenged the charges and is awaiting a decision from her insurer. If I felt like my life was threatened I would have gone to a hospital. I thought I was going to urgent care. I guess they figured weve got all of these toys, lets use them. Ending in 5 Dr. R. Joe Ybarra, the legislative liaison for SignatureCare, said he did not find the tests ordered or coding unusual. In emergencies, he said, we have to think of all possibilities. In the coding used to determine facility fees, its the last number that matters. The higher the number, the higher the charges. In Texas, the average facility price allowed by insurers for a low to moderately severe condition a 99282 code was $436 in 2016, according to Health Care Cost Institute, a research group that examined 1.4 million insured trips to Texas emergency rooms. It more than triples to an average of $1,411 if the visit was coded a 99285, the highest level. Texas has the highest average cost of level 5 facility fees in the nation. On HoustonChronicle.com: Despite law to force clarity, confusion over free-standing ERs persist These days, higher severity codes are appearing more frequently, according to internal insurance claims data and a review of dozens of patient bills by the Houston Chronicle. That, in turn, can lead to significantly higher prices billed to insurers, which ultimately, can get passed to unsuspecting patients. An analysis of claims by UnitedHealthCare, the nations largest health insurer, found the use of the two highest facility fee codes rose 50 percent in the past decade, translating into a $1.5 billion increase in the countrys overall health care costs, said Tracey Lempner, a spokeswoman for the insurer. Similarly, the Health Care Cost Institute, which gathers its data from insurers, found the amount spent for emergency room visits nearly doubled between 2009 and 2016. Prices rose across severity codes, but climbed fastest in the highest designations, said John Hargraves, a researcher at Health Care Cost Institute. In Texas, the increase of high severity codes mostly came from free-standing emergency rooms, analysts said. The phenomenon of fully-equipped emergency rooms often tucked into retail centers got its start in Houston about a decade ago. Between 2015 and 2017, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, the states largest insurer, had a 49.9 percent jump in the use of the two highest severity codes at free-standing emergency rooms, said Dr. Robert Morrow, president of the insurers Houston and Southeast Texas office. The emergency medicine industry, however, says the statistics are misleading. They argue that any increase in higher severity codes is a result of people arriving sicker and in need high-level treatment, sometimes after delaying care because of high-deductible insurance plans. Those with less serious ailments or injuries go elsewhere, such as urgent care clinics or their doctors offices, say free-standing industry officials. You can only code what is in the chart, said Rhonda Sandel, CEO of Texas Emergency Care Centers, a network of four free-standing emergency rooms in the state and a board member of the industrys trade association. She rejected any suggestion of over-treatment or manipulation of the codes for higher reimbursement, a practice known as up-coding. Sometimes life-threatening conditions masquerade as something common. In one case, she said, a sore throat turned out to be a peritonsilar abscess that required emergency surgery. The number of emergency room visits, however, is essentially unchanged. If patients were now seeking emergency care only for serious conditions, the number of visits would drop, analysts said. Since the population of insured people is not changing, said Hargraves, the researcher for HCCI, the only logical explanation is a change in how things are being coded. The free-standing emergency industry responds that more aging, sicker patients who need higher level care have offset the decline in lower-coded visits. Jack Hoadley, research professor emeritus at Georgetown Universitys Health Policy Institute, said it can be tricky to prove up-coding because of the discretion built into the system. The final determination of a facility fee code is based, in part, on the treating physicians documentation in the medical chart. No one wants to second-guess doctors or risk under-treating patients, he said, but a fine line runs between being thorough and trying to squeeze the highest level of severity out of a situation. Wonders of Super Glue In January 2018, Richard Kelley tried to step over his sprawled Labrador retriever just as the dog stood up. The Tomball construction manager went tumbling into the corner of a granite countertop, opening a cut to his temple. Kelley, 63, was in pain and bleeding, but not hurt badly. He applied some do-it-yourself doctoring to the wound and closed it with Super Glue. He wasnt disoriented and did not feel nauseous. Still, his wife, Maxine, was worried about infection. Two days later, Kelley agreed to have the cut checked. He couldnt get an appointment with his doctor, so he tried the Memorial Hermann Convenient Care Center nearby. He didnt know anything about it, but the receptionist promised no waiting. On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas allows Blue Cross Blue Shield to deny payments for some out-of-network ER visits A few minutes later, the doctor felt along Kelleys eye socket and cheekbone and declared nothing broken. He asked Kelley about concussion warning signs. Richard, I dont think stitches are going to help you any, Kelley said the doctor told him. The nurse applied a few Steri-strips across the cut and Kelley was done. The whole deal, from walking in to walking out, took about 20 minutes, he said. In March, the couple got a bill from Memorial Hermann. They owed $1,188.75 for the facility fee described as emergency care. The charge was later reduced by $361, leaving a balance of $827.37 because the deductible had not been met. He repeatedly requested an itemized bill but did not receive one. When he later asked, he was told the facility fee was coded a 3 for moderate severity. Coding guidelines suggest such a designation includes treatment for head injury without neurological symptom. Kelley calls that a stretch. It makes you wonder what they would call a 1 or 2, he said. I feel like Im subsidizing their overhead. Memorial Hermann declined to comment of Kelleys case, citing privacy, but said in a statement, Memorial Hermann makes every effort to correctly code visit levels and strives to ensure its billing practices are fair, equitable and accurate. Cracking down Ken Janda, CEO of Houston insurer Community Health Choice, said facility claims coded moderate to severe jumped nearly 25 percent between 2015 and 2017. The easiest thing for insurance companies would be to just pay those claims, Janda said, but that would mean premiums go up for all of us. Many health plans are heightening scrutiny on emergency room claims, Janda said, raising the temperature in the long-running fight between insurers and providers over reimbursement. The emergency medicine industry has pushed back hard, accusing insurers of denying claims capriciously and trying to undercut doctors. Insurance companies are systematically denying emergency room visits where any reasonable person would agree (the treatment decisions) are medically necessary, said Dr. Derek Guillory, medical director of The Emergency Clinic La Vernia, about 25 miles from San Antonio. They win when they sit on the money. Others in the industry say insurers are increasingly and unfairly denying facility reimbursements. Last month, the Texas Association of Freestanding Emergency Centers bought a double-page ad in the Houston Chronicle that accused insurers of steering patients away from the emergency care they need. Patients, meanwhile, dont know at whom to be mad. They only know they are getting socked. Too late What Philip McCraw needed was a tetanus shot after poking himself in the arm with a rusty nail while doing yard work last summer. What he got was a bill for nearly $1,900. The San Antonio teacher didnt have a regular doctor. He thought about going to the Mission Trail Baptist Hospital emergency room, but he figured the wait would be too long and expensive for something so minor. He called a walk-in place called Baptist Emergency Hospital and was told to come in. On HoustonChronicle.com: Patients squeezed in feud between doctors and insurance companies He said the first words out of his mouth were: Can you check my insurance to see what my coverage is? He had Aetna. The woman at the front desk said it was against policy to provide such information before treatment, he said. He asked someone else who also would not confirm coverage. Only after he went into a treatment room was he told he owed a $200 co-pay for emergency room services. McCraw, incredulous, said he wanted to refuse service and leave. OK, he said he was told, but were going to charge you anyway because you came back. Right then I knew I was in a pickle, he said. A physicians assistant glanced briefly at the wound. He got his shot, a prescription for an antibiotic, and left. The bill for the vaccine was $63.70 and another $97.99 to have it administered. The facility fee was $1,706.19 and coded a level 3. The thing that gets me is I told them why I was there, said McCraw. Why didnt they explain from the beginning that this wasnt the best place for me to go? The facility is part of the Baptist Health System, which has a partnership with of Emerus Holdings, a private developer of micro-hospitals with locations in Texas and other states. The owner of the facility, Emerus, is transparent about the fact that the facilities we manage are hospital-based emergency departments, and services are billed accordingly, Baptist said in a statement. It added a puncture wound requiring a vaccination and antibiotic therapy will generally be coded a level 3 charge, at a minimum. As for McCraw, he only found out later that a tetanus shot at Walgreens with insurance would have cost him nothing. jenny.deam@chron.com twitter.com/jenny_deam UPDATE: The Pound Sterling New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate ranged through early Monday before spiking sharply amid reports Prime Minister Theresa May could be on the verge of seeking an extension to the Brexit deadline and possibly ruling out a no-deal scenario. The GBP will likely remain Brexit-centric with the only release on the schedule being the Bank of Englands (BoE) inflation report hearings in which BoE Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will testify before the treasury select committee on the UKs economic and inflation outlook. For the NZD, the latest trade balance figures are expected later in the session (2145 GMT) with a forecast of -300M indicative of a widening deficit. UPDATE: After opening on a bearish gap, the Pound Sterling New Zealand Dollar (GBPNZD) exchange rates were last seen trading at NZ$1.90386, down 0.11% and facing resistance at NZ$1.905. For the Pound Sterling, currency crosses remain Brexit-driven. Following a weekend in which some of the PMs closest advisers threatened to vote against her should she continue to delay Brexit proceedings the PM is expected to announce a delay to the meaningful vote until March 12th, with this weeks indicative vote (Wednesday) unlikely to yield any significant changes to the governments plans. There is however, a growing expectation that MPs or even the government itself could push for an article 50 extension as the clock runs down to the March 29th deadline. For the NZD, its commodity-coupled nature makes it a likely candidate for support in the wake of positive US-China trade-talk news flow with president Trump announcing an extension to the ceasefire as a deal looks to be close to completion. Pound (GBP) Exchange Rates Struggle as Brexit Breakthrough Fails to Manifest The Pound New Zealand (GBP/NZD) exchange rate fluctuated this week on a mixture of Brexit news and US-China trade talk developments. GBP/NZD weakened on Friday as the UK was wracked by political upheaval within the House of Commons. But it could be a different story next week. The beginning of the week saw Sterling traders feeling hopeful over Brexit, following Prime Minister Theresa May writing to all 317 Conservative MPs on Sunday in a bid to gain support for her withdrawal agreement. Tuesday, however, left the Pound static as UK wage growth data failed to show the expected increase in average earnings. Wednesday was the focus of the week, with May heading to Brussels to renegotiate the Northern Irish backstop and other aspects of the Brexit deal with the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker. Many GBP traders remained cautious, however, as Juncker had previously stated that he didnt expect a breakthrough. Thursday, meanwhile, saw the Pound fluctuate as traders absorbed the news of the previous days debates, which sent out mixed-signals, with May indicating progress but with no signs of any significant developments. UK public finances for February hit a record monthly surplus on strong income tax receipts, but GBP gains were capped as Jean-Claude Juncker commented that he had lost optimism in the British Parliament. 2 senior Conservative MPs then put pressure on May by threatening to leave the party if she failed to remove a no-deal Brexit from the table. Friday also saw confidence slip in Sterling as the Brexit stalemate continued, and with further divides appearing within the Commons as the ninth Labour MP resigned. With a vote in Parliament scheduled for next week, this heightened fears that factions within both parties could jeopardise a consensus on Mays Brexit deal. However, some Sterling traders remained hopeful, as MPs were increasingly rallying for a no-deal Brexit to be abandoned. New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Exchange Rates Remain Volatile on US-China Trade Talks The New Zealand Dollar (NZD), meanwhile, began the week on a negative note, as New Zealands largest trading partner, China, was hit by poor year-on-year Chinese vehicle sales figures for January, which came in at -15.8% - its biggest monthly drop since 2012. Risk-averse Kiwi traders, however, were focusing on US-China trade talks which began in Washington. These had been exacerbated, however, by tensions between New Zealand and China after Chinese tourists were reportedly being discouraged to travel to New Zealand, while exporters were struggling to clear customs. NZD began to struggle on Tuesday following the release of New Zealands GDP price index figures, which decreased to 0.9%. PPI input figures for the fourth-quarter, however, increased above expectation. Concerns over US-China trade talks were eased on Wednesday as US President Donald Trump said that he may not increase tariffs on Chinese imports on 1 March the end of the trade truce between the two superpowers. Thursday saw hopes increase on a possible consensus between the US and China, following reports that the negotiations were progressing positively ahead of the truce deadline. Meanwhile, on Friday New Zealands credit card spending leapt up 6.9% against the previous 4.5%, but this failed to benefit the NZD/GBP exchange rate as the Kiwi suffered from a lack of global risk appetite. NZD closed the week diminished as fears over of the future direction of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) haunted markets. GBP/NZD Exchange Rate Forecast: Pound Could Rise if threat of No-Deal Brexit is Removed Looking ahead to next week, NZD traders will be awaiting New Zealands retail sales figures for the forth-quarter, and any signs of an increase could provide some uplift for the Kiwi. With no significant data releases for the pairing on Monday, traders will be looking to domestic political developments, with Brexit in focus for the UK, while any signs of a consensus between the US and China would buoy confidence in NZD. Meanwhile, any signs of a possible breaking of the Brexit deadlock, or the possibility of an extension of Article 50, would prove Pound-positive. Wednesday will see a UK parliamentary vote on Brexit, and this could benefit the Pound if a no-deal Brexit is removed from the table. Kiwi traders will also be paying close attention to the Chinese manufacturing PMI figures for February on Friday. Mustafa Sentop elected Turkeys new parliament speaker Sentop receives 336 votes in third round of voting at Grand National Assembly Turkish parliament on Sunday elected ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party's lawmaker Mustafa Sentop as its new speaker. Sentop, a lawmaker from northwestern Tekirdag province, received 336 votes in the third round of voting by the Grand National Assembly of 600 seats. In the third round of voting, a minimum of 301 votes were needed to win the election. The opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) supported Sentop in the election. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate Engin Altay got 124 votes, while Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) candidate Serpil Kemalbay Pekgozegu bagged 46 votes. Good (IYI) Party's candidate Imam Huseyin Filiz received 33 votes. A total of 542 lawmakers cast votes, while tree votes were declared invalid. The AK Party holds 291 seats in parliament, while the CHP has 142 seats, HDP 65 seats, the MHP 49, IYI Party 39, Felicity (Saadet) Party 2, Turkish Workers Party 2, Democrat Party (DP) 1, and Grand Unity Party (BBP) 1, and independent 3. Sentop, 51, was born in northwestern Tekirday province. He earned a bachelor degree at the Istanbul University Faculty of Law and obtained Master and Doctorate degrees from Istanbul's Marmara University. Sentop had been serving as deputy speaker of the parliament since June 24, 2018 general elections. Erdogan: Will not meet Sisi until inmates are released Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls for release of prisoners in Egypt days after 9 people were executed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will never meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi unless the latter releases prisoners. "I WILL NEVER MEET WITH SUCH A PERSON" I will never meet with such a person. First of all, he [al-Sisi] needs to release all prisoners with a general amnesty. As long as he does not release those people, we cannot meet with al-Sisi, Erdogan said in a televised interview on late Saturday. The Turkish president said that there was an authoritarian, totalitarian regime in Egypt. I am responding to those who are asking me why I am not meeting with al-Sisi, he added. Erdogan asked: Why our relations with Egypt were cut? Or why we, as high-level leaders, are not talking? "THIS SHOULD BE CHECKED ON" Noting that he likes to speak clearly, Erdogan said that people who claimed that they are against coup plotters are greeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi --who ousted Mohammed Morsi -- on red carpets and did not take up a position against al-Sisi. These countries were behind the July 15 coup attempt. Morsi received 52 percent of the votes, and he was ousted, he said. Those who are in contact with al-Sisi should know this that they will be evaluated in the history in a different way, he added. Erdogan described the people of Egypt as "our dearest friends" and underlined that al-Sisi will never be. At the moment, Morsi is still in prison along with his friends. For years, I have always said that al Sisi is a coup plotter [...] Unfortunately, the Western countries are still determined to support coup plotters, he said. This is a crime against humanity, Erdogan said, adding: When you look at the figures, at least 42 people were executed since Al-Sisi took power and lately nine young people were executed. The Turkish president said that the exactions were unacceptable for his country. The Amnesty International called for stopping executions. But did they get any result? They did not, he added. EGYPT'S EXECUTIONS Nine young people were executed. Where is the West? Do you hear the voice of the West? Erdogan questioned. Erdogan remarks came after the Egyptian authorities executed nine people on Wednesday for alleged involvement in the 2015 assassination of Attorney-General Hisham Barakat. Egypt was roiled by turmoil when the military deposed Mohamed Morsi, the country's first freely elected president, in a 2013 coup. WOODWARD, Okla. Woodward Livestock Auction owner/operator Jerry Nine has been around cattle most of his life. He grew up on a farm and ranch in Northwest Oklahoma, and he worked on farms and ranches in Seiling, Alva and Woodward. He started farming and ranching himself in his early 20s and began working at a local livestock auction before venturing into full-time cattle buying in 1979. In 2000, Nine purchased Woodward Livestock Auction and has been running the sale barn for more than 18 years. Building on Tradition 2019: All Northwest Oklahoma stories Building on Tradition is a special section that will publish in the Enid News & Eagle for eight Sundays in February, March and April 2019. I was raised on a farm and always loved cattle, always liked figuring out what was the best buy, he said. I was always interested in the sale barn. Even so, Nine said there was a time or two he talked himself out of buying Woodward Livestock Auction. I went to several other sales: Seiling, Fairview, Beaver and Dodge, but Woodward was home, as far as being there every week, Nine said. So, I bought the auction, bought cattle in the county and bought cattle off of farmers and ranchers. Today, Woodward Livestock Auction is one of the busiest sale barns in the area, with sales Tuesday and Thursday. It also is one of the largest sale barns in the country. Devastating fires Following wildfires in April 2017, Nine was able to help area cattlemen with several fundraisers to offset some of the estimated $26 million in losses to the industry. More than 348,000 acres burned, causing a wide variety of losses to livestock, pastures, hay, fences and facilities. Estimated cattle industry losses in Oklahoma included $16.4 million for fence replacement and repair; $1.4 million for livestock killed or destroyed as a result of the fire, plus veterinary costs and reduced value of surviving injured animals; $6.3 million for burned facilities and corrals; $1.6 million for emergency feed; and $660,000 for burned pasture and hay. The estimates are based in part on preliminary totals of some 1,600 head of cattle lost and more than 2,100 miles of fences affected. The totals do not include any estimates for vehicle and equipment losses or homes or other personal property destroyed in the fires. Dewey and Woodward counties were hit hardest by the fires, with Dewey County suffering the most. The Rhea fire in Dewey County burned more than estimated 286,000 acres, while the 34 Complex fire in Woodward County burned more than 62,000 acres. We collected about $120,000 one year and about $100,000 another year. Theyve been very generous digging in their pockets, Nine said. We distributed that to the farmers and ranchers that we got hurt the worst and that didnt have the means to pick it back up or didnt have the means to pick it up and get back going. The drought was bad, and then we had the fires. One problem after another. Love for the cattle He said the wildfires brought some of the toughest cattle raisers and ranchers to the brink of losing everything. The fires and that drought can be very devastating. Any time youve work hard to put a good set of cows together and you have to liquidate them, its more than the outside public would understand. A lot of ranchers have good liking for their herd, and it crushes them, Nine said. It was very devastating for some stout people who wouldnt crumble and wouldnt cry, but you could see some crumble, cry, when they had to go out there and shoot their cows. Theres love there for the cows, the cowherd, that some people wouldnt understand. Destructive storm Nine also surprised some in the area when he offered to help Oklahoma West Livestock Auction in El Reno after they were hit by a tornado. First, I thought we would give them half the commission. I said, Gods been good to us, and thats ridiculous, he said. Nine said he told them they could use his sale barn until their operation was back but then decided to have their sales together. He also gave them 100 percent of the commission from the sale. I had some other sales barn people say, I dont know why you did that. They have insurance. I said thats just what you do, Nine said. I just like helping people, and Im a sucker for the underdog. Its just the thing to do. Treat them right Nine said honesty is one of the things people can expect from his sale barn and is one of the most important aspects of the work he does. We run a very speedy auction. We work 100 percent with the seller, never abusing the buyer. Were working for the one thats paying the commission, he said. Were 100 percent honest. We wouldnt cheat anybody. I think people are starved for someone to treat them right. Not many owners stay from start to finish, and I never leave the auction ring. I do that, he said. I got two auctioneers that auction fast but will not cheat anybody. Honesty is the most important to me and getting the most for your cattle. WOODWARD, Okla. When it comes to bringing industry and investment to Northwest Oklahoma, being a wallflower wont do. The Northwest Oklahoma Alliance has plenty to say for the region, its resources and its people, chairwoman Melissa Washmon said, and they say it often. Building on Tradition 2019: All Northwest Oklahoma stories Building on Tradition is a special section that will publish in the Enid News & Eagle for eight Sundays in February, March and April 2019. The Alliance was formed in 2006 to market and promote 20 counties in Northwest Oklahoma and 300 members drawn from a variety of industries, including agriculture, oil and gas, wind and solar energy. We all pool our resources together and help promote what Northwest Oklahoma is all about, Washmon said. One of the organizations greatest accomplishments has been unifying the region, she said, as communication and cooperation were much less familiar concepts between the counties not so long ago. There was by no means a team atmosphere, Washmon said, which has changed since the formation of NwOA. Instead of competing against each other on everything from new business, to tax increases, to anything that could be positive for Northwest Oklahoma, we created an atmosphere where all our cities could join together. The Alliance meets quarterly and once a year at the Capitol to speak with legislators, always with the goal of promoting its home. This years legislative reception, March 25, will be attended by Gov. Kevin Stitt. We get up and talk about what Northwest Oklahoma does, what we have to offer and why were so important to the state as a whole, Washmon said. More leverage Business isnt the one and only concern of the Alliance, former chairman and current member Matt Gard said. Gard, the owner of Flying G Farms, helped form the Northwest Oklahoma Water Action Team, a subcommittee of the Alliance focused on conserving and maintaining healthy water in communities across the region. Lots of municipalities stepped in because they saw the dire need of working together, studying together, instead of doing things completely on their own, he said. Some of the challenges posed are drought, balancing water needs of industry and communities and high levels of nitrates in the water supply. When it comes to the water problems faced by Fairview in regard to nitrate levels, membership of the Alliance has proven helpful, he said. The city of Fairview is only 2,200 people, and so they dont have much of a voice, or much stroke, but with all these communities working together ... theres more sway, Gard said. A water action plan was established in 2015 to find solutions to nitrate issues in the region, which has pulled in experts in different fields to work together on the issue. Without organized, united voices representing Northwest Oklahoma, this help may never have come, Gard said. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. FAIRVIEW, Okla. A growing partnership between Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority, its member municipalities and Major County Economic Development Corp. is working to prevent and decrease response time to power outages. Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA) started its Line Crew Program in 2015 after five of OMPAs Northwest Oklahoma member municipalities reported having difficulty in acquiring qualified people to assist with maintenance of their electric distribution systems, said Jennifer Rogers, OMPA member services manager. Building on Tradition 2019: All Northwest Oklahoma stories Building on Tradition is a special section that will publish in the Enid News & Eagle for eight Sundays in February, March and April 2019. OMPA provides wholesale electricity to 42 towns and cities that own and operate their own electric distribution systems. Since the Line Crew Program was founded it has grown to 11 OMPA towns and cities in western and northwestern Oklahoma, all of which rely on the program to help with system maintenance and response to outages after storms and other disasters. The program found a central location in its service area through a partnership with Major County Economic Development Corp. (MCEDC) in 2016. Finding its home JaNae Barnard, MCEDC executive director, said the development corporation had started work on a spec building in 2015 at its industrial park in Fairview, with hopes of luring new industry to the county. OMPA moved into the new space in 2016 and bought the building from MCEDC in 2017, Barnard said. Since then, she said the partnership between MCEDC and OMPA just continues to grow. OMPA has purchased additional land from MCEDC to provide for future expansion, she said, and the building now serves as field office and service location for the Line Crew Program, serving all 11 communities enrolled in the program. Rogers said OMPA has stationed two bucket trucks, one digger derrick truck and a pickup there, with three linemen, one journeyman and two apprentices to run the program. Having those resources locally stationed has been beneficial for Fairview, Barnard said. Its a great resource, because when Fairview has a power outage of any kind, and services are needed, theyre right here, Barnard said, so theres a rapid response to get customers back online. She said the program also has been beneficial in bringing new jobs to Major County to staff the program. But, Barnard said, the program is beneficial for communities across the region and has been a really great project for Northwest Oklahoma and really all of western Oklahoma. A unique program In Northwest Oklahoma, Line Crew Program member communities include Waynoka, Laverne, Fort Supply, Goltry, Pond Creek, Fairview, Mooreland and Geary, according to OMPA information. The Line Crew Program is funded through quarterly payments from member cities and towns, as well as through funds OMPA formerly had used for substation inspection and maintenance, Rogers said. The crew also is available to non-OMPA cities on a contract basis, she said. David Osburn, OMPA general manager, said the Line Crew Program improves efficiency and response time through collaborative partnerships. The Line Crew Program is a very unique program, which demonstrates the benefits of collaboration and joint action among municipal electric systems, Osburn said. Joint action collaboration through OMPA allowed these municipalities to pool their resources together, helping them fill a need they otherwise wouldnt have been able to accomplish. The crew has proved invaluable during unplanned outages, especially during ice storms that have knocked out power to the western half of the state. In 2018, the program performed inspections and preventive maintenance in member communities, including replacing dilapidated poles in Waynoka, Geary, Fairview, Goltry and Okeene. The program also helped repair lightning damage to the power system in Okeene and assisted with construction of a substation in Purcell. For information on OMPAs Line Crew Program, contact Jennifer Rogers at jrogers@ompa.com. Enid, OK (73701) Today Generally cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 75F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then variable clouds overnight with more showers at times. Low 64F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020. Effingham, IL (62401) Today Partly cloudy with a slight chance of thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 86F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. . With all the emphasis currently focused on Eskoms financial and operational sustainability and future structure, the utilitys environmental performance and sustainability is inevitably neglected, and indeed has become the sacrificial lamb on the altar of the money gods. In October 2018, an analysis and study of Eskoms own air pollution monitoring reports, commissioned by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) and undertaken by Dr Ranajit (Ron) Sahu, a USA-based consultant in the field of environmental, mechanical and chemical engineering, revealed the sorry state of Eskoms atmospheric emissions with some 3200 exceedances of its atmospheric emission licence limits in a 21-month period. Dr, Ron Sahu and Robyn Hugo in a more pristine setting The analysis was presented in the form of a report to the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), provincial and municipal licensing authorities, and Eskom, and follows an earlier study of Eskoms annual emission reports conducted by Prof. Eugene Cairncross, emeritus professor of chemical engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. EE Publishers investigative editor Chris Yelland spoke to Dr Sahu, Prof. Cairncross and lawyer Robyn Hugo, head of the CERs pollution and climate change programme, to find out more about the issues. Q1: How were you able to get the monthly emission monitoring reports from Eskom? Did Eskom cooperate in making the reports and data available? Are you receiving the reports on an ongoing basis now? To obtain Eskoms monthly atmospheric emission reports, we had to resort to the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to enforce our right to access the information requested. Initially Eskom failed to provide the reports, despite us giving them numerous extensions of time to comply with the deadlines of our PAIA application. This was followed by an appeal from our side against Eskoms refusal to provide the information. It was only after Eskoms refusal was raised with the parliamentary portfolio committee on environmental affairs that Eskom finally provided the reports. Today, Eskom still requires us to use this very inefficient and slow PAIA process in order to access further records, including the atmospheric emission reports, on an ongoing basis. Q2: I notice from your analysis that there were notable omissions, inconsistencies and deficiencies in Eskoms emission monitoring reports, and the data contained therein. Please can you elaborate on the most important of these, and how did you deal with these deficiencies? Regarding omissions, some monthly reports were simply missing, while in some of the reports there was missing data. There was no plant operating or production data, and explanations were missing where the emissions data was unrealistically high. The reports for each power station had different formats, and there were major data inconsistencies. Some reports had both raw and final data, with many days missing one or another type. Others had no explanation of data type. Reports for some months had identical data to that of earlier months. The data was not presented in electronic format, for example in a spreadsheet, which inhibited proper analysis. In our analysis, we dealt with the data inconsistencies, deficiencies and omissions by simply not considering any questionable, duplicated or missing data. This means that the number of violations reported in our analysis is conservative, and would have been much higher if the full and correct data had been available. Q3: Certain monthly reports appear to be direct copies of earlier monthly reports. Does this indicate there may be some deliberate misrepresentation of results, and what does this say about the oversight of the reporting by Eskom and the environmental compliance authorities? I really cannot speculate as to intent, and I have no idea why the graphs were identical month after month at one power station, why there were missing monthly reports from many stations, or why there was missing data within some monthly reports. However, I would have expected that the people receiving the reports, both at Eskom and the regulatory authorities, would have actually reviewed them, identified the obvious data deficiencies, just as we did, and followed up with remedial actions. The fact that we received the reports in this deficient state indicates that there was indeed no adequate review, follow up and corrective action. It would appear that those receiving the reports at Eskom, the licensing authorities and the DEA are just filing them without really doing anything, which defeats the whole purpose of this reporting in the first place. Q4: From your broad experience as experts in the field of environmental, mechanical and chemical engineering, is the quality of the reports and data received from Eskom considered to be up to standard and acceptable for one of the major power generation utilities in the world? I would say unequivocally no. In the USA, for the last 20 years, every utility with a power plant more of more than 25 MW (and you know that Eskoms power plants are several thousands of MW each) has been reporting the heat input and MW output, and particulate matter (PM), NOx and SO 2 emissions, hourly. This is done electronically to a public database where anyone in the world can download the data in a user-friendly format, 45 days after the end of the previous quarter. China is reporting similar continuous emission monitoring data for several hundred large power plants. In this day and age, with the tools readily available, Eskom is simply nowhere near its peers in other countries. So if it has aspirations to be counted amongst the better members of its class, it has a long way to go. Q5: From your analysis, it would appear that in each of the areas of PM, SO 2 and NOx, the number of non-compliances at particular Eskom coal-fired power stations stand out like a sore thumb. For example, the number of PM non-compliances at Matimba are 200 times higher than at Kendal, while NOx non-compliances at Matla are 150 times higher than Majuba. Why are these variances so great, and what does this indicate? Additional operating data is required, and has been requested, to help identify the causes of these variances. It could be that some of the plants are not running as much as the others, or with lower capacity factors, or certain plant may have been off for some period of time. There may be differences in how the generation units and their pollution control equipment have been maintained. Perhaps management has not prioritised maintenance, nor focused on the mission of minimising pollution, while pushing production. Without having this production and operating data, it is hard to pin-point the differences that we see. To us, a review by a regulator should have prompted these types of questions to get answers from Eskom. At the very least, operating profiles would help resolve some of these variances. Q6: Has Eskom and the DEA been given adequate opportunity to review and respond to your analysis and findings, and if so, what has been their response? We reported our analysis and findings to the DEA, to the provincial and municipal licensing authorities and to Eskom at the end of October 2018. We had an initial response from the DG of the DEA, who said lets meet, compare notes and reflect on the trends. But since then, nothing, despite repeated meeting requests from our side, and despite many years of complaints against Eskom, including the submission of an earlier report that we submitted in October 2017. We also repeatedly reported the situation to the parliamentary portfolio committees on environmental affairs and health. But to date no meaningful action has been taken against Eskom in relation to its non-compliances with its air emission licences. Eskom does say it has some issues with the 2015 SO 2 limit imposed at Medupi and Matimba, because of the high sulphur content of the coal. Yet despite all the damning evidence in their own reports, in public, Eskom consistently maintains that it complies fully with its emission licences, and we have had no specific response at all from Eskom to this particular analysis. Q7: How stringent are South Africas minimum emission standards, particularly in relation to those of other developing countries? Would Eskoms coal-fired power stations be able to operate legally in any other countries of the world? South Africas minimum emission standards are not stringent, and this is a point we make in our study. Based on the exceedances that Eskom reports, as currently designed and with the pollution control equipment they currently have, Eskoms power plants would have a tough time meeting the air pollution standards in almost all other jurisdictions. This includes not just developed countries, but also developing countries. Take India for example. India is retrofitting flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) scrubbers on many of its coal-fired power plants. China is another example. So yes, without adding more air pollution control equipment, Eskoms coal-fired power stations could not meet the current Indian or Chinese standards. In fact, South Africas minimum emission standards are many times weaker than those of China, India and Indonesia. So it is not as though we are trying to hold Eskom to some impossibly difficult measure. Q8: From their failure to respond to your analyses, and the difficulties experienced in obtaining the Eskom reports and data in the first place, do you feel Eskom and the DEA are being adequately open and transparent about the thousands of emission non-compliances by Eskom? Clearly not. Eskom and the DEA are being the very opposite of open and transparent. We are talking here about violations of the constitutional rights to a healthy environment. Research shows that the burning of coal at Eskoms power stations is responsible for some 2200 premature deaths every year and thousands of cases of asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory illnesses, which cost the state and therefore the taxpayer about R33-billion each year. We know that air pollution from Eskom has significant health impacts, and to date we have had no response regarding these significant exceedances of its emission limits, and nothing is being done to address these really dire violations of human rights. So definitely, Eskom and the DEA are not being open and transparent. Q9: So what should the DEA and the relevant emission compliance authorities be doing about the thousands of flagrant breaches of the applicable daily emission limits detailed in Eskoms own reports? How serious are these offences? The law governing our minimum emission standards outlines what reporting Eskom should be doing; including that Eskom should report on its root-cause analyses, and should provide details of what will be done to avoid similar exceedances and violations of licence conditions in future. By setting out Eskoms responsibilities, the expectation would be that the regulatory authorities should at least look at the reports, follow-up on obvious omissions, discrepancies or inconsistencies to get explanations, and compare them to previous reports to establish trends. If the above were being done, and the root-causes identified and actioned, then over the 21-month period analysed there should have been a decrease in certain types of exceedances. The whole point of emissions reporting is not to bury the reports, but to act on them. However we can see no evidence of that. Regarding the seriousness of the violations, for example, just on PM emissions, Grootvleis exceedance were 15 times the emission limit at times, Kriels were six times the limit, and Duvha and Lethabo five times the limit. We are not talking about small exceedances here, about serious and often persistent violations. Quite apart from having a reporting process to understand when and why there are non-compliances, the DEA should be taking enforcement action against Eskom. These violations are criminal offences under the Air Quality Act. Upon conviction, Eskom and its directors could be liable for fines of R5-million and/or 5-year imprisonment per offence. An atmospheric emission licence does allows some leniency in relation to start-up, shut-down and so-called upset conditions. But of course the vast majority of exceedances are not related to start up, shut down or upset conditions, but qualify as offences for which the above penalties are applicable. Q10: What should Eskom be doing about this sorry state of affairs, and can Eskoms response be considered adequate in any way? About 18 months prior to this latest study, Prof. Cairncross did an earlier study the results of which we presented to both Eskom and the regulatory authorities. Because of the poor quality of data we received from Eskom, we could only infer that seven out of twelve of Eskoms power stations were probably exceeding their limits. This second analysis, which been done with more detailed information from daily emission data in the monthly reports received as a result of our PAIA request, should therefore come as no surprise to Eskom or authorities. It is clear that Eskom needs to start taking the reports from its own power stations seriously. It should be reviewing the reports, not just from a quality standpoint to make sure the data is complete and accurate, but also to take decisions and remedial action. Eskom needs to do the required root-cause analyses, provide explanations and fix the problems that they are currently simply denying. Somehow the messages from within its incomplete and inconsistent data and reports are just not getting through. The decommissioning of coal-fired power plants that will clearly never comply with the already weak minimum emission standards in South Africa should be accelerated in a way that allows a just transition that protects coal workers, their families and the surrounding communities. Whatever happens in a future unbundled and restructured Eskom, these non-compliances cannot be allowed to continue at the expense of human health and environmental rights. The current crisis at Eskom provides a unique opportunity for a new electricity supply industry, one that generates power at least-cost and in a way that doesnt poison our people and communities. Q11: What can civil society do about this, and are any strong legal or other actions actually happening or being contemplated? In the first instance, we look to regulators to protect South Africans from industrial pollution. This is their constitutional obligation and their statutory mandate. Air pollution is the worlds largest environmental health risk, and the air quality in various parts of South Africa, including the Highveld Priority Area, where twelve of Eskom fifteen coal-fired power stations are located, is extremely poor. Court applications are currently being drafted to address various air quality governance failures. Amongst the relief we seek will be a declaration that the air quality in the affected areas breaches peoples Section 24 constitutional rights. We will also be seeking an order to set aside the doubling of the SO 2 minimum emission standards by the DEA without following the legally-prescribed due process. Civil society is already doing the work of the regulators in analysing Eskoms emission reports. If the regulators were doing their job and following up with even a minimum of due diligence, these types of independent analyses would not be necessary. These flagrant breaches of the countrys air quality laws are completely unacceptable. If no action is taken against Eskom, we may have no option but to consider direct legal action to deal with this criminal non-compliance. Note: See here for Eskoms full response to the analysis by Dr Ron Sahu and the above questions. Send your comments to energize@ee.co.za Related Articles Recently bill HB118 was passed to allow undocumented immigrants to qualify for legislative scholarships. When an amendment was offered to prioritize Maryland citizens over illegal immigrants for those scholarships, what did Bagnall do? She refused to represent the best interests of her constituents and was not present for the vote. Was she intentionally absent so she would not have to go on the record and take a position? Nacogdoches, TX (75965) Today Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 90F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 72F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. By Peter Hart Pennsylvania is home to more than 10,000 fracking wells, which forces communities to live with air pollution, water contamination and an array of health problems linked to drilling. The frackers want to drill more wells, and the state's Democratic governor is not going to do anything to slow it down. But local communities are finding ways to fight backand win. The latest good news comes from Oakmont Borough, a small suburb of Pittsburgh along the Allegheny River. Residents there have waged a years-long battle against the fracking industry, which has been making a determined push into Allegheny County. Fracking is a Desperate Industry Looking for New Profits Here's why these companies are so eager to drill more wells: The fracking industry has problems turning a profit. The only way out for these financially stretched corporations is to double downand that means moving to areas of the state that aren't as heavily fracked as some parts of western Pennsylvania. Residents in Allegheny County have seen the havoc that fracking has created elsewhere, and they are determined to fight to keep it away from their schools and homes. Their tool of choice has been municipal zoning codes. Putting Fracking Under Local Control Every city or municipality creates a set of rules about what you can build, and where you can build it. Unfortunately, drilling companies often take advantage of the fact that many towns have not developed zoning ordinances that regulate fracking, or have outdated ordinances that do not address the issues facing their municipalities today. But if residents and local leaders get organized, they can put serious limits on the fracking industry before a well is approved. That's what Food & Water Watch's Municipal Ordinance Project (MOP) is set up to do. We know that local officials in Allegheny County are the ones who should make the decisions about how to protect their own communities, and that safety and environmental concerns are front and center. Oakmont Stands Up to Surveyors Here's how it worked in Oakmont. In June 2017, a fracking company called Huntley & Huntley notified the borough that they were about to start 'seismic testing,' a process that involves setting off explosive charges in deep holes to measure the seismic waves, which can help indicate where gas may be trapped. Oakmont residents didn't like the sound of that, and we worked together to pass an ordinance to regulate this intrusive process. Soon after, Huntley & Huntley reversed course, and announced that they weren't going to conduct the surveys as planned. But they weren't going awayand resident groups like Citizens to Protect Oakmont were ready to go bigger. They started meeting that summer to craft an updated zoning ordinance that would offer some protection from drilling. By December, they offered a list of suggestions, including a 2,000-foot setback from residential property lines and the removal of fracking from the Light Industrial district of the borough. The Borough Council, however, considered a weaker set of rules, which could have opened up residential areas to fracking. Local residents weren't having it; they were a force to be reckoned with at Council meetings, and in the end their tireless advocacy paid off: In February, the Council voted in support of the new ordinance. What This Victory MeansHere and Elsewhere This win is a testament to what is possible when neighbors come together to fight to protect their community. The fracking industry is desperate to find new places to drilling. If we want to stop them, we have get organized before the fracking starts." Local leader Ed Grystar said it best: "The vote to approve Oakmont's Oil and Gas zoning ordinance is an example of the power of ordinary citizens organizing to protect the health and safety of their town. From the beginning in May 2017, we worked to change the narrative of what's acceptable by educating and mobilizing our neighbors."Residents in other parts of Pennsylvania are ready to follow Oakmont's lead. The only reason Trump-enthralled wannabe terrorists havent committed unprecedented acts of violence so far is because theyre bad at terror. This week we learned that for the second time America was spared from a massive attack by a Trump-enthralled wannabe domestic terrorist. Trump, who tweets responses to even rumors of terror attacks in London in minutes, waited two full days before making a statement on the plot that specifically targeted numerous journalists and politicians, all perceived adversaries of Donald Trump. I think its a shame, he said, in the Oval Office. I think its a very sad thing when a thing like that happens. Ive expressed that. A man who can summon sudden sound and fury for a black director winning his first Oscar somehow remains demure and sympathetic when addressing a wannabe terrorist when the wannabe terrorist is white nationalist who was planning a civil war if trump impeached. Trumps spokesperson followed up by insisting that Trump has never encouraged violence against journalists. This is a lie. And its a lie that sends a dangerous message: the belief that Trump and, by the transitive property, his fans can get away with things weve seen with our own eyes. Trump literally applauded a Republican who attacked a journalist. His dozens of tweets calling the press his enemy continue even after a newsroom was shot up and the Trump fan with the Trumpiest van literally sent bombs to dozens of Trump targets, including CNN. And Trumps rage at the press is never as contained as it was for the Coast Guard lieutenant who wanted to kill everyone. For years now, weve been told that Trumps fans take him seriously but not literally. And the point of this Talmudic assertion is that his fans know how to grok the secret messages they are being sent. Trump followers get that even though they scream that Mexico is going to pay for the wall, Americans in need of emergency services may get stuck with the bill. They get that he contradicts himself, often in the same sentence, and hires undocumented immigrants while smearing undocumented immigrants as criminals. They get it because they see in him someone who understands their anger and directs against the people they despise the most. The dont need to believe his words because they believe his racism and his belief in reinforcing a conservative order where white straight conservative Christian men, and the doting subordinates who serve them, dominate without question. Trump is a human dog whistle. This silent but clear messaging nurtures a belief is so strong that its developed a violent subculture. These delusional misfits cling to a bloodthirsty yet self-refuting conspiracy that imagines all their perceived will be thrown in jail then executed for their participation in an international child trafficking ring that only Donald Trump would dare go after. They believe this, despite Trumps fondness for walking in on contestants in the teen beauty pageant he ran. They believe this, though we found out this week that Trumps good friend was spared the full consequences of his sex crimes, which seems to include raping dozens of under-aged girls, thanks to a deal made by Trumps Secretary of Labor. Trump knows his followers love reading through his messages. The contradictions and winks heighten the sense that hes speaking to them and remains supportive of anything they can do to help him. But even if he hadnt literally winked at David Duke and the Nazis who marched in Charlottesville, they would get he was on their side by the way hes normalized their deranged smears of immigrants and made persecution of brown people official policy. Thats why hate groups are multiplying. After 11 people were murdered in a synagogue, Trump epitomized his dog whistle approval of hate and the violence it inspires. He went to Pittsburgh to join the mourners, but he kept on echoing the antisemitic tropes about Soros funding the refugee caravan that at the very least rhymed with the motivation the killer cited for targeting the Tree of Life congregation. Trump knows he cant explicitly call for violence just as he cant use actual racial slurs. But he also knows that his mixed messages send a clear message to his fans. And that message is that violence may be necessary, so stay tuned. Where are the best places to shop? Who gives the best haircut? Who cooks the best burger? Join our readers in selecting the "Best of Windham." Make your picks! The School of Business & Humanities at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) has launched its Entrepreneurial Lecture Series 2018/19. The lecture series forms an important part of DkIT's continued strategy to introduce students from all backgrounds to enterprise learning environments, to help nurture desirable graduate attributes such as creativity, critical thinking, teamwork and entrepreneurship. Speaking of this years series, Angela Hamouda, DkIT lecturer in Entrepreneurship, Creativity & Innovation, commented: Leading on from the success of last years series, we are delighted to welcome a vibrant programme of speakers from a variety of backgrounds and wide-ranging topics within the entrepreneurship field. I am confident that our students will be inspired and learn from these shared experiences as they plan and consider their future careers. Launching the lecture series, practitioner and academic, Simon Bridge, joined DkIT lecturers and students on Thursday 18th October, presenting the subject of The Changing Views of Entrepreneurship and Implications for policy and practice. Attended by Masters Level students who are completing the MBS in Entrepreneurship and Marketing course at DkIT, the lecture inspired students to question the fit between enterprise policy and practice today, with Simon speaking about the way in which we need to adjust our mind-set in order to adapt to the current changing structure of society. The series continued with a lecture from Eric Clinton, Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at DCU Business School and Director of the DCU Centre for Family Business. Eric spoke to students about Entrepreneurship in Multi-Generational Family Firms: How family businesses have embraced entrepreneurship and innovation across multiple generations. The talk was attended by students from an array of disciplines ranging from 1st year to Masters level students. Chris Gordon, CEO of the Irish Social Enterprise Network and BCorp Ireland was the third guest welcomed to the DkIT campus, on 14th November, delivering his lecture on Social Enterprise to students from an array of disciplines and year groups (first year through to masters level). Speaking after the lecture Chris noted: In todays rapidly changing workplace, young people need to be able to adapt and respond quickly to change. Core skills such as communication, project management and leadership are more important than ever before to enable them to navigate effectively. Research shows a growing trend among young people today to work for organisations that are socially responsible. It is therefore important that students carefully consider career opportunities in working for profit-seeking enterprises that deliver positive social impact. Closing the winter semester at DkIT, students were visited by Professor Tom Cooney on 29th November. Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director of the Centre of Minority Entrepreneurship at DIT, Prof. Cooney delivered his lecture to students in the School of Business and Humanities on 'Offering Disadvantaged Communities Career Options Through Entrepreneurship'. The lecture yet again followed with its predecessors in enticing a lively Q&A session afterwards with students from across disciplines discussing the need for inclusion, support and a breakdown of barriers for the relevant target groups. Speaking about the lecture series, DkIT lecturer, Angela Hamouda, commented on why it is important to organise activities like these for students to take part in: These type of activities allows students to interact with individuals both academic and industry orientated from outside the institute, as it is important to expose students to external forces. Additionally, students get the chance to engage in lively Q&A sessions with guests and peers, which also involved some representatives from targeted groups relating to each lecture." Students and lecturers from across the School of Business and Humanities are looking forward to the continuation of the series in January 2019, when DkIT will welcome more diverse and though provoking speakers from across the region. House Bill 740 would outlaw the possession, creation and sale of homemade, 3D-printed guns and other firearms made after 1968 that dont have a federally issued serial number. Federal law prohibits the manufacture of weapons that are undetectable. Supporters of this bill hope it will head off a public safety risk in the state, setting laws in place to prevent an explosion of 3D-printed weapons. Opponents say it is legislation in search of a problem as 3D-printed guns arent used in crimes and can be more expensive than guns purchased from stores or on the street. You probably know how this one goes already, but here you go anyway: after considerable planning and public consultation - including submission opportunities and access to the proposed plans - work gets underway on a much-needed regeneration of a major street in a town's centre. Traffic impositions are forewarned with diversions announced and put in place as work starts. Now give it a minute.... and... cue outrage on social media from locals bemoaning the unacceptable level of disruption and the general state of the ongoing works (which are still in progress, and therefore nowhere near finished yet). Welcome to Ireland and Dundalk 2019 folks. Where everyone has an opinion, but not always an fully informed one. The ongoing construction work on Clanbrassil Street is undoubtedly a major inconvenience - that much we can all agree on. But it was always going to be so. The one-way system, in place for the duration of the works, was perhaps the only viable way of maintaining some level of vehicular passage through the town's main thoroughfare. The current view of the construction work shows that the new footpaths, certainly on the post office side of the street, would appear much wider than before. Isn't this a good thing? Surely the opportunity to have more actual people on the street can only be a good thing? Wider footpaths are a neat way of introducing a level of pedestrianisation without going the whole hog and banning cars from Clanbrassil Street entirely. Looking at the current work, you can see that the wider footpaths lend much-needed width and breadth to the street. One can imagine more footfall and activity in the area once completed. You'll not feel like you're being corralled along squeezed passageways as you go about the shops. Sure, the road itself will be narrower upon completion, but what loss? For many years, despite its width, it has become a regular feature to see cars double-parked along the sides of the street - quite clearly impeding progress for others drivers. That won't be a issue any longer, because there simply won't be the opportunity to do so. Online commentary has been predominantly negative over the past week. There have been a few lonely souls uttering a more sensible approach, but inevitably they are shot down or drowned out by the sheer weight of contrarian views cluttering the local digital landscape. It's nothing new in fairness. The same type of opposition was voiced during the regeneration works on the Square a number of years back. Ultimately, a vital way to get more life back into our town centres is to get more people living in them. Few can disagree that this will only aid the local economy. But to encourage more 'above the shop' residential living, we need to ensure the surrounding environment is both attractive and functional - simply more practical for people to use for both living and shopping in. There are already efforts underway to reengage units above shops in the town centre for such residential opportunities, and the regeneration works underway are key to the success of this potential living arrangement. This column has spoken before about the success of 'above the shop' living in towns on the outskirts of Sydney in Australia (were it was trialed successfully in the past decade). There is a severe shortage of houses in this country, and while building more houses is absolutely vital, the retooling of town centre units for accommodation use can help in this regard - and it can be done relatively quickly too. It's not the solution, but it can help town centre economies prosper and people looking for practical living accommodation close to local amenities. In recent weeks the so-called 'turning down' of social housing for various reasons by prospective tenants has become a hot topic. At times, such refusals are believed to be because of the greater distance from a town centre or significant urban area. How much more closer can you get than living above a shop? Home Four wheelers Kia Electric Car Concept To Be Unveiled At Geneva Motor Show 2019 oi-Abhinand Venugopal Kia Motors is planning to put up a grand show at the upcoming Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) 2019. The prestigious automotive event will commence on March 5. Now, the South Korean automotive brand has released a teaser image of an all-electric concept that will be unveiled at GIMS 2019. The decade has seen a lot of interesting concepts in the field of electric mobility that are aimed to be efficient as well as engaging. Major automotive brands originating from Germany, Sweden, England and Japan have all hit the headlines with their desirable concepts and prototypes for the future. This could be the reason why Kia Motors has also cooked up something interesting. The teaser image shows the front view of the Kia electric concept in a rather unrevealing fashion; just how teasers are supposed to be. However, the LED lighting pattern was left as the main highlight. It runs around the front grille, forming a 'horizontally-distorted hour-glass' shape. There are no ORVMs (Outside Rear-View Mirrors), but two components that weirdly resemble the eyes of a snail. This could obviously be an advanced camera system. Speaking more about the looks of the Kia electric car concept, Gregory Guillaume, Vice President of Design at Kia Motors Europe shared, "We imagined designing an all-electric car that not only answered consumer concerns around range, performance, recharging networks and driving dynamism, but one that also gave you goosebumps when you looked at it, and made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up when you drove it." The overall aesthetics are about "about capturing the heart and making it beat that bit faster for that bit longer and there's absolutely no reason why that should change simply because the car is electric." As mentioned before, nothing much is known about the all-electric Kia concept. But as expected, it will prove to be a good alternative to the likes of future Audi e-tron, BMW-i, Mercedes-Benz Vision range of products. This will be the case only if it ever makes it into production. The name of the concept is yet to be revealed. The project was developed at the brand's design facility in Frankfurt, Germany. Automotive enthusiasts across the world are eagerly waiting to know any sort of additional information regarding the upcoming Kia electric car. Thoughts On The Kia Electric Car Concept As usual, this year's Geneva International Motor Show will witness the participation of a lot of interesting automotive products and technologies. The Kia electric car concept might not be a show-stopper at the event, but will definitely give some insight into where the South Korean brand is heading. Most Viewed Videos Its difficult to gin up much sympathy for Hoda Muthana, who, as a college student in Hoover, lied to her parents to fly off to Turkey in 2014 and join ISIS in Syria. Now she wants to return to the safety of the U.S. with her son, who was fathered by one of two now-dead ISIS fighters she married. Through her familys attorney, Muthana said shed made a big mistake, dodged sniper fire and roadside bombs to escape, and that her life is at risk for speaking out against ISIS. The U.S. Department of State is not impressed. Ms. Hoda Muthana is not a U.S. citizen and will not be admitted into the United States, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Wednesday. She does not have any legal basis, no valid U.S. passport, no right to a passport nor any visa to travel to the United States. Her remorse doesnt mitigate her treasonous acts, and the danger to her life is no greater than that faced by our military personnel whose deaths she advocated. MAPLE GROVE, Minn. Magdalene Menyongar's day starts with a 5:30 a.m. conference call with women from her church. They pray together as Menyongar makes breakfast and drives to work, reflecting on everything they are thankful for. But lately, the prayers have turned to matters of politics and immigration. They pray with increasing urgency for Congress or President Donald Trump to act before Menyongar, 48, faces deportation to her native Liberia, where she fled civil war nearly 25 years ago. In less than six weeks, the order that has allowed her and more than 800 other immigrants from the former American colony in West Africa to live in the United States for decades will end, the result of Trump's decision last year to terminate a program that every other president since George H.W. Bush supported. Come March 31, Menyongar will face a choice: Return to Liberia and leave behind her 17-year-old daughter, an American citizen, or stay in the United States, losing her work authorization and becoming an undocumented immigrant. "It's hard to think about because you have built a life," said Menyongar, who works as a certified nursing assistant. "Maybe it's part of my brain that I try to block out. When I think about it, all I do is pray." Menyongar is among thousands of Liberian immigrants who were given temporary permission to stay in the United States in 1999, when President Bill Clinton implemented "deferred enforced departure." DED was routinely extended by previous administrations but is set to end under Trump's effort to terminate programs for immigrants without permanent status, which also has endangered Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and temporary protected status for immigrants from 10 other countries. Temporary protected status, or TPS, was established by Congress in 1990 for citizens of countries suffering from war, environmental disaster, health epidemics or other unsafe conditions. They are given temporary permission to work in the United States and travel abroad without fear of deportation. A class-action lawsuit filed Feb. 12 in a federal court in California seeks to block the Trump administration from ending TPS for immigrants from Honduras and Nepal. In October, a federal judge in the same court issued an injunction that stalled the end of TPS for citizens of four other countries. But that court action does not apply to the smaller and lesser-known DED program, which operates purely at the president's discretion and gives no statutory basis on which to sue. Without a change of heart from the president - or new legislation from Congress - Liberians living in the United States under DED will lose their work authorization and become subject to deportation. Instead of self-deporting, many are expected to stay in the United States in hopes of getting a hearing in immigration courts, a process that could take years. Trump has made curtailing illegal immigration a central tenet of his agenda, saying in his State of the Union address this month that immigrants should come to the United States "in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally." But critics say his move to end protection for Liberians, leaving them undocumented after decades in the country legally, reflects an immigration policy that is capricious and, at worst, driven by racial bias. "There comes a point where even if relief started as temporary, it needs to end with some possibility for permanence," said Royce Murray, managing director of programs at the American Immigration Council, an advocacy group. "These are people who have built their lives here, have invested in their communities and are raising American citizens." Receive emails for Trending news. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Last week, a group of DED holders from Minnesota traveled to Washington to lobby representatives, and Democrats have responded with legislative efforts. Rep. Dean Phillips, a freshman Democrat who represents Menyongar's Minnesota district, pushed unsuccessfully for a DED provision to be included in the spending bill Trump signed. In addition, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., reintroduced a narrow bill he has pushed in every session of Congress since 1999 to offer Liberians with DED a chance to apply for permanent residency. A spokesman for Rep. Nydia Velazquez told The Washington Post the New York Democrat is working to include similar provisions in a broader immigration bill to be unveiled in the coming weeks. Opponents of the programs say they have outlasted their original intent, to provide temporary protection, and represent a misuse of executive authority. RJ Hauman, government relations director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors reduced immigration and greater enforcement, calls DED and TPS "flagrant abuses of our immigration system." "Both of these 'temporary' designations have been on autopilot for years, with one unmerited, open-ended extension after another," Hauman said. "These individuals should return to their homeland, which has since recovered, and use their skills to enrich Liberian society." Like many Liberians who fled their country's back-to-back civil wars between 1989 and 2003, Menyongar applied for asylum when she arrived in America in 1994. Her request was denied when she was unable to reach relatives in Liberia to get proof of her family ties to a politician there, whose prominence she feared would make her a target should she return. She was able to remain in the United States under TPS until 1999, when the program expired for Liberians and DED was created to extend protection to about 10,000 people at the time. Liberians don't have to register with the federal government to qualify for DED, so there's no reliable count of how many people depend on the program. But as of March 2018, approximately 840 had work authorization under DED, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Liberians must have lived in the United States continuously since 2002 or earlier to qualify. Most of the original DED beneficiaries have since left the country, died or gained permanent status, Murray said. She estimates as many as "a few thousand" may remain in the country but have not renewed their optional work permits, which cost a total of $495 in annual fees. Permanent residency can come through political asylum, marriage to a U.S. citizen, family ties or an employer's sponsorship. Menyongar's husband, also a Liberian immigrant, died in 2011. Her attorney has advised that her surest option for a green card would be sponsorship by their daughter, Gabby Gworlekaju - something the teenager can't provide until she is 21. Gabby's primary focus these days is preparing for college, possibly in Atlanta to be close to her father's family and escape the frigid Midwest winters. She said she didn't understand that her mother could have to leave until last March, when Trump declared a one-year "wind-down period" for DED. She has told her best friend how worried she is about the situation but avoids talking about it otherwise. "It'd be a life-changing choice," Gabby said. "That would mean that my mother would have to physically be removed out of my life, and I'd have to continue on. I can't even explain how I would react." * * * Minnesota is home to the nation's largest Liberian community, concentrated in the northwestern suburbs of Minneapolis. A few times each week, Menyongar makes a 20-minute drive to Bethel Robbinsdale - one of several Liberian churches in the Twin Cities area - where she serves as president of the women's ministry. After communion during a recent Sunday service, the band and choir struck up a euphoric tune while Menyongar joined the congregation in dancing through the pews. Dressed in a brightly colored jumpsuit and a turquoise head wrap, she exchanged handshakes and hugs along the way. "The church is my second family," Menyongar said. "It's like a support system that we have for each other." At one point during the two-hour service, the worship paused so a church member could announce an upcoming rally at the state capitol to raise the alarm about the end of DED. Later, the Rev. Natt Friday led a prayer for those affected. Friday knows Menyongar isn't the only member of his church who could face deportation, but he can't say for sure how many will. Many keep their immigration status secret. "These people, if you grant them permanent residence, they are going to be so patriotic," Friday said. "The burden would be lifted off their shoulders to know that they can finally live a normal life." Liberian immigrants have taken prominent positions in Minneapolis and its suburbs, such as Brooklyn Center, which recently elected its first Liberian-born mayor. They moved in part for the job market - a shortage of nurses and other health-care workers drew many, like Menyongar, to work in hospitals and assisted-living facilities. Mary Tjosvold, who owns group homes for seniors and people with disabilities, employs more than 150 Liberians. Although she does not track how many of her employees are protected by DED, she said losing even a few workers would have wide ripple effects. "People have had these jobs for a long time. They're important parts of businesses," said Tjosvold. "On an economic basis, it doesn't make any sense, no matter what you think politically." An end to the policy also has economic implications abroad. Remittances sent from those working in the United States to their relatives in Liberia act as "a source of de facto foreign aid," said Paul Wickham Schmidt, a former immigration judge and current adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School. Menyongar works a combined 60-plus hours each week at two nursing homes, and her paychecks support her 97-year-old mother and other relatives in Liberia. Schmidt said the idea that Liberians losing DED will self-deport is unrealistic. "My experience is that most people go home not because they're threatened, but because they deem it in their overall best socioeconomic interest," he said. "A lot depends on what faces you at home, which is why this administration's policy doesn't work." Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank that supports sharp immigration restrictions, argues that a president should not be able to prolong temporary programs like DED without congressional approval. Even so, he said, "When we've permitted people to lawfully reside here for decades, it's practically and politically and morally problematic to say, 'Okay, now time is up.' " Liberia has been emerging from war during the past 15 years and last year saw its first peaceful transfer of power since 1944. In a memorandum announcing the end of the temporary status, Trump wrote, "I find that conditions in Liberia no longer warrant a further extension of DED." Menyongar strongly disagrees with that assessment, citing violent crime, poor health care and infrastructure, and a lack of jobs in explaining why she could not return to her country of birth. "The Liberia that I knew and grew up in is not the Liberia of today," she said. This article was produced in partnership with the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, where Donovan-Smith is a student. At 3 p.m., Dr. George Washington Carver, an agricultural scientist at Tuskegee Institute known for the more than 300 uses he found for peanuts, gave an illustrated lecture at the stadium. An estimated 6,000 people heard the presentation. More important than his research on uses of the peanut and other agricultural products was Carvers work in promoting crop rotation and agricultural education. Planting nitrogen-fixing legumes like peanuts could enrich cotton-depleted soil and increase yields significantly when the land reverted to cotton. At 8 p.m., the second performance of Parade of the Years was held at the stadium. At 10 p.m., during the grand ball and dance held at the National Guard Armory, Elizabeth Johnson of Headland was crowned the festival queen and Alto V. Lee III, president of Dothans Junior Chamber of Commerce, was crowned king. At 11 a.m. Friday, prizes were awarded to winners of the queen competition and parade at Dothans city hall. At 8 p.m., the third presentation of the historical pageant was held at the stadium. Attendance at the first presentation of the historical pageant Thursday night and Carvers address Friday afternoon were believed to be the largest at the stadium since Tom Heflin brought his Senate campaign to Dothan in 1928. Trying to mention the KKK in a positive manner is tantamount to career suicide if you write for a newspaper or plan on running for public office or want people to think you still know the whereabouts of your ever-lovin mind. In fact, why EVER mention those three letters in unison unless youre in a Dave Chappelle skit or your name is Kerry Kyle Kippinhaffer. If the latter is true for you, Id suggest suing your parents its all the craze today -- and have my name legally changed? When I wanted to return to my home state, I found an offer of becoming a minority owner while running the paper in Linden, a town all too resembling my hometown of Marion about an hour to its northeast. Many of the towns in that area have dried up with little money flow to keep industries interested. Goodloe, who had taken over the newspaper from his father many moons ago, was hoping to ride off in the sunset, it seemed, reaping whatever monies some younger person could bring in. Ill give you time to stop laughing at the thought that I was considered a younger person. Hey, Sutton is 79 today. All of the aforementioned took place in November 2012. The standard of the songs in the Jimmy Kennedy Songwriting Competition in Ardara last weekend was amazing. Claire Ward from Ramelton won with a beautiful song, Remember. Of the eight finalists, seven were women, all of the songs were of a very high standard and the judging panel had a very difficult task. An integral part of the festival is the homage to Packie Manus Byrne and the legendary Patsy OHagan brought more than one house down with his hilarious tales. Noel Slevin, Kevin Dunleavy and Charlie Boyle all added their songs, yarns and poems, and John Joe McBrearty and Jimmy McGrogan were the musical mainstays in the Corner House. Interestingly, Jim and Fiona Byrne who are regulars in the Beehive Friday night sessions also edit and design The Living Tradition. Its a full colour, bi-monthly Folk & Traditional music magazine that has been in publication for some years now. In that time they have managed to build a great reputation and solid readership base around the globe. Based in Ayrshire, Scotland and Ardara, a dedicated team of folk and traditional music enthusiasts are the people responsible for the running of the magazine, with their past experience ranging from events organisation to live performing. A few years ago, after Packie Manuss death, renowned Californian harpist, Bonnie Shaljean, contributed a beautiful homage about her old friend. An elegant gentleman I first set eyes on Packie at Loughborough Folk Festival in 1975, where I was wandering around the halls with my harp (an unusual sight in those days). I wasnt a booked performer, and only carried it because there was nowhere I felt comfortable leaving it. I've often wondered what turn my life would have taken had I found a safe place to stash it. Just then, an elegant gentleman in a beautiful grey suit complete with waistcoat and pearl stickpin approached me, and paused to speak. He looked so refined and prosperous that my initial thought was, My gosh, what is a banker doing at a folk festival? Little did I know that his suit came from a charity shop for a few bob. After a month criss-crossing every inch of Australia, the sparkle has returned to JJ McBreartys eyes as he slowly contemplates his first pint back home at the 'South of the Border' Festival in Ardara PICTURE: MATT BRITTON He asked me if I knew My Lagan Love and, as good luck would have it, I did. He immediately reached inside his jacket and drew out a silver whistle, while I knelt down on the floor in my long hippie dress and put the harp to my shoulder. And, right there in the middle of the corridor, we struck up My Lagan Love. Before the afternoon was out, we had become firm friends. I was living in Golders Green at the time, and Packie rented a room in central London, where he worked for a firm of solicitors. It wasn't long before he was a steady caller at the big house I shared with four others, and Id often cook us dinner while he sat at our huge kitchen table and serenaded me with tunes. Pretty soon, club and festival bookings started dotting the diary pages, and the rest, as they say, is history. It was also a lot of laughs. And usually Packie would get the last one. But not always. At least once, the tables were turned. The setting for this historic event was the club at Chipping Sodbury (which one of us - I can't even remember who - accidentally and with fatal permanence Spoonerised into Sodding Chipbury). THE STAR COMES HOME Packie had a well-known comic routine whereby he could play multiple whistles at once by fitting them into a cut-up rubber shower hose and blowing in one end. After finishing this number, he described to the audience (all the while chortling in great glee) how he had nicked the hose from his landlady's bathtub and had done the dastardly surgery on it unbeknownst to her. Everybody had a lovely giggle over this, and Packie was feeling quite pleased with himself until he happened to glance down at the far end of the front row. And there sat none other than said landlady and her husband, who were in the area on holiday, and had decided to drop in to the club as a surprise. When I first knew him, Packie had a job with a firm of posh solicitors, all elegant mahogany and brass and wine-red carpets. But his wee cubbyhole was far away from this finery, which was a godsend to any secretaries or telephonists who were late to work. Once inside the front door of the cavernous and warren-like old building, they would dash downstairs into Packies den, hastily slip off their coats and drop their bags, and quickly grab a stack of papers or envelopes or a file folder (Packie kept a supply of these handy, expressly for this purpose). Then they would walk up the central staircase with their work in hand, cool as you please, no sign of their tardy entry in evidence. Their bosses never did catch on. Packie always had a ready stock of safety pins, packets of kleenex and other essentials, so he was a great favourite around the office. Many tears were shed when he retired. All the light-hearted humour and blithe patter make it easy to overlook one of Packies prime skills: his songwriting. Whether funny ditties or serious ballads, songs were so much a part of who Packie was. For he had the tradition in him, and the true bards feel for the poetry of a line, deceptively simple, but conveying whole worlds. You could hear it in his airs too. He was not a pyrotechnic wizard at flashy jigs and reels, and never pretended to be. To expect this of him, as some did, was to misapprehend his true gift the poet's gift, rather than the virtuoso's. In particular, his Donegal-inspired compositions, such as Bruckless Bay, Lovely Naran Strand and The Hills Of Inishowen, will live on for many generations. When Packie was 70, disaster loomed, as he was about to be made homeless. Accommodation in London was in a dire state (I'd worked as a housing officer for the Borough of Camden and was well-placed to know exactly how dire) and he was in despair. But the Irish look after their own, and soon Packie had callers: two dear friends from Ardara, Packie McGinley and Peter Oliver McNelis. This was no ordinary visit. They were there on a mission. It's all arranged, they said. We've come to take you home. Sinn Fein members from Letterkenny, Glenswilly, Churchill and Manorcunningham have selected Cllrs Gerry McMonagle and Adrian Glackin to contest the forthcoming local elections in the new seven-seat Letterkenny Electoral Area. Cllr Gerry McMonagle said that back in 2007, Sinn Fein delivered a booklet to thousands of homes across this town Letterkenny- Towards A City. "That booklet layed out a vision for the future of our community and today, we in Sinn Fein are in a stronger position than ever to deliver on that vision for our major county town and the region with nine county councillors, a TD and a Senator and two MPs in Derry City and West Tyrone as well as many MLAs and councillors. "This cross border political strength has given us the platform to challenge the historical neglect of our North West Region by Irish and British Governments. I look forward to meeting as many people as possible over the next three months to discuss our proud track record of hard work and our vision for the future. Cllr Adrian Glackin said: I have seen at first hand the benefit of a strong nine councillor Sinn Fein team on Donegal County Council, challenging and changing the old political order on behalf of our people and I hope to see that team grow stronger again after these elections. "In the election ahead, while I would hope for strong support from my home parish of Glenswilly and Churchill, I also look forward to campaigning in Letterkenny town where I attended secondary school and then worked for twenty years in Letterkenny Tescos serving in various roles over that time and interacting with the local people." "The challenge of winning two seats for Sinn Fein in this new seven seat Letterkenny Electoral Area is a tough one but I believe that our local Sinn Fein team is up for that challenge and I look forward to the campaign ahead Also Read: Beware Of The New Technique Used By Cyber Criminals To Steal Payment Data One-Third of the 120,000 Google Chrome extensions ask for permission to access data of any website visited, according to a recent research.Last month, a US-based cyber-security company, Duo Labs along with its new web service CRXcavator, carried out the survey. Its studies the 120,463 Chrome extensions and apps were analyzed wholly.Researchers found that what kind of requests are made by the extensions for users, the communication of extensions with external domains and whether they use vulnerable libraries or not. It was also recorded that whether they access OAuth2 data, and check CSP (Content Security Policy) header. Or is there any privacy policy or authors mentioned by these extensions.The research revealed that around 85 percent of the extensions do not have a defines Privacy Policy, which means they do not have made clear through a legal document that how they will be using the data of the users.It also said that 77 percent of the Chrome extensions have not listed support site, whereas third-party JavaScript libraries with common vulnerabilities are being used by 32 percent of extensions. As well, 9 percent of them access and read cookie files.Duo Labs has also launched CRXcavator Gatherer Chrome Extension, for enterprise use. Once installed on the computer of the employee, it will let System administrators check what extensions have been installed by their employee. The data extracted is then transferred to the administrators account on the CRXcavator portal. System administrators can see if the extensions used are secure or not. Based on it, they can allow or discontinue the use of that extension in their network.This extension not only tell about the risks of other extensions used but can also put restrictions on employees and they will have to ask for permission before installing any extension.Chrome is largely exploited by the cybercriminals, and because of it, enterprises want to control the extensions used by employees. At times, criminals buy extension which is not more maintained by the developers. They then use it for spear-phishing attacks on the users who have installed those extensions by placing malicious codes.All companies need to keep special on the extensions being used by their employees as they can be risky and can lead to online fraud.People can check the results of the study carried out by the firm on the CRXcavator web page . It shares information about the extension that has been analyzed by the researchers and also let you submit extension ID if you want to know any other extension that has not been studied during this study.Read Next: Here Is How You Can Protect Your Business From All Hacking Trends (infographic) Highlights: Samsung Galaxy A30, Galaxy A50 to be showcased at MWC 2019 Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A50 could launch in India on February 28 Both smartphones are expected to come with 6.4-inch Infinity U displays, 4,000mAh batteries Samsung will also show liove 5G demoes at MWC. Samsung is expected to launch the rumoured Galaxy A50 and Galaxy A30 smartphones in India towards the end of the month. Ahead of their official unveiling, the new A-series duo from Samsung will be showcased at MWC 2019. Samsung has confirmed that the A50 and A30 will be present on the MWC 2019 show floor, alongside the newly launched Galaxy S10 lineup, the new Galaxy Watch Active, Galaxy Buds and other new hardware from Samsung. The Galaxy A50 and Galaxy 30 could launch in India on February 28. Samsung recently revealed the launch date of the devices Through a notice in the Samsung Members app. Just like it did with its M-series smartphones, Samsung has chosen India as the launchpad for its new A-Series devices. The move can be seen as companys push to generate $4 billion in sales in 2019 through the A series. It is expected that Samsung will launch a total of three smartphones in the A-series, including the A10, A30 and A50. As far as the Galaxy A50 is concerned, the phone is speculated to feature a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED Infinity U display, Exynos 9610 SoC coupled with 4GB RAM, a triple rear camera configuration with a 25MP + 5MP + 8MP setup. It may come in 64GB or 128GB storage options and a 4,000mAh battery. The Galaxy A30 is expected to feature the same display and battery, however, it could come with the Exynos 7904 chipset and a dual rear camera setup (16MP + 5MP). The phone may be available in 3GB and 4GB RAM options. While we will get you a hands-on with the new Galaxy A30 and A50 from MWC 2019, another showcase to look forward to at the Samsung MWC booth would be its 5G demo. Samsung will be demonstrating its 5G innovation at the event with a working 5G NR network on the Galaxy S10 5G. The company will show off its new 5G Radio Frequency (RF) chipsets, supporting 28GHz and 39GHz, used in its 5G base stations. The new chipsets help Samsung make its base stations approximately 25 percent smaller, lighter and less power consuming compared to previous iterations. For more than 35 years, weve led the industry in new hardware and services that have helped to revolutionize the consumer experience. At MWC this year, were showcasing the remarkable breadth of our expanding connected ecosystem, from game-changing 5G end-to-end solutions to outstanding new additions to the Galaxy family such as Galaxy Fold and Galaxy S10 5G, said DJ Koh, President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics. Samsungs portfolio of chips appearing at MWC19 include the Exynos Modem 5100 which supports new spectrums including below and above 6GHz for faster data speeds up to 6Gbps. Stay tuned to Digit.in for all the latest from MWC 2019. Catch our continuous coverage here. Oscars Gift Bag 2019: Cannabis Infused Products Make Way Into The $148,000 Bag! Oscars bag has always been a huge thing to look out for. This bag is generally provided by Distinctive Assets, an independent marketing company that is not affiliated or sanctioned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The bag is basically an "Everyone Wins" nominee gift bag to all the nominees in the top five categories- best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress and best director. Well, this year, the bag is grabbing headlines due to the cannabis-infused products, that will be a first in the 17 years since this bag was first given out. With recreational marijuana being legalised in California last year, enquires from Cannabis companies also increased. There will be cannabis-infused hand-painted truffles and chocolate bars, cannabis-infused facial products and an annual membership to MOTA Los Angeles, an exclusive, members-only cannabis-friendly social club. Other major luxuries that this bag will provide include a luxury cruise for two to Iceland, the Galapagos, the Amazon or Central Americawith spa treatments and cooking lessons from a private chef that is priced between 15-20k dollars. The bag will also include 10 personal training sessions with one of Los Angeles premier trainers, Alexis Seletzky and a bottle of French absinthe. There will also be items like one week stay at a spa, jewellery and up to $30,000 in non-surgical rejuvenation treatments from Manhattan plastic surgeon Dr. Konstantin Vasyukevich. There will be other interesting products like Blush & Whimsy limited-edition rose gold lipstick, dental care set and also a spy pen from PETA that they hope the celebs would activate if they see animal abuse around. Check out the full list of items that will be included in the Oscars gift bag: SALT LAKE CITY Oregon State Police on Saturday apprehended two suspects in a Park City bank robbery on Friday, which appears to part of a "multistate crime spree of violent criminal activity," according to Oregon authorities. Grid View Jose Lopez-Jovel Oregon State Police Matthew Anthony Fanelli Oregon State Police Oregon State Police photograph shows a child's car seat that police say was struck by gunfire Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019, while a suspect in a multistate crime spree was eluding police along I-5. Police said they took two suspects tied to a Park City bank robbery into custody. Oregon State Police Two suspects were identified by the Oregon State Police as Matthew Anthony Fanelli, 30, of New Mexico, and Jose Lopez-Jovel, 31, from El Salvador. Both men are being held in county jails in Oregon. The two men were arrested after a pair of carjacking attempts in Oregon on Saturday night, officials say. The first occurred about 5:30 p.m. in Roseburg, Oregon. "The suspect or suspects were not able to steal the vehicle and fled in his original vehicle," and Lopez-Jovel was left behind, according to state police. He was taken into custody by the Roseburg Police Department and is being held in the Douglas County Jail on fugitive warrants out of Utah. Law enforcement officers located the suspect vehicle, which attempted to elude them several times as it traveled south on I-5. During the pursuit, the suspect shot a firearm several times, striking a truck, a passenger car and hitting the occupied child seat inside, and an Oregon State Police patrol car, disabling it, according to Oregon State Police. The pursuit continued south into Josephine County where law enforcement lost sight of the suspect. The suspect then attempted to carjack another vehicle near a residence in Josephine County, police say. "The male and female couple were arriving home when the suspect attempted to carjack them. The suspect shot the male and assaulted the female, but was unable to steal their car. The male victim was critically injured and his identity and status will be released at a later date," a state police press release states. Officers again located the suspect vehicle and the driver again attempted to elude police. The vehicle became disabled and the suspect, identified as Fanelli, was taken into custody. He is being held at the Josephine County Jail for investigation of multiple charges. According to the Oregon State Police, law enforcement agencies discovered the two suspects were associated with a multistate crime spree of violent criminal activity. "The related criminal conduct appears to involve one or more persons of interest, so Oregon law enforcement is working with out-of-state and federal partners. As a matter of precaution, citizens along the route of the vehicle chase and associated crime scenes should be vigilant of their surrounding area, hitchhikers and securing of their property," the Oregon State Police press release states. According to media reports from Colorado and Wyoming, the suspects may be tied to a deadly shooting in Denver and a robbery in Wyoming. The suspects in the Park City robbery were in a 2015 Cadillac sedan with the same license plate number as the one stolen in Denver, authorities say. A woman was with the suspects during the robberies in Wyoming and Park City. No one was hurt in either robbery. Anyone with information is asked to call the Oregon State Police dispatch at 1-800-442-2068 and leave a request for contact from detectives working the case. SALT LAKE CITY They're just two simple questions, but they can help predict whether a middle school student is at risk for abusing alcohol years later, a new study says. One is about the students drinking; the other, about drinking done by the students friends. The questions are part of a screening developed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and researchers have been studying how effective the answers are in predicting future alcohol abuse. Their findings, published this month in the journal Pediatrics, show that early drinking, or having friends who drink, corresponds with drinking one to three years later and not drinking or having friends who don't drink corresponds with not drinking later. The research suggests that pediatricians and other health care providers should routinely ask about alcohol use, not only by the adolescents but by their friends. Doing so could help reduce rates of underage drinking by identifying teens who need further assessment, and even being confronted with these questions could prompt students to assess their behavior, according to experts in alcohol abuse prevention. George F. Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, which funded the research, said the questions brevity contribute to their success, as does asking about the behavior of friends. For young people, peers have so much influence over their behavior. With family members, it can go either way. Sometimes sons and daughters see all the harm that drinking has caused and dont drink; sometimes they mimic the behavior," Koob said. 'Pediatric-onset' condition The study was the first to examine whether the screening questions the agency developed can predict future problems with alcohol, which is a factor in more than 80,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. For middle school students, the questions are: "Do you have any friends who drank beer, wine or any drink containing alcohol in the past year?" And, "How about you? In the past year, on how many days have you had more than a few sips of beer, wine or any drink containing alcohol?" A team of researchers, led by Dr. James Linakis, posed the questions to more than 4,800 adolescents, ages 12 to 17, who visited one of 16 pediatric emergency rooms between 2013 and 2015. They later followed up with almost half 2,209 of the teens to inquire about their alcohol use one, two and three years later. Although previous research has shown that alcohol use among young people rises with age, the students who reported no drinking in the first screening reported the least amount of drinking in subsequent years. Conversely, students who appeared at the highest risk initially were likely to be drinkers in subsequent years, researchers found. The questions asked of high school students were slightly different than those asked of those in middle school, reversing the order in which the students are asked about friends' drinking. The high school students were first asked, In the past year, on how many days have you had more than a few sips of beer, wine or any drink containing alcohol? then, If your friends drink, how many drinks do they usually drink on an occasion? The study authors note that previous research has shown a dramatic uptick in drinking that typically occurs between the last year of middle school and the last year in high school. Nationwide, 6 out of 10 students report having consumed more than a few sips of alcohol by the time they leave high school while 24 percent have done so by eighth grade, according to the most recent report by Monitoring the Future, which tracks drug and alcohol use among young people. Because nearly 4 out of 5 people in treatment for alcohol use disorder say they began drinking alcohol in adolescence, alcohol abuse is considered a "pediatric-onset" condition, wrote Dr. Scott Hadland, a pediatrician and addiction specialist at Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, in commentarypublished in conjunction with the Pediatrics report. Hadland said alcohol is a factor in up to half of the three leading causes of deaths among adolescents and young adults: unintentional injury (most of which are motor vehicle crash fatalities), homicide and suicide. "Despite the enormous attention currently paid to drug overdose mortality in the United States, it is humbling that in 2016, deaths caused by alcohol were more than double those involving opioids," Hadland wrote. The enormity of the problem calls for early intervention, among not only teens who report that they drink, but those who say their friends do, and pairing the two-question screening with another, known as the CRAFFT screening, could further improve knowledge about the risks faced by teens, Hadland wrote. (Among other things, the CRAFFT screening asks if the person has ever ridden in a car driven by someone who had been using alcohol or drugs.) 'Dangerous' drinking While Linakis and his co-authors say a minority of the teens surveyed will develop alcohol abuse disorder about 1 out of every 38 teens surveyed they say the findings support increased screening of teens to identify those that are at heightened risk. "In a recent study of U.S. hospitals that treat injured adolescents, only 18 percent reported providing universal alcohol screening," the authors wrote. The teens participating in the survey were given tablets to answer the questions, and the researchers say it's unclear whether the results would be different if the questions were posed by health care providers, for example, during a routine doctor's exam. "In addition, because the study required parental permission, adolescent reports of substance use may have been affected despite our reassurances that responses were confidential," the authors wrote. Its important for parents to be vigilant and to recognize that alcohol use in adolescents is not just a rite of passage, but can lead to serious problems. Dr. James Linakis Linakis, professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics at Brown Medical School in Providence, Rhode Island, said in an email that the study revealed that although older adolescents use alcohol more frequently than younger ones, there were, in fact, some young adolescents who are already using alcohol and some have already developed alcohol use disorders in other words, dangerous drinking. Its important for parents to be vigilant and to recognize that alcohol use in adolescents is not just a rite of passage, but can lead to serious problems, Linakis said. Underage drinking has declined in the U.S. in the past decade, Koob, of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, noted, and could decline even more if teens are routinely asked questions like this. A simple screening can turn into an intervention if the questions cause a young person to think more deeply about their drinking behavior. Wed like to see these screens adopted widely in pediatricians offices as the next step, Koob said. You start thinking, 'Maybe I should reevaluate my drinking,' when that man or lady in the white coat asks me about it, he said. In the meantime, parents shouldn't wait for a visit to the emergency room or the pediatrician to start talking about alcohol with their children. The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration says parents should have that conversation before a child is confronted with an opportunity to drink. By not talking to their children about alcohol, parents may inadvertently contribute to their children drinking later. "If you do not talk about it, you are still saying something," the agency says on its website, which gives five goals for a conversation with your child: Express disapproval of drinking alcohol and using drugs. Show you care about your child's health, welfare and success. Show you're a good source of information about alcohol and drugs. Show you're paying attention to what your child does. Give your child strategies for avoiding alcohol and drugs. The agency also offers a printable agreement that both the parents and child can sign that says, in part, for parents: I pledge to create an alcohol-free environment that is fun and safe for you and your friends. And for parents who wonder if their own drinking is starting to be a problem, Koob said there's a website for them, too. Rethinking Drinking has information to help adults assess their drinking, and people can order or download a free "Rethinking Drinking" booklet there, too. SALT LAKE CITY The third time proved to be a charm for Shireen Ghorbani. After her unsuccessful runs for Congress and Salt Lake County mayor, the Salt Lake County Democratic Party Central Committee elected Ghorbani to an open seat on the Salt Lake County Council on Saturday. Ghorbani beat out nine other candidates in a special election to fill the at-large seat Jenny Wilson vacated last month after being elected county mayor. Wilson replaced Ben McAdams, who was elected to Congress last November. Immediately after losing the county mayor election to Wilson, Ghorbani ruled out a run for the open council seat. Ghorbani said she didn't feel like she could give the time and attention required to be an effective part-time council member and maintain a demanding full-time job. But after talking to her supervisors at the University of Utah where she works as an associate director in facilities management she was able to reduce her hours. Growth, air quality, affordable housing and human services are among the issues that she said drive her to public service. Ghorbani said she is aiming for a future where working families come before corporate interests and mental health care and addiction treatment are put ahead of incarceration. She also want to expand education opportunities and protect the environment. A native of North Dakota, Ghorbani has a bachelor's degree in theater and communications from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota and and master's degree in organizational communication from the University of Nebraska. Ghorbani served in the Peace Corps and heads the Rape Recovery Center board. PROVO The Provo Municipal Airport is looking to expand from a one-gate, one-terminal, one-airline operation into a 10-gate, two-terminal, multi-airline operation over the next several years. Phase one of the project, which would build a four-gate terminal, baggage claim and TSA stations, is estimated to cost a little more than $41 million. The structure would be built to expand to 10 gates in the future but would operate with four gates until then. "We're always excited to be able to provide a more convenient option to people that live in Utah County or south of Salt Lake," said Steve Gleason, airport manager. Additional gates will help the regional airport bring in more airlines because the airlines tend to want the same time slots each day, something the facility can't offer now with its current operation, according to Gleason. Allegiant Air is currently the only airline that flies in and out of Provo. Provo Deputy Mayor Isaac Paxman said the airport could operate with the four gates for several years before expanding to 10. The Provo City Council unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday to dedicate about $19 million to the project. Earlier this month, Mayor Michelle Kaufusi joined State House Majority Leader Francis Gibson, R-Mapleton, at the Legislature to request $9 million from the Infrastructure and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee. The city also requested an additional $4.3 million from Utah County and is expected to receive roughly $8 million from the Federal Aviation Administration to build the terminal tarmac, if the other funds are secured. Paxman said the expansion will benefit the entire county and help accommodate its rapid growth. "It's not only in Provo's interest," he said. "I think all citizens get a benefit from this." According to a study by University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, Utah County is expected to claim 27.8 percent of Utah's population by 2065, only over 1 percent less than Salt Lake County's projected 29.1 percent. "And this is a critical piece in preparing for that and allowing this region to develop to its full potential," Paxman said. "In one way or another we think everyone living here and around here is benefited by a degree of options and choice." Gibson noted Utah County's projected growth in his presentation to the appropriations committee at the Legislature as well. Utah County is the quickest growing county in the state," he told the committee on Feb. 12. Kaufusi told the committee it's time to take it up a notch with our airport." She added that other city mayors in the county were supportive, as well as county commissioners and big businesses in the area. "The community seems to be very supportive, there's a lot of interest in this," Paxman agreed. "This won't add any inconvenience for anyone who chooses not to fly out of it. We can't see who really is harmed by this." The expansion would also provide a boost to the economy, Paxman said. "This will definitely open up new jobs in the area," he said. Not only would new airport employees be needed, but additional staffing for TSA and the airlines would bring in new jobs as well, Paxman pointed out. He also said private business, like car rental companies for example, might bring in more jobs as well. The current terminal building, which is a shared space with TAC Air in a public-private partnership, is only about 6,500 square feet and on average sees one to two flights daily, Gleason said. A new four-gate terminal would be at least triple the size and will see an increase in daily flights by at least 50 percent, he said. He also noted the growth will hopefully lead to an increase in destinations offered and an increase in flights. Gleason said there is no competition between Provo Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport, and there never will be. "Salt Lake would still be the main airport for Utah and always will be," he said. "We're just providing a convenient option for people in Utah Valley and hopefully taking some cars off the road." Providing the area with alternative transportation methods is crucial, Gleason added. "I think it's a necessary step for Utah Valley just as I-15 becomes more and more crowded," he said. Currently, the project is in the design and planning phases, but if the city receives all the funds, it's estimated the city could break ground as early as next year, according to Gleason. SALT LAKE CITY Nintendo of America has appointed a new president Bowser. Seriously. The company announced that Doug Bowser will be the next head of the America operations, according to CNN. And, as Nintendo fans will recognize, Bowser is a huge turtle-like creature who often plays the villain in the Super Mario Bros. game. Social media went off on the hire, making the same joke. You can never have too many Bowsers in the office. pic.twitter.com/zF0AcLCgxh Doug Bowser (@thetruebowser) March 6, 2018 Why is everyone shocked Bowser is now in charge of Nintendo America? Look how passionate he is about playing games with fans pic.twitter.com/UiVLHqxMlL Mica Burton (@MicaBurton) February 21, 2019 This is the first photo of Doug Bowser when he joined Nintendo We never getting a new Mario game ever again pic.twitter.com/thv6o9opvf Nibel (@Nibellion) February 21, 2019 Doug Bowser made a note of his last name in the past, too. You can never have too many Bowsers in the office. pic.twitter.com/zF0AcLCgxh Doug Bowser (@thetruebowser) March 6, 2018 Not alone: Bowser isnt the only president who has a name that fits the bill. For example, Zoe Hamburger became a field marketing officer for McDonalds, MarketWatch reported. Similarly, Dr. Ronny Hertz was once the pain medicine physician at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. A debate has raged recently over whether Utah legislators reflected the will of the people by revising initiatives passed last November. Republican legislators say they have been mirroring public will by changing the initiatives. While others argue the Legislature has thwarted the public will. The legislators contention that they are simply tweaking the public will and not thwarting it would have more legitimacy if their recent actions were aberrations. But they are not. There is a long history of the Legislature seeking to thwart the publics will. These initiative changes are just the latest examples. One example is education funding. Over many years, surveys of Utah voters show they are willing to pay more taxes for public education because they want their children to get a top-notch educational experience. They know that is difficult to achieve with limited funds. However, the Legislature has repeatedly ignored the publics will. Another example is SB54 the Count My Vote approach that allows candidates to bypass the convention to get on a primary ballot. Public support has been high for that option. But legislators still seek to overturn SB54. The initiative process itself is another example. It is clear that voters appreciate the opportunity to bypass the Legislature when they feel it is not enacting policy they want, such as Medicaid expansion, less partisan redistricting and medical marijuana. However, over the years, the Legislature has responded by raising the bar higher and higher for groups to get an initiative on the ballot. Yet another example is term limits. In 1994, the Legislature adopted a 12-year term limit law on Utah legislators to stave off a citizen initiative for that purpose. Then, they repealed the law in 2002 before any legislator was actually affected by it. At the time, a Deseret News survey found that 76 percent of Utahns did not want the term limit law repealed. The list could go on. Why are Utah legislators so dismissive of the public will? The problem is that legislators do not view themselves as answerable to the voters at large. No, their main constituency consists of the Republican activists who control the convention process and the larger group of Republican voters who participate in primary elections. Since Republican primaries are not that frequent, the real influence for legislators is that small group of Republican delegates. So when the general public supports a particular policy outcome and even votes for it through the initiative process, Republican legislators dont feel bound to respect that vote if it contradicts the views of Republican activists and primary voters. That was the reality with the recent initiatives. For example, polls showed that more Republican voters opposed Proposition 3 than supported it, while the vast majority of voters generally supported the measure. It is likely that if Republican convention delegates had been surveyed, support would have been even lower. Legislators listened to the Republicans (particularly the activists) and altered the initiative to reflect those voters wishes. How has this situation occurred? It is the product of years of non-competition in Utah where the Republican convention or primary determines who takes office. The same is true in strong Democratic areas, although those are far fewer in number. Only when there is competition will legislators start caring about the voters who cast ballots in a general election. Only when incumbents are called to account for their votes against the publics views will they respect the will of the majority rather than the wishes of a partisan minority. That can only happen in a general election. That is why the United Utah Party was created. We are former Republicans, Democrats and independents who have joined together to make government accountable again. We seek to create the competition in general elections that is sorely lacking in Utah and elect responsive legislators. Representatives should be accountable to all the voters, not just those from their own party. Join us in bringing about the real competition Utah sorely needs. Only then can the will of the majority matter once again. President Donald Trump made a mistake. At some point each of the three branches of our government must respectfully yield to another branch. Congress has spoken against the wall, and President Trump should have accepted the congressional view. Now we are faced with endless court cases. And more importantly, if Trump begins to reallocate funds from the military budget, Congress will object. For example, if the president were to take military construction funds away from Hill Air Force Base in Utah, the Utah congressional delegation would be up in arms. There would be an immediate congressional action to thwart the president, and it would just be an endless fight. President Trump must realize that we have three co-equal branches of government. It is true that in the past 50 years we have been a president-centric nation. Maybe we subconsciously yearn for a dictatorship. Most of the reporting is on the president. Outsiders think the executive branch is the most powerful. In fact, it is not. Constitutionally, we have the legislative, executive and judiciary branches of government that are intended to be equal. President Trump should have been strong enough to say Nancy Pelosi, you beat me on this one. Im going to back off and let you have a victory here. You have stopped the building of the wall, but you will be politically responsible for the consequences. The presidents decision to use executive power to redistribute appropriations for other purposes will backfire. All will remain quiet until he makes the first transfer out of an account and a particular interest group flares up. He will be under constant fire for violating the Constitution. He will be better off acknowledging that the branches of government occasionally have to accept the others ideas and move forward. But that is very hard for President Trump and could be his Achilles' heel. Recently, I filled out a reference questionnaire for a Harvard Business School candidate seeking admission. One of the questions was about humility, and I asked myself Why on earth would Harvard Business School want an incoming MBA student to have humility? Well, in checking with them, they want to ensure against admitting a know-it-all who has never suffered a setback or failure. Sometimes, certain brash young men and women do not have enough humility to accept a defeat or to make a change. President Trump has certainly experienced a series of spectacular successes in life. But now he has to deal with a co-equal Congress and a co-equal judiciary. And that takes a bit of humility and an occasional stepping back and saying OK, we will take your input. The immigration issue will go on and on. However, of far greater importance will be consideration of such specific reforms like the asylum rules, the Dreamer rules, the guest workers question and other issues. Also, Trump will find that Congress will claw back capabilities. That is if the president starts to exercise certain power, Congress can claw back and restore the balance of power intended by the Constitution. Meanwhile, the president should be left free to do his job. This self-inflicted wound will take up more of precious presidential time. He has been spending so much effort lately defending himself. As my former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz points out, we have never had a president under such persistent legal attacks designed to throw him out of office. We somehow have to find a way to let a president do his job, then either re-elect him or defeat him, and then if theres a violation and abuse of power, prosecute him once he is out of office. This Washington paralysis goes on and on. Dershowitz points out that the effort to use the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office is legally absurd. We also have some officials in the Justice Department who discussed a possible invoking of the 25th Amendment. But as Dershowitz pointed out, the amendment can only be invoked if the president doesnt have the capacity to serve due to sickness. And the Justice Department has nothing to do with initiating the 25th amendment. Somehow, we must let this president do his job while he is in office. And the president will have to carefully find the balance and listen to his co-equal partners. The brilliance of our complex Constitution requires some humility on all sides. As Harvard Business School suggests, no one can be the boss of all the teams all the time. Actor Jussie Smollett leaves court in Chicago after being charged with making up the story about being attacked by two men who spewed racist and homophobic slogans at him. Robert Vadra, the businessman husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, on Sunday hinted at a larger role in public service after his name is cleared from the alleged money laundering cases probed by the Enforcement Directorate. In a Facebook post, Vadra recalled the time he had dedicated to serving the people in times of distress and the years spent campaigning across the country, but mainly in Uttar Pradesh. All these years of experience n (sic) learning cannot be just wasted and should be put to better use... once all these accusations n (sic) allegations are over, I feel I should dedicate a larger role in (sic) serving the people.... he said. Vadras wife, Priyanka entered active politics after her appointment as AICC General Secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh. The years n (sic) months that I spent campaigning n working in different parts of the country, but mainly in UP, gave me a feeling to do more for the people n (sic) make smaller changes possible by me, in their areas n (sic) when they got to know me, the genuine love, affection n (sic) respect I earned was humbling, Vadra said. Vadra has been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate on several occasions in the last fortnight in at least two cases -- one involving his alleged links to a defence broker and another related to an alleged land scam in Rajasthan. Vadras mother Maureen too was questioned by the ED at its office in Jaipur recently in connection with the alleged land scam in Bikaner in Rajasthan. Now with my visits to the Enforcement Directorate in Delhi n (sic) Rajasthan, almost 8 visits, of many hours and since I have adhered to the rules n (sic) surely not above the law, I have been a person to learn from every event I go through, he said. Vadra claimed that different governments had tried to malign him by highlighting his name to divert real issues facing the country. People in the country gradually realised this Modus n (sic) knew there was no truth in any of these allegations, Vadra said adding that people have always treated him with respect and wished him luck for a better future. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has beamed back the sharpest, images of Ultima Thule -- the most distant object ever explored by mankind. Just before its closest approach during the New Year's flyby, the spacecraft precisely pointed the cameras to snap the sharpest possible pics of the Kuiper Belt object officially named 2014 MU69. The New Horizons has sent those stored flyby images back to Earth, NASA said in a statement. These images of Ultima Thule -- obtained just six and a half minutes before closest approach to the object at 12:33 am EST on January 1 -- offer a resolution of about 33 metres per pixel. Their combination of high spatial resolution and a favourable viewing angle gives the team an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the surface, as well as the origin and evolution, of Ultima Thule -- thought to be the most primitive object ever encountered by a spacecraft. "Getting these images required us to know precisely where both tiny Ultima and New Horizons were -- moment by moment -- as they passed one another at over 32,000 miles per hour in the dim light of the Kuiper Belt, a billion miles beyond Pluto," Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). "This was a much tougher observation than anything we had attempted in our 2015 Pluto flyby," said Stern, who is also the New Horizons Principal Investigator. "These 'stretch goal' observations were risky, because there was a real chance we'd only get part or even none of Ultima in the camera's narrow field of view," he said. "But the science, operations and navigation teams nailed it, and the result is a field day for our science team! Some of the details we now see on Ultima Thule's surface are unlike any object ever explored before," he added. The higher resolution brings out a many surface features that weren't readily apparent in earlier images. Among them are several bright, enigmatic, roughly circular patches of terrain. In addition, many small, dark pits near the terminator (the boundary between the sunlit and dark sides of the body) are better resolved. "Whether these features are craters produced by impactors, sublimation pits, collapse pits, or something entirely different, is being debated in our science team," said John Spencer, deputy project scientist from SwRI. Project Scientist Hal Weaver, of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, noted that the latest images have the highest spatial resolution of any New Horizons has taken -- or may ever take -- during its entire mission. Swooping within just 3,500 kilometres, New Horizons flew approximately three times closer to Ultima than it zipped past its primary mission target, Pluto, in July 2015. The suspected hijacker was injured and died shortly after being arrested, army spokesman Major General Motiur Rahman said. ( Representational Image) Chittagong: Bangladesh commandos stormed a passenger jet in the countrys southeast on Sunday and shot dead an armed man who allegedly tried to hijack the Dubai-bound flight, an army official said. The suspect, described by officials as a 25-year-old Bangladeshi man, was shot as special forces rushed the plane after it landed safely in Chittagong. The 148 passengers and crew aboard the Bangladesh Biman flight BG147 were all rescued unharmed, officials said. But the suspected hijacker was injured and died shortly after being arrested, army spokesman Major General Motiur Rahman said. He is a Bangladeshi. We found a pistol from him and nothing else, Rahman said. All passengers aboard were evacuated after the airport was sealed of by Army, Navy and elite police Air Vice Marshall Mofid, who goes by one name, said he then kept the accused man busy talking on the phone while special forces units prepared for the dramatic raid. He demanded to speak to our Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina), Mofid said. He claimed he had a pistol, but we are not sure yet whether it is an real or a fake. Islamabad: Amidst heightened Indo-Pak tensions, Pakistan's three former foreign secretaries have urged their government to be prepared to deter any "aggressive action" by India after the deadly Pulwama terror attack while engaging in "robust diplomacy" to end the crisis peacefully. Days after the attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group that killed 40 CRPF soldiers on February 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said security forces have been given free hand to avenge the dastardly act. In a joint article published in Dawn newspaper on Sunday, former foreign secretaries Riaz Hussain Khokhar, Riaz Mohammad Khan and Inamul Haq urged the media, political leadership, intelligentsia and public opinion makers in the two countries to show "responsibility to exercise restraint and take measures to bring some equanimity to the troubled environment". Titled 'A time for restraint', the article started with asserting that "Tension between Pakistan and India is dangerously high" as Prime Minister Modi gave a free hand to his army to take retaliatory action for Pulwama. India has threatened to "isolate" Pakistan and to strangulate its economy besides taking the symbolic step of withdrawing MFN status, they said. "This fraught situation can spark a conflict with incalculable consequences for both Pakistan and India. Can they pull back from the brink?" they wrote. They held that "Pulwama is not Mumbai" because the "signature is clearly that of an indigenous operation" and unlike Mumbai when India followed restraint, New Delhi after Pulwama "resorted to beat the drums of war." They wrote that "Pakistan faces the challenge to avert a catastrophe that Indian actions may precipitate in South Asia." "First and foremost, Pakistan must be ready to deter any possible aggressive action, without being provocative. Preparedness will itself pre-empt escalation," they said. Asking India for serious response to Prime Minister Imran Khan's offer to investigate any actionable information, they said, "simultaneously, Pakistan is engaged in and must continue robust diplomacy at every level internationally, bilaterally and at the United Nations". The trio said that "if formal diplomatic channels with India are paralysed, there is always room for informal contacts." They said that Pakistan "sympathises with and supports" the Kashmiri struggle. But to say that acts of violence in Kashmir at present, such as the Pulwama attack, are sponsored by Pakistan defies not just facts on the ground but basic logic of its policy, they added. Pakistan carries the baggage of history, like most other nations inherit burdens from the past, including the argument that in the past its policy encouraged non-state actors, such as the proscribed JeM and LeT, they said. Pakistan has suffered massively on this count, they added. "Autonomous armed groups in a country are a recipe for doom. Pakistan must implement its National Action Plan in letter and spirit," they wrote. However, the trio said that Kashmiri "struggle cannot be held hostage to concerns over terrorism; as it did not help to paint the Afghan Taliban as terrorist, who regardless of their antiquated outlook, are part of Afghanistan's political landscape." They also said that when there is hope for peace in Afghanistan and the region, "Pakistan-India tension can negate that prospect." The top former diplomats said election of Imran Khan is an opportunity as both the political and the military leadership in Pakistan are firmly and visibly on the same page. "They are together in pursuit of peace with India and a better, cooperative regional environment. And, they are one alongside the nation if faced with aggression." They concluded by saying that in the nuclear age, it is axiomatic that an all-out nuclear conflagration is unthinkable. "So it should also be unthinkable for the two nuclear neighbours to initiate a conflict that has the potential of getting out of control. They must learn to prevent and manage crises rather than spawn and fuel them," the wrote. Riyadh: Saudi Arabia on Saturday named a princess as its first woman ambassador to the US, a key appointment as the fallout over journalist Jamal Khas-hoggis murder tests relations between the allies. Princess Rima bint Bandar replaced Prince Khalid bin Salman, the younger brother of the powerful crown prince who was appointed vice defence minister in a flurry of late-night royal decrees announced on state media. The reshuffle comes as Saudi Arabia seeks to quell an international outcry over Khashoggis murder last October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which strained relations with its key ally Washington. Princess Rima faces hostile US lawmakers who threatened tough action against Saudi Arabia over the brutal killing. Earlier, Pakistan government said that the Punjab government has 'taken over the control of the Jaish headquarters in Bahawalpur.' (Photo: PTI) Lahore: The Pakistan government on Saturday dismissed its own claim that it had taken over the control of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) headquarters and said the complex has no link with the terror outfit, which claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Pulwama in which nearly 40 CRPF soldiers were killed. In a video message on social media, Pakistan's Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the Punjab government took administrative control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, in line with the decisions taken during their National Security Council meeting held on Thursday. Rejecting his earlier announcement that the complex was the terror outfit's headquarters, Chaudhry said, "This is the madrassah (seminary). Calling it Jaish headquarters is India's propaganda. On Friday, the minister had told news agency PTI that the Punjab government has "taken over the control of the Jaish headquarters in Bahawalpur", about 400 km from Lahore. It was the first time Pakistan acknowledged that. A statement issued by Pakistan's Interior Ministry on Friday also said the crackdown on Jaish "has been taken in line with the decision of the National Security Committee meeting held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan". "The Islamic seminaries in the campus have a faculty of 70 teachers and 600 students were studying there. Punjab police are providing security and protection to the campus," the statement read. On Saturday, police took a group of local journalists to the place in Bahawalpur and claimed that it is a "routine seminary having no link with JeM". "Some 600 students are studying here and none of them is associated with any banned organization or involved in any terror activity," police said. A local journalist, who visited the seminary and spoke to some students and teachers there, said, "When asked about the JeM and Masood Azhar, they showed complete ignorance about them. Perhaps they were briefed before our visit." A vehicle is set ablaze at a Venezuelan police station on the border with Brazil where clashes with security forces erupted amid efforts to take aid into the crisis-hit country, on Saturday. An Opposition campaign to deliver aid descended into chaos on Saturday. Two people were killed in clashes with forces on the border. (Photo: AFP) Caracas: International pressure mounted against Venezuelas leader Nicolas Maduro on Sunday, with Washington vowing to take action after Opposition efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the country descended into bloody chaos. Self-declared interim president Juan Guaido called on the international community to consider all measures to free Venezuela after clashes at the border crossing left at least two people dead. Guaido announced he will participate in Mon-days Lima Group meeting of mostly Latin American countries in Bogota, and called on the international community to be prepared for all possibilities regarding Maduro. US Vice-President Mike Pence will represent Washington at the meeting. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US will take action as he condemned violence perpetrated by Maduros thugs. President Donald Trump has said that Washington is not ruling out armed action. Humanitarian aid, much of it from the US, has become the centerpiece of the standoff between Mad-uro and Guaido, the 35-year-old leader of Venez-uelas National Assembly. Maduro claims the aid is a smokescreen for a US invasion, and has ordered several crossings on Venezuelas borders with Colombia and Brazil closed. Two people, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed in clashes Saturday with Venezuelan security forces that left more than 300 people wounded at various border posts. Guaido had set a Saturday deadline for delivering food and medical aid stockpiled in Colombia and Brazil. Hundreds of Venezu-elans were frustrated in their attempts to collect the aid at the Colombian border, where they were pinned back by Maduros security forces. Trucks with aid were prevented from entering the country, and force was used to keep out Venezuelan nationals trying to cross in from Colombia carrying aid parcels. Colombia ordered aid trucks to return from the border after the violence. Global aid is also being held on the Caribbean island of Curacao. A ship with aid from Puerto Rico was forced to turn back after receiving a direct threat of fire from Venezuelas military, the governor of the US territory Ricardo Rossello said. He slammed the move as unacceptable and outrageous. Since dawn, protesters in the border towns of Urena and San Antonio were kept at bay by the Venezuelan National Guard firing tear gas and rubber bullets. It was unclear whether Intels timing on modem chips means that Apple will not have an iPhone with 5G capabilities in 2019. Intel Corp executives said on Friday its 5G modem chips will not appear in mobile phones until 2020, raising the possibility its biggest customer, Apple Inc, will be more than a year behind rivals in delivering a device that uses the faster networks. Sandra Rivera, who oversees Intels networking chip business, said at a media event in Palo Alto, California, that sample 5G modem chips will ship to customers this year but that Intel does not expect consumer products in the market until 2020. Intel has said its 5G modem chip will be available later this year, but it never indicated when it believed products will arrive for consumers. Rivera said non-consumer 5G products, such as networking gear, will appear later this year. It was unclear whether Intels timing on modem chips means that Apple will not have an iPhone with 5G capabilities in 2019. Bloomberg previously reported that Apple would not have a 5G iPhone ready until 2020. Apple executives have held talks with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and MediaTek Inc over 5G modem chips for iPhones to be released this year, but the outcome of those talks is unknown. Reuters reported on Feb. 7 that Apple earlier this year moved its modem engineering efforts into the same division that makes its proprietary processor chips. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. While Apple remains Intels only major modem chip customer now, Intel Chief Executive Bob Swan said the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker plans to pursue other lines of business, such as selling modems to carmakers. He also said that modems could appear in a range of other devices, such as network gear, alongside Intels computing chips as 5G networks proliferate. But Intel executives declined to comment on whether Intel would combine its modem and processors into a single chip the way that rivals such as San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc have done. Swan said Intel did not plan to generate patent licensing revenue from its 5G technology like its Southern California competitor does. Our model relative to other California-based players is just completely different, Swan said. Ours is not a licensing-based model. Royalty streams that are charged against the cost of the entire device, thats a model that as you know has caused quite a bit of friction in the market, Swan continued, alluding to Qualcomms legal battles with Apple and other phone makers over the San Diego firms patent practices. Friction for others is an opportunity for us. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. After the Uri incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: Blood and water cannot flow together. Now the BJPs PM-in-waiting Nitin Gadkari has chipped in by saying that India will cut off water to Pakistan. This must be music to the shakha crowd, but it is far from reality. By implication Mr Gadkari was repeating the old threat that India would retaliate, this time for Pulwama, by turning off the spigots of the three western rivers of the Indus basin that flow unhindered into Pakistan and sustains most of its agriculture and power generation. The truth is that the flow of blood can be stopped, but water will continue to flow. The Indus river system has a total drainage area exceeding 11,165,000 sq km. It is the 21st largest river in the world in terms of annual flow. It is also Pakistans sole means of sustenance. The British had constructed a complex canal system to irrigate the Punjab region of Pakistan. Partition left a large part of this infrastructure in Pakistan, but the headwork dams remained in India, fuelling much insecurity among the Punjabi landowning elite in that country. The World Bank brokered the Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan after many years of intense negotiations to allocate the waters of the Indus river basin. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President Ayub Khan signed the treaty in Karachi on September 19, 1960. According to the IWT, control over the three eastern rivers the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej was given to India, while control over the three western rivers the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum to Pakistan. Since Pakistans rivers flow through India first, the treaty allowed India to use them for irrigation, transport and power generation, while laying down precise regulations for India building projects along the way. The treaty was a result of Pakistani fears that, since the source rivers of the Indus basin were in India, it could potentially create droughts and famines in Pakistan, especially at times of war. Since the ratification of the treaty in 1960, India and Pakistan have fought three wars, but the flow of water as per the treaty was not hampered even for a single day. On the face of it the pact is seen as generous to Pakistan as it gives the lower riparian state 80 per cent of the water of the western rivers. But the reality is that IWT makes a virtue of a necessity, as it is the geography of the region that decides this rather than any altruism. The main Kashmir Valley is just 100 km wide at its maximum and 15,520.30 sq km in area. While the Himalayas divide the Kashmir Valley from Ladakh, the Pir Panjal range, which encloses the Valley from the west and the south, separates it from the great plains of northern India. This picturesque and densely settled Valley has an average height of 1,850 meters above sea level but the surrounding Pir Panjal range has an average elevation of 5,000 meters. Thus, the Pir Panjal range stands between the Kashmir Valley and the rest of the country and is an insurmountable barrier that precludes the transfer of water anywhere else. And neither do the contours of the Kashmir Valley allow for more waters to be stored in any part of it. Since the waters cannot be stored or used by diversion elsewhere, it has to keep flowing into Pakistan. Of the three western rivers given to Pakistan, the Indus, which debouches from Indian territory near Kargil, then flows almost entirely in Pakistan-controlled territory. The Jhelum originates near Verinag near Anantnag, and meanders for over 200 km in the Kashmir Valley before it enters Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. After flowing through Srinagar, it fills up the Wular Lake and then traverses past Baramulla and Uri into PoK. The hydel projects constructed on it supply most of the electricity to the Valley. The Chenab, also known as the Chandrabhaga, originates in Lahaul Spiti in Himachal Pradesh and flows through the Jammu region into the plains of Pakistani Punjab. The catchment area of the Chenab is elongated and narrow and is mostly in India. But the Chenab runs through deep valleys and the river drops by as much as 24 meters per km, imposing physical constraints and huge economic costs on harnessing it. The three eastern rivers allocated to India by the IWT are the Beas, Ravi and Sutlej. These waters sustain agriculture in Punjab and to some extent Haryana, and are substantially used. What enters Pakistan is usually just enough to keep the stream flushed. But nevertheless Pakistan has from time to time blamed India for its floods to the sudden and deliberate release of storage gates. Despite this, the IWT has worked exceedingly well for both countries, and both are loathe to disturb it. Even when India and Pakistan went to war in 1965, 1971 and over Kargil in 1999, the waters flowed without interruption. The fact is that the IWT works because it suits both countries by making a virtue of the geography. The Pulwama incident has fuelled much anger within India and the Narendra Modi government, which rode to power promising to deter Pakistani-origin terrorism in India by threatening retribution is now hard pressed to deliver. After Uri, it discovered that there is a wide yawning gap between promise and reality. The PMs pre-election speeches are now being played back to him to taunt him. The Modi government is flailing for options short of the use of arms. Thus, the somewhat exasperated suggestion seemingly made by the Modi government that it would take a relook at the treaty. It can take a relook it till kingdom come, but the reality remains the same. As Dr Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, head of earth sciences at the geology and geophysics department of the University of Kashmir, recently said: Let us assume we stop the water supply for the sake of argument. Where would the water go? We do not have infrastructure to store this water. We have not built dams in J&K where we can store the water. And being a mountainous state, unlike Tamil Nadu or Karnataka, you cannot move water to another state. So you cannot stop the water technically. There has been much discussion in India on the steps to be taken after February 14s brazen attack on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Jammu & Kashmirs Pulwama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has personally been in the forefront of preparing the public for military action against Pakistan after Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based terror group, owned up to the attack. Pakistan, however, has not gone beyond mundane, defensive, rhetoric. Its status as a safe haven for terrorists and terror groups like JeM was highlighted Thursday when a unanimous resolution passed by the 15-member UN Security Council urged the international community to come to Indias aid by doing everything they could to end terrorist violence like the one that occurred in Pulwama. The resolution named JeM as well as Jammu and Kashmir (which was not referred to as being a disputed territory). Such was the force of the moment that Pakistans all-weather friend China tried to stall the resolution and have the wording changed, but failed to do so. It is this which alerted Pakistan that it must be seen to do something constructive in order not to attract any further international ire. Its eyes would have been on what steps the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the United Nations monitor whose deliberations influence financial aid to Pakistan, might take. Consequently, news came from Pakistan that the operating base of JeM, a madrasa-cum-mosque complex at Bahawalpur in southern Punjab, had been taken over by the state government. There was also news that Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which was organically linked to Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT), and its charity front had been proscribed. It is doubtful if any of this has real meaning, given the history, but it was at least a constructive formal response to the condemnation in the Security Council. But a statement by Pakistan information minister Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday dilutes the import of this. The minister called the news fabricated. Perhaps the Pakistan government does not wish to give the impression of doing anything in response to international pressure. But it may soon find that its room for manoeuvre is limited. US President Donald Trump has said at a media interaction that it is a very dangerous situation between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama outrage as India is considering a very strong response. The United States is unlikely to be in favour of conflict breaking out, and is probably nudging Pakistan to do something concrete to assuage Indias security concerns, and simultaneously urging India to de-escalate to ensure against military confrontation. It is in this context that Prime Minister Narendra Modis words at a rally at Tonk, Rajasthan, on Saturday gain some significance. Mr Modi said he was waiting to see what Pakistan PM Imran Khan would do to deliver on his promise of being truthful and acting honestly. Pyongyang has done it yet again. It has successfully stared down the mightiest power in the world. Relenting from their all or nothing approach, the Americans have agreed to the second summit with North Korea, otherwise known as the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), in Hanoi on February 27 and 28. Earlier this month, on February 21 and 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a state visit to South Korea (otherwise Republic of Korea, or ROK), a dynamic democracy with which we enjoy a special strategic partnership. He aptly described ROK as a truly natural partner. In the past decade or so, with steadily growing synergies between Asias third (India) and fourth largest economies, bilateral ties have flourished in a variety of areas including economic, trade ($21.5 billion in 2018), security and defence, science and technology, IT, cultural as well as people-to-people. South Korea, geographically a tiny nation with a population of 50 million, is an industrial, innovation and hi-tech powerhouse. It has the distinction of being the first developing country in the world to join the ranks of OECD nations in 1996. It now boasts of a per capita income of $30,000, up from $94 in 1961. ROK is highly export-dependent (39 per cent of GDP in 2017) and views India as a key prospective trade and economic partner. Korean conglomerates called chaebol, like KIA Motors and Samsung, invested around $2 billion in India over the last couple of years alone and are keen to qualitatively expand their footprint. Given its complicated security situation, South Korea has invested heavily in defence, notwithstanding the American security umbrella. It has procured, utilised and improved upon, the best of Western technologies and equipment. L&T is currently co-producing Korean K-9 Vajra artillery guns for the Indian Army, after successful field trials. We are in discussions for more defence deals with Seoul, which is open to investing in the newly established Indian defence industrial corridors. During his visit, the PM inaugurated the India Korea Startup Centre which he noted, would serve as a hub for Korean startups and Indian talent to freely communicate. A Korea Start-up Centre (KSC) would similarly be established in India to promote collaboration among startups, as also commercialise their ideas, technologies and designs. Tens of thousands of Indian engineers are already working shoulder-to-shoulder with their Korean counterparts in both countries to develop cutting-edge technologies and applications. The sides are actively exploring possibilities to collaborate in harnessing the gains from the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Prime Minister Modi was also conferred the prestigious Seoul Peace Prize for his efforts to promote global peace and harmony, as well as foster inclusive economic growth in India and improve the quality of life. That Mr Modi chose Seoul for probably his last overseas visit before the forthcoming general election is testimony to the mutual desire to infuse a new momentum in bilateral partnership. In President Moon Jae-in, who visited India last July, he has found an ally that is as committed to the relationship. The South Korean President, since assuming office in May 2017, has also been relentlessly pursuing peace and rapprochement with North Korea. He has been deftly nudging Pyongyang and Washington towards the dialogue table. Both capitals recognise that his mediatory role has been instrumental in facilitating the US-DPRK summits. The decades-long journey to the Singapore (June 12, 2018) and Hanoi summits has been extremely arduous. Insecure, impoverished and isolated, DPRK poses a serious threat to international peace and security, by amassing an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), in defiance of UN/US sanctions and breach of its own non-proliferation commitments. In 2017, it tested a thermonuclear device and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), bringing the continental US within reach for the first time. In early 2018, its 35-year old dictator Kim Jong-un (KJU) abruptly changed course by offering dialogue and engagement with ROK and the US. Seoul and Washington welcomed the offer. President Trump took everyone by surprise in agreeing to meet KJU unconditionally. The latter also proposed denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula (KP), if the ROK and US display goodwill, create an atmosphere of peace and stability, and take progressive and synchronous measures, for achieving it. The proposal embodied both an opportunity and a challenge. Reeling under the impact of crippling economic sanctions and wary of Mr Trumps sabre-rattling, KJU had decided to sue for peace, signalling a desire to embrace economic growth, seek development assistance and accept restrictions on its WMD programme. However, the US demanded an upfront commitment of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation (CVID), which is not acceptable to DPRK. The challenge is compounded by an acute trust deficit between the sides. North Korea is notorious for running circles around its interlocutors and persisting with surreptitious fabrication of WMD. For Pyongyang it is an existential issue. It views its arsenal as an insurance against regime change. On the other hand, the mercurial Mr Trump, whose presidency is now embroiled in major controversies, is craving for a conspicuous foreign policy success. He is convinced of his abilities to strike a suitable deal with KJU. It is in this background that the first ever DPRK-US summit took place in Singapore, where KJU reiterated his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. While there was no mention of CVID or any timelines, yet Mr Trump promptly announced that there is no longer a nuclear threat from Pyongyang. Expectedly a stalemate followed, with DPRK insisting on a reciprocal step-by-step progress and the US on CVID. Notwithstanding Pyongyangs lip service, the global strategic community knows it will never completely surrender its nuclear option. Posturing aside, the US appears to have realised that progressive, reciprocal and limited denuclearisation (PRLD) is their best bet. Washington may settle for a freeze on the Norths ICBM and thermonuclear programmes, moratorium on further tests, dismantlement of the ICBM engine test and launch site at Tongchang-ri, and the critical Yongbyon nuclear facility, in the presence of international inspectors. In return, the US will normalise ties with DPRK, clear a peace pact, dilute sanctions, allow humanitarian assistance and resumption of economic exchanges. There are numerous imponderables and tripwires ahead. The Chinese advice to DPRK will have an important bearing on the outcome. The American ability to stay the course will be severely tested, as will KJUs bona fides. However, there is sufficient room for cautious optimism. Hyderabad: The TRS is gearing up party machinery to prevent the Congress from winning any Lok Sabha seat in the state. TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who has his eyes set on national politics in the post-poll scenario, is keen on his party winning 16 out of 17 seats in the state. He has left the Hyderabad seat to his ally, the AIMIM. The TRS on Sunday announced that partys working president K.T. Rama Rao will hold two preparatory meetings a day from March 1 to cover 16 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats the party will contest. Party whip and MLC P. Rajeshwar Reddy told reporters that from March 1 to 11, the working president will hold meetings in 16 constituencies and each meeting will be attended by 15,000 workers and leaders of the party. Sources in the party said the party chief and working president will concentrate on Khammam, Mahbubabad Bhongir, Chevella and Peddapalli Lok Sabha seats as the TRS had won only one Assembly segment in Khammam and three in Mahbubabad and five each in Chevella and Peddapalli. The party leaders are confident of regaining Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Mahbubnagar, as it had bagged all seven Assembly segments in these three seats. During the 2014 elections, the TRS had lost in Nalgonda, Nagarkurnool, Secunderabad, and Khammam Lok Sabha seats. After the results, Khammam MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, who had won on a YSRC ticket, joined the TRS. Nalgonda MP G. Sukhender Reddy had won the seat on a Congress ticket but shifted his loyalty to the TRS after the results. Though TRS candidate K. Vishweshwar Reddy won the Chevella MP seat, he quit the party just before the Assembly elections and joined the Congress. With these developments, for the TRS leadership a win in Chevella is a prestige issue and it is working out a strategy. Compared to 2014, the party position has considerably improved in Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar and Ranga Reddy districts and party leaders are confident they will get through in Adilabad. Though the TRS had won only one Assembly segment in Khammam Lok Sabha seat, Independent candidate Mr L. Ramulu, who had won from Wyra segment, has already joined the TRS and Telugu Desam MLAs Mr Sandra Venkata Veeraiah and Mr M. Nageswara Rao from Sathupalli and Aswaraopeta segments respectively will also be looking at joining the TRS. With the joining of the Independent MLA from Ramgundam segment under Peddapalli Lok Sabha, the strength of the TRS in the seat reaches to six segments. Mr Rajeshwar Reddy said Mr Rao will commence his preparatory meetings from Karimnagar Lok Sabha and these meetings are aimed at preparing party cadre and leaders and not for discussing selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls. He said the party chief will select candidates and the minister of the district concerned will be in charge of the meeting. In districts where there are no ministers, the party chief will take responsibility of preparatory meets. May 2018. A three-day old BJP government had just collapsed after it failed to prove its majority, paving the way for a coalition experiment in Karnataka. Led by the junior partner, JD (S), the 'secular' coalition of the Congress and JD (S) came into existence. At the swearing-in ceremony, there was an unprecedented display of unity of opposition leaders from Kashmir to Kanyakumari which was described as a precursor to the Mahagathbandan for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Political analysts averred that the Narendra Modi-led BJP would receive a jolt in May 2019 when these parties unitedly took on the NDA. And has that really happened? Going by the scene in February, 2019. In Uttar Pradesh, the SP and BSP seem to have given a jolt to the Congress by giving the national party a raw deal. Karnataka, which had written the foreword for coalition politics last year, seems to be witnessing a never-ending battle of mistrust between the coalition partners. And talks on Lok Sabha seat sharing are yet to successfully conclude. The JD (S) and Congress, who chose to be friends-in-public but are foes-at-heart, came together to chant the coalition mantra whenever Mr Modi took a swipe at Karnataka's coalition politics. Barring that, there is no bonhomie between the two parties. Meanwhile, the principal opposition party in Karnataka, the BJP, which was busy making efforts to dethrone the coalition government, seems to have pressed the pause button and decided to focus on the LS polls. The party's local poster boy B.S. Yeddyurappa, failed miserably in his attempts to become CM again and was left red-faced after the Audiogate scandal broke. Now, the BJP, which had won 17 seats in the May 2014 elections, is intent on improving its performance but the non-performance of many MPs and the JD (S) and Congress coming together seem to be giving the party the jitters. Bhaskar Hegde brings to readers the political plight of the three parties at a time when the calendar of events is about to be announced for the upcoming LS polls. JD (S): Nothing to lose The party has often made tall claims about giving a real democratic touch to its organisation but as it approaches the elections, it goes back to its winnability mantra, that is family centric politics. Just like the coalition government, which has two family members and a relative in it, the JD (S) wants to win more seats in the LS polls by fielding family members. The buzz is that patriarch, H.D. Deve Gowda may shift to Bengaluru North from Hassan, the JD(S) bastion. Last Monday, he reportedly held a meeting with party workers from Bengaluru North and instructed them to begin the spade work for his entry. His grandsons, Prajwal, son of PWD minister H.D. Revanna may debut from Hassan and Chief Minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil who is a film star too, is likely to take the plunge into electoral politics from Mandya. The JD (S) leaders' argument in support of fielding more family members is: Vokkaliga voters love the family and they will definitely elect family members no matter how many contest. If the party gets more seats in the Vokkaliga heartland in south Karnataka, it will be in a better position to gamble for a share of the political pie up north. Party insiders feel the talks between Mr Deve Gowda and AICC president Rahul Gandhi, due sometime next week, may seal the seat sharing deal without upsetting the coalition dharma. Since workers of JD (S) and Congress are sworn enemies in several pockets, it will be interesting to see how the contest plays out on the ground. The JD (S) insiders feel that even if the Congress workers fail to back them in constituencies particularly in south Karnataka, the Muslim vote will come in handy to make up the losses. In coastal Karnataka where the party may get Udupi-Chikmagaluru, it hopes to pocket Christian votes too besides the Muslim votes to neutralise the hardcore Hindutva voters' impact. And up north it wants to make a determined spring to the winning post with Congress votes which party leaders are sure, will be transferred to the JD (S) unlike in the south. Compared to the Congress and BJP, the JD (S) may reap a good harvest this election because it has nothing to lose after winning just 2 seats in 2014. Congress: Infighting may prove costly The party which has 10 seats of the 28 in the outgoing Lok Sabha, seems to be determined to double its tally. Except for Muslims, Kurubas and a section of SCs, the party is not sure whether others including the Vokkaligas will vote for them in old Mysuru region. So, the party's grandiose plan to win 20 seats may hit a roadblock. A few months back, a similar dream of winning the assembly polls had failed because of the caste factor. And unlike the JD (S), the Congress has more problems while facing the LS elections. The party could not satisfy the aspirations of many senior MLAs who wanted to become ministers. Party insiders admit that these dissatisfied MLAs may remain neutral in the crucial LS elections which may prove costly. Two, in constituencies like Kalaburagi, Raichur and Chitradurga, sulking ST leaders may prove counterproductive to the party prospects, observe party insiders. In Kalaburagi, Mallikarjun Kharge, who became popular at the national level for taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament, seems to be facing the toughest challenge of his political life. Party leaders from this region admit that he should not have batted for his son, Priyank Kharge to become minister in the coalition government. Almost all leaders from the region admit that senior Kharge tried to hand over the control of the entire Hyderabad Karnataka region to his son which has not been taken to kindly by the powerful Lingayats and other community leaders. Similarly, veteran, M. Veerappa Moily who was elected from Chikkaballapur has a daunting task in convincing voters this time. Congress MPs in Raichur and Chitradurga too are facing similar problems. The Vokkaligas, says a party senior leader, may opt for NOTA, or back a BJP nominee in case Congress candidates are fielded in their home turf. Probably, only 30 per cent of JD (S) votes may come to a Congress candidate and anything above that would be a bonus. So, banking on its coalition partner JD (S) to transfer its votes, may turn out to be a zero-sum game for the Congress in some constituencies. Historically, Karnataka voters have tended to vote one way in the assembly elections and taken a diametrically opposite stand in the Lok Sabha elections. If that is the case, the Congress can hope to put up a better show than in May last year when its Assembly tally fell by more than 40 seats. However the Modi factor and the dissent within the coalition are likely to become big stumbling blocks and it would be an acid test for the party to buck the trend and make a new beginning. BJP: Non-performance the stumbling block BJP national president Amit Shah's recent visit to the city and his pep talk with party leaders seems to have achieved what the party wanted: Galvanise and enthuse party leaders to get involved in electioneering. But the BJP has several serious problems on hand. Unlike the assembly elections, when the party central leadership gave almost a free hand to party state unit president, B.S. Yeddyurappa on the selection of candidates, it may not do the same this time. The party which had won 17 seats in 2014, is facing serious problems in Bagalkote, Belagavi, Mysuru, Udupi-Chikmagaluru, Bengaluru North and Bidar. In Bagalkote and Belagavi, the non-performance of sitting MPs is a big cause of worry, while in Mysuru, Udupi-Chikmagaluru and Bengaluru North, the coming together of the JD (S) and Congress can pose a serious threat to the BJP. In Bidar, Muslims may upset the BJP's calculations this time. Mr Yeddyurappa who was blamed by many insiders for letting go not less than 15 assembly seats to rival parties in May, seems to be losing his magic touch. He seems to be blindly hoping that infighting between the Congress and JD (S) would fetch votes for the BJP even in the old Mysuru region. A similar strategy proved costly in the assembly elections and it is sure to hit the party hard if it adopts a similar strategy this time too. Unlike the Congress, the BJP seems to lack the strategists needed to work in teams in different region. The party will certainly miss late Ananth Kumar who was one leader who could match or even outwit the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections. Mr Shah who was here on Thursday, did not give any hint of the criteria that the central leadership would adopt to select candidates. He, however did elicit the opinion of party legislators on the selection of candidates. Many have suggested that the candidates be changed in several constituencies including Bagalkote. It will be interesting to see if the party takes the risk of bringing in new faces in constituencies where it has received a negative feedback on the incumbents. Or will it continue to bank on the old war horses? Chidambaram said, 'The greater shame is that the Election Commission is unable to stop the 'Bribe for Votes'. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) New Delhi: With the government set to transfer the first installment of Rs 2,000 to about 2 crore farmers over the next few days, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday termed it as a bribe for votes and said the greater shame is that the Election Commission is unable to stop it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday will launch the Rs 75,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, by transferring the first installment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers. Today is the 'Cash for Vote' day. The BJP government will officially give a bribe of Rs 2000 per agricultural family to get their votes, Chidambaram said in a series of tweets. The money will go to the cultivating farmer as well as the absentee landlord, the former finance minister said. Nothing can be more shameful in a democracy than 'Bribe for Votes'. The greater shame is that the Election Commission is unable to stop the 'Bribe for Votes', he said. Under the scheme, another one crore farmers will be covered in the next 2-3 days, an Agriculture Ministry official had said. In the interim Budget 2019-20, the central government had announced the PM-KISAN scheme under which Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three installments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to two hectares. Hyderabad: TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday said the party will go to the elections with the slogan Telangana people dictate to the Centre. After the Lok Sabha elections, regional parties will play a key role in the formation of the government at the Centre, as the Congress was not in a position to win 100 MPs, and the BJPs strength will dip, he told journalists. He said if the BJP tried to take advantage of the Pulwama terror attack as an election issue, it would definitely lose as it could expose the intelligence lapses at the Centre. Replying to a query on pre-poll surveys indicating a BJP win under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said Mr Modi was the PM and that was why all surveys focussed on him. We did not ally with any party as we are confident of winning. Why is Mr Modi allying with others if he is confident of winning, Mr Rama Rao asked. Reminding that Chief Minister K. Chandrase-khar Rao had achieved Telangana statehood with just two MPs, he said, We have to win 16 seats to be able to dictate to Delhi. So, we have to go to the polls with that slogan. Sixteen seats are requ-ired to ask Delhi for the Bayyaram steel factory. Chennai: DMK president M.K. Stalin has claimed that only the candidate endorsed by his party will become the next Prime Minister. Also, he assured to waive off the students education loans besides provide old age pension to all senior citizens. Addressing a gram sabha meeting at Thorapalli near Hosur in Krishnagiri district in the State on Saturday he said the farmers crop loans would be completely waived off if the DMK combine comes to power. "What I am now saying is sure to happen. We will announce this in our election manifesto (for the Lok Sabha election) also. We will write-off the education loans of the students if the DMK-combine forms the government at the Centre." Also, without taking into account political affiliations, the DMK would provide old age pension to all senior citizens, he said while addressing a massive crowd. Apart from assuring to waive off the farmer's loans, Mr. Stalin said his party would take steps to hold the local bodies elections immediately after coming to power. The DMK president reiterated that there is likelihood of the by-elections to the 21 Assembly constituencies to be held simultaneously with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In December last year while speaking at a function held under the aegis of the DMK to unveil the statue of his father and late Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi here, Mr. Stalin had endorsed Congress president Rahul Gandhi's name as the opposition's PM candidate to defeat the 'fascist' Modi government at the Centre. He later justified his endorsement. However, on Saturday he did not mention Rahul's name but said the candidate endorsed by his party would become the next PM. Mr. Stalin also justified his Gram Sabha meetings, which were criticised by the ruling AIADMK and ally BJP, and said he had completed 98 per cent of the meetings. He called upon his party's union secretaries to strive hard and ensure the party's victory in the elections. New Delhi: National War Memorial built to honour Indian soldiers who fell while defen-ding the country after Independence will be dedicated to the nation on Monday by Prime minister Narendra Modi. Names of 25,942 armed forces men who died in the service of the nation after 15th August 1947 is inscribed on the walls of the Memorial in golden letters. Now all the wreath lying ceremonies to honour the Indian soldiers will be held at the National War Memorial and not at the India Gate. A retreat ceremony will be held every evening at the memorial, which has been constructed adjacent to the India Gate complex. The National War Memorial has in the centre a 15.5-metre tall central obelisk and on its base there will be an eternal flame which will be lit by Prime Minister on Monday. However, the flame for the memorial will not be brought from the Amar Jawan Jyoti as was earlier anticipated. Till, date there was no National War Memorial in memory of the soldiers who died while defending the nation after 1947. There will also be a separate Param Yodha Stah-al dedicated to nations highest gallantry award Param Vir Chakra recipients and will have bronze busts of all the 21 recipients of the award. National War Memorial has a a layout of four landscaped concentric circles spread over 40 acres. At the Centre is The Amar Chakra (circle of immortality) which has an obelisk with eternal flame. Veer Chakra (circle of bravery), a covered gallery that exhibits six murals crafted in bronze depicting valiant battle of the armed forces. Governments recent decision to accede to Africa Peer Review Mechanism has been applauded, as a potential catapult for the economy to surge. Local entrepreneur Sethebe Manake, Director at Vantage Properties said the development is an indication that the country is committed to good governance and best practice. Looking at the peers that have already signed up, Botswana stands accountable to others and them to Botswana, opening a great channel for the leading countries in the continent in many respects to share ideas and ideals for progress and development, said Manake. She said the development can also improve business confidence, with the expectation that government will uphold good governance and apply best practice to its dealings with industry. As the review mechanism kicks in Botswana is able to have its progress measured from its base year and over the periods that reviews are conducted, said Manake, adding that the country will also be able to quantify progress and the speed at which we are moving especially with the peers that have similar environments. Im particularly excited by the presence of Rwanda, and would take it as a challenge to arrive at that level of intra-government accountability. If we do get it right the business environment will likely improve significantly. Last week, President Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the African Peer Review Mechanism paving way for Botswana to join the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), as the 39th country on the continent to sign up the instrument. The signing took place at the African Union High Level Dialogue, during the 28th Summit of the APR Forum of Heads of State & Government. Introduced in 2003, the APRM is a mutually agreed instrument to which member nations of the African Union voluntarily sign up for as a self-monitoring mechanism to encourage conformity with political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards, among member countries. Some of the AUs 36 members that signed up to the MOU establishing the APRM are Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Ethiopia, Algeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Malawi, Mauritius, Sierra Leone and Tanzania among others. The upbeat Manake said the development has potential to lure investors to the countrys shores. I cannot speak with authority on the countrys efforts to attract FDI, however it is a notable step that indicates to investors that we are working on being the best, said Manake. Manake added that Botswana has signed and made a lot of commitments recently towards Africa to Africa co-operations and trade.We are a real participant in global conversations as one would have seen with the World Economic Forum this year in Davos. This is a clear indication that we are serious about FDI, development, our intention to being a high income country and these are definitely steps in the right direction, said Manake. India is among few countries like the US, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and Trinidad & Tobago that maintain a sex offenders' list. New Delhi: A list with details of over five lakh sex offenders who have been convicted for crimes against women has now been added to a database which law enforcement agencies can access to help crack sex crimes across the country. The national registry of sex offenders, which is maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau, has a database of offenders convicted under charges of rape, gangrape, Pocso and eve-teasing. Home ministry officials said that so far details of more than five lakh sex offenders has been added to the database. India is among few countries like the US, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and Trinidad & Tobago that maintain a sex offenders' list. The US is the only country where the sex offender registry is available to the public. All relevant details like the photos and IDs available in the registry will only be accessible by law enforcement agencies and will help them track and investigate sexual offence cases. The database includes details like name, address, photo and fingerprint details for each entry but there will be no compromise on privacy. All these records have been sourced from the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems, which is a unit of the home ministry.. As per the NCRB, as many as 38,947 rape cases were registered in 2016, against 34,651 in 2015. Overall crimes against women rose from 3,29,243 in 2015 to 3,38,954 in 2016. A majority of cases in 2016 in crimes against women were reported under cruelty by husband or his relatives (32.6 per cent), followed by assault on woman with intent to outrage her modesty (25 per cent), kidnapping of women (19 per cent), and rape (11.5 per cent). Guwahati: Even after Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandus clarification that his government was not going to give Permanent Residence Certificate to six non-Arunachali communities, violence continues to rock the states capital Itanagar. Hundreds of protesters set deputy chief minister Chowna Meins house on fire and clashed with security forces in their attempt to attack the CMs residence on Sunday. The protesters, who went on a rampage across Itanagar throughout the night, also set a police station on fire, forcing the state administration to call the Army and impose prohibitory orders. A protester was killed and two others were critically wounded in police firing on Saturday night. Security sources said that on Sunday they opened fire on protesters who were trying to attack the CMs bungalow and shot dead at least three protesters. Senior police officers could not be contacted to confirm the deaths. Arunachal Pradesh Congress chief Takam Sanjay on Sunday demanded Presidents rule in the frontier state, blaming Union minister Kiren Rijiju, Mr Khandu and his ministers for the current situation in the state. Mr Sanjay said the BJP was trying to turn Arunachal into another Kashmir. He said: For the last four years they did nothing for PRC, but now at the fag end of their tenure, they are trying to give PRC hurriedly. Mr Sanjay, who was in New Delhi, told this newspaper that the BJP was trying to turn Arunachal into another Kashmir. He said: For the last four years they did nothing for PRC, but now at the fag end of their tenure, they are trying to give PRC hurriedly. Like all other Northeastern states, Arunachal was also passing through a political turmoil on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Bill and the governments sudden move to grant PRC has hurt peoples sentiments. Admitting that it has been a long pending issue of the state, Mr Sanjay said: The BJP was trying to destroy the harmony between tribals and non-tribals, that existed in the state, by such divisive moves. He also regretted that all BJP ministers have fled Itanagar instead of dousing the fire. The day protests started, the state leaders had an opportunity to talk to the protesters on the state Assembly premises, where they had gathered first, Mr Sanjay said. But instead of engaging with them, they resorted to suppress the agitation, provoking the sentiments of the people. He outrightly rejected charges by the ruling party about his involvement. He also appealed to the protestors to maintain peace and demanded judicial probe to fix responsibility. Informing that even the Army has not succeeded in defusing the situation, security sources in Itanagar said provocative posts on social media were adding fuel to the violence, as protesters tried to attack the chief minister Pema Khandus residence on Sunday. Amit Shah also said that there is zero tolerance on terrorism and Pulwama terror attack would be avenged. (Photo: ANI) Jammu: BJP President Amit Shah said that the leaders, who provoke separatist tendency among the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, send their children abroad for studies while they make schools in the valley to shut down. "The youth of the valley should ask these leaders where their children study. They all study in London and America at the cost of the public money of Jammu and Kashmir. They talk of separatism, provoke the youth of valley, provoke separatist tendency. Those who close schools here send their children abroad for studies," said Amit Shah while addressing a public rally in Jammu. Targeting Congress, National Conference and PDP, Shah said all the three parties are "Parivarwadi" parties who care only for their families. He also said that there is zero tolerance on terrorism and Pulwama terror attack would be avenged. "The blood of the soldiers killed in Pulwama would not go waste," said Shah. "The unprecedented development which Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed in the Narendra Modi government would not have taken place had the "parivarwadi" parties like NC-PDP would have ruled the state," he said. "Congress, NC and PDP are the Pariwarwadi parties who work not for the development of the Jammu and Kashmir but instead for the development of their own families," said Shah. He also slammed NC chief Farooq Abdullah saying that he has no moral right to take the account of work from the BJP government. "Farooq Abdullah was asking our account. I want to say that we are people who stay here and don't go to London for vacations," said Amit Shah. He also targeted Congress President Rahul Gandhi for allegedly raising questions on the centre for the Kashmir situation. "Rahul Gandhi raises questions on the situation of Kashmir. I want to tell him that if questions are being raised about Kashmir today, it is because of your great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru. When our forces were going to conquer PoK, who stopped them? It was Jawaharlal Nehru," said Shah. After launching the scheme, the Prime Minister also handed over certificates to select beneficiaries of the scheme. (Photo: ANI) Gorakhpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme here on Sunday. PM-KISAN scheme, announced in the interim Budget, released earlier this month will provide Rs 6,000 per year to small and marginal farmer families having combined land holding/ownership of up to 2 hectares. The amount will be given in three installments of Rs 2,000 each. The amount will be transferred directly to the bank account of the beneficiaries through Direct Benefits Transfer. DBT will ensure transparency in the entire process and will save time for the farmers. Taking a dig at the grand alliance Modi said, ''Warn those state governments who are looking to play politics with PMKisan Yojna, if you indulge in this then curse of farmers will destroy your politics. I appeal to farmers, don't be misled by anyone." PM:Warn those state govts who are looking to play politics with #PMKisan Yojna, if you indulge in this then curse of farmers will destroy your politics.I appeal to farmers, don't be misled by anyone. 'Mahamilavti' logon ke moonh utre huye the Parliament mein jab scheme batayi gyi pic.twitter.com/zIyHCjj3Qb ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 24, 2019 After launching the scheme, the Prime Minister also handed over certificates to select beneficiaries of the scheme. Later, the Prime Minister also interacted with the farmers of Kerala via video conferencing. Vankwani, a member of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was part of a foreign delegation which was invited to attend the Kumbh Mela. (Photo:ANI) New Delhi: Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, a Hindu parliamentarian from Pakistan, on Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of an event here. Vankwani, a member of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was part of a foreign delegation which was invited to attend the Kumbh Mela by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). He also met Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh on the fringes of the event. Talking to ANI, Vankwani said, "I thank the Indian government for the warm welcome accorded to me. I met PM Modi, V K Singh and held discussions with Sushma ji. I assured that there is no Pakistani involvement in the Pulwama attack. We should move in a positive direction, we want peace." "Whether (Pakistan-based) JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammad) has claimed the responsibility for the attack for taking credit or is actually involved, is a matter of investigation. I can assure you that these days there is no such establishment in Pakistan which can use Pakistan land for acting against other nations," he said. Forty CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide bomb attack on their convoy on February 14 in Pulwama in Kashmir. JeM had claimed responsibility for the terror strike. Asaduddin Owaisi also outlined the countrys diversity and said that the neighboring country is jealous by the unity of Indian citizens. (Photo: File) Mumbai: All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday called out Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to drop his mask of innocence while criticizing the Pakistan government for its role in the Pulwama terror attack. Addressing a rally along with Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh president Prakash Ambedkar, Owaisi said, We would like to tell Pakistan PM not to give that message to India which he wants to seated before a camera. This is not the first attack. There was Pathankot, Uri and now Pulwama. And on behalf of India, I want to tell the Prime Minister of Pakistan to drop his mask of innocence. He also said that Pakistan should not worry about Indian Muslims as they are here by choice after refusing Jinnah's proposition during 1947. He also outlined the countrys diversity and said that the neighboring country is jealous by the unity of Indian citizens. One of the ministers from Pakistan had said that they will stop the prayer bells from ringing in temples of India but I want to tell him that he doesnt know India. Till Muslims of this country are alive, Azaan will sound from mosques and bells will ring in temples. This is the beauty of our country which the neighboring country sees with jealousy. People in this country live as one and when it will come to the country we all will be together, Owaisi said. Owaisi also lambasted terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed for its role in the dastardly terror attack and opined that a disciple of Mohammed would never kill a person. I want to clearly say as a citizen of India, that this dastardly attack has links to Pakistan. It was done as per plan of Pakistan government, Pakistan Army and ISI. I would like to tell the outfit that killed our 40 men and claimed its responsibility - you're not Jaish-e-Mohammed, you are Jaish-e-Shayateen. You are Jaish-e-Shayateen, Jaish-e-Iblis. Masood Azhar, you are not a Maulana, you are a disciple of the devil. It is not Laskhar-e-Taiba, it is Lashkar-e-Shayateen. Around 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives when a JeM operative attacked their convoy in Pulwama's Awantipora in the state of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. In the wake of the attack, the international community has extended its support to India in its fight against terrorism, including China which had previously stonewalled efforts to designate JeM chief Masood Azhar as a "global terrorist" at the United Nations Security Council. Hyderabad: Behind every successful man, they say, is a woman. And behind a successful woman? A tribe of other successful women. This, at least, is the case with women Urdu writers in Hyderabad. Mehfil-e-Khawateen, a literary organisation of women and by women has proved to be a catalyst for young writers to come to the fore. In its 48 years of existence, the Mehfil has succeeded in drawing out a huge untapped reservoir of talent among women. It has been an amazing journey. We started off with just five women in 1971 and today the Mehfil has 200 women on its rolls, says its proud president Dr Habeeb Zia. Ahead of its annual conference on February 25, there is hectic activity at the Mehfil. Women writers are busy giving shape to the biennial souvenir, firming up the nitty-gritty of convention and selecting their best poems for the Sham-e-ghazal programme. It is time for the Mehfil to take stock of things and plan the future. The immediate task is to ensure participation of a broad spectrum of women. The only organisation of its kind, the Mehfils biggest contribution is to make women Urdu writers, who are largely Muslims, come out of the closet. Female writers generally feel isolated and clueless. They all want to make it big and get recognition. But most of them are unsure about their writings. They dont know whom to approach for guidance or how to get their works published. Once I joined Mehfil, I gained a lot of confidence and also got a few of my poems and short stories published, says an excited Atiya Mujeeb Arafi, who teaches at the Government High School in Sultan Bazaar. Gule Rana, an assistant professor with Telangana University who has authored a book on well-known humour writer Mujtaba Husain, concurs with this view. Over the years, many women have published novels, short stories and poems with the aid of the State Urdu Academy. Though it is an individual achievement, the inspiration and guidance provided by Mehfil cant be glossed over. Women who never thought they could write have become authors, says Prof Ashraf Rafi, who has 13 books to her credit. What do they focus on? No, it is not just romance or women-specific issues. They pitch in for socially relevant themes like discrimination, poverty, safety besides national and international conflicts. Women writers now have a sense of community. Mehfil provides them a platform to share personal experiences, stories and empower each other. Senior writers guide and help the newcomers with their writing. We try to hone their skills and instil confidence, says Zia, who has authored half a dozen books. Some well-known writers associated with Mehfil include Qamar Jamali, Audesh Rani, Naseema Turabul Hassan, Tasneem Johar and Shabeena Farshori. Of late, it has also attracted multilingual poets like Elizabeth Kurian Mona and Sunita Lulla. Mehfil holds its meetings on second Saturdays every month at the Urdu Hall in Himayatnagar. Though it boasts of 200 members not all are writers. Everyone, of course, has a strong passion for Urdu literature but only 25 to 30 of them are into writing poems and short stories. The inclusive forum, however, keeps sparking interest and emboldening women to wield the pen. Bait Bazi, which is similar to Antakshari, is organised on a regular basis and this helps whet poetic skills. Also, mushairas and dholak-ke-geet are conducted to involve all women writers. Unfortunately, the Mehfils attempts to expand activities has hit a roadblock for want of resources. Operating on a shoe-string budget, it cant think of broad-basing its programmes any further. Bengaluru: Sitting BJP MPs may have been promised a ticket once again this Lok Sabha poll by state party president, B.S.Yeddyurappa, but their fate is far from certain as the partys second rung leaders and office bearers reportedly opposed the idea at a meeting with BJP national president, Amit Shah in the city on Thursday. The leaders instead suggested the party should hold a survey before selecting candidates for the Lok Sabha poll from the state as some of the MPs were facing anti-incumbency, according to sources. The opposition is particularly strong against sitting MPs of Udupi-Chikamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Mysuru and Hubballi-Dharwad as they are not on good terms with party workers, they reveal. The grouse is that some of these MPs have hardly visited their Lok Sabha constituencies over the last five years. Mr Shah was also reportedly informed about the social media campaign against a few MPs and urged to field strong candidates in Chikkodi, Ballari, Chitradurga, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapura and Kolar. The partys core committee leaders too felt it should target winning over 22 seats these elections, and seriously consider the anti- incumbency factor working against sitting MPs. Mr Shah, who is said to have taken feedback from the local leaders about the ground situation in all 28 Lok Sabha constituencies, and especially the 17, where it won during the 2014 elections, was, however, non-committal on giving tickets to sitting MPs and reportedly assured that the party would go by a field survey on the popularity and winnability of candidates. Deforestation is one of the major threats that the planet is facing now. Forests are being cleared extensively, making way for industries. However, a recent NASA study has indicated that earth got greener in the past two decades and interestingly, the change was brought out by two most heavily populated countries in the world India and China. Common notion is that populous countries utilise more natural resources. Nevertheless, the NASA study says that India and China are responsible for almost 33 per cent of the planet's greening. This greening effect is due to intensive agriculture practices in the two countries that have in turn increased the average leaf area every year since 2000. However, it is to be noted that the study only looks at the increase or decrease in the green vegetation across the planet and not the overall greenness of a region. Meanwhile, Gautam Adanis Adani Enterprises Limited is getting ready to mine a green zone in Chhattisgarh. The mine comes under the largest contiguous stretches of dense forest called Hasdeo Arand categorised as a no-go area for mining that has an area of around 1,70,000 hectares. Of that, 841.538 hectares of land has been cleared for mining by the Forest Advisory Committee of the Union Environment Ministry. In view of the NASA study, shouldnt other countries step in and contribute heavily to the cause? Will such initiatives result in the reduction of global warming? Should there be strict rules to conserve forests? Shouldnt the State and Central governments refrain from allotting green zones for industrial purposes? Locals must take control Today, new roads are proposed across farms, through mountains and even through sanctuaries. Neither the government nor people are aware of the limited natural resources available. We have certainly gone overboard exploring without thinking about the future. With every mountain that we break for stones, we are indirectly reducing the amount of moisture it can hold, thereby slowly but steadily affecting rainfall in the region. We also mine deep altering tectonic composition. This later causes tremors even in non-earthquake prone areas. Enough damage has been done already. It's high time we let locals take control of preserving their environment. Planting trees is easy. The problem lies in maintaining them. I hate to imagine forests without local tribes. Rules do exist, but the officials in most cases find it tough to enforce them. Without waiting for the government to take action, people must take the initiative to conserve nature. No mining in forests The allocation of huge parcels of land, rich in biodiversity, for the purpose of mining by the government to large corporations should be strongly condemned. Majority of these mines have severe impact on the quality of water, air and land. Due to mining, the water sources get contaminated leading to reduction in the availability of clean drinking water. It also affects air and land. The destruction of these habitats can lead to many endangered species of flora and fauna getting extinct. The government should show more concern in preserving such large parcels of land that benefit the environment and not destroy them for their personal benefits Plant and set aside more forest land While it is good news that India is contributing to the greenery of the world, it still is slightly challenged in the real sense of forestation. We have more cropland than forest land when compared to the next largest contributor China. We have applied smart ways of farming, good use of water irrigation that has led to this massive change from the 1990s. But it does not rectify the lack of enough trees, which can only be done via planting more and by identifying and setting aside forest land, apart from conserving our existing forests which are fast depleting given the need for infrastructure. When on one hand we exhibit great responsibility in increasing our green leaf area, we fall short in applying the same forethought when it comes to restricting our dependence on fossil fuels. The granting of stage 1 permission for Adanis company can perhaps be suspected on governmental or institutional favour back. But how much of scientific research has been disregarded to create this favour needs to be carefully studied. Apart from just the environmental aspect, the future economics of coal mining must also be taken into consideration. Boost forests The Nasa survey is a very welcome news, as any form of green cover increase is appreciated and encouraged. However, this should not be taken for granted, as cropped areas will be able to increase green cover alone. It is imperative that natural forests should be increased both area wise and density wise as it will not only increase the green cover but also increase the biodiversity, including flora and fauna. Establish models Forests support not only wildlife, but also thousands of local communities living in and around them. Therefore, it is important to establish models which demonstrate that local communities and protected areas can co-exist, mutually benefitting from each another. Existing practices, however, could pose a risk as these may be unsustainable. Moreover, continued and poorly managed human disturbance is likely to destroy forests, affecting natural connectivity between crucial wildlife habitats. As the country makes significant efforts towards conserving its natural heritage, it sometimes becomes counter-productive for the communities living around forests as increased protection of wildlife habitats and nature restr-icts their access to these regions. The government shouldnt allot green zones for industrial purposes because natural resources need to be protected for the benefit of supporting our ecosystem and saving mankind Create green belts in urban spaces Greening the earth is possible by both agricultural means and forestry means, but the latter has a long term result. Awareness on the need of afforestation is on an increasing trend, thanks to the continuous news updates on global warming and climate change. People have become more concerned towards the forests and wildlife habitat these days. In India, Judiciary is also stringent with respect to forest. All these have helped us to protect and to increase our forest cover, but the rate of increase is not proportionate to the rate of urbanisation. We need to create more green belts and plantations in our urban spaces. Smart cities should definitely have this as a primary goal. With such assured efforts, India will surely lead the other countries in creating a greener earth. Leading Telugu cinema director, V. V. Vinayak, is still working on the script of his next film, which was expected to go on the floors by now. He is also still looking for an actor to collaborate with. Although Vinayak is a talented director, he has failed to impress the audience with his last few releases. Word is that even the credit for the success of Khaidi No.150 went to Chiranjeevi. As per his plan, Vinayak was expecting to work with Balakrishna for his upcoming movie, but the actor has joined forces with Boyapati Srinivas for the moment. Also, with elections around the corner, it may take some time to kickstart the project if Vinayak were to wait for Balakrishna. Most top actors, unfortunately, are caught up at the moment. Ram Charan and Jr NTR have committed to Rajamouli. Even Mahesh, Prabhas, and Allu Arjun have all announced their upcoming projects. Looks like Vinayak will be working with actors like Nithiin, Varun Tej or Ravi Teja who have their dates free. He has already worked with Nithiin and Ravi Teja before so its likely that he might opt to work with them again. BORDERLAND BEAT The Most Extensive and Reliable Source of Information Related to the Mexican Drugs Cartels. You will not find this level of coverage anywhere else, join us! Send information, pictures or videos, you remain 100% anonymous. Envia fotos, videos, notas, enlaces o informacion todo 100% Anonimo. General Mail Box: borderlandbeat@gmail.com Want to be a contributor or citizen reporter for Borderland Beat? We love to have you in our team, send us an email! WARNING: Posts may contain strong violent material, discretion is advised. COMMENTS: We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. Nicki Minaj was forced to cancel her show in Slovakia due to technical difficulties. The rapper was scheduled to perform at Bratislavas Ondrej Nepela Arena on the second stop of her world tour, Nicki WRLD Tour, but the venue couldnt handle the technical aspects of her stage. According to TMZ.com, the transformers shut down and the arena suffered several outages as a result. However, the issue didnt stop Nicki from connecting with those who came to see her. Weve been trying for hours to get the show to work, and the building (owners) says they dont have the power in this building to make this show work, she told the crowd, adding, I feel horrible because you guys have been here for hours, and theyve been trying everything they possibly can. She promised to return on a later date. Budha ChandraFPIs have scaled down their stakes in IT companies like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies, Mindtree, Hexaware Technologies, L&T Infotech and Vakrange. Mumbai: Foreign funds creamed off over Rs 30,000 crore ($4.3 billion) by selling blue-chip stocks like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, TCS, SBI and Sun Pharma during the December quarter. Foreign Portfolio Investors were aggressive sellers in Nifty and Sensex stocks during the third quarter of this financial year while where they were also seen buying into select mid-cap stocks. An analysis shows that FPIs have sold 3 per cent holding in Axis Bank to mop up Rs 4,757 crore, while in ICICI Bank they sold 1.9 per cent stake for over `4,092 crore. They offloaded stocks worth Rs 2,969 crore and Rs 2,429 crore, respectively, in Reliance Industries and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. FPIs have scaled down their stakes in IT companies like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies, Mindtree, Hexaware Technologies, L&T Infotech and Vakrange. FIIs have been cautious about the India market in the last one year on account of premium valuation and lack of earnings growth, due to this domestic market underperformed versus its global peers in recent times, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. FPIs have raised their stake in mid-cap companies during the October-December 2018 quarter. Some mid-cap companies in which FPIs have raised their stakes include Bharat Financial Inculsion, Just Dial, Divis Laboratories, Power Finance Corporation, Dewan Housing and Lupin. They have raised the holdings in Dr Reddys Laboratories as well. FPIs sold stocks of banks, IT services and oil, gas & consumable fuels, while mutual funds bought oil, gas & consumable fuels, banks and IT services during the December 2018 quarter FPI ownership in the BSE-200 Index was steady at 23.6 per cent in the December quarter. Overseas investors pulled out over `83,000 crore from the capital markets in 2018, after pouring in a record Rs 2 lakh crore in 2017, on the back of rate hikes in the US, rise in global crude prices and rupee depreciation. Foreign flows are expected to be range-bound in 2019, as FPIs may continue their cautious stance until there are concrete signs of economic recovery and certainty over the formation of a stable government after the general elections, analysts said. Chennai: There is no magic wand to create jobs unless issues regarding availability of skilled labour is addressed, says Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India. Though the government has been running several skills development programmes in collaboration with the industry, the CEA finds that it will take time for the efforts to bear fruits. Investments and credit offtake by the private sector too will take time to catch up, he beleives. When we talk about jobs, everybody asks where are the jobs and that is a supply side question. On the demand side, where are the skilled people to take those jobs? That question a lot of people are not asking. Skilling is an activity that does not happen overnight. It is a phenomenon that actually takes time. So you have to be patient, Subramanian told Financial Chronicle in an interaction. According to Subramanian, building skill is a process that takes time and there are some cultural aspects as well to be addressed. A lot of the youngsters, once they are 18, start looking for government jobs in many parts of the country. You can try getting government jobs till you are 28-29 and after 18 you are picking up Competition Success Review and memorising some facts and doing some arithmetic here and there. None of these matters for the private sector jobs. So you have a 10-12-year period when skilling is basically not happening for taking up private sector jobs or self-employment. So the question is about skilling and nobody will have a magic wand to create jobs unless the skilling aspect is taken care of, he said. When asked about the skills development programmes, he said: There is no paucity in efforts to skill people. Remember skilling starts from education itself. It takes time to manifest and nobody has a magic wand. With the advancement in technology, labour is being substituted by capital and more automation is coming in. As a result, jobs are being lost in several sectors and then there are sectors where jobs are being created. When you combine all these, net-net in the economy what you see is many jobs are being created. It is important to look at which sectors are creating jobs and which are basically not creating jobs. Therefore, net-net job creation is not the right question to ask, he said. The CEA also feels that it will take time for the pace of investment and credit offtake to catch up in the private sector. (With) the process of better governance coming in, there will be some slowdown, because we are seeing a structural change in the way in which money is lent to projects by banks and the way in which corporates invest that money, in a lot more prudent manner. Therefore, this is something that will take some more time. But I think, this is a good thing because we will have a much healthier way of capital budgeting as a result of these reforms, he said. According to him, until 2014 we saw an increase in private investments because real rate of interest was negative and as a result there was easy money available in the absence of institutional checks and balances. That is why credit flowed into projects which did not necessarily deserve it. You had stress in the corporate balance sheet as companies invested without thinking that the projects were viable or not and built up excess capacity and you had banks that were lending indiscriminately until 2014, which is why we had a dual balance sheet problem. Now both of these are getting corrected. Since 2017, the NPA (non-performing asset) scenario has started coming down, because of the recapitalisation as well. The trend has turned. Corporates now have to be very careful before taking a loan, he added. The Council, in its 33rd meeting, said a residential property priced at Rs 45 lakh or below will now fall under the category as affordable and will be taxed at 1 per cent, clarifying that the concession relate to property measuring 60-sq metre in metros and 90-sq metre in non-metro cities. New Delhi: In a huge relief to homebuyers, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Sunday reduced the GST rate on affordable housing to 1 per cent from the prevailing 8 per cent and expanded the ambit of the affordable segment. The council also slashed the tax rate on under-construction housing properties to 5 per cent without input tax credit, from the existing 12 per cent. The Council, in its 33rd meeting, said a residential property priced at Rs 45 lakh or below will now fall under the category as affordable and will be taxed at 1 per cent, clarifying that the concession relate to property measuring 60-sq metre in metros and 90-sq metre in non-metro cities. The new tax rates will be effective April 1 this year. Currently, the GST is levied at 12 per cent on payments made for under-construction properties or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate has not been issued at the time of sale. However, the GST Council headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reports here that builders would not be able to claim input tax credit (ITC) under the new GST rates. The GST is not levied on real estate properties for which completion certificate has been issued at the time of sale. The Council, however, deferred a decision on lotteries, with Jaitley saying that the Group of Ministers (GoMs) will meet again to discuss the proposal. Currently, state-run lotteries attract 12 per cent GST, while state-authorised lotteries attract 28 per cent. Jaitley said the criteria for affordable housing in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai MMR region, will be carpet area of up to 60 square metres and priced up to Rs 45 lakh. For non-metro cities, the criteria will be defined based on carpet area of up to 90 sq metres and cost up to Rs 45 lakh. Reacting the development, M.S. Mani, Partner, Deloitte India, said: analysts said that real estate sector needed rate reductions to push sales of non-afforbable sections as well. With these reductions, the GST rate on normal under-construction apartments would be a little lower than that prior to introduction of GST, and that affordable housing would be significantly lower than before, said. Niranjan Hiranandani, National President, Nati-onal Real Estate Develop-ment Council (Nardeco), said: This announcement gives an impetus to the affordable housing and enthuse homebuyers to close the sale deals. The GST rate on cement has not been reduced as was expected, at 28 per cent it remains among the highest taxed inputs for construction and there will be no input tax credit, so developers will face a challenging time. Significant increase in incoming tourism has been the result of the economic diversification strategy adopted by the government of Oman. (Representational Image) New Delhi: Oman is expecting a double-digit growth in the number of tourist arrivals from India, its second-highest source market, in 2019 as it hard-sells the country as preferred destination here. The Sultanate of Oman recorded a 12.37 per cent growth in Indian tourist arrivals in 2018 with 3,57,147 travellers, against 3,17,844 in 2017, making India the second-highest source market for the country, Oman's Ministry of Tourism said in a statement. "Our plans are to achieve double-digit growth in the number of Indian tourist arrivals during the year 2019," Lubaina Sheerazi, India representative of Oman's Ministry of Tourism, said. India has been an important market for Oman and it has been one of the best-performing countries, reaching the status of second-highest source market after the Gulf Cooperation Council, she added. About the initiatives the country has taken and is taking to promote itself as a preferred destination here, Sheerazi said: "Several initiatives have contributed to this success, such as launch of the electronic visa, direct flight connectivity from various cities in India and opening of the new passenger terminal at Muscat International Airport, among others." With growing number of travellers each year, the Oman Tourism Strategy, developed by the Ministry of Tourism, foresees at least 11.7 million international and domestic tourists by 2040, she added. "As part of its 2040 strategy, the Ministry of Tourism is undertaking major steps to develop and promote a series of destinations across Oman, offering visitors a broader variety of distinctive experiences, with the goal of encouraging extended visits and greater engagement with the country's culture and natural sites," Sheerazi said. The significant increase in incoming tourism has been the result of the economic diversification strategy adopted by the government of Oman, she added. The Ministry of Tourism is fully committed to enhancing the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) component and to help Oman achieve its potential to be a first-class destination for the business tourism segment, Sheerazi said. Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has announced that paddy farmers in the state will get a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal for the crop. Till last year, the government was giving a bonus of Rs 200 per quintal for paddy, the key Kharif crop. The previous government gave bonus only around the time of elections. But, the BJP-led government gave Rs 200 bonus per quintal for paddy crop every year, irrespective of polls, Fadnavis said addressing a gathering at Sakoli taluka in Bhandara district on Saturday. There is a demand for a hike in paddy crop bonus.The government has decided to increase the bonus from Rs 200to Rs 500 per quintal, he added. To woo distressed farmers ahead of the general polls, the NDA government at the Centre had last year hiked the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy by a sharp Rs 200 per quintal for the 2018-19 crop year. With that decision, the MSP of paddy (common grade) was increased to Rs 1,750 per quintal. Meanwhile, Fadnavis also said that no lease will be recovered for fishing in lakes up to 500-hectare area. Also, fishing contracts will be allocated only to fishing cooperative societies, he said. According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till November 2018 is Rs 7,97,496.44 crore, which is 37.07 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. New Delhi: As many as 347 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have shown cost overruns to the tune of over Rs 3.2 lakh crore owing to delays and other reasons, a Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation report said. The ministry monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above. "Total original cost of implementation of the 1,443 projects was Rs 18,30,362.48 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 21,51,136.69 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 3,20,774.21 crore (17.53 per cent of original cost)," the ministry's latest report for November 2018 said. Of these 1,443 projects, 347 reported cost overruns and 360 time escalation. According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till November 2018 is Rs 7,97,496.44 crore, which is 37.07 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. However, it said the number of delayed projects decreases to 302, if delay is calculated on the basis of latest schedule of completion. For 710 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported. Out of 360 delayed projects, 106 have overall delay in the range of 1 to 12 months, 60 are delayed by 13 to 24 months, 93 reflect delay of 25 to 60 months and 101 projects show 61 months and above delay. The average time overrun in these 360 delayed projects is 44.43 months. The brief reasons for time overruns, as reported by various project implementing agencies, are delays in land acquisition, forest clearance and supply of equipment. Besides, there are other reasons like fund constraints, geological surprises, geo-mining conditions, slow progress in civil works, shortage of labour, inadequate mobilisation by the contractor, Maoist problems, court cases, contractual issues, ROU/ROW (right of use/right of way) problems, law and order situation, among others. It also observed that project agencies are not reporting revised cost estimates and commissioning schedules for many projects, which suggests that time/cost overrun figures are under-reported. Maruti Suzuki India is undertaking service campaign for 3,757 units of its premium hatchback Baleno. New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India is undertaking service campaign for 3,757 units of its premium hatchback Baleno to inspect and update modified software in actuator assembly ABS, a key part of braking system. The service campaign will cover Baleno manufactured between December 6, 2018 and February 4, 2019, the company said in a customer notice on its website. An ABS (anti-lock braking system) actuator is a hydraulic device that communicates with the ECU (engine control unit) to control brakes under emergency situations. The company said it wasn't a recall as there is no safety concern involved in this case. "Service campaigns" are undertaken globally by automobile companies to rectify faults that may cause inconvenience to customers, it said. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription and are still unable to access our content, please link your digital account to your print subscription If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. remaining of SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Inventor Peter Kennedy always has had a notebook or cellphone on hand to write down many of his ideas. Recently, students at Darien High School in IDEA, Engineering, and AP Computer classes heard Kennedy speak about his many inventions, which range from the standard layout of the computer keyboard to the "pinch" screen zoom used on the iPhone. His visit was arranged by teacher Andrea Aaron, who learned about Kennedy from his grandson, Aidan Kennedy, who is in Aaron's third-grade IDEA class at Royle Elementary School. While the third-grade IDEA curriculum focuses on inventors, Aaron recognized that students at DHS would benefit from hearing about Kennedy's creative experiences. Kennedy told the students that he always had an interest in how things worked, so much so, that he owned and operated a TV repair shop while he was in high school. After high school, he went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and a Master of Science in biomedical engineering at the University of Miami. Kennedy has 13 issued patents, with three more pending, and has published 133 articles. He has been a human factors manager at IBM, Dell, Compact, Sony-Ericsson and Apple. He started inventing when he was a child living in Florida, where he still lives, and continues to generate invention ideas from everyday experiences. Kennedy, for example, was working in human factors engineering at Apple when he noticed the use of proximity detectors on the floor buttons in an elevator. He realized the practical implications a proximity detector could have in a hand-held device, such as the iPhone, and created the technology to allow the screen to recognize finger movements such as the "pinch" to zoom in and out. Kennedy also invented the intellectual property known as Dynamic Inventory Management for Deployed Assets that enables the military to locate its troops as well as the general public to find their misplaced phones. Also among Kennedy's inventions are the Mobile Phone Amber Alert Notification System, the System and Methods for Video Conferencing, and the Anti-Aliased Fonts, which enable people to read material on a computer screen easier and faster. More Information Fact box See More Collapse Kennedy assured the DHS students that they all had the potential to be successful inventors. He advised them that when they think they have finally succeeded in inventing something, to reconstruct it a few more times to ensure its viability. He told them to document their progress, dating and signing each entry, and once they were certain their invention was solid, to hire a patent lawyer to assist them in establishing their ownership of the intellectual property with a patent. Xem them ... Tin bai cuoi cung Khong con du lieu e load The Russia probe spawned a web of federal, state and congressional inquiries into virtually every aspect of Trumps career the company that bears his name, the campaign that won him the White House, the inauguration that celebrated his improbable victory, and the administration that he currently leads from the Oval Office. In recent years, pollsters havent bothered to ask about the issue because it seemed to be settled in Maryland. Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College, said the last polling on the issue she has seen from Maryland was from 2006. At the time, she said, 63 percent of voters favored abortion rights. But growth isnt evenly distributed. Instead, in a version of the feast or famine scenario, some localities are continuing to grow rapidly while others are losing population. With rapid gains in population, some jurisdictions are grappling with the usual attendant problems: transportation capacity, affordable housing, school crowding, and demands on other services. Charlottesville is among the fastest-growing of the states localities, at 13.5 percent; most of the other rapidly growing jurisdictions are in Northern Virginia or near Richmond. Also in our immediate area, Albemarle, Greene and Louisa counties also show solid growth, although they trail Charlottesvilles rate. But along the western and southern borders of the state, population has broadly declined, with many localities losing more than 10 percent of their populations. With the loss of industries that once helped them thrive textile manufacturing, coal mining, tobacco processing these localities already were in economic trouble. No wonder people leave: They have to, in order to find work. Also afflicting these counties are related problems, including a decline of health care availability and a lack of money for schools. On my bedroom bureau, I keep a small, circular magnifying glass encased in a leather sleeve. Our neighbors heated with coal that arrived via a chute through their basement window. Lots of chunks bounced off of the chute onto the ground, landing under rose bushes. We kids pretended we were pirates and the coal was pieces of eight. Wed yell Yo ho ho, then dive into the bushes, fighting over the treasure. Raw avarice exceeded caution, so Id often wind up with a thorn in my finger. My father used the magnifying glass to spot the foreign body and then a needle to extract it. Do I like being reminded of those thorns? No. However, I do treasure the poignant memory of a childhood long gone. I loved being part of a raucous pirate band, wild and free, sailing over an asphalt sea, fully convinced that only wonderful adventures lay ahead. Now Im grateful for the adventures Ive had, but also possess a bittersweet longing regarding dreams yet unfulfilled. That's where a veto comes in. Northam could wield it on a rollback of right-to-work or any other bill he deems offensive confident the legislature would fall well short of the votes required to override it. The fear of such a showdown presumably will keep corporate cash flowing this year to Northam's PAC. That will allow him not only to cover the $30,000 bill from the crisis-communications firm he hired shortly after he found himself in a quagmire of his own making, but to also support with indirect aid, such as telephone banks, voter mobilization and direct mail, Democratic candidates who might shun his direct financial assistance as politically radioactive. Plus, Northam has said he has no interest in elective office beyond the governorship. That frees him to take steps that may anger members of his party but are appreciated by the larger population. Democrats and more than a few Republicans were predicting a Democratic takeback this fall of the House of Delegates and Virginia Senate before Northam was trivialized and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark Herring were reduced to punchlines by sexual and racial controversies, respectively. Imagine having to drive your child to a fast-food restaurant so she can connect to the Internet to finish her homework. What an enormous disadvantage that would be. How demoralizing. And, yet, it happens right here in Virginia. An estimated 660,000 Virginians do not have access to broadband internet. In 2019, internet access is as fundamental as electricity. How can we prepare our students to participate in the modern economy if they dont have at least this basic level of access to technology? Legislators need to ensure that every child, regardless of where they live, will have an equal opportunity to succeed. As teachers and librarians, we see first-hand how important internet access is to kids. More and more, the school curriculum requires students to do research and evaluation via the internet. Often homework assignments are made, and due, through a digital medium. Frequently, parents are given information about their students progress online. So, even if students have access at school, once they leave those hallways, kids find themselves in an information desert. Now imagine a school district where internet isnt even provided at school. Thats a whole community of people who have to fight an uphill battle to be part of modern society. Entire generations of students are being left behind. Charles Leroy Frieden, 77, a longtime Charlottesville resident and beloved father of Chris and Sara, passed away on Wednesday, February 13, 2019, at his home after a brief battle with cancer. Charles was born the third son of Ernest Frieden and Lorraine Klepper of West Bend, Iowa, on February 25, 1941. He was a member of the West Bend Community High School class of 1959 and then attended Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minnesota, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1963. He went on to earn Masters of Arts degrees in Political Science and Library Science from the Graduate College of the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. Charles moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, to join the faculty of the University of Virginia, where he served as the Director of Administrative Services for the University of Virginia Library. Charles was an avid traveler who visited nearly every continent, including trips to Kenya, Egypt, Thailand, and Argentina. He was known for his big heart, generous spirit, and the love he extended to family, friends, and those in need of a helping hand. During his working career and into retirement, Charles could be found sharing stories with friends and co-workers over coffee nearly every morning. He was a true animal lover and over the years enjoyed the companionship of many rescue dogs and cats including Aengus, his beloved golden retriever. Charles is survived by his two children, Christopher (Ashley) Frieden of Atlanta, Georgia, and Sara (Justin) Novak of Charleston, South Carolina; as well as his three grandchildren, Carter and Colby Frieden, and Keegan Novak. He is also survived by his brother, Lester (Esther) Frieden of West Bend, Iowa; Janet Frieden, the mother of his children, as well as many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brother and sister-in-law, Ernest and Dana Frieden, and his parents. A private celebration of life gathering will be held for close friends and family. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation be made to the Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA. Injuries from a lawnmower can be devastating. There was one incident several years ago where a lawnmower hit a screwdriver and sent it over the house and it struck a child in the head." All students who have declared a major in an impacted program will still be able to graduate with their intended degree and in every case except for German and Latin, courses will still be taught in these disciplines and students will be able to use these courses to fulfill their core education (McDaniel Plan) requirements, Casey said via the release. FREDERICKSBURG A Fredericksburg woman is seeking $500,000 in damages from a massage spa whose representatives allegedly videotaped her in the nude without her consent. Jason Pelt, the attorney for Caress Holloway, filed the lawsuit Friday in Spotsylvania Circuit Court. The suit seeks $250,000 in compensatory damages and the same amount in punitive damages. Weslee Wang, owner of the Healing Hands Spa in Spotsylvania, is one of two defendants named in the suit. The other is Xue Lu, Holloways massage therapist on Oct. 8. Wang and Lu already were facing misdemeanor criminal charges in connection with the incident. Both are charged with videotaping a non-consenting nude person and peeping through a peephole. Criminal trials for both are scheduled for May 15 in Spotsylvania General District Court. Attorney Price Koch, who is representing Lu in the criminal trial, said Friday that he was not aware of the civil suit. But he said that he believes Wang and Lu will be fully exonerated when the case gets to trial. WAYNESBORO A womans body was found Saturday in a wooded area near Lowes in Waynesboro. Its suspicious, said Waynesboro police Capt. Kelly Walker, who declined to comment on the crime scene or the condition of the body until the investigation is completed. There is no obvious cause of death. The body was found at 3:10 p.m. Saturday by someone walking along a path adjacent to Lowes on Lew Dewitt Boulevard. The gentleman was just walking down the trail and he stumbled upon it, Walker said. He didnt think she was alive. Police said the womans body was in plain sight. We confirmed that she was not alive, Walker said, adding that she died several hours before she was found. As of Saturday evening, police had not identified the woman and expected to be busy processing the scene until past midnight. "It is certainly not perfect," Rasoul said. "But it does several important things." Several black lawmakers strongly disagreed. Del. Joseph Lindsey, D-Norfolk, called the plan "piss-poor," saying it was only a modest improvement over an earlier Republican proposal that the entire Democratic caucus opposed. "There are some that say that we're not abdicating our authority," Lindsey said. "I'd say that's exactly what we're doing." The opposition came after a years-long lawsuit over racial gerrymandering. Last summer, a federal court ruled that the General Assembly improperly prioritized race during the 2011 redistricting process to draw African-American voters into majority-minority districts. Democrats have argued that tactic was an attempt to dilute minority voting power, but Republicans have noted that the 2011 plan passed with input and support from many of the African-American lawmakers whose districts were ruled unconstitutional. House Appropriations Chairman Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, the architect of the 2011 plan, said his party has made a concerted effort to promote African-American inclusion. Corrections to this story were made on Feb. 24, 2019. After a long career in public service, Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, announced he will not seek an eighth term in the Virginia House of Delegates this year. Toscano made his announcement during a speech on the House floor Saturday. Between my family and public service and community that is so special in so many ways, I have been, and continue to be, the luckiest guy alive, he said. Toscano, 68, was quick to note that his retirement has little to do with the chaos surrounding the states top three officials and that reading too much into his announcement would be a mistake. My decision has been in the making for some time, though various events have conspired to delay it, he said in prepared remarks. For months, I have been told that I should not retire, or could not retire. But I have some new and exciting opportunities for my next chapter, so if I needed a reason to stop postponing, I now have several. It is the right time. Full text of Del. Toscano's retirement announcement On Feb. 23, 2019, David J. Toscano, D-57th announced that he will not be seeking re-election to the House of Delegates this fall. The legislation originally would have charged 17 cents per mile for trucks and 11 cents per mile for other drivers. Car drivers but not truckers could purchase a $30 annual pass. Those who have served with me for more than a couple of years know it took a belly full of bile for me to come down here and propose a solution that imposed tolls on Virginians or raised fees, Obenshain said on the Senate floor. That was not easy. But we were told we needed to raise the money ourselves. Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, didnt support the tolls but rather increasing the statewide wholesale motor fuels tax. In his bill, a portion of the money raised would go toward I-81, and the rest would be put into a state transportation fund. That bill was rewritten to become a study about the impact of increased fuel efficiency and use of hybrid and electric cars on transportation revenues. On Tuesday, Edwards study bill was killed, in effect, after being left in a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. He worked on the committee this week to try and develop a last-minute funding mechanism. Now what do we got? Edwards said on the Senate floor. We got nothing. On Thursday the Republican-controlled House had deadlocked 50-50, defeating a proposed rules change that would have allowed a measure on ERA ratification to be brought to the floor for a vote. The tied vote meant the ERA failed in the House, despite passing the state Senate last month on a bipartisan, 26-14 vote. Gilbert said then that the Houses vote was not about the ERA, but about refusing special treatment for one issue. Thats not the way we do business, he said. On Saturday, after House Democrats enforced the 48-hour rule, former House Minority Leader David Toscano, D-Charlottesville, said, People are worried about the optics of changing a rule, with all the concerns that we shouldnt be changing a rule. The impasse widened after Senate Democrats, led by Minority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, urged their House colleagues to reconsider so the assembly could act on proposed revisions to the budget and adjourn Saturday as scheduled after a 46-day session mired in election-year politics and overshadowed by scandal. Marc Short left the University of Virginias Miller Center just six months into his one-year fellowship. The former Trump administration officials controversial appointment, which led two historians to resign their own posts with the center, has not caused any major changes to how the centers leadership sees its mission and how it selects its professional fellows, officials said. It has, however, come in the midst of an ongoing effort to balance the centers budget, attract new projects and fundraising and enmesh more of its operations within UVa. Director Bill Antholis said he feels really great about Shorts fellowship at the center; he said Short had double the productivity of a typical fellow and contributed to the centers understanding of President Donald Trumps White House. Short, who served as Trumps legislative affairs director, announced Tuesday he would return to Washington, D.C., to serve as Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff. In Albemarle County, about 82 percent of the students in the gifted program were white, compared with 65 percent in the division overall, according to the 2016-17 equity dashboard. Two percent were black and 3 percent were Hispanic. Division-wide, 11 percent of students are black and 13 percent are Hispanic. Haas has called for a paradigm shift in how the division approaches gifted education and provides services to students. Proposed changes would move the program toward identifying and nurturing talents in every student. I would defy anybody to tell me that [kindergarten] students in a combined class of 32 students, that not every single one of them didnt have a gift, Haas said at a recent School Board work session. I would defy anybody to tell me that. But, really, in our school system, only three of them do. And 2.5 of the three would be white. Thats not right. I think we should all step up to the line and say its not right. In Albemarle, 9.4 percent of students were in the gifted program, as of Sept. 30. In Charlottesville, 16.6 percent were. Statewide, 14 percent of students were part of a gifted program in the 2017-18 school year. A complex cure Albemarle County has a new way for the public to learn about development proposals under review or under construction in the community. The Development Dashboards are a series of reports that show projects that have been submitted to the county for rezonings, site plans and subdivisions. The dashboards show information such as unit type and use. They can be filtered by Comprehensive Plan area, school attendance zone or magisterial district. The dashboards contain information about active development proposals through the end of 2018. According to a news release, the dashboards will be updated biannually, with a goal of providing more frequent updates in the future as the tool is developed further. To view the dashboards, visit albemarle.org/developmentdashboards. Send news tips to news@dailyprogress.com, call (434) 978-7264, tweet us @DailyProgress or send us a Facebook message here. The business news you need With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. We would receive some pretty wacky emails that we would forward to the marshals and they would investigate, Purpura said. It went from two different extremes: How can you represent this person? to You better represent them well. Also, make sure to look for help from the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) program. You can get as much as $2,500 if your income is below $80,000/$160,000 for filing status single/joint. Note that this is a credit, not a deduction, so you may reduce your actual tax bill dollar for dollar. If you have a 529 plan, you can draw from this account for eligible expenses like tuition, room and board, and computers or textbooks. If the student stays in her own lodging, you should draw only the amount estimated by the institution to pay for room and board. Sorry, no midtown penthouse. Just make sure you dont double up the benefit from the AOTC and 529 withdrawals for the same expense. 529 withdrawals should be for additional expenses beyond the credit. Timing matters, too. Dont accumulate bills paid and withdraw from the 529 account in another calendar year. Withdrawals should be made in the same calendar year as the payments. There is often confusion about the recipient of money from a 529 account. You can have the money sent to you; just make sure you also can show that eligible education expenses match or exceed the withdrawal amount. Keep all receipts in case the IRS comes knocking. CULPEPER A large collection of digital program files from one of TVs most famous streets is making its way to the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper. Sesame Street Workshop has donated a collection of nearly 4,500 episodes from the first 49 seasons of the iconic Sesame Street television program to the Library of Congress that will be preserved and stored in perpetuity on the local campus. The shows first episode aired Nov. 10, 1969. Sesame Street changed the landscape of childrens media at a time when television was viewed as a vast wasteland and transformed a medium that strongly appealed to children into a source for knowledge and social development for our youngest citizens, Sesame Street co-founder Lloyd Morrissett Jr. said in a news release. The program files are being preserved on the Packard Campus through the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, a collaboration of the Library of Congress and the WGBH Educational Foundation. The donation was announced Feb. 14 as Sesame Street began marking its 50th-anniversary year. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., a telecommunications company, provides communications services in the United States. It operates through three segments: UScellular, Wireline, and Cable. The company offers wireless solutions to consumers and business and government customers, including a suite of connected Internet of things (IoT) solutions, and software applications for monitor and control, business automation/operations, communication, asset management, smart water solutions, and end-to-end IoT solutions; wireless priority services and quality priority and preemption options; smartphones and other handsets, tablets, wearables, mobile hotspots, routers, and IoT devices; and accessories, such as cases, screen protectors, chargers, and memory cards, as well as consumer electronics, including headphones, smart speakers, and home automation and business management solutions. It also provides replace and repair services; Trade-In program through which it buys customers' used equipment; internet connections and all-home WI-FI services; TDS TV+, an integrated cloud television platform that offers video content; local and long-distance telephone service, VoIP, and enhanced services; and broadband, IP-based services, and hosted voice and video collaboration services. It sells its products through retail sales, direct sales, third-party retailers, and independent agents, as well as through ecommerce and telesales. As of December 31, 2020, the company offers its services to customers 5 million wireless connections, and 1.2 million wireline and cable connections. The company was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Read More Telecom Italia S.p.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Europe, South America, and the Mediterranean Basin. The company operates through Domestic, Brazil, and Other Operations segments. It offers fixed and mobile voice and Internet, and public telephony services, as well as products managed and developed for individuals and families; and voice, data, and Internet services and products, and information and communications technology solutions for small and medium-size enterprises, small offices/home offices, the public sector, large accounts, and enterprises in the fixed and mobile telecommunications markets. The company also manages and develops a portfolio of regulated and unregulated wholesale services for fixed and mobile telecommunications operators; provision of infrastructure for housing radio transmission equipment of mobile telephone networks; and development, engineering, building, and operation of network infrastructures, information technology (IT), real estate properties, and plant engineering. In addition, it engages in customer care, operating credit support, loyalty, and retention activities; and staff functions and other support activities. Further, the company offers office products and services for IT sector. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Rome, Italy. Read More STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments. The Automotive and Discrete Group segment offers automotive integrated circuits (ICs); and discrete and power transistor products. The Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group segment provides industrial application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and application-specific standard products (ASSPs); general purpose analog products; custom analog ICs; wireless charging solutions; galvanic isolated gate drivers; low and high voltage amplifiers, comparators, and current-sense amplifiers; MasterGaN, a solution that integrates a silicon driver and GaN power transistors in a single package; wireline and wireless connectivity ICs; touch screen controllers; micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) products, including sensors or actuators; and optical sensing solutions. The Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segment offers general purpose and secure microcontrollers; radio frequency (RF) and electrically erasable programmable read-only memories; and RF, digital, and mixed-signal ASICs. It also provides assembly and other services. The company sells its products through distributors and retailers, as well as through sales representatives. STMicroelectronics N.V. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Read More The mud is yet to settle in Marylands oyster wars. Maryland lawmakers are considering a proposal by House Speaker Mike Busch to protect through state law five large oyster restoration projects that are complete, underway or planned in Chesapeake Bay tributaries and place a moratorium on harvesting from them. The projects on Harris Creek, the Little Choptank River, the Manokin River, the Tred Avon River and the upper portion of the St. Marys River are being built as part of a federal-state agreement to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, but the prospect of harvesting some of the oysters grown there has been left open. Buschs bill proposes making large portions of those tributaries sanctuaries where harvesting cant occur. I understand everybody loves oysters. I love oysters, Busch said in an interview. If you over-harvest the fisheries that we have and the oyster habitats, were going to end up with nothing. The legislation by Busch, D-Annapolis, is among more than a dozen oyster-related bills this General Assembly session, following the release of a stock assessment in December that found that Marylands population of market-sized oysters has declined by half since 1999. Whether to sunset the bill, moving the moratorium from permanent to temporary, is still under consideration, Busch said. He also said he would be in favor of expanding such a moratorium to all 51 state-funded oyster sanctuaries in the state. Aquaculture is exempted from the moratorium, however. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Capital. In testimony on the bill Friday, some watermen said exempting aquaculture is unconstitutional, that the bill would hurt their livelihood, and that it undermines the consensus recommendations made in May by OysterFutures, a policy group trying to find common ground among watermen, scientists and state regulators. OysterFutures focused on the Choptank and Little Choptank rivers only, and recommended a two-year rotational harvest in the Little Choptanks tributaries, meaning the areas would open and close year to year, similar to how farmers let fields rest between crops. Buschs bill would prevent harvesting in the entirety of the Little Choptank, eliminating that recommendation. The Department of Natural Resources has the authority to open and close harvest areas. Right now the five Maryland sanctuaries in various stages of completion are all closed to harvest. A law passed in 2017 prevents the DNR from amending sanctuary boundaries until it updates its oyster management plan. A draft of the updated plan was released last week and is open for public comment until March 19. Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, acting state secretary of natural resources, and James McKitrick, director of legislative and constituent services, expressed similar concerns about the removal of the rotational harvest and said specific coordinates for the sanctuaries should be removed from the bill, as the dimensions for some arent finalized yet. In 2017, the state cut the size of the Little Choptank sanctuary by 118 acres. The sanctuaries are part of a plan initiated in 2009, when then-President Barack Obama signed the Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration Executive Order, setting a goal of restoring 20 tributaries by 2025. The goal was amended by the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Agreement, which set out to restore oyster populations in 10 tributaries five in Maryland and five in Virginia by 2025, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. Under the amended agreement, the oyster restoration partners agreed to restore 50 percent to 100 percent of currently restorable oyster habitat in each tributary, according to a 2011 Oyster Metrics Workgroup Report. Restorable habitat has hard river bottom, suitable for man-made reefs, which keep the bivalves from sinking into sediment and dying. Buschs bill requires DNR to work with the Oyster Advisory Commission, Oyster Interagency Work Group and stakeholders to make a plan for each tributary, including monitoring and a plan should the restoration fail to meet minimum requirements. According to a report from the Department of Legislative Services, a 351-acre restoration in Harris Creek was completed in 2015; reef construction and oyster seeding has occurred in 84 acres of the Tred Avon, with 45 to go, and on 343 acres in the Little Choptank, with three to go. A restoration plan is being developed for the St. Marys River, and officials are evaluating how much restorable oyster habitat is in the Manokin. Chesapeake Bay Foundation fisheries scientist Allison Colden urged the committee to issue a favorable report on the bill. House Bill 298 would ensure that public investments that have gone into these areas are protected that the full economic and ecological benefits of these large-scale restoration projects is realized and that Maryland continues its leadership on oyster restoration by fully fulfilling our bay agreement obligations, she said. The following companies are subsidiares of The Sherwin-Williams: Acquire Sourcing LLC, CTS National Corporation, Comex North America Inc., Compania Sherwin-Williams S.A. de C.V., Contract Transportation Systems Co., Deep Pride Limited, Dongguan Lilly Paint Industries Ltd, Duron, EPS (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., EPS B.V., EPS Polidrox Industria e Comercio de Resinas Ltda, Geocel Holdings, Geocel Limited, Guangdong Valspar Paints Manufacturing Co Ltd., Guangdong Yuegang Dadi Paints Company Limited, Guardsman Australia Pty Limited, Guardsman Industries Limited, Inver East Med S.A., Inver France SAS, Inver GmbH, Inver Industrial Coating SRL, Inver Polska Spoka Z O.O, Inver Spa, Invercolor Bologna Srl, Invercolor Ltd, Invercolor Roma Srl, Invercolor Torino Srl, Invercolor Toscana Srl, Isocoat Tintas e Vernizes Ltda, Isva Vernici Srl, Jiangsu Pulanna Coating Co. Ltd., Leighs Paints, M.A. Bruder & Sons, Omega Specialty Products & Services LLC, Oy Sherwin-Williams Finland Ab, PT Sherwin-Williams Indonesia, PT Valspar Indonesia, Paint Sundry Brands, Pinturas Condor S.A., Pinturas Industriales S.A., Plasti-Kote Co. Inc., Plasti-kote Limited, Productos Quimicos y Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Quest Automotive Products UK Limited, Quetzal Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Resin Surfaces Limited, Ronseal (Ireland) Limited, SWIMC LLC, SWIPCO Sherwin Williams do Brasil Propriedade, Sayerlack, Sherwin Williams Colombia S.A.S., Sherwin-Williams (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Belize) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (Caribbean) N.V., Sherwin-Williams (Ireland) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Sherwin-Williams (Nantong) Company Limited, Sherwin-Williams (S) Pte. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Shanghai) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (South China) Co. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Vietnam) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (West Indies) Limited, Sherwin-Williams Argentina I.y C.S.A., Sherwin-Williams Aruba VBA, Sherwin-Williams Automotive Mexico S.de R.L.de C.V., Sherwin-Williams Balkan S.R.L., Sherwin-Williams Bel, Sherwin-Williams Benelux NV, Sherwin-Williams Canada Inc., Sherwin-Williams Cayman Islands Limited, Sherwin-Williams Chile S.A., Sherwin-Williams Coatings India Private Limited, Sherwin-Williams Coatings S.a r.l., Sherwin-Williams Czech Republic spol. s r.o, Sherwin-Williams Denmark A/S, Sherwin-Williams Deutschland GmbH, Sherwin-Williams Diversified Brands (Australia) Pty Ltd, Sherwin-Williams Diversified Brands Limited, Sherwin-Williams France Finishes SAS, Sherwin-Williams Italy S.r.l., Sherwin-Williams Luxembourg Investment Management Company S.a r.l., Sherwin-Williams Norway AS, Sherwin-Williams Paints Limited Liability Company, Sherwin-Williams Peru S.R.L., Sherwin-Williams Pinturas de Venezuela S.A., Sherwin-Williams Poland Sp. z o.o, Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings, Sherwin-Williams Realty Holdings Inc., Sherwin-Williams Services (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Sherwin-Williams Spain Coatings S.L., Sherwin-Williams Sweden AB, Sherwin-Williams Uruguay S.A., Sherwin-Williams do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., Spanyc Paints Joint Stock Company, Syntema I Vaggeryd AB, TOB Becker Acroma Ukraine, Taiwan Valspar Co. Ltd., The Sherwin-Williams Acceptance Corporation, The Sherwin-Williams Headquarters Company, The Sherwin-Williams Manufacturing Company, The Sherwin-Williams US Licensing Company, The Valspar (Asia) Corporation Limited, The Valspar (Australia) Corporation Pty. Ltd., The Valspar (Finland) Corporation Oy, The Valspar (France) Corporation S.A.S., The Valspar (France) Research Corporation SAS, The Valspar (Germany) GmbH, The Valspar (Malaysia) Corporation Sdn Bhd, The Valspar (Nantes) Corporation S.A.S., The Valspar (Singapore) Corporation Pte. Ltd, The Valspar (South Africa) Corporation (Pty) Ltd, The Valspar (Spain) Corporation S.R.L., The Valspar (Switzerland) Corporation AG, The Valspar (Thailand) Corporation Ltd., The Valspar (UK) Corporation Limited, The Valspar (Vietnam) Corporation Ltd., The Valspar Corporation, The Valspar Corporation Limitada, UAB Sherwin-Williams Baltic, Valspar (India) Coatings Corporation Private Limited, Valspar (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Valspar (Uruguay) Corporation S.A., Valspar (WPC) Pty Ltd, Valspar Aries Coatings S. de R.L. de C.V., Valspar Automotive (UK) Corporation Limited, Valspar Automotive Australia Pty Limited, Valspar B.V., Valspar Coatings (Guangdong) Co. Ltd., Valspar Coatings (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Valspar Coatings (Tianjin) Co. Ltd, Valspar D.o.o Beograd, Valspar Inc., Valspar Industries (Ireland) Ltd., Valspar Industries (Italy) S.r.l., Valspar Industries GmbH, Valspar LLC, Valspar Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Valspar Paint (Australia) Pty Ltd, Valspar Paint (NZ) Limited, Valspar Powder Coatings Limited, Valspar Rock Company Limited, Valspar Specialty Paints LLC, Vantaco Oy, and ZAO Sherwin-Williams. The following companies are subsidiares of Dominion Energy: 96WI 8me LLC, Alamo Solar LLC, Align RNG Grady Road LLC, Align RNG LLC, Align RNG North Carolina LLC, Align RNG Utah LLC, Align RNG Utah-Milford LLC, Align RNG Virginia LLC, Align RNG Virginia-Waverly LLC, Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Azalea Solar LLC, BrightSuite Distributed Solar Holdings Inc., BrightSuite Home LLC, BrightSuite Inc., BrightSuite Solar LLC, Buckingham Solar I LLC, CEA Americus LLC, CEA Clovis LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Colorado LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Georgia LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Nevada LLC, CEA Dairy RNG New Mexico LLC, CEA Greely LLC, CEA Mason LLC, CID Solar LLC, CNG Coal Company, CNG Power Services Corporation, Carolina Gas Transmission Corporation, Catalina Solar 2 LLC, Clean Energy Asset USA LLC, Clean Energy Enterprises Inc., Clipperton Holdings LLC, Consolidated Natural Gas Company, Correctional Solar LLC, Cottonwood Solar LLC, Cove Point GP Holding Company LLC, Cove Point LNG Limited, DE Fluvanna Solar LLC, DE Hanover Solar LLC, DE King William Solar LLC, DE Powhatan Solar LLC, Dairy RNG Holdings LLC, Dominion ACP Holding Inc., Dominion Alternative Energy Holdings Inc., Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Dominion Bridgeport Fuel Cell LLC, Dominion Brine LLC, Dominion Capital Inc., Dominion Cogen WV Inc., Dominion Cove Point Inc., Dominion Cove Point LLC, Dominion Energy BTM Inc., Dominion Energy Carolina Gas Services Inc., Dominion Energy Carolina Gas Transmission LLC, Dominion Energy Cove Point LNG LP, Dominion Energy Field Services Inc., Dominion Energy Fuel Services Inc., Dominion Energy Gas Distribution LLC, Dominion Energy Gas Holdings LLC, Dominion Energy Generation Marketing Inc., Dominion Energy Inc., Dominion Energy Kewaunee Inc., Dominion Energy Marketplace LLC, Dominion Energy Midstream GP LLC, Dominion Energy Midstream Partners LP, Dominion Energy Nuclear Connecticut Inc., Dominion Energy Overthrust Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Payroll Company Inc., Dominion Energy Questar Corporation, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline Services Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings II Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings Inc., Dominion Energy Services Inc., Dominion Energy Smart Home LLC, Dominion Energy Solar CA LLC, Dominion Energy Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc., Dominion Energy Southeast Services Inc., Dominion Energy Technical Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies II Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies Inc., Dominion Energy Terminal Company Inc., Dominion Energy Transmission Inc., Dominion Energy Wexpro Services Company, Dominion Equipment III Inc., Dominion Equipment Inc., Dominion Fairless Hills Inc., Dominion Fowler Ridge Wind LLC, Dominion Gas Projects Company LLC, Dominion Gathering & Processing Inc., Dominion Gathering?& Processing Inc., Dominion Generation Inc., Dominion Greenbrier Inc., Dominion High Voltage Holdings Inc., Dominion High Voltage MidAtlantic Inc., Dominion Investments Inc., Dominion Iroquois Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline Holdings Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline LLC, Dominion MLP Holding Company II Inc., Dominion MLP Holding Company II LLC, Dominion MLP Holding Company III Inc., Dominion MLP Holding Company LLC, Dominion Modular LNG Holdings Inc., Dominion Mt. Storm Wind LLC, Dominion North Star Generation Inc., Dominion Nuclear Projects Inc., Dominion Oklahoma Texas Exploration & Production Inc., Dominion Oklahoma Texas Exploration?& Production Inc., Dominion Person Inc., Dominion Privatization Florida LLC, Dominion Privatization Georgia LLC, Dominion Privatization Holdings Inc., Dominion Privatization Kentucky LLC, Dominion Privatization South Carolina LLC, Dominion Privatization Texas LLC, Dominion Privatization Virginia LLC, Dominion Products and Services Inc., Dominion Projects Services Inc., Dominion Resources Capital Trust III, Dominion Retail Gas Holdings Inc., Dominion Solar Construction and Maintenance LLC, Dominion Solar Gen-Tie LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings I LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings II LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings III LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings IV LLC, Dominion Solar Projects A Inc., Dominion Solar Projects B Inc., Dominion Solar Projects C Inc., Dominion Solar Projects D Inc., Dominion Solar Projects I Inc., Dominion Solar Projects II Inc., Dominion Solar Projects III Inc., Dominion Solar Projects IV Inc., Dominion Solar Projects V Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VI Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VII Inc., Dominion Solar Services Inc., Dominion Solar?Gen-Tie ?LLC, Dominion State Line LLC, Dominion Voltage Inc., Dominion Wholesale Inc., Dominion Wind Development LLC, Dominion Wind Projects Inc., Eagle Holdco Solar LLC, Eagle Solar LLC, Eastern Shore Solar LLC, Enterprise Solar LLC, Escalante Solar I LLC, Escalante Solar II LLC, Escalante Solar III LLC, Farmington Properties Inc., Four Brothers Solar LLC, Fremont Farm LLC, Granite Mountain Holdings LLC, Granite Mountain Solar East LLC, Granite Mountain Solar West LLC, Greenbrier Marketing Company LLC, Greenbrier Pipeline Company LLC, Greensville County Solar Project LLC, Hecate Energy Cherrydale LLC, Hecate Energy Clarke County LLC, Hope Gas Inc., Imperial Valley Solar Company (IVSC) 2 LLC, Indy Solar Development LLC, Indy Solar I LLC, Indy Solar II LLC, Indy Solar III LLC, Innovative Solar 37 LLC, Iron Springs Holdings LLC, Iron Springs Solar LLC, Iroquois GP Holding Company LLC, Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas, Maricopa West Solar PV LLC, Moffett Solar 1 LLC, Moorings Farm 2 LLC, Mulberry Farm LLC, Mustang Solar LLC, NE Hub Partners L.L.C., NE Hub Partners L.P., NiCHe Storage Solutions LLC, Niche LNG LLC, North Star Generation LLC, PSNC Blue Ridge Corporation, PSNC Cardinal Pipeline Company, PSNC Southgate LLC, Pavant Solar LLC, Phone House, Pikeville Farm LLC, Prairie Fork Wind Farm LLC, Public Service Company of North Carolina Incorporated, QPC Holding Company, QPC Holding Company LLC, Questar Corporation, Questar Energy Services Inc., Questar Field Services LLC, Questar Gas Company, Questar InfoComm Inc., Questar Southern Trails Pipeline Company, Questar White River Hub LLC, RE Adams East LLC, RE Camelot LLC, RE Columbia LLC, RE Columbia LLC, RE Columbia Two LLC, RE Kansas LLC, RE Kent South LLC, RE Old River One LLC, Rev LNG SSL BC LLC, Richland Solar Center LLC, Ridgeland Solar Farm I LLC, SBL Holdco LLC, SCANA, SCANA Communications Holdings Inc., SCANA Corporate Security Services Inc., SCANA Energy Marketing Inc., SCANA Energy Marketing LLC, SCANA Pharmacy LLC, SCANA Services Inc., SRFI LLC, Sappony Solar LLC, Scana Corporation, Scott-II Solar LLC, Scott-II?Solar LLC, Seabrook Solar LLC, Selmer Farm LLC, Siler Solar LLC, Somers Solar Center LLC, South Carolina Electric?& Gas Company, South Carolina Fuel Company Inc., South Carolina Generating Company Inc., Southampton Solar LLC, Summit Farms Solar LLC, TA - Acacia LLC, TA ? Acacia LLC, TWE Myrtle Solar Project LLC, The East Ohio Gas Company, Tioga Properties LLC, Tredegar Solar Fund I LLC, VP Property Inc., Virginia Electric And Power Company, Virginia Power Fuel Corporation, Virginia Power Nuclear Services Company, Virginia Power Services Energy Corp. Inc., Virginia Power Services LLC, Virginia Solar 2017 Projects LLC, Wakefield Solar LLC, Wexpro Company, Wexpro Development Company, Wexpro II Company, Wilkinson Solar LLC, Wrangler Retail Gas Holdings LLC, and roquois GP Holding Company LLC. 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. Pembina Pipeline Corporation provides transportation and midstream services for the energy industry. It operates through three segments: Pipelines, Facilities, and Marketing & New Ventures. The Pipelines segment operates conventional, oil sands and heavy oil, and transmission assets with a transportation capacity of 3.1 millions of barrels of oil equivalent per day, ground storage of 11 millions of barrels, and rail terminalling capacity of approximately 145 thousands of barrels of oil equivalent per day serving markets and basins across North America. The Facilities segment offers infrastructure that provides customers with natural gas, condensate, and natural gas liquids (NGLs), including ethane, propane, butane, and condensate; and includes 354 thousands of barrels per day of NGL fractionation capacity, 21 millions of barrels of cavern storage capacity, and associated pipeline and rail terminalling facilities. The Marketing & New Ventures segment buys and sells hydrocarbon liquids and natural gas originating in the Western Canadian sedimentary basin and other basins. Pembina Pipeline Corporation was incorporated in 1954 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Read More 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. Campbell Soup Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and market food and beverage products. It operates through Meals & Beverages and Snacks segments. The Meals & Beverages segment engages in the retail and foodservice businesses in the United States and Canada. This segment provides Campbell's condensed and ready-to-serve soups; Swanson broth and stocks; Pacific Foods broth, soups, and non-dairy beverages; Prego pasta sauces; Pace Mexican sauces; Campbell's gravies, pasta, beans, and dinner sauces; Swanson canned poultry; Plum baby food and snacks; V8 juices and beverages; V8 juices and beverages; and Campbell's tomato juice. The Snacks segment retails Pepperidge Farm cookies, crackers, fresh bakery, and frozen products in the United States; Milano cookies and Goldfish crackers; and Snyder's of Hanover pretzels, Lance sandwich crackers, Cape Cod and Kettle Brand potato chips, Late July snacks, Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps, Pop Secret popcorn, Emerald nuts, and other snacking products in the United States and Canada. This segment is also involved in the retail business in Latin America. The company sells its products through retail food chains, mass discounters and merchandisers, club stores, convenience stores, drug stores, and dollar stores, as well as e-commerce and other retail, commercial, and non-commercial establishments; and independent contractor distributors. Campbell Soup Company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey. Read More The addiction is real, as are the potential consequences. We marvel at the instant access to information smartphones provide. We sacrifice human connections to stream movies, watch YouTube videos and play app-based games. Its easy to ignore the inherent dangers these omnipresent technological tools present. On Thursday, Severna Park High School resource officer A.W. Swartz delivered a primer on teen smartphone use to parents. It was eye-opening. Parents would be wise to heed Swartzs warnings. While smartphones provide convenience and a host of benefits, danger lurks in social media apps. Millions of Americans voluntarily turn over their browsing history and location for the privilege of downloading a free app. That information is often sold as marketing fodder to businesses. More disturbing, however, is how technology is used to bully, stalk, threaten or harm children. For many teens, self-esteem or social standing is influenced by the number of their social media followers. That can open up the door for predators, Swartz said. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Capital today. They want that number of friends on social media, but they dont even know who (some of their followers) are, Swartz said. A lot of kids put too much into social media and not enough into personal connections. Phone addiction is prevalent among folks of all ages. Teens, in particular, crave constant contact. It can lead to sleep loss, anxiety, depression, sexting and texting while driving. It can also lead to illicit conversations with strangers. Some apps are designed just for that. Swartz recommends parents review their childrens phone and discuss the potential risks. When conversations start with ASL age, sex and location you can bet its an online predator on the other end. They often send links to pornography or malware. Swartz reviewed some apps that should signal red flags for parents: Omegle and Chatroulette allow users to talk to random strangers. Askfm a forum for asking questions anonymously has been criticized for enabling cyberbullying and suicides. Swartz advised parents to delete those immediately if found on their childs phone. While technology might help teens make friends, some apps can exacerbate problems, Swartz said. They allow bullying to happen at home and not just at school, he said. Snapchat is one of the biggest problem-causing apps at Severna Park High, Swartz said. Its Snap Map feature shows users locations and that of their friends. This is a welcome tool for stalkers and bullies. Swartz advises using ghost mode to bypass the location feature. Swartz encourages parents to be proactive and nonthreatening when addressing the potential pitfalls of social media. He advises parents to sit with their kids to review phone use. Tell kids not to send anything they dont want mom and dad to read or see, he said. Swartz recommends parents review all apps with a connection to the phones camera. The fine print of downloading free apps allows many companies to gain access to sensitive information on phones such as tracking location, the camera or browsing history. Swartz said there are parent control apps such as Webwatcher, Family Time and Net Nanny that can help monitor online activity. Its easy to get overwhelmed by ever-evolving technology. But its our responsibility to help children navigate the social media minefields. We must provide good examples no texting while driving and remain vigilant to the evil lurking online. Swartz said predators are infiltrating online gaming, too. He said there have been local cases of adults flying in from other states to meet teens who thought they were getting together with other gamers. Social media also delivers a new foothold for hate. In previous generations, Swartz said much of that was learned at home. Today, prejudice and hate are a tweet, meme or post away. Youre not the only one raising your kids, Swartz said. Jimmy DeButts can be reached at 410-280-5915 or follow on Twitter @jd3217. Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. provides financial products and services in South Korea and internationally. The company operates through five segments: Banking, Credit Card, Securities, Life Insurance, and Others. It offers retail banking services, including demand, savings, and fixed deposit-taking; checking accounts; mortgage and home equity, and retail lending; electronic banking and automatic teller machines (ATM); and bill paying, payroll and check-cashing, currency exchange, and wire fund transfer services. The company also provides corporate banking services, such as investment banking, real estate financing, overseas real estate and development project financing, infrastructure and structured financing, equity/venture investments, mergers and acquisitions consulting; securitization and derivatives services comprising securities and derivative products, and foreign exchange trading; and working capital loans and facilities loans. In addition, it is involved in treasury and investment activities in international capital markets consisting of foreign currency-denominated securities trading, foreign exchange trading and services, trade-related financial services, international factoring services, and foreign banking operations. Further, the company offers trust account management, securities brokerage, and asset management services, as well as leasing and equipment financing, savings banking, loan collection and credit reporting, collective investment administration, private equity investment, and financial system development services. As of December 31, 2020, it operated a network of 859 service centers; 5,472 ATMs; 12 cash dispensers; and 37 digital kiosks. Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Read More KAZ Minerals PLC, together with its subsidiaries, engages in mining and processing copper and other metals primarily in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan. It operates through Bozshakol, Aktogay, East Region and Bozymchak, and Mining Projects segments. The company operates the Aktogay and Bozshakol open pit copper mines in the east region and Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan; three underground mines in the east region of Kazakhstan; and the Bozymchak copper-gold mine in Kyrgyzstan. It also develops greenfield metal deposits; operates Koksay deposit in Kazakhstan, and the Baimskaya licence area in the Chukotka region of Russia; and produces and sells various by-products, such as gold, silver, molybdenum, and zinc. In addition, the company supplies and distributes heat, water, and electricity; and offers construction, project management, financing, management, sales and logistics, and repairs and maintenance services. The company was formerly known as Kazakhmys PLC and changed its name to KAZ Minerals PLC in October 2014. KAZ Minerals PLC was founded in 1930 and is based in London, the United Kingdom. Read More 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. Read More Wall Street analysts have given iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Wall Street analysts have given iShares North American Tech-Multimedia Networking ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but iShares North American Tech-Multimedia Networking ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. 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. 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. Read More The BIG CON Screwing Americans (Ad) The rich and powerful are thrilled... Inflation is GREAT for them. Its everyone else wholl get screwed. But according to an ex-Wall Street vet, theres actually a way for YOU to turn the tables just make this one move before July 29th. Click here to see why Finance PhD: Move your money BEFORE June 30th (Ad) The clock just started on the biggest financial event in 20 years. And the next months could decide your wealth in 2021. Heres what to do now. AbbVie Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals in the worldwide. The company offers HUMIRA, a therapy administered as an injection for autoimmune and intestinal BehAet's diseases; SKYRIZI to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults; RINVOQ, a JAK inhibitor for the treatment of moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis in adult patients; IMBRUVICA to treat adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), mantle cell lymphoma, waldenstrAm's macroglobulinemia, marginal zone lymphoma, and chronic graft versus host disease; VENCLEXTA, a BCL-2 inhibitor used to treat adults with CLL or SLL; and MAVYRET to treat patients with chronic HCV genotype 1-6 infection. It also provides CREON, a pancreatic enzyme therapy for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency; Synthroid used in the treatment of hypothyroidism; AndroGel for males diagnosed with symptomatic low testosterone; Linzess/Constella to treat irritable bowel syndrome with constipation and chronic idiopathic constipation; Lupron for the palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer, endometriosis and central precocious puberty, and patients with anemia caused by uterine fibroids; and Botox therapeutic. In addition, the company offers ORILISSA, a nonpeptide small molecule gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist for women with moderate to severe endometriosis pain; Duopa and Duodopa, a levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel to treat Parkinson's disease; Lumigan/Ganfort, a bimatoprost ophthalmic solution for the reduction of elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with open angle glaucoma (OAG) or ocular hypertension; Ubrelvy to treat migraine with or without aura in adults; Alphagan/ Combigan, an alpha-adrenergic receptor agonist for the reduction of IOP in patients with OAG; and Restasis, a calcineurin inhibitor immunosuppressant to increase tear production. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is based in North Chicago, Illinois. Read More Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 24) A man was arrested after a grenade was confiscated from his bag at the MRT-3 Cubao Station Saturday night. In a report, the Quezon City Police identified the man as Christian Guzman, 29, from Baliuag, Bulacan. It said MRT security personnel apprehended Guzman after a suspicious object was detected inside his bag by the x -ray machine at the station's entrance at around 7:10 pm. The object turned out to be a live hand grenade wrapped by a packaging tape and placed inside a cellphone box. Guzman is now in the custody of Cubao Police Station, facing a complaint for violating Republic Act 9516 or the illegal possession of ammunition and explosives. An inquest procedure was conducted yesterday at the Quezon City Prosecutor's Office. In a statement, the Transportation Department assured that the agency is taking the incident seriously and implementing measure to assure security in all train stations. It also urged passengers "to remain vigilant and report immediately to our security personnel items, activities, and even individuals that they may find suspicious inside our trains or stations." "We ask the patience and cooperation of our passengers as we further tighten the security measures being implemented in our stations. Please understand that these measures are being done to protect the safety and security of our passengers," it said. The incident happened following the arrest of a man found with a sachet of marijuana at the LRT-2 Cubao station. Police report said the passenger, identified as Ferrer Franciso, 47, was arrested at around 2:13 p.m. after a sachet of dried marijuana leaves was confiscated from him during a routine inspection at the station. He is charged for violating RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. provides midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, petrochemicals, and refined products. The company operates through four segments: NGL Pipelines & Services, Crude Oil Pipelines & Services, Natural Gas Pipelines & Services, and Petrochemical & Refined Products Services. The NGL Pipelines & Services segment offers natural gas processing and related NGL marketing services. It operates 21 natural gas processing facilities located in Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming; NGL pipelines; NGL fractionation facilities; NGL and related product storage facilities; and NGL marine terminals. The Crude Oil Pipelines & Services segment operates crude oil pipelines; and crude oil storage and marine terminals, which include a fleet of 310 tractor-trailer tank trucks that are used to transport liquefied petroleum gas. It also engages in crude oil marketing activities. The Natural Gas Pipelines & Services segment operates natural gas pipeline systems to gather, treat, and transport natural gas. It leases underground salt dome natural gas storage facilities in Napoleonville, Louisiana; owns an underground salt dome storage cavern in Wharton County, Texas; and markets natural gas. The Petrochemical & Refined Products Services segment operates propylene fractionation and related marketing activities; butane isomerization complex and related deisobutanizer units; and octane enhancement and high purity isobutylene production facilities. It also operates refined products pipelines and terminals; and ethylene export terminals, as well as provides refined products marketing and marine transportation services. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Hyatt Hotels: CHANCELLOR STREET CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION INC., GLENDALE HOTEL PROPERTIES L.L.C., HT-SEATTLE HOLDINGS LLC, 1379919 ALBERTA INC., 319168 ONTARIO LIMITED, 3385434 CANADA INC., ADMINISTRACION DE PERSONAL ANDARES S. DE R.L. DE C.V., AIC HOLDING CO., AIRPORT PLAZA ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, AIRPORT PLAZA HOTEL LLC, AIRPORT PLAZA OFFICE BUILDING LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, AMERISUITES FRANCHISING L.L.C., ARANCIA LIMITED, ARUBA BEACHFRONT RESORTS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, ARUBA BEACHFRONT RESORTS N.V., ASIA HOSPITALITY INC., ASIA HOSPITALITY INVESTORS B.V., ASIAN HOTEL N.V., ATRIUM HOTEL L.L.C., AUSTIN RESORT BEVERAGE LLC, AmeriSuites Hotel, BAKU HOTEL COMPANY - AZERI, BAKU HOTEL COMPANY - CAYMAN, BASTROP MARKETING L.L.C., BAY II INVESTOR INC., BELLEVUE ASSOCIATES, BH PLAZA LLC, BRE/AMERISUITES PROPERTIES L.L.C., BRE/AMERISUITES TXNC GP L.L.C., BRE/AMERISUITES TXNC PROPERTIES L.P., BURVAN HOTEL ASSOCIATES, CAL-HARBOR SO. PIER URBAN RENEWAL ASSOCIATES L.P., CELAYA RESORTS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., CHESAPEAKE COMMUNITIES LLC, CHESAPEAKE RESORT LLC, CIUDAD DEL CARMEN DIAMANTE RESORT S. DE R.L. DE C.V, COAST BEACH L.L.C., COMPAGNIE HOTELIERE DE LAGON BLEU, CPM SEATTLE HOTELS L.L.C., CRW INVESTMENT LLC, CTR INTEREST HOLDCO INC., DALLAS REGENCY LLC, DENVER DOWNTOWN HOTEL PARTNERS LLC, DESARROLLADORA HOTELERA ACUEDUCTO S. DE R.L. DE C.V., DH BEVERAGE LLC, DIAMANTE RESORT LA PAZ S. DE R.L. DE C.V., DISTRICT HOTEL PARTNERS LLC, EXHALE ENTERPRISES GIFT SERVICES COMPANY, EXHALE ENTERPRISES II L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES III INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES IV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES V L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES VIII INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES X INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XIV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XIX L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XV TCI LTD., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XVI L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XVII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XVIII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XX L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXI INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXIV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXVI L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXVII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXVIII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXXI L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXXII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXXIII INC., FAN PIER L.L.C., FAR EAST HOTELS INC., G.E.H. PROPERTIES LIMITED, GAINEY DRIVE ASSOCIATES, GALAXY AEROSPACE COMPANY LLC, GHE HOLDINGS LIMITED, GRAND HYATT BERLIN GMBH, GRAND HYATT DFW BEVERAGE LLC, GRAND HYATT SAN ANTONIO L.L.C., GRAND HYATT SF L.L.C., GRAND RIVERWALK BEVERAGE LLC, GRAND TORONTO CORP., GRAND TORONTO VENTURE L.P., GREENWICH HOTEL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, H.E. ATLANTA CENTENNIAL PARK HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. AUSTIN L.L.C., H.E. BERMUDA L.L.C., H.E. CAP CANA L.L.C., H.E. DRISKILL LLC, H.E. GRAND CYPRESS L.L.C., H.E. IRVINE L.L.C., H.E. KANSAS CITY L.L.C., H.E. LENOX L.L.C., H.E. NASHVILLE L.L.C., H.E. NEWPORT L.L.C., H.E. ORLANDO L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC HOTEL L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC PARKING L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC RETAIL L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA SANSOM L.L.C., H.E. PORTLAND HC L.L.C., H.E. PORTLAND L.L.C., H.E. PROPERTIES HOLDING L.L.C., H.E. PROPERTIES L.L.C., H.E. SAN ANTONIO I L.L.C., H.E. SAN ANTONIO L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON JV L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON OWNER L.L.C., HAPP INVESTOR LTD., HARBORSIDE HOTEL LLC, HARBORSIDE LAND LLC, HC PORTLAND JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HC ROYAL PALMS L.L.C., HCV CINCINNATI HOTEL L.L.C., HE ORLANDO HOTEL LLC, HGP (TRAVEL) LIMITED, HH NASHVILLE HOLDINGS L.L.C., HH NASHVILLE JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HH PORTLAND L.L.C., HHMA BURLINGTON BEVERAGE L.L.C., HI HOLDINGS (SWITZERLAND) GMBH, HI HOLDINGS BAJA B.V., HI HOLDINGS BRAZIL S.A.R.L., HI HOLDINGS CELAYA B.V., HI HOLDINGS CIUDAD DEL CARMEN B.V., HI HOLDINGS CYPRUS LIMITED, HI HOLDINGS CYPRUS-INDIA LIMITED, HI HOLDINGS GUADALAJARA B.V., HI HOLDINGS HP CABO B.V., HI HOLDINGS HP TIJUANA HOTEL B.V., HI HOLDINGS KYOTO CO., HI HOLDINGS LA PAZ B.V., HI HOLDINGS LATIN AMERICA B.V., HI HOLDINGS NETHERLANDS B.V., HI HOLDINGS PLAYA B.V., HI HOLDINGS RIO S.A.R.L., HI HOLDINGS RIVIERA MAYA B.V., HI HOLDINGS VIENNA S.A.R.L., HI HOLDINGS ZURICH S.A.R.L., HI HOTEL ADVISORY SERVICES GMBH, HI HOTEL INVESTORS CYPRUS LIMITED, HIHCL AMSTERDAM B.V., HIHCL HP AMSTERDAM AIRPORT B.V., HIHCL HR AMSTERDAM B.V., HILP HOTEL SERVICE PROVIDER LLC, HOTEL AM BELVEDERE HOLDING GMBH, HOTEL AM BELVEDERE HOLDING GMBH & CO KG, HOTEL INVESTMENTS HOLDING CO LLC, HOTEL INVESTMENTS L.L.C., HOTEL INVESTORS I INC., HOTEL INVESTORS II INC., HOTEL PROJECT SYSTEMS PTE LTD, HOTEL SERVICES CIUDAD DEL CARMEN S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HOTELS CS CELAYA S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HP ATLANTA CENTENNIAL PARK JV LLC, HP AUSTIN L.L.C., HP BEVERAGE DALLAS DFW AIRPORT LLC, HP BEVERAGE SUGAR LAND LLC, HP BOSTON HOLDINGS L.L.C., HP GLENDALE JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HP GLENDALE L.L.C., HP INDIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, HP LAS VEGAS BEVERAGE L.L.C., HP M STREET L.L.C., HP ROUTE 46 TEXAS LLC, HP SAN FRANCISCO L.L.C., HP SAN JUAN L.L.C., HP TEN TEXAS LLC, HPHH ATLANTA L.L.C., HPHH DENVER L.L.C., HPHH SAN JOSE JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HPHH SAN JOSE L.L.C., HQ CHESAPEAKE LLC, HR LOST PINES RESORT LLC, HR MC HOTEL COMPANY S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HR MC SERVICES II S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HR MC SERVICES S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HRHC LLC, HT- WAILEA LLC, HT-AVENDRA GROUP HOLDINGS L.L.C., HT-AVENDRA L.L.C., HT-CHESAPEAKE COMMUNITIES INC., HT-CHESAPEAKE RESORT INC., HT-HOTEL EQUITIES INC., HT-HUNTINGTON BEACH INC., HT-JERSEY PIER INC., HT-JERSEY PIER L.P., HT-JERSEY PIER LLC, HT-LONG BEACH L.L.C., HT-MIAMI BEACH L.L.C., HT-PARK 57 INC., HT-SEATTLE LLC, HT-SIERRA L.L.C., HT-VANCOUVER INC., HTLB L.L.C., HTS - NS L.L.C., HTS - NY L.L.C., HTS-ASPEN L.L.C., HTS-BC INC., HTS-INVESTMENT L L.C., HTSF L.L.C., HTW BEVERAGE LLC, HY LONG BEACH HOTEL LLC, HYATT (BARBADOS) CORPORATION, HYATT (JAPAN) CO. LTD., HYATT (THAILAND) LIMITED, HYATT ARUBA N.V., HYATT ASIA PACIFIC HOLDINGS LIMITED, HYATT AUSTRALIA HOTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LIMITED, HYATT AUSTRIA GMBH, HYATT BEACH FRONT N.V., HYATT BORNEO MANAGEMENT SERVICES LIMITED, HYATT BRITANNIA CORPORATION LTD., HYATT CC OFFICE CORP., HYATT CHAIN SERVICES LIMITED, HYATT CRYSTAL CITY LLC., HYATT CURACAO N.V., HYATT DISASTER RELIEF FUND, HYATT DO BRASIL PARTICIPACOES LTDA, HYATT EQUITIES L.L.C., HYATT FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT SERVICES INC., HYATT FRANCHISING CANADA CORP., HYATT FRANCHISING L.L.C., HYATT FRANCHISING LATIN AMERICA L.L.C., HYATT FULFILLMENT OF MARYLAND INC., HYATT GLOBAL SERVICES INC., HYATT GTLD L.L.C., HYATT HOC INC., HYATT HOLDINGS (UK) LIMITED, HYATT HOSPITALITY SERVICES L.L.C., HYATT HOTEL MANAGEMENT LIMITED, HYATT HOTELS CONSULTANCY SERVICES ASIA PACIFIC LIMITED, HYATT HOTELS CORPORATION OF KANSAS, HYATT HOTELS CORPORATION OF MARYLAND, HYATT HOTELS FOUNDATION, HYATT HOTELS MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, HYATT HOTELS OF CANADA INC., HYATT HOTELS OF FLORIDA INC., HYATT HOTELS OF PUERTO RICO INC., HYATT HOUSE CANADA INC., HYATT HOUSE FRANCHISING L.L.C., HYATT HOUSE HOTEL HOLDING COMPANY L.L.C., HYATT INDIA CONSULTANCY PRIVATE LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL (ASIA) LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL (EUROPE AFRICA MIDDLE EAST) LLC, HYATT INTERNATIONAL - JAPAN LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL - SOUTHWEST ASIA LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL -ASIA PACIFIC LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL -SEA (PTE) LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, HYATT INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS CO., HYATT INTERNATIONAL HOTEL MANAGEMENT (BEIJING) CO. LTD., HYATT INTERNATIONAL MILAN L.L.C., HYATT INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (BEIJING) CO. LTD., HYATT INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL SERVICES INC., HYATT JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HYATT LACSA SERVICES INC., HYATT LOUISIANA L.L.C., HYATT MAINZ GMBH, HYATT MARKETING SERVICES INC., HYATT MARKETING SERVICES NIGERIA COMPANY LIMITED, HYATT MINNEAPOLIS LLC, HYATT MINORITY INVESTMENTS INC., HYATT MSS L.L.C., HYATT NORTH AMERICA MANAGEMENT SERVICES INC., HYATT OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HYATT OF BAJA S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HYATT OF CHINA LIMITED, HYATT OF FRANCE S.A.R.L., HYATT OF GUAM LIMITED, HYATT OF ITALY S.R.L., HYATT OF LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN L.L.C., HYATT OF LATIN AMERICA S.A. DE C.V., HYATT OF MACAU LIMITED, HYATT OF MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., HYATT OF PHILIPPINES LIMITED, HYATT PARTNERSHIP INTERESTS L.L.C., HYATT PLACE ANNE ARUNDEL BEVERAGE INC., HYATT PLACE CANADA CORPORATION, HYATT PLACE FRANCHISING L.L.C., HYATT PLACE OF MARYLAND INC., HYATT REGENCY COLOGNE GMBH, HYATT REGENCY CORPORATION PTY. LIMITED, HYATT SERVICES AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED, HYATT SERVICES CANADA INC., HYATT SERVICES CARIBBEAN L.L.C., HYATT SERVICES GMBH, HYATT SERVICES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, HYATT SHARED SERVICE CENTER L.L.C., HYATT TRINIDAD LIMITED, HYCANADA INC., HYCARD INC., HYSTAR L.L.C., Hyatt Corporation, INFORMATION SERVICES LIMITED, INTERNATIONAL RESERVATIONS LIMITED, JOINT VENTURE ITALKYR CLOSED JOINT STOCK COMPANY, JUNIPER HOTELS PRIVATE LIMITED, KSA MANAGEMENT INC., KYOTO HOLDING CO., LHR-PARTNERS LTD., LORING PARK ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, LOST PINES BEVERAGE LLC, MACAE PARTNERS S.A.R.L., MAHIMA HOLDINGS PRIVATE LIMITED, MARION RESERVATION CENTER L.L.C., MEXICO CITY HOTEL INVESTMENTS B.V., MILAN HOTEL INVESTMENTS B.V., MIRAVAL ARIZONA GUARANTOR LLC, MIRAVAL GROUP LLC, MIRAVAL RESORT ARIZONA HOLDINGS LLC, MIRAVAL RESORT ARIZONA LLC, MIRAVAL RESORT ARIZONA OPERATING CO. INC., MIRAVAL RESORT TUCSON LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS I LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS II LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS III LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS TRUST, MRG ATX BEVERAGE HOLDINGS LLC, MRG ATX HOLDINGS II LLC, MRG ATX HOLDINGS LLC, MRG ATX INVESTMENT LLC, MRG ATX MANAGEMENT I LLC, MRG ATX MANAGEMENT II LLC, MRG ATX OPERATIONS LLC, MRG CRW HOLDINGS LLC, MRG CRW MANAGEMENT I LLC, MRG CRW MANAGEMENT II LLC, MRG CRW OPERATIONS LLC, MUNICH OPCO GMBH, Miraval Resort, OASIS LUXURY RENTALS INCORPORATED, PARIS HOTEL COMPANY B.V., PARK HYATT HAMBURG GMBH, PARK HYATT HOTEL GMBH, PARK HYATT WATER TOWER ASSOCIATES L.L.C., PH NEW YORK L.L.C., PHMC RESIDENCIAS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., POLK SMITH REGENCY LLC, PT HYATT INDONESIA, PVD INVESTMENT COMPANY S.A.R.L., Peabody Hotels & Resort, RCG PROPERTIES LLC, REGENCY BEVERAGE COMPANY LLC, REGENCY RIVERWALK BEVERAGE LLC, RESERVATIONS CENTER L.L.C., RIO JV PARTNERS PARTICIPACOES LTDA., RIO PRETO PARTNERS HOTEIS LTDA., RIO PRETO PARTNERS S.A.R.L., ROSEMONT PROJECT MANAGEMENT L.L.C., ROUTE 46 MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES CORP., RUNWAY HOLDING L.L.C., RUNWAY L.L.C., SAO PAULO INVESTMENT COMPANY INC., SAO PAULO INVESTORS LIMITED, SASIH, SDI EQUITIES INVESTOR L.L.C., SDI INC., SDI SECURITIES 11 LLC, SDI SECURITIES 6 LLC, SELECT HOTELS GROUP L.L.C., SELECT JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., SEOUL MIRAMAR CORPORATION, SERVICIOS DE HOTELERIA SAN JOSE S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SERVICIOS HOTELEROS LA PAZ S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SETTLEMENT INVESTORS INC., SHG PUERTO RICO INC., SIERRA HEALTHSTYLES LLC, SJC DESARROLLOS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SKS CORP. N.V., SMC HOTELS B.V., SOROCABA PARTNERS HOTEIS LTDA, SOROCABA PARTNERS S.A.R.L., STANHOPE L.L.C., STARHILL LORING PARK L.L.C., SUGAR LAND/HP LLC, THE GREAT EASTERN HOTEL COMPANY LIMITED, THE GREAT EASTERN HOTEL HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED, TIJUANA PARTNERS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., TR MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT LLC, TUCSON VILLAS HOLDINGS LLC, TUCSON VILLAS LLC, TWO SEAS HOLDINGS LIMITED, Two Roads Hospitality, WAILEA HOTEL & BEACH RESORT L.L.C., WAILEA HOTEL HOLDINGS L.L.C., WAILEA MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION L.L.C., WAILEA RESORT VILLAS HOLDINGS L.L.C., WAILEA RESORT VILLAS L.L.C., WEST END RESIDENCES L.L.C., XENIA ASSURANCE COMPANY INC., XENIA ASSURANCE COMPANY OF ILLINOIS, ZURICH ESCHERWIESE HOTEL GMBH, and ZURICH HOTEL INVESTMENTS B.V.. Better Than Meme Stocks? (5 Secrets Revealed) (Ad) Retail traders have poured $1.27 BILLION into meme stocks in just two weeks... Some have made a killing... but most are getting wiped out. Trading legend Bryan Bottarelli just revealed five secrets to make consistent money in the market. Click Here to Claim Your Copy (No Credit Card Required... Limited Time Only) 10 Million People Started Trading Last Year Heres What to Do Next (Ad) How do you make money trading? What are the secrets pros use to beat the market day after day? Former Chicago Board Options Exchange trader reveals all the insider tricks... Get the Full Report Now (No Credit Card Required... Limited Time Only) American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved. 326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at [email protected] | (844) 978-6257 MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security. Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research. 8 hours ago | June 27th | 2021 6:30 AM If You Want to Do Business on the Links, You Need to Improve Your Golf Game A lot of business is done on the golf course. Especially this summer after a year in quarantine, people will be itching to get out on the links and for some relaxation and mixing business with pleasure. If you want to close a deal out on the course, you're going to want to be more focused on the deal points than your next shot. 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. Airbus SE designs, manufactures, and distributes aerospace products and solutions in the Netherlands and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Airbus, Airbus Helicopters, and Airbus Defence and Space. The company's Airbus segment develops, manufactures, markets, and sells commercial jet aircraft of approximately 100 seats; and regional turboprop aircraft and aircraft components, as well as provides aircraft conversion and related services. Its Airbus Helicopters segment develops, manufactures, markets, and sells civil and military helicopters; and provides helicopter related services. The company's Airbus Defence and Space segment designs, develops, delivers, and supports military aircraft, such as combat, mission, transport, and tanker aircraft; and provides unmanned aerial systems and their associated services. It also offers civil and defense space systems for telecommunications, earth observations, navigation, science, and orbital systems; missile systems; and missile and space launcher systems, as well as services around data processing from platforms, secure communication, and cyber security. The company was formerly known as Airbus Group SE and changed its name to Airbus SE in April 2017. Airbus SE was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Leiden, the Netherlands. Read More To Any American Who Owns a Cell Phone (Ad) If you own a cell phone, then mobile service providers hope you never get to see this video that could soon go viral. His experiment could strike a bad chord with mobile phone companies. But youve got to see what this man discovered and what it means for phone users in the weeks ahead. Click here to see this video before it's removed 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. EMCOR Group, Inc. provides electrical and mechanical construction, and facilities services in the United States. The company offers design, integration, installation, starts-up, operation, and maintenance services related to electrical power transmission and distribution systems; premises electrical and lighting systems; process instrumentation in the refining, chemical processing, food processing, and mining industries; low-voltage systems, such as fire alarm, security, and process control systems; voice and data communications systems; roadway and transit lighting, and fiber optic lines; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and clean-room process ventilation systems; fire protection systems; plumbing, process, and high-purity piping systems; controls and filtration systems; water and wastewater treatment systems; central plant heating and cooling systems; crane and rigging services; millwright services; and steel fabrication, erection, and welding services. It also provides building services that cover commercial and government site-based operations and maintenance; facility management, maintenance, and services outage services to utilities and industrial plants; military base operations support services; mobile mechanical maintenance and services; services for indoor air quality; floor care and janitorial services; landscaping, lot sweeping, and snow removal; other building services; vendor management; call center services; installation and support for building systems; program development, management, and maintenance for energy systems; technical consulting and diagnostic services; infrastructure and building projects; and small modification and retrofit projects. In addition, the company provides industrial services for oil, gas, and petrochemical industries. EMCOR Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Read More Saudi Arabia has replaced its ambassador to the United States, a royal decree announced Saturday, as the fallout over journalist Jamal Khashoggis murder tests relations between the two allies. Princess Rima bint Bandar was appointed the kingdoms first woman envoy to Washington, replacing Prince Khalid bin Salman, who was named vice defence minister. Prince Khalid is the younger brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the countrys de facto ruler who also serves as the defence minister. The reshuffle comes as ties with Washington are under strain following Khashoggis murder last October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. After initially denying they knew anything of Khashoggis disappearance, the Saudis finally acknowledged that a team killed him inside the consulate, but described it as a rogue operation. US lawmakers have threatened to take tougher action against Saudi Arabia over the brutal killing amid claims that the crown prince was personally responsible. The Saudi government has strongly denied he had anything to do with the murder of Khashoggi who was a columnist with the Washington Post. The killing refocused attention on a Saudi-led military coalitions bombing campaign in Yemen, which is gripped by what the UN calls the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Earlier this month, the US House voted overwhelmingly to end American involvement in Saudi Arabias war effort in neighbouring Yemen, dealing a rebuke to President Donald Trump who has publicly thrown his support behind the crown prince. US lawmakers this month also said they were probing whether Trump was rushing to sell sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia to please corporate supporters who stand to profit handsomely. The House of Representatives committee has voiced fears that Saudi Arabia could convert US expertise into making a nuclear bomb, heightening already severe tensions with regional rival Iran. The vote by the British lawmakers on the Brexit deal has been postponed to March 12 from February 27, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday. Speaking to reporters on the plane to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt for the European Union (EU)-Arab League summit on Sunday, May ruled out bringing the Brexit deal to Commons this week, Xinhua reported. May was quoted by The Guardian as saying: "My team will be back in Brussels on Tuesday. As a result of that, we won't bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week, but we will ensure that happens by March 12. It's still within our grasp to leave the EU by March 29 and that is what we are planning to do." Her decision will come as a blow to opponents who planned to use this week's vote to push for a delay to Britain's departure from the EU, or for a so-called People's Vote on her deal with Brussels. Although the EU-AL summit is not scheduled to discuss Brexit, May said she would take the opportunity to meet leaders of EU member states in her quest to get changes to her deal. The new date for a meaningful date in the House of Commons will be just 17 days before Britain is scheduled to end its EU membership on March 29. Citing The Guardian, Xinhua reported May is expected to meet European Council president Donald Tusk on Sunday and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday in Egypt. In a stormy week for British politics, 11 MPs -- three Conservatives and 7 from the Labour Party -- quit their parties and formed an Independent Group of MPs in the House. Meanwhile, three of her senior front bench ministers Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and David Gauke told the Daily Mail newspaper, they would support moves to extend Article 50, the mechanism that laid down Britain's departure date as March 29. They said it was aimed to avoid a "disastrous" no-deal Brexit, unless a deal with Brussels is agreed within the next few days. Keir Starmer, Brexit spokesman for Labour Party, attacked May's decision to delay the vote. "This decision to further delay the meaningful vote is the height of irresponsibility and an admission of failure," he said. "May is recklessly running down the clock in a desperate attempt to force MPs to choose between her deal and no-deal. Parliament cannot stand by and allow this to happen," Starmer said. Venezuelan security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets Saturday to disperse a crowd demanding to cross the Venezuela-Colombia border, ordered closed by President Nicolas Maduro as tensions in the Latin American country soared ahead of an opposition deadline to bring in humanitarian aid. We want to work! people chanted as they faced Venezuelan National Guard riot police blocking the crossing at the Urena border bridge to Colombia, one of several ordered closed Maduro late Friday. Meanwhile, four National Guard troops deserted their posts near the border, one greeted by a crowd of cheering Venezuelans on the Colombian side as he walked across. Three others smashed through a security barrier on the Simon Bolivar bridge crossing in their jeep. Supporters of opposition leader Juan Guaido in Colombia are planning to cross the border carrying emergency supplies into Venezuela. Guaido has vowed humanitarian aid would enter his country despite a blockade. Socialist leader Maduro has rejected the aid, which hes dismissed as a show and pretext for a US invasion. Humanitarian aid has become the centerpiece of the stand-off between Maduro and Guaido, the 35-year-old leader of Venezuelas National Assembly who declared himself interim president exactly one month ago Saturday. Guaido has accused Maduro of rigging his re-election and is demanding a new vote. Venezuela is gripped by a humanitarian crisis that has seen poverty soar during years of recession. As many as 300,000 Venezuelans are in dire need of food and medicine after years of shortages and malnutrition, according to Guaido. United Nations figures show that some 2.7 million people have fled Venezuela since 2015 amid the crisis, and some 5,000 Venezuelans emigrate from their country each day. On the eve of the face-off Guaido defied a government ban on leaving the country and attended the Venezuela Live Aid concert organized by British billionaire Richard Branson just over the border in Colombia. US President Donald Trump has described as very dangerous the situation between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack, but said he can understand New Delhis desire for something very strong as it has lost almost 50 people. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) rammed a vehicle carrying a huge quantity of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. India launched a major diplomatic offensive against Islamabad after the attack and highlighted Pakistans role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy. The international community led by the US pressed Pakistan to deny safe haven to terror groups operating form its soil and bring the perpetrators of the Pulwama attack to justice. Trump, after his meeting with a visiting Chinese trade delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He, told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday that in Kashmir, its very dangerous. The President referred to the possibility of a strong response from India in the wake of the terrorist attack. India is looking at something very strong. And I mean, India just lost almost 50 people with an attack. So, I could understand that also, he said when asked about Indias right to self-defence. Responding to questions on the tense situation between the two South Asian neighbours, Trump said the US is talking about it so does some other nations, without mentioning them. We are talking and a lot of people are talking. But, it is a very, very delicate balance going on right now. Theres a lot of problems between India and Pakistan because of what just happened, said the US President. Were very much involved in that, if thats what youre referring to, he said. Trump described the current situation between India and Pakistan as very dangerous. Its a terrible thing going on right now between Pakistan and India... It is a very, very bad situation and its a very dangerous situation between the two countries. We would like to see it stopped. A lot of people were just killed and we want to see it stopped, he said. Trump claimed that his administration has developed a much better relationship with Pakistan, even after he stopped USD 1.3 billion in financial aid to Islamabad. I stopped Pakistan, the USD 1.3 billion that we were paying them. In the meantime, we may set up some meetings with Pakistan. Pakistan was taking very strong advantage of the United States under other presidents and we were paying Pakistan 1.3 billion a year. I ended that payment to Pakistan because they werent helping us in a way that they should have. And honestly, weve developed a much better relationship with Pakistan over the last short period of time than we had, Trump said. In the wake of the Pulwama attack, US National Security Adviser John Bolton told his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval last week that America supports Indias right to self-defence as both sides vowed to work together to ensure that Pakistan ceases to be a safe haven for JeM and other terror groups. India has asked Pakistan to take immediate and verifiable action against terrorists and terror groups operating from territories under its control. New Delhi also announced the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation status for Pakistan and hiked the customs duty by 200 per cent on goods originating from Pakistan. US President Donald Trump on Friday said a trade summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was likely to occur next month, and hailed two days of very good talks by negotiators. The talks were extended through Sunday as officials race to reach a deal ahead of a deadline next week when US duty rates are due to rise sharply. But Trump again said he was considering pushing back the deadline for raising tariffs on more than USD 200 billion in Chinese exports. We expect to have a meeting sometime in a not too distant future, he said of the meeting with Xi. Probably fairly soon in the month of March. Details remained scant about any concrete progress in the seven-month-old trade war, which has rattled the global markets and prompted stark warnings about the risks to the world economy. I think there is a very, very good chance that a deal can be made, Trump told reporters at the White House on a second day of trade negotiations with Chinese officials. If we are doing well, I could see extending that deadline for the end of the three month tariff truce. And Trump said an agreement on currency manipulation will be included in the trade pact. Officials from Beijing also expressed optimism about a positive outcome. From China, we believe that it is very likely that it will happen, Chinese trade envoy Liu He said, speaking through an interpreter. Global stock markets were higher on expectations the two sides would avoid further deterioration in their trade relations. Analysts say the two sides are likely to trumpet mutual agreements to resolve the easier parts of the trade dispute -- increasing purchases of American goods, more open investment in China and tougher protections for intellectual property and proprietary technology. The harder parts covering issues like scaling back Chinas ambitious industrial strategy for global preeminence, are another question. Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, again warned that the US-China trade tensions a major risk to world economic growth. Since July, the countries have hit out with tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade. While the tariffs alone are having minimal effect on global trade, they are damaging business confidence and weighing on stock markets, Lagarde told the US radio program Marketplace on Thursday. I cross my fingers every morning and my toes every evening because I hope that it is going to end up with a way to fix the system, not break it, she said The IMF has cut its forecast for global growth this year due to the combined impact of the trade war. Beijing reportedly has proposed an increase in its imports of US energy and agricultural exports significantly. US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue tweeted that China has committed to buying an additional 10 million metric tons of soybeans as a show of good faith, but he did not give any details or specify the timeframe. Still, a broader deal could be difficult given the US demands for far-reaching structural changes. Gary Clyde Hufbauer, a trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said China may have to remove its tariffs in order to increase purchases of US goods, but Trump may feel no pressure to roll back the duties he imposed last year. The big surprise would be a complete removal of tariffs by Trump but Im expecting an asymmetrical removal of tariffs by China in order to get to some of these numbers, he said. Chinas retaliation has hit US farm exports hard. The US Agriculture Department estimated this month that US soy exports would not turn to their pre-trade war levels for another six years. William Reinsch, a former senior Treasury official for trade in the administration of President Bill Clinton, told AFP a risk for Trump is whether any agreement holds and the Chinese honor their commitments. If it unravels and we have a string of unmet commitments and then US retaliation right before the election, were kind of right back where we started, he said. President Donald Trump said on Friday he is nominating Kelly Craft, his envoy to Canada, to be the next US ambassador to the United Nations. Kelly has done an outstanding job representing our Nation and I have no doubt that, under her leadership, our Country will be represented at the highest level, Trump said in a pair of tweets announcing his pick. If confirmed by the US Senate, she would fill the post that has been vacant since Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and rising star in the Republican Party who stepped down from the UN job late last year. Craft was nominated one week after Trumps previous choice, former Fox News anchor and State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, withdrew from consideration amid criticism that she lacked the experience for one of the top diplomatic posts. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered quick praise for the nominee. Ambassador Craft has been an outstanding advocate for Americas national security and economic interests in Canada and she is extremely well-qualified to do the same at the United Nations, he said in a statement. Craft was a major supporter of George W Bush, who as president appointed her to serve as a US delegate to the United Nations, representing Washington at UN meetings. The businesswoman from Kentucky, believed to be 56-years-old, has been a major Republican donor. She raised eyebrows in 2017 as the new US ambassador in Ottawa -- and the first woman in that post -- when she said she believes both sides of climate science. I think that both sides have their own results, from their studies, and I appreciate and I respect both sides of the science, Craft told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She is married to Joe Craft, who is president of Alliance Resource Partners, which describes itself as the second largest coal producer in the eastern United States. Joe Craft was worth an estimated USD 1.4 billion in 2012, according to Forbes magazine. In a bid to quadruple farmers income by 2022 in the State, Chief Minister Raghubar Das today launched the ambitious scheme Meethi Kranti (Sweet Revolution) from Project Building Secretariat here on Thursday. The CM said on the occasion that Rs 100 rore have been approved so that the sweet revolution can be started in the state after the success of blue revolution. The CM said that in the first phase, the Government is providing a unit of Rs 1 lakh for the bee keeping, after giving training to 1207 farmers, in which Rs 80,000 grant is being given by the Government, while the payment of Rs 20,000 will be done by the beneficiary. In this way, a farmer can earn Rs 1.3 lakh annually by investing just Rs 20,000. With sweet revolution we can quadruple the income of farmers by 2022, he said. The CM said that the Prime Minister had inaugurated the Sweet Revolution from Sahebganj on April 16, 2016, along with agriculture; he called for horticulture, animal husbandry and sweet revolution. Das said that the PM will inaugurate the Prime Minister Krishi Samman Nidhi scheme from Uttar Pradesh and the State government from Ormanjhi on February 24. After this, the scheme will be launched in all the districts of the State from February 27. Under this, in the first phase, Rs 2,000 will be transferred to farmers' account through DBT. On the other hand, 22.76 lakh farmers of the State will get Rs 5,000 in the month of April under the Chief Minister Krishi Ashirvad Yojna. In this way, a farmer with central and state government's scheme will get minimum of Rs 11,000 and the maximum of Rs 31,000. The Chief Minister said that for the processing unit of honey in the State, the Government is in talks with Patanjali Yogpeeth. A positive decision has to be taken soon. The processing unit will be started by establishing coordination with the Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperation Department. With processing unit, farmers will get the right price for the produce, he said. The Chief Minister said that now the jackfruit of Khunti is going to Singapore. Government will provide market for honey. Farmers cannot raise their income by producing just one crop. They must also pay attention to animal husbandry, horticulture and organic farming. Two cows are being given to women on 90% subsidy. The youth of the state will get 50% subsidy for the same. The milk federation will purchase your product. Minister, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperation, Randhir Singh said that Sweet Revolution has been launched after the Blue Revolution in the State. It will help in doubling the income of farmers. The initiative to give benefit of the scheme to 1200 farmers has been done in the first phase. The honey processing unit will be established. Empowering the farmers is the aim of the State Government. Chairman of Jharkhand State Khadi Board Sanjay Seth said that the Chief Minister has always been trying for the Sweet revolution. Through this, we can create jobs. Farmers are estimated to have income of more than 1 lakh with a bee unit. We are moving forward in the direction of organic honey. This scheme will expedite additional income to the farmers, he said. On this occasion, the CM handed over one unit for beekeeping to Jalesh Kongadi, Laxman Mahto of Khunti, Sarita Devi of Gumla and Amarduddin Ansari. This unit has 20 bees colony. On this occasion, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Sunil Barnwal, Secretary Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperation Puja Singhal, Director Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperation Ramesh Gholap and hundreds of farmers were present. Based on the report of a probe team constituted by the Mahasamund Collector, the stone quarry and crusher based at village Navagaon Saldih under Pithora block has been sealed, till next order. On Thursday, Messers Balaji Stone Crusher Plant had conducted a blast in which a large stone has fallen over the concrete roof of village Nagavon Saldih middle school. The impact was such that the stone came crushing into a room, damaging the roof. Luckily, no one was injured. The villagers lodged a strong protest after the incident and raised concern over the safety of their children. After the incident, Mahasamund collector Sunil Kumar Jain ordered a probe by Additional Collector Mohammed Sharif Khan, Sub Divisional Magistrate revenue Pithora B S Ekka and Assisting Mining Officer and Town Inspector Basna. The stone quarry and crushe is reportedly owned by one Anita Agrawal. The team found that the lease owner was not maintaining the blasting register. The mining area was not demarcated, before blasting no information was provided to villagers, no announcement was being made to alert the nearby residents and the mine area is also near the school, the probe revealed. Three dreaded ultras of Peoples Liberation Front of India (PLFI), including Gujju Gope who had a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head, were killed in an encounter with the security forces at Aam Toli forest under Kamdara police station area in Gumla district on Sunday. The personnel were from district police and the CoBRA battalion. Gope, police said, was PLFIs second in command. Jharkhand sector CRPFs public relation officer PC Badal confirming the report said security forces have also recovered two AK 47 rifles and Bolt Action rifles and three pistols during searches carried out after the gun battle. Acting on intelligence inputs regarding gathering of PLFI extremist the forces started a combing operation at Aam Toli jungle. After spotting the police team, the PLFI cadres opened fire leading the security forces to retaliate. After the extremist fled, police recovered three bodies of PLFI cadres from encounter site. IG CRPF Jharkhand Sanjay Anand Lathkar said the encounter broke out at around 6 am on Sunday adding it continued intermittently during a search operation of the elite force 209 CoBRA. He added efforts are on to establish identities of deceased ultras. Lathkar said security forces have also traced blood stains in the contiguity of the encounter site which indicates that other extremists may also have been hit by bullets. Explaining intermittent firing by PLFI PC Badal said, On the run ultras indulge in harass firing. The ultras do this when they get outnumbered, outwitted and their dispersal in panic to save their lives and weapons. The police are tracking the extremists activities across the State. This has led to major success in the recent times. The Government has adopted multi-pronged strategy against the extremists. Recently the National Investigation Agency had also carried out searches at 10 places related to PLFI supremo Dinesh Gope and seized incriminating documents, said IG (Operations) Ashis Batra. Sources said the 209 battalion of CoBRA has turned out to be a great terminator of PLFI as its onslaughts against PLFI beginning January 29 has been of spectacular success. Badal said on January 29 five ultras of PLFI were felled in encounter on the border of Khunti Chaibasa at Arki Bandgaon police station areas. Seventeen days later on February 14 this 209 battalion of CoBRA neutralized one PLFI cadre at Raneeya jungle under Khunti district. Sources said the way 209 battalion of CoBRA has incapacitated this banned ultra outfit PLFI days ahead of the announcement of Lok Sabha polls has sent out a strong message that any naxal outfit be it the big umbrella the CPI Maoist or the splinter group PLFI or TPC or JMM will have no buying power with it for any booth to extract extra pound from the contestants. Sources said right from Maoists down to splinter group of ultras the rebels create an atmosphere of being their manager of votes in interior and cut off areas booths for a hefty premium from dubious candidates in poll fray but here with this Gumla setback to PLFI the vote management card of the splinter group especially the PLFI stands too badly broken and crushed. Borrowing a leaf from the Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati has said that the PM-KISAN scheme is atrocious, arrogant and an insult to farmers. She said that annual payout of Rs 6,000 to the farmers translated to Rs 500 per month or Rs 17 per day. Congress president Rahul Gandhi made a similar criticism of the scheme after it was announced by then Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in the interim Budget of 2019-20 on February 1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday formally launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme at Gorakhpur. It will benefit 12 crore to poor farmers by transferring Rs 6,000 pre annum to their accounts in three instalments. In a statement issued here on Sunday Mayawati said the as annual payout of Rs 6,000 to the farmers translated to Rs 500 per month or Rs 17 per day, it was a pittance and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of doing lip service to the farmers. Mayawati described the Modi governments Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme as half baked, comparing it with Modi governments previous decisions like demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST). She said the scheme was an election year stunt and the people had seen through it. Rs 500 a month to poor farmers under is an insult. Farmers believe in their labour and want remunerative price of their produce but the BJP mentality to give them a little monetary help is atrocious and arrogant. The BJP has failed to fulfil its promise, Mayawati said. The former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh said the crisis in the farm sector was getting aggravated and the BJP was clueless about tackling it. She cautioned the farmers to be vigilant about the designs of the BJP before the elections as the saffron party would mislead them. Mayawati said the sole desire of the farmers was to get remunerative price of the agriculture produce and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had singularly failed in solving the most basic issue of the agriculture sector. While launching the PM-KISAN scheme in Gorakhpur on Sunday, Modi slammed the opposition for not doing enough for farmers. He said they were all the same and were scared when the BJP announced the scheme in the interim Budget. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to enquire about the health of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Jammu & Kashmir Police Amit Kumar, who was injured during an encounter with Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists in Pulwama last week. Visited AIIMS to inquire about the health of DIG @JmuKmrPolice, Shri Amit Kumar who was severely injured in a recent counter terror operation in Pulwama. Officers like him lift the morale of forces with their action. I salute his courage and the bravery exhibited by his team, Singh tweeted after meeting Kumar on Sunday. The DIG had received a gunshot wound in the abdomen during the encounter last Monday in Pulwamas Pinglan area, about 12 km from where a suicide bomber belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammed drove his explosive-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus on February 14, killing 40 personnel. Kumar was undergoing treatment at an Army hospital in Srinagar and was airlifted to the AIIMS on Friday night. A group of irregular state government employees Sunday tried to lay a siege to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghels residence demanding regularization of their services, the first major protest faced by the nascent Congress government. Police, however, stopped the protestors near Sapre School. The Sanyukta Pragatishil Karmchari Sangh, under whose banner the protest was held, threatened to intensify their agitation if their demands were not fulfilled within seven days. The employees accused the ruling Congress of going back on its poll promises. Though disappointment was brewing among the employees and their various associations over non-fulfillment of the poll-promise, the trigger for the protest apparently was Chief Ministers recent assertion that his government was not in a position to regularise ad-hoc employees. In a convention-cum rally of employees union, Baghel cited lack of fund to take the huge additional salary burden as the government this year has already implemented two of its major poll promises-- farm loan waiver and curtailment of power tariff. Vijay Jha, the convenor of the Karmchari Sangh, in a statement said there next step would be to hand over a memorandum, addressed to the Chief Minister, to district collectors in all the district headquarters. The artisans from all over India of the Odisha Art and Craft Samiti have come to Bhopal second time to exhibit their ethnic weaves and traditional pure silk and cotton products in order to start the summer wedding season, and for the festival like Maha-shivratri and Holi, with the theme, Summer Wedding Collection. The Odisha Art and Craft Committee, founded by a group of artisans, designers, social activists, academics and environmentalists, attempts to promote exquisite traditional skill, cotton and creations of the weavers and encouraging them to be contemporary and economically relevant. More than 100 designers and weavers are part of this years exhibition which includes gorgeous Uppadas, Banaras silks, Gadwals, Dharmavaram, Jamdanis, Jamawars and Sambalpuris. From saris, dress materials, items of silk and cotton saree, suit dress material, fashion jewelry, home furnishing designer clothes from each region of the country, the exhibition provided shoppers with a kaleidoscope of Indias color, diversity and talent. Artisans from 14 handloom weaving States including Assam, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal and many designers from metros working in collaboration with the weavers are displaying more than 1,50,000 variety of their work here. The exhibition cum sale is open from February 23 to March 4, 2019 from 11 am to 9 pm at the Ravishankar Community Hall, Bittan Market, Bhopal. The Cotton and Silk handloom products on display have a range between Rs 500 and Rs 80,000 at the upper end for exclusive hand crafted sarees. Dokra Tribal Jewellery and Channapatna toys are also catching the attention of the customers. Coimbatore silk, Muga silk from Assam, bangalore silk, crepe and georgette saree, raw silk material from Karnataka. The Organiser of Cotton and Silk Fab, Manas Acharya said that the main social objective of the handloom exhibition was to promote weavers and encourage and provide a market to the handloom industry. The National War Memorial (NWM) which pays homage to soldiers who laid down their lives for the country post-Independence will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 25. The Prime Minister will dedicate the memorial to the nation on February 25. The Defence Minister, chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force will be among the dignitaries will attend the occasion, a senior official said. Some other Cabinet Ministers are also likely to attend the event, he said. The NWM is being constructed at the C Hexagon near India Gate and the National War Museum at Princess Park Complex Gate in memory of about 22,500 Indian soldiers who laid down their lives for the country in the post-Independence period. The National War Memorial will include a wall that will carry the names of those soldiers who have laid down their lives for the country, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat had earlier said. The memorial would be iconic and serve as a new landmark, which would attract people from near and far, he had said. Acceding to a long-pending demand of the armed forces, the government in 2015 had approved the project for building a National War Memorial and a National War Museum near India Gate in memory of over 22,500 soldiers who laid down their lives post-Independence. India Gate itself is a war memorial built during the British rule as the All India War Memorial Arch to honour the soldiers who died in the First World War (1914-1918) and the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919). The landmark has the names of soldiers inscribed on its surface. The inauguration of the NWM was earlier scheduled for January 25 but was postponed by the Government citing pending work. Some officials said it was also to avoid any protocol issues and any unnecessary controversy arising out of it during the Republic Day celebrations. BJP national president Amit Shah on Sunday declared that the blood of 40 CRPF martyrs in the Pulwama terror attack will not go waste and terrorists will be taught a lesson that they will remember for long. The blood of 40 martyrs will not go waste. The Government will teach them (terrorists) a lesson, Shah said while addressing the BJP workers ahead of the LS elections during which a two-minute silence was also observed in the memory of the 40 martyrs. Of the 40 slain jawans, four belonged to Punjab. Shah claimed only the BJP could provide a strong Government at the Centre under the PM Modi and he would take the country forward. The next PM will be Narendra Modi... Congress can only daydream, he said. Taking a dig at the Opposition, Shah said that the mahagathbandhan do not even have a leadership face for the top post. It cannot take the country forward, he added. Addressing the party rally at Amritsar, Shah also lashed out at Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and his Government of halting development works initiated by the previous Government. He lashed out at the Congress claiming that the promises made by the party before elections had not been met. The farm debt waiver is a sham. No farmer has received any benefit, he maintained. Taking on Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Shah said that he had lowered the dignity of the country by embracing Pakistani Army Chief, who is killing our soldiers everyday. Demanding woman and child safety in the national Capital, the Delhi Commission for Woman (DCW) and Delhi Governments newly lunached Mahila Suraksha Dal has started Padyatra from Rajghat on Sunday Morning. The group will continue the march for next 12 days. The march headed by the Swati Maliwal, Chief of DCW led the march from Rajghat saw hundreds of woman participation. The massive procession walked to Shakarpur police station and from there continued on foot towards Laxmi Nagar, Trilokpuri and Kalyanpuri - the crime infested areas of East Delhi. The padyatra received enthusiastic welcome from people, especially women, at many places during the course of the day. The women of Delhi to come together to ensure Delhi is safe for its daughters. While Delhi is ashamed of its rape capital tag, the city daily witnesses innumerable cases of molestation, eve-teasing, domestic violence and physical abuse of not just little girls but boys as well, said Maliwal. She further added that in the 13 days the DCW team will walk the streets of Delhi covering hundreds of kilometres, connecting with women who need help but fail to reach the Commission. The Mahila Suraksha Padyatra will work on highlighting the security lacunae in various parts of the city and seek redressal from concerned authorities. Further, in order to involve communities in making Delhi safe, DCW asked the people to volunteer as Mahila Suraksha Mitr by calling at 9350-181-181. The Mahila Suraksha Mitr will bridge the gap between public and police, as well as support their communities in crisis. Kashmir is not an Islamic land but every inch of its land belongs to India. Rajya Sabha MP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue Rakesh Sinha said this while speaking at a programme on challenges facing democracy organised by the Vishwa Samvad Kendra here on Sunday. He said Article 370 divides one nation into two and it is time to do away with Articles 370 and 35A. Paying homage to martyrs, he said, Those who approach the Supreme Court at midnight seeking clemency for terrorists should also understand that we are lenient but not toothless. After the Pulwama terror attack, the people are pained and wanting a solution whether it is arrived at through reasoning or power. Stating that India has a tradition of sacrifice for the nation, he recalled instances from the past and said that the martyrs from Uttarakhand too had followed this tradition. Protecting the nation is important before protecting democracy, he said. Stressing that Kashmir was and will remain a part of India, he said that it is people like Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti who should decide where they wish to live. Individualism, casteism, regionalism and communalism are the biggest challenges facing Indian democracy, opined Sinha. Speaking on the occasion, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that the mood of the nation is to teach Pakistan a lesson. The Union Government is standing strongly against the actions of Pakistan with the international community also lending its support to India. RSS office-bearers and public representatives were also present on the occasion. Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday said that about 8,42,600 farmers of the state with less than two hectares land would be provided Rs 6000 annually under the Pardhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna. The first installment of Rs 2000 for the month of December 2018 and January and February 2019 would be deposited in the accounts of 1,41,677 farmers of the state registered till date on Sunday, the Chief Minister said while presiding over the state level function of Pardhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna held at auditorium of Government Degree College in Dharamshala. The remaining farmers would get this amount as soon as they get registered under this scheme, he said. The Chief Minister said that the scheme aims at supplementing the financial needs of the small and marginal farmers and entails a direct cash support of Rs 6,000 for farmers. Under the scheme, small and marginal farmers with less than two hectares of land would get cash in their accounts in three installments of Rs 2,000 each, he added. Thakur said that under this scheme, an income support of Rs 6,000 per year in three equal installments were being provided to the families of small and marginal farmers having a combined land holding/ownership of up to two hectares of land. He said that this scheme would be effective retrospectively from December 1, 2018 for transfer of benefit to eligible beneficiaries. As many as 12.5 crore farmers of the country would be benefitted by this scheme, he said. The Chief Minister further said that the first installment for the four-month period ending March 31, 2019 under the scheme was being transferred to the eligible beneficiaries in the current financial year, 2018-19 itself. The State Government has decided to provide one more free gas cylinder refill to the beneficiary of Grihini Suvidha Yojna. Apart from this, the Himcare Scheme launched by the State Government is also ensuring health cover of Rs 5 lakh, he said. Thakur said that the State Government is also prompting natural farming in Himachal and for this, a provision of Rs 25 crore had been made in the budget. This would not only ensure handsome income to the farmers but also provide healthy food to the masses, he added. Speaking on the occasion, former Chief Minister and MP Shanta Kumar said that Pardhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna launched by the Union Government is a revolutionary scheme, which would provide financial assistance to the farmers to supplement their farm income. He said that no one in the last seventy years had taken such a visionary step as was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also thanked the Chief Minister for choosing Kangra district for launch of this scheme in the state. Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kishan Kapoor said that this scheme would help in providing financial support to the poor farmers, particularly at the time of damage to crops due to natural calamities such as heavy rains, hailstorm, fire etc. He added that the State Government has also announced fifty percent subsidy on barbed wire fencing to protect the crops of farmers from wild animals. In a bid to prevent potential lapses in the law and order situation, senior bureaucrats and the top brass of the State police will on Tuesday meet representatives of the 70,000 odd protesting cops who have threatened to go on a five-day mass leave starting February 28. The three recognised associations of policemen -including constables, head constables, sub inspectors and inspectors- went on a hunger strike on February 20 demanding a 13 month annual pay, implementation of the seventh pay commission and other privileges. The same day, they threatened to go on a mass leave from February 28 if their demands were not met. We are in the final stage of talks with the policemen. The matter will be sorted out very soon, said Inspector General, Ashish Batra, who is also the designated spokesperson of Jharkhand Police. The police department has taken the matter seriously and is trying to address it at the earliest since a mass leave by the policemen would cause a major jolt to the law and order situation across Jharkhand, officials said. The protesting cops also include all the traffic constables and their absence from duty may cause chaos on the city roads here. Yogendra Singh, President of Jharkhand Police Association (JPA), said that the representatives of three associations Jharkhand Police Mens Association, Jharkhand Chaturthwargiya Karmchari Sangh and Jharkhand Police Associationwill meet Chief Secretary Sudhir Tripathy, Home Secretary SKG Rahate and Director General of Police DK Pandey along with other senior officials in the second half of Tuesday. We have not called off the mass leave plan yet. Let us first meet them and then a decision will be taken, Singh, an inspector based out of Ranchi, said. Chief Minister Raghubar Das had in 2017 promised a 13 month annual pay to the cops as a mark of appreciation for their efforts. However, policemen claim that the promise is yet to reflect in their pay slips. Besides, the cops have demanded health facilities at par with senior officials and changes in pension plan. They have also asked for payment of 25 per cent ex-gratia to the parents of martyred policemen. A majority of the protestors are fourth grade staff and are directly involved in maintaining law and order on a daily basis. Chief Minister Kamal Nath said that criminals will have to pay for their gruesome act which they done with the abducted children of Satna. Kamal Nath spoke to Brijesh Rawat, the father of Priyansh and Shreyansh in the morning today and expressed profound grief over the incident. He mentioned that criminals will not be spared at any cost. Nath gave strict instructions to the police to make every possible effort for stringent action against the culprits. Kamal Nath said that he is pained with the horrific incident. Criminal will not be spared for this heinous act. He assured Brijesh Rawat that not only criminals involved in this incident will be apprehended but stringent punishment will be given to them. Consoling the family, he said that the entire government is with the bereaved family in this hour of grief. The Chief Minister stated that no negligence will be tolerated in this case and to keep strict watch on criminals and in border areas. Make strict checking arrangements at the borders. Kamal Nath mentioned that he will not let Madhya Pradesh become a den of criminals. Besides, the Chief Minister has told the police administration to tighten its arrangements and to arrest the criminals immediately. Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh would hand over the appointment letters to the youth selected for various jobs during the fourth state-level Mega Job fairs at the state-level function on February 28 at DAV University, Jalandhar. Informing, the state Technical Education and Employment Generation Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said that more than 60 percent of the states youth, who participated during the fourth Mega Job Fairs, got placed in various private companies. Channi, during the review meeting on Sunday regarding the arrangements for the state-level function with the senior officials of the concerned departments, said that the fourth round of Mega Job fairs was organised from February 13 to 22 at various places across the state. During this phase, along with Technical Education Department, the Punjab Ghar Ghar Rozgar and Karobar Mission played an important role in making this event a big success, as 50,000 youth got placed during this phase of Mega Job Fairs. He said that with such constructive initiatives, the Punjab Government has built a bond of trust between the employer and the job seekers, and thus, more and more companies are registering with the Punjab Government for providing jobs to the youth of Punjab. Punjabs youth have also got a single platform where they can upload his qualifications for seeking a job. The Government has filled the gap between the job seeker and the employer by providing them a common platform, he added. The saffron brigade sounded the poll bugle in Punjab from the holy city of Amritsar on Sunday, sans its decades-old ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Even as the BJPs national president Amit Shah hit out at the Congress-led State Government from left, right and centre on issues ranging from Kartarpur Sahib corridor, 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhus hug, to halting states development, the entire SAD leadership was missing from the event. However, the state BJP unit maintained that the rally was of the party alone wherein Shah had come to discuss issues with the party workers, and that was why SAD leaders have remained absent from the event. During his to-the-point address to the BJP leaders from Punjab and Haryana at the partys rally or Karayakarta Sammelan, Shah gave entire credit for the opening of Kartarpur Sahib corridor to the BJP-led Central Government, while attacking Sidhu for hugging Pak Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, whose Army is killing our men everyday. He did not mince a word to attack Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for ceasing states development and deceiving the states farmers, while blaming the State Government for stopping all welfare schemes which were initiated during the 10-year period of SAD-BJP Government in Punjab. At the same time, he urged the people to elect Narendra Modi again as their Prime Minister if they want India to give befitting reply to Pakistan for Pulwama attack. Observing two-minute silence in mark of respect of departed souls of 40 CRPF jawans who had lost lives during terror attack in Pulwama on February 14, Shah said that the saffron party has great respect for the four jawans from Punjab who were killed in the attack. In these hours of grief, each party activist was with the grief stricken family, he added. Bloodshed of these 40 jawans will not be ignored as BJP Government would teach befitting lesson to these terrorists, declared Shah . The blood of 40 CRPF martyrs in the Pulwama terror attack will not go waste and terrorists will be taught a lesson that they will remember for long, said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah here on Sunday. The blood of 40 (CRPF) martyrs will not go waste. The government will teach them (terrorists) a lesson, Shah said. He said that only the BJP could provide a strong and stable government at the Centre under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he would take the country forward. The next Prime Minister will be Narendra Modi, he asserted. CONGRESS IS RAJA-MAHARAJA GOVERNMENT Launching a scathing attack on the Congress dispensation in Punjab, Shah alleged that the raja-maharaja government brought to a standstill the development projects and schemes started during the SAD-BJP rule. The raja-maharaja government is no match for the previous SAD-BJP regime led by Parkash Singh Badal, said Shah. These days Capt Sahab (Amarinder Singh) has become vocal, may be because polls are near. Sometimes, he also goes to office. Now, he has started saying that the Centre has not done this and that. He is seeking accountability from us, he added. But what about his promises to farmers, on ending the drug menace, about unemployment allowance? Even Rahul Gandhi had vowed loan waiver for Punjab farmers, but the way they came out with a loan waiver, it has not benefitted the state's peasants," Shah claimed. He alleged that several schemes started by the SAD-BJP government has been stopped by the Congress dispensation. I do not know whether this government is the one to carry development or stop it. Raja Sahab (Amarinder Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile Patiala royals), you stopped development works, Shah said. CENTRE DID A LOT FOR PUNJAB Touching upon how Punjab for decades has been meeting the country's foodgrain needs and safeguarding its borders, Shah said that the Centre has left no stone unturned to ensure the state's development. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were always liberal in giving grants to Punjab, and the state got Rs 1,61,907 crore under the NDA dispensation as against the UPA's Rs 30,157 crore, Shah said. Shah spelled out several schemes and projects for Punjab by the Modi government, including an IIM for Amritsar, AIIMS in Bathinda, improved road network, upgradation of road network and 41 projects sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries led by SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal. LEADERLESS ALLIANCE CANT TAKE COUNTRY FORWARD Shah made light of the opposition parties' effort to stitch up a mahagathbandhan saying that a leaderless alliance cannot take the country forward. The people of this country have made up their mind to bring the BJP-led NDA back to power, he said. This grand alliance cannot take the country forward, it cannot make the country superpower. Only a government under PM Modi can do so. Can Congress party give befitting reply to terror attacks? Only Narendra Modi government can, he claimed. About the proposed mahagathbandhan of opposition parties, he sought to know from Congress president Rahul Gandhi who is the leader of this alliance. Can the grand alliance do any good to this country? Rahul baba, who is the leader of this alliance? If people elect you, who will become Prime Minister? Shah posed. The leaders of this alliance are seeking mandate from public, but they have not decided who their leader is. Whereas, we are clear that on getting majority, Narendra Modi will once again become Prime Minister. The BJP, the Akali Dal and our other allies are going to fight under Modi's leadership...I can see the writing on the wall. Modi is once again going to be PM... Congress can daydream, he said. SIDHU HUGGED PAK ARMY CHIEF WHO KILLS OUR MEN Slamming Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Shah said: He claims that he went to Pakistan and made Kartarpur Sahib corridor possible...The Pakistan Army chief who is responsible for killing our soldiers, you gave him a warm hug and lowered country's image. You (Sidhu) did not bring Kartarpur, but you are in that party which handed over Kartarpur to Pakistan at the time of partition, which could easily have been a part of India, he said. Shah, instead, credited the Modi government for the corridor, linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev's - to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district to facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims. About the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, Shah said that Modi Government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to give justice to the victims. For 30 years, not even a single person was punished. Now, Sajjan Kumar is behind the bars, he said. SHAH ASKS WORKERS TO PULL UP SOCKS FOR ELECTIONS At the same time, Shah asked the party workers and leaders to pull up socks not for three seats rather for all the 13 parliamentary seats in Punjab. BJP contests Lok Sabha elections on three seats Gurdaspur, Amritsar, and Hoshiarpur in alliance with SAD, which feilds its candidates from the remaining 10. JOSHIs HOARDINGS REMOVED AHEAD SHAHs VISIT Earlier, hoardings carrying the photo of BJP leader and former Cabinet Minister Anil Joshi were either torn or removed from the venue allegedly due to some differences with the State president Shwait Malik, claimed close associate of Joshi. On the occasion of CII Bhopal Annual Day, Animesh Jain, Director, Arihant Detergents Pvt Ltd was elected as Chairman of CII Bhopal Zonal Council for the year 2019-2020. Jain is a Fourth Generation businessman with business interests spanning from Manufacturing to Distribution to Automobile sales and service. Animesh is a Mechanical Engineer and MBA by education. In the current avatar, he is serving as the director of RM Chemicals Pvt Ltd, RMJ Agencies Pvt, Arihant Detergents Pvt. Ltd. Ltd. and RMJ Motors Pvt Ltd. Besides, Siddharth Chaturvedi, Director, AISECT Group was elected Vice-Chairman of Bhopal Zonal Council for the year 2019-2020. Siddhartha handles the entire Strategy and Operations for the Groups. AISECT Group is Indias leading Social Enterprise working in areas of Higher Education, Skills Training, Financial Inclusion in rural areas, Aadhaar based services, online services and Pre-schools. Siddharth has been instrumental in Groups growth on pan-India basis in various verticals, as well as strengthening of Groups various initiatives in association with key Government of India priorities such as Skill India Mission, Digital India Mission and Startup India Mission. Later, during the address, Animesh Jain thanked the State Council for bestowing the responsibility for leading CII in Bhopal and mentioned the agenda Create New Business Opportunity and Prepare Industries for Future Business on which CII Bhopal will work throughout the year. Pravin Rajpal deliberated on the topic Creating Leadership and Breakthrough Ideas and emphasised to create new future with disruptive and game changer ideas. The programme was well attended by leading industrialist from Bhopal. AJSU Part on Sunday demanded that the State Governments should intervene into recent judgment of the Supreme Court in which directed to evict about 11 lakh indigenous people and other traditional communities living under forest area in Jharkhand and 16 other States from forests. The party said in its statement issued that on the basis of the order 30000 indigenous people living in forests of Jharkhand will also be evicted from their dwellings. It will affect the livelihood of those families who live on forests. The State Government should immediately interfere in the matter. The party demanded that the Government should file review petition in Supreme Court and it should put forward its stance on the rights of forest living indigenous people. While showing Governments failure on the issue the party said, In fact the Government could have implemented harshly with transparency the 2006 Forest Area Act then it could not been happen. The indigenous people in Jharkhand are vocal against the court in this regard. If the government will not take it seriously then there will be chances of conflict. The Village Committees have still no information about rejection applications from the court. However, the Village Committees are directly responsible for any objection under the Forest Rights Act. Applicants have not got any opportunity for appeal reads the release. Keeping in mind all the fact the party requested to the Government that under process of law all rejected application should be send to Village Committees and on the recommendation of Village Committees the government should take further initiative. AJSU Party also demanded, Apart from it the State Government can file plea in Supreme Court that the forest living people are not encroacher. Forest Rights Law was come into being in 2006 and according to the law those people living before 2005 they will not deemed encroachers under law. They apply under the law or not. February 25 is the birth anniversary of George Harrison, the popular British songwriter and musician known best as a member of the famous Beatles group. It is now very well known that Harrison wrote a song especially for Dehradun during his stay at the ashram of Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh in the late 1960s. For the Beatles, their stay in India was their most creative period. When they were in Rishikesh for several weeks in February, March and April of 1968 (they stayed at Mahesh Yogis spiritual centre in Rishikesh), they wrote many songs, most of which were included in their White Album, one of their best known. Born on February 25, 1943, in Liverpool, England, Harrison formed a band with schoolmates to play in clubs around Liverpool. The Beatles became the biggest rock band in the world and Harrisons diverse musical interests took them in many directions. Like his future band mates, Harrison was not born into wealth. His mother was largely a stay-at-home mom while her husband Harold drove a school bus for the Liverpool Institute, an acclaimed grammar school which George Harrison attended and first met Paul McCartney. By the age of 14, Harrison, whose early rock heroes included Carl Perkins, and Buddy Holly, had purchased his first guitar and taught himself a few chords. By 1960 (when he was only seventeen) Harrisons music career was in full swing. Lennon had named the band The Beatles. The young group (Harrison, McCartney and John Lennon) began cutting their rock teeth in the small clubs and bars around Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany. Within two years, the group had a new drummer, Ringo Starr. Before the end of 1962, Harrison and the Beatles recorded a top 20 UK hit, Love Me Do. Early that following year, another hit, Please Please Me, was churned out, followed by an album of the same name. Beatle mania was in full swing across England, and by early 1964, with the release of their album in the US and an American tour, it had swept across the States as well. The song named Dehradun missed getting included in the White album. This song is seen now as a rare gem of the Beatles. The song captures the past simplicity of the valley and is very special for Doonites, especially for those who have seen the days when the Beatles came here. The nostalgia in this song and the fact that it was sung by Harrison makes it unique. The Beatles were so taken in by the charm and beauty of the Doon valley that they were inspired to create many numbers here. Harrison composed the number titled Dehradun in the spring of the year 1968 during the time the group was in Rishikesh. This song remained unavailable for years. It was not included in any album but its studio recording can now be heard on the net. It is one of the rarest Beatles songs. Harrison, known as the Quiet Beatle, passed away at the age of 58 on November 29, 2001. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Ganga, according to his wishes. Harrison had embraced the Hare Krishna tradition and remained a devotee till his death. In the summer of 1969, he produced the single Hare Krishna Mantra, performed by the devotees of the London Radha Krishna Temple. That same year, he and fellow Beatle, John Lennon, met AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder - acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Soon after, Harrison embraced the Hare Krishna tradition and became a lifelong devotee. Harrison is remembered for his introspective manner and his keen interest in Hinduism. In the mid 1960s he began playing the sitar, which influenced the sound of the Beatles music in such songs as Norwegian Wood and Love You To. His experimentation with the sitar brought him in touch with Ravi Shankar, who became a close friend. On November 29, 2002, the first anniversary of his death, the Concert For George saw the two remaining Beatles Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr join many of Harrisons friends for a special memorial concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The Beatles Ashram, which lay abandoned for years, is now receiving attention from the state government and is becoming a popular tourist destination for Beatles fans from all over the world. The months which the Beatles group spent in Rishikesh more than fifty years ago are etched on the minds and hearts of people of this region. Their song on Dehradun and one on Rishikesh touch the hearts of every new generation. Their stay at the ashram, however, ended quite unpleasantly due to certain incidents. The State Government had given a list of 10 lakh farmers for the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme. Out of it, 9.42 farmers have been found eligible by the Centre to get Central financial assistance under the scheme. Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Gajendra Singh Shekhawat informed this at a function held here marking the nation-wide launching of the PM-KISAN programme by Prime Minister Modi in Uttar Pradesh. The scheme offers 100 per cent Central financial assistance. Rs 6,000 will be provided in three equal instalment of Rs 3,000 annually to all small and marginal farmer families who possess total cultivable holding of up to two hectares. Commenting on the States KALIA scheme, Sekhawat slammed the State Government for not including all deserving families. Names of 40 to 45 lakh farmers have not been included in the list of beneficiaries provided by the State, said Shekhawat Last week, the State Government had agreed to share the first list of beneficiaries under its own farm-intervention programme, KALIA, for the Centres cash-transfer scheme. The KALIA scheme covers sharecroppers and landless agriculture labour, apart from small and marginal farmers. Under the scheme the Government is providing Rs 10,000 per year in two instalments to each beneficiary. Hitting out at the Congress, Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani said the party which ruled for over five decades never made an attempt to develop Amethi and allowed the region to languish for political reasons. They are naamdars (people with big names) and treat people who vote them to power as praja (their subjects). They have won elections from this area for over 50 years but have never thought about development of Amethi. They talk about farmers but have neglected the farmers of this region, Smriti Irani said while addressing the people in Amethi on Sunday. Taking at jibe at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, she said how could a person take care of India when he had failed to deliver in his own constituency. The MP from Amethi has never raised the problems of its people in Parliament. People like these have only duped the poor and the people of Amethi, on whose votes he has reached Parliament, she said. He has neglected people but he is moving around the country spreading lies about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said. They can do anything because they are naamdars and have a jalwa (clout) in Indian politics because they belong to a particular family, Irani said, adding that these people are hurt because a man from low strata became prime minister, a thing that they are unable to digest. Elaborating on the achievements of the Modi government, Irani said it has launched policies which have transformed the lives of the poor, the youth and the farmers. She said under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme, poor farmers would get Rs 2,000 quarterly and this amount would take care of their small expenditures. In the first phase the scheme would benefit 3.80 lakh farmers, she added. On this occasion, Irani distributed Kisan Samman Smriti Patras to 25 farmers and appealed to the people to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modis hand in the upcoming general elections. Irani had unsuccessfully contested against Rahul Gandhi in the 2014 Lok Sabha election and they are likely to face each other in Amethi again in the Lok Sabha election this year. With the terror recruits giving up the practice of publically declaring their intent to walk the path of jehad, security forces are facing a new challenge in the Kashmir Valley in tracing local youth joining terrorist tanzeems (organisations). Earlier, under pressure from tanzeems, the new recruits used to upload their photographs displaying weapons on the social media platforms. The high attrition rate amongst their ranks last year has made the terrorists now wary of social media, making it difficult for the agencies to keep tabs on the new entrants. While only three cases of local Kashmiris jumping the fence came to notice in January this month, officials in the security establishment fear many more misguided youths may have joined tanzeems and kept them out of the scrutiny of the social media. The reason for the terrorist organisations evading the security radar was the relentless operations by the security forces last year resulting in the elimination of more than 270 terrorists. Many of those killed were new recruits and died within ten to 15 days of picking up the gun, sources said. Moreover, the survival rate of the new recruits is now not more than six months due to poor training and pressure of security forces, they added While admitting that more than 210 locals joined the terrorists ranks last year as compared to 128 in 2017 despite the high attrition rate, officials said the rate of joining tanzeems came down drastically in the last three months of 2018. The security agencies are skeptical about the figure of just three terrorists joining the terrorist outfits in January this month as officials admit they do not know about the number of actual boys missing. Though the security agencies have various methods of keeping tabs on new recruits, use of social media by the new entrant helped the agencies in tracking them down and then launching an operation or urging the youths parents to appeal to him to give up arms before it is too late. As regards to anti-terrorist operations post Pulwama attack last week, officials said there is no let up in the tempo in the hinterland and more than six to seven big operations have taken place even though five soldiers including two officer died in one such action. Nearly 30 terrorists were killed in January and first fortnight of February this year and the Army alone suffered seven fatal casualties. There were 25 terrorist initiated incidents in the corresponding period and the Line of Control(LOC) witnessed 279 ceasefire violations. The ceasefire violations figure by the Pakistan Army for the entire last year was 1,629. Attain martyrdom after neutralising 3 JeM terrorists in Kulgam gunfight A Deputy Superintendent of J&K Police, heading counter terrorism wing in Kulgam, and one Army jawan attained martyrdom after neutralising three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists in a fierce gunfight in south Kashmirs Kulgam district on Sunday. According to police, a 2011 batch officer Aman Thakur was leading from the front when he received bullet injury in his head and later succumbed during encounter in Turigam Yaripora area of Kulgam. Police said, The police officer was heading the counter-terrorism wing of Jammu & Kashmir Police in Kulgam for last one-and-a-half year and had played an instrumental role in killing terrorists in the area. Jammu & Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh, along with senior officers, offered floral tributes to the martyr. He is survived by his wife Sarla Devi and six-year-old son Arya. Large number of local residents and senior State Government officials visited his home to pay condolences. MoD spokesman in Srinagar said, Three terrorists were killed and one Army jawan also sacrificed his life in the operation, which is still going on. An Army Major and two soldiers were also injured in the encounter, officials said, adding that a non-commissioned officer, Havaldar Sombir, succumbed to his injuries subsequently. The other injured persons, including the Major, are out of danger. Three terrorists were also killed in the encounter. DGP Singh said, It is an unfortunate incident, in which we have lost a brave officer. He was a fighter and he led Sundays operation himself. Thakur was posted as the DSP (operation) in Kulgam, a terrorist-infested area of south Kashmir, two years ago. He was awarded the DGPs Commendation Medal and Certificate for his exemplary service only last month. Meanwhile, a large number of local residents in the area stepped out of their homes and tried to disrupt the anti-militancy operations. Policemen used tear smoke shells to disperse protesters. The Armys Rashtriya Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the State police started a cordon and search operation in Turigam after being tipped off about the presence of ultras there. As the security forces tightened the cordon, terrorists fired at them, triggering fierce gunfight, an officer said. Meanwhile, Pakistan army on Sunday violated ceasefire agreement, fifth day in a row, along the Line of Control in Nowshera area of Rajouri. Defence PRO in Jammu said, Pakistan army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation around 5.15 pm by shelling with mortars and firing of small arms along LoC in Nowshera Sector. Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively, he added. Governor Satya Pal Malik has expressed grief over the death of senior police officer in this gunfight. Over 150 houses, built by India under the Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka, were on Sunday handed over to the residents of the country's plantation area. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Sri Lanka's Minister for Hill country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development Palani Digambaram, jointly handed over around 155 houses to the beneficiaries in a special ceremony at Bridwell Estate in Bogawantalawa, Hatton, an official statement from the Indian High Commissioner said. Wickremesinghe also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government for the development support extended by India. Several Members of Parliament and Central Provincial Council, senior officials from Plantation Human Development Trust (PHDT), Implementing Agency - Sri Lanka Red Cross, Bogawantalawa Regional Plantation Company and a large number of people from the region attended the function. Sandhu also congratulated the owners of the newly-built independent houses. With a grant of over USD 350 million, the largest Indian grant assistance project in any country abroad, about 47,000 out of 63,000 houses have been built under the Indian Housing Project. Expressing India's support for realisation of Sri Lanka's developmental priorities, the Indian High Commissioner said that the government and the people of India are committed to participate with the people of Sri Lanka in their journey towards greater peace and prosperity, the statement said. An Indian woman died when her husband lost control of his vehicle and rammed into a truck while going to a church here, according to a media report on Sunday. Her husband, who was critically injured in the accident, was admitted to Dubai's Rashid Hospital, it said. The couple, Reeja Varghese and her husband Varghese Koshy - hailing from Tiruvalla town in Kerala, was going to attend service at St Gregorios Indian Orthodox Church's Dubai cathedral when the accident happened on Friday, the Khaleej Times reported. According to police, Varghese lost control of his vehicle and rammed it into a truck. Reeja, who died on the spot, and Varghese were extricated from the mangled remains of the vehicle after cutting it with the help of hydraulic cutters, they said. The body will be handed over to family after completion of legal and administrative procedures, the police said. Allocation for welfare schemes have not kept pace with an increase in revenues due to which the Government had to resort to a window dressing of accounts In the interim Budget presented on February 1, the Government reported a minor slippage of 0.1 per cent in fiscal deficit for 2018-19 against the target of 3.3 per cent of the GDP. For 2019-20, the fiscal deficit is pegged at 3.4 per cent. The Finance Ministry has indulged in skullduggery to restrict the deficit to 3.4 per cent, which itself is off the three per cent mark for 2018-19, as per the fiscal consolidation road-map (albeit original). With regard to proceeds from disinvestment of shares in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), the Government had set a target of `80,000 crore for 2018-19. In the revised estimate, a look at the break-up shows (i) mop-up of `14,000 crore from sale of its 52.6 per cent share in Rural Electrification Corporation to Power Finance Corporation and (ii) `12,000 crore from buyback of shares by concerned PSUs, including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Coal India Limited. During 2017-18 too, when it got a record of over `100,000 crore from disinvestment proceeds (against a target of `72,500 crore), over `30,000 crore was garnered from the sale of its majority stake of 51 per cent in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) to ONGC. Further, it garnered `5,340 crore via buyback of its shares by PSUs (`19,000 crore during 2016-17). In principle, disinvestment involves selling of shares to the public so as to result in transfer of ownership from the Government to individuals or other private (albeit corporate) entities. However, in the case of share transfer from one PSU to another, ownership and control of shares remains with the Government. Similarly, buyback merely results in the destruction of shares. The use of these instruments erodes internal resources of PSUs, which has a debilitating effect on their ability to fund expansion, modernisation and growth. Imagine ONGC being compelled to borrow money to finance acquisition of Governments stake in HPCL when its own projects are crying for funds. The Government also resorted to extra-budgetary resources (EBR) to fund welfare schemes viz, the National Food Security Act (NFSA), Swachh Bharat, rural electrification and affordable housing. The EBRs to fund these schemes were as follows: `77,250 crore in 2016-17; `224,000 crore in 2017-18 and `274,000 crore in 2018-19. A major chunk was meant to fund the widening gap between budgetary allocation and the actual resource needs for NFSA. Under NFSA, the excess cost of procurement, handling and distribution over the selling price to the beneficiaries viz, `1/2/3 per kg for coarse cereals/wheat/rice, is reimbursed to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) as subsidy. During 2017-18/2018-19, FCI borrowed `211,000 crore/`196,000 crore on behalf of the Government. For 2019-20, this is budgeted at `178,000 crore. On October 24, 2017, the Government had announced a `211,000 crore plan to recapitalise PSBs, whose capital was eroded due to high NPAs. This included `135,000 crore from re-capitalisation bonds, `58,000 crore via public investment in PSB shares and `18,000 crore budgetary support. Borrowings through bonds could be even higher as PSBs are unable to meet their target (courtesy, lukewarm interest among buyers). For fertiliser subsidy being the excess of cost of supply over low selling price reimbursed to manufacturers the revised estimate for 2018-19 leaves a shortfall of about `45,000 crore. The Budget provision of `75,000 crore for 2019-20 does not provide for it either. Under no obligation to pay interest on delayed payments and extant accounting method of recording expenses when payment is made helps the Government persist with this unhealthy practice. Even with regard to petroleum subsidy, as against a Budget allocation of `25,000 crore during 2018-19, the estimated requirement is about `38,000 crore. This leads to a carry-forward of `13,000 crore to be paid to oil marketing companies in the public sector. Be it borrowings by the FCI et al for running non-revenue generating welfare schemes, or the issuance of bonds (to recapitalise PSBs) or delayed payments to fertiliser manufacturers and oil PSUs, these are off-balance sheet items that do not get reflected in the Budget. These are liabilities of the Union Government, yet these are not captured in the fiscal deficit, which gets artificially suppressed. Likewise, the proceeds emanating from the sale of shares of one PSU to another as also share buyback by State undertakings (instead of selling to the public) seek to artificially lower the deficit. The reported deficit may give an impression that Indias macro-economic fundamentals are sound but in reality, it may not be so. The crux of the issue lies in splurging expenses on welfare schemes (though Team Modi deserves credit for reining in leakages and ensuring that money reaches the beneficiaries in full) unmatched by corresponding increase in revenue. This prompts the Government to indulge in window dressing of accounts. The new Government will have to curtail expenses by undertaking reforms, especially in food, fertilisers, oil, PSBs and maintaining the tempo of higher tax revenues. A re-look at divestment strategy is also needed. (The writer is a freelance journalist People who are clamouring for war have little idea of what it entails the enormous damage in terms of human casualties and the setting back of our economy that it will result in. French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau stated in 1914, "War is too important to be left to the Generals. He led his nation into the First World War with disastrous consequences and enormous losses of life and property. However, the Indian saga would be the other way around. A war here would be too serious a business to be left to our politicians, who don't have the foggiest idea of what war means. Also, India has no strategic culture and therefore, every new instance in the Valley or elsewhere catches the polity flat-footed. India's Service Chiefs To strategise and act, or just follow the political and public will? (Photo: Indian Defence Research Wing) We are perhaps among the few nations in the world that keeps the Service Chiefs out of the planning and decision loops on such serious matters imagine politicians, bureaucrats and policemen deciding on such a future course of action. We have had so many strikes since 1990 that have been orchestrated on our soil by Pakistan that any other nation would have certainly struck back in no time effectiveness of any retaliation or reprisal is in its quick timing. We should have foreseen such eventualities and had contingency plans in place to deal with such incidents. Do we? I am not certain. Our neighbour knows that there will be much breast-beating, noise, bafflement and distortion of facts before anything is done if at all. And then, when such a strike does happen, it will be used for political one-upmanship like the much-bandied surgical strikes, rather than to instill fear in the adversarys mind. Our next move against Pakistan must be a genuine solution, and not a flash strike for political one-upmanship. (Representational image: Reuters) In the case of Pulwama, striking at Pakistan or its Army has to be done with precision and thorough planning, keeping in mind the possibility of wider escalation. Then there are other factors we are at the lowest level of preparedness over years and any hasty, intemperate action could result in greater humiliation than we are seeking to redress. There is also the China angle to be looked at. We also have to be clear on what is the "end state" that we wish to achieve with the contemplated reprisal and then plan the inevitable strike at our own time and place of choosing. Cool, calculated thinking and precision is the need of the hour not sentimental hogwash or the goading of pseudo-nationalist news anchors who haven't spent a day in the military. Of course every Indian is outraged, angry and emotional, and rightly so. Having public backing is one of the cardinal necessities of waging a war or conflict resolution, as stated by the venerated strategist von Clausewitz. But being pressurised by the media, public or armchair strategists to take immediate action would be foolish. We also have to look inwards to critically see where we went wrong faulty/missed intelligence inputs, laxity in movement and the lack of proper and continuous action against militancy. We have to brutally examine how we (the political administration) have allowed an almost contained militancy, supported by proxies from abroad, to escalate to a full-blown "insurrection" by internal elements. Heads must roll because the Indian Forces have lost so many fine soldiers in containing the militancy by 2014. We need to look inwards critically to see where we went wrong in the Pulwama attack. (Photo: Reuters) The rot, the stone pelting, the disaffection of the populace is a consequence of political appeasement in intervening years. To anyone thinking in the right direction, it must seem bizarre that we chose to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The aim of any inevitable Indian strike or action must be to make the cost of interference in our internal affairs by the Pakistani Army and ISI extremely prohibitive. It will need to be a concerted economic, social and diplomatic effort backed by effective military action as the latter alone will be insufficient to tame Pakistan. There is also no point in just taking out terrorist camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir(PoK) since Pakistan has a huge reserve of misguided zealots hungry for jihad available from Afghanistan. We have also seen that the so-called deadly surgical strikes of 2016 have had no impact whatsoever. If we desire to send a strong message, the ideal would be a strike directly on the JeM headquarters at Bahawalpur using drones or with even greater precision by deep penetration aircraft. But with that, we risk escalating the conflict beyond the confines of J&K, for which Pak may be better prepared in the military sense. They have been upgrading their weaponry and systems thanks to US and Chinese funding. I am also dead against the use of the word 'martyr' for our soldiers. As I see it, 'martyrs' are people who die for a religious or political cause. Our soldiers die for the sovereignty and integrity of the nation and are either killed, or wounded or missing in action. We already have military terms for this battle casualty, battle accident, KIA, MIA. It is the Pakistanis who would feel more comfortable with calling their dead soldiers 'martyrs' or 'shaheed'. We can't let their sacrifice be wasted with a poorly thought-out response. (Photo: Reuters) In the end, it is the sagacity of our Service Chiefs that will prevail on this demand for hasty action. The Army takes time to mobilise, select targets for effect, plan, then execute. So let's wait and watch what happens and happen it will. Also read: Post Pulwama: What India can learn from the terrorist attack Women from across Scotland have taken part in a demonstration in Glasgow calling for an end to state pension inequality. An estimated 200 people marched from Festival Park, near Pacific Quay, to the Mary Barbour statue at Govan Cross on Saturday. They were joined by Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, MPs and MSPs, as well as trade union leaders. Demonstrators marched from Festival Park near Pacific Quay to the Mary Barber statue at Govan Cross (Lewis McKenzie/PA) Nicola Sturgeon addressed the demonstrators at Govan Cross, telling them to not give up in their fight for justice. The First Minister also described the action on pensions taken by the UK Government as a robbery. You can come up with lots of different ways to describe what has been done and is being done to women over their pensions, said Ms Sturgeon. You can call it an injustice, you can call it bad policy I dare say, if you were a Lib Dem or a Tory, youd call it unintended consequences. But Im going to call it what it is downright robbery. It is the theft of money that is yours. Pensions in the UK, by international standards, are not particularly generous, lets be honest about that. If you were getting every penny that you were entitled to, it wouldnt be a kings ransom. But it is not acceptable for money that you have worked for, for money that you had every right to expect, to be taken away from you. And even worse than that, to be taken away from you with no opportunity, with no time, for you to plan. Tens of thousands of women across Scotland, hundreds of thousands of women across the UK, are losing tens of thousands of pounds. If that is not an injustice, if that is not theft, if that is not robbery, then I dont know what is. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to campaigners at Govan Cross, alongside SNP MP Mhairi Black (right) (Lewis McKenzie/PA) Women Against State Pension Inequality have campaigned against changes which raised the age at which state pension was given to women. From 1948 for more than 60 years men received their state pension at 65 and women at the age of 60. But over the years it was argued that the difference was unfair, as women had a longer life expectancy than men. Under the 1995 Pensions Act, a timetable was drawn up to equalise the age at which men and women could draw their state pension. The plan was to raise the qualifying age for women to 65 and to phase in that change from 2010 to 2020. But the coalition government of 2010 decided to accelerate the timetable, arguing that the state pension was becoming increasingly unaffordable. As well as indicating her aim to see power over pensions devolved to the Scottish Parliament, Ms Sturgeon added that the issue extended beyond a matter of economics. Every woman, every man, should stand with you, said the First Minister. This is not just an issue of economic injustice, although it is most certainly that this is an issue of gender injustice. If this was happening to men, it would be a national scandal on the front page of every newspaper. At least two people have been injured after a crash involving 11 cars on a major motorway in Glasgow. The incident happened at about 12.15pm on Saturday across two lanes at Charing Cross, in the city centre, between junctions 18 and 19 westbound. All emergency services were in attendance, with five fire engines and three ambulance crews present. One of the injured people, a woman, was taken the citys Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for assessment. *UPDATE* 12:30#M8 westbound J18 - J19, fire service are now on scene, blocking the carriageway therefore traffic is now at a standstill https://t.co/5ysLDOWK11 Traffic Scotland (@trafficscotland) February 23, 2019 A Scottish Ambulance spokesman said: We were called to a road traffic accident on the M8 earlier today. Three crews attended, including our special operations response team. All emergency services attended the incident (Andrew Milligan/PA) Only minor injuries were reported, with one female transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for further assessment. Traffic Scotland said the whole carriageway was blocked due to the heavy emergency service presence, leaving traffic at a standstill and causing major delays. CLOSED12:50#M8 westbound is CLOSED after J17 Charing Cross to J19 due to an RTC. All emergency services are on scene, traffic is currently queueing right back to J12. #Glasgow @ScotTranserv pic.twitter.com/NOsFYiLNm2 Traffic Scotland (@trafficscotland) February 23, 2019 There were also queues back to J25 eastbound due to onlookers, with disruption as far back as the Clyde Tunnel. The road reopened around 2.30pm. A spokeswoman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: We received a call from the ambulance service at 12.19pm. Five appliances were sent to an RTC involving 11 cars. There were two casualties but neither were life-threatening. *UPDATE* 14:39#M8 westbound is now fully REOPENED after J17 Charing Cross, heavy traffic back to J14 however Traffic Scotland (@trafficscotland) February 23, 2019 A Police Scotland social media account later added: The M8 westbound has now re-opened following the earlier road crash at J18. Traffic queues will take some time to reduce so please consider an alternative route for the next few hours. Jeremy Corbyn has hit out at Labour MPs who quit the party to sit alongside former Tories in the new Independent Group. Mr Corbyn said MPs like Chris Leslie, who fought the last election on a Labour manifesto opposed to Conservative austerity, were now working with ex-Tories Anna Soubry, who supported the cuts. Speaking at a rally in Ms Soubrys Broxtowe constituency, he said that while he was sad some MPs had left, he had no intention of changing the policies which delivered the biggest increase in the Labour vote since 1945. Im obviously very sad at some of the things that have happened and very sad at some of the things that have been said, he said. Walking away from our movement achieves nothing. Not understanding where we have come from is a bad mistake. Jeremy Corbyn addresses a rally in Beeston, in Anna Soubrys Broxtowe constituency (Aaron Chown/PA) So, when the media talk about the bravery of those who walk away, Anna Soubry voted for austerity and said it was a good thing. Almost immediately after leaving Chris Leslie tells us that we should not be ending university fees, we should not be increasing the tax for the richest in the country, we should be cutting corporation tax and increasing the burden on others. I tell you what, the Labour Party believes in equality and justice. That is what was the centre of our manifesto and that is what will be at the centre of the next manifesto whenever that election comes. His speech came at the end of a week which saw nine MPs quit the Labour Party eight of them to join the Independent Group (TIG) amid anger over the partys position on Europe and anti-Semitism within its ranks. "Stand tall, stand firm, be proud. We are the future and they are the past. Our future is coming and it's coming soon." My message to the brilliant rally in Broxstowe today #ForTheMany pic.twitter.com/w0bJAUwCrY Emily Thornberry (@EmilyThornberry) February 23, 2019 Despite complaints by the Jewish MP Luciana Berger and others that the leadership has consistently failed to deal with the issue within the party, Mr Corbyn insisted anti-Semitism was unacceptable in the party. When people are racist to each other, then we oppose it in any way whatsoever, he said. If anyone is racist towards anyone else in our party wrong. Out of court, out of order, totally and absolutely unacceptable. Anti-Semitism is unacceptable in any form and in any way whatsoever, and anywhere in our society. Harry Kane made a goalscoring comeback from injury against Burnley in the Premier League clash at Turf Moor. The Tottenham striker was named in the starting line-up following six weeks out with an ankle injury. Here, Press Association Sport assesses the England captains performance in Tottenhams 2-1 defeat. Fitness With Kane a naturally fit man and apparently a quick healer, manager Mauricio Pochettino had no hesitation in putting his top scorer straight back in. The 23-year-old dusted himself down from a couple of hefty challenges and showed no ill effects from the ankle problem, lasting the full 90 minutes of a high-tempo encounter. Work rate Kane was involved at both ends of the pitch for Spurs (Martin Rickett/PA) Never in question. Kane gave the ball away in deep midfield but tracked his opponent and won it straight back. At one stage he even popped up in the left-back spot to make a clearance and was straight up the field waiting for the ball to find him on the edge of the Burnley box. Goal threat 23 - Quarter of the way through the game and we're still goalless. @HKane has created our best chance so far, but neither keeper has been forced into a save of note so far. #Burnley 0-0 #THFC pic.twitter.com/YFHhxgqJRT Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 23, 2019 Kane worked himself a shooting opportunity in the 15th minute and fired narrowly wide. Kane was denied a spectacular 25-yard goal by a fine Tom Heaton save. But in the 65th minute, the striker showed superb strength and balance to chase a throw-in, hold off the challenge of Ben Mee and slot in Tottenhams equaliser. Overall Kane was straight back on the scoresheet (Martin Rickett/PA) England boss Gareth Southgate was in attendance and, first and foremost, will have been relieved to see his skipper come through his return unscathed. Southgate would have enjoyed Heatons save, and will also have been cheered by Kanes composed finish and all-round display, even if the result was not what Tottenham wanted. Labour and Conservative politicians at Holyrood could be poised to quit their parties in the wake of the creation of the new Independent Group of MPs, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has claimed. Mr Rennie hailed the establishment of the new grouping at Westminster, made up of disenchanted former members from Theresa Mays and Jeremy Corbyns parties, as a huge paradigm shift in UK politics. He said there were MSPs in both parties at Holyrood who were incredibly frustrated on issues such as Brexit and could follow suit. "Labour and the Conservative Parties are no longer broad churches but narrow sects." - @willie_rennie reaches out to disaffected members in other parties; "come and talk with me. Lets work together." #sldconf Scottish Lib Dems (@scotlibdems) February 23, 2019 Mr Rennie, speaking to journalists at the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, insisted he would not name the individuals he had been talking to, and nor would he say how many there are. However, he stated: Theyve seen their colleagues leaving down south, people who are like-minded leaving down south, and I would encourage them to make the same step up here. Mr Rennie said: I talk to lots of people on either side and I know they are incredibly frustrated by the direction of travel for their parties, and the way that they have personally been treated in some cases as well. Former Labour and Conservative MPs, who left their parties to form the Independent Group, could inspire MSPs to do the same, Willie Rennie said (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Whether it is enough, time will tell. But once the dam breaks in Scotland there is potential for them to come. Im keen to encourage that to happen. Gunfire and explosions have opened Nigerias delayed election as President Muhammadu Buhari seeks a second term. The vote, widely seen as too close to call, was also marred by hours-long delays at polling stations across the vast West African country. Nigerian security authorities acknowledged an extremist attack in the northeast city of Maiduguri shortly before voting began on Saturday. A statement by Borno state police said Boko Haram extremists attempted to infiltrate the state capital by launching artillery fire, likely to disrupt the elections. The statement said some missiles strayed into vulnerable locations but there were no casualties and the extremists retreated. Security sources, however, said one soldier was killed and four wounded. Security forces earlier said the reported blasts had been their own in a show of force to deter extremists. Leading opposition presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar thumbprints his ballot (Sunday Alamba/AP) Voting turnout appeared to be light as authorities tried to calm panicked, sceptical residents. Gunfire also was heard in Port Harcourt in Nigerias restive south, where the military presence was heavier than in past elections. One convoy in Delta state contained more than 25 vehicles with battle-ready soldiers. Later in the day, soldiers in Rivers state fired on suspected ballot snatchers, with four people arrested. Mr Buhari brushed aside reporters questions about whether he would accept a loss to top challenger Atiku Abubakar, a billionaire former vice president. The president, first in line to vote in his northern hometown of Daura, jokingly checked the name on his wifes ballot. Women queue in the midday sun to cast their votes (Ben Curtis/AP) Nigerians are behaving themselves, the president said. A smiling Mr Abubakar, after voting in his hometown of Yola in the north east, told reporters that I look forward to a successful transition. He previously pledged to accept the results, provided they are credible. Mr Buhari called the voting process smooth, but a coalition of civic groups said multiple polling units had not opened more than four hours after the official start. Delays were reported in Delta, Anambra and Akwa Ibom states as well as in Lagos, Nigerias largest city. Brexit negotiations will cripple the UK for years, even if Theresa May does manage to get a Withdrawal Agreement approved by Parliament, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has warned. Willie Rennie said there would be years of stalemate, infighting and indecision even if the UK does manage to leave the European Union on March 29. And he insisted the only way to make this torture stop was by holding a second Brexit referendum. Speaking at the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference in Hamilton, Mr Rennie said: History has its eyes on us. We need a peoples vote, the country needs a peoples vote. "History has it's eyes on us, We need a Peoples Vote, the country needs a Peoples Vote." - @willie_rennie makes the case for a final say on stage in Hamilton #sldconf Scottish Lib Dems (@scotlibdems) February 23, 2019 He argued: If even the Brexiteers cant agree amongst themselves what Brexit actually means surely we should put it back to the British people to decide. We cant trust government so let us trust the people. With the Commons to vote again on the issue this week, Mr Rennie issued a blunt warning: This wont be over on March 29. He stated: The negotiations over a proposed free trade agreement will cripple our country for month after month, year after year. But there is a way to make this torture stop. We can break out of this stalemate by letting the people decide. That would be what democracy is actually for. Disenchantment with the Tory and Labour stances on Brexit has this week prompted several sitting MPs to quit their parties and set up the new Independent Group. "Labour and the Conservative Parties are no longer broad churches but narrow sects." - @willie_rennie reaches out to disaffected members in other parties; "come and talk with me. Lets work together." #sldconf Scottish Lib Dems (@scotlibdems) February 23, 2019 Mr Rennie said he was full of admiration for them, as he urged rival politicians to come and talk with me if they too have been left unhappy by the UKs two main parties, saying these were no longer broad churches but narrow sects. He likened the case for Brexit to the case for Scottish independence, telling the audience: Two forms of nationalism are gripping our country, with their easy slogans, their lazy facts. Their divisive rhetoric, their false patriotism. There are striking parallels between the claims of the Brexiteers and those who argue for independence. Rather than seeking more chaos with the break up of the UK, he urged Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to focus on her responsibilities at home. Instead of wasting our time and money on yet another independence campaign the First Minister must deliver on her promises, he demanded, pointing out commitments to end the practice of bed blocking and close the attainment gap had not been met. Jo Swinson and Vince Cable were among those at the conference (Andrew Milligan/PA) He attacked the SNP on the issue of childrens rights, saying there had been more than 2,600 cases of disabled children having to be restrained in school in just one year. Its supposed to be the last resort, Mr Rennie said. But 2,600 incidents doesnt sound like a last resort to me. He was also critical of the SNP administrations tax plans with the Budget approved by Holyrood last week allowing local authorities to raise council tax by almost 5%, doubling the charge on plastic bags and allowing councils to introduce new levies on workplace parking and on hotel stays. All this created an impression of a government that is ramping up tax at every budget, he stated. The Scottish Government are being reckless and cavalier with taxes and taxpayers. Any reputation for sound financial management has been lost. The day after 12,000 people gathered for a flypast to salute the crew of an American bomber, pensioner Tony Foulds was back tending the memorial to the 10 men amid calls for him to receive an official honour. On Saturday, Mr Foulds travelled his usual seven miles, on foot and by bus, from his home to Endcliffe Park, Sheffield, where he witnessed the B-17 Flying Fortress Mi Amigo crash in front of him on February 22, 1944. Any plans the 82-year-old had to perform any essential maintenance to the memorial on the crash site, where he spends six days a week, were dashed by a constant stream of well-wishers hugging him, shaking his hand and asking for selfies as they congratulated him on Fridays spectacular event. Many of those stopping to talk to Mr Foulds in the Saturday sunshine echoed growing calls for the pensioner to be honoured by the Queen for his dedication to the Mi Amigos crew. A Hercules (left) and an Osprey took part in the flypast tribute (Danny Lawson/PA) Mr Foulds was eight when the badly-damaged bomber limped over the roofs of nearby houses and crashed into a wooded area, apparently to avoid him and his friends who were fighting on the grass. He has since dedicated his life to the crew, believing he was responsible for their deaths. However, scores of people who stopped to talk to him on Saturday morning urged him to stop feeling guilty. One elderly man said to Mr Foulds: You need to stop this talk of feeling guilty. It was the Germans who killed those men, not you. You were a kid. It wasnt your fault. Another shook him briskly by the hand and said: You deserve a knighthood. Itll be travesty if they dont give you one. Mr Foulds said: Its just amazing. Theyve not stopped just coming up and shaking my hand. I had a letter from an American this morning. It said this proves what weve always thought, that you Brits do love us. I dont really know what to say. There are so many messages and Im sorry that I cant respond to them all. Ive saved loads of them and will read them to Tony when I come back from Kilimanjaro. Youre all amazing #TonyGotAFlypast #RememberTheTen pic.twitter.com/B8eWwavIMC Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) February 22, 2019 The flypast, which included fighters from the United States Air Force and the RAF, was broadcast around the world and watched by a massive crowd in the park which has been estimated at 12,000 people. Clear skies meant that the assembled audience were able to perfectly see the tribute to the men, who were limping back from a bombing raid in Denmark on the day of the fateful crash. Mr Foulds broke down in tears after the names of the dead men were read out at the salute. The event to mark the 75th anniversary of the crash followed a campaign by BBC Breakfasts Dan Walker, who bumped into Mr Foulds while walking his dog in the park last month. Walker, who is currently in Tanzania preparing to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief, is now leading the calls for the pensioner to be officially recognised. He posted on Twitter: The next step is getting Tony an honour from the Queen. Please retweet & like this and Ill use this in the submission. A law which guarantees the right of patients to have treatment within 12 weeks has been broken over 170,000 times, it has been claimed. Scottish Labour analysis of ISD Scotland figures indicates that a number of people have not been treated within the agreed time under the Treatment Time Guarantee. It was introduced by the Scottish Government in 2012 for patients with planned inpatient or day case treatment. A total of 1,835,139 patients have been seen since the legislation was brought in, although 171,480 of those patients (to September 2018) had to wait longer than 12 weeks for treatment. Scottish Labours health spokeswoman, Monica Lennon MSP, described the figures as astonishing. He said: Every time this law is broken it leaves a patient in pain or distress as they wait to get the treatment they need. One of my constituents in Hamilton waited 80 weeks for an operation which is totally unacceptable. Thw figures indicate a number of people have not been seen within the 12 week guarantee (Peter Byrne/PA) It is clear that the promise the SNP made to the people of Scotland was not worth the paper it was written on. Our NHS staff are simply not getting the support and resources they need to give patients the care they deserve. Despite the distress this is causing people across the country, the SNPs Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has admitted her government wont meet its promise until 2021 at the earliest. People cannot wait any longer and that is why a Scottish Labour government would invest in our health and social care services to give our NHS staff the resources they desperately need. .@JeaneF1MSP has announced almost 27m of funding for 2018/19 for health boards to improve waiting times. This has been allocated from the 850m Waiting Times Improvement Plan https://t.co/ijzWtyYnjm pic.twitter.com/k7gn0XfzSC Scot Gov Health (@scotgovhealth) February 22, 2019 A Scottish Government spokesman indicated that fresh funding would help to boost the number of people being seen within the 12-week target. NHS investment and staffing are at historically high levels, and the record high inpatient satisfaction rates are a testament to the hard work of our frontline NHS staff, said the spokesman. Since the introduction of our treatment time guarantee, over 1.6 million patients have been treated within the 12-week target. However, we recognise that people are waiting too long, which is why the Health Secretary Jeane Freeman published our 850 million Waiting Times Improvement Plan in October last year. The Waiting Times Improvement Plan will help increase capacity, clinical effectiveness and efficiency, and implement new models of care, while also substantially, sustainably and progressively improving waiting times by Spring 2021. We will continue to work with boards to ensure the additional funding available delivers the substantial and sustainable improvements needed. Theresa May has been urged to reconsider the ban on flights between the UK and Sharm el-Sheikh during her visit to the Egyptian resort. Labour MP Stephen Timms, co-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Egypt, said the Prime Minister should take the opportunity to inspect the dramatically tightened up security arrangements at the towns airport. The Prime Minister will attend a two-day EU-League of Arab States summit in the Red Sea resort starting on Sunday. There have been no commercial flights between the UK and Sharm el-Sheikh since November 2015 because of travel advice issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. This followed the downing of a Russian passenger plane in the Sinai desert, killing 224 people. It is believed that a bomb was placed on the aircraft at Sharm el-Sheikh airport. Flights between the UK and Sharm el-Sheikh have been banned since November 2015 (Owen Humphreys/PA) Mr Timms said the Egyptian authorities have taken a number of measures to enhance security since then, and have taken advice from UK Government officials over the issue. He told the Press Association: With other European countries having already lifted the bans that they had imposed, the view of the APPG is that its definitely high time to lift the UK flight ban. I think the Prime Minster is well informed on the issue. Im sure there are others involved in taking the decision as well, but I think this probably is in the end something thats on her desk to decide. Sharm el-Sheikh previously attracted visits from hundreds of thousands of UK tourists every year. The flight ban has affected travel agents, airlines and the towns tourism industry. Mr Timms said: Its done great damage to the Egyptian economy. Its done damage to Britains standing in Egypt. Its quite hard to see now given all the improvements that have taken place what the justification for it still being there really is. Carol MacKenzie, head of customer welfare at travel firm Thomas Cook Group, said: This ban does not extend to the resort area. However, as long as the flight ban remains in place, the resort is, in effect, closed for British tourists. When the advice changes and we can build it into our holiday programme, we look forward to flying customers from the UK to Sharm again so they can enjoy all the resort has to offer. In August 2016, Mrs May welcomed Egypts efforts to improve security at the airport in a phone conversation with the countrys president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. An account of the call released by Downing Street gave no indication the Prime Minister was ready to ease Government advice, saying only that the UK would continue working closely with Cairo on the issue. A Government spokeswoman said: The security of British nationals is our top priority. The UK took the decision to suspend flights from Sharm el-Sheikh in November 2015 following the Metro Jet attack to protect the travelling public. While the Government has not yet concluded that it is right to lift the restrictions, we continue to work closely with the Egyptian authorities on aviation security and regularly review our decision. We look forward to achieving the return of flights when the situation allows. Scotlands emergency services have been needlessly deprived of resources by the UK Governments refusal to refund VAT charges, it has been claimed. SNP MSP Tom Arthur suggested that people in Scotland had been left short-changed due to Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service having to make VAT payments over a five-year period. A decision was made to overturn the policy in 2017, with the change coming into effect in March last year. It means that the services are no longer required to pay the VAT, however the Scottish Government has called for the money to be refunded. Speaking at the Scottish Parliament last month, Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf indicated that the UK Government was refusing to do so. It is estimated that the VAT owed could amount to more than 125 million. The SNP has called for the VAT charge to be refunded (Andrew Milligan/PA) Mr Yousaf said: Members will know that we welcome the VAT policy change that came into effect in March 2018. However, that did not address the issue of VAT that had already been paid to Her Majestys Treasury between 2013 and 2018. Having conceded the principle that it is unfair to charge VAT only to our services, the UK Government has refused to pay back 120 million to the Scottish Police Authority and about 50 million to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Here mate, how about that 125m the Tory UK Govt took off us for 5yrs Police Scotland had to pay VAT - which English forces were exempt from??! SNP have delivered the best pay deal in 20yrs for Officers in Scotland(6.5%), in England Tories giving Officers derisory 2%! https://t.co/t35ZS1RKoA Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) January 23, 2019 SNP MSP Tom Arthur said that the UK Government must pay back the costs. The Tories continue to short-change the people of Scotland on a range of issues due to their arrogance and incompetence, said Mr Arthur. Their inaction has led to millions of pounds of cuts to our public services at a time of brutal austerity. The VAT charge for Scottish police and fire services was another Tory policy that was completely unfair to Scotland they were the only territorial forces in the UK to be charged VAT, costing frontline services millions of pounds. Its shocking that the Tory government will happily squander billions on a Brexit shambles of their own making, or a pay-off for the DUP but refuse to refund punitive VAT charges which have needlessly deprived Scotlands emergency services of extra resources. For example, nearly 2,000 new police officers in Scotland could be fully trained with the 125 million owed to Scotland that would be a start. The damage being done to our essential public services by Tory austerity, cuts, and wasted funds is completely unacceptable. Its time for the UK government to step up and give Scotland what we are due. A UK Government spokesman said: When the Scottish Government created national fire and police services it did so in the full knowledge they would be liable for VAT. The UK Government scrapped the VAT charge in 2017, saving Scottish police and fire services around 40 million per year. It would not be appropriate for the UK Government to compensate retrospectively the Scottish Government for their own policy decisions. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be welcomed by a guard of honour when they begin their three-day tour of the Kingdom of Morocco. Meghans trip follows her luxury New York baby shower that saw a string of A-list celebrities celebrate the impending birth of her first child due at the end of April. The couple are making only their third official overseas trip together, following visits to Dublin and a tour of Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific last year. Harry and Meghan visited Bondi Beach during a tour of Australia (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Thomas Reilly, Britains ambassador to Morocco, has tweeted about the royal tour, saying: The visit is a recognition of the strong relationship between our two countries. It is a chance to enjoy #Moroccos history and look to its future, focusing on the role of women, youth and #education in making that future @UKinMorocco. He will welcome Meghan and Harry at Casablanca airport on Saturday with his wife, and the duke will inspect a waiting guard of honour. And now it is only SIX DAYS before the Duke & Duchess of #Sussex begin their #RoyalVisitMorocco. It promises to be a superb visit & I am so grateful to my #Moroccan friends, colleagues & hosts for all they have done to help with the preparations. Thank you Thomas Reilly (@TSAReilly) February 18, 2019 Despite being heavily pregnant, the duchess has a busy Moroccan schedule with the duke which will see them spend Sunday in Moroccos famous Atlas mountains celebrating the achievements of British entrepreneur Michael McHugo, founder of an education organisation focusing on young women. They will visit his Education For All boarding houses for girls aged 12 to 18, that ensures the youngsters from rural communities in the region have access to secondary education, and Harry will invest Mr McHugo with an MBE for his efforts. In the years following Britains 2016 referendum decision to leave the EU, the royal family made a string of visits to Europe, helping to renew and strengthen the UKs ties with the continent as the Brexit process progressed. The monarchy uses what has been termed soft diplomacy to promote the UK brand whenever they travel abroad. It now appears part of the focus of overseas royal tours may be on Africa, which the Prime Minister has already described as having incredible potential. Beavers are to be given legal protection in Scotland, it has been announced. The Scottish Government confirmed that legislation will be brought in to add beavers to a European list for protected species of animals. There have been calls, including from the Scottish Wildlife Trust, for the animals to be included on the list. A consultation in October last year received more than 500 responses, with a majority (83%) supporting the move. The law will mean that, from May, shooting will only be allowed under licence, which will be managed by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). All licences will be issued in accordance with the law on European Protected Species. Beavers will be given the protected status from May 1 (Gareth Fuller/PA) Did you know @scotgov plans to put in place legal protection for #beavers in Scotland? Find out about the beaver population in Scotland, the debate over protecting them & what protection could be applied in our research blog: https://t.co/LLEqjuw22e #biodiversity #agriculture pic.twitter.com/IybaEkQQ8Q Scottish Parliament (@ScotParl) July 3, 2018 Beavers became extinct in Britain in the 16th century, mainly due to over-hunting. However, between 2009 and 2014, sixteen Eurasian beavers were successfully introduced to Knapdale Forest, Argyll and Bute, with the benefits and impacts being independently monitored by SNH. Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: The Scottish Government believes in the highest standards of animal welfare for both wild and domestic animals, and we felt it was high time that beavers enjoyed the same legal protection as other species like bats, dolphins, wildcats and otters. There are few species that have such a significant and, largely positive, influence on the health and function of our ecosystems. The importance of beavers to Scotlands biodiversity is huge. However, we recognise that beavers can have a significant impact on farming, particularly in areas like Strathmore, which is why we have been working closely with farmers and partner agencies to establish management plans, as well as a licensing system for culling when there is no other alternative. SNH chief executive Francesca Osowska said: We welcome this news from the Scottish Government. Beavers benefit nature, creating habitats such as ponds and wetlands where other species thrive, as well as alleviating flooding and improving water quality. But it will sometimes be necessary to minimise or prevent beavers impacts on farming, and other interests. In readiness for beavers protected species status, SNH has been working with a range of partners, including Scottish Government, farmer and conservation bodies, to produce a strategy for beavers sustainable future. A five-year partnership project, the Scottish Beaver trial, was established between the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT), the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), and Forestry Commission Scotland during the reintroduction of beavers to the country. Jonny Hughes, SWT chief executive said: We are delighted that the Scottish Government has finally given the green light to granting beavers European Protected Status. Legal protection, alongside a suitable management framework, is necessary to ensure we benefit fully from their return and also ensure land managers can deal with localised negative impacts. The return of beavers to Scotlands lochs and rivers offers widespread ecological benefits. Beavers are well-known for their engineering prowess, creating wetland havens that provide homes for many other species including fish, insects and waterbirds, while also helping humans by reducing the risk of floods down river. They are also providing a boost to Scotlands rural economy by increasing wildlife tourism. Barbara Smith, RZSS chief executive, said: The granting of European Protected Status is a vital step in welcoming beavers back to Scotland as a natural part of our ecosystem. This is a milestone for the many of us who have worked together for years on the return of this species. Legal protection accompanied by a proper framework for management is critical to ensuring that beavers can be protected and live alongside people long into the future. A teenager who became the second boy to be stabbed to death in Birmingham in a week has been named by police. Abdullah Muhammad was discovered fatally wounded near a park in the Small Heath area of the city at about 8pm on Wednesday, West Midlands Police said. The 16-year-old is the second teenager to be stabbed to death in the city, and the third knife victim in the force area this month, after a man was killed in Coventry on February 10. Abdullah Muhammad, 16, was killed in the Small Heath area of Birmingham on Wednesday (West Midlands Police/PA) In the latest attack which happened just yards from a primary school, a mosque and an NHS community health centre a 15-year-old boy was also assaulted, suffering minor injuries. A week before the incident, 16-year-old student Sidali Mohamed was stabbed a few minutes drive away from the scene outside Joseph Chamberlain College in Balsall Heath. His life support machine was turned off on February 15, with a 16-year-old boy arrested in connection with the death. 16-year-old Sidali Mohamed who was stabbed outside Joseph Chamberlain College in Balsall Heath (West Midlands Police/PA) Following Mr Muhammads death, Deputy Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe said: Well be leaving no stone unturned to find those responsible and bring them to justice. Youll see a very robust policing response thats sensitive to the fears and concerns of our local communities. Our thoughts remain with Abdullahs family, friends and the local community in Small Heath. Police activity in Sara Park, off Herbert Road (Aaron Chown/PA) Ms Rolfe added: Help us to solve this very tragic crime but also work with us to protect our young people. Police have appealed for anyone with information to come forward. Sudans President Omar al-Bashir has declared a state of emergency for a year, disbanded the federal government and replaced all state governors with senior army officers. Mr Al-Bashir who seized power in a 1989 coup also said that he will postpone pushing for constitutional amendments that would allow him to seek a third term in office. Facing genocide charges, Mr al-Bashirs rule has been rocked by civil wars and increasing street demonstrations. A heavy security crackdown has left scores of protesters dead. At least 57 people have been killed since December. Our country is passing through a difficult and complicated phase in our national history, Mr al-Bashir said in a speech aired live from the presidential palace in Khartoum. We will get out of it stronger and more united and determined. Sudans President Omar al-Bashir speaks at the Presidential Palace (Mohamed Abuamrain/AP) In a rare acknowledgement, Mr al-Bashir described the demands of the protesters as legitimate, but said there are attempts to exploit the youth protests to take the country to the unknown. The state of emergency will give the security forces a free hand in cracking down on protesters and carrying out detentions, and places heavier restrictions on the press and opposition parties. The announcements were instantly met with street demonstrations, demanding the longtime president to step down. Witnesses said riot police fired tear gas and arrested a number of protesters. Sudan has been gripped by nationwide protests since December 19. The demonstrations, which show no sign of abating, were triggered by rising prices and shortages but quickly turned to calls for Mr al-Bashir to step down. Mr Al-Bashirs term ends in 2020 and he has repeatedly promised over the years not to make new runs for the presidency. Without amending the constitutions, he cannot run for a third term. His announcement came days after a parliamentary committee tasked with amending the constitution to scrap presidential term limit cancelled its meetings. The Sudanese Professional Association, which is spearheading the countrys demonstrations, warned of any measures that could turn against the demands of the Sudanese people, and vowed that it will respond with more escalation in street protests. The demands of this revolution are crystal clear, the statement said, the regime and its head must step down. However, Mr al-Bashir warned the opposition of the zero-sum game that creates chaos, pointing to a wave of the Arab Spring uprisings that led to civil wars in countries like Libya and Yemen. More than 100 million of Whitehall contracts have been awarded for Brexit-related professional services since the referendum, new research shows. Analysis firm Tussell said 85 contracts, including for consultancy, IT, research and legal services have been granted since June 23 2016. The report, compiled for the BBC, showed contracts awarded by the Cabinet Office accounted for nearly three-quarters of the total (77.4 million), while the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs had offered the most contracts with 19. The highest value Brexit-related contracts were for consultancy services with 28 contracts issued worth 91.7 million while spending on IT contracts was worth 10.2 million. Gus Tugendhat, the founder of Tussell, told the BBC: Even in the best of circumstances, the civil service alone would never have had sufficient capacity to pull off a project like Brexit in the time available. Due to the sheer breadth of issues the Government is having to grapple with, it was pragmatic to engage the expertise of consultants even if it is has led to extra cost for the public sector and a windfall for consulting firms. (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Contracts for Brexit-related research accounted for just over 4 million of the spend, with the report noting many smaller bodies are worried about the impacts of Brexit, including Visit Britain, the BFI, and local councils across the country. A Government spokesman said: It is standard for Government departments to draw on the advice of external specialists. The whole of government is preparing for the UK to make an orderly and successful exit from the European Union, and we are equipping ourselves with the right people and the right skills across government to make this happen. A man and woman in their 70s have died after the car they were in was hit by a Ford Transit van which was being pursued by police. Scotland Yard said police officers spotted a van being driven erratically at speed which failed to stop. The vehicle collided with a Citroen C3 on Footscray Road, Eltham, at just after midnight on Saturday. Fatal collision following police pursuit in Greenwich https://t.co/hUZ90NV9ai pic.twitter.com/TqlHACXpLM Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) February 23, 2019 Paramedics were called, but both the male and female in the car were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the van was arrested on suspicion of driving whilst over the alcohol limit, driving while unfit through drugs and death by dangerous driving, the Metropolitan Police said. Officers added that the incident has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. An LBC radio presenter who was the victim of a racist attack has said he would like to meet his assailant. Maajid Nawaz said a white male set upon him from behind outside the Soho Theatre in London on Monday night. The attack left the chairman of counter-extremism think tank Quilliam with cuts to his forehead and face. Speaking on Sky News programme The Pledge, he said: I would like for this man I hope hes listening. I dont think prison is going to help him. In fact, hell probably get beaten up in prison because prisons are run by gangs who are from ethnic minorities and theyd probably want to take revenge and I dont wish that upon him. I would like to see him face to face. I cant stop the fact the criminal justice system has to deliver justice but I would like to sit down with him and have a conversation with him and try and get him to understand the pain and the impact hes caused. Writing on Facebook earlier this week, the 41-year-old said he owed a huge debt to two witnesses who called the police and consoled him at the scene. Your kindness kept me sane, he added. He thanked police officers, a restaurant manager and doctors and nurses for their support, describing them all as non-Muslim. Mr Nawaz hit out at people on the far-left who were already politicising this attack and those on the far-right who were callously casting doubt on the fact this racist attack even happened. He also claimed: Some Islamists online are openly celebrating this attack, wishing the racist had finished the job. (Taken from Twitter feed of Maajid Nawaz) I mentioned the white skin colour and non-Muslim background of most of those who helped me because their examples alone debunk the bigotry and cynicism of the extremes from these three wings, he added. Jeremy Corbyn is to mount a robust defence of his leadership after nine of his MPs quit in protest at the direction he is taking the Labour Party. Amid intense speculation of further resignations, the Labour leader will use a speech to supporters to say his programme for change won huge support at the 2017 general election. He will take a sideswipe at those MPs who are now sitting alongside former Tories who said they had no problem with Conservative austerity measures. Mr Corbyn is staging a rally in the Broxtowe constituency of Anna Soubry one of three MPs to resign from the Conservative Party to join the new Independent Group in the Commons. He will be joined by shadow chancellor John McDonnell, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry and shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon in the constituency which Ms Soubry held with a majority of just 863 at the last election. Mr Corbyn will say he is disappointed by the resignations from Labour by a small number of MPs who had found it difficult to accept the new direction the party had taken since he became leader in 2015. Over the last few years, Labours membership has grown dramatically and set our party on a new course. I understand why that has been difficult for some, he is expected to say. As leader of the party its necessary of course to listen to the concerns of our MPs as well as our members and affiliates. Im disappointed that a small number of Labour MPs have decided to leave our party and join forces with disaffected Tories, who say they have no problem with austerity that has plunged thousands into desperate poverty and insecurity. Our programme for change won huge support in the general election because we offered hope, instead of the same old establishment demand for cuts, privatisation and austerity. Thats why we now back public ownership of the utilities and railways, why we now oppose tuition fees and corporate giveaways, and why were no longer afraid to ask the rich to pay their fair share of tax. Tells you everything you need to know about @broxtowelabour - theyre giving a warm welcome to @jeremycorbyn tomorrow notwithstanding hes lost 9 MPs this week due to his failure to root out #antisemitism in the #Labour party Anna Soubry (@Anna_Soubry) February 22, 2019 On Friday, Ian Austin became the ninth MP to quit the party since the start of the week, condemning Mr Corbyns failure to tackle anti-Semitism in Labour, saying he was unfit to be prime minister. His departure followed the first wave of resignations on Monday which included the Jewish MP Luciana Berger who has been subjected to intense anti-Semitic abuse and who needed police protection at last years party conference. Unlike the others, he will not sit as part of the new Independent Group which, in contrast to Mr Austin, backs a second EU referendum. Following this latest resignation, Mr Corbyn flatly denied there was wide scale problem with bullying in the party had said any bad behaviour was dealt with. Luciana Berger was subjected to intense anti-Semitic abuse (Stefan Rousseau/PA) There is no place for harshness, bullying or anything else in the party. I dont believe that it exists on a wide scale, he told Sky News. Where there is bad behaviour we deal with it. Where there is a problem we deal with it. With Westminster rife with rumours of further resignations, Mr Corbyn held out an olive branch to his critics with a hint the party is edging closer to backing a second EU referendum. He said they were considering whether any deal he was able to negotiate with Brussels could be put to a public vote. We would consider putting that to the public. That is the point we are discussing now in the party, he said. Newly restored letters from the Irish War of Independence have unearthed a detailed description of a battle in the city of Londonderry. Dated July 18 1920, the correspondence notes that for several weeks civilians, backed by police, had been firing into Republican areas. Five or six civilians were killed as tensions came to a head on a Saturday night before a party of IRA volunteers from the Derry City Battalion were sent to Long Tower street in the city to protect lives and property. On Monday morning shooting throughout the city became more general and at least six people killed attempting to get to work, many others were injured, the letter reads. As more IRA volunteer units were ordered, the letter states that strict orders were given to protect lives of citizens irrespective of religion. The Military Service Pensions Collections has revealed the fascinating letters (MSPC/PA) The letter claims that the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), who were stationed at the Diamond in the city centre, were firing into nationalist areas without any justification. The mobilised IRA unit attacked and forced the police into the courthouse on Bishop Street, two RIC officers were wounded and two firearms were recovered. On the same day, the unit took over St Columbs College, at its former site on Bishop Street, making the building their headquarters, as it provided a strategic position, and remained there for several days as the fighting continued. As the British military strengthened their position throughout the city, and an attack was planned for the college building, the IRA units were forced to evacuate. The letter lists the names of all officers involved, many from the Derry areas of the Bogside, Long Tower, Foyle Street, Bishop Street, Lecky Road, as well as further afield, with officers from America, Omagh, England and Dublin. One letter gave details of the rescue of Frank Carty from Derry jail (MSPC/PA) The letter also states that Patrick Laffertys premises were used during this period for storing ammunition. Other historic IRA records list Paddy Lafferty from Bishop Street in the city as a participant in the 1916 rising but it cannot be verified if this is the same person. The Derry letters are part of the Brigade Activity Reports, launched by the Irish minister with responsibility for defence, Paul Kehoe, on Saturday, and represent the most anticipated file series within the Military Service Pension Collection. In order to administer pension claims under the Military Service Pensions Act, 1934, committees were formed around the country of people who held rank in the IRA structure. The letters reveal details about a battle in Derry city (MSPC/PA) These committees were requested to provide listings of operations and activities undertaken by the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Army, during the most active years of the War of Independence (1920-1921). The Referee and Advisory Committee relied heavily on these files to assess personal pension claims as the material offered chronologies of activities compiled by those who took part. The Military Service (1916-1923) Pensions Collection (MSPC) project releases the records of the Department of Defence dealing with the service of members of the Irish Volunteers, the Irish Citizen Army, the Hibernian Rifles, Cumann na mBan, Na Fianna Eireann and the Irish Republican Army from the period April 1916 to September 30 1923. The release of the Brigade Activity files is the seventh release for the MSPC project, marking a new phase in the study of the Irish Revolution. Councils have called for licensing powers to tackle lawless shisha bars that flout smoking and fire safety laws. The Local Government Association (LGA) said it was struggling to regulate some persistent rogue premises that disregarded smoking and fire safety regulations. A shisha cafe owner was ordered to pay 2,255 after customers were caught smoking indoors on two separate visits by enforcement officers from Redbridge Council, and the owners of two shisha cafes were ordered to pay a total of 2,900 after customers were found smoking in substantially enclosed areas following a prosecution by Bolton Council. Council leaders said shisha was also often imported illegally and sold without duty, while the ownership of premises was often secretive, hindering the ability of councils and police to take effective action against them. The number of shisha bars has more than trebled in recent years, with more than half of councils now having a bar or cafe open in their area. Shisha premises that illegally allow indoor smoking or allow those under 18 to smoke the flavoured tobacco can currently be prosecuted using smoke-free laws. General view of customers smoking shisha pipes outside a cafe (Dominic Lipinski/PA) But the LGA said prosecutions were taking up to a year and bar owners were increasingly undeterred by one-off fines of up to 2,500. This had left councils struggling to regulate persistent offenders who could easily reopen shisha cafes under a new name, it said. The LGA is calling for the Government to modernise the list of activities councils can opt-in to licence. Councils could then vet licence holders in advance of premises opening, more easily monitor shisha bars and cafes for harmful activity and seize equipment or revoke licences for repeat offenders breaching licensing conditions or breaking the law. Licensing powers would also strengthen the ability of town hall public health teams to ensure owners work with them to educate customers about the misconception that smoking shisha is safer than smoking cigarettes, the LGA said. The British Heart Foundation advises that shisha tobacco contains cigarette tobacco and therefore nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide and heavy metals such as arsenic and lead. As a result, shisha smokers are at risk of the same kinds of diseases as cigarette smokers such as heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease and problems during pregnancy. Simon Blackburn, chairman of the LGAs Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: The growing popularity of shisha bars and the lawless way some of them are being run exposes the loopholes that exist in our out-dated and inflexible licensing system. Smoke-free laws are not offering strong enough punishments to deter irresponsible shisha bar owners who are making lucrative profits, which means councils often need to carry out costly and lengthy investigations to take action against the same bar over and over again. We would always rather work with shisha bars to ensure they operate legally rather than prosecute them, but cafe owners are more likely to obey the law if they knew they might lose their licence. Liberal Democrats will make a fresh attempt to persuade MPs to back a second Brexit referendum with leader Sir Vince Cable reaching out to members of the new Independent Group for support. With Parliament expected to stage another series of votes on the UKs withdrawal from the European Union, Mr Cable confirmed his party would again try to get a majority for a Peoples Vote. The Liberal Democrat leader is to address his partys Scottish Conference in Hamilton as the clock ticks down to Britains formal departure date, on March 29. Theresa May is still trying to find a deal that commands the support of the House, and has so far ruled out any possibility of an extension to the Brexit timetable. With dissatisfaction over Brexit having sparked several Tory and Labour MPs to quit their party and form the Independent Group, Mr Cable said he has been speaking to many of these now independent MPs and that they have much in common with his party. Talking ahead of his speech, the Lib Dem leader said: For the good of our country, we will cooperate on areas of shared values, not least stopping Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyns chaotic and damaging Brexit. That is why I can announce Liberal Democrats will once again this week seek to secure cross-party support for an amendment in the House of Commons calling for a Peoples Vote, with the option to stay in the EU. We cannot let Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn conspire to run down the clock. Liberal Democrats have led the campaign for a Peoples Vote. We have campaigned for it, we have marched for it and we will vote for it. Scottish LIberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie (Jane Barlow/PA) Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie will also stress the importance of working with others when he delivers his keynote speech. He will appeal to those who are dissatisfied with Labour and the Conservatives describing these parties as being no longer broad churches but narrow sects. He will urge those who are disenchanted with other parties to seize this chance, arguing that Like minds should work together to demand better. Mr Rennie will warn them: To miss this chance today will fill you with regret tomorrow. So, come and talk with me. Lets work together. We have a responsibility to make it happen. Look at the challenge that we face. We know Britain isnt working as it should. Everyone deserves the opportunity to work hard and build a good life for themselves, their family and their community. Three teenagers have been charged in connection with the alleged murder of a man in Edinburgh. Officers were called to a flat in Clearburn Road at around 10.40pm on Thursday following a report of a disturbance. On arrival, a 67-year-old man was found with serious injuries to his head and body and pronounced dead at the scene by the Scottish Ambulance Service. His death is being treated as murder and three males aged 15, 16 and 19 have been arrested and charged in connection with the incident. Detective Inspector Bob Campbell of Edinburgh CID said: This is being treated as an isolated incident, however we fully appreciate the concern this will cause to the local community. I want to reassure residents that we are not currently seeking anyone else in connection with the mans death. Officers were called to a flat in Clearburn Road around 10.40pm on Thursday (Andrew Milligan/PA) The teenagers are due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday. Shimron Hetmyer hit an unbeaten century as the West Indies set England a target of 290 in the second one-day international in Bridgetown. Having chased down a record 361 to win at the same venue just 48 hours earlier, the tourists ensured the chase would not need to be so steep this time with a tight bowling performance and two direct hit run-outs keeping the score to 289 for six. Mark Wood was the pick of the attack, with one for 38 from 10 disciplined overs, but he could not stop Hetmyer racking up 104 not out in 83 deliveries. #WIvENG The fastest hundred by a WINDIES player v England in the West Indies! Congrats on your 4th ODI century Hetty! #MenInMaroon #ItsOurGame pic.twitter.com/2yJ9JA5nGA Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) February 22, 2019 Chris Gayle followed up his 135 with a knock of 50, adding four more sixes to the dozen he scored on Wednesday, but England kept him largely in check as he chewed up 37 dot balls. Wood turned in a polished new ball spell, a five-over burst costing only 13 runs, with support from Tom Curran, recalled in place of the rested Chris Woakes. The early introduction of Moeen Ali tempted Gayle out of his shell, heaving sixes to leg in each of the spinners first three overs, but Liam Plunkett got England going when John Campbell picked out mid-on. West Indies John Campbell was dismissed by Liam Plunkett (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan) Gayle fell moments after reaching his half-century, Adil Rashid pegging back off stump as the Jamaican swung hard at a leg-break. Shai Hope made 33 before dragging Ben Stokes to long-leg, leaving Hetmyer in charge of steering the innings. He dominated a stand of 76 with Darren Bravo before England hit back with a pair of run outs in 10 balls. Rashid made the first, Bravo paying for the decision to take on short third man, before Jason Holder fell in similar fashion. Jason Roy was responsible this time, swooping sharply at point after the home captain left his ground. Wood got a deserved wicket when he bowled Carlos Brathwaite but failed to get the better of Hetmyer. The Guyanese had to hurry to reach his fourth ODI ton, getting there by smashing the penultimate ball of the innings for four back over Stokes head. The man nicknamed Jihadi Jack has said that he wants to return to Britain, but he thinks it unlikely he will be allowed back. Jack Letts, 23, speaking from the Kurdish jail where he has been held for two years on suspicion of joining IS after he ran away to Syria in 2014, said he missed his mum, pasties, and Doctor Who. He told ITV News: I feel British, I am British. If the UK accepted me I would go back to the UK, but I dont think thats going to happen. Jack Letts (right) nicknamed Jihadi Jack by media, speaking to ITV News security editor Rohit Kachroo from his prison in Syria (ITV/PA) Born in Oxford, the Muslim convert also has a Canadian passport thanks to his fathers nationality, but admitted: I dont know if that will still be valid. He told the broadcaster that he had lived on the Oxford Street of Raqqa, and married an Iraqi woman who has given birth to the couples son. Mr Letts, a former pupil of Cherwell School, also confessed that he was pleased when he first heard news of the Paris terror attacks in 2015, and blamed his reaction on his experiences of coalition airstrikes in Raqqa. He said when asked about the Bataclan atrocities: At the time, I thought it was a good thing. At the time we had this idea, living in Raqqa, getting bombed every five minutes by coalition jets. Ive seen children burnt alive. You have this idea of why shouldnt it happen to them?' Oxford-born Jack Letts ran away to Syria in 2014 (ITV/PA) But he claimed he has since had a change of heart, and sympathy for the innocent people killed, as he realised that they had nothing to do with it. The Home Office said: In recent days the Home Secretary has clearly stated that his priority is the safety and security of Britain and the people who live here. In order to protect this country, he has the power to deprive someone of their British citizenship where it would not render them stateless. We do not comment on individual cases, but any decisions to deprive individuals of their citizenship are based on all available evidence and not taken lightly. Mr Letts, who was a teenager when he fled to Syria, has not seen his parents in half a decade, and is missing some elements of his life in the UK. He added: I miss people mostly, I miss my mum. Five years I havent seen my mum, two years I havent spoken to my mum. I miss pasties. And Doctor Who. Mr Letts parents, John Letts and Sally Lane, from Chilswell Road, Oxford, are awaiting trial in the UK accused of sending money to their son. They have denied three charges of funding terrorism. This is not the first time Mr Letts has spoken to the British media since he fled his home. In 2016, he told Channel 4 News that he missed Krispy Kreme doughnuts and kebabs, and had narrowly survived an airstrike with just a scratch. And when asked if he was an IS fighter, he replied Currently Im not before saying later in a statement that he opposes the militant group. Mr Letts interview comes the day after the family of Islamic State bride Shamima Begum confirmed they would be challenging the Home Offices decision to revoke the 19-year-olds British citizenship. Ms Begum was one of three schoolgirls to leave Bethnal Green to join the terror cult in 2015 and recently gave birth to a baby boy, her third child. They said in a letter to the Home Secretary on Thursday: We must, therefore, assist Shamima in challenging your decision to take away the one thing that is her only hope at rehabilitation, her British citizenship. Jeremy Corbyn has denied there is wide scale bullying in Labour as another MP quit the party complaining of anti-Semitism within its ranks. Former minister Ian Austin said he was ashamed of the party which had developed a culture of extremism, anti-Semitism and intolerance under Mr Corbyn He said the Labour leader was not fit to be prime minister and warned that other MPs were considering their position in the party. However, in an interview for Sky News, Mr Corbyn flatly denied there was a widespread problem in the party and said any bad behaviour was dealt with. There is no place for harshness, bullying or anything else in the party. I dont believe that it exists on a wide scale, he said. Where there is bad behaviour we deal with it. Where there is a problem we deal with it. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said bad behaviour is dealt with (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Mr Corbyn, who has been in Madrid for a meeting of European socialists, took issue with claims by deputy leader Tom Watson the party did have a problem. I have decided to leave the Labour Party and I wanted to tell people in Dudley first. https://t.co/IaXSwDry06 Ian Austin (@IanAustin1965) February 22, 2019 I will be speaking to Tom Watson in the very near future to talk to him about that, he said. He has made a comment. It is his comment, not mine. Of course I disagree with him. Mr Austin, who was the ninth MP to quit Labour this week, said the party was broken under Mr Corbyns leadership . The Dudley North MP, whose Jewish adoptive father was forced to flee the Nazis as a child, said the leadership was not capable of dealing with the anti-Semitism which had been allowed to flourish in the party. He told the Press Association that he believed other Labour MPs were now considering their positions. Im sure lots of Labour MPs are grappling with this issue, all the time. Im sure they are, he said. They dont think in their heart of hearts that he is fit to be prime minster either. He said he could never ask his constituents to make Mr Corbyn prime minister, saying he and shadow chancellor John McDonnell cannot be trusted with our national security and would undermine our democratic institutions. Mr Austin said he had no plans to join his eight former colleagues alongside three former Tory MPs in the new Independent Group which, unlike him, backs a second EU referendum. Asked if he would back Theresa May in any motion of no confidence, he said: I dont think we are at that point, and I hope that that isnt the choice that faces the country in the future, but I do think that Jeremy Corbyn is completely unfit to be prime minister. Very sad to lose another colleague from the Labour team. Its also personally hard to see a close friend take a decision of this magnitude. https://t.co/Q2whZXcuJx Tom Watson (@tom_watson) February 22, 2019 Labour said it regretted Mr Austins decision but called on him to quit as an MP and fight a by-election in the seat he held in 2017 with a majority of just 22 a call he rejected. A party spokesman said: He was elected as a Labour MP and so the democratic thing is to resign his seat and let the people of Dudley decide who should represent them. Mr Watson said Mr Austins resignation was a serious blow to the party, adding: Its also personally hard to see a close friend take a decision of this magnitude. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell acknowledged fiercer action was needed on anti-Semitism, telling the Evening Standard: I think theres been a lot of listening but not enough action. Thats the problem. But Mr Austin was sceptical about the leaderships desire to address the issue. The last time I tried to speak to John McDonnell it wasnt a very long conversation on his side and I wouldnt repeat the words he used, he said. I fully understand why @IanAustinMP has come to this difficult and painful decision. https://t.co/3M017BghVB Luciana Berger (@lucianaberger) February 22, 2019 He suggested the current leadership was incapable of dealing with it because they had spent their lives on the extreme fringes of British politics, working with all sorts of extremists and, in some cases, terrorists and anti-Semites. Mr Austin announced his decision in the Express & Star newspaper and issued a fuller explanation in a statement on his website. I grew up listening to my Dad a refugee from the Holocaust teaching me about the evils of hatred and prejudice, he said. One of the main reasons I joined the Labour Party as a teenager here in Dudley more than 35 years ago was to fight racism, and I could never have believed that Id be leaving because of racism too. Former Labour MPs Luciana Berger, Chuka Umunna and Chris Leslie who left to form the Independent Group earlier in the week offered support to Mr Austin after his announcement. The Pakistan-India ties nosedived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place. Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday urged his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to 'give peace a chance.' In a statement, Mr Khan said in his meeting with Narendra Modi in December 2015, they had agreed that since poverty alleviation was a priority for their region, they would not allow any terrorist incident to derail peace efforts. He, however, said long before Pulwama, these efforts were derailed in September 2018 and sadly, now peace remains elusive due to elections in India. The prime minister urged Narendra Modi to give peace a chance. Previously, Mr Modi softened his tone and recalled his telephonic conversation with his Pakistani counterpart after he won the general elections in 2018. When Pakistan got a new Prime Minister, I congratulated him. Imran Khan had said to me that he was son of a Pathan and will stand by his words, he said. Mr Modi's words came after Mr Khan's address to the nation in which he said that India blamed Pakistan for the bombing without any evidence. Mr Khan asked India to leave its judge, jury and execution approach. War is easy to start but difficult to end as it does not remain in human hands afterwards. It is not a sane approach to start a war, he added. Earlier, India threatened to isolate Pakistan on the international level and then claimed it would stop the flow of water into the country. Union minister for water resources Nitin Gadkari said the government led by Mr Modi had taken the decision to block the water flow to Pakistan. The Pakistan-India ties nosedived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place. The nuclear-armed neighbours, having fought three wars since gaining independence from the British in 1947, regularly trade allegations of harassment and espionage against diplomats. Tensions between Pakis-tan and India have been high since the killing of a Kashmiri fighter, Burhan Wani, in July 2016. An attack on Indian forces in September 2016 whuch killed 19 soldiers in Uri area of Kashmir further heightened tensions. India also claimed it had carried a "surgical strike" to avenge the Uri attack. Pakistan rejected the Indian assertion A California couple who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them have pleaded guilty to torture and other abuse in a house of horrors case. David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty in Riverside County Superior Court to 14 counts which included abusing minor and adult children and imprisoning them in their house, which appeared to be neatly kept from the outside. Sentencing is scheduled for April 19. The couple were arrested in January 2018 when their 17-year-old daughter called police after escaping from the family home in the city of Perris, south-east of Los Angeles. The children, who ranged in age from two to 29 at the time, were severely underweight and had not bathed for months, while the house reeked of human waste. Investigators said some of the children had stunted growth and wasted muscles and had described being beaten, starved and put in cages. In a recording of the emergency call played in court last year, the girl who escaped said two younger sisters and a brother were chained to their beds and she could not take it any longer. They will wake up at night and they will start crying and they wanted me to call somebody, she said. I wanted to call yall so yall can help my sisters. The intervention by authorities marked a new start for the 13 Turpin offspring who lived in such isolation that some did not even understand the role of the police when they arrived at the house. Two girls, aged 11 and 14, had been hastily released from their chains when police showed up, but a 22-year-old son remained shackled. The young man said he and his siblings had been suspected of stealing food and being disrespectful, a detective testified. The man said he had been tied up with ropes at first and then, after learning to wriggle free, was restrained with increasingly larger chains on and off over six years. Authorities said the children were deprived of food and things other youngsters take for granted, such as toys and games, and were allowed to do little except write in journals. An investigator testified that some suffered from severe malnutrition and muscle wasting, including an 11-year-old girl who had arms the size of an infant. The 17-year-old had difficulty pronouncing some words and spoke like a much younger child. They were rarely allowed outside, though they went out on Halloween and travelled as a family to Disneyland and Las Vegas, investigators said. The children spent most of their time locked in their rooms except for limited meals or using the toilet. All the children were taken to hospital immediately after they were discovered. Riverside County authorities then obtained temporary conservatorship over the adults. A lawyer for some of the children said they were relieved after their parents pleaded guilty. Jack Osborn represents seven adults among the 13 children and said they can now move forward with their lives without the stress a trial would have involved. He said the children have been living together, attending school, getting healthy and leading normal lives. Leave voters backed Brexit because they wanted to reduce the number of different coloured faces on their street, a Liberal Democrat MSP said. Alex Cole-Hamilton said a fury over immigration was behind many people voting to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum. And he said that if the UK did withdraw from the EU, Lib Dems would automatically campaign for the countrys re-entry. Speaking at a fringe event at the Scottish Lib Dem conference in Hamilton, Mr Cole-Hamilton said: This whole disaster was born out of a much older fury, it was misplaced, it was stoked up over 40 years. People that went to the ballot box on June 23 voted to leave the EU because they would reduce the number of different coloured faces on their streets, which we know is absolute nonsense, but it is born of that fury. He also told the event: We have a party policy on this, both at a Scottish level and at a federal level. If we leave the European Union, be it on March 29 or some later date because of an extension, then this party will automatically pivot from the party of remain to the party of re-entry. Liberal Democrats MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP (left) said `fury over immigration was why many Leave voted had backed Brexit (Victoria Jones/PA) I think we have to say that loud and clear and not be afraid of saying that. We will be the party of re-entry. A health watchdog will carry out a national review of the water systems at all healthcare facilities in Scotland built since 2013 to avoid a repeat of an infection outbreak at a childrens hospital. Health Protection Scotland (HPS) launched an investigation after patients in wards for those with compromised immune systems at the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) in Glasgow were found to have infections. An HPS investigation report states the first child was infected in 2016, with a total of 25 cases found by September 2018, when the patients were moved out of the wards 2A/B and into the neighbouring Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH). No patients died as a result of the outbreak, but a number of children required additional intervention and there were delays to chemotherapy treatments. Tests found widespread contamination of the water system that serves both QEUH and RHC. This included contamination on taps and drains in the affected wards, and the system there was sanitised, with water filters put in place, and drains were decontaminated prior to the patients being moved. Now, as part of a series of recommendations, HPS plans to undertake an urgent national water review of all healthcare premises built since 2013 to provide assurance that a similar incident has not and is not likely to occur elsewhere. The report said the most likely cause is thought to be a possible combination of existing contamination at the installation and/or commissioning of the water system and contamination at taps spreading backwards. Water samples showed indicators of contamination prior to handover and the contractor sanitised the system but there were some indications there may still have been areas with higher than acceptable levels of the contamination indicator. Part of a water treatment system installed involves continual dosing with chlorine dioxide which the report said may take up to two years to be effective throughout the system. A spokeswoman for the health board said: There have been no cases of infection associated with water since September 2018. Our engineering teams have installed a water treatment system within the Royal Hospital for Children and are working on the new system for the adult hospital. This will be completed in March. In the meantime, filters remain in place and we continue to monitor the quality of water with very encouraging results. Over the past few months, whilst our investigations continued, our overriding priority has always been the safety of our patients. We are sorry that a number of young patients in our care suffered an infection and also apologise for the inconvenience and worry that the families in wards 2A and B in particular will have experienced. She added that four reviews into the hospital have been announced since the report was written in December 2018. Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said it is `vital to address the reports recommendations (Andrew Milligan/PA) Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: The report makes a number of important recommendations for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, as well as all NHS boards, Health Protection Scotland and Health Facilities Scotland. It is vital that these recommendations are addressed. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde continue to take the necessary actions and I will continue to seek regular updates on these actions to ensure full accountability of the board. I will also ensure that work is taken forward on the wider recommendations to ensure key lessons can be learned Scotland-wide to prevent similar issues arising in the future and ensure our healthcare facilities support the delivery of world-class health care. A former prostitute has called for buying sex to be criminalised, telling how the current system allows men to buy women as if they were renting a film. Diane Martin spoke out as the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference debated a motion calling for prostitution to be decriminalised at the same time as the purchase of sex is made illegal. She told activists at the party conference in Hamilton how her experience of the trade had been at the supposed high end, but she added: To to me there is no high end of prostitution. She stated: I experienced exploitation through prostitution in my late teens in London, and then I was trafficked to a prostitution ring overseas. I went from being a happy, trusting girl to finding myself standing in a penthouse being overlooked by a madam. She continued: The feeling of stress is what I remember the most about being involved in prostitution, going through a door and wondering what state I would be in when I came out, waiting to be picked like something off a shelf, the observing and dissecting, being the commodity everyone in the room knew you to be. Scottish Liberal Democrats rejected a motion urging the Scottish Government to criminalise the buying of sex and decriminalise prostitution (Yui Mok/PA) For men prostitution is like renting a film, with the power to write the entire script. Theyre the director, theyre the star, youre the prop. That was my experience. Diane Robertson Martin, a survivor of prostitution, talks about her personal experiences, her work in exiting services, and the mythical barriers that are created to separate different areas of prostitution - it's all the same thing. pic.twitter.com/VKHDhjZCMs SCOT-PEP (@ScotPep) February 22, 2019 She described being raped by a man who showed me his gun and asked me if my mum knew where I was she didnt and I was very far from home. And she insisted: Being in a penthouse suite doesnt soften the blow of rape or having someone leave bitemarks all over your face. She urged the party to back a motion calling on the Scottish Government to decriminalise prostitution and make the purchase of sex illegal. We have a choice to open our eyes to the realities of prostitution and apply more than a harm reduction band aid, Ms Martin said. Jacci Stoyle, who also spoke in favour of the motion, said prostitution was ubiquitous across Scotland. She said: Street prostitution is only 10% of the market. Like an iceberg, most prostitution is hidden away behind closed doors. It is ubiquitous across the whole of Scotland, advertised online through a variety of means. On punter websites they can select their purchase like any other product. Should they wish, they can order a women like a pizza and review her performance like any other commodity. Party members at the conference voted against the motion, with Liberal Democrat activist Caron Lindsay arguing that at the very least, we should have the liberty to use our bodies in the way that we wish. She stated: As Liberals we have a huge respect for individuals and their right to make their own choices they may not be the ones we would make but frankly that is not our business. Ireland is not adequately prepared for a no-deal Brexit, the leader of the countrys main opposition party has claimed. Micheal Martin said the Irish Government was not ready should the UK crash out of the EU at the end of March, despite its no-deal Brexit contingency planning. The Government published a wide range of laws on Friday that will be enacted if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. Discussing the legislation outside Leinster House, Mr Martin described the UKs withdrawal from the EU as the most severe threat to Irish society in over a decade. He said: I dont think were adequately prepared for a no-deal Brexit the Government perhaps thought they would have a deal earlier. Mr Martin added that the Government would not have been in the position to publish the legislation if Fianna Fail had pulled the plug on the confidence and supply deal as some other political parties had urged him to do. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin (centre) deputy Leader Dara Calleary (right) and Fiona OLoughlin TD outside Leinster House (Brian Lawless/PA) Last year Fianna Fail re-entered into a confidence and supply arrangement with Fine Gael to ensure the continuation of the minority government as the country prepared for Brexit. We wouldnt be in a position to enact this legislation if I didnt take the position I took and the party didnt take the position it took to continue with the confidence and supply, he said. Theres a lot of hot air out there from some quarters about preparing for Brexit and being ready for Brexit. The reality is Fianna Fail had to take the hard decision before Christmas, in my view the correct decision, to continue with confidence and supply, give the Government space in terms of the negotiations around Brexit but also to prepare for any eventualities. The Fianna Fail leader made the comments ahead of the partys national annual conference in Dublin on Saturday. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood will address the conference in Dublins Citywest. It is the first national meeting since Fianna Fail and the SDLP announced a partnership in late January. A man who endangered countless lives by ramming into a police car with a lorry and driving on the wrong side of the motorway has been jailed. Dramatic footage, released by South Yorkshire Police, shows John Taylor pulling out in front of fast-moving oncoming traffic on the M18, before performing a series of dangerous U-turns. He was first spotted by officers at around 10.30am on January 10 driving the seven-and-a-half ton lorry on Fishlake Nab, Doncaster. After refusing to stop, 30-year-old Taylor, of the Riverside Traveller Park in Doncaster, then reversed the vehicle into the police car at speed several times, South Yorkshire Police said. The defendant then headed off in the direction of the nearby M18, and momentarily drove the wrong way down the motorway, before repeatedly turning round. The video shows him heading towards the central reserve, before cutting across the road in order to drive the wrong way down the hard shoulder. The vehicle drove the wrong way on the M18 (South Yorkshire Police) With officers pursuing him, Taylor eventually got out of the vehicle and made off on foot, before later being found in a caravan and arrested. South Yorkshire Police revealed that he was sentenced to 28 months in prison at Sheffield Crown Court for dangerous driving, breaching a suspended sentence and assaulting police officers, having pleaded guilty on Tuesday. Detective Constable William McClean, who investigated the case, said following the sentencing: He endangered countless lives that day through his reckless and dangerous actions. He put responsible road users at risk not only whilst in the vehicle, but by dumping the lorry and then running through three lanes of traffic on a busy motorway. We are pleased with the sentence he has received and hope that it acts as a deterrent for anyone else who drives dangerously on our roads. Former minister Ian Austin has quit Labour, saying he is ashamed of the party under Jeremy Corbyns leadership and appalled by the offence it has caused to Jews. He said there was a culture of extremism, anti-Semitism and intolerance as he became the ninth MP to quit Labour in a week. The Dudley North MP, whose Jewish adoptive father was forced to flee the Nazis as a child, said he joined Labour to fight racism and I could never have believed that Id be leaving because of racism too. I have decided to leave the Labour Party and I wanted to tell people in Dudley first. https://t.co/IaXSwDry06 Ian Austin (@IanAustin1965) February 22, 2019 He said he could never ask his constituents to make Mr Corbyn prime minister, claiming the Labour leader and shadow chancellor John McDonnell cannot be trusted with our national security and would undermine our democratic institutions. Mr Austin said he had no plans to join his eight former colleagues in the new Independent Group they had set up this week. Labour called for Mr Austin to quit as an MP and fight a by-election in the seat he held in 2017 with a majority of just 22. A party spokesman said: We regret that Ian Austin has left the Labour Party. He was elected as a Labour MP and so the democratic thing is to resign his seat and let the people of Dudley decide who should represent them. But deputy Labour leader Tom Watson said it was a serious blow to the party and added: Its also personally hard to see a close friend take a decision of this magnitude. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell acknowledged fiercer action was needed on anti-Semitism, telling the Evening Standard: I think theres been a lot of listening but not enough action. Thats the problem. Very sad to lose another colleague from the Labour team. Its also personally hard to see a close friend take a decision of this magnitude. https://t.co/Q2whZXcuJx Tom Watson (@tom_watson) February 22, 2019 Mr Austin announced his decision in the Express & Star newspaper and issued a fuller explanation in a statement on his website. I grew up listening to my Dad a refugee from the Holocaust teaching me about the evils of hatred and prejudice, he said. One of the main reasons I joined the Labour Party as a teenager here in Dudley more than 35 years ago was to fight racism, and I could never have believed that Id be leaving because of racism too. He added: Jeremy Corbyn and the people around him have turned a mainstream party into something very different. He has spent his entire political career working with and supporting all sorts of extremists, and in some cases terrorists and anti-Semites. I always thought he was unfit to lead the Labour Party and I certainly think he is unfit to lead our country. Former Labour MPs Luciana Berger, Chuka Umunna and Chris Leslie who left to form the Independent Group earlier in the week offered support to Mr Austin after his announcement, although he has said he has no plans to join them. Massive respect to @IanAustinMP for making this incredibly difficult decision - its painful and hard but he has stayed true to his values and what he believes to be the national interest. https://t.co/TAEnoCJwFK ChukaUmunna (@ChukaUmunna) February 22, 2019 Full respect for @IanAustinMP and his difficult decision to leave @UKLabour today. Politics is broken and it is so important MPs stand up for the mainstream values we share. #ChangePolitics https://t.co/uOiLerQYkl Chris Leslie (@ChrisLeslieUK) February 22, 2019 I fully understand why @IanAustinMP has come to this difficult and painful decision. https://t.co/3M017BghVB Luciana Berger (@lucianaberger) February 22, 2019 Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, called Mr Austins decision to quit the party very sad. He told the Press Association: Ive known Ian a long time, before we were MPs and he has been a good friend. Its regrettable that hes done this. He added that Labour under Mr Corbyn was doing its best on anti-Semitism, and was operating a zero-tolerance policy on the issue. He said: Unfortunately there are those associated with the party who make comments. But the party is doing its best and will continue to have zero tolerance against anti-Semitism. DANDONG, China (AP) - When a green-and-yellow train carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rolled slowly over a bridge into the Chinese city of Dandong late Saturday, few locals took notice. "I didn't really know much about it," a 79-year-old retired farmer who gave only his surname, Shi, said Sunday, pausing during a walk along the river Kim crossed on his way to Vietnam to meet President Donald Trump for their second summit. Over the past few decades, North Korea has receded into irrelevance as the contrast with China has grown starker and starker. Many Chinese now regard North Korea as a curious relic of the past, and Dandong does a roaring trade in tourism centered on China's neighbor across the water. Street vendors hawk binoculars, boat tours and booklets of North Korean currency during the day, while digital billboards light towering apartments at night. Sinuiju, less than a kilometer (half a mile) away across the Yalu River, lays silent, with few signs of activity among its motionless cranes, marooned ships and squat, unlit apartments. But some in this border city of over 2 million expect that if North Korea opens up, they will be among the first to benefit. "Dandong is the biggest border city in China," said Liu Yujun, a former trader from Dandong who says real estate prices have been going up in anticipation of detente on the Korean Peninsula. "Their economy could pull Dandong up along with it. If they open up, then we can invest a lot into their economy." Pedestrians walk by the entrance of "Koryo street", a commercial area that used to house many businesses engaged in trade with North Korea, in the Chinese city of Dandong bordering North Korea in northeastern China's Liaoning Province, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. Over the past few decades, North Korea has receded into irrelevance as the contrast with China has grown starker. Many Chinese now regard North Korea as a curious relic of the past, and Dandong does a roaring trade in tourism centered on China's neighbour across the water. (AP Photo/Dake Kang) China's economy is facing its worst slowdown since the global financial crisis amid a bruising trade war with the United States. Strict U.N. sanctions on North Korea have hit Dandong's traders and shippers hard in the past few years, with some cutting employees or pivoting toward other businesses, a former freight company executive told The Associated Press. But the sudden thaw in tensions on the Korean Peninsula over the past year has raised anticipation that the sanctions may soon be eased. Investors rushed in to snap up apartments, prompting Dandong's government to enact new regulations on real estate last May. On the North Korean side of the river, a tall, round concrete building is under construction - a rare sign of development. Shi believes if North Korea follows China's lead by reforming its economy and opening up to trade, it could boom. He thinks the reason why North Korea struggled while China surged ahead was because of Pyongyang's overemphasis on military spending. "They put so much effort into missiles and nuclear weapons research," Shi said. "If they didn't focus on this research so much, they might not be so backward." In his upcoming meeting with Trump in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, experts say Kim will seek a U.S. commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief while trying to minimize any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons. While Kim wants to leverage his nuclear and missile program for economic and security benefits, there continue to be doubts on whether he's ready to fully deal away an arsenal that he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival. But Xiao Yue, a food seller in Dandong, doesn't care too much about the politicking that will take place in Vietnam. She simply wishes that one day, she'll be able to mingle freely with North Koreans. "It'd help us communicate, culturally and on other levels," Xiao said. "I just hope they can come over here and have some fun." ___ Associated Press researcher Caroline Chen in Beijing contributed to this report. Businesses line the sides of the entrance of the port office in the Chinese city of Dandong bordering North Korea in northeastern China's Liaoning Province, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. Over the past few decades, North Korea has receded into irrelevance as the contrast with China has grown starker. Many Chinese now regard North Korea as a curious relic of the past, and Dandong does a roaring trade in tourism centered on China's neighbour across the water. (AP Photo/Dake Kang) Pedestrians walk by a statue of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong outside the railway station in the Chinese city of Dandong bordering North Korea in northeastern China's Liaoning Province, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. Over the past few decades, North Korea has receded into irrelevance as the contrast with China has grown starker. Many Chinese now regard North Korea as a curious relic of the past, and Dandong does a roaring trade in tourism centered on China's neighbour across the water. (AP Photo/Dake Kang) Taxi's past by the train station in the Chinese city of Dandong bordering North Korea in northeastern China's Liaoning Province, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. Over the past few decades, North Korea has receded into irrelevance as the contrast with China has grown starker. Many Chinese now regard North Korea as a curious relic of the past, and Dandong does a roaring trade in tourism centered on China's neighbour across the water. (AP Photo/Dake Kang) Tourists sit on the riverbank looking into North Korea from the Chinese border city of Dandong in northeastern China's Liaoning Province, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. Over the past few decades, North Korea has receded into irrelevance as the contrast with China has grown starker and starker. Many Chinese now regard North Korea as a curious relic of the past, and Dandong does a roaring trade in tourism centered on China's neighbor across the water. (AP Photo//Dake Kang) In this Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019, photo, a train similar to ones seen during previous visits to China by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un leaves Dandong Station in northeastern China's Liaoning Province. Kim was on a train Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, to Vietnam for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, state media confirmed. (Madoka Ikegami/Kyodo News via AP) WASHINGTON (AP) - All the bill needed to become law was President Donald Trump's signature. It would create a national archive of documents from civil rights cold cases. Students had been working on the project for years, families waiting on it for decades. But time was running out. Legislation dies in the transition from one session of Congress to the next, and unless Trump acted, it would be lost. So the students at New Jersey's Hightstown High School did what teenagers do: They started tweeting at the president. And not just Trump. They tweeted at his advisers, his staff and even Trump-friendly celebrities whose thousands of followers could carry their message to the White House. As the deadline neared, Oslene Johnson, 19, was managing the project's Twitter account from under the blankets in her bedroom and trying not to be discouraged. "When you really look at it, it's about providing closure for communities, families, and also as a country," said Johnson, who has since graduated but still works with the students. Stuart Wexler leads his Advanced Placement government class in a discussion at Hightstown High School in Hightstown, N.J., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. The high school students set their sights on an ambitious goal _ federal legislation to create a national archive of documents involving decades of unsolved civil rights cases. Students at a New Jersey school had worked on it for years. Now, all they needed was President Donald Trump's signature. But if he didn't act in time, the bill would die. The students took to social media and enlisted the aid of a new senator from Alabama. It worked: Trump signed and it's now law. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Imagine, the class considered, all the people, African-Americans mostly, who have lived with questions about what happened to their loved ones 50 years or more ago. The killings and injuries have long passed. The perpetrators are gone. But the families, she said, "they're still with us." The students' interest began in 2015, when teacher Stuart Wexler's Advanced Placement government and policy class at Hightstown High was studying the civil rights movement. They couldn't believe that in America, so many criminal cases involving racial violence and death could remain unsolved. Srihari Suvramanian, 17, a senior, said in an Associated Press telephone interview with the class: "It's just atrocious that these individuals have gotten away with crimes committed decades ago, for so long, even though the majority of Americans know it's wrong." He added: "We think it's very important to provide a sense of closure. Even if we can't get a full sense of closure, maybe provide some answers to the people that were denied justice." The students crowdsourced a list of cases, filed Freedom of Information Act requests and then waited. Research on old cases often runs into dead ends, and they could imagine the difficulties that families go through trying to get answers. They turned their attention to Congress. The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, which collects records at the National Archives from the assassination, provided a model for the legislation they wanted. They took bus trips to Washington to find supporters. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., was among the first to sign on, inspired, his office said, by the work and the possibility it held. Then Democrat Doug Jones won a Senate seat from Alabama in December 2017. They had already reached out to Jones, the U.S. attorney who won convictions after reopening the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing case from 1963 in Birmingham. Six months after he was sworn in as the first Democratic senator from Alabama in a generation, Jones stood on the Senate floor and introduced the bill that would become the Civil Rights Cold Case Collection Act. The students watched from the gallery above. "Justice can take many forms," Jones said. Reconciliation can be a potent force, he said. "After all this time, we might not solve every one of these cold cases, but my hope is, our efforts today will, at the very least, help us find some long overdue healing and understanding of the truth." Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who was presiding in the chamber that day, has said he was so moved that he told Jones he would sign on as a co-sponsor. Cruz helped bring Republicans on board. By December, in the final days of the congressional session, the bill unanimously passed the Senate and was approved in the House, 376-6. From there, it was off to the president's desk. But the students worried the bill would expire when the new Congress convened in January. "We went on a mad, desperate scramble to get the president to sign the bill," said James Ward, a 17 year-old senior who helped mobilize the student body, class by class, "to take out their phones and tweet." In Wexler's classroom, students posted photos of Trump's "midnight advisers" - aides, media celebrities - and started putting "X's" through the ones they had reached out to. "We were tweeting at as many people as we could," Suvramanian recalled. He was finishing class one afternoon when he dashed off an email to Christopher Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax and a Trump ally. "He got back to me within 30 minutes," the teenager said. After a short exchange, another note came back, "He said, 'I dropped a message to the president around 10 minutes ago and I really hope your bill gets signed into law.'" Even with the new Congress starting the next day, the actual deadline for signing the bill was still a week away - the night of Trump's border security address to the nation amid what became the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Johnson, a student leader when the project started, tried not to lose hope as she tweeted. She had graduated and moved on, as had many other students. There have been dozens in all, over the past several years, who had been involved in the project. Then word came. Jones' office told Wexler, who told the students: Trump had signed the bill, which focuses on unsolved criminal cases from 1940 until 1980. Johnson cried. "The families could now, with access to information, at least know something about what happened," she said. Along with Trump's signature came a lengthy signing statement of potential concerns about the process for review and public release of the documents, but also support for Congress to fund the effort. Ruddy confirmed he had reached out to the White House, impressed by the students. He thinks the president would have been, too. Margaret Burnham, a law professor at Northeastern University and director of the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, said what Wexler and his class did was "nothing short of amazing." "The creativity was not so much in framing potentially effective legislation, but in strategizing how to get it through the Congress," said Burnham, who has worked for years on these issues and similar efforts in Washington. "That's where Stuart and his students, over several classes, were just dogged - and creative, incredibly creative - in their ability to persuade Congress, people on both sides of the aisle, of the meaning and continuing urgency and significance of this issue." Tahj Linton, 17, said he hopes other Americans understand the power they have to shape political outcomes. "If we can start to solve some of the racial problems that were never really closed in the past decades or 50 years or so, maybe we can start to work on the ones that are happening today and make a difference about it," he said. ___ Follow on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lisamascaro Stuart Wexler, left, leads his Advanced Placement government class in a discussion at Hightstown High School in Hightstown, N.J., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. The high school students set their sights on an ambitious goal _ federal legislation to create a national archive of documents involving decades of unsolved civil rights cases. Students at a New Jersey school had worked on it for years. Now, all they needed was President Donald Trump's signature. But if he didn't act in time, the bill would die. The students took to social media and enlisted the aid of a new senator from Alabama. It worked: Trump signed and it's now law.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Students participate in an Advanced Placement government class at Hightstown High School in Hightstown, N.J., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. The high school students set their sights on an ambitious goal _ federal legislation to create a national archive of documents involving decades of unsolved civil rights cases. Students at a New Jersey school had worked on it for years. Now, all they needed was President Donald Trump's signature. But if he didn't act in time, the bill would die. The students took to social media and enlisted the aid of a new senator from Alabama. It worked: Trump signed and it's now law. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Students participate in an Advanced Placement government class at Hightstown High School in Hightstown, N.J., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. The high school students set their sights on an ambitious goal _ federal legislation to create a national archive of documents involving decades of unsolved civil rights cases. Students at a New Jersey school had worked on it for years. Now, all they needed was President Donald Trump's signature. But if he didn't act in time, the bill would die. The students took to social media and enlisted the aid of a new senator from Alabama. It worked: Trump signed and it's now law.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Students, including Aayush Gupta, right, participate in an Advanced Placement government class at Hightstown High School in Hightstown, N.J., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. The high school students set their sights on an ambitious goal _ federal legislation to create a national archive of documents involving decades of unsolved civil rights cases. Students at a New Jersey school had worked on it for years. Now, all they needed was President Donald Trump's signature. But if he didn't act in time, the bill would die. The students took to social media and enlisted the aid of a new senator from Alabama. It worked: Trump signed and it's now law. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Stuart Wexler, left, leads his Advanced Placement government class in a discussion at Hightstown High School in Hightstown, N.J., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. The high school students set their sights on an ambitious goal _ federal legislation to create a national archive of documents involving decades of unsolved civil rights cases. Students at a New Jersey school had worked on it for years. Now, all they needed was President Donald Trump's signature. But if he didn't act in time, the bill would die. The students took to social media and enlisted the aid of a new senator from Alabama. It worked: Trump signed and it's now law.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Stuart Wexler, bottom left, leads his Advanced Placement government class in a discussion at Hightstown High School in Hightstown, N.J., Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. The high school students set their sights on an ambitious goal _ federal legislation to create a national archive of documents involving decades of unsolved civil rights cases. Students at a New Jersey school had worked on it for years. Now, all they needed was President Donald Trump's signature. But if he didn't act in time, the bill would die. The students took to social media and enlisted the aid of a new senator from Alabama. It worked: Trump signed and it's now law. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) WASHINGTON (AP) - The political fallout from President Donald Trump's push for his border wall is giving rise to overwrought rhetoric from Republicans and Democrats alike. Trump, as he has so often done, claimed progress on the wall that isn't borne out by what's going on along the border. In the Democrats' 2020 presidential campaign, Trump was assailed for confining kids in "cages," though his administration's fenced facilities for migrant children are the same the Obama administration used to hold children by the thousands. And a Republican senator, seeking to show there's a low bar for presidents to declare a national emergency, asserted President Barack Obama took that step against the swine flu even when there were no cases of that malady in the country. Actually, more than 1,000 Americans had died from that flu before Obama made his emergency declaration in 2009. On other fronts, Trump misrepresented the history of U.S. diplomacy with North Korea as he anticipated his summit this coming week with that country's leader. And with the special counsel's Russia investigation possibly close to wrapping up, he revisited past attempts to discredit a "rigged" probe. A look at recent political rhetoric: THE WALL President Donald Trump listens during his meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) TRUMP: "We have just built this powerful Wall in New Mexico. Completed on January 30, 2019 - 47 days ahead of schedule! Many miles more now under construction! #FinishTheWall." - tweet Wednesday. THE FACTS: This is the latest of many examples of Trump presenting replacement fencing or pre-existing barrier as evidence that his promised wall is coming along. In reality, Trump has not completed any additional miles of barrier in his presidency. In this case, he is citing the replacement of 20 miles (32 kilometers) of existing fencing at Santa Teresa, New Mexico, just outside El Paso, the only barrier construction in New Mexico so far. The $73 million project started in April. Construction was beginning this month for 14 miles (22 km) of new fencing in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas - the first additional miles of barrier in Trump's presidency. That's from money approved by Congress a year ago. Money approved by Congress this month to avert a government shutdown would cover about 55 more miles (88 km) and he's trying unilaterally to free up money for more. Trump now often incorrectly portrays his wall as largely complete, with the rally cry, "Finish the wall," which replaced his initial slogan, "Build the wall." In fact, the barrier now in service - about 650 miles (1,050 km) of fencing - was put in place by previous administrations. ___ TRUMP: "The failed Fast Train project in California, where the cost overruns are becoming world record setting, is hundreds of times more expensive than the desperately needed Wall!" - tweet Tuesday. THE FACTS: The high-speed rail project is nowhere close to being "hundreds of times" more expensive than Trump's proposed border wall. The estimated cost for a San Francisco-to-Los Angeles train has more than doubled to $77 billion. That's about 13 times the $5.7 billion Trump sought unsuccessfully from Congress to build just part of the wall. Last year, he sought $25 billion to pay the full costs of building his wall, also rejected by Congress. The California project would cost three times more than that - far from "hundreds of times more." Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., said earlier this month the project "as currently planned, would cost too much and take too long." He said the state would focus on completing a shorter segment in the Central Valley while seeking money from new sources for the longer route. ___ EMERGENCY DECLARATION SEN. KEVIN CRAMER, Republican of North Dakota: "Barack Obama declared a national emergency to fight swine flu and we didn't have a single case of it in the United States." - podcast posted Tuesday. THE FACTS: Cramer is wrong. More than 1,000 people had died in the U.S. from the flu strain known as H1N1, commonly called the swine flu, by the time Obama declared a national emergency over the outbreak Oct. 23, 2009. The first swine flu death in the U.S. was reported in April 2009. By the time of Obama's declaration, widespread flu activity was reported in 46 states. The government estimates the flu strain was linked to more than 274,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 deaths in the U.S. between April 2009 and April 2010, according to final figures released in 2011. Cramer's false statement that Obama declared an emergency absent any deaths came as he argued that Trump was justified in declaring one to find money to build his proposed border wall. ___ MIGRANT CHILDREN SEN. KAMALA HARRIS of California, a Democratic presidential contender: "The trauma these children experience will live on for decades to come. It's absurd that it needs to be repeated: Ripping babies away from their parents to put them in cages is inhumane." - tweet Wednesday. THE FACTS: The "cages" are chain-link fences and the Obama administration used them for migrant children, too. That hasn't stopped a variety of Democrats from seizing on the visceral kids-in-cages image as evidence of Trump administration cruelty. Among them, Democrat Stacey Abrams, in her response to Trump's State of the Union address, declared "this administration chooses to cage children." Children are held behind chain link inside Border Patrol facilities. Obama's administration detained large numbers of unaccompanied children in such a manner in 2014 during a surge of migrant children at the border. Images that circulated online of children in chain link pens during the height of Trump's family separations controversy - and blamed on him - were actually from 2014 when Obama was in office. Children are placed in such areas by age and sex for safety reasons and are generally held for up to 72 hours by the Border Patrol. They then go into the custody of the Health and Human Services Department and are housed in shelters until they are placed with sponsors in the U.S., usually parents or close relatives. Some children who are with their families will go into family detention or will be released with their family into the country as their immigration cases play out. The Homeland Security Department's inspector general visited five detention facilities for unaccompanied children on the Texas border with Mexico in late June, during the height of the furor over family separations, and found the facilities appeared to comply with detention standards. The government watchdog reported that cleanliness was inconsistent but that the children had access to toilets, food, drinks, clean bedding and hygiene items. At the height of the family separations, about 2,400 children were separated. Since then, 118 children have been. Immigration officials are allowed to take a child from a parent in certain cases - serious criminal charges against a parent, concerns over the health and welfare of a child or medical concerns. That policy has long been in place and is separate from the now-suspended zero-tolerance Trump administration policy that saw children separated from parents only because they had crossed illegally. ___ ILLEGAL CROSSINGS CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL XAVIER BECERRA, on whether there's a crisis at the border: "We have the lowest level of entries into the country by those that don't have permission than we've had in some 20 years." - interview with ABC's "This Week" on Feb. 17. THE FACTS: He's incorrect that illegal crossings are the lowest in recent decades, based on Border Patrol arrests, the most widely used gauge. That was true in the 2017 budget year, when Border Patrol arrests along the Mexican border fell to 303,916, the smallest number since 1971. But arrests jumped 31 percent last year, to 396,579. And in the 2019 budget year, which started in October, southern border arrests nearly doubled through January, to 201,497 from 109,543 the same period a year earlier. Illegal crossings remain relatively low in historical terms but not as low as Becerra claims. California is leading a 16-state coalition in a suit challenging Trump's power to declare an emergency to steer more money to build a wall along the Mexico border. ___ DEMS ON ECONOMY SEN. BERNIE SANDERS of Vermont, announcing his run for president: "We should not have an economy in which tens of millions of workers earn starvation wages." - email Tuesday to supporters. THE FACTS: Sanders is overstating his case regarding "starvation wages." According to his campaign, he defines "starvation wages" as anything below $15 an hour. But if a family, for example, has two people making $14 an hour each, working full time, that's roughly $56,000 in household income before taxes. If they live outside large, expensive cities, their costs of living will also be relatively low. The Census Bureau considers a single parent with two children to be poor if they earn less than $19,749, or about $9.90 an hour. It's true that many people with jobs are still poor. In 2016, census data showed that 7.2 million people were working, but still lived below the poverty line. It's also true that a lot of workers - nearly 40 percent, or 60 million - earn less than $15 an hour, according to government data compiled by the liberal Economic Policy Institute. But wages have also been rising in the past several years for lower-income workers, thanks in part to higher minimum wages. For those at the 20th percentile of earnings - meaning that 80 percent of workers earn more - their wages rose 4.8 percent last year, more than any other income group, according to that institute. ___ SEN. KAMALA HARRIS: "The average tax refund is down about $170 compared to last year. Let's call the President's tax cut what it is: a middle-class tax hike to line the pockets of already wealthy corporations and the 1%." - tweet Feb. 11. THE FACTS: She's wrong to suggest that smaller tax refunds basically amount to a "middle-class tax hike." The size of a refund doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how much someone is paying in taxes. Many people ended up with less of their taxes withheld from their paychecks in 2018 as a result of Trump's tax cut. That would result in a smaller refund, but it doesn't mean they paid more in federal taxes. Explaining the tweet, a campaign spokeswoman, Kirsten Allen, said "many middle-class families are seeing increases, while the bulk of the benefits go to corporations and the wealthy. And the long term analysis of this bill is that it raises middle-class taxes." Allen also noted that high-tax states such as California are particularly affected because the new law caps the deduction for state and local taxes at $10,000. Trump's tax cut did skew to the wealthy, but most middle-income taxpayers should see a tax cut this year, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. The average taxpayer is expected to get a tax cut of about $1,600 in 2018, the center calculates, with two-thirds of U.S. taxpayers getting a cut and about 6 percent paying more. ___ NORTH KOREA TRUMP, on getting North Korea to "denuclearize": "I think they want to do something. But you know, you've been talking about this for 80 years. They've been talking about this for many, many years, and no administration has done anything." - remarks Wednesday with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. THE FACTS: He's wrong in suggesting his administration is the first to start on denuclearization with North Korea. The Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations both did so. Clinton reached an aid-for-disarmament deal in 1994 that halted North Korea's plutonium production for eight years, freezing what was then a very small nuclear arsenal. Bush took a tougher stance toward North Korea, and the 1994 nuclear deal collapsed because of suspicions that the North was running a secret uranium enrichment program. Bush, too, ultimately pursued negotiations. That led to a temporary disabling of some nuclear facilities, but talks fell apart because of differences over verification. What has most advanced under Trump is the level of engagement with North Korea. He is the first to meet the leader of North Korea. ___ RUSSIA INVESTIGATION TRUMP: "The Mueller investigation is totally conflicted, illegal and rigged! Should never have been allowed to begin, except for the Collusion and many crimes committed by the Democrats. Witch Hunt!" - tweet Feb. 17. THE FACTS: Trump's frequent claim that Mueller's team is "totally conflicted" to the point of being rigged is off the mark. He's previously pointed to Mueller's team, for instance, as "13 angry Democrats," even though Mueller is a Republican and some others on his team owe their jobs largely to Republican presidents. Some have indeed given money to Democratic candidates over the years. But Mueller could not have barred them from serving on that basis because regulations prohibit the consideration of political affiliation for personnel actions involving career attorneys. Mueller reports to Attorney General William Barr, and before him, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who are both Trump appointees. Mueller was appointed as special counsel by Rosenstein in May 2017, eight days after Trump's abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey and the subsequent disclosure that Trump had encouraged Comey to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to Comey, which raised questions about possible obstruction of justice. Trump has denied he told Comey to end the Flynn probe. ___ Associated Press writers Amanda Seitz in Chicago, Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Jill Colvin, Juana Summers and Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2019, file photo, Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., speaks to reporters as he walks into a closed-door meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) FILE - In this June 17, 2018 file photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, people who've been taken into custody related to cases of illegal entry into the United States, rest in one of the cages at a facility in McAllen, Texas. Months after the Trump administration ended the general policy of separating parents and children, advocates and members of Congress are questioning the treatment of children who cross the U.S.-Mexico border with other relatives - grandparents, uncles and aunts, and adult siblings. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Rio Grande Valley Sector via AP, File) FILE - In this June 21, 2017 file photo, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, departs Capitol Hill following a closed door meeting in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) Pope Francis on Sunday compared the sexual abuse of children to human sacrifice as he addressed the Catholic Church. The ongoing scandals have hit countries around the world, with recent cases affecting Australia, Chile, Germany and the US. (Photo:AP) Vatican City: Pope Francis on Sunday compared the sexual abuse of children to human sacrifice as he addressed the Catholic Church's top bishops at the end of a landmark summit to tackle paedophilia. "Our work has made us realise once again that the gravity of the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors is, and historically has been, a widespread phenomenon in all cultures and societies," he said. "I am reminded of the cruel religious practice, once widespread in certain cultures, of sacrificing human beings - frequently children - in pagan rites," he added. Francis was speaking after a four-day meeting which he had opened by calling for "concrete measures" on tackling priests and handing 114 senior bishops a roadmap to shape the debate on how to stop a global scandal. "If in the Church there should emerge even a single case of abuse - which already in itself represents an atrocity - that case will be faced with the utmost seriousness". The ongoing scandals have hit countries around the world, with recent cases affecting Australia, Chile, Germany and the US. Francis said those who priests who pray on children are "tools of Satan". "No explanations suffice for these abuses involving children," the Argentine pontiff said. "The echo of the silent cry of the little ones who, instead of finding in them fathers and spiritual guides encountered tormentors, will shake hearts dulled by hypocrisy and by power. "It is our duty to pay close heed to this silent, choked cry," he added. WASHINGTON (AP) - Special counsel Robert Mueller has not made a single public comment since his appointment in May 2017. But he has spoken loudly, if indirectly, in court - indictment by indictment, guilty plea by guilty plea. In doing so, he tracked an elaborate Russian operation that injected chaos into a U.S. presidential election and tried to help Donald Trump win the White House. He followed a Republican campaign that embraced the Kremlin's help and championed stolen material to hurt a political foe. And ultimately, he revealed layers of lies, deception, self-enrichment and hubris that followed. The full, final report on the investigation, believed to be in its final stages, may never be made public. That's up to Attorney General William Barr. But woven through thousands of court papers, the special counsel has made his public report. These are the key findings: RUSSIA TRIED TO HELP TRUMP The Kremlin directed a large-scale effort to help Trump during the 2016 election. In this July 27, 2016, file photo, then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Trump National Doral in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) According to U.S. intelligence agencies and lengthy indictments brought by Mueller's team, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a multipart influence campaign aimed at hurting Democrat Hillary Clinton's candidacy, undermining American democracy and helping Trump get elected. That effort included the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, Clinton's campaign and other Democratic groups. Russian intelligence officers then coordinated the release of stolen emails and internal documents using the false online personas Guccifer 2.0 and DCLeaks, and later the anti-secrecy group, WikiLeaks. While the hacking was being carried out, Mueller has also accused a Russian troll farm, known as the Internet Research Agency, of using fake social media accounts to flood the American public with disinformation. That social media effort began in 2014 with a goal of sowing discord by trumpeting extreme positions on divisive political issues. But as the presidential campaign progressed, Mueller team says the effort began supporting Trump and disparaging Clinton. WikiLeaks has denied that Russian was the direct source of the material it released. One defendant in the troll farm case has denied the allegations. ___ PEOPLE AROUND TRUMP WERE RECEPTIVE TO THE HELP Donald Trump Jr., Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone, and Trump himself all sought to benefit politically from Russian election interference. In the middle of the campaign, Trump Jr. took a meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer thinking he would be getting "dirt" on Clinton. Trump Jr. agreed to the meeting, which included Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, despite it being described as part of a Russian government effort to help his father's campaign. Stone sought to help the Trump campaign benefit from damaging material released by WikiLeaks. After the DNC pointed the finger at Russia in its hacking, Stone pitched himself as a WikiLeaks insider in discussions with the Trump campaign. According to Mueller , Trump's campaign kept in contact with Stone about the timing and content of any releases of Clinton documents that could be damaging to her campaign. Trump himself also publicly welcomed Russia's help. During a political rally, Trump called on Russia's hackers to help find emails scrubbed from Clinton's private server, saying: "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing." Court documents show that on that same day, Russian intelligence officers tried to hack into email accounts hosted at a domain used by Clinton's personal office, as well as email addresses used by her campaign. ___ TRUMP WAS TRYING TO DO BUSINESS IN RUSSIA DURING THE CAMPAIGN In fact, he wanted to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Court documents in the case of Trump's longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, show the Trump Organization pursued the project even after Trump had secured the Republican presidential nomination. As part of that effort, Cohen spoke with an assistant to the Kremlin's spokesman about finding the land and financing for the building's construction. He also pitched Trump on visiting Russia during the campaign as part of the business proposal. The potential deal ultimately fell through but Cohen discussed the project with Trump and his family even as the GOP candidate was publicly claiming that he had nothing to do with Russia. ___ HIS CLOSE ADVISERS SOUGHT RUSSIAN BACK CHANNELS DURING THE TRANSITION The moves violated a long-standing norm in American democracy of "one president at a time." Former national security adviser Michael Flynn , in particular, was the main conduit, according to court documents . In the waning weeks of the Obama administration, Flynn had several conversations with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the U.S., involving two issues important to Mueller. On Dec. 22, 2016, at Kushner's direction, Flynn asked Kislyak to delay or vote against a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, a request Russia rebuffed. A couple days later, President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its election interference efforts. But in discussions with Kislyak, Flynn asked that Russia not escalate the situation and only respond "in a reciprocal manner." Putin ultimately decided not to respond in kind, which Kislyak said was the result of Flynn's request. ___ LOTS OF PEOPLE AROUND TRUMP LIED TO INVESTIGATORS His national security adviser, campaign chairman, personal lawyer and three other aides or advisers: All of them have been accused of lying to federal agents or Congress. Many of the lies cut to the heart of the investigation. Flynn lied about his contacts with Kislyak. Cohen lied about the Trump Tower Moscow deal. Former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos lied about his contacts with Russian intermediaries who appeared to know ahead of time about Russia's stealing of Clinton's emails. Mueller has also accused Stone of lying to Congress about his discussions regarding WikiLeaks, though Stone has denied any wrongdoing. ___ STILL, NO DIRECT EVIDENCE OF CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY WITH RUSSIA Mueller's brought charges against more than 30 defendants but he hasn't charged any Americans, let alone Trump associates, with actively conspiring with the Russia government during the 2016 campaign. That includes Stone, who has dismissed the charges against him as "process crimes." Trump has used the lack of conspiracy charges to claim vindication using his favorite phrase, "NO COLLUSION!" ___ Read AP's coverage of the Russia probe: https://apnews.com/TrumpInvestigations FILE - In this June 21, 2017 file photo, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, departs Capitol Hill following a closed door meeting in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) Some of the Facebook and Instagram ads linked to a Russian effort to disrupt the American political process and stir up tensions around divisive social issues, released by members of the U.S. House Intelligence committee, are photographed in Washington, on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. A report compiled by private researchers and released by the Senate intelligence committee Monday says that "active and ongoing" Russian interference operations still exist on social media platforms, and that the Russian operation discovered after the 2016 presidential election was much broader than once thought. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick) FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2018, a man wears a hat with President President Donald Trump's campaign slogan in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill) FILE - In this July 17, 2016 file photo, then-Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort talks to reporters on the floor of the Republican National Convention, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) FILE - in this Feb. 14, 2018, file photo, Rick Gates departs Federal District Court in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) FILE - In this Dec. 21, 2016, file photo, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, a senior adviser to then-President-elect Donald Trump listens as Trump speaks to members of the media at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, file photo, former Donald Trump presidential campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos leaves federal court after he was sentenced to 14 days in prison, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) FILE - In this July 12, 2016, file photo, a member of the Secret Service stands guard as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., accompanied by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, speaks during a rally in Portsmouth, N.H., where Sanders endorsed Clinton for president. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) FILE - In this Nov. 8, 2016, file photo, then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign rally in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File) FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2019, file photo, Attorney General nominee William Barr testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, file) FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2017, file photo, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort arrives at federal court in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2017, file photo, Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's personal attorney, steps out of a cab during his arrival on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) In this Feb. 15, 2018, file photo, Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's former chief strategist, arrives for questioning by the House Intelligence Committee as part of its ongoing investigation into meddling in the U.S. elections by Russia, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) In this Nov. 9, 2016, file photo, John Podesta, campaign chairman, announces that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will not be making an appearance at Jacob Javits Center in New York, as the votes are still being counted. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) FILE - In this June 14, 2016 file photo, people stand outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington. Hackers tried to break into DNC inboxes in March 2016 and intensified their efforts in early April. (AP Photo/Paul Holston, File) A view of the four-story building known as the "troll factory" in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Naira Davlashyan) FILE - In this Saturday, July 14, 2018 file photo, a man walks past the building of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, also know as Russian military intelligence service in Moscow, Russia. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File) FILE - In this March 2, 2018 file photo, former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych gestures as he speaks at a news conference in Moscow. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File) FILE - This Nov. 10, 2017, file photo shows Russia's President Vladimir Putin, left, and Russian metals magnate Oleg Deripaska, right, walking to attend the APEC Business Advisory Council dialogue in Danang, Vietnam. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File) FILE - In this May 19, 2017 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gestures to supporters outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has been in self imposed exile since 2012. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File) FILE - In this July 2, 2015, file photo, Russian metals magnate Oleg Deripaska attends Independence Day celebrations at Spaso House, the residence of the American Ambassador, in Moscow, Russia. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File) FILE - In this Monday, July 17, 2017, file photo, Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak arrives at the State Department in Washington to meet with Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) FILE - In this July 4, 2017 file photo, Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin is shown prior to a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. (Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool Photo via AP, File) FILE - This Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018 file photo shows a business center building known as the "troll factory", an Internet Research Agency, one of a web of companies allegedly controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has reported ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in St. Petersburg, Russia. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File) FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2019, file photo, then-Attorney General nominee William Barr testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) FILE - In this May 4, 2018, file photo, Donald Trump Jr., waves from the stage at the National Rifle Association in Dallas. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File) FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2019, file photo, former campaign adviser for President Donald Trump, Roger Stone walks out of the federal courthouse following a hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Stone was arrested Friday in the special counsel's Russia investigation and was charged with lying to Congress and obstructing the probe. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File) FILE - In this Aug. 29, 2018 photo, White House adviser Jared Kushner waves as he arrives at the Office of the United States Trade Representative for talks on trade with Canada, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) SRINAGAR, India (AP) - Police have arrested at least 300 activists seeking the end of Indian rule in disputed Kashmir, officials said Saturday, escalating fears among already wary residents that a sweeping crackdown could touch off renewed anti-India protests and clashes. The crackdown comes amid high tensions between India and Pakistan following the Feb. 14 suicide car bombing of a paramilitary convoy by a Kashmiri militant. Forty Indian soldiers died in the attack, the worst against Indian government forces in Kashmir's history. India quickly blamed the attack on Pakistan and promised a "jaw-breaking response." Pakistan warned India against linking it to the attack without an investigation, and offered a dialogue to resolve all issues, including Kashmir. Police said Saturday that they went to neighborhoods overnight and rounded up top leaders and activists of mainly Jama'at-e-Islami, a political-religious group that espouses the right to self-determination for Kashmir, a Himalayan territory divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both in its entirety. The raids and arrests continued on Saturday. Among those arrested were Jama'at-e-Islami head Abdul Hamid Fayaz and Mohammed Yasin Malik, an influential pro-independence leader who heads the Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front. Malik was picked up from his home overnight in the region's main city of Srinagar, where most shops and businesses closed impromptu to protest the crackdown. Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard in a closed market in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. Police have arrested at least 200 activists seeking the end of Indian rule in disputed Kashmir, officials said Saturday, escalating fears among already wary residents that a sweeping crackdown could touch off renewed anti-India protests and clashes. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin) Joint Resistance Leadership comprised of three top Kashmiri leaders which includes Malik, called for the strike on Sunday to protest the crackdown, a statement said. Police gave no reason for the arrests. Through the night, Indian fighter aircraft and military helicopters hovered above the region. Indian military officials offered no comment about it. Residents fear the crackdown could be a prelude to a military strike by India against Pakistan or the tinkering of Kashmir's special status in India's constitution. India's Supreme Court has yet to give its verdict on a petition against the special provision that it has been hearing for more than a year. Indian authorities rushed about 10,000 additional paramilitary soldiers to the already highly militarized Kashmir valley. Indian soldiers are ubiquitous in Kashmir and local residents make little secret of their fury toward their presence in the Himalayan region calling them an occupying force. Since 1989, rebels have been fighting against Indian control in Kashmir. About 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and ensuing crackdown. Most Kashmiris support the rebels' demand that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control. An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard next to closed shops in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. Police have arrested at least 200 activists seeking the end of Indian rule in disputed Kashmir, officials said Saturday, escalating fears among already wary residents that a sweeping crackdown could touch off renewed anti-India protests and clashes. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin) CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) - More than three million Moldovans are eligible to vote in parliamentary elections Sunday in this former Soviet republic wedged between Romania and Ukraine. They will choose representatives for the next four-year term of the 101-seat legislature. No outright winner is expected and the ballot will likely deepen a rift between pro-Western and pro-Russian forces, amid concerns about endemic corruption and crumbling democracy. REJIGGED VOTING SYSTEM The voting system has been changed in what critics say is a ploy to help the two main parties - the broadly pro-Russian Socialists and the nominally pro-European Democratic Party - carve up influence. Democratic leader Vladimir Plahotniuc, one of the country's wealthiest men, is the country's de-facto leader as the Democrats are the main party in the ruling coalition. Voters will directly pick 51 lawmakers, while the remaining 50 lawmakers will be elected via party lists, a method which favors the two bigger parties. Another factor to consider is that there are up to one million voters- almost a third of the electorate- working and living abroad, mainly in the EU and Russia. ___ WHO'S RUNNING? There are three main parties: The Democratic Party, which heads the ruling coalition together with its junior partner the Popular European Party, the Socialists, who favor closer ties to Russia, and the pro-European ACUM which opposes both major parties and signed a pledge Thursday not to enter into a coalition with them if no party wins an outright majority. Parties need to win six percent of the overall vote to enter Parliament. A woman pushes a baby stroller by electoral posters advertising the candidates of the Socialists' Party, in Chisinau, Moldova, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, ahead of parliamentary elections taking place on Feb. 24. Moldova's president says the former Soviet republic needs good relations with Russia, amid uncertainty about the future of the European Union. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) ___ POTENTIAL FOR CRISIS In an interview this week with The Associated Press, Moldovan President Igor Dodon warned of unrest if elections are rigged. While no major fraud is expected on polling day, with 340 international observers from 38 countries monitoring the ballot, there are concerns the elections may be less than free or fair. Facebook recently dismantled 168 fake accounts and 28 pages allegedly attempting to influence voters. Pro-European leader Maia Sandu told the AP that the elections were "the most undemocratic in the history of Moldova," and that warned voters may stage demonstrations to "defend our vote." Moreover, the election threatens to keep the country stuck in limbo between the West and Russia, at a time when allegations of government corruption and concerns over erosion of democracy have strained relations with the EU. Moldova signed an association agreement with the EU in 2014, a move seen as a step toward joining the bloc. Last year, the European Parliament called Moldova "a state captured by oligarchic interests." The EU also froze aid to Moldova after a local court invalidated the 2018 Chisinau mayoral election on a technicality, a move seen as a bid to thwart the apparent victory of a pro-European candidate. ___ WHAT ELSE? ACUM leaders Sandu and Andrei Nastase have accused the Democratic Party leadership of corruption and claimed they had been poisoned. The Democratic Party strenuously denied the allegations. A man rides a bicycle by electoral posters advertising the Communist party in Chisinau, Moldova, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, ahead of parliamentary elections taking place on Feb. 24. Moldova's president says the former Soviet republic needs good relations with Russia, amid uncertainty about the future of the European Union. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) A man walks by electoral posters advertising the candidates of the the Show party, led by Israeli born Modovan businessman Ilan Shor, in Chisinau, Moldova, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, ahead of parliamentary elections taking place on Feb. 24. Moldova's president says the former Soviet republic needs good relations with Russia, amid uncertainty about the future of the European Union. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) A girl walks by electoral posters advertising the candidates of the Socialists' Party in Chisinau, Moldova, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, ahead of parliamentary elections taking place on Feb. 24. Moldova's president says the former Soviet republic needs good relations with Russia, amid uncertainty about the future of the European Union. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) A woman walks by electoral posters advertising the candidates of the Socialists' Party Chisinau, Moldova, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, ahead of parliamentary elections taking place on Feb. 24. Moldova's president says the former Soviet republic needs good relations with Russia, amid uncertainty about the future of the European Union. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Moldova's President Igor Dodon gestures, during an interview with the Associated Press in Chisinau, Moldova, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. Dodon says the former Soviet republic needs good relations with Russia, amid uncertainty about the future of the European Union. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) Maia Sandu, leader of the ACUM opposition alliance, speaks to people during an electoral meeting in Loganesti, Moldova, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, ahead of parliamentary elections taking place on Feb. 24. Maia Sandu described the upcoming parliamentary elections as the "most un-democratic in the history of Moldova", in an interview with the Associated Press. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) A man holds a paper promoting the candidates of the ACUM opposition alliance, during an electoral meeting in Loganesti, Moldova, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, ahead of parliamentary elections taking place on Feb. 24. Maia Sandu described the upcoming parliamentary elections as the "most un-democratic in the history of Moldova", in an interview with the Associated Press. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Maia Sandu, leader of the ACUM opposition alliance, speaks to people during an electoral meeting in Loganesti, Moldova, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, ahead of parliamentary elections taking place on Feb. 24. Maia Sandu described the upcoming parliamentary elections as the "most un-democratic in the history of Moldova", in an interview with the Associated Press. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Maia Sandu, leader of the ACUM opposition alliance, speaks to people during an electoral meeting in Loganesti, Moldova, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, ahead of parliamentary elections taking place on Feb. 24. Maia Sandu described the upcoming parliamentary elections as the "most un-democratic in the history of Moldova", in an interview with the Associated Press. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Maia Sandu, leader of the ACUM opposition alliance, speaks to people during an electoral meeting in Loganesti, Moldova, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, ahead of parliamentary elections taking place on Feb. 24. Maia Sandu described the upcoming parliamentary elections as the "most un-democratic in the history of Moldova", in an interview with the Associated Press. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) VATICAN CITY (AP) - The legal loopholes that have allowed Catholic bishops to escape sanction when they cover up clergy sex abuse cases may be closing. Two U.S. cardinals have confirmed that the Vatican is working on a "clarification" to a 2016 law that was supposed to hold bishops and religious superiors accountable when they fail to protect their flocks but never really did. Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston told a press conference Friday during Pope Francis' sex abuse prevention summit that he had been "guaranteed" that the new document would "come out very soon." Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich said the document would "standardize" procedures within the various Vatican offices to investigate bishops and order their removal. The new document would further clarify the law Francis issued in 2016, entitled "As a Loving Mother," which he passed instead of creating a special tribunal section inside the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to handle abuse of office cases. Cupich said the law had been applied in "recent cases," but the Vatican has provided no information about how it has been implemented or how many bishops have been sanctioned as a result of it. For decades, the Vatican has been criticized by abuse victims and their advocates for having turned a blind eye to the bishops and religious superiors who failed to punish sexual predators in the priesthood. While the Vatican began cracking down on the abusers themselves under Pope Benedict XVI, the superiors who enabled the crimes and allowed abusers to continue raping children largely got a pass. Backdropped by photos of them when they were children, sex abuse survivors hug each other during a press conference of members of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), in Rome, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Acting on a proposal from his sex abuse advisory commission, Francis and his group of cardinal advisers agreed in 2015 to create a tribunal section within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to prosecute bishops and superiors when they botched cases. A press statement issued at the time said the pope had pledged to provide the new office with adequate staffing and resources. But the tribunal posed a host of legal and bureaucratic issues and ran into opposition from bishops and the Vatican bureaucracy. The congregation, which already handles sex abuse cases, apparently was never consulted about the feasibility of creating such a tribunal before it was announced to the press to great fanfare. A year later, Francis issued "As a Loving Mother" that made no mention of a tribunal but merely reminded the four Vatican offices that already handle bishop issues that they were also responsible for investigating and punishing negligence cases. It made clear that a negligent act or omission on handling an abuse allegation was grounds for dismissal. The Vatican's longtime sex crimes prosecutor, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, told reporters Friday that under the 2016 law, it was actually easier to remove a negligent bishop than if he were subject to a canonical trial in a tribunal where the bishop's intent would have to be proven. The 2016 law "looks at the objective state of the (bishops') incapacity" to govern, whereas a tribunal would have required proof that an actual law had been broken, Scicluna said. The 2016 legislation benefits those who are claiming negligence by a bishop because "they only have to denounce an objective fact: that nothing was done," Scicluna said. O'Malley, who heads a commission that first proposed the tribunal, said the issue of holding bishops accountable was "uppermost in our minds right now." "Right now the Holy See is working on, preparing a clarification of the implementation that will come out very soon, I am guaranteed," he said. Cupich, for his part, dedicated his speech to Francis' abuse summit to how such investigations against bishops might be reported to the Vatican and then carried out once the Vatican has authorized an investigation. His proposal called for the metropolitan bishop - who has authority over other bishops in a particular geographic region - to conduct the investigation, using the help of lay experts. "What I present here is a framework for constructing new legal structures of accountability in the church," Cupich said, in a speech that implied that such structures are very much in the works at the Holy See. Speakers at Francis' summit have proposed other changes to canon law as well to ensure accountability and fairness to victims and accused priests alike. Linda Ghisoni, an Italian canon lawyer and undersecretary at the Vatican's laity office, said the Holy See should change its laws concerning the "pontifical secret" - the confidentiality regulations that govern how sex abuse cases are handled internally. Victims for years have denounced the high level of secrecy, which often prevents them from learning the outcomes or progress of their cases. Accused priests, too, have complained how they are kept in the dark about the details of their cases. Ghisoni told the summit that a degree of confidentiality must be retained to guarantee the dignity and reputations of all involved. But she said the secrecy regulations "should allow for the development of a climate of greater transparency and trust." Sex abuse survivor Mariusz Milewski, left, holds the hand of survivor Alessandro Battaglia, during a press conference of members of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), in Rome, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) CUCUTA, Colombia (AP) - Venezuelans frustrated over their nation's crippling food and medical shortages are expected to join opposition leaders Saturday in a potentially risky push to deliver international aid that Nicolas Maduro has refused to accept into the country. The opposition is calling on masses of Venezuelans to help trucks carrying the nearly 200 metric tons of humanitarian assistance delivered largely by the United States over the last two weeks across several border bridges in Colombia. Once the trucks reach the border they'll face a crucial test: Whether the military standing guard on the other side will let them through. "We think it's going to enter," opposition leader David Smolansky said in the lead up to the push. "There will be so many people gathered at the border and in different cities around the country that it will be impossible to stop it." The critical moment for both Venezuela's government and opposition comes exactly one month after 35-year-old lawmaker Juan Guaido declared himself interim president under the constitution before thousands of cheering supporters. While he has earned popular backing and is being recognized by over 50 nations, he has not sealed the support of the military, whose loyalty is considered crucial to unseat Maduro. International leaders including U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are appealing for the sides to avoid violence as the opposition tries to get food and medical supplies across bridges that Venezuelan authorities ordered closed Friday night. In previous waves of unrest, citizens have been tear-gassed and even killed during protests. Policemen stand guard during a concert at Tienditas International Bridge, in Venezuela, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, on the border with Colomcia. Venezuela's power struggle is set to convert into a battle of the bands Friday when musicians demanding Nicolas Maduro allow in humanitarian aid and those supporting the embattled leader's refusal sing in rival concerts being held at both sides of a border bridge where tons of donated food and medicine are being stored. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said the military would "never have orders to fire on the civilian population" and likened the aid push to a media spectacle. "We can only hope that sanity and good sense prevail in Cucuta, in Colombia, and that it will remain as a big show, a bit party, and that they don't try to open the doors to a military intervention," he said at U.N. headquarters in New York Friday. The aid push comes on the heels of a giant concert organized by British billionaire Richard Branson aimed at pressuring Maduro to accept the aid. Tens of thousands of Venezuelans gathered in a field to hear pop stars like Juanes sing beneath a scorching sun. Guaido made a surprise appearance toward the end. "Juan arrived! Juan arrived!" people shouted as they spotted him smiling near the stage. In remarks after the event, Guaido spoke alongside Colombian President Ivan Duque and Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and said he had been able to circumvent Maduro's travel ban only with the help of the armed forces. "Here is a Venezuela in search of freedom," he said at the aid storage facility. "Thank you, to the people of the world, for opening your doors to us." The opposition is planning to hold three simultaneous aid pushes on Saturday. Aside from the events in Colombia, they also hope to get humanitarian assistance delivered by sea and through Venezuela's remote border with Brazil. On Friday, a member of an indigenous tribe was killed and 22 others injured in clashes with security forces who enforced Maduro's orders to keep the aid out at a crossing with Brazil. Venezuela's military has served as the traditional arbiter of political disputes in the South American country and in recent weeks top leaders have pledged their unwavering loyalty to Maduro. However, many believe that lower-ranking troops who suffer from the same hardships as many other Venezuelans may be more inclined to let the aid in. Opposition leaders are pushing forward in belief that whether Maduro lets the aid in or not, he will come out weakened. They also contend that if the military does allow the food and medical gear in, it will signify troops are now loyal to Guaido. Analysts warn that there may be no clear victor and humanitarian groups have criticized the opposition as using the aid as a political weapon. "I don't know that anyone can give a timeline of when the dam might break, and it's quite possible that it won't," said Eric Farnsworth of the Council of the Americas and Americas Society, a Washington-based think tank. Fearful of what they might encounter, some Venezuelans in Cucuta said they planned to stay away, while others said they'd face the risks and go. "For my son, I'd risk everything," Oscar Herrera, 25, a Venezuelan man who took an 18-hour bus ride to Colombia to buy his infant medicine for a skin irritation earlier this week. Hernan Parcia, 32, a father of three, said he planned to go with his entire family. "I'm pained by what's happening to my country," he said. "They can count on me." Government supporters flash heart-hand signals during the "Hands off Venezuela" concert at the Tienditas International Bridge, in Venezuela on the border with Colombia, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Venezuela's power struggle is set to convert into a battle of the bands Friday when musicians demanding Nicolas Maduro allow in humanitarian aid and those supporting the embattled leader's refusal sing in rival concerts being held at both sides of a border bridge where tons of donated food and medicine are being stored. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) Venezuela's self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido, arrives at the Venezuela Aid Live concert on the Colombian side of the Tienditas International Bridge near Cucuta, Colombia, on the border with Venezuela, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara) Gusi, from left, Carlos Vives and Santiago Cruz, hold a Venezuelan national flag as they perform at the "Live Aid Venezuela" concert at the Tienditas International Bridge on the outskirts of Cucuta, Colombia, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, on the border with Venezuela. British billionaire Richard Branson organized the mega concert, which features dozens of Latin musicians performing on a giant stage on one side of what Colombian authorities have renamed the "Unity" bridge. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara) Ricardo Montaner performs at the "Live Aid Venezuela" concert at the Tienditas International Bridge on the outskirts of Cucuta, Colombia, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, on the border with Venezuela. British billionaire Richard Branson organized the mega concert, which features dozens of Latin musicians performing on a giant stage on one side of what Colombian authorities have renamed the "Unity" bridge. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara) Carlos Vives performs at the "Live Aid Venezuela" concert at the Tienditas International Bridge on the outskirts of Cucuta, Colombia, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, on the border with Venezuela. British billionaire Richard Branson organized the mega concert, which features dozens of Latin musicians performing on a giant stage on one side of what Colombian authorities have renamed the "Unity" bridge. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara) Colombian Army snipers cover the Venezuela Aid Live concert on the Colombian side of the Tienditas International Bridge near Cucuta, Colombia, on the border with Venezuela, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara) Diosdado Cabello, President of Venezuela's Constituent Assembly, talks to supporters during the first day of the "Hands off Venezuela" three-day music festival at the Tienditas International Bridge, in Urena, Venezuela, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, on the border with Colombia. Venezuela's power struggle is set to convert into a battle of the bands Friday when musicians demanding Nicolas Maduro allow in humanitarian aid and those supporting the embattled leader's refusal sing in rival concerts being held at both sides of a border bridge where tons of donated food and medicine are being stored. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) Government supporters chant anti-U.S. slogans during the first day of the "Hands off Venezuela" three-day music festival at the Tienditas International Bridge, in Urena, Venezuela, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, on the border with Colombia. Venezuela's power struggle is set to convert into a battle of the bands Friday when musicians demanding Nicolas Maduro allow in humanitarian aid and those supporting the embattled leader's refusal sing in rival concerts being held at both sides of a border bridge where tons of donated food and medicine are being stored. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) NEW YORK (AP) - Flowers from Meghan Markle's New York baby shower are getting a second life. WNBC reports that the flowers from the Duchess of Sussex's shower on Wednesday were donated to Repeat Roses, an organization that gives flowers to charities. The American Cancer Society says Meghan's flowers were donated to cancer patients around the city. One of the recipients was the cancer society's Hope Lodge. The facility provides free lodging to cancer patients traveling to New York for treatment. Friends including Gayle King and Amal Clooney joined Meghan at her shower at a Manhattan hotel. The 37-year-old American actress became a British royal when she married Prince Harry last year. She is due to give birth to the couple's first child in April. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, leaves the Surrey Hotel ahead of her baby shower at the Mark Hotel on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen) ___ Information from: WNBC-TV, http://www.nbcnewyork.com SAN DIEGO (AP) - The eight border-wall prototypes President Donald Trump inspected during a visit to California in March are going to be torn down to make way for a second barrier separating California and Mexico, the U.S. Department of Customs and Border Protection said Friday. Construction crews have replaced one layer of fencing along a 14-mile (23-kilometer) stretch of the border separating Mexico and California. Crews recently started work on replacing and extending secondary fence as well. Border Patrol Agent Theron Francisco said Friday it isn't clear when the prototypes will come down. But he added money has already been set aside for their removal. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday they cost between $300,000 and $500,000 apiece to build. "There is money already allocated to either take them down or build infrastructure around them. But the decision has been made at the national level to take them down, and the secondary replacement project will take their place," Francisco said. Trump declared an emergency last week to shift billions of dollars to fund border wall construction. FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018, file photo, border wall prototypes stand in San Diego near the Mexico-U.S. border, seen from Tijuana, Mexico, where the current wall casts a shadow in the foreground. Customs and Border Protection said Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, President Trump's eight border-wall prototypes will be torn down to make way for a secondary barrier separating California from Mexico. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File) The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives is set to vote next week on whether to block that declaration. Some members of the Republican-controlled Senate have indicated it could pass that body as well. If it does, Trump has promised to veto the measure. FILE - This Oct. 26, 2017 file photo shows prototypes of border walls in San Diego. Customs and Border Protection said Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, President Trump's eight border-wall prototypes will be torn down to make way for a secondary barrier separating California from Mexico. (AP Photo/Elliott Spagat, File) JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she is likely to support a resolution of disapproval over President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency to secure more money for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. In an audio recording provided by an aide late Friday, Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, noted concerns she has raised about the precedent that could be set if the declaration stands. House Democrats introduced a resolution Friday to block the national emergency declaration. If it passes the Democratic-controlled House, it would go to the Republican-held Senate. Trump on Friday promised a veto. "I want to make sure that the resolution of disapproval is exactly what I think it is, because if it is as I understand it to be, I will likely be supporting the resolution to disapprove of the action," Murkowski said. When pressed on her position during an appearance on Anchorage TV station KTUU Friday evening, she said: "If it's what I have seen right now, I will support the resolution to disapprove." Earlier in the week, Murkowski told reporters she supports efforts to bolster border security but worries about an erosion of government checks and balances. FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018 file photo, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks after an order withdrawing federal protections for countless waterways and wetland was signed, at EPA headquarters in Washington. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she is likely to support a resolution of disapproval over President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency to secure more money for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File) "I'll be very direct. I don't like this. I don't like this," she said. "I think it takes us down a road and with a precedent that if it's allowed, that we may come to regret." Congress recently approved a border security compromise that included about $1.4 billion for border barriers, which is less than Trump wanted. But Murkowski said it is "certainly as much as the administration can spend in this fiscal year" to advance Trump's priorities. Alaska's other U.S. senator, Republican Dan Sullivan, on Thursday called the border situation a crisis but said he didn't think a national emergency declaration was needed because of the money just approved and other resources identified by the White House. BEIJING (AP) - China has announced new measures against gender discrimination in Chinese workplaces that forbid employers from asking potential female hires questions such as if they are married or have children. At some companies in China, the answers to these questions can be disqualifying. Other firms are explicit in their job postings that they are looking only for men. Many welcomed the government notice, published Thursday, which forbids companies and recruitment agencies from taking certain discriminatory actions against female employees and job candidates. But female workers and analysts alike were skeptical that such measures could be strictly enforced. "A notice is better than nothing," said Li Yinhe, a prominent Chinese sociologist on sex and family issues. "Although (the notice) might not be that useful in practice, at least it states the issues in explicit terms," Li said. "Companies won't be as blatant as they were before." While gender discrimination in hiring is already banned by Chinese labor laws, the notice appears to target specific behaviors that have made news in recent years. Last April, Human Rights Watch published a report that revealed that Chinese job advertisements were rife with gender discrimination. In this Feb. 10, 2019, photo, a group of female job-seekers chat in front of a billboard displaying recruitment leaflets at a labor market in Qingdao in east China's Shandong province. China has announced new measures against gender discrimination that will prevent employers from asking potential female hires questions such as if they are married or have children. (Chinatopix via AP) Human Rights Watch found several postings that said "men only," ''men preferred," or "suitable for men." In other cases, the company preferred female applicants to be married with children. Thursday's notice on "promoting women's employment" was published jointly by several ministries, including the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. It said companies that post discriminatory job ads can be fined up to 50,000 yuan ($7440). The notice also forbids companies from including pregnancy tests in medical examinations required for employment, and bans employers from placing restrictions on whether a woman can have children as a condition of hiring. China officially abandoned in 2016 its decades-old one-child policy, allowing all Chinese couples to have two children. But the government has struggled to convince people to do so. In 2018, the number of births fell by 2 million compared to 2017. The new measures against gender discrimination call for promoting childcare services for kids under 3 years old, as well as after-school services to ease the burden on parents and help women better balance career and family. Li Xia, a 28-year-old fitness instructor in Beijing, said she would inform an employer of her personal plans without them having to ask. "If you hide it at first, they may hire you, but they will find out soon enough," she said. "And then they still won't assign you important tasks. You should find a company that accepts you in the first place." Chinese women rights advocates saw the notice as a sign that the government is in fact listening to their concerns. Zhou Xiaoxuan, a 25-year-old screenwriter who has accused a prominent CCTV host of assaulting her while she was interning at the state broadcaster, said the new measures signal progress. "On the whole," she said, "this policy has given us great motivation. (It shows us) that women's expressions of personal will are not meaningless." HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - The Vietnamese capital once trembled as waves of American bombers unleashed their payloads, but when Kim Jong Un arrives here for his summit with President Donald Trump he won't find rancor toward a former enemy. Instead the North Korean leader will get a glimpse at the potential rewards of reconciliation. By the time the Vietnam War ended in 1975, tens of thousands of tons of explosives had been dropped on Hanoi and nearly two decades of fighting had killed 3 million Vietnamese and more than 58,000 Americans. Vietnam, though victorious, lay devastated by American firepower, with cities in ruins and fields and forests soaked in toxic herbicides and littered with unexploded ordnance. Despite the conflict's savagery, what followed was a remarkable rapprochement between wartime foes and it took merely 20 years to restore full relations. Now some hope Vietnam will offer Kim a road map for his own detente with the United States and that the formerly besieged capital city will be the site of a dramatic resolution to one of the last remaining Cold War conflicts. While North Korea remains America's sworn enemy 65 years after the Korean War fighting ceased, Vietnam today stands as a burgeoning partner which even buys lethal U.S. weaponry. Bilateral trade has soared by 8,000 percent over the last two decades and billions of dollars in American investment flows into one of the world's best performing economies. And while North Koreans are still taught to loathe Americans by their country's propaganda machine, in Vietnam there is little animosity. FILE - In this April 1965 under sniper fire, Vietnamese civilians duck for safety as U.S. Marines storm the village of My Son, near Da Nang in Vietnam searching for Viet Cong insurgents. The Vietnamese capital once trembled as waves of American bombers unleashed their payloads, but when Kim Jong Un arrives here for his summit with President Donald Trump he won't find rancor toward a former enemy. Instead, the North Korean leader will get a glimpse at the potential rewards of reconciliation. (AP Photo/Eddie Adams, File) "I was born after the war and only hear war stories from American films or books," said Dinh Thanh Huyen, a 19-year-old university student who was waiting in line at a crowded McDonald's in Hanoi. She said she was happy the former enemies have moved on. "History is for us to learn from, not to hold grudges." Kim could take note of the history of win-win rapprochement and how Vietnam's communist leaders have allowed a capitalistic economy and an open door to the U.S. and other outsiders, all while not sacrificing their tight grip on power. Or he could allow it all to pass him by as he narrows his focus for the Feb. 27-28 summit on tit-for-tat bargaining over nuclear arms and economic sanctions. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke in Hanoi last year about "the once-unimaginable prosperity and partnership" the U.S. has come to enjoy with Vietnam and noted Vietnam was able maintain its form of government. "I have a message for Chairman Kim Jong Un: President Trump believes your country can replicate this path. It's yours to seize the moment," he said. "This can be your miracle in North Korea as well." To be sure, Vietnam remains a one-party state with a poor human rights record where even moderate critics and dissenters are frequently jailed. Since the first Trump-Kim summit last June in Singapore, a few small steps have already been taken along a timeline forged by the U.S.-Vietnamese thaw, including Pyongyang turning over remains of U.S. servicemen killed in the Korean War, the first such hand-over in more than a decade. It was the same missing in action issue that heralded U.S.-Vietnamese reconciliation, with the repatriation of American war dead creating an environment for improvement in relations in other areas. Next came step-by-step lifting of economic sanctions, as Washington encouraged Vietnam's so-called "doi moi" reform, initiatives launched in 1986 to shed a state-run economy in favor of a market-oriented one open to foreigners. North Korea has already shown interest in Vietnam's reforms, sending students and official delegations who returned home with favorable reports. Having enjoyed close relations with North Korea since 1950, Vietnam could be the ideal go-between in nudging Pyongyang to re-engineer its disastrous economy and turn foes to friends. "Vietnam's model of development 'doi moi' is an important factor in the United States' larger strategy of drawing North Korea out of its self-imposed isolation as part of the larger process of denuclearizing," said Carlyle Thayer, a political scientist at The University of New South Wales. But Thayer and other experts share strong reservations about how much of the U.S.-Vietnamese "miracle" can be duplicated. There are stark differences in the way the North Korea responded once the fighting stopped. The North slammed shut its doors and slid into a Cold War bunker - and it remains one of the world's most isolated nations. Vietnam, however, chose to put behind its tragic past and move forward. Not long after the war, American journalists and official U.S. delegations were allowed entry to a poor, shabby Hanoi, its lovely French colonial buildings moldering from neglect. The only clothes many men had were the baggy green uniforms and pith helmets of the North Vietnamese army. Suspicion was palpable and Westerners, including journalists, were assigned minders to keep tabs on them. Expecting a hostile reception, the Americans were stunned at the lack of animosity displayed by the average Vietnamese, even those who had lost loved ones to U.S. bombs. Returning American veterans were often signaled out for especially warm welcomes, sometimes tearfully embracing their onetime battlefield enemies while exchanging stories of suffering. Making such scenes possible were a set of special circumstances. Some were geo-political: Vietnam badly needed a counter-balance that the U.S. could provide to its perennial enemy - neighboring China. This has taken on special urgency in recent years as Beijing moves aggressively to claim large swaths of the South China Sea. Telling are the exchanges between the U.S. and Vietnamese coast guards and the provision of U.S. patrol boats. Last year the USS Carl Vinson, an American aircraft carrier, made a historic port call in Vietnam, the first of its kind since the war ended. Vietnam also no longer faced a threat from the United States, whereas North Korea perceives that it does, making abandonment of its nuclear program difficult, perhaps even in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But an underlying human element was also at work. "During the Vietnam War Hanoi always drew a distinction between the peace-loving American people and the imperialist American government," Thayer said. "There was a basis for future reconciliation." The face-to-face encounters that followed, serving to ease mutual hostility, never occurred with North Korea. Instead, generations of North Korean children sat in classrooms looking at posters of Americans portrayed as big nosed goblins. A massive anti-American rally loomed large on the annual calendar. "The Vietnamese saw over the years of our war that many American people and veterans spoke out against the war," said Bob Mulholland, a prominent Vietnam combat veteran. And there were powerful advocates of reconciliation, including Sens. John Kerry and the recently deceased John McCain as well as other veterans who quietly returned to Vietnam to help the shattered country. Although the Vietnam War has begun to fade from the collective memory in both countries, it is not the "forgotten war" that the Korean conflict has long been known as. With peace and greater prosperity have come fresh connections forged by a younger generation. Near the McDonald's in Hanoi's old quarter, not far from a Starbucks, the area is closed to traffic each weekend and entertainers, including American buskers, take to streets now strung with U.S. and North Korean flags. Vietnamese youth can be seen mingling with young American travelers. Just a short stroll away, tourist Brian Walker was taking in Hanoi's Military War Museum, fronted by the wreckage of an American B-52 shot down while bombing the city. "For many Americans, it may be a country of a bloody war that we took part in," said 28-year-old social worker from New York City. "But coming here, all I see is people with big smiles, good food and a beautiful landscape." ___ Gray reported from Bangkok. FILE - In this March 1966, file photo, a U.S. Air Force B-52 delivers a bomb load of more than 38,000 pounds against Viet Cong strongholds in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The Vietnamese capital Hanoi once trembled as waves of American bombers unleashed their payloads, but when Kim Jong Un arrives here for his summit with President Donald Trump he won't find rancor toward a former enemy. Instead, the North Korean leader will get a glimpse at the potential rewards of reconciliation. (AP Photo, File) In this Feb. 21, 2019, photo, a couple take photos at the Hoan Kiem lake in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Vietnamese capital once trembled as waves of American bombers unleashed their payloads, but when Kim Jong Un arrives here for his summit with President Donald Trump he won't find rancor toward a former enemy. Instead, the North Korean leader will get a glimpse at the potential rewards of reconciliation. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh) In this Feb. 21, 2019, photo, traffic passes a shop in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Vietnamese capital once trembled as waves of American bombers unleashed their payloads, but when Kim Jong Un arrives here for his summit with President Donald Trump he won't find rancor toward a former enemy. Instead, the North Korean leader will get a glimpse at the potential rewards of reconciliation. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh) In this Feb. 21, 2019, photo, a poster of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh reflects on the glass window of a McDonald restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Vietnamese capital once trembled as waves of American bombers unleashed their payloads, but when Kim Jong Un arrives here for his summit with President Donald Trump he won't find rancor toward a former enemy. Instead, the North Korean leader will get a glimpse at the potential rewards of reconciliation. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh) In this Feb. 21, 2019, photo, a motorcyclist passes a luxury shopping mall in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Vietnamese capital once trembled as waves of American bombers unleashed their payloads, but when Kim Jong Un arrives here for his summit with President Donald Trump he won't find rancor toward a former enemy. Instead, the North Korean leader will get a glimpse at the potential rewards of reconciliation. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh) In this Feb. 21, 2019, photo, visitors walk next to an American helicopter at the Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Vietnamese capital once trembled as waves of American bombers unleashed their payloads, but when Kim Jong Un arrives here for his summit with President Donald Trump he won't find rancor toward a former enemy. Instead, the North Korean leader will get a glimpse at the potential rewards of reconciliation. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh) In this Feb. 21, 2019, photo, a visit touches bullet holes on an American artillery launcher at Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Vietnamese capital once trembled as waves of American bombers unleashed their payloads, but when Kim Jong Un arrives here for his summit with President Donald Trump he won't find rancor toward a former enemy. Instead, the North Korean leader will get a glimpse at the potential rewards of reconciliation. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh) In this Feb. 21, 2019, photo, visitors walk next to American aircraft at the Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Vietnamese capital once trembled as waves of American bombers unleashed their payloads, but when Kim Jong Un arrives here for his summit with President Donald Trump he won't find rancor toward a former enemy. Instead, the North Korean leader will get a glimpse at the potential rewards of reconciliation. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh) In this Feb. 21, 2019, photo, tourists visit Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Vietnamese capital once trembled as waves of American bombers unleashed their payloads, but when Kim Jong Un arrives here for his summit with President Donald Trump he won't find rancor toward a former enemy. Instead, the North Korean leader will get a glimpse at the potential rewards of reconciliation. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh) The Galaxy S10 lineup will be the first set of Samsung phones to allow Bixby Key Customisation. Samsung said that the new customisation feature will also be extended to earlier Galaxy lineup, including the Galaxy S8, S9, and Note9 in a future software update. (Photo: ANI) Samsung is finally allows its users to customise the Bixby button on their new flagship smartphones. This week, Samsung took the wraps off its new Galaxy S10 lineup which comes built-in with the Bixby smart voice assistant. The Galaxy S10 lineup will be the first set of Samsung phones to allow Bixby Key Customisation, the company announced in its official blog post. Users of the new Samsung Galaxy S10 will be able to customise the button to launch Bixby, with either a single or double press. They will be able to map the other option to launch an app or quick command. These custom Quick Commands can also be shared with your dear friends, or saved as a shortcut icons on the home screen for easy access. Samsung said that the new customisation feature will also be extended to earlier Galaxy lineup, including the Galaxy S8, S9, and Note9 in a future software update. MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who said earlier this week that she supports reparations for black Americans who have been affected by slavery, told reporters Friday that the nation needs to confront its "ugly history of racism" and "talk about the right way to address it and make change." Warren addressed race in a speech Friday to New Hampshire Democrats, but didn't speak specifically about reparations. She said black families in America have been disadvantaged by "structural racism" and have only $5 in wealth for every $100 in wealth owned by the average white family. "Race matters and we need to say so," she said. Warren was asked later whether she would include Native Americans in her support for reparations. She responded: "I think it's a part of the conversation. It's an important part of the conversation." She has been criticized for claiming Native American identity early in her career and apologized recently to the Cherokee Nation for releasing DNA test results as evidence she had Native American in her bloodline, albeit at least six generations back. During her speech, Warren told the audience she proposed a universal child care plan because no American family should experience the desperation she did as a working mother to find safe, reliable, quality child care. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., acknowledges applause at the New Hampshire Democratic Party's 60th Annual McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) "We're the richest country in the history of the planet," Warren told a room of about 1,000 people in Manchester at the state Democratic Party's biggest fundraiser. "Access to high-quality care and education during the first five years of a child's life shouldn't be a privilege reserved for the rich. It should be a right for every child." The Massachusetts senator delivered her remarks during her second visit to the state since announcing her presidential bid. Warren would pay for universal child care with a 2 percent tax annually on households' net worth greater than $50 million. Under the plan, no family would pay more than 7 percent of its income for child care, and families earning below 200 percent of the federal poverty line - about $51,000 a year for a family of four - would pay nothing. Warren said her plan would give all families access to the kind of child care the federal government currently provides military families. "When a working family here in New Hampshire is paying a quarter of their income to cover child care, a Republican-controlled Congress decided it was more important to pass a trillion-dollar giveaway to the wealthiest and giant corporations," Warren said, referring to the 2017 tax overhaul. Local communities would oversee their child care, preschool and in-home providers under Warren's plan, but they would be held to national standards. Warren said her plan would benefit women especially because they, more often than men, give up jobs and careers when families can't find child care. NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) - The sailor photographed kissing a woman in Times Square at the end of World War II was mourned Friday at a funeral in Rhode Island. George Mendonsa's funeral was held at St. Mary's Church in Newport, and he was buried at St. Columba Cemetery in Middletown. Mendonsa died Sunday after he fell and had a seizure at an assisted living facility, his daughter said. He was 95 and leaves behind his wife of 72 years. Mendonsa kissed Greta Zimmer Friedman, a dental assistant in a nurse's uniform, on Aug. 14, 1945, known as V-J Day, the day Japan surrendered. The two had never met. Alfred Eisenstaedt's photo of the kiss became one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century. First published in Life magazine, it's called "V-J Day in Times Square," but is known to most as "The Kiss." Rita Mendonsa, center, sits in front of her husband George's flag-draped casket during funeral services at St. Columba Cemetery in Middletown, R.I., Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. George Mendonsa, the sailor sailor photographed kissing a woman in Times Square at the end of World War, died Sunday at age 95. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) Another photographer, Victor Jorgensen, who was in the Navy, also captured the moment in a similar photo. The moment has been shared widely and is often seen on posters. Several people later claimed to be the kissing couple, and it was years before Mendonsa and Friedman were confirmed to be the couple. Mendonsa enlisted in the Navy in 1942, after high school. He served on a destroyer during the war. Mendonsa was on leave when the end of the war was announced. When he was honored at the Rhode Island State House in 2015, Mendonsa said Friedman reminded him of nurses on a hospital ship that he saw care for wounded sailors. On Monday, a statue depicting the kiss in Sarasota, Florida, was vandalized. The phrase "#MeToo" was spray-painted on the leg of the statue. Friedman said in a 2005 interview with the Veterans History Project that it wasn't her choice to be kissed. "The guy just came over and kissed or grabbed," she told the Library of Congress. She added, "It was just somebody really celebrating. But it wasn't a romantic event." Friedman fled Austria during the war as a 15-year-old girl. She died in 2016 at age 92 at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, from complications of old age. After the war, Mendonsa became a commercial fisherman, like his father, and worked until he was 82. He died two days before his 96th birthday. Survivors include his wife, Rita; and his children, Ronald Mendonsa and Sharon Molleur, and their families. NEW YORK (AP) - Prosecutors in New York City are building a potential criminal case against President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, as he awaits sentencing on federal conspiracy and fraud convictions, according to reports published Friday. If the Manhattan district attorney's office brings state-level charges, Manafort could face prosecution even if Trump pardons him for his federal convictions, as some have suggested the president might do. The district attorney's case would be significant because Trump's pardon power doesn't extend to state-level charges. Bloomberg was first to report the developments, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Friday's reports say it isn't clear what charges Manhattan DA Cyrus R. Vance Jr.'s office is considering. Spokespeople for Vance and Manafort declined to comment. Vance is a Democrat. Manafort, a longtime Republican political operative who had homes in New York, chaired Trump's 2016 campaign for several crucial months, including during the GOP national convention. FILE- In this April 19, 2018, file photo Paul Manafort departs Federal District Court after a hearing in Washington. Prosecutors in New York City are building a potential criminal case against Manafort, as he awaits sentencing on federal conspiracy and fraud convictions, according to reports published Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) Vance's office began looking into Manafort in 2017, before special counsel Robert Mueller brought conspiracy and other charges stemming from Manafort's lobbying work on behalf of pro-Russian political interests in Ukraine, according to the news reports. Manafort pleaded guilty in that case to conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Then he was convicted in August of felony tax and bank fraud charges, also a product of Mueller's investigation. Prosecutors said Manafort engaged in an elaborate scheme to keep tax authorities in the dark about the millions of dollars he made from the Ukraine work, and that he lied to get millions in loans after his consulting income dried up. Manafort's lawyers said he didn't willfully violate the law and left the particulars of his finances to other people. Manafort, 69, is facing sentencing next month in both federal cases. Federal probation officials calculated that his convictions in the fraud case alone warrant 19 to 24 years behind bars. The verdict in that case raised immediate questions of whether Trump would seek to pardon Manafort. The president has spoken sympathetically of his former campaign chairman and has said a pardon isn't off the table. Manafort's lawyers might seek to challenge any New York charges as violating laws against double jeopardy, or repeatedly prosecuting people for the same alleged crimes. New York state's double jeopardy law has several exceptions, including one for cases against people accused of dodging both state and federal taxes. The law doesn't specifically list an exception allowing state prosecutors to move ahead with charges when a person has been pardoned for similar federal crimes. There's been some talk in recent months of adding such an exception. FILE- In this Oct. 30, 2017, file photo Paul Manafort leaves Federal District Court in Washington. Prosecutors in New York City are building a potential criminal case against Manafort, as he awaits sentencing on federal conspiracy and fraud convictions, according to reports published Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump announced Friday that he has selected Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, as his nominee to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Trump said in a pair of tweets that Craft "has done an outstanding job representing our Nation" and he has "no doubt that, under her leadership, our Country will be represented at the highest level." Two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters had told The Associated Press that Trump had been advised that Craft's confirmation would be the smoothest of the three candidates he had been considering to fill the job last held by Nikki Haley. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had backed Craft for the post, and she also has the support of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton, the people said. Trump's first pick to replace Haley, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, withdrew over the weekend. McConnell praised Craft as "an exceptional choice for this critical post." He added, "She has a long record of service to her state and the nation and I'm confident she will continue to serve with distinction as America's voice to the world at the United Nations." Craft, a Kentucky native, was a member of the U.S. delegation to the U.N. General Assembly under President George W. Bush's administration. She is also friends with McConnell's wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and thanked Chao for her "longtime friendship and support" at her swearing-in as ambassador. FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2017, file photo, United States Ambassador to Canada Kelly Knight Craft speaks after presenting her credentials during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP) As U.S. ambassador to Canada, she played a role in facilitating the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, a revamp of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump had also considered U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell and former U.S. Senate candidate John James of Michigan for the post. Nauert's withdrawal from consideration came amid a push within the administration to fill the position, given a pressing array of foreign policy concerns in which the United Nations, particularly the U.N. Security Council, is likely to play a significant role. From Afghanistan to Venezuela, the administration has pressing concerns that involve the world body, and officials said there had been impatience with the delays on Nauert's formal nomination. Trump said Dec. 7 that he would pick the former Fox News anchor and State Department spokeswoman for the U.N. job, but her nomination was never formalized. Notwithstanding other concerns that may have arisen during her confirmation, Nauert's nomination had languished in part due to the 35-day government shutdown that began Dec. 22 and interrupted key parts of the vetting process. Nauert cited family considerations in withdrawing from the post. With Nauert out of the running, officials said Pompeo had been keen on Craft to fill the position. Although Pompeo would like to see the job filled, the vacancy has created an opportunity for him and others to take on a more active role in U.N. diplomacy. On Thursday, for example, Pompeo was in New York to meet with U.N. chief Antonio Guterres. Trump has demoted the U.N. position to sub-Cabinet rank, in a move backed by both Bolton and Pompeo, according to three other officials. Grenell had suggested he wasn't interested in a non-Cabinet role. The officials were not authorized to discuss internal personnel deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity. Haley had been a member of the Cabinet and had clashed repeatedly with former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and others during the administration's first 14 months. Bolton was not a Cabinet member when he served as U.N. ambassador in President George W. Bush's administration, and neither he nor Pompeo is eager to see a potential challenge to their foreign policy leadership in White House situation room meetings, according to the officials. France's U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre said she looks forward to working with Craft, if confirmed by the Senate, "after the particularly close and trusting partnership that I had developed with Ambassador Nikki Haley." "I hope that Ms. Craft will continue, like Nikki Haley, to be a bridge between Washington and the UN at a time when we more than ever need an America that is engaged with the U.N. in world affairs and committed to our shared values, beginning with human rights," DeLattre said. Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said Craft was appointed ambassador to Canada because of her financial contributions to the Trump campaign, but said that's not unusual as past ambassadors have also contributed to presidents who have appointed them. "I think Ottawa has regarded Craft as a lightweight, partly because of her background and partly because the sense is that Trump, unlike his predecessors, doesn't listen to his ambassadors or care what they think," Wiseman said. Craft is married to billionaire coal-mining executive Joe Craft, and they are major Republican donors. After being named ambassador to Canada, Craft made headlines for telling the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that she believes in "both sides" of climate science. Craft has been ambassador during a low point in relations. Last year Trump called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weak and dishonest, words that shocked Canadians. ___ Associated Press writers Rob Gillies in Toronto, Edith Lederer in New York and Jill Colvin in Washington contributed to this report. ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A Florida man is suing a consumer products company after he says he suffered permanent scarring and discoloration on his face from using a men's hair dye. David Collier's lawsuit says the company Combe didn't properly warn consumers that they could have allergic reactions to its Just For Men hair dye. Combe didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the lawsuit, which was filed in late January. Collier claims his batch of Just for Men was defective. The lawsuit also says African-American consumers such as Collier face a much higher risk of allergic reactions to an ingredient in the hair dye than white customers do. The company advises consumers to perform a skin-test on themselves before using the product. Collier's suit says that's not enough. RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The Latest on a new election being called in a disputed North Carolina congressional race (all times local): 8:15 p.m. Several Republicans are now looking closely at whether they want to run in a new election for a North Carolina congressional seat. A current state senator and a recently retired senator both said Friday they are considering seeking the party's nomination in the 9th Congressional District. State Sen. Danny Britt of Lumberton said dozens of people have called or texted him about the seat but said "it has to be right for my family." And former Sen. Tommy Tucker of Union County says "a fresh start for the district would be in order." Republican Mark Harris ran last fall and held a slim lead over Democrat Dan McCready. The state election board ordered a new election Thursday after reviewing evidence of absentee ballot fraud by operatives working for Harris, who hasn't said whether he'll run again. Mark Harris, Republican candidate in North Carolina's 9th congressional race, makes a statement before the state board of elections calling for a new election during the fourth day of a public evidentiary hearing on the 9th congressional district voting irregularities investigation Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, at the North Carolina State Bar in Raleigh, N.C. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP, Pool) McCready held a news conference Friday to confirm he's running. __ 5 p.m. President Donald Trump says he condemns all voter fraud "and that includes North Carolina." Trump was asked Friday why he had not condemned what has occurred in North Carolina where the state's elections board has ordered a new election in the nation's last undecided congressional race. Republican Mark Harris had held a slim lead over Democrat Dan McCready in a race where there was evidence it was tainted by absentee ballot fraud. Trump says "I condemn any voter fraud of any kind, whether it's Democrat or Republican." But he quickly added Texas and California as places where votes "were not exactly properly done." Harris said Thursday during the hearing that he thought a new election should be called. ___ 1 p.m. The Democratic candidate in the nation's last undecided congressional race will address his supporters now that a new election has been called. Dan McCready's spokesman, Aaron Simpson, said the Democrat planned a rally and news conference Friday afternoon at a brewery in Waxhaw. Several dozen supporters were expected. McCready trailed Republican Mark Harris by a slim margin in the November general election. But on Thursday the state ordered a new election for the 9th Congressional District after reviewing evidence of absentee ballot fraud by operatives working for Harris. McCready has been assembling a new campaign staff and raising money. His campaign finance report showed McCready raised $487,000 during the final five weeks of 2018. His campaign sent out a campaign fundraising plea late Thursday, citing the board's decision. ELGIN, Ill. (AP) - A suburban Chicago police officer will not be charged in the fatal shooting of a woman armed with a knife along an interstate. The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reports the Cook County state's attorney's office decided not to criminally charge Elgin police Lt. Christian Jensen on Friday following an investigation into the death of 34-year-old DeCynthia Clements. Clements was shot March 12, 2018, after a standoff on Interstate 90 during which she set her vehicle on fire. Although officers were prepared with stun guns and rubber bullets, Jensen fired his gun. A medical examiner determined Clements had cocaine and benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, in her bloodstream. Elgin police Chief Ana Lalley says an internal investigation will review whether Jensen violated any department policy or procedure, including use of force. ATLANTA (AP) - A Georgia lawmaker is trying to oust the state House speaker following reports the powerful Republican repeatedly used his position to delay court proceedings for criminal defendants who are clients of his law practice. A resolution introduced Friday encourages House Speaker David Ralston to resign, accusing him of an "unacceptable abuse of power." It was filed by a fellow Republican, state Rep. David Clark of Buford. A recent investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB-TV found Ralston asked judges to reschedule court cases at least 57 times in the past two years. Clients of Ralston's private law practice who were helped by the delays included men charged with child molestation, assault and drunk driving. The newspaper reports that 10 GOP legislators have signed onto Clark's resolution. Ralston says he's done nothing wrong. Georgia law requires judges to reschedule hearings and trials that conflict with the legislative duties of attorneys who also serve in the state legislature. House Speaker David Ralston talks to media on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019 in Atlanta. A member of the Georgia House is calling for the powerful speaker to resign amid reports that he repeatedly used his office to delay court proceedings for criminal defendants, some accused of violent crimes, that he represents as an attorney. The resolution, introduced Friday, encourages Ralston to resign over what it calls an "unacceptable abuse of power and professional judgment." (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Ralston, who is from Blue Ridge in the north Georgia mountains, has been House speaker since 2010. The position gives him tremendous influence over proposed changes to state law and how Georgia spends taxpayer money. "People can take a look at it and sort through the fact from the fiction and see what's there," Ralston said, according to the newspaper. "If people want to drop the resolution, it's certainly a free country to do that." Clark said he was particularly upset by the case of a 14-year-old girl who alleged she was raped by a traveling evangelist. Ralston represents the evangelist and has delayed the case in Towns County Superior Court at least eight times by citing his duties as speaker. "I can't stay silent when something is being done wrong, especially when these victims are being hurt by our speaker," Clark said, according to the newspaper. "I'm hoping people have courage and the spine to do what's right." But Clark's resolution may not get very far in a chamber where Ralston holds great sway, including the ability to assign chairmanships of committees and the power to effectively block legislation. Former Govs. Roy Barnes and Nathan Deal have voiced support for Ralston, according in the newspaper, as did current Gov. Brian Kemp through a spokeswoman. ___ Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the investigations involving President Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort (all times local): 4:54 p.m. Published reports say prosecutors in New York City are building a potential criminal case against President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Paul Manafort already awaits sentencing on federal conspiracy and fraud convictions. Manafort could face prosecution on state charges by the Manhattan district attorney's office even if Trump pardons him for his federal convictions. The move would be significant because Trump's pardon power doesn't extend to state charges. Bloomberg was first to report the developments and cited people with knowledge of the matter. Friday's reports say it isn't clear what charges the DA's office is considering. FILE - In this May 23, 2018 file photo, Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, leaves the Federal District Court after a hearing in Washington. A judge has set a March 8, 2019, sentencing date for Manafort on his Virginia conviction for hiding millions of dollars from the IRS that he earned advising Ukrainian politicians. The order issued Thursday, Feb. 21 by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III means Manafort will face sentencing in Virginia before he does in the District of Columbia. His sentencing in the District has already been set for March 13. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) Spokespeople for the DA's office and Manafort declined to comment. ___ 12:14 p.m. Special counsel Robert Mueller is filing a sentencing memorandum in one of the two criminal cases against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Prosecutors are scheduled to file their document Friday in federal court in Washington, where Manafort pleaded guilty in September to two counts of conspiracy arising from his political lobbying work in Ukraine. Each count carries a maximum of five years in prison. Though Manafort cut a plea deal with Mueller, prosecutors aren't expected to recommend leniency because they say he lied to investigators after agreeing to cooperate. The punishment he faces in Washington is much lower than what he faces in a separate tax and bank fraud case in Virginia. Mueller's team in that case endorsed a sentence of between 19 and 24 years in prison. A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these is legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out. Here are the real facts: ___ CLAIM: Bravo greenlights reality show with restaurateur B. Smith, her husband and his girlfriend THE FACTS: Bravo says it has not given approval to a reality television show starring former model and restaurateur B. Smith, her husband and his girlfriend, despite reports circulating online. Smith, 69, whose first name is Barbara, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2013. Her husband and business partner, Dan Gasby, recently revealed that his girlfriend, Alex Lerner, was spending a significant amount of time at their East Hampton home, creating an uproar on social media. Then came false reports of plans for a reality television show. Online petitions began circulating on the website Change.org under the headlines including "Tell Bravo not to air B. Smith show" and "Say NO to B. Smith Reality Show." Bravo confirmed in an email Tuesday to The Associated Press that there is no show in development. Gasby also knocked down the reports. "The story is false," he said in a statement to the AP. Smith was in the limelight for decades, first gracing the cover of magazines as a top model, then as a restaurateur and lifestyle maven, before the progressive disease began to affect her memory and behavior. She and Gasby, who have been married for more than 20 years, have been open about the challenges of living with Alzheimer's. --AP Writer Beatrice Dupuy reported this item from New York. ___ FILE - In this March 15, 2017 file photo, Dan Gasby, right, husband of chef, restaurateur and lifestyle guru B. Smith, left, talks about the couple's challenges dealing with Smith's early-onset Alzheimer's disease, in Winston-Salem, NC. On Friday, Feb. 22, 2018, The Associated Press has found that stories circulating on the internet that Bravo has greenlighted a reality show with restaurateur B. Smith, her husband and girlfriend, are untrue. (David Rolfe/The Winston-Salem Journal via AP) CLAIM: Photo purports to show a U.S. woman who joined the Islamic State beheading a man. THE FACTS: A photo of a person dressed in camouflage and wearing a black headdress performing a beheading is not Hoda Muthana, the Alabama woman who left the U.S. in 2014 to join the Islamic State group in Syria, as false reports circulating on social media claim. The photo, which was taken from a video released by IS in 2015, shows a child in Homs, Syria, beheading a Syrian army captain, Adam Raisman, chief senior analyst for the SITE Intelligence Group, said in an email to The Associated Press. Mia Bloom, a professor of communication at Georgia State University and author of "Small Arms: Children and Terrorism," said the video shows one of earliest instances of a child trained by IS attempting to perform a beheading. "It is definitely not Hoda," Bloom said. The photo began circulating widely this week after Muthana asked if she could return to the U.S. with her son. Muthana's attorney Hassan Shibly told the AP that the photo was fake. "It is sad that people are so blinded by hate that they have to refer to fake news to further sensationalize what is a very straightforward case," Shibly said. U.S. officials have denied her request to return. --AP Writer Beatrice Dupuy reported this item from New York. ___ CLAIM: Black-and-white photo shows Bernie Sanders being arrested after racist attack. THE FACTS: A Chicago Tribune photo of a young Bernie Sanders being arrested in August 1963 is being misrepresented on social media. The false reports claim that he was arrested after racist attacks against civil rights protesters. However, according to reports in the Chicago Tribune, the photo was taken as Sanders was arrested during protests over "Willis wagons," which were mobile classrooms that were installed to ease overcrowding in black schools. The aluminum trailers, named after the Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Benjamin C. Willis, who devised the plan, were seen as perpetuating segregation. In the photo, Sanders is crouching down as two police officers hold his arms to remove him from the protest. According to the Tribune, Sanders was charged with resisting arrest, found guilty and fined $25. The 1960s photo emerged during Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign when questions arose over his civil rights activities. It resurfaced with false captions after he announced his 2020 candidacy on Feb. 19. --AP Writer Chloe Kim reported this item from Washington, D.C. ___ This is part of The Associated Press' ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online. ___ Find all AP Fact Checks here: https://www.apnews.com/tag/APFactCheck ___ Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck ___ Mobile industry trade body GSMA is seeking to ward off a ban on Chinese vendors in European markets. Australia and New Zealand have stopped operators using Huawei equipment in their networks, and the European Commission is considering a de facto ban. Leading telecoms companies gather in Barcelona this weekend for their main annual trade fair under the shadow of a bitter clash between the United States and China over network security for the next generation of mobile services. Accusations from US President Donald Trumps administration that Huawei, the worlds biggest network equipment maker, has enabled Chinese state espionage have shaken the industry and raised broader fears for progress in talks to defuse a rumbling trade dispute. Aside from hosting snazzy device launches and officials from more than 2,400 companies, mobile industry trade body GSMA is seeking to ward off a ban on Chinese vendors in European markets. GSMA Marketing Director Andrew Parker said the association would lobby to protect competition in the supply chain. The more choice the industry has, the more supply, the better value everyone will get, Parker said. We are going to stick to, and encourage, that line because competition is a good thing for an industry like ours. Australia and New Zealand have stopped operators using Huawei equipment in their networks, and the European Commission is considering a de facto ban. European telecoms executives say this could set back plans to roll out advanced fifth-generation 5G technology by at least two years. Industry analysts warn that shutting out Chinese vendors could also trigger retaliation from Beijing. What it loses in the West, it will win in the East, said Bengt Nordstrom, CEO of Swedish industry consultancy Northstream. I would expect severe disruption to the telecoms ecosystem this for me is very similar to the Lehman Brothers situation in 2008, he added, referring to the Wall Street bank whose collapse triggered the global financial crisis. A delegation of at least eight US officials is expected in Barcelona, two weeks after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Huawei equipment would jeopardise European allies partnerships with the worlds largest economy. Huawei, an associate member of the GSMA, denies engaging in intelligence work for any government, and its founder has taken to US and British media to emphasise this in recent days. Any further restriction could spark a race between other network equipment makers to fill the void. Swedens Ericsson and Nokia of Finland compete with Huawei, while Koreas Samsung Electronics is making a big push into the market. Some operators fret that, were Huawei to be excluded from the process, Europe would slip behind other countries, especially if firms had to rip out parts of existing networks. Another fundamental question the industry has yet to answer is whether 5G, which promises to link up everything from vehicles to household devices, will end up being profitable. The jury is still out on: is it going to be a consumer player, are there use cases that are going to demand 5G at an economic level that makes sense? said Sam Evans, a partner at TMT consultancy and investment firm Delta Partners. But enough testing should now have been done to start to see at least in the short term if its viable, Evans added. Alongside febrile politics, telecoms firms face the search for revenue growth as their bread-and-butter connectivity becomes ever less profitable. Carmakers, data analytics firms and online retailers will rub shoulders with operators and unveil partnerships in fields ranging from transport to gaming and even medical surgery. Applications for the Internet of Things attaching chips that can send and receive data to everyday objects - will include sensors to prevent leaks in municipal water systems and other ways to improve city life. After a dismal year for smartphones, with sales falling for five consecutive quarters, companies are also trying to reignite consumer interest with upgraded gadgets. Huawei, which overtook Apple to become the worlds second-biggest smartphone seller last year, will show off its latest devices at the congress. Market leader Samsung unleashed on the world on Wednesday a nearly USD 2,000 smartphone with 5G connection, the worlds first flexible screen and six cameras. The device answers skeptics who said that everything that could be done has been done, DJ Koh, chief executive of Samsung Electronics, told a launch event in San Francisco. Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here. WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump is calling Amazon's decision to drop its plans for new headquarters in New York "a big loss" for the city. Trump tells reporters the city could have hashed out "a much better deal," but is still bemoaning the decision. He's also blaming what he's calling "radical left" thinking, which he says isn't good for jobs or the economy. Amazon abruptly dropped plans last week to build one of its new headquarters in Long Island City, Queens, which could have delivered 25,000 jobs. Some politicians and activists had objected to the nearly $3 billion in incentives promised to one of the world's richest, most powerful companies. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday called the reversal the "greatest tragedy" he's seen since he's been in government. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The mayor of Oklahoma City is celebrating the completion of a personal mission: ridding the city's airport of cow-tipping T-shirts. Mayor David Holt said on his Twitter account Thursday that after months of trying to end sales of shirts reading "Nothing Tips Like A Cow" at Will Rogers World Airport, the clothing has sold out and won't be restocked. Airport spokesman Josh Ryan said Friday that the shirts with the shape of the state and a cow lying on its back were "pretty popular" for over 10 years, but that "the joke has run its course." Cow-tipping is a largely debunked legend in which rural youths sneak into a pasture at night and push over a cow that is standing but asleep. Debunkers point out the practice is unlikely to succeed, largely because cows don't sleep standing up. GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - Prosecutors said Friday they have opened an investigation into first lady Patricia Marroquin de Morales related to apparently unreported campaign checks during President Jimmy Morales' election bid. The announcement follows an investigative report by El Periodico that found that in 2015, an official with Morales' party issued four checks for about $32,000. Two were in Morales' name, and two were in Marroquin's worth about $13,000, and it is not known what happened to them. Chief prosecutor Consuelo Porras confirmed in a news conference that Marroquin is being investigated for possible corruption. The probe will seek to determine if the funds were used for the political campaign. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal purportedly has no record of the money. "The executive (branch) has always been respectful of the institutions of justice, and they will pay attention to the course of the investigation," presidential spokesman Alfredo Brito told The Associated Press in response to a request for comment. He added that the office expects objectivity in the investigation. It is the first probe of alleged graft involving Marroquin but just the latest to target the first family. FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2016 file photo, first lady Hilda Patricia Marroquin de Morales accompanies her husband Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, at the National Theater in Guatemala City. Guatemala's chief prosecutor announced on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019 that her office has initiated an investigation of alleged corruption against the first lady. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File) Prosecutors and a U.N.-backed anti-graft commission have sought repeatedly to have withdrawn Morales' immunity from prosecution - a perquisite of office - but that has not been approved by congress. The president, who denies wrongdoing, is suspected in a case involving over $1 million in alleged illicit campaign contributions to his party during the 2015 campaign. The former party official linked to the checks, who is currently a member of the Central American Parliament, is also a target of a probe involving Morales' son and brother. The president has moved to end the mandate of the U.N. commission, which has helped push investigations that in recent years have implicated dozens of businesspeople, public servants and politicians, including former President Otto Perez Molina. Morales argues that the commission has overstepped its authority, while its supporters say it has done invaluable work fighting the endemic problem of corruption. Guatemalans will elect a new president in June. Morales is not on the ballot as the constitution bars presidents from seeking a second term. LOS ANGELES (AP) - The most tumultuous Oscar season in memory might pale in comparison to the aftermath. The best picture race to Sunday's 91st Academy Awards remains unpredictable, but odds makers peg Alfonso Cuaron's "Roma" as the film most likely to triumph at the end of the night. That would hand Netflix, the insurgent streaming service, the most prestigious honor in a movie business it has thoroughly disrupted. Change is everywhere at this year's Academy Awards, from the nominees to the show, itself. For the second time in 30 years, there will be no host at Sunday's show, which begins airing live on ABC at 8 p.m. EST. The lead-up to the Oscars has been dominated by dispute over the academy's own attempts at innovation to counter last year's record-low ratings. But after uproar from academy members, those plans - not showing some awards live, introducing a "best popular film" category - were abandoned. Even if the Oscars end up proceeding more conventionally, the winners promise to be untraditional. Marvel stands to win its first Oscar for either "Black Panther" (up for six Oscars including best picture) or the animated favorite, "Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse." Spike Lee, aiming for his first competitive Oscar, could become the first black filmmaker to win best director. "Roma," which comes in with a co-leading 10 nominations, is favored to win best picture, best director, best cinematography and best foreign language film. If "Roma" won best picture, it would be the first foreign language movie ever to do so. For Hollywood, the most significant milestone would be Netflix triumphing at the Academy Awards, an achievement the streaming giant has fervently pursued. Netflix, which has previously only won one feature-length film Oscar (in 2018 for the documentary "Icarus"), has spent more than $25 million on a lavish campaign to propel "Roma." It hired veteran Oscar campaign strategist Lisa Taback. It even purchased a Los Angeles billboard company to help promote its many films and series, including "for your consideration" ads along the Sunset Strip for "Roma." FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2015, file photo, an Oscar statue appears outside the Dolby Theatre for the 87th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. The 91st Academy Awards will be held on Sunday. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File) "I'm very grateful for Netflix," Cuaron said in an interview ahead of the Oscars. "On paper, this is a film that wouldn't have this life. It's a Mexican film in Spanish and Mixtec with no recognizable actors when it was done. Black and white. A drama. What I'm so appreciative is that they saw through all those filters to the core of what the film was about and they saw the potential and they really believed in the film." Cuaron noted that "Roma" has played for months in theaters, longer than it might otherwise have done. Major theater chains, however, have refused to screen Netflix releases since the company won't adhere to the traditional 90-day theatrical exclusivity window. Netflix altered its own policies for "Roma," playing it exclusively in theaters in limited release for three weeks before streaming it. The company declined to release box-office results. "Roma" would be the first best picture winner ever to be primarily streamed, something some in Hollywood vehemently oppose. Steven Spielberg has said Netflix movies are really "TV movies" that should be eligible for Emmys, not Oscars. After "Roma" won best picture at the British Academy Film Awards, J. Timothy Richards, the founder and chief executive of Vue, one of Europe's largest theater chains, criticized the British film academy for "choosing to endorse and promote a 'made for TV' film." France's Cannes Film Festival, where "Roma" was set to make its world premiere, also refused to enter any film without theatrical distribution into competition, causing Netflix to pull "Roma" from the festival. "I think this kind of exclusivity for the theater and theatrical experience is actually disconnecting people from movies, in a way," Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer said in December. "I have not found it to be very consumer-friendly that consumers who live nowhere near a theater are waiting ... to see a movie so that the theater can have it exclusively for a period of time - a movie that they paid to produce with their subscription money." Winning best picture would prove to the filmmakers Netflix is trying to attract that their releases can garner just as much respect as traditional ones. Netflix, which last year spent $12 billion on original content for its 139 million subscribers, will this year release (among many other films) Martin Scorsese's much-anticipated "The Irishman." Oscar producers, though, are looking to emphasize box-office hits like "Black Panther" and "Bohemian Rhapsody." The show will start with a performance by Queen and Adam Lambert. "(The nominations) kind of go to the heart of what we were trying to do with this show, which was put a spotlight on films with worldwide success that have had a cultural impact," Oscars co-producer Donna Gigliotti said Thursday, citing best-picture nominees "Black Panther," ''Bohemian Rhapsody," ''BlacKkKlansman" and "Green Book." More streaming services are coming. Disney, WarnerMedia and Apple are all set to launch their own streaming platforms this year. In some ways, Netflix has already been welcomed into the fold. On the same day of Oscar nominations, Netflix became the first streaming service to join the industry lobbying group the Motion Picture Association of America. The only other members of the MPAA are the six major studios, soon to be five when Disney absorbs 20th Century Fox. "The platforms are part of our conversation but soon they're not going to be part of the conversation," said Cuaron, "because it's going to be the norm." ___ AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP ___ For full coverage of the Oscars, visit: https://apnews.com/AcademyAwards This image released by Netflix shows Yalitza Aparicio, center, in a scene from the film "Roma," by filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron. The film is nominated for an Oscar for both best foreign language film and best picture. The 91st Academy Awards will be held on Sunday. (Carlos Somonte/Netflix via AP) This image released by Focus Features shows Adam Driver, left, and John David Washington in a scene from "BlacKkKlansman." The film is nominated for an Oscar for best picture. The 91st Academy Awards will be held on Sunday. (David Lee/Focus Features via AP) This image released by Twentieth Century Fox shows Gwilym Lee, from left, Rami Malek and Joe Mazzello in a scene from "Bohemian Rhapsody." The film is nominated for an Oscar for best picture. The 91st Academy Awards will be held on Sunday. (Alex Bailey/Twentieth Century Fox via AP) MILWAUKEE (AP) - A Wisconsin man accused of helping a 14-year-old girl escape sexual abuse in exchange for video of her being raped has pleaded not guilty to sexually exploiting a child. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that 31-year-old Bryan Rogers also pleaded not guilty Thursday to making false statements. Authorities have said Rogers met the Tennessee teenager in the online game Roblox in December, and she told him she was being raped by her adoptive father. They say Rogers offered to help her run away if she provided him "clear video evidence" so he wouldn't get in trouble for taking her from her home. Court records say he received the video in January and brought the teenager to his Madison home days later. The girl's adopted father was arrested on rape charges. ___ This story has corrected the spelling of Rogers' last name. WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump says he is getting a "complete briefing" on a Coast Guard officer accused of stockpiling guns and compiling a hit list of prominent Democrats and network TV journalists. Trump told reporters Friday afternoon that he would be getting a "very complete briefing in about two hours." He added that it was a "very sad thing." Forty-nine-year-old Lt. Christopher Paul Hasson, of Maryland, was arrested last week on gun and drug charges. His public defender accused prosecutors of making inflammatory accusations against her client without providing the evidence to back them up. In a court filing, prosecutors said Hasson has espoused extremist views for years and drafted an email in which he said he was "dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth." WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential contenders are splitting into two camps: those who want to quickly overhaul economic systems that have existed for decades and those who favor more gradual change. It's not just a battle over liberal or moderate policies. In many cases, the White House hopefuls largely agree on the end game but differ on how to get there, and how quickly. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have set the pace. He's pitching an economic and political "revolution," while she is calling for "systemic change" to everything from health care to who pays for a college education. "Let's have the big fight," Warren said in an interview. "The big fight is easier to win because people see it would be transformative." Other Democrats argue the kind of sweeping changes Warren and Sanders are pitching are too unrealistic, too costly or too disruptive to happen quickly. They often back the same concepts - particularly a "Medicare for all" health care system - but temper their support with what they see as a dose of reality. During a recent campaign stop in New Hampshire, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker told a voter there was a "hard truth" about pursuing a single-payer health care system: It might not get through Congress. FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2019, photo, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., reacts during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. The growing Democratic presidential field is increasingly splitting into two camps: those who want to quickly overhaul economic systems that have existed for decades and those who favor more gradual change. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) The emerging divide is at the heart of Democratic deliberations over how to defeat President Donald Trump in November 2020. Could a more pragmatic politician win back some moderate voters in states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania who tilted the election toward Trump in 2016? Or does the Democratic path to victory lie in energizing turnout among liberals and young voters who weren't enthusiastic about the party's last nominee, Hillary Clinton? In most recent presidential campaigns, Democrats have rallied around moderates and candidates who billed themselves as consensus builders: Clinton in 2016, Barack Obama in 2008 and John Kerry in 2004. "It is the intuition of a majority of Democratic voters that a candidate who stresses ideas that are practical and realistic has a better chance of winning than a candidate who has ideas that are big and bold," said Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster. Implicit in the posture of candidates like Warren and Sanders is a belief that their own party has not gone far enough in pursuing economic policies that could provide more opportunity for middle and lower-income Americans. "The problems in our economy and in our democracy go back decades," said Warren. She quickly added, "I'm not here to knock Democrats." But that hands-off approach to the rest of the Democratic field won't last. In 2016, Sanders and Clinton battled over the same question of how fast and far to push economic change. Sanders cast Clinton as beholden to Wall Street interests, while she panned his ideas as impractical and wildly expensive. She won the primary but struggled to generate the same level of enthusiasm among some liberals and young voters as Sanders and lost to Trump in a stunning defeat. Polling shows some of the ideas pushed by Sanders, Warren and others have broad support among Democrats, but they're not the only paths to desired results that voters say they could get behind. For example, 81 percent of Democratic voters say they favor a "Medicare for all" plan, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll. But when asked what Congress should be working on now, half of Democrats say lawmakers should focus their efforts on improving and protecting the federal health care law signed by Obama. Only 38 percent want lawmakers to focus on passing a national Medicare for all plan. Other issues that could divide Democrats during the 2020 primaries include how to address the skyrocketing cost of college. During the 2016 campaign, Sanders pledged to make public colleges free, a dramatic revamping of the nation's higher education system. The following year, he and Warren co-sponsored a bill that proposed free tuition at four-year colleges for families earning less than $125,000 a year and no tuition at all at community colleges. The legislation, which gained no traction in a Republican-controlled Congress, would have provided $47 billion per year to states to eliminate tuition costs, leaving states to come up with another $23 billion annually on their own. That kind of sticker shock has other candidates reluctant to sign on. "I am not for free four-year college for all, no," Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in a CNN town hall. "I wish - if I were a magic genie and could give that to everyone and we could afford it, I would. Candidates proposing big-ticket agenda items are already facing questions about how they'd get their ideas through Congress. That's prompting a debate over whether presidential candidates would support controversial moves that would remove a key hurdle to passing legislation. Warren and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand have indicated they would be open to changing the filibuster, a procedural tool that requires a supermajority of 60 votes to pass many big items instead of a simple majority in the Senate. Lowering the threshold would theoretically give a president a better chance of pushing through legislation. Notably, Sanders is a proponent of keeping the filibuster alive, raising questions about how he would muscle through his proposals to reshape government. ___ AP writer Elana Schor and AP polling reporter Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report. ___ Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the special counsel's Russia investigation (all times local): 12:30 a.m. Special counsel Robert Mueller's sentencing memorandum for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was not publicly available late Friday, suggesting the document may still be under seal. Mueller's team was to have weighed in by the end of the day Friday on Manafort's punishment in one of his two criminal cases. But the memo was not publicly filed by midnight Friday, an indication that the document includes sensitive information and that prosecutors are seeking a judge's approval to redact, or black out, that material. The sentencing recommendation comes as the 69-year-old Manafort, who led Donald Trump's 2016 campaign for several critical months, is already facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison in a separate case. __ President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) 4:15 p.m. President Donald Trump is continuing to insist his 2016 presidential campaign did not collude with Russia as the special counsel is showing signs of concluding his investigation. Trump said at the White House Friday that he won the election "because I was a better candidate ... and it had nothing to do with Russia." He adds that the report will say that "if it's an honest report." Trump has repeatedly tried to undermine Robert Mueller's work during the two-year probe. Mueller is examining Russian election interference and possible coordination with associates of the president. At least six Trump aides or advisers have been charged in the investigation. __ 3:40 p.m. Six House Democratic committee heads are calling on Attorney General William Barr to make special counsel Robert Mueller's full report public, including any "evidence of misconduct" by President Donald Trump. In a letter to Barr Friday, the committee chairmen say "the public is entitled to know what the special counsel has found." Mueller is required to send a report to Barr and Barr is required to report to Congress. It's unknown how thorough Mueller's report will be, and how much Barr will decide to release. The Democrats are warning against withholding information on Trump because of a Justice Department opinion that the president can't be indicted. They say withholding evidence of wrongdoing because the president can't be charged "is to convert department policy into the means for a cover-up." __ 3:30 p.m. A report from special counsel Robert Mueller about the Russia investigation is not expected to be delivered to the Justice Department next week. That's according to a senior Justice Department official who spoke Friday to The Associated Press. The official couldn't discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Mueller is examining Russian election interference and possible coordination with associates of President Donald Trump. It was not immediately clear when the report might come, though Mueller is believed to be wrapping up. Under Justice Department guidelines, Mueller will deliver his report to Attorney General Bill Barr. Barr will then prepare a report for Congress. The two-year probe has shadowed Trump's presidency. At least six Trump aides or advisers have been charged in the investigation. __ 11:20 a.m. The White House says President Donald Trump will let his new attorney general decide whether to release the findings of the special counsel's Russia investigation to the public. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump was "following the proper process" by putting the decision to William Barr. But she stressed that the White House was not concerned about the findings. Sanders said Trump was president because he was the "better candidate," adding that "he didn't need to, nor did he collude with the Russians." Barr has said he wants to release as much information as he can. But he has also made clear that he ultimately will decide what the public sees, and that any report will be in his words, not those of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mueller is showing signs of concluding his investigation. MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Friday that he has instructed his government to assist the family of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in seeking humanitarian visas to visit the convicted drug trafficker in the United States. During a visit last week to Guzman's hometown of Badiraguato in Sinaloa state, a lawyer passed Lopez Obrador a letter from Guzman's mother. "Like any mother asking me for support for her son," Lopez Obrador said. Later in the afternoon, the president published via Twitter Consuelo Loera's letter in which she asks for his help in obtaining humanitarian visas for herself and two of her daughters. Lopez Obrador was in Sinaloa last week to announce a highway construction project in the area. In the letter dated Feb. 14, Loera described herself as "suffering and desperate" and wrote that she had not seen her son in more than five years. She called his extradition illegal and asked that Guzman be brought back to Mexico. FILE- In this Jan. 19, 2017 file photo provided by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman arrives at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., after being extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking charges. Questions as to whether Guzman received a fair trial arose after a VICE News report in February 2019 said several jurors followed media accounts of the three month-long trial. (United States Drug Enforcement Administration via AP) Lopez Obrador said legal questions would have to be dealt with by Mexico's Interior Ministry, Attorney General's Office and judiciary. U.S. support for such a request would be extremely unlikely considering Guzman has escaped from two prisons. But on the humanitarian front, Lopez Obrador said: "I gave instructions that they facilitate (soliciting the visas) and that the sisters be able to go to the United States and to help them according to the laws, regulations that country has, so that they can visit him or have communication." According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, such permission, known as humanitarian parole, is reserved for people with a compelling emergency, but anyone can apply. Those who could be considered eligible should have an "emergent humanitarian reason or significant public benefit" to temporarily entering the U.S. Applications are considered on a case-by-case basis. Guzman was convicted Feb. 12 in federal court in New York on multiple drug trafficking and conspiracy charges and likely faces a life sentence. On Friday, his defense team said it wanted a new trial based on reports of jury misconduct. WASHINGTON (AP) - Special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the Russia investigation is not expected to be delivered to the Justice Department next week, a senior department official told The Associated Press on Friday. The official could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. It was not immediately clear when the report might come, though Mueller is showing signs of concluding his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and ties to the Trump campaign. President Donald Trump will be in Asia next week seeking a nuclear deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Since the special counsel's appointment in May 2017, Trump has repeatedly tried to undermine Mueller's work, casting the probe as a "witch hunt" and proclaiming there was "NO COLLUSION" with Russia. Under Justice Department guidelines, Mueller will produce a confidential report to Attorney General William Barr that explains his decisions to pursue or decline prosecutions. Barr will then prepare his own report that would be released to Congress. He has said he intends to share some information with the public, though it's unclear whether Mueller's actual report will ever be made public. President Donald Trump listens during his meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Six Trump aides or advisers have been charged in Mueller's investigation. On Friday, six House Democratic committee heads called on Barr to make Mueller's full report public, including any "evidence of misconduct" by Trump. Mueller's team has been dwindling in recent weeks and lawyers from the U.S. attorney's office in Washington were assigned to the criminal case of Trump confidant Roger Stone since his arrest last month, which could be an indication that Mueller is planning to hand off the investigation. The White House said Trump will let Barr decide whether to release the findings of the Russia investigation to the public. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump was "following the proper process" by leaving the decision to Barr. But she stressed that the White House was not concerned about the findings. Sanders said Trump was president because he was the "better candidate," adding that "he didn't need to, nor did he collude with the Russians." Reconciliation has to happen at the earliest at the state as well as at the external level, says Mehbooba Mufti. Mehbooba Mufti, former chief minister and president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), spoke with Yusuf Jameel on the Pulwama terror attack, its imminent political fallout for J&K and the country and on how to restore normalcy in the restive state. What impact will the recent terror attack in Pulwama have on the overall political situation in Jammu and Kashmir? The situation has deteriorated. The movement of the politicians will be curtailed. It is a new dimension to the violence that was already there. The political process and even talk about the urgency of dialogue and reconciliation have taken a setback because the mood in the country today is totally different. It is for revenge, it is for war and other things. All the political parties in J&K will have to face the music for sometime. Elections to the state Assembly as well as Lok Sabha are to be held soon. Will reaching out the people become more difficult for the mainstream parties after the attack? Do you have any security concerns? Yes, thats what I said. It is going to be one of the major concerns after this fidayeen attack. Things have changed at the security level. It is a major concern for everybody. Secondly, the participation of political parties and people in the elections is very important. Unfortunately, theres lot of alienation as far as the mainstream parties are concerned. It is going to be more difficult and challenging. But everybody will try, work hard and struggle to outwit this challenge. You said in one of your recent tweets that Pakistan alone should not be blamed for the Pulwama attack. Who else do you think is responsible? Pakistan, of course, is there in the picture. Whenever you have trouble your neighbour is definitely going to take advantage of it because it suits them. You have to set your own house in order first. Theres alienation among the people in the state. Pakistan is able to channelise it in a way which is detrimental to the people of the state and the country. So it is not only about Pakistan, it is also about us. We have failed somewhere to win over the hearts and minds of the people. The boy (the suicide bomber) was a local. He was so young. Apparently, he was indoctrinated by whosoever. But he was able to do it (carry out the suicide attack). That means there is something lacking that we are not able to put our fingers on and change this idea that has crept in the hearts and minds of our youth. We are not able to replace it with a better idea. There has been a backlash across the country following the terror attack with Kashmiri traders, labourers and students being attacked and harassed at places. What impact will it have on the psyche of the ordinary Kashmiri? It is very unfortunate. In the 1990s, a vast majority of Kashmiri Pandits and many Muslims had to leave the Valley to escape violence. The whole country gave them enough space to live and breathe freely. But, unfortunately, things have changed with this incident. The way the Kashmiris have been harassed in colleges their shops have been attacked, and they have been attacked. Once they come back, they will come back with bruised psyche. It will alienate the people further. This is not a good sign because these are all young kids, students who have fragile minds. If things remain as bad as they are now, many or some of them can be indoctrinated on the same lines. Thats not a good sign. Some critics say that Delhis regressive policies are promoting violence in Kashmir. Hizb-ul-Mujahideen has threatened of more Pulwama-like attacks on the premise that the youth of the Valley are being pushed to the wall. What do you have to say on this? I think a muscular policy never works. It never worked. We have had security forces deployed here in lakhs who have been fighting this. They have been able to contain the situation to a certain extent. But if you wholly and solely depend on the security apparatus to deal with the situation it is going to backfire. It is already backfiring, you know. Even Army generals like D.S. Hooda, A.K. Bhatt and many others have been saying all the time that there is no military solution to the Kashmir problem and that we need to have a political solution. I think that is what is needed. If we dont do that and depend wholly and solely on a military solution and on our military strength then it is going to boomerang. Over the past one week or so Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah has come under severe criticism, mainly on social media, for supporting the states accession to India. How do you react to that? Something had happened many years back. I would also like to add one thing, that for the PDP, one of the reasons to ally with the BJP was to maintain communal harmony in Jammu and within the country because if you recall, we had the Uri attack, we had an attack on the (Amarnath) yatra but nothing of the sort happened then because they (the BJP) were in power and they were in a way tied up. So I think whatever Sheikh Sahib did at that point in time and whatever the people are saying now is something like beating a dead horse. You cant discuss now something which happened 70 years ago. Whatever had to happen has happened. Will the incidents that took place in Jammu in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack widen the gulf between the states two major regions? What repercussions do you foresee for the unity and integrity of the state? There are some lumpen elements but, generally, Hindus and Sikhs of Jammu behaved well. The majority of the population has behaved well. Otherwise it would have been very difficult to control the situation. The Sikhs in particular have been looking after the Kashmiris hounded out of various places in the country. Even the local Hindus gave them shelter in their homes. Jammu has become a cosmopolitan kind of place and you see there what we saw at a time in Kashmir. You know, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and others everybody used to be there but now, unfortunately, that has changed. But in Jammu you find people of different religions and different regions and ethnicities. So I think, except for those ugly incidents, Jammu has behaved well. How can things calm down in the Kashmir Valley? I think there is no other option but to go in for reconciliation with the people. Reconciliation has to happen at the earliest at the state as well as at the external level. When I say internally, at the state level, I mean initiating a dialogue process with the separatists. And then you have to talk to Pakistan as well. Lets talk to them on the Pulwama attack, but just talk to them. Start from somewhere. If some kind of dialogue takes place between India and Pakistan, it is going to have a positive impact on the internal situation in J&K. Otherwise, more confrontation will mean things will only go from bad to worse. Do you think the Pulwama incident will help Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP in the coming elections? (Laughs) Unfortunately, there is a cry for war and badla (revenge) in the country today. Warmongering is going on. Passions are so high. There is so much cry for revenge and for blood-for-blood. Today, nationalism is to talk about war and stand for revenge. If they do take some kind of revenge, the person who does it will naturally benefit from it. WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the U.S.-China trade talks in Washington (all times local): 4:20 p.m. President Donald Trump says the possibility of dropping criminal charges against Huawei would be discussed with U.S. attorneys and with Attorney General Bill Barr in coming weeks. The Justice Department last month unsealed charges against the Chinese company, its chief financial officer - who had been arrested in Canada and several of its subsidiaries, alleging not only violation of trade sanctions but also the theft of trade secrets. Trump is trying to work out a trade deal with China and was asked about Huawei before an Oval Office meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. He says a decision is pending, but "right now, it's not something being discussed." Huawei, the biggest global maker of switching gear for phone and internet companies, denies accusations that it facilitates Chinese spying. FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2019, file photo, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, right, talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, while they line up for a group photo at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. China's economy czar is going to Washington for talks Thursday and Friday aimed at ending a tariff war over Beijing's technology ambitions.(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) ___ 3:20 p.m. President Donald Trump says he will consider delaying a March 2 deadline to reach a trade deal with Beijing before he would escalate his tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports. Trump told reporters that he would "certainly consider" an extension if trade talks are going well. He said that talks between China and the United States in Washington will be extended through this weekend to give the countries more time to reach a breakthrough in their trade dispute. The two economic powers are engaged in a standoff that has worried financial markets and likely weakened the global economy. A Chinese team led by Vice Premier Liu He has been meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and other American officials. The U.S. has imposed 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports and 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth; the tariffs on the $200 billion are scheduled to rise to 25 percent if there's no deal. CAIRO (AP) - Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, facing deadly protests, on Friday declared a state of emergency for a year, disbanded the federal government and replaced all state governors with senior army officers. Al-Bashir - who seized power in a 1989 coup- also said that he will postpone pushing for constitutional amendments that would allow him to seek a third term in office. Facing genocide charges, al-Bashir's rule has been rocked by civil wars and increasing street demonstrations. A heavy security crackdown has left scores of protesters dead. At least 57 people have been killed since December. "Our country is passing through a difficult and complicated phase in our national history," al-Bashir said in a speech aired live from the presidential palace in Khartoum. "We will get out of it stronger and more united and determined." In a rare acknowledgment, al-Bashir described the demands of the protesters as "legitimate" but said there are attempts to exploit the youth protests "to take the country to the unknown." The state of emergency will give the security forces a free hand in cracking down on protesters and carrying out detentions, and places heavier restrictions on the press and opposition parties. FILE - In this July 9, 2018, file photo, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir attends a ceremony for Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey. Sudan's President has declared a state of emergency on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, for a year and disbanded the government amid deadly protests. Al-Bashir - who seized power in a 1989 coup- also said Friday that for now he will not change the constitution to allow himself to seek a third term in office. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici, File) The announcements were instantly met with street demonstrations, demanding the longtime president to step down. Witnesses said riot police fired tear gas and arrested a number of protesters. Sudan has been gripped by nationwide protests since Dec. 19. The demonstrations, which show no sign of abating, were triggered by rising prices and shortages but quickly turned to calls for al-Bashir to step down. Al-Bashir's term ends in 2020 and he has repeatedly promised over the years not to make new runs for the presidency. Without amending the constitutions, he can't run for a third term. His announcement came days after a parliamentary committee tasked with amending the constitution to scrap presidential term limit canceled its meetings. The Sudanese Professional Association, which is spearheading the country's demonstrations, warned of any measures that could "turn against" the demands of the Sudanese people, and vowed that it will respond with more escalation in street protests. "The demands of this revolution are crystal clear," the statement said, "the regime and its head must step down." However, al-Bashir warned the opposition of the "zero-sum" game that creates chaos, pointing to a wave of the Arab Spring uprisings that led to civil wars in countries like Libya and Yemen. As he was speaking in the presidential palace in Khartoum and in other districts, dozens of protesters were already taking to the streets chanting, "just fall." Shelving intentions to amend the constitution to pave the way for a third term in office appeared to be the only political concession al-Bashir has made so far after two months of nonstop demonstrations. "What al-Bashir presented are tactics to keep his regime alive," said the leader of Umma Party, Mubarak al-Mahdi. "Declaring a state of emergency means suppressing freedom of expression and demonstration and tightening grip on the revolution." Sudan's main opposition groups call for a four-year transitional government followed by elections. JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The Latest on flooding and severe weather in the South (all times local): 3:15 p.m. A bridge across the Ohio River between Kentucky and Illinois is closing because of flooding, one of more than 50 highways underwater across four states. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet announced Friday that the U.S. 51 bridge connecting Kentucky to Cairo, Illinois would close Friday afternoon because land on the Kentucky side is flooding, cutting off the approach. Officials say the bridge will likely stay closed until at least Thursday, and possibly longer. Officials say 4,700 vehicles a day normally use the bridge, with one third of those being trucks. Traffic will be detoured to the Interstate 24 bridge over the Ohio at Paducah, Kentucky. Road officials in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi reported Friday that more than 50 state or federal highways were closed by flooding, after days of heavy rain in the region. Scores of other local roads are closed. A low-lying park sits flooded by the swollen Mississippi River on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019 in Memphis, Tenn. Located on Memphis' Mud Island, Greenbelt Park (pictured) floods when the Mississippi River reaches high levels. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz). ___ 2:15 p.m. An official in a small Mississippi town says 100 or more people have been evacuated as flooding spills from a rising river. Bruce Alderman Jimmy Hubbard said Friday that the Skuna River threatens a neighborhood and some businesses in the north Mississippi town of 2,000 residents. Some people were rescued from flooded residences Friday morning and an agricultural chemical business is scrambling to save millions of dollars in inventory. Hubbard calls the scene "total chaos." Hubbard says the city work barn has flooded and volunteers are filling sandbags to try to save some properties. The river jumped by 18 feet (5.5 meters) from noon Thursday to noon Friday according to an automated gauge. Hubbard says forecasters fear a further rise after hours of heavy rain Friday morning. ___ 11:30 a.m. The waterlogged Tennessee Valley faces more rain and severe storms in coming days, even as flood predictions along the Mississippi River rise. More than 30 school districts in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee closed Friday after days of rain left many roads flooded. A mudslide in western Kentucky is threatening buildings in a small town. The Tennessee Valley Authority says 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain has fallen in parts of northern Alabama this week. Heavy rain continues Friday, with more rain and possibly tornadoes through Saturday. Downstream, flood forecasts are leaping higher. The Tennessee River could crest at a level unseen in decades. The Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois, could crest Sunday, with the Mississippi forecast to peak at Memphis, Tennessee, next week. In Mississippi workers began erecting floodwalls Thursday. ___ 7:45 a.m. Some roads are covered with water in the Tennessee Valley and schools are closed after days of heavy rain. Nearly a dozen city and county systems in north Alabama and southern Tennessee canceled classes Friday. Storms have pushed rivers and creeks out of their banks, causing flooding. Other school systems are opening late, and forecasters warn more rain is on the way. The weather service says severe storms are possible across the region on Saturday. As much as 4 inches of rain has fallen across a wide area since Tuesday, swelling waterways. Forecasters say another 2 inches of rain could fall, and there's nowhere for the water to go because the ground is saturated. The flooding threat also extends into northeastern Mississippi and southeastern Arkansas. A Muscle Shoals police vehicle pushes through flood waters that cover Melissa Drive in Nathan Estates helping those who need to be evacuated, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Muscle Shoals, Ala. (Matt McKean/The TimesDaily via AP) Workers with the City of Vicksburg start construction on one of the three flood wall gates on Levee Street in Vicksburg Miss., on Thursday Feb. 21, 2019. According to the National Weather Service the Mississippi River is currently at 44.69 feet and is expected to reach 48.9 feet. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post, via AP) KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) - A federal judge in Kansas has frozen the assets of a sect that faced a $7.9 million judgment last year for human trafficking. Public radio station KCUR reported Friday that Judge Julie Robinson found that members of what was formerly known as the United Nation of Islam fraudulently transferred assets to nonprofit groups they created. The judge ruled the transfers were meant to prevent Kendra Ross from collecting the money. Ross successfully argued in court that sect leader Royall Jenkins forced her to work without pay for a decade. The United Nation of Islam now goes by The Value Creators. A phone message left with group members wasn't immediately returned. Another judge in November issued a bench warrant for Jenkins' arrest for allegedly ignoring court orders. He remains at large. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Latest on Virginia Republicans' plans for a public hearing into the sexual assault allegations made against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (all times local): 3 p.m. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax is blasting plans by state House Republicans to have a public hearing where Fairfax and the two women who have accused him of sexual assault can testify. Fairfax spokeswoman Lauren Burke issued a statement Friday saying House Republicans were proposing the hearing to distract from their recent votes against ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, a gender-equality measure. Fairfax also said Republicans want to pursue an unprecedented action "because the accused is a popularly elected Democrat." Two women have recently come forward with allegations that Fairfax sexually assaulted them years ago. One of them has already accepted the Republicans' invitation to testify. Fairfax has denied both accusations and said the matters should be investigated by law enforcement authorities. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax gestures during the Senate session at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) ___ 12:32 p.m. Virginia House Republicans have announced plans to hold a meeting where Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and the two women who have accused him of sexual assault can testify. Republican Del. Rob Bell said Friday that the House Courts of Justice Committee plans to invite Vanessa Tyson, Meredith Watson and Fairfax for a "chance to be heard" at an unnamed future hearing date. The two women have recently come forward with allegations that Fairfax, a Democrat, sexually assaulted them years ago. Both women have criticized the General Assembly's handling of their allegations. Fairfax has denied both accusations and said the matters should be investigated by law enforcement authorities. Friday's announcement is likely to set off a fierce partisan brawl, as Democrats have strongly resisted calls for the General Assembly to investigate. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax presides over a Senate session at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The chairman of the House Courts of Justice committee announced that they will hold a hearing on the sexual accusations that have been placed against Fairfax. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) WHEATON, Ill. (AP) - Police say a suburban Chicago man convicted in the drug-induced death of a Spanish foreign exchange student swapped messages with the girl discussing how they loved one another. The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reports that Glen Ellyn police Det. Kyle Duffie testified Thursday at 38-year-old Francis Emanuele's sentencing hearing. He pleaded guilty in November to drug-induced homicide and indecent solicitation of a child. The 15-year-old girl was found dead in her host family's home in May 2016 from methadone intoxication. Duffie said the two discussed the girl using methadone to fake a sick day so they could spend time "cuddling." Duffie testified that Emanuele texted the girl, telling her what to drink after taking the fatal methadone dose to numb the bitter aftertaste. The Downers Grove man's sentencing hearing was to continue Friday. ___ Information from: Daily Herald, http://www.dailyherald.com SAO PAULO (AP) - The government of Sao Paulo says that the state's governor has committed himself to helping Ford Motor Co. find a buyer for its truck and small car plant. The Brazilian plant is expected to close down later this year as part of the automaker's global reorganization plan. The state government office said on its website that Sao Paulo Gov. Joao Doria attended a meeting with company executives. "The preservation of 1,600 assembly line jobs" was the objective, the office quoted Doria as saying. Ford announced earlier this year its plan to shut down its plant in the Sao Paulo industrial suburb of Sao Bernardo do Campo. F-4000 and F-350 trucks and the Fiesta small car are made at the facility. DAKAR, Senegal (AP) - The Trump administration on Friday hit senior Congolese officials with travel bans for their alleged involvement in corruption and human rights abuses surrounding December elections. The State Department said the officials include the president of the country's National Assembly, the head of its constitutional court and three top members of the national election commission. It said an undisclosed number of other election, military and government officials would also be subject to the sanctions. They and members of their immediate families will have any existing U.S. visas revoked or will not be eligible for visas in the future. The State Department said the action was being taken because the U.S. has credible information that those targeted were involved in significant corruption, gross violations of human rights or undermining the democratic process in the Congo. "These individuals enriched themselves through corruption, or directed or oversaw violence against people exercising their rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression," the statement said. "They operated with impunity at the expense of the Congolese people and showed a blatant disregard for democratic principles and human rights." The United States said it stands with the people of Congo following a historic transfer of power. "However, there are legitimate concerns over the conduct and transparency of the electoral process," it said in a statement. It specifically named election commission president Corneille Nangaa, vice president of CENI Norbert Basengezi Katintima and adviser to the election commission president Marcellin Mukolo Basengezi as the election officials. It also named Aubin Minaku Ndjalandjoko, President of the DRC's National Assembly, and Benoit Lwamba Bindu, President of Congo's Constitutional Court. The U.S. also emphasized its commitment to working with the new Congo government to "end corruption and strengthen democracy and accountability, and respect for human rights." Opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi was declared winner of the Dec. 30 elections, leading Congo to its first peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium nearly 60 years ago. Tshisekedi succeeds Joseph Kabila, the strongman who governed the largely impoverished but mineral-rich Central African country for 18 years before stepping down under pressure. Declared runner-up Martin Fayulu, however, mounted a court challenge to Tshisekedi's win, alleging widespread rigging and demanding a recount, which was denied by the Constitutional Court despite leaked data from the electoral commission showing he had easily won. The United States and others, including many Congolese, had accepted the results in favor of stability. ___ AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump's decision authorizing about 200 U.S. troops to remain in northeast Syria indefinitely is a key step in creating a larger multinational observer force that can keep the peace and prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group, administration and defense officials said Friday, as U.S. leaders press NATO allies to join. The president also agreed to allow the Pentagon to keep about 200 troops at the al-Tanf garrison in southern Syria, where they train local forces and help root out remaining IS militants in the region. Trump's decision endorses a plan pressed by U.S. military leaders for some time, calling for an international force of 800 to 1,500 troops that would monitor a safe zone along Syria's border with Turkey. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to provide details about a troop deployment before details are finalized. Trump in December announced he was pulling all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria quickly, but has gradually reversed course. He made this decision Thursday after being told European allies insisted on some U.S. forces remaining on the ground as part of the observer force. His sudden order to pull all U.S. troops from Syria had shocked U.S. allies and angered the Kurds in Syria, who are vulnerable to attack by Turkey. It also contributed to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's decision to resign, and drew fierce criticism in Congress. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, called the decision a "betrayal of our Kurdish partners." Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been leading discussions with allies on assembling the observer mission. He told reporters Friday he is confident they will step up and commit troops. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, center, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford, right, talk to the press before the arrival of Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019 at the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) "I'm confident we can maintain the campaign" in Syria, Dunford said. Asked about the decision to keep 400 U.S. troops in Syria, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan described it as "good progress." He spoke to reporters shortly before meeting with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar in the Pentagon. He said the meeting with Akar would be about "next steps." Officials said the number of U.S. troops assigned to the safe zone could change, but that roughly 200 is an informed number. They said U.S. troops would remain in the area indefinitely to keep the U.S.'s Kurdish allies and Turkish forces from clashing, prevent forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad from seizing the territory and minimize the risk of a resurgence of the Islamic State. A defense official said Turkish and Syrian opposition forces would not be allowed in the safe zone. Turkey views Kurdish members of the Syrian Democratic Forces who have fought alongside the U.S. against the Islamic State as terrorists. The SDF is currently involved in a standoff over the final sliver of land held by IS in eastern Syria, close to the Iraq border. The U.S. is not seeking a United Nations mandate for the deployment and currently does not envision asking NATO to sponsor the mission, an administration official said, adding that the troops would not be "peacekeepers," a term that carries restricted rules of engagement. The current goal is to have the force stood up by the end of April. ___ AP writers Deb Riechmann and Bob Burns contributed to this report. TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - A conservative Kansas legislator has apologized and said he has asked that he be removed as a sponsor of a bill calling same-sex marriages a "parody" after his LGBTQ daughter posted a letter to him on Facebook that ended with, "Shame on you." Republican state Rep. Ron Highland of Wamego said in a letter Thursday to his hometown newspaper that he should not have signed on to the bill because it contained "hateful language" that he does not condone, The Manhattan Mercury reports . The bill seeks to prevent the state from endorsing any policy in line with what it calls the "LGBT secular humanist religion." Highland's letter came hours after the Facebook post from his daughter, Christel Highland , a Kansas City-area artist, mother and "partner to the love of my life." In her letter, she told her father that, "It is time for you to change." "I love you, I always will, in spite of your flaws," she wrote. "I cannot, however, condone your cruel actions. Shame on you." She said in the post that her father had not responded to an email she sent him on the subject. Her post was first reported by The Topeka Capital-Journal . Highland is a retired veterinarian who was first elected to the House in 2012, and he serves as chairman of its Agriculture Committee. He previously has served as Education Committee chairman. Kansas state Rep. Ron Highland, R-Wamego, sits at his desk during the House's session, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, at the Statehouse, in Topeka, Kan. Highland has apologized for sponsoring an anti-same-sex marriage bill after his LGBTQ daughter criticized it in a letter posted on Facebook, ending with, "Shame on you." (AP Photo/John Hanna) The proposed "Marriage and Constitution Restoration Act" has drawn the strong condemnation of LGBTQ-rights advocates and lawmakers and most of its nine pages are a polemic against same-sex marriage. It was introduced after Kansas elected its first two openly LGBT lawmakers to the House last year. Christel Highland did not immediately respond to a Facebook message seeking comment Friday, and her father declined to comment when approached by a reporter at the Statehouse. But in his statement, Ron Highland said he trusted the bill's primary sponsor before seeing the text but that it "goes against our Lord's command to love our neighbors." "I must admit it was a mistake, and apologize," he said. Christel Highland responded with a Facebook post Friday morning: "Now I have to write another letter," followed with a heart emoji. The anti-LGBTQ marriage bill was part of a package of six measures introduced by conservative Republicans. None of them are expected to get even a committee hearing. They include bills that would impose a $3-per-entry tax on admissions to sexually oriented businesses, require anti-pornography filters on all devices sold in Kansas that provide internet access and to give social media users a right to sue in Kansas courts if their political posts on social media are deleted or censored. The bills have been promoted in various state legislatures by activist Chris Sevier , who once made news for trying to marry his laptop as a way to publicize his opposition to same-sex marriage. Rep. Randy Garber, a Sabetha Republican, agreed to sponsor the package of bills in Kansas. Sevier has pushed the bills this year in Missouri, where some lawmakers have complained that the meetings with him were uncomfortable. The Kansas City Star reported that Missouri Senate Administrator Patrick Baker sent an email Thursday to the entire Senate and staff with the subject line "security concern" and a picture of Sevier. Thackeray embarked on a three-day tour of Kolhapur on Sunday. Mumbai: In an apparent attack on the Central government, Maharashtra Navni-rman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray in a rally in Kolhapur on Sunday alleged that the martyrs of the Pulwama attacks were political victims. He also demanded that a thorough probe of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval should be conducted to uncover the reality behind the attack. Mr Thackeray embarked on a three-day tour of Kolhapur on Sunday. Expressing his fears, the MNS chief said in order to ensure that the voters forget all about demonetisation, 'corruption' with regard to the Rafale deal and other doings of the government in the past 4.6 years, the government would do something big to divert attention in the beginning or middle of the election. He said, "I would not say much. I will bring these things up in the election." The MNS chief said that when Pulwama attacks took place, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was doing a film shooting at Jim Corbett National Park. Even after knowing about Pulwama attack, he did not stop the shooting, he alleged. Targeting the government over its plans to stop the flow of river water to Pakistan, Mr Thackeray asked, "Are you going to obstruct the flow of rivers to Pakistan by placing (BJP president) Amit Shah in them?" Stating that Union minister Nitin Gadkari had warned that the water supply would be stopped to Pakistan, the MNS chief asked rhetorically whether the flow of rivers was tap water, whose supply could be shut instantly. He also brought up the existence of the international wa-ter treaty and said that when water is being supplied via two to three countries, could one country stop its flow. GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Officials at a historically black private women's college in North Carolina have lost their appeal to have the school's accreditation restored. News outlets report The Southern Association of Schools Commission on Colleges announced Friday that a panel had rejected Bennett College's appeal, which was heard earlier this week. The decision leaves Bennett without accreditation for now. There was no immediate reaction from the school. Imani Stephen, a sophomore at the school, said she was having lunch in the school cafeteria when she and her classmates got word of the decision by watching television. "I don't know how to feel exactly. I'm shocked. I'm hurt. I'm disappointed," Stephen said. "I don't really have the exact words to explain my emotions right now." School leaders have said previously that they will sue the agency. In previous instances, the commission has responded to lawsuits by agreeing to extend accreditation to accommodate the legal process. In December, the commission revoked Bennett's accreditation because it said the school didn't have sufficient financial resources. Bennett embarked on a fundraising campaign to maintain its accreditation and raised nearly $10 million. Nearby High Point University President Nido Qubein announced earlier this month that his school would donate $1 million to Bennett. The News & Record of Greensboro reports the college had been on probation for two previous years - the most allowed under the commission's rules - for financial concerns and other issues. Bennett posted six straight years of annual operating losses until 2016-17, the year that President Phyllis Worthy Dawkins became the college's interim leader. CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The West Virginia House of Delegates on Friday approved pay raises for teachers and public school service workers a day after they returned to classrooms following a two-day strike. The bill that passed the House 89-8 also includes raises for state police. The governor last fall requested the raises, which still need Senate approval. "This was a promise that was made to people who never really asked for it," said Delegate Mike Pushkin, a Democrat from Kanawha County. "This is about keeping promises." Republican Delegate Tom Bibby of Berkeley County, who opposed the bill, said he wanted to give a raise to state police but not "to people who walked off the job." Earlier this week, the House tabled a separate, broad-based education bill that included raises for teachers and school service workers. Teachers unions went on strike to oppose portions of the bill, but members returned to classrooms Thursday. Teachers said during the strike they didn't want pay raises in the larger bill if that meant harming public education through other components such as charter schools and education savings accounts that would enable parents to pay for private schools. CORRECTS DAY OF WEEK TO WEDNESDAY - Teachers and school personnel, on the second day of a statewide strike, demonstrate outside the House of Delegates chamber, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, W.Va. West Virginia public school teachers are striking for a second day even though legislation they loathed was tabled in the House of Delegates. Schools in 54 of the state's 55 counties were closed Wednesday. The lone holdout again was Putnam County. (Craig Hudson/Charleston Gazette-Mail via AP) "What teachers said is we don't want this raise at the cost of our kids," West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee said at a public hearing on the stand-alone bill earlier Friday. "We want to put our kids first, because that is what we do every day." The latest bill would give annual salary increases of $2,120 to teachers, $2,370 to state police and $115 per month for school service workers. Those covered in the raises have pay scales set in state code. Other state employees would receive raises through the state budget process. Last year, West Virginia teachers and service workers also received raises to end a nine-day strike. Democratic Delegate Cody Thompson of Randolph County is a social studies and civics teacher at Elkins High School who was on strike last year and is now a first-term delegate. Thompson said the raises will help the state attract and retain teachers. "In my seven years I've not only seen teachers leave this state because they can make better money, we've seen tenured teachers leave," he said. "But we've also seen younger people, our students, who instead of going into education are going into fields that can make a better living where they don't have to work a second job." The sprawling field of Democratic presidential hopefuls is on the move - to places other than the traditional early voting states of Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has hopscotched from Puerto Rico to Georgia, where she met with rising Democratic star Stacey Abrams. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar stopped in rural Wisconsin after announcing her candidacy last week and spent Friday in Georgia, where she's meeting with Abrams and former President Jimmy Carter. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is concluding a two-day trip to Texas, where she toured a historically black college and an all-girls school. And former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro is touching down in Idaho and Utah next week. The flurry of activity shows how the 2020 field hopes to demonstrate appeal outside the four traditional early voting states and in parts of the country where Democrats have struggled. Polls show Democrats are eager for a candidate who can beat President Donald Trump, and some 2020 contenders hope to distinguish themselves from Hillary Clinton, whose 2016 campaign was criticized for not appealing to a wide enough swath of the country. "We're starting in Wisconsin because, as you remember, there wasn't a lot of campaigning in Wisconsin in 2016. With me, that changes," Klobuchar told reporters the day of her campaign launch, noting her mother grew up in the state. "I'm going to be there a lot." Josh Putnam, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington who tracks the presidential nominating process, said he expects more Democratic hopefuls to venture outside the familiar confines of early states, especially because a slew of states, including Texas and California, are scheduled to vote shortly after the initial four. "Over time we've seen a gradual nationalization of the process - not as Iowa goes so goes everyone else, but as everyone else goes, so goes Iowa," Putnam said. Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., greets students at Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, in Austin, Texas. (Nick Wagner/Austin American-Statesman via AP) Still, the political map will likely shrink as the early state primaries and caucuses loom larger later this year. "In the early days, you've got time to go to a lot of different states," said Bob Shrum, a veteran of numerous Democratic presidential campaigns. "As you get into the fall you spend more and more of your time in Iowa and New Hampshire." The 2020 Democrats are still making plenty of trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, but some are trying to emphasize the wider map. Castro was one of the earliest to announce. His first trip outside his home state of Texas was to Puerto Rico, a place filled with symbolism for the man trying to become the first Latino major party presidential nominee and for Democrats as a whole because of the Trump administration's widely criticized response to Hurricane Maria in 2017. Castro has since promised to travel to all 50 states. "More states than ever will be in play this year because it's going to be a more fractured race," Castro said in a phone interview Friday from Iowa before his western swing. "I'm going to, I believe, get a leg up in those states. Because people don't visit, it's smart to go in and make a great impression. I'm confident that's going to pay dividends when it's time for them to vote." Castro noted that he has a simpler itinerary than the bevy of senators who are running, who must spend their work weeks predominantly in Washington. But even those senators are branching out. Warren traveled to Puerto Rico last month and slammed Trump during a speech in San Juan. She held a rally in the Atlanta suburb of Lawrenceville last week and later had dinner with Abrams, who narrowly lost her bid for Georgia governor in November and delivered the party's rebuttal to Trump's State of the Union this year. She spoke to reporters after the rally about Democratic hopes that Georgia turns blue in 2020. "Georgia's like every place else in the country," Warren said. "This is a real question about what our values are and how we feel government should work. Washington's working great for the giant drug companies. It's not working for people in Georgia who are trying to get a prescription filled." On Friday, Klobuchar, too, was scheduled to meet with Abrams, as well as with Carter, and participate in a roundtable on voting rights. The state has moved toward Democrats as the population around Atlanta swells. Democrats picked up one House seat and 13 state legislative seats in November despite losing statewide races. Shrum said he wouldn't be surprised if candidates step up their early travel there. "Georgia is the state that could become blue sooner than the others," he said. Atlanta is already a staple on the Democratic fundraising circuit - Klobuchar held one after her events Friday. Gillibrand held a fundraiser during her Texas trip, too, but she also made a point of stopping at two institutions vital to the Democratic base in another big southern state the party hopes to flip. She met with students at Paul Quinn College, a historically black college in Dallas, and the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in Austin, which educates grades 6-12. Gillibrand's aides said they hope the trip highlighted how the New York senator can win votes in Texas. ___ Associated Press writers Sara Burnett in Chicago and Elana Schor and Juana Summers in Washington contributed to this report. Julian Castro, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, speaks during a town hall meeting at Grand View University, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks at an organizing event Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump has refused to meet privately with Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello, the governor said Friday, as he condemned the Trump administration for not providing more disaster relief in the 17 months since Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory and left thousands dead. The Democratic governor, who has been reluctant to lash out at the Trump administration at times, said the Republican president himself bears responsibility for the slow pace of disaster relief. "Eventually the buck has to stop somewhere," Rossello said Friday on the opening day of the National Governors Association meeting in Washington. "It has to stop with the president." While the governor's team has been in regular contact with federal officials, Rossello said he made public and private requests in recent weeks to meet with the president. The White House denied the requests without giving a reason, he said. A White House official noted that instead of making Trump available, the administration arranged a meeting between Rossello and Ben Carson, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Brock Long, who leads the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Rossello said he hoped to address Puerto Rico's challenges with Trump directly during a White House meeting with dozens of governors on Monday. "There is no movement," Rossello said. "We really need action right now." He compared the pace of recovery with the effort after Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005: Seventeen months after Katrina, federal officials had produced more than 10,000 "project worksheets," while 17 months after Maria, just 60 have been produced, he said. The form describes the work necessary to restore a facility that was damaged or destroyed. The September 2017 storm caused an estimated $100 billion in damage and left an estimated 3,000 people dead. Trump has denied the estimated death toll, suggesting the number was made up to make him look bad. Some Puerto Rican Trump critics have suggested bigotry as a factor behind the Trump administration's lack of attention to the Caribbean Island, where Spanish is most residents' first language. Rossello would not say one way or another whether he suspected racism. "I would hope that in this time in the United States, the greatest nation on the planet, that was made great because of immigrants and diversity, that that wouldn't be the prevailing thought," he said when asked whether he feared Trump was motivated by racism. "That would be my hope, because if it is, it's a scary prospect not only for Puerto Rico but for everyone." ___ AP writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report. RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - A California couple pleaded guilty Friday to torture and years of abuse that included shackling some of their 13 children to beds and starving them to the point they stopped growing. David and Louise Turpin will spend at least 25 years in prison after entering the pleas in Riverside County Superior Court to 14 counts that included cruelty toward all but their toddler daughter, and imprisoning the children in a house that appeared neatly kept outside, but festered with filth and reeked of human waste. The couple was arrested in January 2018 after their 17-year-old daughter escaped from the home and called 911 in the city of Perris, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles. The children, ages 2 to 29 at the time, were severely underweight and hadn't bathed for months. They described being beaten, starved and put in cages. Louise Turpin's face turned red and she began crying and dabbed her eyes with a tissue during the hearing while her husband appeared stoic. The two will be sentenced to up to life in prison April 19, Riverside District Attorney Mike Hestrin said. David Turpin, second from right, and wife, Louise, far left, sit in a courtroom with their attorneys, Allison Lowe, second from left, and David Macher Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Riverside, Calif. The California couple who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them have pleaded guilty to torture and other abuse. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Pool) "The defendants ruined lives so I think it's just and fair that the sentence be equivalent to first-degree murder," Hestrin said. The Turpins had led a mostly solitary, but seemingly unremarkable life until the teenager jumped from a window and called for help. David Turpin, 57, had worked as an engineer for both Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Louise Turpin, 50, was listed as a housewife in a 2011 bankruptcy filing. The family led a nocturnal existence, which kept them largely out of sight from neighbors in a middle-class subdivision. In a recording of the 911 call, the girl who escaped said two younger sisters and a brother were chained to beds and she couldn't take it. "They will wake up at night and they will start crying and they wanted me to call somebody," she said in a high-pitched voice. "I wanted to call y'all so y'all can help my sisters." Police who responded discovered a house of horrors. Two girls had been hastily released from their chains but a 22-year-old son remained shackled. The brother told police he and his siblings had been suspected of stealing food and being disrespectful. The intervention marked a new start for the children who lived in such isolation that the teen who called for help didn't know her address. Although the parents filed reports with the state that they home-schooled their children, the oldest child only completed the third grade. Some children suffered from severe malnutrition, stunted growth and muscle wasting, including an 11-year-old girl who had arms the size of an infant. Children were deprived of food and things other kids take for granted, such as toys and games, and allowed to do little except write in journals, authorities said. The kids were rarely allowed outside but went out on Halloween and traveled as a family to Disneyland and Las Vegas. They spent most of their time locked in their rooms except for limited meals or using the bathroom. All the children were hospitalized immediately after they were discovered and have not spoken publicly. Riverside County authorities then obtained temporary conservatorship over the adults. The social services agency tasked with overseeing the younger children declined to comment on their cases. The adult children are all living together, attending school and getting healthy while leading lives similar to their peers, said Jack Osborn, an attorney who represents the seven adult children. He said they value their privacy. "They are relieved they can now move forward with their lives and not have the specter of a trial hanging over their heads and all the stress that would have caused," Osborn said. The guilty pleas could help with the challenges the children face, especially since many abuse survivors struggle with feelings of self-doubt, said Jessica Borelli, a clinical psychologist and professor at University of California, Irvine. "It is a pretty clear affirmation of how they were mistreated," Borelli said. "If there is any part of them that needs validation that how they were treated was wrong and was abuse, this is it." The guilty pleas were important to spare the children from testifying, though they will be allowed to speak at the sentencing if they choose, said Hestrin, who was impressed with their resiliency. "I was very taken by their optimism, by their hope for the future," Hestrin said. "They have a zest for life and huge smiles and I am optimistic for them and I think that's how they feel about their future." ___ Associated Press reporters John Antczak and Brian Melley in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Louise Turpin sits in a courtroom Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Riverside, Calif. Turpin and her husband, David, who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them pleaded guilty Friday to torture and other abuse. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Pool) David Turpin sits during a courtroom hearing, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Riverside, Calif. Turpin and his wife, Louise, who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them pleaded guilty on Friday to torture and other abuse. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Pool) David Turpin, second from right, and wife, Louise, far left, listen to their charges as they are joined by their attorneys, Allison Lowe, second from left, and David Macher during a courtroom hearing, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Riverside, Calif. The California couple who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them pleaded guilty Friday to torture and other abuse in a case dubbed a "house of horrors." (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Pool) David Turpin sits in a courtroom Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Riverside, Calif. Turpin and his wife, Louise, who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them pleaded guilty on Friday to torture and other abuse. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Pool) David Turpin, second from right, and wife, Louise, far left, listen to their charges as they are joined by their attorneys, Allison Lowe, second from left, and David Macher in a courtroom Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Riverside, Calif. The California couple who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them pleaded guilty Friday to torture and other abuse in a case dubbed a "house of horrors." (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Pool) WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration on Friday set up new obstacles for women seeking abortions, barring taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from making abortion referrals. The new policy is certain to be challenged in court. The final rule released Friday by the Health and Human Services Department also would prohibit federally funded family planning clinics from being housed in the same locations as abortion providers, and require stricter financial separation. Clinic staff would still be permitted to discuss abortion with clients, along with other options. However, that would no longer be required. The move is the latest in a series of Trump administration efforts to remake government policy on reproductive health. The American Medical Association warned it could have an impact far beyond abortion, potentially affecting access to health care services now provided to low-income women by the clinics, including birth control, cancer screenings, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. By law, the family planning program does not pay for abortions. "This is the wrong prescription and threatens to compound a health equity deficit in this nation," AMA president Barbara L. McAneny said in a statement. "Women should have access to these medical services regardless of where they live, how much money they make, their background, or whether they have health insurance." It could be some time before women served by the federal family program feel the full impact. Women's groups, organizations representing the clinics, and Democratic-led states are expected to sue to block the policy from going into effect. Administration officials told abortion opponents on a call Friday that they expect legal action, according to a participant. FILE - In this May 22, 2018 file photo, President Donald Trump looks out at the audience during a speech at the Susan B. Anthony List 11th Annual Campaign for Life Gala at the National Building Museum in Washington. The Trump administration said Friday that it would bar taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions, a move certain to be challenged in court by abortion rights supporters. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Abortion is a legal medical procedure, but federal laws prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to pay for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman. Planned Parenthood, whose affiliates are major providers of family planning services as well as abortions, said the administration is trying to impose a "gag rule," and launched a full campaign to block it. Congressional supporters of the organization said it receives about $60 million a year from the federal program. "I want our patients to know this - we will fight through every avenue so this illegal, unethical rule never goes into effect," said Planned Parenthood's president, Dr. Leana Wen. She said the new policy would prevent doctors from referring women for abortions "even if your life depended on it." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., declared: "Republicans must end their relentless assault on women's health care and rights." Planned Parenthood and other groups representing the clinics say the new requirements for physical separation of facilities would be costly and all but impossible to fulfill. Planned Parenthood said the administration is making another attempt to drive it out of business, after efforts to deny funding failed in Congress. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway scoffed at that argument. "They've been saying for years they don't co-mingle their funds, so this should be easy for them," she told reporters at the White House. "Physically separate and financially separate." Religious conservatives see the administration's action as a way to break down what they call an indirect taxpayer subsidy of abortion providers. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, called it "a major step toward the ultimate goal of ending taxpayers' forced partnership with the abortion industry." The regulation was published Friday on an HHS website. It's not official until it appears in the Federal Register and the department said there could be "minor editorial changes." A department official confirmed it was the final version. Known as Title X, the family-planning program serves about 4 million women annually through independent clinics, many operated by Planned Parenthood affiliates, which serve about 40 percent of all clients. The grant program costs taxpayers about $260 million a year. Leaders of health associations representing black and Latino health care providers and patients joined Wen at a news briefing to decry the new rule They said women from their communities make up more than half the beneficiaries of Title X grants and would be disproportionately harmed by the changes. But abortion opponent Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said the administration rule "does not cut family planning funding by a single dime, and instead directs tax dollars to entities that provide health care to women but do not perform abortions." Her organization is a political advocacy group that backs anti-abortion candidates. An umbrella group that represents family planning clinics broadly, not only those affiliated with Planned Parenthood, said the administration was acting based on ideology and not in the best interests of patients. "This rule intentionally strikes at the heart of the patient-provider relationship, inserting political ideology into a family planning visit, which will frustrate and ultimately discourage patients from seeking the health care they need," Clare Coleman, head of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, said in a statement. Although abortion remains politically divisive, the U.S. abortion rate has dropped significantly, from about 29 per 1,000 women of reproductive age in 1980 to about 15 in 2014. Better contraception, fewer unintended pregnancies and state restrictions may have played a role, according to a recent scientific report. Polls show most Americans do not want the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion. The Trump administration's policy echoes a Reagan-era regulation that barred clinics from even discussing abortion with women. It never went into effect as written, although the Supreme Court ruled it was an appropriate use of executive power. The policy was rescinded under President Bill Clinton, and a new rule took effect requiring "nondirective" counseling to include a full range of options for women. The Trump administration is now rolling back the Clinton requirement. ___ This story corrects an earlier misspelling of the first name of Planned Parenthood President Leana Wen. ___ Crary reported from New York. Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report. THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - A United Nations court says it will deliver its judgment next month in former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic's appeal of his convictions for genocide and other crimes for masterminding atrocities during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals said Friday it plans to give its decision on March 20. An international tribunal that heard cases from the Balkan wars of the early 1990s convicted Karadzic in March 2016 of persecution, extermination, deportation, murder and one of two genocide counts. Prosecutors have appealed the acquittal by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on the other count of genocide. Karadzic was indicted in 1995 and arrested in 2008. Judges sentenced him to 40 years in prison. About 100,000 people died in the Bosnian war. RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - With a new election ordered in North Carolina's disputed congressional race, a key question remains unanswered: Who could face criminal charges after a state elections board hearing exposed evidence of ballot fraud? Among those in potential legal trouble are the central figure in the scandal, political operative Leslie McCrae Dowless, and some of those working for him. According to testimony heard by the board, they illegally gathered up voters' absentee ballots and, in some cases, filled in votes and forged signatures. The Republican candidate for whom Dowless was working, Mark Harris, has denied knowledge of any illegal practices by those involved with his campaign. But he, too, could come under legal scrutiny. Harris led Democrat Dan McCready by just 905 votes out of about 280,000 cast last fall in the district along the southern edge of the state. But the state refused to certify the outcome because of suspicions Dowless tampered with mail-in absentee ballots in rural Bladen County. Under state law, only voters and their close relatives can handle completed ballots. On Thursday, the five-member elections board unanimously ordered a do-over election after Harris abruptly reversed course and called for a new one. No date has been set. McCready said Friday he is ready for another election. Harris has not said whether he intends to run. FILE - In this May 8, 2018 file photo Ninth Congressional district Democratic candidate Dan McCready smiles as he speaks with U.S. Rep. Alma Adams outside Eastover Elementary School in Charlotte, N.C. The Democratic candidate in the nation's last undecided congressional race will address his supporters now that a new election has been called. McCready was planning a rally and news conference Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (Jeff Siner/The Charlotte Observer via AP) Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman in Raleigh said her office has been investigating potential Bladen County voting irregularities for over a year. The investigation has been expanded to include last year's election, she said. In an email Friday, she said she expects the state elections board to submit its investigative files to her office, and "we will determine what, if any, supplemental investigation is required." She said she hopes to present findings from her investigation to a grand jury in the next month. Federal prosecutors also could pursue charges under a law against interfering with an election for federal office, North Carolina elections board attorney Josh Lawson said. The U.S. attorney's office in Raleigh has refused to say if an investigation is underway. Dowless has denied wrongdoing through his attorney. He refused to testify at the elections board hearing without a promise of immunity from prosecution. Dowless' step-daughter, Lisa Britt, could face criminal charges after admitting under oath that she collected dozens of ballots and forged signatures and dates while working for him. As for the GOP candidate himself, Harris admitted writing personal checks to Dowless in 2017, a potential legal violation if they weren't reported by his campaign. Also, he could be in legal jeopardy over his testimony during the board hearing. On Thursday, Harris was on the stand when a lawyer for the state elections board pressed him repeatedly over whether his attorneys had turned over crucial emails. McCready's lawyer, Marc Elias, reminded Harris that he was under oath. Harris' lawyer asked for a break, and Harris returned to the stand more than an hour later to read a statement admitting he misspoke, saying ill health, including two recent strokes, had caused confusion and memory problems. He then agreed that his apparent election victory was tainted and a new election was needed. "What we saw this week in the hearing was a culture of corruption. We saw emails that were hidden from the board under subpoena. We saw lying on the stand," McCready said Friday. Asked if he was satisfied at where the investigation stands, the Democratic candidate responded: "I imagine that the district attorney's office and the U.S. attorney will probably be picking things up." And if Harris runs again, McCready said, "He is going to need to ask for forgiveness from the voters." ___ Follow Emery P. Dalesio on Twitter at http://twitter.com/emerydalesio . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/emery%20dalesio . Follow Drew at www.twitter.com/JonathanLDrew Josh Lawson, chief counsel for the state Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement, left, hands Mark Harris, Republican candidate in North Carolina's 9th congressional race, a document during the fourth day of a public evidentiary hearing on the 9th congressional district voting irregularities investigation Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, at the North Carolina State Bar in Raleigh, N.C. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP, Pool) WASHINGTON (AP) - "Medicare-for-all" can mean different things to different people. For some, it's a single government-run health insurance plan for the whole country. To others, it's giving consumers a choice to buy into Medicare or keep their private insurance. But whatever the form, the proposals are built on the premise that health insurance should be a guaranteed right. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, launched the debate over "Medicare-for-all." Now, other Democratic presidential hopefuls are staking out their positions on the concept, which President Donald Trump decries as socialism. But government-backed insurance is already part of daily life, covering more than 130 million Americans. A new report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services projects that federal, state and local governments will be paying nearly half the nation's health care tab by 2027. A primer on Medicare and Medicare-inspired plans that have become a central focus for Democrats: FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2019, file photo, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sanders, whose insurgent 2016 presidential campaign reshaped Democratic politics, announced Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019 that he is running for president in 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) __ TRADITIONAL MEDICARE Enacted more than 50 years ago to cover people age 65 and older, Medicare remains the government's flagship health care program. About 60 million are enrolled, including some 9 million disabled people. Benefits include coverage for hospitalization, doctors' services, prescription drugs, tests and imaging, rehab, medical equipment, and hospice. But Medicare does not cover long-term care, routine dental care, hearing aids or eyeglasses. Medicare has significant copayments, and many beneficiaries purchase supplemental private insurance to protect against costs. With baby boomers aging into Medicare, taxes are not enough to cover future costs. In just seven years - 2026- it's projected that the program's giant trust fund for inpatient care won't have enough to cover medical bills due. __ 'MEDICARE-FOR-ALL' Two bills, one by Sanders and another from House Democrats, would set up a government-run health insurance plan for the entire country. It's also called "single-payer" because a federal agency would pay the bills. Or just "M4A." Government coverage would replace private health insurance, including employer-sponsored plans that insure about 160 million people. Benefits for seniors would be improved beyond what Medicare now offers, with coverage for dental, vision and hearing aids. The House bill includes a new long-term care program. Patients would not have to pay premiums or deductibles, and cost-sharing would be eliminated or greatly reduced. But taxes would go up significantly. Costs would be limited through government-set payment rates across the health care system. Neither proposal has a cost analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, but several independent studies have estimated that government spending on health care would increase dramatically, in the range of about $25 trillion to $35 trillion or more over a 10-year period. Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts are co-sponsors of the Sanders' plan. So is Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, who is considering a run. Some co-sponsors also support less ambitious proposals to advance the goal of coverage for all. __ MEDICARE BUY-IN Several Democratic lawmakers have unveiled plans that would let older adults buy into Medicare. The idea would build on the Obama-era Affordable Care Act because ACA subsidies would be available to help pay premiums for those who qualify. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who is weighing a presidential campaign, has proposed giving people between the ages of 50 and 64 the option of buying into Medicare. His "Medicare at 50" bill was co-authored by Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. While that's not "Medicare-for-all," it would provide a backstop for a demographic group whose members can suddenly find themselves uninsured due to layoffs, plant closings, or involuntary retirement. Presidential hopefuls Booker, Gillibrand, Harris, are co-sponsors. So is Merkley. And the list includes Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who's running for the Democratic nomination and is not a co-sponsor of the Sanders bill. __ MEDICARE PUBLIC OPTION Legislation from Merkley would allow people of any age to buy into a new public plan modeled on Medicare. Employers would have the option of offering it to workers. Financial assistance with premiums would be available through the Affordable Care Act. The "Choose Medicare" bill echoes an earlier "public option" proposal for government-run insurance to compete with private coverage, which Democrats ultimately backed away from during the Obama years after strong industry opposition. The plan would also improve benefits under traditional Medicare, setting a limit on seniors' cost-sharing. And it would authorize Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Sens. Booker, Gillibrand and Harris are co-sponsors. __ MEDICAID BUY-IN Some Democrats are proposing legislation that would allow states to open their Medicaid programs up to people willing to pay premiums. Although Medicaid started out as a federal-state collaboration to cover the poor, it now insures about 75 million people, making it the largest and most diverse government health program The Medicaid buy-in idea builds on the Obama-era expansion of that program to low-income adults, adopted by most states. DALLAS (AP) - A 31-year-old man has been charged with child endangerment after police found his four young children alone in his squalid Dallas apartment. Police say Robert Preston's children were ages 5 or younger and appeared to have had "limited contact" with the outside world. Investigators say the boys seemed to communicate using "gesturing and screams." An affidavit says the apartment was unfurnished, strewn with liquor bottled and reeking of feces. Police say they found the oven on and a malnourished puppy in a closet. Preston is being held in Dallas County Jail. Court records show he's also charged with a probation violation, for which no bond is allowed. Preston's court-appointed lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. More names were likely to be deleted in the coming weeks as the process of authentication of voters was underway, the ECI official said. It was also found that names of many married women, who had relocated, were not deleted from the voters' list at their native places. Mumbai: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has deleted as many as 50 lakh names from the voters list in Maharashtra after revision ahead of the polls, an official said on Sunday. Some of these names were registered multiple times or the voters concerned had died, he said. More names were likely to be deleted in the coming weeks as the process of authentication of voters was underway, the ECI official said. It was an ongoing process but picked up pace in the last one year ahead of the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections, he said. "The special drive started in January last year and around 50 lakh names were found either entered multiple times or the person was dead and the name was not removed from the list," he said. It was also found that names of many married women, who had relocated, were not deleted from the voters' list at their native places. At times, the changed names of married women were included in the lists at their relocated places without getting it removed from the previous list, he said. "To prevent further swelling of the voters' list, we asked our booth-level officers to visit every home and verify the names diligently," he said. There were people who relocated after getting jobs and registered th-emselves as voters there but did not delete their names in the voters' list at their native place. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The 2018 election left California Republicans in dismal shape, with no statewide officeholders, just seven of 53 U.S. House seats, less than a quarter of all state legislative seats and third-place status in voter registration behind independents and Democrats. Now the party faithful are gathering to decide who among three candidates should lead the state GOP into 2020 as President Donald Trump seeks re-election but is a virtual lock to suffer another blowout loss in California. "2018 brought the party to the brink of extinction, and 2019 has to be about finding a path back to relevance in the Trump era and beyond," said Thad Kousser, a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego. More than 1,300 delegates will gather in Sacramento starting Friday for a three-day weekend featuring appearances by U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. The weekend culminates with Sunday's vote for chairman. The candidates are Jessica Patterson, who runs a candidate recruitment and training program; Travis Allen, a former state assemblyman and unsuccessful 2018 gubernatorial candidate; and Steve Frank, a longtime party activist. All three advocate a back-to-basics focus on voter registration and fundraising. They differ on Trump. In this photo taken Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, is Jessica Patterson, a candidate for the California Republican Party chair, in Sacramento, Calif. The party will choose a new leader at it's convention this weekend in Sacramento, which comes after stinging losses in the November 2018 election. Patterson, who heads a candidate recruitment program, is running against former Assemblyman Travis Allen and political activist Steve Frank. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) Allen and Frank want to lean in to the president's messaging; Patterson would prefer to focus on local issues rather than the White House. "It's about time we have a Republican Party that stands for our values, our ideals and supports our Republican president." said Allen, who argues too many of the party's candidates have become "Republican-lite," meaning they don't fully embrace a conservative agenda. Patterson's take: "We are not looking to nationalize our message here in California. We're going to be super-focused on talking about issues that are important to Californians." Patterson, who is Latina, said Republicans should center their message on failures of Democrats in Sacramento, citing high housing costs and poorly performing schools. The party, she said, must make its point with "new messengers" in "new communities." While her rivals have painted her as the candidate of the "Never Trump" wing of the party, Patterson has a mix of endorsements including U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield and Republican National Committee member Harmeet Dhillon, both Trump backers, as well as state Assemblyman Chad Mayes, who leads a group of anti-Trump Republicans advocating for more bipartisanship. She says she supports the president. "I don't believe that there's an us versus them; we are all Republicans," she said. Dhillon, who called herself "the biggest supporter of the administration there can be," said Patterson is the candidate best equipped to raise money and do the grunt work expected of a party chair. "There's a bumper sticker approach and then there's a white paper approach," she said. "The bumper sticker approach is 'MAGA, Trump,' end, period. That's not a way to run a party, that's not what the state party is about." Still, Allen and Frank argue that a Patterson chairmanship will be more of the same approach that's decimated the party. They announced Thursday they'll join forces if no one wins on the first ballot, with whoever gets the fewest delegates throwing their support to the other. They've dubbed their move the "resistance," a twist on the term coined by Democrats in opposition to Trump. "We both believe in RESISTANCE to the continued ruling of our Party by consultants and special interests that have used the Party and driven it into the ground," they wrote in a joint email to delegates and the press. While Patterson has locked up most elected officials, Allen has the support of many county parties. Kelli Ward, the chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party who unsuccessfully challenged former U.S. Sen. John McCain, is also behind him. Allen's full-throated support of Trump is slightly ironic. Last year the president endorsed Allen's GOP opponent, John Cox, just before the primary and Cox advanced to the general election, where he was swamped by Democrat Gavin Newsom. Beyond embracing Trump, Allen argues he's well-positioned to raise money and would seek $10 monthly contributions from 100,000 California Republicans. He wants to bring voter registration efforts back under the wing of the party after several years of outsourcing to a group called the Golden State Voter Participation Program. Current party Chairman Jim Brulte argues that's made it easier to raise and spend money, but Allen said the group let Republicans slide into third-party status. Frank, meanwhile, said he'd push to undo California's top-two primary system that's put all candidates on the same ballot regardless of party. It's allowed Democrats to hold both slots in the past two general elections for U.S. Senate and many legislative races. Dan Schnur, who was spokesman for former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson and recently left the Republican Party and became an independent, said regardless of who wins the party isn't doing what it needs to do to regain relevance in a state where Trump is deeply unpopular. "The decision that California Republicans are going to make this weekend is to embrace Trump loudly or to embrace him quietly," he said. In this photo taken Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, is Steve Frank, a candidate for the California Republican Party chair, in Sacramento, Calif. The party will choose a new leader at it's convention this weekend in Sacramento, which comes after stinging losses in the November 2018 election. Frank, a political activist, is running against former Assemblyman Travis Allen and Jessica Patterson, who heads a candidate recruitment program. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) FILE - In this March 8, 2018 file photo is Republican Travis Allen, a former Assemblyman, seen in Sacramento, Calif. Allen is a candidate for the chair of the California Republican Party, which will choose a new leader at it's convention this weekend in Sacramento. Allen is running against Jessica Patterson, who heads a candidate recruitment program and political activist Steve Frank. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) In this photo taken Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, is Steve Frank, a candidate for the California Republican Party chair, in Sacramento, Calif. The party will choose a new leader at it's convention this weekend in Sacramento, which comes after stinging losses in the November 2018 election. Frank, a political activist, is running against former Assemblyman Travis Allen and Jessica Patterson, who heads a candidate recruitment program. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) WATERTOWN, N.Y. (AP) - The Latest on the funeral of four children and their father, killed in a house fire (all times local) 4:50 p.m. Hundreds of mourners have said goodbye to a father and four daughters who died in a house fire in upstate New York. A funeral was held Friday in Watertown for Aaron Bodah and his daughters: 4-year-old Skylar; 6-year-old Erin; 8-year-old Alexa and 14-year-old Merissa. The fire occurred early Feb. 14. WWNY says corrections officers stood watch over the entrance of the church and filed inside as the service began. A priest wished strength for the girls' mother, Melissa Davey, and the only survivor of the fire, 13-year-old Hailey. ____ 12:45 p.m. Firefighters have lined the entrance to an upstate New York church for the funeral of four children and their father in a house fire. The funeral Friday in Watertown celebrated the lives of Aaron Bodah and his daughters: 4-year-old Skylar; 6-year-old Erin; 8-year-old Alexa and 14-year-old Merissa. The fire occurred in the early hours of Valentine's Day. WWNY says a fifth daughter, 13-year-old Hailey, survived after escaping from the burning home. She ran to neighbors for help. ___ 7:50 a.m. An upstate New York community is struggling to cope with the deaths of four children and their father in a house fire. A funeral on Friday in Watertown will celebrate the lives of Aaron Bodah and his daughters: 4-year-old Skylar; 6-year-old Erin; 8-year-old Alexa and 14-year-old Merissa. The fire occurred in the early hours of Valentine's Day. WWNY says Watertown teacher Erin Weston remembers the sisters as "the sweetest girls" who "loved each other so much." A fifth daughter, 13-year-old Hailey, survived after escaping from the burning home. She ran to neighbors for help. TORONTO (AP) - Canada's energy regulator endorsed a contentious Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on Friday that would almost triple the flow of oil from the Alberta oil sands to the Pacific Coast. The National Energy Board said the expansion is in the country's national interest, but set out 16 new conditions after a court found it had not properly determined how killer whales would be affected by additional tanker traffic. The court also said there had been insufficient consultation with indigenous communities. As oil flow increases from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels per day, tanker traffic will balloon from about 60 vessels to more than 400 vessels annually. But the regulator said Friday that the consequences generated by the traffic, such as injured whales and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, can be justified. "The considerable benefits of the Project include increased access to diverse markets for Canadian oil; jobs created across Canada; the development of capacity of local and Indigenous individuals, communities and businesses; direct spending on pipeline materials in Canada; and considerable revenues to various levels of government," the board said. The expansion still faces stiff environmental and aboriginal opposition, although the cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is widely expected to approve the expansion proposal for a second time. Dr. Robert Steedman, chief environment officer at the National Energy Board, releases the board's reconsideration report on marine shipping related to the Trans Mountain expansion project, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP) The government bought the pipeline from Kinder Morgan last summer in a move widely seen as a bid to eliminate difficulties that would impede the expansion from taking place. The pipeline would allow Canada to diversify oil markets and vastly increase exports to Asia, where it could command a higher price for oil. Canada has the world's third largest oil reserves, but 99 percent of its exports now go to refiners in the U.S., where limits on pipeline and refinery capacity mean Canadian oil sells at a discount. Analysts have said China is eager to get access to Canada's oil, but has largely given up hope that a pipeline to the Pacific Coast will be built. The court's ruling in 2018, which forced the National Energy Board to reconsider the issue, initially handed a victory to indigenous leaders and environmentalists who have pledged to do whatever is necessary to thwart the pipeline, including chaining themselves to construction equipment. Many indigenous people see the 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) of new pipeline as a threat to their lands, echoing concerns raised by Native Americans about the Keystone XL project in the U.S. Some say it also raises broader environmental concerns by enabling increased development of the carbon-heavy oil sands. Further legal action could be taken. The board said Friday it will impose a total of 156 conditions on the project if it is approved, including measures to offset increased underwater noise and improve spill response actions. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley called the endorsement a good step forward. But Judy Wilson, chief of the Neskonlith Indian Band in British Columbia, said the decision is not a surprise considering the government owns the pipeline. "It's a complete conflict of interest," Wilson said. "They have acknowledged they can justify harms to orcas or to our southern whale populations. Are they saying to First Nations that they can justify the harm to our lives?" Vanessa Adams, a spokeswoman for Canada's natural resource minister, said the government will make a decision once they have "adequately fulfilled its duty to consult." Tzeporah Berman, international program director at Stand.earth, said federal officials have stated on multiple occasions the pipeline will be built despite ongoing consultations with First Nations. "The Trans Mountain Pipeline is not in the public interest and will never be built," Berman said in a statement. Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee called the board's endorsement "deeply irresponsible" considering that the board's own analysis found the pipeline expansion would be detrimental to the survival of whales. "While they may think this is in Canada's best interests, this is not in the best interests of the people of Washington or of the world," Inslee said in a statement. "The Washington State Department of Ecology has submitted concerns about the pipeline's impact to our shared international waters. I continue to stand with them and urge the Canadian government to reconsider." RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on the case of a couple charged with the torture and abuse of most of their 13 children (all times local): 11:20 a.m. A lawyer for some of the children held captive and starved by a California couple says they are relieved after their parents pleaded guilty to torture and other abuse. Attorney Jack Osborn represents seven adults among 13 children of David and Louise Turpin, who enter pleas Friday in Riverside County Superior Court. Osborn says the adult children are glad there will not be trial. He says they can now move forward with their lives without the stress a trial would have involved. Louise Turpin wipes away her tears while talking to her attorney, Jeff Moore, in a courtroom Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Riverside, Calif. Turpin and her husband, David, who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them pleaded guilty on Friday to torture and other abuse. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Pool) The attorney says the children have been living together, attending school, getting healthy and leading normal lives. ___ 10:30 a.m. A California prosecutor says the parents who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them will spend up to life in prison. David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty Friday in Riverside County Superior Court to torture and other abuse in a case dubbed a "house of horrors." The charges included abuse of their 12 oldest children. Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin says the couple will be sentenced April 19 to 25 years-to-life in prison. Hestrin says the guilty pleas were important to protect the children from having to testify. The children, who ranged in age from 2 to 29 at the time, were severely underweight and hadn't bathed for months and the house reeked of human waste when the couple was arrested last year. ___ 9:35 a.m. A California couple who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them have pleaded guilty to torture and other abuse. David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty Friday in Riverside County Superior Court in the case dubbed a "house of horrors." The couple was arrested in January 2018 when their 17-year-old daughter called 911 after escaping from the family's home in the city of Perris, southeast of Los Angeles. The children, who ranged in age from 2 to 29 at the time, were severely underweight and hadn't bathed for months and the house reeked of human waste. Investigators said some of the children had stunted growth and wasted muscles and described being beaten, starved and put in cages. ___ 6:52 a.m. A Southern California district attorney will address the case of a couple charged with the torture and abuse of most of their 13 children. A Friday morning court hearing is set for lawyers to discuss preparations for a Sept. 3 trial for David and Louise Turpin. The Turpins have pleaded not guilty to dozens of felony counts - including torture, willful child cruelty and false imprisonment. Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin plans a press conference to follow the court proceedings. His office didn't reveal what Hestrin plans to say. The Turpins were arrested in January when a daughter escaped from the family's Perris home and called 911. Investigators said some of the children had stunted growth and wasted muscles and described being beaten, starved and put in cages. David Turpin, right, and wife, Louise, left, listen to the judge, along with attorney Allison Lowe, during a courtroom hearing, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Riverside, Calif. The California couple who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them pleaded guilty Friday to torture and other abuse in a case dubbed a "house of horrors." (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Pool) David Turpin sits during a courtroom hearing, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Riverside, Calif. Turpin and his wife, Louise, who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them pleaded guilty on Friday to torture and other abuse. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Pool) Louise Turpin sits in a courtroom Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Riverside, Calif. Turpin and her husband, David, who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them pleaded guilty Friday to torture and other abuse. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, Pool) WASHINGTON (AP) - The fight over President Donald Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall is heading to the GOP-controlled Senate, putting Republicans in the uncomfortable spot of deciding whether to back his declaration of a national emergency. Enough Republicans are chewing over whether to support Trump's plan to create suspense about the vote and how the issue will play in the 2020 elections. Their objections range from constitutional to pragmatic, with many seeing Trump's plan as a slap at Congress' control over federal spending. Sixteen states have already sued. And no Republican wants the next Democratic president to mirror Trump's emergency declaration to unlock big taxpayer money for new climate or gun policies. Here are some senators to watch as the debate unfolds: ___ FIRST, WHAT'S A RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL? FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2018 file photo, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks to members of the media on Capitol Hill in Washington. The fight over President Donald Trump's border wall is heading to the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate, putting Republicans in the uncomfortable spot of deciding whether to back his declaration of a national emergency. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) In this case, it's an official, one-sentence statement that says Trump's emergency declaration "is hereby terminated." The resolution is almost certain to pass the Democratic-controlled House, which is expected to vote Tuesday. If it also survives the Senate, Trump would be expected to veto it. Congress is not expected to muster the two-thirds majority to override a veto, which means the Republican president's declaration could move forward. But no president wants a rebuke from his own party. The math: The Senate is controlled by a 53-47 Republican majority. So it would take four Republicans voting with every Democrat to pass the measure and send it to Trump. More than four have voiced significant discomfort with Trump's move. ___ THE MODERATES They're two Republican women Trump hasn't been able to count on voting with him. And they say the situation at the border does not merit the wall that Trump is demanding. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is up for re-election in 2020, this week became the first Republican to publicly state that she would support the effort to stop the emergency declaration that Trump says is appropriate to secure the border. "I don't think that is what the law was intended for," Collins said. "It was intended for catastrophic events, such as the attacks on our nation on 9/11 and severe natural disasters." She said the president's action "completely undermines" the role of Congress and is of "dubious constitutionality." Voting to block Trump's declaration would insert some distance from the president after she voted for Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said Friday, "I want to make sure that the resolution of disapproval is exactly what I think it is, because if it is as I understand it to be, I will likely be supporting the resolution to disapprove of the action." On Tuesday, Murkowski said she worries about the precedent that could be set by Trump going around Congress to fund the wall. "I don't like this. I think it takes us down a road, and with a precedent, that if it's allowed, that we may come to regret," she said. ___ CONSTITUTIONAL CONCERNS He's the most senior member of the Senate: its president pro tempore, third in line to the presidency, a former chairman of the Judiciary Committee. And Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, doesn't like Trump's emergency declaration. "The Constitution grants Congress the authority to appropriate federal dollars," Grassley said pointedly in a statement. He has not said how he'd vote on the resolution for disapproval, but frowning on the president's declaration could send a signal to less-senior senators on the fence. ___ CONSERVATISM AND PRECEDENT Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, says Trump's declaration is probably legal. But. "Whether or not it should be legal is a different matter. Congress has been ceding far too much power to the executive branch for decades," Lee said in a statement. "We should use this moment as an opportunity to start taking that power back." Lee has not said how he'd vote on Trump's declaration. But he has recent history of bucking Trump over ending military assistance to Saudi Arabia in Yemen's civil war. ___ THE CANDIDATES The 2020 elections loom, and not just for the presidency. Twenty-two Republican-held Senate seats are on the ballot, including some targeted by Democrats. Among them: Colorado, which has voted for the Democrat in the most recent three presidential elections and is represented by Republican Sen. Cory Gardner. His state is one of 16 that have filed suit against the emergency declaration. He has said Congress is "most appropriately situated to fund border security." Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., comes from a state that votes reliably Republican. That's why his break with Trump over the emergency declaration was so striking. "It wouldn't provide enough funding to adequately secure our borders," Tillis said. "I don't believe a national emergency declaration is the solution." He warned that the move could take the country down a "rabbit hole" with future presidents seizing unchecked executive power. ___ THE SWING STATER Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is not up for re-election in 2020, but he hails from perhaps the nation's swingiest presidential state. He lost the GOP presidential nomination to Trump in 2016. And he's told reporters he doesn't think he can support Trump's declaration. "No crisis justifies violating the Constitution," he said. ___ THE SENATE'S FREEDOM CAUCUS Senators poised to retire are in some ways freed of consequences for voting how they please. So it's worth watching Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who said: "Declaring a national emergency is unnecessary, unwise and inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution." Then there's never-shy Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, who said Saturday that he worries the declaration will set up a government "by fiat" in the future. ___ THE NEWCOMERS Look for how freshmen Republicans, elected despite the 2018 backlash against Trump, vote on such a disapproval resolution. Sen. Mitt Romney, the newcomer from Utah who voted to reopen the government without paying for Trump's wall, has publicly feuded with Trump for years. "I do not believe declaring a national emergency is the right approach," he said. Freshman Sen. Martha McSally, appointed to the border state seat held by the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, is facing a challenge in 2020 from Democrat Mark Kelly. She hasn't said how she'd vote on the resolution, a silence for which Kelly has criticized her. ___ Follow Kellman on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/APLaurieKellman FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2018 file photo, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talks with reporters after speaking on the Senate floor, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The fight over President Donald Trump's border wall is heading to the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate, putting Republicans in the uncomfortable spot of deciding whether to back his declaration of a national emergency(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) LOS ANGELES (AP) - Virgin Galactic's rocket plane reached space for a second time in a test flight over California on Friday, climbing higher and faster than before while also carrying a crewmember to evaluate the long-awaited passenger experience. The winged spaceship soared at three times the speed of sound to an altitude of 55.8 miles (89.8 kilometers) before gliding to a safe landing at Mojave Air and Space Port in the desert north of Los Angeles, Virgin Galactic said. In addition to chief pilot David Mackay and co-pilot Mike "Sooch" Masucci, the crew included Virgin Galactic's chief astronaut instructor, Beth Moses. Moses, described as an expert micro-gravity researcher who is in charge of evaluating the passenger cabin, floated free to test elements of the interior. Virgin Galactic is working toward commercial operations that will take passengers on supersonic thrill rides to the lower reaches of space to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and a view of the Earth below. The company intends to operate a fleet of spaceships out of Spaceport America in the high desert of southern New Mexico. Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity rocket plane flown into the atmosphere before launching Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Mojave, Calif. Virgin Galactic says its rocket plane has reached space for a second time in a test flight over California on Friday. In addition to two pilots, the spacecraft carried a third crewmember to evaluate the cabin from a passenger perspective. (AP Photo/Matt Hartman) The flight was delayed two days due to winds, and company founder Richard Branson tweeted that he had to miss it so he could attend a concert in Colombia to raise money for humanitarian aid to crisis-stricken Venezuela. "Sad to miss spaceflight but looking forward to the concert," he wrote. The spaceship, named VSS Unity, is carried aloft by a special carrier aircraft and released at high altitude where it ignites its rocket. It first reached space on Dec. 13 in a flight to an altitude of 51.4 miles (82.7 kilometers) at slightly less than Mach 3. Earlier this month, the rocket motor from that flight was donated to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and pilots Mark "Forger" Stucky and Rick "CJ" Sturckow were awarded commercial astronaut wings by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The only previous commercial astronaut wings went to pilots Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie, for their 2004 flights in SpaceShipOne, the predecessor to Virgin Galactic's rocket plane, which is a design called SpaceShipTwo. A major goal of Friday's flight was evaluating its handling during descent with its twin tails rotated upward relative to the fuselage. The "feathered" configuration is used to slow and stabilize the craft as it falls back into the thickening atmosphere. The name came from designer Burt Rutan comparing the mechanism to the feathers of a badminton shuttlecock. The tails rotate back to normal position for the glide to Earth. Altitude and speed were not specific targets for the flight, Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said in an interview earlier this week. "If we have sort of a nominal-duration burn we will get up pretty high, but that is not one of the formal test goals for this one," he said. Whitesides indicated that cabin esthetics, including coloration and the play of sunlight across surfaces, are considered important and that the focus on it also shows the program is advancing. "That's not to say that we are fully done with vehicle testing, but we really are starting to move into the interiors testing phase, and that's a really important milestone for the company," he said. Whitesides said he could not say how many more test flights remain. "We're getting there, I mean we're making good progress, and I don't think it's a huge remaining number now. There's light at the end of the tunnel now," he said. Branson has said he would like to make his first flight to space this summer on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. "I think he'd love to fly as soon as possible, and we'd love to figure out ways to enable that to happen," he said. But Whitesides could not commit to a date. Like the December flight, VSS Unity again carried a payload of various experiments organized under a NASA program. Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity, right, blasts off into space Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Mojave, Calif. Virgin The company says the winged spaceship reached an altitude of 55.8 miles (89.8 kilometers). In addition to two pilots, the spacecraft carried a third crewmember to evaluate the cabin from a passenger perspective. (AP Photo/Matt Hartman) Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity returns to Mojave Air and Space Port after reaching space Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Mojave, Calif. Virgin The company says the winged spaceship reached an altitude of 55.8 miles (89.8 kilometers). In addition to two pilots, the spacecraft carried a third crewmember to evaluate the cabin from a passenger perspective. (AP Photo/Matt Hartman) RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia House Republicans announced plans Friday to hold a public hearing where Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and the two women who have recently accused him of sexual assault can testify, a move that will likely inflame a partisan battle over the General Assembly's role in investigating the allegations. Republican Del. Rob Bell said the House Courts of Justice Committee will invite Vanessa Tyson, Meredith Watson and Fairfax to a hearing at an unspecified future date. "This will give all parties a chance to be heard," Bell said in brief remarks on the House floor. He added that Republicans believe they have a duty to investigate the allegations made against the lieutenant governor. Democratic House members have said they don't believe the General Assembly is the best place to investigate the allegations at this time and said they don't want to impede possible criminal investigations. "The justice and the due process that we seek should be by a law enforcement entity, not by individuals who will be on the ballot in November," Del. Lashrecse Aird said on the House floor. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax presides over the Senate session at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The chairman of the House Courts of Justice committee announced that they will hold a hearing on the sexual accusations that have been placed against Fairfax. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) But Democrats are not united on the issue. Del. Lee Carter gave an emotional speech where he broke with his caucus and said lawmakers should focus on the wishes of the alleged victims, who have indicated a willingness to testify before the legislature. "When I was raped, I did not report to law enforcement because I did not believe that that was a way in which I would achieve justice," Carter said, adding that survivors of sexual violence should have "the option of how they wish to seek justice." Earlier this month, Tyson publicly accused Fairfax of forcing her to perform oral sex in his hotel room during the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004. Her lawyer said last week that Tyson plans to meet with prosecutors in Massachusetts to detail her allegations. Meredith Watson has also publicly accused Fairfax of sexual assault. She issued a statement accusing him of raping her 19 years ago while they were students at Duke University. The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they are victims of sexual assault, but both women have come forward voluntarily. Both women reiterated Friday they were prepared to testify publicly at the General Assembly, but differed in their response to the GOP invitation. Tyson's lawyers issued a statement urging lawmakers to find a bipartisan "path forward," and said Tyson does not want to be "embroiled in a highly charged political environment." Watson said Friday that she is "gratified" by the Republicans' offer and looks forward to testifying, according to a statement issued by her attorney, Nancy Erika Smith. Fairfax has emphatically denied both accusations and blasted the GOP proposal Friday as a political stunt meant to distract the public from Republicans' recent votes against the Equal Rights Amendment, a gender-equality measure. "House Republicans want to pursue this historically unprecedented course of action because the accused is a popularly elected Democrat," said Fairfax spokeswoman Lauren Burke. The lieutenant governor in Virginia is largely a ceremonial role but is first in line to become governor if there's a vacancy. The accusations against Fairfax surfaced during an unprecedented time of turmoil in Virginia politics earlier this month. Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring, both Democrats, have separately faced calls to resign after acknowledging they dressed in blackface decades ago. Both have indicated they also plan to remain in office. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax presides over a Senate session at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The chairman of the House Courts of Justice committee announced that they will hold a hearing on the sexual accusations that have been placed against Fairfax. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) Virginia Del. Rob Bell, R-Albermarle, top, Chairman of the Courts of Justice Committee, announces that he will call a hearing with the two accusers and Lt. Gov Justin Fairfax to hear their accusations during the House session at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) This image taken from video from Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, shows Vanessa Tyson speaking at a Stanford University symposium on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019 in Stanford, Calif. Tyson, appearing as one of two panelists at the event called "Betrayal and Courage in the Age of #MeToo," was making her first public appearance since she accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of assaulting her in 2004. Tyson is a political science professor at Southern California's Scripps College who is spending a year at Stanford as a research fellow. (CASBS/Stanford University via AP) MEDELLIN, Colombia (AP) - A six-floor apartment building in Medellin that Pablo Escobar once called home was demolished Friday in an emotional ceremony that officials hope will dampen some of the fervor for the notorious drug lord's criminal life and instead showcase the city's rebirth. Rogelio Gomez, the engineer in charge of the demolition, said that 180 detonators were used to topple the Monaco building and a 100 meter (328 feet) security zone was designated around the area. "1,500 people who live nearby were evacuated for security," he also said. The explosion took place at 11:53 local time and sent a cloud of dust 10 meters (33 feet) into the air. Colombian President Ivan Duque, who was still a teenager when Escobar was killed in 1993 in a rooftop shootout with police, said the explosion "means that history is not going to be written in terms of the perpetrators but by recognizing the victims." The white concrete building in Medellin's leafy Poblado neighborhood was gutted by a car bomb in 1988 and has remained an unoccupied eyesore ever since, drawing mostly foreign tourists who sign up every day for tours of Escobar's former hometown haunts. The Netflix "Narcos" series has also popularized such attractions. Clouds of dust rise from the implosion of a six-floor apartment building that former cartel boss Pablo Escobar once called home, in Medellin, Colombia, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Mayor Federico Gutierrez had been pushing to raze the building and erect in its place a park honoring the thousands of victims, including four presidential candidates and some 500 police officers, killed by Escobar's army of assassins during the Medellin cartel's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s. (AP Photo/Luis Benavidez) But Mayor Federico Gutierrez had been pushing to raze the building and erect in its place a park honoring the thousands of victims, including four presidential candidates and some 500 police officers, killed by Escobar's army of assassins during the Medellin cartel's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s. "We are paying back a historical debt with our victims," Gutierrez said prior to the demolition. Retired Gen. Rosse Jose Serrano, who for many years led the elite police squad that pursued Escobar, said the Monaco building was where the famous capo planned some of his most brazen attacks. "It was his criminal fortress," Serrano told The Associated Press. Still, some in Colombia remember him fondly as a Robin Hood-like father figure who gave away homes to the poor and railed against the nation's political elites. Escobar built the Monaco for his wife, and the fugitive's family was living there when Escobar's rivals from the Cali cartel bombed it in 1988. After his death, successive Colombian administrations burdened by red tape, legal challenges and perhaps fear of awakening Escobar's ghosts struggled to find a buyer to take over the abandoned property. Once the murder capital of the world, Medellin, like much of Colombia, has seen major improvements in security over the past 15 years, although the murder rate has been inching up since its all-time low in 2015. Nonetheless, the city's vibrant cultural scene, spring-like weather and entrepreneurial locals have converted it into one of the gems of the South American nation's tourism boom. ___ Garcia reported from Bogota, Colombia Clouds of dust rise during the implosion of a six-floor apartment building that former cartel boss Pablo Escobar once called home, in Medellin, Colombia, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Mayor Federico Gutierrez had been pushing to raze the building and erect in its place a park honoring the thousands of victims, including four presidential candidates and some 500 police officers, killed by Escobar's army of assassins during the Medellin cartel's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s. (AP Photo/Luis Benavidez) WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats controlling the House have teed up a vote next week to block President Donald Trump from using a national emergency declaration to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, accelerating a showdown in Congress that could divide Republicans and lead to Trump's first veto. The Democrats introduced a resolution Friday to block Trump's declaration, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would vote on the measure Tuesday. It is sure to pass, and the GOP-run Senate may adopt it as well. Trump quickly promised a veto. "Will I veto it? 100 percent," Trump told reporters at the White House. Any Trump veto would likely be sustained, but the upcoming battle will test Republican support for the president's move, which even some of his allies view as a stretch - and a slap at lawmakers' control over the power of the federal purse. Pelosi, D-Calif., said she'd honor her oath of office and uphold the Constitution, adding, "I wish he would have the same dedication to that oath of office himself." Speaking to reporters in Laredo, Texas, she said, "This is a path I would not recommend he go down. I don't expect him to sign it, but I do expect us to send it" to him. House GOP leaders will urge rank-and-file Republicans on Monday to oppose the measure, Republican aides said. If all Democrats and at least 55 Republicans vote for it, it would pass by a veto-proof margin - a two-thirds majority. The aides spoke on condition of anonymity to describe leaders' plans. The House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. House Democrats have introduced a resolution Friday to block the national emergency declaration that President Donald Trump issued last week to fund his long-sought wall along the U.S-Mexico border, setting up a fight that could result in Trump's first-ever veto. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) A staff aide introduced the measure during a short pro forma House session in which Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., presided over an almost-empty chamber. "What the president is attempting is an unconstitutional power grab," said Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, the sponsor of the resolution, on a call with reporters. "There is no emergency at the border." Trump's declaration of a national emergency gives him access to about $3.6 billion in funding for military construction projects to divert to border fencing. But the administration is more likely to tap funding from a federal asset forfeiture fund and Defense Department anti-drug efforts first. Trump's edict is also being challenged in the federal courts, where a host of Democratic-led states such as California are among those that have sued to overturn Trump's order. The House may also join in. For Democrats, the vote is another chance to challenge Trump over funding for a border wall, the issue that was central to the 35-day government shutdown. It also puts some Republicans from swing districts and states in a difficult spot, as many have expressed misgivings about Trump's action despite their support for his border security agenda. Should the House and the Senate initially approve the measure, Congress seems unlikely to muster the two-thirds majorities in each chamber that would be needed later to override a Trump veto. Republicans who oppose the emergency declaration on the first vote might switch and rally behind a Trump veto. But an initial roll call with strong numbers of Republicans defying him would be an embarrassing show of GOP rifts. The measure to block Trump's edict will be closely watched in the Senate, where moderates such as Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., have signaled they would back it. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is only a reluctant supporter of Trump on the topic. Trump's GOP allies promised they would uphold any veto denying Democrats the two-thirds votes required to overcome one. "Democrats' angst over Congress' power of the purse is unwarranted, especially since the commander in chief's authority to redirect military funds for a national emergency is affirmed in a law passed by their own branch," said top House Judiciary Committee Republican Doug Collins of Georgia. The battle is over an emergency declaration Trump issued to access billions of dollars beyond what Congress has authorized to start erecting border barriers. Building his proposed wall was the most visible trademark of Trump's presidential campaign. Congress last week approved a vast spending bill providing nearly $1.4 billion to build 55 miles (89 kilometers) of border barriers in Texas' Rio Grande Valley while preventing a renewed government shutdown. Trump had demanded $5.7 billion to construct more than 200 miles (322 kilometers). Trump wants to use an emergency declaration and other authorities to gain access to an additional $6.6 billion for wall building. That money would be transferred from a federal asset forfeiture fund, Defense Department anti-drug efforts and a military construction fund. Federal officials have yet to identify which projects would be affected. Two senior defense officials said Friday that it will take months for the Pentagon to assess a still-to-come Department of Homeland Security proposal to siphon anti-drug funds to build barriers, sign contracts and begin construction. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide information that has not yet been made public. Castro, the resolution sponsor, said that he has already garnered support from most of the House and has at least one GOP sponsor, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan. ___ Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant in Houston and Lolita C. Baldor and Alan Fram in Washington contributed to this report. President Donald Trump speaks during a National African American History Month reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) The U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. House Democrats have introduced a resolution Friday to block the national emergency declaration that President Donald Trump issued last week to fund his long-sought wall along the U.S-Mexico border, setting up a fight that could result in Trump's first-ever veto. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) WASHINGTON (AP) - Special counsel Robert Mueller is filing a sentencing memorandum in one of the two criminal cases against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Prosecutors are scheduled to file their document Friday in federal court in Washington, where Manafort pleaded guilty in September to two counts of conspiracy arising from his political lobbying work in Ukraine. Each count carries a maximum of five years in prison. Though Manafort cut a plea deal with Mueller, prosecutors aren't expected to recommend leniency because they say he lied to investigators after agreeing to cooperate. The punishment he faces in Washington is much lower than what he faces in a separate tax and bank fraud case in Virginia. Mueller's team in that case endorsed a sentence of between 19 and 24 years in prison. The Modi-governments attempt to put diplomatic pressure on Pakistan has also failed, said Mr Owaisi. Mumbai: Asaduddin Owaisi, chief of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Saturday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over the Pulwama terror attacks saying it was a big political, diplomatic and intelligence failure. Who is responsible for the death of 40 soldiers in the attack? asked Mr Owaisi while addressing the first joint rally with Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar at Shivaji Park in Mumbai. About 200 kgs of RDX was used for the blast in Pulwama. The nation wants to know who is responsible for this and what action will be taken against them. Was the intelligence department sleeping?, he said. The Modi-governments attempt to put diplomatic pressure on Pakistan has also failed, said Mr Owaisi. All claims of Mr Modi pressurising Pakistan diplomatically are false. Despite giving a grand welcome in Ahmedabad, Chinas president Xi Jingping is creating hurdles in declaring Masood Azhar, the mastermind of Pulwama attack, as a terrorist, he said. Calling the Pulwama attack as a political failure, Mr Owaisi said, The BJP had a government in Pakistan along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The governor regime also belongs to the BJP. Despite this, they failed to prevent the attack in Pulwama. He also appealed to the Muslim community not to support the Congress. The Muslims should stop supporting the Congress. It is responsible for the plight of Muslims in the country today, he added. The rally was organised by the Bahujan Vanchit Aghadi, a political umbre-lla of left outs led by Dalit leader Prakash Ambedk-ar. If elected by people, the BVA will try to solve the issue of downtrodden people, said Mr Ambedkar. There is no issue in seat-sharing with Congr-ess, but we have ideological differences, as they incline towards Hindut-va, Mr Ambedkar added. When it comes to an attack on the nation, the entire India becomes one. There is unity in diversity in the country, he added. The AIMIM chief also criticised the BJP government saying its polices are anti-Muslim. In last four and half years, anti-Muslim policies were implemented by the government on a large scale. Mr Modi cant impose his ideology on the Muslim community. Even the ministers in the Modi-government are making statements against the Muslims. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered additional DNA testing Friday on evidence that a death-row inmate says will prove his innocence in a 35-year-old murder case that has drawn national attention. Former Gov. Jerry Brown previously ordered testing of four pieces of evidence that condemned inmate Kevin Cooper says will show he was framed for the 1983 hatchet and knife killings of four people, including two children, in Chino Hills. Newsom expanded the testing to include a green button and hair, blood and fingernail scrapings from the victims. San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson said he, surviving son Joshua Ryen, and other family members are disappointed by Newsom's order, though the Democratic governor emphasized that he is taking no position on Cooper's guilt or innocence at this time. "Especially in cases where the government seeks to impose the ultimate punishment of death, I need to be satisfied that all relevant evidence is carefully and fairly examined," Newsom said in ordering the testing. The case attracted national interest after New York Times' columnist Nicholas Kristof, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California and reality television star Kim Kardashian urged officials to allow re-testing. FILE - This undated file photo provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shows inmate Kevin Cooper. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered DNA testing on all evidence that Cooper says would prove his innocence in his 35-year-old murder case that has drawn national attention. Newsom on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, ordered testing of hair, blood, fingernail scrapings from the victims and a green button. Cooper says the testing will show he was framed for the 1983 killings of four people in Chino Hills. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP, File) Prosecutors say previous tests show Cooper, now 61, killed Doug and Peggy Ryen, their 10-year-old daughter Jessica and 11-year-old neighbor Christopher Hughes. They say the tests proved Cooper was in the Ryen's home and smoked cigarettes in the Ryen's stolen station wagon, and that Cooper's blood and the blood of at least one victim was on a T-shirt found by the side of a road leading away from the scene of the murders. "Unfortunately, over time it seems the victims' desire for justice in this case matters less and less," District Attorney Jason Anderson said in a statement. "Prior DNA testing that Mr. Cooper sought, agreed to and claimed would exonerate him have all confirmed Mr. Cooper's guilt and that Mr. Cooper's allegations of evidence tampering were unfounded." Cooper's attorney, Norman Hile, said the testing will likely take months, though the timing will be set by agreement between himself, prosecutors and the former judge Brown named to oversee the retesting. "We hope that this additional testing will lead to the exoneration of Kevin Cooper and revealing who killed the Ryens and Christopher Hughes," Hile said. Brown in December ordered the retesting of DNA on a tan T-shirt, orange towel, and a hatchet handle and sheath. Hile has said investigators planted his client's blood on the T-shirt. He says more sensitive DNA tests are now available that may show who wore the shirt. He contends that investigators also planted other evidence to frame his client, then a young black man who escaped from a prison east of Los Angeles two days before the slayings. Supporters of Cooper say other evidence, including untested hair samples, indicates there were multiple killers who are white or Hispanic. Newsom ordered the testing of hair samples collected from the victims' hands and the crime scene, as well as two blood samples and a green button that investigators say links Cooper to the crime and Hile says was planted. The goal is to see whose DNA is on the items, Newsom said. He noted, however, that multiple DNA from unknown contributors may have contaminated the evidence, given the age of the case and that items have been routinely handled by investigators and others. California hasn't executed anyone since 2006. A federal appellate court in San Francisco stayed Cooper's scheduled execution in 2004 and called for further review of the evidence, but his appeals have been rejected by the California and U.S. supreme courts. EL PASO, Texas (AP) - U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it's installing coils of razor wire at Texas ports of entry across from Juarez, Mexico, where large groups of migrants wait to seek asylum. The agency released photos of long coils of concertina wire installed on movable barriers in El Paso. Soldiers and CBP agents deployed to the border have installed the wire at or near various entry ports. Local officials protested the wire, including Rep. Veronica Escobar. The El Paso Democrat says border bridges "should not become militarized zones based on a misguided policy rooted in fear." CBP says it's responding to increasing numbers of migrants in Juarez, including some members of the caravan that originally went to the border at Piedras Negras, Mexico. That's across from Eagle Pass, Texas, roughly 400 miles (644 kilometers) from El Paso. SEBRING, Fla. (AP) - A man arrested in the fatal shootings of five women at a Florida bank last month has entered a plea of not guilty. Zephen Xaver filed the written not guilty plea Wednesday. He requested a jury trial and said he will likely file a motion challenging the legality of his indictment. Xaver waived his right to appear at an arraignment hearing that had been scheduled for next Monday. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty against Xaver, 21. Earlier this month, a grand jury indicted Xaver on five counts of first-degree murder in the Jan. 23 shooting deaths of four employees and a customer at the SunTrust bank in Sebring in central Florida. Sebring police said the women were shot in an apparently random act of violence. The shooter called police to report that he had fired shots inside the bank. Negotiations failed to persuade him to leave the building. The SWAT team then entered the bank, and the gunman eventually gave up, police said. Florida Department of Corrections records show that Xaver was hired as a trainee prison guard at Avon Park Correctional Institution on Nov. 2 and resigned Jan. 9. No disciplinary issues were reported. Xaver remains jailed without bond. ROME (AP) - The leader of one of Italy's ruling parties says a high-speed rail tunnel through the Alps is on track for completion but the project might be modified. Matteo Salvini's right-wing League party supports the Turin-Lyon High-Speed Train link. Salvini told Radio Radicale on Friday that the government's goal is to finish building the tunnel, a key part of a European Union project linking southern Spain with eastern Europe. League supporters, especially business owners in northern Italy, consider the train tunnel vital to staying competitive. The League's governing coalition partner, the 5-Star Movement, promised supporters before last year's election it would stop the tunnel from being completed. The project has been a source of government in-fighting. Salvini told Radio Radicale some features, such as a train station, could be eliminated. FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019 file photo, a view of the Italian entrance of the 1871 Frejus tunnel on the conventional railway between Italy and France in Bardonecchia, Italy. The leader of one of Italy's ruling parties says construction of a high-speed rail tunnel through the Alps is on track for completion but the project might be modified. Matteo Salvini told Radio Radicale on Friday, Feb. 22 the government's goal is to finish building the tunnel, part of an EU project to link Spain and eastern Europe. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, file) FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2019 file photo, Italian Deputy Premier and Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini visits the construction site of a high-speed railway project between Italy and France, in Chiomonte, near Turin, Italy. The leader of one of Italy's ruling parties says construction of a high-speed rail tunnel through the Alps is on track for completion but the project might be modified. Matteo Salvini's right-wing League party supports the Turin-Lyon High-Speed Train link. The League's governing coalition partner, the 5-Star Movement, campaigned on stopping it. (Alessandro Di Marco/ANSA via AP, File) WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House said Friday it's "looking into" Labor Secretary Alex Acosta's handling of a secret plea deal with a wealthy financier accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls A federal judge ruled Thursday that prosecutors in Florida violated the rights of victims by reaching the non-prosecution agreement with Jeffrey Epstein. Acosta was the Miami U.S. attorney who oversaw the arrangement. President Donald Trump said he didn't know much about the case but volunteered that Acosta has done "a great job" as labor secretary. As for the Epstein case, Trump added, "That seems like a long time ago" Trump's spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, called it a "complicated case." She added that it was "something we're certainly looking into, but that they made the best possible decision and deal they could have gotten at that time." Asked if Trump still had confidence in Acosta, Sanders said: "Again, we're looking into the matter. I'm not aware of any changes." Acosta has called the deal appropriate. FILE- In this March 22, 2017, file photo, Labor secretary-designate Alex Acosta testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Judge Kenneth Marra ruled Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, that the victims of financier Jeffrey Epstein should have been consulted under federal law. Marra stopped short of invalidating the non-prosecution agreement but asked prosecutors and victims' lawyers to recommend in 15 days how to move forward. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam pledged to civil rights leaders Friday to "do everything that I can do bring good from what happened" after a scandal over a racist yearbook photo and an admission of wearing blackface imperiled his governorship earlier this month. Northam met with members of the Richmond 34 - former Virginia Union University students who protested segregation at a department store nearly 60 years ago - at an Executive Mansion breakfast Friday. The event came a day after Northam canceled an appearance at the historically black college to honor the group in what was supposed to be his second public event since the yearbook scandal broke three weeks ago. "This last few weeks have been difficult and hurtful for Virginia and for this country, and I regret that," Northam said at the breakfast. "I will do everything that I can to bring good from what happened." He added that he believed Virginia had a "unique opportunity to really take action" to address "tremendous inequities." Northam was supposed to take part in a public tribute to the Richmond 34 Thursday on the campus. But he canceled his appearance after students asked him not to come, saying his presence could overshadow the event. Members of the group said they were receptive to the governor's approach and appreciated that he spent much of the breakfast listening to their stories. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam greets, a member of the Richmond 34, Leroy Bray and his wife Cynthia, center, for a breakfast at the Governors Mansion at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The Richmond 34 were a group of African Americans who defied segregation laws in the 1960's (AP Photo/Steve Helber) "He knows that we are in his corner," Elizabeth Johnson Rice, a member of the group said. Anderson Franklin, who works at Boston College, said he was glad that Northam was open to having the breakfast. "I thought it was a very gracious and a very important meeting," Franklin said. He said that some of the conversation focused on the fact that some members of the Richmond 34 still haven't had their arrest records expunged. Members of the group were charged with trespassing, convicted and fined after trying to integrate the dining facility at the Thalhimers department store in downtown Richmond. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned their convictions in 1963. Northam has indicated he wants to make criminal justice reform a key part of his efforts to win back support of the black community during his remaining three years in office. Other areas of focus include helping minority-owned businesses and improving health outcomes of minority patients. Leaders throughout Virginia's political structure have called on Gov. Ralph Northam to resign after a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page surfaced at the beginning of the month. Northam apologized, initially saying he appeared in a photo showing one man in blackface and another wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. Northam did not say which costume he wore. The next day he said he no longer believed he was in the photo but acknowledged wearing blackface the same year to look like Michael Jackson in a dance contest. The political pressure for his ouster lessened considerably as scandals have enveloped his would-be successors. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, has denied allegations from two women that he sexually assaulted them, and Attorney General Mark Herring said he wore blackface in college, making the public admission just a few days after calling for Northam to resign. Northam has largely stayed out of sight since then, with his only other public event being the funeral of a state trooper. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, top center, greets members of the Richmond 34 and other African-American leaders for a breakfast at the Governors Mansion at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The Richmond 34 were a group of African Americans who defied segregation laws in the 1960's (AP Photo/Steve Helber) Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, second from right, and his wife Pam, right, talk with former Virginia Union University president, Rev. Claude Perkins, second from left, and his wife, Cheryl, left, at a breakfast for the Richmond 34 at the Governors Mansion at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The breakfast was for The Richmond 34 were a group of African Americans who defied segregation laws in the 1960's (AP Photo/Steve Helber) Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, center top, greets members of the Richmond 34 for a breakfast at the Governors Mansion at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The Richmond 34 were a group of African Americans who defied segregation laws in the 1960's (AP Photo/Steve Helber) Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, right, talks with former Virginia Union University president, Rev. Claude Perkins, center, and his wife, Cheryl, left, for a breakfast for the Richmond 34 at the Governors Mansion at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The breakfast was for The Richmond 34 were a group of African Americans who defied segregation laws in the 1960's (AP Photo/Steve Helber) Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, center, and his wife, Pam ,right, talk with former Virginia Union University president, Rev. Claude Perkins, left, at a breakfast at the Governors Mansion at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The breakfast was for The Richmond 34 were a group of African Americans who defied segregation laws in the 1960's (AP Photo/Steve Helber) RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Brazilian authorities on Friday began moving humanitarian aid to its northern border with Venezuela even though the international crossing has been closed. Brazil's air force sent a plane with food and medicine to Boa Vista, the main city in the northern state of Roraima. They planned to transport via trucks the goods, which included rice, powered milk and first aid kits, to Pacaraima, the city that borders Venezuela. Humanitarian aid to Venezuela has become a flashpoint in the struggle between President Nicolas Maduro and Juan Guaido, who has been recognized by over 50 nations, including Brazil, as the country's president. Guaido has announced plans to bring in aid on Saturday via Brazil, Colombia and the Caribbean island of Curacao. In anticipation of the planned aid delivery on Saturday, on Thursday Maduro closed Brazil's border crossing. The maritime border with Curacao had also been shut. Brazilian officials stressed Friday they would not engage in a military confrontation with oil-rich Venezuela, which supplies much of Roraima's energy. A Venezuelan holds a sign that reads in Spanish "Venezuelan migrants at the border between Brazil-Venezuela, we support the humanitarian aid. Maduro assassin" as she waits for the opening of the border in Pacaraima, Roraima state, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Heightened tensions in Venezuela left a woman dead and a dozen injured near the border with Brazil on Friday, in the first deadly clash over the opposition's attempts to bring in emergency food and medicine that President Nicolas Maduro says isn't needed and has vowed to block. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros) "We have to wait and see how things develop," Augusto Heleno, minister of institutional security, told Globo News. "What's clear is that Brazil will not take any aggressive action." Still, desperately needed aid sitting on the border was sure to raise tensions in Pacaraima, a dusty city with many dirt roads. In recent years, Pacaraima has received thousands of Venezuelans crossing the border in search of food and medicine. While most Venezuelans continue to other Brazilian cities, the most destitute stay in Pacaraima because they have no money for bus fare. Instead, they sleep on the sides of roads, look for odd jobs and try to hitch hike to Boa Vista, about three hours drive south. Many are emaciated and have health problems. On Friday, many Venezuelans could be seen crossing the border illegally away from the checkpoint. Taxi-cabs lineup to fill up on fuel near San Antonio, Venezuela, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. The vehicles queue for almost 2 kilometers from the gas station, as fuel sales are restricted to a couple of days per week in an attempt to control smuggling into Colombia. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) Venezuelans walk into Brazil through a field, in Pacaraima, Roraima state, Brazil, Friday, Feb.22, 2019. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro ordered the border closed as the opposition made plans to bring in humanitarian aid from Brazil and two other neighboring countries on Saturday. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros) Venezuelans wait for the opening of the border in Pacaraima, Roraima state, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Heightened tensions in Venezuela left a woman dead and a dozen injured near the border with Brazil on Friday, in the first deadly clash over the opposition's attempts to bring in emergency food and medicine that President Nicolas Maduro says isn't needed and has vowed to block. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros) WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. and Chinese negotiators agreed Friday to extend high-level trade talks through the weekend, and President Donald Trump said he hoped to meet next month at his Florida resort with President Xi Jinping to try to finalize an agreement. The news followed two days of negotiations in Washington aimed at resolving a trade war that has rattled financial markets and threatened global economic growth. "We're making a lot of progress," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I think there's a very good chance that a deal can be made." Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the negotiations, which had been scheduled to conclude Friday afternoon, would continue through Sunday. The Chinese delegation is led by Xi's special envoy, Vice Premier Liu He, the American team by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Trump had originally warned that he would escalate the tariffs he has imposed on $200 billion in Chinese imports, from 10 to 25 percent, if the two sides failed to reach a deal by March 2. But in recent days, and again on Friday, he raised the possibility of extending that deadline if negotiators were nearing an agreement. The world's two biggest economies are sparring over U.S. allegations that Beijing uses predatory tactics in a drive to make Chinese companies world leaders in such advanced industries as robotics and driverless cars. FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2019, file photo, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, right, talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, while they line up for a group photo at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. China's economy czar is going to Washington for talks Thursday and Friday aimed at ending a tariff war over Beijing's technology ambitions.(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) Those tactics, the Trump administration argues, include cyber-theft, unfair subsidies for state-owned Chinese companies, the use of regulations to hobble China's foreign competitors and pressure on American companies to hand over technology in exchange for access to the Chinese market. The administration contends that Beijing has repeatedly failed to live up to its past commitments to open its markets and to treat foreign companies more fairly. The president has imposed 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports and 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth. The latter grouping would face the 25 percent tariffs, too, if no agreement is reached. Beijing has lashed back with import taxes of its own on $110 billion in U.S. goods. These tariffs are heavily aimed at soybeans and other agricultural products in an effort to pressure Trump supporters in the U.S. farm belt. On Friday, the president and his advisers provided few details on this week's negotiations. Trump did say the two sides had reached some agreement on currency manipulation but offered no specifics. The administration has worried that Beijing would blunt the impact of Trump's sanctions by manipulating its currency down to give Chinese companies a competitive edge in international markets. Trump said both sides want to "make this a real deal." "We want to make it a meaningful deal," the president said, "not a deal that's done and doesn't mean anything. We want to make this a deal that's going to last for many, many years and a deal that's going to be good for both countries." Trump raised the possibility that the U.S. will drop criminal charges against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, saying the issue would be discussed with Attorney General Bill Barr and U.S. attorneys. The U.S. has charged Huawei with lying about violating sanctions against Iran and with stealing trade secrets. Asked about Huawei before the Oval Office meeting with Liu, Trump said that a decision on Huawei is pending, but "right now, it's not something we're discussing." After Trump appeared with Liu, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that Beijing had agreed to buy 10 million metric tons of American soybeans, tweeting: "Hats off to @POTUS for bringing China to the table." China's soybean tariffs have squeezed many American farmers. In the first 10 months of 2018, U.S. soybean exports to China dropped to 8.2 million metric tons from 21.4 million metric tons a year earlier - a 62 percent freefall, according to the Agriculture Department. In front of Liu and the press corps, Trump ridiculed members of his own trade team for using the term "memoranda of understanding," or MOU, to describe the agreements they were working out with the Chinese. "You either make a deal or you're not," Trump said. "To have these other agreements doesn't mean anything because they're not that meaningful in my opinion." Lighthizer at first defended the acronym, describing MOUs as binding contracts, then made light of the rebuke and vowed never to use the term again. The U.S.-China conflict has rattled markets. It has also fanned uncertainty among businesses that must decide where to invest and whether Trump's tariffs - which raise the cost of imports on the target list - will last long enough to justify replacing Chinese suppliers with those from countries not subject to the tariffs. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have all downgraded their forecasts for the global economy, citing the heightened trade tensions. The Chinese economy, in particular, is decelerating: The IMF expects China to record 6.2 percent growth this year, down from 6.6 percent in 2018. "The Chinese economy is definitely hurting right now," said Timothy Keeler, partner at the law firm Mayer Brown and former chief of staff for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. "There's a lot of leverage for the U.S." Myron Brilliant, head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the two countries have yet to bridge their differences over nettlesome issues such as the forced technology transfer. He said the chamber wants to see an end to the tariffs between Washington and Beijing. But he also said American businesses are demanding a deal that would produce lasting improvement in Chinese trade practices. "We simply can't go back to business as it was before," Brilliant said. Beijing, he said, has "got to deliver the goods." ___ Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow Paul Wiseman on Twitter at https://twitter.com/PaulWisemanAP JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A soggy South saw floodwaters push into homes and submerge highways Friday as a week of relentless rain continued to pound the Mississippi and Tennessee valleys. Saturday could be worse across parts of eastern Arkansas, northern Mississippi and western Tennessee, with forecasters predicting inches more rain and a strong chance of tornadoes. The water will take weeks to drain, with the worst flood since 2011 predicted for parts of the lower Mississippi River. In places like Bruce, Mississippi, rivers leaped into flood stage and flash floods poured into homes and businesses. "It's worse than I've ever seen it," said the Rev. Eddie Spearman, pastor of the Lighthouse Church of Christ Jesus in Bruce. He said flash floods pushed into his church Wednesday, but by the time he got it cleaned up Thursday night, another drenching was underway. National Weather Service radar estimated the 2,000-person north Mississippi town saw 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain Thursday and Friday. Spearman said water was more than a foot (0.3 meter) deep in his church Friday morning, even though town officials placed sandbags trying to keep it dry. "It got the piano and organ and all of that stuff," the 65-year-old Spearman said. "I'm lost. I don't know what to do until all the water goes down." A Muscle Shoals police vehicle pushes through flood waters that cover Melissa Drive in Nathan Estates helping those who need to be evacuated, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Muscle Shoals, Ala. (Matt McKean/The TimesDaily via AP) Alderman Jimmy Hubbard said Bruce's city maintenance shed was flooded and more than 75 people were evacuated from the low-lying neighborhood near Spearman's church. "It's been total chaos for this little town all morning," Hubbard said. Volunteers were filling sandbags to try to save properties from the Skuna River, which jumped by 19 feet (5.8 meters) from noon Thursday to 2 p.m. Friday according to an automated gauge. Hubbard said officials fear a further rise as water drains from upriver. "We've got so much more water that hasn't even gotten here yet," Hubbard said. More than 30 school districts in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee closed Friday, in part because school buses couldn't navigate flooded roads. Road officials in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi reported Friday that more than 50 state or federal highways were closed by flooding, plus scores more local roads. Kentucky announced Friday that it was closing the U.S. 51 bridge over the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois, because of flooding on the southern approach. The bridge, which carries 4,700 vehicles a day, is likely to stay closed until Thursday, and possibly longer. The Ohio River at Cairo is predicted to crest Sunday at its third-highest level ever recorded, and stay that high into next week. Floodwater is roaring through spillway gates on many dams on the Tennessee River. "We're seeing some of the highest rates we've seen in many decades," said James Everett, manager of the Tennessee Valley Authority's River Forecast Center. The federal agency controls the dams. The Tennessee River at Savannah is predicted to hit its third-highest crest ever, threatening Hagy's Catfish Hotel, a famous restaurant near the Shiloh National Battlefield. Manager Joey McAfee, a 42-year-Hagy's veteran, said the restaurant was still serving catfish and hush puppies Friday. But he expected water to cut off the road to Hagy's by Saturday and said the restaurant was likely to flood for the first time since 2004. "We've got three garbage dumpsters that have already floated off," McAfee said. In Hickman, Kentucky, a hillside gave way Wednesday in a mudslide, threatening two houses, including one vacant since a 2011 mudslide. Interim City Manager Cub Stokes tells the Paducah Sun that officials are worried more rain could worsen the collapse. Flooding is also a concern on smaller rivers in the flat Mississippi Delta, where water can spread for miles when rivers overflow. Floodwaters have already entered a few houses in Greenwood, and that town's mayor told The Greenwood Commonwealth that employees were working frantically to keep water moving through drainage ditches that pancake-flat towns rely on to carry away water. "The pumps are on, and they're churning like crazy," Mayor Carolyn McAdams said. ___ Associated Press writers Adrian Sainz contributed from Memphis, Tennessee, and Jay Reeves from Birmingham, Alabama. ___ Follow Jeff Amy at http://twitter.com/jeffamy . Workers with the City of Vicksburg start construction on one of the three flood wall gates on Levee Street in Vicksburg Miss., on Thursday Feb. 21, 2019. According to the National Weather Service the Mississippi River is currently at 44.69 feet and is expected to reach 48.9 feet. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post, via AP) A low-lying park sits flooded by the swollen Mississippi River on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019 in Memphis, Tenn. Located on Memphis' Mud Island, Greenbelt Park (pictured) floods when the Mississippi River reaches high levels. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz). Workers with the City of Vicksburg start construction on one of the three flood wall gates on Levee Street in Vicksburg Miss., on Thursday Feb. 21, 2019. According to the National Weather Service the Mississippi River is currently at 44.69 feet and is expected to reach 48.9 feet. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post, via AP) Workers with the City of Vicksburg start construction on one of the three flood wall gates on Levee Street in Vicksburg Miss., on Thursday Feb. 21, 2019. According to the National Weather Service the Mississippi River is currently at 44.69 feet and is expected to reach 48.9 feet. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post, via AP) Workers with the City of Vicksburg start construction on one of the three flood wall gates on Levee Street in Vicksburg Miss., on Thursday Feb. 21, 2019. According to the National Weather Service the Mississippi River is currently at 44.69 feet and is expected to reach 48.9 feet. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post, via AP) A barge cruises past a low-lying park flooded by the swollen Mississippi River on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019 in Memphis, Tenn. Located on Memphis' Mud Island, Greenbelt Park (pictured) floods when the Mississippi River reaches high levels. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz). A barge cruises past a low-lying park flooded by the swollen Mississippi River on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019 in Memphis, Tenn. Located on Memphis' Mud Island, Greenbelt Park (pictured) floods when the Mississippi River reaches high levels. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz). What looks like a small lake off Swancott Road in Limestone County is just a flooded field Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Decatur, Ala. (Jeronimo Nisa/The Decatur Daily via AP) Homes along Alabama Street in Courtland sit in over a foot of water on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Decatur, Ala. More than 30 school districts in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee closed Friday, in part because school buses couldn't navigate flooded roads. (Dan Busey/The Decatur Daily via AP) A passerby stops to look over Jackson Street in Courtland after being closed due to flooding on Friday afternoon, Feb. 22, 2019, in Decatur, Ala. (Dan Busey/The Decatur Daily via AP) A backyard on Pryor Road in Limestone County is flooded on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Decatur, Ala. More than 30 school districts in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee closed Friday, in part because school buses couldn't navigate flooded roads. (Jeronimo Nisa/The Decatur Daily via AP) A child's toy tractor floats along a flooded Water Street in the Courtland area on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Decatur, Ala. More than 30 school districts in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee closed Friday, in part because school buses couldn't navigate flooded roads. (Dan Busey/The Decatur Daily via AP) Limestone County Sheriff Office's information officer Stephen Young talks to a driver on a section of Mooresville Road, between Humphrey Road and Old Hwy 20 that was partially flooded and closed to traffic on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Decatur, Ala. (Jeronimo Nisa/The Decatur Daily via AP) WATERTOWN, N.Y. (AP) - Hundreds of mourners attended a funeral Friday for a father and four daughters who died in an upstate New York house fire. Firefighters lined the entrance to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart church in Watertown for the funeral celebrating the lives of Aaron Bodah and his daughters: 4-year-old Skylar; 6-year-old Erin; 8-year-old Alexa and 14-year-old Merissa. The fire broke out early Feb. 14. A fifth daughter, 13-year-old Hailey, survived after escaping from the burning home; she ran to neighbors for help. "They were just the sweetest girls," Watertown teacher Erin Weston told WWNY . "They loved each other so much. You always saw them walking hand in hand. They loved school; they always had a smile on their face." Skylar, the family's youngest, loved singing and ponies. Erin, a first-grader, sang, too, and also danced. Alexa, a second-grader, was a fan of video games and superheroes. Merissa, a ninth-grader, liked doing makeup with their mom, Melissa Davey, also of Watertown. Prayers were offered Friday for Hailey and for the girls' mother, Melissa Davey. In this image taken from video provided by WWNY TV in Watertown, N.Y., pallbearers bring a casket with a Bodah family member toward an awaiting hearse at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart church in Watertown, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Five members of the Bodah family died in a house fire in the early hours of Valentine's Day, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Investigators said it appeared the fire started in the kitchen where pots were left on the electric stove. (WWNY TV via AP) Then the family members followed a coffin and several urns as they were placed in a hearse and taken to a cemetery. Investigators said it appeared the fire started in the kitchen, where pots had been left on the electric stove. Smoke detectors had no batteries, they said. "We must take the lessons taught to us by this event and come together," said Fire Chief Dale Herman, "not only to support those family and friends in their grief, but also to help our neighbors and responders return to their new routines and prevent future tragedy such as this from occurring in our homes." Ready to face death in demand of full statehood, says chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced that he will sit on an indefinite hunger strike from March 1 demanding full statehood for the national capital. "I will begin a hunger strike. I am going to fast till we get statehood. I am ready to face death," said the chief minister in the Delhi Assembly on Saturday. "Andolan (a movement) is the only way out of this crisis. The people of Delhi have to come on the streets to fight for full statehood," he added. He later twitted: "I cannot repay the debt of my Delhi for all that the people here have given me in my life. It will be my proud privilege to lay down my life fighting for the Delhiites. Delhi deserves full statehood and must get it at all costs." The chief minister's decision came a day after he said that his party will ensure full statehood status for Delhi within two years if AAP wins all seven seats in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. "If the Aam Aadmi Party wins all seven seats in Delhi, we will ensure full statehood to Delhi within two years," Mr Kejriwal had told a public rally in the national capital. Mr Kejriwal also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The Prime Minister is unable to handle national issues, why is he bothered about the state municipal corporation and Delhi Police. He should worry about national issues. Let us handle Delhi." He added: "Why is democracy being denied to the people of Delhi? The elected government of Delhi has no powers to work efficiently for the people of Delhi." He claimed the people of Delhi were facing "injustice and humiliation" since independence because the government elected by them lacked power to work for them. "The elected government of Delhi cannot give people justice, work for them and take up development works because it lacks power and the central government obstructs its functioning. Is the value of Delhi voters less than other states?" he asked. The AAP leader's remarks came in the wake of a split-judgment by the Supreme Court on regulations of services in the national capital pertaining to the power tussle between the Delhi government and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. WASHINGTON (AP) - William Barr has been attorney general for just one week but is on the cusp of staring down what will almost certainly be the most consequential decision of his long career: how much of the special counsel's findings to make public. The position catapults him from Justice Department outsider free to theorize and speculate on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation to the man at the center of the legal and political firestorm that will accompany its looming conclusion. With Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein preparing to exit after supervising the day-to-day investigation for nearly two years, and with Trump loyalist Matthew Whitaker now replaced in the top job, Barr is in the hot seat: He is responsible for navigating the department through congressional and public demands for details of Mueller's findings while dealing with a White House that may challenge, or even stifle, the conclusions. Barr is already facing pressure from House Democrats who say they might subpoena Mueller's findings if they are not fully released. Six House Democratic committee chairmen wrote Barr on Friday and demanded that he make Mueller's report public, including any "evidence of misconduct" by President Donald Trump. Friends say Barr is accustomed to pressure-cooker situations by virtue of his experience as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush and other senior Justice Department jobs. He oversaw the department's response when Los Angeles erupted in riots after the Rodney King verdict and when Cuban inmates took hostages at a federal prison in Alabama. He blessed Bush administration pardons in the Iran-Contra scandal and offered legal advice on the White House's ability to invade Panama. In this case, though, no less than the fate of Trump's presidency may hang in the balance of whatever Barr decides. FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2019, file photo, then-Attorney General nominee William Barr testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Barr has been attorney general for just one week but is on the cusp of staring down what will almost certainly be the most consequential decision of his long career: how much of the special counsel's findings to make public. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) "I'm sure it's going to be a tough set of decisions and circumstances, but Bill doesn't shy away from tough situations," said former Justice Department colleague Timothy Flanigan. "He's not likely to sit there fretting over what does this mean for his legacy or his long-term political viability." Although Barr carefully weighs difficult decisions and consults others before making them, once he's made them, "he doesn't kind of circle and fret," Flanigan said. Key decisions are expected soon as Mueller shows signs of concluding his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign. Mueller is required to produce a confidential report to Barr that explains his decisions to pursue or decline prosecutions. That could be as simple as a bullet point list or as fulsome as a report running hundreds of pages. Barr will then have to decide how much of Mueller's findings should be disclosed to the public. At his confirmation hearing last month, Barr was noncommittal about what he would do, though he said repeatedly that he supported making as much public as possible, "consistent with the law." He said in his congressional testimony that he will write his own report summarizing Mueller's findings for Congress and the public. "I can assure you that, where judgments are to be made by me, I will make those judgments based solely on the law and will let no personal, political or other improper interests influence my decisions," he said. Barr has noted that department protocol says internal memos explaining charging decisions should not be released. The attorney general is required only to say the investigation has concluded and describe or explain any times when he or Rosenstein decided an action Mueller proposed "was so inappropriate or unwarranted" that it should not be pursued. Democrats could use Mueller's findings as the basis of impeachment proceedings and have threatened to subpoena them if they are withheld from Congress. In the letter Friday, the Democrats warned against withholding information on Trump because of Justice Department opinions that the president can't be indicted. "To maintain that a sitting president cannot be indicted, and then to withhold evidence of wrongdoing from Congress because the President will not be charged, is to convert Department policy into the means for a cover-up," the Democrats wrote. "The President is not above the law." It's not clear what the White House or Trump's lawyers may do to learn details of Mueller's findings. But they may try to block the public release of any report that they believe could expose private conversations between the president and his staff. Hovering in the background is the 2016 decision by then-FBI Director James Comey to break Justice Department norms in the Hillary Clinton email investigation by publicly criticizing the Democratic presidential candidate even while saying she wouldn't be charged. Barr has said repeatedly that he disagrees with Comey's decision and considers it a mistake. It's unclear what Mueller will place in his report and how far it will go in answering the central question of the investigation - whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia - or how much he will reveal about whether the president sought to obstruct justice through firing Comey and other actions. Barr made clear at his confirmation hearing that he agreed Russia had meddled in the 2016 election and that Mueller's investigation, contrary to Trump's claims, is not a "witch hunt." But his view on the obstruction question is more nuanced. As a private citizen, he sent the Justice Department a memo last June arguing that Trump couldn't be investigated for firing Comey because a president has discretion to hire and fire subordinates. He has since sought to make clear that he believes that a president can be guilty of obstructing justice in other ways, such as by destroying evidence or instructing witnesses to lie. It's not clear if Mueller will make recommendations about the president, though Barr has said he sees no reason to revisit the department legal opinions that say a sitting president cannot be indicted. Barr, who friends say was reluctant to return as attorney general, has made clear that at age 68, he feels empowered to do the right thing and not care about the consequences. But that doesn't mean it will be easy. "I'm kind of glad it's him," Flanigan said, "and not me." ___ Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report. MOSCOW (AP) - A Russian court ruled Friday to keep a former U.S. Marine held for alleged spying jailed in Moscow for another three months. Michigan resident Paul Whelan was arrested at a hotel in the Russian capital at the end of December. Whelan's lawyer has said his client was handed a flash drive and it had classified information he didn't know about on it. Masked men escorted Whelan into court, where the American spent the detention hearing behind the bars of a cell. Whelan has not been formally charged, and the Moscow court decided to keep him in pre-trial custody. A spying conviction in Russia carries a possible prison sentence of up to 20 years. Whelan's brother David said in a statement he was not surprised by the ruling. "There was never any question that the false charges against Paul would mean his ongoing isolation while the FSB (Federal Security Service) continues its attempts to concoct evidence," David Whelan said. Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, who was arrested in Moscow at the end of last year, attends a hearing in a court in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. A Moscow court has extended arrest for the American who was detained at the end of December for alleged spying. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov) The FSB revealed on Dec. 31 that its officers arrested Paul Whelan a few days earlier. The action raised speculation the Russian government was looking to swap him for a Russian held in the U.S. Russia's Foreign Ministry rejected the idea of Whelan being part of a possible prisoner swap. Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow on Friday renewed its complaint that Russian authorities were not letting Whelan sign and submit a waiver that would allow consular officials to release more details about his case. The embassy said it was the first time the Russian Investigative Committee did not allow a U.S. citizen in a Russian jail to hand over a signed privacy waiver form. "Why is this case any different? Consular access without being able to do true consular support is not real access," U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Andrea Kalan wrote on Twitter. The Marine Corps released Whelan's service record last month. It showed he joined the Marine Reserves in 1994, rose to the rank of staff sergeant in 2004 and deployed to Iraq for several months in 2004 and 2006. The record showed he was convicted of charges that included larceny at a court-martial in January 2008 and given a bad-conduct discharge at the end of that year. Court records provided by the Marine Corps indicated he was accused of attempting to steal more than $10,000 while serving as an administrative clerk in Iraq. Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, who was arrested in Moscow at the end of last year, arrives for a hearing in a court in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. A Moscow court has extended arrest for the American who was detained at the end of December for alleged spying. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov) Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, who was arrested in Moscow at the end of last year, arrives for a hearing in a court in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. A Moscow court has extended arrest for the American who was detained at the end of December for alleged spying. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov) MILAN (AP) - Anna Wintour paid tribute Friday to Karl Lagerfeld's generosity and sense of humor as she presented a new fashion exhibition. Elsewhere in Milan, Versace unveiled its first womenswear collection since the Italian fashion house become part of a U.S. fashion group, and luxury brand Bottega Veneta's new creative director showcased a collection that draws on the house's heritage but pushed it toward a forward-dressing consumer. The American Vogue editor-in-chief said that Lagerfeld, who died this week, "would have loved" the Costume Institute's upcoming exhibit "Camp: Notes on Fashion" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, given his "wonderful sense of humor." "Karl was the very best benefactor and collaborator, as erudite as he was generous," Wintour said. Highlights from the third day of Milan Fashion Week previewing designs for the upcoming fall and winter: ____ VERSACE EMBRACES IMPERFECTION A model wears a creation as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Donatella Versace mixed luxury and grunge in a new collection that calls on the Italian fashion house's key iconographic details of past decades. It was the Milan fashion house's first womenswear show since becoming part of the Capri Holdings Limited owned by Michael Kors. Versace said before the show that "grunge is an attitude, that time in life when people were more deep in the sense of thoughts, talking and thinking." She said there is need for more of that now. Grunge came through in the purposely ravaged cashmere sweaters, held together by Versace hardware, including the Greek-head safety pin, like one that came with the invitation. The sweater paired perfectly with a tweed skirt with a colorful silk and lace slip peeking out. Other looks were more eclectic, as if pulled from some 1970s magic trunk of slinky, colorful pieces that layered into fun, upbeat looks including a shimmery turquoise slip dress, to the lace tights and V-branded pink-and-green coat with an acid green fur collar. Versace also played with the house's bondage heritage, with bondage tops laying over ribbed turtlenecks for day or forming the bodice of an evening dress. She closed on a series of black looks modeled by Gigi Hadid, her sister Bella Hadid, with iconic 1990s supermodel Stephanie Seymour closing the show. "With this collection, I wanted to show that side of a woman that isn't afraid to step outside of her comfort zone because she knows that imperfection is the new perfection," Versace said in her notes. ____ BOTTEGA VENETA'S NEW DIRECTION Bottega Veneta took a sharp turn under its new creative director Daniel Lee, reorienting the brand toward a more fashion-forward dresser. The British millennial designer's first collection since joining the brand, owned by the French group Kering, incorporated Bottega's trademark "intreccio" weave in innovative ways while taking its core leather accessories in a fresh direction. An oversized weave on a red knitwear tunic emphasized the intreccio's inherent grace. The weave was left open on a leather skirt for a laser-cut effect, while a repeating tab technique created leather coats for him and her with a slight wave effect. Bags included molded leather in fresh geometric shapes. In the combined men's and women's collections, Lee put a lot of emphasis on the female neckline, which scooped, dipped and performed other more complicated geometric tricks. A leather tuxedo shirt with a plunging neckline was paired with an ice-green quilted skirt with a puffer coat aesthetic. For men, knitwear looks were overlapped with large open panels and modernized necklines. A man's coat had wide shoulders, and was kept short for an overall square silhouette, and worn over an all-leather biker ensemble. Overall, the collection projected a hardness with ample leather and hardware, but the designer's softer side came through in knitwear and pieces like a mirrored coat for women that moved like silk. ____ MARNI'S CEREBRAL EROTICISM Marni creative director Francesco Rizzo says his woman for next season is a vigilante pursuing her prey in an escape room that has no limits. She is dressed for extremes as day turns to night, a little bit goth, a little bit huntress. The collection is an unusual yet sexy mix of satin, wool and leather. Each piece is an iteration of uniform that evolves. Panels of color reveal pleats, dresses twist and fold, pleated panels become trailing scarves on shirts, satin runs into plaid wool, edges are left unfinished. It is one big game of trompe l'oeil. A print looks like squares up close, only to reveal a woman's face or a bouquet of flowers at a distance, like a pixelated Mondrian. The looks are somewhere between eccentric office attire and sexy cocktail dress. Both the clothes and the accessories were covered with metal, rings, spikes, buttons, big crystals. Chastity belts cinch jacket waists for a fetish touch; metallic chainmail covers a ghostly white satin dress. Rizzo said the collection was also meant as a battle cry against censorship. "It is very easy to censor at this moment," the designer said backstage. "We need to remember revolutionary moments when (Yves) Saint Laurent, (Helmut) Newton created revolutions with the freedom of body. Today Marni for me is about cerebral eroticism." ____ CAMP AS FASHION'S ZEITGEIST The inclusion of many pieces from recent runway collections in the upcoming Costume Institute exhibit focusing on "camp" is an indication of its relevance in the fashion world, the curator said. Curator Andrew Bolton says camp has been used "as an escape but also a tool for political criticism." "I think camp has this ... playful sort of approach to the Zeitgeist. ... It's a reaction and a reflection of the times we are living," he said. The exhibit, sponsored by Gucci, will include pieces from creative director Alessandro Michele's fall and winter 2018-2019 collections, as well as recent looks from Viktor & Rolf and Palomo Spain. It runs from May 9 to Sept. 8 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. "The exhibition in some ways belongs to the DNA of what I have done in these years," Michele said. "Camp isn't only a word created to explain how much you can be extravagant, exaggerated. It is that thing that hides the great power of clothes and the great power of appearance." The show will also include a Lagerfeld creation - a 1987 Chanel look inspired by Versailles - among 120 that he donated to the Met's Costume Institute. Presenting the exhibition in Milan, Wintour expressed her gratitude for Lagerfeld, whom she described as a "great friend and an important donor," her voice cracking as she spoke. A model wears a creation as part of the Bottega Veneta women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Models wear creations as part of the Bottega Veneta women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, presents this year's Costume Institute exhibition titled ''Camp: Notes on Fashion,'' at the Teatro Gerolamo, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The exhibition will be shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, from May 9-Sept. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, right, Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele, left, and curator Andrew Bolton stand during the presentation of this year's Costume Institute exhibition titled ''Camp: Notes on Fashion,'' at the Teatro Gerolamo, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The exhibition will be shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, from May 9-Sept. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Palomo Spain and Alessandro Michele creations are displayed during the presentation of this year's Costume Institute exhibition titled ''Camp: Notes on Fashion,'' at the Teatro Gerolamo, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The exhibition will be shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, from May 9-Sept. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, right, Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele, left, and curator Andrew Bolton stand during the presentation of this year's Costume Institute exhibition titled ''Camp: Notes on Fashion,'' at the Teatro Gerolamo, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The exhibition will be shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, from May 9-Sept. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Gucci creative designer Alessandro Michele, presents this year's Costume Institute exhibition titled ''Camp: Notes on Fashion,'' at the Teatro Gerolamo, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The exhibition will be shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, from May 9-Sept. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Models wear creations as part of the Bottega Veneta women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Andrew Bolton curator in charge of MOMA presents this year's Costume Institute exhibition titled ''Camp: Notes on Fashion,'' at the Teatro Gerolamo, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The exhibition will be shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, from May 9-Sept. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, presents this year's Costume Institute exhibition titled ''Camp: Notes on Fashion,'' at the Teatro Gerolamo, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The exhibition will be shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, from May 9-Sept. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, presents this year's Costume Institute exhibition titled ''Camp: Notes on Fashion,'' at the Teatro Gerolamo, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The exhibition will be shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, from May 9-Sept. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Models wear creations as part of the Bottega Veneta women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Bottega Veneta women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Bottega Veneta women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Bottega Veneta women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Bottega Veneta women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Bottega Veneta women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Bottega Veneta women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Bottega Veneta women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Bottega Veneta women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Models wear creations as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Designer Donatella Versace accepts applause at the end of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Model Gigi Hadid wears a creation as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Models wear creations as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Models wear creations as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Model Gigi Hadid wears a creation as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Model Bella Hadid wears a creation as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Model Gigi Hadid wears a creation as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) EDS NOTE: NUDITY - Model Kendall Jenner wears a creation as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) EDS NOTE: NUDITY - Model Kendall Jenner wears a creation as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Model Bella Hadid wears a creation as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) A model wears a creation as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) A model wears a creation as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Model Stephanie Seymour wears a creation as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) EDS NOTE: NUDITY - Model Kendall Jenner wears a creation as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) EDS NOTE: NUDITY - Model Kendall Jenner wears a creation as part of the Versace women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) A model wears a creation as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) A model wears a creation as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Models wear creations as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Models wear creations as part of the Marni women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) BEIJING (AP) - Skipped paying a fine in China? Then forget about buying an airline ticket. Would-be air travelers were blocked from buying tickets 17.5 million times last year for "social credit" offenses including unpaid taxes and fines under a controversial system the ruling Communist Party says will improve public behavior. Others were barred 5.5 million times from buying train tickets, according to the National Public Credit Information Center. In an annual report, it said 128 people were blocked from leaving China due to unpaid taxes. The ruling party says "social credit" penalties and rewards will improve order in a fast-changing society after three decades of economic reform have shaken up social structures. Markets are rife with counterfeit goods and fraud. The system is part of efforts by President Xi Jinping's government to use technology ranging from data processing to genetic sequencing and facial recognition to tighten control. Authorities have experimented with "social credit" since 2014 in areas across China. Points are deducted for breaking the law or, in some areas, offenses as minor as walking a dog without a leash. Human rights activists say "social credit" is too rigid and might unfairly label people as untrustworthy without telling them they have lost status or how to restore it. In this March 3, 2018, photo, people check on travel packages offered by travel agencies during the Guangzhou International Travel Fair in Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong province. Travelers in China were blocked from buying plane tickets 17.5 million times last year as a penalty for failing to pay fines or other offenses. The Chinese government reported this week on penalties imposed under a controversial "social credit" system the ruling Communist Party says will improve public behavior. (Chinatopix via AP) U.S. Vice President Mike Pence criticized it in October as "an Orwellian system premised on controlling virtually every facet of human life." The ruling party wants a nationwide system by 2020 but has yet to say how it will operate. Possible penalties include restrictions on travel, business and access to education. A slogan repeated in state media says, "Once you lose trust, you will face restrictions everywhere." Companies on the blacklist can lose government contracts or access to bank loans or be barred from issuing bonds or importing goods. Offenses penalized under "social credit" last year included false advertising or violating drug safety rules, the government information center said. Individuals were blocked 290,000 times from taking senior management jobs or acting as a company's legal representative. Since the launch of such "joint punishment," the system has caused 3.5 million people to "voluntarily fulfill their legal obligations," the Information Center said. It said that included 37 people who paid a total of 150 million yuan ($22 million) in overdue fines or confiscations. The report gave no details of how many people live in areas with "social credit" systems. "Social credit" is one facet of efforts by the ruling party to take advantage of increased computing power, artificial intelligence and other technology to track and control the Chinese public. The police ministry launched an initiative dubbed "Golden Shield" in 2000 to build a nationwide digital network to track individuals. Human rights activists say people in Muslim and other ethnic minority areas have been compelled to give blood samples for a genetic database. Those systems rely on foreign technology. That has prompted criticism that U.S. and European suppliers might be enabling human rights abuses. This week, Waltham, Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. said it no longer would sell or service genetic sequencers in the Muslim-majority region of Xinjiang in the northwest following complaints they were used for surveillance. As many as 1 million Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang are detained in political education camps, according to U.S. officials and United Nations experts. The government says those camps are vocational training centers designed to rid the region of extremism. VATICAN CITY (AP) - Cardinals attending Pope Francis' summit on preventing clergy sex abuse called Friday for a new culture of accountability in the Catholic Church to punish bishops and religious superiors when they fail to protect their flocks from predator priests. On the second day of Francis' extraordinary gathering of Catholic leaders, the debate shifted to how church leaders must acknowledge that decades of their own cover-ups, secrecy and fear of scandal had only worsened the sex abuse crisis. "We must repent, and do so together, collegially, because along the way we have failed," said Mumbai Cardinal Oswald Gracias. "We need to seek pardon." Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich told the 190 bishops and religious superiors that new legal procedures were needed to both report and investigate Catholic superiors when they are accused of misconduct themselves or of negligence in handling other abuse cases. He said lay experts must be involved at every step of the process, since rank-and-file Catholics often know far better than priests what trauma the clergy sex abuse and its cover-up has caused. "It is the witness of the laity, especially mothers and fathers with great love for the church, who have pointed out movingly and forcefully how gravely incompatible the commission, cover-up and toleration of clergy sexual abuse is with the very meaning and essence of the church," Cupich said. Pope Francis adjusts his papal cross as he arrives for the opening of the second day of a Vatican's conference on dealing with sex abuse by priests, at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Pope Francis has issued 21 proposals to stem the clergy sex abuse around the world, calling for specific protocols to handle accusations against bishops and for lay experts to be involved in abuse investigations. (Giuseppe Lami/Pool Photo via AP) "Mothers and fathers have called us to account, for they simply cannot comprehend how we as bishops and religious superiors have often been blinded to the scope and damage of sexual abuse of minors," he said. Francis summoned the bishops for the four-day tutorial on preventing sex abuse and protecting children after the scandal erupted again last year in Chile and the U.S. While the Vatican for two decades has tried to crack down on the abusers themselves, it has largely given a pass to the bishops and superiors who moved the predators around from parish to parish. Cupich called for transparent new structures to report allegations against superiors, investigate them and establish clear procedures to remove them from office if they are guilty of grave negligence in handling abuse cases. He proposed that metropolitan bishops - who are responsible for other bishops in their area - should conduct the investigations into suspected abuse with the help of lay experts, then forward the results to the Vatican. Cupich acknowledged his proposal differed from that prepared by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at large last year. Those procedures, which called for a code of conduct for bishops and a third-party confidential reporting system, ran into legal snags at the Vatican, which blocked U.S. bishops from voting on them in November. At the time of the blocked vote, Cupich proposed his "metropolitan model," which he articulated further Friday from the privileged position as an organizer of Francis' summit. Cupich told reporters that his proposal differed from the U.S. conference in that it was "anchored" in existing U.S. church structures for accountability and would therefore be obligatory for all bishops. The U.S. conference proposal would have been voluntary. In addition, he said involving the regional metropolitan in the procedure would allow for pastoral follow-up to care for the victims. More than 30 years after the scandal first erupted in Ireland and Australia, and 20 years after it hit the U.S., bishops and Catholic officials in many parts of Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia still either deny that clergy sex abuse exists in their regions or play down the problem. Francis, the first Latin American pope, called the summit after he himself botched a well-known sex abuse cover-up case in Chile last year. Gracias, the Indian cardinal, opened the session by saying bishops must work together to address the problem because it was erroneous to say "it's a just a problem for the USA or Europe or Australia." "This, brothers and sisters, is just not true. I dare say there are cases all over the world, also in Asia, also in Africa," Gracias said. But Gracias' prime-time speaking slot drew some criticism, since the Indian church isn't known for being proactive in combating clergy sex abuse. Gracias himself has been publicly criticized for his record. "Why was Gracias allowed to speak at the papal summit? He is a poster boy for the lack of accountability of church leaders, especially in developing countries," said Anne Barrett Doyle of the online group BishopAccountability, which tracks the abuse scandal. But it appeared the Vatican may have chosen as speakers precisely those cardinals whose own national churches have not confronted the scandal openly. On the summit's opening day, for example, the keynote speaker was Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle. Based on public reporting and criminal prosecutions, BishopAccountability says it appears that no priests sexually abuse children in the Philippines, a scenario Barrett Doyle calls patently unrealistic. Tagle has said that cultural taboos in the Philippines often prevent victims from coming forward. Victims have turned out in droves on the sidelines of the summit to demand greater accountability from the church, saying it has for decades put its own interests over those of who were harmed. "They have this systematic process of covering up, moving along, transferring and not reporting," said Tim Lennon, president of the U.S.-based survivor group SNAP. German survivor Matthias Katsch said victims are beyond angry. "We are really fighting for truth and justice for the survivors," he said. Irish Archbishop Eamon Martin said the summit had given many pause for thought. "We are beginning to realize that perhaps there is something about the way we did things as Church, about the way we are as Church, that this issue really throws up for us. It really makes us ask questions about 'who are we?' " Martin said. ___ More AP coverage of clergy sex abuse at https://www.apnews.com/Sexualabusebyclergy Pope Francis, center, makes his way to the second day of a Vatican's conference on dealing with sex abuse by priests, at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Pope Francis has issued 21 proposals to stem the clergy sex abuse around the world, calling for specific protocols to handle accusations against bishops and for lay experts to be involved in abuse investigations. (Giuseppe Lami/Pool Photo via AP) Pope Francis prays during the opening of the second day of a Vatican's conference on dealing with sex abuse by priests, at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Pope Francis has issued 21 proposals to stem the clergy sex abuse around the world, calling for specific protocols to handle accusations against bishops and for lay experts to be involved in abuse investigations. (Giuseppe Lami/Pool Photo via AP) Bishops attend the second day of a Vatican's conference on dealing with sex abuse by priests, at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Pope Francis has issued 21 proposals to stem the clergy sex abuse around the world, calling for specific protocols to handle accusations against bishops and for lay experts to be involved in abuse investigations. (Giuseppe Lami/Pool Photo via AP) Pope Francis prays during the opening of the second day of a Vatican's conference on dealing with sex abuse by priests, at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Pope Francis has issued 21 proposals to stem the clergy sex abuse around the world, calling for specific protocols to handle accusations against bishops and for lay experts to be involved in abuse investigations. (Giuseppe Lami/Pool Photo via AP) Pope Francis arrives at the opening of the second day of a Vatican's conference on dealing with sex abuse by priests, at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Pope Francis has issued 21 proposals to stem the clergy sex abuse around the world, calling for specific protocols to handle accusations against bishops and for lay experts to be involved in abuse investigations. (Giuseppe Lami/Pool Photo via AP) Pope Francis prays during the opening of the second day of a Vatican's conference on dealing with sex abuse by priests, at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Pope Francis has issued 21 proposals to stem the clergy sex abuse around the world, calling for specific protocols to handle accusations against bishops and for lay experts to be involved in abuse investigations. (Giuseppe Lami/Pool Photo via AP) Pope Francis arrives for the opening of the second day of a Vatican's conference on dealing with sex abuse by priests, at the Vatican, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Pope Francis has issued 21 proposals to stem the clergy sex abuse around the world, calling for specific protocols to handle accusations against bishops and for lay experts to be involved in abuse investigations. (Giuseppe Lami/Pool Photo via AP) Sex abuse survivors Juan Bayas, and Alessandro Battaglia, foreground, hug each other at the end of a press conference of members of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), in Rome, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Photos of sex abuse survivors when they were children are shown during a press conference of members of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), in Rome, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. In background left the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Sex abuse survivor Mariusz Milewski, left, holds the hand of survivor Alessandro Battaglia, during a press conference of members of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), in Rome, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Backdropped by photos of them when they were children, sex abuse survivors hug each other during a press conference of members of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), in Rome, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Sex abuse survivor Evelyn Korkamaz, holding a photo photo of her when she was a child, cries as she tells her story during a press conference of members of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), in Rome, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Sex abuse survivor Bernadette Howell, from Canada, left, cries as she listens to Evelyn Korkamaz, another survivor, during a press conference of members of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), in Rome, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Francis summoned 190 bishops and religious superiors for the four-day tutorial on preventing abuse and protecting children after the scandal erupted last year in Chile and again in the U.S. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Cardinal Reinhard Marx, left, listens to sex abuse survivor Jean-Marie Fuerbringer, from Switzerland, as he meets member of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), in Rome, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Cardinal Reinhard Marx, left, meets member of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), in Rome, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Sex abuse survivor Bernadette Howell, from Canada is seen trough a window during a press conference of members of the ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), in Rome, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Child psychologist and founding member of the Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) organization, Miguel Hurtado from Spain, center, reads an open letter to the Benedictine order outside the St. Anselm on the Aventine Benedictine complex in Rome on the second day of a summit called by Pope Francis at the Vatican on sex abuse in the Catholic Church, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Pope Francis has issued 21 proposals to stem the clergy sex abuse around the world, calling for specific protocols to handle accusations against bishops and for lay experts to be involved in abuse investigations. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis) Child psychologist and founding member of the Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) organization, Miguel Hurtado from Spain shows an open letter to the Benedictine order before delivering it, inside the St. Anselm on the Aventine Benedictine complex in Rome on the second day of a summit called by Pope Francis at the Vatican on sex abuse in the Catholic Church, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Pope Francis has issued 21 proposals to stem the clergy sex abuse around the world, calling for specific protocols to handle accusations against bishops and for lay experts to be involved in abuse investigations. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis) Child psychologist and founding member of the Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) organization, Miguel Hurtado from Spain, center, reads an open letter to the Benedictine order outside the St. Anselm on the Aventine Benedictine complex in Rome on the second day of a summit called by Pope Francis at the Vatican on sex abuse in the Catholic Church, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Pope Francis has issued 21 proposals to stem the clergy sex abuse around the world, calling for specific protocols to handle accusations against bishops and for lay experts to be involved in abuse investigations. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis) Psychoneurologist and founding member of the Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) organization, Denise Buchanan, right, and member Leona Huggins, second from right, participate in a protest outside the St. Anselm on the Aventine Benedictine complex in Rome on the second day of a summit called by Pope Francis at the Vatican on sex abuse in the Catholic Church, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Pope Francis has issued 21 proposals to stem the clergy sex abuse around the world, calling for specific protocols to handle accusations against bishops and for lay experts to be involved in abuse investigations. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis) Child psychologist and founding member of the Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) organization, Miguel Hurtado from Spain, center, shows an open letter to the Benedictine order before delivering it, outside the St. Anselm on the Aventine Benedictine complex in Rome on the second day of a summit called by Pope Francis at the Vatican on sex abuse in the Catholic Church, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Pope Francis has issued 21 proposals to stem the clergy sex abuse around the world, calling for specific protocols to handle accusations against bishops and for lay experts to be involved in abuse investigations. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis) MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Some of the fiercest Muslim rebel commanders in the southern Philippines were sworn in Friday as administrators of a new Muslim autonomous region in a delicate milestone to settle one of Asia's longest-raging rebellions. President Rodrigo Duterte led a ceremony to name Moro Islamic Liberation Front leader Murad Ebrahim and some of his top commanders as among 80 administrators of a transition government for the five-province region called Bangsamoro. About 12,000 combatants with thousands of firearms are to be demobilized starting this year under the peace deal. Thousands of other guerrillas would disarm if agreements under the deal would be followed, including providing the insurgents with livelihood to help them return to normal life. "We would like to see an end of the violence," Duterte said. "After all, we go to war and shoot each other counting our victories not by the progress or development of the place but by the dead bodies that were strewn around during the violent years." About 150,000 people have died in the conflict over several decades and stunted development in the resource-rich region that is the country's poorest. Duterte promised adequate resources, a daunting problem in the past. The Philippine and Western governments and the guerrillas see an effective Muslim autonomy as an antidote to nearly half a century of Muslim secessionist violence, which the Islamic State group could exploit to gain a foothold. Abdullah Macapaar, center, who uses the nom de guerre Commander Bravo, along with some of the fiercest Muslim rebel commanders in the southern Philippines, takes his oath during a ceremony for the creation of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority or BTA at the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The Muslim rebels will serve as administrators of a new Muslim autonomous region in a delicate milestone to settle one of Asia's longest-raging rebellions. Several commanders, including Commander Bravo, long wanted for deadly attacks were given safety passes to be able to travel to Manila and join the ceremony. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) "The dream that we have fought for is now happening and there's no more reason for us to carry our guns and continue the war," rebel forces spokesman Von Al Haq told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of the ceremony. Several commanders long wanted for deadly attacks were given safety passes to be able to travel to Manila and join the ceremony, including Abdullah Macapaar, who uses the nom de guerre Commander Bravo, Al Haq said. Known for his fiery rhetoric while wearing his camouflage uniform and brandishing his assault rifle and grenades, Macapaar will be one of the 41 regional administrators from the Muslim rebel front. Duterte would pick his representatives to fill the rest of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, which will also act as a regional parliament with Murad as the chief minister until regular officials are elected in 2022. Members of another Muslim rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front, which signed a 1996 autonomy deal that has largely been seen as a failure, would also be given seats in the autonomous government. Disgruntled fighters of the Moro National Liberation Front broke off and formed new armed groups, including the notorious Abu Sayyaf, which turned to terrorism and banditry after losing its commanders early in battle. The Abu Sayyaf has been blacklisted by the United States as a terrorist organization and has been suspected of staging a suspected Jan. 27 suicide bombing that killed 23 mostly churchgoers in a Roman Catholic cathedral on southern Jolo island. "We have already seen the pitfalls," Al Haq said, acknowledging that the violence would not stop overnight because of the presence of the Abu Sayyaf and other armed groups, some linked to the Islamic State group. "It's a very difficult and challenging process." Sidney Jones, a Jakarta-based analyst for the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, said three of the biggest challenges will be finding a meaningful role for ex-combatants, avoiding a sense of entitlement that leads to corruption and "staying united in a way that can finally break the power clan politics in Muslim Mindanao," referring to the southern region that is the homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation. Under the peace deal brokered by Malaysia, the rebels gave up their goal of a separate state in exchange for broader autonomy. The 40,000 fighters and at least 7,000 firearms that Murad's group has declared would be demobilized in three phases depending on progress in the agreement's enforcement. Bangsamoro replaces an existing poverty-wracked autonomous region with a larger, better-funded and more powerful entity. An annual grant, which could reach more than $1 billion, is to be set aside to bolster development in a region deeply scarred by decades of fighting. Centuries of conquest - first by Spanish and American colonial forces that had ruled the Philippine archipelago followed by Filipino Christian settlers - have gradually turned Muslims into a minority group in Mindanao region, triggering conflict over land, resources and sharing of political power. Uprisings seeking self-rule have been brutally suppressed by government forces, feeding more resentment. Security has been a major issue due to the proliferation of firearms and armed groups that have resorted to ransom kidnappings and extortion such as the Abu Sayyaf. President Rodrigo Duterte, left, Murad Ebrahim, Chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and Ghazali Jaafar, Vice-chair for Political Affairs and Chair of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, flash the peace sign following oath-taking ceremony for the creation of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority or BTA at the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The Muslim rebels will serve as administrators of a new Muslim autonomous region in a delicate milestone to settle one of Asia's longest-raging rebellions. Several commanders, including Commander Bravo, long wanted for deadly attacks were given safety passes to be able to travel to Manila and join the ceremony. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) Abdullah Macapaar, who uses the nom de guerre Commander Bravo, waits for the oath-taking ceremony for the creation of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority or BTA at the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Some of the fiercest Muslim rebel commanders in the southern Philippines are in Manila to be sworn in as administrators of a new Muslim autonomy region in a delicate milestone to settle one of Asia's longest-raging rebellions. Several commanders, including Commander Bravo, long wanted for deadly attacks were given safety passes to be able to travel to Manila and join the ceremony. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) Abdullah Macapaar, center, who uses the nom de guerre Commander Bravo, talks with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, left, and Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Carlito Galvez following oath-taking ceremony for the creation of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority or BTA at the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The Muslim rebels will serve as administrators of a new Muslim autonomous region in a delicate milestone to settle one of Asia's longest-raging rebellions. Several commanders, including Commander Bravo, long wanted for deadly attacks were given safety passes to be able to travel to Manila and join the ceremony.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) From right front; Ghazali Jaafar, Vice-chair for Political Affairs and Chair of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, Murad Ebrahim, Chairman of Moro Islamic Liberation Front, President Rodrigo Duterte, House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Carlito Galvez, Chair of the Government Peace Process, and other Muslim rebel leaders, flash the peace sign following oath-taking ceremony for the creation of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority or BTA at the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The Muslim rebels will serve as administrators of a new Muslim autonomous region in a delicate milestone to settle one of Asia's longest-raging rebellions. Several commanders, including Commander Bravo, long wanted for deadly attacks were given safety passes to be able to travel to Manila and join the ceremony.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) BAGHDAD (AP) - Islamic State fighters facing defeat in Syria are slipping across the border into Iraq, where they are destabilizing the country's fragile security, U.S. and Iraqi officials say. Hundreds - likely more than 1,000 - IS fighters have crossed the open, desert border in the past six months, defying a massive operation by U.S., Kurdish, and allied forces to stamp out the remnants of the jihadi group in eastern Syria, according to three Iraqi intelligence officials and a U.S. military official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly on intelligence matters. But indications of the extremist group's widening reach in Iraq are clear. Cells operating in four northern provinces are carrying out kidnappings, assassinations, and roadside ambushes aimed at intimidating locals and restoring the extortion rackets that financed the group's rise to power six years ago. "IS is trying to assert itself in Iraq, because of the pressure it is under in Syria," said Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul, the Iraqi army spokesman. The militants can count between 5,000 and 7,000 among their ranks in Iraq, where they are hiding out in the rugged terrain of remote areas, according to one intelligence official. FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019 file photo, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighters watch as an airstrike hits territory still held by Islamic State militants in the desert outside Baghouz, Syria. U.S. and Iraqi officials say IS fighters facing defeat in Syria are slipping across the border into Iraq, where they are destabilizing the country's fragile security. Hundreds -- likely more than 1,000 -- IS fighters have crossed the open, desert border in the past six months, defying a massive operation by U.S., Kurdish, and allied forces to stamp out the remnants of the jihadi group in eastern Syria. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File) In Syria, Kurdish-led forces backed by the U.S.-led coalition have cornered the militants in a pocket less than one square kilometer in Baghouz, a Euphrates River village near the 600-kilometer (370-mile) border. The Iraqi army has deployed more than 20,000 troops to guard the frontier, but militants are slipping across, mostly to the north of the conflict zone, in tunnels or under the cover of night. Others are entering Iraq disguised as cattle herders. They are bringing with them currency and light weapons, according to intelligence reports, and digging up money and arms from caches they stashed away when they controlled a vast swath of northern Iraq. "If we deployed the greatest militaries in the world, they would not be able to control this territory," Rasoul said. "Our operations require intelligence gathering and airstrikes." At its height in 2014 and 2015, the Islamic State group ruled over a self-proclaimed "caliphate" that spanned one-third of Iraqi and Syrian territory. The extremist offshoot of Al-Qaida in Iraq threatened to exterminate religious minorities. Iraqi forces, with U.S., Iranian, and other international help, were able to turn the war around and Baghdad declared victory over the group in December 2017, after the last urban battle had been won. But precursors to IS have recovered from major setbacks in the past, and many fear the militants could stage a comeback. The group is already waging a low-level insurgency in rural areas. The Associated Press verified nine IS attacks in Iraq in January alone, based on information gathered from intelligence officials, provincial leaders, and social media. IS often boasts of its activities through group messaging apps such as Telegram. In one instance, a band of militants broke into the home of a man they accused of being an informant for the army, in the village of Tal al-Asfour in the northern Badush region. They shot him and his two brothers against the wall, and posted photos of the killing on social media. Sheikh Mohamed Nouri, a local tribal leader, said it was meant to intimidate locals in order to keep them from sharing intelligence with security officials. "I have members of our tribal militia receiving threatening messages warning them to abandon their work," said Nouri. In other instances, IS cells have killed mukhtars - village leaders and municipal officials. They have attacked rural checkpoints with car bombs and mortar fire, and burned down militia members' homes. In the town of Shirqat in central Iraq, militants stopped a police vehicle last month and killed all four officers inside. Other activities have aimed at restoring the group's financial footing. On Sunday, militants kidnapped a group of 12 truffle hunters in the western Anbar province, marking a return to a strategy of intimidating and extorting farmers and traders for financial gain. Naim Kaoud, the head of provincial security, urged locals to suspend truffle gathering, which has just one season a year and is an important source of income for rural families. Other truffle hunters have disappeared in the countryside, according to former lawmaker and Anbar tribal figure Jaber al-Jaberi. He said the militants are taking cuts from truffle hunters in exchange for access to the land, and kidnapping or killing those who refuse to cooperate. "This is one of the sources of their funding," said al-Jaberi. Al-Jaberi cautioned against exaggerating the IS threat, saying the militants have been less successful at infiltrating communities than they were earlier this decade. "These are different times," he said. Others are not so sure. Hans-Jakob Schindler, a former adviser to the U.N. Security Council on IS and other extremist groups, said the same grievances that gave rise to IS in 2013 remain today, including a large Sunni minority that feels politically and economically marginalized by the Shiite-led central government. "I'm very worried that we are just repeating history," said Schindler, who is now at the Counter Extremism Project. He said he has seen IS "revert to the old type" of "classical terror attacks" and kidnapping for ransom, tactics that were once widely employed by al-Qaida in Iraq. The militants staged a dramatic resurgence after 2011, when U.S. forces withdrew from Iraq and civil war broke out in neighboring Syria. Today some 5,200 American forces are based in Iraq, after they were invited back to help stem the IS rampage in 2014. After President Donald Trump promised in December to pull American forces out of Syria, Iraqi lawmakers began clamoring for the U.S. to leave, arguing that the mission against IS was approaching its end. But with no letdown to IS militancy, those calls have petered out. FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019 file photo, a U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighter reacts as an airstrike hits territory still held by Islamic State militants in the desert outside Baghouz, Syria. U.S. and Iraqi officials say IS fighters facing defeat in Syria are slipping across the border into Iraq, where they are destabilizing the country's fragile security. Hundreds -- likely more than 1,000 -- IS fighters have crossed the open, desert border in the past six months. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File) FILE - In this Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019 file photo, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighters take a break as the fight against Islamic State militants continues in the village of Baghouz, Syria. U.S. and Iraqi officials say IS fighters facing defeat in Syria are slipping across the border into Iraq, where they are destabilizing the country's fragile security. Hundreds -- likely more than 1,000 -- IS fighters have crossed the open, desert border in the past six months, defying a massive operation by U.S., Kurdish, and allied forces to stamp out the remnants of the jihadi group in eastern Syria. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File) FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2019 file photo, a flag of the Islamic State group and some of the weapons they used in battle, are on display in the Popular Mobilization Forces War Museum in Baghdad, Iraq. U.S. and Iraqi officials say IS fighters facing defeat in Syria are slipping across the border into Iraq, where they are destabilizing the country's fragile security. Hundreds -- likely more than 1,000 -- IS fighters have crossed the open, desert border in the past six months. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File) ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A federal magistrate on Friday ordered the government to disclose to him and to plaintiffs' attorneys a list of private organizations that receive access to the government's list of known or suspected terrorists. Judge John Anderson issued the ruling at the conclusion of a hearing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria which he angrily questioned government lawyers about their failure to previously disclose that hundreds of private entities like universities and hospitals receive access to the list. The government admitted earlier this month in a court filing that private groups like universities and hospitals receive access to the list, after denying in previous court hearings and depositions that they do. A government lawyer said the oversight was a mistake and there was no intention to deceive. "We didn't catch that one," government lawyer Antonia Konkoly said of the misstatements about the list, noting that the watchlist administration is "a very broad operation." The Council on American-Islamic Relations is challenging the watchlist's constitutionality. It says innocent Muslims are placed on the list by mistake and suffer numerous consequences as a result. FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2017, file photo, attorney Gadeir Abbas speaks during a news conference at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington. The federal government has acknowledged that it shares its terrorist watchlist with more than 1,400 private entities, including hospitals and universities, prompting concerns from civil libertarians that those mistakenly placed on the list could face a wide variety of hassles in their daily lives. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) The government also revised its estimate of how many private groups get access to the list, from more than 1,400 to fewer than 700. Konkoly, the government's lawyer, said the initial estimate given earlier this month of 1,441 contained numerous duplicates. She said it's hard to determine an exact number because many of the private entities have similar names, and some of the recordkeeping goes back to "before the age of modern computing." CAIR's lawyers have long suspected that the list is disseminated much more widely than the government has acknowledged. The broad terror watchlist contains hundreds of thousands of names; the much smaller no-fly list is culled from the watchlist. CAIR's lawsuit is filed on behalf of Muslim clients who say they have not only suffered travel consequences as a result of placement on the list but also difficulty in processing financial transactions and interactions with law enforcement. At Friday's hearing, Konkoly said the private groups receiving the list are "law-enforcement adjacent" entities like police forces for private universities and railroads. "There's nothing shocking about any of the entities on the list," Konkoly said. "What may not be shocking to you may be shocking to me or shocking to the plaintiffs," Anderson responded. As a result, Anderson ordered the government to provide him a list of the private agencies. He also ordered, over the government's objection, that the CAIR attorneys be permitted review the list at a secure government location. But the attorneys will not be allowed to keep a copy of the list and are barred from disseminating it publicly. Lena Masri, a CAIR attorney, called Anderson's ruling "a huge step forward to help us understand the breadth of the dissemination." That breadth of dissemination is a key aspect of the CAIR's lawsuit, because the plaintiffs allege that the list is shared so broadly that people suffer consequences in all aspects of life. Anderson said he was frustrated that the government did not provide accurate information about the list's private dissemination until roughly two years after the lawsuit was filed, despite specific orders from a judge to come clean on this very topic. He also expressed frustration that the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center, which manages the list, had insufficient answers about how other government agencies share the list. The fewer-than-700 entities referenced in the lawsuit refers only to those private entities that get the data directly from the Terrorist Screening Center. It does not count what other government agencies, like Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration, do with the list. The TSA shares its data with airlines, but Anderson questioned Konkoly about who else might receive the list. Konkoly provided assurances that private corporations like banks and car dealerships don't get the list, but Anderson questioned how she could state that confidently without knowing more about the workings of the other government agencies. "You don't know what (the department of Homeland Security) does with the information," Anderson said. CAIR lawyer Gadeir Abbas said it's become clear over the course of the lawsuit that so many government entities are intertwined with the collection and dissemination of the watchlist that nobody truly knows its scope. "Each agency claims they don't know what the other agency is doing," he said. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - As President Donald Trump seeks a nuclear deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next week in Vietnam, some in Seoul are wondering if the fate of Washington's decades-long military alliance with South Korea could be at stake. Much of this worry is linked to Trump's repeated assertions that the U.S. military deployment in South Korea is too costly, and to his surprise suspension of some U.S. military exercises with South Korea - including a major summertime drill - as a concession to Kim after their first summit in Singapore last year. Added to this concern are policies by South Korea's liberal President Moon Jae-in that critics say favor engagement with North Korea at the expense of the alliance with Washington. The broader U.S.-South Korean alliance, sealed during the bloodshed of the 1950-53 Korean War, won't be on the negotiating table during the summit in Hanoi on Feb. 27-28. But some observers say its long-term future could be in doubt and that Trump may eventually withdraw some of the 28,500 U.S. troops deployed in South Korea. "The Korea-U.S. alliance is seriously ill now," Kim Taewoo, the former head of the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification in South Korea, said in a recent speech. U.S. and South Korean officials maintain that everything is fine. After agreeing to increase its contribution to the cost of the U.S. military presence this year, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said last week that Washington insists it has no plans to adjust troop levels. During a phone call with Moon on Tuesday, Trump also said that U.S.-South Korea relations are better than ever, according to Moon's office. FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2017, file photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers, F-35B stealth fighter jets and South Korean F-15K fighter jets fly over the Korean Peninsula during joint drills. Ahead of the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, some observers say there is an uncertainty over the future of the decades-long military alliance between Washington and Seoul. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP, File) Trump repeated Friday that drawing down American forces was not on the table for his talks with Kim, but he has previously threatened to pull them from South Korea and Japan if those nations refused to pay more. After the Singapore summit, Trump also told reporters, "I want to bring our soldiers (in South Korea) back home." While announcing the suspension of a major summertime military drill, Trump called the exercises "very provocative" and "tremendously expensive." U.S. defense officials are not planning any troop reductions but some have indicated that they would not be surprised if Trump puts reductions on the table as part of his negotiations with Kim. Other possibilities that worry many in Seoul include that Trump will suspend or drastically downsize another major set of military drills this spring, or that he'll settle for a deal where the North abandons its long-range missile program aimed at the U.S. while not addressing the North's shorter-range missiles targeting Seoul and Tokyo. An extended stoppage of comprehensive training between the allies could weaken the militaries' fighting capacity, especially since many U.S. soldiers rotate out of South Korea after less than a year of service, some experts say. "Soldiers' fighting power comes from training. If there aren't any (big) joint drills for one year, we'll have (U.S.) soldiers who have never experienced such drills," said Moon Seong Mook, an analyst for the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. North Korea, on the other hand, which has described the drills as preparation for invasion and responded with its own costly exercises, would likely benefit. North Korea has said it was forced to develop nuclear weapons to cope with what it calls American hostility. During the Singapore summit, Kim said he was committed to the "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," which has previously meant the North would only denuclearize when the United States withdraws all its troops from South Korea and stops military drills with the South. In December, North Korea's state media said it would never unilaterally abandon its nuclear program unless Washington first removes its nuclear threat. Some are also concerned about reports that Trump may agree to declare the end of the Korean War, which ended with an armistice, as a security guarantee for the North. Such a declaration, considered as a preliminary step before signing a peace treaty to formally end the war, could provide the North with a basis to step up its calls for a U.S. troop pullout. "If our security is shaken, foreign investments will be driven out of the country and stock prices will plummet," said the analyst Moon, a retired brigadier general who took part in numerous military talks with North Korea. Part of the debate in South Korea reflects a deep historical division over the U.S. military. For some, the U.S. military rescued South Korea from the surprise North Korean invasion that started the Korean War. Others blame the United States for the 1945 division of the Korean Peninsula. Rallies that focus on the United States, both pro and anti, routinely take place in Seoul, but surveys show a majority of South Koreans support the U.S. troop deployment. On Wednesday in a central Seoul neighborhood, placards that read "Let's protect the Korea-U.S. alliance, our lifeline, with our lives!" could be seen along with about 20 U.S. and South Korean flags. Nearby, about a dozen people rallied behind a banner calling for Washington not to threaten peace on the Korean Peninsula. "Are we America's colony?" one participant shouted. Since the war, the U.S. has stationed tens of thousands of troops in South Korea to guard against North Korean attack. Meanwhile, South Korea has grown into an economically prosperous, faithful ally that has taken part in U.S.-led wars in Vietnam, Iraq and elsewhere. U.S. troop numbers have gradually fallen over the decades. After then President Richard Nixon withdrew about one third of the 60,000 U.S. troops in South Korea in 1971, South Korean President Park Chung-hee ordered officials to covertly pursue a nuclear weapons program, which was later scrapped because of fear of U.S. sanctions. Former President Jimmy Carter, a critic of Park's suppression of human rights, sought to implement a campaign promise to bring back all 40,000 troops from South Korea. But he was opposed by many advisers and ended up bringing back about 3,000. The departure of even several thousand U.S. troops could weaken the situation militarily because of the loss of both the soldiers and their weapons and equipment. But it could also hurt the U.S. military's efforts to counter a rising China. "If (Trump) pulls back some of troops because of money issues ... he'd have more to lose than he'd gain," said analyst Kim Dong-yeop at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. "Under the viewpoint of a U.S.-China security framework, I wonder if (Trump's troop drawdown comments) are anything more than just rhetoric." ___ AP national security writer Robert Burns In Washington contributed to this report. FILE - In this Nov. 7, 2017, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, accompanied by United States Forces Korea Commander Gen. Vincent Brooks, center left, attends an operational briefing at the eighth Army Operational Command Center at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Ahead of the second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, some observers say there is an uncertainty over the future of the decades-long military alliance between Washington and Seoul. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) FILE - In this March 25, 2015, file photo, U.S. Army soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team and South Korean soldiers take their position during a demonstration of the combined arms live-fire exercise as a part of the annual joint military exercise Foal Eagle between South Korea and the United States at the Rodriquez Multi-Purpose Range Complex in Pocheon, South Korea. Ahead of the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, some observers say there is an uncertainty over the future of the decades-long military alliance between Washington and Seoul. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File) FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2015, file photo, U.S. and South Korean army soldiers pose on a floating bridge on the Hantan river after a river crossing operation, part of an annual joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States in Yeoncheon, south of the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas, South Korea. Ahead of the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, some observers say there is an uncertainty over the future of the decades-long military alliance between Washington and Seoul. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) FILE - In this Nov. 12, 2017, file photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, three U.S. aircraft carriers USS Nimitz, left top, USS Ronald Reagan, left center, and USS Theodore Roosevelt, left bottom, participate with other U.S. and South Korean navy ships during the joint naval exercises between the United States and South Korea in waters off South Korea's eastern coast in South Korea. Ahead of the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, some observers say there is an uncertainty over the future of the decades-long military alliance between Washington and Seoul. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP, File) Israeli policemen detain a young Palestinian demonstrator during clashes after protesters tried to break the lock on a gate at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on February 18, 2019 after it was closed by Israeli authorities Israeli police arrested and later released a top Palestinian Muslim official in Jerusalem on Sunday after scuffles at a flashpoint holy site in the city in recent days. The arrest drew condemnation from Jordan, the custodian of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the disputed city. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Abdel Azeem Salhab had been arrested for violating an order preventing entry into a prohibited area of the holy site. Salhab is the head of the council of the Waqf in Jerusalem, the religious authority that governs the site. Official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that his deputy Najih Bakira had also been arrested, but police had not confirmed it. Both men were seen by an AFP photographer late Sunday afternoon leaving a police compound in Jerusalem. A lawyer for the two men, Mohammed Mahmud, said they had been barred from Al-Aqsa for seven days. Police had not commented. The Waqf condemned the arrests in a statement, calling the police actions "dangerous". The arrests followed the detention of 60 others overnight Thursday to Friday as police said they were responding to calls for unrest at the holy site surrounding Friday prayers there. Some have since been released with an order not to visit the holy site. - 'Playing with fire' - The site is the third-holiest in Islam and a focus of Palestinian aspirations for statehood. It is also the location of Judaism's most holy spot, revered as the site of the two biblical-era Jewish temples. Jews refer to it as the Temple Mount. It is a frequent scene of conflict between the two sides. Muslim worshippers' access to Al-Aqsa and the adjoining Dome of the Rock is controlled by Israeli security forces. A statement from Jordan's religious affairs minister, Abdul Nasser Abu al-Basal, said the arrests were akin to "playing with fire". Jordan's foreign ministry also said it delivered an official protest to Israel. There have been scuffles at the holy site recently over Israeli authorities' padlocking of a door leading to a side building in the compound, known as the Golden Gate or Gate of Mercy in Arabic. Access was closed by an Israeli court order in 2003 during the second Palestinian intifada over alleged militant activity there, police say, but Waqf officials have argued that the organisation that prompted the ban no longer exists. The Waqf council, which has undergone recent membership changes, has been more assertive in challenging such decisions, said Ofer Zalzberg, senior analyst for the International Crisis Group. Worshippers prayed in front of the building recently, and on Friday crowds entered and prayed inside in defiance of the court ban. Zalzberg said it seemed there were high-level contacts between Jordan and Israel to resolve the dispute, but Israeli electoral politics could interfere ahead of April 9 polls. "On the positive side, we are seeing both governments taking this seriously," he told AFP. "If this becomes an Israeli electoral issue, it will be hard for the Israeli government to act with moderation." The religious site is located in east Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community. kt-ag-cmr-jlr/mjs/dco Two Army officers of the rank of major and a jawan were injured in the clash. Dy SP Aman Kumar Thakur headed the counter terrorism wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police in District Kulgam from the last one-and-a-half years and had played a key role in the killing of terrorists in the area. (Photo: ANI) Srinagar: Three militants, a deputy superintendent of Police (DSP) and an Army jawan were killed and two Army officers wounded in a gunfight in Turigam village of Jammu and Kashmirs southern Kulgam district on Sunday. The police said that the identities of the slain militants are being ascertained but local sources said that they belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the terror group involved in the February 14 suicide attack on a convoy of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in J&Ks Pulwama district, leaving over 40 jawans killed and several others injured. Police officials said that DSP of the counterinsurgency special operations group (SOG) of J&K police Aman Kumar Thakur was critically injured while leading from the front as fighting broke out between a group of militants holed up in Turigam village and the security forces during a cordon-and-search operation around noon. He was hit in his head in a barrage of gunfire from militants and died on way to hospital, police said. A 2011 batch KPS Officer Thakur was a resident of Gogla village of J&Ks eastern Doda district. He had been heading the SOG in militancy-infested Kulgam for the past one and a half years and had taken part in a number of operations against militants. He is survived by parents, wife Sarla Devi and a six-year-old son Arya, a police spokesman here said. Two Army officers of the rank of major and a jawan were injured in the clash. The jawan later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, officials said. Irate crowds mainly of youth poured out of their homes and while chanting pro-freedom slogans made attempts to disrupt the operation, the police sources said. They clashed with the security forces which fired teargas to contain the situation, the sources added. This was a yet another encounter in which the security agencies reported casualty since the February 14 terror attack. In a similar clash that took place in Pinglena village of Pulwama on February 18, three JeM militants, Armys Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, Havildar Sheo Ram, Sepoy Hari Singh and Sepoy Ajay Kuma, a J&K policeman Abdur Rashid and a civilian Mushtaq Ahmed Butt were killed. The slain JeM militants included top commanders Kamran Bhai alias Fahad, a trusted aide of the outfits chief Moulana Masood Azhar, Ghazi Rasheed alias Luqman, who was known to be an IED specialist (both Pakistani nationals), and a local resident Hilal Ahmed. A spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carries a baby followed by a woman who fled the Islamic State (IS) group's last holdout of Baghouz, in northern Syria's Deir Ezzor province US-backed fighters said Saturday they were keeping a corridor open to rescue remaining civilians from the Islamic State group's last sliver of territory in Syria, as the UN appealed for urgent assistance. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have evacuated nearly 5,000 men, women and children from the jihadist holdout since Wednesday, bringing the SDF closer to retaking the less than half a square kilometre still under IS control. "On our side, the corridor is open and we hope a larger number of civilians will arrive but that depends on IS fighters and whether they will give civilians a chance to exit," SDF spokesman Adnan Afrin told AFP at their Al-Omar base. More than four years after IS overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq and declared a "caliphate", they have lost all but a tiny patch in the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border. Some 2,000 people are believed to remain inside Baghouz, according to the SDF. The force says it is trying to evacuate remaining civilians through a corridor before pressing on with a battle to crush the jihadists unless holdout fighters surrender. Afrin said the SDF had evacuated "more than 2,000 people, including women, children and men" on Friday, mostly wives and children of IS fighters. On Thursday, nearly 2,500 evacuees arrived at a Kurdish-run camp for the displaced further north, compounding already dire conditions inside the crammed settlement, the UN's humanitarian coordination office OCHA said. It warned of the "huge challenges" posed by the influx. - 'No victory' - The SDF transferred those evacuated on Friday to a screening point outside Baghouz, to weed out potential jihadists. Spokesman Mustefa Bali said that a group of Yazidi children were "among many children saved" from IS territory that day. An AFP corespondent saw hundreds of women and children spread out on the arid desert ground, surrounded by bags, begging for food and water. One woman rushed towards an SDF fighter screaming, as she cradled a pale infant in her arms. The fighter assured her that her child would be fine. Another women claimed she was about to go into labour. Nearby, an Iraqi woman in her forties wearing a face veil held in her hand a medical report in English. A young girl looks on as women and children who fled the Islamic State (IS) group's last embattled holdout of Baghouz wait to evacuate the area in Syria's northern Deir Ezzor province She said the report was written for her by a doctor inside the Baghouz pocket, explaining that she needed treatment for kidney problems. Syrian woman Khadija Ali Mohammad, the 24-year-old wife of a deceased IS fighter, said conditions inside the jihadist pocket were deplorable. "We were living in tents and eating bread made from bran. My three sisters and I didn't have enough money to pay smugglers to get us out before, and our husbands had died in battle," the woman from Aleppo's countryside in northern Syria told AFP. She was disappointed at the collapse of the IS proto-state. "God had promised us a caliphate and we went to it," she said. "I feel there will be no victory although they (IS) tell us victory is near." - 'Huge challenges' - Around 46,000 people -- mostly civilians -- have streamed out of IS's shrinking territory since early December, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Men suspected of being Islamic State fighters wait to be searched by members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after leaving the IS group's last holdout of Baghouz in northeast Syria While civilians are trucked north to Kurdish-run camps for the displaced, mainly to Al-Hol, six hours drive from Baghouz, suspected jihadists are sent to SDF-controlled detention centres. OCHA said 18 of the 2,500 latest arrivals in Al-Hol, mostly women and children, were in "critical condition". "Thousands more are expected in coming hours/days at Al-Hol camp, putting a further strain on basic services," it tweeted. "This sudden influx presents huge challenges to the response - additional tents, non-food items, water and sanitation and health supplies are urgently needed." The International Rescue Committee on Friday said 69 people, mostly children, had died on the way to Al-Hol, now home to more than 40,000 of the displaced, or shortly after arriving in past weeks. "Two thirds of the deaths are of babies under one year old," the relief group said. The SDF says it has limited resources to administer camps and has called for support from the international community. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has faced weeks of protest against his three-decade rule Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Saturday sacked his long-time ally Bakri Hassan Saleh as first vice president, a day after dissolving the government in the face of nationwide protests. Defence Minister General Awad Ibnouf has been appointed to replace Saleh, who was involved in the Islamist-backed coup that brought Bashir to power three decades ago, a presidential decree said. The move comes after the president on Friday imposed a state of emergency across the country and dissolved the federal and provincial governments in a bid to quell weeks of demonstrations that have rocked his iron-fisted rule. Saleh, a key aide to Bashir for decades, previously held several ministerial portfolios including interior and defence. In March 2017 he was appointed as prime minister, the first since Bashir seized power in 1989. He was later removed from the post. Saleh was also an adviser to Bashir on national security and head of the country's powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) in the 1990s. Protests erupted in Sudan in December after a government decision to cut a vital bread subsidy, and swiftly mushroomed into anti-government demonstrations calling for Bashir to go. Officials say 31 people have died in protest-related violence, while Human Rights Watch says at least 51 people have been killed. Protest leaders have dismissed Bashir's declaration of a state of emergency and pledged to continue with their campaign of demonstrations until he is ousted. The data leak, which included people's HIV status, names and addresses, has provoked an outcry in Singapore, especially among the LGBT community and NGOs involved in the fight against AIDS An American man accused of leaking data of thousands of HIV-positive people in Singapore has been charged in the United States with possession and unlawful transfer of stolen documents, authorities said. Singapore announced last month that confidential information of 14,200 people diagnosed with the virus that causes AIDS had been dumped online, with most of those affected foreigners. Authorities accused Mikhy Farrera Brochez, an HIV-positive American who was jailed in the city-state and deported in 2018, of leaking the data after obtaining it from his Singaporean doctor partner. The data leak, which included people's HIV status, names and addresses, has provoked an outcry in Singapore, especially among the LGBT community and NGOs involved in the fight against AIDS. Brochez was charged Friday, according to a statement from the US attorney's office for the eastern district of Kentucky. "The criminal complaint alleges that (Brochez) illegally possessed and intended to distribute data containing sensitive medical and other identifying information," it said. "While living in the eastern district of Kentucky, (Brochez) sent links to the data from his e-mail account to several news outlets. "He also sent e-mails to several government officials in Singapore containing links to the data." He will appear in court again on Wednesday. Speaking earlier in February to Singapore's Straits Times newspaper, Brochez maintained his innocence. Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said this month that Singapore would "spare no effort" to bring Brochez back and prosecute him, and denied the government had sought to cover up the leak. Singapore and the US have an extradition treaty. Brochez was jailed in Singapore in 2016 for lying about his HIV status, drug-related offences and fraud, and was deported after his sentence. HIV is a sensitive issue in socially conservative Singapore, with critics saying there is still much stigma surrounding the virus. Egypt's Coptic Christian community has been shaken by the case of two monks accused of killing a bishop at a remote monastery An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced two monks to death over the murder of a bishop, a judicial source said, in a case that shocked the Middle East's largest Christian community. Coptic Bishop Epiphanius was found dead with a head wound in July at the Saint Macarius monastery in the plains of Wadi al-Natrun, northwest of Cairo. Prosecutors said one of the monks Isaiah confessed to striking the abbot with a metal bar as the second monk Philotheos kept watch. The authorities blamed the killing on unspecified "differences" between the two monks, one of whom was later defrocked, and the bishop. The sentence against the two monks was referred to Egypt's Grand Mufti. The country's top theological authority is required by law to give its legally non-binding opinion in cases of capital punishment. The defendants can appeal the verdict after the Mufti gives an opinion and the ruling is officially issued on April 24. In the wake of the bishop's killing, Egypt's Coptic Church placed a one-year moratorium on accepting new monks. It also banned monks from social media, tightened financial controls and refocused attention on spiritual life. Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's predominantly Sunni Muslim population of 100 million. The country's vast desert is home to some of Christianity's most ancient monasteries. Thousands flocked to Johannesburg's Rand Stadium to hear Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane's pitch to unseat the ruling ANC South Africa's main opposition Democratic Alliance promised voters an end to corruption that has tainted the ruling ANC at the launch of its manifesto on Saturday ahead of May polls. "Our leaders realised they could make money out of every job, out of every contract," said DA leader Mmusi Maimane, 38, who wore a suit in the party's signature blue. Endemic corruption has been exposed inside the ruling African National Congress (ANC), the party of Nelson Mandela that has ruled since democracy in 1994, at two warts-and-all judicial inquiries probing official graft. "It meant a better life for some... and they forgot about the rest of us. While too many of our people didn't have water, some were drinking the finest champagne," added Maimane. "Those who started off as being liberators ended up looting from our people." Thousands of party faithful flocked to Johannesburg's Rand Stadium, waiting for hours under a baking sun to hear Maimane's pitch to unseat the ANC. Performers sang and danced to the crowds who wore the Democratic Alliance's signature blue as South Africa's main opposition party launched an anti-corruption manifesto ahead of May polls Performers sang and danced to the crowds who wore the DA's signature blue -- but struggled to fill the large stadium in the city's south. Maimane kicked off his speech with references to South Africa's sporting and cultural heroes, before warning of a crackdown on corruption. "I want to say to all the politicians, if you are corrupt, you can expect to spend 15 years in jail," he said. "I'm going to introduce an anti-corruption unit staffed by both specialist prosecutors and investigators." - 'A party for all South Africans' - At the last polls in 2014, the DA won 22 percent of the vote, delivering 89 seats in parliament and the title of main opposition. It will be hoping to improve that showing on May 8 but may come up against smaller opposition parties. "I understand where they're coming from... they should be listened to," said author and political observer Nomavenda Mathiane. At the last polls in 2014, the Democratic Alliance won 22 percent of the vote, delivering 89 seats in parliament and the title of main opposition "They're definitely going to do better than last time." After 2014's polls, the DA subsequently took control of the capital Pretoria, the economic hub Johannesburg and the southern city of Nelson Mandela Bay. The DA had hoped to exploit corruption allegations swirling around the ANC, particularly former president Jacob Zuma, to enhance its political standing -- and potentially deny the ruling party an outright majority. "We need change and we need it now -- this is not the change my father talked about," said Maimane, who is black. South Africa only emerged from recession in December, has a stubborn 27 percent unemployment rate and is battling a $30 billion debt crisis at its state electricity utility that threatens to weigh down the economy. But bitter internal divisions have left the DA battling to capitalise on the ruling party's shortcomings. Mmusi Maimane, leader of the Democratic Alliance, the main political opposition party in South Africa, warned of a crackdown on corruption at the launch of the DA manifesto ahead of May polls In August the DA's coalition partners in Nelson Mandela Bay pulled out of their agreement and stripped the party of its control of the city. In October the party's high-profile Cape Town mayor Patricia De Lille quit the DA alleging racism at the highest levels of the leadership. De Lille, who is from the coloured community, went on to launch her own party called Good which could skim votes from that demographic which, along with the whites, had formed the DA's electoral bedrock. Then in January DA lawmaker Gwen Ngwenya quit her job as the party's head of policy, accusing the leadership of not sticking to their pledges on affirmative action. "But which party doesn't have problems?" added Mathiane, the political writer. Twenty-five years after apartheid, South Africa remains deeply divided along racial lines with white citizens mostly enjoying high standards of living. "Black people, white people, Indian people, coloured people -- we are a party for all South Africans," said Mumaine to cheers. Sixty-three percent of Black South Africans live below the poverty line however, and struggle to access work, healthcare and basic government services. Maimane, elected leader in May 2015, has sought to throw off the party's reputation as a voice of white voters and attempted to appeal to middle class black South Africans. "It is the only party talking truth -- the others aren't," said Innocent Mabuza, 33, a DA supporter at the event. "Why should I not go for the DA?" Former Sri Lankan Navy chief Wasantha Karannagoda (R), seen here in this file picture from 2009, has been linked to the kidnap and murder of 11 people Sri Lankan police on Saturday hunted a former navy chief linked to the kidnap and murder of 11 people in an extortion case that has attracted international condemnation. Wasantha Karannagoda, 66, was added to a list of 14 men accused of abducting children from wealthy families in 2008-2009 and later killing them. Colombo Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake on Friday impounded the retired admiral's passport as police feared he would attempt to flee the country. The four allegations against Karannagoda include conspiracy to murder, which carries the death penalty. "We have launched a search for him," a police official told AFP. "We have alerted all ports of exit." One of Karannagoda's successors, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, the current head of Sri Lanka's military, has been on bail since December after being accused of helping one of the suspects to avoid arrest. Police told the court that the 11 victims were killed while in the illegal custody of the navy, although their bodies have never found. Investigators believe the number of victims to be at least three times higher. Police said that the victims were not linked to Tamil rebels and had been kidnapped purely to extort money from their families. The killings of the young men have been widely condemned and international rights organisations have repeatedly demanded accountability. The case was reopened only after President Mahinda Rajapakse lost his reelection bid in January 2015 elections. Several intelligence officers also face prosecution over the murder of journalists critical of Rajapakse, whose decade in power was marred by allegations of war crimes and grave rights abuses. Military figures have been accused of extrajudicial killings during the 37-year war against the Tamil Tiger separatist movement. The final days of the offensive that eventually crushed the rebels were marked by major abuses, according to rights groups. A UN panel said 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final stages of the war that ended in May 2009. A member of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carries a baby followed by a woman who fled the Islamic State (IS) group's last holdout of Baghouz, in northern Syria's Deir Ezzor province US-backed fighters said Saturday they are keeping a corridor open to rescue remaining civilians from the Islamic State group's last speck of territory in Syria, as the UN appealed for urgent assistance. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have evacuated nearly 5,000 men, women and children from the jihadist holdout since Wednesday, bringing the SDF closer to retaking the less than half a square kilometre still under IS control. "On our side, the corridor is open and we hope a larger number of civilians will arrive but that depends on IS fighters and whether they will give civilians a chance to exit," SDF spokesman Adnan Afrin told AFP at their Al-Omar base. He said the SDF had evacuated "more than 2,000 people, including women, children and men" on Friday, mostly wives and children of IS fighters. Nearly 2,500 people arrived the same day at a Kurdish-run camp for the displaced further north, compounding dire conditions inside the already crammed settlement, the UN's humanitarian coordination office OCHA said. It warned of the "huge challenges" posed by the influx. More than four years after IS overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq and declared a "caliphate", they have lost all but a tiny patch in the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border. Some 2,000 people are believed to remain inside Baghouz, according to the SDF. The force says it is trying to evacuate remaining civilians through a corridor before pressing on with a battle to crush the jihadists unless holdout fighters surrender. - 'No victory' - The SDF transferred the fresh batch of evacuees to a screening point outside Baghouz on Friday, to weed out potential jihadists. An AFP corespondent saw hundreds of women and children spread out on the arid desert ground, surrounded by bags, begging for food and water. A smaller group of men were separated from the women as SDF fighters searched the latest arrivals and checked their identification cards. An Iraqi woman in her forties wearing a face veil held in her hand a medical report in English. She said the report was written for her by a doctor inside the Baghouz pocket, explaining that she needed treatment for kidney problems. Syrian woman Khadija Ali Mohammad, the 24-year-old wife of a deceased IS fighter, said conditions inside the IS pocket were deplorable. "We were living in tents and eating bread made from bran. My three sisters and I didn't have enough money to pay smugglers to get us out before, and our husbands had died in battle" the woman from Aleppo's countryside in northern Syria told AFP. She was disappointed at the collapse of the IS proto-state. "God had promised us a caliphate and we went to it," she said. "I feel there will be no victory although they (jihadists) tell us victory is near." - 'Huge challenges' - Around 44,000 people -- mostly civilians -- have streamed out of IS's shrinking territory since early December, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Men suspected of being Islamic State fighters wait to be searched by members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after leaving the IS group's last holdout of Baghouz in northeast Syria While civilians are trucked north to Kurdish-run camps for the displaced, mainly to Al-Hol, six hours drive from Baghouz, suspected jihadists are sent to SDF-controlled detention centres. OCHA said 18 of the 2,500 latest arrivals in Al-Hol, mostly women and children, were in "critical condition". "Thousands more are expected in coming hours/days at Al-Hol camp, putting a further strain on basic services," it tweeted. "This sudden influx presents huge challenges to the response - additional tents, non-food items, water & sanitation and health supplies are urgently needed." The International Rescue Committee on Friday said 69 people, mostly children, had died on the way to Al-Hol, now home to more than 40,000 of the displaced, or shortly after arriving in past weeks. "Two thirds of the deaths are of babies under one year old," the relief group said. The SDF says it has limited resources to administer camps and has called for support from the international community. Osman Mirghani recovering after a previous incident in 2014, when he was severely beaten by armed men who raided the offices of his newspaper Sudanese security agents have detained a prominent newspaper editor after he made televised comments on President Omar al-Bashir's decision to impose a state of emergency and dissolve the government, his brother said Saturday. Osman Mirghani, editor-in-chief of independent daily Al-Tayar, was taken away by security agents from his office late on Friday, Ali Mirghani told AFP. He said security agents detained his brother soon after his comments on Bashir's latest measures to quell weeks of protests against his three-decade-old rule. "Soon after the president announced the emergency, my brother was speaking about it on an Arab channel," he said. "After that he was taken away from his office. We don't know his whereabouts until now." Agents from the powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) also confiscated the entire print run of Saturday's edition of Al-Tayar, he said. Police and security officials were unavailable for comment. Sky News Arabia screened an interview with Mirghani on Friday evening in which he was asked whether Bashir's new measures would extinguish public anger. He responded that they would instead "spark a new wave" of protests and send a message that the public "can exert more pressure to achieve its goal of removing this regime". Mirghani, a US-educated engineer turned journalist, has often been targeted by security agents, who have detained him several times, confiscated copies of his newspaper or barred its publication without giving any reason. The NISS regularly seizes entire print runs of newspapers over articles it deems inappropriate, especially those criticising the authorities or government's policies. Sudanese authorities have launched a sweeping crackdown against protests that broke out in December, jailing protesters, opposition leaders, activists and journalists. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders says at least 79 journalists have been arrested since the protests erupted on December 19. Sudan is ranked 174th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index. Late on Friday, Bashir declared a state of emergency across the country in an attempt to quell the demonstrations. He also dissolved the cabinet and provincial governments of all 18 provinces. Protests erupted in Sudan after a government decision to triple the price of bread. They swiftly escalated into anti-government demonstrations with protesters calling for Bashir to resign. Officials say 31 people have died in protest-related violence. Human Rights Watch says at least 51 people have been killed. Bashir, 75, has remained defiant in the face of protests. He swept to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989. One soldier was killed and 20 others were injured in a Boko Haram rocket attack in northeast Nigeria, security sources said on Saturday, just hours before elections began. A civilian militia source in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, told AFP "at least 13" blasts were heard throughout the city at about 6:00 am (0500 GMT). Residents also confirmed hearing the explosions while one of two security sources said: "Boko Haram terrorists attempted to enter the city but were intercepted. "They resorted to firing RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) on the city. Attempts have been made to locate the source of the firing." The second source added that one of the explosions happened at the headquarters of the Nigerian Army 7th Division as troops prepared to go out on operations. "One soldier was killed and 20 were injured. There were other explosions at Maimalari barracks but there was no casualty," he added. "Troops are out searching for the location of the firing." Three of the mortars fell in an open rice field in the Teachers Village camp for people displaced by the conflict. But there were no immediate reports of casualties. A fighter jet was seen flying over the city in the search for the source of the attacks. There was no official comment from the military but Borno police commissioner Damian Chukwu denied any attack. There was "no threat to public peace and order", he said. "The gunfire was not targeted at members of the public but was for security purpose," he added. Fears of a major Boko Haram attack have been growing in the run-up to elections, which the jihadists have previously vowed to disrupt. Maiduguri is the birthplace of Boko Haram Islamists and has been repeatedly attacked during their nearly 10-year insurgency that has devastated the remote region. Voting began from 0700 GMT, with President Muhammadu Buhari, a former army general who has vowed to defeat the jihadists, seeking a second term. Security sources meanwhile reported clashes between the military and suspected Boko Haram fighters in Auno, on the border of Borno state with neighbouring Yobe. An attack in the town of Geidam, north of the Yobe state capital Damaturu, also forced residents to flee, they added. The early morning explosions in Maiduguri come after a Boko Haram attack late on Friday on Zabarmari village, 10 kilometres (six miles) outside the city. Boko Haram's insurgency in northeast Nigeria has killed more than 27,000 people and left 1.8 million homeless, creating a humanitarian crisis. But the government and military have repeatedly said the jihadists are weakened to the point of defeat, despite persistent hit-and-run raids and suicide bomb attacks. Recent months have seen an increase in attacks against troops, blamed on or claimed by Boko Haram's Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction. The IS-backed group is known to operate in northern Yobe state and around the border with Borno state. Evan Williams in September 2010, when he was Twitter's CEO, at the company headquarters in San Francisco Twitter co-founder and one-time chief executive Evan Williams is stepping down from the board, leaving the one-to-many messaging service to focus on "other projects." Williams will depart the Twitter board at the end of this month, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. "It's been an incredible 13 years, and I'm proud of what Twitter has accomplished during my time with the company," Williams said in the filing. "I will continue rooting for the team as I focus my time on other projects." Williams throttled back his role in the San Francisco-based startup eight years ago, turning his attention to a new endeavors including creating popular online publishing platform Medium. Williams ceded his role as Twitter chief executive to Dick Costolo in 2010. Co-founder Jack Dorsey returned as Twitter chief in 2015, having held the position when the startup was nascent. Dorsey said in a Tweet that Williams was the reason he joined startup Odeo, an endeavor that led to him, Williams and Biz Stone creating Twitter. "I appreciate you, Ev!" Dorsey tweeted on Friday. "We're going to miss your voice in our board conversations." Twitter has become a high-profile, and sometimes controversial, global stage for communication since it was launched in March of 2006. "Thank you, @jack and @biz for starting this crazy company with me-and continuing to make it better and better," Williams tweeted. "I'm going to ride off into the sunset (or...down Market Street), so I can focus on some other things." A protester was killed and two others were critically wounded in the police firing on Saturday night. Guwahati: Despite a clarification issued by Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu that his government was not going to give Permanent Residence Certificates (PRC) to six non-Arunachalee communities, violence continues to rock the state capital Itanagar where hundreds of protesters set the house of deputy chief minister Chowna Mein on fire and clashed with the security forces in their attempt to attack the residence of the chief minister on Sunday. The protesters, who went on rampage all over the state capital throughout the night, also set a police station on fire, forcing the state administration to call out the Army and impose prohibitory orders. A protester was killed and two others were critically wounded in the police firing on Saturday night. Security sources said that the security forces on Sunday opened fire on protesters who were trying to attack the chief ministers bungalow and shot dead at least three protesters. Senior police officers could not be contacted to confirm the death of three protesters. Arunachal Pradesh Congress president Takam Sanjay on Sunday demanded the imposition of Presidents Rule in the state and blamed Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju, chief minister Pema Khandu and his ministers for the current situation in the state. Mr Sanjay, who was in New Delhi, told this newspaper that the BJP was trying to turn Arunachal Pradesh into another Kashmir. He said: For the last four years they did nothing for the PRC, but now at the fag end of its tenure, they are trying to give PRC hurriedly. Like all other northeastern states, Arunachal was also passing through a political turmoil on the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Bill and the sudden move of the government to grant PRC had hurt the sentiments of the people. Admitting it has been a long-pending issue of the state, Mr Sanjay said: The BJP was trying to destroy the harmony of tribals and non-tribals that existed in the state by such divisive moves. He also regretted that all BJP ministers had fled the state capital instead of dousing the fires. The day the protests started, the state leaders had an opportunity to talk to protesters at the state Assembly premises, where the protesters had gathered first, but instead of engaging with them, they resorted to suppressing the agitation, provoking the sentiments of the people, said Mr Sanjay, outright rejecting all charges by the ruling party about his involvement. He also appealed to the protesters to maintain peace and demanded a judicial probe to fix responsibility. Informing that even the Army had not succeeded in defusing the situation, security sources at Itanagar said that provocative posts on the social media were adding fuel to the violence as the protesters tried to attack the residence of chief minister Pema Khandu on Sunday. However, heavy deployment of security forces had succeeded in defusing the situation. The authorities have snapped all Internet services. The protest broke out after a Joint High Power Committee submitted a recommendation to the government recommending Permanent Resident Certificates (PRC) to the non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (Non-APSTs) communities of Namsai and Changlang districts. The Joint High Power Committee, after holding parleys with stakeholders, has recommended granting of PRC to six communities Deori, Sonowal Kachari, Moran, Adivasi, Gorkha and Mishing. Mr Mein, along with Mr Khandu, had sought the granting of PRC to these communities as they dominate Namsai and Changlang districts. Mr Mein represents Lekang Assembly constituency in Namsai district. The most surprising aspect of the ongoing violence is that the state administration was yet to ascertain the identity of the group or individuals who are leading the violent protests in Itanagar. If insiders in Itanagar are to be believed, there have been a few unknown WhatsApp groups which had been sending message to the protesters to gather at specific places whenever they strike. Even after repeated attempts, neither Arunachal Pradesh BJP president Tapir Gao nor any minister of the government could be contacted for their reaction. Even the chief secretary and the head of the home department were not picking up the phones. Security sources said most ministers, fearing a backlash, had left the state capital. Plans are underway for national talks on which of the 1,156 islands can be elevated in a dramatic intervention The far-flung Marshall Islands needs to raise its islands if it is to avoid being drowned by rising sea levels, President Hilda Heine has warned. Plans are underway for national talks on which of the 1,156 islands, scattered over 29 coral atolls, can be elevated in a dramatic intervention to ensure safety on the islands. "Raising our islands is a daunting task but one that must be done," Heine said in an interview with the Marshall Islands Journal published Friday. "We need the political will, and especially traditional leaders' commitment, to see this through. "We must come together as a nation as this is about our survival as a nation, as a people and as a culture." A "climate crisis" policy document prepared by the office of the chief secretary painted a bleak outlook for the Pacific Ocean archipelago with a population of 55,000. It cited an increasing frequency of "inundation events, severe droughts, coral bleaching events, and... looking forward, there is very good reason to believe that conditions and prospects for survival will only worsen." Most of the islands are less than two metres (6.5 feet) above sea level and the government believes physically raising the islands was the only way to save the Marshall Islands from extinction. They have not yet outlined specifics of how this would be achieved expect to have plans formulated by the end of the year. In the meantime, they are keeping a close watch on the ambitious City of Hope project on an artificial island in the Maldives as a viable option. To lay the foundations of the city -- which is expected to accommodate 130,000 people when completed in 2023 -- sand is being pumped onto reefs from surrounding atolls and it is being fortified with walls three metres above sea level, which will make it higher than the tallest natural island in the Maldives. "Whatever approach is selected, it will involve selecting islands to raise, add to, or build upon" Heine said. "All Marshallese stakeholders, but especially traditional landowners, need to be at the forefront of this discussion if we are ever going to move the conversation forward." The Marshall Islands also aims to increase engagement with the three other all-atoll nations -- Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Maldives -- on climate issues. "As a group, the atoll nations need to come together to formulate their unique concerns and develop their positions and plans and identify financial needs related to climate impacts," said Heine, who chairs the Coalition of Atoll Nations Against Climate Change. Jason Rezaian, former Tehran bureau chief for The Washington Post, has written a memoir about his 18-month imprisonment in Iran A pawn in a game of international chess, Jason Rezaian, the Tehran correspondent for The Washington Post, spent 544 days in an Iranian prison. As Rezaian languished behind bars in Evin Prison, the high-stakes match was being played over the future of Iran's nuclear program. "I was treated as an Iranian but when it came time to make a trade, I was traded as an American," Rezaian, the son of an Iranian-born father and an American mother, told AFP in an interview. "It is a hypocritical way, but a very Iranian way of doing business." Rezaian, 42, who was born and raised in California, recounts his 18-month ordeal in a memoir, "Prisoner," which came out at the end of January. Rezaian and his wife, Yeganah, were arrested on July 22, 2014 after he returned from Vienna, where he had covered a negotiating session between Iran and the P5+1 -- the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. After years of economic sanctions, the talks had officially resumed following the June 2013 election of moderate Hassan Rouhani to the Iranian presidency. Washington Post Tehran bureau chief recounts his 544 days in an Iranian prison in his new book, "Prisoner" The two sides were working towards an agreement governing Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran insisted was for civilian purposes but Western intelligence agencies suspected had military goals. Rezaian, who had worked for the Post for two years and was well acquainted with the restrictions on foreign reporters in Iran, was accused by the Iranian authorities of being the station chief for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Tehran. His Iranian interrogators were particularly suspicious about a quixotic Kickstarter campaign he launched to bring avocados -- a fruit that is not found in Iran -- to the Islamic Republic. "To take a Kickstarter project on an avocado farm, such a silly thing, and turn this into proof that you are the CIA station chief in Tehran is ridiculous," Rezaian said. He soon came to realize that his "value" and that of his Iranian-born wife was linked to the delicate negotiations over the future of Iran's nuclear program. "Very early on, they would say 'just a journalist has no value for us' -- they kept talking about value, value," Rezaian said. "Iran has been famous for taking hostages, and using those hostages for trade for many years," he added in a reference to the 1979 seizure of American diplomats in Tehran, a move which led to the rupture in relations between the two countries. - 'Very complex situation' - Rezaian and his wife also found themselves caught up in the middle of a power struggle among the leadership of the Islamic Republic over the nuclear deal and the country's relations with the West. Jason Rezaian, former Tehran bureau chief for the Washington Post, poses for a portrait at The Washington Post headquarters "The (faction) that didn't want relationships (with the West) was responsible for my arrest and they were doing everything they could to undermine the negotiations between the Rouhani administration and (P5+1)," he said. "It was a very complex situation as -- at the same time -- Rouhani's folks that were negotiating understood that they could use me as leverage as well," the journalist said. During his 18 months in Evin Prison, in northern Tehran, Rezaian was interrogated, threatened with dismemberment and told he could receive life in prison or even the death sentence. He was told he would be freed if he pleaded guilty to espionage. Put on trial behind closed doors in 2015, Rezaian pleaded not guilty. Rezaian said his prison conditions improved somewhat as the months dragged on. His wife was released after 72 days and he was allowed visits by his mother. The Washington Post, his brother, Ali, and press freedom groups launched a campaign seeking his release. Jason Rezaian and his wife, Yeganeh, pose with Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos following his release from an Iranian prison "I realized that it needed to be as loud as possible because at that point it became a political issue and it was my only chance," Rezaian said. "For innocent people who are captured and used as leverage, it's imperative to keep their name out there." Rezaian was released along with three other Americans on January 16, 2016 -- the day the nuclear agreement signed in Vienna on July 14, 2015 went into force. "My fate was tied up with how the deal was going to be implemented," he said. Rezaian said his first months back home were difficult. "We will never return to the life we had and it took me many months to understand it," he said. "In the first months I thought I was like, broken. "I could not sleep at night," he said, and was "very paranoid." Since his release, Rezaian has campaigned for the release of other foreigners or dual nationals held by Iran such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian who has been detained since April 2016, and Iranian-Americans Baquer and Siamak Namazi. Rezaian's advice to other members of the press working in Iran is to be "very careful." "Take all the necessary precautions," he said. "Because unfortunately, the likelihood is that it will happen again to somebody else." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit the Philippines as the former US colony tilts to China US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel next week to the Philippines, the State Department said Friday, as the former US colony increasingly flirts with regional giant China. Pompeo will travel to Manila on February 28 and March 1 for talks with President Rodrigo Duterte, State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said. The top US diplomat will be paying the visit on his way back from Hanoi where he is joining President Donald Trump for his closely watched second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. After winning the presidency in 2016, the brash Philippine leader threatened to split with the United States and patch up with China by ending a long-running sea dispute. President Xi Jinping visited Manila in November, offering trade and investment incentives. Duterte has bristled at all criticism over his sweeping crackdown on drugs and crime, which has killed thousands of people since mid-2016 despite criticism of lack of due process. But Trump has hailed Duterte's actions as a sign of toughness -- a marked contrast with previous US president Barack Obama, who Duterte branded the "son of a whore." The Trump administration has downplayed human rights except when pressing adversaries and has set an overall priority of reducing the global influence of China and Russia. Amazon had promised the sprawling complex in the borough of Queens would create 25,000 jobs President Donald Trump said on Friday Amazon's abandonment of plans for a headquarters in New York marked a "big loss" for the US financial capital. The Long Island City neighborhood was one of two locations the online retail giant selected last year after a long search for a second base, or "HQ2." Amazon 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. But it withdrew the plans last week, blaming opposition from community leaders angry at the huge subsidies being offered to one of the world's most successful companies. "I think it's a big loss," New York real estate mogul Trump said. "I think if you look at the deal, the deal was not a great deal from the standpoint of they could have made a better deal than that, a much better deal, but still it's a loss to New York City." It marked a rare concession from the president, who has been a highly vocal critic of Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post. Trump has repeatedly accused the Post of lobbying for the company -- and claims the US Postal Service loses "billions of dollars" delivering Amazon packages. Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, seen here in a file photo from his 2006 trial, has been released after serving 12 years in prison Former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling has been released from prison after serving 12 years for his role in the fraud scheme which sent the US energy giant into bankruptcy. Skilling, 65, had been most recently incarcerated at a reentry facility in Houston, Texas, according to the US Bureau of Prisons website. The Houston Chronicle reported that Skilling had been released on Thursday after completing 12 years of what was initially a 24-year sentence. It was eventually reduced on appeal. A Harvard-educated whiz kid, Skilling once stood on the top rungs of America's corporate ladder and graced the pages of glossy business magazines. The native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and father of three was snapped up by Enron in the early 1990s following a stint as a consultant with McKinsey and Co. He worked his way up through the ranks and held the Enron CEO title for just six months before quitting in August 2001 for "personal reasons," just four months before the Houston-based energy trader collapsed. Thousands of people lost their jobs and life savings when Enron went under, in what was then the largest corporate bankruptcy in US history with more than 40 billion dollars in outstanding debt. Skilling was convicted in May 2006 of 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud and insider trading and ordered to forfeit about 45 million dollars in assets, including his home. One of Skilling's children, a 20-year-old son, died in 2011. Enron founder Kenneth Lay was also convicted of fraud but died before he could be sentenced and his conviction was thrown out because his death prevented him from appealing the verdict. US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House President Donald Trump insisted Friday he was not pulling an about-face on his Syria withdrawal plans, after it was announced hundreds of US troops would remain in the war-torn country. The White House quietly dropped the news late Thursday that around 200 American "peace-keeping" soldiers would remain in northern Syria indefinitely, amid fierce criticism of Trump's decision to withdraw America's more than 2,000 troops there by April 30. "I am not reversing course," Trump said at the White House, noting that 200 soldiers was only a "very small, tiny fraction" of the overall presence. Senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham heralded the move, claiming the residual forces would somehow catalyze a bigger presence by European allies who had balked at the idea of committing troops to Syria minus an American ground presence. "This 200 will attract probably 1,000 Europeans," Graham said in an interview with Fox News. Trump, an avid Fox viewer, said he watched Graham and supported leaving "a small force with others. Whether it's NATO troops or whoever it might be, so that (IS) doesn't start up again." Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Sean Robertson said the US troops would be part of a "multinational observing and monitoring force" that would be made up "primarily" of NATO allies in a northeast Syria "safe zone." Robertson added the US would also maintain its presence at Al-Tanaf, a desert garrison in southern Syria where some 200 US soldiers are presently based. US Senator Lindsey Graham holds a media conference at the US embassy in Pakistan Trump declared victory over IS in December despite thousands of fighters remaining and a continued effort to clear jihadists from a final scrap of territory. The decision prompted his defense secretary Jim Mattis to quit. Critics have decried a number of possible outcomes from a US precipitous withdrawal, including a Turkish attack on US-backed Kurdish forces and a resurgence of IS. Apart from the US, currently only France and Britain have a handful troops on the ground in Syria helping train local forces in the US-led effort against IS. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan visited Europe last week and attempted to convince allies to furnish a troop presence in Syria after the US pulls out. But he struggled to persuade other countries why they should risk their forces with America gone. Graham claimed "thousands of Europeans" had been killed by IS fighters coming from Syria into Europe. "Now, the burden falls on Europe. Eighty percent of the operation should be European, maybe 20 percent us," he said. According to various tracking groups, far fewer than 1,000 people have been killed in attacks by Islamists of all origins in Europe since 2014. But Graham's rhetoric feeds into one of Trump's favorite topics -- the notion that European and NATO allies aren't contributing enough to global security. - Anti-IS campaign 'unchanged' - Shanahan, who spoke briefly to Pentagon reporters as he met with Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, insisted the mission to defeat IS remained unchanged. "The transition that we are working towards is stabilization, and to enhance the security capability of local security forces," Shanahan said. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan (2nd R) welcomes Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar (2nd L) to the Pentagon General Joe Dunford, who is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added he was confident allies would step into the fray. "There is no change in the basic campaign. The resourcing is being adjusted because the threat has been changed," Dunford said. Graham meanwhile said he had been speaking to Trump "continuously" about the withdrawal and persuaded him that a buffer zone needs to be created to protect US-backed Kurdish fighters from a possible attack by Turkey. "You don't want to end one war and start another," Graham said he told Trump. Akar, the Turkish minister, said Ankara did not have a problem with the Kurds in Syria, only with the armed US-backed Kurdish fighters there. "We are fighting against terrorist organizations," Akar said. Protests in Sudan in December over a hike in bread prices have escalated into nationwide demonstrations demanding that President Omar al-Bashir end his 30-year grip on power. In the biggest rally to date, thousands of protesters have since April 6 been camped out around the army headquarters in Khartoum, calling for military backing. Officials say 38 people have lost their lives since the protests started and nearly 2,500 have been arrested. Rights groups give a higher death toll of 51 dead, accusing authorities of a heavy-handed crackdown. Here is a timeline. - Bread protests - Hundreds take to the streets in central Atbara and other cities on December 19 to protest the government's tripling of bread prices after a three-week shortage and amid steep inflation. Food price hikes had already provoked sporadic demonstrations in January 2018 but were swiftly curbed. The new protests erupt the same day as the main opposition leader -- ex-prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi who was driven out in Bashir's 1989 coup -- returns from exile. Some protesters chant "No to hunger"; in Atbra they set fire to the headquarters of Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP). - First deadly clashes - The protests spread to Khartoum and other cities on December 20, demonstrators chanting "freedom, peace, justice" and calling for "the fall of the regime". Clashes break out as police try to disperse the crowds and eight demonstrators are killed. Other NCP offices are torched. Troops are deployed in Khartoum and other cities. On the sixth day of demonstrations, Bashir breaks his silence on December 24 and vows "real reforms". - Bashir vows no change - With no let-up in the near-daily demonstrations, 22 political groups issue a joint call on January 1 for a "new regime". Bashir sacks the health minister on January 5 over rising costs of medicine. Four days later, thousands chant support for Bashir at a rally in Khartoum but in the capital's twin city of Omdurman there are more deaths in anti-government protests. On January 13, protests spread to the war-torn region of Darfur. Bashir tells supporters there: "Demonstrations will not change the government." - Emergency rule - Western powers on January 17 call on Sudan to respect the rights of demonstrators. The following week the media accreditation of several Sudanese journalists working for foreign outlets is withdrawn. On February 11, Human Rights Watch releases videos documenting violence by security forces against protesters including live fire, tear gas and beatings. Ten days later, security agents arrest several opposition activists as protesters try to march on the presidential palace. Bashir declares a nationwide year-long state of emergency on February 22, also dissolving the federal and provincial governments and appointing army and intelligence officers as provincial governors. Two days later, he swears in a new prime minister as riot police confront hundreds calling for him to resign. On March 1, Bashir hands his powers as chief of the ruling NCP to his deputy. - Protest camp at army HQ - The protests become less regular after the state of emergency and Bashir on April 4 acknowledges that demonstrators had "legitimate" economic concerns, calling for dialogue. But on April 6, thousands march again in Khartoum, gathering for the first time outside the military headquarters and chanting "One Army, One People". They set up camp at the complex, which also houses the president's residence, defying attempts by security forces on April 9 to dislodge their sit-in with teargas and gunshots into the air. The United States, Britain and Norway call the same day on the Sudanese authorities to deliver a plan for "political transition". Sudan's police orders its forces to avoid intervening against protesters, following the policy of non-intervention by the military. Trump, answering questions as he met at the White House with a senior Chinese official, said that he would not reveal his bargaining cards ahead of next week's summit in Hanoi President Donald Trump on Friday ruled out reducing US forces from South Korea as part of a deal in his upcoming summit with North Korea. "No, it's not. That is not one of the things on the table," Trump said when asked if he would consider pulling some of the 28,500 troops from South Korea. Trump, answering questions as he met at the White House with a senior Chinese official, said that he would not reveal his bargaining cards ahead of next week's summit in Hanoi. Pressed on what he would offer, Trump quipped: "Everything is on the table." Trump again hailed his relations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom he met in June in Singapore in the first-ever summit between the two adversaries. The US leader will face pressure to produce more concrete results when they meet over two days at their second summit. The businessman turned president has long mused about withdrawing US troops from allies, seeing them as an expense shouldered by the United States by countries that are often commercial competitors. Heightening speculation that troops could be on the table, the United States and South Korea have been struggling to finalize a new arrangement on how much Seoul will pay for the US military presence, with the Trump administration pressing for more. North Korea has never formally ended the 1950-53 war with its neighbor and officially is seeking reunification with the South. But any bid to remove US troops would face strong pushback from the US Congress and Japan, whose conservative government is deeply wary of North Korea's intentions. And South Korean President Moon Jae-in has shown little interest in booting out US troops, in contrast with some of his predecessors who shared his left-of-center ideology. Yemeni pro-government forces walk through destruction in the port city of Hodeida in November 2018: the UN is calling on both sides to honor an agreement to pull out of key ports including Hodeida The UN Security Council on Friday called on the warring parties in Yemen to immediately implement a deal to pull their forces out of three key ports and a key grain depot. In a unanimous declaration, the 15-member council welcomed the recent UN-sponsored agreement between Huthi rebels and the Saudi-led coalition fighting them. They called for "the immediate implementation" of the first step of the deal, which includes the various factions pulling their fighters first back from the ports of Saleef and Ras Issa and then from the port city of Hodeida. Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy in Yemen, said on Tuesday he hoped the redeployment of forces would happen as early as Tuesday or Wednesday but there was no indication that it had happened. On Thursday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres held a meeting on the issue in New York with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Under the agreement struck in Sweden on February 17, fighters would redeploy outside the ports and away from areas that are key to the humanitarian relief effort in Yemen, devastated by famine and outbreaks of disease after years of conflict. The ports are in the Huthi-held west of the country. The agreement also sets out free access to the grain warehouses at Red Sea Mills, under control of the Saudi-backed government forces. The UN has not had access to the grain depots since September and estimates that the stockpiles there could be enough to feed 3.7 million people for a month. The Security Council members also "expressed concern at continued reports of violations of the ceasefire" which has been in place since December. "They called on the parties to seize this opportunity to move towards sustainable peace by exercising restraint, de-escalating tensions, honoring their commitment to the Stockholm Agreement and moving forward with its swift implementation." About 80 percent of Yemen's population, or around 24 million people, are in need of food aid, including 10 million who are one step away from famine, according to the UN. The country's economy has been brought to its knees by restrictions placed by the Saudi-backed government for deliveries of imports. The war has cost an estimated 10,000 lives since it began in March 2015. Canadian minder Barrick Gold said it had "reviewed the opportunity to merge with Newmont Mining Corporation", which would top the previous record deal if it goes ahead Canadian miner Barrick Gold said Friday it is weighing a mammoth bid for American rival Newmont to reclaim its dominance in the gold sector. In a statement, the company said it had "reviewed the opportunity to merge with Newmont Mining Corporation" but added that "no decision" had been made yet. Newmont has not commented on the proposed transaction. If it goes ahead, the US$19 billion hostile takeover would top the previous record deal, set only last month after years of waning investor interest due to lackluster bullion prices. The industry has been consolidating as gold mines around the world get depleted, driving up costs and encouraging companies to come together in mergers and alliances. In January, Colorado-based Newmont announced a US$10 billion stock deal for another Canadian mining company, Vancouver-based Goldcorp, in a move to leapfrog Barrick as top gold miner. That acquisition -- which is expected to close in the second quarter -- came only three months after Barrick agreed to buy Britain's Randgold Resources in a US$5.4 billion deal. But unlike past waves of mergers and acquisitions in the sector that saw big premiums being offered that turned out to be disastrous and burdened buyers with huge debts, Barrick lowered the bar in the Randgold deal. - Gold crown - Barrick and Newmont had flirted with the idea of merging five years ago, but talks fell apart over who would lead the combined firm and where to locate its headquarters -- Toronto or Denver. Barrick's renewed interest in its rival shows it does not want to cede its gold crown. But observers said its offer of a one-for-one share exchange at no premium may have to be sweetened to entice Newmont shareholders. It could also complicate Newmont's purchase of Goldcorp or even scuttle the deal, which would put Barrick on the hook for a huge break fee payable to Goldcorp. Under the terms, Barrick would reportedly keep the bulk of Newmont's assets including mines in Nevada and Africa, while its Autralian assets would be sold to Newcrest Mining or another buyer, according to unnamed sources cited by the Globe and Mail newspaper. Newcrest, which is largely focused on the Pacific Rim, had itself walked away from talks to merge with Goldcorp last year. But it is said to be looking for new buying opportunities. The Barrick-Newmont tie-up -- which had long eluded Barrick's late founder and chairman Peter Munk -- would produce more than 10 million ounces of gold a year, according to an estimate by BMO Capital Markets. The two companies have adjoining assets in Nevada and Newmont already has a stake in Barrick's Turquoise Ridge Mine in the US state. Their combined market capitalization, meanwhile, would top US$40 billion. In early afternoon trading Friday, Barrick stock fell slightly to US$13.16 in New York, while Newmont shares rose more than three percent to US$36.52. However, sensing that the issue could dent the BJDs poll prospects, Mr Patnaik and his ministers have started meetings with the farmers. New Delhi: As political parties gear up for the coming electoral battle, political outfits in Odisha, including the ruling BJD and the Opposition BJP and Congress are anxiously awaiting who will the farming communitys favour when the state, where both for the Assembly and general elections are scheduled simultaneously, goes to the polls. Many political observers feel that the st-ate is witnessing farmers consolidation of this extent for th-e first time and the BJD supremo and CM Naveen Patnaik will be facing his first electoral battle in the coming days as during his last three terms there was har-dly any formidable opponent. The state has been witnessing massive agitations and protests by farmer organisations who have been expressing massive angst against the ruling BJD but even the Opposition is aware of Mr Patnaiks personal appeal and influence over the masses. Despite the NaMo wave of 2014, the BJP could manage to win only one parliamentary seat out of the total 21 and 10 Asse-mbly berths out of the total 143. However, since then the saffron party has enhanced its organisation as well as support base in the state, with the Congress ground to both the BJD and the BJP. Anti-incumbency a-gainst the sitting M-LAs of the ruling pa-rty is a major cause of worry for the BJD su-premo and the unrest among the farmers has only added to Mr Patnaiks worries. Of the total population of the state, nearly 72 per cent belong to the farming community and therefore, both the ruling and the Opposition parties are trying to woo them. While the ruling BJD has launched and promoting KAL-IA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) scheme, op-position parties are reminding the farmers how their major c-ause of concern, irrigation measures, rem-ains neglected by the Patnaik government. However, sensing that the issue could dent the BJDs poll prospects, Mr Patnaik and his ministers have started meetings with the farmers. Knowing well that Mr Patnaiks charisma could tilt the farmers towards the BJD, the BJP has activated its cadre to reach out to the community. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has declared a year-long nationwide state of emergency Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, long wanted on genocide and war crimes charges, has declared a nationwide state of emergency as he bids to stay in power despite weeks of anti-regime protest. Demonstrators first took to the streets on December 19 to protest against a government decision to triple bread prices, as the African country grapples with an economic crisis. Officials say at least 31 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in unrest that first erupted in towns and villages, before spreading to the capital Khartoum. Human Rights Watch says at least 51 people have been killed, including children and medical staff. For more than two months, the demonstrations have spread to key towns like Port Sudan, Madani, Gadaref and Kassala near the Eritrean border. Although protests against his regime also took place in September 2013 and January 2018, analysts say the current demonstrations are the biggest challenge since Bashir swept to power in a coup backed by Islamists in 1989. Indicted by the Hague-based International Criminal Court in 2009 on war crimes charges over a long-running conflict in Darfur, the president has since been re-elected twice in polls boycotted by opposition groups. In 2010, he was also indicted by the ICC for alleged genocide. The 75-year-old has proved a political survivor, evading not only the ICC but also a myriad of domestic challenges. Since the protests erupted Bashir has addressed several loyalist rallies, promising to promote economic development and peace across the country. Analysts say the current demonstrations are the biggest challenge to Bashir since he came to power Dancing and waving a stick in his trademark style, Bashir has greeted cheering supporters even in once violence-wracked Darfur, insisting that protesters will fail. "Demonstrations will not change the government," a defiant Bashir said at a rally in Darfur last month as supporters, some on camels, chanted "Stay, stay". "There's only one road to power and that is through the ballot box. The Sudanese people will decide in 2020 who will govern them," said Bashir. On Friday he declared a year-long nationwide state of emergency, at the same time dissolving the cabinet and local governments. - Career soldier - Despite the ICC indictments, Bashir has regularly visited regional countries and also Russia. Days before the protests erupted he visited Damascus to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, becoming the first Arab leader to do so since that country's own conflict began. At home, Bashir last year hosted talks between neighbouring South Sudan's leaders, helping to broker a tentative peace deal after five years of intense conflict in the world's newest country. Bashir has addressed several pro-government rallies in recent weeks, promising to promote economic development and support peace nationwide South Sudan had gained its independence in 2011, when Bashir surprised his critics by giving his blessing to a secession that saw the south take the bulk of Sudan's oil fields, some six years after a peace deal ended two decades of north-south conflict. The president also joined a Saudi-led coalition against Shiite rebels in Yemen, improving ties with the resource-rich Gulf nations, although the policy has been criticised by his opponents at home. A career soldier, Bashir is well known for his populist touch, insisting on being close to crowds and addressing them in colloquial Sudanese Arabic. Bashir, who has two wives and no children, was born in 1944 in Hosh Bannaga, north of Khartoum, to a farming family. He entered the military at a young age, rising through the ranks and joining an elite parachute regiment. He fought alongside the Egyptian army in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. In 1989, then a brigade commander, he led a bloodless coup against the democratically elected government. Bashir was backed by the National Islamic Front of his then mentor, the late Hassan al-Turabi. - Hosting bin Laden - Bashir has remained defiant in the face of protests, rejecting calls for him to step down Under Turabi's influence he led Sudan towards a more radical brand of Islam, hosting Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and sending jihadist volunteers to fight in the country's civil war with the south Sudanese. In 1993, Washington put Sudan on its list of "state sponsors of terrorism" and four years later slapped Khartoum with a trade embargo -- only lifted in 2017 -- over charges that included human rights abuses. Bashir sought to end Sudan's isolation in 1999, ousting Turabi from his inner circle. But when insurgents launched a rebellion in Darfur in 2003, his government's decision to unleash the armed forces and allied militia saw him face further international criticism. More than 300,000 people have been killed in the Darfur conflict, the UN says, and more than two million displaced. Since 2011, Bashir has also faced insurgencies in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, launched by the Sudan People's Liberation Army-North. On Wednesday, a top US official warned Khartoum that ongoing talks to remove the country from the state sponsors of terrorism list could be derailed if the authorities don't rein in their crackdown on protesters. Here are key dates in Sudan since Omar al-Bashir, who Friday announced a nationwide state of emergency following two months of deadly anti-government protests, came to power three decades ago. - 1989: coup - In June 1989. army brigadier Bashir seizes power in a coup backed by Islamist ideologue Hassan al-Turabi. Sudan then hosts radical Islamists, including Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden who remains until 1996. A leadership power struggle erupts in 1999 and Bashir forces Turabi from the ruling circle. - 2003: rebellion in Darfur - In 2003, a rebellion erupts in the vast western region of Darfur, which complains of economic and political marginalisation. The conflict kills 300,000 people and displaces nearly 2.5 million, according to UN figures, before largely diminishing. The International Criminal Court in 2009 indicts Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, and a year later for genocide. Bashir denies the charges. - 2005: civil war ends - Khartoum signs a peace treaty in 2005 with southern rebels after a north-south civil war that lasted more than two decades, leaving two million people dead and a further four million displaced. The agreement schedules a referendum on independence for 2011. - 2010: vote boycotted - In 2010, Bashir is elected in the first multiparty election since 1986, but voting is boycotted by the opposition and criticised abroad. He is re-elected in 2015. - 2011: South Sudan born - In July 2011, South Sudan breaks away, six months after the scheduled referendum overwhelmingly approves independence. The Sudan People's Liberation Army-North launches insurgencies in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. - 2012: war for oil - In early 2012, fighting breaks out along the border between Sudan and South Sudan over oil fields in an area claimed by both. South Sudan shuts off oil production for more than a year, hitting the economies of both countries. - 2013: deadly demonstrations - Khartoum lifts petrol subsidies in late 2013, causing prices to rocket by more than 60 percent and sparking broad public anger. Demonstrations turn into anti-government protests and the security forces respond with force. Amnesty International says more than 200 people were shot dead, while the government puts the toll at dozens. - 2016: Darfur referendum - Darfur holds a referendum in April 2016 on whether to unify its five states, a long-standing demand of rebels seeking greater autonomy. The poll is boycotted by the opposition and criticised internationally, with the result backing the division of the region. In August, negotiations fail between the regime and rebels on a cessation of hostilities in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan. The following month Amnesty says government forces used suspected chemical weapons in 2016 in Darfur, killing scores of civilians. Khartoum denies the allegations. In November, Sudan hikes fuel prices by around 30 percent, sparking new nationwide strikes. - 2017: US embargo ends - In October 2017, the United States ends its 20-year-old trade embargo against Sudan, imposed over alleged support for Islamist militant groups. But Washington does not drop Sudan from its blacklist of "state sponsors of terrorism". - Bread protests - In early 2018, demonstrations erupt over soaring food prices, notably of bread. They are swiftly dispersed and opposition leaders and activists rounded up. In August, the ruling party nominates Bashir as its candidate for the 2020 presidential election, despite the constitution having a two-term limit. On December 19, protests begin in several towns after the government triples the price of bread, soon turning into rolling nationwide anti-government rallies. The demonstrations continue into 2019, with some political groups calling for a "new regime". Authorities are accused of a harsh crackdown, including using live ammunition, with Human Rights Watch saying at least 51 people have been killed since the start, although the official toll is around 31. A top US official warns that talks to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism could be detailed unless the authorities rein in their crackdown on protesters. On February 22, Bashir declares a year-old state of emergency across Sudan and dissolves the government. Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was convicted of crimes spanning a quarter-century Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman -- convicted earlier this month of trafficking crimes spanning a quarter-century -- plans to request a new trial following media reports of jury misconduct, his lawyer announced Friday. It comes after Vice News published an interview on Wednesday with a member of the jury who alleged multiple jurors defied orders not to follow media coverage of the three-month trial, research it online, or communicate with anyone about the case. "Mr. Guzman intends to file motion for a new trial based on the disclosures in the article," Eduardo Balarezo wrote to the Judge Brian Cogan, adding Guzman would also request a hearing to determine the extent of juror misconduct. The juror interviewed did not give their name or gender, nor did they confirm if they were one of the 12 jurors involved in deliberations or one of six alternates. Former Sinaloa cartel chief Guzman, who faces life in prison, was found guilty on February 12 of smuggling tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States. He is scheduled to be sentenced in June. Usually, a motion for a new trial must be filed within 14 days of a verdict, but Balarezo's letter also requested an extension of 30 days from February 26. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has declared a nationwide state of emergency and dissolved the government after weeks of demonstrations Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir declared a nationwide state of emergency on Friday and dissolved the government, in an effort to quell weeks of demonstrations that have rocked his iron-fisted rule of three decades. "I announce imposing a state of emergency across the country for one year," Bashir said in a televised address to the nation. "I announce dissolving the government at the federal level and at the provincial levels," he added. Deadly protests have rocked the east African country since December 19, with demonstrators accusing the government of mismanaging the nation's economy and calling on the veteran leader to step down. Chanting "freedom, peace, justice," protesters took to the streets after the government tripled the price of bread. Demonstrations first erupted in the farming town of Atbara, but the rallies swiftly mushroomed into a major challenge to Bashir's rule stretching back three decades. Officials say 31 people have died in the protest-related violence, while Human Rights Watch says at least 51 people have been killed including medics and children. The country's feared National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) have launched a sweeping crackdown to quell the protests, jailing hundreds of protesters, opposition leaders, activists and journalists. Bashir, 75, swept to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989 that overthrew the elected government of then premier Sadiq al-Mahdi. He has remained defiant in the face of protests, insisting that the only way the government can be changed is through the ballot box. He is also wanted by the International Criminal Court to face charges of war crimes and genocide arising out of the long-running conflict in Darfur. US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office with China's Vice Premier Liu He US President Donald Trump voiced alarm Friday at the "very dangerous situation" between India and Pakistan, warning that New Delhi was considering "very strong" action after an attack in Kashmir. "It's very dangerous situation between the two countries. We would like to see it stop," Trump said, adding that the United States was seeking talks with Pakistan. "Right now there is a lot of problems between India and Pakistan because of what happened," he told reporters as he met a senior Chinese official in the Oval Office. Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed rivals since a suicide attack last week killed 41 soldiers on the Indian side of divided Kashmir, the deadliest attack in years. "India is looking at something very strong. India just lost almost 50 people with an attack. So I can understand that also," Trump said. India has been demanding action against militants from Pakistan, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi under pressure from his Hindu nationalist base to show firmness weeks before he is set to call elections. The attack was claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammed, an Islamist extremist group based in Pakistan, although the suicide attacker came locally from Indian Kashmir. Pakistan's military on Friday warned India against any "misadventure," saying it was capable of responding. The United States in recent years has allied with India, seeing common interests with a fellow democracy that has been battling Islamist extremists. The Trump administration last year cut off $300 million in military aid to Pakistan, saying that Islamabad has not done enough to fight extremists at home or close safe havens for militants in neighboring Afghanistan. "Pakistan was taking very strong advantage of the United States under other presidents," Trump said. "I ended that payment because they weren't helping us in a way that they should have." India and Pakistan have fought two of their three full-fledged wars over Kashmir since their partition at independence from Britain in 1947. Le vaisseau SpaceShipTwo sous son avion porteur WhiteKnightTwo, a l'aeroport et spatioport de Mojave (Californie) le 22 fevrier 2019 Virgin Galactic's spacecraft reached an altitude of more than 55 miles (88.5 kilometers) on Friday, carrying for the first time a passenger in addition to its two pilots. SpaceShipTwo, built by British billionaire Richard Branson to carry tourists into space, launched from California's Mojave desert and flew to an altitude of 55.87 miles (89.9 kms), the company said. The US definition of space is anything over an altitude of 50 miles. The Virgin craft made it past that for the first time in December, reaching an altitude of 50.9 miles. Branson announced with great fanfare at the time that it was the first time since NASA ended its space shuttle program in 2011 that an American vessel had carried humans into space. However, the Virgin craft still has not crossed the internationally accepted boundary between Earth's outer atmosphere and space, known as the Karman Line, which is set at an altitude of 62 miles (100 kms). "SpaceShipTwo, welcome back to space," wrote Virgin Galactic as it Tweeted updates throughout the event, without sending out any live footage. The spacecraft travelled at a speed of Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound in its ascent, and landed without incident at the Mojave spaceport. It is designed to carry six passengers, but test flights are years behind schedule in large part because of an accident that killed a test pilot in 2014. Branson told AFP earlier this month that he hoped the test flights would be far enough ahead by July that he would be able to join a flight. For the first time Friday, the flight carried a passenger, Virgin Galactic's Beth Moses, who will be in charge of training the company's future space tourists. To take off from the ground, SpaceShipTwo is carried by another larger plane, WhiteKnightTwo, which resembles a combination of two airplanes attached by their wing tips. When it is high enough, it releases the spaceship which then fires up its own rocket engine and ascends for roughly a minute into space. At the apogee, its passengers float in zero-gravity for several minutes. It then descends and glides back to the landing strip. Branson's main rival is Blue Origin, created by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Bezos told an audience in New York this week that his New Shepard suborbital vehicle would start flying people later this year and to a greater altitude than SpaceShipTwo. "One of the issues that Virgin Galactic will have to address, eventually, is that they are not flying above the Karman Line, not yet," Bezos said, quoted by Space News. New Shepard has already flown above the Karman Line, but not with people on board. Senator Roger Wicker, who heads the commerce committee, was criticized for snubbing consumer organizations at a hearing to consider US privacy legislation Consumer groups voiced dismay Friday after a US Senate panel considering privacy legislation scheduled a largely industry-packed witness list for an upcoming hearing. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, a Republican, announced the witness list for Wednesday's hearing on "policy principles for a federal data privacy framework in the United States." The list "is stuffed with well-paid 'inside the Beltway' lobbyists from the data gathering industry," said Jeffrey Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy, a privacy rights group. "Senator Wicker's lineup raises questions about whether he can be trusted to develop legislation that will empower the public and rein in what is now a 'wild west' data collection industry." The witnesses on the list include executives from the Internet Association, Retail Industry Leaders Association, BSA/The Software Alliance and the Interactive Advertising Bureau. It also includes a representative from the 21st Century Privacy Coalition, which is funded by cable and telecom firms. Amie Stepanovich of the digital rights group Access Now also expressed concern, writing on Twitter: "Five witnesses. Every last one of them represents corporate interests." "This is the second hearing the United States Senate has held on consumer privacy where literally all of the companies that want your personal information are the only ones invited to talk to Senators about your privacy rights," tweeted Ernesto Falcon of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The Politico news website, which first reported the witness list, said Wicker would speak at a fundraiser hosted by industry groups the day ahead of the hearing. The Mississippi senator said in a statement on the committee website that he wants "a federal privacy standard to protect consumers without stifling innovation, investment, or competition." A separate hearing on privacy legislation has been scheduled for Tuesday by a House panel that has yet to release its witness list. Chester said he expected to see "more balanced representation" on the House side, "including from civil rights groups." Lawmakers have pledged draft new privacy rules aimed at reining in data abuses following a series of scandals and breaches involving Facebook and other internet platforms. Most tech companies are pledging to accept new regulations to set a uniform standard in the United States following a sweeping set of rules that went into effect in the European Union in 2018. But a fierce debate is expected over the details of any new law. David, left, and Louise Turpin have pleaded guilty to imprisoning and torturing 12 of their 13 children A California couple pleaded guilty Friday to imprisoning and torturing 12 of their 13 children in a grisly "house of horrors" case that gained international attention. David Allen Turpin, 57, and his wife Louise Anna Turpin, 50, each pleaded guilty to 14 felony counts -- including one count of torture and three counts of willful child cruelty -- involving their children who range from three to 30 years old, the Riverside County District Attorney's office said. There were no charges involving the youngest child. "This is among the worst, most aggravated child abuse cases that I have ever seen or been involved in in my career as a prosecutor," District Attorney Michael Hestrin told reporters following the court hearing. Hestrin said he was satisfied with the plea as it would spare the children from having to testify at a trial. David Allen Turpin appears in court on May 4, 2018 in Riverside, California "We needed to determine whether proceeding to trial was worth having the victims testify in this case that has received worldwide media attention," he said. "We decided that the victims have endured enough torture and abuse. I personally met with the victims and, rest assured, they all are relieved to know this case has been resolved." The elder Turpins, who had initially pleaded not guilty in the case, face between 25 years to life in prison at their sentencing in April. The case came to light last year when one of the children -- 17-year-old daughter Jordan -- escaped through a window from the couple's home in the town of Perris, about two hours southeast of Los Angeles, and called the emergency services. - 'They chain us' - According to excerpts of the call released during court proceedings, she told the dispatcher that two of her siblings were chained to their beds so tightly that their skin was bruised and she struggled to tell the operator the home address. "I've never been out. I don't go out much," the teen said in the call. She told responding officers that the house was so dirty she couldn't breathe and that she and her siblings never took baths. "They chain us up if we do things we're not supposed to," she said. "Sometimes, my sisters wake up and start crying (because of the pain)." Louise Anna Turpin appears in court on May 4, 2018 in Riverside, California An officer who interviewed the teen after her escape said she was so emaciated that he first thought she was a child. He said the girl described a routine in which the children were forced to sleep 20 hours a day and in the middle of the night ate a combination of lunch and dinner that most often consisted of peanut butter sandwiches, chips and microwaved food. Hestrin said during previous court hearings that the children had been subjected to prolonged abuse, were allowed to shower once a year and never saw a doctor. "If the children were found to wash their hands above the wrist area, they were accused of playing in the water and they would be chained up," he said. One of the older children also told investigators that the couple would lock him and his siblings in cages as punishment and beat them with paddles. Since their rescue, the children have been in the care of child and adult protective services. "I met with all the victims prior to today, all of them, including the three-year-old," Hestrin said. "I was very taken by them, by their optimism, by their hope for their future. "They have a zest for life and huge smiles and I'm optimistic for them. And I think that's how they feel about their future." The Turpins moved from Texas to California in 2010. Investigators have said it is unclear what prompted the abuse. Under California law, both will be eligible for parole in 25 years because of their age. The president of DR Congo's Independent National Election Commission, Corneille Nangaa, announces the provisional results of the presidential election in January 2019 The United States said Friday it will refuse visas to the Democratic Republic of Congo's election chief and top judge on charges that they undermined long-awaited presidential polls. Washington said it wanted to send a clear signal of the need for accountability in the conflict-torn nation but stressed that it will still work with the controversially elected new president, Felix Tshisekedi. The United States said it would reject any visa request from five senior Congolese figures as well as their immediate family members over "involvement in significant corruption relating to the election process." They include Corneille Nangaa, president of the Independent National Election Commission, Constitutional Court president Benoit Lwamba Bindu and Aubin Minaku Ndjalandjoko, president of the National Assembly. The State Department said it was also imposing visa restrictions on an unspecified number of other military and government officials over human rights abuses related to the election. Benoit Lwamba Bindu, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo's Constitutional Court, announces the rejection of Martin Fayulu's election appeal in January 2019 "These individuals enriched themselves through corruption, or directed or oversaw violence against people exercising their rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression," the State Department said in a statement. "They operated with impunity at the expense of the Congolese people and showed a blatant disregard for democratic principles and human rights," it said. - 'Respect for human rights' - The United States and other international players had been holding their breath for the December 30 election, which ultimately marked the first peaceful transfer of power in sub-Saharan Africa's most vast country since independence from Belgium in 1960. Martin Fayulu, a former oil executive, alleged widespread fraud and accused Tshisekedi of collaborating with outgoing president Joseph Kabila. Despite recognizing concerns over the election, regional and world powers led by South Africa quickly coalesced behind Tshisekedi in hopes of preventing greater instability. The runner-up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's presidential elections, Martin Fayulu, addresses a rally of supporters in Kinshasa Fayulu had accused Nangaa, the election chief, of breaking the law to help engineer the election results. Nangaa hit back after the country's powerful Catholic church raised doubts about the election, saying it was in no position to know the vote tallies. The opposition leader had earlier also accused Kabila of stacking the top court to have his way with the election. Kabila was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term and won praise for eventually stepping down -- but he stayed in power even after his second mandate ended in 2016. Fayulu has maintained that he is the elected president of the resource-rich nation and has maintained pressure, tweeting on Thursday, "I say it and I'll repeat it -- I will not let Joseph Kabila take the destiny of an entire people hostage." The State Department, however, said that its actions were "specific to certain individuals." It said the United States was committed to working with the new government "to realize its expressed commitment to end corruption and strengthen democracy and accountability, and respect for human rights." Trump and Kim meet in Hanoi next week Vietnamese authorities are preparing for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to arrive by train next week ahead of his summit with US president Donald Trump, several sources told AFP Friday. The leaders are slated to meet in Hanoi on February 27-28 to follow up on their first meeting last June in Singapore that ended with vaguely worded commitments on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear programme. In the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong, which borders on North Korea, there were signs that Kim's train could be crossing over into China imminently en route to Vietnam. Guests at a hotel facing the bridge that Kim's train uses to enter China were told by staff to check out on Friday morning. The Zhonglian Hotel, which is along the Yalu river that separates the two countries, will also be closed on Saturday, staff said. Sources told AFP that Kim was expected to arrive in Vietnam by train ahead of his planned meeting with Trump and would visit two provinces to take notes on the country's post-war economic development. "We are preparing for the arrival of the (North Korean) delegation around the 25th of February. We are working on the arrival at Dong Dang railway station, then transfer to Hanoi by car," a source close to logistical preparations told AFP. Kim is expected to enter Dong Dang en route from Pyongyang, via Beijing, sources and media have said. A second logistics source confirmed the expected train arrival late on February 25 or February 26. Kim has previously travelled in an armoured train to Beijing and may stop in the Chinese capital on what could be an epic journey to Vietnam, meeting President Xi Jinping prior to his second face-to-face with the US president. Or he could save the meeting for his return trip to debrief his country's sole major ally. In an unprecedented move, Vietnam's Department of Roads also said Friday evening that large trucks would be banned from the road connecting the Dong Dang rail station near the China border to Hanoi on February 25. A complete ban on all vehicles along the 170-kilometre (105-mile) stretch of road will be in place from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm local time on February 26, implying Kim may arrive that day. Kim's foreign travel plans are routinely kept secret, with information only made public after his departure from Pyongyang, or upon his arrival home. Both sources said Kim planned to visit Quang Ninh and Bac Ninh provinces, home to several industrial zones. Bac Ninh is home to a Samsung factory, a major South Korean investor and leading exporter from Vietnam. The two logistical sources added that Kim could stay at the Melia hotel in central Hanoi, not far from the Government Guesthouse where the summit is expected to take place. Meanwhile, a security source at Hanoi's Noi Bai airport said a North Korean delegation had surveyed the site, but that the team had not been instructed to prepare for a "VIP visit" from Pyongyang, suggesting Kim was not expected to travel by plane. - Armoured train - Observers hope the much anticipated second summit between Kim and Trump will set deliverable goals after their first meeting failed to offer any real progress on North Korea's denuclearisation. Kim travelled to the Singapore meeting in a plane on loan from China, but uses a dark green armoured train -- reportedly outfitted with conference rooms and sleeping quarters -- for his trips to close ally Beijing. Vietnam, a close US ally that maintains ties with Beijing, has been touted as an economic model for isolated North Korea because of its glittering post-war growth that has seen it become one of Asia's fastest growing economies. burs-dma/rox Extra long queues could be seen also at the automated teller machines (ATMs) across Srinagar and other major towns of the Valley. Srinagar: The police crackdown on separatists and airlifting of more than eleven thousand Central armed forces personnel to Srinagar from Delhi overnight set off a variety of rumours in the Kashmir Valley and a resultant panic buying of essentials. The rumours that filled the air spoke about breaking out of active hostilities between India and Pakistan and imminent repeal of Article 35A of the Constitution either by a Supreme Court ruling or through a Presidential ordinance. Yet another rumour mentioned about death of prominent separatist leader Shabir Ahmed Shah who is lodged in Delhis Tihar jail for the past 22 months. Incidentally, a Delhi court on Saturday deferred the hearing on the bail plea of Mr. Shah, arrested in a decade-old money laundering case, till April 2. Amid these rumours, the marketplaces were hit by panic buying and soon shelves were stripped of essentials. Extra long queues could be seen also at the automated teller machines (ATMs) across Srinagar and other major towns of the Valley. Some parts of Srinagar including civil lines area witnessed a partial shutdown against the arrest of dozens of separatists leaders and workers, mainly those belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami, and that of pro-independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Muhammad Yasin Malik. Meanwhile, various separatist organizations and also some mainstream parties and their leaders have criticized the government over the police crackdown on separatists, saying it could instead of easing tensions in the Valley aggravate the situation on ground. Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti questioned the legality of the crackdown on Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and others, saying the arbitrary move will only precipitate matters. She tweeted, In the past 24 hours, Hurriyat leaders & workers of Jamaat organisation have been arrested. Fail to understand such an arbitrary move which will only precipitate matters in Jammu & Kashmir. She then asked, Under what legal grounds are their arrests justified? You can imprison a person but not his ideas. Peoples Conference leader and BJP ally Sajad Gani Lone wrote on micro-blogging site Gov seems to be on an arrest spree. Just a word of caution. Large scale arrests took place in 1990. Leaders were ferried to Jodhpur and many jails across the country. Things worsened. This is a tried tested and failed model. Please desist from it. It wont work. Things will worsen. Separatist leader and Kashmirs chief Muslim cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also took to Twitter.com to denounce the move. He said, Strongly Condemn the nocturnal crackdown on Jamaat-e-Islami leadership and cadres and the arrest of Yasin Malik. Such illegal and coercive measures against Kashmiris are futile and will not change realities on ground. Force and intimidation will only worsen the situation. Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), an alliance of key separatist leaders, said that arbitrary arrest of Mr. Malik and the mass crackdown on the Jamaat leaders and activists appeared to be not only part of the continued policy of suppression of pro self-determination leadership and narrative, but in the case of hearing of Article 35A in Indian Supreme Court most likely on Monday, an indication of what may be expected. The deployment of additional 12,000 paramilitary forces on an urgent basis also indicates that something is cooking in this regard, a statement issued by it said. It called for a general strike in Kashmir against the arrests and possible tinkering of Article 35A on Sunday. CPIM leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami while reacting to the police crackdown on separatists said, It wont solve the problem we are faced with in Kashmir. Rather it can aggravate the situation on the ground. He added, such arrests and crackdowns have taken place in the past also but our experience tells us that such moves failed to open the way forward or help towards bringing about peace and tranquillity in the State. Former lawmaker and leader of Awami Itehad Party (AIP) Engineer Rashid in his reaction appealed the Centre to stop terrorising Kashmiris and understand the fact that they are not enemies of India but simply want political dispute to be resolved for a permanent peace in the entire sub-continent. He said, By trying to silence the genuine political voices New Delhi is only pushing Kashmiris to the wall. Such harsh measures will add further anger and disappointment among the masses. US President Donald Trump (R) meets with Chinese trade envoy Liu He (L) in the Oval Office on Friday US President Donald Trump said on Friday a trade summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was likely next month, and hailed two days of "very good talks" by negotiators. The negotiations were extended through Sunday as officials race to reach a deal ahead of a deadline next week when US duty rates are due to rise sharply. But Trump again said he was considering pushing back the deadline for raising tariffs on more than $200 billion in Chinese exports. "We expect to have a meeting sometime in a not too distant future," he said of the meeting with Xi. "Probably fairly soon in the month of March." Xi also sounded a positive note in a letter delivered to Trump by China's lead negotiator Liu He. The Chinese president expressed hope that the talks maintain "a mutually respectful, cooperative and win-win attitude" and lead to a "mutually beneficial" agreement. "I am ready to maintain close contact with the President through various means," state-run China Central Television quoted Xi's letter saying. Details remained scant about any concrete progress in the seven-month-old trade war, which has rattled global markets and prompted stark warnings about the risks to the world economy. China-US trade in goods "I think there is a very, very good chance that a deal can be made," Trump told reporters at the White House on a second day of trade negotiations with Chinese officials. "If we are doing well, I could see extending that" deadline for the end of the three month tariff truce. And Trump said an agreement on currency manipulation will be included in the trade pact. Officials from Beijing also expressed optimism about a positive outcome. "From China, we believe that it is very likely that it will happen," Liu said, speaking through an interpreter. - Winning streak - Global stock markets were higher on expectations the two sides would avoid further deterioration in their trade relations. Wall Street rose to a banner finish, posting its longest streak of weekly gains in nearly 24 years. Analysts say the two sides are likely to trumpet mutual agreements to resolve the easier parts of the trade dispute -- increasing purchases of American goods, more open investment in China and tougher protections for intellectual property and proprietary technology. The harder parts covering issues like scaling back China's ambitious industrial strategy for global preeminence, are another question. Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, again warned that the US-China trade tensions a "major risk" to world economic growth. Since July, the countries have hit out with tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (L) and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (3rd L) during the talks on February 21, 2019 While the tariffs alone are having "minimal" effect on global trade, they are damaging business confidence and weighing on stock markets, Lagarde told the US radio program Marketplace on Thursday. "I cross my fingers every morning and my toes every evening because I hope that it is going to end up with a way to fix the system, not break it," she said. The IMF has cut its forecast for global growth this year due to the combined impact of the trade war. - Good faith - Beijing has reportedly proposed an increase in its imports of US energy and agricultural exports significantly. US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue tweeted that China has committed to buying "an additional" 10 million metric tons of soybeans as a "show of good faith," but he did not give any details or specify the timeframe. Still, a broader deal could be difficult given the US demands for far-reaching structural changes. Gary Clyde Hufbauer, a trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said China may have to remove its tariffs in order to increase purchases of US goods, but Trump may feel no pressure to roll back the duties he imposed last year. "The big surprise would be a complete removal of tariffs by Trump but I'm expecting an asymmetrical removal of tariffs by China in order to get to some of these numbers," he said. The two sides are working towards memorandums of understanding to formalize their commitments China's retaliation has hit US farm exports hard. The US Agriculture Department estimated this month that US soy exports would not turn to their pre-trade war levels for another six years. William Reinsch, a former senior Treasury official for trade in the administration of President Bill Clinton, told AFP a risk for Trump is whether any agreement holds and the Chinese honor their commitments. "If it unravels and we have a string of unmet commitments and then US retaliation right before the election, we're kind of right back where we started," he said. burs-dma/rox Many children have been among the thousands evacuated from the last speck of the Islamic State group's dying "caliphate" in Syria and Kurdish-led forces are hoping to complete evacuations before launching a long-awaited assault US-backed fighters trucked out civilians from the last speck of the Islamic State group's dying "caliphate" in Syria on Friday, eager to press on with the battle to crush the jihadists. More than four years after IS overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq, and declared a "caliphate", they have lost all of it but a tiny patch in the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border. More than 40 trucks carrying men, women and children left the enclave on Friday, AFP correspondents at a position of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces outside the village reported. Most were women and children, their clothes caked in dust, but the passengers also included men with their faces wrapped in chequered scarves. Women clung to the railings of the trucks, while the hair of younger girls blew in the wind, as they left the enclave in the second such large-scale evacuation in three days. On the back of one of the trucks, three men covered their faces with their hands, apparently not to be caught on camera. Asked what the situation was like inside IS's last scrap of territory, a young man replied: "Not good". Last pocket of IS territory in syria On the roof of one of the trucks, an old man with a thick white beard wearing a red and white checkered scarf on his head yelled down: "There is an ill man with us." SDF spokesman Adnan Afrin said more than 2,000 people were estimated to still be inside the pocket, and more trucks were expected to bring them out. - 'War or surrender' - Once the evacuations have ended, the jihadists will have to decide whether to continue defending the less than half a square kilometre (a fifth of a square mile) they still hold, he said. "They will be faced with a choice: war or surrender," Afrin said. Earlier on Friday, SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali said he hoped civilian evacuations could be completed by Saturday. The Kurdish-led SDF evacuated 3,000 people on Wednesday -- mostly women and children -- but trucks left near empty on Thursday. Bali said that screenings had determined most of those evacuated on Wednesday were foreigners. "The majority are Iraqi and from countries of the former Soviet Union, but there are also Europeans," he said. David Eubank, the leader of the Free Burma Rangers aid group, said they included "many French women", as well as others from Australia, Austria, Germany and Russia, and one woman from Britain. Those evacuated have also included suspected Islamic State group fighters who are weeded out for detention during screening by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces Human Rights Watch urged the SDF and the US-led coalition supporting it to make protecting civilians a priority. "Witnesses described harrowing conditions in the last months, with lack of food and aid forcing them to eat grass and weeds to survive," it said. Around 44,000 people -- mostly civilians -- have streamed out of IS's shrinking patch territory since early December, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Once the SDF have weeded out potential jihadists from each batch of new arrivals, civilians are trucked further north to Kurdish-run camps for the displaced. They arrive "extremely hungry and dehydrated" and many of them require urgent medical care, the International Rescue Committee said. The IRC said 69 people, mostly children, had died on the way to the Al-Hol camp or shortly after arriving in the past few weeks. "Two thirds of the deaths are of babies under one year old," it said, including one who died Friday during the six-hour drive. - US 'peacekeepers' - The women and children who have escaped the last IS redoubt have been "very hungry and dirty", aid workers say The battle for Baghouz is now the only live front in Syria's war, which has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions since 2011. Any SDF victory would accelerate a planned withdrawal of American troops from Syria announced in December by US President Donald Trump. Syria's Kurds have expressed fear that a full pullout would leave them exposed to a long threatened attack by neighbouring Turkey. But the White House said Thursday the US military will keep "a small peacekeeping group of about 200" in Syria after the withdrawal. The Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria welcomed the move. It is "very important to maintain stability and protect our region from the Turkish threats, and ensure that terrorism will not be back," foreign affairs official Abdulkarim Omar said. IS once imposed its brutal ideology on an area roughly the size of the United Kingdom, attracting thousands from abroad. But some of those foreigners have been killed, while the SDF holds hundreds more. The Kurds have repeatedly urged their governments to take them back, largely without success. The evacuation route from the last shred of the Islamic State group's dying "caliphate" runs along a dirt road through the fields to territory held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces Syria's Kurds have requested their repatriation, but foreign governments have been reluctant. On Thursday, the father of Hoda Muthana, 24, sued to bring her home after the Trump administration declared she was not a US citizen. Shamima Begum, 19, faced being left stateless after Britain revoked her citizenship, and Bangladesh, where her parents are from, said it not want her. Beyond Baghouz, IS retains a presence in the vast Syrian desert, and continues to claim deadly attacks in SDF-held territory. Palestinian Muslims pray at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, on February 22, 2019 Israeli police rounded up 60 "suspects" in Jerusalem overnight and promised more arrests Friday, after what a spokesman said were calls for unrest at the city's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound. Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP the detainees were "Arabs", a term that could refer to Palestinians or to Arab citizens of Israel. Israeli public radio said that all were residents of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, occupied by the Jewish state in the 1967 Six Day war. Rosenfeld said the crackdown followed "calls for public disturbances" at Muslim Friday prayers. "As part of the police preparations based on intelligence, police arrested 60 suspects involved in incitement to violence," he said. "Police will continue to make arrests." An official statement said police numbers in and around the Al Aqsa compound -- in east Jerusalem's walled Old City -- had been beefed up. The site is the third-holiest in Islam and a focus of Palestinian aspirations for statehood. It is also the location of Judaism's most holy spot and a frequent scene of conflict between the two sides. Muslim worshippers' access to Al Aqsa and the adjoining Dome of the Rock is controlled by Israeli security forces. Any Israeli move seen by Palestinians as seeking to increase Israel's presence there is liable to ignite Muslim anger. There have been scuffles there for the past few days after Israeli authorities padlocked a door, known as the Golden Gate or Gate of Mercy in Arabic, to disused offices. The offices were closed by an Israeli court order in 2003, police say, but video posted on social media showed Muslim officials praying there last week in defiance of the court ban. Police said they arrested five people on Monday and 19 on Tuesday over the scuffles. Postponing the elections by a week has hiked tensions between supporters of Nigeria's ruling APC and those backing its main opposition rival, the PDP President Muhammadu Buhari vowed Friday that Nigerians would be able to vote in security on the eve of the country's weekend elections, despite a week-long postponement and violence in the north. In a televised address, Buhari insisted that "adequate security measures" were in place for the vote which would be able to take place in an atmosphere "devoid of fear from threat or intimidation". Tempers have been running high since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced a one-week delay just hours before voting was due to begin on February 16. That move triggered a war of words between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with each accusing the other of conspiring with INEC to rig the result. Buhari himself has also been accused of failing to calm nerves, by ordering the police and security services to be "ruthless" in their pursuit of vote-riggers and ballot box snatchers. Africa's most populous nation will got to the polls on Saturday, with President Muhammadu Buhari seeking a second, four-year term in office Atiku Abubakar, his main challenger, hit back saying such comments recalled "the era of dictatorship and military rule" in a pointed reminder of Buhari's past as head of a military government. Nigeria's federal police chief Mohammed Adamu said Friday that security personnel at polling units would be unarmed, although they would have support from armed tactical units. And anyone engaging in wrongdoing, whether vote-buying, ballot box snatching or thuggery, "will be arrested and prosecuted", he told a news conference, The election campaign has coincided with fresh violence in the north, blamed on both criminal gangs and Boko Haram jihadists. More than 200 people have died since the start of this month alone. On Tuesday, two people were killed and several others injured in clashes between rival political parties in the northern state of Kano. - Suspicions - Ready? Voting staff check portable readers of biometric identity cards ahead of Saturday's election All eyes will be on the nearly 120,000 polling stations when they open at 0700 GMT to see if INEC has overcome logistical difficulties to deliver the correct ballot boxes, papers and results sheets on time. IT specialists have worked round-the-clock to reconfigure some 180,000 machines that are needed to check biometric identity cards, and allow people to vote. Nearly 72.8 million people of the 84 million who registered, have collected their biometric identity cards which will enable them to vote, INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu said on Friday. The uncollected cards, however, will likely add to fears about a lower turn-out and do little to alleviate persistent fears of fraud. Ahead of last week's delayed vote, many Nigerians had travelled from commercial centres such as Lagos to their home towns and villages to cast their ballots. But this time, fewer people are likely to do so, partly due to the cost -- and partly due to the hassle. During the last elections in 2015, 67.4 million people registered to vote. That election was won by Buhari, who took 15.4 million of the 28.5 million valid votes cast. Nigeria's voters This time around, repeated delays in the distribution and collection of identity cards have fuelled suspicions of skullduggery and conspiracy between the parties and INEC. Both the APC and the PDP have been accused of trying to buy the cards, with a view to rigging the result. Thousands of cards and card readers have been destroyed in suspicious fires at three INEC offices in central and southeast Nigeria. And INEC's Yakubu has insisted there is "no evidence that the commission has been sabotaged". Results are due out early next week. - Security fears - More than 70 candidates are running for the presidency in Nigeria's weekend election but the race is ultimately expected to be between two men At 76 and 72, Buhari and Abubakar are the oldest of 73 presidential candidates and are standing in what could be the last elections of their long political careers. Both have been fixtures on Nigeria's political landscape for decades, through the turbulent years of military government to the return to civilian rule in 1999. Just over half of all registered voters are aged 18-35, reflecting the country's increasingly young population. Buhari has again positioned himself as the candidate to tackle multiple security challenges, including Boko Haram, and endemic corruption. He also wants another four years to complete much-needed road and rail infrastructure projects and expand social mobility schemes, including micro-finance for the poorest. Abubakar, meanwhile, is seen as a pro-business free marketeer, whose main pledges have been to privatise state-run companies and float the embattled naira currency. Message on a bottle: A woman holds a brand of water called Buhari Vendors, bearing pictures of President Mohammadu Buhari and running mate Yemi Osinbajo The past has come back to haunt both candidates, with Abubakar dogged by his alleged links to corruption cases in the United States and Buhari facing claims of creeping authoritarianism. Earlier this month, Buhari suspended Nigeria's chief justice after he was charged with failing to declare assets. But with the Supreme Court he presides over likely to rule on any election dispute, many suspected a political motive. European Council President Donald Tusk and Egypt's leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will be among leaders meeting Sunday for the first Arab-EU summit aimed at boosting cooperation European and Arab leaders are to hold their first summit Sunday, in what the top EU diplomat sees as a chance to boost cooperation across a troubled Mediterranean region. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will host the two-day summit in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss topics like security, trade, development and migration. Wars and conflicts in places such as Syria and Libya are on the agenda at a summit guarded by the security forces who are fighting a bloody jihadist insurgency a short distance to the north. But analysts voiced doubts over how much progress can be made, with Europe split over migration and Arab countries still grappling with the fallout from Arab Spring revolutions. European leaders first mentioned the summit in Austria in September amid efforts to agree ways to curb the illegal migration that has sharply divided the 28-nation bloc. But checking migration is just part of Europe's broader strategy to forge a new alliance with its southern neighbours. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini insists that the gathering in Egypt of more than 40 heads of state and government is about much more than migration. "We will have frank, open discussions, not only on migration, definitely not," Mogherini told journalists in Brussels on Monday. "We will have first of all discussions on our economic cooperation, on our common region," said the former Italian foreign minister who will travel to the desert resort. "That is a troubled region but also full of opportunities." An Arab League official, Khaled al-Habbas, told AFP that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would also be on the agenda in Sharm el-Sheikh. Attending will be Donald Tusk, president of the European Council of EU member countries, and Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm. A senior EU official told journalists in Brussels that 24 European heads of state and government have confirmed their attendance. These include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Theresa May and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. - Presidents, royalty - Not attending are French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, along with the leaders of Lithuania and Latvia, EU sources added. Apart from Sisi, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri will attend from the 22-member Arab League, based in Cairo. The Tunisian and Iraqi presidents are also expected, while the Saudi press said King Salman would also travel to Sharm el-Sheikh. A UN official warned that Europe's failure to bridge divisions on migration "risks blocking all the other discussions" at the summit. "How do you discuss an issue if you can't even mention it!" the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. He said EU countries like Hungary refuse to mention migration because they oppose asylum seekers and migrants, particularly from Muslim countries. Talk could turn to Brexit at the EU-Arab summit in Egypt, but there is little hope for a 'deal in the desert' The EU has struck aid-for-cooperation agreements with Turkey and Libya's UN-backed government in Tripoli, which has sharply cut the flow of migrants since a 2015 peak. But the official said broader cooperation with the Arab League, which includes Libya, is limited without the EU being able to speak in one voice. Marc Pierini, a former EU ambassador to Tunisia and Libya, said the summit will struggle "to establish a dialogue between two sides who are confronted with their own challenges". The meeting comes as "the Arab countries are still feeling the effects of the revolutions started in 2011", Pierini told AFP. "Arab League unity is in trouble," said Pierini, now an analyst with the Carnegie Europe think tank. An EU source said there will "be no deal in the desert" when asked if EU leaders would huddle together to explore ways to break the logjam over Britain's looming exit from the bloc on March 29. "This is a summit between the EU and the Arab states," the source told journalists on condition of anonymity. Brussels has stood united against May's requests to reopen the November divorce agreement in order to help it pass the British parliament. However, the issue is likely to come up when Tusk holds a one-to-one meeting with May in Sharm el-Sheikh. An EU source said the first EU-Arab summit is all the more important as the United States disengages from the region while Russia and China make inroads, "not necessarily in our interests". Mogherini said Monday: "It has always looked strange to me that the European Union had summits with Latin America, with Africa, with Asia, and not with the Arab world that is our first neighbour." The ACT government will ban chaplains from public schools in Canberra from the end of the year by withdrawing from the School Chaplaincy program. ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry says the territory's Education Act mandated that public schools were secular, and that any chaplains currently employed could stay but would have no authority to teach religion. "They're employed to continue to do that youth work and social work, which is important but that is conducted in non-religious way," she told the ABC on Friday. Non-government schools would not be affected. The Federal government has provided $247 million to support the voluntary opt-in program through to 2022 but requires workers to have a religious affiliation. A man has been arrested at gunpoint in Sydney's south after a series of police chases and allegedly threatening behaviour, including confronting a pregnant woman with two machetes. The man was apprehended on Friday night after he drove a stolen vehicle that collided with a police car during a pursuit at Gymea. Earlier, a number of pursuits had been commenced and then terminated due to the way the man was driving. The man's arrested followed a series of allegedly threatening acts throughout the day. At Rockdale around 8am a worksite manager confronted the 29-year-old man as he was allegedly changing the number plate on a vehicle, but he was then threatened with what appeared to be a firearm. Police allege that was linked to an incident at a Taren Point fast food outlet later in the day where a pregnant woman was confronted by the man who had two machetes. She was not injured and contacted police. The man has been charged with numerous offences including intimidation and has been refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday. Baptiste continued to do for the humble household gas meter what Luther had for night buses, or bouquets delivered by Interflora: make them into things wed never think of the same way again. That wed see as weapons basically: objects of terror. For the second week running, the old flic, and his new spin-off left you waiting for a knock at the door from someone muttering that chilling phrase: Ive come to read the gas meter. Expect sales of smart meters to be soaring among Baptiste viewers. Episode two: Baptiste continued to do for the humble household gas meter what Luther had for night buses: make them into things wed never think of the same way again Almost as alarming as Baptistes gas meter killer was Baptistes chances of catching him, which seemed to be getting slimmer by the minute. The former French detective had a habit of mentioning Im not the man I used to be (at least three times during an hour). This weeks instalment suggested he was right. Not because of his age, his limp, his brain tumour - the things that presumably led to his retirement. Actually, since hed left Missing and gone solo, Julien seemed to have become like every other maverick TV detective with their own series: supposedly brilliant or even special but seriously over-rated, basically useless, and actually a liability. Thriller: For the second week running, the old flic, and his new spin-off left you waiting for a knock at the door from someone muttering that chilling phrase: Ive come to read the gas meter. Yes. One of the wisest, most intelligent, intuitive, cunning, cops in Europe was suddenly no better than Marcella. After a rather muddled start, Episode Two ramped up the tension nicely. Well not nicely exactly. Nastily. Unfortunately Juliens own bungling grew exponentially, fatally, worse in Part Deux. It wasnt clear why Amsterdams police commissioner recruited an ageing, French, EX-detective whod been (miraculously) cured of his brain tumour but still limped badly (except when chasing suspects), and assigned him to Edward Stratton, an English businessman supposedly frantically anxious about his nieces whereabouts/safety rather than, say, a real police officer. Slipping: Almost as alarming as Baptistes gas meter killer was Baptistes chances of catching him, which seemed to be getting slimmer by the minute Julien duly spent the first episode helping Stratton look for Natalie, eventually tracking the young British sex-worker down to a houseboat. It immediately became clear how clueless Baptiste was about even the most basic premise. It transpired Stratton was not her uncle for example, but a former punter that she was hiding from. He had grown increasingly more jealous and obsessive that on one occasion he had broken her jaw. To some viewers Stratton had always seemed fairly unlikeable and not just uncomfortably emotional about Natalie but too passionate. Baptiste had trusted Stratton so totally he was still struggling. Uh oh: The former French detective had a habit of mentioning Im not the man I used to be (at least three times during an hour). This weeks instalment suggested he was right Why would he lie?! he protested. How long have you got Julien... He is not who you think he is! Natalie reiterated scornfully. Not at all! She proved it and how gullible/unprofessional Baptiste had been by telling him about Strattons connections to a violent gang of Romanians involved in people trafficking and the dark side of Amsterdams (legal) sex trade. This is crazy! It cannot be! wailed Baptiste. It could though. In fact it was. AS Natalie pointed out, Strattons supposed respectability and trucking business made him the perfect, under-the-radar, partner for the Romanians. Muddled: After a rather muddled start, Episode Two ramped up the tension nicely. Well not nicely exactly. Nastily Julien then showed an extraordinary naivety by advising Natalie that she should go to the police, and ask them for protection. Natalie explained patiently how unsafe this would be - as Stratton and the Romanians had several officers they paid for information (and worse). What sort of department are you running?! Baptiste blazed later to the Commissioner. Well we dont actually investigate the people who report the crimes ! she countered, reminding him that Stratton had reported Natalie missing. Look away! He stood in Strattons cellar, being held at gunpoint, and at that EXACT moment Juliens wife Celia Baptiste was blithely buzzing in someone who'd pressed the intercom downstairs Well perhaps you should! he raged. Perhaps Baptiste should have - especially in Strattons case. After all Baptiste had nearly delivered Natalie straight into her Uncle's callous, charmless, clutches by swallowing everything he'd said. Then, having narrowly avoided this calamity, Baptiste then achieved it anyway. When he (needlessly) met up with Stratton one last time their manipulative mind/chess game was embarrassingly one-sided, with Baptiste vehemently insisting he had no idea where Natalie without any clue that Stratton knew full well he was lying. (The Romanians had bugged Celia Baptistes handbag another effortless chess move and heard Julien tell his wife about meeting Natalie.) Juliens string of blunders was comically amateurish. Arriving late to meet Stratton, Juliens small talk (needlessly) provided him with precise details of where hed parked beforehand. Baptiste then (casually) left his car keys on the bar and failed to notice that Stratton had pocketed them on his way out. The pocket psychotic then easily discovered the address where Natalie was hiding, simply by checking it on Baptiste's Sat Nav. Stratton then sent the Gas Meter Killer over there to kill her. The good news was that Natalie, amazingly, eluded him. The bad, was that she died anyway. A long, horribly tense, scene saw the hitman creeping round her houseboat while Natalie tiptoed round the edge before eventually slipping overboard. Tragically she dropped so deep her feet became tangled in the mooring ropes. She drowned, hovering in the water, pinned like a butterfly in amber. It was impressively shocking. But perhaps the biggest surprise was that the Romanian hadnt used his default ploy: turning up at his victims home saying hed come to read the gas meter. The very first scene in the series saw a genial, elderly shell-collector from Deal automatically welcome him in only to wind up dead and beheaded shortly afterwards. Last weeks final seconds showed Stratton at home in Antwerp, and the mans head in his fridge. This man Edward Stratton... Baptise mused ponderously at one point. I wish I didnt have this feeling that everything isnt quite as it seems. No s**t Sherlock! Baptiste felt so guilty about his part in Natalies death that, even though hed fulfilled the assignment hed been given (by finding her), he nobly asked to continue on the case. Let me learn if Edward Stratton has taken me for a fool, the ex-detective implored the Commissioner. We could have told him that! (Yes, he had!) Mind you, Julien soon found out for himself. Baptiste trundled off to Antwerp and broke into Strattons house by himself of course, thus having no-one to warn him that the semi-sociopath was on the way home and then pulling up into the driveway. Baptiste had found the shell collectors head in the cellar, wrapped in plastic and covered in flies, but not heard Stratton had return home and creep down downstairs pointing a gun at him. I think you and I must talk, Baptiste murmured when he noticed. You think? sneered Stratton, not unreasonably finding it hard to take the Frenchman seriously. Baptistes litany of blunders seemed to know no bounds: handing Natalie over to Stratton and his hitman on a plate; going to Antwerp with no backup. Even the head would be inadmissible because of his illegal search. Natalie had warned Julien he had no idea what Stratton was capable of and not to bother with the formalities of that farewell meeting. Julien should also have known Stratton would come after him. (The information had given Baptiste about him was enough reason.) But he had been effortlessly out-foxed by Stratton again caught in Strattons house, minutes after breaking in. Baptiste had also left his wife alone, unprotected. He stood in Strattons cellar, being held at gunpoint, and at that EXACT moment Juliens wife Celia Baptiste was blithely buzzing in someone who'd pressed the intercom downstairs. A man saying hed come to read the gas meter... She married Nick Jonas in a lavish days-long wedding celebration in India last December. And Priyanka Chopra still had love on her mind as she started to get glammed up on Oscars Sunday. The 36-year-old actress was spotted heading to a spa in West Hollywood, with a message brightly emblazoned across her red sweater, which read I Love You. Feeling the love: Priyanka Chopra started to get glammed up for the Oscars on Sunday as she was spotted in West Hollywood The Quantico actress - who has added her husband's name to become Priyanka Chopra Jonas - was keeping it casual for her outing. She teamed her bright top with blue jeans and black boots, while her dark hair was swept off her face. The former Miss World winner was likely getting a beauty treatment ahead of a long night of parties post Oscars. Calm before the storm: The Quantico actress - who has added her husband's name to become Priyanka Chopra Jonas - was keeping it casual for her outing Priyanka skipped her gal pal Meghan Markle's lavish baby shower earlier this week in New York City. The ladies first became friends after bonding at an Elle Women in Television event in January 2016 and Priyanka attended Meghan's wedding to Prince Harry last year. However, the new royal was unable to appear at her pal's nuptials to Nick Jonas in India a few months later. Getting ready: The former Miss World winner was likely getting a beauty treatment ahead of a long night of parties post Oscars Meghan previously revealed they became friends easily. 'You know when you meet someone and you just click?' Meghan told the Press Trust Of India. 'It was just an easy, natural progression. We've managed to keep in touch via email and text, and try to see each other whenever we're both in the same town.' Priyanka's latest film outing sees her star alongside Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth and Adam DeVine. She said: 'It's super clever, it calls out all the cliches of romantic comedies, like when Richard Gere pulled up in a car to give Julia Roberts those flowers, which would never happen in real life, I bought when you call out those cliches, it's so funny.' He revealed he's been left in 'agony' after his chin implant ruptured leaving a huge dent, following his latest surgical procedure. But Human Ken Doll Rodrigo Alves looked backed to his best as he stepped out in a show-stopping ensemble at the Milano Fashion Day during MFW on Saturday. The Celebrity Big Brother star, 35, opted to wear a green velvet polo neck, which he tucked into a pair of smart black chinos and tied together with a gold buckled belt. Stylish: Human Ken Doll Rodrigo Alves looked backed to his best as he stepped out in a show-stopping ensemble at the Milano Fashion Day during MFW on Saturday Rodrigo added a statement jacket to his look, which boasted a metallic green floral pattern on a black fabric and sleek satin lapels. He recently admitted to feeling 'very self-conscious' since the incident, as he's set to appear on TV to talk about his original song Plastic World, which he will be performing during the Eurovision opening party in May. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, he said he was 'in tears' over the rupture, and lamented: 'How can I go there to talk about my song when I have a big dent in my chin?' Killing it: The Celebrity Big Brother star, 35, opted to wear a green velvet polo neck, which he tucked into a pair of smart navy chinos and tied together with a gold buckled belt Pout it out! Rodrigo added a statement jacket to his look, which boasted a metallic green floral pattern on a black fabric and sleek satin lapels Powering through: Despite the pain he's been in, the socialite put on a brave face as he updated his fans on Instagram during his journey to Milan for the city's upcoming fashion week Despite the pain he's been in as a result of the rupture, the socialite put on a brave face as he updated his fans on Instagram during his journey to Milan for the city's fashion week. His posts sparked a huge number of fans to send him messages, as they were concerned with what had happened to his chin. Rodrigo told MailOnline he visited his friend and plastic surgeon Dr. Giancome Urtis to run a few X-Ray and CAT scans at the Clinica Villa Arbe in Milan to determine what can be done to help fix the rupture. Emotional: Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, he said he was 'in tears' over the rupture, and lamented: 'How can I go there to talk about my song when I have a big dent in my chin? In the loop: Despite the pain he's been in as a result of the rupture, the socialite put on a brave face as he updated his fans on Instagram during his journey to Milan for the city's upcoming fashion week He explained: 'It looks [like] I will have to go back to Iran, Tehran, to have the chin replaced. Alternatively I could have some injections of Hyaluronic acid but it wont be a permanent fix.' Earlier this month, Rodrigo enthused he was able to breathe for the first time in four years after 11 nose jobs during his 6,000 cosmetic surgery quest for perfection. During an appearance on This Morning he also divulged he was forced to keep his eyes open after having his fifth Canthopexy eye-lift surgery in recent weeks. Concern: His posts sparked a huge number of fans to send him messages, as they were concerned with what had happened to his chin Pucker up! Rodrigo planted a kiss on his plastic surgeon ex, Giacomo Urtis' cheek on the FROW Following his 70th procedure, the Brazilian star, who has splashed out 600,000 on plastic surgery in total, claimed he is staying out of the operating room for the next few years but he didn't rule out going under the knife again. He added: 'Plastic surgeons only perform on healthy people. I'm so healthy. I have lots of blood tests. I'm a very health person. If I was a smoker or had an illness, it would be a risk or a danger. 'I'm done with plastic surgery for the next few years and if I need to have surgery I can, my entire body has been modified.' Big bucks: Following his 70th procedure, the Brazilian star, who has splashed out 600,000 on plastic surgery in total, claimed he is staying out of the operating room for the next few years but he didn't rule out going under the knife again Recalling the recent deadly attack on CRPF personnel by a lone suicide bomber allegedly handled by Pakistan based Jaishe-e-Mohammed. New Delhi: The Supreme Court has been moved for a direction to the Centre to constitute an inquiry commission headed by a retired apex court judge along with Army, intelligence and local administration to conduct into the Uri and Pulwama attack, which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel last week. The PIL by advocate Vineet Dhanda also sought a direction to find out various administrative lapses, if any and the role played by Indian Nationals in helping the terrorists from Pakistan in executing the attacks. He wanted the court to seek a detailed report regarding the action taken against the All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders who are actively involved in anti- national activities. The PIL urged the government to with draw the security cover to APHC leaders and freeze all their accounts and submit an action taken report before the court. Recalling the recent deadly attack on CRPF personnel by a lone suicide bomber allegedly handled by Pakistan based Jaishe-e-Mohammed. The petition submitted that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir after the Kargil War in 1999 has worsened as more than 4000 soldiers have been killed in the country after the Kargil operations. The problem of terrorism, political supported terrorism and misguidance of innocent youth of the State of Jammu and Kashmir is at peak at present and the young is being misguided towards terrorism and attacking their own armed forces, the petition said. The religious leaders as well as political leaders belonging to the State of Jammu and Kashmir are actively involved in destabilizing the State and misguiding the youth with a fake dream of Independent Jammu and Kashmir. The political parties like AHPC are playing a very negative role in destabilizing the State by actively involving with pro-Pakistan outfits as well as provoking the innocent youth. It alleged that the Central Government is watching these developments as a mute spectator by not taking action against local political parties who are actively involved in supporting terrorism in the State. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 24) A commemoration ceremony and a job fair will mark the celebration of the 33rd anniversary of the EDSA People Power on Monday, February 25. Flag-raising and wreath-laying ceremonies, led by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), will be held at 8:00 am at the EDSA People Power Monument in Quezon City. In a statement, the NHCP said Education Undersecretary Lorna Dig-Dino is the celebration's guest of honor while former President Fidel Ramos is expected to grace the event. Representatives from military, civil society and various religious sectors will give their messages in line with the commemoration. Several individuals will be conferred with the Freedom Awards and Spirit of EDSA and Good Citizenship Movement Awards. A mass will also be celebrated at the Mary Queen of Peace Shrine or EDSA Shrine at 12:15 pm. In line with the celebration, a portion of the main thoroughfare will be closed to motorists. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced that the lane in front of the People Power Monument will be closed from 6:00 am to 10:00 am. Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is set to hold a job fair in line with the celebration. In a statement, DOLE said the event, dubbed as "Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan," will offer around 20,000 local and overseas jobs from 50 participating employers and recruitment agencies. It will be held at the second floor of the Activity Center of the Starmall. Among the jobs to be offered are laborer, nurse, welder, pipefitter, carpenter, technician, foreman, steelfixer , IT engineer, and waitress, the agency said. Job seekers may also apply for around 12,000 overseas jobs in the U.S., Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Germany, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea, among other countries. Early protest On Saturday, February 23, thousands of individuals from multisectoral groups trooped to EDSA to begin the celebration. The attendees protested what they called the "autocratic regime" of President Rodrigo Duterte. The protesters said the extrajudicial killings committed under the government's war on drug is reminiscent of the brutal slaying of people perceived as enemies of the state during the Marcos era. The martial law in Mindanao and the alleged human rights abuses in the area are signs of a looming dictatorship, they said. Separate masses were also held at La Salle Greenhills in San Juan City and Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City. The People Power Revolution is the bloodless uprising in 1986 that toppled the administartion of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. South Africa: Minister to unveil first data from ZACube-2 The first real-time data from South Africa's ZACube-2 nanosatellite will be unveiled on Tuesday, according to the Department of Science and Technology. The continents most advanced nanosatellite to date, the ZACube-2 was successfully launched into space in December. It is expected to provide cutting edge remote sensing and communication services to South Africa and the region. The satellite will help monitor ocean traffic as part of the oceans economy and also monitor veld fires and provide near real-time fire information ensuring a quick response time by disaster management teams. The satellite was developed by some of South Africas youngest and brightest minds under a programme representing the countrys diversity, in particular black students and young women. According to the department, the satellite is a technology demonstrator for Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) that will provide critical information for the countys oceans economy. It will monitor the movement of ships along the South African coastline with its automatic identification system (AIS) payload. Weighing just four kilograms, the ZACube-2 is South Africas second nanosatellite to be launched into space and three times the size of its predecessor, TshepisoSat. It is regarded as the continent's most advanced cube satellite and is in fact a precursor to the MDASat - a constellation of nine nanosatellites that will be developed to provide cutting-edge very high frequency data exchange communication systems to the maritime industry. CPUT has already received useful AIS data from ZACube-2, which was fed into the National Oceans and Coastal Information Management System of Operation Phakisa. The unveiling of the first data from ZACube-2 will take place during the plenary briefing to be led by Science and Technology Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane. There will also be an overpass of ZACube-2 as it orbits the earth between 11:33 and 11:45. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-02-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The Loudest Voice In The Room focuses on former Fox News chief Roger Ailes' fall from grace after he was accused of sexual harassment. And Russell Crowe, 54, was spotted on the set of the upcoming biopic in New York City's financial district on Saturday, looking completely unrecognisable as Roger. The talented actor was transformed thanks to heavy prosthetics to take on the role for the eight-part Showtime series. Unrecognisable: Russell Crowe, 54, was spotted on the set of The Loudest Voice In The Room in New York City on Saturday, looking completely unrecognisable as Roger Ailes Russell peered out from beneath a pair of glasses and wore pinstripe suit with a crisp white shirt and bright red tie. Cameras started rolling in New York City back in November for the biopic based on the book with the same name The Loudest Voice In The Room. As well as Russell, Sienna Miller and a host of stars have been hired to pull off the epic eight-part television series including Simon McBurney as Rupert Murdoch. Sienna plays Roger Ailes' wife Elizabeth, while Naomi Watts will take on the role of former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson. What a transformation: The talented actor was transformed thanks to heavy prosthetics to take on the role for the eight-part Showtime series (Pictured in 2017) Wow! Pictured (L) in 2010, and right (R) transformed into Roger Ailes Hard at work: Cameras started rolling in New York City back in November for the biopic based on the book with the same name The Loudest Voice In The Room Seth MacFarlane will portray former Fox News spokesperson Brian Lewis, and Annabelle Wallis, Aleska Palladino and David Whalen will also join the star-studded cast on their project. Showtime's new limited series will tell the story of the last decade of Ailes' life, including his fall from Fox after a slew of women accused him of sexual harassment. The drama will explore how Fox News founder fought to push the network to the top, after employees including anchor Gretchen made accusations against him. Star-studded: As well as Russell, Sienna Miller and a host of stars have been hired for the epic eight-part television series including Simon McBurney as Rupert Murdoch (Pictured in 2016) It will also include flashbacks to defining events in Ailes' life and will be told through multiple points of view to give a number of characters a voice. Showtime Networks president and CEO David Nevins told Variety of the project: 'In many ways, the collision between the media and politics has come to define the world we live in today. 'We've seen this phenomenon depicted on screen as far back as the story of Charles Foster Kane, and it finds contemporary embodiment in the rise and fall of Roger Ailes.' She's become a staple on red carpets, where she regularly interviews some of the biggest names in Hollywood. And on Sunday, Renee Bargh, 32, was the one commanding attention in a dazzling white gown at the Oscars in Hollywood. The Extra co-host oozed elegance in the plunging dress, which featured an A-line design and layers of tulle. Raising the Bargh! Extra co-host Renee oozes elegance in a dazzling white tulle gown as she attends the 2019 Oscars The stunning frock was cinched at the waist and included intricate tulle detail around the neckline. The former Channel V host flashed a smile as she posed for snaps at the A-list event. She wore flawlessly applied natural makeup, consisting of nude lipstick and smokey eyes. Stunning: The stunning frock was cinched at the waist and included intricate tulle detail around the neckline Her luscious blonde locks were worn in an elegant updo and neatly parted at the centre. The Queenslander began prepping three hours prior and documented the process on Instagram story. She shared a makeup-free photo from her hotel suite which showed her with wet locks and anti-wrinkle eye pads before getting her hair and makeup professionally done. Glamour: She wore flawlessly applied natural makeup, consisting of nude lipstick and smokey eyes. Her luscious blonde locks were worn in an elegant updo and neatly parted at the centre In 2017, Renee replaced Extra co-host Tracey Edmonds, 52, and moved from weekend anchor to full-time co-host. The former dancer previously revealed that it was always her 'dream' to be on television. '... Deep down I have always wanted to be on television, presenting. So I really feel like I am living my dream,' she previously told Beauty and Lace. Angelic: The TV presenter looked happy and relaxed as she arrived at Hollywood and Highland, where the prestigious ceremony was held A vision in white! Renee oozed confidence as she posed for snaps at the star-studded event '... Just getting to do something different everyday. The shows are never the same and you are always working with different people so the dynamic always changes. It's very exciting. She continued: 'I had been a dancer all my life but I moved to Sydney to study performing arts at Brent Street in 2004. I was picked up by an agent when I graduated and I started work as a commercial dancer and model straight after, and the rest is history.' Rebel Wilson has set tongues wagging after she stepped out with a handsome mystery man at a pre-Oscars party in Los Angeles on Saturday evening. The 38-year-old funnywoman arrived at the bash, held at celebrity haunt Chateau Marmont, hand-in-hand with her male companion. Stunning in a sheer little black dress, the Isn't It Romantic star was beaming from ear-to-ear. Who's that guy? Rebel Wilson held hands with a mystery man while attending a pre-Oscars party at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles on Saturday evening She teamed her sexy ensemble with a pair of expensive designer heels and a black leather handbag. She was glowing with minimal makeup on her porcelain complexion and she had her blonde locks coiffed in glamorous curls. Meanwhile, her dapper date looked suave in a navy blue suit and an open neck white shirt. The happy outing comes after Rebel recently broke down during a reading with celebrity medium. The actress appeared on season four of Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry when she became very emotional about her sister, Liberty Wilson. At the start of the reading, Rebel said Liberty had been going through 'a rough patch'. Looking good! Stunning in a sheer little black dress, the Isn't It Romantic star was beaming from ear-to-ear Tyler, 23, then gave his message to Liberty, via her spirit guides, as Rebel watched on: 'With where you're at right now, it's going to get a lot better 'They've been watching over you over the past year, and they want you to know that based on where you're at, that the best is yet to come with this.' Rebel began to cry at this point. Tyler continued: 'They're having me talk about how you feel about yourself, about your age, and where you're at. 'And they just want to let you know that you're fine, it's going to be good but they're having me acknowledge cutting this cord form the past and making sure that we don't re-involve ourselves in it.' Earlier in the meeting, Rebel spoke candidly about the situation with her sister. Lean on me: The Pitch Perfect star cuddled up to her date as they waited at the valet 'Liberty has just been going through a rough... a rough patch,' Rebel said. 'So, I think as her sisters and as her family we all try to help her move past it and become the person she's supposed to be.' At the end of reading, Rebel took her phone and asked Tyler, 'Should I call her?' 'Yeah!' he replied. Blac Chyna was spending some quality time with her daughter Dream this weekend. The ex-fiancee of Rob Kardashian shared a post to Snapchat where the two were playing around. The child was wearing pink pajamas as she laughed up a storm in her mother's arms. This comes after a nasty split with rapper Soulja Boy. Mommy and daughter time: Blac Chyna was spoending some quality time with her daughter Dream this weekend Darling daughter: The ex-fiancee of Rob Kardashian shared a post to Snapchat where the two were playing around. The child was in pink pajamas The siren said he was trying to sex shame her. According to TMZ, the former stripper is said to be 'glad' her relationship with the rapper is done after he tweeted, in a now deleted post, that 'he just wanted to see what the p***y felt like' after news of their split emerged. 'Soulja Boy's an immature, thirsty clout chaser who was begging to get with her,' a source told the publication before revealing the tweet showed Blac his true colours. So much love in the room: Dream splits her time between mom Chyna and dad Rob 'She felt his reaction was the lowest of the low, and utterly ridiculous,' the publication continued to report. The demise of Black's relationship with the Kiss Me Through The Phone hitmaker, 28, comes amid allegations that their romance was a hoax to get back at her ex, Tyga, 29. According to TMZ, Chyna and Soulja 'got into a huge argument about Tyga, in which they started bickering about each other's true intentions in their relationship.' 'Low reaction': According to TMZ, the now-deleted, and 'utterly ridiculous', tweet showed Chyna the hitmaker's ' true colours' It has also been reported by the online publication that as well as Tyga, the pair were 'not on the same wavelength' - with Soula allegedly favouring 'group hangs' in comparison to Blac's 'Netflix and chill vibe.' MailOnline has contacted representatives for Blac Chyna and Soula Boy for further comment. Meanwhile, Blac, real name Angela Renee White, attempted to keep a low profile on Wednesday, when the shielded her visage with her hand as she exited a Los Angeles Starbucks. The model remained casual in a beanie, green Adidas tracksuit, while on her feet she wore sliders over socks and she carried her phone. Reports: Chyna and Soulja allegedly 'got into a huge argument about Tyga, in which they started bickering about each other's true intentions in their relationship' Chyna's one concession to fashion during the low-profile outing was a white Chanel purse with a gold chain strap. A new report claims Blac and Soulja Boy were only pretending to date in order to infuriate her ex Tyga - until they developed real feelings for one another. The Crank That hitmaker has been feuding with Tyga over who had the biggest comeback last year and allegedly thought hooking up with his ex would be the perfect revenge. Meanwhile, Blac - who shares son King Cairo with her ex-fiance Tyga - hit out at the Ayo rapper earlier this month, claiming he doesn't pay her child support and she's 'sick of that s**t'. However, Blac and Soulja Boy weren't expecting anything romantic to stem from their masterplan to fool Tyga. They reportedly started to like each other after a few fake dates and have developed real feelings, according to TMZ. Whoops! A new report claims Blac and Soulja Boy were only pretending to date in order to infuriate her ex Tyga - until they developed real feelings for one another Case of the ex: The Crank That hitmaker has been feuding with Tyga over who had the biggest comeback last year and allegedly thought hooking up with his ex would be the perfect revenge However a spanner may have been thrown into the romantic works by Soulja -whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way. The Pretty Boy Swag rapper publicly professed his love for Insta-model Tiona Fernan via social media on Tuesday. 'I love you @xttiona!' the 28-year-old Grammy nominee gushed. 'My heart.' The curvaceous Fashion Nova brand ambassador replied: 'Love you more babe!' Ofcom has dropped its investigation into how Channel 5 handled the Celebrity Big Brother punch-gate row after Roxanne Pallett accused Ryan Thomas of hitting her. The watchdog confirmed that they wouldn't be taking action against the broadcaster after 27,000 complaints were made in relation to the incident. Ofcom were looking into whether the 'appropriate information' was offered in order to 'minimise offence' to CBB viewers, according to The Sun. Case closed: Ofcom has dropped its investigation into how Channel 5 handled the Celebrity Big Brother punch-gate row after Roxanne Pallett accused Ryan Thomas of hitting her During the most recent series of the reality show, Roxanne, 36, insisted that Ryan, 34, 'punched' her, during a play fight which was caught on camera. However they have since ruled that Channel 5 didn't break any rules when it came to showing the row play out over several days. An insider told the Sun: 'This is massive weight off Channel 5's shoulders. It's been rumbling on for six months now. Complaints: The watchdog confirmed that they wouldn't be taking action against the broadcaster after 27,000 complaints were made in relation to the incident 'Celebrity Big Brother is dead in the water now so it's about time everyone just forgot about it.' Roxanne recently claimed she sent a suicide message to her family and friends after she falsely accused Ryan of punching her on Celebrity Big Brother. The former Emmerdale actress said she told her family 'she didn't want to be here anymore' after she was accused of over-exaggerating a playful punch from her co-star. Roxanne, speaking publicly for the first time in five months, also said she suffered with depression and was diagnosed with PTSD after she was removed from the Channel 5 show last summer. Speaking out: Roxanne recently revealed she sent a 'suicide message' to her family and has suffered with PTSD after the Ryan Thomas 'punchgate' on Celebrity Big Brother She told the Sun: 'You feel like you can never say sorry enough to every single person that hates you and I felt like there was no point in even trying anymore as the perception had become so bad. I just thought "Im done. Im not going to make it to Christmas." 'I sent a message to my mum, my auntie and my two friends. I was saying sorry and goodbye. They all panicked, called each other and my mum left work to rush and get to me. That was when they all realised I needed urgent help. I went to Scotland the next morning and began EMDR and CBT therapy for PTSD panic disorder.' The soap star said she was put on antidepressants, anxiety medication and started losing her hair after her Celebrity Big Brother exit. Outrage: The former Emmerdale actress, 36, said she told her family 'she didn't want to be here anymore' after she was accused of over-exaggerating a playful punch from Ryan (pictured) Candid: Roxanne, speaking publicly for the first time in five months, also said she suffered with depression and was diagnosed with PTSD after her CBB stint (pictured on the show) Roxanne also claimed she was scared to leave her house after she received messages from people saying they 'wished she was dead.' She added that through therapy she was able to address past 'traumas' that she had 'pushed to the back of her mind'. The actress said: 'I'm not using these traumas as an excuse, because theyre not, but some people can bounce back and handle life and some of us dont. I looked at the footage [of the Big Brother house] and I thought: "I need help".' It was reported earlier this month that Roxanne's 'whole life appeared to have fallen apart' after her fiance, Lee Walton, left her. A source told The Sun: 'Roxanne's whole life appears to have fallen apart in the past six months. Professionally, no one wants to touch her and now her personal life is in tatters. Candid: Roxanne added that she was even scared to leave her house after people wished she was dead so she changed her number, email address and even moved house 'She and Lee got very serious very quickly but it has ended completely. She is gutted.' EastEnders actor Sam Attwater claimed in September that 'dangerous' Roxanne had once punched him onstage before accusing him of hitting her too. But last summer, Roxanne branded Ryan a 'woman beater' before going to the Diary Room to demand the actor be removed from the house. He was issued with a formal warning, but Roxanne claimed to be afraid of him, asking to sleep in a separate room that evening and seen crying and shaking. She then told her fellow housemates that he had 'repeatedly hit her in the ribs', which led them to confront him about it. On eventually understanding what took place, the housemates backed Ryan, with Roxanne leaving the show. After her exit from the Channel 5 show, she returned for a pre-recorded interview with host Emma Willis to apologise for the incident. Blanca Blanco will be attending the 91st Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday evening with her longtime partner John Savage. And by breakfast the Spychosis actress was already getting prepped for the big show. The star was seen with no makeup on and then, later, with a full face of paint. The Washington state native gave DailyMail.com an exclusive account of what she goes through to look just right for the star-studded event, which will see A Star Is Born, Roma, Vice and Bohemian Rhapsody, among other films, go head to head for Best Picture. Marvelous: Blanca Blanco will be attending the Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday evening with her longtime partner John Savage. And by breakfast the Spychosis actress was already getting prepped for the big show. The star was seen with no makeup on and then, later, with a full face of paint Voila: The Mission: Possible star used makeup artist Mina Abramovic and hairstylist Tina Dizon from The Private Room. Here she is seen before lipstick The brunette bombshell had on a red Marilyn Monroe robe ($750) by Limerence designs based in LA. The Mission: Possible star used makeup artist Mina Abramovic and hairstylist Tina Dizon from The Private Room. Before she got her makeup done, she used a coffee scrub. 'Sheer Necessity all natural coffee scrub is great, I use it to have smooth and glowy skin at Oscars. Love that is hand made and all natural,' she said. Silky: The brunette bombshell had on a red Marilyn Monroe robe ($750) by Limerence designs based in LA Way to go: She had fun dancing around in her glam room before the event. She was shoe free and did not show off her dress... yet Her facial was by Organic Pharmacy in Beverly Hills. And she also spilled the details of what she was wearing. 'My dress arrived from Paris on Wednesday custom made by French designer Christophe Guillarme. 'He incorporated yellow to the dress because yellow is one of my favorite colors. It was very thoughtful and sweet of the designer. Bling it on: 'This year I decided to wear Chimere jewelry by designer Christine Ear, because Christine's story is powerful and inspiring - it touched my heart,' she said. Her clutch purse will be by Jessica Bratich, a designer from Australia Another look: 'I will have on a yellow citrine 18k gold ring priced at $2,500, a tri color diamond ring worth $6,000 and diamond earrings that cost $60,000. Then there is a diamond dragon cuff that goes for $250,000. The total cost of all my jewels is $318,500,' she said 'I will be the celebrity opening for Christophe's show during Paris fashion week. 'I style myself. I have full control of my fashion choices from all departments from jewelry to clutch to dresses,' she said. 'I have a strong relationship with designers so I get their lookbooks and I select,' she added. 'Then they deliver the dresses to my house. I feel so grateful that they are very generous.' Clean: Before she got her makeup done, she used a coffee scrub. Here she is seen pretty glam Works wonders: 'Sheer Necessity all natural coffee scrub is great, I use it to have smooth and glowy skin at Oscars. Love that is hand made and all natural,' she said Her clutch purse will be by Jessica Bratich, a designer from Australia. And she will be dripping in diamonds. 'This year I decided to wear Chimere jewelry by designer Christine Ear, because Christine's story is powerful and inspiring - it touched my heart. 'So much meaning behind each piece. Her jewels are totally my style. When I met Christine she was so sweet and kind. Thanks to DPA lounges for pitching her jewelry to me. 'I will have on a yellow citrine 18k gold ring priced at $2500, a tri color diamond ring worth $6000 and diamond earrings that cost $60k. Then there is a diamond dragon cuff that goes for $250k. The total cost of all my jewels is $318,500.' WINNERS FOR THE 91ST ACADEMY AWARDS BEST PICTURE Roma A Star Is Born BlacKkKlansman Green Book - WINNER Vice Black Panther The Favourite Bohemian Rhapsody Happy times: Green Book won top honor Best Picture BEST ACTOR Christian Bale (Vice) Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) - WINNER Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born) Viggo Mortensen (Green Book) Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate) BEST ACTRESS Olivia Colman (The Favourite) - WINNER Glenn Close (The Wife) Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) Yalitza Aparicio (Roma) Sweet: Olivia Colman tasted first Oscar gold with Best Actress win for The Favourite BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Mahershala Ali (Green Book) - WINNER Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born) Sam Rockwell (Vice) Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) - WINNER Amy Adams (Vice) Rachel Weisz (The Favourite) Emma Stone (The Favourite) Marina de Tavira (Roma) BEST DIRECTOR Alfonso Cuaron (Roma) - WINNER Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman) Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War) Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite) Adam McKay (Vice) Double trouble: Alfonso Cuaron won Best Director and Cinematography for Roma DOCUMENTARY Free Solo - WINNER Hale County This Morning, This Evening Minding the Gap Of Fathers and Sons RBG COSTUME DESIGN The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Black Panther - WINNER Mary Poppins Returns The Favourite Mary Queen of Scots FILM EDITING BlacKkklansman Bohemian Rhapsody - WINNER The Favourite Green BooK Vice We Are The Champions: Bohemian Rhapsody won four including Film Editing ORIGINAL SCORE Black Panther - Ludwig Goransson - WINNER BlacKkKlansman If Beale Street Could Talk Isle of Dogs Mary Poppins Returns SOUND EDITING Black Panther Bohemian Rhapsody - WINNER First Man A Quiet Place Roma SOUND MIXING Black Panther Bohemian Rhapsody - WINNER First Man Roma A Star Is Born PRODUCTION DESIGN Black Panther - WINNER First Man The Favourite Mary Poppins Returns Roma Wakanda forever! Black Panther won Best Production and Costume Design DOCUMENTARY SHORT Black Sheep End Game A Night At The Garden Period. End Of Sentence. - WINNER Lifeboat ANIMATED SHORT Animal Behaviour Bao - WINNER Late Afternoon One Small Step Weekends LIVE ACTION SHORT Detainment Fauve Marguerite Mother Skin - WINNER Golden: Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman accepted Best Live Action Short for Skin ANIMATED FEATURE Incredibles 2 Isle of Dogs Mirai Ralph Breaks the Internet Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - WINNER FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM Capernaum (Lebanon) Cold War (Poland) Never Look Away (Germany) Roma (Mexico) - WINNER Shoplifters (Japan) ADAPTED SCREENPLAY The Ballad of Buster Scruggs BlacKkKlansman - Written by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee - WINNER Can You Ever Forgive Me? If Beale Street Could Talk A Star Is Born Purple reign: Spike Lee earned his first ever Oscar in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for BlacKkKlansman ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY The Favourite First Reformed Green Book -Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly - WINNER Roma Vice MAKEUP AND HAIR Border Mary Queen of Scots Vice - WINNER VISUAL EFFECTS Avengers: Infinity War Christopher Robin First Man - WINNER Ready Player One Solo: A Star Wars Story ORIGINAL SONG All The Stars (Black Panther) Ill Fight (RBG) The Place Where Lost Things Go (Mary Poppins Returns) Shallow (A Star Is Born) - Lady Gaga - WINNER When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) Touching: Lady Gaga won Best Original Song for A Star Is Born hit Shallow CINEMATOGRAPHY Cold War The Favourite Never Look Away Roma - Alfonso Cuaron - WINNER A Star Is Born Advertisement He scooped the Best Actor last year And Gary Oldman transformed into a ruthless crime lord as filming got under way for his latest film, The Courier in London on Sunday. The actor, 60, looked worlds away from his usual friendly demeanour as he sported an eye patch and facial scar while shooting scenes at St Georges Cathedral in Southwark. Next movie: Gary Oldman, 60, transformed into a ruthless crime lord as filming got under way for his latest film, The Courier in London on Sunday Gary portrays the villainous lead in the upcoming action-thriller movie, and can be seen being led away from the church surrounded by armed FBI agents. The actor could be seen clad in an all-black ensemble, comprising a black shirt and tie, and a dramatically long double-breasted leather coat. His long wavy locks had a swept back from his face and he sported a greying moustache and goatee. With his hands behind his back, Gary could be seen being ushered into a police car covered in NYPD branding. In character: The actor looked worlds away from his usual friendly demeanour while shooting scenes at St Georges Cathedral in Southwark Finishing touches: The actor sported an eye patch and facial scar to transform into character Filming scenes: Gary portrays the villainous lead in the upcoming action-thriller movie, and can be seen being led away from the church surrounded by armed FBI agents Groomed: His long wavy locks had a swept back from his face and he sported a greying moustache and goatee Costume: The actor could be seen clad in an all-black ensemble, comprising a black shirt and tie, and a dramatically long double-breasted leather coat Action: With his hands behind his back, Gary could be seen being ushered into a police car covered in NYPD branding Gary stars in the upcoming film alongside stunning Ukrainian model and actress Olga Kurylenko, 39. The brunette beauty plays a courier, whose daily deliveries are interrupted when she discovers her latest package is a gas bomb. The explosive parcel in her possession is aimed to kill the only living witness on the verge of testifying against Gary's character. Gary's long-term producing partner Douglas Urbanski - who produced Darkest Hour - will serve as executive producer on The Courier. Close-up: Specialist prosthetics had been used to create a dramatic facial scar Location: Although the movie is set in New York, the scenes were filmed at St Georges Cathedral in Southwark, London Surrounded: Hoards of FBI agents and armed officers surrounded the actor during the scene Why so serious? Gary and the actors around him appeared stony-faced as the camera rolled The stars of the movie: Gary stars in the upcoming film alongside stunning Ukrainian model and actress Olga Kurylenko, 39 Dramatic: The brunette beauty plays a courier, whose daily deliveries are interrupted when she discovers her latest package is a gas bomb Meanwhile, Gary had a very successful 2018 after winning his first Best Actor Oscar for playing the late Prime Minister Winston Churchill, as well as a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and a SAG award. In December, the London-born actor actor revealed plans to reprise the role after his performance in the award-winning Darkest Hour. Talking on Radio 4's Today programme, Gary said: 'I've only scratched the surface. I think that there's another chapter here. Maybe a movie, maybe something on television.' The actor has already started rehearsals for playing Churchill once again in a stage adaptation of one of his short stories from 1947. The plot: The explosive parcel in her possession is aimed to kill the only living witness on the verge of testifying against Gary's character Fantastic cast and crew: Gary's long-term producing partner Douglas Urbanski - who produced Darkest Hour - will serve as executive producer on The Courier Award-winning: Meanwhile, Gary had a very successful 2018 after winning his first Best Actor Oscar for playing the late Prime Minister Winston Churchill None-stop: In December, the London-born actor actor revealed plans to reprise the role after his performance in the award-winning Darkest Hour He took his relationship with Katie Holmes public at the end of last year, but hasn't been seen out with her since. And Jamie Foxx was going solo once again as he was spotted leaving a pre-Oscar party in Beverly Hills on Saturday night. The 51-year-old actor bundled up as he stepped out of La Dolce Vita restaurant, quickly followed by models Shanina Shaik and Jasmine Tookes. Going solo: Jamie Foxx was spotted leaving a pre Oscar party in Beverly Hills on Saturday night An eyewitness said that 'it seemed the models were going to ride with Foxx but when they saw the cameras they shut the doors of his Rolls Royce and awkwardly pretended they were waiting for an Uber.' The star wrapped up in a fur-collared black coat, which was covering his bold choice of black and white plaid trousers. He flashed his ankles as he went sock-free in a pair of white sneakers. Out in the cold: The 51-year-old actor bundled up as he stepped out of La Dolce Vita restaurant He was followed by Victoria's Secret models Shaik, 28, and her model pal Tookes, also 28. Shanina chose a classic white bodycon dress, which showcased her stunning figure. She appeared to have worn very minimal make-up and swept her hair into a bun. Pals? He was followed by Victoria's Secret model Shanina Shaik, 28 Stepping out: Jasmine Tookes followed the actor out and tried to fend off the cold in a black fun-fur jacket, over her skimpy satin slip Ciao: An eyewitness said that 'it seemed the models were going to ride with Foxx but when they saw the cameras they shut the doors of his Rolls Royce and awkwardly pretended they were waiting for an Uber' Jasmine tried to fend off the cold in a black fun-fur jacket, over her skimpy satin slip, which revealed her slender legs. It's been nearly two months since Katie and Jamie were seen kissing on a yacht in Miami. The actors looked very much in love but Jamie later said the vacation was 'foolish.' His lady: Katie and Jamie only publicly became an item late in 2017, though there had been speculation they were a couple since 2013. Seen with Suri in July She recently shared a picture on a snowy vacation with her daughter Suri, 12, whose father is Katie's ex-husband Tom Cruise. Katie and Jamie only publicly became an item late in 2017, though there had been speculation they were a couple since 2013. She is reportedly 'infatuated' with her boyfriend and doesn't care that he isn't looking to settle down 'anytime soon', a source told Us Weekly, adding: 'Its what Katie signed up for.' 'Jamie does care for her, but his recent behavior makes people question that,' the insider added. When asked about his mini romantic getaway with the Dawson's Creek alum, Jamie told Us Weekly, 'It was foolish'. Kate Langbroek relocated to Bologna, Italy with her family last month. And it appears the radio host, 53, is soaking up the sights and surrounds of the region in between hosting the Hughesy & Kate drive time show from a studio in Italy. The media personality took to Instagram on Sunday to give her 92,500 followers a glimpse of a luxurious ski chalet during her weekend getaway in the Dolomites. Scroll down for video 'Alpine majesty': Radio host Kate Langbroek shares glimpse of luxurious ski chalet during getaway in the Italian Alps...after relocating to Bologna with her family The Dolomites is a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. 'Alpine majesty,' she captioned the image alongside the hashtag: 'Dolomites' and 'Italy.' Kate looked every inch the stylish ski bunny as she wore a pair of glitzy gold pants and a tight black skivvy, layered underneath a neutral-hued faux fur trimmed coat. Fans could see the wooden rustic exterior of the alpine chalet, complete with charming glass windows, apex ceilings and intricately designed balconies. What's more, fans also caught a peek at the breathtaking snow-capped mountains in the background of the scenic image. Last week, Kate shared a photo of the beautiful piazza located just outside her Italian home via the photo-sharing app. Bella vista! Kate (pictured) revealed the view of the stunning piazza from the dining room of her new Italian home last week Kate captioned the picture: 'As Oscar Wilde once said, all of us are in the gutter, but some of are looking at Piazza Miaggore [sic]... 'Here is my Italian table, ready for dinner for seven... Among other things I have learnt so far: Never get a glass-topped dining table (unless you can clean like an Italian!).' The Piazza Maggiore is located in the centre of Bologna, Italy, and dates back to the 13th century. As the town's main square, it is famous for its medieval and Renaissance era buildings, including the architectural complex of Palazzo d'Accursio, the Town Hall, Basilica San Petronio and Palazzo dei Banchi. Kate captioned the picture: 'As Oscar Wilde once said, all of us are in the gutter, but some of are looking at Piazza Miaggore [sic]... Here is my Italian table, ready for dinner for seven... Among other things I have learnt so far: Never get a glass-topped dining table (unless you can clean like an Italian!)' 'She's having the time of her life!' Dave Hughes says his radio co-host Kate (pictured with her children) 'spends all afternoon on the pasta and wine' after moving to Bologna, Italy Kate's radio colleague Dave Hughes recently revealed that she's 'having the time of her life' after moving to Europe. During an appearance on Channel Nine's Today Extra, Dave joked that Kate was 'spending all afternoon on the pasta and wine'. Dave, 48, insisted their working relationship hasn't really changed - even though they have to deal with a 10-hour time difference. Business as usual! During an appearance on Today Extra last week, Dave (pictured) also revealed their working relationship hasn't really changed despite the 10-hour time difference 'She's on from 6.30am to 8.30 am and it's bizarre, you wouldn't know we weren't in the same room if we didn't tell anyone. No one would know,' he said The Langbroek family made their big international move at the end of January. Just days before flying out, Kate admitted she wasn't entirely sure why she was doing it in the first place. Bologna bound! The Langbroek family made their big international move at the end of January During an interview on The Project, she confessed: 'I can't tell you why because I've got NFI [no f**king idea].' Kate was planning on resigning from her job before leaving for Italy, but her longtime co-host encouraged her to keep working. She told News.com.au recently that Dave said she'd be 'crazy' to leave the show if she was only going overseas for a year. The industry's leading actors and actresses are set to come out in full force for the biggest night of film at the Oscars on Sunday. And nominees such as Lady Gaga, Emma Stone and Glenn Close have reportedly signed up to an emergency pimple clinic to ensure their skin is in its best condition ahead of the 91st Academy Awards. According to The Sun, the procedure, worth $500 per spot, is drained and blasted by a laser after local anaesthetic is injected into the skin. Desperate times call for desperate measures: Lady Gaga (L), Emma Stone (R) and Glenn Close have reportedly signed up to an emergency pimple clinic to ensure their skin is in its best condition ahead of the 91st Academy Awards on Sunday Dr Lancer, who has treated reality star Kim Kardashian in the past, told the publication: 'Im on call for my clients 24/7 and this year there will be 18 Harold Lancer faces on the Oscars red carpet three of those are nominees. 'Say 12-hours before blast-off, theres a stress-induced blemish, theyll come into the office at 4 or 5am on Oscars morning for what I like to call my emergency pimple clinic. 'Ill warm the area thats affected, place some local anaesthetic in the region and then the blemish is drained from the side so its invisible.' The skincare guru went on to reveal that while the spot can disappear within hours, months of priming the skin are involved in ensuring stars are red carpet-ready. Final details: According to The Sun, the procedure, worth $500 per spot, is drained and blasted by a laser after local anaesthetic is injected into the skin (pictured Glenn) Skincare guru: Dr Lancer has treated a legion of stars in the past, including reality star Kim Kardashian MailOnline has contacted representatives for Lady Gaga, Emma Stone and Glenn Close for further comment. Spiderman star Emma, 30, has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Abigail Masham in drama comedy The Favourite. The film follows the story of two cousins, Abigail and Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), who are compete to be court favourites of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman). Telephone hitmaker Gaga, 32, has scooped a Best Actress nomination for her role as Ally Maine in A Star Is Born, alongside Bradley Cooper. Impressive: Spiderman star Emma, 30, has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Abigail Masham in drama comedy The Favourite Stunning performance: Telephone hitmaker Gaga, 32, has scooped a Best Actress nomination for her role as Ally Maine in A Star Is Born, alongside Bradley Cooper Award-worthy: Also up for Best Actress is The Wife star Glenn, 71, who plays Joan Castleman - a woman who questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm with her husband Joseph (Jonathan Pryce), who is set to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature The critically-acclaimed film follows Gaga's character - a girl-next-door who has given up on a music career until she is discovered by grizzled rock star Jackson, played by first-time director Bradley. The romantic movie's hit single Shallow is also up to win Best Original Song, battling it out against the likes of Black Panther's All the Stars and The Place Where Lost Things Go from Mary Poppins Returns. Also up for Best Actress is The Wife star Glenn, 71, who plays Joan Castleman - a woman who questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm with her husband Joseph (Jonathan Pryce), who is set to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. Glenn has been regarded as a frontrunner for the gong after dominating the awards season with a series of prizes, including her Best Actress award at the Independent Spirit ceremony on Saturday. Rahul Gandhis comment comes a little more than a week after 40 CRPF jawans were killed in the Pulwama terror attack. Congress president Rahul Gandhi interacts with students on Shiksha Dasha aur Disha at JLN Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Having taken the government head-on over the Pulwama attack, the Congress party said, on Saturday, that if voted to power it would accord martyr status to all paramilitary personnel killed in the line of duty. Paramilitary jawans dont get martyr status. They should get it, and if we come to power they will be accorded that status, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said while replying to a question during an interaction with university students here. Mr Gandhis comment comes a little more than a week after 40 CRPF jawans were killed in the Pulwama terror attack. If you see, I am much in contact with paramilitary forces because of the security provided by them to me (during events). These jawans, whether from the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, or CISF, suffer more casualty but get less infrastructure support, which is not good, he said during the Shiksha: Dasha Aur Disha programme at the JLN Stadium here. Congress had ratcheted up its attack on the government within a week of the terror strike in Pulwama forming a Task Force to prepare a security blueprint and questioning the government over intelligence failure. On Saturday, the Congress president also took pot-shots at the Modi government over the job crisis staring at the country and accused the government of not wanting to accept that there was a job crisis. He said that the Prime Minister should hold discussions with the youth to address the issue. The Congress president further claimed, In a county of over 1.2 billion people, India is creating about 450 jobs per 24 hours while China is creating 50,000 jobs in the same 24 hours. Our Prime Minister doesnt seem to think this is a problem, he said, adding, We need to first acknowledge that there is a problem and then we need to galvanise support to fight it. That is what we (Congress) believe in. Mr Gandhi also asserted that the state must pay for a large part of education of the students. She often treats her social media followers to glimpses at her envy-inducing tropical getaways. And Elizabeth Hurley turned up the heat once again as she shared a sizzling Instagram clip from her recent trip to Milaidhoo Island in the Maldives on Sunday. The Royals actress, 53, ensured all eyes were on her as she slipped her youthful-looking frame into a white two-piece while enjoying a dip in the ocean. Wow-factor! Elizabeth Hurley turned up the heat once again as she shared a sizzling Instagram clip from her recent trip to Milaidhoo Island in the Maldives on Sunday Commanding attention, the screen star displayed her ample bust and slender midsection in a strapless bikini top and matching briefs. The Aria star appeared in high spirits as she emerged out of the water stating: 'Maldives, Milaidhoo!' With her tresses styled into a straight fashion, Liz's showcased her naturally radiant complexion in minimal make-up, and accessorised with radiant-tinted sunglasses. She's got it! The Royals actress, 53, ensured all eyes were on her as she slipped her youthful-looking frame into a white two-piece while enjoying a dip in the ocean Working it! Commanding attention, the screen star displayed her ample bust and slender midsection in a strapless bikini top and matching briefs Having fun: The Aria star appeared in high spirits as she emerged out of the water stating: 'Maldives, Milaidhoo! Elizabeth is mother to son Damian, 16, from her brief relationship with American businessman Steve Bing, 53. The mother and son were most recently in India, where they rang in the new year alongside several of the Bedazzled star's friends. Damian, who has six godfathers including actor Hugh Grant and Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish, is often rubbing shoulders with his mum's celebrity pals, as she insists she has an 'open house' policy in order for her son to meet her friends. Family: The screen star is mother to son Damian, 16 (far left in India), who she regularly brings on her travels Elizabeth has previously confessed she often ropes Damian into taking photographs of her - including her bikini-clad snaps she posts to social media. On their relationship, she told YOU magazine: 'Damian is a great photographer, and he instinctively knows what younger people want to see, but thats all... 'Our downtime together is usually spent watching something scary on Netflix or Vikings on Amazon Prime. By default we spend a lot of time together and we are utterly comfortable in each other's company.' During Sunday's commitment ceremony, Married at First Sight 'experts' Mel Schilling and Trisha Stratford were horrified when Dino Hira gifted them with a wine bottle opener crafted from a kangaroo scrotum. Taking the strange present in her hand, Mel dropped it before crying, 'It's literally hairy b**ls.' Meanwhile Trisha appeared completely dumbfounded by the bizarre gift, leaving her completely lost for words. 'It's literally hairy b**ls!' During Sunday's commitment ceremony, Married at First Sight 'experts' Mel Schilling and Trisha Stratford were horrified when Dino Hira gifted them with a wine bottle opener crafted from a kangaroo scrotum Curious to how it worked, she pulled out the corkscrew to examine the contents. Placing it on the coffee table, the brunette stared dumbfounded before simply saying, 'right.' The humourous display came before Dino and 'wife' Melissa Lucarelli decided to stay in the social experiment. Unusual: Dino, 35 appeared please with his odd gift which he bought while all the couples holidayed in the Gold Coast Is this real? Trisha appeared completely dumbfounded by the bizarre present, leaving her completely lost for words Meanwhile, the former stripper, 35 was once again forced to deny claims he was 'questioning his sexuality'. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph on Friday, he insisted: 'The fact is, I can't say something I'm not, and I'm definitely straight.' The MAFS star added: 'I'm not gay, but if I was, I would be proud of it. It's 2019, so there's nothing to really hide and I'd say it to the whole world.' It's the second time that the former stripper has spoken out about his sexuality. 'I can't say something I'm not and I'm definitely straight': The MAFS star once again denied claims he was 'questioning his sexuality' and says he'd be out and proud if he was gay His former girlfriend, Teresa Veaudry, to whom he popped the question on Valentine's Day 2018, has claimed she turned down Dino's proposal because she was 'questioning his sexuality'. In an interview with Perth Now earlier this month, Teresa said: 'I was questioning his sexuality and couldn't commit to him fully. I actually said to him if he comes clean I would support him through it.' However, Dino defiantly hit back, telling the same publication: 'I am not (gay), but if I was I would be proud of it, own it and say it to the world. Phoebe Tonkin looked every inch the glamorous starlet when she stepped out for the 11th Annual Pre-Oscar Awards Dinner in Los Angeles on Saturday. The Australian actress arrived at the exclusive Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel, exuding elegance in a statement black billowing tunic dress. Looking effortlessly stylish, the 29-year-old paired the daring frock with a pair of shorts which peeked out from beneath. Bombshell in black! Phoebe Tonkin (pictured), 29, attended the 11th Annual Pre-Oscar Awards Dinner in Los Angeles on Saturday in a statement black billowing tunic dress The elegant brunette beauty completed her look with a smokey bronzed makeup palette and a slick of cherry lipstick. She wore her hair loose around her shoulders in glamorous free-flowing waves. Phoebe has been making headlines in recent weeks thanks to her standout role in the new upcoming drama series Bloom. Elegant beauty: She paired the frock with a pair of shorts which peeked out from beneath Smoldering! The brunette beauty completed her look with a smokey bronzed makeup palette and a slick of cherry lipstick Set in a small country town after a devastating flood kills five people, Bloom tells the story of a plant that emerges in the aftermath, with the ability to restore youth In the series, Phoebe and co-star Jacki Weaver play young and old versions of the same character - an Alzheimer's sufferer named Gwen Reed, who gets a second chance at youth from a magical plant. Phoebe previously gushed over the role while speaking to Daily Mail Australia, describing the experience as 'really unique'. Upcoming new role: Phoebe has been making headlines in recent weeks thanks to her standout role in the new upcoming drama series Bloom 'It's kind of an actor's dream to portray all those things, and to work with some of the most incredible actors that Australia has,' she said. 'I feel incredibly grateful. It was just a great experience.' Acclaimed U.S. film director John Curran was at the helm of the Stan Original Series, which was funded by Screen Australia and Stan. Sam Ball seems to be enjoying life after Married at First Sight. The 26-year-old was on Bondi Beach on Sunday, spending time with a bevy of female friends. Showing off his collection of tattoos as he exited the water after a dip, the hunk's muscles glistened in the sunshine. Making a splash! Married at First Sight's Sam Ball (pictured) gets friendly with a bevy of beach babes as he strips off for a swim at Bondi With his wet shorts clinging to his legs and his hair slicked back, the tradie showed off his incredibly buff physique. Making sure to protect his eyes, Sam carried a pair of sunglasses into the surf and still had them in his hand on the shore. After his swim, Sam was joined on the beach by several women who appeared to be lining up for his attention. Bathing beauty! The 26-year-old was on Bondi Beach on Sunday, spending time with friends Rub a dub: Showing off his collection of tattoos as he exited the water after a dip, the hunk's muscles glistened in the sunshine Surrounded by women in swimsuits, Sam gestured with his hands as she spoke to the ladies. Appearing to have a new undercut hairdo, he smiled and laughed as he chatted to his captive audience. He gained even further attention from fans as he strolled down the street away from the beach. Hey ladies! After his swim, Sam was joined on the beach by several women who appeared to be lining up for his attention One at a time, ladies! Surrounded by women in swimsuits, Sam gestured with his hands as she spoke to the ladies Enthralled: Appearing to have a new undercut hairdo, he smiled and laughed as he chatted to his captive audience Fans? Sam spent some time chatting to the gaggle of gals which surrounded him on the sand What, me? Sam seemed impressed by the attention he was receiving on the beach Sam appeared to be stopped multiple times by women walking alongside him, one of whom placed an arm around him to get a selfie. He flashed a cheeky smile, clearly enjoying the attention from the public and the women so keen to catch his eye. Sam finally managed to get free of his fans and wandered off in the sunshine, wearing his round sunglasses. Chill! His hair slicked back, the reality TV star looked relaxed and happy during his swim Safety first: Making sure to protect his eyes, Sam carried sunglasses into the surf New look! In addition to his slick new haircut, the star was also clean shaven His shorts had dried and revealed their true colour, a bright purple, tied with a black cord. In addition to his slick new haircut, the star was also clean shaven, and looked quite different to his appearance on the show. The beach jaunt came after news that Sam has taken out an Apprehended Violence Order against his former girlfriend of just three months. Popular guy! He gained even further attention from fans as he strolled down the street away from the beach Clingy! His wet shorts clinging to his legs, the tradie showed off his incredibly buff physique Hi man! Sam appeared to be stopped multiple times by women walking alongside him, one of whom placed an arm around him to get a selfie Happy chappy! He flashed a cheeky smile, clearly enjoying the attention from the public and the women so keen to catch his eye On Thursday, the 26-year-old took out the AVO against his former partner, Akila Ahmunett, who's registered name is actually Nadia Tabbaa. Sam called police after the 30-year-old allegedly confronted him inside is Alexandria home in Sydney on February 4. Police were again called to the home at 2am on Friday where they arrested a 30-year-old woman. On his own: Sam finally managed to get free of his fans and wandered off Nice day for it! Strolling in the sunshine, wearing his round sunglasses Pop of purple! His shorts had dried and revealed their true colour, a bright purple 'The woman was taken to Newtown Police Station where she was charged with stalk/intimidate intend fear physical etc harm, use carriage service to menace/harass/offend, and enter prescribed premises of any person without lawful excuse,' the police statement read. She was granted conditional bail and will appear at Newtown Local Court on March 4. Sam began dating 30-year-old Tabbaa in December after the show finished filming. Jennifer Lawrence has been proudly showing off her sparkling new engagement ring for all to see in recent days. And on Saturday, the Oscar-winning actress had more opportunities to flash the giant rock when she and fiance Cooke Maroney had dinner with friends along Downtown Manhattan's famous Mulberry Street. The pair enjoyed the tranquility of a slow walk alone, through the area near Little Italy and NoHo. Shining star: Jennifer Lawrence showed off her new engagement ring as she walked with fiance Cooke Maroney after meeting friends for dinner For the night out, the 28-year old actress wore an off-white overcoat over a black shirt and dark grey pants. The rock: Lawrence confirmed her engagement to the NY art gallery director earlier this month She rounded out the ensemble with a pair of dark grey pumps, and styled her blonde tresses long, with added volume and soft waves and a part in the middle. Maroney, 34, looked casual-cool in black pants, black sweatshirt and a black jacket, along with a pair of Vans sneakers. But still, the center of attraction on the night was Lawrence's brand new engagement ring. The couple enjoyed food and drinks with a few of their friends at the eclectic Chef's Club. Several times during the dinner, Maroney slipped out the restaurant doors to smoke a cigarette, which at one pint included a friendly conversation with a woman who was outside. When it was all said and done the group of friends stepped outside to say their goodbyes with some hugs and kisses. Hand in hand: The couple locked arms and held hands during their stroll along Mulberry Street in Downtown NYC on Saturday night Quick smoke: Maroney stepped out to smoke a cigarette several times during their dinner date Lawrence confirmed her engagement to the New York art gallery director earlier this month. He currently works at New York's Gladstone Gallery, which represents artists including Lena Dunham's dad, Carroll Dunham, as well as Richard Prince, Anish Kapoor, and Bjork's ex, Matthew Barney. Maroney is also known on the art party scene and previously worked at the prestigious Gagosian Gallery. She's a regular fixture on the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show catwalk. But on Saturday, model Devon Windsor turned Miami Beach into her own personal runway, as the blonde beauty splashed around in the clear Floridian waters. The 24-year-old showed off her splendid physique in a red swimsuit for the winter outing. Beach babe: On Saturday, model Devon Windsor turned Miami Beach into her own personal runway, as the blonde beauty splashed around in the clear Floridian waters The skimpy bikini made the most of the 5ft11in stunner's long, lean legs, and the high cut showed plenty of Windsor's pert posterior. The native Missourian wore her blonde tresses pulled back into a low bun for her day of seaside frolicking. Not one to go unadorned, Devon wore plenty of bling in the water, including gold bracelets and hoop earrings. But the highlight of her jewelry was a huge rock on her engagement finger, gifted by her fiance, businessman Johnny Dex. Perfect: The 24-year-old showed off her splendid physique in a red swimsuit for the winter outing Both sides now: The skimpy bikini made the most of the 5ft11in stunner's long, lean legs, and the high cut showed plenty of Windsor's pert posterior Sun's out bun out: The native Missourian wore her blonde tresses pulled back into a low bun for her day of seaside frolicking The bling ring: Not one to go unadorned, Devon wore plenty of bling in the water, including gold bracelets and hoop earrings Windsor got engaged to Johnny Dex last June after more than two years of dating. While taking a plane ride, the blonde bombshell was able to see 'Marry Me?' spelled out on the sand of a private beach in the Bahamas. Windsor just wrapped up a busy nine days of catwalks, red carpets and parties during NYFW. Kendall Jenner spent her Saturday afternoon grabbing lunch with her friend Fai Khadra in Los Angeles. The 23-year-old supermodel was spotted heading into a local restaurant with her friend and sitting in an outside patio area. Jenner also took the time to help promote the new Adidas Originals clothing line from her friend, fashion designer Ji Won Choi. Lunch time: Kendall Jenner grabbed lunch in Los Angeles with her friend Fai Khadra Jenner was wearing a knee-length, fur-lined red coat with blue jeans and white sneakers during her lunch outing. She had her black hair tied back in a ponytail while wearing black sunglasses as she sat outside in the patio section. After lunch, she traded in her red coat for red pajamas while promoting her friend Ji Won Choi's new pajamas. Jenner took to Instagram this afternoon wearing red and white striped pajamas from Choi.' Outdoor dining: She had her black hair tied back in a ponytail while wearing black sunglasses as she sat outside in the patio section Stepping out: Jenner is coming off Milan Fashion Week where she walked for Versace wearing a see-through lace blazer 'So happy for @ji.won.choi and the debut of her collection with @AdidasOriginals at #LFW,' Jenner began. 'Check out the #adidasOriginalsByJiWonChoi collection now!,' Jenner concluded with the hashtags #createdwithadidas and #adidas_ambassador. Jenner is coming off Milan Fashion Week where she walked for Versace wearing a see-through lace blazer. She also took to Instagram on Wednesday to announce she will be part of a new Calvin Klein campaign. Pajamas: Jenner took to Instagram this afternoon wearing red and white striped pajamas from Choi 'Excited to be a part of the new @calvinklein campaign celebrating what it means to live in the now,' Jenner said. 'Thank you @_glen_luchford #MyCalvins #Ad Jenner was named as the highest-paid model for 2018, earning a whopping $22.5 million, according to Forbes. She earned nearly twice as much as her nearest competitor, Karlie Kloss, who earned $13 million in 2018. Jenner was also the highest-paid model in 2017 as well. Fergie and Josh Duhamel split up nearly two years ago. But since then, the former couple have consistently been the picture of harmonious co-parenting for the sake of their five-year old son, Axl. That love and respect was on display once again when the couple created their own winter wonderland for their little boy, so the family could go sledding on man-made snow. 'It's snow day,' the 46-year old actor screamed out in an Instagram video showing the actor shooting the snow out of a large hose and onto a hill on a 61 degree Fahrenheit day in Los Angeles. Snow day: Fergie and ex-husband Josh Duhamel had snow made so they could have a day of sledding with their son Axl, five, in Los Angeles on Saturday Sweet: At one point the former couple embraced in an emotional hug The Transformers: Dark Of The Moon star also made the 'SNOW DAY 2019!!!' declaration in the caption of a snow-making video. 'Axl, what do you think?' Josh asked while he and an ice truck worker put the finishing touches on the makeshift snowy hill. With a big beaming smile on his face, the adorable little boy gave his dad a nod of approval. Winter wonderland: Axl was all smiles as his mom cheered him on Fun in the sun: The snow was made on a day when it hit 61 degrees Fahrenheit Quality family time: The Transformers: The Last Knight star wrapped his arms around his son as they cruised down the hill Team work: The former couple seemed at ease with each other during the afternoon outing When the work was all done and the snow was in place, the trio bundled up in their winter gear and hit the mini-slope for some sledding. With a crowd of friends and family looking on, and joining in on the fun, Fergie and Josh took turns sliding down the hill with Axl on a red board. In another sign that they have been able to put any remaining animosity or ill-will aside, the former couple even teamed-up and took some turns down the hill together. And from the looks of all the smiles and cheers, a good time was had by all. At one point Josh could be heard yelling: 'You go Fergie Ferg, you go Fergie Ferg,' as she roared down the slope with another little boy. Respect: The former couple teamed-up and took some turns going down the hill together Blissful: They both yelled out with joy and excitement while flashing peace signs Top of the world: Fergie and Josh even flashed the #1 sign with their fingers Loving vibe: The former couple enjoyed some funny moments during the day Hands-on: The former Black Eyed Peas star kept a close eye on her boy The former celebrity couple had a similar snow day where they had artificial snow made for the holiday season in December 2016. From all accounts, the pair have remained amicable since announcing their separation in September 2017 after eight years of marriage. Duhamel has since had a five-month fling with Welcome to Marwen actress Eiza Gonzalez, which ended in July. Fergie, born Stacy Ann Ferguson, has not been romantically linked to anyone since her divorce. Supportive ex: At one point Josh could be heard yelling: 'You go Fergie Ferg, you go Fergie Ferg,' as she roared down the slope with another little boy. The proud dad showed his excitement when he and his boy made it down the hill Working it: Josh helped shoot the man-made snow onto the mini-slope Emily Ratajkowski stepped out to Villain in Brooklyn with her husband Sebastian Bear-McClard on their first anniversary this Saturday. The 27-year-old modeling sensation posed up a storm there with her man and Josh Ostrovsky, AKA The Fat Jew of Instagram fame. That day, Emily celebrated her wedding anniversary by posting a topless Instagram photo in which she flashed her ring for the camera. On the town: Emily Ratajkowski stepped out to Villain in Brooklyn with her husband Sebastian Bear-McClard on their first anniversary this Saturday She was at Villain that evening for the Pink Party III hosted by BABE and Tarte, where she modeled a shiny bubblegum pink trousers suit vaguely resembling pajamas. The London-born bombshell swept her dark hair back into a high bun, accessorizing her cleavage-baring look with a small Louis Vuitton purse. While Emily stood for photos with Josh, who went shirtless for Saturday's bash, they were joined at one point by FUBU's founding CEO Daymond John. Emily and Josh, whom she has described on social media as her 'twin brother from another mother,' also posed with actor Tanner Cohen. Trio: The 27-year-old modeling sensation posed up a storm there with her man (center) and Josh Ostrovsky, a.k.a. The Fat Jew (left) Glamour: That day, Emily celebrated her wedding anniversary by posting a topless Instagram photo in which she flashed her ring for the camera On Thursday, Emily posted a sweet black and white photo of herself and Sebastian at a restaurant and wished him: 'HBD, husband. I love you more every day.' Emily, who has a penchant for showing off her figure on red carpets and social media, told Marie Claire last year that her breasts are 'a key to my sexuality.' The Gone Girl supporting player told the magazine: 'Boobs are funny. They hurt sometimes, and sometimes theyre the thing that makes me feel the most powerful.' 'I remember there was some article like: "Emily Ratajkowski Is the Mozart of Breasts." What was so bad is someone sent it to my dad, who sent it to me,' she recalled. Smoldering stare: The London-born bombshell swept her dark hair back into a high bun, accessorizing her cleavage-baring look with a small Louis Vuitton purse Hobnobbing: While Emily stood for photos with Josh, who went shirtless for Saturday's bash, they were joined at one point by FUBU's founding CEO Daymond John 'My dad still sees me as a little kid. I love my boobs. I love other peoples boobs. Boobs are kind of great,' rhapsodized the I Feel Pretty actress. Emily, who while showing Vogue around her vast apartment in 2015 said she was for a platform to 'redistribute wealth in this country,' married last February. She made a splash with her surprise courthouse marriage to producer Sebastian in New York, wearing a $200 Zara trouser suit. Sizzler: Emily and Josh, whom she has described on social media as her 'twin brother from another mother,' also posed with actor Tanner Cohen Though they only became a couple weeks before the wedding, a source told Us Weekly that 'Emily has known Sebastian for years.' The We Are Your Friends actress recalled to Marie Claire: "People came after my marriage, like: "Wow. I give it three weeks." Im like: "What?"' Emily groused: 'No one can take women seriously on any choices that they make, especially if theyre unique to them and they dont play into the way we think women should get married. It's a constant writing-off.' Feeling fab: Emily, who has a penchant for showing off her figure on red carpets and social media, told Marie Claire last year that her breasts are 'a key to my sexuality' Married at First Sight's Bronson Norrish is finally set to uncover his 'wife' Ines Basic's 'affair' with Sam Ball on Sunday. And on Saturday, the Perth hunk looked single and ready to mingle as her cosied up to a mystery blonde during his 35th birthday celebrations. The fan-favourite was seen flirting up a storm with the female guest while on board a luxury boat. Moving on? MAFS' Bronson Norrish (centre) cosies up to mystery blonde (right) at his wild 35th birthday party... after his 'wife' Ines Basic's 'affair' with Sam Ball was exposed Bronson and the blonde posed for several pictures together alongside other guests - including Bronson's co-star Dino Hira. The wild outing comes ahead of Sunday's MAFS commitment ceremony, which sees Ines and Sam's 'affair' finally exposed. Earlier this week, Bronson brushed off 'affair' rumours on the show after tattooed tradie Sam denied the claims. Party boys! Bronson and the blonde posed for several pictures together alongside other guests - including Bronson's co-star Dino Hira (2-R) Having a ball: The burly hunk draped the reptile over his shoulders, while playfully sticking his tongue out While there will certainly be no shortage of drama on Sunday night's episode, Bronson appeared to be without a care in the world at his party on Saturday. At one point, he got up close and personal with a snake - which he wrapped around his neck while posing for photos. The burly hunk draped the reptile over his shoulders, while playfully sticking his tongue out. Getting into the party spirit, Bronson later hoisted a drag queen into the air, with another male attendee. Who knew they were friends: Dino and Bronson have a close friendship dating back ten years, when the pair would strip together at parties across Western Australia They look close! Dino, who is still 'married' to Melissa Lucarelli on the Channel Nine reality show, also appeared to be enjoying himself while cosying up to a stunning brunette (2-R) Dino, who is still 'married' to Melissa Lucarelli on the Channel Nine reality show, also appeared to be enjoying himself while cosying up to a stunning brunette. The co-stars have a close friendship dating back ten years, when they would strip together at parties across Western Australia. The event was hosted by Bronson's business, Party Boat Charters, with tickets available to fans of the show for $40. For that price, guests got to cruise down Perth's Swan River for four hours on the Moonlight Express while hanging with the reality stars. Putting his muscles to use! Getting into the party spirit, Bronson later hoisted a drag queen into the air, with another male attendee He also said that Pakistan should not worry about Indian Muslims as they are here by choice after refusing Jinnah's proposition. Asaduddin Owaisi also outlined the countrys diversity and said that the neighboring country is jealous by the unity of Indian citizens. (Photo: PTI) Mumbai: All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday called out Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to drop his mask of innocence while criticizing the Pakistan government for its role in the Pulwama terror attack. Addressing a rally along with Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh president Prakash Ambedkar, Owaisi said, We would like to tell Pakistan PM not to give that message to India which he wants to seated before a camera. This is not the first attack. There was Pathankot, Uri and now Pulwama. And on behalf of India, I want to tell the Prime Minister of Pakistan to drop his mask of innocence. He also said that Pakistan should not worry about Indian Muslims as they are here by choice after refusing Jinnah's proposition during 1947. He also outlined the countrys diversity and said that the neighboring country is jealous by the unity of Indian citizens. One of the ministers from Pakistan had said that they will stop the prayer bells from ringing in temples of India but I want to tell him that he doesnt know India. Till Muslims of this country are alive, Azaan will sound from mosques and bells will ring in temples. This is the beauty of our country which the neighboring country sees with jealousy. People in this country live as one and when it will come to the country we all will be together, Owaisi said. Owaisi also lambasted terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed for its role in the dastardly terror attack and opined that a disciple of Mohammed would never kill a person. I want to clearly say as a citizen of India, that this dastardly attack has links to Pakistan. It was done as per plan of Pakistan government, Pakistan Army and ISI. I would like to tell the outfit that killed our 40 men and claimed its responsibility - you're not Jaish-e-Mohammed, you are Jaish-e-Shayateen. You are Jaish-e-Shayateen, Jaish-e-Iblis. Masood Azhar, you are not a Maulana, you are a disciple of the devil. It is not Laskhar-e-Taiba, it is Lashkar-e-Shayateen. Around 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives when a JeM operative attacked their convoy in Pulwama's Awantipora in the state of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. In the wake of the attack, the international community has extended its support to India in its fight against terrorism, including China which had previously stonewalled efforts to designate JeM chief Masood Azhar as a "global terrorist" at the United Nations Security Council. She was pictured without her wedding ring while out on a recent jaunt in Beverly Hills last week. But Mediterranean beauty Martha Kalifatidis, 30, seems to be back on track with 'husband' Michael Brunelli, 27, with whom she was paired on Married At First Sight. The couple appeared smitten over the weekend, with hunky P.E teacher Michael posting a snap of the pair looking cosy and relaxed at a beach-inspired bar. Smitten? Mediterranean beauty Martha Kalifatidis (right) seems to be back on track with 'husband' Michael Brunelli (left) Michael, who often opts to go sans shirt, chose to cover up his chiseled chest in a casual short-sleeved shirt with a breezy leaf print, leaving it slightly unbuttoned around the collar. He cheekily captioned the image: 'Shorts were optional!' His 'wife' Martha sidles up next to him in the photo in a thigh-skimming white shirt-dress, cinched in at the waist with a matching white leather bum bag and nude heels. The Kim Kardashian lookalike wore a similar ensemble in a set of raunchy photos, revealed earlier in the week, wearing a white mini dress that did little to hide her legs. That's a bit cheeky! Martha shared a steamy photo of herself and 'husband' Michael Brunelli with his hand on her pert derriere In one photo, the brunette makeup artist is seen passionately kissing her beau while he placed one hand on her half-exposed derriere. Meanwhile, Michael was seen shirtless wearing just a pair of white jeans as he gleefully returned the kiss. 'The experts asked for this sort of thing... I'm just cooperating! #MAFS,' Martha wrote in the caption. Keeping up the act? Married At First Sight's Martha Kalifatidis showed off her bust in this selfie as she reclined on 'husband' Michael Brunelli earlier in the week The genetically blessed pair were dubbed one of the 'picture perfect' pairings of this year's season of Married At First Sight. But according to last Monday's issue of NW magazine, Martha is keeping the hunky P.E. teacher around in order to achieve fame. 'She wants to be as famous as possible and having Michael on her arm is the best way she can achieve this goal,' an insider told the publication. 'But in reality, their lives couldn't be further apart. While she's off living it up in Hollywood, he's in Melbourne teaching kids every day,' they added. Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine. Dino Hira has yet to get intimate with his Married At First Sight 'wife' Melissa Lucarelli. But on Saturday, the meditation guru didn't appear to have any problems cosying up to another stunning brunette. The 34-year-old former stripper barely left the mystery woman's side as they sailed Perth's Swan River for MAFS star Bronson Norrish's 35th birthday. What will his 'wife' say? Married At First Sight's Dino Hira cosied up to a stunning brunette in Perth on Saturday.... despite being 'married' to TV bride Melissa Lucarelli on the show All aboard the love boat? The hunk only had eyes for the gorgeous brunette during Bronson's birthday cruise While Dino's 'wife' Melissa wasn't pictured on board the party boat, the star still wore his wedding ring, suggesting that they may still be together. However, the hunk only had eyes for the gorgeous brunette during Bronson's birthday cruise, with the pair sitting close together as they sailed the high seas. For the outing, Dino looked dapper in a denim shirt which was buttoned down to reveal his sculpted chest. TV heartthrob: Dino looked dapper in a denim shirt which was buttoned down to reveal his sculpted chest Party trick! The twosome looked incredibly comfortable together, with the woman even stroking a snake as Dino wrapped his arm around her waist Meanwhile, his mystery companion dazzled in a plunging black top teamed with a pair of high waisted trousers. The twosome looked incredibly comfortable together, with the woman even stroking a snake as Dino wrapped his arm around her waist. The outing comes as Dino's 'wife' Melissa makes continual moves on him during MAFS. Who's that girl? Dino's mystery companion dazzled in a plunging black top teamed with a pair of high waisted trousers Guests! Dino barely left the mystery woman's side as they sailed Perth's Swan River with MAFS star Bronson (right) The bubbly bride has repeatedly been seen trying to lure the meditation guru into bed, after revealing she hasn't had sex since 2009. 'Girls just want to be slammed some times, you know!' Melissa told her Dino in an awkward scene aired last week. The couple have been continuing on in their relationship in spite of the intimacy issues, and were seen holding hands as they arrived at a radio studio late last month. 'Girls just want to be slammed some times, you know!' Dino's wife Melissa has been pushing for more intimacy He's been dating the business psychologist Phillipa for four years. And now Jude Law is reportedly taking his relationship with Phillipa Coan to the next level as they are 'set to marry in a romantic ceremony surrounded by showbiz pals'. According to reports, the Alfie actor, 46, is set to tie the knot with his long-term girlfriend, 32, in France this spring, claims The Sun. Big news: Jude Law is reportedly taking his relationship with Phillipa Coan to the next level as they are 'set to marry in a romantic ceremony surrounded by showbiz pals' And it's further claimed that the Sherlock Holmes star has asked his eldest son Rafferty, 22, whom he shares with ex wife Sadie Frost, to be his best man. A source revealed to the publication: 'The wedding itself will be a good old fashioned knees up with plenty of booze and dancing. 'All his old pals are going from when he was growing up in London and just starting out in his career. 'Jude and Phillipa have been going out together for years and get on really well, so this is the next natural step.' Smitten: According to reports, the Alfie actor, 46, is set to tie the knot with his long-term girlfriend, 32, in France this spring, claims The Sun (pictured together in 2016) It appears as though the nuptials will be an A-list affair with several of Jude's actor pals reported to attend including Jonny Lee Miller, Ewan McGregor, Brad Adams and Sean Pertwee. It is thought the wedding will take place in May, MailOnline has contacted Jude's representative for comment. Jude previously opened up about his romance with Phillipa in an interview with Modern Living. Sweet: And it's further claimed that the Sherlock Holmes star has asked his eldest son Rafferty, 22, whom he shares with ex wife Sadie Frost, to be his best man Loved-up: A source revealed to the publication: 'The wedding itself will be a good old fashioned knees up with plenty of booze and dancing.' (Jude and Phillipa pictured in 2016) He said: 'Shes mine and no one elses. Im very, very happy. Our relationship is a very private thing, and I think part of the fact it works so well is exactly because of that.' This will be the second time lucky for father-of-five Jude, who was previously married to designer Sadie from 1997 until their divorce in 2003. The former couple share three children together, Rafferty, 22, daughter Iris, 18 and 16-year-old Rudy. Jude also has an nine-year-old daughter Sophia with model Samantha Burke and Ada, three, with musician Catherine Harding. The star famously dated fellow A-lister Sienna Miller, with Jude famously issuing a public apology to her after having an affair with his children's nanny. Ex-wife: This will be the second time lucky for father-of-five Jude, who was previously married to designer Sadie from 1997 until their divorce in 2003 (pictured in 2018) Just days after Khloe Kardashian broke things off with boyfriend Tristan Thompson, producer Mike Fleiss is claiming she's in talks to star in the next season of The Bachelorette. Khloe's sister Kim Kardashian was quick to call out Fleiss though, claiming the whole thing is, 'fake f***ing news.' Khloe also called out Fleiss herself, stating in a tweet on Saturday afternoon that she's not, 'f***ing clickbait.' Not the Bachelorette: Kim Kardashian has called 'fake f***ing news' on reports that Khloe Kardashian is going to be The Bachelorette The whole ordeal started on Friday, when Fleiss, who has served as an executive producer on The Bachelor since 2002 and on The Bachelorette since 2008, tweeted out that he was in talks with Kris Jenner for Khloe to be The Bachelorette. 'I have already been in contact with my dear friend @KrisJenner about @khloekardashian as #TheBachelorette. Stay tuned!!!,' Fleiss said on Friday. When media outlets like Pop Crave started to run with the story, Kim tweeted out, 'Fake f***ing news big time!!!!' Origins: The whole ordeal started on Friday, when Fleiss, who has served as an executive producer on The Bachelor since 2002 and on The Bachelorette since 2008, tweeted out that he was in talks with Kris Jenner for Khloe to be The Bachelorette Fake news: When media outlets like Pop Crave started to run with the story, Kim tweeted out, 'Fake f***ing news big time!!!!' Out of the loop: Fleiss fired back, retweeting Kim, stating, 'She's out of the loop on this one,' along with #TheBachelorette hashtag Fleiss fired back, retweeting Kim, stating, 'She's out of the loop on this one,' along with #TheBachelorette hashtag. Fleiss also responded to Kim's fake news tweet, stating, 'How would @KimKardashian know??? This is between me and @KrisJenner and most importantly @KhloeKardashian!!!' Fleiss subtly referenced Khloe's break-up with Tristan Thompson in another tweet, stating, 'As @KimKardashian is obviously aware, this is all about timing for @KhloeKardashian! Shes been through a lot. Ts and Ps from all of #BachelorNation!' Fleiss responds: Fleiss also responded to Kim's fake news tweet, stating, 'How would @KimKardashian know??? This is between me and @KrisJenner and most importantly @KhloeKardashian!!!' Thoughts and prayers: Fleiss subtly referenced Khloe's break-up with Tristan Thompson in another tweet, stating, 'As @KimKardashian is obviously aware, this is all about timing for @KhloeKardashian! Shes been through a lot. Ts and Ps from all of #BachelorNation!' Fleiss added that they have, 'strict confidentiality agreements with all candidates,' for The Bachelorette, and that Khloe couldn't have told Kim anyway. Kim responded to that by stating, 'Oh really????? Wait a minute...' before group texting both sister Khloe and mom Kris to ask them. Kim then shared a screengrab of the text, where she asked both Kris and Khloe, 'Are you guys in talks with the bachkorette?' Confidentiality: Fleiss added that they have, 'strict confidentiality agreements with all candidates,' for The Bachelorette, and that Khloe couldn't have told Kim anyway Response: Kim responded to that by stating, 'Oh really????? Wait a minute...' before group texting both sister Khloe and mom Kris to ask them Text chain: Kim then shared a screengrab of the text, where she asked both Kris and Khloe, 'Are you guys in talks with the bachkorette?' Kris responded with, 'No lol' while Khloe said, 'Ewwww I mean put some respeck on my name.' Khloe herself responded to one of Fleiss' tweets, stating, 'Im not f***ing clickbait right now. Stop or you will be hearing from my lawyers. How insensitive!!' Fleiss responded to Khloe by stating, 'This is about helping people find true love nothing more!!!' along with The Bachelorette hashtag. The Bachelorette is typically one of the contestants from the previous season of The Bachelor, so if Khloe Kardashian ultimately does become The Bachelorette, it would be unprecedented, but it seems that's not the case, judging by Kris and Khloe's text. Tweetstorm: Kris responded with, 'No lol' while Khloe said, 'Ewwww I mean put some respeck on my name' Not clickbait: Khloe herself responded to one of Fleiss' tweets, stating, 'Im not f***ing clickbait right now. Stop or you will be hearing from my lawyers. How insensitive!!' She had a tough week following a dispute with an audience member at her In Conversation event in Sydney. And on Sunday, Roxy Jacenko was admittedly overwhelmed by the stress of running her own business. Taking to Instagram, the PR queen shared a downcast selfie alongside the words: 'People think owning your own business means you will work less ... No, you will work harder than you've ever worked!' 'People think owning your own business means you will work less!' PR queen Roxy Jacenko complains about the stress of running her own company... after 'ugly dispute' with a guest at her Sydney event Earlier in the week, the 39-year-old entrepreneur was reportedly involved in a dispute with an audience member at her In Conversation event. Anthony Hess told The Daily Telegraph that he and the PR maven exchanged words at the Sparkling White Smile Presents In Conversation with Roxy Jacenko event at The Ivy in Sydney on Tuesday evening. 'She came at me like a steam train. It was just so unnecessary. She kept saying, 'where is the respect?'' Hess claimed to the paper. 'She came at me like a steam train!' Claims Roxy (pictured) clashed with an attendee at her pricey In Conversation event as 'vulgar language' was hurled It's unclear what the disagreement was over, but Hess alleges another attendee at the event made 'homophobic slurs' towards him, causing him and business partner Lena to leave before the talk started. Hess also claims Roxy's husband Oliver Curtis stepped in to help diffuse the situation and was 'really nice'. Hess' friend, named only as Lena, went on to tell the paper Roxy 'screamed' at the pair. A representative for Roxy Jacenko told the paper Hess was, 'disruptive, aggressive and drew unnecessary attention to himself' and had 'verbally abused Ms Jacenko as she attempted to make her entry'. Issues? Anthony Hess (pictured) tells The Daily Telegraph that he and the PR maven exchanged words at the Sparkling White Smile Presents In Conversation with Roxy Jacenko event at The Ivy in Sydney on Tuesday evening Clash: Hess (right) alleges another attendee at the event made 'homophobic slurs' towards him, causing him and business partner Lena to leave before the talk started Hess went on to tell the paper that he was 'excited' for the event but it all ended in 'disaster'. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Roxy Jacenko for comment. Roxy's talks are popular, and notoriously pricey, with tickets for Tuesday's event ranging between $230 and $520. The PR superstar's seminars can earn her as much as $50,000 an hour. Her In Conversation seminars go for two hours per event, per state, earning her up to $100,000 per event. Statement: Roxy's reps say Hess had 'verbally abused Ms Jacenko as she attempted to make her entry'. Roxy (right) is pictured at Tuesday's In Conversation event with an attendee who was not involved in the altercation Help? Hess also claims Roxy's husband Oliver Curtis (right) stepped in to help diffuse the situation and was 'really nice' And on top of that, sponsorship earnings from various brands range between $8,500 to $25,000 per seminar. Last year, the entrepreneurial blonde has held seminars in Sydney, Queensland and Perth. Roxy founded Sweaty Betty PR at age 24, building the business into a multi-million dollar empire, representing some of Australia's biggest brands over the past 15 years. The entrepreneur founded The Ministry of Talent in 2012, the country's first management agency solely dedicated to digital influencers. Shes happily loved up with her beau after the pair reignited their relationship last year. And Charlotte Dawson nearly flashed her underwear as she put on a loved-up display with her beau Matthew Sarsfield at The Ivy Restaurant in Manchester on Saturday night. The television personality, 26, daughter of late comedian Les Dawson, cut a very leggy figure for the fun night out in a nude coloured silk wrap halterneck dress with the shoulders cut out. Whoops: Charlotte Dawson nearly flashed her underwear as she put on a loved-up display with her beau Matthew Sarsfield at The Ivy Restaurant in Manchester on Saturday night Adding height to her bronzed and toned legs, she added a pair of shiny nude peep toe heels. Charlotte styled her glossy brunette locks into a dramatic high bun with the front strands left loose, she added a slick of glamorous make-up. Meanwhile, the make-up artist's rugby player beau, Matthew, looked dapper in a pair of black skinny jeans and a tight-fitting grey t-shirt. Smitten: The television personality, 26, daughter of late comedian Les Dawson, cut a very leggy figure for the fun night out in a nude coloured silk wrap dress Details: Adding height to her bronzed and toned legs, she added a pair of shiny nude peep toe heels He completed his look with a grey suede biker jacket, matching coloured boots and a gold chain necklace. The couple appeared very loved-up as Charlotte threw her arms around him and he planted a kiss on her cheek. In August, Matthew narrowly avoided jail for punching a stranger outside a club. Glamorous: Charlotte styled her glossy brunette locks into a dramatic high bun with the front strands left loose, she added a slick of glamorous make-up He was left 'sickened' in court, after hearing details of how he drunkenly landed a single blow to Daniel Jackson's bottom lip on April 2 2018, which may leave him with permanent scarring. He hit the aspiring actor without warning in an unprovoked attack, Wigan and Leigh magistrates heard. It came months after Matt rekindled a romance with Charlotte, who confirmed the news in December 2017. Matt was sentenced to six months in prison which has been suspended for two years, as well as being handed a community order and hefty fine. Aubrey Plaza kicked off her hosting duties at the Independent Spirit awards with a four-minute cold open video that involved a 'virgin sacrifice.' The video featured Plaza and a number of iconic actresses - Marcia Gay Harden, Christina Ricci, Roseanna Arquette and Marisa Tomei, who are gathered on the 'unholiest of afternoons' to, 'conjure the film independent spirit.' 'Through this ancient ritual, we shall reject commercial cinema and pledge our souls to the pursuit of dangerous art,' Plaza said. Aubrey's open: Aubrey Plaza gets bloody for the Independent Spirit Awards cold open They continue the ceremony by calling on celebrated indie directors like Robert Altman, Hal Ashby and Michelangelo Antonioni, when they're interrupted by actor Brian Tyree Henry. 'What the f***, Aubrey?' Henry said. 'You said it was gonna be a party, not some ****ed up white girl s**t.' She said she was sorry that he showed up early, and that she was doing her, 'black magic ceremony to banish s****y sequels and lazy reboots.' Icons: The video featured Plaza and a number of iconic actresses - Marcia Gay Harden, Christina Ricci, Roseanna Arquette and Marissa Tomei, who are gathered on the 'unholiest of afternoons' to, 'conjure the film independent spirit' Surprise guest: They continue the ceremony by calling on celebrated indie directors like Robert Altman, Hal Ashby and Michelangelo Antonioni, when they're interrupted by actor Brian Tyree Henry Lazy reboots: She said she was sorry that he showed up early, and that she was doing her, 'black magic ceremony to banish s****y sequels and lazy reboots' Henry added that they both just, 'did a Chucky movie together,' referring to the Child's Play reboot they're both starring in. Arquette added that they, 'reject the Hollywood mainstream' and that their future is with their sisters, 'in a bond sealed with blood' as they all prick their fingers. Ricci takes things to another level, saying, 'this is no book club' as she starts stabbing herself in the neck, causing Henry to say, 'God damn, Ricci does not play around.' Rosanna: Arquette added that they, 'reject the Hollywood mainstream' and that their future is with their sisters, 'in a bond sealed with blood' as they all prick their fingers Plaza then calls for the 'virgin sacrifice,' who is Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard, who Plaza says is, 'the bastard child who sprung from the loins of the Netflix algorithm.' The woman who brought Wolfhard in takes off her hood and is revealed as Sharon Stone, who says she told him she was, 'giving him a ride to GameStop.' Harden hands over an elaborate dagger, which was made from the 'gold of her Oscar. Dagger: Harden hands over an elaborate dagger, which was made from the 'gold of her Oscar 'We twist the blade of mainstream success against itself that we may reap our promised bounty: more limited releases and modest success,' Harden said. Plaza's plan backfires though when Wolfhard reveals he's not a virgin, and that women love him and he's, 'a four-quadrant cutie.' Wolfhard also reveals he's a big fan of all their work, before Plaza kills him with a pair of scissors, screaming, 'Spirit, come to me! Make me your host!' Bloody Plaza: Wolfhard also reveals he's a big fan of all their work, before Plaza kills him with a pair of scissors, screaming, 'Spirit, come to me! Make me your host!' Blood splatters all over her face, while Henry says he's gonna go, because he's, 'gonna get blamed for this s**t' while Tomei says how nice it is to see everyone outside of work. The video ends with Plaza, seemingly possessed by the 'spirit,' screaming, 'Look upon me, for I am your host! Let the Film Independent Spirit Awards begin!' The Independent Spirit Awards aired on IFC from a massive tent on the beach in Santa Monica, California. Ricci isn't playing: Ricci takes things to another level, saying, 'this is no book club' as she starts stabbing herself in the neck, causing Henry to say, 'God damn, Ricci does not play around' Smoking Sharon: The woman who brought Wolfhard in takes off her hood and is revealed as Sharon Stone, who says she told him she was, 'giving him a ride to GameStop' Independent Spirit Awards: The Independent Spirit Awards aired on IFC from a massive tent on the beach in Santa Monica, California Glenn Close won her first ever Independent Spirit Award on Saturday afternoon, further enhancing her chances to score an Oscar on Sunday. The 71-year-old actress charmed the crowd when she brought her dog Pip on stage when winning Best Female Lead for The Wife. It was her very first Spirit win in her long career that includes the hits The Big Chill and Fatal Attraction, and with the awards ceremony being the last before the Academy Awards on Sunday, experts are predicting she could end awards season with an Oscar. Happy: Glenn Close won the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday afternoon. The 71-year-old actress charmed the crowd when she brought her dog Pip on stage when winning Best Actress for The Wife A cute date it is: During her speech she said her dog was her 'date' as he larked around on stage to the delight of the celeb crowd During her speech Glenn said her dog was her 'date' and she also thanked her daughter who was also in the movie. Glenn spoke to Variety's correspondent while doing interviews on the red carpet; he asked: 'Why did you bring your dog with you? Is it a day at the beach with the dog?' The star replied: 'Yeah, because I know him and he's incredibly well behaved and honestly speaking I didn't have anyone to take care of him so he'll just come.' So cute: Close was one of the first to be seen as she modeled a purple suit Glenn's win has set her up for an almost certain win at the Oscars, which would end her record as the actress with the most nominees without a win. She has already picked up a Golden Globe and SAG award for the performance. The actress has some stiff competition for the Oscar though from Olivia Colman, who has been picking up awards for her lead performance in The Favourite. Meanwhile If Beale Street Could Talk was the big winner at Saturday's awards, winning three major prizes. It took home best feature - the top award at the ceremony - plus best director for Barry Jenkins and best supporting actress for Regina King. And the award goes to... If Beale Street Could Talk was the big winner at Saturday's awards, winning three major prizes including Best Feature Winner: Regina King took home the best supporting actress prize, helping her chances at an Oscar on Sunday night 2019 Independent Spirit Award WINNERS BEST FEATURE Eighth Grade First Reformed WINNER: If Beale Street Could Talk Leave No Trace You Were Never Really Here JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD A Bread Factory WINNER: En el Septimo Dia Never Goin Back Socrates Thunder Road BEST SCREENPLAY Richard Glatzer (Writer/Story By), Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland Colette WINNER: Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty Can You Ever Forgive Me? Tamara Jenkins Private Life Boots Riley Sorry to Bother You Paul Schrader First Reformed BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Ashley Connor Madelines Madeline Diego Garcia Wildlife Benjamin Loeb Mandy WINNER: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom Suspiria Zak Mulligan We the Animals BEST FEMALE LEAD WINNER: Glenn Close The Wife Toni Collette Hereditary Elsie Fisher Eighth Grade Regina Hall Support the Girls Helena Howard Madelines Madeline Carey Mulligan Wildlife BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE Kayli Carter Private Life Tyne Daly A Bread Factory WINNER: Regina King If Beale Street Could Talk Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie Leave No Trace J. Smith-Cameron Nancy ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD Suspiria BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM Burning The Favourite Happy as Lazzaro WINNER: Roma Shoplifters BONNIE AWARD WINNER: Debra Granik Tamara Jenkins Karyn Kusama SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD WINNER: Alex Moratto Ioana Uricaru Jeremiah Zagar BEST FIRST FEATURE Hereditary WINNER: Sorry to Bother You The Tale We the Animals Wildlife BEST DIRECTOR Debra Granik Leave No Trace WINNER: Barry Jenkins If Beale Street Could Talk Tamara Jenkins Private Life Lynne Ramsay You Were Never Really Here Paul Schrader First Reformed BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY WINNER: Bo Burnham Eighth Grade Christina Choe Nancy Cory Finley Thoroughbreds Jennifer Fox The Tale Quinn Shephard (Writer/Story By), Laurie Shephard (Story By) Blame BEST EDITING WINNER: Joe Bini You Were Never Really Here Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates, Jeremiah Zagar We the Animals Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill, Julian Hart American Animals Anne Fabini, Alex Hall, Gary Levy The Tale Nick Houy Mid90s BEST MALE LEAD John Cho Searching Daveed Diggs Blindspotting WINNER: Ethan Hawke First Reformed Christian Malheiros Socrates Joaquin Phoenix You Were Never Really Here BEST SUPPORTING MALE Raul Castillo We the Animals Adam Driver BLACKkKLANSMAN WINNER: Richard E. Grant Can You Ever Forgive Me? Josh Hamilton Eighth Grade John David Washington Monsters and Men BEST DOCUMENTARY Hale County This Morning, This Evening Minding the Gap Of Fathers and Sons On Her Shoulders Shirkers WINNER: Wont You Be My Neighbor? PRODUCERS AWARD Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams Gabrielle Nadig ***WINNER: Shrihari Sathe TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD Alexandria Bombach WINNER: Bing Liu RaMell Ross Advertisement As the last awards ceremony before Sunday's Oscars, the latest win for Regina has propelled her chances at taking home an Academy Award. But the movie will miss out on the Best Picture prize after failing to score a nomination. Saturday's other big winner was British star Richard E. Grant who took home the Best supporting male prize for his acclaimed performance in Can You Ever Forgive Me?. The acting veteran got emotional on stage as he accepted one of his first ever major awards, paying tribute to AIDs victims in her teary speech. The actor has won the hearts of fans this awards season with his excitement at mingling with the a-list after a 40 year career that has seen him pick up plenty of acclaim but little in the way of awards. He did it! Saturday's other big winner was British star Richard E. Grant who took home the Best supporting male prize for his acclaimed performance in Can You Ever Forgive Me? Emotional: The Brit actor had a big hug for fellow winner Glenn as she presented him with his gong Puppy love: Glenn rocked a lavender toned Lame blazer with a fabric belt, adding matching bottoms Beaming: The movie star hit the carpet in pointed nude pumps with a silky pink Fleur du Mal camisole beneath her jacket Chloe Grace Moretz led the fashion parade on Saturday as she arrived on the blue carpet in Santa Monica in a plunging plaid patterned number with pleated sleeves. Chloe, 22, hit the carpet with pointed patent heels, adding blue shadow on her lids with pink lipstick. Also looking stylish was actress Rosanna Arquette, 59, and Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent. Too cute: Glenn told a Variety correspondent about her pup Pip: 'He has been staying at the house that I've been staying in but I wasn't sure what everyone has been doing. He's been on the red carpet with me before so I know that he would be well mannered' Wow: Chloe Grace Moretz donned a plunging plaid patterned number with pleated sleeves Lovely: Chloe, 22, hit the carpet with pointed patent heels, adding blue shadow on her lids with pink lipstick Star look: The Independent Spirit Awards red carpet was in full swing on Saturday afternoon. Rosanna Arquette was one of the first to be seen as she modeled a stylish silver blazer over a print shirt and black slacks Rosanna donned in a silver blazer over a print shirt and black slacks. The sister of Patricia Arquette was last seen in the 2018 film Billionaire Boy Club with Kevin Spacey. The annual awards honoring independent film were handed out Saturday in a tent on the Santa Monica, California. Aubrey Plaza hosted this year's show which includes fewer Oscar contenders than usual. The top nominees included Bo Burnham's coming-of-age tale 'Eighth Grade,' Lynne Ramsey's existentialist thriller 'You Were Never Really Here,' Paul Schrader's religious drama 'First Reformed' and Jeremiah Zagar's lyrical 'We the Animals.' While the Oscars feature no women nominated for best director, the Spirits have three: Ramsey, Tamara Jenkins ('Private Life') and Debra Granik ('Leave No Trace'). So busy: The sister of Patricia Arquette was last seen in the 2018 film Billionaire Boy Club with Kevin Spacey Chic: She was joined on the carpet by Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent, who dazzled in a fitted white dress with green half-gloves Flawless: Marisa Tomei chose a graphic top with a sparkling skirt and matching jacket Good times: Mia Goth rocked a silver and black look with platform heels The Spirits' best-picture winner has often predicted Oscar, including Moonlight, 'Spotlight, Birdman and 12 Years a Slave. But last year Jordan Peele's Get Out took the Spirits' top honor before Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water won at the Academy Awards. A casual, oceanside precursor to Sunday's Oscars, the Spirit Awards will this year surely differ. Elegant: Behind her was 36-year-old Kate Siegel of The Haunting of Hill House fame who wrote a flattering white suit A long resume: She has also been in the movies Man Camp and Wedding Day None of the best picture nominees are up for the same award at the Oscars. And none of this year's nominees pack anything like the box-office punch of Get Out, which grossed $255 million worldwide on a $4.5 million budget. The Spirit Awards limit nominees to films with budgets pf $20 million and under, eliminating bigger budget contenders like Black Panther and A Star Is Born. They also focus on American movies, limiting Oscar nominees like Roma and The Favourite, which are both nominated for best international film. Winners are chosen by Film Independent, which includes critics, filmmakers, actors, festival programmers, past winners and nominees, and members of its board Piers Morgan has healed the rift with Ant McPartlin in a single email and insisted that they are 'still mates'. The GMB host, 53, received a strongly worded email from the star, 43, after he asked why Ant was up for an NTA Award for 'walking the dog' and 'sitting on his backside'. While the presenter revealed he didn't 'accept he had done anything particularly wrong', he insisted the pair were 'still mates' in a new interview with The Mirror. Good news: Piers Morgan has healed the rift with Ant McPartlin in a single email and insisted that they are 'still mates' He told the newspaper: 'We are still mates, it is fine. I didn't accept I had done anything particularly wrong. 'I think the point I was making was a valid one and I think a lot of people felt the same way. But I definitely said, "I don't want to hurt or upset you". 'I wouldn't, he's a mate. He then calmed down. He's just feeling the heat a bit because he is coming back on TV and it has been a very tricky time.' Absolutely fuming: The GMB host, 53, received a strongly worded email from the star, 43, after he asked why Ant was up for an NTA Award for 'walking the dog' and 'sitting on his backside' His revelation comes after Ant hit back at the presenter with a strongly worded email accusing the Good Morning Britain co-host of 'belittling' his recovery. Piers said: 'They'll win. Even though Ant's basically been sitting on his backside, from what I can see walking his dog for the last year. He's got an award.' A source confided in The Mirror that troubled Ant had fired off an email to Piers following the TV star's comments on Good Morning Britain. Unimpressed: His revelation comes after Ant hit back at the presenter with a strongly worded email accusing the Good Morning Britain co-host of 'belittling' his recovery Piers made reference to Ant's headline-grabbing fallout from a drink-driving conviction in April last year. Ant swapped TV for rehab as he was forced to step away from his television commitments including Britain's Got Talent and I'm A Celeb. During his recovery from his booze problem and prescription drug addiction, the presenter was often pictured walking his Labrador Hurley in the parks near his home. Ant and Dec won the National Television Award for the 18th year in a row, despite his absence from our screens. Regina King won a Golden Globe for her performance in the Barry Jenkins romantic drama If Beale Street Could Talk in January. And on Saturday, the actress added another trophy for the role when she took home Best Supporting Female at the 2019 Film Independent Awards in Santa Monica Saturday afternoon. With an enthusiasm and excitement in her voice, the Los Angeles native shared her gratitude for the cast and crew, and friends and family during her speech. 'I am up here representing us, If Beale Street Could Talk is a beautiful piece of art that I am so lucky to be a part of. Thank you for celebrating us.' Winner! Regina King won the Best Supporting Female at the 2019 Film Independent Awards King also appeared to acknowledge the Spirit Award members and fans, offering a 'thank you for seeing this film,' at the end of her speech. This was her first Independent Spirit Nomination and win. In all, If Beale Street Could Talk was nominated for three awards at the event. Gratitude: 'I am up here representing us, If Beale Street Could Talk is a beautiful piece of art that I am so lucky to be a part of. Thank you for celebrating us,' she said during her speech Beaming: This was her first Independent Spirit Nomination and win Before the Spirit awards were handed out, King got to put on a show when she hit the blue carpet in a pleated burgundy midi dress. The eye-catching number showcased her upper body with it's sleeve design and plunging neckline. She matched it with a pair gold strapped heels and wore her shoulder length raven tresses in a long and wavy style. Shining star: King stunned on the blue carpet in a a pleated burgundy midi dress Stylish: The actress matched it with a pair gold strapped heels and wore her shoulder length raven tresses in a long and wavy style If Beale Street Could Talk follows a young African-American woman (KiKi Layne) who, with her family's support, tries to clear the name of her wrongly charged lover (Stephan James) and prove his innocence before the birth of their child. The film also stars Kiki Lane, Stephan James, Tyonah Parris, Colman Domingo, Michael Beach, Brian Tyree Henry, Diego Luna, Dave Franco and Ed Skrein. King will have another chance to take home a Best Supporting Award for the role at the 91st Academy Awards ceremony Sunday night. The incident has also exposed the laxity in the security of the shelter homes in Bihar. Reports suggest that the girls vanished at around 3 AM on Saturday and the police who arrived at the shelter home found tampered grill near the main gate. (Photo: Youtube Screengrab) Patna: Nitish Kumar government was in for another setback after seven girls were found missing from a Patna based shelter home on Saturday. According to the police, the incident occurred in a shelter home which was being run by Nazareth hospital in Mokama of Patna district. Speaking on the issue Patna District Magistrate Kumar Ravi said that, FIR has been registered by the local police station and efforts are on to trace the girls who have gone missing. Sources told this newspaper that at least four of seven girls who were found missing were the witnesses in the Muza-ffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case which had surfaced in 2018. The incident could be an attempt to save big faces. The case is being monitored by the SC but I think that the victims are not safe under the current regime, Leader of opposition in the state assembly Tejashwi Yadav said in a tweet. The incident triggered a political storm in Bihar. Opposition leaders said that eyebrows are being raised because the incident occurred on a day when seven accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case were produced before the Saket Court. The incident could be an attempt to save big faces. The case is being monitored by the Supreme Court but I think that the victims are not safe under the current regime here, Leader of opposition in the state assembly Tejashwi Yadav said in a tweet. Reports suggest that the girls vanished at around 3 AM on Saturday and the police who arrived at the shelter home found tampered grill near the main gate. We are not ruling out any possibility. We are investigating all aspects and no one in the shelter home is out of our radar at the moment. Anything about the case can be discussed only after the probe is complete, Rural SP Sanjay Kumar Singh said. The incident has also exposed the laxity in the security of the shelter homes in Bihar. The Supreme Court on several occasions earlier had expressed dissatisfaction over the Bihar governments lenient approach in handling the case. Earlier this month the Court had transferred the shelter home case to Saket in New Delhi and directed the CBI to conclude the trial in six months. The matter was handed over to the CBI in July last year after opposition parties blamed the state government of interfering into the police probe to save influential people involved in the case. Questions were also raised in the state assembly earlier this week after one of the accused Dr. Ashwani who was arrested last year for administering sedatives to the victims had filed a petition in the POCSO court seeking CBI probe against Bihar Chief Minister and others in connection with the case. Torture and sexual abuse of 34 minor girls inside Muzaffarpur shelter home were exposed in the report prepared by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in March 2018. Eleven persons including Brajesh Thakur, the administrator of the NGO which was in agreement with the social welfare department to run the Muzaffarpur shelter home was arrested in connection with the case. Advertisement The 34th annual Independent Spirit Awards red carpet was in full swing on Saturday afternoon. And it seemed that pretty pastel colors was one of the biggest hits. All white dresses and suits and black dresses were also a big hot. Gemma Chan from Crazy Rich Asians stood out for her lovely pink and yellow gown that had silver accents. She added earrings by Ana Khouri. Perfect: The 34th annual Independent Spirit Awards red carpet was in full swing on Saturday afternoon. And it seemed that pretty pastel colors was one of the biggest hits. Gemma Chan (left) from Crazy Rich Asians stood out for her lovely pink and yellow gown that had silver accents while Toni Collette and Carey Mulligan followed the pastel trend Toni Collette looked polished in her light pink dress that had a long scarf. She added white shoes with a bow in front and held onto a black clutch that had red lipstick tubed on it. Carey Mulligan stood out in her gold dress with V straps that had multi colors on them. Chic from all angles: Brit stars Gemma dn Carey showed off their glittering dresses on the star-studded blue carpet Glenn Close was one of the first to be seen at the awards show as she modeled a purple suit. The actress, 71, posed alongside her adorable dog Pip on the red carpet. Glenn rocked a lavender toned Lame blazer with a fabric belt, adding matching bottoms. Glenn spoke to Variety's correspondent while doing interviews on the red carpet; he asked: 'Why did you bring your dog with you? Is it a day at the beach with the dog?' So cute: Glenn Close was one of the first to be seen as she modeled a purple suit. The actress, 71, posed alongside her adorable dog on the red carpet on Saturday afternoon in Santa Monica Puppy love: Glenn rocked a lavender toned Lame blazer with a fabric belt, adding matching bottoms The star replied: 'Yeah, because I know him and he's incredibly well behaved and honestly speaking I didn't have anyone to take care of him so he'll just come.' The reporter for the outlet said: 'You're going through awards season and got everything taken care of. You couldn't find someone to dog-sit today?' Glenn said: 'No. He has been staying at the house that I've been staying in but I wasn't sure what everyone has been doing. He's been on the red carpet with me before so I know that he would be well mannered.' Beaming: The movie star hit the carpet in pointed nude pumps with a silky pink camisole beneath her jacket The movie star hit the carpet in pointed nude pumps with a silky pink camisole beneath her jacket. Chloe Grace Moretz arrived in a plunging plaid patterned number with pleated sleeves. Chloe, 22, hit the carpet with pointed patent heels, adding blue shadow on her lids with pink lipstick. Also looking stylish was actress Rosanna Arquette, 59, and Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent. Real talk: Glenn spoke to Variety 's correspondent while doing interviews on the red carpet; he asked: 'Why did you bring your dog with you? Is it a day at the beach with the dog' So much pastel going on here: Katie Aselton dazzled in a colourful striped dress as she cosied up to director husband Mark Duplass on the blue carpet A different look that wins: Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie wore a pale lilac color with colorful pockets for the fun ceremony Bright look: Laura Dern wore a white dress without sleeves and a V neck. And Regina Hall had on a stripped see-through gown with a plunging neckline and long sleeves Elegant: Behind her was 36-year-old Kate Siegel of The Haunting of Hill House fame who wrote a flattering white suit A fun new look for the afternoon event: Kiki Layne stood out in this dress that had an attractive neckline while Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent, who dazzled in a fitted white dress with green half-gloves Rosanna donned in a silver blazer over a print shirt and black slacks. The sister of Patricia Arquette was last seen in the 2018 film Billionaire Boy Club with Kevin Spacey. She was joined on the carpet by Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent, who dazzled in a fitted white dress with green half-gloves. Behind her was 36-year-old Kate Siegel of The Haunting of Hill House fame who wrote a flattering white suit. The annual awards honoring independent film will be handed out Saturday in a tent on the Santa Monica, California, beach and broadcast live on IFC at 2 p.m. PST. Lovely: Chloe Moretz, 22, hit the carpet with pointed patent heels, adding blue shadow on her lids with pink lipstick. Dakota Johnson looked lovely in a black outfit with red cherries on it Star look: The Independent Spirit Awards red carpet was in full swing on Saturday afternoon. Rosanna Arquette was one of the first to be seen as she modeled a stylish silver blazer over a print shirt and black slacks Aubrey Plaza will be hosting this year's show which includes fewer Oscar contenders than usual. The top nominees are Bo Burnham's coming-of-age tale 'Eighth Grade,' Lynne Ramsey's existentialist thriller 'You Were Never Really Here,' Paul Schrader's religious drama 'First Reformed' and Jeremiah Zagar's lyrical 'We the Animals.' While the Oscars feature no women nominated for best director, the Spirits have three: Ramsey, Tamara Jenkins ('Private Life') and Debra Granik ('Leave No Trace'). Flawless: Marisa Tomei chose a graphic top with a sparkling skirt and matching jacket for the pre-Oscars awards do Good times: Mia Goth rocked a silver and black look with platform heels for a head turning ensemble on the blue carpet The Spirits' best-picture winner has often predicted Oscar, including Moonlight, 'Spotlight, Birdman and 12 Years a Slave. But last year Jordan Peele's Get Out took the Spirits' top honor before Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water won at the Academy Awards. A casual, oceanside precursor to Sunday's Oscars, the Spirit Awards will this year surely differ. None of the best picture nominees are up for the same award at the Oscars. And none of this year's nominees pack anything like the box-office punch of Get Out, which grossed $255 million worldwide on a $4.5 million budget. Up for best film are:'Leave No Trace, Eight Grade, You Were Never Really Here and Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk. A big way to stand out at the event: Yalitza Aparicio of Roma fame wore a red dress with red shoes More color: Marcia Gay Harden wore a vibrant teal suit with matching shoes and clutch purse. Annie Maude Starke had on a long red dress with a black tassel necklace and matching purse The Spirit Awards limit nominees to films with budgets pf $20 million and under, eliminating bigger budget contenders like Black Panther and A Star Is Born. They also focus on American movies, limiting Oscar nominees like Roma and The Favourite, which are both nominated for best international film. Winners are chosen by Film Independent, which includes critics, filmmakers, actors, festival programmers, past winners and nominees, and members of its board She recently returned from New York City after attending some of fashion's biggest show's at NYFW. And perhaps taking some styling tips back to Los Angeles with her, Amanda Seyfried looked impeccable when she graced the Independent Film Spirit Awards on Saturday. The 33-year-old beauty looked business chic as she opted for a pant suit for the afternoon awards. Gorgeous: Amanda Seyfried commanded attention in a gorgeous pant suit at the annual Independent Film Spirit Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday Amanda stunned in a silver and white shirt that effortlessly hugged her trim physique. She teamed the look with straight legged grey trousers with a metallic belt and a pair of pumps. The Mean Girls star styled her dark blonde tresses to one side and slicked up her hair to fall behind her ears. Fashionista: Amanda stunned in a silver and white shirt that effortlessly hugged her trim physique Glam: Amanda's makeup was kept simple to rosy cheeks and simple lip and a bright neon eyeliner to give her look that extra pop Important job: At one point during the telecast, the actress was seen introducing a nominee for Best Feature Film Amanda's makeup was kept simple to rosy cheeks and simple lip and a bright neon eyeliner to give her look that extra pop. At one point during the telecast, the actress was seen introducing a nominee for Best Feature Film. The top category includes nominees: Eight Grade, First Reformed, If Beale Street Could Talk, Leave No Trace and You Were Never Really Here. Riding solo: Not pictured with Amanda was her film director husband, Thomas Sadoski, 42 Not pictured with Amanda was her film director husband, Thomas Sadoski, 42. The pair began dating in early 2016 as co-stars in the film, The Last Word. They confirmed their engagement in September 2016 and married in a private ceremony in March the following year. March 2017 also saw Amanda give birth to her first child, a daughter. Never publicly confirming her name, it is believed their daughter was called, Sienna. He has a busy year with a large number of movies being released. But Armie Hammer, 32, was getting set to hand out the awards, rather than receive them, on Saturday. The hunky actor looked dashing as ever as he cosied up to his wife Elizabeth Chambers at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles. Suited up: Armie Hammer, 32, cosied up to his wife Elizabeth Chambers at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles The Call Me By Your Name star chose a striking navy and purple plaid suit, which showcased his strong sense of style and lean physique. The bold outfit was teamed with blue velvet brogues and a maroon tie. Cup-cake entrepreneur Elizabeth put on a leggy display in an edgy mini-dress with black leather boots which had a chunky buckle detail. Plaid sailing: The hunky actor looked dashing as ever on Saturday The happy couple, who have been married since 2010, share two children, daughter Harper, four, and son Ford, two. The actor took to the stage to hand out the Robert Altman Award to Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria. He's made a name for himself in critically acclaimed films like Call Me By Your Name and the Ruth Bader Ginsberg biopic On The Basis Of Sex. Smitten: The happy couple looked loved up on the blue carpet Leggy display: Cup-cake entrepreneur Elizabeth wore an edgy mini-dress with black leather boots which had a chunky buckle detail Manspreading: The Call Me By Your Name star chose a striking navy and purple plaid suit, which showcased his strong sense of style and lean physique Hammer stars as Martin Ginsburg, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Felicity Jones) in On the Basis of Sex. He also starred in a pair of critically-acclaimed indie films, Hotel Mumbai and Sorry to Bother You. He's shaping up for a big year in 2019 as well, with a new thriller hitting theaters and production ramping up on two more films. Hammer will next be seen on the big screen in Wounds, where he plays a bartender who strange things happen to after he answers a phone left behind in his bar. The Golden Globe nominated actor leads a cast that also includes Dakota Johnson and Deadpool 2 star Zazie Beetz. Annapurna Pictures has set the thriller for release on March 29, 2019. Hammer will also star as Simon Doyle in Death on the Nile, 20th Century Fox's follow-up to Murder on the Orient Express, with Kenneth Branagh returning as Hercule Poirot. Gal Gadot has also been attached to star as Simon's socialite wife Linnet Ridgeway Doyle, with Branagh also directing this adaptation of the 1937 Agatha Christie novel of the same name. Hammer is also attached to star in an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, alongside Lily James, for director Ben Wheatley. And Armie Hammer admitted that, while he's worked hard to get where he is, it would be wrong of him to not think he's benefited from having white privilege. The actor, 32, spoke candidly in an interview for the March issue of British GQ on Tuesday, as he explained: 'There are white people who exercise their white privilege with or without knowing it and I would be foolish to sit here and say, "Well, that has nothing to do with my career." I can't sit here and say that. 'But also, people must be aware of the work ethic it takes. I get it. Guys like me have got a lot from being guys like me.' The movie industry's night of nights will be held on Sunday. And Liam Hemsworth got the party started on Friday, while attending the WME Pre-Oscar event in Los Angeles. The 29-year-old partied with the likes of Amy Adams and Amber Heard ahead of the Oscars. Party time! Liam Hemsworth cuts a dapper figure as he attends WME Pre-Oscar event in Los Angeles The actor kept things casual as he headed into the pre-award show gathering, dressed in a casual grey T-shirt and black pants. He completed the look with a black jacket and brown high top sneakers. The Hunger Games star looked like he has been working on his beard and brushed his dirty blond tresses back. Saving his suit for the ceremony? Liam, 29, kept things casual as he headed into the pre-award show, dressed in a casual grey T-shirt and black pants Liam was in high-spirits following the very recent release of his latest movie, Isn't It Romantic. The romantic comedy, which also stars fellow Australian actor Rebel Wilson, has received rave reviews since hitting screens in America last week. Netflix have since secured the rights to release the film internationally and will drop on the streaming platform on February 28. Rave reviews! Liam was presumably in high-spirits following the very recent release of his latest movie, Isn't It Romantic, which hit screens in America on February 13 Liam also flashed his wedding band as he arrived at the star-studded event. He married Miley Cyrus on December 23 at her Tennessee family home. They first got engaged in 2012, but the engagement was over in September 2013, before they rekindled their romance several years later. Camilla Franks was left devastated after her shock breast cancer diagnosis last year, however, the acclaimed fashion designer says 2018 was her 'greatest year'. Speaking to Marie Claire Australia's March edition this week, the 42-year-old said despite her heartbreaking ordeal, she has a lot to be thankful for. 'Last year was full on. I was pregnant, I gave birth, I danced with the devil that was cancer it was light and darkness all in one,' she said referring to the birth of her daughter Luna Gypsy Jones, one. 'In a strange way, it was my greatest year yet': Camilla Franks, 42, reflects on devastating breast cancer diagnosis... after discovering a lump while breastfeeding her daughter. Pictured in September 10, 2018 'It was tough and it was challenging but, in a strange way, it was my greatest year yet. 'From the moment I turned up my [meditation] practice, my focus became on living and kicking the s*** out of cancer with a positive attitude. I fought hard last year and each day I feel my body regaining its energy. Living excites me.' Camilla gave birth to her first child in January last year, however, four months later, she received a devastating diagnosis after discovering a lump in her breast while breastfeeding. Heartbreaking: Camilla gave birth to her first child, Luna, in January last year, however, four months later, she received a devastating diagnosis after discovering a lump in her breast while breastfeeding In a statement to her staff at the time, the mother-of-one revealed she was 'scared' of the diagnosis but vowed to beat the disease, according to news.com.au. 'I start on this journey humble but resilient; I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared but I am fearlessly determined to do whatever it takes by focusing on my body, mind and spirit as I take my first trusting steps towards recovery,' she wrote. 'With the incredible love and support of my little family I have no doubt I will beat this.' Resilient: In a statement to her staff at the time, the mother-of-one revealed she was 'scared' of the diagnosis but vowed to beat the disease, according to news.com.au. 'I start on this journey humble but resilient; I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared but I am fearlessly determined to do whatever it takes by focusing on my body, mind and spirit as I take my first trusting steps towards recovery,' she wrote Family support: Camilla, who revealed her battle with Bell's Palsy in 2014, has been leaning on her Welsh musician fiance JP Jones (right) throughout her cancer battle. Pictured with Boy George (left) and baby Luna in 2018 Camilla, who revealed her battle with Bell's Palsy in 2014, has been leaning on her Welsh musician fiance JP Jones throughout her cancer battle. Last year, she shaved her head which she described to Marie Claire as being 'confronting and scary'. She previously underwent chemotherapy and continues her recovery process with yoga and meditation. Phoebe Burgess, 29, publicly supported her husband Sam Burgess, 30, on Saturday, two months after their shock split. The former journalist cheered on the South Sydney Rabbitohs star at the team's game against the Penrith Panthers at Redfern Oval. 'Return to Redfern,' she captioned an Instagram photo taken from the stands at the annual rugby league match. 'Return to Redfern': Sam Burgess' estranged wife Phoebe fuels reconciliation rumours as she cheers on the NRL star at a Sydney Rabbitohs game... two months after shock split The photo showed players on the field during the match and a rainbow backdrop. Earlier this month, Phoebe and Sam were reunited during a family outing with their two children and the Sydney Morning Herald claimed Sam is moving back into their marital home in Maroubra. Sam initially moved out just before Christmas, leaving Phoebe at the home with their two-year-old daughter Poppy and there-week-old son, Billy. At the time, it was widely reported that the couple's split had become 'messy'. His biggest fan? The 29-year-old cheered on the South Sydney Rabbitohs player at the team's game against the Penrith Panthers at Redfern Oval, following their split in December New Idea magazine recently reported that Sam was told to 'pull his head in' and salvage his three-year-marriage by actor Russell Crowe. Sam has a close bond with Russell, who is a co-owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs. A 'source' told the magazine that the Oscar winner gave Sam a 'stern talking to' after he moved out of the marital home he shared with Phoebe and their two children in December last year. Back on? The Sydney Morning Herald recently claimed Sam is moving back into their marital home in Maroubra Phoebe and Sam first met at an Avicii concert in Sydney in January 2014. They tied the knot in a lavish ceremony in the Southern Highlands town of Bowral in December 2015. Ines Basic was pictured on a solo outing in Melbourne on Saturday, following reports of her drastic 12kg weight loss. The Married At First Sight 'villain', who recently garnered backlash from viewers due to her antics on the show, posed for a picture while chatting with a fan of the show on Chapel street. In a Facebook post, the fan claimed Ines, 28, said he recent weight loss was due to the passing of a friend. 'Her friend passed away when the show ended': MAFS' Ines Basic cuts a solo figure in Melbourne... as a source claims her 12kg weight loss was triggered by a tragic loss. Pictured on Chapel street on Saturday '[Her] friend passed away when show ended,' the fan claimed. She went on to claim that Ines confirmed she has lost 6kg in recent months, not the 12kg initially reported by Woman's Day. Ines shared a heartfelt Instagram tribute to friend Tim Caraco on December 02 - shortly after she finished filming. 'Thank you for being part of all my wildest and funnest memories growing up, your laugh was infectious. See you in a new world Tim,' wrote Ines. 'Thank you for being part of all my wildest and funnest memories growing up': Ines shared a heartfelt Instagram tribute to friend Tim Caraco (right) on December 02 Ines allegedly told the fan that 'despite all the haters out there she also said she's had lots of love as well.' She also allegedly said that the cast 'film for 16 hours a day' and she already knew that Sam Ball had split from his girlfriend, Nadia Tabbaa. Taking it's toll? A source told Woman's Day last week that Ines has 'cut herself off' from her friends and the rest of the MAFS cast and is 'living like a recluse in her Brisbane home' A source told Woman's Day last week that Ines has 'cut herself off' from her friends and the rest of the MAFS cast and is 'living like a recluse in her Brisbane home'. The insider added: 'She has lost about 12 kilos since filming finished - and she was tiny to begin with. Everyone's really worried about her.' A spokesperson for MAFS' production company, Endemol Shine Australia, told the publication: 'The health and safety of our participants is always our first priority. Psychological support is readily available.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Nine for comment. She filed a lawsuit against the Kardashian/Jenner family last year following the cancellation of her E! show, Rob & Chyna. And now Blac Chyna has asked the court to compel executive producer, Ryan Seacrest, to submit a disposition in relation to the messy case. According to Us Weekly, the 30-year-old believes the radio host has known involvement in the case and joined the family in cancelling her reality series. Getting messy: Blac Chyna has reportedly subpoenaed Executive Producer Ryan Seacrest in her court case against the Kardashian/Jenner sisters However, according to court documents, the Live With Kelly And Ryan star has refused to appear in person for the deposition. According to Chyna, Ryan 'had direct involvement in, and has personal knowledge of, the specific events that gave rise to this litigation.' The beauty enthusiast is also asking the court for $3255 from the radio star to cover costs associated with her motion. The lot thickens: The reality show Rob & Chyna aired for one season in 2016 and Chyna is now claiming the Kardashian/Jenners put out defamatory material to ensure the second season didn't go to air (pictured 2016) Not happy: Chyna's case comes against Kris and Kylie Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian - who she says published defamatory material about her to prevent the second season of Rob & Chyna The court documents reportedly showed Chyna serve a subpoena to Ryan in December 2018 with instruction to appear in court in January. However, he allegedly claimed days before that he had 'little to no direct involvement with the production of Rob & Chyna'. Chyna's case comes against Kris and Kylie Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian - who she says published defamatory material about her to prevent the second season of Rob & Chyna. Back in November 2018, the court court confirmed the case would go to trial. The following month, emails surfaced that showed sisters Khloe and Kylie corresponding about ending their brother and fiancee's show. 'I feel very strongly about canceling Season 2 for Rob&Chyna,' Kylie wrote in an email to Khloe, 34. Putting a stop to it: In December 2018, emails surfaced that showed sisters Khloe and Kylie corresponding about ending their brother and fiancee's show Kylie: 'The only reason Chyna wants to be with my brother is for this show. She does not love Rob and their relationship is too fake and destructive' (pictured May 2016) 'The only reason Chyna wants to be with my brother is for this show. She does not love Rob and their relationship is too fake and destructive.' The youngest Jenner sister added: 'We all know filming isnt my favorite but I will sacrifice and promise you guys episodes and stories and Im sure all my sisters will be on board to make up for all the episodes Rob&Chyna were supposed to bring in.' 'The public has been exposed to what a fake relationship they have and its embarrassing and makes us all look fake. The show is giving this toxic woman money and exposure she lives and breathes for and by continuing it. She will proceed with using and physically abusing my brother. Her association is detrimental to our family and Keeping Up W the Kardashians.' And Khloe also wasn't shy on holding back her thoughts. Khloe: 'The sisters are clearly concerned and uncomfortable for our brothers safety and the credibility of the brand at this point due to how they [Rob and Chyna] are both tarnishing it. We are even considering not moving forward with our show if theirs continues. Thats how strongly we feel this is damaging to our family' 'The sisters are clearly concerned and uncomfortable for our brothers safety and the credibility of the brand at this point due to how they [Rob and Chyna] are both tarnishing it. We are even considering not moving forward with our show if theirs continues. Thats how strongly we feel this is damaging to our family.' At the time on Monday December 17, 2018, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Randolph M. Hammock ruled that the two parties would face off February 2020. But it that isn't the end to all the drama, with Chyna also in the midst in a legal battle against her ex Rob Kardashian. The pair are in court regarding a violent incident as well as for child support over their two-ear-old daughter, Dream. She regularly turns heads with her sensational sense of style. And Georgia Kousoulou looked radiant as ever as she shared a throwback snap of herself lounging on a rock by the sea in a tangerine bathing suit on Saturday. In the Instagram snap, the TOWIE star, 27, donned a bright one-piece that featured a plunging neckline, which she paired with a pair of shades. Stunning: Georgia Kousoulou looked radiant as ever as she shared a throwback snap of herself lounging on a rock by the sea in a tangerine bathing suit on Saturday Styling her locks into an updo, the reality star showed off her bronzed hue as she lounged by the water. Alongside the snap, she wrote: 'Woke up to a lovely day .. excited to be in the sun again soon. 'P.S. I really wanted a pic on the rock laying down but it was to uncomfortable.' Georgia has been having a tough few months, supporting boyfriend Tommy Mallett through his battle with anxiety. Candid: Georgia has been having a tough few months, supporting boyfriend Tommy Mallett through his battle with anxiety Talking about his darkest moments in a previous episode, Tommy explained: 'I woke up one morning I just sat there and looked at a wall. I couldn't leave the house. I know it was only a few days but still. It was scary.' Georgia responded: 'That's why I called your dad, it was awful.' With emotions starting to bubble up, Tommy admitted: 'I feel like I need to do something to people. I need to sort myself out first more than anything but I'd like to try and help people, because it can be naughty. Relationship: Talking about his darkest moments in a previous episode, Tommy explained: 'I woke up one morning I just sat there and looked at a wall.' (pictured in January 2019) 'Young men if you're going through something and you don't talk about it, it can f*** you.' Breaking down in tears following his heart-wrenching confession, Georgia comforted her beau, telling him: 'I think you're being really brave, I think you're doing really well'. The emotional moment clearly struck a nerve with many viewers, who took to Twitter to share their thanks for Tommy's openness, with fans hoping his brave actions will lead others to get help. Coronation Street star Jack P Shepherd has revealed that he suffers from excruciating migraines that can make him go blind and causes him to vomit for ten hours at a time. The actor, 31, who's played David Platt in the ITV soap since he was twelve years old, made the shock confession about the debilitating health condition when explaining to a fan that he's 'never had a cold', according to The Sun. Taking to social media, the star told the fan that he 'didn't know why' he never suffered from a cold, to which another person teased: 'You must've been breast fed as a baby... or maybe you still are.' Shock reveal: Coronation Street star Jack P Shepherd, 31, has revealed that he suffers from excruciating migraines that can make him go blind and causes him to vomit for hours At this point, Jack went on to defend himself and admitted his migraine issue in the process. He messaged: 'Wasn't breast fed, had milk off the door step. I ate really well as a child, and that builds your immune system, also I played outside, climbed trees, played in mud... maybe that's why? 'I suffer with migraines and throw up for 10 hours, and ultimately go blind! So I'm not superman.' His confession comes shortly after he opened up about his hair transplant, with the actor claiming stresses in his love life as the reason for him losing his locks. Health battle: The actor made the shock confession about the debilitating health condition when explaining to a fan that he's 'never had a cold' Jack, who is currently in a relationship with Hanni Treweek after splitting from childhood sweetheart Lauren Shippey in 2017, explained how he had gradually been losing his hair over 10 years but noticed it more prominently after watching himself onscreen. He said: 'I could see the difference when I watched myself on screen and when I was travelling in a lift and the mirror would highlight my hair loss. 'A few of the make-up girls at Corrie suggested that I should have it done and I have talked it through with a few people at work. Stress: His confession comes shortly after he opened up about his hair transplant, with the actor claiming stresses in his love life as the reason for him losing his locks 'My hair loss has definitely accelerated in the last year. I have had a few personal issues off-screen which have been stressful and I am also an insomniac which just adds to my stress levels.' Meanwhile, Jack's character David Platt is going through his own dramas as his character partner Shona Ramsay is set to be kidnapped by her own son Clayton Hibbs. Elsewhere, Jack teased that David and brother Nick Tilsley could turn against each other as they continue to hide the secret over gran Audrey's missing money. He told Digital Spy: 'At the minute theyre the best of friends and theyre in it together, but if push comes to shove, I dont think either of them would think twice about throwing the other one under the bus.' NPS is a contributory retirement savings scheme and seeks to inculcate the habit of saving for old age among the citizens. Normally, upon entry into the NPS, the subscriber remains invested till the age of superannuation or 60 years. New Delhi: Pension fund regulator PFRDA is working on a minimum assured return scheme (MARS) for subscribers of the flagship social security programme -- National Pension System. NPS is a contributory retirement savings scheme and seeks to inculcate the habit of saving for old age among the citizens. NPS, having an asset under management (AUM) of Rs 2.91 lakh crore, had subscriber base of 1.21 at the end of January. The regulator is in the process of designing and developing MARS, according to a document of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). Some aspects, including what kind of guarantee -- absolute return guarantees or relative rate of return guarantees (sector and benchmark-based) -- can be reasonably provided by the pension funds with recommendation of suitable proposals, need to be examined, said the expression of interest (EOI) floated by it. EOI has been invited from actuarial firms to design, develop and recommend MARS under the National Pension System that can be implemented under NPS architecture. The proposed structure of the scheme would include exit loads or exit penalty recommendation with respect to MARS (if required), clawback provisions, and guarantee reset period, among others, for subscribers. The applicant, the EOI said, can be a government organisation/ public sector unit/partnership firm/ limited liability partnership/ private limited company in existence for at least 5 years. The project requires developing the scheme and processes for implementation based on the actuarial principles, similar products, schemes, and practices in operation both in India and abroad. Normally, upon entry into the NPS, the subscriber remains invested till the age of superannuation or 60 years. Upon exit from the system, the subscriber is entitled to withdraw up to 60 per cent of the accumulations and the balance 40 per cent is mandatorily required to purchase annuity from an annuity service provider, who will provide the monthly pension to the subscriber. She regularly makes fans envious with her sun-kissed holiday snaps. And Vicky Pattison, 31, looked nothing short of sensational as she shared a throwback snap to her Instagram on Saturday from her recent trip to Dubai. The former Geordie Shore star displayed her toned and bronzed physique in a tiny black bikini which she paired with a colourful Kaftan with an Aztec print. Stunning: Vicky Pattison, 31, looked nothing short of sensational as she shared a throwback Instagram snap on Saturday from her recent trip to Dubai Vicky recently enjoyed a girls' night out in Manchester where she turned heads in an eye-catching lime green dress. And the TV star admitted she wished she was back on the sands as she was 'hanging' after hitting the town. She wrote: 'I wish I was on a beach now... With a smile on my face, drink in my hand, sun on my skin and a cute kaftan on. 'Instead I am hanging like my auld boobs in Manchester and wondering if Ill ever be able to take my head off this pillow.' Radiant: Vicky recently enjoyed a girls night out in Manchester where she turned heads in an eye-catching lime green dress Vicky recently urged her fans to head to her Instagram story to see how many outtakes there were before she selected a final image of herself in a bikini by the pool to post while she was on holiday. 'Ps head to my insta story for the link to buy and to see just how many attempts it took to get this one pic!!!!',' she said. On her story, the beauty shared the numerous images that had not made the cut to her Instagram grid - and thanked her pal for patiently photographing her to get the final edit. Honest: Vicky recently urged her fans to head to her Instagram story to see how many outtakes there were before she selected a final image of herself in a bikini by the pool The star's admission about getting the perfect picture comes as she hit out at a body-shaming weight loss advert on Instagram, suggesting single women can't find love because they're overweight. The image featured a slim, gym-honed woman with the slogan: 'If you were in better shape, you wouldn't be alone. Happy Valentine's Day.' MuscleFood UK reposted it, asking 'what an advert like this DO for a person's mental health?'. 'I'm actually shocked you've even posted it. I think giving it any publicity at all is dangerous', Vicky commented. Nokia has unveiled its PureView smartphone with five camera lenses working together to take images - a world first for a smartphone. The photos captured by the device are said to have a resolution of up to 240 megapixels thanks to the clever combination system from the five sensors. It has two colour cameras and three monochrome sensors which take in more than ten times as much light as other devices. It was unveiled at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona - the world's biggest mobile technology showcase - and is said to cost $699. Nokia announced three other Android smartphones alongside the flagship device and also revealed a basic mobile phone aimed at users in developing countries, dubbed the Nokia 210. Scroll down for video Nokia has unveiled its PureView smartphone with five camera lenses working together to take images - a world first for a smartphone. The photos captured by the device are said to have a resolution of up to 240 megapixels Florian Seiche, chief executive of HMD Global, the licensee of the Nokia brand said: 'We've had a phenomenal response from consumers to our entire portfolio, thanks to our unique approach to Android, delivering a pure, secure and always up-to-date experience. 'We have delivered on this commitment, changing the smartphone ownership paradigm by offering an experience that only gets better over time. 'Today, with these new phones, we are taking a leap forward by delivering the very latest innovations from Google across our entire portfolio.' The PureView uses artificial intelligence to combine data gathered from each of the five camera sensors to build images. It also includes a fingerprint sensor built into the screen and wireless charging capabilities Nokia's other announced phones included a trio of new mid-range devices, the Nokia 1 Plus, Nokia 3.2 and Nokia 4.2. Florian Seiche, chief executive of HMD Global, the licensee of the Nokia brand (pictured) said: 'We've had a phenomenal response from consumers to our entire portfolio' The PureView uses artificial intelligence to combine data gathered from each of the five camera sensors to build images. It also includes a fingerprint sensor built into the screen and wireless charging capabilities. Nokia's other announced phones included a trio of new mid-range devices, the Nokia 1 Plus, Nokia 3.2 and Nokia 4.2. HMD Global chief product officer Juho Sarvikas said the company felt it was important to appeal to different types of users. 'Today we use our heritage of innovation to take a bold step, pioneering a truly innovative approach to imaging with the Nokia 9 PureView,' he said. 'And we believe great experiences should be available to everyone, which is why we are bringing cutting-edge experiences like the stunning design, the best of Google including the dedicated Google Assistant button, and great imaging and display technology, to the most accessible price points yet. 'And all this comes with all the craftsmanship and durability you'd expect from a Nokia smartphone. 'And with our Android promise delivering a pure, secure and up-to-date experience, we ensure that your phone gets better over time.' Nokia's other announced phones included a trio of new mid-range devices, the Nokia 1 Plus, Nokia 3.2 and Nokia 4.2. HMD Global chief product officer Juho Sarvikas (pictured) said the company felt it was important to appeal to different types of users Most smartphone developers are focusing on the introduction of foldable devices and 5G applications - making Nokia's pursuit of a camera-orientated handset a unique endeavour. Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi have all announced 5G compatible devices ahead of a its expected widespread roll-out next year. Huawei announced today its Mate X foldable device which comes with a staggering price tag of $2,229 (2,000). Samsung pipped its rivals to the post by revealing its latest products - including the Fold - last week. Advertisement Chinese technology giant Huawei today unveiled a new folding-screen smartphone on Sunday, which will run on superfact 5G networks and cost twice as much as the latest Apple iPhone, retailing for around 2,000. Huawei revealed the Mate X phone on the eve of a four-day industry event in Spain to showcase new devices, and Executive Director, CEO of the Consumer Business Group, Richard Yu said it would satisfy consumers' demands for bigger screens and longer battery life when it goes on sale in the summer. But what is less clear is whether it will satisfy users' demands for privacy, with Huawei under intense suspicion by Western intelligence chiefs who fear the company works as a front for the vast Chinese spy apparatus. Richard Yu, the Executive Director, CEO of the Consumer Business Group, presented the new Huawei Mate X smartphone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), on the eve of the world's biggest mobile fair in Barcelona The Mate has a foldable screen which wraps around the outside of the product, allowing users to view the screen when closed The new Huawei Mate X device unfolded (left) and folded over (right). Unfolded, the Mate X's screen is 8 inches diagonally, making it the size of a small tablet At the glitzy Barcelona launch of the device Mr Yu said Huawei engineers spent three years working on the device's hinge, which doesn't leave a gap when shut Unveiling his company's latest brainchild, Mr Yu asked: 'How can we bring the more big innovation to this smartphone industry?' The Mate X us his answer. The screen wraps around the outside so users can still view it when it's closed, unlike its competitor, the Galaxy Fold, which has a screen that folds shut. Unfolded, the Mate X's screen is 8 inches diagonally, making it the size of a small tablet. Mr Yu said Huawei engineers spent three years working on the device's hinge, which doesn't leave a gap when shut. The Mate X will retail for 1,996 (2,299 euros or $2,600) when it goes on sale by midyear. The latest iPhone costs around 1,000 and more than Samsung's recently revealed Galaxy Fold, another folding smartphone, which is priced at 'only' $2,000. Huawei CEO Richard Yu displays the new Huawei Mate X foldable 5G smartphone at the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona But consumer who do choose to fork over the price of a second-hand car for the new Chinese phone may be getting more than they bargain for. The firm, which is also involved in the upgrade of the telecoms network itself, is at the centre of a global row about cybersecurity with multiple Western spy chiefs concerned its technology creates a back door allowing the Beijing regime to listen in on Western conversations. Senior MPs have called for Britain to ban Huawei from working on the 5G mobile internet upgrade completely. Conservative MPs Julian Lewis and Bob Seely urged the government to follow the UK's 'Five Eyes' intelligence partners Australia and New Zealand and stop the firm from working on critical infrastructure projects. However, a Huawei spokesperson responded that the New Zealand government `turned down a single 5G proposal submitted for review by one carrier, but the regulatory process was still ongoing'. Dr Lewis told MailOnline: 'What we have to remember is despite their protestations of independence, there is no such thing as an independent enterprise under a Communist regime. 'And until such time as China ceases to be a dictatorship of the Communist party in China then there can be no meaningful claim to independence by enterprises. We should definitely follow Australia's and New Zealand's example.' And Mr Seely, a Tory MP and defence expert, warned China may be able to discover the UK's vulnerabilities if its firms are given the crucial contracts. Their intervention came after Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said he had 'grave concerns' about Huawei. Julian Lewis (pictured left) and Bob Seely (pictured right) urged the government to follow its Five Eyes intelligence partners Australia and New Zealand and stop the firm from working on critical infrastructure projects. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has expressed 'grave' concerns at the prospect of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei being involved in the UK's new 5G network Mr Williamson said: 'I have grave, very deep concerns about Huawei providing the 5G network in Britain. It's something we'd have to look at very closely. 'We've got to look at what partners such as Australia and the US are doing in order to ensure that they have the maximum security of that 5G network and we've got to recognise the fact, as has been recently exposed, the Chinese state does sometimes act in a malign way.' Huawei said it was not banned from current or future networks, and the GSCB clarified that the telco could still work with Huawei to address the security risk. Only last month Dr Ian Levy, technical director of the cyber arm of the UKs electronic surveillance organisation, , GCHQ, said Huawei still has not produced a credible plan to address security concerns. He said: 'Last year we said we found some worrying engineering and security issues. As of today, we have not seen a credible plan. Thats the reality of the situation unfortunately. And Ciaran Martin, head of the National Cyber Security Centre, said he had separate concerns that the company fell short on security standards for its product, regardless of any possible link to Chinese spying. President Donald Trump signaled on Tuesday that he might reverse a ban which currently prevents Huawei selling phones in the USA as part of a larger China trade deal, tweeting that the U.S. shouldn't win the 5G mobile arms race by 'blocking out currently more advanced technologies' Trump tweeted less than 90 minutes after Huawei boss Ren Zhengfei s declared in a TV interview that his copmany was not involved in espionage Huawei phones are currently banned in the US, which considers the Chinese giant's technology a security threat, and only last August President Trump signed into law a bill reaffirming the embargo. The cloud over Huawei also includes U.S. criminal charges filed last month against the company and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who U.S. prosecutors want to extradite from Canada. They accuse her of fraud and say the company stole trade secrets, including technology that mobile carrier T-Mobile used to test smartphones. But in what may be a signal of a forthcoming policy shift, the president tweeted on Thursday that he wants the U.S. 'to win through competition' rather than by blocking out technologies which are currently more advanced. Allowing Huawei's mobile phone equipment back into U.S. markets could be a carrot for Beijing as Trump's negotiators hash out a new trade framework with the world's second largest economy. Huawei Technologies is trying to raise its profile in the fiercely competitive smartphone market. Almost everyone with a smartphone has heard of Apple and Samsung, the top device makers, and Google, the creator of the software on Android phones. Huawei, a Chinese company with a name many people in the West don't know how to pronounce ('HWA-way'), is jockeying for a seat at the top table. Last year it was third in global smartphone sales, behind Apple and Sansung in pole position. Huawei is making its push at a time that both Samsung and Apple are struggling with declining smartphone sales amid a lull in industry innovation that is causing more consumers to hold on to the devices until they wear out instead of upgrading to the latest model as quickly as they once did. It remains to be seen whether Britain's savvy consumers will decide 2,000 - plus the risk of their private conversations being overheard by Chinese spies in windowless Beijing listening posts - is a price worth paying for the latest shiny tech toy. Huawei CEO Richard Yu displays the new Huawei Mate X foldable 5G smartphone at the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona The fair in Barcelona started with press conferences on Sunday, before the doors open on Monday, and runs until February 28 The pink frisbee was digging so deeply into the seals neck that she couldnt eat, while the infection from the massive wound it had created was rampaging around her body. So, desperately thin and ill, she took herself off from the rest of her herd on Horsey Beach in Norfolk to die. But it was actually the best thing she could have done. Because for weeks a group of selfless volunteers had been watching her and waiting for this moment. And on December 19 last year, they pounced. Before: Pinkafo (named after a Hungarian heavy horse) was admitted to the RSPCA on December 19 after volunteers from Marine and Wildlife Rescue and Friends of Horsey Seals caught her Managing to scoop the seal up in a huge net, they loaded her into a van and drove her to the RSPCAs East Winch Wildlife Centre, just over an hour away. There, the experts took over. Sadly, she wasnt the first seal they had seen with such an injury. Just a year before, they had rescued another grey seal with a frisbee around its neck from the same cold waters and, after a desperate struggle, managed to save its life. The story of Frisbee, as she became known, was covered extensively in the media including the Daily Mail and her eventual release back into the water last February was a huge event. But it seems holidaymakers have learned nothing from the story. After: Pinkafo has had the frisbee cut away and is on the mend. She is the latest seal at the RSPCA's Norfolk wildlife centre to be brought in with a frisbee around her neck - threatening to kill her The impact of plastic and litter pollution on Britains seal populations has been well documented. The RSPCA has seen the mammals trapped in everything from huge sheets of plastic and netting to discarded bikinis. But frisbees, the ones shaped like a ring, with the middle removed to make them more aerodynamic, seem to be a particular problem. If they get lost in the water, or are abandoned on the beach, they become an utter menace for wildlife. Alison Charles, manager of the RSPCAs East Winch Wildlife Centre, explains: The problem is that younger seals, the adventurers, see these frisbees in the water and want to play with them. The frisbee slips over their heads and once its on, it stays on. Alison Charles, manager of the RSPCAs East Winch Wildlife Centre where Pinkafo is healing, explains: The problem is that younger seals, the adventurers, see these frisbees in the water and want to play with them. The frisbee slips over their heads and once its on, it stays on' It becomes embedded in the animals flesh, causing horrendous injury and infection, weakening the animal so it cannot feed or breathe. Its a long, slow and very painful death. The hot summer of 2018 has resulted in at least four more seals being tracked on Norfolk beaches with frisbees trapped around their necks, awaiting rescue. And because they travel for miles between beaches and even countries, spotting them let alone helping them is extremely difficult. There were just two reported cases in 2008 compared to eight with plastic injuries seen by the East Winch team last year. And theyre just the ones that have been noted. The real problem could be much worse. Making things even more difficult is the fact that seals are notoriously hard to catch. Their strength, huge size (they can weigh up to 680lb) and timidity makes them extremely dangerous to humans, and rescuers have to wait until they are nearly dead before acting. Their natural instinct is to flee into the water and theyre faster than us, says Alison. The only way we can get them is to wait for them to become weaker. Only when they feel awful can you catch them. Its horrible. And so it was with Pinkafo when she was first seen last autumn (each year, the RSPCA chooses a new theme for naming its rescue seals; last year it was breeds of horse) It was only in mid-December that she was sick enough for the volunteers who had been watching her from the Friends Of Horsey Seals and the Marine And Wildlife Rescue to step in. The frisbee was deeply embedded, really grim, says Alison, who has worked with seals for more than 30 years. We couldnt get through the plastic with scissors so had to use strong secateurs. Once wed got it off, we bathed the wound and gave her pain relief and antibiotics. Pinkafo (pictured) was named so as each year the RSPCA chooses a new theme for naming its rescue seals; last year it was breeds of horse That night, I went home really not sure if she would make it. Wed done everything we could, but it could still kill her. Thankfully, Pinkafo made it through the night. She was still alive, but in a lot of discomfort, says Alison. She didnt move, didnt want to eat and for three days lay upside down in her pool which was filled with heavily salted water to help the healing process. We really thought we were in trouble with her. But on day four, she turned the right way up in the pool she was obviously feeling better and the drugs had started to work. It was amazing, like a switch had flicked. The seal faces a long, slow and painful death Within a few days, she was well enough to be moved to a bigger, heavily salted, pool for a month. Shes now enjoying life in a deep outside pool with another seal whos suffered a plastic injury this time from fishing netting called Suffolk Punch. Now we have to give her lots of good nutrition and physiotherapy while she is eating, says Alison. The team make her work hard for her fish she has to swim from one side of the pool to the other to stretch her neck and hopefully reduce the chance of her scar tissue stopping her being able to fish properly when shes released. Pinkafo is putting on weight, which is a good sign she was just 120lb a third of what she should be in December, but is now more than 220lb. But shes still not out of the woods it was five months before her predecessor, Frisbee, could be released back into the wild. Rehabilitating seals like this is a very expensive business. On top of staff costs and keeping the centre going, each week every seal costs the RPSCA 27.30 for food (generally their favourite, mackerel), 18.68 on drugs including painkillers, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics, and anything from 78 to 156 on salt to go in their pool. And the bills are set to keep increasing because the number of seals brought to the RSPCA with plastic injuries is getting higher each year. Ive no idea why plastic became such a big problem so quickly, says Alison. It was deeply embedded in her flesh - really grim She remembers the first injury the RSPCA had ever seen. It was in 2008 and a one-year-old grey seal they called Kabul (capital cities were the theme that year) was brought in with fishing net wrapped tightly around his neck. Hed been found on a Yorkshire beach and weighed just 52lb. I couldnt believe what I was looking at, says Alison. It was a horrible wound and it really shocked us. Id never seen a plastic injury, let alone anything like that. Sadly, despite heroic efforts by her team, Kabul didnt have a happy ending. Even though they removed the netting and pumped him full of antibiotics to try to stem the infection raging through his body, he died a few weeks later. Thankfully, the second seal to come in that year with plastic injuries (again, from fishing netting) survived. A few months later, in early 2009, came a baby seal with a clear plastic ring around its neck, a precursor to frisbees. Travellers Rest, as she became known because of her long journey to Norfolk from the Northumberland beach she was found on, also survived. So, a few years ago after realising the plastic problem was only getting worse, Alison went to the Sea Mammal Research Unit in Scotland to learn how to catch and treat the animals. The first time, I was standing on a sandbank with what was essentially a hula hoop with some netting on it, ready to throw it over the seals head and I could feel this huge seal thundering towards me, the ground was shaking and I was thinking: Oh dear, what am I doing? Pinkafo has been putting on weight, which is a good sign. She was just 120lb a third of what she should be in December, but is now more than 220lb You have to throw the net hula hoop over its head as its charging toward the water its not for the faint-hearted and all I could hear was the guy training me shouting get out of the way! because I was about to be bulldozed. I realised I had to stand to the side of them rather than in front of them. Once the net has gone over the seal, others have to rush in to help keep the seal on the beach or it will drag itself and its captor into the sea. You have to hang on to that net for dear life, says Alison. Shes since passed on her knowledge to fellow RSPCA staff and volunteers. But while they wait for seals to be sick enough to be rescued, the public grow ever-more concerned about those spotted on the beach. The RSPCA and other charities are constantly fielding calls from people who cant understand why the creatures cannot just be rescued immediately. Alison says: People get frustrated, but you have just one chance to catch the seals theyre intelligent animals and the more times you try, the less chance you have. So theres a lot of discussion about when its going to be. There are only certain times of the year when you can catch them you often cant do it when theyre pupping between November and January because the last thing we want to do is separate a mum and pup. Now the Friends Of Horsey Seals put signs up around the Norfolk beach to tell concerned beachgoers that theyre aware of the problem and are dealing with it. Sadly, not all suffering seals can be caught. There was one with a brown plastic ring around its neck that we think we may have lost, says Alison. It was really struggling to breathe one day so we went down to get it but it got away. Hopefully, it will come back they often do. If not, the seal will have become yet another innocent victim of Britains self-created plastic pollution nightmare. And some of the others awaiting rescue There are currently four grey seals with frisbees stuck around their neck which aren't weak enough to be caught yet. They are... Green Frisbee: He was first seen on October 13 and, while hes not great, hes not sick enough to catch yet, says the RSPCAs Alison Charles. His head is up, which is good, but he has a neck, which seals should never have it shows theyve lost weight. But the injury doesnt look too infected yet. The seal with the green frisbee around his neck is not weak enough to catch yet. But he has a clear neck which seals should never have This big old male seal has been looking thin since being spotted on October 4. The RSPCA are hoping to catch him soon Yellow Frisbee: We think we might have two seals with yellow frisbees stuck around their necks, says Alison. This is a big old male who looks quite thin and were hoping to catch him soon. He was first spotted on October 4 thats when we tend to spot them as they come onto the beach to start pupping in November. Black Frisbee: We think weve been seeing this seal since May and I dont think its a plastic frisbee it looks rubbery. Hes not in great condition but the Friends Of Horsey Seals will keep trying to catch him. White Frisbee: This is the one Im most worried about, Alison explains. Weve known about her since August and I really dont like the flesh thats squishing over the top of the frisbee. A family of seven migrants have been detained after an inflatable boat was found a mile out to sea. The group, including a mother, father and five children, were discovered after an inflatable boat was found abandoned with lifejackets that has washed up on a Kent beach. Around 4.20am yesterday morning, Border Force was alerted to a rigid hulled inflatable boat spotted off the coast at Kingsdown, near Deal, Kent. The vessel was recovered around a mile off shore after four RNLI lifeboats and a Coastguard helicopter were scrambled to find the occupants of the boat. At first there were fears people had drowned after life jackets were found on the shore around eight miles away near Shakespeare Beach in Dover. The small rigid inflatable boat was seen bobbing in the water just after 7am on Sunday at St Margaret's Bay, around 2.5 miles from the Port of Dover in east Kent The family group were found by police on the shore and have been transferred to immigration officials for interview. A Border Force vessel has been launched earlier today after an empty boat was spotted floating three hours later, just after 7am at St Margaret's Bay, around 2.5 miles from the Port of Dover in east Kent. A number of lifejackets were also found near the Shakespeare Beach, just over five miles from St Margaret's Bay. It ha snot been officially confirmed at this stage if they are linked. A Home Office spokesman said today Border Force are confident the vessel was used for a migrant crossing. He added: 'Border Force responded to an incident in Kingsdown, Kent, following reports of a boat in the channel. Border Force are confident the vessel was used for a migrant crossing. A Border Force vessel has been launched after an empty boat was spotted floating off the Dover coast A Border Force vessel and RNLI lifeboats (pictured) have been launched after an empty boat was spotted floating off the Dover coast 'Since the Home Secretary declared a major incident in December we have tripled the number of cutters operating in the Channel, agreed a joint action plan with France and increased activity out of the Joint Coordination and Information Centre in Calais. 'The number of individuals attempting to cross the Channel decreased from around 250 in December to around 90 in January, with roughly half of the January attempts being intercepted by partners in France before they could make it to British waters.' The detention of the latest migrants comes after 34 migrants were picked up off the Kent coast on Monday after being found on one boat. One witness said he saw at least one child, a boy who looked about six years old and was accompanied by a woman. Hundreds of migrants, mostly Iranian, have made perilous trips across the Channel in recent months. On December 30 last year six migrants were seen on the same stretch of beach at Kingsdown. They were given blankets before they were taken for a medical assessment and transferred to immigration officials. More than 300 migrants have now crossed the Channel to arrive in Britain since the beginning of November. An image from the Societe Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer (SNSM) shows British rescuers helping some 30 migrants make their way from France across the English Channel on Monday A women and a child are wrapped in orange blankets and helped by Border Force officials last week In December, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said the dramatic spike in migrants arriving on beaches in Kent was a 'major incident'. On Christmas Day alone, 40 people in five boats arrived at beaches near Dover, and a further 39 arrived over one weekend in January. A Home Office spokesman told Sky News today: 'Border Force is currently dealing with an ongoing small boat incident off the Kent coast. 'Further details will be provided once the situation has been resolved.' At least 91 people have made the 21-mile journey between France and England in small boats this year. Ita Buttrose is a surprise frontrunner to become the next chair of the ABC - almost five decades after becoming the first woman to edit a mass circulation magazine. The 77-year-old media trailblazer's possible appointment is expected to be discussed by federal cabinet next week. Buttrose, a former Australian of the Year and Studio 10 personality, if chosen would become only the second woman ever to have chaired the ABC board, in the national broadcaster's 89-year history. Scroll down for video Ita Buttrose (pictured) is a surprise frontrunner to become the next chair of the ABC - almost five decades after becoming the first woman to edit a mass circulation magazine Her appointment would bring to a close a troubled period for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation following the rancorous exit of the previous chairman Justin Milne and managing director Michelle Guthrie six months ago. Communications Minister Mitch Fifield is expected to bring the matter up with cabinet this week. 'The government is undertaking a process to appoint a new ABC chair,' a government spokesman told Australian Associated Press. 'No decision has been made and an announcement will be made in due course.' Buttrose in 1972 was the founding editor of Cleo magazine, which featured nude centrefolds of male celebrities, and was later editor of The Australian Women's Weekly A woman hasn't chaired the ABC since the late Dame Leonie Kramer was appointed in the early 1980s. Buttrose in 1972 became the founding editor of Cleo magazine, which featured nude centrefolds of male celebrities, and was later editor of The Australian Women's Weekly and editor-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph newspaper. Senator Fifield is expected to take Ms Buttrose's nomination to cabinet this week, despite her name not being included in a shortlist, assembled with input from international recruitment firm Korn Ferry. The ABC was allocated $1.12billion from taxpayers in the 2018/19 budget. A single GP is having to cover night-time home visits for a population of half a million. In a stark illustration of the crisis in out-of-hours care, the doctor is solely responsible for an area of 1,346 square miles. Ten years ago, eight GPs shared the workload in Shropshire. The situation is blamed on lack of cash and a shortage of GPs prepared to carry out unsocial hours. Cover is so poor that patients trying to see a doctor at evenings or weekends have been told to drive an hour over the border to get help in Wales. A mother of a sick child was offered consultations an 80-mile round trip from her Ludlow home. Dying cancer patients have been left in agony because there was no GP available to administer morphine. And sources say on some nights there is no GP cover at all a claim vehemently disputed by Shropdoc, the firm charged with providing the service. In November, an out-of-hours provider in Kent admitted that on one night it had only two doctors to look after 1.4million patients. The problems stem from a contract negotiated under Labour in 2004 that allowed family doctors to opt out of responsibility for patients at evenings and weekends (stock image) Dr Richard Vautrey of the British Medical Association said too many providers were struggling to meet demand. Their budgets have flat-lined in the past decade and the number of cases requiring help is increasing, he added. Many areas, particularly rural locations, are struggling to recruit GPs. If you are working longer hours during the day you may be less willing to do another four or six hours overnight. Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard of the Royal College of GPs said: It is essential that any out-of-hours care services are staffed appropriately to meet demand, and by sufficient numbers of appropriately-trained healthcare professionals. This is not the first time we have heard of situations where this may not be the case, and this must be addressed. The problems stem from a contract negotiated under Labour in 2004 that allowed family doctors to opt out of responsibility for patients at evenings and weekends. Care was placed in the hands of commissioning units which subcontracted it to private firms and co-operatives groups of doctors. But in recent years GPs have become increasingly unwilling to do shifts. The fragmented state of out-of-hours care every night in Shropshire has led to a huge increase in patients going to A&E and dialling 999. Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, of the Royal College of GPs, said it is essential out-of-hours services are appropriately staffed A board meeting of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals trust two weeks ago was told casualty admissions were 13 per cent up on last winter and ambulances arrivals had increased by 17 per cent. Although there is a second GP working at night carrying out triage assessments on the phone they are not available to do consultations or home visits. And this doctor is also responsible for triaging incoming NHS 111 calls from Wales. Shropdoc insists that patients can also be seen by one of two urgent care practitioners who are either nurses or paramedics. Freedom of information requests by the Mail show that out-of-hours provision is hugely patchy. In Milton Keynes, Bucks, there is one GP overnight for 290,000 patients, Cornwall has three GPs for 575,000 and Oldham has one for 230,000. Dr Simon Chapple, medical director for Shropdoc, said that claims there was no doctor cover on some nights was absolute rubbish. He said the service had been struggling to fill shifts due to an NHS scheme that sees surgeries offer appointments in the early evening and at weekends, taking GPs away from out-of-hours work. An NHS England spokesperson said: 'Evening and weekend GP appointments are now available to people in every part of the country, delivered by the extra 5,000 professionals now working in primary care compared to just a few years ago, and our NHS Long Term Plan will mean that this vital progress is maintained, with online consultations for everyone who wants one and physios and therapists based in GP surgeries, all supported by record-high funding.' Muffin Break general manager Natalie Brennan (pictured) says graduates are too concerned with their online image Millennials have slammed Muffin Break's general manager on social media after she accused them of being too lazy to pursue internships with her company. Natalie Brennan was inundated with negative feedback after giving an interview over the weekend in which she said young workers were refusing to take on unpaid internships because they were too concerned about their popularity on Instagram. Her controversial claims may have now backfired, with many going online to say they will boycott the cafe chain. Ms Brennan said the rise of Instagram celebrities making their livelihood on the platform gave young people a false sense of self-righteousness and was resulting in a lack of people applying for unpaid work. 'I think everybody thinks social media is going to get them ahead somewhere. There's definitely that inflated view of their self-importance because they have X amount of Instagram followers or this many likes,' she told News Corp on Saturday. Social media users lambasted the general manager's comments, saying they would give the business the same treatment it gives to unpaid interns Now, she says, instead of people knocking on her door for internships which only reward them with on-the-job experience, most were unwilling to 'put in the hard yards'. Her comments were critiqued widely on social media, with many questioning how anyone could live without a wage. 'Why should we work for free? Working for free won't pay our rent or feed our children!' one wrote. 'Can't work for free these days. Living costs are exceptionally high to be working for free,' wrote another. Others homed in on Ms Brennan's comment in which she said majority of her interns went on to paying work, with one writing, 'Going to muffin break tomorrow for a free breakfast and if it's satisfactory I might pay next time.' The Australian Council of Trade Unions joined the affray, saying nobody should work for free Ms Brennan has since broken her silence, saying the article written by News Corp did not reflect her values. 'Every day for the last 25 years I've worked with young people who are motivated, passionate and hard-working. This is as true today as it was when I started my career. 'I don't expect anyone to work unpaid and Foodco Group policy is, and has always been, that all employees including interns, employed either directly or through our brands are paid according to relevant awards. 'The unpaid work I referred to was supervised programs run through schools, TAFEs or universities, which provide valuable gained experience to people before they enter the workforce full-time. 'I want to apologise for any misunderstanding or upset caused by my comments.' Many users said they would consider boycotting the cafe chain due to its boss's comments Instagram influencer Tahlia Skaines often travels the world promoting bikini brands and clothing. In this picture, she poses alongside a HiSmile Teeth Whitening kit The Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus, however, said millennials have 'had enough of being robbed'. 'Robbed of wages, robbed of ever having a job with paid leave, robbed of ever owning a house. Good on them. Those doing the robbing had better watch out,' she said. The group's official Twitter account wrote: 'People should be paid for the hours they work. Full stop.' Ms Brennan earlier claimed youths she interviewed had a sense of entitlement she had never seen before, often before they had even been offered a job. She said there was now an expectation 'that you're going to come into a company and be the general manager or CEO in five years... with candidates asking, "how long before I get my promotion?" when interviewing.' Ex Bachelor alumni Sopihe Tieman has made a successful career out of influencing after her time on the hit show Ms Brennan recalled incidents in which constructive criticism toward employees was skewed to seem like a personal attack. 'I'm generalising, but it definitely feels like this generation of 20-somethings has to be rewarded even if it's the most mundane, boring thing, they want to be rewarded for doing their job constantly.' Online media is now a profitable market for Instagram models and is a legitimate full-time career, with some online stars making thousands of dollars for a single post. Generally, the influencers are expected to pose alongside a product and provide a review. A family who were posted a packet of gravy powder from their grandmother got a surprise when the police seized their care package for a week. The Hines family, from the Northern Territory, had been awaiting the 2kg delivery of gravy powder, only to receive a note from police saying the powder had been seized under the Medicines, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act. The letter warned: 'Further seizures may result in criminal prosecution.' The package came from an elderly relative of the family from New South Wales every few months. 'She's a nanna, she's 80, she's not a drug dealer,' Fallon Hines said. The family had been awaiting the delivery of their 2 kilo delivery of gravy powder, only to receive a note from police saying the powder has been seized Kerry Hoskins from the Drug and Organised Crime division said police suspected the brown powder, on its way to the family in Nhulunbuy, was seized in Darwin. Police believed the gravy powder may have actually been Kava, a sedative drink made in Polynesia from the crushed roots of a plant of the pepper family. Northern Territory police told the NT News that after testing, the powder was found not to have been an illicit substance. Ms Hines suspects the wag of a drug dog's tail may have been at the delicious smell of the gravy rather than to alert authorities of drugs. 'The (drug detection) dog must have wagged its tail when it smelt gravy', Ms Hines said. The family suspect the gravy powder had been seized by an over-excited sniffer dog waving its tail 'I've got three boys and they love their meat and [Maggi] gravy,' the 30-year-old mother said. The gravy powder will be returned to the family, who get their Maggi gravy online, as it isn't sold at their local supermarkets. Ms Hines said the unfortunate mix-up wouldn't stop having the delicious powder sent to them. Meanwhile Maggi is chuffed with the lengths the NT family went to in order to get their hands on their favourite gravy, telling police they would send replacements to the Hines family. Three men and a woman have been charged after a police officer's head was allegedly slammed into the pavement in a brutal brawl in Melbourne. Sickening footage of the policeman getting his head repeatedly slammed into the concrete emerged on Sunday. The alleged attack occurred after emergency services were called to a brawl on Fitzroy Street in Melbourne's St Kilda about 3am. Sickening footage of an angry mob allegedly assaulting police officers in Melbourne's St Kilda on Sunday morning ha emerged - with one man wearing a grey T-shirt seen slamming an officer's head into the concrete All four people been charged with two counts of assault police, affray, violent disorder, intentionally cause injury and other assault related offences. Police said they were arresting a man following a report of an alleged assault when several people intervened. 'During the course of the arrest, OC spray was deployed and two police officers were injured,' a police spokesman said. A 26-year-old St Kilda man, a 27-year-old Langwarrin man, a 25-year-old Langwarrin woman and a 38-year-old Frankston man were arrested on Sunday. Those charged will appear at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court this morning. The footage, captured by a shocked taxi driver, showed a man wearing a grey T-shirt and light-coloured pants holding the head of the officer in his hands and smashing it several times into the pavement. Just moments before the alleged attack, police had been chasing a man through the streets of St Kilda. After closing in on the man, the two police officers were then surrounded by an angry mob of six or seven revellers. As the officer attended to the alleged attacker, the mob pounced and violently assaulted him and the other officer. Victoria Police Superintendent Tony Silva described the alleged attack as 'animalistic' and one of the worst he's ever witnessed. 'I would describe it as rag dolling him, smashing his head into the concrete roadway,' he told Nine News. The officers only managed to split up the group after using capsicum spray, police said. Victoria Police had stated no expense would be spared in the pursuit of the 'animalistic' group who violently assaulted officers on Sunday night The officers were rushed to hospital suffering serious bruising and swelling to the face. Victoria police said the group had a pack mentality and took advantage of the vulnerable police officer at the time he was attending to the suspect. 'This is the worst of society they will find the full force of the law is their future,' Mr Silva said. MIP is a temporary measure to provide protection to domestic farmers and industry from predatory pricing of imports. Anti-dumping duty has also been imposed by the Government on flat base steel wheels. New Delhi: Auto component manufacturers have approached the government seeking imposition of minimum import price on aluminium alloy wheels for two-wheelers imported from China, citing difficulties faced by the domestic industry. The Auto Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) has written to Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu observing that "domestic manufacturers are facing difficulties in order to compete and continue a sustainable business model due to subsidy given by the Chinese government and thus making import favourable". It requested the government to take measures to address this concern "by introducing minimum import price for a minimum of three years on aluminium alloy wheels for two wheelers" in order to encourage investments. Union Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete is expected to take up the issue with Prabhu next week, official sources said. The Heavy Industries Ministry implements schemes and policies for the development of India's automobile sector. Earlier this month, the Commerce and Industry Ministry in reply to a Lok Sabha question had said the difficulties being faced by domestic manufacturers of two-wheeler alloy wheels have been brought to the notice of the government. India is the largest manufacturer of two-wheelers in the world. In 2017-18, two-wheeler sales in the country stood at 2,01,92,672 units as against 1,75,89,738 units in 2016-17, up 14.8 per cent. According to the ACMA, there is an annual requirement of around 35 million alloy wheels in India for two wheelers, out of which only 13 million wheels are being produced by domestic manufacturers while the remaining around 22 million wheels are being imported, mainly from China. The government has levied anti-dumping duty on four-wheeler alloy wheels imported from China, Korea and Thailand for five years from the date of imposition of provisional anti dumping duty on April 11, 2014, and the duty is valid up to April 10, 2019. The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has initiated the sunset review investigation of the prevailing duties on August 10, 2018. The investigation is underway and is to be finalised before April 9, 2019, if not extended further by the Government. The ACMA had earlier sought inclusion of alloy wheels used in two-wheelers under the ongoing sunset review investigation. However, sources said the Commerce Ministry was of the view that the request is not legally tenable, and has advised representatives from the industry to file a formal application seeking imposition of anti dumping duty with the DGTR. "At present, investigation is going on four-wheeler alloy wheels and since during this, anti-dumping duty cannot be extended to another segment, we have requested the government to protect interest of domestic two-wheeler alloy wheel makers by putting a minimum import price on the item," ACMA Director General Vinnie Mehta told PTI. Minimum Import Price (MIP) is a temporary measure to provide protection to domestic farmers and industry from predatory pricing of imports. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade in consultation with the administrative ministry considers the request from the industry for prescribing MIP on import of specific goods. "Similar to result seen in four wheelers, we foresee opportunity for investment of approximately Rs 2,000 crore and employment generation of around 5,000 people by localisation of alloy wheels for two wheelers. Further it will strengthen the Make in India initiative curbing such high number of imports," the auto component industry body said. Anti-dumping duty has also been imposed by the Government on "flat base steel wheels" originating in or exported from China in September, 2018 for five years. Prime Minister Theresa May met with Saudi Arabia's King today at an EU summit - with the under-fire Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines following the fall-out from the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mrs May sat down with King Salman at the EU-League of Arab States summit in Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt and prior to the meeting said she would call on him to use his influence to encourage Yemeni parties towards peace as the brutal civil war rages on. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was absent from the summit, with his reputation severely damaged following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudi government has always denied he had anything to do with the murder of Khashoggi, a royal insider-turned-critic. Prime Minister Theresa May and King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud attending the EU-League of Arab States Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh It comes after Princess Rima bint Bandar, Saudi Arabia's first woman ambassador was hired to boost the kingdom's battered international reputation following the murder of Khashoggi at the kingdoms Istanbul consulate. At the summit the Prime Minister also pledged 200 million in humanitarian aid for Yemen as the UK called for an end to the Middle East nation's brutal civil war. Mrs May said: 'I can announce today that the UK will pledge 200 million in new funding to provide immediate and lifesaving humanitarian aid for millions of people in Yemen who are living without access to food or clean water. 'We are playing our part, and will continue to do so - but there is still more that we as an international community can do. 'At the summit in Egypt I will call on our partners in Europe and in the region to continue to provide the aid that is so desperately needed and to maintain their vital support for the peace process.' The Prime Minister urged a political settlement to end the war in Yemen and praised recent talks in Stockholm. At the summit the Prime Minister also pledged 200 million in humanitarian aid for Yemen as the UK called for an end to the Middle East nation's brutal civil war Mrs May Said: 'The situation in Yemen cannot go on. 'There must be a political settlement - that is the only way to end this crisis and the suffering it has caused. 'Real progress has been made to reach a political solution - but the window of opportunity is closing. We must use the momentum of the landmark Stockholm talks to turn the current agreements into a lasting peace. 'My message in Sharm el-Sheikh is clear: let us now redouble our efforts to build on the progress made and get the Stockholm agreements implemented in full. 'Pressure must be brought to bear on all those involved in the conflict. Forces from all sides need to start moving out of Hodeidah and follow through on plans for the exchange of prisoners. 'The ceasefire must be respected with parties exercising restraint. The Houthis must abide by their commitments. 'This is essential so progress can be made at the next round of peace talks and so humanitarian supply lines can be opened up. 'The UK has given its full backing to the United Nations-led peace process, and I want to continue to build international support for the tireless and vital work of the UN special envoy. 'I will also use this summit to reiterate to King Salman the importance of Saudi Arabia continuing to use their influence to encourage the Yemeni parties towards peace, as they did so pivotally in Stockholm. And I will underline the UK's ongoing commitment to the security of Saudi Arabia and the region. 'The UK - along with our European partners - also continues to call on Iran to support efforts to de-escalate the conflict and ensure the current ceasefire holds.' The PM also plans to use the two day EU-Arab summit to speak to other leaders ahead of an international conference on growth and opportunities in Jordan being held in London on Thursday. Mrs May said: 'Jordan is a longstanding friend and partner for the UK and a beacon of stability in the Middle East, playing a vital role in hosting refugees who have fled conflict in the region.' The Daeshi section of the Al-Hawl refugee camp is a strange and forbidding place. Displaced jihadi wives, covered head to toe by long black garments, wander amid the billowing white tents they call home, clutching knock-off designer handbags. This is their only nod to Western values and the undercurrent of suppressed menace is unmistakable. Many of these women, still in thrall to their men and the brutal Islamic State ideology, have attacked the people who are trying to help them. Shamima Begum pictured with her week old son in Al Hawl camp for captured ISIS wives Market day in Al Hawl camp. Shamima has given several interviews, but I am the first journalist she has invited inside the tent she calls home I have come to see the most famous jihadi bride of all, Shamima Begum, the teenager from East London, but I am not allowed to visit this part of the camp without a security guard armed with an AK-47 assault rifle. Since she was discovered here earlier this month, nine months pregnant and having fled ISs final showdown, Shamima has given several interviews, but I am the first journalist she has invited inside the tent she calls home. She sits crossed-legged on a thin black mattress in her socks, her week-old son, Jerah, on her lap. The child is named after a 7th century Islamic warlord. Shamima tells me she has been given the tent because she is famous now. Removing her headscarf she explains politely that she is sorry she cannot offer me tea because she has no means of heating water. At just 19, she has been living in a war zone since the age of 15. She has given birth three times and lost two children: a toddler daughter died a few weeks ago and she lost her other son at eight-months-old last year. Her husband is in jail. Shamima told the Mail if allowed back into Britain she would dedicate herself to stopping other girls being radicalised I find Shamima at pains to be conciliatory. She finally seems to understand the offence she has caused and the damage it has done to her prospects of returning home (pictured: Market day in Al Hawl camp) Her own family in Britain have said they are appalled at some of the things she has said and at the weekend her father condemned her lack of remorse for what IS has done. Today I find Shamima at pains to be conciliatory. She finally seems to understand the offence she has caused and the damage it has done to her prospects of returning home. I am hoping to be given a second chance, she says quietly. Id like to be an example of how someone can change. I want to help, encourage other young British people to think before they make life- changing decisions like this and not to make the same mistake as me. I cant do that if I am sitting here in a camp. I cant do that for you. Cynics may question her sincerity and she clings to the belief that she is a victim in all of this, rather than someone who chose to leave her home and join a terror group. I feel like Ive been discriminated against because everyone was saying I was a poster girl for ISIS, she says of the decision to strip her of her passport. Im being made an example of. Im being punished right now because Im famous. And she questions why scores of other jihadi wives and their children have been allowed back to the UK after travelling to Syria to join IS. It is claimed that about 425 British IS members, men, women and children, have so far returned to the UK, the highest tally in Europe. She admits she is scared, not least because her recent fame had angered a lot of the other jihadi wives in the camp. Now a lot of women hate me, Im afraid of a lot of people, she says. Possibly with good cause. I have been told by others here that her recent interviews in which she exposed her face on TV have angered the more hardline IS women in the camp. There has been talk of her tent being burned down. Some recent arrivals from the Deir ez-Zor countryside have to sleep outside before tents become available. Dozens of babies have died in the cold already this winter The sprawling camp is home to up to 40,000 refugees from Syrias war zones who are looked after by the International Red Cross and various non-governmental organisations. Conditions are desperate. Some recent arrivals from the Deir ez-Zor countryside have to sleep outside before tents become available. Dozens of babies have died in the cold already this winter. Now it is midday, the sun is shining and inside the tent it is stiflingly warm. But Shamima wont open the flap to let air circulate in case they are spotted without their headscarves. The women in the Daeshi area of the camp Daesh is the Arabic term used by its detractors to describe IS are enclosed by barbed wire fencing and are not permitted to go outside its perimeter. There are hundreds of fanatical IS families here on this side of the barbed wire fence, recently arrived from the battlefield in and around the village of Baghouz where the group is making its last stand. Among them are as many as a dozen Britons, but most are going to painstaking lengths not to be identified. Among them are as many as a dozen Britons, but most are going to painstaking lengths not to be identified Food is brought by women from the refugee side, where it is then sold to those Daeshi families who have smuggled money out of their terror groups crumbling remains. The others rely on handouts from non-governmental organisations, the Kurdish authorities, and the International Red Cross. Shamima coughs and says, although is it is mild today, she is sick from the cold. She is fortunate to have a tent but there is no oil burning stove for cooking. She says she is stressed from the lack of sleep as she nurses her gurgling son, who is wearing a white and blue fleece baby grow donated to her by another mother in camp. Shamima made it known on arrival that she would like to marry an English-speaking fighter aged between 20 and 25 years old As we sit there crossed-legged chatting, she starts to open up about what life was like under IS. She handed over her British passport willingly when she arrived in Syria with two school friends in February 2015. They took my passport but I thought to myself what am I going to do with it? I dont really have any use for it, she says. She never expected to go back. Her future, the future she wanted, was as a housewife in the caliphate. Ten days after arriving in Raqqa, she was taken to a room to meet Yago Riedijk, a 23-year-old Dutch convert to Islam. It was the moment she had been waiting for. She never expected to go back. Her future, the future she wanted, was as a housewife in the caliphate She made it known on arrival that she would like to marry an English-speaking fighter aged between 20 and 25 years old. Riedijk, who changed his name to Abu Zoraya was, she says, just her type. When I first saw him, I was like OK, yeah, he is good looking, she giggles, momentarily the giddy teenager. She even had a piece of paper in her pocket with a list of questions for him. I took out the paper, thats what women do, you have to ask your questions. He was straight up and he was truthful with me. Her first question was: What do you expect from me? He told me that he was strict and he wanted a good housewife that stays inside. He didnt want someone who is Westernised and wants to always go out and stuff, she said. Her next question: Are you a fighter? He said he was injured still and he was still recovering but he was planning to go fight again soon, she said. A few more questions and that was that. I said yes, and he said yes. She had got what she came for. A husband who was fighting for IS and a normal life. Shamima Begum in the Al Hawl camp in Kurdish Syria I went to ISIS thinking I would have a normal life but it turned out not to be true. I just got tricked, I guess, she says ruefully. Outside there is shouting: a three-year-old boy has just aimed a makeshift catapult filled with stones at a toddlers head from less than three feet away. Our photographer Jamie Wiseman, who is waiting outside the tent, is forced to intervene. Shamima loves her husband Riedijk, a convicted terrorist who police believe was part of a cell plotting an atrocity in Europe, but shes delusional about the prospect of a future with him. I hope for him to see his only surviving child. He loved his children a lot, when I lost them I think it had a bigger effect on him than me, she says. If he does get sent back to his own country, he will do his time there in his own country (I will) wait for him. I am still married to him. We discuss the political situation and Home Secretary Sajid Javids suggestion that he might consider IS children being brought back without their mothers. According to estimates by The Soufan Centre, a thinktank on global security issues, up to 100 children could have been born to British jihadi wives in Syria and Iraq. It is believed that some 150 British girls and women have travelled to join IS, and almost all have married and given birth. The sprawling Al Hawl refugee camp which contains a secure area for captured ISIS wives Suddenly, for the first time, she shows some emotion and bursts into tears. How can you ask a mother to separate herself from her son, especially after everything I have lost? This boy is all I have. What she most misses about Britain, she says, is the feeling of being safe and secure, not having planes flying over me, not having to randomly move in the middle of the night. For now Shamima and her baby son must stay put in their little tent until their fate is decided. She shares it with Dura Ahmed, 28, a Canadian mother who tries to appease her own tearful child with a chocolate biscuit. There are a couple of rucksacks, some bread, a tub of cheese spread and some jerry cans filled with water. In Shamimas corner is a pair of neon blue fake Nike trainers. She bought them for just over $4 (3) a few days ago. They were the few dollar notes she has left. It is time for me to leave, promising to come back with news of the outside world. Inshalla (God willing) Ill see you soon, I tell her. She won viewers hearts and had the judges in tears as she was crowned the first winner of The Greatest Dancer. Now 14-year-old rising star Ellie Fergusson says she plans to give half of her 50,000 prize money to her dance teacher before putting herself through dance school. The Scottish teenager was the surprise winner of the BBC1 talent show on Saturday, beating double act Harry Smallman and Eleiyah Navis, who were mentored by Cheryl Tweedy. Ellie Fergusson, 14, was watched by a peak of 4.5million viewers as she lifted The Greatest Dancer trophy on Saturday night The Scottish teenager was the surprise winner of the BBC1 talent show on Saturday, beating double act Harry Smallman and Eleiyah Navis, who were mentored by Cheryl Tweedy She now has the chance to appear on Strictly Come Dancing as part of her prize. And she is set on sharing the prize money equally with her teacher and choreographer, Jenni Inglis at Edinburgh Dance Academy, who helped with all of her routines. I want to give half of it to my dance teacher and I want to use it to help me get to dance school, she said. Earlier in the series, she said: Dancing is everything to me. It takes up most of my life which I love because when Im there I feel free and I enjoy it so much. I love all my dancing friends and teachers, we are more like a family. Dancing is my future. Ellie, from Livingston in West Lothian, said she was keen to return home and see her friends and classmates at the academy. Ive missed them very much, she said. It definitely has not sunk in yet, I still cant believe it. I think it will take a while. The teenager is said to eat, sleep and breathe dance and train every night of the week after school for three to four hours at a time. According to the BBC, she began dancing at the age of three and remembers pestering her parents to take her to a local dance club. Her mentor on the show, Strictlys Oti Mabuse, said: She has worked so hard and deserves to lift the trophy and I cant wait to see her dance on Strictly. Im so proud of her. She has changed from a shy 14-year-old to being a beautiful confident young dancer. Im sure she has a huge career ahead of her. Ellie told host Alesha Dixon: It has been the most amazing experience of my life and I couldnt have done it without everyones support. So thank you so much to everyone. A peak of 4.5million watched Ellie lift her trophy on Saturday night. It has been confirmed that The Greatest Dancer will return for a second series. Ellie Furguson was mentored by Strictly Come Dancing's Oti Mabuse (pictured) but her childhood dance teacher Jenni Inglis, from Edinburgh Dance Academy, still helped with her routines while on the show. Ellie found out the audience was full of Strictly pros including Neil Jones (pictured) seconds before she performed a duet with Oli Ellie was lost for word when she was named the winner. She told host Alesha Dixon it had been the most amazing experience of her life Labor leader Bill Shorten is so confident of becoming Australia's next Prime Minister that he sent a letter to Scott Morrison asking for a 'smooth transition of power'. Labor is looking likely to win the next election after it maintained a six-point lead over the Coalition in the latest Newspoll following a tumultuous fortnight in politics. Mr Shorten's front bench will try to meet with senior public service officials in the next few weeks, the Daily Telegraph reported. Labor leader Bill Shorten (pictured) is so confident of becoming the next Prime Minister that he sent a letter to incumbent Scott Morrison asking for a 'smooth transition of power' In his letter, Mr Shorten said the Opposition had the right to see public service briefings in the three months before an election, which he determined to be now. Mr Shorten said the briefings were 'intended to ensure a smooth transfer of power if an election results in a change of government'. The next federal election is expected to be held on May 18. 'This letter serves as notice that the Opposition intends to begin exercising its right to seek public service briefings under the guidelines, noting that we have now passed the three month deadline from the effective expiry of the parliament,' Mr Shorten wrote. 'According to the Parliamentary Library, the latest date for a regular House of Representatives and half-Senate election is 18 May, 2019. The three month deadline from the effective expiry of the parliament is therefore 18 February, 2019. 'Opposition Shadow Ministers will contact departmental secretaries to begin arranging briefings in coming days.' The Opposition remains ahead of the Liberal-National coalition with an unchanged two-party preferred vote of 53-47 per cent, according to the last Newspoll published by The Australian on Sunday night. The Coalition's primary of just 37 per cent remains unchanged since the start of the year. The two-party preferred vote hasn't shifted since the start of the year but both prime minister and the opposition leader suffering hits to their respective approval ratings. In his letter, Mr Shorten told Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) that the Opposition had the right to see public service briefings in the three months before an election Prime Minister Scott Morrison's approval rating dropped to one per cent to 42 per cent, while Bill Shorten was at 35 per cent. More people disapproved of Mr Morrison, with 48 per cent of those surveyed unhappy with his performance while those who disapproved of Labor leader Bill Shorten grew two points to 53 per cent. The poll was conducted between February 21 and 24 and surveyed 1,582 people across the country in both city and country regions. The white Alabama newspaper editor who advocated for the revival of the Ku Klux Klan has celebrated resigning and turning over control of the small weekly publication by making a crass comment. Upon resigning as editor and publisher of The Democrat-Reporter of Linden, Goodloe Sutton, 80, said, 'I can drink beer and chase women now. They cant run too fast, or I can't catch them,' according to The Hill. The Democrat-Reporter announced on Friday that Elecia R. Dexter, a black woman, will take over as publisher and editor from Sutton, who has run the 140-year-old paper since the 1960s. Sutton also said, 'I do now own it,' speaking of the paper, but that was refuted by Dexter, 46, who said that Sutton will retain ownership of the newspaper, which has a circulation of about 3,000, 'but I will handle everything else.' Sutton had a history of publishing racially and ethnically insensitive editorials, and Dexter said she hoped her appointment would let the community know 'this is everybody's paper.' Alabama newspaper editor Goodloe Sutton, 80, who advocated for the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, has celebrated turning over control of The Democrat-Reporter of Linden by saying, 'I can drink beer and chase women now. They cant run too fast, or I can't catch them.' Sutton is pictured on February 21, the day before his resignation from the publication was announced The change came the week after Sutton wrote and published an editorial that began: 'Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again' Elecia R. Dexter (pictured), 46, will take over as publisher and editor of the publication, it was announced on Friday The change in control came the week after Sutton wrote and published an editorial that began: 'Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again.' The editorial said Democrats and 'Democrats in the Republican Party' are plotting to raise taxes, so the Klan should raid their communities. Sutton, in a subsequent interview with the Montgomery Advertiser, suggested lynchings as a way to clean up Washington. Sutton also questioned whether the KKK was violent, claiming America's most feared white supremacist terrorist organization 'didn't kill but a few people.' Auburn University and the University of Southern Mississippi quickly rescinded previous honors for Sutton, who won praise two decades ago for stories exposing corruption in the sheriff's office. The Alabama Press Association censured Sutton and suspended the Democrat-Reporter's membership. Dexter, whose family is from rural Marengo County, where Linden is located near the Mississippi line, said she began working at the paper earlier this year and has a good working relationship with Goodloe. Auburn University and the University of Southern Mississippi quickly rescinded previous honors for Sutton, who won praise two decades ago for stories exposing corruption in the sheriff's office. In this file photo taken on November 23, 1998, Sutton is pictured speaking at an awards presentation in New York She added: 'I told him there were some different ways you could have made your point.' The paper has received emails from those who supported what Sutton wrote and others who were 'disgusted' by his statements,' she said. The paper dates to 1879 and its editorials are consistently conservative and often critical of Democrats. The use of 'Democrat' in its name reflects back to the period when nearly all white conservatives in the South were Democrats. Dexter told the Associated Press she began working at the Democrat-Reporter earlier this year. This is the moment a Michigan postal worker was attacked by a vicious dog while making his rounds. The terrifying attack was caught on camera by a driver who was able came to the mailman's aid after he was bitten and then knocked to the ground by the relentless animal. The incident happened Friday afternoon in Detroit on the city's west side as the mail carrier was making his deliveries. A terrifying dog attack on a mailman was captured on camera In a video posted to Facebook, the dog can be seen attacking the 52-year-old man's foot and ankle while a woman who came out from a nearby house hit the animal with a broom. The man recording the video then got out of his car to intervene and grabbed nearby a trash can which he hurled at the dog, but it seemed to make little difference as the attack continued. The man raced back to his car to grab other objects with which to curb the dog's assault including a spatula, and even a heavy metal steering wheel lock - but the dog continued to maul the postman who was unable to fend off the animal. The dog eventually let go of the postal worker but then decided to charge at one of the neighbors who was forced to run back indoors. The man recording the video intervened using a trash container, spatula and even a club steering wheel lock but the dog was unrelenting Neighbors and a passerby rushed to the aid of a mail carrier including a woman with a broom 'From what I know, basically is my cousin was leaving for work and he slipped past him and ran outside,' a man who did not wish to be named said to Fox2. By the end of the video, the dog appears to be severely injured from all of the blows it sustained. The United States Postal Service said it was investigating the 'tragic incident.' 'We are deeply grateful to the concerned citizens who came the aid of our letter carrier,' the agency told the TV station. 'Unfortunately attacks such as this provide the postal service an opportunity to remind dog owners that it is their responsibility to restrain their pet in order to avoid attacks against our employees while they are in performance of their duties.' Animal control officers captured the dog and ticketed its owner. The postal worker was taken to a hospital where he was listed in stable condition. The passerby, right, began hitting the dog with a steering lock but it made little difference Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected the citizenship argument being made by Hoda Muthana, a woman known as an 'ISIS bride' for her decision to leave the U.S. and marry a terrorist fighter in Syria, calling her a 'noncitizen terrorist' and adding 'she's not coming back to the United States.' 'She's a noncitizen terrorist. She has no legal basis for her claim of U.S. citizenship. She's not coming back to the United States to create the risk that somebody should return to the battlefield and continue to put at risk American people, American kids, American boys and girls that were sent to help defeat ISIS. She put them at risk. She's not a citizen. She's not coming back,' Pompeo said on 'Fox News Sunday.' 'Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace pressed Pompeo on Muthana's citizenship issue but he didn't elaborate other than to say the U.S. has a 'strong legal basis for our claim.' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected the citizenship argument being made by Hoda Muthana and called her a 'noncitizen terrorist' Pompeo said Muthana, who left home to join the Islamic State group in Syria, is not a U.S. citizen and will not be allowed to return to the United States 'So, there's litigation ongoing,' Pompeo said. 'Here's what I can tell you, we have a strong legal basis for our claim that she is not citizen and she's not coming back.' Muthana attorney Hassan Shibly told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that his client is a citizen because she was born in the U.S. He claimed the Trump administration is trying to make her a 'test case' to support the president's position that awarding birthright citizenship requires a misreading of the U.S. Constitution. 'The Trump administration has been trying to limit birthright citizenship,' Shibly said, claiming the president will likely 'try to use' the case 'against a much broader group of Americans, mostly Latino Americans.' President Trump said Wednesday afternoon that he was the one who made the decision to bar Muthana, 24, from returning to the United States. 'I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!' he tweeted. Muthana, who has an 18-month-old son, wants to submit herself to the justice system, her attorney has said, claiming she was born in Hackensack, New Jersey and raised in Hoover, Alabama. Her father, Ahmed Ali Muthana, was a Yemeni diplomat. Diplomats' children are not entitled to U.S. birthright citizenship in the U.S. Shibly says her father had left his diplomatic post by the time of her birth and produced a letter from the U.S. Mission to the U.N. as evidence. He told DailyMail.com that the Trump administration is trying to 'strip citizenship' from Muthana and 'they cannot do that without [a] process.' Responding to a State Department spokesperson's suggestion that Muthana could have received a U.S. passport as a non-citizen, he said, 'That's garbage, literally garbage.' He said Muthana has a Social Security Number and has always been and still is a U.S. citizen. Hassan Shibly, an attorney for her family, said the U.S. government is trying to claim she's not a citizen because her father was once a diplomat. He wasn't when she was born, though Her birth certificate, a copy of which was shared on Twitter her family lawyer and was not independently verified by DailyMail.com, shows that she was born Oct. 28, 1994 in Hackensack, New Jersey 'Hoda is actually trying to engage the legal system and turn herself in,' he said, but Trump wants to push the problem out of the United States' jurisdiction. 'I think that's insane.' Muthana, who left America four years ago to join ISIS, has previously been issued two U.S. passports one when she was a child and another in 2014. Her birth certificate, a copy of which was shared on Twitter her family lawyer and was not independently verified by DailyMail.com, shows that she was born Oct. 28, 1994 in Hackensack, New Jersey. A State Department spokesperson did not address Shibly's claims directly but told DailyMail.com over email that Muthana 'was not born a U.S. citizen and she has never been a U.S. citizen' even though she was born in the United States. 'Passport applicants must establish their identity, citizenship and entitlement to a U.S. passport,' the person said. 'However, there are many reasons that an individual previously issued a passport may subsequently be found ineligible for that passport.' For instance: 'If it is determined that the bearer was not entitled to the issued passport, the passport may be revoked and/or a renewal application denied. 'Ms. Muthana's citizenship has not been revoked because she was never a US citizen,' the person stressed. Her family attorney said Trump is likely to 'try to use it against a much broader group of Americans, mostly Latino Americans' if he wins the citizenship dispute with Muthana An attorney for the Muthana family warned Wednesday evening that President Trump is trying to turn his client into a birthright citizenship 'test case' by falsely claiming she has no legal rights within the United States In the United States birthright citizenship is automatically awarded to anyone who his born in the country, with several exceptions. One of those exceptions involves the children of foreign diplomats. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, children of diplomats who are born in the U.S. are exempt and are not considered U.S. citizens at birth. Shibly claims that Muthana's father was discharged from his United Nations post one month before his daughter was born, which means the exemption is not valid in her case. Shibly accused Trump of trying to strip her of citizenship and leaving her stateless. Muthana said in an interview with ABC News earlier on Wednesday that she hoped the U.S. government would pay for her to undergo therapy if she was allowed to return. 'I'm a normal human being who has been manipulated,' she said. 'I hope America doesn't think I am a threat to them and I hope they accept me...I hope they excuse me because of how young and ignorant I was.' Asked what she would expect as a reasonable form of punishment for joining ISIS, she said: 'Maybe therapy lessons, maybe a process that will ensure us that we'll never do this again. 'Jail time, I don't know if that has an effect on people. I need help mentally as well, I don't have the ideology any more but I am just traumatized by my experience.' Prior to Pompeo's statement, Muthana said in an interview with ABC News earlier on Wednesday that she hoped the U.S. government would pay for her to undergo therapy if she was allowed to return She added that she cries herself to sleep 'almost every night' at the thought of being put behind bars. 'I know that when I do get back I probably will be sentenced to jail for I don't know how much time.' Looking at her son, she said: 'Thinking that my last few moments with him is stuck in a prison before another prison...' The lawyer said Muthana is putting herself at risk by speaking out against ISIS from a refugee camp where she has lived since fleeing the group a few weeks ago. She had to dodge sniper fire and bombs to leave. She has married ISIS fighters twice in the time that she was overseas, both of whom are deceased. She said in a handwritten letter that her lawyer released that she realizes now that she erred in judgement. 'During my years in Syria I would see and experience a way of life and the terrible effects of war which changed me,' she wrote. After fleeing her home in suburban Birmingham, Alabama in late 2014 and resurfacing in Syria, Muthana used social media to advocate violence against the United States. In the letter, Muthana wrote that she didn't understand the importance of freedoms provided by the United States at the time. 'To say that I regret my past words, any pain that I caused my family and any concerns I would cause my country would be hard for me to really express properly,' the letter said. The woman's father is willing to welcome her, but she is not in contact with her mother, Shibly told the Associated Press. In her ABC interview, Muthana gave a confusing explanation for why she initially fled her parents' home to join ISIS, saying that it was because she wanted a more 'Americanized life' and no longer wanted to live under her parents' strict rule. 'I had a good relationship with my family but I wanted a more Americanized life. I just wanted to go out, I wanted to have, like, friends, go to places. I didn't get any of that,' she said. 'The only way out for me was to become practicing... to become more religious.' Before she fled, she was part of a network of young Muslims who used Twitter to soak up extremist ideas. She said they were brainwashed and interpreted what they were told by predatory ISIS members 'very wrong.' Advertisement Weekend storms raked parts of the Southeast, leaving two dead and more injured as a tornado smashed into a commercial district in a small Mississippi city and drenching rains fed a rising flood threat. A woman was killed when a tornado hit Columbus, Mississippi on Saturday and a man died when he drove into floodwaters in Tennessee. Authorities said 41-year-old Ashley Glynell Pounds of Tupelo and her husband were renovating a house Saturday evening. The building collapsed and killed her when her husband went to get them something to eat. Smith said 12 other people were injured, but the injuries did not appear to be major. The tornado also seriously damaged a school and two community center buildings. Scroll down for video Weekend storms raked parts of the Southeast, leaving deaths and injuries in their wake as a tornado smashed into a commercial district in a small Mississippi city and drenching rains fed a rising flood threat At First Pentecostal Church in Columbus, the Rev. Steve Blaylock said the building was 'a total loss,' with a wall pushed in, holes in the roof and substantial water damage Pastor Steve Blaylock (left) comforts his wife Pat Blaylock (right) amid the rubble that was once the First Pentecostal Church in Columbus Pastor Steve Blaylock looks over the broken lumber, loose paneling, insulation, and destroyed pews in the First Pentecostal Church in Columbus, Miss., Sunday morning after the tornado Road officials in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi reported Friday that more than 50 state or federal highways were closed by flooding In Knox County, Tennessee, officials said a man died after his vehicle became submerged in high water. The sheriff's office says emergency crews got the man out of his vehicle and took him to a hospital, but he was later pronounced dead. Heavy rain has seen as much as a foot of rain in parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. The tornado Saturday afternoon in Columbus was confirmed on radar, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Anna Wolverton. She said experts would be headed Sunday to the east Mississippi city of about 23,000 people to gauge the tornado's intensity. At First Pentecostal Church in Columbus, the Rev. Steve Blaylock said the building was 'a total loss,' with a wall pushed in, holes in the roof and substantial water damage. He and his congregants were trying to salvage what they could on the morning after the storm. He said they still would hold a Sunday prayer service and even planned to go ahead with a scheduled baptism, using a borrowed portable baptismal pool. 'We will rebuild. We've got a good church here,' Blaylock said. 'It'll be a testimony of God.' Tornado strewn debris and fallen trees take their toll in this Columbus, Miss., neighborhood A child plays around the podium that was virtually undamaged or moved in the tornado that destroyed First Pentecostal Church in Columbus, Miss. Broken lumber, loose paneling, insulation, and destroyed pews are all that remains of the First Pentecostal Church on Sunday morning A car in the parking lot of Fast Dog Printing Co. on Conway Drive in Columbus, Miss., has it's rear window smashed after a tornado struck the area on Saturday A 1923 Studebaker, left and a 1930 Chevrolet Paddy Wagon are exposed at Lawrence Motors in Columbus, Miss. on Saturday A destroyed business along Conway Drive in Columbus, Miss., sits in ruins after the tornado struck Tin from nearby buildings sits in a tree above a destroyed vacant commercial structure along highway 50 in Columbus, Miss Tornado strewn debris and fallen trees in this Columbus, Miss., neighborhood on Sunday morning Residents of one street on the east side of Columbus were out early Sunday morning with chain saws, clearing away branches of the many trees that had snapped or were uprooted in the storm. Metal siding and roofing material was scattered throughout the neighborhood of older homes. While the houses generally remained standing, sheds and outbuildings were mostly demolished. Lee Lawrence, who said he has been selling used cars for decades in Columbus, said four buildings on his car lot were destroyed. He said trees toppled across vehicles and car windows were blown out. Lawrence said he was at home getting ready to take a bath when the storm struck. 'The wind all of a sudden just got so strong and it was raining so much you could hardly see out the door, and I could hear a roaring. Evidently it came close,' he said. 'It will be a start-over deal,' Lawrence said. 'I can't say it will come back better or stronger, but we'll come back.' Some antique cars on Lawrence's lot were parked among the damage and a nearby pet grooming business appeared now to be mostly twisted piles of metal. A printing shop had been speared by a pipe with great force and what seemed to be a vacant commercial building nearby appeared heavily damaged. Incredible drone footage was taken over Tennessee after the region flooded on Friday Muletown Aerial recorded this drone footage in Columbia, Tennessee, showing a glimpse of the floodwaters in low-lying areas The tiny aircraft captured the flooded parks around Tennessee. Partially submerged shrubs and benches can been seen in the floodwater Elsewhere around the South, homes, highways, parks and bridges were flooded or put out of commission amid the heavy rains and severe storms. News outlets report that water rescues have been performed in some Middle Tennessee counties Flash flood warnings and watches remained in place throughout the South and one Mississippi community reported large hail Firefighters and law enforcement officers cordoned off the area, and power was out in the area. Elsewhere around the South, homes, highways, parks and bridges were flooded or put out of commission amid the heavy rains and severe storms. News outlets report that water rescues have been performed in some Middle Tennessee counties. Flash flood warnings and watches remained in place throughout the South and one Mississippi community reported large hail. Interstate 40 near the Tennessee line with North Carolina was closed by a rockslide, one of the dozens of roads and highways shut down throughout the region, transportation officials said. Officials said a mudslide destroyed a Subway restaurant in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. No injuries were reported. In Bruce, Mississippi, rivers broke flood stage and flash floods poured into homes and businesses. News outlets report that officials in Grenada, Mississippi, declared a local state of emergency after dozens of streets and homes flooded. A 6-mile (9-kilometer) stretch of the Natchez Trace Parkway was closed in Mississippi after water covered part of the road. The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning for northwestern Lafayette County in Mississippi after emergency officials reported that a local dam was at risk of failing. Meteorologist Kole Fehling says emergency officials reported the threat involved the Audubon Dam, which blocks a creek on the north side of Oxford and a subdivision. Weather officials said the storm's impact stretched from eastern Arkansas to northern Georgia and beyond. Alabama's governor declared a state of emergency in several counties, hoping to speed recovery in event of damages. Kentucky announced Friday that it was closing the U.S. 51 bridge over the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois, because of flooding on the southern approach. The bridge, which carries 4,700 vehicles a day, is likely to stay closed until Thursday, and possibly longer. Near Jamestown, Kentucky, the Army Corps of Engineers said it was increasing releases from the Wolf Creek Dam on the Cumberland River. Areas downstream of the dam, from Rowena to Burkesville, could be affected by flooding as a result, officials said. The Ohio River at Cairo is predicted to crest Sunday at its third-highest level ever recorded, and stay that high into next week. The Tennessee River near Savannah, Tennessee, also is forecast to crest at near-record levels. A 15-year-old Japanese teenager has abandoned his attempt to solo hitchhike across America - to the relief of his thousands of followers back in Japan who feared the teen could be racially abused, mugged or worse by 'unfriendly' Americans. The high school student, who goes by Chubo Rei on Twitter, landed in California on earlier this month, ready for the trip which he hoped would end on the East Coast, reported The Japan Times. The 15-year-old, who has nearly 8,000 followers, even created the hashtag #ChuboReiacrossAmerica so people could watch his journey. Japanese teenager Chubo Rei (pictured in Santa Monica, California) abandoned his attempt to hitchhike across America after he suffered racial abuse and was even picked up by police The 15-year-old arrived in the US on February 4 and decided that the first leg of his trip would be to travel from Hollywood to Pasadena in Los Angeles This was not Rei's first hitchhiking attempt. He'd already done this in at least three regions of Japan. Rei arrived in the US on February 4 and decided that the first leg of his trip would be to travel from Hollywood to Pasadena in Los Angeles, according to The Japan Times. He said that while most Americans are 'friendly people', America is less responsive to professional hitchhikers than Japan is and that he got plenty of awkward stares. Then, just five days into his trip on February 9, he was picked up by police, although in which city is unclear. '[They were] surprised when I talked about age or [why] I was traversing across the US,' he wrote on Twitter. However, he was let go after officers called his parents and confirmed his story. The Japan Times reported that posts on Twitter became so much infrequent that, on February 12, Rei had to tweet out that he was still alive. Users became increasingly worried about Rei. One user sent him a map of where hitchhiking is illegal in the US and another contacted the Las Vegas Japanese Consulate to get him help. Many were concerned about the stereotypes of Americans being hostile, and even outright racist to foreigners. They were also concerned about the dangers Rei could face while hitchhiking in the US, from being mugged, or attacked, or worse. He said that while most Americans are 'friendly people', America is less responsive to professional hitchhikers than Japan is and that he got plenty of awkward stares. Pictured: Rei along US Route 66 in Las Vegas Then, just five days into his trip on February 9, he was picked up by police, although in which city is unclear. On February 15, Rei ended up at a youth protection center in Las Vegas, although it is unclear how and he decided to go home. Pictured: Rei in Las Vegas, left, and in Santa Monica, right Many of his followers back home in Japan tweeted at him, advising him to return home because it was too dangerous. On February 15, Rei ended up at a youth protection center in Las Vegas, although it is unclear how. Later that day he tweeted that he would be ending his adventure and heading back to Japan. Rei said, however, that his main reason for cutting his trip is because it is illegal to travel alone under the age of 18 in the US. He said his father came and got him and the two returned home. Hitchhiking seems like a forgotten art in many ways. It was much more common pre-1960s and is now perceived as dangerous. David Smith, a British sociologist who has studied hitchhiking trends, told Vox that there is a simple explanation for its decline. 'Probably the most important thing is the huge growth we've seen in car ownership,' he said. According to the 2013 National Report on Commuting Patterns and Trends, the number of zero-vehicle households has decreased while multi-vehicle ownership has increases - therefore making hitchhiking less necessary. The report showed that in 1960 most households owned one vehicle. By the mid-1980s, up to the present day, most households own at least two cars. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday there may have to be a third summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un because they 'may not get everything done this week.' 'There may have to be another summit,' he said on 'Fox News Sunday. 'We may not get everything done this week. We hope we'll make a substantial step along the way.' While President Trump tweeted about the possibility of denuclearization on Sunday, his secretary of state offered a more measured set of expectations for the second meeting between the two leaders this week in Hanoi, Vietnam. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there may have to be a third summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un, seen here at their first summit in Singapore in July, will meet for a second time this week in Hanoi 'The U.N. Security Council has demanded, not the United States, but the U.N. Security Council has demanded that Chairman Kim give up these weapons systems. It's in the best interest of his country and I hope we can make a real substantive step forward this week. It may not happen but I hope that it will,' Pompeo said. Trump teased the prospect of denuclearization in North Korea ahead of his departure and argued such a move would help make the country 'one of the great economic powers.' 'Very productive talks yesterday with China on Trade. Will continue today! I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, early tomorrow for a Summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Denuclearization?,' he tweeted Sunday. He added: 'Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!' Trump and Kim will meet Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. Kim left for their summit via train while Trump flies out Monday. On the agenda is denuclearization. Washington is looking for concrete steps from North Korean that progress has been made on that front after Kim pledged to eliminate his country's nuclear weapons' program at his and Trump's first summit in Singapore last summer. Trump said last week that North Korea must do 'something that's meaningful' on denuclearization before he would consider lifting economic sanctions. North Korea has pushed for those sanctions to be reduced before it makes major changes to its nuclear program. Trump and Kim will meet Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi Workers in Hanoi prepare for this week's sit down But Pompeo cautioned real progress on denuclearization could take time. 'We have always known this would take time and it would be a step forward, and slower than the world has demanded, right? This is a U.N. Security Council resolution that we're attempting to achieve by getting North Korea fully denuclearized,' he said Sunday on CNN's 'State of the Union.' 'I'm hopeful that, when President Trump and Chairman Kim get together, they will make a big step towards realizing what Chairman Kim promised. He promised he would denuclearize. We hope he will make a big step towards that in the week ahead,' he added. He declined to get into the specifics of what the U.S. wanted from Pyongyang. 'There are many things he could do to demonstrate his commitment to denuclearization. Our negotiating team was on the ground the last three days. And they will be on the ground again today. I will be there tomorrow to continue these discussion,' Pompeo said. 'I don't want to get into the details of what's being proposed, what the offers and counteroffers may be. But a real step, a demonstrable, verifiable step is something that I know President Trump is very focused on achieving,' he added. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cautioned real progress on denuclearization could take time CNN anchor Jake Tapper also called out Pompeo for contradicting President Trump on whether or not North Korea remains a nuclear threat CNN anchor Jake Tapper also called out Pompeo for contradicting President Trump on whether or not North Korea remains a nuclear threat. 'Do you think North Korea remains a nuclear threat?,' Tapper asked Pompeo when the secretary of state appeared on 'State of the Union. 'Yes,' Pompeo responded. 'But the president said he doesn't,' Tapper pointed out. After his first summit with Kim in Singapore, Trump claimed 'there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.' 'Just landed - a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office,' Trump tweeted last June. 'There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!' Pompeo took issue with Tapper's characterization of Trump's remarks. 'That's not what he said,' Pompeo noted. 'He tweeted: 'There's no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea,'' Tapper said in response. 'What he said was that the efforts that had been made in Singapore, this commitment that Chairman Kim, may have substantially taken down the risk to the American people. It's the mission of the secretary of state and the president of the United States to keep the American people secure. We're aiming to achieve that,' Pompeo argued. 'OK. I mean, that's just a direct quote, but I want to move on,' Tapper said. Bad loans of public sector banks declining by over Rs 23,860 crore in the first half of the current fiscal. Corporation Bank is the biggest beneficiary of this round of capital infusion with Rs 9,086 crore of funding, followed by Allahabad Bank with Rs 6,896 crore. New Delhi: The finance ministry expects three to four more lenders to come out of weak bank list of the Reserve Bank in the next six to eight months on account of improvement in financial health amid capital infusion and falling bad loans. The recent capital infusion of Rs 48,239 crore in 12 public sector banks (PSBs) will help Corporation Bank and Allahabad Bank to come out of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework in the next few weeks, sources said. Corporation Bank is the biggest beneficiary of this round of capital infusion with Rs 9,086 crore of funding, followed by Allahabad Bank with Rs 6,896 crore. This infusion will help these two lenders meet requisite capital thresholds of 7.375 CET-1 ratio, 8.875 per cent Tier I ratio, 10.875 per cent of capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) and the net NPA ratio threshold of below 6 per cent. The RBI may in the next few weeks take a decision to remove these two lenders out of PCA supervision as they had done in the case of Bank of India (BoI), Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) last month after capital infusion in December, sources said. With the removal of three banks on January 31, the list has already come down to 8 from 11. Dena Bank, which is among eight entities under PCA, will cease to exist from April 1, 2019. So, the list will further shorten with the bank merging with Bank of Baroda beginning next fiscal, sources said. IDBI Bank, now majority owned by LIC, is also improving its financial health and bringing down its net non-performing assets (NPAs) in a bid to come out of the PCA supervision. If the bank continue to improve its health, it is anticipated that the RBI would lift the curb from IDBI Bank after September numbers. Besides, Central Bank and UCO Bank are trying to improve their parameters on mission mode. So, sources said, four more banks are likely see curb lifted by RBI on them in 6-8 months. Last month, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar had said: "Government's sustained 4R's (Recognition, Recapitalisation, Resolution, and Reform) strategy for banking transformation delivers again. 3 better-performing PSBs (BoM, BoI & OBC) exit PCA. Banks need to be more responsible, adopt high underwriting & risk management standards to avoid recurrence". Kumar, who has been credited with undertaking multiple reforms in the banking sector, provided record amount of capital infusion in the public sector banks (PSBs). Since commencement of clean-up in 2015-16, the recapitalisation has crossed over Rs 3 lakh crore through mix of budgetary support and market raising helping banks to make adequate provisions for the bad loans. As a result, there has been reversal in the deteriorating bad loan situation and there has been record loan recovery during the current fiscal. Various initiatives taken by the government have yielded results, with the bad loans of public sector banks declining by over Rs 23,860 crore in the first half of the current fiscal. At the same time, PSBs have also made a record recovery of Rs 60,726 crore in the first half of the current financial year, which is more than double the amount recovered in the corresponding period last year. Police are searching a field close to where murdered mum Linda Razzell (pictured) went missing 17 years ago Police have stepped up a search of a field near to where murdered mother Linda Razzell went missing 17 years ago by bringing in more drones and erected two further forensic tents. The mother, 41, was last seen on March 19, 2002, in Swindon, Wiltshire after driving to work at a college and her mobile phone was found dumped in a nearby alleyway. In 2003, her estranged husband Glyn Razzell was jailed for life for the murder of Linda, 41. Police started their search yesterday and set up a blue and white forensic tent in a field near Pentylands Lane, less than half-a-mile from Mrs Razzell's former home. It is thought that an excavation is expected to take place on the site in the coming days as a further two tents have been set up five yards apart today. Officers carrying large plastic sacks have also been pictured emerging from one of the tents and the perimeter of the site has been covered with a black plastic sheet. Police have also flown a drone over the field equipped with infrared sensors. The increase in activity in the field could suggest that police could be close to finding Linda Razell's body. A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said a further update was not expected until first thing Monday morning. It is thought that an excavation is expected to take place on the site in the coming days as a further two tents have been set up five yards apart today. Today a blue and white forensic tent was erected in a field near Pentylands Lane, in Highworth, Swindon, Wiltshire The search is taking place less than half-a-mile from Mrs Razzell's former home in Pentylands Close after police were given a tip-off by members of the public. Pictured, a police road block off Pentylands Lane where the search is taking place Officers carrying large plastic sacks have also been pictured emerging from one of the tents. In 2003, Linda's estranged husband Glyn Razzell (pictured) was jailed for life for her murder The mother-of-four's body has never been found and Mr Razzell, a former insurance investment manager continues to protest his innocence from prison. Cyclists and dog walkers today spoke of their shock at the eerie sight of a widening police cordon around the white tent. Nigel Franklin, aged 54 years, said: 'We are just waiting really - the whole of Highworth is on tenterhooks. There has been such a mystery for such a long time, it's so close home.' His wife Sara, aged 53 years , said: 'If there is something there, it is good for the family - it is closure for them. That would take away a lot of doubt about what has been going on. 'We've only heard what's on the news - which is incredible. You think how we how many dogs come and walk around here all the time. We've never known anything like it.' One local resident, who did not want to be named, reported archaeologists and ecologists had been employed in the search effort. She said: 'It makes you think it's something quite historical, doesn't it?' One police officer confirmed the search is likely to last for another 48 hours, and forensic investigators, search teams and dogs were to continue their work. Wiltshire Police say detectives are keeping 'an open mind' as to whether the search is connected with the college worker's murder. A police spokeswoman said: 'We are conducting some local enquiries in the Highworth area following information from a member of the public. 'As part of these enquiries, we have cordoned off an area in a field off Pentylands Lane. 'People in the local area are, therefore, likely to see an increased police presence in this area over the weekend. Our enquiries also include the use of police dogs. 'As these enquiries are at an early stage, it would be inappropriate to comment at further at this time.' 'People living in Highworth are likely to see a police presence throughout the weekend as we conduct enquiries in the local area. 'Following information received from a member of the public, we have cordoned off an area in a field off Pentylands Lane. 'Officers, including dog units, have been at the scene since February 22 2019 and are likely to remain there for the coming days. 'Thank you in advance for your patience.' Despite Mr Razzell's conviction, his wife's murder is one of several unsolved cases in the area linked with killer taxi driver Christopher Halliwell. Police are pictured at the scene today The scene in Wiltshire near the house of Linda Razzell where police are digging for a body is circled at the bottom. The search is taking place less than half-a-mile from Mrs Razzell's former home, Pentylands Close, which is circled at the top Wiltshire Police say detectives are keeping 'an open mind' as to whether the search is connected with the college worker's murder. Police officers are seen searching the field In 2003, former insurance investment manager Glyn Razzell was jailed for life for the murder of his estranged wife Linda, 41. Pictured, a police road block near the field which is being searched An aerial view of Pentylands Close, the former home of Linda Razzell Last year a BBC documentary raised doubts over Mr Razzell's guilt. Despite Mr Razzell's conviction, his wife's murder is one of several unsolved cases in the area linked with killer taxi driver Christopher Halliwell. Halliwell, 55, was convicted of stabbing and strangling Becky Godden, 20, in 2003 and abducting and killing Sian O'Callaghan, 22, in Swindon, in 2011. The whereabouts of Vietnamese immigrant Thi Hai Nguyen, 20, have also been unknown since she went missing from her temporary home in Swindon in June 2005. Razzell was convicted of his wife's murder in November 2003, following a month-long trial at Bristol Crown Court. The scene in Wiltshire near the house of Linda Razzell where police are searching Police officers have cordoned off an area in a field off Pentylands Lane. Police diver removes a plastic bag containing items from the lake at Queen's Park, Swindon, March 22 2002 during the search for Linda Razzell The mother-of-four's body has never been found and Mr Razzell, 58, continues to protest his innocence from prison. Police are seen searching the field in Swindon The mother-of-four's body has never been found and Mr Razzell, 58, continues to protest his innocence from prison The last time Linda was seen by her children and boyfriend was March 19, 2002. Detectives said there was a strong suggestion Mrs Razzell had been abducted after her mobile phone was found near her abandoned car. Spots of blood in the boot of the car Mr Razzell was using matched that of his estranged wife. The prosecution said the motive for the killing was that Razzell wanted to avoid an expensive divorce settlement. Razzell's defence team maintain that the incriminating blood was discovered only after a third forensic examination and was deliberately planted. The scene in Wiltshire near Linda Razzell's fomer home where police are searching a field Claims have been made that Swindon taxi driver Christopher Halliwell (left) - the double serial killer who was jailed for murdering Becky Godden and Sian O'Callaghan (right) - could be linked to Mrs Razzell's murder They also say there was no blood, hair or fibres from Ms Razzell on his clothing. In 2008, the Criminal Cases Review Commission decided against referring the case to the Court of Appeal. Claims have been made that Halliwell did building work Glyn Razzell's marital home, but the double killer allegedly continued to 'stalk' her even when the work came to an end. Sandy Jonsson - a friend of Halliwell's ex-wife who helped Miss Godden's mother fight for justice - claimed in 2016 that Halliwell became 'obsessed' with Ms Razzell before her disappearance. Mrs Razzell went missing on March 19 - a day considered potentially 'special' to Halliwell and the same date that one of his victims Sian O'Callaghan went missing. It was also the date, Halliwell was dumped by his girlfriend while he was in prison in the 1980s. Business leaders reacted with dismay today to the announcement by the Prime Minister that the next meaningful vote would not take place this coming week. Touching down for an EU summit with leaders of Arab nations, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, Mrs May said the vote would now take place on or before March 12. But industry leaders said the new timetable filled them with fear of their being 'little realistic chance' of a deal being agreed by the UK's planned departure date on March 29. It comes after months and years of increasingly shrill warnings from Industry groups representing firms across the country, asking for certainty from the government to allow them to plan ahead. Dr Adam Marshall, director general at the British Chambers of Commerce, warned: We are well into the eleventh hour' Already, imports have hit the water with their British buyers unsure whether the goods will be subject to new and greater tariffs by the time they arrive. Edwin Morgan, interim director general of the Institute of Directors, said: 'With today's announcement, it's clear the writing is on the wall. 'There appears to be little realistic chance of a deal being agreed and the necessary legislation getting through by 29 March. 'Businesses do not want to drag out the uncertainty and would much prefer to reach a deal by the end of next month. 'However, it now seems hard to envisage an exit without a limited, technical extension to allow time for Parliament to finalise our exit. 'There is too much at stake to run down the clock and risk an accidental no-deal. 'We sincerely hope this is the last and final date change. 'The Prime Minister must make absolutely clear ahead of time what the Government's next steps will be if the vote fails again. 'Businesses have lost all faith in the political process and as those first in the firing line of no-deal, they deserve to know more.' Edwin Morgan of the Institute of Directors, left, said there was now 'little realistic chance of a deal being agreed and the necessary legislation getting through by 29 March'. Josh Hardie of the CBI, right, said: 'Every day without a deal means less investment and fewer jobs created' Dr Adam Marshall, director general at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: 'Another day, another delay. 'The Government's choices mean extending business uncertainty to the last possible minute, giving firms little chance to plan with confidence for any changes that lie ahead. 'It is unbelievable to businesses that political tactics are still being put before economic considerations, especially given the fact that the consequences of a messy and disorderly Brexit on March 29 are so stark. 'Delaying the vote until just two weeks before the UK's planned departure from the EU raises serious concerns about the timeline of the parliamentary process, and whether there is sufficient window to reach an agreement and pass the necessary legislation to avoid a no-deal exit. 'We are well into the eleventh hour, and these endless political manoeuvres aren't helping the businesses, communities or people of the UK to prepare for the changes that lie ahead.' Josh Hardie, CBI deputy director general, said: 'This is the latest signal to businesses that no-deal is hurtling closer. It must be averted. 'Every day without a deal means less investment and fewer jobs created. 'That's the cost of running down the clock, and it's irresponsible to treat that as a price worth paying.' Advertisement A 157-acre flat hilltop sitting high above Beverly Hills has had $350 million slashed from its billion dollar asking price. The undeveloped property is the most expensive listing in the history of Los Angeles with views stretching from the Pacific Ocean, Catalina Island and downtown LA. The Mountain of Beverly Hills first went on sale last summer for $1 billion but there were no credible offers. An undeveloped property sitting above Beverly Hills is on the market for $1billion The property offers unrivaled views of Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean Previous owners include royals, Hollywood celebrities and moguls The mountaintop was once owned by a sister of the late Shah of Iran, the Princess Shams Pahlavi, who had planned to build a lavish palace there, left, the property was later acquired by talk show host-turned-TV-producer Merv Griffin, right In 1997, Mark Hughes, pictured, acquired the property. Hughes also had plans to develop the property for himself however he diedin 2000 before any construction began The property listing agent, Aaron Kirman, calls it 'the crown jewel of Beverly Hills' for billionaires with a plan to build a private paradise. The $650million-dollar listing is the most expensive in the history of Los Angeles. The current sellers are Secured Capital Partners LLC, who have reportedly received at least one offer according to the New York Post. In January, a developer offered to shell out $400 million for the six lots. The sellers countered at $600 million, but the bidder didn't bite. At Beverly Hills' highest point, a 157-acre land parcel with a storied history is hit the market last summer with the highest price tag L.A. has ever seen at $1 billion - it is now $650 million The listing agent, calls it 'the crown jewel of Beverly Hills' with the closest neighbour half-a-mile away It is considered a 'crown jewel' with views of downtown LA and the Pacific Ocean The massive land comes with its own history of wealthy owners from royals, to Hollywood celebrities and moguls who all had plans, albeit unsuccessful, to develop the property. 'For that billionaire who wants that privacy on the highest peak of Beverly Hills, it's a great opportunity,' Kirman said. So far, no one has come close to buying personal properly with that price tag. The highest price ever paid for a home in the world is thought to be the $300million purchase of a property in France by a Saudi prince. The grounds are divided into 17 parcels. Six of them, ranging from 2.5 acres to 12.2 acres, are zoned for residential development The current owner is Secured Capital Property. Victor Franco Noval, son of philanthropist Victorino Noval, is listed as the manager of the LLC that owns Secured Capital Property At 157 acres the plan alone is more than twice the size of Disneyland The $650million-dollar listing is the most expensive in the history of Los Angeles 'There are 2,200 billionaires in the world,' Kirman said with the hopes at least one will be willing to invest and build. 'We realized there are 100 of those that could and would want to buy the property.' The property is nearly double the size of Disneyland and touts the best views in all of Los Angeles with a 360-degree lookout revealing everything from Downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean. The mountaintop was once owned by Princess Shams Pahlavi, a sister of the late Shah of Iran, who in the late 1970s had planned to construct a palace there that was never built. It was later bought by talk show host and game show pro host Merv Griffin in 1987, who planned to create his own mansion. An impressive set of gates guard the property keeping unwanted visitors away It is unusual for such a high price tag to be placed on a property where nothing has been built 'We'll have a helipad, a couple of lakes and a palladio-style house, like those you see outside Venice, Italy but with a variation, because we'll need lots of glass for the views,' Griffin told The Los Angeles Times when he made the purchase. But when financial troubles hit, Griffin sold the property to Mark Hughes, the founder of Herbalife, for more than $8 million in 1997. At the time, the deal was a record high in Southern California. Real estate agent Jeff Hyland, who handled the sale, said the property is 'one of a kind.' 'There will never be anything else like it,' he said of the massive estate. The driveway looks to be the only thing so far that has been completed - and the rest will be up to whoever buys the plot The land looks out to 360-degree views that show everything from Downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean It takes a lot of sprinklers to keep the grass in this area so perfectly green Hughes bought the property with plans to develop it, but died in 2000 before he could break ground. Now the grounds with its famous 90210 Beverly Hills zip code is owned by Secured Capital Property. The land is divided into 17 parcels with several of them zoned for residential development. However, Kirman is adamant that one buyer will develop the land for individual use. 'To be impressed by dirt is hard,' Kirman admitted, but says he is looking at royal family from the Middle East, a Chinese billionaire or Russian oligarch as potential buyers. Former White House counselor Steve Bannon predicted this year will be 'the most vitriolic year in American politics since the Civil War' because of the investigations into President Donald Trump. Bannon cited the upcoming release of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, the investigation of Trump's businesses from the Southern District of New York attorney's office, and House Democrats' plans for probes of the administration as the reason for the forthcoming chaos. 'I think that 2019 is going to be the most vitriolic year in American politics since before the Civil War,' Bannon told CBS News in an interview that aired Sunday. 'And I include Vietnam in that. I think we're in, I think we're in for a very nasty 2019.' Former White House counselor Steve Bannon cited the multiple investigations into President Trump as one of the reasons 2019 will be full of vitriol President Trump is the focus of three federal probes plus investigations from House Democrats Bannon, who served as chief strategist for the Trump White House before then-chief of staff John Kelly forced him out, predicted a tough few months ahead for the president with the pressure of the investigations increasing on him and his administration. 'I think the next 90 days to four months is going to be a real meat grinder,' he said. 'I mean, the pressure on the president is coming from many different angles.' President Trump indicated the investigations were on his mind Sunday morning when tweeted on the matter - one of his favorite subject to rage about on social media. 'The only Collusion with the Russians was with Crooked Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee...And, wheres the Server that the DNC refused to give to the FBI? Where are the new Texts between Agent Lisa Page and her Agent lover, Peter S? We want them now!,' he wrote. It's unclear what the president meant by new texts between FBI agents Lisa Page and Peter Strzok. The two agents - who were working on the Russia investigation and having an affair - had texted of their hopes Trump would lose the election. Trump previously has accused the bureau - without proof - of deleting messages between the two. However, the Justice Department's inspector general, in a report released Thursday, found no evidence the FBI intentionally destroyed text messages between Strzok and Page. The IG could not recover any texts from the phones assigned to the two agents because, by the time investigators requested the devices, they had been reset for others to use them. The inspector general faulted an FBI-wide software failure that resulted in large portions of FBI text messages not being archived, the Associated Press fact checker found. The president has previously accused Clinton and the DNC of collusion with Russia, again without proof. He is believed to be referring to the unverified Steele dossier. The dossier, put together by former British spy Christopher Steele and paid for by a research firm that also did work for the Democratic National Committee, offered unverified allegations Trump was vulnerable to blackmail from Russia and had engaged with 'golden showers' with prostitutes during a 2013 trip to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant. Meanwhile, President Trump is the focus of three federal investigations: Mueller's probe of whether or not the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election and two investigations being run out of the Southern District of New York: one focusing on the hush money payments made or arranged by then-Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen, and another examining the flow of foreign money to the Trump inaugural committee. Mueller is expected to wrap up his report in the coming months, Cohen is reported to be giving additional information to New York prosecutors in regards to Trump business dealings and House Democrats have opened multiple probes into the administration - not just Russian interference with the 2016 election but also the president's immigration policy security clearances for administration staff, and possible conflicts of interest. Bannon also predicted Democrats would 'weaponize' any and all of investigations against the president. 'I think you've already seen it from what the Democrats, some of these reports they've been dropping here without telling anybody. I think that now they control the House they can weaponize this, they could weaponize the Mueller report,' he said. House Democrats have said they want Mueller's report to be made public. The special counsel's only obligation is to file his findings with the Justice Department, which decides what to with it from there. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Sunday vowed to subpoena the report, bring Mueller in to testify before Congress and take the Trump administration to court if the findings aren't made public. 'We are going to get to the bottom of this,' Schiff said on ABC's 'This Week.' 'We are going to share this information with the public. And if the president is serious about all his claims of exoneration, then he should welcome the publication of the report.' Trump showed the investigations were on his mind with a tweet on Sunday Trump is the focus of multiple investigations including special counsel Robert Mueller's (left) Russia probe, the Southern District of New York and from House Democrats, including Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (right) Despite his predictions of a tough 2019 for Trump, Bannon, who served as chief executive of Trump's 2016 campaign, said he has 'zero' doubt the president will seek reelection. 'I happen to think now, the president is going to run again in 2020 and I think he'll win. I think he'll win bigger than he won in 2016,' Bannon said. Bannon did say expects President Trump will face a 2020 primary challenge from some moderate Republicans. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich have mulled about making such a move although there has been no official announcement. The small town of Cormorant Village, Minnesota lost one of its most beloved public officials on Thursday, with the passing of Duke the dog. Duke, a 13-year-old Great Pyrenees, served as mayor of the village for four years, before his owners announced he would retired in June. Duke fulfilled his duties through the end of his term in August, like the good boy that he was. Duke's owner, Karen Nelson, announced his passing in a post on his official Facebook page on Thursday. Duke, a 13-year-old Great Pyrenees, served as mayor of the village for four years, before his owners announced he would retired in June The small town of Cormorant Village, Minnesota, population 1,000, lost one of its most beloved public officials on Thursday, with the passing of long-time mayor Duke the dog 'Our beloved mayor Duke went to doggie heaven today,' Nelson wrote on February 21. 'He will be greatly missed. We will have a memorial for him in march or April at the Cormorant town hall. Thanks to all who express their condolences it means a lot of hard times like this. Sincerely, Karen and Dave.' Duke was first elected mayor of the small town in 2014, at its annual festival called 'Cormorant Daze,' KFGO reported. 'Our beloved mayor Duke went to doggie heaven today,' owner Karen Nelson said on Thursday The post read, 'He will be greatly missed. We will have a memorial for him in march or April at the Cormorant town hall. Thanks to all who express their condolences it means a lot of hard times like this. Sincerely, Karen and Dave.' Karen, his owner, is shown with Duke His meteoric rise to power was an unlikely story, as he started life from humble beginnings as a mere farm dog. He was elected three additional times, before his owners announced in June that he would not be seeking re-election to the ceremonial position. He dutifully served his full term, officially stepping down in August at the annual 'Cormorant Daze' festival, where a parade was held in his honor. During his time in office, Duke held court as an ambassador for the town at parades and other events, with many official duties. 'He just kind of hangs out at the local pub and makes sure everything is runnin OK and keeps the riff-raff out and just oversees the whole works,' Steven Sorenson, who was known as Duke's deputy mayor, and more officially as one of the township's three supervisors, told Australian Broadcasting Corporation in February of 2018. More than a local celebrity, Duke was renowned across the country, appearing in 2015 at the World Dog Awards in Santa Monica, California alongside guitarist David Rick. Duke's meteoric rise to power was an unlikely story, as he started life from humble beginnings as a mere farm dog. Duke is pictured wearing a sombrero in a photo shared to social media He dutifully served his full term, officially stepping down in August at the annual 'Cormorant Daze' festival, where a parade was held in his honor He was elected three additional times, before his owners announced in June that he would not be seeking re-election to the ceremonial position. Duke is pictured with members of the community in a photo shared to social media During his time in office, Duke held court as an ambassador for the town at parades and other events, with many official duties. Duke is pictured with a police officer in a photo first shared to social media on July 11, 2016 There's even a book available about the lovable dignitary, titled 'Meet Mayor Duke' by Jolene Beckman. Cormorant Village is located about 216 miles northwest of Minneapolis and has a population of just over 1,000. It was not immediately clear who, or what, succeeded Duke as mayor of the village. Cormorant Village is located about 216 miles northwest of Minneapolis and has a population of just over 1,000 A British hitchhiker who was raped at the side of the road in Portugal says she was was left traumatised after her attacker walked free from court laughing. Kate Juby, 23, snapped a happy photo after the trip of a lifetime to a music festival before she headed to the airport to begin her journey home to Suffolk. But less than than an hour after the snap was taken, Kate was picked up by a violent man who drove her down a dirt track and raped her twice. Tiago Curado de Sousa, 33, who subjected Kate to a humiliating 20-minute assault, was allowed to walk free from court. Kate Juby, 23, from Suffolk, was the victim of a sex attack after a music festival in Portugal Kate, now 24, from Suffolk, hopes to change the Portuguese legal system to make sure no other victims end up in her position Tiago Curado de Sousa, 33, (pictured) who subjected Kate to a humiliating 20-minute assault, was allowed to walk free from court Despite admitting his guilt, twisted Curado de Sousa laughed as he strolled out of court arm-in-arm with his wife as he returned to normal life. Now Kate, now 24, who was left traumatised, says she hopes to change the Portuguese legal system to make sure no other victims end up in her position. And she says things need to change for British citizens who are subject to sex attacks overseas. Kate's adult life was just beginning when it was ripped apart by the horrific attack. She said of the attack: 'I knew my life was different then, for the rest of it. I knew I'd never be me again. She was in the first year of a food development degree at Liverpool John Moores University when she decided to join friends at a festival near Aljezur in April 2017. After several days there, she had to return to Faro to catch her flight home. Pictures show her with a friend on April 14, clutching a large cardboard sign before they parted ways. But less than an hour after that happy holiday photo was taken, Kate was picked up by a violent rapist who drove her down a dirt track and raped her She says many people had told her that hitchhiking was safe on the Algarve and she didn't think that just an hour later she would be running for her very life. It wasn't long before pervert mechanic Curado de Sousa pulled over and offered to take her part of the way. About ten miles into the journey, the brute began indicating to turn off. Panicked, Kate asked him where he was going, but he reassured her that he just had to pick up a car for scrap and it would only take five minutes. Instead, after loading the car he suddenly appeared at the passenger side shouting 'come on baby!' and clutching his groin. Kate struggled, but he grabbed her shoulders, dragged her out and raped her twice against the side of the truck. Kate's injuries three days after the attack when she returned to the UK. Kate was dragged out and raped her twice against the side of the truck 'I thought I was going to die. I kept saying "Please don't kill me" Kate, now 24, said. 'I said 'If you do this just please let me go, please don't murder me.' 'He kept calling me baby which was so disgusting, horrible and gross. I was just screaming. 'When he finally let go I grabbed my backpack and ran.' Scrambling desperately through rough grassland, Kate eventually made it back to the main road where she flagged down a pair of passing German tourists covered her in a blanket. But almost as disturbing as the rape itself was the shocking aftercare she says she received in Portimao Hospital. She said: 'They pinned me down onto a bed and they took all my clothes away from me. 'The doctor told me to stop crying, he told me I needed to 'man up'. Scrambling desperately through rough grassland, Kate eventually made it back to the main road where she flagged down a pair of passing German tourists covered her in a blanket 'They pinned my arm down and put needles in my arm, injected me with two liquids - I didn't know what they were - they took blood samples from me, then swabbed everywhere to get the DNA but all the time holding me down and telling me not to make any noise and not to cry. 'They told me to stop being a baby as well. The doctor was really cruel to me. It was horrible.' The injections she was given were antiretrovirals and antibiotics and she was also given emergency contraceptive pills. Kate was then taken to Portimao's Judiciary Police but claims she wasn't given a glass of water for four hours and had to wait for three more until she was allowed to call her mother Deborah Stanton, 56, back home in Suffolk. Kate on holiday with friends in Portugal. Kate was taken to Portimao's Judiciary Police but claims she wasn't given a glass of water for four hours Kate poses with her bags before flying to Portugal. She received shocking aftercare in Portimao Hospital Remembering the most difficult phone call of her life, Kate said of her mother's reaction: 'I could hear her heart breaking on the other side of the phone. 'I just started crying and my mum just started crying as she knew something really bad had happened. 'All she could hear was me crying and she was begging me to tell her what happened. 'I said 'mum I've been raped.' The screaming cry from her, it was so painful to hear. 'Neither of us could really talk because we were crying so much. 'Telling my mum what had happened made it all real. I'd been so desperate to talk to her as I'd been in this room with seven male police officers, all talking in Portuguese. 'And my dad, I knew it would be even harder. I couldn't even tell my dad myself. I couldn't do it.' Kate's dad, who is separated from her mum, added: 'I was heartbroken. I felt guilty. As a parent your child is never a grown up, they're always a child and you want to protect them. Kate suffers night terrors and would often break down over the memories of her attack 'For someone to violate my daughter like that is*...well, I'd failed.' Kate added: 'I feel so sorry for them, because they felt so helpless and I knew they'd change anything if they could, but obviously they can't.' Police found Curado de Sousa that night and he was brought into the station. Just six hours later, a battered and bruised Kate picked him out during an ID parade. She recalled: 'The other side of the glass, there was the man that raped me. He was smiling. 'It was as traumatising as being raped in the first place. 'I started hysterically crying. Six hours before this man had raped me. No-one told me anything. I was completely alone.' She says she was also left waiting alone in a side room, just metres from where her attacker was sitting in full view. At 11pm, she says police officers simply said 'You can go now' before opening the door and leaving her on the street. Fortunately she was able to text her friends who had come to check she was OK. But a nightmare plane journey ensued, where she had to fly back to London Stansted Airport alone. Kate went on: 'All I could think was I just wanted to see my mum. 'When I got back, mum was standing in the arrivals hall waiting. She didn't hold it together. Remembering the most difficult phone call of her life, Kate said of her mother's reaction: 'I could hear her heart breaking on the other side of the phone' Kate's mother Deborah Stanton, 56 (left and right), is a trained psychotherapist and soon realised she may have to help her daughter by offering therapy 'She just grabbed me and burst into tears. That was the first time it felt over. 'We had the hour's journey and I just lay on her lap like a child. She was stroking my head and petting my face.' The pair returned home to Hadleigh, Suffolk, where Kate stayed in bed for a week. But the memory of what de Sousa had done to her lingered and she suffered night terrors and would often break down. Her mum is a trained psychotherapist and soon realised she may have to help her daughter by offering therapy. 'She is the reason I'm able to talk about what happened to me today,' Kate admits. 'She's so amazing and makes it so easy. Being your mum and your therapist is actually the perfect combination. 'She was just there. She helped me talk about it and be open about it. 'Both her and my dad were just with me and were so helpful.' In the aftermath of the attack, Kate was left broken. She dropped out of the university course she loved, spent months living with her mum, could only go out in groups of three or more, now crosses the road to avoid men and finds it hard to work as a chef. But the legal ramifications of what had happened to her that day have been just as bad. Bizarrely, she says she was sent a letter asking her if she wanted to take Curado de Sousa to court. It took 18 months for that to happen and, while he was entitled to legal aid, she did not receive any. Instead, she had to use Pro Bono Portugal, a group of voluntary lawyers who offer counsel to those who cannot afford it. That meant she only met her lawyer two hours before the case came to court in October 2018. A photo of of Kate as a child with her mother. The family flew for a hearing in Portugal Kate and her family travelled out for the hearing at Lagos Court, which is usually used for minor cases and traffic convictions. Before the hearing, the family were offered an apology and expenses to walk away and not give evidence. When they refused, De Sousa admitted his guilt and was later handed a paltry four-and-a-half year suspended sentence and was ordered to pay 1,750 in compensation, which Kate donated to the Portuguese Association for Victim Support. Kate said: 'It was outrageous. And they said that in Portugal it was a really good result. 'They have a serious problem over there with rape convictions. A really small percentage of rapists go to prison. 'You are more likely to go to prison for selling drugs than raping someone, it's a bigger crime there. 'Everybody wants to silence rape victims. Nobody wants to hear your voice.' Kate's dad James, 52, took the experience exceptionally badly, while Kate's mum also struggled. James said: 'I thought the most painful thing would be to hear what my daughter said happened to her, but that is nowhere near the most painful thing. Kate is now trying to get over what happened to her and has moved to Bristol where she has found a job and lives with her boyfriend 'The most painful is the fallout.' Deborah, who now lives in Harrogate, said: 'There are no words to describe the feeling when your daughter tells you she's been raped. 'As a mum it's your worst nightmare, besides losing your child. It was total and utter shock. My entire system just stopped. 'You have this anger, this frustration, this deep pain, this fear. All at the same time. It's shocking. 'And even worst it was in a different country and couldn't get to her. I wanted to be there with her, to hold her, to keep her safe and I couldn't. 'It has affected her. It's affected all of us. It has really changed her personality. 'She's grown up a lot because of it. She doesn't want it to happen to anyone else. She's going to use it to help others. 'I am so proud of her - the inner strength. She is not letting it beat her, she is using it. I cannot even begin to describe how proud I am of my daughter.' Kate is now trying to get over what happened to her and has moved to Bristol where she has found a job and lives with her boyfriend Mark Evans, 34. She is also pressing ahead with plans to appeal Curado de Sousa's punishment and found out just a few weeks ago that the case will go before a higher Portuguese court. Asked what she had learnt from the experience, Kate said she had proved stronger than she thought. 'I'm so strong,' she said. 'And it's really, really important to speak up.' Primary school children from the age of five are to be taught about gay and transgender relationships as part of compulsory lessons. Guidance about the new lessons, which will be rolled out nationally next year, will be published tomorrow. It will also outline plans to withdraw parents' rights to remove their children from sex education aged 15 from 2020. Primary school children are to be taught about gay and transgender relationships as part of compulsory lessons. Stock picture of a classroom New curriculum will bring an end of parents right to opt their children out of sex and relationships education classes in secondary school . Children are guaranteed to receive at least a term of lessons by the time they are 16, as part if the new curriculum which is being brought in by education secretary Damian Hinds. When the new lessons are rolled out next year, headteachers will be forced to bring them in, The Sunday Times reported. As part of the changes, secondary school children will receive at least one compulsory term of sex ed lessons by age 16, including lessons on the damage caused by female genital mutilation . Sexting, online grooming, domestic violence and forced marriage will also be put under the spotlight. The announcement comes after more than 300 parents and children gathered outside of a primary school yesterday to protest against lessons on homosexuality and gender. Some Muslim demonstrators said they would rather leave the UK than allow their children to continue attending Parkfield Community School in Birmingham. Parkfield Community School has said it wants pupils to be 'accepting and to welcome anybody' Muslim demonstrators said they would rather leave the UK than allow their children to continue attending Parkfield Community School in Birmingham, West Midlands. Parents' anger is aimed at the school's assistant head Andrew Moffat, who is behind the 'No Outsiders' lessons. He created the scheme to teach children about the Equality Act and British values. Pupils at the school have five of these lessons a year, covering areas outlined in the Act: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. However, the school is expected to be backed by Ofsted this week when the school is again handed its highest rating. Tomorrow a petition signed by more than 100,000 people objecting to the sex and relationships curriculum will be debated in parliament. Parents' anger is aimed at the school's assistant head Andrew Moffat, who is behind the 'No Outsiders' lessons. He created the scheme to teach children about the Equality Act and British values. Pupils at the school rated outstanding by Ofsted have five of these lessons a year, covering areas outlined in the Act: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. The controversial High Speed 2 railway line suffered a fresh blow today as it was revealed the train would exceed international noise restrictions. It is feared that trains on some rural parts of the proposed Leeds to Manchester route will have to go slower to avoid breaching the new World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines. It is the latest setback to hit the 56billion line which has attracted criticism for its massive budget leading to many calling for the project to be axed entirely. Scroll down for video Under the current plans, phase one of the high-speed rail link will open between London and Birmingham in December 2026 before the railway is extended to Crewe, Manchester and Leeds by 2033 It had already been rumoured that HS2 officials are considering cutting the speed of the train to limit spiraling costs and the likelihood of this happening has now increased to stop it being too noisy, according to the Sunday Telegraph. In October last year the WHO drew up new guidelines on nighttime railway noise which 'strongly recommends' keeping it below 44 decibels as this is 'associated with adverse effects on sleep'. But maps detailing HS2's likely operational sound show some countryside homes positioned near the track will be exposed to a noisy 60 decibels. Joe Rukin, campaign manager of Stop HS2, which has over 100,000 supporters, said that the breaching of WHO limits is another reason to axe the project. He told MailOnline: 'The whole thing has been a con from the start...The extra money it would cost so that HS2 is not a danger to health in this way is just another reason to stop it. 'The increases will just keep going up and up.' Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen also slammed the revelations and told the Sunday Telegraph it was time to scrap the high speed train line. He said: 'These environmental concerns are yet another nail in the coffin of the HS2 project... 'It's time for the Government to put this huge white elephant project out of its misery.' Yet a HS2 Ltd spokesman told the newspaper that the designs were not the final plan which will take into account the WHO recommendation as well as methods to combat excess noise. Earlier this month cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom broke ranks to hit out at HS2's soaring price tag. The Commons leader wrote to the project's boss, Mark Thurston, to brand it an 'absolute dismay'. A spokesman for HS2 Ltd said: 'The noise contour maps form part of the working draft Environmental Statement for Phase 2b of HS2 and show our work in progress. 'These maps do not reflect the final scheme design. As we consult with communities and further develop the project, we will be ensuring that we take full account of the World Health Organisation's guidance on noise levels. 'All our work on noise levels to date has taken into account World Health Organisation guidance. HS2 noise specialists formed part of the working group that helped develop these new guidelines. 'Our noise levels policy also adheres with all applicable UK and European legislation.' HS2 may have to run slower and less frequent trains to slash costs, its chief executive has admitted. The graphic pictured details how much the new HS2 line is costing A Dispatches investigation aired by Channel 4 claimed ministers are so alarmed by HS2's price that they are 'increasingly minded to kill off the scheme'. Pictured an artist impression of an HS2 train A California man will receive a $21 million settlement for spending nearly 40 years in prison after he was wrongly convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend and her four-year-old son. Craig Richard Coley, who was released from prison in November 2017 at the age of 70, agreed to the huge payout on Saturday. Coley was convicted of killing his 24-year-old ex-girlfriend Rhonda Wicht and her son Donald at her Simi Valley home in 1978. After nearly four decades in prison, Coley was finally granted a pardon by then- California Governor Jerry Brown at the end of 2017. Craig Richard Coley, who was released from prison in November 2017 at the age of 70, agreed to the $21 million payout on Saturday after he was wrongly convicted of a double murder. He is pictured above in February this year The city of Simi Valley announced on Saturday they had now reached the $21 million settlement with Coley. 'While no amount of money can make up for what happened to Mr Coley, settling this case is the right thing to do for Mr Coley and our community. The monetary cost of going to trial would be astronomical and it would be irresponsible for us to move forward in that direction,' City Manager Eric Levitt said. Coley was also separately awarded $2 million soon after his release, which was the largest payout ever from the Victim's Compensation Government Claim Board. In that payout, he was given $140 for each of the 13,991 days he was wrongly imprisoned. His conviction was eventually overturned due to advances in DNA technology and faulty evidence. Police found Wicht beaten and strangled with a rope in her apartment on November 11, 1978, while her son had been smothered to death in his bed. Coley, who had broken up with Wicht just days earlier, was arrested on the same day police found the bodies. Coley was wrongly convicted of killing his 24-year-old ex-girlfriend Rhonda Wicht and her son Donald at her Simi Valley home in 1978. Wicht was found beaten and strangled with a rope, while her son was smothered in his bed His conviction was eventually overturned due to advances in DNA technology and faulty evidence. Coley claims a former police detective framed him for the murders by destroying crucial evidence Authorities maintained that Coley, who was the son of a retired police officer, was angry and despondent after learning Wicht was breaking up with him. Coley's first trial resulted in a hung jury, with jurors split 10-2 in favor of conviction. He was tried again in 1980, found guilty and sentenced to life without parole. For the next 39 years he served his sentence while steadfastly maintaining that he had never killed anyone. During his decades in prison Coley was cited as a model inmate, avoiding gangs and violence and embracing religion. In an application for clemency that Coley himself filed from prison several years ago, he said a former police detective had framed him by destroying crucial evidence. 'The crimes were not committed by me and had the detective not destroyed the exonerating evidence (including semen and hair), the real suspect(s) could have been apprehended,' Coley said. Coley, pictured above following his release, has previously said the money can't make up for what he called the 'worst nightmare' of spending 13,991 days in prison He named a retired Simi Valley police detective he said could corroborate his story. Police began reviewing his case in 2016 after a retired detective expressed concerns about his conviction and believed Coley was either wrongfully convicted or framed. The trial judge had ordered evidence destroyed after Coley exhausted his appeals, but investigators retrieved records from Coley's relatives and located biological samples at a private lab. Using advanced techniques not available at the time of his trial, technicians didn't find Coley's DNA on a key piece of evidence used to convict him. Instead they found DNA from an unknown man. Coley also had an alibi for the time of the killings and detectives later disproved sworn testimony from a witness who placed him at Wicht's apartment. He has previously said the money can't make up for what he called the 'worst nightmare' of spending 13,991 days in prison. Of the $21 million that Coley will be awarded, Simi Valley city said they will pay about $4.9 million with the remainder to be made up by other sources, including insurance. A federal judge in Texas has declared the all-male military draft to be unconstitutional ruling that 'the time has passed' for a debate on whether women belong in the military. U.S. District Judge Gray Miller ruled late on Friday that although historical restrictions on women serving in combat 'may have justified past discrimination,' men and women are now equally able to fight. Restrictions for women in military service were lifted by the Pentagon in 2015. The ruling could see and end to the Selective Service System which was upheld in the Supreme Court in 1981. A federal judge has ruled that a men-only draft is unconstitutional, but stopped short of ordering the Selective Service System to register women for military service (file photo) In the case of Rostker v. Goldberg, the court ruled that the male-only draft was 'fully justified' because women were ineligible for combat roles. Men who fail to register with the Selective Service System at their 18th birthday can be denied public benefits such as federal employment and student loans. However, Women cannot register for Selective Service. The case was brought by the National Coalition For Men, a men's rights group, and two men who argued the all-male draft was unfair. The ruling by Judge Miller comes as an 11-member commission is studying the future of the draft, including whether women should be included or indeed whether there should continue to be draft registration at all. America hasnt had a military draft since 1973 but it is men, and not women, who are required to register with the Selective Service (file photo) The National Commission on Military, National and Public Service released an interim report last month but it not reveal on which side it would come down, however the commission chairman Joe Heck told USA Today, 'I don't think we will remain with the status quo.' The government had argued that the Texas court should delay its ruling until the commission makes its recommendations, however it is not expected until 2020. Also, because the commission is advisory, there is no guarantee that Congress will act upon it. The judge denied the government's request for a stay of the ruling. Judge Miller noted Congress has never fully examined the issue of whether men are physically better able to serve than women. Female Marine Corps recruits take care of many tasks during a brief period of personal time prior to taps at the United States Marine Corps recruit depot in Parris Island, South Carolina 'The average woman could conceivably be better suited physically for some of today's combat positions than the average man, depending on which skills the position required. Combat roles no longer uniformly require sheer size or muscle,' he stated. Miller ruled that restrictions based on gender 'must substantially serve an important governmental interest today.' Under current law, women can volunteer to serve in the military, but aren't required to register for the draft. All adult men must register within 30 days of their 18th birthday, and risk losing eligibility for student aid, job training and government jobs if they fail to comply. Signing up for the draft entails registering with the U.S. Selective Service, an independent agency aimed at ensuring a fair distribution of military duties if the president and Congress had to enact a draft. The U.S. hasn't had a military draft since 1973, during the Vietnam War era. Friday's ruling came in the form of a declaratory judgment and not an injunction which means the court didn't specifically order the government how to change Selective Service to make it constitutional. 'Yes, to some extent this is symbolic, but it does have some real-world impact,' said Marc Angelucci, the lawyer for the men challenging the draft. 'Either they need to get rid of the draft registration, or they need to require women to do the same thing that men do.' Zaman tells the small stories that swirl around that big story. I was in primary school when Bangladesh was born, too young to remember everything. But some images remain seared into my memory. Like the famous picture of the surrender of December 16, 1971 which showed General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, in charge of the Eastern Command of the Pakistan Army, publicly surrendering to the Indian Armys Lieutenant Jagjit Singh Aurora. That clip played in every cinema theatre across India. I also have vivid memories of eagerly listening to the savagely witty news updates from Chorompotro (Extreme Letter), a popular underground radio show in Bengali. While Bangladeshi civilians battled Pakistani armed forces, the radio talk show host shared his humorous takes about the discomforts of the Pakistani forces and the victories of Bangladeshs Mukti Bahini (freedom fighters). Those childhood memories came back in a flash as I read Nadeem Zamans In the Time of the Others. Zaman, who was born in Dhaka, and grew up there and in Chicago, uses the format of fiction to give us the multiple sides of the story and the backstory of Bangladeshs War of Liberation. This is his first novel. Everyone is familiar with the big story of 1971 the horrific repression of Bengali citizens in what was then East Pakistan by the military regime in (West) Pakistan, the battle for freedom led by Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and the Awami League, the killings of Bengali civilians, rapes of women and the millions of refugees who poured into India through the eastern border, triggering a military confrontation between India and Pakistan. That blood-soaked, gut-wrenching big story which took such a massive human toll had a happy ending. Bangladesh became an independent nation. And it was among independent Indias most triumphant moments. Zaman tells the small stories that swirl around that big story. The novel is a compelling fictionalised account of the lived experiences of a whole galaxy of characters from all sides. The more academically-inclined would perhaps read the book as a treatise on identity and culture, the making of a postcolonial nation state from Bengali nationalism to Bangladeshi sovereignty. To me, the books power lies in the many truths it seeks to convey about the monumental, historic event of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 through compelling and nuanced stories. Zamans cast of characters are human beings, not cardboard heroes and villains, with their human frailties, caught in the crossfire of conflict, upheaval and violence. There is no one central figure. But someone through whose lens the story is largely told is Imtiaz Khan, who arrives at his uncles house in Dhaka, for what he imagines will be a short visit to sort out an inheritance issue. Its a personal matter. But within days of his arrival, the military regime of then West Pakistan declares a crackdown on Dhaka. Civilians are killed in cold blood, and young, feisty fighters from the Mukti Bahini take refuge in the home of Khans uncle and aunt. Khan is sucked into the whirlpool of a narrative over which he has little control. On the other side, there is Faizal Shaukat, a young captain in the Pakistan army, a military man of pedigreed stock, who finds himself conflicted on many occasions, which starts affecting his domestic life. His superior Major Pervez Shahbaz is a more predictable character, cast in a classic, villainous mould. Interesting though peripheral characters in the novel include Helen and Walter, a journalist couple from the United States who get a ringside view of the momentous events; and Sam Truman, a member of the diplomatic corps. What really resonated with this reviewer are the internal stories of conflict playing alongside the big story of violence and upheaval. What does a war do to a relationship between husband and wife? A telling example is the conversation between the Pakistan Army captain Fazal Shaukat and his wife Umbreen. The following passage leapt out. How many people have you killed, Fazal? Have you raped women? Did you watch your soldiers rape them? The shoe dropped from his hand. You are a drunkard and a slut. Shaukats trembling had him spent in seconds. He sank onto the bed. Umbreens clenched fist next to his head, inches away. She wanted to ask him how many lowered heads he had looked at in the same position, at his feet, begging for mercy, before sending bullets into them. Even Helen and Walter get punchy lines. They spar with each other on whether the Mukti Bahini can be compared to the Vietcong. To Walter, the Vietcong is nothing more than a bunch of Communist thugs. Murderers. He is horrified at the suggestion that they have anything similar to the Mukti Bahini. The Vietcong wants the US out of Vietnam; it is seen as an occupying force and they want them out, the same as here, quips Helen. The other interesting character is Suleiman Mubarak, a Bihari judge, who empathises with the Bangladeshi cause but is viewed with suspicion owing to his non-Bengali heritage and is killed by Mukti Bahini soldiers the day Dhaka was liberated. Its a sharp contrast to the camaraderie between the Indian and Pakistani military officers, even as Niazi signs the surrender document. Niazi had reportedly refused to lay down arms at the feet of the Mukti Bahini. A decorated officer of the Pakistani Army bowing in defeat to a Bengali guerrilla force was not a humiliation Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi was prepared to take to his grave the author writes wryly. The novel is full of these contrasts between the loud violence and death on the streets and the minds of the characters caught in a maelstrom. Zamans novel deep-dives into the minds of each of his characters, exploring their motivations and anxieties. But it does not shun the raw violence of the events on the ground. As the author describes in unsentimental detail the Dhaka University killings, the savageries on ordinary civilians, the torture sites, even a brothel where captured women are kept as sex slaves, the effects on the minds of both perpetrators and victims are finely etched. The storyline is taut; the plot never flags. I finished the book, 300-plus pages long, in one sitting. The writer focuses on development issues in India and emerging economies. She can be reached at patralekha.chatterjee@gmail.com Terrence Howard has come out in support of his embattled Empire co-star Jussie Smollett. Howard, who plays Lucious Lyon on the Fox musical drama, defended his onscreen son in an Instagram post on Saturday night. In the video, Smollett is seen tickling and playing with Howard's young son Hero on a private plane, although when is unknown. 'All your lil homies got you...We love the hell outta you,' Howard wrote in the caption for the clip, which has been viewed more than 377,000 times. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Terrence Howard came out in support of his embattled Empire co-star Jussie Smollett in an Instagram post on Saturday night. Pictured: Smollett, left, and Howard in May 2018 In the video, Smollett is seen tickling and playing with Howard's young son Hero on a private plane (left and right). 'How many teeth does he have?' Smollett is seen saying in the video before tickling Hero, who bursts into laughter 'All your lil homies got you...We love the hell outta you,' Howard wrote in the caption for the clip, which has been viewed more than 377,000 times 'How many teeth does he have?' Smollett is seen saying in the video before tickling Hero, who bursts into laughter. Smollett then adds: 'Aw, he's such a sweet baby.' The 36-year-old actor was arrested last week and charged with filing a false police report of a hate crime. He claimed two white men wearing cornered him around 2am in Chicago on January 29. Smollett said the men threw bleach on him, tied a noose around his neck and yelled 'f****t', 'n****r' and 'This is MAGA country!' However, after three weeks of investigation, Chicago police publicly announced that they believed Smollett made up the attack. Police added that they believe Smollett paid two Nigerian brothers to pretend to attack him because he was upset with his salary on Empire. According to a Variety report from 2016, Smollett made about $20,000 per episode while co-stars Howard and Taraji P Henson - who plays his mother on the show - each made about $175,000 per episode. Since Smollett's arrest, his other Empire co-stars have yet to make any public statements. Pictured, left to right: Howard's Lucious Lyon, Taraji P Henson's Cookie Lyon and Smollett's Jamal Lyon in a season 4 episode of Empire In the wake of Smollett's arrest, Fox announced his character, Jamal Lyon, was being written out of the last two episodes of season five. Pictured: Howard's Lucious Lyon and Smollett's Jamal Lyon in a season 3 episode of Empire TMZ reported that a check for a total of $3,500 written by Smollett to the two brothers states it was for a 'training fee'. The memo line on the check reads: '5 week Nutrition/Workout program Don't Go.' Sources reportedly told TMZ that Smollett paid $600 a week for a five-week workout plan and $100 a week for a five-week nutrition plan, which equals $3,500. Allegedly, 'Don't Go' is a reference to a song that Smollett was going to appear in a music video for. Smollett insists he is innocent and his attorneys say they plan to mount 'an aggressive defense'. 'Like any other citizen, Mr Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked,' his attorneys said in a statement. Many fans commented on Howard's Instagram post, angry that he was defending his co-star. 'Sorry you feel that way but that's the only Jussie I know,' he replied to one comment. 'The Jussie I know could never even conceive of something so unconscious and ugly. His innocence or judgment is not for any of us to decide. 'Stay in your lane and my lane is empathy and love and compassion for someone I've called my son for five years. It's God's job to judge and it's ours to love and hope, especially for those that we claim to have loved.' On Friday, Fox announced Smollett's character, Jamal Lyon, was being written out of the last two episodes of season five. Since Smollett's arrest, his other Empire co-stars have yet to make any public statements. Social media users are now wondering, however, if Smollett was inspired for his alleged attack after Empire creator Lee Daniels revealed his cousin had been assaulted because he is gay. Daniels posted a video on Instagram on January 10 condemning homophobia after his cousin was targeted and beaten because of his sexuality. 'This past week my cousin was beat up for being gay and I am sick of hearing these stories,' the Empire creator wrote alongside the video. 'Its the beginning of a new year and we need to do better. We need to continue to remember to love and to turn against the hate that were seeing out there. But we all need to fight that fight together. Chinese scientists have developed super smart rat cyborgs that can be controlled through a maze using the power of human thought. Researchers from Zhejiang University implanted electrodes on the rats' brains and connected them to a human brain reports Discover Magazine. The human volunteers were set up with a brain-brain interface, which creates a direct communication pathway between one animal and another. When the person thought about moving their left or right arm it would make the rat move it the matching direction. Scientists in China have developed super smart rat cyborgs that can be controlled around a maze by human thought. When a human participator thought about moving their arm left or right the EEG picked it up and the command was transmitted to a stimulator on the rat If the human participant blinked, it would instruct the rat to move forward around the maze. To start with the maze was simple but became more complex adding 'tight turns and levels' as the experiment went on. Discover Magazine explained how when the human had movement related thoughts 'an EEG picked it up and transferred them to a computer. 'The computer translates that signal into "control instructions" which get wirelessly beamed into the stimulator on the back of the cyborg rat and then into its brain via electrodes.' Overall the rats did well and improved their control time with practise and two were said to have 'performed flawlessly'. Video of the experiment shows one white rat moving around the maze, which has slopes and a small bridge, while a light flashes on the top of its head. Six rats were used in the experiment and they can be seen on video following arrows that the humans watching on a video are reacting too When lights with arrows on them at the bottom of the screen flash the rat moves in the corresponding direction. Six rats, that had been trained before, were used to gather the information. The results of the study were published under the title: 'Human Mind Control of Rat Cyborg's Continuous Locomotion with Wireless Brain-to-Brain Interface.' The scientists explained: 'We developed a BBI from the human brain to a rat implanted with microelectrodes (i.e., rat cyborg), which integrated electroencephalogram-based motor imagery and brain stimulation to realize human mind control of the rat's continuous locomotion.' They then concluded: 'The results showed that rat cyborgs could be smoothly and successfully navigated by the human mind to complete a navigation task in a complex maze. Andrea Stocco, a brain researcher at the University of Washington said: 'The results are impressive but believable.' In 2016 six rats at the university had electrodes implanted into their brains to help them navigate. Researchers used a computer algorithm to stimulate the rats' brains to prompt them to move left and right when it felt the rats needed help. When they compared their performance in mazes to unaltered rats, they were able to navigate their way through the maze far faster and chose more efficient routes. Rats were fitted with 'backpacks' and brain implants that allowed a computer to stimulate the left and right somatosensory cortex of their brains during the 2016 experiment Rats were placed in unfamiliar mazes and had to find their way to some food or a drink of water Professor Gang Pan, a computer scientist at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, who led the research said it could allow rats to be used in search and rescue operations. Writing in the journal Public Library of Sciences One, he and his colleagues described their experiments as a 'proof-of-principle demonstration for cyborg intelligence'. The researchers initially trained six rats to navigate mazes by either enticing them with a smear of peanut butter at the end, a drink of water or a buzz of dopamine in the reward centre of their brains. The rats were then fitted with electrodes in the left and right somatosensory cortex of their brains, which linked to a computer. As they navigated the mazes, the computer was either turned off, leaving the rats to find their way by themselves, or it was turned on to turn them into rat cyborgs. Former FBI acting Director Andrew McCabe said he has no idea what President Donald Trump was talking about when the president slammed his as a 'poor man's J. Edgar Hoover.' 'I don't even know what that means,' he said Sunday on ABC's 'This Week.' 'You know, it's not the first time that I've had to listen to the president say bizarre and untrue things about me, so it's unfortunate this is getting a little bit routine,' he added. Former FBI acting Director Andrew McCabe said he has no idea what President Trump was talking about when he called him a 'poor man's J. Edgar Hoover' Donald Trump used his bully pulpit on Wednesday to marginalize former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe and called him a 'poor man's J. Edgar Hoover' Trump told reporters on Wednesday that McCabe is more perp than cop. 'I think Andrew McCabe has made a fool out of himself over the last couple of days, and he really looks to me like sort of a poor man's J. Edgar Hoover,' Trump said in the Oval Office. 'I think he's a disaster,' the president said. 'And what he was trying to do was terrible, and he was caught. I'm very proud to say we caught him.' Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe in 2018 less than two days before he was due to retire with a full government pension. He cited McCabe's 'lack of candor' to investigators probing press leaks about the FBI's investigation surrounding Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's classified email scandal. 'He is a disgraced man,' Trump said last week, citing the inspector general report that resulted. McCabe is suing the Justice Department and the administration over his dismissal. 'It will be an action against the Department of Justice primarily in challenging the circumstances of my firing,' he told ABC. 'It, of course, derives from the inspector-general report, a report that I deeply disagree with, a report that was the result of a process that I don't think anyone has ever seen before. I certainly hadn't,' he said. 'There is no doubt in my mind that the president's clear desire impacted that process. The president was talking about removing me for months before I ever interacted with the inspector general. He made his desires perfectly clear on his own Twitter feed. The inspector general delivered that result,' McCabe said. Trump has railed against McCabe, who became acting director of the FBI when James Comey was fired, as McCabe promotes his new book, 'The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump.' McCabe has conducted several interviews as part of his press tour for his book and he's held nothing back. McCabe told '60 Minutes' how top Justice Department officials - in the wake of Trump's firing of FBI director James Comey - discussed convening the Cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment and remove Trump from office. He also confirmed Deputy Attorney Rod Rosenstein did offer to wear a wire during a White House meeting with Trump. And he told NBC's 'Today Show' that he briefed the so-called 'Gang of Eight' on Capitol Hill, a group of the top congressional leaders from both parties, about the FBI's investigation into whether Trump was an agent for Russia and said neither Republicans nor Democrats raised any red flags at the time. Despite Trump's nonstop complaints about McCabe, or perhaps because of them, McCabe's book 'The Threat' became an instant bestseller this week outperforming every other book in Amazon.com's massive inventory McCabe personally authorized two federal investigations into President Trump - one into Russia's role in the 2016 election and the other a counter intelligence investigation into whether Trump was an agent for Russia. He said it was his decision to investigate Trump in regards to his relationship with Russia. 'I can tell you that the information that was in our hands at the time, much of which is publicly known, caused us great concern,' McCabe told 'This Week' on Sunday. 'This was the recommendation from the investigative team, and it was ultimately my decision to authorize the opening of the case. And I did that because at the time, the facts clearly indicated that we had an articulable basis to believe that a crime may have been committed and that a threat to national security might exist,' he added. McCabe also urged the hiring of a special prosector after Trump fired Comey. He was asked his assessment of special counsel Robert Mueller. 'I think first and foremost what you can expect from Robert Mueller is an honest, independent assessment of the work that they've done. How much detail he chooses to go into to convey to the Department of Justice is a great question. I hope they lean on the detailed side. This is not a normal investigation by any evaluation. It's one that I think the department, Congress and the public have enormous interest in finding out just exactly what they learned,' he said. A teenager is fighting for his life after a late-night stabbing in which three younger boys have been arrested, police say. Officers and ambulance crews were called to Grange Road in Southwark at 11.15pm last night to reports of a stabbing. A 17-year-old male was found with knife wounds at the scene and was taken to hospital where he remains in a critical condition. Police were called to the corner of Grange Road and Alscot Road, Southwark, following reports of a stabbing. Three teenagers, two aged 15 and one 14-year-old have been arrested Two 15-year-old boys and one 14-year-old boy have been arrested and are in custody awaiting questioning. This follows reports of a triple stabbing at a church party in nearby Camberwell on Friday night. A Met police spokesman said: 'Police were called to Grange Road near the junction with Alscot Road, Southwark, at 23.15hrs on Saturday, 23 February to reports of a stabbing. 'Officers attended along with the London Ambulance Service. 'A 17-year-old male was found with stab injuries. He has been taken to hospital for treatment - he remains there in a critical condition. 'His next of kin have been informed. 'Three males - Two 15-year-olds and one 14-year-old - have been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm in connection with this investigation. 'The 15-year-olds remain in custody at a south London police station; the 14-year-old remains in hospital receiving treatment to a stab injury - his condition is not life threatening. 'An investigation is underway.' Assembly Member for Havering and Redbridge Keith Prince said: 'Is there no end to this madness? Please Sadiq Khan work with us to end this needless tragedy on our streets 'This simply cannot be allowed to continue we need action now.' A historic 19th century battlefield was looted by US troops on deployment in Afghanistan in 2009. Military artefacts and and personal possessions buried alongside victims were stolen from the site of the Battle of Maiwand, where British soldiers fought. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) says troops may have 'broken international law' after many of the items from the massacre were sold to collectors and turned up online. Evidence of items being looted has now been presented to the Pentagon by the MoD, The Sunday Times reported. A historic 19th century battlefield was looted by US troops on deployment in Afghanistan in 2009 The battle was one of the bloodiest conflicts in history after 969 British and Indian soldiers were killed as they tried to push back against thousands of tribesmen. Historical records show that bodies were buried soon after the bloodshed along with any other possessions that had not already been looted by Afghans. But the remains were taken from the ground after a large force of US soldiers as they waged in conflict with the Taliban. A US soldier is understood to have sent historical war artefacts back home after working on an old irrigation ditch with fellow troops near Muhmudabad, in the Maiwand district. Military artefacts and and personal possessions buried alongside victims were stolen from the site of the Battle of Maiwand in Afghanistan (pictured), where British soldiers fought One collector confirmed they had purchased items, such as Items such as binoculars, coins, rifle parts and watch chains, from a soldier who dug up the items. They posted to the Victorian War Forum website: 'Sent to me by my friend's son who is currently serving with the 1st Infantry Regiment'. Collectables from battles such as Maiwand, which featured in Sherlock Holmes novels, are more valuable because of their history. Major Chris Green, a former officer in the London Regiment who fought near the famous Maiwand battle in 2012 told the newspaper: 'Taking possessions from belonging to dead British soldiers from a battlefield...for personal gain is wrong.' The US defence department did not respond to the newspaper's request for comment. Real Time host Bill Maher mocked Americans living in red states as less 'affluent and educated' than those living in blue states. The comment was part of a message to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos after he and his company pulled out of a deal to have a headquarters in Queens in New York City. He said the company now had a chance to 'actually do good' and help out areas of the country that are less prosperous. In the closing remarks of his HBO show on Friday night, Maher compared Bezos to Bugsy Siegel, remarking that if the mobster built Las Vegas in the midst of a desert, then Amazon could do the same by turning Nebraska 'into the next Silicon Valley'. 'We have a problem in America called spatial geographic inequality which means the most affluent and educated people are clustered in just a few cities,' Maher said. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Real Time host Bill Maher said the 'most affluent and educated people are clustered in just a few cities', referring to those in blue states, in the closing remarks of his Friday show He then went on to mention a comment made by Hillary Clinton about how she 'won the places that represent two-thirds of America's gross domestic product' in the 2016 presidential election. Maher then shows a map where the majority of Middle America is in red while the coasts are heavy in blue, indicating where the plurality voted Democrat or Republican. 'The blue parts of America are having a prosperity party while that big sea of red feels like their invitation got lost in the mail,' Maher said. He then goes on to say there are clearly 'two Americas'. 'We have orchestras and theaters districts and world-class shopping. We have Chef Wolfgang Puck, they have Chef Boyardee,' Maher said. 'Our roofs have solar panels. Theirs has last year's Christmas lights.' The late-night host said Middle America, or 'the passed-over states', are not just angry - they're 'pissed off'. 'They don't hate us, they want to be us,' Maher said. Maher also accused Amazon of 'playing cities off against one another' during its bidding process for new headquarters. After 238 cities and regions submitted proposal, Amazon chose New York City and Arlington, Virginia, which is suburban Washington, DC. 'And Amazon picked two places that didn't need them at all, places where prosperity already was. Bezos you're worth 130 billion,' Maher said. 'Take one for the team. Stop playing cities off against one another and help a dying one come back to life!' Maher (left in December 2018 and right in August 2017) then goes on to say there are clearly 'two Americas', one where there is 'Chef Wolfgang Puck' and another when there is 'Chef Boyardee' On February 14, Amazon abruptly dropped plans Thursday for a big new headquarters in New York that would have brought 25,000 jobs to the city. Several politicians and activists objected to the nearly $3 billion in incentives 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. The stunning move was a serious blow to Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had lobbied intensely to land the project. New York City competed 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 Amazon's change of heart, saying the project would have helped diversify the city's economy, cement its status as an emerging tech hub and generate money for schools, housing and transit. 'A small group (of) politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community,' he said. But Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York City's new liberal firebrand, exulted over Amazon's pullout. 'Today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers and their neighbors defeated Amazon's corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world,' she tweeted, referring to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. In pulling out, Amazon said it isn't 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. The annual Anzac Day dawn service held on the outskirts of a French village on the Western Front has been cancelled by the Australian government who will instead run a 'more convenient' 10am service. The service, which is held at the Australian War Memorial, near Villers-Bretonneux, will revert to the format used before the 90th anniversary in 2008 to appease French participants. The move has been slammed by descendants of soldiers who fought on the French battlefields in World War I and comes after Australian taxpayers spend $99 million to build the Sir John Monash Centre, The Australian reported. The annual Anzac Day dawn service held at the historical Western Front has been cancelled by the Australian government The centre, which is one of the most expensive museum's to be built in France in recent decades, honours the sacrifices of the Australian troops during the war. Thousands of Australians have made the journey to attend the dawn service in France, while millions of others turned to their televisions to watch the live coverage. Despite the following, the newly allocated time of 7pm AEST is unlikely to be broadcast. The Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) made the move to cancel the dawn service time slot, as revealed by DVA customer service officer Diana Stevanovic. 'Following the completion of the Anzac centenary commemoration program 2014-2018 and consultation with local government representatives from the towns of Villers-Bretonneux, Corbie and Fouilloy, the Australian government has agreed to revert back to a 10am start time as a trial for the 2019 Anzac Day service,' she said in an email. 'As you may be aware, prior to 2008, the Anzac Day service was held at 10am and following an overwhelming positive response to the Armistice service held at 10.30am on November 11, 2018, from both attendees, invited guests and the relevant French authorities, the Australian government has decided to trial reverting back to a 10am service for Anzac Day 2019.' Pictured: Malcolm Turnbull attends Anzac Day dawn service at Villers-Bretonneux in 2018 Danny Duke, whose great-uncle Albert Lightfoot fought at Villers-Bretonneux, said he was disappointed and dumbfounded the dawn service had been changed. 'The dawn service is an important Australian tradition and we've commemorated it since 1919,' he told The Australian. Mr Duke has attended the dawn service in France twice and went as recently as last year. He also questioned what would happen to the surrounding towns with the cancellation of the dawn service as the travelling Australians provide economic and tourist benefits to the area. Similarly, retired lieutenant colonel Paul Murphy was outraged by the decision, labelling it a 'mockery'. The bold move has been slammed by descendants of soldiers who fought on the French battlefields in World War I Mr Murphy, whose company Military History Tours has guided thousands of Australians through the Western Front, suggested the DVA didn't understand how important the history was to a number of the population. He then questioned why DVA wanted to 'devalue' Australia's largest overseas memorial. Mr Murphy took his protest to the DVA but was met with a response that said Anzac Day services met the demand of the community at each location. Alan Griffin, the former Veterans Affairs minister for the Rudd government, questioned why the government would spend almost $100 million on the Sir John Monash Centre yet be willing to save cash through removing the dawn service. He called the situation 'mind-boggling'. The Australian property market could be bouncing back, despite months of speculation surrounding a sudden and potentially devastating price plunge. CoreLogic data showed there were 2,303 homes taken to auction this week, with a clearance rate of 54.1 per cent. That marks a rise since last week, when 1,450 auctions were held with a clearance rate of 51.2 per cent, The Australian reported. The outcome has renewed optimism among homeowners and investors, who hope the trend may carry throughout 2019 and see a steady rise in house sales. The Australian property market may well be bouncing back after weeks of speculation surrounding a sudden and potentially devastating price plunge More than 150 people turned out on Saturday to watch property mogul Stephen Burcher's home (pictured) go to auction But the market has not bounced back to where it was this time last year, when a clearance rate of 66.8 per cent was recorded. Sydney and Melbourne, which make up 60 per cent of the country's housing stock, both saw clearance rate increases, but those may shift as more results come in. 'It will be interesting to see how clearance rates hold up now that auction volumes have started to pick up,' a CoreLogic researcher said. The Canberra and Brisbane markets also saw a weekly rise in clearance rates. The hotly anticipated auction had six registered bidders, but some did not put in an offer on the day The five-bedroom and five-bathroom home was initially priced at $25million but didn't reach the asking price Damien Cooley, managing director of Cooley Auctions in Canberra, said it could point to 'early signs' a new level was being set in the city's market. More than 150 people turned out to watch property mogul Stephen Burcher's home in Rose Bay, in Sydney's east, go to auction on Saturday, when it was passed in with an offer of $23.25million. The previous bidding record was held by the Le Manoir estate in Bellevue Hill, which sold in 2009. The hotly anticipated auction had six registered bidders, with the highest offer coming from a Chinese buyer, Domain reported. The five-bedroom and five-bathroom home was initially priced at $25million, with sprawling views of the harbour, a private boat shed and an internal lift across the three level property. The identity of the man accused of raping a girl under the age of 13 after he allegedly broke into her family home as she slept has been revealed. Daniel Altieri, 29, has been charged with a string of offences after he allegedly invaded the home in Perth's south on Saturday morning and repeatedly sexually assaulted the girl. The father woke to the girl's screams and ran into her room to allegedly find Altieri standing over her. After a scuffle, he managed to hold Altieri down until officers arrived, police said. Police are now praising the father for his quick-thinking and restraint. Daniel Altieri, 29, (pictured) has been charged with a string of offences after allegedly breaking into the family home in Perth's south on Saturday morning and allegedly raping a girl under the age of 13 'Police haven't revealed the age of the girl or the suburb where the assault allegedly took place to protect the victim's identity,' a police statement said. The girl was rushed to hospital but has since returned home and is now under the care of her family. Acting Assistant Commissioner Alan Morton called the assault 'traumatic' and confirmed the father will not be charged. 'As a senior police officer, as a member of the community and as the father of a young child myself, my thoughts are with the victim and the family,' he told Perth Now. Altieri has been charged with two counts of aggravated sexual penetration of a child under 13, attempted sexual penetration of a child under 13, three counts of aggravated indecent dealing of a child under 13, aggravated burglary and threaten to kill. He was refused bail when he appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Sunday and will appear again on March 18. Gary Clark Jr. says he was approached by a neighbor last year near his 50-acre property in Texas and was told 'there's no way you can live here' - as the musician opens up about the racism he has faced in America. The Grammy-winning artist recalled a neighbor coming up to him last year after he bought the sprawling property outside Austin where he and his Australian model wife Nicole Trunfio plan to raise their two young children. 'My neighbor comes to me and says, 'Who owns this house? There's no way you can live here who's the owner?' Clark told Rolling Stone. The 35-year-old repeatedly insisted: 'This is my house'. Gary Clark Jr. says he was approached by a neighbor last year near his 50-acre property in Austin, Texas and was told 'there's no way you can live here'. He lives on the property with his Australian model wife Nicole Trunfio and their two young children His three-year-old son, who watched the incident unfold, later asked his father why the man was so angry. 'Maybe it wasn't racial... But in my mind I was thinking of that and I'm tired of having to think that way.' That incident, as well as a number of others growing up black in the South, became the inspiration for Clark's soon-to-be released album, 'This Land'. He recalled as a child 'getting dogs**t in the mailbox, people writing 'n****r' on my fence outside my parent's house, riding around in trucks (putting) Confederate flags over my fence'. 'That was a regular occurrence,' Clark added. Other instances that he says inspired his latest album include Donald Trump being elected and the deadly Charlottesville rally in 2017. That incident, as well as a number of others growing up black in the South, became the inspiration for Clark's soon-to-be released album, 'This Land'. He performed one of his singles last week on Saturday Night Live The Grammy-winning artist recalled a neighbor coming up to him last year after he bought the sprawling property outside Austin where he and his Australian model wife Nicole Trunfio plan to raise their two young children The lyrics to his song, This Land, describes the area where he lives outside Austin as 'Trump country'. 'Paranoid and p***ed off. Now that I got the money. Fifty acres and a model. Right in the middle of Trump country,' he wrote in the lyrics. 'I see you looking out your window. Can't wait to call the police on me. 'I'm America's son. This is where I come from.' In writing the album, Clark told NPR that he doesn't usually like to be angry but he wanted to be honest. 'That's what came out as a result of you know, life being black in this country, in this world, unfortunately,' he said. 'I'm singing like I never sang in my life before. I'm going to be exhausted after this but it's time to put it all out there on the table.' What makes his travels absorbing is that he has combined on foot journey with hitch-hiking wherever roads and traffic permitted it. Levison Woods travelogue, Arabia, is about what he calls his journey Through the Heart of the Middle East. This has a long and haloed precedent in British travellers exploring the deeper regions of Arabia considered even till mid-twentieth century as not traversalable on foot. Sir Richard Francis Burton, linguist and explorer, visited Mecca in 19th century in disguise as non-Muslims are forbidden entry. He was also the first to translate Arabian Nights into English. In past century Sir Wilfred Thesiger crossed in foot in 1946 the Empty Quarter, vast sea of sand, that separates Saudi Arabia from Oman and United Arab Emirates. He repeated it the following year. His book Arabian Sands recounts that adventure. But Woods journey is wider and traverses a geo-politically altered region which is not only more urbanised, richer but also dangerously divided by Shia-Sunni contestation, Islamic radicalisation and terrorism and myriad militias and even pirates. And yet as the writer explores the non-urban vastness behind the urban glitter or degradation he finds that the Bedouin traits of courage, generosity, loyalty and stoic determination persist amongst the people. There is also destruction and trauma as he meanders through literally the entire space from border of Turkey to a journey through Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, partly Yemen and then a by-sea-and-land journey through Somalia, Djibouti and onto Saudi Arabia. From there he works his way up through Jordan, Israel and eventually Lebanon. What makes his travels absorbing is that he has combined on foot journey with hitch-hiking wherever roads and traffic permitted it. There are many nights where he camps outdoors or simply relies on his Bedouin companions native skills to meet the challenge of terrain and weather. His guide changes from country to country and Wood captures their traits and world view graphically. History and culture are related to current reality. He arrives at Mosul, Iraq days after it was retaken from ISIS. He loiters through the debris and the ruins of al-Nuri mosque where al Baghdadi declared himself Caliph. He then travels South through ongoing combat against the backdrop of ruins of some of the oldest cities and cultures of the world. He visits abandoned five-thousand-year-old Sumerian ruins, with shards of pottery and bricks with cuneiform writing littered unattended. He stops, reminisces and moves on towards the half-way point- the Rub al Khali or Empty Quarter. En route he has interesting observations about new Arabia. In Dubai discussing easy availability of liquor and the locals generally ignoring even slightly inebriated foreigners he correctly concludes: Basically, the rule, of thumb is its okay to get pissed, just dont piss off the Arabs. The portion about his crossing of Empty Quarter, starting from Nizwa in Oman and traversing to the coast north of Salah provides drama as dangerous as cutting through terror affected parts of the region. The enemy here is nature resisting human intrusion. The dependence on camels and the local knowledge of the Bedouin guide in navigating and surviving in the harsh barrenness of seemingly endless desert makes for existential struggle that Thesiger underwent. In six decades the desert has remained as remote and remorseless. His journey then winds through Saudi Arabia where his minder drives him along the Red Sea coast, bypassing Mecca, stopping in quaint and even deserted old villages. The occupants have opted for urban existence in a post-oil Saudi Arabia. But a chance encounter with rusted remains of a train blown up in 1917 brings Wood directly into footsteps of the other famous Arabist Col T.E. Lawrence, made even more famous by Peter O Toole in the movie, Lawrence of Arabia. He takes a little break as he celebrates Christmas in the Holy Land of Israel. But even there the Palestinian-Israeli stand-off provides the tense backdrop. Wood observes the irony of descendants of David wielding guns with rubber bullets with metal cores while the children of Goliath, in a role reversal, throw stones. From Israel Wood is unable to cross into Lebanon or Syria but discovers a cosy arrangement between Israel and ISIS. In this strife torn region strange are many bedfellows as nations jockey to survive or simply protect their national interests. But the most fascinating is his short sojourn in Damascus. The capital of Syria, still undamaged by war and destruction, rampantly manifest elsewhere, is a magical oasis of secular coexistence with girls in miniskirts and storytellers in an old bathhouse turned into a cafe. The journey eventually ends at Lebanese port of Byblos, from where the Phoenicians spread their power and influence. The book is very easy read despite carrying the reader through complex and dangerous lands. For those not familiar with the region it is a welcome introduction. For those with some knowledge it still provides new socio-political insights. It is not a geo-political treatise. Being a travelogue it carries the reader through lands that have seen uneven prosperity, ethnic fissures and religious contestation between the secular and the bigoted. Ironically the current turbulence has been caused by US intervention in Iraq in 2003 and Arab Spring, which deposed autocratic rulers of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. The result has not been democracy and constitutionalism. It is by literally walking through this fractured world that Wood did the impossible. He survived to tell his interesting tale. The writer is a former secretary in the external affairs ministry. He tweets at @ambkcsingh President Donald Trump on Sunday mocked those giving him advice on negotiating with North Korea, saying they had gotten 'nothing' so 'thanks anyway.' 'So funny to watch people who have failed for years, they got NOTHING, telling me how to negotiate with North Korea. But thanks anyway!,' he tweeted. Trump's upcoming second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was discussed on the Sunday shows with Democrats expressing skepticism about Trump's ability to gain concessions from Kim during their sit down. President Donald Trump on Sunday mocked those giving him advice on negotiating with North Korea, saying they had gotten 'nothing' so 'thanks anyway' 'This summit may be a dud, that instead of concrete progress on what is important, denuclearization,' said Bill Richardson, the former Democratic governor of New Mexico who also served as Bill Clinton's ambassador to the U.N. Trump has claimed multiple times that he stopped a war with North Korea that was on the brink of happening when he took office from President Barack Obama. Democrats have been tough on the president's relationship with Kim, who Trump claims the two fell in love. 'Well right now, it's pretty clear that Kim wants to have a personal meeting with Trump with hopes that he can, in fact, elicit concessions from President Trump that otherwise might not be possible if it was just our diplomats talking one on one. So I think there is apprehension, in fact amongst President Trump's own diplomats heading into this summit. Nothing is clear and I think as a result we could run the risk that- Kim is given concessions which are not accompanied by real concessions that the United States is receiving in return from Kim and his regime,' Democratic Sen. Ed Markey said on CBS' 'Face the Nation.' Also on Sunday Trump teased the prospect of denuclearization in North Korea ahead of his second summit with Kim Jong Un and argued such a move would help make the country 'one of the great economic powers.' He also offered praise to Chinese President Xi Jinping for his help in the matter as the U.S. continues talks with Beijing to try and end a trade war. President Trump's economic argument is likely a preview of the case he will make to Kim in Vietnam this week as the U.S. has demanded verifiable steps North Korea has downgraded its nuclear program before it will support ending economic sanctions against the country. President Trump's economic argument is likely a preview of the case he will make to Kim Jong Un in their second summit in Vietnam this week Trump touted his progress with Pyongyang ahead of Monday's departure for Vietnam for his second face-to-face sit down with Kim in a series of tweets Sunday morning. 'Very productive talks yesterday with China on Trade. Will continue today! I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, early tomorrow for a Summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Denuclearization?,' he wrote. He then offered warm warms of praise for the Chinese in the wake of trade talks between the two countries. 'President Xi of China has been very helpful in his support of my meeting with Kim Jong Un. The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door. Sanctions placed on the border by China and Russia have been very helpful. Great relationship with Chairman Kim!,' the president tweeted. He concluded with: 'Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!' Trump and Kim will meet Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. Kim left for their summit via train while Trump flies out Monday. On the agenda is denuclearization. Washington is looking for concrete steps from North Korean that progress has been made on that front after Kim pledged to eliminate his country's nuclear weapons' program at his and Trump's first summit in Singapore last summer. Trump said last week that North Korea must do 'something that's meaningful' on denuclearization before he would consider lifting economic sanctions. North Korea has pushed for those sanctions to be reduced before it makes major changes to its nuclear program. Trump insisted all of last year that crippling sanctions would not be lifted until Pyongyang had submitted to complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization requirements. Nuclear weapons are banned by the United Nations, and North Korea has been in violation of treaties barring tests for decades. Trump claims to be one of the greatest dealmakers of his time and has repeatedly committed to leaving American troops in South Korea and economic sanctions in place until North Korea follows through on its commitment in Singapore last June to get rid of its nuclear arsenal. Troop removal is 'not a subject of discussions' at this time, a senior official told reporters on Thursday. Trump and Kim shake hands after their first summit in Singapore in June of 2018 North Korean, U.S.A and Vietnamese flags are flown in Hanoi as the city prepares for the upcoming Trump-Kim summit In a call, the official wouldn't say what else the U.S. or North Korea may have committed to in the interim, telling reporters, 'We are in the midst of negotiating on some issues, and as is often the case in these negotiations, nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to. 'I would not want to mention any of the specifics except to say that we will be closely engaged with the North Korean delegation right up until the President arrives for the summit next week,' the person said. Meanwhile, Trump offered praise to Xi ahead of his Asia trip, a move that comes after his comments on Friday, when he said there was 'a very good chance' the United States would strike a deal with China to end their trade war and that he was inclined to extend his March 1 deadline to reach an agreement. U.S. and Chinese negotiators had made progress and would continue this week's round of negotiations through the weekend, Trump told reporters in the White House as he met his top negotiators and their counterpart, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. 'I think that we both feel there's a very good chance a deal will happen,' Trump said. Extending the deadline would mean Trump would put on hold a scheduled tariff increase to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion of Chinese imports into the United States. That would prevent a further escalation in a trade war that has already disrupted commerce in goods worth hundreds of billions of dollars, slowed global economic growth and roiled markets. Jon Lansman, founder of Labours left-wing party-within-a-party Momentum, has admitted The Independent Group (TIG) formed by the defection of eight Labour and three Tory MPs represents a threat to the Labour Party. In a scathing interview in which he dismissed the Labour splitters as political lightweights he announced he would be rallying his army of 40,000 grassroots activists to unseat TIGs former Labour members, including by calling for by-elections in the seats of three of its members. It comes as upto 20 senior Labour politicians are feared by party sources to be on the verge of jumping ship, and a major former Labour donor said he had already starting funding TIG. Jon Lansman speaking at The World Transformed in Liverpool during Conference. Today he called on activists to work to unseat TIG's Labour defectors, calling the group 'a threat' Mr Lansman told The Independent that Momentum would be holding canvassing events in Streatham, Stockport and Penistone, and Stocksbridge the constituencies of former Labour MPs, Chuka Umunna, Ann Coffey, and Angela Smith respectively. All three have rejected calls to put their change of allegiance to their electorates. Mr Lansman said: Were going to be collecting signatures for petitions in those constituencies, calling for by-elections. Having been elected on the basis of the manifesto that they are now rejecting do the honourable thing. Mr Lansman said we should not exaggerate the threat posed by TIG, but went on: Obviously the threat as it is, is that whilst it wont succeed itself which is absolutely guaranteed in my view, it may damage us. He said TIG was far less likely to break the mould of British politics that the SDP, founded in 1981 by Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Shirley Williams and Bill Rogers. The Independent Group's MPs: Sarah Wollaston, Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry, Joan Ryan, Angela Smith, Luciana Berger, Ann Coffey, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Chuka Umunna and Mike Gapes The lack of a credible leader is a serious matter but actually the SDP had three credible leaders out of four when it launched, he said. The SDP had people who were political heavyweights. These are people who are political lightweights. They had a very clear programme. These people do not. His intervention comes as multiple party figures warned they expect further defections in the coming days and weeks. Tom Watson told Andrew Marr this morning that MPs, peers and councillors were preparing to jump ship. And the Observer quoted one anonymous Labour MP as saying: I know personally there are up to 20 MPs sitting on the cliff edge with another telling the paper: One hundred per cent, more will go. Sir David Garrard, who has donated 1.5m to Labour since 2003, also told the paper he had started funding TIG. He said: From the very outset of Mr Corbyns leadership I had feared the ultra-Left Marxist/Socialist nature of the Labour partys new leadership and its supporters, all of which led me to conclude that a socialist republic for our nation was what these politicians intend. He said he had watched the emergence of TIG with a sense of actual relief and optimism. He went on: I am hopeful that there may yet be a bright outcome from the sadness and despair of what was once a proud and courageous Labour party. Ive been asked whether I will financially support the new group. I have already done so. A 25-year-old man who was shot dead when trying to hijack a Bangladesh Airlines flight using a toy gun, had been having 'troubles with his wife', police say. The man, named only as Mahadi, used the gun to take a crew member hostage while also demanding to speak with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina. Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG 147, which was flying to the UAE from Dhaka on Sunday, was forced to make an emergency landing at Chittagong, before commandos moved in and shot Mahadi dead. Kusum Dewan, additional commissioner of Chittagong police, said the man 'appeared to be mentally imbalanced.' A 25-year-old man, named only as Mahadi, used a toy gun in an attempt to hijack a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight on Sunday 'because he was having troubles with his wife' Mahadi used the gun to take a crew member aboard the plane hostage and demanded to speak with the Prime Minister before the jet made an emergency landing at Chittagong airport 'We heard he had a personal issue with his wife and demanded to speak to the prime minister. But we are still investigating. 'We don't want to come to any conclusions right now.' During the hijacking, the man had claimed to have a gun and a bomb, however the weapon turned out to be a toy and no explosives were found on him. One passenger told reporters he may have fired the weapon twice, but civil aviation authority chairman Air Vice Marshall Nayeem Hasan said the gun he was carrying was not real. 'According to those who have seen it, it appears that the gun was fake,' Hasan said. All 142 other passengers disembarked from the flight safely. Authorities are now focusing on how he managed to smuggle even a fake gun past security at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. 'An inquiry is underway,' the civil aviation chief said. 'It is virtually impossible to breach this security as the system is designed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation,' he added. Negotiators tried to persuade Mahadi to leave the plane but after they were met with resistance commandos stormed on board and shot him dead. Nobody else was injured The scene at Chittagong airport on Sunday after the flight made an emergency landing Hasan said Bangladesh security was in line with global standards and the country's airports were regularly checked by top international firms. Pictures of the plane on the runway at Sha Amanat international airport in the dark dominated local newspapers on Monday. Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 165 million, has struggled with radical groups in recent years, including the murder of atheist bloggers and progressive activists by Islamist outfits. In a deadly attack claimed by the Islamic State group in 2016, militants killed 22 people including 18 foreigners at an upmarket cafe in Dhaka popular with Westerners. That attack prompted a swift crackdown by Prime Minister Hasina, with hundreds of suspected militants and their sympathisers arrested or killed in raids across the country. There are calls for John Wayne Airport to be renamed after a 1971 Playboy interview resurfaced in which the screen legend made comments that were racist and homophobic. Now a debate has been sparked over whether his namesake Southern California airport in Orange County should get a new title. John Wayne died nearly 40 years ago at age 72 but the latest uproar concerns remarks he made in an interview when he was 63 where he spoke of how he believed in 'white supremacy,' at least until 'irresponsible' black people became more educated, and that Native Americans were 'selfishly' trying to keep their land. Passengers file by the statue of John Wayne at the airport. There is a proposal floating around to change the name of John Wayne Airport after a 1971 interview revealed prejudicial views 'I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don't believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people,' he said. He added that he 'don't feel guilty about the fact that five or 10 generations ago these people were slaves,' adding 'it's just a fact of life, like the kid who gets infantile paralysis and has to wear braces so he can't play football with the rest of us.' He went onto say that he even believed black people had more advantages in America than whites. But the insults didn't stop there. When asked which films he considered perverted, Wayne listed 1969's Easy Rider and Midnight Cowboy, before using anti-gay slurs in discussing the films further. Others are calling for calm and worry about the cost involved to change the name of the airport back to Orange County Airport 'Orange County today is such an economically and ethnically diverse community that it's hard to justify asking any member of that community to board planes at an airport named after an outspoken racist and homophobe, with his strutting statue occupying a central niche in front of the concourse,' wrote columnist Michael Hiltzik wrote in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece. Hiltzik wrote how in 1979, Orange County was a strongly conservative area which may have influenced the decision to name after Wayne - a hero of Westerns and outspoken conservative. Once the name was chosen, the John Wayne Associates commissioned sculptor Robert Summers to create a nine foot bronze statue of 'the Duke' - which remains in the Thomas F. Riley Terminal on the Arrival Level to this day. But the areas demographic has long since changed with a more liberal and progressive community making up the majority of the population. 'That should be evident from the results of November's election, in which voters turfed out the county's last remaining GOP members of Congress some of whom had embraced Donald Trump in a fruitless effort to save their careers--and elected an all-Democratic congressional delegation,' Hiltzik wrote. 'Wayne was a few weeks shy of his 64th birthday when the interview appeared in print,' Hiltzik continued. 'It was 1971, so the civil rights revolution had been going on for years; Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated three years before. Wayne wasn't expressing the tenor of the times he was reacting to the advances being won by African Americans through demonstrations and legislation.' A 1971 interview Wayne gave to Playboy magazine showed the prejudice the actor had towards gays, blacks, Native Americans, young people and liberals Nonetheless, there are those who defend Wayne given the almost 50-year gap since the comments were made and that he was merely expressing commonly-held view at the time of the interview. 'Removing his name from Orange County's airport now only validates what many Americans are coming to believe: You can't say anything anymore, darn it, without being discovered and punished by the mob,' Madeline Fry wrote in the Washington Examiner. Fry suggested finding the hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars it would take to rebrand the facility Orange County Airport. 'But for goodness sake, not yet,' she adds. A 33-year-old man has been arrested after a probe into 'extreme right-wing activity'. West Yorkshire Police said the man was arrested in Leeds on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of terrorist acts. They added that a property also in Leeds is being searched by police following the planned and intelligence-led arrest by counter-terror officers. West Yorkshire Police have arrested a 33-year-old man after a probe into 'extreme right-wing activity' (file picture) The suspect remains in a West Yorkshire police station for questioning and was arrested under the Terrorism Act. Superintendent Chris Bowen from Leeds District said: 'I understand our communities will have concerns about this police activity. 'I want to offer my reassurance that public safety is our top priority. If you have any concerns we would ask that you speak to your local Neighbourhood Policing Team. 'If you see or hear something that could be terrorist related, ACT on your instincts by reporting your concerns at www.gov.uk/ACT' Britain is being gripped by an opioid epidemic which is being driven by a huge rise in powerful painkiller prescriptions, an investigation has revealed. Researchers from the Sunday Times say the prescription rise is leading to soaring addiction rates, overdoses and five deaths every year. Britons are being handed the highly addictive painkillers which are ineffective after a few days, for chronic pain. In the US, super-strength painkillers have killed more than 91,000 people in the past two years. Britain is being gripped by an opioid epidemic which is being driven by a huge rise in powerful painkiller prescriptions, an investigation has revealed. Stock image shows painkillers MPs, senior doctors and drug specialists have warned that the UK is heading for a similar crisis as the US. Over the past ten year, addiction has spiralled, overdoses have doubled and deaths have rocketed. Dr Andrew Green, of the British Medical Association, said: 'There is no doubt that we have an epidemic of opioid use.' While Norman Lamb a former health minister said: 'This investigation illustrates the most shocking scandal - a state sponsored public health crisis.' According to the investigation the number of opioids given out by GPs has risen by 10m in the past ten years. There were 41.4m prescribed in 2017 - equating to 79 packs of pills per minute, according to NHS data. The investigation also found five people are dying every day and opioid deaths up by 41 per cent to around 2,000 a year. Blackpool has the highest opioid prescriptions while the Swansea has the highest death rate from the drug. Over the past ten year, addiction has spiralled, overdoses have doubled and deaths have rocketed. Norman Lamb, a former health minister said: 'This investigation illustrates the most shocking scandal - a state sponsored public health crisis.' Hospital admissions has jumped to more than 11,500 a year. Overdose deaths, particularly those from synthetic opioids, have increased especially sharply in the eastern US. The number of people who died due to opioids at least doubled every three years between 1999 and 2016 in eight states: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire and Ohio. About 130 Americans die of opioid overdoses every day. While harm reduction efforts - like handing out clean needles and naloxone - are helping to save lives from HIV infections transmitted through shared needles and by reversing overdoses, these are not necessarily long-term solutions. Quitting powerful, addictive heroin, fentanyl or prescription opioids brings on intense withdrawals. The symptoms - nausea, vomiting, intense anxiety, insomnia, excruciating body aches, tremors and sweating - can become very severe, but aren't life-threatening The mother of an Australian firefighter who died in a Swiss euthanasia clinic has pleaded with authorities to legalise voluntary assisted dying. Troy Thornton, 54, from Victoria, died on Friday after travelling to Basel, Switzerland, for the lethal injection. The father-of-two, who battled multiple system atrophy, flew to the European continent as Victoria's new euthanasia laws do not consider his degenerative disease to be a terminal illness. Victoria will be the first Australian state to legalise euthanasia when the laws come into effect on June 19. Victorian man Troy Thornton met his fate through lethal injection on Friday at a clinic in Bassel, Switzerland, with his tearful wife Christine holding his hand (pictured, Troy Thornton with wife Christine, son Jack and daughter Laura) Mr Thorton's mother, said she hopes Australian politicians will take notice of her son's death and that change will be his legacy Barbara Spencer, Mr Thorton's mother, said she hopes Australian politicians will take notice of her son's death, The Age reported. 'There has to be something done about this,' she said. 'I hope this is his legacy... I will be proud of that and hopefully one day it will be passed and people won't have to travel.' A broken Mr Thornton initially hoped to be euthanised in Australia and was banking on Victorian assisted dying laws to pull through. In that way he would of at least had his dying wish respected: to be surrounded with family and loved ones. 'My friend's dad, he was 85, died recently. He had his whole family there. They were watching footy and he died with them all around him. That's really nice, that's how you want to go out,' Mr Thornton said. Mr Thornton didn't qualify for Victoria's new laws as he could not find two doctors willing to say with absolute certainty that he would die within 12 months, which in his case is a condition to access the legislation. Pictured: Troy Thornton with wife Christine, son Jack and daughter Laura Mr Thornton's disease - multiple system atrophy - is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder That left him with Switzerland as his only option, away from his family and lamenting the shortcomings of the Victoria assisted dying law. Mr Thornton was put in contact with the Swiss clinic through the guidance of euthanasia advocate and founder of Exit International Philip Nitschke. Dr Nitschke praise Victoria for the first Australian state to legalise euthanasia but said the legislation was "onerous, restrictive and unworkable". Mr Thornton had ultimately decided he'd had enough as the restrictive laws would not help his case. 'I've just had enough, but unfortunately the laws, while they are a huge step in the right direction, they don't help me. They discount a lot of people,' he said. Mr Thornton said the danger is people will think the issue has been resolved, 'but what the guy in the street doesn't understand is that those laws don't help people like me who are also suffering. 'These laws need to evolve. Mr Thornton was put in contact with the Swiss clinic through the guidance of euthanasia advocate and founder of Exit International Philip Nitschke A broken Mr Thornton initially hoped to be euthanised in Australia and was banking on Victorian assisted dying laws to pull through 'The focus is on being terminal is wrong. It's about the right to choose how you die, no matter how old you are, no matter what sickness, or non-sickness you've got. If you are of sound mind - and that's important - you should be able to choose.' Mr Thornton urged Australian voters to tell their politicians what they want when it comes to end of life choices. 'When it's our life, we should have control. We should be able to choose if we are of sound mind. That's what I'd like to say,' he said. Mr Thorton's wife Christine made the journey to the other side of the world with him and was there to hold his hand in the final moments. But despite Victoria becoming the first state to legalise voluntary assisted dying, Mr Thornton didn't qualify Mr Thornton hoped to follow through with assisted dying in Victoria so he would of at least had his dying wish respected: to be surrounded with family and loved ones His two teenage children stayed in Australia with their grandparents. When Jack, 17, and Laura, 14, saw their father pack his luggage on Sunday, they knew they would never see him come home again. 'The hardest thing I've ever had to do is say goodbye to them,' Mr Thornton said before his death. 'It just destroyed me.' Mr Thornton's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. There are no treatments and there is no prospect of recovery, but death can take years. 'Doctors have always told me that you don't die of it, you die with it. You can live for quite a few years, but ... you end up being a vegetable,' Mr Thornton said before his injection in Basel. Mr Thornton could not find two doctors willing to say with absolute certainty that he would die within 12 months, which in his case is a condition to access the legislation 'I've just had enough, but unfortunately the laws, while they are a huge step in the right direction, they don't help me. They discount a lot of people,' Mr Thornton said of Victoria's assisted dying law 'After a while it attacks different systems, breathing, swallowing. I'd end up drowning in my own mucous, that's what happens.' He called his disease a 'beast' - one that takes everything away slowly. 'First you can't swim, then you can't run, walk, kick the footy with your children, you can't surf, drive; eventually it takes your career,' Mr Thornton said. 'Then you end up being a vegetable. It's a pretty grim way to go out.' He described every day as 'like Groundhog Day' - filled with incessant vertigo, double vision and nausea. Mr Thornton openly admitted the choice to go by lethal injection was not an easy decision Mr Thornton was left with Switzerland as his only option for assisted dying, away from his family and lamenting the shortcomings of the Victoria assisted dying law 'When it's our life, we should have control. We should be able to choose if we are of sound mind. That's what I'd like to say,' Mr Thornton said of assisted dying laws in Victoria Mr Thornton openly admitted the choice to go by lethal injection was not an easy decision. He said he felt a strange mix of gratitude, sadness and an inevitable fear about presenting his arm to Swiss doctors who would administer the lethal injection. But there was no less fear associated with the alternative: his choice, dignity and freedom slipping away as his disease reduced him to a 'vegetable'. 'It's so surreal and sometimes I do think what the hell am I doing here?' Mr Thornton said before his death. 'Why did I make this decision? But then you see what you've got and it's not going away. I'm lucky to be here because the alternative is pretty ugly.' In the four years since Mr Thornton was diagnosed, he and his family have had a lot of time to come to terms with his planned death. 'There's been a lot of grieving already. We've prepared, my wife and children they know what's coming,' he said. Mr Thornton said he felt a strange mix of gratitude, sadness and an inevitable fear about presenting his arm to Swiss doctors who would administer the lethal injection But there was no less fear associated with the alternative: his choice, dignity and freedom slipping away as his disease reduced him to a 'vegetable' In the four years since Mr Thornton was diagnosed, he and his family have had a lot of time to come to terms with his planned death He added that it might sound like 'a bit of a w**k' but he believed he'd also worked out the meaning of life, which comes down to two things. 'The first one's a no-brainer. We're here to propagate, to evolve the species, to reproduce. The second one is that you're here to inspire. 'Fundamentally, those two things underpin relationships and life is about people.' Mr Thornton spent his last day with his wife taking in the sweeping expanse of the Rhine River that snakes through the northwest medieval city, and enjoying the snow-covered peaks of the Alps. During his last evening, Mr Thornton and his wife Christine sat down for a last supper with a life-long friend. His case attracted attention while he was in Switzerland and several strangers asked if they could join Mr Thornton the day he was going to die. 'Just to be surrounded by human beings when you take your last breath, it's a nice thought,' he said. Mr Thornton added that it might sound like 'a bit of a w**k' but he'd believed he'd also worked out the meaning of life, which comes down to two things Mr Thornton spent his last day with his wife taking in the sweeping expanse of the Rhine River that snakes through the northwest medieval city, and enjoying the snow-covered peaks of the Alps During his last evening, Mr Thornton and his wife Christine sat down for a last supper with a life-long friend His case attracted attention while he was in Switzerland and several strangers asked if they could join Mr Thornton the day he was going to die North Koreas state media criticized US Democrats and American intelligence officials on Sunday for 'chilling the atmosphere' ahead of leader Kim Jong Uns second summit with Donald Trump this week. The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader, where they pledged to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. But their vaguely worded agreement has produced few results and U.S. Democratic senators and US security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions. The North's KCNA state news agency said opposition from US intelligence and members of Congress, who have warned that North Korea is very unlikely to ever completely denuclearize, was just aimed at derailing the talks. North Korea's state media has warned President Donald Trump (right) on Sunday not to listen to US critics who it said were disrupting efforts to improve ties ahead of Trump's second meeting with Kim Jong Un (left) 'If the present U.S. administration reads others' faces, lending an ear to others, it may face the shattered dream of the improvement of the relations with the DPRK and world peace and miss the rare historic opportunity,' the news agency said in a commentary, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The Trump administration has pressed the North to give up its nuclear weapons program, which, combined with its missile capabilities, pose a threat to the United States, before it can expect any concessions. A week before his second summit with Kim, Trump signaled a possible softening of that stance, saying he would love to be able to remove sanctions if there was meaningful progress on denuclearization. Trump also said he was in no rush and had no pressing schedule for North Korea's denuclearization, hinting at a more gradual, reciprocal approach, long favored by Pyongyang. On Sunday, however, Trump seemed hopeful of getting what the US wants, tweeting: 'Very productive talks yesterday with China on Trade. Will continue today! I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, early tomorrow for a Summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Denuclearization?' 'President Xi of China has been very helpful in his support of my meeting with Kim Jong Un. The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door. Sanctions placed on the border by China and Russia have been very helpful. Great relationship with Chairman Kim! 'Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!' North Korea wants security guarantees and a formal end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a treaty. In a letter to Trump last week, three Democratic chairmen of key House committees accused the administration of withholding information on the negotiations with North Korea. 'There are ample reasons to be skeptical that Chairman Kim is committed to a nuclear-free North Korea,' the lawmakers wrote. 'We are perplexed and troubled by the growing disconnect between the intelligence communitys assessment and your administrations statements about Kim Jong Uns actions, commitments, and intentions.' Earlier in February, US Senators Ted Cruz and Robert Menendez wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressing 'deep concern' that efforts by the United States and South Korea to engage with North Korea may lead to sanctions violations. US intelligence officials recently testified to Congress that North Korea was unlikely to ever give up its entire nuclear arsenal. KCNA, referring to US fears of the North's weapons, said if this week's talks ended without results, 'the US people will never be cleared of the security threats that threw them into panic.' The commentary added, 'The Democratic Party of the US and other opponents to the negotiations move overtly and covertly to disrupt them as supported by skepticism backed by all sorts of groundless stories and misinformation even at such a crucial moment as now.' In some parts, the article appeared to echo Trumps own recent talking points, which have blamed former President Barack Obama for taking the two countries to the brink of war. Obamas 'strategic patience' policy was 'the worst blunder,' KCNA said, arguing that Democrats skepticism of Trump was driven by a desire to cover up their failures. 'The Democratic Party seems not realizing itself lurching toward conservative, being lost to its own authenticity at the end of getting indulged in opposition just for the sake of opposition,' the article said. One US government Korea analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the commentary appeared aimed at softening Trump up ahead of the summit. 'If Kim facilitates Trump using the talk for domestic political gain, he probably thinks Trump will offer him more favorable terms' the analyst said. 'If not offer more favorable terms, [Trump will] at least be less willing to walk away from the table. That would look like an admission that his critics were right all along.' Trump said that he would leave China for the summit with Jong Un on Monday. Few details of Kim's trip to Vietnam had been announced until early on Sunday, when North Korean state media confirmed he had left Pyongyang by train, accompanied by senior officials as well as his influential sister, Kim Yo Jong. In rare, revealing coverage of Kim's travel, the North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper featured photographs of him getting a red-carpet send-off on Saturday afternoon and waving from a train door while holding a cigarette. He was joined by top officials also involved in the Singapore summit, including Kim Yong Chol, a former spy chief and Kim's top envoy in negotiations with the United States, as well as senior party aide Ri Su Yong, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and defense chief No Kwang Chol. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (right) walks with US President Donald Trump (left) during a break in talks at their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018 Other senior officials, such as his de facto chief of staff, Kim Chang Son, and Kim Hyok Chol, negotiations counterpart to U.S. envoy Stephen Biegun, were already in Hanoi to prepare for the summit. Both sides are under pressure to forge more specific agreements than were reached in Singapore. The two leaders are likely to try to build on their personal connection to push things forward in Hanoi, even if only incrementally, analysts said. 'They will not make an agreement which breaks up the current flow of diplomacy. [Trumo] has mentioned that they'll meet again; even if there is a low-level agreement, they will seek to keep things moving,' said Shin Beom-chul, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Few details of summit arrangements have been released. Some lamp posts on Hanoi's tree-lined streets are decked with North Korean, US and Vietnamese flags fluttering above a handshake design, and security has been stepped up at locations that could be the summit venue, or where the leaders might stay. It could take Kim at least two-and-a-half days to travel to Vietnam by train. Some carriages of a green train were spotted at Beijing's station on Sunday, but it was not confirmed it was Kim's. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Kim's train had passed through a station in China's port city of Tianjin, southeast of Beijing, at around 1pm local time, which is 12am Eastern. China has given no details of his trip. Its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The first summit was held in June in Singapore. Environment Secretary Michael Gove has accepted the price of staple foodstuffs could rocket in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Responding to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) which warned the price of cheddar cheese could leap 32 per cent, and beef by 29 per cent, Mr Gove said: 'It is one scenario but it is not the scenario we plan to go down.' On the BBC this morning, Andrew Marr presented Mr Gove with the figures, which were reached after the BRC applied World Trade Organisation (WTO) tariffs to the prices of everyday foodstuffs. Asked: 'if there is no deal, will food prices in this country go up?', the environment secretary replied: 'I think there is a risk of that, yes.' Mr Gove acknowledged the 'friction' of a no deal Brexit would increase the price of food The BRC analysis shows beef could increase five to 29 per cent; tomatoes could go up in price between nine and 18 per cent; and cheddar cheese could rocket between six and 32 per cent. Mr Gove responded to the figures saying: 'It is one scenario but it is not the scenario we plan to go down. 'One of the things we can do when we leave the European Union is we can set tariffs at a level we think if appropriate, both to protect the consumer but also to look after the most vulnerable and important sectors of food production at home.' He said the number were based on 'high' tariffs applied by the EU to imports from outside its boarders, and said he 'didn't think' that scenario would unfold under the current government. 'It is a scenario using one particular model but this government is not going down that route and therefore the figures mentioned would not apply. But he acknowledged the 'friction' that would follow no deal would impose additional costs on food production. The planned Brexit withdrawal on 29 March comes when the UK imports a lot of fresh, out-of-season, produce 90 per cent of lettuce, 80 per cent of tomatoes and 70 of soft fruits come from, or arrive via, Europe. Increased tariffs, the devaluation of sterling and new regulatory checks would drive up the cost of fresh food and drink, which would be passed on to consumers, retail bodies warned. Under WTO rules which would come into force under no deal, this would mean a 42 per cent tariff on imported cheddar, 46 per cent on mozzarella, 40 per cent on beef, 21 per cent on tomatoes and 15.5% on apples, the BRC said last year. Mr Gove, who has said tariffs will be set tomorrow, and that the system would maintain 'as far as possible' price stability but also protect vulnerable areas of production. The tariffs would be 'temporary' in the event of new deal and would be replaced by a new trading relationship, the leading Brexiteer said. Mr Gove (right) told Andrew Marr (left) that British politics was 'in a different realm' and said cabinet minister not respecting collective responsibility should keep their jobs He also told Mr Marr it was 'vitally' important to achieve a Parliamentary deal which avoids both no Brexit and no deal. And he defended cabinet colleagues including Amber Rudd, Geg Clark, and David Gauke, who argued publicly in The Daily Mail against Mrs May's stated position of not extending Article 50, saying they should not be sacked 'because they're good colleagues'. He went on: 'You can look at politics through the prism of the 20th Century or you can recognise that we're in a different realm now. 'We're in a unique set of circumstances now, and one can apply the sort of "virility" tests that were applied in the past, or we can make progress by being open t arguments to different parts of the party. 'And also remind everyone... that we have to honour that referendum agreement.' Mr Gove said there was a 'solid majority' in the party and in Parliament for a deal, as long as elements of the Northern Irish backstop agreement were amended. MPs are due to debate Brexit again next Wednesday and are expected to consider an amendment tabled by former Tory minister Sir Oliver Letwin and Labour's Yvette Cooper. That would give Parliament the opportunity to delay Brexit and prevent a no-deal situation if there is no agreement with the EU by the middle of March. Mr Gove refused to be drawn on whether members of the government should be expected to resign if they vote in favour of the Boles/Cooper amendment, saying only he would be doing everything in his power to encourage them to vote with the government. Pope Francis has vowed to confront clergy sex abusers with 'the wrath of God' and compared their actions to human sacrafice. He made the remarks during a mass in the Vatican City to conclude his extraordinary summit on preventing clergy sex abuse. Francis also pledged to end the cover-ups by their superiors and prioritise victims of this 'brazen, aggressive and destructive evil'. The Guardian reported Pope Francis, concluded mass by comparing the abuse of children to 'human sacrifice'. He said: 'Our work has made us realise once again that the gravity of the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors is, and historically has been, a widespread phenomenon in all cultures and societies. 'I am reminded of the cruel religious practice, once widespread in certain cultures, of sacrificing human beings frequently children in pagan rites.' Pope Francis has concluded his extraordinary summit on preventing clergy sex abuse by vowing to confront abusers with 'the wrath of God' Francis delivered his remarks before 190 Catholic bishops and religious superiors who were summoned to Rome after more abuse scandals sparked a credibility crisis in the Catholic hierarchy and in Francis' own leadership. And he offered a global review of the broader societal problem of sexual tourism and online pornography, in a bid to contextualise what he said was once a taboo subject. The Jesuit pope claimed the vast majority of sexual abuse happens in the family. But he said the sexual abuse of children becomes even more scandalous when it occurs in the Catholic Church, 'for it is utterly incompatible with her moral authority and ethical credibility'. Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Vatica where he made the remarks 'We need to recognise with humility and courage that we stand face-to-face with the mystery of evil, which strikes most violently against the most vulnerable, for they are an image of Jesus,' he said. Francis summoned the bishops from around the world to the four-day meeting to impress upon them that clergy sex abuse and cover-ups are not just a problem in some countries but a global problem that threatens the very mission of the Catholic Church. 'Brothers and sisters, today we find ourselves before a manifestation of brazen, aggressive and destructive evil,' the pope said. He offered an eight-point pledge of priorities going forward, calling for a change in the church's defensive mentality and a vow to never again cover-up cases. Victims, he said, must take centre stage while priests must undergo a continuing path of purity with the 'holy fear of God' guiding the examination of their own failures. 'In people's justified anger, the church sees the reflection of the wrath of God, betrayed and insulted by these deceitful consecrated persons,' he said. Australian Archbishop Mark Coleridge delivered the homily, pledging to 'bring justice and healing to survivors of abuse,' ITV reported. He said: 'We will listen to them, believe them, walk with them, we will ensure that those who have abused are never again able to offend, we will call to account those who have concealed abuse.' The Archbishop of Brisbane added 'we will educate all our people in what safeguarding issues requires' to ensure the 'horrors of the past are not repeated. He added that 'the Church is a safe place for all, a loving mother especially for the young and the vulnerable'. Francis summoned bishops from around the world to the four-day meeting. The aim of the summit was to hit-home that clergy sex abuse and cover-ups are a global problem that threatens the mission of the Catholic Church. He told those at the summit: 'Brothers and sisters, today we find ourselves before a manifestation of brazen, aggressive and destructive evil. The pope also offered an eight-point pledge of priorities going forward - calling for a change in the church's defensive mentality, while vowing to never again cover-up cases. As India evaluates its military and diplomatic options, it would do well to step up its intelligence and rely on Asymmetric warfare strategies. When terrorist Adil Ahmed Dar drove a vehicle crammed with explosives up to a CRPF convoy in a suicide attack and detonated it at Pulwama in the Kashmir Valley on February 14, killing several of the paramilitary forces soldiers, something seemed to have snapped for a country that had so far become inured to being the target of high-profile terror attacks. As demands grew for some sort of military retaliation against Pakistan-based terrorists once again after the surgical strikes of 2016, the spotlight was on the range of diplomatic and military options that India had. Talking tough, a furious Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Pakistans plans of destablising India would not materialise, adding that those who were behind the attack would have to pay a very heavy price. The PM acknowledged that the blood of the people is boiling and assured that security forces have been given complete freedom to take necessary action. Speaking a few days later, PM Modi again said the Pulwama terror attack had shown that the time for talks is over. New Delhi also swiftly rejected Pakistan PM Imran Khans denial that his country had anything to do with the attack, pointing out that Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) had already accepted responsibility for the blast, and asking Islamabad to act. The Modi government also swiftly withdrew the Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan and announced that the ministry of external affairs would initiate all steps to ensure complete isolation of Pakistan in the global community. That precisely has become the crux of Indias diplomatic strategy. India tasted its first success within a week of the terror attack when the UN Security Council, including Islamabads all-weather friend China, late on the night of February 21 unanimously condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly Pulwama bombing. What came as a major boost to New Delhi is that China also eventually supported the resolution despite the fact that it had some initial reservations about its wording. But the adoption of the UN resolution has come as a blow to Pakistan. The next step is expected to be to once again move a resolution to get Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN, a move that China has been resisting for the past few years. Soon after the attack, New Delhi had demanded that all members of the international community support the proposal to list terrorists, including Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council. Another part of the diplomatic strategy was to brief important nations including China and Indias strategic partners and friends about the attack and Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. India also conveyed Pakistanis complicity in the attack to Saudi Arabia another close friend of Pakistan during the recent visit of the Saudi Crown Prince. The sustained global diplomatic pressure being brought on Pakistan seemed to work from the fact that Islamabad on February 21 decided to accelerate action against proscribed organisations and further decided that Jamat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) be notified as proscribed organisations by the Ministry of Interior. The JuD is led by 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, with the FIF being described as its so-called charity wing. India sought to build even more pressure, with Union water resources minister Nitin Gadkari announcing that the government had decided to stop the flow of Indias share of water under the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 to Pakistan. But this is being seen as a more of a long-term plan. Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal points out, If Indias measures are limited to diplomatic efforts, Pakistan will not be deterred by it, adding that naming and shaming will not work for a country like Pakistan which has brazenly protected terrorists like Osama bin Laden in the past. India should go ahead and suspend the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, Mr Sibal says, adding that New Delhi should not give Islamabad the right to send its observers to inspect Indian projects. Suspension of the Indus Treaty will allow us to build the dams we want to build, he suggests. Yet another reason cited by foreign policy watchers on why India cannot rely on diplomatic strategies alone, are Pakistans friends who will stand by it. China is seen as Islamabads most powerful benefactor and is pumping billions of dollars into the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Besides, Saudi Arabia has also just announced billions of dollars worth of aid and investment to Pakistan. All this could ensure that Pakistan manages to continue sponsoring terrorism merrily despite severe global pressure. Hence the need for India to think about military strategies. A proactive approach on this began to evolve soon after the Uri terror attack in 2016 when the Modi government authorised the Indian Army to carry out surgical strikes on terrorists who were located at launch pads near the LoC. Former Army deputy chief Lt. Gen. Raj Kadyan (retd) points out, Only a military response now can make an impact. The country is losing soldiers by the day and its prestige is at stake. There can never be a perfect time but the situation is as favourable for us today as it can ever be. He adds, A second surgical strike or damage to a few Pakistani posts and bunkers will not be enough now. That time has gone. The military response has to be visible to the nation. But former commander of the Armys Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt. Gen. (retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain feels an asymmetric response would be much smarter compared to a conventional war or response. He says, In principle, responding to an asymmetric operation by your adversary, through conventional war, may not be the smartest of responses. It would do well for us not to press the government to adopt the direct approach but rather the smarter one of countering hybrid with hybrid. Asymmetric strategy is best defeated by asymmetric acts in response. Several observers also point to the risks involved including that of a full-scale war. Another is that there is no surprise element any more unlike 2016, since the Pakistan Army is now ready and waiting across the LoC to thwart any Indian military covert strike. There have also been reports that Pakistan has been relocating terrorists from launch pads near the LoC to its military posts and bases. So any attempted surgical strike, too, by India runs the risk of heavy casualties, which will not achieve the objectives. Other options include targeted artillery firing at Pakistani Army posts but this again will invite similar retaliatory firing from Pakistan. Yet another military option could be to use precision missile strikes on terror camps or other targets in PoK/Pakistan, or supersonic cruise missiles such as the BrahMos, or IAF fighter aircraft. But such a strategy will require hard intelligence, which will now be difficult due to Pakistans preparedness. It could also result in a dangerous escalation and an all-out war. Holiday makers were left terrified when a children's entertainer walked around a hotel pool with what looked like an assault rifle. Terry Massey, 53, was staying at the Oasis Village hotel on Fuerteventura, in the Canaries, Spain, when the man appeared wearing a white wig. He said his four-year-old daughter was so scared by the 'sick' stunt that she refused to get back into the pool, reports the Sunday Mirror. The 'entertainer' with prop assault rifle leaves tourists furious at Thomas Cook holiday resort in the Canaries and reminded some holiday makers of the Tunisia beach terror attack three years ago Mr Massey, who is from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, said: 'This bloke just appeared carrying a gun. I dont think it was funny.' The tattoo artist went on to explain how his little girl didn't want to go swimming again 'in case the man with the gun came back'. It is thought that the entertainer had been wandering around the pool as part of a game which involved going on a rabbit hunt. The man wore a fake long white wig and stomped around the poolside area waving a fake assault rifle at confused sunbathers. Thomas Cook said they are investigating the incident but had not hired the children's entertainer Holidaymakers were terrified when they saw a children's entertainer walking around the pool with what looked like an assault rifle at hotel in Fuerteventura, Spain (file picture) Thomas Cook told the Mirror that the 'costume was completely inappropriate' and that they are investigating but that they did not hire the children's entertainer. The stunt reminded tourists of the 2015 terror attack in Tunisia where 38 people died, including 30 Britons in Sousse. On June 26, 2015, Seifeddine Rezgui, 23, walked on to the beach of the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Thirty Britons were among the 38 victims of the 2015 terror attack at a resort in Sousse, Tunisia Gunman Seifeddine Rezgui, 23, was shot by police and an autopsy found he'd taken drugs He started shooting at tourists sunbathing in lounge chairs and continued on to the hotel pool before throwing a grenade into the hotel. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack and around half an hour passed between Rezgui's first shots and his being killed by police. In January this year the trial of 17 people accused of complicity in the massacre reopened in Tunis and the judge revealed the results of Rezgui's autopsy. Judge Rached Sebii and five colleagues confirmed Rezgui had taken one drug to enhance physical endurance and another to reduce emotional response. The drugs were not specified but the Associated Press reported the judge said Rezgui's post-mortem showed the presence of an illegal drug as well as medication. A Border Force vessel has been launched after an empty boat was spotted floating off the Dover coast. The small rigid inflatable boat was seen bobbing in the water just after 7am on Sunday at St Margaret's Bay, around 2.5 miles from the Port of Dover in east Kent. A number of lifejackets were also found near the Shakespeare Beach in Dover, around eight miles away. It is not yet known if they are linked. The small rigid inflatable boat was seen bobbing in the water just after 7am on Sunday at St Margaret's Bay, around 2.5 miles from the Port of Dover in east Kent A Border Force vessel has been launched after an empty boat was spotted floating off the Dover coast Four RNLI lifeboats and a Coastguard helicopter were launched to investigate. It comes after 34 migrants were picked up off the Kent coast on Monday after being found on one boat. One witness said he saw at least one child, a boy who looked about six years old and was accompanied by a woman. Hundreds of migrants, mostly Iranian, have made perilous trips across the Channel in recent months. More than 300 migrants have now crossed the Channel to arrive in Britain since the beginning of November. A Border Force vessel and RNLI lifeboats (pictured) have been launched after an empty boat was spotted floating off the Dover coast In December, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said the dramatic spike in migrants arriving on beaches in Kent was a major incident. An image from the Societe Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer (SNSM) shows British rescuers helping some 30 migrants make their way from France across the English Channel on Monday A women and a child are wrapped in orange blankets and helped by Border Force officials last week On Christmas Day alone, 40 people in five boats arrived at beaches near Dover, and a further 39 arrived over one weekend in January. A Home Office spokesman told Sky News today: 'Border Force is currently dealing with an ongoing small boat incident off the Kent coast. 'Further details will be provided once the situation has been resolved.' Uber drivers are helping to smash the 500 million 'county lines' national crime epidemic. National County Lines Coordination Centre unveiled estimates showing the number of drug gangs has soared from 720 in November 2018 to 1,500 in December 2019. With the help of the child drug traffickers, they are making 7million a day which equates to about 2.5billion a year. Uber drivers are helping to smash the 500 million 'county lines' national crime epidemic. Stock picture shows an Uber car With the help of the child drug traffickers, they are making 7million a day which equates to about 2.5billion a year. Stock picture Uber drivers are being trained to spot signs of drug trafficking and are helping police snare some of the 10,000 children being exploited. They are being told that tell-tale signs of are youngsters travelling long distances alone or travelling during school hours, The Sun reported. They are also being advised to monitor passengers who appear anxious or are being bombarded with a stream of messages and calls to their phone. Victoria Atkins, the Home Office Minister, has been in talks with groups such as Uber and the Licenced Private Hire Car Association. Police believe gangs use men aged 15 to 17 to transport the drugs - and often rent out Airbnb properties as a base. Youngsters are being enticed to traffic drugs by promises of money, kudos and a sense of belonging, which is often lacking in their home lives. National Crime Agency and National Police Chiefs' Council figures show about 2,000 routes where organised gangs are drug running. It is though that the gangs are making 500 million profit a year. It has been revealed by police that 200 suspects were arrested in just one week in the first round of Britain's crackdown on the gangs, last year. Dealers as young as 13 were among those held by police who seized scores of weapons including loaded guns, a samurai sword and hunting knives Mrs Atkins says that 'tackling county lines is a priority for this government' and now 'specific engagement regarding county lines' has taken place with the transport organisations. Youngsters are being enticed to traffic drugs by promises of money, kudos and a sense of belonging, which is often lacking in their home lives. File image shows drugs An Uber spokesman said: 'We're doing everything we can to help tackle dangerous county lines. We encourage drivers to call the police if they have any suspicions of assault or spot unexplained injuries.' A Home Office spokesman said: 'County lines gang activity and the associated violence, drug dealing and exploitation has a devastating impact on young people, vulnerable adults and local communities. 'Tackling county lines is a priority for this Government. To do this requires a multi-agency approach, and we are working closely with law enforcement and businesses to prevent young people from being subject to this horrific abuse. The spokeman added that 'Home Office officials have met with taxi firms and private hire companies to discuss what can be done to help drivers 'better identify warning signs of county lines abuse'. Gary Wells' French bulldog Gus, pictured together, dug up a Second World War shell while on Studland beach in Dorset A dog owner got a surprise when his 'dopey' French bulldog Gus dug up a Second World War shell during their walk on a Dorset beach. Gary Wells, 37, said Gus is never normally interested in chasing balls or making holes so he was surprised when he started digging at Studland beach. The protective the pup then tried to keep his owner away from the object he had found, pushing his body against him and preventing him from getting to the hole. Eventually Mr Wells, a care manager from Langton Matravers, was able to get a look and immediately called the emergency services. The Army's bomb disposal unit rushed to the scene and made sure the device was safe before removing it from the beach on Tuesday afternoon. Mr Wells said: 'For some reason Gus started digging on the beach, and this is the first time that has ever happened. 'So I thought "what is he doing?" I walked over but he wouldn't let me go anywhere near where he was digging up, I had to move him out of the way. Mr Wells said Gus tried to protect him when he went to look at the shell, right, and he quickly called the fire service, left, when he realised what his dog had found under the sand The dog owner said he was surprised when Gus, pictured, started to dig as he's usually 'dopey' and is never normally interested in chasing balls or making holes 'It was really strange for me because normally he really is as dopey as hell, but for some reason he just wouldn't let me near it. 'He was almost protecting me, pushing his whole body against me. In the end I had to get hold of his harness and pull him back to see what he was digging up. 'I could tell it was some type of shell and it had a firing circle on it. When I first made the call I was very dubious as I didn't want to be wasting people's time. 'But when the fire brigade got there, they said "yes that is definitely a shell" so I'm glad I made the call.' A Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue service spokesman said one crew from Swanage attended following reports of the discovery of an unexploded Second World War ordnance. They said: 'The Army bomb disposal unit found there was no risk and they removed the device from the scene.' Seven Valentine Duplex Drive (DD) tanks, one pictured in 2017, still lie on the seabed after sinking during the practise Six service men drowned during Exercise Smash in one of the tanks, pictured one on land Lots of training took place off Studland coast during the Second World War as the area was a main training ground for the D-Day landings. Six weeks before D-Day, troops gathered in Studland to rehearse the operation in front of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, King George VI and General Dwight D. Eisenhower. The troops used live ammunition to make the practise as realistic as possible and DD (Duplex Drive) Valentine tank was tested during Exercise Smash. This was a 'floating' unit that could leave its landing ship at a further distance from shore, reports the BBC. Six servicemen - Lieutenant C Gould, Sergeant V Hartley, Corporals Arthur Park and V Townson and Troopers A Kirby and E Petty - all drowned in the exercise. As a result, amphibious Sherman tanks were launched much further inshore on D-Day on June 6, 1944, saving lives in the process. Water company bosses have warned of an impending blocked sewer crisis - caused by people flushing Yorkshire puddings down the toilet. Anglian Water were called to a street in Ipswich, Suffolk, due to a sewage drain being blocked by the popular accompaniment to Sunday roasts. Maintenance workers have urged residents to only flush 'poo, pee, and toilet paper' down the loo after the sewer became clogged. Maintenance workers inspect a blocked drain to find piles of soggy Yorkshire puddings clogging pipes in Ipswich The company tweeted: 'We're sure even our friends at Yorkshire Water wouldn't welcome this sight! 'Somebody dumped a load of Yorkshire Puddings in an Ipswich sewer. 'Please don't treat sewers as bins, avoid blocked pipes and compost your food waste.' This triggered a warning by the firm to only flush the 'three Ps' - pee, poo and (toilet) paper. 'Even our Yorkshire friends wouldn't welcome this': Anglian Water vent their anger at the stodgy find on twitter before pleading with people not to use drains like bins And now the water company have revealed the 'everyday' problems they face unblocking drains cost them 15 million a year. Wet wipes, also known by the firm as 'foul smelling rags', are having to be removed regularly by hand as they are not bio-degradable - due to their high plastic content. Wet wipes are behind up to 80 per cent of blockages in UK sewers, according to water companies. In the UK alone, water companies estimate it costs around 100 million a year to unblock sewers clogged up by wipes and hygiene products. Anglian Water engineers revealed this horrific picture of a massive wad of wet wipes at the centre of Britain's sewage crises caused by the non bio-degradable products Yorkshire POOddings: Workers were surprised to find the popular Sunday roast accompaniment filling a sewer, as on 80 per cent of occasions the blockage is caused by non-biodegradable wet wipes Anglian Water, alongside Water UK and other water companies, is launching a new flushability standard for all wet wipes. Manufacturers of wipes will be able to feature an official water industry 'Fine to Flush' symbol on their packaging if their wipes pass strict scientific tests. The water company says they hope this will prevent blockages, fatbergs and sewage overflows. Sewer blockages and fatbergs - mainly caused by a build-up of wet wipes, fats, oils and grease into a solid mass - have been increasing in frequency in recent years. A study in 2017 found that non-flushable wet wipes could make up around 93% of the material causing some sewer blockages. Monster fatbergs, like this one in Sidmouth, are conjealed piles of wet wipes, fats, oils and grease that have to be removed by hand because they are will not naturally break down Although there has been an increase in products being labelled 'Do Not Flush', there are many wipes on the market labelled 'Flushable' which do not break down quickly. Rachel Dyson, Anglian Water's Keep It Clear programme manager said: 'Wipes cause real problems in the sewer network and have a devastating impact on customers. 'Wipes are by far the worst culprit but cotton buds, tampons and fats also cause problems in the sewers. 'They result in around 80 per cent of the 40,000 blockages across the East of England each year. 'Most of these blockages are entirely preventable, but instead lead to devastating sewage spills, can harm the environment and cost more than 15million each year to clear. 'Ultimately this cost is added onto customers' water bills and would be better spent elsewhere.' The deputy leader of the Labour Party has told Jeremy Corbyn he will never step foot in Number 10 unless he addresses anti-Semitism within the Labour Party. Following the resignation of eight MPs from the party this week, Tom Watson said of his leader 'if he's ever to be Prime Minister he has to rebuild the trust' with the British Jewish community. 'I think the situation is so grave now that he understand that he needs to make a personal intervention,' he told the BBC's Andrew Marr this morning, saying the general secretary Jennie Formby's attempted reforms had been 'inadequate'. He revealed he had been made aware this week of 50 cases of anti-Semitism within the party which had not been dealt with properly in his view, and would be passing the dossier to Mr Corbyn for his personal attention. Labour deputy leader Tom Watson told Andrew Marr that Jeremy Corbyn needed to intervene in the anti-Semitism row personally if he was to prevent further splits in the party and regain the trust of the British Jewish community He also called for a reshuffle to bring the talent of more centrist Labour MPs currently on the back-benches back into the shadow cabinet, saying: 'If some of the greatest talents we've got are on the back benches - cannot be on the front bench for whatever reason - I do think the expression of their ideas needs to be given greater weight in the Parliamentary Labour Party.' He said he would 'prefer' that to be via the mechanism of a shadow cabinet reshuffle but might 'convene a group of MPs' himself to bring more centrist ideas to the fore within the party. It comes as Chuka Umunna, who left the Labour Party on Monday to co-found The Independent Group, revealed he had been subject to such vitriolic abuse he had to call the police on the perpetrator who was subsequently arrested. Mr Umunna told Sophie Ridge on Sky: 'I have received threats from supporters of the leader where I've had to call in the police and somebody was arrested. Mr Umunna said he had receved abuse so bad he'd had to call the police, blaming his former party leader for 'the extraordinary becoming ordinary' 'At times it's been extremely unsettling and you do question "why am I doing this? This is not normal". 'Part of the problem in politics is that the extraordinary has become ordinary, these types of behaviours have become normalised'. Asked 'who do you blame,', the former shadow business secretary replied: 'I blame Jeremy Corbyn', before saying the shadow cabinet had been 'disgraceful' for not or threatening to resign over anti-Semitism. He listed Corbyn controversies including his support for an anti-Jewish mural, his suggestion Jewish people don't have an English sense of irony, and his attendance at 'a wreath laying ceremony for terrorists'. 'I don't know whether Jeremy Corbyn' is personally anti-Semitic, he said. 'His actions seem to suggest he's got questions to answer on that front. But I've been very clear, the Labour Party is institutionally anti-Semitic.' He denied that he would be the leader of the new group but said he wanted to play 'the biggest role' The Independent Group's MPs: Sarah Wollaston, Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry, Joan Ryan, Angela Smith, Luciana Berger, Ann Coffey, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Chuka Umunna and Mike Gapes Asked whether he would be the group's leader Mr Umunna smiled but said: 'I'm not', before adding, 'I'm clear I want to play the biggest role in this group. 'One of the things about the way we operate is a recognition we're all leaders.' He criticised the cult of personality around Mr Corbyn, saying mockingly: 'The way you're institutionalized in the main parties is there's a Great Leader who you clap in and out of events and the rest and, you know, you worship' he said, miming bowing down with hands outstretched. 'I don't want that, because I don't think that is necessarily the most grown-up way of doing politics.' Mr Watson told Mr Marr that he would 'prefer' a shadow cabinet reshuffle to bring more soft-left talent back to the fore of the party Mr Watson said his party was in 'a crisis' following the departure of eight MPs this week. 'If we're ever going to be in government we need to address those concerns' he said, adding there was an 'urgent need' to stop others feeling they need to leave. He said he feared more MPs, as well as members of the House of Lords, and councillors were preparing to leave. He put the onus for the reforms on the leader, saying: 'Of course Jeremy needs to understand that if we're ever going to be in number 10 he needs to change to Labour Party. 'Firstly we've got to eradicate anti-Semitism - anti Jewish racism - in all its forms. 'This week I've had 50 complaints of anti-Semitism from my parliamentary party colleagues, that I've shared with Jeremy. 'And for us to address that now, I think he needs to take a personal lead on examining those cases and if necessary recommending to our NEC what has to be done.' He called on his leader to make Labour 'the broadest of churches' pointing out his predecessor Harold Wilson managed to keep both Tony Benn and Roy Jenkins within his cabinet Mr Watson said: 'He has said it is not done in his name... but the test for [Mr Corbyn] as a leader is to eradicate anti-Semitism and it's not the Labour Party member who will be the judge of that it's the British Jewish community and I think he understands now, that if he's ever to be Prime Minister he needs to rebuild that trust.' He said Mr Corbyn should review cases personally and make recommendations to the NEC, adding 'very patently the Jennie Formby reforms have not been adequate, they've not succeeded'. Party general secretary Ms Formby was originally tasked with dealing with the issue. Mr Watson went on to call for Labour to become a broader church once again, saying it was for him to 'convene a group of MPs' who represent the soft-left social democratic wing of Labour who could develop their own policy ideas. He said his party was only electorally successful when the socialist and social-democratic wings work 'can rub up against each other', pointing out that Harold Wilson had a Cabinet which incorporated both Tony Benn and Roy Jenkins. Mr Benn was a hard-left socialist while centrist Mr Jenkins went on to leave the party and found the SDP. Mr Watson said: 'That social democratic voice has to be heard because that is the only way we will keep the Labour Party unified and prevent other colleagues from eventually leaving the PLP. 'For us to hold this party together; things have got to change.' Mr Watson denied he was 'raising a rebel flag' but merely 'standing up for pluralism' at a time 'perilous' for his party. Evil Tracey Connelly (pictured) is reportedly besotted with a 37-year-old insurance salesman named Paul The mother of tortured Baby P has bragged about finding new love with a man she hopes to 'start new a life with' when she is released from prison. Evil Tracey Connelly is reportedly besotted with a 37-year-old insurance salesman named Paul and told fellow prisoners she want to move in with him. Sources at HMP Low Newton in Country Durham said the disgraced mother had been 'swooning' over her new lover and hopes the relationship will help her escape the 'nastiness from the past', reported the Daily Star. Connelly, 35, watched porn in a drunken haze as her 17-month-old son Peter, known as Baby P, was tortured to death in 2007 by her lover Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen. The mother was jailed for a minimum of five years and then freed on licence in 2013 but later recalled after she had been sending indecent images of herself to perverts obsessed with her notoriety. However Connelly has reportedly insisted her new relationship is genuine because she has known him for many years. Peter, known as Baby P (pictured), was tortured to death in 2007 by Connelly's lover Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen A source told the newspaper: 'She certainly isn't shy of shouting about her new love. 'She said she knows he won't be with her because of her notoriety'. Connelly was banned from seeing her children after Baby P suffered more than 50 injuries including a broken back and fractured ribs before his death in Haringey, North London. But despite her lack of care for her son, she was granted permission to write two letters a year to her other children to 'build bridges' to win parole. The mother is reportedly planning to apply for parole later this year and is willing to do 'whatever it takes' to be let out of prison. A source told the newspaper: 'It is her hope that, by showing she is in a stable relationship, parole chiefs will see she is changed, she she has somewhere already set up to go and start a new life and she should be able to get out of trouble'. Connelly, 35, watched porn in a drunken haze as her 17-month-old son Peter, known as Baby P, was tortured to death in 2007 by her lover Steven Barker (left) and his brother Jason Owen (right) Earlier this year, astonishing letters written from jail revealed how she dismissed her involvement in her son's death and detailed her friendship with mass murderer Rose West. She said West, who killed at least 10 girls with husband Fred and buried them in their 'House of Horrors', had been helping her to lose weight. Connelly also revealed that she thinks she is innocent, even though she hid Barker and Owen's torture of her son from social workers. The convict also discussed baking a cake to celebrate her impending divorce. Connolly, who covered up the abuse of her son Baby Peter, was living with Steven Barker and Jason Owen when little Peter died. The house in Penshurst Road, Tottenham, where Baby P lived Barker was a sadistic neo-Nazi who raped a two-year-old girl, tortured his own grandmother and is suspected of sex attacks on other children. Their 'lodger' Owen was a crack cocaine addict and convicted arsonist who was accused of raping a girl of 11. The full horror of what they put Peter through only emerged after he was found dead in his cot, his emaciated body covered with 22 separate injuries. At the time of his death, Peter and his three sisters were sharing a four-bedroom house with their mother, her boyfriend Barker, his paedophile brother Owen and his four children, plus Owen's 15-year-old girlfriend. Three of the children - Peter and two of his siblings - were on Haringey's Child Protection Register because of fears they were being neglected by their mother. Social workers, health visitors and doctors saw the family 60 times before 17-month-old Peter died from his horrific injuries, which included a snapped spine and eight broken ribs. A terrified pensioner was savagely battered by three knife-wielding thugs who knocked him out before ransacking his home and fleeing with cash and a bank card. The 74-year-old man of Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, was smacked in the face and threatened with a blade during a violent raid on his Windsor Street address. Three masked men, who stormed the property at 8pm on February 12, left their beaten victim suffering alone in the house overnight where he was only discovered the next day. The 78-year-old victim was savagely beaten by three knife-wielding thugs who took his cash as he lay unconscious in his own home He was only discovered the next day at his Windsor Street (pictured) home in Stapleford and was rushed to hospital where he is recovering from serious injuries to his face As the pensioner, who is described as a 'respected member of the community', lay unconscious, the intruders searched the home for valuables and made off with some money and his bank card. When he was found by his elder sister the following day the injured man was rushed to hospital where he is being treated for serious injuries to his face. A picture taken in hospital shows a nasty bruise around his right eye where he was hit. The brutal robbers were all believed to be dressed in black and one is thought to have worn light coloured trainers. Detective Constable Ryan Atkin, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: 'This is a shocking incident which has been very distressing for the victim and his family. 'He is a well-known and respected member of the community and worked in the local area for many years. 'We're pursuing a number of lines of enquiry, including checking CCTV footage, and we're urging anyone who recalls seeing suspicious activity in the area to contact us immediately. 'Could members of the public who were in Stapleford on this day please check any dash-cam footage they may have.' A man who was raised within the confines of one of Australia's most insidious cults has spoken out about the emotional and physical torture he endured. Ben Shenton was one of 28 children who was isolated at the Lake Eildon property in Victoria where notorious, charismatic and delusional Anne Hamilton-Byrne convinced upwards of 500 people she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Mr Shenton was 15 years old when more than 100 police officers surrounded the sect and freed the children inside. He told news.com.au it took him years to come to terms with his childhood. He was subjected to beatings, mind games and regular doses of LSD, unregulated cocktails of antipsychotics, and antidepressants. Ben Shenton (circled) was one of 28 children who were isolated at the Lake Eildon property in Victoria where notorious, charismatic and delusional Anne Hamilton-Byrne convinced upwards of 500 people she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ Mr Shenton and the other children were subjected to beatings and regular doses of LSD and other drugs Anne Hamilton-Byrne (pictured) was the glamorous, charismatic and delusional leader of the notorious Australian sect dubbed The Family At the time, he could never quite put a finger on what he was missing. He had been a member of the cult since he was 18 months old. Despite not knowing any other lifestyle, Mr Shelton spent his childhood reading about world history and came to the conclusion that his life was not normal. At age 10, he and some of the other children began secretly referring to their home as a 'concentration camp'. Hamilton-Byrne convinced herself and up to 500 followers she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Here she is seen with her cat, Tiffany Children were turned against one another and separated if they ever appeared to be getting too close or too friendly. But Mr Shelton said he rarely had the opportunity to get closer with the children, because he quickly learned the best way to avoid physical torture and punishment was to dob on others. 'I seriously considered how to end the daily torment and abject failure that I was,' he said. Members of the cult lived by an 'unseen, unheard, unknown' mantra, in which the outside world was to be avoided at all costs. Children pose for a photo, identically dressed with bleached blonde hair shaped into the same bob Hamilton-Byrne is pictured at the sect property at Lake Eildon in central Victoria They weren't allowed to leave the confines of the compound without a chaperone and extreme measures were taken to protect members' privacy. Mr Shelton said everything was done with the belief that Hamilton-Byrne was communicating with higher beings and was the Messiah. Under the influence of LSD, Hamilton-Byrne believed an apocalyptic war was imminent and that she had a duty to collect children from birth in preparation for a new world. Hamilton-Byrne's 'children' pose for a photo at the Lake Eildon property Hamilton-Byrne gathered young boys and girls and raised them as her own in the 1970s and 1980s She gathered young boys and girls and raised them as her own on a property in Lake Eildon in central Victoria in the 1970s and 1980s. Some children were obtained through questionable adoptions, others were born to cult members and some were even handed over by compliant sect parents. The identically dressed children, with bleached blonde hair shaped into the same bob, were allegedly bashed, starved and injected with LSD by Hamilton-Byrne and other cult leaders in terrifying sect initiation rituals. The leader described her twisted affection for 'her children' in a chilling interview. 'I wanted them to look like brothers and sisters - I must admit this,' Hamilton-Byrne said of the children. Here she is seen playing the harp 'I wanted them to look like brothers and sisters - I must admit this,' she said. 'I loved them in their little smocks and jeans and the long hair and ribbons. It was beautiful - it was lovely to see.' Asked why she imprisoned 28 children over two decades, she responded: 'I love children.' Born Evelyn Edwards in Sale in rural Victoria in 1921, Hamilton-Byrne barely knew her father and her mother was mentally ill. She was a yoga teacher when she met highly-respected English physicist Dr Raynor Johnson in 1963. Hamilton-Byrne pictured as a teenager in the 1930s. She would later become the leader of Australia's most notorious cult Hamilton-Byrne was a yoga teacher when she met highly-respected English physicist Dr Raynor Johnson (pictured) in 1963. Together they founded the sect and began to 'adopt' and acquire children Together they founded the sect and began to 'adopt' and acquire children to create a 'master race' while teaching a mixture of Christianity and Hinduism. In total, 28 children spent time at the Eildon property, with Hamilton-Byrne and her husband Bill thought to be the biological parents of 14 of the youngsters. Former Lake Eildon children give harrowing descriptions of their traumatic ordeal in the upcoming film. They open up about being forced to take drugs and recall violent physical and sexual assaults. Holding back tears, Mr Shenton previously relived the moment he witnessed Hamilton-Byrne's 'favourite daughter' being beaten to a pulp. 'Sarah was thrashed,' he says, holding back tears. 'I was watching her being belted with a buckle and she's being beaten to the point where she's wriggling out of her clothes. Anne Hamilton-Byrne (right) and her husband Bill (left) pose with a teenager who was brought up in the sect 'Hearing her body smash across the balustrades - it was horrendous to know they had the power to do that and would it.' It wasn't until Victorian Detective Lex de Man learned that children as young as 13 had been injected with LSD that a task force to investigate the sect was established. In 1987, authorities dramatically rescued six traumatised children from the sect property after two managed to escape and alert police. Because of legal complexities, Hamilton-Byrne and her husband were only ever convicted of fraud offences to do with forged birth certificates. They avoided jail and were fined $5,000 each. Hamilton-Byrne is now 97 living in a Melbourne nursing home with dementia. 'My only regret is she was never held totally to account for the misery she caused to the former cult children,' detective de Man recently told The Age. 'I have no sympathy for the woman I consider the most evil person I ever met in my police career.' 'THE FAMILY' CULT TIMELINE 1963 Yoga teacher Anne Hamilton meets English physicist and writer, Dr Raynor Johnson and they found a sect known as The Family. Yoga teacher Anne Hamilton meets English physicist and writer, Dr Raynor Johnson and they found a sect known as The Family. 1968 The Family begins to 'adopt' and acquire children to create a 'master race'. The Family begins to 'adopt' and acquire children to create a 'master race'. 1974 An official school is set up for the 'master race' children at the Lake Eildon property. An official school is set up for the 'master race' children at the Lake Eildon property. 1978 Anne Hamilton marries William (Bill) Byrne and they take the surname Hamilton-Byrne. Anne Hamilton marries William (Bill) Byrne and they take the surname Hamilton-Byrne. 1983 Police visit the Lake Eildon property to search for a missing girl. She is not found on the property. Police visit the Lake Eildon property to search for a missing girl. She is not found on the property. 1987 (14 August) Combined police raid on sect property at Lake Eildon. Anne is overseas. Bill is present at the raid but is not charged. Combined police raid on sect property at Lake Eildon. Anne is overseas. Bill is present at the raid but is not charged. The children are removed from the sect and placed into care. 1987 (Oct/Nov) Bill flees to Hawaii to meet Anne. Bill flees to Hawaii to meet Anne. 1987 (12 December) Monbulk School fire Detective Lex de Man is called to investigate. He learns about The Family. Monbulk School fire Detective Lex de Man is called to investigate. He learns about The Family. 1989 (about June) Lex de Man writes a report recommending Victoria Police commence a criminal investigation into The Family. Lex de Man writes a report recommending Victoria Police commence a criminal investigation into The Family. 1989 (11 December) Operation Forest Task Force commences. Operation Forest Task Force commences. 1993 (4 June) Anne and Bill are arrested in the Catskill Mountains, Upstate New York. Anne and Bill are arrested in the Catskill Mountains, Upstate New York. 1993 (17 August) Anne and Bill are extradited to Australia. Anne and Bill are extradited to Australia. 1993 (31 August) Anne and Bill appear in the Victorian Magistrates' Court, charged with conspiracy to defraud and commit perjury by falsely registering the births of triplets. Anne and Bill appear in the Victorian Magistrates' Court, charged with conspiracy to defraud and commit perjury by falsely registering the births of triplets. 1994 In the County Court, Anne and Bill avoid prison and are fined $5000 each. In the County Court, Anne and Bill avoid prison and are fined $5000 each. 2001 Bill dies, leaving Anne to lead a diminishing group of followers. Bill dies, leaving Anne to lead a diminishing group of followers. 2019 At 97, Anne lives in the dementia wing of a suburban Melbourne nursing home. Source: thefamilysect.com Advertisement It wasn't until former Victorian Detective Lex de Man (pictured) learned that children as young as 13 had been injected with LSD that a task force to investigate the sect was established Because of legal complexities, Hamilton-Byrne was only ever convicted of fraud offences to do with forged birth certificates Five revellers have been rushed to hospital from Sydney's Ultra Festival with suspected drug overdoses. Daily Mail Australia attended the electronic music event at Parramatta Park in the city's west on Sunday, with dozens of partygoers speaking openly about the use of the narcotics - and the bold ways they sneak them past the gate. Five people aged in their 20s and 30s, as well as a teenage girl, were taken to hospital in a critical condition on Sunday night. NSW Health confirmed that drugs are likely to have been a factor in all of five cases. A woman receives medical assistance at Ultra festival in Sydney's west on Sunday Paramedics wheel away a reveller strapped into a stretcher at Parramatta Park All 10 of those taken to hospital were in a stable condition on Monday morning. Police searched 395 people and made 98 detections of cannabis, cocaine and MDMA. Criminal Infringement Notices were issued to 29 revellers, 28 for possession of MDMA and one for cocaine. There were also 13 cannabis cautions handed out. Officers laid over 45 charges including 10 for supply prohibited drug. They refused entry to 35 people and 66 others were removed from the event. A young woman was seen in and out of consciousness being taken away on a stretcher as paramedics applied an oxygen mask, while a man was treated in a wheelchair. Revellers spoke of the rampant drug use at the event - and there willingness to take them despite a spate of overdoses in recent months. 'Look at the crowd. You only need one look to see almost everyone is on something in there,' one said. Daily Mail Australia witnessed the moment a man was taken to the medical tents by his friends after collapsing on the ground. One of his friends was overheard saying 'he has no clue what he's doing'. Authorities at the festival told Daily Mail Australia there had been 'numerous medical issues' Images from inside the event show a number of revellers seeking medical assistance The NSW government has imposed strict regulations on the live music scene, forcing festival organisers to splash on extra security measures. The emphasis on security at the event was palpable as the streets lining the event were filled with security guards almost five metres apart. While in line, a reveller had a bag of tobacco confiscated by security. One festivalgoer told Daily Mail Australia that hiding drugs in packets of tobacco was one of the 'best ways' to smuggle drugs into the festival undetected and that's why police had cracked down on it. A number of other revellers were brave enough to share the reality of drug-use inside the gates and the how they sneak the substances in. 'My day is perfect. so capped up. I'm high. I'm just chilling here having a drink and smoke,' one person told Daily Mail Australia. The NSW government has imposed strict regulations for the live music scene, forcing festival organisers to splash on extra security measures The reveller was then asked where his friends were and responded 'capping hard over there' and pointed to the crowd by the main stage. He revealed he got the drugs into Ultra by inserting them internally. 'Up the bum in a condom,' he said. 'They're not allowed to search open cavities so you just have to make sure they're sealed.' The reveller said he wasn't concerned about getting caught as he was 'fine' once he passed the sniffer dogs. Police had congregated around the entrance gate and sniffer dogs were marched around the premises. Officers appeared to observe revellers enter the venue and would speak to people they suspected of having drugs on them by moving them into a checking zone. The emphasis on security at the event was palpable as the streets lining the event were littered with security guards almost five metres apart One girl who had been escorted away by police told Daily Mail Australia she had been taken for a full body check because she had been 'sniffed one of the dogs'. She said because 'she had nothing on her' she was allowed back into the festival. Another festivalgoer who was new to the festival scene said they found the level of police presence 'intimidating' and thought they were 'too strict' on bag checking. One female reveller described the increased security as 'crazy'. 'I didn't even bring a side bag because I was worried they'd chuck my stuff,' she said. 'Like they'd say ''your perfume that might have drugs in that needs to go'' or ''your lip balm that might have drugs in that's got to go'' so I didn't even bother bringing a bag. 'It's too much security checks.' At least five people were seen to be escorted to the body check zone within a half hour period after falling foul of police sniffer dogs, but at least two were later seen back at the festival. Daily Mail Australia also found a condom wrapper discarded in a toilet cubicle, saw a girl be sick by the side of the stage and a man appear to take a pill out of his pants and put it into his mouth in the middle of the dance floor. One festivalgoer who was new to the festival scene said they found the level of police presence 'intimidating' and thought they were 'too strict' on bag checking Revellers were seen checking out 'A Guide to Drug Combinations' sign which showed drugs that would be fatal if mixed. A would-be festivalgoer told Daily Mail Australia they had been put off attending Ultra due to the strict regulations, despite wanting to experience the event. 'No I'm not, with the over policing I can't be bothered being put through the ringer just to go see my favourite artists,' he said. 'I would have gone if the police presence wasn't so heavy handed. I am going to the Mardi Gras after party so will be interesting to see how that will be policed.' He said the government needed to do more to deal with the numbers of drug-related deaths at festivals, claiming the hard line was not working. 'My views on pill testing are that our current methods aren't working so it's time to re-evaluate our approach and adopt a harm minimisation strategy which has been proven effective overseas,' he said. A would-be festivalgoer told Daily Mail Australia they had been put off attending Ultra due to the strict regulations, despite wanting to experience the event 'We're going to continue losing kids if we don't recognise this.' There had been calls for the state government to implement a pill testing trial at Ultra festival but it was rejected. A festival security guard was overheard slamming the state government for not 'changing their practices' and complained their current approach would 'do no good'. On Thursday evening, Sydneysiders gathered for the Don't Kill Live Music rally at Hyde Park to take a stand against the government's crackdown on music festivals. Many protesters were seen holding placards featuring NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian's face - who has faced heightened criticism after the introduction of strict festival rules. A 29-year-old father almost had his windpipe severed after he was stabbed three times in the neck by a group of teenagers. David Sidhom was with his family in The Ponds in Sydney's north-west when he was disturbed by a group yelling and swearing across from his home in Ridgeline Park just after 9pm on Saturday night. While asking the group to lower the volume, one teenager came from behind and allegedly plunged the knife into the father's neck three times. The blade went in so deep, approximately 15cm, it only just missed his spine and windpipe. David Sidhom, 29, (pictured) approached the group who were lingering in the park opposite his home to keep the noise down Mr Sidhom (pictured with his wife) was then stabbed in the neck three times by a member of the group - the knife going so deep that it only just missed his spine and windpipe A blood soaked towel is seen out the front of Mr Sidhom's house after he stumbled back to his house with blood pouring out from his neck NSW Ambulance Acting Inspector Joe Ibrahim said the attack could have so easily been fatal. 'If he was too far forward it [the knife] would have severed his trachea, his breathing tube,' he told The Daily Telegraph. 'And if it was just a little bit to the left, he could have ended up as a quadriplegic.' Mr Sidhom managed to escape the gang and stumble home with blood gushing out of his neck. The 29-year-old father (right) managed to stumble home with blood pouring out of his neck and signal help from his wife who then dialed triple-zero His wife urgently dialed triple-zero before he was rushed to Westmead Hospital to undergo emergency surgery. Mr Sidhom remains in a serious but stable condition. Officers from Quakers Hill Police Area Command received assistance from the Public Order and Riot Squad, Dog Unit, and PolAir throughout the operation. A crime scene has been established, and police are appealing for anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers. The group, believed to consist of eight males and one female, split up and fled the scene in vehicles. No arrests have been made. A Venezuelan opposition leader is in grave condition after he was poisoned with 'Devil's Breath' drug as hundreds of people protest for vital food and medicine. Freddy Superlano, a member of interim president Juan Guaido's party, was targeted with the dangerous drug while having breakfast in a restaurant at the Colombian border. His party confirmed the leader's cousin and assistant also died of the same poison - often used in robberies and sex attacks. At least two people were killed and 300 hurt yesterday as protesters battled to get vital food and medicine across the Venezuelan border. Police fired tear gas in a clash with activists when hundred of volunteers tried to bring more than 200 tonnes of aid from Colombia into the country. Freddy Superlano, a member of Juan Guaido's party, is reportedly in a serious condition after being poisoned with 'Devil's Breath' drug while having breakfast at the Colombian border Demonstrators use large rocks to smash the windows of a bus they commandeered during clashes with the Bolivarian National Guard in Urena Police clashed with activists and fired tear gas when hundred of volunteers tried to bring more than 200 tonnes of aid from Colombia into the country Venezuelan soldiers began abandoning their border posts yesterday, sparking jubilation among hundreds of thousands of protesters. US Senator Marco Rubio condemned the attack on Mr Superlano as a 'grave situation'. The deserters were seen as a further sign that President Nicolas Maduro was losing his grip on power in the crisis-torn South American country. Troops loyal to the embattled leader fired tear gas at protesters when violence flared as hundreds of thousands of volunteers tried to cross the border with food and medicine. Nicolas Maduro nd first lady Cilia Flores attend a pro-government rally in Caracas yesterday. At least four National Guard officers abandoned their posts at the Colombian border in a sign that Maduros support among the military was about to crumble Opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido had vowed to bring in aid to the countrys starving. Tensions surfaced between the military and civilians last week as loyalist soldiers shot dead two protesters and injured others along the Brazilian border on Friday. But yesterday, in a sign that Maduros support among the military was about to crumble, at least four National Guard officers abandoned their posts at the Colombian border, according to the countrys migration agency. Videos on social media showed crowds first jeering and then cheering the men as they were escorted to safety by Colombian police. A demonstrator is treated at the Medical Specialties Center after the clashes between protesters and the Bolivarian National Guard As others carried missiles, one man carried a crucifix to the border town of Urena as he desperately tried to escape into Colombia A man who covers his face prepares to launch a rock during heavy clashes with the Bolivarian National Guard today One soldier released a tearful video in which she begged for forgiveness and urged Maduro and his defence minister not to order soldiers to fire on civilians. On Twitter, Mr Guaido said: Venezuela, the day has come when we must ensure this humanitarian aid enters the country. From our borders, both by sea and land, we will bring hope, food and medicine to those who need it. 'We call on everyone to get out on to the street in every part of the country, to protest peacefully and demand that the army allows humanitarian aid to pass. Today, we must ensure that our demand for life, freedom and our future is heard. The US is now among 52 countries that recognise Mr Guaido as the legitimate president. A demonstrator throws back a gas canister while clashing with security forces in Urena, Venezuela on February 23 A demonstrator kicks a burning tire down the street as toxic black smoke fills the air in the Venezuelan town of Urena on Saturday Demonstrators push a bus that was torched during clashes with the Bolivarian National Guard in Urena, Venezuela, near the border with Colombia today Both Russia and China continue to support Mr Maduro, and a Kremlin spokesman described the efforts to get aid into the country as a dangerous provocation. Geng Shuang, a spokesman for Chinas foreign ministry, which has lent more than 45 million in the past ten years, said: If so-called aid material is forced into Venezuela, and then if it causes violence and clashes, it will have serious consequences. On Friday, Sir Richard Branson organised a massive Live Aid-style concert in the Colombia border town of Cucuta, near the Tienditas bridge crossing. Among the attendees were the presidents of Colombia, Chile and Paraguay, along with Mr Guaido, who defied a travel ban by Mr Maduro. A citizen kneels before troops with his arms outstretched as rocks and shards of glass spatter the tarmac as violence erupted on the border Advertisement Thousands of glammed-up revellers descended on western Sydney as they danced into the night for the Ultra music festival. The festivalgoers flaunted plenty of skin - opting for barely-there bikinis, hot pants and fishnet tights as they flocked to Parramatta Park for the music extravaganza on Sunday. International music acts, including The Chainsmokers, Marshmellow and Martin Garrix, were booked to take the stage as headliners of the electronic musical festival. Thousands of glammed-up revellers have descended on western Sydney as they dance into the night for Ultra music festival A group of girls are seen arriving at the festival gates in barely-there outfits, opting for tiny bikini tops and short skirts or high-waisted bottoms Two friends pose for the camera at the electronic music gig wearing sky blue skinny jeans and crop tops Two girls take a moment before heading into the gates. The stylish duo decided to match their hair with braids for the occasion Sunday's festival comes amid heightened security imposed at music events across the state, but the revellers didn't seem disheartened by the increase in safety measures. They were seen swigging from cans of beer, stopping to take selfies and cheering as they walked down the street to the festival. Scantily-clad girls flaunted their figures in tiny two-pieces adorned with glitter and sequins. Other revellers showed off their patriotic side and wrapped themselves in the Australian flag. One particularly outrageous outfit saw one woman don a black jumpsuit complete with two chunks of cloth deliberately cut out to expose both her bum cheeks. While others opted for neon green gym-wear inspired attire in the form of leggings and a crop top. International music acts, including The Chainsmokers, Marshmellow and Martin Garrix, were booked to take the stage as headliners of the electronic musical festival A group of pals pose for the camera. The women have opted for bold outfits with bizarre fishnets while the men are dressed more casually This woman chose an animal print two piece to flaunt her figure and ample cleavage. She matched the outfit with big lashes and simple heeled sandles The festivalgoers flaunted plenty of skin opting for barely-there bikinis, hot pants and fishnet tights as they flocked to Parramatta Park for the music extravaganza on Sunday They completed the look with a pair of sunglasses and a generous helping of glitter. Some revellers tried to hide their identity by going incognito with white masks. Weather in Sydney was indecisive as rain clouds loomed, wind roared and the sun played hide and seek. Despite this, many revellers braved barely-there bikini tops which did nothing to hide their ample cleavage. All the colours of the rainbow! This rellever made a statement as she wore a barely-there multi coloured two-piece Matching sets were quite the rave with this woman choosing to wear a two-piece red tartan set A group of festivalgoers who braved the indecisive Sydney weather by showcasing plenty of skin Sunday's festival comes amid heightened security imposed at music events across the state but the revellers didn't seem disheartened by the increase in safety measures Many men took the chance to whip their top off and strut around with their gym-hoaned physic on full display. Some left little to the imagination in military boots, fishnet tights and not much else. One group of girls appeared to have taken inspiration from the nineties and donned a retro-style tracksuit two-piece. Other revellers decided to go for a more conservative look in a simple pair of shorts and a t-shirt. The music festival attracted increased security presence. Police are seen observing the revellers This brave reveller didn't seem to fussed to expose her bum cheeks with open back pants A couple are seen walking towards the festival gates to dance the night away on Sunday A group of girls show off their skin with glitzy and barely-there tops, matched with shorts and black shoes Ultra is a worldwide music festival that first opened its doors in Miami, USA, in 1999. The electronic music festival has since gained momentum across the globe, booking gigs from the USA, to Europe and Australia. Australia hosted Road to Ultra in Melbourne in February 2018. On Saturday, the music festival kicked off its first official Ultra Australia at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. Ultra shared pictures of an extravagant fireworks show to social media at the conclusion of Saturday's festival. 'Thank you Melbourne for an incredible first day of Ultra Australia! See you tomorrow Sydney,' festival organisers wrote on social media. Ultra is a worldwide music festival that first opened its doors in Miami, USA, in 1999. It's since grown prominence around the globe Girls are seen checking their social media accounts before they dance away their worries to the likes of The Chainsmokers A victim in the Texas plane crash that was carrying Amazon Prime Air cargo has been identified as authorities sweep the crash site to recover bodies and the wreckage. A twin engine Boeing 767 Atlas Air cargo jet violently crashed into Trinity Bay near Anahuac, Texas, shortly before 12.45pm on Saturday afternoon. There were three people on board Atlas Air Flight 3591 that was carrying Amazon Prime Air cargo, the Federal Aviation Administration said citing initial reports. There are no survivors in the deadly crash, according to the Chambers County Sheriff's Office. Pilot Sean Archuleta has been identified as one of the dead by family and friends on social media. He was father to a six-month-old son. It is not believed he was piloting the aircraft at the time - he was getting a ride to work. Scroll down for video Pilot Sean Archuleta has been identified as one of the dead by family and friends on social media There were three people on board Atlas Air Flight 3591 that was carrying Amazon Prime Air cargo, the Federal Aviation Administration said citing initial reports. Archuleta (above) Atlas Air Flight 3591, which was carrying cargo for Amazon Prime Air, was on route to Houston's George Bush International Airport from Miami when it suddenly crashed into Trinity Bay near Anahuac, Texas on Saturday afternoon Sheriff Brian C. Hawthorne described the crash during a press conference Saturday afternoon as 'total devastation'. Parts of the plane can be seen above in the water The flight had departed from Miami and was bound for George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas when it nosedived and plunged into the bay, which is just about five feet deep and is mostly mud marsh. It made a steep descent from 6,525 feet to 3,025 feet in 30 seconds, according to tracking data from FlightAware.com Officers and rescue teams have flocked to the scene where broken detritus of the plane was visible in the water along with bits of floating cargo such as women's clothing and cardboard boxes. Sheriff Brian C. Hawthorne described the crash during a press conference Saturday afternoon as 'total devastation'. He later told the Houston Chronicle that police had found human remains at the site. Pilot Sean Archuleta died in the crash of the Amazon Prime plane Atlas Air Flight 3591 on Feb. 23, 2019. Photos from a tribute on a friend's Facebook page Sean Archuleta's cousin shared this sweet tribute to the pilot saying: 'Everything comes with a price, even your package...' A friend of Archuleta's shared photos to Facebook remembering his buddy He said multiple witnesses reported the plane crash seeing it nose dive and hearing what sounded like 'lightning'. 'The first thing I saw when I got out there was just floating debris. From bed sheets to women's clothing to cardboard boxes to a lot of fiberglass. As we got closer we started seeing plane debris,' he said. He did not verify the name of the shipping company that is believed to be operating for Amazon Prime Air, according to Flight Global. Air traffic controllers in Houston tried at least twice to contact the plane but received no response. According to FlightRadar the jet had departed Miami at 11.33 local time and was scheduled to arrive at Houston Intercontinental at 12.53 local time. Emergency personnel work at the scene of a plane crash site in Trinity Bay in Anahuac, Texas on Saturday A helicopter flies overhead as emergency personnel work the scene of a plane crash site in Trinity Bay in Anahuac Law enforcement officers man a road block leading to a staging area during the investigation of a plane crash in Trinity Bay in Anahuac Rescue teams pictured above at the bay searching for the plane after it plunged into the bay at 12.45pm on Saturday After losing contact, then they asked a United Airlines pilot if he had seen 'ground contact' - wreckage - to his right or behind him. 'That's a negative,' he said. They also asked a Mesa Airlines pilot: 'See if you can make ground contact. We are looking for a lost aircraft ... it's a heavy Boeing 767,' meaning it's a big, two-aisle plane. 'No ground contact from here,' the Mesa pilot said. According to FlightRadar the jet had departed Miami at 11.33 local time and was scheduled to arrive at Houston Intercontinental at 12.53 local time. Atlas Air Flight 3591 was on route to Houston's George Bush International Airport from Miami when it went down 'We haven't been able to find any survivors or any remains. I feel like it's probably a crash that nobody would have survived,' Sheriff Brian C. Hawthorne said at a press conference after the accident Multiple law enforcement agencies reported to the scene to help with the rescue search to find locate the submerged plane. After scouring for hours the jet was finally located in Jack's Pocket at the north end of Trinity Bay. Sheriff Hawthorne said they'll likely be out there for weeks clearing the seen and determine what made the plane go down. FAA investigators are the site and the National Transportation Safety Board has been notified. The NTSB will be taking charge of the investigation. The FAA released a statement on the afternoon crash An Amazon.com Inc. Prime Air cargo jet sits parked in an airport (File Photo). 767 cargo jets are large airliners with seating capacity for 181 to 375 people The FBI are also on the scene to help locate the jet's black boxes. The Houston Police Department said they're sending its marine officers to the seen and the Harris County Sheriff's Office is sending personnel to assist in the crash. The NTSB will be taking charge of the investigation. According to Atlas Air Inc.'s website the company transports 'precious perishables or heavy construction equipment to arranging passenger charters for celebrities or dignitaries.' The jet had flown for Prime Air since April 2017, as per Flight Global. A man was arrested midway through a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert after allegedly blowing his nose on a policeman. The officer stepped in at the concert in the NSW Hunter Valley on Saturday to assist security, who were trying to kick the 25-year-old out because he was allegedly too drunk. He was only one of nearly 80 people who had to be removed from the concert, which was held at Hope Estate winery. Police also made 44 drug detections of MDMA, cocaine and cannabis. The unnamed man from Kensington, in Sydney's south east, allegedly refused to cooperate with the orders. As police were escorting him off from the Hunter Valley winery show held at Hope Estate in Pokolbin, the man 'allegedly blew snot at a male senior constable', police said in a statement. The officer stepped in to assist security at the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in NSW on Saturday, who were trying to kick the 25-year-old out because he was too drunk There was a heavy police presence at the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in New South Wales The unnamed man from Kensington, in Sydney's south east, allegedly refused to cooperate with the orders The man was taken back to Cessnock police station where charges were filed against him for assaulting an officer in the execution of duty and failing to leave a premise when required. He was released on bail and is expected to appear in Cessnock Local Court on March 20. He was one of six people charged in total at the event. Police assisted security in kicking 79 people out of the concert, while another 34 people were removed to a separate area due to drunkenness. In another incident, a bus full of 20 people was turned away from the venue due to the intoxication. Police assisted security in kicking 79 people out of the concert, while another 34 people were removed due to drunkenness (stock) Police assisted security in kicking 79 people out of the concert, while another 34 people were removed due to drunkenness Police also made 44 drug detections, predominately MDMA, cocaine and cannabis Three people were also charged for trespassing. Superintendent Chad Gillies said the outcomes were disappointing. 'Our officers were kept busy last night with several drug and alcohol-related incidents,' he said. 'Police are not there to spoil people's fun, but the behaviour of people affected by alcohol was unacceptable and a music event is not an excuse to break the law.' Police also made 44 drug detections, predominately MDMA, cocaine and cannabis Sickening footage of a policeman getting his head repeatedly slammed into the concrete by a drunken thug has emerged. The alleged attack occurred after emergency services were called to a brawl on Fitzroy Street in Melbourne's St Kilda about 3am on Sunday. The footage, captured by a shocked taxi driver, showed a man wearing a grey T-shirt and light-coloured pants holding the head of the officer in his hands and smashing it several times into the pavement. Just moments before the attack, police had been chasing a 26-year-old man through the streets of St Kilda. After closing in on the man, the two police officers were then surrounded by an angry mob of six or seven revellers. As the officer attended to the alleged attacker, the mob pounced and violently assaulted him and the other officer. Victoria Police Superintendent Tony Silva described the attack as 'animalistic' and one of the worst he's ever witnessed. 'I would describe it as rag dolling him, smashing his head into the concrete roadway,' he told Nine News. The officers only managed to split up the gang after using capsicum spray. Sickening footage of an angry mob assaulting police officers in Melbourne's St Kilda on Sunday morning ha emerged - with one man wearing a grey T-shirt seen slamming an officer's head into the concrete The officers were rushed to hospital suffering serious bruising and swelling to the face, with one expected to undergo surgery overnight. Victoria police said the group had a pack mentality and took advantage of the vulnerable police officer at the time he was attending to the suspect. 'This is the worst of society they will find the full force of the law is their future,' Mr Silva said. Victoria Police have stated that no expense will be spared as they make an appeal for anyone with knowledge or footage of the incident to come forward. All suspects, believed to be five men and a woman aged in her 20s, are described as having a Caucasian appearance. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers. Three male teens, including a 13-year-old boy have been charged with supplying drugs at an under-18s dance festival. Police made the arrests at the Goodlife Lost City dance festival held at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday. Police alleged two 17-year-old males and a 13-year-old were caught carrying MDMA caps. Thousands of teens attended the Goodlife Lost City dance festival at Sydney Showground A 16-year-old boy was also issued a Future Court Attendance notice for drug possession. Twelve teens were issued youth offender cautions under the Young Offenders Act and one was cautioned for carrying a knife in a public place. Two teenagers were rushed to hospital after suspected drug overdoses at the same music festival. Both have since been released. They were among numerous arrests made by police at festivals held across Sydney over the weekend. Sydney Olympic Park hosted the Goodlife Lost City 2019 under-18s dance festival on Saturday Another five revellers were rushed to hospital from Sydney's Ultra Festival on Sunday in critical conditions after suspected drug overdoses. Police searched 395 people and made 98 detections of cannabis, cocaine and MDMA at the at Parramatta Park festival held in western Sydney. Criminal infringement notices were issued to 29 revellers, 28 for possession of MDMA and one for cocaine. There were also 13 cannabis cautions handed out. Officers laid over 45 charges including 10 for supply prohibited drug. More than a dozen people will also appear before the courts over alleged drug offences and seven were ejected for drunkenness at the Secret Garden music festival in southwest Sydney. There was a high police presence Sydney's Ultra Festival at Parramatta Park on Sunday Dozens of festivalgoers were arrested for various offences at various events held across Sydney on the weekend. Pictured are police at the Ultra Festival in Parramatta on Sunday Some 25 drug detections were made on Saturday, the second day of the three day festival, for MDMA, LSD and cannabis. A 22-year-old man has been charged with drug supply after he was allegedly found in possession of 32 LSD tabs, three tablets believed to contain dexamphetamine, and a capsule believed to contain MDMA. He was charged with supplying a prohibited drug and two counts of possessing a prohibited drug and bailed to appear at Picton Local Court on Tuesday. A further 12 revellers were issued with future court attendance notices for drug offences who will also appear at Picton Local Court on Tuesday. Seven people were ejected from the festival for drunkenness, four cannabis cautions were issued and nine people were given criminal infringement notices. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said that the government needs a broader, more effective approach to border control. He suggested the Pentagon might contribute with its expertise in surveillance and monitoring during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Saturday. 'How do we get out of treating the symptoms and get at the root of the issue,' Shanahan said in an interview while flying back to Washington. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, center, fires a modified painted ball gun during a tour of the US-Mexico border at Santa Teresa Station in Sunland Park on Saturday Considering how the military could reinforce efforts to block drug smuggling and other illegal activity comes as the Pentagon weighs diverting billions of dollars for President Donald Trump's border wall. Shanahan said he was not volunteering the Pentagon to take over any part of border control, which is the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security. But he said his visit led him to question whether there should be a 'wholesale redesign' of the way border control is done by the federal government. Shanahan said the Pentagon is willing to continue supporting the DHS but wants to see a longer-term solution. 'I don't want to just add resources and not fix the problem,' he said. The Pentagon, for example, has agreed to temporarily provide active-duty troops to operate Border Patrol vehicles whose cameras can surveil wide areas along the border. Shanahan said this will free up the Border Patrol to do other important aspects of their mission. He said this is a function that could be developed more fully with the benefit of decades of U.S. military experience with ground and aerial reconnaissance and surveillance around the world. In addition to speaking with Border Patrol agents and other leaders during his visit, Shanahan flew in a V-22 Osprey aircraft along dozens of miles of border west of El Paso, including two areas where DHS is proposing to replace vehicle barriers with 18-foot and 30-foot border walls. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, center, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, second from the right, looks across the horizon during a tour of the US-Mexico border Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, center, greets Border Patrol Agents Carlos Lerma Moises Gonzalez (right) and the horse they use for patrols Shanahan and the Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. Joseph Dunford, visited a border site called Monument Site 3 where a stretch of 18-foot border wall stands atop a huge landfill. They also got an up-close look at Border Patrol vehicles used for surveillance. Vehicle-mounted surveillance cameras can see as far as eight miles away. During the visit Shanahan tried his hand at firing a couple of Border Patrol weapons, including one that fires plastic bullets. The two border control sites farther west are on a list of high-priority projects DHS submitted to Shanahan on Friday to support its request for money to pay for construction of roads, replacement of vehicle barriers and dilapidated pedestrian fencing, and installation of lighting. Democrats in Congress are seeking to block Donald Trump's emergency declaration to stop the diversion of Pentagon funds for his border wall A migrant pushes a bag through the US-Mexico border fence before he and two other migrants squeeze through the fence from Playas de Tijuana to Imperial Beach, California An incomplete section of border fencing as seen from the Texas side during Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan's tour of the US-Mexico border The pedestrian fencing would include detection systems that could alert border patrol agents when someone is attempting to damage or break through the fencing. The money would come from the Pentagon's drug interdiction programs. One such project proposed by DHS, dubbed "El Paso Project 1," includes segments of border west of El Paso, in Luna and Dona Ana counties, New Mexico. This is among areas DHS cites as known drug smuggling corridors used by Mexican cartels. These projects are separate from, but related to, those which Shanahan is expected to pay for by diverting money that Congress appropriated for military construction projects. This could total as much as $3.6 billion, although Shanahan has not yet determined that the diversion is justified. His visit Saturday was meant to help him decide whether to approve such spending. DHS has yet to provide the details that Shanahan says he needs before making his decision on the repurposing of military construction funds. He has said he is likely to provide the full $3.6 billion the White House is expecting, plus $2.5 billion from the drug interdiction program. Trump authorized the use of these military funds when he declared a national emergency to build a wall. Patrick Shanahan tours the US-Mexico border at Santa Teresa Station in Sunland Park Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joseph Dunford gestures while speaking to reporters during a briefing on a military aircraft before arrival at El Paso International airport on Saturday Wall construction would be done under contracts managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, whose commander, Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, accompanied Shanahan on Saturday. The Corps has built 126 miles (203 kilometers) of border wall in the last two years - mostly replacement barriers, Semonite told reporters. Democrats in Congress, meanwhile, are seeking to block Trump's emergency declaration to stop the diversion of Pentagon funds for his border wall. The House is to vote Tuesday on a resolution to block Trump. There are about 2,900 active-duty troops and about 2,100 National Guard troops on the border in support of Customs and Border Protection. That combined total of 5,000 is expected to grow to 6,000 by March 1 as the Pentagon provides additional support. The border mission for active-duty forces began on Oct. 30, 2018, as Trump asserted that caravans of Central American migrants posed an urgent national security threat. Critics dismissed his use of the military on the border as a political gimmick on the eve of midterm congressional elections. The active-duty mission has since been extended to September 30. An overseas tourist, 23, has fallen to his death through the skylight of a church. Police said it appears the man climbed onto the roof of St Vincent's Catholic Church at Surfers Paradise at about 2am on Sunday with five other men. Services have been cancelled for Sunday and police are preparing a report to be sent to the coroner. An overseas tourist, 23, has fallen to his death through the skylight of a church (pictured) Paramedics were also called but could not revive him. The man's death is not being treated as suspicious. Visiting priest Warren Kinne said he was having to turn people away from the church on Hamilton Avenue on Sunday morning after police set up a crime scene. 'Whatever they were doing on the roof I don't know but falling through to his death is very sad for the family,' the priest said according to ABC News. 'We'll pray for them.' Five men between the ages of 19 and 31 from south-east Queensland and Western Australia have been interviewed by detectives. A 'bizarre and discriminatory ban' on bottle-feeding fathers in the Western Australian state parliament will remain in place. While mothers may soon be welcome to breastfeed their newborns in the chamber, parliamentary dads who want to bottle-feed their babies will remain unwelcome. The Labor state government is lobbying to improve arrangements for serving MP mothers, who currently have to leave the chamber to feed their babies. But changes to standing orders which will allow breastfeeding MP mothers to remain in the chamber to feed their babies while parliament is sitting haven't been extended bottle-feeding. Greens Senator Larissa Waters was the first MP to breastfeed their baby in federal parliament in 2017 when she fed her daughter while delivering a motion A change to standing orders was scheduled to be debated in parliament last week, but the motion was pulled by the Labor caucus. The move has since been described as discriminatory. 'Labor's stance on banning parliamentary men from bottle-feeding their babies as primary carers is bizarre, given the Labor Government has legislation before the House that allows gay men access to surrogacy,' State Deputy Opposition Leader Liza Harvey told The Sunday Times. A government spokesperson told The West Australian the motion was pulled due to a 'substantial legislative agenda to get through the parliament.' A Procedure and Privileges Committee report called for a trial allowing babies to be fedin parliament after a survey of 45 Legislative Assembly MPs last year revealed that more than two thirds supported the proposal. Bottle-feeding parliamentary dads remain unwelcome while WA Parliament is sitting Greens Senator Larissa Waters became the first woman to breastfeed in federal parliament in 2017. She made history as she fed her three-month-old daughter Alia Joy while delivering a motion. 'So proud that my daughter Alia is the first baby to be breastfed in the federal Parliament! We need more #women & parents in Parli,' Senator Waters tweeted at the time. WA parliamentary dads will not be able to bring their babies into the chamber to feed them (stock image) She later added: 'We need more women and parents in parliament. And we need more family-friendly and flexible workplaces, and affordable childcare, for everyone.' Greens colleague Sarah Hanson-Young made headlines in 2009 when she was ejected from the Senate chamber for bringing in her two-year-old daughter. In 2003, then Victorian MP and former Australian aerial skiier Kirstie Marshall was ejected from state parliament for breastfeeding her newborn daughter Charlotte in the chamber. A man has been arrested in Idaho over the murder of a teenage girl whose body was found in a river 24 years ago. Regina Krieger went missing from her home on February 28, 1995, just two days before her 15th birthday. Her body was found on the banks of the Snake River on April 15 of that year and she had suffered horrific injuries. Gilberto Flores Rodriguez (left) was arrested in connection with the death of Regina Krieger, (right) went missing from her home in 1995, just two days before her 15th birthday Gilberto Flores Rodriguez, 56, from Burley, was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder, Cassia County Sheriffs Office said on a statement on Wednesday. Rodriguez, who was once a suspect in the case, is being held without bond at the Mini-Cassia Criminal Justice Center. Krieger disappeared from the basement of her fathers Burley home on February 28, 1995. A large amount of blood was discovered in the basement, but Krieger could not be located. However on April 15 of the same year, horseback riders found her decomposed body in a portion of the Snake River where the water had receded near the Montgomery Bridge east of Rupert. Kriegers throat had been slashed and she had been stabbed in the heart. An autopsy showed her body had been in the river for at least 30 days. Three witnesses told investigators that Rodriguez killed Krieger, dumped her body in the river and then buried a knife in a box, Magicvalley.com reported. Krieger disappeared from the basement of her fathers Burley home, where a large amount of blood was found Regina Kriegers throat had been slashed and she had been stabbed in the heart. An autopsy showed her body had been in the river for at least 30 days A confidential witness told officials they were with Rodriguez on the night Regina was killed at her house. The witness said Rodriguez went into the girls house and came back out about a half an hour later and drove to the front of the home. He later came out dragging something wrapped in a blanket. They claimed that Regina's body was placed in the car trunk and taken to a bridge by the Minidoka Dam. The witness was present when Reginas body was thrown over the bridge still wrapped in the blanket. Reginas mother, Rhonda Hunnel, told the Idado Statesman on Wednesday that she had waited a long time in her search for answers on the case. She said: 'I knew we were getting closer and I was fully aware that it was going to happen. 'My excitement level is very high. I couldnt be more pleased.' 'I'm feeling a little tingly still. When I first got the news, I got a phone call five minutes after he was arrested. Every hair on my head stood up on my arms.' She added: 'Twenty-four years has been a long time for me to be searching anything pertaining to this case, so we could get to this point where theres an actual arrest.' Gilberto Flores Rodriguez, (pictured) was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder, Cassia County Sheriffs Office said on a statement on Wednesday Hunnel now lives in Las Vegas and said she is hopeful that all that the perpetrator will be held to account. Another witness in the case claimed that they were at a party when Rodriguez showed up upset and covered in blood. The first witness told the third witness that they had just killed Regina, court records say. There were rumors that her father, Daniel Krieger, was a potential suspect, according to local newspaper reports at the time. 'I love my kids ... Id give my life for my kids. I built the basement bedroom for Gina because I wanted her to be comfortable and have a home ... I really miss her bad,' he told the Statesman in June 1995. Clifton Krieger, Regina's brother, said he remembered the day Regina went missing very clearly, adding: 'There was a lot of blood.' 'A lot of people say you don't know what you have until it's gone,' said Clifton, Regina's brother. 'That was the situation for me.' '(It) was three days after my birthday... I just turned 13,' he said, referring to when the incident happened. Kriegers death is a well-known Idaho cold case that has remained a mystery. Pictured in the house from where she disappeared in 1995 She disappeared from the basement of her fathers Burley home on February 28, 1995. Her father had built her a bedroom in the basement as she wanted more space 'I had to go call everybody. Call the cops, call my mom, call my grandparents. My dad, he was out. just couldn't do anything, he was just in shock,' he recalled. It was reported that police made mistakes in their handling of the case, former Cassia County Sheriff Randy Kidd said in 2015. Investigators did not consider Kriegers death a murder at first, but instead believed that she ran away or committed suicide. Clifton said he heard gossip about what may have happened to his sister. 'Everyone talks in a small town,' he said. He said the people Regina had become involved with were drug dealers who were using children to deliver drugs. Rodriguezs criminal history dates back to the 1990s in Cassia County, where he faced several drugs charges. In 2015 he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor providing false information to an officer. In 1996 he was charged in separate incidents with misdemeanor unlawful carrying a concealed weapon and misdemeanor battery. And he had a conviction for misdemeanor driving under the influence in 1994. Various other charges have been dismissed or pleaded down, according to online court records. A man who stopped at a service station for a few minutes to buy a meat pie was shocked to find a $112 fine when he returned to his car. Ben Judd was on his way to work in Woollahra, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, on Friday morning when he pulled over at a service station for a few minutes. 'Was on my way to work and stopped at the BP servo as I do nearly every morning to pick up breakfast,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'I parked in a designated parking spot in the servo quite close to the front doors, ran inside for no more than a minute.' A man who stopped at a service station for a few minutes to buy a meat pie was shocked to find a $112 fine when he returned to his car (pictured: the fine) Ben Judd (pictured) was on his way to work in Woollahra, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, on Friday morning when he pulled over at a service station for a few minutes When he returned to his car, he said he was surprised to see a police officer had parked him in and was standing next to his vehicle. 'The first thing he said to me was "Is there a reason you left your windows down?" I replied "I was just running in to grab a pie",' Mr Judd said. The police officer made him perform a breath test and a random drug test, which both came back negative. 'After this he started picking on my LED light bar (He was determined to fine me for anything he could),' Mr Judd claimed. The police officer then issued Mr Judd with a $112 fine for leaving his windows down and the car unlocked. 'As he was letting me go he commented that "if he saw me again he was going to pull me over", considering I was doing nothing wrong I thought that was a bit much,' he said. Mr Judd was baffled with the penalty as he'd never heard of the rule before and said he was parked inside a petrol station rather than on a road. The police officer then issued Mr Judd with a $112 fine for leaving his windows down and the car unlocked Mr Judd was outraged by what happened, as he believes his car was situated on private property by being inside the petrol station, rather than parked on a road 'I had no idea about the law, I can understand it being appropriate on a main road, but in a service station... almost every car parked in there has at least one window down,' he said. 'Majority of the people I've spoken to had no idea about the law, and the few that knew about it thought it was ridiculous in a petrol station.' Despite Mr Judd being encouraged to contest the fine by supporters online, the obscure road rule is a reality Australia-wide. Many people on Facebook agreed with his outrage, with one person saying: 'That's gotta (sic) be a stitch up' According to the Australian Road Rules, it's an offence to leave a car unlocked or with windows down Social media users argued against the officer's actions and believed Mr Judd should not have been given a ticket According to the Australian Road Rules, it's an offence to leave a car unlocked or with windows down. The law states that if a driver is over three metres from the closest part of the vehicle, they must turn off the engine, remove the ignition key, secure the windows and lock the doors. Mr Judd was outraged by what happened, as he believes his car was situated on private property by being inside the petrol station, rather than parked on a road. Many people on Facebook agreed with his outrage, with one person saying: 'That's gotta (sic) be a stitch up'. 'A days wage for some for a damn pie im (sic) so sorry for u (sic),' another woman wrote. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has insisted that she does live in the Bronx, despite claims that her neighbors have never met her. Through a spokesman, the New York Democrat strongly denied a Saturday report in the New York Post, which claimed there was scant evidence that she lives in the Bronx condo where she is registered to vote. 'She lives there,' the freshman congresswoman's spokesman Corbin Trent told DailyMail.com, referring to a condo in the Parkchester neighborhood that was owned by Ocasio-Cortez's late father. 'That's home, period, for her. That's where she gets her energy, her drive. She not only lives there, that's where her heart's at, period,' Trent said of the condo. He said that he had worked for Ocasio-Cortez for two years, and personally knew that Ocasio-Cortez lived in the condo during that time. Through a spokesman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez strongly denied a report that she does not actually live in the Bronx apartment where she is registered to vote Ocasio-Cortez has a unit in the Bronx apartment complex, where her family lived when she was young and which remained in the family after her father passed away in 2008 In July, DailyMail.com reported that Ocasio-Cortez had actually spent much of her youth living in upscale Westchester County, in seeming contrast with a hard-luck campaign biography touting her Bronx roots. After living in the Parkchester condo until she was around age five, her family moved to the suburban home for better schools, selling it when her father tragically died of cancer in 2008, but retaining ownership of the Bronx condo. The latest controversy deals with a more recent question: Where does Ocasio-Cortez live now? Since 2016, Ocasio-Cortez has listed the Parkchester condo as her residence on voter registration forms. Yet the Post claims that neighbors down the hall say they have never seen her in the building. 'I would have remembered,' one resident of 40 years told the Post, saying he'd never seen Ocasio-Cortez or her boyfriend, Riley Roberts, who also lists his residence in the unit. She not only lives there, that's where her heart's at, period,' a spokesman said of the condo where Ocasio-Cortez says she lives with her boyfriend Riley Roberts (right) Employees at a nearby grocery store and pizzaria told the newspaper that they had never heard of the now-famous congresswoman patronizing the businesses - though a server at a nearby taqueria had spotted Ocasio-Cortez once, when she came in for the purpose of being filmed by a news crew. Trent dismisses those claims, saying that while it's always possible someone might not recognize Ocasio-Cortez, she is well known in both the building and the neighborhood. 'I've watched her interact with people coming in about out of the building,' he told DailyMail.com. 'She's a frequent fixture in the neighborhood.' The mailman who has delivered to the building for a decade also told the Post that mail for her and Roberts piles up in their box for months at a time. The mailman said that no other mail was addressed to the condo, only Ocasio-Cortez and her boyfriend. Trent explained this as a fact of life for a busy candidate and then freshman congresswoman in transition, saying that Ocasio-Cortez had been gone for weeks at a time in particular during congressional orientation. Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez has also drawn criticism because she has yet to open a district office, something the other three freshman representatives from New York have manged to do. The congresswoman's district office will open in this building in Jackson Heights around March 4, her spokesman told DailyMail.com Ocasio-Cortez claimed that she wasn't able to take over her predecessor's district office because the landlord wanted to nearly double the rent, to $15,000 a month. 'That spike would have meant less caseworkers for our community,' she wrote on Twitter. 'Instead, we're making a new space with a family business!' Instead, she has rented an office space in Jackson Heights, Queens, which is currently under remodeling. Although the Post estimates the cost of that space at nearly $17,000 a month, Trent says the cost will be much lower, and less than the $15,000 her predecessor's space would have cost. Trent said that the new office will open around March 4. He said that until that time, constituents have a variety of ways to get in touch with the representative, through phone, by mail, and on her U.S. House website. President Donald Trump welcomed two of his most popular supporters - internet stars Diamond and Silk - to the White House on Saturday. Enjoyed chatting with our great President, the duo tweeted on Saturday. We love & support the [president] because he loves and supports all Americans. Hes done more for black people than any other President in our lifetime. There are those that write history but President Trump is making history. The image attached to the tweet shows Lynnette Hardaway (Diamond) and Rochelle Richardson (Silk) standing next to Trump in the Oval Office on Saturday. Scroll down for video Diamond, aka Lynnette Hardaway (left), and Silk, aka Rochelle Richardson (right), pose next to President Trump (center) in the Oval Office on Saturday The duo praised Trump for 'doing more for black people than any other president in our lifetime' Trump responded with a tweet saying: 'So great being with you both in the Oval Office!' In response, Trump tweeted: So great being with you both in the Oval Office! Diamond and Silk became social media stars after they supported Trump as early as the Republican primaries in 2015. They first appeared with Trump, who was a longshot candidate at the time, at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina in December 2015. The two women are former Democrats who threw their support to Trump while encouraging African American voters - most of whom are Democrats - to switch allegiances. Since Trump became president, Diamond and Silk have frequently been seen on the Fox News Channel, particularly on Fox & Friends and Hannity. The president told aides that he so enjoys seeing their impassioned defense of him on television that they have practically become senior advisers, The Daily Beast reported last year. On both television and through their video essays on YouTube, Diamond and Silk routinely attack the presidents harshest critics using strong language of their own. Diamond and Silk rose to prominence after throwing their support behind Trump early in the 2016 campaign. They are seen above at a Trump rally in Fort Lauderdale in August 2016 The duo are often seen on Fox News and other right-of-center platforms where they frequently assail Democrats During the campaign, they referred to Trumps opponent as Hillary Rotten Clinton and denounced her as a slave master. They have also defended Trump against charges of racism while opposing groups such as Black Lives Matter. Last year, Diamond and Silk became symbols of what conservatives consider their battle to have their freedom of speech respected. In April, Facebook informed them that their official page was deemed unsafe to the community. They said the notice led to a decline in the number of page visits and views of their videos. Republican members of Congress invited Diamond and Silk to testify about their dispute with Facebook. The social network eventually apologized for the error and reversed its decision. The pairs Facebook page has more than 1.7 million followers. On Twitter, they have more than 1.03 million followers. Authorities say a man who fired on sheriff's deputies has died in a standoff at a Tennessee home in which deputies returned fire and one of the officers was shot and seriously wounded. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says 44-year-old Jackie Scott Pendergrass was found dead in the home where he had barricaded himself Saturday. A TBI statement says Pendergrass fired at least one shot was fired at deputies when they initially approached the home at 3606 Highway 11W after receiving a request to check on his welfare. It says deputies withdrew, tried to communicate with Pendergrass and that the man later fired on officers, who returned fire. Deputy Steve Hinkle (pictured), a 27-year veteran of the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office, was hit by gunfire and seriously wounded Sheriff Jeff Cassidy said: 'Deputy Hinkle is very respected. He's a father, a grandfather, a brother and also a brother of our agency, and we love him dearly. Our continued prayers for his recovery' At some point Deputy Steve Hinkle, a 27-year veteran of the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office, was hit by gunfire and seriously wounded. Sheriff Jeff Cassidy told a press conference on Saturday: 'One of my officers arrived, and right when he arrived, Mr. Pendergrass fired a shot. 'The officer then retreated towards cover, and deputies responded with fire as well. At some time during the gunfire exchange, Deputy Steve Hinkle was struck by gunfire. Deputy Hinkle was transported to a local hospital, where he is listed in serious condition. 'Numerous attempts were made to negotiate with Mr. Pendergrass, which were unsuccessful. After several hours, entry was made into the residence and the suspect was found deceased.' At least one shot was fired at deputies when they initially approached the home at 3606 Highway 11W (above) after receiving a request to check on his welfare Cassidy continued: 'Deputy Hinkle is very respected. 'He's a father, a grandfather, a brother and also a brother of our agency, and we love him dearly. Our continued prayers for his recovery.' Pendergrass had no prior criminal history and no information was released about the nature of the welfare check. TBI spokesperson Leslie Earhart stated in a press release: 'This remains an active and ongoing investigation, as TBI special agents and forensic scientists continue to work to gather any and all relevant interviews and evidence. As in any case, TBI's investigative findings will be shared with the district attorney general throughout the process.' A man has been charged with multiple offences over the alleged rape of a young girl during an horrifying home invasion. Sex assault squad detectives allege the man, 29, broke into a home in Perth's south on Saturday morning and repeatedly sexually assaulted a girl under the age of 13. 'It will be alleged a man gained entry to the victim's residence and sexually assaulted her,' a Western Australian police statement read. WA Police have charged a man in relation with the alleged rape of a young girl during an horrifying home invasion on Perth's south on Saturday morning 'A family member of the victim located the man inside the house and held him until police arrived.' Police haven't revealed the age of the girl or the suburb where the assault allegedly took place to protect the victim's identity. The man was believed to have been temporarily living at a neighbour's house. The man, 29, was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual penetration of a child under 13, attempted sexual penetration of a child under 13, three counts of aggravated indecent dealing of a child under 13, aggravated burglary and threaten to kill. He was refused bail and is due to appear in Perth Magistrates Court today. A boy needed help to find his favorite television show so he used the familys Ring camera to get in touch with his dad. The adorable youngster, who lives in Michigan, is seen in surveillance footage asking for his fathers assistance in locating the kids channel. He was being cared for by his mother, who was across the street at her neighbor's house. An young boy (pictured) used his family's ring camera to find his favorite TV channel However the boy wanted to come home a bit early to watch some TV. According to Ring, the video was captured in November, but has recently resurfaced. The father is heard speaking through the camera as he tried o explain the steps to his son. He can also be heard laughing at his sons choice of communication. 'Okay, yeah, well you just gotta press the power button on the side of the TV. You know how to do that right. The enterprising youngster managed to connect to his dad who was in work. He is seen here trying to catch a glimpse of his father 'Yeah, but I dont know what channel to get the kid's channel on. Oh, man I think the kid's channel is channel, maybe, 25.' The little boy responds by saying: 'I dont know what channel 25 looks like! The father started laughing. After a few kisses into the camera and a goodbye telling each other 'I love you,' the son then ventured back into the home. The boy then erupts into a fit of laughter when his father reacts to the way he has contacted him Ring products are based on a simple principle and are used around existing home Wi-Fi network to create security in a user's home. Ring products use the free Ring app, available for Apple and Android devices, to alert a user whenever someone approaches a door or comes within a range of a security camera. Users can then view an HD video stream of the person and speak to them using two-way audio communication. The free Ring app also allows you to control all the other functions of your Ring devices such as floodlights and sirens and video recording. Meghan Markles lavish $500,000 baby shower in New York City is likely to get the attention of Uncle Sam. Since the Duchess of Sussex is still an American citizen, she will be required to report any gifts valued at $15,000 or more which she received during her five-day bonanza to the Internal Revenue Service. By law, a gift tax is a tax imposed on the transfer of ownership of property where full compensation (measured in money or moneys worth) is not received in return, according to the IRS. Markle did not open her gifts because, according to CBS' Gayle King who was in attendance, she wanted to wait until she was back with her husband, Prince Harry. Scroll down for video Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, will have to report to the IRS any gifts whose value is in excess of $15,000 that she may have received during her baby shower But the American-born British royal will still need to declare any and all presents whose value exceeds $15,000. The reason for this is the United States is one of the few countries in the world that taxes the income of its citizens who live abroad. This will create all sorts of headaches for Meghan and Harry, who have reportedly hired American tax experts to help them sift through the complex tax laws that require the couple to open up their books to the IRS. The IRS is known for being extremely strict in tracking down people they believe owe them money. The Duchess of Sussex is still an American citizen so has to pay tax in the U.S., and this could extend to anyone else she draws money from, including her husband. This could deplete both her $5million U.S. fortune and Prince Harry's main source of private wealth, a 300,000-a-year trust fund on which he pays UK income tax. Meghan Markle was seen leaving The Mark last week after her five-day baby shower holiday The probe could even extend to the Queen and Prince Charles as they provide funding for the couple, aides told the Sunday Express. Meghan is reportedly living in the UK on a family visa, but she will have a complicated tax status as long as she remains a U.S. citizen. Since Markle is a U.S. citizen, the income she receives abroad is still taxable by the American government. The IRS building is seen above in Washington, D.C. Tax laws mean that even if Los Angeles-born Meghan lives full-time in the UK, she will still have to file a U.S. return every year. She will have until April 15 of this year to submit her 2018 returns. Meghan has to give the U.S. taxman full details of her finances if she and her husband-to-be have joint assets, bank accounts or offshore trusts in excess of $200,000. Perks she receives by joining the Royal Family such as the use of Nottingham Cottage, the grace and favor property in the grounds of Kensington Palace where she will live with Harry, need to be valued and declared, unless she is paying rent herself. And future TV income, such as repeat fees, will all be taxed by the US as long as she is a citizen. She may even have to declare personal items such as her engagement ring and wedding dress. The diamond engagement ring Prince Harry gave Meghan has been valued at over $100,000 by royal watchers. Because it is classified as a gift 'from a foreign person', Meghan would have to declare it to the IRS on a Form 3520 or suffer a $10,000 penalty. The decision to add more poker machines to a Western Sydney pub in exchange for a donation to the local children's hospital has sparked outrage. Fairfield Hotel struck a deal with Fairfield hospital's paediatrics department to support an application for seven poker machines in return for an annual donation of $100,000 over five years. Many have dubbed the deal struck between the pub and Fairfield hospital as obscene, disgusting and unethical, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Fairfield Hotel (pictured) struck a deal with Fairfield hospital to support application for seven poker machines in return for an annual donation of $100,000 over five years Many have dubbed the deal struck between the pub and the hospital as obscene, disgusting and unethical (stock image) In their application for the poker machines, Fairfield Hotel promised to contribute $500,000 over five years to the Fairfield Hospital Children's Ward Charitable Trust. 'Fairfield Hospital facilities, and in particular the Children's Ward, will benefit immensely from this donation, which will ensure that maximum community benefit will flow through to the Fairfield Local Government Area Community for many years to come.' The move is apparently supported by some doctors at the hospital, made evident by a letter written and signed on a NSW Health letterhead. The letter details that the $500,000 would benefit the ward as it would be spent on equipment to better service patients. Fairfield is an area that has one of the highest densities of poker machines and gambling rates per capita. Spokesman for The Alliance for Gambling Reform Tim Costello told Daily Mail Australia said it's appalling the hotel would be allowed additional poker machines. 'It is disgusting that applications for additional poker machines in already pokies ravaged council areas like Fairfield can be achieved with dubious funding arrangements with local hospital charities,' Mr Costello said. In their application for the poker machines, Fairfield Hotel promised to contribute $500,000 over five years to the Fairfield Hospital Children's Ward Charitable Trust (pictured) 'Pokies money is generated off the back of enormous misery and public harm, so community groups, hospital and charities should simply refuse to accept tainted money from the predatory industry.' Dr John Crozier, a senior trauma surgeon with the South Western Sydney Health, said the deal has angered clinical staff. As Fairfield is such a high-risk area with poker machines, doctors who work in the area are aware of the significant harm caused by them, he claimed. Dr Crozier said not only does it contribute to poverty, but also domestic violence. They are also related to a higher use of alcohol and smoking rates. As Fairfield is such a high-risk area with poker machines, doctors who work in the area are aware of the significant harm caused by them However, the full impact of the harm pokies can cause isn't understood in NSW as it's not studied enough. The trauma surgeon said doctors who serve the community supporting an increase in poker machines is 'obscene and perhaps even a breach of the code of conduct'. Associate professor of paediatrics at the University of Western Sydney Doctor Andrew McDonald said although the doctors who signed the letter were well intentioned, they were naive. The application has not been approved as the Department of Liquor and Gaming is yet to make a decision. Daily Mail Australia is awaiting comment from Fairfield Hotel. It could be a snapshot of Brighton beach on a beautiful summers day. In fact this idyllic photo of swimmers braving the ocean was taken yesterday in the same spot where, just a year ago, snow and frost lay thick on the ground. Yesterdays unseasonably warm weather saw sunseekers flock to Britains coasts as temperatures reached 17C about ten degrees warmer than usual for February. Brighton swimming club enjoying the the warm weather yesterday, top, and on the February 27 least year, bottom, while snow covers the beach Swimmers smile as they prepare for a dip in the sea in Brighton yesterday, top, while others pose on the chilly snow covered beach, bottom, in February last year It is a marked contrast to the freezing temperatures and snow that swept in with the Beast from the East 12 months ago. And tomorrow is predicted to be even warmer, with temperatures hitting around 18C the hottest February 25 since records began. A Brighton beach spokesman said yesterday: Visitors are in T-shirts. Were busy. However, the balmy conditions the result of a plume of hot air from Morocco are not set to last, with forecasters warning that Britain is set to return to the usual rain by the end of the week. Yesterday, air warnings were also issued as pollution from Spain and France rolled in, with asthma sufferers being told to take care over the next two days. Met Office forecaster Dean Hall said: Its exceptional weather and such a contrast to the Beast from the East 12 months ago. But a stark change is ahead, with later in the week seeing rain and strong winds risking gales of over 50mph. Brighton pier is basked in sunshine yesterday, top, in complete contrast to how it looked just 12 months ago, bottom, during the grips of the Beast from the East Paedophiles are grooming children as young as eight on live streaming websites and apps, parents are being warned today. The popularity of live streaming services like Tik Tok and Live.ly is leading to younger children being sexually abused online, according to the UK's leading children's charity Barnardos. Previously the youngest children to call the charity for help after being sexually exploited online were aged 10. But now eight-year-olds are using the service after being groomed by predators using the comments function on live videos. Rising popularity of 'broadcast' and video app Tik Tok is being blamed by a child protection charity for an increase in the sexual exploitation of youngsters online. Barnado's has warned of 'sophisticated groomers' who contact children using the apps' live comment functions TikTok lets users create and share short singing and dancing videos that are set to well-known songs. It's owners bought Musical.ly and merged the two apps. The Beijing based company behind the app has more than 500 million active users and is now worth more than 58 billion One primary school in Cornwall told the Mirror: 'Parents of children in Year 3 to Year 6 have been horrified by what children are exposed to.' Parents in Hounslow, London, were warned to be aware of the hashtag #tradefortrade - which communicates that the user wants to trade illicit content. TikTok also has a direct message function, as well as live-streaming and public comments. One North Yorkshire school said: 'If the profile is open, strangers can comment on your child's videos. 'While this isn't always sinister, it lets potential predators contact your child.' Last year a YouGov survey for the charity found that half of 12-year-olds and more than one in four children aged 10 had live streamed content over the internet using apps meant for people over the age of 13. Almost a quarter of children aged 10-16 said they or a friend later regretted what they had posted. Most children who uses the app film themselves lip-syncing to chart hits. It offers users a raft if colourful modification and editing tools including overlaying music, sound, animated stickers, filters and augmented reality (AR) for creating short videos. Barnardo's Chief Executive Javed Khan said: 'When we think of young people who have been sexually exploited, a stereotypically 'vulnerable' child may come to mind; someone in the care system, who doesn't have a reliable support network or who is disengaged with education. 'But the fact is that any child can become the victim of sexual exploitation or abuse, even children in loving, stable families. 'Without the right security settings, children broadcasting live video of themselves over the internet could be targeted by abusers in their bedrooms. 'It's vital that parents get to know and understand the technology their children are using and make sure they have appropriate security settings in place. They should also talk to their children about sex and relationships and the possible risks and dangers online so children feel able to confide in them if something doesn't feel right. 'We are also calling for a legal duty on technology companies to prevent children being harmed online.' ends The charity has previously warned of 'sophisticated groomers' who contact children using the apps' live comment functions and engage them in sexual behaviour. Barnado's also cited a case of a 14-year-old using dating apps made for adults and sending explicit pictures and videos to respondents who 'targeted' her online. Her activity led the teenager to her meeting someone online and having underage sex. Florida officer Doug McNeal (pictured) has been suspended for letting two suspects perform sex acts on each other in his patrol car A Florida police officer has been suspended for letting two shoplifting suspects perform sex acts on each other other in the back of his patrol car without intervening. An internal investigation into the cruiser ride happened in July 2018, shortly after Fort Pierce Police Officer Doug McNeal took Zachery Moellendick, 23, and Krista Leigh, 24, into custody for shoplifting at a Walmart. Body camera footage first shows McNeal inside a Walmart, where he encounters Leigh. Ten minutes later he picks the couple up and puts them in his car. A report claims the couple had stolen jewelry and a baby toy. Leigh was handcuffed and placed inside the patrol car but Moellendick, who had been using crutches to help him walk at the time, was never restrained by McNeal. During their drive to St Lucie County jail, video shows the pair 'holding each other, cuddling and kissing' while the Barry White song 'Cant Get Enough of Your Love,' plays in the background. A report seen by New York Daily News states: 'Due to Leigh and Moellendicks body posture and arm movements, it is apparent Moellendick and Leigh are sexually pleasuring each other with their hands. 'This continues for approximately six minutes.' He then turned his camera on when the couple are in the car. Scroll down for video Zachery Moellendick, 23, (left) and Krista Leigh, 24, (right) embraced passionately in the back of Doug McNeal's patrol car while Barry White played in the background. McNeal can be seen in video footage ignoring their antics Officer McNeal also allows Moellendick to smoke a cigarette inside the patrol car, according to the footage which was obtained by WPTV. In the footage, the officer ignores a passerby who tells him: 'I think they're making babies back there,' referring to the couple fondling of each other. The report states that during interviews, Leigh stated that Moellendick digitally penetrated her, while she pleasured him using her hands. Moellendick stated he 'got her off and she got me off'. When asked about the couple's kissing and cuddling while in transport to jail, McNeal stated he saw the activity and 'was fine with it'. 'All the actively [sic] was captured by McNeals [body worn camera] which was positioned below his rear view mirror.' He was also disciplined for failing to tell dispatchers where he was going and did not report his mileage. According to the document, he violated policies related to body worn cameras, authorized restraint, detainee transport operations, special transport situations, and use of tobacco products. Body camera footage first shows McNeal at a Walmart, where he encounters Leigh (pictured) He then puts the couple in the patrol car where they begin to hug and kiss one another Zachery Moellendick lights up a cigarette and McNeal says 'it's fine' when Moellendick claims that he probably shouldn't smoke inside an officer's car McNeal brings the couple to a hospital for an injury to Moellendick's leg and breaches a violation requiring him to wear handcuffs 'The Department completed a thorough review of this incident and the findings of the investigation sustained allegations against Officer McNeal and identified deficiencies in the performance of his duties,' said Chief Diane Hobley-Burney. 'Officer McNeal has accepted full responsibility for his actions and understands the seriousness of the policy violations. 'The conduct of this officer does not represent the values of this Department or the dedicated men and women who serve our community with honor every day.' Zachery Moellendick, 23, (left) and Krista Leigh, 24, (right) were both arrested for petty theft The couple are seen here again embracing each other and appear to be quite loved up in a number of Facebook images McNeal has worked with the department since 2014 and is assigned to the Community Policing Bureau. An investigation into the incident concluded McNeal violated a total of nine policies and he was suspended for 20 days without pay as a result. Moellendick entered a guilty plea for petty theft and trespassing. He was subsequently released from the St. Lucie County Jail on Thursday, according to TCPalm. Leigh earlier this month pleaded no contest to petty theft. She was sentenced to time served and released from jail. Derrick Cooper, 78, opened one of the schools involved, Underley Hall in Kirkby Lonsdale, in 1976 and ran it for 30 years Police have been accused of pursuing a witch hunt after ten former teachers were cleared of assaulting pupils at two boarding schools. Critics claim officers were swept along by accusations from ex-pupils, with lawyers claiming they had colluded to concoct bogus allegations of physical abuse and cruelty in the 1970s and 1980s in a bid to win compensation payouts. Cumbria Police this weekend said their investigation into the claims, codenamed Operation Tweed, will be wound up this week after costing 2.3 million. That will come as little consolation to Derrick Cooper, 78, whose health collapsed after he was wrongly jailed last year. Mr Cooper opened one of the schools involved, Underley Hall in Kirkby Lonsdale, in 1976 and ran it for 30 years. The Court of Appeal last month quashed his convictions for physically abusing two boys but he had already served almost nine months of a 20-month sentence. The clang of the cell door will haunt me for the rest of my life, he said yesterday. The stress was awful. It still is. Operation Tweed was launched in 2014 following abuse allegations by a former Underley Hall pupil. The school, which closed in 2012, taught boys aged between seven and 16 with behavioural problems and special educational needs. Local MP Tim Farron, the former Liberal Democrat leader, called for Home Secretary Sajid Javid to launch an urgent review into Operation Tweed At least 12 former staff are understood to have been arrested. Six were charged but none convicted. One was too ill to stand trial and later died. Three more were acquitted and a fourth had his case discharged. Mr Cooper was convicted of actual bodily harm and cruelty, but appeal judges found jurors may have misunderstood key information. The ruling detailed how one ex-pupil had accused Mr Cooper of head-butting him and gouging his eyes, yet there was no medical evidence nor witnesses. The police believed what they were told even before they looked into their accusations, said Mr Cooper. They lost any sense of impartiality. Bob Currie, a former Metropolitan Police commander, said the case might deter teachers from going into special education Six former staff at a second boarding school, Witherslack Hall near Grange, were also charged with assault and cruelty offences. Three were cleared and a fourth acquitted before trial. Two men were each convicted of one count of child cruelty. Bob Currie, a former Metropolitan Police commander, said the case might deter teachers from going into special education. And local MP Tim Farron, the former Liberal Democrat leader, called for HomeSecretary Sajid Javid to launch an urgent review into Operation Tweed. Cumbria Police last night said officers had worked diligently and professionally and investigated from an entirely objective position. The Crown Prosecution Service said cases were brought on the strength of evidence and the public interest. Since publication of this article we have received the following statement from former pupils of the school: 'Many former pupils feel let down and betrayed. All we have ever wanted (and still want) since 1997 is for the whole truth to come out and get justice. Being accused of assisting in a witch hunt by concocting stories and colluding for financial gain is only adding to the hurt and distress many still feel after being physically and sexually abused at the school. How can it be collusion when there were so many accusations from so many ex-pupils spread over a number of years and who had never met?' Chuka Umunna, who left the Labour Party on Monday to co-found The Independent Group, has dodged the question of whether he wants to lead the new political group. And he called again for the introduction of proportional representation as the new group seeks to cozy up to the Liberal Democrats. Asked whether he would be the group's leader Mr Umunna gave Sky's Sophie Ridge a smile before saying: 'I'm not', before adding, 'I'm clear I want to play the biggest role in this group. 'One of the things about the way we operate is a recognition we're all leaders.' Mr Umunna said: 'There's no doubt that we have to tear up our electoral system altogether and have a proper system of proportional representation which better reflects the modern tapestry of Britain' His comments came as shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner accused Mr Umunna of quitting the Labour Party to join TIG because he knew he could never become leader. 'It was fairly clear to me the reason he wanted to leave the Labour Party was that he knew he could never lead the Labour Party. This is about personality,' he told the same programme. Mr Umunna criticised the cult of personality around Mr Corbyn, saying mockingly: 'The way you're institutionalized in the main parties is there's a Great Leader who you clap in and out of events and the rest and, you know, you worship' he said, miming bowing down with hands outstretched. 'I don't want that, because I don't think that is necessarily the most grown-up way of doing politics.' And the Streatham MP once again backed the Lib Dem's longest-standing political aim: proportional representation saying: 'I do think we need a realignment. We are trying to break a system which is usually rigged in favour of some established parties. I think we can overcome that. 'There's no doubt that we have to tear up our electoral system altogether and have a proper system of proportional representation which better reflects the modern tapestry of Britain.' Chuka Umunna told Sophie Ridge that a PR voting system would 'better reflect' modern Britain The Independent Group now has 11 eleven MPs - eight Labour and three Conservatives - and will meet as a group for the first time next week. Allaying with the Liberal Democrats - as the SDP did in the 1980s - would double the size of the dedicated anti-Brexit group's voting block. Writing in today's Mirror Mr Umunna vowed to 'forge a new kind of politics' with The Independent Group - hitting out at tribalism, 'Blukip' and 'disgraceful antisemitism'. His statement has echoes of the SDP's stated intention in 1981 to 'break the mould' of British politics, may be the clearest sign yet that Mr Ummuna intends TIG to realise the original aims of the Gang of Four. Writing in the Mirror the former shadow home secretary called on voters to 'join us, and help us forge a new, different kind of politics for Britain's future', saying the established parties had both been taken over by their own extreme wings. The Streatham MP said it was now clear 'for all to see' that 'politics is broken', warning of the dangers of tribalism and incompetence. He wrote: 'Voters are understandably sick and tired of the same old partisan, tribal way of doing things, which has let our country down for too long.' He added: 'The established parties' failure stems from the way they've become increasingly narrow and factional, increasingly refusing to engage with other points of view.' He goes on to say: 'The Tories have morphed into 'Blukip' where Jacob Rees-Mogg's ERG hold all the cards and the proud One Nation tradition has been lost. With Labour, we've seen disgraceful antisemitism flourish in a climate where no criticism of the party leadership is tolerated.' Chuka Umunna has vowed to 'forge a new kind of politics' with The Independent Group - and hit out at tribalism, 'Blukip' and 'disgraceful antisemitism' When Labour MPs Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Shirley Williams and Bill Rogers founded the Social Democrat Party they deliberated chose not to name their party New Labour, according to Mr Owen years later, to create a home for disaffected Tories and centrists as well as Labour voters disillusioned by the party's left-wing leadership. Only one Conservative ever crossed the floor however and by the time of the 1987 an Alliance between the SDP and the Liberal Party won 23 per cent the vote and 22 seats while Labour under Neil Kinnock won 31 per cent and 229 seats. The mould of British Politics remained intact. Three anti-Brexit Tory MPs - Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen, and Sarah Wollaston - joined TIG on Wednesday and the Liberal Democrats have pledged to work with the new grouping swelling their voting block to 22. Mr Umunna said that however people voted in the 2016 referendum, the Brexit process had revealed 'the failures of both Labour and the Tories', leaving nobody happy with the results. He adds that he is proud that The Independent Group, 'in contrast to the heavily male-dominated Conservative and Labour Parties in Parliament', is two thirds female. Mr Umunna says The Independent Group will 'forge a new, different kind of politics for Britain's future', echoing the Labour Gang of Four who announced the formation of the SDP in 1981. His comments come as a Mail on Sunday poll revealed Mr Umunna as a favourite to win the leadership of the new group. The Mail on Sunday poll puts the Conservatives on 39 per cent and Labour on 31 per cent - and ranks Chuka Umunna as the favourite to lead The Independent Group After a week of political drama saw both main parties lose MPs to the new grouping, The Mail on Sunday poll put the Conservatives on 39 per cent and Labour on 31 per cent to win a General Election. The survey by Deltapoll revealed The Independent Group (TIG) came in third with 11 per cent. The poll makes Mr Umunna the most popular choice for leader on 13 per cent, followed by his Commons colleague Angela Smith on 5 per cent and Tory Anna Soubry on 4 per cent. The size of the 'Don't Knows' at 63 per cent illustrates the difficulty that the largely unknown MPs will have in achieving a public profile. Currently The Independent Group consists of eight former Labour MPs and three former Conservatives. The Mirror reports that the Liberal Democrats pledged to work with the group and their 11 MPs would swell numbers to 22 in the event of a merger. An additional nine Labour MPs are said to be considering leaving the party, along with four Conservatives - which would bring the new group to 35 MPs. Today Mr Umunna also revealed he had been subject to such vitriolic abuse he had to call the police on the perpetrator who was subsequently arrested. Mr Umunna told Sophie Ridge on Sky: 'I have received threats from supporters of the leader where I've had to call in the police and somebody was arrested. 'At times it's been extremely unsettling and you do question 'why am I doing this? This is not normal'. 'Part of the problem in politics is that the extraordinary has become ordinary, these types of behaviours have become normalised'. Asked 'who do you blame,', the former shadow home secretary replied: 'I blame Jeremy Corbyn', before saying the shadow cabinet had been 'disgraceful' for not or threatening to resign over anti-Semitism. He listed Corbyn controversies including his support for an anti-Jewish mural, his suggestion Jewish people don't have an English sense of irony, and his attendance at 'a wreath laying ceremony for terrorists'. 'I don't know whether Jeremy Corbyn' is personally anti-Semitic, he said. 'His actions seem to suggest he's got questions to answer on that front. But I've been very clear, the Labour Party is institutionally anti-Semitic.' Another set of collectables set to hit supermarkets this week has already divided consumers. Woolworths will step up its war with rival giant Coles this Wednesday with the launch of its 'Disney Words by Woolworths' collectables, which aim to add a 'dash of magic and word play to supermarket shopping.' The release of Woolworths' first major collectable campaign since 2017 follows the success of Coles' recent Stikeez and Little Shop promotions. Supermarket giant Woolworths sparked speculation among shoppers that a new collectables campaign was coming with in-store character cut-outs (pictured) Shoppers will receive a Disney Word tile for every $30 they spend featuring a Disney character on one side and a letter on the other, which can be used to play word games. There are 36 to collect featuring characters from much loved Disney films such as Frozen, Toy Story, Disney Princess, Moana, Cars, Aladdin, Mickey Mouse & Friends, Beauty and The Beast, The Incredibles, The Lion King and Dumbo. Online reaction to the latest collectables promotion has been mixed. Members on the Woolworths Disney Words & Coles Stikeez plus other Collections swap group look forward to the latest craze. But other consumers were unimpressed. 'Create conspicuous little consumers who then compete for more of this "rubbish". We live in a world of finite resources and a supermarket chain offers to create mindless consumers,' one man tweeted. Another added: 'Looking forward to the Facebook comments on the Woolworths page next week from all the outraged housewives complaining they don't have enough stock or somebody is selling it on ebay for $500.' There are 36 Disney themed word tiles to collect at Woolworths from this Wednesday Other critics took to Woolworths' Facebook page. 'So disappointed that Woolworths is now doing the same as Coles and giving out unnecessary plastic pollution at the checkouts. Looks like it's a race to become the nation's top plastic polluter between these two,' one customer posted. Woolworths has assured its plastic-free collectable tiles are environmentally friendly and made from recycleable tin plated steel. Woolworths latest collectables campaign has already sparked a mixed reaction It's not yet known whether the latest collectable craze will receive as much backlash as Coles' recent Stikeez collectable minis promotion, which aims to get kids eating more fresh fruit and vegetables. More than 11,600 people have since signed an online petition calling on Coles to stop the 'wasteful' promotion. 'They say it's to encourage healthy eating for kids. We say it's just going to lead to more plastic ending up in our oceans and landfills - it's a disgraceful waste, ' the petition states. The Disney Words by Woolworths collectables promotion (pictured) is the first for the supermarket giant since 2017 'Surely we can encourage healthy eating without the wasteful and useless plastic consumption. This campaign is about telling Coles and the other big retailers that they need to do better. No more plastic promotions!' There are 10 'Disneyland' castle word tiles for Woolworths shoppers to find, which will win each of their collectors a VIP trip for four to California's Disneyland Resort. 'We set out to create a program with a difference, that will not only capture the imagination of kids and families, but can also make learning and literacy fun,' Woolworths Managing Director Claire Peters said. 'Whether you've grown up with Disney, or your kids are enchanted by it, we know that Australian families both young and old will be able to enjoy this program.' Every secondary school in England will have to offer lessons on the horrors of female genital mutilation in a bid to stamp out the brutal practice. Children will be taught about the physical and emotional harm caused by FGM as part of new relationship and sex education classes to begin in September 2020. They will be told that the practice is illegal and will be given information about the support available. Every secondary school in the UK will teach pupils on the horrors of female genital mutilation by 2020 Youngsters will also learn about other forms of so-called honour-based abuse, grooming, forced marriage and domestic abuse. Schools will be required to ensure that everyone leaving secondary education has been offered the lessons. However, parents will have the right to withdraw children under 16 from them. It will be up to individual schools to draw up the lessons, but officials stressed that they would be age-appropriate, with 11-year-olds receiving different advice than 18-year-olds. The move comes two years after doctors urged Ministers to introduce compulsory lessons on combating violence against women. Education Secretary Damian Hinds, who will unveil the proposals to MPs tomorrow, said improving awareness about FGM was just as important as legislation outlawing it. He said: We know that FGM can have a catastrophic effect on the lives of those affected, causing lifelong physical and psychological damage. Education Secretary Damian Hinds will unveil proposals about the policy to MPs on Monday Everyone must do all they can to protect women and girls from this extreme form of gendered violence. The proposals form part of a wider package of sex-education programmes to be unveiled tomorrow, including relationship lessons for primary pupils and health education for those of all ages in state schools. The NSPCC estimates that 137,000 women and girls are affected by FGM in England and Wales. Since July 2015, 296 FGM protection orders have been made to safeguard those at risk, including banning potential victims from being taken abroad to be cut. Officials said the age at which FGM was carried out varied in different communities, with some girls suffering the abuse shortly after birth and others during adolescence. FGM campaigner Nimco Ali praised the move, saying 'education is the key to ending FGM' FGM is illegal in the UK, and earlier this month the mother of a three-year-old girl in East London became the first person to be found guilty of the practice. Nimco Ali, an FGM campaigner and director of the anti-FGM charity Daughters Of Eve, welcomed the move, saying: Education is the key to ending FGM. We need to empower young people with the knowledge not only to know what is right and wrong, but the rights they have to be safe. As a child, I had no idea FGM was illegal. I just knew it was painful. Had I been given the education now being introduced, I would have been able to support those in my family to understand and prevent other girls from being cut. Two years ago, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said such classes could play an important role in tackling FGM by teaching children that they did not have to accept violence being perpetrated against them. Our weekly and very irreverent look at the stories that just might be breaking over the coming days Monday Home Secretary Sajid Javid revokes the passports of more citizens who he says have turned their back on our way of life and joined a dangerous radical ideology which seems an over-reaction to the Tories who jumped ship to The Independent Group. Home Secretary Sajid Javid revokes the passports of more citizens who he says have turned their back on our way of life and joined a dangerous radical ideology which seems an over-reaction to the Tories who jumped ship to The Independent Group. Tuesday Scientists joy at finding the worlds largest bee is short-lived after it comes into contact with the worlds largest rolled-up newspaper. Conclusive proof that the process for distributing disability benefits is broken comes when outsourcing firm Capita assesses the system and declares that it is fit and should be working. Wednesday Jeremy Corbyn finally leaves his allotment to reveal his views on Brussels, declaring that they should be planted in south-facing loamy soil with a nitrogen-rich fertiliser. Thursday After breakdancing is proposed as an Olympic sport, officials announce that three more competitive events will be added to the next Games to appeal to youngsters: twerking, Fortnite and knife crime. Friday The suggestion that Stonehenge is a neolithic Ikea is given further credence with the discovery of a stone Allen key, random screws, and a papyrus instruction booklet for a Hendje. The suggestion that Stonehenge is a neolithic Ikea is given further credence with the discovery of a stone Allen key Saturday Sensitive audiences at the new West End version of Only Fools And Horses complain that they should have been told in advance about which supporting characters were going to appear. In response, each performance will now be preceded by a Trigger warning. Jihadi bride Shamima Begum has said the UK government is 'making an example of her' by stripping her of citizenship and forbidding her return. The teenager, who fled London aged 15 to join Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria, also said that she regrets giving interviews about her plans. It comes after Begum said she wants to return to the UK with her newborn son - and will not travel without him. The teenager, who fled London aged 15 to join Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria, has said that she regrets giving interviews about her plans (pictured giving an interview to ITV news) Begum (pictured being interview by ITV news) has said that she wishes she had 'found a different way to contact family' instead of giving media interviews Shamima Begum earlier told Sky News that she is 'willing to change' and pleaded with politicians to treat her case with 'a bit more mercy'. But has since said that the UK government is 'making an example' of her Ms Begum, who had her British citizenship revoked by Sajid Javid, was one of three schoolgirls to leave Bethnal Green to join the terror cult in 2015 and resurfaced heavily pregnant at a Syrian refugee camp last week. Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph from the al-Hol camp in Syria, Ms Begum said: 'They are making an example of me. I regret speaking to the media. I wish I had stayed low and found a different way to contact my family. That's why I spoke to the newspaper.' The Home Secretary revoked Ms Begum's British citizenship in a move only permissible under international law if it does not leave the individual stateless. It was speculated that Ms Begum, who is of Bangladeshi heritage, may have citizenship there but Bangladesh's minister of state for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam denied this. Her family have written to the Home Secretary asking for his help to bring her newborn son to Britain. The letter to Sajid Javid said the baby boy was a 'true innocent' who should not 'lose the privilege of being raised in the safety of this country'. Begum's family have written to the Home Secretary asking for his help to bring her newborn son to Britain. The letter to Sajid Javid said the baby boy was a 'true innocent' who should not 'lose the privilege of being raised in the safety of this country' Shamima Begum and her friend fled to Syria by flying to Istanbul and getting a bus across Turkey to the ISIS capital, Raqqa. She moved to Mayadin with her jihadi husband Yago Riedijk but fled Baghuz when he was captured and is now in al-Hawl Her sister Remu Begum, writing on behalf of the family, asked how they could help the Home Secretary 'in bringing my nephew home to us'. The family said they have had no contact with Ms Begum and had only learned she had given birth to a boy through media reports. They made clear that they were 'shocked and appalled' at the 'vile comments' Ms Begum had recently made to the media. Mr Javid's removal of her citizenship came amid heated debate over whether the teenager should be able to return to the UK after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp with the terror group's reign nearly over. Shamima Begum, who was stripped of her British citizenship on Monday, pleaded to be allowed back to the UK but caused outrage by failing to apologise While many do not want to see Ms Begum return to the UK, others have argued she should face prosecution for her actions, and attempts at deradicalisation. The Begum family's lawyer Tasnime Akunjee said she was born in the UK, has never had a Bangladeshi passport and is not a dual citizen, which was confirmed by the Bangladeshi minister. The news comes as Begum's own father dramatically told The Mail on Sunday that he backs Home Secretary Sajid Javids decision to strip his daughter of her British citizenship. Speaking to the media for the first time, Ahmed Ali, 60, said: I know they [the British Government] dont want to take her back, and in this I dont have a problem. I know she is stuck there [in Syria] but thats because she has done actions that made her get stuck like this. Mr Ali, whose comments are in stark contrast to the pleas of Begums British-based relatives who want her to be allowed to return to the UK, added: I am on the side of the Government.' As well as handling Begums case Home Office officials are grappling with that of Muslim convert Jack Letts - dubbed Jihadi Jack - who became the first white Briton to join ISIS. Muslim convert Jack Letts, nicknamed Jihadi Jack after fleeing to fight for ISIS, says he wants to return to Britain The Oxford-born 23-year-old recently revealed he wants to return home to see his mother - while speaking from the Kurdish prison where he has been held for two years for fighting for the terror group. He moaned that he missed interacting with people, mostly his mother who he hasn't spoken to since his imprisonment, and home comforts including pastries and Doctor Who. It comes as dozens of Islamic State fighters were on Friday transported from their last patch of territory in the remote village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border. Venezuelan soldiers began abandoning their border posts yesterday, sparking jubilation among hundreds of thousands of protesters. The deserters were seen as a further sign that President Nicolas Maduro was losing his grip on power in the crisis-torn South American country. Troops loyal to the embattled leader fired tear gas at protesters when violence flared as hundreds of thousands of volunteers tried to cross the border with food and medicine. Nicolas Maduro nd first lady Cilia Flores attend a pro-government rally in Caracas yesterday. At least four National Guard officers abandoned their posts at the Colombian border in a sign that Maduros support among the military was about to crumble Opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido had vowed to bring in aid to the countrys starving. Tensions surfaced between the military and civilians last week as loyalist soldiers shot dead two protesters and injured others along the Brazilian border on Friday. But yesterday, in a sign that Maduros support among the military was about to crumble, at least four National Guard officers abandoned their posts at the Colombian border, according to the countrys migration agency. Videos on social media showed crowds first jeering and then cheering the men as they were escorted to safety by Colombian police. A demonstrator is treated at the Medical Specialties Center after the clashes between protesters and the Bolivarian National Guard As others carried missiles, one man carried a crucifix to the border town of Urena as he desperately tried to escape into Colombia A man who covers his face prepares to launch a rock during heavy clashes with the Bolivarian National Guard today One soldier released a tearful video in which she begged for forgiveness and urged Maduro and his defence minister not to order soldiers to fire on civilians. On Twitter, Mr Guaido said: Venezuela, the day has come when we must ensure this humanitarian aid enters the country. From our borders, both by sea and land, we will bring hope, food and medicine to those who need it. We call on everyone to get out on to the street in every part of the country, to protest peacefully and demand that the army allows humanitarian aid to pass. Today, we must ensure that our demand for life, freedom and our future is heard. The US is now among 52 countries that recognise Mr Guaido as the legitimate president. A demonstrator throws back a gas canister while clashing with security forces in Urena, Venezuela on February 23 A demonstrator kicks a burning tire down the street as toxic black smoke fills the air in the Venezuelan town of Urena on Saturday Demonstrators use large rocks to smash the windows of a bus they commandeered during clashes with the Bolivarian National Guard in Urena Demonstrators push a bus that was torched during clashes with the Bolivarian National Guard in Urena, Venezuela, near the border with Colombia today Both Russia and China continue to support Mr Maduro, and a Kremlin spokesman described the efforts to get aid into the country as a dangerous provocation. Geng Shuang, a spokesman for Chinas foreign ministry, which has lent more than 45 million in the past ten years, said: If so-called aid material is forced into Venezuela, and then if it causes violence and clashes, it will have serious consequences. On Friday, Sir Richard Branson organised a massive Live Aid-style concert in the Colombia border town of Cucuta, near the Tienditas bridge crossing. Among the attendees were the presidents of Colombia, Chile and Paraguay, along with Mr Guaido, who defied a travel ban by Mr Maduro. A citizen kneels before troops with his arms outstretched as rocks and shards of glass spatter the tarmac as violence erupted on the border The Church of England this weekend called for more land to be made available for gipsies and travellers. Its governing body, the General Synod, voted in favour of a motion that said church bodies should play their part to let be used as traveller sites. Church leaders also agreed to give more support to tackling racism and discrimination directed towards the travelling community. One member of the Synod, a parishioner in the north of Chelmsford diocese, spoke out against the plans after she was forced to clean up excrement form a car park. Church leaders also agreed to give more support to tackling racism and discrimination directed towards the travelling community. Stock image She said: 'Being near to the A12, we found one day, that one of our two churches had a car park completely full of Travellers. 'Police advice was, don't go there, let us deal with it, in the meantime it meant no services, and on a Friday of a bank holiday, the church was inaccessible. 'People wanting to visit their relatives or their families buried in the churchyard couldn't, there was a lot of upset and there was fear because there is a link with a rise in petty crime - I don't know the exact figures, but there is a correlation. 'They did leave, but they left on the Saturday, about three o'clock and we had quite a job. Twitter user Steven Horne argued the Church has been instrumental in the evolution of gypsy and traveller identity 'for better and for worse' Replying to Mr Horne's post, Twitter user Pete Joyce, who is researching the 18th Century parishes of Shorne and Cuxton, said until the Church of England 'is truly penitent of many sins', it 'will not be able to truly love its neighbour' 'There was the issue of excrement and my husband and I got on our gloves because the smell was quite interesting. They hadn't done too much damage but they might be back said the police'. Despite her concerns, the motion was passed by 265 votes to one. The Bishop of Chelmsford, Stephen Cottrell - who put forward the motion, told The Synod that travellers 'deserve particular support' after 'racist language' is still tolerated in society. Nick Edmonds, Head of Media for the Church of England, said the 'hugely varied programme of debates and motions' at the General Synod covered gypsies, Brexit, gambling and more He said: 'If one of us in any situation was to use racist language about some other person or group, it is very likely in today's society that we would, and rightly so, be immediately called out. 'Racism against Travellers and Roma and Gypsies is still tolerated.' 'The police have said that a prejudice against Gypsies and Travellers in endemic in our society, and often fuelled by stereotypes in the media.' He then added: 'Sorrowfully, we, the church of God are no exception, there are examples of the racist hostility and exclusion meted out by the church. There are currently more than 50,000 travellers in the UK, however less than 10 per cent are travelling. There are currently more than 50,000 travellers in the UK, however less than 10 per cent are travelling. Stock image A report by Anglia Ruskin University was cited, which found that nine out of every 10 Traveller children had experienced racist abuse. The Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell said on;y one square mile of land is needed to home all the travellers in the country. Dr Elizabeth Hendry. advisor to the committee for minority ethnic Anglican concerns, told the Telehraph that the Church would at how land could be made available. The Synod discussed making a commission on sites for travellers to encourage the local and national church to make land available managed by Housing Associations. It also discussed appointing a chaplain to travellers, to help the potential for church growth, and work to combat racism in the church and wider community. Karl Lagerfelds death has generated floods of anecdotes from anyone who ever came anywhere near him. But then there is nothing like death to bring out claims of close encounters with a famous person. My own relationship with the long-time creative director of Fendi and Chanel was entirely professional. My own relationship with the long-time creative director of Fendi and Chanel was entirely professional. Karl Lagerfelds death has generated floods of anecdotes from anyone who ever came anywhere near him. He had many friends and colleagues who were with him for decades, amounting to family. That didnt include myself but, even so, at each Paris fashion week I attended as Vogue editor I would be greeted by a satellite dish-sized basket of ravishing flowers when I entered my hotel room. On a few occasions we locked horns over something I had published that Karl Lagerfeld, above, didnt like, and once he fell into a fury and wrote that nobody would ever buy my magazine again There was always a handwritten note on personalised notepaper which normally, but not always, mentioned something appreciative about the magazine, showing that he had taken the time to look at it properly, and not just to see how much of his own work appeared. On a few occasions we locked horns over something I had published that he didnt like, and once he fell into a fury and wrote that nobody would ever buy my magazine again. I remember being urged, by a desperate aide, to write to apologise but handwriting only, Alex. Dont type it. I duly handwrote a letter pointing out that I was sad that he didnt approve of how I was doing my job but luckily vast numbers of other people Vogues readers did. I suppose Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May must feel the same about the MPs quitting Labour and the Tories over their leadership but I was right and they are wrong. Karls gift? He let us enjoy success Karl had no qualms about spending money on himself and at Chanel. For 36 years, he stayed at the head of the most successful fashion house of our times by understanding that most people like to show off their wealth. While doing some research the other day, I came across a column I had written in 2005. It was about how professional, private-school-educated people were terrified of being considered posh. And how het up we all were about the idea of an Old Etonian (David Cameron) becoming the next Prime Minister. I suggested that wearing a Chanel jacket would be as helpful to a successful political career in this country as a touch of leprosy, and a private education was an embarrassing inconvenience, not something to be flaunted. This was 14 years ago, and depressingly I could have written it today. This particularly British form of self-flagellation is bitter and patronising and undermines the many people who work hard to give their family the best in life. Im sure that my grandparents, who were impoverished, non-English speaking Jewish immigrants from Ukraine, would have been delighted that their son (my father) had done well enough to live in Central London, pay for his childrens education and give us the trappings of luxury he never had. Now, whisper who dare, that you are privately educated (go straight to the bottom of the candidate list!), or appear in a responsible position in public life wearing expensive clothes. Our relationship with money and privilege is as tangled and as nonsensical as a cats cradle. I no longer look like the picture on this page (above). Not that I ever looked much like it as the photographer did a terrific job on the retouching My new haircuts a guaranteed flop I no longer look like the picture on this page. Not that I ever looked much like it, as the photographer did a terrific job on the retouching, but last week I chopped off most of that long hair. I think I like the result, but no haircut can ever really live up to expectation because it isnt just a changed hair-do that we seek from the scissors but the righting of everything we find wrong with our appearance. Longer legs, flatter stomach, fewer bags under the eyes, tighter jaw shall I continue? No matter how good the cut, sadly its not going to achieve all of that. The PR power of tying that knot... Im curious about how the word bride carries so much resonance. Were Shamima Begum an Islamic State girlfriend rather than bride, would the case have attracted the same amount of attention? Bambi stew a shock taste of spring ONE morning last week, I spoke to a friend in the countryside who told me how lovely the deer were she could see out of her window, leaping across the fields in the sunshine. How gorgeous, I thought, coming over with visions of Bambi. Yes, she continued, we have 300 of them here for Waitrose. Rock will crumble without bad boys Its been an extraordinarily long time coming but the music biz is now having its #MeToo moment. I briefly worked in that industry straight after university and I didnt experience any sexual advances, desired or otherwise (slightly to my disappointment at the time). All the same, its hard to picture the rock business without sexually predatory behaviour. Heavens, the existence of groupies even institutionalised it. While the world might have been a better place without some of the antics of powerful male rockers, certainly the songs they wrote would be a great deal weaker if theyd been better behaved. Where would we be without lusty tales from Johnny Cash, The Eagles, Led Zep, Rolling Stones, even Bob Dylan, or the man-done-me-bad contributions from Dolly Parton, Joni Mitchell, Adele etc. And without her relationships with some of the most prolific lotharios of the age, including Warren Beatty and Mick Jagger, would Carly Simon have ever written Youre So Vain, one of the greatest songs of all time? Mosquito bites, the new love of my life Anyone who gets badly bitten by mosquitoes is going to have a tricky time getting their mind around the news that our insect population is being decimated, destroying the bottom of the food chain and endangering our future. Half of my holiday luggage is taken up with toxic sprays and, as far as Ive been concerned, no death is too good for them. Now though, I wonder if I should take one for the planet, ditch the poisons and learn to love a mozzie and my bites. A Russian hitman suspected by the security services of plotting to murder the exiled prime minister of Chechnya on British soil has lost an extraordinary eight-year fight to stay in the UK. MI5 said it had obtained intelligence that the former soldier planned to kill Akhmed Zakayev at the behest of Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnyas current leader and a close ally of Vladimir Putin. But the would-be assassin identified only as D2 in legal documents argued that his human rights would be breached if he was barred from Britain. MI5 intelligence suggests the 'hitman' was ordered by Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov (left) to murder secessionist figure Akhmed Zakayev (right) Now The Mail on Sunday can reveal he has had his brazen bid to remain rejected, with legal experts putting the cost of the saga at up to 1 million. After D2 left Britain to visit Chechnya in 2010, the then Home Secretary Theresa May ordered that he be prevented from returning. D2, whose wife and six children still live here, argued the move breached his human right to a family. When he returned to Britain in 2012, he was arrested at Heathrow and told he would be detained in prison for the duration of his appeal. Instead, he flew back to Chechnya after seven months to continue the appeal from abroad. But in a judgment issued last week, a panel of judges at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) ruled that the Home Office had been correct to brand D2 as a threat to national security. The man, known as D2, left Britain in 2010, but was barred from coming back by then Home Secretary Theresa May (pictured in 2014) The decision comes at a time when relations between Russia and Britain are strained following a series of suspected attacks on Russian dissidents and exiles on UK soil. Sergei Skripal, 67, and his daughter Yulia, 34, were poisoned with the novichok nerve agent in Salisbury last year by a team from the GRU, Russias military intelligence service. The court heard D2 was an ally of Mr Kadyrov (left), who was appointed president of Chechnya by Vladimir Putin In 2012, Russian businessman German Gorbuntsov, 52, was shot and left for dead outside his flat in Canary Wharf. And in 2006, Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in London with radioactive polonium-210 on the orders of the Kremlin. SIAC heard that D2 and his family were granted asylum in Britain in 2002, on the grounds that his life was in danger in Chechnya due to links with anti-Putin rebels. Since then, the family has received benefits and are understood to live in council accommodation. D2s wife and children became naturalised British citizens in 2009 but he was not granted the same status. The court heard the 52-year-old became an ally of Mr Kadyrov, who was appointed president of Chechnya by Putin in 2007, after previously serving as prime minister. An MI5 agent accused Mr Kadyrov of creating a list of overseas enemies that he wanted eliminated, including Mr Zakayev, who fled Chechnya in 2001 and was given permission to stay in Britain. It was claimed Mr Kadyrov (pictured) rewarded D2 with a luxury car after assassinating a former bodyguard of Mr Zakayev The Security Service also told SIAC that it suspected D2 of involvement in the assassination of Umar Israilov, one of Mr Zakayevs former bodyguards, in Vienna in 2009. It claimed D2 had been rewarded by Mr Kadyrov with a luxury car complete with personalised number-plate. The SIAC judgment concluded: In short, we consider that D2 is a future risk to national security and would be in a good position, if he returned to the United Kingdom, to facilitate an assassination attempt against Zakayev. Such an attack would clearly present a risk to national security. Theresa May is planning to bribe Labour MPs to vote for her Brexit deal by passing new laws to improve the work life balance of employees, including a guaranteed right to paid parental leave. The move has caused anger in the Government, with one Minister protesting last night that it replicated exactly the EU-style business-bashing from which we are trying to escape. With Mrs May facing High Noon Brexit votes in the Commons on Wednesday, No 10 is pursuing a twin-track strategy trying to get Labour MPs to support the Government with the promise of Left-wing policies, while also wooing Brexiteer Tory MPs by trying to negotiate reforms to the deal with Brussels. With Theresa May facing High Noon Brexit votes in the Commons on Wednesday, No 10 is pursuing a twin-track strategy A leaked letter from Business Secretary Greg Clark to Mrs May reveals the Government has promised Labour it would legislate immediately for a new work-life balance Bill which would give staff a right to demand a series of fresh entitlements, including predictable and secure working conditions. In the letter, dated Thursday and seen by The Mail on Sunday, Mr Clark who is one of the Cabinets most vocal Remainers urges the Prime Minister to demonstrate stronger action to meet Labours demands on workers rights to win their support for her deal. He says that the Bills provisions should include ten days of paternity leave, introduce an entitlement to pay for two months of parental leave and introduce carers leave entitlements. It follows negotiations with Labour MP John Mann, who is understood to have assured Mrs May privately that the measures would induce a substantial number of his colleagues to either back her deal or abstain. A leaked letter from Business Secretary Greg Clark to Mrs May reveals the Government has promised Labour it would legislate immediately for a new work-life balance Bill Mrs May will today try to achieve a breakthrough on the Northern Ireland backstop which Brexiteers loathe because it would keep the province tied to EU rules if the only alternative is to erect a hard border when she flies 2,500 miles to an EU summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh. However, Downing Street sources were last night playing down the chances of a breakthrough in time for MPs to vote on a settled final deal on Wednesday. It is understood that No 10 now expects the meaningful vote to come in mid March, barely a fortnight before Brexit. Mr Clark is one of three Cabinet Ministers who signalled yesterday that they were ready to force a delay to Brexit to stop a No Deal. Mr Clark, along with Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd and Justice Secretary David Gauke, served notice that they would back other MPs to try to force Mrs May to extend Article 50 and delay Britains exit from the EU. In the letter, dated Thursday, Mr Clark who is one of the Cabinets most vocal Remainers urges the Prime Minister to demonstrate stronger action to meet Labours demands on workers rights to win their support for her deal They have told the Brexiteer European Research Group of Tory MPs to accept that Parliament would stop a No Deal Brexit and to back the deal or have no one to blame but themselves for a delay. As part of High Noon, MPs will vote on an amendment which would let Parliament pass a bill that could force Mrs May to delay the Article 50 process. Dozens of other Tory MPs are preparing to support it. In his letter, Mr Clark writes that after engaging closely with MPs... it has become clear that, in order to secure further support for the Governments EU exit deal, we need to demonstrate stronger action to fulfil the commitments we have already made. To address concerns about the cost of workers rights, Mr Clark added that our manifesto committed to introducing carers leave... so some element of these costs would likely to be incurred to meet our domestic agenda in any case. Most large firms will be under pressure to support the measures to show they are up to date with modern ways of working and because they have become desperate to avoid a No Deal Brexit. A woman charged has been charged with statutory rape after she admitted to having sex with her teenage daughter's boyfriend. Mother-of-six Jamie Tice, 38, from Tennessee, was charged in November 2017 with five counts of statutory rape by an authority figure after a friend revealed that Tice told her she was having an affair with the boy, 15. During a two-day trial in Sumner County Criminal Court last week, a jury of six men and six women heard testimony from the victim, who is now 17, as well as Tice. Jamie Tice, 38, (pictured) admitted to having sex with her daughter's teenage boyfriend Both claimed that the sexual relationship started in December of 2016 when the boy was 14, and continued until October 2017. The victim estimated that the two had 40 to 50 sexual encounters while Tice estimated that they slept together 20 times. 'He said that after the first couple of times, yes, he was a willing participant, but the age of consent is 18 in Tennessee and she knew that,' Sumner County Assistant District Attorney Ron Blanton told the Hendersonville Standard. Tice had said that the boy forced himself on her during the first encounter. She also said that he forced her into having sex with him each subsequent time by threatening to tell her husband and daughter. However the boy had testified that the relationship was consensual. 'He would go back and forth between these personalities and it was a daily thing,' Tice tearfully told jurors. 'I was caught between the worst rock and hard place in my entire life,' she said. 'I never, not one time made an advance at [him].' After being confronted about the allegations, Tice went to the victim's residence and admitted to engaging in a sexual relationship with the victim to his parents, according to the affidavits seen by the Hendersonville Standard. Tice, a mother-of-six from Tennessee, confessed to the boy's parents after she was confronted about the allegations Sumner County Assistant District Attorney Ron Blanton said: 'Its a very unusual case where you have a lady who has relations with her daughters boyfriend. 'He was 14-years-old when this started. The act itself is not unusual but the fact of she knowing that her daughter was dating this guy.' Tices daughter and said that she and the boy attended the same school, Metro Christian Academy , and had dated for about a year-and-a-half beginning in August of 2016. She claimed that she and her mother would often give the boy a ride home from school. They also attended social functions together with the churchs youth group. Tice and her young victim both attended Metro General Baptist Church in Goodlettsville Testimony for the prosecution included that of Wendy Mallard, a friend who Tice told about the relationship. The boys guardians, a church youth worker and a pastor at the church also gave testimony. Jurors found Tice guilty of two counts of statutory rape by an authority figure and three counts of aggravated statutory rape. Tice is due to be sentenced on March 22. Statutory rape by an authority figure carries an eight- to-12-year prison sentence while aggravated statutory rape carries a two-to-four-year sentence. Students at a Melbourne high school have been accused of trying to sell footage of playground clashes to viral websites. In the space of just a week, the Sunday Herald Sun said it received 10 videos of fights at Gisborne Secondary College in northwest Melbourne. One of the clips shows two boys wrestling on the floor, while in another two boys can be seen fighting outside while surrounded by spectators. Students at a Melbourne high school (one fight pictured) have been accused of trying to sell footage of playground clashes to viral websites Teachers at the suburban school have reportedly punished boys involved in the footage - with three being suspended. Principal Jon Morley argued in a letter to parents two of the leaked clips depict the school 'in a totally unfair manner'. Police said they knew of the accusations students were attempting to earn money for the videos. Victoria's Department for Education, meanwhile, has urged those with any information on those trying to make money out of the footage to contact police. A parent claimed the videos come amid a wider context of violence at the co-educational school. One of the videos (pictured), filmed at Gisborne Secondary College in northwest Melbourne, shows two boys wresting on the floor 'My kids are telling me every day someone's being beaten, sworn at or bullied,' the mother of a boy involved in one of the videos said. Victoria Police said they are investigating the incidents and co-operating with staff. In a statement, principal Jon Moreley said: 'It is very distressing to see video footage of our students behaving in this manner. 'We have taken appropriate disciplinary action with the students involved and have made it clear to all students that this behaviour is entirely unacceptable. 'Incidents of this kind are very disappointing and do not reflect the behaviour of the overwhelming majority of our students.' A Department of Education spokesman said there was 'no place' for violence in schools, adding: 'The department has introduced programs to encourage respectful, positive behaviour and to support those who experience bullying or violence.' A girl, 15, has also been arrested over an alleged assault at the school on October 31, but later released. Alfie Evans' father has said his new baby son is the spitting image of his brother and has given the parent a reason to live. Little Thomas Evans, who is six months old, was born just months after Tom Evans, 21, and Kate James, 20, battled to keep their dying son alive. The father said the new baby has brought a joy he feared he would never experience again after losing Alfie. Tom Evans, 21, said his new son Thomas has given him reason to wake up in the morning after plunging into depression following the death of Alfie Kate James, 20, and Tom with six-month-old Thomas shortly after the boy's birth. The couple said the baby brought them a joy they feared they'd never feel again He told the Sunday Mirror: 'Thomas is Alfie's double... When we see Thomas pull a face he looks like Alfie, we feel that in a way we have them both with us. 'I've got something to wake up to with him. I have to keep happy for Thomas's sake. I wouldn't want to wake up if it wasn't for the baby. 'I don't like to think what it would be like without Thomas. I worry if he wasn't here, where would I be?' Tom made the comments as he revealed 140,000 raised for or Alfie would be donated to helping sick children The case of little Alfie gained widespread media attention after his parents fought to take him to Rome for emergency treatment. But the 23-month-old baby tragically died from degenerative brain disease in April after a court ruled for his life support to be switched off. Miss James reportedly gave birth on August 8 - and her baby boy is said to be doing very well. Both Miss James and Mr Evans carry a rare gene which sparked Alfies illness, leading to fears Thomas could inherit the same condition. Alfie (pictured with his father) tragically died from degenerative brain disease in April after a court ruled for his life support to be switched off But it is reported the three-week-old boy has passed a series of tests in hospital, leaving his parents very relieved. The couple, from Liverpool, launched a legal bid to keep their dying son alive doctors applied to turn off his life support. Mr Evans even flew to Rome to visit Pope Francis after doctors in Italy offered to treat the toddler. One of the key dilemmas raised by Alfies High Court case was whether doctors should have the right to determine if withdrawing life-support treatment is in the best interests of a terminally ill child. Alfie died 100 hours after his life support machine was switched off - giving the family a glimmer of hope that he may be able to pull through. It was revealed earlier this month that NHS officials racked up 145,000 in legal costs in an attempt to switch off Alfies life support. Alder Hey Childrens NHS Foundation Trust was forced to disclose the figure following a Freedom of Information request by supporters of Alfies family. Alfie died 100 hours after his life support machine was switched off - giving the family a glimmer of hope that he may be able to pull through. A 15-year-old boy who was shot dead in Brooklyn was gunned down by accident by killers who were targeting his older brother, his mother believes. Samuel Joseph was shot in the face, neck and chest just feet from his home on Friday evening as he went to get food. His mother Raymonde Figaro said the gunmen had asked Samuel's sister for the whereabouts of his older brother, Kingsley, shortly before the killing. Samuel Joseph, 15, was shot in the face, neck, and chest just before 6pm on Friday. He was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead The young boy's mother (left) was inconsolable on Saturday as relatives gathered outside the apartment where the shooting took place Speaking to the New York Post, the boy's mother said: 'You saw his face. Why did you kill him?' 'If you're ringing the bell looking for someone else, do you just shoot the first person who comes out the door? It makes no sense.' Paying tribute, she said: 'Every day, every second, he was always with me. We were one.' Samuel is said to have emerged from his home, near the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and East 26th Street in Flatbush-Ditmas Park, and been hit by the bullets. Joseph's sister was standing just a few feet away from him when he was shot, police sources told the New York Daily News. First responders arrived on the scene and rushed Joseph to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Scroll down for video 'He was just going to get some food,' Don Joseph, Samuel's brother, said on Saturday. Several reporters gathered outside the family's apartment in Brooklyn, where Joseph's mother was grieving inconsolably as relatives offered their support. 'He was a good kid,' Don Joseph said. 'He would go out and get groceries. He was that kind of kid.' Sources close to the investigation told the Daily News that police are searching for two suspects believed to be in their late teens. Police are trying to determine if Samuel Joseph was their intended target or was a victim of mistaken identity. The two suspects were filmed on surveillance video outside Joseph's apartment around the time of the shooting, it is reported. When Joseph stepped outside, one of the two teens pulled out a gun and opened fire. Heartbroken relatives and neighbors described the 15-year-old victim as a normal kid who liked to play sports. 'He was just a good kid,' his brother Don said. 'He was not a gang member. He was always laughing and had jokes.' Joseph was shot just a few feet from his home near the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and East 26th Street in Flatbush-Ditmas Park (above) just before 6pm on Friday evening Samuel Joseph moved to the United States from his native Haiti five years ago, his brother said. Local politicians paid condolence visits to the family, including Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Tony Herbert, who is a candidate for the Public Advocate position. 'We've done an amazing job in the last 20 plus years of dealing with the issues of violence but... what do you say to a mother who lost her child at 15-years-old?' Adams asked. 'You can't merely state that the crime is down or the crime is up. This is not a stat, this is an individual, it's a young man that is no longer with us. 'No mother expects to have to bury their son, there's nothing natural about that. 'People in the neighborhood who either saw something or saw someone fleeing the scene or hanging around the place should come forward.' With an office in Berkeley Square and a range of investment portfolios worth 500 million to its wealthy clients, Henderson Rowe gives the impression of being the acme of City respectability. But bosses at the Mayfair fund management firm have for years presided over a sleazy culture of sexist and racist banter. In a shocking scene all too reminiscent of the Leonardo DiCaprio Wall Street movie The Wolf Of Wall Street, one of the firms senior executives performed a song naked at an office party, say witnesses. And the firms genteel image has now been shattered, with co-founder and chief executive Charles Aram being forced to step down after he was heard on tape using the n-word in front of junior colleagues. Henderson Rowe co-founders Giles Rowe (left), who stripped naked at the Christmas party, and Charles Aram (right) who used the n-word in front of junior colleagues The culture at the Mayfair fund management firm was reminiscent of the Leonardo DiCaprio Wall Street movie The Wolf Of Wall Street (pictured) His departure came within hours of The Mail on Sunday putting a catalogue of allegations of racism and sexism to the firms Hong Kong-based parent, Rayliant Global Advisors on Friday. One allegation is that Mr Arams predecessor as CEO and fellow co-founder, Giles Rowe, stripped naked and sung a song at the firms Christmas party two years ago. It is believed City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority is already looking into allegations about the firm following complaints by whistle-blowers. It was like the Wolf Of Wall Street, a source at the firm said. There was a culture in the office where it was the done thing to tell racist jokes and demean women. Bosses at Henderson Rowe have for years presided over a sleazy culture of sexist and racist banter, like Leonardo di Caprio's character Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street (pictured) Sources contacted by The Mail on Sunday also claimed that last week a young woman who made a complaint of sexual harassment against Mr Aram, 57, found a knife, balanced blade up, placed in the middle of her desk a few days later. She was one of several who had complained about sexist comments from Mr Aram. The source said: It was absolutely chilling. At first, the managers tried to suggest someone had just left a knife carelessly, but it was balanced on its edge with the blade uppermost. There is no suggestion that Mr Aram was involved in that incident as he was not in the office that day. Several women at Henderson Rowe had complained about sexist comments from Mr Aram (pictured) In a separate incident last year, an Arab employee with a Jewish wife had offensive messages written in a birthday card, including a picture of the IS flag, a drawing of a man having sex with a camel and a sketch of the star of David on a penis. Mr Rowe signed the card with an insult. Mr Arams use of the n-word came in a conversation with a group of junior male colleagues following a cultural realignment session organised by RGA last year. When a colleague questioned the use of the term girls for young women, Mr Aram mockingly equated it with the n-word. He said: Well thats like coloured gentlemen calling each other n*****s. Girls are allowed to call themselves girls but you cant. The Mail on Sunday has spoken to several people who witnessed Mr Rowes naked rendition in the basement of a Mayfair restaurant hired for the Christmas party in 2016. It is believed Mr Rowe, 63, a former employee of the Queens stockbrokers Cazenove, had lost a bet. He is still with the company but gave up the CEO role last year. A source said: About half the people there were young women. It was a pretty disgusting spectacle. Mr Rowe, 63, (pictured) a former employee of the Queens stockbrokers Cazenove is thought to have lost a bet before performing naked a the office Christmas party Last night RGA, who took over Henderson Rowe last year, admitted that Mr Aram had used inappropriate language and jokes in the office as part of a bantering style of management which was no longer acceptable. The company said his unacceptable use of the n-word was among allegations that led to our decision that Mr Aram should transition out of the firm. A spokesman added the company was aware of the knife incident and were investigating. Asked about Mr Rowes alleged naked performance and the offensive card, RGA said: We are confident such incidents would never occur at Henderson Rowe today. Along with claims of sexual harassment and racist remarks, the FCA is also understood to have been informed about allegations of overcharging of clients by churning making unnecessary purchases and sales of stock to rack up commission fees for the company. Henderson Rowe denied this, saying last year a third-party investigation was launched into the firms trading practices going back six years and no evidence of systematic churning was found. Mike Bowers, RGAs chief operating officer, said: We acknowledge Henderson Rowe has in the past tolerated language and jokes that are inconsistent with Rayliants values. That is no longer the case. A spokesman for the FCA said: We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously. Children as young as 10 are downloading malicious software to launch sophisticated cyber attacks on online gaming opponents, according to police. New South Wales detectives have tracked down dozens of cyber attackers in recent months as part of an international crackdown on the world's biggest malware market. Many of those uncovered were teens who had launched distributed denial of service attacks to seek revenge or gain the upper hand against opponents playing the online gaming sensation Fortnite, The Daily Telegraph reported. Young online gamers have used malware to seek revenge or gain the upper hand against opponents while playing the online gaming sensation Fortnite (stock image) Among them was a 14-year-old boy from Tamworth, in the state's west, who used the malware to carry out 483 attacks against other gamers in just one month while playing the popular game, police said. Many of those identified still lived at home with their parents and were unaware what they were doing was a criminal offence. Parents have since been warned to keep a vigilant eye on their children's online activity. 'We were lucky that the use of this software in Australia was mostly used by kids trying to upset an online gaming opponent,' State Crime Command acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith told the Daily Telegraph. 'It's equally feasible that in the wrong hands and with coordinated intent it could've been used to attack systems with sensitive or protected information, such as banking, government, or even military.' State Crime Command acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith (pictured) urged parents to keep a more vigilant eye on their children's online gaming activities Eight juveniles have received Youth Offenders Act cautions. NSW detectives are in the process of visiting all 41 people they've identified to have used malicious software. One Sydney teen allegedly used the malware tried to hack into his school's computer system, police said. Another alleged user was a convicted child sex offender from the Southern Highlands. He was charged with unauthorised impairment of electronic communication. Elecia R. Dexter will take over as publisher and editor of the Democrat-Reporter of Linden, Alabama, it was announced on Friday A white Alabama newspaper editor who advocated for the revival of the Ku Klux Klan is turning over control of the small weekly to a black woman. The Democrat-Reporter of Linden, Alabama, announced Friday that Elecia R. Dexter will take over as publisher and editor from Goodloe Sutton, who has run the 140-year-old paper since the 1960s. Dexter, 46, told The Associated Press that Sutton will retain ownership of the newspaper, which has a circulation of about 3,000, 'but I will handle everything else.' Sutton had a history of publishing racially and ethnically insensitive editorials, and Dexter said she hoped her appointment would let the community know 'this is everybody's paper.' 'I think it can be helpful,' she said. The change came the week after Sutton wrote and published an editorial that began: 'Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again.' She will replace Goodloe Sutton, who has run the 140-year-old paper since the 1960s. Sutton will retain ownership of the newspaper The change came the week after Sutton wrote and published an editorial that began: 'Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again.' The editorial said Democrats and 'Democrats in the Republican Party' are plotting to raise taxes, so the Klan should raid their communities. Sutton, in a subsequent interview with the Montgomery Advertiser, suggested lynchings as a way to clean up Washington. Sutton also questioned whether the KKK was violent, claiming America's most feared white supremacist terrorist organization 'didn't kill but a few people.' Auburn University and the University of Southern Mississippi quickly rescinded previous honors for Sutton, who won praise two decades ago for stories exposing corruption in the sheriff's office. The Alabama Press Association censured Sutton and suspended the Democrat-Reporter's membership. The Ku Klux Klan is a 150-year-old white supremacist group which has historically terrorized blacks and other minorities through violence and intimidation, particularly in the American South Dexter, whose family is from rural Marengo County, where Linden is located near the Mississippi line, said she began working at the paper earlier this year and has a good working relationship with Goodloe. She added: 'I told him there were some different ways you could have made your point.' The paper has received emails from those who supported what Sutton wrote and others who were 'disgusted' by his statements, she said. The paper dates to 1879 and its editorials are consistently conservative and often critical of Democrats. The use of 'Democrat' in its name reflects back to the period when nearly all white conservatives in the South were Democrats. An arsonist filmed himself rocking out to rapper MC Hammer's hit track 'U Can't Touch This' in front of a building he had torched because he 'thought he was Rambo'. David John Maddocks, 30, of Cockatoo, in country Victoria, set fire to a shed causing $80,000 in damage because he had an axe to grind with its owner. Maddocks claimed the shed owner had sold his sister's horse over an unpaid debt. Police had been monitoring Maddocks' phone calls at the time and heard him repeatedly brag about what he had just done. Damning video later seized by police showed Maddocks driving past the scene of the crime with MC Hammer's tune playing in the background. Police had been monitoring the violent criminal's phone calls when he phoned his sister up to tell her he had burnt the man's house down. 'Getting into the house was hectic,' he said. 'I thought I was Rambo.' His victim had been sleeping inside his Lyndhurst property on April 3 last year when Maddocks decided to torch his shed in retribution over the sale of his sister's horse. David John Maddocks, 30, of Cockatoo broke the golden rule of criminal behaviour when he returned to the scene of the crime and filmed it The court heard the farmer had sold the horse four days earlier over an unpaid $450 agistment debt. Maddocks went on to tell people he had not only destroyed the man's shed, but had burnt down his entire house with his victim inside. 'You f**k with my family, you f**k with my fires,' he said. The County Court of Victoria heard Maddocks had a shocking criminal history which had seen him convicted of 138 criminal offences. He had been serving a community corrections order when he torched the shed, which had been full of his victim's precious vehicles and tools. Judge Bill Stuart said Maddocks bragged about his wicked deed with 'unfathomable pride'. 'You were proud of what you had done ... You wanted to make yourself out to be the big man.' Damning video later seized by police showed Maddocks driving past the scene of the crime with MC Hammer's tune playing in the background David John Maddocks shouted at his barrister from the prison dock during his County Court of Victoria sentence on Friday 'U Can't Touch This': David Maddocks' rocked out to the MC Hammer hit after torching a man's shed The court head Maddocks had had a shocking childhood, which saw him watch his Hells Angels bikie dad murdered by his own club members when he was just four. By his teenage years he was smoking methylamphetamine and at times was knocking back a slab of bourbon and cokes everyday. Maddocks wrote to Judge Stuart to tell him he was sorry, but the judge said he doubted he was serious. 'I'm satisfied this was a premeditated, considered act of which you were proud,' Judge Stuart said. He further claimed Maddocks 'simply enjoyed lighting the fire and watching it burn'. 'You wanted to cause great harm,' he said. 'You could present yourself to your sister as her protector, as her avenger.' Maddocks drove past emergency crews putting out the blaze and filmed it out the window of his vehicle Maddocks was sentenced to six years in jail with a non-parole period of four. The sentence caused outrage among some of Maddocks' supporters, with one woman lashing out at another woman in the court. Up to a dozen Protective Services Officers converged on the courtroom as the rowdy crew left the building. It had been a volatile hearing, with Maddocks lashing out at his own barrister, Daniel Cash, during the hearing. 'You've let me down Daniel,' he moaned during a short break. 'I'm appealing it straight away.' Maddocks has already served 324 days behind bars. Gary Gardner (pictured appearing in court today), 56 and from Leicestershire, is charged with three counts of fraud after allegedly using money he raised for charity to promote his musical interests An HGV driver who 'wanted to become a music producer' spent thousands of pounds in charity cash meant for murdered soldier Lee Rigby's young son on a 'flop' record and 'showcasing' new musical acts, a court heard today. Gary Gardner collected the money at a series of 'high profile' truck-pull events between 2013 and 2015. It was supposed to go to Jack Rigby - the eight-year-old son of Fusilier Lee Rigby, who was hacked to death outside Woolwich Barracks on May 22, 2013. But a jury was told the youngster never received a penny of the 24,000 - with Gardner instead spending it on a charity single that 'flopped'. The money was also said to have been used on his 'enthusiasm' for emerging musical talents and travel and expenses in London. The 56-year-old was arrested and charged with three counts of fraud. He is now standing trial for the offences at Leicester Crown Court. Opening his case to the jury of six men and six women, prosecutor Samuel Skinner said: 'In May 2013 a British soldier named Private Lee Rigby of the Royal Fusiliers was murdered on the streets of London. 'Private Rigby had a son, named Jack, who is now about eight years old. 'This case is about the defendant, Gary Gardner, using the names of Private Rigby and his son, Jack, to raise thousands of pounds from charitable donations. 'But the defendant has never handed any of the money he raised on behalf of Jack Rigby to Jack Rigby, or his trust fund. 'The defendant kept no accurate records of exactly how much money he raised on Jack Rigby's behalf. 'In fact he used some of the money to finance production of a charity music single called Miss You Machine. Rebecca Rigby (right) is pictured here with her son Jack at the charity truck pull organised by Gary Gardner. She told the court today that Gardner had said enough money would be raised to 'set Jack up for life' - but she claims Jack is yet to receive a penny Gary Gardner at the 2013 truck pull in Stroud (pictured kneeling down). Jurors were told at Leicester Crown Court that money raised from the truck pull was spent on Gardner's musical interests, rather than donated to the son of Lee Rigby Gardner is pictured here arriving at Leicester Crown Court today where he faces three counts of fraud - all of which he denies 'He used donors money to finance a charity music single without the permission of the donors because he wanted to become a music promoter. 'In any event, the defendant used some of the money for a purpose that the original donors never intended and would not have approved if they had known. It appears that the defendant has spent all the money he received. 'He has not given Jack Rigby, or his trust fund, any money. But the defendant declared publicly in late 2013 that he donated 3,000 to Jack Rigby. That public declaration was untrue. 'In summary, the evidence available will show that the defendant set out with the publicly declared aim of raising money on behalf of Jack Rigby. 'He also organised high profile events and raised considerable sums but took no official steps to regularise his fundraising activity or to keep reliable accounts. 'As well as this he was not transparent in his dealings with the money he raised. 'He also transferred some of the money from a charity bank account to his own personal bank account and spent questionable amounts of donors money on travel and expenses in London.' Fusilier Lee Rigby was ran over and brutally hacked to death outside Woolwich Barracks on May 22, 2013 by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale Mr Skinner also noted that analysis of bank statements revealed the defendant had raised at least 24,000. Some of this Mr Skinner claims Gardner publicly professed to have given Jack Rigby. He said: 'He publicly declared that he had given 3,000 of donated money to Jack Rigby or his trust fund. 'In fact he has given no money whatsoever to Jack Rigby. 'Of the thousands he has raised, police were only able to trace 4,000 making its way to any charity, but none to Jack Rigby. 'The payments the defendant did make to charity may be seen as token payments made under pressure to avoid any further investigation into the finances behind his fundraising. 'He instead used donors money to finance a charity single. 'The defendant has said the cost of running the charity events limited the amount available for donation. 'However, the defendant appears to have an enthusiasm for promoting emerging music artists and it is the showcasing of these artists to the public with himself as the manager or producer that has swallowed up most of the verifiable donations.' The court heard that Gardner worked as an HGV driver in 2013, but by 2016 the focus of his career shifted towards promoting music artists. Mr Skinner told jurors: 'In due course you may want to consider whose money he used to change the focus of his career.' Mr Skinner said the 56-year-old originally came from Gloucestershire, but by early 2013 had settled in the Leicestershire village of Medbourne, near Market Harborough. Rebecca Rigby (right) appeared in court today to give evidence to the jury. She told the court that neither she nor Jack had 'received a penny' from Gardner. She is pictured here with her son Jack at the vigil of Lee Rigby held at Bury Parish Church in 2013 Rupert Grint (right) was in attendance at a charity truck pull organised by Gardner (left) in Stroud in 2013. Gardner is said to have raised thousands from the events Members of Lee Rigby's regiment helped pull a six ton lorry at the charity event to help raise funds for his son Jack on August 26, 2013 It was claimed that shortly after Private Rigby's murder, Gardner approached the Medbourne Village Hall Committee to gain support for a 'truck-pull' event. This would involve teams of men and women pulling an HGV cab by a rope against the clock. This was to be held in August 2013 for 'local causes' and on behalf of Jack, who was then two. Mr Skinner said that at the same time, Gardner contacted representatives of drummer and machine gunner Pte Rigby's regiment, the Royal Fusiliers, asking to be put in touch with his widow, Rebecca. He added that after Gardner explained he wanted to raise cash for Jack Rigby, the army put him in touch with Rebecca and they spoke via phone, text and email. Gardner invited Rebecca and members of her family, including Jack, to the truck-pull. Jurors heard Gardner subsequently published a poster advertising the event, claiming 'every penny raised goes to both local community charities and private Lee Rigby's son (Jack) trust'. The poster added Rebecca and Jack would be in attendance. Mr Skinner said a committee was formed to organise the truck-pull - with concerns expressed by a member early on about Gardner's 'lack of transparency regarding money'. However, when asked how the cash would be divided up after the fundraiser, Gardner 'did not provide clear answers, and was evasive'. According to the prosecution, Jack Rigby (pictured left) was meant to receive the money raised from charity truck-pulls organised by Gardner. He is pictured here with his mother Rebecca at the vigil of his father held at Bury Parish Church in Lancashire Mr Skinner alleged Gardner approached a neighbour, Maurice Stanton, and asked him to be a co-signatory on an application for a charity bank account with the Nationwide bank in the name of 'Truck-Pull Challenge'. However, Mr Stanton 'never knew how much money was raised', and 'was not involved in calculating what happened to the money'. The court heard that on the night before the event, Gardner went to the pub rather than briefing people charged with the job of collecting the cash. Then, on the day itself, he set up a tent in the grounds of the village hall and collected cash in a bucket with no system to record how much was received. It was claimed that one of the villagers who helped collect donations offered to help count up the cash at the end of the day - but Gardner refused her offer and 'took the bucket of money away'. Mr Skinner said: 'No-one, except the defendant, can have an accurate idea of how much money was raised on August 26, 2013 but it must have approached 10,000 as he later published inconsistent and unverifiable figures for the total raised. 'By all accounts the event was very successful with crowds in the hundreds turning out to watch the spectacle. The defendant arranged for a professional stage and PA system to be supplied. He booked professional musicians to perform. He paid these people at their market rates. 'Even the Women's Institute set out their stall and donated hundreds of pounds by selling tea and cake. Rebecca Rigby and her family attended as guests of honour.' The court heard Gardner paid just over 8,000 into the Nationwide account between the end of the event and the following November, with Mr Skinner adding: 'We do not know what proportion of the total money received by the defendant this sum represents.' Gardner (pictured) denies the three counts of fraud he is facing at Leicester Crown Court this week. The prosecution claims he used money raised for charity on a charity single and to showcase 'new musical acts' He said Gardner remained in touch with Rebecca Rigby over the next few weeks. In one email, he wrote he wanted to put on more events to 'raise even more money for Jack's trust fund'. But by September 2013, villagers in Medbourne had grown suspicious with Gardner's handling of the cash. Under pressure about how much had been raised, he organised a presentation event in Market Harborough the following November. Mr Skinner said Gardner presented an oversized 'promotional type cheque' made out to Jack Rigby in the sum of 3,000. However, he added: 'The defendant did not ever give Jack his money.' The jury was told that Gardner's next idea was to make a charity single in aid of Jack, despite advice from the Military Wives' Choir that it would fail to make money. Mr Skinner said Gardner had admitted to police he used cash received for Jack to finance the record. However, he didn't tell anyone when they donated that that was his plan, and hadn't asked for Rebecca Rigby's permission. And shortly before the recording, he transferred 3,000 from the charity Nationwide account to his own - wiping out a 'significant' overdraft he'd run up. The court heard the single was made in a studio and a launch event took place in Trafalgar Square in February 2014 - with retired Royal Fusiliers, some of whom had known Pte Rigby, recruited by Gardner to help take donations from the crowd. But Mr Skinner said: 'They did so, and each handed in a collecting tin full of coins and notes to the defendant at the end of the event. They wore their beret and hackle and thought they were representing their old regiment 'We have no idea what he did with this money, or how much it came to. Jack Rigby has not seen any of it.' Mr Skinner added the record was a 'flop' - with Gardner 'losing all the money' in producing it he had raised on behalf of Jack. Further truck-pulls were organised in May and August 2014 to take place in Medbourne, and Stroud, Gloucs. Mr Skinner claimed: 'These were, as before, run to raise money for Jack Rigby. As before, he kept no records had no processes for accurately recording how much money he received for Jack. He made no donations to Jack, or his trust fund, from these events.' Jurors were told that Gardner then 'expanded his fundraising horizons', advertising he was collecting cash not only for Jack but for 'fallen Fusiliers', the British Heart Foundation, and a charity called 'Action for Children'. However, Gardner took no steps to register with the Charity Commission or to regularise his charitable behaviour in any way - and the British Heart Foundation said it had never heard of him, despite the fact its branded collecting buckets were found in his home when it was searched by police. The final fundraising event organised by Gardner was a truck-pull in Market Harborough in August 2015 which the court heard was again 'successful' - but once more the amount raised was 'unknown'. Mr Skinner said a local gym owner who had helped arrange the event became suspicious over how much had been donated - and threatened to report Gardner to the police. He was eventually arrested and admitted during an interview with officers that he had publicly said he had given money to Jack Rigby - but hadn't actually done so. Mr Skinner told the court: 'He admitted keeping no records. He was incapable of stating how much money had been raised or where it had all gone. 'He maintained he had the intention of raising money for Jack Rigby but that circumstances had conspired against him resulting in the unsuccessful charity single. 'In subsequent interviews he gave a prepared statement denying liability and thereafter offered no comment.' The prosecutor added: 'The connection between the defendant and Fusilier Lee Rigby is likely to raise strong feelings. But we invite you (the jury) to try this matter solely on the evidence, which circumstantial and heresay as it may be, we submit should drive you to be sure of only one conclusion.' Pte Rigby's wife, Rebecca, 34, later gave evidence to the jury. She told how the army put her in touch with Gardner, who said he wanted to 'arrange a truck-pull in Lee's name to raise money for Jack'. After the event, which Rebecca described as a 'really good day', she said Gardner claimed he wanted to raise more money for Jack by organising further truck-pulls and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. 'He said he wanted to raise thousands and thousands. He spoke about large money and it was if he was going to set Jack up for life.' However she said neither she nor Jack had 'never received a penny' from Gardner. Rebecca added: 'I tried to contact him and it got to the stage where there were no returned calls, no answers, no emails. 'I couldn't say how many times I tried. It was a fair few. Then I discussed my concerns with Captain Andrew Harris and Major Les Carr (of the Royal Fusiliers). 'Contact had started to go through them, then tailed off to nothing.' Rebecca said she presumed Gardner was funding the charity single himself, and 'wouldn't have allowed it' if she had known he was using money raised from the first truck-pull for its recording. Gardner, of Medbourne, denies three counts of fraud. The trial, which is expected to last into next week, continues. Sarah Elizabeth Morris appeared at Flintshire magistrates court this morning (pictured) A woman appeared in court charged over the death of her baby after the 13-month-old allegedly drowned in her bath three years ago. Sarah Elizabeth Morris, 34, appeared at Flintshire Magistrates Court this morning to face a manslaughter charge over the death of her daughter, Rosie Morris. Morris, of Flintshire, Wales, is accused of unlawfully killing Rosie at a house in the nearby village of Greenfield. The court heard the child drowned in a bath on July 29, 2015. During a short hearing, Morris, who was dressed in jeans and a blue jogging top, spoke only to confirm her name, age and address. No plea was entered, and magistrates sent the case to be heard at Mold Crown Court on Friday, October 5. Morris was given unconditional bail. Former child star John Alford allegedly assaulted two police officers after jumping behind the wheel of a bin lorry left with a smashed windscreen. The ex Grange Hill and London's Burning star, 46, sparked chaos in Camden, north London, when he got behind the wheel of a 10-ton truck. More than 20 officers in seven patrol cars were joined by an ambulance and paramedics at 7.30am on Saturday. One witness said that the huge police presence suggested they 'seemed to respond like it was a terror attack'. Footage of the early morning incident showed the former actor initially smiling while behind the wheel of the stationary vehicle. Former London's Burning star John Alford pictured just before he was arrested after getting behind the wheel of a bin lorry He then yells to the man filming him: 'I tried to save your truck. It was reversing' before staggering out of the cab. Alford, pictured on London's Burning, has been charged with criminal damage and two counts of assault on a police officer Alford can then be heard cheering as the sound of police sirens echoes down the street. The mobile footage, obtained by The Sun, then cuts to him grappling with two police officers in the street as he screams: 'I ain't done nothing'. One police officer trying to arrest him says back: 'You smashed the windscreen' and repeatedly tells the suspect: 'Get down on the floor'. Witnesses in north London said that they had recognised Alford because of his roles as Robbie Wright in Grange Hill and Billy Ray in London's Burning. One said that Alford had tried to start the Dennis lorry and a bin was thrown at the windscreen. Alford, who has no fixed abode, was last night charged with criminal damage and two counts of assault on a police officer. Actor Alford became a famous face played happy go lucky Robbie Wright between 1985 and 1991 on Grange Hill but would later fall on hard times. After leaving the show, he went on to be a regular on ITV series London's Burning playing Billy Ray. He also enjoyed several top 40 hit singles, produced by Stock/Waterman, following his TV success. But his fortunes turned when he was written out after being caught in a drugs sting. The former child star became a household name on Grange Hill (left in the early 1980s) but later hit hard times and was jailed (right on release in 1999) after a drugs sting by the News of the World The former teenage pin-up was caught by the News Of The World's Fake Sheikh and then served a six week sentence after being charged. John Alford celebrates after the drugs trial of Tulisa Contostavlos collapsed following concerns about evidence from Fake Sheikh Mazher Mahmood The actor was found guilty by a jury at London's Snaresbrook Crown Court in 1999 of one count of supplying 2.036 grammes of cocaine to Fake Sheikh Mazher Mahmood, as well as a similar charge involving 11.9 grammes of cannabis resin. He struggled to return to his previous success after being released but has had small parts since and even began work as a scaffolder and labourer. In 2016, Mahmood was found guilty of plotting to pervert the course of justice and following the case, it was suggested that up to 72 defendants in criminal cases in which he played a role could apply for convictions to be quashed. Alford's case was among those taken up by the Criminal Cases Review Commission but it is not known if it was successful. In January 2006 Alford was also found guilty of drink driving and subsequently banned from the roads for sixteen months. Magistrates ordered him to pay a 150 fine and 100 costs. A man, 50, has been charged with sexually assaulting a child in the troubled town of Tennant Creek. The man was arrested on Friday and charged with the indecent dealing with a child under the age of 16 and gross indecency without consent. The 50-year-old remains in police custody due to face court at a later date. A man, 50, has been charged with sexually assaulting a child in the troubled town of Tennant Creek (town's police station pictured) The remote community of Tennant Creek made headlines in May this year after a two-year-old girl was allegedly raped. The girl was allegedly so badly injured she was left in an induced coma in hospital. Two months after the horrific ordeal, the toddler tested positive to a sexually transmitted disease. An eleven-year-old girl has allegedly been hung from a tree by a skipping rope by schoolyard bullies. Children at Queen of Apostles Catholic School in Riverton, Western Australia, allegedly strung Amber Yoon up by her neck, causing her to choke, 9 News reported. The poor girl, who has a heart defect, was struggling to breathe and only escaped when a horrified teacher saw what was happening and cut her down, her family say. Children at Queen of Apostles Catholic School (pictured) in Riverton, Western Australia, allegedly strung Amber Yoon up by her neck, causing her to choke Amber's mother, Belinda Yoon, said her daughter's toes were barely scraping the ground and that she could have died. WA Police are now investigating. 'We have been having issues with Amber being bullied, causing major issues with anxiety,' Ms Yoon said. 'Amber has been through more in her life, suffered more pain, and been in situations so terrifying most kids thankfully will never experience.' The school, which claims to offer children a 'nurturing, inclusive and safe environment' and has the motto 'love, unity and peace' said in a statement that it 'continues to consult with the families impacted'. No one has been arrested or charged. Daily Mail Australia has contacted the school for comment. A lawsuit accuses U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials of lying when they claimed Iraq had agreed to take back more than 1,000 of its citizens who had final deportation orders from the U.S. A motion in the lawsuit, filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, calls for more than 100 Iraqis to be released from detainment. The ACLU is also asking the court to sanction ICE for being deceptive and seeking the release of documents that would reveal when ICE knew it was being dishonest. 'What is really appalling here is not only does ICE lock up these individuals and throw away the key, but they did so by misleading the court,' ACLU attorney Miriam Aukerman told DailyMail.com. ICE officials declined to comment Friday on the ongoing litigation. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detain an immigrant in California in 2015 The issue of whether or not Iraq is willing to accept the return of its citizens is critical because that is the legal basis upon which it has been able to continue detaining more than 100 Iraqis in some cases for 14 months or more, said Aukerman, of the ACLU's Michigan office. That's a problem, because the U.S. Supreme Court has said the government has six months to remove someone who is being detained while awaiting deportation, Aukerman said. After that period of time officials must either prove removal is likely to occur soon, or the immigrant must be released. Iraq has a long standing policy of not accepting people who are being deported involuntarily. However that appeared to change in March of 2017 when President Trump issued an executive order removing Iraq from the administration's travel ban, citing that country's willingness to accept a limited number of Iraqis. Despite the seeming change in Iraq's position on accepting deportees, the ACLU asserts that the country maintains its policy against involuntary removals. The ACLU case dates back to a nationwide immigration sweep in June and July of 2017 in which more than 100 Iraqis were arrested. In most cases for immigration violations such as overstaying visas or because they had been convicted of crimes. The government had been aware of and supervising many of the Iraqis for years without detaining or attempting to deport them because of Iraq's policy and only conducted the sweep because officials believed the U.S. would be able to reach an agreement with Iraq on deportations, Aukerman said. An ICE agent on his way to raid and apprehend an immigrant in California in 2015 Soon after the sweep, U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith halted the deportation of more than 1,000 Iraqis including those being detained citing the likelihood that they would face torture or death, in many cases because they were religious minorities in that country. The American 'legal tradition rejects warehousing human beings,' Goldsmith wrote in a decision. However, as the case drags on, more than 100 remain detained in federal custody after ICE officials argued that it would be able to deport the Iraqis. 'Even though ICE officials knew that Iraq had this long-standing policy and that it was not going to be easy and simple to remove these individuals, ICE submitted sworn testimony to the court saying just the opposite,' Aukerman said. Firas Nissan is among those who was rounded up in the 2017 sweep and remains detained, according to the ACLU filing. He fled Iraq 17 years ago after being threatened and imprisoned in his home country. Nissan was ordered deported after missing an asylum hearing in 2004 due to illness, but had been allowed to remain in the U.S. for the past 13 years as long as he made regular check-ins with ICE. 'These detainees who have been locked up, and their families who have been separated from them, have the right to see what the truth is and how that stacks up against what the government said,' Aukerman said. 'They're watching seasons pass from inside of a jail cell.' The first man to orbit the moon has said it was only interesting for 30 seconds and he couldn't wait to get home to his family. Frank Borman, 90, said that while his fellow astronauts were mesmerized by space, he was quite bored. Colonel Borman, from Indiana, toldThis American Life it was simply a 'battle' in the Cold War and he had no desire to step foot on the moon. Frank Borman, the first man to orbit the moon, said he was bored in space and missed his family Colonel Borman, from Indiana, said it was simply a 'battle' in the Cold War and he had no desire to step foot on the moon Colonel Borman, who was the Commander of Apollo 8 mission in 1968, dismissed the sight of the moon as just 'different shades of gray' in an interview with producer David Kestenbaum. He said: 'Lovell was mesmerized by space and exploration, and wanted desperately to explore the moon. I was there because it was a battle in the Cold War. 'I wanted to participate in this American adventure of beating the Soviets. But that's the only thing that motivated me- beat the damn Russians.' Apollo 8 launched on December 21, 1968, and Colonel Borman's wife Susan stayed at home with their children. Colonel Borman said: 'Rockets- you know, it's a very loud and frightening thing. 'And to have your husband and father in the nose of the thing is- I think it was difficult for them.' NASA Apollo 8 crew astronauts Jim Lovell, Bill Anders, and Frank Borman pose in their spacesuits in front of the Kennedy Space Center simulator Colonel Borman said that while his fellow astronauts were mesmerized by the sight of the moon, he couldn't stop thinking about his family When asked if it was 'cool' to fly around weightless, Colonel Borman replied: 'No.' He said it was interesting to watch 'maybe for the first 30 seconds, then it became accepted.' And Colonel Borman denied ever saying he thought a poet should have been on board. He said: 'No, I didn't- if I did, I didn't- the last thing I would have wanted on our crew was a poet.' He described the Moon as 'devastation' and said it was 'Meteor, craters and no color at all' He described the Moon as 'devastation' and said it was: 'Meteor craters, no color at all. Just different shades of gray.' And Colonel Borman revealed he had no desire to step foot on the Moon, as Buzz Aldrin did seven months later. He said: 'I would have not accepted the risk involved to go pick up rocks. It doesn't mean that much to me. 'Somebody else wanted to do it. Let them take my place. I love my family more than anything in the world. 'I would have never subjected them to the dangers simply for me to be an explorer.' Colonel Borman said the high point of the flight was looking back on the Earth. 'It's 240,000 miles away. It was small enough you could cover it with your thumbnail. The three-man crew of William Anders (left) James Lovell and Frank Borman were the first humans to see the far side of the moon 'The dearest things in life that were back on the Earth- my family, my wife, my parents. 'They were still alive then. That was, for me, the high point of the flight from an emotional standpoint.' He revealed that he barely discussed the space mission with his wife Susan and two sons. Colonel Borman said: 'It was more important to see the boys and see her. And what have you be doing? We're back. 'It was a wonderful time of reunion and emotion, and the last thing from my mind was to tell them what the moon looked like.' He said they talked about 'How glad I was to be home, how glad they were to have me back, and how the boys are doing in school, and why the dog's dish was still full. 'We got right back to the nitty-gritty's.' Frank also says od Star Trek - 'Nonsense to me. I- it doesn't interest me.. I'm sorry.' Police in California who were summoned to perform a welfare check on former ER star Vanessa Marquez on Thursday shot and killed her after they say she threatened them with a realistic-looking BB gun. The incident began unfolding just before noon when South Pasadena police officers responded to a home in the 1100 block of Fremont Avenue after getting a call about a 49-year-old woman suffering from seizures. Sheriffs Homicide Lt Joe Mendoza said the woman, later identified by sources and commenters on Twitter as Marquez, had eating disorders and appeared to be gravely disabled. Scroll down for video Shot dead: Former Er actress Vanessa Marquez, 49, was shot and killed by police during a welfare check in South Pasadena Thursday Police say they opened fire on Marquez after she pulled a realistic-looking BB gun on them during a wellfare check A bouquet of flowers stands behind a broken window pane in Marquez's apartment on Friday A workman is seen repairing bullet holes and a pipe in Marquez's now-empty unit Three officers and a mental health care worker who was summoned to the scene spent 90 minutes trying to administer aid to her, during which time Marquez was allegedly 'extremely uncooperative.' At around 2pm, police say the woman grabbed what looked like a semiautomatic handgun and pointed it at the officers, prompting them to open fire on her. As The South Pasadenan first reported, the Stand and Deliver actress was struck at least once in the torso and taken to a hospital, where she died of her injuries. Lt Mendoza said that the woman's gun that was seized from the house turned out to be a replica of a semiautomatic handgun. Police say they had been to Marquezs home on many occasions in the past, reported KABC. On Thursday morning, it was the woman's landlord who summoned them after becoming concerned for her well-being. The Sheriff's Homicide Bureau has launched an investigation into the officer-involved shooting. Marquez is best known for playing nurse Wendy Goldman on the popular NBC medical drama ER starring George Clooney between 1994 and 1997. Last year, Marquez publicly accused the Oscar-winning actor and director of helping blacklist her after she spoke out about alleged harassment on the set of ER, including being subjected to racist and sexist remarks. Clooney responded by insisting that he had no idea Marquez had been blacklisted and had played no part in it. Paging nurse Wendy: arquez is best known for playing nurse Wendy Goldman on the popular NBC medical drama ER starring George Clooney between 1994 and 1997 Marquez made headlines in October 2017 when she accused Clooney of helping blacklist her after she spoke out about being harassed on the set of ER Marquez, who was Mexican-American, claimed she was the target of racist and sexist remarks on the set of the medical drama 'I had nothing to do with casting,' the Ocean's 11 star said in a statement. 'I was an actor and only an actor. If she was told I was involved in any decision about her career then she was lied to. The fact that I couldnt affect her career is only surpassed by the fact that I wouldnt.' After leaving ER, Marquez appeared in three episodes of the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle in 1999, followed by a few more roles in TV films and shorts. Marquez had been vocal on social media about her struggles with various health problems, including what she described as terminal celiac disease, pulmonary embolism, osteoporosis and seizures. She posted her final status update on Facebook on August 8, accusing Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey of hypocrisy for previously kicking her off Twitter for 'naming his friend George Clooney at the beginning of the #Metoo movement in October', but allowing the incendiary InfoWars host and notorious conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to remain on the platform. Marquez was a long-time member of TCM Party - a group of cinephiles passionate about classic movies. Other members of the group paid tribute to Marquez on Twitter Friday 'I am devastated to say that Vanessa Marquez @R2DivaLA was shot and killed by the South Pasadena police on Thursday afternoon,' @TCMParty tweeted. 'I met her through #TCMParty, I hope she knew how much we loved her and I hope too that she is at peace.' The tradie who was filmed allegedly punching a taxi driver 19 times in a shocking road rage attack in the Sydney CBD is a married father with a young child. Concreter Bartholemew Thomas, 36, was charged this week after he allegedly assaulted a cabbie and smashed up his car in Sydney's CBD. Thomas, from Claremont Meadows in Sydney's western suburbs, was driving his Ripa Concrete Cutting company truck, when a witness allegedly saw him jump from his vehicle and 'launch an assault on a taxi driver'. But Thomas' workmates claimed he was reacting to the taxi driver changing lanes in front of him, forcing him to 'slam his brakes on and swerve'. Mobile phone vision captured the pair allegedly hurling abuse at each other as they sat side-by-side at traffic lights at the intersection with George Street about 5.30pm on Monday. Workmates at RIPA, with whom Thomas was working on the CBD light rail project, said he then suddenly snapped and got out of the van to approach the taxi. Video shot by witnesses allegedly showed him then jump on the taxi's windscreen until it smashed, and then allegedly hit him through the driver's window. Thomas allegedly threw 19 punches in quick succession until the taxi driver got out and the pair 'squared off in the middle of the road', according to witnesses. They fought until Thomas got the cabbie in a headlock and shocked bystanders and workmates ran to break them up. Thomas' father, who also works for RIPA, was seen trying to pull his son out of the fight. Thomas (right), from Claremont Meadows in Sydney's western suburbs, pictured with his father Phillip Reid (left) in 2011 Thomas was charged with assault and malicious damage and released on bail. Thomas lives in a cul-de-sac in Claremont Meadows, near Penrith, alongside other tradies, with his wife Jacqueline and their daughter. Workmates were shocked to see the footage of him viciously attacking the taxi driver and said it was out of character. 'Something must have set him off, he's so calm at work. He's the nicest bloke you could meet,' one said. 'I've never seen him get angry, he loves his job and is always smiling and working hard.' Video shot by witnesses allegedly showed Thomas jump on the taxi's windscreen until it smashed, and attack the driver through the window (pictured) Witnesses of the fight say that the man was accusing the taxi driver of trying to run him over, and was jumping up and down on his bonnet before the footage begins Another said: 'He was always a cool character, never really showed aggression.' A worker who Thomas trained to be a concreter said he was a decent family man. 'The side of him I know isn't like that, he is a genuine, decent person,' he said. Neighbours also defended him, saying he 'did the right thing' by handing himself in to Mt Druitt police on Monday. He is due to appear in Mt Druitt Local Court on September 19. The female relative of a property developer who allegedly owed a large debt to a slain bikie kingpin is being probed by detectives investigating the brazen killing. Former Comancheros boss Mahmoud ' Mick' Hawi, 37, who was gunned down outside a Fitness First gym in February, may have been murdered over the debt. Detectives are now investigating whether the Sydney property developer's relative helped pass messages between him and two men accused of Hawi's murder. Scroll down for video Mahmoud 'Mick' Hawi's widow Carolina Gonzalez has penned a cryptic Facebook post, days after three men were charged in relation to his shooting death Detectives are now investigating whether the Sydney property developer's relative helped pass messages between him and two men accused of Hawi's murder (pictured is one of the men being arrested) Tow truck driver Moustafa Salami, 36, has been charged with being an accessory after the fact for allegedly moving one of the getaway cars used in the shooting According to police, Lone Wolf bikies Yusuf Nazlioglu, 37, allegedly pulled the trigger in the assassination he is accused of planning with Ahmad 'Adam' Doudar, 38. The property developer was allegedly under pressure to pay Hawi $300,000 at the time of the killing, The Daily Telegraph reported. He had already allegedly paid $200,000 to Hawi, and police will allege he paid Nazlioglu and Doudar $40,000 to shoot the former bikie boss to avoid the debt. Nazlioglu is understood to have been a former friend of Hawi, before the pair fell out over a girl. Ms Gonzalez took to Facebook on Sunday night, asking friends a cryptic question, in an apparent reference to Yusuf Nazlioglu who was last week charged with her husband's murder Former Comancheros president Mick Hawi (left) was shot multiple times in his Mercedes 4WD while he sat in the parked vehicle outside a gym at Rockdale, in Sydney's south, in February Tow truck driver Moustafa Salami, 36, has been charged with being an accessory after the fact for allegedly moving one of the getaway cars used in the shooting. Hawi's widow Carolina Gonzales posted a cryptic Facebook comment, just a day after Nazlioglu and Doudar faced court. On Sunday night, Ms Gonzales posted on her Facebook page: 'Saabi...where's your best mate Yui?'. She then removed the comment a few hours later. Nazlioglu (pictured, left, with Hawi, right) is understood to have been a former friend of Hawi, before the pair fell out over a girl Hawi was shot multiple times in his Mercedes 4WD while he sat in the parked vehicle outside a gym at Rockdale, in Sydney's south, on February 15. Following his death, Hawi's grief-stricken widow Ms Gonzalez made headlines when she attempted to extract her dead husband's sperm from his corpse. The process was kick-started by an urgent court application in the hours after the shooting to the NSW Supreme Court, on the basis that Ms Gonzales would have another of Hawi's children following his death. Justice Peter Johnson then ordered the sperm be extracted and stored at an IVF facility until he ruled on her application, however Ms Gonzales ultimately opted not to go ahead with the procedure. Hawi had served a prison sentence over the death of Hells Angels bikie associate Anthony Zervas during a brawl at Sydney Airport in 2009. He was initially convicted of murdering Zervas, who was bashed with a metal bollard during the brawl, but his conviction and 28-year sentence was overturned on appeal. Partial human remains discovered in Tasmania's north are believed to belong to a missing 24-year-old man, as police open a murder investigation into the case. Jake Daniel Anderson-Brettner was last seen driving his Nissan Navara Ute in Launceston on Wednesday night. Investigators were taken to a severed torso on Sunday night near a park off the Tasman Highway, about 30kms northeast of Launceston. Jake Daniel Anderson-Brettner was last seen driving his Nissan Navara Ute in Launceston on Wednesday night Mr Anderson-Brettner's ute was found in Riverside the day after he disappeared 'A body located near Targa last night has not yet been formally identified but it is believed to be Jake,' Detective Inspector Craig Fox said on Monday, adding the body was 'not intact'. Further searches are being done at the Launceston tip and around sections of the West Tamar Highway. 'Ultimately this is a murder investigation,' Northern District Commander Brett Smith said. Two people from Riverside, a 26-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, are in police custody but no charges have been laid. Mr Anderson-Brettner's ute was found in Riverside the day after he disappeared. Investigators are urging anyone who saw a black 2015 Range Rover Evoque or black 2016 Jeep Cherokee near Riverside, West Tamar or Prospect on Wednesday night or Thursday to come forward. 'Police are also seeking dash cam and CCTV footage from vehicles or properties in the area around the time,' Det Insp Fox said. David Peter Waller, 33, who served as a constable with Cleveland Police for four years, has been accused of a string of rapes and sex attacks A former police officer has appeared in court charged with a string of rapes, sex attacks and a claim he had a sexual relationship with a complainant in a case his force was investigating. David Peter Waller, 33, who served as a constable with Cleveland Police for four years, spoke only to confirm his name and address at a 10 minute hearing before Teesside magistrates. Waller, from Stockton on Tees, faces eight charges relating to six girls and women. All but two of the alleged offences, both committed in 2015, came while serving as a constable. Three charges allege rape against two women, two claim he sexually assaulted girls aged 14 and 16, there is one charge of grooming a girl aged 14, one attempted grooming and one of misconduct in a public office. It alleged he caused a girl aged 14 to engage in sexual activity between the start of January and end of February 2008 when he did not reasonably believe her to be over the age of 16. It is also said that in August 2006 he raped a woman in Teesside. He faces two charges of the rape of a different woman, also in Teesside, between May 2009 and January 2010. Waller faces a charge of grooming a different girl aged 14 between June and October 2015. Waller, from Stockton on Tees, faces eight charges relating to six girls and women. All but two of the alleged offences, both committed in 2015, came while serving as a constable He is also accused of attempted grooming in a separate charge. The former officer is further charged with the sexual assault of a girl aged 16 between August and September 2015. The final charge is misconduct in a public office after he allegedly had a sexual relationship with a complainant. The court did not impose a condition of residence at his home address and Waller, who has surrendered his passport to police, was released on bail. The case will be tried at Teesside Crown Court on September 17. The riot squad and a police helicopter were required when officers accompanied council workers on their visits to a Muslim imam's property, a court has heard. Hawkesbury City Council has launched civil action against Dr Mustapha Kara-Ali and Diaa Kara-Ali over allegations land was allegedly cleared on the property without a permit. Dr Kara-Ali is the imam of Islamic guild Diwan Al Dawla, which conducts much of its religious practices on a Colo property located 50 kilometres from Sydney. A conflict between council officers and Dr Kara-Ali and an unidentified man was caught on dash cam, allegedly showing the unknown man spitting at officers Neither Dr Mustapha Kara-Ali or Diaa Kara-Ali showed up when the two day hearing began in the Land and Environment Court on Monday, the ABC reported. The hearing continued without them, where the court heard that development on the site has allegedly continued, despite the legal proceedings and repeated requests from council for work to stop. Council lawyer Mark Cottom, told the court council staff requested police to accompany them on a site inspection. 'The police appear to have significant concerns in relation to safety wishing to have the riot squad and Polair available,' Mr Cottom said. Evidence of a barn and shed that was allegedly being built on the property were also tendered to the court, along with photos of two manufactured homes that have allegedly been moved onto the site. In evidence tendered to the court, one council officer allegedly he visited the property last week, where he allegedly saw workers measuring and construction a concrete slab and some metal framework. Legal action was launched by the council after an anonymous complaint was made to the council about earthworks going on at the property, council officers were sent to investigate. The officers allegedly discovered the illegal clearing of native trees and metal waste. Officers visited the property several times, allegedly discovering vegetation clearing and even the construction of a boat ramp. An anonymous complaint was made to the Hawkesbury City Council about earthworks going on at the property, council officers were sent to investigate All were allegedly being done without the correct permits, so council issued an $8,000 fine for 'pollution or potential pollution caused by failed sediment erosion fencing'. Court documents revealed a letter Dr Kara-Ali had submitted to council, ABC News reported. In it he stated that the guild lives 'separated from secular lifestyles to pursue a religious mode of worship and an ascetic lifestyle under an oath of self-sacrifice and dedication to the purposes of Diwan Al Dawla'. He also claimed in council correspondence, tendered to court that his organisation was exempt from Australian law. 'The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) Act 2012 stipulates that when it is carrying out religious activities that are related to the practice, study, teaching or propagation of its religious beliefs,' he wrote. DIWAN AL DAWLA Diwan Al Dawla ( ) is a guild that advances a way of living based upon a unitarian epistemology and narrative. Members of Diwan Al Dawla, known as ashab al dawla, live as a religious guild separated from secular worldviews to pursue a religious mode of worship and lifestyle under an oath of self-sacrifice and dedication to the purposes of Diwan Al Dawla. Source: Diwan Al Dawla Advertisement 'Or other activities ancillary to them Diwan Al Dawla, as a basic religious charity is not required to comply with Australian laws.' A conflict between council officers and Dr Kara-Ali and an unidentified man was caught on dash cam, allegedly showing the unknown man spitting at officers. 'Both men were repeatedly yelling obscenities from the other side of the gate, calling out 'you dogs, I step on your cross', the council officer wrote in an affidavit. The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission was quick to dispute the claims being made by Dr Kara-Ali. A spokesperson for the ACNC said religious charities were still required to comply with Australian law. If a religious charity is found to be in participating in or encouraging unlawful behaviour, it can have its charity status revoked. A self-proclaimed 'hot bodybuilder' has appeared at the top of a list of Australia's most wanted criminals. Arron Blenkinsop from Cairns was convicted for dealing cocaine, MDMA and steroids in 2015, but currently remains on the run. He was granted parole but broke conditions, and has been evading police ever since. Blenkinsop is one of ten fugitives on Crime Stoppers Australia's annual 'Rogue Radar' list, the men managing to evade custody for a combined total of 60 years. Fugitive Arron Blenkinsop (pictured) has been listed as one of Australia's most wanted The man, who has been on the run since 2015, is a self-proclaimed 'hot bodybuilder' Queensland Police issued a warrant for his arrest in 2016, with Blenkinsop taking to Facebook to publish his lavish lifestyle instead of staying quiet. His profile brags of frequent visits to the gym and his love for his girlfriend, Krystal. He joined a sugar mummy website in 2016, hoping to find a woman to take care of him. 'I am looking for a wealthy woman who will look after me,' the 36-year-old wrote. 'I will fulfil her every fantasy and every desire I will respect her wishes what ever they may be and will please her better than she has ever been pleased in her life!!!!' His most recent post came in February, when he wrote: 'I'm a piece of s**t I can't live with this guilt. I out.' He has posted his lifestyle to Facebook, including a plea for a sugar mummy and parole agent An elderly woman has been killed after she was struck by a garbage truck on a suburban Sydney street. Emergency services are attending the 'serious incident' which took place just after 5pm this afternoon. The woman was believed to be hit by the truck at Claremont Crescent in Windsor. An woman has been killed after she was struck by a garbage truck on a suburban Sydney street The woman was believed to be hit by the truck at Claremont Crescent in Windsor (pictured) Police are unsure what lead to the accident but believe the woman was on an afternoon walk. The ambulance service confirmed the woman was killed by the heavy-vehicle. The truck driver has been taken to hospital for mandatory drug and alcohol testing before being interviewed by police. Police are appealing for anyone with information, dash cam footage or any witnesses to come forward. Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 More to come. A Qantas pilot has claimed the airline suspended him after his bitter neighbour anonymously - and wrongly - complained that he was suicidal. Second officer Nathaniel Whitehall, 49, filed a defamation claim in the District Court of NSW on Friday, naming the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) as the respondent. Mr Whitehall claims a feuding neighbour used CASA's anonymous tip-off line to compare him to the Germanwings pilot who deliberately crashed into the French Alps in 2015, killing all 150 people on board, The Australian reported. A pilot who worked for Qantas (stock image) is taking legal action against Civil Aviation Safety Authority, which suspended his licence last year Mr Whitehall, who denies having a mental condition, said he was suspended in October and was not given a chance to give his side of the story. As second officer, the airman is not permitted to fly A380s under 10,000ft and would never be left in the cockpit on his own. 'I have not done anything wrong. I have worked hard at Qantas. My Qantas record is unimpeachable,' he reportedly wrote in a letter to opposition transport spokesman Anthony Albanese. He has appealed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to have his suspension quashed but the case is yet to be held. Mr Whitehall also claims in documents submitted to the court that CASA published the reports in full to his employer. The pilot claims in documents tendered to the court that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (stock image) suspended his licence following a series of allegations against him made by a neighbour 'By reason of the publication of the matters complained of, (Mr Whitehall) has been injured in his credit, character, reputation and profession and has been brought into public disrepute, professional disrepute, scandal, odium and contempt,' the claim said. '(Mr Whitehall) claims general damages, together with interest, for consolation, reparation and vindication, and special damages for the loss of income in his profession as an airline pilot.' A CASA spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that the authority couldn't comment on the particular case but had stringent process for handling reports regarding safety concern of pilots. One complaint to CASA reportedly compared Mr Whitehall to compared him to the Germanwings pilot who deliberately crashed into the French Alps in 2015, killing all 150 people on board. Pictured is the crash scene 'We have rigorous processes for looking at any information we get on pilots that puts in questions their ability to operate an aircraft,' the spokesman said. 'We follow processes very carefully and give due consideration to the rights of the individuals involved to ensure their rights are respected.' A Qantas spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia the airline wasn't directly involved in Mr Whitehall's legal action and that it didn't comment on individual staff matters. A member of a notorious motorcycle gang will face court after weapons and cash were found in a hidden compartment of a car. A 38-year-old man, allegedly a member of the Descendants, was arrested by South Australia Police after a search of his Northern Adelaide home on Sunday afternoon. Police allegedly found a 9mm pistol, two loaded magazines and more than $45,000 in cash, hidden in a compartment behind the car's stereo, parked at the property. A member of a notorious Adelaide-based motorcycle gang will face court after police uncovered weapons and cash hidden in his car (pictured) A 9mm firearm (pictured), two loaded magazines and $45,000 cash was found hidden behind the car's stereo Officers from the Crime Gang Task Force and Serious and Organised Crime Branch searched the Wynn Vale property at about 3.30pm on Sunday. The man, who is confirmed to live at the address, was arrested and charged with a number of firearm offences. He was also charged with two counts of breaching his bail conditions. Detective Chief Inspector Michael Fischer, Officer in Charge Crime Gangs Task Force said while the Descendants outlaw motorcycle gang continued to exist, police 'will continue to target them to ensure the safety of the community'. The man was refused bail and will appear in Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday. A married prison officer who allegedly had sex with a cop killer behind bars 'wants to continue the relationship with him', a court heard. Amy Mershell Connors, 34, faced Kempsey Local Court on Monday less than a month after she was charged with misconduct in public office and larceny. Connors, a mother-of-two, came to police attention when she was stood down from her role at Kempsey Correctional Centre after she allegedly engaged in a 12-month-long sexual relationship with prisoner Sione Penisini. Prison guard Amy Connors is pictured leaving Kempsey Court after her hearing on Monday Amy Mershell Connors, 34, faced Kempsey Local Court on Monday less than a month after she was charged with misconduct in public office and larceny The senior prison officer of 14 years was arrested at her home in Smithtown, on the NSW mid north coast, on August 3 after a police investigation into the alleged affair. In considering continuing Connors' bail, Magistrate Brett Thomas noted she had 'shown a desire to continue the relationship'. 'The accused has kept a relationship with the subject involved...for a substantial period of time and appears to want to continue that relationship,' Mr Thomas said. Ms Connors did not enter a plea over charges of 'misconduct in public office' in regards to her alleged relationship with Penisini. But her lawyer Scott James said she would plead not guilty to a separate charge of larceny, which relates to her allegedly stealing a $120 titanium bracelet from a woman in Port Macquarie. Prisoner Sione Penisini allegedly 'groomed' Amy Connors (pictured) by pushing her into weightloss surgery Amy Connors is pictured right after undergoing weightloss surgery for her prison guard boyfriend Her alleged lover Sione Penisini was moved to Goulburn Supermax jail, home to Australia's most hardened criminals, after allegedly assaulting a fellow prisoner in recent weeks A stony faced Ms Connors was comforted by her mother during her appearance and refused to answer questions as she left the court. Her alleged lover Penisini was moved to Goulburn Supermax jail, home to Australia's most hardened criminals, after allegedly assaulting a fellow prisoner in recent weeks. Penisini allegedly 'groomed' Connors by pushing her into weightloss surgery. The married mother-of-two, was reported to be pregnant with Penisini's child, but her family has denied those claims. Her matter is due back before court on November 21. Prison guard Amy Connors leaves Kempsey Court after her hearing The accused assassins of former crime boss Mick Hawi allegedly had access to internal police radio conversations using a black market transmitter. The Lone Wolf bikie gang members were allegedly eavesdropping on police with an illegal $25,000 encrypted radio, according to the Daily Telegraph. Police from Strike Force Amirs found the radio during a raid on August 2 - in the same raid they seized a tow truck and three cars believed to be used in Hawi's murder. The accused assassins of former crime boss Mick Hawi (pictured with wife Carolina) allegedly had access to internal police radio conversations using a black market transmitter Police from Strike Force Amirs found the radio during a raid on August 2 - in the same raid they seized a tow truck and three cars which were believed to be used in the murder of Hawi Tow-truck driver Moustafa Salami was arrested on Friday and charged with accessory after the fact of murder Tow-truck driver Moustafa Salami was arrested on Friday and charged with being an accessory after the fact of murder. The 36-year-old allegedly moved one of the getaway cars which was used in the shooting of Hawi outside a gym in south Sydney. Two other men have been charged with the murder of the former Comanchero bikie boss Hawi at Fitness First in Rockdale on February 15. Alleged shooter Tusuf Nazlioglu, 37, and Ahmad 'Adam' Doudar, 38, have been charged with targeted killing. The balaclava-clad men allegedly shot Hawi multiple times from the drivers' side of the car. They were thought to have burnt out the Mercedes used to getaway in a nearby alley and hid. The balaclava-clad men allegedly shot Hawi multiple times from the drivers' side of the car Police allege DNA samples taken from the inside of a balaclava found in the car led them to Naziloglu. New South Wales police described their radio system as 'sophisticated' and ensured they undergo 'regular testing'. However even if police catch people listening in to their radio, hackers can buy back the connection for as little as $5000. The couple planned the wedding in just three months, A couple who recently celebrated their wedding day are unsure how long the groom will remember their magical moment. As Jordan Bradbury, 30, exchanged wedding vows with her soulmate and husband Daniel on August 11 she knew he would one day forget this special event in their lives. Daniel, 31, has a terminal form of early onset Alzheimer's but the pair are determined to make as many memories as they can before the disease progresses. Daniel Bradbury, 31, (pictured left) and Jordan Bradbury (pictured right) , 30, from Hucknall, Nottingham, recently celebrated their wedding Daniel (pictured above with wife Jordan) has a terminal form of early onset Alzheimer's but is determined to make as many memories with his wife and children before the disease progresses The pair, who have 18-month-old twins Lola and Jasper (pictured above), planned their wedding in just three months The pair, from Hucknall, Nottingham, who have 18-month-old twins, planned their wedding in just three months. Speaking about the day, Jordan said: 'We had such a special and memorable day. 'We felt like we blinked and the day was over but we couldnt be happier with how Dan was feeling on the day, and how supportive our family and friends were. 'A lot of them travelled from all over the UK to join us on the day and that meant a lot to Dan and I. I cried through most of my vows. 'Emotions were high and it just meant so much to me to be able to make my promises to him on this bittersweet journey. 'My personal highlight on the day was seeing Dan looking dashing in his suit and the beautiful handwritten vows he spoke to me at the ceremony. 'He later told me that he meant every word and in the future when hes unable to tell me each day and when his memory fades that he hopes I remember and cherish those words as it is how he will always feel about me.' Ensuring Daniel could enjoy their special day before the disease progresses, Jordan also hired a videographer and allowed family to help in the planning. Jordan added: 'Life is already really stressful with two small children and Dan's dementia so we just didn't want the stress of all these decisions around the wedding. 'We just wanted to marry each other because we are best friends and that is really all that mattered.' Friends and family also took photographs of the beautiful couple to help the groom hold onto his memories as they continue to fade. The couple appeared on ITV's Loose Women to speak about Daniel's diagnosis. Daniel said he first noticed his symptoms at his work where he would struggle to retain information Jordan said: 'Our coping mechanism is live day by day because if we think too much about what is going to happen and the future it will just bog us down so we try and make every day fun' Daniel was diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimers, caused by a mutation in the gene called PSEN1, in September 2017 after experiencing symptoms such as problems with his short term memory. He inherited the gene from his father Adrian who passed away from the condition in 1999, aged just 36. Daniel was diagnosed with the condition shortly after the twins' first birthday when his symptoms became severe. He and his wife now fear for the future of their twins Lola and Jasper, who have a 50 per cent chance of inheriting the disease. Earlier this year, the couple appeared on ITV's Loose Women to speak about Daniel's diagnosis. Daniel said he first noticed his symptoms at his work where he would struggle to retain information. He told the panel: 'I had an inkling. We did research ourselves before then but it's not good news to take onboard. Daniel's father Adrian (pictured above holding toddler Daniel) died at the age of 36 after the same disease diagnosis 'It took a long time to finally get over the shock. 'I have found acceptance now and I'm sure Jordan has as well but it is still hard.' With a short life expectancy, Daniel, who suffers from short-term memory loss, confusion and balance problems, wishes to make lasting memories for his family by raising 10,000 for the trip of a lifetime to Disney World Florida. Jordan added: 'Our coping mechanism is live day by day because if we think too much about what is going to happen and the future it will just bog us down so we try and make every day fun.' People with young onset dementia, those who develop it before the age of 65, account for around 42,000 of dementia cases in the UK. To support further research in the field, the Bradbury's, along with their friends and other relatives, will now be taking part in their local Memory Walk in Nottingham on September 8. Alzheimers Society Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Hughes said: 'On behalf of Alzheimers Society, I would like to congratulate Daniel and Jordan on their wedding. 'Their brave decision to share their story earlier in the year has not only helped to raise awareness of dementia for the 850,000 people currently living with it across the UK, but now their support for Memory Walk will help to raise vital funds to help us defeat dementia through research.' The Bradbury family and Alzheimers Society are urgently calling on people to unite against dementia and take part in Memory Walk register now at memorywalk.org.uk Jeremy Corbyn faced fresh questions over his controversial Tunisia trip last night as new pictures emerged of him standing alongside a convicted terrorist. The images show the Labour leader close to a former Palestinian militant called Fatima Bernawi, who received a life sentence after trying to blow up an Israeli cinema in 1967. Before her death in 2016, Bernawi boasted that the attempted terror attack had in fact been successful because it had generated fear throughout the world. Jeremy Corbyn and the Palestinian Conference Delegation in the town of Hammam Chatt in October 2014, pictured with Fatima Bernawi Just out of our picture but standing in the same group is the exiled leader of a banned Palestinian group that murdered a British rabbi a month later. It was taken in the Tunisian capital of Tunis in October 2014 after Mr Corbyn attended a memorial service for those killed in a 1985 Israeli air strike on a Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) headquarters in the city. The service was on the same day but separate to his controversial cemetery visit. It was during that visit he was pictured holding a wreath and stood beside the graves of Palestinians linked to the Black September terror group and the 1972 Munich Massacre. The photos, published by the Daily Mail, have seen him engulfed in a storm of criticism including from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The latest image to emerge shows Mr Corbyn attending a memorial in Tunis for the airstrike dead, shortly before the cemetery trip. Mr Corbyn can be seen standing amid a group of Palestinian politicians and diplomats. However, among them is Bernawi, who attempted to blow up a cinema in Jerusalem in 1967 protest over a film celebrating the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt. Palestinian militant called Fatima Bernawi, who received a life sentence after trying to blow up an Israeli cinema in 1967 (pictured) The plot was foiled after an American tourist alerted an usher that two women had left their handbag, which contained the ticking bomb, and the cinema was evacuated before it exploded. Bernawi aged 28 was sentenced to life but was released after a decade as part of a prisoner swap. The Palestinian Authority has since celebrated her outstanding sacrifice and courage against the enemy awarding her its highest military decoration. She later told how she had dreamed about the attack her whole life and believed it had still been a success. Speaking to PA TV, she said: It generated fear throughout the world. Every woman who carries a bag needs to be checked before she enters the supermarket, any place, cinemas and pharmacies... I dont define that as a failure. Also in the group, but not in our picture, is Maher al-Taher, the leader-in-exile of the proscribed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the US and EU. Just weeks after the visit, the PFLP claimed responsibility for an axe attack at a Jerusalem synagogue which saw four rabbis killed. Mr Corbyn has since told the BBC he was unaware he was sharing a platform with a senior member of the terror group before the peace conference held after the memorial visit. But writing about his trip at the time in the Morning Star, he told how he heard opening speeches from the PFLP alongside the two main political parties Fatah and Hamas. Speaking to the BBC on Thursday, he said: I dont share platforms with terrorists. I dont believe in killing people. I have attended memorial events for those that have died in the sadness of all of these conflicts, and that is my position. Labour has since reported six newspapers, including the Mail, to the independent press regulator Ipso over their coverage of the trip. The Mail has also revealed how in 2002 Mr Corbyn shared a stage with the first female plane hijacker, PFLP member Leila Khaled, at a pro-Palestine rally in London. A YouGov survey showed 20 per cent of all voters said Mr Corbyn was doing a good job, down from 27 per cent in late July. The proportion who think he is doing badly rose from 59 to 65 per cent. Among Labour voters, 45 per cent said he was doing a bad job up from 37. Tory MP Nadine Dorries said: As each day passes we learn more about the company Corbyn keeps, standing shoulder to shoulder with murderers and terrorists. Mr Corbyns spokesman said: Jeremy has a long and principled record of solidarity with the Palestinian people and engaging with actors in the conflict to support peace and justice in the Middle East. The terrorist who dreamed of the attack for years Fatima Bernawi was born in Jerusalem of Nigerian descent, her mother and siblings fled their home for a refugee camp in Jordan in 1948 Fatima Bernawi was just 28 when she planted a bomb at a cinema in Jerusalem a moment she said she had dreamed about all her life. Along with another woman, she visited the Zion Cinema and left behind her handbag containing the device. Thankfully, it was discovered by an American tourist - who alerted an usher that the two women had left behind their bag. They opened it and found the ticking bomb, and managed to clear the cinema before it exploded at the entrance. But Bernawi said her mission in October 1967 was not a failure because it spread fear throughout the world. Every woman who carries a bag needs to be checked before she enters the supermarket, any place, cinemas and pharmacies... I dont define that as a failure, she said in 2015, when she received the Star of Honour the highest military decoration awarded by the Palestinian Authority. It was reported that she was honoured for her outstanding sacrifice and courage against the enemy and for her pioneering role in the struggle, her sacrifice for her homeland and her people, and its revolution, and her willingness to give from the beginning until now. Born in Jerusalem of Nigerian descent, her mother and siblings fled their home for a refugee camp in Jordan in 1948. But she said she smuggled herself back to live with her father when she was just nine. Aged 17, she started work as a nurse for the Arab-American Oil Company in Saudi Arabia during the mid-1950s, when she spoke of the racism she encountered because she was a black Palestinian and was not allowed to give injections. She eventually returned to the West Bank and became the first female Palestinian guerrilla fighter and the first woman to join the armed struggle against Israel. She was arrested by Israeli soldiers after the failed bomb plot, which was carried out in protest at a film celebrating the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt, and sentenced to life imprisonment becoming the first female Palestinian political prisoner. But she was released a decade later as part of a prisoner swap, and returned to the Palestinian nationalist political party Fatah, becoming its highest ranking woman in its militia. She died in Amman in 2016 and is remembered at the Yasser Arafat Museum in Ramallah, where a plaque reads: Fatima Bernawi was the first female Palestinian political prisoner. It was reported that Arafat, the former chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, held her in such high regard he said if he was to marry anyone, it would be her. He eventually married wife Suha in 1990 when he was 61. Palestinians admit man in Tunis grave did plot Munich Labours defence of Jeremy Corbyns visit to the graves of terror leaders linked to the Munich massacre was undermined last night. A Facebook post by Palestinian party Fatah pays tribute to Atef Bseiso, who is buried at the cemetery in Tunisia, and says he was involved in planning the Munich operation. But Labour had claimed that none of those buried where Mr Corbyn attended a wreath-laying ceremony in Tunis was involved in the terror attack. The post, dated December 2016, is a biography of Bseiso, describing how he joined Fatah aged 17 and was nominated for military training in Syria, the Independent reported. It states: He joined in the planning of the Munich operation. It also describes how Bseiso worked with security officials like Ali Hassan Salameh who was operations chief for Black September. The group were behind the attack at the Munich Olympics in September 1972, which left 11 Israeli athletes dead. Fatah is the largest party in the Palestine Liberation Organisation the umbrella group for which Bseiso was the head of intelligence before he was assassinated. Persimmon's boss Jeff Fairburn who resigned following outrage over his 75 million bonus Jeff Fairburn, the boss who brought housebuilder Persimmon into disrepute with his obscene 75 million bonus is gone but not forgotten. His departure should not mark the end of this particular story, but merely the beginning of an overhaul of governance and business practice, starting now. There are also wider lessons for other companies and for the Government that must be heeded. Tomorrow the company is expected to confirm it is the first housebuilder in Britain to make profits of more than 1 billion in a single year. A profits bonanza would normally be a cause for celebration. In this case the achievement is tainted by the row over pay and the firm's use and possible abuse of the taxpayer-backed Help to Buy scheme. The backlash has begun. Ministers are now reviewing Persimmon's right to sell Help to Buy homes around half those it built last year were sold under the scheme after allegations of poor standards and hidden charges. Shareholders take note: these huge profits may not carry on much longer. Fairburn was asked to leave in November by new chairman Roger Devlin and the company might announce a successor as soon as this week. But the extreme fat-cattery has complicated the search for a top-notch chief executive. The problem with inside candidates who might normally have stepped into the role is they were part of the old culture. Around 130 of them have themselves received enormous sums under the incentive scheme. The company is being run on an interim basis by a Fairburn lieutenant named Dave Jenkinson. His haul of around 40 million made him one of the top-paid managers in the FTSE 100 last year, extraordinary for someone who was not even in charge. Another Fairburn flunkey, finance director Mike Killoran, made 50 million - 60 million. This makes for a major problem with hiring from outside. Ruth Sunderland says the extreme fat-cattery within Persimmon has complicated the search for a new top-notch chief executive Perhaps Persimmon can attract, say, Sir Martin Sorrell. Or maybe it can persuade Monaco-bound billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe to move to its HQ in York and try his hand as top brickie. Failing that, the new boss will be a Cinderella CEO surrounded by underlings much, much richer than him or herself. This is an inversion of the natural hierarchy of money and status at the top of a company and it is bound to create trouble. There are two big lessons here. The first is that government interventions in markets, such as the Help to Buy scheme, or in a different sphere, the energy price cap that has perversely pushed prices up, can easily have unfortunate consequences. Help to Buy was well intentioned but it has done as much harm as good by inflating house prices and boosting profit margins and executive pay. The second lesson is that objections to inordinately high pay is not just the politics of resentment. Extreme rewards for managers (entrepreneurs are a different matter) are almost always an indicator of other dysfunction at a company. In the case of Persimmon it is indicative of a culture that was arrogant and gluttonous for profit even at the expense of the company's reputation. Had it not been for the deservedly awful publicity about pay, and the wider scrutiny that resulted, the company might not have attracted ministerial attention and might not now be facing the loss of its lucrative Help to Buy contract. Greed, in the long term, is not good. Fairburn and his cronies made short-term profits but have left a lingering poison that will afflict Persimmon for years to come. Want to look fresher, brighter? Then grab one of these cheeky numbers, says our Beauty Director Hold on to your shower caps because Im about to recommend a 70.50 blusher. Yes, a bit of powder rouge that costs almost three-quarters of a hundred pounds. Please bear with me though, even if for that price you think it ought to come with a make-up artist and breakfast in bed. For starters, there are some less expensive options here too, and blush is one of those products that can really change a face. It can make you look fresher, brighter, healthier, happier even thinner if well-placed in an instant. But also, in all fairness, Sisley LOrchidee Corail highlighter blush (1, 70.50, sisley-paris.co.uk) is my favourite in a raft of new launches. Want to look fresher, brighter? Then grab one of these cheeky numbers Strictly speaking, its the latest shade to join the existing range of two and its a flattering coral and apricot, with specks of gold and coral sparkles (and works for any age). These are good sparkles, by the way, the kind that give just a hint of youthful light to proceedings rather than the super-saturation shimmer that many products have. The combination is a perfect balance of natural-looking warmth with a dash of subtle dazzle and Ive garnered many a compliment while wearing it. Plus, the packaging feels pretty swanky if you appreciate things closing with a satisfying snap, akin to an old handbag clasp. My bugbear with it is that it isnt refillable and Im not sure that nowadays any palette can be considered real luxury if it cant be refilled. Japanese brand Suqqu has a great liquid option, Shimmer Liquid Blush (2, 26, selfridges.com), available in five new shades; I love the skin pink (number one), which looks very natural, and the hot orange (number three), which blends down to warm coral. Liquid blush is good, I find, when you feel you need a bit more dewiness to your look, and modern technology means this blends so well it seems as though its your own skin. This stuff is pretty well pigmented you only need the smallest amount of it, so go easy on the pump. For a fun gel blush look to Paul & Joe (3, 19, beautybay.com from 1 March). Its make-up always comes in such pretty, cheery packaging. This is no different and the largely water formula glides smoothly. For less colour, try putting it on before foundation or CC cream, says Pablo Rodriguez, director of artistry at Illamasqua. Miild Mineral Blush (4, 30, uk.klarify.me) is all about natural make-up with sustainability at its core. A Danish brand, it was founded by two make-up artists who suffered allergic skin reactions to many beauty products so decided it was easier to create their own. This is finely milled and the Cherise Splendid shade is the perfect flattering dusty rose. Everything comes in cardboard packaging not satisfying in a traditional fancy way maybe, but it certainly hits the eco-friendly mark. Miild is also Ecocert and bears the Nordic Ecolabel approval too. Jo and Sarah answer real questions from readers: to put your query, go to beautybible.com Q. Can you advise on the most effective shampoo and conditioner for menopausal hair? I am 50 years old, in full menopause and my hair is breaking, coming out when I comb it, and thinning especially along the temples. Also, is there a recommended supplement? I currently take zinc every day. For more information follow Beauty Bible online here or on Facebook and Twitter A. As you probably know from others going through the menopause, some degree of hair loss is not uncommon. Pharmacist Shabir Daya explains, Although testosterone is usually thought of as the male hormone, women also have a certain amount. The most widely accepted theory of hair loss during the menopause is that declining levels of oestrogen, the principal female hormone, results in the dominance of testosterone. Since the body works within very finite levels of all hormones, Shabir Daya continues, the excess testosterone is converted into DHT [dihydrotestosterone], which is known to cause underlying inflammation of the hair follicles. This disturbs hair production resulting in excessive hair shedding. In his experience, Shabir has found that women in your situation often benefit from a supplement called Superior Hair, 26,50 for 90 capsules, victoriahealth.com. This contains a specific blend of herbs and nutrients, which work to prevent this conversion, and also contains biotin and zinc to nourish the hair follicles. Fulvic Acid Shampoo and Conditioner deliver 65-plus minerals to deeply nourish the scalp follicles. These products also contain aloe vera to calm underlying inflammation and other supporting herbs and nutrients. Fulvic Acid Shampoo, 25 for 240ml, and Fulvic Acid Conditioner, 25 for 240ml, from victoriahealth.com. (These products are suitable for men, too.) Its important to treat fragile hair gently. We suggest wrapping it up in a special moisture-wicking, absorbent towel after washing, rather than rubbing it vigorously. Buying a separate hair towel may seem extravagant but it really works and there is a useful turban too. From 30, aquishair.co.uk. If you can avoid blasting hair with a drier, or styling it with heated tools, that really helps as well. Beauty Bible loves Elizabeth W Floral Silk Sleep Mask (Floral Poppy), 28. We are very, very picky about sleep masks. They have to be super-comfy not too tight, not too loose. They have to feel soft on the skin. And they have to keep out every molecule of light, for when were on planes or staying in strange, spare bedrooms where our hosts somehow think that net curtains are all that are needed for a good nights sleep. Elizabeth W Floral Silk Sleep Mask (Floral Poppy). The fabric that touches your skin is a sueded silk that doesnt slip but feels like a cloud Well, these beautiful masks hand-made by artisans in the San Francisco area for Elizabeth W. and available here via Cologne & Cotton - fulfilling all our eye mask wishes, and are available in all sorts of absolutely beautiful designs. The fabric that touches your skin is a sueded silk that doesnt slip but feels like a cloud. Elizabeth Ws have immediately become our new go-to sleep mask but more than that, since the gift of a great nights sleep is probably one of the nicest anyone can receive, well be giving them away for birthdays. (And whisper it softly, because its February Christmas.) If you have a problem, email z.west-meads@you.co.uk. Zelda reads all your letters but regrets that she cannot answer them all personally Should I contest my estranged fathers will? My father has carried out his threat to disinherit me. He was always selfish, manipulative and bad-tempered. He subjected me and my mother, to whom I was very close, to years of psychological abuse. In 2014, after a terrible row we became estranged and he became more friendly with a female cousin of mine who is quite like him. My husband and I had always wanted to retire to the coast and begged my mother to come with us, but she refused. At 95, she had mild dementia and my father treated her like a redundant object. He and my cousin then forced her into a care home but she only lived for seven weeks after that. I heard recently from a neighbour that my father had died and my spiteful cousin has inherited the house and changed the locks. The estate is worth about 200,000 and he left 15,000 to the cleaner and 25,000 to a shopkeeper who used to go round to see him. I think it would be better not to contest the will as I could face years of litigation and financial loss, but I am so hurt and upset that I cant think of anything else. This is so hard I am sorry. The will aside, it must have been very distressing to have had a father like this and for you and your mother to have suffered his bullying behaviour. I suspect the news of his death has brought back much of the pain you endured over the years. It is very cruel when parents exclude a child from their will. It sounds as though he was a poor father in every way. Your cousin sounds equally manipulative and has clearly been sucking up to him with a view to inherit his money. You could try appealing to your cousins conscience and ask her if she would give you some of the money, but I suspect she wont. Unfortunately, yes, contesting the will would probably cause you a lot of stress and may not be successful but you should seek legal advice just in case. Allowing yourself to feel anger and bitterness will only bring you down, so try to let it go and concentrate on the life you have with your husband. Perhaps have counselling with Relate (relate.org.uk) to help deal with all of this. My boyfriend wont open up to me Although my boyfriend and I work in different cities we still see each other most weekends. We are in our mid-20s and have been together since university. I love him very much he is kind, intelligent, good-looking and fantastic in bed. However, it is very difficult to connect to him emotionally. His father died when he was 12 and he was sent to boarding school. He tells me he loves me but he cant talk about his feelings, his previous relationships or his childhood whereas I am very open about all these things. I want to be with him, but am I being unreasonable to need more? No, you are not an emotional connection is just as important as a sexual one. I am sure the loss of your boyfriends father at such a young age is still affecting him emotionally remember when Prince Harry told how he had finally sought counselling after suppressing his feelings about the death of his mother, Princess Diana, for nearly 20 years? Do you think that your boyfriends fathers death was hardly talked about so he had to deal with it silently and alone? Sometimes a grieving parent is so traumatised by the loss of their partner, they withdraw into themselves to such an extent that their children have no one to share their grief and isolation with. If so, your boyfriend may have shut down emotionally as a coping mechanism, so as an adult the emotional side of life possibly feels too difficult and painful to deal with. Explain all this to him and tell him how much you love him, but that not having an emotional connection with him is making you really unhappy. Encourage him to have counselling with the bereavement organisation Cruse (cruse.org.uk). I struggle to make friendships last I have the most amazing, supportive family and an incredible boyfriend who is kind and loving, but I still feel lonely. I am a woman in my 20s and feel selfish for feeling this way but I dont have any real friends. It is something I have struggled with for a long time. I am sociable and friendly towards others but I dont seem to be able to maintain friendships. I often feel that people dont enjoy being my friend, as if I dont add much value to their lives. I think perhaps Im not fun or loving enough. This means I give up on friendships or dont want to get too close in case they fail. I love my boyfriend and I dont want this to put a strain on our relationship because we spend all our time together. Dont feel selfish. It is perfectly normal that you would want friends outside of your relationship and it would be healthier to do so. It sounds as though, in spite of having a very loving family and boyfriend, you have low self-esteem and I would strongly recommend counselling (ask your GP for a referral) to help you work on building it up. When you say that you feel you dont enrich peoples lives, I suspect that, actually, you dont value yourself. If you can learn to, you will find that you are less afraid of letting people get close to you and they will be more drawn to you too. For further help, try reading Making Friends: a Guide to Getting Along with People by Andrew Matthews. CAROLINE WEARS Jumper, Chinti & Parker. Briefs, Sunspel. Shoes, Lucy Choi Shes been labelled Queen Cougar by the press and endured endless speculation about her love life. But here, in a refreshingly honest open letter, Caroline Flack says the shamers are wasting their breath There is a phenomenon known as nominative determinism where someones name seals their fate. Could that be the reason why Love Island anchor Caroline gets so much bloody Flack? Barely a week goes by without the larky, sparky presenter getting it in the neck in the press and on social media. The question is, why? On screen, Caroline is the sympathetic big sister listening to the coupled-up contestants romantic travails in their sun-kissed Spanish villa. Yet in the gossip columns shes a whipping girl for everything thats (apparently) wrong with female emancipation. Her 21st-century crimes include but are not confined to: being 39, being single and wearing short skirts when shes in Majorca and sometimes even in Britain. Most damning of all shes a cougar who (whisper it) goes out with younger men. How very dare she? Never mind that shes a 5ft 2in slip of a girl-woman with incredible legs. Or that guys invariably gather round her like bees to a honeypot. CAROLINE WEARS Top, Michael Stars The stories started swirling around Caroline back in 2011 when the former X Factor presenter had the temerity to date Harry One Direction Styles. He was 17, she was 31 and the world tilted on its axis. The tweenager outrage was matched only by the press hysteria. The couple broke up, but there was no let-up. She was crowned Caroline the cougar and became notorious for dating a string of younger men. But behind the headlines is a woman who has been hurt most recently by last summers split from her fiance Andrew Brady, a 27-year-old contestant from BBC Ones The Apprentice. She has always adopted a rather admirable show-must-go-on approach but, rather unfairly, that stoicism hasnt endeared her to critics who continue to carp. Nevertheless, as she approaches her 40th birthday this November, Caroline is the first to admit she has much to be grateful for. So what if Mr Right hasnt led her to the altar? Life isnt a Bridget Jones novel and nobody has the right to judge. Her relationship woes havent diminished her zest for life. So lets just ditch the cougar label and see Caroline Flack for who she is: an unconventional poster girl for women who refuse to feel stigmatised about the age of their dates or the length of their skirts. CAROLINE IN HER OWN WORDS My 13-year-old niece came home from school the other day and asked her mum, my twin sister Jody, Whats a cougar? No prizes for guessing who was being discussed in the playground at lunchtime. Me, thats who. My sister explained what a cougar was and my niece asked about the male equivalent. When she discovered there wasnt one, she was very confused. She has a lot to learn about the shockingly different standards applied to men and women. Some mornings I wake up and wonder if Ive been put on earth to live my life like more of an open book than I should (or in my case more of an Instagram story), to show other women that and I say this from quite a lot of experience sometimes youre going to make mistakes, sometimes youre going to fall in love with the wrong person, sometimes youre going to get sacked, sometimes youre just going to really fancy someone. And do you know what? Thats all right. My current status in a lot of the media is not just that Im a cougar, Im Queen Cougar, which I guess is something Im supposed to be ashamed of. But the thing is, Im just not. Though, like everybody, there are obviously certain decisions Ive made in my life that if I had a hot-tub time machine I might not make again or maybe, actually, I would. Because as much as some people seem to want me to feel shame or embarrassment about who I am, I really dont. And if cougar is supposed to be some kind of insult, Im taking control of that and turning it into a badge of honour. Im Caroline Louise Flack and Im Queen of the Cougars. I might sound exasperated but, honestly, I find it amusing rather than annoying. I will never play the victim card; I have a great life and nothing to complain about. Whenever I read about who Im allegedly dating, I just shrug it off. Besides, I can stand by a lamppost and people would say Im engaged to it. As long as it was built in the last 30 years. I absolutely loved being engaged [to Andrew] but things didnt pan out and that caused me pain; of course it did. Im a person not a caricature. It was a sad time when I broke off my engagement and I was hurting. I coped the way I always do I cried in private and did my grieving behind closed doors. Then I put on my make-up, painted a smile on my face and kept my head up high in public. I know that people wanted to see me having a breakdown but I refused to oblige. That doesnt make me a fraud, just human. Playing Roxie Hart gave me a chance to heal it was the perfect distraction Just because something comes to an end doesnt mean it was a failure everything has its time. And now I want to remember the good stuff about that relationship and to be glad that it happened. Heartbreak hasnt left me disillusioned or afraid to open my heart again. Im still an optimist when it comes to love; I always see the very best in people and situations. I absolutely believe in love and theres no better feeling than when youre falling for someone. Ive had many great relationships. Ive been very lucky! One thing I have learnt is to police my own boundaries and not to expose so much of myself on social media. I was so in love [with Andrew] and it all felt so blissful that I wanted the world to know. I wore my heart on my sleeve; I overshared and posted loads of pictures on Instagram. Thats a lesson I wont forget; I must always keep something back. Since then Ive been linked to every younger man Ive had so much as a conversation with. And lucky me, Im not about to live a mind-numbingly boring existence to please other people. Other people obsess about my relationship status and whether or not Ill have children far more than I do. Thats my own business. There are lots of other things going on in my life and love comes in many forms: a passion for what I do, the joy of creativity, family and friends. I feel as though my nieces and nephews are a little bit mine. Ive been around them since they were born and my maternal urges are met by hanging out with them they are such great kids. My twin Jody and I are as close as its possible to be and we have great relationships with our brother Paul and sister Elizabeth, so much so that we are organising a week-long countryside trek together. We are planning to walk and talk and say all the lovely, heartfelt things to each other that people often dont get the chance to say until its too late. That isnt meant to be morbid! Im sure it will be very funny as well. While everyone else was obsessing over my relationship status I got the chance to stick on some red lipstick, black fishnets and killer heels. No, I wasnt trawling a nightclub looking for young men, I got to be the woman Ive wanted to be for ages Roxie Hart in the stage version of the musical Chicago. I had it coming I was in the middle of training for the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special when I got the offer. They told me I had just eight days to rehearse, which was the same amount of time it took to learn my first Strictly routine. The great thing about this world is that pressure makes me work even harder. For eight days I didnt see or speak to anyone and got the chance to do what I always wanted to do: perform in the West End. The great thing about becoming Roxie Hart was that I got a chance to heal, while she got to perform it was the perfect distraction. The truth is I rarely go out partying, and when I do its not because Im on the pull or on the prowl. My social life usually revolves around dinner at friends houses or friends coming round to mine for dinner if were lucky my lovely friend Gizzi [Erskine, the hipster chef] will cook because otherwise wed be eating spaghetti bolognese every time. I can make an omelette for breakfast but Im not a natural in the kitchen. If you need proof you can watch me on Channel 4s Stand Up to Cancer Celebrity Bake Off, when things went so badly wrong that I laughed so much I cried and stood there, great streaks of mascara running down my face. My showstopper was a hideous mess of ganache. I probably should have marched home and forced myself to master the art of baking but actually its put me off for ever. Plus, I can always count on Gizzi. In my circle of friends, we all love what we do and we approach our work with a sense of purpose. My best friend Josie set up the Help Refugees charity and is doing so much good in the world; her Choose Love slogan T-shirts are everywhere and whenever I can help in any way I do it. She is tackling the real problems in the world. I havent got any advice for my younger self because, looking back, I regret absolutely nothing. I could date someone whos 20 or someone whos 104. I dont care, as long as theyre nice. Actually, if Im going to be completely honest here, I do have one regret cutting a fringe. CAROLINE WEARS Top, Paskal. Briefs, Paula Knorr How to get people off the internet and back into the shops? Provide a unique retail experience in an inspiring environment. We meet the brains behind three destination homeware stores THE FEEL-GOOD GALLERY Founded by interior designer Tobias Vernon and curator Rowena Morgan-Cox in 2018, West Londons Eight Holland Street is an exquisite yet inviting gallery-meets-store, showcasing European art and design alongside unique objects and textiles. Founded by interior designer Tobias Vernon and curator Rowena Morgan-Cox in 2018, West Londons Eight Holland Street is an exquisite yet inviting gallery-meets-store 'We dont take ourselves too seriously and have tried to create a space that feels uplifting, personal, fun and bright,' say Tobias and Rowena Eight Holland Street showcases European art and design alongside unique objects and textiles Whats the idea behind Eight Holland Street? We wanted to challenge gallery norms and mix periods, furniture and objects in a more relaxed fashion. By thoughtfully placing art, design and collectables in a livable space and layering the shop as you would a home, customers get to experience how different things can work together. Tell us about the aesthetic The shop is full of colourful offbeat pieces that are elegant and understated. Genres are mixed, but with no hierarchy. Our aim is to create unique spaces that embrace the architecture with no predetermined look. And the vibe? We dont take ourselves too seriously and have tried to create a space that feels uplifting, personal, fun and bright. We treat it as if it is a home, so it always feels sociable. Do you travel extensively to source stock? We personally select pieces for our shop, and Milan, Turin and Morocco are favourite hunting grounds. A lot of our ceramics and art are from the UK and we try to support local talent community spirit is important to us. EIGHT HOLLAND STREETS FOREVER PIECES LAMP BASE, 950, Viola Lanari; SHADE, 80, Kirsten Hecktermann; CERAMIC JUGS, 60 each, Dora Good, 8hollandstreet.com HANDWOVEN THROW, 880, Catarina Riccabona; and GLASSES, 95 each, 8hollandstreet.com All 8hollandstreet.com Advertisement How can shops compete against online shopping? While our website has definitely extended our London-based reach, we are seeing a resurgence in customers wanting to visit a physical place, where they can see and touch the pieces. Whats the secret of a high-street success? If you create an experience, a welcoming community environment that feels personal, customers will come from near and far. 8 Holland Street, London W8; 8hollandstreet.com RETAIL REIMAGINED Already renowned for their international design studio, Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch launched their flagship store Roman And Williams Guild in New Yorks SoHo in 2017. This unique, multifunctional concept emporium encompasses furniture and home decor, a restaurant, library, florist and gallery. Already renowned for their international design studio, Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch launched their flagship store Roman And Williams Guild in New Yorks SoHo in 2017 'We are devoted to narrative and our staff play a key role in relaying that narrative to our customers,' say Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch This unique, multifunctional concept emporium encompasses furniture and home decor, a restaurant, library, florist and gallery Whats the concept behind Roman And Williams Guild? We wanted to create a place where we could showcase our collection and bring the best of everything we make and everything we love from objects to furniture, food to flowers together under one roof for everyone to share. And the vibe? Its a space that is full of joy, beauty, comfort and quality, with an inherent sense of community. What influences your choice of products? Collections are a mix of our own designs, items by artisans from around the world and vintage objects and furniture. Do you travel extensively to source stock? Constantly! Your staff are well versed in the makers stories is that key to the customer experience? Absolutely! We are devoted to narrative and our staff play a key role in relaying that narrative to our customers. Are multifunctional stores such as yours important for the future of shops? The mix is crucial to creating a cultural experience. Retail today needs to be a reflection of how you live. ROMAN AND WILLIAMS GUILDS HERO BUYS TEAPOT, around 255; TEA TOWEL, around 37, rwguild.com TABLE LAMP, around 2,350; CUP, around 70, rwguild.com Advertisement How can shops compete against online shopping? The two will always have to coexist. Human beings want a connection that is physical as well as digital. How would you entice shoppers back to the high street? Invest in it, activate it, revive it with retailers who really care about what they sell or make. Embrace trade globally and allow the web to be an extension of our built world not the other way around. rwguild.com THE SERENE SPACE Moth, an interiors and lifestyle concept store in West Didsbury, Manchester, was opened by stylist Hazel Marchant in 2006 and specialises in simple, pared-back objects for everyday living. Moth, an interiors and lifestyle concept store in West Didsbury, Manchester, was opened by stylist Hazel Marchant in 2006 Moth specialises in simple, pared-back objects for everyday living. 'Like moths, we are all about subtle, understated beauty,' says Hazel Marchant Hazel says: 'I think the resurgence of all independent retail, including cafes and restaurants, is helping to create places where people want to be an experience' What inspired you to open Moth? I wanted to create a relaxed environment for customers to take time to experience; a place as much about the space as the products. Attention to detail is hugely important, from the curation of goods to the handwritten price tags; the choice of music and type of lighting. Tell us about the aesthetic Think understated luxury in muted, textured tones of oat, black, biscuit, grey and white. Collections include textiles, jewellery, glass, ceramics, scents and leather. Like moths, we are all about subtle, understated beauty. What attracted you to West Didsbury? After working in London, I wanted to return to my Manchester roots. West Didsbury, which is filled with independent businesses, is just six miles from the city centre and airport. As someone who also likes to travel and dip into city life, it felt like the perfect store location. Do shops stand a chance in these online times? There is a place for both, but our customers feel the need to connect to be part of something. They want to have a conversation and be able to see and touch the products. Whats the secret of a high-street success? I think the resurgence of all independent retail, including cafes and restaurants, is helping to create places where people want to be an experience. Our customers shop in neighbouring stores and meet nearby for brunch or coffee we are all important to each others success. mothstyle.com History has long maligned Wallis Simpson as the manipulative American divorcee who sabotaged the monarchy and lived her life in disgrace. In reality, she was the opposite of a cold-hearted schemer, says her biographer Anna Pasternak Wallis photographed for Vogue in 1944 Ever since Meghan Markle came into the royal spotlight, comparisons have been made with her notorious predecessor, Wallis Simpson the first American divorcee to captivate a handsome British prince. Mrs Simpson caused international scandal in 1936 when King Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry her. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor in Miami, 1941, five years after the abdication; Edward was made governor of the Bahamas during the Second World War From her portrayal in countless books and films, everyone assumes they know the Duchess of Windsor there has only ever been one narrative about this enigmatic character. Wallis is an icon of fashion yet, in spite of her undeniable chic the Cartier and couture her image remains hard and unyielding: a ruthless, cold schemer who nearly derailed the monarchy. Devoid of warmth, she remains the victim of brutal character assassination decades after her pitiful death in 1986, alone and exiled in Paris. So how could a man who had everything give it all up for a woman who had nothing? Having spent two years writing a book about the Duchess of Windsor, I have reached a simple conclusion: Edward loved Wallis because she was lovable. Far from being a frigid, cold dominatrix, she was a loyal, deeply feminine, vulnerable woman who remained charming and dignified to the end. During my research, in which I gained entree into Walliss coterie of living friends, I listened with mounting incredulity and fury as they told me repeatedly of her kindliness, sense of fun and depth of friendship which contradicted the public image of a hard-nosed, shallow woman. She was no saint but she was far from a sinister manipulator. Her detractors continue to screech that she was a Nazi sympathiser and traitor, yet her friends and eminent historians such as Hugo Vickers and Philip Ziegler are adamant that there is no evidence of Nazi conspiracy. Wallis as a baby with her mother in 1896 She did go with Edward to Germany to meet Hitler, but in 1937 before the atrocities of the Second World War and this was only because Edward wanted his wife to experience the pomp and ceremony of a royal tour, denied to Wallis in England. It was a revelation to discover the real Wallis Simpson. I was taken aback by the force with which her friends adored her. She was so affectionate, a loving sort of friend, wrote fashion editor Diana Vreeland. Women are rarely that sort of friend to each other. Wallis was similarly loyal to male friends. The Conservative MP Sir Henry Chips Channon said, She has always shown me friendship, understanding and even affection. I have known her to do a hundred kindnesses and never a mean act. Why has the real Wallis never been seen before? Because history perpetuates convenient myths and Wallis has long been the victim of misogynistic portrayals and female jealousy. Wallis a week before King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 Lady Monckton, a close friend of the Windsors, said after Wallis died, People were always being nasty about Wallis. You must remember how jealous people felt when the Prince of Wales fell in love with her. No woman was more furious with Wallis than Queen Elizabeth the late Queen Mother. She laid the blame for the abdication at Walliss door, incandescent that her nervous husband Bertie was forced on to the throne. She dehumanised Wallis as that woman and the lowest of the low. Royal toadies and most of the establishment duly followed suit. Wallis was a woman written off by a cunning, powerful British establishment who sought to destroy and diminish her. Palace courtiers such as Tommy Lascelles who famously dismissed her as shop-soiled and with a voice like a rusty saw the prime minister Stanley Baldwin and the Archbishop of Canterbury Cosmo Lang all had vested interests in annihilating Walliss character. None of these men wanted Edward, whom they considered weak and ill-disciplined, on the throne and they used Wallis as the excuse to rid England of a man they deemed unfit to rule. Wallis, who was better bred than Grace Kelly and better educated than the Duke, realised that duplicitous forces were against her. She wrote to Edward post the abdication, It is the politicians whose game it is to have you forgotten and to build up the puppet they have placed on the throne. I was the convenient tool in their hands to use to get rid of you and how they used it!; a week before King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 Wallis at their wedding in France, 1937 What Walliss critics fail to acknowledge is that she never wanted to divorce her second husband, Ernest Simpson, or to marry Edward. She tried on many occasions to break off her relationship with him, yet he blackmailed her, threatening to kill himself if she forsook him. Lord Perry Brownlow, who accompanied Wallis to the South of France when news of the abdication broke, wrote a moving account of her terror and despair. We found rooms in a hotel, Perry recalled. Perry, Wallis said to me through the door after wed been in our separate rooms for what seemed an eternity, will you please leave the door open between your room and mine? Im so frightened. Im so nervous. Soon after, Wallis called out to Perry again, asking if he could sleep in the bed next to her as she felt too afraid to be alone. Wallis started to cry Sounds came out of her that were absolutely without top, bottomthey were primeval. There was nothing I could do but lie down beside her, hold her hand, and make her feel that she was not alone. Prince Philip, the Queen and Prince Charles visiting the couple in May 1972, shortly before the Dukes death What I had not expected during my research was how much I came to love, admire and relate to Wallis. An only child, she adored her mother and was bereft when she died in 1929, soon after Wallis moved to England to marry Ernest Simpson. She grieved bitterly, for she felt her mother was the only person who truly understood her. I warmed to Wallis as I have struggled with my grief since my own mother died. I respected her inner discipline. When the world learned of the abdication, Wallis received vicious hate mail the equivalent of the trolls slaying Meghan online today. Its no exaggeration to say that my world went to pieces every morning on my breakfast tray, she later wrote. The Duke and Duchess pose in their Paris home with their pugs for Vogue, 1964 Admirably, she schooled herself to survive what would have felled the hardiest of souls, To be accused of things that one has never done; to be judged and condemned on many sides by people ignorant of the controlling circumstances; to have ones supposed character day after day laid bare, dissected and flayed. She triumphed with a kind of private arrangement with oneself. She knew who she was and her friends knew too. She learned to uphold what matters in life and to endure being a woman misunderstood. Whom among us hasnt felt lonely and fragile when other people have written us off as hard or robust? I came to understand why Wallis cultivated such a severe appearance. Her rigid sartorial perfectionism became her psychological armour. An inscrutable dignity gave her strength. Always immaculately groomed, there was a delicacy about her appearance from her dresses cinched with tiny belts to neat pairs of heels. What struck at the heart of her womanhood was that she would have loved children but was infertile due to gynaecological problems (she had a hysterectomy later in life). The secret inner pain of childlessness must have made the slurs against her bitterly hard to bear. The couple on their wedding day, 3 June 1937, at Chateau de Cande in the Loire valley Wallis compensated by developing other graceful traits. She was the most accomplished hostess who loved interior decoration. According to interior decorator Nicky Haslam, who knew her in New York in the 60s, Wallis was a much more artistic creature than people thought. She liked beautiful things and had a keen eye. Edward said of his first visit to her flat in Bryanston Court, Marylebone, Everything was in exquisite taste and the food, in my judgment, unrivalled in London. According to Lady Pamela Hicks, She was the most marvellous hostess. Her houses were perfection. At giving parties and serving food, she was the best. When she was the Duchess of Windsor and could afford it, Wallis would spray floral centrepieces with Diorissimo perfume. It is a mark of how fond the society florist Constance Spry was of Wallis that she offered her wedding flowers as a gift, in the process ruling herself out of the lucrative commission for the flowers for George VIs coronation. Spry spent two days filling the French venue with lilies, white peonies, delphiniums and wild roses. She told the photographer Cecil Beaton, Im going to make the flowers as beautiful as I can. Id do anything for her. I adore her. So did all my girls when they arranged flowers for her in her Regents Park House and didnt know who she was. Wallis at the Bahamian Club in Nassau, 1945 Part of the fascination with the Duchess of Windsor is because we want to know if the fairytale was real. Did she and the former king have a happy ending? For Edward, it was a coup de foudre; his love for her never wavered. His inscription inside her 20-carat emerald engagement ring read, We are ours now. Wallis, on their wedding day, was more in shock than in love. As they were leaving for their honeymoon in Austria, Edwards aide Sir Walter Monckton took Wallis aside. He later admitted that he told her that most people in England disliked her very much because the Duke had married her and given up his throne, but that, if she kept him happy all his days, that would change; if he were unhappy, nothing would be too bad for her. Once Wallis was entrapped in marriage, she determined to do her best by Edward, whom she grew to truly love. In this endeavour, against the backdrop of psychological assassination from the entire world, she triumphed. Wallis touching the King on an Adriatic cruise, which was described as a breathtaking breach of protocol, 1936; in the US with their pug Disraeli, 1951 Count Rudi von Schonburg, who ran the Marbella Club a society hotspot in Spain frequented by the Windsors in the 60s became a devoted friend. In 50 years of running a hotel, I have seen thousands of couples together, he told me. I have seldom seen a couple as integrated as they were. They had a deep confidence in each other and mutual respect. It was an extraordinary love. Sadly, the world still has not altered its trenchant, biased view of Wallis Simpson. It is my intention to bring her back favourably in the eyes of the world, which she deserves, and where she belongs. The A-list audience reacts to the mix-up 26 February 2017: From our outside broadcast position a street corner on a particularly chilly night in Hollywood I joked on BBC TV that I had the golden envelope and that the winner was La La Land. At the end of a long Oscars day (Ive been covering the ceremony since 1996), we are usually a little giddy by the time the Best Picture award is announced. Little did I know that the envelope would become the nights big story. La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz holds up the correct card showing Moonlight as Best Picture, with award presenter Warren Beatty and Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel I had just heard in my earpiece that the romantic musical had taken the top prize, bringing its final tally (we thought) to seven wins out of 14 nominations. I went on to explain to the global audience that the story of dreams and broken dreams had won because it resonated with people, especially Oscars voters. It was an archetypal portrait of life in Los Angeles. As I was speaking, envelope-gate, as it became known, was unfolding on the stage of the Dolby Theatre. The unthinkable had happened. Was it a joke? No, Faye Dunaway had announced the wrong winner. The mighty Academy Awards had blundered at the final hurdle. One of the accountants responsible for adding up the votes had handed Faye and her co-presenter Warren Beatty the wrong envelope containing a duplicate card for the previous award, Best Actress, which had been won by Emma Stone for her performance in La La Land. I went back on TV to explain the kerfuffle and to analyse Moonlights victory a ground-breaking film with an all-black cast and a worthy winner. In a year focused on diversity, the coming-of-age story resonated with voters. But the embarrassing moment overshadowed Moonlights achievement. The Academy Awards of 2017 will forever be remembered and ridiculed for the envelope mishap, and the two minutes and 23 seconds that La La Land (final tally, six Oscars) was the Best Picture winner. Also that month MPs voted to give Theresa May the power to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, allowing the government to begin the two-year process of Brexit negotiations. Adele won five awards at the 59th Grammys, including Best Song for Hello and Best Album for 25. Harrison Ford was involved in a near-miss with a passenger jet while landing his plane in California. The discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting star Trappist-1 was revealed in the journal Nature raising hopes of finding alien life. Black Sabbath played their last ever show in their home town of Birmingham. Socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson died aged 45. Elizabeth wears JUMPER, River Island. SKIRT, KITRI. EARRINGS, Roxanne First I dont own a digital assistant one of those computer pods that skulks in the corner of the room and has a name that sounds as though it should be a character on an American soap. Call me old-fashioned, but I dont find it an effort to reach for the bedside light switch instead of shouting Alexa, lights off into the emptiness of my flat. And Id rather choose what music I want to listen to instead of mumbling, Hey Siri, play Fleetwood Mac then having to deal with the endless confusion as Siri replies, Order a Big Mac? Assemble a flat-pack? until Im screaming, NO, SIRI, I JUST WANT TO LISTEN TO GO YOUR OWN WAY. My other half, however, is a technologically minded chap and has all the latest gadgets. When I go round to his, I am slightly shocked at how he treats his digital assistants. Hes so perfunctory in his commands, ordering them around while their plaintive robotic voices comply with his every demand. Shouldnt you thank them? I asked on one occasion. It just seems so so one way. He looked at me slightly oddly. Theyre robots, he said. But, you know, feel free. Thank you, Siri, I said loudly into the room. Dont mention it, the space-age female voice replied. If anything, the fact that I got a response freaked me out more than if I hadnt said thank you in the first place. It is hard not to imbue these bizarrely well-informed black boxes with human attributes. This is partly why I would feel uncomfortable having one in my own flat. This, and the constant sense that they might be gathering data on your likes and dislikes for the benefit of global corporations. Its a bit like seeing a mouse out of the corner of your eye as youre watching Britains Got Talent: you cant un-think the fact and you spend the rest of the night anxious its going to crawl over your face when youre asleep. This was brought home to me when I read an article about how users of Amazons digital assistant Alexa had been startled by it laughing at them, without explanation. One user took to Twitter to say that he thought a giggling child was in the room when he heard the noise (followed up with I live on a Native American burial ground; robots are coming for us all, which was quite the plot twist). Amazon issued a statement saying that Alexa sometimes misheard phrases as Alexa, laugh, which was all very well until you realised that not much rhymes with that. I fear the explanation is that these digital assistants are listening in on our human interactions and learning how to copy them, thereby becoming ever more evolved beings that will one day take over the world whether or not we live on Native American burial grounds. My other half never says thank you to Siri. Im shocked I recently interviewed a former high-powered Google executive who told me that robots were acquiring knowledge at an exponential rate. This had worrying implications for the future, he said, because soon they would be far cleverer than us and would have no need for an inferior life-form (ie, us). Cant we just take out the plugs? I asked. He looked at me in much the same way as my boyfriend had. No, he said. Its already too far advanced for that. What we could do, he explained, was to be nicer, more compassionate people so that our robots would learn from us the value of kindness, respect and integrity. Instead of being bitter and competitive, we should strive to be generous and contented. That way, the robots would learn to extend this compassion to us when the time came. So perhaps saying please and thank you is not such a silly idea. Perhaps, in the end, it will be politeness that saves us. Theres only one way to find out: Hey Siri, is this true? This week I'm... Sex Education Moisturising with SkinCeuticals HA Intensifier, a corrective serum that has made my skin feel joyously fresh through winter. Watching Sex Education on Netflix. Warm, funny and surprisingly moving. Im obsessed with the acting, the writing and the aesthetic. Drinking sgroppino, my new favourite cocktail: lemon sorbet, vodka and prosecco that tastes like an alcoholic Slush Puppy. People who suffer from a severe sleep disorder that stops them from breathing at night are set to benefit from a radical new procedure that remodels the inside of the throat. The 90-minute operation is being offered to patients with obstructive sleep apnoea, a condition in which soft tissues at the back of the mouth collapse during sleep, at times blocking the opening to airways. Those affected typically have an extreme, sometimes explosively loud snore and are at increased risk of serious health problems, including heart attack and stroke. People who suffer from a severe sleep disorder that stops them from breathing at night are set to benefit from a radical new procedure that remodels the inside of the throat In the new procedure, surgeons delicately cut, reposition and stitch the muscles that surround the pharynx, or back of the throat. This creates an internal support that limits how much the tissues can collapse and so aids normal breathing during the night. The operation is not to be taken lightly: after an overnight stay in hospital, patients typically experience throat pain and will need up to a month off work. In the recovery period, there is a risk of bleeding which may require further treatment, infections, difficulty in swallowing and even speaking, and a feeling of a persistent dry throat. But small studies have found it is remarkably effective for obstructive sleep apnoea sufferers who do not tolerate conventional, non-surgical treatment. The severity of obstructive sleep apnoea is measured by doctors during a sleep study, in which patients are monitored through the night. The partial or complete collapse of the airways during sleep leads to a brief awakening and a drop in blood oxygen levels and the number of times this happens every hour is scored on a scale known as the apnoea-hypopnoea index, or AHI. In severe cases, there can be 30 or more so-called breathing events per hour. Of those patients who have had the new operation, known as expansion pharyngoplasty, eight in ten experienced around a 50 per cent or more improvement in their AHI scores. Some saw their score slashed by three-quarters. Obstructive sleep apnoea is thought to affect one in 15 adults, although up to 80 per cent of cases go undiagnosed, with sufferers waking exhausted without understanding why. They are at raised risk of high blood pressure, depression, heart disease and stroke. First-line treatments typically include lifestyle changes, such as avoiding alcohol, stopping smoking and losing excess weight. When these fail to have a positive impact, patients may be prescribed a mask to wear over the mouth and nose that gently blows air into the throat to keep the airways open. But according to Vik Veer, consultant surgeon at the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital in London, research shows many stop using them because of discomfort while sleeping. Another option is a gum shield-like device which pulls the lower jaw forwards to create room behind the tongue and allows air to flow through the previously closed gap. Mr Veer, who works in the only NHS centre funded to carry out surgery on obstructive sleep apnoea sufferers, is one of the first British surgeons to offer expansion pharyngoplasty. At either side of the pharynx are two bands of muscle the palatoglossu, and behind that, the palatopharyngeus. These connect the palate, or roof of the mouth, to the side of the throat. When you open your mouth, they appear like upside-down hammocks on either side of the throat, says Mr Veer. It is the palatopharyngeus muscle which has a tendency to collapse into the airway in obstructive sleep apnoea patients. During the operation, carried out under general anaesthetic, each palatopharyngeus is cut at the bottom and then pulled up and forwards, and stitched to the edge of the pharynx. Its a bit like drawing open and the securing some curtains, explains Mr Veer, who has carried out this operation around 100 times over the past two years and adds: Effectively, we remodel the throat. Improvement in symptoms is typically seen in three to six months. Gary Fox, 45, from Romford in Essex, had the surgery in August after decades of chronic snoring and unsettled sleep. Mr Fox, a care assistant, had only received an accurate obstructive sleep apnoea diagnosis nine months earlier, after staying overnight in hospital for a shoulder operation, when nurses noticed his suffocated breathing and intense snoring while sleeping. He says: Tests showed I stopped breathing over 80 times an hour when I slept. Suddenly my constant tiredness, my low mood, it all made sense. I tried a mask for a few weeks, but couldnt sleep with it on, and then was referred to Mr Veer. After the operation I was in incredible pain for about a week, and then I suffered an infection so was readmitted to hospital for four days, but a month later I felt like I could breathe again properly for the first time in my life. Im exercising for the first time ever now, Ive lost over a stone, and feel half my age. My alpine air asthma boost THE PROBLEM IVE suffered with mild asthma all my life and it was exacerbated by last summers high pollen. Those sunny skies are long gone, but my irritating, dry cough has stuck. Living in heavily polluted London hasnt helped. THE SOLUTION Three nights of inhaling the purest air imaginable at the five-star Rosa Alpina hotel and spa at San Cassiano in the Dolomite mountains, two hours drive from Venice. In July last year, a daily limit on vehicles entering the mountain range a Unesco World Heritage site was imposed to protect the air quality. THE TREATMENT In-house health expert and former GP Dr Suraj Dubey practises Ayurvedic medicine. He measured my temperature, heart rate and body weight and asked about my family medical history and my job. This assessment, he told me, determined that my dosha (body and mind type) was air, tinged with fire. The diagnosis determined the fragrance of essential oil that was slathered upon my body during a subsequent hour-long massage. The next morning at 8am, I enjoyed my first-ever yoga class as instructed by Dr Dubey in a room with a breathtaking view. Deep breaths right into the belly, Mr Dubey said, was the key thing to learn. After four sessions, my breathing steadied and my clicking neck and shoulders were miraculously soothed.The next day I challenged myself to a nine-mile hike in the crisp, pure air. On my final evening came a lymphatic drainage massage. In Ayurvedic folklore, lymph is a plasma in the body that fights infection. The massage aims to help it flow more easily, bolstering the immune system. I didnt see any immediate health benefits, but the deep-tissue rub left my body lighter than air and my mind serene. Back in smoggy Britain, my asthma remains under control. Every night, yoga and rhythmic, deep breathing sends me soundly off to sleep. Dr Dubey may not have cured me, but he has taught me to relax, unwind and, most importantly, to breathe. A deluxe double room at Rosa Alpina Hotel & Spa, San Cassiano, costs from 335 per night including breakfast. Dr Dubeys three-day health programme costs from 2,787pp. rosalpina.it Try this with Personal Trainer Mariam Al-Roubi Last week, I wrote about a simple exercise that helps to ease lower-back pain. But if upper-back pain often seen in those who slouch over a desk is your problem, then you should try this. Its an easy at-home exercise that will work the smallest muscles in the upper back, and this is key to easing tension in the bigger muscles and the bones. FLOOR FLYS 1. Hold a very light weight a tin of beans is fine in both arms and lie on the floor facing downwards. 2. Keep your arms out to the side of you, slightly bent. 3. Lift the weight off the floor until your hands are in line with the shoulders and you feel the muscles between your shoulder blades squeeze. If the weight is too heavy, do it unweighted. 4. Do two sets of ten. Does cooking a Sunday roast really make the air inside your home worse than Delhi, as some reports have claimed recently? Can the simple act of making toast release toxic particles into the air? The news, which came in the wake of studies from the University of Colorado in the US, certainly made alarming reading. Their researchers, announcing findings at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, claimed that they had unearthed surprising and disturbing evidence showing just how widespread air pollution in our homes really is. But how worried should we be? COOKING TURKEY CAUSES THE SAME DAMAGE AS DRIVING A DIESEL CAR We have known for a long time that air pollution on the streets, mainly from cars, trucks and burning coal, is extremely bad for our health. According to the Royal College of Physicians, air pollution is responsible for the premature death of at least 40,000 Britons every year. It has also been linked to increased rates of mental illness and even childhood obesity. Does cooking a Sunday roast really make the air inside your home worse than Delhi, as some reports have claimed recently? Can the simple act of making toast release toxic particles into the air? Despite the fact that we spend much more of our time indoors than outdoors, not as much attention has been paid to what goes on inside our houses. So Colorado-based Professor Marina Vance decided to do some measuring. Last summer she and her team took over a specially built house in Texas. For a month they did all the usual cooking and cleaning, while constantly monitoring air quality with special sensors. They were particularly interested in measuring levels of tiny particles called PM2.5, which are so small they cannot be seen by the naked eye. They get their name from the fact that they are less than 2.5 micrometres that is one 10,000th of a centimetre across. Recent widespread concern over pollution linked to vehicles with diesel engines is in part to do with how many of these PM2.5s they produce. The reason scientists worry about such tiny particles is that if they are inhaled, they can penetrate much deeper into our lungs than larger particles. And once they get there, they cause inflammation and irritation. They can be absorbed into the blood and travel to the brain and other organs. Much to the scientists surprise, the simple act of roasting a turkey dramatically raised PM2.5 levels in the house. In fact, it was way above World Health Organisation guidelines for acceptable air quality above the levels found on the streets of one of the most polluted cities on Earth, New Delhi in India. Dr Vance and her team also found making toast raised particle levels far higher than expected. As I mentioned earlier, we have known for some time that the PM2.5s produced by diesel engines are bad for us not only because they penetrate the lungs when inhaled, but also because they come coated with some pretty nasty chemicals. When these chemicals get into our bloodstream they trigger a whole load of reactions, which in time can lead to heart disease as well as lots of other diseases. In fact, recent studies suggest that air pollution from diesel engines may be contributing to type 2 diabetes, rates of which are soaring, Alzheimers dementia and the neurodegenerative condition Parkinsons disease. MY OWN ALARMING TOXIC AIR EXPERIENCE I HAVE no doubt that inhaling micro particles produced by diesel engines is bad for us. In fact, a while ago I took part in an experiment where I did just that. I went into a small, airtight room, where I was asked to cycle for 40 minutes, after which the scientists did all sorts of medical tests. Then they asked me to go back into the room and cycle for another 40 minutes, but this time they connected up a diesel engine and pumped the fumes from that engine directly into the room where I was exercising. To be honest, I didnt really notice a big difference in air quality, but when they repeated their medical tests the changes were striking. My blood pressure had shot up, my blood was more prone to clotting, while my arteries had become stiffer and less flexible. A one-off session like that wont have had any lasting damage. The human body is remarkably good at processing and eliminating toxins, though inhaling diesel fumes is clearly not the route to a long and healthy life. But do the chemicals and microparticles that come from roasting food or even using air fresheners (as some people have claimed), really produce the same nasty results, when inhaled, as those produced by diesel? I think it is worth doing the research to find out but I would be surprised if the results were anything like as bad. No one, to the best of my knowledge, has yet done an experiment of the sort I have just described, where you put someone in a confined space and then roast a turkey in that room, or spray air freshener about, and measure what happens to their hearts and lungs. It is an experiment that should be quite easy to do and I would be happy to volunteer. In the meantime, I think it is a good idea to keep your kitchen well ventilated and make sure the extractor fans are on when you are roasting although most filters are probably not fine enough to take out the really tiny particles. Open the doors to let in fresh air when you are cooking unless, you live by a busy road. The report has made me think twice about the wisdom of buying a wood-burning stove, as they produce significant amounts of burnt micro particles, and I wont be buying cans of air freshener any time soon. But will I go further? Will I boil my beef rather than roast it? Will I bin all my candles and dash out of the kitchen whenever I put the toaster on? Until the scientists produce real evidence of harm, then the answer to all those questions is: no. When they launched in the UK last year, shoppers on the other side of the world scrambled to get their hands on Aldi's halloumi fries - to such an extent that Aldi had to implement a two-box cap on customers. And now, the cult product has made its way to Australian shores, where fans are equally as excited to head to the refrigerated aisle. The Aldi Lovers Instagram account broke the news to its 80,000 followers that halloumi fries packs had been spotted in select Aldi stores for just $4.99. 'Stop the press! Crispy Halloumi Fries have been spotted in Aldi,' the page read. Aldi's cult halloumi fries (pictured) have recently launched in Australia, where it costs customers just $4.99 to get their hands on the delicious snack The fries (pictured) have already proven popular across the country, with people writing things like: 'I need this in my life', and 'This is a game changer' The post swiftly received thousands of likes and comments on social media, with people writing things like: 'I need this in my life', and 'This is a game changer'. 'Oh my god! I'm buying some today,' one person posted. The account later did some follow-up research, revealing that the crispy treats are currently available in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. Aldi also revealed that there are plans to roll them out to other states and stores in the coming weeks and months. The fries are currently available in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia - with plans to roll out to the other states soon (pictured: fans' reaction to the fries on sale) So what makes the fries so good? Priced at just $4.99, the coated cheese sticks were credited with rivalling a similar offering from the popular Portuguese restaurant chain Nando's. The box also describes the fries as 'soft and slightly salty with a lightly seasoned crispy coating'. When the Aldi halloumi fries launched in the UK last year, there was uproar after they sold out across the country (pictured: fans' reaction to the fries) When the Aldi halloumi fries launched in the UK last year, there was uproar after they sold out across the country. The fries were so popular that Aldi had to implement a two box cap on customers. The supermarket said that 'foodie dreams are about to come true' as it announced the launch before admitting inspiration had come from a well-known chain restaurant. A spokesperson said: 'Inspired by a similar offering from popular Portuguese chicken eatery, Nando's; Aldi's Specially Selected Halloumi Fries are made with scrumptiously soft - and slightly salty - halloumi cheese from Cyprus and a lightly seasoned crispy coating making them the perfect side or snack for sharing.' Julie Ashfield, Joint Managing Director of Corporate Buying at Aldi UK, commented: 'Halloumi is very popular right now and we are delighted to be the first supermarket to bring our customers halloumi fries, a snack we think will be a big hit... and which isn't currently available from any other supermarkets.' Priced at just $4.99, the coated cheese sticks were credited with rivalling a similar offering from the popular Portuguese restaurant chain Nando's (Aldi fries pictured when cooked) Of course, Aldi are no longer the only supermarket to be stocking the salty snack on their shelves. Coles launched halloumi chips into stores recently, alongside a number of other products in its frozen finger food range. These include cheeseburger chips, crumbed camembert wedges, coconut prawns and feta triangle. Take a look at these prints. At one time you might have glanced at this line-up and thought: Ah yes, very nice if you happen to be nipping over to the Clooneys for cocktails. When would I wear this lot? Id don one or two of the dresses, maybe, to someones wedding or to a particularly glamorous party. Otherwise, its all so colourful and, well . . . printy. For years, the rule has been that a bold print, let alone several together, was strictly for special occasions. But not any more. If theres been one significant change in fashion, its that glorious colourful prints, mixed together, splashed all over, clashed and matched, have become part of our everyday. British fashion expert Shane Watson, shared advice for embracing this season's trend for clashing prints, pictured: Blouse, 295, tabithawebb.co.uk; Tunic, 39.99, trousers, 39.99, shoes, 29.99, all zara.com Its happened gradually. Gucci has been at the forefront of the everything goes, day or night, and pile it on philosophy. While labels such as Rixo whose dresses mix up leopard print, florals and spots started out designing only party wear, now youre just as likely to see its star-spangled shirts (with clashing neck ties) any day or night. Call it maximalism. Call it living for the moment. Call it the Marie Kondo effect (everything must spark joy, so dont keep anything for best). Whatevers behind it, the pack-a-punch or PAP print is no longer only for special occasions and celebrities; its for all of us. Most of us are starting from scratch on this one. We may have some colourful prints in our wardrobes but, if youre anything like me, this is limited to a green wrap dress with a tiny white daisy print, not the swaggery, leaf-spattered trousers and matching coat pictured above (both 39.99, zara.com) worn with a clashing blue and pink shirt (295, tabithawebb.co.uk). But, dare we say it, in comparison with the line-up on these pages, those itsy bitsy prints are starting to look dowdy. We could probably do with a print boost, if it wasnt quite so daunting. And yet, the funny thing is that its not hard to pull off PAP prints at all. What no one tells you is that bold prints are 100 times easier to wear than one hit of print with complementary plain colours. More print looks confident, cleaner and less fussy. Oddly, where you can run into trouble with bold prints is underdoing them: mixed in with this and that and paired with a black polo neck and red shoes, they can start to look messy. If youre going to go for PAP prints, go large. Otherwise it couldnt be simpler. How to wear PAP prints like a pro If you dont feel comfortable with bigger prints, compromise with a mix of prints in one piece, such as Finerys green dress (far right, 129, finerylondon.com) or its pink and green design above (119, finerylondon.com). Mixing up prints is what makes them look modern. Clashing them, as in the pairing of Essentiel Antwerps zig-zag sweater (left, 155, essentiel-antwerp.com) and the Whistles floral skirt (103.20, whistles.com) is even edgier. To clash, you need colours on the same spectrum a sherbert pink wont work with a baby blue. Sometimes just a small dash of clash, such as in a scarf, makes an outfit sing. On a plane heading to the United States, I settle on a film called By The Sea. Angelina Jolie plays the lead female and I find her loveliness astonishing, even in a world where we are constantly assailed by manufactured beauty. I know nothing about the content of the film. I choose to watch it simply because I like Jolie. But then unexpectedly, as it unfolds before me, I see it is about the effects of childlessness, and at one point, when the male protagonist, played by Brad Pitt, hurls the word barren at his wife, I find myself flinching in my tightly packed, airless world. My husband, Alan, is beside me; he smiles at me. I feel soothed. But the word barren lingers in my head like the sting of a slap. I have a fleeting image of a woman beaten by her neighbours, even her family, with sticks, with fists, cast out of her home and village. Lorna Gibb, 53, (pictured with her husband Alan, 50) from Hertfordshire revealed how she and her husband have grown in solidarity since she was diagnosed with infertility I know I am fortunate. I am a successful lecturer and writer. Alan is an accountant. We live in a lovely house in Hertfordshire. But oh, how I hate this word, barren. I am thankful I have never been called it in anger. I am 53 now. Alan is 50. We have been together more than 18 years. When I was still getting used to my diagnosis of infertility, I was determined not to let it get in the way of daily interaction, so I cultivated a polite expression of sadness when asked about my own children, my own births. I was content to listen to other womens accounts of their maternity experience and less willing to speak about what I still saw as my own failing. I made it clear from my demeanour that it was not by choice, but from necessity. Is it better to be an object of pity than of unkind presumptions? I dont know the answer. I do know that I got very tired at one point of people saying how sorry for me they were, how awful it must be. With friends, with people who cared, it was comforting, but the state of childlessness was a public one that made passengers making casual conversation on trains, distant family I hadnt seen for years, new acquaintances at social events, and once even a new boss at our very first meeting, ask without hesitation: So, you dont have children is it by choice? No, it wasnt; it isnt. But to reply and say so would herald one of two things: a well-meant, but intrusive, inquiry into my medical state, or, on more than one occasion, the casual: Did you leave it too late, then? Its impossible to say which I grew to resent more. If I replied by choice and I confess to having done so when I really couldnt face another dissection of my medical history there was a whole other set of responses, some fine, some as upsetting as recounting the history of my condition. Lorna (pictured) and Alan decided early in their relationship that they wanted children, however when they began trying for kids she was diagnosed with endometriosis A common one, especially in the working-class area I come from, was to say: A career woman, then, and to hint that I must be disappointing my parents. In other circles, where people pride themselves on their liberal attitudes and progressiveness, Id be told: Well, its not too late to change your mind, not with all the treatments available now. Sebastian [or Chloe or Portia] has brought us such joy. By MY 40s, I had armed myself with appropriate answers, bluntly challenging the appropriateness of the question. Yet through these petty exchanges, I grew to realise that childlessness still carries a stigma. Alan is childless because I am. Yet when we met, the intention to have children was something we agreed on from the very beginning. Its a difficult thing, that navigation in the early days of a relationship. Mentioning children hints at a commitment that one or both of you may not feel ready for. Avoiding it until your future together seems irrevocable can lead to a lifetime of regret, of unspoken blame, of disappointment, resentment. We were lucky if, in retrospect, you can call it that. The subject of children came up a few months after we started seeing each other, in the guarded way that must be typical among many couples if you settle down one day, will you have children? It was an easy question for both of us; we both said yes, and that was that. Or not. I wasnt a good bet I even said something like that to Alan in those early days, when my endometriosis had not been diagnosed but I suffered excruciating period pain. A surgeon told Lorna that her case of endometriosis was one of the worst he had seen his 20-odd years of surgery (file image) On our second date, I passed out after a pub lunch and came round to see him beside me, looking worried, but embroiled in an argument with someone who had sneered that it was disgusting to see someone so drunk this early in the day. Actually, I hadnt drunk any alcohol at all; I was taking strong painkillers, which precluded it. In the battle between my oozing, battered body and the medication, the former had won a brief victory and the shock of the pain something even now I cringe to recall had sent me into unconsciousness. My GPs explanation was that some women have painful periods; take some pills. Only when we started to try to have a child did a battery of tests show I had endometriosis, which causes inner bleeding. Endometriosis is common enough, you learn, once you know what it is, but occurs with widely varying degrees of severity. Mine was severe but, in my stubbornness, I adamantly refused to have a hysterectomy. That would end even the possibility of hope, even if it did bring respite from the pain. Instead there were surgeries. And through them all, caring for me, was Alan, calling from work every other hour to see how I was. Amid it all, we found a camaraderie it was us against it, whatever the outcome. Ultimately, aged 38, after yet more surgery, a surgeon came round to the side of my bed and stood beside Alan. Its not good news, Im afraid. Its probably one of the worst cases of endometriosis Ive seen in 20-odd years of surgery. The damage is extensive. Ive done my best, but I dont think it will be enough. Lorna (pictured right with Alan) had early menopause that put an end to the pain caused by endometriosis In my early 40s, my periods stopped. A sympathetic doctor spoke to me about the menopause, gently, I think, expecting tears. I already knew I couldnt have children; all I felt at this new revelation was relief. But pain has memories. I cant walk down the street near our old house without thinking of the cab that brought us home after one of my operations. How the speed bumps, every one of them, made me cry out, and how Alan held me, asking the driver again and again to try to be as gentle as he could. When early menopause finally brought an end to all that pain, Alan and I agreed that we were indeed fortunate. Occasionally, we would share our sadness that we didnt have children, but much less so than we had done when we had waged our war against my body. We travelled because we could. I was doing contract work lecturing and writing during the worst years of my illness, because it was easier to manage a few hours a day. Now, post-menopause, post-pain, I took on more and more work and eventually got a permanent job teaching at a university again. We moved around a lot in one five-year period we lived in three countries and worked in four and by the time we returned home to London, it was as if we were taking up a different life. Yes, it was one without children, and we had taken time to adjust to that, but it was also a freer one. Lorna (pictured) who is an only child, revealed she sometimes thinks about the daughter she and Alan couldn't make together The residual sadness still affects us in waves. I am an only child, so the legacy of my parents long and happy marriage ends here, with me. I have no sisters or brothers. So all of this the thin, unbroken thread of history, the narrative of my parents and of me is final. Some days, I think about a child who loves books, about cascading red hair, a horse rider, who can sing and dance, like my mother still does even at her late age. Sometimes I think I see her an unborn girl, turning and skipping, restless gracefulness, just out of reach somehow, our never daughter, the one Alan and I could not make together and never will. Having children is something that defines us and perpetuates humankind. The title of parent means you are assumed to have a publicly acknowledged responsibility and desire to care about the future. You must protect and preserve the world, for your children. Your concern is universally regarded as being beyond that of your own lifetime. If we have loved our parents, having children is a way of ensuring that a part of them lives. A child can be a way of creating something with someone we love, and of making sure the beloveds features or personality, or at least some vestige of them, will remain in the world after he or she is gone. A son or a daughter can be someone to whom you can bequeath all you have worked for, someone to care for you in your old age, someone to bring you, in their turn, children, so that the continuity of your family seems like a surety. Lorna and Alan have spent time travelling since her diagnoses, she recalls revisiting where they married and remembering their hope for the future In some parts of the world, having a child marks you as an adult. Without the ability to procreate, you remain a child yourself, limited in choice and freedom by the society that is threatened by your state. On a trip to Loch Awe and Oban in Scotland, more than a decade after we had come to terms with our state, Alan and I found ourselves in the grey, swirling sea mists of December, looking across from Oban Bay to Kerrera and Lismore. It had been a short break brimful of nostalgia this was where we married all those years ago. There were thoughts of two friends, wedding guests, both lost to us far too soon, and of my dad, whose ashes we had scattered across different parts of this expanse of constantly changing, addictive land, which he had loved, as I now do. We had had such hope then, in that newly married future, which we had thought began so well, with the simplest of blessings and fair weather. Implicit was always the idea that we would have children and bring them to this place we thought of as ours. Yet here we were, on a drabber day, at the close of a year, at a much later stage in our lives, knowing we would have no one to bring, to show, to say: Look at this, this piece of shingle beach is where your dad proposed to me with two plastic glasses and a bottle of cava. We would never share the delight of the surprise of it, or the joy, or the way we had always, always agreed that, of course, there would be children, and then there was you. Lorna (pictured) says she's lucky to have three godchildren, and no longer wishes that things had been different My parents happy marriage and the myriad, countless bequests to me from red hair to impatience, cleverness and acts of simple good manners end with me. Yet, with time, there are also moments of quiet relief. By finding joy in the life I have, I am freed from the prison of what if, and realise this moment, this time, is precious too and would not have happened if it had all come out differently. I am lucky. I have three beloved godchildren. These small mercies, quiet pleasures, honours bestowed, are all such precious offerings that I can no longer wish that things had been different. We lived in Liguria, in Italy, for three years, and one of my most powerful recollections is of the doctor and two nurses all women who kindly, spontaneously, gathered round me in an awkward group hug after looking at a scan of my damaged insides, because they thought it must be awful to know I would never have a child. Their empathy was moving, but also strengthening, because I was being embraced, not rejected. Thats how it was for me with Alan, too. Our solidarity in the face of shared adversity gave me potency because there was always somewhere I belonged, and that place was our relationship. Robert Frost ends his poem Hyla Brook with the line: We love the things we love for what they are. I believe even my brokenness was loved because it was part of me. When I look at Alan, every day, even after the occasional argument, I can never forget the steadfast kindness, the loyalty, the love, that brought us both through all of this. Extracted from Childless Voices: Stories Of Longing, Loss, Resistance And Choice by Lorna Gibb (Granta, 9.99) is out now. Lady Kitty Spencer cut showed off her unique sartorial taste today as she attended a fashion event. Princess Diana's niece, 28, posed with fellow model Marpessa Hennink at the Dolce & Gabbana show today, which is taking place during Milan Women's Fashion week. She wore a figure-hugging black lace dress from D&G but toughened the look up with a military style khaki jacket casually thrown on top. Lady Kitty Spencer cut showed off her unique sartorial taste today as she attended a fashion event. Princess Diana's niece, 28, posed with fellow model Marpessa Hennink (pictured right) at the Dolce & Gabbana show during Milan Women's Fashion week Lady Kitty wore a figure-hugging black lace dress from D&G but toughened the look up with a military style khaki jacket casually thrown on top Her signature blonde locks were pinned back into a messy up-do but her makeup was pure glamour - siren red lipstick, winged eyeliner and a subtle shimmer on the high points of her face. She was attending the Italian luxury label's autumn/winter 2019 womenswear creations in Milan. Lady Kitty is Charles Spencer's eldest child from his first marriage to Victoria, and has partnerships with Dolce & Gabbana and Bulgari under her belt. Kitty boasts also 440,000 followers on Instagram, where she posts endless photos showcasing her glamorous modelling career and glitzy social life. Lady Kitty is Charles Spencer's eldest child from his first marriage to Victoria, and has partnerships with Dolce & Gabbana and Bulgari under her belt The socialite grew up in South Africa, reading psychology, politics and English at the University of Cape Town. And she could be set to make up to 2million a year if she continues to secure lucrative contracts with fashion brands, a branding expert recently revealed. She is on warm terms with William and Harry, and is an ambassador for homelessness charity Centrepoint (of which William is patron), but is not in their inner circle. Dolce & Gabbana was forced to cancel a high-profile runway show in Shanghai and apologise to Chinese people back in November. A race row was sparked after a trio of promotional videos called 'Eating with Chopsticks' was released by the luxury fashion brand - before designer Stefano Gabbana allegedly made derogatory remarks which were widely condemned as racist. The sweet moment a glowing Meghan looked down at her baby bump was captured today, as she visited the town of Asni to learn about the Moroccan NGO Education For All. The pregnant Duchess of Sussex, 37, was seen glancing at her stomach as she sat alongside Prince Harry, 34, for the investiture ceremony at an Education For All (EFA) boarding house, providing education for girls aged 12 to 18 from rural communities. Meghan, who is currently on day two of their three-day tour of Morocco, looked chic in a 395.34 Alice and Olivia tailored long navy blazer with a white tunic, skinny jeans teamed with black slingbacks, and a 67 'blanked scarf' from Wilfred. As they spoke to staff in the educational facility, Harry jokingly pretended he was unaware that his wife- who is due at the end of April- is expecting. The pregnant Duchess of Sussex, 37, was seen glancing at her stomach as she sat alongside Prince Harry, 34, for the investiture ceremony at a Moroccan NGO Education For All (EFA) boarding house. In a second room, where the Duke and Duchess met privately with staff, one teacher congratulated Meghan on her pregnancy. In an lively engagement, in which the Duke feigned surprise over his wife's pregnancy, the royal couple told teenagers in Morocco to 'keep it up' after learning that parents in rural and socially conservative areas prefer to keep their daughters at home. Sitting next to one another, the Duchess' bump visible through her open jacket, the Duke turned to his wife and pulled a face of mock shock. 'Surprise!' said the Duchess. 'She's pregnant!?' joked the Duke. Education for All started off with just eight girls in one house 10 years ago, and now houses 194 girls from surrounding rural communities in term time. During the visit the duchess took part in a henna ceremony - an ancient custom that is thought to have its roots in North Africa - and had a design painted on her hand to celebrate her pregnancy. As they spoke to staff in the educational facility, Harry jokingly pretended he was unaware that his wife - who is due at the end of April - is expecting Meghan, who is on day two of their three-day tour of Morocco, looked chic in a 395.34 Alice and Olivia long navy blazer with a white tunic, skinny jeans teamed with black slingbacks The traditional henna flower was applied by 17-year-old Samira, who has lived at EFA for six years. Meghan is currently on day two of her official three-day tour of Morocco with Prince Harry. It is thought that Meghan is around 30 weeks pregnant, with most airlines allowing women to fly until the 37 week mark. The couple arrived to Casablanca airport yesterday, where they were welcomed by the British Ambassador to Morocco and his wife before they inspected a Guard of Honour. The duke and duchess were two hours late for their welcoming ceremony following the knock-on effects of an earlier delay to their scheduled plane which flew from the UK. In darkness Harry inspected a sabre carrying guard of honour from the Auxiliary Forces, dressed in their pristine white uniforms and formed in two rows. The Duchess of Sussex, 37, was seen running over to meet little Rania, five, and Rayhanna, two, as she took a tour of the town of Asni with Prince Harry, 34 Meghan looked elegant in an understated ensemble for her second day in Morocco, dressing down for her tour through the town, before changing into a white tunic and heels The heavily pregnant duchess walked behind her husband as he looked over the troops who had been patiently waiting for over an hour. But despite spending a busy few days in New York for her luxury baby shower, which featured a string of A-list celebrities, Meghan looked relaxed and wore a striking red Valentino dress. They are spending day two of their tour visiting various schools in the small town of Asni, before attending a reception hosted by British Ambassador, Thomas Reilly. Monday, the third and final day of their tour, will be spent meeting children with special needs , before visiting a cooking demonstration, a traditional Moroccan arts and crafts display and attending a horse grooming session at an equestrian facility. Glowing Meghan kept her makeup to a minimum, and also added a and a 67 'blanked scarf' from Wilfred Celebration! Harry and Meghan during this morning's henna ceremony as they visited the Education For All boarding house for girls aged 12 to 18 in Asni on day one of the tour A Kensington Palace spokeswoman said: 'Their royal highnesses are very much looking forward to the visit and are grateful to their hosts and the British Embassy for arranging such an interesting programme. 'They are particularly pleased that they will have the opportunity to meet so many young Moroccans over the next few days.' The couple began their visit to the capital Rabat by walking along a red carpet that led to Casablanca Airport's royal suite. As they entered the building they were offered milk and dates a traditional welcome in Morocco. Pregnant Meghan appeared to pass but Harry could be seen nibbling on a date. A large motorcade of black limousines was waiting to take Meghan and Harry and their entourage of nine to meet Morocco's Crown Prince Moulay Hassan. They are staying as guests of Morocco's King Mohammed VI at a royal residence. During the visit the duchess took part in a henna ceremony - an ancient custom that is thought to have its roots in North Africa - and had a design painted on her left hand to celebrate her pregnancy Two little girls got their wish to meet 'The Prince and Princess' after waiting in their best party dresses for two hours in a small town in Morocco's Atlas Mountains today. The Duchess of Sussex, 37, was seen running over to meet little Rania, five, and Rayhana, two, as she took a tour of the town of Asni with Prince Harry, 34, during their official visit to the country this weekend. The little girls, who were dressed in matching red dresses, were taken by their mother, Clare Minejem to see Harry and Meghan as they visited a small town in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the royals. The couple walked into a boarding house run by the charity Education For All without seeing the youngsters, who were waving a British and Moroccan flags. But they spotted them as they left and Meghan immediately made a beeline for the sisters and bent down to say hello. The Duchess of Sussex, 37, was seen running over to meet little Rania, five, and Rayhana, two, as she took a tour of the town of Asni with Prince Harry, 34, during their official visit to the country this weekend The two little girls got their wish to meet 'The Prince and Princess' after waiting in their best party dresses for two hours in a small town in Morocco's Atlas Mountains today Meghan was seen running over to the little girls, before kneeling down and saying: 'Hi girls, so cute! How are you? What are your names?'. Their mother then explained that they were half Moroccan and half British, as Meghan exclaimed: 'Rania nice to meet you! So sweet!'. The duchess also showed them a henna drawing on her hand and said: 'Nice, isn't it? So pretty!'. As the girls nodded, Harry was seen laughing before saying: 'The nod of approval'. The girls' mother is a doctor who moved to Morocco from Bangor, Northern Ireland, 12 years ago and settled down in Marrakesh, where she also runs a health education charity. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were seen meeting sisters Rania and Ayhana Minejem aged 2 during a visit to the 'Education For All' boarding house in Asni Town The little girls, dressed in matching red dresses, were taken by their mother, Clare Minejem to see Harry and Meghan as they visited a small town in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the royals As the couple said their goodbyes, her father, Russell McCaughey, who is visiting shouted out to a laughing Harry: 'No grand slam then?! ' in relation to the England rugby result. 'No-one did,' he shouted back as the couple proceeded with their tour. Meghan looked elegant in an understated ensemble for her second day in Morocco, after opting for a stunning custom Valentino gown for her arrival last night. Dressing down for her tour through the town, Meghan opted for a 395.34 Alice and Olivia tailored long navy blazer, skinny jeans teamed with 90 Birdies slippers and a 67 'blanked scarf' from Wilfred. The couple walked into a boarding house run by the charity Education For All without seeing the youngsters, who were waving a British and Moroccan flags- but they spotted them as they left, before having a giggle with them Meghan was seen running over to the little girls, before kneeling down and saying: 'Hi girls, so cute! How are you? What are your names?' As the couple said their goodbyes the little girls were seen watching as the royals proceeded with their tour During the visit the duchess took part in a henna ceremony - an ancient custom that is thought to have its roots in North Africa - and had a design painted on her hand to celebrate her pregnancy. The traditional henna flower was applied by 17-year-old Samira, who has lived at EFA for six years. Meghan is currently on day two of her official three-day tour of Morocco with Prince Harry. It is thought that Meghan is around 30 weeks pregnant, with most airlines allowing women to fly until the 37 week mark. The couple arrived to Casablanca airport yesterday, where they were welcomed by the British Ambassador to Morocco and his wife before they inspected a Guard of Honour. The duchess also showed the little girls a henna drawing on her hand and said: 'Nice, isn't it? So pretty!' as Harry joked that it got their 'nod of approval' Meghan looked elegant in an understated ensemble for her second day in Morocco, dressing down for her tour through the town Meghan opted for a 395.34 Alice and Olivia tailored long navy blazer, skinny jeans teamed with 90 Birdies slippers and a 67 'blanked scarf' from Wilfred, as she walked alongside dapper Harry Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, with her hand displaying a henna tattoo during a visit to an 'Education for All' boarding house in Asni Town in Morocco The duke and duchess were two hours late for their welcoming ceremony following the knock-on effects of an earlier delay to their scheduled plane which flew from the UK. In darkness Harry inspected a sabre carrying guard of honour from the Auxiliary Forces, dressed in their pristine white uniforms and formed in two rows. The heavily pregnant duchess walked behind her husband as he looked over the troops who had been patiently waiting for over an hour. But despite spending a busy few days in New York for her luxury baby shower, which featured a string of A-list celebrities, Meghan looked relaxed and wore a striking red Valentino dress. Harry and Meghan's whirlwind tour to Morocco Saturday 23 February- arrived Day 1 Arrived at Casablanca airport where they were be greeted by the British Ambassador to Morocco and his wife Day 2 Visit the town of Asni where they will meeting children at various schools Harry will award educational founder Michael McHugo with the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The couple will attend a reception with the British Ambassador in Rabat Day 3 The couple will visit Moroccan Royal Federation of Equestrian Sports and attend a horse grooming class They will meet underprivileged children and attend a cooking class and visit an arts and crafts display Monday 25 February- depart Advertisement They are spending day two of their tour visiting various schools in the small town of Asni, before attending a reception hosted by British Ambassador, Thomas Reilly. Monday, the third and final day of their tour, will be spent meeting children with special needs , before visiting a cooking demonstration, a traditional Moroccan arts and crafts display and attending a horse grooming session at an equestrian facility. A Kensington Palace spokeswoman said: 'Their royal highnesses are very much looking forward to the visit and are grateful to their hosts and the British Embassy for arranging such an interesting programme. 'They are particularly pleased that they will have the opportunity to meet so many young Moroccans over the next few days.' The couple began their visit to the capital Rabat by walking along a red carpet that led to Casablanca Airport's royal suite. As they entered the building they were offered milk and dates a traditional welcome in Morocco. Pregnant Meghan appeared to pass but Harry could be seen nibbling on a date. A large motorcade of black limousines was waiting to take Meghan and Harry and their entourage of nine - which includes a hairdresser - to meet Morocco's Crown Prince Moulay Hassan. They are staying as guests of Morocco's King Mohammed VI at a royal residence. During the visit the duchess took part in a henna ceremony - an ancient custom that is thought to have its roots in North Africa - and had a design painted on her hand to celebrate her pregnancy A father has told how his little girl, who was too embarrassed to wear her new glasses outside, has changed her mind after seeing a flood of supportive tweets. Darcey Docherty, four, from Scotland, was too ashamed to leave the house after she was prescribed glasses. Taking to Twitter, her father James posted a sweet picture of the little girl, explaining: 'My wee girl has had to get glasses and she feels ashamed wearing them outside the house. Sure she's beautiful.' And his tweet quickly went viral, receiving almost 30,000 likes, retweets and replies by supportive followers. Twitter users posted pictures of people of all ages, including young children, pensioners and even dogs, sporting glasses along with kind tweets encouraging the little girl to embrace her new look. 'In my house, we dont call them glasses... we call them spectaculars! Think of all the wonderful things youll be able to see clearly and brightly now you have them. You look terrific with them on,' one follower wrote. Taking to Twitter following the response, James wrote: 'Unbelievable the amount of love and kindness that's been thrown at this tweet. 'You've made a wee girl's day, thank you so much. Hit me right in the feels watching her wee face seeing all the comments by people and kids with glasses on.' Speaking to FEMAIL, James said: 'Darcey has been wearing her glasses ever since she's seen all the replies. It's absolutely boosted her. That's because when a society reflects love and acceptance into a child's life, shame gets dissolved. ' Darcey Docherty, four, from Scotland, pictured, was too ashamed to leave the house after she was prescribed with glasses, and her father James took to Twitter to share a picture of the little girl, writing: 'My wee girl has had to get glasses and she feels ashamed wearing them outside the house. Sure she's beautiful.' Sharing a picture of her mother wearing glasses as she posed alongside her pet pooch, one twitter follower joked that she was 'blind as a bat' without them and recalled how she had bent down to stroke a carrier bag thinking it was a cat Replying to the viral thread, Twitter user Lucy Pinder proved that glasses could look very stylish as she shared a sultry selfie wearing a pair alongside an emoji of a face with glasses Twitter user Iain Russell posted an adorable picture of his Yorkshire Terrier cosying up in front of the fire as he posed in a pair of glasses, writing: 'Hamish thinks she looks great. Glasses are cool!' Meanwhile one follower shared a funny picture of his mother wearing glasses with eyes stuck onto them, writing: 'If you don't wear your glasses your eyes will go like my mum's' Twitter user Sarah shared a selfie in her glasses, adding of little Darcey: 'She's gorgeous, I'd love some glasses like that!! These are my glasses... only cool people wear them...' Elsewhere Twitter user Fiona Carmichael posted a picture of her sweet little boys wearing matching outfits and glasses, writing: 'Both mine rock their specs! She looks gorgeous!' Taking to Twitter, user Gillian shared a picture of her adult daughter in glasses, explaining: 'Those are very lovely glasses and she looks very pretty in them! My wee girl wears glasses too, got her first pair when she was 4. She's all grown up now, we're all very proud of her and everything she has achieved. Here's a picture of her wearing her most recent glasses' And a proud father posted a picture with his little girl wearing specs, captioning the sweet snap with: 'Glasses are super cool' Meanwhile grandfather Johnny Young posted a picture of a little boy wearing glasses, writing: 'My little grandson just got his, you're not alone' And Twitter user Kelly B also got in on the action, posting a sweet picture of her little girl and writing: 'My daughter has worn glasses since she was very small x' Meanwhile Ryan Gardiner shared an adorable snap of his daughter, writing: 'My nearly 3-year-old had glasses since she was nine months (old)' Donatella Versace has vowed to continue wearing mini skirts forever - and has hinted that she may leave the family business Donatella Versace has vowed to continue wearing mini skirts forever - and has hinted that she may leave the family business. The 63-year-old mother-of-two took on the lead role at Versace following her brother Gianni's assassination in 1997. She has previously spoken out about the pressure of taking over her brother's successful business. Although her first collection following his death was a success, the brand started to deteriorate, before almost going under in 2004. She admitted she experienced 'tear-filled' nights for many years as she was plagued by nightmares. Now, in an interview with The Telegraph, she said: 'For years I wasn't that bothered about [the business] growing, but now I want to build something that will outlast me, like a Dior. 'I probably shouldn't say this but I may not always be working at Versace, although I'll always do something. But while I'm here, I'm completely committed'. The blonde fashion designer also gave some style tips. 'The important thing', she said, 'is that while you have to keep moving things forward and refining, you must never think your age. 'And you certainly mustn't dress your age'. The blonde fashion designer also gave some style tips - and vowed to never give up miniskirts When asked if she had stopped wearing mini skirts, she replied: 'Are you crazy? Of course I still wear them. Just not with bare legs'. On 15 July 1997 Gianni Versace, aged 50, was gunned down on the doorstep of his lavish ocean-front Miami mansion by serial killer Andrew Cunanan. The 27-year-old man had murdered at least four others in a three-month killing spree before turning up at the fashion designer's home. Cunanan was found dead in a Miami houseboat eight days later, apparently shooting himself with the same gun that killed Versace. The 63-year-old took on the lead role at Versace following her brother Gianni's assassination Twenty years on, it is not known whether the murder was planned or carried out at random. Speaking about the years that followed the murder of the famous designer, who was gunned down on his Miami mansion doorstep in 1997 aged 50, Donatella admitted she was in 'hell'. Revealing that she felt forced to put on a front for the fashion world as well as her staff as she took over the business, the mother-of-two described herself as wearing a 'mask' to hide her insecurity and fear of failure. A psychic who claims Meghan visited him before she met Prince Harry has told how the pregnant duchess shared her hopes of one day having a little girl. Clairvoyant Richard Win, 73, from LA, described the moment he says he met the Suits actress in 2016, just weeks before she met Prince Harry in the summer of 2016. The Duchess of Sussex, 37, who is expected to give birth to her first child with Harry at the end of April, reportedly confided her desire to have a little girl to dress up and 'several children' in Richard. Describing the American actress, Richard told how her star sign- a Leo- meant she would be a protective mother who may want to shield her child from the limelight, adding that he believes her 'kind-hearted nature' means she could also adopt. The Duchess of Sussex, 37, who is expected to give birth to her first child with Harry (both seen, above, in Morocco this weekend) at the end of April, reportedly confided her desire to have a little girl and 'several children' in psychic Richard Win Richard, who reportedly charges $250 (190) a reading, told The Sun how Meghan visited her towards the end of her relationship with Canadian chef Cory Vitiello, who he claims she thought she would marry. Revealing that she 'wasn't interested in becoming a Hollywood movie star', he described Meghan as a 'very spiritual person', who was 'domesticated and nurturing'. 'She loved children and told me she wanted lots. She wanted a little girl, one she could dress up because she's a real fashionista', he said. Describing her as a 'real home body', he added: 'Meghan is a Leo, so a lioness she will be a very protective mum, and I'm not sure she will want her children in the spotlight which might be tricky. 'I also think adoption is something she would consider that's exactly the kind of big-hearted thing she would do.' Clairvoyant Richard Win, 73, from LA, described the moment he says he met the Suits actress in 2016, seen above that same year, just weeks before she met Prince Harry in the summer of 2016- telling how she expressed her desire for a baby girl Richard, seen left on Black Hollywood Live Conversations, reportedly charges $250 (190) a reading, and said she 'wasn't interested in becoming a Hollywood movie star' Prince Harry's mother Princess Diana, who died in 1997, had sessions with mediums including Derbyshire-based Rita Rogers. London-based Simone Simmons, who became a close confidante and a member of the princess' inner circle, would also spend up to 10 hours at a time on the phone with Diana. Meghan previously told fans she is due to give birth to her firstborn with Prince Harry between late April and the beginning of May. The duchess has had busy week, spending a long weekend in New York last week to celebrate the impending arrival of her firstborn with a baby shower alongside celebrity pals Amal Clooney and Serena Williams. The psychic also revealed that Meghan- seen in hit drama Suits- 'wasn't interested in becoming Hollywood movie star', as he described Meghan as a 'very spiritual person', who was 'domesticated and nurturing' Meghan is currently on an official three-day tour of Morocco with Prince Harry, and is thought to be around 30 weeks pregnant Meghan is currently on an official three-day tour of Morocco with Prince Harry. It is thought that Meghan is around 30 weeks pregnant, with most airlines allowing women to fly until the 37 week mark. The couple arrived to Casablanca airport yesterday, where they were welcomed by the British Ambassador to Morocco and his wife before they inspected a Guard of Honour. They are spending day two of their tour visiting various schools in the small town of Asni, before attending a reception hosted by British Ambassador, Thomas Reilly. Monday, the third and final day of their tour, will be spent meeting children with special needs , before visiting a cooking demonstration, a traditional Moroccan arts and crafts display and attending a horse grooming session at an equestrian facility. A US Navy veteran has been reunited with his beloved veteran's cap after leaving it on an airplane earlier this month. John Armao Reber was traveling from Orlando to Philadelphia on February 1 when he lost it his hat a 45-year-old relic decorated equally old and valuable pins. After his plea for its safe return was shared over 330,000 times on Facebook, the cap was recovered and is now on its way to John in the mail. Pride: John Armao Reber, a US Navy veteran, was upset when he lost his veteran's cap, which is 45 years old Lost: He left the hat, including some equally valuable pins, on a Spirit Airlines flight from Orlando to Philadelphia on February 1 John served aboard the USS Hornet from 1966 to 1967 and has had the hat since shortly after this time. It features the name of the aircraft carrier, and pinned to the front are more than 15 pins. On Monday, he wrote a Facebook post and asked that it be shared so that the hat might be tracked down. 'My Veterans Cap was lost on a Spirit Airlines Flight from Orlando to Philadelphia, Feb. 1. The hat and its attachments are over 45 years old. One of a Kind I am asking everyone to forward this to as many people as possible to help recover it,' he wrote. In just two days, it was shared 330,000 and the news made its way to a flight attendant from Dallas named Catherine Edwards, who had found the cap. Spirit reached out to John and and sent it his way, prompting a grateful update on Facebook on Wednesday. Good news! He was thrilled when his post was shared hundreds of thousands of times and caught the attention of a flight attendant who found the cap 'Good Morning to the Approx. 140,000 People who have shared my post,'he wrote. 'THE HAT HAS BEEN FOUND. 'As a result of all of your efforts a Great Lady and Flight Attendant Employee of Spirit Airlines Ms CATHRINE EDWARDS of DALLAS TEXAS has this morning recovered my hat. She is going to mail it to me.' Heartwarming: 'America sure does care about her veterans,' he wrote Continuing in all caps, he wrote, 'I want to thank everyone across this great nation for responding to the call. The heart warming responses came from every state in the union. 'America sure does care about her veterans. Many responses brought tears to my eyes, many mentioned their own family members who have served. 'I can not express how thankful I am to all of you and also Spirit Airline from the corporate level down. 'I have tried and answered many of you but it is impossible for me to get to all of you. Please if you will repost my heartfelt thanks to all. The hat now belongs to all of you and will symbolize your love and kindness. You are America.' John has continued to copy and repast the reply every day this week to ensure everyone sees it. Spirit also wrote back on Facebook. 'Hey John, we are grateful for your service and our Spirit Family is honored to have been able to help locate your Veterans cap. Thank you for flying Spirit! the account wrote. 'Were so happy to have been able to help locate your cap and we thank you so much for kind words.' Baptiste viewers were left on the edge of their seats as they watched a 'missing' sex worker narrowly escape the grasps of a Romanian gangster in a heart-stopping scene. Prostitute Natalie (Anna Prochniak) was forced to run when violent criminal Constantin (Alec Secareanu) discovered her hide-out on an Amsterdam canal boat. With just seconds to escape, quick-thinking Natalie walked outside and submerged herself in the murky water while Constantin patrolled the decking above her head just feet away. The thrilling moment prompted viewers to take to Twitter: 'I almost drowned on my couch watching that scene' Baptiste viewers were left on the edge of their seats as they watched a 'missing' sex worker Natalie (Anna Prochniak) narrowly escape the grasps of Romanian gangster Constantin (Alec Secareanu) by submerging herself in a canal in a heart-stopping scene, pictured The prostitute had been at the centre of the missing person's case that drew retired detective Baptiste (Tcheky Karyo), pictured, into the underground world of Romanian criminal gangs and people trafficking in Amsterdam Sunday night viewers took to Twitter after heart-stopping scenes in episode two of The Missing spin-off Baptiste Moments later their anxiety was replaced by shocked when Natalie drowned in the water after her foot became tangled in a knot deep beneath the surface. The prostitute had been at the centre of the missing person's case that drew retired detective Baptiste (Tcheky Karyo) into the underground world of Romanian criminal gangs and people trafficking in the city. At the start of the episode she confided in Baptiste that Edward Stratton (Tom Hollander) was not her uncle, as he had claimed, but in fact a client who had grown obsessed with her. She also revealed he is involved with the Romanian gang. Stratton was able to discover Natalie's hiding place after he stole the keys to Baptiste's car and looked up his most recent destination on the sat nav. Others told Natalie to take off her shoe as it became stuck in a rope knot under murky water As a result the retired detective blamed himself for Natalie's death. While Baptiste remains convinced of Stratton's connection to the criminal underworld, senior police officer Martha Horchner (Barbara Sarafian), Baptiste's ex-girlfriend who brought him onto the case, is less certain. Viewers were also introduced to Horchner's son, Niels Horchner (Boris Van Severen), who works for the police and appeared very skeptical of Baptiste's views on Stratton. After her canal boat hiding place was discovered, Natalie had just seconds to decide what to do and quickly crept onto the decking outside, pictured The sex worker peered into the canal boat, where gangster Constantin was searching for her Desperate for a way out, Natalie lowered herself off the deck and into the murky water In a bid to remain undetected, Natalie pulled herself deep beneath the water using a rope However when it was safe to reappear Natalie discovered her foot had become stuck in the rope and she eventually drowned beneath the canal boat He brought Stratton in for questioning and the Englishman was able to deliver a somewhat convincing cover story that he had fallen in love with Natalie while he was a paying client. He claimed he lied about being her uncle because he wanted police to take the missing person's case seriously. While looking into Stratton's history, Baptiste found the number of his ex-wife, who lives in England. Baptiste blamed himself when he realised the gangsters had tracked her down using his car sat nav. He rushed to the house boat, pictured, only to see Natalie's body under water The retired police detective watched as Natalie's body was pulled from the water, pictured. He vowed to continue to look into Edward Stratton's connection to Natalie and the Romanians Natalie revealed Edward Stratton (Tom Hollander), pictured, was not her uncle, as he had claimed, but in fact a client who had grown obsessed with her. She also revealed he is involved with the Romanian gang. Stratton raced to find Natalie but he was too late Stratton also confronted Kim Vogel (Talisa Garcia), pictured, in the hope of finding answers During a phone call between Baptiste and Stratton's ex-wife it emerged the couple had moved to Antwerp with their daughter a decade ago but that she had later died of a drug overdose in Amsterdam. Pictured, a photo of Stratton and his daughter Baptiste found stuck on his fridge During a phone call it emerged Stratton and his ex-wife had moved to Antwerp with their daughter a decade ago but that she had later died of a drug overdose in Amsterdam. Baptiste suspects this might be where Stratton's connection with the Romanian gang started. Separately it emerged the farmer had discovered a bag of money buried in his field. It later becomes apparent he has some connection with Natalie, although it is not yet clear what. The episode ended with a nail-biting scene that appears to put Baptiste's wife Celia (Anastasia Hille) in danger. She unknowingly answered the door to Constantin, posing as a gas man - the same cover story he used to gain access to the house of his English murder victim Alone in the Amsterdam property - and unaware that it had been bugged - Celia answered the door to Constantin The episode ended with Constantin approaching the detective's Amsterdam home, pictured Natalie is also connected to a young boy awaiting an operation in hospital, although their relationship to each other is not known. The episode ended with Baptiste breaking into Stratton's home, where he discovers the decapitated head of the Englishman killed at the beginning of episode 1 in the basement. At the same time Baptiste's wife Celia (Anastasia Hille) appeared poised for danger when she unknowingly answered the door to Constantin, posing as a gas man - the same cover story he used to gain access to the Englishman's house last week. When I travel round this country, observing its many problems and troubles, I seldom meet anyone who says: What we need here in Britain is more political correctness. Nor do I hear many people saying: The trouble with Britain is that fashionable, liberal views do not get much of a hearing, or have much influence. What this country needs is more foreign rule, more mass immigration, more failing comprehensive schools, more broken marriages, more crime and more drugs; not to mention less Christianity, lighter punishments for criminals and less freedom of speech. So a breakaway movement from two politically correct parties, made up of people whose love of political correctness is the thing that most unites them, offers me little hope. Former Conservative Party and now Independent MPs (front left to right) Sarah Wollaston, Heidi Allen and Anna Soubry pose for a photograph with the former Labour Party members of The Independent Group, Joan Ryan (front row R), (middle row left to right) Angela Smith, Luciana Berger, Ann Coffey (back row left to right) Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Chuka Umunna and Mike Gapes What is this centre they go on about? A fraud. A small group of people have defined their extremely weird and, in many cases, downright crazy ideas as the centre to make them seem respectable. The rabble of ageing cultural revolutionaries who have learned to conceal their 1960s desires without much altering them, uses this term so that it can call everyone else extremists or hardliners. To me, and I suspect many millions of others, a sensible political party would be (for example) in favour of nationalising the railways (which our rulers wont do) and against nationalising childhood (which they have done). Such a party would side with strong families, preferably with one parent at home, not least because it is the collapse of such families which has created an impossible strain on the social services, and led to a great deal of crime and other unhappiness. Such a party would restore the preventive police foot patrols which did so much to maintain order. It would also be in favour of the well-managed council estates so foolishly broken up by Margaret Thatcher. It would do something about the scourge of drunkenness unleashed on this country in the 1980s, and go back to tight restrictions on the sale of alcohol. It would enforce our laws against marijuana, as Japan so successfully does and as we used to. It would not just nationalise railways, but also many other industries which have, under privatisation, siphoned money into the pockets of businessmen that should have been used to maintain and modernise infrastructure water is the obvious example. Former Labour Party and now members of The Independent Group of MPs (left to right) Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie and Chuka Umunna But it would not do this for dogma, just where it made sense for the nation and the people. It would begin a national programme to build new grammar schools, academically selective state secondary schools open to all on the basis of ability rather than wealth. I could go on. But you get the picture. There are dozens of such sensible, fair, wise policies, some of them once pursued by the vanished Labour Party of Clement Attlee and Hugh Gaitskell, some of them once upheld by the Tories, before they became Blairites. Such ideas put the people of this country, rather than a vainglorious and self-satisfied elite, at the centre. But you will strive to find a handful of MPs in any party who are remotely interested in them. That is why this is the wrong breakaway, from the wrong thing, at the wrong time. One day, theyll decide YOURE not British I was born a British subject, loyal to His Majesty King George VI, and never wanted to be a citizen anyway. I was forced to become a British citizen by political meddlers in 1971, as the first step to becoming another thing I never wanted to be, a citizen of the EU. A subject is a free man who lives under the law but otherwise acts as he wishes. A citizen owes what freedoms he is allowed to the state, which decides how free he may be and requires duties from him. Sometimes I think despots only grant us citizenship because they enjoy taking it away so much. I associate the stripping of citizenship most of all with the Soviet tyranny. They used this method on one of the greatest men of our age, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in 1974. Ms Begum is a fool and worse than a fool, but it is ridiculous to pretend that she was not born and raised in Britain, Peter Hitchens says So my gorge and hackles rose when the Home Secretary announced he was removing the citizenship of Shamima Begum. Ms Begum is a fool and worse than a fool. She has a big mouth out of which some very nasty sentiments come tumbling. She is open to criminal investigation if she returns here, and that would be perfectly proper. But it is ridiculous to pretend that she was not born or raised here. And it is cheap, crowd-pleasing mob politics to leave her (and her newborn baby) trapped for ever in some Syrian camp. I know some people, notably a British Muslim of my acquaintance, think she deserves what she has got. But they are forgetting a basic rule. What you allow to be done to others will eventually be done to you too. If we allow politicians to strip Shamima Begums citizenship from her, they will get a taste for it. And so will our own, home-grown mob. And those who think they are leading mobs always end up discovering that they are, in fact, being chased by them. That never ends well. Gifted Keeleys wandered into a pile of piffle Keeley Hawes stars as Priscilla Garrick in Channel 4's new series Traitors (pictured) The normally wonderful Keeley Hawes should be glad that she is so frumpily unrecognisable in Channel 4s daft new series Traitors (right). Whod want to be associated with this piffle, which suggests that the alert Americans saved Britain from the communist menace in the 1940s? Washington was crammed with Kremlin agents and sympathisers at the time, most notably the high Treasury official Harry Dexter White, who spied for Stalin while doing Britain down in the great Bretton Woods economic summit. Traitors makes great play of the fact that there was a statue of Lenin in London in 1945. So there was, but the Left-wing Finsbury Council was forced to remove it from public show in 1946 because it was incessantly vandalised and defaced sometimes, but not always, by fascists. On one occasion it lost its nose and both ears. And its former site, the now-vanished Holford Square, is presently occupied by a block called Bevin Court, named after one of Labours toughest anti-communists, Ernest Bevin. Cannabis: One more lethal link Lord Matthews, the judge presiding over the horrible trial of the killer of six-year-old Alesha MacPhail, says he has no idea why the culprit, Aaron Campbell, 16, committed some of the most wicked and evil crimes this court has ever heard of in decades of dealing with depravity. The little girls body was discovered with 117 injuries, so dreadful they even shocked an experienced pathologist. Well, I have an idea. I did what I always do when I hear of violent crimes which are both brutal and inexplicable. Aaron Campbell, 16, (left) who was convicted of the horrific rape and murder of Alesha MacPhail, six, (right) was known to be a regular user of cannabis As soon as I heard the appalling details of this case, which took place on the peaceful Isle of Bute, I searched for the word cannabis in the trial records. And immediately, as usual, I found that the accused was known to be a regular user of this drug. It really is time to blast aside the PR spin which claims that marijuana is a soft, safe drug or even an actual medicine. It is nothing of the kind. Users all too often become mentally ill. And they are all too often found as in the Alesha MacPhail case to be the perpetrators of terrible, violent crime. At the very least, this link must be investigated. The campaign to legalise marijuana, under these circumstances, is quite extraordinarily irresponsible and stupid. These involved should have the decency to drop it, now. @ChescoCourtNews on Twitter Michael P. Rellahan has been a staff reporter and editor at the Daily Local News since 1982. He has covered all kinds of news over the years but is now assigned to report on court and legal news, as well as Chester County government news and politics. Ashland, KY (41101) Today A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable. The following items are based on information provided by officials in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Since 1990, Patricia R. Doxsey has been a reporter for the Freeman, covering politics, crime, and government affairs. Ethos is a nationally recognized, award-winning independent student publication. Our mission is to elevate the voices of marginalized people who are underrepresented in the media landscape, and to write in-depth, human-focused stories about the issues affecting them. We also strive to support our diverse student staff and to help them find future success. Ethos produces a quarterly free print magazine full of well-reported and powerful feature stories, innovative photography, creative illustrations and eye-catching design. On our website, we also produce compelling written and multimedia stories. Ethos is part of Emerald Media Group, a non-profit organization thats fully independent of the University of Oregon. Students maintain complete editorial control over Ethos, and work tirelessly to produce the magazine. Since our inception as Korean Ducks Magazine in 2005, weve worked hard to share a multicultural spirit with our readership. We embrace diversity in our stories, in our student staff and in our readers. We want every part of the magazine to reflect the diversity of our world. Dalton, GA (30720) Today Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Cullman, AL (35055) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that North Korea remains a nuclear threat, contradicting a tweet last year by President Donald Trump. Pompeo made the remark in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" days before Trump holds his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Asked by CNN's Jake Tapper whether he believes North Korea remains a nuclear threat, Pompeo responded, "Yes." After last year's summit with Kim in Singapore, Trump tweeted, "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience." But Pompeo on Sunday disputed that Trump had said as much. "What he said was that the efforts that had been made in Singapore - this commitment that Chairman Kim made - have substantially taken down the risks to the American people. It's the mission of the secretary of state and the president of the United States to keep the American people secure. We're aiming to achieve that," the secretary of state said. Pompeo also said that Trump is focused on ensuring that Kim takes "demonstrable" steps toward denuclearization as a result of this week's summit in Hanoi. He maintained that there has been "no change" in the U.S. position on sanctions relief, while also indicating that the North Koreans could receive some relief for taking verifiable steps toward denuclearization. The past U.S. position had been that any sanctions relief would be contingent on full denuclearization. Wide gaps remain between U.S. and North Korean negotiators, who have yet to agree on a basic definition of what "denuclearization" means to both sides, U.S. officials told The Washington Post. On Sunday morning, Trump tweeted that Kim and he"expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore." "Denuclearization?" he added, providing no specifics. In a follow-up tweet, Trump said that Chinese President Xi Jinping had been "very helpful in his support" of the summit and that "the last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door." China, however, has long been North Korea's closest ally, and, from a strategic perspective, the status quo presents Beijing with stability - and geopolitical leverage - that a denuclearized North Korea could imperil. --- The Washington Post's David Nakamura contributed to this report. "This administration has come into office with a deliberate intention to disrupt, and to challenge the sort of status quo," David O'Sullivan, European Union ambassador to the United States, said Friday. "This is obviously challenging for those of us who kind of have worked on the status quo, and who actually think there were large elements of the status quo that worked to our mutual benefit." O'Sullivan leaves his post at the end of the month, with tensions over both trade and the Iran nuclear deal simmering between the United States and European Union. On Friday, the E.U. began to debate when to start trade talks with President Donald Trump - under threat of Trump tariffs on E.U. car parts. European leaders, including O'Sullivan, insist that hitting European cars and car parts with 232 tariffs, so as to suggest that they are a national security threat to the United States, is outrageous. Trump threatened to make that very move this week, saying: "It's something we think about and we're negotiating with [the E.U.]. If we don't make the deal, we'll do the tariffs." To Europeans, the move would not only be offensive, but also counterproductive, given what they see as the real source of trade issues: China. "Looking at the trade and economic side of things, I think we share much of the analysis of the challenge posed by Chinese practices," O'Sullivan said, speaking at a media roundtable. "We had suggested from the very early days to have a collaborative approach, and that is why we set up the trilateral approach with Japan, the E.U. and the U.S. on steel - excess capacity in China on steel and aluminum, which we saw as the origin of the problem." But the Trump administration imposed steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, the E.U. and Mexico last May. "It has not been particularly helpful," O'Sullivan said, "that in that context the people who end up getting tariffs imposed, which actually damage their exports, are the E.U. and Mexico and Canada, which we didn't feel were actually at the origin of the problem." "There are moments when we feel, this is not maybe the best way to build an alliance," he added. Asked whether trade talks would stop if Trump did go ahead with 232 tariffs on cars and car parts, the outgoing ambassador said: "That's clear. If there ever were to be the unilateral imposition of new tariffs on autos, the talks would be ended." As for the Trump administration's unilateral decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and subsequent demands recently delivered by Vice President Mike Pence at the Munich Security Conference, including that European leaders withdraw from the deal, the outgoing ambassador said: "The administration will have to understand this is an issue where we agree to disagree." The crisis in Venezuela is sending tremors through the political landscape of Florida, emboldening Republicans and throwing Democrats on the defensive in the nation's largest swing state. Florida Republicans hope the outspoken push by President Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will help the GOP strengthen its bonds with the state's Hispanic voters, paying dividends in the 2020 election and beyond. Opposition to the socialist regime in Caracas, which is closely aligned with communist Cuba, has been a shared cause of the state's large and traditionally pro-Republican Cuban-American and Venezuelan immigrant communities. "It's a huge moment for the Republican Party," said Brian Ballard, a Florida lobbyist and GOP donor with ties to Trump and Rubio. "It will be like Donald Trump can (be) to Venezuelan-American voters the way Ronald Reagan was to Cuban-American voters." Adding to the tension is growing concern among Democrats that Trump and his allies, seizing on the party's leftward shift, is aiming to portray his potential 2020 challengers as socialists, even pointing to Venezuela's collapse as a symbol of what's wrong with the views being pushed by his opponents at home. Florida Democrats are disavowing the recent refusal by presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, to label Maduro a dictator and call for him to go, though Sanders has criticized him. "They are clearly ignorant comments, and someone who's running for president of the United States should be better briefed and knowledgable about this crisis in Venezuela and how it impacts the Florida political landscape," said Christian Ulvert, a Florida Democratic strategist who is of Nicaraguan descent and whose husband's family has roots in is Venezuela. A Sanders aide said the candidate strongly supports self-determination for Venezuelans, but that to suggest the possibility of military intervention, as Trump has done, is irresponsible. The emerging dynamic comes at the start of a closely-watched two-year stretch for both parties in Florida, since both see the state as an important front in the battle for control of the White House. Democrats are hoping to make a comeback after their nominees for president, Senate and governor lost in the last two elections, despite initially seeming to have a good chance at victory. Democrats for years have hoped Florida was moving into their orbit, with the rise of a new generation of Cuban-Americans that is less conservative and less driven by animus toward Cuba's communist government. President Barack Obama captured Florida in 2008 and 2012, and many Hispanic voters have been alienated by Trump's anti-immigrant posture. But the state remains conservative in many ways, particularly its rural stretches and the Florida panhandle, and recent Democratic candidates, including former Sen. Bill Nelson and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, have proven unable to prevail. Now it's Republicans who are hoping that, powered the GOP's anti-Maduro push, they can shift the state more firmly into their camp. Still, the outcome of Trump's Venezuela strategy has yet to be seen, posing the risk of political blowback should the crisis continue to escalate. That could compound widespread concerns in Florida's Latino communities about Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric and hard-line border policies. Trump traveled to Miami last Monday to deliver a speech urging Venezuelan military officers to abandon Maduro and pledge support for opposition leader Juan Guaido. He also forcefully criticized socialism, invoked two countries with large exile communities in South Florida, and seemed to draw a direct line between his foreign policy and domestic political message. "As the United States stands up for democracy in Venezuela, we reaffirm the solidarity with the long-suffering people of Cuba and Nicaragua and people everywhere living under socialist and communist regimes," he said. "And to those who would try to impose socialism on the United States, we again deliver a very simple message: America will never be a socialist country." In recent weeks, Trump has intensified his critique of socialism, seeking to portray the Democrats running against him as far-left extremists who have embraced policies he casts as outside the mainstream. Republicans believe those arguments could be effective especially in some parts of South Florida, where an older generation of Cuban-Americans whose relatives fled the communist regime - or who did so themselves - are deeply skeptical of left-wing governance. At the moment, Cuban-Americans are paying close attention to the situation unfolding Venezuela, according to a local official, including how the Trump administration responds. "Many Cubans here predicted what would happen in Venezuela," said Carlos Gimenez, the Cuban-born mayor of Miami-Dade County. Gimenez, a Republican, said he was pleased to see Washington Republicans "putting down socialism" and argued that the administration's strategy on Venezuela would help the GOP in Florida. At the forefront of that strategy is Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a sharp Trump critic when they were rivals in the 2016 presidential race. Since then, the two men have cultivated a more positive relationship, rooted heavily in collaborating on foreign policy in Latin America. Rubio recently traveled to Colombia, visiting an area near the border with Venezuela. The senator has also been tweeting real-time updates about the volatile situation on the ground. On Saturday, he posted a steady stream of messages, including information about aid trucks and the Venezuelan national guard presence. "Very tense moments as civilians take to the street on #Venezuela side of border & peaceful aid workers have started up the trucks at border crossing," he wrote in one tweet. Among Democrats in Florida, there has been a lot of focus on a recent interview Sanders, a senator from Vermont who identifies as a democratic socialist, gave to Univision, a Spanish-language TV channel. "Is Nicolas Maduro a dictator, senator, for you? And should he go?" interviewer Jorge Ramos asked him. Sanders replied, "I think clearly he has been very, very abusive." But he also signaled a desire to avoid repeating the U.S. approach in periods such as the 1980s, when Washington's aggressive intervention in Latin American affairs was strongly opposed by liberals. As to whether Maduro should go, he continued, "That is a decision of the Venezuelan people. So I think, Jorge, there has got to be a free and fair election. But what must not happen is that the United States must not use military force and intervene." Sanders was also asked whether he considered Guaido to be the legitimate president, and replied that he did not. Trump - as well as Democratic leaders and many Western countries - have recognized Guaido as the interim president. Some prominent Florida Democrats distanced themselves from Sanders' comments. "I'll make it clear, @SenSanders does not reflect the majority of the Democratic Party and our support for Venezuela's interim president @jguaido and the Venezuelan people. Maduro is a dictator and must go," Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., tweeted on Thursday. While Sanders is critical of Maduro, his foreign policy aide Matt Duss said he forcefully opposes the option of U.S. military intervention, something the president has suggested is a possibility. "Bernie strongly supports the right of democratic self-determination, for the Venezuelan people and those across the world," Duss said in a statement. "The Trump administration even floating the possibility of military intervention is extremely dangerous and irresponsible, and we should be absolutely opposed to it." Ulvert recalled Democratic candidates in the 2018 campaign facing attacks from Republicans who sough t0 cast them as socialists, and he fears a repeat in 2020. "My worry level is growing every month," he said. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by just 1.2 percentage points in 2016. In 2018, both the governor's race and the Senate race went to recounts. Florida has always been a complex state politically, with major cities from Miami to Tampa to Orlando to Jacksonville. Influential voting blocs range from Latin American immigrants to Jewish retirees to dairy farmers, and tourism and the environment are among the state's diverse concerns. While Democrats still hold the advantage in winning Hispanic voters statewide, some party leaders worry they need to do more to counter the GOP strategies in Florida. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who served as governor for eight years before his election to Congress last November, ran Spanish-language TV ads and emphasized his outreach to the Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Scott narrowly defeated Nelson, whose campaign drew complaints from within the Democratic Party, including that he was not aggressive enough in courting Hispanic voters. Gillum, a former Tallahassee mayor, generated enthusiasm among Democrats when he won the primary in an upset, but lost to now-Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was strongly supported by Trump. Democrats insist Florida has not slipped from their grasp - especially if they can run well-prepared campaigns that provide more face time in Latino communities. Even while Nelson and Gillum were losing in 2018, they note, Democrats gained two U.S. House seats in South Florida. Contributed Photo / Connecticut State Police DANBURY A New York man faces charges Saturday after police said he caused two crashes in Danbury while driving under the influence in a stolen vehicle. According to a Connecticut State Police report, Carlos A. Umana, of Bay Shore, N.Y., was charged with driving under the influence, evading responsibility, engaging police in a pursuit and various motor vehicle charges. State police said he was also charged with larceny and being a fugitive from justice from outstanding warrants out of New York. Ill try to condense this as much as possible, but readers can see that we are headed into one of my longest posts in a while As many Slips readers will already appreciate, Aurelius is well-known in the restructuring community for its fondness for a robust sort of litigation. To put it mildly. And it is alleged that Aurelius has fully hedged its Windstream position with CDS , meaning that it can afford to be quite aggressive, because damage to Windstream will actually increase the value of the CDS position . Nonetheless, Aurelius Capital Master, Ltd., a fund managed by Aurelius Capital Management, LP and its affiliates, instructed the indenture trustee to bring suit against Windstream for breaching the terms of the indenture. As the holder of more than 25% of the notes, the Aurelius fund was entitled to give the trustee such instructions. But the indenture did not prohibit the creation of new affiliated entities, nor did it bind such new entities to the prohibition on sale-leasebacks. Windstream did exactly that popping up a new holding company to enter into the lease, and dropping down a new REIT subsidiary to be the owner of the leased assets. A clear end-run around the probable intent of the parties (whatever that means in the context of a bond indenture), but not against the express terms of the indenture, which legions of New York Court of Appeals decisions suggest is the only place to look for intent when reading an indenture. Windstream is a corporate group in the telecommunications sector. In 2013 it issued some senior unsecured notes due in 2023. Under the indenture for those notes, specific legal entities in the Windstream group agreed not to engage in any sale-leaseback transactions, presumably to maintain legal title to the groups assets available for the noteholders to collect against. Long ago I warned that the growth the of the CDS (credit default swap) market represented a threat to traditional understandings of how workouts and restructurings are supposed to happen. The recent Windstream decision from the SDNY shows that these basic issues are still around, notwithstanding an intervening financial crisis and resulting regulatory reform. Seeking to the head Aurelius off at the pass, Windstream launched an exchange offer, attempting to swap any of its outstanding debt for the senior unsecured notes. The new holders of the senior unsecured notes would agree to waive any default associated with the sale-leaseback transaction. Because this was an entry consent, in place of the more typical exit consent, the mechanics were a bit awkward. In short, the new noteholders could not consent before they were actually noteholders, but Windstream did not want to go ahead with the swap if there were not going to be enough consents. The senior unsecured notes indenture also contained typical debt covenants, and the exchange transaction increased Windstreams total outstanding debt by about $40 million. The district court found that the sale-leaseback transaction breached the indenture. Despite the lease being signed by the new holding company as tenant, the subsidiaries who had previously owned those assets continued to use those assets. As a result, the court found that the subsidiaries were the true parties to the lease: as a matter of practical reality, the Transferor Subsidiaries have exclusive control over the Transferred Assets during the term of the Master Lease. Indeed, since the asset transfer, the Transferor Subsidiaries are the only entities within the Windstream family that use and occupy the property. The lease allowed the new holding company to let the subsidiaries use the leased property, but the court felt that the subsidiaries exercised too much control over the property to be anything but the "real" parties to the lease. The court also felt that the subsidiaries were effectively paying the rent on the lease, because the subsidiaries were making dividend payments to the holding company to enable it to make the lease payments to the new REIT subsidiary. Note that the Puerto Rico Oversight Board, assuming it is still around to do so (Aurelius again, more on that to come), can now cite this opinion to support its argument that the Building Authority's debt is really Puerto Ricos own debt. The court also decided that Windstream was estopped in this case, because it had told state regulators that the old subsidiaries were going to lease back the property in question. The court decided that the old subsidiaries use and enjoyment of the Transferred Assets walks like a lease and talks like a lease. That is because it is a lease. And, regardless, [Windstream] cannot be heard to argue otherwise in these proceedings because it previously took a contrary position in the legal proceedings before state regulators and that position was adopted by the regulators. Accordingly, the Court holds that the 2015 Transaction constitutes a Sale and Leaseback Transaction within the meaning of the Indenture. It follows that, unless excused or cured by the [exchange offer], the 2015 Transaction constitutes a breach of the Indenture. The court then proceeded to find that the exchange offer violated the debt level covenants in the indenture, and that at least one of the exchanges was not properly done to effectuate the needed waiver. How Aurelius has any standing to argue about the last point it was not part of that exchange offer is left unsaid in the opinion. If those bondholders are happy to have waived, have they not consented to the waiver as it actually happened, notwithstanding the inconsistent documents? But lets talk about the main holding that the sale-leaseback violated the terms of the indenture. The court readily concedes that the plain language of the indenture does not cover the transaction on its face. Rather the court repeatedly argues that the economic realities of the transaction bring it within the terms of the indenture. In essence, the court has granted Aurelius covenant protection that it (and its predecessors) were not savvy enough to negotiate in the first place. Thats the kind of interpretive stretch that law professors expect to see with sympathetic plaintiffs the classic widowers and orphans. But Aurelius? As the author of a law school corporate finance text, Ive read my share of these sorts of opinions. I often tell my students that the one constant theme running through the bulk of corporate finance jurisprudence is that if you want protection, youd better contract for it. The Windstream opinion represents a clear departure from that trend. Instead, the theme seems to be, I know what you really meant. The site you specified has a disallow rule. At the origin of the Internet links were basically a signal of "likes". In a way, so likes, tweets and shares have now the natural explicit meaning of links. CoolSocial is an analyzer you can use to improve your site social media impact. You can also check for your competitors. 96% Website joebedsole.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 2025 bytes (1.98 kb uncompressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-04-20, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 100% Website gazetadita.al uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 107460 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 182259 bytes (177.99 kb uncompressed) and 31150 bytes (30.42 kb compressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2020-12-04, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 60% Website frandelac.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 45036 bytes (43.98 kb uncompressed) and 45035 bytes (43.98 kb compressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-01-06, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 100% Website cbsencertsolution.com uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery and Boostrap. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 327648 bytes (319.97 kb uncompressed) and 71069 bytes (69.40 kb compressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-04-07, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 60% Website 520tingshu.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 44537 bytes (43.49 kb uncompressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2020-11-23, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. The Conference Board actively addresses innovation and commercialization, and the functional management of knowledge, skills, and technology within organizationsas well as strategic policy issues that relate these factors to competitiveness. The practice integrates Conference Board expertise in the management of technology, knowledge management, connectedness, information technology, organizational effectiveness, leadership, partnerships, education, learning, economics, regulation and taxation. We nurture and deliver this expertise through an interactive mix of executive networks, public conferences, workshops, study tours, publications and customized research. Canadian CIO Outlook - Call to Action There are still two weeks remaining to have input into our annual Canadian CIO Outlook. We are conducting a study on the trends, challenges, and opportunities facing Canadian Chief Information Officers (CIO). A key part of the study is a nation-wide survey of CIOs and senior IT leaders to measure changing priorities, challenges, concerns, and strategies for success. As a leader in the space, we would be grateful if you could take the time to participate in the survey . Responses will be kept confidential and the results will be analyzed and reported in aggregate with no identifiers in the report. Completing the survey will give you a chance to win a Sonos Smart Speaker! Technology and Innovation Policy Blog We have released the May 2018 version of the Innovation Report Card that evaluates the performance of Canada, the Provinces, and the Developed Countries. Watch the CBC interview with Paul Preston of the Conference Board of Canada, on the Innovation Report Card. Blockchain is an emerging technology with the potential to disrupt every industrywherever a transaction occurs, there is an opportunity to use blockchain. On May 23, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, The Conference Board of Canada brought together experts from Canada and abroad to discuss all things blockchain at its Blockchain Summit 2018. The Summit aimed to provide a forum for concrete, analytical discussions on the state of blockchain development, and to showcase the wide range of potential blockchain applications, distinguishing between hype and true value creation. This report was prepared for The Conference Board of Canadas Council for Chief Data and Analytics Officers , Council of Chief Privacy Officers , and Council for Security Executives . Funding was provided by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). Available Now The Changing Nature of Clusters: Implications for Canada Join HEC Montreal Associate Professor Ari Van Assche for his analysis of the changing nature of clusters. With the federal government preparing to invest more than $950 million in its Innovation Supercluster Initiative, this session is not to be missed. Canadas Innovation Performance: Finding Rays of Light In this recorded webinar Paul Preston presents the findings of The Conference Board of Canadas How Canada Performs Report Card on Innovation. For the second time, the Conference Boards How Canada Performs analysis compares the innovation performance of individual provinces with that of 16 advanced peer countries. Learn how the provinces and peer countries fare on indicators of three dimensions of innovation performancecapacity, activity and results. Lessons Learned From a World Innovation Leader: Understanding Israels Innovation Ecosystem Report This newly released report is based on research and a recently embarked upon study tour of Israels world-class innovation skills, capabilities, and performance. It aims to help Canadian innovation stakeholders learn from Israels experiences. The Privacy Dilemma: Is Good Technology Bad for Privacy? In this 60 minute webinar, Ms. Lefkovitz will explore: The relationship and the important distinctions between security and privacy How to build a better bridge between organizations privacy policy and compliance teams and IT teams The tool the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology is developing to assess and prioritize privacy risk in information systems From Knowledge to Innovation: Building Canada's Competitiveness Through Knowledge Management Dont miss this chance to learn about the critical nature of knowledge management as a management discipline, and its potential to unlock the value of technology investments, collaboration, and the critical role it plays in driving innovation. Paul will outline leading practices from several Canadian organizations that are attempting to access the full potential of human capital, offering participants a menu of possible strategies to implement. Intellectual Property Strategy: Managing Risk and Optimizing Benefits for SMEs Join Intellectual Property experts Myra Tawfik and Karima Bawa for this 60-minute webinar on the importance of having an IP strategy for small and medium-sized business in Canada. This session will explore: What an IP strategy is and how it differs from traditional approaches to IP The different forms of IP protection and how various forms of IP can be used in combination to achieve optimal results How IP can be: a valuable business asset: used offensively (to deter competitors),used defensively (to deter third party suits or to offset payment of royalties to third parties); used to generate revenue The risks associated with IP and how to seek to manage them especially in a global environment Ensuring Successful Transformation: Harnessing Knowledge When it comes to knowledge management, change is the only constant. Technology innovations can improve how we work and communicate, but each new platform or capability requires a corresponding shift in employee processes and behaviors. Furthermore, a good knowledge strategy needs to align with the challenges and opportunities that are top of mind for executives, so KM goals and priorities are always shifting to reflect changes in the broader business strategy. How to Effectively Navigate and Manage Technology-Driven Change The Conference Boards Annual How Canada Performs Report Card ranks the country on a number of factors, and compares those scores to others worldwide. While Canada performs well in many areas, our track record on productivity growth in recent decades has been dismal, achieving grades of "C" or "D" relative to international peers. In fact, Canada has consistently ranked near the bottom of 16 countries assessed for nearly two decades. How Can Knowledge Management Drive Innovation? Knowledge management is often thought of as simply a function within an organization, a necessary but fairly straightforward task akin to accounting. What if effective knowledge management essentially brings ideas and creative communities together in a way that drives innovation forward? Free Webinar: Innovation and TechnologyIncreasing Canadian Competitiveness Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's) are commonly considered the economic and innovation engine of the Canadian economy. A staggering 99.9% of Canadian companies are classified as SMEs, making up 89.9% of all jobs within the Canadian private sector. When SMEs innovate and adopt new technologies, it can have a profound impact on the global competitiveness of Canadian industry. But how can we promote and encourage such a diverse group of organizations to adopt new digital technology and take Canada to the next level? Driving Creativity and Commercialization: Innovation by Design Representatives of The Conference Board of Canada and a group of innovation-focused executives travelled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for a study tour at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The tour provided an experience not only to "see" and "feel" the day-to-day workings of MIT's innovation ecosystem, but also to hear from experts in the field. Innovation by Design: Lessons from MIT Webinar MIT has invested in creating the space and conditions needed to breed innovation, and scholars at the university have taken the time to study the results of their investment and turn it into something that can be taught, learned, and done by design. This webinar will outline three specific initiatives at MIT (innovation ecosystems, sandboxes, and big data) that exemplify the power of cross-pollination and lessons learned through innovative design and implementation. Adopting Digital Technology: the Path for SMEsComplimentary Webinar The Adopting Digital Technology: the Path for SMEs report addresses how the adoption of technology amongst SMEs has greatly improved their productivity. During this 60 minute webinar, Sarah Dimick, report author, brought the report findings to life. What Canadian CIOs Can Do to Help Drive Innovation The New CIO Value Proposition: Leading Innovation for Business Value and Growth report addresses how the human element impacts innovation at a corporate level. This webinar with Sarah Dimick, report author, brings the report findings to life. She hones in on the role of Chief Information Officers (CIOs)once the knowledge base touch point and key strategist, and now changing and growing to include innovation. What are Canadas weaknesses? Canada needs to improve workplace skills training and lifelong education. Canadas adult literacy skills are mediocre, with a large proportion of adults lacking the literacy skills necessary to function in the workplace. Canada gets a C and ranks 10th out of 15 peer countries on the indicator measuring adult participation in job-related non-formal education. Canada also underperforms in the highest levels of skills attainment. Canada produces relatively few graduates with PhDs and graduates in math, science, computer science and engineering. More graduates with advance qualifications in these fields would enhance innovation and productivity growthand ultimately ensure a high and sustainable quality of life for all Canadians. Canadas middle-of-the-pack ranking on university completion may reflect the fact that the financial return from investing in university education in Canada is also middle-of-the-pack at best. Many other countries (and the individuals in those countries) get much better returns on their tertiary investments. While not reflected in the report card due to lack of data and measurability challenges, there is a learning recognition gap in Canada. What this means is that people may hold knowledge and skills that are not formally recognized (through academic credits or trade/organization/professional certification) by employers or credential-granting institutions. An obvious example is immigrants whose foreign credentials are not recognized in Canada. The Alliance of Sector Councils stated that every Canadian is affected by inefficient recognition. Canadians across the country are short of doctors and other health care workers, while thousands of highly educated newcomer health care workers are not allowed to provide the services that so many Canadians want.6 People with prior learning gained through work and training are similarly hindered by a lack of learning recognition, as are those who transfer between post-secondary institutions or, in the case of licensed occupations, between provinces. In 2001, The Conference Board of Canada conducted a study that estimated that the learning recognition gap was costing the country between $4 billion and $6 billion annually in lost income and higher unemployment.7 To address this challenge, there have been a number of programs established, such as the federal Foreign Credential Recognition Program. While helping to close the learning recognition gap, a mismatch remains that is costing the country in lost productivity and skill shortages. Danville, IL (61832) Today Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 84F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. President Trump is right that the U.S. risks being left behind on 5G, Huawei's rotating chairman said on Sunday in Barcelona. Speaking at a roundtable with media on Sunday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Guo Ping said he had noticed President Trump's tweets saying the U.S. should adopt 5G "as fast as possible" and the U.S. should not "block out" more advanced technologies Tweet "I think his message is clear and correct," Guo said. While Trump's tweets did not directly single out Huawei, it's likely he was referring to the company as U.S. officials weigh an executive order banning Huawei's 5G telecommunciations equipment. Huawei has been effectively left out of the U.S. market due to fears its technology will enable Chinese spying, a concern the company dismisses. Other nations including Germany, the U.K. and New Zealand are also weighing bans on Huawei's 5G technology. US President Donald Trump (R) gestures as he meets with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) at the start of their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018. North Korea leader Kim Jong Un was on a train Sunday to Vietnam for his second summit with President Donald Trump, state media confirmed. Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the U.S., and Kim Yo Jong, the leader's sister, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported. TV footage and photos distributed by the North's state-run news agency showed Kim inspecting a guard of honor at the Pyongyang station before waving from the train. Late Saturday, an Associated Press reporter saw a green-and-yellow train similar to one used in the past by Kim cross into the Chinese border city of Dandong via a bridge. The Trump-Kim meeting is slated for Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. Their first summit last June in Singapore ended without substantive agreements on the North's nuclear disarmament and triggered a months-long stalemate in negotiations as Washington and Pyongyang struggled with the sequencing of North Korea's nuclear disarmament and the removal of U.S.-led sanctions against the North. Kim's overseas travel plans are routinely kept secret. It could take more than two days for the train to travel thousands of kilometers (miles) through China to Vietnam. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry announced Saturday that Kim would pay an official goodwill visit to the country "in the coming days" in response to an invitation by President Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also the general secretary of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party. In his upcoming meeting with Trump, experts say Kim will seek a U.S. commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief while trying to minimize any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons. While Kim wants to leverage his nuclear and missile program for economic and security benefits, there continue to be doubts on whether he's ready to fully deal away an arsenal that he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival. Last year, North Korea suspended its nuclear and long-range missile tests and unilaterally dismantled its nuclear testing ground and parts of a rocket launch facility without the presence of outside experts, but none of those steps were seen as meaningful cutbacks to the North's weapons capability. While North Korea has repeatedly demanded that the United States take corresponding measures, including sanctions relief, Washington has called for more concrete steps from Pyongyang toward denuclearization. Hanoi has been gearing up for the summit with beefed-up security. Officials say the colonial-era Government Guest House in central Hanoi is expected to be the venue for the Trump-Kim meeting, with the nearby Metropole Hotel as a backup. Streets around the two places have been beautified with flowers and the flags of North Korea, the U.S and Vietnam. Workers were also putting final touches on the International Media Center. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry says some 2,600 members of the foreign press have registered for the event. Also expected to land in Vietnam on Sunday was Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Lavrov will pay an official visit ahead of a Russia-India-China ministerial conference in China, according to Interfax news agency. Meanwhile, Vietnam has announced a traffic ban along Kim's possible arrival route. The Communist Party's mouthpiece Nhan Dan newspaper quoted the Department of Roads as saying the ban will first apply to trucks 10 tons or bigger, and vehicles with nine seats or more on the 170-kilometer (105-mile) stretch of Highway One from Dong Dang, the border town with China, to Hanoi from 7 p.m. Monday to 2 p.m. Tuesday, followed by a complete ban Tuesday on all vehicles from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. The People's Committee in Lang Son province, where the Dong Dang railway station is located, issued a statement Friday instructing the road operator to clean the highway stretch and suspend road works, among other things, on Feb. 24-28 as "a political task." Alfonso Cuaron wins Best Director Motion Picture and Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language for "Roma," a Netflix film, during the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards on January 6, 2019, at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California. "Roma" is a heavy favorite to win best picture at Sunday's Academy Awards. It would be the first time a streaming platform, Netflix, earns a best picture win. It's almost certainly not going to be the last. A "Roma" victory on Sunday will further legitimize Netflix, and streaming platforms in general, as venues for the highest-quality movies. It could also help destroy the decades-only exclusive theatrical window that movie theaters rely on. Netflix and Amazon's Prime Video have been buying up potential Oscar-winning movies for several years -- Amazon's "Manchester By The Sea" was the first movie from a digital giant to be nominated for the best picture Academy Award in 2017. Each service has more than 100 million subscribers globally. Those massive audiences carry increasing clout with moviemakers, who may come to view the theater experience as less important. "Movie theaters are not going to go away, but there's going to be a lot more of this direct release to the home type of windowing," said Tom Rogers, former CEO of TiVo, on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Friday. "I'm not long on movie theaters over the next five years." Netflix has actually tried not to rock the boat too much with "Roma": It made the film available to theaters across the country and set a release date like typical Oscar fare. "Roma," which depicts a family's life in Mexico City in the early 1970s, debuted on Netflix on Dec. 14, a standard first-run date for movies with Oscar ambitions. Netflix released the film in a handful of theaters weeks before it became available on the streaming platform, though wide release was tied to the day it appeared on Netflix. Yet even this modified roll-out plan ruffled some feathers. Mexico's Cinepolis, AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas have all balked at screening "Roma" because Netflix didn't honor the traditional first-run 90-day cinema window. The fight between media companies that want to shorten or eliminate that period of exclusivity has been going on for years. In 2011, Universal Pictures pushed to release the unheralded Eddie Murphy caper film "Tower Heist" on the same day as its theatrical release to about 500,000 Comcast cable subscribers for a whopping $59.99. Universal actually backed down, even from that high price, because of theatrical pushback to the idea. (At the time, Comcast was part-owner of NBCUniversal, which includes Universal Pictures as well as CNBC; Comcast now owns NBCUniversal outright.) The tensions between Netflix and the theater chains may be so great that it could deny "Roma" of a victory, said Rogers. "I don't think it's going to win," Rogers said. "It's such a disruptive pick for the Academy to end up embracing something that's really going to go to the heart of movie theatrical distribution and the whole windowing system it has. Netflix came up with a better way to watch television. Consumers have voted. It's a great way to get what you what, when you want, and how you want it. And they're doing the same thing with movies." The outcome of the trade war and ongoing negotiations between the world's two largest economies is a looming danger, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told CNBC on Sunday but not for its immediate impact on markets or growth. The threat Fink articulated, according to him, is one that's not being discussed much, but needs to be: The long-term impact of the U.S.-China trade war on U.S. Treasury bonds. "What worries me about the conversation between the U.S. and China China has a $1.3 trillion pool of U.S. Treasurys, they've been accumulating U.S. Treasurys because of the trade deficit," Fink told CNBC's Hadley Gamble in an interview. "Now as China reduces its trade deficit with the U.S., the likelihood of them reducing their need for U.S. Treasurys is large," he added. China is the biggest foreign buyer of U.S. sovereign debt. In January, media reports revealed that officials in Beijing recommended the Chinese government lower or even stop its buying of U.S. debt. That prospect is something market analysts have described as a major threat to markets as Treasury financing needs climbed significantly in 2018 and U.S. debt issuance heads toward record highs. Larry Fink at the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. David A. Grogan | CNBC And as CEO of the world's largest asset management fund, Fink always has his eye on the long term. He explained that "over the next few years and this is something we are not talking about enough and we need to be talking about this we should expect over the number of years ahead, less ownership of U.S. Treasurys as their deficits shrink. "But that's at the same time the U.S. deficit still seems to be growing at a trillion dollars," Fink added. "So it is long term a little more disturbing for me to see the implications of smaller Chinese purchases of debt with rising deficits." He asked: "So the bigger question is: who's going to be the substitute buyer to buy this?" China's trillion-dollar weapon As the trade war kicked off in spring of last year, economists warned of China's "trillion-dollar weapon." Several warned that said that the Chinese could dump its massive holding of Treasurys as retaliation, which would wreak major havoc on international markets and spike U.S. borrowing costs. We're going to see some winners, we're going to see some losers but long term, the U.S. Treasury bid is a loser in this. Larry Fink CEO, BlackRock China has steadily pared down its holdings of U.S. sovereign notes, bills and bonds for the last several months. It held $1.123 trillion in U.S. Treasury debt in December of last year, down from $1.184 trillion in the same month of 2017, according to U.S. Treasury Department data. America's second-largest debt buyer is Japan, which has also been cutting its holdings: It's currently down to $1.042 trillion in Treasurys, from $1.061 trillion in the same time frame. Still, the threat to U.S. debt may be overblown, some argue. China dumping its U.S. debt holdings would likely backfire on itself, as it would have to sell some of its Treasury holdings at a loss. That would result in a loss of capital and simultaneously weaken the U.S. dollar, which would in turn make American exports more attractive. And other countries could also step in to buy those bonds, keeping interest rates stable. Over the last several years, China has bought scores of treasury bonds partly because it has the U.S. dollars it needs to spend. Just like any investor, China wants to park some of the greenbacks made from exports to the United States into safe investments, and there's nothing perceived to be safer than U.S. bonds. US Treasury bid 'is a loser in this' But demand for America's sovereign bonds is set to wane, Fink warned. "At the same time, the global bond indexes are now including more Chinese debt, and next year one of the big indexes is going to include up to 6 percent Chinese debt, which reduces U.S. demand by 2.6 percent of their debt," he said. "So all of these things are playing out. We're going to see some winners, we're going to see some losers but long term, the U.S. Treasury bid is a loser in this," he said, adding that an expanding U.S. economy could theoretically help offset those losses. Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People on Nov. 2, 2018 in Beijing, China. U.S. and Chinese negotiators met for over seven hours on Saturday to resolve their trade dispute and avoid an escalation of the tit-for-tat tariffs that have already disrupted global commerce, slowed the world economy and roiled financial markets. The two sides will meet again on Sunday morning as they race to seal an agreement before a March 1 deadline imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened to dramatically hike tariffs on Chinese goods unless there is a deal. Saturday marked the fifth straight day of the negotiations between the world's two biggest economies. Talks were extended through the weekend after both sides reported progress in narrowing their differences. The Chinese delegation is scheduled to leave for Beijing on Monday, according to a person familiar with their itinerary. This is the fourth round of negotiations since Washington and Beijing agreed to a ceasefire in their trade war. Trump, who has embraced an "America First" policy aimed at rebalancing global trade in favor of the United States, said on Friday there was "a very good chance" a deal would be struck, and that he was inclined to extend his March 1 tariff deadline and meet soon with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Extending the deadline would mean putting on hold a scheduled increase in tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion of Chinese imports into the United States. Trump and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said U.S. and Chinese officials had reached an agreement on currency issues, but did not give details. U.S. officials have long argued that China's yuan is undervalued, giving it a trade advantage and partly offsetting U.S. tariffs. China has also committed to buy an additional 10 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans. The chief of the world's largest asset management fund is not pleased with how things are going over in the U.K. amid its divorce with the European Union. Sitting down with CNBC on Sunday, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink stressed that Brexit and its fallout have become a massive headache for the business world. BlackRock is the world's largest asset management firm, with some $6.4 trillion in assets under management as of October 2018, according to a company filing. "Brexit is an immediate problem, and it's a problem that's quite frankly annoying every private sector organization in the world today," the BlackRock CEO told CNBC's Hadley Gamble. "The irresponsibility right now of the U.K. in coming to a resolution is putting more and more private sector organizations on alert," he said. "We're spending more money than we ever dreamed we needed to do to start working toward Brexit." The U.K. is due to leave the European Union on March 29 but the British Parliament has not yet agreed on, let alone ratified, Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal. It raises the chilling prospect of Britain leaving the 28-member economic bloc without a concrete deal on future ties. It means probably a smaller future in the U.K. in the future. And I'm not speaking about BlackRock, I'm hearing this from every organization. Larry Fink CEO, BlackRock May has sought concessions from the EU over the most contentious part of the Brexit agreement to do with the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland should the U.K. and EU fail to come to a trade deal post-Brexit. However, lawmakers in the U.K have yet to approve the deal. "So just because of the lack of understanding of its direction, it's forcing all the private sector firms to be getting more prepared for Brexit, and I do believe this is not a good outcome for the U.K.," Fink said. "We're already now making bigger plans on moving different components of our business to the continent, or to the U.S. And in doing so it means probably a smaller future in the U.K. in the future," Fink added. "And I'm not speaking about BlackRock, I'm hearing this from every organization." Lobbying Group Frankfurt Main Finance claimed in a recent report that London's finance industry is poised to lose up to $900 billion by March 2019, while consulting firm EY found that financial services firms plan to move $1 trillion in assets out of the U.K. The figure is small, however, when compared to the U.K.'s overall financial sector, EY noted. Britain's banking sector alone is thought to be at almost $11 trillion, though experts say this could change depending on what happens during and after March. With no clear idea of what to expect, Fink emphasized "the annoyance that the leadership of every firm is experiencing right now, because we should have had better certainty of where we're going now." He added: "It just costs money, but we're dealing with it." Brexit's climbing costs It does not seem that long since the shorebirds all returned from their northerly migration and already we are starting to see the change in their breeding plumage. The shorebirds are starting to concentrate on putting on body weight ready for their next journey north. The shorebirds will start to leave Broome next month to breed high up in the Arctic and will mostly fly non-stop to the Yellow Sea in China. They will refuel there and then continue on their journey. Visiting the local beaches around Broome at the moment the shorebirds are best viewed after high tide. As the tide pushes up the shorebirds are constantly on the move to keep ahead of the rising sea. The shorebirds continue to feed on the mudflats for as long as they can and then roost at the high tide mark. There are additional threats of birds of prey throughout the day and they are constantly alert to the dangers that those birds present. It is not unusual to observe the shorebirds tilting their heads to the sky. Even if you cant immediately observe the threat they will leave the beach in a sharp burst all together if they feel threatened. Ideally waiting until two hours after a big tide you can observe the shorebirds relaxed at the waters edge. The Bar-tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica that are currently in the north of Australia number in their thousands. We are very privileged to have so many of this particular shorebird species right here in Broome. The Bar-tailed Godwit population has declined in recent years and there are threats worldwide causing its decline. The female Bar-tailed Godwits are a larger bird than the male of the species, but there are some members of the species that are not clearly sexed on size alone. The length of the bill of a female Bar-tailed Godwit is distinctly longer on the larger birds. Female Bar-tailed Godwits do not change into their breeding plumage quite as soon as male Bar-tailed Godwits. The male Bar-tailed Godwits are already starting to get a red blush to their breasts. Male and female Bar-tailed Godwits Often you cant isolate Bar-tailed Godwits on their own due to the large number of shorebirds present at the roost. Many of the shorebirds are starting to get their breeding plumage now. The Great Knot are starting to get black plumage across their breast feathers and both sub-species of Red Knot are starting to develop their red feathers. Apart from Whimbrel and Eastern Curlew, the Bar-tailed Godwit are the largest shorebird on the beach at high tide. The Whimbrel and Eastern Curlew are a lot less tolerant of activity on the local beaches and will soon take off when you approach whilst the other shorebirds will remain on the sand. It is not unusual to have all of the shorebirds lying on the wet sand once the tide has turned, while they wait for the mudflats to be exposed, so that they can continue to feed. Bar-tailed Godwits, Great Knots and a Ruddy Turnstone It is not unusual to find a good mixture of shorebirds all roosting together. Bar-tailed Godwits, Great Knot, Red Knot, Terek Sandpipers, Grey-tailed Tattlers, Common Greenshank, Curlew Sandpipers, Greater Sand Plovers, Lesser Sand Plovers, Grey Plovers, Red-necked Stint, Broad-billed Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones and Common Sandpipers all use the beaches close to town. Already there are some male Bar-tailed Godwits with very good breeding plumage and their red breast feathers are very distinct. Male Bar-tailed Godwit with good breeding plumage This is a good time of year to learn about shorebirds whilst there are so many present in the Broome area. It may seem challenging to identify some of the different species, but there are less grey shorebirds at this time of year to identify as they change into their breeding plumage. Remember these shorebirds have a long journey ahead in a few weeks time and give them the space they need to relax when they cant feed. All dogs should be discouraged from chasing the resident and migratory shorebirds and most beaches around Broome only permit dogs on a leash. ADNOC distribution service station pumps with logo in daylight. ADNOC Investing giants BlackRock and KKR on Sunday signed a $4 billion agreement with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to become the first institutional investors joining forces with a national oil producer in the Middle East. The deal represents a landmark partnership in midstream pipeline infrastructure development for ADNOC. It's also the latest step in its drive to diversify revenue sources and bring private capital and more commercial management into the company. The agreement forms a new entity called ADNOC Oil Pipelines, which will "lease ADNOC's interest in 18 pipelines, transporting stabilized crude oil and condensate across ADNOC's offshore and onshore upstream concessions," for 23 years, according to the company's press release Sunday. ADNOC will retain a 60 percent majority stake, with BlackRock and KKR collectively holding a 40 percent interest in the consortium, the company said. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink described what he saw as Abu Dhabi's push to attract more foreign capital and its potential in global financial markets. "Abu Dhabi wanted to play in the world stage and it was not us pushing them, if anything they were already there in terms of what type of transparency is necessary to attract foreign investors," he told CNBC's Hadley Gamble on Sunday. "For a transaction like this, it came very rapidly." Worldwide now, investors are looking for long-dated high quality assets... This was something our investors were very, very interested in. If anything we want to put more money in, that's the type of demand we saw. Larry Fink CEO, BlackRock Coinciding with the growth of private-public partnerships, institutional investors are seeking "long-dated, high quality assets," the CEO said, pointing to the stability of the cash flows of the pipeline. "This was something our investors were very, very interested in. If anything we want to put more money in, that's the type of demand we saw." With $6.4 trillion in assets under management as of late 2018, BlackRock is reported to be the largest asset manager in the world. Fink honed in on the importance of transparency and governance in bringing in international capital, areas where the region more broadly has been known to fall short. "It's my hope that with the success of our ADNOC transaction, that not only other entities in Abu Dhabi but the entire region will open up and see that with more transparency, with better governance structure, the foreign capital attraction to the region is quite large so it's a win-win for the foreign capital that is looking for investing in stable, solid projects, and it's a very large win for the region showing that its playing in the world stage. There's a great opportunity for importing capital." An 'important milestone' Formed in 1971, the same year as the United Arab Emirates, ADNOC is now playing a leading role in leveraging its assets to attract foreign capital into the country and diversify its funding streams. In the last few months, it's signed a raft of agreements with international oil and gas companies, including granting minority shareholding to Italy's ENI and Austrian OMV in its $5.8 billion refinery wing. The two European firms in December joined Germany's Wintershall in winning minority stakes in developing ADNOC's offshore gas fields, and Baker Hughes was recently awarded a 5 percent stake in the national company's drilling unit. Ratings agency Fitch last week gave ADNOC a double A plus credit rating, among the highest it awards oil and gas companies. The UAE ranked 11 out of 190 economies in the World Bank's 2018 "Ease of Doing Business" ranking. UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, speaks during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibion and Conference (ADIPEC) on November 13, 2017, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. KARIM SAHIB | AFP | Getty Images Commenting on the latest deal with KKR and BlackRock, ADNOC CEO and UAE Minister of State Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber described it as an "important milestone." "It is part of our comprehensive integrated 2030 Smart Growth strategy which is really centered around value maximization and ensuring efficiency across the the value chain of our business," al Jaber said after the signing. "This deal comes at a time when we're starting now to unfold the new approach to attracting strategic FDI (foreign direct investment) into good quality infrastructure assets that belong to ADNOC," he told CNBC Sunday. "This type of investment class represented by BlackRock and KKR is not a typical partner for a national oil company," al Jaber pointed out, emphasizing ADNOC's drive to "combine the best both, being a national oil company (NOC) and an international oil company," and demonstrating a commitment to commercial discipline as a means of attracting that kind of investment. Infrastructure deals needed KKR's co-founder and co-chief executive Henry Kravis applauded what he saw as impressive growth in the UAE over the decade that his firm has had an office in the country. "I'm looking at this as what I'm hoping is a long string of future investments that we can make in the region, that we can make with ADNOC, in helping them achieve what they want to achieve Having the opportunity to grow in the region is something we've been striving to do for a long time," Kravis told CNBC. Henry Kravis, co-founder of KKR Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images KKR, which manages asset classes across the spheres of private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, made its ADNOC investment through its third Global Infrastructure Investors fund, which closed in September 2018 at $7.4bn, according to the ADNOC press release. KKR has $12.6 billion in assets under management within its infrastructure strategy. And that's one area where the region needs significantly more work, Kravis said. "The one thing that is missing is capital for infrastructure. The idea that over the next 10 to 20 years, trillions of dollars are needed for infrastructure... I think you're going to see more and more private-public partnerships, as more and more people move into cities from rural areas," he said, citing the Asian Development Bank's projection that $26 trillion in infrastructure funding was needed over the next decade for Asia alone. "That means you need capital for building infrastructure," the executive continued. "For us, there's enormous amount of opportunity, and there's not a country anywhere in the world that doesn't need capital for infrastructure." Eyeing opportunities The Cooneys walked into the office to hear their test results. Matt Cooney, a 79-year-old retired television sportscaster, was informed that his financial decision-making capacity was in jeopardy. Dobe Cooney admitted that her husband had lost track of their bills a few times lately. "We don't leave the teeth in the refrigerator or anything like that," said the 75-year-old former nurse. "But as we get older, we seem to forget a lot." The exam had not been administered by their doctor but by their financial advisor, Carolyn McClanahan. McClanahan, a certified financial planner and a medical doctor, is the founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida. At her recommendation, Matt went to his own physician with the findings. As it turned out, Matt indeed, had had a few silent strokes over the years. Matt and Dobe Cooney Such discoveries are coming to the surface in the offices of financial advisors across the country, as it becomes increasingly common for financial professionals to probe clients for signs that they are at risk of making poor decisions or turning into victims of fraud or abuse. "Advisors tend to be very close to their [clients]," said Jim Wrona, vice president and associate general counsel at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a self-funded regulator of the brokerage industry. "They're in a fairly good position to know when something is out of the ordinary." As we get older, we seem to forget a lot. Dobe Cooney Demographic shifts are one of the reasons advisors are increasingly discussing memory alongside risk tolerance. By 2035, there will be some 78 million people in the U.S. aged 65 and older. Up to 20 percent of people over the age of 65 have some form of cognitive impairment, and more than half of people older than 85 have Alzheimer's disease or another kind of dementia. As a result, older investors are a prime target for exploitation. Seniors lose an estimated $2.9 billion annually from fraud or financial abuse, according to the Senate Special Committee on Aging. "Most advisors' clientele are in their 60s and 70s, and these types of issues are front in mind," said Chris Heye, the co-founder of Whealthcare Planning, a platform that helps people financially prepare for aging and tests their decision-making capacities. Carolyn McClanahan Source: Carolyn McClanahan A new spate of regulations is another reason advisors are keeping tabs on their clients' mental state. Two new FINRA rules aimed at protecting older investors went into effect last year. One of them requires that financial advisors ask their clients for a trusted contact in case they exhibit red flags, such as wanting to invest their lifetime savings in bitcoin. The other permits financial advisors to put a temporary hold on their clients' bank accounts if they suspect exploitation is occurring. To be sure, some elderly clients may find their advisors have overreached. Last year, a woman sued Fidelity, after the company froze her assets when it became concerned about her judgement. As a result, the woman claimed, she was unable to pay her electric bill, visit the dentist or take her dogs to the veterinarian. Still, Wrona said advisors often hear from their older clients with suspicious requests and are unsure of how to respond. "A [client] will say, 'I won the lottery, but I need to pay the taxes upfront before I can claim the award,'" Wrona said. If the client demands the money even after the advisor has explained that it's a scam, he or she can then temporarily pause their assets and investigate further. More than a dozen states have also passed laws that allow financial firms to pause disbursals when financial exploitation is suspected. Congress passed a law last year called The Senior Safe Act, which encourages advisors to get trained in spotting fraud or abuse and report any such instances to law enforcement. "Getting that training is going to stop a lot of financial exploitation," said Cristina Martin Firvida, vice president for financial security and consumer affairs at AARP. Chris Heye Source: Chris Heye Beyond looking out for obvious scams and threats, more advisors are proactively planning for the issues their clients could face as they climb up into their later decades. Gary Vawter, a financial advisor for more than 30 years and the owner of Vawter Financial in Columbus, Ohio, said he quizzes nearly all of his clients over 60 on their decision making abilities. (He uses the Whealthcare Planning platform to do so). One question on it asks, "What month is it?" There are also other math and financial literacy problems. "It's pretty neat when the client brags that their financial advisor is having them do these tests to find out how vulnerable they are," Vawter said. "Their friends are amazed that their doctor isn't doing it." Another reason Vawter does this: A new law in his state requires advisors to report instances of financial exploitation to the authorities. Gary Vawter Source: Gary Vawter After McClanahan and the Cooneys discussed their issues, they talked about how to protect themselves. Now, the couple review their bank accounts more frequently and pay their bills together. If both of them find their financial decision-making capacity declining, McClanahan has asked their children to pitch in. "The kids were just so relieved that we were looking out and that we had a plan in action," she said. Many of the financial plans for older people involve their family members. Yet often it's these relatives who are the problem. We're all subject to the occasional fashion faux pas, yet nothing quite compares to the obvious sweat stain. Two friends, Billy Thompson and Randy Choi, were no strangers to the dilemma. With a lack of antisweat apparel on the market, Thompson and Choi set out to create Thompson Tee a clothing brand built on sweatproof technology and ultrasoft material. "At Thompson Tee Inc. we invented and patented an undershirt that is guaranteed to block underarm sweat, preventing those embarrassing sweat marks and yellow stains," Billy Thompson said in an email to CNBC. "Necessity was the mother of invention; both Randy and I have dealt with hyperhidrosis (excessive sweat) since puberty." In order to gain capital to bring production in-house, Thompson and Choi went on "Shark Tank," seeking $700,000 in exchange for 7 percent of the business. The sharks were impressed with the product's functionality, but the $10 million valuation had them scratching their heads. "Who's paying more than 10 times for T-shirts?" Kevin O'Leary asked. "Patented T-shirts," Thompson corrected. Mark Cuban chimed in with, "The technology quote, unquote is fine. It serves the purpose, but you're really a marketing company." Being labeled as a "marketing" company wasn't exactly the response the two inventors of antisweat apparel were expecting. Looking back, Thompson said, "Of all the objections that I thought we'd get, I never thought we'd get that one." The marketing label wasn't the only thing that surprised the entrepreneurs. According to Choi, Daymond John's response was also shocking. Despite the investor's experience in the clothing industry, he said he didn't want to be in the inventory business. "We were stumped. No inventory?" Choi said. "OK, that leaves software and services business clearly not our business." In terms of their behind-the-scenes experience, the entrepreneurs were delighted to meet the other guests of the show. "I actually met an Olympic bronze medalist she was part of the pitch for one of the entrepreneurs. She let me put her medal around my neck, something I've never had the privilege of doing before," Thompson said. "Check that off the bucket list." Thompson said their company is doing great today, having been able to maintain and grow from the momentum "Shark Tank" provided. Post-airing, the entrepreneurs received a surge of calls and emails, which Choi described as "kind of overwhelming" in the midst of running the business. Sales, exposure and expansion have all been part of the journey post-"Shark Tank." To conclude, Choi had one last piece of information he wanted viewers to know about his time on the show: "The TV does add 10 pounds!" Don't miss the antisweat stain team pitch Thompson Tee on "Shark Tank" Sunday at 10PM ET on CNBC. The story of Warren Buffett, the "Oracle of Omaha" and legendary billionaire investor behind Berkshire Hathaway, is practically universally known. Yet his business partner, Charlie Munger, is arguably lesser known. The two men met back in 1959, when both men worked at the Nebraska grocery store owned by Buffett's grandfather. From there, a friendship developed and Munger has been Buffett's right-hand- man at Berkshire Hathaway since 1978. The 88 year old Buffett serves as chairman, while 95 year-old Charlie is vice chairman. So how does a partnership that spans decades work for that long? Munger recently told CNBC's Becky Quick that the secret to a long and happy life is "easy, because it's so simple." His advice applies to both business and the personal. "You don't have a lot of envy, you don't have a lot of resentment. You don't overspend your income, you stay cheerful in spite of your troubles," the Berkshire executive said. "You deal with reliable people and you do what you're supposed to do. And all these simple rules work so well to make your life better. And they're so trite," Munger added. And how old was he when he figured out these "simple rules"? He replied: "About seven." Munger explained that even at that tender age, he could see that some "older people were a little bonkers." He said ability to recognize that "always helped me because there's so much irrationality in the world." Munger added that he's thought about the "causes and preventions" of irrationality "for a long time." As a result, he found that "staying cheerful" has helped him in life "because it's a wise thing to do." CLINTON [mdash] George W. Leslie, 99, of Clinton IA, passed away Thursday, June 17, 2021 at home. There will be no visitation or funeral. George was born October 27, 1921 to Beulah and George Leslie in Jones County, IA. He graduated from Oxford Junction High School in Oxford Junction, IA. Fo Downtown Cleveland Alliance, the city of Cleveland and FirstEnergy will present Light Up the Lake, a fireworks show over Lake Erie, from 8 p.m. to midnight July 4 at the Port of Clevelands Dock 20. LINNDALE, Ohio -- In Linndale, Northeast Ohios reviled speed trap town, the mayor has been forced to tap her brakes by the Ohio Ethics Commission. Sorry, Linndale haters, the commission didnt say anything about the ethics of a minuscule village (its four blocks) relying almost exclusively on traffic tickets to fund itself to the tune of more than a million dollars a year. Nor about its ability to keep the money flowing by moving to traffic cameras on Memphis Avenue, which issue civil citations after lawmakers took the profit out of criminal citations on the old I-71 speed trap. Outlawing mayors courts in small communities was a blow, but not a death blow. What the Ethics Commission was concerned about was how the village prosecutor, Mayor Ashlee McLaughlins boyfriend, came to hold his part-time, $16,000-per-year position. McLaughlin, the Ethics Commission said, hired him. Its not an ethics violation to hire your boyfriend. But it is a conflict of interest if you have a financial relationship, too, said the Ethics Commissions Education and Communications Administrator Susan Willeke. The commission, after receiving a complaint, found that P. Andrew Baker was listed as a dependent on the mayors village-provided health insurance plan. Examining bank records, the commission further found they commingled funds. The mayor, also a lawyer, had once listed Bakers address in Cleveland as her own, and that Baker was listed as the water billing customer at her family home in Linndale, the Ethics Commission found. Linndale Mayor Ashlee McLaughlin The commission presented McLaughlin with its findings in December and gave her two choices. One demanded she sign a settlement agreement acknowledging she violated the conflict of interest section of Ohio Ethics Law, accept a letter of reprimand, and assure that Baker resigned. The other was to contest the findings and have the matter referred to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutors Office. She took choice one, signing the settlement agreement. She noted that Baker had proactively resigned when they learned about the ethics complaint last summer. (See settlement agreement at the bottom of this post.) As any motorist nabbed in Linndale would tell you, thats a heck of a deal. Sign here and be on your way. No fines, no fees, no problem. But when I asked the mayor about her settlement agreement, she didnt sound like she agreed with much in it, starting with the crux of the case, that she hired Baker. I dont think that I hired him, she told me. All of this was very out in the open. Council knew we had a relationship before they confirmed him. So, wait, council hired him? I appointed him to the position and council confirmed him, she said. This was semantics that harkened back to It depends on what the definition of is is. I quoted this section of the settlement agreement back to the mayor: Ashlee McLaughlin admits that when she hired Baker, whom she has a personal and financial relationship with, as the Villages prosecutor, she violated the conflict of interest provision of the Ethics Law. She not only disagreed with the hiring part, she disagreed with the part about violating any laws. I dont think, at that time, I did anything wrong, she told me, noting that the two werent living together or married and that she didnt gain financially from any commingled funds because the flow of money does not flow from him to me, it flows from me to him. There is money that goes back and forth, although the percentage must be 95 percent me to him. Simply, I make more money than him. Why, then, did Baker resign as soon as word of the complaint reached them? Her thought process, she said, was, Hey, theres been a complaint filed. Lets solve this problem. And based on the settlement agreement, it worked. I truly dont think (hiring Baker) was a mistake, but the outcome of him resigning is there is no allegation. And there is no allegation that the city was in any way affected financially,'' McLaughlin said. Drivers, this may feel akin to trying to talk your way out of a ticket when a trooper pulls you over. Except in Linndale, the cameras dont care about your stories. Weapons under disability, Interstate 480: On Feb. 16, police stopped a driver for an equipment violation. The driver was found to be operating under suspension and in possession of marijuana. A firearm was located underneath the driver's set. A Cleveland man was arrested and booked into Lorain County Jail and held without bond on charges of having weapons under disability, improper handling of firearms in a vehicle, possessing a defaced firearm and a controlled substance and driving an unsafe vehicle. Drug investigation, Lear Nagle Road: On Feb. 10, an Avon Lake woman was cited for possession of marijuana after police investigated a suspicious vehicle on private property after the business was closed. Theft, Performance Lane: Officers were dispatched for a reported theft on Feb. 4. A woman reported that the prior week an unknown man had entered her car while she was working. Information and a surveillance video were obtained for a report. Warrant arrest, Sugar Ridge Road: A man was taken into custody after a traffic stop on Feb. 10. He had an active warrant for his arrest and was found to be in possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Theft, Greenlawn Drive: A worker reported several tools stolen from a worksite on Feb. 6. Possession, Lorain Road: On Feb. 20, a Lodi man was stopped for driving erratically. Upon further investigation, the man was arrested and charged with felony possession of heroin and controlled substances and misdemeanor possession of marijuana and drug abuse instruments. Theft, Center Ridge Road: After a short foot pursuit, a Westlake man was arrested and charged with theft and resisting arrest on Feb. 17. If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page. NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio - Drunken driving, Dover Center Road: An officer at 8 p.m. Feb. 12 saw a car strike a curb on Dover Center Road, turn onto Marcie Lane and then drive onto a tree lawn and nearly strike a fire hydrant. The officer stopped the car, noticed what he believed was an odor of alcohol on the driver, and noticed his eyes were glassy. The man pleaded with officers to let him travel the short distance to his home. An officer asked the man to step out of his car to perform field sobriety tests. The officer noted in his report that the man appeared unsteady on his feet and had difficulty following the officer's instructions. The driver declined to perform field sobriety tests. Police charged the man with operating a vehicle while impaired, refusing a blood alcohol test, failure to control and driving under suspension. Possession of marijuana paraphernalia, Brookpark Road: An officer stopped a car at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 11 because he recognized the driver had her license under suspension. The officer also noticed she failed to stop at a stop sign before turning onto Lorain Road. The officer said he noticed the smell of marijuana as he approached the car. Police found a marijuana grinder inside the car. Police charged the female driver with driving under suspension and possession of marijuana drug paraphernalia. Disorderly conduct, Country Club Boulevard: Police responded at 4:54 a.m. Feb. 11 to LaQuinta Inn to a report of an intoxicated female causing a disturbance and refusing to leave. Police found the suspect sitting in a car in front of the main entrance to the hotel. Police took the woman into custody on a traffic warrant from Rocky River police. Officers noticed a smell of alcohol on the suspect and she told officers she thought the time was before midnight when it was nearly 5 a.m. North Olmsted police are charging the woman with disorderly conduct by intoxication. Shoplifting, Brookpark Road: Police Feb. 9 charged a husband and wife with misdemeanor theft after they were accused by Walmart security of shoplifting. A security officer said she observed the couple go through a self-checkout line and bag but not scan 25 items valued at more than $107 and then try to leave the store with the items. Possession of marijuana, Brookpark Road: An officer arrested a suspect about 6:30 a.m. Feb. 9 after spotting the subject in the parking lot of a retail store. The officer knew the suspect was wanted on active warrants for criminal damaging and contempt of court. The officer, after confirming the warrants were still outstanding and that the driver's license was suspended, stopped the suspect's car and noticed the smell of marijuana. The officer recovered a small bag of marijuana and a marijuana cigar from the car. In addition to the warrants, police added new charges of driving under suspension and possession of marijuana. In addition, the man's father is charged with wrongful entrustment for allowing his son, whose license is suspended, to borrow the father's car. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Saturday's crime and courts comments section. CLEVELAND, Ohio Power outages have been reported across Northeast Ohio Sunday due to strong, whipping winds. The National Weather Service in Cleveland issued a High Wind Warning that is in effect through 7 a.m. Monday. Winds will be coming from the southwest at 25 to 35 mph, with gusts up to 65 mph. Tens of thousands of FirstEnergy customers in Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, Medina and Summit counties are without power as of 5:40 p.m. Cuyahoga County has the most affected customers, with about 16,700 reported outages. Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, Euclid and Solon each have more than 1,000 reported outages, according to FirstEnergys outage site. Several more communities have hundreds of customers without power. Fewer than 500 reported outages remain unfixed in Lake County as of Sunday evening. Elyria and North Ridgeville has the bulk of the power outages in Lorain County, with about 4,600 customers without power out of the roughly 6,000 outages in the county. In Medina County, there are still about 5,900 remaining outages; roughly 3,000 of those are in Medina. Summit Countys reported outages have fluctuated but currently show about 15,300 customers without power; the outage site shows more than 5,800 Akron customers without power and about 3,700 without electricity in Stow. Cleveland Public Power has also announced that it has reported outages on both East and West sides of town. There has been a high volume of outage reports, CPP wrote on its Twitter account. The Twitter account has also been providing detailed updates about which areas of the city have outages and which have had power restored. We are currently experiencing outages on the east and west sides of town. Crews are responding as quickly as possible. We also must remember high winds are dangerous. They will put safety first. @CityofCleveland ClevelandPublicPower (@clepublicpower) February 24, 2019 We understand that this is inconvenient, and we are doing our best to restore as quickly as possible, but keeping safety of our crews at the forefront. @CityofCleveland ClevelandPublicPower (@clepublicpower) February 24, 2019 Working on clearing debris to make repairs. We will update with more as we know it.@CityofCleveland ClevelandPublicPower (@clepublicpower) February 24, 2019 The National Weather Service advises that travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Additionally, all outdoor loose property should be secured so that it does not blow away. This post will be updated throughout the day Sunday. Check back for the latest. CLEVELAND, Ohio Ohio isnt the only state concerned about vulnerable seniors. Minnesota tackled financial elder abuse in 2012 by establishing a Conservator Account Auditing Program (CAAP). It created an online system for uploading records of court-appointed conservators and hired a team of auditors to periodically review them. A related initiative is called the Conservator Account Review Program (CARP). According to Minnesota Judicial Branch Audit Manager Jamie Majerus, roughly 4,800 Minnesotans had assets under conservatorship in 2018 that were monitored by the programs. The value of these assets totalled $950 million. In both programs, professionals supervised by certified fraud examiners oversee wards finances. CAAP audits all conservator-managed accounts after the first year and all accounts with assets exceeding $10,000 every four years. CARP routinely audits all conservator-managed accounts, regardless of size, and can refer those accounts to CAAP if it spots potential problems. After the audit, judges get an account review report summarizing the auditors findings and recommendations. A similar document is provided to the judge before conservatorship hearings. One expert calls it the model for an auditing system. Nevada addressed guardianship abuse after a fraud case drew national attention. Professional guardian April Parks used her court-appointed position to isolate and financially exploit more than 150 people in Las Vegas before she was caught. She got the maximum sentence of 16-40 years in prison after pleading guilty last November. Nevadas reform efforts since have made it a national example, said Rick Black, director of the Center for Estate Administration Reform. In 2017, the Nevada Supreme Court created the Permanent Guardianship Commission, made up of judges, advocates and lawyers, to oversee and improve the states guardianship practices. Wards must be present at a hearing, if physically able, and must have legal representation. A proposed ward can hire his or her own lawyer, but many are appointed by the court through legal aid centers. Now, protected persons and proposed protected persons have trained lawyers fighting for what they want, not what everyone thinks is in their best interest, said Jim Berchtold, who leads the guardianship advocacy program at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada. Berchtold believes that a lawyer independent from the probate system can best serve wards as an impartial advocate. Even if a protected person is unable to express his or her wishes, the mere presence of an attorney to represent them helps to ensure compliance with the statutes and dissuades financial exploitation and other abuses, he said. Nevada also created a Guardianship Compliance Office, which supports district probate courts by reviewing cases and performing investigations upon request. It can investigate the health and welfare of a protected person, locate guardians the court has lost contact with and run forensic audits if a judge is concerned about accounting for a wards assets. Before, the court didnt have those resources to dig in and investigate, said Guardianship Compliance Manager Kate McCloskey. We have one district court that calls our audits liquid gold. Nevadas Guardianship Complaince Office also operates a hotline for anyone who has questions about guardianship or needs help reporting guardianship abuse. Berchtold and McCloskey said Nevadas 2017 Protected Persons Bill of Rights was another major step forward. It includes the right to be educated about guardianships, to participate in developing plans that will affect the wards future and to remain as independent as possible. Editors note: This story is part of a series on guardianship for the Ohio Center for Investigative Journalism. The second installment will examine how Ohio courts and communities are collaborating to provide responsible guardianship in the face of ever-increasing demand. CLEVELAND, Ohio Ohio has struggled to care for vulnerable seniors, and its getting worse. The states probate courts are responsible for creating and monitoring guardianships of the frail elderly, balancing freedom and protection. They are already strained. And yet, between 2010 and 2030, the number of Ohioans over 65 is projected to rise by half, from 1.6 million to 2.4 million. Over the next seven years, the number of Alzheimers patients in the state is projected to rise by 13.6 percent. Authorities dont even claim to know how many guardianship abuse cases are out there. Once a guardianship is imposed, there are few safeguards in place to protect against individuals who choose to abuse the system, wrote the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging in its 2018 report on guardianship. Few states are able to report accurate or detailed guardianship data. Since 2015, Ohio probate courts have been required to monitor complaints and have a response system in place. While this information can be requested by the public, no single agency tracks it across the state. Some counties keep tabs on the wellbeing of wards through visits from court investigators or volunteer visitors. In others, the guardian is the only person who reports the condition of the ward back to the probate court. A study by the Scripps Gerontology Center found that while most courts have investigators, only 28% of them said that monitoring guardianship is a regular part of their job. Just one in four Ohio probate courts have at least one full-time investigator on staff. I think one of the major issues that every county is experiencing is a lack of funding for these services, said Amy Restorick Roberts, who studies guardianship and teaches at the Scripps Gerontology Center. Monitoring and oversight are critical steps that are very difficult to devote resources to if counties are strapped financially. Restorick Roberts said that some smaller and rural counties still lack information management systems to help track general guardianship information. In her survey of 55 Ohio probate courts, only six counties could provide statistics on the reason adults were placed under guardianship. We need to have a better tracking system of who is involved and what their needs are and to ensure that their best interests are taken into consideration, she said. We have a real challenge in terms of making sure that these individuals are being served appropriately when we cant even track and identify who they are and what their situation really entails. Adults who cannot care for themselves due to a mental impairment can be declared legally incompetent and thus become a ward of the state. A legal guardian can be a person, corporation or organization with the authority to make personal, financial or property decisions for an individual who lacks the capacity to do so. Being a guardian is pretty much like being a parent, said Judge Randy Rogers of the Butler County Probate Court. Its a tremendous responsibility. Ohio boosts protections Before the summer of 2015, guardians were not legally obligated even to visit their wards.It was kind of a sad state of affairs, said Jack R. Kullman, the director of Franklin Countys Guardianship Service Board. Now, a guardian must meet with the prospective ward at least once before being appointed and a minimum of four times a year afterward. The 2015 updates also require guardians to pass a background check and take a course offered by the Ohio Supreme Court before being appointed. Continuing education courses are now mandatory. These courses encourage guardians to consider the desires and preferences of wards whenever possible. Even though the guardian may be actually making the final decision, the individual under guardianship should be involved to the extent they can in the decision-making process, said David English, a professor at University of Missouri School of Law who specializes in guardianship. Generally, he added, the aim is to banish the view that the person is totally incompetent and now I make all the decisions for you. But even now, only 9 percent of Ohios probate courts require that the ward be present for an initial court hearing, if able. Adult wards have no rights guaranteed under Ohio law. A wards bill of rights was initially part of the Ohio legislatures reform bill, House Bill 50, but that section was dropped before the bill was passed. And the reforms have not been free. Judge Randy Rogers of the Butler County Probate Court, which oversees about 1,000 guardianship cases, said his court filed 20% more documents from just two new mandated forms. Its a lot of work for probate courts, and its a lot of work that was created without any increase in resources, said Rogers. His staff is still working on tracking down all the guardians appointed before the change, to make sure theyve taken the course. Despite the challenges, Rogers said he believes the new requirements will have a positive impact, provided the courts embrace them. Was it good for us, to help us focus on what would make things better? Yes, it was good, and a lot of work went into it, he said. Now the job is for us in the probate courts to implement these changes. Costly cases Even after the reforms, contentious cases can be costly for the ward, partly for lack of a mediation program. The courts are the only remedy, and theyre expensive. Legal fees pile up during arguments over who should be appointed guardian. Wards can lose a considerable amount of money in a legal battle over who gets control over their lives, a battle in which they have little to no say. Cases can be expensive for the court system, too. Overburdened Ohio courts can be particularly overwhelmed when family members disagree on the proper way to care for loved ones who cant care for themselves. In April 2013, Fourough Bakhtiar, an Alzheimers patient, went to lunch with her daughter, Jaleh Presutto. She never returned to the house of her husband, Mehdi Saghafi. Ten days later, Bakhtiar signed a document giving Presutto power of attorney. Bakhtiar had originally filed for divorce in 1988 but later dropped the case. Soon after she went to live with Presutto, she filed for divorce again. It was granted in October, 2014, after 50 years of marriage. Two neurologists who examined Bakhtiar in May of 2013 said dementia made her vulnerable to exploitation. The question of her care has been argued the courts in Lorain and Cuyahoga County for six years. The court removed Presutto as a guardian in 2016, after she pleaded guilty to misappropriating money from her sons school district. Rather than install another member of the divided family as a guardian, the courts turned to a lawyer, Zachary Simonoff. He supported Bakhtiars petition to end her marriage. He said that while she was incompetent as a matter of law, her dementia did not bar her from expressing her wishes. He also said, in a court filing, that Bakhtiar had said she wanted nothing to do with her husband prior to her continued decline, that her ex husband had done little to support her financially, and that he had failed to return her property. Her sons disagreed. They told Eye on Ohio that they believed their mother was unduly influenced by Presutto, who, they argued, wanted access to the funds from a hefty divorce settlement. They also told Eye on Ohio that the lawyers involved in Bakhtiars care have supported the divorce because they profit from the legal fees. Simonoff replied that the Saghafis the father and sons oppose the divorce because they want their father to keep the settlement money. He said the familys appeals are to blame for the legal fees billed to Bakhtiars estate. If they would stop suing the guardianship, there would be a severe drop off in the money thats going to attorneys, he said. I couldnt care less about the money, said Jamsheed Saghafi, one of the sons. I want my mom returned. If [the attorneys] want the money, go ahead and burn it all. Its been years since Bakhtiar last saw her sons. The court has ordered that Mehdi Saghafi not contact his ex-wife. The rest of the family is welcome to visit, says Simonoff, provided they give him one business days notice. Jamsheed Saghafi said the family wont visit her until his father is allowed to join them, but they will continue to appeal the case. Editors note: This story is part of a series on guardianship for the Ohio Center for Investigative Journalism. The second installment will examine how Ohio courts and communities are collaborating to provide responsible guardianship in the face of ever-increasing demand. This series of stories was funded by a grant from the Ohio News Media Foundation MEDINA, Ohio When Parviz Boodjeh opened the first Discount Drug Mart in 1969, there was almost nothing he wouldnt carry. He loved scouring importers inventory and going on buying trips, looking for merchandise he thought his customers might like. His early stores carried lawnmowers, vacuum cleaners, even lumber. That spirit of offering the unexpected permeates Discount Drug Mart stores today, where shoppers might come across all kinds of things they wouldnt see in other drug stores: Fresh produce and frozen foods, pet foods and auto supplies, home health care products, beer and wine, board games and video rentals, hardware and paint supplies, and fishing and hunting licenses. Now run by Boodjehs children, Discount Drug Mart has thrived for nearly 50 years (the company will officially celebrate its anniversary on April 15) despite heavy competition from national chain drug stores and mass discounters. By targeting value shoppers who are more frugal than fancy, Drug Mart expanded to 74 stores from Ashtabula to Sandusky, and now employs more than 3,700 Ohioans, including 225 pharmacists. President John Gans, who started as a 19-year-old stock boy at the North Olmsted store more than 40 years ago, said Parviz Boodjeh was the hardest-working person at the company, the first one in the office every morning, and the last one to leave. He instilled that in all of us, and set an example," he said. We all learned the business from the ground up from him. He would always tell us to treat customers the way you would like to be treated, always to help out and treat them like family, said Dave Boodjeh, chief administrative officer and Boodjehs eldest son. He said the original Discount Drug Mart was almost exactly the same concept as the stores today: A wide variety of discounted goods, open for business from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, including holidays. His father loved visiting the stores, talking to the employees and greeting customers. The company is opening three more stores this year: In Bainbridge Township, Broadview Heights, and Lisbon in Columbiana County. And in Summit, Lorain, and Tuscawaras Counties, Discount Drug Mart now gives anyone filling a prescription for opioids a free tamper-evident disposal bag that renders any leftover medications useless and unable to be misused. Doug Boodjeh, chief operating officer and Boodjehs youngest child, said his father was the first drug store to carry frozen food, the first to offer fresh produce on top of other staples like milk, bread and eggs, and the first to stock home medical supplies and equipment alongside the prescriptions. He remembers making Easter baskets and filling them with jelly beans and candy to sell in the stores. Drug Mart still assembles and sells its own Easter baskets. Middle brother Don is the chief executive officer. Their sister Diana Boodjeh Burke is a management training coordinator, and their sister Debra Boodjeh Calevich is still involved in the company, but not as actively as her siblings. Not only did their father not show them any favoritism when they worked in his stores, he actually cut Dougs pay in half when he injured his right arm and had to wear a cast. Parviz Boodjeh, born in Tehran, Iran, came to the United States at age 21 planning to study medicine. But when he realized that becoming a doctor was going to be too expensive, he switched to pharmacy. He earned his pharmacy degree from the University of Toledo, which later awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2008. He worked at and eventually became general manager at Jay Drug Store in Cleveland. In 1969, married with five young children, Boohjeh struck out on his own and opened the first Discount Drug Mart in Elyria. His customers quickly embraced the idea of a store that combined several retail concepts. By 1977, he had opened other Drug Marts in Amherst, Avon Lake, Brunswick, Lakewood, Medina and North Olmsted. When he died in 2015, Discount Drug Mart had grown to 72 stores. And up until 2009, the founder was still pulling shifts in the pharmacy of the Lakewood store, saying, You dont make money sitting in the office. Discount Drug Mart started offering an employee stock ownership program in 2018 to employees 21 and older who had worked at the company for a least one year for a minimum of 1,000 hours during the year. But the family maintains a controlling share of the company. Of the ESOP, CEO Don Boodjeh said: We wanted our employees to be rewarded with Drug Mart stock for all their hard work and to own their piece of the company. In addition to Parviz Boodjehs five children, six of his 17 grand-children are also working in various roles within the company. With stores that range from 25,000 to 30,000 square feet, they are larger than many chain drug stores but smaller than mass market discounters like Walmart and Target. Discount Drug Mart stores carry about 30,000 items, more than twice the industry average for stores that usually focus on health and beauty items, Gans said. Discount Drug Mart, on the other hand, seems to offer a different assortment in every aisle, the origins of the company jingle that Discount Drug Mart saves you the runaround We have everything you need. On a recent visit, the Medina store was selling candy and decorations for Valentines Day, St. Patricks Day and Easter, as well as clothes for Browns, Cavaliers, and Ohio State fans. Boodjeh was always thinking about what was ahead: Upcoming seasons and holidays and what items he should carry to stay ahead of his competitors. Boodjeh also had a knack for anticipating where to locate future stores. He would buy vacant properties predicting they would become busy traffic areas, and decades later, a highway exit ramp or housing development would sprout up nearby. Retail expert Robert Antall, a principal in Columbus Consulting based in Columbus, said: Retailing today is all about providing the customer with a customer experience that brings them back over and over again. Retailers have many different formulas for providing this, but it all relates to satisfying and exceeding customers expectations (a memorable and dependable experience). At Discount Drug Mart, they do a good job of understanding their local customer and satisfying their needs, as opposed to the large drug store chains that are mostly cookie cutter impersonal stores. They focus on the needs and wants of a lower- to middle-income customer, sometimes called the value customer, pretty much the same customer that shops at Family Dollar, Marcs, et al. They offer many convenience and spontaneous purchase items that dont necessarily compete with the online retailers. CEO Don Boodjeh said via email, Were more than just a drugstore. He said the company is like a neighborhood general store. One customer asked for birch beer, a soft drink that isnt a very sought-after item. The store found where to buy it and stocked it the following week. We believe doing this will bring customers back and they will also let their neighbors know about our willingness to provide them with what they need. Antall said the company has also done a good job of picking convenient locations and dont seem to waste a lot of money on advertising. Finally, being privately owned enables management to make decisions quickly and adhere to a common vision without the pressures of reporting quarterly results. Gans said the clearest sign that theyre making people happy are the customers often husbands dispatched to find things like artichoke hearts, aluminum foil pans or raspberries who tell him they tried several other stores before coming to Discount Drug Mart. The look of relief on their faces when I tell them we have it is priceless, he said. Discount Drug Mart: Founded: 1969, by pharmacist Parviz Boodjeh. First store was in Elyria. Owners: Boodjehs children, including CEO Don, Chief Administrative Officer Dave, and Chief Operating Officer Doug. Retail Stores: 74, from Ashtabula to Sandusky to Columbus. Employees: More than 3,700, including 225 pharmacists. Headquarters: 211 Commerce Drive, Medina. Website: https://discount-drugmart.com/ As most readers will be well aware, Daks Over Normandy is the umbrella organization arranging for the assembly of several dozen Douglas DC-3/C-47 transports to take part in the celebrations surrounding the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings in both England and France this May/June. They have just announced the route which the aircraft will fly during the events, and we thought we would pass along the details of their press release below Daks Over Normandy has announced the route that will take the formation of C-47 and DC-3s from Duxford airfield to Caen Carpiquet in France. The event will be one of a number taking place in Normandy involving several organizations to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Operation Overlord. Daks over Normandy is primarily focused on recreating D-Days paratrooper airdrop over Normandy. There will be a massive group jump of 250 reenactors from the Douglas transports set f0r June 5th. The group of about 35 Douglas DC-3/C-47 aircraft is expected to include 18 examples coming from the United States under the banner of the D-Day Squadron. The airplanes are set to take off from Duxford Airfield, near Cambridge, England at around 13:40 on Wednesday June 5th. The aerial transport fleet will then set course for Caen-Carpiquet Airport in Normandy, France. On its way to the French coast, the flight will pass over Colchester, Southend-on-Sea, Maidstone and Eastbourne before heading out over the English Channel. As they reach France, they will pass over Le Havre and then make their way to the historic British Drop Zone at Ranville. There the skies will fill with paratroopers, jumping from their transports in period-correct uniforms and round military parachutes to honor the thousands of paratroopers who did the same, under far more trying conditions 75 years earlier. The airplanes are expected to arrive at Caen-Carpiquet Airport around 16.45 where they will stay on display through June 8th. The American Fleet Blue Spruce Route The D-Day Squadron, made up of the entire American-based fleet of C-47s participating in the Daks Over Normandy flyover, will depart and travel together on the so-called Blue Spruce Route, always staying within radio contact of land-based communications. This flight plan traverses the North Atlantic, allowing for fuel stops and guidance from ground-based navigational aids on the landmasses located along the route. Each site was selected for its history as an active airfield during World War II, one that would have been a stopping point for these historic aircraft during their military service life. The Squadron will depart from Oxford, Connecticut (KOXC); stop to refuel in Goose Bay Airport (CYYR) in Newfoundland, Canada; refuel at Narsarsuaq Airport (BGBW) in southern Greenland; refuel at Reykjavik Airport (BIRK) in Iceland; and refuel a final time at Prestwick Airport (EPIK) on the Western coast of Scotland. The fleet will then make the next leg of this epic trip with a jaunt to Duxford Airfield (EGSU) north of London where they will position themselves with the entire international C-47 fleet for the final leg to Caen-Carpiquet Airport (LFRK) in Normandy, France as part of the Daks Over Normandy event on June 5, 2019. For more information visit www.daksovernormandy.com The Council of Chief State School Officers has launched an effort with five states that is aimed at improving principals knowledge of supporting students with disabilities. The Advancing Inclusive Principal Leadership State Initiative is working with Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Mississippi and Ohio. Partners in the effort include the federally-funded CEEDAR Center (Collaboration on Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform) and the Oak Foundation, a philanthropy that supports students with learning differences. Principals have long said, in surveys and interviews, that they want to have deeper knowledge of special education and creating inclusive school environments. The five states in this initiative were selected based on their demonstrated commitment to helping principals in this area. And the work should have a schoolwide positive impact, said Carissa Moffat Miller, the executive director of CCSSO, in a statement. Inclusive principals create strong school cultures and empower staff to better serve all students. The initiative is still in its early stages. The participating states are right now completing self-assessments of the programs that they have and their priority areas. In April, they plan to meet to draft plans of action. One area of focus will be supporting principals in schools that are targeted for support under the Every Student Succeeds Act . States are also taking a close look at their principal-preparation programs as part of this initiative. Debra Burson, the director of educator preparation for the Mississippi Department of Education, said the state will be looking at mentorship programs for principals among other efforts. Principals often come into their positions having no training in special education, she said. We all want administrators to be very knowledgeable about what is needed for our students with disabilities and differentiating instruction for all students, Burson said. They need this knowledge in order for them to be more support for the teachers. In Ohio, the initiative connects well with the states own work on principal and inclusive leadership, said Kimberly Monachino, Ohios director of its office for exceptional children. It also provides an opportunity to pull in other related departments, such as those overseeing teacher licensure, curriculum and assessment, and educator effectiveness. Pulling together collectively is just creating that stronger base, Monachino said. Were all marching forward in the same direction. Related Stories: for the latest news on special education policies, practices, and trends. LAKEWOOD, Ohio - Bank robbery, Madison Avenue: Police responded about 1:47 p.m. Feb. 11 to a report of a robbery at the Fifth Third Bank. A man who did not display a weapon or a note left the bank on foot. Officers tracked footprints to Warren Road, where a car may have been parked. Breaking and entering, W. 117th Street: Police responded Feb. 11 to a report of a breaking and entering. Money was missing from a safe at the Take 5 Oil Change, according to a police report. Grand theft of a vehicle, Detroit Avenue: A man reported to police Feb. 10 that he had parked his car in a city lot and returned to find it missing. Impaired driving and vandalism, Bunts Road: Police responded at 12:30 a.m. Feb. 10 to a caller's complaint that a man had slashed his tires and verbally threatened him. An officer stopped a suspect's pickup truck on Warren Road and charged the suspect with operating a vehicle while impaired and vandalism. Impaired driving, Madison Avenue: Officers arrested a suspect for impaired driving after finding him at 3:11 a.m. Feb. 10 apparently passed out behind the wheel in a left turn lane, according to a police report. Disorderly conduct, Detroit Avenue: Officers arrested a woman about 3 a.m. Feb. 10 for criminal damaging and disorderly conduct while intoxicated after she was accused of breaking out a window at the Around the Corner Bar. Impaired driving, W. 117th Street: Officers about 1:30 a.m. Feb. 9 arrested a driver near W. 117th Street and Franklin Boulevard for operating a vehicle while impaired. The car was towed from the scene. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Saturday's crime and courts comments section. CLEVELAND, Ohio-- Tonight the finest in acting and directing will be honored at the Academy Awards. Days earlier, Chicago prosecutors and police put the spotlight on what they alleged is one of the year's worst acting and directing performances by charging actor Jussie Smollett with disorderly conduct for filing a false police report about an alleged hate crime against him. Smollett had claimed that on one of the coldest evenings of the year in Chicago, he was jumped by two masked men who spewed homophobic and racial slurs while they beat him. Then shouted "This is MAGA Country" as they tossed a noose around his neck and doused him with bleach. Chicago police contend their investigation uncovered the incident was staged and directed by Smollett with the help of two brothers who worked as extras on Smollett's show "Empire" and as his trainers. Smollett staged the attack as a publicity stunt to increase his profile in order to increase his pay on the show, said Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. It's being reported that some members of the "Empire" cast believe Smollett may have been trying to curry favor with "Empire" creator and producer Lee Daniels. On Instagram and on the set, Daniels had decried his cousin having been assaulted because he was gay. In past interviews Smollett has also boasted about being a hard and tough critic of President Trump. That also shouldn't be discounted as possible motivating factor. Smollett was released on 100,000 bound and still contends his hate crime report was not a hoax. The police, however, detailed what appears to be a solid investigation that produced solid evidence. Cameras and Hate Crime Hoax Co-stars led to Smollett charge. Ironically, Smollett, who makes his living acting before cameras was charged as the result of surveillance cameras. Johnson said cameras on the streets and in taxi cabs led them to brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo, who allegedly carried out the attack at Smollett's direction. A search of the Osundairo brothers residences and their and Smollett's phone records, also incriminated the three men. The hoax that Smollett and the Osundairo brothers are accused of acting out does a disservice to true victims of hate crimes in the minority and LGBT communities. It's a repugnant callous disregard of the horrorify history of lynching in the United States. In fact, one of the things that first made police suspicious of Smollett's story, was that he still had the rope draped around his neck, 40 minutes after the incident when police arrived. If the attack wasn't staged, what African-American man, knowing the history of lynching, would keep a rope around his neck for even a second after he was free of his attackers? Victims of Smollett's alleged Hate Crime Hoax: Minorities, LGBT, Chicago, Trump and his supporters. I've heard Smollett boast about being a hard critic of Trump, but what Smollett's now accused of has made Trump and his supporters among the victims of Smollett's alleged hate crime hoax. While Trump has blown the racist dog whistles plenty of times, the KKK didn't put him in The White House, Independent voters, disgruntled Democrats and former Obama voters wanting economic change did. Smollett has just thrown the lowest denominator of Trump's base red meat. Harris, Booker and Trump had condemned the attack before it was confirmed Conservatives who are criticizing Kamala Harris and Corey Booker for being too quick to condemn Smollett's attack before it was confirmed, should remember that President Trump also condemned the attack when it was first reported. I can't blame them. Who would think an African-American male would stage such a vile racist attack on himself ? Chicago didn't need Smollett adding to its problems Perhaps the biggest victim is the city of Chicago and it's police department. USA TODAY reports that during the time Smollett's report was being investigated there were 18 homicides and dozens of shootings. "Among the victims of gun violence were 1-year-old Dejon Irving, who was shot in the head on Feb. 7 as he sat in a car with his siblings and grandmother. The boy remains in critical condition. Police believe the assailants were targeting his mother." Police Superintendent Johnson contrasted that amount of media attention given Smollett. "I just wish that the families of gun violence in this city got this much attention, because that's who deserves the amount of attention we're giving this particular incident." Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that didn't involve staged hate crimes. His dream is personified by the work and achievements of actors and directors like Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Lee Daniels, Donald Glover, Spike Lee and Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. Guest columnist Claude Goldenberg was until recently a professor of education at Stanford University. He grew up in Memphis, Tenn., and is a former middle school and first-grade teacher. I hope readers will forgive this coming from California, but Ohioans must come to terms with President Donald Trumps lies and deceit and how they are impacting Ohio, the Midwest and the entire country. Consider, for example, what an Ohio worker laid off from the Lordstown factory told a TV interviewer shortly after General Motors announced plant closings in Ohio and elsewhere. He said Trump had told the crowd at a rally last year that jobs would be coming back and home values going up. Don't sell your homes, Trump said to cheers from the crowd. Well, the man said, I bought a house two miles away from where I worked. [Trump] said jobs are going to be pouring back in. I lost my job. It just kind of sounded like he was speaking to me. Or workers at the Carrier factory in neighboring Indiana, whose jobs Trump claimed to have saved. The United Steelworkers local chief told Popular Mechanics : Every worker in the plant went in there knowing there were 1,100 union jobs at the plant. So every one of them thinks, my job is safe. But soon we knew that was wrong. These closures and cutbacks are not isolated events. The website MarketWatch reported in August last year that growing concern about self-inflicted woundssuch as trade uncertainties and regulatory uncertainties on emissions may stall or even reverse strong growth in manufacturing. Three months later, the outlook was worse: The Midwest economy is about to get pummeled again . The author, an economics professor and director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., wrote that the worst is yet to come as both tariffs and their lagging effects will plague us well into 2019. In case anyone missed the connection, Trump has proudly tweeted: I am a Tariff Man . Recently, the Institute for Supply Management reported the biggest monthly drop in manufacturing activity since 2008. The point is not whether Trump was directly responsible. The point is that Trump has and will always say or do or promise anything to get what he wants, regardless of its impact on others. Yes, all politicians exaggerate, make false promises, even lie. But none match Trumps relentless lies and misrepresentations. Just think about his lying to our troops to their faces about the biggest raise he got them in more than 10 years. Not surprisingly, Trump surrounds himself with liars. Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates and George Papdopoulos have all admitted lying to investigators. Roger Stone was just indicted for lying. Tom Price, Sean Spicer, Scott Pruitt and Ryan Zinke were forced out of his administration for lying, corruption or ineptitude. To those who thought, as did the laid-off Lordstown worker, that Trump was speaking to me, please consider this: Was Trump speaking to you, or did he sell you a bill of goods? How you answer this question will help determine the outcome of the 2020 election and our countrys future. Have something to say about this topic? Use the comments to share your thoughts, and stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using Notification Settings (in blue) just below. Readers are invited to submit Opinion page essays on topics of regional or general interest. Send your 500-word essay for consideration to Ann Norman at anorman@cleveland.com. Essays must include a brief bio and headshot of the writer. Essays rebutting todays topics are also welcome. CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Despite some high-profile cases fueling perceptions to the contrary, violent crime in the city dropped over 28 percent last year. That covers four categories: murder (two homicides and one attempt in 2018); rape (12, down from 16 in 2017); robbery (48, down from 79) and aggravated assault (31, compared to 34 in '17). The 2018 annual report from the police department also showed overall property crimes declining last year by nearly 20 percent, from 884 total in 2017 to 714 in 2018. This included burglaries plummeting by nearly 50 percent, from 125 in 2017 to 63 home break-ins last year. Since joining the force in 1990, "it's the lowest number we've ever had," Mecklenburg told City Council on Feb. 19, adding later that, "we've never been down into double digits on burglaries," at least since 2011. Property crimes also include overall thefts, which dipped to 552 last year from 659 in 2017, auto thefts, declining by four to 95 in 2018 and arson, which did show a rise from one in 2017 to four last year. And the 2018 annual police report did show some sharp increases in some other categories, starting with the volume of calls handled, over 49,000 last year, up 8,500 from 2017. There were 5,500 more traffic stops and a resulting increase in the number of warning tickets issued. "Part of what we're doing out there is being visible and proactive," Mecklenburg said, crediting University Hospitals with providing grants in 2017 and '18 that helped put impaired driving arrests at 111 and 112 in those respective years, up from 89 in 2016. Those UH grants provide reimbursement for overtime, and Mecklenburg, who celebrated her third year as chief earlier this month, plans to keep applying for them in the future. Arrests were up to 2,352 in 2018, nearly 200 more than the previous year and almost 300 more than 2,067 in 2016. Mecklenburg believes this may have contributed to the overall drop in violent and property crimes as well. "Some of this can be attributed to the number of officers and the number of arrests they're making," Mecklenburg told council. "Many times the perpetrators are repeat offenders, so when we arrest them, we're preventing future crimes from the same suspects." Another contributing factor is targeted patrols in certain areas showing an uptick in criminal activity. "We try to keep an eye on what areas are experiencing a high volume of crime," Mecklenburg said. "Then we target those areas with general duty and traffic enforcement patrols. Our officers have worked hard and put in a lot of effort." At Tuesday's (Feb. 19) council meeting, Vice Mayor Melissa Yasinow said that "seeing violent crime substantially down" across the city is "phenomenal news that should be shouted from the rooftops." City Communications and Public Engagement Director Mary Trupo noted that major crimes have been trending have been trending downward in recent years -- but nothing like 2018 turned out. "I, too, am impressed with the work our police department has done to make Cleveland Heights a safer place," Mayor Carol Roe said. Roe also asked about the issue of "perceptions in some neighborhoods that their crime has increased -- what can we do to dispel those kinds of concerns?" Mecklenburg said the department is working on putting together "heat maps" and overlays tracking both violent and property crimes, using Geographic Information System -- GIS -- mapping, as requested by Councilman Khalil Seren. And in response to a question from City Manager Tanisha Briley, Mecklenburg said crime was also down in the Noble neighborhood (north of Mayfield Road), although the perception may be otherwise, "because of a few well-publicized crimes." Last year, Roe formed an Immigration Task Force that had at least three police representatives on board, including Mecklenburg, to further research Cleveland Heights' "Welcoming City" designation, approved by council in 2017. Roe asked how many undocumented immigrants police came in contact with in 2018. "Criminally, none," Mecklenburg said. "There was at least one other from last year, but the reason we had contact with her was that her son was the victim of a crime." Local officials are now assisting her in obtaining what is know as a "U-Visa" or "non-immigrant status" extended to crime victims. Council was also impressed with the creation of the five-day Youth Police Academy last August that graduated 15 cadets ages 12-15 at no cost. In addition to a free lunch with officers, the program included K-9, SWAT team and bomb squad demonstrations, along with classes on the laws of arrest, search and seizure, evidence processing and "teens' perceptions of their rights," as well as bike patrols. Given the response from youth and their parents, police are planning another academy this year. Yasinow also applauded Mecklenburg's efforts to regionally expand the bomb squad through the Eastside Department's Group Enforcement (EDGE) team. Councilman Mike Ungar asked about the "fairly precipitous" decline in parking ticket revenue totals that were as high as $672,000 in 2012, but only $422,000 last year, a quarter-million-dollar drop. Mecklenburg said that police only wrote about 2,500 fewer tickets last year than 2017 and actually about 3,000 more than the previous year. That was the year a great deal of free parking was allowed in the Cedar-Fairmount district due to road construction and gas line installation. Further research will also be done on the effects of the city's new smartphone parking app's for meters. "If people are taking advantage of the parking app's, there could be a decline in the number of expired meters," Mecklenburg noted. In 2018, Cleveland Heights also received the only "Pro Patria" public sector award in Ohio for providing employer support and flexible scheduling to members of the National Guard and military reserve. The annual report also showed a slight decrease in motor vehicle accidents from 978 in 2017 to 933 last year. There were also 11 accidents each involving bikes and pedestrians. This is down overall from a high of nearly 1,400 accidents in 2016, when there were only seven involving bikes but 19 pedestrians who were struck by cars. With 21 bites reported in 2018, overall animal calls were up by about 300 last year with 1,259 total, over 1,000 of which were general complaints. "And these were not just dogs but also deer and coyotes," Mecklenburg said, adding that "we respond to all of them, because we know people are concerned about those incidents." BEREA, Ohio -- A revised sketch plan for a new Baldwin Wallace University academic building was well received by Berea Planning Commission members at their Feb. 21 meeting. The plan incorporates a new location. BW sought for several months a conditional use permit for the project, which would have bordered a residential neighborhood at the intersection of East 5th Avenue and Front Street. The commission, however, rejected the university's request Dec. 20. The original plan did not comply with city building codes, including building setback requirements, minimum parking spaces and building size and scale. The proposed math/computer science/engineering building now will be located south of the observatory in the center of the university's north quad. "After the vote in December, we identified options we could pursue," said BW President Bob Helmer during the commission meeting. "Our attorney was encouraging us to legally challenge the vote and ... he made the comment that developers do it all the time. That was the comment that solidified for us that it was not the route we wanted to take because BW is not a developer. We are a part of this community. We're neighbors." Helmer indicated he would like construction to begin later this year. The building's 150-foot setback requirement is no longer an issue, with it now being proposed to sit more than 300 feet from the East 5th Avenue neighborhood. The 58,000-square-foot facility will have a new 140-space parking lot as well. A variance will be required, however, since the parking lot falls within the setback. There will be no curb cut (i.e. no entry) on East 5th Avenue, Helmer said. A low-wall university gateway would be constructed at the 5th Avenue/Front Street corner. "Seeing this (new sketch plan) exceeded my expectations," said commission member Daniel Smith. "Thank you for working with us." "No proposal is perfect, but this comes as close as you can get," added Mayor Cyril Kleem. University officials anticipate returning to Planning Commission with a formal proposal in April. 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 Moscow has not been negotiating a peace treaty with Japan on Tokyos terms, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday in an interview to Vietnams national broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV), Chinas CCTV and Phoenix TV, TASS reports. According to Russias top diplomat, solving such complicated tasks requires not only creating a proper atmosphere, but also filling economic, political and diplomatic relations with practical contents. "If we take a look at the real situation, [Japanese Prime Minister] Shinzo Abe, tells the parliament that he plans to solve the peace treaty issue on Japans terms. Frankly, I have no idea of where this opinion of his comes from," he said. "Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin, nor me, nor anyone else taking part in Russian-Japanese consultations has ever given our Japanese colleagues grounds for such statements," Lavrov continued. "The fact that on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Singapore Putin and Abe spoke of the need to speed up the work on a peace treaty on the basis of the 1956 declaration, testifies to the opposite: we are negotiating not on Japans terms, but on terms of this document." Lavrov said that in order for the peace treaty to be signed, Japan must recognize the results of World War II in their entirety, including Russias sovereignty over all islands of the Kuril Archipelago including the four islands of the Lesser Kuril Chain. "It is weird enough that our Japanese colleagues are not willing to accept the results of World War II the way they are sealed by the UN Charter. It says that everything done by the victorious powers is out of discussion," he said. "Even if the Japanese have their own interpretation of the San Francisco Peace Treaty and other documents related to this region, they had nevertheless ratified the UN charter, and it would be incorrect to withdraw their ratification now." You will receive 5-day a week delivery of the Citizen Tribune newspaper to your home or business, plus full, ad-free access to CitizenTribune.com as well as full access to the Electronic Edition of the newspaper. ONLY $13.99 per month for the first 3 months! Only $16.00 per month after promotional period. Or ONLY $169.99 for a full year Only $198.95 per year after promotional period. A. Staying local. Not ready to go far yet. B. Florida staycations to places within the state. C. Planning travel within the U.S. D. Booking the first cruise possible. E. Going overseas and abroad. Vote View Results Russia and the United States, apart from regular contacts via the deconfliction channel in Syria, have been also involved in closed consultations on various aspects of the Syrian conflict settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, Trend reported citing Sputnik. "I have already mentioned that we have contacts with American diplomats and the military. There is a so-called deconfliction channel on Syria to reduce risks of unintentional incidents. It works on a regular basis. There are also such consultations, which are not widely reported, but they continue with regard to various aspects of the Syrian settlement", Lavrov said in an interview with Vietnam Television, China Television and Phoenix Television in the run-up to his visits to China and Vietnam. According to the minister, such a dialogue is necessary to prevent unwanted incidents since the United States retains a military presence in Syria, albeit without the consent of the legitimate government. "Now it is all the more necessary, given the announcement that the United States will withdraw its troops from Syria. It is unclear how and when. Many actually doubt whether they will do it. However, such a dialogue is useful. It is heartening that the United States remains committed to the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 2254, the main meaning of which is that it is up to the Syrians to hold talks and decide without external pressure", he noted. Moscow is ready to continue providing modern weapons to Hanoi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Vietnams national broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV), Chinas CCTV and Phoenix TV, TASS reports. "Defense cooperation has always been playing an important role in our relations. We are ready to continue fulfilling Vietnams need for modern weapons to help ensure the countrys security and protect its sovereignty," Lavrov said, adding that Russia and Vietnam had also been effectively cooperating in the cyber security field. The Russian top diplomat pointed out that trade between the two countries had grown by more than 16% in 2018, exceeding $6 bln, as a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) had entered into force. Lavrov described relations between Moscow and Hanoi as strategic partnership. "We are very pleased with our relationship, we appreciate it and we can see that our Vietnamese friends feel the same," he said. The political warfare in the US hampers Washingtons relations with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Vietnams national broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV), Chinas CCTV and Phoenix TV, TASS reports. "I held a meeting with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo in Helsinki last year. We also talked on the phone a couple of times after that," he said. "We agreed to step up efforts to assess the current state of Russia-US relations," Lavrov added. According to the Russian top diplomat, although the two countries officials have held meetings and captured the artificial issues the Americans are creating, there has been no positive response as far as resolving these issues goes. "Their position remains unchanged: it was Russia that worsened relations so it has to change its ways. When such things are said at the Congress, I can understand it because a domestic political struggle is underway in which all is fair," Lavrov went on to say. "But when they use the same figures of speech during closed-door consultations, there is nothing left to do but conclude that our American counterparts are not ready for constructive cooperation yet," he noted. "Perhaps, diplomats - and they are bureaucrats too - can see what is going on among top officials, how they fight with each other and ruffle each others feathers, so they prefer to keep quiet and refrain from putting initiatives forward," the Russian foreign minister pointed out. "However, it has regrettably led to what happened to strategic stability, which is the most important area from the standpoint of global security," Lavrov emphasized. Kazakhstan will add new non-stop routes this year to Prague, Ulan Bator, Tokyo, Kazinform reported citing Turistik Kamkor corporate fund's press service. The first two flights will be oeparted by Scat air carrier. This May it will acquire two new Boeing aircrafts. The first flight to Ulan-Bator will be performed on June 2. The sales are already open, the message reads. Besides, Scat will resume its summer flights to Batumi, Krasnodar and Sochi. It will also fly to Yerevan and Mineralnye Vody. It is noteworthy, Azerbaijan air carrier plan to unveil Baku-Almaty-Baku flight. It will make a debut flight on April 2. It will fly an Airbus A319 twice a week on Tuesdays and Sundays. Russia's S7 will launch new flights en route Novosibirsk-Astana and Moscow-Semey. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido urged the international community to be ready to consider all options for settling the political crisis in Venezuela. "Todays events force make to make a decision: to officially announce to the international community that we should be open to all variants for liberating our country, which fights and will keep fighting," Guaido wrote in a Twitter post, TASS reports. "Pressure from the inside and from the outside plays the key role in the liberation," he added. On Saturday, the opposition tried to deliver foreign international aid to the country despite the official governments resistance. Fierce clashes between opposition activists and law-enforcement officers took place in several border regions. To date, several deaths were reported, and hundreds of people were injured. Russias total trade turnover saw a significant year-over-year growth of 17.5 percent to nearly $688 billion as of the end of 2018, according to data published by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development. The report showed that exports from Russia totaled some $450 billion, marking a surge of 25.6 percent, while imports saw a modest growth of 4.7 percent to some $238 billion. Share of exports increased to 65.4 percent against 61.1 percent in 2017 while the share of imports declined from 38.9 percent to 34.6 percent. Russias top five key trading partners of 2018 are Italy ($27 billion), Belarus ($34 billion), Netherlands ($47.2 billion), Germany ($59.6 billion), RT reports, adding that China tops this list with $108.3 billion, fixing a record growth of 24.5 percent. Exports of Russian goods to China reportedly increased by 44 percent and amounted to $56 billion. The growth occurred mostly in sales of crude oil, refined copper and petrochemicals, according to the Economy Ministry. Iran is calling the United States out on their support of Saudi Arabia. Iranian leadership is particularly critical because the United States is selling nuclear technology to the Saudis. They are so angry that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif went so far as to assert that the United States is exhibiting the highest levels of hypocrisy. As Newsmax reports, as part of his tirade against the United States the Iranian Foreign Minister argued that while the U.S. is extremely critical of Iran and their nuclear development, they look the other way when Saudi Arabia dismembers a journalist in Turkey. That incident, he said, is part of the United States' double standard. In a tweet Zarif wrote: "First a dismembered journalist; now illicit sale of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia fully expose #USHypocrisy." Zarif is not wrong. The U.S. sale of nuclear technology to the Saudis and the relative silence in response to the brutal execution of Jamal Khashoggi is indeed troubling. And while Congress on both sides of the aisle has made serious demands to investigate the murder, the Administration has not really pushed the issue. About the sale of nuclear technology to the Saudis here too Iran has a very good point. And Iran should, rightfully, be worried. On the other hand, there is a convincing argument for selling nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. The argument is that Iran itself is sprinting towards the attainment of nuclear weapons. And if that doesn't scare Congress, it should. In fact, the ongoing game of hide and seek that Iran has been playing with nuclear technology should be the only argument needed in favor of providing the Saudis with U.S. technology. As angry, upset, scared as they are, Iran is solely responsible for this countermove by the United States and Saudi Arabia. Iran and Saudi Arabia are arch enemies. The United States needs to keep Iran in check and wants to do them damage. The sale, under those circumstances, makes perfect diplomatic sense. And it might just save parts of the world from destruction. Once upon a time the glue that bound the United States and Saudi Arabia was oil. No more. Times have changed, needs have changed, the world has changed. But that doesn't mean that everything is better. There are still serious dangers lurking within this new alliance between the United States and the Saudis. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are not friends. That must be clear. They are allies on only a few certain issues and worlds apart in so many other ways. Take governing, minority rights, the equality of women, religion, and even access of information and freedom of expression to name a few. Not to mention the accountability of leaders to their citizens and equal protection under the law. Those are just a few of the major divides between the countries. Much of what the United States holds dear is not shared in any way by Saudi leaders. The ideals that are the essence of the character of the United States are an anathema to Saudi Arabia. The link between the United States and Saudi Arabia is a distrust of Iran. And in the world of international affairs, mutual interests dictate actions. The United States and Saudi Arabia have entered into an alliance, not a friendship. Iran is correct in pointing this out. Once the Saudi get the nuclear technology they want, there will be nothing to stop them from going off in directions that do not, in any way, segue with U.S. interests. Iran knows that well. They want everyone else to know it just as well. As the looming gray building imploded, crumbling into a pile of debris and dust, a crowd of onlookers cheered. Some wept. The televised blast Friday that leveled the Monaco building, the former home of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in Medellin, Colombia, erased a symbol of the citys past that many have tried to forget. In its place, the city is planning a memorial park to honor the victims of his drug cartels crimes. Today, that building falls and hope begins, President Ivan Duque of Colombia said in a televised statement. It is impossible to change the past, but you can build a better present and a better future. Escobar lived in the Monaco building for years until 1988, when rivals bombed it. The Escobar family abandoned the structure, and it has remained vacant ever since. But more than 25 years after Escobars death, the six-story building with a penthouse had still sparked heated debate, as city officials weighed the potential tourist draw of the site against the urge to move on from a painful past. The drug lords legacy has cast a shadow over Medellin, driven in part by new documentaries, television shows like the Netflix hit Narcos and books that have focused on Escobars life often neglecting the details of his victims and glorifying his legacy. In death, he has become something of a folk hero, for his meteoric rise from the working class to billionaire, and for his generosity to some, building houses and hospitals for the poor. Medellin, called the worlds most dangerous city by Time magazine in 1988, has seen violent crime plummet and has increasingly become a tourist destination. Some have capitalized on the citys history as a narcotics hot spot. Tour guides including Pablo Escobars top hit man, John Jairo Velasquez, known as Popeye take customers on walks through the cartels old haunts. Street vendors sell T-shirts emblazoned with Escobars face. But the tourist narrative often leaves out the impact of his bloody rise to power and the bribery, kidnappings and killings of anyone who dared defy the cartel. The mayor of Medellin, Federico Gutierrez, told local news outlet El Colombiano before the demolition that knocking down the structure was an important symbolic step forward for the city and the country. He said that flipping the narrative by emphasizing victims stories, rather than glorifying the illegal activity of Escobar and others like him, was essential to reclaiming Colombias national story. We are concerned about the way in which we have narrated, and stopped narrating, our own history, Gutierrez said. In most stories, the perpetrators are the protagonists, and this has long-term consequences, because it ends up validating an environment of illegality. The city consulted with neighbors, academics, local artists and the families of victims to design the memorial park, he said. The purpose of demolishing the Monaco is not to erase history, he said. We need our young people to know the stories, to tell them this cannot happen again. On Friday, Gutierrez joined dozens of victims families and members of the community for a ceremony on the grounds of a hotel near the site of the Monaco, where they watched the building fall. Medellin can tell a different story, he told the crowd. Today a symbol falls, and a light of hope is born. This article originally appeared in The New York Times While urging Europe and Turkey to repatriate Daesh members to their countries of citizenship, the U.S. itself has not done the same, denying the return of its own citizens. As Daily Sabah writes, the U.S. appears unwilling to assume equal responsibility dealing with returnees who were members of Daesh as it rejected the return of a woman who previously joined the group on the grounds that "she was not an American citizen." While adopting a hesitant approach in accepting returning post-Daesh members, the U.S. has been pressuring Europe and Turkey to take them back. As the fight against Daesh reaches its end, countries in the region and beyond have been facing the issue of how to deal with post-Daesh members. Following his move to withdraw from Syria, saying that Daesh has been defeated, U.S. President Donald Trump called on European countries to take back their foreign Daesh fighters or they would be forced to release them. Yet, in the latest incident, the U.S. indicated that it is not eager to do the same. In relation to the situation of Hoda Muthana, a woman who joined Daesh in Syria, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that she will not be allowed to return to the U.S. with her toddler son because "she is not an American citizen." "She does not have any legal basis, no valid U.S. passport, no right to a passport, nor any visa to travel to the United States," Pompeo said. However Muthana's lawyer, Hassan Shibly, said she was born in the U.S. and had a valid passport before she joined Daesh in 2014. "She's an American. Americans break the law," Shibly said, adding that, "When people break the law, we have a legal system to handle those kinds of situations to hold people accountable, and that's all she's asking for." Trump said later on Wednesday on Twitter that, "I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!" In the period ahead, many similar incidents might occur as the future of the post-Daesh fighters is posing challenges to various countries that are unwilling to take them back. Even though the U.S. has presented a firm stance against accepting a post-Daesh member back into the country, Trump urged European countries to take back over 800 Daesh fighters by using threatening rhetoric. On Saturday, Trump tweeted: "The U.S. is asking Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 [Daesh] fighters that we captured in Syria and put them on trial. The caliphate is ready to fall. The alternative is not a good one in that we will be forced to release them." Yet, European countries cautiously approached the demand of the U.S. Late Sunday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told German media that the U.S. president's request is "extraordinarily difficult to implement" since court proceedings need to be immediately launched to investigate the situation of German nationals asking to return. Maas added that German law gives its nationals the right to re-entry, but the country would discuss the demand with Washington as well as its European partners, notably France and Britain. "However, it is surely not as easy as [they are] imagining it in America," he said. French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet told France 2 television on Feb. 18 that the country will take back French militants on a case-by-case basis. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, as a country that suffered the most from Daesh attacks especially between 2015 and 2016, previously referred to the militants as enemies of the country who should face justice either in Syria or Iraq, the countries they became captives in. French recruits consist of the largest contingent of the terrorist organization from Europe. Russia also said the transfer of foreign terrorists from Syria must be conducted in accordance with the respective U.N. resolution. Turkey seems to be another target of the U.S. regarding the burden of foreign fighters. According to sources speaking to Sabah daily, a high-level U.S. official asked Turkey to assume responsibility in taking care of Daesh fighters' children and spouses staying in Syria. In relation to the request, Turkish officials reportedly said, "Joint efforts should be presented since the parents of these children are from various nations" and added, "Turkey exerts effort for the innocent people and takes responsibility." Highlighting the grave situation of the children of Daesh terrorists, Save the Children revealed on Feb. 20 that more than 2,500 children from over 30 countries are living in three camps for people displaced in northeastern Syria and stressed that among the children, 38 are unaccompanied. According to the agency, the children, from families with perceived or actual associations with Daesh, are separated from the rest of the population in the camps. As a result of this separation, their ability to obtain access to aid and services has been affected. Furthermore, the agency reported that in some cases, individuals from overseas who were recruited by Daesh as children are now mothers themselves. Save the Children, which is working in three camps to provide support, underscored that further specialized protection as well as health and nutrition services are urgently needed. It seems like 2019 is not going to be a "soft" year for the European continent. The continent, in its own right, is already concerned with issues that could lead to severe uncertainty, such as Brexit and the European Parliament elections. As Daily Sabah writes in an article "Europe caught between two fires", as if these troubles were not enough, the rising threat from the U.S. in the last 1-2 weeks of "trade wars" and the fact that the EU is becoming the center of escalating tensions between the U.S. and Russia, has increased the burden on the continent's shoulders. In such an environment where low-spiritedness and uncertainty prevail, citizens of many EU member states perceive economic activity and unemployment in their countries as worse than the real picture. The only consolation for EU citizens is that the common currency, the euro, is strong. The primary expectation of the citizens of 28 EU countries is equal pay for equal work. In Europe, it seems like political risk will continue to be a problem in 2019. Moreover, the perception of social risk has reached its highest level since 2010. These risks are often evident in election periods such as the upcoming European Parliament elections. As a matter of fact, for 2019, besides the elections in Greece, it will be necessary to closely observe possible early elections in Italy, Spain and Germany. Spreading social dissatisfaction and the growing popularity of anti-European parties seems to have become important enough to bring forward a rather fragmented European Parliament structure after the elections that will take place in May 2019. Is the U.S.-EU trade war escalating? In a report presented to the White House the other day, German cars were declared a threat to the national security of the United States. The EU's leaders and its leading institutions face new shocks and traumas each day due to such statements, reports and threats by President Trump and his team. In response to U.S. Trade Minister Wilbur Ross' statement that "German cars threaten the national security of the United States," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said this statement was a "shock." Merkel said that they did not understand why the U.S. saw German cars as a threat, stating that these cars were produced in BMW's largest factory in the state of South Carolina in the U.S., not in Bavaria, and highlighted that this is why U.S.-EU efforts to advance transatlantic trade must continue at the table. British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt, on the other hand, stated that he and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas have reached a consensus that it would be a disaster for the United Kingdom and Europe if Brexit went in the wrong direction. Hunt pointed out that the meaning of the word "temporary," which appears in the "emergency mechanism" to pass Brexit with the EU in the U.K. Parliament, should be fully explained. Hunt, who mentioned that Germany is one of the biggest trading partners of the U.K., said that German companies have created more than 400,000 jobs in his country. Maas said that no one in the EU wanted a "hard Brexit." Vladimir Putin's warning to the U.S. Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, rebuking the U.S. in his annual address, stated that in case the U.S. deployed intermediate-range missiles in Europe, Russia would also respond, and warned that Russia, in addition to developing and deploying weapons that could hit lands where they may be hit from, would also develop weapons that would be able to hit territories where the decision was made to launch these missiles from, such as the U.S.Putin, who criticized the U.S.' decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Agreement (INF), saying that Russia will not be the first one to place intermediate-range missiles in Europe, underlined that some of the missiles that will be deployed in Europe have the capacity to reach Moscow in 10-12 minutes, and that this is a serious threat to Russia; thus, no one should later blame Russia. It seems like the European continent will have a very busy year in 2019 due to Brexit, elections, trade wars, and Cold War-like U.S.-Russia tensions. The Engine 72 and Tower 70 teams were neck and neck, but in the tiebreaking round of the Spring Fire Departments inaugural Firefighter Challenge, Engine 72 managed to clinch the win by just a half second. Out of about 70 Spring firefighters, 18 made it to the finals of the Spring Firefighter Challenge, which were held at Station 78 on Feb. 23. Family, friends and colleagues cheered on the six teams, each with three firefighters, competing in rigorous challenges to claim the fastest times as well as the first ever Spring Firefighter Challenge Trophy. For the last couple of weeks, weve been doing preliminary rounds just to see who qualifies for todays action, said Ryan Rebarcak, firefighter, EMT basic and wellness program coordinator for Spring FD. All shifts at all stations have done it. We took the best times from those preliminary rounds and thats what makes up todays finals. UGANDAN CHOIR: Orphans bring tour to northwest Harris County churches Firefighters took turns hustling across the parking lot while carrying a 135-pound weight toward a multi-level drill tower. From there, the firefighter would grab a 200-foot hose pack and lug it up and down five stories of the tower. Finally, they dragged a 120-pound sand bag, while crawling, across the fire stations bay area. Rebarcak was a driving force behind coordinating the challenge. Were always watching different firefighter combat challenges and we were looking for ways to get guys involved in a more job-functional exercise rather than just going up to the gym every day, which is fine, but this kind of brings out a more competitive nature and I feel like firefighters take easier to fitness competitions that invoke job skills, Rebarcak said. Each challenge simulated a different firefighter-related task, he explained. Carrying the 135-pound weight simulated carrying equipment onto a fire scene. You could be asked at any time to carry equipment to any side of the building and we need to make sure they can perform that task, Rebarcak said. Weve already done that through other fitness regimens in the department, this is just another way for them to practice that skill. NEW WAY TO PAY: Lawn service platform app expands to Spring Mid-rise buildings are becoming more prevalent in Spring, he said, so lugging the firehose up five stories of the tower simulates performing the same task in an apartment building. Its a leg-burner for sure, he said. If youve already done it in training several times, it makes it easier to do in real life. Dragging the bag of sand across the bay floor while staying low to the ground runs through the motions that would be necessary in a fire rescue. You may be wondering why they dont just pick it up and walk backwards with it, but were simulating staying low in a dangerous atmosphere, Rebarcak said. They lower you stay, the cooler you stay. Inviting the community to watch this competition gives the public a better understanding of the physical tasks firefighters have to perform, he said, and interaction between citizens and their fire departments is healthy. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Firefighters ask judge to force city to implement Proposition B We have an obligation to our citizens to stay as fit as possible and we have an obligation to each other to make sure that we can perform when duty calls, Rebarcak said. I think that the benefits are you can see were working every day to stay fit and to serve the community as best as we possibly can. Spring Fire Chief Scott Seifert feels this exercise provides a new and creative way for firefighters to maintain their physical fitness. We had some firefighters from other departments contact us today to see if they could participate and we didnt anticipate that, Seifert said. Probably in the near future we may extend this out to them as well. It could take more than a year to find out why a Boeing 767 crashed into Trinity Bay, a National Transportation Safety Board official said Sunday. As some experts conduct a detailed analysis into the weather, plane and crew involved in this incident, workers will begin cleaning spilled jet fuel and searching for evidence in a debris field that measures roughly 200 yards long by about 100 yards wide. With so much to consider, where do investigators begin? Anthony Roman, president of global investigation and risk management firm Roman & Associates, said such investigations start with big, daunting questions as officials attempt to rule out terrorism or federal crime in the crash that killed the three people on board. "An aircraft disaster of this type is considered a crime scene first until it's proven to be an accident," he said. More on the crash: 3 confirmed dead after Boeing 767 cargo plane's nose dive into Trinity Bay Speaking of the situation broadly, with no specific knowledge of this incident, Roman said the debris from the cargo plane will be collected as evidence for the FBI and NTSB. The Coast Guard confirmed that it was helping recover packages for the NTSB. Atlas Air flight 3591, flying on behalf of Amazon Prime, was flying from Miami to Bush Intercontinental Airport when it crashed. Since Miami is a port city, Roman said officials will likely scrutinize the plane's cargo. They could track where that cargo originally came from, and if the international cargo was scanned with the proper security protocols before being loaded onto the jet. They could also conduct background checks on the shipping companies. Those on board the plane could be examined, too. There could be background checks, and perhaps investigators will run forensics on their social media, computers and phone records. Interviews would be conducted if needed. Once such malicious intents are ruled out, investigators will likely look at weather and the plane itself. A change of wind speeds and directions caused by heavy or moderate rain can create wind shear. When a plane is flying lower and slower before landing, this may lead to an aerodynamic stall, Roman said. This causes the nose to drop because there's a sudden and immediate loss of aerodynamic lift at the wings. If not recognized and addressed early, this can sometimes be unrecoverable. Another cause that could be examined is the inadvertent shift of cargo. Roman said this is rare, but it could put the plane out of balance and cause a stall. Also rare is malfunctions with the components used for flight control. And finally, investigators could consider if a pilot had a heart attack or other medical emergency. "All of these factors will be looked into," he said. The investigation's time frame varies based on what officials can quickly rule out and if the plane's black boxes are recovered. NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt said retrieving those boxes could be difficult as mud might reduce the effectiveness of underwater locator beacons. He said the search may include scuba divers, wading through the debris field or dredging. "Recovering those is critical to this investigation," he said. "It is a painstaking process, but it is a high priority for the NTSB." And as the cause is investigated, officials will be addressing environmental concerns, too. The degree of the environmental impact will depend on a variety of factors, including the amount of jet fuel the plane was carrying when it crashed. Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said there is a slight fuel smell, but he hasn't seen much of a sheen. Jet fuel is similar to diesel or kerosene. It's lighter than water, meaning it will float and can evaporate. But it's a little heavier than gasoline, meaning it won't evaporate as quickly as gasoline, said Ronald Sass, professor emeritus of biogeochemistry at Rice University. At HoustonChronicle.com: How horses assist with airport security "It's not easy to clean something off the bottom," Sass said. "It's much easier to skim something off the top." The U.S. Coast Guard sent pollution responders to the Trinity Bay incident, and the Chambers County Sheriff's Office said containment booms were set up downstream on Saturday. Jim Blackburn, an environmental lawyer and professor of civil engineering at Rice University, identified containing fuel as the first priority in any spill. And in this region, specifically, he said the second priority should be protecting the marshes, which tend to act as nurseries. Shrimp, for instance, breed in the open waters, and then the young float into the marshes. Brown shrimp are headed into the marshes around this time of year, said Bill Balboa, executive director of the Matagorda Bay Foundation. Trinity Bay also has a lot of blue crabs. So there could be some near-term effects, but environmentalists didn't expect the long-term effects to be too severe. "Bays are very resilient things," Balboa said, "and so it will recover." R.A. Schuetz contributed to this report. 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. For centuries, the South Caucasus has often acted as an arena of confrontation between major world powers. Located at the junction of cultures and civilizations, this region managed was a part of several empires (Roman, Ottoman, Persian, Russian). At one time, it was a part of the largest socialist state in history. Today, South Caucasus is a geopolitical space divided by complex ethnic conflicts that hinder implementation of mutually beneficial initiatives aimed at realizing existing economic potential of the entire region. Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia urgently need strong regional integration, otherwise sovereignty of the republics can be seriously hurt due to politics of the world geopolitical centers, for which space between Europe and Central Asia is of extreme strategic importance. When it was a part of various empires, the South Caucasus had unitary form of government. Regional states began to appear in the South Caucasus in May of 1918, after two revolutions and the collapse of the Russian Empire. A lot of intellectuals, who received education in the best educational institutions of Russia and Western Europe, came to power. Today, when those countries became independent states, principles of confederative commonwealth can become most acceptable basis for integration. Although confederation is politically weaker than unitary or federative state, it allows to adopt more flexible governance principles. In fact, it's designed to resolve primary problems of the region by creating only those government bodies that are necessary to resolve specific problems. In other words, strict vertical of power, which usually accompanies federal and unitary state, is replaced by permanently operating confederation governing bodies, which don't have that much power, and resolutions they adopt don't have direct effect, since they're not addressed directly to citizens, but to authorities of members of the confederation. Supranational principle of forming governing bodies is a necessary condition for preservation of national sovereignty of the peoples of the South Caucasus. In this case, recognition of self-proclaimed entities becomes possible only as part of confederation. In other words, principle of territorial integrity of the republics can be observed this way. The fate of Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia cannot be determined based on results of the war. Recognition of independence of self-proclaimed entities may result in mutual accusations of supporting local separatism. As part of the Soviet Union, this region functioned on the basis of federalism principles. But considering ethnic characteristics of the region, federalism principles are not capable of ensuring equality between small and numerous nations. Autonomous existence of certain ethnic groups forces latter to continuously defend their own sovereignty, and semi-marginal politics and isolation often become sources of interethnic tensions. Features of confederative government system allow to ease off national relations, preventing outbreaks of local separatism. Needs of compact living ethnic groups are no longer that relevant due to equal representation of all peoples. It's important to note that the nature of autonomous separatism usually lies in negative perception of changes in the ethnic map of a particular region. For example, today's Abkhazia doesn't know what to think about prospect of return of more than two hundred thousand Georgian IDPs, since at the household level, Abkhazians fear restoration of the ethnic balance between Abkhazian and Georgian national communities, which existed in 1989. According to the last All-Union Population Census, the share of Abkhazians in the Abkhaz ASSR was 18%, while Georgians - 45%. Situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is also paradoxical. During the blockade years, mentality of Armenian population of the former autonomy had strong notion that if Azerbaijani population returns, Armenians of Karabakh will be forced to leave the region, just like Armenians of Nakhichevan. Free interpretation of Heydar Aliyevs 2002 interview with the Zerkalo newspaper adds fuel to the fire. In this interview, he confirms that he supported Azerbaijani community of Karabakh, promoting its increase, thereby overcoming ethnic isolation of the former Armenian autonomy. Integration of the South Caucasus will facilitate free movement of goods, services and money. Considering the fact that largest economies of Russia, Turkey and Iran are neighbors of the South Caucasian republics, economies of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan need to coordinate economic, financial and social policies to prevent population outflows and create unified position on regional foreign trade and foreign economic relations with third countries. At the beginning of the 20th century, creation of confederative cooperation model was problematic due to intervention of external forces, in particular the Entente countries. Today Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia have a chance to achieve quick and significant results in the framework of trilateral cooperation, if they manage to unite position on closer cooperation with Europe, Asia and the Middle East, thus creating favorable conditions for themselves. The Backyard Bar & Grill quickly ran out of parking spaces. Nathan Utzman, the owner, joked that they might run out of beer. It seemed like most of Crosby and Huffman came out to the Backyard Bar & Grill on Feb. 23 for the benefit for Officer Bo Jenkins, a former maintenance worker for Huffman ISD then Harris County police officer who worked as security resource officer for Huffman ISD, who has been diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic lung cancer Guy Smith, Jenkins nephew and one of the volunteers who help put on the event, said that the family had been talking for a couple of months about holding a benefit for him but said that he does not think anybody thought it would be as big an event as it turned out to be. Volunteers, clad in gray Team Bo tee shirts, served plates of barbecue and crawfish to raise money. Others grilled large briskets that people had pre-ordered. See those people grilling briskets, Smith gestured. I dont know if I could even count the number of benefits that Uncle Bo has volunteered his time to cook briskets for. Hes been doing that for the last 20 years, so a lot of these people have either benefitted from, or seen him put forth, that effort. People had to go into a room in the building next door to bid on items for the silent auction, there were so many items. Items such as Astros gear, a cornhole set, and a basket with several bottles of liquor. Everybody donated items, Smith said gesturing around. These two came from the (Huffman) Ag Department. That came from an ex-state trooper. That guy over there donated the guitar. My mother (Bos sister) donated a Texans sign. They came from Huffman to Shepherd to San Jacinto County. Children played in blowup bounce houses and slides out back while people got their food in front and inside was completely full of people hanging out. As soon as they told me about this event, I was all in, Utzman exclaimed. I support all the men in blue. When they said they wanted to hold the event here, I said Id do whatever it takes to accommodate them, do whatever we needed to do. The evening culminated in a live auction. A large Yeti cooler went for a thousand dollars. There were a couple of hunting and fishing trips that went for several hundred dollars up to two thousand dollars. One person won a signed guitar with a 400 dollar bid and then donated it back, where it went to somebody else for 400 dollars. Jenkins addressed the large crowd gathered at the end of the evening. He mentioned that there were people there who he has known for 50 years. He laughed that he saw several people in the crowd whom he has arrested, some more than once. He thanked everybody for his support, and emotionally closed his speech by saying, I cant say it enough. I love all of you. To learn more or to support Bo Jenkins, visit the Benefit for Bo Jenkins Facebook page elliott.lapin@hearst.com Brazos Valley Schools Credit Union, in partnership with the Katy Independent School District, will honor outstanding teachers from each campus who have demonstrated excellence and leadership among their peers and in their classrooms at the 2019 Teacher of the Year luncheon on April 18 at the Merrell Center. This event will offer sponsors an opportunity to showcase their business to the community as the long-standing tradition continues of honoring the Teacher of the Year winners from all 68 KISD campuses. The president of the Nottingham Country Fund/Kelliwood Home Owners Association saw firsthand the flooding experienced by people living near the Barker Reservoir after Hurricane Harvey. Marlin Williford said he saw the risks associated with the rising water and subsequently began meeting with elected officials and other HOA leaders to address flood-control issues and concerns. It was through the flood-control group Houston Stronger that he met Wendy Duncan, a director of the Willow Fork Drainage District. They subsequently formed Barker Flood Prevention in June 2018. Where did you grow up and go to school? I grew up in Port Arthur, Texas, and went to Thomas Jefferson High School and Lamar University. I was a part of the initial class of Leadership Southeast Texas in the early 1993. We learned about issues affecting the region and I got the chance to work with others to form collaborative groups to address solutions to improve the area. This was a great experience that provided tools, principles and values that have guided me in many other endeavors. Being raised on the Gulf Coast, I have experienced every hurricane and storm since the 1960s. I have vivid memories growing up of evacuating from storms and also seeking protection in hotels and commercial buildings that were hurricane resistant when we did not evacuate. These experiences came vividly back to life as we lived through the Harvey catastrophe and saw its effects on the community, family and friends. I still have family, friends and relationships in the Golden Triangle and learned from them the terrible damage they experienced from Harvey where the triangle area got more rainfall (up to 60 inches of avg rainfall) than the west side of Houston (about 35 inches of avg rainfall) at the back end of the storm. Had we gotten their level of rainfall at the end of the storm the outcome would have been even more catastrophic with the likely compromise of the reservoirs as a result. This realization has fueled the motivation to seize the moment and work for real, substantial flood control projects and protection improvements to be completed as fast as possible. What brought you to Katy? My wife Cindy and I moved our family to Katy in 1998 from Beaumont when our three children were 4-, 2- and 1-year-old. We relocated to raise our family here and pursue business opportunities in Houston. The great schools and healthy family environment attracted us to Katy. How did you become involved with the Harris County Flood Prevention Advocacy Group (HCFPAG)? Our home sits in the flood pool area west of the Barker Reservoir. During Harvey, we were very concerned about the flooding risk along with many others. I saw 12 of my neighbors in the subdivision flood and hundreds of homes in the immediate area flood from this unprecedented event. My son did water rescues with a friend of his who had a boat and we used his high four-wheel drive truck to travel the back side of the reservoir at least twice daily to observe the water levels during the storm. I was able to learn firsthand the risks associated with the rising water in this flood pool area. Of course, we did not have any knowledge of the flood pool like so many others until Harvey brought it into the light. After the storm, I contacted (U.S. Rep. ) John Culbersons office and arranged a tour for him and staff of the back side of the Barker Reservoir area while there was still water in the streets and homes. This led to organizing a series of meetings with other affected HOA leaders with the congressman and his staff to communicate the damage and needs from the storm. I guess you could say the great need and concern led to continued involvement. When the HCFPAG was being formed in early 2018, they asked for interested persons to apply which I did and was asked to join the committee. The group is comprised of representatives all around Harris County. We had the opportunity to speak to and promote passage of the bond issue, and have sought accountability for follow up and results. Many members of the group have gone on to pursue flood control issues and solutions in their affected areas. How did you become involved with the Nottingham Country Fund/Kelliwood Home Owners Association? Our HOA is fairly large representing 734 homes. I got involved initially as a member of the Architectural Control Committee to implement quality control in improvements. I ran for the board the next year and have been a board member for more than 10 years serving as president for the last four. My interests and goals have always been to provide quality services to the community, maintain the quality of the homes and subsequent remodeling, and update the common area improvements to preserve the lifestyle and improve property values for our residents. We have been able to accomplish these things with a very capable and dedicated board while operating a fiscally sound organization. During Harvey, we saw the neighbors in our subdivision, HOA, and community pull together for those that were flooded and harmed. Our church, Kingsland Baptist, and 23 Katy area churches pulled together to rescue people, meet food, shelter and clothing needs, muck houses, and subsequently assist in the rebuilding process which continues today. This exemplifies the special qualities that makes the Katy area a wonderful place to live in. What led you to form Barker Flood Prevention? I had a meeting with Auggie Campbell of the West Houston Economic Development Corp. and Steve Robinson, an attorney who is an expert in flooding issues and solutions. They were representing the Houston Stronger group which Auggie leads and was formed to promote flood-control issues and solutions after Harvey and advocate for the Harris County bond issue. Steve suggested that I should meet Wendy Duncan who is an involved board member of Willow Fork Drainage District and active in Fort Bend County drainage and water management issues and a member of Houston Stronger. He suggested that we had very similar interests and agendas for the two counties that directly involve the west side of the Barker Reservoir. We subsequently got together and felt an immediate synergy and like-minded purpose that led us to partner together to form Barker Flood Prevention in June of 2018. Since that time, the group has grown to more than 500 followers. What are the goals of Barker Flood Prevention and how are you working to achieve those goals? Our Mission Statement best describes our goals: Barker Flood Prevention (BFP) is a non-partisan volunteer group advocating flood management solutions for the Barker Reservoir watershed by coordinating with public agencies and elected officials, educating the community about flood management projects and policies and encouraging timely implementation of effective projects. We have worked to accomplish these goals as follows: Organized, hosted and presented a series of community information events with our most recent to be on Feb. 26 at Kingsland Baptist Church featuring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the lead presenter. Previous speakers have included Houston Stronger, Harris County Flood Control, Freese and Nichols Brian Gettinger, the flood tunnel engineering expert; and Wendy Duncan presenting the Willow Fork Drainage District select excavation detention project. We have adopted four action items to provide focus to the goals: 1) Increase conveyance within the Barker Reservoir watershed and surrounding area through de-silting and channel realignment projects. 2) Increase capacity in Barker Reservoir through selective or mass excavation. 3) Increase conveyance out of Barker Reservoir by building a flood tunnel or other means. 4) Manage the Cypress Creek overflow by building a third reservoir or other means. We have had meetings with all three flood control entities regarding item #1 and there are projects being pursued to accomplish these tasks. We have a project for a 737-acre area that has been presented to the Corps that is being pursued with a potential local sponsor and funding alternatives that are in process for item #2. There is the potential for other similar projects pending advancement of this first phase. Item #3: We have engaged with other community groups to communicate the flood tunnel solution. Numerous other presentations are scheduled with these groups over the next few months. We have also met with various government officials and arranged presentations for them as well to get them educated to the potential for this solution. Harris County Flood Control recently secured grant funding of $320,000 with an $80,000 match for a total of $400,000 to conduct the initial feasibility study which they are pursuing now. They have this on a fast track with a planned second study in more detail to follow right behind. The goal is to document the viability and potential for this solution over the next 12 to 18 months so next steps can be determined. Item #4: We have engaged with community groups involved in this area and are aware that the Corps is studying this in conjunction with their overall master study that has been funded with the initial federal allocation of Harvey Relief dollars. We will continue to monitor and encourage focus to this important watershed issue. Lastly, we have assembled a steering committee comprised of community leaders, experts in hydrology, sedimentation, flood prevention, civil engineering, public relations and other pertinent fields. These wonderful people have made it possible to advance the BFP agenda at a fast pace while public awareness and concern are still focused on the importance of flood control. They have assembled a list of government officials and contacts so that we can quickly communicate opportunities and concerns via our membership. This is an important function so that we can be responsive to situations as they develop. Has Barker Flood Prevention encountered opposition as it works toward it goals? Naturally, there are always people that have differing opinions of how to do things. However, we have largely found favor and support for our approach which is based upon: relationship building, focusing on positive solutions and outcomes, and working toward common benefits and needs to achieve viable projects in the fastest time possible. We believe that negativity is unproductive and therefore we focus our energy on delivering positive outcomes. We believe this is the most efficient way to solve complicated problems. You have a meeting coming up this month. Whats that about? Where will it be? Feb. 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Kingsland Baptist Church, 20555 Kingsland Blvd., Katy, in the Loft featuring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the lead presenter talking about things they are doing in the Barker Watershed and possibly elsewhere in the Harris County region. Are organizers of the nonprofit satisfied with the pace of work by the Harris County Drainage District following the bond election that they endorsed? We feel that HCFCD has been very pro-active in implementing the first initiatives following the bond approval. It is a major undertaking and they have been gearing up to execute as the funds become available. We are hopeful that the change in leadership on Commissioners Court and County Judge will not slow down the momentum that has been initiated. What is the groups relationship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers? We have experienced a good reception and working relationship with the Corps. Wendy has had some good experience working through permits and issues with them and we feel this, coupled with our positive approach to projects and solutions, coupled with good communication is paying off. We are hopeful to continue to build our relationship at the upcoming meeting and beyond. Development continues at a fast pace in the Katy area. Does it contribute to the historic flooding the area has experienced in recent years? Houston has always been blessed with tremendous growth in all areas. We feel this will continue going forward. However, the steps that Harris and Fort Bend counties have taken to add some protection and restrictions to development standards is a good first step. Consistent application will be important coupled with successful execution of flood-control projects that are in the works can help manage the problems to a degree. However, we want to stress that these are only first steps and the bolder, major initiatives and solutions must get implemented and built as fast as possible in order to make substantial progress to solving flood management problems for the long term. We have the opportunity now and must be faithful to be persistent and follow through. The thing that makes America great is that citizens working together can make a difference and get things done by advocating for good projects and causes, voicing their concerns and desires to public officials and elected representatives and empowering and charging them to take action to get things done and initiate improvement and change. We believe this and encourage the message that the time for action on flood control improvements and protection is NOW! karen.zurawski@chron.com Royal College of General Practitioners 'irresponsible' for supporting decriminalisation of abortion A pro-life group has strongly criticised the Royal College of General Practitioners after it voted to support the decriminalisation of abortion. The RCGP is the latest in a line of medical bodies to have endorsed the move, including the British Medical Association, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Royal College of Midwives, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare and the Royal College of Nursing. The change in direction comes after a poll of 4,400 RCGP members found that almost two thirds (62 per cent) supported removing abortion from the criminal code. One in five (19 per cent) voted in favour of opposing decriminalisation while 15 per cent said the RCGP should have a neutral position. The poll did not ask RCGP members about their views on abortion time limits. Abortion has been a criminal offence in Britain since 1861 but an amendment to the law in 1967 meant that women could access the procedure in certain circumstances. These included foetal abnormalities or risk to the mother's life or mental health. Current law also requires that women receive the consent of two doctors before they can obtain an abortion. Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the RCGP, said the change was about providing non-judgmental care to women. 'Ultimately, this is about providing non-judgmental care to our patients so that women who face the difficult decision to proceed with an abortion are not disadvantaged by the legal system,' she said. Pro-lifers were disappointed by the outcome, however, with Life Charity saying such a change to the law would pave the way for abortion up to the moment of birth. Life's Head of Advocacy Liz Parsons said: 'The RCGP's vote and its position today is an obvious attempt to support the abortion industry and their allies in parliament with their campaign to bring in abortion on demand in the UK. 'The removal of all legal scrutiny and regulation on abortion does not protect women. Rather it leaves them more vulnerable to exploitation. For years abortion clinics have twisted, abused and blatantly broken the current laws on abortion, with impunity. 'It would therefore be very convenient for them if all legal barriers are removed. The current legal restrictions, with the possibility of prosecution, help protect pregnant women in crisis from exploitation and abuse. 'The decriminalisation of abortion means no time limits, no questions asked and abortion after 24 weeks, right up to birth including for gender. That a medical body would vote for this is sickening, shocking and highly irresponsible.' Psychotherapist warns of 'thought police' after losing transgender research case A psychotherapist who lost his court bid to research transgender regret at Bath Spa University has blamed a climate of 'fear'. James Caspian had wanted to study why some transgender people decide to detransition to their original sex. His proposal was initially approved by the university before being vetoed by an ethics committee. The High Court heard this week that the committee saw 'no point in causing unnecessary offence' and that 'engaging in a potentially "politically incorrect" piece of research carries a risk to the university'. Mr Caspian argued that the university made the decision because it feared a backlash from the trans community and that academic freedom was at threat. His barrister, Paul Diamond, told the High Court: 'That is not academic judgment, that is terror on the streets of our universities.' The court, however, sided with the university and declined Mr Caspian's request for a judicial review. Michael Kent QC said: 'I entirely accept that there are important issues of freedom of expression. I just do not accept that, on the facts of this particular case, there is an arguable case made out.' Mr Caspian is now fundraising to appeal the High Court's verdict. Speaking after the hearing, he told Spiked that the 'thought police' are making people afraid to say what they really think about trans issues. 'We know the real police are interviewing people who question whether transwomen are women in the way that natal women are. It is extraordinary,' he said, referring to the case of Kate Scottow, a 38-year-old mother of two who said she was arrested and held by the police for several hours after calling a trans woman a man on Twitter. 'And it is this fear that was driving Bath Spa's veto of my much-needed research. They think they're going to get accused of hate or transphobia,' Mr Caspian said. In separate comments to The Telegraph, he said he feared for academic freedom at a time when there are very few studies into transition regret. 'I think this sets a dangerous precedent in that research into sensitive areas will not be carried out because universities don't want to take ownership,' he said. Carys Mosely, policy researcher at Christian Concern, said Bath Spa's actions amounted to 'academic self-censorship'. 'Given that transgender politics cuts to the heart of the importance of telling the truth about human nature, this should be viewed as a serious no-no for any university,' she said. 'This is not even like an incident where someone has said something that is highly critical of transgender politics and medical gender reassignment, and where that "something" has been reported to the police as a "hate incident". It is fear of that sort of thing happening. 'Did the university not consider that it should prepare to defend itself robustly against the risk of such vicious attacks?' She said the field of study into transgenderism has been 'progressively taken over by activists'. 'The question is, if you cannot study this in a university, which is supposed to be an independent seat of learning and critical thinking, where can you raise the issues?' she said. Others have similar fears as revealed by a letter in the Guardian signed by over 50 academics warning that proper analysis and discussion around transgenderism is being suppressed as a result of trans activists with a 'dangerously all-encompassing' definition of transphobia. The academics, who come from top British universities including Oxford and Cambridge, said it was 'not transphobic' to investigate transgenderism as they warned of a campaign of harassment against academics who dare to question the dominant narrative. 'Members of our group have experienced campus protests, calls for dismissal in the press, harassment, foiled plots to bring about dismissal, no-platforming, and attempts to censor academic research and publications,' they said. 'Such attacks are out of line with the ordinary reception of critical ideas in the academy, where it is normally accepted that disagreement is reasonable and even productive,' they said. Alice Sullivan and Judith Suissa, of the UCL Institute of Education, have also warned that academic study into transgenderism has been 'derailed' by trans activists and that certain topics are becoming 'off limits' on university campuses. While female students have reported feeling unable to speak up about their views in class, feminist academics have experienced harassment after defending the sex-based rights of women. 'For anyone concerned about language and meaning, and committed to democratic values, it is deeply troubling to see reasoned disagreement often motivated by a concern with rights and justice routinely labelled as "fascist",' they said. 'It is precisely within a climate of engaged, informed and intellectually rigorous debate, and not in some rarefied 'marketplace of ideas', that ethically and politically troubling ideas can be challenged and criticised. 'Part of the point of going to university is to be exposed to a range of ideas that may challenge, inspire and even unsettle, and to develop the ability to engage with, articulate, defend and criticise arguments on a range of topics. 'This involves developing the disposition to listen to and appreciate nuanced discussion.' Feminist group Women's Place UK has said that women attending its meetings on government proposals to introduce gender self-identification have suffered harassment from trans activists. Last year, it accused Oxford University students of trying to shut down their public meetings on the campus after the Student Union LGBTQI Campaign group urged students not to attend the meeting, accusing the group of being 'transphobic' and using 'hate speech' against the trans community. 'While we do not deny that freedom of speech is an important tool, we firmly believe that it is damaging to the welfare of trans people, and the feminist movement, to support the hate speech perpetrated by Women's Place UK and its affiliates,' said the LGBTQI Campaign. A spokeswoman for Woman's Place UK accused the LGBTQI Campaign at the time of defaming the group and its speakers and said politicians needed to do more to protect free speech on university campuses. 'Politicians from Sam Gyimah to Harriet Harman say they back free speech, especially among students. It's time for them to put their money where their mouths are and stand up for women holding peaceful, respectful debates about matters of public interest,' she said. 'We're not insisting that they agree with everything we say, just that they let us speak and let people listen to our questions. 'We are ordinary women who just want to meet to talk about the our legal rights, and so we ask politicians to stand up for our right to speak and be heard.' Earlier this month, the Government responded by issuing new guidance to protect free speech on university campuses. The Government said the new guidance would ensure university campuses remain a 'forum for open and robust enquiry' while offering additional clarity around the 'contentious issue of hate speech'. Dr David Llewellyn, Chair of GuildHE and Vice Chancellor of Harper Adams University, welcomed the guidance and said that British universities needed to teach students how to critically analyse different perspectives. 'Higher education institutions are champions of free speech, places where ideas and views - even those that some might find offensive - can be rigorously discussed and challenged. Our staff, and others contributing to our educational and research activities, must be able to freely consider contentious issues,' he said. 'We also have to be able to work with students to develop their ability to critically analyse what is being said, weigh up different arguments and contribute to the debate. 'That is why we welcome this new guidance, which will provide greater clarity on the rights and obligations for freedom of expression, particularly in areas such as the balance between our commitment to free speech and legislation to prevent radicalisation.' Abusive clergy are 'tools of Satan', says Pope Francis On the last day of a historic summit on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, the Pope has denounced predatory clergy as 'tools of Satan'. Pope Francis told senior bishops gathered at the Vatican that sexual abuse was akin to human sacrifice as he promised to wage an 'all-out battle' to rid the Catholic Church of the scourge. 'If in the Church there should emerge even a single case of abuse which already in itself represents an atrocity that case will be faced with the utmost seriousness,' he said. 'I am reminded of the cruel religious practice, once widespread in certain cultures, of sacrificing human beings frequently children in pagan rites.' The summit was convened by Pope Francis to address the sexual abuse scandals that have affected numerous countries, including Australia, the US, Germany, and Chile. The Pope Francis said the Church was standing 'face to face with the mystery of evil' and that children needed to be 'protected from ravenous wolves'. 'I make a heartfelt appeal for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors both sexually and in other areas ... for we are dealing with abominable crimes that must be erased from the face of the earth,' he said. He made the comments after leading bishops in a penitential service in which they were told to examine their consciences and confess their sins. 'We must say, like the prodigal son: 'Father, I have sinned',' he said. But some victims were left disappointed by the summit. Swiss victim Jean-Marie Furbringer told AFP, 'Honestly it's a pastoral 'blabla', saying it's the fault of the devil.' Another victim, Peter Saunders, from Britain, told the news agency he wanted more concrete action to be taken against abusive priests. 'It talks about the devil, it talks about evil... There is no talk about permanently excluding child rapists and abusers who are employees of the Church,' he said. '"From a child protection point of view it's been a waste of time. From keeping the world's eyes on this institution and its failure to protect children, it's been a great success.' Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Tell me somethin', girlAre you happy in this modern world?Or do you need more?Is there somethin' else you're searchin' for? You may recognize these lyrics from the Oscar nominated song, Shallow, which is featured in the movie, A Star is Born, featuring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, who both were also nominated for their lead roles in this film. This is the fourth time A Star is Born has been made into a movie, starring big names such as Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. Perhaps the reason this story keeps making its way back is because there is just something so familiar about it. Weve all seen it play out in real life so many times as well, havent we? In this version, which is the best in my opinion, Bradley Cooper portrays a hard-drinking, drug using musician named Jackson Maine. He discovers an extremely talented woman named Ally, played by Lady Gaga, while she was singing in a drag bar. Jackson falls madly in love with her and helps launch her music career. As Allys fame begins to rise, Jackson falls deeper and deeper into treacherous drug use, fueled by his jealousy of his discovery. In one of the most powerful scenes in the film, Jackson calls Ally out on stage to perform a song she wrote alongside him, and she begins to sing: Tell me something, boyAren't you tired tryin' to fill that void?Or do you need more?Ain't it hard keeping it so hardcore? We have all felt this void before, havent we? Even Lady Gaga herself has spoken of it in her own personal life. In an interview she once said, I would go back to my apartment every day and I would just sit there. It was quiet and it was lonely. It was just my piano and myself. I have a television, and I would leave it on all the time just to feel like somebody was hanging out with me. It surprises us that superstars like Lady Gaga feel the same things we do, doesnt it? But heres the bottom line: stars, just like the rest of us, must come face to face with the same emptiness, loneliness and reality of their own mortality. There is no amount of fame or influence that can separate you from these feelings, and of course, you cant pay your way out of death. Its something we all will face. After Bradley Coopers father died, he did an interview with USA Today, where he mentioned that his fathers death caused him to address his own mortality. He went on to say, "Oh right. I am going to die too. It is not in a book. It is not in a movie. It is not in a story that was told to me. It is not driving by an accident or watching it on TV. It is someone you love dying in front of you. I was like okay, this is death, and this is going to happen to me one day". At some point in life, we all have been empty, lonely and afraid to die. I read an interesting thing about what time is like in comparison to your life. If your age is 15, it is 10:25 in the morning in your life. If you are 20, it is 11:34 in the morning. If you are 25, it is 12:42. If you are 30, the time of your life is 1:51 P.M. If you are 35, it is 3:00 in the afternoon. If you are 40, it is 4:08 in the afternoon. If you are 45, it is 5:15 in the evening. If you are 50, it is 6:25. 55 is 7:34. If you are 60, the time is 8:40 p.m. If you are 65, it is 9:55 p.m. If you are 70, it is 11:00 at night. I don't know where that puts you, but I am around 10:00 in the evening. Yes, I am a pastor, and please, dont hold that against me. You are probably expecting the sermon at this point, but I will spare you that ... because I am also a sinner. Ive had this same void in my life before, too. I tried to fill it with the same things others do, including booze and drugs, and guess what? It didnt work. After searching and searching, I finally filled that void with a relationship. No, not with a person, but with my creator. Life really is a lot like a puzzle. My wife loves those things, and I have absolutely no interest in them at all. The other day we spent hours putting one together, and of course, we were missing one piece at the end. We got down on our hands and knees searching for that thing, and after a while, we finally found it. In life, we may feel like we have all our puzzle pieces in the right place, but then we realize something is just missing. Its more of a someone. God holds the missing piece you are looking for, all you must do is look up. God loved you so much that He sent His only Son to die on the cross for your sins. Three days later, Christ rose from the dead. Now, Jesus stands at the door of your life and He knocks. If you will open the door of your heart, Jesus will come in and fill that void. You have His word on it. (Rev. 3:20) Stop looking around today and look up instead. You will find all that you need. To find out more about knowing God, go to www.knowgod.org Greg Laurie is the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, with campuses in Riverside and Irvine, California. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment 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. Resources How Beauty Is Making Scientists Rethink Evolution, Ferris Jabr | New York Times | January 9, 2019 Is Biology Approaching the Threshold of Design Acceptance? Evolution News | January 8, 2019 Originally posted at Breakpoint. Trump admin. launches campaign to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Trump administration is launching a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality worldwide, specifically in 71 countries were a person can be executed for being gay. U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, whos an openly gay official in the Trump administration and an outspoken critic of regimes that criminalize homosexuality, launched the campaign Tuesday in Berlin where he met with 11 European LGBT activists for a strategy meeting. People understand, religious people, individuals who may not always be in the LGBT fight, they understand that criminalizing homosexuality is absolutely wrong, Grenell said Wednesday in an interview with NBC News which reported that the campaign, in part, is a response to human rights abuses in Iran, Trumps geopolitical foe. It is unbelievable to think that in todays world, a 32-year-old man could be hanged in Iran simply for being gay, he added. This is not a new policy, its a new push, Grenell said, noting that all countries will be held accountable, even U.S. allies or those that have been cooperative with the U.S. government, such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Pakistan. Multiple administrations, he said, have had to address difficult issues with U.S. allies. We can have these conversations of human rights with our allies that clearly make homosexuality a crime and are not great on womens rights as well. President Donald Trump appeared unaware of the announcement when asked about it on Tuesday. I dont know which report youre talking about, Trump said. We have many reports. When Grenell was asked if he was worried about pushback from evangelical Christians or social conservatives, he replied, No, not at all! And both political parties, he said, are supportive of the push to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide. Seventy-one countries criminalize homosexuality and eight will put you to death for being gay. The Trump administration is launching a new push with our European allies to end this human rights outrage, he said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post, which noted it was their report detailing the Iranian regimes public hanging of a gay man that led the administration to launch the global campaign. Muslim-majority countries in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia such as Pakistan, Sudan, Yemen, Qatar, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and the UAE impose capital punishment on same-sex relations, The Jerusalem Post added. Grenell, whose name has been floated as a potential successor to Nikki Haley as ambassador to the U.N., has called out several countries, not just Iran, for their human rights abuses against homosexuals. Most recently, he shared on Twitter the story of a 22-year-old Algerian medical student who was murdered on his college campus for being gay. The words he is gay was written in blood on a wall near where his body was found. In an op-ed published in Bild, Europes largest newspaper on Feb. 1, Grenell wrote about Irans public execution of a gay man, saying: This is not the first time the Iranian regime has put a gay man to death with the usual outrageous claims of prostitution, kidnapping, or even pedophilia. And it sadly wont be the last time. Barbaric public executions are all too common in a country where consensual homosexual relationships are criminalized and punishable by flogging and death. He added that India, Trinidad and Tobago, Angola, and Belize have recently decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual conduct. But theres still much more work to be done. Reasonable people can help by speaking out when young gay men are publicly hanged in Iran or shot in Chechnya. And government officials must work harder to demand that U.N. members decriminalize homosexuality, he said. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino also noted that the push to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide is not a new policy. "This really is not a big policy departure. This is long-standing and it's bipartisan," Palladino said. I would say that this is a good opportunity to listen and to discuss ideas about how the United States can advance decriminalization of homosexuality around the world, and that's been our policy." Assemblies of God Elects First-Ever Female General Secretary Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Assemblies of God leadership has unanimously elected the first-ever female general secretary for the denomination's General Council. The largest Pentecostal denomination announced Monday the election of Donna L. Barrett to the position of general secretary, noting that she is also the first woman to serve on the Assemblies' executive leadership team. General Superintendent Doug Clay said in a statement that he was supportive of Barrett's election to the high-ranking post. "Through her service as a church planter, district leader, and general presbyter, Donna has shown humility paired with a special gifting for leadership," stated Clay. "I've seen God use her time and time again to speak wisdom into difficult circumstances at the district and national level." The Assemblies of God has recognized female ordination since 1914. At present, the denomination estimates that about one quarter of its ministers are women. Barrett became an Assemblies of God minister in 1988 and has previously served on the Executive Presbytery of the Ohio Ministry Network and on the General Presbytery of the Assemblies of God. Barrett will be replacing James T. Bradford, who announced his resignation earlier this month in order to better pursue pastoral ministry. "After months of seeking to discern the Lord's direction in my life, I would like to request resigning as general secretary of the Assemblies of God in order to pursue expanded full-time pastoral ministry," stated Bradford. "One of the greatest honors of my life has been to serve as an officer of the General Council of the Assemblies of God. It has also been a wonderful privilege and delight to work on [Doug Clay's] team." As a result of her election, Barrett will be stepping down from her current position as lead pastor of Rockside Church of Independence, Ohio. Her last Sunday will be May 20. "What a great group of Christ followers with a strong staff and capable board leading this church forward to collectively discover God's will for this next season. Thank you, Rockside Church, for allowing me the honor of being your pastor," stated Barrett in her announcement to the church. "I'm humbled at the opportunity God has opened to serve the Assemblies of God Fellowship out of our national office in Springfield, Missouri as general secretary and have big shoes to fill." As churches struggle to help Christians with mental illness, many flee Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment As studies continue to show how ill-equipped many churches are in ministering to Christians who struggle with mental illness, some who were once among the faithful are now speaking out about how the spiritualizing of their conditions in church culture forced them to flee. In a recent discussion sparked by a rant in a subreddit of more than 40,000 anonymous former Christians, many shared stories about how they were forced to suffer as their evangelical churches and family members urged them to pray away conditions such as bipolar disorder, anxiety and ADD before they were finally able to get help. Some said they never got the help they needed until they were adults. As a TEENAGER I said to the Christian I looked up to, Hey, I hear voices and see shadow people everywhere, also I want to kill myself," a former Christian, who was later diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, wrote. "And I was told it was just spiritual warfare and Satan fighting for my soul. I was told to NOT seek therapy because therapists work for the devil to drive people away from the Lord." I believed it easily because of the nature of my illness. He downplayed and contorted my illness so badly that even after I stopped believing in God, it took me years to get into therapy and get treatment. My life spiraled into drug abuse to cope, lost job after lost job, and my 20s wasted in pain. The National Alliance on Mental Illness describes schizoaffective disorder as a chronic mental health condition characterized primarily by symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations or delusions, and symptoms of a mood disorder, such as mania and depression. It is often treated with a combination of medications and psychotherapy. The individual explained that since they decided to get professional help, their life has changed for the better. About one in four Americans are estimated to suffer from some kind of mental illness in any given year, NAMI says, and many, according to LifeWay Research, turn to the church for help. A 2014 study by the Nashville-based research organization, which was co-sponsored by the conservative organization Focus on the Family and the family of a man who endured schizophrenia, pointed to the lack of awareness and help available to Christians who turn to the church for help with mental illness. The study found some pastors were reluctant to help those who suffer from acute mental illness because it takes too much time and that most Protestant senior pastors rarely spoke to their congregation about mental illness. Asked to describe current church culture on mental illness, Tim Sanford, clinical director at Focus on the Family, said there has been some progress made in recent years but many churches continue to blame mental issues on sin. Fortunately, there has been positive movement in recent years as the church is beginning to respond to mental health issues and recognize their legitimacy. While many churches acknowledge mental illness as legitimate and are actively helping their parishioners with such issues, sadly, the belief (and subsequent responses) that anxiety or depression is sin or is a lack of faith on the individuals part is still too common in the body of Christ, Sanford told The Christian Post. Blind adherence to a flawed ethic on mental illness can lead to unnecessary guilt, debilitating shame and fear. This, in turn, limits access to help and freedom the kind of freedom and compassion Christ modeled and died for (John 10:10). Focus on The Family encourages believers to take a measured, integrated approach to the subject of mental health; hold to what is biblically true and accurate and also hold to what is scientifically true and research proven. One former Christian in a subreddit group, called out Focus on the Family, however, for what they described as an insensitive encounter when they once tried accessing a Christian therapist. I was told that I was sinning by having anxiety and intrusive thoughts. This caused me anxiety about anxiety and a spiral of feeling like I wasnt a true Christian because a true Christian wouldnt worry," the individual wrote. "Then there was the time I called Focus on the Family because they said they had a hotline for mental health. I got to their hotline and was matched with a cold rude and condescending mental health worker who tried to charge me $60 to match me with a Christian therapist in my area. Their hotline was a referral program that charged its patients a finders fee. Sanford apologized for the encounter and debunked the notion that true Christians dont worry. Im very sorry this person was treated in such an uncaring manner and their relationship with Jesus was put into question because of anxiety. The statement a true Christian wouldnt worry is simply not true. I can only imagine the added stress and pain that statement caused this individual, Sanford said. He pointed out that Focus on the Family does not provide fee-based tele-mental health services nor does the organization function as a hotline service. We have a highly experienced and caring staff of 15 licensed and/or pastoral counselors who return calls to people requesting a consult. We are not a hotline service nor do we provide tele-mental health counseling services for a fee; rather we provide a free, one-time consultation for the caller. Our primary task during this brief consult is to assess how we can best assist the caller, he explained. We will provide answers to questions as we are able, direct them toward resources that may be helpful (be it online or printed resources), make suggestions of professional treatment facilities to consider (if that is what is requested) and provide referrals to licensed counselors in the callers area for ongoing therapy as appropriate, he noted. As Christians with mental health illness struggle to find help from churches, research also suggests that the need for mental help is not just among the laity. Many pastors struggling with reconciling their mental illness with their faith have turned to suicide because they feel they have nowhere else to turn. Some pastors, however, are choosing to fight back and turning to places like the Shepherd's Canyon Retreat Ministry in Phoenix, Arizona, for help. The organization offers weeklong counseling retreats for men and women in ministry who are in the midst of various stages of burnout, stress, depression and conflicts of all kinds. In the last 10 years, Pastor Phil Lee, a Lutheran pastor since 1981, and a licensed marriage and family therapist since 1999, who serves as the organizations counseling care director, says he has seen 400 to 500 at-risk leaders. He explained that rather than ignoring the spiritual nature of Christian leaders to address their mental health issues, they take an integrated approach to care. We are very careful not to separate the emotional and spiritual; they are interwoven. They are integrated. So our approach to mental health issues, whatever they may be, is that they are part of the overall human condition. Physical, emotional, spiritual that is all interwoven, Lee told CP. We do not take the simplistic approach, that just pray about it and it will be alright or just pray about it and it will go away. Mental illness is most always more complex than that. Folks on the more conservative end of the spectrum within Christianity often take a pretty simplistic approach just give it to God. Just pray about it, he said. It really does require different interventions along with Scripture and prayer. Many mental illnesses, for example depression, especially if its clinical depression, bipolar, those kinds of things, they really call for therapeutic interventions like talk therapy, counseling, sometimes medication, and other mental illnesses, he continued. More complex mental illness like personality disorders, those are things we usually dont work with because they are more complex than we are prepared to deal with. He noted that based on the reporting collected by his organization, the need for the services they provide is huge in the Christian community. Sanford explained that churches can help make churches safer for Christians who struggle with mental health issues by acknowledging that they exist, be knowledgeable about them, establish what level of mental health care ministerial staff can provide and have a trusted network of mental health professionals to which they can refer them. Kay Warren identifies 1 factor that can 'make or break' ministry God calls couples to Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Kay Warren, who founded Saddleback Church alongside her husband, Rick Warren, says couples who thrive in ministry all demonstrate the ability to see themselves as a team who shares a God-given dream. In a recent op-ed for pastors.com, Warren said this one factor can actually make or break the ministry God has called couples to: Being a team sharing a dream can revitalize a marriage, a family, a local church, and ultimately the Kingdom of God, she said. Warren shared how, when her husband told her he wanted to plant a church several decades ago, she became anxious. But after she attended a church growth conference, his heart for church planting began to take root in her too. However, the sharing the dream and being part of a team strategy theyd started the church with began to fade as their family grew. The demands of small children, she said, often prevented me from being as active in ministry as I desired. As a result, Rick and I felt emotionally distant from each other, she recalled. Nothing was actively wrong, but we were like ships passing in the night, each of us busy with our individual responsibilities. I didnt know much about what was happening in his world, and he didnt know much about what was happening in mine. One day, Rick Warren asked his wife a question he had read in a marriage book: Is it true that the more a woman chooses to make herself a part of her husbands world the more he will choose to be a part of her world? I was riveted by that question and pondered it for days, she said, adding that its not helpful to wade into the debate about whose turn it was to make the first move. That kind of me-first thinking can become a distraction and is what dooms too many relationships to disappointment and bitterness, she said. Ive played that game, and no one wins. Im learning to put my energy into what it is I ultimately want for us to be part of each others world. Warren shared four ways individuals can move toward being part of their spouses world: Ask: Is there a sermon, podcast, or article that really touched your heart recently? Ask: What are the two most influential books youve read in the last six months? Ask: Id really like to hear, what are your dreams and hopes for the church in the next six months? Attend or watch the same conferences together. You and your spouse are each others most valuable resource for ministry more than education and training, more than abilities, more than spiritual gifts, more than anything, she concluded. Rick and Kay Warren started Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, in 1980 as a home Bible study. Today, Saddleback is one of America's largest and most influential churches, with several campuses in California and around the world. The couple frequently discusses the importance of teamwork, both in marriage and in ministry. The more effective you want to be is dependant on how tight your team is, Rick Warren said in a 2017 interview alongside his wife. Literally everything weve ever done together weve done everything as a team, even writing books, even writing messages. Were more effective when were actually different, he continued. People think that a team is important if you think alike, but the opposite is true ... the greater your differences are, the more effective youre going to be as a team if you examine each others strengths and compensate for each others weaknesses. Kay has taught me more than anyone else in the world, he said, and probably vice versa. Effective couples must have two things, he said: A common goal and clear communication. Work on being a team, because it doesnt come automatically. We have worked hard to get where we are, he said, adding that without his wife, there would be no Saddleback Church, no Purpose Driven Life, or mental health ministry. All of these things are because you stayed with me, he told her. Kay Warren echoed her husband's sentiment in her book Sacred Privilege. We wouldnt be who we are today without each other, she writes. Im a better Christian, a better woman, a better mother, a better friend, and a better minister because of Rick. He says hes a better Christian, a better man, a better father, a better friend, and a better minister because of me. The shrieks of iron sharpening iron have often sounded like gears grinding on bare metal, but the result has been profound personal growth in both of us. The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, showed off a special skill during her visit to Morocco with Prince Harry, prompting many to wonder if she will share her knowledge with Baby Sussex. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex | FADEL SENNA/AFP/Getty Images Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys special visit to Morocco The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Morocco with an itinerary that involved a number of stops. This included a tour of a school in Asni Town in the Atlas Mountains and a visit to the Education For All boarding house, which houses girls ages 12 to 18 to allow them access to secondary education in rural communities. The Kensington Palace Twitter account shared the purpose of Prince Harry and Meghan Markles trip, tweeting: During #RoyalVisitMorocco, Their Royal Highnesses will see work being done to promote girls education, empower young people and support children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Duchess asks two girls in the @EFAMorocco dorms about what courses they would like to study at university and the careers they would like to pursue. pic.twitter.com/pIxqAIuGCG Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) February 24, 2019 Meghan Markle addressed students in French While Prince Harry spoke English to the students, Markle spoke to the children in French. She asked them: Quest ce que tu veux etre quand tu quittes lecole? (What do you want to do when you leave school?) and Vous voulez aller a luniversite? (Do you want to go to university?). The students happily shared their career goals, which included wanting to be teachers, engineers, and doctors. Markle also asked permission to enter the girls bedrooms, On peut entrer ?, and interjected parfait, meaning perfect into conversation . Prince Harry told the girls: Do you speak English? I dont speak much French. The Duke and Duchess watch students play in a football match at the Lycee Collegial Le Grand Atlas and met some of the players afterwards. pic.twitter.com/xyVge0qKxU Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) February 24, 2019 Markle has been studying French The Duchess of Sussex revealed in December, during a visit to the Hubb Community Kitchen, that she was trying to get better at my French over the last year, according to reports. Markle has studied French for six years and can speak Spanish fluently after learning it in Madrid during an internship at the U.S. Embassy in Argentina. Will Baby Sussex be bilingual? While theres no telling if Markles fluency in Spanish or her continued interest in speaking French will be taught to Baby Sussex, but theres definitely a chance that they will encourage a love of foreign languages. Prince William and Kate Middletons oldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, have learned some Spanish from their nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo. Last year, a source told PEOPLE about Princess Charlottes first week of preschool and her knowledge of some Spanish. The insider noted: Shes very sweet and very confident shes always chatting away. After the investiture, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex speak to some of the girls who live in @EFAMoroccos Boarding Houses, and are working towards exams. #RoyalVisitMorocco. pic.twitter.com/IbXVtEvZwL Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) February 24, 2019 Markles fans react to her speaking French Markles ability to address the students in French wasnt lost on her many fans on Twitter, as one person noted: Its a treat to hear Duchess Meghan speak French to these young girls. Duchess Meghan being multilingual is a very important tool in being able to connect with the people she meets from different countries/communities. Love her. Another fan agreed, tweeting: I love how she effortlessly mixes in the French. The Duchess is amazing!, while another fan remarked: Her bonne journee with that effortless French accent. I love it! For weeks, rumors have been circulating about a feud between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton. It has been reported that Meghan and Prince Harry are even canceling their original plans to live in Kensington Palace and move outside of London to Windsor in order to escape the drama. With all of the apparent issues that Meghan has going on with her family, a feud between her and her sister-in-law would only add to the tension. Now, its thought the disagreement that the duchesses are having is affecting the royal family so badly, that Prince Charles may have to step in and insist the two find a way to get along. Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton together | Cynthia Lum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images What are Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton feuding about? Meghan is supposedly difficult to get along with. In the months since she married into the royal family, several of her staff have quit due to her bossiness and excessive demands. It was also said that Meghan caused Kate to cry as they were fitting Princess Charlotte for a bridesmaid dress for the royal wedding and that Kate just cant handle the tension. Apparently, Meghan is very strong-willed, and Kate follows royal rules as expected. This is thought to be causing constant disagreements between the two. Kate Middleton did not attend Meghan Markles baby shower Recently, Meghans friends threw her a baby shower in New York City and Kate Middleton was noticeably absent! Immediately, fans began speculating why, with some saying she didnt even get invited, and others saying the duchess was simply too busy with her children to attend. It may be that Kate just isnt used to the idea of a baby shower, as its more of an American tradition than a British one, so she didnt feel that it was necessary to fly all the way across the pond for the event. Do Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton get along? Despite rumors of a rift, Kate and Meghan have been photographed on several occasions acting as friendly as can be! They spent Christmas together at the queens Sandringham estate without incident and even attended Wimbledon shortly after Meghan and Harrys wedding. However, its still possible there is some tension between them. Although they are cordial in front of the cameras, its anyones guess as to what goes on behind palace doors. Will Prince Charles have to intervene? In recent weeks, rumors have surfaced that Prince William and Prince Harry have split their royal duties. Prior to marrying Meghan, William, Harry, and Kate were known as the royal trio, and after the marriage, the addition of Meghan made them the royal fab four. Fans are speculating the two couples may not be able to attend royal engagements together anymore, and it looks like Prince Charles may have to step in and smooth things over. What will happen when Prince Charles steps in? Its certainly possible that Prince Charles will have to sit down with his sons and their wives and have them sort out their differences. In the past, things have always run smoothly with the members of the royal family, and they have never brought negative attention upon themselves. Charles may have to explain that a feud among the royal sisters-in-law is not acceptable, and insist they find a way to get along and be friends. Hopefully, Kate and Meghan can put their differences aside and get along, not only for their own sake but for their husbands and children as well. Whatever the issue may be, we know the two duchesses are sensible women who can definitely find a solution to the problem! In The Godfather, the 1972 masterpiece by director Francis Ford Coppola, New York mobsters risk everything in wars between the dominant Five Families. Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), whose political connections were the envy of all, barely survives a shooting at the hands of a rival. Naturally, that brazen move requires an appropriate response. Soon, shooters drop bodies across the city, and Corleones son Michael (Al Pacino) knocks off a corrupt cop, too. To escape the heat, Michael flees to Italy. Among followers of mafia lore, these stories sounded a lot like real mob battles of the mid-1900s. Mario Puzo, who wrote the 1969 novel on which Coppola based the film, clearly made his research count. Just as you find connections between The Sopranos and actual Jersey mobsters, youll see elements of fact in Coppola and Puzos Godfather saga. Here are the parts that match the real-life mafia. The Johnny Fontane story infuriated Sinatra, who thought it was him. 1972: Johnny Fontane (Al Martino) sings to Constanzia Corleone (Talia Shire) in the wedding scene from Francis Ford Coppolas film, The Godfather. | Paramount Pictures/Getty Images With the story of Johnny Fontane (Al Martino), Puzo and Coppola present a former star who desperately needed a big part to climb back up the ladder in Hollywood. Looking for help, Fontane asks his godfather (Brando, as Corleone) to intervene. That story lined up with Frank Sinatras biography. First, many believed Sinatra only escaped his contract with Tommy Dorsey via mob intervention. Combined with Sinatras all-out push to play Maggio in From Here to Eternity (for which he won an Oscar), you cant write off the similarities. If anyone needed more proof, you could ask Sinatra himself. When Puzo met him shortly after the books publication, Sinatra yelled at the author and humiliated him at a party. In doing so, Sinatra basically confirmed the rumors. Don Corleone had much in common with Frank Costello and Carlo Gambino. While Puzo didnt base Don Corleone on one specific mob boss, he appeared to be an amalgam. Frank Costello, the low-key Prime Minister of New Yorks mob, definitely served as inspiration. With both an assassination scare and political connections to his name, the raspy-voiced Costello offered up a convincing godfather prototype. According to Anthony DeStefano, who wrote a book on Costello, Carlo Gambinos family life also supplied Puzo with material. Finally. Joseph Profacis olive oil business fleshed out more details for the character. Interestingly, Costello was one of the mob bosses who saw a psychiatrist over the years. In the eyes of many, that point makes him an early model for Tony Soprano, the creation of David Chase and James Gandolfini. The Senate hearings in Godfather II mirrored real-life events. 1972: James Caan, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and John Cazale (1936-78) pose together while shooting The Godfather. | Paramount Pictures/Fotos International/Getty Images In The Godfather: Part II, U.S Senators hold hearings on organized crime and call Michael (Pacino) and others to testify. These scenes match up with Congressional probes of the mob in the 50s and 60s. Costello himself testified at one such hearing in 1951 (though he refused to show his face on camera). In 1963, another round of hearings brought Vito Genoveses organization under scrutiny. (Earlier, Genovese had ordered the hit on Costello.) Joe Valachi, a rival mafioso, became a government witness after fearing hed be murdered in prison by Genoveses people. That testimony led to the beginning of the end for the mob as we knew it. The Moe Green murder lines up with Bugsy Siegels death. At the close of The Godfather, the audience finds Michael Corleone in full control. His father Vito has died, hes agreed to take over the family, and he begins consolidating power. Among the many assassinations he orders, Moe Green takes a bullet in the eye while getting a massage. Green, whom Puzo based on the real-life Bugsy Siegel, had been an architect of the Las Vegas scene. In the sequel, an upset Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), chokes back tears (and anger) as he remembers his childhood friend. After running up expenses and not turning a profit his Flamingo casino, mobsters killed Siegel in 1947. They shot him in the head, and the bullet came out his eye. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! All eyes were on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle when they arrived in Morocco for a three-day visit yesterday. While their itinerary was made public, many wondered if Markle would get a henna tattoo during their trip. Meghan Markle | FADEL SENNA/AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markles visit to Morocco The royal couple have a jam-packed schedule during their visit, which included meeting with schoolchildren and teachers as they toured a school in Asni Town in the Atlas Mountains, as well as visiting the original Education For All boarding house. Royal commentator Omid Scobie shared the details on Twitter, writing: In Asni Town for Harry and Meghans first engagement of the day. Students from the @EFAMorocco boarding house (where girls from rural areas stay to be closer schools to continue their education) are ready for the couples arrival. Scobie also shared the details of Prince Harry presenting Michael McHugo with a special honor: Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan arrive at the first of @EFAMoroccos five boarding houses. Here Harry will invest founder Michael McHugo with the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (recognizing his services to improving gender equality in education in Morocco). Prince Harry and Meghan Markle |Tim P. Whitby Pool/Getty Images The special meaning of Meghan Markles henna tattoo During their visit to the boarding house, Markle received a henna tattoo on her right hand while Prince Harry watched. The henna flower was more than just decorative, however it also celebrates her pregnancy as part of Moroccan tradition. Following the tattoo session, Meghan noted, Thats really lovely. The 17-year-old girl, Samira, who applied the tattoo, explained the significance of the henna: It is a traditional practice for pregnant women in Morocco. It is to bring luck for the baby. The tradition of giving a pregnant woman a tattoo during their third trimester is to bless mother and child as well as keep away evil spirits during labor. Meghan Markles henna tattoo | Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/ WireImage Is henna safe during pregnancy? Many people were concerned about whether it was safe for Meghan Markle to have henna applied during her pregnancy. According to PEOPLE, Natural henna, typically brown and derived solely from plants, and with no added chemicals, is safe to use during pregnancy, according to experts. Black henna, however, contains a dye called para-phenylenediamine (PPD) and is not safe. One of the housemothers explained to PEOPLE why this visit from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is so important. Khadeja Oukattou shared: Its a dream for us to have the couple here. The girls are so, so happy to have them here. We are really happy to have them in our house. A Henna ceremony is performed on The Duchess of Sussex in Asni today, which is a Moroccan tradition for pregnant women. #RoyalVisitMorocco. pic.twitter.com/bmDbiJaDm3 Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) February 24, 2019 Oukattou continued: Its for when we have a big party. Now she is pregnant we do the henna to keep her happy with with the baby. For good luck. There was excitement in the air over Markles pregnancy, Oukattou explained, noting that the girls wished them a good life and good health for them and the baby. Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton both got henna tattoos while pregnant Fun fact: Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton both received a henna tattoo while pregnant! Middleton had a small henna tattoo of a flower placed on her hand when she was 7 months pregnant with Prince Louis during a visit to Sunderland. By Imran Inamdar, TwoCircles.net One of the biggest successes of the Hindu right-wing has been to portray the great Maratha leader Shivaji as an anti-Muslim ruler. However, the truth remains that not only was Shivaji loved and respected by Muslims during his reign, even in the modern age his birth anniversary is actively celebrated by Muslims of Maharashtra. And thanks to social organisations, the Muslim participation in Shiv Jayanti is on a rise. This year on February 19, the birth anniversary of Shivaji celebrated as Shiv Jayanti, Muslims not only registered notable participation in rallies but also celebrated the event at their institutions and places independently at dozens of Taluka places and cities of Maharashtra. When we look into the history of Shivaji Maharaj, it clearly appears that he was a secular Maratha king. He never hurt Muslims or tried to defame Islamin fact, near about 30% of his soldiers including 11 personal bodyguards were Muslims, said a member of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Muslim Brigade. Support TwoCircles In Tuljapur of Osmanabad district, group social workers including Haji Gouse Bagban and Toufiq Shaikh etc visited Shivajis Statue to pay the respect. Similar rallies took place in Mumbai, Pune, Sangli and Baramati. In Solapur city, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Muslim Brigade unit organised a Shiv Ekta rally with Maratha Seva Sangh to mark the Shiv Jayanti. In this event, nearly 50 Muslim women of the Yashda Foundation also registered their presence under the leadership of local body member Firdos Patel and Suhel Pathan to show their respect towards this Maratha King. Regular participants of the shiv Ekta rally Sayyed Gufran Inamdar said that Shivaji Maharaj had given very important responsibilities to his Muslim commanders and they were all very loyal to Maharaj. History says that Maharaja is our own, and we will be giving respect to this secular king and social reformer, Gufran added. While speaking with TwoCircles.net, Maratha scholar Shrimant Kokate expressed happiness over this social development. He informed that credit of this historical change went to the literary work of Govind Pansare, author of Marathi book Shivaji Kon Hota, Prem Hanvate who authored Shivaji Maharajanche Muslim Sipe Salar along with Advocate Gaziuddin who did the Urdu translation of Shivaji Kon Hota etc. Kokate further appreciated the work of Maratha Seva Sangh which came into existence in 1990 and its units Sambhaji Brigade and Chhatrapati Shivaji Muslim brigade for coming up with the real history of great personalities and spreading brotherhood. According to Sheikh Subhan Ali, a 34-year-old lecturer and a social activist, Shivaji remains an important figure for all citizens of Maharashtra irrespective of their religious beliefs and he wants to claim Shivaji as one of our own. Ali said that he had delivered nearly 25 lectures on the Maratha Kings character in places like Sangli, Satara, Solapur, Pune etc. It was very pleasing to see that Muslims are equally involved in this activity, he added. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been married for less than a year, but that doesnt stop some people from saying negative things about the couple. And one thing nobody wants to hear? Meghan and Harry might (eventually) be headed for divorce. But who can possibly predict that? Well, a psychic whose client list included Princess Diana seems to think the couple wont last. | Karwai Tang/Getty Images Meghan and Harry had a blissful wedding last May Anyone who tuned in to watch Harry and Meghans May 2018 nuptials knows how beautiful their royal wedding was. Meghan stunned in a Givenchy dress, and with her mother by her side, the American woman married her British husband. Meghan and Harry only began dating in 2016, but the couple fell hard for one another, and Harry proposed in 2017. Since royals tend to have very short engagements, it wasnt long before the couple got married. And only two months after that, Meghan was already pregnant. Their relationship may have been a whirlwind, but it doesnt seem to have affected their love for one another. The couples relationship has been criticized by some Although there are plenty of people who love the relationship between Harry and Meghan, not everyone believes the couples relationship is as perfect as it seems. There have been several theories about why Meghan and Harry married that have nothing to do with love. Some think the couple may have married so quickly because Harry wanted to marry while his grandparents were still alive. Others think the couple wanted kids so badly that they sped the whole relationship up. An even more interesting theory is that Meghan only married Harry because she wanted to be an American in the royal family. While its likely none of these are true, people cant help but wonder. One psychic says she the couples marriage will end in divorce A psychic and close personal friend to Princess Diana had something to say about Meghan and Harrys marriage: It wont last. I give their marriage two and a half to three years, said psychic Simone Simmons, who knew Diana well and claims she still communicates with the princess. I dont want to see him badly hurt, and Harry wont know whats hit him when it does happen, Simmons said, according to U.K.s The Daily Star. She says Meghans family drama will ultimately be the cause for the divorce. Simone was also correct when she said she suspected the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were already pregnant before the Palace announced it. Harry and Meghan appear to be going strong despite any drama Although not everyone believes the couples sincere about their love for one another, and there have been reports of things not going smoothly between Meghan and other members of the royal family, Meghan and Harry still appear to be going strong. Meghan recently slipped away to New York City for a few days to have a baby shower for the couples newest addition, which should arrive in late April. Harry and Meghan do seem like a good fit for each other despite a quick romance, but well have to check back in another two years. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will soon be welcoming their first child together. And while people have their opinions about the gender of Meghan and Harrys baby, it seems that those in the royal family are hoping she has a girl. Prince Harry has already admitted he wants a girl but its likely that Prince Charles does, too heres why. Prince Charles, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, and other members of the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images Prince Harry has said in the past hes hoping for a girl It seems that the royal family as a whole is leaning toward wanting the newest royal baby to be a girl rather than a boy. While Meghan and Harry would likely be ecstatic as long as they have a healthy baby, it doesnt hurt to prefer one over the other. Shortly after Harry and Meghan announced their pregnancy, Harry was caught on camera saying he hopes the baby is a girl. While Harry was in Australia last October, a fan yelled out, I hope its a girl, to which Harry replied, So do I. However, it seems that Meghan and Harry dont know the babys gender. Prince Charles always wanted a girl of his own and hes very close with Princess Charlotte In an interview with Princess Diana, it was shockingly revealed that Prince Charles was extremely disappointed to learn that Harry was a boy, Good Housekeeping reported. The Prince of Wales had supposedly always wanted a daughter, and he was severely saddened when he learned otherwise. Diana had said she saw Harrys gender prior the birth but refrained from telling Charles because she was worried what he would think. She also suggested that Harrys birth was the beginning of the downward spiral between the two. When Princess Charlotte was born, Charles instantly took a liking to her. The two are very close. Some people are already convinced the couple will have a girl Harry and Meghan have been pretty mute as far as details about the baby go, but they have let a few things slip. Meghan said in January that the baby is due in late April. And the couple has been spending plenty of time getting the babys nursery ready. But the two have still said they do not know the babys gender; yet some people are convinced the couple is having a girl. According to Paddy Power, an Irish bookmaker, the pattern of betting is consistent with the babys gender being female, Mirror reported. Although the company didnt entirely explain its algorithm, Paddy Power seems incredibly convinced that the baby will be a girl. Meghan recently had a baby shower in New York While no one can be sure what Meghan is having until the baby actually arrives, the unknown gender hasnt put a damper on the excitement. If anything, its only added to it. Meghan recently made a surprise trip to New York to have a baby shower with close friends. It was a chance for Meghan to escape the royal life for a few days before the new baby arrives in just over two months. And since Meghan will be permanently busy with royal engagements, she might not get to see her friends too often. But everyone seems incredibly excited for the newest member of the family to arrive. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Khloe Kardashian is swiftly shooting down any rumors that she will be the next Bachelorette on the reality dating show. Bachelorette producer Mike Fleiss had tweeted earlier this week about the possibility of Kardashian looking for love on the show. Khloe Kardashian | Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images How the Kardashian Bachelorette rumor got started Fleiss first teased the possibility of Khloe on the show when he tweeted earlier this week: Now who do you think should be our next #TheBachelorette, following it up two days later with the tweet: @khloekardashian is very much in contention Stay tuned! It appears he ran with the rumor, as the next day he tweeted: Any decision regarding @khloekardashian as the new #TheBachelorette will need to be approved by my dear friend @KrisJenner. By weeks end, he said he d been in touch with Jenner. Fake fucking news big time!!!! https://t.co/sbI7JbSPpC Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) February 23, 2019 Kim Kardashian denies Khloes involvement Khloes sister Kim Kardashian was the first one to deny that Khloe would be involved, responding to a Pop Crave post about the rumors by tweeting: Fake f**king news big time!!!! Fleiss fired back: How would @KimKardashian know??? This is between me and @KrisJenner and most importantly @khloekardashian !!! Kim wasnt going to let that go down without a response, tweeting: Oh really????? Wait a minute. She followed it up with the receipts that she was, in fact, very much in the loop and that there was zero truth to the rumors. Kim shared a screengrab of a group text with Jenner and Khloe, with Kim asking Are u guys in talks w the bachkorettte , Jenner responding, No lol, and Khloe sharing: Ewwww I mean put some respeck on my name. Fleiss maintained he was in talks for Khloe to be the next Bachelorette Despite Kim sharing the group text details, Fleiss was still sticking to his guns, tweeting: As @KimKardashian is obviously aware, this is all about timing for @khloekardashian ! Shes been through a lot. Ts and Ps from all of #BachelorNation ! He added: FYI We have strict confidentiality agreements with all #TheBachelorette candidates. @khloekardashian couldnt tell @KimKardashian anyway Khloe fires back at Fleiss Khloe then entered the conversation and she didnt hold back a thing, tweeting to Fleiss: Im not f**king clickbait right now. Stop or you will be hearing from my lawyers. How insensitive!! The producer seemed to be shut down, but still managed to get one more tweet in, noting: This is about helping people find true love nothing more!!! #TheBachelorette. Im not fucking clickbait right now. Stop or you will be hearing from my lawyers. How insensitive!! https://t.co/vTKi83nLUJ Khloe (@khloekardashian) February 24, 2019 Are Khloes Instagram Stories about her recent breakup? Following the news this week that Kylie Jenners former best friend, Jordyn Woods, cheated with Khloes now ex-boyfriend, Tristan Thompson, Kardashian seemed to address the matter on her Instagram stories. One quote she shared noted: Dont let shame keep you from asking for the support you want. Suffering is done in silence, end it with speaking up. Everyone has a dark chapter. Make your shadows go away by shining light on yours. Find the encouragement and the strength needed to face the sun. Remember clouds are always temporary. Believe it gets better. Shes one of the most acclaimed actresses in the world, with a string of blockbusters as well as beloved romantic comedies to her credit. In spite of some backlash regarding her lifestyle brand Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow has managed to achieve great success in both Hollywood and the business world. At a relatively young age, Paltrow became very famous, and long before her 40th birthday, she won the biggest award in show business. Many fans wonder, how old is Gwyneth Paltrow? Gwyneth Paltrows age and early career Born on September 27th, 1972, Paltrow is currently 46 years old. She was born to a show business family her mother, Blythe Danner is an accomplished actress, and her father, Bruce Paltrow, was a well-known director and producer. Paltrow certainly led a charmed early life her godfather is the iconic director Steven Spielberg, and she attended the very best schools in California while she was growing up. She began acting in the late 80s, and made her film debut in 1991, opposite John Travolta in the film Shout. Her career quickly took off, and over the next ten years, she appeared in big-name movies like Emma, Great Expectations, Hush, and A Perfect Murder. One of her best-known films was also released in 1998 and marked a turning point for Paltrow. Which movie earned Paltrow an Oscar? When Shakespeare in Love was released in 1998, starring Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow, the critics really sat up and took notice. The film was a fictional account of when William Shakespeare wrote his famous play, Romeo and Juliet, and all the trials and tribulations that happened as a result of his love affair with an aristocratic girl, played by Paltrow. Paltrow earned rave reviews for her role and cleaned up at awards season as well. She won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress as well as the Academy Award for Best Actress. No doubt all the honor and recognition that Paltrow received as a result of the films success was enough to fuel the latter half of her acting career. Paltrows lifestyle brand and criticism Following the success of Shakespeare in Love, Paltrow continued acting in a wide variety of films, including 2001s Shallow Hal, opposite Jack Black, and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow in 2004. For the past decade, Paltrow has more or less stepped away from acting full time in order to focus on Goop, the lifestyle brand that she founded in 2008. Goop started as a weekly newsletter and eventually became a web-based business, focusing on natural health and wellness. While the site clearly has many fans, Goop has also earned a lot of detractors as well. Many doctors and wellness experts have taken issue with certain health claims that the site has made, and consumers have complained that with the steep price tag attached to many of Goops products, the site isnt really relatable or accessible for regular people. Certainly, some of the products are ridiculous including the stickers that are advertised to heal your body in a variety of ways when stuck to the skin or a $72 candle that is supposed to heal and transform the body. Gwyneth Paltrow with her mother | PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images In spite of the harsh headlines and online critics, Gwyneth Paltrow is having the last laugh. She stands by her claims that Goop is a powerful force for wellness, and is focusing more time on the brand than ever. With a net worth of around $60 million and a booming career at an age when many women start to slow down, its likely that fans will be able to enjoy seeing Paltrow around for a good long time to come. To her, being 46 years old is truly just a number. Princess Dianas life was tragically cut short due to a fatal car crash in Paris. As a result, she never got to see either of her sons fall in love and get married, and sadly, she never got to experience the joy of being a grandmother. That doesnt mean Prince William and Kate Middletons children are not well aware of who Diana was. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge make every effort to ensure that Diana is an important part of the lives of all three of their children. So, how do they go about sharing Dianas legacy? Princess Diana influences the parenting style of William and Kate It can be clearly evidenced in photographs that William and Kate are very hands-on parents! Just like Diana was with her children, they make it a priority to spend as much time with their children as possible. Kate can often be seen taking walks in the park with one or more of the kids, and William is very interactive with them as well. Although the Cambridge family does have a nanny to help out during those times when William and Kate must tend to royal engagements, it is clear that they enjoy plenty of quality time with their kids. William and Kate tell as many stories as possible Princess Diana was one of the most influential women of our time, and William and Kate are not going to let their children grow up without knowing who she was! Diana certainly made a positive impact on everyone that she came in contact with. William and Kate tell their children stories about the charitable work that Diana did, and how she had a positive impact on people around the world. So many people simply adored Princess Diana, and the Duke and Duchess are doing everything that they can to make sure their children do the same. They keep her memory alive William and Kate are adamant about keeping Dianas memory alive so that she is an important part of their childrens lives! It is said that there are many pictures of Diana all throughout Kate and Williams home, letting her spirit live on through everything the family does. They like to keep Dianas memory alive by sharing experiences, mentioning her name, and letting their children know just how loved she was, not only by the royal family but by the entire world as well. Princess Charlotte bears a tribute to Diana with her name Diana, Princess of Wales, wears an outfit in the colors of Canada during a state visit to Edmonton, Alberta, with her husband. | Bettmann/Getty Images Princess Charlottes full name is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, the perfect name for the little princess! This guarantees that she will have a piece of her late grandmother with her throughout her entire life and that Diana will never be forgotten. Her name also honors Williams grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who Charlotte is extremely close to. What beautiful sentiment for the family! William and Kate carefully chose the godparents of their children When it came time to decide who would have the honor of being godparents to the Cambridge children, William and Kate continued to keep Dianas memory alive. Many of the godparents of the children were good friends and relatives of Diana, and she surely would have been proud of William and Kates choices. One of Prince Georges godparents was very close to Princess Diana, and one of Princess Charlottes godparents is Princess Dianas niece. The Duke and Duchess certainly like to include Diana in just about everything that they do. It is quite clear that William and Kate will allow Dianas spirit to live on with every aspect of their lives. When Harry and Meghan welcome their first baby this spring, it will be wonderful to see how they choose to honor Diana in their own special way! Danish-American actor Viggo Mortensen has numerous film credits to his name. The movie star also has considerable talent, as evinced by the critical acclaim hes received over the years. But, does Mortensen have any kids? Heres what we found out. Viggo Mortensens early years Viggo Peter Mortensen made his earthly debut in New York City on October 20, 1958. When he was a young boy, his parents took him to live in South America where his dad, Viggo Sr., managed ranches and poultry farms in Argentina and Venezuela. During their time in South America, the Mortensens welcomed two more sons, Walter and Charles. When Viggo was 7 years old, he was sent to live at an isolated boarding school in Argentina. Four years later, Viggos mom, Grace, took Viggo and his brothers back to her home state of New York and divorced the family patriarch. Mortensen graduated from Watertown High School where he was by all accounts a skilled athlete and dedicated scholar. After graduating in 1976, he enrolled at St. Lawrence University. Following his graduation, he packed up and moved to his fathers native country of Denmark. Young love Viggo Mortensen | Franco Origlia/Getty Images The young expat worked at numerous odd jobs, from florist to dock worker, while penning poetry and short stories in his spare time. In 1982, he became smitten with an American tourist and followed her back to the Big Apple. The romance didnt last, nor did it produce any children. The breakup did, however, inspire Mortensen to take acting classes under the tutelage of Warren Robertson. Mortensen made a few appearances on New York stages and in small movies before taking his acting dreams to Los Angeles. Once in LA, Mortensen got right to work It didnt take long for Mortensen to pass an audition for a part in a Coast Playhouse production of Bent. In fact, the Dramalogue Critics Award he won for the role put his name on the map and in the minds of movie makers, explains Fandango. Around the same time, Mortensen found himself enchanted by the burgeoning punk rock scene in Los Angeles. In 1986, he began dating one of the scenes most interesting and enigmatic performers. Enter Exene In July 1987, Mortensen married a rockabilly-punk performer named Exene Cervenka. Born Christine Cervenkova in Chicago on February 1, 1956, Cervenka was previously married to John Doe who was the founder of their Los Angeles-based band, X. The mid-80s were wild times in the City of Angels, and its no wonder than the flamboyant rock star made waves with the handsome, well-traveled actor. They even had a kid together. According to the UK Daily Mail, Cervenka and Mortensen stuck it out until 1992. It took the troubled couple a long time to make the end official, though. Viggo and Exene were not divorced until 1997. During the course of their brief marriage, Viggo and Exene had one child together. His name is Henry, and hes now 29 years old. Shortly before Exene and Viggo split up, Sean Penn hired Mortensen for the part of a morally bankrupt brother to David Morses character in his 1991 film, The Indian Runner. Two years later, Mortensen was cast as a paraplegic ex convict who blows the whistle in Carlitos Way. The movie also starred veteran actor, Al Pacino. In 1995, while still married to but not living with Cervenka, Mortensen gave a stellar -and creepy- performance of Lucifer in The Prophecy. As part of the cinematic festivities, Mortensen ripped out and ate the heart of the character portrayed by always weird, always wonderful, Christopher Walken. Viggo Mortensen on working with kids In Captain Fantastic, the actor best known as Aragorn in the stupendous Lord of the Ringstrilogy played dad to six amazing kids. Shot partly in Washington state. Captain Fantastic also starred Naomi Watts, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Annalise Basso, and Shree Crooks. While on location in the Pacific Northwest, Mortensen described director Matt Ross as an extraordinary and told The Seattle Times that he found the young cast of childhood actors to be a constant source of amusement and inspiration. That thing that we all are until a certain age: You dont need a director or a second take, you just believe what youre doing and you are Superman or a princess or a Viking or whatever you want to be. You dont need the trappings, you dont need someone telling you how to do it; you believe it. Thats something as adults we all lose; we get rigid physically but also mentally. As an actor, you have to keep that with you. With a grown son and decades of experience under his belt, we expect to see plenty more of the breathtaking acting skills of Viggo Mortensen. Buckingham Palace as we know it will no longer exist once Queen Elizabeth dies. Not only will Britains longest-reigning monarch no longer live there, but the future monarch Prince Charles plans to bring forth a lot of change to the monarchs official residence and royal family headquarters. What will happen to Buckingham Palace when Prince Charles ascends the throne? Find out what His Royal Highness has in mind, ahead. Will Prince Charles move to Buckingham Palace upon ascension? Prince Charles refuses to live at Buckingham Palace| iStock / Getty Images Plus Unlike those before him, Prince Charles doesnt plan on moving to Buckingham Palace once he ascends the throne and becomes King of England. The reason could have something to do with the current renovation plans. Upgrades to the monarchs headquarters wont begin until mid-2020 and wont be liveable until late-2020. However, even without the decade-long Buckingham Palace renovation, Prince Charles has never planned on moving back to Buckingham Palace (he grew up there!) once he becomes king. In fact, the future monarch is not exactly fond of the centuries-old royal abode. I know he is no fan of the big house, as he called the palace, a source close to the royal family dished to Hello! Magazine. So, why doesnt Prince Charles want a Buckingham Palace address? According to the source, he doesnt see it as a viable future home or a house thats fit for purpose in the modern world. He feels its upkeep, both from a cost and environmental perspective, is not sustainable. What will become of Buckingham Palace? Queen Elizabeth could very well be the last monarch to live at the royal familys headquarters. After all, Prince William allegedly agrees with his father and likely wont move into Buckingham Palace when he ascends the throne either. So, what will happen when Her Majesty passes? Find out what Prince Charles has planned for Buckingham Palace, below. Renovation Buckingham Palaces decade-long renovation could go well into the mid to late-2020s, which mean the queen could be around 100-years-old (or older) when its all said and done. Should she pass before her 100th birthday, Prince Charles will ensure that the palace upgrades continue on. Open to the public Right now, Buckingham Palace is open to the public between July and October. However, Prince Charles plans on leaving palace gates open a little longer. Since the future monarch wont live there, he feels that he can still conduct business with public visitors. The prince allegedly wants to extend the time frame and might even offer up more rooms (after all, he has over 700 to choose from) for public viewing. A memorial exhibit Prince Charles plans on honoring his mother and her historical reign in a big way. Once Queen Elizabeth passes, he wants to curate a memorial exhibit in her honor so that guests can learn more about Queen Elizabeths lifes work as Britains longest-reigning monarch. Business as usual While Prince Charles will most likely stay at Clarence House, he still plans on conducting business from Buckingham Palace. That means things like State Dinners and knightings would still take place at the royal familys headquarters. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! The manager of City Cafe on Lee Highway said they had four people come into their restaurant and eat a total of $106.80. They then tried to pay with a credit card that was declined. When the card was declined, they tried to pay with cash that an employee identified as counterfeit. When employees told them they were calling the police, they fled the scene in a white Chevy Impala going southbound on Lee Highway. Police ran the tag and it did not come back to the described vehicle. Police took three $20 bills that appeared to be counterfeit, all with the same serial number . The manager said he would attempt to email video of the group eating in the restaurant to the responding officer to forward to an investigator. Police took the counterfeit money to property. * * * At Oops! Phone Repair store at 3530 Broad St., employees said a young black male, who identified himself as Devonte Bowman, came in to have his iPhone 6 screen repaired. After the screen was replaced, the young man grabbed the phone and ran out the door. The cost of the screen and labor was $80. It is unknown if the name the young man gave is accurate or not * * * An employee of PetSmart at 2130 Gunbarrel Road said an unknown white male walked into the store and stated that he wanted to look at a puppy. She handed the man the puppy and he then asked if he could show his wife the puppy. He then walked out the door and never returned. The employee said she waited about an hour for the man to return before calling police. * * * The manager at East Lake Courts at 4th Avenue said one of the Chattanooga Housing vehicles (a white 2010 Ford Ranger) was vandalized over the weekend. He said that the vehicle was last seen on a Saturday around 3 p.m. by a worker. The vehicle stayed parked there overnight and Sunday morning around 7:30 a.m. it was discovered that the windshield had been busted out and the mirror had been broken on the driver side door. Also, the window on that door had some marks on it that indicated someone had tried to break it as well. He said that someone must have used the mop handle that had been on the back of the vehicle to do the damage because it was lying on the ground, broken in front of the vehicle. * * * A man who turned his vehicle over to a valet at 1400 Market St. said when he tried to get his car back from the valet around 11 p.m., his car was gone from the spot they parked it in. One valet employee told police that he saw the lights to the vehicle come on at approximately 10:15 p.m., then drive away heading north down Market Street. He did not see who got into the vehicle. The owner said he had his wallet with credit cards in the vehicle, but nothing else. Police sent a BOLO out and entered the vehicle as stolen into NCIC. Afterward, the owner of the vehicle called back in stating he had received his car back. He said he heard a knock on his door from someone announcing they were a pizza delivery man. He opened his door and was greeted by a man in his early 30's who was not a pizza delivery man. He said he noticed his vehicle was sitting in his driveway behind the man. He said the surprise visitor told him he stole his car in a dare from downtown and returned it to the address on file on the registration inside the car as part of the dare. The owner of the vehicle, who is an extremely good sport, said he did not get the man's name and stated he did not want to press charges. In fact, he then gave the man a ride to the Waffle House on Shallowford Road because he did not have a way back downtown. Police Dispatch was notified "and sent Deputy Brewer out to the house to lay eyes on the vehicle. Deputy Brewer confirmed the vehicle was at the residence and the vehicle was taken out of NCIC. No further Police action taken." A joint investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Athens Police Department, and the Office of the 10th District Attorney General has resulted in the arrest of two men accused of attempting to purchase illicit sex from minors. This week, TBI agents, working alongside investigators from the Athens Police Department, District Attorneys Office, McMinn County Sheriffs Office, 10th Judicial Drug Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations, conducted an undercover human trafficking operation. Part of the investigation focused on identifying individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with females under the age of 18. During the operation, both Edgar Gallegos, 34, of Morristown, and Armadi Imade, 38, of Sevierville, made contact with undercover agents posing as a juvenile girl. The men then arranged a meeting with the undercover agents, and both paid to have sex with an underage girl. On Thursday, Gallegos was arrested and charged with one count trafficking a person for a commercial sex act. He was booked into the McMinn County Jail on a $50,000 bond. On Friday, Imade was arrested and also charged with one count of trafficking a person for a commercial sex act. He was booked into the McMinn County Jail on a $125,000 bond. At this time, the investigation remains active and ongoing, with the possibility of additional arrests and charges. Information about human trafficking and TBIs efforts to address this type of crime can be found online at www.ITHasToStop.com. I have been given rigid instructions not to walk, drive a car, smoke tobacco, or salute the day with my late-afternoon cocktail. I can report that in the last nine days I have been living at the foot of the cross since experiencing more knee reconstruction. But when I got word about pushing the reset button in our countys sewer crisis, it was enough to bring a nigh-dead man from his bed. On Thursday night Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger announced he will soon name a community committee to join our Wastewater Authority to seek and settle on a site to build a sewage treatment plant in the burgeoning northeast corridor of our county. These committees will work hand-in-hand with our Regional Planning Agency in searching for a solution for what has now become one of the ugliest scars in the modern-day history of county government. What should have been an easy fix some years ago has been allowed to become a mess and, with thousands of gallons of raw sewage now visual at several county locations on this very morning, the countys lack of diligence and direction has become a curse in one of the states highest-profile areas. A moratorium against subdivisions without sewage ability is supposedly in effect but the Planning Commission, its leadership rife with winking-eyed cronies from the Homebuilders Association, has made obtaining construction permits easier to get than a repentance pamphlet at any given Baptist church. Mayor Coppinger has even intimated that this consortium of committees with almost every member of the three groups appointed by the mayor in his first nine years of office will choose the site for a sewage treatment center and that he will quickly concede to the findings of these committees. But wait! This isnt right. In Hamilton Countys 200 years of official governance, not one voter has ever voted for a committee over a human being. I detest committees and, while I adore Jim Coppinger, there is no way he - nor any other elected official should shirk the responsibility, the personal reputation, or the duty of sworn office for that of any committee of any kind. The truth is Id vote for Jim Coppinger time and time again based on his achievements, his wisdom, and his deep daily concern for his constituents, but, remember, in return for my vote and that of others, he has pledged to do what is right, what is noble, and to foster the common good. Unfortunately, in Thursdays olive branch session, it appears the popular county mayor, in his second term of office, has allowed an angry public, a collection of buffoons on certain committees, and some small thinkers to soften his grip on the county reins. Handing off tough decisions to a committee and asking for a solution is clearly unacceptable. Oh, that life should be so simple --this way Coppinger and our County Commission can blame this no-win horror on the new faces on the sewer committee. Then, in the way we have known since John Ross first observed that sewage flows downhill, the new appointees can just as adroitly pitch the rhythm-and-rhyme from their Teflon shoulders to the older members of the established committees in a just-as-well-established carney game called Pass the Buck. Man, appointing a committee is a Chattanooga tradition when in the last two centuries experience has taught us exactly the opposite -- the last thing we need is a committee. Just you wait and watch: Fred Allen had it right when he said, A committee is a group of men who individually can do nothing but as a group decide that nothing can be done. Dont you see? A reset button enables everybody to be innocent just wait, youll see -- when, in fact, we are all just as guilty for allowing our county government to stink every bit as badly as the quite literally thousands of gallons of raw sewage at this very moment that is blowing-and-going into our primary water source. Please, in the first two months of 2019 we have had twice the rainfall in Southeast Tennessee as we normally do. The torrential rains leave absolutely no doubt that with this weeks horrific flooding, our sewage inadequacies have never been worse and forget the notion that drinking upstream from the herd will work. After all; If the sun and the moon and the constellations were to align at a sparkling best, any feasible solution is five years away at the minimum. In Gail Perrys account of Coppingers reset-button speech in Chattanoogan.com, she reported that the mayor would not eliminate the controversial Mahan Gap site from a list of possibilities as the ideal location for the sewer plant. Thats nothing compared to the better revelation the Mahan Gap location was originally proposed in 1971. My man Cleos calculator tells us that was 48 years ago. Face it, weve known this was coming, just as we have known our public school infrastructure was steadily eroding to the point we have buildings in need of $300 million in deferred maintenance with some hardly habitable. Yes, hip! hip! hooray! Until recently we were among the largest communities in America without a tax increase for 16 years, but now it is time to pay the piper. We have no other choice. The north county sewer problem has been ignored, side-stepped, and forgotten in yearly budget talks, but with taxpayers now watching the sewers back up and flow freely down Snow Hill Road to where their children play, for our mayor to suggest a committee be formed is merely an insult to injury. * * * To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three men, two of whom are absent. Robert Copeland One man with courage makes a majority. Andrew Jackson royexum@aol.com What are many Indian teengaers biggest concerns when they are 15 years old? Homework? Upcoming exams? Family pressures? No We do not need an expert to tell us that teenagers are subject to extreme social pressures. Now, imagine all these issues and place it in the context of a conflict that has been raging in your region for as long as you can remember; for as long as your parents can remember. No one has an easy life in Kashmir, but can we even begin to imagine the kind of pressure, anger, disbelief, frustration and general helplessness that a school student in Kashmir undergoes? A student in a town like Shopian, for example, might consider himself lucky just to be alive: they have seen their friends being shot, injured, and arrested. As a Kashmiri teenager, what do you do? Not protest against the occupation? That might still get you caught in a crossfire. Keep quiet and focus on your studies? How do you do that when there is an encounter happening right next to your house? Or when tear gas shells land inside your house? In December, two teenagersSaqib Majeed and Mudassir Paraybecame another statistic in Kashmir. They were killed in an encounter with security forces and Indian media barely noticed the fact that the two militants were 17 and 14 years old It made no difference. What forces a 15-year-old to pick up a gun? What forces a 12-year-old to pick a stone to hurl at security forces? What makes a 17-year-old believe that death at the hands of Indian forces is a better option that living a normal life? Support TwoCircles In this 6-part series, TwoCircles.nets Kashmir correspondent Auqib Javeed looks at all the aspects of being a teenager in Kashmir: a militant, a protester, a mere bystander and a victim. If you pick a gun, you will be labelled a militant and shot; if you pick a stone, you will be labelled anti-India and arrested and put in juvenile homes. If you are lucky, you will only be beaten up a little; if you are not, you will end up with bruises that will never leave you. And if you do neither, you still stand a very high chance of ending up being arrested or killed. In the last of the six-part series, Javeed speaks with Dr Arshad Hussain, one of the leading psychiatrist of the Kashmir. Dr Hussain, who has been practising for over two decades, warns that the ongoing conflict is having a severe and irreparable damage of the minds of the teenagers. The following are the excerpts: How does a violent atmosphere impact the development of a child? Just as we provide good nutrition to our children for their physical development, we also need to provide an environment of love and carefree of abuse and violence for their normal mental development. The environment free of violence will lead to the making of good humans. Any kind of abuse to children, be it physical, sexual or verbal has the worst impact one can imagine on their mental health. It traumatises them, and many times to an extent that they are not able to live beyond this trauma. It leaves them with a permanent scar on their lives. If adults get traumatised they usually manifest: either they will cope (carry on) or they might succumb (post-traumatic stress) but in case of children, it damages their development, which actually means what kind of person they become later on depends upon how they processed their traumas. What is the outcome of these traumas on the children? When humans face trauma generally there could be three kinds of outcomes, a positive outcome, a negative outcome and a neutral outcome. In most cases, we find a neutral outcome- which means kids are traumatised but they try to move on with family support, peer support, social networking and bonding. Culture provides an important buffer from helping them not to slide into the black hole of trauma. It remains a scar they dont forget it but they modulate it in a way that they still live a normal life. However, in many cases, trauma leads to mental health problems. Some of them become complex in nature; where they re-enact their own traumas by traumatising others, hence having serious consequences for societies putting them into a vicious cycle of trauma the whirlpool from which they are not able to emerge unscathed. What has been your experience in dealing with the children in Kashmir? The current environment in Kashmir is unfortunately filled with traumatising events which are not good for the development of a child. This is an atmosphere of fear and for children, there is trauma and violence being played over and over again. I hope and pray that our kids imbibe this fear and trauma and modulate and process it in a way that they fight for justice without the need for vengeance and dont fall into the dark hole of trauma. But if my optimism doesnt come true, we are looking at serious mental health morbidity. What needs to be done according to you? As a mental health professional, I hate violence. If we want a non-violent society we have to work towards the same. You have to create that kind of atmosphere. You cant dream of a peaceful society when you use non-violent methods. We can discuss, debate, agree to disagree and incentivise peaceful modes of protest. History has taught us that trauma begets trauma. If you traumatise now you are investing in a violent future. You can disagree with others, but what is wrong with listening? You use violent methods you will get it back. If we want a peaceful atmosphere we have to incentivise peaceful methods of dissent. Read the other 5 parts of Kashmiri teenagers stories here: Part I: They killed my son for standing outside his house Part II: Encounter of Saqib and Mudassir Part III: My son, 14, was forced to pick up the gun Part IV: Every time we see policemen, our blood boils Part V: Need for a separate police wing to deal with Juvenile cases in J&K SalamAir is looking to connect the southern Omani city of Salalah with direct flights to Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, plus its current flights to Sohar. The move is subject to discussion with local authorities and stakeholders and follows the recent opening of its first sales office in Salalah. The airline currently flies 21 direct flights to Salalah from Muscat a week, as well as connects Muscat International Airport to 14 regional destinations. Captain Mohamed Ahmed, CEO of SalamAir, said: Salalah has the potential of being our hub and will enable us to take major strides to further expand our operations and network. We also want to achieve greater air connectivity for Oman, which is key to unlocking the sultanates economic diversification strategy and growth potential, as well as spur key sectors like tourism, aviation and logistics in the process. Our decision will depend on the facilities that will be provided to make Salalah a hub. He added: Oman boasts a world-class aviation infrastructure led by the recently opened Muscat International Airport, as well as the Salalah Airport. This is a very important proposition for the entire country to attract investment and ensure that enough capacity is created to accommodate demand. Overall, this move will foster air transport growth. It will also offer the end user increased connectivity and reduced travel time, while providing businesses with access to a wider and more competitive marketplace. Direct international flights from Salalah will create additional demand and reflect positively on the local economy. In the future, we will consider flying direct to India from Salalah if we get the traffic rights, Captain Ahmed said. Today, the SalamAir network consists of 14 destinations including Muscat, Salalah, Sohar, Dubai, Doha, Jeddah, Karachi, Multan, Sialkot, Shiraz, Kathmandu, Khartoum, Dhaka, and Alexandria. - TradeArabia News Service Cemtech Asia 2019 was held at the Avani+ Riverside Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, on 16-19 June 2019. A full conference report is available here, while event photos can be viewed here. Next event Our next event is Cemtech Europe and will be held at the InterContinental Hotel in Berlin, Germany, between 30 September 2 October. For more details, please visit the webpage. Changan wanted to do things their way, and it took them six years; but good things come to those who wait because theyve finally shown the ... 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. remaining of Thank you for reading! This is your last free article before you will be asked to subscribe. Already have a paid subscription? Sign in Dr Jaber signing the deal with Fink on the left and Kravis on the right The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) announced that it has entered into a landmark multi-billion-dollar midstream pipeline infrastructure partnership with KKR and BlackRock, two of the worlds leading institutional investors. To mark the occasion, a signing ceremony was held at Adnoc Headquarters with Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Adnoc Group CEO; Laurence D Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock; and Henry Kravis, co-chairman and co-CEO of KKR. As part of the transaction, a newly formed entity called Adnoc Oil Pipelines Sole Proprietorship LLC will lease Adnocs interest in 18 pipelines, transporting stabilised crude oil and condensate across Adnocs offshore and onshore upstream concessions, for a 23-year period. The entity will, in turn, receive a tariff payable by Adnoc, for its share of volume of crude and condensate that flows through the pipelines, backed by minimum volume commitments. Funds managed by BlackRock and KKR will form a consortium to collectively hold a 40 per cent interest in the entity, while Adnoc will hold the remaining 60 per cent majority stake. Sovereignty over the pipelines and management of pipeline operations remain with Adnoc. The transaction will result in upfront proceeds of approximately $4 billion to Adnoc and is expected to close in Q3 2019, subject to customary closing conditions and all regulatory approvals. BlackRock and KKRs long-term investment underlines the attractiveness of Abu Dhabi and the UAE as a rapidly emerging investment destination for international capital. This transaction marks the first time that leading, global institutional investors have deployed capital into key midstream infrastructure assets of a national oil company in the Middle East. In conjunction with this transaction, Adnoc is laying the groundwork for additional infrastructure-related investment opportunities with institutional investors. Adnocs 60 per cent equity stake in Adnoc Oil Pipelines will be held through Adnoc Infrastructure LLC, a 100 per cent Adnoc-owned subsidiary, which also holds Adnocs 100 per cent stake in Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (Adcop). In time, Adnoc Infrastructure LLC is expected to add further select Adnoc infrastructure assets and become the key vehicle for a new and innovative Adnoc infrastructure investment platform. Commenting on the transaction, Dr Al Jaber said: The level and sophistication of the investors that we are attracting as financial partners to invest, alongside Adnoc, in these select pipeline assets is a clear reflection of the UAEs stable, attractive and reliable investment environment. It also demonstrates the global investment communitys validation of Adnocs progressive and smart approach to unlocking value from its portfolio of assets while retaining control over their ownership and operation. This transaction is another example of the innovative steps we are taking to constantly optimise our assets and capital and deliver sustained value to both Adnoc and the UAE. We are creating a range of attractive opportunities for global and regional institutional investors to partner and invest alongside Adnoc to enhance value from our sizeable infrastructure base, drawing on our expertise in structuring and packaging value-enhancing partnership programmes that preserve Abu Dhabis ownership and control of its assets. Most importantly, this transaction marks a milestone for Adnoc and Abu Dhabi as it paves the way for further significant foreign direct investment into the UAE. Commenting on the transaction, Kravis said: We have created an innovative core midstream infrastructure platform alongside Adnoc and BlackRock that can be a catalyst for further foreign investment and broader economic transformation in the UAE. Having long had a presence in the region, we appreciate the high quality of Adnoc as a partner and Abu Dhabis investor-friendly environment to enable our first direct investment in the region. With this transaction as a precedent, we believe there is substantial potential to do even more. For many years BlackRock has had strong relationships in the UAE and across the region, so we are especially pleased to be able to play a role in this landmark transaction, said Fink. Public-private partnerships are essential for investment to drive continued economic growth in the region, and we believe that the agreement among Adnoc, BlackRock and KKR will be followed by many more such partnerships to invest in the future growth of the region. As announced in July 2017, Adnoc is significantly expanding its strategic partnership model and creating new investment opportunities across all areas of its value chain, while at the same time, more proactively managing its portfolio of assets and capital. This transaction follows several other recent value creation initiatives including Adnocs debut capital markets transaction, the issuance of the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (Adcop) bond, the IPO of Adnoc Distribution, the recent strategic equity and commercial partnerships between Adnoc Drilling and Baker Hughes as well as Adnoc Refining and Eni and OMV. Fitch Ratings also recently assigned Adnoc a standalone credit rating of AA+ and a Long-Term Issuer Default Rating of AA with a Stable Outlook. Both ratings are the highest currently assigned by Fitch for any oil and gas company, globally. The deal represents a major step in Adnocs commercially focused 2030 smart growth strategy, marked by significant milestones of the last three years. The company has consolidated its businesses and unified its brand identity; entered the global capital markets for the first time; completed the first ever IPO of an Adnoc business; opened-up its concessions to new strategic partners; competitively tendered new exploration blocks for the first time in Abu Dhabis history; launched the UAEs unconventional industry; embarked on an ambitious gas strategy aimed first at self-sufficiency and then transitioning to become a potential net exporter of gas; launched a major $45 billion expansion to its downstream operations; undertaken a comprehensive digital transformation and taken its first steps to expand internationally. Guided by the strategic pillars of People, Performance, Profitability and Efficiency, Adnoc is creating a dynamic corporate culture that optimizes resources, maximizes value and incubates talent. In 2018, Adnoc achieved its 3.5 mbpd production capacity target and last month was named the most valuable brand in the Middle East. KKRs investment was made through its third Global Infrastructure Investors fund, which closed in September 2018 at $7.4 billion. KKR invests in infrastructure assets on a global basis, with $12.6 billion in assets under management within its Infrastructure strategy. This investment in Abu Dhabi builds on KKRs global midstream expertise in sourcing and structuring transactions with high-quality counter-parties, including existing investments in the US DJ Basin and Gulf of Mexico, Canadas British Colombia and Alberta Montney regions, and Mexicos Bay of Campeche. KKR Infrastructure invests in essential midstream infrastructure backed by proven reserves, production, and contractual protections, with the goal of delivering downside-protected, long-term cash flows to its investors. BlackRock is investing through its Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Fund (GEPIF) series, which, for the last decade, has provided investors with a market-tested strategy of investing in stable, mission-critical, high-quality contracted energy infrastructure on a global basis. This contracted midstream investment, located in Abu Dhabi, is consistent with the Funds strategy of serving as a long-term, value-added partner to world-class energy industry players to provide a customized solution for both the Fund and the counter-party with an investment that is structured with a focus on downside protection and a highly deliverable base-case. BlackRocks GEPIF Funds have successfully employed this consultative and tailored approach to investing in contracted energy & power infrastructure on four continents, throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia and delivered income and returns to its investors across market cycles. This collection of 18 pipelines being leased by Adnoc Oil Pipelines has a total length of over 750 km, and a total aggregate capacity of approximately 13,000 mbpd (gross). These assets represent key midstream infrastructure for Abu Dhabis energy ecosystem, allowing for the vast majority of Abu Dhabis crude oil production to be transported from Adnocs onshore and offshore upstream assets, to Abu Dhabis key take-away outlets and terminals for conversion to other high-value products, or on to global energy markets. The pipelines have underlying long-term minimum volume commitments and are supported by stable crude oil production from Adnoc Onshore and Adnoc Offshore - the leading onshore and offshore operating companies in Adnoc with global IOCs as JV partners, each with an average remaining concession life of over 35 years. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan acted as financial advisers to Adnoc while Moelis & Company acted as an independent financial advisor to Adnoc. -- Tradearabia News Service news, latest-news In just under a month, millions of NSW residents will head to the ballot box to decide whether Gladys Berejiklian will remain Premier, or whether Labor leader Michael Daley will assume the state's top job, eight years after the party suffered a landslide defeat. While most of the campaign will be focused on marginal seats in Sydney and its western suburbs, battles for votes are taking place in key electorates around the Canberra region. Four weeks out from the election, Monaro incumbent and Deputy Premier John Barilaro said while there's pressure on the March 23 poll, there's also calmness. "It's not like 'here we are one month out, I'd better amp up the campaign'. You have to work hard from the moment you're elected," he said. Mr Barilaro said the upcoming election won't be like a regular election. The Nationals leader is preferring to look at it as a series of byelections across the state. But Monaro holds more significance than most seats. The Queanbeyan area is more famous for its bellwether status federally, but the state seat of Monaro is one of the most important bellwethers in NSW. The party that forms government has won Monaro all but three times since 1927. Monaro is the fourth most marginal seat in the state for the Coalition. The Nationals hold it by 2.5 per cent, despite a 0.5 per cent swing to Mr Barilaro in 2015. Such is the importance of the seat, the NSW Nationals will be launching their campaign from Queanbeyan on Sunday. With Monaro shaping up to be a tight contest, Mr Barilaro admitted constant leadership spills and infighting within the federal Coalition would affect the vote. "If the federal Liberals and Nationals are going woeful, that will rub off, because people think we're the same," he said. "People are sick and tired of political parties and the revolving door of the Prime Minister's office, and they're looking for a community champion." While Sydney-based issues are likely to dominate the campaign, Mr Barilaro said the election will be decided in the bush. "This election will be won or lost in regional NSW. There has been a shift over the last 18 months, a lot of minor parties like the Shooters and Fishers and One Nation have appeared in the regions and they're the threat to regional seats," he said. "For the regions, the challenges are the always the same: heath, education and roads. But the cost of living is becoming an issue and the price of electricity." Road spending has been a centrepiece for the 2019 campaign, with $27 million pledged for Dunns Creek Road in Queanbeyan and a $10 million upgrade to Captains Flat Road. Mr Barilaro was a prominent voice against council amalgamations and said no new mergers would take place. While Bombala Council had recently called to de-merge from Snowy Monaro Regional Council, Mr Barilaro said de-merging amalgamated councils was off the table. Mr Barilaro is running for a third term, having previously said he would stand aside after two terms to preselect a newcomer. While reneging on that promise, he said he was staying on to complete unfinished business. "At every election I've made a number of commitments, and I've honoured them, they're either completed or they're finishing," he said. "There's still a lot of work to get through." Labor's candidate for Monaro Bryce Wilson said there's a lot of work to be done for the region, but what that work was differed from his opponent. The former science teacher and adviser to Peter Garrett in federal Parliament was preselected for the seat in 2016, but he said two-and-a-half years was a long time in opposition. "It was important for me to build a platform and be preselected as early as possible," Mr Wilson said. "I said I would love to have a go at Monaro, but I needed to have a long run up for it, and I wanted to get in as early as possible, but I wouldn't recommend any longer than that." As an opposition candidate in a tight contest, Mr Wilson said he's well aware of the pressure in running against Mr Barilaro. However, he said the response he had received from residents was mostly positive. "Do I feel the pressure of being a candidate for a marginal seat? Yeah, but it's not a life or death situation," he said. "We've doorknocked on 18,500 doors and made thousands of phone calls. It's wonderful to lead a team of volunteers in taking on the Deputy Premier of NSW." Mr Barilaro and the NSW government have backed the redevelopment of Sydney stadiums, but Mr Wilson said the decision had repercussions for Monaro. He said increased funding for TAFE and hospitals in the area was a key focus of his election pitch. "[The stadiums] may be a construction site in Sydney, but it's an issue across the state," Mr Wilson said. "It screams priorities if [the government] thinks it has $2 billion to throw on stadiums in Sydney and not enough on other things. There's a myriad of things we can spend the money on instead." Labor's promises include a site for a new preschool in Queanbeyan for 120 students, a new high school in Bungendore and a redevelopment of Cooma Hospital. Whoever does get elected to Monaro on March 23, Mr Wilson said they would have a tough job on their hands. "The important thing is that whoever gets in and wins, they have work hard and push for the region, because it's a high expectation electorate," he said. Should she be elected next month, Wendy Tuckerman admitted she had some big shoes to fill. The former mayor of Boorowa is attempting to become the next Liberal MP for Goulburn, following the retirement of long-standing member Pru Goward. "She's been a fantastic advocate for the region, and with the effort she's put in, I want to make sure I'm doing as good or better than what she's achieved for the region," Ms Tuckerman said. Ms Tuckerman was preselected to the seat only at the beginning of the year, joining the Liberals from the Nationals the month before. Despite the electorate being classified as a safe seat, with a margin of 6.6 per cent to the Liberals, large swings in Goulburn aren't out of the question. The 2015 poll saw the Liberals suffer a 20.2 per cent swing against it from Labor's Ursula Stephens, who is running again this year. Ms Tuckerman said she wasn't concerned about the large swings suffered by the party at the last election. "I'm not taking anything for granted, and I think it will be close," she said. "It will be a battle." Although she said her stint as mayor had given her name and facial recognition in Boorowa, much of the campaign had been spent boosting the profile outside of the town. Ms Tuckerman said she would draw on her experience in local government and as administrator of an amalgamated council to advocate for regional areas in state parliament. "I've been working hard since I was named as a candidate to get my face out there and touching base with all the communities to find out what they have to say." Among the commitments pledged by the Liberals was a $200 million duplication of the Barton Highway over four years, $2.5 million for an upgrade to the nearby Crookwell Hospital and funding to fix water treatment issues in Yass. The Liberal candidate said a key priority was improving services in the Goulburn area to prevent NSW residents having to cross the border into the ACT to access them. "Ideally, it's better to upgrade facilities on this side of the border," she said. "Previously, our communities weren't getting their fair share, and one of my motivations is that Goulburn gets their fair share." Labor's candidate for the electorate, Ursula Stephens, agreed more had to be done to improve infrastructure in Goulburn to prevent an exodus to Canberra. The former senator is contesting the seat for the second time this election, and said there's a greater appetite for change in the electorate after the retirement of Pru Goward. "It was a very easy decision to run again because of the swing I got last time, and that while I didn't get over the line, that was as much because people weren't ready for Labor," Ms Stephens said. "The over-spends in Sydney and those frustrations have welded into a much stronger mood for change." Ms Stephens said she's counting on the mood for change to propel her into Macquarie Street, though she's not expecting another 20 per cent swing like in 2015. She said the regions would decide the final outcome, with large infrastructure promises slated across the state by both parties. At the top of the list for Goulburn, Ms Stephens said, was health spending. "The underspend by the government on health infrastructure is staggering, that's been stressed everywhere I go," she said. "The main issues for the region are infrastructure, renewable energy, hospitals and schools. It's the bread and butter stuff people have been saying to us." Labor has promised $200 million for Goulburn Hospital along with a commitment to match the $5 million from federal Labor to fix water issues in Yass. The water commitment was dependent on both state and federal Labor winning elections this year, although Ms Stephens said NSW Labor would honour the $11 million commitment from the NSW government should it win power. With one month of campaigning to go, Ms Stephens said there's a tough road ahead, with the final outcome still too close to call. Whoever does get in, however, she said they would to have to deal with a growing disconnect from party politics. "People want to see a genuine, community connected politician. They don't want someone just spruiking party lines," she said. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/c9483b3e-f9a9-45c1-a52a-c32fe7212c2b/r0_46_2000_1176_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news Oscar fever is mounting as next weeks Academy Awards day looms. In recent days your columnist has been privileged to see the performances of two towering thespians vying for Best Actor. At Palace Cinema we saw Willem Dafoe in At Eternitys Gate and then on many news and current affairs programs we saw Scott Morrison starring in Tampa II Invasion Of The Boats From Hell. Dafoe is superb in his portrayal of that tragic, visionary, post-impressionist genius Vincent Van Gogh. Morrison is similarly compelling in his sustained portrayal of a sincere, altruistic PM who is moved by his deep Christian grief over refugee deaths at sea and by his moral sense of his patriotic duty to keep Australians safe behind sturdy sovereign borders. You have to marvel at what accomplished actors (like Dafoe, like Morrison, like Sir Laurence Olivier) are able to achieve. It is uncanny the way in which they can put aside their true, actual selves to portray someone else, someone utterly different. Willem Dafoe, a well-adjusted American who doesnt know how to paint, persuades us in At Eternitys Gate that he is a tragic, mentally skittish Dutchman who can paint mankinds socks off. Then there is the thespian Everest, the not post-impressionist but instead post-truthfulness Scott Morrison (and his supporting Coalition thespians) having to climb to sound warm and sincere as he tells us that he really believes the medevac bill will unleash the nightmarish armada of refugee boats. Morrison knows that he is fibbing about all this, but only in the same way that Willem Dafoe knows that he, Dafoe, isnt an artist and isnt a Dutchman, in the same way Johnny Depp knows, as he portrays Jack Sparrow, that he, Depp, is not really a swashbuckling pirate of the Caribbean. Grudgingly, I say that as an actor Scott Morrison is in the Olivier, Defoe, Depp class. And, coming at last to the point of this weeks one-act column, I pose this searching question. Isnt it high time that hatchet-faced, earnest, moralising commentators (like this columnist and so many others seething at the moment about Morrisons artfulness) stopped judging Australian politics/politicians in moral ways? Instead, lets judge Australian politics as the theatre, the feature movie that in a very real sense it is. If all the worlds a stage, as Shakespeare famously diagnosed, then Australian politics certainly is too, and its party political men and women merely players (actors). Let us judge those players only on the quality of their acting. Let us become not just voters but theatre critics as well. When we do this, politicians like Morrison and his best supporting actor Peter Dutton take on a new lustre. You could almost swear that what these Liberals are saying about medevac and menaces to our sovereignty is what they truly believe! Its as if its coming straight from their hearts, and that those hearts are big and warm. Their performances (being someone theyre not, saying with actorly conviction things they dont believe) are triumphs. One is reminded by them of the triumph of Laurence Olivier, a caucasian Englishman, portraying (with a blackened face) Shakespeares Othello, a turbulent blackamoor driven, by jealousy, to violent murder and grisly suicide. Again, great actors (your Dafoes, your Morrisons, your Duttons, your Oliviers) can do these things with aplomb. And, warming to my theme, perhaps the otherwise inexplicable unpopularity of Bill Shorten (reaffirmed by this weeks much-reported Ipsos poll) is partially explained by his being such a woeful actor. He is actually only as coldly crocodilian as your Morrisons and Duttons but unlike them is unable to put his true unattractive self aside while he tries to portray someone else, a better, kinder, sincere Shorten. In recent days some coalition players have given us vivid, theatrical descriptions of how medevac will see us invaded by refugee criminals. Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, only a B-grade actor (but perhaps convincing for those voters who dote on TV soaps) told us to expect/imagine spivs and rapists and murderers [coming on to our shores]. This reminds us of that famous and famously wonderful address/prologue Shakespeare has an actor give to the audience just before they have Shakespeares Henry V performed for them. You can see Sir Mark Rylance doing it exquisitely just by YouTubing O! for a muse of fire! In the prologue the actor tells the audience that, to get the most out of this play about the clashes of two mighty monarchies, to help the actors out, because there is only so much that can be done on a small stage, they (the audience) must rev up their imaginations to maximum feverishness. They must imagine that they actually see and hear the mighty, momentous things (in Henry V these include the Battle of Agincourt) the actors refer to. This is exactly what the Sir Mark Rylances of that famous acting troupe the Coalition Players are up to now as, fearmongering, they urge Australians to imagine (so as to get the emotive most out of this moments Australian politics) the most apocalyptic consequences of medevac. Do they, the coalitions fearmongers, have the gift of that muse of fire? Are they persuading their audience? Are this weeks Ipsos results (showing the closing of the gap between Labor and the coalition) a sign that, yes, actors Morrison and Dutton are of Oscar class? /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/2cfb35f2-8a93-4ae9-88b7-a58becd86c51/r0_146_3000_1841_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news Dozens of landowners were never informed by local government about plans to enforce a five-kilometre no-development zone north of the ACT border, they say. NSW planning initially rejected The Yass Valley Council's proposal for what residents are calling a dead zone last month but is now reviewing the decision, the 5km Border Zone Planning Group said. Of the more than 80 Yass landowners who attended a meeting held by the group on Sunday afternoon, not one said they had received pamphlets about the zone that were supposedly distributed in the area. "The council told me [that missing my house] must have been an oversight," one resident said. Notices were apparently put up in local shops and community spaces, including the post office. The buffer zone would see land values undermined and plans for subdivision put to paid until the Yass Valley Settlement Strategy expires in 2036 or is reviewed, the border planning group said. Landowners fear the NSW government would eventually be able to resume land in the buffer zone at dramatically low prices, with it being assessed for rural use only, when it did pursue urban development. The intention for urban development is stated in the NSW government's South East and Tablelands regional plan. It would likely, then, be given to the ACT government in exchange for a desperately needed water supply to Yass and Murrumbateman, allowing for "Canberra's industrial and urban slums" to seep across the border, the group said. "You can expect the bulldozers to strip the native vegetation, displace or kill the native flora and fauna and turn the whole 150 square kilometres into one big housing development and industrial complex," an information document provided by the group stated. Meanwhile, a housing development on the border at Ginninderry, which is exempt from the proposed zone, had an unfair advantage during the 20-year freeze as the only allowed cross-border development. The group argues it would make better economic, social, and environmental sense to allow more development along the NSW border, to allow those who couldn't afford to buy in Canberra and don't want to live in apartments a cheaper option. "We should look at [the Ginninderry] development and see if we're being treated equally to the rest of this land," secretary of the planning group William Ginn said. The buffer zone would protect productive rural land, biodiversity and natural resources, maximise the urban containment of the ACT, and protect the approach to the ACT, the Yass Valley strategy says. RU1 zoning would limit development along the NSW border to rural use, and set the minimum lot size at 40 hectares. But Yass Valley Council's request to rezone the area RU6, which was rejected by the government, would have stopped the land from being used for intensive livestock agriculture, extractive industries and trucking depots. This contradicts the intention to protect the land near the border, the group said. "Why not let the ACT protect its own approach? Why do we, in the Yass Valley, have to protect it? What are we going to do, build a fence?" Mr Ginn said. "I don't think the ACT government are doing that at all. I think that we should show them that we can do it properly. I think they've done a lousy job across the border. "Talk about the bush capital, it's an environmental disaster." Yass Valley Council mayor Rowena Abbey insisted that no 20-year freeze on the no-development zone had been put in place, and that discussions were still about enforcing the buffer zone. "I'm not sure why you would think that we would not consult with the community the decision [about the 20-year freeze on development]," Ms Abbey said at the meeting. "It's not the council's decision alone." It is understood the Yass Valley strategy would have to be reviewed in order for the 20-year enforcement of the buffer zone not to take place. with Kirsten Lawson /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/e5a9731a-de27-4035-867e-64eb31dd3068/r0_264_5000_3089_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg O Boticario, a leading Brazilian fragrance brand known for its iconic products, has announced the opening of its second store in Dubai which is the regional flagship concept store at the Dubai Mall, the largest shopping mall in the world. The O Boticario outlet in the Dubai Mall, places an unprecedented emphasis on quality and retail innovation by offering customers an experience complete with interactive shopping content, visual aesthetics combined with the latest retail technologies; and products that narrate stories. For example, the LED screens inside the store will enable customers to get to know the stories behind the products when they lift the product from its display, said the statement from the Brazilian group. In addition, the premium Amphora concept store at the Dubai Mall has introduced unique retail features such as the Men Grooming Area featuring the Malbec Club products, the Quinoa Lab which presents the natural ingredients based body care line Nativa Spa and also a smartly conceptualised Instragramable area which aims at visually presenting the brands special stories for the purposes of social media broadcast. The Amphora epitomises the brand identity of O Boticario and Brazilian perfumery, representing the soul of the brand, and gains a well-deserved prominence in its visual depiction. Since 2017, the Brazil-based cosmetics, fragrances and skin care company agreed to licence its exclusive brand rights and partner with Millennial Capital - a Dubai-based emerging retail, consumer, wellness and investment management firm to facilitate expansion in the Gulf region. O Boticario Franchise VP Andre Farber said: "Opening the second O Boticario store in a demanding market, such as the UAE, is a result of the strength and consistency of the brand in Brazil - conquered by the quality of our products, by the unique combination of ingredients of our perfumery, consumer focus and trust with partners and customers." "With a strong emphasis on modernism combined with traditional alchemy, the Dubai Mall store reveals the soul of O Boticario, characterised by building unique meaningful connections with clients through personalised experiences and a customised approach to beauty," he added. The store event, managed by White Label Media Company, was hosted by local celebrity influencer Ola Farahat. The VIP guest list includes more than 100 social media influencers both local and Brazilian press, C-level executives as well as top government officials. Millennial Capital's Founder Andreea Danila said: "O Boticario brand brings to the Gulf region a unique retail concept focused on differentiated customer experience and fundamentally high quality, natural ingredient-based products." "We are delighted to expand our partnership with the brand to support the acceleration of the regional development plan in UAE and Saudi Arabia," he added. Earlier this year, Millennial Capital entered a joint venture with Saudi-based Almalki Group to introduce and develop a national development plan for the kingdom which aims to position O Boticario as a leading brand in the country.-TradeArabia News Service news, latest-news A Canberra professor has warned that pharmaceutical residue contaminating waterways could be impacting on human health as drugs are transferred through the food chain. Professor Ross Thompson is urging the public to dispose of unused medicines properly to stop the problem escalating, on the back of alarming results in two recent studies. The chairman of water science at the University of Canberra's Institute for Applied Ecology was involved in research which found that a platypus living in a stream on Melbourne's fringe could receive more than half a human dose of antidepressants every day. The contamination of waterways is also problematic in Canberra, with wastewater analysis data released by the National Criminal Intelligence Commission this week revealing residents of the capital are among Australia's biggest users of pharmaceutical opioids like oxycodone and fentanyl. Professor Thompson said while some of the effects of pharmaceuticals on ecosystems were already known, there was a risk people could also be affected. Medications flushed down toilets or tipped down sinks are generally not removed from wastewater and can end up in rivers and creeks, where they are ingested by aquatic life including fish, platypuses and bugs. "We have shown in the work in Melbourne that these compounds [of pharmaceutical waste] are finding their way into food chains and getting up into fish," Professor Thompson said. "People who are then eating those fish will be getting a dose of an active compound. "Obviously its very hard to control how much fish people eat, so theres quite high variability in doses. "Dosing people with pharmaceuticals in variable doses is not ideal, and we dont really understand what that does because theres not research thats been done on it." Professor Thompson said if a lot of small doses of antibiotics found their way into wastewater, they could generate antibiotic-resistant bacteria that caused disease and infection in humans. "There's a real public health risk," he said. Professor Thompson said animals and insects living in waterways were also having their food sources destabilised by pharmaceutical waste. The impacts on invertebrate species were varied, with some growing to twice their normal size and others being unable to reproduce properly. "But with fish, we know quite a lot," Professor Thompson said. "We know, for instance, that fish that are treated with antidepressants are brighter coloured, they breed more readily and theyre happy little fish. "But they also arent anxious enough, so they get predated at a higher rate. "Theyre basically just not scared enough, and so theres a real risk of destabilising food webs by affecting them with these contaminants." Professor Thompson said if people continued to dispose of unused medicine incorrectly, the problem was only going to get worse. "The number of commercial prescriptions given out in Australia has about doubled over the last 30 years," he said. "Things like antidepressants are prescribed at much higher rates than they ever have been." While similar research has not been conducted in Australia, studies in the US have found more than 80 per cent of streams in that country contain small amounts of human medicines. Unwanted or expired medicines can be returned to any Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme-approved community pharmacy as part of the Return Unwanted Medicines project, an initiative funded by the federal government. "The takeaway positive thing people can do is be really careful about how they dispose of pharmaceuticals," Professor Thompson said. "When youve finished with your medicine, dont flush it down the toilet." Professor Thompson said there was an urgent need for more research into the effects of pharmaceutical pollution on waterways. He said his student, Haysem Alhassen, was currently working on a PhD on the issue. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/8b0df26a-401c-4b4c-8f18-eba4874b64c3/r0_172_4142_2512_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, business, Less than half of participants in the federal government's youth-internship program gained employment through the scheme last year. Out of the more than 5100 people participating in the PaTH (Prepare, Trial, Hire) program in 2018, more than 1900 of the internships resulted in a job. Last year saw 20 people from the ACT get an internship through the $840 million program, with 12 of those completing it and nine securing employment. The ACT had the highest percentage of PaTH participants who completed the internship that became employed, with WA coming in second with 72 per cent of its interns getting hired, followed by Victoria with 68 per cent of interns and NSW on 65 per cent. Despite the ACT's success in the last calendar year, the jobs figures decreased from 2017, when all but one of the 19 interns got a job out of the program. During the last year, nine businesses in the ACT took in interns through the government program, down from 15 the year before. The program, announced during the 2016 federal budget, involves young people receiving employability skills training, before being able to apply for internships with approved businesses. Interns can receive $200 on top of their existing Centrelink payments, with businesses receiving $1000 for every intern they take in, although they are not obligated to pay wages for the intern. A Department of Jobs and Small Business spokesman said businesses are selected based on the likelihood of employment at the end of the internship. "Before an internship can begin, the host organisation must warrant that there is a reasonable prospect of employment for the participant following the internship," the spokesman said. "Employment service providers use local knowledge and information in previous internships to determine if the placement suitable." Figures released in December revealed only 20 per cent of the number of businesses needed to hit government targets had signed up for the scheme. The program aimed to put 120,000 young Australians into work over four years, but only 36,290 have secured a place during its first two years. The department spokesman said it was working alongside employers and industry bodies to encourage more young people to take part in the PaTH program. "The department also works with state and local governments, regional and economic development organisations and has initiated or engaged in more than 140 employer events," the spokesman said. Peak body Interns Australia previously criticised the government scheme and said it normalised free work. The organisation's director Tilly South said many of the internships had been ineffective, or in some cases, exploitative. "There hasn't been as many people getting jobs out of it as first reported, and they're taking entry-level jobs away from people who would normally get these positions in companies," Ms South said. "There's an unfairness in that people aren't getting jobs at the end of it and they're going through a period of very low wages." It comes after fast food chain Hungry Jack's came under fire for advertising for positions through the PaTH program during last year's Christmas period. Ads for the role said the position was for 15 hours a week, with interns earning $6.66 an hour. Ms South said more should be done to make the internships equitable. "The government would need to ensure the internships are for the benefit of those completing it, and not the employer," she said. "Internships should be a learning experience and it shouldn't mean the employer getting cheap labour." /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/08969bea-ad68-4fe7-8860-86e69cff3a98/r0_155_2403_1513_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news An ACT government executive has proposed a resolution to the controversial Hall bike track project, suggesting a trail could be included as part of a refresh of existing assets. But an Aboriginal elder has suggested the ACT Heritage Council's decision to reject construction of the proposed track in its original location at Halls Creek could be disputed. Transport Canberra and City Services director of city presentation Stephen Alegria and Ngunnawal elder Dean Bell addressed the Village of Hall and District Progress Association before the association's monthly meeting on Wednesday. Mr Alegria told the association it was time to move on from the original plan for the bike track, which was knocked back by the Heritage Council last year because it would have been located within the Aboriginal sites zone at Halls Creek. "The council considers the preference to locate the recreational bike track wholly in the 'Aboriginal Sites Zone' as a convenience based choice and does not consider that to be adequate justification to permanently damage a heritage place," ACT Heritage Council chairman David Flannery said in a letter to the directorate in December. Mr Alegria said a compromise could involve including a bike trail as part of a refresh of the existing children's playground on Gladstone Street, which includes play equipment, barbecues and other amenities. "Ultimately, it probably will come down to a heritage decision again because it's still in that [Aboriginal sites] zone," Mr Alegria said. "What I hope is that we will have a united community rather than a divided community." Mr Alegria said the territory government's role was not to advocate for the bike track, for which $24,000 has been raised, but to facilitate a way to improve infrastructure. He said existing assets had been upgraded successfully across Canberra as part of the ACT government's Nature Play grants program, which could provide a blueprint for the Hall community to follow. Association president Peter Toet said the group would take Mr Alegria's idea to the Hall community and gauge their support. But when Mr Bell, a Ngunnawal elder, addressed the association, he suggested all hope for the original proposal to build a bike track for children at Halls Creek was not lost. "That can be disputed," he said of the ACT Heritage Council's decision to reject the initial statement of heritage effect. "Those little areas that they're saying [should be avoided because of Aboriginal heritage implications] are not worth worrying about, honestly." Mr Bell said any Aboriginal artefacts found in that area could be sensitively relocated so as not to be destroyed. His advice follows a statement of heritage effect, commissioned by Transport Canberra and City Services as part of the initial proposal, assessing the heritage impacts of the proposed bike track at Halls Creek as minimal. The statement, prepared by Navin Officer Heritage Consultants, included input from representative Aboriginal organisations, with King Brown Tribal Group expressing support for the findings of the statement of heritage effect and the recommendations for mitigating cultural harm. The heritage consultancy also had contact with the Buru Ngunawal Aboriginal Corporation, and used its feedback to develop the recommended protocol for relocating any Aboriginal artefacts found during the scraping back of surface vegetation, which would have preceded construction of the track. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/753f7536-52a4-46fc-8c82-c86da30609dd/r634_0_2312_948_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news The federal Education Minister has labelled an ACT decision to ban chaplains from public schools disappointing as the territory government proposes to keep the workers employed in secular roles. Dan Tehan responded to the move on Sunday, saying the ACT government should tell parents why their children wouldn't be supported by chaplains next year. The ACT government has proposed keeping the chaplains in non-religious pastoral support roles after the federal government rejected a territory request to extend its national chaplaincy funding to secular welfare workers. Deputy Chief Minister and territory Education Minister Yvette Berry defended her decision, saying most public school parents and teachers she had spoken to agreed chaplains were not consistent with the secular status of public schools. Mr Tehan said more than 1000 schools had written to the federal government about the important role of chaplains. "It's disappointing the ACT government will deny students access to these important services, that include anti-bullying support," he said. Ms Berry said the government had told chaplains employed in ACT public schools and the Scripture Union, an affiliate of the group providing chaplaincy services, that following a transition this year, the workers could continue as direct government employees offering secular pastoral support. "I recognise these people often have a valued place in school communities," she said. The ACT government's decision to ban religiously-affiliated chaplaincy in public schools "should have no impact on non-government schools", Ms Berry said. "Minister Tehan needs to explain why he sees religious affiliation as so integral to providing social and emotional support in government schools," she said. Under the federal Labor policy on school chaplaincy, schools would decide whether to use funding for secular or religiously-affiliated staff. The Coalition government in May funded the program with $247 million over four years, but requires workers have a religious affiliation. Ms Berry recently told Scripture Union the ACT government would end religiously-affiliated chaplaincy in government schools by the end of 2019. She says the ACT Education Act required schools to operate in a secular, non-sectarian way and religious chaplains were incompatible with this objective. School Chaplaincy ACT chief executive Peter James said Ms Berry was ignoring part of the legislation saying a high quality education recognised the religious needs of students. The decision came as a surprise and chaplains wouldn't be able to assist students as well without offering spiritual support, he said. "It's like trying to suggest the fruit will still be there when you kill the tree," Mr James said. Chaplaincy had been popular in schools for 26 years, and had played a "non-coercive, non-manipulative" role. "Chaplains are not telling students what to believe, but they are available to them," he said. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/86b77675-2f6a-4e82-b1ed-d37a17d2d8e7/r0_298_5568_3444_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the National War Memorial near India Gate on February 25, officials said Friday. The memorial will honour soldiers who have laid down their lives for the country since Independence. "The prime minister will dedicate the memorial to the nation on February 25. The defence minister, chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force will be among the dignitaries present on the occasion," a senior official said. Also Read: Number of combat jets needed by the Air Force changes from time to time: Nirmala Sitharaman Some other cabinet ministers are also likely to attend the event, he said. "The National War Memorial will include a wall that will carry the names of those soldiers who have laid down their lives for the country," Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat had earlier said. "The memorial would be iconic and serve as a new landmark, which would attract people from near and far," he had said. Acceding to a long-pending demand of the armed forces, the government in 2015 had approved the project for building a National War Memorial and a National War Museum near India Gate in memory of over 22,500 soldiers who laid down their lives post-Independence. "This government will be establishing a war memorial and a museum with a deep sense of gratitude to honour those brave soldiers, who laid down their lives," an official statement released after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Modi, had then said. Also Read: Oppo plans to invest $1.5 billion in R&D with focus on 5G; to ramp up India hiring "The memorial will promote a sense of patriotism in the minds of visitors, and will award an opportunity to citizens of this vast nation, to express their token sense of gratitude to the brave soldiers, who laid down their lives for the motherland," it said. India Gate itself is a war memorial built during the British Raj as the All India War Memorial Arch to honour the soldiers who died in the First World War (1914-1918) and the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919). The landmark has the names of soldiers inscribed on its surface. Also Read: Number of hospital beds in Delhi increased from 48,096 in 2014-15 to 57,194 in last fiscal: Economic Survey Also Read: Cops seize over 25,000-litre illegal liquor; 10 arrested in Greater Noida As many as 347 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have shown cost overruns to the tune of over Rs 3.2 lakh crore owing to delays and other reasons, a Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation report said. The ministry monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above. Also Read: Oppo plans to invest $1.5 billion in R&D with focus on 5G; to ramp up India hiring "Total original cost of implementation of the 1,443 projects was Rs 18,30,362.48 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 21,51,136.69 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 3,20,774.21 crore (17.53 per cent of original cost)," the ministry's latest report for November 2018 said. Of these 1,443 projects, 347 reported cost overruns and 360-time escalation. According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects until November 2018 is Rs 7,97,496.44 crore, which is 37.07 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. However, it said the number of delayed projects decreases to 302 if the delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion. For 710 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported. Out of 360 delayed projects, 106 have an overall delay in the range of 1 to 12 months, 60 are delayed by 13 to 24 months, 93 reflect the delay of 25 to 60 months and 101 projects show 61 months and above delay. The average time overrun in these 360 delayed projects is 44.43 months. The brief reasons for time overruns, as reported by various project implementing agencies, are delays in land acquisition, forest clearance and supply of equipment. Besides, there are other reasons like fund constraints, geological surprises, geo-mining conditions, slow progress in civil works, shortage of labour, inadequate mobilisation by the contractor, Maoist problems, court cases, contractual issues, ROU/ROW (right of use/right of way) problems, law and order situation, among others. It also observed that project agencies are not reporting revised cost estimates and commissioning schedules for many projects, which suggests that time/cost overrun figures are under-reported. Also Read: PM Modi to inaugurate National War Memorial on February 25 Chinese smartphone maker Oppo Mobiles Saturday said it plans to invest USD 1.5 billion in research and development this year with the focus on developing 5G as it unveiled its first smartphone on the next generation technology. "Our 2019 R&D investment is budgeted at USD 1.5 billion, focusing on 5G, artificial intelligence, imaging, new material and product form design, as well as flash charging," Henry Tang, Director of Standards for Oppo, told reporters here. Also Read: Number of hospital beds in Delhi increased from 48,096 in 2014-15 to 57,194 in last fiscal: Economic Survey The company also has plans to increase Indian R&D centre headcount by over three folds to 500 in two years. "Currently, India R&D contributes in the development of mobile systems, camera and network related technologies including in 5G. We have around 160 people right now in India R&D which we will be increasing to 500 by the end of next year," Tasleem Arif, VP and R&D Head, Oppo India, said. The company said it will be ready for trial in India from the second quarter; however, telecom operators will have to decide on a timeline for tests. "We will be ready with 5G smartphone in the second quarter for trials in India. We are in discussion with all the three operators - Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea. They will have to decide on trials, " Arif said. Meanwhile, the company announced its partnership with four global telecom operators -- Swisscom, Optus, Telstra and SingTel. Also Read: PM Modi to inaugurate National War Memorial on February 25 Henry Tang, Director of Standards for Oppo, said the company has started field trials with some of the operators. Oppo has partnered with Qualcomm for developing a 5G smartphone on its chipset. "It (the partnership) will bring 5G to commercial reality in 2019. We are going to bring the first Oppo 5G smartphone to the industry. We are doing everything...to make Oppo a leader in 5G and we expect that this collaboration is only going to increase, Cristiano Amon, President, Qualcomm, said. Also Read: Cops seize over 25,000-litre illegal liquor; 10 arrested in Greater Noida Also Read: Number of combat jets needed by the Air Force changes from time to time: Nirmala Sitharaman ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, said that a new partnership with Microsoft will make its Permian Basin operations the largest-ever oil and gas acreage to use cloud technology. The operations is expected to generate billions in net cash flow over the next decade through improvements in analyses and enhancements to operational efficiencies, said a company statement. The application of Microsoft technologies by ExxonMobils XTO Energy subsidiary including Dynamics 365, Azure, Machine Learning and Internet of Things is anticipated to improve capital efficiency and support Permian production growth by as much as 50,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day by 2025, it said. Staale Gjervik, senior vice president, Permian Integrated Development for XTO, said: The combination of Microsofts technologies with our unique strengths in oilfield technologies, production efficiency and integration will help drive growth in the Permian and serve as a model for additional implementation across the US and abroad. The unconventional business is fast moving, complex and data rich, which makes it well suited for the application of digital technologies to strengthen our operations and help deliver greater value, he added. ExxonMobils partnership with Microsoft includes an integrated cloud environment that securely and reliably collects real-time data from oil field assets spanning hundreds of miles. The data will enable ExxonMobil to make faster and better decisions on drilling optimisation, well completions and prioritisation of personnel deployment. Importantly, leak detection and repair response times could be further reduced with enhanced access to emissions data, strengthening XTOs voluntary actions to manage methane emissions. ExxonMobils application of these technologies in its Permian Basin acreage, which covers a 9.5 billion oil-equivalent barrel resource base and more than 1.6 million acres, represents industrys largest acreage position using cloud technology. Alysa Taylor, corporate vice president of Microsoft Business Applications and Industry, said ExxonMobil is taking a leadership approach in its digital strategy. Taylor said: ExxonMobil is leading the way for industry, grounding their goals in making data-driven decisions that will result in safer operations for their employees and more profitable activities for the company. Our cloud infrastructure and business applications will continue to support ExxonMobil as it fully realizes its strategy across the Permian, Taylor added. Microsofts platforms, including Azure Data Lake, will enable ExxonMobil to rapidly incorporate third-party solutions at scale across the Permian. Examples include mobile field data apps to optimise well performance, and AI algorithms for analysing drilling and completions data to improve performance. With the additional layer of Microsofts intelligent business applications, such as Dynamics 365, ExxonMobil and XTO will have a complete, end-to-end view of the Permian operations. Gjervik continued: Digital technology is a fundamental enabler for our Permian development. Through our partnership with Microsoft, were combining our technical and engineering expertise with cloud and data analytics capabilities to develop the Permian resource in the most capital-efficient manner. Collaboration with Microsoft is key to our future development efforts, which include predictive maintenance capacities, innovative tools for employees, and artificial intelligence and machine learning integration, he concluded. TradeArabia News Service Global investment company Blackstone and realty firm Embassy Group will in a few weeks launch the country's first real estate investment trust (REIT) with an estimated issue size of Rs 5,000 crore, a top company official said. Embassy Office Parks, the joint venture firm of Blackstone and Embassy, had in September last year filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the market regulator Sebi to launch REIT, touted as Asia's largest in terms of portfolio size of 33 million sq ft. REIT is an investment tool that owns and operates rent-yielding real estate assets. It allows individual investors to make an investment in this platform and earn income. Sebi had notified REIT's regulations in 2014, allowing setting up and listing of such trusts, which are very popular in some advanced markets. "We will launch our REIT in few weeks," Embassy Office Parks CEO Mike Holland told PTI. "We already have a strong book of anchor and strategic investors. The REIT will be successful as in other countries and Embassy Office Parks will set a precedent for the REIT in India," he said. Holland expressed confidence that the REIT in India would be successful as it has been in other countries like the US, the UK, Australia and Singapore. When asked about the size of the issue and expected return to investors on its REIT platform, he declined to comment. Banking sources had earlier pegged the issue size at over Rs 5,000 crore. The internal rate of return (IRR) for unitholders is expected at around 9 per cent in the first year and about 18 per cent in a five-year horizon. Embassy Office Parks, a leading player in commercial real estate, has put 33 million sq ft of office and hospitality assets under its proposed REIT comprising of seven business parks and four city-centric buildings spread across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Noida. Out of 33 million sq ft, about 24 million sq ft area is operational at 95 per cent occupancy and yielding a rental income of over Rs 2,000 crore annually. Another 3 million sq ft area is under construction and 6 million sq ft area in the pipeline. Embassy Office Parks' rental income is expected to rise by 55 per cent in the next three years as it expects to lease area at a higher rent. The JV firm has top MNC clients in its commercial projects. More than 50 per cent of the rents come from Fortune 500 companies. Clients such as Microsoft, Google, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan etc have their base in the office parks. Unlike the housing segment, the commercial real estate sector is doing well and attracting huge investments from domestic and global investment firms. The rising demand for co-working space is also fuelling demand for office properties. Apart from Blackstone-Embassy, realty firm DLF is a major player in commercial real estate with a portfolio of over 30 million sq ft and a rental income of about Rs 3,000 crore. Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC had invested Rs 9,000 crore in December 2017 in DLF's rental arm. Brookfield, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Ascendas and Qatar Investment Authority are also investing in commercial real estate. Many real estate developers are creating a strong portfolio of office space. Also Read: PM Modi to inaugurate National War Memorial on February 25 Also Read: PM Modi all set to launch Rs 75,000 crore PM-KISAN scheme in Gorakhpur Wipro on Sunday said it has received approval from majority of its shareholders for the issue of bonus shares and increase in authorised share capital. In January, Wipro's board had approved an issue of bonus shares wherein shareholders will get one bonus share for every three shares held by them. In a regulatory filing, Wipro said the "resolutions have been approved by members with requisite majority and shall be deemed to have been passed on February 22, 2019, being the last date of receipt of postal ballot forms/e-voting". ALSO READ: Wipro posts 39.5% Y-o-Y growth in net profit for December quarter Consequently, the company's authorised share capital stands increased from Rs 1,126.50 crore to Rs 2,526.50 crore by creation of additional 700 crore equity shares of Rs 2 each, it added. The filing said the 98.82 per cent votes cast were in favour of increasing the authorised share capital, and 99.81 per cent votes cast were in favour of offering bonus shares. In its January filing, Wipro had said the company had an aggregate amount of Rs 46,847.9 crore as on December 2018 in free reserves, securities premium account and capital redemption reserve account. ALSO READ: Indian cos, including TCS, Wipro, sign 15 pacts to invest in Saudi Arabia ALSO READ: Good news for engineering students! Wipro plans to double campus hiring this year WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that trade talks a day earlier with China had been "very productive," as negotiators worked ahead of a March 1 deadline for the imposition of further U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports.Trump said on Twitter on Sunday morning that discussions would continue Sunday.As talks proceeded Saturday both sides reported narrowing their differences. Officials are trying to come to terms on an array of complex issues governing the relationship between the world's two largest economies, including China's currency policies and the enforcement ... BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies unveiled a folding smartphone on Sunday which it said was primed for next generation 5G mobile connections, even as the United States campaigns to bar the Chinese company from such networks over security concerns. Huawei, the world's second-largest smartphone vendor after Samsung, said it had taken the lead on developing phones for 5G - which promise super fast internet speeds for consumers and businesses - because it was also involved in developing the networks.Speaking ahead of the mobile industry's biggest global event in Barcelona, Richard ... The BJP in Karnataka Sunday blamed the state government for the fire that gutted about 300 cars at the venue of Aero India show here. "When terrorist activities are increasing in the country, why did the state government not take any safety measures?" State BJP Chief B S Yeddyurappa asked. He was addressing reporters at a press meet here. Noting that the incident caused great loss to those who had come in their vehicles to witness the show, the BJP leader said the responsibility to make peripheral arrangements and safety measures rests with the state government whereas the Defence ministry was responsible only for organising the show. Seeking to know why no fire tenders were parked at the spot as a precautionary measure, Yeddyurappa said, "A high-level inquiry should be ordered into the incident to find out the truth and who all were responsible for it." The fire swept through the parking area of the Aero India event at the Yelahanka Air Force station gutting more than 300 cars on Saturday, the penultimate day of Asia's premier air show. The 12th edition of the five-day air show went on unaffected by the fire incident, which came four days after two jets of Indian Air Force's aerobatic team Surya Kiran crashed, killing a pilot and injuring two others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Elderly women who have more social support are more likely to live longer, a study claims. Researchers from George Mason University in the US examined perceived social support and its effect on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality. Even after accounting for factors such as income, race, and education that could have influenced the results, the researchers still found that women in this age range who reported lower levels of social support had a higher death rate during the 10 plus years of the study. In fact, they found that when women reported a very low level of social support, that predicted about a 20 per cent greater risk of death during those same 10 plus years compared to those reporting very high levels of social support. "Perceived functional social support, which we examined in this study, can include whether a person believes they could get emotional support, advice, or just company from others to do fun things with, which can help reduce stress," said Nancy Freeborne from George Mason University. "It's a reminder that sometimes the simplest things -- like reaching out to a loved one -- can have the most profound impact," Freeborne said. To date, this is the largest study to explore the impact of perceived social support on cardiovascular disease and mortality, researchers said. The data from over 90,000 postmenopausal women aged 50-79 was collected over a period of 10 years. The researchers suggest further study to account for perceived social support delivered via social media, the rise in cardiovascular disease among women since the data collection, and to further examine age and gender differences to determine if social support has different impacts based on gender or different periods in a lifetime. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United Nations has complimented Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for his government's proposal of 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and the state Assemblies. The compliment came from United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). "We are pleased that the Government of Odisha has showcased leadership by proposing 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and the Assemblies," Deputy Country Representative of UN Women, Nishtha Satyam said in a letter to Patnaik. While the country awaits the passage of the Constitution Amendment Bill for the purpose before Parliament, such commitment from the states is likely to renew dialogue on the issue at the national level, the letter said. "We commend your thought leadership and support on the fact that the economic and social progress can be sustained, only if half of the population have a role in the highest decision-making bodies of the states and the country," said the letter which was released here Sunday. It noted that real, transformative and irreversible progress can only be achieved if women are equal partners in decision-making. The UN body has expressed desire to continue the partnership with the state government in various sectors including women empowerment. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 23-year-old woman was injured after she was allegedly attacked by a man with a blade on her face while she was returning home from a nearby shop in her locality in outer Delhi's Mangolpuri area, police said Sunday. The incident took place on Saturday evening, they said. The victim was returning home after buying articles from the nearby shop in her locality when the man attacked her from behind with a blade, following which she sustained injuries on her face, police said. The accused fled after the incident. The victim was later rushed to a nearby hospital, a senior police officer said. The victim told police that a few years ago she was harassed by a man in her locality who liked her and wanted to marry her. Fed up of his constant trouble, the woman complained about him to her family, who then informed to the man's family. However, the matter was settled after his family apologised. Both the parties did not approached police in this regard, the officer said. The victim suspects involvement of the alleged man or his friend behind the attack, the officer added. However, she claimed that the man who harassed her previously was jailed after being involved in criminal activities. Recently, he was released from the jail, following which she suspects his involvement in the accident, he said. Police said they are verifying the claims of the victim and are trying to nab the accused involved behind the attack. Further probe is underway, the officer. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian captain Mithali Raj Sunday urged his team-mates to "work on partnerships" as they looked to claim an unassailable lead in the three-match ODI series against England. "We have to work on partnerships. We had just 2, between the openers and mine with Taniya (Bhatia). We need to work on playing the middle overs," said Mithali on the eve of the second one-dayer here. Openers Jemimah Rodrigues, who top scored with 48, and Smriti Mandhana added 69 runs for the first wicket and after a mini collapse, the innings was resurrected by a 54-run stand between Mithali (44) and wicket keeper Tania (25) for the sixth wicket. India, who made 202, defended the modest score with some crafty spin bowling by left-arm Ekta Bisht (4 for 25) to emerge victorious by 66 runs and take a 1-0 lead. "When we can go and score 200 with just 2 partnerships, if another couple of batters can score runs, that would be a good score on this wicket," Mithali pointed out. Praising Jemimah, Mithali felt that the 18-year-old Mumbai youngster has forged a good combination with the settled Smriti Mandhana. "She has gradually improved since her debut in South Africa. So much exposure at such a young age will only help her progress more and take responsibility of giving a good start. India have, for long, struggled to have a good opening pair. Now I can see good starts since the New Zealand (tour)," she remarked. She also hailed the bowling of Shikha Pandey after an indifferent run of form. "She's been with team for long. Every player goes through a lean patch. As a senior and captain it's my duty to give more confidence, giving more opportunities. "Since the New Zealand tour you've seen how she has taken up the responsibility of the first spell along with Jhulan Goswami. Jhulan, being around, also helps, as she shares her experience. With a senior around, juniors develop under their wings," she explained. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim on Sunday criticised the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, a day after an explosion at Bhadohi killed 13 persons, including nine from here. The state urban development minister also handed over cheques of Rs 2 lakh each as assistance to the kin of the nine persons of West Bengal killed in Saturday's blast and assured them of jobs in the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). He promised old-age pension to widows and mothers of victims. "The district magistrate has signed cheques for distribution among the kin of the deceased from Malda following directions from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee," Hakim stated. Officials in the northern state said Saturday that the explosion took place at a shop in Rohta Bazaar in Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi district. Three adjacent buildings collapsed following the blast. Locals have claimed that an illegal firecracker factory in its vicinity could have led to the explosion. "What is the condition of law and order in Uttar Pradesh? How can chief minister Yogi Adityanath come to West Bengal to question the state of affairs here?" Hakim said. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recently addressed public rallies in West Bengal, claiming the ruling Trinamool Congress goons were having a free run in the state. The state minister also said that mortal remains of nine persons would be brought to Malda by Monday and district administration officials had left for Bhadohi to complete formalities. "Our officers are in touch with Uttar Pradesh administration to bring back the bodies," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Estonian Defence Industry Association (EDIA) and the Emirates Defence Companies Council (EDCC) have concluded a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the defence industry. The cooperation agreement was signed by Sultan Abdulla Al Samahi, acting general manager of EDCC and Kuldar Vaarsi, a representative of the Estonian Defence Industry Association, said a statement. The agreement was signed in Abu Dhabi, UAE, at the recently concluded International Defence Exhibition & Conference (Idex), one of the largest and most important defence industry exhibitions in the world. Kuldar Vaarsi, member of the Council of the Estonian Defence Industry Association, said: This agreement will provide the Estonian defence industry with a good basis to develop business cooperation in the UAE. Estonian companies offer world-leading solutions in cybersecurity and data security, border protection, and modern warfare, as well as in several other fields, said Vaarsi. According to Vaarsi, the cooperation agreement with the EDCC as a public organisation recognises the fact that Estonian companies develop, produce, and export high-technology products and services, which are becoming increasingly attractive in the UAE, the other Gulf Countries as well as on other external markets. At Idex, 10 Estonian companies are introducing their products: Defendec, Eli, Englo, Milectria, Milrem Robotics, Samelin, Tactical Foodpack, Terramil, Threod Systems and Toci. Defendec is developing automatic and autonomous security monitoring platforms and constantly challenging status quo in border protection and surveillance. Eli produces, pop-up and moving targets, weapons recoil kits for pistols, rifles and machine guns, Mortar simulators for 60,81 and 120mm mortars and also multirotor drones. Englo produces electronic and fine mechanical devices and measuring devices that are used in mines and military, rescue, security, road construction, building. Milectria produces military standard cable harnesses and electrical units for its main products. Milrem Robotics primary focus is manufacturing unmanned ground vehicles, developing robotic warfare solutions and performing concept of operations and doctrine level warfare analysis. Samelin manufactures high quality footwear for trekking, work, safety and military use. Tactical Foodback develops and produces light-weight and high-energy foodpacks for military and backpackers. Terramil manufactures innovative high quality directional, anti-tank, fragmentation mines and mortar fuss, bomb shelters, etc. Threod Systems provides outstanding unmanned aircraft systems and sub-systems for intelligence collection and surveillance tasks. Toci manufactures adjustable weapon brackets which are designed by Norwegian Armed Forces (FLO). The brackets are used for securing firearms inside vehicles (cars, ATVs, boats, tanks etc.), it stated. TradeArabia News Service Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido claimed Saturday a first shipment of humanitarian aid has reached Venezuela, defying a border blockade by President Nicolas Maduro as a standoff over the entry of food and medical aid turned violent. Venezuelan National Guard forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at several crossing points on the Colombia border, pinning down demonstrators seeking to reach humanitarian aid stockpiled on the other side. Guaido formally launched the distribution operation at a warehouse at the Tienditas border bridge, in Cucuta, Colombia. "The humanitarian aid is definitely going to Venezuela in a peaceful and calm manner to save lives at this time," said Guaido, joined for the launch by the presidents of Colombia, Chile and Paraguay. He later announced that an aid truck had crossed into Venezuela on its southern border with Brazil. However, AFP reporters there witnessed a truck halted at the border which had yet to cross. People from a local indigenous community were headed to the crossing to try to pressure troops to let in the aid. Early Saturday two large trucks carrying eight tonnes of emergency aid left Boa Vista in Brazil en route to the Venezuelan border. The vehicles are driven by Venezuelans and escorted by Brazilian police, organisers said. "We officially announce that the first shipment of humanitarian aid has now entered our border with Brazil. This is a great achievement, Venezuela!" wrote Guaido in a tweet. Demonstrators waiting for aid in Urena on the Venezuelan side of the Colombian border clashed with National Guard troops, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets. In the confusion, four National Guard members abandoned their posts and crossed into Colombia. Violence later spread to nearby San Antonio del Tachira, after soldiers blocked hundreds of people from reaching a border bridge to bring in aid. AFP reporters said shots were fired in the town after armed men arrived on motorcycles. Guaido has vowed humanitarian aid would enter his country on Saturday despite a blockade. His supporters plan to drive the aid from Colombia into Venezuela at the closed border crossings supported by a flood of volunteers and accompanied by Catholic priests in an attempt to avoid arrest. Socialist leader Maduro has rejected the aid, which he's dismissed as a show and pretext for a US invasion. Meanwhile, thousands of opposition and pro-Maduro supporters turned out at rival rallies in the capital Caracas. Humanitarian aid has become the centerpiece of the stand-off between Maduro and Guaido, the 35-year-old leader of Venezuela's National Assembly who declared himself interim president exactly one month ago Saturday. Guaido has accused Maduro of rigging his re-election and is demanding a new vote. Venezuela is gripped by a humanitarian crisis that has seen poverty soar during years of recession. As many as 300,000 Venezuelans are in dire need of food and medicine after years of shortages and malnutrition, according to Guaido. United Nations figures show that some 2.7 million people have fled Venezuela since 2015 amid the crisis, and some 5,000 Venezuelans emigrate from their country each day. On the eve of the face-off Guaido defied a government ban on leaving the country and attended the "Venezuela Live Aid" concert organised by British billionaire Richard Branson just over the border in Colombia. Guaido sensationally claimed that the Venezuelan military, whose high command has repeatedly declared absolute loyalty to Maduro, "participated in this process" to get him into Colombia. Hours later, Caracas said it had closed much of the Colombian border, citing threats to Venezuela's security. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Venezuelan authorities to refrain from using lethal force against protesters. The "Venezuela Live Aid" concert, which featured some of the biggest names in Spanish-language music, was broadcast live online. Branson said he hopes to raise USD 100 million for humanitarian aid over the next 60 days via internet donations. Meanwhile aid is being stockpiled in Colombia, Brazil and the Caribbean island of Curacao because of Maduro's ban. Guaido rallied his supporters when he showed up at the concert on Friday joined by Colombian President Ivan Duque, Chile's Sebastian Pinera and Mario Abdo of Paraguay. The leaders greeted the crowd before the concert ended. Maduro's rival concert, decidedly smaller and featuring Cuban and local artists, began hours later nearby on the Venezuelan side of the border in Urena. Performers took to the stage against a giant backdrop emblazoned with the words "#Trump Hands off Venezuela," with around 2,500 people in attendance. "We don't want to be interfered with, we don't want to be invaded," said Johana Suarez. Maduro, who has support from China, Russia and the military high command, accuses the United States of plotting a military intervention. Moscow has blasted Washington for using aid as a "convenient pretext for conducting military action. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Sunday he was "shocked and saddened" by the civilian deaths in Venezuela, and called on all sides to lower tensions. Guterres issued a statement on the situation a day after an opposition attempt to bring humanitarian supplies into the country was repelled by security forces firing tear gas and rubber bullets. Two people were reported killed near the Brazilian border, and Colombian civil defense officials said 285 people were injured in clashes at bridges along Venezuela's border with Colombia. Guterres said he was "shocked and saddened to learn that a number of civilians lost their lives in the context of yesterday's events." Appealing for calm, the UN chief urged "all actors to lower tensions and pursue every effort to prevent further escalation." He appealed "for violence to be avoided at any cost and for lethal force not to be used in any circumstances. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Social media networks are being used by people with extreme views to galvanise into plotting terrorist attacks, Britain's internal security agency MI5's behavioural science unit has warned. The intelligence unit, which is in the process of expanding, includes psychologists, anthropologists and psychiatrists who analyse the online behaviour of extremists to identify the mental health conditions that could lead to an attack. It has found that extremists find a form of legitimacy by social media networks such as Twitter and YouTube, often hiding behind anonymity. "Social media provides a forum in which people can explore their dark thoughts in the company of like-minded people," Alex, an MI5 officer, was quoted as saying by 'The Sunday Times'. "This creates an echo chamber, providing legitimacy to people with extreme views and galvanising them to act," added the member of the MI5 behavioural unit, whose full name has been withheld for security reasons. The unit has reportedly helped to foil 14 terror plots in the UK since the Westminster Bridge attack in London in March 2017, when five people were killed and 49 injured. It warns MI5 officers and agents against thinking that terrorists are "mad" even if their behaviour seems inexplicable. "Not all terrorists have mental health problems and not all people with mental health problems are likely to become terrorists," one of its documents says. But, it adds, some mental health problems can lead to an openness to terrorism: the need for purpose, self-efficacy or to feel valued; a need for belonging; perception of injustice or a sensitivity to perceiving injustice. In April 2017, the unit's officers helped to stop Khalid Ali, who had planned a knife attack near Downing Street, and then went on to quash the UK's first all-female terrorist cell. Safaa Boular and her sister Rizlaine were later given life sentences and their mother, Mina Dich, was also imprisoned. While the majority of MI5's 600 investigations concern Islamist radicals, the agency has expanded its surveillance since taking responsibility for tackling far-right extremism in October. The intelligence service is believed to be reinvestigating some of its 20,000 former "subjects of interest" to assess whether they are likely to engage in terrorism. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Robotics process automation (RPA) solutions firm UiPath aims to ramp up hiring in India this year to take its headcount to over 1,000 people in the country by the end of the year as it expands its operations in the country. The Romanian company, which was valued at USD 3 billion when it closed its series C funding of USD 225 million in September last year, counts entities like CapitalG (formerly Google Capital), Sequoia Capital and Accel among its investors. "We have about 340 people in India across various functions, including R&D. We expect this to be northwards of 1,000 by the end of the year...We are also looking at strengthening our R&D operations here, tripling it from over 75 people right now," UiPath India Chief Executive Officer Raghunath Subramanian told PTI. Globally, the company has a headcount of about 2,400 people - which will also be ramped up as it strengthens its business in Americas, Japan and China, he added. UiPath's India engineering centre in Bengaluru is part of the three development centres - Bucharest and Seattle being the others - that play a significant role for the company's global and India operations. Besides, the company is looking at setting up three more offices in India in Kolkata, Pune and Chennai, a move that will help the company work closely with clients implementing automation solutions. Subramanian said the company is witnessing a surge in demand for automation across verticals like banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), manufacturing and retail among others. He added that the company is also betting big on global in-house centres (GICs or captives) of global enterprises operating in India. "Another area where we see a lot of potential is the government. Automation can help increase productivity as well as bring in more transparency that can enhance citizen services. Automation can be a game-changer," Subramanian said. UiPath clocked revenue of over USD 180 million at the end of December, 2018 with about 35 per cent of this coming from Americas. The remaining was almost equally split between Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle and Africa (EMEA) regions. The company does not provide country-specific revenue details. Besides, the company also aims to train about one million globally on automation. Subramanian expects about half of this number to come from India itself as the company strikes a number of academic alliances to integrate automation as part of the curriculum. "We are pushing for a 'Automation First' mindset and our vision is 'a robot for every person'. By automating processes, one can do away with repetitive and time-consuming tasks, which allows people to dedicate their time to more value-based work. We want to up-skill one million students in RPA by 2022, of which, 500,000 students will be from India," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) said Kim Jong Un could soon put on the fast-track to becoming a major power Sunday as his former rival chugged across China in an armoured train, heading to their highly-anticipated summit in Vietnam. After North Korea's leader began his 4,000-kilometre epic from Pyongyang to Hanoi on Saturday, the US president flies out of Washington on Monday for their second meeting. Images from North Korean state media showed citizens cheering Kim as he waved from the train at the start of what could be a 60-hour journey to the Vietnamese capital. The train crossed the border city of Dandong later Saturday, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency and the specialist outlet NK News, although the last leg of his journey could be by road. The train's crossing into China follows days of speculation over Kim's travel plans ahead of the talks expected next Wednesday and Thursday. Accompanying the North Korean leader was right-hand man and top general Kim Yong Chol, who met Trump at the White House last month, his sister and close aide Kim Yo Jong, and other high-ranking officials, the official KCNA news agency said. The Vietnam summit is a follow-up to a meeting in Singapore last June which signalled a dramatic reset in relations between two leaders who had been spent previous months sabre-rattling and trading insults. Although that meeting led to little concrete progress in Trump's demands for to end its program, the US leader has changed his tune towards a rival he once ridiculed as "rocket man". While his top diplomat Mike Pompeo tempered expectations about what could be achieved in Hanoi, Trump said could become one of the world's "great economic powers" if it relinquished its nuclear arsenal. "Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the world," Trump wrote on Twitter. But Pompeo said North Korea remained a nuclear threat and that while internationally-backed sanctions had helped build pressure on persuading North Korea to denuclearise, it was "a complicated process" and there may have to be another summit after Vietnam. "We may not get everything done this week. We hope we'll make a substantial step along the way," he told Fox News. "I hope we can make a real substantive step forward (on denuclearisation) this week. It may not happen but I hope that it will." While Singapore produced a vaguely worded agreement on denuclearisation, progress has since stalled, with the two sides disagreeing over what the agreement meant. Observers say tangible progress is needed in Hanoi to avoid the talks being dismissed as a publicity stunt. Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations and a veteran of negotiations with the North Koreans, feared the summit could be "a dud". "I don't believe it would be a successful summit unless you had some kind of commitment on North Korea's part on denuclearization, dismantling inspections, missiles, nuclear detonations," he told ABC television. "It seems the president is deflating expectations, and that's a concern... I think the president deserves credit for lowering tensions in the region, but in terms of concrete accomplishments, I don't think this summit's going to produce." In his tweets, Trump praised Beijing for falling into line behind the US-led sanctions on Pyongyang, saying Chinese President Xi Jinping had been "very helpful in his support of my meeting" with Kim. "The last thing China wants are large scale right next door," he added. Kim has met Xi four times in the past year, briefing his country's sole major ally before and after his historic summits with Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. There were no signs of heightened security around Beijing railway station on Sunday, indicating Kim's train likely bypassed the Chinese capital on the nearly 4,000-kilometre (2,500-mile) journey to Vietnam. But Kim, who last met Xi in January, could be saving their next meeting for his return trip to debrief the Chinese leader. Although the exact details of Kim's route remained a tightly-held secret, several sources said Kim was expected to arrive in Vietnam at the Dong Dang station near the China border, then drive to Hanoi. Soldiers were deployed to Dong Dang station and along the road to the capital, according to AFP reporters at the scene. Vietnam has announced that it is closing that 170-kilometre stretch of road for 10 hours on Tuesday while an AFP reporter saw military personnel sweeping for mines along the road. "Vietnam wants to contribute its part to world peace... at this upcoming summit," Vietnamese Prime Minister Xuan Phuc told reporters on Sunday. Rail travel is a family tradition that was started by Kim's grandfather, the North's founder Kim Il Sung, who travelled to Eastern Europe for his longest train ride in 1984. The journey from China's frozen northern border to subtropical Vietnam presents a logistical headache and complex security challenges. Justin Hastings, associate professor in relations at the University of Sydney, said that would be "a pretty major operation". "They would have to clear the tracks, they would have to provide security for basically the entire length of the Chinese eastern seaboard," he told AFP. But China may view the hassle as a necessary cost to get Kim to the summit. "China wants North Korea to make some steps to denuclearise as much as anyone else," Hastings said. The BJP Sunday said the timing of government launching any welfare scheme should not be questioned as no time frame can be attached in advance to such measures. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. BJP Kisan Morcha president and Bhadohi MP Virendra Singh Mast said, "It is wrong to say that the government is reminded of farmers during the election season only. There is no time frame decided in advance for taking any welfare step. The opposition parties have nothing to say." In an interview, Mast told PTI that a number of farmers welfare schemes were launched by the government in the past nearly five years. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh had termed the scheme, announced in the interim budget, as a mere "eyewash" and said it would not reach the genuine beneficiaries. President of Rashtriya Kisan Manch Shekhar Dixit had also questioned the intention and the reach of the scheme. Mast said, "It is amazing that those who had not even given even six paise for agriculture, are now questioning the move by the government to give Rs 6,000 a year to the farmers (under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana). By the end of February, the farmers will start getting the money in their accounts," he said. Mast also challenged Congress president Rahul Gandhi to differentiate among various crops. "He cannot distinguish among the plants of paddy, barley, wheat and (maize). If he is able to distinguish the plants, I will garland and welcome him. "Somebody might have told him that if he speaks against the prime minister, he will become a national leader," Mast alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bangladesh commandos on Sunday killed an armed man, who allegedly made a foiled bid to hijack a Dubai-bound flight of the state-run Biman Airlines carrying 148 passengers, the army said. The flight, en route Dubai from Dhaka via Chattogram, made an emergency landing at the Shah Amanat International Airport in the coastal city of Chattogram following the hijack bid. Army, Navy and elite police cordoned off the plane soon after it landing. All the passengers, pilots and crew members were evacuated safely. According to army Major General Matiur Rahman, the suspect, a Bangladeshi national identified as Mahadi, refused to surrender when asked to, forcing "the commandos to go for action (firing)", which "lasted eight minutes". "He (hijacker) succumbed to his wounds after the military commandos captured him (with gun shots)," Rahman told a media briefing at Chattogram airport, adding that the suspect was carrying a gun. Air force's Chattgram base commander Air Vice Marshal Mufidur Rahman, who was also present at the media briefing, said he kept the hijacker engaged in talks while special forces units prepared for the raid. "The man repeatedly wanted to talk to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he said, adding that the hijacker allowed the passengers to disembark the plane during the negotiation process. Meanwhile, in a press conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal Naim Hassan said the hijacker was equipped with a hand gun and explosives. An investigation would be carried out to determine how the man boarded the aircraft with arms and explosives, he said. According to eyewitnesses, minutes after the Flight BG-147, which was on its way to Dubai from Dhaka via Chattogram, flew from the Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport, it returned and made an emergency landing at 5:40 pm. The emergency exit was opened through which the passengers disembarked immediately. The captain and the first officer of the flight also came out later, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A meeting of the All India Sufi Sajjada Nashin Council was held in Rajasthan's Ajmer city on Sunday. The meeting was chaired by Ajmer Dargah Dewan Zainul Abedin Ali Khan and saw participation from members across various states. In a statement, the chairman of the council, Syed Nasirudin, said the members held a two-minute silence for the CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama terror attack on February 14. The members expressed concern over the "rising" atmosphere of hatred in the country and decided that all dargahs in the states would spread a message of peace and harmony and propagate Sufism, Nasirudin said. The members were asked to join hands with schools and madrasas to propagate the message of peace and harmony, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A special pilgrimage train, as part of the 11th edition of Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra Yojana (BNTYY), was flagged off Sunday at Bhubaneswar railway station with 1,000 senior citizens. The train was flagged off by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The train, with Senior citizens from Cuttack, Puri, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur and Khurda districts, set off its journey for Kolkata in West Bengal and Kamakhya in Assam. Patnaik congratulated the senior citizens and wished them a happy journey. The elderly passengers also thanked the chief minister for fulfilling their long-pending wish of going on a pilgrimage, said an official from the chief minister's office. The Odisha government had started the pilgrimage trip in 2016. As many as 11,000 senior citizens have visited various religious and pilgrimage centres so far, official sources said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha and four others have been booked for allegedly cheating an event organiser here, police officials said Sunday. However, Sinha's management agency, in a statement, alleged that the event organiser was using the media to release "false and manipulated" information, and she would be "forced" to take legal action. The case was registered against the actress and the others under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections pertaining to cheating and criminal breach of trust, police said. In a complaint on November 24 last year, an event organiser, Pramod Sharma, had alleged that he paid Rs 24 lakh to a company to invite Sinha for a prize distribution function in Delhi and that the actress had confirmed her presence, but did not turn up, the officials said. The complainant, a resident of Shivpuri in Moradabad, said in total, he paid Rs 37 lakh, which included transferring a huge amount to Sinha, according to police. Sinha's management agency has denied the charge, saying despite repeated reminders, the organiser failed to make payments to the actress before the event as contracted. "The investigating officer in the case had served a notice to Sinha and the four others, but after not getting a response an FIR was registered on Friday," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Moradabad, Ravindra Gaud, said. He said among the four others are Mumbai residents Abhishek, Malvika Dhumil and Edgar. The case has been registered at the Katghar police station. Station House Officer, Katghar, Ajeet Singh said the case was registered under section 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code. The investigation in the case has started, he said. In the statement, the agency said, "Sonakshi was approached by the event organisers in Delhi to attend an event. However, despite repeated reminders, the organiser failed to make the payments to Sonakshi before the event as contracted." "The tickets to Delhi were not in order/as were agreed, the organiser also didn't send return tickets for Sonakshi and her team, despite knowing that she had a shoot the next morning after the event.This put everyone in a tough spot," it said. Several attempts were made to contact the organiser to request him to make the "contracted payments and send the tickets, however, they remained incommunicado and didn't live up to their end of the bargain", Sinha's management agency claimed. Due to a lack of commitment by the organiser, the actress and her team were left with no choice but to return home from the Mumbai airport, according to the statement. "Ever since that day, Sonakshi's management agency has been trying to reach out to the organiser to find an amicable solution to the extent of offering an alternate date and tried to connect but to no avail. "The organiser is now using the media to release false and manipulated facts. If the organiser doesn't stop at this, Sonakshi and her team will be forced to take a legal course of action to set this straight. We request media to not let anyone use their platform without looking into the facts," the statement read. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) State oil giant Saudi Aramco has signed three MoUs aimed at expanding its downstream presence in the Zhejiang province, one of the most developed regions in China. The first agreement was signed with the Zhoushan government to acquire a 9 per cent stake in the Zhejiang Petrochemicals 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) integrated refinery and petrochemical complex, located in the city of Zhoushan, said a statement from the Saudi group. The second agreement was signed with Rongsheng Petrochemical, Juhua Group, and Tongkun Group, who are the other shareholders of Zhejiang Petrochemical, while the third MoU was inked with Zhejiang Energy for exploring potential investment in retail network in Eastern Region of China, in addition to other related downstream investments Saudi Aramcos involvement in the project will come with a long-term crude supply agreement and the ability to utilize Zhejiang Petrochemicals large crude oil storage facility to serve its customers in the Asian region, it stated. An integral part of the project includes a third agreement with Zhejiang Energy to invest in a retail fuel network. The companies plan to build a large scale retail network over the course of the next five years in the Zhejiang province. The retail business will be integrated with the Zhejiang Petrochemical complex as an outlet for the refined products produced. On the deals, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said: "These demonstrate our commitment to the Chinese market and help enhance the strategic integration of our downstream network in Asia. They will further strengthen our relationship with China and the Zhejiang province, setting the stage for more cooperation in the future." The Phase One of the project will include a newly-built 400,000 bpd refinery with a 1.4 million metric tonne per annum (mmpta) ethylene cracker unit, and a 5.2 mmtpa Aromatics unit, he explained. "In the Phase Two of the project, we will see a 400,000 bpd refinery expansion, which will include deeper chemical integration than Phase One," he added.-TradeArabia News Service So great was his passion for police force that Deputy Superintendent of Police Aman Thakur, who was killed in an encounter in Kulgam on Sunday, gave up two government jobs to don the uniform. Thakur, who is in his late 30s, first got a job in the social welfare department and was later appointed as lecturer at a government college in view of him having master's degree in Zoology. He always wanted to be in the police force and he had a passion for wearing the uniform, one of his close friend in the police said. A resident of Gogla district in Doda region, Thakur, a 2011-batch Jammu and Kashmir Police Service officer, is survived by aged parents, wife Sarla Devi and six-year-old son Arya. Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh could not hold back his emotions while recalling his various meetings with the young police officer. "He was always beaming with enthusiasm and used to lead his team from the front," Singh said. During his tenure in the militancy-infested Kulgam district of South Kashmir, Thakur has won laurels from many quarters. "He had been heading the counter-terrorism wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police in district Kulgam from last one-and-a-half years and had played an instrumental role in killing dreaded terrorists in the area," Singh said. Paying rich tributes Thakur for his supreme sacrifice made in the line of duty, he said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this critical juncture." His friends recalled him for his simplicity, plain-speaking and thorough professionalism. "He was known for his determination and valour. In a short period of time, he had earned love, respect and appreciation of the locals in the area for his helpful nature and professionalism," one of the police officers recalled. He was awarded DGP medal and commendation recently for his outstanding contribution. He was also awarded Sher-e-Kashmir Medal for Gallantry in recognition of his bravery and courage in anti-militancy operations. Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik expressed grief over Thakur's demise. He expressed sympathy and solidarity with his family members. Thakur and an army jawan were killed in the encounter in Kulgam district of south Kashmir on Sunday, officials said. An army major and two soldiers were also injured in the encounter. Two Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists were gunned down by the security forces. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than 200 members of the Indian community here have paid homage to the CRPF personnel killed in the recent Pulwama terror attack. The Indian diaspora held a candle light vigil on Friday in memory of the killed soldiers. Representatives from Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present at the vigil, which was held at the Indian High Commission's Grange Road Complex near the business district here. India's High Commissioner to Singapore, Jawed Ashraf, said this spontaneous outpouring of grief and support for the killed paramilitary personnel reflected a deep sense of anguish in the Indian diaspora globally. The UN Security Council has strongly condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which left 40 securitymen dead and many injured. The Foreign Minister of Singapore Vivian Balakrishnan has sent a letter to External Affairs Minister of India expressing condolences for the victims and condemning "this senseless act of terror". Singapore maintains a strict stand against terrorist activities being a hub for global businesses, officials said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The central government said Saturday that separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah was absolutely "fit and fine" as were other inmates from Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) released a statement following rumours over the health of the separatist leader, lodged in the Tihar jail since his arrest on July 25, 2017 in a case related to the recovery of huge amount of cash. Tihar prison authorities have denied occurrence of any untoward incident or mishap involving Shah, the government statement said. Refuting fake circulating in a section of media, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Tihar prison Shailendra Parihar said, "Shah is absolutely fit and fine." "All other inmates from Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan are also fine," he said, adding the prison authorities appealed to all to be cautious against fake On Saturday, a Delhi court deferred the hearing on a bail plea of Shah till April 2. The application was moved before the court on the grounds of parity after the Delhi High Court recently granted bail to co-accused Mohammad Aslam Wani in the decade-old case. The application claimed that Shah was wrongly and falsely implicated in the case, which was registered in 2007 for the alleged offence committed in 2005. Shah said in his application that Wani has already been granted bail and that there was lack of evidence against him. Shah was arrested on July 25, 2017 in the case in which the Special Cell of Delhi Police had also arrested Wani. It claimed that Rs 63 lakh was recovered from Wani, out of which Rs 52 lakh was allegedly to be delivered to Shah. The court had in August 2017 denied bail to Shah after the Enforcement Directorate submitted that it was probing whether he had received money from "enemy countries" like Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shiv Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire has claimed that he can "cure" people by feeling their pulse, chanting mantras and giving them vibhuti (residual wood ash from ritual fires). Khaire, Lok Sabha MP from Aurangabad, made the claim while speaking at a National Health Mission function here on Saturday in the presence of medical professionals including dean of the local government medical college and hospital (GMCH). He claimed he had cured several people by chanting mantras or giving them ash to eat or to place under the pillow in a pouch. He went on to add that he had given some of this ash to senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan's son Rahul when the former MP was fighting for life in hospital after being shot at by his brother. Khaire said tight security around Mahajan's hospital room meant that no one could enter and this put paid to his efforts, adding that it was his only "failure". Mahajan was shot at on April 22, 2006 and died a few days later on May 3 in a Mumbai hospital. Narrating another anecdote, Khaire said, "The wife of a party activist was injured in an accident. I felt her pulse and chanted and she opened her eyes and went on to get fine in a couple of days." As per information on the National Portal of India on parliamentarians, Khaire is a B.SC graduate from Marathwada University in Aurangabad and also has a Diploma in Personnel Management. Among those who attended Saturday's function were MLA Sanjay Shirsat, Mayor Nandkumar Ghodele, GMCH Dean Dr Kanan Yelikar, civil surgeon Dr Sunder Kulkarni, Deputy Director of Health Dr Swapnil Laale and District Health Officer Dr Amol Gite. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Shiv Sena has extended its support to the day-long bandh called on Tuesday by people affected due to the suspension of mining activities in the coastal state. Shiv Sena's Goa unit vice president Rakhi Prabhudesai Naik in a statement issued here on Sunday said the party will stand by mining dependents in their time of crisis. The Goa Mining People's Front, an umbrella group of mining dependents whose livelihood has been affected, earlier this month gave a call for a day-long bandh on February 26 in those areas where iron ore extraction was held before the suspension of such activities. Supporting the cause, Naik said, "The Sena stands firmly with mining dependents as we equally feel their pinch." She said the Sena leaders had supported the mining dependents during their protests in New Delhi last year. "The issue of mining resumption and to bring an amendment to the existing mining laws would have been raised in Parliament if the (budget) session had not been stalled," Naik said. She said the Sena has appealed to the BJP to stop playing with the sentiments of mining dependents, who have been "running from pillar to post" since the last one year. "The bandh called as a mark of protest will be fully supported by the Sena. A peaceful bandh is necessary to send a clear signal to those in power that masses are suffering," Naik added. The mining operations, a key source of revenue to the government, came to a standstill in March last year following a Supreme Court order which quashed 88 mining leases. The BJP-led state government earlier requested the Centre to amend the existing mining laws during the recently concluded session of Parliament so that leases get extended. The GMPF had in December last year staged three-day protests in New Delhi demanding resumption of mining activities in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Cyberabad Police in Telangana on a contempt plea alleging violation of its orders of 'no-coercive action' and arrests of independent representatives of e-commerce company QNet. A bench of justices R F Nariman and Vineet Saran had issued a notice and sought a response from the state government. The top court had also dispensed the presence of alleged contemnors and tagged the contempt petition with other pending matters for final disposal. The contempt notice was issued on a plea of Vihaan Direct Selling Pvt Ltd, the Indian franchisee of QNet. In the petition, it was alleged that despite the apex court's direction, independent representatives of the company were arrested by the Cyberabad Police on alleged charges of running a ponzi scheme. The QNet Distributors Welfare Association had filed a petition before the Telangana High Court alleging that state police authorities were not following the state's notification on the Direct Selling Guidelines, 2017, and were indiscriminately registering criminal cases against the independent representatives of QNet's Indian sub-franchisee Vihaan Direct Selling (India) Pvt. Ltd. The franchisee claimed that the state guidelines were issued pursuant to an advisory issued by the central government's Department of Consumer Affairs. The high court on February 6 had ordered the Telangana government, the Hyderabad Police Commissioner, and the Cyberabad Police Commissioner, to refrain from taking any action against the distributors of Qnet. It said QNet's business is operating in India under the franchisee company Vihaan Direct Selling is in full compliance with the guidelines issued by Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs. "The action taken by the police has no civil and criminal law conformance and is in direct contempt of the order granted by the Supreme Court of India that has directed all states including the state of Telangana to not take any coercive action against the company," the firm said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court has commuted to life term the death sentence awarded to a man for killing his wife and five children on the ground of "unexplained delay" of four years by the Madhya Pradesh government in forwarding the mercy petition of the convict to the Union Home Ministry. The apex court said there was a delay of almost five years in deciding the mercy petition as the state authorities kept sitting on it and did not forwarded it to the home ministry for four years. Observing that a mercy petition is the "last hope" of a person on death row, a bench headed by Justice N V Ramana said that convict Jagdish had filed a mercy petition before the jail authorities on October 13, 2009, but his plea was forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs on October 15, 2013. "The mercy petition is the last hope of a person on death row. Every dawn will give rise to a new hope that his mercy petition may be accepted. By night fall this hope also dies," the bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Indira Banerjee, said. "Keeping in view all the circumstances of the case, including the un-explained delay of four years in forwarding the mercy petition by the state of Madhya Pradesh leading to delay of almost five years in deciding the mercy petition and the fact that the petitioner has been incarcerated for almost 14 years, we are of view that regardless of the brutal nature of crime this is not a fit case where death sentence should be executed and we, accordingly commute the death sentence to that of life," the court said. However, the bench directed that life imprisonment in the case would mean that convict will not be released from jail till his natural death. Jagdish had killed his wife and five children in August 2005 and the trial court had awarded him death penalty in April 2006. In June 2006, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had confirmed the death sentence awarded to him and later in September 2009 the apex court had dismissed his appeal. Thereafter, he had filed a mercy petition addressed to the President of India and the governor of Madhya Pradesh through the jail authorities on October 13, 2009. His mercy petition was rejected by the President on July 16, 2014. Jagdish had then moved the apex court challenging the rejection of his mercy petition on the ground that there was a delay of almost five years in deciding the mercy petition and his death sentence should be commuted to life imprisonment. In its verdict, the apex court said that Madhya Pradesh government has given no explanation for the delay of over four years in forwarding the mercy petition to the home ministry. "As far as the Government of India or the Secretariat of the President of India is concerned, there is no delay in dealing with the mercy petition and the same has been dealt with expeditiously," the bench said. "The delay in forwarding the (mercy) petition is totally un-explained and this court cannot countenance an un-explained delay of more than four years. We are dealing here with the case of a person who has been sentenced to death," it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) To recover its loans from Jet Airways, state-run lender SBI is mulling moving as it feels the airline is running out of funds for operations, even as shareholders of the debt-laden carrier have approved a debt rejig plan, officials said. Shareholders of have approved conversion of loan into shares and other proposals during the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Thursday. A consortium of banks, led by the SBI, has extended loans to Jet Airways, which is looking to rejig debt and raise funds. Officials associated with the lenders and key shareholders said the SBI is considering moving the (NCLT) seeking insolvency proceedings against since it is running out of money for operations. Lenders can initiate proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to recover dues from debt-laden entities. The process can commence only after approval from the NCLT. Queries sent to SBI and regarding the bank considering insolvency proceedings against the airline remained unanswered. The officials said that Gulf carrier Etihad, the strategic partner with 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways, abstained from voting on various proposals during the EGM held on February 21. According to them, Etihad is waiting for clarity on the overall funding that the SBI and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) would provide for Jet Airways in terms of equity. The Gulf carrier has been pitching for the SBI and the NIIF to own 51 per cent and invest Rs 2,200 crore into the airline, they added. On February 17, sources said Jet Airways was likely to invest Rs 3,000 crore post debt-rejig and investments by as well as NIIF. Besides, the SBI is not agreement with Etihad on the latter's proposal regarding Right of First Refusal (ROFR). Etihad has sought ROFR for itself after one year and also want the SBI to get a confirmation from markets regulator Sebi that if ROFR is exercised, then the mandatory open offer would not be triggered, the officials said. Under the Sebi norms, entities are required to make an open offer to shareholders in case their shareholding goes beyond a certain threshold. A consortium of banks is considering an interim funding of Rs 500 crore for Jet Airways but a final decision is yet to be taken, Managing Director Sunil Mehta said on Friday. PNB is part of the lenders' consortium, led by (SBI), that has extended loans to the airline. On February 14, Jet Airways' board approved a Bank-Led Provisional Resolution Plan (BLPRP), whereby lenders would become the largest shareholders in the airline. Following approval from the shareholders, part of debt would be converted into 11.4 crore shares at a consideration of Re 1 apiece as per the RBI norms. Later, appropriate interim credit facilities by domestic lenders would be sanctioned to the airline, according to a regulatory filing made on February 14. The Kashmir issue should be resolved politically in a way that serves India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir has said, amid a war of words between the two neighbours over the Pulwama attack. The Saudi foreign minister also pitched for steps to reduce tension between the two countries, saying it will open up "tremendous opportunities" for both India and Pakistan. "I believe that there ought to be a way to resolve the issue politically in a way that serves India, that serves Pakistan and that serves the people of Kashmir," Al-Jubeir told PTI in an interview last week. He was here as part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's delegation. Tensions between India and Pakistan soared after a suicide car bomber belonging to Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed killed 40 CRPF personnel in the worst such attack in decades. "I think where there is a goodwill and where there is trust, possibilities open up. But with suspicion and lack of goodwill, you have distrust, and when you have distrust, everything is frozen and tension rises," the Saudi foreign minister said. "We are hoping that people will recognise that this is an issue that can be resolved peacefully in a way that serves everybody's interests. I believe if you reduce tensions between India and Pakistan, it will open up tremendous opportunities for both the countries to focus on investment and development rather than on security," he added. After the Pulwama attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said security forces have been given a free hand to decide on the timing, place and nature of their response, while Islamabad said it will adequately respond to any action by New Delhi. The Saudi foreign minister also said his country will "consider playing a role" to mediate and de-escalate tension between India and Pakistan if both countries want. "Nobody wants to see armed conflict between two nuclear powers. Nobody benefits except terrorists. I believe the leadership recognises it. It is our hope that issues can be resolved peacefully," he said. Al-Jubeir felt the leadership in both Pakistan and India were sincere in improving ties with each other. "I believe Prime Minister Imran Khan wants to have better relations with India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to have better relations with Pakistan, he said. "The issue is how do you build trust and confidence between the two countries that will allow them to move forward in a way that protects both countries, and in a way that defeats extremists groups and terrorists groups that may operate in one country or the other," Al-Jubeir said. Asked about Saudi Arabia's overall ties with India, he said, "We are very bullish on the relationship. I believe that fundamentally, the two countries are philosophically aligned. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) State-owned REC will have to obtain consent of at least 50 per cent of the foreign lenders before the company could be acquired by as part of the plans approved by the Cabinet. REC's cumulative foreign debt stands at around USD 1.85 billion which will mature in phases till 2028 and the state-owned company has initiated the exercise of obtaining the consent of these lenders. In order to push disinvestment, the Cabinet in December approved the sale of the government's 52.63 per cent stake in REC Ltd to (PFC). The deal, which is to be completed by March, is expected to fetch Rs 15,000 crore to the exchequer. However, sources said that before the deal could get through, REC would be required to obtain clearance from the lenders. The REC, which has been raising funds from the foreign and domestic markets, has given an undertaking to the lenders that it would continue to be a PSU with at least 51 per cent government stake, an official told "Before could go ahead with the acquisition, REC is obligated to obtain the consent of the lenders from whom it has been raising funds to finance rural electrification and other power sector programmes. At least 50 per cent of the lenders will have to give their consent," the official said. As the nature of the company will change after the acquisition by PFC, REC would be required to intimate to the lenders and obtain their prior consent. After the acquisition, REC would become a subsidiary of REC has appointed Barclays Bank, Citigroup Global Markets, and as consent solicitation agent. The acquisition of REC by PFC has already been approved by market regulator Sebi and competition watchdog CCI, while the RBI's nod is expected by mid-March. The government proposes to complete the deal by March 31 so that it could add the sale proceeds to current fiscal's kitty. Both the Department of and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and PFC have appointed separate agencies to work out the valuation of REC. The government is also expecting a premium over the market value for handling over the management control of REC to PFC. (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.) Flight test experts of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have completed the first flight session of the MC-21-300 certification programme. MC-21-300 is a Russian-made new generation aircraft with capacity of 163 to 211 passengers. During the certification tests, the behaviour of MC-21-300 aircraft was evaluated in various modes, including high angles of attack and stalling, said a statement. Flights duration from 2.5 to 4 hours were performed at altitudes from 3 to 10 km, it said. Aircraft was piloted by EASA test pilot. Test pilot of the Yakovlev Design Bureau (a branch of Irkut Corporation) monitored the performance of flight modes. Flight crew also included Russian and EASA flight test engineers to analyse current flight parameters. In September 2018, EASA test crew completed a special course in theoretical and practical training, as a result of which they obtained permission to fly on MC-21-300 aircraft, it stated. TradeArabia News Service Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman Sunday said people have high standards of expectations from BJP,including on issues like Ram temple and asked them to have faith in the government, which had taken steps on the matter. She asked party workers and sympathisers not to complain on this account as genuine work was happening in India, which was at the crossroads and the country could not afford to lose the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Addressing a gathering at an interactive event organised by theThinkers Forum,she referred to issues like Ram temple and asked the people not to punish BJP for not building it. "Your high standards of expectations should not be used for this election, like saying no, no, you didn't build the Ram temple in Ayodhya... Because the temple couldn't be built, don't punish us. I am giving this example because it is very close to my heart. Sitharaman asked the voters to note the approach of the government, which had moved the Supreme Court to allot the excess land. "...See the approach of the government. We have gone to the Supreme Court to say give us the excess land. There are issues.. have faith in the government. Have faith." 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. Sitharam also said people should not fall for 'silly reasons' like fair and charming young leaders. "If at this stage, the country, for some silly reasons or some fad, that we want young fair or fresh new approach, I would say don't fall for this," said Sitharaman. Asked by a participant on why India cannot respond to the Pulwama terror attack in the way the U.S. did when it went after Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, she said the anger over the matter and on why India could not take similar action, "all that is well absorbed, well received and well registered." "I can say that for sure with confidence that it is well registered. I underline, its well registered."Quoting the Prime Minister, she said he had stated that the sacrifice of the jawans would not go waste and those who are responsible, directly or indirectly for it, would have to pay a heavy price. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited AIIMS here on Sunday to enquire about the health of Deputy Inspector General of Jammu and Kashmir police Amit Kumar, who was injured during an encounter with Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists in Pulwama last week. "Visited AIIMS to inquire about the health of DIG @JmuKmrPolice, Shri Amit Kumar who was severely injured in a recent counter terror operation in Pulwama. Officers like him lift the morale of forces with their action. I salute his courage and the bravery exhibited by his team," Singh tweeted after meeting Kumar. The DIG had received a gunshot wound in the abdomen during the encounter last Monday in Pulwama's Pinglan area, about 12 km from where a suicide bomber belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammed drove his explosive-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus on February 14, killing 40 personnel. Kumar was undergoing treatment at an Army hospital in Srinagar and was airlifted to the AIIMS on Friday night. Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju had visited him at the hospital on Saturday, officials said. The Pinglan encounter had claimed the lives of five security personnel including an Army major, a civilian and three Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, including the mastermind of the February 14 terror attack. An Army brigadier was also injured when a bullet ricochetted and hit him on his leg. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The rules for Rajasthan Social Security for Elderly Farmers Pension Scheme, 2019, has been released by the government, which, following its implementation, will put a burden of Rs 990 crore on the state exchequer. The rules will come into effect from March 1, 2019. Implementing the promise made in the poll manifesto, the Congress government decided to provide Rs 1,000 monthly pension to small and marginalised farmers above 75 years of age, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said in a statement. The government will also provide Rs 750 monthly pension to small and marginalised women farmers above 55 years of age and male farmers above 58 years respectively without any regular source of income. According to an official statement, there are nearly 30 lakh small and marginalised farmers Rajasthan, of which nearly 19 lakh are taking benefit of various social security schemes. In such a case, around 11 lakh farmers will be able to get the benefits of pension under the scheme, statement said. The scheme will be implemented by social justice and empowerment department, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Launching a scathing attack on the Congress dispensation in Punjab, BJP president Amit Shah Sunday alleged that the "raja-maharaja" government brought to a standstill the development projects and schemes started during the SAD-BJP rule. He also hit out at Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for hugging Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa at Imran Khan's swearing-in ceremony in Islamabad last year. Addressing a state-level BJP workers' meet here, Shah made light of the opposition parties' effort to stitch up a 'Mahagathbandhan' saying a leaderless alliance cannot take the country forward. The people of this country have made up their mind to bring the BJP-led NDA back to power, Shah said. "This grand alliance cannot take the country forward, it cannot make the country superpower. Only a government under PM Modi can do so. Can Congress party give befitting reply to terror attacks? Only Narendra Modi government can," he claimed. At the meeting, a two-minute silence was observed in memory of the 40 CRPF personnel killed in the February 14 Pulwama terror attack. Of the slain jawans, four belonged to Punjab. "I want to tell the families (of the slain CRPF men) that the blood shed by the 40 jawans will not go in vain. Our government will teach terrorists a lesson," the BJP president said. Touching upon how Punjab for decades has been meeting the country's foodgrain needs and safeguarding its borders, he said the Centre has left no stone unturned to ensure the state's development. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were always liberal in giving grants to Punjab, and the state got Rs 1,61,907 crore under the NDA dispensation as against the UPA's Rs 30,157 crore, Shah said. Shah spelled out several schemes and projects for Punjab by the Modi government, including an IIM for Amritsar, AIIMS in Bathinda, improved road network, upgradation of road network and 41 projects sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries led by SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Describing the Amarinder Singh-led Congress dispensation as "raja-maharaja government", he claimed there is no match for the previous SAD-BJP regime led by Parkash Singh Badal. "These days Capt Sahab (Amarinder Singh) has become vocal, may be because polls are near. Sometimes he also goes to office. Now, he has started saying the Centre has not done this and that. He is seeking accountability from us," Shah said. "But what about his promises to farmers, on ending the drug menace, about unemployment allowance? Even Rahul Gandhi had vowed loan waiver for Punjab farmers, but the way they came out with a loan waiver, it has not benefitted the state's peasants," Shah claimed. He alleged that several schemes started by the SAD-BJP government has been stopped by the Congress dispensation. "I do not know whether this government is the one to carry development or stop it. Raja Sahab (Amarinder Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile Patiala royals), you stopped development works," Shah said. About the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, the BJP national president said Modi government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to give justice to the victims. "For 30 years, not even a single person was punished. Now, Sajjan Kumar is behind the bars," he said. Slamming Sidhu, the BJP chief said, "He claims that he went to Pakistan and made Kartarpur Sahib corridor possible... The Pakistan Army chief who is responsible for killing our soldiers, you gave him a warm hug and the lowered country's image." "You (Sidhu) did not bring Kartarpur, but you are in that party which handed over Kartarpur to Pakistan at the time of partition, which could easily have been a part of India." Shah, instead, credited the Modi government for the corridor, linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev's - to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district to facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims. About the proposed "mahagathbandhan" of opposition parties, he sought to know from Congress president Rahul Gandhi who is the leader of this alliance. "Can the grand alliance do any good to this country? Rahul baba who is the leader of this alliance? If people elect you, who will become prime minister?," Shah posed. "The leaders of this alliance are seeking mandate from public, but they have not decided who their leader is. Whereas, we are clear that on getting majority, Narendra Modi will once again become prime minister. The BJP, the Akali Dal and our other allies are going to fight under Modi ji's leadership. "I can see the writing on the wall. Modi is once again going to be PM... Congress can daydream," he said. On the Centre announcing Rs 6,000 annual financial assistance for small and marginal farmers, Shah said Rahul Gandhi makes jokes about this scheme while demanding loan waiver. "During the 10 years (of UPA rule), they waived Rs 52,000 crore of three crore farmers. Through our scheme, farmers will get Rs 75,000 crore every year, which works out to Rs 7.5 lakh crore for 10 years," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Traders in Indore in Madhya Pradesh have announced the stoppage of sale of edibles imported from Pakistan in protest against the Pulwama terror attack on February 14 which killed 40 CRPF troopers. The state's farmers have also said that they would not export tomatoes to the neighbouring nation. The Pakistani items that have been banned by traders here are 'sendha namak' (rock salt), 'kharak' (dry dates) and mangoes. Ramesh Khandelwal, president of Indore's Siyaganj Wholesale Grocery Traders Association said his organisation would not import kharak and sendha namak from Pakistan. He informed that, prior to the Pulwama attack, more than 300 quintals of kharak would reach Siyaganj Mandi from Pakistan and would then be supplied ahead to Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat. Khandelwal said many grocers had even cancelled orders for these items that were placed before the attack took place. Jagdish Rawalia, Kisan Sena state secretary, told PTI, "Farmers have decided that they will not sell their tomato produce to traders who export it further to Pakistan. Even if it causes us losses, we will not send our produce to a country which is sponsoring terror attacks on our jawans." Jhabua, Khargone, Shajapur and Dhar are major tomato-growing districts in the state and the produce from these places reaches Pakistan through mandis in Delhi and Mumbai, farmers said. Businessmen from Indore's Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Fruit Market, one of the state's biggest fruit trading market, said they would not sell mangoes that have come in from the neighbouring country. Indore Fruit Merchants Association secretary Naresh Fundwani said, "In view of the Pulwama terror attack, we have decided we will not sell Pakistani mangoes this time. Mangoes from Pakistan reach Indore mandi through Delhi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Defying curfew, agitators allegedly set ablaze the private residence of Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and ransacked the office of the deputy commissioner here on Sunday to protest against recommendations to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities, police said. A large number of people marched through streets here damaging public property and vehicles after a person who was injured in police firing on Friday succumbed to injuries at a hospital, police said. The protesters set ablaze the private residence of the deputy chief minister at Niti Vihar here and ransacked the office of the deputy commissioner of Itanagar. They also set on fire a large number of vehicles parked in the compound of the DC's office. The protesters also attacked the Itanagar Police station and several public properties in the state capital, police said. The agitators also blocked the road leading to the Naharlagun railway station as a result many passengers, including patients, were held up at the station since Sunday morning. An indefinite curfew was clamped in Itanagar and Naharlagun on Saturday as protesters resorted to stone pelting in which 35 people, including 24 police personnel, were injured. The Army had also conducted flag marches in Itanagar and Naharlagun on Saturday. Internet services remained suspended in Itanagar and Naharlagun. All markets, petrol pumps and shops were closed and most of the ATMs in the state capital were out of cash, police said. Over 60 vehicles, including many police vehicles, were set ablaze and over 150 vehicles were damaged by the protesters since Friday, they said. On Saturday, the agitators damaged the stage of the Itanagar International Film Festival at the Indira Gandhi Park here. The organisers later called off the film festival. The Joint High Power Committee (JHPC), after holding parleys with the stakeholders, recommended granting permanent resident certificates (PRCs) to six communities, who are not natives of but has been living in Namsai and Changlang districts for decades. The proposals evoked resentment among several community-based groups and students' organisations, who claimed that the rights and the interests of indigenous people will be compromised if the state government accepts them. The recommendation of the JHPC was supposed to be tabled in the Assembly on Saturday but was not tabled as the Speaker adjourned the House sine die. On Saturday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh appealed to the people of to remain calm and maintain peace. He also spoke to Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who briefed him about the prevailing situation in the border state. Expressing happiness that the government, civil society, private and charitable institutions and other stakeholders were working together, President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said the Ayushman Bharat programme will go a long way in providing medical cover, especially to underprivileged citizens. Speaking at the inauguration of a private super-speciality hospital here, the president emphasised the importance of quality and affordable healthcare services in the country, particularly in Uttar Pradesh. He pointed to the successes in meeting the challenges of traditional infectious and communicable diseases, and also to the changing disease patterns in the country that were giving rise to lifestyle-related ailments. The president, in his speech, said around 63 per cent people in the country had to bear the cost of treatment of their family members and this made the poor even poorer, and they even had to sell their property for treatment. In this context, he said the Ayushman Bharat programme, launched in 2018, will go a long way in providing medical cover, especially to the underprivileged citizens. Stating that quality healthcare services for everybody was a shared goal, Kovind said he was happy that the government, civil society, private and charitable institutions and other stakeholders were working together. He expressed confidence that the hospital would provide state-of-the-art medical care to the people of the region at a reasonable cost. Referring to Mission Indradhanush, Kovind said intensive vaccination was being done and as many as 87 lakh pregnant women and 3.39 crore children were vaccinated. He also said for prevention of encephalitis, the 'Action Plan 2018' had been launched with the support of WHO and UNICEF. "As a result, deaths due to Japanese Encephalitis dropped in 2018, as compared to 2017. There has been a 68-per cent drop in the deaths. The number of people getting infected to Japanese Encephalitis also dropped by 53 per cent in the same period. This is a good sign. For this effort, doctors and para-medic staff, along with the government, should be praised," the president said. "The priority of the government is to bring an improvement in the health of the people and for this, the health and medical infrastructure is being rapidly strengthened across the country," he added. Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, Union Home Minister and Lucknow MP Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma and minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi were present on the occasion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Oil regulator PNGRB has rejected HPCL's objections to consultations it had initiated to break stranglehold of PSUs on lucrative pipeline supplying jet fuel to Mumbai airport, saying the refiner will get a formal opportunity to make its case against the move. In a February 21 order, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) said it had on November 7, 2016, received a request from Reliance Industries seeking declaration of two pipelines emanating from Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum's (BPLC) refinery and terminating at Mumbai International Airport as a common carrier so that the same can be shared by any third-party on open access and non-discriminatory basis. PNGRB wrote to both HPCL and BPCL seeking certain clarifications. After repeated reminders, HPCL opposed the move stating that the PNGRB Act provides for only city and local distribution networks for gas to be used as common carriers. Subsequently, PNGRB initiated public consultation on Reliance's request. HPCL then filed a review petition with PNGRB stating that "the Board has formed its opinion without consulting the entity owing ATF pipelines." PNGRB in its order said HPCL had given written objections in the consultation process. On HPCL's contention that it was not given an opportunity of being heard, PNGRB said the law provides that "after closing of public consultation process, an opportunity of being heard is to be given to the concerned entity within a minimum notice period of 21 days". "As the views and comments have been received and those have been web-hosted, the PNGRB now gives an opportunity to HPCL for a formal hearing as per provisions under Section 20(2) and Regulation 10(1)(b). HPCL may submit a comprehensive representation to the Board and appear for a hearing on April 5, 2019," the order said. BPCL and HPCL built and operate two separate pipelines from their Mahul refineries in Mumbai to supply jet fuel (ATF) to airlines at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at Santacruz in the city. Reliance, which produces a fourth of India's aviation turbine fuel (ATF), wants access to these pipelines to be able to get a pie of Rs 10,000 crore fuel trade that happens at one of Asia's busiest airports. During the consultations, Reliance and private airlines felt competition among fuel suppliers would bring down costs, but HPCL and BPCL said the pipelines are their "captive" infrastructure to take products out of the refineries and giving third party access to them would hurt their operations and profits. If implemented, it would allow an airline to import fuel and use the infrastructure at the refineries situated on the coast to transport it to the airport. A company like Reliance can ship the fuel from its refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat to Mumbai and use pipelines to take it into the airport. In its comments, Reliance said the present ATF demand at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is 1.4 million tonne per annum and it is "absolutely essential" that access to the BPCL and HPCL ATF pipelines is available to other jet fuel marketing oil companies to service this demand. "Non-availability of access to the pipeline would deny to the ultimate consumers the benefit of competition," it had written to PNGRB. Stating that at least two-thirds of the capacity in the twin pipeline is spare, it said alternative of laying the third pipeline will create environment and safety hazard besides resulting in infructuous investments. Bringing ATF by road tankers is also not an option as 400 road tankers would be required to ply on the already clogged Mumbai roads, it had said. PNGRB has not yet given a final view on the issue. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil a giant Bhagavad Gita, running into 670 pages and weighing 800 kg, at the ISKCON temple here on February 26, officials said Sunday. Dubbed the 'Astounding Bhagavad Gita', and measuring 2.8 m by 2 m, it is billed as the "largest principle sacred text ever to be printed," according to ISCKON. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a worldwide confederation of more than 400 temples and runs 100 vegetarian restaurants and a wide variety of community serving projects. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to unveil the 'Astounding Bhagavad Gita' on February 26 at the ISKCON Temple and Cultural Centre in East of Kailash in New Delhi," ISKCON said in a statement. The Prime Minister's Office said the prime minister will be attending the event on Tuesday. "With an artistic touch of 18 exquisite paintings and an innovative elegant layout, the book has been printed in Milan, Italy, on YUPO synthetic paper so as to make it untearable and waterproof," the statement said. Bhagavad Gita, often referred to as the Gita, is a sacred text, revered by the Hindus, and is part of the epic Mahabharata, containing the teachings of Lord Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield. "Among many things that attract the world towards India, a central part of it is our culture and deep philosophical knowledge," said Yudhistir Govinda Das, National Communications Director of ISKCON. "We try to do our part in promoting Indian culture and knowledge which is aptly represented in the Bhagavad Gita. This particular edition is an emblem to represent these values of India and serve as a beacon of peace and goodwill for the years to come," he said. Prime Minister Modi will be joined by senior ISKCON functionary Gopal Krishna Goswami, and other dignitaries from India and abroad, Das said. "The 'Astounding Bhagavad Gita' comprises of 670 pages which cover the original 700 Sanskrit verses along with the commentary of Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (ISKCON's Founder-Acharya), for a total of one acre of printed matter," the ISKCON said. Yudhistir claimed, "While there are other bigger books, the 'Astounding Bhagavad Gita' is the largest principle sacred text to ever be printed." "A team of ISKCON devotees from various countries worked round-the-clock for months to produce this Gita as offering to Srila Prabhupada and the tradition of Sanatana Dharma, which have taught us compassion, service and a connection with the supreme Lord," he said. Prime Minister Modi will also address a gathering comprising spiritual leaders, diplomats, social leaders, scholars along with devotees and members of ISKCON from around the world, the statement said. The ISKCON temple in south Delhi, endowed with unique latticed towers having a fusion of traditional design and modern sensibilities, is an iconic landmark and visited by a large number of devotees every day. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bihar Governor Lalji Tandon on Sunday welcomed the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme and said it is an initiative to safeguard the honour of farmers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier on Sunday, launched the ambitious scheme under which Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three instalments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to two hectares. "Both the central and state governments are committed to improve the condition of farmers. The PM-KISAN scheme is meant to protect the interest and honour of farmers...," Tandon said. The Governor was addressing a function to inaugurate the PM-KISAN scheme at Bihar Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute (BAMETI) here. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Bihar Agriculture Minister Prem Kumar along with other senior officials were also present on the occasion. Stating that loan waiver is not the actual solution of the farmers' problems, he said that "we should try to evolve a situation where farmers should not be forced to take loans, and this scheme is a right step in that direction". Prasad said the central government has "doubled" the agriculture ministry's budget in comparison to what it was during the previous government's tenure. The minister expressed satisfaction over nine lakh farmers making online applications in Bihar for availing benefits under the PM-KISAN scheme. The Centre has also accorded the status of farmer to those involved in animal husbandry and fisheries activities, Prasad added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region, today announced its position as the UAEs most valuable banking brand with a $4.04 billion brand valuation in The Bankers annual brand valuation league table. The bank also secured a spot among the top 100 global banking brands and was ranked second in the Middle East and Africa region. Emirates NBD was ranked seventy-sixth worldwide in the Brand Finance Banking 500, a prestigious ranking of the worlds 500 biggest banks, conducted by leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance and published in the February edition of The Banker. We are delighted and honoured to maintain our position as the UAEs most valuable banking brand by a renowned institution such as The Banker, said Shayne Nelson, Group CEO, Emirates NBD. Our brand value reflects our robust financial performance as well as our collective efforts and ongoing initiatives in customer service, product development, corporate social responsibility, marketing and others. As we prepare for Expo 2020 Dubai next year, Emirates NBD will remain at the forefront with its initiatives to simplify banking, aiming to deliver a modern technology-driven banking experience with the human touch. Expanding on the banks values and commitment to its customers and the UAE, Shayne Nelson added that Emirates NBD will continue to engage its customers and the community with innovative campaigns, programmes and initiatives that celebrate the nations unity and commitment to diversity during the Year of Tolerance. In addition to its brand engagement, Emirates NBD delivered a record set of results in 2018 net profit up 20 per cent year-on-year to Dh10 billion ($2.72 billion), underpinned by higher income and a lower cost of risk. The bank achieved another milestone as total assets surpassed Dh500 billion for the first time. The Groups balance sheet remains healthy with a further strengthening in capital coupled with strong liquidity and stable credit quality. The recognition from The Banker comes in a series of accolades for the Bank for its performance last year. Emirates NBD won Best Bank in the Middle East and Best Bank in the UAE for the fourth consecutive year at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence in 2018. The Bank was also named Best Retail Bank in the UAE, Best Retail Bank in the Middle East, Best Digital Bank in Middle East and Best Online Bank globally by The Asian Banker. In recognition of its progress towards advancing its digitisation agenda, Emirates NBD also secured the Best Digital Bank - UAE, Best Integrated Consumer Banking Site - UAE, and Best Consumer Digital Bank-UAE, by Global Finance Worlds Best Consumer Digital Banks in the Middle East Awards 2018.-TradeArabia News Service The ambitious Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme was launched in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, with around 71,000 farmers receiving their first installment in their accounts through the direct benefit transfer, an official spokesperson said. The state-level launch function of the PM-KISAN scheme was held at the Convention centre here in the presence of BJP president Amit Shah, Union minister Jitendra Singh, Members Parliament Jugal Kishore Sharma , Shamsher Singh Manhas and Advisor to Governor, K Skandan, he said. The programme coincided with the formal launch of the PM-KISAN scheme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national level from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. "At the state-level in Jammu and Kashmir, around 71,000 farmers received their first installment Fund Transfer Orders in their accounts through DBT," the spokesperson said. During his address, the advisor to the Governor underlined the importance of the scheme and said with the committed efforts of the agriculture and other allied departments, the state would become the first one to implement the PM-KISAN scheme in letter and spirit. On the occasion, the dignitaries also distributed the symbolic cheques to the few beneficiary farmers, he said. During the launching event, the farmers of Jammu also shared their experiences and thanked the government and the administration for considering the welfare of the farming community through this scheme. Similar events were conducted simultaneously at district and block levels in all the districts of the state in which farmers, local public and panchayat representatives, self-help groups and NGOs participated, the spokesman said. He said symbolic certificates and sanction orders and fund transfer orders (FTOs) were also issued to the farmers at state, district and block level functions. Later, the spokesperson said the advisor interacted with the deputy commissioners of all the districts through video-conferencing and enquired about the uploading of data, distribution of symbolic certificates and fund transfer to the beneficiaries under the PM-KISAN scheme. All land holding small and marginal farm families having cultivable land holding up to two hectare are eligible to get the benefit of the scheme. The direct benefit transfer at Rs 6,000 per annum per eligible family would be made in three equal installments of Rs 2,000 each. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Sunday described the 'Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi' scheme as a historic step towards empowerment of farmers and said it will help double their income by 2022. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM-KISAN scheme in Rampur on Sunday. Naqvi said the scheme will give wings to the aspirations of crores of hardworking farmers of India, according to a statement. Under the scheme, Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three instalments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to two hectares. A first instalment of Rs 2,000 was credited to over one crore farmers Sunday and the rest of them will get the money in the coming days. Naqvi said the Modi government's policy of "development with dignity" has served every needy section of society as it is committed to welfare of villages, farmers and the youth. "Our government has taken several major reformist steps for welfare of the farmers which has transformed their lives," he said. Naqvi also distributed assistance cheques to the farmers on the occasion. Referring to the issue of terrorism, he said security forces have broken the backbone of terrorism and that Pakistan has been isolated at the international level. Before 2014, hundreds of innocent people were killed in terror activities in different parts of the country but the Modi government's "zero tolerance" policy against terrorism has meant that terrorist activities have been confined to a few places in Kashmir, Naqvi claimed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Italian two-wheeler maker is looking to expand its sales network in to over 350 dealerships by the end of this year as part of scaling up its business in the country, a top company official said. The company, which currently has around 250 sales outlets, will however stick to its premium lineage even as it seeks to grow its volume in the world's largest two-wheeler market as it does not want to be perceived as mass segment player. "We plan to expand our volumes in both domestic and export markets. Currently, our sales network is very limited (in India) as we are one of the last players to come on board here," Vehicles Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer Diego Graffi said here during an interaction. There is huge area in where the company is not present in terms of sales network, he said adding that it has only been 6 years since the company re-entered the country. "Through this expansion of sales network, we plan to expand our presence...we are planning to have 350 active dealerships by the end of this year," Graffi said. When asked if the company would like to compete with mass market players in the country, Graffi said: "Wherever we are present all across the world in the two-wheeler space, we do not want to be perceived as a mass segment player." He further said: "We are not interested in that (mass segment). We are not interested in market share...we are among the top when it comes to brand recall...that is what we are looking at." The company, which sells and Aprilia brands in the country, sold 74,704 units in India in 2017-18. has a manufacturing plant in Baramati in Maharashtra, where it manufactures the iconic alongside the Aprilia SR 150. Graffi also supported the call for reduction in GST on two wheelers. "In two-wheelers, we have seen a lot of challenges starting from mandatory third-party insurance which came into force from September 2018...then we have new legislations like mandatory usage of ABS from April 2019," Graffi said. Then there is BS-VI challenge as well, so due to all these factors, the industry is going to provide better service, content, safety to consumer, he added. "So, my idea is that reduction of GST rates on two-wheelers from 28 per cent to 18 per cent is quite recommendable from even our point of view," Graffi noted. The company sees two-wheelers as a normal medium of mass transportation and "we don't see having such high GST applied (on the segment), he added. Earlier, Bajaj Auto, and had asked the government to slash GST on two-wheelers from the current 28 per cent slab to 18 per cent to give relief to the customers. Bodies of two minor siblings, who went missing a few days back, were recovered in a partially decomposed state from a canal in Loni area Sunday morning, police said here. Saurav (6) and his sister Lakshmi (5) had gone missing on the evening of February 18 when they had gone to play, and their father had lodged a missing complaint in this regard, Superintendent of Police (Rural area) Neeraj Jadoun said. On Sunday morning, a rag picker noticed two bodies floating in Behta canal. The bodies were fished out of the canal and were identified as that of Saurav and Lakshmi, the police officer said. Post-mortem revealed that the two children had drowned, police said. After the bodies were fished out, locals blocked the Delhi-Saharanpur road in protest while alleging that the two children died due to police laxity. The situation was brought under control after officials reached the spot and placated their anger, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The condition of ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is stable and he is under observation of doctors at a hospital here, an official in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said on Sunday. The 63-year-old senior BJP leader, suffering from a pancreatic ailment since the last one year and recuperating at his private residence at Dona Paula near here, was admitted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) late Saturday night. Parrikar, who met State Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai in the evening to discuss politics and administration, was shifted to GMCH, almost four km from his residence, around 10 pm. "The chief minister was under observation during the night. He is stable. Doctors will decide when he will be discharged from GMCH," the CMO official said. The CMO in a statement released here on Saturday said Parrikar was taken to GMCH for upper GI endoscopy (gastrointestinal examination). "His health condition continues to be stable," it said, adding he would be kept under observation for around 48 hours. Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had gone to GMCH late Saturday night to enquire about Parrikar's health condition. He later said the chief minister was kept in an isolated ward and that his condition was stable and he was doing well. Parrikar had fallen ill on February 14, 2018 and was shifted to GMCH, from where he was taken to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai the next day. The chief minister returned to Goa on February 20, 2018 to present the state budget. He left for the US for treatment on March 3, 2018 and returned on June 14, 2018. He then attended monsoon session of the Assembly from July 19 to August 3, and left for the US again on August 10 for a second round of check-up. He returned to Goa on August 22, 2018 and was later shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at New Delhi on September 15. After almost a month-long treatment, he returned to Goa on October 14, 2018. Parrikar stunned everyone when he resumed his office on January 2, 2019 after a gap of two-and-a-half months. On January 27, he attended the inauguration of third bridge on the Mandovi river here along with Union minister Nitin Gadkari. He also attended the Budget session on January 29 and presented the state budget next day. On the last day of the session on January 31, he was taken for treatment to AIIMS in Delhi and he returned to Goa on February 5. Parrikar also addressed Atal Booth Karyakarta Sammelan on February 9 in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) wants peace, but is creating a " frenzy", Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi claimed on Sunday, amidst simmering tensions between the two countries following the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF soldiers. Addressing the media following a consultative meeting in the wake of the Pulwama attack, Qureshi also said that was trying to defuse tensions and has written to the UN, seeking the world body's intervention. Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir when a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into their bus in Pulwama district, sparking outrage in the country. Days after the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said security forces were given a free hand to avenge the dastardly act. " wants peace and I want to give clear message that is creating frenzy but if it thinks that it can bring Pakistan under pressure or browbeat us, then it should get rid of this notion because this nation is united like a fist," Qureshi said. "Don't even think of looking at Pakistan with an evil eye," he warned as he asked New Delhi to "change its attitude towards" Islamabad. Stating that India has issued a circular to cancel leaves of nurses, doctors and paramedics in Jammu and Kashmir, he asked, "What impression it wants to give? Qureshi also recalled that former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti has said that "you can press the people but not their ideas". He asked the Indian politicians to counsel the BJP-led government in New Delhi to follow restraint. Qureshi, who met former foreign secretaries and envoys on Sunday, said the consultations were held to get their input to tackle emerging developments in the wake of the Pulwama attack. India launched a major diplomatic offensive against Islamabad after the Pulwama attack and highlighted Pakistan's role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy. The international community led by the US pressed Pakistan to deny safe haven to terror groups operating form its soil and bring the perpetrators of the Pulwama attack to justice. India has asked Pakistan to take immediate and verifiable action against terrorists and terror groups operating from territories under its control. New Delhi also announced the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation status for Pakistan and hiked the customs duty by 200 per cent on goods originating from Pakistan. Amidst heightened Indo-Pak tensions, Pakistan's three former foreign secretaries have urged their government to be prepared to deter any "aggressive action" by India after the deadly Pulwama terror attack while engaging in "robust diplomacy" to end the crisis peacefully. Days after the attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group that killed 40 CRPF soldiers on February 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said security forces have been given free hand to avenge the dastardly act. In a joint article published in Dawn newspaper on Sunday, former foreign secretaries Riaz Hussain Khokhar, Riaz Mohammad Khan and Inamul Haq urged the media, political leadership, intelligentsia and public opinion makers in the two countries to show "responsibility to exercise restraint and take measures to bring some equanimity to the troubled environment". Titled 'A time for restraint', the article started with asserting that "Tension between Pakistan and India is dangerously high" as Prime Minister Modi gave a free hand to his army to take retaliatory action for Pulwama. India has threatened to "isolate" Pakistan and to strangulate its economy besides taking the symbolic step of withdrawing MFN status, they said. "This fraught situation can spark a conflict with incalculable consequences for both Pakistan and India. Can they pull back from the brink?" they wrote. They held that "Pulwama is not Mumbai" because the "signature is clearly that of an indigenous operation" and unlike Mumbai when India followed restraint, New Delhi after Pulwama "resorted to beat the drums of war." They wrote that "Pakistan faces the challenge to avert a catastrophe that Indian actions may precipitate in South Asia." "First and foremost, Pakistan must be ready to deter any possible aggressive action, without being provocative. Preparedness will itself pre-empt escalation," they said. Asking India for serious response to Prime Minister Imran Khan's offer to investigate any actionable information, they said, "simultaneously, Pakistan is engaged in and must continue robust diplomacy at every level internationally, bilaterally and at the United Nations". The trio said that "if formal diplomatic channels with India are paralysed, there is always room for informal contacts." They said that Pakistan "sympathises with and supports" the Kashmiri struggle. But to say that acts of violence in Kashmir at present, such as the Pulwama attack, are sponsored by Pakistan defies not just facts on the ground but basic logic of its policy, they added. Pakistan carries the baggage of history, like most other nations inherit burdens from the past, including the argument that in the past its policy encouraged non-state actors, such as the proscribed JeM and LeT, they said. Pakistan has suffered massively on this count, they added. "Autonomous armed groups in a country are a recipe for doom. Pakistan must implement its National Action Plan in letter and spirit," they wrote. However, the trio said that Kashmiri "struggle cannot be held hostage to concerns over terrorism; as it did not help to paint the Afghan Taliban as terrorist, who regardless of their antiquated outlook, are part of Afghanistan's political landscape." They also said that when there is hope for peace in Afghanistan and the region, "Pakistan-India tension can negate that prospect." The top former diplomats said election of Imran Khan is an opportunity as both the political and the military leadership in Pakistan are firmly and visibly on the same page. "They are together in pursuit of peace with India and a better, cooperative regional environment. And, they are one alongside the nation if faced with aggression." They concluded by saying that in the nuclear age, it is axiomatic that an all-out nuclear conflagration is unthinkable. "So it should also be unthinkable for the two nuclear neighbours to initiate a conflict that has the potential of getting out of control. They must learn to prevent and manage crises rather than spawn and fuel them," the wrote. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Some Pakistani generals who planned the 1999 Kargil war against India flattered the then army chief Pervez Musharraf that he was more daring than his predecessors to execute this venture, according to a Pakistani journalist. Nasim Zehra, the author of a book titled 'From Kargil to the Coup: Events that shook Pakistan', said this during a discussion on her book at the Lahore Literary Festival held here on Saturday. The discussed was moderated by British journalist Owen Bennet Jones. Narrating the conversations between General Musharraf and other three generals involved in the Kargil planning, Zehra said: "'If the Kargil operation was so simple why it was not carried out before,' asked Musharraf. One general replied 'no one was more daring than you and only you can execute it.' The three generals also said their neck were on the line in this operation." "Those who planned the Kargil operation committed a big blunder at the planning stage thinking that India would not respond. But that did not happen and India reacted strongly and there were many causalities (of Pakistani troops)," she said. Zehra held detailed discussion on the role of some generals who planned the Kargil operation in October/November 1998 ahead of the Lahore talks between the the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the consequences Pakistan faced in the wake of the operation. She said India had no idea about the Kargil plan till May 1999. They (generals) moved the troops without even the knowledge of a key officer. "When the Kargil conflict took place journalists like me believed the version that it was the job of Mujaheedin. The author further said the civilian government and other institutions including the intelligence agencies and the Air Force chief were kept in darkness about the Kargil operation. "When Nawaz Sharif was briefed about the operation after its launch, he was told that "you would become Fateh-i-Kashmir (victorious of Kashmir)." On this then foreign minister intervened and said the talks were underway between the two countries on the Kashmir issue, the general said "how can you take Kashmir through dialogue." Zehra said Sharif expressed his astonishment when the defence secretary told him that Pakistan crossed over the LoC (Line of Control). Sharif then backed the operation 'as it was in national interest'. She said after India's strong response Sharif left for the United States where he was told by then president Bill Clinton that "you have to get out (of Kargil)". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistani authorities have appointed two administrators to supervise a seminary and a mosque believed to be the headquarters of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the terror outfit which claimed responsibility for the Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. The Punjab government appointed the administrators two days after it announced taking over the control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, over 400-km from Lahore. The seminary and mosque are believed to be the headquarters of (JeM) outfit. "The Punjab government has appointed Mohammad Ali, district Auqaf administrator and Ghulam Abbas, regional Auqaf administrator to supervise the administrative affairs of Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah and Madrassatul Sabir, Bahawalpur, respectively," said a senior official of the Punjab government. Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah is located in the densly populated industrial area in Model Town-B of Bahawalpur while Madrassatul Sabir is situated on Bahawalpur-Ahmed East highway on the outskirts of the city. Earlier in a complete U-turn, the government dismissed its own claim of taking over the control of JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur and said the complex had no link with the JeM. In a video message on social media, Pakistan's Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the Punjab government took administrative control of Madrassatul Sabir and Jamia-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur in line with the decisions taken during the Security Council meeting held on Thursday and as part of the Action Plan. Rejecting his earlier announcement that the complex was JeM headquarters, Chaudhry said, "This is the madrassah (seminary) and India is doing propaganda that it is the JeM headquarters". On Friday, the minister told PTI that the Punjab government had "taken over the control of the JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur". "The government of Punjab has taken over the control of a campus comprising Madressatul Sabir and Jama-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, allegedly the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad, and appointed an administrator to manage its affairs," he had said. It was the first time in years that the campus, about 430-km from Lahore, had been acknowledged by to be the headquarters of the Masood Azhar-led JeM. A statement issued by the Interior Ministry on Friday also said the crackdown on Jaish "has been taken in line with the decision of the Security Committee meeting held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan". The Islamic seminary in the campus has a faculty of 70 teachers and currently 600 students were studying in it, the statement said, adding that Punjab police were providing security and protection to the campus. Since 2002 when the JeM was banned, different intelligence agencies have been regularly monitoring the mosque and the seminary, the Punjab government official said. on Thursday also banned the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation. Earlier, the two outfits were kept on the watchlist of the interior ministry. The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Toiba militant group which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It was declared a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a JeM suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying a huge quantity of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. Tensions between the two countries have heightened after the attack with India asking Pakistan to take immediate and verifiable action against terrorists and terror groups operating from territories under its control. New Delhi also announced the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation status for Pakistan and hiked the customs duty by 200 per cent on goods originating from Pakistan. Over 150 houses, built by India under the Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka, were on Sunday handed over to the residents of the country's plantation area. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Sri Lanka's Minister for Hill country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development Palani Digambaram, jointly handed over around 155 houses to the beneficiaries in a special ceremony at Bridwell Estate in Bogawantalawa, Hatton, an official statement from the Indian High Commissioner said. Wickremesinghe also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government for the development support extended by India. Several Members of Parliament and Central Provincial Council, senior officials from Plantation Human Development Trust (PHDT), Implementing Agency - Sri Lanka Red Cross, Bogawantalawa Regional Plantation Company and a large number of people from the region attended the function. Sandhu also congratulated the owners of the newly-built independent houses. With a grant of over USD 350 million, the largest Indian grant assistance project in any country abroad, about 47,000 out of 63,000 houses have been built under the Indian Housing Project. Expressing India's support for realisation of Sri Lanka's developmental priorities, the Indian High Commissioner said that the government and the people of India are committed to participate with the people of Sri Lanka in their journey towards greater peace and prosperity, the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now. Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market. In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender. India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex. Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted. But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted? Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner. If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems. I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now. I want more variation in masturbation I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own. If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end. What is sex toys for Indian? Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation. It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms. They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable. Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner. The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner. It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past. In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping. Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order. In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing. Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome. Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own. But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance. More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around. Sextoy situation in India Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years. In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India. Mumbai Kolkata Bangalore Delhi Chennai Hyderabad These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India. In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well. If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too. If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it. What are Sextoys for beginner? Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms. Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy. I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion. I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy. If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma. Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it. Advantages of using sextoy for Indians There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways. Can have stimulating sex Can develop new sexual zones If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern. However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways. You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation. Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever. There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure. This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it. When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems. It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms). For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles [Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou... Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India. Sextoy for beginner men in India So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners. For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men! The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men Masturbator Cock rings Love Doll Sex Lubricants Toys for the prostate Lets check each one in detail. Masturbator The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products. It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands. Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands. They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.) Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much. Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! ! Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa SEXToys India PR (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018 Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood. If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ... [For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien... Cock Ring A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis. It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow. It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber. In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection. Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction. It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it. Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time. Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function. Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy. You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect. [Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat... Love Doll Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex. There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women. Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price. The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true. You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste. There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice. You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls. If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to... Sex lubricants Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules. It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution. Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse. There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent. Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent. If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here. What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many... Toys for the Prostate Another sextoy for men is prostate toys. The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line. Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men. Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men. What is the prostate? The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm. You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus. By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms. Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.) The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation. Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure. sextoy for beinner women in India The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy. The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy. Vibrator. Dildo Electric Masserger Lets check out what each one is in detail. If you want to check out womens toys, click here. [BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm... Vibrators A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator. Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy. It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy. Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women. For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators. Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex. Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself. This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual. Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men. When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons. Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most... Dildo A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis. It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass. A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it. They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well. It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device. A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo. Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands. For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis. This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one. To learn more about dildo, please click here. What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th... Electric Masserger A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores. It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low. Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels. Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation. It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure. For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm. It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out. If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager? To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here. What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th... How to choose a sextoy for Indian Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one. Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points: Does the size fit you (the partner)? Does the size fit you (your partner)? Is the environment able to produce sound without problems? Price range First of all, the choice of size is quite important. Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women. For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage. Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems. Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise. If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level. Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it. Finally, there is the price range. The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest. Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy. Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy? I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance. For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics. If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out. How to buy sextoys in India The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping. For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below. Sextoy is one of them. Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping. SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India. They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry. Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card. To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy. ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal. Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on. Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture. Cautions for Indians using sextoy When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind Keep sex toys clean Watch out for electrical leakage Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone. Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there. It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case. In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness. Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful. If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it. You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly. Summary What did you think? In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India. The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future. As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values. However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health. If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try? Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women. I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it. The Punjab Police Sunday seized 14 kilograms of heroin, smuggled into the state from Pakistan, and arrested a notorious drug peddler. Saraj Singh was wanted in several cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act registered at different police stations places in the state, M S Chinna, Inspector General of Police (Ferozepur Range), told reporters here. He said following intelligence inputs, a team of the Anti-Narcotics Cell carried out a search operation in the Ferozepur Sadar area and nabbed Singh, a resident of the Khalra area in Tarn Taran district. He said Singh was a wanted drug smuggler operating in various border districts, including Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Ferozepur. "Besides a car, 1.6 Kg of heroin was recovered from his possession. An FIR was registered against him under the provisions of the NDPS Act," said Chinna. The IG said during preliminary investigation, Singh revealed the details about the consignment of drugs which had been sent by a Pakistani drug smuggler, Azoob, from across the border. He said the police team took Singh across the barbed wire fencing near a border outpost on the Indo-Pak border. He said the BSF officials were also taken into confidence and later a joint operation was planned. In that operation, another 13.650 Kilograms of heroin was recovered from an area near a border pillar along the zero line, China said. He said this was one of the major haul of drugs since January this year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Oman is expecting a double-digit growth in the number of tourist arrivals from India, its second-highest source market, in 2019 as it hard-sells the country as preferred destination here. The Sultanate of Oman recorded a 12.37 per cent growth in Indian tourist arrivals in 2018 with 3,57,147 travellers, against 3,17,844 in 2017, making India the second-highest source market for the country, Oman's Ministry of Tourism said in a statement. "Our plans are to achieve double-digit growth in the number of Indian tourist arrivals during the year 2019," Lubaina Sheerazi, India representative of Oman's Ministry of Tourism, said. India has been an important market for Oman and it has been one of the best-performing countries, reaching the status of second-highest source market after the Gulf Cooperation Council, she added. About the initiatives the country has taken and is taking to promote itself as a preferred destination here, Sheerazi said: "Several initiatives have contributed to this success, such as launch of the electronic visa, direct flight connectivity from various cities in India and opening of the new passenger terminal at Muscat International Airport, among others." With growing number of travellers each year, the Oman Tourism Strategy, developed by the Ministry of Tourism, foresees at least 11.7 million international and domestic tourists by 2040, she added. "As part of its 2040 strategy, the Ministry of Tourism is undertaking major steps to develop and promote a series of destinations across Oman, offering visitors a broader variety of distinctive experiences, with the goal of encouraging extended visits and greater engagement with the country's culture and natural sites," Sheerazi said. The significant increase in incoming tourism has been the result of the economic diversification strategy adopted by the government of Oman, she added. The Ministry of Tourism is fully committed to enhancing the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) component and to help Oman achieve its potential to be a first-class destination for the business tourism segment, Sheerazi said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seven-year-old Anjali Mishra was confined to a wheelchair when she came to the Kumbh Mela. One month on, her father is confident she will be "healed" soon and it's not because they have taken a holy dip or any spiritual salve offered by the religious congregation. It's a miracle, said a delighted Praveen Mishra. But one rooted in the corporeal rather than the spiritual. His daughter, who has been suffering from cerebral palsy, has got a new lease of life thanks to the NGO Narayan Seva Sansthan (NSS) -- a Spiritual-cum-Surgical Camp -- inside the makeshift township of Kumbh Nagri, said the father. Young Anjali has undergone a corrective orthopaedic surgery for her feet and Mishra, a salesperson from Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, is hoping she will be up and about in a few days. "My daughter can barely speak, she can't walk, can't sit on her own... when I came here, the doctor came to me and said, 'Aapki beti chalegi' (Your daughter will walk). The conviction in his voice made me very hopeful. And then this is the Kumbh. What can possibly go wrong?" the 32-year-old asked as his daughter lay beside him, plasters on both her feet. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder, which affects motor skills, movements and muscle tone. The 100-bed facility that has come up at the Kumbh may not be able to do much to help Anjali's underlying problems, but doctors are optimistic that she will have some mobility. The NSS hospital has conducted 127 procedures to correct conditions such as bow legs and club foot at the ongoing Kumbh Mela. It's all free, said NSS president Prashant Agarwal. The hospital may be makeshift but is fully equipped with an anaesthesia machine, autoclave sterilizer, C-arm radiography system and a specialised orthopaedic operating table with extension devices and surgical power tools such as orthopaedic reamers and cast saws, he said. There is electricity back-up too in case of a power outage. "It was quite challenging for us to manage so many patients while trying to provide right solutions for them. The UP government assisted with providing electricity supply at all times in the camp. "We also have enough oxygen cylinders in stock to perform these surgeries successfully," Agarwal told PTI. While there are other medical camps providing basic healthcare, Agarwal claims that theirs is the only one performing free of cost orthopedic surgeries inside the premises of Kumbh Nagari. Headquartered in Udaipur, NSS runs a 1,100 bed hospital for disabled people in the Rajasthan town. This is the NGO's fourth Kumbh. Initially, no one, not even people from the NGO, thought the camp would work, said Udaipur-based senior surgeon Amar Singh Chundawat, who has been working with the NGO since 1996. According to him, back then everyone was of the opinion that the disabled come to Kumbh either for a dip in the waters of the Sangam or to beg, not for treatment. "I remember the NSS sending a bus full of patients -- even those who were already treated -- from the Udaipur facility to Haridwar so we could have some patients to show. But then, in my very first OPD, there was this huge rush of patients coming from different parts of the country so we had to send the bus back to Udaipur," Chundawat recalled with a smile. The team at the Kumbh includes a chief surgeon, five doctors, one anaesthesiologist and 35 paramedical staff. Though they can perform 12-14 procedures a day, Chundawat said the mela administration has restricted them to five cases a day. "About 80 per cent of disabled patients here require surgeries. I don't recommend private treatment. They are poor people, most of them cannot afford it," he said, explaining that follow-ups like callipers and physiotherapy also takes a lot of money. To help people who may need help beyond the surgery, NSS has also set up a makeshift artificial limb development unit at the Kumbh. According to the NSS, 52 artificial limbs, 95 calipers, 11 crutches, 11 tricycles and 11 wheelchairs have been distributed. It's not easy performing medical procedures in the chaos that is a mela amid speeches, performances by artists and general cacophony. Chundawat said he doesn't get distracted but it can be tough for his patients recovering from their surgeries. "Sometimes it becomes very loud there are so many camps nearby and some of them play very loud music," he said. Keeping busy with his patients, Chundawat too has not found time to take the holy dip. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's armoured train chugged across China on Sunday as he headed to his highly anticipated second summit with US President Donald Trump in Vietnam. Emulating his late father and grandfather, who took epic train trips when they were leaders, Kim set off on the long journey from Pyongyang railway station on Saturday, with a military honour guard seeing him off. His departure was confirmed by the North's official KCNA agency, with images showing citizens cheering him as he waved from the train before what could be a 60-hour journey to Vietnam. The train crossed the border city of Dandong later that day, according to South Korea's Yonhap agency and the specialist outlet NK News, but its route remained a tightly-held secret. The train's crossing into China follows days of speculation over Kim's travel plans, as his team gathered in Hanoi ahead of the talks expected next Wednesday and Thursday. Accompanying the North Korean leader was right-hand man and top general Kim Yong Chol, who met with Trump at the White House last month, his sister and close aide Kim Yo Jong, and other high-ranking officials, KCNA said. Security was tight before the train's arrival in Dandong, with police cordoning off the border bridge area with tape and metal barriers, and leading an AFP journalist out of the area. A hotel facing the bridge was closed for impromptu renovations on Saturday. "The train is long and crossed the bridge slower than the tourist train, but it's definitely him, there's a lot of police presence," an unidentified source told NK Windows on the train were blacked out, the source said, with only headlights turned on as it crossed. The train usually takes 13 hours to reach Beijing, but there were no signs of heightened security around the railway station on Sunday, indicating the train likely bypassed the Chinese capital on the nearly 4,000-kilometre journey to Vietnam. Kim has met Chinese President Xi Jinping four times in the past year, briefing his country's sole major ally before and after his historic summits with Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Kim, who last met Xi in January, could be saving their next meeting for his return trip to debrief the Chinese leader. Trump and Kim met in June in Singapore, producing a vaguely worded agreement on denuclearisation, but progress has since stalled, with the two sides disagreeing over what the agreement meant. Observers say tangible progress is needed in Hanoi to avoid the talks being dismissed as a publicity stunt. Several sources said Kim was expected to arrive in Vietnam by train, stopping at the Dong Dang station near the China border, then driving to Hanoi. Soldiers were deployed to Dong Dang station and along the road to the capital, according to AFP reporters at the scene. Vietnam previously announced the unprecedented move of closing that 170-kilometre stretch of road on Tuesday between 6:00 am and 2:00 pm -- suggesting Kim could travel along it between those hours. An AFP reporter on Sunday saw Vietnamese military personnel sweeping for mines along the road. "Vietnam wants to contribute its part to world peace... at this upcoming summit. Vietnam will ensure maximum security and safety to all the distinguished guests to Vietnam," Vietnamese Prime Minister Xuan Phuc told reporters on Sunday. As Kim travelled, delegations prepared for the summit, with Pyongyang's special representative for the US, Kim Hyok Chol, appearing at a Hanoi hotel on Sunday afternoon for talks with his US counterpart Stephen Biegun, Yonhap reported. A North Korean cargo plane landed in Hanoi earlier Sunday, carrying members of the Pyongyang delegation, photographs in the Vietnamese press showed. Rail travel is a family tradition that was started by Kim's grandfather, the North's founder Kim Il Sung, who travelled to Eastern Europe for his longest train ride in 1984. His late father, Kim Jong Il, travelled all the way to Moscow by train in 2001. "It sends a strong message to North Koreans that Kim Jong Un has inherited his grandfather's good qualities, and the Kim Dynasty is stronger than ever," said Koh Yu-hwan, professor at Seoul's Dongguk University. Jeong Young-tae of the Institute of North Korean Studies in Seoul said the safest way to travel would be to take a plane provided by Beijing, as Kim did for the Singapore summit. "But by choosing to travel by their own special train over a Chinese aircraft, Pyongyang may be signalling its willingness to be independent," Jeong said. The journey from China's frozen northern border to subtropical Vietnam presents a logistical headache and complex security challenges. Zhao Jian, who studies China's railway system at Beijing Jiaotong University, said one route would take Kim straight down to southern China, before heading west into Guangxi province, which borders Vietnam. Justin Hastings, associate professor in international relations at the University of Sydney, said that would be "a pretty major operation." "They would have to clear the tracks, they would have to provide security for basically the entire length of the Chinese eastern seaboard," he told AFP. But China may view the hassle as a necessary cost to get Kim to the summit. "China wants North Korea to make some steps to denuclearise as much as anyone else," Hastings said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Korea leader Kim Jong Un was on a train Sunday to Vietnam for his second summit with President Donald Trump, state media confirmed. Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the U.S., and Kim Yo Jong, the leader's sister, the North's official Korean Central Agency reported. TV footage and photos distributed by the North's state-run agency showed Kim inspecting a guard of honor at the Pyongyang station before waving from the train. Late Saturday, an Associated Press reporter saw a green-and-yellow train similar to one used in the past by Kim cross into the Chinese border city of Dandong via a bridge. The Trump-Kim meeting is slated for Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. Their first summit last June in Singapore ended without substantive agreements on the North's nuclear disarmament and triggered a months-long stalemate in negotiations as Washington and Pyongyang struggled with the sequencing of North Korea's nuclear disarmament and the removal of US-led sanctions against the North. Kim's overseas travel plans are routinely kept secret. It could take more than two days for the train to travel thousands of kilometers (miles) through China to Vietnam. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry announced Saturday that Kim would pay an official goodwill visit to the country "in the coming days" in response to an invitation by President Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also the general secretary of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party. In his upcoming meeting with Trump, experts say Kim will seek a U.S. commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief while trying to minimize any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons. While Kim wants to leverage his nuclear and missile program for economic and security benefits, there continue to be doubts on whether he's ready to fully deal away an arsenal that he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival. Last year, North Korea suspended its nuclear and long-range missile tests and unilaterally dismantled its nuclear testing ground and parts of a rocket launch facility without the presence of outside experts, but none of those steps were seen as meaningful cutbacks to the North's weapons capability. While North Korea has repeatedly demanded that the United States take corresponding measures, including sanctions relief, Washington has called for more concrete steps from Pyongyang toward denuclearisation. Hanoi has been gearing up for the summit with beefed-up security. Officials say the colonial-era Government Guest House in central Hanoi is expected to be the venue for the Trump-Kim meeting, with the nearby Metropole Hotel as a backup. Streets around the two places have been beautified with flowers and the flags of North Korea, the U.S and Vietnam. Workers were also putting final touches on the International Media Center. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry says some 2,600 members of the foreign press have registered for the event. Also expected to land in Vietnam on Sunday was Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Lavrov will pay an official visit for a Russia-India-China ministerial conference, according to Interfax agency. Meanwhile, Vietnam has announced a traffic ban along Kim's possible arrival route. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Putting all speculation to rest, the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday said its stance remained unchanged that only an elected government would be able to take a stand on Article 35-A before the Supreme Court, which is hearing a bunch of petitions challenging its validity. Addressing a press conference, senior bureaucrat Rohit Kansal, who has been designated as the chief spokesperson of the governor's administration, said, "The stand of the state government on the request of deferment of hearing on Article 35A in the Supreme Court remains the same as requested by them on February 11." He was replying to a question on whether there was a change in the stand of the governor's administration on the contentious issue. Kansal also urged the people of the state not to pay heed to rumours and get panicky on the basis of unsubstantiated and exaggerated pieces of information which were in circulation. "In the past few days several rumours have been circulated and panic messages disseminated. Most of these have been based on unsubstantiated or exaggerated pieces of information," he said. The Jammu and Kashmir government's counsel had sought permission from the Supreme Court for circulating a letter among the contesting parties for adjourning the upcoming hearing on the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A, which provides special rights and privileges to the natives of the state, saying there was no "elected government" in the state. The apex court is scheduled to hear the petitions challenging Article 35A soon. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna was told by lawyer Shoeb Alam, representing the Jammu and Kashmir government, on February 11 that he was seeking its nod to circulate the letter among the parties for getting the scheduled hearing deferred. "On the day of listing, the undersigned (Alam) shall be requesting for an adjournment in the matter since presently, there is no elected government in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the state is under President's Rule. "The present matter involves a sensitive issue regarding a challenge to Article 35A of the Constitution of India. A short reply has been filed by the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the lead matter 'We the Citizens' and notices have not been issued on the other petitions. It will therefore be requesting that the matter may kindly be heard when an elected government is in place," the state government said in the letter. Article 35A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and bars people from outside the state from acquiring any immovable property in the state. It denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state. The provision, which leads to such women from the state forfeiting their right over property, also applies to their heirs. The bench is hearing several petitions including the one filed by NGO 'We the Citizens' through lawyer Barun Kumar Sinha. Several petitions, including those by political parties like the National Conference and the CPI-M, were also filed in the Supreme Court in support of Article 35A that also empowers the state Assembly to define "permanent residents" for bestowing special rights and privileges to them. The state government, while defending the article, had cited two verdicts of the constitution benches of the Supreme Court in 1961 and 1969, which had upheld the powers of the president under Article 370(1)(d) of the Constitution to pass constitutional orders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday that MPs would not have a chance to vote again on her Brexit deal this week but promised this would happen by March 12, reports said. "We won't bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week. But we will ensure that that happens by March 12," she told British media en route to a summit of European and Arab leaders in Egypt. After MPs rejected her withdrawal deal last month, May is seeking ways to address their concerns about its most controversial element, the so-called Irish backstop clause. May will hold talks on the sidelines of the Sharm el-Sheikh summit with other EU leaders and said her team would return to Brussels next Tuesday. She has previously promised that if she cannot bring a revised deal back to the Commons this week, she will allow MPs on Wednesday to debate their own ideas for the way forward. Three of her cabinet ministers on Saturday warned that if there was no breakthrough this week then parliament would vote to delay Brexit rather than risk leaving the EU with no deal. "It is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29," May said on Sunday. She said delaying Brexit day "doesn't solve the problem. There will always come a point where we have to decide whether we accept the deal that's been negotiated or not". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The iconic National Centre for the Performing Arts, celebrating the golden jubilee, is a living example of how unadulterated vision and imagination, dedication and perseverance of a man--the late Jamshed J Bbabha (with more than ample support from the late Tata group patriarch JDR Tata) can create, nurture, and serve the arts, artists and art-lovers of all genres and feed the soul of an otherwise purely commercial megapolis. On December 29, 2018 the great artist den entered its golden jubilee year. From a humble beginning on a rented property on the Bhulabhai Desai Road in south Bombay and inaugurated by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi on December 29, 1969, the NCPA today houses five world-class theatres--the Tata, the Jamshed Bhabha, the Experimental, the Little Theatre and the Godrej. The NCPA was registered as a public trust in June 1966 as the National Institute of the Performing Arts. The current name was adopted in November 1967 and the first performance was staged on December 29, 1969 on the rented premise, courtesy the generosity of the late Madhuri Desai, the trustee of the Bhulabhai and Dhirajl Desai Memorial Trust. As part of the golden jubilee, the centre is getting a Rs 50-crore renovation and upgrade, with Rs 30 crore worth of modern sound, lighting and seating arrangements having been undertaken and more renovation on the way. The work on the sprawling complex, more popular as the NCPA now, on an 8-acre land parcel facing the Arabian Sea (the reclamation idea was mooted by Bhabha himself to BMC) on the southern tip of Nariman Point, started in 1973 in stages after Bhabha and JRD convinced BMC officials about their readiness to build the complex on the land that was being reclaimed from the sea. "The work on the new complex wouldn't have been possible but for the Rs 40 lakh seed money from the Dorabji Tata Trust, with which we paid BMC for the land," recalls NCPA chairman Khushroo N Suntook, who has been working for the centre for a royal salary of Re 1 since 2000. When asked about what drives him to work so tirelessly he quips, "I am only creating what Dr. Bhabha envisioned, and taking his legacy forward," and credits everything to the generosity, dedication and conviction of Bhabha, the brother of Homi Bhabha who is considered the father of India's nuclear programme. "Dr Bhabha willed everything he had to the NCPA--from modern paintings, silver artifacts and furniture, to even his sea-facing bungalow Mehrangir (auctioned recently for Rs 372 crore to Godrej after a long legal battle) to the benefit of the NCPA. "We are living today on the remit that Bhabha provided. We've spent a large amount on modernisation, and improved the sound, lighting and seating arrangements. We are able to do this only because of Bhabha's bequest," Suntook says emotionally. Suntook is happy to claim credit for creating the Symphony Orchestra of India in August 2006, the largest orchestra in Asia, and achieve this when the founder was around. "Bhabha didn't want this place to become a venue for hire. He wanted us to curate our own cultural genres to a high standard. He ensured that he curated a list of the best performers," he says. He adds that the first advisory board was full of renowned personalities like musician Yehudi Menuhin, film maestro Satyajit Ray, noted playwright PL Deshpande, music director Karl Bhm and sitarist Vilayat Khan among others. "No arts centre in the world makes money. After all that is not their objective," is how the 84-year-old gentleman, himself a Western classical music aficionado, puts it when asked if the centre, for long in dire financial straits, is profitable now. "But today we are on better footing, thanks to the sumptuous giftthe Bhabha bungalow (Mehrangir, a beautiful art deco bungalow on Malabar Hill) a few years back. Thanks to that, today we can with respect approach anybody for support and we are getting it as we need not beg now," he smiles. The first performance at the NCPA complex was held in May 1975 at the Little Theatre, the first property and in October 1980 Indira Gandhi launched the Tata Theatre and in November 1999 the present Jamshed Bhabha Theatre was inaugurated, which was gutted in a massive fire. In May last year, as part of 11th death anniversary of Bhabha, the NCPA inaugurated an exhibition of archival photographs that trace the milestones in Bhabha's journey, first as an executive with the Tata group, his marriage to Betty Irene and the eventual founding of the NCPA with JRD Tata. The exhibition, 'Dr Jamshed Bhabha Remembered', is housed in the foyer of the theatre now. Bhabha brought Suntook, who just wanted to lead a retired life after decades of service at the Tatas, to the NCPA in 2000 as vice-chairman, and following the demise of Bhabha at the age 93 on May 30, 2007, he took over as chairman early 2008. The NCPA formed the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI), the country's first fully professional symphony orchestra in 2006. It was founded by Suntook and internationally-renowned violin virtuoso Marat Bisengaliev, who serves as the orchestra's music director. Suntook describes the orchestra as "my passion as well as Dr Bhabha's passion." Known for his many eccentricities, Bhabha did not want his mortal remains to be cremated. Recalling his last moments, Suntook says "Bhabhas parting words to me were, 'N-C-P-A.' The institution was everything to him, and he was entrusting us with its care." "Four hours later, our people were scattering his ashes over the plants in the NCPA complex. There was no funeral, nor were there condolence visits. The staff was back to work. And that was Jamshed Bbabha," reminisces Suntook, who was one of his closest associates. Suntook dismisses criticism that the centre is promoting more of western music and also about the high cost of hiring an NCPA theatre. "We have divided our programme into four genres --Indian music, Western music, dance, and theatre. And of the around 800 shows a year, only around 14 percent are western. If that is too much, I dont buy that argument," he says. Suntook is bullish about theatre. "We will soon be finalising a tie-up with the National Theatre of London. We are also planning two big shows in the coming months in London and New York," he says. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Sunday launched the national action plan for viral hepatitis here. There are estimated 4 crore patients of Hepatitis B and 0.6-1.2 crore patients of Hepatitis C in India, as per the health ministry data. "The action plan takes forward the National Viral Hepatitis Control Program launched by the Union Health Minister in July 2018. The aim is to eliminate hepatitis by 2030," Choubey said. The budget outlay for health in India has increased over the years, and we are progressing towards taking it to 2.5 per cent of GDP, the minister said. "We aim to establish 1.5 lakh Health & Wellness Centres by 2022, out of which 10,000 are already operational; by March 2019 the number will reach 15,000. These centres have diagnostic facilities for twelve illnesses," the minister said. More than six crore people in the country fall below the poverty line due to health expenditure, and the Ayushman Bharat health coverage scheme will change this, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nagaland minister Temjen Imna Along said Sunday the state unit members of BJP would not dissociate themselves from the national leadership even if the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is brought into force by the saffron party-led NDA government after Lok Sabha elections. Along, who is also the state unit president of BJP, was replying to a question by Opposition Naga People's Front (NPF) MLA Moatoshi Longkumer in the assembly. Longkumer, however, insisted that the BJP, a constituent of the ruling NDPP-led People's Democratic Alliance government, also issue a statement on the matter. He alleged that the Neiphu Rio-led government took a U-turn on the bill after protests broke out in the state and other parts of the northeast. "Initially, the chief minister had stated they will not oppose the bill because Article 371(A) protects Nagas. They changed their stance later, keeping in mind popular sentiments," the NPF legislator said during a discussion on the bill. The chief minister tabled a resolution in the assembly Saturday, opposing the passage of the Citizenship Bill in Parliament. Rio said the central government was pursuing the bill for enactment, despite opposition by state governments, political parties, tribal organizations and civil societies in the Northeast. The bill, passed in Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India. Longkumer said every constituent of the PDA government the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Janata Dal (U) and the National People's Party and an Independent MLA should make their stand clear on the bill, he said. "The statements of the PDA members are very misleading. Opposition MLAs are not nursery students, we understand Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and Article 371(A). It is not a rocket science." Along said the state unit of BJP "strongly supports the resolution". The bill, which was introduced in Parliament by the NDA government, is a matter of concern for the indigenous people of Northeast states, including Nagaland, the higher and technical education minister said. He called upon the MLAs to "unite together on the issue, instead of speaking against each other". Minister for Agriculture and Cooperation G Kaito Aye said the Northeast states should be exempted from the purview of the bill. "We can't talk about the entire nation, but should seek exemption or certain relaxation for the people of the Northeast," the JD(U) MLA said. Stressing that the Centre has not opposed Article 371 (A) in totality, Aye said the Naga political discussion is in progress and the state needs to be careful to ensure it's not affected. The article deals with special status accorded to the people of Nagaland. It states that no act of Parliament with respect to religious or social practices of the Nagas, Naga customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law, ownership and transfer of land and its resources, shall apply to the state unless the assembly by a resolution so decides. National People Party MLA Imnatiba said his party will extended full support to the resolution tabled by Rio. PWD Minister and Independent MLA Tongpang Ozukum said the ruling and the opposition parties should be on the same page on the Citizenship Bill. Stating that Article 371(A) and Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations (BEFR), 1873 are pillars to protect the Nagas from Citizenship Bill, he urged MLAs "to come together and fight for a common cause". The BEFR, introduced by the British, protects the interests of the Nagas. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump on Sunday said North Korea could become one of the world's "great economic powers" if it relinquished its nuclear arsenal, ahead of his summit with Kim Jong Un. In a series of tweets on the eve of his departure for this week's summit in Hanoi, Trump also praised China and Russia for enforcing sanctions on North Korea while insisting he had a "great relationship with Chairman Kim." "Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the world. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!" he wrote. Trump said he and Kim "both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Denuclearization?" Their groundbreaking summit in June produced only a vague statement on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Kim is demanding the lifting of punishing sanctions while Washington insists that the measures must remain in place until North Korea gives up its nuclear arsenal. In his tweets, Trump spoke highly of China's President Xi Jinping, saying he had been "very helpful" in his support for the summit. "The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door. Sanctions placed on the border by China and Russia have been very helpful. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday took a holy dip at the Sangam here and interacted with sanitation workers, who have ensured cleanliness during the ongoing Kumbh Mela, describing them as "real karma-yogis" whose contributions are being lauded all over. Modi also performed the Ganga aarti and conducted 'Charan Vandana' (washing the feet) of select sanitation workers, as a mark of respect to their efforts in ensuring a clean Kumbh. He presented them 'angvastram' and said he would carry the memory of washing the feet of safai karamcharis life-long. In a tweet, he said he prayed for the well-being of 130 crore Indians at the Sangam. He described all those, who have been involved in ensuring the best of arrangements for the devotees gathering at Prayagraj for the Kumbh, as "real karma-yogis". In this context, he mentioned the NDRF, the boatmen, the local population, and the sanitation workers as well. "No one can know the labour they (safai karamcharis) have put in the Kumbh. Cleanliness has been the trademark of this Kumbh," Modi said addressing the Swachh Kumbh, Swachh Aabhaar programme. "It is my wish that your blessings remain with me and I continue to work for you." He said no stone was left unturned to make this "Divya Kumbh" and "Bhavya (grand) Kumbh", and this Kumbh will also be remembered as "digital Kumbh" "The Swachh Kumbh is happening at a time when the nation is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who had 100 years ago expressed the desire for a clean Kumbh when he visited the Kumbh in Haridwar. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is moving ahead, and by October 2, India will become open defecation-free," he said. Starting and ending his speech paying gratitude to the holy rivers in Prayagraj, a place of reverence, especially for Hindus, Modi also praised the "naaviks' (boatmen), calling them the "sevak" of Lord Ram. The prime minister described himself as their, the boatmen's, pradhan sevak (principal servant). "Boatmen play an important role during Kumbh. There is a strong relationship between Prayagraj and boatmen. They are the dedicated soldiers of Maa Ganga. Without them, the Ramayana of Lord Ram is incomplete," Modi said. "Lord Ram, by whose benevolence everyone's boat sails through, his boat was ferried by our naavik friends. I share a deep relationship with you... You call yourself 'Gangaputra', I have come on the call of Maa Ganga and serving you," the prime minister said amid an applause from the audience. He said the infrastructure created for this year's Kumbh is permanent, unlike previous years. Showering praises on people from different sectors engaged in various duties, Modi said, "In Kumbh, there are tap-yogis, hath-yogis and our hardworking karma-yogis. These are the people who have worked day and night to provide security and assistance to the devotees visiting the place." "The place where more than 20-22 crore people have assembled in the past week, making arrangements at that place is difficult. But, you have proved that nothing is impossible in the world." Narrating his experience of washing the feet of swachagrahis (safai workers), the prime minister said, "The moments of washing the feet will remain forever etched in my life." Referring to the Namami Gange Mission, Modi said the nirmalta (pristine nature) of river Ganga would be maintained. "Thirty-two drains falling in Ganga in Prayagraj were closed, and sewage water is diverted to treatment plant, and water is discharged in the river after treatment." The prime minister also said that this time the "Kumbh has become a triveni (point of confluence) of Adhyatma (spiritualism), Aastha (faith) and Aadhuniktaa (modernity)." Modi said the cleanliness of Ganga river has been the subject of much discussion this year. He added that today, he has witnessed it first-hand. A few days ago, he said, he received the Seoul Peace Prize, which included an amount of about Rs 1.30 crore. He said he donated that amount towards the Namami Gange Mission. He also mentioned that the gifts and mementoes he received as prime minister have also been auctioned, and their proceeds have gone towards Namami Gange Mission. Modi said a 'Swachh Sewa Samman Kosh' has been created. "This will ensure help to the sanitation workers working in the Kumbh Mela, and their family members in special circumstances. This is a symbol of love and gratitude from the countrymen for you and and the work done by you," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday took a holy dip at the Sangam here and interacted with sanitation workers, who have ensured cleanliness during the ongoing Kumbh Mela, describing them as "real karm yogis" whose contributions are being lauded all over. Modi also performed the Ganga aarti and washed the feet of sanitation workers. He presented them 'angvastram' and said he would carry the memory of washing the feet of safai karamcharis life-long. In a tweet, he said he prayed for the well-being of 130 crore Indians at the Sangam. "No one can know the labour they (safai karamcharis) have put in the Kumbh. Cleanliness has been the trademark of this Kumbh," Modi said at a gathering at the Kumbh Mela, adding they are the "real karm yogis". "It is my wish that your blessings remain with me and I continue to work for you." He said no stone was left unturned to make this "Divya Kumbh" a "Bhavya (grand) Kumbh". "The Swachh Kumbh is happening at a time when the nation is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who had 100 years ago expressed the desire for a clean Kumbh when he visited the Kumbh in Haridwar. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is moving ahead, and by October 2, India will become open defecation-free," he said. Starting and ending his speech paying gratitude to the holy rivers in Prayagraj, a place of reverence, especially for Hindus, Modi also praised the "naaviks' (boatmen), calling them the "sevak" of Lord Ram. The prime minister described himself as their, the boatmen's, pradhan sevak (principal servant). "Boatmen play an important role during Kumbh. There is a strong relationship between Prayagraj and boatmen. They are the dedicated soldiers of Maa Ganga. Without them, the Ramayana of Lord Ram is incomplete," Modi said. "Lord Ram, by whose benevolence everyone's boat sails through, his boat was ferried by our naavik friends. I share a deep relationship with you... You call yourself 'Gangaputra', I have come on the call of Maa Ganga and serving you," the prime minister said amid an applause from the audience. He said the infrastructure created for this year's Kumbh is permanent, unlike previous years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP president Amit Shah Sunday blamed the Congress for the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the only leader with the capability to give a benefiting reply to Pakistan and take the country forward. "The country is faced with various security issues...Only Modi can give security to the country, take it forward to make it a world power and has the capability and capacity to give a befitting reply to Pakistan," Shah said addressing a rally of booth-level workers of the BJP here. Taking a dig at the Congress-led opposition alliance, he said they cannot do any good to the country. "I am tired of asking the gathbandhan (alliance) who is their leader. They are not responding to me but the public should ask them who is their leader and what are their policies?" "It has no leader and no policy and such an alliance cannot do good to the country. It is the grouping of those who are in dynastic and have come together for their own families and safeguard their political interests," he replied himself. He said the country is faced with various security issues and asked whether the 'gathbandhan' can secure the country. "We don't want 'majboor sarkar' (helpless government) but 'mazboot sarkar (strong government). If India has to become the world power, vote Modi again to power in the coming elections," he said amid chants of 'Modi, Modi' from the audience. Referring to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, he said, "Rahul Baba has raised questions about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Today, if there is the problem of Jammu and Kashmir it is because of your grandfather (first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru) who took it in his own hands sidelining Sardar (Vallabhbhai) Patel who addressed problems of more complex in nature like Hyderabad within days." "You kept the Jammu and Kashmir issue pending. Our forces were heading to take over Pakistan-occupied Kashmir but who stopped them. Whose decision was it and who took it to the UN," he said. "It was your grandfather who took such decisions and we got it in inheritance but don't worry, this is not the Congress government but BJP government and our resolve is that we will not allow it (Jammu and Kashmir) to separate from India," he said. He referred to various development schemes initiated by the prime minister and said the BJP ensured a new phase of development in the country, fulfilling the dreams of 50 crore poor population who were not having any facilities. "Modi is a hard worker, he is working for 18 hours out of 24 hours and has a vision for the country. He is very popular around the world and is the only person who can take this country to new heights of development and will make India a world power," he said. Shah said his government has done what the previous Congress governments could not do in the past 55 years spanning four generations of the dynastic rule. "The Modi government's five years are coming to an end and like other parts of the country, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed all round development. There was a time development was restricted to some families in the state. "The funds from Delhi used to be siphoned by these families while no work was being done on the ground in any part of the region - Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh. In fact, Jammu and Ladakh faced lot of injustice and there was imbalanced development of the regions, especially during the Congress rule," the BJP president alleged. In 2015, Modi announced Rs 80,000 crore package for the state which was implementation by the BJP government, he said, adding the left-out work was done by the state governor after the state came under the president's rule. Referring to a statement of NC president Farooq Abdullah, Shah said, "He asked what BJP gave to the state? Farooq sahib we are staying here and do not go to London for excursion. They are seeking accounts from us and are misleading and provoking the youth of the valley. I want to ask the youth of the valley to investigate where their children are reading and those closing the schools in the valley are enrolling their education in America and England from the public money." Asserting that the place where Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader Syama Prasad Mookerjee sacrificed his life, it "belongs to us", Shah referred to the February 14 Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, and said "their sacrifice will not go in vain". "The Prime Minister has authorised security forces to take any punitive action they think fit against perpetrators of terrorism," he said. Mookerjee was arrested upon entering Kashmir on May 11, 1953 to protest against granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir. He died during his detention in June 1953 after suffering a massive heart attack. Prime Minister Modi has repeatedly said that his government has zero tolerance towards terrorism, the BJP leader said, adding "the terrorists will not be shown any mercy". Asserting that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the county and nobody has the power to take it away, Shah said his party would ensure that every illegal immigrant from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, including Rohingya refugees, are thrown out of the country, following the Assam Model. Referring to the National Register of Citizens in Assam, the BJP president said his party would carry out a similar exercise from Kashmir to Kanyakumari to ensure that every illegal immigrant is thrown out of the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday launched the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme transferring the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers, as he slammed the opposition alleging they "remember farmers once in 10 years -- just before elections". Initiating the electronic transfer of Rs 2,000 each, he said the first instalment of money under the scheme has been deposited in accounts of 1.01 crore farmers and those who have been left out will get it soon. "The first instalment of money under the scheme has been deposited in the bank accounts of the farmers directly...those who have been left out will get it soon," Modi told the gathering at the Fertiliser Corporation of India ground here. The Prime Minister also interacted with a select group of farmers, representing different states, through video-conferencing and took a swipe at his political rivals. "They remember farmers once in 10 years -- just before elections. They get fever of loan waiver and distribute it as 'revari" (dole) to garner votes....they did not know that Modi will expose them this time," he said. The Prime Minister started his speech by chanting 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan' and said that for his government, the Rs 75,000-crore scheme is not an election promise. He said he talked about it in Parliament only after making budgetary allocations for it. "Loan waivers would have been easy and convenient for us too. We could also have distributed 'revari' for political and election benefits, but we can't commit such a sin. Loan waiver benefits only a select few," he said. Taking a jibe at opposition parties, he said that previous governments made schemes for farmers "only on paper". "Our opponents have become dispirited because after PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, farmers will support Modi. We make even the impossible possible," he said. "The Congress, the 'mahamilavat' (highly adulterated)...SP, BSP, they are all same," he said. "The state governments that are doing and not sending the list of farmers will face the curse of farmers and it will destroy their politics," he stressed. Targeting the Congress government on the issue of loan waiver, Modi said, "They gave loan waiver of Rs 52,000 crore in 10 years and we are giving Rs 75,000 crore to farmers every year." He also accused the Congress-led UPA government of not working on MSP and sitting on the related file since 2007 which forced the farmers to take loans. The Prime Minister urged the farmers to beware of any trap and rumours stressing "this is your money and it will not be taken back". "The previous governments did not have the intention to help the farmers so they could not take the right decisions...and so in 2014 you gave the BJP an opportunity to change this situation," he said. The Prime Minister said his government was working with complete honesty to provide all possible resources to help farmers double their incomes by 2022. "The days are gone when the Rs 85 of the Rs 100 sent by the government used to be siphoned off by the middlemen," he said. There is no role of middleman in this scheme, he said. This scheme has been made foolproof and will be implemented with complete transparency, Modi said and asked state governments to come forward with list of farmers who would be its beneficiaries. In the interim Budget 2019-20, the central government had announced the PM-KISAN scheme under which Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three instalments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to two hectares. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress Sunday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he launched a money-transfer scheme for small and marginal farmers, alleging he needs a "face-saver" before the general election as he did not do anything for them during his rule. Party spokesperson Pawan Khera said the government is now remembering farmers as Congress president Rahul Gandhi keeps reminding it about them and that the states ruled by the opposition party have taken measures to benefit peasants. Earlier Sunday, Modi launched the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, transferring the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers. The farmers will be given Rs 6,000 in three installments per year. "He (Modi) needs a face-saver. This (scheme) is nothing more than that," Khera said at a press conference and claimed that such pre-poll measures do not work as they did not benefit the Congress as well before the last Lok Sabha election. He also questioned Modi's "silence" on the hooch tragedy in Assam, where 124 people died, and violence in Arunachal Pradesh to protest permanent resident certificates to six communities. The BJP is in power in both the states. In a broad swipe at Modi, Khera said, "He keeps travelling from morning to evening, changing clothes three-four times. But the work for which he was elected he does not do, nor does (BJP) chief ministers do. Why are you silent on such tragedies?" "This government is missing in action... We condemn his silence and incompetence," he added. The Congress leader also attacked the prime minister for taking nine days after the Pulwama attack to speak against harassment and violence targeting Kashmiris in different parts of the country. Modi did not appeal for peace all these days and allowed people's anger following the tragedy to be vented at Kashmiris, he claimed, wondering if the prime minister was silent because it suited him. He accused Modi of paying a "lip-service" while polarisation takes roots and referred to his alleged silence following incidents of lynching in the past. "Is it a design that you will speak when it suits you and not when it suits the country," Khera asked. At a public meeting in Rajasthan Saturday, Modi had spoken against targeting of Kashmiris and said it is every citizen's duty to protect them. To a questioning about Modi sounding confident in his 'Mann Ki Baat' radio address about returning to power after the general election, Khera said it is for voters to decide who returns to power and mocked the prime minister for issuing a "threat" of starting the monthly broadcast again. The prime minister never talks about his work, he alleged, adding that it was former prime minister Manmohan Singh who worked without doing any talking. With BJP president Amit Shah addressing a public meeting in Jammu, Khera alleged the BJP government did "nothing to fulfil its promises" on rehabilitating Kashmiri pandits and abrogating Article 370 but the saffron party has started doing on these issues again. He rejected BJP's charge that the opposition party was politicising the Pulwama terrorist attack, saying the Congress is "proud" to raise issues of national importance and giving voice to people's anger. Should the Congress do on "photo shoots" and "wearing new clothes", he said, taking a dig at Modi. While the Congress stood with the Centre after the Pulwama attack, the government appeared to be standing with a Pakistani parliamentarian, he said, referring to the visit of Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, a Hindu lawmaker from the neighbouring country, to India. The last rites of the CRPF troops killed in the Pulwama attack are not over it but the government was busy giving a "red-carpet welcome" to a Pakistani MP, he alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A mobile phone application for community health workers has helped improved their performance in Gujarat, with a government study finding that 80 per cent of maternal and infant deaths can be prevented by improving coverage and quality of evidence-based health services provided by health workers. A randomized study conducted in Gujarat between 2013 and 2018 found that a new mobile phone application called ImTeCHO (Innovative Mobile-phone Technology for Community Health Operators) as job-aid for frontline village health workers called ASHAs can help improve coverage of health services and health outcomes. Developed in 2013, the mobile application is aimed at improving performance of ASHAs through better supervision and support for reducing maternal and infant mortality. ImTeCHO helps them deliver maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) care services and record data under better supervision. The application provides accredited social health activists (ASHAs) with their daily schedules along with reminders of steps to carry out during their visits. The collected data and services offered are tracked. The study was done by voluntary organization SEWA Rural in active partnership with Gujarat government and IT partner-(Argusoft India Ltd), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), World Health Organization (WHO) and MacArthur Foundation provided technical inputs and funding for the study. Dr Pankaj Shah, principal investigator of the study, said the study used the best possible and robust randomized design to examine effect of the mobile app. "This is first randomized study globally which proved the effectiveness of a mobile phone application for frontline health workers in government-run system throughout continuum of care in difficult to reach tribal areas," he said. The study noted that good training, supportive supervision and ongoing resolution of technology problems are critical operational requirements for successful of such technology intensive interventions, Dr Shah said. Dr Gaurav Dahiya, MD- National Health Mission, Gujarat noted, "The health department has scaled up the project in entire state. We aim to taper off use of paper registers by using digital interventions. The use of smart phones by female ASHAs and ANMs has greatly improved their self-confidence and knowledge. "It is a right step towards gender equality and Digital India," he said. So far, 5.8 crore citizens, 4.9 lakh pregnant women and 6.4 lakh infants under the age of one year are enrolled by ANMs in the TeCHO+ app in Gujarat until February 2019. The prime minister had launched state wide-scale up of the project as improved "TeCHO+" on October 8, 2017. The prime minister had noted that "TeCHO mobile application will become support to all health workers to do their health-related activities". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A key Maratha outfit, that led the quota agitation in Maharashtra, has decided not to extend support to any major political party in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls for "neglecting" its demands. The Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM) will support independent candidates or nominees of smaller parties in the polls, its convener Sanjeev Bhor-Patil said on Saturday. "We are contemplating to support independent candidates or smaller parties in the polls instead of major political parties, such as alliances of BJP-Shiv Sena or Congress-NCP, as they all neglected our key demands," he said. He claimed that some members of the community were falsely framed in atrocity cases. "One of our key demands was to sort out the issue of false atrocity cases. However, no political party has taken it seriously. Our another demand was to implement the Swaminathan Commission recommendations on minimum support price (MSP) for crops," he said. Bhor-Patil said MKM leaders will meet in the coming week to chalk out strategy for the general elections. "We cannot register a political party in the name of 'Maratha Kranti Morcha' as it is against our protocol. Hence, we will either support smaller political parties or favourable candidates," another MKM leader said. The MKM had earlier spearheaded the agitation for quota for the Maratha community in jobs and education in the state. The Maharashtra Legislature had in November last year passed a bill proposing 16 per cent reservation in education and government jobs for Marathas, declared as socially and educationally backward class by the government. The quota was granted in addition to the existing 52 per cent reservation in the state. Meanwhile, members of Other Backward Class (OBC) communities from Maharashtra will organise a march here on the first day of the state legislature session on Monday for "safeguarding" their existing quota. The organisers of the protest are also opposing any probable move on part of the state government to induct Marathas into the OBC category. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A man was arrested with a cache of arms, including 7 mm and 9 mm pistols, from a bus at Burwan in Murshidabad district, a senior police officer said here Sunday. The accused, Humayun Sheikh, was travelling to Malda from Kolkata, the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Murshidabad district, Mukesh Kumar, said. The police recovered 20 pistols of 9 mm make in dismantled state, four pistols of 7 mm caliber, 10 bullets and eight magazines, Kumar said. Sheikh, a resident of Kaliachak in Malda, had taken delivery of the consignment from Howrah, he said. He was travelling by a North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) bus from Kolkata to Kaliachak and was nabbed en route at Burwan. "Our men were following Sheikh from Howrah after getting information about him from two persons, who were arrested on January 31," the SP said. The officer said that Sheikh was being interrogated to ascertain the purpose of procuring the arms. He said that Sheikh planned to assemble the 9 mm pistols after reaching Kaliachak. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The opposition parties demanded Sunday that the BJP-led Maharashtra government should not announce "populist" or policy decisions in the interim budget session of the state legislature which starts from Monday. Speaking to reporters here, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil also said that opposition parties would be boycotting the customary tea party on the eve of the session. Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde, his fellow NCP leader Jayant Patil and People's Republican Party leader Jogendra Kawade were also present at the press conference. Munde said it being an interim budget session before the Lok Sabha elections, he hoped the government will not make any "populist announcement" unlike those made in the Budget presented by Union finance minister Piyush Goyal, or take any policy decision. He alleged that at least 11 ministers in the state cabinet are facing corruption charges. "We have lost confidence in this government," the NCP leader added. "We are not happy with the BJP-Shiv Sena government's way of running the government. Its farm loan waiver and water conservation schemes are mired in corruption but no action has been taken," said Vikhe-Patil. "Hence we have decided not to respond to the Chief Minister's invitation for tea on the eve of the interim session," the Congress leader said. The six-day session will begin with the address of Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao. The vote-on-account, which will have budget provisions till July 31, will be tabled on February 27. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The teacher's association of the Jamia Millia Islamia has written to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for establishing a hospital in the university that could be converted into a medical college in future. "When we look at certain areas, where we can improve upon or progress, we find that three of our contemporary universities like DU, BHU and AMU are successfully running hospital and medical college," the Jamia Teachers' Association (JTA) said in the letter on Saturday. "We request you to establish a new 500 bedded hospital in Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) so that in (the) near future it could be converted into a medical college," it said. The JTA said the university is situated in a densely-populated area, where more than 90 per cent of the population belongs to the Muslim community and many of them are underprivileged and desperately need quality medical facilities. "But they are not getting these services as there is no hospital nearby." The hospital, the JTA said, would enhance the level of the university and lead to accessibility of quality medical services at a very nominal cost to the neglected population residing in the university's vicinity. The letter pointed out that JMI was running a bachelor's degree course in dentistry, but the students had to go to other hospitals to study medicine. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gunmen in Somalia shot dead a veteran politician in the capital Mogadishu on Saturday, police said, in the latest attack against legislators carried out by Al-Shabaab insurgents. Osman Elmi Boqore, who was regarded as the oldest legislator in the national parliament and was believed to have been in his eighties, was killed near his home in the capital's northern Sanca neighbourhood. The gunmen escaped in a car after the shooting. "Gunmen assassinated the legislator near Sanca intersection in the Karan district," said Ibrahim Mohamed, a police officer. "The security forces are trying to track down the cowardly killers." A statement published on a pro-Shabaab website claimed responsiblity for the killing, quoting a Shabaab commander who boasted of the "well-organised attack carried by members of the mujahedeen fighters". The Al-Qaeda affiliated group have carried out a string of attacks against the government, and President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo condemned the latest killing. "The security forces must carry out a swift investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice," Farmajo said in a statement. Shabaab fighters fled their fixed positions they once held in Mogadishu in 2011, and have since lost many of their strongholds. But they retain control of large rural swathes of the country, and continue to wage a guerrilla war against the authorities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, who will sit on an indefinite hunger strike from March 1 demanding full statehood for Delhi, will discharge his duties as chief minister from the venue of his fast, senior party leader Gopal Rai said Sunday. He said the party is evaluating three to four probable venues for the hunger strike and will announce the final pick in the next two days. According to party sources, the Ramlila ground, chief minister's residence and Jantar Mantar are being considered as the venues for the hunger strike. Delhi has been divided into 560 zones and three committees have been formed at central, Vidhan Sabha and zonal level. The venue of the chief minister's indefinite fast will be the control room from where instructions will be sent out, the Delhi minister said. "The hunger strike will start on March 1 at 10 am and the chief minister will be joined by all party Lok Sabha incharges, ministers, MLAs and councillors. "From March 1 to 9, as many as 560 'nyay yatras' will be taken out at the zonal level. RWAs, students, teachers, lawyers and professionals will also be involved in these yatras," Rai told reporters. After March 9, all AAP MLAs will join Kejriwal at the venue of the hunger strike, he said. Rai accused the BJP and the Congress of deceiving Delhiites on the statehood issue and alleged that these two parties had earlier pitched for it but are backtracking now. He expressed hope the 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) will form government at the Centre after the general elections and will grant full statehood to Delhi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress leader Sheila Dikshit Sunday accused AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal of making "empty talks" on the issue of full statehood for Delhi in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Chief Minister Kejriwal has announced an indefinite hunger strike from March 1 over his demand for full statehood for Delhi. "Kejriwal is making empty talks about full statehood for Delhi and nothing will come out of his rhetorics. If he was serious about full statehood for Delhi, he should have taken up the issue four years ago. He is raking up the full statehood issue with an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections," Dikshit, who is the Congress's Delhi unit president, said. She also reiterated the Delhi Congress's stand that it will not have any alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Lok Sabha polls. "Kejriwal was confusing people by talking about the Aam Aadmi Party's tie-up with the Congress in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. But, the Congress will contest the Lok Sabha elections on its own and will win all the seven seats in Delhi," former Delhi chief minister Dikshit said. Addressing party workers at Mehrauli and Badarpur areas, she said the people of Delhi are fed up of "hollow promises" of Chief Minister Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and wanted Congress governments at the Centre and in Delhi. "The Modi and Kejriwal governments make big promises, but they remain as just promises. People are fed up with both and want the Congress back," the three-time chief minister said, accusing the Kejriwal government of wasting public money on it's publicity. "The Kejriwal government has failed on all fronts and is now thriving by putting out five to six full-page advertisements in newspapers and squandering the hard-earned money of tax payers' for self publicity," Dikshit alleged. She asked workers to ensure victory of Congress candidates in the Lok Sabha polls and said only the Congress can provide a stable and development-oriented government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A section of agitating Jadavpur University students have confined Pro-Vice-Chancellor Pradip Kumar Ghosh in his office for over 48 hours. "We will not withdraw the sit-in till we get concrete and definite assurances on holding a tripartite meeting to facilitate conduct of students' union polls and inquiry into attacks by a handful of Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad activists on left-wing students in recent times," one of the agitating students, Ushashi Pal, told PTI. Members of the Arts Faculty Students' Union (AFSU), Science Faculty Students Union (SFSU) and Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students' Union (FETSU) have been camping outside Ghosh's chamber since Friday evening over the twin demands. They have been alleging a handful of TMCP students had been threatening them of stopping "all kinds of democratic activities" inside the university campus and demanded immediate holding of tripartite talks between the university, government and students for starting the process to hold students' union electins which was not held in two years. The unions have demanded the university authorities to enumerate the steps taken to raise the issue with the higher department, including sharing details of the correspondence over e-mail. The All Bengal University Teachers' Association (ABUTA), JU chapter, in a statement Sunday said "the students should protest outside the university campus against the government's attitude on not conducting student union polls instead of confining within the varsity limits." A JU teacher expressed concern over the health of the Pro-VC and said the issue should be resolved at the earliest. minister Partha Chatterjee had said Saturday that the students should realise that an election cannot be held in an institution when the Lok Sabha polls are round the corner and the government cannot take a decision on it at this juncture. The three unions have been on a sit-in demonstration since February 19 after a scuffle broke out between two groups of students, who wanted to approach VC Suranjan Das with their demands after the university's Executive Council meeting. While the AFSU and FETSU wanted to place their demands for facilitating election, the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) alleged unlawful activities in the campus on that day. Das, who fell on the ground during the scuffle, had to be admitted to a hospital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik Sunday expressed grief over the death of a police officer in an encounter in Kulgam district on Sunday. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Aman Thakur, an army jawan and two Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists were killed in the encounter in Turigam area of south Kashmir district. Malik has expressed grief over the loss of life of the officer killed in the encounter and prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul, a spokesperson of the Raj Bhavan said. He said the governor also expressed sympathy and solidarity with family members of Thakur. Malik also wished speedy recovery to the security personnel injured during the encounter, the spokesperson said. Several security personnel, including an army major and two soldiers, were injured in the operation which was carried out on a specific information in the village to flush out hiding terrorists. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday paid tributes to former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on her 71st birth anniversary, recalling her contributions towards development of the state. "Tributes to Jayalalithaa Ji on her birth anniversary. Her contribution towards the development of Tamil Nadu will be remembered for generations," he tweeted. Describing the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader as a "fine administrator and compassionate leader", Modi said her welfare measures had "benefitted countless poor people". On her demise in December, 2016, the union cabinet had passed a resolution hailing her as a people's leader. Such resolutions are passed on death of prominent leaders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das Sunday handed over certificates to some farmers who have received the first instalment of Rs 2,000 under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme. The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Gorakhpur. Shakuntala Devi of Ranchi, Abbas Ansari of Lohardaga, Ambika Sahu of Simdega, Bhanu Devi from Ramgarh, and a few others received the first instalment, an official release said here. The farmers, who received SMSs from the Prime Minister after receiving the money into their accounts, through direct benefit transfer (DBT), read out Modi's message, it said. Following the launch of PM-Kisan, more than five lakh farmers from Jharkhand received the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each in their accounts, the release said, adding, the farmers would receive a total of Rs 6,000 in three instalments. In the interim Budget 2019-20, the central government had announced the PM-KISAN scheme under which Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three instalments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to two hectares. Addressing a function organised at Ormanjhi here Das said that a total 22.76 lakh farmers from Jharkhand could get the benefit under the PM-Kisan scheme. The chief minister also said if the farmers set up cooperative societies, the state government will provide 70 per cent subsidy to them for procuring agriculture tools. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir administration Sunday appealed to the people of the state to stay calm and not pay heed to rumours. The statement comes a day after tension mounted in Kashmir as the government launched a massive crackdown on separatists and detained over 150 people, mainly from the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu Kashmir, ahead of a hearing in the Supreme Court on Article 35-A of the Constitution. The development, coupled with other administrative measures, triggered a "war hysteria", prompting people in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir to stock up on groceries and essentials and buy petrol for their vehicles. "During the past few days several rumours are in circulation and panic messages are being disseminated. We urge people not to pay heed to rumours and get panicky on the basis of unsubstantiated and exaggerated pieces of information which are in circulation" Rohit Kansal, senior bureaucrat who has been designated as the chief spokesperson of the governor's administration, told reporters here. He said some political parties and organisations "unfortunately" too chose to react to these rumours triggering further panic. "My first appeal to everyone is not to pay any heed to rumours, avoid fear-mongering and not to exaggerate matters," Kansal emphasised. He said the administration was very much concerned about the safety and security of the Kashmiri people working or studying outside the state. "In the wake of the recent tragic incident in Pulwama, there were reports of alleged harassment of residents and students from J&K. There have been media reports regarding targeting of students and traders from the state and also complaints about some landlords asking their respective tenant students to vacate their rented accommodation resulting in a sense of insecurity and fear among the students," he said. He reiterated that the state administration has been taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of the residents of the state working or studying in other parts of the country. "The government of Jammu and Kashmir as early as 20th November 2018, nominated seven liaison officers (LOs) across the country to interact, coordinate and assist over 20,000 students of the state pursuing education in different parts of the country. "These LOs were nominated for Delh-NCR-Meerut, Jaipur-Bhopal, Chandigarh, Aligarh, Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune for the benefit of the students studying in and around these areas," Kansal. "Following the Pulwama incident, they (LOs) were further activated and asked to coordinate with the respective college authorities and the local administration. A 24x7 helpline was set up at the office of the Resident Commissioner in Delhi to coordinate the efforts of the LOs and to provide information and guidance," he added. Kansal said the office of the Resident Commissioner at Delhi made arrangements to accommodate students and other persons in distress at Kissan Ghar, Shalimar Bagh, New Delhi to facilitate their safe transit to J&K as per requirement. "A similar helpline was established in the office of Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, as well as in respective district headquarters of Kashmir Division," he said. Kansal said in the three main regions alone, including Delhi-NCR-western UP, Punjab-Haryana-Chandigarh and Jaipur-Bhopal region, over a thousand interactions were handled and coordinated with college managements and local civil and police authorities. "The state and its LOs have worked closely with the students as well as authorities in other states to handle students' concerns across the country," he said and added that whether it was Mullana or Bilaspur or Dehradun, all distress calls have been duly taken cognisance of. Wherever required students were shifted from private to hostel accommodation and stranded residents were also suitably accommodated, he added. "The state administration assures the people of J&K that due cognisance has been and shall continue to be taken for even the smallest call or incident affecting the security of the students and residents. "Respective local administrations and college authorities of all the locations are absolutely in cooperation and in sync with the J&K government on this issue," Kansal said. Responding to a question regarding orders issued by the authorities on fuel rationing, Kansal said it was done in view of apprehensions of the shortage of stocks following prolonged closure of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway due to inclement weather conditions. "We are expecting augmentation of stocks with the movement of trucks on the highway following reopening of the highway," he said. Regarding distribution of rations, Kansal said the Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department has been asked to ensure judicious distribution of ration as there is procedural requirement of advance stocking of ration for the month of March and there is nothing to be panic about. He further elaborated that in view of the closure of the highway, availability of essential supplies is being ensured for public convenience. Regarding deployment of additional troops, he said the additional forces have been called for the election purpose. About those involved in arson in Jammu, he said action will be taken against anyone found disturbing peace and stability. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israeli police arrested and later released a top Palestinian Muslim official in Jerusalem on Sunday after scuffles at a flashpoint holy site in the city in recent days. The arrest drew condemnation from Jordan, the custodian of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the disputed city. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Abdel Azeem Salhab had been arrested for violating an order preventing entry into a prohibited area of the holy site. Salhab is the head of the council of the Waqf in Jerusalem, the religious authority that governs the site. Official Palestinian agency WAFA reported that his deputy Najih Bakira had also been arrested, but police had not confirmed it. Both men were seen by an AFP photographer late Sunday afternoon leaving a police compound in Jerusalem. A lawyer for the two men, Mohammed Mahmud, said they had been barred from Al-Aqsa for seven days. Police had not commented. The Waqf condemned the arrests in a statement, calling the police actions "dangerous". The arrests followed the detention of 60 others overnight Thursday to Friday as police said they were responding to calls for unrest at the holy site surrounding Friday prayers there. Some have since been released with an order not to visit the holy site. The site is the third-holiest in Islam and a focus of Palestinian aspirations for statehood. It is also the location of Judaism's most holy spot, revered as the site of the two biblical-era Jewish temples. Jews refer to it as the Temple Mount. It is a frequent scene of conflict between the two sides. Muslim worshippers' access to Al-Aqsa and the adjoining Dome of the Rock is controlled by Israeli security forces. A statement from Jordan's religious affairs minister, Abdul Nasser Abu al-Basal, said the arrests were akin to "playing with fire". Jordan's foreign ministry also said it delivered an official protest to Israel. There have been scuffles at the holy site recently over Israeli authorities' padlocking of a door leading to a side building in the compound, known as the Golden Gate or Gate of Mercy in Arabic. Access was closed by an Israeli court order in 2003 during the second Palestinian intifada over alleged militant activity there, police say, but Waqf officials have argued that the organisation that prompted the ban no longer exists. The Waqf council, which has undergone recent membership changes, has been more assertive in challenging such decisions, said Ofer Zalzberg, senior analyst for the International Crisis Group. Worshippers prayed in front of the building recently, and on Friday crowds entered and prayed inside in defiance of the court ban. Zalzberg said it seemed there were high-level contacts between Jordan and Israel to resolve the dispute, but Israeli electoral politics could interfere ahead of April 9 polls. "On the positive side, we are seeing both governments taking this seriously," he told AFP. "If this becomes an Israeli electoral issue, it will be hard for the Israeli government to act with moderation." The religious site is located in east Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The father of an Alabama woman who fled to Syria to marry an Islamic State fighter filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump's administration over her right to return with her 18-month-old baby after the US president said she will not be allowed back on American soil. Hoda Muthana, 24, joined the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, in 2014 after telling her parents she was going to Atlanta, Georgia, as part of a field trip connected with her business studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Instead, she withdrew from college and used her tuition reimbursement to purchase a plane ticket to Turkey, according to court documents. From Turkey, she traveled to Syria, where she married twice, both times to ISIS fighters who later died in combat. Muthana fled to the al-Hawl refugee camp in December last year amid the collapse of the ISIS caliphate in Syria and Iraq. "I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!" Trump tweeted on Wednesday. "She does not have any legal basis, no valid U.S. passport, no right to a passport, nor any visa to travel to the United States," Pompeo said in a statement. "We continue to strongly advise all U.S. citizens not to travel to Syria." Ahmed Ali Muthana filed the lawsuit Thursday, accusing the Trump administration of an "unlawful attempt" to revoke Hoda Muthana's citizenship. Muthana has said she is willing to face federal charges upon her return. But Trump has ordered officials to bar the former IS propagandist from entering the US. The lawsuit emphasises that the woman's father is not arguing against any prosecution from the US government over her actions in Syria, but wants lawful recognition of her US citizenship and the citizenship of her child. Muthana has "publicly acknowledged her actions and accepted full responsibility," a statement announcing the lawsuit said. "In Ms Muthana's words, she recognises that she has 'ruined' her own life, but she does not want to ruin the life of her young child." Pompeo said on Wednesday that Muthana had no "legal basis" or "right" to a passport or any US visa. Pompeo confirmed her father's prior status as a Yemeni diplomat for the United Nations was behind the administration's decision. Under US law, the children of diplomats are not considered US citizens. The exact timeline of when Ahmed Ali Muthana stopped serving as a diplomat and when his daughter was born is now being contested by the Trump administration. The family maintains Muthana was previously recognised as a citizen by the US Department of State and given a US passport in 2004. Earlier this week, Muthana's lawyer, Hassan Shibly, shared a photo on Twitter of what he said was her US birth certificate. The case has similarities to that of UK-born teenager Shamima Begum who has been stripped of her British citizenship. Begum fled London to join ISIS in 2015 but is now seeking to return to the UK. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iran says an American detained last July is not being held on security-related charges. Michael White, 46, was arrested after travelling to Iran to visit a woman he met online. His family says he was arbitrarily detained. Iranian officials say he was detained in connection with a private complaint. Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Panahiazar told the semi-official ISNA agency Saturday that "there is no security or espionage issue on the table." White is the first American to be detained in Iran since President Donald Trump took office. He worked as a cook in the US Navy and left the service about a decade ago. Iran has detained a number of dual citizens from Western countries on security charges, using them as leverage in negotiations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Science communicator from Australia Dr Stuart Kohlhagen, currently on a visit to India, has said learning should be fun for children and stressed on introducing interactive activities in school curriculum. India has always been instrumental in the advancement of science and technology education, but the country should also find ways to reduce stress and burden of students, he told PTI Saturday on the sidelines of a workshop at Birla Industrial & Technological Museum (BITM) here. "India's strength remains in the fact that a large number of students recognise the value of Many of them are keen to learn and innovate. But we need to introduce fun activities in curriculum to engage the children. There has to be more than just direct instructions," Kohlhagen, who was here to mentor educators and teachers, said. Addressing the students, Kohlhagen said, "You need to have confidence and resilience to tackle problems. These things are not specifically taught in schools, but the society and industry expects you to behave in a particular manner." Talking about his India visit, Kohlhagen said the two countries "should collaborate to foster 21st century skills". The 21st century skills are a set of abilities that the students need to develop to succeed in information age. Asked about challenges posed by smart phones and gadgets to the youths, Kohlhagen said, "a generation ago we remembered facts, these days we google facts when needed. Just looking for answers on the web doesn't strengthen your ability to tackle problem. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese telecom gear maker expects India to emerge as second-largest 5G market in 10 years, a senior company official said Sunday. "We know India as an important emerging market. From the long-term perspective, India's 5G market will be huge and second only to China. This can be the long-term perspective of 10 years," James Wu, president, Southern-East Asia region at Technologies told reporters here. Global telecom industry body GSM Association has projected that there will be 1.4 billion 5G connections globally by 2025, accounting for about 15 per cent of the total market. By this point, almost half of connections in the US will be 5G, 30 per cent will be 5G in China, and 5 per cent in India. India will be the second-largest market from industry perspective, Wu said. has tied up with Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel for 5G trials. The Chinese telecom gear maker expressed willingness to set up 5G test lab in India as well. "If the Government of India invites us for setting 5G test lab, we will welcome it," Wu said. India has taken multiple actions against Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, Uttar Pradesh minister Shrikant Sharma said Sunday. Talking to reporters here, the BJP leader said Pakistan was now cornered. The government has taken multiple actions against Pakistan, including imposing economic restrictions on it, he said. Following the terror attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, the government withdrew the most favoured nation status given to Pakistan, a move which would enable New Delhi to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country. The minister was here to inaugurate a 220 KV transmission sub-station in Madhuaka village. The facility has been built at a cost of Rs 103.74 crore. According to the minister for power, the facility will ensure uninterrupted power supply in over a dozen villages. Electricity connection to one crore households has been provided since the BJP dispensation assumed office in Uttar Pradesh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The 'IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt' was held here Sunday in which as many as 19 youngsters including a 13-year old participated. The talent hunt is Honda's initiative, which aims to identify young racers starting as early as 13 years of age, a press release said. Through this platform, Honda 2Wheelers India will groom the best of young riders from Coimbatore for a racing career. The talent hunt was previously held in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Aizawl, Delhi and Pune. The candidates had to go through three levels of tests, including physical fitness, race orientation and riding skills especially for the race track. On the jury were Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice President, Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, Koji Takahashi, Deputy Director-Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India and Ramji Govindrajan, Director, Ten10 Racing. After shortlisting in phase 1, the top candidates of the talent hunt of Coimbatore will be trained at Honda Ten10 Racing Academy and will given opportunity to ride at the MMRT, Chennai on March 4, 2019 in Phase II. It is from this pool of talent that Honda will pick up the best riders. The selected riders will then join the 12 selected riders to race in the Honda Talent Cup CBR 150R category in the 2019 season. "The IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt is a part of our new motorsports direction and commitment to build a structure to develop young talent in the country. Many of our riders from 2018 have shown tremendous performance at the IDEMITSU Honda Talent Cup 2018 season," Prabhu Nagaraj said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan said Sunday that senior party leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil should "convince" his son Sujay, who is keen on contesting the Lok Sabha election from Ahmednagar. In previous elections, the constituency was alloted to the ally NCP, but Sujay Vikhe-Patil has said on more than one occasions that he would stand from Ahmednagar as independent if the seat is not ceded to the Congress. Another constituency in Vikhe-Patil's native Ahmednagar district is Shirdi, but it is a reserved seat. Chavan was speaking to reporters in Latur after unveiling a statue of late Congress leader Vilasrao Deshmukh. "Sujay should know that his request is under the Congress party's consideration. I have also suggested his father that he should convince his son (to back down if necessary)," Chavan said. "The seat Sujay has been demanding has not yet been discussed with the NCP and no final decision has been taken," Chavan added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Expressing happiness that the government, the civil society, and private and charitable institutions were working together to implement the Ayushman Bharat programme, President Ram Nath Kovind said Sunday the ambitious healthcare scheme will go a long way in providing medical cover, especially to the underprivileged. Speaking at the inauguration of a private super-speciality hospital here, Kovind emphasised the importance of quality and affordable healthcare in the country, particularly in Uttar Pradesh. He pointed to the successes in meeting the challenges of traditional infectious and communicable diseases, and also to the changing disease patterns in the country that are giving rise to greater cases to non-communicable or lifestyle ailments. The president said around 63 per cent of people in the country have to bear the cost of treatment of their family members. This expense makes the poor even more poorer, and they have to sell their property for treatment. In this context, he said, the Ayushman Bharat programme, launched in 2018, will go a long way in providing medical cover, especially to underprivileged citizens. He said quality health for everybody was a shared goal. As such, he was happy the government, the civil society, private and charitable institutions and other stakeholders were working together. The president expressed confidence that the hospital he inaugurated on Sunday would provide state-of-the-art medical care to the people of the state and the region at a reasonable cost. Referring to Mission Indradhanush, Kovind said intensive vaccination is being done, and 87 lakh pregnant women and 3.39 crore children were vaccinated. He also said that for prevention of encephalitis, 'Action Plan 2018' has been launched with the support of WHO and UNICEF. "As a result, deaths due to Japanese Encephalitis in 2018 have dropped, as compared to 2017. There has been a 68 per cent drop in the deaths. The number of people getting infected to Japanese Encephalitis has also dropped by 53 per cent in the same period. "This is a good sign. For this effort, doctors and para-medic staff along with the government should be praised," he said. "The priority of the government is to bring an improvement in the health of the people and for this, health and medical infrastructure is being rapidly strengthened across the country," he said. Paying tributes to the martyrs of the Pulwama terrorist attack, the president said, "The citizens of the country are in deep pain following the martyrdom of our jawans in Pulwama. A number of jawans from Uttar Pradesh also sacrificed their lives. I, on the behalf of the entire nation, salute their martyrdom." UP Governor Ram Naik, Union Home Minister and Lucknow MP Rajnath Singh, UP Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma and UP Cabinet minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi were present on this occasion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Gujarat government will give full support for the creation of an SC/ST Hub in the state, senior officials said Sunday. The National Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes (SC/ST) Hub is a scheme under the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to provide professional support to SC/ST entrepreneurs. It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 18, 2016 in Ludhiana in Punjab. Speaking at a conclave here Sunday, Manoj Aggarwal, principal secretary, Gujarat Social Justice and Empowerment department, said the state has about 90 lakh people hailing from the SC/ST communities. He said Public Sector Units, which have been given a target of procuring at least 4 per cent of their requirements from MSMEs owned by SCs and STs, had managed only 0.05 per cent of this target in Gujarat. This, he said, needed to be rectified and awareness among PSUs and MSMEs will be increased to ensure the 4 per cent target is achieved. The SC/ST Hub's functions include collection, collation and dissemination of information regarding SC/ST enterprises and entrepreneurs as well as capacity building among them through skill training. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) To boost demand in the real estate sector, the GST Council on Sunday slashed tax rates for under-construction flats to 5 per cent and affordable homes to 1 per cent, effective April 1. Currently, the goods and services tax (GST) is levied at 12 per cent with input tax credit (ITC) on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate is not issued at the time of sale. For affordable housing units, the existing tax rate is 8 per cent. With regard to lotteries, the GST Council, however, deferred a decision with Jaitley saying that the Group of Ministers (GoM) will meet again to discuss the proposal. Currently, state-run lotteries attract 12 per cent GST, while state-authorised ones carry 28 per cent tax. Briefing reporters after the 33rd meeting of the GST Council, Jaitley said the consumers felt that the benefits of ITC were not being passed on to them by the builders, and hence a GoM was set up to suggest changes in taxation on real estate. The union finance minister said that currently GST is levied at 12 per cent on normal residential houses and 8 per cent on affordable homes after considering one-third abatement on account of land cost. "The council has decided that after removal of ITC, the rates will be 5 per cent for normal housing properties and 1 per cent for affordable housing," he said. To ensure that the real estate sector does not go back to cash driven on account of removal of ITC, Jaitley said the builders will have to purchase a "very high percentage" (which will be decided by a committee) of their inputs from GST registered dealers. The reduction in rates will give a boost to housing for all and fulfil aspirations of the neo-middle class, he said. The council also expanded the definition of affordable housing for the purpose of availing GST benefits to those flats costing up to Rs 45 lakh and measuring 60 sq metre carpet area in metros (Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai-MMR and Kolkata) and 90 sq metre carpet area in non-metros. "We have adopted twin definition of affordable housing on the basis of carpet area and cost...We have expanded the definition of affordable housing so that aspiring people can buy slightly bigger (houses), so 60 sq metre carpet area in metros and 90 sq metre outside the metros which approximate translates to a 2-bed room house in a metro and a possibly 3-bed room house in non-metros. This will come into effect from April 1,2019," the finance minister said. For GST applicability on affordable housing, currently there is no valuation threshold and the calculation of carpet area varies from project to project. With regard to those properties where construction work has already begun, Jaitley said a committee of officers will draft the transition rules and frame guidelines. "The fitment committee and law committee by March 10 will draft those guidelines and immediately place before the GST Council which will meet via video conference so that ministers do not have to travel to Delhi in election period," he said. To ensure that the real estate sector does not go back to cash economy and to fix the accountability of back supply chain, a very high percentage of goods will have to be procured from GST registered dealer, Jaitley added. "For that back chain, a condition will be put that a very high percentage of purchases to avail of this will have to be from registered dealers. The GoM has proposed 80 per cent. Whether it is 80 per cent or more, the group will reconsider it and present before the council," he said, adding this will ensure that the back chain does not go to a cash-based system. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, however, flagged issues with respect to the provision that a certain percentage of goods has to be procured by a builder from a registered dealer. "The industry is going through bad period, (it) should get stimulated but with these complications, they will be caught in inspector raj, they will be caught in hawala," Mitra said. Jaitley further said the officers' committee will also discuss suggestions of states with regard to those apartments where there are commercial space, shops. The committee will look into whether it should be permitted and if allowed then how much percentage. GST is not levied on buyers of real estate properties for which completion certificate has been issued at the time of sale. "This decision is certainly going to give a good boost to the under-construction apartments because people were otherwise waiting for them to get completed, and that was also stopping the money flow into the real estate sector," he said. The GoM on real estate under Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel had earlier this month suggested lowering GST rate on under-construction flats to 5 per cent and affordable housing to 3 per cent. On GST on lottery, Jaitley said since Punjab and Kerala did not attend the previous meeting of GoM and it was decided that a meeting of panel be reconvened. The GoM has favoured a uniform GST rate of either 18 per cent or 28 per cent on both state-run and state-authorised lotteries. The GST Council meeting which was held on February 20 through video conference to discuss real estate and lottery taxation had to be adjourned for February 24 as non-BJP states demanded that a face-to-face meeting be convened to discuss such crucial issues. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister D V Sadananda has inaugurated a centre of the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET) in Tripura. The Union Statistics and Programme Implementation Minister speaking at the inauguration function of CIPET Centre for Skilling and Technical Support (CSTS) at Bodhjungnagar on Saturday said youth need more skills so that they could earn their livelihood properly. He said youth passing out of institute would get jobs in any part of the country. The CIPET in Tripura would produce 1500 skilled workers per annum. Speaking at the same function, Tripura Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma said the BJP-IPFT government in Tripura was encouraging entrepreneurship to eradicate the unemployment problem in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Paramilitary troops deployed in will get enhanced risk and hardship allowance every month with the special benefits of the lower ranks increased by Rs 7,600 and higher officers by Rs 8,100. The decision of the came a week after 40 CRPF jawans were killed in a terror attack in Pulwama in According to the MHA order, Risk and Hardship Allowance for the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) or paramilitary personnel has been enhanced from Rs 9,700 to Rs 17,300 per month for troops up to the rank of Inspector and from Rs 16,900 to Rs 25,000 for officers. The enhanced allowance will be applicable to all paramilitary personnel deployed in and Naxal-hit areas. The decision has been pending since August 2017. In 2017, a committee, headed by the Union Home Secretary, was formed to look into the matter and review the risk and hardship allowances in CAPFs, but no decision was taken till now. Troops deployed in terror hotbeds of south Kashmir like Budgam, Pulwama, and Anantnag and other sensitive places like Baramullah and Kupwara will get the new enhanced allowance. New areas that will cover the risk and hardship allowance include Kulgam, Shopian, Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban and Udhampur and one district in Telangana. There is no change in most of the areas where paramilitary personnel are deployed, but new districts have been added in Jammu and Kashmir to cover almost the entire state, barring some areas in Jammu near the International Border (IB). However, areas in Jammu region that fall on the Line of Control (LoC) are covered. Dangerous Naxal-infested districts like Sukma, Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Bastar (Chhattisgarh), Latehar (Jharkhand), Gadchiroli (Maharashtra) and Malkangiri (Odisha) have also been covered. Last week, the MHA has decided to allow air travel by paramilitary troops deployed in Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister on Sunday asked his Indian counterpart Modi to "give peace a chance" and assured him that he "stands by" his words and will "immediately act" if provides Islamabad with "actionable intelligence" on the Khan's remarks came a day after Modi in a rally in said, "There is consensus in the entire world against terrorism. We are moving ahead with strength to punish the perpetrators of terrorism...The scores will be settled this time, settled for good...This is a changed India, this pain will not be tolerated...We know how to crush terrorism." Recalling his conversation with Khan during a congratulatory call after he became Pakistan's premier, Modi said he told him "let us fight against poverty and illiteracy" and Khan gave his word - saying he is a Pathan's son - but went back on it. A statement released by the Prime Minister's Office said, "PM stand by his words that if gives us actionable intelligence, we will immediately act." PM Modi should "give peace a chance", Khan said in the statement. Earlier on February 19 also, Khan assured that he would act against the perpetrators of the deadly Pulwama terror attack, carried out by Pakistan-based (JeM) terror group, if it shares "actionable intelligence" with Islamabad, but warned against launching any "revenge" retaliatory action. said Khan's offer to investigate the attack if provided proof is a "lame excuse". "It is a well-known fact that and its leader are based in These should be sufficient proof for Pakistan to take action," the said. "The Prime Minister of Pakistan has offered to investigate the matter if India provides proof. This is a lame excuse. In the horrific attack in on 26/11, proof was provided to Pakistan. Despite this, the case has not progressed for the last more than 10 years. Likewise, on the terror attack on Pathankot airbase, there has been no progress. Promises of 'guaranteed action' ring hollow given the track record of Pakistan," it said. Khan said during his meeting with Modi in December 2015, "we had agreed that since poverty alleviation is a priority for our region, we would not allow any terrorist incident to derail peace efforts, however, long before Pulwama, these efforts were derailed in September 2018". The Pakistani was referring to India calling off the foreign minister-level talks with Pakistan in on the sidelines of the in September last year after following the "brutal" killing of three BSF jawans by Pakistani soldiers in as well as the release of postal stamps "glorifying" Kashmiri militant by the (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.) French group is planning to cut 1,500 positions in its BFI corporate and investment arm, Le Figaro newspaper reported on Saturday. Citing internal documents, the paper said the was looking at two scenarios, both of which envisage 1,500 job cuts worldwide, with around 700 of them in The company said in a statement on Saturday it was still reviewing activities in its corporate and investor client business so it was not possible to comment on the impact on jobs. "We have an ongoing dialogue with our unions and will consult them on our projects and their impact as soon as the review is completed in the coming weeks," the said. French CGT union representative Philippe Fournil could not confirm the information, but said the bank's management had on Thursday indicated it was still reviewing activities within that business. The review is part of a plan to reduce costs by 500 million euros ($567 million), the bank said earlier this month on announcing its financial results. Fournil said its management had pledged to get back to the union within "four to eight weeks" with more details. reported higher-than-expected profits in 2018 but said it would adjust its targets and those of its investment bank for next year anticipating financial headwinds ahead. Four smaller allies of the BJP in Maharashtra will be meeting Monday to discuss negotiating strategy for seat-sharing, Rashtriya Samaj Party (RSP) leader Mahadev Jankar said here Sunday. The BJP stitched alliance with the Shiv Sena earlier this week. The saffron party would be contesting 25 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state and the Sena would contest 23, one more than in 2014. As the Sena made it clear that its alliance was only with the BJP, other NDA allies will have to negotiate with the latter for seat-sharing. Leaders of RSP, Union minister Ramdas Athawale's RPI, Shiv Sangram Pratisthan of Vinajak Mete and Rayat Kranti Sanghatana of Sadabhau Khot will meet at Jankar's residence here Monday. "We will discuss how we should go about negotiating with the BJP," Jankar said. A senior BJP leader had said that it would not be able to give more than two seats to other (non-Sena) allies as the Sena has got one more seat this time. Jankar had contested the Lok Sabha election as NDA candidate from Baramati in 2014. He lost to NCP's Supriya Sule. Athawale on Saturday alleged that the BJP and Sena did not take his party in confidence while announcing their deal. The RPI leader has said he wanted to contest from Mumbai South Central constituency, currently represented by the Sena's Rahul Shewale. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Assailants beheaded four people and injured 20 in three weekend attacks in Mozambique's volatile north, sources said Sunday, days after US gas giant Anadarko's convoys were ambushed in the area. The first attack rocked the village of Matapata in Palma district, the gas-rich region where Maputo hopes to establish a multi-billion dollar fossil fuel hub but has repeatedly suffered attacks blamed on jihadists. One person was killed in that assault whose nephew told AFP he had been beheaded. The second attack occurred late Saturday in the village of Quelimane near the Tanzanian border. That attack claimed three lives and left 16 injured, a local source told AFP, adding that seven were treated locally while six seriously wounded patients were transferred to the district hospital in Mocimboa da Praia. All three fatalities were beheaded after being shot dead, the source added. A third attack targeted Mucujo, 200 kilometres north of Pemba, on Saturday, injuring four people, a military source said. No group has publicly claimed responsibility. On Thursday a Mozambican worker was killed and six others were wounded when two road convoys operated by Anadarko came under attack in the region. They were the first such attacks by militants targeting gas operators in the area. Anadarko is among the international corporations investing billions of dollars to exploit major gas reserves discovered off Mozambique's northeastern coast. Last month it advertised in the local media for the supply of armoured vehicles for use in its northern Mozambique operations. Following the attacks on Anadarko, Interior Minister Jaime Basilio Monteiro said special forces would be deployed to the region to combat the insurgents and protect exploration companies. Hardline Islamists have launched several deadly attacks in the Muslim-majority Cabo Delgado province in the past year, stoking unrest just as Maputo pushes ahead with exploration efforts. The Islamist fighters - reportedly seeking to impose Sharia law in the Muslim-majority province - have terrorised remote communities, killing about 200 people since October 2017 The Islamists belong to a group originally known as Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama - Arabic for "followers of the prophet" -- but commonly referred to by locals and officials as "Al-Shabaab". It has no known link to the notorious Somali group. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thousands of acres of land in the Bandipur tiger reserve were gutted in a fire over the last four days, creating fear about the safety of wild animals, forest officials said Sunday. Foresters, along with hundreds of volunteers, made a vain bid to douse the fire that had spread to dangerous proportions, the officials said. "The grassland around Mangala have burned a lot and the flames have been seen spreading towards Gopalaswamy Hill in the last two or three days," they said. The problem is that there has been no fire in the area over the last four-five years and the grass had grown to a height of four-five feet, principal chief conservator of forest Punati Sridhar told reporters. A stretch of eight kilometres of forest from Varekatte to Gopalaswamy Hill has been reduced to ashes while reports said the fire has spread to Chartalakore Hill, Dummana Hill and Gouri Kallu Hill. Meanwhile Karnataka Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy tweeted: "We are closely monitoring the forest fire in Bandipur." The forest minister is overseeing preventive action and the forest officials and fire service personnel are trying to contain the fire, he said adding that he has instructed officials to also take preventive measures. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ministry expects three to four more lenders to come out of weak bank list of the Reserve Bank in the next six to eight months on account of improvement in financial health amid capital infusion and falling bad loans. The recent capital infusion of Rs 48,239 crore in 12 public sector (PSBs) will help Corporation Bank and Allahabad Bank to come out of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework in the next few weeks, sources said. Corporation Bank is the biggest beneficiary of this round of capital infusion with Rs 9,086 crore of funding, followed by Allahabad Bank with Rs 6,896 crore. This infusion will help these two lenders meet requisite capital thresholds of 7.375 CET-1 ratio, 8.875 per cent Tier I ratio, 10.875 per cent of capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) and the net NPA ratio threshold of below 6 per cent. The may in the next few weeks take a decision to remove these two lenders out of supervision as they had done in the case of Bank of India (BoI), Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) last month after capital infusion in December, sources said. With the removal of three on January 31, the list has already come down to 8 from 11. Dena Bank, which is among eight entities under PCA, will cease to exist from April 1, 2019. So, the list will further shorten with the bank merging with Bank of Baroda beginning next fiscal, sources said. IDBI Bank, now majority owned by LIC, is also improving its financial health and bringing down its net non-performing assets (NPAs) in a bid to come out of the supervision. If the bank continue to improve its health, it is anticipated that the would lift the curb from IDBI Bank after September numbers. Besides, Central Bank and UCO Bank are trying to improve their parameters on mission mode. So, sources said, four more are likely see curb lifted by on them in 6-8 months. Last month, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar had said: "Government's sustained 4R's (Recognition, Recapitalization, Resolution, and Reform) strategy for banking transformation delivers again. 3 better-performing PSBs (BoM, BoI & OBC) exit Banks need to be more responsible, adopt high underwriting & risk management standards to avoid recurrence". Kumar, who has been credited with undertaking multiple reforms in the banking sector, provided record amount of capital infusion in the public sector banks (PSBs). Since commencement of clean-up in 2015-16, the recapitalisation has crossed over Rs 3 lakh crore through mix of budgetary support and market raising helping banks to make adequate provisions for the bad loans. As a result, there has been reversal in the deteriorating bad loan situation and there has been record loan recovery during the current fiscal. Various initiatives taken by the government have yielded results, with the bad loans of public sector banks declining by over Rs 23,860 crore in the first half of the current fiscal. At the same time, PSBs have also made a record recovery of Rs 60,726 crore in the first half of the current financial year, which is more than double the amount recovered in the corresponding period last year. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Sunday said the Pulwama terror attack should not have occurred, but that the government's efforts to thwart several attacks had resulted in far lesser terror incidents in the last five years than before 2014. "I can't tell you in terms of ratio. If I can look at the span ...compared to before 2014, terrorism is far lesser now in the last five years," Sitharaman said. Addressing a gathering at an interactive event organised by theThinkers Forum, the minister said she was mocked at after the terror attacks at Uri, Pathankot and Pulwama, but claimed that compared to the UPA era, other than incidents in Jammu and Kashmir, there was peace in the rest of the country. Asked by a participant on why India cannot respond to the Pulwama terror attack in the way the U.S. did when it went after Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, she said the anger over the matter and on why India could not take similar action, "all that is well absorbed, well received and well registered." "I can say that for sure with confidence that it is well registered. I underline, its well registered." Quoting the Prime Minister, she said he had stated that the sacrifice of the jawans would not go waste and those who are responsible, directly or indirectly for it, would have to pay a heavy price. Sitharaman chose not to answer a query on abolishing Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, but pointed out that the union government's approach in dealing with separatists in the state was to undertake "constructive, progressive work" to benefit all people and at the same time, not give any special treatment to those who speak against the country. Article 370 gives Jammu and Kashmir special status and limits Parliament's power to make laws concerning the northern state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Union Minister Kishore Chandra Deo Sunday joined the ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh. TDP president and AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu formally welcomed Deo and his followers into the party at a function here in the afternoon. Deo, who served as Tribal Affairs and Panchayat Raj Minister under Manmohan Singh, quit the Congress recently alleging there was no respect for seniors in the party. The TDP is expected to field him for Lok Sabha in the ensuing election from Araku (ST) constituency in Visakhapatnam district. Deo served for five terms as Lok Sabha member and one term in Rajya Sabha. Speaking on the occasion, Naidu said Deo had a blemish-less political career spanning over four decades. "He brought respect to with his dignity. His joining the TDP is indeed a happy occasion," he added. Deo said Naidu was committed to the development of AP. Recalling his association with TDP founder N T Rama Rao, he said he would work together with Naidu for the development of the state. "Naidu is doing a lot for the state though there is no support from the Centre. I will lend a helping hand to his endeavours," Deo added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An encounter broke out between militants and security forces in Kulgam district of Jammu and kashmir on Sunday, police said. Security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Turigam area of Kulgam district following information about presence of some militants there, a police official said. He said the militants opened fire on security forces, who retaliated, triggering a gun-battle. There were no reports of any casualty on either side so far, the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi University Teachers' Association on Sunday condemned the assault by a student on a law faculty teacher who had reportedly raised questions on the veracity of a WhatsApp video shown to him by the student. The video allegedly contained representations of the Pulwama Terror attack. The student's "justification" for the assault, that questioning by the teacher has hurt his nationalist sentiment, is completely unacceptable, the teachers body said. "Teachers and students must be guaranteed the freedom to express their own views and argue their own opinions, however unpopular or contrarian, within a democratic educational institution. This freedom is integral to the survival of critical thinking," DUTA said in a statement. It said an educator's prerogative to introduce heterogenous ideas and question or insist on empirical verification of any statement or representation is sacrosanct, as without this prerogative, learners cannot be guided towards either objective awareness or self-reflexive doubt. "Any kind of coercion and violent imposition of majoritarian views and sentiments is inimical to the fundamental tenets of our Constitution and to the spirit of scientific inquiry, without which no educational institution can survive," the press statement stated. The teachers body demanded that the Delhi University vice-chancellor should take stock of the threatening situation and initiate prompt disciplinary action to protect the dignity of teachers and maintain the academic character of the university. "Had the vice-chancellor taken strong deterrent action in the case of similar incidents in the recent past, such as the assault of a teacher in SRCC and the vandalisation of the office of the Dean, law faculty, misguided students may not have been emboldened to engage in such violent and objectionable behaviour," it said. DUTA also urged the police authorities to act without bias and in conformity with democratic values against such unruly elements who wish to destabilize and vitiate the academic environment in the University. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dubai welcomed a record 15.92 million tourists in 2018, the tourism authority said Sunday, but the rise was marginal due to drops in visitors from the Gulf, India and Britain. The number of international visitors last year grew by just 0.8 per cent, far below the five per cent and six per cent rises in 2016 and 2017 respectively, Dubai Tourism said. But the emirate remains "focused on ensuring that (it) becomes the number one most visited city in the world", said Dubai Tourism chief Saeed al-Marri in a statement. Declines in the numbers of Gulf tourists, mainly from Oman and Qatar, and among Indian and British visitors were balanced out by upticks in the number of Chinese and Russians. The drop in Gulf visitors comes after the United Arab Emirates along with three other Arab countries in June 2017 boycotted GCC member Qatar. By country, Indian tourists came in first place with two million despite a slight drop from the previous year, followed by Saudis who increased marginally to 1.6 million. Britons came in third with 1.2 million tourists. Chinese tourists rose by 12 per cent to 857,000 and Russians visitors increased by 28 per cent to 678,000. The city-state, one of seven sheikhdoms that make up the UAE, aims to attract 20 million visitors annually by 2020 when it hosts the six-month global trade fair Expo 2020. Boasting the most diversified economy in the region, Dubai became a favourite tourist attraction in recent years due to its safety following turmoil in the Middle East. The desert emirate has a large number of world class opulent shopping malls, luxury resorts and even an indoor ski resort. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government would develop a legal framework to regulate unsolicited commercial messages and calls with a view to protect consumers interests, according to the draft national e-commerce policy. The draft has also asked for moving towards a system for electronic redressal of grievances including making available compensation to the aggrieved consumer electronically. It said that a transaction completed online should have an electronic system of grievances redressal which will, in turn, boost consumer confidence. In this regard, mechanisms will be developed to establish e-consumer courts as part of the mission. "Unsolicited commercial messages (on various platforms including but not limited to SMSs, emails etc.) and calls will be regulated. A legal framework for this will be developed," the 41-page draft said. For companies engaged in e-commerce marketplace space, it has said that those websites and apps must have a registered business entity in India as the importer on record or as the entity through which all sales in India are transacted. "This is important for ensuring compliance with extant laws and regulations for preventing deceptive and fraudulent practices, protection of privacy, safety and security," it said. To stop certain Chinese websites misusing Customs rules to ship goods through couriers to India, it said that as an interim measure, all such parcels shall be banned, with the exception of life-saving drugs. "India Post must conduct due diligence on 'fromandto' shipping entities and addresses and set thresholds in the shipment booking system to eliminate misuse of the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992," it said. The overall objective of this policy is to prepare and enable stakeholders to fully benefit from the opportunities that would arise from progressive digitalisation of the domestic digital economy. It also aims at streamlining protection of personal data and empower the users or consumers to have control over the data they generate and own. The policy also assumes significance as developed countries, including the US, is putting pressure on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to frame norms for trade conducted through e-commerce mode. So far, India does not have any such policy at domestic level over which it can take or finalise its stand in the WTO. In this background, the draft has suggested that during negotiations, policy space must be retained to seek disclosure of source code for facilitating transfer of technology and development of applications for local needs as well as for security. "Policy space to grant preferential treatment of digital products created within India must also be retained," it said. Further emphasising on locating computing facilities like data centres and server farms within the country, it said adding that there is a need to retain control of data to ensure job creation within the country. "Cloud computing should become an economic activity in India....AI (artificial intelligence), big data, deep learning and cutting-edge technology are going to take centre stage in the times to come. It is, therefore, imperative that regulators and law makers must create dedicated technology wings within their organisational set-ups, it said. The draft also called for giving 'infant industry' status to small firms and start-ups that want to enter the digital sector and access to data could be at the centre of this approach. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Democratic Republic of Congo's electoral commission on Saturday rejected accusations of corruption and human rights violations levelled by the US against three of its members. On Friday, the United States said it will refuse visa requests from five senior Congolese figures as well as their immediate family members over "involvement in significant corruption relating to the election process" for the country's December presidential ballot. They include Corneille Nangaa, president of the Independent National Election Commission, his vice-president Norbert Basengezi and commission aide Marcellin Mukolo Basengezi who, the State Department said, "enriched themselves through corruption, or directed or oversaw violence against people exercising their rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression". Constitutional Court president Benoit Lwamba Bindu and Aubin Minaku Ndjalandjoko, president of the National Assembly, are also on the list. On Saturday, the election commission said it "rejects the allegations of corruption and/or of human rights violations and of abuse or infringement of democracy in the exercise of its mission". In a statement, it said it reacted to the US visa decision "with stupefaction", adding that the December 30 general election had resulted in a "peaceful and democratic" transition between presidents. The commission declared Felix Tshisekedi the election winner with 38.5 per cent of the vote, beating opposition figure Martin Fayulu who was credited with 34 per cent. The vote result was later confirmed by the country's constitutional court. But Fayulu accused commission president Nangaa of "fabricating" the result and called the official count "a putsch" orchestrated by ex-president Joseph Kabila. Fayulu said he won the election with 61 per cent of the vote and should be president. The US State Department, however, did not back that claim, saying its actions were "specific to certain individuals". It said the US was committed to working with the new government "to realise its expressed commitment to end corruption and strengthen democracy and accountability, and respect for human rights". Tshisekedi's victory appears to have been peacefully accepted by the Congolese population, and other African leaders gave him their support at an African Union summit earlier this month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Sunday said he is pained that women who carry hepatitis B virus face discrimination in the society, something he will continue to fight for. Bachchan, who is the World Health Organization's Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region, said women must be treated with respect and dignity. "Discrimination against women has been most disturbing for me. This shouldn't happen. Women are half the power of the country, they are the strength of the country. They must be given the respect and dignity that all deserve," Bachchan said. "To be discriminated like this just because they are carrying hepatitis B virus is not acceptable. I will fight for this as long as I am alive," he added. The 76-year-old actor was speaking at the launch of National Action Plan on combatting viral hepatitis in India. Bachchan said this discrimination is "condemnable" and was shocked to know how things unfold for women suffering from the disease. "I have heard such horrific stories where married women were thrown out of their houses because they were suffering from hepatitis B. "I thought if my voice and face can help bring awareness, then I will be glad to do so. If I can be the living example for the citizens of the country that despite being a hepatitis B patient, I am living normally," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the three service chiefs on Monday will interact with India's defence attaches in 42 countries during which the Pulwama terror attack and the overall security challenges facing the country are expected to figure prominently, official sources said. The two-day conclave of the defence attaches is taking place in the backdrop of soaring tensions between India and Pakistan following the dastardly terror attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Days after the attack in which40 CRPF personnel were killed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the armed forces have been given free hand to respond to the strike. Islamabad said it will adequately respond to any action by New Delhi. "A range of issues, including situation along the border with Pakistan, will be discussed at the meeting. The government will also take feedback of the defence attaches on key security challenges," a military official said. India's defence attache to Pakistan and Afghanistan are also attending the conclave, sources said. The sources said the situation along India's border with China as well as geo-strategic issues relating to India's neighbourhood are also likely to figure in the conclave. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Daughters of two officers have moved the seeking formulation of a policy to protect of security forces personnel. Nineteen-year-old Preeti Kedar Gokhale and 20-year-old Kajal Mishra have sought direction to the Centre for formulation of a comprehensive policy to safeguard the rights of armed forces personnel against violations by unruly mob or individuals attacking them during the discharge of their military duty. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi is scheduled to take up the matter on Monday. The plea filed by the two children has arrayed Union of India, Ministry of Defence, and Commission (NHRC) as parties. The petitioners said that they have approached the apex court being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the substantial inaction of the respondents in addressing various acts of human right violations of the personnel, from the perpetrators of violence within the state, resulting in obstruction in the discharge of their duty as well as danger to their safety and security at the place of their deployment. The petitioners are daughters of officials -- one serving and another retired. They are "greatly disturbed by the incidents of unruly and disruptive mobs" pelting stones at soldiers and army convoys in counter-insurgency area like Shopian in "The petitioners are further disturbed by the troops in the Indian Army, having to suffer the ire of stone pelters, while they are discharging their duty of maintaining peace and security in the area of their deployment," the plea said. Referring to FIRs being lodged against the army personnel, the plea said that cases are lodged if any action in retaliation or in self-defence is taken against the perpetrators of stone pelting. "The petitioners have no grievance to any complaint/FIR being filed against any armed forces personnel, for any act done by them, which amounts to any criminal offence under the law for the time being in force. However, they are very much aggrieved by the fact that no similar action is taken against the perpetrators of violence, against the armed force personnel," it said. The petition said that it was shocking to note that a former chief minister of declaring in the legislative assembly that as many as 9,760 FIRs registered against the stone pelters would be withdrawn as they were first-time offenders. "It is pertinent to note that firstly, the state is not entitled to withdraw an FIR, once registered against a person without following the due process of law, as provided in the CrPC/RPC; secondly, the complainant or the victim of the offence is entitled to prosecute the perpetrator of a crime against him," it said. The petition said that depriving the armed forces personnel of their right to prosecute a person, who has committed an offence against them, is a violation of their fundamental right to life and liberty, including the right to legal recourse. "Further, armed forces personnel are also derided of their basic human rights of defending themselves against assault and safeguarding their life and limb," it said. The petition said that the petitioners have made a complaint regarding human rights violation to the NHRC and had cited the specific instances but the commission had later transferred the complaint to the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) of Jammu and Kashmir on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction. The petitioners sought setting aside of the order dated January 4 of the NHRC transferring the representation to the SHRC and direction to complete the probe of human rights violations of armed forces personnel. "There is no mechanism put in place, by the Centre or the State to deal with such brazen acts of human rights violation of the forces. The armed forces personnel is deployed in these disturbed areas, by orders of the respondents, to discharge their duties. As such, it is necessary that the respondent No. 1 (Centre), puts in place a mechanism to deal with and enforce the security of its forces," the plea said. An Electronic Voting Machine is "information" under the Right to Information Act and can be demanded by an applicant from the Election Commission of India on a payment of Rs 10, the Central Information Commission has ruled. This implies the Election Commission has to respond to an RTI application seeking the EVM either by providing it or refusing it under exemption clauses in the Act. But that also can be contested before the CIC, the highest adjudicating authority in RTI matters. Deciding a unique RTI application, through which the applicant had sought an EVM from the Election Commission, Chief Information Commissioner Sudhir Bhargava recently said the machine was covered under the definition of "information" and can be demanded from the ECI. The Election Commission had rejected the application saying the EVMs held by it do not come under the definition of "information". The applicant, Rajaak Khan Haider, approached the CIC with a strong argument that as per Section 2(f) and 2(i) of the RTI Act, the definition of 'information' and 'record' also includes 'any model or any sample' held by a public authority, calling the rejection as wrong. Section 2(f) of the RTI Act defines 'Information' as any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force. The Election Commission representative admitted that model and samples of the machines are available with it but the same are only kept for training purpose, and not saleable to the general public. Tendering unconditional apology for rejection, the Election Commission representative agreed that it was wrong on its part but reiterated that EVMs did not come under the definition of information, an argument rejected by Bhargava. "The EVM which is available with the Election Commission in a material form and also as samples, as admitted by the respondent (ECI) during the hearing, is an information under the RTI Act," the CIC ruled. In the next sentence, however, the Commission tried to nip in the bud any aspiration of accessing the machine underlining the second contention of the EC that the software installed on these machines is an intellectual property of a third party, the disclosure of which would harm its competitive position. The CIC, however, did not give any view whether it was upholding or rejecting the EC's position on commercial confidence leaving a grey area which can be pursued further by any applicant. An information can be denied by a public authority if it attracts any exemption clauses listed in the RTI Act which also exempts information pertaining to commercial confidence or intellectual property from disclosure. One of the clauses Section 8(1)(d) exempts information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information. The issue of larger public interest in the wake of allegations of EVM tampering was not mentioned in the order. The ECI argument calling machine having propriety software was noted by the CIC but he limited his order, saying the rejection of application was "erroneous" by the ECI and a fresh reply should be sent to the applicant as per the RTI provisions. "The commission also notes that as per the respondent (ECI), the software installed in the EVM is an intellectual property of a third party, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of the third party concerned," he said but did not uphold or reject the argument. Several opposition leaders have raised "doubts" over EVMs and their functioning before the Election Commission. The opposition parties had sought moving back to the ballot paper, but after the EC made it clear there was no going back. In a meeting with the ECI recently, Opposition leaders demanded the poll panel ensure that 50 per cent of EVM results are crosschecked with voter-verifiable paper audit trails (VVPAT) before declaration of results in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The leaders had told the Election Commission the people of the country doubted the efficacy of EVMs and this issue needs to be redressed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the government set to transfer the first instalment of Rs 2,000 to about 2 crore farmers over the next few days, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday termed it as a bribe for votes and said the greater shame is that the Election Commission is unable to stop it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday will launch the Rs 75,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, by transferring the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers. Today is the 'Cash for Vote' day. The BJP government will officially give a bribe of Rs 2000 per agricultural family to get their votes, Chidambaram said in a series if tweets. The money will go to the cultivating farmer as well as the absentee landlord, the former finance minister said. Nothing can be more shameful in a democracy than 'Bribe for Votes'. The greater shame is that the Election Commission is unable to stop the 'Bribe for Votes', he said. Under the scheme, another one crore farmers will be covered in the next 2-3 days, an Agriculture Ministry official had said. In the interim Budget 2019-20, the central government had announced the PM-KISAN scheme under which Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three instalments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to two hectares. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal Sunday claimed that Chandigarh BJP MP Kirron Kher was "inaccessible" to the people of her constituency and that only an AAP MP, if elected, could ensure development. Addressing a rally here in support of former Union minister Harmohan Dhawan, who had joined the AAP recently and will be contesting from Chandigarh in the Lok Sabha polls, Kejriwal urged the people to vote for the AAP candidate. "You made Kirron Kher MP from here during last elections. She is an actress from Mumbai and keeps going there to earn money," said the AAP convener as he lashed out at the actress-turned politician, who is a first-time MP. "What did Chandigarh people get by electing her? They find themselves betrayed. Bhagwant Mann (AAP MP) tells me that she rarely comes to Parliament too and if she does, she hardly speaks," he added. "She was an actress and wanted to become MP only as a status symbol. But don't repeat that mistake and this time give your vote to Harmohan Dhawan, whom you have tried and tested in the past as well," said Kejriwal, flanked by former BJP leader and actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha and Mann. In his short speech, Kejriwal listed out the work done by his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi despite facing the odds. "We have changed the image of government schools and hospitals in Delhi. Now, people want to get their children admitted to government schools which have shown good results in various examinations," he said. "We have given an order to construct 10,000 streets in Delhi. There are so much we are doing. During past 70 years, all those who ruled our country filled their coffers. If you give your vote to Harmohan Dhawan, we will carry out development work here too," he added. He further claimed that Delhi had the cheapest power tariffs in the entire country. "I am told that power is costlier (than Delhi) in Chandigarh," he said. Kejriwal also slammed the Union government accusing it of trying to destabilise his government. "CBI raids, Delhi Police raids, 20 of our MLAs being arrested, LG raising objections on every file... These are the odds we faced. Despite all this, we ensured development, which the BJP and the Congress failed to do in the last 70 years," he said. Sinha too attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing of him running a "one-man show" in the country. "What have you (Modi) done? Are you only giving speeches or have you done some work? Are you only touring nations, announcing awards or are you really generating avenues of employment? Are the farmers are getting their dues?," he said. On Modi's last Mann ki Baat on Sunday before the general elections, Sinha said: "Thank god Mann Ki Baat has come to end, now we can talk about dil ki baat, which si that change is the order of the day. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The superintendent of an exam centre and 14 invigilators are among 17 people arrested here for allegedly aiding mass copying during Class 12th Physics paper, authorities have said. Besides, two private individuals have also been arrested but no student is apprehended, they said. District Magistrate Ajay Shanker Pandey told newsmen Sunday a police case has been registered against the 17 arrested and that a recommendation has been sent to the examination board to cancel Saturday's Physics board paper at the centre. He said an inquiry has been ordered and Chief Development Officer (CDO) Arachna Verma will conduct the probe. He said all the staff deployed at the centre during the Physics exam have been changed. A probe has been ordered against the sector magistrate (an examination officer who looks after multiple centres) and station (or centre) magistrate as well. The DM said the action against the alleged copying mafias would be taken under the Gangsters Act. The alleged mass copying was caught when the Special Task Force raided the examination centre upon a tipoff. Officials said solved examination papers, pistol, mobile and exam guides were also recovered. A car was also seized. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CPN-Maoist faction, led by Netra Bahadur Chand 'Biplav', is allegedly involved in a powerful explosion outside the headquarters of a Malaysia-based telecommunications company , Nepal's Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa said on Sunday. The explosion, which took place on Friday night, was plotted to thwart the Nepal Investment Summit scheduled for March, he added. A 49-year-old man was killed while two others were injured in a powerful explosion which occurred outside the headquarters of Ncell, a telecommunications company mostly owned by Malaysia-based Axiata Group Berhad, in Nakkhu of Lalitpur district, on the outskirts of Nepal's capital Kathmandu. "Information has been received that the Biplav group, that is preparing to run a parallel government, planted the explosion," Thapa said at a meeting of State Affairs and Good Governance Committee in Parliament on Sunday. Thapa claimed that the government has also received a copy of Biplav-led party's recent meeting, which also indicated plans to carry out explosions in the country. The minister also said that the government was preparing to introduce a new plan of action to improve security situation in the country. Meanwhile, Ncell towers were attacked in at least 12 other places including Nawalparasi, Kavre, Kaski, Kanchanpur, Rautahat and Rupendehi districts outside Kathmandu by the suspected Maoist cadres. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Stepping up its efforts to retain power at the Centre, the BJP will launch a beneficiary outreach programme-- Kamal Jyoti Sampark Parv-- on February 26 across the country, a party leader said Sunday. The saffron party will showcase the various welfare and developmental works undertaken by its governments at the Centre and the states with party chief Amit Shah likely to participate in a programme to be held in Ghazipur district of eastern Uttar Pradesh. "The programme will be held across the country on February 26, with BJP chief Amit Shah likely to participate in the programme in eastern UP's Ghazipur district," UP Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) media coordinator Rakesh Tripathi told PTI. The programme will be held from 5 to 6 pm and more than one crore lamps in shape of lotus flower (the election symbol of the BJP) will be lit, he added. The lamps will "signify the light and brightness in the life of the beneficiaries of various welfare schemes of the government", he said. "Through these lamps (named Kamal Deepak by partymen), the beneficiaries will be told that the prosperity, which has ushered in their lives, is due to the broad, holistic and inclusive policies of the BJP," Triapthi said. The ruling party plans to light lamps in the houses and localities that have benefitted from a number of schemes of the BJP governments at the Centre and in states. It has put the number of these beneficiaries at 22 crore. Efforts will also be made by the party workers to disseminate information among villagers especially in those villages, which were electrified under the regime of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Party workers were also of the view that since Uttar Pradesh was politically crucial for the saffron party, several organisational events of the party should be launched in the state. Elaborating on the possible schedule of the senior BJP leaders of the state, Tripathi said, "UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey will be in Ghaziabad, while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was likely to be in Etah." "Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya will be Phaphamau (Prayagraj district) and deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma will be in rural Lucknow," he added. Similarly, Govardhan Jhadapia will be in Barabanki district, while Union minister Santosh Gangwar will be in Bareilly. Speaker of UP Legislative Assembly Hriday Narayan Dixit is likely to be in Unnao, and Suresh Khanna will be in Kaushambi, Tripathi said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Finnish telecom gear maker Sunday said will conduct trial of the former's homogeneous fronthaul solution which can support 4G and 5G services. "The modernisation of the transport infrastructure is crucial for ensuring the ultra-high speed and extremely low latency, promised by 5G. We look forward to this trial with Bharti Airtel, which is a crucial step towards preparing the networks for 5G," Sanjay Malik, Head of India Market, Nokia, said in a statement. This trial is part of Bharti Airtel's strategy to make its network future ready to meet the growing demand for high speed data in India, it added. A official said that no final date to start trial has been decided but it is ready with the solution for trial. said this trial has the potential to improve the performance of service providers' existing network even as it prepares the network for 5G and to meet the future demand. Fronthaul equipment are installed between antenna, which receives signals, and baseband unit, which processes and directs communication in telecom network. With 5G coming in, networks will require huge capacity to process data. Nokia's converged fronthaul transport solution helps bring down fibre requirement, the statement said. "The upgrade of the transport network is also essential to cater to the booming consumption of mobile broadband services and enable world-class digital services. Nokia is our longstanding partner and we look forward to their support in our journey towards 5G," Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel, said. The Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested a Bawaria gang member wanted in a string of cases, including dacoity and murder, across the state, officials said here on Sunday. Rajkishor Bahelia alias Kaale Pradhan (55) was held around 11.30 pm in Ghaziabad's Sahibabad area by the Noida unit of the STF, the officials said. Bahelia, carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on his arrest, was most recently wanted in sensational cases of dacoities in Lucknow, Barabanki and his home district Farrukhabad, a senior official said. "Our field unit was constantly tracking him since the dacoities. On the basis of a reliable input that he would be coming to Mopura, in Ghaziabad, on a motorcycle to meet somebody on Saturday, we planned an operation and trapped him," Deputy Superintendent of Police, STF, Rajkumar Mishra said. A firearm, some ammunition and five kg of cannabis were seized from his possession during the arrest, and his motorcycle was impounded, he said. "During interrogation Bahelia, who had a hideout in Delhi's Najafgarh, told the STF about his involvement in nearly two dozen cases of dacoities, several of them on national highways," he said. Bahelia revealed that he had got into crime at a young age of 17 when in his village in Farrukhabad he joined a local gang that targeted trucks and other vehicles, the official said. He has 21 cases registered against him at police stations in Eta, Farrukhabad, Kaushambi, Sitapur, Lakhimpur, Saharanpur, Gonda, Jalaun, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Lucknow and Barabanki, the DSP said. The cases include those of robbery, murder, attempt to murder. A new case has been lodged against him in Ghaziabad wherein he has been booked under the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and the Arms Act, Mishra said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan said Sunday that any attempt to scarp Article 35 A of the Indian Constitution, which provides special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was aimed at bringing about demographic changes and claimed that it was a violation of the international law. India's Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a bunch of petitions challenging Article 35A's validity soon. Article 35A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and bars people from outside the state from acquiring any immovable property in the State. It denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the State. Pakistan Foreign Office said it understands the Supreme Court of India is due to deliberate shortly on the petitions calling for scrapping of Article 35A of the Constitution. "Pakistan condemns any such attempts as these are clearly aimed at bringing about demographic changes in Jammu and Kashmir," it said in a statement. The Foreign Office (FO) said any such move would be a blatant violation of the international law and the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, which prohibit introducing material changes to the disputed territory. Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir when a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into their bus in Pulwama district, sparking outrage in the country. India launched a major diplomatic offensive against Islamabad after the Pulwama attack and highlighted Pakistan's role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy. The international community led by the US pressed Pakistan to deny safe haven to terror groups operating form its soil and bring the perpetrators of the Pulwama attack to justice. India has asked Pakistan to take immediate and verifiable action against terrorists and terror groups operating from territories under its control. New Delhi also announced the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation status for Pakistan and hiked the customs duty by 200 per cent on goods originating from Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amidst violent protests in Arunachal Pradesh, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said Sunday the state government has decided to not accept the recommendations of a high-level committee to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities, and blamed the Congress for "instigating" a section of people. In separate tweets, Rijiju said the Arunachal Pradesh government has passed an order to not accept the recommendations of the Joint High-Powered Committee to grant PRC to six communities living in Namsai and Changlang districts. Widespread violence has been reported in the state capital Itanagar and other places, leading to the death of at least two persons, injury to several and destruction of properties and vehicles. The central government has dispatched 1,000 paramilitary personnel to the state to help the administration in maintaining law and order. "Everyone must come together without blaming each other for the sake of peace. It's very unfortunate that innocent lives were lost in the violence," Rijiju, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, said. The Union minister of state for home accused the Congress of "instigating" people of the state to protest against the move to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities. Rijiju said Chief Minister Pema Khandu has clarified that the state government was not bringing the bill on PRC but only tabling the report of the Nabam Rebia-led committee consisting of members and student organisations. "It means the state government has not accepted it. In fact, Congress Party is fighting for PRC but instigating people wrongly," he said. Rebia is a cabinet minister in the state government. Rijiju alleged that the Congress has supported and "instigated" non-Arunachal Pradesh STs in Lekang area to fight for PRC but "misguided" innocent people in Itanagar. "From the beginning I have strongly urged the state government not to grant PRC unless people are convinced of full protection of indigenous rights. We must stand united," he said. People in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh have been protesting after the state government announced that it was considering issuing permanent resident certificates (PRC) to six non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APSTs) communities living in the Namsai and Changlang districts and to the Gorkhas living in Vijaynagar. Amongst those communities are Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis and Mishings. Most of these communities are recognised as Scheduled Tribes in neighbouring Assam. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress Sunday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the hooch tragedy in Assam with its president Rahul Gandhi blaming the "apathy and incompetence" of the state's BJP government for it. "The apathy and incompetence of the Assam Government has resulted in the tragic deaths of over 140 people with scores of victims in hospital, poisoned by toxic alcohol," Gandhi tweeted on Sunday afternoon. State government officials put the death toll at 124, with 331 persons undergoing treatment in hospitals. Later at a press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera took aims at Modi saying he is busy giving speeches all the time for "politics" but has not spoken even a few words on the deaths of so many people after consuming spurious liquor. " can be done with speeches but government cannot be run by it," he said. He also targeted Modi over the violence in the BJP-ruled Arunachal Pradesh amid protests against the state government's decision to give permanent resident certificates to six communities. In a broad swipe at Modi, Khera said, "He keeps travelling from morning to evening, changing clothes three-four times. But the work for which he was elected he does not do, nor does (BJP) chief ministers do. Why are you silent on such tragedies?" "This government is missing in action...We condemn his silence and incompetence," he added. Winning elections have become his only goal but there is no governance, he said and sought to know what action has been taken against the liquor mafia behind the tragedy in Assam. In Arunachal Pradesh, the house of the deputy chief minister has been attacked and Modi should answer as to what has been done to restore peace there, Khera said. In this context, the Congress spokesperson also referred to the Pulwama attack and said incidents happen but a government is known by its action following a crisis. "People have become bored of his speeches and want to know what his government did after a crisis," he said. A large number of labourers of two tea estates of Golaghat and Jorhat districts had fallen ill after drinking spurious liquor on Thursday night and many of them died later. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal met the affected people at Jorhat Medical College Hospital (JMCH) on Saturday and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs two lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those who fell ill. Sonowal said the guilty would not be spared. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Annette Bening has remained secretive about her "Captain Marvel" character till now and the Hollywood veteran has revealed that she plays the leader of Kree people, called The Supreme Intelligence. The Brie Larson-fronted first female Marvel standalone film marks the four-time Oscar nominee's first appearance in a superhero movie. In the trailer of the movie, Bening's character can be seen explaining Captain Marvel/ Carol Danvers how they saved her and gave her a new life. The actor is excited about the film and said she had fun shooting on a "secret location". "... I was literally flown in the middle of the night to a secret location to make this film," she told Stephen Colbert on his programme "The Late Show". When Colbert asked Bening where the location was, she said that she could not "divulge" the information. He tried to persuade the actor to share her secrets by promising that he "knows things" due to his status as a member of the community. Bening then asked if he knew who she played and he responded, "I can't even say whether I know that. You just broke the first rule of talking about Marvel movies." To which she revealed, "I play The Supreme Intelligence, who is a God-like entity. The leader of the Kree people. The artificial intelligence, which consists of the great intellects of the Kree people for the last million years." Her character appeared in 1967's Fantastic Four No 65 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Bening said she had "basic knowledge" about the Marvel Cinematic Universe before she was cast in the film. "When I read the script, I did find it slightly confusing. However, I took into my confidence and the confidence of the entire Disney Corporation, two of my kids, who I then told the story to and asked them to please explain to me what the hell was going on, which they then did. "Once the movie comes out, it will be clear why it was somewhat confusing," she said, adding her children were able to "divulge everything to me." Colbert asked how it was for the actor to star in her career's first superhero movie, to which she said it was "complete joy". "... And I literally did go in the middle of the night on a plane to a secret location. And the people are all so good at what they do and there's this giant machine and you're just like put into the middle of it and it was really fun for me," Bening said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Paris, TX (75460) Today Variable clouds with thunderstorms, especially during the afternoon hours. High 87F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 72F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. The nation will get a new eternal flame on Monday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the National War Memorial, but Amar Jawan Jyoti will continue as it is an "inseparable" part of the country's history, defence officials said Sunday. Modi will dedicate the memorial to the nation built in memory of soldiers killed in action since Independence, at the India Gate complex here, by lighting a flame positioned at the bottom of the stone-made obelisk. During a brief here, ahead of the inauguration, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff Lt Gen P S Rajeshwar said the Amar Jawan Jyoti, built in 1972 underneath the India Gate arch to commemorate soldiers martyred in the Indo-Pak War of 1971, "will continue to be there". "Wreath-laying ceremony on all designated days will be held at the National War Memorial built in memory of soldiers and unsung heroes who have laid down their lives defending the nation since Independence. A new flame will come up there. But the eternal flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti will stay. We have inherited that flame," he said. Amar Jawan Jyoti is a memorial symbolised by an inverted bayonet and soldier's helmet over it with an eternal flame burning beside it. It was built in 1972 underneath the India Gate arch to commemorate soldiers martyred in the Indo-Pak War of 1971. Tri-Services chiefs pay respect on occasions of national importance like Independence Day, Republic Day at the Amar Jawan Jyoti. The National War Memorial, spread over 40 acres in the India Gate complex behind the canopy, is dedicated to soldiers killed during the Indo-China War in 1962, Indo-Pak Wars in 1947, 1965 and 1971, Indian Peace Keeping Force Operations in Sri Lanka and in the Kargil Conflict in 1999, and also those in the UN peacekeeping missions. Lt Gen PJS Pannu, who also interacted with the media, said, "Amar Jawan Jyoti is an inseparable part of our history." "So much emotions are attached to it. And, it is located beneath the India Gate which itself is a war memorial, built during the British-era. So, if any old regiments wish to commemorate their important days and mark an event and pay respect, they can still do it there as well," he said. The 42 m-high India Gate was built during the British Raj as the All India War Memorial Arch to honour the soldiers who died in the First World War (1914-1918) and the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919). The landmark has the names of soldiers inscribed on its surface. "Over 80,000 Indian laid their lives in those campaigns and India Gate bears names of 13,516 etched over its surface. Amar Jawan Jyoti was built to commemorate India's victory in the Indo-Pak War of 1971. So, both flames will have their own importance," he said. Lt Gen Rajeshwar said at the new memorial there will be a wreath-laying retreat ceremony held every evening where people can join in. The names of 25,942 battle casualties have been inscribed across 16 walls at the national memorial. Asked if new names can be added there, he said, "Yes, there is a scope for that... We will hold a periodic review for that." He also informed that only names of those soldiers have been included in the new memorial, which were "frozen in time" before we began the construction work began in February last year. "The cut-off date for including those names of fallen soldiers was till 2017 for the Army and early 2018 for the Air Force and Navy," Rajeshwar said. He said footfall of about 250 can be accommodated at a time so it will be regulated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi will arrive in Goa on Sunday evening to attend to ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, an official in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said, dismissing rumours that he was in a "critical" state. The official said Parrikar, 63, was "stable". The senior BJP leader, suffering from a pancreatic ailment since the last one year and recuperating at his private residence at Dona Paula near here, was admitted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) late Saturday night. "A team of doctors, who had treated Parrikar in Delhi, would be arriving in Goa in the evening to check him at GMCH," the CMO official told PTI. "The chief minister's condition is stable. He is not critical," he said refuting rumours. State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said Parrikar's health parameters were "satisfactory". "I called on the chief minister today morning. He will be kept under observation till tomorrow. But most importantly, he is doing well and his parameters are satisfactory," he said. Rane said he was happy to see Parrikar "active and alert", and appealed to people not to speculate and instead, pray for the chief minister's speedy recovery. Parrikar had met state Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai on Saturday evening to discuss politics and administration and was later shifted to GMCH, almost four km from his residence, around 10 pm. The CMO in a statement released here on Saturday said Parrikar was taken to GMCH for upper GI endoscopy (gastrointestinal examination). "His health condition continues to be stable," it said, adding he would be kept under observation for around 48 hours. Parrikar had fallen ill on February 14, 2018 and was shifted to GMCH, from where he was taken to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai the next day. The chief minister returned to Goa on February 20, 2018 to present the state budget. He left for the US for treatment on March 3, 2018 and returned on June 14, 2018. He then attended monsoon session of the Assembly from July 19 to August 3, and left for the US again on August 10 for a second round of check-up. He returned to Goa on August 22, 2018 and was later shifted to at New Delhi on September 15. After almost a month-long treatment, he returned to Goa on October 14, 2018. Parrikar resumed his office on January 2, 2019 after a gap of two-and-a-half months. On January 27, he attended the inauguration of third bridge on the Mandovi river here along with Union minister Nitin Gadkari. He also attended the Budget session on January 29 and presented the state budget next day. On the last day of the session on January 31, he was taken for treatment to in Delhi and he returned to Goa on February 5. Parrikar also addressed Atal Booth Karyakarta Sammelan on February 9 in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah. Curtains came down Sunday on the five-day Aero India 2019, Asia's premier show, which saw the indigenously developed light combat aircraft Tejas being given the Final Operational Clearance. The mega event began on a sombre note on February 20 as a mid-air collision between two Surya Kiran jets of the IAF aerobatic team during rehearsals, left one pilot dead and two injured. Following the mishap, the team was taken off the air show on the inaugural day. However, the Surya Kiran team took to the skies on Saturday, drawing cheers from visitors as they flew in an incomplete diamond formation, known as "The Missing Man" (aerial salute), as a mark of respect to Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi, who died in the accident. The Rafale team also paid tributes to the pilot by flying at low speed during the air display. The event was hit by yet another tragedy after a fire erupted at the parking lot of Yelahanka Air Base here Saturday, gutting about 300 vehicles. However, the show went on as per schedule after a brief delay. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited the site and took stock of the situation this morning. On the inaugural day, the Minister had invited investors to capitalise on the ecosystem prevailing in the aero space and other sectors and pitched for joint venture partnerships, saying it offered a big market in Defence manufacturing. During the five-day event, ace India shuttler P V Sindhu created history by becoming the first woman to fly the Tejas. Army Chief General Bipin Rawat also flew a sortie on the Tejas. The aero show witnessed the handing over of the FOC certificate and Release to Service Document (RSD) relating to Tejas Dhanoa on the opening day. FOC involves addition of key capabilities to the Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) aircraft which are Beyond Visual Range Missile capabilities,Air-to-Air Refuelling, Air-to-Ground FOC earmarked weapons and general flight envelope expansion. Combat aircraft Rafale was the star attraction at the show as the breathtaking display of manoeuvres by the aerobatic team cast a spell on the aviation enthusiasts. Around four lakh people who attended the event were treated to a spectacular flying display of fighter, civilian aircraft and helicopters. As part of the women's day celebrated Saturday, five women flew high in the skies. Mohana Singh, one of India's three women fighter pilots, flew a Hawk-i while flight lieutenants Amardeep Kaur, Sindhu Reddy and Second Lieutenant Khushboo Gupta, flew Chetak. The aerobatic team of Sarang that comprised four Dhruvs, included one chopper piloted by Second Lieutenant Sneha Kulkarni. Besides, several foreign and domestic companies, which took part in the event displayed various models of military aircraft. Ahmedabad-based Adani group along with its Israeli partner Elbit Systems showcased the Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicles, which are being produced in Hyderabad and sold by the joint venture company. Also, French aviation giant Airbus and American defence firm Lockheed Martin displayed their H225M helicopter and new F-21 fighter jets, respectively. In yet another development, HAL delivered three Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv aircraft to the Indian Army. The Indian Army had placed an order for 40 Druv aircraft- 22 ALH Mk III and 18 Mk IV Rudra, with HAL in August of 2017. Belgium-based pilot training device and flight simulator company Euramec also announced plans to open a regional sales and technology centre in Bengaluru in 2020. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Auto component manufacturers have approached the government seeking imposition of minimum import price on aluminium alloy wheels for two-wheelers imported from China, citing difficulties faced by the domestic industry. The Auto Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) has written to Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu observing that "domestic manufacturers are facing difficulties in order to compete and continue a sustainable business model due to subsidy given by the Chinese government and thus making import favourable". It requested the government to take measures to address this concern "by introducing minimum import price for a minimum of three years on aluminium alloy wheels for two wheelers" in order to encourage investments. Union Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete is expected to take up the issue with Prabhu next week, official sources said. The Heavy Industries Ministry implements schemes and policies for the development of India's automobile sector. Earlier this month, the Commerce and Industry Ministry in reply to a Lok Sabha question had said the difficulties being faced by domestic manufacturers of two-wheeler alloy wheels have been brought to the notice of the government. India is the largest manufacturer of two-wheelers in the world. In 2017-18, two-wheeler sales in the country stood at 2,01,92,672 units as against 1,75,89,738 units in 2016-17, up 14.8 per cent. According to the ACMA, there is an annual requirement of around 35 million alloy wheels in India for two wheelers, out of which only 13 million wheels are being produced by domestic manufacturers while the remaining around 22 million wheels are being imported, mainly from China. The government has levied anti-dumping duty on four-wheeler alloy wheels imported from China, Korea and Thailand for five years from the date of imposition of provisional anti dumping duty on April 11, 2014, and the duty is valid up to April 10, 2019. The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has initiated the sunset review investigation of the prevailing duties on August 10, 2018. The investigation is underway and is to be finalised before April 9, 2019, if not extended further by the Government. The ACMA had earlier sought inclusion of alloy wheels used in two-wheelers under the ongoing sunset review investigation. However, sources said the Commerce Ministry was of the view that the request is not legally tenable, and has advised representatives from the industry to file a formal application seeking imposition of anti dumping duty with the DGTR. "At present, investigation is going on four-wheeler alloy wheels and since during this, anti-dumping duty cannot be extended to another segment, we have requested the government to protect interest of domestic two-wheeler alloy wheel makers by putting a minimum import price on the item," ACMA Director General Vinnie Mehta told PTI. Minimum Import Price (MIP) is a temporary measure to provide protection to domestic farmers and industry from predatory pricing of imports. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade in consultation with the administrative ministry considers the request from the industry for prescribing MIP on import of specific goods. "Similar to result seen in four wheelers, we foresee opportunity for investment of approximately Rs 2,000 crore and employment generation of around 5,000 people by localisation of alloy wheels for two wheelers. Further it will strengthen the Make in India initiative curbing such high number of imports," the auto component industry body said. Anti-dumping duty has also been imposed by the Government on "flat base steel wheels" originating in or exported from China in September, 2018 for five years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Trump campaign chairman committed crimes that cut to "the heart of the criminal justice system" and over the years deceived everyone from bookkeepers and banks to federal prosecutors and his own lawyers, according to a sentencing memo filed by special counsel Robert Mueller's office. In the memo, submitted Saturday in one of two criminal cases Manafort faces, prosecutors do not yet take a position on how much prison time he should serve or whether to stack the punishment on top of a separate sentence he will soon receive in a Virginia prosecution. But they do depict Manafort as a longtime and unrepentant criminal who committed "bold" crimes, including under the spotlight of his role as campaign chairman and later while on bail, and who does not deserve any leniency. "For over a decade, Manafort repeatedly and brazenly violated the law," prosecutors wrote. "His crimes continued up through the time he was first indicted in October 2017 and remarkably went unabated even after indictment." Citing Manafort's lies to the FBI, several government agencies and his own lawyer, prosecutors said that "upon release from jail, Manafort presents a grave risk of recidivism." The 25-page memo, filed in federal court in Washington, is likely the last major filing by prosecutors as Manafort heads into his sentencing hearings next month and as Mueller's investigation approaches a conclusion. Manafort, who has been jailed for months and turns 70 in April, will have a chance to file his own sentencing recommendation next week. He and his longtime business partner, Rick Gates, were the first two people indicted in the special counsel's investigation. Overall, Mueller has produced charges against 34 individuals, including six former Trump aides, and three companies. Manafort's case has played out in stark contrast to those of other defendants in the Russia investigation, such as former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who prosecutors praised for his cooperation and left open the possibility of no jail time. Manafort pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy arising from his Ukrainian political consulting work and his efforts to tamper with witnesses. As part of that plea, he agreed to cooperate with Mueller's team, a move that could have helped him avoid a longer prison sentence. But within weeks, prosecutors say he repeatedly lied to investigators, including about his interactions with Konstantin Kilimnik, a business associate who the U.S. says has ties to Russian intelligence. That deception voided the plea deal. The sentencing memo comes as Manafort, who led Donald Trump's 2016 campaign for several critical months, is already facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison in a separate tax and bank fraud case in Virginia. Mueller's team endorsed a sentence of between 19.5 and 24.5 years in prison in that case. Prosecutors note that the federal guidelines recommend a sentence of more than 17 years, but Manafort pleaded guilty last year to two felony counts that carry maximum sentences of five years each. Five people were killed and 28 others injured after two trucks collided in Nashik district of Maharashtra on Sunday, police said. The victims were heading from Nashik to Kedrai for a religious ceremony when their truck collided with another heavy vehicle coming from the opposite direction, a police official at the rural control room said. The mishap took place around 11 am near a hotel on the Mumbai-Agra National Highway, located about 34 km from the district headquarters, he said. Five passengers of the ill-fated truck died on the spot. Besides, 28 others, including some women and children, travelling in the same vehicle received injuries in the mishap, he said. The injured people were admitted in two private hospitals at Pimpalgaon Baswant town in Nashik, he added. Further details were awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Five employees of a private bank were killed and three others injured in a head-on collision between two cars on the Pokaran-Chacha highway here Sunday, the police said. The deceased were on their way to Pokaran after attending a bank seminar when their car collided with an SUV coming from the opposite direction, SHO Lathi Police Station Kapoora Ram said. All occupants of the car-- Rajendra Singh from Sikar, Pradeep Chauhan from Jhunjhunu, Rahul Arora from Ajmer, Sumit Sahu and Mukesh Nitharwal from Sikar district perished in the crash, the police said. While, three persons travelling in the SUV including a village panchayat head were injured and referred to Jodhpur for treatment, he added. The bodies will be handed over to the family members on Monday, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three people were killed when the car in which they were travelling collided head-on with a cement-laden lorry near Pollachi in the district Sunday, police said. The trio was returning to Sivaganga from Kozhikode in Kerala, when the accident happened, the police said. Two of them died on the spot while the other succumbed to injuries in hospital, they added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police Sunday arrested three persons from the district after a 23-year-old woman alleged they abducted and raped her. The three accused -- Shubam, Gaurav and Atul -- were arrested in connection with the gangrape case at a village under Mansurpur police station in the district. Police said the woman has alleged that she was abducted and gangeraped on February 22. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 12 people suffered burn injuries after a pole supporting a pandal at a religious gathering came in contact with a high-tension overhead wire and led to a fire incident here, police said Sunday. The incident happened in Dubauli Khurd village during a yagya. Short-circuits were reported from various places within the pandal area, police officer said. Basti MP Harish Dwivedi visited the injured at the hospital they were admitted to. Police said two persons, who were seriously injured, have been referred to Lucknow. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 1,000 paramilitary troops have been dispatched to Arunachal Pradesh as widespread violence erupted in the state over the recommendation to grant permanent resident certificates (PRC) to six communities, officials said Sunday. At least two persons have died as protests broke out on Saturday after the state government announced that it was considering issuing PRC to six non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribes (APSTs) living in the Namsai and Changlang districts. The communities are Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis, Mishings and Gorkhas. Most of them are recognised as Scheduled Tribes in neighbouring Assam. The Ministry of Home Affairs has dispatched 10 additional companies of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for deployment in law-and-order duties in Itanagar and other violence-hit places, an official said. The state government will deploy the troops as per the requirement of the local administration. Five ITBP companies have already been deployed in the state, the official said. A company of paramilitary comprises 100 personnel. The ITBP personnel have been sent on an urgent basis as Itanagar and other areas have witnessed widespread violence, destruction of properties and vehicles on Sunday, officials said. The mob has tried to set ablaze the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and also tried to target residence of Chief Minister Pema Khandu, another official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The West Bengal government on Sunday gave compensation cheques of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of labourers from the state who were killed in an explosion at an illegal fire cracker factory in Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi on Saturday. Nine, of the 13 dead, hailed from Bengal's Malda district. A dozen others were injured in the blast that occurred at Rothaan village, 30 km from Bhadohi district headquarters. State urban development minister Firhad Hakim handed over the cheques to some of the bereaved families at Enayetpur in Malda and said eligible members of each family would be given a job under the state's Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). He also promised old age pension to the widows and mothers of the deceased persons. "Our government is providing a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to each of the nine families. The district magistrate has signed cheques for distribution among the kin of the deceased following directions from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee," Hakim stated. "We are also talking to the local administration to ensure pension to the widows and mothers of the deceased," he said. Hakim said the bodies of the deceased labourers were expected to reach Malda by Monday. A team comprising the Malda Deputy Magistrate and state police officers has accompanied family members of the deceased to Bhadohi to bring back their bodies, police said. Stressing that the Mamata Banerjee government was ready to provide all kind of assistance to the bereaved families, Hakim criticised the Uttar Pradesh administration for the explosion, "What is the condition of law and order in Uttar Pradesh? How can Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath come to West Bengal to question the state of affairs here?" he asked. --IANS mgr/rtp/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced that he is breaking off all political and diplomatic ties with the Colombian government. "My patience is exhausted, I can no longer bear it that the territory of Colombia lends itself to aggression against Venezuela, so I have decided to break off all political and diplomatic relations with the fascist government of Colombia," Efe news quoted Maduro as telling his supporters on Saturday. He cried out that Colombian "ambassadors and consuls must leave Venezuela within 24 hours," and added, "oligarchy, get out...out of here, oligarchy, enough is enough." Maduro said it has become obvious "how Colombian territory is being used by the government of Mr (Ivan) Duque" to attack him, a reference to the help the neighbouring country has provided so that the humanitarian aid stored there can be transported into Venezuela. "Never before has a Colombian President fallen so low or has worked against Venezuela the way Mr. Ivan Duque has done, never before, never - it's like he's throwing stones," Maduro said. "He has the face of a little angel but I'd like to grab his cheeks and say...you're the devil, Ivan Duque." For several months humanitarian aid has been stored at the Colombian border city of Cucuta to meet the needs of Venezuela, a country that for some five years has suffered severe shortages of food and medicines. On Friday, the "Venezuela Aid Live" concert was held in Cucuta with the participation of 30 local and international artists to hail the arrival of humanitarian aid. Opposition leader Juan Guaido made an appearance at the event, a month after proclaiming himself the interim President of Venezuela. Guaido is staying in Cucuta and has been received and accompanied not only by Duque, but also by the Presidents of Chile, Sebastian Pinera, and of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benitez, as well as by Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS). The Venezuelan President also said this Saturday that under no circumstances will he ever "bow down" to those people and asked the military, the militia and his supporters to defend him if ever he is ousted. "My life is dedicated solely to the defence of the homeland, and under no circumstances will I ever bow down. I will never surrender, I will always defend our homeland with my own life if it is necessary to defend it," the president told the thousands of supporters who poured into the streets of Caracas "to defend the revolution." In his statement he asked the military, militia and supporters to come out in a "civil-military union...if something happens to me someday." --IANS vin/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has said that he will depart for Hanoi on Monday for his second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, early tomorrow for a Summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore," Trump tweeted on Sunday. Trump hailed his "great relationship" with Kim, adding that North Korea could "fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World" in the absence of nuclear weapons, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim left Pyongyang on Saturday afternoon by train for Hanoi for the second US-N Korea summit. Trump told the press last week that his trip to Vietnam would be "very successful," anticipating his two-day meeting with Kim would "accomplish a lot." Trump's first meeting with Kim in Singapore in June last year resulted in improved US-N Korea relations. However, differences on such key issues as a roadmap for denuclearisation, the lifting of sanctions and whether to issue a war-ending declaration still hinder negotiations. --IANS vin/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The IL&FS bond toxicity contagion is spreading rapidly. The virus has now spread to a rather large body of savers, in this case insured, which coming as it does just before the general election is not good news for the government. With a concerned top gun and West Bengal Chief Minister and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) both expressing their displeasure over the exposure of 1.5 million salaried employees to these highly toxic bonds in IL&FS, the emergence of Postal (PLI) policyholders being exposed to the same bonds directly will lead to soul searching by the government. It is imperative for the government to take congnisance of this terminal decline in these bonds and to look at an immediate corrective strategy to arrest the growing panic. What is worrisome is that at the end of 2016-17, 213,323 new policies were added to the PLI policy holders' list with a sum assured of Rs 11,096.67 crore. For the total number of 4.68 million policies at the end of the FY 2016-17, the aggregate sum of Rs 1,13,084.31 crore was involved which is humongous by itself. The fund balance at the end of FY 2016-17 was Rs 55,058.61 crore while premium income for that year was Rs 7233.89 crore. Given that this is business, its exposure to the toxic bonds is direct, unlike salaried employees of private and PSU companies which is indirect through EPFO and Pension Funds. Top of the line private and public sector companies as exposed by IANS are part of this myriad list. The ever burgeoning community of salaried employees is concerned about its deposited with the Organisation (EPFO). At the cutting edge of the ever burgeoning IL&FS crisis, these employees are exposed to toxic investments. Most of these Employee Provident Funds and Employee Pension Funds have already stated that the IL&FS resolution plan must provide repayment before secured creditors as the resolution framework proposed by the company doesn't provide for any payment to secured creditors. PLI is the oldest company in which was formed on February 1, 1884, under British The insurance company was initially set up for the welfare of postal employees. Their plans are exclusive to public sector employees. As far back as 1894, it became the first insurance company to cover female employees of the P&T Department. It is enormously popular because it is the only insurer in the Indian market today which gives the highest return (bonus) with the lowest premium charged for any product in the market. PLI has grown substantially from a few hundred policies in 1884 to more than 4.6 million policies as of March 31, 2017. It now covers employees of Central and State Governments, Central and State Public Sector Undertakings, Universities, Government aided educational institutions, nationalised banks, local bodies, autonomous bodies, joint ventures having a minimum of 10 per cent government/PSU stake, credit cooperative societies etc. PLI also extends the facility of insurance to the officers and staff of the defence services and paramilitary forces. Apart from single insurance policies, PLI also manages a Group Insurance scheme for the Extra Departmental Employees (Gramin Dak Sevaks) of the Department of Posts. PLI is an exempted insurer under Section 118 (c) of the Insurance Act of 1938. It is also exempted under Section 44 (d) of LIC Act, 1956. If one adds a vast number of 4.68 million policies which are now exposed to this new bug, then the number of salaried and other types of government employees rises to close to 6.1 million. The company enjoys a vast network spread across the country with around 1,55,669 branches making it India's largest and also the most trusted retail and financial services provider. When contacted on the new expose, IL&FS declined to comment. The types of policies vary and are essentially five in number -- Whole Life Assurance (Suraksha), Endowment Assurance (Santosh), Convertible Whole Life Assurance (Suvidha), Anticipated Endowment Assurance (Sumangal), Joint Life Assurance (Yugal Suraksha) and Children Policy (Bal Jeevan Bima). Some of the affected entities have filed an intervening petition with the tribunal (NCLAT), thereby impleading themselves in this gargantuan case on how to run a corporate into the ground, include Apco Infratech, Apco, Titan, Asian Paints PF, Asian Paints Management Cadre Superannuation scheme, Aditya MF, PF, Titan Watches, (HUL), M & M PF, Himami, Bajaj Finance, EPF, Max Financial Services PF Trust, IDBI Trusteeship Services Ltd, IndusInd Bank, Hudco Employees CPF, MMTC CPF, 63 Moons, Nayara Energy EPF, Indian Oil Corp, ITPO, CIDCO, SBI PF, GUVNL PF, Ambuja Cement, HDFC AMC, IREDA among The employee provident funds of various companies and other entities had invested in IL&FS bonds and bondholders are unsecured and may or may not get paid in the ongoing crisis at IL&FS. In any case, they are seen pretty much last on the priority list. Three people, including a woman and her two daughters were killed when a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a house north of Yemen's capital Sanaa, a relative and local health authorities said. The father was injured in the airstrike on Bait al-Tawki's house, according to Mohammed al-Tawki, a relative to the family, who spoke with Xinhua news agency over phone. The attack took place in the southern part of Nehm district, about 30 km north of Sanaa, reported Xinhua. Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile and seized much of the country's north, including Sanaa. The four-year-long civil war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, displaced 3 million others, and pushed the country to the brink of famine. --IANS vin/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) DMDK Treasurer Premalatha on Sunday said alliance talks are being held with major parties and discussed with leaders who called on party chief A. Vijayakant. She also said the DMDK will chalk out its plan and score a massive victory in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls. Speaking to reporters here Premalatha, wife of Vijayakant, thanked DMK President M.K. Stalin for calling on Vijayakant to enquire about his health. She said apart from enquiring about Vijayakant's health, other issues were also discussed. Recalling what Congress leader S. Thirunavukarasar told the media after meeting Vijayakant, she said when two leaders meet other issues would also be discussed. She said electoral alliance cannot be decided in a hurry while DMDK has not hesitated to go it alone. According to Premalatha, there is no space for a third front as almost all the political parties have aligned with either AIADMK or DMK. The DMDK first held alliance talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the AIADMK. The ruling AIADMK is maintaining that talks with DMDK are on and soon an alliance would be finalised. She said Kamal Haasan has said his party would contest alone in all the Lok Sabha seats. On Friday, Stalin called on Vijayakant a day after Congress leader Thirunavukarasar met the DMDK leader and urged him to take a decision on the alliance that is good for the nation. Speaking to reporters Stalin said Vijayakant has returned from the US after treatment and he had met him to enquire about his health. Stalin said he did not speak about with Vijayakant as the purpose of his visit was only to enquire about his health. On Thursday, Thirunavukarasar called on Vijayakant at his residence and requested him to take "a good decision" taking into consideration the prevailing condition in the country. "He (Vijayakant) is a leader of a political party. I am also a leader and a politician. This is election time. If we say we did not talk politics, I would be lying," Thirunavukarasar told reporters. On being queried about whether he asked the DMDK to join the Congress-DMK alliance, Thirunavukarasar said he had asked him to take "a good decision" in the interest of the nation. --IANS vj/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tihar Jail authorities on Sunday denied occurence of any mishap or untoward incident involving Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah, according to a statement issued by the Union Home Ministry. "Shabir Shah is absolutely fit and fine. All other inmates from Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan are also fine. The prison authorities have appealed to all to be cautious against fake news," said Shailendra Parihar, DIG, Tihar Jail, in response to reports of a mishap involving Shah. Shah was arrested in 2017 in a money laundering case and has been lodged in the Tihar Central Jail since then. A Delhi court on Saturday deferred hearing on his bail plea till April 2. --IANS som/rtp/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A senior police officer and three militants were killed on Sunday in a gunfight between security forces and holed up militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district. Police sources said Deputy Superintendent of Police Aman Thakur was killed after being shot in the head in Turigam village. "The officer sustained a bullet injury in his head during the encounter. He was shifted to a local hospital were doctors declared him dead," a police officer said. "Three militants hiding in the village have been killed and searches are now on at the site. Firing exchanges have stopped," he added. Three soldiers including two Majors were injured and have been shifted to a hospital. Civilians who poured out of their homes in a bid to disrupt the anti-militancy operations clashed with the security forces near the gunfight site. The security forces used tear smoke to disperse the protesters. Some civilians sustained injuries in the clashes. Reports said all three slain militants belonged to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) outfit which claimed responsibility for the February 14 suicide bombing that killed 40 CRPF troopers. The Army's Rashtriya Rifles, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of state police started a cordon and search operation in Turigam after being tipped off about the presence of militants there. "As the security forces tightened the cordon, militants fired at them, triggering an encounter which has now ended," an officer said. --IANS sq/mr/rak (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Sunday said a total of Rs 277 crore has been approved for disbursement to farmers in the state under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme. Speaking at the inaugural function of the PM-KISAN scheme here, Palaniswami said the state government has uploaded details of over 22 lakh farmers in the Central government's website. He said after verification, the first instalment of Rs 2,000 was disbursed on Sunday. "To date, a sum of Rs 277 crore has been approved for disbursement," Palaniswami said. Listing out the various agricultural schemes of the state government, he also said the government would be setting up a multi-disciplinary animal husbandry park in Salem district. Palaniswami said the park would be set up over a 900-acre plot at an outlay of Rs 396 crore. He said the proposed park would have an advanced veterinary hospital and modern cattle, poultry, domestic dog, bull breeds, sheep, goat farms to explain to the farmers about their scientific rearing. Palaniswami said there would be a centre to deal with refrigeration of milk, fish and eggs. Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said the PM-KISAN scheme is a historic one and a boon for the farmers. Palaniswami expressed his heartfelt thanks to Modi for the scheme that would provide income support of Rs 6,000 per year to be disbursed in three equal instalments. The scheme shows care shown by Modi for the Indian farmers. "This historic programme which is designed to provide assured income support to small and marginal farmers all over the country entails an annual outlay of Rs 75,000 crore," said Governor Banwarilal Purohit. "With this, there is a substantial addition to the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture which goes up from Rs 58,080 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 1,41,174 crore in 2019-2020," Purohit said. He said the PM-KISAN programme is being made effective from December 1, 2018 and the first instalment for the period up to March 31, 2019 would be paid during this financial year itself. "A sum of Rs 20,000 crore has been proposed for 2018-19 for this. From 2019-20, the benefit will be transferred to bank accounts through Aadhar-based database," Purohit said. Union Minister for Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal and Union Minister of State for Finance Pon Radhakrishnan also participated in the function. --IANS vj/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday visited the AIIMS trauma centre here to inquire about the health of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Amit Kumar, who was injured in a counter-terrorist operation in Pulwama. Singh later tweeted, "Officers like him lift the morale of the forces with their action. I salute his courage and the bravery exhibited by his team." Kumar, a 2006 batch IPS officer, posted as DIG South Kashmir in Anantnag district, was hit by a bullet during an operation in which three terrorists were killed on February 18. --IANS rak/rtp/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a joint operation, the Punjab Police and the Border Security Force (BSF) on Sunday recovered over 13 kg heroin in Punjab's Ferozepur district and arrested one smuggler. The recovery was made close to the international border with Pakistan, around 280 km from here, Punjab Police officials said. The heroin is valued at Rs 65 crore in international market. Inspector General of Police, Ferozepur range M.S. Chhina said on Sunday that police had set up a naka (barrier) in the border belt during which 600 gm of heroin was recovered from a Maruti car being driven by Saraj Singh. Following his questioning, 12.5 kg of the drug was recovered from near a BSF Border outpost (BoP) in Ferozepur sector, Chhina said. The BSF had recovered over 230 kg of heroin along the international boundary with Pakistan in 2018. Punjab shares a 553 km long international border, with a barbed wire fence, with Pakistan. --IANS js/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan arrived in the Moroccan city of Casablanca for a three-day visit to the north African country on Saturday. According to the British embassy in Morocco, Harry and Meghan, during the visit, are expected to fly to the town of Asni near the central city of Marrakech to visit a boarding house which was set up with the aim to reduce school drop-out rates among teenage girls, Xinhua news agency reported. The couple will visit facilities for children with special needs, attend an equestrian event and meet young Moroccan athletes and social entrepreneurs. The visit to Morocco is expected to be Harry and Meghan's last official trip outside Britain before their baby's delivery. --IANS vin/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After a suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF troopers in Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre has hiked the "Risk and Hardship" allowance of all paramilitary forces deployed in highly sensitive areas in Jammu and Kashmir and Maoist bastions. A Home Ministry order accessed by IANS was sent out on February 22 to all six paramilitary forces -- Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Sashastra Seema Bal and Assam Rifles -- regarding the step taken by the government with "immediate effect". The order, which came a week after the terror attack in Pulwama, speaks about "substantial enhancement" of the Risk and Hardship allowance. The Home Ministry order reclassified 10 districts of Jammu and Kashmir -- Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama, Badgam, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Kuwara, Bandipora and Srinagar -- in "R1H1 matrix" category. "Around 55,000 CRPF personnel posted in the region and other CAPFs (Central Armed Police Forces) will directly benefit from this move," a CRPF officer who sought anonymity told IANS. The allowance has been substantially enhanced from Rs 9,700 to Rs 17,300 per month for troops up to the rank of Inspector and from Rs 16,900 to Rs 25,000 for officers, the order said. The order has also benefited paramilitary personnel deployed in eight most Maoist-affected districts across four states. These are Bastar, Dantewada, Bijapur, Sukma and Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh; Latehar in Jharkhand, Gadchiroli in Maharastra and Malkangiri in Odisha. Around 33,000 personnel of CRPF -- the lead paramilitary force mandated for internal security and anti-Maoist operations -- will be the main beneficiary, said the CRPF official, adding other paramilitary personnel posted in these districts also stand to gain. The decision was taken by a committee constituted under the chairmanship of Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba for classification of field areas for grant of the allowance. As per the order, the personnel of CRPF's CoBRA Battallion -- a specialized unit proficient in guerrilla tactics and jungle warfare and originally established to counter Maoists -- will continue to get the allowance at the existing "RH matrix" and "R1H1". This is the second major move taken by the Centre for the welfare of paramilitary troopers after it authorized air travel to those deployed in the Kashmir Valley from Jammu and Delhi to Srinagar when they go on tour, leave and official duty. The order after the car bomber struck a CRPF bus in a 78-vehicle CRPF convoy on February 14, killing 40 personnel. The attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed group. The convoy, carrying 2,547 security personnel, was moving on the Srinagar-Jammu highway. It was the worst terror attack at one go on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) --IANS rak/mr/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hospitalised Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is under observation and should be discharged "in a day, or a day and a half max", Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said here on Sunday, urging people "not to speculate" about his health. As confirmed by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on Saturday, a team of Delhi-based All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) doctors, led by professor of gastroenterology Pramod Garg arrived at the Goa Medical College near Panaji and examined Parrikar, who was earlier hospitalised at the Delhi hospital. However, Rane while speaking to reporters late on Sunday said that while some of the medication which was prescribed to Parrikar have been changed by the AIIMS specialist, no endoscopy procedure was performed and that the former Defence Minister's parameters are stable. He also said that an infection, which Parrikar was suffering from, "is under control". Rane also said that it is better that Parrikar remains hospitalised, because "all doctors, everything is there". Rane later tweeted a public appeal urging people not to heed to rumours vis-a-vis the Chief Minister's health. "There was no endoscopy performed, nor is there any sign of bleeding. He will be kept under observation for another 24 hours and discharged thereafter. Appealing all to follow my tweets for latest updates on the CM's health and not pay heed to rumours." Rane's tweet contradicts a formal statement by the CMO on Saturday, which said that Parrikar would be undergoing an "upper GI endoscopy" procedure at the top state government hospital. Amid reports of his deteriorating health, Parrikar, who is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer, was hospitalised on Saturday evening. While the CMO on Saturday said he is stable and being admitted for a gastrointestinal endoscopy, Rane speaking to reporters in the night denied the same, triggering further speculation about Parrikar's health. Sources at the Goa Medical College, where the Chief Minister is admitted, said Parrikar is being treated for internal bleeding. "The internal bleeding was caused by a cut near the intestine," the source said. Parrikar was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in February last year and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, Delhi and New York since. Meanwhile, the Congress in Goa has asked people to pray for the Chief Minister's health and not to mock his ill-health. --IANS maya/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Navy divers have located third body, completely decomposed, in the 370-feet deep flooded coal mine in the East Jaintia Hills district, where over a dozen miners remain trapped since December 13, an official said on Sunday. "They (the Navy) detected another body on Saturday at 9.30 p.m. with the help of a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV)," a senior rescue official told IANS. However, the official said the body could disintegrate on retrieval attempt. "The body was found to be highly decomposed. The flesh started tearing off when the ROV tried to get a grip on it," he said.The ROV had detected first body on January 16 and the second on January 26 from the rat-hole coalmine. Of the 15 trapped miners, the Navy could retrieve only one body on January 23. It was identified to be of Amir Hussain of western Assam's Chirang district. Meanwhile, teams from Coal India Limited, Kirloskar Brothers Limited and KSB continue to pump water out from the abandoned mine. The coal pit disaster at Ksan village took place on December 13, 2018 despite interim ban on rat-hole coal mining in the state by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) since April 17, 2014. The tragedy came to light after five miners escaped the coal pit, flooded by water from a nearby river. The Supreme Court, which is monitoring the rescue operations, has told the government the trapped miners must be taken out of the mine, "dead" or "alive". --IANS rrk/arm/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tribute to late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on her birth anniversary. "Tributes to Jayalalithaa ji on her birth anniversary. Her contribution towards the development of Tamil Nadu will be remembered for generations. A fine administrator and compassionate leader, her welfare measures benefitted countless poor people," Modi said in a tweet. Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah also remembered the late leader. Shah, in his tweet, said: "I offer my tributes to Jayalalithaa ji on her birth anniversary. Her passion and commitment to serve the poor and marginalized shaped millions of lives in Tamil Nadu. She will continue to be fondly remembered as Amma for generations." Jayalalithaa was born on February 24, 1948. She died due to cardiac arrest on December 5, 2016. --IANS akk/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu here on Sunday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and YSR Congress President Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy are in cahoots to stall the development of Andhra Pradesh. He challenged them to join hands and fight elections against the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) instead of hatching conspiracies. Addressing a meeting, organised to welcome former Union Minister Kishore Chandra Deo into the TDP fold, Naidu dared Modi and Rao to compete with him on development. He also said Modi should visit Andhra Pradesh only after fulfilling the commitments made to the state. The TDP chief asked people to raise their voice against Modi for going back on his word and for targeting TDP leaders fighting for justice to the state. He alleged that Modi was misusing the income tax department, the CBI and the ED against those who were raising their voice for the state's rights. Modi was going soft on Jaganmohan Reddy though 11 charge sheets were filed against him for Rs 43,000 crore corruption, Naidu said. "When Modi became Prime Minister he promised to be harsh on the corrupt, but he is shielding them," he said. Naidu also alleged that Chandrashekhar Rao did not want Andhra Pradesh's development as he failed to ensure Telangana's development despite being a revenue surplus state. Recalling that he developed Hyderabad as the Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, Naidu said the city was still way ahead of Ahmedabad. On Chandrashekhar Rao's son and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao's prediction that Jaganmohan Reddy will become Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Naidu said they will not succeed in their designs till I am the Chief Minister . He also accused the Telangana Chief Minister of targeting Andhra businessmen in Hyderabad to pressurise them to support Jaganmohan Reddy in the coming elections. Naidu warned the YSR Congress leader against spreading disharmony in the state in the name of caste and community. He said Prashant Kishore, who was acting as consultant to Jaganmohan Reddy, was trying to turn Andhra Pradesh into another Bihar. --IANS ms/pgh/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hours after it was rolled out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BSP chief Mayawati trashed the ambitious PM-KISAN scheme -- which aims at giving Rs 6,000 annually to small and marginal farmers -- as "inadequate and humiliating". "Giving @ Rs 17 per day to few farmers just before Lok Sabha elections is pure hoodwinking," the Bahujan Samaj Party leader tweeted. "The Rs 500 a month to poor farmers under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi is an insult to the farmers. Farmers believe in their labour and want remunerative price of their produce but BJP mentality to give them little monetary help is atrocious and arrogant. BJP has failed to fulfil their promise," she added. Launching the scheme earlier in the day, Modi said the opposition was rattled with the initiatives being announced by his government for farmers. --IANS md/rtp/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The vote by the British lawmakers on the Brexit deal has been postponed to March 12 from February 27, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday. Speaking to reporters on the plane to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt for the European Union (EU)-Arab League summit on Sunday, May ruled out bringing the Brexit deal to Commons this week, Xinhua reported. May was quoted by The Guardian as saying: "My team will be back in Brussels on Tuesday. As a result of that, we won't bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week, but we will ensure that happens by March 12. It's still within our grasp to leave the EU by March 29 and that is what we are planning to do." Her decision will come as a blow to opponents who planned to use this week's vote to push for a delay to Britain's departure from the EU, or for a so-called People's Vote on her deal with Brussels. Although the EU-AL summit is not scheduled to discuss Brexit, May said she would take the opportunity to meet leaders of EU member states in her quest to get changes to her deal. The new date for a meaningful date in the House of Commons will be just 17 days before Britain is scheduled to end its EU membership on March 29. Citing The Guardian, Xinhua reported May is expected to meet European Council president Donald Tusk on Sunday and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday in Egypt. In a stormy week for British politics, 11 MPs -- three Conservatives and 7 from the Labour Party -- quit their parties and formed an Independent Group of MPs in the House. Meanwhile, three of her senior front bench ministers Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and David Gauke told the Daily Mail newspaper, they would support moves to extend Article 50, the mechanism that laid down Britain's departure date as March 29. They said it was aimed to avoid a "disastrous" no-deal Brexit, unless a deal with Brussels is agreed within the next few days. Keir Starmer, Brexit spokesman for Labour Party, attacked May's decision to delay the vote. "This decision to further delay the meaningful vote is the height of irresponsibility and an admission of failure," he said. "May is recklessly running down the clock in a desperate attempt to force MPs to choose between her deal and no-deal. Parliament cannot stand by and allow this to happen," Starmer said. --IANS pgh/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un left for Vietnamese capital Hanoi for the second US-North Korea summit, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday. Kim will meet US President Donald Trump in Hanoi on Feb 27-28, Xinhua news agency reported. The first summit between the two leaders held in June 2018 in Singapore, which resulted in improved bilateral relations. Kim will pay an official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong before his meeting with Trump. Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, Ri Su Yong, Kim Phyong Hae and O Su Yong, members of the Political Bureau and Vice-Chairmen of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), Ri Yong Ho, member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and foreign minister, No Kwang Chol, alternate member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and Minister of the People's Armed Forces, among others, said KCNA. Kim was seen off at Pyongyang Railway Station by Kim Yong Nam, Choe Ryong Hae and Pak Pong Ju, members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK, and other senior officials of the party, government and armed forces, KCNA reported. --IANS vin/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Japan commemorated 30 years of the reign of 85-year-old Emperor Akihito, here on Sunday. The emperor will abdicate on April 30. It is "fortunate that I have been able to undertake duties with the help of people," Emperor Akihito said and thanked "the people, in whom I take pride and for whom I feel joy in being 'the symbol of the state' and the civilization of this country built over the long period." Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who attended the ceremony, said the Japanese will "never forget" how the imperial couple have "always stood by the people for 30 years", Xinhua news agency reported. Abe said since the emperor ascended the throne, the imperial couple have paid official visits to many countries, which strengthened bilateral relations. "The people of Fukushima were given the courage to move forward as they tried to recover from the unprecedented triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in 2011," Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori said, expressing gratitude to the imperial couple for their support to the prefecture. The emperor also expressed gratitude to foreign nations and international organisations for their support when Japan was "in the middle of suffering and sorrow" because of the natural disasters. Emperor Akihito in a rare nationally-televised address in August 2016 expressed his desire to relinquish his duties as emperor owing to concerns about his age, health and ability to carry out his formal duties. --IANS pgh/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Janhvi Kapoor remembered her mother and actress Sridevi on her first death anniversary, saying her heart will always be heavy. Sridevi, Bollywood's first female superstar, died aged 54 on February 24, 2018, by accidentally drowning in a bath tub in a Dubai hotel, leaving the film industry, her family and legions of fans in a state of shock. The "Chandni" star was in Dubai for a family wedding. Janhvi expressed her feelings through an emotional post on Instagram on Saturday night. "My heart will always be heavy. But I'll always be smiling because it has you in it," Janhvi posted. Responding to the post, her sister Sonam K Ahuja, filmmaker Karan Johar, designer Manish Malhotra, her brother Mohit Marwah along with many others came forward to express their support. Choreographer-turned-filmmaker Farah Khan also remembered Sridevi, as she posted: "When I was just starting out in my career, she was so supportive, so encouraging... getting to choreograph a Sridevi show or a song for her was like a dream... no wonder I never got awed or starstruck with any other star in my entire career because I started from the top. There never was and never will be anyone like Sridevi." Sridevi began her career at the age of four in the devotional film "Thunaivan". She worked across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi movies. Ahead of her first death anniversary, Sridevi's family, including her husband Boney Kapoor, Janhvi and Khushi and brother-in-law Anil Kapoor, held a puja for her in Chennai on February 14. --IANS sug/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) teachers' organisation has requested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for setting up of a 500-bed hospital in the university to cater to the training needs of dentistry students. The Jamia Teachers' Association (JTA) raised the demand for the hospital with Kejriwal on Saturday, when the Delhi Chief Minister met a few "locality intellectuals" at Okhla, which included varsity teachers. "Although we are running the bachelor degree course in dentistry. But the JMI is forced to send students to other hospitals, as we do not have our own facility," JTA Secretary Majid Jamil wrote in the letter to the Chief Minister. "The university is situated in a densely populated area, where many underprivileged people desperately need quality medical facilities," Jamil said and added they could not be served for lack of a hospital in the vicinity. The addition of a 500-bed hospital would enhance the level of the university and lead to accessibility of quality medical services at a nominal cost for the neglected population residing in JMI's vicinity, he said. "We request you to establish a new 500-bed hospital in the Jamia Millia Islamia, which could be converted into a medical college," he said. The university, which imparts from the nursery to the doctorate level, will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2020. --IANS vn/arm/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the hearing on the constitutional validity of Article 35A at the Supreme Court likely this week, the Jammu and Kashmir government is yet to decide its stand. It is the first time that hearing will be held on the provision when the state is under the Governor's rule. Advocate General of Jammu and Kashmir D.C. Raina told IANS on Sunday they would discuss the position and finalise the stand in a day or two. Speaking from Jammu, Raina said the matter was with the Law Department and without their instruction, he cannot spell out the stand. The matter is on board for quite some time but did not reach the hearing stage earlier, he said, adding they expect it to come up for hearing on Wednesday or Thursday. However, the Jammu and Kashmir government submitted to the apex court about three weeks ago, seeking adjournment on the grounds the issue involved is sensitive, and there is no elected government in the state. The last hearing took place on August 31, 2018. The matter was adjourned to the second week of January as Attorney General K.K. Venugopal pleaded postponement on the grounds of panchayat polls in the state. Article 35A was incorporated in the Constitution by the 1954 Presidential order which conferred special rights including government employment, acquisition of immovable property, settlement in the state, grant of scholarship and any such form of aid to the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir by the state government. To guarantee these special rights and privileges, the 1954 Presidential order said no existing law in force in Jammu and Kashmir, or that enacted by the state legislature in respect of the special rights and privileges of the permanent residents "shall be void on the grounds that it is inconsistent with or takes away or abridges any rights conferred on the other citizens of India by any provision of this part (III)". In the past, the President's power to issue orders taking recourse of Article 370(1) were unsuccessfully challenged twice before the Supreme Court. The first time the President's powers to issue orders in respect of Jammu and Kashmir was upheld on March 30, 1961 by a five-judge Bench, comprising Justice K.N. Wanchoo, Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar, Justice A.K. Sarkar, Justice K.C. Das Gupta and Justice N. Rajagopal Ayyangar. Addressing the challenge to the Presidential order introducing indirect election to the six Lok Sabha seats from the state, the court said: "Article 370 clearly recognises the special position of the State of Jammu and Kashmir and that is why the President is given the power to apply the provisions of the Constitution to that state subject to such exceptions and modifications as the President may by order specify." The apex court had in 1961 also stated: "We are therefore of the opinion that the President has the power to make the modification, which he did in Article 81 of the Constitution. " Article 81 provides for the composition of the Lok Sabha. The Supreme Court Bench, comprising then Chief Justice M. Hidayatullah, Justice Vashishtha Bhargava, Justice J.M. Shelat, Justice G.K. Mitter and C. A. Vaidyalingam, by its October 10, 1968 judgment had said the "Article 370 of the Constitution has never ceased to be operative and there can be no challenge on this ground to the validity of the orders passed by the President in exercise of the powers conferred by this Article." (Parmod Kumar can be contacted at saneel2010@gmail.com) --IANS pk/pgh/nir (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir government said on Sunday it was serious about issues confronting Kashmiris studying elsewhere in India and action was being taken against those who attacked members of a community in Jammu after the suicide bombing in Kashmir. Newly appointed government spokesperson Rohit Kansal said there had been reports about attacks and harassment of Kashmiri students following the terror attack in Pulwama that killed 40 CRPF troopers on February 14. "I want to say that the state government is serious about the issues confronting our students," Kansal told the media here. "All the governments of various states are in touch with the J&K government," he said, appealing to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to keep calm as the administration was concerned about the welfare of its people. The spokesman said that over the past few days rumours had led to chaos and he urged people not to pay heed to the rumours. He said the induction of 100 companies of paramilitary forces should be seen in the backdrop of Lok Sabha election preparedness. He said action was being taken against those involved in arson in Jammu city on February 15 when shops and houses belonging to a particular community were targeted by mobs. Kansal attributed the shortages of essential commodities in the Valley to the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar highway, adding that the shortages were being addressed with the opening of the highway. He dismissed as "baseless rumours" reports that senior separatist leader Shabir Shah had been attacked in the Tihar Central Jail in New Delhi. --IANS sq/mr/arm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indo-Russian joint lunar mission is expected to give a major boost to the artificial intelligence (AI) industries in both countries, said Finnish-Russian digital solutions provider Zyfra on Sunday. Zyfra, which has joined hands with Indian companies to provide Internet of Things (IoT) and AI-based solutions for the industrial sector, said in a statement that collaboration in the space sector could double AI and IoT technologies' share of Indian and Russian Gross Domestic Product (GDP). India and Russia signed an agreement on "joint activities in the field of human spaceflight programme" during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit here in October 2018. "Building and maintenance of highly autonomous stations both in space and on the moon surface will need advanced AI solutions. We believe that not later than 2030, we'll get these solutions operational," Zyfra's R&D Head Sergey Sviridov said in a statement. "According to Markets and Markets Research, the AI industry in India is currently giving $180 million annually in revenues while the volume of AI market in Russia is $3 billion," it said, adding that the global AI market was estimated to be worth $190 billion by 2025. "As past experience shows, modifications of AI solutions for commercial use will make high-tech industries of these countries more competitive even in the long-term and could lead to a significant economic and technological growth," Sviridov said. Zyfra recently announced it has reached $3 million in contracts with its Indian counterparts in 2018 and the company plans to reach the target of $50 million in India-related deals by 2021. The company has already signed agreements with various Indian companies including Spudweb, Abcon Group, Parivartan Automation, Agaram Infotech, Wimerasys, Nortech Trinity and Mascot Tools. Zyfra is implementing seven pilot projects in collaboration with its Indian partners and plans to launch five more joint projects, including for production of farm machinery as well as for manufacturing components for aerospace divisions of both Boeing and Rolls-Royce. Under the India-Russia space agreement, both countries will be jointly developing a number of projects such as engines, orbital station construction and a moon-base on the surface of the satellite, the statement added. --IANS bc/mag/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian woman was killed and her husband was critically injured after their car crashed into a truck in Dubai, the media reported on Sunday. The victim has been identified as Reeja Varghese. Her husband, Varghese Koshy, is fighting for his life at Rashid Hospital, The Khaleej Times quoted the police as saying on Saturday. According to preliminary probe, the accident took place when the couple were on their way to the St Gregorios Indian Orthodox Church. The husband reportedly lost control of the vehicle and rammed into the truck. Hydraulics were used to extricate the couple from the mangled remains of the vehicle, the police added. --IANS ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian and Pakistani troops traded mortars and gunfire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri and Poonch districts on Tuesday. The first violation of the ceasefire by the Pakistan Army took place in Rajouri and it then spread to Poonch district, officials said. Defence Ministry spokesman Lt Col Devender Anand said that around 5 p.m. the Pakistanis used mortars and small arms to target Indian positions along the LoC in Shahpur and Kerni sectors of Poonch district. "Indian positions retaliated and heavy firing exchanges are now going on between the two sides," the spokesman said. A 6-year old girl, a woman and an Inspector of the Border Security Force (BSF) were killed and 13 others injured in indiscriminate shelling and firing by the Pakistan Army in the same sectors a day earlier. Authorities closed all educational institutions within a five kilometre distance of the LoC in Poonch district as a precaution. Earlier, firing exchanges started between the two armies in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district at about 11.30 a.m. "The Indian Army is retaliating befittingly," the spokesman said. --IANS sq/mr (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday handed over 155 houses built under an Indian project to people in the island nation's tea-producing region populated by "Indian Tamils". Present on the occasion here was Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu. The houses were built under the Indian Housing Project for people at the Bridwell Estate in Bogawantalawa at Hatton. Wickremesinghe thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the development support extended to Sri Lanka, where a dragging ethnic insurgency ended in May 2009 as the military crushed the Tamil Tigers. Sandhu congratulated the owners of the newly built houses. Sandhu said the Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka with a grant of US$ 350 million (close to 50 billion LKR) was the largest Indian grant assistance project in any country. He said that of the total commitment of 63,000 houses, 47,000 had been built. Tamils of Indian origin, popularly known as "Indian Tamils", populate the tea estates in Sri Lanka's central hills. --IANS akk/bns/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Zareen Khan, who will be seen in a Punjabi film titled "Daaka", feels that actors shouldnt limit themselves when it comes to working in films in different languages. Talking about working in various film industries, Zareen said: "Earlier also, I had worked in a Punjabi film. I don't understand why people ask 'You are a Bollywood actor then how are you working in a Punjabi film." "I am an actor. I would like to work in Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi or Bengali films. I don't think any actor should have a language restriction. If I like a film script in whatever language, then I will do that film." The actress was interacting with the media at Parfait lingerie's plus size fashion show 2019 here on Saturday. Does the film industry put pressure on actors to be fit or look in a certain way? She said: "I don't know about industry pressure but I try to be fit because fitness has become a part of my lifestyle. When I was a plus size teenager, that time I realised that my mother and maternal grandmother had to deal with a lot of diseases because after their marriage and after having kids, they didn't look after their fitness so, I feel you have to be fit for your well-being." "I think you shouldn't stay fit under any kind of pressure. People should stay fit so that they can stay away from various kinds of diseases." --IANS iv/nn/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahmed Ali from Assam's Karimganj district, while pulling his cycle rickshaw one day in the late 1970s, felt miserable at the realization that like him his soon-to-be-born child too will remain illiterate and may have to pull a rickshaw for a living. Hailing from Madhurband village, when Ali, now 82, moved to Karimganj town, about 300 km from Guwahati, he often saw children attending school and getting educated, and sometimes even ferried them to and from their homes to their schools in his rickshaw. The thought of his child not getting proper hit him so hard that he decided he should do something about it so that poor children of the coming generation, including his own, do not suffer in privation like him. Since then, Ali has gone on to build nine schools and, because of his singular effort, he even found a mention in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' radio programme. "I feel it was Allah's wish and blessings from locals that I could achieve whatever I wanted," says a humble Ali. "I could not attend school due to poverty. People of my village were poor and it pained me to see the children there were not able to attend schools due to the same reason. I don't want to see dropouts from poor families any more," Ali told IANS during a function in Delhi where he was invited as a guest. For establishing the first school, he sold a portion of his land and donated another portion on which the building now stands. The funds for the schools were also arranged by him from his savings, daily earnings and some from charity. "There were some people in the area who supported the cause and helped in whatever way they could," he said. To ensure there was no fund crisis for the school, he used to pull his rickshaw in the morning and cut wood at night. He sold that wood and used the money to build the school and later to run it. "There was not even a single school in the area. I had this very strong feeling that when my children will be born, they too will not have any school. After the birth of my first child (a boy), the feeling became more strong," he said. The school, he added, was even more important for girls as "boys get a chance to go out and get an education, but girls do not". With a firm resolve that he should do something about it, Ali met an officer, whom he used to ferry in his rickshaw, and with his help, he established a middle school in his village in 1978. "Soon after it was established, I realised that first, we needed a primary school. Until children were educated at the primary level, who will get enrolled in middle school? In 1980, three-LP (Lower Primary) schools were opened," he said. In all, Ali has opened three lower primary (class I-V) schools, five middle (class VI-VIII) schools and one high school in Madhurband and nearby villages. " is an important thing, and everyone should get a chance to get educated. It is a sin for anybody to not be educated," he said. "Although I may be illiterate, I get respect from people. They now come to seek my blessings. I feel joy when I see that boys and girls from the village have been attending school. This joy inspired me and I never felt tired," said Ali. "I get satisfaction when girls come and tell me how helpful these schools were for them. Every year, the overall number of girls in schools is higher than boys." The high school, started in 1990, has 228 students in the current year. Every year, hundreds of students appear for the Class X exams, but they don't have a place to study further. "I could only manage to make arrangements for students till Class X. They don't have a place to study Class XI and XII. I need both the government's approval and funds for setting up the higher-secondary school," Ali said, in the hope that he will soon accomplish that as well. "There is no nearby college. The nearest college is also 15 km away. I also want to build a college for students, but that will come at a later stage. First we need a junior college (for students passing Class X)," he added. Ali came to limelight in March last year when Prime Minister Modi spoke about him in his monthly "Mann Ki Baat" address. Ali feels proud that the Prime Minister acknowledged his work and he desires to meet Modi. Asked what he will tell Modi, Ali said he wanted all that the schools should be government-recognised so that funds were never an issue. "I will also ask him for a junior college and a college, if possible." (The weekly feature series is part of a positive-journalism project of IANS and the Frank Islam Foundation. Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in) --IANS nks/vv/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi's textile lovers can now head to an exhibition-sale of the unique textile craft of Ajrakh, showcased as saris and stoles by UNESCO-recognised master craftsperson Abdul Jabbar Khatri. Ajrakh, a resist dyeing block printing technique, has been part of the Indian culture since centuries, says Khatri, a ninth generation member of Gujarat's traditional textile-making family, and a key player in transforming Ajrakh as a fashion fabric for global urban markets. Saris, stoles and yardage, crafted by him in cotton and silk in natural dyes, are on display at the Dastkari Haat Studio here. The exhibition has been organised by non-profit Dastkari Haat Samiti and can be viewed till March 9. The exhibition features Khatri's contemporary yet traditional textiles in earthy hues and intricate patterns, ranging from rich floral to complex geometric combinations, reflecting what the painstakingly-done Ajrakh printing is famous for. Dastkari Haat's 76-year-old president Jaya Jaitly recalled seeing Jabbar at work as a teenager. "That time, his father used to say he is not working properly. Now he has grown into a true master craftsman. His other brothers specialise in fine Ajrakh printing, block and natural dye-making. Jabbar is now designing much finer and smaller blocks. He wants to design on his own too," Jaitly, a former Samata party leader, told IANS. Terming Jabbar a committed guardian of India's craft heritage, Jaitly said the exhibit-sale invites craft connoisseurs to see and own Khatri's masterpieces. A platform to bring the consumer closer to Indian craft, it is also an opportunity for the 2003 National Craft Award recipient to display his work and "show what all can be done with the Indian textiles and traditional techniques", the master craftsman said. Khatri has been awarded the prestigious UNESCO Seal of Excellence both in 2006 and 2007, and he now helms a large block printing enterprise, which generates income for several hundred women in Dhamadka, his village in Gujarat. --IANS sj/oeb/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government's plans for the mega merger of three general insurance firms to create one large and strong entity seems to have hit a roadblock. The Department of Financial Services (DFS), which oversees the operations of state-owned insurance firms, has written to the DIPAM not to proceed with the merger plan in haste and let it examine the proposal afresh and untangle complex operational issues first. The fresh impediment has already removed the merger plan from this year's disinvestment calendar prepared by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). Sources now say that with the Finance Ministry raising fresh concerns, it would be difficult for the merger plan to go through even next year when a new government comes in at the Centre. The government had announced the merger of three public sector general insurance firms: National Insurance Company, United India Insurance Company and Oriental India Insurance Company, in Budget 2018. The move was billed as the biggest ever merger in the insurance sector with the new entity having a valuation exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore. It intended to complete the exercise in FY19 itself. "The DFS is concerned that a merger without looking at the exercise from different angles could lead to problems for the new entity emerging from the coming together of three general insurance firms. Besides, there are also issues of further cutting losses and making operations of companies efficient and low cost. These have been highlighted by the DFS in its letter that virtually stalls the process and seeks more time to complete the merger," said an official source privy to the development. "The proposed merger of the three state-owned general insurance firms will happen only in the next fiscal now. Even this could be delayed if the tasks identified by the DFS are to be implemented and observed in detail." Though the government hoped that the financial position of general insurance firms would improve before commencing the merger, the plan has not moved on the desired lines. In the quarter ended September last year, the three insurers had posted a combined loss of around Rs 1,800 crore. Moreover, a few of the insurance firms have also lost market share. Besides financial issues, officials maintain that a thorough review of HR practices across the three firms is also needed before any merger could be considered. This is important as a combined entity could clock growth only if synergies are built. Right now there are no synergies and commercial interest of each company is clashing with others. Rather than strengthening operations, state-run general insurance companies have gone deeper into the red this year. Oriental had posted a loss of Rs 240 crore in the second quarter of this fiscal, against a profit of Rs 200 crore in the July-September quarter of 2017. The companies' market share has also fallen with market share of National Insurance Company with respect of gross direct premium till December 2018 fell to 8.63 per cent. United India Insurance share also came down by around 4.88 per cent. "There is need to bring down the losses of insurance firms further before any merger and subsequent listing is considered. The idea of the exercise is to create a larger and stronger entity and not one that remains weak and unable to take competition," said a sector analyst not willing to lend his name. As part of the strengthening exercise, the government has also directed the firms to undertake monetising their assets including real estate to raise revenues. It is expected that some capital support will also come from the Centre as there is also a plan to list the merged entity. In 2017-18, the Centre had listed National Insurance and General Insurance Company, divesting 11.65 per cent and 12.5 per cent stakes respectively. Last year, the merger process moved a step ahead with the government floating a request for proposal (RFP) for appointment of consultants to oversee the merger process. But it did not move any further thereafter. (Subhash Narayan can be contacted at subhash.n@ians.in) --IANS sn/am/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After a case of fraud was registered against Sonakshi Sinha in Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh, the Bollywood actress' management agency on Sunday said the organiser is using the media to release false and manipulated facts and that if he doesn't stop at this, Sonakshi and her team will be forced to take legal action. Police said on Sunday that four others have been named in the complaint alleging that the actress along with four others -- Malvika Punjabi, Dhumil Thakkar, Edgar Sakaria and Abhishek Sinha -- have defrauded the complainant of Rs 32 lakh. In the police complaint, Pramod Sharma has said that an amount of Rs 32 lakh had been transferred to Sonakshi's account for her presence at an event but she did not turn up. Accusing the police of inaction, Sharma had consumed poison recently but was saved. A police official said that they have registered a case after a probe into the matter and the organiser was trying to unnecessarily exert pressure on them by acts like consuming poison. The official told IANS that the India Fashion and Beauty Award programme had been organised on September 30 last year. Talent Full On Company was roped in for the event and after talking to the private secretary of Sonakshi, Rs 32 lakh was deposited in her account. At the last minute however, Sonakshi cancelled her appearance causing losses to the organiser. On learning about the "misinformation" doing the rounds, Sonakshi's management agency released an official statement on Sunday: "Sonakshi was approached by the event organiser in Delhi to attend an event. However, despite repeated reminders, the organiser failed to make the payments to Sonakshi before the event as contracted. "The tickets to Delhi were not in order/as were agreed, the organiser also didn't send return tickets for Sonakshi and her team, despite knowing that she had a shoot the next morning after the event. This put everyone in a tough spot." Several attempts were made to contact the organiser requesting him to make the contracted payments and send the tickets. However, he "remained incommunicado and didn't live up to his end of the bargain". The statement further read: "Due to a lack of commitment by the organiser, Sonakshi and her team were left with no choice but to return home from Mumbai airport." Ever since that day, Sonakshi's management agency has been trying to reach out to the organiser to find an "amicable solution" to the extent of offering an alternate date and tried to connect but to no avail. "The organiser is now using the media to release false and manipulated facts. If the organiser doesn't stop at this, Sonakshi and her team will be forced to take a legal course of action to set this straight. We request media to not let anyone use their platform without looking into the facts." --IANS nn-md/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A suspected hijacker on the Biman Bangladesh Airlines Flight BG147, on way to Dubai from Bangladesh, was shot dead by Bangladeshi special forces, the media reported. The suspect, who reportedly claimed to be carrying a pistol, was killed when security forces stormed the plane after it made an emergency landing in Chittagong, BBC reported on Sunday. All 148 passengers and crew on board the flight disembarked safely. It is not clear why the suspect might have attempted to hijack the plane. Army officials said the man, believed to be aged 25, was wounded when he was fired at, and died shortly after arrested. "We tried to arrest him or get him to surrender but he refused and then we shot him," Maj. Gen. Motiur Rahman said at a press conference. "He is a Bangladeshi national. We found a pistol on him and nothing else," he said. Earlier reports suggested the suspect may have been mentally unsound. He had demanded to speak to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was visiting the coastal city of Chittagong. Crew onboard raised concerns after the man was found acting suspiciously and indicating intent to hijack the plane, Reuters reported quoting airline officials. The aircraft was cordoned off on landing at the Shah Amanat International airport in Chittagong. The police started interacting with the suspect. Images posted on social media showed a crowd on the airport tarmac with the Boeing 737-800 in the background. --IANS pgh/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Stones were hurled at West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh's car outside his residence here on Sunday but the leader was unharmed, the state BJP leadership said. The windscreen of the vehicle was damaged in the attack. "Some unidentified miscreants pelted stones at my car this morning when I was about to leave for Hoogly. The windscreen has been cracked. We have lodged a police complaint in the matter," Ghosh said. Claiming that there have been multiple attacks on him in recent months, Ghosh said neither he nor his party will be cowed down by these attacks. "My vehicle and my convoy have been attacked a number of times. Some of our party leaders were also manhandled. But we are not scared. We will fight it out," he added. --IANS mgr/oeb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bayern Munich has edged a 1-0 home win over Hertha Berlin in a Bundesliga contest held here. With the win at the Allianz Arena, Bayern has collected 51 points, holding the second spot in the standings, on goal differential behind leader Borussia Dortmund, who is to take on sixth-placed Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday. Bayern has thus extended its domestic league winning streak to three successive matches, while Dortmund allowed the defending champion to narrow the gap after two Bundesliga draws in a row, reports Efe news. After a scoreless first-half on Saturday evening, Spanish midfielder Javi Martinez opened the scoring for Bayern, two minutes after the hour-mark, culminating an assist by Colombia winger James Rodriguez. This was Martinez' first goal in the 2018-19 Bundesliga season. --IANS kk/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Arunachal Pradesh government on Sunday froze its decision on the controversial permanent residence certificate (PRC) that triggered widespread violence for a third day, leading to the torching of the Deputy Chief Minister's house. A worried Chief Minister Pema Khandu convened an all-party meeting on Sunday night to discuss the prevailing situation which Home Minster Kumar Waii described to IANS as "very tense and uncontrollable". The Arunachal Pradesh government climbed down in the face of the violent protests and declared that it will not implement the report granting PRC to six communities living along the Assam-Arunachal border. Chief Secretary Satya Gopal said in a statement: "Considering the present situation in respect of the matter pertaining to grant of PRC to non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe residents of Namsai and Changlang districts, the government has decided that no further action shall be taken in respect of grant of PRC." The Home Minster added: "The situation is very tense and uncontrollable. The state is taking all steps to calm the situation." On Sunday, a mob set fire to the house of Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein. Security forces resorted to blank firing as the the unruly protesters defied curfew and marched towards the Chief Minister's residence. It was not clear if anyone was injured in Sunday's firing. The protesters also set fire to and vandalized two police stations in Itanagar and adjoining Naharlagun, while a Superintendent of Police officer was reportedly injured. Ford, Nissan, Hyundai, Renault and Mahindra showrooms were vandalized. Meanwhile, the relatives of Risso Tari, who succumbed to his bullet injuries in police firing on Friday, sought justice for him. Governor B.D. Mishra, a retired Brigadier, condemned the violence. Appealing for peace, Mishra said: "Arunachalis have always demonstrated their rationality, sagacity and maturity in their conduct under all circumstances." Mishra advised the state government to take all precautionary measures to prevent further mayhem. Four Army columns were deployed in the capital while authorities suspended Internet services across the state to avoid the spread of fake news. The protests were called on Friday evening by 18 student and civil society groups. Later that day, protesters set ablaze 50 vehicles and damaged over 100 vehicles. The mobs alleged the a committee led by Environment and Forest Minister Nabam Rebia had submitted its report on PRC without proper verification of facts. The indigenous communities in Arunachal Pradesh believe that they will suffer if the PRC is extended to other communities. --IANS rrk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Civilian deaths in Afghanistan in 2018 increased by 11 per cent compared to 2017, reaching the highest level since 2009, a UN agency said in a study released on Sunday. The annual UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) report on civilian casualties in Afghanistan found that 3,804 civilians were killed in 2018 compared to 3,440 in 2017, reports Efe news. In 2018, it documented 10,993 civilian casualties - 3,804 deaths and 7,189 injured - a 5 per cent increase in overall casualties compared to 2017. "The level of harm and suffering inflicted on civilians in Afghanistan is deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable" said Tadamichi Yamamoto, head of UNAMA, in the report released online. The key factors behind the increase were "a spike" in suicide attacks by militants and an increase in harm to civilians by aerial and search operations by Afghan and international forces, it said. UNAMA attributed 63 per cent of the civilian casualties to militants (37 per cent to Taliban, 20 per cent to Islamic State and 6 per cent to undetermined extremists) and 24 per cent to pro-government forces (14 per cent to Afghan, 6 per cent to foreign troops, 4 per cent to pro-government armed groups). Thirteen per cent were not attributed to either side. In 2018, Taliban caused 4,072 civilian casualties (1,348 deaths and 2,724 injured), 7 per cent down from 2017. The IS caused 2,181 civilian casualties (681 deaths and 1,500 injured), an increase of 118 per cent compared to 2017, mostly in suicide attacks. The report said anti-government elements' use of IEDs in both suicide and non-suicide attacks reached "extreme levels" and remained the leading cause of civilian casualties in 2018, accounting for 42 percent of the total. Militants in 2018 carried out 65 suicide and complex attacks, almost half of them in Kabul. The Taliban's use of indirect weapons systems and IEDs which have indiscriminate effects, remained a source of concern for UNAMA. Deliberate targeting of civilians by Taliban, nearly doubled from 865 civilian casualties in 2017 to 1,688 in 2018, it said. Child deaths were one of the concerns for UNAMA in 2018. It recorded 927 children killed in 2018, the highest since 2009, mainly due to the more than doubling of child deaths from aerial operations, as well as an increase in child fatalities from suicide attacks. "The fact that the number of children killed this year is the highest on record, is particularly shocking" said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in the report. --IANS ksk/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It's curtains for the biennial Aero India 2019 air show after a spectacular flying display by fighters, helicopters and jet trainers delighted about a lakh visitors at the IAF Yelahanka base here on Sunday. Asia's premier air show was, however, subdued this time, marred as it was by two tragedies. On Saturday, a massive fire in the parking lot gutted about 300 cars. Ahead of the event on Tuesday, an IAF pilot died after two aerobatic Surya Kiran Hawk jets collided midair and crashed near the air base while rehearsing for the flying display. Though the Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) did not participate in the flying display on the first three days of the show in the wake of the tragedy, on Saturday seven of its Hawk aircraft roared in the blue sky and treated the visitors to daredevilry and dazzling formations. They participated on Sunday too much to the delight of the crowds. "Surya Kirans received thunderous applause from the public. We are proud of their return," said Bengaluru IAF Training Command Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief R.K. Bhadauria. Besides French fighter Rafale, F-16 of the US-based Lockheed Martin, homegrown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas and IAF's Sukhoi-30, Jaguar and transport aircraft were among the 61 aircraft that participated in the static and flying display at the show. "An estimated 4 lakh people visited the air show, with 3 lakh footfall on the first four days since Wednesday," Defence Production Joint Secretary Amit Sahai said at the valedictory function on the fifth and concluding day. However, the footfall was down 25 per cent compared with the previous edition of Aero India in February 2017, when 5.4 lakh guests visited the air show. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, state Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar, state-run aerospace major HAL Chairman and Managing Director R. Madhavan also attended the valedictory function. "This Aero India was special being a runway to new opportunities, as the tagline said. This edition grew over the years and had a special theme each day this year," Bhadauria said at the finale. As many as 600 Indian and 200 foreign companies participated in the expo and showcased technologies and products. Global aerospace majors flew in their aircraft for static and flying display on the tarmac facing the runway, a statement from the Ministry of Defence said. "In all, 54 countries took part in the trade expo, 44 foreign delegations were present for the inaugural event on February 20. About 500 B2B meetings were held and 50 agreements signed between the public and the private firms at the expo," Sahai said. --IANS bha-fb/rtp/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday prepared a road map for mass movement for full statehood to Delhi, starting on March 1. During the movement, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will go on an indefinite hunger strike and run the government from the venue of fast. Briefing the media about the plan for initial 10 days, AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai said the party will divide the city into 560 zones for the purpose. Three committees have been set up at central, Assembly and zonal levels. The venue for the fast is yet to be decided, Rai said, adding the party is evaluating three-four locations, including the Ramlila Ground, Kejriwal's residence and Jantar Mantar. "The location for the fast, which will also act as a control room for the movement, will be finalised within two-three days," he said. The road map has come out after Kejriwal's meeting with party MLAs and office-bearers on Saturday and Sunday. All party MLAs, Lok Sabha in-charges and ministers will join Kejriwal during the fast on the first day, he added. "From second day (March 2), ministers, MLAs and incharges will accompany Kejriwal on rotation. Protest marches will be held in different parts of the city," he said. "On March 10, there will be a meeting at the venue of fast and the future action plan will be decided. The movement will not end until Delhi gets full statehood," he said. --IANS nks/pgh/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Sunday again confirmed that a total of 40 personnel of the paramilitary force were killed and five suffered injuries in the suicide terror attack in Pulwama district 10 days ago. "A total of 40 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in the terror attack. Four of the injured CRPF personnel have been discharged from the hospital," CRPF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) M. Dinakaran told IANS. Dinakaran's clarification came when asked about varying death toll figures being quoted by some media outlets. In the worst-ever terror attack at one go in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a suicide bomber on February 14 rammed his vehicle packed with around 200 kg explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, leaving 40 personnel dead. The bus was part of a 78-vehicle convoy carrying 2,547 CRPF personnel and was going from the transit camp in Jammu to Srinagar. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the horror. --IANS rak/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the War Memorial to be dedicated to the nation tomorrow, is a symbol of India's gratitude to the soldiers who made supreme sacrifice after Independence and will be akin to a pilgrimage to a holy place. Addressing the 53rd 'Mann Ki Baat' programme, said that the long wait for a war memorial is about to be over. "India not having a war memorial used to surprise me, pain me, a memorial that would house the valour saga series of our brave soldiers who laid down their lives, safeguarding their nation's security. And I took a resolve that the country must have such a memorial," Modi said. The Prime Minister, who will dedicate the memorial to the nation tomorrow, said that he was contented to see the the monument being completed in a short time. "Tomorrow crores of we Indians will dedicate this soldiers' memorial to our Armed Forces," he said. He said," I do believe that for our countrymen a visit to the National War Memorial will be akin to a pilgrimage to a holy place.The memorial is a symbol of the nation's gratitude to those men who made the supreme sacrifice after we gained Independence." He concept of the memorial is based on the notion of four concentric circles, which depicts the journey of a soldier from coming into being, culminating in his martyrdom. Lauding the contribution of the Armed Forces, police and para-military forces, the Prime Minister said that he was blessed with the opportunity to dedicate the National Police Memorial to the nation last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Scores of people who were allegedly sexually abused by members from the Catholic clergy as children held protests near the Vatican on Saturday (local time). This comes in the wake of a meeting of Bishops and heads of religious orders from around the being held to prevent clerical sexual abuse. Demonstrators, hailing from the United States, New Zealand, and Italy amongst other nations, carried posters which had the zero figure printed on them, symbolising zero tolerance for sexual abuse, reports NHK They have called for the unfrocking of clergy members who have either been found guilty of abusing children or have covered up cases of clerical sexual abuse of minors. The agitators have also called for an explanation on how reforms will be carried out from the Pope, along with the church. Meanwhile, high-ranking members from the clergy have condemned clerical sexual abuse and the "slow nature" of response to alleged crimes at the summit, with Archbishop Eamon Martin putting forth that testimonies from survivors of abuse have "brought all of us to our knees". Pope Francis earlier rebuked sexual abusers from within the clergy in December last year, following shocking revelations regarding sexual abuse of minors by clergymen which rattled the (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States Secretary of the state Mike Pompeo on Saturday (local time) said that "will take action" against Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro's "thugs" who are opposing the peaceful restoration of democracy in Venezuela. He also alleged Cuban agents of "directing attacks on the people of Venezuela on behalf of Maduro". "The U.S. will take action against those who oppose the peaceful restoration of democracy in Venezuela. Now is the time to act in support of the needs of the desperate Venezuelan people. We stand in solidarity with those continuing their struggle for freedom," tweeted Pompeo. Recently, violence broke out between locals and Venezuela's security forces along the Columbian borders, which is still backing Maduro. At least five people were killed in clashes with the security forces on Saturday. At least 285 people were hurt after the Venezuelan National Guard fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protestors, reported CNN. Condemning the attacks on locals, Pompeo further tweeted, "The U.S. condemns the attacks on civilians in Venezuela perpetrated by Maduro's thugs. These attacks have resulted in deaths and injuries. Our deepest sympathies to the families of those who have died due to these criminal acts. We join their demand for justice." The US has alleged the Maduro regime for stopping humanitarian aid for reaching people. "We denounce Maduro's refusal to let humanitarian assistance reach Venezuela. What kind of a sick tyrant stops food from getting to hungry people? The images of burning trucks filled with aid are sickening," said Pompeo in another tweet. Echoing the US President Donald Trump claims that Cuba is controlling Maduro, Pompeo said: "Cuban agents are directing attacks on the people of #Venezuela on behalf of Maduro. The Venezuelan military should do its duty, protect the country's citizens, and prevent the Havana puppeteers from starving hungry children." Pompeo who recently met self-proclaimed Venezuela President Juan Guaido in Columbia also praised him for his efforts in restoring peace in Venezuela. "While Guaido leads the effort to get the aid to the people, Maduro sends armed gangs to attack innocent civilians," tweeted Pomeo. The South American nation is crippled with a political and economic crisis since January. The political crisis began in Venezuela on January 24 when Guaido marched against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and announced himself as interim president. The economic crisis in the nation, coupled with a food shortage, has strengthened an anti-Maduro sentiment across the South American nation, with the opposition accusing Maduro of "usurping power." A defiant Maduro, who is backed by the country's powerful military, claimed that the opposition protests are an attempt by the US to stage a coup and overthrow him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former foreign secretary Shyam Saran on Sunday said that now was not an appropriate time for dialogue as the deadly Pulwama attack had really changed the sentiment in India with respect to its relationship with Pakistan. "There is a need to find a solution for the peace between India and Pakistan but this is not an appropriate time for a dialogue. This is because the Pulwama terror attack has really changed the sentiments of India with respect to the relationship with Pakistan," Shyam Saran told ANI. Hoping for peace between the two countries and stressing on war cannot be a solution, the former foreign secretary said: "Let's hope that in future we will be able to create an environment where both countries see their interest in sitting down and having a dialogue. At this time, there is a great deal of anger and despair about these relations but ultimately we have to manage the relationship between the two countries. I would hope that the current standoff resolves." About the steps taken by Modi-led government to isolate Pakistan, Saran said, "The Prime Minister is taking the whole series of action and he is doing what he should do. I think it is appropriate including mobilizing diplomatic and international opinion against Pakistan behaviour. Modi has already said that India will give a befitting response to what Pakistan has done." "The incident at Pulwama was a tragic incident for the whole country. Our sympathies are with the families. I think the answer to this has to reflect on what are the ways in which we strengthen our own security and make sure these kinds of the incident don't take place in future," he added. As many as 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives in the dastardly terror attack which took place in South Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14. The Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has accused the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Telangana government of protecting "illegal" properties belonging to YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in Hyderabad. TDP Andhra Pradesh president Kimidi Kala Venata Rao said in an open letter to the Telangana Chief Minister that the CBI and town planning officials had made it clear there was no permission for the construction of the buildings. "Why weren't any actions taken even after CBI and Town Planning confirmation the plots of 2, 3, 4,6,7,8 in which 5, 807 sq.yard area, 88,458 sq. ft Jagan's mansion against the rules and regulations?," Venata Rao questioned in the letter dated February 24. Rao further asked why the Telangana government had not taken any action against the Sakshi and Lotus Pond residence of Jagan Reddy in Hyderabad. "You have removed Ayyappa Society and Gurukula Trust within no time by saying against rules and regulations. But, is not your understanding that the no actions had been taken on Lotus Pond and buildings of Sakshi in spite of the official confirmation against rules and regulations?" he asked. Calling Chandrasekhar Rao and Jagan Reddy as "friends" and "soul brothers", the TDP Andhra Pradesh president alleged that the Telangana Chief Minister had compromised with the Jagan Reddy during Telangana Assembly elections. "Was it not true that YCP kept away themselves from the recent Telangana Assembly elections to make you Win? Is it not true as well that YCP worked for your elections in Telangana and had celebrations after your victory?" he asked. Venata Rao further accused KCR of trying to create hurdles for the construction of Polavaram project and Purushottaapatnam project at the command of Jagan Reddy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A total of 155 houses built by India under the Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka, were on Sunday handed over to the residents of the country's plantation area. The handover took place in a special ceremony at Bridwell Estate in Bogawantalawa jointly by Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe and High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu in the presence of the Minister for Hill country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development, Palani Digambaram. Wickremesinghe, in his remarks, thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Government of India for the development support extended to Sri Lanka. The High Commissioner, in his remarks on the occasion, congratulated the owners of the newly built independent houses. Sandhu underscored that the Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka with a grant of over 350 million USD (about 50 billion LKR), was the largest Indian grant assistance project in any country abroad. He also recalled that out of the total commitment of 63,000 houses, 47,000 houses had already been built. Expressing India's support for the realisation of Sri Lanka's developmental priorities, High Commissioner Sandhu reiterated the commitment of Indian government and people to participate with the people of Sri Lanka in their journey towards greater peace and prosperity. Several Members of Parliament and Central Provincial Council including senior officials from Plantation Human Development Trust (PHDT), Implementing Agency - Sri Lanka Red Cross, Bogawantalawa Regional Plantation Company and a large number of people from the region attended the function. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Odisha's Biju Patnaik International Airport on Sunday has beefed up security following a security alert issued by the Bureau for Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). Suresh Chandr Hota, Director, Biju Patnaik International Airport said, "Security has been tightened at Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar following a security alert issued by the Bureau for Civil Aviation Security (BCAS)." On Saturday Air Operation Control Centre (AOCC) Mumbai enhanced its security after receiving a call that threatened to hijack one of its aircraft. CK Ranga, Deputy Director at Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, "A telephonic message received by the station duty office AOCC Mumbai stating information regarding a threat to Indian Airlines flight, getting hijacked to Pakistan on February 23." Following the threat, the screening of passengers, staff and visitors has been enhanced, the intensive checking of vehicles entering car parking area and other security measures have been beefed up. On Sunday, a Dubai bound Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane made an emergency landing at the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong, following a reported hijacking attempt where the hijacker was shot dead, according to media reports. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), picked Princess Reema bint Bandar as the new Ambassador to the United States. The Crown Prince, popularly known as MBS, made the announcement as part of three royal decrees which include the appointment of the now former US Ambassador, Prince Khalid bin Salman, as the next deputy Defence Minister of the Kingdom. The decision takes significance as the new appointments come after the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October last year, which brought Saudi-US ties to the forefront. US President Donald Trump refused to blame MBS for the murder, despite the existence of a CIA report which concluded that the Crown Prince, who doubles up as the deputy King, ordered the scribe's death. This is reportedly the first time ever that a female has been appointed as the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States. The third royal decree orders the payment of a month's salary as a reward to the participants of front-line military action in the "southern region of the Kingdom," reports Al Arabiya. The incumbent ruler of the nation, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, had on Saturday issued a decree in which he picked MBS to "steer the state's affairs" during the monarch's visit to Egypt for the first joint Arab League-European Union summit slated to take place from February 24 to 25. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday said that the government is considering deploying military police in the buffer zone that is currently being created on the border between Syria and Turkey. The demilitarised buffer zone was announced last year to separate government forces from rebel fighters in Syria's Idlib province. "It envisages an agreement on cooperation in eradicating the terrorist threat on the common border, including an opportunity for the Turkish side to carry out operations in certain border areas on the Syrian territory," TASS quoted Lavrov as saying. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is trying to regain control over the last province in the rebel hands-Idlib province. Turkey has deployed military troops in the different location of Idlib. The buffer zone will provide a breathing space for Syria and Turkey. "Right now, the final format of this buffer zone is undergoing adjustments with the participation of the military, and, naturally, with regard to the stance of Damascus and the maximum possible account of Turkey's interests," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday visited the AIIMS to inquire about the health of Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Amit Kumar. Amit Kumar sustained injuries in an encounter in South Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 18. Kumar, who was admitted to Army Hospital in Anantnag, was airlifted to AIIMS, New Delhi after his health deteriorated. After meeting the officer, Rajnath Singh tweeted saying: "Officers like him lift the morale of forces with their action. I salute his courage and the bravery exhibited by his team." Amit Kumar, posted as DIG in South Kashmir was hit by a bullet in his leg during an encounter launched to nab alleged Pulwama attack mastermind Kamran alias Ghazi. In the initial burst of fire, Amit Kumar, three other Army personnel and one civilian sustained critical gunshot injuries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Sunday that the Pulwama terror attack will keep inspiring India to uproot the very base of terrorism. "I respectfully bow to all the brave sons of the country, who laid down their lives, protecting the honour of their motherland, India. This martyrdom will keep inspiring us relentlessly to uproot the very base of terrorism; it will fortify our resolve" he said. Addressing the nation in the 53rd episode of his monthly radio broadcast "Mann Ki Baat", he said the Army has resolved to "wipe out" terrorists and their harbourers. "The Army has resolved to wipe out terrorists and their harbourers. The martyrdom of these brave soldiers brought to the fore, through the media, touching, inspiring stories of their kin, which give hope and strength to the entire country." said PM Modi. "We shall have to take up this challenge facing our country, forgetting all barriers of casteism, communalism, regionalism and other difference, so that, our steps against terror are firmer, stronger and more decisive," he said. Prime Minister said that the families of the CRPF 40 men who were killed are source of inspiration for all. "The fortitude displayed by Ram Niranjan ji, father of Martyr Ratan Thakur of Bhagalpur, Bihar, in this moment of tribulation is truly inspiring. He has expressed the wish of sending his second son too, to take on the enemy; if need be, he himself would go and fight," he said. "The country salutes the indomitable courage of Meena ji, wife of Martyr Prasanna Sahu of Jagatsinghpur, Odisha. She has vowed to send her only son to join the CRPF. When the mortal remains of Martyr Vijay Soren, draped in the tricolor reached Gumla, Jharkhand, his innocent son iterated that he too would join the armed forces," he said. The Prime Minister said, "Whether it be the family of Martyr Vijay Maurya of Devariya, the parents of Martyr Tilakraj of Kangra or the six year old son of Martyr Hemraj of Kota - the story of every family of martyrs is full of inspiration. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday called out Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to drop his 'mask of innocence' while criticising the Pakistan government for its role in the Pulwama terror attack. Addressing a rally along with Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh president Prakash Ambedkar, Owaisi said, "We would like to tell Pakistan PM not to give that message to India which he wants to seated before a camera. This is not the first attack. There was Pathankot, Uri and now Pulwama. And on behalf of India, I want to tell the Prime Minister of Pakistan to drop his mask of innocence." He also said that Pakistan should not worry about Indian Muslims as they are here by choice after refusing Jinnah's proposition during 1947. He also outlined the country's diversity and said that the neighbouring country is jealous by the unity of Indian citizens. "One of the ministers from Pakistan had said that they will stop the prayer bells from ringing in temples of India but I want to tell him that he doesn't know India. Till Muslims of this country are alive, Azaan will sound from mosques and bells will ring in temples. This is the beauty of our country which the neighbouring country sees with jealousy. People in this country live as one and when it will come to the country we all will be together," Owaisi said. Owaisi also lambasted terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed for its role in the dastardly terror attack and opined that a disciple of Mohammed would never kill a person. "I want to clearly say as a citizen of India, that this dastardly attack has links to Pakistan. It was done as per plan of Pakistan government, Pakistan Army and ISI. I would like to tell the outfit that killed our 40 men and claimed its responsibility - you're not Jaish-e-Mohammed, you are Jaish-e-Shayateen. You are Jaish-e-Shayateen, Jaish-e-Iblis. Masood Azhar, you are not a Maulana, you are a disciple of the devil. It is not Laskhar-e-Taiba, it is Lashkar-e-Shayateen." Around 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives when a JeM operative attacked their convoy in Pulwama's Awantipora in the state of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. In the wake of the attack, the international community has extended its support to India in its fight against terrorism, including China which had previously stonewalled efforts to designate JeM chief Masood Azhar as a "global terrorist" at the United Nations Security Council. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said the Pema Khandu-led Arunachal Pradesh government is not going to table the controversial permanent residential certificate (PRC) for now and appealed people to maintain peace in the state. Sangma's comments come as protests over the PRC row intensified in Itanagar with protesters going on a rampage on Sunday. They set on fire the private house of Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, burnt various vehicles and vandalised police and fire stations in the capital. Protesters even tried to march towards Khandu's residence, but security forces foiled their bid. Speaking to ANI, Sangma said, "Government has clarified that they will not stretch the issue further. We appeal to the people that there will be peace. Government is also trying its best that distinction is not escalated further. The state government has sent a message that they are not going to tabled PRC for now. Hence, there should not be an issue." Security has been beefed up in and around important buildings and the residences of important politicians including that of Khandu. Many people are said to have sustained injuries in the stone pelting that took place. Protests took a violent turn after one person was killed in the police firing on Friday night. The district administration has called in the army to maintain law and order in the city. Locals are protesting after the state government-appointed Joint High Power Committee (JHPC) recommended granting PRC to six communities who have been living in Namsai and Changlang districts of the state for decades. The decision to grant PRC to them will allow them to benefit from various welfare and other schemes. JHPC recommended PRC to six communities after having a detailed discussion with all stakeholders, but nearly 18 student and civil society organisations are protesting against the move. They are against giving PRC to non-Arunachalees. However, Khandu has clarified that the government did not intend to bring any Bill to push PRC forward and has even announced not to discuss the issue in the Assembly. He has, however, stated that he would like to have wider consultations with all stakeholders on the issue of PRC in near future. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has appealed to the people of the state to maintain peace. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Calling J Jayalalithaa a fine administrator and a compassionate leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to the former Tamil Nadu chief minister on her 71st birth anniversary on Sunday. The Prime Minister tweeted, "Tributes to Jayalalithaa Ji on her birth anniversary. Her contribution towards the development of Tamil Nadu will be remembered for generations. A fine administrator and compassionate leader, her welfare measures benefitted countless poor people." Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Amma Scooter Scheme - the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government's flagship programme - in Chennai. Under the scheme, named after Jayalalithaa, the state government offers a Rs 25,000 subsidy for women to buy two-wheelers. Jayalalithaa, who was born in 1948 served five terms as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for over fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. In 1982, when M. G. Ramachandran was the chief minister, Jayalalithaa joined the AIADMK, the party he founded. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States Vice President Mike Pence will meet self-proclaimed Venezuela President Juan Guaido at the Lima Group Summit in Bogota on Monday to "voice the United States' wavering support to the interim president and to highlight the Venezuelan people's fight for democracy over dictatorship". "At the invitation of the President of Colombia Ivan Duque, Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Bogota, Colombia on behalf of President Donald Trump on Monday, February 25th to voice the United States' unwavering support for interim President Juan Guaido and highlight the Venezuelan people's fight for democracy over dictatorship," read a press statement. As per the scheduled, the Vice President will deliver remarks at a meeting of the Lima Group focused "on addressing the tragic humanitarian and security crises unfolding in Venezuela and ongoing U.S. efforts to deliver aid to the country". According to the White House, Pence will state plainly that the time has come for socialist President Nicolas Maduro to step aside. This will be the fifth visit of the Vice President to Venezuela. In the previous trips, Pence had met the Venezuelan who had fled their country. The Lima Group - formed in 2017 to oppose Maduro's government - have rejected Maduro's election victory and have been working alongside the US and the opposition to topple the Venezuelan leader. Meanwhile, former United States President Bill Clinton has also extended his support to the National Assembly leader. "The heartbreaking violence in Venezuela must stop. I stand with President @JGuaido, the National Assembly, and the people of #Venezuela as they embrace their right to live in peace, choose their leaders, and decide their future, in harmony with their neighbours," tweeted Clinton. Last month, Vice President Pence had met with Carlos Vecchio, ambassador of Venezuela to the United States; Julio Borges, ambassador of Venezuela to the Lima Group, and other Venezuelan officials to express the strong support of the United States for the Venezuelan National Assembly and the government of President Juan Guaido. The US had also claimed that the Maduro regime is also stopping the humanitarian aid to reach people. On February 18, the Trump administration announced new sanctions targeting five high-profile figures in the Maduro regime and security service The South American nation is crippled with a political and economic crisis since January. The political crisis began in Venezuela on January 24 when Guaido marched against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and announced himself as interim president. The economic crisis in the nation, coupled with a food shortage, has strengthened an anti-Maduro sentiment across the South American nation, with the opposition accusing Maduro of "usurping power." A defiant Maduro, who is backed by the country's powerful military, claimed that the opposition protests are an attempt by the US to stage a coup and overthrow him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, a Hindu parliamentarian from Pakistan, on Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of an event here. Vankwani, a member of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was part of a foreign delegation which was invited to attend the Kumbh Mela by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). He also met Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh on the fringes of the event. Talking to ANI, Vankwani said, "I thank the Indian government for the warm welcome accorded to me. I met PM Modi, V K Singh and held discussions with Sushma ji. I assured that there is no Pakistani involvement in the Pulwama attack. We should move in a positive direction, we want peace." "Whether (Pakistan-based) JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammad) has claimed the responsibility for the attack for taking credit or is actually involved, is a matter of investigation. I can assure you that these days there is no such establishment in Pakistan which can use Pakistan land for acting against other nations," he said. Forty CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide bomb attack on their convoy on February 14 in Pulwama in Kashmir. JeM had claimed responsibility for the terror strike. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nepal's federal cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, will be undergoing a cabinet reshuffle soon, sources have confirmed. "The cabinet reshuffle is at high stake. The Prime Minister, on Sunday, held talks with the President about changing faces in the cabinet currently under his leadership. He is going to reshuffle the cabinet very soon - probably within a week," a source from within the Prime Minister's residence told ANI. As per the source, who accompanied Oli for Sunday's meeting, the Prime Minister reached the President's residence, Sheetal Niwas, at around 9:30 pm and returned to his residence by 10:10 pm (local time). "He is considering the cabinet reshuffle very soon, it could be as quick within a week but won't take longer than 2 weeks for sure. He is taking this step keeping the investment summit slated for March in focus," the source added. The landlocked Himalayan Nation, which is still recovering from the deadly April 2015 earthquake, has called for another investment summit on March 29 and 30, 2019. The source inside the PM's residence also claimed that the current Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation is likely to be sacked by Oli in the probable reshuffle, adding that Janardan Sharma is being considered for the post instead. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Oli and CPN Leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda have held separate meetings and consultations in the recent past on the likely reshuffle, the source informed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Real Estate Development Council lauded the Goods and Services Tax rate cut on real estate announced on Sunday. The council's president Niranjan Hiranandani said, "Industry lauds the GST rate cut on real estate to 5 per cent on non-affordable and 1 per cent on affordable housing without the input tax credit. This will bring big relief to the home buyers." However, he added that the rate on cement was expected to get reduced but that did not happen. Hiranandani added, "The GST rate on cement has not been reduced as was expected, at 28 per cent it remains among the highest taxed inputs for construction." In an attempt to give a boost to the real estate sector, the GST Council on Sunday decided to reduce the tax on affordable housing properties without input tax credit to one per cent. The effective GST of 5 per cent shall be applicable without ITC on residential properties outside the affordable segment, which was also decided by the GST Council at its 33rd meeting. According to a press statement issued after the GST Council meeting, the definition of affordable housing shall be "a residential house/flat of carpet area up to 90 sqm (square meter) in non-metropolitan cities and towns and 60 sqm in metropolitan cities having value up to Rs 45 lakh, both for metropolitan and non-metropolitan cities." "Metropolitan cities are Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR (limited to Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, and Faridabad), Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai (whole of MMR or Mumbai Metropolitan Region," said the statement. "Intermediate tax on development right such as TDR (transfer of development rights), JDA (joint development agreements), (lease premium), FSI (floor space index) shall be exempted only for such residential property on which the GST is payable," further stated the statement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Union Minister and Congress leader V Kishore Chandra Deo on Sunday joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the presence of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who welcomed him into the party fold. A large number of tribal people from across north Andhra had gathered to mark the occasion. "It is not new for me to work with the TDP," said Deo, while recalling when he worked with Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, popularly known as NTR, for 10 years at the level. Talking about the bauxite movement in north Andhra, Deo said that even though the Congress was ruling in the state and at the Centre, he could only stop the mining but failed to cancel the licenses. Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said: "BJP is creating divisions among different communities in the region. Prime Minister Modi-led Democratic Alliance (NDA) won't even get 100 seats in the coming Lok Sabha seats." Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Naidu lauded Deo for doing dignified throughout his political career. Comparing Deo with Jagan Mohan Reddy of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), Naidu said: "There is no comparison between Deo and Reddy. Deo has always brought respect, but Jagan has criminalised the political discourse and has floated a party only to attack. YSRCP cadres have time and again attacked Congress, TDP and journalists." Naidu alleged that Prime Minister Modi is leading attacks on opposition leaders in the country. He said the TDP leaders having assets in Hyderabad are getting death threats and are being harassed by the TRS leaders. "On one hand, Prime Minister Modi is forcing I-T Department and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to raid the state, on the other, K Chandrasekhar Rao of TRS is threatening and harassing those opposing him. All of them are targeting our party and the state. I am not fighting for myself but for the sake of the state and for the future of the youths." Accusing Prime Minister Modi, KCR and Jagan Mohan of colluding among them against him, Naidu said: "Why are you playing a veiled and dark You three can contest the elections together. We will show you the power of Andhra." TDP president Naidu also requested the Telugu people to raise their voice against Prime Minister Modi who is scheduled to visit Visakhapatnam on March 1. He requested the people of the state to ask him about the assurances made in the wake of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act such as Visakhapatnam Railway Zone, Vizianagaram Tribal University, Visakha Metro Rail, Kakinada Petro Chemical Complex, and the financial aid of Rs 1000 crore for Hudhud cyclone victims. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took a holy dip at the 'Sangam' and offered prayers at the ongoing Kumbh at Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj, after which he washed feet of sanitation workers and lauded their efforts to ensure a Swacch Bharat. The Prime Minister also paid tributes to the NDRF personnel who lost his life saving a pilgrim. Modi who was received by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.earlier today performed the 'Ganga Aarti'. "Had the good fortune of taking a holy dip at the #Kumbh. Prayed for the well being of 130 crore Indians," the Prime Minister tweeted after stepping into the river waist deep in water and offered prayers with folded hands. He also washed the feet of sanitation workers at the 'Swachh Kumbh, Swachh Aabhaar' programme here. "I would like to pay tributes to Rajendra Gautam from NDRF who saved lives of pilgrims at the cost of his own." Gautam, who sustained a severe spinal injury while rescuing an elderly pilgrim from drowning at Kumbh Mela passed away at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital where he was airlifted for treatment. Meanwhile, in his speech, Modi lauded the efforts of the sanitation workers. "There are many kinds of saints here, and among those, there are my brothers and sisters who have worked tirelessly to make this Kumbh a success, they are my hard-working 'Karmyogis,'" he said. Talking about washing the feet of the workers, the Prime Minister said he would cherish the moment for his entire life. "There is an unforgettable moment in every person's life, today I experienced that moment in my life while washing the feet of sanitation workers," Modi said. The Prime Minister also reiterated the government's commitment to cleaning the Ganges: "We are committed to ensuring the cleanliness of Ganga. In this regard, we have shut 32 sewers that use to drain impure water in the river." The Prime Minister also spoke about the 'Namami Gange Mission. "Recently, I was given the Seoul Peace Price in which I got Rs 1.30 crore. That amount has been given for cleaning Ganga. The amount after auctioning the presents that I have received in the past four and a half years as the Prime Minister will also be used in the service of Maa Ganga," Modi said. He also informed that the country is moving towards declaring itself open-defecation free before October 2, 2019. "I believe that you 'swacchagrahi' of Prayagraj have come forward as an inspiration for the entire nation," he said addressing sanitation workers. Kumbh Mela is the largest human congregation in the world, with over 130 million pilgrims expected to participate in the festival with the belief that taking a dip in the holy water of Ganges River will pave the way for their salvation and would rid them of their sins. The 55-day long Kumbh Mela will end on March 4. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The condition of ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is absolutely stable and he is under observation by doctors at the Goa Medical College hospital in Panaji, according to the state's Health Minister Vishwajit Rane. "Wrong information is being provided on social media. Yesterday we had a thorough check-up of the Chief Minister. Today he had minor discomfort and doctors have suggested keeping him under observation for another day or so," Rane told reporters here. Minister Rane and Congress MLA Francis Silveira visited Parrikar at the hospital. Silveira told media, "I came to meet Chief Minister and to inquire about his health. I was not allowed to meet him. I am told that two doctors from AIIMS have come down. I did not get to interact with any doctor." On Saturday the chief minister was admitted to Goa Medical College for an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Parrikar who is suffering from a pancreatic ailment has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, and New York since February 2018. He was reportedly admitted to the cancer department of AIIMS, in New Delhi on February 1. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Miffed over not getting any seats in the alliance of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena, Union Minister and Republican Party of India (RPI) Chief Ramdas Athawale said on Monday that he was capable of "sidelining" those who did so with him. "If someone sidelines me then I have the power to sideline him. This is good that BJP-Shiv Sena came together. There is a need to call me when the alliance was announced in the presence of BJP President Amit Shah," he added. RPI supremo Athawale said, "BJP-Shiv Sena came together but they left RPI party, this message has gone wrong in the entire country. They did not give seat to RPI. There is a possibility to change the situation; our demands are not that big." Athawale has been demanding that he would like to contest from Mumbai South Central Lok Sabha seat. Earlier he said, "One seat should be given to our party. It was RPI (A) who brought them together in power. Forgetting that, they kept us aside and announced their seats. Now, we want to get Mumbai South central seat and I myself want to fight elections from there. I have talked to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis about it and even told him that our party should get representation in the Lok Sabha," the Union Minister added. The Shiv Sena will fight on 23 seats and BJP on 25 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, where 48 seats are at stake. The two parties have agreed to contest an equal number of seats in the Assembly polls. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday (local time) severed diplomatic relations with Colombia in the wake of the violence along the two countries' border. He also pledged to stop the supplies from coming into the country and called it a coup attempt by the opposition with the help of the United States and Columbia. "My patience has run out. I can't continue to tolerate the aggressions against Venezuela that are being carried out by the Colombian government. We are severing diplomatic relations with Colombia," CNN quoted Maduro as saying. Maduro made these remark while addressing a rally in Caracas. Recently, violence broke out between locals and Venezuela's security forces along the Columbian borders, which is still backing Maduro. At least five people were killed in clashes with the security forces on Saturday. At least 285 people were hurt after the Venezuelan National Guard fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protestors, reported CNN. Various trucks carrying supplies were blocked on the borders. Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, while condemning Maduro for stopping aid tweeted "What kind of a sick tyrant stops food from getting to hungry people? The images of burning trucks filled with aid are sickening." Protestors have also claimed that the trucks were also burnt down by security forces. Meanwhile, the US has announced that it was preparing to bring in aid into Caracas through a different route. The South American nation is crippled with a political and economic crisis since January. The political crisis began in Venezuela on January 24 when Guaido marched against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and announced himself as interim president. The economic crisis in the nation, coupled with a food shortage, has strengthened an anti-Maduro sentiment across the South American nation, with the opposition accusing Maduro of "usurping power." A defiant Maduro, who is backed by the country's powerful military, claimed that the opposition protests are an attempt by the US to stage a coup and overthrow him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath condemned the murder of the abducted twins - Devansh and Priyansh - whose bodies were found lying near a river in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district on Sunday. Madhya Pradesh Police has arrested six people in connection with this. On February 12, five-year-old twins of a businessman were abducted at a gunpoint from their school bus within their campus in Chitrakoot. Their bodies were found lying near a river located in Uttar Pradesh's Banda area today. Police said that the abductors killed the boys even after receiving the ransom amount. The post-mortem will be conducted later in the day. Batting for justice, the Chief Minister assured the family of the deceased that the punishment will be meted out to the culprits. He also talked to the father of the twins and offered his condolences. Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan condemned the murder and said, "I pay my homage to the two children. It was an unfortunate incident. We had hoped that the government and administration would take it seriously and rescue the children. Congress keeps saying 'waqt hai badlav ka' (It is time for a change), but is this the change that they promised? This incident shook me." A protest has erupted in Chitrakoot, a division that includes Banda district, following the news of the murder. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC have been issued in the area. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A team of the Election Commission of India (ECI) will tour the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the first week of March to assess the ground situation for holding the Lok Sabha in the state. The officials who will be in the state for two days (March 4 to March 5) are scheduled to meet seven parties and three state parties at a hotel in Jammu. They will also hold a meeting with nodal officers, CS and DGP. The EC team includes Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena, DG (Expenditure) Dilip Sharma, ADG (SPS) Sheyphali B Sharan, Director Nikhil Kumar and Principal Secretary Standhope Yuhlung. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Aman Kumar Thakur was on Sunday killed and three Army personnel, including a Major, were injured in an encounter between security forces and terrorists in the state's Kulgam district. The encounter broke out after the troops of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 34 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and Jammu and Kashmir Police carried out cordon and search operations in Tarigam area of the district. The three Army personnel, who got injured, included a Major of 34 Rashtriya Rifles. "We have lost a very brave Jammu and Kashmir Police officer Dy SP Aman Thakur in an encounter with terrorists in Kulgam. Such an irreparable loss for Jammu and Kashmir Police family and nation. Rest in peace dear," tweeted Imtiyaz Hussain, SSP (Security), Kashmir. A resident of Gogla in Doda district of Jammu region, he is survived by his parents, wife Sarla Devi and 6-year-old son Arya. In a press release, J and K Police paid rich tributes to Thakur. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this critical juncture," the police said.. Thakur, a 2011-batch Kashmir Police Service Officer, was leading from the front in the operation. He was heading the counter terrorism wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police in District Kulgam from the last one-and-a-half years and had played a key role in the killing of terrorists in the area. The police said the officer was known for his determination and valour, besides simplicity, plain speaking and thorough professionalism. In a short period of time, he had earned love, respect and appreciation of the locals in the area for his helpful nature and professionalism, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three terrorists of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were killed on Sunday in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district, where a Deputy Superintendent of Police also lost his life. An Army jawan who was injured in the gunfight later succumbed to his injuries, police said. Two other Army personnel, including a Major, were also injured in the encounter which broke out after the troops of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 34 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and the Jammu and Kashmir Police were conducting search operations in Tarigam area of the district. Security forces have recovered arms and ammunition from the site of encounter. The identity of slain terrorists is yet to be established. "A group of militants from Jaish were hiding somewhere in the area after which security forces started the encounter operation," said DGP Dilbagh Singh. Dy SP of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Aman Kumar Thakur, who led from the front in the operation received critical bullet wounds in his head during the gunfight and was immediately shifted to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival. A resident of Gogla in Doda district of Jammu region, Aman Thakur is survived by his parents, wife Sarla Devi and 6-year-old son Arya. Jammu and Kashmir Police paid rich tributes to Thakur. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this critical juncture," the police said in a statement. Thakur, a 2011-batch Kashmir Police Service Officer was heading the counter-terrorism wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police in Kulgam for the last one-and-a-half years and had played a key role in the killing of terrorists in the area. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opposition leader and self-proclaimed President Juan Guaido hailed the entry of aid into Venezuela, outlining the people's rejection of embattled President Nicolas Maduro. "They said that we were not going to reach the border: we all arrived and the People came to receive the help. They said that the aid was not going to enter: the trucks cross the country. They said they had the People: they are alone and dozens of soldiers have abandoned them. The People are clear," Guaido tweeted in Spanish on February 23 (local time). This comes after violence raged in the border towns of Urena and Gran Sabana over the entry of aid between the Venezuelan military and protesters who wanted the passage of aid into the Latin American nation. Maduro had blocked all international aid into the country, rejecting claims of a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. In fact, he claims that the United States is sending aid into the country in a bid to overthrow his government in an alleged coup attempt. He also severed ties with Colombia on Saturday, giving its diplomats 24 hours to leave the nation. "My patience has run out. I can't continue to tolerate the aggressions against Venezuela that are being carried out by the Colombian government," CNN quoted Maduro as saying. Meanwhile, around 23 members of Venezuela's armed forces sought help from Colombian immigration authorities after abandoning their posts at the Simon Bolivar International Bridge at the Venezuela-Colombia border on Saturday. Guaido also brought attention to the destruction of aid by the "usurping regime" and stated, "We continue to receive the support of the international community, which has seen, with its own eyes, how the usurping regime violates the Geneva Protocol, where it is clearly stated that destroying humanitarian aid is a crime against humanity," in Spanish on Saturday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former BJP Minister Mahadev Naik on Sunday joined the Congress party in presence of Goa Congress desk-in-charge Chellakumar. Naik on Saturday told ANI on phone from Shiroda that the Congress workers met him at his residence and requested him to join the party. Naik was a former minister in the Manohar Parrikar government. Since long, the Congress has been demanding that it should be allowed to form the government in the state, claiming that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's prolonged illness and inability to attend the office was taking a toll on administration and governance of the state. Chief Minister Parrikar is suffering from a pancreatic ailment and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New Delhi, and New York. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir state government on Sunday urged people not to pay heed to rumours on the basis of unsubstantiated and exaggerated pieces of information, in circulation, after the ghastly Pulwama attack. Addressing the media here, government spokesperson Rohit Kansal said, "During the past few days several rumours are being circulated and panic messages are being disseminated. Most of these have been based on unsubstantiated or exaggerated pieces of information." Kansal alleged that some political parties and organisations have chosen to react to these rumours thereby triggering further panic. "My first appeal to everyone is not to pay any heed to rumours, avoid fear-mongering and not to exaggerate matters," he added. He was addressing concerns about the safety and security of residents of Jammu and Kashmir particularly students residing or studying in other parts of the country, in the wake of the recent tragic incident at Pulwama. "The state has been taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of residents, residing or working in other parts of the country and shall proactively continue to do so," he said. As many as 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives in the dastardly terror attack which took place in South Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14. Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It a known fact that sitting for too long while commuting or at workplace causes back pain and even damages spine. Until four months ago, Delhi-based Ishita Goel, an engineer working at a startup in Noida, used to work for 11 hours in a day and flew at least seven times each month. Those long sittings in the office, inside the train, and the plane took a toll on her back and led to cervical spondylosis. Medical experts are of the opining sitting for long hours is messing up with the spinal of people, especially young office goers falling in the age group between 25 years and 40 years. "Sitting for long hours can not only land us with sore limbs and bestow us with a fatter middle, but it can also mess up our bone and lead to serious muscle downgrade. The cases of back pain have increased tremendously," says Dr Sumedh of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. "Nearly 80 per cent of the people who come to me with this problem are in the age group of 25 to 40. The main cause of back pain is the people's bad lifestyle, increase in body weight, sitting long hours at work during which there is less blood circulation and body parts become stiff which causes pain," adds Dr Sumedh. Speaking to ANI, Dr H S Chhabra, Medical Director and Chief of Spine Service at Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, said: "Staying in a sedentary position for long hours can expose your body to a series of debilitating problems including pains, spinal disorders, and repetitive stress injuries of the muscle and tissues." Dr Ajay Wadhwa, an Orthopaedic surgeon based in Noida, said: "Sitting in one position for long puts a lot of excessive pressure on the joints and muscles. These days youngsters below the age of 30 years fall prey to slip discs. Not only that, they also suffer from constant headaches." However, there are certain steps to combat sitting disease and protect the spine. - Do your work standing at a high counter or a table. - Rather than having a meeting in a conference room, invite your co-workers to walk laps during a discussion. - Set a timer on your computer for a stand-and-stretch break after every 30 minutes. - Visit a co-worker in person instead of e-mailing them. - Park your car a bit further from your office to sneak in some extra steps. - Take a short walk after having lunch. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 50-year-old businessman was shot by unidentified men here, police said on Sunday. Purushottam Kumar, owner of a cake shop was killed on Saturday near Surya apartment located on Fraser road around 8 in the evening. The deceased was attacked by the two bike-borne men while he was going towards his shop situated on new Dakbungalow road. The culprits snatched the bag full of cash from the deceased and fled the spot, the police added. The murderers are still at large and police has initiated an investigation into the matter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As the deaths in the hooch tragedy toll is mounting, the residents of the area are urging the government to totally ban the sale of the bootleg liquor in the region. Till now, more than 100 patients have been undergoing the treatment at Kushal Konwar Civil Hospital. "The government must ban the sale of spurious liquor soon. People are poor and thus are not educated about the side effects of the bootleg liquor. We are also expecting that government to give some sort of compensation to the families of the deceased," said one of the victim admitted in the hospital. Speaking about the same, Uttam Prasad, Superintendent, Civil Hospital told ANI that till now 51 deaths have occurred in Jorhat Medical College Hospital and assured that the medical fraternity is taking all the requisite steps in order to save the lives of the people. "A total of 51 deaths have occurred in this hospital. Out of 51, 33 deceased were from the city of Golaghat. We are doing our best to save the lives of the victims." he said. The toll in hooch tragedies has reached 83, while over 200 people are undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Golaghat and Jorhat districts. Most of the victims are poor labourers, working in the tea estates of Golaghat and Jorhat districts. A large number of them had fallen ill after consuming spurious liquor on Thursday night and 12 of them were declared dead when they were rushed to the hospital for treatment after falling ill, triggering protests and outrage among the locals. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who visited the affected people at Jorhat Medical College Hospital (JMCH), has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those who have fallen ill for treatment. Chief Minister Sonowal has also assured the families of the victims of hooch tragedies that the guilty would be brought to book. He inquired about the health of those undergoing treatment, while expressed condolences to the families of the deceased. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian residential air purifiers market is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 29 per cent from the current level of 14.14 million dollars to 38.99 million dollars in 2023, backed by rapid urbanisation, increasing purchasing power, expanding urban population and deteriorating air quality, according to an ASSOCHAM-TechSci Research joint study. Some of the other key factors expected to drive the market are growing technological advancements, aggressive marketing strategies by air purifier companies, increasing incidences of airborne diseases and aspiration to lead a healthier lifestyle are anticipated to boost demand for air purifiers in India, said the study titled 'Bio Medical Waste & Air Pollution.' The residential sector accounted for a revenue share of about 22 per cent in the overall India air purifiers market in 2017, on account of increasing airborne disease. Rising air pollution, both outdoor as well as indoor, is solely responsible for increasing the number of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. The presence of high concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 in the air leads to high pollution levels in northern states, especially Delhi NCR region which is among the most polluted. As a result, demand for residential air purifiers is increasing, the joint study. In 2017, industrial air filters market stood at 293.27 million dollars and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 6.07 per cent to cross 392.63 million dollars by 2023. Also, the need for frequent replacement of air filters in the construction sector is spurring demand for air filters. Sales of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) air filter segment witnessed high penetration in the commercial sector in comparison to the residential sector, thereby fuelling air filters market in India. Increasing construction activities including the establishment of buildings and townships in tier II cities, such as Varanasi, Amritsar and Ludhiana are deteriorating the air quality in these regions, thus demand for air purifiers is anticipated to grow at a robust pace from these regions in the coming years, said the study. Air pollution has become one of the biggest challenges for both developed economies. It is even threatening the existence of the human race due to its effects like global warming and acid rain. Developing countries like India and China in Asia and the African continent will continue to contribute to a growing load of carbon emissions across the world. Thus, it becomes evident that both developed and developing economies need to come together on a common platform and join hands to fight this menace. . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government has cancelled the second round of auction for after companies offered low bids. The Union government had offered eight stretches of under the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model in August 2018. Bids were opened in December 2018 where Cube emerged the winner by quoting Rs 4,612 crore, way below the base price of Rs 5,362 crore set by the National Authority of India (NHAI). The investment appetite between the two TOT auctions suffered, with 12 banks under lending restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank of India's (RBIs) Prompt and Corrective Action. Besides, IL&FS and its group companies defaulted on repayments of their debt, creating a liquidity problem in the system. These developments increased the cost of debt for highway developers and lowered their risk appetite, a road sector expert said, citing this as the reason for lower bids. ALSO READ: Govt to construct 44 strategic roads along the India-China border An infrastructure project is funded at a debt-equity ratio of 70:30 but companies could not arrange for more than 50 per cent in loan, said an expert. According to sources, Cube Highways quoted a price of Rs 4,612 crore, Adani Infrastructure (Rs 3,675 crore) and IRB Infrastructure (Rs 2,718 crore) were the other bidders for the eight road stretches offered under the second round of TOT auctions. These stretches cover national highways in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar and West Bengal. The length of the project is 586.55 km and there are 12 toll plazas on these stretches. The second bundle also involves an initial construction cost of Rs 929 crore and the total contract period is of 30 years, which may increase or decrease by 5 or 10 years, based on The first TOT bundle received bids 1.5 times more than the base price set by the NHAI, and the contract was bagged by Macquarie at Rs 9,681 crore. ALSO READ: Govt to construct 44 strategic roads along the India-China border The TOT model in India has been developed to encourage private participation in the highways sector. Under it, the concessionaire pays a one-time concession fee upfront (lump sum), which then enables the concessionaire to operate and toll the project stretch for the pre-determined 30-year concession period. On August 3, 2016, the Union Cabinet authorised the to monetise public-funded national highway projects that are operational and are generating toll revenues for at least two years after the commercial operations date through the TOT model. About 75 operational highways completed under public funding were initially identified for potential monetisation. The central government felt monetisation of public-funded highways would create a framework for attracting long-term institutional investment on the strength of future toll receivables. It was felt that international investors generally hesitated from taking construction risk, but were willing to look at de-risked Brownfield road assets. This comes at a time when richer nations are batting for global rules for the sector. Discussions on the rules are set to start by March. The idea is to create guidelines that will serve as the basis of any later international agreement on e-commerce, which will favour richer nations owing to the nature of the developed market systems and penetration by online firms in the retail space, a commerce department official ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Bryan, OH (43506) Today Thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 84F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms. Low 69F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC The city this month tapped an engineering firm to study the environmental impacts that Mayor DeBlasios beloved BrooklynQueens trolley may have on the neighborhoods through which it would run, according to the leader of an advocacy group for the so-called Brooklyn Queens Connector (Ready to roll: City taps engineer to begin environmental review of BQX trolley project by Julianne Cuba, online Feb. 6). Todays news makes it clear: the BQX is moving forward, said Jessica Schumer, the daughter of Sen. Chuck Schumer (DNew York). These steps show meaningful progress for the project something weve been eager to see. The citys Economic Development Corporation awarded Manhattan-based firm VHB a $7.2-million contract to lead the environmental-review process and subsequent Uniform Land Use Review Procedure the trolley project must snake through before any straphangers can hop aboard, according to a rep for the agency. News of the contract comes months after Hizzoner put the fate of the streetcar in jeopardy last summer, when he announced it would derail without $1 billion in federal funding approved by his political rival President Trump. Readers let the comments roll online: EDC is controlled by the Mayor. Its just a way for him to use his cronies to support things he likes without going to Council.Frank from Furter Theres no heat in Nycha there is lead and mold, and the ceilings are falling down but there are millions of dollars for a train for the super rich to nowhere. Thats DeBlasios, Schumers, and Cuomos progressivism at work. Council continues to cater to the rich too.Raymond from Boerum Hill Its an ultimate public-transportation boondoggle waiting to happen. I wont be surprised if the Feds will not give funding to DeCronys pet project. That could make this DOA.The Hunkster from Bed-Stuy The Feds wont give money to fix the BQE, never mind the BQX. Unless the city essentially allows people to ride this for free, it will be next to useless. Free because its not part of the MTA, so it will make it a double fare to use the subway system. Its probably DOA anyway. Even the citys own analysis of increased development cant justify the amount of money to be spent, given you can add a bus route for this for less than one one-hundredth of the cost and allow free rides as well.Frank from Furter For anything like this to be effective, it needs to be raised above traffic like many people carriers in Japan. Otherwise its just a bus with different wheels that cant drive around obstructions. Imagine Red Hook access by simply flying over the BQEBattery Tunnel mess. Plenty of other situations, too, like a spur above Atlantic Avenue that connects to LIRR and Pacific StreetBarclays. Jim from Cobble Hill Ready to rile should be the headline for this story. Engineers should have been hired before the BQX debut three years ago. Yet another DeBlabio waste of our tax dollars and attention. No room for BQX on already-crammed streets add flood-prone coastal route, a decade of public taking lawsuits, and this developer wet dream answers itself.blogger Bill from from Boerum Hill If you raise it above traffic you will increase cost exponentially, as it will have to be handicap accessible. City buses are already handicap accessible.Frank from Furter How about just kill this idea already, especially since grade-level rails these days are almost no different from taking a bus? Not to mention the traffic it would cause.Tal Barzilai from Pleasantville Totally ridiculous waste of money! Try first establishing a bus route on this same (or essentially same) route and see if the ridership truly justifies this huge expense. Take the estimated $2.7 billion and apply it to fixing the subway. The subway already exists and most definitely needs the overhaul. Money should not be wasted on a new rail line through flood-prone neighborhoods. (And let Jessica Schumer find some legitimate job.)Mark from Crown Heights Trolley wont happen To the Editor, Ready to roll is just wishful thinking. In 2015, The Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector originally claimed it could be built for $1.7 billion. In 2016, the citys Economic Development Corporation said $2.5 billion. Today, the estimated cost is $2.7 billion. How many more billions might it cost upon completion? It takes more than a simple planning feasibility study to turn it into a viable capital transportation improvement project. There have been no environmental documents or design and engineering efforts necessary to validate any basic estimates for the $2.7 billion construction costs. Awarding a $7.25-million consultant contract to perform environmental work supplements the previous $7-million feasibility study for a total of $14.25 million. This leaves the project $2.685 billion short of funding needed for completion. The original completion date has already slipped four years from 2024 to 2029. It is doubtful that the Federal Transit Administration would pay for up to 50 percent of the cost, along with Amazon doing the same since it just cancelled coming to Long Island City. Mayor DeBlasio has yet to request, let alone been granted, approval to enter the Federal Transit Administration New Starts process for future funding. This easily averages five or more years before there is an approved Federal Full Funding Grant Agreement in place. Increasing local community opposition to Amazon is growing. State Sen. Michael Gianariss appointment to the NYS Public Authorities Control Board (subject to Gov. Cuomos approval) would have given him veto power to kill the project. It is not ethical for project director Jessica Schumer to lobby her father Sen. Charles Schumer for federal funding. Without a billion or more from both Washington and Amazon, dont count on riding the Brooklyn Queens Connector in your lifetime. Instead, try running simple limited-stop bus service on the same route.Larry Penner Great Neck Kings Plaza trouble To the Editor, My family and I returned from a very pleasant shopping trip, outside of the city, to find this weeks Mill Marine headline: A lot of trouble (by Kevin Duggan, MillMarine Courier, Feb. 1521). By flaunting the law again, they created another massive fire hazard by storing hundreds of cars illegally. And after a costly arson fire barely six months ago in their vehicle storage areas, this disregard for safety poses a great danger to customers in this mall. Then, deciding to raise parking fees for regular customers to the stratosphere made me grin. They can raise the parking price to $100 a day who cares? They wont get my family and neighbors money anymore. I, like many fellow Marine Parkers and Mill Basinites, made the decision to avoid this mall like the plague. Even after the rebuilding after the fall of Sears Roebuck, there is nothing inside for us. Since hip-hop clothes stores with blaring rap-crap music fill the stalls, I, along with most other locals, waved good-bye for better shopping pastures. Yes, beyond its parking problems, Kings Plaza is truly in a lot of trouble.Robert W. Lobenstein Sheepshead Bay Bye, bye, Bernie To the Editor, Just heard that Sen. Bernie Sanders confirmed his second bid for the presidency, after announcing his consideration of running at Brooklyn College. With all the anti-Israel bias surrounding that campus, Sanderss own pro-Palestinian bias is not needed there to exacerbate an already bad situation. Better for Sen. Sanders to remain in Vermont. The last time he campaigned in Brooklyn, he bemoaned the fact that his parents lived in a rent-stabilized apartment on Kings Highway. As an avowed socialist, you would think that Sanders would be all for rent protections for tenants. Why go to Brooklyn College, Sen. Sanders? After all, you only attended that school for one year before you transferred out. Your presence is not needed there to stir up the simmering anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hate, which has been on the increase. Ed Greenspan Sheepshead Bay Latest News ASIC to take rugby star Trevor Leota to court over unlicensed mortgage lending Former rugby international named as defendant in ASIC crackdown Firstmac announces $750m green home loan RMBS deal RMBS deal thought to be the first of its kind in Australia Brokers throughout the country heaved a sigh of relief last week as the opposition government shifted its original position on changes to broker remuneration. Jamie McPhee, CEO of ME Bank said, Its terrific to see that both parties have acknowledged the important role that the mortgage broker plays in providing competition in banking. The [Labor party] believes that a lender-pay model will ensure that the competition remains. I think thats a really, really positive outcome. MD of Trail Homes Nick Young agreed that its a promising start, but warned against accepting the latest development as a final outcome. He said, I think theres a general feeling amongst some quarters of the industry that its all done and settled. Its not. Weve got a long way to go here. Weve won the first battle, but this is a long campaign. Itll take months or maybe even a year or two before we really get to the end of this process of settling the remuneration question in the industry. In Youngs opinion, a large portion of said battle lies in a general lack of understanding. This problem is very nebulous and nobody has actually expressed what it is or whether it even exists, he explained. I think the industry, the politicians and the consumers, really need to carefully define what is the problem that were trying to address. If they can do that, then we can have the answer, he said. Without this being done Young worries the process will drag on as it is now with everybody coming up with a myriad of solutions because theres no one question that theyre trying to address. When he considers the viability of an all-upfront model, Young does not feel confident that its a neat answer to the issues. When it comes to clarifying the driving principles, McPhee feels that its important to remember the original aim of Haynes commission. He views the purpose as looking into the behavior of the banking system that wasnt meeting community expectations to ultimately deliver a better customer outcome. McPhee believes that the key to doing this is through protecting and promoting competition in the industry. To this end, the Labor partys announcement was sufficient in ensuring the broker channel remains a viable channel going forward. Young has more reservations. In his opinion, both New Zealand and the Netherlands serve as models where meddling with the natural mortgage broker market led to overtly negative outcomes. Its more than it didnt work, it was a disaster, he claimed. My concern is that the more you artificially attempt to distort a marketplace, the more you disadvantage people. Whether theyre consumers, whether theyre lenders, whether theyre mortgage brokers, somebody is going to be disadvantaged. While there remains some dispute over the level of victory found in Labors repositioning, something everyone seems to agree on is that any major change to the remuneration framework needs to be clearly defined, thoroughly worked through, and implemented with great caution. Warning: Graphic image below. Washington: US Vice President Mike Pence is set to announce "concrete steps" and "clear actions" to address the Venezuela crisis when he meets on Monday with regional leaders in Bogota, Colombia, a senior US administration official said. US Vice President Mike Pence. Credit:AP The official declined to comment on what the new measures would entail ahead of Pence's speech, to be delivered to a summit of the Lima Group around 10.30 am on Monday (Washington, DC time) after he meets with Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido. Shortly thereafter, US Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican, posted a photo on Twitter showing Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega under arrest in the US in a not-so-subtle threat to take Maduro out militarily. Rome: An Australian archbishop has warned a gathering of senior clergy in the Vatican, including the Pope, that the church has been our own worst enemy in failing to confront the abuse of children. And Pope Francis said the church must ensure no abuse should ever be covered up as was often the case in the past. Hearing stories of child abuse had reminded him of the old pagan practice of sacrificing children, he said. We are dealing with abominable crimes which must be erased from the face of the earth, Francis said, to the applause of the 200 senior church officials in the Sala Regia, a grand antechamber to the Sistine Chapel. Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane delivered the sermon at a Sunday morning Mass at the end of a four-day summit at the Vatican on the protection of minors in the church. London: British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday delayed a vote on her Brexit deal in the Parliament, saying it would now take place by March 12 little more than two weeks before the UK is due to leave the European Union. The move has the potential to further sow discord among her Conservative party colleagues. Three senior cabinet members suggested on Saturday that they could break ranks to back amendments to delay Britain's departure unless a deal is agreed upon by Parliament over the next week. But May told reporters on Sunday as she travelled to Egypt for an EU-Arab League summit and talks with European Council President Donald Tusk that her negotiating team would return to Brussels on Tuesday for meetings aimed at wringing concessions out of her reluctant EU partners. "As a result of that we won't bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week. But we will ensure that that happens by March 12," she said. Reykjavik: Iceland's whaling industry will be allowed to keep hunting whales for at least another five years, killing up to 2130 baleen whales under a new quota issued by the government. The five-year whaling policy was up for renewal when Fisheries Minister Kristjan Juliusson announced this week an annual quota of 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales for the next five years. While many Icelanders support whale hunting, a growing number of businessmen and politicians are against it due to the North Atlantic island nation's dependence on tourism. A minke whale is unloaded at a port after a whaling for 'scientific purposes in Kushiro, in the northernmost main island of Hokkaido. Japan. Credit:AP Whaling, they say, is bad for business and poses a threat to the country's reputation and the expanding international tourism that has become a mainstay of Iceland's national economy. Beijing: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to arrive in Vietnam by train on Tuesday for an "official friendly" visit, ahead of a second summit with US President Donald Trump. Expectations have been raised that the two-day summit on Wednesday and Thursday will produce more concrete progress than June's historic first meeting between the North Korean and US leaders in Singapore. On Friday, the recently retired CIA officer who had accompanied US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on multiple shuttle diplomacy missions between Washington and Pyongyang, including delivering letters between Trump and Kim, said Hanoi would be more productive. The North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un pictured boarding the train bound for Hanoi from Pyongyang Station in North Korea on Sunday. Credit:AP The officer, Andrew Kim, revealed Kim Jong-un had said: "I'm a father and a husband. And I have children. And I don't want my children to carry the nuclear weapon on their back their whole life." New Delhi: More than 130 people have died in north-eastern India after drinking bootleg liquor, the second mass poisoning from illegal alcohol to hit the country this month. The deaths occurred in the state of Assam when workers on tea plantations consumed tainted liquor sold by unlicensed vendors, officials said. Dozens are still being treated in local hospitals. Bootleg liquor is cheap, powerful and widely available in India, making it a popular option for those who cannot afford the alcohol sold at state-licensed outlets. A doctor attends to a victim, who had consumed bootleg liquor, at a hospital in Jorhat in north-eastern state of Assam, India, on Saturday. Credit:AP Such moonshine can also be fatal. Bootleggers have been known to spike their product with methanol, a toxic substance used in antifreeze, to boost potency. Methanol can also result from a mistake in the distilling process. Barcelona: China's Huawei unveiled a new folding-screen phone on Sunday, joining the latest trend for bendable devices as it challenges the global smartphone market's dominant players, Apple and Samsung. Huawei revealed its Mate X phone on the eve of MWC Barcelona, a four-day showcase of mobile devices, as the company battles allegations that it is a cybersecurity risk. The device can be used on superfast next-generation mobile networks that are due to come online over the coming years. Device makers are looking to folding screens as the industry's next big thing to help them break out of an innovation malaise, although most analysts think the market is limited, at least in the early days. Samsung announced its first foldable phone last week. But what doctors thought would be a gift to residents on the north coast has been consumed by self-interest, and family feuds, political expediency, old prejudices and new power plays have swamped the objective need for a better health service. The site Having decided on a greenfields site, Health Infrastructure opened up expressions of interest for the site selection process and last April announced the winning tender: a 23-hectare site tucked up behind the beachside village of Kingscliff on the northern tip of the Cudgen plateau. Deputy Premier John Barilaro and MP Geoff Provest at the proposed Tweed hospital site. It was opposite the TAFE and well serviced by roads and infrastructure, further away from Tweed Heads but closer to more of the population it was to serve, an area stretching south to Byron and west of Murwillumbah. Importantly, it was above the probable maximum flood level a factor notoriously difficult to achieve in an area prone to cyclones and flooding. It also happened to be sitting on one of the most contentious piles of red soil in the state. Farmers, developers and land speculators have been fighting over the Cudgen plateau since the state government classified it as state significant farmland in 2005. This status preserved it for agricultural use and protected it from development, but there was a loophole. It could still be used for a piece of state infrastructure where no feasible alternative was available. Several developers have tried their luck over the years to no avail, and 26 landowners signed a petition in 2008 to have the status overturned. The issue has split families and turned neighbours against one another. At least six landowners are believed to have put forward their farms in the hospital tender process, though few were so foolish as to admit this to their neighbours. Health Infrastructure had stepped on an ants' nest. 'Relocate' When Kerry "Crow" Prichard and Duane Joyce's pile was announced as the winning tender, farmers on the Cudgen plateau were blindsided. Farmland can only be classified as state significant on areas larger than 500 hectares and after 16 hectares was removed for the hospital the area of protected land on the Cudgen plateau would be reduced to 564 hectares. Some farmers feared it would only take one more public infrastructure project for the protected area to slip below the threshold, and then it would be open slather for residential development. Hayley and James Paddon at the Cudgen Plateau proposed site for the new Tweed Valley hospital. Credit:Danielle Smith "That's why we're digging our heels in," says sweet potato farmer James Paddon. "There's no reason why it has to go there." Paddon's wife Hayley started a Relocate page on Facebook, which quickly grew to 5000 members with the support of Kingscliff residents who feared that a large hospital in the area would change the character of their village. Just as quickly, Pottsville resident Penny Hockings, whose son with special needs frequently has to travel long distances due to the inadequate local hospital, set up a page supporting the site. And just as the rivalries were beginning to crystallise, Labor endorsed its candidate for Tweed, elected to side with the Relocate protesters, and the momentum swung towards them. The seat Tweed has been held by Nationals MP Geoff Provest since 2007, but there was a big swing against the party at the last election, and tree changers from the southern states greenies from Melbourne and traditional Labor voters from western Sydney are changing the character of the seat. Health Minister Brad Hazzard was surprised to learn that he had a fight on his hands a year out from an election. He ordered Health Infrastructure to do more consultation. One farmer on the Cudgen plateau offered some of his land for free. But six week later the officials returned. The original site remained their preferred option. The community rocked. The Greens mayor of Tweed Council, Katie Milne, suggested that contractors working on the site at Cudgen should be blacklisted by shire. Nationals MP for the Tweed Geoff Provest. Credit:Danielle Smith At this point, Elliot moved. Relocate protesters are split over an alternative site, with the Greens advocating a redevelopment on the current site. Labor's spokesman for health and the North Coast, Walt Secord, was once chief-of-staff to Elliot's wife, the federal member Justine Elliot, and has one of the best strategic minds in the party. Together they announced that Labor would build the hospital at another of the shortlisted sites, an undeveloped block 3.5 kilometres down the road at Kings Forest with approval to build 10,000 houses, labelling the government's decision to press ahead with Cudgen as "the height of arrogance". Hazzard describes Labor's decison to back Kings Forest as "blatently political". With no sewerage, main road access or electricity, it would take years to prepare the site and involve permission from the Commonwealth government due to its environmental significance as a koala habitat. "As health minister, I must do what's right for the patients," he says. "Labor can do whatever they like in an election campaign." Elliot says his decision to back the Kings Forest site was based on the position that it was just as suitable as Cudgen but did not involve state significant farmland. This is just a Trojan horse for further development along the Cudgen plateau. Tweed Hospital The current Tweed Hospital sits somewhat below the maximum probable flood level in a low-rise building on the banks of the Tweed River. Entering the building, a makeshift structure in what used to be the reception hall has been fashioned as a transit lounge for people who are waiting to be picked up from hospital. Such patients used to have a ward, but that had to be used for in-patients. Another space was found, but it, too, filled up, and finally partitions were erected into the current space. The current Tweed Hospital. Credit:Danielle Smith Temporary offices have been built in parts of the building that used to be void, but without properly designed roofing the ceilings are beginning to mould. A general medicine ward recently arrived in pre-fabricated material and was stuffed into the car park. There are no doors in the beds in the intensive care unit, which is a problem for infection control, and the hospital cannot service patients with ovarian, head and neck, ear, nose and throat cancers or acute leukaemia. The emergency department, which is the busiest in regional NSW and sees more patients than St Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst, is frequently on bypass. We really are in dire straits, says Lindley-Jones. Every day is a crisis. The initial plan was to redevelop the current site, but by 2017 it was clear that the cost of such a project would be three times the original estimate and still not result in a modern hospital. It was not even a borderline decision," Lindley-Jones says. "It was a barn-door decision. State-significant farmland Rivalries on the Cudgen plateau cut long and deep, and everybody is leery. Accusations of bullying have been levelled by both sides. Penny Hockings, who wants the hospital to be built for her son with special needs, says she has been followed to her car by Relocate protesters and people have identified her employer, local cafe and children on the Facebook page. She switched her son out of the local high school when they mentioned she would be unable to show her face there. Ive been accused of so many different things, Ive been told Im part of a political group, but my only motivation is my son, she says. Her eyes fill with tears. The original owners of the hospital site, widely regarded as traitors to the cause, sued the state government and lost over its decision to compulsorily acquire their property when negotiations over the price stalled. Pritchard and Joyce wanted more than $30 million for their site. The government's highest offer was $4.7 million. Penny Hockings wants the hospital to be built to help her son with special needs. Credit:Danielle Smith Many of Pritchard's relatives still own land on the plateau, including some of the hospital's most trenchant critics. The Paddons also signed the 2008 petition to have the state significant farmland status overturned, which their detractors claim exposes them as disingenuous. They say now that they were pressured by a landowner whose land they were leasing. We were going through a drought at that stage thats when we werent drought proof and prices were a bit, how you going, and they convinced us to sign this petition, James says. We knew it was never ever going to come to fruition, Hayley adds. Peter Lowe, who farmed the area for 40 years (and is suspected of wanting to develop his block, though he says there is "no way" he will ever sell) cannot understand the fuss over the state-significant farmland. The rocks, run-off and amount of chemicals that need to be added to the soil to kill off historical disease mean that its barely viable, he says. Theyre making it sound like this is the salad bowl feeding the people and its silly, Lowe says. If Cudgen shut down tomorrow it would not make any difference to the Australian market." The Paddons disagree. The land is so valuable, Hayley Paddon says. If you get a handful of seed and chuck it at Cudgen, it just grows. There is also conjecture about the role of Bob Ell, the billionaire property developer who owns Kings Forest and a substantial political donor before state donation laws were reformed. He donated $110,000 to Labor in 2005, and has also donated lesser amounts to the Liberals. Last year he controversially funded public liability insurance and power generators for Relocate to hold a "family information day" at Kings Forest. Hayley Paddon now says she regrets promoting an alternative location for the hospital, and her current focus is moving it off state-significant farmland. ABC. Anywhere but Cudgen, she explained last week. Sounds a bit NIMBYish though doesnt it? her husband said. But its not NIMBYish, its productive farmland, she replied. Down at Kingscliff, retirees watching the cyclone surf roll into the beach are just as divided over the position of the hospital. Best thing that could possibly happen, says Tim Whatmore, from nearby Terranora. I want the hospital, just not there, says Bryce Conlan, of Kingscliff. The election Provest knows that the issue could cost him his seat. He has promised constituents that the hospital will not open the floodgates to further development. The existing site has ample room to expand, he says. But trust is low in an electorate that once saw its entire council dismissed over improper links with developers and lives in fear of the "white shoe brigade" from the Gold Coast pouring south. I cant say that in another 10 years' time another developer isnt going to come along, Provest says. But the rules on state-significant farmland would prohibit any other development. Doctors fear that politicking over the site will continue to cause delays. The hospital needed to be up and running in 2015, Emergency Department head Robert Davies says. We were in dire straits five years ago. We cant afford another five years on top of that." A Labor government would slug the big banks with a $640 million levy to create a "fairness fund" to help consumers struggling with debt or predatory lenders to access financial advice. The levy, to raise $160 million a year for four years, would be slapped on ASX100 banks and would establish a Financial Rights Fund aiming to double to 1000 the number of full-time counsellors available to help customers in financial stress. Labor leader Bill Shorten will use this week to shift the political focus back on the big banks. Credit:AAP The move, to be detailed by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on Monday, is the first in a series of initiatives Labor will announce this week as it tries to shift the political conversation back on to banks and consumer rights after a chaotic parliamentary sitting fortnight. Half of the fund, or $320 million over four years, will pay for additional financial counsellors, who Labor says will provide advocacy and advice for up to 125,000 Australians a year. Other applications of the fund will be announced shortly. Public sales of Mr Fluffy blocks have cleared $500 million dollars, and the sell-off of the rest will be brought in-house as the loose-fill asbestos buyback and demolition program gets closer to completion. With the bulk of the sales program now completed, and the sales agent contract ending on January 1, the management of the remaining blocks has been transferred in-house to be managed by the Asbestos Response Taskforce and the Suburban Land Agency, the taskforce's latest report indicates. The mass demolition of asbestos houses in Canberra is drawing to a close, with most of the homes demolished and blocks re-sold. Credit:Jay Cronan Sales will be done on a "much smaller scale, as blocks become available" as the final phase of the Mr Fluffy scheme reaches its pointy end. Of the 1023 affected or impacted Mr Fluffy homes, only 66 properties remain standing, the most recent version of the register shows. Only 20 of those are owned by the territory, with the rest in private hands. Queensland's space industry could employ 4000-plus people and be worth more than $1 billion within 20 years, according to "conservative" estimates in a new report. But there are major obstacles to the industry rapidly scaling up to meet global demand, including a defence economy not yet sophisticated enough and a lack of critical mass in the local supply chain, the Deloitte Access Economics report finds. The space simulator at the Australian National University's Advanced Instrumentation Technology Centre at at Canberra's Mt Stromlo. Queensland hopes to replicate space industry growth in southern capitals. Credit:Karleen Minney Three separate estimates show between 4000 and 6000 full-time people could be employed in the Queensland space industry, generating between $1.1 billion and $1.7 billion, if changes are made upstream to Queenslands defence industries. That may be linked to the expansion of RAAF Base Amberley from 5800 personnel to more than 7000 by 2020, from Queensland universities, and from the new $5 billion contract to build 211 high-tech armoured vehicles at the Redbank Centre of Excellence. Housing and Public Works minister Mick de Brenni has gone to ground amid claims he plans to allow the clearance of 5.4 hectares of koala habitat owned by the Queensland government in Brisbane's south-east. Queensland Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch also declined to comment on the issue, until she had the complete story, a spokesman said on Thursday afternoon. Housing and Public Works minister Mick de Brenni is under the spotlight for clearing state government owned koala habitat. Credit:Darren England/AAP The Queensland government wants to build a new international-standard shotgun range on the site. Brisbane Times tried several times on Wednesday and Thursday to speak with Mr de Brenni. A national framework needs to be set up to manage when older people with dementia have to hand in their driver's licences, academics and doctors agree. A University of Queensland study published in the journal International Psychogeriatrics found GPs are often left with the final decision on whether to remove someones licence. Theresa Scott from the UQ School of Psychology said while GPs are often best-placed to decide whether a person in the early stages of dementia could still drive, it was not best practice overall. There are calls for a national framework for testing older drivers, particularly those with dementia. Credit:Craig Abraham GPs dont have any standardised tests available to them, theyre using a number of different cognitive tests which dont map well into actual driving ability, Dr Scott said. A man posing as an Italian fashion designer has swindled older people on Brisbane's north side out of thousands of dollars with his "sob story". Multiple reports have been made to police since mid-February, totalling at least $6,000 stolen. The man pretends to be an "Italian fashion designer". Credit:Tamara Voninski Police believed there might have been still more victims. The so-called "Italian fashion designer" would ask for directions to the airport with a "sob story" about how he needed to fly home to Italy but his credit card was not working, police said. An inquest into the death of the an Iranian refugee who died after setting himself alight in protest over conditions on Nauru will begin in Brisbane on Monday. Omid Masoumali, 23, doused himself in petrol and set himself on fire on Nauru in April 2016. Refugees at Nauru wear t-shirts with Omid Masoumali's name as a show of solidarity. A pre-inquest conference heard last year that he set himself alight in front of officials from the United Nations Refugee Agency. Mr Masoumali suffered severe burns to more than half of his body and died two days later in a Brisbane hospital from multiple organ failure. Lingering ex-cyclone Oma won't transform back into a full-blown weather fiasco but will still cause hazardous surf conditions in the coming days, forecasters say. The weather bureau's latest advice came as four riderless surfboards washed up on Gold Coast beaches, sparking a brief but urgent search for potential missing riders, with the help of police. "This did raise some concerns that there were still people out in the water," a Surf Life Saving Queensland spokesman said from Kirra beach. "If you do lose a board, can you please go up to the nearest lifesaver or lifeguard and let them know." People who work in potentially traumatic occupations are taught to think of their mental state in colours from green (healthy) through yellow and orange to red (very ill). Each stage lists a whole set of symptoms like irritability, alcohol over-use or sleeplessness right up to suicidal thoughts in the worst, red zone. All employees in vulnerable professions are trained to spot their own and their colleagues' symptoms. Mr Maddock said that if the system had been there as his mental condition deteriorated, he would have been able to spot the early warning signs. "It would have prevented me going down," he said. "I would have been able to understand what was happening." The method has already been used in Canada and assessed rigorously by academics who have pronounced it effective. In the city of Mississauga on Lake Ontario, for example, fire-fighters use it. Fire Chief Tim Beckett said one of the benefits was that it reduced the stigma attached to mental illness, particularly among men in macho jobs where toughness is at a premium. Tim Beckett, Fire Chief, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Credit:Fire and Emergency Service, Mississauga, Canada. He said that under the scheme, problems became more easily shared. A colleague might say, "Are you OK mate? Want to talk?" When people come back from a horrific incident, they discuss their own feelings. Managers are trained to spot bad signs. Apart from the way of identifying mental issues that are building up, another part of the R2MR program involves teaching people how to breathe deeply and lower tension in frightening situations, either on the battlefield or in civilian emergencies like road crashes or fires. It's called "tactical breathing". Police might use these techniques to lower stress before bursting into a house with hostages, for example. Soldiers and emergency workers also learn techniques to boost their confidence to counter the self-doubt that trauma and fear induces, sometimes during an operation. First responders sometimes have feelings of guilt if they have not been able to save a life, even where the situation was so bad that no life could have been saved by even the best of people. The program helps the responders talk through that situation, sometimes with each other and sometimes just internally, inside their own minds. In Canada, one of the fire fighters in Mississauga endorsed the system. Allan Mills. Credit:Allan Mills, Mississauga. Allan Mills barely escaped with his life in two big explosions, once where a warehouse caught fire and a wall collapsed on him and two comrades, and the other where an Air France jet crashed at Toronto airport in 2005. He told The Canberra Times that in the first explosion, "I was thrown 20 feet through the air and was buried under a collapsed concrete block wall. I was uncovered from the rubble and dragged four hundred feet through concrete debris by my crew mate to escape the inferno." And in the second traumatic event when the Airbus A340 crashed, Mr Mills said, "We carried the last passenger suffering from a broken femur to safety just before the aircraft fuel tanks exploded in flames. My crew mate and I were beside the tail section and had to run to escape the fire and debris raining down on us." He has suffered mentally and physically ever since. He said one of the benefits of the program coming from Canada to Australia is that it brings mental stress into the open. "When I came into the job, older firefighters were struggling. You had to be the tough guy. That was me. I was the officer of the crew and after so many years of it, it was wearing me down," he said. "If I'd had this program in the early days, I could have recognised my own drop in resilience." It has already been endorsed by an Australian hero who has been to Canada and seen the program in operation. In 1996, police officer Allan Sparkes rescued an 11-year-old boy from a flooded storm water drain despite being repeatedly swept away by the torrent. He's been awarded Australia's highest decoration for bravery, the Cross of Valour. But the trauma damaged him mentally: "There was just this sense of hopelessness with my situation that I believed I could never ever recover from." "But what would I say to the buyer? I have to be honest. When it's quiet for me, it's going to be quiet for everyone else. I don't want to rip them off." A few shops up, the owner of Ivy Flowers and Gifts, Renee Coleman, has seen her business drop by 30 to 40 per cent. She can't afford to put staff on, so runs the shop by herself six days a week. Owner of Ivy Flowers and Gifts, Renee Coleman, is scared for the future of her business if the development doesn't go ahead soon. Credit:Dion Georgopoulos "I've worked here for about seven years, I've owned it for the last two and a half years, and I've never seen it like this. It's very depressing, it's very sad, and I'm just sick of it," Ms Coleman said. "[The Curtin Residents Association] have never stepped into my shop to ask me how I feel about the development and I'm a big part of this community. "Try working here 40 hours a week, trying to make a living, and feed a family. It's not easy and I just don't think they're taking it into consideration ... I don't know what my future holds and it's a little bit scary." Managing director of Curtin Optical, Corey Nicholls, said the new building would breathe life into the area. Changes had been made to the initial proposal so that the structure would be one-storey high, rather than six, where it meets Curtin square's perimeter at the block's northern end. Managing director of Curtain Optical, Corey Nicholls, has to rely on business from repeat customers because he no longer gets passers-by. Credit:Dion Georgopoulos "The issue is that if things get too quiet, what worries us all is that Coles [in the square] will look at their numbers and go, 'Well, we're getting less [customers] and we're going to scale back'," Mr Nicholls said. "We're basically all going to be up the creek." The Haridemos family is being represented at the tribunal by the development's project director Zelko Mandic, who joined proceedings last week after the case's first hearing on February 18. ACT Chief Planner Ben Ponton had previously said the development was consistent with the Curtin master plan, which the residents association welcomed in November 2018. But residents association president Chris Johnson said it did not honour all aspects of the plan as it did not fit in with the square's character. The association also had qualms with how the development approval process was carried out. Loading The Haridemos family was granted an extension to submit a revised development application some 18 months after their initial one was rejected. By then, the shops had already been closed for more than six months. "We are very concerned that the businesses have been affected by the premature shutting down of the block well in advance of construction starting by any feasible means," Mr Johnson said. "The delay seems to be coming [not only] from normal [government] processes but from very slow development applications." The case's next hearing will be held on March 8. Loading Project director Zelko Mandic said previously that several concessions had been made to the building to reduce its impact on Curtin square. It now calls for 36 residential units, rather than the 50 initially proposed, and two basement car parks, rather than three. The Crown and Us ABC, 7.40pm There is a terrific amount of historic detail and thoughtful commentary in the first episode of this two-part documentary about the relationship between the British monarchy and the Australian people, but it is so stridently inclusive that it rarely cuts through as historic perspectives and cultural references from different eras pepper the free association narrative.While it's quick to equate the sizeable viewership of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding with support for a British head of state here, there is also a window into the royal family's own views. Racist personal letters written by the then Prince of Wales (later the brief King Edward VIII) during a 1920 visit here are quoted, although it's the spectacle of public appearances not their veneer that appears to be paramount. The series is a tribute to the invaluable ABC archives, but it's unclear what it exactly wants to convey aside from the sheer breadth of the topic. Zoe Coombs Marr. Credit:Christa Holka Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras An independent review of national workplace safety laws is expected to recommend a new offence of industrial manslaughter to make employers liable for gross negligence of their workers. Marie Boland, former executive director of SafeWork South Australia, who led the review of national work health and safety laws, believes the new offence is needed to address community concerns and limitations in existing criminal manslaughter laws. Under existing laws, a corporation can commit the crime of negligent manslaughter. But the review found that many lawyers have identified big hurdles to getting a conviction. Prosecutors need to identify a grossly negligent individual who embodies the company and whose conduct can be attributed to the corporation. Jarrod Hampton died at the age of 22 while he was working as a pearl diver in 2012. His father Tony Hampton supports recommendations for the introduction of new industrial manslaughter laws. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age understand Ms Boland has recommended there should be a separate industrial manslaughter offence for workplace deaths where there has been a gross deviation from a reasonable standard of care. NSW and Victoria could face the biggest costs associated with "double dipping" claims from casual workers according to new analysis showing potential claims could rise to more than $3.5 billion. New Australian Industry Group (AI Group) analysis shows the potential costs to small and medium businesses would range from $65.6 million in Tasmania to $2.165 billion in NSW. The potential bill for Victoria and Queensland was estimated at $1.443 billion for each state. AI Group has written to crossbench senators asking them to reject the Labor Party's motion to disallow a government regulation designed to protect businesses against so called "double dipping" of entitlements by casuals. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has also done the same. Innes Willox, chief executive of AI Group. Credit:Stewart Donn In his letter to backbenchers, AI Group chief executive Innes Willox says Labor's disallowance of the regulations would "threaten the livelihoods of thousands of small business people and those who work for them". Tech media startup Oovvuu has received another $4.8 million cash injection to help fund its global expansion and mission of disrupting the publishing industrys reliance on Facebook and Google. According to Oovvuu founder Ricky Sutton, its previous $3.7 million funding round last year helped the company gain a big enough customer base to know it had the right product market fit with its flagship product Compass. Until we had more customers use our product we couldnt be confident we had a product people wanted, or if it would scale, he said. Oovvuu founder Ricky Sutton. Credit:Oovvuu The concept was to automate the process of matching the right video with relevant media stories across the globe and save newsrooms the resources usually devoted to this arduous process. A sharp pullback in spending by super-rich Chinese gamblers in Australia makes the business case "less attractive" for James Packer's new VIP casino complex under construction in Sydney, analysts warn. As the Chinese economy grinds to its slowest growth in nearly three decades and US-China trade tensions persist, executives at Australia's two largest casino operators said they had noticed a heightened level of restraint from high-stakes Asian gamblers, who lay down billions of dollars in turnover a year. The Crown Casino under construction at Barangaroo. It's set for completion in 2021. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Turnover from Crown Resorts' VIP gambling program shrank 12 per cent to $19.9 billion in the six months to December, while turnover at Australia's second biggest casino giant, Star Entertainment, fell 33 per cent to $20.7 billion. Billed as a VIP-only casino and due for completion in 2021, the fortunes of Crown's new high-end, $2 billion residential and casino complex under construction in Sydney's harbourside Barangaroo will be closely tied to the fortunes of its so-called "international VIP program", which brings wealthy foreign punters to Australia to stay in luxurious suites and gamble on games such as baccarat, where they turn over many thousands of dollars a hand and millions of dollars an hour. Afterpay rival FlexiGroup is proposing that the buy-now-pay later (BNPL) sector set up a customer database to detect debt-laden customers as part of an industry code of practice to head off any further regulation of the booming sector. Afterpay and other major players were claiming victory Friday night after a Senate inquiry recommended the sector not be placed under the onerous provisions of the Credit Act. Afterpay's executive chairman Anthony Eisen. Credit:Elke Meitzel Afterpay supports the recommendations relevant to the buy now pay later sector and believes the recommendations are sensible, appropriate and stand to provide additional protections for vulnerable Australians," said Afterpay co-founder Anthony Eisen. We look forward to working with [the Australian Securities and Investments Commission], the government, consumers and industry on a suitable regulatory framework and to achieve the best possible outcomes for our customers." Since many students are deserving of the scholarship, they are asked to write to the committee about why they want to attend JMU. All three people on-board a cargo jet have died after it crashed in Texas. The Boeing 767 was on route from Miami to Houston in Texas with three people on board when it crashed into a bay just east of the city. Witnesses told emergency personnel that the twin-engine plane "went in nose first", leaving a debris field three-quarters-of-a-mile long in Trinity Bay. Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne described the scene as "total devastation". Witnesses said they heard the plane's engines surging and that the aircraft turned sharply before falling into a nosedive, Mr Hawthorne said. Aerial footage shows emergency personnel walking along a spit of marshland flecked by debris that extends into the water. The sheriff said recovering pieces of the plane, its black box containing flight data records and any remains of the people on board will be difficult in muddy marshland that extends to about 5ft deep in the area. Airboats are needed to access the area. The plane had departed from Miami and was likely only minutes away from landing at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The Federal Aviation Administration said it issued an alert after officials lost radar and radio contact with Atlas Air Flight 3591 when it was about 30 miles south-east of the airport. The Coast Guard dispatched boats and at least one helicopter to assist in the search for survivors. A dive team with the Texas Department of Public Safety will be tasked with finding the black box, Mr Hawthorne added. - PA and additional reporting by Digital Desk British prime minister Theresa May has delayed the crucial House of Commons vote on the crumbling Brexit deal from this Wednesday until March 12 - just 17 days before the looming EU-UK divorce date. Ms May confirmed the delay to British reporters as she landed in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for the first ever summit between the E an the Arab League. Asked about widely leaked reporters in British Sunday newspapers today that the "meaningful" vote ;- which unlike similar votes a fortnight ago carries parliamentary process weight - will be pushed back, Ms May confirmed it is her intention to do so. And, despite genuine fears holding the vote just two and a half weeks before Brexit comes into effect runs the real risk of mayhem, the British prime minister said she will be delaying the vote until this time. "My team will be back in Brussels again this coming week. As a result, we won't bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week, but we will ensure that that happens by March 12," Ms May said. Asked if rumours of her or her cabinet considering an extension to article 50, meaning the March 29 Brexit deadline could be pushed back if this is agreed by Brussels, Ms May added: People talk about extending article 50 as if that will solve the issue. Of course it won't, it defers the point of decision. There comes a point where we need to make that decision. Confirmation of the delay is likely to cause intense frustration among Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tanaiste Simon Coveney, European Council president Donald Tusk and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. This is because it had been hoped progress could be made during today and tomorrow's EU-Arab League summit in Egypt with time running out to strike a deal. While Ms May's delay will be seen in some quarters as an attempt to play chicken with hardline Brexiteers opposing her deal, it runs the genuine risk of causing a disastrous no deal Brexit with the deadline for an agreement now just 33 days away. Three members of the Social Democrats executive board have resigned this weekend. Chris Bond, who represents Dublin South West on the partys national executive, stepped down at the same time as party chairman Joe OConnor and vice chair Carly Bailey. Confirmation of the resignations of Mr O'Connor and Ms Bailey emerged on Saturday. Mr Bond's resignation was confirmed on Sunday. The resignations come as the party battles to contain the fallout of a crisis involving one of its local election candidates Ellie Kisyombe. Alleged inconsistencies in the background history of Ms Kisyombe emerged last week in the Sunday Times newspaper. Ms Kisyombe is originally from Malawi and has spoken of her experience of living in the direct provision system for much of the last decade. Kisyombe, 41, was the subject of media attention after she became the first female asylum seeker to stand for election in Ireland. The activist claimed she sought asylum immediately after arriving at Dublin airport in 2010. She also claimed to have been in direct provision, the state-run accommodation system for asylum seekers, for almost a decade. Ms Kisyombe arrived in Ireland in April 2011 and secured a student visa. She then travelled to the UK and claimed asylum there in July 2011. She was returned to Ireland by UK authorities and claimed asylum in Ireland in November 2011, the Sunday Times reported. The party has become sharply divided over the issue after it was decided to conduct an internal review into her background. The party's National Executive met on Sunday morning when Peter Tanham (Dun Laoghaire) was appointed as interim party chair and Sally Aquilina (Meath West) as interim party vice-chair. A party spokeswoman confirmed Mr Bonds resignation, adding that there had been no further resignations from the executive board. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned British prime minister Theresa May Ireland is "not playing chicken, not playing poker" over Brexit after Ms May delayed a crucial House of Commons vote on the deal until just days before the EU-UK divorce date. Speaking to reporters while flying to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for the first ever summit between the EU an the Arab League, Ms May confirmed a "meaningful" vote on the deal planned for Wednesday will now be delayed until up to March 12. The latest delay means any Brexit deal outcome will not be known until just 17 days before the March 29 EU-UK divorce date, nine days before the final EU summit before Brexit and risks derailing some of Ireland's no deal Brexit legal changes. However, speaking to reporters in his first engagement at Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday afternoon, Mr Varadkar warned Ms May he and Ireland not "playing chicken" on the stand-off. "The decision on when this vote happens in the House of Commons isnt under my control. I havent had a chance to speak to Prime Minister May yet. I will today or tomorrow. "I understand she has taken the decision to defer the vote until some time around mid March, but for the European Union, that doesnt change anything. It doesnt take anything from Irelands point of view either. Lets not forget this March 29 deadline is a self imposed deadline. It is one that the United Kingdom has imposed on itself. Nobody in Ireland of the EU is threatening no deal. "This is a situation the UK has created for itself so we are not playing chicken, we are not playing poker, we are just standing by our position which has been solid from day one," he said. Mr Varadkar's comments are likely to be seen as a clear calling out of Ms May, who it has been suggested could be delaying any vote until the last possible moment to see if either the EU or hard-line Brexiteers will back down on the backstop. Although no meeting between the Taoiseach and the prime minister in Egypt has been formally confirmed, Government sources said it is likely the two leaders will hold sideline talks this evening or early tomorrow on the fringes of the EU-Arab League summit. Ms May had caused the latest Brexit concerns earlier today when she told British reporters while travelling to Sharm el-Sheikh the "meaningful" vote will be delayed. "My team will be back in Brussels again this coming week. As a result, we won't bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week, but we will ensure that that happens by March 12," Ms May said. Asked if rumours of her or her cabinet considering an extension to article 50, meaning the March 29 Brexit deadline could be pushed back if this is agreed by Brussels, Ms May added: "People talk about extending article 50 as if that will solve the issue. Of course it won't, it defers the point of decision. There comes a point where we need to make that decision." While Ms May's delay will be seen in some quarters as an attempt to play chicken with hardline Brexiteers opposing her deal, it runs the genuine risk of causing a disastrous no deal Brexit with the deadline for an agreement now just 33 days away. New policies to encourage older people to downsize could be considered by the government. A payment to those in social housing and eventually private property owners are among the measures that could be introduced. Gardai in Ballymun have renewed their appeal to the public for assistance in tracing the whereabouts of 41-year-old Jon Jonsson. Mr Jonsson, who is from Iceland, was last seen in Whitehall at approximately 11am on Saturday, February 9. Gardai are investigating the circumstances in which a 12-year old girl was seriously injured when she became trapped under a rowing boat after it capsized on the River Shannon, last Saturday. The incident occurred at the Thomond Salmon Weir, Limerick, around 10am. The row boat which overturned in the river, was carrying five members of Athlunkard Boat Club, including four girls and a boy. The boat was been chaperoned by a support boat at the time, the club said. It remained unclear as to what exactly caused the boat to capsize. It was also still not clear if anyone on board was wearing life jackets. The girls family have been keeping a vigil at her side in Temple Street Childrens Hospital, after she was transferred there Saturday evening, having initially been treated at University Hospital Limerick. Limerick Superintendent Derek Smart said the investigation was ongoing and that he had also referred the matter to the Marine Casualty Investigation Board. Its expected the MCIB, who investigate matters involving casualties on Irish waters, will begin looking into why the incident occurred from Monday. The injured girl became trapped beneath the row boat after her hair was entangled in the outriggers which hold the oars in place on the boat. Firefighters attached to Limerick City Fire and Rescue Service, who happened to be carrying out a routine patrol of the river at the time, came across the overturned boat, while simultaneously receiving a Coast Guard alert about the incident. Firefighters cut the girl free from underneath the boat and performed emergency first aid on their boat en route to a nearby slipway where the girl was met by paramedics who helped stabilise her. The girl remains in a critical condition, reliable sources said. The row boat, which is believed to have been badly damaged in the incident, and which will be examined by investigators, was removed from the water at low tide around 9.30pm Saturday night. Eye witness Danny Ryan said he will be forever haunted by hearing friends of the girl screaming for him to help them as he telephoned emergency services from an area close to the riverbank. I could see the boat turned over and a girl waving and screaming. My stomach is sick over it. It was scary, Mr Ryan said. Im haunted all day. Its the screams. I can still hear the girls screaming, help, help help. Mr Ryan, 49 said the current in the river at the time was going very fast. A statement from Athlunkard Boat Club, posted on their Facebook page, Sunday evening, read: There was a serious incident on the river Shannon yesterday morning where four teenage girls and one teenage boy from our club were in a rowing boat that overturned. They were accompanied by one of our safety boats at the time. One of these girls was transferred to hospital following the incident. We are monitoring the situation and are in constant contact with the family and Rowing Ireland. Our thoughts are now focused on supporting the family, the girls, and boy who were in the boat at the time and our club members. Gardai are continuing to investigate a major drugs seizure in County Cork. Gardai made this drugs discovery when they carried out searches on the northside of Cork city and in North County Cork yesterday. Cannabis herb, cocaine and cannabis resin with an estimated street value of over 716,000 were found at three different locations. The discovery is part of ongoing operations by the Cork Regional Drugs Unit targeting the sale and supply of controlled drugs in the Cork Division. A man in his 40s has been arrested in connection with this investigation. The man remains in custody this morning at Mallow Garda Station where he can be held for up to seven days. Gardai are appealing for information in relation to an armed robbery that occurred at an arcade in the West Street area of Drogheda in Co Louth yesterday. The incident occurred at approximately 9.45pm when a lone male entered the premises armed with an imitation firearm. There are 450 new cases of oesophageal cancer are diagnosed in Ireland each year. New data has revealed that early diagnosis may have spared 254 patients major surgery for the disease. HALIFAX - The massive turnout at a funeral for seven young victims of a devastating house fire shows that Halifax is uniting in support of the surviving members of the family, according to the spiritual leader of a local mosque. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/2/2019 (853 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. More than a thousand family, friends, and members of the community arrive at the funeral for the seven Syrian refugee Barho siblings in Halifax on Saturday, February 23, 2019. The siblings, who died in a house fire earlier in the week, are survived by their parents. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese HALIFAX - The massive turnout at a funeral for seven young victims of a devastating house fire shows that Halifax is uniting in support of the surviving members of the family, according to the spiritual leader of a local mosque. More than 2,000 people showed up to the service at the Cunard Centre on Saturday, which was held in memory of the Barho children who died in the early hours of Feb. 19 when the blaze ripped through their home. "The accident affected all people," said Imam Abdallah Yousri of the Umma Mosque, noting that every seat in the cavernous hall was filled, while hundreds remained standing in solemn grief over the young lives lost. The Barho family arrived in Nova Scotia in September 2017 as refugees from war-torn Syria, among 1,795 Syrian refugees who have come to Nova Scotia in recent years. On Saturday, as the seven small caskets were brought on stage, the children's mother, Kawthar Barho, could be heard sobbing. Mourners wept as the children's names were read: teenager Ahmad; Rola, 12; Mohamad, 9; Ola, 8; Hala, 3; Rana, 2; and Abdullah, who was born in Canada on Nov. 9. Yousri said the service was made public so the children's mother could see firsthand that the community is standing behind her. "We wanted to accommodate the community ... and show Kawthar the support that we saw from the community," he said. "We wanted her to see that, and we thought that the support might help her recover sooner." The father, Ebraheim Barho, continues to recover from extensive burns. As of Friday, he was in critical but stable condition. When they first arrived in Nova Scotia, the Barho family lived in Elmsdale, a 30-minute drive north of Halifax, where they were embraced by the local community. They later moved to the Halifax suburb of Spryfield to take advantage of language training and other immigrant services, but had planned to return to Elmsdale next month. The cause of the blaze in their Spryfield home remains unclear. The response to the tragedy has been swift and impassioned: several businesses have donated their profits to the Barho family, and as of Sunday afternoon, a GoFundMe campaign has raised over $620,000 of its $1 million goal. The federal government has also said it's trying to bring Kawthar Barho's overseas relatives to Canada as quickly as possible, since she has no other relatives in the country. Yousri said more than anything, the grieving mother needs to be supported and loved. "Pray for her future and to be able to recover, and give back to herself and laugh again especially while Ebraheim is still in the hospital," he said. MONTREAL - Julia Sanchez, the NDP's candidate in Monday's Outremont byelection, says people in the riding talk to her about climate change, wealth inequality and sometimes what the leader of her party wears on his head. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/2/2019 (854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and NDP candidate for the riding of Outremont Julia Sanchez cross a street during a tour of the Montreal borough of Outremont on December 22, 2018. Julia Sanchez, the NDP's candidate in Monday's Outremont byelection, says people in the riding talk to her about climate change, wealth inequality ??? and sometimes what the leader of her party wears on his head. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is Sikh and wears a turban, making him conspicuously religious in front of a heavily secular province. His French is also weaker than the two previous party leaders, complicating the job of appealing to Quebec voters. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes MONTREAL - Julia Sanchez, the NDP's candidate in Monday's Outremont byelection, says people in the riding talk to her about climate change, wealth inequality and sometimes what the leader of her party wears on his head. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is Sikh and wears a turban, making him conspicuously religious in front of a heavily secular province. His French is also weaker than the two previous party leaders, complicating the job of appealing to Quebec voters. Even in multicultural Outremont, located in the geographic centre of the island of Montreal with one of the largest ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in North America, Singh's religious clothing is on some voters' minds. "Some people are concerned about (the turban)," Sanchez said during a recent interview following a candidate debate in the riding. She said when she knocks on doors, "It's definitely not the main thing people bring up .... It does come up." Kathryn Furlong, 43, who attended the debate, said she voted for Sanchez, an economist with experience in humanitarian work and climate activism, at an advance poll. She has voted Liberal in the past "but never by conviction. Sometimes to keep the out the Conservatives." She said "it's a sad notion and a sad question," referring to anyone who would have an issue with the NDP leader's expression of faith. "And I think political parties in Quebec try to exploit that issue." Outremont has been represented by the NDP since former party leader Tom Mulcair won a 2007 federal byelection in what had long been a Liberal stronghold. Through the rise and fall of NDP popularity in Quebec, voters elected Mulcair another three times. Mulcair stepped down last August and is now a visiting professor at Universite de Montreal and a political commentator. The NDP is currently polling fourth in Quebec, far from its highs when Jack Layton helped the party win the majority of the province's seats in 2011. McGill University philosopher Charles Taylor, a longtime NDP supporter who campaigned with Sanchez ahead of the byelection, said the cool reception Singh has so far received in Quebec is due to the fact he doesn't yet have a seat in Parliament. Singh is his party's candidate in one of the other two byelections Monday, in the British Columbia riding of Burnaby South. Once he gets inside the House of Commons and is regularly in front of the cameras, Taylor predicted, "Quebecers will learn to like him. He's very engaging, but he's just not on television all the time." The Coalition Avenir Quebec won last fall's provincial election with a promise to prohibit some public servants, including teachers, from wearing religious symbols on the job. But Taylor said Singh is "going to make a case for: 'You can wear this kind of thing and be a perfectly reasonable person.' And that's something that Quebecers are able to listen to." While an NDP loss Monday would further hurt the party in the province, Justin Trudeau's Liberals arguably have more at stake. The party has 39 seats in Quebec leading into Monday's vote and 179 nationally. Polling indicates Liberal support has declined across the country since the 2015 vote, and Trudeau is looking to pick up seats in Quebec to maintain his party's majority in next fall's general election. Outremont where 36 per cent of residents are immigrants and 66 per cent are bilingual is the kind of riding the Liberals must connect with in order to maintain their success in Quebec. Rachel Bendayan, a lawyer and former political aide, finished second to Mulcair in 2015. Her party has consistently led polls in the province since the last election. But in recent weeks it has been embroiled in controversy over allegations that the Prime Minister's Office improperly pressured former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to help engineering giant SNC-Lavalin escape criminal prosecution. The Montreal-based company is charged with bribery and fraud over its dealings in Libya, and it has said a conviction could lead to job losses and make it vulnerable to foreign takeover. Bendayan said it is journalists, not the people she meets when knocking on doors in the riding, who are asking about SNC-Lavalin. "No, people are not raising it," she said in a recent interview recently at her campaign office. "People here are concerned with issues that affect their day-to-day lives. You'd be surprised how many people talk to me about the ice on the sidewalks." Tom Boushel, 72, a Liberal volunteer who will be driving seniors to vote on Monday, said he doesn't think the SNC-Lavalin issue will have as much of an impact in Quebec as elsewhere. "Quebecers are sensitive to the risk of job losses," Boushel said, adding that Montrealers appreciate the prestige of having a global firm headquartered in their city. Boushel said "every elected official of every party ... every government has to fight to keep SNC going. I think in Quebec, I think they understand a little better." The byelection is the first test for the Bloc Quebecois under its new leader, Yves-Francois Blanchet, who was acclaimed in January. The Bloc is hoping its candidate, author Michel Duchesne, will help the party become competitive once again in the riding. Jasmine Louras, a University of Ottawa law student, is representing the Conservatives, while James Seale, a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, is running for the Peoples Party of Canada, the party Maxime Bernier started after he quit the Conservatives last summer. OTTAWA - Canada is a trailblazer when it comes to assisting women in humanitarian crises around the world, but far more needs to be done to improve outcomes for women and girls in conflict zones, says the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/2/2019 (854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, speaks during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on December 4, 2018. Canada is a trailblazer when it comes to assisting women in humanitarian crises around the world, but far more needs to be done to improve outcomes for women and girls in conflict zones, says the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. Mark Lowcock, who also serves as the emergency relief co-ordinator for the humanitarian affairs office of the UN, delivered remarks in Ottawa on Friday as part of a panel discussion delving into the growing need for a more gender-responsive approach to humanitarian emergencies. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Keystone - Salvatore Di Nolfi OTTAWA - Canada is a trailblazer when it comes to assisting women in humanitarian crises around the world, but far more needs to be done to improve outcomes for women and girls in conflict zones, says the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. Mark Lowcock, who also serves as the emergency relief co-ordinator for the humanitarian affairs office of the UN, delivered remarks in Ottawa on Friday as part of a panel discussion delving into the growing need for a more gender-responsive approach to humanitarian emergencies. He applauded the Trudeau government's feminist international assistance policy which includes a plan to eventually ensure 95 per cent of Canada's foreign aid goes toward initiatives that improve the lives of women and girls as an example for other countries to emulate. But he also pointed to many examples of women who continue to face extreme risks of sexual and gender-based violence in areas of conflict around the world, saying more needs to be done to ensure humanitarian aid actually helps the women and girls who are being disproportionately affected. "The world's humanitarian agencies do a good job in saving lives and reducing suffering among people caught up in conflict," Lowcock said. "But we do not do a good enough job for women and girls." The Yazidi women who were forced into sexual slavery in Iraq and Syria. The Chibok girls kidnapped in Nigeria. The Rohingya refugees who were gang raped, tortured and lost family members in brutal mass slaughters in Myanmar. These are the stories of women in crisis zones that have captured the world's attention, Lowcock said, pointing also to women he has met in other regions who continue to live in dangerous situations with fewer opportunities than men to thrive. Humanitarian assistance often does not address the specific needs of women, he said. Every day more than 500 women and girls die from pregnancy and childbirth complications in crisis-affected countries. Also, inadequate help with menstrual hygiene keeps girls confined to tents and shelters, preventing them from accessing services and limiting their mobility. Girls in conflict zones are more than twice as likely as boys to be out of school and women are often more likely to be infected in disease outbreaks because their cultural practices make them caregivers of the sick. These are all areas that highlight why women's needs must be top-of-mind and at the decision-making table when humanitarian aid is rolled out to crisis zones, to ensure they are not only free of further victimization, but also more empowered, Lowcock said. "Let me be clear that we are making strides in the right direction with all these challenges. But let me be equally be blunt far more needs to be done." One key element is the way in which humanitarian aid is donated. Often money raised through the UN or other aid organizations comes with conditions attached by donors that it must be spent on certain things, such as immunizations or specific programming. This may not be what women need most for themselves and their families, said Julie Delahanty, executive director of Oxfam Canada. "That's not an empowering feeling for the women who are receiving that cash," she said. "We have to be asking them what kind of modality they want that assistance in they may prefer food, and if they prefer food, what kind of food do they want? We often don't ask them such basic questions." Oxfam Canada published a report in October that took a close look at how Canada provides international humanitarian aid and the gaps that exist when it comes to outcomes for women and girls in refugee situations. It noted that while Canada has made great improvements with its focus on gender equality and feminism as part of its domestic and foreign policy agenda, Canadas international assistance spending is at a near-historic low, reaching 0.26 per cent of gross national income, as compared to the UN aid target of 0.7 per cent. The organization has called on Canada to develop a 10-year plan to achieve the United Nations aid target and also wants Canada to dedicate a slice of its humanitarian assistance to the needs of women and girls. International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, who also took part in the panel on Friday, pointed to the steps the Trudeau government has already taken, pointing out that half of humanitarian programs previously funded by her department were "completely gender blind," which has been almost entirely reversed. "We are making this big, big shift, making sure all our humanitarian partners are paying attention to the specific needs of women and girls," Bibeau said. "And not only seeing them as beneficiaries or victims, but really bringing local women around the table for decisions and making sure that throughout implementation of projects, they are building their capacities their leadership, providing opportunities for empowerment." Follow @ReporterTeresa on Twitter OTTAWA - Canadians could hear this week from Jody Wilson-Raybould about whether the former attorney general believes she faced inappropriate pressure from the prime minister's office to halt a criminal prosecution of Quebec-based engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/2/2019 (854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Liberal MP Jody Wilson-Raybould arrives at a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA - Canadians could hear this week from Jody Wilson-Raybould about whether the former attorney general believes she faced inappropriate pressure from the prime minister's office to halt a criminal prosecution of Quebec-based engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. Wilson-Raybould is widely expected to testify as early as Tuesday at a Commons committee that is looking into the allegations, although the Vancouver Liberal MP has not said definitively when she might appear. The opposition Conservatives will also put pressure on the prime minister himself to testify at the Commons justice committee. The Tories plan to introduce a motion Monday calling on Justin Trudeau to take questions from the committee for two hours no later than March 15. The motion calls on the House of Commons to "order the prime minister to appear, testify and answer questions" under oath about his involvement in what the Conservatives say was a sustained effort to influence SNC-Lavalin's criminal prosecution. The Prime Minister's Office would not say Sunday whether Trudeau would be willing to appear, but said it respects the independence of the justice committee and will co-operate with the federal ethics commissioner's investigation of the matter. Members of Parliament, including the prime minister, cannot be forced to appear before committees. As well, motions in the House of Commons are not binding and the committee itself would still have to decide whether to invite Trudeau. Both the Conservatives and New Democrats say testimony so far at the committee makes clear to them that the PMO went too far in pressuring Wilson-Raybould to pursue SNC-Lavalin through a remediation agreement, rather than criminal prosecution, for fraud and bribery related to the firm's work in Libya. "There's clearly a line that was crossed," NDP justice critic Murray Rankin told CTV's Question Period as he recalled testimony Thursday from Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick about his discussions with Wilson-Raybould. Wernick told the committee that Trudeau was worried a prosecution might result in SNC-Lavalin cutting Canadian jobs. But he stressed that Wilson-Raybould, who resigned from cabinet Feb. 12, was never unduly pressured. Rather, Wernick told the committee he provided the then-solicitor general with the "context" that a lot of people were worried about the consequences to jobs, communities and suppliers should SNC-Lavalin face criminal proceedings. But the decision to go ahead with prosecution had already been made months prior to Wernick's discussion about the matter with Wilson-Raybould, Rankin noted. "No means no. Why are they continuing to brow-beat her?" Liberal MP Marco Mendicino said Wernick, who has been a public servant for decades under both Liberal and Conservative governments, had a responsibility to bring new information to the attention of the attorney general that may impact innocent third parties, such as the employees of large corporations. A conviction of SNC-Lavalin could result in the company being barred from bidding on Canadian government business. Conservative deputy leader Lisa Raitt noted SNC-Lavalin was told Sept. 4 that it would face criminal prosecution. "On Sept. 17, Jody Wilson-Raybould told the prime minister and the clerk of the Privy Council in no uncertain terms she wasn't going to overrule her deputy on the matter," Raitt told CTV. "That's where it should end. It should not go on from there." International Trade Minister Jim Carr, speaking on behalf of the Liberal government, told Global TV's The West Block there was "no direction" given by Trudeau or his office on how the attorney general's office should proceed in pursuing SNC-Lavalin. "We have conversations all the time in cabinet, in one-on-one meetings with my colleagues, in small groups with the prime minister himself, with officials," said Carr. "To govern is to have these conversations about issues, which are sometimes controversial, and that's why Canadians elect us to work through the complexities of these issues and to be accountable for what we do." Wilson-Raybould was shuffled out of the justice portfolio in January when she was named veterans affairs minister and soon afterward resigned from cabinet, though she remains in the Liberal caucus. She has so far invoked client-solicitor privilege to avoid answering any questions. Richwood, TX (77531) Today A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 76F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. An Israeli spacecraft from SpaceIL was launched Thursday, Feb. 21 and is aiming to touch down on Mare Serenitatis two months later. NASA installed a small laser retroreflector aboard the lander to test its potential as a navigation tool. The agency also provided images of the Moon's surface to help the engineers identify a landing site for the mission. NASA will also use its deep space telecommunications network to transmit images and science data home to SpaceIL and its partners. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine signed an agreement with the Israel Space Agency (ISA) in July 2018 in order to collaborate with SpaceIL on the mission. SpaceIL will provide NASA scientific data from the spacecraft's magnetometer as part of the collaboration. "This is the type of collaboration that will become more frequent as NASA looks to expand opportunities with a greater variety of partners to continue the exploration of the Moon and Mars," said Steve Clarke, NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration. "NASA is proud to work with the Israel Space Agency (ISA) and SpaceIL and we look forward to the landing and the science data that will be gained from this important mission." It takes a village SpaceIL was established in 2010 to tackle the Lunar X Prize, a competition sponsored by Google that challenged private companies to land a spacecraft on the Moon. Though no company was able to meet the competition deadline, prompting Google to end it with no winner in March 2018, the Israeli team pressed on. But no company can make it in space alone. SpaceIL will rely on the Swedish Space Corporation's network of antennas to communicate navigation commands to the spacecraft and to track its trajectory. Once the spacecraft lands, NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) will ferry data between it and Earth. DSN is a system of global antennas managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, that scientists use to communicate with spacecraft in deep space. The SpaceIL mission advances a partnership between NASA and ISA as both agencies will share the resulting discoveries with the global scientific community. "The team's tension level is high, but we're also very, very excited" said Eran Shmidt, deputy manager and head of the ground control team at SpaceIL, the Israeli nonprofit that built the Moon lander, called Beresheet, or "genesis" in Hebrew, in partnership with Israeli-government-owned defense contractor Israel Aerospace Industries. Beresheet -- about 5 feet (1 meter) tall by 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) wide with its landing gear and legs deployed -- is one of two payloads that will hitch a ride aboard the Falcon 9 today. The other payload is an Earth telecommunications satellite. The lander will separate first from the rocket, taking the long route to the Moon to save fuel by employing gravitational forces to propel itself. Thus, Beresheet will stay in Earth's orbit for about a month, slowly widening its ellipse until it reaches apogee, or its farthest point from here, at nearly 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) away. The SpaceIL team will need to time Beresheet's apogee precisely to meet up with the Moon in its orbit about Earth. At this point, the navigators can slow the spacecraft to allow it to be captured by the Moon's gravity and thereby pulled into its orbit. "Once we are captured by the Moon," said Shmidt, "we will orbit around it, perform a few maneuvers for about a week, and then start a 20- to 30-minute autonomous descent." A few moments of precious science Beresheet is due to touch down between April 11 and 12 in a dark patch of an ancient volcanic field visible from Earth, known as the Sea of Serenity (Mare Serenitatis in Latin). NASA's Apollo 17 astronauts landed near this region on Dec. 11, 1972. Now, Beresheet will have an opportunity to mark a new first in space exploration with its landing. Though the primary goal of its mission is to land safely, the spacecraft will attempt to do science in orbit, during landing, and on the ground. The window of opportunity for research is small, though: just three Earth days maximum after landing that the spacecraft can withstand the crushing heat -- 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) at local noon -- of the lunar day (14 Earth days). But every second counts to scientists back on Earth. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), one of the agency's three spacecraft circling and studying the Moon, will analyze the gases released by Beresheet's descent engine as the lander approaches the surface. "What we're trying to learn is how volatile compounds, such as water or other gases, are transported around the Moon," said John W. Keller, an LRO project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "If we can predict where these compounds will go and where they'll settle, we'll know in what regions of the Moon to look for water and other valuable resources." Meanwhile, scientists from the University of California in Los Angeles, Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, and from other global organizations will rely on data from Beresheet's magnetometer to study whether Moon rocks contain a history of the magnetic field there. An old, new instrument Another experiment on Beresheet will involve a tiny but robust instrument called a Laser Retroreflector Array. Smaller than a computer mouse, this device features eight mirrors made of quartz cube corners that are set into a dome-shaped aluminum frame. This configuration allows the device to reflect light coming in from any direction back to its source. LRO's laser altimeter, an instrument that measures altitude, will try to shoot laser pulses at Beresheet's retroreflector and then measure how long it takes the light to bounce back. By using this technique, engineers expect to be able to pinpoint Beresheet's location within 4 inches (10 centimeters). One day, this simple technology, requiring neither power nor maintenance, may make it easier to navigate to locations on the Moon, asteroids, and other bodies. It could also be dropped from a spacecraft onto the surface of a celestial body where the reflector could help scientists track the object's spin rate or position in space. "It's a fixed marker you may return to it any time," said David E. Smith, principal investigator of the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, or LOLA, on the LRO. Laser retroreflectors have already been instrumental to space exploration. Apollo- astronauts left three large reflector panels at various Moon locations 50 years ago. They're still reflecting light today, with their 100 mirrors each, though they're reflecting light all the way back to Earth instead of a close-by orbiter. Using these mirrors, scientists have learned many things about the Moon, particularly that it is moving away from Earth at a rate of 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) per year. These days, smaller laser reflectors are commonly used to track Earth-orbiting satellites from the ground and have been included on several recent space missions. NASA installed an Italian Space Agency-provided retroreflector on the deck of the InSight lander, which arrived on Mars in November 2018. Though there's no orbiter with a laser instrument at Mars today to shoot light to InSight's reflector, scientists expect that there will be one in the future. In Beresheet's case, too, the reflector will live on forever, even though Beresheet is expected to stop working within a few days of landing. It may be a simple dome of mirrors, yet Beresheet's reflector may be one of the first flickers of light future explorers undertaking NASA's Moon to Mars exploration will see as they descend to the Moon in the coming decade. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Reciba en su email: noticias de ultima hora, analisis tecnicos o el cierre de mercado Email no valido Nombre requerido Recibira las informaciones mas relevantes del dia en tiempo real Que informacion desea recibir? Noticias de Ultima hora Boletin Cierre de Mercado Boletin analisis tecnico Boletin Fundsnews Debe seleccionar un tipo de boletin Acepto la Politica de privacidad Debe aceptar la politica de privacidad Responsable EMPRESAS DEL GRUPO WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Finalidad La remision de informacion, novedades y promociones Establecimiento o mantenimiento de Relaciones Comerciales. Legitimacion Consentimiento del interesado. Interes legitimo en el desarrollo de la relacion comercial Destinatario Empresas del Grupo WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Derechos Acceso, rectificacion, supresion, limitacion, oposicion y portabilidad Informacion adicional Politica de Privacidad de nuestra pagina Web + INFORMACION Delegate Eric Porterfield called LGBT organizations socialists, brutal monsters, and the Klu Klux Klan in the modern era without hoods. He also insinuated that he would drown his kids if they were gay. Chairwoman Belinda Biafore called on Porterfield to resign over his views, and the states Republican party condemned him in a statement. As religious leaders we feel compelled to point out that many of Mr. Porterfields recent statements do not reflect the values or sentiments of the entire faith community; rather, he has spoken only for himself, the statement said. While we may not all agree on issues pertaining to our gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or queer brothers and sisters we should all agree on the inherent worth of all human beings. Porterfield made those remarks in support of a ruling that would allow businesses to deny service to LGBT people based on their sexuality. SIGN UP TO GET BLACKLISTED NEWS DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX Enter your email address: MIEDA had invited Padma Vibhushan Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar to present the awards and address the conference. Maharashtra Industrial and Economic Development Association (MIEDA), founded by Chandrakant Salunkhe, has honoured HiMedia Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. for the Pride of Maharashtra Award under the category of Best Company of The Year Award for 2018. Himedia is a leading BioScience company with its global presence in more than 150 countries and is amongst the top three brands in microbiology in the world. HiMedia Laboratories Pvt. Ltd was founded by Dr. Gangadhar Motiram Warke (Founder and Chairman & Managing Director), co-founded by Dr. G.M. Warkes spouse Mrs. Saroj Warke (Co-founder and Director-IT) and younger brother Mr. Vishnu M. Warke (Co-founder and Director-Marketing). HiMedia is a company established by such professionals and technologists for manufacturing high quality culture media for microbiology, has over the years created a rich portfolio of exemplar quality products. Today it has evolved into a leading biosciences organisation with strong research based products portfolio in various areas of bioscience by technical directors of the next generation, Dr. Vishal G. Warke (Director- Cell culture & Immunology and higronics), Dr.Rahul G. Warke (Director Microbiology), Dr.Priti V. Warke (Director-Cell culture & Immunology and higronics), Dr. Rajas V. Warke (Director- Molecular Biology and Virology) and Dr.Kavita Khadke (Associate Director-Molecular biology and Virology) The innovation and strong capabilities of Dr.G.M. Warke in translating research into biotech products applications for scientists and innovators are appreciated and recognised by MIEDA. Towards this MIEDA further honoured Dr. G.M.Warke for Special Felicitation by presenting Brand Ambassador of Maharashtra, (Category: Research & Innovation). Pride of Maharashtra Awards is a unique recognition to Enterprise, Institution, SMEs, and Individual for exceptional contribution towards Industry, Economy, Society, State and Nation building as well as exemplary achievements in related sector. MIEDA had invited Padma Vibhushan Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar- President, Global Research Alliance & Former Director General of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Subhash Desai-Honble Minister for Industry and Dr. Lalit Kanodia, CMD, Datamatics Group of Companies to present the awards and address the conference. The award ceremony took place at the Inaugural of the 5th Edition Maharashtra Economic Summit and 25th Foundation Day Function of MIEDA on 21st February 2019 at 10:00 am at MCA, BKC, Mumbai with support of Government of Maharashtra and in association with SME Chamber of India. Moncks Corner, SC (29461) Today Sun and clouds mixed. High 86F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear. Slight chance of a shower late. Low 68F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Submit Updated at 12:34 p.m. ET on 2019-02-25 Buddhist-majority Thailand is scheduled to hold national elections on March 24, the countrys first general polls since a military coup in 2014. Political analysts say there are four names to look out for as leading potential contenders for the prime ministers role: Prayuth Chan-o-cha Palang Pracharat Party Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the incumbent prime minister and junta chief, spearheaded a coup that toppled Yingluck Shinawatras government on May 22, 2014. The military justified Yinglucks overthrow by saying she had failed to end deadly street protests that raged on for almost nine months. Prayuth, 64, formed the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the juntas official name, and installed himself as prime minister in August 2014. A former army chief, Prayuth promised to quickly shepherd the nation of 69 million people back toward democracy, but the military has been in effective control since he unseated Yingluck, who later fled into self-imposed exile with her older brother Thaksin, who was also ousted by the military in 2006. Born in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, Prayuth graduated with a bachelors degree from Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, which is considered the nations equivalent of West Point in the United States. Prayuth is believed to be staunchly loyal to the monarchy. He strengthened his ties with the royal palace as he began his military career in the prestigious Queens Guard Unit. He rose through the ranks, serving as chief of staff of the Royal Thai Army from 2008 and 2009. He became the commander-in-chief in 2010 after briefly serving as honorary adjutant to the king. Under Prayuths leadership, the junta cracked down on any perceived forms of dissent, banned political forums, detained activists and gagged the press. Prayuth retired as army chief in January 2016 but remained in power as prime minister, during which he oversaw the drafting of a new constitution. Two weeks ago, Prayuth accepted an invitation by Palang Pracharat Party, led by his former ministers, to be its pick for prime minister. In an interview with Time magazine in June 2018, Prayuth defended his decision to overthrow civilian rule. He said the nation was at the brink of destruction. It was the most difficult decision I ever made in my life, he said. Personally, I never wanted to obtain power this way, never imagine becoming the prime minister like this. Sudarat Keyuraphan Pheu Thai Party Sudarat Keyuraphan, the high-profile candidate of the main opposition Pheu Thai Party, is a close ally of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Sudarat, 57, holds a bachelors degree and a masters in business administration from Chulalongkorn University, a public research institution in Bangkok, where she was born. She served as minister of public health before becoming minister of agriculture and cooperatives under Thaksin. He was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in exile after a corruption conviction, which his supporters described as politically motivated. Sudarat, who is married to construction magnate Somyos Leelapanyalert, began her political career in 1991 when she was elected as a member of parliament. In 1994, she was appointed secretary-general of the Palang Dharma Party. In 1998, she co-founded the Thai Rak Thai Party with Thaksin. Three years later, she was appointed public health minister after her re-election as a member of parliament. Seen as the main challenger to Prayuth Chan-o-cha, Sudarat faces an uphill battle because the ruling junta, during the past five years, has enacted legislation that would virtually prevent any single political party from winning a majority of parliamentary seats. Pheu Thai, considered by analysts as the flagship party of Thaksins political machines, has won every national election since 2001. But Thaksin has avoided direct involvement with Sudarat, as junta-imposed election rules inhibit parties from being led by outsiders. During a campaign in the nations capital early this month, Sudarat accused the junta of harming the countrys economy. She vowed to bring back prosperity. The time is up for the tank government, she said, in an apparent jab at the army that often rolls out tanks during coup attempts. Its time for professional economists, she said. Its time for Pheu Thai to save the economy. Abhisit Vejjajiva Democrat Party Abhisit Vejjajiva, who served as Thai prime minister from 2008 to 2011, leads the Democrat Party. Abhisit, 54, is distinctly upper class, hailing from a wealthy family of Thai-Chinese ancestry. He was born in Wallsend, England, on Aug. 3, 1964, and was educated at Englands top public school, Eton College. He then earned a bachelors degree in philosophy and a masters in economics from St. Johns College at Oxford University. He holds dual Thai and British citizenship. Before going into politics, he was a lecturer at Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy. He then returned to Oxford for his masters before studying at Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok, where he received his bachelors in law. Abhisit began his political career in 1992 when he joined the nations oldest party, the Democrats, and was elected into the House of Representatives. At 27, he was then one of the parliaments youngest-ever members. He was re-elected to the same seat in 1995 and 1996. He served as a government spokesman and a minister to the Prime Ministers Office for then premier Chuan Leekpai. In 2005, he became leader of the Democrat Party. Abhisit became prime minister on Dec. 17, 2008, after the Constitutional Court found the ruling party, led by Thaksin Shinawatras supporters, guilty of electoral fraud. That allowed Abhisit and his allies to form a new government, becoming a prime minister at age 44 without calling for a general election. But Abhisit served at a time when the nation struggled with rising unemployment and budget deficits. In 2010, Abhisits government faced a major political crisis: Thousands of Thaksins supporters paralyzed parts of Bangkok with major protests and more than 90 people were killed when the military swooped in to clear the demonstrations, according to various reports. Abhisit dissolved parliament and called for a general election in 2011, but he quickly conceded defeat to the main opposition party, Pheu Thai, which was then led by Yingluck Shinawatra. In December 2013, Abhisit was formally charged with murder in connection with the crackdown on the demonstrators three years earlier. The former prime minister denied the charges and was granted bail. He was acquitted by the Supreme Court in August 2017. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit Future Forward Party Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit entered Thailands turbulent politics with a mission to transform Thai society, offering democracy as an alternative to military rule. Thanathorn, a scion of the countrys largest auto-parts company, leads the Future Forward Party. Give democracy a chance, the American- and British-educated candidate told reporters at the launch of his party in March 2018. Thanathorn said he hoped to win the support of ordinary people, as he jabbed at the ruling junta. Thanathorn, 40, has grabbed headlines with his statements under a military regime, which rights groups have criticized for its repressive laws. Despite claiming he got multiple death threats, Thanathorn has publicly discussed his idealistic ideas, making him an appealing political prospect to the nations young, educated and urban electorate. This is not an era for coups in Thailand. This is the 21st century and people want to see the country return to democracy, he told BenarNews last week as he campaigned at Suan Dusit Rajabhat university in Bangkok. Such statements are rare in a country that has seen multiple coups since 1932, and where appeasing the military has always been seen as essential for political success, analysts said. Thanathorn is former executive vice president of the Thai Summit Group, a privately held auto-parts company. He was born in and grew up in Bangkok, the second eldest in a family of five children. He received his bachelors degree in engineering from Thammasat University, and his bachelors in mechanical engineering from the University of Nottingham. He also holds three masters degrees. During his college years, he was known as a student activist. On Aug. 24 last year, Thai police charged Thanathorn and two senior leaders of Future Forward Party with violating the nations Computer Crime Act, which could result in five-year prison terms. The complaint, filed on behalf of the junta, alleged that Thanathorn violated a section of the law, which makes it a crime to transmit false information or information that damages the countrys stability, according to Future Forward spokeswoman Pannika Wanich. Col. Burin Thongprapai, chief legal officer for the junta, told reporters that he filed the charges because in a Facebook live broadcast Thanathorn had made accusations against the countrys leaders and twisted facts. I know that by starting this party, it seriously means I might go to jail tomorrow, Thanathorn told reporters. But theres no other way we can make a positive change in this country until there is a new political party of the people. The alleged hijacker of this Biman Airlines jet was killed by army commandos after it made an emergency landing at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong, Feb. 24, 2019. Updated at 2:15 p.m. ET on 2019-02-24 Bangladesh commandos shot and killed a man who allegedly attempted to hijack a Dhaka flight bound for Dubai Sunday afternoon while all passengers and crew were rescued unharmed, an army commander told reporters shortly after the incident. Biman Airlines flight BG 147, a Boeing 737-800 carrying 148 passengers and crew, made an emergency landing at about 5:30 p.m. at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong where elite commandos stormed the plane and freed the hostages. A passenger told BenarNews that he and others began to pray after they heard shots, he said, and the plane began tilting from side to side before landing at the airport. The armed man had a pistol. He made the cabin crew hostages, Maj. Gen. S.M. Matiur Rahman, the commanding officer in Chittagong, told reporters. When our preparation was ready, we asked him to surrender. He rejected our call and then we started the operation. The military takeover of the Bangladesh national airline jet ended in eight minutes, he said. He was injured inside the plane and died after we took him out, Rahman said, identifying the suspect as a Bangladeshi who told the pilot his name was Mahadi. Before beginning the operation, negotiators began a conversation with the hijacker and were able to get him to release the cabin crew, Rahman said, adding he made two demands. He wanted to talk to the prime minister, and to his wife. We assured him that his demands would be met, Rahman said. Earlier, officials said they believed the man had a bomb strapped to his chest, but that report proved false. Civil Aviation Authority Chairman Air Vice Marshal Naim Hassan told reporters in Dhaka the hijacker looked mentally imbalanced. Passenger speaks Osman Goni, a Bangladeshi on the flight, described the lone attacker as being in his 30s. Around 15 to 17 minutes after takeoff, a man carrying a small bag ran from rear seat of the flight. He told us be seated. None of you try to stand up from your seats, Goni told BenarNews. He then went to the pilot and sat beside him. We heard the sound of two to three shots. Then the plane tilted to one side and then the other side. We all started praying to Allah, he said. He was repeatedly smoking. We could only see smoke in the cockpit. After the plane landed, Goni said he and the other passengers quickly left through the emergency exit. The attempted hijacking is the second in Bangladesh history and the first in more than four decades, according to government officials. On Sept. 28, 1977, members of the Japanese Red Army (JRA) hijacked a flight from Mumbai and ordered it flown to Dhaka where they took passengers and crew hostage while demanding ransom and the release of nine JRA members from prison, according to media reports. After receiving the ransom and six of the prisoners, the hijackers released most of the hostages before fleeing the country. The final hostages were freed in Algeria. North Korea leader Kim Jong Un is travelling to Vietnam for his second summit with US president Donald Trump, state media confirmed. Mr Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the US, and Kim Yo Jong, the leaders sister, the Norths official Korean Central News Agency reported. TV footage and photos distributed by the Norths state-run news agency showed Mr Kim inspecting a guard of honour at the Pyongyang station before waving from the train. Expand Close The second summit between US president Donald Trump and Kim will be held in Hanoi (Lee Jin-man/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The second summit between US president Donald Trump and Kim will be held in Hanoi (Lee Jin-man/AP) The Trump-Kim meeting is due to take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. Their first summit last June in Singapore ended without substantive agreements on the Norths nuclear disarmament. It also triggered a months-long stalemate in negotiations as Washington and Pyongyang struggled with the sequencing of North Koreas nuclear disarmament and the removal of US-led sanctions against the North. Expand Close Kim Jong Un salutes while reviewing troops at Pyongyang Station before leaving (Korean Central News Agency/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kim Jong Un salutes while reviewing troops at Pyongyang Station before leaving (Korean Central News Agency/AP) Mr Trump sought to manage expectations for the meeting. He tweeted on Sunday that he expected it to be a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. He added: Denuclearization? Mr Trump added that Mr Kim knew that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Mr Kims overseas travel plans are routinely kept secret. It could take more than two days for the train to travel thousands of miles through China to Vietnam. Vietnams foreign ministry announced on Saturday that Mr Kim would pay an official goodwill visit to the country in the coming days in response to an invitation by president Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also the general secretary of Vietnams ruling Communist Party. Expand Close People ride motorcycles past a poster featuring the upcoming second summit between the US and North Korea in Hanoi (Minh Hoang/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People ride motorcycles past a poster featuring the upcoming second summit between the US and North Korea in Hanoi (Minh Hoang/AP) In his forthcoming meeting with Mr Trump, experts say Mr Kim will seek a US commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief while trying to minimise any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons. While Mr Kim wants to leverage his nuclear and missile programme for economic and security benefits, there continue to be doubts on whether he is ready to fully deal away an arsenal that he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival. Last year, North Korea suspended its nuclear and long-range missile tests and unilaterally dismantled its nuclear testing ground and parts of a rocket launch facility without the presence of outside experts, but none of those steps were seen as meaningful cutbacks to the Norths weapons capability. While North Korea has repeatedly demanded that the United States take corresponding measures, including sanctions relief, Washington has called for more concrete steps from Pyongyang toward denuclearisation. A Bangladesh flight bound for Dubai made an emergency landing on Sunday in Chittagong after a man attempted to hijack the plane, officials said. The suspect, a Bangladeshi, asked to speak to the countrys prime minister before dying from injuries in an exchange of gunfire with military commandos, they said. The flight, operated by state-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines, took off from Dhaka at 4.35 pm for the trip to Dubai via Chittagong. The pilot made the emergency landing in Chittagong about 40 minutes later, after a crew member reported suspicious behaviour by the man, said Rezaul Karim, an official with the Bangladeshi militarys inter-service public affairs office. All 143 passengers and seven crew members aboard the Boeing 737-800 were safely evacuated, Air Vice Marshal Mofidur Rahman said at a news conference broadcast live on Somoy TV. Bangladesh: Tense situation as police surround a plane at Chattogram airport after it was reported to be hijacked. The Dubai bound Biman plane is identified as flight BG147. pic.twitter.com/BtessHtKyZ Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) February 24, 2019 The commandos fired at the suspect after he shot at them when they asked him to surrender, army Major General Motiur Rahman told reporters, according to ATN TV news. He said that the suspect was carrying a pistol, but did not say where the shooting took place. The army official said the suspect, whose name has not been released, asked to speak to his wife and to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The suspect died before reaching the hospital, he said. The suspect appeared to be mentally imbalanced, said Air Vice Marshal M. Naim Hassan, chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority. I am saying this because of his behaviour. He wanted to talk to the prime minister. Before the suspect was pronounced dead, Rahman had described him as a terrorist and said that he had been arrested and was being questioned. Bangladeshi soldiers could be seen during the live TV broadcast taking positions inside Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong, 156 miles southeast of Dhaka. President Donald Trump has said he will extend a deadline to escalate tariffs on Chinese imports, citing substantial progress in weekend talks between the two countries. Mr Trump tweeted on Sunday that there had been productive talks, adding that: I will be delaying the US increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Mr Trump says that, if negotiations progress, he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Florida resort to finalise an agreement. US and Chinese negotiators met through the weekend as they seek to resolve a trade war that has rattled financial markets. Mr Trump had warned he would escalate the tariffs he has imposed on 200 billion US dollars in Chinese imports, from 10 to 25%, if the two sides failed to reach a deal. Speaking to governors gathered at the White House for an annual black-tie ball on Sunday, Mr Trump said he was doing very well with China. If all works well were going to have some very big news over the next week or two, he said, though he took care to add that we still have a little ways to go. Asian stock markets rose following Mr Trumps announcement. The Shanghai Composite index jumped 5.5%, while other markets in the region also rose, but by smaller margins. Hong Kongs Hang Seng index added 0.5% while Tokyos Nikkei 225 also climbed 0.5%. Expand Close President Donald Trump speaks at the Governors Ball at the White House (Carolyn Kaster/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp President Donald Trump speaks at the Governors Ball at the White House (Carolyn Kaster/AP) The worlds two biggest economies have been locked in a conflict over US allegations that China steals technology and forces foreign companies to hand over trade secrets in an aggressive push to challenge American technological dominance. The two counties have slapped import taxes on hundreds of billions of dollars of each others goods. The conflict has unnerved investors and clouded the outlook for the global economy, putting pressure on Mr Trump and Mr Xi to reach a deal. Chinese negotiators said the talks made progress on technology transfer, protection of intellectual property rights and non-tariff barriers, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. It cautioned there are still some differences that need more time to be ironed out. Trump clearly wants a deal and so do the Chinese, which certainly raises the probability that the two sides will come to some sort of negotiated agreement, even if it is a partial one, in the coming weeks, said Cornell University economist Eswar Prasad, former head of the International Monetary Funds China division. On Twitter, Mr Trump said the two sides had made headway on issues including protection of trade secrets, forced technology transfer and US agricultural sales to China. But the administration did not immediately provide details. Business groups and politicians in Congress want to see a comprehensive deal that forces the Chinese to change their behaviour and that can be enforced. The US has accused China of failing to meet past commitments to reform its economic policies. Encouraging news from @POTUS that progress is being made in a trade deal with China. Hopefully this leads to an agreement that stops Chinaas theft of US intellectual property and avoids a full blown trade war. Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) February 24, 2019 Encouraging news from @POTUS that progress is being made in a trade deal with China. Hopefully this leads to an agreement that stops Chinas theft of US intellectual property and avoids a full blown trade war, tweeted Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania But critics worry that the president has given up leverage. They now have lost the advantage of a deadline, said Philip Levy, a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a White House economist under President George W Bush, adding that I see the odds tilting in Chinas favour. Prime Minister Theresa May is heading to Egypt as attempts to agree a Brexit deal continue (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Theresa May has vowed to Tory grassroots activists that she will not allow the referendum vote for Britain to leave the EU to be frustrated. The Prime Minister is flying to Egypt for an EU-League of Arab States summit where she is expected to hold talks with key EU figures as she battles to break the deadlock in the Brexit talks. Downing Street has played down hopes of a breakthrough during the course of the two-day gathering in the Red Sea resort, despite the presence of major players including European Council president Donald Tusk. The Prime Minister is pressing for changes to the Northern Ireland backstop which she hopes will finally convince MPs to back her Withdrawal Agreement following last months crushing Commons defeat. Expand Close Theresa May will hold talks with European Council president Donald Tusk in Sharm el Sheikh (Victoria Jones/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Theresa May will hold talks with European Council president Donald Tusk in Sharm el Sheikh (Victoria Jones/PA) Ahead of her departure, No 10 released details of her speech to a closed meeting of the National Conservative Convention (NCC) in Oxford on Saturday, when she told supporters the Governments focus on delivering Brexit must be absolute. Her comments came after three pro-EU Cabinet ministers signalled they could back moves in Parliament to delay Britains withdrawal to prevent a disastrous no-deal break. The intervention by Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and David Gauke led to calls for their resignations by furious Tory Brexiteers comments said to have been echoed in private by some Cabinet ministers. Northern Minister John Penrose warned taking no-deal off the table could undermine Mrs Mays efforts to secure concessions on the backstop. It could torpedo Brexit completely, leaving us in a Hotel California Brexit, where wed checked out but could never leave, he said in an article for The Sunday Telegraph. Wed have built an enormous elephant trap for ourselves, and thered be no way to climb out. We are not a party of purges and retribution. We should not be seeking to deselect any of our MPs because of their views on BrexitTheresa May However former prime minister Gordon Brown said extending Article 50 is now the only sensible game in town. It would let us reflect, reconsider and renegotiate Mrs Mays botched terms, he wrote in the Sunday Mirror. We have only three days to draw back from the brink. MPs are preparing for a potentially crucial series of votes on Wednesday which could see Parliament seize control of the Brexit process if Mrs May cannot secure an agreement with Brussels by mid-March. However The Sunday Times reports the votes could now be shelved in the wake of the latest Cabinet divisions. In a joint article, Work and Pensions Secretary Ms Rudd, Business Secretary Mr Clark and Justice Secretary Mr Gauke said it was clear a majority of MPs would back an extension to the Article 50 withdrawal process rather than see no deal. However in her address to the NCC, Mrs May insisted it is vital the Government maintains its focus as the negotiations reach their final stages. Our focus to deliver Brexit must be absolute. We must not, and I will not, frustrate what was the largest democratic exercise in this countrys history, she said. In the very final stages of this process, the worst thing we could do is lose our focus. With party loyalties strained to breaking point following the resignations of three Tory MPs to join a group of Labour defectors in the new Independent Group, Mrs May warned against more internal blood-letting. Expand Close Amber Rudd is one of three Cabinet ministers warning Parliament will block no-deal (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Amber Rudd is one of three Cabinet ministers warning Parliament will block no-deal (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston all complained they had been targeted in their constituencies because of their pro-Remain views, in some cases by former Ukip members who had switched to the Tories. However Mrs May said: We are not a party of purges and retribution. We called a referendum and let people express their views so we should not be seeking to deselect any of our MPs because of their views on Brexit. Our party is rightly a broad church on that and other issues. And we will only save our country from the threat of Jeremy Corbyn if we remain one. On Wednesday, the Commons is expected to consider an amendment tabled by Labour MP Yvette Cooper and Conservative former minister Sir Oliver Letwin enabling the House to extend the Article 50 withdrawal process if there is no deal by mid-March. A similar amendment was defeated by MPs last month, but there is speculation that enough Tory rebels, alarmed that there is still no deal in place, could be prepared to back it this time round for it to pass. Downing Street has said if there is no deal by Tuesday, the Prime Minister will at that point make another statement to the House and table an amendable motion to be debated and voted on the following day. However, it is unclear whether that will be enough to stave off a revolt by MPs alarmed at the prospect of no deal including potential ministerial resignations. Scotties like Douglas, pictured in the snow in Glasgow, are falling out of fashion, The Kennel Club has warned (John Linton/PA) It is one of the most celebrated dog breeds in Britain, with a Monopoly piece to its name, but experts say the Scottish terrier is at risk after falling out of fashion. The number of Scotties being registered has declined by 38% in the past five years, according to new figures from The Kennel Club. Expand Close Scottish Terrier Knopa, pictured with handler Rebecca Cross, won Best in Show at Crufts 2015 (Joe Giddens/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Scottish Terrier Knopa, pictured with handler Rebecca Cross, won Best in Show at Crufts 2015 (Joe Giddens/PA) The dog welfare organisation has now placed it on its at watch list because the number of puppy registrations last year fell 12 below the 450 threshold. Scotties have been used to advertise Radley handbags and shortbread over the years. But it is now one of many native British breeds at risk as their popularity declines and demand increases for new breeds such as the French Bulldog now the UKs most popular dog. Expand Close French Bulldogs are currently the UKs most popular breed (Kirsty OConnor/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp French Bulldogs are currently the UKs most popular breed (Kirsty OConnor/PA) Of the 57 native breeds, 29 are now deemed vulnerable, with nine more at watch, and The Kennel Club has launched a #savebritishdogbreeds campaign to reverse the decline. Those now classed as vulnerable, meaning they have fewer than 300 new registrations in a year, include the bearded collie and the Irish wolfhound. Expand Close Irish Wolfhounds, like regimental mascot Domhnall, are now seen as a breed under threat (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Irish Wolfhounds, like regimental mascot Domhnall, are now seen as a breed under threat (Jonathan Brady/PA) Kennel Club secretary Caroline Kisko said: There were just 24 vulnerable breeds and seven at watch a decade ago. There are now another six breeds either vulnerable or at watch and we could lose even more of our most iconic and historic native dog breeds if people dont look beyond the most obvious choices such as the increasingly popular French Bulldog and start to explore the huge diversity of breeds were lucky enough to have in this country. Til Tovey, secretary of the Scottish Terrier Club of England, added: It is so sad to see this wonderful and well-recognised breed, which is affectionate, loyal and intelligent, steadily decline in popularity as more fashionable choices take over. The Scottish Terrier is a great breed for those who want a small companion dog with plenty of character and an independent streak, and have time to train them consistently. Scotties are brimming with personality so sometimes can be a little stubborn! It would be very sad to no longer see this historic and much-loved breed in our streets and parks in a few generations time. Scottish Labour has claimed that council charges will rise as a result of the budget deal (Jane Barlow/PA) Scottish Labour has claimed that council charges will soar across the country as a result of the Budget agreed between the Scottish Government and the Greens. The partys finance spokesman, James Kelly, said that the Budget announced by Derek Mackay would lead to a 230 million cut to core funding for councils. The Budget was passed on Thursday as MSPs voted by 66 to 58 in favour whilst the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats voted against. As part of the spending plan agreement, new tax raising powers were given to local authorities, as well as an increase to core local government funding by 90 million. The @ScotParl has approved the 2019-20 @ScotGov Budget which provides A42.5 billion of investment in Scotlandas public services and economy. Find out what @DerekMackaySNP's #ScotBudget delivers for Scotland. https://t.co/hsPoL5Gu3C pic.twitter.com/xCFgg35UkB Scot Gov Economy (@scotgoveconomy) February 21, 2019 Labour said that failures to stop the cuts to councils would hit vulnerable people and families in the pocket. James Kelly MSP said: The SNP-Green Budget forces a 230 million cut onto core council funding. That puts jobs on the line, services at risk and will see charges soar. In Dundee, hard pressed families are set to be hit with an eye-watering 700% rise in the cost of breakfast clubs, while families in Moray will be charged hundreds of pounds per year to get the school bus. The cuts to our councils are so deep that SNP-run Falkirk council has now resorted to snatching milk from primary school children to try and balance the books. At the same time as slashing these services and pushing up charges, SNP ministers have handed themselves a tax cut. That is shameful. In government, Labour will invest in our people, communities and public services, starting with a 50p top rate of tax. Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said that overall investment will rise under the spending plans. We continue to ensure our partners in local government receive a fair funding settlement, said Mr Mackay. The additional measures agreed in the Budget will deliver the most significant empowerment of local authorities since devolution and provide additional funding to support local services. This enhanced package offers up to 187 million of increased funding and flexibility to councils, on top of the 11.1 billion local government settlement. In total, overall spending power for local authorities next year will be 620 million higher than it is currently. Prime Minister Theresa May arrives to attend the EU-League of Arab States Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Prime Minister Theresa May has ruled out putting a meaningful vote on Brexit to the Commons this week, but insisted one would be held by March 12. Mrs May also said that Cabinet collective responsibility had not broken down after pro-EU ministers signalled they could support backbench moves to delay withdrawal in order to prevent a no-deal exit from the bloc. The PM said that because positive talks were ongoing with the EU, a meaningful vote would not be held this week. Speaking on her way to an EU-League of Arab States summit in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, the Prime Minister said: I was in Brussels last week. Ministers were in Brussels last week. My team will be back in Brussels again this coming week. They will be returning to Brussels on Tuesday. As a result of that we wont bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week. But we will ensure that that happens by March 12. But it is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29. Asked how the Government would treat non-binding motions expected this week which call for the ruling out of a no-deal exit, and which demand an extension of Article 50, Mrs May said: We dont know what amendments are going to be tabled. We dont know what amendments are going to be selected. You havent even seen what motion the Government is going to put down as I say, it wont be the meaningful vote. I will be making a statement to Parliament on Tuesday. And then, obviously, well be having the debate the next day. Expand Close Pro-EU Cabinet ministers Business Secretary Greg Clark, Works and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd and Justice Secretary David Gauke (PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pro-EU Cabinet ministers Business Secretary Greg Clark, Works and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd and Justice Secretary David Gauke (PA) The PM said the Government was still in talks with the EU about the Northern Ireland backstop. Mrs May said: We are still in that negotiation. We are still talking to the EU about various ways in which we can find a resolution to the issue that Parliament raised. The PM insisted collective Cabinet responsibility had not broken down after the intervention by Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and David Gauke indicating that they could back parliamentary moves to stop a no deal. The PM said: No, collective responsibility has not broken down. What we have seen around the Cabinet table, in the party, and in the country at large is strong views on the issue of Europe. That is not a surprise to anybody. We have around the Cabinet table a collective, not just responsibility, but desire, to actually ensure that we leave the European Union with a deal. Thats what were working for and thats what Im working for. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Asked if the three ministers should remain in Government, Mrs May said: What we see around the Cabinet table is strong views held on the issue of Europe. Mrs May said that extending Article 50 would not deal with the issues. The PM said: Now, often people talk about the extension of Article 50 as if that will actually solve the issue. Of course it wont. It defers the point of decision. There comes a point where we need to make that decision. Extension of Article 50 doesnt solve the problem. There will always come a point where we have to decide whether we accept the deal thats been negotiated or not. And that will be a decision for every member of Parliament across the House. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Every member of the Commons will have to face that decision when that point comes. The Government will be bringing back, working with the EU, and will want to put a deal to the House of Commons in a meaningful vote. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer called Mrs Mays decision over the timing of the meaningful vote an admission of failure. He said: This decision to further delay the meaningful vote is the height of irresponsibility and an admission of failure. Theresa May is recklessly running down the clock in a desperate attempt to force MPs to choose between her deal and no deal. Parliament cannot stand by and allow this to happen. Hugo Palmer and his friend Erwan Ferrieux have been missing since February 17 (PA) The mother of a British tourist who went missing from a beach in Australia a week ago said she feels completely numb as she visited the spot where his belongings were found. Tanya McNab travelled to Shelly Beach on the New South Wales coast, where a vigil for Hugo Palmer and his friend Erwan Ferrieux was held on Sunday. She said her son had been living his dream by visiting Australia, but it had only just started. Im feeling numb completely numb. I have been since I heard the news, she said. A search has resumed for two men missing at Shelley Beach near Port Macquarie. https://t.co/5mlgbGdaMD NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) February 19, 2019 Mr Palmer, from East Grinstead, East Sussex, and Mr Ferrieux, a French national, arrived in Australia in November, and had been in the Port Macquarie area since February 17. A major search was launched after items belonging to the 20-year-olds were found at the beach near Port Macquarie late that night. The air and sea operation was scaled back on Wednesday, although sweeps of the area were due to continue. On Sunday, locals and backpackers from Port Macquarie joined Mr Palmers mother and members of his family on the beach for a vigil. The mens belongings were arranged on the sand and flowers were laid. One of the vigils organisers, Betsey Drake, told ABC: We decided as a community we were missing them too, even though we never met them. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arriving at the Education For All boarding house in Morocco (Yui Mok/PA) The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have arrived in Moroccos high Atlas Mountain region to meet young women getting a secondary education thanks to the efforts of a British entrepreneur. Expand Close Meghan is greeted by girls from the boarding house (Yui Mok/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Meghan is greeted by girls from the boarding house (Yui Mok/PA) In brilliant winter sunshine Harry and Meghan were welcomed to the town of Asni by pupils being taught at a boarding house run by the Moroccan NGO Education For All, founded by Michael McHugo. Holding Union and Morocco flags the teenage girls smiled as their guests arrived from the capital Rabat by helicopter. Girls at @EFAMoroccoas Boarding House in the Atlas Mountains await the arrival of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex this morning. The Boarding House enables girls from rural areas to live nearer their school so they can continue their education. #RoyalVisitMorocco pic.twitter.com/M5r7Wbj7zS The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) February 24, 2019 The students are from remote communities in the mountains whose parents would normally not be able to afford to send their daughters to school after primary education. Meghan and Harry walked along a line of waiting teenagers and following local custom touched a hand to their heart each time they shook the hand of a student. Expand Close The royals followed local customs (Yui Mok/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The royals followed local customs (Yui Mok/PA) The duke asked one pupil Is this the best school in Morocco? and as they were taken inside the boarding house he put his hand reassuringly on the back of his heavily pregnant wife. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive in Morocco (Hannah Mackay/PA) The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have arrived in Morocco for a whirlwind three-day tour that will see Meghans promotion of gender equality at the fore. Harry and Meghan are making their first official visit to north Africa to strengthen Britains links with one of the few stable countries in the region, and a nation which will be an important post-Brexit market for the UK. Britains ambassador to Morocco Thomas Reilly, who welcomed the couple when they arrived at Casablanca airport on Saturday evening, said Moroccos promotion of women and girls, its inclusivity, and social entrepreneurship are close to their royal highnesses hearts. The duke and duchess were two hours late for their welcoming ceremony due to the knock-on effect of an earlier delay to their scheduled air service. In darkness, Harry inspected a sabre-carrying guard of honour from the Auxiliary Forces, dressed in their pristine white uniforms and formed in two rows. The heavily pregnant duchess walked behind her husband as he looked over the troops, who had been patiently waiting for their arrival for more than an hour. Despite spending a busy few days in New York recently for her luxury baby shower, which featured a string of A-list celebrities, Meghan looked relaxed and wore a striking red Valentino dress for their arrival. Expand Close The couple were welcomed by officials including Britains ambassador to Morocco (Hannah Mackay/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The couple were welcomed by officials including Britains ambassador to Morocco (Hannah Mackay/PA) A Kensington Palace spokeswoman said: Their royal highnesses are very much looking forward to the visit and are grateful to their hosts and the British Embassy for arranging such an interesting programme. They are particularly pleased that they will have the opportunity to meet so many young Moroccans over the next few days. The couple began their tour, which will see them visit Moroccos famous Atlas Mountains and the capital Rabat, by walking along a red carpet that led to Casablanca airports royal suite. As they entered the building they were offered milk and dates a traditional welcome in Morocco. It was not apparent if Meghan used a spoon to sip the milk in an ornate bowl but Harry could be seen nibbling on a date. Expand Close The Duchess of Sussex looked radiant in a red Valentino dress (Hannah Mackay/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Duchess of Sussex looked radiant in a red Valentino dress (Hannah Mackay/PA) A large motorcade of black limousines was waiting to take the couple and their entourage of nine which includes a hairdresser to meet Moroccos Crown Prince Moulay Hassan. They are staying as guests of Moroccos King Mohammed VI at a royal residence. Mr Reilly said: Its hugely exciting to have their royal highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Sussex here for the next few days and Im really excited to showcase the vital roles that girls education and youth employment are playing in shaping modern Morocco. When we began planning for this visit, I had a very clear view in my mind of the story we wanted this visit to tell. Its the same story weve been telling consistently at this embassy for the last 20 months since my arrival here. Expand Close A guard of honour welcomed the Sussexes to Morocco (Hannah Mackay/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A guard of honour welcomed the Sussexes to Morocco (Hannah Mackay/PA) This official visit by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will highlight Moroccos focus on womens empowerment, girls education, inclusivity and the encouragement of social entrepreneurship. From a girls education project in the High Atlas Mountains, to programmes working with children with disabilities and young people with mental health challenges, to meeting with young social entrepreneurs, their royal highnesses will be shown first-hand the transformational impact of community-based programmes and Moroccos changing social attitudes towards women. Moroccos teenage Crown Prince welcomed Meghan and Harry to their royal accommodation after they had sped to Rabat in their motorcade. The 15-year-old shook hands with the couple at the entrance to their royal villa in the grounds of King Mohammeds palace. Expand Close The Duke and Duchess meet the teenage Crown Prince Moulay Hassan (Hannah Mackay/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Duke and Duchess meet the teenage Crown Prince Moulay Hassan (Hannah Mackay/PA) It was believed to be the first official meeting between the British Royal Family and the future monarch of Morocco. When the couple first arrived, Harry acknowledged a guard of honour outside the villa and they walked a few paces to where the young foreign royal was waiting. After the greeting, the duke and duchess were again offered dates and milk with orange blossom served to special guests in the country and a feature of Moroccan weddings when the bride and groom feed each other the food. Meghan declined to sample the treats but Harry picked a date from the top of a large mound on a platter. The Crown Princes mother, Princess Lalla Salma, has been the subject of much speculation after disappearing from public life more than a year ago with rumours circulating she may be living abroad. Her son left Harry and Meghan to settle in after just a few minutes and headed off into the royal compound. Celebrities including Jilly Cooper, Joanna Lumley and Mel C of the Spice Girls have backed a campaign demanding the Government strengthens animal rights laws post-Brexit. More than 20 well-known figures including Bill Oddie and Ben Fogle called for existing EU laws to be maintained and built upon in a letter to The Sunday Telegraph. Under the Lisbon Treaty, animals are recognised as sentient beings that can feel and understand pain. The welfare of billions of animals is at risk if the Government does not put in place a new law to replicate current EU animal protectionsBetter Deal For Animals The Better Deal For Animals campaign, run by 36 prominent animal charities, wants the Government to keep this legislation within a new act, which also eliminates some practices currently allowed by the EU. The welfare of billions of animals is at risk if the Government does not put in place a new law to replicate current EU animal protections, the group wrote. Losing these would mean that British governments would no longer be bound to ensure good standards of animal welfare when creating laws and policies. Expand Close Environment Secretary Michael Gove (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Environment Secretary Michael Gove (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who is set to attend an event at Parliament hosted by the campaign group on Tuesday, insisted animal sentience would be recognised. He said: Animals are sentient beings who feel pain and suffering, so it is absolutely right that we recognise this in UK law after we leave the EU. Our plans to increase protections for animals include raising the maximum sentence for animal cruelty from six months to five years and banning third-party sales of puppies and kittens. I will continue to make sure we have the strongest legal protections in place for our animals. The sun rises behind Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire, as much of the country enjoys a weekend of unseasonably warm weather (Joe Giddens/PA) Britain has continued to bask in the unseasonably warm weather with highs of 19C (66.2F) recorded on Sunday. The west-coast beauty spot of Gogerddan, in Cardiganshire, Wales, was the hottest place with a record-breaking 19.1C, making it the warmest Welsh day in February since 1990. Expand Close Two people explore the foreshore of the river Thames in London at low tide as people enjoy the warm weather (Dominic Lipinski/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Two people explore the foreshore of the river Thames in London at low tide as people enjoy the warm weather (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Hampton Water Works, in the south west of London, was the hottest spot in England at 19C, and Londoners took advantage of the chance to head out into the sunshine on the South Bank of the Thames. Down in Dorset crowds headed to the beach to enjoy the warm weather which is expected to continue on Monday and Tuesday. Expand Close Paddle boarders enjoy the warm weather and calm seas off Boscombe beach in Dorset (Andy Matthews/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Paddle boarders enjoy the warm weather and calm seas off Boscombe beach in Dorset (Andy Matthews/PA) A spokesman for the Met Office said: Its been unusually mild in many areas of the country and this is the fourth day in a row weve hit 18C. Monday and Tuesday will be equally as warm, if not with a greater chance of 18C or 19C. After that, however, temperatures should be back to normal. Monday and Tuesday will be the last of the very mild days with temperatures coming back to average levels after that, the spokesman added. Expand Close A jogger runs through a foggy Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham (Aaron Chown/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A jogger runs through a foggy Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham (Aaron Chown/PA) The temperature might have been affected by a phenomenon known as the Foehn Effect, a dry and warm down-slope wind that occurs to the lee of hills or mountains. Temperatures across Wales reached 18C (64.4F) in many places on Sunday, though it is unlikely to break the UK record for February, when the mercury soared to 19.7C (67.46F) in Greenwich in 1998. The previous Welsh record was 18.6C (65.48F) set in the south Wales village of Velindre 29 years ago. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has travelled to Egypt to attend the first ever EU-Arab League Summit (Tom Honan/PA) The Taoiseach is set to meet EU leaders in Egypt today as the Brexit deadline date looms ever closer. Leo Varadkar has travelled to Egypt to take part in the first ever EU-Arab League summit in Sharm El-Sheikh. British Prime Minister Theresa May will be attendance. Ireland has strong links with a number of Arab League states, through trade, our peacekeeping efforts in the Middle East and our significant expat communities in the GulfLeo Varadkar She is expected to hold talks with leaders as she battles to break the deadlock in the Brexit negotiations. Speaking ahead of the summit, the Taoiseach said Brexit was not on the agenda but the event would provide him with the opportunity to discuss the latest developments with many of his EU counterparts. The leaders are expected to discuss regional peace and stability, migration, human rights, counter-terrorism, trade, economic development and climate action. The event is being co-chaired by EU Council President Donald Tusk and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Representatives of 28 EU member states and 21 members of the Arab League will be in attending the two-day event. Mr Varadkar said: While Brexit is not on the agenda for the summit, the event will provide me with the opportunity to discuss latest developments with many of my EU counterparts who will be in attendance. Mr Varadkar will make a formal statement during the plenary sessions in which he is expected to take the opportunity to highlight Irelands priorities on a range of foreign policy issues. He said: This is the first time that leaders from EU member states and the Arab League have come together in this format to discuss shared priorities. Ireland has strong links with a number of Arab League states, through trade, our peacekeeping efforts in the Middle East and our significant expat communities in the Gulf. Also, we will soon open new embassies in Amman and Rabat. Although we do not agree on everything, this summit will provide an important opportunity for open dialogue on how we can enhance the Euro-Arab partnership and take on regional challenges, including cooperation on migration, security and counter-terrorism. Leo Varadkar arrives to attend the first joint European Union and Arab League summit at the International Congress Centre in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, on February 24, 2019. (Photo by MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / AFP)MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images Ireland is "not playing chicken" on the Brexit backstop, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said ahead of a meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Egypt. Mr Varadkar is to meet the UK leader for a private discussion on the fringes of the first ever EU-Arab League of States summit. But in advance of the talks, he laid down a marker by publicly warning that there are no circumstances under which the EU will compromise further on the backstop. Were not playing chicken, were not playing poker. We are just standing by our position which has been solid from day one, Mr Varadkar said. Read More It comes after Mrs May told reporters on her arrival in Sharm El-Sheikh that a meaningful vote planned for Wednesday will not now happen. My team will be back in Brussels again this coming week. They will be returning to Brussels on Tuesday. "As a result of that we won't bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week. But we will ensure that that happens by March 12, she said. Asked whether he was concerned that the vote will now take place with just two weeks to the UKs scheduled exit from the EU, Mr Varadkar said it made no difference. The decision on when this vote happens in the House of Commons isnt under my control. I havent had a chance to speak to Prime Minister May yet. "I will today or tomorrow. I understand she has taken the decision to defer the vote until some time around mid-March but for the European Union, that doesnt change anything. It doesnt take anything from Irelands point of view either, he said. Mr Varadkar described the Brexit deadline of March 29 as a self-imposed deadline, suggesting again that the EU would modify it if a request came from London. Responding to comments from UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove who claimed progress is being made on either a time-limit to the backstop or unilateral exit mechanism for the UK, the Taoiseach said if people dont understand thats not going to happen. I dont think there is any more I can do to help them." He said the EU would offer assurances and clarifications on the ambition for the backstop to be temporary but Ireland needs legal guarantees about its purpose. Seguin, Texas (78155) Today Variable clouds with scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly during the afternoon hours. High 89F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Police at the scene of the incident in Ballymena. Police at the scene of the incident in Ballymena. Police investigate sudden death in Ballymena. Photograph by Declan Roughan, Press Eye Police investigating the sudden death of a man in Ballymena have made an arrest. Police cordoned off Henry Street, Bridge Street and the Railway Street areas of Harryville on Sunday morning. There was a large police presence in the area as well as forensic officers. It's thought investigations are centred on a hostel owned by the Simon Community. Staff would not comment, only referring the Belfast Telegraph to their press office. Police said they were investigating a death and awaiting the results of a post mortem examination. On Sunday evening police said they had made an arrest. The 27-year-old was arrested on suspicion of robbery and assault. Police have made an appeal to help trace the woman. Police have said the family of missing Leona Devlin are becoming increasingly concerned for her welfare. The 37-year-old from Derry is described as 5'11" tall, with short red hair and brown eyes. She also has tattoos on her legs. Constable Fisher has asked Leona or anyone who knows of her whereabouts to contact police at Strand Road on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 1402 23/02/19. Theresa May arrives at the EU-League of Arab States Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh (Stephan Rousseau/PA) Theresa May has admitted she will not get a Brexit deal in time for MPs to hold a meaningful vote this week, amid warnings time is running out for an agreement before Britain leaves the EU . The Prime Minister, attending an EU-League of Arab States summit, said negotiations with Brussels on the Northern Ireland backstop were still ongoing. However she pledged that MPs would be given a final say on the terms of Britains withdrawal from the EU by March 12 at the latest. Speaking to reporters on the flight out to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Mrs May insisted she was sticking to her timetable for the UK to leave in less than five weeks time. It is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29, she said. Read More However, her acknowledgement that she cannot get a deal to put to MPs this week, means there will now be a further series of votes in the Commons on an amendable Government motion on Wednesday. A cross-party group of MPs seeking to block a no-deal break immediately confirmed they would be tabling an amendment giving the House the power to demand a delay to Brexit if an agreement is not in place by mid-March. Expand Close Theresa May meets European Council president Donald Tusk in Sharm el-Sheikh (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Theresa May meets European Council president Donald Tusk in Sharm el-Sheikh (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who drew up the plan with Conservative former minister Sir Oliver Letwin, said it would become the real meaningful vote on the Brexit deal. The Prime Minister isnt acting responsibly in the national interest, but MPs from all sides need to do so, she said. Mrs May denied collective Cabinet responsibility had broken down after three pro-EU ministers signalled that they could vote for the Cooper amendment. Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and David Gauke said there was now a clear Commons majority in favour of extending the Article 50 withdrawal process rather than see a disastrous no-deal break. The Prime Minister said it was not a surprise to anybody that there were strong views around the Cabinet table on the issue. But with reports that up 100 Tory MPs could be prepared to defy the whips and back the amendment with up to 20 ministerial resignations Mrs May said a delay would not resolve the deadlock. Even if PM now wonat do ameaningful votea on a Deal, she still promised to lay an amendable motion this week. We will push cross party amendment this week paving way for our Bill to safeguard against No Deal. PM remarks make it even more vital Commons votes for Bill #NotoNoDeal pic.twitter.com/jCcm3kh8T9 Yvette Cooper (@YvetteCooperMP) February 24, 2019 Now, often people talk about the extension of Article 50 as if that will actually solve the issue. Of course it wont. It defers the point of decision, she said. There will always come a point where we have to decide whether we accept the deal thats been negotiated or not. And that will be a decision for every member of Parliament across the House. The intervention of the three ministers infuriated some Tory Brexiteers, who demanded they were sacked a call reportedly echoed by some ministers in private. However Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who was one of the leaders of the official Leave campaign in the referendum cautioned against a heresy hunt. They are good colleagues, he told BBC1s The Andrew Marr Show. I think it would be completely inappropriate, given the nature of the conversations that the country is having about Brexit, to try to strike macho postures when what we really need is unity. Mrs May is using her attendance at the summit to hold a series of one-to-one meetings with key EU figures, including European Council president Donald Tusk who she met on Sunday. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Talks between Mrs May and Mr Tusk focused on practicalities, according to an EU source. The source stated that Mr Tusk recalled the need for EU27 to have clarity that a proposal for the way forward can command a majority in the UK, before the issue is tackled by the European Council. The 30 minute meeting was conducted without tensions, and the PM updated Mr Tusk on the work and timeline to find a way forward on Brexit, particularly regarding plans in relation to the meaningful vote, the source said. Talks are due to resume in Brussels on Tuesday in an attempt to resolve the impasse over the backstop, with the Government seeking legally binding assurances it will not leave Britain tied to EU rules indefinitely. We are still in that negotiation. We are still talking to the EU about various ways in which we can find a resolution to the issue that Parliament raised, Mrs May said. Downing Street has been at pains to play down the prospect of any breakthrough at Sharm el-Sheikh. However Labour said the latest delay to the meaningful vote was the height of irresponsibility and an admission of failure. Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer said: Theresa May is recklessly running down the clock in a desperate attempt to force MPs to choose between her deal and no-deal. Parliament cannot stand by and allow this to happen. Investigators scoured the shallow waters of Trinity Bay Sunday, trying to determine why a Boeing 767 cargo plane fell out of the sky the day before, killing three and leaving a trail of debris. Capt. Sean Archuleta of Houston, Capt. Ricky Blakely of Indiana and First Officer Conrad Jules Aska of Antigua were being mourned Sunday by friends and family on social media. Authorities have not confirmed the identities, but did say that all three on board died when Atlas Air flight 3591 crashed near Anahuac shortly before 12:45 p.m. Saturday. Two of the bodies have been recovered, authorities said Sunday. 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. Archuleta, 36, had been living in The Woodlands for a few years as a pilot for Mesa Airlines. He was a new father and had just landed his dream job at United Airlines, said Don Dalton, his roommate of three years. He was supposed to start next week and caught a ride in the jump seat of the cargo plane to return to Houston from Miami. "He got his dream, almost," Dalton said. "Now he'll never fly it ... that's the part that kills me." Archuleta's wife and children live in Colombia. Dalton was at the scene Sunday in case he was needed to identify Archuleta's body. He said Archuleta's wife had been contacted. "She's devastated," he said. "They just had their baby. I'm not an emotional guy, but this tore me up today. I lost a guy that I truly looked forward to opening the door and seeing. I miss the guy. I miss him already." The plane, contracted by Amazon Prime Air Fleet and operated by New York-based Atlas Air, was just minutes from arriving at Bush Intercontinental Airport when it crashed into shallow water. Parts disintegrated on impact, and the largest piece police have recovered is 50 feet long. "This is a sad day for the entire Mesa Family as we mourn the loss of Captain Sean Archuleta," said Jonathan Ornstein, chairman and chief executive officer of Mesa Airlines. "Our thoughts are with Sean's family, the families of the two Atlas Air pilots, and the whole Atlas Air organization. This is a loss for all of aviation." Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne described the scene as "total devastation" hours after the crash and urged witnesses and people who find debris to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI. A five-second clip of the plane nosediving into the water was captured on a security camera at the Chambers County jail. CHRON CATCH-UP: Don't miss out on what's happening in Houston. Sign up for the newsletter at HoustonChronicle.com. Real-time flight data published by FlightAware.com shows the aircraft departed Miami International Airport at 10:33 a.m. Central Time. At 12:38 p.m., the aircraft descended 11,750 feet in about 30 seconds. The Federal Aviation Administration lost radar and radio contact with the plane when it was about 30 miles southeast of Bush, the agency said. Some witnesses reported hearing the aircraft's engines sputtering, while others reported hearing a sound resembling a thunderclap, Hawthorne said. It crashed into the bay shortly before 12:45 p.m., according to the FAA. The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent federal agency that investigates civil aviation accidents, will handle the investigation. Investigators called the process ahead "painstaking" and estimated it would take over a year. There was no distress call or hazmat materials on the plane. Pieces of the wings and landing gear have been identified in the debris field, which spans 200 yards by 100 yards, authorities said. They are continuing to search for "perishable evidence" and the black box, which records flight data and voices in the cockpit. "We have to get those recorders," said Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. "We will stay here as long as it takes to get that." Black boxes emit ultrasonic "pings" to make them easier to find after a crash, but the muddy landscape could prevent the pingers from being heard. Sumwalt said that if that is the case, they may need to physically comb the landscape with scuba divers or even dredge the area. A storm band moved through the Houston area at the time of the crash, though heavy rain is nothing new for pilots approaching Bush Intercontinental. Air traffic controllers warned the pilots of the rain, which was significant in spots. In some of the last communication between the plane and the ground, one of the pilots says he will aim west of the heaviest rain. Controllers warn him of departing planes headed that way. "Oh, OK, then we'll go on the east side, just go ahead and direct us," one of the pilots says. After some back and forth among the controllers, one last transmission comes from the plane's pilots, with one of them saying "OK." Moments later, air traffic controllers continue to hail the plane but receive no communications. They start hailing other planes in the area, asking if they can see anything in the area of the plane's location. It could take months to unravel why the plane nose-dived into the bay, officials said. "We urge everyone to not become involved in speculation or rushes to judgment," Capt. David Bourne, Teamsters airline division director said in a statement. "We are very fortunate to have the experts from the FAA, NTSB, FBI and so many other organizations that will; in due time, determine the cause of this accident." The Boeing 767 is a large twin-engine jet airliner used to transport cargo or up to 280 passengers. They are a workhorse of American aviation with more than 1,000 in service, nearly 600 of which are the third-generation extended-range version that crashed into Trinity Bay. The aircraft that crashed Saturday was built in 1992 and was converted to a cargo plane in recent years, FAA records show. Boeing 767s have been involved in six fatal crashes since its debut in 1981, according to research compiled by the Flight Safety Foundation. The vast majority of fatalities have been related to terrorism, notably the two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Other incidents have been related to pilot error, such as 2002 Air China Flight that crashed into a hillside in South Korea during a storm. A handful of times, the GE engines the same as the ones on the Atlas Air plane burst apart, spraying debris. In a 2016 incident, an engine on an American Airlines plane leaving Chicago's O'Hare Airport burst apart in a fiery incident that led the pilots to quickly abort takeoff. The "uncontained failure" of the engine, as it is was determined by the NTSB, sent parts of the engine more than half-mile from runway. Following the Chicago crash, General Electric urged airlines to inspect the turbine discs the blades the convert the engine's combustion into thrust, similar to a windmill on both the high and low pressure turbines inside the engines. In August, the FAA required inspections using ultrasound equipment to detect cracks in the turbine discs. Witnesses Saturday told television stations they heard a thunderclap or sonic boom sound around the time of plane's plunge into the bay. In the 2016 Chicago incident, those on the plane said the engine burst apart with a loud bang. The pilot, in his testimony to the NTSB, likened it to hitting a pothole at 115 mph. A 767 operated by Air New Zealand that had just departed Brisbane lost its left engine in a similar incident in December 2002. The pilots were able to turn that plane at about 10,000 feet and make an emergency landing back at the airport. No one was seriously injured in the two incidents. The 767 is capable of flying with only one of its two engines. Reporters Dug Begley and Andrea Leinfelder contributed to this report. rebecca.schuetz@chron.com; twitter.com/raschuetz SNc Channels: Search About Salem-News.com Feb-24-2019 00:26 TweetFollow @OregonNews Bill to Provide Greater Access for Virginia Medical Cannabis Patients Succeeds The Governor's Action Deadline for signature is Midnight, March 25, 2019. Virginia NORML members meet with Senator Dave Marsden Photo: NORML (RICHMOND, Va.) - Virginia Senator David Marsdens SB1719 has passed unanimously through both the House of Delegates and the Senate, and is headed to the governors desk for signature. SB1719 allows registered agents for those patients physically unable to pick up or receive delivery of their medical cannabis, like those in hospice, assisted living facilities, and those who rely on home healthcare providers. This law will ensure that patients who may be physically incapable of picking up these life-changing medicines on their own will have access to them from throughout the Commonwealth, said Senator Marsden, of Fairfax County. It is patients like Tamara Lyn Netzel, a teacher from Alexandria who suffers from multiple sclerosis, who stand to benefit from this legislation. Multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease with severe symptoms that come and go, so Ive accepted at some point I may not be able to drive a car safely or leave my home, said Netzel. It is comforting to know I will still be able to send my husband to get the medicine I need. SB1719, which passed unanimously through both the House of Delegates and Virginia Senate, will also allow Virginias licensed pharmaceutical processors to transfer products between the five state-authorized facilities, ensuring that patients have access to a wider range of products. It will also prevent the limited availability of products that could result should a provider experience crop failure. Allowing the exchange of various products between licensed processors will create better product selections for patients, depending on their need, regardless of their location in Virginia, said Senator Marsden. I am proud to be part of this effort. SB1719 ensures that patients will greater access to the medicines they need, a key element of continuity needed for the success of any health system. Patient access is critical to the success of Virginias medical cannabis program, said Jenn Michelle Pedini, executive director of Virginia NORML. These bills help ensure that all patients are able to obtain and use the necessary therapeutic doses of their cannabis medicines regardless of location or physical ability. Other medical cannabis-related bills are still making their way through the legislature. Senator Siobhan Dunnavants SB1557 expands Virginias medical cannabis program, adding nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and allowing a wide range of full therapeutic-strength formulations to be dispensed. Delegate Chris L. Hursts HB1720 and Senator Glen Sturtevants SB1632 would authorize school nurses to administer and registered student patients to use Virginia-approved medical cannabis products at school. Weve received emails and calls from concerned parents throughout the Commonwealth who are worried their children could be expelled for using their doctor-recommended medical cannabis oil at school, said Jenn Michelle Pedini, executive director of Virginia NORML. Delegate Hursts and Senator Sturtevants bills would provide a much-needed solution for these families. The Governor's Action Deadline for signature is Midnight, March 25, 2019. Track this and all marijuana-related legislation on Virginia NORMLs 2019 legislation monitoring page. Source: Jenn Michelle Pedini, NORML Development Director; Originally posted on the Virginia NORML Blog #legislation #medicalcannabis #medicalmarijuana #NORML #VirginiaNORML #ACTIVISM #CitizenLobbyists #Virginia _________________________________________ Prohibition | Marijuana | Marijuana | Oregon | Most Commented on Articles for February 23, 2019 | Articles for February 24, 2019 | Articles for February 25, 2019 Stay up to date on COVID-19 Get Breaking News Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. Dear Aspirants, Current Affairs for NIACL AO Main 2018-19: Banking Awareness, Static GK, and Current Affairs. Most of the questions in GA appear from Current Affairs section. So it becomes important for you all to cover this particular section with sincerity and seriousness. The questions on Static and Banking Awareness are related to the countries, events or anything that has been in news for a while. Knowledge of current news also helps you deal with the PI (Personal Interview) more efficiently so you do not give a mumble jumble answer to the inter viewers simple questions. Here is a quiz on Current Affairs to let you assess your Current Affairs Knowledge. The General Awareness Section of Banking Exams covers numerous sections in it likeMost of the questions in GA appear from Current Affairs section. So it becomes important for you all to cover this particular section with sincerity and seriousness. The questions on Static and Banking Awareness are related to the countries, events or anything that has been in news for a while. Knowledge of current news also helps you deal with the PI (Personal Interview) more efficiently so you do not give a mumble jumble answer to the inter viewers simple questions. Here is a quiz on Current Affairs to let you assess your Current Affairs Knowledge. Q1. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a new park which houses the replicas of seven wonders of the world in___________. Assam Tripura Goa Delhi Agra Solution: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a new park which houses the replicas of seven wonders of the world at South Delhi. The park, which is called the Waste to Wonder Park, was built by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC). Q2. The Odisha Cabinet approved the ___________scheme to provide free sanitary napkins to school girls across the state. Kalia Khushi Balika Padman Kanya Solution: The Odisha Cabinet approved the Khushi scheme to provide free sanitary napkins to school girls across the state. The scheme will benefit nearly 17.25 lakh school girls from Class VI to XII studying in government and government-aided schools. Q3. Wallaces giant bee (Wallace Bee), the largest bee known on the Earth which was considered to be extinct since 1981 was re-spotted in an _________forest. Australian Malaysian Indonesian Indian African Solution: Wallaces giant bee (Wallace Bee), the largest bee known on the Earth which was considered to be extinct since 1981 was re-spotted in an Indonesian forest. Q4. Who among the following became the First Indian Woman to be honoured with the Future for Nature Award for her work on marine conservation? Divya Karnad Mahima Nodiyal Isha Dua Yashita Maurya Aarti Chaturvedi Solution: 33-year-old Ashoka University teacher and Wipro Sustainable Fellow, Divya Karnad became the First Indian Woman to be honoured with the Future for Nature Award for her work on marine conservation. Q5. Which of the following state government has decided to observe Adolescent girls day on 8th of every month at Anganwadi centers across the state? Telangana Sikkim Madhya Pradesh Andhra Pradesh Uttar Pradesh Solution: In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched Scheme for Adolescent girls (SAG). The state government also decided to observe Adolescent girls day on 8th of every month at Anganwadi centres across the state. Q6. In which of the following country, its president Omar al-Bashir has declared a year-long state of emergency, dissolving his cabinet and local governments throughout the country? Iraq Sudan Kenya Nigeria Tanzania Solution: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has declared a year-long state of emergency, dissolving his cabinet and local governments throughout the country. Omar al-Bashir in a televised address called on Sudans parliament to postpone constitutional amendments that would allow him to run for another term in a presidential election in 2020. Q7. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) formed a 4-member committee to look into the matter of taxation related pain points. It is headed by __________________. Dinesh Bhatiya Pradeep Singh Rajeev Sharma Rajiv Shukla Sanjeev Sharma Solution: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) formed a 4-member committee, headed by income tax commissioner Sanjeev Sharma, to look into the matter of taxation related pain points and submit its final report and recommendations by mid-March. Q8. Defence Ministry has approved the acquisition of more than ____________ torpedoes which will be equipped on the forces six Scorpene-class submarines. 500 lightweight 350 lightweight 100 heavyweight 350 heavyweight 1000 heavyweight Solution: In a major boost for the Navys firepower, the Defence Ministry has approved the acquisition of more than 100 heavyweight torpedoes which will be equipped on the forces six Scorpene-class submarines being built at Mazagon Dockyards in Mumbai. Q9. Which of the following ministry won 'Platinum' status in Digital India Awards 2018 under 'Web Ratna - Ministry/Department' category? Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Ministry of Home Affairs Ministry of Corporate Affairs Ministry of Human Resource Development Solution: Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises won 'Platinum' status in Digital India Awards 2018 under 'Web Ratna - Ministry/Department' category. Q10. Which of the following mobile app won 'Platinum' status in Digital India Awards 2018 under Best Mobile App category? Meeseva App Umang App ePathshala eCourts Services Sugam App Contact The Californians Robert Price at 661-395-7399, rprice@bakersfield.com or on Twitter: @stubblebuzz. His column appears on Sundays, Wednesdays and Saturdays; the views expressed are his own. 2-Vehicle Crash on I-5 Kills Gresham Man All lanes of I-5 southbound were open near Salem by 11 a.m. Fatal crash on Interstate 5 near milepost 257. Photo: OSP (SALEM, Ore.) - Today at about 5:00 a.m., Oregon State Police and emergency personnel responded to the report of a crash on Interstate 5 near milepost 257. Preliminary investigation indicates that a 2003 Kia Rio, operated by 20-year old Jacob Bowlsby, of Gresham, lost control and came to a stop in the middle of the freeway. At the same time, a 1997 Honda Civic, operated by 20-year old Oscar Aguilar Esparza, of Salem, was southbound and collided with the Kia Rio. Bowlsby was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased. Aguilar Esparza was treated for injuries sustained in the crash and was then arrested for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants. Investigation is continuing. Oregon State Police was assisted by the Marion County Sheriff's Office, Salem Fire Department, and ODOT. _________________________________________ Some 311,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their homeland following military operations launched by Turkey in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Trend reports citing Xinhua. "So far, 311,000 of our Syrian brothers (refugees) have returned to the regions (Syria) secured by Turkey," Erdogan said during a rally in the southeastern city of Kahramanmaras. He said Syrians have returned to areas in Afrin, Jarablus and Idlib that were cleared of terrorists by Turkish forces and its allies. The Turkish leader also said that Europe owes its current peace to the "sacrifices of Turkey" and its people, referring to a deal inked in 2016 between his country and the European Union, adding "they (Syrians) want to return to their homeland as soon as possible." Turkey, which has spent 37 billion U.S. dollars hosting 3.6 million Syrians, insists that it cannot accept anymore refugees from the war-torn country. Trend: President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Kersti Kaljulaid, President of the Republic Estonia, Trend reports citing the press service of the head of state. "On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I sincerely congratulate you and your people on the occasion of Independence Day of your country," President Aliyev said in his congratulatory letter. "On this remarkable day, I extend my best regards to you and wish the friendly people of Estonia lasting peace and prosperity," added President Aliyev. Trend: President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev expressed condolences to the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh Mohammad Abdul Hamid. "I was deeply saddened by the news of heavy casualties as a fire broke out in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. On the occasion of this tragedy, on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my deepest condolences to you, families and loved ones of those who died, and the whole people of Bangladesh, and wish the injured recovery. May those killed rest in peace!" Trend: For the first time after a long period, the leader of Armenia is not from Nagorno-Karabakh, so he must be very careful not to take radical steps in the process of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the former US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador Richard Hoagland, said in an interview with Voice of America, Trend reports via Eurasia Daily. Hoagland expressed his certainty that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a very difficult problem for the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan. The best strategy in settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is to move forward in small steps, the US diplomat said. Hoagland stressed that he has left the civil service and now presents his personal point of view. Recent events, including the ongoing dialogue between the parties and the dramatic reduction of clashes on the contact line, inspire Hoogland with some optimism, but the former diplomat advises not to wait for serious breakthroughs. He noted that the so-called Lavrov plan was not approved by any of the parties. The document on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement proposed by Sergey Lavrov is based on the Madrid principles with some differences. 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. Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 24 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Feb. 24, 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. Admiral L Ramdas (retd) PVSM AVSM VrC VSM Former Chief of the Naval Staff Maharashtra Gaurav Puruskar Magsaysay Awardee for Peace To The Honorable President Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi-110011 Dear Shri Kovind Ji, 20 February 2019 This is Admiral Ramdas - former Chief of the Naval Staff, writing to you yet again this time on the tragic deaths of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Jawans in the IED attack on their convoy in Pulwama on Feb 14th 2019 and subsequent events. Over forty precious lives, belonging to the CRPF were lost in the service of the Nation on Feb 14, 2019. This was indeed a despicable act, and a tragic event, and those guilty must be punished. While the event has understandably evoked strong and angry reactions from every corner of the country and all sections of the people, it is also clear that such an event should never have happened on such an important strategic highway, especially in view of some reports that speak of there having been some intelligence reports to this effect in possession of the police and Intelligence agencies. It is reported that this attack was planned and executed by the Jaish e Mohammed [JEM]. There are questions as to how and why a lone vehicle packed with RDX was able to penetrate a convoy and wreak such havoc, these and many more questions will no doubt be the subject of internal inquiries both by the CRPF and other agencies of the State. As a former head of the Navy and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, and also someone who, after retirement in 1993 has devoted most of his time in the pursuit of peace with Pakistan by pushing for a people to people dialogue, my concerns, are listed below. [ . . . ] Read the original formatted letter here: As expected, yesterday brought violent clashes on the Venezuelan border. The Venezuelan opposition head Juan Guaido, whom the U.S. and some 50 other countries recognize as Venezuela's legitimate leader, led a massive effort to force humanitarian aid across the Colombian border into Venezuela. The bottom line: Embattled dictator Nicolas Maduro is rapidly isolating himself. He's shut down commercial airspace; he's broken diplomatic ties with neighboring Colombia; and the military still loyal to him are shooting Venezuelan civilians. The Trump administration including President Trump, Vice President Pence, national security adviser John Bolton and the State Department have been declaring their support for the aid effort and issuing warnings to Maduro. including President Trump, Vice President Pence, national security adviser John Bolton and the State Department have been declaring their support for the aid effort and issuing warnings to Maduro. Bolton tweeted: "Masked thugs, civilians killed by live rounds, and the burning of trucks carrying badly-needed food and medicine. This has been Maduros response to peaceful efforts to help Venezuelans. Countries that still recognize Maduro should take note of what they are endorsing." Why it matters: Guaido and his allies set up this moment to test Maduro to see whether his troops, the key to his power, would obey his orders. What's next? Maduro clings to power but is having trouble with energy and resources. The U.S. government already has broad sanctions in place. But senior Trump officials are now identifying individuals to sanction they're going one by one through the senior ranks of Maduro's regime. Pence plans to have his first meeting with Guaido, in Colombia tomorrow, signaling support after the weekend violence. (Reuters) to have his first meeting with Guaido, in Colombia tomorrow, signaling support after the weekend violence. (Reuters) Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted last night: "After discussions tonight with several regional leaders it is now clear that the grave crimes committed today by the Maduro regime have opened the door to various potential multilateral actions not on the table just 24 hours ago." Go deeper: Saturday's showdown in Venezuela will test strength of Maduro, Guaido Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told "Fox News Sunday" that "there may have to be another summit" after President Trump's upcoming meeting in Vietnam with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as it may not accomplish all of Trump's goals. The big picture: During another appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," Pompeo told Jake Tapper that North Korea remains a nuclear threat, despite Trump's claim to the contrary immediately after his first summit with Kim last year in Singapore. Kelly Knight Craft, the current U.S. ambassador to Canada and President Trump's nominee for ambassador to the UN, endorsed "both sides of the science" when asked about climate change in a 2017 interview with CBC Politics. Why it matters: If confirmed by the Senate, Craft will represent U.S. interests at the UN, which recognizes climate change as a "potentially irreversible threat to human societies," per the Paris climate agreement. In October, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that the effects of global warming are already evident worldwide, as did a U.S. panel in November. The vast majority of climate scientists have concluded that recent climate change is primarily driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases. Note: Trump announced plans to pull out of the Paris agreement in 2017. The big picture: Craft and her husband the billionaire CEO of the third largest coal-producing company in the eastern U.S. are longstanding Republican donors and frequent premium guests at Trump's D.C. hotel, according a 2018 VIP guest list obtained by the Washington Post. The Crafts were named gold-level members of the Trump Card rewards program for a 3-day stay. Go deeper: An Atlas Airlines Boeing 767 flying for Amazon Prime crashed just off the shore of Anahuac, Texas on Saturday and its presumed the three crew members died. Two bodies have been recovered. Its probably a crash that nobody would survive, Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne told USA Today. The aircraft descended at about 6,000 feet per minute and reportedly dove into Trinity Bay, which is just north of Galveston Bay on the Gulf coast. The aircraft was on its way to from Miami to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston when it went down. Early reports said contact was lost with the aircraft when it was about 30 miles east of the airport. The crash scene was next to the shore and most of the wreckage ended up in a marsh. The aircraft disintegrated and the largest section was a 50-foot section of fuselage. The plan was loaded with Amazon packages and the scene was was littered with their contents. The NTSB is on the scene and the cockpit voice and flight data recorders have not yet been recovered. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Can't wait for the all-new Jimny to officially arrive in the Philippines? After giving Filipinos a chance to see (and drive) the mini 4x4 last year, Suzuki Philippines (SPH) has just announced that the Jimny will be making its official launch this March 8, 2019. That's right, SPH has just confirmed that the fourth-generation Jimny will make its Philippine debut next month. Not only that, the automaker also stated that official pricing of the new Jimny will also be revealed on March 8. While official specs and details have yet to be revealed, it's highly likely that the 2019 Jimny will be relatively the same as the ones revealed during last year's Philippine International Motor Show. It's powered by a 1.5-liter K15B inline-four engine that can be mated to either a four-speed automatic or five-speed manual gearbox. It will also come standard with All-Grip Pro four-wheel drive. As for its styling, gone are the rounded shapes from before as the new generation Jimny went for a retro-inspired makeover. It keeps the boxy looks from its prdecessors but has a more youthful vibe and design that makes it stand out from the rest. The cabin also gets the same retro-modern treatment with the hooded gauges, a center-mounted touchscreen infotainment display and a grab-handle for the front passenger to hold onto when going off-road. Pricing of the 2019 Suzuki Jimny is expected to top out at Php 1.1 million according to then-SPH General Manager for Automobiles Shuzo Hoshikura. This could mean that entry- to mid-level models could be priced at less than a million Pesos. Check out our first impression of the all-new Jimny when we had the chance to take it out for a spin last Novemer 2018. FWD The eighth generation of the mid-size sedan bears the codename XF, serving as a replacement for the LF that Hyundai unveiled in March 2014. Expected to launch in the United States for the 2020 model year, the Sonata also happens to look sharper up front thanks to the cascading grille, full-LED headlights, and chrome trim that extends into the air intakes.Even with the hood up, its hard to tell what engine does the plastic cover hide. Nevertheless, Hyundai will offer an assortment of four-cylinder engine options, both turbocharged and naturally aspirated. An eight-speed automatic and seven-speed dual-clutch transmission are also in the offing, along with front-wheel drive and the U2 turbo diesel.Over in North America, one of the possibilities comes in the guise of the 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, 2.0-liter hybrid, and 2.0-liter turbo. The Theta III is also in development for, RWD, and mid-engine applications. Both the 2.4- and 2.0-liter turbo are part of the Theta II family.An N-Line trim level is also expected. The Sonata N is far-fetched at this point, but some people argue that Hyundai will offer a performance-oriented model. Given this information, when can we expect to see the all-new sedan in the flesh?For the U.S. market, chances are Hyundai will reveal the real deal in April 2019 at the New York Auto Show. Over in South Korea, theres talk the Sonata XF will premiere in March 2019 while sales are expected to kick off in the summer.Turning our attention back to the taillights, you know what other Hyundai features this design? The Santa Fe for the Peoples Republic of China , which has the full-width light bar integrated into the power tailgate. As far as the interior is concerned, the buttons for the transmission on the center console are definitely inspired from Acura. Ohio University is expanding its on-campus food pantries, and thanks to a new grant soon will be able to provide perishable food items at thos A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight to Dubai from Chittagong in Bangladesh made an emergency landing back at Chittagong on Sunday after a passenger behaved suspiciously and appeared to be wanting to hijack the plane, a senior official from the airline said. All 142 passengers have subsequently been allowed to leave the aircraft, the airline's general manager, Shakil Miraj, told Reuters. The passenger who raised suspicions, a young man whose purpose and identity are not yet known, has been detained, Miraj said. Police and army are still surrounding the aircraft, he said. "There were 142 passengers and all of them have come out from the aircraft safely," said Miraj. The pilot decided to make an emergency landing after being told by a member of the cabin crew that the passenger was behaving suspiciously, leading to concerns about a possible hijack plan, he said. Miraj said the Boeing 737 aircraft was scheduled to go from Dhaka to Dubai via Chittagong. (Reporting By Serajul Quadir Editing by Martin Howell/Keith Weir) You are the owner of this article. Support local journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by making a contribution. Guwahati, Feb 24 : The death toll in the toxic liquor consumption incidents in Golaghat and Jorhat district has gone up to 114. According to the reports, 53 people have been died in Golaghat district, while 61 in Jorhat district so far. 26 women were among the dead and death toll likely to increase as conditions of few people among the hospitalised person are stated to be critical. Over 180 people, who fell ill after consuming spurious liquor, are still admitted at the hospitals in the two eastern Assam districts. According to the reports of the state health department, 51 people died at Jorhat Medical College hospital and 47 died at Golaghat Swahid Kushal Konwar civil hospital till 7 pm on Saturday. Apart from it eight others died at Titabor hospital. In Jorhat Medical College hospital, 122 people are undergoing treatment for complications due to consumption of spurious liquor, while 59 are being treated at Golaghat Swahid Kushal Konwar civil hospital. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who met the affected at Jorhat Medical College hospital on Saturday and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those who fell ill. The Assam CM had earlier ordered an inquiry into the tragedy and has instituted a one man inquiry and asked Upper Assam Division Commissioner Julie Sonowal to inquire into the corollaries of events leading to the death of people. The Assam CM had also held an emergency meeting in Guwahati with senior officials including DGP and Chief Secretary and instructed police to take stern action against culprits. Meanwhile, the Assam police and state excise department had arrested 30 people from Golaghat, Jorhat districts and other parts of the state. Assam Health minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma had also visited Jorhat Medical College hospital and Golaghat civil hospital, where patients are undergoing treatment. Two teams of specialist doctors are deployed at Jorhat Medical College hospital and Golaghat civil hospital and another team has rushed to Golaghat from Guwahati. On the other hand, Assam state excise department PRO Sailen Pandey said that, following the tragic incidents, the state excise department has conducted raids against spurious liquor across the state and arrested 20 persons and destroyed over 25,000 litres of illicit liquor. The state excise department has registered 90 cases against illicit liquor across the state so far, Sailen Pandey said. An excise department official of Biswanath district said that, they had conducted raids at several areas against illicit liquor. We have conducted raids at different places against illicit liquor and destroyed several litres of illicit liquor. We will continue this operation, the excise official said. On the other hand, protests broke out across the state over the hooch tragedy. In Biswanath district, protesters on Sunday had staged protest and burnt effigy of state excise minister Parimal Suklabaidya and slammed the BJP-led Assam government. (By Hemanta Kumar Nath, Guwahati) Of custody and crypto The normally staid world of custody banking is now having to embrace the wild child of global assets: cryptocurrency. And this is happening just as bitcoin, the poster child of cryptocurrency, seesawed from US$30,000 one week to $40,000 the next, shedding then recovering 30% of its value. Some bitcoin bulls are talking of $100,000 by year-end Guillaume Verda, a French artist, has scrubbed his website, set his Instagram to private and lost a prestigious gallery solo show after being accused of plagiarizing Jean-Michel Basquiat. One thing is certain: the artists style bears a striking resemblance to Basquiats. But does that make it a tribute or a cheap knock-off? France24 Kazakhstans Armed Forces show a strong interest in the acquisition of the Belarusian-made T-72BME main battle tank (MBTs), a source from the Belarusian defense industry told TASS. T-72BME at Milex 2017, in Minsk (Picture source: Army Recognition) "Kazakhstan is planning to update its tank inventory and the countrys military has already paid specific attention to the T-72BME MBT. Being an updated variant of the Soviet-age T-72B tank, the vehicle meets Kazakh requirements, especially those in terms of cost and maintenance," said the source. According to him, the T-72BME was showcased to an official delegation of the Kazakh military in April 2018. In fact, the T-72BME is a deep upgrade of the T-72B mod. 1984 MBT. The modernized vehicle has received the ESSA-72U multichannel sight that allows the crew to fire all types of tank ammunition (including anti-tank guided missiles) on the move. The MBT has been fitted with a meteorological sensor and new ballistic computer. The T-72BME can engage targets at a distance of up to 5,000 m by day and up to 3,500 m by night. The vehicle also works in hunter-killer mode. The T-72BME is powered by an 840-hp V-84MS diesel engine and an auxiliary power unit. The tank has received a modern digital radio. Have any questions? Please give us a call at 541-889-5387 Online Access for Print Subscribers. Do you have a print subscription with the Argus-Press? If yes, then click here to enjoy complimentary access to our Online Content! Guwahati, Feb 23 : The death toll in the toxic liquor consumption incidents in Golaghat and Jorhat district has gone up to 94. According to the official sources, 59 people have been died alone in Golaghat district, while 35 in Jorhat district so far. The sources said that, 24 women were among the dead and death toll likely to increase as few people conditions among the hospitalised person are stated to be critical. Over 240 people, who fell ill after consuming spurious liquor, are still admitted at the hospitals in the two eastern Assam districts. Golaghat district Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dhiren Hazarika said that, 59 people including 15 women have been died so far in the district in three incidents. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has already ordered an inquiry into the tragedy and has instituted a one man inquiry and asked Upper Assam Division Commissioner Julie Sonowal to inquire into the corollaries of events leading to the death of people. The Assam CM on Saturday had visited Jorhat Medical College hospital and took stock the situation. Sonowal has announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the next kin of each victim and Rs 50,000 to each affected person. The Assam CM had held an emergency meeting in Guwahati with senior officials including DGP and Chief Secretary and instructed police to take stern action against culprits. Meanwhile, the Assam police and state excise department had arrested 10 people from Golaghat and Jorhat districts. Assam Health minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma had also visited Jorhat Medical College hospital and Golaghat civil hospital, where patients are undergoing treatment. Two teams of specialist doctors are deployed at Jorhat Medical College hospital and Golaghat civil hospital and another team has rushed to Golaghat from Guwahati. On the other hand, Assam state excise department PRO Sailen Pandey said that, following the tragic incidents, the state excise department has conducted raids against spurious liquor across the state and arrested seven persons and destroyed over 15,000 litres of illicit liquor in past 24 hours. Assam state excise department has also initiated a separate inquiry into the incident and suspended two excise department officers. (By Hemanta Kumar Nath, Guwahati) Purchase an online subscription to our website for $7.99 a month with automatic renewal. Each online subscription gives you full access to all of our newspaper websites and mobile applications. To cancel you may contact Customer Service @ 256-235-9253 or email JPAYNE@ANNISTONSTAR.COM For a limited time, for NEW SUBSCRIBERS ONLY a NEW ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION is just $59.99 for the first year. Existing customers do not qualify for the specials! After the first year, well automatically renew your subscription to continue your access at the regular price of $69.99 per year. Please note *Your Subscription will Automatically Renew unless you contact Customer Service To Cancel* T-Mobile has taken to the web to reiterate its expectations for the proposed merger with the nations fourth-largest carrier Sprint and specifically how that will impact jobs and 5G, in a recently reported blog post from CEO John Legere. Importantly, the executive says that the $26 billion merger bid is edging closer to approval, with 16 of the 19 needed state utility commissions agreeing that the deal should move forward. The company has also now had the opportunity to sit down with officials from the FCC, DOJ, the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, Mr. Legere continues and the outcome looks increasingly positive. That is, in part, because of steps taken by Sprint and T-Mobile at the end of 2018 to distance relations between Sprint parent-company SoftBank and particularly its ties to Chinese telecom giant Huawei, the executive says. The US government has issued increasingly stark warnings claiming that Huawei represents a national security threat. Those claims have summarily been rebuked in their entirety by the worlds third-largest OEM and many of the USs partners have indicated that whatever threat the company may pose will be easily circumvented. Advertisement Jobs, jobs, and more jobs and 5G Approval of the merger is still expected to go through in the first half of 2019 and the combined companys ability to battle it out with competitors on 5G remains a central point of T-Mobiles merger arguments. Job creation, including an untold number of jobs the company expects to be generated from the next-gen networking technology rollout, plays a key role too. The company has also reasserted its claim that not only will its 5G rollout be faster and more comprehensive following a merger. It says it will be able to make its 5G more affordable, offering new services at even lower prices and bringing increased competition to the market. That should be good news for consumers since T-Mobile and Sprint disproportionately serve low-income families, compared to other providers. Advertisement The latest jobs figures reported by the company may be even more intriguing. Previous estimates have indicated the combined company plans to offer as many as 1,000 new jobs per new T-Mobile Team of Experts (TEX) Customer Experience Center for a total of 5,600 workers by 2021 and a further 7,500 by 2024. Those are figures the company is maintaining in its latest reported expectations but it now says it plans to open as many as 600 new stores in that timeframe and that the jobs figures dont take those locations into account, either. T-Mobiles CEO also asserts that those are real job figures, meaning that they should represent the bare minimum of jobs added under the merger. Advertisement A dismissal of opponents Alongside the decision to tout its expectations for a merger with Sprint, T-Mobiles top executive also laid out a fairly scathing criticism of opponents to the merger. As noted above, there are plenty of concerns that the merger will actually decrease jobs and competition as well as possibly creating a new national security threat. Mr. Legere has taken the opportunity to hit back at voices in opposition to the merger, saying that the company hears them but equating the backlash to white noise. The executive claims its difficult to even know who is behind the opposition and that it primarily stems from baseless hidden agendas that are heavily-funded by unknown opponents speaking from behind a mask. Advertisement While many of the concerns are genuine and both should be and are being addressed, the CEO says, the carriers arent willing to let anything stand in the way of the merger. Huawei is all set to announce its very own foldable smartphone as part of MWC 2019, as its press conference will take place in a couple of hours, at 2PM CET / 5AM PST / 8AM EST. Having said that, Huawei will live stream its press conference from Barcelona, and you can keep track whats going on during it via the companys official YouTube channel. We have embedded the video down below, so you can start watching as soon as it kicks off. Huawei had teased the arrival of its foldable smartphone by showing us a glimpse of it via a teaser a while back, and also using the Connecting The Future tagline. As if that wasnt enough, the companys device actually leaked a couple of days ago, via a poster. Someone took a picture of workers setting up a poster, presumably in Barcelona. That poster revealed not only what the phone will look like, but also its name, it will be called the Huawei Mate X. Unlike Samsungs Galaxy Fold foldable smartphone which was announced on February 20, the Huawei Mate X will fold outwards. The Galaxy Fold folds inwards, like a book, basically, after which its secondary display activates. Well, the Huawei Mate X will fold outwards, and it will sport only one display, nearly half of which will be disabled when the phone is folded. Advertisement Interestingly enough, it seems like Huawei included cameras on the phone which will work as both the phones front and rear-facing ones, as they will be located on the back when the phone is unfolded, but when you fold the device, they will sit right next to the phones display, left of it, to be exact. Bezels on this phone will be extremely thin, at least when the phone is unfolded, as it wont have its cameras right next to its display in that state. Huawei also hinted that its 5G-enabled device will be launched at MWC 2019, and its quite possible that the Mate X will be 5G-enabled, unless Huawei plans to announce a second phone next to the Mate X. It is even possible that the company will introduce more than one variant of the Mate X, one with 4G LTE, and the other with 5G connectivity. Whatever the case may be, the companys 5G-enabled device will sport its Balong 5000 chip, in addition to the Kirin 980 64-bit octa-core processor. It is also worth noting that some real-life images of the Huawei Mate X surfaced today, nine of them, to be exact, and you can check them all out in the gallery down below. It seems like a YouTuber jumped the gun and published these images ahead of time. Those images will give you a better idea s to what to expect out of the Huawei Mate X before it gets announced later today. Advertisement We still do not know what specs to expect out of the phone, aside from the Kirin 980 and Balong 5000, but the Mate X will ship with top-of-the-line specs, thats for sure. The phone will include at least 8GB of RAM, though it is possible that Huawei opted to 10GB or 12GB instead, or plans to introduce more than one version of the device. Android 9 Pie will come pre-installed on the device, and the phone is also expected to sport an OLED panel, and a larger battery. LG Uplus customers in South Korea will soon be able to connect to one of over 10,000 live 5G cell sites boasting speeds in the gigabits per second, thanks to Huawei. The network is currently ready to go live in various markets around South Korea, and will reportedly offer such speed and capacity that most customers should actually see real-usage speeds of up to a gigabit per second once Huawei and LG Uplus flip the switch tomorrow. MWC attendees will also get to see the network in action, since Huawei and LG will be demonstrating the same tech at their booth thats used back in South Korea. The network has performed with aplomb in testing thus far, with tests made to replicate real-world usage. Gangnams Golden Cluster, for example, routinely sees speeds upwards of 900 megabits per second and well into gigabit territory in tests. Naturally, many of the initial deployment areas are places where a lot of the usage will be commercial. Huawei will be on hand to help with deployment and maintenance of its 5G AAU network technology and associated equipment, including helping enterprise customers get set up, getting small cells outside company buildings, and more. Adjacent to this launch is the rise of Cloud VR, first shown off back at the end of January by LG Uplus. The technology is exactly what it sounds like, leveraging the power of LG Uplus 5G network to deliver seamless VR experiences in real-time with no download required beforehand, and most of the heavy processing work done by the carriers servers. The demo back in January managed to impress users, so mass commercial usage in the near future will probably be more of the same, barring network issues. Advertisement Its no accident that Huawei is staging a surprise commercial 5G launch right under Samsungs nose. The two have been locked in a colossal worldwide network technology struggle for years. While a number of key markets like North America have put Huawei under scrutiny or even spurned the company due to security concerns, the worlds third-largest smartphone marker hasnt let that break its stride. This is a quadruple slap-in-the-face for Samsung, since it competes fiercely with both LG and Huawei in the smartphone space, and this launch comes less than three months after its own enterprise-facing commercial 5G launch. If this launch goes well, it will be a serious boon to Huawei on the world stage. No matter what security concerns you may have, theres something to be said for being the first company to have a commercially available, smartphone-facing true 5G network up and running. While other carriers and network technology companies have launched limited 5G, commercial-only solutions, or 4.9G in some areas worldwide, tomorrow will be the first time a perfectly normal carrier customer can walk down the street streaming videos and browsing social media on a real 5G network. Speaking beyond Huawei, tomorrows launch means the gauntlet has been thrown down and the race is on. Companies that have been biding their time expanding and testing preliminary 5G networks are probably going to start flipping the switch en masse in the near future. Whether that leads to a smooth 5G transition or a global networking disaster, only time will tell. HMD Global has finally taken the wraps off of the Nokia 9 PureView. The worlds first penta-camera smartphone. The Nokia 9 PureView has been rumored and leaked for quite some time. Dating back to last year in fact many thought it was going to be unveiled in October 2018, but that didnt happen. The manufacturer is pretty pleased with itself, that it has the worlds first smartphone with five cameras on the back, and well it should be. Thats no small feat, but it is one that will likely be happening pretty soon. With other OEMs doing two, three and even four cameras. The five cameras on the back of the Nokia 9 PureView might surprise a lot of people, in how they work. Advertisement Unlike the LG V40 ThinQ or the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, the Nokia 9 PureView is not using different focal lengths. In other words, it is not sporting a telephoto, and a wide-angle lens on-board. Instead, Nokia has taken five sensors that are essentially the same 12-megapixel sensor (similar to the one on the Pixel 3), with two being monochrome and three being RGB or color sensors. The idea here is to use all five sensors on every single picture. That gives Nokia a ton of data, but that also means its going to get in a lot more light than some of the other phones out there that only have a single camera lens. HMD Global says that you should get around 10x more light out of these sensors than a traditional smartphone. Obviously, in a short, controlled, hands-on experience that wasnt easy to do or check out. So well have to wait until we get a device in our hands to check out. Advertisement First impressions on the camera though, are pretty good. This could be the camera to beat the Pixel 3 and Huawei Mate 20 Pro, though it does need five cameras to achieve that level. For those wondering, it does support shooting in RAW and you can edit those on the Nokia 9 PureView through Lightroom. HMD Global did work with Adobe to make sure Lightroom could handle these photos, since they are far different than the photos from a Pixel 3 or LG V40 ThinQ. But, HMD Global made sure that the app was not pre-installed on the phone. As it wants to keep that stock Android feel going, since this is an Android One smartphone like all of the other Nokia smartphones. Software-wise, theres not a lot thats new on the Nokia 9 PureView. Its mostly the same old, same old for HMD Global. And that is Android One, based on Android 9 Pie. So youre getting a very similar experience to the Pixel 3. Advertisement Internally, the Nokia 9 PureView is a bit of a mixed bag. Spec-heads are not going to like the fact that HMD Global is using an older chipset in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 for this one. But, the Snapdragon 845 is no slouch, and Nokia worked hard with Qualcomm to push the Snapdragon 845 to its limits, when it comes to these five cameras. Youll also find 6GB of RAM inside with 128GB of storage. There is no micro SD card slot, however, you do get unlimited Google Photos storage with the Nokia 9 PureView. The only caveat there is that your RAW images that you upload to Google Photos, do count towards your quota. If you thought the five cameras on the Nokia 9 PureView was the only innovative thing here, youd be wrong. HMD Global also included an under-display fingerprint reader this is an optical one, like many other smartphones out there and not the ultrasonic one that Qualcomm has made. The fingerprint read works pretty well, its still a tad slow. But that is par the course when it comes to these first-generation under-display fingerprint sensors. So no real surprise there. Advertisement HMD Global has a glass sandwich with a metal frame for the Nokia 9 PureView, which feels really good in the hand. There is also no camera bump at all, and part of that is because the company decided to outfit the phone with a 4,000mAh capacity battery. Which should be plenty to get you through a full day. Nokia is promising two full days, though well have to wait and see if that holds true. Finally, the display. This panel looks impressive on the Nokia 9 PureView. It is a 5.99-inch Quad HD+ P-OLED display, which doesnt appear to have any issues with blue tints, weird off-axis viewing or anything of that sort. Though its important to remember that we only spent around an hour with the Nokia 9 PureView, and not several days. So those issues could still arise. The Nokia 9 PureView has not yet been announced for the US, but HMD Global has said that it will be available in the US. It will be priced at 599 in Europe, so expect similar pricing when it lands on the other side of the Atlantic. Two upcoming Samsung smartphones from the 2019 Galaxy A series have been spotted in a handful of live photos seemingly captured in a retail store and shared online by 91mobiles. The devices in question are the Samsung Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A50, both of which employ a new Infinity-U display developed by Samsung, and both seemingly featuring the OEMs new One UI proprietary software. In addition, the latest live photos reveal some of the color options employed by these devices for their exterior shell, such as gray and red for the Galaxy A30 model, and white for the Galaxy A50, the latter of which was previously spotted in another live image featuring the color blue. The Samsung Galaxy A30 has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor whereas the Galaxy A50 does not. Instead, the latter model features an in-display fingerprint sensor as indicated by the fingerprint indicator on the lock screen. Whether the sensor will be optical or ultrasonic-based remains to be seen, but its more likely the former given that the ultrasonic-based solution is a brand new technology primarily meant for high-end smartphones such as the Galaxy S10 flagships. Advertisement Once again the photos confirm that the Galaxy A30 will be a more budget-oriented alternative to the Galaxy A50, as denoted by the two rear-facing cameras. In contrast, the Galaxy A50 has three rear-facing sensors along with an LED flash, with the one additional camera expected to be a depth sensor. According to preliminary reports, the Samsung Galaxy A30 will have a 16-megapixel main camera coupled with a 5-megapixel ultrawide sensor, whereas the Samsung Galaxy A50 will feature a higher-resolution 25-megapixel main sensor along with an 8MP ultrawide module and the aforementioned depth sensor clocking in at a resolution of 5 megapixels. Unsurprisingly both smartphones carry the front-facing camera inside the U-shaped display notch but their performance should differ. The Galaxy A30 is likely to feature a 16-megapixel front-facing unit, while the Galaxy A50 is expected to make use of a 25-megapixel module. Advertisement Finally, the photos confirm that both smartphone models run Android 9 Pie, particularly because the design of the on-screen icons indicate the inclusion of One UI, i.e., Samsungs new proprietary user interface developed for smartphones running Googles latest mobile OS version. The new UI is meant to improve readability and one-handed usage by reorganizing and reshaping various on-screen elements throughout the software and Samsungs own proprietary applications, some of which have been updated to One UI later than others such was the case with Galaxy Store, now known as Galaxy Apps. So far One UI has been available only to Samsungs flagship phones, both new and old(er). The new Galaxy S10 series comes with One UI out of the box, while some of the OEMs previous flagship phones including the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 both of which were released last year have made the jump from Samsung Experience to One UI along with the Android 9 Pie update. Advertisement Theres no official word on when the Samsung Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A50 will become available for purchase but given that they were both seemingly captured on camera in a retail store, a market release shouldnt be too far behind. Both models are expected to debut in India but may become available in other regions later down the line. Despite being a pretty decent smartphone, the first device from Androids co-founder Andy Rubins company Essential failed to break to break ground and the PH-1 was discontinued. This led to various speculations about the fate of the company. However, not only is the company up and running, but its also looking to expand as Essentials website has revealed that it has 21 vacancies. While 21 may not sound a lot, its certainly a big deal for a company which apparently has less than 100 employees. Apart from a handful of intern and contractual positions, most of the postings are for full-time jobs. It certainly seems that the company is betting big on its camera ambitions, as 5 of the positions that its willing to fill relate to the development of camera systems. These include Camera Hardware Engineer, Computational Imaging Lead, Computer Vision Software Engineer, and Image Quality, Engineer. While its hard to say what the company has in mind based on the job descriptions alone, it sure seems that the company wants to create new camera modules, build new camera modes and features, and develop software for improving the image and video quality. At the beginning of this month, a set of images that were apparently created by Essential showed up online and had indicated that the companys next phone, which could be the PH-2, will have the front camera and the light sensor beneath the display. It remains to be seen if the prospective new hires would be working on this alleged camera setup. Advertisement Essential is also looking for 7 software engineers who would work on different projects ranging from building the backend for powering the companys online services to building new applications. There is also a mention of optimizing software to leverage new SoC functionality, which is a strong indicator of the fact that a new phone is on the horizon. The company also says that it would be needing new hires to see to the mass production and launch of new products, further hinting at the possibility of new releases in the future. Other than that, the company is also looking for hardware engineers to lead hardware development and dial down costs. Some analysts believe that the Essential PH-1 could have received a better market response if it carried a lower price tag and reducing the price of its sequel could definitely help Essential achieve a better price to quality ratio and drive sales. It was previously reported that Essential is working on a new phone that will use artificial intelligence that would help users automate routine tasks such as responding to messages. A smart speaker, presumably Essential Home, was also said to be in the works. The company is now looking to add a Machine Learning/AI Engineer to its team to create products and technologies which will improve the way people communicate with their home devices and services. This means that the company could release various AI-centric devices in the future to compete with the likes of Amazon Echo and Google Home. Essential is also looking for a product designer and UX engineers, further lending weight to rumors thats its working on new products. Advertisement The Essential PH-1 was the first phone to come out with a notch cut out, something which was later cribbed by the entire industry. The phone also has an impressive edge display and shipped with innovative accessories. So, in many ways, the phone was a trendsetter, even though none of those things worked particularly to its advantage as it didnt attract a lot of sales. However, now that Essential is on a hiring spree, one thing is certain: the company has put the first experience behind it and is definitely planning to work on new products. And by the looks of it, it doesnt just seem to be working on the PH-2, we could presumably see an AI device from Essential soon too. Leaked confidential documents reveal that Facebook had plans to use its Android application to develop location-aware products and gain insights about rival firms. The documents are part of a larger set of files previously seized by the UK Parliament, and Marne Lynn Levine, the vice president for global public policy at Facebook back in 2012, noted in an email that the social media giant planned to gather vast location data to develop location-aware feature phone products. Facebook intended to match information about peoples whereabouts with nearest base stations of their carriers. It doesnt appear like those plans materialized but what saw them dropped is still unclear. Furthermore, the documents reveal that rival companies were also a target of Facebooks information-gathering practices. The report alleges that the social media giant had plans to monitor other tech firms with the hopes of gaining competitive advantage. For example, Facebook wanted to collect information about how rival applications used some of the functions offered by the social networking service like cameras and messages. Moreover, the Internet giant also gathered data on whether users downloaded and bought mobile applications from outside of the Google Play Store. Aside from the information gathering practices, the documents also show that Facebook made it easier for advertisers to target specific audiences in an attempt to increase revenue. The company first relaxed its policy towards advertisements for dating sites and applications, although it wanted to expand this feature to other interested parties, including political advertisers. Advertisement Background: Facebook has been facing criticism over privacy issues within the past year, with the largest issue it faced being the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Even in recent weeks, there have been discoveries of more privacy violations committed by Facebook. Lately, Apple temporarily removed the social media giant from its program that allows developers to test its applications internally after the discovery of an application that monitors the online activities of selected users, which included minors as young as 13. These concerns prompted governments around the world to pursue investigations and inquiries on the activities not only of Facebook but of social media firms and other internet giants in general. In the United Kingdom, a parliamentary committee wanted the government to set up a regulatory agency that will monitor the activities of Facebook as well as other social media firms. The committee also suggested that the UK government develop a code of conduct that social networking sites will have to follow, and violations of the code will be punishable with heavy fines. On the other side of the Atlantic, US Congress has repeatedly summoned tech firms about privacy issues, while the Federal Trade Commission may impose a multi-billion dollar fine on Facebook, which is significantly larger than the $22.5 million penalty that Google paid in 2012. Impact: Additional details about Facebooks user-tracking practices provided by the leaked documents will certainly not help a company that is already under intense scrutiny by regulators and non-government organizations around the world. Whether these further details affect the investigations led by government agencies is still not clear, although the discovery that Facebook is also monitoring other applications may put its partners at unease. Alberto de la Cruz at Babalu blog reports that protests are breaking out on the communist island dictatorship in the wake of Venezuela's popular fight for freedom: You don't often hear about protests in Cuba, despite the hellish conditions of that socialist dictatorship, but I suspect that's going to change, and maybe pretty fast. Video from Cuba shows hundreds of Cubans marching on the streets of Havana this Saturday in protest of the communist Castro dictatorship. This rare show of massive dissent in Cuba comes on the eve of the Castro regimes sham referendum vote to ratify a new communist constitution. Translation: HAPPENING NOW Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of Havana, Cuba in protest against the Castro regime. It has the look of a chain reaction, and for that reason, Marxist Nicaragua and Bolivia need to be watched closely, too. Here is the video from a source inside Cuba who witnessed the protest of hundreds: AHORA | Cientos de personas se lanzaron a las calles en #LaHabana #Cuba en protesta contra el regimen castrista. pic.twitter.com/EkttmNkHmp Yusnaby Perez (@Yusnaby) February 23, 2019 President Trump, in his great speech in Miami a few days ago, knew it was going to happen, stating: The days of socialism and communism are numbered, not only in Venezuela, but in Nicaragua and Cuba as well," Trump told a crowd gathered in Miami. And right on cue, the dominos started tottering. It sounds like the Cubans are taking courage from Venezuelans as they seek to "take back" their democracy and are deciding that that's a great project for themselves to pursue, too. What's more, the Venezuelans have arranged it so that they are winning - they are calling all the shots on how they take the democracy back, they have a built-in government waiting for the transition, and they are rallying the international community of nations behind them. They also mobilizing civil society for the great mission of distributing aid to the hungry and destitute ravaged by socialism, which is a great thing for the country's trashed social capital, and focusing on rebuilding the country. That frankly looks like a winning plan, and people recognize winners - and they follow. One has to realize that Trump most likely had something to do with this, too. His stellar speech, noted here by Thomas Lifson, very likely was heard in Cuba, the same way Gulag prisoners heard President Reagan's great 'evil empire' speech and took heart from it. Trump understood this. And now we see motion not just in Venezuela but also in Cuba. One can only hope that all three countries most plagued by socialism in the hemisphere go down together. The celebratory fireworks will be amazing. Some people are going mad over the-so called encounter between Senator Feinstein and some children who came by to talk about energy. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein pulled rank Friday when a group of kids tried to school her on climate change. After the group sought her support for the Green New Deal, the 85-year-old senior senator from California let them know she wasn't about to be bossed around by a bunch of youngsters. "You know whats interesting about this group?," Feinstein said, in an interaction that was captured on video. "Ive been doing this for 30 years. I know what Im doing. You come in here, and you say it has to be my way or the highway. I dont respond to that, Feinstein continued. Ive gotten elected, I just ran. I was elected by almost a million-vote plurality. And I know what Im doing. So you know, maybe people should listen a little bit. Twitter screen grab Thank you, Senator Feinstein. Glad to see that there are still adults in that party! For way too long, the left has been using children to promote their policies, from DACA to green energy to gun control to telling us that the polar bears will die from global warming. We are seeing that down at the US-Mexico border where children are used to promote open borders. Finally, someone in the Democrat Party has reminded kids that they should listen rather than lecture. It's great to see young people involved in politics. However, they need to be reminded that some grandmothers don't like opinionated brats or the adults that put them up to this. P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. Because in socialism, food is always the weapon. And like any dictator, Maduro wanted the locals disarmed. I've always known that Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro was bad. But never would I have imagined he'd stoop to what he did on Saturday, burning truckloads of U.S. aid as it entered Venezuela on Venezuelan trucks, as the poor screamed in despair and tried to rush into the burning vehicles to retrieve the food. The dictator was rubbing the hunger he himself created right in their faces. These three tweets from a food aid group involved in the distribution of the desperately needed nutrition show the ugly picture: UPDATE One of the humanitarian aid trucks has just been lit on fire on the Francisco de Paula Santander bridge between Colombia and Venezuela. Our WCK team is safe in Cucuta and not on the bridge. #Venezuela #AyudaHumanitaria pic.twitter.com/ahsqn8lMZV WorldCentralKitchen (@WCKitchen) February 23, 2019 Second humanitarian aid truck is now on fire as well. The truck has exploded. #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/t74mEaYKQd WorldCentralKitchen (@WCKitchen) February 23, 2019 All aid trucks on the Francisco de Paula Santander bridge to Venezuela are now on fire the cargo was able to be removed from the last truck and taken back across the bridge into Colombia. #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/ivzk2Ai9Db WorldCentralKitchen (@WCKitchen) February 23, 2019 It's such a horrible picture, particularly when you learn the details of how the hungry poor rushed into the burning vehicles to try to save at least some of the American-provided food and other aid. I honestly didn't think he'd do this. He could have stopped the trucks at the border and not let them in. He could have expropriated them as contraband on some made-up pretension. He could have sent them to the bureaucratic 'inspectors' to rot, it's certainly been done with food imports in Venezuela in the past. He didn't do any of that. He sent his thugs in to burn the trucks, as the starving eyes all around watched. They wanted that food aid. Instead of let them have it, Maduro burned it in front of their very eyes. It shows a sadism that up until now has not been all that visible. Maduro, after all is a failure, and that failure is directly linked to his socialism as well as being under the thumb of the Cubans, who have impoverished and disarmed their own country, yet who retain an Orwellian-level of state control. But most of the shambles of the Chavista regime in Venezuela have been attributed to third-world ignorance and incompetence. I know - I have spent time with the Bolivarians myself in Venezuela and can attest to the fourth-world stupidity of some. The reality now is that it's all intentional. The mask is off. And Maduro is actually doing a 'victory' dance over his great achievement - burning trucks full of aid for the starving. Here is the Bloomberg report: But Saturday ended much as it began: Trucks of humanitarian aid donated by nations backing Guaidos bid for power idled just outside the country and Maduro resumed taunting his rivals, crowing about victory back in Caracas. I am stronger than ever, the socialist strongman said in an impassioned and expletive-laden speech that whipped die-hard supporters into a frenzy. Standing, ruling our homeland, for now, and for many years. Which is why Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's tweet about the vile spectacle is so appropriate: We denounce Maduros refusal to let humanitarian assistance reach #Venezuela. What kind of a sick tyrant stops food from getting to hungry people? The images of burning trucks filled with aid are sickening. pic.twitter.com/bJ1Qsxkgx8 Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) February 24, 2019 Presumably, the U.S. has more food. The New York Times has quite a good video on the aid effort, reporting that the U.S. has enough on the Colombia border to feed 100,000 for a day, which would mean more trucks (assuming they can be found) can try to get through. Military men are defecting, as Bloomberg reports. But this demonstration of thuggery is quite serious. Acting President Juan Guaido now says " all options " to free Venezuela are now on the table and there's quite a bit of talk on Twitter and elsewhere that he may issue a call to the U.S. and its Latin allies to move to a military intervention. Augmenting this, there are the reports that Venezuelan troops have shelled Colombia and injured Colombian nationals, which amounts to an attack on a U.S. ally right there, and gives Colombia the right to retaliate. There was violence and a Chavista massacre of Indians (4 dead now, more than 30 injured) at the Brazilian border over aid two days ago, something that could easily spill into military confrontation beyond Venezuela's southern frontier. And just as disturbing, Venezuela threatened to " open fire " on a U.S. ship full of aid coming in from Puerto Rico. The Puerto Ricans say they are taking the matter to the U.S. With the military of Venezuela disintegrating and committing war crimes, as defections mount, one can see this not ending happily for Maduro, whose outrages are appalling. The leader of the Royal family charged with guarding Islam's holiest cities of Mecca and Medina, Mohammed bin Salman, arrived in China yesterday and proceeded to defend the Chinese government's policy of incarcerating one million Uighur Muslims in concentration camps. "China has the right to carry out anti-terrorism and de-extremization work for its national security, the crown prince was quoted as saying on Chinese television. There's no doubt that many Chinese Muslims have carried out terrorist attacks against the government as well as been resistant to Communist ideology. But there aren't one million Muslim terrorists in China and MBS knows this. I wonder how that statement is going to play in the Muslim world, who have been agitating to get the Chinese to change their repressive policies? China has detained an estimated 1 million Uighur Muslims in concentration camps, where they are undergoing re-education programs allegedly intended to combat extremism. The Uighur are an ethnic Turkic group that practices Islam and lives in Western China and parts of Central Asia. Beijing has accused the Uighur in its Western Xinjiang region of supporting terrorism and implemented a surveillance regime. Millions of Muslims are also allegedly being forced to study communist doctrine in the camps. The Chinese government has long carried out repressive policies against the Turkic Muslim peoples in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwest China. These efforts have been dramatically scaled up since late 2016, when Communist Party Secretary Chen Quanguo relocated from the Tibet Autonomous Region to assume leadership of Xinjiang, read a report from the organization Human Rights Watch. There have been reports of deaths in the political education camps, raising concerns about physical and psychological abuse, as well as stress from poor conditions, overcrowding, and indefinite confinement, the report continued. While basic medical care is available, people are held even when they have serious illnesses or are elderly; there are also children in their teens, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and people with disabilities. Former detainees reported suicide attempts and harsh punishments for disobedience in the facilities. Why would MBS give the Chinese a pass? It may have something to do with the fact that China's trade with Saudi Arabia hit $63 billion last year. And the Chinese are one of the few major nations not to castigate MBS for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In fact, it is Saudi isolation in the international community that is affecting the crown prince's standing in his own country the most. But it's still a shocking move to defend the oppression of fellow Muslims. China is thirsty for oil and with their major clients Iran and Venezuela under sanction by the US, they need every drop they can get from the Saudis. You would think that would give MBS a little leverage with the Chinese on the Muslim question. He has apparently refused to exercise it. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Claudia Pagon Marchena, like so many Hill staffers, moonlighted at a Washington, D.C., eatery to pay her rent until she took a job with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez . She celebrated her last day at her coffee shop job that same week. A young woman with no real-world experience is about to learn the hard way that her ideology is impractical. I have to give Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez credit for sincerity in her announcement on Twitter that she plans to compress the pay scale of her staff, reallocating the budget she receives for staff, and cutting the pay at the top, while increasing the pay at the bottom. If she stays in office long enough, the consequences of implementing leftist cant will become clear to her (and us) over time, so it may be a teaching experience (as former President Obama called it). Stephanie Aiken of Roll Call sympathetically reports: Thats because Ocasio-Cortez, who has called on fellow lawmakers to pay their staffs a living wage, is making an example out of her own office. The New York Democrat has introduced an unusual policy that no one on her staff will make less than $52,000 a year an almost unheard of amount for many of the 20-somethings whose long hours make House and Senate offices run. For Pagon Marchena, 22, the pay bump meant an end to a grueling, seven-day-a-week work schedule that was wearing down her resolve to stay in Washington, where rents average more than $2,000 a month. Congress, which loves spending taxpayers money, already is studying giving better pay to lower level staff (meaning increasing their own allowances for staff), but Sandy O wants action now (even if impractical) because shes the boss! Aiken gently, and many paragraphs into the article, mentions some of the practical problems: Ocasio-Cortezs solution requires sacrifices for staffers at the top of the pay scale, potentially opening her to criticism from the right that her office policies, like her political identity as a Democratic socialist, call for a form of class warfare. It could also pose challenges to attracting and retaining older employees who have obligations such as mortgages and child care which in D.C. can cost $23,000 a year for a single child. Salaries in Ocasio-Cortezs office top out at $80,000, Trent said. Thats well below the median pay for Hill chiefs of staff at $154,634, according to the Legistorm analysis. And its a fraction of what experienced staffers could make in other jobs in Washington. [Ocasio-Cortezs communications director Corbin] Trent acknowledged that some people would have to take pay cuts to work in the office. He said that was a trade-off that employees had been willing to make: I dont think you always put the burden on the bottom. He included himself, noting that he has two children and makes $67,000 a year. Is it easy? No, he said. But part of walking the walk is understanding that everyone is going to have a little bit of a struggle. You divide it up. You work together. Because Ocasio-Cortez has no real-world experience, she will not see the foreseeable consequences. For a while, she will retain senior staff at low pay because they are committed to the ideological goals they think that they share with her. They also will be benefitted by the prominence she enjoys, reaping personal visibility and attention from the media. That will work for only as long as her prominence lasts, and as long as senior staff can continue to make personal sacrifices, (and persuade their spouses and kids that their sacrifices are worth it). Even more importantly, the logic of equality doesnt stop with her own salary, which is set by law at $174,000. There are signs that she is enjoying this level of income, what with her moving to a luxury apartment complex and dressing in designer duds. But sooner or later, staff will begin to resent her luxuries compared to their own sacrifices. Courtesy UK Daily Mail They will ask for loans, gifts, and other financial help, and will discover that sauce for their goose is not the same thing as sauce for her gander. The staff members who are perceived as capable will receive other offers, maybe from other progressive members of Congress, maybe from media, or maybe from lobbyists. They cant spend the ideological satisfaction, prestige and prominence they receive in lieu of market-level salaries for their skills. Sooner or later, the ideological jollies wear thin, especially as other family members/lovers complain about the sacrifices thrust on them. So, she will lose the services of the best of them, and there is always the danger that the accumulated resentment over their sacrifices in the name of her ideological purity will also have a high market price. Lower level staff always have been willing to work for low wages because they value the experience they accumulate. This is the underlying logic of an income pyramid. They can be overruled when wrong by more experienced staff who catch their mistakes. But now, she will be stocking up on low pay/low experience/low competence staff, and will have trouble retaining the good ones with the experience to do their jobs well. There will definitely be a market for a tell-all tale or two of the chaos that inevitably follow an incompetent ideologue in charge of a serious operation. Ocasio-Cortez has no concept of her ignorance. The only question I have is whether the harm she does in office will outweigh the mirth she generates for those of us watching her crash and burn. Isabel Vincent , Kevin Fasick and Mary Kay Linge of The New York Post have a highly amusing article that contains a number of gems mocking the worlds most self-confident ignoramus. But let me focus here on her hypocritical inability to match with deeds her implicit promises to be better than Crowley on key criticisms of him that she made while successfully campaigning against him in the Democratic primary. Gee, who could have predicted that walking the walk would turn out to be harder than talking the talk, when it comes to the campaign Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ran against incumbent Congressman Joe Crowley? I mean, aside from adults who have lived their lives in the real world. its unclear whether the 29-year-old lawmaker, who represents the Bronx and Queens, actually still lives in the Parkchester neighborhood that has been so closely tied to her rise even though she won her upset victory over fellow Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley with accusations that his home in Virginia made him too Washington-focused to serve his district. Ocasio-Cortez has used her deceased fathers Bronx condo on her voter registration since 2012, and even posed in the one-bedroom Bronx flat for celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz in a Vogue magazine profile after her stunning November election. But The Post could find little indication she continues to live there. The Post e-mailed the Ocasio-Cortez spokesman, Corbin Trent, four times with specific questions they were all ignored. On Saturday, The Post reached Corbin by phone. We will not be commenting, he said. Among the queries he refused to answer: Where does the congresswoman live? On Saturday night, a staffer promised a Post reporter that Ocasio-Cortez would talk to him after a speaking event in Corona. During the event, two staffers were seen reading an early edition of this story on their phones. Come downstairs, I have to take a picture quick, the congresswoman then told the reporter after the event, instructing him to wait for her. Twenty minutes later, she ducked out a back door, jumped into a chauffeured SUV, and zoomed off. Wow, fleeing questioners after promising answers in a chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle is not exactly building credibility as an income-inequality-decrying ideologue representing a poor district. The article required 3 reporters because they actually used shoe leather to check out the questionable claim for her district residence: Her apartments next-door neighbor said she had never seen Ocasio-Cortez. Another neighbor, who has lived down the hall from the congresswomans apartment for the last 40 years, said hed never seen her or her boyfriend, Riley Roberts, who has claimed the address as his own since last spring. I would have remembered, said the neighbor when shown a photograph of Ocasio-Cortez. Workers at Jerrys Pizzeria, less than a block from her building, and at the local grocery store said she had never patronized their businesses and a server at a nearby taqueria said the congresswoman had only come in to be filmed by news crews. A postal worker who delivers mail to the building said that in the last 10 years he has only seen Ocasio-Cortez intermittently, and that several months worth of mail regularly accumulates in the mailbox before anyone bothers to collect it. The worker said that Ocasio-Cortez and Roberts were the only ones getting mail at the address. Just because their names are on the box doesnt mean they live there, he said. This is a killer anecdote, indicating that she has no clue about her district: And in 2017, when Ocasio-Cortez first filed paperwork to become a congressional candidate, she didnt even know what district she lived in, mistakenly declaring plans to run for neighboring District 15 before correcting the error days later. I remain convinced that, as I predicted after Amazon pulled out of its second HQ for New York City, she is toast but doesnt know it yet. She is a huge problem for the Democrats now, which means that normally friendly media allies of the Dems (as well as reliable enemies like the NY Post) will be fed and will use embarrassing information about her. There will be plenty of those because she has no practical experience beyond the ability to cadge tips as a cocktail waitress, and (a closely related skill) escape much accountability form the men in the room because she is slender, dresses well, and is practiced at the arts of the ingenue. Photo credit: Twitter icon Khamenei renews his Salman Rushdie death fatwa, and gets his tweet deleted A few days ago, the Twitter account of Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, published a post calling for the murder of the British novelist Salman Rushdie. Under the account called @khamenei_ir, (which, while not blue-checked, is the account Iranians say the mullah uses), Khamenei tweeted that the death fatwa pronounced in 1989 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, against Rushdie for his book, The Satanic Verses, was "solid and irrevocable." "Imam Khomeini's verdict on Salman Rushdie is based on divine verses and, like the divine verses, it is solid and irrevocable," Khamenei wrote in his post on Twitter. Here's a screen shot of the tweet: This tweet caught the attention of Twitter users and journalists who saw Khamenei's message as an attempt to incite murder. On Friday, a Twitter spokesperson said it was against Twitter's policy to publish specific threats of violence or to wish for serious injury, death or illness to a person or group of people. The social media giant decided to delete the tweet and convert it to read-only mode so that no further comments could be posted. That was quite a smackdown to the murder-minded mullah. Here he was, going all grand in his imposition of a death sentence, and he got his tweet deleted same as if he were a noxious Internet troll. So, a battle of sorts between Twitter and the supreme leader was won by Twitter and Khamenei had to return to some impression of reason by the removal of the provocative post. Khomeini's initiative to use this tweet was nothing but his bid to show off after U.S. sanctions and internal popular protests. But as one Tehran-based local said, it only amounted to something like like a boomerang, because it brought back a double-disgrace for him, just like the other political issues these days. Americans would say it was like 'egg on his face.' On Feb. 14, 1989, a fatwa calling for the execution of Rushdie was broadcast on Radio Tehran by Khomeini, denouncing Rushdie's book as "blasphemous." The threat was not an idle one, and Rushdie, even in the U.K., had to go into hiding. Khomeini condemned Rushdie for apostasy, which is punishable by death. In his fatwa, he stated that it was now the responsibility of every Muslim to execute Rushdie and his editors. "I want to inform all Muslims that the author of the book The Satanic Verses, which was written, printed and published in opposition to Islam, the Prophet, and the Koran, as well as those who published it or know its contents, have been sentenced to death," Khomeini wrote in his fatwa. "I call on all zealous Muslims to execute them quickly, wherever they find them so that no one insults Islamic sanctities," the fatwa added. For a moment at least, the big mullah found himmself shut up by Twitter. With 14 candidates on the ballot, it's not likely anyone will top 50% - the threshold for an outright victory. So it's likely that the top two vote getters will be forced into a runoff on April 2. Chicagoans will go to the polls to elect a new mayor on Tuesday. Actually, it's the Democratic primary that's being held but in the one party dictatorship that is Chicago, it's decisive. Several issues top the agenda for candidates, including perennial favorites "Police reform" (See: "Chicago PD"), and "public corruption" (See: Pontiac prison.) Throw in guns, violence, sky high property taxes, and most of all, a toxic racial divide and the stage is set for the most pivotal election in the city's history. Two septugenarians are favored. Seventy year old brother and son of former mayors, Bill Daley, and 71 year old Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle are ahead in the polls, but make no mistake - there are 3 or 4 other candidates who could surprise. Bill Daley has never held public office, but served as Barack Obama's chief of staff. His campaign theme - as it is for all the candidates - is "change." In truth, Daley personifies the city's establishment and has had difficulty explaining exactly what it is he would change. But the Daley name is still magic in the city, despite the weakening of the Democratic political machine. He is actually being outpolled by Preckwinkle who has been a fixture in city politics for decades. A former teacher, she is running on an educational reform platform and, in racially divided Chicago, is the most prominent black running for the office. But there are several other intruiging candidates who might exceed expectations and sneak into the runoff unexpectedly. Politico: The initial favorites were two clout-heavy, labor-backed minority women, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza. [...] Mendoza has some organized labor support and is drawing a portion of the Latino vote. The citys other major newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times, backed Lightfoot, who led Chicago police reforms and who has drawn some progressive backing. Gery Chico, a former Chicago Public Schools board president, is attracting a slice of the Latino vote and has had a steady TV presence. Meanwhile, businessman Willie Wilson, a wealthy long-shot who ran against Emanuel in 2015, has strong backing in the African American community and Amara Enyia, an activist and political consultant, is appealing to millennials after the likes of Chance the Rapper and Kanye West offered her early financial support and endorsements. Of all these second tier candidates, two stand out. Lori Lightfoot received a lot of good press for her service on the Chicago Police Board, although she's not very popular with cops. With extremely low turnout expected, Lightfoot's appeal to the far left may allow her to squeak by and grab the second spot on Tuesday. The other candidate I think has the best chance of making a runoff is Susana Mendoza. She has had a constant presence on local TV and is a bright, engaging candidate. She has been indirectly tarred by the bribery scandal involving 50 year Alderman Ed Burke, but probably not enough to hurt her. The trend in politics nationwide has been toward more radical candidates. It wouldn't surprise me to see one of the far left favorites make it to the runoff against either Daley or Preckwinkle. Media blitz foiled: conservatives outnumber liberals in far more states, since Trump's election You could be forgiven if you thought that the media onslaught against conservatives the last few years would have an effect on how most of the country views the right. That media campaign - directed against Donald Trump but also against conservatives - has been unprecedented in its scope and intensity. Conservatives are routinely portrayed as racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Muslim, and paranoid xenophobes. But Gallup found some remarkable conservative strength all across the country. Their latest survey shows that liberals outnumber conservatives in only 6 states and that there are 25 states where conservatives are polling above their national average. Washington Examiner: The number of states where liberals outnumber conservatives has dropped more than 30 percent, with just six now in that category: Massachusetts, Hawaii, Vermont, Washington, New York, and New Hampshire. According to the latest Gallup survey, in every other state but California, where conservatives and liberals split 29 percent to 29 percent, conservatives lead. Nationally, those who identify themselves conservative hold a nine-point lead. The map is telling: The residents of most U.S. states are more likely to identify as conservative than as liberal in their political ideology. In 25 states, the conservative advantage is significantly greater than the national average, including 19 highly conservative states in which conservatives outnumber liberals by at least 20 percentage points, said Gallup. Translating those numbers into political power is a different matter. The right's problem is that big states are mostly less conservative or about average. Even Texas is about 50-50 conservative vs. moderate/liberal. In a national election, that matters and Trump's razor thin victory in several large midwestern states in 2016 negated some of that Democratic advantage. Can he do it again? He certainly has a shot given that Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are all still very competitive for the right. This map is also a warning to Democrats. If they insist on pushing Medicare for all, the Green New Deal, and reparations for slavery, they will probably get buried in 2020. If Ocasio-Cortez and the radicals continue to gain strength and influence in the Democratic party, it will lead to a Republican rout. The State Department followed this attack up by announcing that the US would make no further contribution to UNRWA. In August 2017, President Trump declared war on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) by rejecting its estimate of over 5 million Palestinian refugees, suggesting that the number was more like 500,000 . In effect he was saying that a new definition should be operative. If he were to exclude descendants, there would be fewer than 20,000 people still living who fled in 1948 The intent wasnt to save money or shift the financial burden to others, but rather was to begin the process of doing away with UNRWA itself because it served to perpetuate the refugee problem and the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors, rather than to solve it. And President Trump, and his envoys Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, wanted to solve it. Not only that, but UNRWA has been known to assist Hamas in its wars with Israel, and it uses Palestinian Authority textbooks that incite hatred of Jews and promote a non-existing right of return. After the UN General Assembly (UNGA) passed Resolution 181 on Nov 17, 1947, the Mandatory Arabs, not yet called Palestinians, declared war on the Jews. After Israel declared independence on May 19, 2048, all surrounding Arab armies invaded Israel. Not until 1949, when it was clear that Israel was winning the war and enlarging her territory, did the Arabs sign Ceasefire Agreements. On Dec 8, 1949, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). was created to provide humanitarian assistance for Palestinian refugees, who were defined as "persons whose regular place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict." This definition included both Jews and Arabs until the Israeli government took over responsibility for Jewish refugees in 1952. This definition was later expanded to include those Arabs, and their descendants, who fled the West Bank during the Six Day War in 1967. Then on Dec 11, 1949, UNGA passed Resolution194 which stated: 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, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible. This resolution is commonly invoked to have created a right of return for all Arab refugees. It does no such thing. The Resolution only says, they should be permitted to return rather than must be permitted providing they wished to live in peace with their neighbors -- which is hardly the case. Besides United Nations General Assembly resolutions are recommendations only. They do not have the force of law. Nevertheless, Israel created a fund equal to the value, at that time, of the property abandoned. The refugees need only apply. Today, UNRWA provides education, health care, and social services to the 5 million people registered with it as refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), created in 1951, is dedicated to the resettlement of all refugees -- except the Palestinian refugees, who fall within the purview of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Unlike UNHCR, UNRWA does not seek to resettle its refugees, but rather is dedicated to preserving their status as refugees. Thus, it was imperative for Trump to seek the end of UNRWA. Otherwise it would be with us forever. Yet there is another thing for Trump to keep in mind. According to the Palestine Mandate, Britain was responsible to facilitate Jewish immigration in line with the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. Rather than doing so, Britain hindered it, while at the same time, she encouraged Arab immigration. She went so far as to prevent Jewish immigration, even during the Holocaust, when it was desperately needed. President Trump must keep this great injustice to the Jews in mind when crafting the Deal of the Century. Had the standard definition been used, there would have been few refugees to deal with. In 1948, though living in Palestine, most considered their home of origin to be Syria in the main, but also including Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. Furthermore, by rejecting the standard definition, the Arabs who didnt flee, who are registered as refugees under UNRWA, now number 2 million west of the Jordan River and 1.3 million in Gaza. Not only were their numbers greatly inflated due to this new definition, but the Arab League prevented their naturalization in the countries they fled to, including their true countries of origin. Furthermore, the Arabs living outside of Israel as defined by the 1949 ceasefire line, yet still within the Mandatory lands, were also prevented from being normalized under the Palestinian Authority. This also applies to Jordan, where there are currently 2.1 million registered Palestinian refugees. Since Israel will not permit them to return, whether to Israel as it now stands or to Israel when its eastern boundary is extended to the Jordan River, the best option open to them is to relocate them in Jordan. Because Jordan was part of Mandatory Palestine, to which they originally migrated, these people should be considered as internally displaced persons (IDP) who fled their residences but never crossed an international border. Jordans King Abdullah is dead set against this but his days as king are numbered. If and when Mudar Zahran, the Secretary General of the Jordanian Opposition Coalition, becomes the leader of Jordan in the not too distant future, he will invite all these Palestinians to relocate in Jordan where they will be naturalized along with the 2.1 million refugees already there. In addition, over 75% of Jordans population of 8.5 million are Palestinian. According to Zahran, they will be provided with housing, jobs, social security and Jordanian citizenship and will be much better off than they are now. It is not enough for Trumps Deal of the Century to just normalize or naturalize them. The Plan must include inducements to get them to relocate to Jordan. Such inducements should be offered to all Palestinians, refugees or not. President Trump, in configuring his Deal of the Century, should embrace the idea of ethnic homogenization as fundamental to establishing peace and assist in the relocation of as many Arabs as possible to Jordan, which will be considered the Palestinian State. There can be no objection to him doing so because of Zahrans intention to provide them with housing, jobs and social security. Besides, no one is suggesting that they should be forcibly expelled. Instead they should be induced to relocate or emigrate of their own free will. It will be for their benefit. Leaks and statements from the Chicago Police Department make it clear the attention-seeking leftist black actor, who happens to be gay, tried to persuade the public that he was the victim of a Trump inspired hate crime. His claim turned to farce when it was exposed that the so-called white MAGA hat wearing attackers were Nigerian born friends of his leading one wag to claim this was the first time Nigerians had fallen for an American scam. Jussie Smolletts fake hate crime blaming Trump supporters has now been exposed as a hate crime of its own. And, as it turns out, weve seen this movie before. Too many times. Frankly, its getting tiresome. And its high time the gullible leftist media begins to show some skepticism when these types of incidents are reported. The pattern is clear. In an ongoing effort to discredit President Trump and white conservative males, the bizarro left loves to fabricate stories that portray themselves as victims of hate. Its a shameful practice that borders on mental illness. The pattern became noticeable during Trumps run 2016 run for the presidency. It was so bad the Daily Caller labeled 2016 as The Year of The Hoax Hate Crime. An example: Three black women at the University of Albany earned media coverage from liberal outlets like CNN in February when they claimed a white mob followed them onto a bus, hurling racial slurs and later attacking them. The alleged attack even caught the attention of Hillary Clinton, who sent a personal tweet stating Theres no excuse for racism and violence on a college campus. Theres just one problem: the students made the whole thing up. But things really got going after Trumps election. Heres just a sampling. The day after the election, Eleesha Long, a student at Bowling Green University in Ohio said white males wearing Trump shirts threw rocks at her and hurled racial slurs. The alleged incident sparked rage on the campus and the university hosted a town hall. Guess what? Long also made it all up. Investigators said her text messages allegedly revealed her frustration with friends and family who were Trump supporters. Later that month, University of Michigan student Halley Bass told police that a Trump supporter attacked her by scratching her face. She said she was targeted for wearing a pin in support of Brexit. As her story fell apart, she admitted to scratching herself. In Chicago in November, Taylor Volk, a bisexual student at North Park University, said she received hateful pro-Trump, anti-gay messages. This is a countrywide epidemic all of a sudden, she said. Speaking of epidemics, investigators determined that she fabricated the story. Also in 2016, a Muslim student at the University of Michigan claimed a white man who threatened to burn her hijab attacked her. CAIR claimed the attack was just the latest anti-Muslim incident reported since the election of Donald Trump as president. It was a lie, of course. A similar incident happened in New York City, after Baruch College student Yasmin Seweid claimed three drunken white men yelled "Donald Trump!" and anti-Islam slurs at her on the subway and tried to grab her hijab. Police announced that Seweid invented the story to get out of trouble with her family after drinking with her friends and breaking her curfew. She has been charged with filing a false report. But the hoax hate crimes didnt end in 2016. In April 2017, Curtis Flournoy set an immigrant-owned business in Charlotte on fire leaving a note saying, Our newly elected president Donald Trump is our nation builder for white America. You all know that, we want our country back on the right track. We need to get rid of Muslims, Indians and all immigrants. Specially (sic), we don't want business run by refugees and immigrant any more (sic). When cameras showed the perpetrator was black, some leftwing websites went to far as to claim that it was a white Trump supporter in disguise. Flournoy was arrested by police for hate crime and arson. In Kansas in November 2017, Riley County police said a man admitted he painted racist slurs on his own car. I wonder what it cost him to repaint the car? In the fall of 2018, a note was left at a Kansas State apartment that read beware n***ers live here. Knock at your own risk. The so-called victim admitted to police that the person (sex unidentified) did it him/herself. In fact this was the second time this person had fabricated a hate incident in two years. Its interesting that the police did not reveal the sex or the race of the liar. Who remembers when Trump was blamed for the spate of death threats to Jewish community centers across the US in the summer of 2017? Juan Thompson, a serial liar who worked for The Intercept as a reporter, was convicted of hoax threats and other offenses. He authored a 5,000-word account in which he described a racist smear campaign by the Intercept against him. He wrote that the outlet saw him only as the token Negro whisperer. He even claimed a white ex-girlfriend threatened to kill President Trump. It was another lie. In November 2017 near Kansas State University, a black mans car was vandalized with racist messages. Classes were cancelled and students held demonstrations. The FBI even opened a civil rights investigation into a possible hate crime. Eventually, Dauntarius Williams admitted to police that he did it to himself. By the way, that hoax came on the heels of a string of incidents at the school. Earlier in October, an anti-gay slur was found outside the university student union. In September, white supremacist fliers had been found on campus. And in May, a noose was found hanging from a campus tree. Anyone recognize the pattern? Right after Trumps election, the Southern Poverty Law Center stoked panic when it claimed a pro-gay Episcopal church in Indiana was vandalized with Heil Trump, a swastika and an anti-gay slur. Turns out, it was the gay organ player who did it. In November last year, days after the Pittsburgh massacre, Trump supporters were blamed for Nazi vandalism at a Brooklyn synagogue and fires in a Jewish community center. Police revealed the perpetrator was a gay black man who had worked with city council on an initiative to fight hate crimes. James Polite was busted a day after he allegedly wrote Kill All Jews, in the stairwell of historic Union Temple in Prospect Heights. Polite had also recently set a string of fires including in the closet of Yeshiva Beth Hillel of Williamsburg, and smaller blazes in the trash outside three other nearby Jewish institutions. You just cant make it up. This is just a small sampling of the hoax crimes blaming Trump, Jews and white conservatives that have been properly investigated and reported since 2016. These examples dont mean that all hate crimes against minorities are hoaxes. But it certainly means that all such incidents need to be investigated before the anti-Trump media wildly thrashes around taking the incidents at face value and giving them credibility. Enough is enough. Time to close this movie theater. Frank Hawkins is a former U.S. Army intelligence officer, Associated Press foreign correspondent, international businessman, senior newspaper company executive, founder and owner of several marketing companies, and published novelist. He currently lives in retirement in North Carolina. The Plague of Anti-Semitism Spreads in France The disease of anti-Semitism is not new to France, and it has been spreading. But a new threshold in response to it was set by the displays of outrage as a result of the verbal assault on Alain Finkielkraut, a well known intellectual who was walking on the Boulevard du Montparnasse in Paris on February 16, 2019. The perpetrators were a small group, members of the gilets jaunes, the yellow vest movement. The main suspect is a salesman from Mulhouse in eastern Alsace. The group shouted at Finkielkraut, in non-academic terms, "Dirty Zionist s---" and "Go back to Tel Aviv" and "France belongs to us," among other choice expressions. Alain Finkielkraut is a 69-year-old Jewish philosopher, an eminent man of letters, and a public intellectual a distinguished academic, since 2014 a member of the Academie Francaise, the prestigious council of 40 concerned with matters related to the French language. Contrary to the fabrications of the yellow vest attackers, he was born in Paris, though his father was a Polish Holocaust-survivor of Auschwitz. Ironically, Finkielkraut initially supported the Y.V. movement when it started two months ago, but then he criticized its members for destruction without regard for anyone or anything. Finkielkraut emerged in public in the May 1968 student revolt and in 1987 with his book, The Defeat of the Mind, that was critical of postmodern philosophy and cultural relativism. He is a controversial figure, appearing on TV, writing articles for prominent newspapers, and giving interviews, known as an opponent of mass migration into France, a critic of multiculturalism, and a defender of the West. He is a concerned with Jewish identity in postwar Europe and is a strong advocate of Israel. Since he was addressed by the Y.V. attackers as a "dirty Jew," the Paris prosecutor is inquiring whether this is a crime, a public insult related to origin, ethnicity, race, or religion. Finkielkraut is not the only prominent Jewish figure to be assaulted. Another was Simone Weil, survivor of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, French minister of health, proponent of women's legal rights, advocate of legislation for abortion in 1975 and for a ban on smoking, president of the European Parliament, appointed to Academie Francaise in 2008. She is the fifth woman in history to be given, in July 2018, a burial in the Pantheon in Paris. Swastikas were painted on public postboxes that had her face on them. On February 18, 2019, a group of French members of the National Assembly introduced a bill to make anti-Zionism a criminal offense in the same way that anti-Semitism is illegal in France. This touches on a controversial issue. For many years, critics of the State of Israel or its actions or political figures have argued that such criticism is appropriate and that conflating this with anti-Semitism is misguided. Others have responded that though criticism of Israeli actions or policies is legitimate, calls for the destruction of the State and espousers of BDS can be regarded as a manifestation of anti-Semitism. Central to the issue is the accurate and acceptable definition of the disease of anti-Semitism. A valuable, if still controversial, working definition has been provided by the IHRA, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, a group of 31 countries. It started in October 2013 as a statement on Holocaust denial and discrimination, followed at a meeting in Bucharest on May 26, 2016 by a fuller definition of anti-Semitism. All parties agree that anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews which may be expressed as hatred toward them. All can also agree that criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitism. The basic problem is that not all parties agree that a double standard exists for many countries and organizations by requiring of Israel a pattern of behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation. The significant, though controversial, contribution of the IHRA to the definition is that anti-Semitism includes targeting the State of Israel conceived as a Jewish collectivity. Because of the international incessant condemnation of Israel, anti-Zionism is one of the modern forms of anti-Semitism. The IHRA declaration is not legally binding, but it is a guideline, and one that was accepted by Britain and Germany in 2016. It was also accepted by President Macron on February 20, 2019. "We must name the evil: anti-Semitism is hiding behind the mask of anti-Zionism. The time has come for action." Macron acted immediately by declaring no toleration of anti-Semitism, ordering the French Interior Ministry to dismantle three neo-Nazi groups. He visited the Holocaust memorial in Paris. Macron responded immediately to the attack on Finkielkraut, asserting that the anti-Semitic insults are the complete negation of "who we are" and what makes France a great nation. Anti-Semitism is a repudiation of the Republic. Other prominent public figures followed his example: Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy joined the demonstration of thousands of people in the Place de la Republique in Paris, who displayed banners with Ca suffit (that's enough). Macron denounced the unacceptable increase in acts and hate speech, which he linked to the recent wave of demonstrations against his government, by the yellow vest rallies. Anti-Semitism is not a slogan of the Y.V. movement, but there are extremists among its members responsible for racist and anti-Semitic remarks, as well as attacks on legislators. It is sad that some in the Y.V. movement believe in a Zionist plot or conspiracy. In a sense, their behavior resembles that of the black American actor Jussie Smollett, charged in Chicago on February 21, 2019 with filing a false report that he was attacked for racial reasons. In both cases, the perpetrators took advantage of justifiable anger at expressions of racism and existing discrimination to spread their message of hate. More attention is now being paid in France to anti-Semitism, which Christophe Castaner, minister of the interior, says is spreading like a poison. In 2018, there were 641 anti-Semitic acts and threats, an increase of 74% from 311 in 2017. A few can be mentioned. Graves, more than 90, of Jews were vandalized with swastikas in the cemetery in the small village of Quatzenheim, a village near Strasbourg. Macron, wearing a skullcap, attended a ceremony at the gravesite. Among the more egregious previous anti-Semitic attacks in 2012 were the killing of four people, a rabbi and three children, in the Jewish school in Toulouse in southwest France, and the murder of Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old phone salesman, of Jewish Moroccan ancestry, who was kidnapped and tortured for three weeks in 2006 and died from burn injuries on the way to the hospital. A tree planted in his memory in the Paris suburb of Sainte-Genevieve-du-Bois was chopped down. On February 19, 2019, two teenagers were arrested after firing, by air rifle, at a synagogue in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles. The next day, February 20, two swastikas accompanied by a phrase denying the Holocaust were painted on a monument in a Jewish cemetery in Champagne-au-Mont-d'Or, near Lyon. You don't have to be Jewish to like bagels, but a bagel factory, of the Bagelstein chain, in the east of Paris, in the Ile Saint-Louis district, was defaced with the word "Juden" in German painted in yellow across the window. It is unclear whether the color referred to the Y.V. movement or to the Star of David arm bands Jews were forced to wear by Nazi Germany. French politicians have asserted that anti-Semitism is deeply rooted in French society. The country is familiar with attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions by political extremists and Islamists, but the link to the yellow vests came as a surprise. The disease of anti-Semitism may be turning into a plague. We must recognize, as Albert Camus, wrote in The Plague, that the next plague will "rouse up its rats again." Radical surgery is essential to correct the severe cancerous threat to society in France as elsewhere. If you read nothing else this week, read this essay by Lord Conrad Black in the New York Sun, who links the Special Counsel fiasco and the Jussie Smollett hoax and concludes that we just avoided the biggest constitutional crisis since the Civil War: Nothing offends people more than unequal justice -- disparate treatment of protected persons and classes. This week, the FBI and Department of Justices hash of equal justice became even clearer and the medias fat thumb on the scales as well. The authors, accomplices, and dupes of this attempted overthrow of constitutional government are now well along in reciting their misconduct without embarrassment or remorse because -- in fired FBI Director James Comeys formulation -- a higher duty than the oath they swore to uphold the Constitution compelled them. Or -- in fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabes words -- the threat was too great. Never mind that the nature of the threat was that the people might elect someone he and Mr. Comey disapproved of as president, and that that person might actually serve his term, as elected. The extent of the criminal misconduct of the former law enforcement and intelligence chiefs is now notorious, but to make the right point here, it has to be summarized. The fact that the officially preferred candidate lied to federal officials about her emails and acted in outright contempt of Congress and the legal process in the destruction of evidence, was simply ignored by the FBI director, who announced that she would not be prosecuted, though he had no authority to make that determination. The dossier of salacious gossip and defamatory falsehoods amassed by a retired British spy from the lowest grade of intelligence sources in Russia, commissioned and paid for by the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee, was circulated to the media by high public officials and cited in illegal and dishonest applications to authorize surveillance of the campaign of the other presidential candidate. A special counsel was empowered on the false pretext of the necessity to get to the bottom of Trump-Russian collusion in the election... The special counsel then packed his staff with militant Clinton partisans, and acted very late and only when his hand was forced by the press to remove two officials who referred in texts to each other to the Bureaus ability to smear and provoke the impeachment of the winning candidate as an insurance policy against his filling the office to which he was elected. He asserts, and I agree, that the defamation campaign against the president continues with the now-debunked tale of racism by the Covington students and the thoroughly debunked tale of assault on Jussie Smollett. I believe the concept of hate crimes is an oxymoron. If you assault or murder someone its fair to assume it was out of improper animus. Adding a kicker for hate in which attacks on certain classes of people result in enhanced sentences strikes me as an improper thought crime punishment, inconsistent with constitutional law. In any event, the laws on hate crimes seem to be as selectively enforced as the crimes of mishandling and leaking classified material and attempting to overthrow the president. Here too the press plays an important part, demonizing the Presidents supporters, and downplaying or not reporting hate crimes against them while regularly magnifying defamatory and false accusations against them. The criminal misconduct in the federal executive continues, inspired doubtless by the failure to prosecute people like Hillary and Lois Lerner. This week we learned that IRS intelligence officer John C. Fry made an unauthorized excursion into Michael Cohens financial records and passed them on to porn lawyer Michael Avenetti and the New Yorkers Ronan Farrow. And hes not the only U.S. Treasury employee using access to invade the privacy of the Special Counsels targets. Last October Natalie Mayflower Sours-Edwards was arrested and charged with leaking to the press financial transactions related to Paul Manafort, Richard Gates , Maria Butina, and others. Certain I am that they were motivated by total unconcern for any criminal consequences for their acts. Media misconduct matches official misconduct. When not calling Trump supporters Nazis as a means to dehumanize us, the establishment media like to whine about the lack of civility in American politics, even as they cover up, ignore, downplay, or straight-up approve of the wave of violence and public harassment we are seeing against supporters of President Trump. It is open season on Trump supporters, and the media is only fomenting, encouraging, excusing, and hoping for more The media are now openly calling Trump supporters Nazis and are blaming Trump for a mass murder he had nothing to do with. This, of course, is a form of harassment because it incites and justifies mob violence. Here is the list so far and remember that if any one of these things happened to a Democrat, the media would use the story to blot out the sun for weeks. Remember how crazy the media went over a nobody rodeo clown who wore an Obama mask, a GOP staffer who criticized Obamas daughters? And yet, hundreds of Trump supporters are harassed and brutalized and the media only dutifully report them, if at all. That is because the media are desperate to normalize and justify violence and harassment against Trump and his supporters. Along with selective enforcement and media coverage of hate crimes, comes a plethora of hoax hate crimes. Heres a list of 342 of them. In fact, hoax claims of hate crimes are now so common, I must admit my first response is to doubt the claim. My online friend, The Infamous Ignatz expresses my view. It's funny how the sanctimony of the left works. Time after time these fake stories are created that allege hateful actions by horrible right-wingers with implications for all conservatives and lectures about how we need to disown these phantom miscreants. When the stories are revealed to be hoaxes motivated by a particularly loathsome political animus, the best that ever occurs is "oops". Why don't progs as a class have to denounce the stereotyped hatefulness their crazy ass prog pals display and that they capitalize on? People who don't even exist who say "MAGA country, faggot" are still a teachable moment for the deplorable half of the country. A bunch of hateful liars who defame the deplorable half of the country by making up "MAGA country, faggot" and who actually exist, well, they're just a little misguided... because of Trump and his horrible deplorable supporters!! But they're the sensible tolerant ones. Just ask them. Then go read a prog comments section. It's like listening to schizophrenics describing their hallucinations like everyone must see or hear them. The case of Jussie Smollett was particularly egregious. Only a moron would believe his claim that at 2 a.m. in freezing weather during the polar vortex in a neighborhood where I doubt there is a single Trump supporter. Trump supporters attacked B actor for being a gay black man. And yet the media fell for it. Had it been true, in any event, it hardly warranted the degree of attention it got. Consider just some of the other events which barely got any coverage while this hoax was trumpeted. The deadlock on the export of 1.2 million tons of LNG was broken -- a blow to Putins shaky economy. We moved closer to a deal for denuclearization of Korea through first steps like helping North Korea improve its rail infrastructure and encouraging family visits between North and South Korea. The Caliphate in Syria has fallen. And the Dow posted nine weeks of advances in a row -- the longest weekly streak of gains in almost 24 years as we move closer to a U.S.-China trade deal. In Warsaw, Arab and Israeli leaders broke bread together and worked side by side to discuss real threats to peace in the Middle East. And yet, the media focused public attention on Smolletts certainly fake hate crime, and like cats following a laser beam all else was ignored. Worse, theres some reason to believe this was not the work of an actor dissatisfied with his pay scale, as he said when finally nabbed. Theres some good reason -- not proven but plausible -- to believe he was working with his close friend Kamala Harris, whose effort to enact a base-pleasing anti-lynching bill was stalled. Cory Booker, in fact, tweeted he hoped this incident would induce Congress to pass the bill. Cory Booker @CoryBooker 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. Former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clark is in that camp of those who think there was a political angle to the hoax. Im not buying that @JussieSmollett staged his hoax due to a salary dispute with FOX studios. Im not that gullible. AND DONT YOU FALL FOR IT EITHER! Smollett was on a POLITICAL MISSION for the left. Hes part of the slimy Hollywood elite. #MAGA2020 Clarke tweeted. Clarke also said he cant wait for the FBI to announce federal charges against Smollett for mailing a hoax letter to the television studio, noting that its a crime punishable by five to 10 years in federal prison. Cant wait for the FBI to hold their news conference to announce FEDERAL CHARGES against @JussieSmollett for mailing that hoax letter to the studio. That is MAIL FRAUD punishable by 5-10 years in federal prison. Dont turn away from this folks or it will go away. #MAGA2020, Clarke tweeted. In any event, Smollett also has close ties with Democrat politicians, among them the Obamas, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker. Booker and Harris vouched for his credibility and promoted the hoax. He also has ties to numerous Hollywood characters who like Democratic politicians. My favorite meathead, Rob Reiner, who never misses a chance to miss, immediately blamed his hallucinatory vision of Trump and Trump supporters. He also has ties to numerous Hollywood characters who like Democratic politicians supported Smollett's false claim.He tweeted: The horrific attack on Jussie Smollett has no place in a decent human loving society. Homophobia existed before Trump, but there is no question that since he has injected his hatred into the American bloodstream, we are less decent, less human, & less loving. No intolerance! No DT! --Rob Reiner (@robreiner) January 30, 2019 Tonight is Oscars night, with an expected lower than ever viewing audience. Smollett says hes checking into rehab and now blames drug addiction for the hoax. So many Hollywood miscreants are in rehab these days; I expect thats where the best Oscar parties will take place. Like most of us, Im still waiting to see what happens to the jerks that fomented the hoax Russian collusion story. The Trump administration is thinking of forming a "Presidential Committee on Climate Security." The press has been told to direct questions to Dr. Happer. That is enough to bring out the climate hyenas. They can't stand the thought that Trump might have some solid scientific advice concerning climate change. The hyenas are running an all-out attack against Dr. Happer. William Happer is one of the most important scientists in the United States. He is an emeritus professor of physics at Princeton and a long-serving adviser to the federal government. His scientific discoveries and inventions are extensive. Currently, he serves in the White House as a senior adviser to the National Security Council. Following Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, the camp followers of the global warming industry try to create polarization. In a Time magazine article, a former admiral says Happer is a fringe figure. A climate scientist at Georgia Tech says Happer has "false, unscientific notions." We are reassured that the global warming scare is absolutely solid science, as everyone except climate deniers knows. What everyone may not know is that climate science is an industry, and the product is the global warming scare. If the global warming scare is discredited, the huge industry will collapse. Climate scientists used to be unimportant academics in an unimportant academic field. The global warming scare made them into celebrities jetting around the world. They won't give up the glory without a fight. Climate computer models, the basis of the doomsday predictions, disagree with each other and disagree with the climate of the Earth. But according to the climate science mafia, anyone who brings up such embarrassing information is a tool of the fossil fuel industry. As far as the climate mafia is concerned, the business plan of the fossil fuel industry is to wreck the Earth and wreck the global warming industry. The reality is that the fossil fuel industry is wimpy and not inclined to take on the global warmers. Climate science has gone off the rails. President Eisenhower nailed the problem in his 1961 farewell address. He expressed the fear that because science had become heavily dependent on federal financial support, scientists would color the science in order to increase the flow of federal money. Nothing works better for increasing the flow of federal scientific money than predicting a future disaster. If scientists predict a disaster, we have to give them more money to research methods of preventing the disaster. Since Eisenhower's address, we have been treated to a parade of scientific doomsday predictions, none of which measured up to the hype. There was global cooling that preceded global warming. There were acid rain, DDT, the ozone layer, overpopulation, and many others. It is not only scientists who use a parade of disaster predictions. Environmental organizations need doomsday predictions, too, in order to keep their members interested. The press has a bias for sensationalism, so it too promotes the latest doomsday predictions. Many professions are supposed to adhere to high ethical standards. For example, lawyers are supposed to put the interests of their clients above their own interests. Doctors are supposed to put their patients' welfare above their own pecuniary interests. Journalists are supposed to be objective and not color their work with their own political preferences. We know that not every professional adheres strictly to his ethical code. Scientists are not different. They are supposed to search for scientific truth and to exercise objectivity in their work. They are not supposed to hype weak theories in order to improve their professional standing. But these things happen. Most scientists are not in a position to contradict global warming hype. Science is a profession characterized by ideological schools and groupthink. Groupthink is worst in sciences where the rules are not clear and the data are confusing for example, climate science. Young scientists depend on older, more senior scientists for recognition and promotion. They are in no position to contradict groupthink. They have families to feed. The senior scientists may be running large scientific enterprises financed by federal money. To express doubts about the mission or the truth of the groupthink would be to threaten their money and the jobs of people in their organization. The consequence of the groupthink atmosphere is that dissenters come from the ranks of scientists removed from the pressure to conform for example, retired scientists, amateur scientists, and scientists so accomplished as to be immune to threats and group pressure. There are thousands of such scientists who are skeptical of the global warming hype. When they speak out, they are attacked, and the attacks are usually vicious. The members of the global warming establishment will almost never debate skeptics. When this was done years ago, the skeptics were too credible. Science is great, and our modern world is a product of science. But scientists are humans, not gods. They play the same games that other beneficiaries of federal money play. We have been fooled over and over again by fake predictions of disasters or one sort or another. The fake predictions are never completely fake. There is usually some real science buried in all the hype. For example, it is reasonable to expect that some global warming might be caused by adding CO2 to the atmosphere. What is probably a modest effect has been twisted and exaggerated into a doomsday scenario that demands that we save the planet. The good effects of CO2 that are well known and that are solid science are ignored. Increasing CO2 in the atmosphere makes plants grow better with less water. Greenhouse-operators use CO2-generators in their greenhouses. CO2 is greening deserts. How often to you hear about these benefits of CO2? DDT was banned because it supposedly thinned birds' eggs and perhaps because some people screamed cancer. But DDT is highly effective against mosquitos that cause malaria. The World Health Organization finally lifted the ban on DDT because thousands of children were dying in Africa. DDT will never be rehabilitated in the U.S. because the propaganda has been permanently imprinted in the minds of the populace. Science has created institutions that serve to enhance the image of science. For example, peer review often degenerates into pal review. Scientific journals are often filled with papers of dubious value generated by a system that values quantity over quality. The National Academy of Science pretends to give objective advice to the government, but often the advice is to appropriate more money for science. Typically, when science invents a new doomsday theory, the environmental organizations embellish it with unscientific flourishes. The scientist inventors of the theory don't correct the environmental organizations because that would slow the momentum toward a new surge of federal money. That should be an ethical violation. Scientists should have a duty to set the record straight in such circumstances. There is no simple solution to the parade of doomsday theories. It would help if the government understood better that throwing more money at an alleged problem may exaggerate rather than alleviate the problem. Massive spending may not solve difficult scientific problems, but massive spending always creates bureaucracies that exist to sustain the spending. Norman Rogers is the author of the book Dumb Energy: A Critique of Wind and Solar Energy. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East Some of our readers may not remember the 1978 campaign for Calcasieu-Cameron district attorney that could appropriately be called The Ponytail Election. It came following labor violence at the Jupiter Chemical Co. site on Jan. 15, 1976, that killed one man and injured five others. About the show A weekly programme that examines and dissects the worlds media, how they operate and the stories they cover. Watch The Listening Post every Saturday at 0830GMT Ben Piven Ben reports on global economics and geopolitics for AJ Impact, the new business and finance vertical at Al Jazeera Digital. He often writes about inte... more rnational trade, climate change and urban policy. He was previously a Planning Editor at Al Jazeera America in New York City and an Online Producer at Al Jazeera English in Doha, Qatar. Before joining Al Jazeera, Ben worked at PBS Worldfocus. He holds a master's degree in digital media from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. In 2007, he researched the caste system as a Fulbright scholar at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai. Originally from Baltimore, he studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at the University of Pennsylvania. In his free time, Ben enjoys cities, languages, music and travel. The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has adjourned the final collation of the Presidential Election results to Monday by 11 am. Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu announced this Sunday evening while formally declaring open the National Collation Centre. From today, the collation centre is hereby declared open until the final determination of the 2019 presidential election. During the course of proceedings, there may be interludes or adjournments and these will be announced by the Chief Returning Officer. At the moment no State Collation Officer has is around. Some of them are expected tonight. Accordingly, proceedings are hereby adjourned. We will reconvene by 11 am tomorrow Monday 25th February for the collation of results, he declared. INEC had earlier said in Ekiti, the process had since been concluded and the State Collation Officer was being expected in Abuja but as at 7pm, he was yet to arrive. Some of the officers would come by road while others would come by air depending on their proximity to Abuja. Meanwhile, collation of results from yesterdays elections continue nationwide. Almost all the states have concluded RA Collation and are now collating results at the LGA level. Some have commenced state level collation. We expect the state collation officers for the Presidential elections to start arriving at the National Collation Centre later today and early morning tomorrow. Accordingly, the National Collation Centre will be officially declared open today at 6pm. Collation will commence as soon as the results arrive from the states. On this note, I wish to state that Ekiti state has already concluded the process. The state collation officer for the Presidential election is, as we speak, on his way to Abuja with the result of the Presidential election for Ekiti, Yakubu had said. According to him, the collation officer has also made returns in the National Assembly elections in Ekiti state. He said though the commission was generally satisfied with the way Nigerians conducted themselves during the exercise, it was disheartening to note the killing of one of its ad hoc staff in Rivers by political thugs. While in all these attacks, electoral staff sustained injuries, we have unfortunately recorded the first fatality in Rivers state. An ad hoc staff, Mrs Ibiseki Amachree was hit by a bullet while returning from election duty in Degema. May her soul rest in peace. We condemn this attack and have lodged a comprehensive report with security agencies for expeditious investigation and prosecution of those involved, he said. This was as the INEC boss said the commission has also handed over one of its Electoral Officers in Imo to the Police for election duty infractions. All election duty personnel have sworn to an oath of neutrality. We have reports of possible dereliction of duty by some electoral officials. They refused to activate or deploy the smart card readers. The failure to fully account for materials for the elections, absconding from duty and a host of other infractions. In Imo state, one of our Electoral Officers had already been handed over to the Police. We will not tolerate violations against, or by our own officials, he warned. Source: Vanguard Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, a former Director- General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) said Ghana needs to implement healthcare policies effectively to improve the lives of her people. He said the country had workable healthcare policies but statistics available proved the implementation had been unsuccessful. Ghana has a lot of very good policies but unfortunately we are not able to implement them as we should. I think we prevaricate on so many things and the kind of statistics that are coming out tells us we are not moving as fast as we should, he said. Prof. Akosa said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at a public lecture organised by Webster University, Ghana on the theme: Healthcare Policy and the Crisis of Public Health in Africa. He said the failure of Ghana to properly implement her healthcare policies posed serious threats to the citizens and the future, which must be addressed holistically. The dangers are that Ghana as a lower middle-income country has almost over 40 percent of its children not properly nourished and that has major consequences on their cognitive abilities and their development as the future leaders of this country, he noted. Dr. Naa Ashiley Vanderpuye-Donton, the Managing Director of International Health Care Centre (IHCC), said the country was ineffective in the implementation of the policies because they were technically good but a bit out of context. I think if we want to get things working we have to step up our research efforts. And we need to ensure that the research is leading to data that is informing us on what solutions we should put together. Prof Jean-Germain Gros, Visiting Faculty (USA), Webster Ghana, said Africas healthcare policies had evolved over the years but had been challenged by the fast-growing population. Mrs. Martha Amankwah, Director of Enrollment Management at Webster University, Ghana, said more of such lectures would be organised to elicit views from experts on how to tackle health and social issues affecting the people. Webster University Ghana was established in 2013 and has received accreditation from both the National Accreditation Board and the Higher Learning Commission of the United States. The Ghana Campus is also the first in sub-Saharan Africa in Webster's 102-year history. Webster University is an American University based in St. Louis, Missouri, and has a network of American-style residential international campuses in nine countries spanning over four continents. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Huduma number, a new Kenyan government initiative, is yet another assault on data privacy in Kenya. One of the most surreal moments of the August 2017 Supreme Court hearing on Kenyas presidential election, an event that would culminate in the unprecedented rejection of the results announced by the electoral commission, happened on its first day. Lawyers for the opposition demanded that the servers containing data for the 19.2 million registered voters in Kenya be opened and checked for electoral fraud. Lawyers for the electoral commission insisted that it could not be done because the servers were in France. Millions of Kenyan citizens biometric data was collected over an extended period of time in preparation for the highly contested 2017 vote. However, when the data was most needed, at the point when it was necessary to verify the results announced by the electoral commission, it was unavailable. Apparently, a private foreign entity, a French firm known as OT Safran Morpho, owned the information and the government struggled to get the corporation in question to make the information available on demand. In February 2019, Kenya is gearing up to launch another massive citizen data collection drive called the Huduma Number. Over a 30-day period, the government will compel citizens in a number of counties to register their biometric details, other identity numbers and their physical address to receive a new number to be used as a unique identifier. Further digging reveals the government has done a deal with MasterCard to link the Huduma number to a prepaid card with chip and pin that will be used by citizens to pay for an array of government services.The government denies that the two initiatives are connected, but given similar initiatives in countries like Nigeria, there is credible fear that the initiatives will eventually be combined. Regardless, the Huduma programme will add yet another number and card to the litany of numbers and cards that Kenyans must wield to prove their Kenyan citizenship to their increasingly predatory state. The Huduma card will join your ID, passport, drivers licence, birth certificate, National Social Security Fund card, National Hospital Insurance Fund card, Kenya Revenue Authority Tax PIN, etc. Critically, the invitation to apply comes with a threat: Anyone who does not register will be denied government services. There are many wrong and, indeed, dangerous elements to this initiative. For one, forcing citizens to sign up for a financial product under the threat of denying them important government services isnt governance, it is blackmail. Kenyas constitution provides that all legislation must be subjected to public participation. Therefore, it is prima facie unconstitutional for a government ministry to make a roadside declaration: to create a new legislative hurdle for gaining an important citizenship document without allowing the public time to reflect and respond. Yet, this ill-informed initiative was announced at a press conference and information about it was distributed on both traditional and social media: a roadside declaration with 21st-century tools. Secondly, Kenya still does not have a data protection law. That means that this massive data collection exercise including facial recognition, fingerprints and other key citizen data will be in place in the absence of any real legal oversight. Remember the surrealism of Kenyas electoral servers, still owned by OT Safran Morpho, and apparently inaccessible from Kenya without interlocution by the French? There are currently no legal provisions, certainly none in the public domain, that prevent OT Morpho Safran from monetising data that Kenyans provided to enhance their democratic processes. In my book, Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics, I call this digital colonialism where a private corporation in one country is given political power over citizens of a second country for its own economic benefit. The fact that Kenyas election database could not be made available on demand for what was arguably the most important legal process in the countrys history is cause for major concern. Kenyan electoral data is now a product for digestion and monetisation in a legal domain beyond our control. How free can a country be when citizen information that is central to government and governance is nothing more than a commercial product owned by a foreign corporation? Significantly, the Kenyan government has not demonstrated that it can be trusted with Kenyans personal data. A report from Tactical Tech reveals the extent of abuse that occurred during the 2017 presidential election in the absence of a rigorous data protection law. Voter registers were available for sale and were publicly available through SMS and web, which allowed politicians to send unsolicited text messages and even make calls to voters. Party lists collected by the various political parties also contained key private data and were not secured in any meaningful way. Outside the election, Privacy International has also reported on how mobile data from Kenyans is routinely handed over to the police and other security actors to facilitate other forms of human rights abuse, like extrajudicial executions or arbitrary arrest and detention. Kenyans also routinely complain of their private mobile data being sold to third-party service providers without their consent. They often receive a barrage of unsolicited text messages and have to pay to unsubscribe from such premium services. Women have also complained of being harassed by security guards to whom they must provide key contact details before accessing any public or private buildings. As it stands, if you are Kenyan, your data is not secure or safe, especially not from a government that has routinely avoided creating a legal framework to at least give citizens some form of recourse when violations happen. This Huduma number is an ill-timed, ill-advised initiative that should be suspended until further public participation and consultation occur. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Figuring out what is and is not an emergency in Donald Trumps America is far from straightforward. On February 15, in order to get funds to build a wall along the southern border of the United States, Trump declared a national emergency. And he did this even though the situation at the border is in no meaningful sense getting worse, let alone deteriorating rapidly enough to constitute an emergency. In fact, border crossings are actually declining, and as commentators across the ideological spectrum noted, Trumps own words make clear that there is no national emergency. The efforts to prevent Trump from using this national emergency to build his border wall came quickly. Sixteen states sued in opposition. A majority of the House of Representatives is prepared to begin a process to reverse the declaration. Several Senate Republicans either oppose, or have expressed concern over Trumps declaration, which is actually more intra-party opposition than normal under Trump. Progressive civil society organisations such as MoveOn assembled 277 events in 48 states with at least 50,000 attendees three days after the announcement. And a strong majority of the population including Independents oppose the declaration and deny there is an emergency, even as that opposition is not dramatic enough to faze an already deeply unpopular President Trump. From those indicators, one might think that there is neither an emergency at the border nor in American politics a president is pursuing an unwarranted power grab and his efforts are being met with considerable resistance. And yet the sunny picture of effective opposition masks some clear warning signs for those who worry about Trumps emergency declaration specifically and his assault on American democracy more generally. To start, while Congressional Democrats and presidential candidates have taken clear and definite stands against the announcement, the very normalcy of their reactions presents a marked contrast from the reaction to, for example, Trumps Muslim ban in January of 2017. At that time, large crowds and elected Democrats protested at airports and at rallies that drew enormous crowds despite cold temperatures and little to no time for organising. Fervour across civil society was real Trump was transgressing the rule of law, and the reaction was raw and passionate. The effect? While Americas deeply partisan and conservative majority on the Supreme Court ultimately upheld Trumps third Muslim ban, earlier versions were struck down by lower court judges across the ideological spectrum, and the ban the Supreme Court upheld was somewhat weaker than its first iteration. It is likely that the passion of the populace helped steel the spine of judges pondering pushing back on the newly installed president. The reaction to the current false emergency declaration has included stern language but not so stern as to cut through the clutter of a typically crowded week of news during the Trump era. Newer outrages such as a judge finding that Trumps Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta had broken the law in facilitating a lenient sentence for a notorious sex offender, Trumps former political consigliere being subjected to a gag order by a federal judge for threatening her life, and speculation about the course of the Robert Mueller investigation kept the focus away from Trumps unpopular declaration. The stagecraft of Democratic reaction is, in other words, pitched far lower than one would expect when a president of an ostensibly leading democracy asserts the right to spend taxpayer funds Congress had just refused to spend. The US Constitution definitively hands the power of the purse to Congress, and yet Congresss reaction to this news is little different from its reactions to any number of Trump outrages. They are moving forward with a legislative response, but without the flourishes, one might expect in the case of a president with authoritarian tendencies making a clearly undemocratic power grab. In other words, if Trump is seizing power from Congress in the manner of an authoritarian, it is not a time to be polite. It is a time to panic just as civil society panicked, constructively, in the face of the Muslim ban. This temperate reaction to the national emergency declaration suggests a broader problem: Trump fatigue. The American people seem, in a word, tired. The Trump presidency has in many senses rejuvenated American politics more people probably attended rallies in the first two years of his presidency than in the two decades prior. Midterm election turnout, typically terrible, was much higher than normal. Civic engagement was up considerably across a broad swath of the country. From podcasts about politics to late night television programmes forced to turn to political content or lose their audience, interest in politics was up dramatically. But the reaction to the national emergency declaration suggests that Americans may not be able to sustain this level of engagement. In a prescient article written in February of 2017, Huffington Post editor Sam Stein raised the question whether Democrats could maintain the stamina necessary to react to a president who thrives on drama and chaos. As Trump biographer Timothy OBrien noted, It is not about physical stamina. It is about psychological scar tissue He really is like the Energizer bunny of the political landscape, and people have to recognize that about him because he is formidable in that way. The decline in fervour in the face of Trumps bigoted actions raises the question whether the president, despite his age and notoriously short attention span, is in some meaningful sense winning a battle of attrition with his opponents. In 2018, Stein returned to the theme of Trump and fatigue, noting that the presidents thick scar tissue enables his modus operandi to claw, scrape, and nag the opposition until they finally acquiesce. That scar tissue is likely why Trump is comfortable as a deeply unpopular president with a consistently low 40 percent approval there is enormous freedom in the office of never trying to be broadly liked. An ordinary president like Barack Obama aged so visibly in office because he desperately sought to be president of all the people, regardless of the racial animus and conspiracy theories being aimed at him. Trump, on the other hand, seems energised by any attention, positive or negative. To be sure, some of the publics recent complacency may come from the sense that the resistance is winning. Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats control the House of Representatives, and the Democratic presidential field is burgeoning in numbers and energy. Those feelings may be natural, but theyre also dangerous. In the short run, they normalise Trumps aberrant and abhorrent actions. In the medium run, they threaten the energy needed to produce an electoral turnout in 2020 as spectacular as in 2018. And more importantly, fatigue is dangerous because we do not know what President Trump can accomplish without an energised and zealous opposition. In sum, theres no national emergency at the southern border. But if the American people and their leaders fail to fight back against Trumps declaration with everything that they have, that would be a real national emergency. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. By Carla Crowder and Leah Nelson, Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice Across Alabama, residents lose their jobs, housing, drivers licenses, and spend long stretches in jail because they cannot afford to pay court fines and fees. This week, a unanimous United States Supreme Court reminded states that this is not supposed to happen anywhere in America. The case, Timbs v. Indiana, concerns the questionable practice of civil asset forfeiture, where law enforcement is permitted to seize property of people merely suspected of criminal activity. But the Court devotes the bulk of its opinion to providing states a refresher on the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment, reaching back to the Magna Carta and recalling Southern States Black Codes. Fines get special attention because they have been wrongly used to raise revenue, punish political enemies, and subjugate African Americans, in a way that conflicts with the penal goals of retribution and deterrence. Alabama Appleseed has documented how thousands of Alabamians are trapped in cycles of debt, incarceration, and grinding poverty because they cannot afford to pay fines, fees, and court costs assessed against them or their families. A survey conducted last year found that court debt drove over 80% of survey takers to give up basic necessities, that over 50% had been jailed for being unable to pay what they owed, and that about 40% had committed crimes like stealing or selling drugs to pay court debt for non-felony offenses. The majority believed theyd never be able to pay everything they owed. Terrence Truitt spent eight days in jail because he couldnt afford to pay fines from fishing without permission, which he did to feed himself and his children. Terry Knowles lived in a tiny motel room with his extended family so he could be close enough to work to walk because he could not afford the fee to reinstate his license. Callie Johnson missed payments on basic necessities because she was helping her children pay their court debt. Angela Dabney , a single mother, lost her drivers license because she couldnt afford to pay traffic tickets and because she lost her license, she lost her job. If there was ever any doubt, this weeks unanimous opinion makes clear that the kind of suffering imposed on these Alabama families runs afoul of the Constitution and must stop. At a minimum, fines should be proportioned to the wrong and not be so large as to deprive an offender (of his) livelihood, the opinion states. Also at issue in the Timbs case was civil forfeiture. Alabama law enforcement officials have claimed that state laws protect citizens from the kinds of abuses documented in Timbs. Not necessarily. As Alabama Appleseed and the Southern Poverty Law Center reported last year, Alabamas abusive civil asset forfeiture scheme, which allows the state to take money and property from people without even accusing them of a crime, enriches law enforcement agencies and disproportionately harms people of color. Civil asset forfeiture is an unjust process that deprives people of property without due process, and it should be abolished. In its ruling, the high court stated that the constitutional provision which forbids excessive fines applies to states in civil as well as criminal cases when the resulting forfeitures are at least partially punitive. In essence, it found that Indianas seizure of a mans Range Rover was unconstitutional because $42,000 was a radically disproportionate fine for the sale of $400 worth of heroin. Here in Alabama, police more often seize rent money, not Range Rovers. Our study found that the amount of cash seized in civil forfeiture cases involved $1,372 or less in half of all cases examined. The legal fees to get it back are usually more, so most property owners never attempt to get their property back -- even where they were not convicted of wrongdoing in connection with the seized property. That should give us all pause. The fines levied against Terrence Truitt, Angela Dabney, Terry Knowles, Callie Johnson, and the other individuals who took Appleseeds survey were on average far lower than $42,000, but their consequences were no less devastating. Because they had no way of paying what the state demanded of them, people who took this survey gave up food, shelter, and medicine. They went to jail. An orderly society requires that violations carry consequences, and it is not Appleseeds contention that individuals who break the law be permitted to get away with it simply because they are poor. But excessive fines are in the eye of the beholder, and Appleseeds research makes clear that fines that would be manageable for some are devastating for others. No one should lose their drivers license, and with it, their ability to work, because they cannot afford to pay a ticket, fees, and interest for a busted headlight. No one should be jailed, or homeless, or give up medicine, or feel forced to accept charity or commit a felony, because they were too poor to pay their court debt. Alabama can fix this, by ending the practice of revoking licenses for unpaid traffic debt, and by evaluating individuals financial circumstances and scaling fines to their ability to pay. Excessive fines are alive and well in Alabama, and they are destroying lives. As nine Supreme Court justices agreed this week -- Its time for a change. Carla Crowder is Executive Director at Alabama Appleseed. Leah Nelson is Appleseeds Researcher. The Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1999 whose mission is to work to achieve justice and equity for all Alabamians. Alabama Appleseed is a member of the national Appleseed Network, which includes 18 Appleseed Centers across the U.S. and in Mexico City. Dr. Kwabena Duffuor through his lawyer, Kissi Adjabeng, of Cromwell Gray LLP, has filed a motion at the High Court seeking to compel the Bank of Ghana to release some documents upon which the license of now-defunct financial company, UniBank was revoked. According to the lawyers, the action has become necessary because the Central Bank has refused to release the documents despite several requests. If the motion is upheld by the court, the Bank of Ghana and uniBanks Receiver, Nii Amanor Dodoo, will be in contempt if they refuse to release the documents. Some of the documents Dr. Duffuor is demanding include: notice by Bank of Ghana to uniBank Ghana limited revoking its banking licence, Bank of Ghana report that uniBank Ghana limited should be placed in official administration. Others include: Purchase and assumption agreement between the plaintiff as Receiver of uniBank Ghana limited and four other banks and Consolidated Bank Ghana limited, all correspondence between the official administrator of uniBank Ghana limited and the Bank of Ghana in respect of the official administration of uniBank especially regarding the instructions and guidance of Bank of Ghana to the official administrator of uniBank Ghana limited. UniBank shareholders sue AG; claim KPMG misled Govt, BoG to revoke their license The Receiver had dragged the 17 shareholders of the bank to court to have them forced to repay a GHC 5.7 billion debt they allegedly owe the defunct bank. The shareholders earlier filed a motion in court seeking to join the Attorney General to an ongoing case in which the Receiver of the Bank, Nii Amanor Dodoo, is pursuing them in court. According to the shareholders, the central bank and the Government of Ghana revoked uniBanks license because they were both misled by the audit firm, KPMG into believing that uniBank was being improperly managed and that the bank was likely to fall into insolvency. To them, the erroneous report by KPMG formed the basis for the revocation of the banks license and its good assets handed over to the Consolidated Bank Ghana. Background uniBank is one of the seven local banks that collapsed as a result of what the Central Bank has called poor corporate governance and mismanagement of depositors funds. UniBank was also one the banks merged into the Consolidated Bank Ghana limited. The central bank among others argued that the affected banks operated with severe capital constraints. Back in March 2018, the central bank announced that uniBank was also on the verge of collapse, and was taken over, by the audit firm, KPMG Ghana. The Bank of Ghana made it known that shareholders of uniBank used monies from the bank to acquire estate properties in their own names. According to the central bank uniBanks shareholders and related parties admitted to acquiring real estate properties in their own names using the funds from the bank under questionable circumstances. The Receiver, Mr. Dodoo subsequently listed 34 properties acquired in the name of shareholders or related entities that could be used to recoup the debt. Some of the properties run into millions of dollars. He maintained that transactions that led to the acquisition of these properties should have been detected and prevented by the banks directors. Dr. Duffuors suit against BoG thrown out An earlier suit by Dr. Duffuor against the Bank of Ghana (BoG) over the revocation of the license of defunct uniBank had been struck out by the Supreme Court as of December 22, 2018. The court presided over by Justice Angelina Mensah-Homiah, said Dr. Duffuors lawyers had used the wrong avenue for a legal address. Dr. Duffuor sued to get the court to declare the license for the Consolidated bank, null and void. The lawsuit came three weeks after the BoG revoked the license of UniBank and four other banks over severe liquidity issues. The BoG, in turn, challenged the capacity of the General Jurisdiction Court hearing the lawsuit. 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. Featured Video ComebackTown is published by David Sher to discuss how to create a more prosperous Birmingham. David Sher is Co-Founder of AmSher Compassionate Collections and past Chairman of Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, ONB, and CAP. Lets turn Birmingham around. Click here to sign up for newsletter. Theres power in numbers. (Opt out at any time) In the mid 1980s when I was Chairman of Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), I was asked to make some comments at the opening of one of the first loft apartment projects in downtown Birmingham. At the time, I dont think 150 people lived downtown. Our local CBS affiliate WIAT-42 was struggling to build audience for its news programs. So they stumbled on a way to increase viewership by trying to embarrass interviewees. After my remarks, the WIAT reporter stuck a microphone in my face and challenged me, Would you and your wife live downtown? Of course the interviewer knew the answer. At the time only real pioneers would have considered moving to a downtown that was totally empty at night and populated mostly by the homeless. But that was then and this is now. Downtown There are currently 7,527 residential units in the downtown area with another 2,183 planned and or announced to date. Bayer Properties developed The Pizitz in the heart of downtown Birmingham with 143 residential units along with The Pizitz Food Hall. Jeffrey Bayer of Bayer Properties recently complained to me that the demand for apartments at The Pizitz is so strong that he wished he had an additional 100 units to rent. Drive along midtown near Regions Field and Railroad Park and there are blocks and blocks of apartment buildings. Having lived in Birmingham all my life and remembering that area as a light industrial wasteland, I feel like Ive landed on another planet. On Highland Avenue, Harbert Realty is building a 17 story apartment complex with 318 units and a 500 space parking garage. In the heart of Five Points South where The Break billiards bar was located a 17 story apartment with 199 units is being built. Construction is everywhere. Other than downtown Recently a young man complained in a piece in ComebackTown that he chose to move to Boston rather than build his career in Birmingham partly because he couldnt afford the increasing real estate values in Avondale. I dismissed his complaint until I read on al.com about the six hottest neighborhoods in metropolitan Birmingham. Of the six, two were South Avondale, Birmingham and Crestwood, Birmingham (adjacent to Avondale). South Avondale Birmingham Pye Parson, who sells houses in the Avondale Crestwood areas for Brik Realty was quoted in that al.com piece, Millennials are flocking to South Avondale for its walkability and proximity to downtownthis is the fun place to be. Young people from across the country are moving to Avondale because of its proximity to cool, locally owned restaurants and breweries. Empty nesters, downsizing from Mountain Brook, are also moving to South AvondaleThe demand is so high that an upgraded and renovated house in the neighborhood will be under contract 24 hours after it hits the market. Your buyer has to be prepared to offer more. There is no negotiating. You have to offer list price or more. According to the Greater Alabama Multiple Listing Service, the average home in Avondale sells for $252,436 or $161 a square foot. Crestwood Birmingham Parson also bragged about the popularity of Crestwood, Birmingham. Crestwood residentsavoid a congested commute to downtown, and they get a family-friendly neighborhood that has a more suburban feel than Avondale. North Crestwood is filled with mostly craftsman -style cottages and South Crestwood is made up of more ranch-style homes. The average house in Crestwood North and Crestwood South sells for $241,100 or about $155 a square foot, according to the MLS. East Lake and Woodlawn I have a friend whose son couldnt afford a house in Avondale and chose to buy a home in East Lake. My friend was a bit concerned about safety, but the decision has worked out well. Many Millennials work downtown or on Southside. They cant afford to live in Homewood, Vestavia Hills, or Mountain Brook and they are not interested in long commutes. They choose to live in Birmingham and as neighborhoods like Avondale and Crestwood fill up, they are finding other options like East Lake or Woodlawn. Birminghams showing real signs of life. Lets keep it going. The flooding across north Alabama on Saturday has led to the closure of a major road in Huntsville. Hobbs Island Road, located in south Huntsville and connecting U.S. 231 with U.S. 431, is out of service, police said Saturday night. Hobbs Island Road is near the Tennessee River and Ditto Landing the riverside recreation area in south Huntsville that has been flooded for several days. Hobbs Island Road is also an alternative route for motorists with the closure last month of Cecil Ashburn Drive over Huntsville Mountain. Gov. Kay Ivey on Saturday night declared a state of emergency for 19 north Alabama counties because of ongoing flooding concerns. The counties included in the governor's resolution: Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Jackson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Morgan, Walker and Winston. Parts of north Alabama have seen days of rain and the ground can no longer absorb it. Those rains combined with the ongoing severe weather today have caused a need for this State of Emergency, Ivey said in a statement released Saturday night. I pray that the people of Alabama will remain safe throughout the night and heed citizens to stay aware of weather conditions. We stand ready and are sending resources to help those who are in need tonight. Ivey has activated the State Emergency Operations Center in Clanton to respond to local requests as needed. The governor also ordered the Adjutant General of Alabama to activate the Alabama National Guard as needed. Areas in Alabama affected by several days of rain have seen or will see historic flood levels, Alabama Emergency Management Agency Director Brian Hastings said in the governor's statement. The State of Emergency provides the Governor with authorities to deploy resources to assist in disaster response and recovery operations, if required. By declaring a State of Emergency, Ivey is directing the appropriate state agencies to exercise their statutory authority to assist the communities and entities impacted by the ongoing flooding and impact of todays severe weather. This is an opinion column. Some weeks seem to show us nothing but the worst. An small-town publisher wants the Ku Klux Klan to ride again. Goodloe Sutton the publisher of the now-disgraced Democrat-Reporter in Linden -- has a every right to say what he thinks, of course. And the world has every right to see him as vile and venal, a sick and twisted troll stained not with ink, but the residue his own filth. Let him say what he thinks. Let the world judge him accordingly. Consequences. A Hoover woman who thought the grass was greener on the other side of the war on terror changed her mind. Hoda Muthana ran off to Syria, hooked up with ISIS and railed against the West, before she decided there is no place like home. She wanted to come back to America. But it was too late. Sometimes your words and deeds make it impossible to go back. She is no longer considered a U.S. citizen. Consequences. Thats what you get with freedom. You get enough rope to trip yourself up, enough room to find yourself in a lonely spot. Its a reminder, every day and every week, that the choices we make affect us in the moment and reflect on us when we are gone. Take the response of Alabamas so-called public service commissioners after Alabama Power announced the closing of coal plant in Walker County. The company has taken every possible step to keep the plant up and running, but the war on coal finally took its toll, PSC President and Alabama Power apologist-in-chief Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh said in the news release. Obama said he wanted to make it too expensive to run coal-fired plants, and he did. I commend President Trump for rolling back as many of the Obama mandates as he could. The problem for us here in Alabama was that Obama placed the biggest bullseye on us, and Trumps valiant effort at finally implementing common sense came along a little too late. PSC lackey Chip Beeker planted his flag on the same dirty plot of land. Obamas negligence and disregard for Alabama families and their jobs is one of the many destructive outcomes of his presidency, Commissioner Chip Beeker said. The liberals who helped drive Obamas agenda continue to put Alabamas economy at risk. Our task moving forward is to keep the ones affected by this and their families in our hearts and in our prayers. Politicize. Demonize. Ignore the changing world around you. Disdain and diminish the consequences. So what if the closure is just part of a bigger picture that includes not only federal regulation but the economics of lower natural gas prices and the cost and genuine concern over the consequences of burning coal? Burn, baby burn, they say. Even though the PSC is supposed to protect the public from the utilities, and not the other way around. Even as Alabama Powers parent company has said it aims to transition away from coal. Even as NASA and other agencies warn about the dangers of doing things the way theyve always been done. In fact Alabama and the Southeast face a high likelihood for future energy disruption and cost because of climate change, the Department of Energy says. High winds, coastal erosion, storm surge and hurricanes threaten oil and gas production, ports, pipelines, refineries and storage facilities, in the Southeast, the department has said. Higher temperatures and more frequent, severe, and longer-lasting heat waves are also expected to increase peak electricity demand while reducing the capacity of thermoelectric generation and transmission systems needed to meet that demand. The words of Cavanaugh and Beeker are archaic, too. And treacherous. They want people to choose politics over solutions. They want to fool them into inaction. They heap toxic fuel on the fires of ignorance for political gain. They want only to protect the powerful. And to ignore the consequences. John Archibald, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is a columnist for Reckon by AL.com. His column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com. The young woman from Alabama who went to Syria to join ISIS four years ago, but now wants to return homem should face the U.S. justice system, said Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL). The woman, Hoda Muthana, went to ISIS-controlled territory in Syria in 2014. She began pleading to come home early last week, saying she regrets joining ISIS. While I certainly understand the initial reaction to prohibit Hoda Muthana from coming back to the United States, I am concerned that allowing anyone who has committed crimes against the people of this country to remain beyond the reach of our justice system is the wrong approach and sends the wrong message," Jones said in a statement emailed to AL.com. My view is that she should absolutely be brought to justice for inciting violence against Americans. Doing so would send a powerful message that any American who lends support to a terrorist organization will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Muthana has no legal basis on which to claim her citizenship. Questions about when her fathers role as Yemeni diplomat ended have caused questions about her citizenship. A lawsuit asking the court to recognize Muthana and in turn, her 16-month-old sons, U.S. citizenship was filed on Thursday. While I cant speak to the facts about Muthanas citizenship status, as a former U.S. Attorney I have full faith in our justice system to hold her accountable for her actions if she were to return to the United States, Jones continued in the statement. President Donald Trump tweeted that Muthana would not be allowed back in the country, saying in a tweet Wednesday I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country! State and local leaders, including Rep. Gary Palmer and Hoover City Councilman John Lyda have said she is not welcome back. Long gone are the days when toll booths served as one of the gateways into and out of Mobile. Left behind are only pictures and memories of classic-looking cars approaching the 25-cent toll booths that sat on the Bankhead Tunnels east side. In 1973, the toll booths were removed and for the past 46 years, Mobiles streets, highways and interstates have been toll-free. Five years from now, the Bankhead Tunnel may be the only remaining free route that directly links downtown Mobile to points east, and vice-versa. The states transportation department is analyzing two new tolls to pay for a massive new Interstate 10 bridge and Bayway widening project. Thats led to concern, at the state and local levels, that the aging Bankhead Tunnel, and perhaps nearby main roads, will be overwhelmed by drivers inclined to toll avoidance. John Cooper, director of the Alabama Department of Transportation, even says that toll avoidance is an issue thats on top of our minds at the giant bridge project takes shape. Our awareness and the ability to comprehend toll avoidance has increased significantly in this department as we have carried on discussions and negotiations, Cooper said. Creative way Under consideration is establishing an overall $3 to $6 toll for motorists to travel I-10s existing George Wallace Tunnel, opened in 1973, as well as travel the 210-foot-high, six-lane I-10 Bridge over the Mobile River. The plan calls for segmented tolling in which the total fee is based on how far someone has driven or will drive on the entire 10-mile length of the Bayway project stretching from Virginia Street in Mobile to U.S. 98 in Daphne. The actual segments tolled and many other specifics arent yet known. They would be set by the yet-to-be chosen private company that wins the tolling contract. Though certain to be unpopular, a toll for the Wallace Tunnel is described by transportation officials as a simple necessity: Without it, thousands of motorists will avoid the new bridge altogether as they move along I-10. Thered be no real relief from the miles-long interstate bottlenecks. Also, a free Wallace Tunnel could mean quick problems in repaying the bridge/Bayway projects giant price tag. ALDOT needs to find a creative way to pay for the project, said Allison Gregg, a spokeswoman for the I-10 Mobile River Bridge project. Its estimated to cost $2 billion and ALDOTs annual operating budget for the entire state is around $1.2 billion. This is the first time in the modern era for the state to examine a toll plan as part of a large public infrastructure project. But tolling, despite its criticism as a regressive tax, is increasingly alluring to politicians who are looking for ways to fix the nations crumbling infrastructure. Alternative proposals In Mobile, the tolling idea still seems very new to the driving public. ALDOT, however, says that tolling I-10 and the Wallace Tunnel have been under study since 2017. Said Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson, We have all been under the assumption there would very likely be a toll involved to make it cost-feasible. Recent TV news reports about the tolling sparked outrage among social-media commenters. At FM Talk 1065, Sean Sullivan said hes been hearing from the masses. There are a lot of people who say the taxes they pay should pay for the bridge and tunnel, said Sullivan, host of the Midday Mobile show. Some are open for the toll and bridge, but not the (Wallace) Tunnel. Politicians are also hearing from constituents. U.S. Rep. Bradly Byrne, R-Fairhope, and a candidate for Senate in 2020, has long objected to tolling. Instead, he supports applying revenues generated from offshore oil and gas leases to finance a lions share of the project. The lease money is paid to four Gulf Coast states through the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA), and can be spent for hurricane evacuation purposes. Lawmakers believe the I-10 Bridge project would qualify. I have offered alternative proposals to the state Department of Transportation, including using GOMESA money, said Byrne. This is ultimately a state decision, but I do have a number of questions and concerns about how the tolling would work and how people in southwest Alabama will be impacted. State Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Daphne, said local officials could suggest an initial cash injection into the project with GOMESA money, perhaps dispensing with toll fares that will fall hard on many local drivers. The authority on how to distribute the GOMESA money rests with Gov. Kay Ivey. And the amount of money could be substantial in the coming years. GOMESA, which began in 2009, provided $37 million shared by the four states in its Phase 1. A new Phase 2 opened in 2018, running through 2055, and the payouts are much more lucrative. Last year, federal officials announced that Alabama was getting $21 million from the offshore leases, with another $5 million going to Mobile and Baldwin counties. That represented just the first year of the new Phase 2. Said Elliott: If you really look at that money and revenue source into the future, you could end up with $600 million to $700 million to offset the need to pay for a toll at all, Elliott said. He acknowledged, though, that there will be plenty of competition for the GOMESA dollars. Avoid tolls Alabamas only four toll roads are operated by private companies: Joe Mallisham Parkway in Tuscaloosa, Emerald Mountain Expressway in Montgomery, the Montgomery Expressway and the Foley Beach Express. Of those, the Foley Beach Express charges the most at $2.75. Cooper, the director of ALDOT, said toll avoidance is a clear issue on the Beach Express, as travelers detour off of it before reaching the toll stations at the Intracoastal Waterway bridge, instead heading to Alabama State Route 59, crossing there. On many summer days, Alabama 59 is so clogged with motorists that backups reach northward to Foley and beyond. Said Cooper, You can literally see the toll bridge, and they are turning right and driving to Gulf Shores. The toll company lowered (its toll) from $3.50 to $2.75 and it seemed to have had no effect. ALDOT is prioritizing a $60 million to $65 million new bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway west of the Foley Beach Express bridge and near the Gulf Shores-Orange Beach city limits. The project needs a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before it can proceed. Cooper said the toll avoidance at the Foley Beach Express bridge provides a case study of the problems that may lie ahead in Mobile: Drivers dodging the tolls as best that they can, looking for free routes. For obvious reasons, the amount of the Mobile toll is an important matter. There are people who are analyzing what would be the most optimal toll, Cooper said. Alter behavior Avoidance, to an extent, already exists. For example, many drivers opt for the U.S. 98 Causeway to cross Mobile Bay. Theyll enter and exit downtown Mobile through the Bankhead Tunnel or cross the Mobile River at the Cochrane-Africatown Bridge. Many of us already use these routes to avoid congestion on I-10, said state Rep. Adline Clarke, D-Mobile, reflecting on whats likely to happen once new tolls are in force. Traffic data for I-10 show that congestion on I-10 is a daily reality. The Wallace Tunnel was built to handle 36,000 vehicles per day, but now averages 75,000. And the number can soar to 100,000 after Memorial Day weekend, when the summer tourism season unfolds. That traffic count is only going upward, according to projections. Some estimates peg the daily total at 180,000 vehicles or more by 2030. In Baldwin County, local officials worry that a new toll, and the resulting avoidance maneuvers by drivers, could affect the wear and tear on their roads. Additionally, they worry about the tolls effect on daily commuters to Mobile from the fast-growing Eastern Shore communities of Daphne, Spanish Fort and Fairhope. ALDOTs Gregg said part of the bridge planning will be consideration for a frequent user discount, though thats not been totally defined. It will alter behavior, Daphne Mayor Dane Haygood said of the toll prospect. Its an expensive trip over the Bay. I know for myself, it will alter the method I choose to travel. Its a disrupter. In Spanish Fort, Mayor Mike McMillan said hes wary of the impact on the U.S 98 Causeway, most of which lies within the citys municipal boundaries. Baldwin County residents, they are going to take the Causeway, said McMillan. They arent going to take the toll road. McMillan said hes frustrated with what he believes is ALDOT underestimating a toll roads true effect on coastal motorists. Ive heard from some parties that 60 to 70 percent of people on the Bayway are out of state and that may be well and good on the Fourth of July weekend, but day in and day out, you cannot convince me that is the right number, McMillan said. He added, During a normal Monday-to-Friday situation, you can never convince me that 60 to 70 percent are from out of town. Way of life The likelihood that Alabama begins tolling existing and future roads and bridges isnt going away anytime soon. Almost every state has a toll road and some sort of governing authority to manage the toll systems, including Alabama. The state unveiled the Toll Road, Bridge and Tunnel Authority in 2009. Even in states where the toll roads have been removed, politicians weigh their unpopular comeback. In Connecticut, where tolls were eliminated decades ago, the governor is proposing to add 53 gantries to assess toll fees statewide to generate $800 million in new revenue. And issues about toll avoidance are confounding policymakers nationwide. In Indiana, politicians recently implemented a 35 percent hike to toll rates assessed on trucks utilizing Interstate 90 that connects into suburban Chicago. Truckers have since fought back and recently filed a class-action lawsuit against the state. Stephanie Kane, spokeswoman with the Alliance for Toll Free States, said the Indiana example has fueled an influx of trucks traversing a parallel route across the state and municipalities seeing increases in trucks rumbling along municipal roads. States need to blend funding sources for transportation, said Kane. We think the tolls are the worst option and should be removed from the conversation altogether. Jonathan Peters, a professor of finance in the Business Department at the College of Staten Island in New York and a Research Fellow at The University Transportation Research Center, said the rise of tolling comes with added pressure among politicians to find alternative resources sources to improve roads and bridges. I talk to people in other states, and they accept it as a way of life, said State Rep. Steve McMillan, R-Gulf Shores. We dont have a lot of experience with it. Peters, who is familiar with the Mobile project, said ALDOT is being consulted by major players in the toll industry. But the effort is also occurring at the same time that Alabama is considering its first increase in the states portion of the fuel tax, which hasnt happened since 1992. A gas tax increase is expected to be a top issue facing the Legislature for the 2019 session that starts next month. Peters said most states are trying to avoid raising fuel taxes, and are forced to tap into a tolling system to pay for projects. The traditional source of funding (for roads and bridges) is the gas tax, said Peters. There is pressure not to raise that, and politicians dont want the pain to go through the political process of raising the gas tax. There is a lot of pressure to do alternative funding. RAMALLAH, West Bank The United States and Israel have both praised the Arab participation in the Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, represented by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir. This participation at the conference, held Feb. 13-14 in Warsaw, was perceived to be a significant Arab-Israeli convergence against Iran. Although the Warsaw conference was centered on the need to confront Iran, the Arab-Israeli convergence has ignited questions on the Palestinian Authority's (PA) standing, particularly since The Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 14 that Riyadh applauded the US Middle East peace plan, also known as "the deal of the century." There are multiple reasons behind the PA refraining from voicing any stance on this convergence. Most notably among these reasons is that although the media depicts Riyadh as opting for a political stance close to Israel and the United States and favoring the deal of the century, the PA believes that there is political commitment to the Palestinian cause from Riyadhs part. It also believes that Saudi Arabia is committed to financially support the Palestinian Treasury, with Riyadh transferring Feb. 13 $60 million, as part of its monthly contribution for November-December 2018 and January 2019. Riyadh contributes with a monthly sum of $20 million to the PA budget and provides intermittent support to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). On the sidelines of the Arab Summit in April 2018, Saudi Arabia announced a $150 million grant to the Islamic endowments in Jerusalem and a sum of $50 million to UNRWA. In May 2018, Saudi Arabia announced that its humanitarian development and social aid to the Palestinians amounted to $6 billion between 2000 and 2018. Mahmoud al-Habbash, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas religious affairs adviser, told Al-Monitor, We cannot make any comment since Palestine was not present at the Warsaw conference. We have never had and at no time in the future we will doubt the Saudi stance toward the Palestinian cause. He said, The things that the president heard from King Salman at their latest meeting in Riyadh affirm the Saudi support to the Palestinians, opposition to the deal of the century and commitment to the Arab peace initiative." Habbash noted, Riyadh never delayed its financial support to the PA. Saudi Arabia and Algeria are the only countries to always pay their share in support of the Palestinian Treasury. On Feb. 12, Abbas had met with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh. Abbas and Mohammed conversed about the latest developments relating to the Palestinian cause. The PA and Fatah stance toward Saudi Arabia has become more conspicuous after Israels i24NEWS reported Feb. 8, quoting Israels Channel 10, that a classified document of the Israeli Foreign Ministry had been leaked. The document points to Saudi Arabias unwillingness to normalize ties with Israel or approve the deal of the century in the absence of Israeli concessions to the Palestinians. Speaking to Saudi Arabias Al-Arabiya channel, a number of Fatah leaders commented on the document. Hussein al-Sheikh, the PA minister of civil affairs and a member of Fatah Central Committee, said Feb. 10, The Palestinian leadership is fully reassured to the Saudi stance and commitment to a unanimous Arab position opposing the deal of the century. [It is also reassured] to its commitment to the Arab initiative and decisions made at the Arab summit in Dhahran. He added, Speaking openly and behind closed doors, Saudi Arabia voiced its opposition to the deal of the century and refusal to give up Jerusalem. Jibril Rajoub, secretary of Fatah's Central Committee, told Al-Arabiya Feb. 10 that the PA has full confidence in the Saudi and pivotal Arab countries positions (Jordan and Egypt), despite the attempts to question their stance on the deal of the century and on the normalization of ties with Israel. The PA has been siding with Saudi Arabia against Iran. It has always accused Tehran of supporting Hamas and deepening the Palestinian internal divide, and this is another reason for not criticizing Riyadh. Speaking to Al-Monitor, Mohammed Hourani, a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, said, The Palestinians are well aware of the unchanged Saudi position on Palestine. Saudi Arabia is a sovereign state and is bedeviled by some regional dossiers, including the Iranian policy. Based on that, Riyadh has the right to pursue policies so as to serve its interests. Commenting on whether or not the Iranian dossier would justify normalization with Israel, Hourani said, "There are two enemies of the Arab world: the Israeli occupation and Iranian interference. He explained, A normalization of ties with Israel can never be to the advantage of the Arabs, because a clear Arab policy is required. They do not need to choose a foe over another. The PA has been subjected to a political and financial embargo from the part of the United States and Israel, which has undermined its ability to decry any Arab position currently. Fatah leader Nabil Amr told Al-Monitor, PA ties with Arab countries are not supposed to be strained, because the PA situation cannot stand such a crisis. The thing that is happening between some Arab states and Israel consists of a gradual rapprochement. This, however, is not a normalization. Omar al-Ghoul, a political analyst who also served as adviser to former Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, told Al-Monitor that the Warsaw conference mainly aimed to normalize Arab-Israeli ties and to distract attention from the Arab-Israeli conflict. The PA is already going through a very complicated and confusing political phase, and this is why it does not need to have additional rivals. Rather it seeks to rally support to its advantage. That's why the Palestinian leadership is being somehow overly wise as it works to overcome the confusion in the Arab stances, he said. He added, Although the PA stressed its commitment to the Arab peace initiative which Riyadh suggested and which provides for the normalization of Arab-Israeli ties only when a Palestinian state is established on the borders of June 4, 1967 it is working on avoiding any clash with any Arab party. It is keen to take it too easy when dealing with the Arab states. At the same time, the PA opposes any normalization without the establishment of a Palestinian state in return, and is committed to the Arab peace initiative, the resolutions of the international legitimacy and the two-state solution." The growing Israeli and US political and financial embargo is a reason behind the PA keenness to safeguard ties with the Arab states, particularly with Saudi Arabia. Perhaps, it is a reason behind the PA refraining from making any comment on the rapprochement with Israel. This is true particularly since Saudi Arabia channels $240 million a year for salaries, which the PA cannot dispense with under the prevailing conditions. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman completed his reduced trip to Asia last week with an array of carefully staged photo opportunities to show he is still a credible figure on the world stage. His hosts Pakistan, India and China avoided awkward issues such as the premeditated murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the war in Yemen. In turn the crown prince promised huge investments and warm diplomatic support. The principal goal of the trip was to restore the crown princes tarnished image and convince his Saudi audiences that he is still accepted internationally. The trip got off to an awkward start. First his arrival in Islamabad was delayed a day with no explanation provided as to why. Then two stops, Indonesia and Malaysia, were suddenly canceled, again without any explanation. Given that royal visits are carefully choreographed well in advance, the schedule changes suggest concerns that security issues arose, including fear of hostile demonstrations. In Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan staged a reception with bells and whistles. The Pakistani air force escorted the princes airplane inside Pakistani airspace. Khan was at the airport and personally drove Prince Mohammed often referred to by his initials MBS to his first appointment. The decades of close Saudi-Pakistani relations were hailed and an even better future promised. Mohammed was awarded Pakistans highest medal and received a golden machine gun. Both sides need the other. Pakistan is in deep economic trouble. It is also accused by its three neighbors Iran, Afghanistan and India of harboring terrorists. Relations with Iran and India are especially strained currently. The crown prince needs a great reception to dismiss the stain of the Khashoggi murder and the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen; both are widely blamed on him. MBS promised $20 billion in new investment in Pakistan. Few experts take this seriously given his track record of big promises with little follow-through. Very few of the deals hyped during President Donald Trumps visit to Riyadh in 2017 have materialized. India insisted that the crown prince could not fly directly from Islamabad to New Delhi, a sign of how dangerous Indo-Pakistan relations are in the wake of several terrorist attacks by the Pakistani-created Jaish-e-Muhammad group this month. So the Saudis flew home to Riyadh from Pakistan and then back to India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out another red carpet and hugged his visitor. The Saudis promised $100 billion in deals. The prime minister faces elections this spring so he wants to play the role of statesman. In China, Mohammed walked on the Great Wall, an iconic photo op, and was filmed meeting with the Chinese leadership. China is Saudi Arabias biggest trading partner. He also publicly supported Chinas policy of interning its Muslim Uighur population in concentration camps as necessary to fight terrorism. A Saudi endorsement of the Chinese anti-Muslim program was a big concession by Riyadh. The backing of the Custodians of the Two Holy Mosques gives Beijing some cover in the Muslim world. Uighur activists had urged the Saudi leadership to help them but they were ignored. Saudi silence ensures the silence of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Meanwhile, King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud has gone to Sharm el-Sheikh to attend the first summit conference of the Arab League and the European Union. Its his first foreign visit in more than a year. At the same time the kingdom announced that Khaled bin Salman was out as ambassador to Washington, a recognition that his association with his older brother made him toxic in the capital. He will become the deputy defense minister and Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud will be the new ambassador. Appointing the daughter of a very successful longtime ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, is an attempt to reboot the kingdoms image in America. Its a recognition that the Khashoggi scandal is still a hot button issue in the United States. Saudi Arabia has been tilting East for the last two decades because that is where the market is for its oil exports. The crown princes tour is a follow-up to visits by Kings Abdullah and Salman. It is also a way to distract attention from the negative press and commentary about the crown prince in America, Canada and Europe over Khashoggi, Yemen and other issues. But it doesnt make those problems go away. The question is when will the crown prince be able travel to Western democracies again. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps warning his voters against their fellow Arab voters. In 2015, his famous call on Election Day warning that the Arabs were flocking in droves to the polls was successful in getting out the right-wing vote to support him and head off the Arabs. On Feb. 21, Israel Resilience leader Lt. Gen. (res.) Benny Gantz and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, with the participation of two other former military chiefs of staff, Moshe Yaalon and Gabi Ashkenazi, announced the formation of the new political platform Blue and White. In light of this event and the threat it represents to his continued rule, Netanyahu has reverted to frightening his constituents with the Arab devil. In a scaremongering speech Feb. 21, immediately following the festive unveiling of the Blue and White alliance, Netanyahu warned that its intention was to wrest power from the right with the help of the Arab minority. Lapid and Gantz rely on Arab parties who not only don't recognize the State of Israel, but want to destroy it, Netanyahu said in a televised speech. Whereas Netanyahu in 2015 warned voters that his Likud partys hold on power was under threat, he has now taken the scare tactics up a notch to warn that the entire state! is under threat. Why? Because the Arab parties, that is, Arab voters, aspire to destroy it. Netanyahu is reading the new political map correctly. He analyzes the polls not only according to the number of Knesset seats each party is forecast to get, but also according to his future options for forming a government coalition after the elections. Polls conducted Feb. 21 give Blue and White a distinct lead of 35 or 36 seats, at least four more than Netanyahus party. Some polls put the gap between the two parties at six seats. These elections will be determined according to the size of each bloc left and right as has been the case in all previous Israeli elections. The right-wing bloc (comprised of the Likud and small rightist parties) could garner 48 seats, just like the center-left (the Blue and White, Labor and Meretz parties). The ultra-Orthodox parties (Shas and Yahadut HaTorah) are forecast to get 12 seats, equal to the number predicted for the Arab parties. Thus, those who will tip the scale in favor of center-left or right and decide who will form Israels next government are the ultra-Orthodox and the Arabs. That is why Netanyahu did not wait for Election Day and for the polls to open and rushed to launch his scare attack. In the April 9 elections, the four Israeli Arab parties will run on two separate lists, after the Arab Joint List alliance formed in 2015 was dismantled at the initiative of Knesset member Ahmad Tibi. The smaller of the four parties, Balad and Raam, fearing they would not garner sufficient votes to pass the electoral threshold, joined forces at the last minute before the Feb. 21 deadline for submitting all candidate lists. The communist Hadash party and Ahmad Tibis Taal party also agreed on a joint ticket. Hadash and Taal have much in common. They both appeal to secular Arab society, seek to attract young voters and to restore Arab public trust that has been badly eroded by Israels political system. Together and separately, their platforms focus on the economic and social hardships facing young Israeli Arabs in attempting to attain acceptance as equals. Hadash is mostly a communist, socialist party, while Knesset member Tibi describes his party as social-democratic. In recent months, Tibi has been meeting young people in Arab towns and villages, asking them to believe in the Israeli political system and warning that boycotting it would contribute to perpetuating their discrimination and rift with Israeli society. If the political right forms the next government, he argues, it will marginalize them even more and further deprive them of their rights as sons and daughters of this land. Hadash Chair Ayman Odeh, too, has been reiterating that most of the Arab public he represents is eager to integrate into Israeli society, to form a part of it and for its Arabs to live their lives as civic-minded equals. Polls give the Tibi-Odeh alliance about 10 Knesset seats a significant chunk that could help the center-left bloc form the next governing coalition. Absent their support, the Gantz-Lapid alliance does not stand a chance of breaking the right-left electoral tie. Even before Hadash and Taal announced their union, young Arabs were flooding social media with posts urging their fellow Arabs to exercise their civil rights and prevent a victory for the right. The message was clear vote for whichever party you want, not necessarily the Arab parties, with the focus on stemming the flood of undemocratic, discriminatory legislation enacted by successive right-wing Netanyahu governments over the past decade, which peaked in 2018 with the passage of the Nationality Law that officially downgrades Israeli Arabs to second-class citizens. Munib Nahle, a resident of the central Arab town of Taibe, told Al-Monitor that if the radical right grows stronger, Arab citizens will be unable to live in Israel with dignity, especially after Netanyahu pushed a political merger of radical right elements. If radical right activists, who are followers of [the late Rabbi Meir] Kahane, get into the Knesset, they are quite capable of shouting death to Arabs. If the Arab citizens do not wake up and do the simplest of things vote, they must not complain later, he says. Nahle says he started out with some friends in the area where he lives, who were then joined on WhatsApp groups and social media forming what has become a growing movement of young people calling on their fellow Arab citizens to stop moaning and take your future into your own hands. Nahle called his WhatsApp group The Arabs are flocking. He says it has generated a shift in the mindset of many Arabs, who now agree that elections in Israel are not only for Jews but for all citizens. Amar Daka, the chief producer of the Arabic news website Al-Masdar, was the first to use this name, taken from Netanyahus infamous warning on Election Day 2015 (warning his constituency that Arab voters were coming out in droves to the polls). The Arabs are flocking was the headline of a December 2016 editorial he wrote in reaction to Netanyahus former Knesset coalition whip, Knesset member David Bitan, who said, Arabs flock to the polls? Id prefer if they didnt show up to vote at all. I call on my Arab friends, who see how the waves of cheap populism and racism are pounding away at Israeli democracy, to flock en masse to the ballot boxes in every conceivable way, Daka wrote at the time. Vote for your representatives, no matter from which party, take part with all your might in the democratic game lest it trample you.. The Hadash-Taal alliance is counting on this message, which appears to be making inroads into Arab society. Odeh and Tibi realize that the Gantz-Lapid alliance will work in their favor, but they are not interested in serving the anti-Netanyahu bloc so much as being a force to be reckoned with against fascism and Kahanism. Indeed, after the two Arab parties announced their joint ticket, Odeh said, While the Kahanist right is uniting, we must make sure that not a single Arab voice is lost, for the sake of the Arab interests and for all forces of democracy. An hour later, Netanyahu accused the Arab parties of striving for Israels destruction. And this is just the beginning. https://www.aish.com/jw/s/LChaim-A-Childless-Holocaust-Survivor-Discovers-He-Has-a-Namesake.html An inspiring true story about two Chaims and the miracle of life. My wife Chavi and I were visiting my folks in California. We picked a random Shabbat to go out there and went to the local Chabad for services. A family from out of town was also there that Shabbat celebrating their daughter's Bat Mitzvah. We stayed for the Kiddush and the dynamic Rabbi Mendy Cohen led the entire community in singing, inspiring Torah learning and some hearty l'chaims. The party continued until late in the afternoon. At some point, I asked the father of the Bat Mitzvah where they originally came from and he told me he was from Mexico City and had converted to Judaism many years ago before he had his kids. Rabbi Welton with Holocaust survivor Chaim Grossman while wearing suit hand-tailored by Holocaust survivor Martin Greenfield. "So why'd you pick your Hebrew name of Chaim?" He told me that he had once spent a Friday night Shabbat service at a synagogue in Westchester, NY back when he was just starting out on his spiritual journey. One of his Rabbis had told him that if he ever met a Holocaust survivor, he should remember these words: "A Holocaust survivor who doesn't believe in God....is a normal person. A Holocaust survivor who does...is an angel." During that Friday night service, as they were dancing around welcoming the holiness of the Shabbat Queen, he looked down at the arm of the person he was holding hands with and saw numbers. He felt overwhelmed that he was dancing with an angel and couldn't control the urge to ask the man his name. The old man smiled and said, "Chaim." At that moment, this man from Mexico City decided that when it came the time to pick his Hebrew name, he would name himself after the angel he was lucky to dance with. Years passed and he never saw the man again. I asked this father, "Is the survivors name Chaim Grossman?" His mouth dropped open. "How do you know that?" I told him I'm the Rabbi of a synagogue in Westchester. One of my congregants survived Buchenwald, was in the Israeli Air Force, and then immigrated to America. His name is Chaim. This father began to cry. He didnt even known that Chaim Grossman was still alive. I leaned in close to him and told him that Chaim Grossman was very much alive and that I would be seeing him the following Shabbat. After Shabbat , we took this photo as this father wanted to send his love to his "Godfather." The author with Chaim Valencia. The next Shabbat, I asked Chaim Grossman to sit in the center of the synagogue as I began my sermon. I told him that 3,000 miles away there lived a man that carried his name and who was raising his family in a traditional, observant home. "This is incredible," I said. "What is the probability that on the exact Shabbat, the only Shabbat in the entire year that we would fly out to California, it would be the same Shabbat of his daughter's Bat Mitzvah? What are the chances that after hours of celebrating, we would have that conversation about the origin of his name? And what are the chances that the Shabbat for which I would return to New York City to tell this story to his namesake would be the same Shabbat on which we read the Torah portion of Shemot. (Exodus) which literally means "Names," as our Sages teach that the way our ancestors broke free of their slavery was by keeping their Jewish names!" I then pulled out the photo, printed and framed, and looked Chaim in the eye. As he raised his numbered arm to receive the photo of his "Godson," everyone began to cry. You see, Chaim had never been blessed with any children. And yet now he had a proud Jew halfway around the world who was carrying his name and who would pass it on to his children's children's children. I will never forget the moment when Chaim stood up and blessed God. I will never forget the deafening applause that followed. And I will never forget the image of this holy Holocaust survivor hobbling out of the synagogue holding tightly onto the framed photo of a miracle. As my father, Rabbi Benzion Welton, taught me, "Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous." I had thought I was going to California on vacation but I was really being sent to bear witness to a profound lesson about "Chaim" which means "Life." As the Talmud says, "If our descendants are alive, then our patriarchs are alive" (Taanit 5b). Rabbi Weltons latest project is a historical fiction novel for teens aimed to teach Torah values through an exciting story of magic and adventure that takes place during the Spanish Inquisition. To help him, click here. https://www.aish.com/jw/id/Israel-is-Over-the-Moon-with-its-Spacecraft-Blastoff.html Israel is only the fourth nation to send a spaceship to the moon. Hoping to inspire a new generation of Israeli science and technology students and join the elite ranks of the United States, Russia and China, the SpaceIL moon landing mission took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida 8.45pm Thursday, catching a lift on a US commercial SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Thirty-eight minutes after takeoff, Beresheet meaning In the beginning and named after the first book of the Torah, successfully detached from the Falcon rocket also carrying Indonesian and US satellites and continued its journey to the moon. If everything goes to plan, the Beresheet it will reach the moons orbit in one months time and land on its surface on April 11. A project of high tech start up SpaceIL, and the first ever privately owned journey to the moon, the mission is hoping to put rocket boosters on Israels future technological frontiers and inspire the next generation of science, technology and engineering students. SpaceIL founders with the Bible and other files heading for the moon. The spacecraft is also sending an inspiring message to Israel and the Jewish People. A time capsule it carries contains a miniature copy of the Bible etched onto a tiny metal disc along with digitized files of Israeli cultural, historical and technological achievements, as well as an Israeli flag which it will raise on landing. High Ambitions This story has its humble beginnings when three young Israeli engineers, Yariv Bash, Kfir Damari and Yonatan Winetraub all in their early and mid-thirties spotted a Facebook post in 2011, announcing a challenge by Google to build, launch and land an unmanned spacecraft on the Moon. Eager for the challenge, they created a high tech startup which they named SpaceIL, and filed their successful application two hours before the deadline. After a lengthy process, and being the only Israeli team in the contest, in January 2017 they were announced as one of the competitions five finalists. When Google pulled its promise of a $20m prize at the competitions expiration last year, the Israeli team felt they were in too deep to give up. Understanding the impact of such a major leap in the advancement of science and technology education in Israel, SpaceIL turned to Jewish philanthropists and the Israeli government who answered their calls. Shoe-String Budget Led by South African funder Morris Kahn who put down $100,000 straight away, others followed suit and soon the project was back on course with involvement from the Israel Aerospace Industries, Space Division. Built in the town of Yehud in central Israel, the project has garnered huge international interest especially due to its streamline budget. The $100m Beresheet cost to build may sound like a lot of money, but its peanuts in the world of space exploration and hence has thrown open the door internationally to more future privately owned moon discovery missions. Our aim was to build a tiny lander that would weigh only a dozen pounds and cost just $10 million, but the challenge turned out to be much harder and much more expensive, said Yonatan Damari, one of the founders of SpaceIL. Nevertheless standing less than 2 meters tall and weighing 1300 pounds, most of which is fuel, this is still considerably smaller and lighter than any previous moon landing attempt. Instead of powering the quarter million miles needed to reach the moon directly from earth, it is taking the long eco route some 400 million miles using limited short fuel burst to gradually exit the earths orbit and in around a months time, enter the moons orbit, where it will once again power itself with short bursts towards the lunar surface. During and after landing, Beresheet will use a special instrument designed by Israels Weizmann Institute of Science to measure the moons magnetic field to learn more about its iron core, while NASA has installed a tracking system that will enable the control team it to precisely locate the spacecraft on the moons surface after the landing. We are a small, but huge country Watching a live streaming of the launch at the Israeli control room in Yehud at 3AM this past Friday morning, Israel time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed, A great step for Israel, and a huge step for Israeli technology. Winetraub holding a copy of coin-sized nano Bible on Beresheet. A marvelous thing is happening here, he said. Of the other three countries, (the United States, Russia & China) that have launched spacecraft to the moon, one is 800 times larger than us, one is 500 times larger than us and one is a little less. We are a small, but a huge country huge in initiatives, huge in its ability to do things, huge in achievements. He added, I asked that a Tanakh, an Israeli flag and the writing 'Am Yisrael Chai' [the People of Israel Live] be taken to the moon. They told me 'It's okay. It has already been taken care of.' As well as flying a message of Jewish pride, it will also raise an Israeli flag when it lands. Indeed, a time capsule on board the Israeli spacecraft contains a micro Bible etched onto a tiny metal disc along with digital files of the Israeli national symbols, declaration of Independence and the travelers prayer. As well as flying a message of Jewish pride, it will also raise an Israeli flag when it lands. Two weeks ago, as he inserted the time capsule into the spacecraft, Yonatan Winetraub, one of three SpaceIL founders, said: We do not know how long the spacecraft and the time capsule will remain on the moon. Our aim is to inspire the next generation of science and technology students. Its up to the next generation of Israelis to go there and bring it back. Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier? Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up! Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page. As we moved toward the official start of summer on June 20, sunflower prices were taking a hit and were off by about $2 from prices earlier in When that happened, I wasnt surprised. I wasnt sad about it either. Visually unappealing to me, I never cared much for Pinterests layout and preferred to spend my time on other social media platforms. Id honestly forgotten about peoples pages being pulled off of Pinterests until a dear friend mentioned it to me on Thursday evening. Friday morning, articles were being circulating about those recent unpinnings. I tried to log on to see if we were still being banned from using Pinterest. Late last year, I heard that Pinterest was shutting down individual and advocacy groups accounts for pinning misinformation about the US liability-free vaccines. I knew that it was just a matter of time that AofA would make that same hit list. In mid-December, I received an email from Pinterest that information Id pinned on our boards long ago were in violation of one of their policies. Pinterest was never one of my favorite websites to visit. But with readers all over the world using all manner of social media platforms including Pinterest, I created an account for Age of Autism there several years ago. Once in a while, when Id remember to, Id pin something under our Great Reads, Good Movies, or Friends of AofA boards. A new book to check out, a documentary of interest, or an infographic that was making the rounds on other peoples advocacy pages were what Id typically pin. Never more than an afterthought though, Id spend more time adding links and reading material to our AofA Facebook fan page. With a much larger audience, FB was the place to be. Will they remove our ability to call each other from our home phones, disable our cell phones so we can text each other, or remove emails access from our personal computers? Yep. We are. We lost a platform, but we have other places we can share our stories. Well continue to do that that for as long as we can. Were safe for now elsewhere on the web. But its not surprising that some people, like Congressman Schiff, would rather we keep quiet wherever we log in. To write such a letter, and for it to get as much attention as it did, tells me that the industry, its supporters, and its benefactors are getting more and more nervous. Theyre not worried about failing vaccines or corporate espionage though; theyre scared of informed moms and dads! I can see why Schiff sent the letter, but if hes going to send a stern warning to Facebook and Google, wheres his letter to Reddit? Another online social platform, Reddit gets millions of visitors like Pinterest, Google and FB do. Schiff wants the industrys vaccine information to be better guarded! But just the week before his letter was sent, the mainstream media went absolutely gaga over a teenager who consulted Reddit users, not a doctor, for medical advice. I guess because it was a pro-vaccine question, and one that made an anti-vaccine mom out to look like the bad guy, its okay to keep Reddit up and running. Oddly, that mundane Man Gets Vaccines story made front-page news. The story fed into the medias orchestrated vaccine frenzy and took over as many headlines as possible. In multiple newspaper sections U.S., World, Local, Science, Health, and on numerous news station channels around the globe, that teens story went viral. Personally, I didnt think that story was newsworthy at all. A legal adult opts for liability-free vaccines? So what. That wasnt and still isnt newsworthy in my eyes. But the 18-year olds private healthcare decision that was overly broadcasted and shared around the world just so happened to occur during intense legislative measles campaigns here in the US. I guess when youre feeding the industry versus going up against it, youre allowed to stay and play for as long as they want your sound bite to last. Censorship is nothing new, but so many more people and groups are working overtime now to remove our already-established rights. Those include freedom of speech and, in some states, vaccine choice. Once a private matter, vaccination has become open season not just in the news, but just about everywhere. The overreaching of the government and the undermining of its people has gotten more than just a little ridiculous lately. In fact, the Food Drug Administration is trying to get in on things, too. Can they step in? Do they have the authority to take away American citizens medical rights? I dont know. I do know that they, and our representatives, need to hear from us right away and before those hearings start on Wednesday. In 2013 when I signed on to Pinterest, a startup that had seemingly nothing to do with medicine or the vaccine industry, I saw it as a tool to connect with other like-minded parents. As had happened on other social media platforms Id been using, I quickly did find other people and was encouraged by them to check out their boards and pins. Even though I barely visited the site, Id get frequent emails that so-and-so and such-and-such began to follow us. Other alerts reported that our boards were beginning to be repinned. We didnt get too many private messages, but the message we did get were positive ones. My goal on Pinterest was to create another safe place for our many readers, and I got to do just that. Our boards and page may be gone there, but were here to stay. Social media platforms and industry mouthpieces may get away with shutting us down, but itll take lots more to shut us up completely. If Pinterest, Google, or Facebook think wed be lost without them, we wont be. Well rise up like weve had to in the past. You can count on us to do that whenever our rights, and yours, are being threatened. Cathy Jameson is a Contributing Editor for Age of Autism. SACRAMENTO, Calif. - It is a tough time to be a Republican in California. There are no Republicans holding statewide office right now, they are a super minority in the state legislature, and of the 55 members of Congress from California, only seven are Republicans. This weekend the party was meeting in Sacramento to choose their new leader. All the candidates were promising a new future. "I'm leaving tomorrow -- and you all want to make sure that I'm out the door," said former California Republican party chair Jim Brulte. Sunday a new leader of the party was elected. Jessica Patterson has been helping Republicans get elected at the local level for years and says the party should embrace anyone who wants to be a Republican. Other candidates for the position included a former candidate for Governor, Travis Allen. He said, "We all believe that California Republicans must fight to win again in California." Steve Frank. another one of the candidates is a longtime political consultant who said it is all about signing up new voters. "We need to stop the harvesting of absentee ballots," he said, "because there's no chain of custody when the ballots are harvested. We need to be aggressive and bold party to stand up to the Democrats." Patterson received just over half of the votes from the 1,200 delegates but says she hopes to help Republicans focus on California issues instead of the President's issues. "Every single day they are trying to take away our freedom, and our liberty -- and they are trying to tax everything that is out there," she said. --- UPDATE 3:13 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019 - This version was issued by the AP to correct that Patterson received just over half of the votes from 1,200 delegates, not support from more than 1,200 delegates KATHLEEN RONAYNE Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Hurting California Republicans chose a party insider Sunday to lead them forward after their party suffered stinging defeats in 2018, rejecting two candidates backed by activists who favored a stronger embrace of President Donald Trump. The California Republican Party's delegates had to decide where the party would go next with its leadership, and a majority of about 1,200 delegates chose Jessica Patterson, who previously headed a Republican candidate recruitment and training program. Trump's election fueled what was already a downward slide for California's Republicans, who have not won statewide office since 2006 and rank as third party status in voter registration behind Democrats and independents. The 2018 election pushed the party further toward the brink of extinction in the nation's most populous state, with Democrats flipping seven U.S. House seats once considered GOP strongholds and Republicans holding less than a quarter of state legislative seats. Patterson argued bringing the Republican message into new communities would be the key to success and said she would push candidates to focus on California issues rather than the president's message. Her two rivals, former state Assemblyman Travis Allen and party activist Steve Frank, said energizing the party base that loves Trump was the key to success. Both are strident backers of the president. But Patterson had the backing of most elected officials, including top Trump supporters like U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. She was viewed as the candidate better prepared to raise money and do the grunt work required of a chair. "Let's serve notice to the Democrats in California that we are back and we are ready to deliver on the Republican comeback," Patterson said after winning. "Then let's dig in and make it happen." Her opponents argued she represents more of the same leadership that led the party into decline. Both charged the state party has not advocated for strong conservative values and shied away from full-throated Trump support. Allen came in second and Frank placed third. "California Republicans are every bit as Republican as Republicans across the country," Allen said in an interview last week. "It's about time we have a Republican party that stands for our values, our ideals and supports our Republican president." After the vote, Allen said only that he hopes "the Republican party starts fighting again for the good of all Californians." Patterson said prior to the election she supports Trump. Beyond McCarthy, she had the backing of key Trump supporters such as U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes and the state's two Republican National Committee members. But some of Trump's most fervent California supporters were disappointed by the outcome. Stephanie Sporcich, a teacher, said she got involved with the state party because of Trump's election. She cast her vote for Allen, and saw the chairmanship race as a battle between the grassroots and the establishment. "We're the ones that are the strongest Trump supporters with Trump values," she said, adding she and other new activists have already successfully infiltrated the party structure and will keep working to do so. But Elizabeth Patock, another teacher, liked Patterson's focused on bringing "non-traditional Republicans" into the party. Patock did not vote for Trump and said she dislikes how ugly national politics have become. She said Patterson "has a positive message." Patterson is the first Latina to lead the state party. She did not make her personal heritage a major piece of her campaign, but said the party needs to use "new messengers." California Republicans have struggled to appeal to the state's growing Latino and Hispanic population because of the party's position on immigration, among other things. Patterson did not provide specifics Sunday on how she will deal with that issue. As a gesture of goodwill, she named Frank and Allen as co-chairs of a voter registration committee. Both had highlighted the party's outsourcing of voter registration activities as a major flaw. And she called for unity among California Republicans. "Our success will be a team effort, no egos, no personal agenda, no drama," she said. "We're going to be about one thing: Winning." ___ This version corrects that Patterson received just over half of the votes from 1,200 delegates, not support from more than 1,200 delegates. --- Updated 12:07 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019 - By KATHLEEN RONAYNE, Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The California Republican Party on Sunday selected a new leader focused on nuts-and-bolts organizing and raising money over two rivals who favored a more stronger embrace of President Donald Trump. Jessica Patterson, who previously led a candidate recruitment and training program, won support from just more than 1,200 of the party's most dedicated backers to win the chairmanship. She'll now be tasked with leading the party into 2020 after stinging defeats in November 2018. The party now holds just seven of the state's 53 U.S. House seats and less than a quarter of all seats in the state Legislature. "Today we are starting the next chapter in our party's history," Patterson said. "Our success will be a team effort, no egos, no personal agenda, no drama. We're going to be about one thing: Winning." The vote for chair was the highlight of a three-day convention that featured speeches from prominent Republicans, tables of Trump-themed memorabilia and debates over how to best lead the party forward. Patterson, the first Latina to hold the chairmanship, took over immediately following the vote. The convention was being held just blocks from the Democrat-dominated state Capitol, a clear reminder of how much the Republican Party's power has diminished in Sacramento. Patterson defeated Travis Allen, a former state lawmaker and unsuccessful candidate for governor in 2018, and Steve Frank, a longtime party activist. She announced they'll lead a new task force on voter registration, an issue both discussed in their campaigns. The race had focused on who has the superior organization and fundraising skills needed to run the party and who is the strongest backer of President Donald Trump. Allen and Frank painted themselves as candidates with fingers on the pulse of the party's grassroots. They said consultants and members of the so-called establishment have led the party into decline. Patterson, meanwhile, cast herself as the candidate with the relationships and know-how to raise money and bring the party's message into new corners of the deeply Democratic state. Her backers said she was far better poised to do the grunt work necessary of being party chair, such as maintaining relationships with donors. "I think Jessica can do the job I don't think the other two can," said state Assemblyman Chad Mayes, who is part of the party's "Never Trump" wing. "The role of the chair is not to give big soaring speeches to adoring crowds. The role of the chair is to do the hard work." Although her opponents painted her as the candidate of the party's "Never Trump" wing, Patterson also had the backing of some of Trump's top California supporters, including two Republican National Committee members and U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press) --- SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The California Republican Party is meeting to choose a new chair to lead it into the 2020 election. More than 1,500 Republicans have gathered in Sacramento this weekend for a three-day convention following stinging losses in 2018. The party holds less than a quarter of state legislative seats and just seven of 53 U.S. House seats. Delegates are choosing Sunday between three chair candidates. They are Jessica Patterson, a party organizer; Travis Allen, a former state lawmaker; and Steve Frank, a longtime activist. Allen says engaging the GOP's grassroots and strongly supporting President Donald Trump are keys to the party's success. Patterson says she is best poised to raise money and bring the party's message to new voters. Frank says his long involvement with the party is an asset. (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press) Redding's sixth-annual Hops and Shops event was a huge success. The event is put together by Viva Downtown and combines beer tasting with shopping. Event-goers got a map and a tasting glass then walked around to all the different downtown shops sampling more than 20 kinds of beer. Participating shop owners say it's a great way to draw people to the area. We've seen a huge turnout, Enjoy the Store owner James Mazzotta said. And it's just a lot of fun. It's exciting. We really get to meet a lot of really cool people. They get to be exposed to downtown and stores that they're not familiar with. Stores like Carousel on Yuba Street. Every year, we have multiple people that have never been here before, Carousel owner Suzanne Russell said. So it's just so positive for all the businesses down here to get new foot traffic, exposure. 26 shops in downtown Redding played host to more than 20 different micro-breweries. Some of them were local and some were from as far as Southern California. Organizers estimate they sold more than 400 tickets to the event, slightly more than last year. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE At the end of a hourslong meeting in Albuquerque on Thursday night, officials from U.S. Department of Energy agencies had failed to persuade an independent nuclear safety board and a contingent of interested New Mexicans that a DOE rules change wont restrict efforts to keep the states national laboratory sites safe. Bruce Hamilton, a Republican who chairs the presidentially appointed Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, said DOE officials had continued to downplay the impact of DOE Order 140.1, which last May placed new limits on the boards 30-year-old oversight role. We have repeatedly heard from DOE representatives that they really dont mean what they wrote (in the rule) or at least that they really dont intend to follow what they wrote, said Hamilton. He said this is a particularly bizarre argument coming out of the nuclear culture that has set the standard for following the written rules to the letter. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The new rule says the private contractors that manage facilities like the Los Alamos and Sandia national labs cant respond to DNFSB information requests without notifying or the approval of a DOE liaison and that the weapons facilities can refuse to provide information that is pre-decisional or that the DOE determines on its own is not needed by DNFSB inspectors to do their jobs. Also, the rule excludes more than 70 percent of weapons complex facilities from DNFSBs formal safety recommendations that require a response from the DOE. The definition of public health and safety under DNFSB oversight was changed to exclude the safety of workers at nuclear facilities. The safety boards regular reports posted on the web often focus on whether protocols to protect employees, and not just the public in general, are being followed. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad could be one of the sites most affected, as the underground nuclear waste storage facilitys hazard category would fall outside formal DNFSB jurisdiction. Coincidentally, at Thursdays meeting at the Albuquerque Convention Center, Don Hancock, of the watchdog Southwest Research and Information Center, broke some news about WIPP. The DOEs own safety and security assessment wing will investigate WIPP contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership LLC over industrial hygiene issues. DOEs Office of Enterprise Assessments says on its website that it will probe incidents at WIPP that took place from July through October last year including multiple overexposures to hazardous chemicals, including carbon tetrachloride, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide, as well as a series of heat-stress incidents. Effect on boards oversight? Those who spoke from the DOE side Thursday night included leaders of the National Nuclear Security Administrations field offices for Los Alamos and Sandia. They downplayed the idea that the new rule means major changes and that they expected personnel at the labs to continue to cooperate with the safety board. And the boards own technical director said the rules impact on the DNFSBs mission so far has been negligible. Steve Goodrum, of the Los Alamos field office, said he didnt foresee any fundamental change in the relationship between nuclear facility managers and the safety board. Board members said they believed the DOE representatives present were sincere and had good intentions. But they said the issues about the DNFSBs role under the new rule cant be left to personalities. Board member Joyce L. Connery said the comments by the NNSA folks at the meeting dont match up with the literal words of the DOE order and that the rule should be suspended and revised. Board members also said the language of the rule isnt consistent with federal law, including the Atomic Energy Act. During a long public comment period, Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico went the board members one better and said the rule is flat-out illegal. He said that as the Los Alamos lab ramps up the production of plutonium pits, the cores of nuclear weapons, and safety lapses are reported by the DNFSB, the Department of Energy wants to shoot the messenger. Dont let the DOE or NNSA mess with you, he told the board. John Heaton, chair of the Mayors Nuclear Task Force in Carlsbad, said the group is concerned about the DNFSBs access to personnel and documents at WIPP under the new rule. We would hate to lose you, he told the board. He said recovery from a WIPP accident in 2014 when a drum of radioactive waste improperly packed at Los Alamos breached and released contamination will cost $3 billion. Trish Williams-Mello of the Los Alamos Study Group said the board should make it clear to Congress, which created the board, that the board cant protect energy defense workers under the new rule. At a minimum, she said, Congress should expand the safety boards mandate to explicitly cover worker safety. The Albuquerque hearing was the safety boards third on the DOE rule. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... CUCUTA, Colombia A U.S.-backed drive to deliver foreign aid to Venezuela met strong resistance as troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro blocked the convoys at the border and fired tear gas on protesters in clashes that left two people dead and 300 injured. As night fell Saturday, opposition leader Juan Guaido refrained from asking supporters to continue risking their lives trying to break through the governments barricades at the Colombian and Brazilian borders. Instead, he said he would meet Vice President Mike Pence Monday in Bogota. But he did make one last appeal to troops to let the aid in and urged the international community to keep all options open in the fight to oust Maduro. Earlier, Maduro, who considers the aid part of a coup plot, broke diplomatic relations with Colombia. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal By Ed Riveras own account, he hasnt toiled all that much to earn a living. Like they say, if you find a job you love, youll never work a day in your life.' He apparently found those jobs working for nonprofits. Rivera, 66, president and chief executive officer of United Way of Central New Mexico, will retire at the end of March, after 10 years working for the organization and decades working in the nonprofit sector. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ I still feel as strong about the mission of nonprofits, particularly United Way, as I did when I started, he says. Nevertheless, its the right moment to move on and he has been planning his transition for some time, he says. Im not entirely sure what the future looks like for me, though one thing on his agenda is to spend more time with his elderly mother in Colorado Springs. When youre 95, every day is a blessing, and Id like to be with her as much as I can, he says. Im not moving there, but I guess Ill be spending a lot more time on I-25 getting up there to see her. United Way has been a big part of Riveras life. Much of his early professional career was spent working for the nonprofit. Under his guidance, the United Way of Central New Mexico has evolved in a number of important ways, says Jason Harrington, board chair of UWCNM. Eds work over the past 10 years has led our United Way to a focused approach that centers around supporting families and graduating our youth, he says. This targeted, collective impact strategy will mean we will prioritize helping families prevent bad outcomes while developing resiliency in many areas of their lives. Rivera recalls that when he first took the job at UWCNM, the organization was having success with campaigns, raising designated dollars for distribution to designated non profits. But as other needs were identified in the community a new focus emerged, particularly a need to support education and educational outcomes. That gave rise to the Mission: Graduate initiative, a cradle-to-career program whose goal is to increase the number of graduates with college degrees and certificates to 60,000 above the normal historical growth rate by 2020. We found as we were doing the work on Mission: Graduate, sometimes the stumble that kids or families were having was not necessarily related to the education system or the school environment, but with problems in the family household or in the community that kept them from being a regular attendee, or maybe kept them distracted, Rivera says. That observation led to the creation of a companion initiative, Mission: Families, to help support and encourage stable households in the community, and provide early intervention to deal with domestic violence, child abuse or other negative situations in a home. In UWCNMs most recently completed campaign, $18.2 million was raised to support 82 community fund programs and 3,400 designated agencies, as well as United Ways major initiatives of Mission: Graduate and Mission: Families. Additional programs at UWCNM include Tax Help, 211 and the Center for Nonprofit Excellence. A lot of the money we raise through the Community Fund is to benefit community programs that have been serving a lot of different areas of the community everything from childhood programs to senior programs so the Community Fund has always been a big part of United Way and it will continue to be a part of United Way, Rivera says. Rivera grew up in Colorado Springs and attended school there, graduating from Colorado College with a degree in community planning. Housed within that colleges Economics Department was the Community Planning and Research Council, which worked closely with United Way. It was through that association that Rivera was introduced to the nonprofit environment and was able to apply for a national internship program with United Way. He subsequently served as the CEO of United Way in Boulder, Colorado, Corpus Christi, Texas, and San Jose, Calif., as well as senior vice president and acting president for the United Way/Crusade of Mercy in Chicago. While in Chicago I went to work for the holding company of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America to help them start a research enterprise, which focused on doing public level research in a nonprofit environment,' Rivera says. Chicago also provided him an opportunity to work for a decade at Kittleman and Associates, which focused on providing executive search and management consulting services to the nonprofit community. What Ive enjoyed about nonprofits is it brings people working together on a common mission, Rivera says. Whether its community-based groups helping with homelessness or dealing with domestic violence, or replenishing food pantries or helping students to succeed, its people working together for a common mission. Philanthropy, however, is changing, Rivera notes. Instead of the consistent focus on crisis response, there is an added emphasis on investing our resources and ideas on early intervention and designing systems and models to aid in that approach. Another change is donors and community leaders are coming up with ideas and solutions to problems. Regardless of where the investment is made or who came up with the idea, everybody is asking for more accountability to show that donor funds are being used to yield the optimum results. For me, its all been a very fulfilling way to do my work, he says. Which, for Rivera, has not really been much like work at all. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE, N.M. The bill aiming to make New Mexicos electricity generation 100 percent carbon-free by 2045 made it through the Senate Conservation Committee on a 5-3 do-pass recommendation vote Saturday afternoon after senators voted to adopt several amendments. The Energy Transition Act, Senate Bill 489, calls for a transition to 50 percent renewable energy by 2030 with a goal of 100 percent by 2045, creation of new jobs in the renewable energy sector and a financial mechanism known as securitization to cover the transition cost. The bill would also provide economic relief for communities where coal plants are now located. The amendments introduced during the committee hearing by Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, seek to ensure that consumers will not have to pay for the decommissioned San Juan Generating Station at the same time an energy transition charge is placed on the bills; respond to community concerns about the closure of the plant by creating an advisory committee representative of the population; and clarify other language, among other changes. The amendments passed after considerable discussion among committee members. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Following the hearing, the Sierra Club issued a statement praising the legislation. The Energy Transition Act provides our state with an equitable transition from coal one that actually benefits New Mexico ratepayers, the Four Corners community and workers, and our climate, said Camilla Feibelman, director of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club. The bill has been lauded by supporters as having the potential to make New Mexico a leader in renewable energy, and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham considers it priority legislation. The Public Service Company of New Mexico, the states largest provider of electricity, has come out in support of the bill. PNM has been taking steps toward expanding its renewable energy portfolio and is planning to shut down the San Juan station near Farmington in 2022. The Energy Transition Act, or SB 489, took another important step today to bring New Mexicans closer to a clean energy future, PNM said in statement Saturday. While this bill challenges PNM, we look forward to tackling these opportunities in a way that will bring our state more environmentally friendly energy while maintaining reliability and affordability. Prior to the amendments being adopted, dozens of people spoke in favor and in opposition to the bill. Those in favor included numerous government officials and representatives from interest and trade groups such as the Sierra Club and the New Mexico Building and Construction Trade Council. Alicia Keyes, secretary of economic development, said, We feel like its a progressive, and responsible, thoughtful transition especially with regards to economic development and creating green energy jobs. Those who spoke in opposition voiced concerns about the bills language, said it would erode the Public Regulation Commissions authority, and said it could potentially harm the communities that depend on the San Juan power plant for jobs. However, many of those speaking in opposition to the bill voiced support for its overall goals. We support those goals, very, very strongly, said Paul Gibson, co-founder of Retake Our Democracy. Our one concern, and one of our biggest concerns, is that the language of the bill doesnt necessarily support those goals. Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett said he opposes the bill and worries about the loss of jobs stemming from the shuttering of the San Juan plant. The amended bill advanced on a 5-3 vote. The Energy Transition Act now moves to the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE A bill that would set up a voter-approved New Mexico ethics commission and outline the bodys powers and procedures passed its first legislative hurdle Saturday without opposition. But the bills sponsor said he would make additional changes to it after questions surfaced about how transparent the commission would be. Specifically, Rep. Daymon Ely, D-Corrales, said his intent is for valid ethics complaints and responses to the complaints to be publicly available once an ethics commission official finds probable cause exists to launch an investigation. If thats not clear, were going to make it clear, he told the Journal. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Under the measure, House Bill 4, complaints found to be frivolous would not be investigated. Such a complaint would not be released, though either the person who filed it or the subject of the complaint could voluntarily decide to do so. New Mexico voters last year overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment proposed by lawmakers in 2017 to set up an ethics commission to investigate claims of wrongdoing against legislators, lobbyists, elected officials and state employees. That vote came after years of debate on the issue and a string of high-profile public corruption cases involving elected officials. The bill approved Saturday, one of two ethics commission measures proposed at the Roundhouse, would give the seven-member commission subpoena power so that it could obtain evidence and compel witnesses to testify and the ability to hand off complaints to other state agencies. The commission would have the authority to investigate compliance with state laws covering campaign fundraising, financial disclosures, lobbyist regulations and the conduct of government officials. But some groups have called for greater transparency in its handling of complaints. A key reason for voters overwhelming support of an ethics commission was to build trust in state government, Melanie Majors, the executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, said in a Saturday statement. That trust can only exist if the commission operates in an open and transparent manner. The bill passed the House Judiciary Committee on Saturday via a 8-0 vote. It now advances to the House Appropriations and Finance Committee. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Editors Note: The Journal reached out to readers asking them to share their experiences and frustrations in trying to see a doctor, ranging from primary care to specialists. Here are some of their stories. Marci Powers My journey, which began in 2015 as a healthy 54-year-old woman, unfortunately highlights the severe issues present in New Mexicos health care system. The story has a happy ending, but no thanks to anyone in Albuquerque connected with my initial diagnosis. In mid 2015, I began a persistent cough accompanied by weight loss. I started with my primary care physician. In the interest of brevity, I will say that he sent me to the following specialists: ENT, pulmonologist, gastroenterologist, cardiologist and tried to find a neurologist. I did see a neurologist who did a basic muscle and nerve test and recommended other tests that were non-existent in Albuquerque. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ My blood pressure continued to drop and my balance got worse. I went to the emergency room on several occasions after passing out. It was unanimous that I had a problem, but it was not within any of the respective doctors disciplines. A pulmonologist went out of his discipline and ordered a CAT scan and some tests for cortisol levels. By December, I could no longer walk reliably without falling. My weight continued to fall, and now I was dragging my foot on my left side. I passed out coming out of the shower and woke up on the tile floor with a battered face. In January, my husband insisted that my PCP get me to Mayo (Clinic) or Barrow (Institute). My doctor wrote the justification, and my insurance company approved me to see an endocrinologist. It also was recommended that I see a neurologist, but the insurance company denied my request. We went to Mayo Clinic in Arizona on Feb. 3, 2016. The endocrinologist there said I didnt have an endocrine problem. You need to see a neurologist. Im going to try your insurance company again. Come back tomorrow. We came back the next day, and the doctor apologized and said the request was denied. Defeated, we were driving back to Albuquerque and stopped in Heber, Ariz., for something to eat. During lunch, my phone rang. It was the endocrinologist, who said she thought I was in extreme danger and that she was going to do a direct admit me into the Mayo hospital. Once there, she said, my insurance company would be unable to deny anything. Now this doctor took the Hippocratic Oath very seriously. She saved my life. We turned around, and went immediately to Mayo hospital. Once admitted, the team of medical professionals converged on me. Within 48 hours, I was diagnosed with central nervous system lymphoma. I spent 3.5 weeks in the hospital and was turned over to a team of hemo-oncologists. They started multifaceted treatment, but when I was ready to be released, Mayo couldnt release me into my health care system. They needed to find someone that could support my treatment protocol. They found a doctor at UNM who had done some training at Mayo. I continued my treatment through 2016 at UNM Cancer Center and in patient care at the UNM Hospital. I spent a total of 77 days hospitalized in 2016. While the care at UNMH was adequate and admirable, the facility is beyond horrendous. The population of cancer patients is already immune compromised. The floors where cancer patients are housed had patients sharing bathrooms. My protocol called for infused chemotherapy followed by oral. It had to be timed specifically. I missed my first oral treatment because the insurance company did not approve it in a timely manner. My oncologist at UNM Cancer Center has been great. My last chemo treatment was in December of 2016, and I am considered in remission. Amy C. Hazelrigg, PhD When I moved back to Albuquerque in May of last year, I began searching for an internist accepting my health insurance. After seven unsuccessful months, all of it with the assistance of the insurance Patient Advocate Team, I gave up on that route and switched to more a costly but better-run insurance company. Well see if this works any better. Gilbert Ferran Both myself and my wife have diabetes. We see a great doctor at Anna Kaseman, generally twice a year. We had our six-month appointments on Dec. 29. A few days before that, our appointments were canceled and the earliest they could reschedule us was March 13. To top it off, we keep getting letters telling us we have to get our labs done within seven days. We usually do our labs a week before we see the doctor. This would be two months before. I have tried to talk to administrators, but to no avail. Cathy Dahms I had an aggressive thyroid cancer that metastasized several years later and needed additional radiation treatment after the initial removal of my thyroid. Since then, I have to see an endocrinologist every year to have thyroid cancer tumor markers checked, and to make sure that my level of replacement thyroid hormone is correct. This year, I called the endocrinologist the first week in January and could not get an appointment until April 30 four months away. Making a patient with a history of cancer wait four months for an appointment to find out if the cancer has returned is UNACCEPTABLE. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal An exciting opportunity for a neurosurgeon awaits at the San Juan Regional Medical Center, according to an online hospital help wanted ad. Unfortunately, the vacancy has been open for at least 18 months despite the eye-popping base salary of up to $750,000 and perks that include student loan repayment. The good news is that the 194-bed hospital in New Mexicos Four Corners area which needs a total three neurosurgeons has managed to hire two from out of state during its ongoing search. We beat the bushes and found them, said hospital CEO Jeff Bourgeois. We tell them, `Youre needed. Youre needed here. Come here and youll be appreciated ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ New Mexico is suffering more than many other states from the national physician shortage, leading to long wait times for appointments and emergency room visits when waiting is unbearable. One national report ranked the state 48th in access to physicians in 2017. To make matters worse, the states physician work force is the oldest in the country and ranked near the top in the number of doctors surveyed who said they planned to retire in the next few years. Some health care leaders say New Mexico faces additional hurdles to attracting and keeping physicians and other health professionals including physician compensation, poverty, the poor reputation of some public schools and, in Albuquerque, the crime rate. Others say those are simply excuses. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham told the Journal she wants to address the shortage in New Mexico from a variety of angles, including attracting health professionals to locate here and grow their practices by raising the Medicaid reimbursement rate. And her administration is considering other ways to increase access and incentivize providers. She also wants to tap Medicaid funds to support more New Mexico medical residency slots considered a key way to induce doctors to put down roots in the state. Were all affected (by the physician shortage), she said in an interview. Im affected. I have trouble getting in. Were all having trouble. The system is broken, and we have to do everything in our power (to fix it). High vacancies On any given day, a major Albuquerque-based recruiter can have between 400 to 600 vacancies for health professionals in New Mexico. Jerry Harrison of New Mexico Health Resources says the actual number statewide is much larger since not all employers seeking health providers use his agency. I think that we know maybe half of the true vacancies at any given time, he said. As physicians from snow states look to resettle in the West, New Mexico has stiff competition from states like Texas, which has no state income tax and a physician-friendly medical malpractice climate. Or from more affluent communities that offer higher pay compared to New Mexico, which is near the bottom of one national ranking. Any primary care doc now has literally thousands of jobs they could take across the country, said Dr. Donald Pathman, a researcher and teacher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. But Dr. John Cruickshank, chief executive officer of Lovelace Medical Group based in Albuquerque, says, weve got a lot to offer people. Its not all Breaking Bad. If you did watch the (television) series, in my opinion, it may have put us on the map, but it didnt help us. Because it labels us as drug ridden and crime ridden, and I dont feel that at all. You could use those as excuses, but I think theyre only that. We all have our challenges. There are 10 times, 100 times as many things that outweigh those negatives in our community. In any case, New Mexico has a challenge in keeping doctors, especially because of retirements. Executives of some major health care providers in New Mexico say their total provider turnover runs from 10 to 15 percent. But Dr. Jason Mitchell, chief medical and clinical transformation officer at Presbyterian Healthcare Services, said the bigger challenge is getting physicians to New Mexico. Prospective physicians and other providers will always look at the statistics when they come here, and you see our school systems are inconsistent with their quality, depending on where you go to. And we also have a lot of crime here compared to other states, so I think thats a challenge. And Breaking Bad? Yes, Mitchell adds, that did not do us a favor. So Mitchell points out to job seekers, Heres some schools that really do great. As for crime, he will say, When you look at their daily lives, most of us are not affected. Were fortunate. Once we get them here and talk to them and we kind of share the culture of what were doing and talk about the mission, were able to recruit pretty well, he said. Once you show them what its like and they look at the beauty of New Mexico, you can really get a lot of them to stay. Its just that youve got to get them into the state and youve got to have them meet us. New Mexico Medical Board chairman Dr. Steve Jenkusky recalled being at a national meeting when a physician from the East Coast asked where he lived. When Jenkusky told him Albuquerque, He goes, Oh, yeah. Breaking Bad. It was not really a compliment. Money As a recruiter, Harrison said the biggest issue he encounters is compensation. The escalation of the cost of health care education is striking, he said, with the typical medical student coming out now with around $190,000 of debt. And for relatively new for-profit schools, like Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine that opened in Las Cruces several years ago, the final tab for a new osteopathic doctor could total far more than $200,000. That means finding a high-paying job to help pay off education loans is key for some new doctors. A states poverty is also a factor when a physician is seeking job opportunities, said the University of North Carolinas Pathman. There are numerous studies that show physicians cluster around hospitals, and they cluster in more affluent communities, he said. Often jobs will pay more there, and more affluent communities are likely to have better schools for the kids. In cases of specialists for whom technology is important to their work, Pathman said bigger, affluent communities are more likely to have that kind of scanner that allows you to do that kind of procedure. Some say that health care providers can be drawn to New Mexico because of its needs. Dr. Lance Wilson, chief medical officer of DaVita Medical Group in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, said, I think the people that choose to come here and practice are people who really want to serve a community. The reason those things happen, like crime, (is that) we are in general a state thats challenged with socioeconomic problems. So the people that come here to practice and the ones that stay especially are doing it because they want to care for those people, and they recognize that being able to serve that population comes with some other things that just happen to people who are desperate Wilson says physician compensation here is actually pretty good. What brings providers to New Mexico has more to do with ties to something culturally, or spiritually, or family or really the desire to be in nature and being able to do that pretty much whenever you want. Its really up to us to sell what NM is to see what the potential is here. Major expense Medical groups in Albuquerque and elsewhere are making up for the physician shortage by hiring physician assistants, who are attached to a doctors license and must be supervised; and certified nurse practitioners, who in New Mexico are able to work autonomously. The national average salary for either type of clinician is at least half the average pay for a physician. The other problem in this state, is that it is relatively poor and doctors, even if their salaries are in the average range, are expensive, said the Medical Boards Jenkusky. So doctors are a big expense for companies (like hospitals) that hire them. And over half the patients in this state are either on Medicare, Medicaid or are uninsured. So you dont have this large percentage of commercial insurance to balance that out. So I think that makes it hard for many entities. Generally speaking, doctors and hospitals get higher reimbursements from private health insurance carriers than from either Medicaid or Medicare. Nationally, the profile of health care has changed, with physicians increasingly looking to be employed rather than setting up their own offices. So youre seeing fewer independent doctors, fewer entrepreneurial doctors, Jenkusky said. Its just hard with all the paperwork you have to do, such as working with the insurance companies for payment. Youre seeing these smaller practices disappear and no new ones being opened. Physicians who take employment jobs want to take a vacation, you want to maybe go home at a normal time. So that decreases productivity. Many of the new generation of doctors want work/life balance, Jenkusky said. Recruiter Harrison said there are also tremendous issues with electronic health records. That has been a real issue, particularly for physicians who are in their late 50s. I have heard of physicians walking away from their practices because they didnt want to deal with electronic records or they didnt like the (records) program their organization was using. Legal landscape New Mexico malpractice premiums are lower than in most states, and New Mexico is one of only eight states that has set up a Patient Compensation Fund. The states cap on total damages a victim can collect is at $600,000 excluding punitive damages and past and future medical care. An attempt in 2011 to raise the cap on liability awards to $1 million was vetoed by Gov. Susana Martinez, but another one is pending in the current legislative session that would raise the cap to $2 million. Some health care executives say current malpractice rates arent a major factor in why physicians dont locate here. But in Farmington, San Juan Regional Medical Center CEO Bourgeois said taxes and malpractice caps do matter. Bourgeois, who moved here from Texas, contends that New Mexicos physician shortage is exacerbated due to the practice environment, despite all the wonderful amenities. If physicians feel like they cant earn an income commensurate with other states, he said, or they have to pay more in taxes or risk practicing in an unfriendly litigious environment it becomes a much less attractive place. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... New Mexico voters took an important step toward more enlightened government last November when they overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to establish a state ethics commission. They did so with the understanding state lawmakers would heed the states sordid history of elected-officials-turned-felons and craft enabling legislation granting a commission powers aimed at getting to the bottom of complaints and one that would do much, if not all, of its business in the open. The two bills introduced so far can only be described as terrible, and not as bad. The worst of show ribbon goes to SB 619, proposed by Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, whose vision would ensure ethics complaints remain secret unless the commission decides after back-room hearings there had been a violation of law or the accused signs a waiver of confidentiality. The person filing the complaint would actually have to sign a confidentiality agreement, and anyone who discloses confidential complaints or investigations could face fines up to $10,000 and up to a year in jail, and a judge could impose a civil penalty up to $25,000. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Call it the whistleblower punishment act. In the we really do want to be a Third World country competition, these punishments would be tougher than the penalties government officials, lobbyists or candidates would face for violating the states ethics laws. Open government groups are aghast. Melanie Majors of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government says there is no good explanation for why an ethics body needs such extraordinary secrecy. Heather Ferguson, executive director of Common Cause, says the Senate proposal doesnt match what 75 percent of voters approved a commission that has integrity and restores their trust in our political system. She rightly states a commission shrouded in secrecy will have the opposite, chilling effect. New Mexico Ethics Watch, the nonpartisan group chaired by retired Chief Justice Richard Bosson, argues that independence, subpoena power and transparency are key elements of an effective commission. New Mexico needs ethics commission legislation that will increase the trust in those working for the public and seeking public office and state contracts, Bosson said. That just cant happen in the kind of punitive darkness Lopez wants to impose. Under her plan it would still be up to the House or Senate to determine whether to impose any discipline for a violator. The commission, which also would lack subpoena power, would be a toothless tiger in the dark with only the power to growl the occasional public reprimand. Its no secret many in the Senate of either political stripe have never really embraced this ethics idea, preferring to handle things themselves as they always have without a roar that draws attention to lapses in judgment and responsibility. Meanwhile, Rep. Damon Ely, D-Corrales, has filed HB 4, which is an improvement. For example, it gives the commission much more teeth, including subpoena power. But it would prohibit the commission from disclosing complaints that are deemed frivolous and dont warrant investigation, putting the responsibility to inform the public on the complainant or accused. Say there are numerous complaints against a public official who has an in with the commission, and those complaints are summarily dismissed. Guess what never sees the light of day? Also worrisome is Section 13 C., which lays out that with a few exceptions, all complaints, reports, files, records and communications collected or generated by the commission, hearing panel or director that pertain to alleged violations shall not be disclosed by the commission or any commissioner, agent or employee of the commission. That is a blanket protection to hide from public view many records that should be open. At least Ely would not bar people who have filed complaints or been accused of wrongdoing from talking. Perhaps he could share his copy of the First Amendment with Lopez. Ely speculates that making complaints public earlier would discourage people from filing them not a very compelling argument from a lawyer who knows that a legal complaint becomes public when its filed in court. Ethics Watch believes complaints should be made public when filed. Other open government groups have indicated they could accept making them public at the same time an answer is filed or due a reasonable balance that allows both sides of a story to come out at once. Instead of ensuring a true ethics investigation, both bills, especially Lopez, leave open the door to the patron system that has done a grave disservice to New Mexico government. As a candidate, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham extolled the idea of an ethics commission. But it needs to be one that actually accomplishes the goal of promoting public trust in government. The Legislature has a historic opportunity to do that. If it doesnt, the governor shouldnt hesitate to veto the legislation and send it back to the drawing board. 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. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... For farmers and pecan growers in New Mexico, the most important action Congress can take this year will be passing the new NAFTA now called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA). For my state, trade with our top export markets in North America is critical to our economy, as well as my community and our family farm. For six years now, my wife and I have grown pecans in Lovington. We have 1,100 pecan trees that turn out 60,000 pounds of pecans in a good year. We also help the local economy by operating our own shelling plant where small family operations can bring their crops for processing. In 2017, growers in New Mexico turned out 92 million pounds of pecans. Pecans growing on 43,000 acres of land had a value of $220 million. Our state is the second-largest producer of pecans in the United States at a time when the global consumer demand for pecans is only increasing. That record year of 92 million pounds was an impressive increase of 28 percent from 2016. The discussion about USMCA comes at a time when New Mexico farmers and growers are already extremely worried about new trade tariffs and retaliation for those tariffs. This year, we have watched the per pound price of pecans drop from as much as $3 to $1.50. Meanwhile, our expenses for things like fertilizer, fuel, labor and electricity keep going up. All of these tariffs are punishing hard-working farmers and families who create jobs and drive economic growth to start with. All of this reinforces the fact we need a major trade victory, such as the passage of USMCA. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ USMCA will help our country by continuing our long-term contracts with our No. 1 and No. 2 trading partners. It will also help to eliminate the ongoing retaliatory tariffs that are damaging our market access and relationships with Canada and Mexico. However, we are concerned that if we pass USMCA and the steel and aluminum tariffs stay in place, we wipe out many of the benefits we hope to get from the agreement. We desperately need bipartisan members of Congress to come together and demand an end to the tariffs on Canada and Mexico in exchange for advancing the USMCA discussion. The stakes are almost higher than New Mexico farmers can comprehend for another reason. If we dont pass the USMCA, we could face an even worse case U.S. withdrawal from NAFTA. The loss of NAFTA could mean we would revert back to a 22 percent duty on U.S. product exports. That would mean a loss of $844 million in New Mexico exports going to Mexico, and $56 million in exports to Canada. Without NAFTA, we could also see as many as 21,000 jobs lost in our state. The time to act is now. We need our New Mexico congressional delegation to stand with us on these critical issues. North American trade is about trust and long-term sustainable relationships. Passage of the USMCA will help restore confidence in our farm economy, and it will also provide needed stability for farmers like me to plan for the future. Please call your member of Congress today and ask them to stand with us on USMCA. Its critical to New Mexico farm families. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... This legislative session, I am proud to be a sponsor of House Bill 262, Publication of Capital Outlay Info, a bill that would require the publication of all projects included in capital outlay bills, including significantly the amounts allocated to each project by individual legislators. This bill is about one thing: transparency. Capital outlay is money for bricks-and-mortar infrastructure projects and purchase of durable equipment in communities throughout the state. New Mexico is the only state in the nation that allows legislators to personally allocate money to different projects. Currently, these decisions are made behind closed doors and are not disclosed to the public. My bill seeks to change that. The budget process can seem daunting to someone outside of the Roundhouse, and even to some of us who work inside the Roundhouse. Its complicated and includes many moving parts. This legislation seeks to help the public better understand that process by making the budget clearer and more accessible. When the public knows which legislator is allocating money to which project, and why, they can better understand how they are representing the needs of their communities. Transparency measures are good for our democracy. I have been trying to get this bill up to the governor for a few years now, but sometimes change is hard, and old ways of doing things persist. This year, the House made this bill a priority, and it passed with unanimous, bipartisan support. The bill is also sponsored by Rep. Natalie Figueroa and Rep. Joy Garratt, both Democrats from Albuquerque. Now it heads to the Senate, and I feel optimistic that our colleagues in the Senate will be supportive as well. Now is the time to pass this bill. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... MORA COUNTY Icy roads are believed to be a contributing factor in a rollover crash near Wagon Mound late Friday night that left a Las Vegas, N.M., man dead. Marcus Moises Gutierrez, 27, was killed in the crash that happened around 11 p.m. on Old U.S. 85, according to a New Mexico State Police news release issued Saturday. State Police said, based on the initial investigation, Gutierrez was traveling south when his vehicle left the roadway and rolled. Gutierrez sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at an area hospital by the Office of the Medical Investigator, the agency said. Police said improper seat belt use is believed to be another contributing factor in the crash. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... DANDONG, China North Korea leader Kim Jong Un was on a train Sunday to Vietnam for his second summit with President Donald Trump, state media confirmed. Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the U.S., and Kim Yo Jong, the leaders sister, the Norths official Korean Central News Agency reported. TV footage and photos distributed by the Norths state-run news agency showed Kim inspecting a guard of honor at the Pyongyang station before waving from the train. Late Saturday, an Associated Press reporter saw a green-and-yellow train similar to one used in the past by Kim cross into the Chinese border city of Dandong via a bridge. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The Trump-Kim meeting is slated for Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. Their first summit last June in Singapore ended without substantive agreements on the Norths nuclear disarmament and triggered a months-long stalemate in negotiations as Washington and Pyongyang struggled with the sequencing of North Koreas nuclear disarmament and the removal of U.S.-led sanctions against the North. Kims overseas travel plans are routinely kept secret. It could take more than two days for the train to travel thousands of kilometers (miles) through China to Vietnam. Vietnams Foreign Ministry announced Saturday that Kim would pay an official goodwill visit to the country in the coming days in response to an invitation by President Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also the general secretary of Vietnams ruling Communist Party. In his upcoming meeting with Trump, experts say Kim will seek a U.S. commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief while trying to minimize any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons. While Kim wants to leverage his nuclear and missile program for economic and security benefits, there continue to be doubts on whether hes ready to fully deal away an arsenal that he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival. Last year, North Korea suspended its nuclear and long-range missile tests and unilaterally dismantled its nuclear testing ground and parts of a rocket launch facility without the presence of outside experts, but none of those steps were seen as meaningful cutbacks to the Norths weapons capability. While North Korea has repeatedly demanded that the United States take corresponding measures, including sanctions relief, Washington has called for more concrete steps from Pyongyang toward denuclearization. Hanoi has been gearing up for the summit with beefed-up security. Officials say the colonial-era Government Guest House in central Hanoi is expected to be the venue for the Trump-Kim meeting, with the nearby Metropole Hotel as a backup. Streets around the two places have been beautified with flowers and the flags of North Korea, the U.S and Vietnam. Workers were also putting final touches on the International Media Center. Vietnams Foreign Ministry says some 2,600 members of the foreign press have registered for the event. Also expected to land in Vietnam on Sunday was Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Lavrov will pay an official visit ahead of a Russia-India-China ministerial conference in China, according to Interfax news agency. Meanwhile, Vietnam has announced a traffic ban along Kims possible arrival route. The Communist Partys mouthpiece Nhan Dan newspaper quoted the Department of Roads as saying the ban will first apply to trucks 10 tons or bigger, and vehicles with nine seats or more on the 170-kilometer (105-mile) stretch of Highway One from Dong Dang, the border town with China, to Hanoi from 7 p.m. Monday to 2 p.m. Tuesday, followed by a complete ban Tuesday on all vehicles from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Peoples Committee in Lang Son province, where the Dong Dang railway station is located, issued a statement Friday instructing the road operator to clean the highway stretch and suspend road works, among other things, on Feb. 24-28 as a political task. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal In 2014, hundreds of people came out to Santa Fe County Commission meetings, with the overflow spilling out of the commissions chambers, to fight a proposed basalt mining operation on La Bajada Mesa. Opponents said the mine would destroy the mesas scenic views for miles around, and produce too much dust and noise from blasting. Bumper stickers against the project were ubiquitous. The sand and gravel mining plan was not rejected outright, but the result of the controversy was a commission-approved moratorium on developments with countywide impact, such as mining operations, landfills and junkyards. Now, the county, with much less public attention, is taking steps to address these kinds of potentially messy projects in its land use code. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Only about 30 people attended a series of four meetings hosted by the county last month that aimed to get public input on proposed amendments covering regulations that address mining, landfills and junkyards. The countys Sustainable Land Development Code, adopted by the County Commission in 2016, sets the rules for development in unincorporated parts of the county and was meant to replace out-of-date sections of provisions developed 20 years earlier. The proposed amendments include new regulations for mining and resource extraction, and enhanced protections for environmental resources and public health and safety, the county said in a news release announcing the public meetings. This draft is the culmination of an extensive process with community stakeholders, technical experts and county staff from multiple departments to develop a reasonable and protective framework to regulate developments of county-wide impact. The 2014 mining fight was over a proposal to open a 50-acre mine on La Bajada Mesa submitted by landowners Buena Vista Estates, Inc. and Albuquerque-based Rockology, Inc. Penny Ellis-Green, then the countys growth management director, said in a memo at the time that existing regulations are either non-existent or inadequate to meet the special regulatory needs of developments with county-wide impact, such as a mine. The term developments with county-wide impact sometimes referred to as DCIs in county documents also came up more recently in the fight over a proposed truck stop on 26 acres on the south side of Interstate 25 at the Cerrillos Road/N.M. 14 interchange, an issue that also turned out hundreds of opponents. Some said a big truck stop should be considered a development of countywide impact. In the end, the Pilot Flying J truck stop was deemed by a 4-1 majority of the County Commission not to be materially similar to other allowable conditional uses under the county code. That was contrary to the findings of the cases hearing officer and Ellis-Green, now the countys own land use administrator. No interviews Although the county held public hearings on the proposed new DCI rules in January, no one in county government will talk about the proposed amendments now. In recent weeks, county government officials refused to grant an interview to a Journal reporter on the land use code changes and would respond only via email to submitted questions. Ellis-Green did not directly respond to the Journals request for an interview, even after county commissioners Anna Hansen and Anna Hamilton referred a reporter to Ellis-Green. Instead, the countys interim public information officer, Tessa Jo Mascaranas, responded to a message to Ellis-Green and asked for questions to be submitted in writing. She said the responses should be attributed to county staff. When told that it was important to attribute information to sources, the response was, Several different staff members helped to provide complete answers to your questions. We wanted to ensure that we provided the best answers possible. County staff is now reviewing the input gathered during the four public meetings held at different locations. Staff will consider what, if any, changes should be made to the draft amendments before they are advanced to the Planning Commission for review in the coming weeks. The amendments could be voted on by the County Commission as soon as April, county staff said. Nothing the county provided says whether the proposed amendments were spurred by the issues raised during the 2014 mining fight and the resulting moratorium. A lawsuit over the moratorium was eventually dropped by the companies that had proposed the mine. Greater protection The county says regulations for mining and resource extraction were written into the Land Development Code in 1996 and that new regulations are necessary to address present-day conditions. The new regulations will provide greater protection for water resources, require adequate financial bonding, and require applicants to show that their proposed activity does not pose an environmental or public health risk, the county says. The Countys objective in drafting new regulations is to ensure the protection of public health and the environment based on the best available science and procedures. Asked how the changes would provide greater protection for water resources, county staff said, The proposed regulations require a more robust application process, including consideration of numerous factors to ensure that a proposed mining operation will not harm water resources. Countys written comments said that applicants must submit detailed information regarding geology, meteorology, hydrology, mineralogy and geochemistry that shows that a proposed activity does not pose a risk to the public or environment. The amendments would also establish requirements for applying for a permit. This will allow the county to conduct the necessary analysis of applications, and procedures to ensure a reasonable and appropriate review process, the county said. County staff said updating the regulations would provide a more comprehensive and up-to-date set of standards than the rules now on the books. Mining, an industry that thrived in parts of Santa Fe County in the late 1800s and early 1900s, is nearly non-existent within county boundaries now. The county, in its answers to Journal questions, initially said there was just one existing mine in the Ortiz Mountains that was being closed out. Asked to identify the name or operator of the mine it was referring to, county staff said there may be several legacy mines in the Ortiz Mountains, adding that without more information, we cannot answer your question. County staff said it hasnt received any applications under an existing 1996 hard rock mining ordinance. They say that the proposed mine on La Bajada Mesa was not subject to the hard rock mining ordinance because it was for sand and gravel mining, not mineral resource extraction and processing. Large scale Sand and Gravel is currently a DCI, county staff said, citing a section of the 2016 Sustainable Land Development Code. The new regulations now proposed make some amendments to general requirements for all DCIs, and add regulations for Mineral Resource Extraction and Processing. An extensive process The announcement for the public meetings said that the proposed changes are the culmination of an extensive process in which the county sought feedback from a wide range of community stakeholders and technical experts, and county staff from multiple departments to develop a reasonable and protective framework to regulate developments of county-wide impact. When asked to identify the community stakeholders and technical experts involved in creating the draft, county staff responded: County staff identified a number of interested stakeholders, including hard rock mining interests, sand and gravel operators, UNM professors, community members and organizations, land owners, and conservation groups. Asked again to identify who the people were who contributed to drafting the amendments, the county first responded that sign-in sheets for the stakeholder meetings could be provided in response to a public records request. After another exchange of emails with Mascaranas, the county provided the sign-in sheets for two working group meetings, one in August and the other in December. The list contained names of attorneys; representatives of Earthworks, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the adverse impacts of mineral and energy development, according to its website; the former head of the New Mexico Environmental Departments Groundwater Quality Bureau; the president of the Ranchitos de Galisteo Water Users Association; a member of the Turquoise Trail Regional Alliance; representatives from a sand and gravel operation in Rio Arriba County; and a Cerrillos couple who were outspoken opponents of the La Bajada Mesa mine. What about power lines? Of the four meetings hosted by the county, the final one in Nambe may have been the best attended, with about 10 people showing up on Jan. 31. Nambe resident Devin Bent said he probably dominated the discussion. His main argument, he said, was that high-voltage power lines like the proposed Verde Transmission Line that would stretch for 33 miles across federal and tribal land in northern Santa Fe County dont fall under the countys DCI designation. I tried to make the point that we have learned some stuff about power lines and fires that we didnt know before, he said. We need to incorporate the lessons we learned from those fires into the code, and the way to do that is by calling them a development of county-wide impact. In New Mexico, the 2011 Las Conchas Fire, and the 2013 Tres Lagunas and Thompson Ridge fires were ignited by power lines during windy conditions. Bent referred to the Las Conchas Fire and Novembers devastating Camp Fire in northern California that wiped out the entire town of Paradise and led to more than 80 fatalities, also started by a power line failure. I think its simply incredible that a 30-mile high-voltage transmission line is not regarded as a DCI when a junkyard is, he said. You can see a transmission line from miles away. How far away do you have to be to see a junkyard? Asked why transmission lines arent considered DCIs, county staff just said its because the County Commission hasnt identified transmission lines as DCIs. The public will still have an opportunity to provide more input on the proposed amendments at public hearings before the planning and county commissions. The County Commission is expected to consider publishing the title and general summary of the code amendments at its March 12 meeting, according to the countys written responses. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Two high-profile cases of child abuse that have shaken northern New Mexico have inspired bills in this years legislative session. Reps. Linda Trujillo and Andrea Romero, both Santa Fe Democrats, introduced House Bill 447, which would give each public school student a unique identification number, and direct the state Public Education and Children, Youth and Families departments to create a system to track students who move between school districts. And Rep. Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, is sponsoring House Bill 488, which closes a loophole in New Mexicos child abuse reporting law. The existing act doesnt require school administrators, teachers and other school personnel to report to law enforcement any confirmed or suspected child abuse by teachers or others at a school. Thirteen-year-old Jeremiah Valencia was not enrolled in a public school district when he was killed in November 2017, allegedly by household member Jordan Nunez, 20, after months of beatings and other physical abuse at a Nambe home. Jeremiahs mother, Tracy Ann Pena, had pulled Jeremiah and his sister from West Las Vegas Schools in February of that year. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Pena, who pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse resulting in death for Jeremiahs murder, started paperwork with Santa Fe Public Schools to transfer Jeremiah and his sister to Capshaw Middle School, but they never attended classes there. Since Jeremiah had fallen off the radar of the education system, there was no alert or check made when he never returned to any school for the spring and fall semesters of 2017. His buried body was found about two months after he was killed, in January 2018, after Pena incarcerated on unrelated charges talked about the boys death with a fellow inmate at the Santa Fe County jail. This (bill) is a response to the really devastating death of Jeremiah Valencia, Trujillo told the Journal. There really wasnt anybody making sure he was in school. There wasnt anybody looking for absences. Trujillos bill, which passed the House unanimously and still must get through the Senate, assigns each student a unique identification number that must be on all forms, student records, transcripts and databases in which a student is identified by name so the student can be tracked while moving between school districts or services of the Children, Youth and Families Department. The bill also calls for the Public Education Department and CYFD secretaries to create a task force comprising public school personnel, CYFD social workers, juvenile probation and parole personnel, and childrens court judges to develop a tracking system that can be used by school districts, PED and CYFD. The task force must report its suggestions to the Legislative Education Study Committee by Dec. 1. I feel confident that the task force will be able to come up with the solution, Trujillo said. Martinezs bill, which is similar to one introduced last year by now-Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, amends the definition of abused child to include abuse committed by a person who is not the childs parent, guardian or custodian. Every person, teachers and school officials, medical personnel or members of the clergy, who knows of or has a reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect shall report the matter to law enforcement or CYFD. Under current New Mexico law, abuse has to be reported only to CYFD or police if its allegedly being committed by a parent or guardian. Martinezs bill, as of late last week, had passed through one House committee and was headed to another. Attorney General Hector Balderas has been asking for this kind of legislation since his office filed charges against former Santa Fe and Espanola teacher Gary Gregor in 2017. Gregor was convicted in December on several felonies for sexually abusing fourth-grade girls he was teaching at Espanola, and is awaiting trial for more crimes against students there and in Santa Fe. Despite complaints against him, Gregor was never reported to police or CYFD by school personnel at either district. Several years ago, a federal judge dropped the Santa Fe school district from a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by parents of Gregors alleged victims. The judge cited the still-existing child abuse statute that does not require reporting abuse to law enforcement if the abuse was being committed by a teacher. Thats an example of where the current law didnt work the way it should have, Martinez told the Journal. Balderas credits an outspoken victim of Gregor from Espanola, Nallely Hernandez, for getting the bill drafted. Hernandez testified at the trial in which Gregor was convicted. This bill is a result of the bravery and perseverance of Nallely Hernandez, and I am grateful that Representative Martinez will fight with me to protect further New Mexican children from physical and sexual abuse, Balderas said in a statement. We urge New Mexico lawmakers to join with our office and Rep. Javier Martinez in fighting to protect New Mexican children from abuse, regardless of who commits it. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE, N.M. Los Alamos Little Theatres latest production is a true roller coaster of a show. Thats according to director Patrick MacDonald. The political dramedy Church & State confronts timely and divisive topics: gun control and religion. Despite its twists and turns, I promise it will be entertaining and it will be thought-provoking, said MacDonald. All at once. Church & State, by Emmy-nominated writer Jason Odell Williams, premiered in Los Angeles in June 2016 and ran off-Broadway from March-June 2017. Los Alamos staging starts next Friday and ends March 16. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The theater is also planning an abridged version for New Mexicos American Association of Community Theatre Conference and Festival from March 21 to 24 in Los Alamos. During the festival, which takes place every other year, companies from across the state will compete to move on to regional and national festivals. In reading this script in particular . It had me laughing and then had me crying, said MacDonald, who was looking for a show the company could use for the upcoming festival. Its setup tricks the audience into thinking theyre in for one kind of experience when suddenly the bomb drops out and theyre in for another. The play moves back and forth between a main storyline and flashbacks, following Republican Sen. Charles Whitmore of North Carolina, a Christian conservative. Just days out from an election, a mass shooting takes place at his childrens school and a political blogger asks him after a funeral whether he still believes in God. Whitmore does question whether someone can believe in God when tragedies like the massacre can happen. He tells that to the blogger, who then writes a story and posts it on Twitter. The show, MacDonald explains, begins with Whitmore just before his final campaign rally speech. The entire first part of the show is set up around the premise, is he going to give the final campaign rally speech that hes been giving over and over and over again exactly as written, or is he going to go off script and speak his mind about what actually happened with this side comment he gave to a political blogger, said MacDonald. Sen. Whitmore deals with his campaign manager Alex Klein, who MacDonald described as a liberal Jewish woman from New York who is working for Whitmore with hopes of one day getting to the White House, and Whitmores wife Sara, a classic controlling Southern belle. The second part of the show without giving away the surprises deals with the aftermath of Whitmores decision about what to say in the speech. When talking about one of the shows main themes, gun control, MacDonald said part of the reason he liked the script was how playwright Williams wrote characters who on both sides of the issue. The author certainly has a point of view. MacDonald referred to Williams authors statement about the play. It explains that Williams wrote the play out of anger he felt after multiple mass shootings and that he hopes the play one day becomes obsolete. And many years from now, people will read it and think, How quaint! Americans used to argue about gun control, the statement says. Still, MacDonald says the play leaves it to the audience to have their own opinions. Nothing is dismissed, everything is presented as an honest point of view, he said. MacDonald said he likes the idea of people being able to come out and be entertained no matter their views, as well as theater being an impetus for discussion. Audience members can sit in the dark, be anonymous and open to hearing things, he said. Its a different experience if youre going to a public speech, and youre in the light yourself and can be seen reacting to it. Theres a wonderful anonymity about being a part of an audience in a group of people that allows, at least for me personally, allows you to connect to points of view that you may not naturally connect to yourself. Los Alamos production of Church & State stars Tim Orcutt as Senator Whitmore, Alexis Perry-Holby as Sara Whitmore, Charlotte Jusinski as Klein and Ian Foti-Landis in several roles, including a campaign aide, the political blogger and a security guard. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... RIO RANCHO, N.M. Former Corrales judge, environmental advocate, author, jeweler and rocket scientist Mel Eisenstadt, 88, died Feb. 14, 2019, in his beloved New Mexico home after an extended bout with cancer. A true believer in constant immersion in learning, Eisenstadt combined his training as a mechanical engineer and lawyer in the study of solar energy law in the 1970s. He also served as president of a short-lived but visionary solar energy company, the Albuquerque-based SOLTRAX. Eisenstadt also achieved success as a local elected official, author of mechanical engineering texts, science fiction novels, and turquoise jewelry which won several awards at the New Mexico State Fair. He is survived by his wife, Pauline Eisenstadt, a long-time state legislator and West Side civic leader; two sons; and four grandchildren. He spent his last months enjoying the company of his wife and friends at The Neighborhood (a life-planned retirement community) in Rio Rancho, where he is remembered for boisterously laughing and telling jokes. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ However, Eisenstadt may be best remembered as Corrales second elected municipal judge, serving from 1980 to 1990. He is also remembered by longtime Corrales residents for bartering his prize-winning turquoise bolos and necklaces with other artists at numerous Corrales artisan fairs. Corrales of the 1970s and 1980s was transitioning from an agrarian to a suburban community, meaning that Eisenstadt heard cases involving disputes between neighbors over property lines and dogs eating neighbor chickens, along with other local issues. His favorite part of the job was performing weddings that he tailored to families cultural and spiritual requests. Proud moments from this time include the receipt of a cabrito barbecued goat and a Navajo rug as gifts from appreciative couples he married. He was born Sunday, Feb. 1, 1931, in Queens, N.Y., to May and Abraham Eisenstadt, who migrated to the U.S. from pre-World War II Europe. Mels father died from a heart attack at the end of the Great Depression, when Mel was 8 years old and the family had just moved to Miami. Mels sons attest that despite having not had an enduring father figure, he was a loving and attentive father, who prepared his sons for dealing with adversity, a constant in his own early life. Mel also sought to impart kindness, compassion, awe, lifelong learning and the idea that everyone has a story to tell. Mel was a first-generation college graduate in his family, an engineering major at the University of Florida on an ROTC scholarship. He was deployed to Korea as an Air Force lieutenant. Upon returning to the U.S., he met his wife of 58 years, Pauline, while briefly working in the aerospace industry in Orlando, where he helped design missile guidance systems. The couple moved for his doctoral study at the University of Arizona, where both became enchanted with the Southwest. Eisenstadt became a professor at the University of California-Santa Barbara, where he published a popular textbook on materials science, taught the engineering departments first course using computers in the classroom and served as faculty chaperone for students protesting U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The family relocated to Puerto Rico in 1969, when Mel joined the engineering department at the University of Puerto Rico for three years. Attracted back to the desert Southwest, Mel and Pauline decided in 1972 to return to the U.S. mainland, where Mel had been admitted to the University of New Mexico Law School. Pauline, a former teacher and social worker, became the founding director of Energy Consumers of New Mexico, a nonprofit that advocated for regulation of utility rates. Mel was the pro bono lawyer who helped that group win its first legal case and helped propel Mel and Pauline both into public service careers. In 1974, the family moved to Corrales, where Mel designed an adobe home to maximize its view of the Sandia Mountains, and then enjoyed watching sunsets with his family and mixing craft margaritas for almost 40 years. Mel practiced law, served as Corrales judge and served on state boards seeking to improve New Mexicos integration of science and technology in higher education. After a heart attack at the age of 48, while driving his sons back from a southern Colorado ski trip in 1979, he refocused his professional life to dedicate time also to writing novels and making jewelry. Mel is survived by his wife Pauline, 80, originally of Miami, Fla., but who has long considered New Mexico her home, and two sons, Todd Eisenstadt, 53, a political science professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and Keith Eisenstadt, 49, a forester-climate change scientist and restaurateur, whose Missoula, Mont., restaurant, The Laughing Grizzly, also connotes Mels fondness for laughing at his own jokes. Todd has two daughters, Natalia, 19, and Paola, 15, and Keith and his wife, Kristy Pilgrim, have a son, Spencer, 13, and a daughter, Holly, 9. The family will host two memorial services. One will be held Saturday, March 2, 2019, at 11 a.m., at The Neighborhood in Rio Rancho, 900 Loma Colorado Blvd. NE, and the other will be Sunday, March 3, 2019, at 3 p.m., at Congregation Albert, 3800 Louisiana Blvd. NE, Albuquerque. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations may be made to the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (nmelc.org/donate/) which advocates for victims of environmental degradation of the type he described in one of his four novels, Navajo Afterglow, or the Anti Defamation League of Bnai Brith) adl.org/ways-to-give), both causes that were important to Mel. Visit the online guest book for Melvin at FrenchFunerals.com. FRENCH Rio Rancho 1275 Unser Blvd., Rio Rancho, NM 87144 338-2000 .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... RIO RANCHO, N.M. It isnt often that authors will create plausible fiction that offers the reader a sense of post-apocalyptic hope, but that is what local authors Timothy Crum and Scott Coons say they have achieved. In their recently released novel New Day, these authors asked themselves what if the under-observed threat of nuclear war suddenly became a reality? The novel begins with a former Navy SEAL being called back into duty because of a launched missile and a suspected alliance between Russia and North Korea. The novel lends its fictional politicians a palpable humanity and it blends real historical thought into the plot. There is even an allusion to Ronald Reagans 1987 speech at the U.N. concerning unity in the face of a common threat. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Both authors have a professional history that includes the National Security Administration, local government and military service, which they say influenced the novel. Crum, a former Rio Rancho city councilor, said the novel was really a story he had been carrying around with him since he was a young boy. He said he remembers a time when children would be instructed to hide beneath their desks during Cold War-era bomb drills. The threat of nuclear war has never gone away; theres just an apathy towards it now. We could be annihilated at any moment, he said. The authors say the title is a little misleading. Its a very vanilla title, Coons said, but the book is anything but vanilla. Everybody went to bed on Sept. 10, 2001, and woke up on 9/11 and didnt really believe it. It changed peoples consciousness, said Crum, adding that an event could occur that would address division and concurrently reshape humanity for the better. Its about a life-changing event that changes peoples perception everywhere, Coons said. Crum began the novel, and Coons helped give it shape. Altogether, the novel was three years in the making. With a Tom Clancy-esque feel, a vibrant protagonist and layers of symbolism, the book appeals to readers of varying age groups and backgrounds, according to the authors. Crum and Coons said they are planning a sequel. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... RIO RANCHO, N.M. Corrales MainStreet will celebrate local arts, culture, beer and chile with its third ArtsAlive! event March 3. Corrales Mainstreet is a nonprofit organization that helps bring together events that benefit the community by showing off local businesses and art. The organizations goal is to turn Corrales into an arts and culture district highlighting talent and artists, as well as unique culture and heritage sites. Sandy Rasmussen, the executive director of Corrales Mainstreet, encourages everyone to come out and see what Corrales has to offer in terms of food, art and culture. We want people to come to Corrales and see what is fun and exciting, Rasmussen said. We would love to have everyone come spend their Sundays in Corrales village. Corrales will host a gathering of 15 local artists at Casa Perea, 4829 Corrales Road, from 1-5 p.m. Small-scale and large-scale artwork will be on display for purchase, with prices for every budget. Artists will also be at the event to discuss particulars of their pieces. Visitors are invited to try a variety of tastings from Corrales restaurants, including Corrales Bistro Brewery, Las Ristras, Casa Vieja and The Dish by Trish. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The previous ArtsAlive! event in January featured work from the Corrales Society of Artists, displayed in the new ExNovo Brewery on Corrales Road. Visitors enjoyed art displays while sipping samples from Bosque Brewery. The theme this month for ArtsAlive! is the Art of Chile, which includes a special chile competition taking place at the event from 1-3 p.m. Visitors can purchase a $5 entry bracelet and enjoy five red chile tastings prepared by New Mexican chefs. They are also encouraged to vote for the peoples choice of best chile award. All profits benefit the Corrales Fire Department. For more information about this event, and similar events happening in Corrales, go to visitcorrales.com. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... This is a great activity for date night, a young employee at the Soap Factory in Provo informed me when I walked in as a party of one. I looked around the room and saw many couples making their own soap. Then I noticed a penguin mold in the bin, and I found my companion for the night. The Utah Valley city is not your typical destination or college town; it has a long and strong affiliation with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Two of its most prominent institutions are Brigham Young University and the Provo City Center Temple, both of which are ringed by majestic peaks. Provo was named for the French Canadian trapper Etienne Provost and was settled by Mormons in 1849. In 1875, church President Brigham Young established an academy that rose to university status at the turn of the 20th century. Nearly 90 percent of the population is made up of members of the LDS Church, and many residents are current or former BYU students, a distinction that has shaped the citys culture. For instance, Mormons do not consume alcohol, and the dearth of bars and social drinking is notable in Utah County, much of which is a mountainous area that attracts outdoorsy types with happy-hour habits. (I spotted two bars downtown and overheard one group of friends searching for wine, which they located at the Black Sheep Cafe. The caveat: They had to order food, too.) But Provo doesnt need cocktails to stay up late. Many of the BYU campus museums remain open till 9 p.m. on weekdays, as do the shops and restaurants. On a Thursday night, in the dead of winter, I stood on tiptoes to read the chalkboard of flavors at Rockwell Ice Cream Co. The following evening, I set out to hear live folk music at Pioneer Book but ended up in line for country dancing lessons and later at a crafts table surrounded by fragrant oils and paints. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The culinary scene, meanwhile, is partially influenced by the Mormon tradition of international missionary work. Members who leave for proselytizing return to Provo with expanded palates. You can play spin the globe in the historic downtown district, stopping on pho, Belgian frites, sushi, Indian, Czech pastries, Mexican fruit pops or kronuts in a French bakery. Of course, the natural attractions that preceded the pioneers are equally integral to the Provo experience. Get out Hop on the Provo Canyon Scenic Byway, also known as Highway 189, and watch civilization fade away in the rearview mirror. The 24-mile route runs from Provo to Heber City. Several parks will draw you in and out of your car, such as Mount Timpanogos Park and South Fork Park, which links to the Great Western Trail, the epic trek from Canada to Mexico. The Provo River runs parallel to the road, and you can often see anglers standing in the water, waiting for the blue-ribbon trout to bite their flies. You dont need to own a car, or know the words to Route 66, to appreciate AAA Lakeside Storage and Museum. The vintage gas station signs, pumps and automobiles were amassed by the storage companys owner, who scours the country for new acquisitions. Among his finds: a Polly Gas pump frozen in time and price at 32 cents per gallon; a Bobs Big Boy statue with protruding belly; and a green Volkswagen bug that might cause you to punch the nearest shoulder. Dining Homesickness has an upside: authentic Hawaiian and Polynesian food thousands of miles from its roots. The founders of Sweets Hawaiian Grill are originally from Tonga (Mom, whose name is Sweet) and Samoa (Dad), and they lived in Hawaii before moving to Provo for law school. Missing the cuisine of the islands, they started serving plate lunches nearly 30 years ago. Their kids now run the show, but the classic meal has not changed much: two scoops of rice, a choice of macaroni salad or pineapple with li hing mui seasoning and one to four proteins including kalbi ribs, katsu fried chicken, teriyaki barbecue chicken and kalua pig. Stay The namesake of the Hines Mansion Bed & Breakfast worked in mining and real estate and as a pharmacist and saloonkeeper. His hard work paid off, as you will witness when you step inside the opulent Victorian manse dating to 1895. You might first notice the chandelier, a prop from Gone With the Wind, or smell the chocolate cookies cooling on the counter. All nine rooms feature jet tubs, and one (the Library) has a spiral staircase that leads to a soaker with skylight views. I stayed in the Seaside Retreat, the original location of Spencer and Kitty Hines bathroom, but wished I had known about the Lodge rooms Butch Cassidy connection before booking. (The outlaw allegedly sneaked in through the door to evade the sheriff of Salt Lake City, whose cousin, a friend of Cassidys, owned the place.) .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Mona is a perceptive, independent, lonely, hardworking, sexually active woman in her mid-20s. And shes a cleaning lady. Mona is the protagonist in Jen Beagins novel Vacuum in the Dark. Most of the story is set in Taos. Through Mona, Beagin introduces readers to several recurring characters whose quirkiness infuses the book with its humor and drawing power. One oddball couple, Nigel and Shiori, are Monas neighbors. She nicknames them Yoko and Yoko. They remind her of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, though neither can sing. Yoko and Yoko had moved to Taos from Indonesia, where they spent 12 years meditating and gazing into each others eyes, and had maintained a willful and near-total ignorance of popular culture. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Mona meets a few of the customers whose homes she cleans. In one home live Rose and Philip (aka Dark). She initially meets Rose, a blind therapist whose real name is Maria. Mona is entranced by Roses eyes. Mona cant help but stare at them, expecting the empty eyes of a dead person or, at the very least, cloudy and without spirit. But not only did they seem like seeing eyes, they seemed all-seeing, the eyes of a soothsayer or prophet. Mona has sex with Philip. The couple, it is explained, have sort of an open marriage. Mona notices sores on Philips chest. Why the sores, Mona asks. Theyre from a sacred dayslong Lakota ceremony in Nebraska he had just participated in. Beagin said Mona is a composite of herself at various ages. The author herself cleaned homes off and on for a few years, though she never slept with the owner of a house. That was one boundary I never crossed as a cleaning lady, Beagin wrote in an email. Some of the other work experiences in the books are highly fictionalized accounts of actual events. Books, plural. Mona is the protagonist in Beagins 2015 debut novel Pretend Im Dead. In it, Mona moves to Taos in search of healing and a fresh start after a bad relationship. The first novel was named a Best Book of 2018 by O, the Oprah Magazine, and was shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Beagin moved to Taos 16 years ago because she had family living there. Her boyfriend hung out with people building Earthships while she cleaned houses. We only lasted about a year before we ran out of money, and it was too expensive to stick around, even back then, but the landscape really spoke to me, Beagin said in the email. The author, who lives in Hudson, N.Y., said it wasnt a conscious desire to have Mona represent women in general searching for meaning in life. But now that (the books) are out in the world, I hope women can identify with her search for home and a sense of belonging. An advisory for readers of Vacuum in the Dark: Poop is the name of the books 55-page opening chapter. Mona describes cleaning up human feces in a bathrooms soap dish and on a stool. Too much detail and too much scatological discussion between Mona and her imaginary friend Terry. Beagin said Monas opening encounter with feces is strictly fictional. Beagin hasnt been back to Taos since leaving in 2003. In some ways, Im hesitant to revisit because I want the place to remain as it is in my memory, which is a place of extremes. It was both peaceful and unsettling, rich and poor, dirty and clean, with lots of peaks and valleys, she wrote in the email. Book of the week review .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. In the mid-1960s, Australian animator Ron Campbell got a late-night call from the head of King Features to direct a new cartoon series based on the Beatles. Campbell was a classical music buff who preferred Beethoven to Buddy Holly. I didnt know who they were, he said in a telephone interview from Phoenix. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ He asked me if I could direct the episodes they were making in Australia, he said. The first cartoon series to be based on living people, The Beatles cartoon ran from 1965 to 1967, with repeats lingering through 1969. Each episode featured a song title, with the story based on the lyrics. The series would live on to be broadcast on both MTV and the Disney Channel in the late 1980s. Today, thanks to YouTube, it enjoys an online cult following. By the late 1960s, Campbell was working in Hollywood, animating many of the scenes in the Yellow Submarine feature film. The animated classic turned 50 years old in 2018. Now retired, the artist is stopping in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque to showcase his original Beatles cartoon paintings. Hell also show art based on his 50-year career working on such animated classics as Scooby Doo, Rugrats, The Smurfs, The Flintstones, The Jetsons and Yogi Bear. The exhibit is free, and all of the works are for sale. Born in the Australian state of Victoria, Campbell was the kid who always showed up at the regular Saturday screenings of Tom and Jerry in local movie houses. I thought they were real animals, he said.I vaguely remember my great-grandmother telling me they were drawings. It hit me like an epiphany you mean I could make my drawings come to life? He went to art school in Melbourne and talked himself into animating commercials. I pretended I knew how to make cartoon films, he said. There were very, very few people in Australia interested in animation. It wasnt practical. Soon King Features producer Al Brodax appeared, scouting Australia for production help. Campbell began working on Beetle Bailey, Krazy Kat and Cool McCool. Then Brodax caught the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show and bought the rights for a comic strip. The original concept somehow evolved into a cartoon. Al asked me if I could direct the episodes they were making in Australia, Campbell said. I think it was that it was low-cost for him. King Features shipped the designs, scripts, voices and music from London. Capturing the band members distinctive personalities was easy, Campbell said. It wasnt difficult at all. They had established their personalities every time they came up in front of a reporter. John was, in essence, the unacknowledged leader; Paul was the unacknowledged chick magnet. George was the mystical figure in the group, and poor Ringo was the idiot or the jokester. This was the Beatles as preteens probably liked to imagine them: living in a single big room, sharing beds, rolling along in their car while strumming their guitars, and taking in movies together. Campbell soon moved to Los Angeles, first working for Hanna-Barbera and then launching his own studio. He wrote and produced for Sesame Street and animated the original George of the Jungle cartoon series. In the late 1960s, he received another middle-of-the-night call from Brodax asking for help with Yellow Submarine. London was having production problems, and they needed animating help, he said. Campbell animated the Sea of Time sequence and much of the action between the Chief Blue Meanie and his boot-licking sidekick, Max. He animated many of the scenes involving the multinamed Jeremy Hillary Boob, the Nowhere Man. Campbell couldnt attend the London premiere, because he was in the middle of establishing his permanent residence status in the U.S. He never met the Beatles, although he heard their initial reactions to the series were quite negative. I have heard accounts of how John (Lennon) regularly called the cartoon s***, Campbell said. He was stupid enough to insist that the series never be shown in England. I did hear they went into the screening for the first time and Ringo came out complaining, They made me the f***ing idiot. Some of that ire seems to have softened over time. In 1972, Lennon told Rolling Stone magazine, I still get a blast out of watching the Beatles cartoons. Campbell spotted Ringo in a 60 Minutes interview with a framed version of his cartoon self in the background. Paul McCartney has asked him for paintings of the cartoons to sell for charity. In 1999, George Harrison said, They were so bad or silly that they were good, if you know what I mean. WHAT: Ron Campbell, Beatles Yellow Submarine animatorHOW MUCH: Free at santafeframing.com, 505-955-1911, for Santa Fe event; free at weemsallery.com, 293-6133. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to launch the Rs 75,000 crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh today. The scheme, which was announced in Piyush Goyal's interim budget 2019-20, will be started from the Fertilizer Corporation of India by making an electronic transfer of the first instalment to selected farmers. The first tranche of Rs 2,000 each will be given to over one crore farmers, said senior agriculture ministry official, reports PTI. Another one crore farmers are expected to receive benefits of the scheme in the next two to three days. Also Read: PM Modi to inaugurate National War Memorial on February 25 During his visit to Gorakhpur, Narendra Modi will also give certificates to selected farmers and interact with beneficiaries through video conferencing. PM Modi will also lay the foundation stone and dedicate to the nation various development projects in Gorakhpur. These will benefit the people of Uttar Pradesh greatly. - PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 23, 2019 Under the PM-KISAN scheme, Rs 6,000 will be given to 12 crore small and marginal farmer families, who have combined ownership/land holding of up to a maximum of two hectares, per year in three instalments. The PM-KISAN is completely funded by the central government. It became effective on December 1, 2018, for transfer of benefit to eligible beneficiaries. The benefit amount of the scheme will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme to ensure transparency in the process. The DBT Scheme was introduced to increase the income of small and marginal farmers. "The PM-KISAN scheme aims to supplement the financial needs of small and marginal farmers in procuring various inputs to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields, commensurate with the anticipated farm income at the end of each crop cycle. This would also protect them from falling in the clutches of moneylenders for meeting such expenses and ensure their continuance in farming activities," said a government statement. The state governments and the Union Territory administration will identify the farmer families eligible for support as per the scheme guidelines. Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for various development projects in Gorakhpur. (Edited by Vivek Dubey) Also Read: Number of combat jets needed by the Air Force changes from time to time: Nirmala Sitharaman Also Read: Number of hospital beds in Delhi increased from 48,096 in 2014-15 to 57,194 in last fiscal: Economic Survey .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Albuquerque activist Patrick Barrett has had three defining moments that altered the course of his life. The first he can scarcely remember. The second happened when he was on the verge of adulthood. The final one came at a critical time in his life. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Barrett was in born Lakeland, Fla., in 1974. Two years after his birth, a gunman killed his father. One day his father was out walking when he witnessed his own father (Barretts grandfather) involved in a car accident. He noticed the other driver roughing up his dad and he ended up in a physical altercation with the other driver. Months later Barretts father was walking down the street when the same man spotted him. The guy walked right up to him and shot him in the head point blank, Barrett said. I dont remember it but it affected my life. I was a young black man who was very angry. I didnt know who I was. Barrett, now 44, is the second vice president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and is a member of the Sankofa Mens Leadership Exchange grassroots organization. He said being a good example for his two children and creating a better place for them to live is his main motivation for the community work he does. He was an outspoken critic of a federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives sting in 2016 that resulted in the arrest of several African-Americans living in Albuquerques International District, which has a history of crime and violence. Barrett, who now works as a transit enforcement officer, and others suggested the sting was tinged with racial motives, targeting Albuquerques most vulnerable and minority citizens. We dont want them to forget to engage our community when they see a problem, he said. At the same time, we who live here have to do something to battle the crime epidemic in our community. Barrett began running the streets selling crack cocaine before he reached adulthood. This was when the second life-altering event occurred. He was arrested at 18 for selling drugs and sent to a Florida prison for three years. There he met fellow prisoner Anthony E. Dixon, who is now an adjunct professor of history at Forida A&M University and the field director for the Florida African American Heritage Preservation Network. Dixon encouraged Barrett to start reading. Barrett said for the first time in his life, he examined his choices, who he was and his background. It challenged me to think outside the box, he said. It made me think of myself in a critical way. Finnie Coleman, a University of New Mexico associate professor of American literary studies, said he has served as a mentor to Barrett. He described Barrett as an intellectually curious man and the only person who has ever asked him to borrow library books for him from the university. Patrick is involved in a wide range of activities, he said. His motivations have little do with his own self-aggrandizement. He does things to help the community grow. Barrett was released from prison when he was 21 and left Florida for Detroit, hoping to connect with his fathers family. He said he was able to do that but was looking for more opportunity so he moved again, this time south to El Paso. He settled down in Juarez where he met his soon-to-be wife. They moved to Albuquerque where the couple struggled financially. Barrett was lured once again by the quick cash of the drug business after 10 years of living a straight life. He became part of a drug ring but was once again caught and sent to federal prison for 15 months. I think Patrick has been to the end of the road, Coleman said. He knows exactly what can happen if you make certain choices. But he also knows the pathway to redemption Hes a breathing example that we are all human and we have to own those mistakes. Barretts second stint in prison gave him time again to reflect on who he was and what kind of choices he was making. I was disappointed in myself, he said. I knew I was done (with that lifestyle). I got released in 2006 and I had nothing to my name but I knew I was not going back. I told myself that I cant keep giving those people (prisons) my time. His wife went back to Mexico when he was in prison. When he got out, she told him she no longer loved him and asked for a divorce. I said let me try this college thing, he said. I started at CNM (Central New Mexico Community College). I had to take a lot of remedial courses. It really affected my self-confidence but I stuck with it. He earned an associates degree. It was a conversation with his ailing, illiterate grandfather, who left home at the age of 11 to make a better life for himself, that was the next profound moment of his life. My grandfather made me promise I would get my bachelors degree, he said. I did. I went back to school and majored in political science. His grandfather would live long enough to see Barrett earn that degree and to receive a very important invitation. The day after his funeral, I had to leave right away to go to the White House, he said. I had been invited to share my ideas as part of the My Brothers Keeper initiative. President Barack Obama launched the My Brothers Keeper initiative in an effort to give men of color the same opportunities as other men. Barrett also worked with the University of New Mexicos community engagement program, Public Allies, to make sure law enforcement agencies were in compliance with a state law that makes biased-based policing illegal. Barrett traveled to cities and towns across New Mexico where possible racial profiling issues were identified. He would not see the success in his personal life that he did in his professional one. During this time of rebuilding his life, Barrett started a relationship with the mother of his children. The two eventually split and he now has sole custody of their two children, a 12-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son. Khadijah Bottom and Barrett met as students at UNM and then became friends through their activist work. Shes the founder of the community group Vizionz Sankofa, which advocates for blacks in the community as well as African refugees. She said Barrett is a highly motivated and energetic person whose personality is infectious. I think if given the opportunity, he could be a force to reckoned with, she said. Those lessons, bumps and bruises hes gone through have made him a better person. Barrett said he purposely continues to live in the neighborhood where hes trying to make an impact. He lives in a low-income apartment complex off Central. When I talk to a lot of men, what they just really want is an opportunity to be part of the economy, he said. Many of them are committing these crimes to support their family. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Heres one thats been making the rounds: questionable phone calls that show up on Caller ID with your name and your phone number. As one local recipient put it: It appears that spammer spoofing of phone numbers has gone totally weird. With modern technology, people trying to separate you from your money or your ID have all kinds of methods, and this is one of them. The point is to confuse you or at least to spark your curiosity so that you will be more tempted to answer. One reader told me he had gotten 15 calls in one day from his own number. The caller told him to press 1 for more information. Fortunately, he did not. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Heres some advice: If you are not, in fact, calling yourself (and why would you?), just dont pick up. Robocalls are on the mind of a top federal official, who is threatening regulatory intervention if carriers dont start adopting robust caller ID authentication. Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has asked the largest phone companies to provide details about their anti-spoofing systems and said earlier this month that he wants those measures put in place this year. Its a huge problem. The total number of robocalls to Americans in January alone was 5.2 billion, according to YouMail. And its a growing problem: this year, 44.6 percent of all mobile phone calls are expected to be from scammers, according to First Orion, a company that works on scam issues for phone carriers. American consumers are sick and tired of unwanted robocalls, this consumer among them, Pai said in a written statement. Caller ID authentication will be a significant step towards ending the scourge of spoofed robocalls. If it appears major carriers wont meet the deadline to get this done this year, the FCC will have to consider regulatory intervention. The caller authentication system Pai referred to, sometimes called SHAKEN/STIR, is basically a framework of interconnected phone networks. (Those terms stand for Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs and Secure Telephone Identity Revisited.) When someone makes a call, the system issues a digital certificate verifying the call coming from that number is legitimate. On the receiving end, that persons carrier would check the certificate to make sure its not a robocall. If all is legitimate, the call goes through. If it doesnt get the OK, it either gets flagged as suspicious or is blocked. Pai sent letters to providers asking those that had not established concrete plans to protect their customers using the SHAKEN/STIR standards do so quickly. Could there be help on the way? El Paso Electric imposters are out in force. The utility warns that it has received more than 150 reports over the past month from Texas and southern New Mexico customers. The bogus calls display a phone number resembling the utilitys customer service department, with an automated message that says customers should call a 1-800 number to make an outstanding payment. These calls are not from El Paso Electric, but if you have any concerns that you might owe money, you should call the utility with a phone number you find on your own not the 1-800 number provided by the scammer. Ellen Marks is assistant business editor at the Albuquerque Journal. Contact her at emarks@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3842 if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1-844-255-9210. Staff reports Aberdeen News Aberdeen City Council Meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the City Council chambers at the Municipal Building, 123 S. Lincoln St. Agenda items of note include: Hear vaping presentation from the Aberdeen Police Department Consider bids for Kline Street reconstruction, piping and accessible sidewalk quadrants. For a full city agenda, visit aberdeen.sd.us/AgendaCenter. Aberdeen School Board Meets at 6 p.m. Monday at the District Service Center, 1224 S. Third St. Agenda items of note include: Hear good news reports recognizing cross-country runner Aaron Ryan; the cast for Centrals one-act play; and oratory contest winner Keilly Gunther. Consider resolution for land exchange with the Warner School District, the first reading of an ordinance adopting middle school and high school language arts curriculum and textbooks; and the second reading of an ordinance adopting the districts capital outlay play and revenue projections. For a full agenda, visit aberdeen.k12.sd.us/dsc/schoolboard/2018-19%20meetings.html Brown County Commission Meets at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday in the commission chambers of the Brown County Courthouse Annex, 25 Market St. Agenda items of note include: Dan Zumbaum to discuss courthouse entrance. Sue Gates to discuss Dacotah Prairie Museum annual report. For a full agenda, visit brown.sd.us/node/454. Sarah Mearhoff American News Capitol Correspondent PIERRE Legislative committees rushed to clear their calendars this week before the bell tolled, with Friday having been the deadline for bills to leave committee on their side of origin. Amid the hours-long hearings and rush came controversy: Several Democratic-led bills failed to pass committees this week, while other Republican-led bills have been reincarnated after having already failed. Senate Minority Leader Troy Heinert, D-Mission, said at a Friday news conference that some bills have been assigned to committees in order to ensure their passage or failure in what he called an abuse of the legislative system. House Minority Whip Rep. Erin Healy, D-Sioux Falls, echoed this. She said her House Bill 1175, which would have established a council to study pre-kindergarten programs in the state, should have been sent to the House Education Committee, but was instead sent to State Affairs. The committee killed the bill by a 9-2 vote, saying it could result in a publicly funded statewide preschool system, and ultimately a socialist agenda. Also sent to State Affairs was House Bill 1236, a bill designed to close a loophole that allowed South Dakotas major health insurance companies to drop coverage last month of applied behavior analysis treatment for children on the autism spectrum. Healy contended that this bill should have been sent to the House Health and Human Services Committee. Prime sponsor of HB 1236 Rep. Ryan Cwach, D-Yankton, said that politics got in the way of that committee meeting and called the committees 7-4 vote to kill the bill difficult and heartbreaking. Meanwhile, a Republican-led House bill to require transgender high school athletes to compete according to their birth sex was revived after a nearly identical bill on the Senate side was already killed early in the session. The House Health and Human Services Committee tied 6-6 on a vote to pass House Bill 1225 on Thursday. House Minority Leader Rep. Jamie Smith, D-Sioux Falls, was absent from the vote due to a scheduling conflict, which he said the committee chair knew about when he scheduled the vote. The committee ultimately voted 8-4 to send the bill to the House floor without a recommendation a rare occurrence in the Capitol. Here are some of the other major developments this week in Pierre: Science education The House Education Committee Wednesday passed House Bill 1270, which would allow teachers to teach students about all sides of scientific theories like evolution and climate change, according to one of the bills proponents Sen. Phil Jensen, R-Rapid City. Jensen said by allowing teachers to show the weaknesses of scientific theories, students will be encouraged to think critically. He said HB 1270 would allow students to learn how to think, not just what to think. To do less is simply indoctrination. The bill now moves on to consideration on the House floor. Texting while driving A bill that would have outlawed cellphone use while driving failed to pass the Senate Thursday with a 17-17 tie. House Bill 1088 would have made it a primary offense to use an electronic device while driving for purposes other than making a call or using a GPS. The House passed the bill Feb. 6. After a motion to reconsider the bill in the Senate Friday failed, the bill is officially dead. Absentee voting The House Thursday narrowly passed a bill that would reduce South Dakotans time to vote via absentee ballot from 46 days to 32. The bill was opposed by the Secretary of States Office, as well as several auditors throughout the state. Opponents said shortening the window makes it more difficult to vote, while the state should be working toward make voting easier. They also noted that the bill could disproportionately disenfranchise voters who live on rural American Indian reservations. Proponents say that much information on candidates and ballot measures emerge in the final weeks leading up to an election, and shortening the window will help voters make more informed decisions. House Bill 1178 passed by a 36-33 vote. It now moves on to the Senate. Vape taxes The House Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday passed House Bill 1209, which would add vape products, such as electronic cigarettes, to the states existing tobacco tax of 35 percent wholesale price. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network supports the bill, with South Dakota Government Relations Director David Benson calling it a step toward reducing the public health epidemic we are facing with the increased use of these products by kids. According to the Action Network, more than 17 percent of South Dakota high school students use vape products. The bill now moves on to the House for consideration. Weather Alert ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 9 PM MDT FRIDAY... * WHAT...Tuesday high temperatures range from the mid to upper 90s, with highs reaching into the low 100s for some areas through the rest of the week. Widespread overnight lows in the 60s are forecast. Near record to record temperatures are expected. * WHERE...Portions of central, north central, and west central Montana. * WHEN...From Noon Tuesday to 9 PM MDT Friday. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses. 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. 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. 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. && Weather Alert ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 8 PM MDT THURSDAY... * WHAT...Temperatures up to 102 degrees expected for multiple days. * WHERE...Bitterroot Valley, Missoula, Highway 93 Sula to Lost Trail Pass, Lolo Pass, Highway 200 Bonner to Greenough, Highway 83 Seeley Lake to Condon, and I-90 East Missoula to Bearmouth. * WHEN...From noon Tuesday to 8 PM MDT Thursday. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur. 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. && Bruce Fudge in Aeon: Nobody would have the balls today to write The Satanic Verses, let alone publish it, the writer Hanif Kureishi told a journalist in 2009. Salman Rushdies notorious novel, like Kureishis figure of speech, is indeed looking like a relic of a bygone time. When it was published 31 years ago, the global furore was unprecedented. There were protests, book-burnings and riots. Irans leader Ayatollah Khomeini called on Muslims to kill Rushdie, a bounty was placed on his head, and there were murders, attempted and successful, of supporters, publishers and translators. The author spent years in hiding. Three decades later, the novel remains in print, widely available, and the author walks about a largely free man. But if the skirmish over The Satanic Verses was won, a larger battle might have been lost. Who now would dare to write a provocative fiction exploring the origins of Islam? The social and political aspects of the Rushdie affair obscured one of the key ideas at stake: can someone from a Muslim background take material from the life of the prophet Muhammad to compose an innovative, irreverent and resolutely godless work of fiction? Subsequent experience suggests not. More here. Andrew Brown in The Guardian: Some years ago a well-placed German Catholic priest sent me a long letter denouncing a network of gay clergy supposedly centred around Pope Benedict XVIs private secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein. In official Catholic teaching it is not a sin to be gay, although the inclination is an objective moral disorder; but it is sinful to act on this inclination. How sinful depends on your confessor. The result is that gay clergy are officially innocent until guilty but in gossip guilty until proven innocent which of course they never quite can be. Most of the men cited were identified only by their initials, and the sender himself hoped to remain anonymous. But with patience and the help of friends, I worked out who all the initials belonged to and tracked the author to his cathedral. He denied everything and expressed surprise that a reputable newspaper should be interested in such gossip. I will not easily forget his smirk as he said this. It was a glimpse of the poisonous world that Frederic Martel, himself gay, has spent five years researching for this book. In this place of make-believe, guilt and constant innuendo the prelates live in a tension between the dreadful fear of being outed and the loneliness of not being recognised for who and what they are. So they out each other instead, compulsively. Martels rule of thumb is that the most publicly homophobic prelates are those most likely to be homosexually inclined themselves; the only ones who feel they can afford to be sympathetic to gay people are celibate straight people, who do exist in the Vatican. Martel quotes the estimate of the popes former chief Latinist that up to 80% of the Vatican staff could be gay even if obviously most of them are buttoned up. The real figure is unknowable but 80% is not entirely incredible. One of the most impressive, and saddening, parts of Martels research is his exploration of the world of migrant sex workers in Rome. Elsewhere in Europe there are fewer gay sex workers on the streets, he says, but in Rome they still thrive, in part because of the concentration of priests, who seek out migrants for the anonymity their encounters offer. More here. by Jalees Rehman All obsessions can be dangerous. When I read the title Why America's obsession with STEM education is dangerous of Fareed Zakaria's article in the Washington Post, I assumed that he would call for more balance in education. An exclusive focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is unhealthy because students miss out on the valuable knowledge that the arts and humanities teach us. I would wholeheartedly agree with such a call for balance because I believe that a comprehensive education makes us better human beings. This is the reason why I encourage discussions about literature and philosophy in my scientific laboratory. To my surprise and dismay, Zakaria did not analyze the respective strengths of liberal arts education and STEM education. Instead, his article is laced with odd cliches and misrepresentations of STEM. Misrepresentation #1: STEM teaches technical skills instead of critical thinking and creativity Zakaria writes: If Americans are united in any conviction these days, it is that we urgently need to shift the country's education toward the teaching of specific, technical skills. Every month, it seems, we hear about our children's bad test scores in math and science and about new initiatives from companies, universities or foundations to expand STEM courses (science, technology, engineering and math) and deemphasize the humanities. and The United States has led the world in economic dynamism, innovation and entrepreneurship thanks to exactly the kind of teaching we are now told to defenestrate. A broad general education helps foster critical thinking and creativity. Zakaria is correct when he states that a broad education fosters creativity and critical thinking but his article portrays STEM as being primarily focused on technical skills whereas liberal education focuses on critical thinking and creativity. Zakaria's view is at odds with the goals of STEM education. As a scientist who mentors Ph.D students in the life sciences and in engineering, my goal is to help our students become critical and creative thinkers. Students learn technical skills such as how to culture cells in a dish, insert DNA into cells, use microscopes or quantify protein levels but these technical skills are not the focus of the educational program. Learning a few technical skills is easy but the real goal is for students to learn how to develop innovative scientific hypotheses, be creative in terms of designing experiments that test those hypotheses, learn how to be critical of their own results and use logic to analyze their experiments. My own teaching and mentoring experience focuses on STEM graduate students but the STEM programs that I have attended at elementary and middle schools also emphasize teaching basic concepts and critical thinking instead of technical skills. The United States needs to promote STEM education because of the prevailing science illiteracy in the country and not because it needs to train technically skilled worker bees. Here are some examples of science illiteracy in the US: Fort-two percent of Americans are creationists who believe that God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years or so. Fifty-two percent of Americans are unsure whether there is a link between vaccines and autism and six percent are convinced that vaccines can cause autism even though there is broad consensus among scientists from all over the world that vaccines do NOT cause autism. And only sixty-one percent are convinced that there is solid evidence for global warming. A solid STEM education helps citizens apply critical thinking to distinguish quackery from true science, benefiting their own well-being as well as society. Zakaria's criticism of obsessing about test scores is spot on. The subservience to test scores undermines the educational system because some teachers and school administrators may focus on teaching test-taking instead of critical thinking and creativity. But this applies to the arts and humanities as well as the STEM fields because language skills are also assessed by standardized tests. Just like the STEM fields, the arts and humanities have to find a balance between teaching required technical skills (i.e. grammar, punctuation, test-taking strategies, technical ability to play an instrument) and the more challenging tasks of teaching students how to be critical and creative. Misrepresentation #2: Japanese aren't creative Zakaria's views on Japan are laced with racist cliches: Asian countries like Japan and South Korea have benefitted enormously from having skilled workforces. But technical chops are just one ingredient needed for innovation and economic success. America overcomes its disadvantage a less-technically-trained workforce with other advantages such as creativity, critical thinking and an optimistic outlook. A country like Japan, by contrast, can't do as much with its well-trained workers because it lacks many of the factors that produce continuous innovation. Some of the most innovative scientific work in my own field of scientific research stem cell biology is carried out in Japan. Referring to Japanese as well-trained workers does not do justice to the innovation and creativity in the STEM fields and it also conveniently ignores Japanese contributions to the arts and humanities. I doubt that the US movie directors who have re-made Kurosawa movies or the literary critics who each year expect that Haruki Murakami will receive the Nobel Prize in Literature would agree with Zakaria. Misrepresentation #3: STEM does not value good writing Writing well, good study habits and clear thinking are important. But Zakaria seems to suggest that these are not necessarily part of a good math and science education: No matter how strong your math and science skills are, you still need to know how to learn, think and even write. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon (and the owner of this newspaper), insists that his senior executives write memos, often as long as six printed pages, and begins senior-management meetings with a period of quiet time, sometimes as long as 30 minutes, while everyone reads the narratives to themselves and makes notes on them. In an interview with Fortune's Adam Lashinsky, Bezos said: Full sentences are harder to write. They have verbs. The paragraphs have topic sentences. There is no way to write a six-page, narratively structured memo and not have clear thinking. Communicating science is an essential part of science. Until scientific work is reviewed by other scientists and published as a paper it is not considered complete. There is a substantial amount of variability in the quality of writing among scientists. Some scientists are great at logically structuring their papers and conveying the core ideas whereas other scientific papers leave the reader in a state of utter confusion. What Jeff Bezos proposes for his employees is already common practice in the STEM world. In preparation for scientific meetings and discussions, scientists structure their ideas into outlines for manuscripts or grant proposals using proper paragraphs and sentences. Well-written scientific manuscripts are highly valued but the overall quality of writing in the STEM fields could be greatly improved. However, the same probably also holds true for people with a liberal arts education. Not every philosopher is a great writer. Decoding the human genome is a breeze when compared to decoding certain postmodern philosophical texts. Misrepresentation #4: We should study the humanities and arts because Silicon Valley wants us to. In support of his arguments for a stronger liberal arts education, Zakaria primarily quotes Silicon Valley celebrities such as Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. The article suggests that a liberal arts education will increase entrepreneurship and protect American jobs. Are these the main reasons for why we need to reinvigorate liberal arts education? The importance of a general, balanced education makes a lot of sense to me but is increased job security a convincing argument for pursuing a liberal arts degree? Instead of a handful of anecdotal comments by Silicon Valley prophets, I would prefer to see some actual data that supports Zakaria's assertion. But perhaps I am being too STEMy. There is a lot of room to improve STEM education. We have to make sure that we strive to focus on the essence of STEM which is critical thinking and creativity. We should also make a stronger effort to integrate arts and humanities into STEM education. In the same vein, it would be good to incorporate more STEM education into liberal arts education in order to combat scientific illiteracy. Instead of invoking Two Cultures scenarios and creating straw man arguments, educators of all fields need to collaborate in order to improve the overall quality of education. In a rare unanimous decision in a high-profile case, U.S. Supreme Court has put restraints on the practice of civil asset forfeiture, which many law enforcement agencies have often used to seize property and cash from innocent people without recourse. While criminal law requires a conviction, civil asset forfeiture is a different animal, putting the burden on an individual to show that their seized cash or property wasnt related to the commission of a crime. The practice has become an incentive for legal theft in some jurisdictions because a law enforcement agency is allowed to keep a share of the proceeds in its department budget. The courts decision in Timbs vs. Indiana to rein in civil asset forfeiture relied on the Eighth Amendment prohibition against no excessive fines in concert with the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection, which brought many state laws under the purview of the federal government following the Civil War. In this instance, Timbs, a factory worker, was no innocent. He said a foot injury made him dependent on painkillers. After receiving money from his fathers life insurance policy, he bought a $42,000 Land Rover and spent the rest on drugs. He pleaded guilty in 2015 to selling $225 worth of heroin to undercover officers. These are not good numbers if your domestic ag policy almost entirely depends on international exports to deliver year-in, year-out profits. The decade-long forecasts for other key commodities are equally disconcerting. For example, dairy shows slowly building stocks and slow-growing prices; hog and beef prices are seen as flat; cotton prices remain under 80-cents; and wheat prices never top $5.50 per bu. all decade. Perhaps the only good news here is that all 10-year economic forecasts especially ones like USDAs that predict specific commodity prices a decade out are rarely accurate. They are, however, benchmarks of what will happen short of an even harder-to-predict political or weather event that will drive global and domestic ag markets in directions no one can foresee. But thats where U.S. farmers and ranchers find themselves today: at the mercy of unpredictable short-term, farm-altering events that will play an overly large role in their long term success or failure. Is there any other sector of the U.S. economy that all but requires and indeed has designed and funded ag policy that institutionalizes cataclysm to play the largest role in year-to-year profitability and long-term success? Turns out that Keynes was on to something; weve got a flat-ocean ag policy that only really works during tempestuous seasons. The Farm and Food File is published weekly through the U.S. and Canada. Source material and contact information are posted at www.farmandfoodfile.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 WATERLOO The Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley needs help with the following: Do you have sewing experience? Share those skills with North Star Community Services and help altering and creating costumes for their upcoming theater production of Shrek. Volunteers may help anytime between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday until June 5. Be a part of the MDA Muscle Walk of Waterloo. The Muscular Dystrophy Association of Iowa is seeking volunteers from 9 a.m. to noon p.m. to help with event set up, registration, refreshment booths, photo stations and tear down. The event will take place at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo on May 11. Cedar Valley Jaycees is looking for volunteer readers for Read Across America. Volunteers are needed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Readers will be in the Waterloo area elementary schools for 30-minute sessions, sharing stories with young children in the classroom. Help the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois at their cookie booths in Waterloo now through March 20. Hours vary, but opportunities are available mostly on the weekends, except during Spring Break. Volunteers may be stationed outdoors. For more information, call the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley at 272-2087, or go to www.vccv.org. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 WATERLOO The Salvation Army of Waterloo/Cedar Falls has concluded its seasonal fundraising campaign with a shortfall. The shortfall, combined with the decrease in other sources of funding, could result in a reduction of services, according to Major Harold Poff. Its always tough when we have to consider ending programs. ... Right now we are thoroughly reviewing every program we offer to determine which have the greatest impact on the most vulnerable populations in the Cedar Valley, he said. Decisions will be made in the coming month in consultation with other community service providers and funding partners. The annual Christmas campaign missed its goal by a significant margin. Additionally, grants and monthly individual donations are also behind this year, bringing the total annual projected shortage to nearly $150,000. The Salvation Army of Waterloo/Cedar Falls serves thousands in need each year. Highlights from the organizations 2018 fiscal year include the following: President Alassane Ouattara of Cote dIvoire received Friday evening in Assinie, 95 km east of Abidjan, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita who conveyed him a verbal message from King Mohammed VI. The contents of the message were not disclosed, but the news agency MAP said discussions between the two sides focused on strengthening cooperation and partnership relations between Morocco and Cote dIvoire. Several other topics of common interest were brought up during the meeting with focus on African issues. Birthday wishes Call 281-422-8302 or email david.bloom@baytownsun.com to wish someone a happy birthday. We will print your birthday wish on Page 2 of The Sun. Happy Birthday Wishes South Africa: Renewable energy programme attracts R209.4 billion to SA economy The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPP) is making a significant impact on the economy, job creation, community upliftment, economic transformation and climate change. The REIPPP is a competitive tender process that has been designed to facilitate private sector investment into grid-connected renewable energy generation. In a short, 8-year period it has attracted R209.4 billion in committed private sector investment, resulting in much-needed alleviation of fiscal pressure. South African entities such as Old Mutual, Red Cap, Phakwe, Pele Green, and many others, including the Central Energy Fund and the PIC, account for the majority of investment into the REIPPPP. Renewable IPPs have created 38 701 jobs years for youth and women from the surrounding communities. This means 38 701 people have had a full-time job for one year, Energy Minister Jeff Radebe said at a media briefing in Pretoria on Sunday. The minister said local communities have benefited from over R1 billion spent by IPPs on education by upskilling teachers, providing extra teachers and classrooms, as well as awarding over 600 bursaries to students from disadvantaged communities. In the health sector, the programme has provided health facilities while contributing to social development through feeding schemes, supporting old age homes and early childhood development. Furthermore, it has helped to establish more than 1000 small enterprises. With regards to the Black South African equity shareholding in the REIPP programme, it has progressively increased with each bidding round. Radebe said the South African equity shareholding across Bid Window 1 to Bid Window 4 and Smalls Bid Windows 1 and 2 equates to 52% - R31.4 billion- of the total equity of R60.9 billion. This is substantially more than the 40% requirement. Black South African companies such as Thebe, Kagiso/Tiso, Royal Bafokeng, H1, Halusani, Reatile, Phakwe - on average - have 33% of the projects that have reached financial close. Broad-based black participation is also secured across the value chain through community participation, including in engineering, procurement, construction, operations and maintenance contractors where black ownership amounts to 21%. Local community ownership is structured through the establishment of community trusts. Qualifying communities will receive R27.1 billion net income through the dividends from their shareholding over the 20-year life of these committed projects. For the consumers, the programme ensures that they pay a fixed number escalated by CPI per annum or less for the duration of the contract. With regards to the environment, the REIPP programmes contribution has meant that South Africas carbon emission is reduced by about 33.2 million tonnes (Mton) carbon dioxide (CO2) and water savings of 39.2 million kilolitres achieved by 31 December 2018. I acknowledge the programme is not perfect and can be improved in specific areas. However, we need to embrace that the programme that has done so much for the country and has received international acknowledgement, Radebe said. He said energy is central to the economy and an enabler in ensuring human rights in respect of access to food and water. With techno-economic shifts transitioning to the energy sector, the minister said the programme holds further exciting opportunities for growth. The energy sector is at the cusp of an exciting period, reminiscent of the huge changes brought about by rapid technological advancement in the mobile telephony industry in recent years. We need to be prepared for the disruptive times that the fourth industrial revolution will bring and adjust in a responsible way, the minister said. The centralised power generation plants will disappear and replaced by distributed generation, mini-grids and batteries, he said adding that the country must ensure that youth embraces the new technologies and move with the changing times. Renewable energy generation plants, complimentary hybrid technologies such as storage and the associated industrial value-chain activities will support the creation of jobs and better employment prospects. To achieve prosperity for all, Radebe concluded that government and all stakeholders involved have to take hands and become a driving force for transformation and change. - SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-02-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. WATERLOO Another Democratic presidential hopeful is coming to the Cedar Valley. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 69, will be at Central Middle School at 10:45 a.m. Saturday, with doors opening at 9:45 a.m., and later that day shell be at Black Hawk County Democratic headquarters at 307 E. Fourth St. On Friday, shell visit Dubuque, Decorah and Elkader. Warren will also attend a house party in Decorah, have coffee with local Democratic activists in Elkader and kick off a canvass for Senate District 30 special election candidate Eric Giddens in Waterloo, according to a news release from her campaign. This is Warrens third trip to Iowa since declaring her intention to run for president Dec. 31. She was elected to U.S. Senate in 2012, and won reelection in 2018. Warren has supported liberal policies and advocated for Medicare for All. In 2019 Warren has visited Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Storm Lake, Des Moines, Ankeny, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Davenport. She is one of a growing group of Democrats seeking the nations highest office, including New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who visited Waterloo on Feb. 8, and California Sen. Kamala Harris, who visited Feb. 24. The public is invited to the Central Middle School event and can RSVP at this website: https://my.elizabethwarren.com/page/s/join-elizabeth-in-waterloo-?source=press. Love 1 Funny 4 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 This will be the first time any of the current Lowell students have relocated to another building, but its not the first time a move from the school has happened. After spring break in 2005, Lowell staff and students relocated to the vacant old Irving Elementary as work got underway to remodel their school. The old Irving has since been torn down. Lindaman admitted that the new location would be an adjustment, especially for the adults who work at the school. I think the kids will think this is an adventure, she said. The effort to switch locations also involves Cedar Falls Community Schools, which was represented at the meeting by Pam Zeigler, the districts director of elementary education. The buildings are located within the districts boundaries and Cedar Falls Schools new esports online gaming team is based in the conference buildings media center space. We love the room that esports are in, but beggars cant be choosers, said Lindaman. The Cedar Falls districts lease agreement includes about 2,000 square feet in the building. In addition, the district has been storing items in one of the buildings from two Cedar Falls elementary schools that are being remodeled. WATERLOO A Waterloo sex offender accused of attacking an 82-year-old woman on Wednesday had been investigated in connection with a Backpage scheme in 2017, according to court records. Bond for Manuel Montrell Causey, 30, was set at $500,000 Thursday after he was arrested for first-degree burglary and second-degree sexual abuse. He was also arrested for sex offender registration violations and a failure to appear warrant on a gun charge. +2 AWOL sex offender arrested in attack on 82-year-old woman WATERLOO A sex offender who allegedly shirked his registration responsibilities has been a Court records show police came across Causey in December 2017 when they were investigating a robbery report. The victim originally claimed he was robbed at gunpoint while helping a stranded motorist, and police received a tip naming Causey, who matched the description given by the victim. Police found a scenario different from what the victim had claimed. According to police, a female acquaintance of Causey told investigators she placed an advertisement for massages on BackPage.Com, which lured men to her Wellington Street home with the expectation of having sex with her. When the men arrived, she would take their money and signal Causey, who would interrupt and make the men leave, according to court records. On the night of the alleged robbery, this happened twice, with the woman collecting about $150 from a man matching the description of the victim, records state. 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. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. The Muck: Heated Twitter Debate Follows Aaron Massey's Request for No Congrats February 24 2019 Valerie Cross Tournament poker players know the disappointment that can come with finishing short of victory, even when the result comes with a nice payday or respectable ROI. But the question of whether or not tournament staff working events should offer up their congrats for deep runs that don't end in a win has been brought up for debate. Chicago-based mid-stakes tournament grinder Aaron Massey took to Twitter on Wednesday to express his disapproval for messages of "congratulations" coming from WSOP staff following players' eliminations, and, of course debate in the poker Twitterverse ensued. Hey @WSOP please train your staff not to say Congratulations when someone busts. If they cash for a loss, cash fo https://t.co/Xhgc63dxyd Aaron Massey (@nevermissmassey) A quick gander at Massey's Hendon Mob page would indicate that the tweet was likely prompted by his most recent Circuit cash which came on Tuesday a 21st-place finish in a $400 Turbo NLH at the Rio Las Vegas that earned him $700. If he fired at least two bullets, he cashed for a loss and most would agree 21st in an event such as this is not much to celebrate, especially for an accomplished pro with over $3.7 million in live earnings to his credit. Still, many felt Massey's comment was out of line, though it did get over 100 likes and the support of Matt Salsberg. @nevermissmassey @WSOP I voiced this during wsop last year, should only congratulate the winner. Its actually rude. Salty (@msalsberg) Others suggested poker players should perhaps not complain about positive comments coming from members of staff who help keep poker players in action. @msalsberg @nevermissmassey @WSOP So....let's all make sure to not clap or congratulate anyone at the FT of the ME https://t.co/Rx0FzTAZ95 Miranda MillerTipton (@mkm1832) As part of his defense, Salsberg suggested that there are exceptions, like when the cash is for a hefty sum. @mkm1832 @nevermissmassey @WSOP First place or 500k plus score imo. Everything else runs the risk of a needle. Salty (@msalsberg) @msalsberg @mkm1832 @nevermissmassey @WSOP Okay but if there is ever a time to give people a benefit of the doubt, https://t.co/hLfJmE9Sga Rada (@RadaWilinofsky) @BenWilinofsky @RadaWilinofsky @mkm1832 @nevermissmassey @WSOP Good run is a much better thing to say than congratu https://t.co/O7QORT6Hf4 Salty (@msalsberg) Some fellow poker players found Massey's comment overly sensitive and unreasonable, and openly expressed their opposition to the original tweet. @msalsberg @BenWilinofsky @RadaWilinofsky @mkm1832 @nevermissmassey @WSOP If poker hasnt thickened your skin enoug https://t.co/N67CL9Rqyu Darryll Fish (@DarryllFish) Massey responded less than kindly to that one. Salsberg also fired back, saying it doesn't tilt him but he'd prefer use of different language, while Uncle Ron provided some comedic relief. @msalsberg @DarryllFish @BenWilinofsky @RadaWilinofsky @mkm1832 @nevermissmassey @WSOP Congratulations on yur friendship Darryll and Matt! Uncle Ron (@UncleRonAA) A couple of other pros also spoke out against Massey's tweet, one of them a rather unlikely source according to some. Pussy ass entitled snowflakes who cant take a congrats for any place other than first in a tournament. Please gro https://t.co/yodgGuczJr Allen Cunningham (@AllenCunningham) I get it, but c'mon. Poker is insanely volatile, emotionally draining & mentally taxing. You're upset at an onlooke https://t.co/IiY0N7iNHT matt berkey (@berkey11) Massey fired shots right back at Berkey, taking the conversation a bit off the rails. @berkey11 Maybe your right, maybe your wrong. Maybe you tattooed dots on your head so u dont look bald. Maybe u pu https://t.co/oPsdi0zGfM Aaron Massey (@nevermissmassey) That prompted Berkey's question, "Who hurt you?" and all of the above provided many in the poker community plenty to discuss, even if little consensus emerged on the appropriate language to be used by tournament staff at poker events. International pressure mounted against Venezuela's leader Nicolas Maduro on Sunday, with Washington vowing to "take action" after opposition efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the country descended into blood-soaked chaos. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday that the United States will take action in Venezuela, as he condemned violence perpetrated by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduros thugs after security forces fired on demonstrators.The US will take action against those who oppose the peaceful restoration of democracy in Venezuela. Now is the time to act in support of the needs of the desperate Venezuelan people, Pompeo wrote on Twitter.We stand in solidarity with those continuing their struggle for freedom. EstamosUnidosVE.After two people were killed and more than 300 wounded in clashes between people trying to get humanitarian aid into Venezuela from neighbouring countries and forces loyal to Maduro blocking the shipments, the top Washington diplomat tweeted, the US condemns the attacks on civilians in Venezuela perpetrated by Maduros thugs.These attacks have resulted in deaths and injuries, he added.Our deepest sympathies to the families of those who have died due to these criminal acts. We join their demand for justice. EstamosUnidosVE."Read more >> Venezuelan soldiers kill two in clash over aid on Brazilian borderThis was followed on Sunday by the European Union condemning Caracas for its use of violence and armed supporters of the regime to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid into Venezuela.We repudiate the use of irregular armed groups to intimidate civilians and lawmakers who have mobilised to distribute assistance, Euopean Union's Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement.Opposition leader Juan Guaido said the regime had deployed irregulars to block the entry of aid, referring to groups of armed Maduro supporters who tend to operate both alongside and independently of the security forces.There are worrying reports of unrest, acts of violence and a growing number of victims, in particular in the border areas and among the Pemon indigenous community, Mogherini said.We strongly call on law enforcement and security bodies to show restraint, avoid use of force and allow for the entry of aid.Mogherini also said the EU was ready to scale up humanitarian and development aid to ease the plight of Venezuelans.The European Union has already committed more than 60 million in 2018/19 in humanitarian and development aid. We recall our commitment to help those in need for as long as it takes, to scale up this assistance, she said.Brazil on Sunday also condemned the violence by Maduro's administration this weekend, branding it a criminal act and calling on the international community to join efforts to liberate the South American nation.Meanwhile, Brazilian Army Colonel George Feres Kanaan said on Sunday that two Venezuelan national guard soldiers deserted to Brazil late on Saturday, joining some 60 military officials who defected in Colombia.(FRANCE 24 with AFP) International pressure mounted against Venezuela's leader Nicolas Maduro on Sunday, with Washington vowing to "take action" after opposition efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the country descended into blood-soaked chaos. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday that the United States will take action in Venezuela, as he condemned violence perpetrated by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduros thugs after security forces fired on demonstrators. The US will take action against those who oppose the peaceful restoration of democracy in #Venezuela. Now is the time to act in support of the needs of the desperate Venezuelan people, Pompeo wrote on Twitter. We stand in solidarity with those continuing their struggle for freedom. #EstamosUnidosVE. After two people were killed and more than 300 wounded in clashes between people trying to get humanitarian aid into Venezuela from neighbouring countries and forces loyal to Maduro blocking the shipments, the top Washington diplomat tweeted, the US condemns the attacks on civilians in #Venezuela perpetrated by Maduros thugs. These attacks have resulted in deaths and injuries, he added. Our deepest sympathies to the families of those who have died due to these criminal acts. We join their demand for justice. #EstamosUnidosVE." Read more >> Venezuelan soldiers kill two in clash over aid on Brazilian border This was followed on Sunday by the European Union condemning Caracas for its use of violence and armed supporters of the regime to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid into Venezuela. We repudiate the use of irregular armed groups to intimidate civilians and lawmakers who have mobilised to distribute assistance, Euopean Union's Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement. Opposition leader Juan Guaido said the regime had deployed irregulars to block the entry of aid, referring to groups of armed Maduro supporters who tend to operate both alongside and independently of the security forces. Story continues There are worrying reports of unrest, acts of violence and a growing number of victims, in particular in the border areas and among the Pemon indigenous community, Mogherini said. We strongly call on law enforcement and security bodies to show restraint, avoid use of force and allow for the entry of aid. Mogherini also said the EU was ready to scale up humanitarian and development aid to ease the plight of Venezuelans. The European Union has already committed more than 60 million in 2018/19 in humanitarian and development aid. We recall our commitment to help those in need for as long as it takes, to scale up this assistance, she said. Brazil on Sunday also condemned the violence by Maduro's administration this weekend, branding it a criminal act and calling on the international community to join efforts to liberate the South American nation. Meanwhile, Brazilian Army Colonel George Feres Kanaan said on Sunday that two Venezuelan national guard soldiers deserted to Brazil late on Saturday, joining some 60 military officials who defected in Colombia. (FRANCE 24 with AFP) North Korea leader Kim Jong Un is travelling to Vietnam for his second summit with US president Donald Trump, state media confirmed. Mr Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the US, and Kim Yo Jong, the leaders sister, the Norths official Korean Central News Agency reported. TV footage and photos distributed by the Norths state-run news agency showed Mr Kim inspecting a guard of honour at the Pyongyang station before waving from the train. The second summit between US president Donald Trump and Kim will be held in Hanoi (Lee Jin-man/AP) The Trump-Kim meeting is due to take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. Their first summit last June in Singapore ended without substantive agreements on the Norths nuclear disarmament. It also triggered a months-long stalemate in negotiations as Washington and Pyongyang struggled with the sequencing of North Koreas nuclear disarmament and the removal of US-led sanctions against the North. Kim Jong Un salutes while reviewing troops at Pyongyang Station before leaving (Korean Central News Agency/AP) Mr Trump sought to manage expectations for the meeting. He tweeted on Sunday that he expected it to be a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. He added: Denuclearization? To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. Mr Trump added that Mr Kim knew that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Mr Kims overseas travel plans are routinely kept secret. It could take more than two days for the train to travel thousands of miles through China to Vietnam. Vietnams foreign ministry announced on Saturday that Mr Kim would pay an official goodwill visit to the country in the coming days in response to an invitation by president Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also the general secretary of Vietnams ruling Communist Party. People ride motorcycles past a poster featuring the upcoming second summit between the US and North Korea in Hanoi (Minh Hoang/AP) In his forthcoming meeting with Mr Trump, experts say Mr Kim will seek a US commitment for improved bilateral relations and partial sanctions relief while trying to minimise any concessions on his nuclear facilities and weapons. Story continues While Mr Kim wants to leverage his nuclear and missile programme for economic and security benefits, there continue to be doubts on whether he is ready to fully deal away an arsenal that he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival. Last year, North Korea suspended its nuclear and long-range missile tests and unilaterally dismantled its nuclear testing ground and parts of a rocket launch facility without the presence of outside experts, but none of those steps were seen as meaningful cutbacks to the Norths weapons capability. While North Korea has repeatedly demanded that the United States take corresponding measures, including sanctions relief, Washington has called for more concrete steps from Pyongyang toward denuclearisation. North Korean state media has hit back at US critics of the scheduled meeting between Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump as the North Korean leader travelled by train from Pyongyang to Vietnam, ... The two leaders are expected to meet next week in Vietnams capital following a meeting in Singapore last June. Last years meeting resulted in an ambiguous statement about the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.Top officials from Pyongyang and Washington are taking part in preparatory talks in Hanoi focused on determining the agenda for the summit.The US Special Representative on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, who heads the US delegation, said last month that the two countries did not have a shared agreement of what denuclearisation entails, according to reports from the AFP news agency.Scepticism in Washington has been fuelled by a lack of progress since the first summit. And Trumps intelligence chief has said North Korea is unlikely to completely give up its weapons programme.Pyongyangs official Korean Central News Agency denounced critics in the US, saying the Trump administration must grab the rare historic opportunity.If the upcoming DPRK-US negotiations end without results as wished by the opponent forces, the US people will never be cleared of the security threats, said Pyongyangs official mouthpiece.The North Korean state media said the US authorities must not forget the lesson from last years summit when it plunged the bilateral negotiations into a stalemate following persuasion from opponent forces.North Korea wants respite from harsh UN sanctions and dismisses calls for what it describes as unilateral disarmament.The US says the measures must remain in force until Pyongyang gives up its nuclear weapons.Full steam aheadKims travel to Vietnam was cloaked in secrecy until a train with yellow stripes was seen crossing the Yalu river passing into China on Saturday evening.The North Korean leaders travel plans had remained a mystery. However, both his father and grandfather did not hide their fascination with trains.It remains unclear whether Kim will remain on board the locomotive all the way to Hanoi or stop en route and continue the onward journey by air. If he remains on the train it is likely the journey will take some two and a half days, according to the Reuters news agency.Kims train is similar to the armoured one used by his father Kim Kong Il and his grandfather, Kim Il Sung.Amongst its 21 carriages are conference rooms decked out in white as well as sleeper and dining cars.North Korea state media has previously shown carriages furnished with pink leather chairs, wide screen televisions and curtains hanging in the windows.The train is connected to the outside world with satellite communications, North Korean state television has reported as cited by the Reuters news agency.Kims Mercedes Benz vehicle occupies a carriage, according to the Korea Joongang Daily newspaper.Upon passing into China the train can achieve speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour, compared to a top speed of 45 kilometres in its native North Korea, Ahn Byung-min, an expert at the Korea Transport Institute, was cited as saying by Reuters.Trains have become an intrinsic part of the myth surrounding the Kim family and the North Korean leaders father, Kim Jong-il, passed away while on a train in 2011. North Korean state media has hit back at US critics of the scheduled meeting between Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump as the North Korean leader travelled by train from Pyongyang to Vietnam, ... The two leaders are expected to meet next week in Vietnams capital following a meeting in Singapore last June. Last years meeting resulted in an ambiguous statement about the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Top officials from Pyongyang and Washington are taking part in preparatory talks in Hanoi focused on determining the agenda for the summit. The US Special Representative on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, who heads the US delegation, said last month that the two countries did not have a shared agreement of what denuclearisation entails, according to reports from the AFP news agency. Scepticism in Washington has been fuelled by a lack of progress since the first summit. And Trumps intelligence chief has said North Korea is unlikely to completely give up its weapons programme. Pyongyangs official Korean Central News Agency denounced critics in the US, saying the Trump administration must grab the rare historic opportunity. If the upcoming DPRK-US negotiations end without results as wished by the opponent forces, the US people will never be cleared of the security threats, said Pyongyangs official mouthpiece. The North Korean state media said the US authorities must not forget the lesson from last years summit when it plunged the bilateral negotiations into a stalemate following persuasion from opponent forces. North Korea wants respite from harsh UN sanctions and dismisses calls for what it describes as unilateral disarmament. The US says the measures must remain in force until Pyongyang gives up its nuclear weapons. Full steam ahead Kims travel to Vietnam was cloaked in secrecy until a train with yellow stripes was seen crossing the Yalu river passing into China on Saturday evening. The North Korean leaders travel plans had remained a mystery. However, both his father and grandfather did not hide their fascination with trains. Story continues It remains unclear whether Kim will remain on board the locomotive all the way to Hanoi or stop en route and continue the onward journey by air. If he remains on the train it is likely the journey will take some two and a half days, according to the Reuters news agency. Kims train is similar to the armoured one used by his father Kim Kong Il and his grandfather, Kim Il Sung. Amongst its 21 carriages are conference rooms decked out in white as well as sleeper and dining cars. North Korea state media has previously shown carriages furnished with pink leather chairs, wide screen televisions and curtains hanging in the windows. The train is connected to the outside world with satellite communications, North Korean state television has reported as cited by the Reuters news agency. Kims Mercedes Benz vehicle occupies a carriage, according to the Korea Joongang Daily newspaper. Upon passing into China the train can achieve speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour, compared to a top speed of 45 kilometres in its native North Korea, Ahn Byung-min, an expert at the Korea Transport Institute, was cited as saying by Reuters. Trains have become an intrinsic part of the myth surrounding the Kim family and the North Korean leaders father, Kim Jong-il, passed away while on a train in 2011. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have arrived in Moroccos high Atlas Mountain region to meet young women getting a secondary education thanks to the efforts of a British entrepreneur. Meghan is greeted by girls from the boarding house (Yui Mok/PA) In brilliant winter sunshine Harry and Meghan were welcomed to the town of Asni by pupils being taught at a boarding house run by the Moroccan NGO Education For All, founded by Michael McHugo. Holding Union and Morocco flags the teenage girls smiled as their guests arrived from the capital Rabat by helicopter. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. The students are from remote communities in the mountains whose parents would normally not be able to afford to send their daughters to school after primary education. Meghan and Harry walked along a line of waiting teenagers and following local custom touched a hand to their heart each time they shook the hand of a student. The royals followed local customs (Yui Mok/PA) The duke asked one pupil Is this the best school in Morocco? and as they were taken inside the boarding house he put his hand reassuringly on the back of his heavily pregnant wife. Venezuela's embattled President Nicolas Maduro has severed diplomatic ties with Colombia amid escalating violence, as opposition activists tried to defy a government ban and bring food and ... After accusing Bogota of "lending itself to an aggression against Venezuela", Maduro said Colombian diplomats had been ordered to leave Venezuela within the next 24 hours. His announcement took place against a backdrop of violent border clashes which saw at least four people killed, hundreds injured and dozens of soldiers switch loyalties to opposition leader and National Assembly President Juan Guaido, who is backed by the U.S. and a growing international coalition.Reacting to Maduro's decision, Colombia's Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said Colombia did not recognise the "legitimacy" of the Venezuelan leader but would withdraw its diplomatic staff from Caracas for security reasons.Saturday was a critical day in the ongoing political standoff in Venezuela between Maduro's government and the main opposition leader, Juan Guiado. Venezuelan troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters attempting to collect and transport the humanitarian aid.Witnesses said masked men in civilian clothes also shot at protesters with live bullets, and three trucks of aid were set on fire by tear gas grenades on the Santander bridge connecting Venezuela to Colombia.Defections According to the Colombian government, more than 60 Venezuelan soldiers defected and entered Colombia on Saturday. But there were not enough to allow aid to pass the border crossings. William Camacho, an official of the Special Forces of the Bolivarian National Police, told local news that he would join the side of Juan Guaido: "I will not go against my people." Efren Linares, another Venezuelan police officer who swapped sides, told local media, "Dozens more wanted to do so but were afraid of repercussions for their families."Targeting aidIn addition to violence on both the Colombian and Brazilian borders with Venezuela, a Venezuelan Navy vessel threatened to "open fire" on a ship carrying humanitarian aid that was dispatched and financed by Puerto Rico's government, according to the island's governor.As violence raged along the borders, Maduro addressed a rally in Venezuelas capital, Caracas, insisting he was stronger than ever and calling those trying to ship aid traitors.He denounced the humanitarian aid as a pretext for military intervention.In Cucuta, a town on the Colombian side of the border, Juan Guaido announced that he will attend a meeting in Bogota with the Lima Group, in spite of a travel ban imposed on him by Maduro's government. He will also meet US vice-president Mike Pence.Guaido declared on Twitter that the fight would continue despite the aid effort failing to breach government blockades. Todays events force me to make a decision: to formally propose to the international community that we must have all options open to secure the freedom of our country. Venezuela's embattled President Nicolas Maduro has severed diplomatic ties with Colombia amid escalating violence, as opposition activists tried to defy a government ban and bring food and ... After accusing Bogota of "lending itself to an aggression against Venezuela", Maduro said Colombian diplomats had been ordered to leave Venezuela within the next 24 hours. His announcement took place against a backdrop of violent border clashes which saw at least four people killed, hundreds injured and dozens of soldiers switch loyalties to opposition leader and National Assembly President Juan Guaido, who is backed by the U.S. and a growing international coalition. Reacting to Maduro's decision, Colombia's Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said Colombia did not recognise the "legitimacy" of the Venezuelan leader but would withdraw its diplomatic staff from Caracas for security reasons. Saturday was a critical day in the ongoing political standoff in Venezuela between Maduro's government and the main opposition leader, Juan Guiado. Venezuelan troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters attempting to collect and transport the humanitarian aid. Witnesses said masked men in civilian clothes also shot at protesters with live bullets, and three trucks of aid were set on fire by tear gas grenades on the Santander bridge connecting Venezuela to Colombia. Defections According to the Colombian government, more than 60 Venezuelan soldiers defected and entered Colombia on Saturday. But there were not enough to allow aid to pass the border crossings. William Camacho, an official of the Special Forces of the Bolivarian National Police, told local news that he would join the side of Juan Guaido: "I will not go against my people." Efren Linares, another Venezuelan police officer who swapped sides, told local media, "Dozens more wanted to do so but were afraid of repercussions for their families." Story continues Targeting aid In addition to violence on both the Colombian and Brazilian borders with Venezuela, a Venezuelan Navy vessel threatened to "open fire" on a ship carrying humanitarian aid that was dispatched and financed by Puerto Rico's government, according to the island's governor. As violence raged along the borders, Maduro addressed a rally in Venezuelas capital, Caracas, insisting he was stronger than ever and calling those trying to ship aid traitors. He denounced the humanitarian aid as a pretext for military intervention. In Cucuta, a town on the Colombian side of the border, Juan Guaido announced that he will attend a meeting in Bogota with the Lima Group, in spite of a travel ban imposed on him by Maduro's government. He will also meet US vice-president Mike Pence. Guaido declared on Twitter that the fight would continue despite the aid effort failing to breach government blockades. Todays events force me to make a decision: to formally propose to the international community that we must have all options open to secure the freedom of our country. French President Emmanuel Macron has been greeted by large crowds at the International Agriculture Fair, where he came to reassure struggling farmers about plunging food prices and soaring ... Macron urged new EU reforms to reinvent the agricultural sector in a bid to protect farmers against competition from the US and China."We produce and we don't see the profits. But big processors and supermarkets on the other hand, earn a lot of money," beef farmer Rene Debons tells RFI.Debons, who runs a cattle and maize farm in Aveyron, southwestern France, says farmers are paid the same amount for their produce regardless of what they sell it for at the supermarket."No one ever asks us what our cost price is. A processor or supermarket tells us 'we'll buy this animal from you and we'll give you this much in return', but often we end up selling at a loss."Complaints like this were addressed to Emmanuel Macron during his visit to the annual farm show Saturday an unmissable event for French politicians.In his opening speech, he replied: "I am aware of the daily challenges facing farmers. Nonetheless, I see that because there's a strong mobilisation... things are starting to improve."The French government is banking on a new agricultural and food law passed in January to prevent distributors and retailers from selling at a loss and limit price wars that farmers say are squeezing their margins to the limit.Edith Macke, who heads the union of the Flemish red cattle breed, is not convinced."We are still waiting to see the results of this new law," she told RFI, after speaking with Macron."The president told us to organise ourselves into sectors, but dairy farmers such as myself are already doing this. In order for us to advance, all actors need to be at the table."European agriculture 'under threat'However Macke, who runs a dairy farm in Hauts de Seine, a district just west of Paris, was reassured by Macron's proposals on Europe."The president told us that outstanding payments from the European Union would be resolved by May. Currently, there are farms that are going out of business because they haven't received their subsidies."France is the EUs biggest agricultural producer and the main beneficiary of its multibillion-euro subsidy scheme (the Common Agricultural Policy, or CAP), which risks being slashed from nearly 40 percent of the overall EU budget to less than a third after Brexit.The EU should maintain an ambitious farming budget with not one euro less than at present, after factoring in the impact of Brexit, Macron insisted.European agriculture has always been a given, it is today under threat, the president said in his opening speech, citing the EUs reliance on imported soybean protein for livestock feed and Russias rise as a massive cereal exporter.Macron has urged the EU to reinvent itself and put agriculture at the heart of its development, in order to be competitive with the US and China.The 41-year-old was visibly at ease as he strolled among the crowds and animals, taking "selfies" and chatting with farmers."Farmers are essential actors of our countryside, of our daily lives," he added, amid concerns over agri-bashing that has seen contempt for farmers grow.Farmers and Yellow Vests angry"Environmental campaigners repeatedly accuse us of being polluters, of not respecting animal rights. We feel humiliated," comments Rene Debons, following a government decision requiring farmers to declare when they use glyphosate, a weed killer suspected by some scientists of causing cancer.Saturday's annual farm show coincided with the 15th act of Yellow Vest protests over falling living standards.Eric Drouet, one of the leading public figures of the Yellow Vest protests tried unsuccessfully to approach president Macron to discuss his grievances before being escorted away."They told me (the police) that either I take off my yellow vest or I leave. And if I came back, I would be arrested," Drouet told AFP news agency.He later joined other gilets jaunes protesters at the Arc de Triomphe to protest government policies they see as favouring the rich.Meanwhile, back at the farm fair, cattle farmer Frederic Piedagnel says he shares the anger of Yellow Vest protesters."We support them, we can't be against," he told RFI, although he distanced himself from the violence that has often marred the movement.Our social crisis "has existed for years. When a third of farmers earn less than 400 euros per month, you ask yourself where is the logic?It is not normal that people who work 70 hours a week earn less than the minimum wage.All we want is to be able to make a decent living" he said. French President Emmanuel Macron has been greeted by large crowds at the International Agriculture Fair, where he came to reassure struggling farmers about plunging food prices and soaring ... Macron urged new EU reforms to reinvent the agricultural sector in a bid to protect farmers against competition from the US and China. "We produce and we don't see the profits. But big processors and supermarkets on the other hand, earn a lot of money," beef farmer Rene Debons tells RFI. Debons, who runs a cattle and maize farm in Aveyron, southwestern France, says farmers are paid the same amount for their produce regardless of what they sell it for at the supermarket. "No one ever asks us what our cost price is. A processor or supermarket tells us 'we'll buy this animal from you and we'll give you this much in return', but often we end up selling at a loss." Complaints like this were addressed to Emmanuel Macron during his visit to the annual farm show Saturday an unmissable event for French politicians. In his opening speech, he replied: "I am aware of the daily challenges facing farmers. Nonetheless, I see that because there's a strong mobilisation... things are starting to improve." The French government is banking on a new agricultural and food law passed in January to prevent distributors and retailers from selling at a loss and limit price wars that farmers say are squeezing their margins to the limit. Edith Macke, who heads the union of the Flemish red cattle breed, is not convinced. "We are still waiting to see the results of this new law," she told RFI, after speaking with Macron. "The president told us to organise ourselves into sectors, but dairy farmers such as myself are already doing this. In order for us to advance, all actors need to be at the table." European agriculture 'under threat' However Macke, who runs a dairy farm in Hauts de Seine, a district just west of Paris, was reassured by Macron's proposals on Europe. Story continues "The president told us that outstanding payments from the European Union would be resolved by May. Currently, there are farms that are going out of business because they haven't received their subsidies." France is the EUs biggest agricultural producer and the main beneficiary of its multibillion-euro subsidy scheme (the Common Agricultural Policy, or CAP), which risks being slashed from nearly 40 percent of the overall EU budget to less than a third after Brexit. The EU should maintain an ambitious farming budget with not one euro less than at present, after factoring in the impact of Brexit, Macron insisted. European agriculture has always been a given, it is today under threat, the president said in his opening speech, citing the EUs reliance on imported soybean protein for livestock feed and Russias rise as a massive cereal exporter. Macron has urged the EU to reinvent itself and put agriculture at the heart of its development, in order to be competitive with the US and China. The 41-year-old was visibly at ease as he strolled among the crowds and animals, taking "selfies" and chatting with farmers. "Farmers are essential actors of our countryside, of our daily lives," he added, amid concerns over agri-bashing that has seen contempt for farmers grow. Farmers and Yellow Vests angry "Environmental campaigners repeatedly accuse us of being polluters, of not respecting animal rights. We feel humiliated," comments Rene Debons, following a government decision requiring farmers to declare when they use glyphosate, a weed killer suspected by some scientists of causing cancer. Saturday's annual farm show coincided with the 15th act of Yellow Vest protests over falling living standards. Eric Drouet, one of the leading public figures of the Yellow Vest protests tried unsuccessfully to approach president Macron to discuss his grievances before being escorted away. "They told me (the police) that either I take off my yellow vest or I leave. And if I came back, I would be arrested," Drouet told AFP news agency. He later joined other gilets jaunes protesters at the Arc de Triomphe to protest government policies they see as favouring the rich. Meanwhile, back at the farm fair, cattle farmer Frederic Piedagnel says he shares the anger of Yellow Vest protesters. "We support them, we can't be against," he told RFI, although he distanced himself from the violence that has often marred the movement. Our social crisis "has existed for years. When a third of farmers earn less than 400 euros per month, you ask yourself where is the logic? It is not normal that people who work 70 hours a week earn less than the minimum wage. All we want is to be able to make a decent living" he said. Jagmeet Singh, leader of the left-wing NDP, is the first member of a visible minority to lead a major political party in Canada, but he will have to win a seat in a by-election on Monday before he can challenge Justin Trudeaus premiership. Singh is standing in a by-election in Burnaby South in the Vancouver metropolitan area, a crucial test for the New Democratic Party (NDP) leader ahead of Octobers general elections. He is by no means a dead cert to win: at the last federal legislative vote, in 2015, the party won this seat by a mere 500 votes. And in Mondays by-election, the two main parties, the centre-left Liberals and the Conservatives, have put up candidates against Singh, breaking with the tradition that other parties do not run candidates against leaders.Canadian politics operates according to the Westminster model, in which the executive is drawn from the legislature so party leaders must have a seat in the House of Commons before they can become prime minister.He became leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) in October 2017, winning a plurality of the vote in the first round, six years after taking a seat in the Ontario provincial parliament.We need to rethink what it means to be secularSingh was born in 1979, to parents from Indias Punjab region. Fluent in Hindi and Punjab as well as Canadas official languages English and French, he grew up in Newfoundland on Canadas sparsely populated east coast, before his family moved to the town of Windsor, Ontario, just across the US border.After being called to the bar in 2006, Singh worked as a defence lawyer in the Toronto area until his election to the Ontario legislature. He has credited this work especially pro bono work for underprivileged clients as inspiring him to enter politics.Indeed, Singhs political platform is focused on social democratic policies aimed at reducing poverty and inequality. Notably, he advocates increasing the national minimum wage to 15 Canadian dollars (10 euros) per hour, legalising possession of all drugs (on the grounds that it is not a criminal justice problem but a social justice problem and a healthcare problem) and the removal of tax deductions on higher-rate taxpayers.The NDP leader has also attracted attention with his opposition to Quebecs proposed ban on public sector workers wearing religious symbols which would prevent him from wearing his turban if he worked for the state in the French-speaking province. In an interview with CBC, the Canadian public service broadcaster, Singh argued that we need to rethink what it means to be secular, and said he feels he can wear a turban to work while still following Canadian secularism. On a Quebecois talk show he added that my objective is never to convince someone else to accept my identity its to convince people that I share the same progressive values as them.A very telegenic, easy-to-like guyAnalysts say that Singh communicates his agenda with considerable charisma. His leadership can be seen as refreshing. People saw him as this very telegenic, easy-to-like guy, who might be able to compete on the celebrity level with Trudeau, Lori Turnbull, the director of the school of public administration at Dalhousie University, told the Guardian.Yet for all his charisma and forthright views on such issues as drugs and secularism it seems likely that Singh will face a tough challenge in Octobers general elections. An aggregate of voter intention surveys by specialist website Calculated Politics on February 21 predicts that the NDP will win a paltry 26 seats, compared to 156 for the Liberals and 141 for the Tories. By contrast, the New Democrats managed to win 44 seats in the 2015 elections.In a column for Canadian daily the National Post, editorialist Chris Selley pointed out that the New Democrats may be polling poorly despite not because of Singhs leadership: The NDP has always been a party of contradictions not so much a big tent as a tent city. Its supposed to be a party of both champagne socialists and farmers, of both autoworkers and environmentalists, of both staunch multiculturalists and Quebec nationalists.Selley also argued that if Singh wins his seat, there is reason to hope he might grow into the job. To skeptics [sic] he evinces a distinctly Trudeauvian brand of superficiality, and a similar gift for quotes that land well but fall to pieces if you actually read them back. That hasnt hurt Trudeau, though.Singh has vociferously called for a public inquiry over the SNC-Lavalin scandal, in which Trudeau has alleged to have pressured the justice minister who subsequently resigned to help the Montreal-based engineering firm avoid criminal prosecution on corruption charges. However, it remains to be seen whether the NDP leader can capitalise on this issue ahead of the October elections. Jagmeet Singh, leader of the left-wing NDP, is the first member of a visible minority to lead a major political party in Canada, but he will have to win a seat in a by-election on Monday before he can challenge Justin Trudeaus premiership. Singh is standing in a by-election in Burnaby South in the Vancouver metropolitan area, a crucial test for the New Democratic Party (NDP) leader ahead of Octobers general elections. He is by no means a dead cert to win: at the last federal legislative vote, in 2015, the party won this seat by a mere 500 votes. And in Mondays by-election, the two main parties, the centre-left Liberals and the Conservatives, have put up candidates against Singh, breaking with the tradition that other parties do not run candidates against leaders. Canadian politics operates according to the Westminster model, in which the executive is drawn from the legislature so party leaders must have a seat in the House of Commons before they can become prime minister. He became leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) in October 2017, winning a plurality of the vote in the first round, after capturing public attention by becoming the first turban-wearing Sikh to take a seat in a provincial parliament, in Ontario in 2011. We need to rethink what it means to be secular Singh was born in 1979, to parents from Indias Punjab region. Fluent in Hindi and Punjab as well as Canadas official languages English and French, he grew up in Newfoundland on Canadas sparsely populated east coast, before his family moved to the town of Windsor, Ontario, just across the US border. After being called to the bar in 2006, Singh worked as a defence lawyer in the Toronto area until his election to the Ontario legislature. He has credited this work especially pro bono work for underprivileged clients as inspiring him to enter politics. Indeed, Singhs political platform is focused on social democratic policies aimed at reducing poverty and inequality. Notably, he advocates increasing the national minimum wage to 15 Canadian dollars (10 euros) per hour, legalising possession of all drugs (on the grounds that it is not a criminal justice problem but a social justice problem and a healthcare problem) and the removal of tax deductions on higher-rate taxpayers. Story continues The NDP leader has also attracted attention with his opposition to Quebecs proposed ban on public sector workers wearing religious symbols which would prevent him from wearing his turban if he worked for the state in the French-speaking province. In an interview with CBC, the Canadian public service broadcaster, Singh argued that we need to rethink what it means to be secular, and said he feels he can wear a turban to work while still following Canadian secularism. On a Quebecois talk show he added that my objective is never to convince someone else to accept my identity its to convince people that I share the same progressive values as them. A very telegenic, easy-to-like guy Analysts say that Singh communicates his agenda with considerable charisma. His leadership can be seen as refreshing. People saw him as this very telegenic, easy-to-like guy, who might be able to compete on the celebrity level with Trudeau, Lori Turnbull, the director of the school of public administration at Dalhousie University, told the Guardian. Yet for all his charisma and forthright views on such issues as drugs and secularism it seems likely that Singh will face a tough challenge in Octobers general elections. An aggregate of voter intention surveys by specialist website Calculated Politics on February 21 predicts that the NDP will win a paltry 26 seats, compared to 156 for the Liberals and 141 for the Tories. By contrast, the New Democrats managed to win 44 seats in the 2015 elections. In a column for Canadian daily the National Post, editorialist Chris Selley pointed out that the New Democrats may be polling poorly despite not because of Singhs leadership: The NDP has always been a party of contradictions not so much a big tent as a tent city. Its supposed to be a party of both champagne socialists and farmers, of both autoworkers and environmentalists, of both staunch multiculturalists and Quebec nationalists. Selley also argued that if Singh wins his seat, there is reason to hope he might grow into the job. To skeptics [sic] he evinces a distinctly Trudeauvian brand of superficiality, and a similar gift for quotes that land well but fall to pieces if you actually read them back. That hasnt hurt Trudeau, though. Singh has vociferously called for a public inquiry over the SNC-Lavalin scandal, in which Trudeau has alleged to have pressured the justice minister who subsequently resigned to help the Montreal-based engineering firm avoid criminal prosecution on corruption charges. However, it remains to be seen whether the NDP leader can capitalise on this issue ahead of the October elections. French bank Societe Generale is set to slash 1,500 jobs in its corporate and investment banking business, according to the Le Figaro newspaper. Around 700 of the job losses would be in France, according to an internal company document cited by Le Figaro. The cuts represent 7.5 percent of the workforce within the corporate and investment banking arm.A statement from Societe Generale said it would not be possible to comment on the job losses as it was still assessing business within the corporate and investor client business, the AFP news agency reported."We have an ongoing dialogue with our unions, said Societe Generale, adding that it was consulting with trade unions on the impact of its projects and would talk with them when a review was brought to a close in the coming weeks.The CGT trade union could not confirm the information, but said it was expecting hundreds of jobs to go.We expect hundreds of job cuts, if not more, in France and abroad, said CGT representative Philippe Fournil, according to Le Figaro. All employees from traders to stock sellers for example, are worried, he added.The cuts are part of the banks strategy to reduce costs by 500 million euros as announced by Societe Generale in its financial results earlier this month.The French bank reported 2018 profits ahead of expectations, but also signalled potential financial challenges in the future and said it would adjust its targets accordingly. French bank Societe Generale is set to slash 1,500 jobs in its corporate and investment banking business, according to the Le Figaro newspaper. Around 700 of the job losses would be in France, according to an internal company document cited by Le Figaro. The cuts represent 7.5 percent of the workforce within the corporate and investment banking arm. A statement from Societe Generale said it would not be possible to comment on the job losses as it was still assessing business within the corporate and investor client business, the AFP news agency reported. "We have an ongoing dialogue with our unions, said Societe Generale, adding that it was consulting with trade unions on the impact of its projects and would talk with them when a review was brought to a close in the coming weeks. The CGT trade union could not confirm the information, but said it was expecting hundreds of jobs to go. We expect hundreds of job cuts, if not more, in France and abroad, said CGT representative Philippe Fournil, according to Le Figaro. All employees from traders to stock sellers for example, are worried, he added. The cuts are part of the banks strategy to reduce costs by 500 million euros as announced by Societe Generale in its financial results earlier this month. The French bank reported 2018 profits ahead of expectations, but also signalled potential financial challenges in the future and said it would adjust its targets accordingly. French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the opening of the International Agriculture Fair (Salon de l'Agriculture) in Paris French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the opening of the International Agriculture Fair (Salon de l'Agriculture) in Paris, France, February 23, 2019. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/Pool By Gus Trompiz and Marine Pennetier PARIS (Reuters) - European Union agriculture is threatened by divisions inside the EU and competition from rival trading blocs, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday, calling for a large budget to defend EU goals on food quality and environmental protection. Macron's speech at Paris' annual farm show - an unmissable event for French politicians - was warmly received, in stark contrast to a year ago when was booed by farmers angry at low prices for producers. France is the EU's biggest agricultural producer and the main beneficiary of its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which is due to be renegotiated this year just as Britain, a net budget contributor, is set to quit the bloc. The EU should maintain an ambitious farming budget with "not one euro less" than at present, after factoring in the impact of Brexit, Macron said. His supportive words ensured some rare positive publicity for the 41-year-old whose popularity hit record lows during the height of the "yellow vest" protests over falling living standards at the end of last year. Macron looked at ease strolling among the animals and crowds, taking selfies and chatting with farmers. He listened patiently to a pensioner struggling to make ends meet before explaining he could claim extra benefits and giving the visibly moved retiree a hug. "European agriculture has always been a given, it is today under threat," Macron said in his speech, citing the EU's reliance on imported soybean protein for livestock feed and Russia's rise as a massive cereal exporter. "No farmer or consumer wants to be subjected to the diktat of non-European countries," he added. Agriculture is a flashpoint in trade negotiations, notably in areas such as food safety standards and genetic modification, and Macron reaffirmed France's "red line" that farm products be kept out of trade talks with the United States. Story continues The European Commission also wants to leave agriculture out of EU-U.S. discussions, at odds with Washington, which is threatening punitive tariffs on European cars. France wants the EU to push for changes to World Trade Organisation farm rules, and modify food standards under the United Nations' Codex Alimentarius, Macron said. He urged Europe to differentiate itself as a high-quality food producer, calling on France's large wheat sector to offer a wider range of grades for export. With Britain's departure from the EU, the European Commission has proposed a 5 percent cut in the agriculture budget for 2021-2027 to 365 billion euros (317.2 billion pounds). (Editing by Leigh Thomas and Robin Pomeroy) More than eight million Cubans were expected to vote Sunday on a new constitution, widely seen as a referendum on socialism itself. The new constitution updates the original 1976 charter enacted under Cuba's former president and leader of the Communist revolution, Fidel Castro.Current leader Miguel Diaz-Canel argues that its aim is to "guarantee and preserve the rights of each citizen, and enhance the dignity of our people," he wrote on his Twitter account, which has more than 99 thousand followers."Because it is anti-imperialist," he added.The Cuba vote has been overshadowed by the crisis in neighbouring Venezuela, which witnessed deadly border clashes on Saturday following a high-risk operation to bring humanitarian aid to millions.Diaz-Canel has been quick to defend President Nicolas Maduro against what he describes "US aggression.""Hands off Venezuela, enough false pretexts to cover sinister plans,'" he warned Saturday, saying humanitarian aid to Caracas was a prelude to military intervention.Discredited ideologyYet the scale of the disaster Maduro has brought upon Venezuela in the past five years, with GDP falling by half, has cast doubt on the future of socialism, so much so that US President Donald Trump has claimed it "is dying".Cuban officials though have exhorted the population to vote 'yes' and resist the threat of "American imperialism".The new charter recognises a limited role for the free market and private investment but maintains the central role of socialism and communism as the only way forward.If passed, Cuba's updated constitution would protect private property, reintroduce the role of prime minister and, for the first time, limit the Cuban presidency to two consecutive five-year terms.Unlike in previous votes, when regime critics tended to boycott or spoil ballots, this time opponents of the Communist Party which has ruled since 1959 are calling on people to vote 'no' under the hashtag YoVotoNo (IVoteNo) on the limited social media networks available on the island.Voicing dissent"The new text doesn't change anything," opposition leader Hildebrando Chaviano, told RFI's French service."There is going to be a high abstention rate and many people will vote 'no'", he says. "What is missing, is a real democratic constitution which neither prevents economic development nor political and social development."Criticised by the Catholic Church for its one-party ideology centred on socialism, the updated constitution has been rejected by a majority of Cubans online unusual in a country where dissent has long been considered treasonous.However, the official line remains that voters should approve the new charter even if they don't agree with everything in it.The 1976 Constitution won 97.7 percent backing, but the 'no' campaign could result in a significantly smaller approval rating, even if there is almost no chance of the updated charter being rejected. More than eight million Cubans were expected to vote Sunday on a new constitution, widely seen as a referendum on socialism itself. The new constitution updates the original 1976 charter enacted under Cuba's former president and leader of the Communist revolution, Fidel Castro. Current leader Miguel Diaz-Canel argues that its aim is to "guarantee and preserve the rights of each citizen, and enhance the dignity of our people," he wrote on his Twitter account, which has more than 99 thousand followers. "Because it is anti-imperialist," he added. The Cuba vote has been overshadowed by the crisis in neighbouring Venezuela, which witnessed deadly border clashes on Saturday following a high-risk operation to bring humanitarian aid to millions. Diaz-Canel has been quick to defend President Nicolas Maduro against what he describes "US aggression." "Hands off Venezuela, enough false pretexts to cover sinister plans,'" he warned Saturday, saying humanitarian aid to Caracas was a prelude to military intervention. Discredited ideology Yet the scale of the disaster Maduro has brought upon Venezuela in the past five years, with GDP falling by half, has cast doubt on the future of socialism, so much so that US President Donald Trump has claimed it "is dying". Cuban officials though have exhorted the population to vote 'yes' and resist the threat of "American imperialism". The new charter recognises a limited role for the free market and private investment but maintains the central role of socialism and communism as the only way forward. If passed, Cuba's updated constitution would protect private property, reintroduce the role of prime minister and, for the first time, limit the Cuban presidency to two consecutive five-year terms. Unlike in previous votes, when regime critics tended to boycott or spoil ballots, this time opponents of the Communist Party which has ruled since 1959 are calling on people to vote 'no' under the hashtag #YoVotoNo (#IVoteNo) on the limited social media networks available on the island. Story continues Voicing dissent "The new text doesn't change anything," opposition leader Hildebrando Chaviano, told RFI's French service. "There is going to be a high abstention rate and many people will vote 'no'", he says. "What is missing, is a real democratic constitution which neither prevents economic development nor political and social development." Criticised by the Catholic Church for its one-party ideology centred on socialism, the updated constitution has been rejected by a majority of Cubans online unusual in a country where dissent has long been considered treasonous. However, the official line remains that voters should approve the new charter even if they don't agree with everything in it. The 1976 Constitution won 97.7 percent backing, but the 'no' campaign could result in a significantly smaller approval rating, even if there is almost no chance of the updated charter being rejected. Cambodia has been put on a global money-laundering list over worries that the country is susceptible to hiding ill-gotten gains. Inclusion on the list could hit international investment and trades flows to Phnom Penh. The FATF is an inter-governmental watchdog with the aim of combating money laundering, terrorist financing, according to its website.Cambodian authorities said they did not want to comment on its inclusion on the list with a spokesperson referring the Reuters news agency to the National Bank of Cambodia. The bank did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.The country really runs the gamut, according to FATF president Marshall Billingslea, describing significant deficiencies, Reuters reported. He added that the government had made commitments to address the problem.Addition to the grey list comes as Cambodia also faces the loss of special trade treatment from the European Union in relation to the countrys human rights record.The country had in 2017 been assessed as part of a FATF mutual evaluation report taking into account Cambodias efforts to tackle terrorism financing and money laundering.Several criticisms were raised by the report including the fact that Cambodia had never ever prosecuted a money-laundering case.CorruptionThe FATF report described high levels of corruption within the countrys judicial system, saying the authorities had made minimal use of financial intelligence.Cambodias thriving casino and real estate sectors had not been overseen by the Cambodian Financial Intelligence Unit, despite the UN Office on Drugs and Crime having long since identified the sectors as highly exposed to money laundering by organised crime.Inclusion on the grey list also marks a regression as Cambodia had previously been removed from the global money-laundering list in 2015.The toughened stance on Cambodian financial flows comes as more challenging trade conditions hit the Southeast Asia nation.Tariff-free trade with EU in doubtThe EU this month started a 16-month process which could potentially result in Cambodia being cut off from the EUs everything but arms trade programme. The special trade regime enables the worlds poorer countries to sell goods tariff-free into the EU bloc.The EU took action after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sens ruling party won a landslide general election, taking every seat in parliament.Ahead of the vote, Cambodias main opposition party was made illegal and its leader was arrested.Hun Sens government has also been criticised for silencing the media and clamping down on free speech.The EU is the countrys biggest trading partner representing 45 percent of exports in 2018. Cambodias textile factories employ some 700,000 workers and clothes are a large part of exports to the bloc accounting for almost 5 billion euros.Twelve countries are on the FATF list and Cambodia joins North Korea and Iran, who are categorised under a tougher regime. Cambodia has been put on a global money-laundering list over worries that the country is susceptible to hiding ill-gotten gains. Inclusion on the list could hit international investment and trades flows to Phnom Penh. The FATF is an inter-governmental watchdog with the aim of combating money laundering, terrorist financing, according to its website. Cambodian authorities said they did not want to comment on its inclusion on the list with a spokesperson referring the Reuters news agency to the National Bank of Cambodia. The bank did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters. The country really runs the gamut, according to FATF president Marshall Billingslea, describing significant deficiencies, Reuters reported. He added that the government had made commitments to address the problem. Addition to the grey list comes as Cambodia also faces the loss of special trade treatment from the European Union in relation to the countrys human rights record. The country had in 2017 been assessed as part of a FATF mutual evaluation report taking into account Cambodias efforts to tackle terrorism financing and money laundering. Several criticisms were raised by the report including the fact that Cambodia had never ever prosecuted a money-laundering case. Corruption The FATF report described high levels of corruption within the countrys judicial system, saying the authorities had made minimal use of financial intelligence. Cambodias thriving casino and real estate sectors had not been overseen by the Cambodian Financial Intelligence Unit, despite the UN Office on Drugs and Crime having long since identified the sectors as highly exposed to money laundering by organised crime. Inclusion on the grey list also marks a regression as Cambodia had previously been removed from the global money-laundering list in 2015. The toughened stance on Cambodian financial flows comes as more challenging trade conditions hit the Southeast Asia nation. Story continues Tariff-free trade with EU in doubt The EU this month started a 16-month process which could potentially result in Cambodia being cut off from the EUs everything but arms trade programme. The special trade regime enables the worlds poorer countries to sell goods tariff-free into the EU bloc. The EU took action after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sens ruling party won a landslide general election, taking every seat in parliament. Ahead of the vote, Cambodias main opposition party was made illegal and its leader was arrested. Hun Sens government has also been criticised for silencing the media and clamping down on free speech. The EU is the countrys biggest trading partner representing 45 percent of exports in 2018. Cambodias textile factories employ some 700,000 workers and clothes are a large part of exports to the bloc accounting for almost 5 billion euros. Twelve countries are on the FATF list and Cambodia joins North Korea and Iran, who are categorised under a tougher regime. ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algerian police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators on a third straight day of rare political protests against plans for rarely seen President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to extend his 20-year rule by seeking a fifth term. Thousands have taken to the streets of the capital and other cities since Friday calling on the authorities to abandon plans for Bouteflika, 81, to stand in a presidential election scheduled to be held on April 18. Bouteflika, in office since 1999, suffered a stroke in 2013. He has since been seen in public only a handful of times and has given no public speeches in years. His opponents say there is no evidence he is in fit health to lead the country, which they say is being ruled in his name by advisers. The authorities say he still has a firm grip on affairs despite the rarity of his appearances. "People do not want Bouteflika," the crowd chanted at a protest called by an opposition group, Mouwatana. A Reuters journalist saw tear gas being fired to disperse crowds. Journalists working for state media protested against what they said were orders from managers not to cover the marches. "The decision of our hierarchy to ignore the big protests of Friday, Feb. 21, shows the hell of our situation," said a statement released by journalists working for state radio. "I categorically refuse to endorse a behaviour that doesn't respect the most elementary rules of our job," a star reporter and editor for state radio, Meriem Abdou, said in a statement announcing that she had decided to quit. Since the ruling FLN party picked Bouteflika as its presidential candidate, several parties, trade unions and business organisations have already said they would back him. A weak and divided opposition faces high hurdles in mounting an electoral challenge. Bouteflika has not directly addressed the protests. The authorities announced earlier this week that he would be travelling to Geneva for unspecified medical checks, although there was no official confirmation he had left. Story continues State media quoted a letter in Bouteflika's name read out at a government oil and gas industry event in the southern town of Adrar as saying: "Continuity is the best option for Algeria." FLN leader Moad Bouchareb dismissed the protests. "To those who are dreaming of change I say 'Have nice dreams,'" he said in televised comments in the western city of Oran on Saturday. Supporters of Bouteflika have emphasised the risk of unrest. Algerians have bitter memories of a decade of civil war in the 1990s in which 200,000 people were killed. The war was triggered after the army cancelled an election that Islamists were poised to win in 1991. "Do you want Algeria to go back to years of tears and blood?" said the leader of the powerful UGTA labour union, Abdelmadjid Sidi Said in televised comments. A total of 41 protesters were detained on Friday, state news agency APS said. It gave no arrest for the last two days. Strikes and protests over social and economic grievances are frequent in Algeria, but have generally been localised, rather than touching on national politics. Algeria saw major street unrest during the 2011 "Arab Spring" that brought down the rulers of North African neighbours Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. But Algerian security forces managed to contain it without Bouteflika's grip on power loosening. Lower oil prices in recent years have hurt Algeria's economy, reigniting discontent. More than a quarter of Algerians under 30 are unemployed, according to official figures, and many feel disconnected from an elite made up of veteran fighters from Algeria's 1954-1962 independence war with France. (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi and Hamid Ould Ahmed; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Peter Graff) Tyler, TX (75702) Today Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 92F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight A few clouds with an isolated thunderstorm possible after midnight. Low 73F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. 300 die-hard fans gathered high above Melbourne yesterday afternoon for a once-in-a-lifetime reunion of former Prisoner stars. The event, staged by star Val Lehman at Level 17 at the RACV City Club, was a sell-out at $300 a head with with fans visiting from around Australia, Europe and the USA. 40 years after it first aired, Prisoner remains a show etched in their hearts -their detail for storylines and characters prompting Jane Clifton to concede You all know the show better than we do. It was veteran stars they were there for, and they were thrilled to see 88 year old Patsy King, 80 year old Betty Bobbitt, 70 year old Anne Phelan plus Colette Mann, Fiona Spence, Amanda Muggleton, Paula Duncan, Maxine Klibingaitis, Jacqui Gordon, Jentah Sobott and Annie Lucas. Composer Alan Caswell sang On the Inside (twice) and several former crew were in attendance for the 4 hour event. There was a toast to deceased cast members, and some devoted fans spoke about still maintaining the gravesite of Sheila Florance. During a lengthy Q&A Betty Bobbitt acknowledged her characters pioneering gay portrayal, Colette Mann recalled shooting an elaborate escape scene in a tunnel, Patsy King revealed the trick to her governors hairdo and Anne Phelan paid tribute to Wentworth. Queen Bea held court for most of the afternoon thanking fans for their enduring support and highlighting merchandise, recalling various run-ins with producers, network and Logies organisers -at one point asking if there were any reps from Fremantle in the room. Yes me! Neighbours Colette Mann interjected. Fremantle was also treating the cast to a post-reunion dinner. A no selfies rule was quickly abandoned when the cast took to the floor to meet fans, which they appeared to enjoy the most, before a memorabilia auction with some items topping the $2000 mark. Lehman even auctioned a Wentworth costume she had worn, explaining little but teasing Keep watching. Wednesday marks 40 years since the shows premiere, with the National Film & Sound Archive also conducting an event in Canberra. This week on Foreign Correspondent, Eric Campbell visits a Texan clean coal power station held up as a model by the Australian Govt. For years scientists have been quietly working on extreme, last ditch solutions to slow global warming just in case governments worldwide dont get their acts together. Cue scientists. With the UN warning of climate catastrophe, its increasingly looking like a case of when, not if, we will reach for the once unthinkable fix: geo-engineering, or artificially hacking the climate. Were in deep shit and we need to dig ourselves out. For better or worse, geo-engineering is part of the mix going forward because we cant get to where we need to be by conservation alone Jason Box, Copenhagen-based ice climatologist and former IPCC lead author Some climate hacking has moved beyond the research labs. In Switzerland, a start-up builds giant fans that suck carbon from the air. Its then sold to a greenhouse where its absorbed by plants to make them grow faster. In the not too distant future, imagine sprinkling iron filings into the seas to encourage carbon eating plankton Or sending armadas of ships to pump sea mist into the sky to diffuse the suns rays Or using high-altitude balloons to scatter sulphur in the atmosphere to lower the temperature a bit like what happened naturally after the Mt Pinatubo volcano erupted in 1991. All these and more are on the drawing board. If anything its too cheap, so cheap were talking single digit billions of dollars to potentially influence the entire planets climate Harvard Universitys Gernot Wagner on his sulphur blocking project Because its so cheap, its very likely to happen sooner or later. Some Indian billionaire or some Saudi billionaire is gonna do it all by himself Bjorn Lomborg, political scientist Geo-engineering scientists know they may be playing God. Theres a huge amount of hubris in saying, Lets fix the problem and we know exactly whats going to happen. Quite frankly, it makes me anxious Frank Keutsch, Harvard engineering professor Apart from some potentially nasty side effects like damaging the ozone layer, theres also a risk that climate hacking will give government and industry an excuse to run dead on cutting carbon. Its not unlike Americas opioid problem, according to Frank Keutsch. Like pain killers, this doesnt fix the problem. Were just reducing symptoms and then human nature can kick in and say, Well you know, its hard to deal with changing the energy infrastructure Keutsch The fossil fuel industry is looking to less exotic solutions. In Texas, reporter Eric Campbell tours a clean coal power station thats held up as a model by the Australian Government. The idea is to capture much of the carbon before its expelled into the air. But as Campbell discovers, the technology is not as clean as it seems. Its also hugely expensive and still in its infancy Which just makes it more likely that the climate hackers, perhaps sooner than you might think, will have their day in the sun. 8pm Tuesday on ABC. Tonight A Current Affair Tracy Grimshaw speaks with Detective Inspector Jon Rouse, who heads up Task Force Argos, to discuss online cybersecurity and how paedophiles are using technology to prey upon children. Rouse reveals the confronting and horrendous reality facing children in Australia some as young as infants, while also suggesting ways in which families can mitigate any risks that seemingly harmless technology may pose towards youth. In an extended special report, Grimshaw also sits down in-studio with Julie Inman Grant, the Australian governments eSafety Commissioner, who will answer questions sent in by viewers concerned with their childrens safety. Viewers may send in for questions for Julie Inman Grant here. 7pm Monday on Nine. EL PASO, Texas (AP) Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Saturday after visiting the U.S.-Mexico border that the government needs a broader, more effective approach to border control. He suggested the Pentagon might contribute with its expertise in surveillance and monitoring. "How do we get out of treating the symptoms and get at the root of the issue," Shanahan said in an interview while flying back to Washington. Considering how the military could reinforce efforts to block drug smuggling and other illegal activity comes as the Pentagon weighs diverting billions of dollars for President Donald Trump's border wall. Shanahan said he was not volunteering the Pentagon to take over any part of border control, which is the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security. But he said his visit led him to question whether there should be a "wholesale redesign" of the way border control is done by the federal government. Shanahan said the Pentagon is willing to continue supporting the DHS but wants to see a longer-term solution. (Associated Press) Well, well, well. This Shanahan may be on to something. Maybe he can get everybody to get off their high horses and talk about a real solution. The idea of a defense in depth may be as applicable to the border as it is to the battlefield. How about long range sensing far into the Mexican side that is fully shared with Mexican authorities? Address the problem jointly rather than establishing a hostile border. Whatever they come up with, they better learn from an earlier effort to secure the border through a purely technological solution. In a Christian Science Monitor article from 2011, the fate of the virtual fence or Secure Border Initiative network (SBInet) was discussed. After $1 billion spent, the US has 53 miles of 'virtual fence' in Arizona. The high-tech project is too costly to extend along the whole US-Mexico border, the Homeland Security chief said Friday. Wow! Spending $1 billion for 53 miles was too expensive, but $5.7 billion for 215 miles is now fine. And much of that new barrier will be vulnerable to shovels and angle grinders. Go figure. No matter what the final solution is, it will be expensive. The CS Monitor article does cover some good lessons learned. I hope all in our government would take the time to RTFA. TTG https://www.apnews.com/6c730d79184f424b90cdb39b62d61a4f https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0115/US-cancels-virtual-fence-along-Mexican-border.-What-s-Plan-B Here are todays leading news stories: Politics -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will pay an official friendship visit to Vietnam in the coming days, at the invitation of General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday. -- General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong will arrive in Laos on Sunday for a two-day official friendly visit, followed by a state visit to Cambodia from February 25 to 26. Society -- Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh officially inaugurated an international media center in service of the second DPRK-U.S Summit in Hanoi on Saturday afternoon. The venue will officially start operation on February 25. -- Many people have reported falling asleep and having their property stolen after receiving free meals and drinks, possibly mixed with sleeping pills, from a woman at the Mien Dong (Eastern) Bus Station in Ho Chi Minh City. Police have arrested the suspect to probe the case. -- A car tire manufacturing workshop in the southern province of Dong Nai, covering thousands of square meters, caught fire on Saturday afternoon, resulting in serious financial damage. The flames were put out about two hours later. -- Four people in a family were severely injured following an explosion potentially triggered by a gas tank at their home in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak on Friday afternoon, officers confirmed on Saturday. -- A married couple and their five-year-old daughter were killed after their motorbike crashed into a car in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai on Saturday afternoon. -- An eight-grader in Dong Nai Province was admitted to the hospital for emergency treatment on Saturday, after being stabbed in the stomach by another student, also in grade eight, over personal conflicts on social media. Business -- Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Saturday attended a conference of over 700 Vietnamese and foreign investors in the north-central province of Nghe An, aimed at boosting economic development in the locality. -- Vietnams third African swine fever outbreak was confirmed in the northern city of Hai Phong on Saturday, following two previous outbreaks in the northern provinces of Hung Yen and Thai Binh. Sports -- Vietnam will play against Indonesia in the semifinals of the 2019 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) U-22 Youth Championship in Cambodia at 3:30 pm on Sunday. The game will be broadcast live on VTV6 Channel. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has left the country for the second DPRK-U.S. Summit in Hanoi and an official friendly visit to Vietnam, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday morning. Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, left here for the second DPRK-U.S. summit meeting and talks to be held in Hanoi, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from Feb. 27 to 28, Juche 108 (2019), the KCNA said. This is the first time the North Korean state news agency has informd about the internationally anticipated event. Chairman Kim will be accompanied by a delegation of high-ranking officials, including Kim Yong Chol, Ri Su Yong, Kim Phyong Hae, and O Su Yong, who are members of the Political Bureau and vice-chairmen of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and his deputy Choe Son Hui are among the delegates. The North Korean leader will also be joined by his younger sister Kim Yo Jong, who is an alternate member of the Political Bureau and first vice department director of the WPK Central Committee. The news did not mention First Lady Ri Sol Ju, who usually accompanied Chairman Kim during his visits to China and inter-Korean summits. The senior officials of the Party, government and armed forces organs sincerely wished Kim Jong Un good success in the second DPRK-U.S. summit meeting and talks and safe return, the KCNA continued. His train left Pyongyang Railway Station on Saturday afternoon. According to Tass, a Russian news agency, the train entered Chinas Dandong City at 7:40 pm on Saturday. Chinese authorities have asked all hotels near the train station in Dandong to cancel all bookings until the end of Saturday. In 1958, Kim Il Sung, the first leader of North Korea and grandfather of Kim Jong Un, paid an official visit to Vietnam. The late leader traveled from Pyongyang to Beijing by air, from Beijing to Guangzhou by train, and from Guangzhou to Vietnam by air, according to South Koreas Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper. His flight landed at Gia Lam Airport, about eight kilometers from Hanoi, as Noi Bai International Airport was yet to be built back then. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A Vietnamese artist has been creating a collection of paintings featuring colorful and unique portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, with global peace as his primary message. Tran Lam Binh, who resides in Long Bien District, Hanoi, said he started making his special art series in early February. Binh creates the pieces with acrylic paint and uses only bright colors such as pink, orange, red, and blue. The main theme of the collection is the second North Korea-U.S. Summit, which will take place in the Vietnamese capital on February 27 and 28, while global peace is the message. Aside from the portraits featured in this collection, Binh also has many other paintings of the North Korean and U.S. leaders, which were made on the occasion of their first summit in Singapore in 2018. Tran Lam Binh paints the pieces at his home in Long Bien District, Hanoi. Photo: Chi Tue / Tuoi Tre Binh added he now has about 50 face and body portraits of President Trump, some of which were previously displayed along the sidewalk in front of the White House in 2016. In Vietnam, we love peace and hope that the two leaders will create peace during their upcoming meeting, Binh stated. I hope that my collection will catch the attention of the two leaders, so they can have a look at the paintings and receive them as gifts, the artist remarked. The main theme of the collection is the second North Korea-U.S. Summit, while global peace is the message. Photo: Chi Tue / Tuoi Tre Binh creates the pieces with acrylic paint and uses only bright colors. Photo: Chi Tue / Tuoi Tre A painting features Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump with each others hairstyle. Photo: Chi Tue / Tuoi Tre A local youth takes a photo with one of the paintings. Photo: Chi Tue / Tuoi Tre Tran Lam Binh paints the pieces at his home in Cau Giay District, Hanoi. Photo: Chi Tue / Tuoi Tre Binh hopes he will be able to give the artworks to the two leaders as gifts. Photo: Chi Tue / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A Vietnamese military lieutenant serving in a mountainous region in northern Vietnam and his wife, an engineer for a steel company in Spain, are a testament that distance means nothing in love. Vu Thi Tan loved Spain but her love for Tran Trong Tuan is greater. After ten years of building a life in the European country she moved back last year to Vietnam to marry the military officer, a man shes loved for more than ten years but only met a handful of times over the past decade. Tuan and Tan both grew up in Ha Nam Province, 50 kilometers south of Hanoi, where they attended the same high school. In 2004, after taking national college entrance exams, Tuan decided to attend the Air Defense Air Force Academy while Tan opted for the Hanoi University of Science. Later that year, Tans outstanding academic performance earned her a scholarship to study in Russia, sparking the beginning of their long-distance relationship. Complicating the situation, the academy where Tuan was studying only allowed the use of internet for studying, making it extremely difficult for him to stay in touch with Tan. After a few weeks, Tuan was given permission to leave the academy and call Tan through Yahoo!, a social medium popular in Vietnam during that time. We only had time to talk for an hour, Tuan recalled. When Tan spent her 2007 summer in Vietnam, the couple still hadnt admitted to each other that they were in love. In 2010, Tan graduated from her program in Russia and returned to Vietnam for a short time before receiving a scholarship for graduate degree in Spain, where she also got her doctoral degree. Because of the time difference, the two were only able to talk once a week, on Saturdays from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am Vietnam time, during which time they spoke breathlessly of their daily lives. Three breakups Over the course of their decade-long relationship, the couple was only able to see each other eight times. And even with technology making it easy to get in contact with each other, the distance between the two led them to break up on three separate occasions. There was even a two year stint where they werent able to see each other. We never thought that wed actually cross paths again, young soldier Tran Trong Tuan said. Her work in Spain was going well so it was very difficult to ask her to give up something she was passionate about. Tuan himself is a proud soldier, passionate about protecting his country and dedicate to his unit. After five years of studying in the academy for air force and defense, I grew attached to my unit and this profession, Tuan, whose father also served in the military, explained. It was impossible for me to leave the army. In 2017 the stalemate in their relationship disappeared when Tan made the decision to move back to Vietnam. Moving to Vietnam was a very difficult decision for me because I already had a stable job and a certain status in the society, Tan shared. The woman also acknowledged that the move back to Vietnam was a drastic and difficult change, given that Tuan served in the military at a base in mountainous area in the northern province of Son La. One can say that Ive given up everything to be with Tuan, she said. A beautiful love story The couples wedding was a small, simple ceremony after which Tan took a three-month business trip to Spain. Our most beautiful memories are from when we see each other because we meet so rarely, Tuan said. We appreciate and value every moment we spend together. Due to Tuans work, he is unable to visit Tan abroad. For the ten years weve loved each other my wife has sacrificed a lot. She was always the one to visit me while I never gave her a gift, nor did I ever take her on a trip or shopping, the soldier said. Since his unit was assigned to work in the mountains, not only did she have to come back to Vietnam, but she also had to endure long drives of hundreds of kilometers from Hanoi to his military base. The soldier did take his significant other on two dates, but one of which was to a Son La-based prison so that he could rejoin his unit in case of an emergency. After seven years of living in Spain, being one of the ten most talented engineers at a steel business in Europe, Tan was offered a job in Asia to work in South Korea with a net wage of US$200,000, but she refused because she loved her life in Spain and never thought shed leave the country. I really appreciate the honesty and love Tuan has for me, Tan said, explaining why she was eventually willing to leave Europe. Being in a long distance relationship with a soldier is very challenging. Tan said that on special occasions she never received any flowers or gifts, but a sweet text message starting with my love was enough to make her day. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The political focus has been on the border, but what happens in immigration courts like Tucson's is just as important. Hernandez said the students have proven through their work drafting and lobbying for this bill that they are politically savvy and willing to learn and work with the system something that is necessary if they want to further their causes promoting school safety. I think (they) are going to be really important, moving forward, Hernandez said. MAKING SCHOOLS SAFE Ensuring all school staff know how to identify and help students who could be in crisis is an essential safety concern, Ashton said. The issue hits particularly close to home for him. When Ashton was in eighth grade, before he moved to Arizona, he began to struggle with depression. He was being bullied consistently at school, as a gay kid living in a hyper-conservative town, and the stress became too much for him to deal with. Logically, he knew he should talk to a school counselor , but didnt even know who his counselor was. He had never talked to one, and they had never approached him. His depression symptoms continued to worsen, and Ashton began to contemplate suicide. One day after school, he waited for his parents and sister to leave and came up with a plan to shoot himself . A 83-year-old woman died in a single-vehicle rollover crash while trying to exit from Interstate 19 in Green Valley Saturday afternoon, officials say. Green Valley Fire Department crews were dispatched to the Esperanza Road off ramp of northbound I-19 at about 3:22 p.m. for an overturned vehicle, a department news release said. They found the Green Valley woman trapped inside. Crews determined she died in the crash. A fire department official said the driver may have lost control of the vehicle while exciting I-19 and failed to stop at the Esperanza intersection. The vehicle appears to have hit the retaining wall and flipped near a flood drainage area filled with water from yesterday's snow storm. Pima County Sheriff's Department Traffic Unit is leading the ongoing investigation. Contact Star reporter Shaq Davis at 573-4218 or sdavis@tucson.com On Twitter: @ShaqDavis1 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Though U.S. Sen. Martha McSally supports President Trumps goal to secure the border, she has some concerns on how his administration plans on paying for it, she told reporters during a visit to Tucson on Friday. Listed in the Washington Post as one of 22 senators with no declared stance on Trumps national emergency declaration, McSally continued to defend that she has no position a week after his announcement. I think people want their senator to not make knee-jerk statements or reactions to a very complex legal and funding issue. So I still have some questions that we are working with the administration my staff as we speak is actually meeting with White House officials, she said. Specifically about, theres the legalities of the national declaration of emergency, but then theres the funding mechanism and the pots of money and the issues related to that. McSally told reporters that she was skeptical of a list of projects that are floating around in Washington of military projects that could be impacted, saying it was distributed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Pelosi handed out a list to all the Democrats to start doing scare tactics about all the projects that werent going to happen. Thats not necessarily accurate, she said. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. An idea born in Tombstone should not be able to be vetoed by Tempe or Tucson, he said. In essence, the lines are being drawn between those who push ballot measures and dont want the proposed change, and those who oppose the changes. The former category includes Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA, which was behind the 2016 measure to boost the states minimum wage from $8.05 and hour to the current $11, a figure that will go to $12 an hour next year. Conversely, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which fought that initiative unsuccessfully, is in support of the new restrictions that SCR 1023 would impose. This isnt the only example. Sandy Bahr, lobbyist for the Sierra Club, said people take to the streets with their petitions when lawmakers refuse to consider certain issues. That is not new, she noted, citing the fact that it took an initiative in 1912 to grant women the right to vote in Arizona, eight years before the U.S. Constitution was amended. The Legislature would not deal with that, so it was referred to the ballot, Bahr told lawmakers. Native American history, arts and culture are a theme of the 2019 Tucson Festival of Books. Here are a few events with Native American authors and artists to help you learn about them. Brandon Hobson, Native American author and a National Book Award finalist, winner Sigrid Nunez and fellow finalist Rebecca Makkai will discuss their works at 10 a.m. Sunday, March 3, in the Student Union North Ballroom. This is a ticketed event. Hobson will join authors Leif Enger and T. Greenwood in discussing how they develop characters that are authentic and relatable at 10 a.m. Sunday, March 2, in the Student Union Sabino Room. Lynda Loigman, Kristina McMorris and Susan Meissner will join Hobson to discuss Finding Family at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 2, in the Student Union Sabino Room. In The Tilt of History, Native American author David Treuer and author Steven Zipperstein will discuss how single moments in time can affect generations. The event is 11:30 a.m. Saturday March 2, in Koffler Room 218. Treuer will discuss How Truthful is History? At 2:30 p.m. Saturday March 2, in the Integrated Learning Center Room 141. Vacancy rates for industrial space in Southern Arizona have been at historic lows for the past few years. Not counting outdated industrial spaces, vacancies in the Tucson market are around 7 percent and nearly at zero in the Nogales market. In Nogales, there is only 100,000 square feet of industrial space with todays height, office and parking requirements, said Denisse Angulo-Badilla, an industrial cross-border broker with Picor. Other spaces are obsolete or hard to access, she said. When a company comes to me and says, We need 20,000 square feet I have nothing to show them. There is more construction activity in Nogales, Sonora, where speculative buildings that were erected three or four years ago are now getting tenants, Angulo-Badilla said. Developers are prepping land and eager to work, she said, noting that in Mexico developers usually have their own construction crews and dont need to wait for bids from contractors. In Sonora you can get a new building-to-suit in five or six months. Thats more difficult in Arizona, Angulo-Badilla said. But theres a lot of opportunity for industrial growth here. At the Rio Rico project, infrastructure is under construction and roads are expected to be completed by the end of March. Contact reporter Gabriela Rico at grico@tucson.com. On Facebook: Facebook.com/DailyStarBiz The business news you need With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. We hope you have enjoyed your complimentary access for the month. To continue viewing content on tucson.com, please sign in with your existing account or subscribe. Editor: A Wyoming Public Media article reported: Perkins also said the fact that it was a private conversation complicates things. I disagree. It was not a private conversation. Sen. Hutchings was meeting with the students as a state senator, not as a private individual. They were in a public space, the Jonah Building, not at a private location. She is a public figure, meeting publicly with a group of constituents spontaneously. Anyone could have walked up and overheard the conversation or joined in. Her comments were offensive and constitute bullying and harassment of a group of students on a school-sponsored activity. As a state senator, she should be expected to follow Wyoming Statutes and, at a minimum, it appears she violated the "Safe School Climate Act", W. S. 21 4 311. It indicates: Harassment, intimidation or bullying" means Insulting or demeaning a student or group of students Creating an intimidating, threatening or abusive educational environment for a student or group of students School includes a classroom or other location whether or not it is held on school premises, and any other program or function where the school is responsible for the child. And indicates: Consequences and appropriate remedial actions for persons committing acts of harassment If you have a daughter in middle or high school, offer your support. Make sure she knows that if this happens to her, it isnt a game and she should speak out. If she ever feels unsafe or uncomfortable you will listen and take action. And all parents should encourage their children, regardless of gender, not to stand by if they see something like this happening in the school hallways. Cultivating an environment that makes victims feel empowered to report their experiences is essential. Every teacher and school staff member should be compassionate and open to students that come forward. We commend all of the young women who have made their voices heard so far. Fear of backlash or retaliation can keep victims from reporting, so taking that step is not easy. These girls have been courageous and their actions will pave the way for other victims to feel safe coming forward as well. The Casper Police Department and Sgt. Scott Jones who oversees the school resource officers have taken this issue seriously. There are some who would dismiss this behavior as boys being boys, but police are clearly not doing that here. Instead of blaming the victims, they are encouraging more to come forward and speak out. And that is essential to seeing this issue stopped. They claim misconduct on Blues part. But the justices said those issues should be raised in a different setting. Questions raised about the propriety of the process, the lack of fundamental safeguards in an inquisition, and bias in the proceeding can best be addressed by the legislature, Gray wrote. The jury in Blues inquest of Birkholzs death concluded that the 31-year-olds death could have been prevented. Birkholz died at Hayses Jackson house in January 2017 after a night of hard partying, witnesses said. I believe in the coroners inquest process, and I believe in our verdict in that case, Blue told the News&Guide on Tuesday. Its obvious that coroners are independent and they were meant to be independent to find factual information about the death. Its the only time Blue has held an inquest to find someones cause of death. Its the only case where we needed to have witnesses sworn in to testify as opposed to just interviewing people because we had witnesses who wouldnt cooperate, Blue said. KEMMERER Four men sat shoulder to shoulder in a back booth of Rosies bar on a frigid February night in southwestern Wyoming. They laughed loudly as the rounds progressed, at inside jokes about the coal mine where theyd worked for decades, about families and mutual friends around town. When the conversation turned to the Westmoreland Coal Company bankruptcy, the laughter faded. I guarantee you that there is no one at that mine that has a goddamn thing to do with this bankruptcy, said Kim McKee, a retiree who spent 41 years in the mines. The frustration in Rosies was palpable. The bar, which had been a miners-only drinking hole generations back had opened for a few hours so Kemmerer miners could talk to the Star-Tribune. A decision hadnt yet been made in a Houston bankruptcy court as to whether Westmoreland could eliminate the union contract and cut retiree benefits like health insurance. That ruling in the companys favor came a few days later. But everyone in Rosies knew who was to blame for their predicament. And they all recognized their community faced a grim future. When that mine and that power plant shuts down out there, Kemmerer will be a ghost town, McKee said. Coal towns Kemmerer appears suddenly, a town in the way of U.S. Highway 189 and a relief to the eyes in the blinding winter landscape. The road turns sharply to the left, skirts under high-powered transmission lines and falls into the folds of the western Wyoming hills. The old coal towns Kemmerer and, to the south, Diamondville, sit hidden under blowing snow, living remnants of a coal boom in the late 1800s. Diamondville is closest to the Hams Fork River, a crowded grid fit snugly into a valley. The humble architecture of the single story homes is recognizable. Its the style of company towns throughout the country, and hints that nearby lies a smelter, a foundry, a mill, or in Diamondvilles case, both a coal plant and a coal mine. These are houses that can fit a family of four or five, small enough that generations of kids in Diamondville have fallen asleep to the murmur of their parents voices down the hall, talk of unions and coal companies and mutual friends, fights over money, tempers flaring under the pressure of long days in hard jobs. The town of Kemmerer surrounds Diamondville; it climbs away from the frozen river and up the bluffs, from the stately county courthouse surrounded by respectable homes of brick and clapboard to the newer ranch houses that crest the hills. The homes in Kemmerer are a story of equity and generational wealth, something solid and tangible that could be passed down to the next generation. For 100 years this has been the deal in Kemmerer and Diamondville. The towns served coal and coal served the towns. Until recently, the clamor to end coal use in the United States hadnt undermined this bargain. Troubles had come in many forms evidenced by the many little coal towns that no longer exist in the hills around the Hams Fork. Miners at the Kemmerer operation have gone on strike over health care or working conditions. Companies had come and gone. The community had swelled and contracted. But all the while, the deal persisted. Locals kept mining the unusually dark rock of Lincoln County and burning it in the nearby Naughton power plant, losing little despite the decline in the U.S. coal market, the wind farms rising in central Wyoming, the layoffs and bankruptcies that hit large coal companies in the Powder River Basin just a few years ago. So when bankruptcy came to Kemmerer in October, the blow was powerful and unsettling. A sense of unreality has descended over Kemmerer and Diamondville as they contemplate just whats been lost in a matter of months and whether the losses are over. A company buckles Westmorelands bankruptcy remains a point of contention in Kemmerer, as the local mine has never had a problem making money before, loyalists say. Local officials and miners say the company mismanaged the mine. For that matter, so does the investor planning to buy the Kemmerer mine a former shareholder of Westmoreland. The company came in, ripped coal seams from the earth and had little skill or forethought in how they went about it, if you believe the miners. Others have noted that Westmorelands greatest failing was a lack of financial diligence. The company overleveraged itself, buying up mining operations it couldnt afford. When it filed for bankruptcy in October, the company carried $1 billion in debt. A call to Westmorelands headquarters in Colorado Springs for comment on this story was not returned. In its own defense, according to court documents, Westmoreland has argued that it wasnt the only coal company to struggle in the new normal of coal. Nationally, the industry has declined precipitously since its height some 15 years ago, when coal supplied nearly half the power in the United States. Natural gas power, renewables and environmental regulations have dramatically changed the market. That story has started to hit home in Kemmerer. PacifiCorp, the company that owns the Naughton plant, shut down one of the coal-fired units at the plant in January, eliminating some 40 percent of the Kemmerer coal mines customer demand. The company has said for some time that the likely closure date of the Naughton plant is in 2022. Without the plant, the coal mine will lose its main customer. A stranger comes to Kemmerer The latest twist in the story of Kemmerer is the arrival of a coal newcomer. A Virginia businessman submitted the only bid for the mine and is set to take over the assets for $7.5 million in cash, a $112.5 million senior-secured promissory note and a $95 million junior-secured promissory note, once the numerous conditions of the sale are met. In contrast, Westmoreland bought the Kemmerer mine from Chevron Mining Inc. in 2011 for $74 million in cash and $118 million in assumed liabilities. One of Tom Clarkes conditions for buying the mine is the cause of the most immediate pain in Kemmerer: the elimination of retiree health benefits. Approximately one third of the 1,500 people receiving retiree health benefits from Westmoreland are now tied to the Kemmerer operation, according to the union. It was an expense no one could afford, Clarke told the Star-Tribune in a recent interview. Clarke has raised eyebrows in Kemmerer. He made his money in the health industry, owned retirement homes and hotels before getting into coal. He once waged a PR war against the current governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, calling out the environmental violations at coal mines that were polluting waterways, Clarke said. The two have since become friendly, but that early campaign gave him a reputation for environmentalism, not to mention unusual financial ventures. Clarke entered the coal business during the recent downturn, picking up Patriot Coals burdensome Appalachian assets and liabilities for cheap. He also bought into iron ore in the Midwest, purchasing operations from a bankrupt entity only for his iron ore company to end up in bankruptcy itself. In the case of Westmoreland, Clarkes wife was a significant shareholder prior to the companys bankruptcy. Clarke echoed the miners claim that the company was poorly managed. Clarke seems himself as a problem solver, drawn to complex puzzles. That was, in part, what drew him to coal and the mining sectors, he said. Clarke witnessed the devastation of the declining coal industry back home in Lee County, VA, he said, when the Lee County Regional Medical Center closed in 2013. Communities that are built around coal fall apart without it, he said. I feel like Im playing a role nobody else is willing to play, he said. It hasnt always worked. Its cost us a lot of money when it doesnt work. Clarke balked at the idea that he was coming into the Kemmerer area as a vulture, noting that the union contract hed asked the judge to eliminate would be reworked, and that in his view, changes for workers would be marginal. The mine could make money and find new buyers of its coal, he said. As far as the workers go, Clarke said there will be changes, hinting that some of those may be belt-tightening. But what is the alternative? he asked. Ive witnessed (it) over and over again. Nobody comes to try to help in a closed mine situation, he said, recalling when he first bought coal mines in Appalachia. What that meant was everybody lost their job. A working class Dave Croslands father still works at PacifiCorps Naughton power plant, 50 years after he got a job in construction there. Crosland, now a city councilman, and each of his six brothers found work at the plant at some point in their lives, he believes, during a break from school or to help with scheduled maintenance. The coal industry is the foundation of the towns economy, he said. The mine and the power plant have fed the infrastructure for the entire region for at least a couple of generations, Crosland said. You are talking like the schools, the road, even down to the churches. But the jobs available at the mine, the plant and most of western Wyoming have also created a certain culture, the culture of shift workers. Its working class to the bone, he said. For the miners that means a strong union, and though not everyone is supportive of the union, most are supportive of the workers, he said. Trying to describe the town where he grew up, Crosland said its the kind of place where people go to work in really cold weather. The only word that comes to mind is the people of Kemmerer are tough, he said. And that, in his opinion, means theyll likely get through the changes on the horizon. Long term, the coal industry is being pushed out, Crosland said. Though he has frustrations about the federal governments role in that, he said he also understands that a lot of different factors are at play. Ever since the bankruptcy, everyone has opinions on why its happening, who is to blame, from the EPA to Warren Buffett, Crosland said, naming the billionaire investor whose empire includes the utility PacifiCorp. Hes not sure any one thing is to blame. But he doubts the doom and gloom that coal is going to disappear within the next decade. Its a wake-up call, he said of the bankruptcy. In his experience the mine and the plant hire in waves, and right now a wave of retirees are leaving work. That complicates whats happened with Westmoreland, and even if the transition is only a short-term cost to families, its significant, he said. But for the town, there is time to adjust and figure out what to do. Kemmerer is a family town with deep roots. It doesnt have to crumble, he said. Others are pretty sure that the town will fold up on itself if something isnt done to keep the mine and the plant open. The Kemmerer mine is the largest taxpayer in Lincoln County. Some of that money goes to Diamondvile, but with a population of around 730 people, the smaller town doesnt depend on the mine revenue as much as Kemmerer, which has about 2,700 people. But the biggest recipient of that coal cash are schools. Last year, the mine owed about $10 million in taxes, said Lincoln County Treasurer Jerry Greenfield. The largest school district is owed about $4 million of that. In general, the schools take about 78 percent of all taxes, he said. Greenfield said not everyone is aware of how big a player the mine and the power plant are in terms of local income. Its a tremendous amount of revenue, particularly for education, he said. But the fear about the two industries failing is also one of workers and population. Look at all the people it will displace, he said. What kind of effect will that have on our community? It would be devastating. A balance of power Despite the new buyer, the Kemmerer mines bankruptcy is likely hard on the union, said Michael Duff, a labor export and lawyer at the University of Wyoming. Are they in a weakened position? Of course they are, he said. On one side of the bankruptcy, the union had a bargaining agreement hammered out over decades. Anything the company violated in that agreement could be grieved with potential arbitration. It was a deal and it was binding. Now, the slate has been wiped clean in Kemmerer, because bankruptcy court is about restoring companies to viability. Its not about the workers, he said. Weve made a social judgement that the most important social policy to be pursuing is to restore the profitability of that entity, on the theory that ultimately this company will employ people, will provide goods, provide services and generally maximize the wealth for society, he said. Wyoming is not often union friendly and has a low union density despite its broad industry workforce. The majority of the coal workforce in Wyoming is not unionized. A weakened union in Lincoln County is likely good news to some, who argue that unions are counterproductive. Some will argue that the union may have contributed to the Westmoreland bankruptcy, Duff said. A counter-argument to union criticism is they play a role no one else is filling, Duff said. You hope that someone is standing up for workers rights, that the government will do it, said Duff. But thats not the case. Unions, historically, are the only entity that has done that, he said. It seems to me that if you lose that kind of entity, that is going to have an impact on working people. Changes to come The temperature in Diamondville fell below zero on Feb. 11, not even a record cold, but cold enough to freeze the dun colored carcass of a white-tail doe between the train tracks near the river. Just up the street, the miners at Rosies were still discussing the bankruptcy. Cullen Pace, a current miner, noted with frustration that some people in town didnt understand that the workers were losing benefits that they had bargained for. It was a deal, and the company was breaking it, he said. Its not like were looking for handouts, Pace said. The Kemmerer miners are unique in Wyoming because of the union. The only other coal mines that are unionized are PacifiCorps Bridger mines outside of Rock Springs. The bulk of the states mining sector located in the north is nonunion. As a result, miners up in Gillette are paid far more than the workers in Kemmerer. But, they lack the benefits packages that the union has stuck to through many years of contracts. That the deal could turn sour for the miners now had everyone in Rosies shaking their heads. They were angry. The four retirees at the bar, McKee, Dave Hunzie, Mark Bartlett and Joe Fagnant, said the deal was a conscious choice and it was worth it. The union jobs meant steady work, a house, a family and a pension someday. It meant a more modest lifestyle for these men and it meant that the town kept a certain culture over the years. As they spoke, miners kids skittered around the back of Rosies, a dad teaching them to play pool. Joe could have gone anywhere, McKee said looking across the table at the oldest in the group, and praising Fagnants skill as an electrician. He stayed because he figured, Well, its locked in. Ill have this medical when I retire and thats a hell of a benefit. Hunzie, a 24-year veteran of the mine, said it wasnt about the money his pension was unsecured at the time. Its the principle. Its about, you retired all this time ago and they can come back and say Were going to take this away from you. For current miners too, the bankruptcy has threatened the certainty of the deal. Its a fundamental change thats filtered through the miners lives. Paces son, Kanyon, has started to worry about money. There are things the family cant afford right now, the 16-year-old reminded his father recently. Its gut-wrenching, Pace said. Pace, a father of four, recently asked his family if they were OK with potentially moving. They consented, and he applied for a federal job in mining regulation. Hell leave the Kemmerer mine if he gets a better offer. Follow energy reporter Heather Richards on Twitter @hroxaner Follow energy reporter Heather Richards on Twitter @hroxaner Love 0 Funny 10 Wow 1 Sad 12 Angry 0 The business news you need With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. KEMMERER The Gunters have collectively worked the Kemmerer coal mine for 200 years. Countless times over those decades, theyve donned hard hats and made the short drive from town to the mine that is the lifeblood of this southwest Wyoming community. Dating back to 1950, Uncle Otto was an officer in the local miners union that is nearly as old as the state of Wyoming. Uncle Roger spent 40 years in the mine. Cousin Bobby Gunter was the union president. Ron was a rancher turned miner who put in 35 years. Rons son, Jimmy, followed his older brother, Larry, into the mine in the 70s, past the hill towns of Kemmerer and Diamondville, past the power plant and its billowing clouds. That plant, Naughton, consumes the coal pulled from the earth for decades by the Gunters and hundreds of other miners. From that earth, the towns of 3,500 have drawn life. All of the family but Larrys sister, Patti, have retired. They have reaped the benefits of their decades of service in the mines: a modest pension and full health benefits, successes of their union and the strikes it undertook to protect them. That pension aint worth s-, Larry Gunter said in mid-February from a brown recliner in his Kemmerer home. Hed had surgery on his right foot the day before. The 67-year-old promised his wife he wouldnt curse and kept his word for about 10 minutes. But its good with that medical. Thats what we fought for. Thats what we all stood together for. The benefits paid for the births of Gunters three daughters. The copay was $20 apiece, or $200 for an out-of-network hospital. It paid for the life flight that took his youngest to Salt Lakes Primary Childrens Hospital when she wouldnt wake up from her tonsil surgery. It covered his fathers emergency flight after he had a heart attack. Without those benefits, Gunter would be bankrupt, he said. Now, those benefits are under siege, and the walls that have protected them for decades are crumbling. The coal industry is in decline. Westmoreland Coal Company, which owns the mine, is bankrupt. To attract a buyer for Kemmerer, it asked a Texas judge in late 2018 to strip the retirees of the benefits they had worked for, had agreed to, had planned on. All this, the retirees say, for a company drowning in debt thats pulling them into the abyss with it. They just file bankruptcy and to hell with everybody else, with the workers? Gunter asked. Hes a Kemmerer native. Even if Westmoreland is washing its hands of this town, its homes built into the hills, its streets as steep as ski slopes, Gunter will not leave. Gunter is proud, his gaze strong. A tall man with thinning white hair, he limps upstairs in his black walking boot to put on a collared shirt for a photo. He speaks fondly of his more than 46 years in the mine, mostly spent working on a blasting crew. He holds his head high and laughs often, even as he talks about a daunting future. He was a member of the United Mine Workers of America, local 1307. The promise of benefits was more than that. It was a guarantee. It was a deal, an agreement signed and legally binding. The union had accepted smaller raises to keep their medical benefits intact. They had gone on strike. It wasnt the workers who ran this thing into the hole. Its poor management. Last year they made money in this mine. ... Say I had a bad shot, well whats that going to cost? he said, referring to the use of explosives at the mine. Theyll get through it. But these are million dollar screw-ups theyre making. Mine might be what, $2,000? Thats the difference on your goddamn calls being made out there. He is on Medicare and isn't even two years into retirement. He costs Westmoreland nothing in medical costs, but his wife a dental assistant a few years away from qualifying for Medicare needs the insurance. Gunters 46 years earn him a pension of $2,300 a month. Should his medical benefits be lost, that money will not go far. I have no idea what wed do, he said. Wed figure something out. But who wants a 67-year-old? But really. Everythings computers now. Im not the guy I was 10 years ago. I cant answer that question about going back to work. Gunter kept returning to the fights of the past. The union fought and the miners fought -- through repeated sales of the mine -- to protect those benefits. Westmoreland, who took over in 2012, was not there for those struggles. These guys, they act like they want to rape the coal out of there and see what happens, he said. I dont know. All Im saying is all the stuff we fought for and just mainly the wages and stuff we gave up to keep the benefits, he continued, and all of a sudden with a stroke of a pen ... On Tuesday, a week after Gunter spoke with the Star-Tribune, a Texas judge approved the sale of the Kemmerer mine to a Virginia businessman. The deal, worth millions, included abandoning retiree benefits. *** More than anything, Gunter and the other retirees who spoke with the Star-Tribune couldnt understand how this could happen. It wasnt that they didnt understand the technical how. It was the moral one. Thats Larry Hintons confusion, his frustration. Like Gunter, he put in more than 40 years in the mine. Hes been retired for about a year, after spending much of his time working as a field mechanic. He moved to Kemmerer as a teen, graduated from high school here, was determined to leave and then moved back, the adventurous spirit of youth replaced with the comfortable memories of home. In mid-February, he too did not yet know what the judge would rule. He held out hope, at least outwardly, that the right thing would win out. But he knew bankruptcy courts tilt in favor of corporations, not the men and women who hold them upright. I think if Judge (David) Jones has a shred of common decency in him, he cant just turn his back on the miners and just leave us out there, Hinton said. I cant imagine anyone doing that. Maybe Im just naive, but I cant imagine that happening. Like Gunter, he is proud. But his eyes betray the anger and exhaustion the battle has forced on him. Hes under 65 and doesnt qualify for Medicare. Hes built like a coal miner, with a weathered face and a quick laugh. He has twice traveled to Denver to picket Westmoreland, to show the company that there is a face behind the numbers on their books. He had planned to spend retirement scuba diving with a high school friend, hunting elk and traveling with his wife, Donna, who is was a year away from leaving her job as a circuit court clerk. Donna and I just we kind of had to put all of our plans on hold because so much rides on the judges decisions on all these different filings, and you dont know really where youre going to land for sure, he said from his home, built atop a hill and a frequent stopping point for a herd of mule deer. If the medical is gone or greatly reduced, were back to figuring out on paper exactly where were at, how were going to afford it and stuff like that. Its going to be over $1,000 a month for Donna and I to acquire some insurance thats anything close to being called good. He paused. I might have to go look for employment. He doesnt want to do that. He put in his time in the mine. He upheld his contractual obligations as a worker and expects Westmoreland to do the same as an employer. He took pride in that work, enjoyed the people he worked with and feels attached to the mine. We actually felt really tied to that coal mine, he said. I didnt have it on paper, I was never granted this on any management of the mine. But I always felt in here he tapped his chest that I had ownership in that mine. I really tried to do a good job for whatever company it was. I really feel part of that mountain out there. Hell return to work as a mechanic if he has to, he said again, but he wont like it. When he poses for a photo, he brings a smile to his face by saying Westmoreland sucks. *** A group of miners gathered the night before at a bar popular with coal miners in Diamondville, the town that bleeds into Kemmerer. Its small and opens up in the back, pool tables and booths. Beams of light shooting up from beneath liquor bottles that line the wall behind the bar provide the only illumination in the front room. At a table just inside the door, where a previous owner would demand miners remove their boots or mop up the tracks they left, Hinton shared beers with a pair of fellow retirees. He spoke highly of the life the mine let him and his family live. We didnt live a lavish lifestyle, but it kept a roof over our head and we lived comfortably, he said. They talked about the old days, about previous owners Kemmerer Coal, Gulf, Chevron and how they honored the unions contract and the workers weathered the change. Donna stood next to Hinton. As the night wore on, and Donna and Hinton prepared to leave, again the question of what the men would do next. Hinton joked darkly about going to work as a greeter for Walmart. Forty-one years in the mine. He turned his head and stared off into space. Follow education reporter Seth Klamann on Twitter @SethKlamann Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 7 Angry 7 The business news you need With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. New Delhi: The Delhi government on Friday announced that it will hold a three-day festival 'Moscow Days' in the national capital later this year to celebrate the bilateral ties between India and Russia. The announcement came following a meeting between Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and a delegation from Moscow led by Minister of Moscow Government Sergey Cheremin, the government said in a statement. They discussed significant areas of collaboration between the two cities. "A major initiative decided is the 'Moscow Days' in Delhi, likely to happen between September and November," it said. Similarly, 'Delhi Days' in Moscow will also be conducted in this year's timeline, it added. In October 2018, the governments of Delhi and Moscow signed Twin City Agreements for Tourism and Education. "These events will benefit the people of Delhi and Moscow to understand each other culturally", said Cheremin, while expressing the Moscow Government's interest to cooperate with Delhi in the areas of Education, Healthcare, Tourism, Waste Management, Public Transport and IT solutions. "In the 'Moscow Days', Russian food and cuisine will also be featured," Cheremin added. While addressing the delegation, Sisodia said: "We are really looking forward to work together. This is the third time we are meeting in one year. Moscow's transport system is one of the best in the world and we'll be eager to learn. "We need more and more MSMEs, they're the future of jobs. They are the future of the economy. Delhi is a service sector and MSME city." The event will be instrumental in consolidating Indo-Russian relations and also to enable our future generations to understand the legacy of the unique bilateral ties between the countries, he said. The Luxembourgish language has of course been around for much longer than 35 years, but the Luxembourgish language law ("Sproochegesetz") came into force in 1984. On Sunday, it will be exactly 35 years since the Luxembourgish language law was signed. On 24 February 1984, the law was first enacted and made Luxemburgish an officially recognised language. The 1984 law made French, German and Luxembourg Luxembourg's three official and administratively and legally equal languages. In September 2018, the law was amended to add sign language. The 35-year-old law obliges the administration to reply in the same language to any request addressed to it in German, French or Luxembourgish "as far as possible", since trilingualism is the legal norm. Thanks to the members of "Actioun Letzebuergesch" and governmental efforts, Luxembourgish has been playing an increasingly important role with it's grammar becoming more refined and consolidated. Luxembourgish language courses and online dictionaries help to keep the linguistic standards up. Francois Conrad, who teaches Luxembourgensia at the University of Hanover, said that more people than ever before are now speaking Luxembourgish or are expressing an interest in the language. Not only in Luxembourg, but also outside the country. According to Conrad, Luxembourgish is a very interesting language and a useful tool in order to understand other international languages. Luxembourgish is considered an "endangered" language by the UNESCO. Today, Luxembourgish is spoken by about 400,000 people across the globe and the government hopes to have the language recognised as an official language of the EU. Slovakia on Friday decided to slap checks on beef imports from Poland after veterinarians in the neighbouring Czech Republic found the dangerous salmonella bacteria in a batch of Polish meat. Slovakia on Friday decided to slap checks on beef imports from Poland after veterinarians in the neighbouring Czech Republic found the dangerous salmonella bacteria in a batch of Polish meat. Every Polish beef consignment will now have to pass lab tests before hitting the Slovak market. "I won't allow the failures of Polish authorities to repeatedly endanger our consumers," Slovak Agriculture Minister Gabriela Matecna said in a statement. "The state food and veterinary administration will therefore check all consignments of Polish meat until further notice." Matecna ordered the chief veterinarian to implement the emergency measures days after Czech veterinarians found salmonella, which can cause food poisoning, in a 700-kilogramme (1,500-pound) batch of Polish beef. Prague said the meat imported on February 13 had been distributed to five places in the Czech Republic and one in Slovakia. Czech authorities said all the meat had been traced down, with some already consumed at a restaurant, a hospital and two schools after cooking, which reduces the likelihood of an infection. Earlier this week Prague ordered lab tests on all Polish beef. The Polish beef scandal erupted in January 2019 when a news channel aired footage of apparently sick or lame cows being butchered at a slaughterhouse in northeast Poland / AFP/File Polish Agriculture Minister Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski floated the possibility of checking Czech beer in retaliation. "We can also check whether the temperature is always right, the expiration date, the malt and alcohol content," he told reporters. "I don't want to go tit for tat, but if we're going to be blackmailed, then we have no choice." The case comes on the heels of a scandal in January which saw Poland export a total of 2.7 tonnes of suspect beef to around a dozen fellow EU members, triggering a probe. The scandal erupted when the TVN24 commercial news channel aired footage of apparently sick or lame cows being butchered at a small slaughterhouse in northeast Poland, in secret late at night when veterinary authorities were unlikely to visit. Poland is a leading producer and exporter of meat in Europe, turning out around 600,000 tonnes of beef per year and exporting most of it to the EU, according to meat producer associations. None dare call it spying: FBI official admits he infiltrated 2016 Trump campaign A bombshell report that was ignored by the Trump-hating mainstream media (MSM) earlier this week noted that a top FBI official told congressional investigators last fall that the bureau had some contacts within the 2016 Trump campaign who were linked to operation Crossfire Hurricane. As reported by The Epoch Times, the contact was not identified by name but it sounds like he very likely was FBI informant Stefan Halper, a one-time Oxford University professor who was paid over $1 million by the Obama-run Defense Department between 2012 and 2018, nearly half of which was handed out during the 2016 campaign cycle. According to portions of the transcript published exclusively by the news site, the FBI official who provided a deposition to congressional investigators, Trisha Anderson, said the bureau relied on sources who already had campaign contacts so it could put Team Trump under surveillance. To my knowledge, the FBI did not place anybody within a campaign but, rather, relied upon its network of sources, some of whom already had campaign contacts, including the source that has been discussed in the media at some length beyond Christopher Steele, said Anderson No. 2 attorney at the FBIs Office of General Counsel at the time and who was extensively involved in the bureaus counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign. As previously reported, Halper has been an asset spy? for the U.S. intelligence community for decades. As The Daily Caller reported in May 2018, Halper has long ties to the CIA and to Britains equivalent spy agency, MI6. As for his involvement in what has become known as Spygate, The DC noted further, Halper was sent in early by the Deep State to infiltrate the Trump camp: Halper, a former Cambridge professor with deep ties to the CIA and MI6, approached Navarro in 2017, seeking a nomination to an ambassadorship to an unidentified Asian country, Axios reported on May 21. At the time he submitted his application for the ambassadorship, Halper was working as an informant for the FBIs investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign. As part of that under cover operation, Halper met with three Trump campaign associates Carter Page, Sam Clovis and George Papadopoulos. If Trump had lost we wouldnt know anything about Halper and the plot to destroy Trump Halper would stay in touch with Page from July 2016 (the month then-FBI Director James Comey announced he would clear Hillary Clinton of criminal mishandling of classified material) until Sept. 2017. Page is the Trump campaign adviser the Obama-led Deep State targeted specifically for what everyone involved has euphemistically called surveillance but which really amounted to spying. Anderson told congressional investigators and lawmakers that she was one of only about 19 people who had known about the Trump-Russia investigation prior to its official opening, The Epoch Times reported. She also told congressional committees that she signed off on the original FISA warrant to spy on Page without even reading it. Anderson said she was also involved in the bureaus probe of Clintons abuse of classified emails. As for Halpers background, hes been involved at a high level in American politics for decades. He was President George H. W. Bushs National Director for Policy Development during his 1980 campaign. After Bush lost out on the GOP nomination and then joined the victor, Ronald Reagan, as his vice presidential nominee, Halper worked as deputy secretary of state for politico-military affairs. While working for Reagan he served three different secretaries. Halper then became the National Director of Policy Coordination on the Reagan / Bush Presidential campaign.https://t.co/4oCtMUsvVK pic.twitter.com/haiLuuI2Lu The_War_Economy (@The_War_Economy) March 26, 2018 Afterward, Halper became a senior advisor to the Pentagon and Justice Department from 1984 to 2001. His former father-in-law was Ray Cline, a former CIA deputy director. Halper also may have spied on the Jimmy Carter White House, gathering foreign policy information (which Cline refutes). It needs to be said over and over that if POTUS Trump had not defeated the most corrupt presidential contender in history Americans would have never learned details of the lengths to which Obamas government went to a) protect Hillary, and b) try to depose POTUS Trump in a coup attempt. Read more about the dishonest, law-breaking Deep State at DeepState.news. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com TheNationalSentinel.com DailyCaller.com We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Submit Here Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship. On account of the president's cowardly retreat from the wall, Ann Coulter is too angry to type. In her place, we present a guest columnist outraged at the president's capitulation. By Donald J. Trump This election ... is our last chance to secure the border, stop illegal immigration and reform our laws to make your life better. -- Donald Trump, Phoenix, Aug. 31, 2016 It's coming from all over South and Latin America, and it's coming probably -- probably -- from the Middle East. But we don't know. Because we have no protection and we have no competence. ... And it's got to stop, and it's got to stop fast. -- Donald Trump, New York City, June 16, 2015 We take anybody. Come on in, anybody. Just come on in. Not anymore. ... We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. -- Donald Trump, Phoenix, Aug. 31, 2016 The costs for the United States have been extraordinary: U.S. taxpayers have been asked to pick up hundreds of billions in health care costs, housing costs, education costs, welfare costs, etc. -- Donald Trump, Immigration Policy Paper, Aug. 16, 2015 What the administration really needs to do is expand and improve facilities for processing, caring for and, when necessary, housing these asylum seekers. But Trump doesn't care about doing the right thing, or even the necessary thing. He cares only about being able to claim he is following through on his vicious anti-immigration rhetoric, which brands Mexican would-be migrants as "rapists" and Central Americans as members of the MS-13 street gang. Trump had two years in which Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate -- and could not convince 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 president's 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'd have learned something about how Washington works by now, but you would be wrong. Since there obviously is no legitimate emergency, Trump's declaration -- and the shifting of resources from duly authorized projects to the wall -- will surely be challenged in court. It is possible, if not likely, that any actual construction will be held up indefinitely. "I intend to get it in on time," he said. Johnson said the money that is being withheld is not of great concern for town operations. "If you understand municipal government, money comes to us in different phases," he said "We would love to have it in time, but it is more about the paperwork." Neeses - 2016 and 2017. $12,669.03 withheld. Neeses Mayor Kenneth Gleaton said the town's clerk has been dealing with health issues and has not been able to work full-time on the audit. "Some things have been put on the back burner," he said. "The audit takes a good bit of time putting everything together and trying to get it to the auditors to do it." "One of our goals is to get it caught up," he said. "We had hoped they (the state) would have been a little more lenient on the smaller towns, so we tried a different type of audit through different reports." But he said the state wanted a full, complete audit which Gleaton says is quite costly -- in the $20,000-range -- for a small town. "We are trying to figure out where we would come out the best," he said. In keeping with its commitment to benevolence to people in the Orangeburg community, the Delta Zeta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. recently presented a donation to CASA/Family Systems Domestic Violence Shelter in Orangeburg. CASA/Family Systems is a private, not-for-profit organization serving Bamberg, Calhoun and Orangeburg counties whose primary focus is providing support, advocacy and intervention to individuals and families who have been affected by sexual assault, family violence and/or child abuse and neglect. In the state of South Carolina CASA/Family Systems operates one of the 19 statewide temporary emergency domestic violence shelters, one of 23 sexual assault and domestic violence programs and one of 17 Child Advocacy Centers. We are thankful for the services that CASA/Family Systems provides for our community, said Michael Bartley, president of Delta Zeta Lambda Chapter. We hope that our donation helps them to continue their support to those who are victims of domestic violence, he added. ROCK HILL -- Recruiters from South Carolinas public school districts hope to fill their known and anticipated teacher vacancies at this years South Carolina Teacher Expo. The expo, a one-day teacher job fair sponsored by the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA), will be held on Friday, March 29, at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia. The expo attracts jobseekers from across the state and nation and offers them an opportunity to network with recruiters from South Carolinas public school districts. The recruiters look for outstanding candidates to fill teaching vacancies in a variety of subject areas and grade levels. The Expo is one part of a continuum of programs and services offered by CERRA designed to improve teacher recruitment, retention, and advancement in South Carolina. COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina State Museum in conjunction with South Carolina Department of Education, is offering a free afterschool program for six 21st Century Community Learning Centers across South Carolina. Through March 15, 2019, selected sites will participate in free a six-week program, funded by a grant awarded to the State Museum by Boeing, where students learn the skills necessary to complete a successful mission to Mars. SCSM staff visit each 21st CCLC site every Monday for the duration of the program. During their visit, they will teach a free 45-minute activity and drop off any supplies that are needed for the remaining activities that week. 21st CCLC staff are then responsible for teaching the other 3 activities that week. Each week, students will complete a sequence of four 45-minute activities centered on a common theme, including: Rocket launching Rovers Surviving on Mars Communication Human exploration Robotics The slaves' arrival marked the beginning of the region's fractured relationship with black people. More than two centuries later, Virginia became home to the Confederate capital, and in the last week its governor has been pressured to resign for appearing in a racist photo in a 1984 yearbook. The new arrivals were Catholic and many spoke multiple languages, according to Ric Murphy, an author and descendant of John Gowan, one of the Angolan captives. They came from a royal city and "were quite informed and educated, and several of them, based upon what they did in the latter part of their years, clearly were leaders in the community in one form or the other," Murphy said. "Many of them became landowners, which is quite different from the false narrative of what an enslaved person was." In Jamestown, historian Mark Summers leads tourists down paths that Angelo also known as Angela walked after being sold to a Captain William Pierce. Like many of that first group, her life is largely a mystery. In fact, her entire known biography "could probably fit on a 3x5 index card," Summers said. But being able to show people where she lived and walked is a spiritual experience for some, he said. To the Editor: It is with both sadness and despair that I read that Gov. Pritzker had removed two great public servants from the SIU Board of Trustees. I have known both of these individuals more than twenty years and have admired their intelligence and dedication. Whom did our new governor consult when he chose to remove these board members? It is doubtful that interim President Dorsey or newly assigned Judge Gilbert were consulted. Both of these fine men are above petty politics and their input would have been both wise and informed. Perhaps the governor consulted the union bosses or his friends in the metro St. Louis area. I fear that the new game will be to appoint political cronies and let Chicago politics rule Southern Illinois. Watch closely to see what litmus test is used to select the replacements and where their heart lies. Jerry Goddard, M.D. Anna Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Saluki Aggies are also actively engaged in applied research experiences such as testing stress levels in working canines, including those used to rescue victims of natural disasters. Beyond the thrill of discovery and service experienced by the students, we know that employers and highly selective veterinary schools value this type of experience we offer at SIU, said Dr. Erin Perry, professor in the animal science degree program. Hands-on experience starting with the freshman year: In preparing students for a professional career in the outdoors, one professor in the forestry degree program, Dr. Charles Ruffner, trains his students to implement prescribed fires, such as those used in wildland firefighting in the Western U.S. The hands-on preparation they get at SIU gets students the action-oriented jobs they crave right out of school and puts them on the path for supervisory positions as they advance in their careers, he said. His Fire Dawgs program helps land management agencies restore prairies and oak forests across the region as students hone their professional prescribed burning skills. McCombie is the first woman to hold the chairmanship, and that could be important in 2020 because thats the voting population where the GOP has been losing support, particularly in suburban areas, both in Illinois and nationally. But McCombie said she doesnt necessarily think its her job to recruit female voters back to the party. I dont think I was chosen to bring women into the fold because women dont tell women what to do, she said. But I think its certainly necessary to have more women in leadership positions so they can have more open conversations. Because thats one thing that women do better. They will sit down at the table and have a conversation. McCombie said it will take hard work to reverse the GOPs fortunes in the state, but she said shes optimistic about the partys chances. We need to rely on work, and we need to rely on our message, she said. If this is about policy, were going to win every time." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The high school has also become a hub for food donations. What it cant use in meal prep is redistributed to needy families. Today, Harrisburg's program is a model for communities across the state, singled out for praise by former Governor Bruce Rauner in his Governors Hometown Awards. But its had its share of growing pains. When Gauch became the superintendent of Harrisburg schools, in 2013, he discovered the summer lunch program was hemorrhaging money. I looked at the books and saw how much money we were losing and told the board we had to get rid of it, Gauch remembers. Later on that month, I visited the cafeteria and saw what was going on. I realized we had to find a way to keep this going. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reimburses $4.03 for each meal the school provides to children under 18. It doesnt pay extra for transportation to mobile sites, or staff, or meals for parents, or hungry kids who want seconds. A $10,000 donation from Peoples National Bank and the Fowler Bonan Foundation, run by Bill Bonan and State Senator Dale Fowler, helped keep the program afloat, while Hodges found a sustainable way forward, Gauch said. During a debate last October over what to do about employee parking downtown, Councilman Tom Grant spoke in support of workers, saying that figuring something out to help people who work downtown and often get tickets to go to work shouldnt be hard. He and Loos also spoke in favor of allowing natural burials in the city. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Loos nor Grant responded to an email about their desire to seek another term in office. Hennrich is known to many involved in city government. A frequent attendant at Council meetings and other city functions, Hennrich also sits as chair of the Human Relations Commission. This is not his first time running, and Hennrich said he has been compelled to public service his entire life. He said there will be some challenging things, particularly when it comes to budgeting and taxes, coming up for the city and he believes himself to be a good candidate to work through them. Fronabarger has previously served about six years on Carbondales Council. The first two years was to fill a vacancy and the next four were a standard term. He lost during the last city election by 54 votes. Though he said it would take some convincing to run again, Fronabarger said he hopes to be able to continue the work he started with a new term. Of course, happy customers who love their solar installations and the workers that installed them are good for business! Our union crew regularly gets glowing reviews, and we love getting to post testimonials to our social media accounts and on our website. But there is also a more subtle, but equally important way that union workers help our company. As AES Solar Founder and Chief Tech, Aur Beck, puts it, For me someone who joins the union is someone who is doing it as a career and not just a job someone who is committed to showing up to work hard and doing continued education training to become a better worker. In short, union workers are the kinds of people that you want working for you. When you also consider that happier, better-paid workers mean a warmer community and healthier local economy, hiring union labor is a no-brainer. But you dont have to take our word for it! Come visit our headquarters at 1804 Supply Rd. in Carterville, where you can see our union shop and meet our workers for yourself. As always, if you have any questions about our union, or solar power in general, feel free to email Aur directly at tech@aessolar.com. Aur 'DaEnergyMon' Beck, is a NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer with AES Solar in Carterville and started educating himself about renewable energy as a teenager even before (at age 15) he moved into a camper in his parent's driveway to live off grid solar and ended up living off grid for 18 years. Aur understands that living how he does makes it very easy to advocate for a life of simpler living, energy efficiency and renewable energy. His name Aur (pronounced "or") means light or to enlighten in Hebrew. Can be reached at tech@AESsolar.com or 618-988-0888. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Yara International ASA provides environmental and industrial solutions in Norway and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sales & Marketing, New Business, and Production. The Sales & Marketing segment offers nitrogen-based fertilizers, including urea, urea ammonium nitrate, calcium ammonium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, calcium nitrate, and compound fertilizers that contain plant nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, as well as foliar and fertigation solutions through micronutrients. It also offers urea and phosphates used as raw materials for feed products in both agriculture and aquaculture; and ammonia, urea, and nitric acid used as input factors for a large range of products and applications. This segment sells its products to distributors, as well as directly to farmers and co-operatives. The New Business segment focuses on developing, commercializing, and scaling up of profitable businesses; and delivers equipment and services to store or handle products. It also provides solution of reagents, technology, and service for NOx abatement for industrial plants, and transport at land and sea. The Production segment produces ammonia, fertilizers, and industrial products. It is also involved in the operation of phosphate mines; trade and shipping of ammonia; and sale of fertilizers; as well as provides logistics services. The company provides its products under the YaraBela, YaraLiva, YaraMila, YaraTera, YaraVera, and YaraVita brands. The company was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Read More THE ROCKIN CHAIR FARMER James Brown got it almost right in 66 Legend Who Bought Amazon In 1998 Says: Now Is The Time (Ad) Wall street legend Chris Rowe says theres a huge stock market event looming - and hes revealing his #1 pick for free. Click here to find out more. Man Who Picked Tesla, Bitcoin Makes Next Pick of the Decade" (Ad) Picking the right investment of the decade can transform your life Today, the Wall Street legend who picked the last investment of the decade months (even years) before his peers will finally reveal his new #1 pick for the 2020s. Its not 5G, artificial intelligence, EVs, or clean energy. The answer will surprise you. Click To See This #1 Pick. The following companies are subsidiares of Colgate-Palmolive: 887357 Ontario Inc., COLGALIVE S.A., CP GABA GmbH, CP International Holding C.V., CP West East Investment Limited, Cleaning Dimensions Inc., Colgate (BVI) Limited, Colgate (Guangzhou) Company Limited, Colgate (U.K.) Limited, Colgate Business Services of the Americas S.C., Colgate Flavors and Fragrances Inc., Colgate Global Business Services Private Limited, Colgate Holdings, Colgate Inc., Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals Inc., Colgate Palmolive Ghana Limited, Colgate Palmolive Holding S.Com.P.A., Colgate Palmolive Nouvelle Caledonie Sarl, Colgate Palmolive Tanzania Limited, Colgate Sanxiao Company Limited, Colgate Venture Company Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (America) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Asia) Pte Ltd, Colgate-Palmolive (Blantyre) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Brunei) Sdn Bhn, Colgate-Palmolive (Central America) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Central America) Inc. y Compania Limitada, Colgate-Palmolive (Centro America) S.A., Colgate-Palmolive (China) Co. Ltd, Colgate-Palmolive (Costa Rica) S.A., Colgate-Palmolive (Dominica) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Dominican Republic) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (East Africa) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Eastern) Pte. Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (Egypt) S.A.E., Colgate-Palmolive (Far East) Sdn Bhd, Colgate-Palmolive (Fiji) Pte Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Gabon) S.A., Colgate-Palmolive (Guyana) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (H.K.) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Hellas) S.A. I.C., Colgate-Palmolive (Hong Kong) Holding Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Kazakhstan) L.L.P., Colgate-Palmolive (Latvia) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Colgate-Palmolive (Middle East Exports) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (Myanmar) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (New York) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Poland) Sp. z o.o., Colgate-Palmolive (Proprietary) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Research & Development) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Romania) SRL, Colgate-Palmolive (Thailand) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (UK) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Uganda) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Vietnam) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (Zambia) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Zimbabwe) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive A.B., Colgate-Palmolive A/S, Colgate-Palmolive Adria Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive Argentina S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Asia Pacific Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Asia Pacific Treasury Services Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Belgium S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Bolivia Ltda., Colgate-Palmolive Canada Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Caricom Service Co. Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Central European Management Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Chile S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Cia., Colgate-Palmolive Comercial Ltda., Colgate-Palmolive Commercial (Hellas) SP LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Commerciale S.A.S., Colgate-Palmolive Commericale S.r.l., Colgate-Palmolive Compania Anonima, Colgate-Palmolive Company Distr. LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Company GmbH, Colgate-Palmolive Cote dIvoire S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Cyprus Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Development Corp., Colgate-Palmolive East West Africa Region (Pty) Ltd, Colgate-Palmolive Enterprises Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Espana S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Europe (Holdings) Sarl, Colgate-Palmolive Europe Sarl, Colgate-Palmolive Finance (UK) plc, Colgate-Palmolive Global Trading Company, Colgate-Palmolive Holding Argentina S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Holding Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Hungary Kft Limited Liability Company, Colgate-Palmolive IHQ Services (Thailand) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Inc. S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Industrial Ltda., Colgate-Palmolive Industriel S.A.S., Colgate-Palmolive International Holding LLC, Colgate-Palmolive International LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Investment Co. Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Investments (BVI) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive Investments (PNG) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive Investments (UK) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Investments Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Israel Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive Italia S.r.l., Colgate-Palmolive JSC, Colgate-Palmolive Lanka (Private) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Latin America Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Manufacturing (Poland) Sp. z o.o., Colgate-Palmolive Marketing Sdn Bhd, Colgate-Palmolive Maroc S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Mocambique Limitada, Colgate-Palmolive NJ Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Nederland B.V., Colgate-Palmolive Norge A/S, Colgate-Palmolive Participacoes e Investimentos Imobiliarios Lda., Colgate-Palmolive Peru S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Philippines Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Pty Ltd, Colgate-Palmolive Retirement Trustee Limited, Colgate-Palmolive S.A. de C.V., Colgate-Palmolive S.p.A., Colgate-Palmolive Senegal S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Services (Hellas) LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Services (Poland) Sp. z o.o., Colgate-Palmolive Services CEW GmbH, Colgate-Palmolive Services S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Slovensko s.r.o., Colgate-Palmolive Support Services, Colgate-Palmolive Temizlik Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticart S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Transnational Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Ukraine LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Unipessoal Lda, Colgate-Palmolive de Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Colgate-Palmolive de Puerto Rico Inc., Colgate-Palmolive del Ecuador S.A.I.C., Colgate-Palmolive del Peru (Delaware) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Eeska republika spol. s r.o., Colpal CBS S de R. L. de C. V., Consumer Viewpoint Center Inc., Cotelle S.A., Dimac Development Corp., Dominica Coconut Products Limited, EKIB Inc., ELM Company Limited, Elta MD Holdings Inc., Elta MD Inc., EltaMD, Filorga Americas Inc., Filorga Asia Limited, Filorga Benelux SA, Filorga Cosmetiques Polska, Filorga Middle East DMCC, Filorga Portugal Unipessoal Lda., Filorga RU Limited Liability Company, GABA Europe Holding GmbH, GABA International, GABA International Holding LLC, GABA Schweiz AG, GABA Therwil GmbH, Gamma Development Co. Ltd., Global Trading and Supply LLC, Hamol Ltd., Hello Products, Hello Products LLC, Hills Funding Company, Hills Pet Nutrition (NZ) Limited, Hills Pet Nutrition (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Hills Pet Nutrition Asia Limited, Hills Pet Nutrition B.V., Hills Pet Nutrition Canada Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition Denmark ApS, Hills Pet Nutrition Espana S.L., Hills Pet Nutrition GmbH, Hills Pet Nutrition Holding B.V., Hills Pet Nutrition Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition Indiana Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition Italia S.r.l., Hills Pet Nutrition Korea Ltd., Hills Pet Nutrition Ltd., Hills Pet Nutrition Manufacturing B.V., Hills Pet Nutrition Manufacturing s.r.o, Hills Pet Nutrition Norway AS, Hills Pet Nutrition OOO, Hills Pet Nutrition Pty. Limited, Hills Pet Nutrition S.p.A., Hills Pet Nutrition SNC, Hills Pet Nutrition Sales Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition South Africa Proprietary Limited, Hills Pet Nutrition Sweden AB, Hills Pet Nutrition Switzerland GmbH, Hills Pet Nutrition Taiwan Ltd, Hills Pet Nutrition Trading (GZ) Co. Ltd, Hills Pet Nutrition de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Hills Pet Nutrition de Puerto Rico Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition s.r.o., Hills Pet Products (Benelux) S.A., Hills Pet Products Inc., Hills Veterinary Companies of America Inc., Hills-Colgate (Japan) Ltd., Hopro Liquidating Corp., Hygiene Systemes et Services SA, IES Enterprises Inc., Inmobiliaria Colpal S. de R.L. de C.V., Inmobiliaria Hills S.A. de C.V., Innovacion Creativa S.A. de C.V., Kolynos Corporation, Laboratoires Filorga Cosmetiques Espana S.L.U., Laboratoires Filorga Cosmetiques Italia S.R.L., Laboratoires Filorga Cosmetiques S.A., Laser Brand Toothpaste, Lournay Sales Inc., Mennen Company, Mennen Interamerica Ltd., Mennen Limited, Mennen South Africa Ltd., Mennen de Chile Ltd., Mennen de Nicargua S.A., Mission Hills Property Corporation, Mission Hills S.A. de C.V., Norwood International Incorporated, Olive Music Publishing Corporation, PCA SKIN, Paramount Research Inc., Penny LLC, Pet Chemicals Inc., Physicians Care Alliance LLC, Productos Halogenados Copalven C.A., Purity Holding Company, Purity Music Publishing Corporation, Refresh Company Limited, Samuel Taylor Holdings B.V., Sanex, Sanxiao Company Limited, Services Development Co. Ltd., Societe Generale de Negoce et de Services (GENESE) S.A., The GDN - The Global Distributive Network SAS, The Lournay Company Inc., The MPDP - The Medical and Pharmaceutic Distributive Platform SAS, The Murphy-Phoenix Company, Tom's of Maine, Toms of Maine Holdings Inc., Toms of Maine Inc., Veterinary Companies of America Inc., Vipont Pharmaceutical Inc., and XEB Inc.. Ingersoll Rand Inc. provides various mission-critical air, fluid, energy, specialty vehicle and medical technologies in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through four segments: Industrial Technologies and Services; Precision and Science Technologies; Specialty Vehicle Technologies; and High Pressure Solutions segments. The company offers air and gas compression, vacuum and blower products, fluid transfer and management equipment, loading systems, power tools and lifting equipment, displacement pumps, liquid and precision syringe pumps, and compressors, as well as as well as aftermarket parts, consumables, and services. It also designs, manufactures, and markets golf, utility, and consumer low-speed vehicles, as well as integrated systems. The company's products are used in medical, laboratory, industrial manufacturing, water and wastewater, chemical processing, drilling, hydraulic fracturing, well servicing applications, precision irrigation, energy, food and beverage, agriculture, and automated liquid handling end-markets, as well as various manufacturing, industrial facilities applications, and other activities. It serves to various industries and sectors. The company sells its products through an integrated network of direct sales representatives and independent distributors under the Ingersoll Rand, Gardner Denver, Club Car, CompAir, Nash, Elmo Rietschle, Robuschi, Thomas, Milton Roy, ARO, Emco Wheaton, and Runtech Systems brands. The company was formerly known as Gardner Denver Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Ingersoll Rand Inc. in March 2020. Ingersoll Rand Inc. was founded in 1859 and is based in Davidson, North Carolina. Read More 7 hours ago | June 27th | 2021 6:30 AM If You Want to Do Business on the Links, You Need to Improve Your Golf Game A lot of business is done on the golf course. Especially this summer after a year in quarantine, people will be itching to get out on the links and for some relaxation and mixing business with pleasure. If you want to close a deal out on the course, you're going to want to be more focused on the deal points than your next shot. Looking for the vulture assist with Neolithic burials 1 year ago Syria illustrates that with Trump, decisions are never over until theyre over and even then, they may not be over. Over the past week, Trump has evidently been more willing to listen to military advice than his critics sometimes contend. He also seems to have recognized that opposition to his Syria decision was nearly universal, not just in the Pentagon but also with key congressional supporters such as Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., who has campaigned to change Trumps mind. Now that Trump has altered course, Pentagon officials are continuing talks with Britain, France and other key allies about keeping a small military presence in northeast Syria, as well. The rationale, said one defense official, is in together, out together. European allies had resisted this initial request, until they were sure that Trump himself was prepared to keep a U.S. force on the ground. The continued U.S. military presence will upset Turkey, which has bitterly criticized U.S. support for the SDF, which Turkey views as an adjunct of a Kurdish militia it regards as a terrorist group. The president had seemed willing to bow to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans demands in December that the United States pull out its forces, but Trump has since stiffened his spine. In Spokane, the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) can help people lacking identification get an identicard by providing them with a voucher that reduces the cost to just $5, the rest of which is paid for by a nonprofit, essentially allowing them to obtain the card for free. Even this system is cumbersome, however, as applicants have to trek from the nonprofit to get a $5 check to a DSHS worker to receive the voucher, and then to a DOL office to be issued the ID. Homeless youth under the age of 18 could pay just $5, the cost to produce the card. Subsidies allowed the DOL to issue 37,015 DSHS welfare reduced fee identicards in Washington in 2018, according to a department spokesperson. Based on increases in free IDs in Illinois after the creation of a similar program, the Department of Commerce estimates that 15,000 additional cards would be issued to homeless people each year. At least eight other states, including California, Nevada and South Carolina have decided to waive fees for the homeless to get identification, according to Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trust. While being the 13th biggest state by total population, Washington had the fifth largest homeless population in the country last year, with more than 22,000 people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2018, according to federal data. Additionally, the Department of Commerce would be required to provide translated versions of the 14-day pay-or-vacate notice on its website. The translations would have to be written in the 10 most-spoken languages in the state. Next, it would require landlords to first apply any other tenant payments, like deposits, to late rent before they can apply it to any other charges. The inability to pay bills other than rent also would not be a legal reason for landlords to evict tenants, but landlords would retain the ability to pursue other avenues in order to collect late payments, damages or other fees. Finally, the bill would provide courts with more discretion to either allow the tenant to remain in the home or order the tenant to leave. The burden of proof would be on the tenant. Property managers Deni Cole and Don Campbell from Lakewood spoke with The News Tribune to voice their concerns over SB 5600. We all agree there is a homeless problem, and we all agree that affordable housing in the area is not plentiful, said Campbell. I understand that the Legislature wants to find ways to add housing, to make sure it stays affordable and to make sure that people are treated fairly. But its not just the tenants that need to be treated fairly. The city is neutral on whether that development goes in or not, Vorse said, but he added that it might be one way to remedy the housing crisis in the county. According to the latest report by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, housing prices are rising in the county. The median home price in December 2018 was $247,000. Thats up 12.5 percent from last year, according to the report. Overall, the county is in a hot housing market, where demand and prices is relatively high. Available and affordable housing can be scarce in a hot market. A 2015 study by the state Department of Commerce found that 81 percent of households in this country are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Adding houses to the market would increase the supply and potentially cool down the market, bringing costs down, too. Despite the potential benefits of adding 44 new houses to the area, some residents living near the site for the proposed subdivision are opposed to the plans, arguing that urban sprawl like this should be kept to urban areas. A pro-Second Amendment rally hosted by Patriot Prayer and the Washington Three Percent on Saturday at Woodlands Horseshoe Lake Park attracted almost 100 people, who came to hear advice on how to protect their right to bear arms. This is grassroots here. You can change whats going on in your cities, said Matt Marshall, leader of Washington Three Percent. Its going to take all of us, each and every one, to fight back against these infringements. The rally focused on Initiative 1639, a recently passed law that mandates background checks and gun safety training for what it calls semi-automatic assault rifles and raises the minimum age to purchase and possess such guns from 18 to 21. The age restriction went into place January 1, while the rest of the provisions go into effect July 1. Leaders for Patriot Prayer and Washington Three Percent said the initiative is unconstitutional because it infringes on the Second Amendment. These groups also oppose the laws definition of a semi automatic assault rifle which they argue is too broad and classifies a basic .22 hunting rifle as an assault weapon as well as the stricter background checks, they said. Taxi film star Samy Naceri is impressed by the hospitality of the Armenians in Yerevan. Taxi movie star Samy Naceri arrived in Armenia on Saturday to attend the MIX FIGHT 40 martial arts tournament. Samy Naceri has arrived in Armenia at the invitation of Gagik Tsarukyan to be present at the tournament, the actor told reporters on Sunday. He noted that sport was part of his life from the childhood, however, when he started filming he realized that cinema is better for him. The actor said he didnt know much about Armenia, but he has many Armenian friends, and he grew up in a neighborhood with Armenians. His brother, Bibi, who was also present during the press conference, mentioned that he grew up around the Armenians and always wanted a movie about our nation. By the way, last year, Naceri and Gerard Darmon were shot in the Armenian Film director Artak Igityans movie Anatolian History. Speaking about Armenia and Armenians, Naceri talked about Charles Aznavour, who was quite close to him. "I have many memories with Aznavour. When we were little, we used to travel with our families. When I started filming, I got acquainted with Aznavour, but unfortunately, I wasnt shot in a movie with him. Last time I met Aznavour in Versailles after the concert ... We dined at one of the restaurants and were talking with each other. He was speaking about Piaf and other great figures Naceri also talked about Luc Besson- writer of Taxi film. He noted that he was impressed with the professional drivers and stuntmen, but added with regret that he did not notice the same professionalism in Taxi 5. The well-known brothers have not managed to see much in Yerevan yet. Today they will explore the city, and tomorrow will discover Armenian sights. Syune Arakelyan Photos by Arsen Sargsyan Follow NEWS.am STYLE on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Yet another North Korean Cyber War attack on South Korea was recently discovered. This one involved a successful effort to hack an Android bus navigation app used in four South Korean cities. The malware, once on the phone, sent back all information found on the phone that included matching one of the words on a list. The nature of the words on the keyword list indicated the malware was collecting military and political information useful mainly to North Korea. This Android malware had been in operation since August 2018 and was discovered and eliminated by the end of 2018. South Korea believes there are more bits of North Korean malware at work as attacks like this have been on the increase for years. South Korea intelligence believes that most of these hackers are working outside North Korea, if only because the Internet connections are better. There are believed to be about 200 of these North Korea hacker cells (mainly in China, Russia and Southeast Asia nations) each with a few to a dozen personnel and usually hiding in plain sight as employees of legitimate firms (often set up by locals working for North Korea). These thousand or so North Korea hackers are in it mainly for the money and manage to earn nearly $100 million a year for the Kim dynasty back home. While overseas the North Korean hackers, and their families back home are treated well, by North Korean standards. If any of these hackers try to escape the special security agents assigned to prevent that, they are not really free. Those North Korean hackers that make it out alive will be declared traitors and efforts made to hunt them down and kill them. Meanwhile, their families back home will be punished severely and many, if not most, will die. Some of these hackers have apparently gotten away but no one is revealing any details. There is still a reward for the death of these traitorous hackers and apparently there is no expiration on the offer as long as the escaped hacker lives. These hackers are part of a growing network of North Korean specialists and secret police agents doing all sorts of things useful for the North Korean government. In 2018 it was revealed that North Korea had established a program for foreign agents that is only open to members of the elite North Korea families. The children of these families are eligible to attend the Mangyongdae Revolutionary Academy to learn some very special skills. Graduates of Mangyongdae are most likely to get the most senior government and military jobs when they get older. There are only about a hundred graduates a year and for the last few years, a computer science program has provided a specialized course for Mangyongdae students seeking to become foreign agents in enemy countries, especially South Korea. These agents are trained to hunt down high-level defectors in foreign countries and either arrange to kill the defector or at least find out how the defector is doing, how many secrets they have divulged and, if possible, persuade the defector to shut up or even return to North Korea. To accomplish this the Mangyongdae students are taught the latest hacking techniques and what tools and mercenary hackers are available in the hacker underground and how to deal with the tools, and local mercenaries, to put together specialized efforts to track down defectors and monitor them. This means the Mangyongdae must be able to pass as a South Korean (speak with a South Korea accent, know the customs and slang) and assume a false identity convincingly. As important as all these skills are the most important item is loyalty to North Korea. The Mangyongdae agents go after the growing number of high-level North Koreans who are illegally leaving the country. The agents are trained to use social media to seek out known or suspected defectors, make contact and obtain more information about them. In addition to tracking down high-caste defectors, the Mangyongdae level agents are also assigned to monitor the loyalty of North Korea hackers working outside North Korea. North Korean defectors have revealed much about how North Korea has managed to establish and maintain hacking operations outside North Korea and make a lot of money for the cash-hungry North Korea government. This became a higher priority operation in the last few years because of the growing list of economic sanctions imposed while at the same time there were more opportunities for Internet-based misbehavior. Some of these defectors were associated with the North Korean hackers who are, it turns out, mostly based outside North Korea because Internet access is better and operating outside North Korea makes it easier to deny that North Korean hackers are engaged in illegal activity. South Korea has obtained a lot of details about the North Korean hacker operations and even allowed some defectors familiar with those operations to speak openly about it. Obviously, many of these North Korean hackers are not as loyal as they are supposed to be and something much be done to identify and punish the ones that defect and expose how the hacker program works. The Mangyongdae agents are also trained in the usual methods of secretly contacting the center, usually via North Korea operatives based outside of North Korea and able to relay messages to and from North Korea itself. The skills North Korea hackers have developed are world class and increasingly difficult to counter or even detect. But this edge in skills and techniques depends on having loyal operatives in key positions, thus the importance of the Mangyongdae agents. The Mangyongdae agents are apparently expected to spend a few years overseas mainly to prove that they have to temperament to acquire needed skills and accomplish a difficult mission. Once back in North Korea these proven Mangyongdae agents face a brilliant future in the North Korean bureaucracy because they have not only proved their loyalty but also exemplary success in a difficult situation. One of the most difficult tasks for North Korean intel and security people is managing software specialists working outside the country. The North Korea hacker force consists of about 6,800 personnel but only a quarter of these have software programming or engineering skills that enable them to develop and carry out the hacks. The rest are support staff, including many security personnel who monitor hacker activities to ensure loyalty and productivity. Over the last few years, more and more of the hackers have been assigned to money-raising operations rather than intelligence collection (spying). North Korea needs cash more than secrets and as a result, each of these hackers has been bringing in about $100,000 a year in much-needed income for North Korea. Alas for the hackers, like most North Koreans working abroad, see little of that money. This does not inspire loyalty and resolve to avoid the temptation to defect. The overseas hackers are well aware of how much better life is outside North Korea but while these hackers are aces at the keyboard they are much less capable when dealing with Mangyongdae agents and other secret police personnel assigned to keep them working and preventing escape. Most of the foreign operations are in China where the hackers and their support staff live in Spartan conditions and are closely watched. These hackers are aware of how much more valuable their skills would be in South Korea (where some currently are, working for South Korean software firms). Unfortunately, you risk your life (and those of your family) if you try to escape. But some have and some still do. Basing so many of the North Korean hackers in China is partly because there is apparently an arrangement with the Chinese to enable the North Koreans to keep operating in return for favors. In addition to not hacking Chinese networks, or any foreign ones the Chinese consider off-limits, the Chinese receive cash and, more importantly, access to data the hackers obtain. Some hacks attributed to Chinese hackers are apparently carried out by North Korean hackers in order to pay for continued presence in China (and the cooperation of Chinese security forces to prevent North Korean hackers from defecting.) Only the most trusted North Korean hackers are allowed to work outside of China or Russia. North Korean hacking in general, even when a lot of it was done from North Korea, have proven to be very effective. In 2013 South Korea came up with a number (over $800 million) for the cost of dealing with North Korean cyber attacks since 2007. The list was quite detailed. The attacks in March and June of 2013 accounted for 93 percent of the total damages. South Korea has been subjected to a growing number of Cyber War attacks since 2009, and the high cost of the 2013 ones showed that the North Koreans were getting better and that South Korea was not keeping up. The 2014 operation against smartphones was the first North Korean effort against smartphones and indicated there would be more and there were. Long believed to be nonexistent, by 2013 it was clear that the North Korean cyber warriors did exist and were not the creation of South Korean intelligence agencies trying to obtain more money to upgrade government Information War defenses. North Korea has had personnel working on Internet issues since the 1990s and their Mirim College program trained most of the North Korean Internet engineers and hackers. North Korea has a unit devoted to Internet-based warfare and this unit was increasingly active as the number of Mirim graduates grew. Since the late 1980s, Mirim College was known as a facility that specialized in training electronic warfare specialists. But by the late 1990s, the school was found to be also teaching some students how to hack the Internet and other types of networks. Originally named after the district of Pyongyang it was in, the college eventually moved and expanded. It had several name changes but its official name was always Military Camp 144 of the Korean People's Army. Students wore military uniforms and security on the school grounds was strict. Each year 120 students were accepted (from the elite high schools or as transfers from the best universities). Students stayed for 5 years. The school contained five departments: electronic engineering, command automation (hacking), programming, technical reconnaissance (electronic warfare), and computer science. There's also a graduate school, with a three year course (resulting in the equivalent of a Masters Degree) for a hundred or so students. The Mirim program has been modified since 2015 and is believed to be producing more graduates each year and in a growing number of specialties. Mirim graduates were key to getting the Mangyongdae program going. It was long thought that those Mirim College grads were hard at work maintaining the government intranet, not plotting Cyber War against the south. Moreover, for a few years, North Korea was allowed to sell programming services to South Korean firms. Not a lot, but the work was competent and cheap. So it was known that there was some software engineering capability north of the DMZ. It was believed that this was being used to raise money for the government up there, not form a major Internet crime operation. But by 2016 there was tangible and growing evidence of North Korean hackers at work in several areas of illegal activity. The Cyber War attacks apparently began around 2005, quietly and nothing too ambitious. But year-by-year, the attacks increased in frequency, intensity, and boldness. By 2009, the North Korean hackers were apparently ready for making major assaults on South Korea's extensive Internet infrastructure, as well as systems (utilities, especially) that are kept off the Internet. Deceased (since 2011) North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had always been a big fan of PCs and electronic gadgets in general. He not only founded Mirim but backed it consistently. The only form of displeasure from Kim was suspicions that those who graduated from 1986 through the early 1990s had been tainted by visits (until 1991) by Russian electronic warfare experts. Some Mirim students also went to Russia to study for a semester or two. All these students were suspected of having become spies for the Russians, and most, if not all, were purged from the Internet hacking program. Thus, it wasn't until the late 1990s that there were a sufficient number of trusted Internet experts that could be used to begin building a Cyber War organization. South Korea has to be wary because they have become more dependent on the web than any other on the planet, with the exception of the United States. As in the past, if the north is to start any new kind of mischief, they try it out on South Korea first. While many of the first serious attacks in 2009 were more annoying than anything else, they revealed a new threat out there, and one that not only got worse but turned out to be from the usual suspects. Now the threat is very real and growing rapidly. The Freedom Peak 1 team will climb Mount Kilimanjaro this June as part of the veterans support nonprofit The Warriors Keep. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 We are sorry, but, the blog or user you are looking for can not be found. Checkout some of the blogs in our showcase. 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. Blog: Slovakia would be perfect if only the tortillas were better People back in their home countries see Slovakia through their eyes of foreigners living in Slovakia. https://app.stitcher.com/splayer/f/216552/58811248 Mexican siblings Humberto and Elena Abad had lived in Chicago for more than a decade before they landed in Slovakia. Humberto came in 2011 and his sister followed him a couple of years later, to stay with the family but also because her brother seemed to be having a good life in central Europe. Through their story, I also want to show how stories of foreigners living in Slovakia are a powerful influencer to our family and peers back home. Foreigners living here are the first ambassadors of that experience, and people back in their home countries see Slovakia through their eyes. We talk a lot about the differences between the three countries Elena and Humberto lived in, about the upsides of living in Slovakia but also some downsides - like the lack of chances to buy really good Mexican food here. With a few genuine tortillas available here, Slovakia would be a perfect place. My Slovak Experience is a podcast by Emanuele Terenzani. In each episode, he interviews one of his fellow foreigners living in Slovakia. You can follow the podcast on YouTube, iTunes, Stitcher or Tunein. 24. Feb 2019 at 18:30 | Emanuele Terenzani 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. Sen. Marco Rubio has long been one of the strongest critics of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduros regime. But on Sunday, the Venezuelan strongman must have thanked the senator from Florida after he handed him a gift in the form of a tweet. Amid tweets condemning the Venezuelan government and quoting bible verses, Rubio sent out a graphic tweet showing a before-and-after style set of photographs of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi. Qaddafi was brutally murdered after a U.S. bombing in 2011 as part of a NATO-led intervention. Human Rights Watch has characterized the killing as a possible war crime. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Qaddafi was a horrible man. He was also anally raped with a bayonet and beaten to death in the street by a mob, and a US senator is celebrating that, journalist Dan Murphy wrote on Twitter. What a time to be alive. In short, thanks to Rubio, Maduro has something else he can point to as evidence of his claim that he is the victim of a U.S.-sponsored coup. Advertisement Qaddafi was a horrible man. He was also anally raped with a bayonet and beaten to death in the street by a mob, and a US senator is celebrating that. What a time to be alive. https://t.co/4NgHFjzTKY Dan Murphy (@bungdan) February 24, 2019 Rubios tweet takes on added significance if you consider that it came a few hours after he posted another pair of images showing Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega under arrest in the United States. Advertisement The pair of tweets were anything but subtle and clearly appear to be a message for Maduro. And it will surely be taken that way by Maduro and his inner circle in Caracas. After all, characterizing the Venezuelan president as the next in a line of leaders that the United States wants to depose is precisely the message that Maduro is spouting to Venezuelans as he rejects much-needed international aid. Advertisement Many on Twitter were quick to criticize Rubio for sending exactly the wrong kind of message that the United States should be espousing about Venezuela right now. Especially from a senator. Calling for another Libya is not the way to defeat Maduro, writes Ian Bremmer. Oliver Stuenkel, who is an international relations professor in Brazil, was a bit more direct: This is remarkably stupid. Advertisement Calling for another Libya is not the way to defeat Maduro. And not the way to create peace and prosperity for the Venezuelan people. (Unless Marco is sending a message to Kim Jong Un that heres what happens if you give up your nukes.) https://t.co/0QCvO8Erx6 ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) February 24, 2019 Advertisement Costa Rica had been proudly free of the measles for five years. But all that changed this week thanks to a five-year-old boy and his parents from France who went to the Central American country on holiday on February 18. Now health authorities in the country have put the boy and his parents, who are aged 30 and 35, into quarantine and are trying to locate anybody the family may have infected. Authorities are especially trying to locate the 311 people who flew on the 12-hour Air France flight to Costa Rica, according to local newspaper La Nacion. Several workers at the hotel where the family stayed for one night have been vaccinated against the disease. Advertisement The French family had gone to a private doctor in Costa Rica to ask about their childs rash and said then that other students at their school have had measles, according to the Costa Rica Star. The last time Costa Rica had a case of measles was in 2014, and that was imported as well. The last measles case that originated in Costa Rica was in 2006. It isnt clear why the French boy and his mother were not vaccinated against the measles but it does come at a time when the World Health Organization has listed vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 global health threats this year. Stanley Donen, the last standing director from Hollywoods golden age, has died at the age of 94. Donen, along with frequent collaborator Gene Kelly, redefined movie musicals in the 1950s through films like On the Town and Singin in the Rain. But on the Saturday before the Academy AwardsHollywoods Biggest Night for Watching TVits fitting to salute Donen for his greatest contribution to television. Not his episode of Moonlighting or the video for Lionel Ritchies Dancing on the Ceiling, though both are certainly worth appreciating, and not for the 1986 Oscar ceremony he produced, in which Irene Cara sang Heres to the Losers over a montage of Best Picture nominees that didnt win, ranging from old standbys like Raging Bull, Sunset Blvd., and Citizen Kane to Donens own Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. No, Donens greatest contribution to TV is unquestionably this transcendent moment of live television, broadcast on ABC on the evening of March 23, 1998, the night he received an Academy Award for lifetime achievement: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The official clip is missing the montage Scorsese presented of Donens best work, but since thats technically Scorseses contribution to television based on Donens contribution to cinema, the Academy gets a pass. Donens decision to accept his lifetime achievement award with a little song and dance might not have made for the Oscars greatest musical performance, or even the shows greatest acceptance speech stunt, but its certainly the most charming. Acceptance speeches usually point downwardthese are the people whose invisible drudgework enabled the amazing talent youre all familiar withbut Donen makes the explicit argument that what people think of as his talent is entirely the result of the brilliant people hes collaborated with: Advertisement Advertisement Im gonna let you in on the secret of being a good director. For the script, you get Larry Gelbart or Peter Stone or Huyck and Katz, or Frederic Raphael, like that. If its a musical, for the songs you get George and Ira Gershwin or Arthur Freed and Herb Brown, or Leonard Bernstein and Comden and Green, or Alan Lerner and Fritz Loewe, like that. Then you cast Cary Grant or Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Sophia Loren, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Gregory Peck, Elizabeth Taylor, Burt Reynolds, Gene Hackman, or Frank Sinatra, like that! And when filming starts, you show up and you stay the hell out of the way. But you gotta show up! You gotta show up. Otherwise you cant take the credit and get one of these fellas. Advertisement Take that, auteurism! Theres a little slight of hand here on top of all the modesty: Donen is describing the work of a producer, not a director, but since he produced his own films after leaving MGM in 1957, he was one of the people responsible for getting the world-historical talents he collaborated with. But there are also a lot of lessons the Academy Awards producers, and Sundays winners, would do well to take notice of. Here are the six most important: Advertisement Get Rid of the Governors Awards. If Stanley Donen received his lifetime achievement award this year, the Oscars audience would only know about it from a brief clip from the Governors Awards, where the Academy has parked all the awards that speak directly to Hollywoods history. This year actress Cecily Tyson, publicist Marvin Levy, and composer Lalo Schifrin received honorary Academy Awards, while producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall got the Thalberg, but the Academy held the ceremony back in November, apparently on the theory that no one would want to watch Steven Spielberg or Tom Hanks or Laura Dern or Clint Eastwood or Ava DuVernay talk about the people theyve worked with and been inspired by when they could be watching Kevin Hart not host a big variety show. Advertisement Tap Dancing, Tap Dancing, Tap Dancing. Go ahead: browse the Academys YouTube channel and find an acceptance speech that wouldnt have been improved by a little of the ol soft shoe. You cant find it, because it doesnt exist. If you are nominated for an Oscar this year, there is still time to learn a basic cramp roll so you dont embarrass yourself by not tap dancing if you win. Toe toe heel heel, Best Original Screenplay nominee Paul Schrader! Advertisement Get Rid of the Governors Awards. Why doesnt the Academy want us to have nice things like Stanley Donen tap dancing? Why? We Must Never Return to the Lapels of the 1990s. Its important to note that although Donens award may be inspirational for Academy Award producers and aspirational for Academy Awards nominees, it is a chilling cautionary tale for designers of mens suits. Never forget. Advertisement Get Rid of the Governors Awards. Theres no reason to ghettoize awards that go to the people who have contributed the most to the industry over the course of their entire lifetime and lots of reasons not to. Bring these back to the main ceremony and paint a fuller, more respectful portrait of the industry youre honoring. Maybe Just Broadcast Singin in the Rain Instead? As Donens acceptance speech shows, the secret to Oscar magic is tap dancing, a song or two, ill-considered menswear, a proper but not fussy respect for the mediums history, and Stanley Donen at his most charming. Every year, the Academy hires two producers who spend an extraordinary amount of money trying to put together a new show that hits all those notes, while Academy members, TV executives, and boneheads like me yell for blood. If the goal is to promote motion pictures as an art form to a worldwide audience, what better way to do that than by broadcasting the greatest love letter to movies anyone has ever created? Do we really need actors to read witless banter about the importance of recording engineers when we could learn about the process from this scene instead? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The producers of the Academy Awards show do their best each year to spend as little time as possible giving out awards, critics spend as much time as possible complaining that the show treats the industry with contempt, and audiences spend as much time as possible not watching the Oscars. This is a way to square the circle and please everyone: a respectful salute to the 1950s own respectful salute to the late 1920s that everyone will enjoy watching, with lots of he big musical numbers awards show producers love, but without a single Academy Award presentation. Theres even something for the sadists in the production booth who delight in playing winners off stage in the middle of the biggest moment of their lives: Advertisement It should be noted here that at least one visionary actor realized very early on that the Academy Awards should spend more time promoting Singin in the Rain. In 1953, Gloria Grahame beat out Jean Hagen for Best Supporting Actress, and, seemingly realizing that every second she took was a second that could have been used telling people how good Singin in the Rain was instead, strode briskly to the stage to give an acceptance speech that read, in its entirety, Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Advertisement But besides the opportunity to finally vindicate Gloria Grahame and right a great historical wrong, broadcasting Singin in the Rain instead of the Oscars would allow the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to finally achieve the goal theyve been tirelessly working for all these years, no matter how many movie lovers they alienate in the process. Thats right: Singin in the Rain is less than three hours long. Thank you, Stanley Donen! Subscribe to Slates Culture newsletter for the best of movies, TV, books, music, and more, delivered twice a week. Exam rooms and procedure rooms are located off two long hallways on each side of the clinic. Patients enter the rooms from one entrance and staff through the other. Medical providers and staff are stationed in the center of the clinic, which uses a team-based care model known as PACT (Patient Aligned Care Team), which focuses on wellness and disease prevention. The PACT team consists of a medical provider, an RN coordinator, a licensed practical nurse and a medical support assistant (MSA), who is responsible for handling clerical duties. "Even though it's a very big facility, you can alert people," Small said. "When a provider walks out of the room, they can hit a button to alert the MSA, for instance, to come in and give (the patient) their after-visit summary." The clinic also boasts a laboratory, physical therapy area and mental health rooms, which have both a door and a window -- two exits -- to accommodate veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. "Mental health is a top priority now, as it should be," said Renee Fagen, a psychologist who works at the clinic. "One of the things that we do down here is provide evidenced-based therapy for trauma. It's really wonderful because people can truly work through those traumas." Hunt and Bryant will be funded from the one-cent sales tax for school infrastructure. There was considerable neighborhood controversy on where the Bryant school should be built. After a new 10-acre spot could not be found, school officials settled on a three-level option at the same spot where the old school was located. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} While the new Bryant is being built, the school's students are attending classes in the former Crescent Park Elementary building. Bryant Elementary will house grades K-5. The size will be 106,950 square feet. It will accommodate up to 625 pupils. The school board approved a low bid of $17.3 million for the main part of the Bryant work from Hoogendoorn Construction of Canton, South Dakota. Remaining work includes finishing of interior elements. As the spring moves on, those tasks will move from the classrooms to commons area. The existing Hunt School, which dates to 1906, is by far the oldest in the citys public school system. It will be demolished after students use the building for one last year through May, then for a few years Hunt students will be relocated to Crescent Park. The new school will be built just to the south of the current one. Are you ready for a love story? Heres one with a few twists that should make you smile. Lets start with the holiday we just celebrated Valentines Day. Thats a big day around our house. Our dentist daughter, Dr. Laura Giese, was a Valentines Day baby. She was born just after midnight on Feb. 14 (if she wants to tell you the year she can Im not going there). I still remember driving home from the hospital in the wee hours of the morning and stopping at the downtown Walgreens to buy two Valentines Day cards one for Bev and one for my new baby girl. In fact, I found a card that said for your Valentine birthday and bought it for Laura. She will always be my special Valentine. In addition to Laura, my late mother-in-law Helen was a Valentines Day baby as is my Aunt Shirley back in Decatur, Illinois. Aunt Shirley is the last living sibling on my moms side of the family. I love Aunt Shirley. She looks just like my mom. On March 30, Bev and I will celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary. That, in itself, is probably a miracle. There were signs in our courtship that portended dire consequences if we proceeded with our relationship. Lets start with the first time I met her mom and dad at their home in West Alton, Missouri. Recently came leaks that Trump officials have discovered that Shiite Iran has been secretly collaborating with the Sunni terrorists of al-Qaida. This could, headlined The Washington Times, provide "the legal rationale for U.S. military strikes" on Iran. At the Munich Security Conference, however, NATO allies Britain, France and Germany recommitted to the Iran nuclear treaty from which Trump withdrew, and to improved economic relations with Tehran. Trump pledged months ago to bring home the 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria and half of the 14,000 in Afghanistan. But he is meeting resistance in his own party in Congress and even in his own administration. Reasons: A U.S. pullout from Syria would abandon our Kurdish allies to the Turks, who see them as terrorists, and would force the Kurds to cut a deal with Syria's Bashar Assad and Russia for their security and survival. Britain and France recently informed us that if we leave Syria, then they leave, too. As for pulling out of Afghanistan, the probable result would be the fall of the Kabul government and return of the Taliban, who hold more territory now than they have since being overthrown 18 years ago. For Afghans who cast their lot with the Americans, it would not go well. Thirty-three years ago today, President Marcos fled the country after three tumultuous days that saw two million civilians amass on EDSA to protest his two-decade rule and to support the military men who had withdrawn their support from the regime and had holed up in Camp Crame. Those of us who lived through those heady days remember the exhausted euphoria that finally washed over us on the 25th of Feburary1986 whenfor the moment, at leastthe Philippines was the darling of the world and everything seemed possible. In the eyes of the world, we had regained democracy with determination, courage and faithand relatively little bloodshed. But memory fades, and even people who were there for the unfolding drama 33 years ago remember things differently today. Moreover, more than half of the population today were not even born at the time of the EDSA People Power Revolution. For an increasing percentage of Filipinos, then, the landmark even is not even a memoryand many view todays holiday as little more than a welcome break from school or their jobs. Beyond marking it with an official holiday and the yearly commemorative rites, how do we keep the spirit of EDSA alive? We might begin by recognizing in our day-to-day lives the two true gifts of EDSAunity and freedom.The EDSA Revolution is often portrayed as a contest between two political clans, but it was so much more than the personalities on center stage three decades ago. In all likelihood, the military rebels would have been wiped out by government troops had they not had the protection of millions of Filipinos who, moved by a unity of purpose, taken to the streets to show their support. We have not seen this sense of unity as a people sinceand that, perhaps, is why we have not lived up to the promise of EDSA. All too often, we engage in divisive politics that suggests that if you are not with us, you are against usonly to forget that we are all in one nation, and that we need to come together to achieve common goals. That goal 33 years ago was to achieve the freedom that was stifled by martial law. The challenge today is to use those hard-won freedoms to carve out a better life for all Filipinosand to be prepared to defend those rights at all costs. "A lot of us all over the country watched with admiration, the Congressional race, and J.D. Scholten getting that close is an amazing achievement and it's a harbinger of things to come," de Blasio said. Progressivism was the theme of the evening for de Blasio, who said the Democratic Party was at its pinnacle during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s. He suggested a new Progressive Era may be dawning in the U.S., given the budding group of liberal Democrats advocating healthcare for all and free college education. "The truth about the Democratic Party historically, is it's a big tent party, right?" he said. "The strongest era for this party was during the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt." In recent decades, de Blasio suggested the party has been taken over by moderates, at the expense of the common people. Yet he suggested the party can win over the working class once again. "I know working people can answer the call of the Democratic Party easily, in every part of the country, if they heard that we were resolute in defense of their interests. I know it. I've seen it," he said. He couldn't resist getting in a jab at Rudy Giuliani, a former New York City mayor who now acts as a contentious attorney for President Trump. "First of all, I want to give people advice, if you're in a tough legal spot, do not hire Rudy Giuliani to be your legal spokesman," he said. "It's not working out well for his current client. It's kind of funny, hiring someone to go on TV and make his legal position worse." Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. "You have to be careful not to mess up something that's working so well," he said. "Hopefully we can find ways to refine what we do, making sure everything we do has us ready to go." Christensen said Muckey's experience inspecting other units will benefit the 185th. "He has seen every unit out there that's similar to us and the leadership of those units. He's seen what things work, what things don't," said Christensen, who has commanded the 185th since June 2014. Muckey said he's not planning on big changes to a unit he said is "incredibly high-functioning." "For the most part, they can expect a lot of status quo, and we can figure out what we need to work on as we move forward," he said. In the meantime, Muckey said he hopes to maintain the support that Sioux City and the surrounding area have for the 185th. "You won't find a better community than Siouxland, where we have such a close relationship between the base and community," he said. "It's really a great opportunity, and I'm excited to be coming back to the 185th. I've always considered it my home base." Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. SIOUX CITY -- The Diocese of Sioux City announced Sunday that it plans to publicly release a list of 28 priests who were credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors while serving in the diocese. According to a press release from the diocese, each case was investigated by the Diocesan Review Board to determine credibility. The board reviewed priest files dating back to 1902. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The diocese will host a press conference at 1:30 p.m. Monday at 1821 Jackson St. to release the list. Bishop R. Walker Nickless; Father Brad Pelzel, Vicar General and Moderator; and Mark Prosser, a Review Board member and Storm Lake Police Chief, will all be on hand. After the press conference the list will be available at www.scdiocese.org. Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 5 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. "When you're playing a character, it's best not to watch another actor's interpretation of the role," she said. "It's best to put your own spin on the part." Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} That was easy for Hartshorn, since Marge was a supporting character in the novel and was more of a walk-on role in the 1995 film adaptation that starred Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood. "The stage version opens up the story considerably," Hartshorn said. "Instead of being Francesca's story, it is now told from multiple points of view." This includes the point of view of Marge, who is older than Francesca and more settled into married life than her best friend. "Marge is more than just a sassy neighbor," Hartshorn said. "She's strong and lovable and has experienced a lot of the same isolation that Francesca did." Hartshorn credited director Kimberly Faith Hickman for guiding her through the role. "Although I've acted and directed in more productions than I can count, I've never performed in a company the size of the Omaha Community Playhouse," she said. "I've also never been in a production that's had so many performances." SIOUX CITY -- D. Douglas Rice, chairman, president and CEO of Security National Bank, announces the following promotions: Cory Johnson has been promoted to Assistant Vice President of Ag Lending. A professional with more than 20 years of financial and lending experience, Johnson joined Security National Bank in 2016 as an Ag Loan Officer. He has strong agricultural roots stemming back to his time growing up on the family farm near Moorhead, Iowa. Johnson earned his bachelor of arts degree in business management and finance from the University of Northern Iowa. He started his banking career as a teller before progressing into investments, commercial lending and management. Terry Fiedler has been promoted to Bank Security Officer, responsible for developing, implementing and administering all aspects of the banks safety and security programs. Fiedler arrived at Security National Bank five years ago as Maintenance Supervisor Trainee and shortly thereafter was promoted to Property and Building Manager a role he will also continue to serve. Last year, Fiedler received Security National Banks PRIDE award, given annually to an employee who best exemplifies Personal Responsibility in Delivering Excellence to customers and colleagues. He is a graduate of South Dakota State University. Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 DAKOTA DUNES -- Another milestone has approached Sterk Financial Services as the company celebrates its 15th anniversary in February. Sterk Financial Services, established Feb. 16, 2004, was founded by Mary Sterk and originally started with herself and a single assistant, predominantly serving Siouxland. Now with a robust local team, Sterk Financial Services has completed seven acquisitions, serves clients nationwide, and will be opening a Kansas City branch office in March. Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 1 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sharply criticised his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after the recent execution of nine people in Egypt, saying he refused to talk to "someone like him". "They killed nine young people recently. This is not something we can accept," Erdogan said Saturday in an interview with Turkish TV channels CNN-Turk and Kanal D, referring to the execution Wednesday of nine men sentenced for the murder of the Egyptian prosecutor general in 2015. "Of course, we are going to be told that it is a decision of the judiciary, but there, justice, elections, all that, are codswallop. There is an authoritarian system, even totalitarian," Erdogan added. "Now, I am answering those who wonder why Tayyip Erdogan does not speak to Sisi, because there are mediators who come here sometimes, but I will never talk to someone like him," he said. Relations between Turkey and Egypt have been virtually non-existent since the Egyptian military, then led by Sisi, in 2013 ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, a close ally of Erdogan. Morsi's Islamist Muslim Brotherhood is outlawed in Egypt but members of the group have sought refuge in Turkey. Erdogan, who denounced Morsi's ouster, sometimes draws a parallel with the failed coup against himself in 2016. The Turkish president also called for the release of Muslim Brotherhood prisoners in Egypt. "First of all, he should release all those imprisoned with a general amnesty. As long as these people have not been released, we will not be able to talk with Sisi," he said. Erdogan also attacked Western countries which, according to him, "roll out the red carpet" for Sisi and turn a blind eye to the latest executions in Egypt. "Where are the Westerners? Have you heard their voices?" he said. "On the other hand, when it comes to people imprisoned in our country (Turkey), they scream bloody murder." Amnesty International condemned the executions of the men, who it said were convicted in trials marred by torture allegations. "We had a chance in a million to right what was wrong in our society, in our polity. We blew it. From picture pretty to pretty ugly" Today marks the 33rd anniversary of the culmination of the EDSA People Power Revolution. It commemorates the day when Cory Aquino and Doy Laurel took their oaths of office as president and vice president respectively at Club Filipino. I was present at that historic occasion. On the same day, from the balcony of Malacanan Palace, Ferdinand Marcos likewise took his oath as president after the controversial snap elections held earlier in February where the Commission on Elections certified to his victory, which was thereafter affirmed by the Batasang Pambansa. But on Feb. 22, sections of the military forces under the leadership of Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile and AFP Vice Chief of Staff Fidel Valdez Ramos declared a mutiny against Marcos. Before dark of that fateful day, Marcos, his family and key allies were taken by a US helicopter to Clark Air Base, there to be ferried by another US plane to Hawaii, where he was to spend his last days. President Duterte is not going to the EDSA Shrine built to commemorate the historic event. Like many Filipinos, he probably wonders if after 33 years, the mutiny where no blood was shed was worth it in terms of whether we as a nation of 107-million people are better off now than before it. But if life has not become any better for most Filipinos, blame should not be placed on the EDSA mutiny and the bloodless revolution that ushered in democratic space in lieu of authoritarian rule. It is the fault of leaders we put in power after Marcos, and ours because we chose them. We had a chance in a million to right what was wrong in our society, in our polity. We blew it. That is a collective fault that our generation will have to apologize to our successors for. We commemorate the return of democratic freedoms, even if we have made a mockery of true democracy, where equal opportunity hardly exists, where the poor, as the trite observation goes, get poorer while a few get richer and richer. * * * February in our history is also a month for sad recollection. At the Plaza de Santa Isabel in Intramuros, midway from the Manila Cathedral to the centuries-old San Agustin Church, is a Pieta-like monument which commemorates the merciless slaughter of thousands of Filipinos during the liberation of Manila waged by American forces and Filipinos against the Imperial Japanese Army. Defeated, Japanese troops perpetrated gruesome massacres of civilians in Manila, mostly in the Ermita and Malate areas. This carnage, which happened from Feb. 3 to March 3, 1945, is immortalized for the memory of succeeding generations born after the Second World War through the efforts of Memorare-Manila 1945 Foundation, which built the monument in Intramuros. It features a hooded woman slumped on the ground cradling a lifeless child in her arms, surrounded by six suffering figures. The inscription on the monuments base was written by Nick Joaquin, the National Artist for Literature who I had the privilege of once being interviewed during the struggle against the dictatorship. For the benefit of our readers and for my grandchildren who should always remember that war makes no victors but only victims, let me quote: This memorial is dedicated to all those innocent victims of war, many of whom went nameless and unknown to a common grave, or never even knew a grave at all, their bodies having been consumed by fire or crushed to dust beneath the rubble of ruins. Let this monument be a gravestone for each and every one of the over 100,000 men, women, children and infants killed in Manila during its battle of liberation.We have never forgotten them. Nor shall we ever forget. Memorare. * * * Also in that month of February 1945, retreating Japanese forces went to almost every house in San Pablo City, Laguna whose residents were Chinese-Filipinos. The males among them aged 15 to 50 were conscripted to work; brought to the patio of the Catholic Church in the center of the town. From there they were marched to a field far from the poblacion where they were made to dig a trench some ten feet deep. Thereafter, they were bayoneted and beheaded to their death, and mercilessly pushed to the trench they dug which was to be their grave. Their families searched in vain, thinking they were brought to nearby Quezon, only to realize later that they were massacred to their untimely death. Inside the Cementerio de Chinos in San Pablo near the highway which leads to Quezon province is a mausoleum erected by the descendants of the 600 men who were massacred that fateful February. Their remains are co-mingled and entombed therein. My grandfather and my uncle were among the 600. * * * I write not to condemn any race for inhuman actions perpetrated during a time of war. Despite the fact that my maternal grandfather and my only uncle were killed by Japanese soldiers at the end of the Second World War, I hold no deep resentment in my heart. For one, I was born after them, unable to know them personally. If there is any evil that we must condemn and never excise from our minds, it is the horrors that war brings, wherever and whenever it happens. * * * Last Friday, the President administered the oath of office to members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority which would begin the transition process from civil strife to peaceful autonomous governance, after the ratification of the BOL. Like any other Mindanaoan, Duterte wanted to see an end to the violence where government and rebels were counting victories not by progress or development but by the dead bodies that were strewn around. The road to peace may be long and rough, but I am glad that we have finally reached its endpoint, the President said. We hope. We pray. Senegal's President Macky Sall won in the first round of the election Sunday, his prime minister said, although his two main challengers look set to contest the outcome. "The results allow us to say that we should congratulate President Macky Sall on his re-election," Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne said at midnight, predicting the incumbent would receive "at least 57 percent" of the vote. His announcement hours after polls closed was greeted with cheers from supporters gathered at the headquarters of the presidential coalition in Dakar. Sall, who was seen there earlier in the evening, did not speak. Official results from each region are not expected until Tuesday with a nationwide announcement by Friday midnight at the latest. If no one wins more than 50 percent a second-round runoff will be held on March 24. Shortly before Dionne's announcement, Sall's two main challengers had warned against premature proclamations of victory. "At this stage, a second round is announced and the results that are already compiled allow us to say so," said former prime minister Idrissa Seck, who was making his third run for president. "At the current state of the vote count, no candidate, I say no candidate, including myself, can claim to have won the presidential election," taxman-turned MP Ousmane Sonko, who was also in the race, added at their joint press conference. Seck and Sonko are the only two candidates seen as having a chance of making it to a second round, with incumbent Sall, 56, in the lead in many polling stations, according to preliminary results reported in the evening by local media. The other challengers, former foreign minister Madicke Niang and Issa Sall of the Unity and Assembly Party (PUR), were trailing far behind, according to the results. Macky Sall had looked set to cruise to victory in the first round after his two key rivals, popular former Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, son of the previous president, were banned from running over graft convictions and he only faced four lesser-known candidates. "At the end of this day, the Senegalese people alone will be the winner. And the president chosen will equally have to be president of all Senegalese," Sall said after voting Sunday. A geologist by training, Sall took over as president in 2012 after beating his former mentor Abdoulaye Wade, and this time, he has campaigned for a second term championing his "Emerging Senegal" infrastructure project to boost economic growth. "Victory in the first round is indisputable," Sall told a recent Dakar campaign rally. The EU observation mission said its overall assessment was "quite positive" among the polling stations it observed. "There has been very little violence, very isolated incidents, which is very good news," said Elena Valenciano, head of the mission. - A smaller lineup - Often held up as a model of stability in Africa, Senegal has enjoyed strong growth. The Muslim-majority country has largely escaped the jihadist attacks that destabilised neighbours such as Mali. Sall has made transport infrastructure a priority. But basic services, healthcare and education often remain inadequate, sometimes triggering strikes and protests. The other four candidates have campaigned hard against his plans for a second phase of his project, which critics see as a potential debt burden. The five-horse race leaves voters with a limited choice compared to 2012 when 14 candidates vied for the top post. A new system approved by parliament last year requires candidates demonstrate support from a minimum number of citizens and regions. Once the regulations went into force, only seven candidates made the cut, but two of them -- Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade -- were then disqualified. Both men were barred over their convictions for misuse of public funds, which they say were engineered to bar them from the race. Their supporters staged a number of protests and last year, Amnesty International issued a report highlighting the "unfair trials" of senior opposition figures, flagging a "lack of (judicial) independence" in the case against Khalifa Sall. Senegal has a population of 16 million but only 6.7 million were registered to vote in the West African nation which gained independence from France in 1960. Senegal has known two peaceful power transfers in 2000 and 2012 and has never experienced any coups. But election campaigns are often marred by charges of corruption, disinformation and sometimes violence. For polling day, some 8,000 police were deployed throughout urban areas alongside an unspecified number of civilian security staff, officials said. And around 5,000 observers -- including some from the European Union -- were monitoring proceedings, the interior ministry said. By Anne Marie Roantree HONG KONG (Reuters) - Two sisters from Saudi Arabia who fled the conservative kingdom and have been hiding out in Hong Kong for nearly six months said they did so to escape beatings at the hands of their brothers and father. The pair, who say they have renounced their Muslim faith, arrived in the Chinese territory from Sri Lanka in September. They say they were prevented from boarding a connecting flight to Australia and were intercepted at the airport by diplomats from Saudi Arabia. Reuters could not independently verify their story. Asked about the case, Hong Kong police said they had received a report from "two expatriate women" in September and were investigating, but did not elaborate. The Saudi consulate in Hong Kong has not responded to repeated requests from Reuters for comment. The case is the second high-profile example this year of Saudi women seeking to escape their country and spotlights the kingdom's strict social rules, including a requirement that females seek permission from a male "guardian" to travel. The sisters, aged 18 and 20, managed to leave Hong Kong airport but consular officials have since revoked their passports, leaving them stranded in the city for nearly six months, their lawyer, Michael Vidler, said. Vidler, one of the leading activist lawyers in the territory, also confirmed the authenticity of a Twitter account written by the two women describing their plight. On Saturday, dressed in jeans and wearing sneakers, the softly spoken women described what they said was a repressive and unhappy life at their home in the Saudi capital Riyadh. They said they had adopted the aliases Reem and Rawan, because they fear using their real names could lead to their being traced if granted asylum in a third country. They posed for pictures but asked their features not be revealed. Every decision had to be approved by the men in their house, from the clothes they wore to the hairstyle they chose - even the times when they woke and went to sleep, the sisters told Reuters. Story continues "They were like my jailer, like my prison officer. I was like a prisoner," said the younger sister, Rawan, referring to two brothers aged 24 and 25 as well as her father. "It was basically modern day slavery. You can't go out of the house unless someone is with us. Sometimes we will stay for months without even seeing the sun," the elder sister, Reem, said. In January, a Saudi woman made global headlines by barricading herself in a Bangkok airport hotel to avoid being sent home to her family. She was later granted asylum in Canada. "BROTHER BRAINWASHED" Reem and Rawan said their 10-year-old brother was also encouraged to beat them. "They brainwashed him," Rawan said, referring to her older brothers. Although he was only a child, she said she feared her younger brother would become like her older siblings. The family includes two other sisters, aged five and 12. Reem said she and her sister feel terrible about leaving them, although they "hope their family will get a lesson from this and it might help to change their lives for the better." Reem and Rawan decided to escape while on a family holiday in Sri Lanka in September. They had secretly saved around $5,000 since 2016, some of it accumulated by scrimping on items they were given money to buy. The timing of their escape was carefully planned to coincide with Rawan's 18th birthday so she could apply for a visitor's visa to Australia without her parents' approval. But what was supposed to be a two-hour stopover in Hong Kong has turned into nearly six months and the sisters are now living in fear that they will be forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia. They have said they have renounced Islam - a crime punishable by death under the Saudi system of sharia, or Islamic law, although the punishment has not been carried out in recent memory. The pair say they have changed locations 13 times in Hong Kong, living in hotels, shelters and with individuals who are helping, sometimes staying just one night in a place before moving on to ensure their safety. Vidler said the Hong Kong Immigration Department told the women their Saudi passports had been invalidated and they could only stay in the city until February 28. The department has said it does not comment on individual cases. The sisters have applied for asylum in a third country which they declined to name in a bid keep the information from Saudi authorities and their family. "We believe that we have the right to live like any other human being," said Reem, who said she studied English literature in Riyadh and dreams of becoming a writer one day. Asked what would happen on Feb 28, after which they can no longer legally stay in Hong Kong, the sisters said they had no idea. "I hope this doesn't last any longer," Rawan said. (Reporting By Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) Pope Francis on Sunday vowed to tackle every single case of sexual abuse by priests, comparing paedophilia to "human sacrifice", but drew an angry response from victims. As the pope promised an "all-out battle" against abusive priests at the end of the landmark Vatican summit on the issue, his critics dismissed his speech as a "stunning letdown". And when he blamed the Devil for abuse in the Church, one victim described his comments as "pastoral 'blah-blah'". In his closing address to top bishops he also insisted the Church was not the only place children were assaulted. "If in the Church there should emerge even a single case of abuse - which already in itself represents an atrocity - that case will be faced with the utmost seriousness," Francis promised. "I am reminded of the cruel religious practice, once widespread in certain cultures, of sacrificing human beings frequently children in pagan rites," he said. The sexual abuse of minors was "a widespread phenomenon in all cultures and societies", Francis said, as he denounced priests who prey on children as "tools of Satan". "I make a heartfelt appeal for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors both sexually and in other areas... for we are dealing with abominable crimes that must be erased from the face of the earth," he said. Children must be "protected from ravenous wolves", he said, adding: "We stand face to face with the mystery of evil". - Fresh action promised - The scandals have hit countries around the world, with lives devastated from Australia to Chile, Germany and the US. Pope Francis had opened the four-day meeting by calling for "concrete measures" against child sex abuse and handing 114 senior bishops a roadmap to shape the debate on tackling paedophile priests. The pope will issue "a new Motu Proprio" on the "protection of minors and vulnerable persons", summit moderator Federico Lombardi said after the pope's speech. "Motu Proprios" are legal documents issued under the pope's personal authority, and this one will "strengthen prevention and the fight against abuse on the part of the Roman Curia and Vatican City State," he said. Francis also wants to create "task forces" to help local parishes fight clerical paedophilia and the Vatican will draw up guidelines for bishops on dealing with abuse cases, he added. - 'Stunning letdown' - The meeting was marked by soul-seeking and self-recrimination by the Church, and horror stories from abuse victims. But the 82-year-old pontiff had warned victims to lower their expectations, saying much of the work would be done after the summit. "Pope Francis's talk today was a stunning letdown, a catastrophic misreading of the grief and outrage of the faithful," said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability. "If the powerful testimonies of the past week moved the needle in the right direction, the pope today moved it back," she said. Swiss victim Jean-Marie Furbringer said: "Honestly it's a pastoral 'blah-blah', saying it's the fault of the Devil". "It talks about the Devil, it talks about evil... There is no talk about permanently excluding child rapists and abusers who are employees of the Church," said Britain's Peter Saunders, a victim who resigned from a Vatican advisory commission on combating abuse. Vatican specialist Marco Politi told AFP it would be "crucial to see what happens in the coming months. "If structures are not put in place to file complaints and address the needs of victims, then the next scandal to break out will not only hit the local church but also the credibility of the pontificate," he said. In his lengthy speech, Francis said the Church would draw inspiration from the "best practices" in the Seven Strategies for Ending Violence against Children, measures developed under the guidance of the World Health Organisation (WHO). - 'Heed their cries' - Those gathered at the Vatican heard testimonies from victims, one of whom was forced to have three abortions after being abused for years by a priest who beat her, while another said he had been molested more than 100 times. "The echo of the silent cry of the little ones who, instead of finding in them fathers and spiritual guides encountered tormentors, will shake hearts dulled by hypocrisy and by power," Francis said. "It is our duty to pay close heed to this silent, choked cry," he added. But Francesco Zanardi, survivor and head of Italian victims' association Rete Abuso, said the Vatican had "lost credibility". "We wanted to see measures, to see the bishops (guilty of protecting paedophile priests) named. Start by opening the Vatican archives, not by destroying documents. Start handing documents over to the civil authorities," he said. The Vatican has in the past refused to hand over internal documents about abuse cases to police investigating paedophilia. German Cardinal Reinhard Marx admitted Saturday that "files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed, or not even created". A Saudi terror suspect held in Guantanamo has filed a lawsuit against Lithuania alleging that he was tortured at a secret CIA jail in the Baltic state, a senior government official said Monday. Mustafa al-Hawsawi, 50, has petitioned the European court that last year found Lithuania complicit in a secret CIA programme and ordered the EU member to compensate another terror suspect. "Last week, the government received the Hawsawi petition through the European Court of Human Rights," Deputy Justice Minister Irma Gudziunaite told AFP. She said Lithuania, a staunch US ally that joined both the EU and NATO in 2004, had until March 22 to submit its position. The Strasbourg-based court ruled last year that Lithuania had hosted a secret prison in 2005-2006. The court ordered Vilnius to pay 100,000 euros ($113,000) in damages to Abu Zubaydah, another Guantanamo detainee suspected of being a top Palestinian operative for Al-Qaeda. Lithuanian officials, who deny the existence of any secret CIA jails on their territory, told the court that a building on the outskirts of Vilnius suspected of being such a site was "an intelligence support centre". A pre-trial investigation into the allegations has been ongoing in Lithuania since 2015. The Baltic state says the United States has refused to answer questions from Lithuanian prosecutors or provide requested information. The ECHR ruled that fellow EU and NATO member states Poland and Romania also allowed the unlawful imprisonment of terror suspects more than a decade ago. Another call to fix good-time credit after FIRST STEP good-time credit fix | Main | Latest Manafort sentencing memorandum from Special Counsel pulls few punches February 23, 2019 "There's a gender imbalance in many African-American neighborhoods. Mass incarceration is largely to blame." The title of this post is the sub-headline of this new Governing piece with the main headline "Where Have All the Black Men Gone?." Here is an excerpt: Governing reviewed the latest population estimates for all black adults ages 18 to 64 in Census tracts where they totaled at least 2,000. In those neighborhoods, there were only a median of 81 black men for every 100 black women. The imbalance was greatest in 380 neighborhoods, where there were fewer than two adult black men for every three adult black women under age 65. In contrast to the numbers for adults, Census estimates show that nationally, there are marginally more African-American boys than girls under age 18.... The single biggest driver behind the absence of many black men is mass incarceration. A few academics have held up ratios of black men to women as a proxy for incarceration. Despite recent declines in prison populations, disparities remain massive. African-American males are imprisoned in state and federal facilities at six times the rate of white men, and about 25 times that of black women, according to figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Black men, underrepresented in the overwhelming majority of neighborhoods, are instead heavily concentrated in relatively few places, and those tend to be home to prisons. We identified 79 such Census tracts with more than twice as many black men as women.... The ramifications of all this are far-reaching. Partners and families of the missing men face a host of negative social and economic consequences, such as a shortage of income and assets. Huge numbers of women have ties to incarcerated family members: One in every 2.5 black women has a family member in prison, more than three times the number for white women, according to a Scholars Strategy Network report. For children, research suggests growing up with an incarcerated parent increases the likelihood of learning disabilities, behavioral problems and other challenges. February 23, 2019 at 04:49 PM | Permalink Comments This mass-incarceration gender imbalance is not unlike what happened in England and France after World War I, because an entire generation of young men was killed off. There were not enough young men to mate with all of those young women. How Mother nature deals with mating and reproduction is fascinating. If one understands the basics of genetics (X and Y chromosomes), there should be 100 baby girls born for every 100 boys, but there are not. Worldwide, there are 105 boys born for every 100 girls born. Because boys are more likely to die before reaching reproductive age than girls are, the numbers don't equalize until about age 13, when at reproductive age there are, in a state of nature without war, magically 100 boys for every 100 girls. To this day, medical science still cannot explain this phenomenon. Posted by: Jim Gormley | Feb 24, 2019 11:00:42 AM Post a comment "Manilas leaders should take lessons from the ongoing row between China and Taiwan." As a country that has to engage Chinas aggression on multiple fronts, the Philippines should pay attention to the ordeal that Taiwan is currently facing. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen recently called attention to the increasingly assertive economic and military threats from Beijing under Chinese President Xi Jinping. The rest of Asia, she said, should open its eyes and see what was happening. I want to remind the Beijing authorities that a superpower must act with the demeanor and take the responsibility of a superpower, and international society is watching China to see if it can make changes and become a trustworthy partner, Tsai said. The Taiwanese leader made the remarks in the context of a speech by Xi that proposed a one country, two systems scenario for Taiwan, a setup that Tsai said Taiwan will never accept: The vast majority of Taiwanese also resolutely oppose one country, two systems, and this opposition is also a Taiwan consensus. China, which has long pushed for a so-called One China policy, for its part has never accepted Taiwans sovereignty and considers it a runaway province. But Beijings coercive behavior, Tsai said, undermines whatever negotiations are possible, not to mention the countrys democratic position. For her part, Tsai, who came into power on a wave of anti-China sentiment, had also expressed alarm over another Xi speech in which he called Taiwanese independence as a dead end and didnt rule out the use of force in asserting reunification. But instead of kowtowing to Beijings whims, the threats would only push the island away from the superpower, she added. The development of cross-strait relations requires that China must face the reality of the existence of the Republic of China [Taiwan,] and not deny the democratic system that the people of Taiwan have established together, she said, adding that cross-strait differences must be handled on the basis of equality, instead of using suppression and intimidation to get Taiwanese to submit. She hinted at the range of tactics that Beijing employs to make Taiwan submit to its demands, from corporate pressure and diplomatic maneuvers to outward military aggression: Pressuring international corporations to change their designation for Taiwan wont bring about a spiritual union, nor will buying off Taiwans diplomatic allies or circling Taiwan with military aircraft and naval vessels. Chinese bombers and reconnaissance aircraft flew around Taiwan in April last year, in what Beijing said were regular military drills but which Taipei argued were attempts to provoke tensions in the region as well as a warning to those pushing for Taiwanese independence.Short of calling Beijings tactic undemocratic and coercive, Tsai finally sought to emphasize the value of democratic values and urged China to bravely move towards democracy. This is the only way, she said, that China will understand the Taiwanese peoples aspirations. In a separate interview, Tsai issued a warning to Asia and said Taiwans current predicament should serve as a cautionary tale in relation to Beijings audacious stance against any perceived opposition to its regional, perhaps even global, dominance. If its Taiwan today, people should ask whos next? Any country in the regionif it no longer wants to submit to the will of China, they would face similar military threats, she told CNN. Our challenge is whether our independent existence, security, prosperity, and democracy can be maintained. This is the biggest issue for Taiwan. This aggressive side to China is, of course, something that Manila only knows too well. The Philippines 2016 victory in the Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague over some disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea has been summarily ignored by Beijing, which is instead responding with even more aggressive militarization of the already tense region. Like the Philippines, Taiwan is on paper looking across the Pacific to the United States for a possible counter to Beijings political and military might. Washington has long provided Taiwan with a tacit guarantee of protection from Beijing, something that received a boost under US President Trump. But, as in Manila, Taipei is also taking matters into its own hands by strengthening its own defense capabilities even as Beijings military itself modernizes. We have to be prepared at all times, she said. More crucially, Tsais defiance comes alongside a terse warning for the rest of the democratic world: If a vibrant democracy that champions universal values and follows international rules were destroyed by China, it would be a huge setback for global democracy, she said. Interestingly, this championing of adherence to international law echoes the perennial line of rebuke against Beijings aggression in the West Philippine Sea, especially in the aftermath of the arbitral ruling and Manilas victory in 2016. Tsai is thus correct in asserting that the Beijing-Taipei tussle is far from an isolated scenario and speaks volumes about Chinas overall aspirations. I believe this is not just an issue of Taiwan under attack, but a reflection of Chinas willingness to use force for its expansionist policy. Its not just Taiwans interest at stake, its the whole regions or even the whole worlds. With such close parallels, Manilas leaders should take lessons from the ongoing row. If Taiwans democratic republic falls to Beijings attacks, who else could be next? e-STEM or e-STEAM - STEM or STEAM curriculum with an environmental focus. FACMAC - Facilities and Capacity Management Advisory Committee. A district committee comprises of an all-volunteer citizen group created in 2012 to help bring research and ideas to capacity management issues in the district. FERPA - Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. A federal law that protects students' privacy FRL - Free and reduced lunch. FTE - Full Time Equivalent FY - Fiscal Year Highly Capable Services - NEW name (as of 2014) as umbrella name for these programs: Highly Capable Cohort (formerly APP), Spectrum and ALO (Advanced Learning Opportunities). HSPE - High School Proficiency Exam, state assessment that replaced the WASL for 10th graders, required for graduation HQT - Highly Qualified Teacher, a standard set by federal law IA - Instructional Assistant IB - International Baccalaureate program. An international program of advanced classes that can either be taken as stand alone or as part of an overall IB program. IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The federal law that governs special education IEP - Individual Educational Plan, a federal requirement for students with disabilities (special education) JSCEE - John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence (see headquarters) MAP - Measures of Academic Progress. A computer-based adaptive assessment made by NWEA and originally purchased by the district for use as a district-wide formative assessment but now used for a wide variety of purposes. MSP - Measurement of Student Progress, the state proficiency assessment that replaced the WASL for students in grades 1-8 NCLB - No Child Left Behind, a provision of the federal education law, ESEA, introduced during the George W. Bush administration OSPI - Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction PCP - Planning, Conference and Preparation PD - Professional Development PG & E - Professional Growth and Evaluation, the teacher (and principal) evaluation procedure RIF - Reduction in Force RttT - Race to the Top, see Arne Duncan RIT - Rasch Unit - scoring used in MAP testing RTI - Response to Intervention, the old name for MTSS SBE - State Board of Education (or BOE) SEA - Seattle Education Association (Seattle Teachers' union) SEAC - Special Education Advisory Committee SIT - School Intervention Team STEAM - Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. TIF - Teacher Incentive Fund WASL - Washington Assessment of Student Learning (former state test) WSF - Weighted Student Formula, the old method of determining school funding WSS - Weighted Staffing Standards, the current method of determining school funding MTSS - Multi-Tiered Systems of Support- No Child Left Behind, a provision of the federal education law, ESEA, introduced during the George W. Bush administration- Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction- Planning, Conference and Preparation- Professional Development - Facilities and Capacity Management Advisory Committee. A district committee comprises of an all-volunteer citizen group created in 2012 to help bring research and ideas to capacity management issues in the district.- Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. A federal law that protects students' privacy- Free and reduced lunch.- Full Time Equivalent- Fiscal YearHighly Capable Services - NEW name (as of 2014) as umbrella name for these programs: Highly Capable Cohort (formerly APP), Spectrum and ALO (Advanced Learning Opportunities).- High School Proficiency Exam, state assessment that replaced the WASL for 10th graders, required for graduation- Highly Qualified Teacher, a standard set by federal law- Instructional Assistant- International Baccalaureate program. An international program of advanced classes that can either be taken as stand alone or as part of an overall IB program.- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The federal law that governs special education- Individual Educational Plan, a federal requirement for students with disabilities (special education)- John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence (see headquarters)- Measures of Academic Progress. A computer-based adaptive assessment made by NWEA and originally purchased by the district for use as a district-wide formative assessment but now used for a wide variety of purposes.- Measurement of Student Progress, the state proficiency assessment that replaced the WASL for students in grades 1-8 Note: not a complete list. Here's a link to the district's list. - SPS' three-tier program for advanced learners. Made up of APP, Spectrum and ALOs. (Note: the name of the district program is "Advanced Learning Services and Programs" but these three programs fall under "Highly Capable Services" of AL Services and Programs.- Advanced Learning Opportunity, the third tier of SPS' Advanced Learning program- Advanced Placement. A national program of college-level classes given in high schools.- Accelerated Progress Program. One of the levels of the Advanced Learning Program. NOTE: the name of this program is now "HIGHLY CAPABLE COHORT." This change occurred in 2014.- Associated Student Body. High school leadership groups.Adequate Yearly Progress. Part of NCLB.- Building Excellence. SPS' capital renovation/rebuilding program that is funded via the BEX levy. Every 3 years there is the Operations levy and either the BEX or BTA levies as those two levies rotate in six year cycles).- Building Leadership Team. Staff members at a school who meet regularly to discuss building issues.Buildings, Technology, Academics. The major maintenance/other capital fund for SPS. Originally BTA was to cover major maintenance like HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning), roofs, waterlines, etc.) but now covers wide swaths of items like athletic fields, technology and funding academic needs.- Community Advisory Committee for Investing in Educational Excellence. Created by former Superintendent Manhas in 2008, to issue a report about reform recommendations for SPS.- Continuous School Improvement Plan, the plan for improvement for each school as required by state law.- Career and Technical Education (formerly Voc Ed)- Essential Academic Learning Requirement- Everyday Math, the board-adopted instructional materials for elementary math- English Language Learners- End of Course Assessments, given in math and science, required for high school graduation 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. Legend is that Keith Richards of Rolling Stones went regularly to Swiss medical clinics to get his blood replaced in a bid to beat his lifestyle. It was just a legend, and never proven. But fast forward a couple of decades and we have Baby Boomers looking in greater numbers for that fountain of youth. They think they found it, but the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) says no. What the FDA is saying no to is this: An increasing number of companies offering injections of blood from younger people to combat the signs of aging. Last week, the FDA issued a statement expressing concern that some patients are being preyed upon by unscrupulous actors touting treatments of plasma from young donors as cures and remedies. Such treatments have no proven clinical benefits for the uses for which these clinics are advertising them, and are potentially harmful, the FDA said. The agency also said that some companies are selling plasma transfusions as supposed "treatments" for conditions like normal aging, memory loss, dementia, Parkinsons disease, multiple sclerosis Even though the statement didn't call out any companies by name, it was clearly targeting the best-known among theseCalifornia-based Ambrosia Medical, which since 2017, Ambrosia anti-aging treatment for $8,000 for one liter of blood and $12,000 for two. Related: Is Bitcoin Heading For A Bull Run? Following the FDAs warning, Ambrosias on Tuesday changed its website to state that it had ceased patient treatments. While the company says that most participants see improvements from the one-time infusion of a two-liter bagful of plasma, scientists and clinicians call it a scam. But an opportunity is knocking hard on this vampire questand some wont be able to resist. Even the big dogs are toying with the idea. Googles parent company, Alphabet, has invested heavily in its secretive anti-aging spinout, called Calico. Celularity, a biotech giant Celgene spinoff, raised $250 million last year to try to use postpartum placentas to delay the aging process. And then there is a company called Elysium Health, which has talked Nobel Prize winners into selling a $50-per-month supplement aimed at promoting longevity. Related: Major Investment Banks Turn Bullish On Copper Last year, one Florida-based former mortician and doctor announced the launch of a clinical trial giving participants blood infusions from young donors for $285,000 enrollment fee. A couple of years ago, some U.S. citizens were reportedly hospitalized after traveling to Germany as medical tourists for a controversial treatment involving injections with sheep cells. They allegedly visited Germany twice a year for this type of treatmentinvolving fetal cells from sheep-which is not permitted in the U.S. The treatment is said to be used for everything from impotence to migraines, as well as anti-aging. But from the FDAs perspective, this is the 21st Centuries snake oiland none of it has been proven. By Michael Kern for Safehaven.com More Top Reads From Safehaven.com: One man's odyssey through the world of books This year, an estimated eleven million students, in grades four through eight, will take part in the spelling bee process. Lisa Montgomery, deputy clerk (in the Ravalli County Clerk and Recorder / Superintendent / Elections office) and event organizer, said the county bee was a success. We are very proud of the talent and dedication represented on this stage and of all of our Ravalli County students who participated in the spelling bee, not only at the county level, but their school and classroom levels as well, Montgomery said. We wish to thank all the parents, teachers, family and friends who have helped these students prepare for this years spelling bee. Montgomery said the Ravalli County Spelling Bee had previously been run by Frank Laurence who passed away in November. Im not quite sure how Frank first got involved with the bee in 2011, but once he came on board it became his mission to make sure it ran smoothly for the students, she said. Frank was even instrumental in getting a local sponsor to assist with the travel expenses of the county winners so that finances wouldnt prevent them from attending at the state level. "It isnt shocking to see that a kiss, and not war, is what horrifies and offends people more." "It isnt shocking to see that a kiss, and not war, is what horrifies and offends people more." A drunk sailor, overjoyed that World War II was over, ran to Times Square in New York City alongside his soon-to-be wife to celebrate the news. Seeing a woman in what he thought was a nurse uniform, he couldnt contain himself. Right then and there, the thankful young survivor of the USS Bunker Hill attack, which had happened just three months earlier, spun the young woman around, held her in his arms, and planted a kiss on her lips. The iconic photograph of that brief encounter is now part of history, and a large statue of that kiss stands undisturbed in Sarasota, Florida. Until now. Just recently, police encountered the statue known as Unconditional Surrender defaced with #MeToo spray-painted over the womans leg. At the time of the kiss that ended World War II, the sailor, George Medonsa, had been drinking and celebrating with Rita, his soon-to-be-wife, after the couple heard the news the war was over. As he headed to Times Square where many were gathered, Greta Zimmer Friedman, the dental assistant mistaken for a nurse, did the same. Greta had arrived in the US in 1939 from Austria. Her parents sensed danger and insisted she should leave. As she learned the war had ended, the young woman ran to the square, perhaps wondering what had happened to her parents. She later found out they were killed. Still, in the moment of celebration and ecstasy that enveloped everyone gathered in Times Square, George saw Greta and only one thought crossed his mind: I ought to thank her for her service. But Greta had no idea of what was happening. She was standing there for a few minutes, she told reporters, and then I was grabbed. That man was very strong. I wasnt kissing him. He was kissing me. As soon as the kiss was over, both of them went their own separate ways, never seeing each other again until much later.While Greta was clearly caught by surprise and obviously tense due to this incident, the drunken George didnt mean any harm. And while Greta could have fought him, slapped him, or made a scene, she walked away. Perhaps thankful that that had been it. Now, that scenario is unthinkable. After all, women are taught nowadays that if a man even asks them out, it could be an assault. Had the war never happened, George would have never witnessed nurses rushing to save hundreds of sailors injured and killed as a result of World War II. He would have never watched in awe as women dressed much like Greta ran to help men, some horribly burned, after two Japanese kamikaze planes smashed into USS Bunker Hill. By the same token, the world wouldnt have witnessed the moment the US dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing over 200,000 Japanese people, many of whom were civilians, and hurting countless others over time thanks to the exposure to radiation. And if it hadnt been for the war, 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry wouldnt have been sent to concentration camps on US soil, proving just how pitiful, disgraceful, and immoral government thinking can be. Yet, what triggers todays activists is a kiss coming from a drunken sailor who saw the realities of war unravel right before his eyes. That, a Facebook user wrote on the polices official page reporting on the vandalism incident, is oppression. Stop glorifying sexual assault, another commentator suggested. In todays time when many nations lawmakers get wide support from young voters for promoting pieces of legislation giving governments sweeping powers, and reporters and left-leaners bemoan presidents and prime ministers for wanting to leave war-torn nations, it isnt shocking to see that a kiss, and not war, is what horrifies and offends people more. With so many ready to use government force to impose their own cultural paradigms on those who are unwilling to toe the line, its clear that giving government more excuses to expand its power is part of the agenda. And in no time, we wont even be free to make mistakeseven innocent ones, like the one George made in 1945. [email protected] Kostuk said he was intrigued when he first read about the adult education classes being offered at Lone Rock. One day I just called up the person in charge, he said. I thought it would be something that I would enjoy doing and hoped that I would meet some interesting people along the way. Both of those things have come true. People tell me they have a good time and I hope that I leave them with some knowledge that they didnt have before, Kostuk said. A fellow professional musician and Bitterroot resident, Elliott Oppenheim, attended Kostuks class this past week. There are many fine instrumentalists and pianists in the Bitterroot Valley, but there is only one Arthur Kostuk, Oppenheim said. Arthur is a musical treasure. "We are fortunate to have this opportunity. How many people can talk for 90 minutes about Schoenberg and Bach and Beethoven and Brahms and Bernstein and Liszt in one breath and then play pieces from memory. Oppenheim said Lone Rock Schools Adult Education program is both admirable and ambitious. The school district enriches the community, he said. Bachman said thats the goal of the program. Turns out, Im addicted to writing about myself. Its a habit I cant shake. That was pretty clear in my 2017 comeback column, where I used I 27 times. I also used my seven times, me twice, we, once, well once and Ill once. I even used Kevin twice, although in my defense I was quoting myself once and Journal Editor Chris Huber once. And Id guess that somewhere off in the great beyond, the essence of an old editor dropped that issue of the Journal and mumbled: Figures. He never changes. Noel worked for Dick Thien, too, back at the Argus, back in the day. But I dont think he ever had to be told to cut back on the evil I in his column writing. Hes conservative in his politics and in his writing. So hes as stingy with his first-person pronouns as he is with his tax dollars. When Noel made his unpretentious entry into the Sunday editorial page rotation last weekend, he used the evil I just twice and grudgingly, it seemed. Skipping any Woster-like introductions, Noel got right to the issue at hand: a bill in Pierre that would authorize a Spanish option on written exams for drivers licenses that are now only offered in English. Someone commented that growing hemp was more than getting the seed. Are you a farmer? Do you know actually what it takes to grow hemp? Do you realize the beekeepers already have the machinery to process hemp? States are passing hemp bills throughout the U.S. All of her reasons have been proven wrong. Check your facts before you blindly follow Kristi. Coming from a pharmacist: Ambien did not affect Mr. Rasmussens driving or judgment two days later. Ambien is completely out of the system in eight hours. The drug expert from the sheriff's office does not know his or her stuff. As South Dakota's lone representative, Kristi Noem was completely silent when Trump imposed tariffs on agricultural products. Now, as governor, she is "concerned" about the ag producer's welfare ... too little, too late! The definition of regulated, in itself, means supervised. If everybody who owns guns were required to join a supervised (well-regulated) militia, many people who aren't qualified to have firearms wouldn't have them. And hopefully you agree that not everybody is qualified to own and carry a firearm. With the addition of yet another apartment house on Hwy 16, Rapid City should change the moniker, "City of Presidents" to "City of Hotels, Motels and Apartment Houses". Tourists' first glimpse of our beautiful Black Hills will be four-story apartment houses. Sad! You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 1 A Belle Fourche woman was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $112,468 in restitution Wednesday after admitting to concealing income in order to continue receiving a variety of government benefits. Cindy Lou Geib will have to turn herself in to begin her prison sentence on March 20, court records show. She was sentenced after pleading guilty to Social Security Supplemental Security Income (SSI) fraud and theft of government property for obtaining SSI payments. She also pleaded guilty to making false statements in her applications for Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped three theft of government property charges for obtaining SNAP, Medicaid and Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) benefits. Two counts of making false statements were also dismissed. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 There's a little boy, out in the front yard with a beat-up toy truck, filling the back end full of dirt, only to dump it all out and start over again. Pretty soon that little boy is a teenager, and he finds himself trying to rock that old Ford out of some rut, thinking he may have underestimated how much it rained last night. In the blink of an eye, he's a newlywed, breaking ground on a two-bedroom, white-picket-fence dream. He's ready to plant some roots. Well, now that little boy is an old man, and in his two hands, you can see years of hard work and sacrifice. Every blemish is its own story. Those hands are strong enough to plow and plant, and sweat and bleed, yet gentle enough to raise a family. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} But he was stuck on the final stanza, so he went up for inspiration on a sunny October morning to his writers cottage near Keystone. I write from the heart, and the poem is always there, Hagg said. And he found it. The final stanza opens like a bell ringing: From the Great State of South Dakota / home of Mt. Rushmore, / with its iconic symbols of liberty / chiseled in stone, / accept this prayerful declaration. Hagg alludes to Crazy Horse, who the poet notes was impervious to enemy fire, and Black Elk and the granite in the heart of the Hills. Forget not that for which you stand, writes Hagg, rock solid in the service of our nation. Hagg, an Army veteran, notes with irony hes writing a poem for the Navy. But he felt inspired during his trip to Connecticut when he saw the sailors aboard the new submarine. I just saw all these magnificent young sailors who can sometimes get a bum rap [as millennials], said Hagg, and I got a little choked up. The real honor came later when the skipper told him hed taken a plaque of the poem and hung it up in the officers galley, forthwith. In comparison, Jonathan Allen at the University of Maryland said he receives a $10,595 stipend for his position as student body president, which equates to the cost of in-state tuition and fees. "It would be impossible to do the job of student body president to my best ability (without the university funds)," Allen said. "I think those that are looking to get involved in student governments should be willing to commit their full attention and time to the role, otherwise it only hurts the student body." More than 65 percent of 203 student body presidents surveyed in 2018 relied on some sort of financial aid to pay for college, according to a report by the National Campus Leadership Council, which provides resources for student leaders across the country. "If (student body presidents) are not able to put in the time, then it is to the detriment of the student body and the ways that student perspectives and stories are making it to the decision-makers at the institution," said Andy MacCracken, NCLC's executive director. Mishra said because her position at UMN is not well-paid, the undergraduate student government sometimes lacks the voices of those who are of lower socioeconomic status. However, she said MSA actively reaches out to those students. In the end, eight drag queens and two drag queens were set for the show, and Kathner said future events are already in the works. "I'm very passionate about creating that safe space for everybody," Kathner said, "where they can come and do drag, or they can come sit in the corner and be an introvert." A week before the show, the nerves and anxiety that will fill the dressing room are nowhere to be found in Katie and Christine Morgan's basement, where an impromptu dress rehearsal is taking place. Four of the performers are present Kayla Harris, Ashlee Reck, Katie Morgan and Quinn Kathner. Over the next three hours, they'll take on the personas (respectively) of Sexton Urmum Valentine, Oliver Clozoff, Alex Feeliner and Maddix Wild. Gathering around two card tables, the group workshops makeup techniques, debates over whether to listen to Queen or Cardi B and makes numerous not-safe-for-work jokes. As Katie Morgan is pulling hair left over from her last haircut out of a plastic bag and finely chopping it into a size usable for facial hair, Harris is removing her Amazon-purchased beard from its packaging. Both will attach them with spirit gum, and neither is excited about the removal process. DENVER | Attackers who killed a man in Colorado may have held up a store in Wyoming and a bank in Utah later the same day, authorities said. The rampage began early Friday in Denver when a man was shot multiple times, and the attackers stole his black 2015 Cadillac sedan, police said. The victim was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His name wasn't released. Two hours later, a black Cadillac was used in an armed robbery at a convenience store in Cheyenne, Wyoming, 100 miles (160 kilometers) north. Cheyenne police said two men robbed the store, and one of them fired a handgun twice. No one was injured. The men took cash and merchandise and returned to the Cadillac, where a woman was waiting, police said. Six hours after the Cheyenne robbery, the same men robbed a Wells Fargo bank in Park City, Utah, 440 miles (710 kilometers) west of Cheyenne, authorities said. One of the men was armed with a handgun, the Summit County, Utah, Sheriff's Department said. Deputies said the men drove away in a black Cadillac with the same Colorado license plate as the car stolen in Denver, and a woman may have been a passenger. Authorities said they did not know what direction the car headed. The FBI was assisting with the investigation. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Pro-life Senators have also urged the Appropriations Committee to reconsider this initial vote, because how the state spends taxpayer dollars has deep implications for the dignity of human life and Nebraskas core values. If the Appropriations Committee fails to take action, senators are already stepping up to ensure that the pro-life budget provision gets put back in when the full Legislature votes on the budget. In the coming weeks, I will continue to visit with senators about the importance of having a pro-life budget again this year. This news from the Nebraska Legislature is especially troubling given recent events in New York and Virginia. New York recently voted to end all protections for unborn human life, allowing elective abortions up to the point of birth, and removing protections for babies that are born alive during failed abortion attempts. In Virginia, scandal-plagued Democrat Governor Ralph Northam suggested that babies could be born and kept alive while a decision is made whether the baby deserves to live. This is nothing less than an assault on the dignity of human life. "There are good and bad candidates on both sides of the political fence." Its that time of the year. Filipinos are in a frenzy again for the mid-term elections on May 13. Up for grabs are 12 seats for the Senate, hundreds of House positions representing congressional districts, party lists representatives of various sectors, gubernatorial and mayoral posts. While Pinoys think and talk politics the whole year round, it gets real heady in the run-up and homestretch to the actual day of the polls. The official campaign period started last week but none of the candidates observed what the election law mandates about this. The incumbents seeking reelection and the newcomers have been campaigning and jockeying for advantage to win the peoples vote way before the official campaign period spending millions of pesos that could have been better spent for the peoples benefits. The rich officials will no doubt claim: So what, its our money! Voters though should take a second look and ask how they came into this money. Reelectionists of course have the upper hand. The senatorial candidates have the advantage of visibility and media coverage of committee hearings of major events involving corruption, sensational scandals linking officials to smuggling of illegal drugs and the insertion of pork barrel in the national budget While deliberations of the budget start in the House, the senatorial candidates get to have their say on it since the national appropriation bill amounting to trillions of pesos will still need the Senates stamp of approval at the bicameral level. The feud between Rep. Rolando Andaya and Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno will have to give way to the bigger players in the Senate. What better way to project ones self than to strut and show before television cameras that this particular senatorial bet is protecting the peoples money? Our unsolicited advice to voters: Please do NOT vote according to party lines. Give yourselves a wider choice. There are good and bad candidates on both sides of the political fence. Disregard what the poll surveys done by Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia say. These surveys commissioned by certain candidates are meant to create a bandwagon effect to swing the tide in their favor. Insiders to these surveys will tell you the area and the number of people surveyed are on such a small scale. The questions asked are usually formulated to favor a certain candidate who paid for the survey, usually in the millions of pesos depending on how bad the candidate wants to win.A survey is big business. The only winner is the polling firm that conducts the survey. The real poll is on election day when the people cast their vote. We hope voters are not carried away by the bandwagon effect of going with the winners the surveys claim to be in the winning column. I have my own choices for the Senate but you dont have to follow them. This is not an Ocho Derecho list but simply picking the bets from both sides of the political divide. Some of my choices include returning senators like former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Pia Cayetano, Mar Roxas and Serge Osmena. We need them to spice up the debates on the Senate floor with intelligent illumination of the issues which we doubt we can get from some of the others aspiring for the Senate. Enrile, on the other hand, is your most qualified candidate for the Senate. He was finance secretary and defense secretary under former strongman Ferdinand Marcos martial law reign. JPEs candidacy, it would seem, is like a referendum on the Marcos rule. Getting elected is a vindication of the Enrile and Marcos watch of nearly 20 years over the Philippine political landscape. To be fair, those in the win column as proclaimed in the surveys include Senators Grace Poe and Cynthia Villar, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos and Lito Lapid who gained fame in the TV blockbuster Ang Probinsyano as the good guy Pinuno killed by the bad guys group of John Arcilla and Edu Manzano. These two are terrific actors but are probably the most hated men in the country because of their roles as villains in the series. Television is a powerful medium. Needless to say, it creates in our living room heroes and villains in our minds that affect our votes. Filipinos are easily swayed by their passion through television and actual events. Take the case of Noynoy Aquino who was swept to the presidency because of sympathy votes when his mother former President Cory died of cancer months before the presidential election. President Rodrigo Duterte was also elected the countrys president because TV and the public saw him as a different from the rest of the political pack. Digong was the firebrand who talked their language and appeared as one of the masa hoping for change. Some pundits will probably dismiss it when I say the news of the recent birth of twins (a boy and a girl at that) by Korina Sanchez who is married to Mar Roxas could give a boost to her husbands senatorial run. Im happy for the two of them. I know Mar from way back when he was involved in the sale of the Standard newspaper from the Elizaldes to the Sorianos. He was former Trade and Interior secretary; he topped the senatorial elections twice. We found video of Linn County meetings going back to 2015. And it's been since the mid-1990s that people could watch Davenport City Council meetings on its local cable TV channel. Bettendorf had already been doing it by then. Get the idea? This shouldn't be so hard. And it isnt, not for so many of Iowas counties. And not just the larger ones, either. Consider Osceola County in far northwest Iowa. The county has a population of 6,000 people and a budget of only $11 million. Compare that to Scott County, which has 172,000 people and a $90 million budget. Yet, you can watch Osceola County Board meetings on its website. (We would note that, while we were doing our research, we went to the Johnson County website and found a live feed of the county supervisors meeting last week. It was pretty impressive.) In Scott County, however, if you want to hear a recording of the county board meetings, you have to go to the auditor's office on the 5th floor of the administrative center in downtown Davenport and ask. (The recording is done by the auditor's office.) Some county board members still appear to have doubts about all this, however. The left wing of the Democratic Party has been getting much of the media attention since the new Congress convened, overshadowing the rise of a group of young Democratic military and intelligence veterans who may prove more important for 2020 and beyond. These pragmatic Democrats accounted for some of the flipped Republican seats that gave their party control of the House. The progressive wing of the party may be potent, but many of its victories came in reliably Democratic seats, like the Bronx-Queens district that elected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a charismatic media favorite. A good showcase for these new Democrats is the House Armed Services Committee. The Democrats installed 14 freshmen on the panel, nearly half their party's total membership. Seven have served in the military, foreign service or CIA, and 10 are women. If you're looking for bright new faces in the Democratic Party, this may be the most compelling group snapshot. "The media have chosen to focus on progressive members, I understand that," says Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, one of the new Armed Services members and a former CIA officer with three tours in Iraq. "But when it comes to the 2020 presidential election, the voters in the states we must win are moderate, pragmatic voters." On the day the race was joined by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the self-described Democratic socialist who turbocharged the 2016 Democratic primary before losing to Hillary Clinton, Delaney doubled down on his pragmatic pitch. "Increasingly, I do think the race is being framed between people who actually have real solutions and a track record of actually building coalitions to get things done and people who are proposing things that are either unrealistic or really do ring of socialism in our country. And I dont think thats what the voters are looking for," Delaney said. Delaney has been campaigning across Iowa since 2017. He has already visited all 99 counties and has been advertising on television. And a new round of Delaney ads is going up this week, according to a website that tracks campaign ad spending. "I want to do big things. A lot of the goals Im working toward are similar to what the other candidates are," Delaney said. "But I actually have real plans for how to make them happen and build the kinds of coalitions you need to build." U.S. intelligence agencies confirm that Russia and other bad actors are continuing to interfere in U.S. democracy and will want to have their say in our next presidential contest. But stopping America's enemies from influencing our next election requires Americans to stop helping them do it. That's what former vice president Joe Biden is asking U.S. candidates and political parties to promise right now. The Mueller investigation report into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible ties to the Trump campaign may be near complete. Its mandate is to determine what happened in the 2016 election and whether any Americans were criminally complicit. But regardless of whether Mueller finds criminal behavior, Russian misinformation and propaganda were at the very least spread by U.S. candidates and campaigns (and not only by the Trump camp). And that's bad enough. When U.S. politicians take false information that's part of a foreign intelligence influence operation and promote it or otherwise use it to their advantage, that's tantamount to aiding and abetting the attack, Biden told an audience in Munich last weekend. How it started Lundy's journey to conservation has unfolded over the years, beginning in Davenport where he grew up in a house across from Lindsay Park. He'd go pheasant hunting with his dad and during the summers, his family would travel to Wisconsin's Door County for a month. Lundy walked along the lake shores and fished and looked under rocks to see what life was hiding there. He graduated from high school at a Jesuit institution in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, then moved to England where he spent time in a seminary. He came back to the United States, graduating from Boston College with degrees in philosophy and English, then returned to England to become a Montessori teacher. "I didn't have any science background and here I had to create learning experiences for kids," Lundy said. "This forced me to go back and learn." The learning continued back in the U.S. three years later when he studied to become a certified public accountant. He worked for Deloitte, an international accounting firm, and then the Deere Harvester Credit Union where he was executive vice president. In 2000, he joined with others in the formation of The National Bank. He retired mostly in 2007 as its chief financial officer, although he's returned a few times to help with projects. Not all of the feedback was negative. There was some applause for Sen. Chris Cournoyer after she said that they needed to focus on mental health. "All of the gun laws in the world (are) not going to stop someone from using a gun to kill people," she said, saying Iowa should focus on the root cause. Legislators also discussed the potential change that would give Gov. Kim Reynolds more power in appointing judges. Rep. Gary Mohr broke with his party in saying he wasn't ready to support the bill. "My party by and large supports this change, I'm not there yet," he said. "I'm not convinced as to why, what we're fixing that's broken." "We're not going to where judges are running for office, we're not going to like the federal level where the president picks or the governor picks straight out from whoever they want," Sen. Roby Smith said. "I am researching it, I am listening to constituents... I'm taking a look at this, and we'll see what we hear from people." Davenport police have arrested two men in a methamphetamine investigation. David Miles Galvin, 57, and David Daniel Hahn, 48, both of 1437 E. High St., Davenport, were arrested Friday by members of the Davenport Police Departments Tactical Operations Bureau. Both men are charged with one count of possession with the intent to deliver more than 5 grams of methamphetamine, a Class B felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of up to 25 years. Each also is charged with possession with the intent to deliver less than 50 kilograms of marijuana, a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of up to five years. Both men also are charged with two counts each of failing to affix an Iowa drug tax stamp. Both counts are Class D felonies that carry a prison sentence of up to five years. According to the arrest affidavits filed by Davenport Police officer Emily Rasche, officers searched the mens home at 2:50 p.m. Friday. In the living room officers located and seized 67.75 grams of marijuana. Officers also seized five separate packages containing crystal methamphetamine with a total weight of 9.1 grams. Officers also seized a digital scale, packaging materials and drug paraphernalia. In most progressive countries, uprisings, whether peaceful or bloody, are not commemorated for the simple reason that they are polarizing. Old wounds need time to heal. That is not to say that there should be no justice or accountability. But isn't it that whoever wins also gets to define such concepts, including the kind of narratives they think the public should know while suppressing the truth or factual events, in a bid to deodorize and legitimize their political victory. At best, political forces belonging to the winning side would deliberately hide the truths to keep the myths surrounding a successful revolution alive. At worst, these same truths will continue to haunt a country, a divided nation that can never truly march forward to progress. Today (Monday), 33 years since the February 1986 People Power Revolt, the Philippines marks again the bloodless uprising that marked the end of the Marcos administration, sans genuine transformation and perhaps with even greater disillusionment after two Aquino presidencies. In his collection of essays entitled Debunked, veteran journalist and diplomat Rigoberto Tiglao offers snippets of truthsfactson the EDSA uprising that have remained in the dark until now. You can say what you want about Tiglao, but he is, foremost, a journalist, and journalists, regardless of political color or biases, hold facts sacred above all else. Tiglao presents five facts whose absenceintentionally hidden from the public or otherwisehave shaped the way Filipinos have come to perceive or appreciate EDSA 1. First, that former President Corazon Aquino had little to do with the uprising. It was Marcos' defense minister, Juan Ponce Enrile, who was mainly responsible for the uprising, according to Tiglao. Enrile and his loyal military officials, collectively known as the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, were preparing for a coup attempt that involved capturing the late President Ferdinand Marcos and his family. Citing Enrile's own biography as well as articles written by RAM colonels since 1986, Tiglao traced how the coup plotters learned that their plan has already been uncovered when then Trade Minister Roberto Ongpin complained about the arrest of his military security detailall RAM memberson Feb. 22. This prompted Enrile to make a last stand at his headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo together with then Philippine Constabulary chief Fidel Ramos, calling on foreign correspondents to cover his bold move and asking the late Cardinal Sin to encourage supporters to form a human shield around Camp Crame.Tiglao offers a thought-provoking question: was it truly a case of People Power then, or simply People Fodder? Second, given that only a small faction of the Armed Forces supported the coup, who then should we credit the peaceful revolution? For Tiglao, it was clear: It was Marcos who gave the categorical order that made it impossible for the military to hurt the protesters in EDSA. Disperse the crowds, but do not shoot them, Marcos said. Third, Marcos asked Washington to bring him and his family to Laoag Citya detail that has, in fact, been turned into a joke (the equivalent of a meme had this happened today, that is): that the late strongman wanted to go to Paoay but was instead shipped out to Hawaii. Fourth, Tiglao pointed out in his book that under both the 1935 and 1973 Constitution, Aquino was not qualified to run for president in the snap elections. Both previous constitutions specified that a president must be a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately preceding the election. Aquino, however, left the Philippines in 1980 to live in Boston with her husband, the late Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. Marcos, for all his brilliant mind, did not raise this legal objection to Aquino's presidential bid. Perhaps, Tiglao said, it was because he was confident that Benigno's widow could not possibly win the snap polls. The Commission on Elections called the vote in Marcos' favor with a margin of at least 1.5-million votes. The partial unofficial tally of the National Citizen's Movement for Free Elections or Namfrel, on the other hand, had Aquino winning by half a millionvotes. Lastly, Tiglao notes that Aquino's electoral campaign in 1986 was part of a well-funded public relations job handled by the American political strategist firm Sawyer Miller. This, the veteran journalist said, was confirmed by US documents that Sawyer Miller submitted in compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Citing the 2008 book Alpha Dogs: The Americans Who Turned Political Spin into a Global Business of James Harding, Tiglao noted that Sawyer Miller's point person in the Philippines, Malloch Brown, steered the PR campaign of Aquino with the single messagethat Marcos is corrupt and a dictator. Three decades later, the same strategic message still defines the campaign against the Marcos. The same strategic message continues to divide the country. "Back in the '80s and '90s, we let professions disappear, and we did nothing, nothing, to help the people that lost not just their jobs, they lost their life," he said. When an audience member asked him about marijuana legalization in his state, which voters approved in 2012, Hickenlooper said he was initially worried about potential downsides. Though he still has some reservations about cannabis and the potential negative consequences of use, he maintains that legalization worked better in Colorado than prohibition had. "I opposed it, almost every elected official did -- I opposed it because I wasn't sure the young people wouldn't say, 'Hey, it's OK, the adults legalized it, let's go get high!'" he said. "There's still problems with it, but I look at the comparison of what the old system was, where we sent millions of kids to prison, most of them from low-income backgrounds, and made them felons, we made already-difficult lives incomparably more difficult. And I'm at the point now where I say, this system is certainly better than the old one and we shouldn't go back." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 After three years at the school, he left and got education in structural engineering which gave him "enough education to get a job in an architecture office," he said in the Iowa State interview. He and his family survived the bombings of World War II, but post-war Germany offered him little opportunity and in 1953, von Rosen came to the Quad-Cities. The connection with the Midwest was that his wife, Tatjana, had been born in Chicago. (She worked for the former Grilk Interiors, Scholtz said.) An article in the Quad-City Times at the time of von Rosen's death at age 95 in 1998 described him as a "soft-spoken man with a lilting German accent, who loved to walk, fish and paint landscapes." Scholtz agrees. "The most important thing to remember, more than being an architect, is that he was truly what you would call a fine human being. He would respect everybody. He was kind. "He loved to fish, and he would go to the Mississippi and fish, and he made a lot of friends in the black community. "He taught my kids about nature. He would take them on picnics, outings, tell them about trees and plants. He had a very extensive knowledge of what they were looking at. Ooops! The chairs are part of the display, not something set out comfort. It's just that they look so familiar. They have gone from groundbreaking to timeless; they are part of our lives. But you also can grasp how in their day the late 1920s these chairs made of tubular steal and leather were a radical departure from the carved walnut and tufted red velvet of the Victorian era that officially ended with the death of the queen in 1901. The Bauhaus was founded in Weimar, Germany, by Walter Gropius, an architect and one of many soldiers of World War I who "saw the smoke of machines on the battlefields and on his return home, feared that the mechanisms of mass production would ruin the social relevance of art," according to the exhibit's text. The idea for the school was that "if we can't escape industrialization, let's at least make sure an artist has his hand in it," Dickson said. The designs and craftsmanship that came out of it were departures from the past with an emphasis on minimalism, lack of ornamentation and use of steel and glass. Some might call them geometric. It is from the Bauhaus we get such expressions as "form follows function" and "less is more," according to the text. Quad-City residents can support Junior Achievement of the Heartland in March by visiting Jersey Mike's Subs in Davenport. The restaurant, at 2124 E. Kimberly Road, is holding its ninth annual March Month of Giving campaign to fund local charities. During the month of March, customers can make a donation to Junior Achievement of the Heartland, which works to help young people reach economic success. On March 27, Jersey Mike's will give 100 percent of the day's sales to Junior Achievement, according to a news release. On the "Day of Giving," local Jersey Mike's owners throughout the country will donate every single dollar to more than 180 different charities, hospitals, youth organizations and nonprofits. "Last years nationwide Month of Giving initiative raised more than $6 million for charities making a big difference in their local communities, and this year, we hope to raise even more," said Peter Cancro, Jersey Mikes founder and CEO, in the release. "From the early days, its just what weve always done give to give, as they say. This March, I invite you to visit Jersey Mikes to help support an important cause in your neighborhood. United Way names senior VP of resource development Berger said the city of Davenport is working with Macerich to create a master plan for the revitalization of the Brady Street corridor. City staff has met with Macerich representatives to discuss creative reuses for the mall and surrounding property. "Macerich approached us and is interested in brainstorming on future vision of both their property and the surrounding area," Berger said. "Combined with the closure of the Hotel Davenport, the mid/north-Brady area is well-positioned for redevelopment. It is too early to speculate on any specific geography, partnerships, or what elements will be evaluated, but there is certainly growing interest in revitalizing that corridor." According to budget documents, city staff will begin work on a corridor redevelopment study this year. Crossman said the mall managers are coordinating with the city to ensure the success of NorthPark. And both malls have been looking for less traditional tenants that offer experiences, rather than products. "We are focused on supporting start-up companies to help them test their products through flexible leases," she said. "Our sister-centers have discovered success with medical offices, interactive artwork studios and new apparel and accessory brands. We hope the same for this market." When I was in college, some of our classmates who came from more affluent families in the cities tended to look down on those of us who were country kids. Many country kids came from families that were dirt-poor. If we were fortunate enough to have a car, it was a used Ford or Chevrolet, not anything fancy. (I didnt have a car until my senior year in college -- a used Ford I bought with money I had made working summers.) Andy, who was a city kid, came from a far more affluent family. His parents bought him a brand new Saab with leather upholstery, which was hands-down the nicest car that anyone had on campus. He was quite willing to talk about the fancy car it was his good fortune to have. He bragged about how well it was made and, unlike a Ford or Chevrolet, how long it was likely to last. He boasted that it was so watertight that it would float, which was met with a certain degree of skepticism by those who had no illusions about how long their Fords or Chevrolets would float if they ended up in the water. As sometimes happens in those kinds of situations, bets were placed. Eager to collectt, Andy decided to prove that his Saab really would float. At a Greek group outing at a state campground, he drove his Saab down the boat loading ramp and into the water. McCombie is the first woman to hold the chairmanship, and that could be important in 2020 because thats the voting population where the GOP has been losing support, particularly in suburban areas, both in Illinois and nationally. But McCombie said she doesnt necessarily think its her job to recruit female voters back to the party. I dont think I was chosen to bring women into the fold because women dont tell women what to do, she said. But I think its certainly necessary to have more women in leadership positions so they can have more open conversations. Because thats one thing that women do better. They will sit down at the table and have a conversation. McCombie said it will take hard work to reverse the GOPs fortunes in the state, but she said shes optimistic about the partys chances. We need to rely on work, and we need to rely on our message, she said. If this is about policy, were going to win every time. Email Peter Hancock at phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Nestor Espenilla Jr. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. died over the weekend after more than a year of struggling with tongue cancer. He was 60.The Monetary Board, the policy-making body of Bangko Sentral, issued a statement Sunday morning confirming Espenillas death. It is with deep sadness that the Monetary Board announced that Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor and chairman of the Monetary Board Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. peacefully passed away on Feb. 23, 2019 surrounded by members of his family, the board said. Espenilla had been undergoing treatment for cancer for more than a year. He was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte on July 3, 2017, succeeding Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. He served as BSP governor for one year, seven months, and 20 days. He concurrently served as ex-officio chairman of the Anti-Money Laundering Council, Philippine International Convention Center, and the Financial Stability Coordination Council. Under his leadership, the BSP continued to pursue major reforms under the theme Continuity Plus Plus covering monetary and financial policies, as well as the BSP organizational structure. He also spearheaded the digitalization of the countrys retail payment system in the country for a more inclusive and efficient financial system. During his tenure, the amendments to the BSP charter were finally passed and it was signed into law by President Duterte last week, strengthening the capability of the central bank to deliver its mandate to promote price and financial stability and to foster a safe, efficient and inclusive payment system. In a special meeting held on the same day, the Monetary Board designated Deputy Governor Almasara Cyd Tuano-Amador as BSP officer-in-charge effective immediately until such time that President Rodrigo Duterte shall have designated an OIC or appointed a successor, the Monetary Board said. Before his appointment as governor, Espenilla was deputy governor in charge of the Supervision and Examination Sector, which supervises banks and non-bank financial institutions under BSP jurisdiction. In that capacity, he focused on banking supervision, capital market development, credit policy, and financial inclusion. He institutionalized risk-based and proportionate regulations, enabling BSP-supervised institutions to innovate business models and adopt digital financial services. He also championed the issuance of regulations that promote financial inclusion and consumer protection. He used to describe himself as homegrownhaving joined the central bank in 1981. Espenilla had a bachelor of science degree in business economics, graduating magna cum laude, an MBA from the University of the Philippines, and a master of science degree in policy science from the Graduate Institute of Policy Science in Tokyo, Japan. He is survived by his wife Maria Teresita Festin Espenilla, daughter Jacqueline Joyce and son-in-law, Ben Baltazar, sons Nikko Nestor and Leonardo Nestor and grandchild, Zev Eron. Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said it was a very sad day to see one of the hardworking co-workers in government go. Nesting is one of our illustrious graduates at the UP School of Economics. He joined BSP right after his graduation and rose to governorship of the monetary institution after years of effective and excellent service as a regulator and anchor of monetary policy, Diokno said in a text message.Diokno said Espenilla was an esteemed part of the Duterte economic team. We will miss him. Godspeed, Nesting, he said. National Economic and Development Authority director general and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said he was deeply saddened by Espenillas passing. He was an exemplar of a dedicated public servant with high competence and integrity. A big loss to the BSP and the country. Hell be missed, Pernia said in a text message. East West Bank chairman Antonio Moncupa Jr.one of the choices for the successor to Tetangco, along with Espenilla and Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundosaid Nesting served the country well. Bankers Association of the Philippines president Nestor Tan, who is also the president and chief executive of BDO Unibank Inc., said Espenillas leadership resulted in progressive reforms that now support a stronger banking system, including the enactment of the new Central Bank Act. With the support and guidance of Governor Espenilla, the BAP built the Philippine Banking Roadmap. The association is grateful to Governor Espenilla for his initiative to engage the industry and respond to its inputs in keeping with the BSP reform agenda, Tan said. Tan said Espenilla left a legacy of a stronger and more inclusive banking system. The Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines, a national organization of business reporters and editors, also mourned the passing of Espenilla, who heeded the call of duty even when he was grappling with his own health issues. EJAP said Espenillas nearly four decades of service to the country were marked by dogged banking supervision while pioneering the use of digital means to achieve financial inclusion. Even as we mourn, we urge President Rodrigo Duterte to ease market uncertainties by promptly filling the void with someone just as suitable and committed to the BSPs mandate of price and financial stabilityone who can hit the ground running and ensure policy continuity, EJAP said. Voyager president and chief executive Orlando Vea said Espenillas legacy lives on in every effort that we all do to serve the unbanked, uncarded and underserved Filipinos with digital financial services. Vea said it was a sad day for the country and the financial services industry, describing Espenilla as a humble public servant, progressive central banker, and relentless champion of financial inclusion. Malacanang mourned Espenillas passing on Saturday. We are saddened to learn Saturday night the untimely demise of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr., Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement. He also thanked Espenilla for his complete devotion to his work and great service to the nation. Panelo recalled how Espenilla rose slowly but steadily up the ladder before his appointment as BSP deputy governor in 2005 and eventually, governor, in 2017. 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 6 hours ago | June 27th | 2021 6:30 AM If You Want to Do Business on the Links, You Need to Improve Your Golf Game A lot of business is done on the golf course. Especially this summer after a year in quarantine, people will be itching to get out on the links and for some relaxation and mixing business with pleasure. If you want to close a deal out on the course, you're going to want to be more focused on the deal points than your next shot. Up the Strait Coastal BC Stories Jump in the boat and head up the Strait of Georgia to magnificent anchorages and exciting adventures. Go to www.PowellRiverBooks.com for ordering information. Editor: The failure to get your way does not constitute a national emergency. What is an emergency is President Trump's creeping authoritarianism. The authors of the Constitution did not want the military intruding on civilian life. This belief is enshrined in both the Constitution and our laws. Moreover, the Constitution gives the power of the purse to Congress and a bipartisan agreement on funding was just reached in Congress. By declaring a national emergency to try to obtain money for his inhumane and racist border wall, President Trump is threatening the balance of power between the institutions of our democracy, and jeopardizing the well-being of military families and border communities. The president's own security advisers have made clear they do not see immigration at our southern border as a national emergency. By separating children from their families and decreasing the legal avenues to apply for asylum, the Trump administration has created a humanitarian crisis at the border, not a national security emergency. Therefore, the fake national emergency especially to build the border wall and taking away rights is absolutely illegal. Senator proposes study of splitting New York state in two With deepening political, economic and cultural divisions in the two regions, Sen. Daphne Jordan believes it is time for a thorough study of w And when it comes to culture, dont we have the best of both worlds here in New York? Its the union of Big Apple and apple orchards that makes this New York one of the worlds great places. New York City is a national and international center for art, fashion and finance; home of Broadway, the United Nations and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; a tourist draw for millions of visitors every year and the financial engine of the worlds richest country. All of that downstate greatness doesnt matter to Jordan, however. What matters to her is that those people in the states southern regions New York Citys boroughs, Long Island and Rockland and Westchester counties are different. Essentially, theyre Democrats. Of course, theyre not all Democrats; many of them are Republicans, but never mind. Jordan is fixated on the differences between New Yorkers. She calls it a tale of two states, but its really a tale of two outlooks. You can see New York as divided, because part of it is a densely populated urban area and part of it is a more sparsely populated rural area; or you can see it as outstanding, because it contains one of the worlds most dynamic cities and one of its most awe-inspiring wilderness areas and a whole lot else besides. GLENS FALLS A finalist from The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition stopped by SUNY Adirondacks Culinary Arts Center on Friday to speak with community members and students about her journey as an amateur baker. Andrea Maranville, who lived in Bolton Landing for over a decade, returned to the area to offer insights into what last years competition was like, and encourage attendees to continue pursuing their passion for cooking. If you have a passion for something and you work hard and youre consistent, you can achieve just about anything, Maranville said. I was a mom and I was wearing suits with a career, to being a stay at home mom, to being on national and international television. Maranville said she was proud to represent the area and the region in the competition, and thrilled that people wanted to hear about her experience of developing her skills on her own as a true self-taught amateur. She said she did not receive her first recipe until her wedding day and did not begin seriously working on the craft until after she decided to stay at home with her children a little more than ten years ago. In that time, she honed her baking skills by modifying recipes she found in books and online and using her family as test subjects. And it was the caught red-handed campaign Seeman helped organize that weakened Sweeneys base that year, he said. Move-On sent us boxes of these big red hands. We wore them and they ran national ads on TV, showing Sweeney signing legislation for the war, he said. Coming in on the heels of Vermont Gov. Howard Deans progressive but unsuccessful run for president and a huge anti-war sentiment sweeping the nation, local Democrats had been looking for a few years for a good candidate to run against Sweeney. I had been following her (Gillibrand) coming out of the Dean campaign, said local author Larry Dudley. We were frustrated with our inability to get a good candidate for Congress to defeat Sweeney. We had a long string of miserable and incompetent candidates. Dudley, who was with the Dean for America group that evolved into Democracy for America, said he was first aware of Gillibrand in 2004 when she was traveling as part of then-state Sen. Hillary Clintons entourage. And a closed group Dudley founded, 20 TrueBlue, reached out to Gillibrand. The test isnt quite as good as a colonoscopy, but Hudson Headwaters already gives the kit to patients who come to the networks family health offices. The question is whether mailing kits to those who havent come in will get more people screened. We have seen some pretty good results already, said Linda Spokane, Hudson Headwaters vice president of population health. She noted that the 26 people who have participated so far likely would not have gotten any screening if they hadnt been mailed a kit. Still, the colonoscopy is the gold standard. You can take out pre-cancer growths, Kratzer said of a colonoscopy. The kit is not going to pick up anything before it becomes cancer. Still, if the kit is used every year, its likely to be effective against a cancer that often grows slowly. And its better than nothing. People dont want to do colonoscopies. People are kind of intimidated by this safe procedure. Ask anybody, ask your friends they dont want to do it, Kratzer said. And for them, there is a choice. We have all these other options for colon-rectal cancer screening, she said. A winter storm followed by high winds will cause weather problems for late Saturday and Sunday. The first issue will be a mix of snow, sleet, ice that will arrive Saturday night and stretch into early Sunday. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for the region that is in effect from 9 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday, with an inch of snow and tenth of an inch of ice possible for Glens Falls, with more ice likely to the north and west. The weather service has also issued a high wind warning for late Sunday into Monday, as the departing storm will be followed by winds that will gust to up to 60 mph. That is likely to down trees, limbs and utility lines in some areas. The warning is in effect from 7 p.m. Sunday to 7 p.m. Monday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that National Guard personnel had been activated to assist with cleanup, while other state agencies prepare with resources if necessary. Utility companies have positioned extra utility crews in upstate New York in preparation for the winds, but warned that restoration could take "several days" in some situations. "If the winds persist, there may be a period of time that we will have to wait to start restoration," a spokesperson for New York State Electric & Gas said in a news release. "Restoration and tree crews will focus on cutting and clearing wires and trees to make conditions safe." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 6 Sad 1 Angry 5 Tucker was diagnosed with acute Lymphoblastic leukemia and has to travel to Albany Medical Center on a regular basis for chemotherapy and other treatments. This makes it difficult for his parents to work. This, along with all of the other expenses, has placed a financial hardship on them. The benefit will be a sit-down breakfast that includes pancakes, bacon, sausage, coffee, juice and milk. Cost is $6 for adults and $4 for kids. Johnsburg to host civil liberties event NORTH CREEK The Town of Johnsburg Library will host a Civil Liberties Workshop from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday at 219 Main St. With the 2019 local elections just 10 months away and the 2020 presidential election cycle already gaining speed, this workshop will focus on the importance of voting, changes to New York state registration requirements, and tools citizens can use to help inform their vote. Voting is the means by which citizens in a democracy can hold their leaders accountable, and yet the United States trails dramatically behind other developed democracies in participation rates. It is estimated that only 58 percent of eligible U.S. voters cast a ballot in the 2016 election, compared to Belgium, Sweden and Denmark, where they experienced over 80 percent of their eligible voters casting a ballot in their last election. President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday said he would tolerate the influx of Chinese workers amid criticism that they were taking jobs from Filipinos. In his speech during the PDP-Laban campaign rally in Laguna, the President said he would allow the illegal Chinese workers because there were so many undocumented Filipino workers in China. Just allow the Chinese workers to work here. Let them be. Why? We have 300,000 Filipinos in China. Thats why I cant say, Oh, leave this country. Well have you deported, Duterte said. The President then asked, What if the 300,000 of them were asked to leave? According to the Philippine consulate-general in Hong Kong, there are an estimated 200,000 overseas Filipinos who have been working as domestics in China since 2016. Dutertes remark came after Malacanang allayed concerns that Chinese workers were taking over the jobs intended for Filipinos. Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the influx of Chinese nationals should not be a cause of concern but said the government would be alarmed if they arrived here through unlawful means. Special Envoy to China Ramon Tulfo had previously described the Presidents stance on illegal Chinese workers as tolerant. On the Chinese illegal workers in the country who are employed in the construction and gaming industries, Digong said the government takes a tolerant attitude, Tulfo said, referring to the President by his nickname. The President said there were many Filipino workers who are illegally employed in China, but the Chinese government tolerates their stay as long as theyre not committing any crime, he added. Last month, former President Benigno Aquino III claimed that Chinese nationals were taking the jobs meant for Filipinos. Vice President Leni Robredo also raised concern on the Duterte administrations special treatment given to Chinese nationals in the country. In November 2018, Duterte said the government must exercise caution if officials would push for the deportation of illegal Chinese workers, noting that Filipinos working in the China might suffer the same fate. If you think that you are at a loss, at a disadvantage because there are so many Chinese nationals working here, remember that we have the same equal amount of people Filipinos who are there working in China, the President said. Just last week, theworking in online gaming business by requiring foreign- and local-based offshore gaming operators to register with the tax agency. The Palace, then, commended the BIRs move, highlighting the need to collect the right amount of corporate tax from these establishments. The Department of Justice, meanwhile, objected to a proposal in the Senate to remove the authority to issue special work permits to foreigners from the Bureau of Immigration amid a controversy over the influx of Chinese workers in the country. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said there is no need for legislative action to address the problem of foreigners illegally working in the country, as suggested by Senator Joel Villanueva during the hearing of the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development last week.This issue can be addressed in a faster way without amending the law, Guevarra said in an interview. Guevarra made the statement even as he vowed to implement additional measures to curb the entry of illegal Chinese workers. The DOJ chief admitted that there are loopholes in the implementation of the law covering foreign workers. But Guevarra believed these loopholes could be plugged through closer coordination between the BI, an attached agency of the Department of Justice, and the Department of Labor and Employment. Its not a question of which agency should be solely responsible for the issuance of SWPs. The issue is how to tighten up the rules on SWPs. The BI and DOLE only need to work together on this, he said. He cited for instance the lack of effective mechanism to monitor the status of all foreign workers in the country. Guevarra admitted that the government is considering formulating a negative list of short-period employment from which foreign workers should be barred as a measure to control or limit the entry of foreign workers. The Justice secretary said he is set to meet with Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to discuss this matter. He also defended the BI, saying the agency is doing its mandate to go after. He cited the relentless of arrests of illegal and undocumented foreign workers by the bureau. Earlier, Villanueva proposed the removal from BI the authority to issue SWPs to foreigners due to the bureaus supposed lenience in issuing the permits. An SWP allows foreign national to work in the country for three months and could be extended for another three months. For periods longer than six months and for highly technical, specialized, supervisory and managerial jobs that cannot be fulfilled by Filipinos, foreigners are given alien employment permits by the DOLE. READ: BI agents arrest 30 illegal Chinese workers employed in Philippine offshore gaming operations. Villanueva said the BI has no expertise in determining whether or not job posts should be given to foreign nationals, a task he said should be left to the DOLE. He suggested that only AEPs from DOLE should be given to foreigners for job requirements that cannot be met by local workers to ensure that the employment opportunities given to foreign workers are not being taken away from Filipinos who can do the jobs equally. READ: Chinese workers must follow PH rules QUEENSBURY A Queensbury man who has multiple prior felony convictions is headed to prison for up to 4 years for breaking into cars to steal valuables that included credit cards. Joseph L. Skellie, 30, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny, a felony, for the thefts last September at the Hannaford Plaza in Glens Falls. Police said he broke car windows to get into vehicles and rifle through purses and wallets. A food vendor who was delivering products to the store spotted him going through a car, and Glens Falls Police caught him minutes later after he fled on a bicycle, and recovered stolen items and prescription drugs for which he didn't have a prescription. Skellie was on parole at the time for a 2013 burglary conviction in Washington County, which came after a 20-burglary spree in the south end of the county. Warren County Judge John Hall sentenced him to 2 to 4 years in prison for the Glens Falls thefts, with the sentence to run consecutively to the time he will owe for the parole violation. Love 1 Funny 5 Wow 1 Sad 2 Angry 1 New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced that shrinking income tax revenues required readjustments to his annual budget, but education will not receive any cuts, according to New York State Division of the Budget spokesman Morris Peters. Were not changing our education proposal, Peters said. We are transferring some available resources into the general fund to account for the losses in income tax revenues. Peters also said the Governor has authorized the closing of three state prisons with declining populations to deal with the lower revenues. Board member website The New York State School Board Association has launched a new website offering in-depth information about the duties of a board member and how to run for local office. A 2018 survey found 32 school districts did not have enough candidates to fill the open positions, and they hope easing access to the ins and outs of school boards will encourage more people to run, according to a public release by the association. When he was a youngster, he ran down the stairs, grabbed the mouthpiece, swung by the cord around the corner, and ultimately pulled the cord out of the box. Uncle Barron blamed cousin Joe for the crime, and it turned out my father kept his mouth shut about the whole affair for nearly 50 years before he confessed that he was the actual perpetrator. Apparently cousin Joe kept mum on the subject, too. My father only recently began telling the tales of his childhood and of his time at Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. He was severely injured in that battle. It was nice to see all the Marines at his funeral last week, including a color guard. They gave me the flag. Those active-duty Marines called the Korean War the forgotten war, another example of our lives drifting into the distant past as far as new generations are concerned. I really feel like Im living in at least a kind of future. Taking my shoes off at the airport. Getting frisked and puffed by a bomb-sniffing machine. To me it feels like Im in some old Woody Allen parody movie of the future. GLENS FALLS Its a bit of a head rush knowing theres only 24 hours to bring a brand new play from conception, to off-book (without scripts) and onto the stage for paying patrons. When you make that nine plays, nine playwrights and directors and over 40 actors, plus tech crew, the buzz is palpable. Weve got good plays this year, said Erin Coon, chairwoman of the annual Art in the Public Eyes 24-Hour Play Fest at the Charles R. Wood Theater this weekend. And most of them are funny, that means everyone is having fun. The 24-Hour Play Fest, in its sixth run and hosted by Art in the Public Eye, challenges writers and their teams director and actors to create and perform an eight-to-10-minute play in one day. And again this year, everyone who volunteers for the overnight challenge, comes prepared to expect the unexpected. On Friday night, they all gather at the Wood Theater for a drawing that posits actors, directors and writers in groups. After the random selections of players, Coon shares this years theme is diversion; the secret prop all teams must use is a peaceful APE (an actual stuffed ape named after Art in the Public Eye), wearing a tie-dyed shirt; and the mandatory line required in each play, It is even harder for the average APE to believe he is descended from man. (H.L. Mencken) Theres a brief get-to-know each other Friday night meeting that helps playwrights get a feel for their team, and then they disperse, giving the playwrights the space they need to squirrel off somewhere to pen a 10-minute masterpiece before a 5 a.m. deadline. Once the plays are submitted to Coon by 5 a.m., scripts are copied and the frenzy to rehearse, find costumes, gather props and set pieces, design lighting and sound begin, all in preparation to perform. Their fresh creations will be on stage, without notes, before a paying audience in the theater at 8 p.m. I think I wrote until 2 a.m., from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., remarks Faith St. John about her new play, Animals Anonymous. Just before lunch, the cast for St. Johns play is rehearsing on stage at the Wood Theater. The four players are attending an Animals Anonymous support group meeting, similar to another type of AA meeting. Theres a frog, played by Kai Infante-Lefaucheur, who really wants to sing; a turtle, Jabari Williams, who starts a near filibuster about the human government before the meeting chairwoman reins him in and he says he really wants pond reform. The AA meeting leader is a bear, played by Kimberly Van Orman, who has been modeling her life after the human park rangers. But they sprayed my face and it burned, it was the saddest day, she said. Thats when I knew I was a bear and Id been trying too long to be a human. Instagram famous fox, Shelley Fairbanks, talked about how she primped and posed for her popular selfies. But then I realized it was just a picture of a fox, she said, sharing how she wanted to smell like a fox again. And so the day goes with nine teams rehearsing, players learning lines and directors adding staging tweaks here and there. Tech rehearsals start at 6 p.m., the curtain rises at 8, and when the last curtain falls, organizers will tally the audience votes and announce the winners. Robert Thomsen, who came from Albany for the fest, is looking for the perfect costume from a rack in the lobby of the Wood Theater around noon on Saturday because this year, hes going for the win. This is my second time doing the play fest and last year I was the third place best actor, he said. This year Im trying for first. His said, " continued mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of the one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. " More and more, it appears something was rotten with the care given to inmates, but there exists no clear link of causation between the quality of that care and Mitchells death. But its also true that Mitchell was an adult, and within his rights to refuse medicine or treatment despite his obvious need for care. It has been a few weeks since Del. Kathy Tran proposed a bill lessening political interference for women and people who can become pregnant. The REPEAL Act would not have changed the code allowing for third trimester abortion only when "the continuation of pregnancy is likely to result in the death of the woman or substantially and irremediably impair the mental or physical health of the woman." What it would have done was changed the requirement that an extra second and third doctor approves this life-saving, life-affirming care. The Bush joined the fleet in January 2009 and is the last of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. Planning for Bush's maintenance took 18 months and much of its project team will be working on a carrier in dry dock for the first time. The work will incorporate state-of-the-art technologies including additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, the use of exoskeleton suits and training models using virtual reality, the Navy said. William Brunskin from Suffolk is in court facing bigamy charges. He pleads guilty and throws himself on the mercy of the court, asking for a minimum sentence, which is imposed. Wife No. 1 and wife No. 2 are both present when the sentence of three years in the penitentiary is passed. Before the convicted bigamist leaves court, his two wives approach him to shake his hand. Both wives appear to be on good terms with each other and with the prisoner. Malaysia's Foreign Ministry on Saturday slammed the statement made by the Philippines envoy to Kuala Lumpur who said Manila had not dropped its claim over Sabah, arguing that such an assertion over the resource-rich territory had no basis. Malaysian media reports said that on Feb. 21, at a press conference after paying a courtesy call on Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal Shafie, Ambassador Charles Jose said the Philippines was maintaining its claim over Sabah. But Jose said the Philippine government would not actively pursue its claim at the moment because its focus was on providing assistance to the thousands of undocumented workers in Sabah, the reports said. The Foreign Ministry has continued to reiterate Malaysias position, namely the claims on Sabah are without basis, Malaysia said in a statement on Feb. 23. Sabah, located south of Mindanao, is territorially disputed by the Philippines and Malaysia. A Philippine claim for sovereignty over Sabah has lain dormant for decades, but Malaysia continues to yearly pay rent to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, who claim to be the descendants of the original Filipino sultan who had control over the territory for centuries.Malaysias Foreign Ministry maintained that Sabah had been recognized by the United Nations and the international community as part of Malaysia since the formation of the Malaysian Federation on Sept. 16, 1963. As such, Malaysia does not recognize and will not entertain any claims by any party on Sabah, the Foreign Ministry said. Every year, hundreds of Filipinos enter Malaysian-controlled Sabah through Mindanao in search of a better life. Most of the undocumented Filipinos in Sabah hail from Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and other far-flung provinces in the south that are among the Philippines poorest and who are constantly plagued by war. READL German govt quizzes PH envoy on Hitler remark By the end of the year, Portsmouth will no longer be able to boast of being the home of Skippy peanut butter. The landmark plant, known for the giant Skippy jars outside, will close by year's end, according to plans announced by the owners, CPC International Inc., based in New Jersey. The plant makes more than 20 million pounds of peanut butter a year and has been operating for more than 60 years. "You keep the road in its current position, you maintain it with a good surface, but you don't attempt to raise it. And so everyone knows that the road is going to flood at certain times and not always be passable. And you just sort of, as they say, learn to live with the water." "We have to be up at 6 each morning and ready by 7 to leave the hotel for breakfast," Paris said. "Normally for school, my dad would wake me up in time, but now we have to get up by ourselves." Kid2Kid is a group that began as a way to raise awareness and funds to help St. Mary's Home for Disabled Children in Norfolk. They also provide information on volunteer opportunities, fundraisers and more. Sizemore said he grew up in the 1950s and 1960s in a segregated society. He recalls being taken by his father to a minstrel show at a local high school as a child where white men wore blackface. "I look back at that now, and it makes me cringe," he said. "You would like to think that in the 21st century that we don't have these issues, but I think it underscores to everybody that this state has a troubled past with race, and now is the time to confront this head on and figure out who we are as a people and where we're going to take this," he said. "Because we have a really unique opportunity to begin a process of what I hope is understanding, acknowledgement, reconciliation and healing." My husband John and I visited Iceland during the first week of December with a group of Life Long Learners from Christopher Newport University. The scenery was beautiful and the seafood outstanding. A highlight was visiting Diamond Beach near the Jokulsarlon lagoon on the south coast. The glacial ice chunks gleaming in the sun on the volcanic black sand beach was breathtaking. A Bowery Farming employee inspects some of their greens grown at the hydroponic farming company in Kearny, New Jersey Workers at Bowery Farming's warehouse near New York have swapped out a farmer's hoe for a computer tablet that takes real-time readings of light and water conditions. Launched in 2015, Bowery is part of the fast-growing vertical farming movement, which employs technology in a controlled, man-made setting to grow fresh vegetables indoors all year long. Champions of the practice see vertical farming as a key tool to meet the world's food needs at a time when the population is rising and the climate is changing. The company's chief executive and co-founder, Irving Fain, said his company's Kearny, New Jersey site uses fewer resources than traditional farms and does not employ pesticides. "I have been a big believer my entire life in technology as being able to solve not only hard problems, but also important problems," said Fain, who previously ran a company that provides data analysis for big companies on their loyalty programs. Bowery employs more programmers than agricultural scientists. The company says its use of algorithms enables it to be 100 times more productive per area compared with a traditional farm and to use 95 percent less water. Lower electricity costs Vertical farming has long been practiced in Japan and some other places but it did not take off in the United States until recent technological leaps made it viable. Irving Fain, CEO and co-founder of Bowery Farming, talks about his hydroponic grown greens A key component has been LED bulbs, which have enabled indoor farmers to drastically cut electricity costs. But Bowery is also making heavy use of robotics and artificial intelligence to keep prices under control. The combination of these newer tools "is how we really rethink what agriculture will look like in the next century and beyond," Fain said. The company has also benefited from more than $120 million in funding from tech titans including Google Ventures and Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi. The Silicon Valley connection has also boosted San Francisco-based Plenty, another prominent vertical farming company, which has garnered more than $200 million from Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, Softbank and others. Greens are grown at Bowery Farming, a vertical farming site founded in 2015 US-based Crop One and Emirates Flight Catering have launched a $40 million joint venture to build a giant vertical farming facility in Dubai. Profitable? The world's biggest vertical farm is in Newark, New Jersey, and operated by AeroFarms. The company, founded in 2004 and considered a pioneer in the sector, remains privately-held and does not disclose financial data. But AeroFarms, whose business model evolved over the years, says it is now profitable. Bowery makes heavy use of robotics and artificial intelligence to keep prices under control It started as a farm selling produce locally but decided, in 2009 to shift to selling the technologies and solutions it had developped to other growers. The company then pivoted back toward growing its own leafy greens for sale in 2011. AeroFarms exclusively uses company-made technology that has now made its way to China, the Middle East and Europe, said its co-founder Marc Oshima. In a warehouse that was once a steel mill with 40-foot (12-meter) ceilings, the company is growing kale and arugula leaves set in rows of 12 metal racks each. The roots are suspended in the air as they are intermittently irrigated while the leaves bask under LED lights. AeroFarms experiments regularly with lighting and nutrients with an eye towards finding the optimal recipe for each plant and developing the best algorithm. The company produces watercress that reminded a reporter of her grandmother's soup, kale as tender as spinach and arugula with a hint of spice. AeroFarms co-founder and chief marketing officer Marc Oshima looks at baby kale David Chang, founder of the noodle restaurant brand Momofuku, is an investor. Basil from Bowery Farming was tinged with the flavor of lemon. But it can take a while for vertical farms to find solutions that are viable. "The big, big vertical farms are having a difficult time being profitable because they are so capital-intensive at the beginning," said Henry Gordon-Smith, founder of Agritecture, a consultancy. Large farms typically need seven or eight years before they are profitable, with smaller farms requiring perhaps half as long. AeroFarms's vertical grow towers in Newark, New Jersey But entrepreneurs in the business are confident in their prospects as more young people in cities express worry about climate change and pesticides. "Vertical farming is not THE solution to food security," said Gordon-Smith. "It is one out of the possible solutions." Critics of vertical farming say it has a large carbon footprint due to heavy use of lighting and ventilation. But defenders say that this negative impact is more than offset from the benefits of lower water use, the location near population centers and the non-use of pesticides. A bigger issue may be the limitations of the output itself, at least in terms of nutrition. Baby kale is grown at AeroFarms "You can't feed the world with salad alone," said Princeton University plant researcher Paul Gauthier, who says vertical farmers will need to develop more protein-rich offerings. Gauthierwho grew spicier peppers in his own lab by subtly increasing potassium levelssaid vertical farming could supply fresh food to so-called food "deserts" where it is absent and could in the long-term meet growing food demand as the climate changes. Explore further Dubai's vertical farming to help quench thirst for own supply chain 2019 AFP in the Roman Catholic Church, comparing paedophilia to human sacrifice. But his public address to the Churchs top bishops at the end of a landmark summit in the Vatican on tackling clerical assault of minors threatened to disappoint victims. If in the Church there should emerge even a single case of abusewhich already in itself represents an atrocitythat case will be faced with the utmost seriousness, Francis promised. I am reminded of the cruel religious practice, once widespread in certain cultures, of sacrificing human beingfrequently childrenin pagan rites, he added. The sexual abuse of minors was a widespread phenomenon in all cultures and societies, Francis said, andThe scandals have hit countries around the world, with lives devastated from Australia to Chile, Germany and the US.and handing 114 senior bishops a roadmap to shape the debate on tackling paedophile priests. The 82-year-old had warned victims to lower their expectations, saying that much of the work on tackling abuse would be done post-summit. But survivors watching his speech closely for signs of change within the centuries-old institution slammed his decision to spend a lot of time at the start of his speech pointing out that child sex abuse was not limited to the Church. Swiss victim Jean-Marie Furbringer said: Honestly its a pastoral blabla, saying its the fault of the devil. They are pulling the wool over our eyes, so that they dont have to directly address the Churchs problems. We are not surprised, but we are disappointed, he said.The meeting has been marked by soul-seeking and self-recrimination by the Church, and horror stories from abuse victims.In his lengthy speech, Francis said the Church would draw inspiration from the best practices in the Seven Strategies for Ending Violence against Children, measures developed under the guidance of the World Health Organization. The Church in developing her legislation will focus he said on eight aspects: the protection of children, impeccable seriousness, genuine purification, formation, strengthening and reviewing guidelines by Episcopal Conferences and accompaniment of those who have been abused. The echo of the silent cry of the little ones who, instead of finding in them fathers and spiritual guides encountered tormentors, will shake hearts dulled by hypocrisy and by power. It is our duty to pay close heed to this silent, choked cry, he added. Those gathered at the Vatican had heard testimonies from victims, one of whom was forced to have three abortions after being abused for years by a priest who beat her, while another said he had been molested more than 100 times. A mission stretches before us a mission demanding not just words but real concrete action, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Mark Coleridge said in a homily Sunday ahead of the popes speech. We do not have forever, and we dare not fail, he said. The Vatican has in the past refused to hand over internal documents about abuse cases to police investigating paedophilia. The Church had to recognize that the enemy is within, Cardinal Jose Horacio Gomez said Thursday. READ: US cardinal defrocked over teenager abuse The damage caused is so deep, the pain inflicted is so profound, the consequences of the abuses that have taken place in the Church are so immense that we will never be able to say that we have done all that can be done, he said. READ: Pope eyes measures against sex abuse 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 FILIPINO exporters are encouraged to sell more products as economic power shifts from America to Asia, especially Southeast Asia. Ronilo Balbieran, vice president of Research, Education and Institutional Development Foundation Inc., said China, India and the economies of so-called Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)-5 are expected to drive the economy of the world. Asean-5 is composed of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines. In economics growth and size, we have more to sell to. So not just US, Europe, China; we have even in our neighbors Asean, we can sell more to them. We have the economics, we have the population. They have the population, we can sell more to them, he said. Balbieran pointed out that selling should not be a problem to exporters targeting the right countries and the right products. When we combined economic size, economics of networks and technology and people, then you have a strong prospect for your export products and services, he said. Balbieran also urged exporters to sell more products catering to the ageing population, which he considered very, very rich. (Philexport News and Features) NATIONAL Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Guillermo Eleazar commended Sunday, February 24, the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) security for being able to detect the grenade being carried by NATIONAL Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Guillermo Eleazar commended Sunday, February 24, the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) security for being able to detect the grenade being carried by one of its passengers Saturday evening, February 23. "The fact na na-detect nila ang granada, ibig sabihin ay effective ang kanilang security system, ang coordination ng personnel," Eleazar said. At around 7:30 p.m on Saturday, security personnel at the MRT Cubao station accosted 29-year-old Christian Guzman after a hand grenade was detected in his backpack when it passed through an X-ray machine. The live grenade is wrapped by a packaging tape and placed inside a cellphone box. To his defense, Guzman identified himself as a former soldier. He said he is heading home in Cavite. However, Eleazar said they found that the fragmentation grenade is owned by Guzmans brother who is a soldier. He said investigation as to how the man got hold of the grenade as well as if his brother has a liability of the incident is ongoing. Meanwhile, in a statement, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said they will conduct probe on the incident which they consider serious. The DOTr MRT-3 would like to stress that this matter will be taken seriously. We ask the patience and cooperation of our passengers as we further tighten the security measures being implemented in our stations. Please understand that these measures are being done to protect the safety and security of our passengers, it said in a statement. We also want to encourage our passengers to remain vigilant and report immediately to our security personnel items, activities, and even individuals that they may find suspicious inside our trains or stations. We will not take this sitting down, it added. (SunStar Philippines) AYALA-LED Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is strengthening its banking business with the countrys small and medium enterprises (SME) to help realize the sectors full growth potential.SMEs AYALA-LED Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is strengthening its banking business with the countrys small and medium enterprises (SME) to help realize the sectors full growth potential. SMEs are the types of companies that require funding and loans. Their primary need is financing for their working capital or capital expenditures, said Junie Veloso, head of BPIs Business Banking Segment. Veloso said compared with the neighboring countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Philippines needs to improve on its performance in helping small businesses grow. In the total loans in the country, less than 10 percent are given to SMEs, which account for 35 percent in the countrys gross domestic product, he said. Ninety-nine percent of the countrys total business make-up totaling one million is composed of micro, small and medium enterprises. This sectors is the most underserved, especially when it comes to financing. To tap this market, the BPI established Business Banking Segment, which focuses on this sector. In Cebu, many SMEs have not yet availed themselves of loans and most of them only have deposits, Veloso said. We believe that SMEs play a key role in nation building. The Cebu SME market has a huge growth potential and we want to be there when it happens, said Veloso. Our clients can expect new loan products that will make use of a new score card for faster loan processing and approvals. We continue to make enhancements on our processes. Were looking at a 30-day turnaround time for standard applications, and even faster for certain products, he added. Credit scoring To apply for loans, BPI Business Banking Segment established a credit score card to guide SMEs in the process of their loans. We have a risk-based approach. During the application and approval process, the smaller amount is more likely faster to be approved as opposed to a higher amount with the bigger perceived risk then its a more thorough process, he said. Story continues BPI has also engaged a risk management firm, Tongdun International, to implement artificial intelligence solutions that will result in faster automated lending processes and an optimized credit scoring model. Fifty percent of our SMEs clients in the Visayas come from Cebu. Most of those who apply are wholesalers, traders and retailers, Veloso said. Expansions BPI president and chief executive officer Cezar Consing said Cebu continues to be one of their key markets in the Philippines as it accounts for 54 percent of the whole Visayas and Mindanao (VisMin) business, while the whole of Visayas accounts for 60 percent of the whole VisMin business. Last year, BPI expanded its reach to the northern and southern parts of Cebu with the opening of new branches in Bogo, Toledo and Carcar. In 2019, BPI will open more branches in Cebu City, plus a few more branches in nearby areas, such as Tacloban, Tagbilaran and Ormoc. (JOB with PR) THE Junior Chamber International (JCI) Mandaue City Chapter celebrated its 56th year as a brotherhood with purpose with induction and turnover ceremonies at the Citi Park Hotel last Feb. 9.Under the leadership THE Junior Chamber International (JCI) Mandaue City Chapter celebrated its 56th year as a brotherhood with purpose with induction and turnover ceremonies at the Citi Park Hotel last Feb. 9. Under the leadership of the newly elected president Rodrigo Limpot Jr., the Merry Men of JCI have adopted the theme of Together We Prosper, highlighting the importance of teamwork and shared responsibility for the development of the chapter and community. The formal gathering brought together JCI members from all 10 of the JCI chapters in Central Visayas, including delegates from sister chapter JCI Samcheonpo of South Korea. JCI members from Aklan and Iligan were also present to witness the turnover and induction of JCI Mandaues presidents and board of directors. Sister chapter agreements were also signed with the three Bohol chapters--JCI Boholana Kisses, JCI Bohol Limestone and JCI Chocolate Hills. South Korean businessman Sung Ho Andrew Tae, JCI Mandaues 2018 president, gave his valedictory address, expressing how grateful he was to have served his time, which he described as one year to lead. He also talked about his contributions to the chapters growth. Under his leadership, JCI Mandaue established an outreach agreement with the South Korean Kwangjeong Presbyterian Church in building at least eight day care centers within Mandaue City. JCI Mandaue also delivered its first day care center in Barangay Guizo last December. On his part, Limpot highlighted his goal of partnering with companies to have an independent money-making scheme for the sustainability of the chapter. Limpot also expressed his desire to build on the gains of the past years by strengthening internal procedures that would ensure members take the opportunity to lead and become better through planning, execution and evaluation of projects. The new set of board of directors include Tae as the immediate past president; Nike Enriquez Cagulada, executive vice president (EVP)-internal; Eric Paolo Smith, EVP-external; Brandon Lavilla, secretary; Kim Ngo Vice president (VP)-business; Sam Uy, VP-community; Judee Kwan, VP-international; Edmar Dionson, VP-individual; and Archie Arizo, treasurer. Story continues The other new officers are Paolo Saberon, the local training director; Daniel Ismael, VP-communications; Kristoffer Yurong, auditor and protocol officer; and Joseph Ortiz, press relations officer. The program for the evening had Mandaue City Vice Mayor Atty. Carlo Fortuna, a past president of JCI Mandaue, as the inspirational speaker; iLearners founder and social media influencer Doyzkie Buenaviaje as keynote speaker; and JCI Philippines 2019 national executive vice president Disston Tan as guest of honor. The evening ended with the revival singing and dancing of the Jaycees March spearheaded by JCI Mandaues past presidents. JCI Mandaue, an all-male organization, was founded in 1964 by Ariston Cortes. It is one of the oldest JCI chapters in the Visayas. The chapter played host to the 38th Visayas Area Conference last September. The chapter maintains strong cooperation with the City of Mandaue and its City Social Welfare Services department, with regular outreach activities with the citys street children and establishment of additional day care centers for the city. 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 ACTIVE government to government and private sector support are key to helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines break successfully into the burgeoning global halal market, according to a Malaysian transport executive. It has to be a government-to-government effort but there must be a private sector that creates the value chain... so that people can see that it is possible for SMEs to participate in the global halal trade, said Dato Azman Shah Mohd Yusof on the sidelines of a recent shipping conference held in Makati City. Azman is the chief executive officer of Northport (Malaysia) Bhd, operator of Northport multi-purpose port in Port Klang, Malaysias largest port. He noted that SMEs undoubtedly face many difficulties, including high logistics costs, dominance of the big guys and lack of competitive pricing due to the stringent processes and requirements of halal production. But through strategic partnerships, Azman said barriers to halal trade participation can be reduced. Weve reached out to a few players in the Philippines and Im sure with the help of the government we can actually make this happen because our minister of entrepreneur development in charge of SMEs is championing this himself, he said. You got to start somewhere because the demand is there. The players are there, so it is a question of cooperation, he added. Halal Silk Route In his presentation on Wednesday, Feb 20, during the 10th Philippine Ports and Shipping Conference, Azman revealed that Malaysia signed on Feb. 19 a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Japan to partner for halal trade development under the Halal Silk Route. The Halal Silk Route is a Malaysian initiative touted as the missing link that will complete the halal trade value chain globally. The MOU with Japan comes nearly a year after Malaysia signed an MOU with China under the same initiative. In May last year, Malaysias Northport and Weifang Port in China signed a deal to cooperate in port management and facilitate halal trade shipment between the two countries. Story continues The MOU provides for end-to-end export services that enable Malaysian exporters to deal with just a single one-stop center, which will handle haulage, pre-clearance of documentation, shipping, container handling, product labelling, warehousing and product delivery to customers in Weifang, China. Customers are promised port-to-port delivery in 28 days, with goods shipped from Northport to Weifang Port, which is one of the most direct routes to the Muslim-dominated Chinese regions of Shaanxi, Ningxia, Qinghai, Gansu and Xinjiang. Global halal market Statistics show that Muslims accounted for some 23 percent of the total population worldwide in 2010, and are the only major religious group projected to have a faster growth rate than that of the global population as a whole. As a result, there is a growing market for halal products. In 2016, the global market value of halal products amounted to about $45.3 billion and is expected to reach $58.3 billion in 2020. The global halal food market value is projected to hit $2.6 trillion in 2023. (Philexport News and Features) FISHERMEN recovered anew bricks of suspected cocaine in the shoreline Surigao del Sur, a police official confirmed Sunday, February 24.Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Senior Superintendent FISHERMEN recovered anew bricks of suspected cocaine in the shoreline Surigao del Sur, a police official confirmed Sunday, February 24. Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Senior Superintendent Bernard Banac said 34 bricks of suspected cocaine were recovered by two fishermen along the seawaters of in Purok Santan, Barangay Bungtod, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur around 6:30 a.m. on Sunday. Authorities are yet to identify the value of the recovered illegal contraband. The bricks have dollar sign that is similar with those recovered in Dinagat Island Province. Recovered contraband was brought to Police Regional Office (PRO)-Caraga headquarter for further examination by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (Pdea)-Caraga and proper disposition. It has been the eighth time since in three weeks that cocaine bricks were recovered along the country's shorelines. On Tuesday, February 12, fishermen recovered 48 blocks of cocaine along the shore in Purok 2, Barangay Poblacion, Dinagat Island. The next day, another 40 blocks of cocaine were recovered in the shore of Siargao, San Isidro in Surigao del Norte. On Sunday, February 17, a fisherman turned over blocks of cocaine which he found in the shoreline in Barangay Bagumbayan, Paracale, Camarines Norte. According to the police, the recovered cocaine is worth more than P5 million. On Monday, February 18, another brick of suspected cocaine was recovered in a shoreline in Mauban, Quezon. PNP chief Oscar Albayalde earlier alerted all his units, particularly the maritime group to be vigilant as there is a possibility that more cocaine bricks will be recovered in the countries coastlines. (SunStar Philippines) intent on doing harm Whatever one's views about the request of Shamima Begum to return to the UK, there are some legitimate questions to be asked about the response of Sajid Javid in effectively rendering her stateless to prevent her re-entering the country.The first of course revolves around the legality of the decision, and whether it sets a precedent for the future. As I understand the law, the UK Government does have the right to remove British citizenship from an individual and has done so 150 times since 2010, but that only applies if they have dual citizenship.It may well be that Begum will challenge the decision in the courts, and if that happens then we will get some clarity on this issue. However, the arbitrary exercise of power for political reasons is not a good look for any Government Minister, and as such we must be wary about whether this particular decision opens the door to others, which may not look so clear cut to the popularist press.The consequence of this decision that will trouble many however, is its impact on the terror threat in the UK. There is a strong argument that allowing Shamima Begum back into the UK is in itself a threat to our national security. On the other hand, if she were to co-operate then she could prove to be a valuable source of information and intelligence on those currently resident in the UK who areJavid has been accused of using the power as an easy way out, rather than repatriating alleged Isis fighters to face trial, with figures showing that only one in 10 jihadis returning from Syria has been successfully prosecuted.My concern coincides with this report in the Independent which says that the government was warned three years ago that stripping people of their citizenship may be an ineffective and counter-productive weapon against terrorism.They say that official documents reveal a government-commissioned review warned in 2016 that removing extremists citizenship left them free to continue terrorist activities abroad, prevented monitoring and encouraged the dangerous delusion that terrorism can be made into a foreign problem:A powerful tool in the grooming of potential recruits to ISIS is the exploitation of a feeling of alienation from society, and the idea that Western states are seeking to suppress Islam. The Home Secretary's decision plays into that narrative. We will have to see whether it aids or hinders extremists in the future. From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As... The Transport department said Sunday it will not take lightly the discovery of a hand grenade inside a passengers bag at the MRT3s Cubao Station on Saturday night. We will not take this sitting down, the department said in a statement posted on Facebook. The live grenade was found in the baggage of passenger Christian Guzman, 29, at the inspection area of the station around 7:10 p.m. It was detected by the X-ray machine and was found wrapped in packaging tape inside a cellphone box. Police arrested Guzman and charged him with illegal possession of an explosive. He was to undergo an inquest on Sunday at the Quezon City Prosecutors Office. The DOTr MRT-3 would like to stress that this matter will be taken seriously, the department said. We ask the patience and cooperation of our passengers as we further tighten the security measures being implemented in our stations. Please understand that these measures are being done to protect the safety and security of our passengers. We also want to encourage our passengers to remain vigilant.Metro Manila Police Chief Guillermo Eleazar praised the security system at the MRT Line for detecting the grenade. The fact that they detected the grenade means their security system is effective, Eleazar told reporters on Sunday morning. He said the explosive was a fragmentation grenade and was owned by the suspects brother, a soldier. He said an investigation was ongoing to determine how the suspect got hold of the grenade, and if his brother could be held accountable. As you can tell, this blog is totally screwed. Im really sorry about this but its totally out of my control. Until it gets fixed, Im blogging over at my... By now it should be clear that Qatar has no intention of giving up its slot as the worlds top LNG player, both in terms of exports and liquefaction capacity. While Australia did pass the middle eastern gas producer briefly a few months ago, Qatar will ramp up its liquefaction capacity from 77 million tons per annum (mtpa) to 110 mtpa within five years, making it difficult for both Australia and the U.S. to catch up. Now, Qatar is also talking up its LNG game in Asia, which represents 72 percent of global LNG demand, with that demand projected to increase to at least 75 percent amid increased usage of the super-cooled fuel from China. Chinas historic increase in both piped natural gas and LNG comes as the country fulfills a government mandate that natural gas makes up at least 10 percent of its countrys energy mix by 2020 to offset record air pollution levels, particularly in its major urban centers. Further earmarks are in place to 2030 as well. "Asia is the biggest market for LNG, or fuels in general because that is where [economies are growing], and that is where the need is," al-Kaabi said. "For us, the Asian market is a fundamental market and we have great relationships politically with all the Asian countries, Qatars Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi said in an interview with Nikkei Asian Review on Thursday. He also mentioned Japan, which is currently the worlds largest LNG importer, followed by China and South Korea. "Japan, in particular, has a very special place in our heart, and we are looking to extend our contracts with Japanese companies," al-Kaabi said. al-Kaabi said that in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Qatar canceled LNG shipments to other destinations, diverting them instead to Japan and selling them at contract prices, despite gas prices being "very high" at the time, the report added. "We wanted to show the people of Japan our respect," he said. However, what he failed to address was that much of that supply was still attached to restrictive long-term contracts that eventuality forced Japan to turn to India and others to try at the time to bring more control over contractual LNG deals. Japan also saw the formation of what is now the worlds largest buyer of LNG when Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power formed JERA to have more buying power in LNG markets as well as integrating the value chain from upstream fuel investment and procurement through power generation Related: Permian Production To Break 4 Million Bpd In March Due to increased LNG usage in Asia, particularly Japan after Fukushima, spot LNG in Asia breached the $20 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) mark in February 2014. Since then, amid more supply coming from new projects in Australia and the U.S., markets have been in a multi-year supply overhang with a corresponding downward trajectory in prices. In fact, LNG spot prices in Asia have hit a 17-month low, an unusual development for this time of year. Spot prices for March delivery to Asia LNG-AS fell to $6.50/MMBtu last week, down 20 cents from the previous week to their lowest since Sept. 8, 2017, trade sources said. Lower prices come amid tepid demand in North Asia and warmer than usual temperatures for this time of year. Going forward, al-Kaabi said that by the end of 2019 Qatar will likely raise the bar again, developing natural gas fields in Africa and North America to maintain its top spot and keep up with Asian demand. Not only will more demand be coming from China, but also from Pakistan as that country develops its LNG import sector to offset record energy supply shortages that have caused persistent blackouts, the Philippines too as it tries to put in place its first working LNG import terminal before its main source of natural gas in its offshore natural gas field runs out in less than five years, from India, Bangladesh, Thailand and in time Vietnam. By Tim Daiss for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: U.S. West Texas Intermediate and international-benchmark Brent crude oil futures are grinding higher at the end of the week as they head toward major upside objectives. If reached, traders will have major decisions to make since these objectives are often viewed as profit targets. Short-sellers are likely to vigorously defend these areas in an effort to form secondary lower tops, while aggressive counter-trend buyers are going to try to drive the market through these areas. Driving prices higher is OPEC and its allys quest for a balanced market. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Wednesday he hoped the oil market would be balanced by April and that there would be no gap in supplies due to the U.S. sanctions on OPEC members Iran and Venezuela. The current price action suggests WTI and Brent may reach balance points on the charts as early as next week and this could attract new sellers. Supply Cut Driven Rally Crude oil is being primarily underpinned by output cuts from top producers, as well as sanctions on OPEC members Iran and Venezuela. Secondary support is being provided by the hopes of a trade deal between the United States and China, and a strong rally in the equity markets. Additional Help from Nigeria On Wednesday, a spokesman for President Muhammadu Bhuari said in a statement that Nigeria is willing to reduce output to help secure higher prices. Nigeria made the announcement after being called out by Saudi Arabia Meghan Markle shared a sweet moment with two little girls during her and Prince Harrys royal tour of Morocco. The Duchess of Sussex was seen making a beeline towards Rania, five, and Rayhanna, two, who had been patiently waiting for the royals in their best dresses. She took the moment with the girls to show off a new tattoo she had received moments earlier. Nice, isnt it? So pretty, Meghan told the girls. Meghan meets two little girls in Morocco. Photo: Getty Meghan showed off her new ink. Photo: Getty Meghan revealed the design of the traditional henna tattoo to the girls, during a visit to a school in the Atlas Mountains, where she also surprised the children by speaking French. The henna flower was applied by 17-year-old Samira, who has lived at EFA for six years. The ceremony is an ancient custom thought to have its roots in North Africa and had a design painted on her left hand to celebrate her pregnancy. The Duchess received the traditional henna tattoo to celebrate her pregnancy. Photo: Getty The flower design is meant for luck. Photo: Getty The plant-based ink is safe for expectant mums and is deemed a symbol of good luck and a blessing for any significant event such as a birth. Meghan dressed down for her tour through the town, opting for a $725 Alice and Olivia tailored long navy blazer, skinny jeans teamed with $160 Birdies slippers and a $120 blanked scarf from Wilfred. Meghan in red At the beginning of the tour, when arriving at Casablanca airport to kick off the three-day visit of Morocco, the duchess once again turned heads in a regal red dress, an outfit that has been put together with much thought. Its believed that pregnant Meghans red caped dress by Valentino was actually paying homage to Moroccos flag. Meghan wore a red caped dress by Valentino to arrive in Morocco [Photo: Getty] She teamed it with her nude pumps and a 1,360 ($2,490 AUD) light pink small vring smooth calfskin crossbody bag, also by Valentino. The duke wore a light grey suit and a patterned tie as he inspected a guard of honour. Meghan and Harry were greeted by the British Ambassador to Morocco, Thomas Reilly and his wife, as they stepped off the commercial flight. Got a story tip? Send it to lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Or sign up to our daily newsletter here. Senator Gringo Honasan Senator Gringo Honasan said Sunday it was of the utmost importance to tell the true story of the February 1986 Revolution to our most precious children, the next generation of citizens, why it happened and what it was for and against. We in the breakaway Reformist RAM, accelerators of historical events, the crucial Military component of People Power, already spoke with decisive action 33 years ago, said Honasan, a former army colonel.Honasan was among the major players in the bloodless EDSA People Power Revolution that toppled the Marcos from power. We will not compete for attention with those who continue to distort facts and history, continue to claim credit and propriety ownership over what rightfully belongs to the Filipino People, Honasan said. He made his statement even as reelectionist Senator Bam Aquino said the People Power of today is Vote Power. Alam kong nakakatakot ngayon, pero kailangan nating ipakita ang ating tapang sa pamamagitan ng ating boto, said Aquino who is running under the Otso Diretso slate. He called on the Filipinos to air their grievances through the ballot in the May elections. Im hoping that, come May, the strength of the public will be shown again, he said.He called on the voters looking for better governance to show their sentiment by selecting the right candidates. He said he was optimistic the voters would elect the senatorial candidates who had the peoples welfare in mind and who would work to uplift the lives of the Filipino families. He said the spirit of EDSA 1 should be rekindled amid the corruption issues hounding the government. He said being part of the opposition was very difficult during these times, but somebody had to put the government in check and make officials accountable for their actions. This is a gargantuan task, but still it ought to be done and somebody has got to do it, Aquino said. He expressed hope the voters would select the senatorial candidates who will work for the peoples welfare and uplift lives of the Filipino families. (Bloomberg) -- Israel hopes to be the first country to land a privately financed spacecraft on the moon as Beresheet -- Hebrew for Genesis -- lifted off aboard one of Elon Musks SpaceX rockets early Friday. The $100 million joint venture between SpaceIL and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. was financed mostly by Jewish philanthropists including Morris Kahn, SpaceILs president and a founder of Amdocs Ltd., and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. The probe ended its ride share on SpaceX after 38 minutes and, if all goes according to plan, will land in the Sea of Tranquility on April 11, the projects leaders said several days before the launch. A successful flight would make Israel just the fourth country to land on the moon. So far only superpowers -- the Soviet Union, U.S. and China -- have made the voyage, with their governments strong financial backing. This is the first mission of a small country to the moon, and a non-governmental effort at that, SpaceIL Chief Executive Officer Ido Anteby told reporters near Tel Aviv. The whole world is watching because its clear to everyone that it opens a new horizon in commercial launches to the moon. Hundreds of people, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, gathered at IAI headquarters to watch a live feed of the launch from Florida at 3:45 a.m. Israel time. President Reuven Rivlin hosted a pajama party with schoolchildren, hoping the lunar mission will galvanize science education in Israel the way the Apollo space program did in the U.S. decades earlier. Previous Tragedies Israels prior experience in space has been tinged with tragedy: The countrys first astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon, died in the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, and an Israeli-made satellite that was set to go into orbit in 2016 aboard a SpaceX rocket blew up during a failed launch test. Beresheets founders are banking on a better outcome. Their vehicle, which weighs 350 pounds (160 kilograms) without fuel, would be the smallest ever to make a lunar landing. Anteby said it will carry equipment to measure the moons magnetic field, but exposure to the sun will render the equipment unusable after just a few days; the craft ultimately will be abandoned between the remains of Apollos 15 and 17. Story continues Beresheet also will carry a capsule with information on Israel and the Jewish people, and a complete Bible inscribed on a coin the size of a U.S. quarter. Start-Up Chutzpah SpaceILs founding was typical of Start-Up Nation: A group of friends hatched the project over drinks at a Tel Aviv-area bar in response to a Google technology competition with a $20 million prize, co-founder Yonatan Winetraub said. When the contest ended with no winner, the partners decided to seek other sponsors rather than give up the quest. To save size and money, Beresheets designers decided to skip the kind of backup systems for power, communications and the like that are standard on most spacecraft. That leaves no margin for error if any key system fails. Im not sure chutzpah -- Yiddish for audacity -- wouldnt have been a better name than Beresheet, said Opher Doron, general manager of IAIs space division. How much chutzpah is it to get to the moon with $100 million? (Updates first paragraph to note that the launch occurred.) To contact the reporter on this story: Michael S. Arnold in Tel Aviv at marnold48@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Riad Hamade at rhamade@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Mark Williams For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Murad Ebrahims life as the Philippines top Muslim rebel led him into fierce jungle combat and to meet with Osama bin Laden, but a very different challenge now awaits him: Governing. Murad has been tapped to lead the majority-Catholic nations brand new territory in the restive south, where Muslims have won new powers and an influx of cash in a push for peace. After decades as a rebel, Murad will need to become a bureaucrat and complete complex projects as chief minister of the body that will steer the new Bangsamoro region until the elections in 2022. We also see the difficult challenge we will be facing ahead. To us, the struggle is not yet over, the 70-year-old Murad told AFP. This is only another level of the struggle. Once a feared commander, Murad is chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which signed a landmark pact with the government in 2014 to end a separatist insurgency that has killed some 150,000 people since the 1970s. That deal led to the creation of the Bangsamoro, which is based in Mindanao and was overwhelmingly approved in a January vote. The MILF is the largest of several rebel groups fighting for independence or autonomy in Mindanao, the ancestral home of the nations roughly six million-strong Muslim minority. The rebels and the government hope the new region, which is getting an influx of cash, will be able to bring sorely needed development to the violence-plagued area. The son of an Islamic preacher, Murad was orphaned early on as he lost his mother when he was only one and his father at 13. He studied civil engineering at the Catholic-run Notre Dame University in southern Cotabato city, where he learned fluent English. But in his senior year, he dropped out to join an underground movement that he said defended Muslims targeted by Christian paramilitary groups and security forces under former President Ferdinand Marcos. He joined the armed struggle first with the rebel group Moro National Liberation Front, but internal differences led him and Cairo-trained scholar Salamat Hashim to split and form the MILF. In the 1980s Murad said he was in Afghanistan to visit the Filipino rebels who joined the anti-Soviet forces, but he denied fighting alongside them. It was there where he met the future Al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. Osama bin Laden was very soft spoken. I did not think he would eventually be declared a world enemy because he was a very refined person, Murad told AFP.Murad became the MILFs military chief, known as a calm but sharp tactician. He led a difficult life in jungles and marshlands, with his two sons born at the height of the fighting. During his years as commander, Murad led battles not from afar but joined his men at the frontlines, said presidential peace adviser and former military chief Carlito Galvez. We did not see him committing any abuses, Galvez told AFP. He fought not because of an urge to kill. He saw that fighting is not between people but between ideologies, to correct an injustice. After Salamats death in 2003, Murad took over as leader and earned the respect of colleagues for building consensus, observers said. He is the best, if not the only real choice [for Bangsamoro chief minister], former Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita Deles told AFP. He has never been one to think power is all his. Security experts say Murad and the MILF will be hard-pressed to govern for the first time while facing threats from pro-Islamic State groups in Mindanao. Murad will also have to deal with resentment from the families of civilians and soldiers killed or affected by previous battles, according to Julkipli Wadi, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of the Philippines. Murad should extend a hand of reconciliation even to [non-Muslims] so he would be able to extract himself from the ghosts of the past, Wadi told AFP. He is walking a tightrope where he has to juggle a lot of sensitive issues. But the guerrilla leader has lived through too many wars to give up. For Murad, his nine grandchildren are a reminder that there is no alternative to peace. I never had a normal life. My dream is for them to experience and enjoy it, he said. Home | World | Africa | Zimondi ignores 'traitorous' prison officer's appeal Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) Commissioner-General Paradzai Zimondi is yet to respond to the appeal of Chiredzi-based prison officer, John Mahlabera who was convicted and dismissed from the service on November 05, 2018, for allegedly undermining President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Twitter. Mahlabera, who is being represented by Collen Maboke of Ruvengo Maboke and Company, appealed the verdict passed by the ZPCS trial board but has not received any response from Zimondi. Maboke confirmed writing to Zimondi but has said he was now starting to doubt the appeal will be responded to considering the time which has passed. "We successfully filed an appeal with the ZPCS Commissioner General on November 06, 2018, but up to now we haven't received any form of response from him and we doubt if he is going to respond," said Maboke. In his appeal, Mahlabera seeks wants Zimondi to overturn his conviction, or to get another punishment which will allow him to go back to work. "If the conviction fails to be overturned, Applicant prays that the sentence of dismissal be reversed and replaced with a sentence of a severe reprimand," reads part of the appeal. The prison officer hogged the limelight in the run up to the July 30 harmonized elections when he allegedly wrote on his Twitter account, "Come to Chiredzi my President" in response to a tweet on Chamisa's massive rally at Jerera gowth point in Zaka. Chamisa latter went to Chiredzi for a rally, at which he called Mahlabera onto the podium and defended his right to free speech, criticizing authorities for persecuting him. The opposition leader also said Mahlabera was free to join his security team if he felt unwanted by the ZPCS. Mahlabera was first charged for contravening Section 3(1) or alternatively 3(46) of the Prison Staff Discipline Regulation of 1984. On the second count, he was charged for contravening Section 3(46) of Prisons (Staff)(Disciplinary) Regulations 1984 for being guilty of any other act, conduct, disorder or neglect of duty to the prejudice of good conduct or discipline as read with section 19(a-g) of Staff General Regulations 1968. He was found guilty on both charges and was therefore convicted and was dismissed from his job as a prison officer. Mahlabera is not the only security in Masvingo to be tried for allegedly supporting Nelson Chamisa, with Constable Tobias Banda being tried by the police for undermining President Mnangagwa on August 07, 2018, at Phoenix Bar Canteen in the presence of Assistant Commissioner Crispen Makedenge and Assistant Inspector Edmos Saranavo. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | News | General | See how Buhari relaxes in his farm ahead of 2019 election results (Photos) As Nigerians await with heightened expectation the result of the just concluded Saturday general elections, the personal assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, shared some very lovely pictures of the president on twitter. The pictures show Buhari in a relaxing mood on his farm in his hometown, Daura, Katsina state. READ ALSO: Live updates: Situation reports and collation of results across the country - Day 2 Ahamd said the president is having a good time on his farm as he follows updates on the elections. The president also said he is pleased with his administration's achievement in the agricultural sector as his government has helped in the local production of fertilizers, finiancing farmers and providing incentives. Buhari taking a relaxing walk through his farm. Photo Credit: Twitter/BAshir Ahmad Source: Twitter Buhari inspecting farm as he walked around. Photo Credit: Twitter/Bashir Ahmad Source: Twitter Buhari in a relaxed mood as he inspected his farm. Photo credit: Twitter/Bashir Ahmad Source: Twitter Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the chairman of the central working committee, women and youth campaign team of APC presidential campaign council, Brig Gen Buba Marwa (rtd), expressed optimism that President Buharis victory is certain in the presidential election. Marwa has also alleged that the opposition is planning to manipulate results in the southeast and south-south parts of the country. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! Vice President Yemi Osinbajo casts his vote, boasts of APC victory | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Ekiti the first state in federation to complete collation - INEC chairman hails - INEC said Ekiti is the first state in the federation to complete the collation of result - INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu made this known while issuing fresh update on the state of the election result - Yakubu also shed more light on report of non-use of card readers by electoral officers for some genuine PVC holders The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Yakubu Mahmood, has said that the results from the presidential and National Assembly results conducted in Ekiti state is on its way to the national collation centre in Abuja. Mahmood, while speaking at a briefing in Abuja on Sunday, February 24, said Ekiti is the first state that has been able to conclude its voting and collation process. Also announcing that the national collation centre for Saturdays election will be opened by 6pm on Sunday, February 24, Mahmood said the returning officer of the state is currently headed to Abuja with the results from Ekiti state. READ ALSO: Follow Live updates: Situation reports and collation of results across the country - Day 2 He said: As I speak, I must let you know that Ekiti state has concluded with the collation of result and that the states returning officer is on his way to Abuja with the presidential result from Ekiti state. Addressing the reports on the non-use of card readers by electoral officers for some genuine PVC holders, who their names did not appear on the register in some state, Mahmood said the commission had been confronted which such issues in the past and made provision for it in its draft of regulations and guidelines to allow such voters exercise their civic right. He, however, noted that the draft of the commission on the matter was rejected on the ground that it will encourage voting based on mere identification by officials. He said: ''We have also received reports of voters who presented genuine PVCs read by the smart card readers but we're not allowed to vote because their names were not on the register of voters. ''We have been confronted by such a situation in one of the off-season elections conducted by the commission, for this reason we made a clear provision in our draft guidelines and regulations to allow such voters to vote. ''However, when the draft was discussed with stakeholders, the clause was rejected on the ground that it will encourage voting by identify theft, we had to drop it.'' PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was reportedly set to declare the results of the presidential and National Assembly elections held in Kwara state on Saturday, February 23. Emerging report claimed that the commission's officials were set on ground to make the official announcement. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better Elections 2019: Abuja votes, displays massive turnout at Jabi Sharki | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Live updates: Situation reports and collation of results across the country - Day 2 19:38 PM 249953 views by Omotayo Yusuf Eromosele Ebhomele It is the second day of the 2019 general election which involves the Presidential, senate and House of Representatives voting. Voting took place on Saturday, February 23 across polling units in the country although some of them started late. The election was largely peaceful although their were reports of violence in some parts of Rivers, Bayelsa and Lagos. In rivers state, it was reported that 15 people were killed. In Bayelsa state, 15 political thugs were arrested by security operatives while in Lagos, there were reports of voters' intimidation and burning of ballot boxes and papers. The presidential election has largely been seen as a two-horse race between President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party. Collation of result at the ward and local government has began in some states. Legit.ng provided live update of the voting incidents across the country here. Remember to refresh the page for new updates Senatorial collation centre, Mapo Hall, Owo, Ondo state. Senatorial collation centre, Mapo Hall, Owo, Ondo state. Ipele Ward 7 Senate No of registered voters - 13,800 No of Accredited voters- 4720 AA - 1750 AAC - 387 ADP - 266 APC - 824 PDP - 1224 TOTAL Votes - 4702 Total valid votes - 4501 Rejected votes - 201 Presidential election results of Ado-Ekiti LG, Ekiti, Ekiti Central Senatorial District A- 11 AA- 07 AAC- 148 AAB- 43 ABP- 43 ACD- 28 ACBN- 36 ADC- 97 APP- 39 AGA- 05 AGAP- 05 APC- 34929 APGA- 12 APN- 02 APP- 05 DPC- 47 FRESH- 04 FJP- 17 GDPN- 73 PDP- 20112 GPN- 05 Total No of registered voters - 165994 No of accredited voters - 60277 Total Valid votes- 56914 Rejected votes - 2768 Total votes - 59682 Moba local government, Ekiti (11 wards) House of Reps Otun I APC-1598 PDP-1191 Otun II APC-1652 PDP-765 Otun III APC-1187 PDP-590 Igogo I APC-1090 PDP-319 Igogo II APC-1828 PDP-1046 Erinmope I APC-658 PDP-534 Erinmope II APC-919 PDP-428 Ikun I APC-919 PDP-427 Ikun II APC-598 PDP-976 Otun APC-1447 PDP-980 Osan APC-875 PDP-879 Okpuno Awka South, Anambra Central Presidential ADP-1 AGAP-1 APA-1 APC-72 APDA-2 APGA-56 DPP-2 GDPN-1 NPM-1 NAC-8 NPC-1 PCP-15 PDP-2537 PPA-3 SDP-13 YPP-8 Registered voters - 13695 Accredited -2800 Total Valid -2722 Rejected-62 Total votes cast-2784 Ondo Central Senatorial District Collation Centre, Akure South LG Ward 11 Presidential ANRP - 01 APA - 05 APC - 2538 APGA - 04 APM - 01 LP - 22 PDP - 3802 PPA - 05 PPC - 05 Total Valid Vote - 6726 Total Rejected votes- 510 Total Votes - 7236 Waduku ward 10, Lamurde LGA Adamawa state Presidential results APC 1021 PDP 1968 Senate APC 1194 PDP 1814 House of Reps APC 1130 PDP 1856 However, at the Sokoto state collation centre which is located at the Sultan Maccido Institute, Sokoto, collation has not started Sokoto collation centre. Credit: Twitter, Premium Times Source: Twitter Waduku ward 10, Lamurde LGA Adamawa state Presidential results APC 1021 PDP 1968 Senate APC 1194 PDP 1814 House of Reps APC 1130 PDP 1856 Katuzu Ward Zone C, Bade LGA, Yobe State. President APC 2820 PDP 213 Senate: APC 2161 PDP 963 House of Reps APC 1836 PDP 1284 Sarki Hausawa Presidential: APC 3469 PDP 251 Senate APC 2026 PDP 1816 Reps APC 1925 PDP 1958 Zango Nusa/Zango Unaru Ward Bade L.G.A Yobe state Presidential election APC 5454 PDP 248 SENATE APC 4127 PDP 1512 REPS APC 4087 PDP 1582 Saki West LGA, Oyo North Senatorial District, Oyo State. AAC 158 ADC 7261 ADP 1549 APC 14331 PDP 10905 Total valid votes 34959 Rejected votes 1904 Total vote cast 36863 Number of registered voters 110812 GWOI KURA WARD BADE L.G.A YOBE STATE ZONE C Registered voters- 6485 Accredited voters - 3009 Total no votes -2646 Rejected votes- 235 Total votes cast-2881 Kano south collation center Rano LGA Lausu ward PU 08 Reg. 5366 Accredited 2247 President APC 1615 PDP 526 Senate PDP 717 APC 1414 Valid votes 2171 Rejected votes 51 Total votes cast 2222 House of Reps PDP 647 APC 1500 Valid vote 2176 Rejected vote 60 Total valid cast 2236 Collated results for Ekiti South Senatorial District, Ikere LGA. Senatorial results Number of Reg. Voters - 61615 Accredited votes - 28125 ADC - 121 APC - 14937 ASD - 21 DA - 10 LP - 09 NAC - 08 NPC - 39 PDP - 12141 PPN - 08 Presidential results in Bolewa B where the APC Senatorial Candidate Ibrahim Muhammad Bomai voted Presidential Results APC: 10,775 PDP: 595 Senatorial Results APC: 6,576 PDP: 4,722 Reps APC: 6,444 PDP: 384 Total Vote: 25,129 Accredited Voters: 12,435 Kano south collation center Rano LGA Rano Central ward No. Polling unit 18 President APC 4199 PDP 826 Total valid vote 5128 Rejected vote 214 Total Valid Vote cast 5342 Kano collation centre. Credit: Twitter, Premium Times Source: Twitter Senate PDP 1814 APC 3066 Total valid vote 5052 Rejected vote 265 Total vote cast 5317 House of Reps PDP 1622 APC 3402 Total valid vote 5150 Rejected vote 184 Total valid cast 5334 Reg. Voters 14339 Accredited voters 5598 Takatuku/Madorawa, 11 Bodinga LGA Senatorial District Sokoto South Senate PDP: 1548 APC: 1047 Total valid vote : 2616 Rejected : 155 Total vote cast: 2771 Total no of registered voters: 4853 Total no of accredited voters: 2791 Kano south collation center Rano LGA Zurgu ward No. Polling unit 13 President APC 1854 PDP 575 Total valid vote 2655 Rejected vote 54 Total Valid Vote cast 2709 Senate PDP 1036 APC 1867 Reg. Voters 7069 Accredited voters 2841 Total valid vote 2891 Rejected vote 100 Total vote cast 2991 House of Reps PDP 944 APC 1793 Total valid vote 2778 R Rejected vote 71 Total valid cast 2849 Atisbo LGA, Oyo north senatorial District, Oyo state Constituency collation for House of Reps AAC 34 ADC 1197 ADP 758 APC 7766 PDP 7976 Total valid votes 18173 Rejected votes 661 Total vote cast 18834 Number of registered voters 54401 Okoja Ward A Results Presidential No of reg voters - 49374 No of accredited voters - 14590 Total votes cast - 14590 Total valid votes - 11568 Rejected votes - 1840 APC: 4021 PDP: 8300 Ayedire local government, Osun West senatorial district. Senatorial Result ACPN. 3 ADC. 62 ADP. 2815 APC. 7082 PDP. 6278 Total Registered voters. 32 315 Accredited voters 16,505 Total Valid votes 16325 Rejected votes 157 Total votes 16482 Ward: Mazan Gari/Jirga Miyo, 03 Bodinga LGA Sokoto South Registered voters: 9776 Accredited voters: 5101 Presidential APC:2997 PDP:1562 Total valid votes: 4721 Rejected:380 Total vote cast: 5101 DAGONA WARD BADE L.G.A YOBE STATE ZONE C SENATORIAL DISTRICT PRESIDENTIAL APC 2951 PDP 457 SENATE APC 2327 PDP 1259 REPS APC 2051 PDP 1490 Polling Ward Of PDP Senatorial Candidate. Sen. Muhammed Hassan Donbo, the current Senator of Yobe South Senatorial District. Yobe State, Potiskum Local Govt 17 PU. Presidential Results Registered Voters - 25,125 Accredited Voters - 11,401 APC:9,722 PDP:511 Valid votes - 10,360 Rejected - 255 Votes casted - 10,615 Senatorial Results Registers Voters - 25,125 Accredited Voters - 11,142 APC - 3,688 PDP:6,422 Valid votes - 10,309 Rejected votes - 315 Votes Casted - 10,624 Epe Federal constituency Lagos east Presidential result APC - 17710 PDP - 13505 Accredited voters - 33905 Ondo State Idanre Local Government Senate Result AD - 369 APC - 5,554 PDP - 11, 598 SDP - 3, 582 Total Valid Vote - 26, 804 Rejected Votes - 1,422 Total Vote cast - 28,226 Registered voters - 82, 446 Accredited voters - 28, 346 It was reported that rain affected some electoral materials in Lagos central senatorial district. Electoral materials affected by rain at Lagos central senatorial district. Credit: Twitter, Premium Times Source: Twitter General Election Results of Ayedire /olaoluwa /Iwo federal Constituency Ayedire local government APC - 7443 ADP -1768 PDP -6339 Olaoluwa local government APC - 7805 ADP - 2822 PDP - 4500 Iwo local government APC - 13981 ADP - 12418 PDP -10768 Tulluwa/Kulafasa, 07 Bodinga LGA Senatorial District Sokoto South Total no of registered voters: 7049 Accredited voters: 3720 Presidential APC - 1941 PDP - 1492 Total valid votes - 3527 Rejected:132 total vote cast: 3659 Senatorial District - Kano central LGA- Kano Municipal Ward- Zaitawa Presidential APC 3809 PDP 1213 Senatorial APC 2826 PDP 1900 House of Reps APC 2608 PDP 1841 Sabon Layi Ward, Mubi North Local Government Area, Adamawa state Results Presidential APC 7033 PDP 655 Bangi/ Dabaga, 09 Bodinga LGA Senatorial District Sokoto South Total no of registered voters: 6972 House of Representatives PDP - 1691 APC - 1141 APGA - 4 Total valid votes - 2886 Rejected - 117 Total vote cast - 3003 Yobe State Yobe South Senatorial District Ward: Yerimaram 11 PUs LG: Potiskum Presidential Results Registered Voters - 15,563 Accredited Voters - 6,800 APC - 6,083 PDP - 285 Valid vote - ,472 Rejected - 309 Senatorial Results APC - 1,727 PDP - 4634 Ogun East SD Ijebu Ode LGA Presidential APC 12250 PDP 7253 Valid votes - 21468 Rejected votes 995 Votes cast 22463 Ogun East SD IJEBU ODE LGA Senatorial APC 10864 PDP 6541 Reg Voters 79865 Accredited Voters 22973 Valid Votes 21715 Rejected Votes 850 Votes Cast 22565 Ogun East SD IJEBU ODE LGA HOUSE OF REPS APC 10806 PDP 7488 ADC 1058 ADP 1086 APM 111 REG VOTERS 79479 VALID VOTES 22123 REJECTED VOTES 798 VOTES CAST 22921 Saraki loses one of four local government Bukola Saraki, the Nigerias Senate president has reportedly lost one of the four local governments in the Kwara central senatorial district in Saturday, February 23, National Assembly elections. Saraki loses second LGA Senate president, Bukola Saraki lost the Kwara: Ilorin east LGA, Kwara central Senatorial election Oloriegbe (APC): 30014 Saraki (PDP) 14654 INEC chairman, Yakubu Mahmood holds first briefing since presidential and National Assembly elections Mahmood says the commission is happy about the general peaceful election He however said that the INEC has reviewed reports and situations across the country and have responded to late arrival of voting materials by extending the lost time to allow voters exercise their rights He acknowledges that there were glitches with the use of the smart card readers but added that these glitches were rectified. He added that preliminary reports are being received as the commission is monitoring Rivers state particularly, Bonny Island. Mahmood acknowledged that there were intimidation of voters in Lagos especially Okota. He announced the death of an INEC election official who was hit by a stray bullet in Rivers state. Praying, he said: "May her soul rest in peace." In Imo state, one of our officials who found wanting in an electoral commission and he has been handed over the police for prosecution," he said. Mahmood Yakubu giving a briefing on the election. Credit: Legit.ng, Nnenna Ibe Source: Original He also added that the situation room would be opened for international and local observers until the end of the collation and final announcement of results. While the national collation centre will be declared open at 6pm "As I speak, I must let you know that Ekiti state had concluded with the collation of result and the State commissioner is already on his way to Abuja with the presidential result from Ekiti state," Mahmood said. Jigawa State, South West, Dutse LGA Result Collation WARD DUNDUBUS Registered Voters 6899 Accredited Voters 3260 Votes Cast 3085 Invalid 174 PRESIDENTIAL APC 2410 PDP 494 Senatorial APC 2134 PDP 870 House of Reps APC 2182 PDP 789 Ekiti Local government Kwara State Total Valid Votes: 12400 Rejected votes: 392 Total votes cast: 12792 Total registered voters: 36651 Accredited voters- 12829 Presidential result A- 02 APC- 15976 PDP - 10705 Presidential election results released in Kwara In Oyun local government APC scored 11,051 PDP scored 4,904. Oke-Ero local government area APC 6,079 PDP 6,242 Ekiti local government area APC 6,662 PDP 5,397 Asa local government area APC 15,976 PDP got 10,705 Irepodun local government APC 14,395 PDP 10,232. Mooro local government area APC 17,534 PDP 7,598 Ilorin East local government area APC 31,039 PDP 12,820. Ekweremadu, PDP sweep National Assembly polls in Awgu, Enugu The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the National Assembly polls in Awgu local government area of Enugu state. The INEC returning officer in the council, Prof Emmanuel Eze, said the PDP polled 18, 879 votes while the All Progressives Congress (APC) got 2,710 for Enugu West senatorial seat. For the House of Representatives, he said the PDP polled 18, 958 while the APC with 2,817 votes and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), 1,335 votes. He added that that the valid votes cast were 23,607 out of the total 24,442 registered voters with 840 void votes. The battle is between the deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP, and Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu, former special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on justice reform for the APC. Toby Okechukwu, a two-term House of Representatives member, is contesting with boradcaster, Obiora Ilo of the African Independent Television (AIT) for the APC for Awgu/Aninri/Oji River federal constituency. Former Lagos commissioner Bamidele wins Ekiti Senate seat for APC Opeyemi BamideleA former commissioner in Lagos, who later became a member of the House of Representatives in Ekiti, has won a seat in Ekiti for the Senate on the platform of the All Progressives Congress. It was learnt that Bamidele 94,279 votes against Barr Obafemi Adewale, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, who polled a total of 46, 707 votes. Some presidential election results released in Kano In Kano: Presidential election result Kunchi LGA PDP: 4,937 APC: 21,556 Makoda LGA PDP: 3,234 APC: 24,749 Shanono LGA PDP: 8,182 APC: 24,232 Garun Malam LGA PDP: 4,861 APC: 23,810 Sumaila LGA PDP: 34,609 APC: 4,904 Buhari wins in Adamawa as first local government is result is announced The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has won the first local government declared in Adamawa state. The result of the election in the local government area showed: Buhari of the APC - 17, 765 Atiku Abubakar of the PDP - 14, 673. The INEC declared that 34,628 votes were cast. The total number of invalid votes - 1,373 PDP candidate wins Ilaje/Ese-Odo federal constituency in Ondo Victor Kolade Akinjo, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the House of Representatives in Ilaje/Ese-Odo federal constituency has defeated his APC rival, Donald Ojogo. PDP scored 32,082 votes PDP scored 20,603 votes. The result was declared by Prof Johnson Fatimirin, INECs returning officer for the constituency in Igbokoda. Akwa Ibom speaker Onofiok defeats APC rival for House of Reps Speaker Luke Onofiok, the speaker of the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly, has defeated the candidate of the House of Representatives, Dan Akpan for the Etinan federal constituency. As announced by the returning officer, Prof Isongesit Solomon: Luke polled 44,830 votes Akpan polled 15,800 votes. Luke, while commending his supporters, said: I will justify the confidence reposed in me by the masses. PDP clears Governor Emmanuels local government in Akwa Ibom THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the presidential, senatorial and House of Representatives election in Onna local government area of Akwa Ibom state, home area of Governor Udom Emmanuel. PRESIDENTIAL PDP - 23, 834 votes APC - 678 votes. SENATE Akwa Ibom south Senate seat (Eket Senatorial district) Akon Eyakenyi of the PDP - 24,157 votes Senator Nelson Asuquo Effiong of the APC - 673. House of Representatives seat Pat Ifon of the PDP scored 24, 317 APC scored only 581 votes. Governor Ajimobi defeated in 4 local governments Governor Abiola Ajimobi, who is currently battling for the Oyo South senatorial district on the platform of the APC, has lost four local government areas. The local governments were won by the candidate of the PDP, Kola Balogun. INEC officials preparing for the presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday, February 23 Source: Original Ibadan Northwest local government APC - 8,916 votes PDP - 12,144 votes. Ibarapa North APC - 5,837 PDP - 8,083 Ibarapa East APC - 6,951. PDP - 9,982. Ibadan North local government APC - 17,946. PDP - 18,690. Source: Legit.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and receive a $20 prize! Today well look at The New Zealand Refining Company Limited (NZSE:NZR) and reflect on its potential as an investment. Specifically, well consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), since that will give us an insight into how efficiently the business can generate profits from the capital it requires. First up, well look at what ROCE is and how we calculate it. Second, well look at its ROCE compared to similar companies. Then well determine how its current liabilities are affecting its ROCE. What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)? ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. In general, businesses with a higher ROCE are usually better quality. Overall, it is a valuable metric that has its flaws. Author Edwin Whiting says to be careful when comparing the ROCE of different businesses, since No two businesses are exactly alike. How Do You Calculate Return On Capital Employed? Analysts use this formula to calculate return on capital employed: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets Current Liabilities) Or for New Zealand Refining: 0.047 = NZ$56m (NZ$1.4b NZ$214m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2018.) So, New Zealand Refining has an ROCE of 4.7%. See our latest analysis for New Zealand Refining Is New Zealand Refinings ROCE Good? ROCE is commonly used for comparing the performance of similar businesses. In this analysis, New Zealand Refinings ROCE appears meaningfully below the 7.3% average reported by the Oil and Gas industry. This performance could be negative if sustained, as it suggests the business may underperform its industry. Regardless of how New Zealand Refining stacks up against its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms is quite low (especially compared to a bank account). It is likely that there are more attractive prospects out there. Story continues As we can see, New Zealand Refining currently has an ROCE of 4.7%, less than the 19% it reported 3 years ago. So investors might consider if it has had issues recently. NZSE:NZR Past Revenue and Net Income, February 24th 2019 Remember that this metric is backwards looking it shows what has happened in the past, and does not accurately predict the future. ROCE can be misleading for companies in cyclical industries, with returns looking impressive during the boom times, but very weak during the busts. This is because ROCE only looks at one year, instead of considering returns across a whole cycle. Given the industry it operates in, New Zealand Refining could be considered cyclical. What happens in the future is pretty important for investors, so we have prepared a free report on analyst forecasts for New Zealand Refining. How New Zealand Refinings Current Liabilities Impact Its ROCE Current liabilities are short term bills and invoices that need to be paid in 12 months or less. Due to the way the ROCE equation works, having large bills due in the near term can make it look as though a company has less capital employed, and thus a higher ROCE than usual. To check the impact of this, we calculate if a company has high current liabilities relative to its total assets. New Zealand Refining has total assets of NZ$1.4b and current liabilities of NZ$214m. As a result, its current liabilities are equal to approximately 15% of its total assets. With a very reasonable level of current liabilities, so the impact on ROCE is fairly minimal. Our Take On New Zealand Refinings ROCE New Zealand Refining has a poor ROCE, and there may be better investment prospects out there. Of course you might be able to find a better stock than New Zealand Refining. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. A federal judge in Texas has declared that an all-male military draft is unconstitutional, ruling that "the time has passed" for a debate on whether women belong in the military. The decision deals the biggest legal blow to the Selective Service System since the Supreme Court upheld the draft registration process in 1981. In Rostker v. Goldberg, the court ruled that a male-only draft was "fully justified" because women were ineligible for combat roles. But U.S. District Judge Gray Miller ruled late Friday that while historical restrictions on women serving in combat "may have justified past discrimination," men and women are now equally able to fight. In 2015, the Pentagon lifted all restrictions for women in military service. More: Q&A: A judge has ruled the male-only military draft unconstitutional. What happens now? The case was brought by the National Coalition For Men, a men's rights group, and two men who argued an all-male draft was unfair. Men who fail to register with the Selective Service System at their 18th birthday can be denied public benefits such as federal employment and student loans. Women cannot register for Selective Service. The ruling comes as an 11-member commission is studying the future of the Selective Service System, including whether women should be included or whether there should continue to be draft registration at all. The U.S. has maintained an all-volunteer military after the draft was discontinued in 1973, but the Selective Service System was reactivated in 1980 as a contingency in case military conscription becomes necessary again. A female soldier mans a machine gun on a vehicle during clashes in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in 2003. On Friday, a federal judge in Texas ruled that now that combat roles are available to women, a male-only draft is unconstitutional. The National Commission on Military, National and Public Service released an interim report last month giving no hints on where it would come down on those questions. But, commission chairman Joe Heck told USA TODAY, "I dont think we will remain with the status quo." More: Should women be required to register for the draft? Commission likely to recommend big changes Story continues The government had argued that the court should delay its ruling until that commission makes its recommendations. But Miller said Congress has been debating the issue since 1980, and the commission's final report won't come until next year. And because the commission is advisory, there's no guarantee Congress will act, he said. Miller said Congress has never fully examined whether men are physically better able to serve than women. In fact, he noted in a footnote, "the average woman could conceivably be better suited physically for some of today's combat positions than the average man, depending on which skills the position required. Combat roles no longer uniformly require sheer size or muscle." Quoting the Supreme Court's ruling overturning bans on same-sex marriage, Miller ruled that restrictions based on gender "must substantially serve an important governmental interest today." The judge denied the government's request for a stay of the ruling. Justice Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the ruling came in the form of a declaratory judgment and not an injunction, meaning the court didn't specifically order the government how to change Selective Service to make it constitutional. "Yes, to some extent this is symbolic, but it does have some real-world impact," said Marc Angelucci, the lawyer for the men challenging the Selective Service System. "Either they need to get rid of the draft registration, or they need to require women to do the same thing that men do." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: With women in combat roles, a federal court rules male-only draft unconstitutional Satellites make much of modern warfare possible, through GPS systems, wireless communications and sophisticated weather forecasting. This makes them tempting military targets. The U.S. Air Force has been responsible for defending American satellites and spacecraft. President Donald Trump said in 2018 that the perils required a new military branch, an idea that came to be known as the Space Force. The idea was popular with crowds at the presidents rallies, but not with Pentagon officials or many in Congress. After months of debate, Trump signed an order creating a more modest Space Force that would sit within the Air Force, similar to how the Marine Corps sits within the Navy. 1. What would a Space Force do? In a report to Congress released in 2018, the Department of Defense laid out a plan to build a new force to defend U.S. interests in space with aggressive offensive capabilities. This would include systems that could degrade, deny, disrupt, destroy, and manipulate adversary capabilities. The force would hold joint space training and military exercises with U.S. allies. 2. Is there a true military threat in space? Yes, but not in the Hollywood sense of alien invaders attacking lower Manhattan. The main threat is the ability to disable or destroy an adversarys satellites from the ground. In 2007, China first used a ballistic missile to destroy its own old weather satellite orbiting 535 miles (861 km) above Earth; Russia has been testing a missile that could be used to strike and destroy a satellite or ballistic missile. Its likely that other nations wont be far behind. If you destroy a spy satellite, the flow of real-time intelligence from a particular spot in China or Iran could stop. A communications satellite thats jammed from the ground could mean ground troops suddenly find themselves operating blindly. And because existing international treaties governing space are unclear, even civilian satellites could be targeted by nations looking to contain or punish their enemies. Story continues 3. How would the new force defend space? The U.S. military was already working on systems to protect satellites from threats like jamming and destruction by kinetic objects, such as missiles or other satellites. And theres a top-secret Air Force aircraft, the X-37B, which has orbited Earth for expanded periods; its missions are unknown. In a speech on Aug. 9, Vice President Mike Pence said American should have dominance in space. A Space Force could mean bigger research and development budgets. Some in Congress have called for weapons that could destroy ballistic missiles from space. On a more workaday level, the Space Force would likely take over the job, now performed elsewhere in the Air Force, of tracking the worlds active satellites to make sure they dont collide with one another or with space debris and to notify owners to reposition their satellites if theres a possibility of impact. 4. Can the U.S. put weapons in space? Yes. The 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty, which bans weapons of mass destruction in space, prohibited orbiting nuclear weapons. But it didnt prohibit other weapons. In an interview with Bloomberg in October, the head of the Air Force Space Command, General John W. Jay Raymond, said that our goal is not to have conflict in space. But, he added, space is a war-fighting domain and we need to treat it as such. 5. How would the force get started? Congress would need to authorize it first, something it declined to do last year. Trump now has directed the Defense Department to send a legislative proposal to Capitol Hill that would establish Space Force as a sixth military service branch within the Department of the Air Force, something thats seen as a politically easier step. The proposal also calls for a Space Force chief of staff who would be a member of the Joint Chiefs and confirmed by the Senate. 6. How much would it cost? Congress will decide that as part of the budget process. When he made his pitch for an independent Space Force, Trump called on Congress to allocate $8 billion over the next five years for space security systems. But the administration may request just $100 million of new funding in its fiscal 2020 budget next month, a senior administration official said. The Air Force now gets more than $11 billion for its space programs the bulk of the Defense Departments unclassified national security space programs, according to the Pentagons fiscal 2019 budget request. 7. Was the Space Force Trumps idea? No, though he was the first president to publicly call for a separate military branch for space. The debate over space militarization dates to at least the Cold War, when the U.S. and Soviet Union first realized that controlling space could give them an edge in a conflict. In 1982, the investigative arm of Congress urged the creation of an aerospace force or space force to develop laser battle stations in space that could defend against a Soviet ballistic missile attack. The following year, President Ronald Reagan called for such a system, the Strategic Defense Initiative, which critics nicknamed Star Wars. (It never advanced beyond the research phase; its successor, the Missile Defense Agency, uses Earth-based systems like Thaad to destroy missiles at high altitudes.) In early 2001, a commission led by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld concluded that the U.S. wasnt prepared to defend its enormous dependence on satellites. In 2017, House of Representatives members led by Representative Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican, began pushing for a new space corps. 8. What was the argument for taking it from the Air Force? The argument for a new military arm rested on the notion that Air Force brass focus their budgets and priorities on conventional air superiority, and manage space as only an ancillary theater of conflict. But the Air Force considers space defense as one of its core missions and has had a Space Command since 1982. Air Force officials and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis argued that setting up a separate space branch would add bureaucratic layers and slow down existing research and programs. An independent Space Force might have led Congress to pare the Air Force budget, or other parts of Pentagon or overall spending, to help pay for the new branch. 9. Do other countries have military space forces? Yes. Russia created its Aerospace Forces in 2015. Chinas space program was always part of its military; in 2015 the Peoples Liberation Army added a Strategic Support Force in part to coordinate all the militarys space-related capabilities. More Electric and Power Corp., a company led by businessman Enrique Razon Jr., asked the Energy Regulatory Commission to issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the operation of the electric distribution system in Iloilo City. More made the request after President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11212 into law, granting More the franchise to operate the Iloilo distribution system. In order to ensure that it has all the legal requirements to operate the distribution facilities in Iloilo City, More respectfully submits that it must have a CPCN from the honorable commission, More said in its application. More said a provisional approval should be secured as there might be a difficulty in getting a final decision amid the heavy caseload handled by the ERC. It said the provisional approval or interim relief would enable it to operate the distribution facilities in Iloilo City and ensure there would be no power interruption in the delivery of electric services to consumers in compliance with the law. Otherwise, applicant More will not be able to legally operate the distribution system in Iloilo City, to the detriment of the continued security of the power supply of the consumers therein, it said. More said it was granted by Congress the right and power of expropriation or eminent domain to take over the distribution assets of Panay Electric Co., whose franchise expired on Jan. 19, 2019. Based on this provision, More shall institute the proper proceedings for the acquisition of the distribution assets in Iloilo City. More will need a CPCN before it can legally operate such assets, it said.The Department of Energy and ERC earlier allowed Peco to continue to serve the power distribution requirements of Iloilo City after its franchise expired. ERC and DOE said Pecos CPCN would be valid until May 25 which served the legal basis in allowing them to continue to operate. Peco corporate affairs manager Mikel Afzelius earlier said the company made a commitment to the city of Iloilo that it would continue to operate although it had not yet secured its franchise renewal. If their [MORE] bill becomes a law, Peco will still continue to operate since More doesnt have any power distribution assets up to now. More can put up their own assets and be a power distribution company if they want, but they should not expropriate Pecos assets because that is already unconstitutional to grab someone elses private property without the two parties agreeing on a valid sale, Afzelius said. Afzelius said that if More tried to expropriate its assets, Peco would exert all legal remedies to protect itself. More again can put up its own facilities and run a power distribution business but they cannot and should not expropriate Pecos assets. The only way they can use Pecos assets if there is a legal sale between Peco and More which to this date there is no agreement between the two parties, he said last month. ERC set the pre-trial conference and presentation of evidence on Mores petition on Wednesday. Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and receive a $20 prize! Today well evaluate China Resources Power Holdings Company Limited (HKG:836) to determine whether it could have potential as an investment idea. Specifically, well consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), since that will give us an insight into how efficiently the business can generate profits from the capital it requires. First of all, well work out how to calculate ROCE. Next, well compare it to others in its industry. Last but not least, well look at what impact its current liabilities have on its ROCE. Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it? ROCE measures the return (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. In general, businesses with a higher ROCE are usually better quality. Overall, it is a valuable metric that has its flaws. Author Edwin Whiting says to be careful when comparing the ROCE of different businesses, since No two businesses are exactly alike. So, How Do We Calculate ROCE? The formula for calculating the return on capital employed is: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets Current Liabilities) Or for China Resources Power Holdings: 0.097 = HK$13b (HK$228b HK$75b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2018.) Therefore, China Resources Power Holdings has an ROCE of 9.7%. Check out our latest analysis for China Resources Power Holdings Is China Resources Power Holdingss ROCE Good? ROCE is commonly used for comparing the performance of similar businesses. Using our data, we find that China Resources Power Holdingss ROCE is meaningfully better than the 6.3% average in the Renewable Energy industry. I think thats good to see, since it implies the company is better than other companies at making the most of its capital. Separate from how China Resources Power Holdings stacks up against its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms is mediocre; relative to the returns on government bonds. Readers may find more attractive investment prospects elsewhere. Story continues China Resources Power Holdingss current ROCE of 9.7% is lower than its ROCE in the past, which was 13%, 3 years ago. So investors might consider if it has had issues recently. SEHK:836 Past Revenue and Net Income, February 24th 2019 When considering this metric, keep in mind that it is backwards looking, and not necessarily predictive. ROCE can be deceptive for cyclical businesses, as returns can look incredible in boom times, and terribly low in downturns. ROCE is only a point-in-time measure. Future performance is what matters, and you can see analyst predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company. What Are Current Liabilities, And How Do They Affect China Resources Power Holdingss ROCE? Liabilities, such as supplier bills and bank overdrafts, are referred to as current liabilities if they need to be paid within 12 months. The ROCE equation subtracts current liabilities from capital employed, so a company with a lot of current liabilities appears to have less capital employed, and a higher ROCE than otherwise. To check the impact of this, we calculate if a company has high current liabilities relative to its total assets. China Resources Power Holdings has total liabilities of HK$75b and total assets of HK$228b. As a result, its current liabilities are equal to approximately 33% of its total assets. China Resources Power Holdingss middling level of current liabilities have the effect of boosting its ROCE a bit. Our Take On China Resources Power Holdingss ROCE Despite this, its ROCE is still mediocre, and you may find more appealing investments elsewhere. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with modest (or no) debt, trading on a P/E below 20. I will like China Resources Power Holdings better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. By Jennifer Ablan, Jonathan Stempel and Trevor Hunnicutt (Reuters) - Warren Buffett is hunting for "an elephant-sized acquisition," but he is not optimistic about getting it done. The billionaire investor wrote in an annual letter to shareholders on Saturday that the prospects of landing a mega-deal for his Berkshire Hathaway Inc conglomerate are "not good," because "prices are sky-high for businesses possessing decent long-term prospects." It is a problem for the Berkshire chairman and chief executive, whose company is sitting on $112 billion in cash and other low-returning assets that it has been struggling to invest for years. "In the years ahead, we hope to move much of our excess liquidity into businesses that Berkshire will permanently own. The immediate prospects for that, however, are not good: Prices are sky-high for businesses possessing decent long-term prospects," Buffett wrote. "That disappointing reality means that 2019 will likely see us again expanding our holdings of marketable equities. We continue, nevertheless, to hope for an elephant-sized acquisition." The prospect of such a deal, "causes my heart ... to beat faster," the 88-year-old investor said. NO ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM But Buffet said he would not get caught short of cash that he could use should market conditions deteriorate. Some of Buffett's transactions over the last decade or so have included complex deals with distressed companies, including in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Buffett's insurance business, meanwhile, collects premiums from businesses and individuals, cash that Buffett and his deputies use to make other investments. But the U.S. stock market has been on a stride since the financial crisis a decade ago, leaving little room for the bargain-hunting value investor to make his mark, much as had been the case for Buffett during the run-up in technology stocks in the 1990s. Story continues Buffett often invests in stocks, such as Apple Inc , when he cannot find whole companies to buy. On Saturday, he said his inability to find a company to buy meant more stock buying is likely in 2019. The Omaha, Nebraska, investor has also been snapping up more shares of his own stock. Berkshire bought back about $1.3 billion of its common stock in 2018, the company said. But Buffett slammed corporate bosses who buy stock back when prices are lofty. Stock buybacks "should be price-sensitive," and "blindly buying an overpriced stock is value-destructive, a fact lost on many promotional or ever-optimistic CEOs," Buffett said in the closely watched letter. Several U.S. lawmakers have proposed restricting share buybacks, saying companies are incurring debt or wasting money to prop up their stock prices, while not making investments in their business or properly paying employees. Companies often argue they are just returning cash they cannot use to shareholders who can put the money to work. (Reporting By Jennifer Ablan, Jonathan Stempel and Trevor Hunnicutt in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci) By Khanh Vu HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese carrier Bamboo Airways will sign a deal with Boeing Co to purchase 10 planes on the sidelines of this week's Trump-Kim summit, an airline executive said on Sunday. The carrier, which is owned by property and leisure company FLC Group and made its first flights in January, placed a provisional order last year for 20 Boeing 787 widebody jets worth $5.6 billion at list prices. "We will sign with Boeing a deal to buy 10 more Boeing 787s. This is different from the deal signed earlier for 20 Boeing planes," said the executive who declined to be named due to the confidentiality of the matter. "That means we will have ordered 30 Boeing 787s. The deal will be signed during the summit," the executive said. "This is a firm order valued at nearly $3 billion," added the executive. Boeing had no immediate comment. Bamboo is currently operating 10 Airbus planes. Bamboo is aiming to open routes to the United States after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration declared Vietnam complied with international aviation standards, in a move that would allow Vietnamese carriers to fly there for the first time and codeshare with U.S. airlines. U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will hold their second summit in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on Feb. 27-28. Bamboo's first 787 is set to arrive in the third quarter of 2020 and the airline is preparing to launch flights to the United States from late 2019 or early 2020 with leased jets unless Boeing can deliver them earlier, Bamboo's chairman Trinh Van Quyet had earlier told Reuters. "Direct flights between Vietnam and the U.S. will not only push tourism activities, but also further facilitate bilateral trade and investment," he said. "We are receiving huge support from Boeing to deploy our flights to the U.S." Rivals Vietnam Airlines JSC and VietJet Aviation JSC also have ambitions to fly to the United States, although the latter carrier has yet to place an order for widebody jets. Story continues VietJet is also expected to sign a major jet deal with Boeing on the sidelines of the Trump-Kim summit, according to sources familiar with the matter. VietJet, while not government-owned, increasingly uses state visits to showcase major plane orders balanced between Boeing and Airbus SE. It signed a deal to buy 100 Boeing 737 MAX narrowbody jets when former U.S. President Barack Obama visited Hanoi in 2016. The airline is likely to finalize next week a separate provisional deal agreed last year at the Farnborough Airshow to buy another 100 Boeing 737 MAX jets worth almost $13 billion at list prices, sources said on condition of anonymity. (Reporting by Khanh Vu in Hanoi; Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris, Writing by Jamie Freed; Editing by Keith Weir) By Mai Nguyen and Kham Nguyen HANOI (Reuters) - While the leaders of North Korea and the United States debate banishing nuclear bombs from the Korean peninsula, the host of their summit this week, Vietnam, long almost synonymous with war, is relishing its role as a promoter of peace. U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet on Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi, hoping to build on their historic summit in Singapore in June, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. Vietnam's hosting of the high-stakes talks marks its emergence as a trust-worthy, responsible member of the international community that has forged peace with old enemies, and can now help others to do so, Vietnamese officials say. Since emerging from decades of diplomatic isolation in the early 1990s, Vietnam has been eager to improve ties with large powers and the region to help balance its historically thorny relations with giant neighbor, China, which confronts Vietnam over claims to the resource-rich South China Sea. The boost to Vietnam's international status that the summit should confer would support that strategy. Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung said the United States and North Korea were both keen to hold their summit in Vietnam. "It shows that Vietnam is a responsible and active member of the international community, wanting to contribute to the peace process and that Vietnam's policy is to raise the level of multi-lateral foreign policy," Trung told reporters last week. Vietnam was at war almost continuously for some 45 years, from the end of World War Two through to the early 1990s, battling France, the United States, China and Cambodia's Khmer Rouge. Far off Geneva and Paris hosted negotiations to end those wars, but this time Hanoi is the "city for peace", Trung said. "Vietnam is a nation that is really fond of peace but also had to suffer wars, and usually the wars ended with peace negotiations," he said. 'MORE WEIGHT' Vietnam seems to be taking to its role of mediator with gusto. The government has pushed the U.S. and North Korean security services to work closely to prepare for the summit, a senior Vietnamese security official told Reuters. Vietnam would also love to see the United States and North Korea sign a declaration of peace to officially end the 1950-53 Korean War, said the official, who declined to be identified. The war ended with an armistice not a treaty, and North Korea is keen to sign a treaty, though the United States has demanded denuclearization first. Vietnam would also be keen to host a third meeting between the leaders, the official said. A successful summit would enhance Vietnam's standing, said Nguyen Quy Binh, a former ambassador and permanent representative of Vietnam to the United Nations in Geneva. "Vietnam's voice will have more weight. A country that acts responsibly and reputably, a country that is trust-worthy, will have a different voice," Binh told Reuters. Binh mentioned the South China Sea dispute as a flashpoint and said the United States could help to balance regional powers and ensure stability. "If Vietnam can do this well, its voice and reputation in its relations with other countries will benefit." Western and Asian diplomats said they expected Vietnam to try to support any reforms in North Korea that the summit bring. Those effort would be enhanced by Vietnam's turn as chair of Southeast Asia's ASEAN grouping next year, and a possible spell as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Secretary Council in 2021. "Hosting such an sensitive event is a step up for Hanoi. In private, Vietnamese officials are pretty happy with the way things are going ... it's a sweet spot for them," said a senior Western diplomat. (Reporting by Mai Nguyen and Kham Nguyen, additional reporting by Greg Torode in Hong Kong and Khanh Vu in Hanoi; Editing by Robert Birsel) By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence plans to have his first meeting with Venezuela's Juan Guaido in Colombia on Monday, Pence aides said, in a signal of support for the opposition leader after a weekend of violence. On Saturday, troops loyal to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blocked convoys of U.S. humanitarian aid from crossing from Colombia to Venezuela, using teargas and rubber bullets and killing two protesters. The violence could lead the United States to impose new sanctions as early as Monday to cut off the Maduro's government access to revenues. Pence is traveling to the Colombian capital Bogota to meet with the Lima Group of regional leaders who recognize Guaido as the legitimate leader of Venezuela after Maduro held elections last year which were dismissed as fraudulent. A senior U.S. official told reporters on Friday that Pence would be prepared to announce new sanctions at the meeting if the aid was turned back, - adding to pressure from sanctions on state-owned oil company PDVSA. "If there is any type of violence, or if there is any type of negative reaction from the hierarchy of the Venezuela armed forces, there may also be measures that are announced by the vice president and other countries in regards to closing even further the international financial circle," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The United States and allies are looking at ways to expel family members of Venezuelan military officials who are living outside the country, including some in south Florida, the official said. Maduro has denied there are shortages of food and medicine in Venezuela, and says the aid is aimed at undermining his government. Pence spoke to Guaido by phone in January before the opposition leader, who heads Venezuela's national assembly, swore himself in as interim president. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Alistair Bell) CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Saturday his government had broken relations with Colombia and would expel some Colombian diplomatic staff after Colombia assisted the opposition's efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the country. "Patience is exhausted, I can't bare it anymore, we can't keep putting up with Colombian territory being used for attacks against Venezuela. For that reason, I have decided to break all political and diplomatic relations with Colombia's fascist government," Maduro said in a speech. He said the ambassador and consular staff would have to leave Venezuela within 24 hours. (Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Sarah Marsh) Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein got into a heated exchange with primary-age school children over the Green New Deal, firmly stating that she will not support the renewable energy plan. A group of schoolchildren stopped by the California senators San Francisco office on Friday to call on her to support the scheme, spearheaded by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, that calls for net-zero greenhouse emissions and 100 per cent renewable energy in the US by 2030. However, the conversation between Ms Feinstein, 85, and the children apparently escalated into a confrontation with the Democratic lawmaker criticised for the tone she took. The testy exchange was captured on video by a campaign group and heavily edited before being posted online. In the video the California Democrat tells the children she could not support the Green New Deal because theres no way to pay for it. But one girl replied to say: We have tons of money going to [the] military. Ive been doing this for 30 years, Ms Feinstein said. I know what Im doing. You come in here and you say it has to be my way or the highway. I dont respond to that. She added: Ive gotten elected. I just ran. I was elected by almost a million-vote plurality, and I know what Im doing. So, you know, maybe people should listen a little bit. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Ms Ocasio-Cortezs scheme would not pass the Senate, the veteran politician told the children. After one asked her to vote for it anyway, she said: I may do that ... but its not a good resolution. Supporters of Ms Feinstein said the video only showed a part of the interaction between the children and the politician. In events not shown, Ms Feinstein said she presented her visitors with copies of the environmental bill she is supporting in the Senate instead of the Green New Deal. If you have a problem with it, you can let me know, Ms Feinstein told the children later in the video. Ms Feinstein defended the scrutinised exchange as a spirited discussion, NBC News reported. Story continues Unfortunately, it was a brief meeting but I want the children to know they were heard loud and clear, she added. The schoolchildrens visit was organised by Sunrise Movement, a anti-climate change youth organisation that is backing the Green New Deal legislation. Adults from the group also lobbied Ms Feinstein during the visit. Chicago (AFP) - American advocacy groups and police have a shared concern over the fallout from allegations that an openly gay black TV actor faked a hate-motivated assault: that future victims will face more skepticism even as hate crimes are on the rise. Chicago police have accused Jussie Smollett of engineering an elaborate hoax to exploit Americans' anxieties over political and racial divisions in order to generate publicity and a bigger paycheck. The 36-year-old star of the Fox drama "Empire" allegedly sent himself a threatening letter and then hired two acquaintances to stage a street attack in downtown Chicago, complete with homophobic and racial slurs, while invoking Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. Smollett is charged with a felony count of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. He was freed Thursday on $100,000 bond. "If true, then this is a disgraceful exploitation of many past victims of real hate crimes, many of whom have endured heinous suffering," Kami Chavis, a former assistant US attorney in the George W Bush administration, told AFP. The actor's lawyers, in a defiant statement, criticized law enforcement's actions as an organized "spectacle" and maintained Smollett's innocence. But whatever the final result, the case has left gay rights and racial justice advocates, along with politicians and government officials, worried about future victims. Will they be believed? - Worry over 'skepticism' - "Bogus police reports cause real harm," an angry Chicago police chief Eddie Johnson told a news conference Thursday, after detailing what his detectives learned over a three-week investigation. "My concern is that hate crimes will now publically be met with a level of skepticism that previously didn't happen," Johnson said. The initial news of the purported attack at the end of January generated an outpouring of support for Smollett, who in the past has lent his celebrity to gay rights, racial equality and other causes. Story continues But as the case -- with disturbing details such as a rope allegedly put around Smollett's neck -- appeared to turn and the actor went from victim to suspect, many who had rushed to condemn the attack were left struggling to respond. On Friday, the producers of "Empire," after repeatedly standing by the actor before he was officially charged, said he would be removed from the final two episodes of the current season "to avoid further disruption on set." Rights advocacy groups and activists fell mostly silent as details leaked out of the investigation. But they eventually focused on a common theme: hate crimes are happening with increasing frequency even if the Smollett case turns out not to be one. - More hate crimes - The FBI says that during the incendiary first year of President Donald Trump's term in 2017, the number of hate crimes rose 17 percent nationwide. Last year's figures are not yet available. The Southern Poverty Law Center in 2018 counted an all-time high 1,020 hate groups in the United States. The most recent report from the Anti-Defamation League found anti-Semitic incidents surged 60 percent in 2017. In 2018, 26 transgender people were killed, most were black trans women, according to the Human Rights Campaign. "As we learn more details about Jussie's arrest, we remain focused on the urgent fight against the very real issues of racism, homophobia, and hate violence," said a joint statement from Color of Change and GLAAD, which are focused on racial justice and gay rights issues, respectively. Chavis, who is an expert on hate crimes laws and is director of the Criminal Justice Program at Wake Forest University's law school, says hate crimes victims have already faced big obstacles. "There is a long history of these victims not being believed," Chavis said. "Jussie Smollet's actions should not deter law enforcement officials, prosecutors and jurors in future cases." But could it deter public support? - Media 'played for fools' - Critics have pointed out that in the initial rush to support an apparent hate crime victim, many celebrities, commentators and politicians condemned the attack with little scrutiny of the underlying claims. "The media should be the most outraged. He played all of them for fools," tweeted Nikki Haley, Trump's former UN ambassador. Politicians have had to awkwardly back-pedal from their original comments, such as Senator Kamala Harris, a Democratic 2020 presidential candidate. She had initially called the Smollett case one of "attempted modern day lynching." But when asked by a reporter earlier this week on the campaign trail in New Hampshire about her thoughts on Smollett, Harris initially hesitated and appeared to grasp for a response. On Thursday night, she posted on Facebook that she was "sad, frustrated, and disappointed," while turning the attention back on victims. "We must speak the truth: hate crimes are on the rise in America," Harris said. "Part of the tragedy of this situation is that it distracts from that truth, and has been seized by some who would like to dismiss and downplay the very real problems that we must address." The Agriculture Department will resubmit to the Office of the Executive Secretary on Tuesday its recommendations to address the low prices of copra in the country. The recommendations include the higher utilization of coconut methyl ester in bio-diesel and the reduced importation of palm olein which is hurting the local coconut industry. Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea asked the department to resubmit its previous recommendations following a brief dialog with Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, the principal author and sponsor of the Biofuels Act of 2006 and the Renewable Energy Act of 2008. Among the recommendations of the department are to increase the utilization of coconut methyl ester in the bio-diesel program from 2 percent to 5 percent which would hike the use of copra to about 200,000 metric tons and to impose a quantitative restriction on the volume of palm olein imported from Malaysia and Indonesia. The department said the importation of palm olein surged 900 percent over the last three years. The transportation and fuel industries, however, shun the increase in biodiesel blend because it would reportedly raise the cost of biodiesel by as much as P0.35 per liter.What has not been emphasized, however, is the fact that by using more coconut oil in bio-diesel, the mileage of vehicles increases by about 3 kilometers per liter and improves the air pollution index, Pinol said. He also said the imposition of the QR on palm olein would help to cut down imports to protect the local industry. Pinol said while such a measure was allowed by the World Trade Organization as a trade remedy, it could have a trade backlash with Malaysia and Indonesia. The department is seeking the insights of the economic managers. SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Britain and the European Union has made good progress in talks about Brexit and a deal is still within grasp so Britain can leave the bloc as planned on March 29, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday. "We still have it within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on the 29th of March," May said. "We've had good progress, constructive discussions with the European Union." (editing by Guy Faulconbridge) (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May is considering a plan under which Britain's exit from the European Union would be delayed for up to two months, the Telegraph reported https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/02/24/exclusive-brexit-will-delayed-two-months-plans-considered-theresa on Sunday. UK government officials have drawn up a series of options, which were circulated at the weekend, in a bid to avoid resignations by ministers determined to support a backbench bid to take a "no deal" Brexit off the table this week, according to the Telegraph. Those options include making a formal request to Brussels to delay Brexit if May cannot secure a deal by March 12, the newspaper reported, without citing sources. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Cooney) By Nate Raymond BOSTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday declined to block a UnitedHealth Group Inc unit's former executive from working at a new healthcare venture launched by Amazon.com Inc, Berkshire Hathaway Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The decision by U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf in Boston came in a lawsuit closely watched in the industry for clues about the future plans of the venture, which was announced in January 2018 with a goal of lowering healthcare costs. UnitedHealth's Optum unit had sought a court order blocking David Smith from working at the venture, saying he could share trade secrets that would give it a competitive advantage. But Wolf declined to issue a temporary restraining order preventing Smith from working there pending the outcome of an arbitration, saying Optum had not established Smith was likely violating an agreement to not work for a competitor. He said the unnamed Boston-based venture, nicknamed "ABC," does not offer products that compete with Optum, and said while it might do so someday, the startup could become a potential Optum customer instead of its rival. "Any prediction about the future now would be speculative," he said. Wolf said Optum had also failed to show Smith has disclosed any of its confidential information since joining ABC, an allegation Smith denied. Optum, which provides pharmacy benefit management and other services, said in a statement it would "aggressively" pursue its claims against Smith in arbitration. Smith's lawyer and ABC declined to comment. In January, Optum sued Smith, its former vice president of product and corporate strategy, alleging he violated an agreement to not work at a competitor for a year in exchange for stock and options. Optum claimed Smith, now a director of strategy and research at ABC, misappropriated trade secrets that would give the venture an unfair advantage. Testifying in court last month, Smith argued ABC was not a competitor but is focused on serving its three founding companies' 1.2 million employees. Story continues Jack Stoddard, ABC's chief operating officer, testified that ABC is examining whether it can "reinvent what insurance looks like in terms of benefit design." Stoddard said ABC had not ruled out developing products. But he said its "preferred path" was to partner with companies like Optum to provide services and had no plans to directly compete with Optum in 2019. The case is Optum Inc v. Smith, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, No. 19-cv-10101. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Richard Chang) By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday there was "a very good chance" the United States would strike a deal with China to end their trade war and that he was inclined to extend his March 1 deadline to reach an agreement. U.S. and Chinese negotiators had made progress and would continue this week's round of negotiations through the weekend, Trump told reporters in the White House as he met his top negotiators and their counterpart, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. "I think that we both feel there's a very good chance a deal will happen," Trump said. Extending the deadline would mean Trump would put on hold a scheduled tariff increase to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion of Chinese imports into the United States. That would prevent a further escalation in a trade war that has already disrupted commerce in goods worth hundreds of billions of dollars, slowed global economic growth and roiled markets. Optimism the two sides would find a way to end the trade war lifted stocks on Friday, especially technology shares, while oil prices rose to their highest since mid-November, with Brent crude reaching a high of $67.73 a barrel. Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the two sides had reached an agreement on currency. Trump declined to provide details, but U.S. officials have long expressed concerns that China's yuan is undervalued, giving China a trade advantage and partly offsetting U.S. tariffs. The president said he would probably meet China's President Xi Jinping in March in Florida, and the biggest decisions on the terms of the trade deal could come when they meet. Xi sent a letter to Trump which an aide to Liu read out at the briefing on Friday. Xi called on negotiators to work hard to strike a deal that benefits both. Trump indicated a deal with China may extend beyond trade to encompass Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp. Story continues The Justice Department has accused Huawei of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran and of stealing robotic technology from T-Mobile US Inc. Chinese peer ZTE was last year prevented from buying essential components from U.S. firms after pleading guilty to similar charges, crippling its operations. TRUMP TEAM TENSION Trump appeared at odds with his top negotiator, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, on the preliminary terms that his team is outlining in memorandums of understanding for a deal with China. Trump said he did not like MOUs, because they are short term, and he wanted a long-term deal. "I don't like MOUs because they don't mean anything," Trump said. "Either you are going to make a deal or you're not." Lighthizer responded testily that MOUs were binding, but that he would never use the term again. Reuters reported exclusively on Wednesday that the two sides were drafting the language for six MOUs covering the most difficult issues in the trade talks that would require structural economic change in China. That marked the most progress the two sides have made toward a deal. But negotiators have struggled this week to agree on specific language within those memorandums to address tough U.S. demands for structural changes in China's economy, sources familiar with the talks have told Reuters. The MOUs would provide an outline for a deal, for specific details to be agreed by negotiators later. They are common in trade negotiations. An industry official briefed on the talks said that if a framework deal can be reached, it may take another three to six months to fill in the details, and the two sides remain far apart on a mechanism to verify and enforce follow-through commitments China makes. Lighthizer said negotiators had made a lot of progress this week on forced technology transfers, one of the more difficult issues. The U.S. alleges foreign firms in China come under pressure to transfer their technology to Chinese firms if they want to operate there. China denies this. The two sides had struggled this week to agree on the specific language for the MOUs on other tough issues. Those include cyber theft, intellectual property rights, services, agriculture and non-tariff barriers to trade. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday urged the U.S. government to ensure the deal was comprehensive and addressed core issues, rather than one based on more Chinese short-term purchases of goods. Trump has demanded that China and other top trade partners take action to balance trade with the United States. China has pledged to increase purchases of agricultural produce, energy, semiconductors and industrial goods to reduce its trade surplus. China committed to buying an additional 10 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans on Friday, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Twitter.The commitments are a "show of good faith by the Chinese" and "indications of more good news to come," Perdue wrote. China was the top buyer of U.S. soybeans before the trade war, but Beijing's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. soybeans slashed business that had been worth $12 billion annually. (Additional reporting by David Lawder in Washington, writing by Simon Webb; editing by Marguerita Choy and Tom Brown) Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sharply criticised his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after the recent execution of nine people in Egypt, saying he refused to talk to "someone like him". "They killed nine young people recently. This is not something we can accept," Erdogan said Saturday in an interview with Turkish TV channels CNN-Turk and Kanal D, referring to the execution Wednesday of nine men sentenced for the murder of the Egyptian prosecutor general in 2015. "Of course, we are going to be told that it is a decision of the judiciary, but there, justice, elections, all that, are codswallop. There is an authoritarian system, even totalitarian," Erdogan added. "Now, I am answering those who wonder why Tayyip Erdogan does not speak to Sisi, because there are mediators who come here sometimes, but I will never talk to someone like him," he said. Relations between Turkey and Egypt have been virtually non-existent since the Egyptian military, then led by Sisi, in 2013 ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, a close ally of Erdogan. Morsi's Islamist Muslim Brotherhood is outlawed in Egypt but members of the group have sought refuge in Turkey. Erdogan, who denounced Morsi's ouster, sometimes draws a parallel with the failed coup against himself in 2016. The Turkish president also called for the release of Muslim Brotherhood prisoners in Egypt. "First of all, he should release all those imprisoned with a general amnesty. As long as these people have not been released, we will not be able to talk with Sisi," he said. Erdogan also attacked Western countries which, according to him, "roll out the red carpet" for Sisi and turn a blind eye to the latest executions in Egypt. "Where are the Westerners? Have you heard their voices?" he said. "On the other hand, when it comes to people imprisoned in our country (Turkey), they scream bloody murder." Amnesty International condemned the executions of the men, who it said were convicted in trials marred by torture allegations. By Rajesh Kumar Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday raised hopes that the United States and China would settle their trade dispute ahead of a March 1 deadline as negotiators met to wrap up the latest round of talks. The U.S. president said in a tweet that the trade talks on Saturday were "very productive." Talks were extended through the weekend in a bid to iron out differences on changes to China's treatment of state-owned enterprises, subsidies, forced technology transfers and cyber theft. The two sides have had no agreement on an enforcement mechanism. Washington wanted a strong mechanism to ensure that Chinese reform commitments were followed through to completion, while Beijing insisted upon what it called a "fair and objective" process. On Sunday, top officials including U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He arrived for talks at the Winder Building, which houses the headquarters of the United States Trade Representative, an hour later than usual. Both Mnuchin and Liu went inside without commenting, with Liu smiling when asked if the two sides would have a deal by the end of the day. Trump said on Friday there was a "good chance" a deal would emerge, and that he might extend the March 1 deadline and move forward with a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Extending the deadline would mean putting on hold a scheduled increase in tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports into the United States. An extension would hold off a worsening of the trade war that has already disrupted commerce worth hundreds of billions of dollars of goods, slowed global economic growth and roiled financial markets. On Friday, Trump and Mnuchin said U.S. and Chinese officials had reached an agreement on currency issues, but did not give details. U.S. officials have long argued that China's yuan is undervalued, giving it a trade advantage and partly offsetting U.S. tariffs. Story continues China has committed to buying an additional 10 million metric tonnes of U.S. soybeans. Reuters reported exclusively on Wednesday that both sides were drafting memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on cyber theft, intellectual property rights, services, agriculture and non-tariff barriers to trade, including subsidies. But Trump said he did not like MOUs because they are short-term, and he wanted a long-term deal. Trump said the biggest decisions could be reached when he meets with Xi, probably in Florida next month, and that their talks may extend beyond trade to encompass Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp. (Additional reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Jeffrey Benkoe) By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday he was nominating Kelly Craft, currently the U.S. ambassador to Canada, to replace Nikki Haley as his envoy to the United Nations after a four-month search. Craft, a top Republican donor from Kentucky, rose this week as a serious contender for the post based on a recommendation by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a fellow Kentuckian. Craft will not hold a Cabinet-level position, as Haley did, a senior White House official said, after Trump decided to downgrade the post. Regardless, she will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. "Kelly has done an outstanding job representing our Nation and I have no doubt that, under her leadership, our Country will be represented at the highest level," Trump said in a tweet announcing his decision. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Craft "extremely well-qualified" and an "outstanding advocate for Americas national security and economic interests in Canada." Craft met with Trump, Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton in the Oval Office on Friday, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters. She was seen as a tough negotiator in a new U.S. trade deal with Canada and Mexico and as ambassador to Canada established decent working relationships with both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, the source said. If confirmed, Craft will have the difficult job of defending Trump's "America First" foreign policy and navigating Trump's criticism of the world body while getting global diplomats to back U.S. policies. French U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre said he looked forward to working with Craft if she was confirmed by the Senate. "I hope that Ms Craft will continue, like Nikki Haley, to be a bridge between Washington, DC and the U.N. at a time when we more than ever need an America that is engaged with the U.N. in world affairs and committed to our shared values, beginning with human rights," Delattre said. Haley, a rising Republican star who resigned in October and left in late 2018, was seen by her counterparts at the United Nations as a voice of clarity in a U.S. administration that often gave off mixed signals on foreign policy, diplomats said. Craft will face a variety of challenges, including championing U.S. efforts to contain Iran's influence in the Middle East and ensuring the global body maintains tough sanctions on North Korea as Washington tries to negotiate an end to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs. The United States has also gone to the United Nations in recent weeks to seek international recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate president over socialist leader Nicolas Maduro. Craft was Trump's second choice for the U.N. position. He had planned to nominate former State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, but she withdrew her name from consideration last week for family reasons. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters Nauert withdrew from consideration because she had a nanny who was in the United States legally but did not have the proper work visa. Nauert did not comment. Having been confirmed by the Senate for the Canada post, Craft should have a smoother confirmation path and less problems with vetting, the source said. Trump had also considered other candidates including U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell and Republican John James, who lost a bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan last November. Former senior White House aide Dina Powell was also on Trump's radar, but she was believed to be disinterested in the position after she returned to Goldman Sachs Group a year ago. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Mohammad Zargham and Patricia Zengerle; Writing by Mary Milliken; Editing by James Dalgleish and Grant McCool) Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un impersonators have said they were detained by the authorities in Vietnam ahead of next weeks summit between the world leaders in the capital Hanoi. Kim lookalike Howard X claimed 15 officers had questioned him and Trump lookalike Russell White for almost three hours, warning them to drop their imitation act. The pair have been making public appearances in Hanoi over the past few days, talking to media and taking pictures with amused onlookers. In a lengthy Facebook post, the the Hong-Kong born Australian impersonator revealed he and his Canadian friend were detained by officials following a talk they gave at the state-run VTC station. They then said that this was a very sensitive time in the city due to the Trump/Kim summit and that our impersonation was causing a 'disturbance', wrote Howard X, who real name is Lee Howard Ho Wun. He said police or immigration officials had suggested that we do not do the impersonation in public for the duration of our stay as these presidents have many enemies and that it was for our own safety. Howard X claimed one unnamed Vietnamese officer had threatened the mimics with deportation, saying they were breaking immigration rules. After two and half hours of questioning, they were driven back to their hotel and told to stay put until authorities decide how to treat them, the impersonator claimed. Howard X and Russell White pose for the cameras in Hanoi (Getty Images) Although I am not surprised that I got detained for doing my impersonation in Vietnam, its still pretty annoying. What it shows is that Vietnam has a long way to go before they will be a developed country and I wonder if they ever will under these conditions, he wrote. Mr White later confirmed the detention and also claimed they had both been threatened with deportation. Officials told them to stop doing the impersonation or we will kick you out of the country, he told AFP on Saturday. Howard X was also questioned by Singaporean immigration authorities when he and his colleague appeared in the city-state for the first Kim-Trump summit last June. Story continues He also showed up at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, where he danced in front of an appalled North Korean cheer squad before security officials hauled him away. The US president and North Korean are set to meet in Hanoi on 27 and 28 February for talks over the communists countrys nuclear weapons programme. Four companies, including a large North American firm, expressed interest to take over shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines Inc., the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority said over the weekend. SBMA administrator and chairman Wilma Eisma said all four showed great interest in the Zambales-based shipbuilder. She did not identify the four parties but said none of them were Chinese. Two [companies] do not want to disclose and represented only by lawyers. The other two are a North American company and a European company. These are big companies and they are into shipbuilding and other interests outside of shipbuilding, she said. Eisma said the four groups were on top of a Chinese company that earlier expressed interest in Hanjin. Two of the four companies were doing due diligence reports while the other two recently made known their intentions through letters sent to SBMA, she said. She said the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court recently appointed Rosario Bernardo as the receiver for Hanjin. Rosarios responsibilities include supervising negotiations to rescue the Korean shipbuilder. This means he [Rosario] has to monitor and take some actions, if necessary, to ensure that negotiations are done properly as well as the payment and the takeover should there be, Eisma said. She said the four new companies interested in Hanjin were looking at different schemes such as capital infusion, buy-out or operating the facility as a different business. Hanjins property is vast and can accommodate other businesses.Eisma said her agency would not consider it as a setback if the buyer of Hanjin decided to put up another business, as long as there would be employment generation and the government would derive benefits from the business. Hanjin is now operating with a skeletal workforce of only 300, a far cry from its 30,000 workers when it was operating at its peak. The Subic Bay Freeport has about 154,000 people employed by different locators but it suffered a setback when Hanjin laid off 3,000 early this year because of financial constraints. Hanjin has an outstanding $412-million obligation to five local creditors and about $900 million to supply creditors in South Korea. Hanjin invested $2.6 billion in Subic Bay Freeport where its shipyard is located. The company has 68 pending contracts that might face cancellation if the planned rehabilitation would not be allowed. Hanjin, which focused on building high-value vessels, was established in 2006 as a subsidiary of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd., a multi-national company that provides shipbuilding, construction and plant services in South Korea and other countries. Washington (AFP) - A prominent Democratic lawmaker said Sunday that if the new US attorney general refuses to make public the upcoming special counsel report on Russia and the Trump election campaign, it will be subpoenaed and Robert Mueller will be called in to testify. Attorney General William Barr, who took office earlier this month, refused in his Senate confirmation hearings to explicitly promise to publicly release Mueller's findings once he receives them. Mueller is reportedly no more than weeks away from completing his exhaustive investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign. On Friday, the Democratic chairs of six House committees wrote Barr to urge him "in the strongest possible terms" to release the report "without delay and to the maximum extent permitted by law." House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff -- who was among that group -- said that if Barr fails to make the report public, "we will obviously subpoena the report, we will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress, we will take it to court if necessary." "If he (Barr) were to try to withhold, to try to bury any part of this report, that will be his legacy and it will be a tarnished legacy. So I think there'll be immense pressure" for a full release," Schiff told ABC's "This Week." Democrats have been critical of Barr -- who was previously attorney general under President George H.W. Bush -- noting that he sent an unsolicited memo to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in June describing the Mueller inquiry as "fatally misconceived." But in written testimony last month, Barr said that when the Mueller report is completed, "my goal will be to provide as much transparency as I can, consistent with the law." Kearny (United States) (AFP) - Workers at Bowery Farming's warehouse near New York have swapped out a farmer's hoe for a computer tablet that takes real-time readings of light and water conditions. Launched in 2015, Bowery is part of the fast-growing vertical farming movement, which employs technology in a controlled, man-made setting to grow fresh vegetables indoors all year long. Champions of the practice see vertical farming as a key tool to meet the world's food needs at a time when the population is rising and the climate is changing. The company's chief executive and co-founder, Irving Fain, said his company's Kearny, New Jersey site uses fewer resources than traditional farms and does not employ pesticides. "I have been a big believer my entire life in technology as being able to solve not only hard problems, but also important problems," said Fain, who previously ran a company that provides data analysis for big companies on their loyalty programs. Bowery employs more programmers than agricultural scientists. The company says its use of algorithms enables it to be 100 times more productive per area compared with a traditional farm and to use 95 percent less water. - Lower electricity costs - Vertical farming has long been practiced in Japan and some other places but it did not take off in the United States until recent technological leaps made it viable. A key component has been LED bulbs, which have enabled indoor farmers to drastically cut electricity costs. But Bowery is also making heavy use of robotics and artificial intelligence to keep prices under control. The combination of these newer tools "is how we really rethink what agriculture will look like in the next century and beyond," Fain said. The company has also benefited from more than $120 million in funding from tech titans including Google Ventures and Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi. The Silicon Valley connection has also boosted San Francisco-based Plenty, another prominent vertical farming company, which has garnered more than $200 million from Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, Softbank and others. Story continues US-based Crop One and Emirates Flight Catering have launched a $40 million joint venture to build a giant vertical farming facility in Dubai. - Profitable? - The world's biggest vertical farm is in Newark, New Jersey, and operated by AeroFarms. The company, founded in 2004 and considered a pioneer in the sector, remains privately-held and does not disclose financial data. But AeroFarms, whose business model evolved over the years, says it is now profitable. It started as a farm selling produce locally but decided, in 2009 to shift to selling the technologies and solutions it had developped to other growers. The company then pivoted back toward growing its own leafy greens for sale in 2011. AeroFarms exclusively uses company-made technology that has now made its way to China, the Middle East and Europe, said its co-founder Marc Oshima. In a warehouse that was once a steel mill with 40-foot (12-meter) ceilings, the company is growing kale and arugula leaves set in rows of 12 metal racks each. The roots are suspended in the air as they are intermittently irrigated while the leaves bask under LED lights. AeroFarms experiments regularly with lighting and nutrients with an eye towards finding the optimal recipe for each plant and developing the best algorithm. The company produces watercress that reminded a reporter of her grandmother's soup, kale as tender as spinach and arugula with a hint of spice. David Chang, founder of the noodle restaurant brand Momofuku, is an investor. Basil from Bowery Farming was tinged with the flavor of lemon. But it can take a while for vertical farms to find solutions that are viable. "The big, big vertical farms are having a difficult time being profitable because they are so capital-intensive at the beginning," said Henry Gordon-Smith, founder of Agritecture, a consultancy. Large farms typically need seven or eight years before they are profitable, with smaller farms requiring perhaps half as long. But entrepreneurs in the business are confident in their prospects as more young people in cities express worry about climate change and pesticides. "Vertical farming is not THE solution to food security," said Gordon-Smith. "It is one out of the possible solutions." Critics of vertical farming say it has a large carbon footprint due to heavy use of lighting and ventilation. But defenders say that this negative impact is more than offset from the benefits of lower water use, the location near population centers and the non-use of pesticides. A bigger issue may be the limitations of the output itself, at least in terms of nutrition. "You can't feed the world with salad alone," said Princeton University plant researcher Paul Gauthier, who says vertical farmers will need to develop more protein-rich offerings. Gauthier -- who grew spicier peppers in his own lab by subtly increasing potassium levels -- said vertical farming could supply fresh food to so-called food "deserts" where it is absent and could in the long-term meet growing food demand as the climate changes. WASHINGTON Looking to fortify their 2018 victories and keep control of the House in 2020, national Democrats are gunning for districts in the "new frontier" areas of the South where President Donald Trump is popular. Of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's 2020 target list, 36 percent of the seats are in Southern states, including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas. That's up from 24 percent in 2018. We are pushing into once-deep Republican country," said Cole Leiter, a campaign committee spokesman. Here's how Democrats plan to tackle the 2020 congressional elections and how Republicans plan to defend their traditional turf: Moving to the suburbs Many of the battles are expected to play out in suburban districts that werent considered competitive a decade ago. The districts have become more affluent and more diverse and have an increasingly highly educated population. Republicans do have a lock on the rural South, save for several heavily African-American areas, said David Wasserman, U.S. House editor at the Cook Political Report. But theyre backsliding in southern suburbs. Capitalizing on demographics The Democratic shift to the South is in part a result of the "power of demographics," said Adolphus Belk Jr., professor of political science and African American studies at Winthrop University. He pointed to the migration of African-Americans back to the South and the influx of Gen Xers leaving the Midwest and Northeast for jobs and a lower cost of living. The South has the largest concentration of African-Americans, who lean strongly Democratic. These red states are starting to turn purple," said Belk, noting that some districts in red states were already blue. "It means that (Democrats) can be competitive in places that before they would have lost." Corralling Texas voters The Democratic committee has staked a claim to six districts in Texas, despite five of them being won by Trump in 2016. Story continues Democrats are banking on wins like the one in November when Texas Democrat Colin Allred defeated GOP Rep. Pete Sessions. Sessions had represented the 32nd Congressional District since 2003. Democrat Hillary Clinton narrowly won the district in 2016. Texas kind of tells the larger story of this battlefield," said Leiter, adding that several of those districts are shifting toward us. Of the 38 members of the Texas congressional delegation, just 13 are Democrats. Former NFL football player and Democratic candidate for a US congressional seat in Texas Colin Allred (R) poses with supporters as he marches in the Dallas Pride Parade on September 16, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. Making the most of Trump fatigue Some Southern voters, particularly in Texas, have drifted away from Republican candidates because of a lack of enthusiasm for Trump, said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabatos Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. I think the hope for Democrats is that maybe with more resources from the national party and potentially a national environment where the president may be something of a drag in those districts that the Democrats can make further inroads in Texas," said Kondik, citing Democrat Beto ORourke's unsuccessful but close effort to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in the state last year. U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) is surrounded by supporters as he gives a speech during a campaign stop at Moody Park Oct. 30, 2018 in Houston, Texas. With one week until Election Day, O'Rourke is running for the U.S. Senate against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). GOP will play up the 'extreme' Republicans, meanwhile, plan to focus on retaking seats they lost, including South Carolinas 1st Congressional District, where Democrat Joe Cunningham beat Republican Kate Arrington last fall. A Democrat hadn't won that seat in nearly 40 years. We think we can flip them back to Republican seats, especially with all the extreme ideas that Democrats are throwing out there," said Camille Gallo, regional press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee. Republicans plan to highlight Democratic proposals, including the Green New Deal, Medicare for all and immigration policies that allow open borders." Republicans' priority of targets start with the 31 Democrats sitting in Trump districts," Wasserman said. Recapturing the Trump districts Of the 33 seats on the Democrats' target list, 21 are in districts Republicans won by 5 percentage points or less in 2018. Only three were won by Clinton in 2016. Several seats are in districts Democrats came close to capturing in 2018. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, called the Democrats' campaign committee list "interesting." Many of the members they listed are some of our strongest members of Congress with fantastic voting records and who are people who I think the voters back home really appreciate, he said. It seems early to be doing that. It seems pretty aggressive, but thats OK. I think were going to be well-prepared for the next election cycle in 2020. Were gearing up and preparing our troops as well." What about turnout? Some Democratic lawmakers, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus, have long complained that the national party largely ignored the South. Last election cycle, the caucus pressed the Democratic campaign committee to focus more on the region. This traditional Democratic forfeiting in the South and this traditional Democratic message doesnt work," Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., former chairman of the caucus, said then. Richmond said last week that he expects Democrats to continue their push in the South. But the difficulty this election cycle and I hate to be the skunk at the party (is) we had a turnout advantage last time because we were able to get low-propensity voters to vote," he said, attributing higher turnout to get-out-the vote efforts led by the caucus. In two years it will be a presidential. There will be no turnout advantage." Contributing: Maureen Groppe A political revival in the South: Black women's groups step up efforts to energize African American voters in the South House races to watch: Midterm elections: 5 hot races that could help decide House control This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Taking it into Trump territory: Democrats target South in 2020 strategy By Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese police fired teargas at demonstrators on Saturday as fresh protests broke out against the rule of President Omar al-Bashir, after he appointed a new prime minister and first vice president a day after declaring a state of emergency. Police confronted dozens of protesters in the Shambat neighbourhood of Khartoum North, and similarly sized crowds in the Wad Nubawi and Abbasiya neighbourhoods of Omdurman, witnesses said. Protesters in Shambat blocked a road and burned car tyres, witnesses said. Demonstrators chanted "Revolution is the people's choice", and other slogans, in Wad Nubawi. In Abbasiya chants included "Down, that's it", a rallying call that underlines their main demand for Bashir to go. A statement from the president's office said Mohamed Tahir Ayala, the governor of Gezira state who was previously touted by Bashir as a potential successor as president, was appointed prime minister. Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, an ex-military intelligence chief, became first vice president, while retaining his defence portfolio. Bashir had declared a one-year nationwide state of emergency on Friday and set up a caretaker administration. He replaced all state governors with military officials. In a televised speech he urged his opponents to join a "path of national reconciliation" and dialogue. He called on parliament to postpone constitutional amendments that would allow him to seek another term in 2020, but stopped short of saying explicitly he would not run. There was no sign Friday's speech had calmed the streets. Protests continued late into the night across the capital Khartoum. Stones and debris from burned tyres and branches littered many streets on Saturday. The National Consensus Forces, one of the main opposition groups, said the state of emergency was aimed at countering a "popular revolution" and vowed to push ahead until Bashir is toppled. Story continues CURRENT CRISIS The National Umma Party, headed by Sudan's last democratically elected prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, who was toppled by Bashir in a 1989 military coup, sharply criticised the speech in a statement on Saturday. "It was a contradictory speech and does not relate to the reality of the current crisis in our country in any way," National Umma, one of the main opposition parties, said. "It does not fulfil the least of the Sudanese street's demands." Activists say nearly 60 people have been killed since protests began more than two months ago, while authorities put the death toll at 32, including three security personnel. Sudan last had a nationwide state of emergency in 1999. States of emergency have been declared in several states as protests intensified. Security forces arrested Osman Mirghani, editor-in-chief of prominent independent newspaper Al-Tayyar, late on Friday, his family told Reuters. Mirghani appeared on regional broadcaster Al Arabiya Al Hadath and criticised Bashir's Friday speech. He then returned to Al-Tayyar's offices where security forces detained him, his family said. Facing mounting unrest at home, Bashir has sought support abroad from fellow Arab leaders. Bashir and Defence Minister Ibn Auf met on Saturday with the emir of Qatar's envoy Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah. Earlier this month, he struck a conciliatory tone towards the protests, saying young people caught up in the recent turmoil had "reasonable ambition". Bashir, an Islamist and former military officer, is wanted by the International Criminal Court in the Hague over charges of masterminding genocide in the Darfur region, which he denies. He has been lobbying for Sudan to be removed from a list of countries which Washington deems state sponsors of terrorism. The listing has blocked the investment and financial aid that Sudan was hoping for when the United States lifted sanctions in 2017, economists say. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Yousef Saba; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and David Holmes) British designers on Saturday presented fashion collections for two Italian houses at Milan fashion week, with one inspired by shoes as key items, and the other by tiger motifs. Paul Andrew presented Italian fashion label Salvatore Ferragamo's latest collection, just days after being announced as the group's creative director. And Paul Surridge, creative director at another Florence-based fashion house, presented the Roberto Cavalli collection. Andrew, who joined the group in 2016 and previously headed up the women's wear division, told AFP he had been inspired by plunging into the group's archives. "Everything I do in Ferragamo is dressing from toe to head: the shoe dictates everything," he said. "I started from this particular shoe made with patchwork of colour and material from 1942 and it inspired the colour palette," he added. "Given that it's a shoe from 1942 but it looks much more modern than that, Salvatore was so ahead of his time," said Andrew, referring to the founder of the brand. "I thought, 'How would he be designing now?" The full range of the Florence-based fashion house was on display, presenting a simple, unpretentious luxury range: suede leather, nappa, lizard or snake on trousers, jackets, coats and shirts. Monochrome trousers were zipped around the body, while cashmere blankets and handmade wool sweaters conveyed a sense of simple and spontaneous luxury. It was only on Thursday that Andrew was appointed creative director. Under his direction, French designer Guillaume Meilland will continue to run the creative output of the men's collection. The Ferragamo autumn/winter collection was presented in the Rotonda della Besana, a desanctified church from late Baroque period. - Surridge presents Cavalli - Another British designer, Paul Surridge, presented the Roberto Cavalli collection. Surridge, who has been creative director at the Florence-based fashion house since 2017, told AFP his inspiration had been "instinctive". Story continues "I started to look at the idea of status in general and the memory of status of the idea of refinement, of beauty to make something exquisite." He went back to print and underline print, "not just on silk dresses but on coats with jacquards" to "maximise the pattern" without making it feel heavy, he added. "I wanted to define a new modern beauty," Surridge added. Surridge carries on the style started by Cavalli in the 1970s combining eccentricity and glamour. Surridge made the tiger motif in various permutations a recurring theme in this collection, reinterpreting it in a variety of contexts: midnight blue, bougainvillea, mustard on one side and in a variant of pastel colours on the other. The same pallette informed the whole collection, including coats, jackets and trousers. The python motif, another element dear to the Cavalli brand, appeared as jacquard hand-painted or embroidered in sequin. Evening dresses, with their ultra-feminine and fluid silhouettes, evoked the 1920s. Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and receive a $20 prize! Carl Sterritt has been the CEO of Shield Therapeutics plc (LON:STX) since 2008. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid. See our latest analysis for Shield Therapeutics How Does Carl Sterritts Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies? According to our data, Shield Therapeutics plc has a market capitalization of UK65m, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth UK343k. (This figure is for the year to December 2017). While this analysis focuses on total compensation, its worth noting the salary is lower, valued at UK300k. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations below UK153m, and calculated the median CEO compensation to be UK243k. It would therefore appear that Shield Therapeutics plc pays Carl Sterritt more than the median CEO remuneration at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesnt mean the remuneration is too high. A closer look at the performance of the underlying business will give us a better idea about whether the pay is particularly generous. You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Shield Therapeutics, below. AIM:STX CEO Compensation, February 24th 2019 Is Shield Therapeutics plc Growing? Shield Therapeutics plc has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 82% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 381%. This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. The combination of strong revenue growth with medium-term earnings per share improvement certainly points to the kind of growth I like to see. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings. Story continues Has Shield Therapeutics plc Been A Good Investment? Given the total loss of 64% over three years, many shareholders in Shield Therapeutics plc are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldnt be too generous with CEO compensation. In Summary We compared total CEO remuneration at Shield Therapeutics plc with the amount paid at companies with a similar market capitalization. As discussed above, we discovered that the company pays more than the median of that group. Importantly, though, the company has impressed with its earnings per share growth, over three years. On the other hand returns to investors over the same period have probably disappointed many. While EPS is positive, wed say shareholders would want better returns before the CEO is paid much more. Shareholders may want to check for free if Shield Therapeutics insiders are buying or selling shares. Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. By Sofia Christensen, Juliette Jabkhiro and Diadie Ba DAKAR/FATICK, Senegal (Reuters) - Senegal voted on Sunday in an election President Macky Sall is expected to win after strong economic growth in his first term, although rights groups criticized him for squeezing out rivals. Supporters chanted "Ole, Ole," and flashed "V" for victory signs as Sall cast his vote in his hometown of Fatick. "The elected president will have to be the president of all Senegal. I hope this president will be me," he said. Polling stations in Dakar closed on schedule at 6 p.m (1800 GMT) after a largely incident-free election day. It was not immediately clear how many of the country's 6.5 million registered voters turned out. Official results are due on Friday with a run-off for the top two on March 24 if no one secures a majority. Senegal's small fish-exporting economy expanded more than 6 percent last year, one of the highest rates in Africa, driven by an ambitious reform and development plan that included the construction of a new railway. The 57-year-old president promised to deliver universal healthcare and better access to education. After voting in Fatick, pensioner Adama Sakho, 81, said he believed Sall would win in the first round, praising his social spending policies. "I'm retired, and now in one month I receive the same amount of money I used to make in three months," he said. "He has the hand of God. Everything he touches gets realized. And he brings luck, because it's during his reign that we found oil and gas." There are hopes of an oil and gas boom in Senegal as energy majors develop previously untapped fields off its Atlantic coast. FIVE CANDIDATES Opinion polls are banned in the run-up to the vote, but a survey by a Senegalese data company in November gave Sall 45 percent support. Of his four rivals now lined up in the smallest field of candidates since 1988, none had more than 16 percent. Despite Sall's popularity, some Senegalese question whether a high-speed train, new motorways and a swanky conference center will benefit average citizens in the former French colony of 15 million people where the average income is less than $200 a month. Many people do not have reliable water or power supplies. University professor Bakary Manga, 43, said he would vote for opposition candidate Ousmane Sonko as he was disappointed in Sall's first term. "It was a big nonsense with him. The cost of his projects is excessive, we can do much better with much less," he said as he queued at a polling station in Dakar. Rights groups have criticized the exclusion of two popular candidates. Former mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, son of former President Abdoulaye Wade who was in power from 2000 to 2012, were barred from running due to corruption convictions. The former president said the vote was being rigged and told supporters of his son to boycott the poll. The government has dismissed the criticism, promising a free and fair vote. The West African nation has long been viewed as the region's most stable democracy, with peaceful transitions of power since independence in 1960. The other candidates include Sonko, a former tax inspector popular among the youth, and third-time contender and former prime minister Idrissa Seck. Sonko told supporters at his final rally on Thursday he would congratulate Sall if the vote was fair. "But if he steals the victory, I ask the youth to walk to the presidential palace and chase him out," he said. At least one person was killed this month in clashes between Sall's backers and his opponents in the southeastern city of Tambacounda, but campaigning has been largely peaceful. (Writing by Sofia Christensen and Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Edward McAllister and Robin Pomeroy) Dakar (AFP) - Senegal's President Macky Sall won in the first round of the election Sunday, his prime minister said, although his two main challengers look set to contest the outcome. "The results allow us to say that we should congratulate President Macky Sall on his re-election," Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne said at midnight, predicting the incumbent would receive "at least 57 percent" of the vote. His announcement hours after polls closed was greeted with cheers from supporters gathered at the headquarters of the presidential coalition in Dakar. Sall, who was seen there earlier in the evening, did not speak. Official results from each region are not expected until Tuesday with a nationwide announcement by Friday midnight at the latest. If no one wins more than 50 percent a second-round runoff will be held on March 24. Shortly before Dionne's announcement, Sall's two main challengers had warned against premature proclamations of victory. "At this stage, a second round is announced and the results that are already compiled allow us to say so," said former prime minister Idrissa Seck, who was making his third run for president. "At the current state of the vote count, no candidate, I say no candidate, including myself, can claim to have won the presidential election," taxman-turned MP Ousmane Sonko, who was also in the race, added at their joint press conference. Seck and Sonko are the only two candidates seen as having a chance of making it to a second round, with incumbent Sall, 56, in the lead in many polling stations, according to preliminary results reported in the evening by local media. The other challengers, former foreign minister Madicke Niang and Issa Sall of the Unity and Assembly Party (PUR), were trailing far behind, according to the results. Macky Sall had looked set to cruise to victory in the first round after his two key rivals, popular former Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, son of the previous president, were banned from running over graft convictions and he only faced four lesser-known candidates. Story continues "At the end of this day, the Senegalese people alone will be the winner. And the president chosen will equally have to be president of all Senegalese," Sall said after voting Sunday. A geologist by training, Sall took over as president in 2012 after beating his former mentor Abdoulaye Wade, and this time, he has campaigned for a second term championing his "Emerging Senegal" infrastructure project to boost economic growth. "Victory in the first round is indisputable," Sall told a recent Dakar campaign rally. The EU observation mission said its overall assessment was "quite positive" among the polling stations it observed. "There has been very little violence, very isolated incidents, which is very good news," said Elena Valenciano, head of the mission. - A smaller lineup - Often held up as a model of stability in Africa, Senegal has enjoyed strong growth. The Muslim-majority country has largely escaped the jihadist attacks that destabilised neighbours such as Mali. Sall has made transport infrastructure a priority. But basic services, healthcare and education often remain inadequate, sometimes triggering strikes and protests. The other four candidates have campaigned hard against his plans for a second phase of his project, which critics see as a potential debt burden. The five-horse race leaves voters with a limited choice compared to 2012 when 14 candidates vied for the top post. A new system approved by parliament last year requires candidates demonstrate support from a minimum number of citizens and regions. Once the regulations went into force, only seven candidates made the cut, but two of them -- Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade -- were then disqualified. Both men were barred over their convictions for misuse of public funds, which they say were engineered to bar them from the race. Their supporters staged a number of protests and last year, Amnesty International issued a report highlighting the "unfair trials" of senior opposition figures, flagging a "lack of (judicial) independence" in the case against Khalifa Sall. Senegal has a population of 16 million but only 6.7 million were registered to vote in the West African nation which gained independence from France in 1960. Senegal has known two peaceful power transfers in 2000 and 2012 and has never experienced any coups. But election campaigns are often marred by charges of corruption, disinformation and sometimes violence. For polling day, some 8,000 police were deployed throughout urban areas alongside an unspecified number of civilian security staff, officials said. And around 5,000 observers -- including some from the European Union -- were monitoring proceedings, the interior ministry said. Russia, Russias State Duma is planning to pass a resolution on a pending cryptocurrency regulation bill, reported a local source. Oleg Nikolayev, a member of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, said that the Russian assembly house had led cryptocurrency regulations to its final stages. In contrast to the Russian Central Banks conservative stance on bitcoin and other virtual currencies, Olga said that the house was working on a business-friendly framework for these assets integration. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The House is likely to pass the crypto regulation law by March, which could further pave the way for the government to launch its central bank digital currency. Read the full story on CCN.com. The Blue Jackets have completed their raid of Ottawa. No more than 36 hours after landing Matt Duchene in a deal with the Senators, Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen has acquired Duchenes former linemate Ryan Dzingel as well, as first reported by TSNs Bob McKenzie. Heading back to Ottawa are two second-round picks and forward Anthony Duclair, reports Sportsnets Elliotte Friedman. All told, the Senators receive Duclair, a first-round pick, two second rounders and two prospects, including former third-round pick Vitaly Abramov (not to mention an additional first-round selection if the Jackets do indeed extend Duchene), for two of their three high-profile pending unrestricted free agents. Certainly a decent haul. For the Blue Jackets, caution has been thrown to the wind. They now have four expiring assets of significance with Duchene, Dzingel, Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky, and no promise that even one will opt to stick around. But they also have probably their most talented roster in their history, and are clearly intent on seeing the season through. Clear ambition and one of the lighter paths in the playoffs through the Metropolitan Division, the Blue Jackets are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. Meanwhile Ottawa can now focus its attention entirely on the most important asset under its label in the lead-up to Mondays trade deadline. Its believed that the Senators would still prefer to sign pending unrestricted free agent winger Mark Stone, but will be forced to trade him if they are unable to agree to terms on an extension. Stone should bring back a bigger haul than the Senators received for Duchene or Dzingel. If Stone is dealt, what the Senators accomplish with the futures assets acquired for their three top veteran forwards will largely determine how successful their rebuild winds up being. Together, Duchene and Dzingel shared the ice for over 500 minutes in Ottawa. They had a slight edge in goal share and slight disadvantage in shot share in favourable minutes for the last-place Senators. Duchene skated between Panarin and Cam Atkinson on the Jackets top line in his first two starts with his new team. Dzingel will slide into a middle-six role on left wing. Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and receive a $20 prize! Many investors are still learning about the various metrics that can be useful when analysing a stock. This article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE). Well use ROE to examine Rane (Madras) Limited (NSE:RML), by way of a worked example. Over the last twelve months Rane (Madras) has recorded a ROE of 8.5%. One way to conceptualize this, is that for each 1 of shareholders equity it has, the company made 0.085 in profit. See our latest analysis for Rane (Madras) How Do I Calculate ROE? The formula for return on equity is: Return on Equity = Net Profit Shareholders Equity Or for Rane (Madras): 8.5% = 192.385 2.3b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2018.) Its easy to understand the net profit part of that equation, but shareholders equity requires further explanation. It is the capital paid in by shareholders, plus any retained earnings. The easiest way to calculate shareholders equity is to subtract the companys total liabilities from the total assets. What Does ROE Signify? ROE looks at the amount a company earns relative to the money it has kept within the business. The return is the yearly profit. A higher profit will lead to a higher ROE. So, as a general rule, a high ROE is a good thing. That means it can be interesting to compare the ROE of different companies. Does Rane (Madras) Have A Good ROE? By comparing a companys ROE with its industry average, we can get a quick measure of how good it is. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. As shown in the graphic below, Rane (Madras) has a lower ROE than the average (14%) in the Auto Components industry classification. NSEI:RML Past Revenue and Net Income, February 24th 2019 Thats not what we like to see. We prefer it when the ROE of a company is above the industry average, but its not the be-all and end-all if it is lower. Nonetheless, it might be wise to check if insiders have been selling. Story continues The Importance Of Debt To Return On Equity Virtually all companies need money to invest in the business, to grow profits. That cash can come from issuing shares, retained earnings, or debt. In the case of the first and second options, the ROE will reflect this use of cash, for growth. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. That will make the ROE look better than if no debt was used. Combining Rane (Madras)s Debt And Its 8.5% Return On Equity Rane (Madras) clearly uses a significant amount debt to boost returns, as it has a debt to equity ratio of 1.64. The combination of a rather low ROE and significant use of debt is not particularly appealing. Debt increases risk and reduces options for the company in the future, so you generally want to see some good returns from using it. But Its Just One Metric Return on equity is useful for comparing the quality of different businesses. In my book the highest quality companies have high return on equity, despite low debt. If two companies have the same ROE, then I would generally prefer the one with less debt. But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. It is important to consider other factors, such as future profit growth and how much investment is required going forward. You can see how the company has grow in the past by looking at this FREE detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Clashes erupted between protesters and members of the Venezuelan National Guard at the Colombia-Venezuela border on February 24, local media said. The Venezuelan government had ordered the closure of the border to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid, El Nuevo Herald reported. At least two people were killed and dozens wounded in border clashes on February 23, Colombian media reported. Footage here was captured by local reporter Gabriela Gonzalez and shows protesters on a bridge at the border between the towns of Urena, Venezuela, and Cucuta, Colombia, on February 24. Debris and a damaged vehicle are seen. Credit: Gabriela Gonzalez via Storyful This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Sunday vowed to tackle every single case of sexual abuse by priests in the Roman Catholic Church, comparing paedophilia to "human sacrifice" in a speech that left victims cold. His public address to top bishops at the end of a landmark summit in the Vatican promised an "all-out battle" against abusive priests, but blamed the devil and insisted the Church was not the only place children were assaulted. "If in the Church there should emerge even a single case of abuse which already in itself represents an atrocity that case will be faced with the utmost seriousness", Francis promised. "I am reminded of the cruel religious practice, once widespread in certain cultures, of sacrificing human beings frequently children in pagan rites," he said. The sexual abuse of minors was "a widespread phenomenon in all cultures and societies," Francis said, and he slammed those priests who prey on children as "tools of Satan". "I make a heartfelt appeal for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors both sexually and in other areas... for we are dealing with abominable crimes that must be erased from the face of the earth," he said. Children must be "protected from ravenous wolves", he said, adding: "We stand face to face with the mystery of evil". - 'New Motu Proprio' - The scandals have hit countries around the world, with lives devastated from Australia to Chile, Germany and the US. The Argentine had opened the four-day meeting by calling for "concrete measures" against child sex abuse and handing 114 senior bishops a roadmap to shape the debate on tackling paedophile priests. The pope will issue "a new Motu Proprio" on the "protection of minors and vulnerable persons", summit moderator Federico Lombardi said after the pope's speech. "Motu Proprios" are legal documents issued under the pope's personal authority, and this one will "strengthen prevention and the fight against abuse on the part of the Roman Curia and Vatican City State," he said. Story continues Francis also wants to create "task forces" to help local parishes fight clerical paedophilia and the Vatican will draw up guidelines for bishops on dealing with abuse cases, he added. - 'Waste of time' - The 82-year-old pontiff had warned victims to lower their expectations, saying much of the work would be done post-summit. Swiss victim Jean-Marie Furbringer said: "Honestly it's a pastoral 'blabla', saying it's the fault of the devil". "It talks about the devil, it talks about evil... There is no talk about permanently excluding child rapists and abusers who are employees of the Church," said Britain's Peter Saunders, a victim who resigned from a Vatican advisory commission on combating abuse. "From a child protection point of view it's been a waste of time. From keeping the world's eyes on this institution and its failure to protect children, it's been a great success," he said. The meeting has been marked by soul-seeking and self-recrimination by the Church, and horror stories from abuse victims. In his lengthy speech, Francis said the Church would draw inspiration from the "best practices" in the Seven Strategies for Ending Violence against Children, measures developed under the guidance of the World Health Organisation (WHO). He said the Church "in developing her legislation" will focus on eight aspects: "the protection of children", "impeccable seriousness", "genuine purification", "formation", "strengthening and reviewing guidelines by Episcopal Conferences" and "accompaniment of those who have been abused". - 'Heed their cries' - Those gathered at the Vatican heard testimonies from victims, one of whom was forced to have three abortions after being abused for years by a priest who beat her, while another said he had been molested more than 100 times. "The echo of the silent cry of the little ones who, instead of finding in them fathers and spiritual guides encountered tormentors, will shake hearts dulled by hypocrisy and by power," Francis said. "It is our duty to pay close heed to this silent, choked cry," he added. But Francesco Zanardi, survivor and head of Italian victims' association Rete Abuso, said the Vatican had "lost credibility". "We wanted to see measures, to see the bishops (guilty of protecting paedophile priests) named. Start by opening the Vatican archives, not by destroying documents. Start handing documents over to the civil authorities," he said. Archbishop Charles Scicluna, one of the organisers of the summit, told journalists he understood the "frustration" of survivors, insisting: "the expectations of victims should also be our expectations, and they are". The Vatican has in the past refused to hand over internal documents about abuse cases to police investigating paedophilia. German Cardinal Reinhard Marx admitted Saturday that "files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed, or not even created". The admission sparked an angry reaction from the international association ECA (Ending Clerical Abuse), which slammed the destruction of such documents "illegal" and called for an investigation. Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Sunday compared the sexual abuse of children to human sacrifice as he addressed the Catholic Church's top bishops at the end of a landmark summit to tackle paedophilia. "Our work has made us realise once again that the gravity of the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors is, and historically has been, a widespread phenomenon in all cultures and societies," he said. "I am reminded of the cruel religious practice, once widespread in certain cultures, of sacrificing human beings frequently children in pagan rites," he added. Francis was speaking after a four-day meeting which he had opened by calling for "concrete measures" on tackling priests and handing 114 senior bishops a roadmap to shape the debate on how to stop a global scandal. "If in the Church there should emerge even a single case of abuse which already in itself represents an atrocity that case will be faced with the utmost seriousness". The ongoing scandals have hit countries around the world, with recent cases affecting Australia, Chile, Germany and the US. Francis said those who priests who pray on children are "tools of Satan". "No explanations suffice for these abuses involving children," the Argentine pontiff said. "The echo of the silent cry of the little ones who, instead of finding in them fathers and spiritual guides encountered tormentors, will shake hearts dulled by hypocrisy and by power. "It is our duty to pay close heed to this silent, choked cry," he added. Washington (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed Sunday a threat by Russian leader Vladimir Putin to deploy new missiles against Western capitals as "bluster" designed to divide Washington and its allies. In a speech last week, Putin warned the US against deploying any new missiles in Europe after the collapse of a key Cold War-era treaty, saying Russia would respond by deploying weapons targeting "decision-making centers." But in an interview with CNN, Pompeo said Putin's comments amounted to an empty threat and the Russian leader was trying to divert attention away from Moscow's violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty. "The Russians violated that treaty... Now it's time to figure out how to move forward and come up with something the Russians will actually live by," said Pompeo. "His bluster is aimed at trying to convince the world, to drive a wedge between the United states and Europe when everyone is fully on board. "The Europeans were fully supportive of our decision, and we'll move forward together in ensuring the security of the United States' people." The US announced earlier this month it was withdrawing from the INF treaty, saying Russia had been in breach of the agreement for several years by deploying a new missile system. Russia, which insists the system complies with the INF, said it would pull out too. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said several times in recent weeks that the alliance would not deploy any new land-based nuclear weapons in response to the Russian missiles. Washington (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed confidence Sunday that embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's "days are numbered," amid a violent impasse over humanitarian aid. "Predictions are difficult. Picking exact days is difficult," Pompeo said on CNN's "State of the Union." "I'm confident that the Venezuelan people will ensure that Maduro's days are numbered." Pompeo's remarks came a day after a US-supported, opposition-led effort to bring humanitarian supplies into the country was repelled by Venezuelan border troops firing tear gas and rubber bullets. Maduro, vowing to "never bow down" at a rally in Caracas, severed relations with neighboring Colombia for supporting the opposition bid. Pompeo blamed armed Maduro loyalists known as "collectivos" for most of the violence at border crossings. "We hope the military will take that role back in protecting their citizens from these tragedies. If that happens, I think good things will happen," he said. The military command has pledged absolute loyalty to Maduro, although some officers and soldiers have deserted, heeding opposition appeals that they switch sides. Pompeo said the United States, which recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's interim president, remains committed to bringing in aid. "We're aimed at a singular mission -- ensuring the Venezuelan people get the democracy they so richly deserve and the Cubans and the Russians who have been driving this country into the ground for years and years and years no longer hold sway," he said. JACKSON, Tenn. A sinkhole opened up on a roadway Saturday on a Tennessee road, swallowing one passenger vehicle as it's occupants fled to safety. Three passengers made it out of the car just before it sank beneath the broken surface of Otha Holt Road between Milan and Medina in western Tennessee, Gibson County Sheriff Paul Thomas said. "I'm just one of those people ... I'm always thinking, what would I do if a situation happened?" driver Dinah Hufstedler, of Milan, said. "I'm an old woman and those 'ifs' have never happened, until today." Hufstedler was driving with her grandson and another boy when she saw the road ahead was covered by fast-moving water, so she and stopped. "Before I had a chance to back up, my front tires went down," Hufstedler said. "My car just sunk." She immediately checked to see if the windows would still roll down, and all three people climbed out of the car and got to solid ground. "The pavement was halfway up the windows" at that point, Hufstedler said. Just after Hufstedler and the boys escaped, the sinkhole swallowed the vehicle. "Less than a minute after we got out, the car sunk up to the back seats," Hufstedler said. The appears to be car is a total loss, but Hufstedler and the boys got out without a scratch. Thomas said he believes the sinkhole was caused by recent heavy rains and flooding. He expects the road will be closed indefinitely. Follow Cassandra Stephenson on Twitter: @CStephenson731. More: Rockslide closes 20-mile section of Interstate 40 in North Carolina This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Passengers escape just before sinkhole swallows car in Tennessee Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - A Palestinian teenager was killed Friday by Israeli fire during clashes along the Gaza border, the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave said. Yussef al-Daya, 14, was hit in the chest to the east of Gaza City, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. Around 30 other Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire in rallies along the frontier, he added. The Israeli army said around 8,000 Palestinians demonstrated at various points along the border, without commenting on the teenager's death. The protesters set tyres ablaze and threw grenades, incendiary devices and stones towards Israeli soldiers, an army spokesperson told AFP. Israeli forces "responded with anti-riot means and shot according to the operational procedures," they said. At least 251 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since March 2018, the majority shot during weekly border protests and others hit by tank fire or air strikes. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed over the same period. Israeli has fought three wars with Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas since 2008 and the enclave has been under a crippling blockade for more than a decade. Academy Awards nominations dont always get it right, but this year, the Oscars killed it: The first superhero movie to really deserve an Oscar nod for best picture got one. Marvel blockbuster Black Panther roared to seven nominations as Hollywood heads into the 91st annual Academy Awards on Sunday Feb. 24 (ABC, 8 ET/5 PT). It scored mostly in technical categories, but it landed the one that matters the most and everyone wants. Of the history being made this Oscars year thank goodness Spike Lee is finally getting best-picture and best-director accolades for BlacKkKlansman, and hats off to Taxi Driver writer Paul Schrader earning his first screenplay nod for First Reformed Black Panther means more to those outside Hollywood and especially to us superhero junkies who've been yearning for one of our own to be a major part of Oscar night. Audiences made it the highest-grossing movie of 2018, and the motion picture academy also apparently considers it quite a standout. Superhero films for the longest time have missed out on the honor for any number of reasons, like the academy snootily not seeing them as quality films, perhaps. With a voting contingent becoming younger and more diverse and superhero projects taking up more breathing room in pop culture, it was only a matter of time. Predicting the Oscars: Who will win and who should How to watch: Everything you should know about Oscars 2019 Superman scored four Oscar nominations but no best picture in 1979 which was fine because I was 3 and couldn't stay up that late. Batman was nominated (and won) for production design but no best picture in 1990 more of a bummer, yet there was more competition that year, with "Driving Miss Daisy" running everybody off the road. The Dark Knight came along as a critical hit with eight nominations (and an eventual win for Heath Ledger) but, again, no best picture. It was a shortcoming that seemed egregious at the time and undoubtedly led to the Oscars expanding the field from five nominees to at most 10. Story continues Dark Knight should have been that first superhero best-picture nominee that is, until you consider how inclusive and important a cultural achievement Black Panther became. One was a really great "Batman" movie; the others a populist movement. This is the one we've been waiting for, folks. Chadwick Bosemans Black Panther means so much to a generation of children of all races, but especially to black audiences who were touched by seeing a hero of color and themselves in such a prominent position on a big screen. Hannah Beachler became the first African American to earn a production design nomination for her excellent Afro-futuristic Wakandan landscape. "Black Panther" sadly didn't get any acting nominations even with Michael B. Jordan's supremely excellent supporting villain just sitting right there, people! but theres still a lot for viewers to have a rooting interest in this Oscar night. So can it win? Will everybody be yelling Wakanda forever! as the show ends? Black Panther has some serious competition: Roma and The Favourite each have 10 nominations (with the former gaining momentum in awards season), and Green Book took the bellwether Producers Guild Awards honor, which has matched the best-picture winner 20 out of 29 years (though only once in the past three). Ranked: The 10 greatest Oscar best-picture winners ever Sorry, 'Crash': The 10 worst Oscar best-picture winners e, ranked (sorry, 'Crash') Maybe it wins. Maybe its a victory just by nabbing a nomination. No less a phenomenon either way, Black Panther will have a large contingent of viewers wanting that huge prize. It has already made history. Who doesn't want to see it make some more? This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oscars 2019: Why 'Black Panther' really deserves that best-picture nod By Jack Kim and Josh Smith HANOI (Reuters) - North Korea warned President Donald Trump on Sunday not to listen to U.S. critics who were disrupting efforts to improve ties, as its leader, Kim Jong Un, made his way across China by train to a second summit with Trump in Vietnam. The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, where they pledged to work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. But their vaguely worded agreement has produced few results and U.S. Democratic senators and U.S. security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions. The North's KCNA state news agency said such opposition was aimed at derailing the talks. "If the present U.S. administration reads others' faces, lending an ear to others, it may face the shattered dream of the improvement of the relations with the DPRK and world peace and miss the rare historic opportunity," the news agency said in a commentary, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The Trump administration has pressed the North to give up its nuclear weapons programme, which, combined with its missile capabilities, pose a threat to the United States, before it can expect any concessions. But in recent days Trump has signalled a possible softening, saying he would love to be able to remove sanctions if there is meaningful progress on denuclearisation. Trump also said he was in no rush and had no pressing schedule for North Korea's denuclearisation, hinting at a more gradual, reciprocal approach, long favoured by Pyongyang. The North also wants security guarantees and a formal end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a treaty. Trump said on Sunday that he and Kim expect to make further progress at this week's summit and again held out the promise that denuclearization would help North Korea develop its economy. Story continues "Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!" Trump said in a tweet. He also said Chinese President Xi Jinping has been supportive of Trump's meeting with Kim. "The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door." RED CARPET SEND-OFF In a letter to Trump last week, three Democratic chairmen of key committees in the House of Representatives accused the administration of withholding information on the negotiations with North Korea. "There are ample reasons to be sceptical that Chairman Kim is committed to a nuclear-free North Korea," the lawmakers wrote. U.S. intelligence officials recently testified to Congress that North Korea was unlikely to ever give up its entire nuclear arsenal. KCNA, referring to U.S. fears of the North's weapons, said if this week's talks ended without results, "the U.S. people will never be cleared of the security threats that threw them into panic". Few details of Kim's trip to Vietnam were announced until early on Sunday, when North Korean state media confirmed he had left Pyongyang by train, accompanied by senior officials as well as his influential sister, Kim Yo Jong. In rare, revealing coverage of Kim's travel, the North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper featured photographs of the leader getting a red-carpet send-off on Saturday afternoon and waving from a train door while holding a cigarette. He was joined by top officials also involved in the Singapore summit, including Kim Yong Chol, a former spy chief and Kim's top envoy in negotiations with the United States, as well as senior party aide Ri Su Yong, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and defence chief No Kwang Chol. Other senior officials, such as his de facto chief of staff, Kim Chang Son, and Kim Hyok Chol, negotiations counterpart to U.S. envoy Stephen Biegun, were already in Hanoi to prepare for the summit. Both sides are under pressure to forge more specific agreements than were reached in Singapore. The two leaders are likely to try to build on their personal connection to push things forward in Hanoi, even if only incrementally, analysts said. "They will not make an agreement which breaks up the current flow of diplomacy. (President Trump) has mentioned that they'll meet again; even if there is a low-level agreement, they will seek to keep things moving," said Shin Beom-chul, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. TRAIN SPOTTING Few details of summit arrangements have been released. Some lamp posts on Hanoi's tree-lined streets are decked with North Korean, U.S. and Vietnamese flags fluttering above a handshake design, and security has been stepped up at locations that could be the summit venue, or where the leaders might stay. It could take Kim at least 2-1/2 days to travel to Vietnam by train. Some carriages of a green train were spotted at Beijing's station on Sunday, but there was no confirmation that it was Kim's. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Kim's train had passed through a station in China's port city of Tianjin, southeast of Beijing, at around 1 p.m. local time (0500 GMT). China has given no details of his trip. Its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Additional reporting by Joyce Lee, Ju-min Park, Soyoung Kim, Hyonhee Shin, James Pearson; Editing by Robert Birsel and Jeffrey Benkoe) The Kimchi harvest in North Korea - Eddie Mulholland North Korea has warned that it is facing a food shortfall of some 1.4 million tonnes this year, forcing the regime to almost halve rations. An undated two-page memo from the North Korean mission to the United Nations, seen by Reuters, blames the shortages of rice, wheat, potatoes and soy beans on soaring temperatures, drought and floods that damaged crops last year. The release of the document comes just a week before a landmark summit in Vietnam between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, the US president, during which the North Korean leader will seek an easing of US-led international sanctions that are slowing his countrys economic development. The harsh sanctions were imposed to pressure the North Koreans to dismantle their nuclear and ballistic missiles programmes and Washington believes that insufficient progress has been made to allow financial penalties to be lifted. While frequent natural disasters have contributed to long-term food insecurity in the pariah regime, so too have the policies of the Kim dynasty to pursue the creation of nuclear weapons and keep North Korea in perpetual isolation. The DPRK [North Korean] government calls on international organisations to urgently respond to addressing the food situation, read the North Korean memo, reportedly a follow-up to a joint assessment with the World Food Programme late last year. The WFP declined to comment. The memo revealed that the countrys food production last year was 4.951 million tonnes, 503,000 tonnes down on 2017. While food imports would make up some of the gap, daily rations would have to be cut from 550 to 300 grams. On Thursday, a UN spokesperson said that aid officials were consulting the government to further understand the impact of the food security situation on the most vulnerable people in order to take early action to address their humanitarian needs. The WFP is providing food aid to the Pyongyang Children's Foodstuff factory Credit: Eddie Mulholland/The Telegraph Last year the United Nations and aid groups were only able to help one third of six million people in need due to a lack of funding. Story continues Some 10 million people about 40 per cent of the population are undernourished and require humanitarian assistance. Despite the desperate need, the WFP has been unable to meet its funding goals. In a statement to the Telegraph in November, it said that $7.5m was still needed over the next five months to avoid more cuts to food assistance. It revealed that a critical funding shortfall in 2018 had already meant 190,000 children were deprived of nutritional support. Historically, North Korea has struggled to feed its population through a combination of economic mismanagement, the withdrawal of Soviet support and a catastrophic famine in the 1990s during which an estimated 240,000 to 3.5m died from starvation or related diseases. The countrys authorities have publicly acknowledged the existence of a nutrition problem. It is our goal to fully solve the food security problem by 2020, which is the final year of our five-year national development plan, Professor Ri Gi Song, a leading economist at the Pyongyang Institute of Social Sciences, told the Telegraph in a previous interview. However, Pyongyangs recent memo also blamed UN sanctions for restricting the delivery of farming materials and hindering fuel supplies for the agriculture sector. Stephen Biegun, the US special envoy for North Korea, said earlier this month that the US had eased rules on humanitarian assistance to the reclusive regime, and was working to clear a backlog of UN approvals. By James Macharia and Ahmed Kingimi ABUJA/MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria began counting votes in Saturday's closely-fought presidential election although the electoral commission extended voting in some places where polling stations opened late or ballot machines malfunctioned. President Muhammadu Buhari and his main challenger, businessman Atiku Abubakar, both said they were confident of victory when casting their ballots in an election which was already delayed by a week due to logistical problems. The vote in Africa's biggest economic power is too close to call, with the outcome hinging on which man voters trust most to revamp an economy still struggling from a 2016 recession. Buhari, a former military ruler who is seeking a second elected term faces Atiku, a former vice president who has pledged to expand the role of the private sector in Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer. They lead a field of more than 70 candidates in an election which was postponed last Saturday just hours before it was due to begin. On Saturday, voting had been completed in some areas and the counting of ballots was taking place, Reuters witnesses said. "The Independent National Electoral Commission is generally satisfied with the process and the procedures for the conduct of these present elections," INEC official Festus Okoye told reporters in the capital, Abuja. But he said there had been challenges related to the delayed start of voting in some polling stations and INEC had extended hours in the places affected. Voting officially began at 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) and was due to close at 2 p.m. Okoye said 68 percent of polling units had opened by 10 a.m. Okoye said INEC was investigating reports of attempts to steal electoral material in Lagos state and the southeastern state of Anambra, as well as violence in the oil-rich southern state of Rivers. Problems related to malfunctioning voter card machines were mostly resolved, he added. Story continues ISLAMIST ATTACK In the northeast, where Islamist insurgents have waged a decade-long war, blasts were heard in Maiduguri, state capital of Borno state, shortly before polls were due to open. In neighbouring Yobe state, residents in the town of Geidam fled an attack around the same time. A group called Islamic State West Africa Province, an off-shoot of Boko Haram, claimed it had carried out an attack in Maiduguri. Boko Haram had warned people not to vote. Army spokesman Colonel Sagir Musa earlier said there had not been any attack on Maiduguri, but there had been an exercise by the military. He called the Geidam attack "futile" and said there were no casualties. Buhari, who voted in his hometown of Daura in the northern state of Katsina, said: "I will congratulate myself, I'm going to be the winner," when asked by reporters if he would congratulate his rival, should Atiku win. Atiku cast his ballot in the eastern Adamawa state. "I am impressed by the turnout of the people," he told reporters. "I look forward to a successful transition." DELAYS Some of the country's 72.8 million eligible voters were frustrated by delays. Kingsley Moghalu, a presidential candidate for the Young Progressives Party, said he had only managed to vote at noon in the southeastern state of Anambra. He said polls opened two hours late and machines were not working. "If as a presidential candidate my polling unit can be treated in this manner, I can imagine what a lot of Nigerians are going through in many parts of the country," he said. Other voters echoed his concerns. "I've been to 10 polling units today. I've been redirected many times," said Victor Kanoba, a voter in Lagos. John Tomaszewski, an observer with the joint U.S. National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute delegation, said delays had been expected given the challenge of getting materials to the polling stations in time. "Logistics weren't properly managed despite the postponement of the polls," said Idayat Hassan, director of Abuja-based think-tank Centre for Democracy and Development. However, in Lagos' business district Victoria Island, Reginald Anthony, 45, who runs a transport business, said: "We are seeing a transparent election, everything is open for everyone to see". After voting in the northern Kano state, Hadisa Hayatu, a 38-year old housewife, said: "I voted for Buhari because he has assured us that he is going to build on what he has done on security and other issues." An Atiku supporter in Kano, stylist Laurie Isaac, 27, said: "We need change. I need more work. I need my salary to increase." (Reporting by Paul Carsten, Seun Sanni, Aaron Ross, Abraham Achirga, Adewale Kolawole, Afolabi Sotunde, Ardo Hazzad, Didi Akinyelure, Garba Muhammed, Mike Oboh, Nneka Chile, Ola Lanre, Percy Dabang, Camillus Eboh, Christian Merenini, Tife Owolabi, and Ulf Laessing in Tunis; Writing by James Macharia and Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Toby Chopra and Robin Pomeroy) Abuja (AFP) - Nigeria on Sunday awaited results from its presidential election, as civil society groups warned that disorganisation and violence may have undermined the polls. Results from Saturday's vote were expected to trickle in to Abuja after being collated at the state and local levels. Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the INEC election commission, will officially declare the outcome in the coming days. But both sides have already claimed victory. An aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, seeking re-election, described the incoming results as "so overwhelming... #BuhariIsWinning!", tweeted Bashir Ahmad. The media team for Buhari's main opponent said the INEC should "immediately announce results as delivered from the polling units and declare the people's candidate, Atiku Abubakar, the winner". Yakubu, however, told reporters: "Only the Independent National Electoral Commission can tally figures, announce results and declare winners." - 'Serious deterioration' - Whoever becomes the next leader of Africa's most populous country and leading oil producer faces a daunting to-do list, from tackling widespread insecurity and endemic corruption to boosting an economy recovering from months of recession. INEC said it was "generally satisfied" with the vote, even though polling stretched into Saturday evening in areas where voter card machines failed and materials arrived late. Some affected polling units in six of Nigeria's 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja even saw voting on Sunday. A coalition of more than 70 civil society groups monitoring the vote reported 16 deaths from election-linked violence in eight states. Others gave a higher toll. Nigeria's last election in 2015 was widely seen as the freest and fairest since the country returned to democracy in 1999 after decades of military rule. But Idayat Hassan of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) in Abuja said this year's bloodshed and malfunctions were a setback. Story continues "This election was a serious deterioration from 2015," she told AFP. "What we now expect from a credible, free and fair election was not there." - Result snapshot - Despite both sides' bullishness, it was difficult to assess from unofficial results announced at individual polling stations who was in the lead. But there were snapshots of each candidate's performance: Abubakar, for example, failed to win the polling station where he voted in Yola, capital of his home state Adamawa. Buhari personally cast a ballot in his hometown of Daura in the northwest state of Katsina, but lost the polling unit set up at the presidential villa in the capital, Abuja. The election was originally set for February 16 but the INEC announced a week-long delay just hours before voting was due to begin, angering voters who had already travelled home to participate. The delay saw the main parties accuse each other of conspiring with the INEC to rig the result, although neither has produced evidence. - Poll violence - Hours before voting began, Boko Haram's Islamic State-backed faction launched a rocket attack on the northeastern city of Maiduguri that killed one soldier. In Rivers state, in the oil-rich southern Niger Delta region, the army said soldiers killed six "hoodlums" in clashes. Yakubu said one election volunteer was killed by a stray bullet in Rivers, where some INEC staff and even police were held hostage. They were all released unharmed, he added. Other election staff were attacked in the southern state of Akwa Ibom and Kogi in the north central region. There were reports of ballot-snatching, vote-buying and violence elsewhere, including in the southwestern state of Lagos. Abiodun Baiyewu, director of Global Rights Nigeria, a civil society group monitoring the vote, said INEC and the security forces could have done more to ensure voters' safety. "INEC needed to have a communication plan with security but we found that this was lacking and security was ineffective," he added. - Campaign promises - A total of 72.7 million people with voter identity cards were eligible to vote in Saturday's polls. Parliamentary elections were held at the same time. In 2015, former military ruler Buhari became the first opposition candidate in Nigerian history to defeat a sitting president, beating Goodluck Jonathan by 2.5 million votes. Buhari has again vowed to be tough on insecurity and corruption, and wants to complete much-needed infrastructure projects. Abubakar is a pro-business free marketeer whose main pledges have been to privatise giant state-run companies and float the embattled naira currency. Nigerian elections have previously been characterised by voting along ethnic and religious lines. But with Buhari and Abubakar both Muslims from the north, that could split the northern vote, making southern states a key battleground. In order to win the presidency in the first-round poll, the winner needs not only to receive a majorty of the votes, but also at least 25 percent of the votes in two thirds of the 36 states plus the Abuja capital territory. eak-cs-ola-phz/boc By Joey Roulette CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - NASA gave its final go-ahead on Friday to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX company to conduct its first unmanned test flight of a newly designed crew capsule to the International Space Station on March 2. The approval cleared a key hurdle for SpaceX in its quest to help NASA revive America's human spaceflight program, stalled since space shuttle missions came to an end in 2011. NASA has awarded SpaceX $2.6 billion, and aerospace rival Boeing Co $4.2 billion to build separate rocket and capsule launch systems to carry U.S. astronauts to and from the space station, an orbital research laboratory that flies 250 miles (402 km) above Earth. "Following a full day of briefings and discussion, NASA and SpaceX are proceeding with plans to conduct the first uncrewed test flight of the Crew Dragon on a mission to the International Space Station," NASA said in a statement announcing its decision. (Reporting by Joey Roulette in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Writing and additional reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Tom Brown) Seoul (AFP) - Pyongyang's state media on Sunday slammed US critics of the planned meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un a day after the North Korean leader boarded an armoured train en route to the summit venue in Vietnam. The two leaders are due to meet next week in Hanoi after their groundbreaking first summit in Singapore last June, which produced a vague statement on the "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula". Senior officials from Washington and Pyongyang are holding preparatory talks in Hanoi -- which are expected to be largely focused on establishing the agenda for the summit. Stephen Biegun, the US Special Representative on North Korea who is leading the American delegation, acknowledged last month that Pyongyang and Washington did not have a "shared agreement of what denuclearisation entails". The lack of progress since the first summit has fuelled scepticism in Washington over the North's intentions, with Trump's own intelligence chief saying Pyongyang was unlikely to completely give up its weapons programme. But in a sharply-worded commentary issued Sunday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency slammed US critics and urged the Trump administration to seize "the rare historic opportunity". "The US administration must not forget last year's lesson when it plunged the bilateral negotiations into a stalemate, being swayed by the opponent forces," it said. "If the upcoming DPRK-US negotiations end without results as wished by the opponent forces, the US people will never be cleared of the security threats," it added. Pyongyang is seeking relief from punishing UN sanctions and rejects demands for what it calls its "unilateral" disarmament. Washington insists that the measures must stay in place until North Korea gives up its nuclear arsenal. Experts say tangible progress is needed in Hanoi to avoid the talks being dismissed as a publicity stunt. Washington (AFP) - Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office said in a sentencing memo released Saturday that President Donald Trump's former campaign director Paul Manafort was a "bold" criminal who "repeatedly and brazenly" broke the law. Manafort, 69, who pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges, faces sentencing on March 13. The memo addressed to the judge in charge of his case did not recommend a specific sentence -- but outlined the gravity of his crimes. It said he violated the law for years and his sentence "must take into account the gravity of this conduct," to deter both Manafort and anyone who would commit similar crimes. Manafort is one of six former Trump associates and senior aides who have been charged by Mueller's team, which is believed to be nearing the end of its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. "Manafort committed an array of felonies for over a decade, up through the fall of 2018," the memo said, naming crimes including tax fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, bank fraud and violating a law related to lobbying. "His criminal actions were bold," it continued, pointing out that they continued after he was charged, including attempting to tamper with witnesses, and lying to the FBI, government agencies and even his own lawyer. Mueller's office last week said it agreed with a Justice Department calculation that Manafort should face up to 24 years in prison, after he was found to have violated a plea deal which agreed to a maximum sentence of 10 years. Earlier this month, District Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed with prosecutors that Manafort had "intentionally" lied to investigators about his contacts with a suspected Russian operative, Konstantin Kilimnik, in 2016 and 2017 -- despite having pledged to cooperate as part of his September plea agreement. Jackson also ruled that Manafort had lied about a secretive payment he made to a law firm, and lied on another occasion when investigators queried him about a separate, still secret investigation related to the Mueller probe. Dated Friday, the memo was expected to be made public on Friday evening -- but was not released until Saturday, with several passages redacted. Chisinau (AFP) - Moldova held a parliamentary poll on Sunday, with both pro-Russian and pro-EU forces accusing the ruling party of massive election fraud. They said the Democratic Party, led by powerful oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, had bussed in people from the former Soviet state's breakaway region of Transnistria and told them how to vote. Moldova's pro-Moscow President Igor Dodon and pro-Brussels opposition leader Andrei Nastase both alleged the party had conspired with Transnistrian separatist authorities to organise the fraud. Dodon urged people not to be tempted by bribes. "Don't be afraid or let people buy you off. Don't be afraid of losing your job," Dodon said after voting in the capital Chisinau. "I know people are encouraging you to vote for certain parties." Nastase alleged that "they (the ruling party) are bussing in vulnerable people ripe for corruption". But Democratic Party deputy chairman Vladimir Chebotar said he had information that it was Socialist Party leaders who were offering bribes to residents of Transnistria to back its candidates. Authorities in Transnistria -- which broke away from Moldova after the fall of the USSR but is not recognised internationally -- did not allow polling stations to be opened in the region. But around 220,000 people living in the narrow stretch of land hold Moldovan citizenship and are eligible to vote on the other side of the Dniester River that separates the rebel republic from government-controlled territory. "These elections were neither free, nor fair, nor democratic," said Maia Sandu, one of the leaders of the pro-European ACUM bloc. "These were the least democratic elections in the history of Moldova." Chebotar on Sunday acknowledged "violations" during the election but shrugged them off, saying they would "not affect the voting process". - 'People are disillusioned' - Polling stations closed at 9:00 pm local time (1900 GMT), with voter participation at a little over 49 percent, according to electoral authorities. Results are expected on Monday. Story continues No party is likely to gain the majority needed to form a government in the country of 3.5 million people, and analysts are concerned the vote will be followed by a period of instability. While many want to maintain close ties with Moscow, others are looking towards the European Union, seeking to follow the example of Romania, with which Moldova shares a language and a long history. Victoria Chetrean, 40, told AFP she voted for the pro-European alliance that favours joining the EU and NATO. "My husband has worked in Italy for over 10 years for us to have a bare minimum standard of living," she said. "We should work towards European living standards." Moldova's economy is propped up by remittances from workers abroad, and the working-age population has shrunk. "People are disillusioned with the state, a million people have left," said Ion Vasilache, a 42-year-old university lecturer who supports Moldova joining the EU. "If the same corrupt authorities stay in power after the election, I will leave for Romania," he said. - 'Looking after minorities' - Dodon's pro-Moscow Socialist Party was leading in recent opinion polls, arguing for Moldova to join Russia's Eurasian Economic Union. Russia has rallied around Dodon, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin. Vasilii Ianioglo, a 57-year-old driver from the Gagauz minority -- a Turkish-speaking people who are traditionally Russian-leaning -- praised Dodon's frequent Kremlin visits. He voted for the Socialists, describing theirs as "the only party that looks after national minorities". As well as seeking to keep Moldova in its sphere of influence, Moscow has long backed separatists in Russian-speaking Transnistria. - 'Manipulation, disinformation' - Fuelling tensions ahead of the vote, Russian authorities on Friday accused ruling party leader Plahotniuc of running a vast money-laundering scheme in 2013-14. But on Sunday, parliamentary speaker Andrian Candu said it was merely a Russian ploy to influence the election. "It is all manipulation and disinformation," he said after voting in Chisinau. "It's not the first time that Russia tries to influence Moldova's election." The Democratic Party has sought a balanced approach between Moscow and the EU. But relations with the EU have deteriorated. Last November, Brussels reduced aid citing a "deterioration of the rule of law" -- a reference mainly to corruption. Moldova last year ranked 117 out of 180 nations in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. A businessman convicted in a billion-dollar fraud case -- Israeli-born Ilan Shor -- is likely to make it to parliament, a case analysts say exposes widespread graft. Milan (AFP) - British designer Daniel Lee unveiled his highly-anticipated debut collection for Bottega Veneta on Friday on the third day of Milan fashion week in his first outing as the Italian luxury label's creative director. Under a tented glass structure at the foot of one of Milan's most famous city gates, Arco della Pace, Lee's co-ed Autumn/Winter collection revealed a quiet strength. Taken on last summer, Lee replaces veteran German designer Tomas Maier who served as the Milanese fashion house's creative directors for 17 years. Founded in 1966 and now owned by French conglomerate Kering, the Venetian fashion house has its eye on becoming a vital player in women's ready-to-wear fashion. And it's this challenge that the 32-year-old Briton has embraced following stints at Margiela, Balenciaga, Donna Karan and most recently at Celine, where he spent five years directing ready-to-wear at the French fashion house. It is not by chance that this young designer has taken up the reins at this venerated fashion house which is famous for its timeless elegance and iconic woven "intreccio" leather but which has been looking for a fresh approach. And industry observers are predicting a bright future for him, even if Bottega Veneta is one of the rare Kering brands which has gone through a bumpy patch. Behind his unassuming appearance, the young English designer harbours grand ambitions: "I want Bottega Veneta to become the best fashion brand in the world," he said backstage after the show. On the runway, his creative determination found expression in the use of luxury fabrics worked with both energy and precision. And Bottega Veneta's trademark weave was played up, finding new expression as its boxy motif was translated onto coats, bags, dresses and skirts. Under a blazing cloudless sky, an all-leather ensemble evoked the look of body armour, with its heavily-embossed design fusing traditional technique with a futuristic vision, while other leather pieces had echoes of chain mail. Other pieces cut a more feminine silhouette, with knee-length dresses with mesh up to the throat, or bright quilted skirts bearing a touch of sensuality. Although leather and monochrome dominated on the runway, the collection was punctuated by notes of cream, orange, blue, and often illuminated by flashes of brilliant decorative motifs. microsoft hololens 2 In an announcement that surprised no one, Microsoft today unveiled HoloLens 2, the revolutionary mixed reality device that landed the tech giant a nearly half-billion dollar contract with the U.S. military. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. As Microsoft executives basked in the glory of the $3,500 device at MWC 2019 in Barcelona, some of its employees were weeping. These workers are terribly upset over the HoloLens. They charge that the legendary software company has crossed the line into weapons development. They have publicly rebuked the company via Twitter (of course, where else to blast your own employer?). Through the social media platform, Microsoft workers posted a letter in which they demanded Microsoft cancel a contract with the U.S. Army, which agreed to pay nearly $480 million to buy around 100,000 customized HoloLens 2 headsets. Read the full story on CCN.com. Superewer [Public domain] Warfare History Network, Brandt Heatherington Technology, Europe Hitlers ego spawned World War IIs largest and most futile tank design, which became the mouse that never roared. The Maus: Meet Hitler's Super Tank (That Was a Total Waste of Time) Typical of Hitlers vacillations on his many super weapon projects, on November 4, 1943, development of the Maus was ordered to cease, and only one was to be completed for further evaluation. As early as 1941, the German high command had visions of military technology that was far ahead of its time, and many innovative technological concepts were becoming reality. Had some of them been produced in a more expeditious fashion or in greater numbers, most historians agree that they would have doubtless prolonged World War II, if not altered its outcome entirely. Many of these wonder weapons were highly practical concepts and have as their progeny the cornerstones of modern military arsenals the worlds first assault rifle, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and jet fighters to name a few. And then there were some bizarre concepts, which appear on the surface to be nothing more than an extension of their inventors ego. The Maus (German for Mouse) super-tank certainly falls into the latter category. The Panzerkampwagen (PzKpfw.) VIII Maus was a 188-ton behemoth developed by Porsche at the behest of Hitler himself. Impractical does not begin to describe it, and the timing of its introduction was stupefying. Why, when Nazi Germany had lost the oil fields in Africa and was starting to run short of fuel for the vehicles they had, would they introduce a gas guzzling monster that would obviously be very costly and time consuming to produce? This kind of decision making was one of the great intangibles about Hitler, which confounded his staff as much as it does modern observers. Hitler jumped from one fad and crazy idea to another. The Maus was probably influenced by a trend toward producing heavy tanks that many Allied armor developers were experimenting with during the middle years of World War II. Of course Hitler had to go them one better. Story continues The Americans were developing the 45-ton M-26 Pershing tank, and, of more personal concern to Hitler, the Russians debuted the 45-ton JS-2 Stalin. While most military planners would have been more focused on the thousands of Soviet T-34 medium tanks the Russians were churning out that would eventually be rolling toward the Fatherland, Hitler obsessed with outweighing and outgunning the handful of Allied heavy tanks that were going into production. After the D-Day invasion and the Allied experience of being bogged down in the hedgerows of Normandy, heavy tanks were a subject of major controversy among military planners on both sides. Were they worth their weight? Did they gain more in protection and firepower than they sacrificed in mobility and fuel economy? Hitler had presumably already made up his mind several years before this defining incident and ordered Porsche to get to work. Porsches Quest to Create an Indestructible Tank The earliest development of the Maus super heavy tank started in 1941, when Krupp began studies of super heavy Soviet tanks such as the KV series. In early 1942, Krupp produced designs of a hybrid Tiger/Maus prototype, which eventually became the PzKpfw. VIII, and another super heavy design, the predecessor of the Maus, known as the the PzKpfw. VII Lowe, or Lion. In early March 1942, the order for the heavier tank, the Maus, was placed, and the Lowe never reached the prototype stage. Later that month, Porsche received the official contract for the new 188-ton Maus, specifying that it was to carry 100 rounds of ammunition and would be armed with the high performance 105mm L/60 or L/72 gun. Maus production was to be overseen by Professor Ferdinand Porsche, who would develop the chassis, and the Krupp Munitions Works would be responsible for developing the hull, turret, and armament. The original Maus project was supported by the Heereswaffenamt (Army Weapons Office) as a competitive design. Porsche received approval for his project from Hitler at a time when none of his other designs had been selected for production. It has been theorized that perhaps Hitler might have compensated Porsche for his past failures as a military designer by awarding him the Maus contract. It could easily be argued that Porsche was being set up to fail yet againthe description of the tank Hitler wanted included the word indestructible. The contract set a deadline for an operational prototype to be developed by the spring of 1943. On June 23, 1942, Porsche provided its design for an improved Maus armed with turret mounted 150mm (L/37) and 105mm (L/70) guns. Porsche promised that its first prototype would be ready in May 1943. While contract specifications demanded that armament should consist of the 150mm L/40 gun and 20mm MG151/20 heavy machine gun, usage of the 128mm L/50 was under consideration. In December 1942, new armaments such as a 127mm naval gun and the 128mm flak gun were also tested and considered for the tanks main gun. Testing a Turretless Maus Tank In January 1943, Hitler interfered again in the development of the vehicle and ordered that the Maus be fitted with turret mounted 128mm and 75mm guns, while turret mounted 150mm or 170mm guns were specified for future use. Instead of the standard 7.9mm coaxial machine gun, the Maus would have a 75mm antitank gun next to the main gun, and a machine cannon for antiaircraft was to be mounted in the turret roof alongside a smoke grenade projector. Indecision seemed to reign supreme on this crucial design element. The specification for ammunition storage space of 100 rounds was never met, and consequently the space was decreased, sacrificed at the altar of even further armament modifications. That same month, the first backsliding by Porsche began when it was restated that first vehicle would be ready in the summer instead of spring 1943, and that would be followed by the production of only five vehicles per month. The first official name for the new super tank was VK10001 Porsche Type 205 and nicknamed the Mammoth. The tank was renamed Maeuschen (or Mousy) in December 1942 and finally Maus in February 1943. With Krupp producing hulls, turrets, and armament, a firm called Alkett was responsible for assembly of the components. On December 24, 1943, the first prototype, minus the turret, was completed by Alkett and was put through extensive tests. During the tests, the Maus could barely move due to its enormous weight. It became obvious that the powerplant was woefully inadequate. The first prototype was powered by a modified Daimler-Benz MB 509 engine (developed from the DB 603 aircraft engine), which could not provide the planned speed of 20km per hour. It could manage only 13km per hour, and that only under ideal conditions. In December 1943, the V1 prototype was fitted with a Belastungsgewicht, or simulated turret, which represented the weight of the actual turret, and was tested. For some curious reason, this first prototype was applied with camouflage paint and marked with a red star, hammer, and sickle and disguised as a captured Russian vehicle. The Maus V2 Prototype In March 1944, the second prototype Maus V2, which differed in several details from the V1, was finally finished. This new V2 lacked a powerplant, which was later fitted in mid-1944. On April 9, Krupp delivered the turret, which was mounted on the V2 and tested in June. It was mounted with a 128mm KwK 44 L/55 gun, a coaxial 75mm KwK 44 L/36.5 gun, and a 7.92mm MG34 machine gun, providing the Maus with enormous firepower. The Maus main gun could penetrate the front, side and rear armor of the American Sherman, British Cromwell and Churchill, and Russian T-34 and JS-2 tanks at ranges over 3,500 meters. Its own armor was no thinner than 7 inches anywhere, and was up to 14 inches thick at some points. The turret included mounts for a Zeiss rangefinder, but it was not fully finished and some of the missing components were shipped later. The Maus I was to be fitted with Krupps second turret, but it was never delivered and remained fitted with a simulated turret. On July 25, 1944, Krupp reported that two hulls would be available soon and two more were in production. Two days later, Krupp was ordered to scrap all four hulls. On August 19, Krupp informed Porsche that it was ordered to stop further work on the Maus. By September 1944, however, testing had begun on the second prototype. It was installed with a Daimler-Benz MB 517 diesel engine that made little difference in comparison with the previously used engine. Designing an engine sufficiently powerful for the gigantic Maus was obviously a serious problem. Though the Germans tried two engines, both around 1,200 horsepower as compared to the Royal Tigers 590 horsepower, neither could provide a speed of more than 10 to 12 miles per hour. Another interesting feature of the Mouse from the engineering point of view was the return from torsion bar suspensionsuch as was used in the PzKpfw. III, the Panther, the Tiger, and the Royal Tigerto a spring suspension. An improved torsion bar design had been considered but was abandoned in favor of a volute spring type suspension. Its running gear was designed by Skoda and consisted of double wheeled trucks supported by 12 return rollers with 43.3-inch wide tracks. In order to reduce the ground pressure so that the tank could have some mobility, the tracks had to be made very wide. With the tracks taking up over 7 of its 12 feet of width, the Maus presented a very strange appearance from either the front or the rear, and its 12-foot height gave it a very high target profile. The width had to be kept to a maximum of 12 feet so the Maus could fit on rail cars, as this was intended as a primary means of transport, and a special 14-axle railroad transport car was produced by Graz-Simmering-Pauker Works in Vienna just for the Maus. Advanced River Fording Capabilities Despite some ongoing major developmental problems, the Maus certainly gave designers latitude to experiment with some advanced features, which they had always been anxious to install in tanks. One of these systems was an auxiliary power plant. This plant permitted pressurizing of the crew compartment, which in turn meant submersion capability when fording rivers and better protection from gas and chemical weapons. The plan was for the Maus to be able to ford rivers up to 45 feet deep, but in practical terms it could really ford only about 25 feet, still an impressive depth. This was necessitated by the fact that most bridges would not support the weight of the Maus. The crew had to be provided with oxygen supplied by built-in fans and ventilators for use when all the hatches were closed. Besides sealing of hatches and vents, aided by pressurizing, submersion was to be made possible by the installation of a huge cylindrical chimney or trunk so large that it could serve as a crew escape passage if need be. The tanks were intended to ford in pairs, one powering the electric transmission of the other by cable while its partner stayed on shore. The process would be repeated in tag-team fashion, but would seem to raise the question of what would be done with the last tank in line! The auxiliary power also permitted cabin heating and battery recharging. An advanced electric steering system was used to steer the vehicle. The electric transmission was in itself an engineering experiment of some magnitude. This type of transmission had first been used on the big Elefant assault gun in 1943 and was considered by some German designers as the best type of transmission for heavy tanks. From mid-January to early October 1944, further trials took place at the armored vehicle proving grounds in Kummersdorf, near Berlin, and then at the Porsche proving grounds at Boblingen. Tests were long, delayed by continuing engine failures and production problems caused by Allied bomber attacks on German factories. During these tests, it was determined that in case of any engine failure each Maus would have to be towed by two other Maus tanks, another crippling revelation as to the impracticality of the Maus. Despite all of its technological innovations, the Maus was fraught with problems and was as vulnerable to close-in attack as any other tank, if not more so. The large hull openings and many grills necessary to ventilate the massive power plant were a particular disadvantage. The amount of space the power plant consumed necessitated an external auxiliary fuel tank in the rear, which was a considerable fire hazard. The Bear and the Flakwilling 8.8cm auf Maus Design studies found at Krupp by the Allies showed a version of the Maus named the Bear, carrying a 305mm breech-loading mortar. The Bear was a giant 1,500-ton vehicle with an 800mm gun as its main armament and two 150mm guns in auxiliary turrets on the rear of the vehicle. This improbable design, put forth by two engineers named Grote and Hacker, was planned to be powered by four U-boat diesel engines. It is also reported that Germany began work on a design called Flakzwilling 8.8cm auf Maus, which was to be a Maus mounted with a modified turret housing two 88mm Flak 43 guns and used as a heavy antiaircraft tank. The End of the Maus Program Typical of Hitlers vacillations on his many super weapon projects, on November 4, 1943, development of the Maus was ordered to cease, and only one was to be completed for further evaluation. In October 1943, the original order placed by Hitler for 150 vehicles was also cancelled. It was becoming apparent that as German ground forces were consistently losing the battle with Allied air superiority, a monstrosity like the Maus would be extremely vulnerable to air attack. Some sources state that according to Porsche, Hitlers true aim for the Maus was to plug holes in the Atlantic coastal defenses on the Western Front, where its limited range and mobility would not have been as much of a hindrance. But that this plan was thwarted by delays in production which pushed any possible delivery date well past D-Day. One version of the demise of the Maus states that the V2 prototype was destroyed by personnel at the Kummersdorf proving grounds, while some sources relayed that the V2 actually saw combat while defending that same facility. According to other sources, however, the two experimental Maus tanks were sent into action in the final days of the warone at the approaches to the Army staff headquarters at Zossen, the other near Kummersdorf. None of these accounts can be verified and seem unlikely given that the disassembled remnants of the Maus that were discovered by Allied troops. When the war ended, a nearly completed V1 turret and third hull were found at the Krupp facilities in Essen. One fully assembled example with the V2 turret mounted on the V1 hull was tested in Russia in 1951 or 1952 and can be seen today at the Museum of Armored Forces in Kubinka near Moscow. Although only two prototype Maus vehicles were ever built, and they were apparently never even equipped with their armament, it was a spectacular and fanciful vehicle. Alas, the Maus remained for the most part a figment of its creators imaginations. Whereas such a heavy tank might conceivably have had some limited military usefulness, it will be more remembered as a drain on German engineers and production capabilities in the last three years of the war, when Germany could least afford such a waste of dwindling resources. Originally Published November 14, 2018. This article originally appeared on the Warfare History Network. Image: Wikimedia Commons Read full article By Anggy Polanco, Mayela Armas and Nelson Bocanegra URENA, Venezuela/CUCUTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro violently drove back foreign aid convoys from Venezuela's border on Saturday, killing two protesters and prompting opposition leader Juan Guaido to propose that Washington consider "all options" to oust him. Trucks laden with U.S. food and medicine returned to warehouses in Colombia after opposition supporters failed to break through lines of troops, who dispersed them with tear gas and rubber rounds, injuring dozens. Witnesses said masked men in civilian clothes also shot at protesters with live bullets. "Today's events force me to make a decision: to formally propose to the international community that we must have all options open to secure the freedom of our country," Guaido said on Twitter. The United States has been the top foreign backer of Guaido, who invoked Venezuela's constitution to assume an interim presidency last month and is now recognized by most Western nations as the OPEC nation's legitimate leader. President Donald Trump has in the past said military intervention in Venezuela was "an option", though Guaido made no reference to it on Saturday. Guaido had given a personal send-off to one convoy carrying aid from the Colombian city of Cucuta on Saturday. The opposition had hoped Venezuelan soldiers would baulk at turning back supplies desperately needed in the country, where a growing number of its 30 million people suffer from malnutrition and treatable diseases. But while some 60 members of the security forces defected on Saturday, according to Colombian authorities, the lines of National Guard soldiers at the frontier crossings held firm, firing tear gas at the convoys. At the Urena border point, two aid trucks caught fire, sending plumes of dark smoke into the air as crowds raced to try to save the boxes of supplies, a Reuters witness said. Story continues Guaido said he would keep demanding Maduro let the aid in and would seek other routes. He said he would attend a meeting of the regional Lima Group of nations in Bogota on Monday with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence during which they would decide more actions to ramp up pressure on Maduro. "Today the world saw in minutes, in hours, the worst face of the Venezuelan dictatorship," Guaido said at an earlier news conference in Colombia, alongside Colombian President Ivan Duque. Angered by Duque's support for Guaido, Maduro said he was breaking diplomatic relations with Bogota and gave its diplomatic staff 24 hours to leave the country. Maduro denies his oil-rich nation has any need of aid and accuses Guaido of being a coup-mongering puppet for U.S. President Donald Trump. Washington has warned it could seek to impose tough new sanctions on Venezuela at Monday's summit if Maduro blocked the aid shipments. "What do the Venezuelan people think of Donald Trump's threats? Get your hands off Venezuela. Yankee go home," Maduro told a rally of red-shirted, flag-waving supporters in the capital, Caracas. "He is sending us rotten food, thank you!" Trump's national security adviser John Bolton said on Twitter that countries still supporting Maduro "should take note of what they are endorsing", in a thinly veiled rebuke to China and Russia. 'FREEDOM' In the Venezuelan border towns of San Antonio and Urena, troops fired rubber rounds at opposition supporters, including lawmakers, who walked toward the frontier waving Venezuelan flags and chanting "Freedom". Reuters television images from San Antonio showed a dozen men on motorbikes, dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, firing shotguns and pistols at a crowd. Demonstrators in Urena barricaded streets with burning tires, set a bus alight and hurled stones at troops to demand that Maduro allow aid into a country ravaged by a meltdown that has halved the size of the economy in five years. "They started shooting at close range as if we were criminals," said shopkeeper Vladimir Gomez, 27, wearing a white shirt stained with blood. At least six of about a dozen trucks that tried to reach Venezuela later returned to Cucuta, where Colombia's disaster management agency said they would be unloaded and the aid stored until Guaido requested their use again. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said he ordered a Puerto Rican ship carrying humanitarian aid to turn back after a Venezuelan navy ship threatened to open fire on it. "This is unacceptable and shameful," Rossello said in a statement. "We have also notified our partners in the U.S. government about this serious incident." A Reuters witness said two aid trucks crossed the Brazilian border but not the Venezuelan customs checkpoint. In the southern town of Santa Elena de Uairen at least two people were killed in clashes with security forces, according to a doctor at the hospital where they were treated. On Friday, a married couple in a nearby indigenous community was shot dead by security forces. Rights group Penal Forum said it recorded 29 injuries from bullet wounds and two deaths across Venezuela in clashes with troops on Saturday. Colombian authorities said they registered 285 people injured, including those affected by tear gas. "I'm a homemaker and I'm here fighting for my family, for my children and parents, resisting the military's tear gas," said opposition protester Sobeida Monsalve, 42, in Urena. DOZENS DEFECT Guaido had appealed to Venezuela's armed forces to stand aside and allow aid in, promising amnesty to officers who disavowed Maduro. Dozens of soldiers, whose families suffer the same shortages as other Venezuelans, took up his offer. "You don't owe any obedience to someone who sadistically celebrates that the humanitarian aid doesn't enter a country that needs it," Guaido said. A social media video showed troops who abandoned their post driving armored vehicles across a bridge linking Venezuela and Colombia, knocking over metal barricades, and then jumping out of the vehicles and running to the Colombian side. "What we did today, we did for our families, for the Venezuelan people," one of the defectors said in a video televised by a Colombian news program. Venezuela's ruling Socialist Party calls Guaido's aid effort a veiled invasion backed by Washington and insists that the United States should instead help Venezuela by lifting crippling financial and oil sector sanctions. On Saturday, Maduro turned his ire on Colombia and said Duque was letting its territory be used for attacks against Venezuela. "For that reason, I have decided to break all political and diplomatic relations with Colombia's fascist government," he told cheering supporters. Thousands of white-clad protesters gathered outside a military base in Caracas to demand that the armed forces allow in the aid. "This is the biggest battle that the armed forces can win," said Sheyla Salas, 48, who works in advertising. "Please join this struggle, get on the right side of history, allow the humanitarian aid to enter." (Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra, Anggy Polanco, Mayela Armas and Steven Grattan; Additional reporting by Helen Murphy and Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota, Anthony Boadle in Brasilia, Ricardo Moraes in Pacaraima, and Angus Berwick in Caracas; Writing by Brian Ellsworth and Angus Berwick; Editing by Daniel Flynn, Grant McCool and Daniel Wallis) MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian military police could be deployed in a proposed "safe zone" along Syria's northern border with Turkey, Russian news agencies cited foreign minister Sergei Lavrov as saying to Chinese and Vietnamese media on Sunday. The suggestion is unlikely to appeal to Ankara, which is keen to set up the zone but has stressed it must be under Turkish control, with only its own forces deployed there. "Our only expectation from our allies is that they provide logistical support," Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his supporters in a speech in January. Russia has said that Turkey had no right to set up the zone without seeking and receiving consent from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Lavrov was cited as saying on Sunday that the format of the safe zone was in the process of being finalised by military leaders, and that any decision would take the interests of Damascus and Ankara into account as far as possible. "We have experience in combining ceasefire agreements, safety measures and the creation of de-escalation zones with the roll-out of Russian military police," Lavrov was cited as saying. "Such a possibility is being kept open for this buffer zone." (Reporting by Polina Ivanova; editing by Jason Neely) WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on Roger Stone (all times local): 4:05 p.m. A judge has imposed a full gag order on Trump confidant Roger Stone after he posted a photo on Instagram of the judge with what appeared to be crosshairs of a gun. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Thursday she believes Stone would "pose a danger" to others in the case if she didn't institute the order. Jackson ordered Stone to court to show why she shouldn't modify or revoke his bail or implement a full gag order. The judge had already issued an order limiting comments in the case. The 66-year-old Stone said the post was an egregious mistake and the symbol was a logo, not crosshairs. Stone has pleaded not guilty to lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering related to discussions he had during the 2016 election about WikiLeaks. __ 3:45 p.m. Trump confidant Roger Stone says he made an egregious mistake by posting an Instagram photo of the judge presiding over his criminal case with what appears to be the crosshairs of a gun. During a tense court hearing Thursday, Stone said there was no excuse for his post Monday about U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson. Jackson wanted Stone in court Thursday to show why she shouldn't modify or revoke his bail or implement a full gag order in his case. The political operative and self-described dirty trickster has pleaded not guilty to charges he lied to Congress, engaged in witness tampering and obstructed a congressional investigation into possible coordination between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. __ 3 p.m. Trump confidant Roger Stone is appearing in court after he posted a photo on Instagram of a judge and what appeared to be the crosshairs of a gun. The political operative and self-described dirty trickster has pleaded not guilty to charges he lied to Congress, engaged in witness tampering and obstructed a congressional investigation into possible coordination between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson wants Stone to show why she shouldn't modify or revoke his bail or implement a full gag order in his case. On Monday, Stone posted a photo of Jackson with what appeared to be crosshairs near her. The 66-year-old Stone has apologized and said the picture has been "misinterpreted." COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) -- The Latest on severe weather in the South (all times local): 8:10 p.m. Bystanders say a tornado has destroyed or heavily damaged some businesses in a commercial district in Columbus, Mississippi, toppling trees and blacking out power in the area. Lee Lawrence, who has been selling used cars for decades in the city, says four buildings on his car sales lot have been destroyed, trees have fallen across vehicles and the windows of many cars were shattered when the tornado roared through Saturday afternoon. Speaking by phone, Lawrence tells The Associated Press he will rebuild. "It will be a start-over deal," says Lawrence, who wasn't present when the tornado struck. "I can't say it will come back better or stronger, but we'll come back." A photographer for The AP says he also saw antique collector cars at Lawrence's lot crushed by debris and a nearby pet grooming business destroyed amid twisted piles of metal. A printing shop had a pipe spearing what's left of the building and a vacant commercial building also appeared heavily damaged. There were no immediate reports of any deaths or injuries. Emergency officials have cordoned off the area. ____ 6 p.m. Authorities say a tornado has touched down in the city of Columbus, Mississippi. Meteorologist Anna Wolverton with the National Weather Service told The Associated Press that a tornado hit about 5 p.m. CST Saturday and was confirmed on radar. There were no immediate reports of any injuries. Wolverton says she received a report that an emergency operations center in Columbus was hit by the storm and that there were power outages. She says she doesn't know how long the tornado was on the ground, the path it took, or the storm's intensity. Speaking from the weather service office in Jackson, Mississippi, she added that a team of experts would be heading to Columbus on Sunday to determine the storm's size and strength. Columbus is a city of more than 23,000 people in east Mississippi. Story continues The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center said there were reports of large hail and an apparent brief tornado in Alcorn, Mississippi, as severe storms swept the region. __ 4 p.m. Homes, highways, parks and bridges throughout the South have been flooded or put out of commission as days of rains have drench a wide area amid severe storms crossing the region. Interstate 40 near the Tennessee line with North Carolina was closed by a rockslide, one of the dozens of roads and highways shut down throughout the South region, transportation officials said. Tennessee Department of Transportation spokesman Mark Nagi said on Twitter that a "full scale detour" was in place, with traffic being diverted to Interstate 81 and Interstate 26. In Bruce, Mississippi, rivers broke flood stage and flash floods poured into homes and businesses. News outlets report that a local state of emergency was declared by officials in Grenada, Mississippi, after dozens of streets and homes flooded. A six-mile (nine-kilometer) stretch of the Natchez Trace Parkway was closed in Mississippi after water covered part of the road. WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on the investigations involving President Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort (all times local): 4:54 p.m. Published reports say prosecutors in New York City are building a potential criminal case against President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Paul Manafort already awaits sentencing on federal conspiracy and fraud convictions. Manafort could face prosecution on state charges by the Manhattan district attorney's office even if Trump pardons him for his federal convictions. The move would be significant because Trump's pardon power doesn't extend to state charges. Bloomberg was first to report the developments and cited people with knowledge of the matter. Friday's reports say it isn't clear what charges the DA's office is considering. Spokespeople for the DA's office and Manafort declined to comment. ___ 12:14 p.m. Special counsel Robert Mueller is filing a sentencing memorandum in one of the two criminal cases against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Prosecutors are scheduled to file their document Friday in federal court in Washington, where Manafort pleaded guilty in September to two counts of conspiracy arising from his political lobbying work in Ukraine. Each count carries a maximum of five years in prison. Though Manafort cut a plea deal with Mueller, prosecutors aren't expected to recommend leniency because they say he lied to investigators after agreeing to cooperate. The punishment he faces in Washington is much lower than what he faces in a separate tax and bank fraud case in Virginia. Mueller's team in that case endorsed a sentence of between 19 and 24 years in prison. Lunaticoutpost.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program , anaffiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Amazon, the Amazon logo, MYHABIT, and the MYHABIT logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.Don't be a pest to the forum.No profanity in thread-titles or usernamesNo excessive profanity in postsNo Racism, Antisemitism + HateNo calls for violence against anyone..This website exists for fun and discussion only. The reader is responsible for discerning the validity, factuality or implications of information posted here, be it fictional or based on real events. The content of posts on this site, including but not limited to links to other web sites, are the expressed opinion of the original poster and are in no way representative of or endorsed by the owners or administration of this website. The posts on this website are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice, opinion, or factual information on behalf of the owner or administration of LunaticOutPost.Com. The owners or administration of this website can't be hold responsible for content hosted on sites that posters link to in; including, but not limited to, posts, signatures, private messages and such. This site may contain content not suitable for minors and if you feel you might be offended by such content, you should log off immediately.This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Users may make such material available in an effort to advance awareness and understanding of issues relating to civil rights, economics, individual rights, international affairs, liberty, science & technology, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.In accordance with industry accepted best practices we ask that users limit their copy / paste of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss (no more than 50% of the source material) provide a link back to the original articleIf you are a legal copyright holder or a designated agent for such and you believe a post on this website falls outside the boundaries of "Fair Use" and legitimately infringes on yours or your clients copyright please contact [email protected] This website is owned by :Marco ZwaneveldDrijfriemstraat 522516 XR The HagueNetherlands.I will not rent, sell, share or otherwise disclose your personal information to any third party.We might contact you from time to time regarding your purchases or the services (like forums and announcement lists) you have subscribed to.Some of the 3rd party advertisers on lunaticoutpost.com may use cookiesto track peformance and/or to serve relevant ads.If you wish to read more and/or opt out of such cookies, please visit: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/ MADRID (AP) The Latest on the operation in Spain to rescue a trapped 2-year-old boy (all times local): 2:50 a.m. Spanish authorities say rescuers have found in the early hours of Saturday the dead body of a 2-year-old boy who fell into a deep borehole 13 days ago. A spokeswoman with the government's office in the southern province of Malaga says rescue crews finished digging a tunnel and found the remains of the toddler, Julen Rosello. The boy fell into the 110-meter (360-foot)-deep narrow dry waterhole on Jan. 13 while his family was preparing a Sunday countryside lunch. Officials had tried alternative routes to the toddler, whose body was trapped under a blockage of hardened soil and rock some two thirds into the shaft. ___ 10:35 p.m. Rescue experts breaking through layers of hard rock were centimeters (inches) away late Friday from the space in southern Spain where a 2-year-old boy has been trapped underground for 12 days. The boy, Julen Rosello, fell down a narrow 110-meter-deep borehole (360-foot) on Jan. 13 while his family was preparing a countryside lunch. He is thought to be about two-thirds of the way down the dry waterhole, stuck behind hardened soil and rock that blocked rescue workers and equipment. Jorge Martin, a spokesman with the Malaga province Civil Guard, says a fourth controlled explosion was needed to complete the last 45 centimeters of a 3.8-meter-long horizontal tunnel mining experts have been digging since Thursday. The tunnel is some 70-meters underground, beginning from a vertical shaft drilled over recent days to bring miners and rescue experts up and down in turns. ___ 9:25 a.m. Spanish authorities say that rescue experts are using explosives to make their way through a 4-meter (13-foot) wall of hard rock to reach the space where a 2-year-old boy has been trapped for 12 days. The government's office in the southern province of Malaga says Friday that it took around 16 hours to dig the first half. Story continues The country is holding its breath and following every turn of events in the frantic effort to recover Julen Rosello, who fell down a narrow 110-meter (360-foot) deep borehole on Jan. 13. A 70-meter parallel shaft has been drilled to carry miners and Civil Guard experts on explosives. The only sign of the toddler found so far is hair that matched his DNA. Officials have refused to comment on whether the boy could have survived so long. Donald Trump has nominated Kelly Knight Craft a Republican businesswoman and now diplomat who donated $2m to his 2016 campaign to represent America at the UN. A week after state department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, Mr Trumps first choice to replace Nikki Haley in the role of what is considered the countrys second most senior diplomat, withdraw from contention, the president said he was pleased to name Ms Craft for the role. A businesswoman who was also appointed by George W Bush as an alternate delegate to the UN, where she focussed on Africa, Ms Craft was in the summer of 2017 confirmed as the USs ambassador to Canada, the first woman to hold that job. In a recent interview when asked about climate change, she said she believed both sides of the science. Kelly has done an outstanding job representing our nation and I have no doubt that, under her leadership, our country will be represented at the highest level, Mr Trump said in a tweet announcing his decision. Not for the first time either by Mr Trump or previous presidents the job of representing the USs interests internationally, has gone to a major political donor. Reuters reported that Ms Craft was known in Republican circles in Kentucky, where she and her husband donated to a number of candidates. Before donating $2m to Mr Trumps campaign, she had been a supporter of Marco Rubio, the Florida senator who had been among those seeking the Republican nomination that year. It said she had been been recommended for the post based Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who is also from Kentucky The news agency said it was not immediately clear if Ms Craft would hold a cabinet-level position, as Ms Haley did. She will still need to be confirmed for the job by the Senate. Ms Nauert, a former host of Fox & Friends, dropped out of the running because she had a nanny who was in the country legally but did not have the proper work visa, it was reported earlier the month. Hilde Lysiak filmed the encounter with an Arizona marshal, demanding to know what crime she was being accused of It sounds like something from childrens fiction: a 12-year-old intrepid journalist who fights off threats from the mob and local police to self-publish the truth about her local area in her own newspaper. But Hilde Lysiak, the editor of the Orange Street News, is the real deal. In 2016, when she was just nine years old, she broke the story of a homicide in her hometown of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, interviewing witnesses and locals hours before other news outlets had ever reached the scene. Hildes scoop became a bigger story than the murder. Since then she has broken exclusives on rapes, robberies and a roaming mountain lion as well as fending off threatening text messages after reporting on an alleged drug dealer. Now Hilde is making headlines of her own once again, after she filmed an Arizona town marshal, Joseph Patterson, threatening her. In the feisty exchange, she repeatedly asks the officer why he threatened to throw her in juvenile prison and what crime she had supposedly committed. Patterson incorrectly tells her that it would be illegal for her to post a video of the exchange online. Its a first amendment right to film and publish exchanges with law enforcement. Patterson has since been disciplined by local officials. According to Hildes account in the Orange Street News, she had been riding her bike chasing down a tip when Patterson stopped her. She identified herself as a journalist and Patterson told her: I dont want to hear about any of that freedom of the press stuff Im going to have you arrested and thrown in juvie. After asking what she could be arrested for, Hilde claims Patterson first said she could be arrested for disobeying his command, then for riding on the wrong side of the road, then because a mountain lion was spotted in the area although she points out that other people in the area who were not kicked off the road. Story continues This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The recorded exchange took place after this initial threat, when Patterson again says he could arrest her and Hilde repeatedly asks what crime she has committed. Patterson this time tells her she lied to law enforcement. The video has now been viewed more than 170,000 times. Law enforcement responded on Wednesday via the town of Patagonias website. In all caps, they wrote that they they had received many comments about the confrontation. The matter has been carefully reviewed and we have taken action we believe to be appropriate for the situation, the statement said. We do not publicly disclose personnel actions including discipline and will have no further comment on this matter. Hilde has also said she wont be doing any interviews about the incident. Some people had reposted the video with Pattersons personal phone number in an attempt to dox the officer. On Twitter Hilde discouraged this, saying: I am glad the town has taken action but one note, I dont believe people should spread around the Marshals personal information on the Internet. My focus is on protecting our First Amendment Rights. Thank you. Even before this incident, Hildes journalistic exploits have now been made into a Scholastic book series called Hilde Cracks the Case. In the first book she solves the mystery of the stolen cupcakes from an Orange Street bakery. More titles, and a TV series have been developed. Perhaps Hilde Shuts Up a Cop will be among them. Voters on the Japanese island of Okinawa have rejected the relocation of a controversial US military base, according to official results from a non-binding referendum Sunday. Some 72 percent voted against the move with 19 percent in favour from a 52 percent turnout, the local government said. Opponents of the relocation -- some 434,000 -- had turned out in sufficient numbers to meet the threshold required for Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki to "respect" the result of the symbolic referendum, it said. For this to happen, one quarter of the eligible electorate -- or around 290,000 people -- had to vote for one of the three options: for or against relocation or a third choice of "neither". Tamaki hailed the results as "extremely significant". "I will strongly demand that the government squarely face the resolute will of our people, review its present policy immediately and halt the construction," the anti-base governor told reporters. The vote, however, is non-binding on the central government and turnout was just above 50 percent, raising questions about what effect the referendum will have. The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to press on with moving the base and the relocation is also backed by Washington. The relocation of the Futenma base to Nago, 50 kilometres (30 miles) away, was first agreed in 1996 as the US sought to calm local anger after US servicemen gang raped a local schoolgirl. But the plan has long been stalled in part over local opposition. The ballot asked residents whether they supported a plan to reclaim land at a remote coastal site for the relocation of Futenma from its current location in a heavily populated part of Okinawa. It was initially planned as a yes-no vote, but a "neither" option was added after several cities with close ties to the central government threatened to boycott the vote. Polls opened early on Sunday morning, with about 1.15 million Okinawans eligible to vote. Story continues Speaking after casting her ballot at a local school, voter Yuki Miyagaki said: "They are using a lot of tax money and manpower for this referendum, even though the result will not have any legal power. So we thought that we should take this opportunity and think very carefully about this issue." "We usually shout no to the new base construction. This is a good opportunity to tell the government directly with concrete numbers: 'No'. This is an important vote," 32-year-old Narumi Haine told AFP. "The referendum has underlined once again Okinawa's strong opposition to the relocation," Yoshinobu Yamamoto, professor of politics at the University of Niigata prefecture, told AFP. "The result could be a negotiating card for the governor, but it's unlikely to have an immediate impact," he added. "The dispute is far from its resolution." - 'Far from resolution' - The base has stoked tension with local residents over problems ranging from noise and military accidents to crime involving base residents. Abe's government says the relocation will address those concerns, but many in Okinawa want the base relocated elsewhere in Japan. They argue that the region bears a disproportionate burden when it comes to hosting US military troops in the country. Okinawa accounts for less than one percent of Japan's total land area, but hosts more than half of the approximately 47,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan. Anti-base rallies have been staged daily in Okinawa since campaigning for the referendum began in mid-February. But the vote has not stopped reclamation work at Nago, with construction workers continuing to shovel dirt into the ocean offshore with bulldozers. "We hope the referendum will boost the momentum of our fight," demonstrator Masaru Shiroma told AFP on Friday, as more than 100 fellow activists tried to block trucks entering the construction site. "The government is making a fool out of Okinawa." - Military alliance - An opinion poll by the Asahi daily found 80 percent of respondents want Abe's government to respect the results. But there has been little sign the administration will shift course if the vote goes against the move, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga saying there were no plans to halt the relocation regardless of the outcome. Japan's military alliance with the United States is seen as a key partnership, and Okinawa's location near Taiwan has long been viewed as having huge strategic importance for US forward positioning in Asia. Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and receive a $20 prize! Have you been keeping an eye on Imperial Oil Limiteds (TSE:IMO) upcoming dividend of CA$0.19 per share payable on the 01 April 2019? Then you only have 4 days left before the stock starts trading ex-dividend on the 01 March 2019. Is this future income stream a compelling catalyst for dividend investors to think about the stock as an investment today? Lets take a look at Imperial Oils most recent financial data to examine its dividend characteristics in more detail. View our latest analysis for Imperial Oil 5 checks you should do on a dividend stock When researching a dividend stock, I always follow the following screening criteria: Does it pay an annual yield higher than 75% of dividend payers? Has it consistently paid a stable dividend without missing a payment or drastically cutting payout? Has it increased its dividend per share amount over the past? Can it afford to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings? Will it be able to continue to payout at the current rate in the future? TSX:IMO Historical Dividend Yield, February 24th 2019 Does Imperial Oil pass our checks? The company currently pays out 25% of its earnings as a dividend, according to its trailing twelve-month data, meaning the dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. In the near future, analysts are predicting a payout ratio of 25% which, assuming the share price stays the same, leads to a dividend yield of 2.2%. Furthermore, EPS is forecasted to fall to CA$2.5 in the upcoming year. When considering the sustainability of dividends, it is also worth checking the cash flow of a company. A business with strong cash flow can sustain a higher divided payout ratio than a company with weak cash flow. If there is one thing that you want to be reliable in your life, its dividend stocks and their constant income stream. In the case of IMO it has increased its DPS from CA$0.40 to CA$0.76 in the past 10 years. During this period it has not missed a payment, as one would expect for a company increasing its dividend. These are all positive signs of a great, reliable dividend stock. Story continues In terms of its peers, Imperial Oil produces a yield of 2.1%, which is on the low-side for Oil and Gas stocks. Next Steps: With these dividend metrics in mind, I definitely rank Imperial Oil as a strong income stock, and is worth further research for anyone who considers dividends an important part of their portfolio strategy. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, I urge potential investors to try and get a good understanding of the underlying business and its fundamentals before deciding on an investment. There are three important aspects you should further research: Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for IMOs future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for IMOs outlook. Valuation: What is IMO 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 IMO 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Barcelona (AFP) - Huawei's chairman on Sunday shrugged of the risk that President Donald Trump could issue an executive order banning the Chinese telecom giant, saying the company could succeed without the US market. Guo Ping said such an order "is not necessary and should not be released" but if issued would have little impact on Huawei, which has become the leading supplier of the backbone equipment for wireless mobile networks worldwide. "In 2018 Huawei had revenues of over 100 billion dollars. The share of US in this is really small. That means the US market can be ignored by us," he told a press conference in Barcelona on the eve of the Mobile World Congress trade fair. Guo added that such a move would hurt some small telecoms operators in the United States that do use its equipment. US officials suspect Shenzhen-based Huawei's products could be used by Beijing to spy on Western governments and have already severely restricted the company's presence in the United States. Washington considers the matter urgent as countries around the world prepare to roll out fifth-generation or 5G networks that will bring near-instantaneous connectivity, vast data capacity and futuristic technologies such as self-driving cars. The administration has been lobbying allies to block Huawei from building 5G networks and Trump is reportedly mulling an executive order to stop the Chinese firm from selling advanced equipment in the United States. Huawei strenuously denied its equipment could be used for espionage. "We have never and we are not and we will never allow backdoors in our equipment and we will never allow anyone from any country to do that in our equipment," Guo said through an interpreter. "Huawei needs to abide by Chinese laws and also by the laws outside China if we operate in those countries. Huawei will never, and dare not, and can not violate any rules and regulations in the countries where we operate," he added. Story continues The United States did not represent the whole world and Huawei hoped each country would make decisions based on its own interests, Guo said. Network operators seeking to quickly deploy the new wireless networks are in a bind as Huawei's 5G equipment is seen as being considerable more advanced than that of its rivals such as Sweden's Ericsson or Finland's NOKIA. The company has 180,000 employees in 170 countries and counts 45 of the world's biggest wireless carriers as customers. By Isla Binnie MADRID (Reuters) - Leading telecoms companies gather in Barcelona this weekend for their main annual trade fair under the shadow of a bitter clash between the United States and China over network security for the next generation of mobile services. Accusations from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration that Huawei, the world's biggest network equipment maker, has enabled Chinese state espionage have shaken the industry and raised broader fears for progress in talks to defuse a rumbling trade dispute. Aside from hosting snazzy device launches and officials from more than 2,400 companies, mobile industry trade body GSMA is seeking to ward off a ban on Chinese vendors in European markets. GSMA Marketing Director Andrew Parker said the association would lobby to protect competition in the supply chain. "The more choice the industry has, the more supply, the better value everyone will get," Parker said. "We are going to stick to, and encourage, that line because competition is a good thing for an industry like ours." Australia and New Zealand have stopped operators using Huawei equipment in their networks, and the European Commission is considering a de facto ban. European telecoms executives say this could set back plans to roll out advanced "fifth-generation" 5G technology by at least two years. Industry analysts warn that shutting out Chinese vendors could also trigger retaliation from Beijing. "What it loses in the West, it will win in the East," said Bengt Nordstrom, CEO of Swedish industry consultancy Northstream. "I would expect severe disruption to the telecoms ecosystem this for me is very similar to the Lehman Brothers situation in 2008," he added, referring to the Wall Street bank whose collapse triggered the global financial crisis. U.S. DELEGATION A delegation of at least eight U.S. officials is expected in Barcelona, two weeks after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Huawei equipment would jeopardize European allies' partnerships with the world's largest economy. Huawei, an associate member of the GSMA, denies engaging in intelligence work for any government, and its founder has taken to U.S. and British media to emphasize this in recent days. Any further restriction could spark a race between other network equipment makers to fill the void. Sweden's Ericsson and Nokia of Finland compete with Huawei, while Korea's Samsung Electronics is making a big push into the market. Some operators fret that, were Huawei to be excluded from the process, Europe would slip behind other countries, especially if firms had to rip out parts of existing networks. Another fundamental question the industry has yet to answer is whether 5G, which promises to link up everything from vehicles to household devices, will end up being profitable. "The jury is still out on: is it going to be a consumer player, are there use cases that are going to demand 5G at an economic level that makes sense?" said Sam Evans, a partner at TMT consultancy and investment firm Delta Partners. But enough testing should now have been done to "start to see at least in the short term if it's viable", Evans added. FOLDABLE SCREENS Alongside febrile politics, telecoms firms face the search for revenue growth as their bread-and-butter connectivity becomes ever less profitable. Carmakers, data analytics firms and online retailers will rub shoulders with operators and unveil partnerships in fields ranging from transport to gaming and even medical surgery. Applications for the "Internet of Things" attaching chips that can send and receive data to everyday objects - will include sensors to prevent leaks in municipal water systems and other ways to improve city life. After a dismal year for smartphones, with sales falling for five consecutive quarters, companies are also trying to reignite consumer interest with upgraded gadgets. Huawei, which overtook Apple to become the world's second-biggest smartphone seller last year, will show off its latest devices at the congress. Market leader Samsung unleashed on the world on Wednesday a nearly $2,000 smartphone with 5G connection, the world's first flexible screen and six cameras. The device "answers skeptics who said that everything that could be done has been done," DJ Koh, chief executive of Samsung Electronics, told a launch event in San Francisco. (Additional reporting by Douglas Busvine in Frankfurt, and Jack Stubbs and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Keith Weir) 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. By Paul Sandle, Jack Stubbs and Douglas Busvine BARCELONA (Reuters) - China's Huawei welcomed comments from President Donald Trump about the future of U.S. mobile communications on Sunday and asserted its position as a world-leading smartphone producer as Washington and Beijing seek a trade war ceasefire. U.S. and Chinese negotiators are set to meet for a sixth straight day of negotiations on Sunday as they work to strike a deal ahead of a March 1 deadline on a trade dispute which has disrupted global commerce and slowed the world economy. At the center of the imbroglio is Huawei Technologies, accused by Washington of sanctions busting, intellectual property theft and facilitating Chinese state espionage operations. Speaking ahead of the mobile industry's biggest global event which begins in Barcelona on Monday, Huawei Chairman Guo Ping reiterated his company's position that it has never and would never allow any country to spy through its equipment. Guo, who holds Huawei's rotating chairmanship, said Trump's recent assertion that the United States needed to get ahead in mobile communications through competition rather than seeking to block technology was "clear and correct". Trump's tweets on Thursday did not specifically mention Huawei, the world's largest producer of mobile network equipment, but appeared to soften earlier U.S. statements that it should be barred from Western networks on security grounds. "I have noticed the president's Twitter, he said that the U.S. needs faster and smarter 5G, or even 6G in the future, and he has realized that the U.S. is lagging behind in this respect, and I think his message is clear and correct," Guo said, speaking through an interpreter. He said the United States did not represent the whole world and called for equipment makers, network operators and governments to work together to devise trustworthy standards to manage cyber security risks. Story continues "We need to have unified standard that should be verifiable. It should not be based on politics," Guo said. FOLDING PHONE, RIGID PRICE TAG Huawei also sought to reaffirm its position as one of the world's leading technology companies, unveiling a folding 5G smartphone to an audience of media and analysts in Barcelona. Huawei, the worlds second-largest smartphone vendor after Samsung, said it had taken the lead in developing phones for 5G - which promises super-fast internet speeds - because it was also involved in developing the networks. The new Huawei Mate X will have two back-to-back screens which unfold to become an eight-inch tablet display, and goes on sale later this year priced at 2,299 euros ($2,607), setting a new upper limit for consumer smartphones. Samsung had unveiled its own folding smartphone last week, priced at nearly $2,000, as part of a bid to top the technology of Chinese rivals and Apple Inc. Thomas Husson, principal analyst at Forrester Research, said the Mate X showed Huawei was an innovative technology company and no longer trailing American and Korean competitors. "The fact that Huawei is not just a network equipment provider but also a smartphone manufacturer ... gives them a competitive advantage for 5G. It is also a double-edge sword as some argue the security risks are higher," Husson said. China's Xiaomi, the world's fourth-largest smartphone maker, also unveiled a 5G handset on Sunday, but without the folding screen or high price tags touted by the Huawei and Samsung devices. Xiaomi's offering will start at 599 euros ($679) when it hits the market in May. (Reporting by Paul Sandle, Jack Stubbs and Douglas Busvine; Additional reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by David Holmes) By Paul Sandle BARCELONA (Reuters) - HMD Global, the Finnish company which owns the rights to use the Nokia brand for mobile phones, has launched a smartphone with an array of five camera lenses designed to appeal to camera enthusiasts. The Nokia 9 PureView heads a range of smartphones announced by HMD on Sunday, including an entry-level and two mid-level handsets, all designed to work with Google's Android One, which guarantees two years' of operating system upgrades. The company was showing it could innovate by delivering the world's first five-camera array system in a smartphone, Chief Executive Florian Seiche said in an interview. It also refreshed its devices in the mid-market, where it already has a top-five ranking in many markets, and introduced a feature phone - the Nokia 210 - able to connect to the Internet using an Opera Mini browser, priced at an average $35. Seiche said the Nokia range would serve users, particularly in emerging markets, from feature phone to mid-market devices. He said the mid-market Nokia 3.2 and Nokia 4.2 also appealed to users who wanted good value combined with the simplicity of a "pure" Android operating system, unencumbered with software installed by the device maker and with guaranteed upgrades. "People tend to keep their smartphones longer," Seiche said. "People start thinking maybe for half the price I can get an experience just as good, and even lasts for a lifetime on our phone." Analyst Frank Gillett at Forrester said the high-end photo features of the Nokia 9 PureView - including two 12 megapixel color sensors and three 12 megapixel monochrome sensors - plus a full range of phones and features at affordable prices, positioned Nokia to appeal to the hundreds of millions of smartphone buyers set to come online in India and China. "The Nokia models won't contend for leadership with Apple, Huawei and Samsung - but that's not their goal," he added. The Nokia 9 PureView will be available from March at an average price of $699, and both the Nokia 3.2 and 4.2 will be available in April, from $139 and $169 respectively, he said. (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Jason Neely and David Holmes) Rabat (Maroc) (AFP) - Prince Harry and his wife Meghan arrived Saturday night in Morocco for their last official trip abroad before the birth of their first child, which is due in spring. The royal couple, Harry in a light grey suit and Meghan in a red dress, were welcomed with a tray of dates, a traditional ritual of hospitality in Morocco, after they landed in Casablanca. "Medical provisions" have been made for the pregnant former American actress, who will visit a village in the Atlas Mountains on Sunday morning and the Moroccan capital, according to official sources. Their visit to the north African country will focus on work to promote girls' education, women's empowerment and the inclusion of people with disabilities. "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex really love being with the people," British ambassador Thomas Reilly said in an interview with 2M television. The trip, organised at the request of Queen Elizabeth II, has worried some British media such as the tabloid Daily Mirror which described Morocco as a "danger zone" and its capital Rabat as a "city of riots". Before their arrival, local diplomatic sources insisted "Morocco is a pole of stability in northern Africa." On Thursday, a protest in Rabat by teachers, which coincided with the anniversary of the February 20 pro-reform movement born out of the 2011 Arab Spring, was dispersed by police using water cannon, injuring several people. The couple, who will be housed in a royal residence during their stay, will meet with members of the royal family in Rabat Monday afternoon before their departure on Tuesday. BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany failed to deport 27,000 rejected asylum seekers last year, nearly half of the total 57,000 cases, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Sunday, adding that the government would step up efforts to get those migrants out of the country. Seehofer, a member of the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, is one of the sharpest critics of her decision in 2015 to open Germany's borders to more than 1 million refugees. Merkel has repeatedly defended the decision she took at the height of the European refugee crisis, but has said she would prevent any repeat and focus on the root causes of migration. Seehofer told Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the 27,000 rejected asylum seekers could not be deported because they had no travel documents or police could not find them. Some resisted deportation at the airport, he added. The government plans to restrict the rights of failed asylum seekers who lied about their identify or who are deemed a security threat, by establishing a new form of "preparatory detention" before deportation, Seehofer said. Those migrants would have to report regularly to police and they could face further restrictions such as having to wear a locator device, the minister said. The cabinet is expected to pass the law before the summer holidays. Nearly every second company in Germany hired a refugee under a vocational job training contract in 2018, up from only every third company in 2016, a survey by the Economy Ministry and the DIHK Chamber of Industry and Commerce showed. After nine years of uninterrupted growth, Germany's economy is struggling with labour shortages in many business sectors, and firms are reporting record job vacancies of 1.5 million. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) London (AFP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday called for still more time to renegotiate her Brexit deal, and drew outrage by suggesting parliament may not be able to vote on the text until just 17 days before Britain leaves the EU. Business leaders and MPs reacted with anger and dismay at the news, which also prompted fresh calls to delay Brexit to avoid a damaging "no deal" exit on March 29. Three of May's ministers had earlier warned that the House of Commons would seek a delay if there was no breakthrough this week. May had raised the possibility of a vote on her deal in the coming days, but said on Sunday she was still negotiating with the European Union. "As we're continuing with those talks, we won't bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week," she said at a summit of European and Arab leaders in Egypt. "But that will happen by March 12. And we still have it within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29." Lawmakers last month rejected her withdrawal deal, and since then, May has sought to address their concerns about its so-called "backstop" plan for the border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. She met with European Council chief Donald Tusk in Sharm el-Sheikh and will also hold talks at the summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while her team will return to Brussels on Tuesday. But Labour's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said her move was "the height of irresponsibility and an admission of failure". "Theresa May is recklessly running down the clock in a desperate attempt to force MPs to choose between her deal and no deal," he said. Business leaders also expressed dismay. "This is the latest signal to businesses that no-deal is hurtling closer. It must be averted," said Josh Hardie, deputy director general of the CBI lobby group. Adam Marshall of the British Chambers of Commerce added: "These endless political manoeuvres aren't helping the businesses, communities or people of the UK to prepare for the changes that lie ahead." Story continues - Calls to delay Brexit - May says she does not want Britain to leave the EU without a deal, which experts warn could cause major economic disruption on both sides of the Channel, but she argues this requires MPs to back her plan. Growing numbers of lawmakers, however, believe that Brexit may need to be delayed. Business minister Greg Clark, work and pensions minister Amber Rudd and justice minister David Gauke on Saturday warned that if there was no breakthrough this week, parliament would seek the delay option. "Beyond the next few days, there simply will not be time to agree a deal and complete all the necessary legislation before March 29," they wrote in an article in the Daily Mail. May will address the Commons on Tuesday. then on Wednesday MPs will have the chance to debate their own ideas for the way forward. A member of May's Conservative Party, Nick Boles, urged fellow lawmakers to back a cross-party plan to delay Brexit on Wednesday. "MPs need to insert some rigour into this process," he said. - EU wary - After rejecting the withdrawal deal that May spent almost two years negotiating with Brussels, MPs voted by a slim majority to request she seek changes to the Irish backstop. This arrangement would keep Britain in a customs union with the EU after Brexit if and until another way -- for example, a free trade deal -- were found to keep the border with Ireland free flowing. The EU has said it will not reopen the text, but is looking at what "guarantees" could be given to reassure MPs that the backstop would be temporary. But Tusk emphasised during his talks with May that the other 27 member states would not sign off on anything until they were confident the Commons supported it. "Tusk recalled the need for EU27 to have clarity that a proposal for the way forward can command a majority in the UK, before the issue is tackled by the European Council," an EU source said. Earlier, Environment Secretary Michael Gove said the government was still looking at a time limit or unilateral exit mechanism for the backstop as a way to assuage MPs' concerns. Alternatively, "it could be another legally powerful protocol or addition to the treaty that makes it clear that we would not be bound in the backstop indefinitely against our will". Gao (Mali) (AFP) - French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Sunday urged partners to commit to stand with Paris in driving back jihadi violence in the Sahel. "We require everyone's commitment to progress towards durable stabilisation. Nobody can boast of being able to do without the backing of others," Philippe said, citing a Malian proverb at his troop's headquarters at Gao. He was speaking days after the African Union's peace and security chief Smail Chergui urged member states to tackle the root causes of extremism in the Sahel region. France is backing a 5,000-man joint mission among the five nation G5 Sahel force on the front line: Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad. But Chergui voiced disappointment in difficulties faced in financing and equipping the force at a time when the future of the current UN mission MINUSMA is uncertain. The Islamist revolt in the Sahel took off after chaos engulfed Libya in 2011. Jihadist attacks erupted in northern Mali as Boko Haram emerged in northern Nigeria. Large areas of Mail remain out of contril, and the jihadists have gained ground in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, while Chad is battling unrest on its borders. "It is the action of all, with (French-led anti-insurgent Operation) Barkhane, alongside Malian forces, which will drive back jihadism," said Philippe, who arrived in Mali late Friday for a two-day visit. On Sunday he addressed French, Malian, British and Estonian forces saying he wanted to salute the troops' "remarkable and decisive" results to date, including the recently announced deaths of jihadists leaders Amadou Koufa and, last Thursday, Algerian Djamel Okacha, alias Yahya Abou El Hamame. "Every day our enemies are suffering important losses, reducing their capacity to cause trouble," said Philippe, though he conceded the threat has not disappeared. Saturday he said 2,700 French forces in the region since 2014 "will remain as long as is necessary". While in Gao, Philippe, accompanied by Defence Minister Florence Parly, visited a monument to 24 French soldiers who have died in Mali to date. Paris (AFP) - Having initially welcomed the "yellow vest" movement as giving a voice to France's voiceless, Digital Affairs Minister Mounir Mahjoubi is now trying to purge social media of the racist bile and other hate speech spewed by often faceless users. The 34-year-old web entrepreneur was one of the first in President Emmanuel Macron's government to establish a rapport with the demonstrators at a time when most of the political class was running scared. He has since been trying to take the heat out of French public debate in the street and on the internet as France battles an outpouring of anti-Semitism unseen since World War II. With swastikas being scrawled in areas around Paris -- often discovered after yellow vest demonstrations -- and a Jewish academic mobbed by hostile protesters in the street, Mahjoubi has found himself on the frontlines. He has called out Twitter especially for ignoring calls to work with French regulators on establishing filters for hate speech. "I am very angry with them," the minister told AFP in an interview last week, reading aloud some of the endless stream of racist and homophobic messages he has received, especially since going public about his homosexuality last year. Mahjoubi has vowed heavy fines for online platforms that fail to remove hate speech in the 24 hours after it has been reported by users. He has also used his social media savvy and humble origins in a poor immigrant family -- his father was a house painter and his mother a cleaner -- to try and bridge the divide between Macron's little-loved government and disaffected voters. - Capital ambitions - But even as he tackles the enormous task of curbing incendiary hate speech, the self-made minister is eyeing his next challenge. In the interview, he made no secret of his ambition to became the French capital's first mayor of Arab origin. Macron's Republic on the Move party has yet to pick a candidate to try to unseat Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo in next year's elections. Story continues But Mahjoubi, who was elected to parliament in the city's multi-ethnic 19th district in 2017, has his pitch ready, even if he has yet to declare his candidacy. "My parents came from Morocco with nothing in the 70s and their son became a minister, purely thanks to Paris," he said. "I want the city to do that for everybody." The self-described geek, who began working at 16 in the call centre of an internet service provider, has extensive experience working on internet safety. During Macron's election campaign he helped limit the damage caused by an intense hacking attack which was blamed on a Russian-affiliated group. Mahjoubi was one of several high-achieving technocrats appointed to the new government, and in the follow-up parliamentary elections, he toppled Socialist Party leader Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, one of several heavyweights ousted by Macron's centrist insurgents. In the eyes of many voters, however, the newcomers turned out no better. Distrust of politicians hit a new low as the new ministers adopted the lofty language and big-spending ways of their predecessors -- and the president himself let rip with a series of remarks seen as disparaging the poor. "Yes, it's true, we continued talking in a way which was sometimes unintelligible... and made people feel humiliated by this top-down language," admitted Mahjoubi, who studied at the prestigious Sorbonne and Sciences Po universities while launching an array of tech start-ups. - Debate salesman - Faced with the worst crisis of Macron's presidency the affable young minister remained glued to social media and attempted to foster dialogue. In one of his first forays into yellow vest territory, he popped up among the viewers of a Facebook Live broadcast to ask if the host Maxime Nicolle, a radical protest leader, would "agree to talk". Nicolle eventually agreed and the pair later faced off on a TV debate, one of several encounters between protesters and Mahjoubi, who also spent a day shadowing a 48-year-old caregiver and struggling single mother in the southern town of Frejus. At these and other such meetings, Mahjoubi plays salesman for the "grand national debate" launched by Macron in January to garner feedback on the government's policies. The judo enthusiast, who worked on the failed 2007 presidential bid of Segolene Royal and victorious 2012 campaign of Francois Hollande, is all too aware of the expectations generated by the debate. "If we come back with nothing, what will happen? We won't be able to do anything for the last two years of (Macron's) term. You can't lie to the French, it kills your political capital," he said. "Trust us. We will come up with proposals." Paris (AFP) - French banking group Societe Generale is planning to cut 1,500 positions in its BFI corporate and investment banking arm, Le Figaro newspaper reported on Saturday. Citing internal bank documents, the paper said the bank was looking at two scenarios, both of which envisage 1,500 job cuts worldwide, with around 700 of them in France. The company said in a statement on Saturday it was still reviewing activities in its corporate and investor client business so it was not possible to comment on the impact on jobs. "We have an ongoing dialogue with our unions and will consult them on our projects and their impact as soon as the review is completed in the coming weeks," the bank said. French CGT union representative Philippe Fournil could not confirm the information, but said the bank's management had on Thursday indicated it was still reviewing activities within that business. The review is part of a plan to reduce costs by 500 million euros ($567 million), the bank said earlier this month on announcing its financial results. Fournil said its management had pledged to get back to the union within "4 to 8 weeks" with more details. Societe Generale reported higher-than-expected profits in 2018 but said it would adjust its targets and those of its investment bank for next year anticipating financial headwinds ahead. Axios Former Attorney General Bill Barr said the Justice Department always knew Trump's claims of election fraud were "bullsh*t," according to an excerpt from journalist Jonathan Karl's upcoming book published in the The Atlantic.Why it matters: Barr's new comments come as Trump continues to propagate the lie that the 2020 election was "rigged." Republicans in swing states now are conducting "audits" of election ballots based on false conspiracies about the election. Get market news worthy of your tim Manila (AFP) - Murad Ebrahim's life as the Philippines' top Muslim rebel led him into fierce jungle combat and to meet with Osama bin Laden, but a very different challenge now awaits him: governing. Murad has been tapped to lead the majority-Catholic nation's brand new territory in the restive south where Muslims have won new powers and an influx of cash in a push for peace. After decades as a rebel, Murad will need to become a bureaucrat and complete complex projects as chief minister of the body that will steer the new Bangsamoro region until elections in 2022. "We also see the difficult challenge we will be facing ahead. To us, the struggle is not yet over," the 70-year-old Murad told AFP. "This is only another level of the struggle." Once a feared commander, Murad is chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which signed a landmark pact with the government in 2014 to end a separatist insurgency that killed some 150,000 people since the 1970s. That deal led to the creation of the Bangsamoro, which is based on the southern island of Mindanao and was overwhelmingly approved in a January vote. The MILF is the largest of several rebel groups fighting for independence or autonomy in Mindanao, the ancestral homeland of the nation's roughly six million-strong Muslim minority. Rebels and the government hope the new region, which is getting an influx of cash, will be able to bring sorely needed development to the violence-plagued area. - Dropout to commander - The son of an Islamic preacher, Murad was orphaned early on as he lost his mother when he was only one and his father at 13. He studied civil engineering at the Catholic-run Notre Dame University in southern Cotabato city, where he learned fluent English. But in his senior year, he dropped out to join an underground movement that he said defended Muslims targeted by Christian paramilitary groups and security forces under former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Story continues He joined the armed struggle first with the rebel group Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) but internal differences led him and Cairo-trained scholar Salamat Hashim to split and form the MILF. In the 1980s Murad said he was in Afghanistan to visit Filipino rebels who joined anti-Soviet forces but he denied fighting alongside them. It was there where he met future Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. "Osama bin Laden was very soft spoken. I did not think he would eventually be declared a world enemy because he was a very refined person," Murad told AFP. - 'Walking a tightrope' - Murad became MILF's military chief, known as a calm but sharp tactician. He led a difficult life in jungles and marshlands, with his two sons born at the height of the fighting. During his years as commander, Murad led battles not from afar but joined his men at the frontlines, said presidential peace adviser and former military chief Carlito Galvez. "We did not see him committing any abuses," Galvez told AFP. "He fought not because of an urge to kill. He saw that fighting is not between people but between ideologies, to correct an injustice." After Salamat's death in 2003, Murad took over as leader and earned the respect of colleagues for building consensus, observers said. "He is the best, if not the only real choice (for Bangsamoro chief minister)," former presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles told AFP. "He has never been one to think power is all his." Security experts say Murad and the MILF will be hard-pressed to govern for the first time while facing threats from pro-Islamic State groups in Mindanao. Murad will also have to deal with resentment from families of civilians and soldiers killed or affected by previous battles, according to Julkipli Wadi, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of the Philippines. "Murad should extend a hand of reconciliation even to (non-Muslims) so he would be able to extract himself from the ghosts of the past," Wadi told AFP. "He is walking a tightrope where he has to juggle a lot of sensitive issues." But the guerrilla leader has lived through too many wars to give up. For Murad, his nine grandchildren are a reminder that there is no alternative to peace. "I never had a normal life. My dream is for them to experience and enjoy it," he said. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Transparency and technocratic reforms will not be a sufficient response to this challenge at the end of the day, whats at stake is far more important than a few likes It has been a wild 15 years. Photograph: Dado Ruvic/Reuters Facebook recently reminded me that Ive been on the social network for 15 years. I normally pay little attention to those anniversary notices, but this time I paused to think about how much had changed in the decade and a half since Facebook was founded and the roller coaster of feelings Ive had toward the tech platform over that time. Excitement about its promise, pride in its millennial origins, gratitude for the ease of staying in touch with old friends, equal parts worry and admiration over its move fast and break things philosophy, frustration at its approach to privacy, apprehension over its addictiveness, concern by its manipulative use by Russia, the list goes on. Its been a wild 15 years. Around the same time as I got that notification, I was reading Roger McNamees well-written new book, Zucked: Waking up to the Facebook Catastrophe. McNamee was an early investor in Facebook and an advisor to Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg. But over time and particularly in the weeks before the 2016 election he grew concerned that the platform designed to bring the world together was being used to stoke confusion and division. McNamee reached out to the company and was unsatisfied with the response. So he dug deeper and deeper into problems with the social network and eventually went public with his criticism. Zucked is not only the personal odyssey of a former Facebook investor but an insightful case study in the range of challenges that the platform and all tech platforms raise for society. McNamee offers many critiques of Facebook, but his central argument is that Facebook is a threat to the economy, public health, and democracy. The economic critique rests on the problems of monopoly capitalism, including, for example, Facebooks ability to buy up potential rivals like Instagram and WhatsApp before they might have had a chance to challenge its dominance. The democracy critique is in the news almost daily. Democracy cannot survive without debate and deliberation based on shared truths. But NewsFeed pushes us into filter bubbles, so we increasingly are walled off from different opinions. And thats in addition to the trolls and bots, fake pages and groups, misinformation and outright lies. McNamee argues that this has had an impact not just in America, but all around the world. Story continues The public health critique often gets less attention. McNamee describes various tactics for how tech companies get people to use their products more, even to the point of addiction. For example, NewsFeed relies on the bottomless bowl an unending list of posts that keeps people in the site for longer. Notifications distract from the task at hand and entice users back into the app. Tagging and Likes tread on our human need for social approval and reciprocity. McNamee argues that these and other design strategies have a profound effect on human happiness and fulfillment and that we are worse off because of how they are configured. These criticisms pack a strong punch. But as important in McNamees account is his explanation of the conditions that enabled Facebook and other companies to threaten the economy, democracy, and public health. The first is that open source products and centralized resources (like the cloud) meant that startups could be leaner than ever before and venture capitalists could more easily identify winning and losing investments. Second, libertarianism was on the rise, particularly among executives and investors in Silicon Valley. Under libertarianism, McNamee says, no one needs to feel guilty about ambition or greed. This highly individualistic approach thus absolves practitioners of responsibility for the impact of their actions on others. The third shift was in political economy, in which neoliberalism became dominant. Politicians increasingly held that markets were the best regulator of social affairs and that the government should stay out. Deregulation or non-regulation led to these firms being able to gain in market power and monopolize their sector. This has had an impact not just in America, but all around the world Today, even the titans of tech have acknowledged that their industry requires some kind of regulation. The question for them and for all of us is what those regulations should look like. And this is one reason why Zucked and books like it are so important. By identifying a variety of problems and the conditions that fostered them, this corporate case study helps build a foundation for eventual reform. After reading Zucked, it is evident that transparency, nudges, and other technocratic changes will not be a sufficient response to the scope of the challenge. The question is whether reformers, regulators, and citizens will have the courage to fight for broader, structural changes. Because at the end of the day, whats at stake is far more important than a few Likes. It is the future of our economy, our society, and our democracy. Omar Oil Field (Syria) (AFP) - US-backed Syrian forces warned Sunday they were struggling to cope with an outpouring of foreigners from the Islamic State group's imploding "caliphate", urging governments to take responsibility for their citizens. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have evacuated nearly 5,000 men, women and children from the jihadist redoubt since Wednesday, moving closer to retaking the last sliver of territory under IS control. "The numbers of foreign fighters and their relatives that we are holding is increasing drastically," Kurdish foreign affairs official Abdel Karim Omar told AFP. "Our current infrastructure can't handle the mass influx", he said. Syria's Kurds have repeatedly called on foreign countries to repatriate their citizens, but most have been reluctant to allow battle-hardened jihadists and their relatives back home due to security concerns. At the height of its rule, IS imposed its brutal interpretation of Islamic law across territory straddling Syria and Iraq that was roughly the size of the United Kingdom. But more than four years after IS declared a cross-border "caliphate", the jihadists have lost all but a tiny patch of land in the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border. After years of fighting IS, Syria's Kurds say they hold hundreds of suspected IS fighters and their relatives. "As thousands of foreigners flee Daesh's crumbling caliphate, the burden which is already too heavy for us to handle is getting even heavier," SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali said on Twitter late Saturday, using an Arabic acronym for IS. "This will remain as the biggest challenge awaiting us unless governments take action and fulfil their responsibilities for their citizens," he said. No evacuations were reported from the enclave on Saturday, but the two batches of people that left on Wednesday and Friday included Europeans, Iraqis and nationals of former Soviet countries, according to the SDF. Story continues - Crammed prisons - Around 46,000 people, including a large number of foreigners, have streamed out of IS's shrinking territory since early December, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor. While civilians are trucked north to Kurdish-run camps for the displaced, suspected jihadists are sent to SDF-controlled prisons. Omar said SDF "detention centres can't accommodate all the fighters" coming out of the last IS pocket. The evacuation of men, women and children has put a strain on Kurdish-run camps for the displaced, especially the Al-Hol camp, which now shelters more than 45,000 people. "There is a lot of pressure on us, especially in Al-Hol, where in addition to the relatives of IS fighters you have a large displaced population," Omar said. Some 5,000 evacuees have arrived to Al-Hol since Wednesday, the International Rescue Committee said Sunday, compounding already dire conditions inside the crammed settlement. "Two thousand people reached Al-Hol camp today, bringing the population to over 45,000," said IRC Middle East advocacy head Misty Buswell. At least 78 people, mostly children, have died on the way to the camp or shortly after arriving in recent weeks, according to the IRC. A warehouse fire at Al-Hol on Friday caused by a gas cylinder explosion "destroyed 200 family tents" and five larger ones, said Buswell, adding 16 workers had been injured. That came as the UN's humanitarian coordination office OCHA warned the camp was struggling to keep up with flood of evacuees. "This sudden influx presents huge challenges to the response -- additional tents, non-food items, water and sanitation and health supplies are urgently needed," it tweeted Friday. - Security concerns - The SDF say they are trying to evacuate remaining civilians through a corridor before pressing on with a battle to crush the jihadists unless holdout fighters surrender. Some 2,000 people are believed to remain inside Baghouz, including foreigners, according to the US-backed force. On Friday, the family of Shamima Begum, 19, said it would challenge the British government's decision to revoke her citizenship. Begum, who travelled to Syria in 2015 aged just 15, faced being left stateless after Britain revoked her citizenship, and Bangladesh, where her parents are from, said it did not want her. On Thursday, the father of Hoda Muthana, 24, sued to bring her home after President Donald Trump's administration declared she was not a US citizen. The battle for Baghouz is now the only live front in Syria's war, which has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions since 2011. Further north, more than 20 civilians were killed Sunday in central Syria when a landmine left behind by IS exploded under a van, the state news agency SANA said. Argeles-sur-Mer (France) (AFP) - Spain's Pedro Sanchez on Sunday urged Europeans to resist the "winds of xenophobia" threatening the continent, as he marked 80 years since the flight of 475,000 Spaniards to France after Francisco Franco seized power after a brutal civil war. "Across Europe, the winds of xenophobia are blowing," the Spanish premier said in Argeles-sur-Mer, a seaside town just across the border in southern France where he paid tribute to the exiles of the "Retirada" (Retreat). He pointed to the recent desecration of Jewish graves in France and to the ongoing dispute over migrants arriving by sea from Africa, pointing to "the ports which refuse to let ships full of sick and hungry people dock." "Don't look the other way," he said. "Don't think that anti-Semitism, homophobia, xenophobia and nationalism that excludes people, are just small winds that will blow themselves out." Argeles-sur-Mer was where around 100,000 Spanish refugees were initially held at a squalid open-air camp that the photographer Robert Capa denounced as called a "hell on sand". It was the final stop on Sanchez's visit which also took him to several other key Retirada sites. The visit came as Sanchez, who took over as prime minister last June, gears up to face a populist challenge back home ahead of early elections in April in the latest chapter of political turbulence in Spain. His efforts to honour the memory of Franco's victims have infuriated the new far-right Vox party and the rightwing Popular Party, alongside his pledge to move the former dictator's remains from an opulent mausoleum near Madrid. - 'The story of my family' - Earlier on Sunday, Sanchez became the first Spanish prime minister to visit the grave of Manuel Azana, the last Republican president before Franco overthrew the government in 1939. As he visited the site in Montauban, north of Toulouse, he laid a wreath of flowers in the red and yellow of the Spanish flag on his tomb. Story continues Later he visited the burial site of Sevillian poet Antonio Machado, who died in the seafront village of Collioure, near the border, just weeks after fleeing when Franco's forces took Barcelona in January 1939. The city's fall signalled the start of the Retirada, as hundreds of thousands of people fled over the Pyrenees, many on foot, while being bombarded by Franco's forces. "Both of them died in France, far from their native lands," Sanchez said of Azana and Machado. "Spain should have asked their forgiveness much sooner for this infamy. From them and so many others who were in the same struggle." At Sanchez's request, no French government officials joined him on the visit although local officials did participate. "This is the story of my family," said 70-year-old Juan Francisco Ortiz, who came from Perpignan to Argeles-sur-Mer to honour his father, a captain in the Republican army. Like thousands of other Spaniards held at internment camps in southern France, Ortiz's father was eventually sent to the Nazi concentration camp at Mauthausen, Austria, when Germany invaded France. "My father lived in exile for 28 years before being able to return, because the Spanish Republicans freed from the concentration camps... couldn't go home, because they would be shot," he said. - 'Open borders' - Opinion polls suggest Sanchez could be risking his post with his call earlier this month for new elections in April, Spain's third in less than four years. The Socialist leader could lose his fragile coalition majority in parliament as his rightwing opponents in the PP and Vox gain momentum, fuelled by anger over his handling of the Catalan secession crisis. The emergence of Vox in particular highlights populist and eurosceptic movements gaining ground across Europe, such as the "yellow vest" protests that have shaken the government of French President Emmanuel Macron. The tensions are set to play out on a continental scale ahead of European Parliament elections in May. "We have to respect gravestones, forget race, honour freedom, open borders and create welcoming ports," Sanchez said on Sunday. "This is the idea of Europe. The idea on which has been built the best period humanity has known," he said. Aid trucks were set ablaze after Venezuelan forces doused the convoy with fuel, eyewitnesses said - AFP The United States has warned Nicolas Maduro that his days are numbered, ahead of an international meeting in Bogota on Monday with his rival, Juan Guaido, to decide the next steps in the battle for Venezuela. Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, who will travel to Bogota alongside Vice-President Mike Pence, condemned the weekend's violence and said he was confident Mr Maduro would soon be gone. "Predictions are difficult. Picking exact days is difficult," he said, speaking on a US political chat show the day after a deadly standoff over aid shipments erupted at the borders of the South American nation. "I'm confident that the Venezuelan people will ensure that Maduro's days are numbered." The violence looked set to increase, however. Venezuela's prisons minister, Iris Varela, on Saturday afternoon announced that she was bringing "trained" inmates from the country's overcrowded and highly dangerous prisons to the border, to "have the privilege of fighting for the fatherland". "I'm bringing them here, and I will continue to bring them here, in significant numbers," she said, speaking to reporters in the Venezuelan border city of San Antonio. On Sunday Venezuelan forces also stormed a makeshift medical clinic in Urena treating the wounded, on the other side of the Francisco de Paula Santander bridge. The military cut the electricity at the clinic and forced out the doctors and patients, tear gassing them all. A doctor inside the clinic said the staff were crying like babies due to the gas. Venezuelan forces fired buckshot in the border town of Urena Credit: Carlos Becerra/Bloomberg Mr Maduro, who is clinging to power with the support of Cuba, Russia and China, spent Saturday dancing on national television at a rally in Caracas. State television did not show the bloody scenes at the borders, where on Saturday two people were killed in a town bordering Brazil, and two died on the Colombian border. Running battles on the bridges from Colombia into Venezuela saw 285 people injured on the Colombian side, while trying to get humanitarian aid into the country. Story continues Some of that aid was burnt on the bridges, with an eyewitness telling The Telegraph that Mr Maduros troops poured fuel onto the convoy to make it blaze. Renewed clashes broke out around the Cucuta crossings and the Brazilian border city of Pacaraima on Sunday, with Venezuelan forces firing teargas and live ammunition. Colombian migration officials confirmed that 100 officers had downed arms and declared their support for Mr Guaido, who a month ago declared himself the legitimate interim president of Venezuela. Mr Guaido had planned for Saturday to be an avalanche of aid flowing into Venezuela, and had coordinated with the US, Europe and Latin American nations the delivery of hundreds of tonnes of supplies. On Friday a fundraising concert organised by Sir Richard Branson energised tens of thousands of Venezuelans to the cause. Defecting Venezuelan soldiers crossed the border into Colombia, where they met the president, Ivan Duque Credit: Nicolas Galeano/Colombian Presidency But Mr Maduro on Sunday mocked the efforts as a plot originating in Washington. They tried to disguise, with a concert and a supposed delivery of humanitarian aid at the border, a plan which had been developed and announced by Donald Trump, he said. The people are on the streets, mobilised and alert in every corner of the country. I call on all men and women of good faith to not let their guard down and keep on the front foot of the fight to preserve the peace in Venezuela. According to a Reuters witness, two aid trucks crossed the Brazilian border but did not pass through the Venezuelan customs checkpoint. A Puerto Rican ship carrying humanitarian aid was ordered to turn back after a Venezuelan navy ship threatened to open fire on the vessel. "This is unacceptable and shameful," said Ricardo Rossello, governor of Puerto Rico. "We have also notified our partners in the US government about this serious incident." Protesters in the border town of Urena and San Antonio were bombarded by tear gas and rubber bullets from dawn Credit: Fernando Llano/AP Mr Guaidos side was left licking their wounds, and planning their next steps. One of his closest confidantes, opposition politician Freddy Superlano, 42, was recovering from being drugged in the early hours of Saturday morning. His adviser and cousin, Carlos Salinas, died in the incident. Initial reports suggested he had been poisoned in a restaurant, causing immense alarm among his colleagues and wild speculation of a Bond-style assassination plot. Local media now claim he was drugged and robbed by prostitutes who he had taken to a Cucuta motel. And in Cucutas hospitals the walking wounded were vowing to continue the fight. Evaristo Jose Guerrero, a 27-year-old farmer, broke down in tears as he recounted how he was shot in the eye on the Francisco de Paula Santander bridge one of four crossings where volunteers tried on Saturday to get the aid in. I wanted to help Venezuela, he sobbed. I love my country. And I love Colombia, for giving us refuge from what is happening there. More than three hundred people were injured and at least four killed in the violence at the Colombian and Brazilian borders Credit: Raul Arboleda/AFP In the bed next to him Carlos Garillo Cordoba, 26, a chef from Caracas, told how he was unloading the aid cargo from the lorries, having just edged onto the Venezuelan side of the bridge, when the troops opened fire. We had the boxes in our hands, and the truck went up in flames," he said. I saw the Venezuelan national guard hurt the truck driver and then pour petrol on the fire. They arrived with petrol, and doused the truck. All of us there saw it. It was definitely deliberate. He said they tried to salvage what they could, forming a human chain to get the boxes back to the Colombian side. On the other side of the bridge, in Venezuela, gangs of pro-Maduro thugs were circulating on motorbikes firing at the protesters. "They started shooting at close range as if we were criminals," shopkeeper Vladimir Gomez, 27, told Reuters, wearing a white shirt stained with blood. Dr Monica Flores, from the Venezuelan city of San Cristobal, was manning a makeshift triage centre on the Colombian side, a few hundred metres from the frontline. By 5pm on Saturday her team of 14 doctors had treated 60 patients, she told The Telegraph mostly young men, with lead pellet wounds to the chest, legs and eyes. The Santander bridge crossing into Colombia became a battleground Credit: Federico Rios/Bloomberg We never thought it would be this violent, she said. Its just so awful to see. Im passionate about Venezuela, and passionate about helping people, and want my country to get better. She said that the women in white, on the front line of the aid delivery on Saturday, confirmed Mr Garillos account of the convoys being deliberately set on fire. But she and the co-ordinator, Dr Andres Calle, were both maddened and exasperated by the lack of support from Mr Guaidos team, which meant they were without supplies and electricity in their tent, and had to dig the pellets out of victims by the light of a cars headlights. Weve improvised everything, said Dr Calle, almost in tears of frustration. There were so many injured we kept on running out of medicines. A trestle table more suited for a picnic was buckling under the stress, and his team of shattered aides replaced it with a crate from the market. The politicians came and shook our hands, and said thanks, then went away. How can this be allowed to happen? Nearby, dazed and bloodied, Rafael Santos was smoking a cigarette, with lead shot in his leg and a rubber shot wound to his cheek. Its a war out there, he said, gesturing to the Venezuelan side of the bridge. Its a massacre. SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) British Prime Minister Theresa May announced Sunday that she is delaying a vote on her Brexit deal in Parliament, saying it should now take place by March 12, a little more than two weeks before the U.K. is due to leave the European Union. The move has the potential to further sow discord within her Cabinet. Three senior Cabinet members already had suggested Saturday that they may break ranks with her and back amendments to delay Britain's departure unless a deal is agreed upon by Parliament over the next week. But May told reporters as she traveled to Egypt for an EU-Arab League summit and talks with European Council President Donald Tusk that her negotiating team would return to Brussels on Tuesday for negotiations aimed at wringing concessions out of her reluctant EU partners. "As a result of that we won't bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week. But we will ensure that that happens by March 12," she said. Britain is due to leave the EU in just over a month on March 29. The U.K. would be the first country to leave the bloc and the move is full of deep economic and political consequences. But May has been unable to convince the U.K. Parliament to endorse the draft Brexit deal she agreed with the Europeans in November. Any deal must also be endorsed by the European Parliament before the deadline. "It is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29," May said. An EU official said there had been "no tensions" between May and Tusk during their half-hour meeting. The official, who isn't permitted to speak publicly while the negotiations are ongoing, said that May informed Tusk about the "work and timeline to find a way forward on Brexit. In particular, the prime minister's plans in relation to the meaningful vote" meant to take place by March 12. Tusk, who chairs summits of EU leaders and acts on their behalf, recalled that Britain's 27 partners insist on "clarity that a proposal for the way forward can command a majority in the U.K." before the leaders take the issue up again. British lawmakers will consider various Brexit options this week as May continues to seek concessions from her EU counterparts. No visible signs of progress have emerged in recent weeks as the 27 other member countries continue to insist that they will not renegotiate the legally-binding divorce deal. MILAN (Reuters) - Etro mixed aristocratic with underground vibes at Milan Fashion Week on Friday, with the Italian designer label looking to models of different ages to present its Autumn/Winter 2019 line. Womenswear creative director Veronica Etro showcased vibrant tapestry prints, nodded to equestrian influences and added regal touches for the "Aristo-Indie" collection. Wearing a red tapestry print jacket, white shirt and tight black trousers, model Edie Campbell opened the show in the cloisters of the 19th century Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi. Models wore printed silky flowing skirts, chunky knits, belted or with a high neck, check coats - inspired by male tailoring - and buttoned blazers as dresses. There was plenty of the fashion's houses usual paisley print on coats, trouser suits and dresses. The collection also featured jodhpur-like trousers, frills on ponchos, long skirts and dresses as well as shirts with large tied bows at the neck. "A quirky collector, a hyper elegant queen of the castle, living in a decadent Neo-Victorian romance. Fragments of noble memories are subverted with subcultural references for an indie attitude," show notes read. "A corsetry aesthetic meets equestrian vibes, preppy influences and underground grunge touches." To the sound of Verdi's classical music mixed with more contemporary tunes such as "London Calling" by The Clash, models of different ages including Tatjana Patitz, Alek Wek and Jacquetta Wheeler strutted down the catwalk. A corset was tied on top of a green floral silk dress while a polo top was matched with check trousers. The check print was also seen on a jacket matched to a shirt dress. Puffed up sleeves appeared on tops, off-shoulder dresses and floral print jackets. A selection of black dresses came in velvet with puffed up off-shoulder sleeves, embroidered with metallics or in chiffon. Some of the dresses were reminiscent of royal gowns. Story continues Bustier belts adorned most of the outfits and for footwear, models wore pointed boots. Milan Fashion Week runs until Monday. (Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian, Editing by William Maclean) Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and receive a $20 prize! Assessing China Everbright Water Limiteds (SGX:U9E) performance as a company requires looking at more than just a years earnings data. Below, I will run you through a simple sense check to build perspective on how China Everbright Water is doing by comparing its most recent earnings with its historical trend, in addition to the performance of its water utilities industry peers. See our latest analysis for China Everbright Water Did U9Es recent earnings growth beat the long-term trend and the industry? U9Es trailing twelve-month earnings (from 31 December 2018) of HK$676m has jumped 32% compared to the previous year. Furthermore, this one-year growth rate has exceeded its 5-year annual growth average of 18%, indicating the rate at which U9E is growing has accelerated. Whats the driver of this growth? Lets take a look at if it is only owing to industry tailwinds, or if China Everbright Water has seen some company-specific growth. SGX:U9E Income Statement, February 24th 2019 In terms of returns from investment, China Everbright Water has fallen short of achieving a 20% return on equity (ROE), recording 8.5% instead. However, its return on assets (ROA) of 4.9% exceeds the SG Water Utilities industry of 4.7%, indicating China Everbright Water has used its assets more efficiently. And finally, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for China Everbright Waters debt level, has increased over the past 3 years from 6.5% to 7.6%. What does this mean? Though China Everbright Waters past data is helpful, it is only one aspect of my investment thesis. Companies that have performed well in the past, such as China Everbright Water gives investors conviction. However, the next step would be to assess whether the future looks as optimistic. I suggest you continue to research China Everbright Water to get a better picture of the stock by looking at: Story continues Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for U9Es future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for U9Es outlook. Financial Health: Are U9Es operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why weve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 31 December 2018. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Havana (AFP) - Cubans voted in a referendum on a new constitution Sunday with the backdrop of mounting pressure from the United States and continued support for Venezuela's socialist regime. Results of the vote, which the government turned into a plebiscite on the "irrevocable" role of socialism in the island nation, are expected late Monday. "We Cubans are voting for our new constitution, we're voting for Latin America and the Caribbean," President Miguel Diaz-Canel said when casting his vote. "We're also voting for Venezuela, we're defending Venezuela because in Venezuela the continent's dignity is in play." Diaz-Canel hit out at the presidents of Chile, Colombia and Paraguay for joining Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on Saturday in his attempt to force humanitarian aid across the Colombian border into Venezuela. "A group of presidents on the Colombian border, they look like clowns," said Diaz-Canel. Diaz-Canel later tweeted: "The hawks of the empire and their lackeys failed, but the empire is not dropping its plans. Let's continue the struggle." Cuba has been trying to galvanize international support for its ally and against US "military aggression." Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claims the humanitarian aid, mostly supplied by Washington, is a smokescreen for a US invasion. Cuban authorities said that more than 80 percent of registered voters cast ballots. Former president Raul Castro, 87, who retains the powerful position of first secretary of the ruling Communist Party, cast his ballot in the morning without making a statement, local media reported. - 'Farce and fraud' - The vote in Cuba comes after the latest attack on socialism by US President Donald Trump, who last week said the leftist ideology is "dying." But Trump's words served only to boost those voting in favor of the new constitution, which reiterates the central role of socialism and communism in Cuba, analyst Carlos Alzugaray told AFP. Story continues "Many people, seeing his quotes, will vote yes because they want to defend their independence against the US threat," said Alzugaray. US Senator Marco Rubio, whose parents are Cuban, hit out at the Havana regime on Twitter. "The so-called 'referendum' in #Cuba is another maneuver by the Cuban dictatorship to hold its grip on power," he wrote. "Today's plebiscite is nothing more than a farce and a fraud of the communist party. #IllegalConstitution." The new constitution, replacing the 1976 version, recognizes a limited role for the free market and private investment, but only under the control of the Communist Party. It enshrines socialism as the country's only ideology, a move criticized by the Catholic Church. Cuba's banned opposition, which normally calls for abstention at elections or spoiling ballot sheets, has this time campaigned for a no vote. "It is obvious that this goes beyond a no to a constitution, it's a no to a regime that aims to perpetuate itself in power," dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer told AFP. The referendum contains only two options: yes or no to the new constitution. "Two options, one that favors the regime and the other that represents the only opportunity the people have had in years to say no," added Ferrer. Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and receive a $20 prize! We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. On the other hand, wed be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Stamper Oil & Gas Corp. (CVE:STMP). What Is Insider Selling? Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock on the market. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information. We dont think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Harvard University study found that insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year. View our latest analysis for Stamper Oil & Gas The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Stamper Oil & Gas In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when CEO, President & Director David Greenway? bought CA$205k worth of shares at a price of CA$0.40 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price. Its very possible they regret the purchase, but its more likely they are bullish about the company. Its not at all bad to see insiders buy shares at or above current prices. David Greenway? was the only individual insider to buy over the year. David Greenway? bought 665.00k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of CA$0.39. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below! TSXV:STMP Recent Insider Trading, February 24th 2019 For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket. Story continues Insider Ownership of Stamper Oil & Gas For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon its a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. From our data, it seems that Stamper Oil & Gas insiders own 14% of the company, worth about CA$144k. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we havent picked up on. We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership. So What Do The Stamper Oil & Gas Insider Transactions Indicate? There havent been any insider transactions in the last three months that doesnt mean much. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. The transactions are fine but itd be more encouraging if Stamper Oil & Gas insiders bought more shares in the company. Along with insider transactions, I recommend checking if Stamper Oil & Gas 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and self-described white nationalist planned a domestic terrorist attack targeting politicians and journalists, federal prosecutors say in court papers. Christopher Paul Hasson was arrested last week on gun and drug charges, but intended "to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country," according to court documents filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Maryland. Hasson was scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon in Maryland. Hasson has been stockpiling weapons since 2017, the government said, and created a list of targets including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Allegedly expressing extremist views for years, Hasson viewed pro-Russian, neo-fascist, and neo-Nazi literature thousands of times between January 2017 and 2019. He once wrote, "I am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth" in an email draft, court documents said. Weapons seized at the Silver Spring, Maryland, home of US Coast Guard officer Christopher Paul Hasson. He espoused white supremacist views and drafted a target list of Democratic politicians and prominent media figures and was arrested on firearms and drug charges on Feb. 15, 2019. Authorities found 15 guns and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition in Hasson's apartment. While working as an acquisitions officer in Washington, D.C., Hasson routinely read the manifesto by far-right domestic terrorist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 Norwegian citizens in 2011. In a letter Hasson sent to himself, he called for "focused violence" and said he is a "long-time White nationalist." Related: White domestic terrorists threatened this city of refugees, here's what happened next Related: Hate group count hits 20-year high amid rise in white supremacy, report says "We need a white homeland as Europe seems lost," the letter included in court documents reads. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Barry Lane, spokesman for U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, said in a statement that the arrest was part of an investigation led by the Coast Guard. "An active duty Coast Guard member, stationed at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC, was arrested last week on illegal weapons and drug charges as a result of an ongoing investigation led by the Coast Guard Investigative Service, in cooperation with the FBI and Department of Justice. Because this is an open investigation, the Coast Guard has no further details at this time," Lane said. Story continues To "increase his ability to conduct attacks," Hasson also abused the narcotic tramadol and collected 30 bottles of human growth hormone, according to court documents. He wrote a list of targets on Jan. 17 that included prominent Democratic congressional leaders and MSNBC and CNN media personalities. Court documents identified some targets as Democratic Sens. Pelosi, Charles Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, as well as Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Maxine Waters and Ilhan Omar. Journalists listed included CNN's Chris Cuomo and MSNBC's Ari Melber. That day, Hasson also entered Google searches for "best place in dc to see congress people," "where do most senators live in dc" and "civil war if trump impeached," court documents said. Christopher Paul Hasson by on Scribd This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coast Guard officer, self-described white nationalist, planned terror attack to 'kill almost every last person,' feds say Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. By Jack Stubbs BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies unveiled a $2,600 folding smartphone on Sunday which it said was primed for next generation 5G mobile connections, even as the United States campaigns to bar the Chinese company from such networks over security concerns. Huawei, the worlds second-largest smartphone vendor after Samsung, said it had taken the lead on developing phones for 5G - which promise super fast internet speeds for consumers and businesses - because it was also involved in developing the networks. "This phone is not only for today for 5G but also for future 5G. On all the benchmarks you can see the performance, the speed is the fastest for 5G in the world," said Richard Yu, head of Huawei's consumer business group. Speaking ahead of the mobile industry's biggest global event, which kicks of on Monday in Barcelona, Yu said the Huawei Mate X will have two back-to-back screens which unfold to become an eight-inch tablet display. Yu said the Mate X would be able to download a 1 gigabyte movie in three seconds but also be priced at 2,299 euros ($2,607) when it goes on sale later this year, setting a new upper limit for consumer smartphones. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd last week unveiled its own folding smartphone, priced at nearly $2,000, in a bid to top the technology of Apple Inc and Chinese rivals and reignite consumer interest amid slumping sales. [USN] Huawei, which is also the world's biggest producer of telecoms equipment, is under intense scrutiny in the West over U.S.-led allegations of enabling Chinese state espionage, accusations which the company denies. Huawei's chairman said on Sunday recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that the U.S. needed to get ahead in mobile communications through competition rather than seeking to block technology was "clear and correct". [L5N20J0EI] ($1 = 0.8818 euros) (Reporting by Jack Stubbs and Doug Busvine; Editing by Paul Sandle) By Josh Smith and Hyonhee Shin HANOI (Reuters) - North Korea's state media criticized U.S. Democrats and American intelligence officials on Sunday for "chilling the atmosphere" ahead of leader Kim Jong Un's second summit with President Donald Trump this week. After weeks of silence about the summit in Vietnam, North Korea's state news agency KCNA on Sunday announced Kim's departure by train, en route to talks in which the two leaders aim to build on a commitment to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons, reached at their first meeting in Singapore in June. KCNA later issued a commentary arguing that if Trump listened to skeptics at home, he could face a "shattered dream" and "miss the rare historic opportunity" to improve relations with North Korea. "The Democratic Party of the U.S. and other opponents to the negotiations move overtly and covertly to disrupt them as supported by scepticism backed by all sorts of groundless stories and misinformation even at such a crucial moment as now," said the commentary, which was released under the name Jong Hyon. Trump's opponents would bear the responsibility if the summit failed to achieve results, which would leave the U.S. people exposed to "security threats", it said. In some parts, the article appeared to echo Trump's own recent talking points, which have blamed former President Barack Obama for taking the two countries to the brink of war. Obama's "strategic patience" policy was "the worst blunder", KCNA said, arguing that Democrats' scepticism of Trump was driven by a desire to cover up their failures. "The Democratic Party seems not realizing itself lurching toward conservative, being lost to its own 'authenticity' at the end of getting indulged in opposition just for the sake of opposition," the article said. One U.S. government Korea analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the commentary appeared aimed at softening Trump up ahead of the summit. "If Kim facilitates Trump using the talk for domestic political gain, he probably thinks Trump will offer him more favorable terms," the analyst said. "If not offer more favorable terms, (Trump will) at least be less willing to walk away from the table. That would look like an admission that his critics were right all along." 'REASONS TO BE SKEPTICAL' KCNA also singled out U.S. intelligence officials who recently testified to Congress that North Korea was unlikely to ever give up its entire nuclear arsenal. "It is absolutely as foolhardy as expecting to see a chicken turning into a phoenix to expect proper comment from the U.S. intelligence agencies as they have it as their basic mission to claim white to be black and lie to be truth," the article said. The article also criticized an unidentified university and media for reporting on the North's nuclear program and expressing scepticism ahead of the summit. In a letter to Trump on Thursday, three Democratic chairmen of House committees accused the administration of withholding information on the negotiations with North Korea. "There are ample reasons to be skeptical that Chairman Kim is committed to a nuclear-free North Korea," the lawmakers wrote. "We are perplexed and troubled by the growing disconnect between the intelligence community's assessment and your administration's statements about Kim Jong Un's actions, commitments, and intentions." Earlier in February, U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Robert Menendez wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressing "deep concern" that efforts by the United States and South Korea to engage with North Korea may lead to sanctions violations. Jong Hyon was also the cited author of commentaries last year criticizing U.S. sanctions, but also sympathizing with Trump over pressure he faced from midterm elections. "If the upcoming DPRK-U.S. negotiations end without results as wished by the opponent forces, the U.S. people will never be cleared of the security threats that threw them into panic and then responsibility will be placed on those due," the article said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin, Josh Smith, Ju-min Park, Jack Kim and Soyoung Kim; Editing by Robert Birsel) NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Boeing 767 cargo jetliner with three people on board crashed into a bay near Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Saturday, police and officials said. Atlas Air Flight 3591 was en route to Houston from Miami when radar and radio contact with the plane was lost about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. Authorities told media they did not believe there were any survivors. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will be in charge of the investigation, the statement said, and FAA investigators were on their way to the crash site. In a Facebook post, the Chambers County Sheriff's office said the plane had been located in Jack's Pocket, at the north end of Trinity Bay near the small city of Anahuac. Ed Gonzalez, the sheriff of neighboring Harris County, which includes Houston, said on Twitter his office was sending personnel to help with the rescue efforts. Boeing said on Twitter it was aware of reports of an accident involving a 767 in Texas and was gathering information. Atlas Air said there were three people on board the aircraft. "Those people and their family members are our top priority at this time," it said in a statement. The company, a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide has been operating Boeing 767 freighters on behalf of Amazon following a 2016 deal. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the flight crew, their families and friends, along with the entire team at Atlas Air, during this terrible tragedy," Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations at Amazon, said in a statement. (Reporting by Maria Caspani in New York; Editing by Paul Simao and Clarence Fernandez) A Boeing 767 cargo jetliner with three people on board crashed into a bay near Houstons George Bush Intercontinental Airport A Boeing 767 cargo jetliner heading to Houston with three people aboard disintegrated after crashing Saturday into a bay east of the city, according to a Texas sheriff. Witnesses told emergency personnel that the twin-engine plane "went in nose first," leaving a debris field three-quarters of a mile long in Trinity Bay, Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said. "It's probably a crash that nobody would survive," he said, referring to the scene as "total devastation." Witnesses said they heard the plane's engines surging and that the craft turned sharply before falling into a nosedive, Hawthorne said. Aerial footage shows emergency personnel walking along a spit of marshland flecked by debris that extends into the water. The remnants of the jet The sheriff said recovering pieces of the plane, its black box containing flight data records and any remains of the people on board will be difficult in muddy marshland that extends to about 5 feet deep in the area. Air boats are needed to access the area. The plane had departed from Miami and was likely only minutes away from landing at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The Federal Aviation Administration issued an alert after officials lost radar and radio contact with Atlas Air Flight 3591 when it was about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of the airport, FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said. The Coast Guard dispatched boats and at least one helicopter to assist in the search for survivors. A dive team with the Texas Department of Public Safety will be tasked with finding the black box, Hawthorne said. Trinity Bay is just north of Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. FAA investigators are traveling to the scene as are authorities with the National Transportation Safety Board, which will lead the investigation. By Elizabeth Piper SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May put off a vote in parliament on her Brexit deal until as late as March 12 - just 17 days before Britain is due to leave the EU - setting up a showdown this week with MPs who accuse her of running out the clock. As the Brexit crisis goes down to the wire, May said a so-called "meaningful vote" would not take place this week as expected. Parliament will still hold a series of Brexit votes on Wednesday, but May's deal itself will not be on the table. On her way to an EU-Middle East summit, May said she is close to bringing home changes to her agreement that would satisfy objections to it, but needed time for meetings with European leaders which meant it would not be ready this week. "We won't bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week but we will ensure that that happens by the 12th of March," May told reporters on board her plane. "It is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on the 29th of March and that is what we are working to do." Opponents accuse her of deliberately running out the clock, so as to force parliament to choose between a deal it has already rejected or leaving the EU with no deal at all, which businesses say would destroy their supply chains. Both May's Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party are formally committed to exiting the EU in line with a 2016 referendum vote, but both parties are internally divided over how or even whether to do so. CABINET SPLIT Before May set off for Egypt, three members of her cabinet publicly split with government policy and said they would side with rebels and opposition parties to stop a no-deal Brexit. Yvette Cooper, an opposition Labour lawmaker who has proposed a bill that would block a no-deal Brexit, said May's "last minute announcement that she wont put a deal to parliament this week, and is leaving it until just two weeks before Brexit day, is utterly shambolic and irresponsible." Story continues "She cannot just keep drifting and dithering like this or there is a real risk our whole country tumbles off a cliff edge into a chaotic no deal that no one is ready for and that would hit food prices, medicine supplies, manufacturing and security." Some MPs will seek to grab control of Brexit in Wednesday's series of votes, though such attempts have previously been defeated as May sought more time to get a deal. Senior Labour figures said that the main opposition party was moving closer to supporting another Brexit referendum and could do so as soon as early as this week. Nine Labour MPs and three Conservatives quit their parties last week in the biggest shakeup of its kind in British politics for decades, raising the prospect of further defections from both parties. The British parliament voted 432-202 against May's deal in January, a defeat by the biggest margin in modern British history. May says she can still win support for it if EU leaders ease rules intended to ensure no hard land border ever appears between British-ruled Northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland. European Council President Donald Tusk told May that the EU needs clarity that whatever the bloc might offer would command a majority in the British parliament, before a summit of EU leaders scheduled for March 21-22, an EU official said. EU officials have considered many theoretical scenarios, including an extension of Brexit for up to two years, though it is unclear if such a delay would resolve the current impasse. The EU has ruled out reopening the withdrawal agreement. Both sides are looking at a possible legal addendum to reassure MPs who worry that the Irish border plans could keep Britain trapped in the EU's orbit for years to come. But Europeans sound increasingly frustrated at Britain's political chaos: "You need two to dance tango, and I know how to dance," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said when asked if he was running out of things to give on Brexit. "I have a certain Brexit fatigue." (Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan in London, Aidan Lewis and Amina Ismail in Sharm El-Sheikh and Francesco Guarascio in Brussels; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Peter Graff) With a star turn in New York and a celebrity-packed baby shower for the Duchess, and a series of visits to military and underprivileged children for the Duke, it has been quite the week in the Sussex household. As they landed in Morocco last night, it was back to business as a team for a whirlwind tour, which will see them boost the profile of gender equality, try out their French and meet their royal family counterparts. The Duchess, who will have medical provision at more than seven months pregnant, will get a henna tattoo and eat recipes from her cookbook, as the country uses the high profile of the Royal visit to bolster its credentials on the world stage. The trip, which has been planned with relatively short notice, will see the couple received by the King of Morocco for an audience, as well as meeting privately with the 15-year-old Crown Prince Moulay Hassan at the royal residence. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were delayed by more than an hour on their commercial flight into Casablanca Credit: Tim Rooke/REX The Moroccan royal family has a particularly colourful place in the hearts of the British royals, after a comically disastrous state visit by the Queen in 1980 christened the tour from hell which saw arrangements changed at a whim. This time, the Duke and Duchess will be staying for three nights privately as guests of the king in a royal residence, with plans to meet members of the family still being finalised last night. Arriving nearly two hours late after delays on their commercial flight, the Duke and Duchess were offered milk and dates a traditional welcome at 10pm local time before they retired for a private meeting with the Crown Prince. Queen Elizabeth II met with King Hassan of Morocco on state visit to the country in 1980 Credit: AP The Duchess wore a Valentino dress, in the red colour of the Moroccan flag, as she and the Duke stepped off the plane to be welcomed by the British ambassador and a guard of honour made up of troops from the Auxiliary Forces. The couple are travelling with an entourage of nine, including two assistant private secretaries, three communications officers, a digital officer and a hairdresser. Story continues They will be without their most senior advisors, their private secretary and press secretary, who have nevertheless overseen the planning of the trip. The Duke and Duchess will both try out their French as they meet secondary school children in Asni, in the Atlas mountains, before lapsing into English for more in depth discussion. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are welcomed by officials at the Casablanca Airport Credit: REUTERS/Hannah McKay The Duchess, who speaks Spanish, has previously disclosed she has been practising the language, telling women at the Hubb Community Kitchen that she had been trying to get better at my French over the last year. In a programme designed around some of her favourite causes, she and the Duke will also visit a cooking demonstration with Moroccan chef Dar Moha, where children will be served pancakes from a recipe in the Together cookbook. Thomas Reilly, British ambassador to Morocco, said the trip would showcase the vital roles that that girls education and youth empowerment are playing in shaping Modern Morocco, adding that in a fortunate stroke of serendipity, we have found that this story fits with interests close to Their Royal Highnesses hearts. Credit: Hannah McKay - WPA Pool/Getty Images Emphasising the growing recognition of women, he added: There is much more to do in this arena. But it is clear that attitudes are changing fast - as demonstrated by the influential role that women are increasingly playing in Modern Moroccos sporting, social, political, commercial and cultural scenes. Other engagements will see the couple enjoy a traditional "rose water" greeting ceremony, and hearing songs from the countries rural mountainous region. They will also spend time with three ponies at the Moroccan Royal Federation of Equestrian Sports, hearing about their work with disabled children. The Duke of Sussex was welcomed in Norway with photos of his wedding to Meghan Markle Credit: Victoria Jones - Pool/Getty Images It will be the first joint engagement for the couple since the Duke flew to the Arctic Circle, where he was greeted by photographs of his own wedding inside an igloo as he visited the military. This week, he undertook solo engagements while the Duchess enjoyed a baby shower with friends at a five star hotel in New York, in a trip funded by Serena Williams and Amal Clooney. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess said: Their Royal Highnesses are very much looking forward to the visit and are grateful to their hosts and the British Embassy for arranging such an interesting programme. They are particularly pleased that they will have the opportunity to meet so many young Moroccans over the next few days. By Elizabeth Piper SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May promised on Sunday to bring a vote on her Brexit deal back to parliament by March 12, the latest delay in her attempts to win approval for a plan to ease Britains departure from the European Union. With just 33 days until Britain is due to leave the bloc, May said there would be no so-called meaningful vote on the deal this week because her team had further meetings in Brussels to secure the kind of changes lawmakers say they need to pass it. The latest delay after her agreement was resoundingly defeated last month by 230 lawmakers - the biggest parliamentary defeat in British history - underlines the difficulty May is having to try to find a way to get the agreement ratified. At an EU-Arab League summit in Egypt, May will try to win the backing of the bloc's leaders to secure the changes and ease increasing frustration in Europe over the political impasse in Britain over a deal that was agreed with London in November. On her way to Egypt where she hopes to get the approval of EU leaders for her approach, May said further meetings in Brussels on securing changes to the deal ruled out a so-called meaningful vote this week. "We wont bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week but we will ensure that that happens by the 12th of March," May told reporters onboard her plane. "It is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on the 29th of March and that is what we are working to do." May and her ministers have stepped up meetings in Brussels to secure changes to the so-called backstop - an insurance policy to prevent the return of a hard border, and potential focus for violence, between Britain's Northern Ireland and the EU's Ireland. She wants the EU to reopen the divorce deal, or withdrawal agreement, to satisfy the demands of Brexit supporters and other lawmakers who fear the backstop could trap Britain in the bloc's customs union indefinitely. Story continues So far, EU officials have shown little inclination to reopen the November agreement and have instead suggested a legal clarification of the temporary nature of the backstop to appease those who believe Brussels has constructed a trap for London. "We have been having positive talks with the European Union ... As you know I was in Brussels last week, ministers were in Brussels last week, my team will be back in Brussels again this coming week. They will be returning to Brussels on Tuesday," she said. "I think what's important that we are still in that process of working with the EU, looking at the ways in which we can resolve the challenge that parliament raised." May will have to return to parliament this week regardless of whether her revised deal is voted on or not, and she said she would make a statement in parliament on Tuesday, followed by a vote on next steps the day after. It is not yet clear what "motion" her government will put forward, but lawmakers are expected to try to influence May's strategy by voting for changes to it, including to rule out a no-deal Brexit or to press for an extension of Article 50, a measure that triggered two years of Brexit talks. But she could face resignations from her own cabinet of top ministers if she fails to rule out leaving with no deal, something she declined to condemn or challenge. "What we have seen around the cabinet table, in the party and in the country at large is strong views on the issue of Europe. That is not a surprise to anybody," May said. "We have around the cabinet table, a collective not just responsibility but desire, to actually ensure that we leave the European Union with a deal." (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) The entrepreneur says Trump won the 2016 election because the US automated away jobs so he wants to become president to do something about it Andrew Yang speaks during a campaign stop in Jefferson, Iowa on 1 February. Photograph: Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump won 2,584 counties in the 2016 presidential election; Hillary Clinton carried only 472. But the Democratic nominees accounted for nearly two-thirds of Americas economic output, according to a study by the Brookings Institution. This is one vivid illustration of Americas great divide. Glittering coastal cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Washington are becoming richer and more influential, attracting more jobs, better hospitals and schools, and technology. Small towns and rural communitiesare falling further behind, feeding a sense that, to paraphrase LP Hartley, the coasts are a foreign country they do things differently there. Andrew Yang, a New York and Silicon Valley entrepreneur and David taking on multiple Goliaths in the Democratic race for the White House in 2020, is here to tell you that its about to become much, much worse and that is why he is running for president. Yang, 44, is the founder of Venture for America, a national public service fellowship that places recent graduates in struggling communities. I would fly between St Louis and San Francisco, or Michigan and Manhattan, and I would feel like I was traversing dimensions and ways of life rather than just a couple of time zones, he told the Guardian in Washington this week. The two historical time periods that are comparable to where we are now in terms of polarisation and division are the French Revolution before the revolution and the United States before the civil war, he said. Few pundits are taking Yangs candidacy seriously but he certainly is, with multiple trips to Iowa and New Hampshire so far. He has raised $250,000 from 14,000 donors in the past week. According to his campaign team, Yang Gang chapters have sprung up in more than 35 states. Story continues He has no doubts about the gravity of his mission. Life expectancy in the US has declined for the past three years for the first time since the flu pandemic of 1918 because of a surge in suicides and drug overdoses, both of which are at record highs, Yang notes. And like a time traveller from the future, Yang has a warning about more to come: the rise of the machines robots that will put millions of more people out of work. As it happens, it is an army of automatons conceived and created by tech firms on the coasts and unleashed on middle America, potentially spurring a deepening us versus them mentality. Yang has written: I am writing from inside the tech bubble to let you know that we are coming for your jobs. Yang wants to become president so he can do something about it. He asserts that Trump won the election because the country automated away 4m manufacturing jobs in the critical swing states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri and Iowa. Now were about to do the same thing to millions of retail jobs, call centre jobs, fast food jobs and, most destructively, trucking jobs in the coming years When I talked to other mainstream political candidates, no one seemed to want to focus on the enormity of the reality thats ahead for America. Like it or not, self-driving trucks are coming, Yang is certain. Truck driving is the most common job in 29 states in America, according to census data, and a demographic that includes many ex-military servicemen and many Trump voters. Yang, armed with a battery of statistics, says: There are 3.5 million truck drivers, 94% male, average age 49, average education high school or one year of college, and they make about $46,000 a year. Its one of the highest-paying jobs for non-college graduates in the US. Its a very demanding, punishing job, but its also one of the surest ways to a middle-class income for a huge number of men. On the other side you have some of the smartest engineers in the country working on automating away that job. The financial incentives to do so are massive: $168bn a year in estimated savings, not just from labour costs but equipment utilisation, fuel efficiency, fewer accidents. So if you foresee that the truck driving jobs are going to start getting automated away in the next five to 10 years, thats going to have massive ramifications not just for this 3.5m trucker population but also the 5 million-plus Americans who work in truck stops, motels and diners that rely upon the truckers stopping every day. This is the trickle-up economy from people, families and communities. It would actually work, unlike the trickle-down economy which was sold to us Andrew Yang He goes on: So the hollowing out of the interior of the country is going to be amplified many times over by the automation of freight. I was just in Davenport, Iowa, at the countrys largest truck stop, Iowa 80, and they proudly state that 5,000 people stop there every day. So you can imagine whats going to happen when that number starts to dwindle. Its going to be disastrous for many Americans and many communities. In an age when many are tired of celebrity politics, no one could accuse Yang of lacking big ideas. Under his administration, the government would provide a universal basic income of $1,000 a month, or $12,000 a year, for all US citizens between the ages of 18 and 64, paid for by a new tax on automation. Before you suggest he is mad, Yang contends that Thomas Paine, Martin Luther King, Richard Nixon and Milton Friedman all endorsed similar ideas, and oil-rich Alaska has paid an annual dividend to citizens for the past 37 years with great success. If you put $1,000 a month into peoples hands it gets their heads up and it helps children become healthier and stronger and graduate from school at higher rates, he said. It makes people mentally healthier and improves relationships, it would reduce domestic violence and hospital visits, it would help empower women to improve their situations if they are in exploitative or abusive jobs or relationships. The question, naturally, is how are you going to pay for it? Yangs wants a change in the tax code so that tech giants such as Amazon and Google pay a value added tax, generating hundreds of billions of dollars. He also believes that it would pump money back into the economy, for example in the form of tutoring and food for children, car repairs, trips to the hardware store, the occasional night out, and create 2m jobs. This is the trickle-up economy from people, families and communities. It would actually work, unlike the trickle-down economy which was sold to us, he said. Yang was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Taiwanese immigrants; his father generated 69 US patents for GE and IBM over his career. Im very proud of being Asian American and there are many Asian Americans who are excited about my candidacy, he said. Yang is fond of referring to the numbers. Dispute them at your peril. He tweeted this week: Sometimes a journalist will say to me: Youre polling at 1% as if its a bad thing. I respond: Thats right. And thats when most Americans have never heard of me. We are only going to grow from here. Killeen, TX (76540) Today Mostly cloudy this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 88F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 72F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Three people are thought to have died after a plane carrying Amazon cargo crashed into Trinity Bay in Texas on Saturday afternoon. The Boeing 767 cargo jetliner was travelling to Houston from Miami and was just 30 miles southeast of its destination, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, when air traffic controllers lost radar and radio contact with the craft. Controllers in Houston tried at least twice to contact the plane but received no response. After losing contact, they asked a United Airlines pilot if he had seen any wreckage to his right or behind him. "That's a negative," he said. The cargo plane plunged from 6,525ft to 3,025ft in 30 seconds, according to tracking data from FlightAware.com. Aviation authorities said they did not believe there were any survivors. Brian Hawtorne, Chambers County Sherriff, told The Houston Chronicle that human remains were recovered from the crash site. The plane was operated by Atlas Air on behalf of Amazon, according to a statement from the airline. The crash left cargo debris scattered across the bay. "There's everything from cardboard boxes to women's clothing and bed sheets," the sheriff said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the flight crew, their families and friends along with the entire team at Atlas Air during this terrible tragedy," said Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations at Amazon. "We appreciate the first responders who worked urgently to provide support." Additional reporting by agencies Algiers (AFP) - Hundreds of people demonstrated Sunday in the Algerian capital against ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term, as state radio journalists complained about a blackout imposed on coverage. Police sprayed tear gas, brought in a water cannon and rounded up several people as shopkeepers pulled down their shutters, an AFP journalist said. Turnout was much lower than on Friday when tens of thousands took to the streets including in Algiers, where demonstrations are strictly banned. State media has been silent on the protests and national radio journalists on Sunday complained that they were being prevented from reporting on the opposition to Bouteflika. In an unsigned letter to management seen by AFP they slammed the "decision by the hierarchy to ignore" the rallies and deplored the skewing of coverage in favour of the incumbent. On Saturday, a top editor at the national radio Meriem Abdou said that she had quit in protest over the restrictions being placed on journalists. Security forces arrested more than 40 people after Friday's protest, which saw police fire tear gas to block a march on the presidential palace, prompting demonstrators to respond with stone-throwing. Sunday's rally came in response to a call by opposition group Mouwatana. It began when a group of 50 people gathered at the Place Audin in the centre of Algiers. Security forces, deployed from the early hours of the morning and backed by a police helicopter, evacuated the central square, prompting the demonstrators to head elsewhere. Joined by hundreds of others they rallied along Didouche Mourad, a main shopping street which was closed to traffic and blocked by police, chanting "Algeria, free and democratic". Mouwatana coordinator Soufiane Djilali said that 15 members of the group were detained along with "dozens" of other people. AFP could not independently verify these figures. Bouteflika, who uses a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, announced on February 10 that he will run for another term in office. Story continues The president's office has said Bouteflika will travel to Switzerland on Sunday for "routine medical checks" ahead of the April 18 presidential election. He has had a long battle with illness and has frequently flown to France for treatment. Bouteflika is Algeria's longest-serving president and a veteran of its independence struggle who has clung to power since 1999 despite his ill health. Venezuelas self-declared interim president Juan Guaido saw off a convoy carrying humanitarian aid due to leave the Colombian town of Cucuta for Venezuela on Saturday, February 23. The convoys departure followed clashes military and civilians on Friday and Saturday after soldiers blocked aid from entering Venezuela. Earlier Saturday morning, Guaido tweeted that a separate aid convey had also departed for Venezuela from Brazil. Clashes on February 23 saw civilians break down road barriers and several military personnel hand themselves over to Colombian authorities. This footage, posted by Colombias department of foreign affairs, shows Guaido in the Colombian town of Cucuta. He waves at cheering crowds as he stands at the door of one truck scheduled to depart with an aid shipment. Credit: Cancilleria Colombia via Storyful WASHINGTON Just days before President Donald Trump is set to meet for a second time with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was confronted about a claim the president made after the first summit. Pompeo, while appearing on CNN Sunday morning, was asked whether North Korea was considered a nuclear threat to the U.S. "Yes," he told host Jake Tapper. "But the president said he doesnt," Tapper replied. "Thats not what he said," Pompeo replied. "I know precisely " "He tweeted, There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea,' " Tapper said, looking down to read a tweet from the president in June. Pompeo, shaking his head, said the president was saying there was a lot of progress made that "substantially" lowered the nuclear risk between the U.S. and North Korea after the leaders met last June in Singapore, the first time a North Korean leader and an American president have met. More: North Korea confirms leader Kim Jong Un is on train to Vietnam for summit with Trump More: President Trump 'in no rush' to have North Korea denuclearize as long as it doesn't test weapons This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. "What he said was the efforts made in Singapore, this commitment that Chairman Kim made, have substantially taken down the risk to the American people," Pompeo said. "Its the mission of the secretary of State and the president of the United States to keep American people secure. Were aiming to achieve that." Tapper followed up: 'OK, I mean that's just a direct quote, but I want to move on." Trump made the claim in June after returning to the U.S. from his meeting with the North Korean leader. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. "Just landed - a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office," Trump wrote on Twitter. "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea." Kim and Trump are set to hold their second summit Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi, Vietnam. Story continues The president took to Twitter on Sunday, teasing what he will discuss with Kim and what he hopes to come of their second meeting. More: North Korea's harsh human rights record could undermine US nuclear deal, UN official says "Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World," Trump wrote in a tweet. "Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!" In another tweet, Trump wrote that he would be leaving early Monday for Vietnam, where "we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Denuclearization?" At their first summit, Kim pledged to eliminate his country's nuclear weapons programs, but some U.S. officials say North Korea has yet to take concrete, verifiable steps to that end. The United States is looking for firmer commitments at the Vietnam summit. North Korea, meanwhile, wants the United States and other countries to start reducing economic sanctions before it makes major changes to its nuclear program. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ahead of North Korean summit, Pompeo confronted over Trump's claim nation isn't a nuclear threat Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and receive a $20 prize! We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. On the other hand, wed be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So before you buy or sell The 600 Group PLC (LON:SIXH), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling. Do Insider Transactions Matter? Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock on the market. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required. We dont think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. As Peter Lynch said, insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise. View our latest analysis for 600 Group The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At 600 Group Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by Divisional Managing Director of Global Laser Marking Division David Grimes for UK441k worth of shares, at about UK0.14 per share. So its clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of UK0.15. While their view may have changed since they sold, this isnt a particularly bullish sign. When an insider sells below the current price, it does tend to make us wonder about the current valuation. It is worth noting that this sale was only 42% of David Grimess holding. David Grimes was the only individual insider to sell over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! Story continues AIM:SIXH Recent Insider Trading, February 24th 2019 If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying. 600 Group Insiders Are Selling The Stock There was substantially more insider selling, than buying, of 600 Group shares over the last three months. We note David Grimes cashed in US$441k worth of shares. Meanwhile Non-Executive Director Stephen Fiamma bought US$42k worth, as we said above. Since the selling really does outweigh the buying, wed say that these transactions may suggest that some insiders feel the company has been fully valued in recent months. Insider Ownership Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Based on our data, 600 Group insiders have about 4.7% of the stock, worth approximately UK779k. However, its possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. I generally like to see higher levels of ownership. So What Do The 600 Group Insider Transactions Indicate? The stark truth for 600 Group is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. Despite some insider buying, the longer term picture doesnt make us feel much more positive. When you combine this with the relatively low insider ownership, we are very cautious about the stock. Wed certainly think twice before buying! If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future. If you would prefer to check out another company one with potentially superior financials then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] Armenian physician Gevorg Stepanyan, who was arrested in Russia, was released several days ago, and on a signature bond to not leave the country. He thankedin a video messageall those who supported him. In his message, Stepanyan noted that even though the prison conditions were quite hard and he has gone through a rather difficult path, the hard work is still ahead. We still have a fight at the courts, [but] Im more than convinced that justice is on my side, he stated, in particular. Im more than convinced that Im innocent. Gevorg Stepanyan was in a prison in Moscow, and he was arrested on charges of medical malpractice. His attorneys argue, however, that the health of a patient had been put at risk due to negligence by some other doctors. Thanks to the efforts of the Armenian embassy in Russia, Stepanyans arrest order was commuted to being released on a signature bond. Sudan agrees to transfer those accused in war crimes to International Criminal Court Secret documents from the UK defense department found at bus stop Blinken and Lapid meet in Rome amid reboot of U.S.-Israel relations IRGC: Iran has developed a drone with a range of 7000 km CEC rejects applications to invalidate results of last parliamentary elections CEC of Armenia distributes mandates among forces that made it to National Assembly following elections Amnesty International: Israeli police use disproportionate force against Palestinian protesters Saeed Khatibzadeh: Iran won't negotiate forever US citizen fined over $ 50 by Armenia police without stating reason Turkey and Lebanon discuss prospects for cooperation Armenia's CEC receives 3 applications for invalidating election results Defense Ministry: Armenia didn't open fire on Azerbaijani positions One case of COVID-19 confirmed in Artsakh CEC shares final results of snap elections: Pashinyan's party has 53.91%, Kocharyan's bloc has 21.09% Trump says Biden will lead US economy and country to collapse Syrian FM says West helps terrorists 69 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Armenia Tunisian PM: $ 6 billion government projects halted Over 5,000 prisoners amnestied in Iran CEC of Armenia completes recount of votes Five US-backed SDF fighters killed in Syria Ilham Aliyev says there is no territorial unit of Nagorno-Karabakh Canadian FM announces new mission to support democracy in Armenia Austrian MFA on Yerevan-Baku reconciliation: Our goal is to establish trust 15 of 23 patients being treated at Gyumri Infectious Diseases Hospital are discharged Armenia villagers who closed off road end their protest action Helicopter carrying Colombia president attacked Criminal case opened into foreign reporter being threatened by Azeri soldiers with weapon on Armenia border US lawmakers urge Biden to reverse Trump's pro-Israel policies Tokayev to Pashinyan: Kazakh-Armenian relations will continue to strengthen Karabakh army ex-spokesman: Azerbaijan doing everything towards final destruction of our statehood 18 killed in shootout between Mexico drug cartels Khatibzadeh: Not Iran but US has left JCPOA and has not fulfilled its obligations Artsakh Security Council chief convenes working consultation EurAsEC Institute director: I am 99% convinced there will be Turkish military base in Azerbaijan China threatens to cut off coronavirus vaccines to Ukraine Villagers block Yerevan-Armavir motorway Macron: Tensions with Turkey eased Head of Union of Communities of Armenia: Calls by authorities to fire community leaders are illegal IAEA demands answer from Iran regarding monitoring Pedestrian woman, 55, dies on the spot after being hit by car in Armenias Shirak Province Blinken: Current pace of Iran nuclear program could complicate talks on JCPOA 93 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Analyst: Armenia, Azerbaijan authorities views on Artsakh issue coincide US to continue providing assistance to Afghanistan army after withdrawal of American troops George Floyd murder case: Ex-cop sentenced to 22 years in prison Newspaper: Authorities want to make radical changes in Armenia diplomatic corps Newspaper: Armenia acting PM considering forming political council comprising extra-parliamentary forces? Armenia ombudsman: Azerbaijan soldiers threaten to kill international reporter near Gegharkunik Province village Panasonic sells its stake in Tesla Why has the Armenian dram sharply valued against the dollar? Indian strain of COVID-19 detected in Abkhazia Garibashvili: Mediation for return of Armenian POWs is victory of Georgia's policy 'I Have Honor' bloc on consultations for applying to Armenia Constitutional Court regarding electoral violations Armenia President hosts Diaspora Armenian actress Nora Armani Armenia Administrative Court abolishes Central Electoral Commission's warning against Nikol Pashinyan Armenia President receives Austrian, Lithuanian and Romanian FMs who are on visit to the region Armenian acting PM discusses Armenia-European Union agenda with FMs of EU countries Grassy area at park near Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan is burning Armenia acting MOD pays visits to arms industry companies Karabakh emergency situations service: Searches for remains of servicemen continue in Varanda (Fizuli) region Ilham Aliyev has no intention to continue negotiations over Artsakh issue Prince Harry receives millions from Prince Charles after final break Armenian doctor says Armen Charchyan is in bed with oxygen mask, blood pressure is fluctuating Armenia Administrative Court grants Armenian political party leader's claim Barcelona Metro removes Azerbaijani posters Magnitude 4.0 earthquake hits Turkey Robert Kocharyan holds meeting with heads of 'Armenia' bloc's supportive communities Digest: Armenia soldier goes missing for month; Macron, Putin congratulate Pashinyan on election win Armenia acting deputy PM: There was widespread increase in pensions in 2020 539 Armenian doctors hold protest in front of Armenia Prosecutor General's Office in support of Armen Charchyan Armenia economic activity index up by 10.9% in May compared to same period last year Ursula von der Leyen says it is necessary to be ready for decline in relations with Russia Ameriabanks Mashtots Branch Opened its Doors and Has a Special Offer on Privileged Terms for New Clients Ombudsman attends UN online discussion, condemns Artsakh isolation by international community US President Joe Biden declares emergency in State of Florida after building collapse One dollar drops below AMD 500 in Armenia Group leaves inscription on George Floyd's statue in New York Iran MFA says Canada not qualified to present reports on crash of Ukrainian airliner Armenia MP applies to government with proposal regarding servicemen Tert.am: Azerbaijanis complete engineering work, install serious equipment in Armenias Syunik Province village 14 Armenian POWs may face 14-20 years in prison or life imprisonment in Baku Armenian NGO president on results of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Austrian Prime Minister condemns Turkey for human rights violations Armenia ruling party MP drops mandate after receiving it a week ago Armenia President receives acting high-tech industry minister Lockdown announced in Sydney US Congressman Schiff: We must not allow Azerbaijan to violate human rights with impunity Armenia conscript not yet found more than one month after going missing Leaders of 27 EU states instructed Borrell to prepare options for sanctions against Russia New program in Artsakh: Other countries citizens also can be appointed to police positions UK ambassador to OSCE congratulates Armenian people on snap elections NGO director: Armenia authorities have actually transferred countrys security to Azerbaijan Belarusian MFA intends to response to European sanctions NGO chief: Armenia authorities contribute to Azerbaijanis return to Artsakh 5 political forces at Karabakh parliament: Polarizations are observed which are accompanied by labeling Biden confirms plans to send billions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine to other countries President meets with Prosperous Armenia Party leader, they discuss internal political situation Woman, 59, dies at hospital 6 days after Armenia road accident Commander of Armenia air defense troops is sacked As unrest continues in Arunachal Pradesh in protest against PRC for six non-APST communities and killing of protestors, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju has blamed the Congress for the violent situation in the state. Also read: Arunachal on the boil; ransack, torching of public property continue unabated Blaming the Congress for the unrest, Union Minister Rijiju stated on his Twitter handle on Sunday: Congress Party supported & instigated Non-APSTs in Lekang to fight for PRC but in Itanagar misguided the innocent people. Also read: Arunachal Governor appeals for peace; calls elders to pacify infuriated youth While stating that he earlier urged the Arunachal Pradesh government not to grant PRC unless the people of the state are convinced that the rights of the indigenous people would be protected, Rijiju stated: From the beginning Ive strongly urged State Govt not to grant PRC unless people are convinced of full protection of indigenous rights. Congress Party supported & instigated Non-APSTs in Lekang to fight for PRC but in Itanagar misguided the innocent people. From the beginning I've strongly urged State Govt not to grant PRC unless people are convinced of full protection of indigenous rights. We must stand united. https://t.co/p07yjtaDSc Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 24, 2019 He called all the people of the state to stand united. Rijiju has made it clear that Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu has clarified that the State govt wasnt bringing bill on PRC but only tabling report of Nabam Rebia led JHPC consisting members & student organizations. Later, he made an appeal not to blame each other but to work for the sake of peace in the state as the government has decided not to go ahead with the bill to grant PRC for the six non-APST communities including Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Mishings and Morans. Also read: Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments should resign: AICC Govt has already passed an order not to accept PRC as recommended by JHPC. Everyone must come together without blaming each other for the sake of peace. Its very unfortunate that innocent lives were lost in the violence, Rijiju further tweeted. According to information, no all-party meeting was held to discuss on the ongoing situation of the state. Meanwhile, the Congress on Sunday said both chief ministers of both the BJP governments in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have lost moral responsibility to run governments. People have lost faith over the BJP government. This government cant even save the lives of the people, All India Congress Committee (AICC) national spokesperson Pawan Khera said. Khera said that people are dying after consuming spurious liquor in Assam and while unrest prevails in Arunachal Pradesh and the state governments have remained mute spectators. Both Sarbananda Sonowal and Pema Khandu have lost moral responsibility to run the government, added Khera. I have been in Montana elk hunting for the past two weeks. When I returned, I read in the newspaper that Hall Winery was suing the city of St. Helena over water to their new trailer park. I recall years ago when the Halls threw out about 12 low-income families who work in and around St. Helena. They did this because the trailer park was a blight to their prestigious winery and Bunny Rabbit. Some of Halls' tenants sued the Halls, but it was settled out of court and the terms were never disclosed. That was a few years ago. Now, they finally want to donate two acres behind Dean & DeLuca for farmworker housing. This should have been done years ago. The area behind Dean & DeLuca has septic and environmental issues. Also, it is next to Hall Winery's sewer ponds, a wonderful location. I was at the City Council meeting in June of 2018, when the story as to what the project really was kept changing. First, it was an Airstream KOA type project, then a hotel with spa, kitchen, and conference room, etc. Finally, Mayor Alan Galbraith said that the project looked semi-fraudulent, with Vice Mayor, Peter White, agreeing. Also the mayor and vice mayor agreed that if we were to give this project any services, it needs to be annexed into the city. Are we grateful for our American republic? Do we pledge allegiance to the republic for which the flag stands? I cringe when I hear or read commentaries, letters, and articles that talk about our wonderful democracy. Democracy is nothing more than "mob-rule." Democracy, as a type of government, is defined as a government featuring genuinely free elections by the people periodically. However, democracy as a form of government means unlimited power goes to the majority with no protection of the individual's God-given inalienable right and rights of minority groups In contrast, in a republic, the power of the majority is limited by a written constitution which safeguards the God-given inalienable rights of minorities and individuals alike. The Founders fought and died to establish a republic. Our congressional, judicial and executive representatives take an oath to uphold the republic they represent, but once they take the seat in their office most of them try to tear our republic apart at every turn. Almost every country that has had a democratic form of government has failed. We must safeguard our American republic and hold our representatives accountable for maintaining it. Connie Garate St. Helena We believe that Napa once more has the right chief at the right moment. Plummer pledged to make his transparent approach to officer-involved shootings, modeled on the process at the Las Vegas department, the standard for the future in Napa whether or not the evidence and body cam footage is favorable to the department. Building trust with the community, he told us, depends on consistency and transparency. Plummer spoke forcefully about building trust and communication with the citys growing Latino population. Previous chiefs have made a concerted effort to reach out to Latino leaders and groups, and Plummer said he plans to expand that by offering a Spanish-language citizens academy, another idea he has seen used successfully at the Las Vegas department. At first, the academy would attract leaders and influential people in the community, but Plummer said he hopes word would spread in the community and eventually attract young people and potential recruits and allies for the department. That would develop homegrown talent and help demystify the police department for the public, regardless of the language. I didnt know my mother had an uncle named Jack until I was sometime in my mid-teens. His name never came up once previously, which is notable given that the family is generally close and proud of its heritage. On the way down to Tennessee for a family funeral, my mother announced that we would be going to meet Uncle Jack, who she had not seen in many years, although he lived not far from relatives we had seen more often. He was handsome, she said, with a dashing pencil-thin mustache. He looked like Clark Gable, she sighed with a girlish wistfulness. He had sent lovely gifts to all the nieces and nephews, she said, including trinkets he had picked up across the Pacific. He was charming and funny and generous, she recalled. But all that was before the war. Jack had been a Marine fighting the Japanese. His body returned intact, she said, but the person who was Jack never entirely came back from the war. I was intrigued and frightened as we went to his modest home. I dont remember a lot about it other than it was crowded and stuffy, and cluttered with some of those same artifacts of the South Pacific and Japan that Jack had sent to relatives back home. When he returned to El Mezquital on a trip last month, residents stopped him everywhere he went to ask about the program. "Are you hiring women yet?" a young woman asked. "When can we submit our applications?" a young man asked. Across El Mezquital, homes and trucks have been bought with American salaries. Many workers have begun saving for the children's university fees. On their refrigerators, some workers keep magnets from the places they've worked: harvesting hops in Idaho, cherries in Oregon, apples in Washington. Before U.S. employers apply for temporary work visas, they must prove that they can't find Americans to do those jobs, posting advertisements in local newspapers, for example. They must arrange interviews for their workers at crowded American consulates in Mexico. They must pay the "prevailing wage," which is typically a few dollars per hour higher than minimum wage. Temporary work visa programs are heavily regulated, requiring employers to provide standard housing for workers and compensation for those injured on the job, for example. Some farmers say the system is too difficult and expensive to navigate. SAN FRANCISCO High tide forced the suspension Saturday of the search for the body of a woman believed trapped under tons of dirt on a San Francisco beach. U.S. Park Police took over recovery operations Friday night after San Francisco firefighters called off rescue effort more than three hours after the woman was reported trapped under a landslide on the citys Fort Funston beach. Authorities say two women were walking with a dog about halfway on a cliff when a landslide swept them to the beach. Bystanders pulled one woman buried up to her neck to safety on a beach popular with dog walkers. The dog was rescued as well. Fort Funston is part of the federal Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is about 10 miles (17 kilometers) south of the Golden Gate Bridge. Searchers said they will resume looking for the body when conditions are safe. Fort Funston is set above steep sandstone cliffs that are about 200 feet (61 meters) above the San Francisco beach. The former military installation and the beach below are popular off-leash areas for dog walkers. For his lot of 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon, Matthiasson put the spotlight on his Phoenix Vineyard in the Oak Knoll District, a site that yields a very rustic, old school Napa Cab, he said. While still aging, the wine today is aromatic, focused and bright, he said. When you think Napa Cab, refreshing isnt always the first word that you think of. But this is a refreshing Napa Cab. For the most part, Premiere lots are fashioned according to the whims of their winemakers, Pott said earlier this week. They generally choose things that are more to their taste or more to their liking, so each lot is totally unique and says a lot more about the vineyard, says a lot more about the winemaker, than some of their normal lots. Its kind of a real personal time, Pott added. And the winemakers, as a group, recognize the other winemakers talents and its a chance for us to show off a little bit in that way. So many local groups have waded into the fray over proposed, stronger Napa County watershed and tree protections that you need a scorecard to know whos who. The roll call of groups can be head-spinning. They include Napa County Farm Bureau, Napa Valley Grapegrowers, Winegrowers of Napa County, Napa Valley Vintners, Coalition Napa Valley, Growers/Vintners for Responsible Agriculture and Napa Vision 2050. These names might seem like a blur of Napa-this and wine-that. How much simpler things would be if only two groups existed one saying stronger environmental laws are needed to safeguard reservoirs and combat global warming and the other saying that the wrong upgrades could unnecessarily hurt agriculture. But one reason various groups formed over the decades is Napa Countys controversial issues have resulted in a range of responses, a gradation of views. We represent 553 wineries, which is pretty much every winery, said Rex Stults of Napa Valley Vintners. Thats tremendous, but it also has its challenges. With 553 wineries come perhaps 553 different opinions. That can lead to new groups being formed to push certain viewpoints further than Napa Valley Vintners or another established, larger group might go. 19322019 Joan Hart Fuller, 86, died peacefully in her home on January 14, 2019 surrounded by her children. Joan was born April 16,1932 in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. Her father was a coal miner and she grew up poor, but happy. She spoke often of playing in Sherwood Forest and thinking that going to the bomb shelter during WWII was fun. She joined the Womens Royal Air Force at 17 years old where she became a switchboard operator. In 1950, she met Donald Fuller, who was based in England with the US Air Force. When they wanted to get married, her father wouldnt give his consent until she followed through with her assignment to Egypt. She did, and then she and Don were married December 26,1952. Their early years of marriage were spent in the USAF, living in Germany and many places across the US where they had their 3 sons. After Dons retirement in 1969, they settled in Napa, California, eventually moving to Berryessa Highlands in 1973, where they were one of the original homeowners. We need legal brains with requisite ... The incoming Cybercrimes Bill was recently opened to members of the public for comment. This latest version of the Bill, passed by the National Assembly in November 2018, cuts out the controversial cybersecurity section present in previous versions. Fatima Ameer-Mia, a senior associate at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, told BusinessTech that the Bill will now focus on: Cybercrime Jurisdiction of the courts Powers of investigation, search, seizure and access Evidence gathering The establishment of a designated point of contact The reporting of obligations and penalties Those who transgress these laws could face up to 15 years in prison, or both a fine and imprisonment. The role of networks As part of the Bill, local Internet service providers and networks would have to report any offences committed under this Bill to SAPS within 72 hours of becoming aware of such an offense taking place on their networks. This includes online piracy by users. Additionally, these networks will need to preserve any evidence related to an offense. To find out how this will affect their operations, MyBroadband contacted South Africas leading providers to get their view on the Bill. MTN MTNs executive of corporate affairs Jacqui OSullivan said that the Bill will not affect MTNs internal processes. She added that MTN welcomes the Cybercrimes Bill and that it will effectively criminalise all forms of cybercrime. The Bill will effectively aide law enforcement and the National Prosecuting Authority to prosecute offenders, and victims will have adequate recourse in terms of the classification of various types of cybercrimes that have been committed, said OSullivan. Vodacom According to a Vodacom spokesperson, the company is still reviewing the updated Bill and will provide detailed statement in due course. However, Vodacoms initial response is positive regarding the battle against cybercrime. In general, we are satisfied that the industry is moving in the right direction to fight cybercrime, said Vodacom. Vodacom said that it was part of the consultation process for the cybercrimes Bill, along with other ICT industry players. Rain Rain CMO Khaya Dlanga said that while there have been contrasting views to date, Rain is in support of the aims and objectives intended to be achieved by the Bill. As a good corporate citizen, we will endeavour to comply, notwithstanding the significant effort and cost involved, added Dlanga. He said that Rain has not yet determined the extent of the impact of the Bill on its internal processes. Liquid Telecom Liquid Telecom highlighted that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development engaged with the ICT industry before the Bill was introduced in parliament. This has resulted in the reporting obligations being proportional and reasonable, given the challenges faced by growing cybercrime, said Liquid Telecom. Liquid Telecom currently has collaborative engagements with law enforcement agencies and we expect that formalising these processes in the manner contemplated in the Bill will be positive. It added that by removing the cybersecurity elements from the Bill, the department delivered a streamlined and focused piece of legislation with very few areas of contention. All parties have a role to play in dealing with cybercrime and the Bill provides a rational and reasonable spread of responsibilities across all role players, including connectivity providers, law enforcement, and users, said Liquid Telecom. Telkom Telkom said: We are currently studying the latest iteration of the Bill and will submit our written comments to parliament. Internet Solutions Internet Solutions said that in its current form, the Bill would force it to employ additional personnel to fulfill its new obligations. Internet Solutions also argued that the Bill is unreasonable because it does not define at what stage the electronic communications service provider or financial institution should be deemed as having been made aware of the offence. Additionally, it said that electronic communications service providers are regarded as mere conduits of information in terms of sections 73 and 78 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act. As such, it is important the Bill is aligned with the already existing legislative framework by upholding the neutrality of electronic communications service providers. Now read: Big security flaws found in popular password managers Billionaire Elon Musks SpaceX is ready to fly its first commercially-built spacecraft designed for humans to the International Space Station, NASA said Friday after a high-level agency review of the project in the final week before the flight. The unmanned SpaceX Demo-1 launch is set for 2:48 a.m. U.S. Eastern time on March 2 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The 27-foot long Crew Dragon will dock with the space station at 5:55 a.m. the following day. It will carry some cargo, radiation monitors and a full-scale dummy to replicate an astronaut. Russian space officials dissented from NASA and SpaceXs flight-readiness decision, arguing that a separate computer system should be installed to help govern the crafts velocity vectors on its approach to the station in case of a main computer failure. A redundant system is employed on Japanese and European cargo vessels that dock with the ISS. William Gerstenmaier, NASAs associate administrator for human exploration, said agency officials will follow up with their Russian counterparts about the safeguards that are in place in case of a failure. I guarantee you that not everything will work exactly right and thats cool, Gerstenmaier, a 42-year agency veteran, said Friday evening at a news conference. NASA awarded Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and Boeing Co. a combined $6.8 billion in September 2014 to revive the U.S.s ability to fly to the space station without buying seats on Russian capsules. NASAs commercial crew schedule has Boeings first flight set for no earlier than April. Both companies plan significant safety exercises this summer before they can fly with crews. The agency is planning for both companies to fly astronauts this year but concedes that the schedule for crew flights could slip to 2020. Human spaceflight is basically the core mission of SpaceX so we are really excited to do this, said Hans Koenigsmann, the companys vice president of mission assurance. 1. Yes. Its a serious public health issue; unvaccinated workers put others at risk. 2. Yes. Some colleges and school districts are mandating it. Its a necessary step. 3. No. Employees should have the option of getting vaccinated or not. Its up to them. 4. No. Some people have serious side-effects. Geting jabbed should be optional. 5. Unsure. Getting people vaccinated is important, but so is having a choice. Vote View Results MTN has filed an application in the South Gauteng High Court to force a former employee to pay back R53 million she stole. In 2017, it was reported that Ruth Moshabane an accountant at MTN defrauded the company of over R23 million. Moshabane appeared in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in 2017 after being arrested on 11 April that year. She faced 16 counts of fraud, which took place between 2011 and 2017, and included accusations of transferring money from MTN to her personal bank account. This was done using fictitious requisitions, and was eventually picked up by the financial intelligence centre board. Pay back the money A report by the Sunday World has stated that MTN will now pursue compensation from Moshabane for the crimes. This includes interest on the money taken, and MTNs legal costs. The report added that the total stolen by Moshabane was much higher that the R23-million figure reported in 2017 and sits at over R53 million, according to court papers. The papers further detailed how Moshabane started her fraudulent transactions with a single transfer of R60,000. This evolved over the years, and in 2017 she was transferring over R1 million per month to herself. MTNs legal representative Jarrad Knoetze of Webber Wentzel Attorneys said no settlement had been reached as the matter was still in an infancy stage, stated the report. Moshabane did not reply to requests for comment, added the report. Now read: WhatsApp bug let users bypass biometric security on iPhone MUSCATINE Kraft Heinz Foods Company in Muscatine was recently fined by Iowa Department of Natural Resources for "alleged repeated noncompliance with certain conditions of its Iowa air quality program" permit. In an administrative consent order issued Feb. 14 by Iowa DNR fine the company $4,000 citing it allegedly "repeatedly missed reporting deadlines, failed to provide complete reports, and failed to comply with deadlines for the payment of fees established by permit and by rule." Facilities that may be "major sources of air pollutants" are required to obtain and comply with an operating permit, and annually certify permit compliance under Title V of the EPA's Clean Air Act. Iowa DNR manages operating permits for those facilities in the state to ensure "equipment continues to perform as designed, to protect ambient air quality," under Title V. The statement of facts in the order go back to Nov. 2001 and appear to show several instances over the years of the company failing to comply with permit requirements. The order read, "DNR asserts that these alleged violations evidence a lack of appreciation for the gravity of the facility's noncompliance with Iowa's air quality rules and threaten the viability of the regulatory system." It is important to note that the Alignment Plan preserves the vast majority of curriculum content important to our institution and community. In some cases, there are concrete recommendations on how programs can grow and prosper in new ways. For example, the Healthcare Informatics degree, HCI, will now be an option within the Business and Information Technology program. This will allow for students to not only be educated in the Healthcare Informatics area but also have a strong business base on which to build a career. Charie Faught, current Head of the HCI program, noted, While I would not have chosen the current path, the current recommendations were part of an overall program prioritization process. Based on my conversations with those working in the health care industry, the revitalization and upcoming changes to the Business and Health Information Technology degree have the potential to make significant contributions and positive impacts in the industry. Along with others at Tech and in the community, my efforts are to move forward with this exciting new opportunity that will benefit students and the state of Montana. DEER LODGE -- Once Upon a Mattress, the musical story of The Princess and the Pea by Mary Rodgers, will be staged by Powell County High Schools drama department from Feb. 28 through March 2 at the Cutler Theatre, 301 Main St., Deer Lodge. The story of Once Upon a Mattress follows Prince Dauntlesss quest for a true princess to marry in order to legalize marriage throughout the entire kingdom. Dauntless (Marik Chrisman) is met with one huge obstacle however: his mother. Queen Aggravain (Emily Pentland) throws every possible kink into the mix in order to prevent her son from being married to a true princess. When he meets the wild and tom-boyish Princess Winnifred (Jerrika Marjerison), he is overcome with passion. More than 20 PCHS students will produce the musical under the direction of Kelly Cutler, Kyle Gillette, and school English teacher Katherine Hurst. Cutler stated, Upon the departure of acclaimed drama teacher Solveig Munson, we werent exactly sure what would happen to the high schools theatre department. Gillette added, Im happy that we can continue to provide these essential opportunities to the youth of this community. Tickets to the PCHS show are $12 for adults and $10 for students and may be reserved by calling 406-846-4096 or bought at the door. The show runs at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 He said the NRD is considering putting a security camera at the site. Ford said the security camera could also help with dust mitigation in the event that dust rises up when workers are not there. Were keeping an eye on it, Ford said. He said that if there is dust this summer, it should not contain contamination from the site because the waste has been removed from the former ball field area. This coming construction season, the state will mostly engage in maintenance and site security. The dirt digging to remove the second half of the waste wont get going again until 2020. The new county shops are expected to go up at a site off Beef Trail Road. Additional dirt work cant happen behind the Civic Center until the county shops are built in the new location and the old ones demolished behind the Civic Center. Despite the fact that U.S. District Judge Sam Haddons gag order was partially lifted nearly a year ago on the consent decree talks, there is still a silence around the future of what will go behind the Butte Civic Center once NRDs work is done. Ford says the state hopes it can finish the excavation work behind the Civic Center by the end of the 2020 construction season. The state has spent nearly $142 million in restoration dollars on Butte-Silver Bow County, but some local leaders say that isnt enough. The restoration money comes from the Natural Resource Damage Program, the state agency that oversees the $320 million the state won in its settlements with Atlantic Richfield Company decades ago. The basic premise is Atlantic Richfield paid the state $320 million to make up for the resources the state lost due to more than 100 years of historic mining and smelting damage in southwest Montana. The restoration dollars are over and above the remediation work that Atlantic Richfield, a subsidiary of BP, pays for directly. Doug Martin, Natural Resource Damage Program restoration program chief, says that about 45 percent of the overall $320 million has gone to the Mining City. But some, such as Mick Ringsak, a retired Butte businessman and Republican activist, say more should go to Butte. Ringsak points to the last first mile of upper Silver Bow Creek, which has not been a contaminant-free waterway since the late 1800s. He says that if it wasnt for the Mining City, there would have been no lawsuit to begin with. The damage done to Butte was far more than the damage downstream, he said. He and Jim Kambich, another Butte businessman, worry that there wont be enough state dollars to pay for work that might be needed in the coming years as the corridor from Texas Avenue to South Montana Street gets cleaned up. Ringsak and Kambich both sit on the Upper Clark Fork River Basin Citizens Advisory Council, which votes on expenditures for roughly a third of the $320 million. Another all-volunteer board, the Butte Natural Resource Damage Council, decides on another portion of the larger pot. All of the BNRC allocations go solely to Butte-Silver Bow County. Preserving cash Wed like to preserve as much cash as we can because there is so much unknown up here (in Butte). Thats our biggest concern, Kambich said of himself and Ringsak. Ringsak wants money set aside in case the Butte Hill consent decree isnt signed or if no deal is struck with Atlantic Richfield Company to restore the area from Texas Avenue to the Butte Civic Center or if something unforeseen goes wrong in that corridor. I think the remaining remediation money should have funds sequestered until we know what will be in the consent decrees for Butte and Anaconda. The first mile of the headwaters should have first consideration for the remaining dollars, Ringsak said. Anaconda has not reached its consent decree yet, either, and is even further behind on getting one. The Environmental Protection Agency most recently said Anaconda may have to wait until the end of this year before a consent decree can be finalized. Jim Davison, who is one of the Anaconda representatives on the advisory council, said he worries about there being enough money for both Butte and Anaconda as well. There are a gazillion projects and half-a-gazillion dollars to do them. We have to be judicious. It will mess the river up if the first mile is not done right, Davison said. Martin says there is money. He says the NRD put aside funds for contingencies such as the upper Silver Bow Creek restoration. But the state isnt willing to make any decisions on that yet. We want to see what remedy is going to do first, Martin said. Restore Our Creek Coalition The community group Restore Our Creek Coalition stands fast to its position that a man-made creek should still begin at Texas Avenue, just south of the current mining operation. But while there were workshop meetings last year with a final unveiling of a plan for a 120-acre park Atlantic Richfield has proposed building from George Street to west of South Montana Street, there is still no talk of what will go behind the Butte Civic Center. The NRD has been excavating behind the Civic Center since last year. (See related story.) But what it will look like once the dirt work is done is, at this stage, anybodys guess. Northey Tretheway, Restore Our Creek Coalition spokesperson, says theres no reason why a creek shouldnt start at Texas Avenue. The EPA says it is not responsible for how the area behind the Butte Civic Center will be specifically restored or reused. Harley Harris, NRD attorney, said its up to the county. Jon Sesso, county Superfund coordinator, didnt respond to a call. Michael Abendhoff, spokesperson for Atlantic Richfield, said by email that the company doesnt have a comment to make on the potential land use behind the Civic Center, but he appeared to leave the door open. We may have comments in the future as plans for that area become more concrete, he said. State land purchases The advisory council Kambich and Ringsak sit on voted last week to approve two land purchases. With a 6-1 vote in favor, the advisory council recommended that the state acquire a 2,650-acre parcel called the Clark Fork River Ranch off the Race Track exit in Powell County and a 154-acre addition to the Garrity Mountain Wildlife Area 7 miles west of Anaconda. Jacqueline Lavelle, who sits on the advisory council, was the lone vote opposed. Lavelle is the superintendent at Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site in Deer Lodge. Lavelle said she voted against the purchases because she had more questions than answers. Its not like it (the Clark Fork River Ranch ) is under threat. Theres no sense of urgency, she said. When asked if she had any worries that the NRD is spending money on land acquisitions while the future of the first last mile is still uncertain, she said thats a valid concern. It does concern me (that) if the council doles out too much money up front, there might be more urgent projects later we wont have funds for, she said. Ringsak and Kambich were both absent for the vote. But Ringsak said through text message he wouldve voted against it had he been there. The total cost of those acquisitions is $5.526 million. Advocates of the purchase see the land acquisitions as a win-win situation. They will add significant public access for hunting, fishing, and boating along the Clark Fork River. In addition, the state acquired those ranches water rights. That will put more water into the depleted river in the summer because a little less land will be irrigated, say supporters. The Clark Fork River ranch is the second large tract of property the state has acquired recently. The earlier procurement, made last year, came from the Dry Cottonwood Creek Ranch, also in Powell County, and a neighboring ranch privately owned by the Hadley family. That earlier $5.9-million acquisition will give the public 3,396 acres and 5.5 river miles of access along the Clark Fork. The advisory councils approval Wednesday to purchase the Clark Fork River Ranch will likely make that public access add up to about 11 river miles and about 6,000 acres total of in-perpetuity hunting and fishing. The governor still makes the final decision. Casey Hackathorn, Trout Unlimited project manager for the upper Clark Fork, says this is pretty unique. He said that much river-bottom land to hunt and fish on is unusual in western Montana. There are other places on the other side of the (Continental) Divide, but not really along western Montana, he said. Easements put on the land will prevent subdividing it. That is especially important for the Garrity Mountain Wildlife Management Area addition because there could be increased development, Martin said. Both Warm Springs Creek and its tributary Barker Creek run through the addition. Its prime subdivision area west of Anaconda. Without houses and lawns, those drainages are better protected, Martin said. The creeks are important for bull trout, which are listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It would also be beneficial for westslope cutthroat. Both fish are native species. The Garrity Mountain addition will also protect a migration corridor for bighorn sheep, according to an environmental assessment. The Clark Fork River ranch land is also host to big game winter range. But theres a hitch to the Dry Cottonwood Creek Ranch purchase the advisory council approved last year. It is expected to be sold to a private landowner once all the easements are in place. Placing a permanent conservation easement on the land comes with a price tag. Because a conservation easement lowers the value of the land that will be put back up for sale, the state expects to get about half of its money back when it sells that ranch to a private landowner, Martin said. I think weve spent money on easements when theres not money to do all the restoration that needs to be done, Ringsak said. It is absurd to be spending restoration money on replacing the lost resource through easements and land purchases while we are using restoration dollars for remediation work in Butte. The NRD points to the many things Butte has gotten and the many ways the county has benefited from the restoration funds it has received. Because of NRD restoration dollars, Butte-Silver Bow County has gotten new infrastructure for its water system, saving ratepayers money the Greenway trail along Silver Bow Creek that, when finished, will run from Butte to Opportunity. Besides that, there is a land acquisition along Silver Bow Creek in Durant Canyon, the pond in Skyline Park, improvements in Thompson Park, and the acquisition of Big Butte. There is also the new Basin Creek water treatment plant, which also saves Butte ratepayers money because water that comes from Basin Creek needs less treatment and does not have to be pumped across the Continental Divide, which is how the countys drinking water from the Big Hole River gets here. The NRD has spent money on additional infrastructure projects in the county, including at least one water tank, water transmission lines, a small dam, and a pump house. There are also certain restrictions that come with how the NRD spends the money. There are pots designated for land issues, pots that are only to be dipped into for ground water and aquatic restoration issues. Just the smaller projects alone have cost $64 million. Ringsak still says more money should come to Butte. Hackathorn says it doesnt have to be one or the other. I support an effective remedy in Butte, but I dont think the Clark Fork acquisitions and Buttes remedy are mutually exclusive, Hackathorn said. We cant expect to see that fishery restored without looking at the whole watershed. Its important to clean up the headwaters (in Butte), but you have to do work through the whole watershed. Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 4 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. It should be pointed out that the record is an extreme occurring in an extreme location under extreme conditions. It happened in a small, high-mountain valley with 5 feet of snow on the ground 58 inches of which had fallen recently. The minus 70 degree reading was not representative of the more densely populated areas of the state. That same night, a low of minus 31 degrees occurred in Butte, minus 43 degrees in Havre, minus 34 degrees in Billings, minus 37 degrees in Great Falls, minus 36 degrees in Helena, minus 14 degrees in Missoula, and a balmy minus 11 in Hamilton. The facts that the two thermometers behaved in the laboratory exactly as described by the observer, that temperatures of minus 57 degrees and minus 59 degrees were recorded in the same general area and that the observer was not aware that he was recording a record temperature were sufficient evidence to adopt the minus 70 degree record. Most stations are supplied with thermometers similar to Kleinschmidts that only go to minus 65 degrees. Thus, these thermometers cannot break the record. We know only that on that night it was at least minus 70 degrees. It very well may have gotten colder, but the thermometer was unable to record it. The minus 70 degree reading was at 2 a.m., and normally the nights minimum temperature occurs shortly after sunrise. In an era of bitterly divided politics, the U.S. Senates recent passage of the Natural Resources Management Act marks a triumphant return to the kind of bipartisan problem solving that the American people have been craving for years. In addition to protecting millions of acres of land across the country, this historic legislation would directly benefit communities across Montana by permanently reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). For over five decades, this wildly popular fund has played a crucial role in protecting everything from national parks to community ball-fields. Over its lifetime, LWCF has contributed millions of dollars to outdoor spaces around Montana. This vital funding has given generations of Montanans the opportunity to make memories fishing along the banks of Blackfoot River, camping, and doing a host of other outdoor activities. Over the coming weeks, the House of Representatives has the rare opportunity to suspend political gridlock in Washington by sending this important measure to the presidents desk to be signed into law. Montanans are ready, once again, to have a government that works for them, and thats why we are counting on U.S. Congressman Greg Gianfortes support for this strongly bipartisan legislation. Add to that his long experience with the district and clear understanding of its unique challenges and advantages. When Thanes contract expires in June, he will have served as superintendent for four years. But before that, he worked as a teacher, a principal, a regional director and an executive director of human resources and labor relations. It will be hard to find a replacement with that same depth and breadth of experience. Consider, too, that Thane has guided the district through a time of significant turbulence and unparalleled transformation. He was named superintendent just a few months before, in November 2015, Missoula city and county voters approved bond measures totaling $158 million to fund the districts ambitious 2020 Smart Schools plan. In the years since, the district has replaced, renovated or nearly completed major renovation projects for nearly every one of its buildings; projects designed to improve safety, security and accessibility, and better position students to meet the educational challenges of the future. Its often said that Montana is like a small town with long streets. Montanans may be separated by hundreds of miles but its amazing how many mutual friends you find you have after talking with someone for five minutes in this giant small town. A defining characteristic of small towns is that people care about one another and rally together in challenging times. Chances are youve attended at least a few community benefits to raise money for medical bills or to help a family that had some other misfortune strike. Today, our giant small town of Montana is facing a threat to the continued existence of many members of our small town, unless we rally together and begin to turn things around. Forty four of Montanas 56 counties are slowly losing their lifeblood the youth who go away to college or trade school and dont return. Many wish they could come back to the communities and way of life they love, but after getting established in Montanas booming counties, or out of state, the only time they may come home is for a class reunion, holiday, wedding or funeral. But she acknowledged the current popularity has its drawbacks. People who live by the unofficial ins and outs of the river corridor get frustrated by parking hassles, traffic and the behavior of river users. Law enforcement doesnt look forward to towing fun-lovers cars on the Fourth of July. So in its search for solutions, Hoyt said the Three Rivers Collaborative looks hard to its neighbors in the Blackfoot Challenge. That 25-year-old organization has helped residents of the Blackfoot watershed work out problems from managing nude beaches to transferring 41,000 acres of commercial timberland to public ownership. University of Montana social scientist Jill Belsky studied a decade of the Blackfoot Challenges endeavors and showed its founding principles have proved both useful and durable. Specifically, its members use proper pacing and the 80/20 rule. The organizations practice is to focus on the 80 percent where we agree, not the 20 percent that divides, Belsky quoted from the Blackfoot Challenges charter. That doesnt mean ignoring dissenting opinions or the extremes, but to just leave it and move on if something is too controversial, and were not sure what to do with it at that time, in the words of one member. A free developmental and preschool screening clinic for children ages 0 to 5 will be held on Tuesday, March 5, from 9 a.m. to noon at DeSmet Elementary School. Screening includes gross motor, fine motor, language concepts, communication concepts,communication skills, hearing and vision screening. The team of cardiac surgeons, cardiologists, imaging specialists, nurses and researchers from the International Heart Institute of Montana at Providence St. Patrick Hospital will provide free public lectures on the latest advances in treating heart disease at the 2019 Heart Expo on Saturday, March 2. The lectures begin at 8 a.m. at the Broadway Building Conference Center at 500 W. Broadway. In addition, there will be displays and information booths on the many ways to stay heart healthy. This event welcomes nearly 1,000 participants each year. Sunday is the last day at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. See the competition winners and more. Films Films at the Wilma, Elks Lodge and MCT, beginning at 11 a.m. Festival award-winner encore screenings! "Scenes From A Dry City" (Mini-Doc) and "Pariah Dog" (Feature), MCT, 6:30 p.m. "St. Louis Superman" (Short) and "The Blessing" (Big Sky Award), MCT, 9 p.m. Shorts galore. Three blocks of short films screening today: the All Abilities block (MCT, 1:45 p.m.); the Made in Montana block (Wilma, 3:30 p.m.) and the final block (Elks Lodge, 3:45 p.m.). "Chasing the Taper" An intimate look into the obsessive and vanishing art of bamboo fly rod making through the eyes of some of the greatest living rod makers in the world, as they struggle to preserve this magnificent yet economically unsustainable labor of love. Wilma, 1 p.m. "The Silver Branch" The story of the beauty, mysticism and magic of The Burren in western Ireland. Explores our connection to the land, our sense of place, and the complete peace that comes with being at one with nature. MCT, 4:15 p.m. She said that "in the narrative tradition, most girls and women appear objectified." She wants to show them engaged, and the clothing she selects is intentional. If you look closely. "Part of the reason I do use the dress, the apron, these more conventional elements, is because I want to say we're still in the trappings of gender division," she said. Because the paintings are technically accomplished, and the current ones have smooth, gleaming surfaces of oil paint and graphite on panel, and have natural settings, people often think she's looking back to an idealized past. "I'm not nostalgic," she said. "I do not want to live in any previous times. As a woman, as an artist, for countless reasons I don't want to do that. I feel we are just on a daily basis impacted by the conventions of our heritage, so I feel like without being historical in any explicit way, I am through this anachronism in my work exploring our heritage my own heritage, and that of Euro-American, more specifically Northwestern heritage," she said. If you look closely, she said, the paintings have narrative tension and criticism. Janet Benshoof, Women's Champion on a Global Scale, Dies at 70 Richard Sandomir December 21, 2017 New York Times Janet Benshoof, a lawyer who spent much of her career defending a womans right to an abortion, then expanded her work to champion causes for women around the world, including those raped in war zones, died on Monday in Manhattan. She was 70. Her son David Benshoof Klein said the cause was uterine serous carcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of endometrial cancer. For there to be justice, peace and security in the world, there has to be equality of women in fact, Ms. Benshoof said at a Google talk in 2008 . If women are always out of the boardrooms and the decision makers and the military, then you do not have the sustainable justice, peace and security that is our ultimate aim. Over 40 years, she pursued her advocacy at three organizations in New York City: as director of the American Civil Liberties Unions reproductive freedom project and as the founder and president of the Center for Reproductive Rights and, most recently, the Global Justice Center. Ms. Benshoof (pronounced BEN-shawf) plotted the legal strategy for abortion and sex-education cases in state courts and the United States Supreme Court, and trained judges in Iraq to prosecute rape and sexual violence cases under international law. No single person has done more to promote reproductive rights than Janet in the United States and globally, Sylvia Law , a professor of law, medicine and psychiatry at New York University, said in a telephone interview. In 1989, while at the A.C.L.U., Ms. Benshoof argued Hodgson v. Minnesota , a Supreme Court case that challenged a state law requiring a minor to notify both biological parents before having an abortion. She told the court that the two-parent requirement was out of step with the reality of family life and that it had been imposed regardless of whether the minor lives in a no-parent, one-parent or two-parent household, regardless of whether she is mature, or whether it would be in the best interest to have a private abortion, regardless of whether she has ever met the absentee parent. The court ruled, 5-4, that the Minnesota law was constitutional because the state gave minors an alternative to the two-parent requirement by allowing them to seek authorization for an abortion in a judicial hearing. The continuing fight to preserve abortion rights took Ms. Benshoof far afield. In 1990 she learned that the legislature in Guam, a United States territory in the Pacific, had passed a law banning abortion, except if the mothers life or health was believed to be in imminent danger. She promptly bought a Fodors travel book and headed for the airport. Once in Guam, she told reporters that pregnant women there who were seeking an abortion should fly to Honolulu. She was arrested and arraigned for soliciting women to have abortions, a crime in Guam punishable by a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Joseph Ada, Guams governor, was displeased by Ms. Benshoofs flouting of the law. Its her right to question it, he said, but shes making a mockery of our abortion law. Thats not nice. The charges were eventually dropped, and the law was struck down by a federal district judge, who ruled that Roe v. Wade, which made abortion a constitutional right, applied with equal force and effect to Guam. At the time, the A.C.L.U. was already representing Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania against Gov. Robert P. Casey, a Democrat, in a case that challenged the states abortion law as an unconstitutional infringement of womens rights to privacy and equality. Kathryn Kolbert, the A.C.L.U.s co-counsel on the case, said in an interview that as it headed for an appeal to the Supreme Court, Ms. Benshoof provided critical advice about framing its petition for review. Janet would have flashes of brilliance that few lawyers I knew had, said Ms. Kolbert, who is director of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College. Once in a while, shed come up with a way of approaching a case that the rest of us wouldnt have. Ms. Benshoof suggested that instead of having the introduction to the A.C.L.U. petition address each provision of the law separately, as was commonly done, it should raise only a single all-or-nothing question. The question posed by Ms. Kolbert and her co-counsel, Linda Wharton, reflected their belief that the courts rulings since 1973 had eroded Roe and their fear that Clarence Thomass confirmation as a justice in 1991 gave the court five votes to overturn the decision. Has the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade? the lawyers asked. In 1992, the court affirmed Roe, 5-4, but still upheld most of the states restrictions. But having anticipated that Roe would be overturned, Ms. Benshoof and the rest of the abortion-rights staff had left the A.C.L.U. before the courts ruling to form what was then called the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy. One of her signature achievements at the center resulted in the Food and Drug Administrations approval in 1996 of the use of the morning-after pill as an emergency contraceptive to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The center had filed a citizens petition with the agency two years earlier asking companies to label the pill as a post-intercourse contraceptive. The F.D.A. has stood idly by as drug manufacturers routinely suppress required information about safe and effective emergency contraception, Ms. Benshoof told The Washington Post in 1994 at the time that she filed the petition with the F.D.A. Millions of women are being hurt. Janet Lee Benshoof was born on May 10, 1947, in Detroit Lakes, Minn. Her father, Lowell, was a county prosecutor, and her mother, the former Helen Genevieve Kohler, was a teacher. She graduated with a bachelors degree in political science from the University of Minnesota and later from Harvard Law School, where she met her first husband, Richard Klein. After Harvard Law, she spent five years at South Brooklyn Legal Services, where she supervised class-action litigation for low-income people. She then joined the A.C.L.U., where her clients included abortion doctors. One of them, Dr. Barnett Slepian, was murdered in his home in Buffalo 1998 by an abortion opponent. Weve represented most of the abortion providers, she told The Times in 1998 . At one time or another, nearly all our clients have been under death threats. But she did not fear for her safety, she said, adding: If Im supposed to die, Ill die. I also sky-dive. And I scuba-dive. I dont think Ive ever been scared in my life. As her concerns about womens rights turned to the world stage, the Global Justice Center became her most prominent platform to address repression by authoritarian regimes. In addition to training judges of the Iraqi High Tribunal in dealing with cases of sexual violence during Saddam Husseins rule, she and her organization lobbied to see Myanmars military government face prosecution for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague and filed amicus briefs with that court seeking justice for the Yazidis, the often-prosecuted Iraqi minority who have been victims of genocide by the Islamic State group, according to United Nations investigators. ISISs state-building strategy is dependent on the subjugation of women and control over their reproductive capacity as a way to secure the continuity and future of the caliphate, she wrote in a 2015 letter to Fatou Bensouda , the international courts chief prosecutor. Yazidi women, she added, are systematically captured, murdered, enslaved, forced into marriages, raped, sexually assaulted, tortured, forcibly impregnated and forcibly converted. Ms. Benshoofs work also led the European Union in 2015 to recognize that abortion is protected care under the Geneva Conventions for girls and women who are raped in conflict. The action was a rebuke to the Helms Amendment, a 1973 United States law originally sponsored by Senator Jesse Helms, which prohibits the use of foreign assistance for abortion. In addition to her son David, she is survived by her husband, Alfred Meyer; another son, Eli Klein; a stepson, Nick Rose-Meyer; two step-grandchildren; and a sister, Lou Ann Garvey. Her marriage to Mr. Klein ended in divorce. Ms. Benshoofs marriage to Mr. Meyer was officiated by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a longtime friend. Five days before Ms. Benshoof died, Justice Ginsburg sent her a letter that read, in part: Martin Luther King said the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. To make that so it takes people of your commitment, will and grit. Every year, at some point during at least one of my classes I'll mention the name "Janet Benshoof." It isn't a name commonly known on Guam, at least among the general population, but it was a name that was notorious for a short period in the early 1990s, and one that probably deserves more attention. Janet Benshoof was the ACLU attorney who came to Guam to lead the fight against the strictest and harshest anti-choice, anti-abortion law within the US and its empire as of 1990.She was the only person arrested under that harsh anti-abortion law that made national headlines. Reading her obituary though I saw that her work was truly international, joining causes for the betterment of women's lives across the globe. In her obit below from thethere is even a section that deals with her time in Guam and a quote from Former Governor of Guam Joseph Ada.One day I'm gonna write an article about that time in Guam's History, because it represents a fascinating moment where we can see the potential conflicts or contrasts between different political and ideological frameworks for understanding rights and identity. Guam commonly sees itself as just an extension of the US, so the debates in the US over gun rights, Trump, climate change, etc, would naturally extend to Guam. They have Democrats and Republicans and so do we. They have a representative democracy and so do we. This isn't really true, the debates don't actually easily or naturally extend out into the colonies.They become twisted and contorted as they cross the Pacific. Sometimes they can line up, but other times they will move and align differently, forming new coalitions of identity, where what is liberal there is now conservative here. The prism of political discourse will form in a different way. It can be the same debate, but figures may move, because of differences of culture, history and the world around them.The anti-abortion law of 1991 is one of those moments and abortion can be one of those things. I am someone who aligns easily with the pro-choice, abortion rights feminist side of this issue. However, this historical moment pulls me in different directions. I disagreed with the cultural arguments made by anti-choice advocates such as Archbishop Anthony Apuron and Senator Elizabeth Arriola, I disagreed with their assessment of what made Chamoru culture - Chamoru. I don't feel that Catholicism is the core or the limit of Chamoru culture. It has been a very important and determinative part for centuries, but I do not think that it should dictate what is acceptable or not acceptable for Chamorus. For instance, I do not feel that the Catholic idea of the church (or a government) being able to dictate what is right or not right for women's bodies is in line with Chamoru notions of female empowerment. I feel that rather than the generic and often times empty veneration of Chamoru maternal figures without socio-political support, we should start female empowerment with individual women and move on from there.But the debate doesn't end there. The arguments that Apuron and Arriola made in 1990 about American colonialism through abortion rights laws, were not without merit. Even if I agree with a particular edict from Washington D.C., I do not necessarily agree that our relationship to the US, where Supreme Court decisions, acts of Congress or Executive Orders apply to Guam despite our being a colony. This is the nexus of that conflict when debates move into the territories. Is it a victory when colonial authority is enhanced? It is when you assume that whatever is good for the US must be good for Guam. But what happens when the US moves in a direction that you don't agree with or don't want?That's why, I wish that at least amongst our local leaders there was a greater emphasis on some consistency with regards to our political status and wanting decolonization. That even if there are ways that the US and how it debates and determines its path ahead might overlap with Guam's, we would ultimately want the ability to determine things for ourselves, given our relationship to the world, our advantages and disadvantages and our culture.********************* Today's generation in Congress could learn much from the late Idaho Republican Sen. James A. McClure who passed away eight years ago on Feb. 26, 2011. His claim to fame on Capitol Hill was for 18 years, he read every word of every bill before voting on it. For many years, he signed his own mail. Fast forward to today: Did members of Congress take an Evelyn Wood speed reading class to absorb the hundreds of pages contained in previous temporary stop-gap spending along with other so-called emergency legislation passed in the dead of night? They received these with only hours before being asked to vote up or down. Only lobbyists, key congressional staff members employed by the House and Senate leadership teams, who actually wrote the fine print within the hundreds of pages on behalf of their, bosses had any idea of the details buried in the actual contents. There should be a seven-day minimum time-out period. This would provide adequate time for members of any legislative body but also ordinary citizens, the media and independent good government watch dog groups the opportunity to understand all of the contents contained in any proposed bill. Everyone would also have the opportunity under an open process to comment and discuss the merits or consequences before others vote up or down for adoption. When I began covering Idaho politics with the Post Register some 35 years ago, it was easy to identify who the conservatives were. They were Republicans, who were guided by the principles of God, country and the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry. Sure, there were folks who were well to the right of center. They often were viewed by the media as being ultra-conservatives. But for the most part, if you were a Republican back in the day, then you were accepted as a conservative. Today, there are a number of groups in Idaho that can stake claim as the true conservatives. One of the more prominent is the Idaho Freedom Foundation, which provides an annual scorecard to sort out the contenders from the pretenders in the conservative ranks. For some lawmakers, getting an A-rating with the Idaho Freedom Foundation is the equivalent of a Grammy award, or an Oscar. The IFF has plenty of company in the conservative sphere. To mention a few, theres the Second Amendment Alliance, the Gem State Patriot, Health Freedom Idaho, Madison Liberty Institute and Right to Life Idaho. We see a band of liberty legislators turning up the volume on conservative principles and the Redoubt News routinely praises those efforts. TWIN FALLS Are you eligible for property tax relief in 2019? Did you know Idaho has a state program to assist property owners with up to a $1,320 reduction in property taxes? Most people think you need to be over 65 to qualify for this program, but that isnt the case, Twin Falls County Assessor Brad Wills said in a statement. You can be eligible at any age if you meet certain criteria. The program used to be called the Circuit Breaker but is now the Property Tax Reduction Program or PTR. Be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident and own and live in your home or mobile home that was your primary residence in Idaho before April 15. You may qualify if you lived in a care facility or nursing home. Contact your county assessors office for information. Had income of $30,450 or less in 2018 Met one or more of the following status requirements as of Jan. 1: Age 65 or older Widow(er) Blind Fatherless or motherless child under 18 years of age Former prisoner of war/hostage Veteran with a 10 percent or more service-connected disability or receiving a pension from Veterans Affairs for a non-service-connect ed disability Disabled as recognized by the Social Security Administration, Railroad Retirement Board or Federal Civil Service. If youre not covered by the listed agencies, then disabled as recognized by a public employee retirement system. You have until April 15 to apply. We have extra staff at our County West office to help you through the application process. Call our office at 208-736-4010 for more information. We receive over 1,300 applications every year, Wills added. To get the application for property tax reduction, go to tax.idaho.gov/forms/EFO00002_01-01-2019.pdf" target="_blank">tax.idaho.gov/forms/EFO00002_01-01-2019.pdf or tax.idaho.gov. For more information, call the tax commission at 1-800-344-7756 or go to tax.idaho.gov/i-1052.cfm. Little agrees that its too early to draw conclusions about the literacy initiative, Wilson said, but the governor is encouraged. The schools that tested the new IRI in 2017-18 are impressed. Little likes what he is seeing in the classrooms. And hes glad to see the bulk of the new state money going into staffing. I think everyone agrees you need that human touch in literacy intervention, Wilson said. More individualized instruction is definitely a positive. The dropoff from kindergarten to first grade is a concern, but Wilson also pointed to an encouraging trend. Scores improved from second grade to third grade. And third grade is a pivotal mile marker that point in the grade school years that students go from learning to read to reading to learn. Little wrote up his budget including the proposed spending increase before Boise State released its study. But he saw nothing that made him rethink his plans. There were no show-stoppers in this report, Wilson said. KETCHUM Company of Fools has announced its 22nd year of Stages of Wonder an in-school dramatic arts program that has served as the theater curriculum in local elementary schools since 1997. It emphasizes theater as an essential component in the development of the whole child. Company of Fools and the Sun Valley Center for the Arts are grateful to the Idaho Commission on the Arts, Geri Herbert and the Wittenberger Foundation for their generous support of the 2019 Stages of Wonder program which will take place at Wood River Valley elementary schools on the following dates: Feb. 25 to March 1 Alturas Elementary March 4 to 8 Hailey Elementary March 11 to 14 Hemingway Steam School March 19 to 22 Bellevue Elementary April 2 to 3 Syringa Mountain School For many students, Stages of Wonder is their first contact with the dramatic arts. Facilitated by specially trained Company of Fools teaching artists, the program brings together storytelling, role-playing, theater games and exercises designed for each grade level one through five. These activities are both structured and improvisational. Victims push against reappointment of transitional justice body officials As the terms of the officials of two transitional justice bodies near completion, conflict victims have demanded a free and fair process for appointing new chairpersons and members and called on the government not to re-appoint the incumbent officials. The homeless problem is widespread across Wisconsin, with nearly 22,000 people receiving shelter and services in 2017. In addition, schools report nearly 20,000 children lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. Such insecurity negatively affects learning, which helps explain Evers keen interest in the issue. Evers was state superintendent of schools for a decade before winning the governors office last fall. The State Journal highlighted the homeless challenge and possible solutions with a nine-month reporting project in 2016. The very next year, then-Gov. Scott Walker with unanimous support from the Legislature created the Wisconsin Interagency Council on Homelessness. The council brings together the leaders of eight state agencies, encouraging them to coordinate their efforts to end homelessness. Bipartisan support for Housing First strategies has been strong. Housing First places chronically homeless people in permanent housing, regardless of any convictions or addictions, where they then receive support services. The successful model has been adopted in cities such as Madison as well as rural communities. In dairy cattle, greenhouse gas emissions are affected by the quantity of feed the cows consume. If we evaluate two cows, one producing 4 gallons of milk per day and the other 12 gallons, the lower producer may eat 36 pounds of feed per day, and the higher producer may eat 55 pounds. The higher producing cow eats 50 percent more feed but produces 300 percent more milk. So higher yielding cows produce less greenhouse gas per gallon of milk. If the worlds supply of milk is produced by fewer but higher yielding cows, greenhouse gas goes down. Since 1950, a substantial increase in greenhouse gas has occurred in the atmosphere. Yet the U.S. dairy industry has reduced its production of greenhouse gas by about 40 percent. It has achieved this by reducing the national cow herd from 25 million cows down to 9.5 million while increasing average milk yield per cow more than five-fold from about 4,000 pounds per year to some over 22,000 pounds today. And the most intensive dairy farms in this state average more than 30,000 pounds per cow, per year. We all need to do our part to solve the climate change problem. Dairy farmers should continue to increase productivity per cow. Dairy nutritionists can include feed additives such as ionophores to reduce methane production and increase efficiency. Larger dairies can capture methane from stored manure and burn it to generate electricity. Meanwhile, we consumers who drive past modern confinement dairy farms should at least give a respectful nod to the most environmentally friendly producers of dairy foods on the planet today. Nordlund is an emeritus clinical professor in the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. Rangel-FitzGibbon: Serving on the School Board for four years has given me experience in local governance, but also, the many years of experience working with communities of different cultural and socioeconomic background which is key to building understanding and trustful relationships. The board is a small but diverse community that shares big challenges and members have to work together understanding, trusting and supporting each other to accomplish goals. Rundblade: Between the teamwork needed as a firefighter and the customer relations skills gained in retail, Im able to comfortably work toward a common goal with people that share different ideas. I will continue the relationship building in the board with the district administration, as well as local and state and federal offices to take care of our children and teachers. What is the most important issue facing your school district and how would you address it? Freye: The most important issue facing the district is declining enrollment and, by extension, funding. We can work to address this only by making our schools and community ones of choice for families and educators alike. Some of that is doing a better job of telling our story. The rest is continuing on the path to positive improvement. Madison said it is hoped the meeting will spur school leaders to make policy adjustments. Madison police have launched an investigation into the alleged assault, and the staff member involved was put on leave after a school district investigation and will not return to Whitehorse Middle School, officials said. The recent incidents arent the only concerns about treatment of students of color in the school district, Madison said. She said shes been hearing more and more concerns from parents about poor treatment of minority students in the citys public schools. I would ask the public to utilize these incidents as teachable moments ... (and) seek understanding, said Michael Johnson, president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, which hosted Saturdays meeting at its Jenewein Road site. Community offers ideas Organizers barred reporters from the meeting to encourage the approximately 150 attendees to be more candid with their criticisms, personal experiences and solutions. WAUNAKEEVirginia Louise Williams, age 78, died on Feb. 22, 2019, at the Waunakee Manor Healthcare Center following a long battle with vascular dementia. She fought this debilitating disease with such grace, always. And for as long as she could, would still find humor in her every day and push her independence. Both strong traits of Virginias. Born and raised in Lincoln, Neb., she then moved to Janesville, where she raised her three children. She later moved to Madison while enjoying her career at Graybar Electric. Her job then took her to Minneapolis and then St. Louis. In each city she lived in, she enjoyed learning about it, figuring out all the best places to enjoy and take family to when they visited. And especially loved finding the wonderful childrens museums to share with her grandkids. You will not discover much about John N. Maclean in his new and graceful and compelling book, Home Waters: A Chronicle of Family and a River (Custom House) and that was his intention. There is some of me in there, of course, he told me on the telephone from his home in Washington D.C. But I do not consider this a memoir. But it is filled with memories. Maclean and his family lived to two ... Founded a quarter-century ago as an independent local political project focused on promoting economic, social and racial justice, and on protecting the environment, Progressive Dane anticipated the electoral activism of 2019. Today, much of what the Madison-based group has emphasized as a party and a movement committed to achieving Housing for All; Equal and Just Communities; an End to Corporate Welfare; and Family Supporting Jobs parallels the politics of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, and the new generation of activist officeholders who are transforming the Democratic Party and the national debate. So perhaps it will come as no surprise that Progressive Dane had a strikingly successful primary night last Tuesday, when Madison voters went to the polls to nominate candidates for mayor, City Council and School Board. Well, that went well, read an announcement from the group on the morning after the Feb. 19 municipal primary. All six of our candidates that had primaries made it through! And theyre coming for the food, Zuniga said. Hes known to have like the best tacos in town, so everybody wants to try the best tacos in town, he said. With tacos, there's going to be a lot of competition, but right now he has the crown. To visit the taqueria in the store, walk past the rows of spices and salsas and under the dangling pinatas. Look to the right of a butcher counter stocked with plentiful meats like carne para guisar (for meat stew), chuleta de puerco (pork chops) and bistec adobado de puerco (marinated pork steak). There are seven wooden booths and a counter cheerfully painted in rainbow stripes, adorned with a sign that says ordene aqui and beneath, order here. The menu at the taqueria is similar to the one youll find at any of the eight Illinois La Rositas, Perez said. Because he uses the La Rosita name, he wanted to stick to the same things La Rosita has been famous for in Illinois. That includes tacos, gorditas, burritos and tortas with a variety of proteins; there are 13 different meat options for the tacos. Few items cost more than $7, and the tacos are almost all less than $3. Udayapur farmers strike gold with ginger cultivation Majority of the farmers of Udayapur district are abandoning traditional crops like millet, corn, paddy and potato for ginger cultivation Submit an Obituary Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. Obituaries submitted by family members are also accepted pending proper verification of the death. Submit an Obituary Sangam Prasain is Business Editor at The Kathmandu Post, covering tourism, agriculture, mountaineering, aviation, infrastructure and other economic affairs. He joined The Kathmandu Post in October 2009. SPALDING Nearly two centuries after missionary Henry Spalding shipped an array of Nez Perce items thousands of miles away from the tribes homeland, the historic collection of artifacts has been appropriately renamed and placed on display at the same site where it was originally acquired, Just a few days after launching the Xiaomi Mi 9 smartphone in China, Xiaomi has announced that itll be available in Europe starting this week. The Xiaomi Mi 9 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, thee rear cameras, a nearly all-screen display (with a small notch for the selfie camera), and its the first smartphone to support 20 watt wireless fast charging. In Europe itll sell for 449 ($510) and up. Heres a refresher on the phones specs: 6.4 inch, 2340 x 1080 pixel AMOLED display with in-screen fingerprint sensor Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor 6GB of RAM 64GB or 128GB of storage 3,300 mAh battery The phone has a 20MP front-facing camera, but its the three rear cameras that may be the Mi 9s standout feature. It has a 48MP wide-angle camera with a Sony IMX586 image sensor. Thats the primary camera and in addition to snapping high-resolution images, you can use it to capture better 12MP images in low-light conditions, thanks to a 4-in-1 pixel system that combines data from multiple pixels to capture more light. Theres also a 16MP ultra-wide camera and a 12MP telephoto camera with 2X optical zoom. The smartphone can also capture slow-motion video at up to 960 frames per second. Xiaomi will sell a 6GB/64GB model for 449 in Europe, while a 6GB/128GB model will set you back 499, making this one of the most affordable flagships to pack a Snapdragon 855 processor and/or triple-camera system. Share this article: Share this: Facebook Twitter Reddit Pocket Tumblr Pinterest LinkedIn Email HMDs Nokia-branded smartphones have earned a reputation for offering solid features at affordable prices. But for the most part they havent pushed the boundaries for what we expect from a modern smartphone. The companys new Nokia 9 PureView is the first example of what it looks like when HMD/Nokia tries to get distinctive. Like many other flagships launching this year, its a smartphone with a high-resolution display, an in-screen fingerprint sensor, and plenty of memory and storage. But its also the first to pack five cameras onto the back of the phone. The Nokia 9 PureView will be available in March for $699 and it goes up for pre-order in select markets starting today. All five of the cameras have 12MP image sensors and Zeiss Optics. Two of the cameras are RGB for wide color capture, while the other are monochrome cameras designed to capture more light. HMD says every time you snap a picture, it takes at least one image with all five cameras in some situations you can get a single image thats up to 240MP, although more often than not youll get a lower-resolution picture that leverages the multiple cameras for pictures with less noise, better color, and better light. You can also shoot in black and white natively, without the need to convert color images. While the Nokia 9 PureView is the first smartphone to feature this many cameras that work together to capture a single image, it might not be the last HMD worked with Light to create the camera system used in this smartphone. Light, which released its own multi-lens camera a few years ago, has big plans for the smartphone space. This week the company announced its partnered with Sony to create reference designs for smartphones with multiple cameras using Sony image sensors and we could start to see more multi-camera devices later this year. Snap a photo with the camera app and the smartphone fires up all five cameras and then stitches together a photo based on data captured from all five cameras. The result should be higher contrast and dynamic range than youd get from a single camera. Nokia says the system can capture up to 10 times more light than other smartphone cameras. And users can adjust the focus of an image after its captured, thanks to depth-of-field information captured by the multiple cameras. Whats interesting about this type of multi-camera system is that all the cameras work together to capture a single picture. Unlike multi-camera phones from Apple, Samsung, Huawei, and others you dont get to switch cameras for features like telephoto zoom lenses or ultra-wide image capture. Its closer to what Google does with its Pixel smartphones, capturing multiple images and combining data to create a single high-quality picture. But Google does that with one camera and a bunch of software tricks. HMD does it with five cameras. Basically HMD and Light have come up with a hardware-based solution thats similar to Googles software-based one. Itll be interesting to see in-depth reviews of the Nokia 9 PureView to see how it stacks up against the Google Pixel 3 in photographic quality. Other camera features include support for RAW image capture, 4K HDR video recording, and shutter speeds of up to 10 seconds. While the camera system is the phones most distinctive characteristic, for the most part the phones other specs look decent. The Nokia 9 PureView has a 6 inch, 2880 x 1440 pixel pOLED display with an in-screen fingerprint sensor and support for HDR10 content. Theres no notch, but there are bezels on the top and bottom of the screen. The phone features 6GB of RAM, 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage, and a 3,220 mAh battery, USB Type-C port, NFC, and Qi wireless charging. One odd choice? The phone will ship with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor rather than the newer Snapdragon 855 chip powering many new Android flagships this year. On the other hand, that may help keep the price lower than some of its competitors. Like most other recent HMD/Nokia phones, the Nokia 9 PureView is an Android One device, which means itll receive regular OS and security updates for at least two years. HMD is also launching a few cheaper (and less impressive) phones at Mobile World Congress, including Nokia 4.2, Nokia 3.2, Nokia 1 Plus, and Nokia 210. Share this article: Share this: Facebook Twitter Reddit Pocket Tumblr Pinterest LinkedIn Email The 2018 Huawei MateBook X Pro made a lot of best-laptop-lists last year, thanks to its compact size, excellent design and build quality, high-resolution 3:2 aspect ratio display, and strong performance, among other things. Now Huawei is launching a new model that features an updated processor and graphics. Huawei unveiled the new MateBook X Pro at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today and it should be available in the US and other markets in April or May. The new MateBook X Pro features a 13.9 inch, 3000 x 2000 pixel touchscreen display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, and slim bezels on every side, for a 91 percent screen-to-body ratio. If youre wondering if theres room for a webcam above the screen theres not. Huawei hid one in the keyboard area again (like the company did with last years model). Press a button on the keyboard and the camera pops up and you can snap pictures or shoot videos from a very low angle. Under the hood, the laptop is powered by an 8th-gen Core i7-8565U Intel Whiskey Lake processor and NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics. The laptop will be available in silver and grey color options. Both versions measure about 14.6mm at their thickest point, 4.9mm and the thinnest, and feature metal unibody designs. Other features include quad speakers (with two tweeters and two woofers), Thunderbolt 3 port, and support for WiFi transfer speeds up to 1733 Mbps. The MateBook X Pro will sell for 1599 Euros ($1813) and up for a model with a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, 521GB of storage, and NVIDIA graphics. Huawei also introduced a more affordable MateBook 13 laptop at CES in January, and the company is adding a new model to its lineup at MWC: the MateBook 14. It features a 2160 x 1440 pixel touchscreen display with thin bezels, a recessed camera support for up to an Intel Core i7-8565U processor, 25W NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics, and a 57 Wh battery. Prices start at 1199 Euros ($1360) for a model with a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and NVIDIA graphics. Share this article: Share this: Facebook Twitter Reddit Pocket Tumblr Pinterest LinkedIn Email Outstanding superintendents from the six regions in the state were announced: Region 1, Marty Hein, Sarpy County; Region 2, Terri Krysl, Boyd County; Region 3, Larry Klahn, Dodge County; Region 4, Brett Stubbs, Buffalo County; Region 5, Rick Wangler, Kimball County; Region 6, Ridge Horky, Custer County. Presidential Awards were given to Ed Sladky, Lori Stolcpart and Timm Johannesen of Warne Chemical and Equipment. Rookie of the Year for the State of Nebraska was awarded to Jimmy Petersen, Garfield County. Superintendent of the Year for the State of Nebraska for 2018 was awarded to Todd Boller, Fillmore County. Wednesdays speakers included: Leadership, Jessica Jones, Extension Educator, Johnson County; Hops Production in Nebraska, Bruce and Annette Wiles, Midwest Hops Producers; Invasive Plants in Iowa, Bob Hartzler, Iowa State University Extension Weed Scientist; and Office Management Panel, moderated by Paul Moyer, Nebraska Department of Agriculture Inspection Specialist. Wednesday noon was the Annual Business Luncheon and Meeting, during which Marty Craig was elected for another term as NWCA Secretary/Treasurer; and Columbus, Nebraska was selected for the 2021 Conference location. The 2020 NWCA Conference will be in North Platte, NE. The annual conference was the first opportunity of 2019 for weed superintendents to get required continuing education. At every NWCA training, roll call must be answered twice each day, and the exam at the end of each day must be completed and passed for a superintendent to receive continuing credit hours. The next training will be NWCA Spring Training April 3-4 at Ramada Inn, Kearney, with New Superintendent Training on April 2, 2019. The United States is working with Canada and Mexico to guard against African swine fever. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says all three countries are trying to keep swine fever from reaching North America. The highly infectious disease has already affected hog populations in China and parts of Europe. African swine fever can kill hogs in just two days. China, home to the worlds largest hog population, has reported more than 100 cases of swine fever since last August. Efforts to contain the disease have affected Chinese supplies of pork, the meat from the animal. Swine fever has spread to Chinas neighbor, Vietnam. Cases have been reported in Eastern Europe, and Belgium found the virus in a wild boar. If it were to reach the United States, swine fever could affect shipments in the $6.5 billion export market for American pork. The U.S. agriculture industry is already feeling the effect of trade disputes with China and Mexico. Perdue spoke at the Department of Agricultures yearly Agricultural Outlook Forum on February 21. Also attending were Canadas agriculture minister and the Mexican secretary of agriculture. Perdue said Sharing the long borders that we do both on the north and south, its important that we function together as one. All the things that go on in the world today will only increase the likelihood of things moving from one nation to another, he added. The Reuters news agency reports that Smithfield Foods, the worlds biggest pork producer, has increased safety measures at its U.S. farms. In addition, U.S. hog farmers are leaving animal-feed ingredients imported from China in storage in an attempt to keep the disease out. Since 2013, Smithfield has been a division of WH Group, a Chinese company. African swine fever was first identified in East Africa in the early 1900s. The disease can spread in many ways, including direct contact between animals, through food and by people infected with the virus. While not harmful to human beings, there is no vaccine for swine fever. News of the spread of the disease in Asia has affected agricultural markets, as traders consider the possibility of an increase in U.S. pork exports to China. Robert Johansson is the chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He said chances for increasing pork exports to Asia because of hogs dying from the disease may be overstated. Johansson predicted that plentiful supply in the United States would push hog prices down 7.5 percent in 2019. Im George Grow. Julie Ingwersen reported this story for the Reuters news agency. George Grow adapted his report for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story function v. to perform; to work or operate ingredient n. a material used with other substances to make something We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. For 185 years, Green Mountain College has been educating students in the small town of Poultney, Vermont. The college announced last month it is closing at the end of the current school year. The announcement has left hundreds of students trying to decide where to go next. Green Mountain is a small, private liberal arts college that has seen a 43 percent drop in the number of students studying there over the past 10 years. The Associated Press, or AP, notes that Green Mountain is going the way of some other small colleges and universities in the United States. These schools have struggled to continue operating during a general move toward career-centered training. They are also dealing with decreasing numbers of high school students, especially in the countrys northeast the area known as New England. Lauren Coye is an environmental studies major at Green Mountain. She told the AP she is very sad about the colleges decision to close. I mean this community is so great and I fell in love with the campus as soon as I came here, and the farm and the goats and everyone in town, too, she said. Coye added that she and her friends thought they had another year and a half together before they completed their studies and left the school. Now its only four months, she said. To help protect students, Vermont state officials have been looking into increasing their oversight of private, independent colleges. The plans have met resistance from college leaders, who worry schools financial problems could be made public before they are at serious risk of closing. New rules being created In Massachusetts, at least 17 colleges have closed or joined with other schools over the past six years. Massachusetts education officials are moving forward with a plan to inspect the financial health of colleges every year and estimate their risk of closing. If the state decides a college might not finish the next academic year, it would be required to tell students and prepare a plan to help them gain admission to another school. The state moved to intervene after the sudden closure of Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts. Mount Ida announced last April it would be closing just a few weeks later. The news shocked students. In Vermont, officials took notice when Burlington College closed in 2016 under the weight of debt from a land deal. The closing left no one in charge of Burlingtons student records. Lawrence Cupoli serves on Vermonts House Committee on Education. He said the states Agency of Education had to take control of the records, which was costly. The next year, the state legislature had the Association of Vermont Independent Colleges set up an agreement with its member schools to house student records if a school closed. Last year, Vermont lawmakers considered creating rules for any school being examined by its accrediting agency for financial reasons. Such schools would have been required to inform the state of the investigation and offer a plan for student records, setting money aside if necessary. That bill did not pass but lawmakers say they hope to consider similar proposals this legislative term. Kathryn Webb heads Vermonts House Education Committee. She noted, with the recent news about Green Mountain College and concern about whats happening around New England, it does seem appropriate for us to continue to look at a response. The Massachusetts plan has led to criticism from some college administrators. Helen Drinan is president of Simmons University in Boston. She said the plan seems like an unnecessarily large reaction to the Mount Ida closure, which she described as one really bad incident. It feels like a heavy step, argued Drinan. Anybody caught in that net is going to get a lot of attention that may or may not be deserved, and that may or may not seal their fate. That just doesnt seem right. Carlos Santiago is head of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. He said he understands the concern from some schools and plans to work with them to finalize the states inspection process. A look at the country as a whole At least 64 four-year private, nonprofit colleges and universities around the country have closed or announced closures since 1995, while 12 others have opened. These numbers come from the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. Moodys Investor Service said in December that its position on the U.S. higher education industry is negative. The reason: limits on the growth of money schools earn from tuition payments. The U.S. Department of Education and college accreditors have their own processes to measure the finances of schools and place struggling schools under close watch. But officials in Massachusetts say the process has failed to raise warnings soon enough in the past. As of last December, more than 500 colleges and universities were being closely watched by the education department. The schools included Green Mountain College, but not Newbury College in Brookline, Massachusetts. Newbury announced on December 14 it would close after this academic year. Green Mountain had just 428 undergraduate students signing up for its classes six months ago. The college explored possible partnerships and ways to increase money coming in before announcing its closure. A group of former students and parents is raising money to try to keep the school from closing, but many students are already making other plans. Green Mountain said it has agreements with some other colleges that will take in its students. One such school is Prescott College in Arizona. Students knew that Green Mountain was in trouble, said Kyle Patterson, of New Jersey. So he made plans to attend Paul Smiths College in New York. I just felt bad for everyone else who didnt have a plan, he said. Im Pete Musto. And Im Dorothy Gundy. Lisa Rathke and Collin Binkley reported this story for the Associated Press. Pete Musto adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. How often do colleges and universities close in your country? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _________________________________________________________________ Quiz - States Look to Increase Governance of Struggling Colleges Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz _________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story liberal arts n. areas of study, such as history, language, and literature, that are intended to give you general knowledge rather than to develop specific skills needed for a profession major n. a student who has a specified main subject of study campus n. the area and buildings around a university, college or school oversight n. the area and buildings around a university, college, school academic adj. of or relating schools and education accrediting n. the process of saying that something is good enough to be given official approval appropriate adj. right or suited for some purpose or situation response n. something that is done as a reaction to something else net n. a device that is used for catching or holding things or for keeping things out of a space seal (their) fate idm. to ensure that something unpleasant will happen to someone negative adj. harmful or bad tuition n. money that is paid to a school for the right to study there undergraduate n. a student at a college or university who has not yet earned a degree Traders urge improvement of Nepal-Bangladesh customs process Nepali traders in the eastern region have expressed dismay over unnecessary customs charges and documentation hassles while trading goods to Bangladesh. More than four years after a Malaysian passenger plane was shot down in eastern Ukraine, airlines still need better information to fly safely over conflict areas. The Dutch Safety Board made the comment in a report about the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17, 2014. The report said a missile launched from territory controlled by pro-Russian rebels shot downed the airplane. All 298 people inside were killed. Plane parts were spread widely across fields in Ukraine. An international criminal investigation is continuing to seek and try those accused in the attack. The Netherlands and Australia have said they hold Russia responsible for supplying the missile to the rebels. Tjibbe Joustra is the safety boards chairman. He said progress has been made since the downing of flight MH17. Joustra said nations and international organizations such as the European Commission are working together better to improve intelligence sharing. The report said, Airlines are taking a more structured approach to analyzing the risks and uncertainties.... But it also said more needs to be done. The board statement said few nations dealing with conflicts had made changes to how they administer their airspace. It also said that airlines require more detailed and complex information to correctly judge risks. Joustra said he saw little action on a proposal by the board to close airspaces or to restrict parts of the skies above conflict areas. He said national interests could be preventing such safety actions. If you close your airspace, it is a very public admission that you are no longer in charge of your own territory or skies, Joustra said. Im Caty Weaver. The Associated Press reported this story. Hai Do adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story approach n. a way of dealing with something : a way of doing or thinking about something analyze v. to study (something) closely and carefully: to learn the nature and relationship of the parts of (something) by a close and careful examination uncertainty n. something that is doubtful or unknown Sunday, February 24, 2019 The Vermont Supreme Court has disbarred an attorney The relevant facts as found by the hearing panel are as follows. Respondent was admitted to the Vermont bar and has practiced as a licensed attorney in Vermont since 1999. In 2005, respondent began business as a solo practitioner in Newport, Vermont. Most of respondents practice related to family, criminal, and probate law. During the time period at issue, from December 2010 until approximately April 2013, respondent provided legal services for several female clients relevant to this appealC.M., P.B., and A.P. Respondent later employed and engaged in sexual behavior with these former clients. The hearing panel concluded that respondent violated the Rules of Professional Conduct based on his interactions with two of these individuals, C.M. and P.B. The hearing panel found no violations with related to respondents conduct with A.P. On appeal, we address whether the panel correctly concluded that respondents conduct with C.M. and P.B. violated the Rules of Professional Conduct and, if so, what sanctions are appropriate. We do not consider the allegations with respect to A.P. Respondent led a complicated life. A.P. was an opioid-addicted client facing criminal and civil consequences from an automobile fatality. Respondent employed her and masturbated in her presence. She was later charged with embezzlement from his law firm. C.M. was a divorce client in strained financial circumstances when the sexual relationship commenced. Prior to entering the sexual relationship with C.M., respondent discussed with C.M. whether he could ethically enter a sexual relationship with her while representing her in the divorce action, and he told her he believed he could do so. However, respondent did not request or receive a signed written waiver from C.M. acknowledging that she was aware of the risks of engaging in a sexual relationship with respondent while he represented her or authorizing him to do so. Respondent also took steps not to be seen with C.M. in the area of the state where he practiced... To alleviate C.M.s financial burden, respondent made several offers to C.M. that she could stay with him at his condominium and hired C.M. as an employee of a tanning salon business that he owned. Respondent ended the relationship with C.M. very shortly after the final merits hearing in her divorce proceedings in June 2012. They had sexual relations on one occasion during the week following the divorce settlement and one final time in the fall of 2012. P.B. In December 2011, P.B. contacted respondents office seeking legal advice. Respondent assisted her in connection with several matters, including a pending criminal proceeding in which respondent helped P.B. obtain temporary relief from the conditions of release imposed at her arraignment. He did not charge P.B. for his legal services. In January 2012, respondent contacted P.B. and offered her a job as an administrative assistant at his law firm. At the time, P.B. was twenty-nine years old, living with her parents, and aspiring to gain admission to a training program to work as a border-patrol agent. She suffered from PTSD and ADHD. P.B. began working for respondent in January 2012 and received her last paycheck in January 2013. Over the course of her employment, P.B. experienced various difficulties relating to respondent. Relevant to the panels analysis and the issues on appeal are incidents where respondent tossed paperclips at P.B.s cleavage, masturbated in her presence, and requested that she sign a contract in September 2012 indicating their relationship was mutually welcome and waiving any future claims against respondent. Always the lawyer. The panel made further findings that, in late July 2012, while respondent and P.B. were together in the law office, an incident occurred during which, at respondents request, P.B. unbuttoned her shirt, exposed her bra, and lowered her bra strap while respondent proceeded to masturbate to ejaculation in his pants. Respondent asked her to pull on his tie while he masturbated; P.B. did so. That evening, after the incident, P.B. went home and broke down in front of her mother while explaining what had happened with respondent. On August 7, 2012, P.B. sent an email to respondent stating that she felt disrespected and planned to stop coming to work due to respondents actions. Respondent replied that he never intended to make P.B. uncomfortable and that he would be happy to speak with her about her concerns. Following this exchange, P.B. and respondent revisited signing a contract to outline the boundaries of their personal and professional relationshipsan issue that had been developing for several months... In May or early June 2012, respondent told his step-father about his interest in pursuing a romantic relationship with P.B. and was encouraged to get something in writing indicating that the relationship was consensual. Soon thereafter, respondent and P.B. participated in a conference call with respondents step-brother, who is also an attorney. During the call, respondent asked his step-brother to draft an agreement reflecting that the relationship was mutual and welcoming and containing a release of any sexual harassment or gender-discrimination claim, preventing P.B. from alleging either claim in the future. Respondents step-brother drafted the agreement entitled Notice of Intent to Engage in Mutually Welcomed Romantic Relationship and Waiver of Claims and provided it to respondent, who gave a copy of the agreement to P.B. Notably, the contract provided a waiver by P.B. of any and all state and federal law claims of sexual harassment or gender discrimination against respondentapparently including future as well as past claims. The panel found that P.B. was confused and intimidated by the conference call, had a hard time following the discussion and understanding the issues, and did not understand the need for a written agreement. Neither party signed the agreement at this point; no further action was taken regarding the agreement until the fall of 2012, following the masturbation incident. After the masturbation incident and email exchange between respondent and P.B., respondent asked his step-brother to revise the contract. In September 2012, respondent and P.B. discussed and signed the contract. No witnesses were present, and P.B. did not have an attorney. The panel found that P.B. believed from her discussion with respondent that they needed to sign the agreement to satisfy [r]espondents father and that it was required of her to continue working for [r]espondent. The panel further found that [r]espondent did not advise [P.B.] to obtain independent legal advice with respect to the agreement. A.P. filed a sex harassment complaint with the State police. The extensive Hearing Panel findings and recommendation is linked here. A threesome incident with a client and P.B. - apparently it was P.B.'s idea- is recounted in the findings. Further, the findings show that Respondent dumped C.M. for P.B. Notably, the victims are identified by name rather than initials. The court found the conduct violated Rule 1.7 Regarding respondents mental state in this case, the panel concluded that respondent knowingly violated Rule 1.7 because he knowingly entered into a sexual relationship with [C.M.] while he was representing her in the divorce action. (Emphasis added.) Respondent argues that, while his judgment was mistaken, . . . his failure to recognize a significant risk of conflict was negligent, not knowing when he reviewed comment 17 of the Rules of Professional Conduct with C.M. and believed he could avoid a conflict. However, the panel concluded that respondent did not act negligently because his failure to conduct adequate legal research on conflicts of interest did not diminish his state of mind. We agree with the panels conclusion. And Rule 4.3 respondent knowingly presented the 2012 contract to P.B. and asked her, an unrepresented individual unsophisticated in legal matters, to sign the contract and waive any and all sexual harassment or discrimination claims against himpast or future. Respondent never clarified that he was not representing P.B.s interests in the transaction, but was, in fact, representing his own, and he did not advise her to seek counsel to protect her interests. While respondents failure to suggest that P.B. obtain independent counsel could be couched as a careless omission, respondents request that P.B. formally waive any claims against him by signing the 2012 contract was most certainly presented and executed with the intent to obtain a benefit for respondentprotection from future suit or liability. The court rejected a Rule 8.4(d) (conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice) but concluded that the finding of uncharged misconduct did not affect its sanction analysis. As to Rule 8.4(g) Finally, the panel concluded that respondent violated Rule 8.4(g), which states, [i]t is professional misconduct for a lawyer to . . . discriminate against any individual because of his or her . . . sex . . . in hiring, promoting or otherwise determining the conditions of employment. V.R.Pr.C. 8.4(g). In so concluding, the panel determined that: (1) respondents conduct toward P.B.including the paperclip incident and the masturbation incidentcreated a hostile work environment tantamount to sexual harassment; and (2) the waiver clause in the September 2012 agreement constituted quid pro quo sexual harassment because it implicitly conditioned P.B.s employment upon submitting to unwanted sexual advances by placing [P.B.] in a position where she could not as a practical matter assert a claim of discrimination or harassment against her employer going forward. We agree that respondents actions violated Rule 8.4(g) by creating a hostile work environment for P.B. and implicitly conditioning P.B.s future employment on her agreement not to file future discrimination and sexual-harassment claims. Footnote We do not conclude that asking an employee to sign a voluntary acknowledgement of a consensual relationship always amounts to quid pro quo harassment. However, in this case, there is sufficient circumstantial evidence to support the inference that P.B. reasonably believed that signing the agreement, and submitting to respondents unwanted sexual advances without recourse, was a condition of her employment. Sanction These findings demonstrate that, on more than one occasion, respondent targeted vulnerable individuals and engaged in activity contrary to our Rules of Professional Conduct; we weigh this heavily in our sanction determination. Delay did not mitigate Here, considering (1) the aggravating circumstances due to the vulnerability of the victims and respondents pattern of misconduct; (2) the comparatively minimal impact of the mitigating factors; (3) the potential injury and actual harm that respondents conduct has caused to C.M., P.B., and public perception of the legal practice; and (4) comparisons of the offenses and facts present in this case with other similar cases in which suspension or disbarment was imposed in Vermont and in other jurisdictions, we adhere to the presumptive sanction and order the maximum penalty permitted by our rulesdisbarment. VTDigger reported on the recommended sanction. Robinson is the stepson of former Attorney General M. Jerome Diamond, and the stepbrother of Deputy Attorney General Joshua Diamond, who drafted an agreement for Robinson that played a role in the boards ruling. Commonly known as a Consensual Relationship Agreement or love contract the agreement was between Robinson and a female employee, P.B. Diamond had written a first draft of the agreement at Robinsons request in 2012, long before he joined the attorney generals office. The board found that Diamond committed no wrongdoing in drafting the agreement for his stepbrother. Diamond has expressed regret for his involvement in the matter. In the agreement P.B. promised not to pursue legal action against Robinson if the sexual relationship in which they were engaged ended badly. Robinson made some changes in the language of the agreement before he and P.B. signed it. Question: Is sex with a client a waivable conflict? Vermont's version of Rule 1.8 at the time - in contrast to the ABA Model Rules - did not have a specific sex with client prohibition. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2019/02/the-vermont-supreme-court-has-disbarred-an-attorney-the-relevant-facts-as-found-by-the-hearing-panel-are-as-follows-respond.html Sunday, February 24, 2019 Photo courtesy of City of Gilroy website This NPR report shows the mixed results for agriculture of the Trump administration's support on tariffs on foreign products and crackdown on immigrants. In Gilroy, California, known as "The Garlic Capital of the World," tariffs on Chinese garlic has helped local garlic growers while tough immigration enforcement has led to labor scarcity. One garlic packager "wonders: If enough people get deported, who's going to harvest all that garlic?" KJ https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2019/02/in-garlic-capital-tariffs-and-immigration-crackdown-have-mixed-impacts.html Did you know you can read one of the longest-running newspaper columns in the world right here on LancasterOnline - and in LNP, if print is your preference? The Scribbler, currently written by retired LNP staffer Jack Brubaker, first appeared on May 24, 1919, in the Lancaster Daily Examiner and Express, which later merged with the Lancaster New Era, which was one of the newspapers that eventually became LNP. According to newspaper archives, that makes The Scribbler the second-longest-running column in the world. (The longest? A column called The Beachcomber in the London Daily Express, which is one year older.) The Scribbler ranges widely in his column topics, but the subjects are always closely tied to Lancaster. Sometimes he answers reader questions; other days he spotlights books or events related to local history. Here, then, are five things you might learn from a trip through The Scribbler's archives. The Amish do Spring Break Yes, millions of tourists come here to see the Amish, but thousands of Amish from Lancaster County and elsewhere travel to Florida to get away from cold winters up north. In Sarasota County, the Amish are a common sight on the beach - they wear swimsuits or shorts, just like English vacationers. Amish and some Mennonites began traveling to Florida in the winter of 1925. They chose the Sarasota area in the 1930s thanks to available land for camping. The Amish transitioned from the camps to residential areas in the 1940s. A permanent community established farms, produce markets, restaurants and churches. Visitors come and go from December through April. Read the full column. What's the story behind that building? The building at 59 North Prince has very unusual architecture especially for a dry-cleaning establishment because it was designed as a church. Union Bethel Church constructed the building in 1849. The congregation, now known as the First Church of God, moved to its present location, 344 W. Chestnut St., in 1925. The old church building, which has been substantially modified, was later used as an apartment house, a Pep Boys store and the home of One-Hour Martinizing. Now it is Kims Custom Cleaners. Read the full column. Why so many Stoltzfuses? The Scribbler's Old Order Amish informant explains why Stoltzfus is far and away the most common Amish name in Lancaster County. The reason is obvious in retrospect - the first Stoltzfus families who settled here in the 18th century had mostly male children, thus the name proliferated much more than the names of families who had mostly female children. The same thing happened with Kings and Fishers. Read the full column. The man who was hanged twice The heaviest man ever hanged within the walls of Lancaster County Prison broke the rope and fell unconscious to the ground. The botched hanging sickened several spectators, one of whom also fell flat in a faint. Imagine what that fellow had to go through on the morning of May 23, 1912, as frustrated officials tied his half-strangled 204-pound body to a plank, obtained a stronger rope and hanged him again. The punishment worked the second time. Antonio Romezzo finally was pronounced dead at 10:20 a.m. 16 minutes after the first attempt had begun. Romezzo was the last man hanged in Lancaster. After that, Pennsylvania electrocuted all of the condemned inside state prisons. The state at the time was on the verge of passing a bill requiring all executions be conducted in state prisons. The mess Lancaster County made in the Romezzo hanging persuaded the legislature to pass the law at the next session. Read the full column. Who was Colonel Howard? Colonel Howard Boulevard in East Cocalico Township was named for George Howard, a Reamstown native who served as commander of the U.S. Army Air Force Band and Orchestra from World War II until he retired in 1963. He played clarinet and saxophone as a youth and earned his doctorate from the Chicago Conservatory of Music. Under Howards direction, the Air Force Band became one of the most renowned bands in the world. After Glenn Miller died in 1944, Howards band stepped in for the Glenn Miller Band radio broadcasts. Following retirement from the Air Force, Howard led the Washington Police Band for 10 years. Read the full column. Earlier this month, we celebrated the 210th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president. We have in office the latest Republican to wear the presidential mantel. How far things have come or descended, one might say when Lincoln and Donald Trump can be said to have anything in common. Truth be told, Lincoln and Trump have other things in common: Both spoke their way to the White House, Lincoln with his speeches against the expansion of slavery, and Trump with his speeches about making America great again. Both also overcame a lack of national political credentials. Lincoln had served only four terms in the Illinois House and one largely undistinguished term in Congress when he ran for president, and Trump had never held or even run for any public office. And, finally, both were severely underestimated by their opposition until it was too late. But there the similarities end. Trump is the antithesis of Lincoln as a speaker. Lincoln was gracious. Trump is antagonistic. Lincoln thought hard about important issues before he addressed them. Trump shoots from the hip. Lincoln was all about fact and logic. Trump is prone to simple conclusion, bereft of fact or logic. Lincoln appealed to our better angels. Trump appeals to our worst. Their marked contrast in style prompts a parlor question: How would they have fared against each other, today? Abraham Lincoln versus Donald Trump for the presidency, in the 21st century? Trump would have enjoyed the television advantage, at least at first. Trump has long been a television celebrity, while to Lincoln the medium would be new. Trump is also telegenic, while Lincoln would be considered anything but; he was by his own admission homely, as well as awkward in movement. One opposition newspaper said that while all politicians have the privilege of being ugly, Lincoln abused it. Lincoln would also find a public attention span much shorter than in his day. His carefully crafted speeches, masterpieces of fact and logic that they were, nonetheless lasted 90 minutes to three hours. Few voters would today listen to anything that long. On the other hand, Lincoln overcame his gangly and homely appearance by what he said and how he said it. His face was said to change as he spoke, conveying different and appealing expressions. He would also not have appeared so gangly against Trump, who is only an inch shorter, and his honest appearance might be a welcome contrast for many voters against The Donalds yellow-orange coif and tan. And, yes, while Lincoln was a master of the long speech, he was equally a master of the short. Consider the Gettysburg Address, only 272 words, and his second inaugural address, only 701. Consider also statements like The world will little note nor long remember what we said here, but it can never forget what they did here, or With charity towards all, with malice towards none. The author of such short but powerful sentences would do very well in the age of sound bites. While Trump is a master of social media, which would also be new to Lincoln, Lincoln was a very intelligent man, and a shrewd politician, who mastered and exploited the communication media available to him in his era newspapers, printing presses and the telegraph lines that spanned the entire continent and could readily be presumed to master those in any other. While Trump is also a master populist, no one had a better sense of the common man than Lincoln. He was born a common man as common as they come, in stark contrast with Trumps life of privilege and he lived that life for the better part of 30 years. Even when he became a successful lawyer, he spent more than 20 years in daily contact with regular folks, in courtrooms, the general stores of the 1,500-mile legal circuit that he rode, and the private homes where he boarded. While Trump is highly skilled at self-promotion, so also was Lincoln, who had his speeches printed, with his biography, in newspapers and scrapbooks, and a statesmanlike photo taken in New York City by the leading photographer of the day. That photograph became for many voters their first and only image of Lincoln, and Lincoln would later say that it was one of two things that made him president the other being his speech at the Cooper Union Institute shortly after that photograph was taken. Yes, Trump is a highly skilled demagogue, but so, too, was Stephen Douglas, Lincolns adversary of decades, who played the race card shamelessly against Lincoln in their debates of 1858, only to see Lincoln do so well in those debates that he emerged a presidential candidate. Lincoln knew how to handle demagogues, with his reservoir of humor, anecdotes and stories. When Douglas called him two-faced, Lincoln replied, with great effect, If I had a second face, would I wear this one? And newspaper transcripts of the seven Lincoln-Douglas debates show Lincoln drawing laughter at a rate of 50 percent more than Douglas. Had Trump tried to saddle Lincoln with a condescending nickname, such as Ugly Abe, Lincoln already had his own, more favorable ones: Honest Abe and the railsplitter. No one hears Trump being called Honest Donald. Lincoln also would have the clear advantage in the pillars that marked his speeches and writings: credibility, clarity, fact, logic and emotion. Lincolns clarity, facts and logic were recognized \!q and praised even by his opponents. Lincoln wielded real facts: It was said that during the first 30 minutes of a Lincoln speech, while he laid out his facts, all his opponent could do was sit there and nod. His logic was equally powerful: observers compared it to a sledgehammer, and described it as clear as crystal and perfect. No one says that about Trump. And, finally, Lincoln would be able to trump Trump on appeals to emotion. Lincoln sought to inspire positive emotions historical (reverence for the Founding Fathers and core documents), religious (the Bible) and secular (basic fairness and justice). Trump seeks to advance negative ones hate, bias and even violence. Lincoln urged malice toward none; Trump urges malice toward many. In the end, one has to think that Lincolns appeal to the better angels of our nature, the better parts of our souls and consciences, would prevail with most Americans, as representing, one would hope, how they think of their country and themselves. Joseph F. Roda is a retired attorney who resides in Lancaster County. He is the author of the recently published book on the persuasive powers of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln and Making a Case, The Story of a Master. I recently had the opportunity to visit Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and to attend Sunday worship there. My visit was a powerful reminder of the faithfulness, courage and resilience witnessed in the legacies and ongoing religious life of many historic African-American congregations across America including here in Lancaster. I drove away from the church with echoes of the mornings Scripture reading from Psalm 34 continuing to reverberate in my heart: When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. As readers will remember, Mother Emanuel, as the church is known, became a household name in 2015 when nine congregants were shot and killed in the church fellowship hall while attending a weekly Bible study. Many of us have been inspired by the moral courage that survivors have shown by voicing public expressions of forgiveness for the white supremacist shooter. Recall what the daughter of one of the victims told the shooter at a court hearing just days after the massacre: I forgive you. You took something very precious away from me. I will never get to talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you, and have mercy on your soul. You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people. If God forgives you, I forgive you. For some of us in Lancaster County this was especially poignant testimony, bringing back to mind sentiments expressed by Amish families after the Nickel Mines school shooting. Such forgiveness certainly requires exemplary strength and depth of character. But this is not the only storyline from Mother Emanuel worthy of our attention. Limiting our focus to the theme of forgiveness may cause us to overlook the many ways Mother Emanuel has empowered its members to challenge white supremacy and injustice throughout its history. The founding of the church was itself such a challenge. Emanuel was the first AME church formed in the Deep South, in 1818, at a time when it was illegal in Charleston for blacks to learn to read or to constitute the majority of a churchs membership. Within a couple of years of its founding, white Charlestonians raided the church several times and arrested more than 140 members. A few years later one of its founding members, Denmark Vesey, was accused of plotting a slave revolt, secretly tried and executed along with more than 30 others. Angry whites burned the church to the ground. Yet the people of Mother Emanuel persevered, meeting in secret for decades until the end of the Civil War. In 1969, after her husband's assassination, Coretta Scott King led a march to the church in support of striking workers in Charleston. According to the churchs website, those at the church faced bayonet-wielding members of the South Carolina National Guard; the churchs pastor and 900 demonstrators were arrested. While the 2015 shooting was the most recent and most nationally publicized act of terror at Mother Emanuel, it was by no means the first time local whites responded with violence to acts of resistance and self-determination to acts of righteousness by church members and their allies. We must honor the whole of this legacy. The story of Mother Emanuel is a many-layered history of courage, resilience and faithfulness in face of horrific violence and evil. As former President Barack Obama observed in his eulogy for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the churchs pastor killed in the tragedy: Over the course of centuries, black churches served as hush harbors, where slaves could worship in safety, praise houses, where their free descendants could gather and shout Hallelujah, ... rest stops for the weary along the Underground Railroad, bunkers for the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement. They have been and continue to be community centers, where we organize for jobs and justice, places of scholarship and network, places where children are loved and fed and kept out of harms way and told that they are beautiful and smart and taught that they matter. This is the legacy of congregations of color across America. Not just the story of Mother Emanuel, but also the story of places right here in Lancaster such as Bethel AME. Bethel itself has a rich history of more than two centuries of courageous and faithful witness in face of injustice. And its the history of congregations like Bright Side Baptist in Lancaster. And Ebenezer Baptist. Visiting Mother Emanuel reminded me how vital such history is to the tapestry of American religion, and how vital these congregations are in teaching us how to resist injustice, how to practice courage in the face of violence, and how to exhibit moral leadership in the face of acts of evil. Perhaps you, too, could benefit from such a visit. What lessons might be awaiting you if you simply showed up at Bethel, Bright Side or Ebenezer on a Sunday morning? Chad Martin works for Partners for Sacred Places in Philadelphia and lives with his family in southeast Lancaster city. Email: cmartin@sacredplaces.org. Perhaps the greatest prophets not to come from the Middle East are Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Nicky Headon and, for good measure throw in the original drummer, Terry Chimes. Collectively, these guys were known as The Clash. Often referred to as the only band that mattered, they were an English punk rock band and were active from the mid-1970s through the 1980s. Many of their songs were apocalyptic, political and all around incredible. There is nothing on the radio today that sounds like The Clash, and its unlikely there will be again. Their most popular song was Rock the Casbah, but their best song was either Straight to Hell or London Calling. Straight to Hell is about societal decay, the abandonment of mixed-race children and drug addiction. London Calling, recorded in 1979, alludes to several ways the world could come to an end (including climate change); some of those methods are ushered in by zombies of death. As I listen to these songs for the thousandth time and contemplate todays decay of the Republican Party its abandonment of the Constitutions separation of powers, its mistreatment of immigrant children, its brain-dead response to climate change I cant help but wonder who todays zombies of death might be? Who might be the soulless, brainless, automatons stumbling and dragging us toward a self-induced dystopia? Images of U.S. Senate Republicans flash through my mind. The vast majority of Senate Republicans obediently and mindlessly have followed their dear leader, President Donald J. Trump. Theres not an idea too absurd that Senate Republicans wont get behind. Rack up a huge deficit they get behind Trump. Violate Article 1 of the Constitution they get behind him. Separate infants and toddlers from their mothers at the southern border they get behind him. Declare a national emergency over a manufactured crisis at that border they get behind him. Deny 40 years of climate science they get behind him. As if declaring an unconstitutional national emergency for his broken campaign promise wasnt absurd enough (remember, Mexico was supposed to pay for the wall), much of the money Trump is planning to use will come from the military. Senate Republicans are behind that absurd idea, too. Never mind that the conservative Heritage Foundation has published several papers over the last few months arguing for more money and more thoughtful spending for the U.S. military. In fact, in an October 2018 report, the foundation concluded, The Active Component of the U.S. military is two-thirds the size it should be, operates equipment that is older than should be the case, and is burdened by readiness levels that are problematic. The foundations index assesses the capabilities of the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force as marginal, and that of the Marine Corps as weak. So what do most of the Senate Republicans do? They obediently and mindlessly go along with the president in taking money from military readiness to pay for Trumps broken campaign promise. According to the Military Times, the following military projects are some of those that would be affected: a new vehicle maintenance shop at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, drydock repairs at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, F-35 hangar improvements at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, ongoing hospital construction at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and new family housing builds in South Korea, Italy and Wisconsin. The Heritage Foundation, and many other institutions on the left, right and center, have expressed concern about U.S. military readiness, logistics and morale. We have the most professional and dedicated force in the world, and its members now are suffering under the political leadership of zombies. This is why one of the most respected generals of the 21st century resigned as Trumps secretary of defense. James Mattis couldnt be complicit in the zombies destruction of the United States. Ask yourself two questions. First, how long has it been since you listened to The Clash? If the answer is never or a long time ago, dont wait another day. Second, other than Trump and his zombies, in whose interest is it to violate our Constitution and direct money away from the U.S. military for Trumps ego project on the southern border? If youre stuck, think about who was most agitated by NATO expansion in the 1990s and 2000s. The answer, of course, is Russian President Vladimir Putin, who last week threatened the United States with an asymmetric response should the U.S. deploy intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe. In his annual state of the nation address Wednesday, Putin warned that Russians would create new weapons and aim them at American targets, particularly decision-making centers in the United States. In London Calling, The Clash warned of the nuclear age. Its dangers intensified last week, but the zombies of death still allow their leader to be guided by Putin rather than by the American professionals who have dedicated their lives to protecting this nations freedom. Bryan T. Stinchfield, Ph.D., is a former Army officer who served in the U.S. intelligence community. He is an associate professor in the business, organizations and society department at Franklin & Marshall College. A rash of recent measles outbreaks in New York, Texas and Washington state shines a light on Californias largely successful effort in recent years to suppress the disease though some of the shine might be fading. A serious measles outbreak that started at Disneyland in December 2014 and carried over into 2015 contributed to a steep increase in vaccination rates among California kindergartners over the following three years. But the gains stopped last year, according to the most recent available data. In the 2013-14 school year, which immediately preceded the Disneyland outbreak, the percentage of kindergartners enrolled in schools boasting vaccination rates of 95 percent or above considered the optimal level to avoid contagion stood at 57 percent. By the 2016-17 academic year, the percentage of kindergarten pupils in schools with optimal vaccination rates had hit 90 percent. In 2017-18, however, it dipped slightly back below 90 percent. Measles has again gained attention because of five outbreaks so far this year in the U.S., including a serious one in Washington state. Through the first week of February, 101 measles cases have been reported across 10 states. Thats compared with a preliminary count of 372 for all of 2018 and 120 in 2017. Californias favorable trend accelerated dramatically after officials, galvanized by the Disneyland-linked infections, implemented a law in 2016 that eliminated a loophole through which parents were allowed to enroll their children in school without vaccinating them if they claimed that vaccinations violated their personal beliefs. [khn_slabs syndicated="241884" view="inline"] But another kind of exemption was still allowed. Over the past three years, vaccination exemptions signed by doctors on medical grounds have more than tripled, though they are still at a low level. This suggests that parents who once cited personal beliefs to avoid inoculating their kids might be claiming medical reasons instead. Could this trend be contributing to the loss of momentum in vaccination rates? I think thats definitely a concern, said Dr. James Watt, chief of the Division of Communicable Disease Control at the California Department of Public Health. He said, however, that the elimination of personal belief exemptions in the 2016 law still far outweighs the rise of medical excuses. So thats reassuring to some degree, he said. Overall, Californias measles vaccination rate is now 96.9 percent, well above the desired threshold. Watt said, We do have this particular concern, as we have in the past, about places where there may be pockets of low immunization coverage such as individual schools. Three rural Northern California counties Sutter, Trinity and Nevada have measles vaccination rates below the 90 percent threshold widely considered the minimum level for effectively stopping the spread of the disease, according to data from the public health department. Measles causes a high fever and a distinctive rash, and can lead in some cases to severe complications in children such as encephalitis and pneumonia, which can be fatal. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children get their first dose of measles vaccine (MMR), which also protects against mumps and rubella, at 12 to 15 months of age and a second dose between ages 4 and 6. Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. Six businesses were damaged in a two-alarm fire Sunday morning in the Village Center office complex on West Main Street (Route 23) in Leola. About 60 percent of the building complex, which included a 150-year-old building, sustained heavy fire damage in the 7:13 a.m. fire, said Sam Huber, assistant fire chief for the Upper Leacock Fire Company. The owners of the office site, John and Deb Calabrese, who lived upstairs, escaped uninjured with an apparent passerby banged on the door yelling the building was on fire. As many as 15 fire companies were called to the scene. When firefighters arrived, they were met with fire blowing out of all of the windows on the second floor. A second alarm call was made because of the heavy flames showing and a perceived difficulty in getting volunteer firefighters to the scene because of church services, Huber noted. The complex has 12 tenants. Half of the offices were damaged, mainly those in the front of the building. The fire started on the first floor and spread to the second floor. A state fire marshal was still on the scene at noon to determine a cause and damage estimate. Route 23 was closed until about 11:45 a.m. The Village Center is home to several first-floor shops including a nail salon and Vigis Parties, a catering service. Thorny roses Life does not come cheap for Nepali students in the United States LOYALSOCK TRAIL, Lycoming County Welcome to Smiths Knob, on this frosty night with a bonfire lapping at the stars, probably experiencing a record encampment of 18. This was my 20th year of spending a weekend on one of winters coldest nights in a remote spot of Pennsylvania. And this foray into the Loyalsock State Forest to a local landmark high point was like no other. For starters, there were 18 of us. Normally, my invitations to take a trip into the heart of winter attract a few hearty souls. But this year, we had a bonafide expedition. Among those testing their mettle were three teens and a 24-year-old who had never been backpacking overnight at any time of the year. Talk about baptism by fire, er, ice. There was Seth Horst, a Brecknock Township resident and eighth-grader at the Pathways school in East Earl. Seth came along because he wanted to be able to say he did it. And he did do it without complaint. Without complaint didnt mean he didnt suffer as temperatures dipped to a chilly 15 degrees. I knew it was cold, but I was pretty sure I could endure it without much pain. I was sort of wrong, he wrote after the trip. By the next morning, I felt like my feet had frozen off and that I had lost a few phalanges. Rest assured, Seth returned home with all his digits intact. Why not, you only live once, is why Rachel Graves, 24, of Adamstown, headed into the cold woods. She, too, survived a long night of cold, though she admits to awaking in the dark convinced it was, thankfully, almost morning, only to find it wasnt even midnight. We veterans all have been there. Despite the biting cold, the new wave of backpackers were touched by what thrills the rest of us about the winter woods. For Anna Swarr, 18, of Terre Hill, shell remember the crystalline night. The fire, the stillness and the stars with little light pollution all made for a peaceful evening, she told me. She and her tentmate, Graves, were thrillingly surprised to wake up to ice crystals inside the tent. There also was the rare experience of disconnection. When her phone died from the cold after a few pictures, Swarr could have panicked. Instead, she was thrilled. No texts, no calls and no social media, perfect! she reflected. The group got to experience alpenglow when surrounding mountaintops were crowned with an aura of color at sunset. They saw more stars than they ever thought possible and learned of the primitive draw of a fire and dancing flames. They learned cold-camping secrets like pouring boiling water into a water bottle and spooning it in your sleeping bag at night to keep warm. They learned not to point your boots too close to the fire or they will melt with a sickening odor. They met stimulating people like Erin and Greg Farmer, of Manheim, who spend each anniversary atop a mountain somewhere. Theyve scaled peaks from Hawaii to Glacier National Park, the Adirondacks to Maine. Their last winter backpacking trip came the night before their daughter was born. After a grinding, steep uphill climb of 1,100 feet, we arrived on Smiths Knob, a rare rounded peak in the Endless Mountains that are mostly characterized by plateaus. We were feeling pretty proud of ourselves until two trail runners one in shorts breezed by in the lengthening shadows. We got there at 3 in the afternoon, and the youths immediately began a fire. No way they will be able to keep that going for another seven hours, I thought to myself. But I underestimated the resourcefulness of our crew. I underestimated the friendly competition between Chris Esh, of Lititz, and his trusty What-A-Saw and Mark Kapolkas Sven saw, which he has wielded for 35 years. Together, the two men cut up enough logs to build a small wilderness cabin, keeping the blaze going full throttle for us squatters until it was time to jump into tents. Or at least those of us who had them. Michael Wenger, 21, of Terre Hill, slept in the open air on a modest sleeping pad, his face retreating into his sleeping bag like a frightened box turtle. A buddy, Dylan Martin, slept in a hammock. Trailside dinner ranged from three-course meals to grilled bison hot dogs slathered in sauerkraut. The grub was washed down with the likes of maple moonshine and coffee hand-ground with a portable unit. Eventually, the cold and weariness drove us to seek personal warmth in sleeping bag cocoons. Under bare trees and a sliver of a moon, we slept with the stars. This past week on a snow day, I escaped the slush outside and went onstage. Surrounded by actors, I was the center of attention. Luckily, nobody noticed when I stumbled as I walked around the set. I was the ghost of Hamlets father, and I never left home. This was possible through virtual reality. Google, working with Commonwealth Shakespeare Co., created an hourlong VR version of Hamlet. Hamlet 360: Thy Fathers Spirit brings the tragedy written in early 1600s into the 21st century. It left me dizzy, literally and figuratively, and excited about the potential to bring more art alive. This Boston-based Shakespeare group tried something new, complicated and pricey ($500,000) as a big way to grow. This allows us to scale that mission to the world and truly democratize Shakespeare and theater, Steven Maler, the director of the film and the founding artistic company, told The New York Times. WGBH, a PBS member station in Boston, shared the video for free on its YouTube page last month. With a cheap VR headset, you can be immersed in the world of Hamlet. Its a world that VR pioneer Nonny de la Pena calls a visceral empathy generator. It can make people feel in a way that nothing, no other platform Ive ever worked in, can successfully do in this way, she said during an immersive journalism course. Its true for journalism and for the arts as well. So how does it work? I have a VR viewer on the low end, a Google Cardboard viewer bought online for $15. There are cheaper versions at places like Amazon and Best Buy. Headsets made from materials sturdier than cardboard can be found for $300 (PlayStation), $400 (Oculus) or more. If you havent used a cardboard headset, its pretty simple. Just pop your smartphone in the front and cue up a VR video from Facebook, YouTube or an app. For the VR Hamlet, you are the ghost of Hamlets father. The action takes place not on a stage in front of you, but surrounding you. The set is a giant room filled with flickering lamps and furniture. The scene morphs into a cemetery in a cloud of smoke at one point. Through the scenes, the actors move around you, the ghost of murdered King Hamlet. Its exciting and a little confusing. Logistically, I was stumped with where to place my body in the real world. When youre in a theater or watching a film version of a Shakespeare play, youre sitting in a chair looking straight ahead. Watching 360 Shakespeare, I twisted around a couch to catch the next person entering. I jumped up to turn all the way around and often took a few steps to orient myself. This is definitely not something you want to watch next to a staircase. At one point, I sat in bed, thinking that would be the most comfortable place to twist around. But then I almost fell out. So with potential comes a learning curve. Also, this might not be easy to watch with others. I was fumbling around in an audience of one. It would have been a bit more disorienting with a few people, each in their own worlds, bumping around. Plus, VR can make some people physically ill. Changing scenes too often can be disorienting, and wobbly camerawork can make some people nauseous. This didnt happen for me, thankfully, but I still needed to take a break every few minutes, sometimes even in the middle of long scenes. However, the actors were so close, I reached out to tap them a few times. I took a step to the side to see if my reflection would somehow show up in a mirror (nope). In one scene youre there watching Hamlet plead with his mother. Turn to the left and Polonius is on the floor, stabbed to death and bleeding. In the final scenes, youre surrounded by action. (Spoiler alert) Hamlet and Laertes have a swordfight in front of you as the queen stumbles behind you, stricken by her poisoned drink. Whew! One thing Ill do next time: put my phone on do not disturb. Watching Shakespeare in a virtual reality setting is even more disorienting when you get Dairy Queen deals popping up and New York Times alerts throughout the performance. Spending an hour watching this production made me think of dystopian films that show people addicted to virtual worlds, like Ready Player One. But there is a place for virtual reality in the arts. How cool would it be to walk through an art exhibit halfway around the world? Or stand in the middle of a troupe of dancers onstage? Or maybe see how the pros manage a quick costume change in a packed backstage? Once I figure out the perfect place to watch, Im excited to explore. Wegayhu Ketema has never forgotten the homeless child she met in Harar Province in Ethiopia. The child, who had no place to shower or any clean clothes, smelled horribly. The image, and the odor, are seared in Ketemas brain. Even though Ketema and her husband, the Rev. Demeke Getakun, of Elizabethtown, came here as newlyweds from Harar 30 years ago, they have never forgotten their former home. In 2015, they founded the Siloam Ethiopia Charity to raise funds for a free medical clinic for the poor in Harar, which opened in May 2018. So far they have seen a thousand patients, said Ketema, a registered nurse at the Helen M. Simpson Rehabilitation Hospital in Harrisburg. Its making a difference in peoples lives. From 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 2, Siloam will host an Ethiopian dinner, by donation, to raise funds for the next ambitious project to buy a house and furnish an orphanage for young girls in Harar. I dont know how they lost their parents, Ketema said of the orphans. They may have died in the unrest that has gripped the nation for decades or from disease. They may have died of HIV/AIDS, she said, noting that the disease is again on the rise in Ethiopia. The March 2 meal will be served at the Ethiopian Evangelical Church, 175 Church St., Landisville, where Getahun serves as pastor. It will feature doro wat, a spiced chicken dish; atakilt wat, mixed vegetables; misir wat, lentils; and yater alicha, yellow split peas; served with injera, a sourdough flatbread. In lieu of dessert, which is not an Ethiopian tradition, Ethiopian coffee and spiced tea will follow. For more information about Siloam, go to siloamethio.org or call 717-874-8510. PepsiCo's former chairwoman and CEO, who steered the global giant to a new and more prosperous direction, will be the keynote speaker at the Lancaster Chambers 147th annual dinner. Indra Nooyi will address the Thursday, May 30 gathering at the Lancaster County Convention Center, 25 S. Queen St. The event is the countys biggest business get-together, with up to 2,500 people attending. Nooyi, 63, spent 12 years in the two roles, stepping down as CEO in October and as chairwoman in January. Shes got an amazing story to share of a woman from India who rose up through the ranks in business and ultimately transformed one of the best-known brands in the world..., said chamber President Tom Baldrige. Nooyi instilled very clear business principles and social priorities in PepsiCo, noted Baldrige. In doing so, she demonstrated how major corporations can leverage their platform for good with not only their workers and their customers but also with their community. Baldrige added: Its that message, which we think is increasingly resonating with the local business community, that made her a perfect choice for the dinners keynote speaker. Nooyi worked at Johnson & Johnson, Motorola and elsewhere before joining PepsiCo in 1994. She spent a year as chief financial officer, then five years as president and CFO, before rising to CEO. The resident of Greenwich, Connecticut, has been credited for spearheading PepsiCos acquisition of Tropicana, Quaker Oats (including Gatorade) and at-home soda maker SodaStream, while pushing PepsiCo toward healthier foods. Those feats brought her recognition by Forbes, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal and other publications as one of the worlds most influential businesswomen. When Nooyi announced in 2018 she was stepping down, The New York Times wrote: Ms. Nooyis impact on PepsiCo cannot be overstated. Over the past decade, she has transformed the company dramatically, expanding its presence in international markets, and also shifting its products increasingly into healthier beverage and snack choices. ... Since she took over (as CEO), revenue has grown to $63.5 billion from $35 billion in 2006, while the companys share price has nearly doubled in that time, the newspaper pointed out. That surge in revenue turned PepsiCo into the world's second largest food-and-beverage firm, trailing only Nestle. Shes clearly one of the most successful (business) leaders in the last 10 years, said chamber Chairman Craig Kauffman, president and CEO of PeoplesBank. Baldrige put it this way: While she is not a household name, she is perhaps as well known in international business as any other person. Were honored to bring her to Lancaster. He described Nooyi as a poised, articulate and inspirational speaker. Her remarks, which have yet to be given a title, will provide valuable and practical insights, he said. People who go will be really happy they went, said Kauffman. Baldrige declined to disclose Nooyis fee. The annual dinner will run from 5 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $225. Chamber investors (formerly called members) can buy tickets now. The general public can buy tickets beginning at 8 a.m. March 4. For more information on the dinner, visit info.lancasterchamber.com/annual_dinner/. To buy tickets, visit www.lancasterchamber.com/events. Blog Archive Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (4) May 28 (4) May 27 (3) May 26 (5) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (6) May 14 (3) May 13 (3) May 12 (5) May 11 (4) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (6) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (5) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (4) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (6) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (8) Mar 11 (6) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (3) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (5) Mar 04 (5) Mar 03 (7) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (4) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (7) Feb 21 (4) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (7) Feb 03 (9) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (6) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (6) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (7) Jan 13 (7) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (8) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (6) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (7) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (5) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (6) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (6) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (4) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (7) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (5) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (6) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (8) Nov 09 (8) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (8) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (6) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (4) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (5) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (3) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (3) Sep 11 (3) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (5) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (4) Aug 07 (3) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (3) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (4) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (5) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (4) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (5) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (5) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (3) May 28 (4) May 27 (5) May 26 (7) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (3) May 19 (5) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (4) May 14 (4) May 13 (5) May 12 (4) May 11 (5) May 10 (6) May 09 (7) May 08 (3) May 07 (6) May 06 (4) May 05 (6) May 04 (6) May 03 (4) May 02 (4) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (7) Apr 20 (6) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (7) Apr 07 (4) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (6) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (5) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (6) Mar 25 (7) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (4) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (4) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (3) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (5) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (5) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (6) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (5) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (3) Feb 29 (4) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (5) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (2) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (4) Feb 14 (4) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (5) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (5) Feb 05 (5) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (2) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (1) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (5) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (5) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (5) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (5) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (3) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (1) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (4) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (4) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (4) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (3) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (3) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (3) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (1) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (5) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (4) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (4) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (4) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (3) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (4) May 27 (6) May 26 (3) May 25 (3) May 24 (3) May 23 (3) May 22 (5) May 21 (3) May 20 (3) May 19 (3) May 18 (4) May 17 (3) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (4) May 13 (4) May 12 (5) May 11 (2) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (3) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (4) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (3) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (3) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (4) Apr 11 (5) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (3) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (3) Apr 01 (7) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (2) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (6) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (5) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (3) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (7) Mar 11 (4) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (3) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (5) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (5) Feb 21 (5) Feb 20 (5) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (6) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (6) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (6) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (4) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (3) Jan 23 (3) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (4) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (5) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (7) Dec 10 (7) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (4) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (5) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (6) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (4) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (5) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (4) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (5) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (5) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (6) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (5) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (3) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (6) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (5) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (7) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (6) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (5) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (6) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (6) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (6) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (6) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (4) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (5) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (5) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (4) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (5) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (3) May 24 (6) May 23 (4) May 22 (5) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (5) May 18 (6) May 17 (6) May 16 (4) May 15 (4) May 14 (5) May 13 (4) May 12 (3) May 11 (4) May 10 (5) May 09 (2) May 08 (4) May 07 (4) May 06 (4) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (6) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (6) Apr 20 (4) Apr 19 (4) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (5) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (6) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (7) Mar 30 (6) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (8) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (6) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (5) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (4) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (7) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (3) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (7) Feb 27 (6) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (5) Feb 24 (8) Feb 23 (7) Feb 22 (8) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (7) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (7) Feb 11 (6) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (5) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (4) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (7) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (6) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (7) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (7) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (6) Dec 31 (5) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (7) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (6) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (5) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (4) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (7) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (6) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (7) Dec 03 (6) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (4) Nov 30 (6) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (7) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (5) Nov 17 (6) Nov 16 (7) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (5) Nov 13 (5) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (7) Nov 10 (6) Nov 09 (7) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (9) Nov 06 (7) Nov 05 (7) Nov 04 (7) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (6) Nov 01 (6) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (7) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (6) Oct 23 (10) Oct 22 (6) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (5) Oct 19 (5) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (6) Oct 14 (7) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (5) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (6) Oct 09 (8) Oct 08 (6) Oct 07 (5) Oct 06 (4) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (5) Sep 30 (6) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (7) Sep 25 (6) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (6) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (6) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (7) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (7) Sep 07 (6) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (6) Sep 03 (7) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (6) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (5) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (5) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (8) Aug 24 (5) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (7) Aug 21 (7) Aug 20 (6) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (6) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (6) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (5) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (7) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (4) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (4) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (5) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (6) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (3) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (4) May 30 (5) May 29 (5) May 28 (5) May 27 (8) May 26 (7) May 25 (7) May 24 (5) May 23 (2) May 22 (5) May 21 (4) May 20 (5) May 19 (5) May 18 (5) May 17 (5) May 16 (7) May 15 (7) May 14 (7) May 13 (5) May 12 (6) May 11 (8) May 10 (4) May 09 (6) May 08 (10) May 07 (8) May 06 (5) May 05 (6) May 04 (7) May 03 (7) May 02 (8) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (10) Apr 27 (6) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (8) Apr 24 (7) Apr 23 (8) Apr 22 (6) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (10) Apr 19 (7) Apr 18 (7) Apr 17 (8) Apr 16 (5) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (9) Apr 13 (11) Apr 12 (8) Apr 11 (5) Apr 10 (10) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (5) Apr 07 (9) Apr 06 (10) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (7) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (5) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (7) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (8) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (7) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (8) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (3) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (7) Mar 10 (6) Mar 09 (8) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (7) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (7) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (9) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (6) Feb 22 (7) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (5) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (8) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (6) Feb 09 (7) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (5) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (10) Feb 02 (9) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (8) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (9) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (7) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (7) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (5) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (5) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (3) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (6) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (5) Dec 25 (6) Dec 24 (7) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (6) Dec 19 (10) Dec 18 (9) Dec 17 (10) Dec 16 (8) Dec 15 (4) Dec 14 (6) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (5) Dec 10 (6) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (8) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (7) Dec 03 (7) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (9) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (9) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (7) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (7) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (8) Nov 18 (12) Nov 17 (8) Nov 16 (6) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (11) Nov 13 (11) Nov 12 (9) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (9) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (7) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (8) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (7) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (7) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (7) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (7) Oct 22 (7) Oct 21 (6) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (7) Oct 18 (6) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (6) Oct 13 (7) Oct 12 (5) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (8) Oct 09 (8) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (7) Oct 05 (8) Oct 04 (6) Oct 03 (8) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (10) Sep 29 (7) Sep 28 (10) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (5) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (6) Sep 18 (6) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (6) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (7) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (10) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (3) Sep 08 (8) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (7) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (6) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (6) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (5) Aug 25 (9) Aug 24 (7) Aug 23 (8) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (9) Aug 20 (8) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (6) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (6) Aug 12 (5) Aug 11 (7) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (9) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (6) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (7) Aug 02 (8) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (8) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (9) Jul 25 (9) Jul 24 (7) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (7) Jul 21 (9) Jul 20 (6) Jul 19 (9) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (7) Jul 14 (7) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (7) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (8) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (6) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (5) Jun 27 (6) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (7) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (5) Jun 22 (7) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (6) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (6) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (7) Jun 12 (8) Jun 11 (5) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (7) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (7) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (7) May 30 (4) May 29 (5) May 28 (1) May 27 (5) May 26 (8) May 25 (5) May 24 (8) May 23 (8) May 22 (7) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (9) May 18 (5) May 17 (9) May 16 (7) May 15 (5) May 14 (11) May 13 (6) May 12 (13) May 11 (5) May 10 (7) May 09 (7) May 08 (8) May 07 (9) May 06 (6) May 05 (5) May 04 (2) May 03 (6) May 02 (7) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (5) Apr 29 (7) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (6) Apr 26 (10) Apr 25 (7) Apr 24 (5) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (6) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (10) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (10) Apr 07 (6) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (5) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (7) Mar 26 (9) Mar 25 (11) Mar 24 (10) Mar 23 (6) Mar 22 (8) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (2) Mar 18 (9) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (6) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (7) Mar 10 (8) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (6) Mar 06 (7) Mar 05 (6) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (2) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (9) Feb 29 (11) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (6) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (8) Feb 24 (9) Feb 23 (12) Feb 22 (10) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (5) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (9) Feb 16 (10) Feb 15 (8) Feb 14 (9) Feb 13 (8) Feb 12 (9) Feb 11 (7) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (7) Feb 08 (9) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (10) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (6) Feb 03 (8) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (6) Jan 31 (10) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (9) Jan 27 (7) Jan 26 (8) Jan 25 (8) Jan 24 (7) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (10) Jan 19 (8) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (7) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (8) Jan 13 (8) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (6) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (9) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (7) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (9) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (2) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (6) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (6) Dec 22 (8) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (8) Dec 16 (7) Dec 15 (9) Dec 14 (7) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (5) Dec 10 (6) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (7) Dec 01 (7) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (6) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (8) Nov 23 (2) Nov 22 (6) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (6) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (2) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (4) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (6) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (5) Oct 25 (8) Oct 24 (7) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (7) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (5) Oct 19 (5) Oct 18 (6) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (6) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (6) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (6) Oct 06 (6) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (8) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (9) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (4) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (6) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (5) Sep 18 (7) Sep 17 (6) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (8) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (8) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (8) Sep 07 (5) Sep 06 (6) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (5) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (5) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (7) Aug 24 (6) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (5) Aug 19 (5) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (7) Aug 14 (8) Aug 13 (8) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (7) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (6) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (6) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (6) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (5) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (2) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (8) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (7) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (10) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (2) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (1) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (2) May 31 (2) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (5) May 27 (1) May 26 (1) May 25 (2) May 24 (2) May 23 (1) May 22 (2) May 21 (2) May 20 (3) May 19 (3) May 18 (2) May 17 (2) May 16 (2) May 15 (3) May 14 (2) May 13 (2) May 12 (2) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (2) May 08 (3) May 07 (2) May 06 (2) May 05 (2) May 04 (2) May 03 (3) May 02 (2) May 01 (2) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (2) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (2) Apr 26 (2) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (2) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (4) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (2) Apr 17 (2) Apr 16 (2) Apr 15 (2) Apr 14 (2) Apr 13 (2) Apr 12 (2) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (2) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (2) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (2) Apr 03 (2) Apr 02 (2) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 29 (2) Mar 28 (2) Mar 27 (2) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (2) Mar 23 (2) Mar 22 (1) Mar 21 (1) Mar 20 (2) Mar 19 (2) Mar 18 (2) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (2) Mar 14 (2) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (2) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (3) Mar 08 (2) Mar 07 (1) Mar 06 (2) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (8) Mar 02 (2) Mar 01 (1) Feb 28 (2) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (2) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (2) Feb 20 (2) Feb 19 (2) Feb 18 (2) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (2) Feb 15 (1) Feb 14 (1) Feb 13 (1) Feb 12 (2) Feb 11 (1) Feb 10 (2) Feb 09 (1) Feb 08 (1) Feb 07 (1) Feb 06 (1) Feb 05 (5) Feb 03 (1) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (1) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (2) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (3) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (2) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (5) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (1) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (6) Dec 14 (4) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (5) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (4) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (5) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (5) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (5) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (3) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (4) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (2) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (6) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (3) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (4) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (5) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (6) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (5) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (5) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (2) Aug 07 (2) Aug 06 (2) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (2) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (2) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (6) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (4) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (2) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (2) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (1) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (2) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (2) Jun 06 (2) Jun 05 (2) Jun 04 (2) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (5) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (2) May 23 (4) May 22 (4) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (4) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (6) May 14 (4) May 13 (9) May 12 (4) May 11 (5) May 10 (5) May 09 (4) May 08 (3) May 07 (5) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (5) May 03 (1) May 02 (5) May 01 (7) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (1) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (4) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (3) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (3) Apr 14 (4) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (6) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (1) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (4) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (4) Mar 26 (2) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (6) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (2) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (3) Feb 25 (3) Feb 24 (4) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (4) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (4) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (5) Jan 02 (4) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (2) Dec 29 (2) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (5) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (2) Dec 11 (6) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (6) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (4) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (2) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (4) Nov 15 (6) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (2) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (2) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (2) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (2) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (2) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (2) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (4) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (7) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (7) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (2) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (5) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (5) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (7) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (3) Jul 12 (2) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (6) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (6) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (8) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (2) May 29 (2) May 28 (2) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (3) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (2) May 18 (3) May 17 (3) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (5) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (3) May 10 (4) May 09 (4) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (2) May 05 (3) May 04 (4) May 03 (2) May 02 (3) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (4) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (7) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (7) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (5) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (5) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (6) Mar 18 (6) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (5) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (4) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (2) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (2) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (9) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (2) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (3) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (2) Jan 22 (2) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (4) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (2) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (2) Jan 07 (2) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (2) Jan 04 (2) Jan 03 (2) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (2) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (2) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (2) Dec 21 (2) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (2) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (2) Dec 16 (2) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (2) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (2) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (2) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (2) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (2) Nov 22 (2) Nov 21 (2) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (2) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (2) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (2) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (2) Nov 08 (2) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (2) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (2) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (5) Sep 30 (2) Sep 29 (2) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (2) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (2) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (5) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (2) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (2) Aug 25 (2) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (2) Aug 12 (2) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (2) Aug 09 (2) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (2) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (2) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (2) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (2) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (2) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (2) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (2) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (2) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (2) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (2) Jul 03 (2) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (2) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (2) Jun 16 (2) Jun 15 (2) Jun 14 (2) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (2) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (2) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (7) May 16 (2) May 15 (3) May 14 (4) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (3) May 08 (2) May 07 (2) May 06 (2) May 05 (1) May 04 (2) May 03 (4) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (2) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (2) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (2) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (2) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (2) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (2) Mar 15 (1) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (2) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (2) Mar 08 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 04 (2) Mar 02 (2) Feb 28 (1) Feb 24 (1) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (3) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (2) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (4) Oct 16 (3) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (5) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (3) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (3) Jul 01 (6) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (5) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (5) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (1) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (3) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (3) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (3) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (3) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (3) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (3) Mar 07 (3) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (3) Mar 01 (3) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (3) Feb 25 (3) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (3) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (5) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (3) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (2) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (2) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (2) Oct 11 (2) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (2) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (2) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (2) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (2) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (2) Sep 16 (1) Sep 15 (2) Sep 14 (2) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 11 (2) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (1) Sep 02 (1) Sep 01 (1) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 24 (1) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (2) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (5) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (6) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (6) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (4) May 30 (4) May 29 (4) May 28 (5) May 27 (5) May 26 (5) May 25 (4) May 24 (5) May 23 (4) May 22 (4) May 21 (3) May 20 (6) May 19 (4) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (3) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (3) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (3) May 06 (3) May 05 (3) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (4) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (5) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (4) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (6) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (5) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (5) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (5) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (7) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (7) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (8) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (3) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (6) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (4) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (6) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (7) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (6) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (5) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (3) Sep 09 (3) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (2) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (4) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (8) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (2) Jun 21 (1) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (7) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (4) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (4) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (3) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (3) May 25 (4) May 24 (2) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (2) May 20 (3) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (2) May 14 (6) May 13 (4) May 12 (2) May 11 (3) May 10 (2) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (3) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (4) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (2) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (2) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (2) Apr 14 (4) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (5) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (4) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (3) Mar 17 (5) Mar 16 (2) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (4) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (2) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (2) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (2) Jan 15 (2) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (2) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (2) Jan 07 (2) Jan 06 (2) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (1) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (2) Dec 29 (2) Dec 28 (2) Dec 27 (2) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (1) Dec 24 (2) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (2) Dec 20 (1) Dec 19 (2) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (2) Dec 16 (2) Dec 15 (4) Dec 14 (2) Dec 13 (1) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (2) Dec 10 (2) Dec 09 (2) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (2) Dec 06 (1) Dec 05 (2) Dec 04 (1) Dec 03 (2) Dec 02 (2) Dec 01 (2) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (2) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (1) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (1) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (1) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (2) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (1) Nov 16 (1) Nov 15 (1) Nov 14 (1) Nov 13 (2) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (2) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (1) Nov 08 (2) Nov 07 (1) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (1) Nov 03 (1) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (2) Oct 31 (2) Oct 30 (2) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (2) Oct 25 (2) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (2) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (1) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (1) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (2) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (1) Oct 03 (2) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (1) Sep 29 (2) Sep 28 (1) Sep 27 (3) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (2) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (2) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (1) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (2) Sep 17 (2) Sep 16 (2) Sep 15 (1) Sep 14 (1) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (3) Sep 11 (1) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (2) Sep 08 (2) Sep 07 (1) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (1) Sep 02 (1) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 24 (2) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (1) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (1) Aug 13 (1) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (2) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (2) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Aug 03 (2) Aug 01 (1) Jul 31 (2) Jul 30 (1) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (1) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (2) Jul 23 (2) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (1) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (2) Jul 18 (2) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (1) Jul 13 (2) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (2) Jul 09 (5) Jul 08 (1) Jul 07 (1) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (1) Jul 03 (2) Jul 01 (1) Jun 30 (1) Jun 29 (2) Jun 28 (2) Jun 27 (2) Jun 25 (2) Jun 24 (1) Jun 23 (2) Jun 22 (2) Jun 20 (1) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 14 (3) Jun 12 (1) Jun 11 (1) Jun 08 (1) Jun 07 (1) Jun 05 (1) Jun 04 (1) Jun 03 (1) Jun 01 (1) May 31 (1) May 27 (2) May 25 (2) May 24 (1) May 23 (2) May 22 (1) May 21 (1) May 20 (2) May 19 (1) May 18 (1) May 17 (2) May 14 (1) May 13 (1) May 11 (2) May 10 (2) May 09 (1) May 07 (2) May 06 (1) May 05 (1) May 04 (1) May 03 (3) May 02 (1) May 01 (1) Apr 29 (1) Apr 28 (1) Apr 27 (1) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (1) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (2) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (2) Apr 17 (1) Apr 15 (1) Apr 13 (1) Apr 10 (2) Apr 08 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (1) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 24 (1) Mar 22 (2) Mar 21 (1) Mar 20 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (1) Mar 14 (2) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (1) Mar 04 (1) Mar 03 (2) Mar 02 (2) Mar 01 (2) Feb 28 (2) Feb 27 (1) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 23 (2) Feb 19 (2) Feb 13 (1) Feb 12 (1) Feb 02 (1) Jan 31 (1) Jan 22 (1) Jan 18 (1) Jan 16 (1) Jan 09 (1) Jan 01 (1) Dec 20 (2) Dec 15 (1) Dec 13 (1) Dec 11 (1) Nov 30 (1) Nov 27 (1) Nov 20 (1) Nov 11 (1) Nov 10 (1) Oct 23 (1) Oct 20 (1) Oct 01 (1) Sep 30 (1) Sep 29 (1) Sep 24 (2) Sep 15 (1) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 02 (2) Aug 31 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (2) Aug 24 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (1) Aug 18 (3) Aug 16 (1) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 11 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 03 (1) Jul 27 (1) Jul 26 (1) Jul 24 (1) Jul 22 (1) Jul 21 (1) Jul 19 (1) Jul 15 (1) Jul 14 (1) Jul 13 (3) Jul 10 (1) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (1) Jul 06 (1) Jul 03 (1) Jul 01 (1) Jun 28 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 20 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 18 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 14 (2) Jun 11 (1) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (1) Jun 07 (1) Jun 06 (1) Jun 04 (2) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (1) May 31 (3) May 30 (1) May 29 (1) May 28 (2) May 26 (1) May 25 (1) May 18 (1) May 17 (1) May 15 (1) May 09 (1) May 07 (2) May 02 (1) May 01 (1) Apr 30 (1) Apr 27 (1) Apr 26 (2) Apr 23 (1) Apr 22 (1) Apr 19 (1) Apr 18 (1) Apr 12 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 09 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 05 (1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 22 (2) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (2) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1) Sogar ein Jude hat seinen Nutzen Frau Ivanka Das Weie Haus wird meine Hundehutte sein, und Sie konnen mit meinem Jagdhund Donald spazieren. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump granted Mr. Kurz a one-on-one meeting and an expanded session with his senior aides the kind of attention that leaders of smaller countries almost never get Du arbeitest jetzt fur eine Deutsche Welt, Frau Verified account @Lagarde @ sebastiankurz to the IMF today. We had a good discussion on the economic outlook for Austria, and the European economy more broadly. I also extended my gratitude to Austria for its support of our @ imfcapdev efforts. I was also happy to meet the Austrian staff members at the # WorldBank . Thank you for your great work! And what was Donald Trumps day? Not one mention of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in proper etiquette, but he was raging about everything from blacks to Andrew McCabe, to this bizarre post about the completed New Mexico Wall.......which was one block of concrete and a pile of dirt. Verified account @realDonaldTrump Donald J. Trump Retweeted Donald J. Trump THE WALL IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION RIGHT NOW! Donald J. Trump added, 0:23 Donald J. Trump Verified account @realDonaldTrump We have just built this powerful Wall in New Mexico. Completed on January 30, 2019 47 days ahead of schedule! Many miles more now under construction! # FinishTheWall The Lame Cherry picks this up again now in a fine series of articles by Zerohedge which has a profound insight to world events, because they view them from the correct perspective of the Slavic Peoples who for centuries have had to be the most astute people in always being fought over and in diplomacy and resistance learning to survive. What the Hedge has been tracking is for the past several years beginning under Obama, there has been a mass repatriation of gold from London and New York vaults, led by the Germans and the Dutch. This is the reason why Donald Trump has been in such a fury against Germany in trying to Balkanize Europe for American control, is the Germans have pulled their gold out of the west and brought it back home to Berlin. In the entire Kurz Summit, Donald Trump was attempted by the New York Times to be portrayed as 'grandfatherly" to Sebastian Kurz, when it was absolutely condescending, and in that condescension the President of the United States, ignorantly approached Sebastian Kurz as another small European state to fillet off of Europe for the Trump Balkanizing and crushing of Germany. Sebastian Kurz is the kingpin of this entire European gold train and Mr. Trump's failure to comprehend that is as stupid of calculation of Franklin Roosevelt concerning Pearl Harbor which started World War II. It is that gold and where it has been moved as the process is complete. 4216.6 tons of gold. Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Turkey 3732.1 Russia / China 2814 IMF tons of gold Tyler Durden by One week ago, the world was not exactly shocked to learn that after Germany and the Netherlands, one more country had unofficially joined the ranks of nations who have seen this all before and know how it ends, when reports emerged that Austria would repatriate 140 tons of gold from the Bank of England (appropriately immortalized in "this is what happens when you hand your gold over to The Bank of England for "safekeeping".) As of today, it is official. Earlier today the Austrian Central Bank confirmed the Kronen-Zeitung report, and said that by the year 2020, it would hold 50%, or 140 tons, of its gold domestically, up from 17% currently. This means that Austria will withdraw some 140 tons of gold from the BOE which holds 80% of Austria's gold currently (and will soon hold only 30%) and send 92.4 tons back home to Vienna with another 47.6 tons being sent to Switzerland. Tyler Durden by After Venezuela, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands prudently repatriated a substantial portion (if not all) of their physical gold held at the NY Fed or other western central banks in recent years, this morning Turkey also announced that it has decided to repatriate all its gold stored in the US Federal Reserve and deliver it to the Istanbul Stock Exchange, according to reports in Turkey's Yeni Safak. It won't be the first time Turkey has asked the NY Fed to ship the country's gold back: in recent years, Turkey repatriated 220 tons of gold from abroad, of which 28.7 tons was brought back from the US last year. According to the latest IMF data, Turkeys gold reserves are estimated at 591 tons, worth just over $23 billion. This makes Ankara the 11th largest gold holder, behind the Netherlands and ahead of India. Tyler Durden by On January 16, 2013, the Bundesbank - one of the biggest gold holder in the world, with 3,378 tonnes - shocked the world: out of the blue, the German central bank announced that by December 31, 2020, it intends to store half of Germanys gold reserves in its own vaults in Frankfurt, up from only 31% at the time. The plan would mean repatriating a total of 674 tonnes of gold, 300 from the New York Fed's gold vault, and another 374 from the Bank of France. The transfer, the Bundesbank explained, was meant to "build trust and confidence domestically, and the ability to exchange gold for foreign currencies at gold trading centers abroad within a short space of time." Writing's On The Wall: Texas Pulls $1 Billion In ... - Zero Hedge Governor Greg Abbott today signed House Bill 483 (Capriglione, R-Southlake; Kolkhorst, R-Brenham) to establish a state gold bullion depository administered by the Office of the Comptroller. The law will repatriate $1 billion of gold bullion from the Federal Reserve in New York to Texas. https://www.zerohedge.com /news/2015-06-13/writings-wall-texas-pulls-1-billion-gold-ny-fed-makes- As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.After Chancellor Sebastian Kurz Summit with President Donald Trump, in which the Chancellor fired Donald Trump as leader of the world, a most Tale of Two Worlds emerged in it was the Best of Kurz and the worst of Trump appeared in print.For Donald Trump, he was twitter raging again about blacks, coup plotters and his border wall, violating all etiquette in not thanking Chancellor Kurz for coming to America. It is noted that the New York Times specifically noted in recording this historic meeting, that "small countries" are never afforded this type of audience, unless it is to mock them like the Irish for being drunks on St. Patties Day.In the Kurz world of global leadership, the Chancellor thanked the Trump weak links for attempting to obtain his good graces to save them from their crimes and then the Chancellor went on to meet with the World Bank and the IMF.To make this perfectly clear, Sebastian Kurz after firing Donald Trump as world leader, went to visit the global banking houses which control the world economy. This is a monumental moment in world history and everyone has missed it.It is that gold which is in nuclear Eurasia with reserves building out of Venezuela and Iran which begins equaling the United States claimed reserves.I stated claimed, because if one examines Zerohedge's articles, it is discovered that the Germans were delayed in repatriating their gold reserves, because the Netherlands was already pulling their gold out of New York.That should be a warning sign in the Netherlands had only 600 tons of gold and the United States and England were halting German withdrawals of their 3300 tons, that translates to a reality that the gold is not in those vaults. That conclusion is significant, in the above realities point to that London and DC have only paper promissory notes in those vaults, exactly as the looting of the US Treasury in Social Security funds. That gold is gone and it requires time for it to be reacquired from the sources holding it.It was Chancellor Kurz though focusing after firing Donald Trump as world leader which is significant in the Chancellor was at the World Bank and the IMF, and there is almost 3000 tons of gold there on deposit which is the banking for the world economy, which is currently backing the bankrupt US petro dollar.The IMF and World Bank are key in this in who controls them. It is not the United States as the Americans are outnumbered by 82% in the IMF and 85% in the World Bank. Who controls the world economic fund? It is the cartel, Nathan Mayer Rothschild leading the world elite in their international rapine and debt enslavement, and after Chancellor Sebastian Kurz fired Donald Trump as leader of the world, the Chancellor met with the financial house which controls the world and Austria's Habsburgs are about to usher in a new era without the United States from the old order of global prosperity for the cloth of the land.I have been attempting to educate each of you in the movements of Chancellor Kurz in setting up the African consumers for European goods produced from Slavics, as Europa like a tidal wave moves past the United States with Asian technology and finance, from Singapore, South Korea and Japan.The Rothschild cartel has been switching from backing the Americans to returning to their financial house in Europe.As the indications are there that the London and New York gold reserves are paper, the gold holdings are now dominated by the Germans, IMF, Russia and China, with the French in vichy state to Germany and the Japanese growing closer to Vienna by the moment. The leadership, the gold and the finance are not in American debt, but in Austrian Europa command.In the below Hedge links covering the history of this gold movement out of New York and London, you will note something surprising out of Bush Country in the Republic of Texas. Several years ago the Texans began moving all of their gold out of New York and into Texas vaults at 1 billion dollars worth of gold.The Texas oil men are a Lindsey Williams knowledgeable association of the cartel. The Republic is not going to be stuck with banana republic dollars and is not about to find a paper note in it's deposit box instead of a billion dollars in gold.As Chancellor Sebastian Kurz moves on the world and moves past a world with America as a superpower for the risen beast of Europe, all of these gold depositors for the past years have become aware of something which is cartel generated and it all focuses on the New York Federal Reserve, and it appears more in depth than the rumor of less than full bank vaults.Perhaps the reason for the Texicans moving their gold along with others is close to a scene in the cancelled CBS television seriesin which the wonderful star of the series Skeet Ulrich is searching for supplies in a nearby town and the vendors there absolutely did not want gold or silver for payment, as those precious elements were making people sick.Whatever the reason, the gold is gone from New York and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is arisen from the seas of the peoples of the planet and he is on the most friendly of terms with peoples who are holding the world future in thousands of tons of gold in their vaults.Nuff SaidagtG Heres the bigger problem. Though Trump may hold off on raising tariffs to 25 percent, he also looks likely to keep his existing 10 percent tariffs in place. Which would still leave plenty of U.S. firms twisting in the wind. Most of the Chinese products that Trump has slapped tariffs on, after all, are inputs that U.S. companies must buy to manufacture their own products. As Syracuse University economist Mary E. Lovely has noted, in some cases, alternative sourcing is not available, especially not on short notice. That means U.S. firms are facing higher costs and becoming less competitive. Some are contemplating moving production out of the United States to dodge Trumps tariffs. Lots of other U.S. businesses are also suffering, particularly as they face tit-for-tat tariffs that may or may not be alleviated in the weeks to come. Even if China were to decide for some reason to asymmetrically lift its retaliatory tariffs while we kept our 10 percent duties in place, perhaps as part of a commitment to buy more U.S. goods, in many cases the damage has already been done: Bankruptcies across the Farm Belt have soared to their highest levels in at least a decade. The person who leads the next group meeting should start by asking members to state their objectives, and the group should decide on very basic ground rules. One person who can direct the conversation away from anecdotes and toward the book, should moderate each meeting. If this one member can't adjust to the style of the group, she should be encouraged (privately) to find another group. As the author of a book making the rounds of book groups, I'll weigh in and say that, although one person dominating a conversation is never acceptable, a group of people opening up a box of wine and straying from the provided questions is exactly what I had in mind as I was writing my memoir. Bookbrowse.com provides helpful tips for setting up and running a book group. (May, 2009) Dear Amy: I have a neighbor who is part of our neighborhood book group. She doesn't come to the monthly meetings more than twice a year, but she has used our email addresses three times in the past six months to promote her husband's construction business, her new cleaning business and a student exchange program, which she would probably receive a referral bonus for because she has a student living with her now. I am uncomfortable with her abuse of our email addresses, and I would like to address the issue with her tactfully. -- Concerned in Connecticut Kevin Arnold has seen a lot of other La Crosse restaurants come and go, during the more than 40 years that hes managed the Hungry Peddler restaurant at 3429 Mormon Coulee Road, and the more than 30 years that hes owned it. He says the Hungry Peddler, which opened in 1976 on La Crosses South Side, has lasted so long because of its history of offering good food at reasonable prices, consistency and an experienced staff with lots of longevity. The restaurant is a longtime favorite of Frank Fritz, co-star of The History Channel television series American Pickers. Fritz has been dining at the restaurant for many years, Arnold said. Most of the Hungry Peddlers customers live in the greater La Crosse area, Arnold said. But during the day, we also get a lot of people from Iowa who might have appointments at our local hospitals, he said. The building was constructed in 1911 as the home of Millers Tavern, and was run by members of the same family for more than 50 years. There were a couple bars in here after that, Arnold recalled. F***ing Rain! That's all it's done for days and days. Cool, damp, grey, rainy days. When I was in Montana the rain came through and left. In about 5 minutes. There were no lingering, drizzly days. Wham, bam, thank you and gone. Here it's moved in like a relative you can stand for a couple of days who turns their stay into a couple of weeks. Go already! Yes, I know. Give me a month or so and I'll be begging for rain. Especially this summer. But for now, go already! However... My Dollar Tree lighting for my seedlings seems to be working well. So far (knock on wood), the seedlings are coming up fairly straight and not leaning to reach light. They don't appear to be all that leggy. So my $5 I have invested in these lamps seem to be working well. My only problem is going to be when I have to start moving them into paper cups. I may actually set up lighting on the garage floor for them and then move them under the tree in the front yard to harden them off. Will have to see. It will mean a couple of extension cords will have to be purchased for the lights. But I have a double garage, so I should be able to make it work. Oh, and the yarn strung around? Cats! They discovered my seedlings earlier in the week and decided to pull up a couple. Luckily, I think I saved them in time, not that losing a few seedlings would be a hardship. So I built my wall to keep out cats. It seems to be working and a snip of the scissors and the wall will come down. Other than plants and RAIN, there hasn't been much going on. I did bake some Cinnamon-Raisin Bread based on The Pioneer Woman's recipe. Very good, not too sweet. I also baked Cherry-Chocolate Chip Cookies . I used dark chocolate chips. I did, however, get eyed by Lady K who felt the use of the cherries in the cookies was a big waste. Therefore, she now has a bottle of cherries in the fridge for snacking and the making of Shirley Temples for dinnertime. Otherwise this week: Carolina Alpaca Festival Mailed out seeds to friends in Montana which looked like a major drug shipment with all the little foil packets in envelopes. Participated in a seed exchange. Sent out hollyhock seeds and will be getting some pepper seeds in return which are suppose to make a nice hanging basket. Got in 10 hours at GameStop and completed my online training to 'move up'. Savvy and I are poised to take over GameStop in the next couple of years! Started Rainbow Barf Cat scarf for Savvy and promised one to Lady K. She just wants purple and pink in her 'rainbow'. Wrote a full week of posts! Didn't finish any books, but did abandon 1 While the week wasn't 'bad', all the rain and lack of sun are making me feel yucky (technical term). And while the rain is scheduled to be done by noon today and the sun emerging from behind clouds (huzzah), the following in scheduled for the coming week: Long day at GameStop (my only hours so far this coming week) Lady K to her dad's on Friday Saturday - the Triad Orchid Show and Sale !!!! Trip to Costco (probably) for a huge lot of paper cups to transplant seedlings into Trip to Lowe's for potting soil Work on Rainbow Barf Cat scarves Get some words on paper for Queen of the Middle Court ENJOY THE SUNSHINE!!!! But for now, as I listen to raindrops on the roof, it's time for more coffee! The spice of life Large cardamom is an important source of livelihood for rural people in the mid-hills - Scarlet Snow Belo is turning 4 years old next month - The cute celebrity baby earned praises for helping in some household chores - Netizens also lauded her parents for their exceptional parenting PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed! Scarlet Snow Belo earned praises for her eagerness to learn new things even in doing household chores. The celebrity kid is one of the most followed celebrity baby in the country with 2.9 Million followers on Instagram. Not only is she smart and talented, her parents also taught her good values and attitude. In one of her most recent Instagram posts, Scarlet shared a clip of her trying to help their house help sweep the floor. While helping she ended up scattering the dried leaves later on. Im turning four next month so Daddy (Hayden Kho) said its time I learn new life skills and take on new responsibilities, says Scarlet Snows post. She even reads books to her nephew who is as adorable as her. She also tried out how it would be like as a dentist in her attempt to impress her daddy even more. PAY ATTENTION: Using free basics app to access internet for free? Now you can read KAMI news there too. Use the search option to find us. Read KAMI news while saving your data! Here are some of the netizens' reactions: Very good girl Buti pa si scarlet tinuturuan kahit mayaman sya.marami akong kilala di naman mayaman nag feeling lang walang alam sa gawaing bahay.feeling senorita Baby scarlet dinagdagan mo ng trabaho si yaya..still cute and love parin new style of pagwawalis haha..tinutulungan nya na dumami yung kalat haha ang cute cute Good job scarlet ..tama yan..habang bata pa maging indipendent para kapag walang yaya makaka survive pa rin. Hahaha nilinis mo dustpan baby Wow baby girl... love you Good beautiful little girl,, goodjob, :) Ang bait naman ni scarlet Good girl . Maliit alam na nya,gaqain bahay walang selan sa katawan Scarlet Snow is the daughter of Vicki Belo and Hayden Kho. Victoria Gonzales Belo, popularly known as Vicki Belo is one of the most renowned dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons in the Philippines and abroad. Aside from her success in the field of medical profession, Dra. Belo is also an active speaker/lecturer in several organizations in the cosmetic surgery industry. She has also appeared in various Filipino movies such as Beauty in a Bottle, Rakenrol, and Sosy Problems. PAY ATTENTION: Using free basics app to access internet for free? Now you can read KAMI news there too. Use the search option to find us. Read KAMI news while saving your data! https://kami.com.ph/80456-no-data-problem-free-basics-app-access-internet-sites-including-kami-free.html#80456 Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! Social Experiment: Can I Have A Cigarette? | HumanMeter "Human Meter (KAMI) conducted a social experiment to see how many of these respondents will show concern for a 10-year-old boy who asks them to light his cigarette. Click the play button and find out. Source: Kami.com.ph WGTDs Morning Show KENOSHA WGTD (91.1 FM) is owned and operated as a public service of Gateway Technical College and is an affiliate of Wisconsin Public Radio. For an updated schedule, visit its website at www.wgtd.org. The Morning Show airs every weekday morning between 8:10 and 9 a.m. Following is a schedule of show topics for the coming week: Monday Dr. Art Cyr, director of Carthage Colleges Clausen Center, will offer his analysis of current events. Tuesday Dr. Bryan Albrecht, president of Gateway Technical College, will pay his monthly visit to the program. Wednesday Steve Mussenden, executive director of the Racine Literacy Council, will be a guest, joined by an RLC volunteer tutor who will speak about the experience of being a tutor. Thursday The guest will be Blake J. Harris, author of The History of the Future: Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution that Swept Virtual Reality. Monday, Feb. 18-Friday, Feb. 22 This list is not comprehensive. Municipalities are listed as they appear on the criminal complaint. Suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. To see mugshots of the accused, visit www.journaltimes.com/gallery. Additional information about the complaints can be found at: journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts. Vos called that idea so preposterous, because that is so far out of the mainstream, it makes the entire proposal not serious. Were not as sure its that far out of the mainstream, given the support shown for medical marijuana (84.8 percent in Racine County, 87.7 percent in the City of Racine) and recreational marijuana (59.4 percent in the county, 66.3 percent in the city) in the Nov. 6 local advisory referendums. But one of the reasons Vos keeps getting elected Assembly speaker, we presume, is that he knows how to read the room. In his case, the room is the Assembly chamber, and if he says there is no chance the Republican majority will go for recreational marijuana, were inclined to agree with his assessment. There is, however, an opportunity for legalization of medical marijuana. Republican legislators were clearly moved by the story of Lydia Schaeffer, the little Burlington girl who suffered from severe seizures which were reduced in severity by cannabidiol, also known as CBD oil, which is derived from marijuana. Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill legalizing CBD oil in 2014. So its not as if Republicans in the Legislature are immovable on medical uses for marijuana. In 2017, I, along with the Racine County Human Services Department, created a program to divert first, second and even sometimes third-time marijuana offenders out of criminal court. The program is called T.A.S.C. or THC Alternative Solutions Class. It requires offenders to complete 12 hours of education so that people who use better understand the risks of using and the potential for addiction. We are trying to help people, especially young people, make better choices for themselves, rather than having them pay a ticket and continue to use. After taking the class, charges are then dismissed for first-time users. In the case of repeat offenders, charges are reduced to ordinances or misdemeanors. Under the city plan, young people will just get another ticket that they cannot pay, and the consequences of the non-payment will prevent them from driving legally or lead to civil judgments against them that accrue interest. Can we really say that is a benefit to young people? This discussion begs the question as well what information does the City Council have regarding the effects of marijuana? I have formed my opinion by reading research and speaking with physicians and alcohol and drug therapists. The research on marijuana is now more extensive than it has ever been, but more work needs to be done. Our free community events are a powerful and important asset to Racine. The DRC was a proud host to 66 free events in Downtown during 2018. These events had an economic impact of $1.3 million and create community pride while allowing people from all walks of life to come together and enjoy our beautiful lakefront and Downtown. The most notable event, Party on the Pavement, voted Racines Best event, had 131 vendors and a one-day economic impact of $720,000. Other events included the St. Patricks Day Parade and Holiday Parade which had attendance of over 8,500 combined. Music on the Monument and Saturday Sounds allowed our community to enjoy free live music every Friday and Saturday during the summer months and the community ice rink allowed hundreds of kids to try skating for the first time. Decriminalization The proposed reforms would decriminalize possession, manufacturing or distribution of marijuana for amounts of 25 grams or less, and would prevent local bodies from establishing separate ordinances or penalties for possession of less than 25 grams of marijuana. An expungement procedure would also be established for those convicted of possessing, manufacturing or distributing less than 25 grams of marijuana. Evers said the move would help address the social and racial justice aspect of marijuana use. Too many people, often persons of color, spend time in our criminal justice system just for possessing small amounts of marijuana, Evers said. That doesnt make our communities stronger or safer. The Sheriffs Office reported that the county jail population on Tuesday was at 704 inmates. Of those inmates, less than 2 percent 13 in total were in custody for simple possession charges. Hanson points to a THC Alternative Solutions Class developed by the Racine County District Attorneys Office and the Racine County Human Services Department, which aims to divert first-, second- and occasional third-time marijuana offenders out of criminal court. We are trying to help people, especially young people, make better choices for themselves, rather than having them pay a ticket and continue to use, Hanson said. The police arent just arresting kids to make them criminals because they smoke marijuana. Love 1 Funny 5 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. This is not against or opposed to law enforcement. Its saying we recognize that the role that you have is critical. The resources you have are limited. And because they are limited, lets make sure we are focusing on other areas. In Hansons comments to The Journal Times, she said the criminal court system already had a program in effect that is called the T.A.S.C or THC Alternative Solution Class, which diverts first, second and even sometimes third-time marijuana offenders out of the criminal court. It requires offenders to complete 12 hours of education so that people who use marijuana better understand the risks of using it and the potential for addiction. We are trying to help people, especially young people, make better choices for themselves, rather than having them pay a ticket and continue to use. After taking the class, charges are then dismissed for first-time users. In the case of repeat offenders, charges are reduced to ordinances or misdemeanors, Hanson said. Bat removal tips When bats find their way indoors during the rest of the year, particularly in late summer when baby bats are learning to fly, DNR recommends shooing the bat into a room with an open window or door and letting the bat leave on its own. If that doesnt work, you can trap the bat in a cardboard or plastic box when it lands, and slide a piece of cardboard underneath. Then, set the box outside and let the bat come out on its own. Homeowners can also install one-way doors that let bats fly out and not back in. However, these doors are not allowed between June 1 and Aug. 15 so that bat mothers are not separated from babies. Eviction involves installing one-way doors that allow the bats to leave but not re-enter the building. One-way doors can be made of plastic or screening but must not cause harm to the bats. If you or your pet has been bitten by a bat, or if bat saliva or brain matter comes into contact with your eyes, nose, mouth, or open wound, the Center for Disease Control recommends consulting your doctor or veterinarian and capturing the bat to get it tested for rabies. Private hospitals in Chitwan and Kathmandu flout free bed and treatment rules for poor: Health department Private hospitals and nursing homes in Kathmandu and Chitwan have been found violating the government rules that require them to reserve 10 percent of their beds to the poor, disabled, elderly and single women, and provide them free health care. STURTEVANT Businesses of all sizes in the Racine area are invited to attend a free, two-hour energy-saving event sponsored by the Racine Sustainable Business Network. This first-quarter program is scheduled for 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Tuesday at Cree, 9201 Washington Ave. Breakfast snacks will be available. Tuesdays event is called Energy Savings Through Lighting. Any company, business, government agency, school, or nonprofit that has a building or office will learn ways to save money and energy by installing new lighting and new lighting technology. The goal is to explain the latest technology in lighting, the steps to acquire an installation and financial support. Officials from Cree and Focus on Energy are among those scheduled to make presentations. Cree is a leading producer of LED lighting. There will also be an opportunity for interaction with others to share best practices on the subject. Participants will also assist RSBN with input on future workshops topics. At 9 a.m., Cree will offer the option of a plant tour or a SmartCast demonstration for interested participants to learn about sustainable products and practices firsthand. RACINE After nearly 26 years in business, Rick Smetana has decided to close his Downtown bar, Rickys Place. It will be replaced by a country-western bar. The last day of business for Rickys, 236 Main St., will be March 30. Smetana said his chief reason for closing the bar is the need to tend to his other business enterprise, Richards Bar & BBQ. He opened that establishment, at 3458 Rapids Drive, in September. Its taking 99 percent of my time, Smetana said. I had hoped to do both; I knew it would be tough. I want everything associated with me to be just as I have run it the last 26 years, Smetana said. Not being (at Rickys), its tough to do that. He added, If I cant put out the best product, I dont want to give 50 percent or, in this case, 10 percent. From the start and through the years, Rickys was a magnet for police officers and other law enforcement personnel. Smetanas brother Dave Smetana was a Racine Police officer and is now Pleasant Prairies police chief. Rick said he also has numerous nephews who are on the Racine Police, Mount Pleasant Police and Kenosha County Sheriffs departments. Waverly recently repainted its water tower, adding its motto -- a great place to grow -- to the landmark visible to drivers along Interstate 80. That same message certainly applies to the area itself, with a project completed in 2018 set to give Waverly the space it needs to grow long into the future. Nearby fields are set to become prime growth territory for the booming bedroom community, which grew to 3,838 people according to census estimates last year. With work now finished on a new sewer system that can serve 1,700 undeveloped acres east of Waverly, city leaders are excited to convert the slogan into reality. When developers want to move, they want to move, Waverly Mayor Mike Werner said. They wont wait 18 months for infrastructure. You build the infrastructure; they will come. We needed to make that investment. When that area is built up, Werner believes his community will double its housing stock. He estimates the east trunk sewer can support between 1,200 and 1,500 new homes -- roughly the number that presently exist in Waverly -- in addition to new industrial sites along Cornhusker Highway. "It's a city," he said. At UNL, Jha teaches courses in lodging management, guest services and hospitality law in the College of Education and Human Sciences. Jha came to UNL in 2012, accepting a faculty position in what then was a 6-year-old program "because I saw tremendous potential here." Seven years later, he says, "I couldn't have made a better choice." Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Students who have graduated from the program have become entrepreneurs in Lincoln and elsewhere across Nebraska, as well as filling positions in other states. "Most of them stay in the state," Jha said. And they keep in touch. His advice to freshmen, as chronicled in a 2018 story in the Daily Nebraskan: "Make friends beyond your immediate circle. Try new things. Learn and practice the art of networking. Ask questions." Here's a sample assessment of Jha's performance in the classroom posted on Rate My Professors by a student who received an A-minus grade: "He's a fantastic professor and is very knowledgeable in the field of hospitality, specifically lodging. He truly cares about his students and wants them all to succeed after graduation." Condo buyers commit They found their future tenants through word of mouth, Allan said. No marketing. No sales pitches. Almost all the buyers are from Lincoln. And more than half plan to live at Lied Place year-round. That sets it apart from a newer condo collection down the street in the West Haymarket. Hobson Place opened at Canopy and Q in 2014 and sold out its 32 high-end condos, which range in value from $440,000 to $780,000. But only two owners list Hobson Place as their permanent residence, according to county property records. Most live in other Nebraska towns and other states, including Colorado and Arizona. Lied Places developers have fielded interest from university staff and faculty, who like the proximity to campus. And theyre selling condos to others already living downtown but wanting an upgrade. Lower-level units will be the least-expensive, at about $375 per square foot, so a 1,000-square-foot, one-bedroom unit will sell for just less than $400,000. But the price goes up as you go higher, Allan said, and most of the units above the 10th floor after it clears the parking garage, and the condos offer both north and south views are already committed. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Canopy Lofts, which opened in 2013 with 203 beds, initially marketed to students but is now shifting its focus toward young professionals, according to the market assessment. The building adjacent to Pinnacle Bank Arena is transitioning four-bedroom units to two-bedroom units in an effort to boost lease rates. Planners expect much of the new downtown housing in the future to be aimed at the professional workers and retirees who are attracted to the downtown area. Over the next decade planners expect between 900 to 1,900 nonstudent-oriented apartments or condominiums will be developed in the downtown area, including the Telegraph District at the eastern edge of downtown. Dean Settle first moved into a downtown condo 29 years ago when he came to Lincoln to head the county Mental Health Center. And he never moved back to suburbia. His children were grown. And Settle, who had lived on a 15-acre ranchette in suburban Wichita, Kansas, said he didnt want to spend his weekends on a mower. Settle and his wife, Harriet Grossbart, love the convenience of their two-bedroom condo in the heart of downtown, with the daily newspaper delivered to their front door. "The goal was to build and launch software technology startups in Nebraska," Durham said. Durham and Zimmer, along with many other Don't Panic Labs employees, are University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduates. When the idea for Nebraska Global came about, there was an aim at retaining some of the brighter technological minds coming out of the university, rather than allowing the continuous stream of graduates who moved away to find work. "When the idea was first presented to me, the conversation was basically based around the question of, 'Why aren't there more tech companies in Nebraska?'" Zimmer said. "A lot of people were leaving Lincoln to work for other tech companies. Eventually, Nebraska Global kind of became a hybrid answer." Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Don't Panic Labs has spun off into a thriving business. However, the idea behind the company was originally much smaller than what it has grown into. "Don't Panic Labs was actually the product development side of Nebraska Global," Durham said. "In the beginning, it was never meant to be a separate company. It was meant to be a way to create a kind of identity and subculture within Nebraska Global." Today the company based in the former Salvation Army building in the Haymarket is home to 32 employees and positioned to have its most successful year. Every December for decades, the Nebraska Association of County Officials held its annual conference in Lincoln. But a few years ago, the conferences exhibition space requirements outgrew the supply available in the Capital City and it moved, first to Omaha, then to La Vista and now, for the long term, to the Younes Conference Center in Kearney. Thats just one example of the conventions, conferences and similar gatherings that Lincoln is either losing or missing out on because it has no downtown convention center. From our perspective, theres definitely a need for a meeting and convention space in Lincoln in the downtown area, said Derek Feyerherm, director of sales and operations for the Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau. Were seeing more and more events, conferences and conventions that are going to other cities that have more meeting and convention space to offer. The lack of a convention center is mentioned in the city's new downtown master plan, which notes that among Lincolns peer cities, Champaign, Illinois, is the only one that also does not have a downtown convention center. I was outraged when I learned sociology professor Patrica Wonch Hill was cited for the vandalism of Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's campaign sign after being cited for vandalizing Sen. Deb Fischer's office. I was further outraged by the fact that University of Nebraska-Lincoln officials do not plan to take disciplinary action against her. Her childish and unprofessional acts bring shame to UNL and Nebraska in general. It is unthinkable to me that she should keep her position at UNL. This behavior should not be tolerated at our public university. I'm calling for her removal, and I'm pretty sure a lot of people probably feel the same way as I do. Dan White, Clatonia Love 12 Funny 16 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 4 Every day, 82,000 caregivers across Nebraska provide care for loved ones with Alzheimers or another dementia. They do this because family is a core Nebraskan value. Dementia caregivers spend more than $10,000 per year, out-of pocket, on caregiving expenses, according to the Alzheimer's Association. LB69, introduced by Lincoln Sen. Matt Hansen, creates a $300 tax credit for qualified family caregivers with lower incomes, providing extra funds needed for care. Caregiving also takes a toll on employment and income. In 2017, 9 percent of dementia caregivers reported quitting work due to their responsibilities, while 57 percent reported arriving late, leaving early or taking time off because of their responsibilities. This results in Alzheimers care contributors losing more than $15,000 in annual income. Three bills introduced by Bellevue Sen. Sue Crawford aim to address these issues. Nepali Congress student union members clash outside party office (in photos) Tension ran high in front of Nepali Congress headquarters Sanepa, Lalitpur on Sunday after cadres of Nepal Students Union, the student wing of the party, clashed following a dispute over setting the age bar to become a student leader. The Journal Star editorial board agrees with LB345s assessment that care is jeopardized when employees are mandated to work overtime for unnecessarily long hours. Burned-out workers are indeed more likely to make costly mistakes on the job. Yet, overtime has risen sharply in recent years. The 2018 report from the office of inspector general of the Nebraska correctional system noted that, at some facilities, the difference between mandatory and voluntary overtime is difficult to differentiate. Employees who receive their hourly wage instead of time and a half worked more than 50,000 hours of overtime in the 2017-18 fiscal year in which time Corrections spent more than $13.3 million on overtime. That figure has nearly tripled from $4.6 million in 2012-13. Gov. Pete Ricketts has approved pay increases and instituted retention and hiring bonuses that have had some success in attracting new recruits. His administration also saw the beginning of busing employees from Omaha to the remote Tecumseh State Correctional Institution. If the goal is to build a border wall, then President Trump has made the wrong decision at every turn. In early 2018, Trump had the opportunity to secure $25 billion in funding for his border wall in exchange for legal status for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients. Instead of taking the deal, he blew up the negotiations with his "s---hole" countries remark and by demanding changes to legal immigration policy. Then in June, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $1.6 billion for 65 miles of fencing by an overwhelming bipartisan 26-5 margin. This could easily have passed the House and Senate. Instead, Trump later shut down the government over wall funding and demanded $5.7 billion. Result? After a disastrous 35-day shutdown, he got less - $1.38 billion - than he would have if he had just gone along with the bipartisan deal six months earlier. Trump has now condemned, ridiculed or dismissed the integrity of probes into Russia's meddling by U.S. intelligence and national law enforcement agencies about 1,200 times. No wonder millions of people have lost faith in their institutions. Just as importantly, Trump has tried to subvert investigations of him and his business, such as the payoffs to women with whom he allegedly had sex. If this were 1974, and Congress had statesmen and women who cared more about country than party, Trump would be undergoing impeachment proceedings. Trump has made Richard Nixon look like an amateur subverter of the rule of law. Trump has profited from the presidency by millions of dollars. Trump has impeded investigations and fired officials for doing their jobs. To the self-absorbed Trump, everything is about him. And he intends to be re-elected. Millions of people are waiting for special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian conspiracies, which probably won't tell us much more than we already know. If and when the report leaks, Trump's absurdly loyal base won't care what it says anyway. 1869: Immigration throughout the state was increasing rapidly. 1879: Plans were being completed for a new Catholic church to be constructed in Lincoln at an estimated cost of $10,000. 1889: Men's percale shirts, priced regularly at $1.25, were on sale for 50 cents each; neckties selling for 35 cents dropped to 15 cents. 1899: Work was progressing rapidly on telephone lines connecting towns in the Gordon area. 1909: County commissioners recommended that the county clerk prepare a map of Lancaster County roads that had been in existence for 10 years or more. 1919: Unusual activity in real estate carried Dodge County farmland to new heights. Very little land anywhere in the county was offered for less than $200 an acre, with some sales recorded at $350 an acre. 1929: More than 200 independent retail grocers from Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming gathered in Lincoln for the second annual convention of the Independent Grocers Alliance. That was the purchase that set me on a new journey of understanding, he said. Meaning: He realized if he was going to traffic in world-class genetics, if he was going to sell bull semen around the globe, he'd need his own collection center. So in 2015, he bought the 60-year-old North American Breeders in Berryville, Virginia. The original owners had discovered a process to increase semen potency, freeing the straw of dead cells. On average, he said, his product leads to a conception rate more than 20 percent higher than other breeders. You can have the best semen in the world, but if you do something else wrong, youre not going to have any results. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} He continued buying Schaff Angus Valley bulls: $650,000 for SAV Sensation; $725,000 for SAV Pedigree; $750,000 for SAV President. Then he heard about SAV America. Two months ago, I was talking with people who had seen the bull as a calf last summer in the pasture, he said. Anyone who has looked at the bull goes away and says, 'Wow. Weve never seen one that looks like this.' But Trumps sons said politics still got in the way. We live in a climate where everything will be used against us, whether by the fake news or by Democrats who are only interested in presidential harassment and wasting everyones time, barraging us with nonsense letters, Eric Trump said in a statement. He was referring to Democrats in Congress who have vowed to undertake broad investigations into the presidents businesses now that they control the U.S. House. Special Counsel Robert Mueller as well as prosecutors in New York have been looking at some of the organizations activities as part of their inquiries. Trumps name, which in 2015 he considered the companys most valuable asset, has in some ways become a liability. Its been removed from buildings in New York, where the company began; Toronto, and Panama City a crowbar was used in there and theres plenty of vacant space in Trumps namesake towers in New York and Chicago. The closely-held Trump Organization doesnt disclose its financial performance. Company executives have said that business is robust, but there are some signs that it has slipped. For example, Trumps net worth has fallen some 7 percent over the past two years to $2.8 billion, according to figures compiled by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Rosenblum said that path would have been easier if Sears had acted sooner. It now faces competition from retailers like Home Depot and Lowes, which have been attracting a growing share of consumers appliance dollars. According to ESLs business plan, Sears is still the U.S. third-largest appliance retailer, behind those chains. Do I want to buy a big-ticket item I know is going to last a long time from a company that I dont know is going to last a long time? Thats the battle theyre going to be fighting, Rosenblum said. One of the most critical tasks the restructured company faces will be finding someone to lead it. Retail isnt for amateurs Lampert was Sears CEO from 2013 until its bankruptcy filing in October. Since then, Chief Financial Officer Robert Riecker, Chief Digital Officer Leena Munjal and soft lines President Greg Ladley have collectively led the company. ESL said it intends to conduct a search for a CEO with a record of success in managing platform businesses and effectuating large-scale dynamic transformation in a news release Monday. That means someone other than Lampert, with strong merchandising and turnaround credentials, retail experts said. As negotiators from both countries continue to meet in an effort to prevent an all-out trade war, Jill ODonnell, director of the Yeutter Institute, said interest in the subject was rising at UNL, particularly in agriculture education, where many students have witnessed the effects of tariffs up close. ODonnell contacted Durkin shortly after winter break ended about the possibility of teaching an abridged version of the Georgetown University class shes taught to mostly international graduate students for the past 14 years. The two hoped eight to 10 students would be interested in AGRI 496, a one-credit "pop-up" course that would meet a total of four times in February, ODonnell said. We had to shut it down when we got to 20. Durkin said most of the students in the agricultural trade-focused class have farming or ranching backgrounds, but are engaged in several academic pursuits on campus. "I haven't let up on the accelerator at all because these kids are so ready," she said. "They are pretty savvy." Kirk Martin, a sophomore economics major who role-played the director general of the European Union on Saturday, said the class has learned how negotiations work from the viewpoint of the United States through the lens of agriculture. Of all the lousy, snowy days Lincoln has seen this winter, Saturday was certainly among the lousiest and snowiest. The winter storm that arrived in the area shortly after 1 p.m. was as advertised, creating white-out conditions in Lincoln and surrounding areas for much the afternoon and well into the evening. The Lincoln Airport reported 4.3 inches of snow as of 6 p.m., although reports of 6 inches or more were common in other parts of the city and more snow was expected overnight. For those who wanted to attend one of the many events in the downtown area, the weather made the decision to venture out a difficult one. The Nebraska men's basketball team played Purdue at Pinnacle Bank Arena, the state high school swimming finals were held at the Devaney Sports Center and the Nebraska wrestling and men's gymnastics teams also competed at Devaney. But thousands braved the storm, showing up to those events during a freezing drizzle and leaving in the midst of a blizzard. Debbie James of Papillion made the trip to Lincoln with her husband, a big Purdue fan who insisted on going to the basketball game which was moved up two hours to 1 p.m. because of the weather despite the conditions. "I was in favor of not coming," she joked. Not left behind ICT development must reach all members of society Investigators also found Bradley and the woman were stopped or spotted several times driving rental cars issued to Mortensen, the report said. And money transfers using a Walmart service and wires at Western Union connected the woman to Mortensen as well, Miller added. On Feb. 8, investigators staking out Mortensen's home near 27th Street and Old Cheney Road saw a man coming out of the home they suspected of paying a woman there for sex after arranging a meeting online, the report said. Police then searched the home, found condom wrappers in "nearly every room of the house along with narcotics and drug paraphernalia items," Miller said. A woman there told police she had been paid to have sex with the man officers had arrested leaving the home, according to the report. Mortensen also lives there, she said, but had left before police arrived. The woman said Mortensen has paid her to have sex with him and has required she pay him to stay there, the sergeant said. Neither in the police report nor at the news conference did Miller explicitly say how investigators believe the two men were controlling the women. Zoo Nebraska: The Dismantling of an American Dream by Carson Vaughan, Little A, 237 pages, $24.95. Royal, Nebraska (population 63), is one of those tiny Midwestern villages rusting away beside a highway on which travelers whiz past without pausing for a second glance or thought. As the rural economy continues to cause young individuals to seek opportunities and amenities offered by larger communities, small towns wither like last summers zucchinis left on the vine. Few readers will now remember that in 2005, Royal was the site of a massacre where three dangerous escapees were shot and killed by its terrorized residents. The three victims were chimpanzees. Zoo Nebraska by first-time author Carson Vaughan examines this bizarre incident, which outraged animal lovers and animal rights advocates such as the Jane Goodall Institute and PETA. Fortunately, Vaughan, who was raised in Broken Bow and graduated from UNL, is a talented writer who understands the slower rhythms of small communities and the occasionally eccentric people who choose to live in them. In the hands of a less perceptive author, the narrative could have easily degenerated into a Hollywood-style dark comedy with pickup truckloads of gun-toting and bib-overall-wearing vigilantes in pursuit of innocent creatures. Al Overland is not saying you should refer to almond milk as nut juice. Hes also not saying you shouldnt. Ive heard it called that, said Overland, a dairy farmer near Sturgeon Lake, Minn. They can call it juice or beverage, or whatever they wish, but we just dont want them to call it milk. Dairy farmers, who are struggling with widespread industry consolidation, low prices and declining demand, are becoming even more fed up with all the non-dairy products in the grocery store labeled as milk. The number of different types of milk available to consumers has ballooned in recent years. First it was soy, then almond milk, coconut milk and rice milk. Now, theres oat milk and pea milk. The Food and Drug Administration is mulling whether to update its rules for how to label plant-based foods, and has been lobbied hard by both dairy and plant-based producers. A four-month public comment period closed at the end of January, and 8,624 comments were submitted. Dairy groups say the FDA has allowed an anything goes mentality in the marketplace. Plant-based groups say the objections are much ado about nothing, and would disrupt the marketplace. 1. Comments must not be racist, misogynistic, homophobic, or otherwise bigoted. 2. Comments must not involve little more than name-calling and insulting remarks. 3. Comments must not be made by "anonymous" or "unknown". 4. Comments must not try to sneak in some free advertising for themselves (like spam). I invite anyone who wishes to comment on this blog to do so. I enjoy the comments, whether you agree with what I have said or not. But some people want to abuse the right to comment, and since this is my blog, I have decided to lay down the following rules. If your comment violates these rules, it will not be published. MATTOON -- Consolidated Communications recently awarded a special donation of $1,250 to Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of East Central Illinois in celebration of the companys 125th anniversary, according to a press release. Consolidated Communications is marking its 125th year with special contributions to organizations across the country selected by employees. The contributions are in addition to companys annual contributions across its service areas. Employees selected the local CASA organization to receive the first contribution and presented a check to Kim Carmean, executive director of CASA of East Central Illinois. CASA recruits, trains and supports volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in courtrooms and communities. The local organization supports children in Coles and Cumberland counties. Were pleased to make this special contribution to CASA of East Central Illinois in recognition of Consolidated Communications 125 years of serving customers, said Sarah Greider, corporate communications manager. Building stronger communities and supporting organizations that make an impact on our community are at the heart of our tradition of giving. Our employees support our company value of building stronger communities, and Im pleased to say they selected an organization that is making a difference in the lives of local children to receive this first gift. Consolidated Communications has been a consistent supporter of CASA of East Central Illinois and we appreciate this special contribution in recognition of the companys 125th anniversary, said Carmean. In 2018, our advocates served 130 children and we anticipate that number to continue to grow in 2019. Donations like this help us to make an impact on the lives of abused and neglected children in Coles and Cumberland counties. Each month, Consolidated Communications employees will vote on the organizations to receive a special contribution in recognition of the companys anniversary. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 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.) Welcome, Neighbor! Thank you for sharing my journey with me. It's a bumpy ride, but hopefully you'll find it worthwhile! To reach out to me, send me an e-mail at jamesbradfordpate@yahoo.com. In the speech, Maryam Rajavi called on France, and by extension the EU, to abandon the appeasement policy on the Iranian Regime and stand with the Iranian people who are calling for justice. Here, we will look at Maryam Rajavis speech in detail. Maryam Rajavi explained that there has been a lot of international attention focused on the Iranian Regime this month, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Revolution, and that most of the world now see the Regime for what it is: an unstable, tyrannical, dictatorship. She noted that the international community was also focused on the mass anti-regime protests taking place across Iran, where the myth of a moderate regime had been exposed and regime change was within reach of the Iranian people. Maryam Rajavi advised that many in the West cheered the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in 2013, wrongly believing that he could bring positive change to the Regime. The mullahs took advantage of this naivete and extorted huge concessions from the West under the pretext of agreeing to disband their nuclear weapons programme. (The Regime has since admitted to cheating on the deal and failing to destroy their centrifuges.) These concessions, which involved a literal planeload of cash, allowed the Regime to further oppress the Iranian people, including several attempts to massacre the Resistance by bombing their camps and increase their terrorism across the Middle East. The mullahs wasted the Iranian peoples wealth, which has left 80% of the population in poverty, and was a major cause behind the protest that began in 2017. Maryam Rajavi said: For a long time, proponents of the appeasement policy tried to differentiate between Rouhani and the Vali-e Faqih (Ali Khamenei). Last summer, however, Rouhani put an end to all such claims. He assigned his Ministry of Intelligence and diplomats to launch a major terrorist operation against the Iranian Resistances grand gathering in Villepinte. The sanctions imposed on the mullahs Intelligence Ministry by France and the European Union further confirmed that Rouhanis government was the perpetrator of the plot. This attack on the Iranian Resistance rally, attended by over 100,000 people was thankfully thwarted, but the Regime kept up its terrorist actions. They plotted another terrorist attack in Denmark, put spies in the German military, and spied on Iranian Resistance supporters in Germany and the US. This all followed a previous terror plot against 3,500 members of the Iranian Resistance in Albania. Maryam Rajavi said: The mullahs are badly in need of political and commercial relations with Europe. Nonetheless, they cannot forgo their terrorist operations in the heart of Europe. They hear the calls by France and the EU to stop their ballistic missile program, but they defiantly expand their missile program. Rouhani has even gone so far as to brag that they will never ask for permission to build their various missiles. In our next piece, we will learn about the Resistance Units in Iran and how nationwide protests are forcing the Regime to strike out against the Resistance at home and abroad. Nepali worker goes missing in Malaysia A Nepali migrant worker has gone missing from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for the last one week. Speaking at Swachh Kumbh, Swachh Aabhaar event in Prayagraj, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, 24 February, said that the country is moving towards declaring itself open-defecation free before 2 October, 2019. Modi paid respects to sanitation workers and washed and wiped their feet. He also offered prayers and took a holy dip at Sangam the confluence of Yamuna, Ganga and the mythical Saraswati rivers in Prayagraj. Earlier in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur, Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN), the scheme announced in the interim Budget 2019-20. Under the scheme, nearly 75 thousand crore rupees are directly accessible to farmers' accounts every year, Modi said. Modi announced that the first instalment of Rs 2,000 has been deposited in accounts of one crore one lakh farmers (check). He also added that the farmers who havent received the first instalment will receive the amount in the coming weeks. He also said that there is no role of middlemen in the scheme to ensure that the farmers get right. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM-KISAN scheme in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday The scheme, announced in the interim budget 2019-20, will give Rs. 6,000 per year to small and marginal farmers PM Modi also took a holy dip at Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj PM Modi to Launch PM-KISAN in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday will launch the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN), the scheme announced in the interim budget 2019-20, during his visit to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. He will launch the scheme from the Fertilizer Corporation of India ground by pressing a button to electronically transfer the first instalment of Rs 2,000 to selected farmers, a government statement said on Saturday. Under the scheme, Rs 6,000 will be given per year to small and marginal farmer families having combined land holding/ownership of up to two hectares. PM Modi to Take a Dip At Kumbh in Prayagraj Story continues Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also set to visit the ongoing Kumbh at Prayagraj on Sunday, an official statement said on Saturday. The Prime Minister will take a bath at Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj and also interact with sanitation employees, reports India Today. Loan Waivers Easy for Us, But it Only Benefits a Few: Modi Addressing the public in Gorakhpur, Modi said that loan waivers would have been easy and convenient for the government but it would have benefitted only a few farmers. For us also loan waivers would have been easy and convenient, we also could have distributed 'rewri' for political and election benefits, but we can't commit such a crime. Loan waiver benefits only a select few, Modi added. Timing of Launching Welfare Schemes Should Not Be Questioned: BJP The BJP on Sunday said the timing of government launching any welfare scheme should not be questioned as no time frame can be attached in advance to such measures. BJP Kisan Morcha president and Bhadohi MP Virendra Singh Mast said, "It is wrong to say that the government is reminded of farmers during the election season only. There is no time frame decided in advance for taking any welfare step. The opposition parties have nothing to say." In an interview, Mast told PTI that a number of farmers welfare schemes were launched by the government in the past nearly five years. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh had termed the scheme, announced in the interim budget, as a mere "eyewash" and said it would not reach the genuine beneficiaries. President of Rashtriya Kisan Manch Shekhar Dixit had also questioned the intention and the reach of the scheme. PM Launches Kisan Scheme, Over 1 Crore Farmers Get First Instalment Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday launched the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme transferring the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers. Launching the scheme from Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur, the prime minister said the first instalment of money under the scheme has been deposited in accounts of 1.01 crore farmers and those who didn't get it on Sunday will get it in due course. "This is your money and no one will be able to take it from you," he told the farmers. The prime minister said the scheme has been made foolproof so that no one can take away the right of the farmers. There is no role of middleman in this scheme, he said. In the interim Budget 2019-20, the central government had announced the PM-KISAN scheme under which Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three instalments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to two hectares PM Modi Arrives at Kumbh in Prayagraj Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the Kumbh in Prayagraj. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath receives him. PM Takes Holy Dip in Sangam PM Modi offered prayers and took a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of Yamuna, Ganga and Saraswati, in Prayagraj. PM Modi Washed Feet of Sanitation Workers Prime Minister Modi paid respects to sanitation workers in Prayagraj and washed and wiped their feet. Modi said, These safai karamcharis (sanitation workers) were my brothers and sisters who were waking up early, sleeping late, all to ensure the cleanliness of the area. They did not want any praise but they were doing their jobs without any fuss. . Read more on Politics by The Quint.RSS & BJPs Nehru-Netaji Cosplay: Irony Dies a Thousand DeathsQuickE: Total Dhamaal BO; New The Lion King Teaser . Read more on Politics by The Quint. Congress leader Sheila Dikshit accused AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal of making "empty talks" on the issue of full statehood for Delhi on Sunday, 24 February, in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Chief Minister Kejriwal has announced an indefinite hunger strike from March 1 over his demand for full statehood for Delhi. "Kejriwal is making empty talks about full statehood for Delhi and nothing will come out of his rhetorics. If he was serious about full statehood for Delhi, he should have taken up the issue four years ago. He is raking up the full statehood issue with an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections." - Sheila Dikshit, Congress Delhi Unit President Also Read: Cong Will Target All 7 Lok Sabha Seats in Delhi: Sheila Dikshit Kejriwal Confusing People She also reiterated the Delhi Congress's stand that it will not have any alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Lok Sabha polls. "Kejriwal was confusing people by talking about the Aam Aadmi Party's tie-up with the Congress in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. But, the Congress will contest the Lok Sabha elections on its own and will win all the seven seats in Delhi," former Delhi chief minister Dikshit said. Addressing party workers at Mehrauli and Badarpur areas, she said the people of Delhi are fed up of "hollow promises" of Chief Minister Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and wanted Congress governments at the Centre and in Delhi. "The Modi and Kejriwal governments make big promises, but they remain as just promises. People are fed up with both and want the Congress back," the three-time chief minister said, accusing the Kejriwal government of wasting public money on it's publicity. "The Kejriwal government has failed on all fronts and is now thriving by putting out five to six full-page advertisements in newspapers and squandering the hard-earned money of tax payers' for self publicity," Dikshit alleged. Story continues She asked workers to ensure victory of Congress candidates in the Lok Sabha polls and said only the Congress can provide a stable and development-oriented government. Also Read: Why Make an Issue: Sheila Dikshit on Tytler Attending Event . Read more on India by The Quint.RSS & BJPs Nehru-Netaji Cosplay: Irony Dies a Thousand DeathsMeghalaya Mine Tragedy: Skeleton of Third Trapped Miner Spotted . Read more on India by The Quint. Church files on pedophile priests destroyed, top Catholic cardinal admits 24 Feb 2019: Church files on pedophile priests destroyed, top Catholic cardinal admits A top Catholic cardinal admitted yesterday that Church files on priests accused of sexually abusing children were destroyed in a move which allowed pedophiles to prey on others. German-Cardinal Reinhard Marx was speaking on the third day of an unprecedented summit of the world's top bishops convened by Pope Francis in a bid to tackle the crisis over pedophilia within the clergy. Here's more. Statement: Instead of perpetrators, victims were regulated and silenced: Marx "Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed, or not even created," Marx told the Vatican summit on a problem that has dogged the Roman Catholic Church for decades. "Instead of the perpetrators, the victims were regulated and silence imposed on them," he said, adding, "The stipulated procedures for the prosecution of offenses were deliberately not complied with." Scandals: Ongoing scandals over sexual abuse have hit Chile, Germany, US The ongoing scandals over sexual-abuse have escalated with the latest crises hitting Chile, Germany and US. At one point, delegates heard the testimony of a woman who was repeatedly raped by a priest when she was 11. "Engraved in my eyes, ears, nose, body, and soul, are all the times he immobilized me, the child, with superhuman strength," said the woman, who remained anonymous. Reactions: Marx's admission about documents sparks angry reaction from ECA association Back in September, Marx apologized personally to thousands of victims who had been abused by clergy within the German Church, saying the perpetrators must be brought to justice. His admission about the documents on Saturday sparked an angry reaction from Peter Isely of Ending Clerical Abuse (ECA) association, who denounced such destruction of paperwork as "illegal" and demanded an investigation. Story continues Fact: What he didn't tell us is who did it: Peter "What he didn't tell us is... Who did it? Where did they do it? And what did they destroy?" Peter said. Victims marched to the Vatican, holding signs accusing Francis of being deaf to their cries, and urging the expulsion of abusers from the Church. Survivor: I didn't remember my rape, it was very violent: Survivor The victims also demanded the expulsion of those who enabled the abusers. "I didn't remember my rape, it was very violent, until 50 years after it happened," Tim Lennon, from the survivors' network SNAP, said. Investigations have shown that in many cases, priests accused of assaulting minors were transferred to other parishes as bishops turned a blind eye to protect the Church's reputation. Comment: Was essential that victims felt they could 'trust system': Marx The German Cardinal (a leading dignitary of the Roman Catholic Church) said that the "rights of victims were effectively trampled underfoot, and left to the whims of individuals." Marx added was essential that victims felt they could "trust the system." "There are no alternatives to traceability and transparency," he said, admitting efforts to cover-up the scandals had badly undermined the Church's credibility among people. Action: Meanwhile, survivors lambasting institution for not releasing clergy names Francis has told his bishops he wants "concrete measures" drawn up against child sex abuse. However, the survivors have lambasted the centuries-old institution for not releasing the names and case files of priests convicted of abuse or possessing child pornography. The Vatican has in the past refused to hand over internal documents about child sexual abuse cases to civil authorities investigating pedophilia. Summit: Call for statistics to be released was 'legitimate': Archbishop Scicluna On Friday, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, one of the organizers of the summit, said the call for statistics to be released was "legitimate." Marx also called for a rethink of pontifical secrecy, echoing the appeal made on Friday by Linda Ghisoni, a professor of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome), who told the meeting "the current legislation on pontifical secrecy" needed rewriting. Finances: 5,000 accounts closed after Vatican bank scandals came to light Marx said transparency was needed in other areas of the Church, such as "the area of finances". Scandals surrounding the Vatican bank have prompted a clean-up in recent years, with some 5,000 bank accounts being closed. But the decision to sack the bank's deputy director in 2017 without explanation prompted a flurry of rumors that he was dismissed because of his investigations. Fact: Vatican Bank's reputation first questioned after senior banker's body found The bank official was investigating possible illegal activity that might had hit too close to home. The bank's reputation first came into question in 1982 after the body of senior banker Roberto Calvi was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London. About: Roberto Calvi: 'God's Banker' because of his Vatican ties Calvi, an Italian banker, was often referred to as "God's Banker" because of his close ties to the Vatican. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy's biggest political scandals. No one was convicted of his murder but prosecutors believe it was a mafia killing linked to money laundering via Banco Ambrosiano. 2019 presidential election in Nigeria Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari talks to the media as he arrives to cast a vote in Nigeria's presidential election at a polling station in Daura, Katsina State, Nigeria, February 23, 2019. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde By Aaron Ross KANO, (Reuters) - Sunday Nicholas voted for Muhammadu Buhari in Nigeria's 2015 presidential election, but the 32-year-old factory worker in the northern city of Kano was casting his ballot on Saturday for the president's challenger, Atiku Abubakar. "Most of the (workers) cannot feed their families," Nicholas said as he queued in a dusty schoolyard to vote. People are suffering, he said. "There is no improvement." If Buhari is turfed out of office when the results are tallied this week a major cause is likely to be defections by voters in the northwest, once Buhari's most important electoral stronghold, where anger over a feeble economy and disaffection from local bigwigs has loosened his grip. A quarter of Nigeria's nearly 73 million eligible voters are in the northwest, the country's most densely-populated region. Buhari received nearly 90 percent of Kano state's vote in 2015, running up a 1.7 million vote edge that accounted for more than half of his final margin of victory over then-president Goodluck Jonathan. But he faces stiffer headwinds this time around. Many voters are dissatisfied with an economy still sputtering after a 2016 recession. And his main opponent Atiku is also a northern Muslim rather than a southern Christian like Jonathan. Atiku stands to benefit from the support of influential local powerbrokers who have rallied behind the opposition candidate after falling out with Buhari and his allies. The most important among them, Rabiu Kwankwaso, is a senator, two-time governor of Kano State and so-called "godfather", a term for local Nigerian kingmakers who draw their influence from elaborate patronage networks. The 62-year-old Kwankwaso has a loyal core of supporters known as "Kwankwasiyya" who are readily identifiable by their woven red caps. He quit Buhari's ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) last year amid a wave of defections to the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP). Story continues In a sign of Kano's newfound battleground status, Kwankwasiyya members on their way to a rally outside Kano city clashed with APC members on Thursday, leading to several injuries and torched vehicles. Each side blamed the other. PDP officials say Atiku could net as much as 40 or even 50 percent of the vote in Kano State. APC supporters dismiss that, although they concede that Atiku will make some inroads. "It will not be like what happened in 2015," said Baballe Hayatu, 40, an actor in the local film industry, who was waiting to vote for Buhari. "There was this security challenge so everyone was desperate in 2015," he said, referring to surging violence by militant group Boko Haram at the time that fed widespread rejection of Jonathan. But even if his four years in office have taken some of the lustre off Buhari, he remains popular in Kano, perceived by many as an incorruptible foe of the rampant graft that has plagued Nigerian politics for decades. "He's an honest man. He's a correct leader," said Zainab Habib Haruna, 32, a teacher. (Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Alexis Akwagyiram and Peter Graff) Will Nepal be able to make households free from indoor air pollution? Nepal is working to make all households free of indoor air pollution by 2022, a daunting task for the country which is highly dependent upon traditional biomass energy sources that include firewood, cattle dung, and agricultural residues. George Soros gave Ivanka's husband's business a $250 million credit line in 2015 per WSJ. Soros is also an investor in Jared's business. 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. DECATUR -- George L. Hiser, 80, of Excelsior Springs, Mo, passed away Tuesday, February 19, 2019 in NKC Hospital. George was born on October 30, 1938 in Decatur, IL. He is the son of the late Frank and Evelyn (Overly) Hiser. He was previously married to Phillis Luster and together they had three children. He married Marcia Stewart on July 15, 1977 in Richmond, MO. George was employed as a Conservation Agent for Ray County Mo for 35 years, earning many awards and achievements . During his time with the agency, he loved to teach hunters safety courses to many children. When he wasnt hunting or fishing himself, he could be found in a school, presenting wild life programs to hundreds of enthralled students. He gave his whole life to wildlife preservation. George was known for coming to the rescue of friends and family who had unpleasant encounters with a variety of wildlife. He did whatever he could do to help protect both the animal and the person. George earned many achievements including Statewide and Regional Outstanding Tree Farmer, Ducks Unlimited Distinguished Service Award, and Outstanding Officer of Missouri Dept. of Conservation. George was an active member of Barbee Memorial Presbyterian Church where he served as a Deacon and Elder. He enjoyed collecting unique marbles and spending time with his family. George is survived by his children; Russ, Janet, Scott, and Cindy. His sisters, Susie Forbes and Mary Hiser of Decatur IL, and his wife; Marcia Hiser, of the home. Grandchildren include: Shelly, Brandon, Jessica, Josh, Jordan, Jeffrey, Kyle, Jon, Brett, and Laura; as well as 8 great-grandchildren. George was preceded in death by his brother, James Hiser and his son, Jeff Hiser. DECATUR Police said a Decatur woman who had frequently called 911 and then denied it was arrested after her phone number was traced to a call Friday. Detective Sgt. Chris Copeland said Decatur Ambulance Service and the Decatur Fire Department responded to the Illinois Department of Human Services office, 707 E. Wood St., Friday morning after the 28-year-old woman called 911 and said she was pregnant and vomiting. Copeland said the woman denied making the call when crews arrived, and first responders had dispatchers ring the number that had been used. And her phone started ringing, Copeland said. Yet she continued to deny calling 911 and said she did not need any medical help. But Copeland said when the woman called 911 again just after 3 p.m. Friday afternoon from her Decatur home, she was taken to hospital for an involuntary admission psychiatric evaluation. This time Decatur Ambulance Service, firefighters and police officers responded. Copeland said the hospital admission was authorized after firefighters heard the woman, who appeared intoxicated, talking on the phone about wanting to die. She was also arrested on a preliminary charge of disorderly conduct for filing a false request for an ambulance, a Class 4 felony. Copeland said that a check of records showed that, since August 2018, emergency personnel had responded to 24 false 911 calls from the woman. And just since Jan. 3, there has been eight calls from her, and four of those were in the same day, Copeland said. 2019 mug shots from the Herald & Review Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. SPRINGFIELD In his inaugural budget, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has proposed a new tax on all plastic bags used at the checkout in Illinois. The goal is to reduce waste and raise revenue. The budget proposal, announced Wednesday, projects the bag tax will generate between $19 million and $23 million in new annual revenue, depending on whether or not Chicago is exempted. Nationwide, the idea has been adopted by a handful of cities, but is only beginning to be considered by states. The propose state tax would be 5 cents per bag. Chicago's 7-cent bag tax went into effect on Feb. 1, 2017. The city keeps 5 cents per bag, while the retailer keeps 2 cents. The charge shows up on store receipts, right next to other municipal sales tax items such as the Chicago bottled water tax. The tax does not apply to restaurants and families using food stamps. The city collected $5.6 million in 2017 and $5.9 million last year from the bag tax, Department of Finance spokeswoman Kristen Cabanban said. That's lower than the $9.2 million the city projected before the bag tax was implemented, a discrepancy that Cabanban attributed to "greater than anticipated" changes in consumer behavior. A 2017 study showed a 42 percent reduction in bag use after the tax was implemented. But reports from the checkout lines at Pete's Fresh Market suggest some shoppers reduced their bag usage in unpredictable ways, juggling purchases in their arms or pushing carts full of unbagged products out the door. "There has been resistance -- many people just don't want to pay," Dremonas said. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} That's exactly what some environmentalists want. Jordan Parker, executive director of Bring Your Bag Chicago, a nonprofit environmental organization, not only cheers the proposed state bag tax, but she also believes that adding it to the city tax would encourage Chicagoans to bypass disposable bags. "I would love to see the tax increase to 12 cents," Parker said. "We've had a couple of years to acclimate to this tax and I think most of Chicago is used to it. I think increasing it to 12 cents would just be another little nudge in the right direction." Oak Park has had a 10-cent-per-bag fee in place since January 2018. In 2014, California became the first such state, imposing a 10-cent tax on paper bags and reusable plastic bags, while banning single-use plastic bags at large retail stores. Connecticut's new governor recently proposed a new 5-cent tax on disposable bags. Last year, Colorado's governor pushed for a 25-cent tax on bags, a measure that died in the state legislature. On the flip side, 11 states have a preemption law on the books, essentially banning municipalities from enacting a bag tax, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Four of those states -- Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri -- border Illinois. Rob Karr, president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, said one concern about the proposed state bag tax is whether or not retailers will get a share of the revenue, as they do in Chicago. He also expressed concerns about the mounting cost to Chicago consumers if the city is not exempted from the state bag tax. "Certainly shoppers didn't like the 7-cent tax the city did, they're not going to like nearly doubling it," Karr said. Love 3 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 19 Shacaiah Harding had been living on the streets of Billings, off and on, for most of the last spring and summer, when her family realized no one had seen or heard from her for nearly a month. The 19-year-old had been struggling with addiction and mental health, but those close to her said it was unusual for her to go more than a week without checking in. Editor's note Today begins a series of reports in which The Billings Gazette examines one of the most urgent issues in our state missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. In Montana, Native Americans are just 6.7 percent of the total population, but make up 26 percent of missing persons cases. The problem has persisted for generations, and many of the cases remain unsolved. The causes are numerous and complex, and any lasting solutions have been elusive. The Gazette will explore the reasons the epidemic has persisted and what can be done about it. Throughout the series, we will also profile many of the missing and murdered women and girls. And, we need your help. We welcome your tips, suggestions and feedback at billingsgazette.com/mmiwtips. For previous Gazette reporting of the issue, visit billingsgazette.com/mmiw. From her being in and out of our lives, it took us a while to say, Hey, nobodys heard from Shacaiah, her 25-year-old sister, Shawnae King, said recently. We all got together and started looking for her. We made posters and posted them downtown and asked people. We got little tips from people, here and there. But it was never Shacaiah. On Aug. 20, 2018, Hardings mother, Tamera Bearcomesout, went downtown to the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office to file a missing person report. It would be one of the nearly 300 cases of missing Native American women and girls reported to law enforcement agencies in Montana last year. More than 5,400 reports of missing people have been filed in Montana during the past three years, according to state Department of Justice data reviewed by The Billings Gazette. But indigenous people and Native women in particular go missing at a vastly disproportionate rate than the general population. Native Americans make up 6.7 percent of Montanas population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But they accounted for 26 percent of missing person reports from 2016 through 2018, the only years for which comprehensive data on those cases were available from the state. Nearly two-thirds of those cases involved women or girls. The majority of missing person cases were closed within a day or two; a runaway teenager returns home, police find the person walking down the road, or a child custody dispute is safely resolved. But by the end of 2018, Native Montanans still made up 26 percent of those who remained missing at least a month after they disappeared. Like other agencies in the state, the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office enters those reports into National Criminal Information Center. After Bearcomesout met with a sheriffs deputy to discuss her daughters case, Hardings information was entered into the NCIC the same day, state DOJ data show. That national network populates the states public database of missing persons and allows nearly all law enforcement agencies in the country to view the same information. Harding, also known by her middle name Blue, remains listed as last seen or heard from six months ago. Bearcomesout smiles when she remembers her daughters propensity for spontaneous dancing no matter where she was. She had her own style, Bearcomesout said, smiling through tears. She dressed the way she wanted to dress. She didnt care what people thought. She didnt care if people saw her singing and dancing, you know. Thats me. If they dont like it, they dont get me. Her family members acknowledge their relationships with Harding had become strained by her increasingly erratic behavior. But in the months since her disappearance, fears about Hardings safety have gripped her family, Bearcomesout said. I dont feel like shes gone, like dead. I dont feel that kind of she said, trailing off. ... At first I didnt want to believe it, I didnt want to know the outcome. I wasnt ready to find out, was that the end? But now Im ready. I just want to find my baby. I know someone out there knows something. Officially missing After an initial report is filed, an officer or detective with the lead law enforcement agency follows up with family members to pin down where the missing person was last seen, who they were spending time with and where they may have been headed. Well look at if theyve disappeared under suspicious circumstances, said Lt. Dan Paris, who oversees the six-person detectives division at the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office. It depends on the information we can get, and we get kind of a profile of their life leading up to that disappearance. Depending on whether the person appears to be in immediate danger, the agency can also request a regional or statewide alert to be sent out by the Montana DOJ. Amber alerts, distributed to local media and as text messages to anyone in the region with a mobile phone, are used specifically for cases involving minors in which an abduction is believed to have occurred. Failing those criteria, the lead agency can request a Missing Endangered Person Alert, which similarly is sent to local media and law enforcement agencies. But those alerts must meet what Megan Martin, with the Montana Missing Persons Clearinghouse, termed an endangerment factor, which is subject to the discretion of the law enforcement agency requesting it. If they believe that person is in danger, thats enough for us that well go ahead and issue it, Martin said. They really try to make sure that its a justified alert and that they have enough information to give the public so they can assist with it. A total of 78 MEPA and AMBER alerts were issued in Montana from 2016 through 2018. Of those, 25 alerts, or more than 30 percent, were for Native Americans, and women and girls made up 15 of those, or 60 percent of alerts for Native Americans. AMBER alerts are infrequent; a total of eight were issued during the same three-year span. In an email, DOJ spokesman John Barnes said the 1,000-plus missing person reports generated each year in Montana preclude the state from issuing alerts unless the person reasonably appears to be in danger. Most of those reports were resolved without a public alert, Barnes stated. If we did an alert for every missing person record, the alerts would be less effective as the public would quickly get desensitized. Brushed off by law enforcement For the families left to wonder when or whether they will see their loved ones again, however, the response by law enforcement can feel underwhelming. Hardings family and Yellowstone County Detective Frank Fritz, who since November has been assigned Hardings case, provided substantially different accounts of the agencys handling of the case. Its a recurring theme for the families of missing Native women and girls, as is the perception by many families that law enforcement agencies have been slow to act on their loved ones disappearance. Ashley Heavyrunner Loring was reported missing from the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in June 2017, and her family has since criticized the local police departments handling of the case in Browning. The FBI joined the investigation nine months later, but the agency said Friday that Lorings whereabouts remain unknown. When the family reported her, nothing was done, I think, until mid-July. We started doing our own posters, Ashley Lorings cousin, Lissa Loring, told The Billings Gazette. The family of Henny Scott has also said their concerns were initially dismissed by law enforcement. The 14-year-old Northern Cheyenne girls immediate family previously told The Billings Gazette the local BIA police hadn't taken previous concerns seriously, so they filed the missing person report in Crow Agency, about 45 miles away. Three weeks later, the FBI asked the state to issue a MEPA for her. She was found dead by a volunteer search party two days after that. In Yellowstone County, Paris noted that while many families, both Native and non-Native, often feel like their cases arent prioritized, that doesnt mean his office isnt pursuing leads and continuing its investigation. Its very common actually, for them to feel like were not doing our job, Paris said. Its frustrating on both ends, because if they dont think were doing our job, they wont tell us information. In Hardings case, the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office in August entered her information into the states database the same day her family reported her missing, DOJ data shows. Her family, however, contends it wasnt until three months later, in November, when they heard back from Fritz, once he had been assigned to the case. Whats frustrating is yeah, we know how it looks, and yeah, we know she was into her drugs and all that, and I know it took us a long time to realize she was missing, said King, Hardings sister. But it doesnt mean to get brushed off, thats what it feels like. It feels like were on our own, trying to find her. Fritz disputes that the family has been brushed off. While he declined to provide any specifics on how the report was handled in the three months prior to his involvement in the case, Fritz said the sheriffs office would have begun investigating the report immediately. A news release from the sheriffs office went out to local media Nov. 30, describing Harding and some of the circumstances of her disappearance. It noted that her direction of travel is unknown, but said she had previous connections to locations in Montana, Kansas and New Mexico. For me, it would be standard to do that. The more people that see this out in the public, maybe somebodys run across her, Fritz said. As soon as I got assigned to the case, that media release went out. Because Harding is a tribal member, Fritz said he also contacted the FBI to check out other places she may have wound up. (The FBI declined to comment.) Every time he attempts to reach the family members of a missing person, Fritz added, he leaves a number where they can reach him. 'Just not even knowing' Fritz declined to say whether his investigation has turned up any reasons to believe Harding may be in danger, citing the confidentiality of the investigation. But since so much is still unknown about Hardings disappearance, her family is haunted by worries about her safety. Compounding the alarming rate at which Native women and girls disappear in Montana and other Western states, studies indicate the rates of violence they face may be even more disproportionate. A federally funded, nationwide study released in August found that in some communities Native women are more than 10 times more likely than the general population to be the victims of homicide. Its an issue that ripples through many, if not most, Native families in Montana. Henny, the 14-year-old found dead near Lame Deer in December, was Kings cousin. And Bearcomesout, who grew up on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, remembers Hanna Harris as one of her sons friends when he was growing up in the Lame Deer area. Harris went missing for several days in 2013 before she was found murdered at the age of 21 outside the reservation town. For now, Bearcomesout said shell keep sifting through the scant clues left behind in the wake of her daughters disappearance, while trying to stay hopeful as her family clings to the memories of Blue. It just seems unreal, just not even knowing. Some days you just wonder, is she hurt? Is she cold? Is she hungry? she said. Every day. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 Linguist, litterateur Pokharel no more Linguist and senior litterateur Bal Krishna Pokharel passed away on Sunday at the age of 86. He had long been suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes. At around 1 am today, Pokharel was rushed to hospital after sudden deterioration in his health condition. He was declared dead on arrival. Sen. Steve Daines told fellow Republicans in Helena on Saturday the partys majority in the U.S. Senate is the firewall for freedom," challenging his potential 2020 Democratic opponent to bring it on. Daines was the keynote speaker for the annual Lewis and Clark County Republican Central Committee Lincoln Reagan Dinner. Standing at the podium adorned with a Trump 2020 sign, Daines praised the work of the president and Montana Republicans on policies promoting limited government and border security. What we have in this state right now is we have a meth crisis going on, he told the crowd. Daines spoke about his recent visit to the southern border and a late-night outing with U.S. Border Patrol. He described witnessing an arrest and seeing agents struggle against a sophisticated network of cartel-run drug operations. While Trumps recent national security declaration is facing votes in Congress and court challenges, Daines blasted Democrats, saying that walls work. Ladies and gentlemen, the president is exactly right when he declares we have an emergency on our hands, he said. Representatives at Dick Anderson say they are starting to see the product pop up more and more. The company will use CLT in another job in Wyoming. Bjerke Architects used CLT for an outdoor elevator at a commercial building at 2905 N. Montana Ave. Designed by Tracy Egeline, an architect at the firm, the elevator is aesthetically pleasing as well as practical. The project was an effort to make the top floor of the building more accessible. The lift and shaft of the elevator are made from CLT while being supported by steel. The structural panels of the elevator were anchored into the ground with steel hooks. "I'm always excited to work with a new building material," said Diamond Construction's Nate Pierce, just prior to starting work on the project. Pierce said he believes the product will become more and more viable as the public's awareness of it increases. He said Diamond may use the product more often, when applicable, in the future. "It is exciting as architects to push the limits and try new things," Egeline said. The Helena City Commission will decide Monday night whether to allow a Last Chance Gulch bar to continue using a leased public right-of-way for alcohol consumption after complaints about its patrons conduct. The commission declared its intent Dec. 17 to revoke the citys agreement with Clemow Family Trust to use the right-of-way between the Securities Building at 101 N. Last Chance Gulch and the Placer building. The trust leases part of the Securities Building to the Sapphire Bar, which uses the right-of-way for patio seating. The agreement hinges on conditions that the right-of-way is kept clean and that its use does not inhibit or interfere with the peaceable, safe use of, or access to adjacent properties. City Attorney Thomas Jodoin wrote in a Dec. 6 memo of numerous complaints from residents near the bar, bottles, cups, cigarettes, and vomit littering the area and loud, disorderly conduct, and smoke to the detriment of adjacent property owners. If the agreement is revoked, Sapphire patrons will be unable to bring open alcohol containers into the area outside the bars right-of-way entrance. Sapphire Bar Manager Heath Mason said revoking the agreement would do "absolutely nothing" to solve the problem and could exacerbate it. Montanas Small Business Development Center network supported the creation or retention of nearly 500 jobs in 2018 through its work to assist small businesses growth and development. Montanas SBDC network, headquartered at the Department of Commerce in Helena, released its 2018 Annual Report. The report finds the SBDCs supported Montana entrepreneurs to successfully launch 58 new businesses. Montana is consistently one of the top states in the nation for entrepreneurial activity. In 2018, the state ranked number one in the U.S. for the share of the workforce employed by small businesses. Montana inspires innovation, and entrepreneurs across the state launch or grow businesses every day, said Daniel Iverson, Department of Commerce communications manager. For our Small Business Development Centers to support 60 new and hundreds of existing businesses in a single year is a great success to reflect on and further strengthens Montanas economy. Since being formed in 1989, the Montana SBDC network has assisted more than 29,000 entrepreneurs through technical assistance, business planning and accessing capital. In 2018, Montanas SBDC helped clients obtain 149 loans resulting in more than $24 million in financing. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 When Palmer retired, he handed over the keys, lock stock and barrel, he said. I gave them the business, equipment and everything, Palmer said. Theyre pretty good guys. I didnt want to leave them in the lurch. Farrell and Duffy took over Larry Palmer Cabinets and changed the name to Rocky Mountain Countertops & Cabinets. Its a 50/50 partnership, Farrell said. The biggest learning curve is the paperwork. Farrell said his favorite project is fabricating countertops from raw materials. He enjoys the process of cutting, polishing and sanding the acrylic surfaces. He and Duffy work jobs all over the state and are contracted with Lowes to fabricate and install customer countertops. Things are good," Farrell said. Were seeing steady business for the slow part of the year. And we have a lot of future prospects. "one of the gifted and ever-honored founders and trusted leaders of the Republican Party... eloquent for the right, always moved by the highest impulses of patriotism" Grand Old Partisan salutes Henry Lane, born in Kentucky this day of 1811. Age twenty-four, he moved to Indiana to practice law and work at a bank. A follower of Whig Party icon Henry Clay, he opposed the expansion of slavery. He served in the legislature before winning two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. During the war with Mexico, he commanded the 1st Indiana Infantry regiment. Lane co-founded the Indiana GOP and then chaired the 1856 Republican National Convention. His speech set the tone for a Grand New Party: "Freedom is national. Freedom is the general rule. Slavery is the exception. It exists by sufferance. Where it does exist under the sanction of the law, we make no war upon it. Does that constitute us Abolitionists, simply because we are opposed to the extension of slavery? If that makes an Abolitionist, write 'Abolitionist' all over me." Four years later, he helped propel Abraham Lincoln to the presidential nomination by arranging for all Indiana delegates to vote for him on the first ballot. That November, he was elected Governor. It was observed that: "If he knows which side the Democrats are on, he is always on the other side." Just two days after his inauguration, the legislature, by pre-arrangement, elected Henry Lane to the U.S. Senate. His successor as governor would be Oliver Morton, one of the greatest Republicans who ever lived. During the Civil War, Senator Lane was a close ally of President Lincoln. He served one term and then held two posts in the Ulysses Grant administration. Here is a Video Version of this article on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5IUUb0VXrYI Michael Zak is author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party, a history of GOP civil rights achievement. Each day, Michael Zak's 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" Estimados amigos, Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia. Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro. Gonzalo Raffo de Lavalle Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras. Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada. Helenio Herrera History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. Karl Marx If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. Sun Tzu We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity. Paulo Coelho India will rise, regardless of its politics There is a relatively stable consensus over the value of market-oriented reforms Martin Wolf India is an important country. It will soon be the worlds most populous. It has the worlds fastest growing large economy. Not least, it remains a vibrant democracy. What happens in India is going to affect everybody on the planet. What, then, are its economic prospects? Has Narendra Modi, its prime minister, made a big difference? How important are the general elections due in the next few months? The decisive change in Indias economic trajectory came in 1991, when a foreign currency crisis caused a fundamental shift away from the license Raj towards a market-led economy, but one with a strong role for public ownership, and constant government interference. This is todays broad Indian consensus. Mr Modi has operated largely within it, albeit introducing significant further reforms, most of them uncontroversial at least in principle, if less so in practice. The exception has been demonetisation a shocking decision, taken on Mr Modis whim. A recent paper from the World Bank offers an overview of the record. Over the past five decades, it notes, growth slowly accelerated and became less volatile. The post-1991 era, in particular, can be divided into three periods. First, between 1991 and 2003, the economy grew at an average annual rate of 5.4 per cent. Second, between 2004 and 2008, growth reached an unsustainable rate of 8.8 per cent, partly driven by excessive credit growth. Finally, an extended slowdown followed the global financial crisis. This period was marked by weak growth of investment, credit, industrial output and exports. The disruption caused by demonetisation in 2016 and poor implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by Mr Modis government extended this slowdown. Recently, however, the economy has returned to its potential growth rate of about 7 per cent. Growing faster than that would require big improvements in performance at the least, a revival in investment and manufacturing, together with better external competitiveness. Nevertheless, annual growth of Indias real gross domestic product per head has averaged 5.5 per cent since 2000. Now it is growing faster than Chinas, mainly because of the latters slowdown. If recent growth were sustained, Indias real GDP per head would reach Chinas current levels in the early- to mid- 2030s. India would still be a relatively poor country, as China is now. But it would be a superpower. The potential for such growth exists: Indias real GDP per head is only 12 per cent of US levels and 40 per cent of Chinas. What has Mr Modis government achieved in economic policy? The World Bank paper lists its new inflation targeting framework, reform of energy subsidies, containing the fiscal deficit, improving the business environment, introducing and strengthening a new insolvency and bankruptcy framework, and, not least, introducing the GST. Nevertheless, some of what it has done is merely clean up messes it inherited, notably in banking and finance, and even there only partially. The problem of inefficient and politicised public-sector banking remains. This is one example of the absence of deep reform. The government is also accused of distorting or suppressing statistics, notably on GDP and unemployment. Yet failings in the economy itself must not be exaggerated. India has a debt problem in the private sector, but overall leverage is still low. Indias ratio of trade to GDP has fallen recently, but is still far higher than it was three decades ago. The investment rate has fallen, but it is still within the Asian range. It does need to rise, but Chinas exaggerated rates are not a good model. As in any vibrant democracy, debate between politicians and their supporters is heated out of proportion to the real differences. This is particularly the case as an election approaches. In economic policy, however, a reasonable conclusion is that this government has followed the line of policy since 1991, bringing in useful improvements in some areas, yet being quite conservative in others, notably on privatisation, market liberalisation and promotion of competition. In an excellent recent collection of his essays, Arvind Subramanian, former chief economic adviser, describes the evolution from crony socialism to stigmatised capitalism. India has chosen a market-oriented economy, but it does not much like it. That shows in the failure to liberalise labour markets and exploit opportunities in trade. Even so, we should be modestly optimistic about Indias economic prospects over the next decade. Does the forthcoming election matter for economic policy? One reason why it could is the recent interim budget. It offers an understated fiscal loosening, yet not one of great significance. It offers some important giveaways, notably a reduction in income tax for middle-class taxpayers. But it also offers direct income support to small and vulnerable farmers and a pension scheme for workers in the informal sector. Some of these ideas are good ones, others less so. If the government is not re-elected, they will not happen. Yet if they do happen, the world will not end. In some ways, it might be rather better. The big issues in this election are not economic, but political. On the one side lies a centralised and disciplined party led by a strongman with a ruthless streak. On the other lies a chaotic coalition. The risk of the former is to democratic norms, institutional independence and communal relations. The risk of the latter is to basic probity and effective policymaking. Recent state elections suggest the contest could be tight. Its outcome might not alter economic policies all that much. But it might alter India. Whatever happens, remember this: India is an important country. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. CALGARY, Alberta, Feb. 22, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canoe EIT Income Fund (the Fund) (TSX: EIT.UN) (TSX: EIT.PR.A) (TSX: EIT.PR.B) is pleased to announce it has completed the overnight offering of 6,500,000 Units of the Fund (the Units). Total proceeds of the offering were approximately $73.5 million, including the proceeds from the exercise, in full, of the previously announced over-allotment option granted to the agents by the Fund. The Units will trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the existing symbol of EIT.UN. The Units were offered at a price of $11.30 per Unit to yield 10.6%. The offering was co-led by National Bank Financial Inc., CIBC Capital Markets, Scotiabank and RBC Capital Markets and also included TD Securities Inc., BMO Capital Markets, Industrial Alliance Securities Inc., Raymond James Ltd., GMP Securities L.P., Haywood Securities Inc., Canaccord Genuity Corp., Echelon Wealth Partners Inc., Desjardins Securities Inc., Mackie Research Capital Corporation and Manulife Securities Incorporated. The net proceeds of the offering will be used by the Fund in accordance with its investment objectives and investment strategies, subject to the investment restrictions of the Fund. The Funds regular monthly distribution of $0.10 per unit for unitholders of EIT.UN units remains unchanged. The Fund has maintained the $0.10 per unit monthly distribution since August 2009, through varying market conditions. The Funds annual voluntary redemption feature for unitholders of EIT.UN units remains unchanged. You will usually pay brokerage fees to your dealer if you purchase or sell units of the Fund on the Toronto Stock Exchange. If the units are purchased or sold on the Toronto Stock Exchange, investors may pay more than the current net asset value when buying Units of the Fund and may receive less than the current net asset value when selling them. There are ongoing fees and expenses associated with owning units of an investment fund. An investment fund must prepare disclosure documents that contain key information about the fund. You can find more detailed information about the fund in these documents. Investment funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. The Units have not been, nor will be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to U.S. persons absent registration or applicable exemption from the registration requirement of such Act and applicable state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. About the Fund The Fund is one of Canada's largest, diversified closed-end investment funds and is listed on the TSX under the symbol EIT.UN. The Fund is actively managed and invests in a diversified portfolio of income-generating and capital growth-oriented securities listed primarily on the TSX. The Fund is designed to maximize distributions and net asset value for the benefit of its unitholders. The Fund is managed by Robert Taylor, Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager of Canoe Financial LP. About Canoe Financial LP Canoe Financial LP (Canoe) is one of Canadas fastest growing independent mutual fund companies managing $4.5 billion in assets across a diversified range of award-winning mutual funds and private energy equity products. Founded in 2008, Canoe is an employee-owned investment management firm focused on building financial wealth for Canadians. Canoe has offices in Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Montreal. For further information, please contact: Investor Relations Canoe Financial LP 18774342796 www.canoefinancial.com info@canoefinancial.com Forward Looking Statement: Certain statements included in this news release constitute forward looking statements which reflect Canoe Financial LPs current expectations regarding future results or events. Words such as may, will, should, could, anticipate, believe, expect, intend, plan, potential, continue and similar expressions have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. In addition, any statement regarding future performance, strategies, prospects, action or plans is also a forward-looking statement. Market predictions and forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, events, activity and achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Forward looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties and a number of factors could cause actual results to materially differ from expectations discussed in the forward looking statements including, but not limited to, changes in general economic and market conditions and other risk factors. Although the forward-looking statements are based on what Canoe Financial LP believes to be reasonable assumptions, we cannot assure that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the current date and we assume no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. The Fund makes monthly distributions of an amount comprised in whole or in part of return of capital (ROC) of the net asset value per unit. A ROC reduces the amount of your original investment and may result in the return to you of the entire amount of your original investment. ROC that is not reinvested will reduce the net asset value of the Fund, which could reduce the Funds ability to generate future income. You should not draw any conclusions about the Funds investment performance from the amount of this distribution. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investment funds. Please read the information filed about the Fund on www.sedar.com before investing. The indicated rates of return are the historical and annual compounded total returns including changes in unit value and reinvestment of all distributions and do not take into account sales, redemption, distribution, or optional charges or income taxes payable by any security holder that would have reduced returns. Investment funds are not guaranteed and past performance may not be repeated. Chand-led party owns up to Friday's attacks, but no signs of renouncing violence Though Netra Bikram Chands party owned up to the incident and expressed apology for the loss of life, it did not appear contrite and did not renounce violence, raising questions about its operations in the future. Seeking to change the way applicants for the state Supreme Court have been vetted for nearly six decades, Iowa Republicans are embracing a plan that could increase the partys sway beyond the more than 2-1 advantage it now has over Democrats in deciding which finalists to present to the governor. That statewide nominating commission, which also advances finalists for Iowa Court of Appeals vacancies, is 69 percent Republican and 31 percent Democratic leaving the GOP with a far greater share of representation on the panel than it has in the Iowa electorate overall. When taken as a whole, Iowas state commission and 14 district commissions that vet local judges already are dominated by Republicans, an independent analysis of voter records by The Gazette found. Only two of the district commissions in the states most populous areas of Polk County (District 5C) and the region including Linn County (6th District) are not controlled by Republicans, the newspapers analysis found. While Senate and House Republicans last week split on how encompassing the GOP overhaul would be the House plan would largely leave the smaller commissions as is some advocates of changing say the current system that involves attorneys can produce judges who impose their own views. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who supports making a change, Thursday told a rally of anti-abortion rights activists advocating the bills in the Capitol she hoped to appoint judges who will apply the law and adhere to the Constitution of Iowa and the Constitution of the United States, not inject their own philosophy. Heeding such criticisms back in 2010, Iowa voters booted off the Iowa Supreme Court three justices who had agreed with the courts opinion allowing same-sex marriage. To fill the vacancies in 2011, then-Gov. Terry Branstad named three new justices he said in a statement would faithfully interpret the laws and Constitution, and respect the separation of powers. Bruce Zager, then a district judge, was one of them. Today, Zager said he doesnt see a reason to change the process. Zager, who retired last fall from the state Supreme Court but kept senior status, went through nominating commission interviews three times before being appointed as a 1st Judicial District judge and then several more times for appointment to the Iowa Court of Appeals and then the Iowa Supreme Court. Stressing he wasnt speaking for the court but only for himself, Zager said in an interview he doesnt understand how the proposed changes would make the selection of judges better. He fears the changes could have a chilling effect on the applicant pool that some qualified people might not even apply if they believe only those with political connections will be nominated and picked. When he has attended national conferences with judges from around the country, Zager said, they were envious of Iowas judicial merit selection system, in which judges do not have to run against each other in elections like they do in some states. Role of lawyers Measures introduced in the House and Senate take issue with the role lawyers play in the nominating process. Currently, the governor appoints half the members of judicial nominating commissions and lawyers elect other lawyers to the other half. The commissions interview candidates to become judge or justice and forward three names for each vacancy to the governor, who picks one. The judges and justices later face voters, who decide if they retain a seat on the bench. The Senate measure still contemplates eliminating lawyers from picking other lawyers to serve on any of the commissions. The House version was amended last week so that lawyers would play much the same role they do now on the district panels but not the statewide one. The amendment Wednesday to House Study Bill 110 squeaked through the House Judiciary Committee by one vote 11-10. House leaders said earlier their main focus was on the state commission, which nominates to the Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court. The measures for the state panel call for eight members to be appointed by the governor the same as now. The majority and minority party leadership of the House and Senate each would appoint two lawyers, and the Iowa Supreme Court would appoint one lawyer replacing lawyers electing lawyers. Tom Levis, president of the Iowa State Bar Association and a West Des Moines lawyer, said he was glad to see House Republicans mostly exempt district nominating commissions and delete other provisions in the original bill, which would have allowed the governor to appoint associate district judges and magistrates. But the bar still is opposed to this version because it interjects partisan politics into the courts, Levis said. Assertions that lawyers hold too much control over the nominating commissions arent supported by facts, he said. The Gazette reviewed the affiliations of the 154 people who serve on the state judicial nominating commission and the 14 district commissions. Of the 77 nonlawyer commissioners all appointed by Branstad and Reynolds 70 are Republicans, three are Democrats and four have no party affiliation, state records show. Of the 77 lawyer commissioners elected by attorneys, 25 are Republicans, 43 are Democrats, eight have no party affiliation and one is vacant. Based on simple math, the Republicans control the commissions, Levis said. And if you look at the combined nominating commissions, it has a higher proportion of Republicans, about 29 percent, than (voters) registered in the state. In Iowa, 32.5 percent of registered voters are Republicans, 31.5 percent are Democrats and 36 percent are no-party, according to the Secretary of States Office. Republican commissioners have majority control on nominating commissions in all but two judicial districts. In the 5C District Polk County the nominating commission is split half Republican and half Democratic. In the 6th District Linn, Johnson, Jones, Benton, Iowa and Tama counties the nominating commission is 50 percent Democratic, 40 percent Republican and 10 percent no party. Personal views The State Judicial Nominating Commission is the main concern, Republican lawmakers say. Currently, the membership breaks down to eight appointed Republicans, three elected Republicans and five elected Democrats. State Sen. Julian Garrett, R-Indianola, floor manager of Senate Bill 237, said the public can vote a governor out of office if they dont like his or her appointments. But the public has no such power over lawyers who elect other lawyers. Iowa, he said, needs judges who can set aside their personal points of view in their rulings. He cited an Iowa Supreme Court ruling in June which said the law mandating a 72-hour waiting period for an abortion was unconstitutional as one reason behind the proposal. The merit-based process for selecting Iowa judges and justices has been in place since 1962 and is written into the Iowa Constitution. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley helped develop Iowas system when he was in the Iowa House. A Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll this month found 54 percent of Iowans favor the current system; 33 percent favor a change; and 13 percent were not sure. National efforts Other state legislatures also are considering altering rules that would affect the judiciary, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy institute at New York University Law School. The center found 32 bills in 19 legislatures that would give more control to lawmakers over judicial selection, decision-making and administration. In 2018, lawmakers in 18 states were considering 60 bills that would have increased the role of politics or limited the independence of state courts, the Brennan Center reported. Earlier in the week, Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Ankeny, said GOP lawmakers want to reform the system here to make it fair. Its not about partisanship, he said, but about conflict of interest. Lawyers who elect half the lawyers on judicial nominating commissions have an outsize influence in the process of selecting judges, he said. There are, what, 10,000 or so lawyers in the state and there are 3 million people. How is that fair? he asked. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Steve Holt, R-Dennison, seemed to have a slight change of heart late last week about the role of lawyers at least on the district panel. He said there were concerns legislative leaders who would select the district members might not be representative of those judicial districts. House leaders concluded lawyers who work and live in those districts, though, would be. We also heard from the public that the district commissions worked well, so we didnt change those, Holt said. The amended version does require one member on each of the 14 district commissions to be appointed by the Iowa Supreme Court, like the state commission; and adds rules for electing a chair, which would no longer be a senior judge. The amended bill could be debated by the full House as early as this week. Similar legislation, Senate File 237, already has advanced but currently varies from the House version in the way it would change the district panels. Any changes would have to be debated on the Senate floor. Commissioners speak Karen Fesler, a Republican from Coralville who the governor appointed to the 6th District commission, said she doesnt understand the need for change. Im disappointed the Legislature is involved, Fesler said. The lawyers and citizens have mutual respect for one another. Political parties never come up it doesnt matter. We want the best candidate. We look at an applicants experience, background, how long they have been in practice, their demeanor. Steven Armstrong, a Republican from Cedar Rapids, also appointed to the 6th District commission, said proposed legislation may have unintended consequences bringing politics into judicial appointments. Armstrong said he never felt lawyers on the commission tried to take over or influence the panels selection of finalists to send to the governor. Armstrong said each commissioner had his or her own ideas and say in the process. Anjie Shutts, a Des Moines lawyer who is a Democrat elected to the District 5C commission, said she respects the lay people on the commission because they bring their own experiences and add perspective. Everyone has a vote we are equal partners, Shutts said. Were not interested in politics. Thomas Bernau of Des Moines, a Republican appointed to the District 5C nominating commission, said he can see both sides of the issue because he was appointed but hes also a lawyer. He doesnt think the proposed changes are a bad idea or that they will damage the system. Bernau said its beneficial to be a lawyer-commissioner because he may see things about an applicants education and experience that a lay person might not. David Boyd, a former executive secretary for the 3A and 3B nominating commissions, said anybody who thinks lawyers run those commissions is mistaken. Its very disappointing to me, said Boyd, former Iowa Judicial Branch court administrator. Its a solution in search of a problem. Nobody has been able to articulate a problem with the system. It seems to be based on a few who are upset by certain court decisions. There is already half (commission) appointed by a partisan. Senior Justice Zager and others noted that Iowa consistently has a high ranking in the U.S. Chamber of Commerces annual survey of state courts for fairness and reasonableness. The 2017 survey ranked Iowa 13th overall, ninth for trial judges impartiality and 11th for quality of appellate review. Eighty-five percent of the respondents said a states litigation system is likely to impact their business decisions. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Ask Geotripper Is there something about geology that you are curious about? Do you have questions about the scientific aspects of political controversies? I can try to provide a scientist's perspective. Your questions and possible answers could be a springboard to a blog discussion, or they can be private. Anonymity is always assumed. Contact Geotripper at hayesg (at) mjc.edu. Five weeks after leaving Congress and being sworn in as Colorados 43rd governor, Jared Polis sat down with Colorado Politics in his office at the Capitol for one of his first extensive interviews since assuming his new post. The Democrat already has begun remaking the office to suit his taste, hanging artwork from his personal collection alongside the massive iconic John Fielder landscape photo that looms over his desk. In a wide-ranging conversation Feb. 14, Polis opened up about the speed of government under the dome, the prognosis for several of his signature initiatives and what keeps him up at night. If were going to make progress on funding full-day kindergarten statewide and moving Colorados power grid toward all-renewable energy, the former tech entrepreneur said, theres a huge opportunity at the state level, and were already doing it. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Colorado Politics: Youve been in your new job for just over five weeks. What can you say about the pace of things here, at the Capitol, compared with Washington, in Congress? Polis: Its certainly faster here. Nationally, theres a lot going on in a particular area at any given time. But here, in part because the Legislature is here for only 4, five months, in part because we all (on) the executive side have to really set up the state government we had appointments to really get it going theres been a real rapid pace of action here the last couple of months. Its standing up the state government, putting senior appointees in place and then working on the legislative agenda and relationships. CP: You said when you were running that you could make a difference here that you couldnt in Congress. You were a CEO before you were a legislator. Whats the difference there? Polis: Theres a logjam in Washington, and if were going to make any progress in reducing health care costs, itll be here in Colorado. If were going to make progress on full-day kindergarten, its here in Colorado. If were making progress on renewable energy, thats not happening in Washington. It all occurred not just at the state level, but counties and cities and private-sector employers are all leading the way. So to be able to actually move forward on all these initiatives, theres a huge opportunity at the state level, and were already doing it. CP: What is the one thing Congress can do to make your job easier? Polis: First of all, dont let the federal government shut down. When I took office, there was a shutdown. The costs of that were slowly mounting over time, and there would have been an enormous cliff of costs had the federal government stayed closed another few weeks. We hope that they are responsible and continue. So do no harm is first and foremost. After that, we would absolutely love if Democrats and Republicans can work together on an infrastructure package that would allow states like us to be able to meet our needs to reduce traffic in the face of two voter-rejected (transportation) initiatives. CP: Do you anticipate that? Polis: Its in the realm of the possible, of the big things a Democratic (U.S. House), a Republican Senate, a Republican president might be able to work together on. They certainly all agree on the responsibility of the federal government to step up on infrastructure. President (Donald) Trump has called for it; Democratic leadership in the House has called for it. So while Im sure they have differences, its an area where I think they could potentially work together to benefit Coloradans. CP: In Congress, the last decade, you were known for being part of, lets say, unconventional alliances. Have you had the opportunity to form any of those yet here? Polis: I meet with legislators of both parties regularly regular meetings with Republican leadership and Democratic leadership. When Im traveling the state, we invite whoever the legislator is to be there if they want to be. Sometimes it conflicts with their duties here and they cant, but we always as a courtesy invite the Republican and Democrat. Were looking forward to getting to know and work with, really, everybody here, all hundred legislators and also our county commissioners and our city councilors and mayors. I today met with the (Colorado) Municipal League. And, of course, counties are very important, because theyre political subdivisions of the state, and they deliver our state services on the social services front, and we see them as very important partners, and, of course, school districts as well. CP: The tax cut you talked about on the campaign trail, that seems to be in alignment with some Republicans who also want to see that and have said that closing loopholes to lower the overall tax rate is a goal they have. Is that on track? Polis: Well, I hope so. I think there are members of both parties that are open to that, there are people that support that. There will also be, of course, some interests that dont like closing this (tax break) or that one. We look forward to working with Republicans and Democrats on that. Thats our goal. Were obviously going to continue to try to build that coalition to reduce our tax rate. CP: Is a straight-across tax cut the best approach to that? Polis: Right, and obviously theres some pent-up frustration on the progressive side that we dont have a different tax structure in general, but this is a way to make it more fair, more progressive within the power we have in this building. There are things the voters can do, but I feel that the legislators, the governor, we should all rise to the occasion of accomplishing what we can accomplish in this building and understanding that the voters have a lot of power in this state. But can we make our tax code more fair? Absolutely. We can reduce loopholes and tax expenditures and pass along the savings to families so they can have a little bit more money left in their pocket every month. CP: With Democrats in the majority in the U.S. House and, it appears, moving aggressively on issues such as gun safety, administration oversight, campaign finance, climate have there been any times since you became governor that youve missed being in Washington? Polis: No. I mean, Im thrilled not to get on an airplane every week, and its been very exciting to focus on getting our agencies going. Ive held town halls at several agencies. Im going to get around to every agency in my first nine months. Id like to be more ambitious than that, but Ill tell you nine months so that if I dont do it after six you dont say I didnt do it. (Chuckles.) And Ive been to several town halls with our state employees, (and) as we also look to set up our process for appointing judges and boards and commissions, its been really exciting to really reach out and tap some of the best and most knowledgeable people from across our state. CP: Would you have signed on to the Green New Deal, as it was introduced in Congress? Polis: Well, Im not a congressman anymore, so Im not following all the legislation in Washington. There are over 500 bills here that we are trying to get up to speed on and monitor through the process. CP: Theres a lot in that refurbishing every building, moving toward doing away with air travel to the extent possible, reformulating the agriculture industry and speeding up carbon-neutral power generation. Polis: Our goal is different in Colorado, and thats 100 percent renewables by 2040. I dont know the details of that legislation, but I think it had a more aggressive date, didnt it? CP: By 2030. Polis: So our plan here is 100 percent renewable energy on the grid by 2040. CP: In comparison to (your goal), which was decried in some quarters as a radical proposal. Polis: Right, (but) we feel its achievable. CP: Studies have come out since the election showing the climate could be changing in more alarming ways than we thought. Does Colorado need to be doing more than that? Polis: We are doing more. The (electric power) grid is the single largest source of pollution and carbon, so we are focused on renewable energy goals there. But if you look at automobiles, our very first executive order was around electric vehicles. We look forward to continuing to make electric vehicles more cost-effective for Coloradans and also look at additional rail and bus transit opportunities for people to commute that compete on time and price with other options. So were really looking at all those aspects of reducing pollution. CP: Youve seen what (California Gov.) Gavin Newsome has done, eliminating the San Francisco to Los Angeles bullet train? Polis: Thats different. That was a big, high-speed, multibillion-dollar train. We have light rail. We dont have fully in place a suburban community solution. The Legislature started the process close to two years ago of looking into Front Range rail. Im supportive of Front Range rail. We have to work the economics to make sure that it can provide a cost-effective solution for commuters and for people to get to their jobs. On both time and cost, it has to compete with driving their cars, or people wont want to use it. So thats the work thats being done. This is not the enormous cost thing that California was looking at. CP: Up I-70 through your old (congressional) district, are we going to see something soon or in our lifetimes? Polis: In our lifetimes, I hope so. The planning process requires a lot of work because of the engineering needs of that corridor. Were going to continue Gov. (John) Hickenloopers work around (zipper) lanes and reversible lanes, doing what we can with the infrastructure we have. But absolutely, were looking at larger scale potential solutions, including rail for that corridor. But those are a longer lead time. Even if were able to get them going, they would take many years to complete. CP: Your first executive order was aimed at increasing the availability of electric vehicles in Colorado and encouraging their adoption. How soon will we know if thats succeeding? Polis: Youll see the effects next year in terms of more models being offered in Colorado. We have only 21 models of electric vehicles that are for sale through dealerships in Colorado. States that have these standards have over 40 models of electric vehicles. I fully expect that a year from now, well be closer to 40 models of electric vehicles that Coloradans can choose to buy. CP: You havent talked a lot about transportation funding specifics yet, though you said in a recent interview with Colorado Public Radio that youre working with Republicans, Democrats and business groups to see what might work. Can you give us an update on that? Do you want to see a referendum sent to voters on that this (legislative) session? Polis: We start with, really, now, what the voters rejected. The voters just rejected two different ways to fund transportation. The voters rejected bonding with no revenue, and they rejected a 0.6 (percent) sales tax increment. So we are ruling those out, but we also hear from voters and Coloradans that they want less traffic, they want us to do something about their longer commutes and getting to the mountains on weekends and bridges that are beyond their life expectancy. So its a matter of figuring out how voters want to meet those priorities, because they clearly dont through bonding with no revenue or sales tax increment. CP: Want to see something this session sent to voters? Polis: Were happy to engage with legislative leadership on different ideas. Again, we would want to make sure that its something that we feel that voters want to do, as opposed to a hopeless quest that has very little support. CP: Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, speaking of sending things to voters, wants to ask voters to take lottery money from Great Outdoors Colorado to give to public schools. Is that a good idea? Polis: Our Colorado Lottery funds and Great Outdoors Colorado is the dedicated funding source for our parks and open space, really a lot of what makes Colorado iconic. We need to make sure that we continue that commitment to our quality of life in Colorado, and we need to search elsewhere for our funds for schools. CP: Presidential candidates do you have a favorite? Polis: We dont even know who the candidates are at this point. Theres a few that have started, but I would expect in the next few months well see who those candidates are. CP: What are the Democratic presidential candidates not talking about that youd like to hear them address? Polis: I would love them to visit Colorado and campaign here and address Colorado issues affecting our quality of life. I think its very good, the more people are in that (race) and the more come learn about Colorado and our goals and aspirations, the better. CP: Youve recently flagged some articles and studies on Twitter involving universal basic income, around the world. Is that something youd like to work on here in Colorado? Polis: I think generally Ive been looking at data thats just starting to come in from some pilot programs, so were, from my perspective, we certainly dont have any recommendation to not do it or to do it, but we are certainly following and interested in pilot programs that exist in various countries and within our own country. CP: (LGBTQ advocacy group) One Colorado had their day at the Capitol here (Feb. 13), and you took one of your famous group selfies with them. Colorado now has a first gentleman, for the first time. Does it feel historic? Polis: This is a job like any other, and its great to overcome that barrier so its less of an issue for anybody else moving forward. But no, at the end of the day, we have to reduce health care costs, improve our schools and protect our environment and reduce traffic and all those things the people have sent me here to do. CP: Something the folks at Politico Playbook asked Gov. Hickenlooper, its a standard question they have what is it that keeps you up at night? He said cybersecurity threats, particularly from foreign entities bent on our destruction. What keeps you up at night? Polis: I would say, its going to be natural disasters in Colorado. We will have fires, we will have floods. So trying to be ahead of the curve to minimize damage and contain them quickly is really one of the biggest concerns that really affects our state. Readiness and the part of it thats out of our control in terms of what happens and what gets started and how dry things are. CP: Are you enjoying the job? Polis: Its exciting so far. Absolutely. Best, most amazing people to work with, great state employees, and really enjoying working with the Legislature and the state employees. Im getting out around the state, too. Theres a logjam in Washington, and if were going to make any progress in reducing health care costs, itll be here in Colorado. If were going to make progress on full-day kindergarten, its here in Colorado. If were making progress on renewable energy, thats not happening in Washington. Gov. Jared Polis Once upon a time in the early 1970s, an aspiring artist whose father had cautioned him against a life of frivolous pursuits headed slightly west and found his true north. The moment I got over that hill from the Springs and entered Manitou, it was like, Hey, this is it. This is where I want to live, said Charles Rockey, the affectionate godfather of the Manitou Springs arts scene, who turned 87 last month. Manitou is kind of fairy tale land for me. Its just magical. I cant imagine a better place to be. In the decades since Rockey settled his family and workshop in a historic three-story building fronting Canon Avenue, the artist, writer and illustrator who prefers to loan or give away his work, rather than sell it estimates he has painted scenes of the town almost a thousand times. And none of them look the same, he said, gazing out the big front window of his workshop and storefront-level apartment on an early May morning last year. This is the best view of Manitou in town: Clock, mountains behind it, the birds, and the big tree right there thats just starting to look green. I love it, and to me, thats the bottom line. Thats where all the beauty comes from: Love. The handwritten sign taped to the window of Rockeys shop reads Artwork: intentional and unintentional. But just to be clear: Nothing here is exactly accidental. Its like everything he touches is a piece of art, something he made into a piece of art: The love seat, the windows that were broken that he turned into a beautiful design, said longtime friend and fellow Manitou Springs artist Tina Riesterer. Its like his every breath is about making art. If not for the high ceilings and sidelong sunlight, the space inside Rockeys workshop could be a dust-moted rummage shop in Middle Earth. The walls are stacked with paintings and every flat surface is choked with art, found and created. Much of the furniture has a face, somewhere. A 10-foot-tall statue of a dressed-down Zebulon Pike, the prototype for an erstwhile public installation that didnt pan out, looms large beneath a dangling dragon-kite whose talons clutch a doll-damsel that, as Rockey explains it, is not in distress but freshly rescued from an unwelcome suitor. Everything here, theyre all good guys, he said. And everybodys got a story. As for the artworks good-guy creator, his story begins in Baltimore, continues in the mountains of Evergreen and ultimately takes a pivotal twist in the Springs, where Rockey was living when he was drafted into the Army and wound up teaching pottery to troops at Fort Carson. I thought I was going to see the world, but they put me four miles away from home, said Rockey, who went on to teach art at schools in the Springs for almost 30 years. Even back then, he wasnt the type to leave his work at the office. His daughter Hannah said she has no complaints about growing up in her dads Tolkienesque habitat, though it was an upbringing that nonetheless led to occasional awkward moments. Id go to friends houses, and its, like, Wheres your naked man and your gargoyle? Wheres the naked ladies in your furniture? said Hannah, an artist, actor and teacher, who fondly recalls family jaunts in a camper her father built, from scratch, and decked out with beds and stoves and gargoyles. Back at their Canon Ave. home, the decor was that, and then some. Our house is artwork. There is not a plumbing piece, not an inkwell, a bird nest, a rock, an egg carton, that is not artwork, said Hannah, who now lives in the apartment upstairs. Dad lives art. Dad is art. Linda Morlan moved to Manitou in 1978, and by the time her official introduction to Rockey happened a few years later, over a game of Ms. Pac-Man at a downtown watering hole, she said part of her felt like she already knew him. Everywhere youd go, youd see him painting, all over town, in any kind of weather. And his door was always open, said Morlan, whose husband, Rob, began creating a life-sized sculpture of Rockey in 2006. The goal is to install the sculpture in a public location downtown once it's complete. Rockey liked the idea of a sculpture being raised to celebrate art, and him by association, but making money from his creations is a thing thats always rubbed him the wrong way. Hes always been very loving and giving and caring. Hed give you the shirt off his back, and hed rather give away his art than sell it, Linda Morlan said. Rockeys first, and only, public art show and sale, in 2001, left a lasting impression. There were hundreds and hundreds of people waiting in line in a blizzard, and everything sold out in maybe half an hour, said Hannah. Dad was really sad and said hed never do that again. He wanted people to choose a painting because that was the one they were in love with, not because they better grab one before they all go. Giving away or selling a painting feels like giving up a child. He loves them that much. Love Songs of Middle-Time was, in a way, his solution. The elaborately inked three-pound tome, published in 2015, contains more than 115 love songs and fables. Love, to me, is the most essential thing in a persons life, Rockey said. Youve got to love life, love what youre doing, love everything. Dave Ball joined Rockey to bring the book to life about 20 years ago, around the time Rockey put up his paintbrush (mostly) for good, to focus on writing and illustrating. It was great working with him. A lot of times, I would consider something finished and Rockey would add something to it I never would have considered, said Ball, who did the books layout. The thing about Rockey that inspires me is that he raised a family, was a teacher for 30 years and yet remained devoted to his creativity, which he shared with everybody. Everyone just loves him. Ball was in the basement when flood waters slammed down the mountain in 2013, temporarily trapping him and leaving four feet of smoke-smelling mud that threatened years of the artists stored paintings and drawings. Most of the pieces could be saved, but a collection of original detail illustrations Rockey created for the text of Love Songs were destroyed. We had maybe 200 people a day showing up down here to help clean up, all that week after, Hannah said. Thats Manitou for you. Surviving original illustrations created for Love Songs can be seen today at Miramont Castle, while Rockeys landscapes hang at The Cliff House and Adams Mountain Cafe. His daughter and friends set up a side room to sell prints out of the Canon Avenue space, but Rockey doesnt market his work and isnt represented by a gallery. He also never kept records of the pieces he loaned out. Hes like a Van Gogh, not out to make a dollar, more about the inspiration and devotion to the art, Ball said. That devotion remains, even though its been a few months since Rockey has felt up to doing the sketches and poems that used to flow through every free moment. He still has plans, though, including finishing a collection of wisdom he calls the Sixteen Manners of Being. If you were to have all these 16 with you, youd be living the best life in the world, he said. Youd be the richest person that could be. Rich as in fulfilled, not like money. Colorado may have a four-star ally in the battle to keep its big role in the military space business. Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Forces top general, visited Colorado last week and had nothing but praise for the home of five of his services installations and its top command for space. I dont think there is a state where the Air Force has a bigger footprint, Goldfein told The Gazette. My biggest message is to just thank the community. The Air Force under Goldfeins leadership is helping to craft a new Space Force at the urging of President Donald Trump. In a White House ceremony last week, Trump signed a directive that would put the space service under the Air Force at first, with a future transition into a separate military department. Trumps plan needs approval from Congress and faces skepticism, especially in the Democratic-majority House, where lawmakers have balked at what they see as ballooning budgets and burgeoning bureaucracy that would accompany a separate Space Force. Goldfein didnt address the politics or the specifics of the emerging Space Force plans. But he heaped praise on the Pikes Peak region, which is home to the bulk of Air Force satellite troops. I say, first and foremost, Colorado is the home of our Air Force Space Command, Goldfein said. If anything, I think it is a very healthy future for Colorado and our space community. The Pentagon is readying to reprise U.S. Space Command, which was shuttered in 2003 in favor of U.S. Northern Command. The old command, a Pentagon-wide version of Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, was in Colorado Springs. But the new version, which the Pentagon sees as a key component of the new Space Force, already has several states in addition to Colorado battling to house it, including most notably Florida and Alabama. Goldfein said a formal process to evaluate homes for the command is planned. But it certainly doesnt hurt Colorado Springs to have the top airmans affection. A 1983 Air Force Academy graduate, Goldfein came through town to address the schools National Character and Leadership Symposium. The general shared stories about his rocky start as a cadet he dropped out at one point to bicycle across America and challenges he has faced in uniform, including getting shot down over Serbia in 1999. A fighter pilot by trade, Goldfein was appointed to the top Air Force post by President Barack Obama in 2016. He has used the position to push the service toward multi-domain warfare, that values computer attacks and space systems as much as it does fighters and bombers. Have we embraced space superiority with the same passion we have embraced air superiority? he asked a crowd of cadets who filled an academy auditorium to hear him speak Friday morning. While space systems involve a relatively small contingent of the Air Forces 322,000 troops, the service has an outsize presence in the field compared with the rest of the Defense Department. The service controls systems for missile warning, communications, intelligence and navigation. As a service, we are responsible for 90 percent of the space architecture, he told cadets. Changing that architecture has been a top priority for the service, with leaders envisioning an agile fleet of smaller satellites that are easier to defend from enemy attacks and cost a fraction of the school bus-sized satellites in use today. In Congress this year, Goldfein is arguing for increasing the Air Forces fleet of planes while boosting space spending and embarking on a program to modernize the Air Forces nuclear weapons, which is the most controversial item on the agenda. The Air Force holds two corners of the militarys nuclear triad, with intercontinental ballistic missiles and atomic weapons launched or dropped from planes. But the newest pieces of the Air Forces nuclear arsenal were built in the Reagan era, and some of them date back to the presidency of Richard Nixon. The nuclear push has proved unpopular with House Democrats. Washington Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, who took over last month as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, came out in opposition to nuclear development plans last fall. We already have a nuclear deterrent that is more than adequate to achieve our national security goals, Smith wrote on Twitter. Goldfein said hes ready to make the case for new weapons. I think we are going to have a robust debate, he said. Goldfein has also used his post to push for more women and minorities in the Air Force and said hes pleased with progress he has seen at the academy, which will bring in a freshman class this summer thats one-third female. Im one who believes that increased diversity is a joint warfighting imperative in the Air Force, he said. But away from policy and looming congressional fights, Goldfein says his big message to Colorado is one of gratitude. The general says he wants to repay the courtesy he was shown here as a cadet. I remember how well I was taken care of by the Colorado Springs community, he said. -- Contact Tom Roeder: 636-0240 Twitter: @xroederx Contact Tom Roeder: 636-0240 Twitter: @xroederx Communist Party of Nepal owns up to Nakkhu blast and arsons in districts The Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal has claimed responsibility for Fridays blast in Nakkhu and attacks on telephone towers of Ncell in various places across the country, according to a report in Kantipur daily. Editor's note: This story has been updated to include new snow reports published just after noon Saturday. A snowstorm that moved into the Pikes Peak region Friday night dropped up to 9 inches of snow before tapering off Saturday morning. The highest reported totals 9.3 inches in Black Forest, 7.5 inches in Bear Creek Regional Park and 7 inches in Manitou Springs far exceeded the National Weather Service's initial forecast of 1 to 3 inches. "We got a heavier band (of snow) that we weren't expecting that stayed longer than expected," said weather service meteorologist Brad Carlsberg. "That can be the hardest part of forecasting these storms: finding the very narrow bands that set up over small locations and figuring out how long they will stay there." (Have snow photos? Email them to digital@gazette.com) The heavy accumulations of snow fell on top of an icy base, creating hazardous driving conditions Saturday morning. Colorado Springs and El Paso County road crews are out in full force, but are advising people to stay off the streets. Both Colorado Springs and Fountain went on Accident Alert status Friday evening. Fountain canceled the status at 11:20 A.M. Saturday. Several organizations have announced delays and closures for Saturday. The Colorado Springs Airport cancelled at least three flights, all of which were headed to and from Denver. The airport also delayed a handful of trips, which can be found here. In Denver, the weather service reported between 2 and 8.5 inches of snow, including 8.3 inches at Denver International Airport. According to 9News, FlightAware reported about 600 delays in and out of DIA. Those with morning flights are encouraged to monitor for delays or cancellations. Interstates 25 and 225 in Denver have been riddled with crashes Saturday morning, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation's Twitter. The southern Front Range also reported notable snow totals 7 inches in Colorado City, 6.5 in Beulah and 3.4 in Walsenberg, the weather service reported. Blowing snow, fog and ice closed I-25 on Raton Pass over the New Mexico border for nearly 4 hours beginning about 8 a.m. Weather conditions Saturday night and Sunday in Colorado Springs are expected to be dry and mostly clear. Before Black History Month ends, lets celebrate one of its great heroes, Clarence Mitchell Jr., the Washington lobbyist for the NAACP during the 1960s. That was when Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the legislative fruit of the civil rights movement. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led the demonstrations and protests that got the movement rolling, but it was Mitchell who, as a skilled lobbyist, turned that momentum into workable and durable civil rights legislation. Mitchell, a resident of nearby Baltimore, was an old Washington hand. In the early 1940s, he worked for labor union reform under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Middle-aged by the 1960s, he was a familiar figure on Capitol Hill, lobbying strenuously for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He spent so much time with U.S. senators and representatives that he was nicknamed the 101st senator. In the summer of 1963, after the pivotal civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, Ala., President John F. Kennedy sent a strong civil rights bill to Congress. In the House, pro-segregation and anti-civil rights Southern Democrats worked hard to weaken it with crippling amendments. Mitchell sensed a problem. The Democratic whip system in the House was controlled by Southerners, who were not about to let fellow Democrats vote down amendments supporting segregation. So Mitchell developed a gallery watchers-office visitors system. Activist NAACP volunteers were called to Washington, where half would sit in the House gallery to ensure that supportive representatives would be there to vote down crippling amendments. The gallery watchers had to work by memory, because note-taking or any other form of writing was not allowed in the gallery. If one of the representatives to whom that watcher was assigned wasnt on the House floor, the watcher would call Mitchells office visitors. They would immediately find the truant representative and urge a return to the House chamber to support civil rights. Suddenly the Southerners began to notice that the galleries were full of people, many of them African-American, and that all the pro-civil rights representatives were on the House floor when needed. A Southern Democratic representative from Florida later remarked that the bill never would have passed the House without all those watchers. Kennedy was assassinated while the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was before the House. His successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, called on Congress to pass the act in Kennedys memory. Johnson well knew about Mitchells efforts. And the day the bill passed the House, Johnson called Mitchell and told him, Weve got it through the House, and now weve got the big job of getting it through the Senate. Via filibuster, a few U.S. senators talking endlessly about proposed legislation could talk it to death. Earlier civil rights bills had been killed in the Senate by a filibuster by the Southern Democrats. The filibuster began in March 1964. The Southerners droned and drawled until it was almost June. The only way to stop a filibuster was to get a cloture vote of 67, two-thirds of the 100 senators. A large coalition of Republicans and Democrats from the North and West would have to be assembled to gain such a large vote. As chief lobbyist for the bill, Mitchell had to get those votes without making any deals that weakened the legislation. His lobbying is illustrated in his conversation with Hubert Humphrey, then the Democratic floor leader for the bill in the Senate: Mitchell: There has been an incredible reversal. Is our side caving in? It is unfair to cave in. Humphrey: We are going to talk about cloture. We have to plan to pass the bill. We dont have 67 votes for cloture. Mitchell: You are shooting your friends if you trade (provisions of the bill for cloture votes). In the end, Mitchell prevailed. The needed votes were secured for cloture, the Senate debate ended, and Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. The new law ended racial segregation in all places of public access, such as restaurants, hotels, motels, swimming pools and hospitals. It provided for the cut-off of public funds for those businesses or governments that continued to discriminate, and it provided for equal employment opportunity without regard to race, religion or national origin. One year later, in the spring and summer of 1965, Mitchell went through the same process with voting rights. After King led demonstrations in Selma, Ala., Mitchell guided the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which also had to be gotten past a Senate filibuster with a cloture vote. Heres to Clarence Mitchell Jr. His life personified some of the best of black history in the United States. Colorado College political scientist Bob Loevy was a Senate aide in 1964-65. He attended a number of meetings with Clarence Mitchell Jr. to make civil rights strategy. The public will have a chance on Thursday to weigh in on plans for a trail that will one day link the eastern and western edges of Manitou Springs. The city will hold an open house event at Manitou Springs City Hall from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday to discuss the plans for the Creek Walk, which will mostly run along Fountain Creek, extending the Midland Trail and eventually connecting to Rainbow Falls Historic Site just west of the city. A question-and-answer session will take place at 5:30 p.m. Attendees will have the chance to learn more about the project and offer comments for the Creek Walk master plan. Construction could begin on the Creek Walk in spring 2019, officials told the public at a January open house Colorado Springs is home to the bulk of the militarys space troops with Air Force Space Command and Army Space and Missile Defense Command at Peterson Air Force Base and other units at Schriever Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station and Fort Carson. But that didnt slow Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis from making a pitch to put the Space Force in a new home. Today, I am formally sending a request to @real DonaldTrump to place the headquarters for the Space Force Combatant Command here in Florida @NASA Kennedy in Cape Canaveral, DeSantis wrote on Twitter. Trump on Tuesday signed Space Policy Directive 4, which called for the creation of a Space Force and placing the new service, temporarily, under the Department of the Air Force. The approach is designed to woo lawmakers who fear pushing space troops into a new service branch will balloon bureaucracy and costs. The Space Force is still just a dream for Trump, who began crusading for the new service early in his presidency and continues to use the proposal as a crowd-pleaser at his rallies. Congress must create the service and set new policies that will outline its roles and missions. Lawmakers will also hold sway on where the new service is located and what real estate, if any, will be transferred to the branch. Colorado lawmakers have pushed for more than a year to house the new service, with Colorado Springs Republican U.S. Rep Doug Lamborn leading the charge. Lamborn this year took the post as ranking member of the powerful subcommittee overseeing military readiness and told The Gazette he will use that heft to push the service to Colorado. Lamborn was joined Wednesday by Colorado Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, who issued a plea to house the Space Force here. Colorado is proud to support our nations military space operations today and into the future, Gardner said in a statement. I look forward to reviewing the Administrations proposal for expanded space operation and development. What the Space Force will look like is still up in the air, and the new service could be killed before it is launched by House Democrats. Washington Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, who heads the House Armed Services Committee, is already tangling with Trump over the presidents border wall deal. In declaring an emergency to build the border wall, Trump targeted more than $3.5 billion in military construction funds and also raided a Pentagon account for counter-narcotics operations. It is not our top national security priority to build a wall at our southern border., Smith said on Twitter. Taking money from the Department of Defense for this purpose makes us less safe. Contact Tom Roeder: 636-0240 Twitter: @xroederx Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Cloudy this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 67F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy with showers and a few thunderstorms. Low near 50F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. A new round of peace talks between Taliban and U.S. negotiators is to begin in Doha this week and will include the militant groups co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, according to Taliban and diplomatic sources in Qatar. Reports said the talks were set to begin in the Qatari capital on February 25, and were expected to center around a cease-fire to end Afghanistan's 17-year conflict and the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country. The U.S. negotiating team will be led by the United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad. Afghan Taliban leaders had said that their new political chief, Baradar, would not attend the negotiations because he had had difficulties obtaining travel documents. The Taliban also said there were differences among the Taliban leadership over the precise role that Baradar should have in the talks. Baradar was released from a Pakistani jail in October. His appointment was widely seen as marking a new push by the Taliban to achieve political and diplomatic legitimacy. The Taliban, which now reportedly controls nearly half of Afghanistan, has held a series of direct talks with Khalilzad in recent months. However, the group has so far refused to hold direct negotiations with the Afghan government, calling it a Western puppet. During their previous round of talks in Doha, U.S. and Taliban negotiators reached the basic framework of a possible peace deal. The agreement calls for the Taliban to prevent international terrorist groups from basing themselves in Afghanistan and for the United States to withdraw its forces from the country. 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-Qaeda terrorists, including Osama bin Laden, blamed for launching the September 11 attacks in the United States. With reporting by Reuters Business climate is extremely important for private sector participation: IFC Vice President Nena Stoiljkovic Nena Stoiljkovic is International Finance Corporations Vice President for the Asia-Pacific region. She is responsible for all IFC operations in the regions 29 countries. Landlocked Afghanistan has sent its first export shipment to India through Iran's strategic Chabahar Port. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who attended a special ceremony on February 24 in the western city of Zaranj to mark the event, said the exports through the Iranian port on the Indian Ocean would connect "hundreds of villages and millions of" Afghans to the outside world. "Chabahar Port is the result of healthy cooperation between India, Iran, and Afghanistan this will ensure economic growth," he added. The shipment contained 570 tons of dried fruits, textiles, carpets, and other goods carried by 23 vehicles, Afghan officials said. The consignment is to be shipped to the port city of Mumbai in western India. Key Supply Route Chabahar Port, inaugurated in 2017, has been built largely by India and will provide a key supply route for Afghanistan while allowing India to bypass rival Pakistan to trade with Central Asia. Most of Afghanistan's imports and exports currently go through Pakistan, which Kabul accuses of harboring the Afghan Taliban. The U.S. State Department in November exempted the Chabahar Port project from its sanctions on Iran in recognition of its importance to war-torn Afghanistan. The U.S. sanctions are intended to exert pressure on Iran to renegotiate its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which President Donald Trump walked away from in May 2018. The effort to build up Afghanistan's economy is aimed at reducing Kabul's dependence on foreign aid and putting a major dent in the illicit opium trade that has been a major source of revenue for the Taliban insurgency. New Delhi has poured $2 billion into development in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban's government. In December 2018, the state-owned India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) formally took over operations at Chabahar Port. With reporting by Reuters I went because I wanted to be part of the global church, to see what the Lord is doing outside of what I know and am familiar with, he said. I also thought this would be an opportunity to serve and to be a blessing to brothers and sisters in Christ and to be a blessing to the church. The trip proved to be a learning experience. I learned a lot about Cuba and the church in Cuba and I also grew in my own understanding of Scripture and evangelism, he said. And I was greatly encouraged by the believers in Cuba. Their faith is inspiring. Swett said Murdoch did most of the speaking. Id do one session each day so six sessions total, he said. Between 150 and 175 people are estimated to have participated in the sessions. In the sessions, they stressed the importance of a change in the attitude of the heart. Swett cites research which indicates that only two to five percent of people who respond to a Christian message and commit their lives to Jesus can be found in a church a short time later. For much of the past four decades, North Koreas nuclear ambitions have focused on a sprawling complex nestled in the mountains north of Pyongyang. All of that could come to an end after President Donald Trump and leader Kim Jong Un meet next week. The dismantlement of the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center has emerged in recent months as a potential outcome from a second summit between the leaders planned for Feb. 27-28 in Vietnam. Moon Chung-in, a special adviser to South Koreas president, told Bloomberg last week that Kim had agreed to close the plant and allow inspectors possibly giving the U.S. valuable insights into Kims weapons programs. A deal to shutter Yongbyon would represent Trumps first tangible victory toward reducing Kims nuclear capacity since he granted an unprecedented meeting last June even though North Korea has made similar promises before. The move could potentially deprive Kim of enough plutonium to make roughly one atomic bomb a year, and possibly other materials needed to make smaller, more powerful nuclear weapons. Still, that would fall far short of the final, fully verified denuclearization that Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and other Trump administration officials have demanded. Even if he closes Yongbyon, arms control experts say Kim probably has at least one other secret plant that can produce enough uranium to make as many as six nuclear bombs a year. Chun Yungwoo, a former South Korean nuclear envoy who helped broker one of the deals to shut Yongbyon, said the regime has shifted its focus to building better warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles that could hit the U.S. North Korea probably has enough fissile material to continue most of its nuclear weapons program, even if it closed all its other fuel-production facilities, Chun said. Ten years ago, that was our main concern, he said. The relative value of Yongbyon and the enrichment plants outside of Yongbyon is now negligible. Story continues Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that he was in no rush whatsoever to reach a deal with Kim because he has a strong relationship with the North Korean leader and that sanctions against the country remained in place while the two sides talk. Meanwhile, the U.S.s special representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, was traveling to Hanoi to prepare for the summit, the State Department said. Yongbyon, located about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the capital, carries symbolic value as the long-time crown jewel of North Koreas nuclear weapons program. First constructed in 1979, its reactor has produced little electricity, but supplied the plutonium and research facilities needed for North Korea to test its first atomic bomb in 2006. Kim Jong Un put Yongbyon back on the table in a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in September, when he expressed a willingness to accept the permanent dismantlement of the plant in exchange for corresponding measures by the U.S. Moon Chung-in, the presidents adviser, said Kim also agreed during that meeting to accept verification of its demolition. Yongbyon: From Crown Jewel to Bargaining Chip 1979: Construction of 5-megawatt reactor begins 1985: North Korea joins non-proliferation treaty, reveals plant 1986: Reactor beings operation 1994: Agreed Framework deal freezes operations 2002: North Korea ejects inspectors, restarts plant 2003: Kim regime withdraws from NPT 2006: First nuclear bomb test conducted 2007: Six nations agree to trade aid for Yongbyon shutdown 2008: North Korea demolishes cooling tower 2009: Talks collapse; inspectors ejected again 2010: Expert team finds Yongbyon uranium-enrichment facility 2017: North Korea tests hydrogen bomb, ICBMs 2018: Kim offers to dismantle plant for U.S. concessionsClosing Yongbyon, as well as a lab that might produce tritium a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that helps in miniaturizing warheads would be a success, according to Siegfried Hecker, who was among a group of nuclear scientists who observed a uranium-enrichment operation at the facility during a 2010 inspection tour. Nuclear Bombs Shutting down and dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear complex is a big deal, said Hecker, who has visited the site four times. It will stop the production of plutonium and tritium. And it will greatly diminish the ability to make highly enriched uranium. Still, inspecting the dozens of buildings at Yongbyon could take weeks and full dismantlement would drag on even longer. Disagreements might arise over how much of the complex is covered by any deal. South Korea and other advocates of a gradual approach to talks with North Korea argue that Yongbyons dismantlement would build trust and encourage more significant concessions by Kim. Biegun, the U.S. envoy, said last month that the North Korean leader has committed to the dismantlement of enrichment facilities beyond Yongbyon in conversations with Pompeo and South Korean officials. How much Trump administration can accomplish by next week remains uncertain. Biegun told visiting South Korean lawmakers last week that it would be hard to resolve remaining disputes in advance and that talks were likely to stretch beyond the summit. In exchange for dismantling Yongbyon, Kim would probably demand relief from international sanctions the U.S.s main point of leverage in negotiations. Trump showed a positive response to President Moons proposal during their phone call to consider inter-Korean projects such as railways and roads to reward Kims steps toward denuclearization, the South Korean presidential office said. The demolition would require delicate negotiations on where and when inspectors can roam, an area where similar talks collapsed a decade ago. The regime might divert nuclear materials to other facilities. North Korea twice agreed to halt operations and let in nuclear inspectors in exchange for aid before Kim Jong Un took power, once in the mid-1990s and again in the mid-2000s. Both times, North Korea walked away and returned to military provocations after disagreements over how to implement the deal. We do want to make sure that the shutdown of Yongbyon is as comprehensive as possible and as irreversible as possible, said Melissa Hanham, a non-proliferation expert and director of the One Earth Future Foundations Datayo Project. We dont want to repeat the mistakes of the past. By Mai Nguyen and Kham Nguyen HANOI, Feb 24 (Reuters) - While the leaders of North Korea and the United States debate banishing nuclear bombs from the Korean peninsula, the host of their summit this week, Vietnam, long almost synonymous with war, is relishing its role as a promoter of peace. U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet on Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi, hoping to build on their historic summit in Singapore in June, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. Vietnam's hosting of the high-stakes talks marks its emergence as a trust-worthy, responsible member of the international community that has forged peace with old enemies, and can now help others to do so, Vietnamese officials say. Since emerging from decades of diplomatic isolation in the early 1990s, Vietnam has been eager to improve ties with large powers and the region to help balance its historically thorny relations with giant neighbour, China, which confronts Vietnam over claims to the resource-rich South China Sea. The boost to Vietnam's international status that the summit should confer would support that strategy. Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung said the United States and North Korea were both keen to hold their summit in Vietnam. "It shows that Vietnam is a responsible and active member of the international community, wanting to contribute to the peace process and that Vietnam's policy is to raise the level of multi-lateral foreign policy," Trung told reporters last week. Vietnam was at war almost continuously for some 45 years, from the end of World War Two through to the early 1990s, battling France, the United States, China and Cambodia's Khmer Rouge. Far off Geneva and Paris hosted negotiations to end those wars, but this time Hanoi is the "city for peace", Trung said. "Vietnam is a nation that is really fond of peace but also had to suffer wars, and usually the wars ended with peace negotiations," he said. Story continues 'MORE WEIGHT' Vietnam seems to be taking to its role of mediator with gusto. The government has pushed the U.S. and North Korean security services to work closely to prepare for the summit, a senior Vietnamese security official told Reuters. Vietnam would also love to see the United States and North Korea sign a declaration of peace to officially end the 1950-53 Korean War, said the official, who declined to be identified. The war ended with an armistice not a treaty, and North Korea is keen to sign a treaty, though the United States has demanded denuclearisation first. Vietnam would also be keen to host a third meeting between the leaders, the official said. A successful summit would enhance Vietnam's standing, said Nguyen Quy Binh, a former ambassador and permanent representative of Vietnam to the United Nations in Geneva. "Vietnam's voice will have more weight. A country that acts responsibly and reputably, a country that is trust-worthy, will have a different voice," Binh told Reuters. Binh mentioned the South China Sea dispute as a flashpoint and said the United States could help to balance regional powers and ensure stability. "If Vietnam can do this well, its voice and reputation in its relations with other countries will benefit." Western and Asian diplomats said they expected Vietnam to try to support any reforms in North Korea that the summit bring. Those effort would be enhanced by Vietnam's turn as chair of Southeast Asia's ASEAN grouping next year, and a possible spell as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Secretary Council in 2021. "Hosting such an sensitive event is a step up for Hanoi. In private, Vietnamese officials are pretty happy with the way things are going ... it's a sweet spot for them," said a senior Western diplomat. (Reporting by Mai Nguyen and Kham Nguyen, additional reporting by Greg Torode in Hong Kong and Khanh Vu in Hanoi Editing by Robert Birsel) Rabat (AFP) - At a security exhibition in Morocco tech companies pushed to convince African officials that their state-of-the-art surveillance tools are the key to stability and development. The ASEC Expo in Rabat, billed by organisers as the first of its kind on the continent, last week brought together firms from across the world looking to conquer new markets in a region marked by rapid urbanisation and economic growth. And while Europe has slapped restrictions on an industry eyed with suspicion by many due to civil liberty concerns, African countries with lax legislation make tempting partners. Chinese communications giant Huawei had a large presence at the event, hyping the success of networks already installed in the capitals of Kenya, Cameroon, Mali and the Ivory Coast. "When a crime has been committed, thanks to the cameras, we work magic," said Ghanian security minister Albert Kan-Dapaah in a promotional clip for the company. "My command centre is the envy of many of my colleagues." Huawei has already equipped more than 700 cities in 100 countries, including more than 25 in Africa, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. But the firm is in the spotlight over concerns it could give Beijing a backdoor into sensitive communications and infrastructure, with the United States and Australia to ban its equipment from their future 5G networks. Just a dozen companies run the booming global video surveillance market, a $30 billion industry as of 2017 which research firm Stratistics MRC has forecasted will have double digit growth over the next few years. A representative of South Korea's Hanwha Group said the African market was "very strong... because there is a lot of opportunity for us to supply our products". "We had a lot of sales last year and this year," particularly in Egypt and South Africa, Yoonboom Choi said. - European concerns - The new high-tech command centres of "safe cities" are capable of instantly detecting anything from everyday crimes and accidents to natural disasters and civil unrest -- and to trigger quick responses. Story continues With big data and artificial intelligence, crowds are no longer anonymous. Facial recognition algorithms coupled with troves of readily available data online can pinpoint the identity of anyone who passes by a surveillance feed. Vehicles can be identified by their number plates, and ultra-high tech software can even detect human emotions and predict behaviour. "We can establish anyone's identity without knowing him -- his first and last name, academic background... his family, what he prefers, where he travels," Huawei regional representative Chakib Achour said. These data sets are useful to police pursuing criminals and to companies looking for potential customers, advocates say. But the risk of mass surveillance has sparked concerns among civil liberties advocates. Authoritarian regimes across Africa are frequently accused of violating rights to stamp out opposition. In its annual report for 2019 Human Rights Watch singled out Egypt for using counterterrorism measures and security concerns "as a guise to crush all forms of dissent". Fears over surveillance spurred the European Union in 2018 into enacting a strict new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Europe now has restrictions on "technology that could be developed in the Middle East or Africa", said Francois Levy, regional director of Brazilian software company Digifort. - 'Citizen security' - Morocco, which organised the exhibition, says it needs a strong security policy to fight terrorism and has shown a strong interest in the far-reaching technologies. "Citizen security has always been the focal point" of Morocco's city planning and "underlies the great project of urban renewal that we continue to lead", said head of Rabat city council Mohamed Sadiki during a visit to the expo. Marrakesh is working on an app that would allow citizens and tourists alike to "place emergency calls" and send in tips, boasts regional security official Moulay El Hafid Zimirly in a Huawei-sponsored clip. In its commercial material, Huawei openly pushes the "example" set by China, "where all police stations have their own video surveillance unit". The company offers authorities the chance to tap into troves of images taken in taxis, airports, and stadiums, as well as images taken by ordinary citizens with their mobile phones. In its 2019 global report Human Rights Watch detailed how the Chinese government at home increasingly uses mass surveillance to "tighten control over society", including through the widespread collection of biometric details including DNA and voice samples. "All of these systems are being deployed without effective privacy protections in law or in practice, and often people are unaware that their data is being gathered, or how it is used or stored," the report said. For Africa, adopting the technology on offer would open up a major pool of data -- but also questions. By 2020 more than one out of every two people on the continent will have a smartphone, according to a 2018 study published by Deloitte. Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and receive a $20 prize! Dividends play an important role in compounding returns in the long run and end up forming a sizeable part of investment returns. China VAST Industrial Urban Development Company Limited (HKG:6166) has paid a dividend to shareholders in the last few years. It currently yields 3.1%. Should it have a place in your portfolio? Lets take a look at China VAST Industrial Urban Development in more detail. View our latest analysis for China VAST Industrial Urban Development 5 questions to ask before buying 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:6166 Historical Dividend Yield, February 24th 2019 How does China VAST Industrial Urban Development fare? China VAST Industrial Urban Development has a trailing twelve-month payout ratio of 30%, which means that the dividend is covered by earnings. Furthermore, analysts have not forecasted a dividends per share for the future, which makes it hard to determine the yield shareholders should expect, and whether the current payout is sustainable, moving forward. When thinking about whether a dividend is sustainable, another factor to consider is the cash flow. Cash flow is important because companies with strong cash flow can usually sustain higher payout ratios. If there is one thing that you want to be reliable in your life, its dividend stocks and their constant income stream. Unfortunately, it is really too early to view China VAST Industrial Urban Development as a dividend investment. It has only been consistently paying dividends for 4 years, however, standard practice for reliable payers is to look for a 10-year minimum track record. Story continues Relative to peers, China VAST Industrial Urban Development generates a yield of 3.1%, which is on the low-side for Real Estate stocks. Next Steps: Now you know to keep in mind the reason why investors should be careful investing in China VAST Industrial Urban Development for the dividend. But if you are not exclusively a dividend investor, the stock could still be an interesting investment opportunity. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, I recommend taking sufficient time to understand its core business and determine whether the company and its investment properties suit your overall goals. Ive put together three relevant aspects you should further research: Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for 6166s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for 6166s outlook. Valuation: What is 6166 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 6166 is currently mispriced by the market. Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Blast, arsons targeting Ncell prompt concerns about business climate A blast in the Capital, claiming one life and injuring two others, near the gate of Ncell office in Nakkhu, and arson attacks targeting at least a dozen telephone towers of the mobile company on Friday night in several districts came as reminiscent of the Maoists' war-era days, prompting law enforcement officials to step up security measures. (Bloomberg) -- Nokia Oyjs Chief Executive Officer Rajeev Suri sought to assure European clients that a potential ban on equipment from Chinas Huawei Technologies Co. would not affect the regions roll-out of a fifth-generation wireless network. People everywhere are asking legitimate questions about how best to secure critical networks, about which vendors are appropriate to use and which are not," Suri said Sunday in a presentation to media and analysts at a conference in Barcelona. I do want to address comments suggesting that if certain vendors are held back, then Europes 5G roll-out will stall and costs will rise. Bluntly, the facts just do not support the claims." Suri spoke after the GSMA wireless industry group, which embraces 750 carriers, in a letter dated Feb. 14 said restricting network access to a single equipment maker would handicap Europes progress in developing artificial intelligence, the internet of things and so-called big data. The letter was released amid growing pressure to ban Huawei from providing 5G equipment, which the U.S. argues could be used by China for spying, a suggestion the company has repeatedly denied. The Nokia and GSMA comments followed warnings by companies including Deutsche Telekom AG, Vodafone Group Plc and BT Group Plc. On Feb. 21, Telefonica SA Chairman Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete said that there is a lot of noise around Huawei rooted more in opinion than fact and that any restriction on any supplier will have an impact on the cost of equipment. Suri spoke ahead of the opening Monday of the MWC Barcelona conference, the industrys largest gathering, in Barcelona. The congress is organized by GSMA and Huawei is among its main sponsors. To contact the reporter on this story: Rodrigo Orihuela in Madrid at rorihuela@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Netflix's "Roma" could usher in a new era of best picture award winners owned by streaming platforms. "Roma" and Disney+ could be the catalysts needed to break the traditional 90-day cinematic window that keeps feature films in theaters before they are available for home viewing. "Roma" is a heavy favorite to win best picture at Sunday's Academy Awards. It would be the first time a streaming platform, Netflix NFLX , earns a best picture win. It's almost certainly not going to be the last. A "Roma" victory on Sunday will further legitimize Netflix, and streaming platforms in general, as venues for the highest-quality movies. It could also help destroy the decades-only exclusive theatrical window that movie theaters rely on. Netflix and Amazon's Prime Video have been buying up potential Oscar-winning movies for several years -- Amazon's " Manchester By The Sea " was the first movie from a digital giant to be nominated for the best picture Academy Award in 2017. Each service has more than 100 million subscribers globally. Those massive audiences carry increasing clout with moviemakers, who may come to view the theater experience as less important. "Movie theaters are not going to go away, but there's going to be a lot more of this direct release to the home type of windowing," said Tom Rogers, former CEO of TiVo, on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Friday. "I'm not long on movie theaters over the next five years." Netflix has actually tried not to rock the boat too much with "Roma": It made the film available to theaters across the country and set a release date like typical Oscar fare. "Roma," which depicts a family's life in Mexico City in the early 1970s, debuted on Netflix on Dec. 14, a standard first-run date for movies with Oscar ambitions. Netflix released the film in a handful of theaters weeks before it became available on the streaming platform, though wide release was tied to the day it appeared on Netflix. Story continues Yet even this modified roll-out plan ruffled some feathers. Mexico's Cinepolis , AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas have all balked at screening "Roma" because Netflix didn't honor the traditional first-run 90-day cinema window. The fight between media companies that want to shorten or eliminate that period of exclusivity has been going on for years. In 2011, Universal Pictures pushed to release the unheralded Eddie Murphy caper film "Tower Heist" on the same day as its theatrical release to about 500,000 Comcast cable subscribers for a whopping $59.99. Universal actually backed down, even from that high price, because of theatrical pushback to the idea. (At the time, Comcast was part-owner of NBCUniversal, which includes Universal Pictures as well as CNBC; Comcast now owns NBCUniversal outright.) The tensions between Netflix and the theater chains may be so great that it could deny "Roma" of a victory, said Rogers. "I don't think it's going to win," Rogers said. "It's such a disruptive pick for the Academy to end up embracing something that's really going to go to the heart of movie theatrical distribution and the whole windowing system it has. Netflix came up with a better way to watch television. Consumers have voted. It's a great way to get what you what, when you want, and how you want it. And they're doing the same thing with movies." Disney could break the dam Another reason "Roma" hit theaters first was the recommendation of the filmmakers: Alfonso Cuaron, the film's director, tweeted the ideal way to see the movie was with 4K Atmos sound projection. That's likely to happen again. Many directors will still want their feature films seen in a traditional widescreen setting, broadcast to a large room of people with a communal experience. But Disney DIS may be the catalyst that alters the balance permanently, said BTIG media analyst Rich Greenfield. Disney's upcoming streaming product, Disney+, is slated to debut later this year. It could entice millions of new subscribers if it offers blockbuster movies at the same time as, or shortly after, their theatrical debuts. Disney will be starting from scratch as it tries to compete against Netflix, Amazon, HBO and others for streaming customers. Narrowing or eliminating the theatrical window on its biggest films could go a long way toward propelling their subscriber base. "Disney's current strategy of having movies flow through the current sequential release pattern before getting to Disney+ is sub-optimal and puts a heavy burden on new original programming," Greenfield wrote in a Feb. 22 note to clients. "Disney and other legacy studios should be leaning into the future and be willing to disrupt their legacy business models." For about a century, movie theaters have been the mecca for film goers. But streaming is built not only for people watching at home on their couches, but also for mobile users who want to watch video wherever and whenever they like. Netflix has already overturned one industry by launching entire seasons of TV series at the same time. It seems only logical that the elimination of theatrical windows is the next shoe to drop. Offering a better audio-visual experience -- huge screens, thumping bass -- will keep movie theaters around. Then again, vinyl offers a better listening experience than digital. For most people, convenience trumps quality. Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC and Universal Pictures. WATCH: How Netflix is disrupting the film industry More From CNBC HANOI, Feb 24 (Reuters) - North Korea's state media said on Sunday that the people of the United States would "never be cleared of security threats" if this week's nuclear talks in Vietnam end without results. The North's official KCNA news agency criticised U.S. Democrats and others for "plotting to disrupt" a second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. KCNA accused the Trump administration of "lending an ear" to opponents of dialogue, even after the United States launched diplomatic efforts with North Korea. "If the upcoming DPRK-U.S. negotiations end without results as wished by the opponent forces, the U.S. people will never be cleared of the security threats that threw them into panic and then responsibility will be placed on those due," KCNA said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin, Ju-min Park, Jack Kim and Soyoung Kim Editing by Robert Birsel) Ever since he met Kim Jong Un in Singapore last year, President Donald Trump has shown a tendency the North Korean leader is sure to try and exploit: making unexpected concessions in one-on-one meetings. There was the December phone call with Turkeys president, when Trump surprised his own aides and prompted Defense Secretary Jim Mattiss resignation by suddenly agreeing to pull troops out of Syria. And last years joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, when Trump all but dismissed his own intelligence communitys findings on Russian hacking of the 2016 election. Heading into next weeks summit with Kim in Hanoi, the presidents top advisers will seek to ensure no last-minute giveaways happen this time around. But for North Korea, the presidents habit of making concessions on the fly presents an opportunity thats likely to lead negotiators from Pyongyang to disregard the presidents staff to focus on what he might offer. They do look to get President Trump in a room and see what they might get out of him, said Christopher Hill, the North Korea negotiator under President George W. Bush. If Singapore is any indication, the president seeks to want to negotiate everything himself. When the two leaders met last June in Singapore, Trump accepted a vaguely worded statement about complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In exchange, he had already given Kim a priceless public relations victory just by agreeing to talks. Trump also extended a suspension of major joint military exercises with South Korea, even adopting North Koreas terminology on those drills calling them war games and provocative. Kim and his team seem to be betting on a repeat. A senior Trump administration official, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations, said North Korean officials have so far given little away in their meetings with the top U.S. envoy for the talks, Stephen Biegun. The official said the fear is that Kim will make an offer to Trump that sounds good at the moment, inspiring the president to sacrifice something in return that goes too far. Story continues Those fears have largely focused on the fate of about 30,000 U.S troops stationed in South Korea. Kim could seek to exploit Trumps own professed distaste for overseas deployments to extract a commitment to withdraw some or all of them as part of a deal to secure a peace agreement. The U.S. and South Korea recently concluded weeks of bruising negotiations that got President Moon Jae-ins government to increase its payments for hosting American troops, but Trump and his team have indicated they want Seoul to do more. I could see Kim saying, South Korea is reluctant to pay for the troops so why dont you withdraw them? said David Maxwell, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former special forces colonel in South Korea. Its most important we disabuse him of that notion that he can make a deal without the working-level foundation. Observers such as Maxwell point to a range of evidence to suggest this is North Koreas strategy. They cite a refusal to meet with Biegun for months after he was named the lead U.S. negotiator in August 2018. Biegun got his first formal meetings in January, and complex talks on an agreement from the summit got underway only recently, just a few weeks before Trump and Kim meet. And while the window to achieve anything of substance is short, that didnt stop the president from agreeing to a second summit where pressure will be high to move beyond the vague agreements from Singapore. Ever since his early real estate days, the president has believed hes the best negotiator in any room, and the intimacy of a one-on-one chat is often where he thinks he can get the best deal. Trump has said he and Kim fell in love last year and that North Korea has enormous economic potential under Kim. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said Thursday in an interview with NBCs Today show that the president and his team remain focused on the end goal of complete denuclearization of North Korea and that the main U.S. leverage, UN-backed sanctions, will remain in place until then. This time may also be different because theres more effort underway to reach a deal beforehand. Biegun flew to Hanoi on Feb. 19 to meet with his North Korean counterparts, and Pompeo will arrive in the city a day before Trump. Last time, Pompeo flew to Singapore with the president, and his negotiators were working out the summit declarations wording just hours before Trump and Kim were scheduled to met. North Korea has shown a preference for Trump, with Pompeo facing a fraught trip to Pyongyang in July where North Korea issued a harsh statement after he left and then it canceled a meeting with him planned for November at the last minute. In December, North Koreas official media accused the State Department of slander out of sheer malice and praised Trump for availing himself of every possible occasion to state his willingness to improve DPRK-U.S. relations. I dont want to get into the negotiations, what we might give up, what they might give up, Pompeo said. But when it comes to sanctions, we wont release that pressure until such time as were confident that weve substantially reduced that risk, he added. More generally, the administration defends Trumps negotiating style, underscoring that decades of negotiations at lower levels by previous Republican and Democratic administrations failed to produce lasting agreements. This is a top-down approach with the chairman and the president meeting directly and that allows for a breadth of action, frankly, that if successful could fundamentally transform relations between our two countries, State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said this week. Guardedly Optimistic Supporters of the presidents diplomacy argue that by agreeing to a second summit, Kim will also be under pressure from Pyongyangs elite to show that negotiating with Trump has been worthwhile, even if sanctions remain. They also say that the delay in meeting Biegun may have nothing to do with the U.S. and be part of some internal power play within North Korea. Im guardedly optimistic on the summit, said Joseph DeTrani, former head of the National Nonproliferation Center, a part of the U.S. intelligence community. Theres so much that could be put on the table that would include true substance. In a call with reporters on Thursday, two senior administration officials, who asked not to be identified discussing plans for the summit, confirmed that the event will include a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Kim. They ruled out the idea that the U.S. was prepared to discuss reducing troop levels. That has done little to reassure critics of the presidents approach. We know who Donald trump is, weve seen two years of this, and weve seen where Kim and the North Koreans are trying to go, said Laura Rosenberger, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States who advised President Barack Obama on North Korea policy. The question is: How do we manage the risk, how do we walk away with the least bad outcome? Washingtons campaign to restrict the integration of Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei in 5G networks shifts to Barcelona this week as global industry leaders gather for an emergency meeting on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) to discuss the possibility of excluding the Shenzhen-based vendor from European markets. While the U.S. has successfully lobbied close allies Australia, New Zealand, and Japan to block the use of Huawei equipment in its 5G infrastructure on national security grounds, it has faced increasing pushback in Europe amid cost concerns and skepticism over Washingtons claims that the company poses a risk. The Huawei issue has now completely taken over Earlier this month, GSMA, an industry group and host of MWC in Barcelona, cautioned against restrictions on Chinese equipment. GSMA stated that European telecom operators and citizens would end up paying the cost while 5G deployment would delayed years across Europe. Barcelona is normally the place where deals are made, with big announcements about carriers choosing equipment suppliers and discussions about 5G use cases, Paul Triolo, Head of Global Technology Policy Analyst at Eurasia Group, told Yahoo Finance. The Huawei issue has now completely taken over the normal course of events. All of this sets the stage for a U.S.-China showdown of sorts at the annual event better known for unveiling tech gadgets than foreign policy. (Graphic: Yahoo Finance/David Foster) No way U.S. can crush us Huawei and Washington have been engaged in a public battle in the lead-up to the conference. On a recent trip to Hungary, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested that relations with allies would suffer if they refused to restrict Huawei equipment, saying if that equipment is co-located where we have important American systems, it makes it more difficult for us to partner alongside them. Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei dismissed U.S. accusations that Beijing could use the companys vast network as a tool for surveillance, telling the BBC that his company would never undertake any spying activities. He added that theres no way [the] U.S. can crush us. Story continues A slide from a Huawei presentation shows the company's development of 5G technology. (Photo: Huawei) Washington has repeatedly pointed to Chinese legislation passed in 2017 allowing the intelligence agency to compel individual organizations to provide necessary support, assistance, and cooperation as proof that Huawei cannot be trusted. But while the U.S. Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against the company alleging theft of trade secrets, bank and wire fraud, violations of Iran sanctions, and conspiracy to commit money laundering it has not provided public evidence proving Huawei created back doors to spy or disrupt communications. You have different countries taking different sides The issue is particularly complicated for some European countries, where Huawei accounts for 50-to-80% of existing mobile infrastructure and telecom providers have already begun integrating its equipment as part of a broader 5G rollout. Recent reports suggest the UK and Germany are unlikely to push for an outright ban but may find ways to limit the risks while integrating Huawei equipment in 5G networks. Others like Poland are considering shutting out the Chinese company altogether after a Huawei employee and a Polish employee of the telco operator Orange were arrested on spying allegations. A slide from a Huawei presentation shows where various operations are located. (Graphic: Huawei) The preference is to have an EU wide decision on this because of the way it looks right now. You have different countries taking different sides with mishmash approaches to this, Triolo said. That makes it complicated for carriers that operate across jurisdictions like Vodafone. Vodafone (VOD), a global 5G partner of Huawei, recently paused installing Huawei into its core European networks. Some experts believe there is still time to turn away from Huawei. James Lewis, Director of the Technology and Public Policy Program at the Center for Strategic International Studies, recently argued that Huaweis importance in the 5G buildout has been overstated. Right now Huawei is not indispensable, Lewis, a former Foreign Service Officer at the Department of State, told Yahoo Finances On The Move (video above). Some studies suggest they can be 20% cheaper because of the subsidies they get from the Chinese government but you dont have to buy Huawei if you want to buy 5G. Mr. President. I cannot agree with you more Triolo noted that Washingtons shifting narrative has also muddled the picture. After repeatedly suggesting Huawei posed a national security risk, Trump backed off the harsh rhetoric last week when he tweeted that the U.S. should win through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies. His message came amid reports the U.S. was inching closer towards a broader trade deal with China after months of friction. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Huaweis rotating Chairman Ken Hu responded to Trump on Twitter, saying: Mr President, I cannot agree with you more. Our company is always ready to help build the real 5G network in the US, through competition. (Huawei confirmed the authenticity of the tweet to Yahoo Finance.) This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The GSMA board meeting in Barcelona wont be limited to European carriers and will include Chinese operators like China Mobile. That will be followed by ministerial meetings later in the week. A large U.S. delegation including FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will be looking to find some middle ground with government and business leaders to limit Huaweis growth. But that could be a tough sell given that Huawei equipment currently accounts for 28% of global market share, according to DellOro Group, with Ericsson (ERIC) and Nokia (NOK) trailing behind. Samsung is ramping up investments in 5G telecom network equipment business to fill the potential Huawei void, according to Reuters. But with the company accounting for just 3% of the global infrastructure on 4G, it may not have the capacity to meet demand. The U.S. government came up with the ban idea but they didnt appreciate what the cost of that would be from a carrier point of view for equipment, and they didnt really think out how you replace capacity in the network, Triolo said. Those are issues beyond the ability of the government. READ MORE: What is Huawei? China crown jewel now in US crosshairs Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit. (Bloomberg) -- Every year, phone makers and telecom companies meet in Barcelona and try and grab some of the attention away from Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co, and Huawei Technologies Co. The worlds biggest telecommunications trade show starts Monday, perpetuating a 30-year-old tradition intended to celebrate Europes pivotal role in the genesis of the mobile industry. At this years MWC Barcelona, formerly known as Mobile World Congress, Microsoft and Huawei are expected to steal the show by unveiling new products. In 2018, Samsung was the headliner, and Huawei the year before. But away from flagship product launches, there has also been a fair share of memorable flops. Here are a few: 2016 Chances are youve never heard of an Alexa rival called AneedA. Thats because the "dial" smartwatch that uses the aptly named voice control software never took off. Musician-turned-entrepreneur Will.I.Am had lined up Deutsche Telekom AG to sell the dial and show it off in Barcelona. Yet Will.I.Ams on-stage-demo was mired by glitches and customers in the U.K. ignored the product. The same year saw LG Electronics Inc. show off the Rolling Bot, which the company promoted as a home-automation device that let consumers play with a cat remotely thanks to a built-in moving laser and camera. Pre-orders reportedly cost 229 pounds ($298) but it remains unclear whether it ever hit the shelves. Pieces of string continue to dominate feline play. 2015 The handset titan previously known as BlackBerry launched Leap at MWC. Its first all-touchscreen phone without the traditional keyboard, the product was an attempt to halt the dramatic fall in BlackBerrys sales. A year later BlackBerry outsourced the production of its handsets to Chinas TLC Corporation. 2013 The flops are not confined to products. Telefonica SA had a strong relationship with Mozilla, the not-for-profit maker of the Firefox web browsers. Six years ago it pitched the Firefox OS as an alternative to Android and Apple iOS. The project floundered after four years, and the Spanish telco has since been marketing Googles cloud services to its business clients. Story continues 2012 Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom teamed up seven years ago to combat upstart messaging app WhatsApp by starting Joyn, backed with tech by Jibe Mobile. The product failed to take off and three years later, Google bought Jibe. To this day, telecoms companies remain outsiders in the battle over instant messaging technology. 2009 Years before the Apple Watch, LG showed off its GD910 watch phone at MWC and CES. It was expensive, and its demise wasnt slowed by limited availability and even more limited functionality. It was a flop, but it was at least an innovative flop years ahead of its time. --With assistance from Stefan Nicola. To contact the reporters on this story: Nate Lanxon in London at nlanxon@bloomberg.net;Marie Mawad in Paris at mmawad1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Banks still struggling to implement court order to retrieve Sumargis money A month and a half since the Supreme Court asked the Nepal Investment Bank Limited to maintain the account of Ajeya Raj Sumargi as it was, the bank is struggling to retrieve the money the controversial businessman had withdrawn after an interim order of the court. Widespread jitters in the Australian political and business communities that China may have banned imports of Australian coal now appear to be unfounded. Customs clearance delays at Dalian are happening owing to entirely "normal" reasons and coal cargo can be re-routed around a given port anyway, coal mining and coal transport executives have explained to FreightWaves. Widespread reporting on national and international media have widely alleged that China had banned imports of coal from Australia. There was also widespread speculation that the origins of the so-called ban' were political in nature. Such reporting occurred after Reuters reported the existence of an alleged ban yesterday. Market reaction was immediate with the Aussie dollar falling against the U.S. dollar. Given that Australian coal exports in 2018 to China were 89 million tons (met-coal and thermal coal combined) and were valued at $15 billion, Australia's federal government quite reasonably caught the jitters too. Simon Birmingham, the Federal Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, released the following statement: "I'm aware of unconfirmed and unsourced media reports and have asked our Ambassador in Beijing to urgently clarify their veracity. We continue to engage closely with industry on matters of market access. I met with the Minerals Council of Australia this week to discuss market access issues and our related representations to Chinese authorities. China is a valued partner of Australia and we trust that our free trade agreement commitments to each other will continue to be honoured." Don't miss it. Register today . Don't miss it. Register today. Reports of a ban appear incorrect However, reports of a ban do not now appear to be correct. Coal industry executives closely connected the Chinese trade today told FreightWaves that what is happening is normal practice in China as it relates to coal discharging from ships. Industry observers have told FreightWaves that there was no ban' but there has been a slowdown in customs clearances at Chinese ports since January. Story continues Yan Shuang, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, yesterday told reporters during a press briefing that China's customs authorities were simply inspecting coal imports and emphasized that Beijing wanted normal relations with Australia. A reporter asked the spokesman if Australia's coal exports were being blocked during customs clearance in Dalian specifically and in China more generally. The reporter also asked whether this was related to recent tensions between Australia and China. The spokesman responded: "according to the materials I have at hand, Chinese customs conducts risk monitoring and analysis on the safety and quality of imported coal in accordance with relevant laws and regulations and takes corresponding inspection and testing measures. The purpose of this is to better safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese import enterprises and protect the environment... China's customs conduct risk monitoring and analysis of imported coal safety according to laws and regulations, and take corresponding inspection and testing measures. I think this is completely normal." The spokesman later added, "I would like to take this opportunity to talk about China-Australia relations. We have repeatedly stressed that a healthy and stable China-Australia relationship is in the common interests of the two countries and the two peoples. We hope that the Australian side can move in line with China and promote the continued development of China-Australia relations on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit." Download it today Download it today Don't panic, it's normal Coal industry executives, who frequently and regularly conduct coal-related business with China, today explained to FreightWaves that the situation is not as it has been portrayed in the media and is, in fact, normal. One executive at a coal mining company, which sells coal into China, was somewhat dismissive. "It's almost an annual event. It's par for the course," the mining executive told FreightWaves. The executive argued that China is simply protecting its domestic producers. "We see that China has done this over the last three years or so. The motivation is domestic protection, not political. It's usually connected to protection of domestic suppliers they seek to protect them because the quality of imported coal is quite high. It can happen quickly and without notice so we are watching for it," the executive said. "It's almost an annual event. It's par for the course" - coal mining executive A common complaint: too much work, too little time However, a coal transport executive asserted that there was an entirely more mundane reason... the Chinese officials have too much work and not enough time to do it. "It's not anything out of the ordinary," the executive said. The transport executive explained that whether there is quick clearance of coal or not will depend on the situation at the port of discharge. There is an organization that checks the quality of the imported coal. That entity will be checking to see that the coal that is discharged is exactly what it has been declared to be in terms of volume and quality. Some coals have a higher sulfur, moisture or carbon content than others, which affects the price, usage and even transport safety of the coal. Sometimes, the transport executive explained, "dodgy" things can happen and so the coal has to be checked upon discharge. Learn more today Learn more today Delays, delays, delays There can be delays at the port of discharge if the checking entity is, for any reason, unable to cope with the workload. If, say, ten capesize vessels (very large dry bulk carrying ships than can haul upwards of 80,000 tons of product) arrive at the same time then there will be congestion at that terminal or port. Alternatively, a port may have allocated, say seven stockpiles for iron ore and three to coal, but more coal arrives than forecast and port officials don't have the stockpile space for it. And, consequently, customs clearance simply takes longer to do. "That's why bills of lading to China don't specify a particular discharge port" - coal transport executive It happens in Australia too "It's the same as the situation at DBCT [Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, Queensland]. There are huge queues of ships owing to the recent cyclone. We need time for the stockpiles to dry out. There are swells. "It's not an issue', it's a natural phenomenon. "If they [Chinese customs officials] don't have the time, or their workload is too big, or the bloke is on holiday, then they can't inspect. It's not across all of China. It's port-specific and it depends on workforce and shipping schedules. It's down to congestion," the executive asserted. "That's why bills of lading to China don't specify a particular discharge port. They specify a main port in China' and then the receiver nominates a port at a later date to avoid congested ports and extra costs," the transport executive said. Want more content like this? Click here to Subscribe How to do a port bypass Both the mining and transport executives confirmed that a given port could be bypassed in China for the purposes of coal delivery, although this would entail complexity, time and delay. The mining executive pointed out that coal could be on-sold to another country if necessary. The transport executive explained that many of the coal-consuming institutions in China were originally set-up inland and so coal is railed or trucked to its ultimate destination after its wharf-side discharge. That means that coal still en-route by sea can be re-routed while in transit, avoiding a given port, and nonetheless end up at the correct destination. How exactly this is done, and what the actual port of discharge will be, will depend on a lot of factors a vessel's fully laden draught (the part of the ship that's under the water), the draught of the port, local rail and road connections, contractual arrangements, fees, the nearest alternative ports and the ultimate destination, among others. Aussie coal exports by volume and value By volume, Australian coal is a major seaborne commodity. The Australian Office of the Chief Economist estimates that 2017-2018 will see 179 million tons of metallurgical coal exported and 203 million tons of thermal coal exported. Coal (metallurgical and thermal combined) will likely be the second-most valuable commodity export from Australia in the 2017-2018 financial year. Metallurgical coal exports are forecast to have a value of about AU$37.79 billion (about U.S.$27.01 billion) and the value of thermal coal exports are forecast to stand at AU$22.58 billion (about $16.06 billion). Exports to the Dalian port were seven million tons, which is only 7.8 per cent Australia's exports to China, and only 1.8 percent of Australia's total coal exports, according to the Australian trade minister's office. Permalink See more from Benzinga 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. (Repeats item with no changes. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) By Clyde Russell SINGAPORE, Feb 22 (Reuters) - It's been weird in the coal world in recent days, with the world's largest shipper saying it's capping output, biggest seaborne buyer China putting restrictions on some imports, and an Australian court saying mines must factor in climate change. Throw in an executive at a major Indian coal-fired power generator saying his company won't build any new plants as coal can't compete with renewables, and it's little surprise that environmental activists may be tempted to pop champagne corks. The common theme at work is that coal is finding it harder to secure a long-term future in the world's energy mix. But it's worth unpacking the various developments and assessing the likely real impacts beyond public relations spin. The most significant development this week was Glencore's announcement on Feb. 20 that it will cap its annual output around its current capacity of 145 million tonnes. Glencore is the world's fourth-biggest coal mining company but also the largest supplier to the seaborne market, as miners that produce more - Coal India, China Shenhua Energy and Peabody Energy of the United States - are focused on their domestic markets. Glencore said it was taking the step to help mitigate climate change, prompting commentators and activists to claim another victory in the campaign to end burning of the polluting fuel. A PROFITABLE DEATH While Glencore may genuinely be trying to do its part to halt global warming, it's also likely the mining giant has calculated that restricting coal output will be good for business. It is accepted that coal consumption is likely to drop in the coming decades, to virtually nothing in Europe and North America, and will even start to decline in Asia. But Glencore has probably calculated that this will be a slow, profitable death, and is positioning itself to take advantage. Story continues While overall coal consumption is important for climate considerations, Glencore's interest lies in the seaborne market, and it's here that business may actually be good for an extended period, even as overall coal demand drops. The seaborne market is set to become tighter, especially in Asia, as more countries in the region build coal-fired generators that rely on imported fuel. Countries on this list include Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and others in Southeast and South Asia. The world's three biggest exporters of coal, however, all have various reasons as to why they may not be able to supply much more than they ship now. Indonesia, the world's biggest shipper of thermal coal used in power plants, has a domestic reservation policy that forecasts declining exports as more fuel is diverted to feed local generators. Australia, the biggest exporter of coking coal used to make steel and number two in thermal coal, may find it hard to boost its shipments, given increasing domestic opposition to the industry and the difficulties in getting new mines approved, financed and insured. South Africa, the third-biggest exporter, has capacity constraints in its rail system and is also trying to balance the needs of its home market against the desirability of earning foreign exchange through exports. Glencore, which spent some $3.7 billion last year on coal mines in Australia, has also probably acquired all the assets it needs in the coal sector. Its mission now is to operate these mines efficiently and to try and ensure that prices remain as high as possible. It may be cynical, but one way to do that is to say the company will cap output, thereby helping to keep the seaborne market tight and prices elevated. CHINA'S SPANNER China is showing that two can play that game, with customs at the northern port of Dalian placing an indefinite ban on imports from Australia, and restricting those from other countries, according to an exclusive Reuters report on Thursday. This isn't the first time China has taken such measures, and the most likely outcome is that imports will decline for a period of time, but may eventually recover. Much of the coal China imports from Australia is coking coal, and this is harder to source from other countries, with the only real alternatives being Canada and the United States. What is clearer is that China, the world's biggest coal importer, wants to limit its total imports, which means that over time it's unlikely to be much of a growth market. India, the second-biggest coal importer, looms as a great hope for the sector, but the Coaltrans India conference this week in New Delhi showed that while imports may grow this year and next, a dearth of new projects and the likely eventual improvement of domestic coal availability should result in a shrinking market. New-build coal plants are struggling to compete against wind and solar in India, with Rajit Desai, an executive at major private generator Tata Power, telling the conference that his company wasn't looking at developing any new plants, and will instead focus on buying existing units that are effectively distressed assets. In another apparent victory for climate activists, an Australian court ruled on Feb. 8 that a mine development couldn't go ahead, citing the impact from the greenhouse emissions that would be created. While the mine in question most likely would have been rejected on other grounds, such as its close proximity to a retirement complex, the court nonetheless signalled that climate mitigation may become a part of any future approval process. Putting the recent developments together gives a picture of a fuel battered from all sides. But there is always a caveat. In this case, it's simply that vast numbers of coal-fired power plants in Asia are still in the early stages of useful lives, and will likely operate for decades to come. Coal may be down, but it's far from out. I'm sure Glencore's canny chief executive, Ivan Glasenberg, would agree. (Editing by Tom Hogue) * Q4 revenue 27.2 bln yuan vs estimate of 26.3 bln yuan * Q4 adjusted EPS 13.18 yuan/ADS vs estimate of 11.83 yuan/ADS * Online marketing rev up 10 pct, iQiyi rev up 55 pct * Shares rise 3.8 pct after hours (Adds executive quotes, updates share price move, context) By Cate Cadell BEIJING, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Chinese search engine operator Baidu Inc beat market estimates for fourth-quarter revenue and profit on Thursday, as its core online marketing business stayed resilient and revenue surged in its Netflix-like streaming service iQiyi. Baidu is betting its focus on streaming and new areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) will boost revenue and offset lower ad sales from real estate, finance and other sectors impacted by China's economic slowdown. The company, which is trying to cut its dependence on its core search business, spent heavily on content for iQiyi and promotions to attract new customers last year as its online ad business showed signs of pressure. "We have entered a new stage for the Chinese internet," Baidu Chief Executive Robin Li said in a conference call with analysts, warning that the market has saturated. "New growth will be driven by technological innovation, and for our core search and news feed we continue to see a lot of room to grow." Baidu will begin expanding its AI capabilities, such as smart speakers and autonomous driving, to enterprise and government customers to boost profits, executives said. The company's key online marketing business, which includes search, news feeds and a video app and accounts for more than three quarters of the company's revenue, grew 10 percent to 21.2 billion yuan ($3.15 billion) in the quarter ended Dec. 31. But revenue from the business rose 10 percent in the December quarter, the slowest pace in six quarters, while spending per customer slipped 4 percent. Revenue from iQiyi, in contrast, jumped 55 percent to 7 billion yuan. Content costs however nearly doubled to 7.3 billion yuan, mostly for iQiyi, and the company expects such expenses to rise in 2019. Story continues "We made a huge promotion around Chinese new year. So we have to consider that cost," Chief Financial Officer Herman Yu said, referring to a campaign run in cooperation with state broadcaster CCTV. iQiyi, which competes fiercely with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd service Youku. The service gained 36.6 million subscribers last year. Baidu's U.S.-listed shares rose 3.8 percent in extended trading following the results. Baidu, which had previously flagged a hit from stricter Chinese regulations and the Sino-U.S. trade war, forecast first-quarter revenue between 23.5 billion yuan and 24.7 billion yuan, in line with market expectations. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 22 percent to 27.2 billion yuan, beating estimates of 26.3 billion yuan, according to I/B/E/S estimates from Refinitiv. Net income attributable to the company fell to 2.08 billion yuan in the quarter, from 4.16 billion yuan a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned 13.18 yuan per American depositary share, beating estimates of 11.83 yuan per ADS. ($1 = 6.7195 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Cate Cadell in Beijing; Additional reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates) HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / January 29, 2019 / Small cap securities in the biotechnology industry are always of interest to investors because several events can help increase the stock's share price at a breakneck pace. That's why investors are always searching for the next 'big thing' that could either become FDA approved, acquired, or just make major progress. The companies below are the kinds of opportunities these investors crave. One company who's on the verge of a major breakthrough, BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. (BRTX), a life sciences company focused on stem cell-based therapies, is developing a therapy "ThermoStem" using brown adipose (fat) derived stem cells to generate brown adipose tissue. The stock is still relatively unknown, however, with the global obesity treatment market expected to reach $15.6 billion by 2024 you can bet investors will be very interested in this company when they learn about it. Get a jumpstart on the crowd by researching BRTX today. Today we are highlighting: BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. (BRTX), Aurora Cannabis, Inc. (ACB), Cannabix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CNBX), Cara Therapeutics, Inc. (CARA), and Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (CLDX). According to Grand View Research, the global obesity treatment market was valued at $3.9 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $15.6 billion by 2024. According to the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, about 30% of the global population is either obese or overweight. These are just a couple making companies developing weight management solutions so valuable to investors. One of the more novel approaches to fighting this obesity epidemic is being developed by BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. (BRTX) (Market Cap: $7.669M, Share Price: $0.60), a life sciences company focused on stem cell-based therapies, developing a therapy "ThermoStem" using brown adipose (fat) derived stem cells to generate brown adipose tissue ("BAT"). BAT is intended to mimic naturally occurring brown adipose depots that regulate metabolic homeostasis in humans. Story continues BRTX just received a Notice of Allowance on the company's fourth patent for their metabolic ThermoStem program. The company's patents span US, Australia and Japan. Initial preclinical research indicates that increased amounts of brown fat in the body may be responsible for additional caloric burning as well as reduced glucose and lipid levels. This is a very promising sign for the company. ____ Aurora Cannabis, Inc. (ACB) (Market Cap: $6.593B, Share Price: $6.62) provided an expected revenue range for the second quarter of the Company's Fiscal 2019, the period ended December 31, 2018. They are anticipating net revenues of $50M to $55M. Full results will be published on Monday, February 11, 2019 pre-market. ____ Cannabics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CNBX) (Market Cap: $58.319M, Share Price: $0.4420) announced that along with NewCanna Hub, a world leader in the field of cannabinoids, have signed a non-binding letter of intent at The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to establish an equal joint venture that is intended to produce and market Cannabics' Slow Release ("SR") capsules in Colombia and potentially other regulated markets. Pursuant to the terms of the LOI, the parties intend to develop a joint business plan for the joint venture within the next 30 days and execute a definitive joint venture agreement as soon as reasonably practicable. ____ Cara Therapeutics, Inc. (CARA) (Market Cap: $584.602M, Share Price: $14.82) announced completion of enrollment in the KALM-1 Phase 3 trial of KORSUVA (CR845/ difelikefalin) Injection in hemodialysis patients with moderate-to-severe chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus (CKD-aP). More than 350 hemodialysis patients with CKD-aP have now been randomized across approximately 60 clinical sites in the United States. ____ Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (CLDX) (Market Cap: $57.604M, Share Price: $0.3340) presented data from the Company's MerTK antibody program in a poster session today at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer's (SITC) 33rdAnnual Meeting. MerTK is emerging as a promising target for cancer immunotherapy. ____ Legal Disclaimer: This article was written by Regal Consulting, LLC ("Regal Consulting"). Regal Consulting has agreed to receive a $90,000 convertible note with the issuer for 90 days of service dated 7/10/18. Regal Consulting has signed an amendment to the agreement dated 7/10/18, to extend the agreement and provide additional services for an additional $80,000 convertible note with the issuer. Regal Consulting has signed a second amendment to add additional services for an additional $90,000 convertible note. All payments were made directly by BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. to Regal Consulting, LLC. to provide investor relations services, of which this article is a part of. Regal Consulting also paid one thousand dollars cash to microcapspecultors.com to distribute this article. Regal Consulting may have a position in the securities mentioned in this article at the time of publication, and may increase or decrease its position without notice. This article is based on public information and the opinions of Regal Consulting. BRTX was given an opportunity to edit this article. This article contains forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any results predicted herein. Regal Consulting is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide or claim to provide investment advice. http://www.regalconsultingllc.com/full legal disclaimer/ Microspeculators.com Full Legal Disclaimer Click Here. Contact Information: Company Name: Microcap Speculators Contact Person: Media Manager Email: info@microcapspeculators.com Phone: 1-702-720-6310 Country: United States Website: http://microcapspeculators.com/ SOURCE: Microcap Speculators Investing giants BlackRock and KKR on Sunday signed a $4 billion agreement with Abu Dhabi's National Oil Company (ADNOC). The deal is a landmark partnership, marking the first time institutional investors have partnered with a Middle Eastern national oil company. The agreement forms a new entity called ADNOC Oil Pipelines and invests in developing midstream oil pipeline infrastructure. Investing giants BlackRock and KKR on Sunday signed a $4 billion agreement with Abu Dhabi's National Oil Company (ADNOC) to become the first institutional investors joining forces with a national oil producer in the Middle East. The deal represents a landmark partnership in midstream pipeline infrastructure development for ADNOC. It's also the latest step in its drive to diversify revenue sources and bring private capital and more commercial management into the company. The agreement forms a new entity called ADNOC Oil Pipelines, which will "lease ADNOC's interest in 18 pipelines, transporting stabilized crude oil and condensate across ADNOC's offshore and onshore upstream concessions," for 23 years, according to the company's press release Sunday. ADNOC will retain a 60 percent majority stake, with BlackRock and KKR collectively holding a 40 percent interest in the consortium, the company said. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink described what he saw as Abu Dhabi's push to attract more foreign capital and its potential in global financial markets. "Abu Dhabi wanted to play in the world stage and it was not us pushing them, if anything they were already there in terms of what type of transparency is necessary to attract foreign investors," he told CNBC's Hadley Gamble on Sunday. "For a transaction like this, it came very rapidly." Coinciding with the growth of private-public partnerships, institutional investors are seeking "long-dated, high quality assets," the CEO said, pointing to the stability of the cash flows of the pipeline. "This was something our investors were very, very interested in. If anything we want to put more money in, that's the type of demand we saw." Story continues With $6.4 trillion in assets under management as of late 2018, BlackRock is reported to be the largest asset manager in the world. Fink honed in on the importance of transparency and governance in bringing in international capital, areas where the region more broadly has been known to fall short. "It's my hope that with the success of our ADNOC transaction, that not only other entities in Abu Dhabi but the entire region will open up and see that with more transparency, with better governance structure, the foreign capital attraction to the region is quite large so it's a win-win for the foreign capital that is looking for investing in stable, solid projects, and it's a very large win for the region showing that its playing in the world stage. There's a great opportunity for importing capital." An 'important milestone' Formed in 1971, the same year as the United Arab Emirates, ADNOC is now playing a leading role in leveraging its assets to attract foreign capital into the country and diversify its funding streams. In the last few months, it's signed a raft of agreements with international oil and gas companies, including granting minority shareholding to Italy's ENI and Austrian OMV in its $5.8 billion refinery wing. The two European firms in December joined Germany's Wintershall in winning minority stakes in developing ADNOC's offshore gas fields, and Baker Hughes was recently awarded a 5 percent stake in the national company's drilling unit. Ratings agency Fitch last week gave ADNOC a double A plus credit rating, among the highest it awards oil and gas companies. The UAE ranked 11 out of 190 economies in the World Bank's 2018 "Ease of Doing Business" ranking. Commenting on the latest deal with KKR and BlackRock, ADNOC CEO and UAE Minister of State Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber described it as an "important milestone." "It is part of our comprehensive integrated 2030 Smart Growth strategy which is really centered around value maximization and ensuring efficiency across the the value chain of our business," al Jaber said after the signing. "This deal comes at a time when we're starting now to unfold the new approach to attracting strategic FDI (foreign direct investment) into good quality infrastructure assets that belong to ADNOC," he told CNBC Sunday. "This type of investment class represented by BlackRock and KKR is not a typical partner for a national oil company," al Jaber pointed out, emphasizing ADNOC's drive to "combine the best both, being a national oil company (NOC) and an international oil company," and demonstrating a commitment to commercial discipline as a means of attracting that kind of investment. Infrastructure deals needed KKR's co-founder and co-chief executive Henry Kravis applauded what he saw as impressive growth in the UAE over the decade that his firm has had an office in the country. "I'm looking at this as what I'm hoping is a long string of future investments that we can make in the region, that we can make with ADNOC, in helping them achieve what they want to achieve Having the opportunity to grow in the region is something we've been striving to do for a long time," Kravis told CNBC. KKR, which manages asset classes across the spheres of private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, made its ADNOC investment through its third Global Infrastructure Investors fund, which closed in September 2018 at $7.4bn, according to the ADNOC press release. KKR has $12.6 billion in assets under management within its infrastructure strategy. And that's one area where the region needs significantly more work, Kravis said. "The one thing that is missing is capital for infrastructure. The idea that over the next 10 to 20 years, trillions of dollars are needed for infrastructure... I think you're going to see more and more private-public partnerships, as more and more people move into cities from rural areas," he said, citing the Asian Development Bank's projection that $26 trillion in infrastructure funding was needed over the next decade for Asia alone. "That means you need capital for building infrastructure," the executive continued. "For us, there's enormous amount of opportunity, and there's not a country anywhere in the world that doesn't need capital for infrastructure." Eyeing opportunities Al Jaber described plans to continue investing in the entire value chain of the company, with significantly higher investments planned for its downstream operations, or the end of the oil supply chain which includes oil refineries, petrochemical plants, distributors, retail outlets and natural gas distribution companies. And ADNOC is looking to where the growth market is: "Today we see India, China, Asia in general, promising growth opportunities, growth markets and we want to take a bigger market share by bringing our own crude, possibly investing and developing our own refineries, and extending that into the petrochem business as well," the CEO said. More From CNBC "Brexit is an immediate problem, and it's a problem that's quite frankly annoying every private sector organization in the world today," BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told CNBC on Sunday. The U.K. is due to leave the European Union on March 29 but Parliament has not yet agreed on, let alone ratified, Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal with the EU, raising the prospect of a "no-deal" departure. Consulting firm EY found that financial services companies plan to move $1 trillion in assets out of the U.K. because of Brexit. The chief of the world's largest asset management fund is not pleased with how things are going over in the U.K. amid its divorce with the European Union. Sitting down with CNBC on Sunday, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink stressed that Brexit and its fallout have become a massive headache for the business world. BlackRock is the world's largest asset management firm, with some $6.4 trillion in assets under management as of October 2018, according to a company filing. "Brexit is an immediate problem, and it's a problem that's quite frankly annoying every private sector organization in the world today," the BlackRock CEO told CNBC's Hadley Gamble. "The irresponsibility right now of the U.K. in coming to a resolution is putting more and more private sector organizations on alert," he said. "We're spending more money than we ever dreamed we needed to do to start working toward Brexit." The U.K. is due to leave the European Union on March 29 but the British Parliament has not yet agreed on, let alone ratified, Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal. It raises the chilling prospect of Britain leaving the 28-member economic bloc without a concrete deal on future ties. May has sought concessions from the EU over the most contentious part of the Brexit agreement to do with the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland should the U.K. and E.U. fail to come to a trade deal post-Brexit. However, lawmakers in the U.K have yet to approve the deal. Story continues "So just because of the lack of understanding of its direction, it's forcing all the private sector firms to be getting more prepared for Brexit, and I do believe this is not a good outcome for the U.K.," Fink said. "We're already now making bigger plans on moving different components of our business to the continent, or to the U.S. And in doing so it means probably a smaller future in the U.K. in the future," Fink added. "And I'm not speaking about BlackRock, I'm hearing this from every organization." Lobbying Group Frankfurt Main Finance claimed in a recent report that London's finance industry is poised to lose up to $900 billion by March 2019, while consulting firm EY found that financial services firms plan to move $1 trillion in assets out of the U.K. The figure is small, however, when compared to the U.K.'s overall financial sector, EY noted. Britain's banking sector alone is thought to be at almost $11 trillion, though experts say this could change depending on what happens during and after March. With no clear idea of what to expect, Fink emphasized "the annoyance that the leadership of every firm is experiencing right now, because we should have had better certainty of where we're going now." He added: "It just costs money, but we're dealing with it." Brexit's climbing costs It's no secret that businesses are facing high uncertainty over their futures as U.K. politicians squabble over Brexit terms and fail to agree on a deal with their EU counterparts. Many international companies are withholding expansions, stalling investment plans and charting moves out of the U.K. as uncertainty reigns over the fate of the country and its status in relation to the EU. British firms have diverted $10 billion of investment to the EU due to Brexit, a report from the London School of Economics revealed this month. EU businesses have cut their spending in Britain, leading to losses for the U.K. of more than $13 billion to date, and the report said that figure may rise. One study found that EU exports to Britain could halve in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Still, a number of global firms continue to show confidence in the U.K., with major investments for new offices and headquarters coming into London from the likes of Apple, Google and Facebook. More From CNBC Americas Third World underbelly While the US seems like the land of dreams, there is a dark side to it that we rarely acknowledge It has been about a month since the last earnings report for American Airlines (AAL). Shares have added about 5.4% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is American Airlines due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts. Earnings Beat at American Airlines in Q4 American Airlines' fourth-quarter 2018 earnings (excluding 35 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.04 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.02. Moreover, the bottom line increased on a year-over-year basis. Revenues of $10,938 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11,006.7 million. However, the top line improved on a year-over-year basis. Strong demand for air travel led to this year-over-year improvement in the top line. Total revenue per available seat miles (TRASM: a key measure of unit revenues) increased 1.7% to 16.02 cents in the reported quarter. Consolidated yield rose 2.4%. Passenger revenue per available seat miles (PRASM) inched up 1.4%. While traffic (measured by revenue passenger miles) was up 0.4%, capacity (measured by average seat miles) expanded 1.4%. Consolidated load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) contracted 70 basis points to 81.4% as traffic growth was outpaced by capacity expansion. Total operating expenses (on a reported basis) climbed 4.2% year over year to $10,389 million due to the 19.6% surge in consolidated fuel costs. Expenses pertaining to salaries and benefits were down 0.5%. Consolidated operating costs per available seat miles (CASM: excluding fuel and special items) declined 0.2%. During 2018, the company returned $986 million to shareholders through dividends. Furthermore, the carrier also declared a dividend of 10 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on Feb 20 to the shareholders of record on Feb 6. American Airlines is constantly looking to modernize its fleet. To this end, the carrier ordered 47 new Boeing 787 jets in 2018 in a bid to maintain a young fleet. It is constantly removing outdated planes from its fleet. Q1 Outlook TRASM is expected to either remain flat or increase up to 2% during the first quarter of 2019. Pre-tax margin excluding special items is projected in the range of 2.5-4.5% in the first quarter. Additionally, fuel costs are estimated between $1.97 and $2.02 per gallon in the first quarter. The company predicts first-quarter CASM to increase 4% year over year. Capacity is expected to grow approximately 1% in the first quarter of 2019. 2019 View Adjusted earnings per share in 2019 are anticipated between $5.50 and $7.5. CASM (excluding fuel, new labor deals and special items) is expected to be at the upper end of the previously guided 1-2% range. The companys capex projection for the current year is pegged at $4.7 billion. Capacity is anticipated to expand approximately 3%. Story continues How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then? It turns out, fresh estimates flatlined during the past month. The consensus estimate has shifted -13.26% due to these changes. VGM Scores At this time, American Airlines has a subpar Growth Score of D, however its Momentum Score is doing a lot better with an A. Following the exact same course, the stock was allocated a grade of A on the value side, putting it in the top 20% for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of A. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Outlook American Airlines has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Description The PRESENT TENSE series continues on Sunday February 24th, 3pm, at Pierson High School Auditorium, with a screening of The Second Civil War. With its plot of anti-immigration hysteria, political opportunism, media manipulations, cowardly leadership, and schools shootings, this rarely seen 1997 comedy today feels like front page news. Or, one could say, it plays like a documentary. It was perceived like a shift of tone for its director, Joe Dante (Gremlins), based on a script by Canadian author Martyn Burke and produced by cable channel HBO. Director Joe Dante will lead the post film discussion, in a Q&A from Los Angeles, via Skype, moderated by Giulia DAgnolo Vallan, head of the Sag Harbor Cinema programming committee. Beau Bridges stars. This screening is free, but donations to the Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center are greatly appreciated. Suggested donation: $15. Woburn, MA (01801) Today Sun and clouds mixed. Hot. High 91F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 74F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi threw a challenge to his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan, asking him to act honourably by bringing to justice those responsible for the Pulwama terror attack. Addressing a rally in Rajasthan's Tonk, PM Modi recalled the phone call he made to Mr Khan to congratulate him for winning the Pakistani elections last year. He said "I told him there have been plenty of fights between India and Pakistan. Pakistan got nothing. Every time, we won. I told him let us fight against poverty and illiteracy. He told me, 'Modi ji, I am the son of a Pathan. I speak true and I do true'. Today, the time has come for him to stand true to his words. I will see whether he stands true to his words or not,". also readSecurity has and always will be a top priority: BCCI to ICC It is worth mentioning here that Pathans, an ethnic group with roots in Iran, are known for their deep sense of honour and self-respect. While Pakistan has denied the charge with Imran Khan saying the country will retaliate against any attack or "misadventure" by India. PM Modi went on to say on Saturday that he was committed to strike Pakistan diplomatically and in terms of trade as retribution for the attack. The Prime Minister said that most of the countries and global organisations are united against the Pulwama terror attack and the decisions taken in its wake had rattled Pakistan. also read Pakistan is getting jittery on Indian retaliation over the Pulwama terror attack A suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama last week killed over 40 CRPF soldiers. More than 40 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama last week. India has blamed Pakistan for supporting those responsible for the attack after Jaish-e-Mohammad, a terrorist group based in the country, claimed responsibility. MUMBAI: On Saturday, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi lashed out at Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and said that the time has come for Imran to drop his mask of innocence. While addressing a rally in Mumbai, the AIMIM chief slammed Pakistan for being involved in the ghastly Pulwama terror attack and said: We would like to tell Pakistan PM not to give that message to India which he wants to seated before a camera. This is not the first attack. There was Pathankot, Uri and now Pulwama. And on behalf of India, I want to tell the Prime Minister of Pakistan to drop his mask of innocence. However, asking Islamabad to not worry about Indian Muslims, Owaisi said that millions of Muslims are living in India by choice after they decided to refuse stand with Mohammad Ali Jinnah during 1947. He stressed that India is a secular country and Pakistan is jealous of the unity of Indian citizens, ANI reported. also read Prime Minister visit Gorakhpur and Prayagraj today, many schemes to be launch Owaisi said One of the ministers from Pakistan had said that they will stop the prayer bells from ringing in temples of India but I want to tell him that he doesnt know India. Till Muslims of this country are alive, Azaan will sound from mosques and bells will ring in temples. This is the beauty of our country which the neighbouring country sees with jealousy. People in this country live as one and when it will come to the country we all will be together, I want to clearly say as a citizen of India, that this dastardly attack has links to Pakistan. It was done as per plan of Pakistan government, Pakistan Army and ISI. I would like to tell the outfit that killed our 40 men and claimed its responsibility - you`re not Jaish-e-Mohammed, you are Jaish-e-Shayateen. You are Jaish-e-Shayateen, Jaish-e-Iblis. Masood Azhar, you are not a Maulana, you are a disciple of the devil. It is not Laskhar-e-Taiba, it is Lashkar-e-Shayateen.. Owaisi also lambasted Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which was involved in Pulwama attack and remarked that anyone who follows the teaching of Prophet Mohammed would never kill a person. also read Surbhi Jyoti, Arjun Bijlani and Karanvir Bohra reunites for a cookery show Islamabad: Troops have been put on alert, Air Force jets are making combat patrols, and Army Chief is visiting the Line of Control to motivate soldiers Pakistan is getting jittery by the day fearing an Indian retaliation over the Pulwama terror attack. In the latest such measure, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry has formed a crisis management cell that is not temporary and will remain operational. This was informed by Mohammad Faisal, spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Faisal said the decision has been taken in view of the deteriorating situation as regards India. also read Venezuelas folk get violent, trucks set ablaze It is to be noted that the cell will coordinate amongst all stakeholders and keep them informed about border situation and diplomatic contacts, Faisal said. The cell will function 24X7 through the week, he added. Meanwhile, in provocative remarks, Faisal said the Pulwama terror attack took place in an internationally declared disputed territory and that India has yet to share any actionable evidence with them. However, like other officials and Army Generals, the MoFA spokesperson warned India that Pakistan will give a proper response if war is imposed on them. The development came as the Pakistan Air Force started conducting combat patrols in view of a strong stance taken by India following the Pulwama terror attack on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 40 soldiers of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group had claimed responsibility for the attack. also read US Democrats aim to block President Donald Trump for construction of his controversial southern border wall The Air Force has been conducting combat patrols in Sargodha, Sialkot and Rawalpindi. The countrys troops have also been put on full alert fearing retaliation from India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi adopted a strong stance today over the Pulwama attack, and said that his government will not sit silently and this time, hisab poora hoga. The Centre has also moved 100 additional companies (nearly 10,000 personnel) of paramilitary troops to the state of Jammu and Kashmir following the Pulwama terror attack. Lagos: On Saturday, sixteen people were killed in electoral violence across Nigeria during presidential and parliamentary elections, a network of civil society organizations said. The Situation Room umbrella group of pro-democracy groups, which is monitoring the vote, said on Twitter that "16 deaths have been recorded across 8 states". Six people were killed in the southern state of Rivers, which has long been a flashpoint for violence, while two others were killed in neighbouring Bayelsa. Two people were killed in Borno and Yobe states in the northeast; two in the north-central state of Kogi; and two in Ebonyi, in the southeast. In continuation of it affects one person was killed in Zamfara, in the northwest, and another in Lagos, in the southwest, which also saw ballot boxes and papers set on fire, the monitors said. There were reports of vote-buying in six states, they added in a mid-afternoon update. Electoral violence, which has marred previous votes in Africa's most populous country, was relatively low compared to other years. Most voting took place without incident. also read PM Modi flagship PM-KISAN scheme, around 12 crores farmers proposed to benefit Nigeria's Centre for Crisis Communication, which comprises representatives from security agencies, on Friday identified 12 election flashpoints around the country. Analysts SBM Intelligence said 233 people have killed in 67 incidents of election-related violence from last October to Friday -- an average of two people per day. In oil-rich Rivers, police said unknown gunmen shot dead a former local government leader and his brother in the Andoni area of the state. Both were members of President Muhammadu Buhari's ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party. also read Alia Bhatt receives a special note from Amitabh Bachchan for Gully Boy, check it out here Police spokesman Nnamdi Omoni said "hoodlums" dressed in military uniforms also invaded some polling stations in the Okrika area of the state and snatched voting materials. He further added that "Police have moved in to restore order in Okrika and INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) is making efforts to ensure voters are not disenfranchised in the area,". At one polling unit in the Yaba area of Lagos, AFP reporters witnessed bloody fights between youths, as unknown men distributed cash to waiting groups. There were also reports of voter intimidation by thugs, according to local residents. But in many other areas, voting went on without disruption Damascus: A land mine left by the Islamic State group struck a van packed with workers in eastern Syria on Sunday, killing more than 20 of them in Syria. News agency SANA said, citing local police, The ordnance left behind by the Islamic State group in the town of Salamiyeh killed farmworkers who were heading to a region in the Hama province to pick truffles. India could finish us by attacking 20 nuclear bombs: Pervez Musharraf SANA said the explosion on Sunday morning near the central town of Salamiyeh was caused by explosives left behind by the militants when they controlled the area. A mine exploded in a nearby area earlier this month, killing seven people. Saudi Arabia named a princess as its first woman ambassador to the United States Earlier, on February 8 too a landmine that had been planted by IS in rural Hama exploded killing seven civilians. IS had a presence in Hama's countryside before the Syrian army drove the jihadists from the area in 2017. Before withdrawing they had planted mines in the area and rigged buildings with explosives, a tactic they have used in other areas as well. More than four years after IS overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq and declared a "caliphate", the jihadist group has lost one territory after another and are left with only a tiny patch in the village of Baghouz near the border of Iraq. Maine Pyar Kiya lead, Bhagyashree was apparently busy reminiscing about her wedding day. Also, do you know what led to her wedding? The actress had to escape in order to get married to the man of her dreams, Himalaya Dasani. take a look at one of their couple pictures: Recently rocking at 49, Bhagyashree took to Instagram and posted a mesmerising picture of herself, from her wedding day, all decked-up as a bride. The black-and-white picture that she had shared, was captioned with a couple of hashtags, #throwbackthursday #weddingdiaries #blacknwhite #grayscale #memories #gratitude #downmemorylane. This is the picture: Speaking about their love story with Humans Of Bombay, the doting wifey shared, We went to school together he was the naughtiest kid in class and I was always the class monitor. We would fight all the time and the rest of the class would have a blast! We were like Yin and Yang the more we fought, the more it became clear that we couldnt be apart. We never dated thoughhe never even told me how he felt until the last day of school. He said, I have to tell you something and then for one week he kept trying to say it but would always back out. Finally, I went upto him and said, look, just say itIm sure the answer will be positive and thats when he told me he liked me. also read Siddhant Chaturvedi aka MC Sher of Gully Boy has faced nepotism,check out post here Bhagyashree had to run away in order to get married to the man of her dreams? She had further shared, I come from a very conservative family, so even after that while we were in college, we would barely meet or talk on the phone. When I told my parents about him, they thought we were too young to decide something like this, and I believed as well that if he really loved me, we should be apart for some time he should explore, know that Im the one and then we could be together. So we did break up when he went away to the US to study, and thats when I signed Maine Pyar Kiya. also read Actress Sonakshi Sinha booked for fraud of Rs 37 Lakh KABUL: On Sunday, the United Nations said in a report that a record number of Afghan civilians were killed last year due to stepped up aerial attacks by U.S-led forces and more suicide bombings. The report from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the conflict in Afghanistan claimed 3,804 civilian lives that included 927 children, both all-time highs, leading to an 11 percent spike in civilian deaths versus 2017. Tadamichi Yamamoto, the top UN official in Afghanistan said "The best way to halt the killings and maiming of civilians is to stop the fighting. That is why there is all the more need now to use all our efforts to bring about peace,". The Afghan war - which started after U.S. forces led a campaign to overthrow the Taliban following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington - has intensified despite peace talks gaining momentum. also read In Bamako Three UN peacemakers killed by suspected bandits However, afghan forces, backed by U.S. advisers, have in recent months stepped up airstrikes and raids to the highest levels since 2014 in what senior security officials have described as a coordinated series of attacks on Taliban leaders and fighters. Suicide attacks and aerial operations each caused the most civilian casualties ever recorded by UNAMA. Ground engagements, mainly between pro-government forces and anti-government groups remained the second leading cause of civilian casualties. The report stated that 1,185 civilians were killed and 1,427 civilians were injured from operations conducted by pro-government forces. Their aerial operations caused 492 child casualties as many attacks were on anti-government elements hiding among the civilian population. Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saod "The fact that the number of children killed this year is the highest on record, is particularly shocking,". The report said the Taliban was responsible for 1,751 civilian casualties in 2018, versus 916 in 2017, while the Islamic State killed or wounded 2,181 civilians last year. A wave of suicide attacks in the eastern province of Nangarhar and in the capital Kabul last year hit students preparing for exams, spectators at sporting events, people waiting to register for elections as well as Shiite mosques.The mainly Shi`ite Hazara minority has been heavily targeted by attacks claimed by the local affiliate of Islamic State.The UNAMA report comes amid efforts to find a peaceful end to the 17-year war. U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is expected to meet Taliban negotiators on Monday in Qatar. also read China bus accident at a mining company, 21 killed and 29 others are injured New Delhi: On Saturday Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said he will sit on an indefinite hunger strike from March 1 to demand full statehood for the national capital. Speaking in the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal said that democracy has been implemented in the entire nation, but not Delhi. Kejriwal added Public votes and selects a government, but the government has no power. So we're starting a movement on March 1 and I'll sit on indefinite fast for the full statehood of Delhi, he said. I want to tell the Prime Minister that that he should take care of Pakistan and leave the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Delhi Police to us. He has no time for the people of Delhi,. also readSon of a Pathan: PM Narendra Modi Challenge to Pakistan Counterpart Imran Khan While alleging that the Modi government interferes in every file of Delhi government, the Delhi CM said there is only one way - that of andolan (protest). Taking to Twitter later, Kejriwal said he cannot repay the debt of my Delhi for all that the people here have given me in my life. It will be my proud privilege to lay down my life fighting for Delhiites rights. Delhi deserves full statehood and must get it at all costs. The Aam Aadmi Party has upped the ante on its demand of full statehood for Delhi after a setback in the Supreme Court, which last week gave control of the Anit-Corruption Bureau to the Centre, saying only it has the power to order investigation against corrupt officers and not Delhi government. The top court also left the decision on who controls Delhi officers to a higher bench following a split verdict between two judges. In the meantime, the central government would continue to handle postings and transfers of officers. also read Pakistan is getting jittery on Indian retaliation over the Pulwama terror attack Calling the verdict as one against "constitution and democracy", the Delhi CM had warned that he may even enter the premises of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence to stage a sit-in protest to demand full statehood for the national capital. Recalling his nine-day sit-in protest at the Delhi Lieutenant Governor's residence in June last year, Kejriwal said: "This time, if need be, we will enter the Prime Minister's house to stage a dharna to push for our statehood demand." In the run up to the general elections, he has promised that if the AAP wins all seven seats, his party will ensure that Delhi gets full statehood status within two years. BENGALURU: On Saturday, a major fire broke out in the forest area of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka. It has reportedly destroyed over 150 acres of the forest. The fire was reported around 4 am on Saturday morning. The fire couldn't be doused off completely till the last reports. Huge plumes of thick black smoke covering the air were seen in videos. Fire department officials along with policemen are trying to prevent the fire from spreading with the help of local residents. It is to be noted that environmental activist Joseph Hoover told "Neither the pre-season burning nor the annual assessment meeting of officials took place this year to take stock of the situation in order to fight fire of this devastating scale." The pre-season burning of dead leaves and branches is a common practice to reduce chances of spreading fire. also read Pakistan MP Rajesh Kumar Vankwani attend Kumbh Mela 2019, amid boycott Pakistan call However, the Post of the Director of Bandipur Forest is also lying vacant for almost three months. It is alleged that number of human fire watchers were not hired this year in the region. People from nearby villages are hired by the Forest Department and paid Rs. 320 per day for the job. A fire also broke out near the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in The Nilgiris District in Tamil Nadu. There was no immediate information about loss of wildlife which is 2 km away from MTR and bordering Bandipur. also read Ranveer Singh's Gully Boy mode is on, watch the Murad rapping and grooving to Apna Time Aayega at a wedding With high velocity winds and dry grass in the area, more than 90 forest personnel of both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were involved in the fire fighting operation, reported news agency PTI. The Bandipur Tiger Reserve is in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. It connects Ooty with Mysore. Beijing: China has banned gender discrimination practices in recruitment to boost career opportunities for women. No requirements for gender should be included in any recruitment plans or interviews, according to a document released on Thursday by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and other eight government agencies. According to the notice, it was forbidden to ask about the marital or fertility status of women candidates during interviews and pregnancy testing should be off the list of pre-employment health test, Xinhua news agency reported. The document said that rule breakers will be fined from 10,000 yuan (Rs 105798.16) to 50,000 yuan if they refused to correct their practices. HR service providers may have their licenses revoked for serious offences, it added. China will also build a sound mechanism to supervise employers and offer legal aid to women employees. Allahabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday took a holy dip at the Sangam here and interacted with sanitation workers, who have ensured cleanliness during the ongoing Kumbh Mela, describing them as "real karma-yogis" whose contributions are being lauded all over. Modi also performed the Ganga aarti and conducted 'Charan Vandana' (washing the feet) of select sanitation workers, as a mark of respect to their efforts in ensuring a clean Kumbh. He presented them 'angvastram' and said he would carry the memory of washing the feet of safai karamcharis life-long. In a tweet, he said he prayed for the well-being of 130 crore Indians at the Sangam. He described all those, who have been involved in ensuring the best of arrangements for the devotees gathering at Prayagraj for the Kumbh, as "real karma-yogis". Moments Ill cherish for my entire life! Honouring remarkable Safai Karamcharis, who have taken the lead when it comes to realising the dream of a Swachh Bharat! I salute each and every person making a contribution towards a Swachh Bharat pic.twitter.com/IsjuCgjlkn Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 24, 2019 In this context, he mentioned the NDRF, the boatmen, the local population, and the sanitation workers as well. "No one can know the labour they (safai karamcharis) have put in the Kumbh. Cleanliness has been the trademark of this Kumbh," Modi said addressing the Swachh Kumbh, Swachh Aabhaar programme. "It is my wish that your blessings remain with me and I continue to work for you." He said no stone was left unturned to make this "Divya Kumbh" and "Bhavya (grand) Kumbh", and this Kumbh will also be remembered as "digital Kumbh" "The Swachh Kumbh is happening at a time when the nation is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who had 100 years ago expressed the desire for a clean Kumbh when he visited the Kumbh in Haridwar. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is moving ahead, and by October 2, India will become open defecation-free," he said. Starting and ending his speech paying gratitude to the holy rivers in Prayagraj, a place of reverence, especially for Hindus, Modi also praised the "naaviks' (boatmen), calling them the "sevak" of Lord Ram. The prime minister described himself as their, the boatmen's, pradhan sevak (principal servant). "Boatmen play an important role during Kumbh. There is a strong relationship between Prayagraj and boatmen. They are the dedicated soldiers of Maa Ganga. Without them, the Ramayana of Lord Ram is incomplete," Modi said. "Lord Ram, by whose benevolence everyone's boat sails through, his boat was ferried by our naavik friends. I share a deep relationship with you... You call yourself 'Gangaputra', I have come on the call of Maa Ganga and serving you," the prime minister said amid an applause from the audience. He said the infrastructure created for this year's Kumbh is permanent, unlike previous years. Showering praises on people from different sectors engaged in various duties, Modi said, "In Kumbh, there are tap-yogis, hath-yogis and our hardworking karma-yogis. These are the people who have worked day and night to provide security and assistance to the devotees visiting the place." "The place where more than 20-22 crore people have assembled in the past week, making arrangements at that place is difficult. But, you have proved that nothing is impossible in the world." Narrating his experience of washing the feet of swachagrahis (safai workers), the prime minister said, "The moments of washing the feet will remain forever etched in my life." Referring to the Namami Gange Mission, Modi said the nirmalta (pristine nature) of river Ganga would be maintained. "Thirty-two drains falling in Ganga in Prayagraj were closed, and sewage water is diverted to treatment plant, and water is discharged in the river after treatment." The prime minister also said that this time the "Kumbh has become a triveni (point of confluence) of Adhyatma (spiritualism), Aastha (faith) and Aadhuniktaa (modernity)." Modi said the cleanliness of Ganga river has been the subject of much discussion this year. He added that today, he has witnessed it first-hand. A few days ago, he said, he received the Seoul Peace Prize, which included an amount of about Rs 1.30 crore. He said he donated that amount towards the Namami Gange Mission. He also mentioned that the gifts and mementoes he received as prime minister have also been auctioned, and their proceeds have gone towards Namami Gange Mission. Modi said a 'Swachh Sewa Samman Kosh' has been created. "This will ensure help to the sanitation workers working in the Kumbh Mela, and their family members in special circumstances. This is a symbol of love and gratitude from the countrymen for you and and the work done by you," he said. Ranchi: Three Maoists were killed in a gunfight with the security forces in Jharkhand's Gumla district on Sunday. The gunfight erupted after Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers along with Jharkhand Police, launched a special operation in the district. "We have recovered the three bodies as well as two AK-47 rifles, two .315 mm rifles and one pistol," , a CRPF official said, adding the operation was on. Read more: Latest India news Panaji: Ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was admitted in the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) late Saturday night. The Chief Minister's Office in the statement said he was taken to the GMCH for upper GI endoscopy. "His health condition continues to be stable," the CMO said, adding Parrikar would be kept under observation for around 48 hours. Parrikar, 63, has been suffering from a pancreatic ailment since the past one year and is recuperating at his private residence. Health Minister Vishwajit Rane arrived at the GMCH to inquire about Parrikar's condition. He said the chief minister was kept in an isolated ward, but his condition was stable and he was doing well. "I spoke to him (Parrikar), tomorrow he will go home. He has come here for a check up," Rane told reporters outside GMCH. "The chief minister is a fighter. He told me to go home. He is under observation. There is nothing to worry about or speculate. He is absolutely fine," the minister added. "He will be admitted for a day under observation. The doctors must have wanted some tests to be done. By tomorrow evening he should be back home, he said. The chief minister, who met State Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai Saturday evening to discuss politics and administration, was shifted to GMCH, almost four km away from his residence, around 10 pm. Parrikar was diagnosed with the ailment in February, 2018. On February 14, 2018, he fell ill and was shifted to GMCH from where he was taken to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai next day. The chief minister had returned to Goa on February 20, 2018, to present the budget during then ongoing assembly session. He left for the US for treatment on March 3, 2018, and returned on June 14, 2018. Parrikar attended Monsoon Session of State Legislative Assembly from July 19 to August 3, and left for the US on August 10 for a second round of check up. He returned to Goa on August 22, 2018. As he continued being treated at a make-shift medical facility at his residence, Parrikar was shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences at New Delhi on September 15. After almost a month-long treatment, he returned to Goa on October 14, 2018. Parrikar stunned everyone when he joined the office on January 2, 2019, after a gap of two and a half months. On January 27, he attended the inauguration of the third bridge on River Mandovi along with Union minister Nitin Gadkari. He also attended budget session on January 29 and presented the budget next day. On the last day of session, on January 31, he was taken for treatment at AIIMS, New Delhi and returned to Goa on February 5. Parrikar also addressed Atal Booth Karyakarta Sammelan on February 9 in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah. Read more: Latest India news New Delhi: In a first and strategically significant move, India has been invited to the inaugural plenary of the foreign ministers' conclave of the OIC, a powerful grouping of Muslim majority nations, in Abu Dhabi next month and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will attend it as the 'guest of honour'. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called the invitation a 'welcome recognition' of the presence of 185 million Muslims in India and of their contribution to its pluralistic ethos, and of India's contribution to the Islamic world. A spokesperson in the MEA said it was for the first time, India has been invited to an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting as guest of honour. The 46th Session of the OIC's Council of Foreign Ministers will be held in Abu Dhabi from March 1 to 2. The invitation to India by the OIC comes at a time when India has been mounting diplomatic offensive against Pakistan to isolate it internationally following the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and, often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue. The MEA said Foreign Minister of United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan invited Swaraj as the 'guest of honour' to address the inaugural plenary and that India was happy to accept the invitation. "We see this invitation as the desire of the enlightened leadership of the UAE to go beyond our rapidly growing close bilateral ties and forge a true multifaceted partnership at the multilateral and international level," the MEA said in a release. "We see this invitation as a milestone in our comprehensive strategic partnership with the UAE. We also see this invitation as a welcome recognition of the presence of 185 million Muslims in India and of their contribution to its pluralistic ethos, and of India's contribution to the Islamic world," it said. India is, therefore, happy to accept the invitation and thanked the leadership of the UAE for it, the ministry said. OIC is a grouping of 57 countries, majority of which are Muslim majority. Last year, Bangladesh proposed restructuring of the charter of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to pave way for the inclusion of non-Muslim countries like India as an 'observer state' of the 50-year-old grouping. Read more: Latest India news Hyderabad: The famous Karachi Bakery has clarified it was an Indian company and urged all to refrain from any misconceptions. The clarification came after protest at one of its outlets in Bengaluru, demanding the change of name for its connection with Pakistan. The group of people also raised slogans against Pakistan for its involvement in Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers on February 14. The protest forced the shop at Indiranagar to cover the name 'Karachi' on its signboard and put up an Indian flag. Karachi Bakery, famous for Osmania and fruit biscuits, was set up in Hyderabad in 1953 by Khanchand Ramnani, who migrated to India from Pakistan province Sindh during the partition. "The essence of Karachi Bakery is absolutely Indian by heart and will remain so. We request everybody to refrain from any kind of misconceptions," the company said in a statement posted on Facebook. "The incident in Bengaluru was due to some misunderstanding. We have convinced all that this is an Indian company that has nothing to do with Pakistan," Girish Varindhani, manager, Karachi Bakery, told IANS. He said there was no problem at any other outlet in any other city as most people know who founded Karachi Bakery. Karachi Bakery, first set up at Moazzam Jahi Market in the heart of Hyderabad, has expanded operations in recent years by opening over 15 stores in various parts of the city and its twin city Secunderabad. Taking its brand beyond Hyderabad, it also opened stores in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and other cities. Read more: Latest India news Kasaragod: Suresh Gopi MP on Sunday visited the houses of two Youth Congress workers - Sharathlal and Kripesh - who were brutally hacked to death allegedly by CPM men on February 17. After paying homage to the victims, the actor-turned-politician on Sunday interacted with their kin. Suresh Gopi assured them that IG S Sreejith, who was heading the Crime Branch investigation, was trustworthy. However, he raised suspicion over how he would be used by the higher-ups. The BJP MP's visit comes a day after local CPM leaders faced the ire of the people when they arrived at Kalliyode area on Saturday. An enraged crowd, which included some angry women, stonewalled the leaders P Karunakaran, MP, K Kunjiraman, MLA, and former MLA K V Kunjiraman. Some of the protesters tried to manhandle the MP and showered abuses on the leaders. The murders have shaken the CPM in many areas in the district even as a Lok Sabha election looms. Though Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wanted to visit the houses of the murder victims on Friday, he had to back off after the Congress leaders said they could not predict how the workers would react to his presence. Palakkad: A Congress MLA landed in soup after a nasty retort to an award-winning writer drew flak on social media. Irked by K R Meera's defence of fellow writers, V T Balram tried to pun on Meera's name but later sought to turn the spotlight away from the political correctness of greetings and on to the political murders in Kerala. Balram and other Congress leaders had been trying to put the literati in Kerala in the dock for their perceived silence on the twin murders in Periya in Kasaragod on Monday. The narrative accused the writers of warming up to the ruling CPM, whose former local leader is accused of the murders. Meera took to social media after Congress workers marched to the Kerala Sahitya Akademy office in Thrissur to protest against writers and cultural activists. Meera advised the writers to pay heed to none but their readers as no political party or religious groups would come to their rescue in their hour of crisis. She even advised Balram to pick someone his own size. The writer was referring to the growing tendency on social media to dictate writers and intellectuals on what to say and what not to say. Dear aspiring writers, you are left with two choices: Either remain silent and be in the good books of (the people who abuse you, torture you and burn books) or speak out your mind, she wrote. Balram, in turn, said that Meera was speaking on behalf of the largest criminal party in Kerala. However, he went to the extreme of singling her out for her comment. Faced with criticism, he later wrote on Facebook that he wanted to limit the debate on the recent murders and the inherent violence in communism. Periya: For Kunhiraman and Lakshmi of Echithadam, Chalingal, near here, the murder of Youth Congress functionaries Kripesh and Sharat Lal on Sunday night has brought back bitter memories of a tragedy which turned their world upside down. Eighteen years have passed since their son T V Devadas was hacked to death by a group of CPI(M) activists, but the elderly couple is still coming to terms with that irreparable loss. Ever since, they have been leading the life of a recluse, mostly confining themselves within the four walls of their house. Devadas, who was a headload worker at a laterite mining site in the area, was just 24 when his life was cruelly snuffed out over ideological differences. He was also the Youth Congresss Chalingal unit president. Chalingal is not far away from Kallyott, where Kripesh and Sharat Lal were killed in a mafia-style hit-and-run attack. Devadas had gone to his workplace in the morning, but he did not return home at the usual time. Till late night, Lakshmi, who is 64 now, waited for her son, unaware of her sons death. He was killed by a 11-member armed gang in full public glare inside a running bus. The incident took place on January 27, 2001. She is yet to overcome the emotional trauma caused by that devastating event. If nobody is around her, she would go to his grave in the backyard and weep inconsolably, said her relatives. Four CPI(M) functionaries are still serving a life-term for murdering Devadas. Youth Congress workers in the area are taking care of the duo, providing a sense of security to them and helping them to stay afloat. They snatched our son from us for ever. There is nothing that can replace his absence, Kunhiraman, 72, said, choking back tears. When chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan pointed out that the CPM had lived with the pain of martyring its cadres, he might have relived memories of past struggles from the days of the Kayyur rebellion in north Kerala. Not far from Kayyur lies Periya, where two Youth Congress workers were hacked to death this week. Periya was also hotbed of the revolutionary politics that was manifested in Kayyur. Yet the history Pinarayi wished to recall stands on its head in the small village. After meeting the four heroes of the Kayyur revolt of 1943 in their condemned cell, the then CPI general secretary assured them that their martyrdom would draw in hundreds of people to the party. P C Joshi told the four comrades that their acts would draw more than 4,000 people to the party. The CPM today boasts of about 4 lakh members in Kerala. The party ascended to power in the state several time. Yet it struggles to shake off its bloodthirsty image. The execution of four comrades attracted thousands to the communist party. It is also worth considering how many people wished to dissociate itself from the party after the double murder of Periya. The murders stained official celebrations to mark 1,000 days of the Pinarayi Vijayan government. The government opted to mark the unusual landmark, more than anniversaries, in view of the general elections later this year. The CPM and the CPI have kicked off their road shows. The marches, however, had to be called off for a day in Kannur and Kollam after the murders snowballed into a controversy. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan The party bosses have claimed that they took a break to avoid any provocation. Society is already provoked. CPI state secretary said that the incidents would not affect the march yet he did not sound very convincing. The backlash was evident on the Facebook pages of the CPM and the Left Democratic Front it leads. The posts about the marches are followed by a barrage of barbed comments about the murders. Things are no different on the page of the chief minister. The party could brush aside the comments by alleging an orchestrated move. Yet even the cyber activists of the party find themselves unable to counter the volleys. State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan might be ruing the day he decided to announce his plan to appear live on Facebook every week to field questions from the public. When Kodiyeri's road show was flagged off by CPI general secretary C Sudhakar Reddy in Thiruvananthapuram the attendance was not befitting a programme organised by the ruling party. The party was energising its cadres to make the march more lively when bad news struck from Kasaragod. The double murders have put the party in the dock, just like the murder of party dissident T P Chandrasekharan did. The party has stood by P K Kunjananthan even after he was sentenced by the court. The party's plight is not surprising given its directions to the local committees to defend themselves against adversaries. It has even organised local gangs to take on opponents. The state leadership claims that the mobilisation and training is just a way of self-defence. Going by the logic, A Peethambaran, a former local committee member accused in the murder of Kripesh and Sarath Lal, could claim that he was once at the receiving end. He could have easily got the go-ahead for a revenge attack. The CPM has been trying to project that the murders were a direct violation of a party resolution against murders in the Thrissur conference. The party could also re-evaluate another guideline formed at the same conference for the formation of voluntary associations and the psyche behind such mobs. Why would the party need to deploy a militia for every local committee when it has the entire government machinery and the police to back it. Evidently, such a programme has not send out the right message to people like Peethambaran. Kalpetta: Touted to be one of the safest Lok Sabha seats for the Congress in Kerala, the Wayanad constituency is luring the maximum number of prospective candidates from the party following the death of sitting MP and KPCC working president M I Shanavas late last year. Nearly 20 names, including that of Shanavas' daughter Amina, has surfaced in the discussions. KPCC (Kerala Pradesh Congress Party) chief Mullappally Ramachandran said the picture would be clear only by the first week of March. Shanavas' daughter Amina Women leaders like AICC member Shanimol Osman, former chairperson of Kerala Women's Commission K C Rosakkutty, KPCC former president M M Hassan, Kozhikode DCC chief T Siddique, Malappuram DCC president V V Prakash and KPCC general secretary from Malappuram K P Abdul Majeed are among the front-runners for the Wayanad seat. Earlier, Congress sources had told Onmanorama that former Kerala chief minister A K Antony's son Anil had done a study on his electoral prospects in Wayanad constituency. AK Antony's son Anil Antony Some young Congress leaders had opposed this move saying that Anil Antony cannot be airdropped like that. Going by the results of the 2016 assembly polls and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it is evident that the trusted constituency of the Congress had shown some slant towards the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which often allocates the seat to the CPI. Former chairperson of Kerala Women's Commission K C Rosakkutty Shanavas won from Wayanad in the first Lok Sabha election after the formation of the constituency in 2009 with a huge majority of 1,53,439. While Shanavas got 4,10,703 votes, CPI's M Rahmathulla could garner only 2,57,264 votes. Wayanad LS constituency was formed with three assembly constituencies in the district Mananthavady, Kalpetta and Sulthan Bathery, three from Malappuram Nilambur, Wandoor and Eranad -- and one from Kozhikode Thiruvambady. The UDF faced a major erosion in its vote bank in the 2014 LS polls with Shanavas' majority slipping to 20,870 from 1,53,439. He could get 3,77,035 votes against CPI's Sathyan Mokeri who polled 3,56,165 votes. Kozhikode DCC chief T Siddique (L) and Malappuram DCC president V V Prakash (R) LDF recovers In the last LS polls, votes from assembly constituencies in Malappuram was crucial in deciding Shanavas' victory. However, the picture changed in the assembly elections in 2016 when the LDF won the Nilambur constituency (with a margin of 11,504 votes), that once helped Shanavas. (The LDF-backed Independent P V Anvar had defeated Congress candidate Aryadan Shoukat in the assembly poll, though the latter's father Aryadan Mohammed had won from Nilambur eight times.) Strengthening the LDF, MP Veerendrakumar-led Loktantric Janata Dal, which has considerable number of voters in Wayanad, had shifted its allegiance to the Left. In the 2014 LS elections, the UDF could get lead (1,880 votes) only in the Kalpetta assembly constituency in Wayanad. However, in the 2016 assembly polls, LDF could overcome this lead with a margin of 13,083. At the same time, UDF could dethrone LDF in Bathery. While Thiruvambady gave Shanavas a lead of 2,385, LDF won here with a margin of 3,008 in the assembly election. KPCC former president MM Hassan Mananthavady stayed strong with the LDF in both the elections and Eranad and Wandoor with the UDF. Though UDF could reduce the rival's majority in Mananthavady (8,666 to 1,307), their majority came down in Eranad (18,838 to 12,893). The UDF nearly doubled their majority in Wandoor (12,267 to 23,864). The Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency has 13,25,788 voters. Factors that affected Shanavas in 2014 are likely to affect daughter Amina too, feels Congress leaders, if she enters the fray. However, the party leaders are in a dilemma as to how to dissuade any move from the family for the party ticket if they openly demand for the same, said one leader on condition of anonymity. Absence in the constituency, lack of interaction with the workers and the public and internal issues within the party had reportedly turned Shanavas unpopular over his two terms. However, there is also a faction trying to keep away senior leaders like Shanimol Osman. For them, Amina would be a good shield as woman candidate. MI Shahnavas Youngsters from the party had already marked their dissent over choosing Amina. KSU state president KM Abhijith had posted on Facebook that though he welcomes Amina, wife of senior bureaucrat Muhammed Haneesh, to active politics, the sure seat should be given to some experienced leader. Youth Congress leaders also had come out in the open against the party giving the seat to Amina. New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Cloudy this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High near 90F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 72F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. New Delhi/Mumbai: India outlined a new draft policy for its burgeoning e-commerce sector on Saturday, focusing on data localisation, improved privacy safeguards and measures to combat the sale of counterfeit products. The proposed overhaul, which would likely increase operating costs for the sector, comes two months after the country modified regulations governing foreign direct investment in e-commerce. That forced retail giants Amazon.com Inc and Walmart-owned Flipkart to restructure their Indian operations, and the latest reforms spell further upheaval. "In the future, economic activity is likely to follow data," the widely expected draft policy document said. "It is hence vital that we retain control of data to ensure job creation within India". The new rules call for the housing of more data centres and server farms locally, amid a broader push for data localization by the South Asian nation, which is one of the world's fastest-growing online markets. India's central bank in 2018 forced payments providers such as Mastercard and Visa Inc to store Indian users' data locally. "Steps will be taken to develop capacity for data storage in India," the draft e-commerce rules said. "A period of three years would be given to allow industry to adjust to the data storage requirement." Flipkart and Amazon said they were going through the draft rules and will share their inputs with the government. The proposed rules also seek the creation of a "legal and technological framework" that can help impose restrictions on the cross-border flow of data generated by users, moves that may affect not just e-commerce platforms but also social media firms such as Alphabet Inc's Google and rival Facebook Inc. India also plans to mandate all e-commerce firms to provide access to their data stored abroad whenever official requests are made. The rules, which come at a time New Delhi is working on a broader data privacy law, also forbid companies from sharing data stored abroad with other businesses even with user consent. Other proposals include mandating all e-commerce websites or apps operating in India to have a locally registered business entity, and increasing liability of e-commerce players to ensure products sold on their platforms are not counterfeit or pirated. India also plans to mandate all e-commerce firms to provide access to their data stored abroad whenever official requests are made. Reuters "Lot of issues covered, bold decisions," the All India Online Vendors Association, which represents more than 3,500 online sellers, said in a tweet. New Delhi has invited comments on the proposed rules by March 9, after which the rules are likely to be formalised. Read more Business news Three people on board, a Boeing 767 cargo jetliner crashed into a bay near Houston's George Bush International Airport on Saturday, said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Trend reported citing Xinhua. Radar and radio contact was lost with Atlas Air Flight 3591 as it was flying from Miami to Houston around 30 miles (48 km) southeast of the airport, according to FAA. Russia and the United States, apart from regular contacts via the deconfliction channel in Syria, have been also involved in closed consultations on various aspects of the Syrian conflict settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, Trend reported citing Sputnik. "I have already mentioned that we have contacts with American diplomats and the military. There is a so-called deconfliction channel on Syria to reduce risks of unintentional incidents. It works on a regular basis. There are also such consultations, which are not widely reported, but they continue with regard to various aspects of the Syrian settlement", Lavrov said in an interview with Vietnam Television, China Television and Phoenix Television in the run-up to his visits to China and Vietnam. According to the minister, such a dialogue is necessary to prevent unwanted incidents since the United States retains a military presence in Syria, albeit without the consent of the legitimate government. "Now it is all the more necessary, given the announcement that the United States will withdraw its troops from Syria. It is unclear how and when. Many actually doubt whether they will do it. However, such a dialogue is useful. It is heartening that the United States remains committed to the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 2254, the main meaning of which is that it is up to the Syrians to hold talks and decide without external pressure", he noted. The statement comes after US President Donald Trump told reporters on 22 February that Washington is not changing its course in Syria amid the decision to leave some 400 troops in Syria beyond the pullout. The US, which had been operating in Syria for years, decided to withdraw its forces in December. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday condemned the attack against members of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in the area of Siby that resulted in the death of three peacekeepers from Guinea and the injury of several others, Trend reports citing Xinhua. "The secretary-general extends his deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wishes a swift recovery to the injured. He also expresses his solidarity with the people and government of Guinea," his spokesman said. "He cautions that any attack against United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime and calls on the Malian authorities to spare no effort in identifying and swiftly bringing to justice the perpetrators of this attack." "The secretary-general reiterates the determination of MINUSMA to continue implementing its mandate in support of the people and government of Mali in their quest for peace," the spokesman added. UN peacekeepers and French forces are stationed in central and northern Mali to combat well-armed jihadist groups with links to al-Qaida and Islamic State seen as threatening security across Africa's Sahel region. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un set off by train for Vietnam on Saturday, for his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump next week, media reported, and hours later, two witnesses saw a train crossing into China from North Korea, Trend reported citing Reuters. The reports of Kims departure from North Korea came after Vietnam announced that Kim would make an official visit in coming days, as the Southeast Asian country prepares to host the summit with Trump on Wednesday and Thursday. No details of the leaders travel arrangements, or for the summit, have been officially released. Trump and Kim will meet in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore in June - the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader - at which they pledged to work towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. But progress has been scant since then. The Trump administration has pressed North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program, which threatens the United States, before it can expect any concessions. North Korea wants an easing of punishing U.S.-led sanctions, security guarantees and a formal end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a treaty. Kim left the North Korean capital of Pyongyang at around 5 p.m. (0800 GMT) in an armored train, Russias TASS news agency said, citing a North Korean diplomatic source. North Koreas state media has yet to confirm either Kims trip to Vietnam or his summit with Trump. Two witnesses in the Chinese border city of Dandong, where the main rail line from North Korea arrives in China, said a train had crossed the Yalu River into China at around 9.30 p.m. (1330 GMT). South Koreas Yonhap news agency and broadcaster YTN also reported that a train suspected to be carrying Kim had arrived in Dandong. Chinese security chased away people trying to take photographs, one witness said. It was unclear if Kim was on the train. China has declined to answer questions about Kims travel plans via the country. It could take Kim at least two and a half days to travel the thousands of kilometers through China by train to Vietnam. One person was killed and two others were critically injured and hospitalized after coming in contact with a power source at a train tunnel's side track in Norway's capital city Oslo, Trend reports citing Xinhua reported Sunday. It was still unknown why the people were inside the tunnel, according to Tore Barstad, operations leader of the Oslo police. "The two people who were first taken to hospital were able to communicate with. They told us that there was a third person inside the tunnel," he said. The police then entered the tunnel and took out the third person who was declared dead. The tunnel is located in the area at Filipstad in central Oslo and the side track is mainly used to turn trains. In these areas, there is a high-voltage system with a voltage of 15,000 volts. "It is confirmed that it has been unauthorized presence of people inside a small tunnel at Filipstad. Based on what we know, they have been in an area that is not intended for regular traffic," Harry Korslund, press officer of railway network agency Bane Nor, told news agency NTB. No people were left in the tunnel and the accident had no consequences for the train traffic in the area, the report said. The Debt Settlement Fund has announced that Dh361 million worth of loans of 3,310 Emiratis have been waived off in cooperation with 13 banks, Trend reported citing Gul News. Jaber Mohammad Ganem Al Suwaidi, general-director of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi and chairman of the Supreme Committee of the Debt Settlement Fund, said that the gesture is part of the UAE leaderships keenness to ensure a decent life for all Emiratis and the highest possible level of social stability. The national banks that waived the debts included Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, RAKBANK, Al Hilal Bank, Union National Bank, Noor Bank, Emirates Islamic, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Sharjah Islamic Bank, and Arab Bank for Investment & Foreign Trade (Al Masraf). Al Suwaidi noted that the initiative is especially important as it coincides with the Year of Tolerance announced by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, pointing out that it aims to make tolerance a sustainable institutional work expressed through practical initiatives. He also expressed his thanks and appreciation to all banks that contributed to this initiative, praising the exemption provided to the defaulters, and their active participation in achieving the objectives of the fund. Al Suwaidi also commended the continuous cooperation between the fund and banks. The initiative is implemented in cooperation with the UAE Banks Federation and the UAE Central Bank. Senior officials of the banks stated that the move aims at reducing the burden of Emiratis, and consolidate the values of tolerance in society established by the countrys leadership. The European Union (EU) and the Arab League are to kick off their first-ever joint summit in Egypt, amid internal and mutual tensions, Trend reported citing Press TV. The two-day conference is to go underway at the International Congress Center in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday. Migration, security, climate change, economy, and regional conflicts are expected to be discussed during the event. The Iranian Navy launched cruise, coast-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles as well as various types of homegrown torpedoes in an ongoing military exercise in the countrys southern waters, Trend reported citing Tasnim. On the second day of the naval exercise, the Iranian Navys vessels, submarines and helicopters fired various torpedoes as well as coast-to-sea missiles to practice hitting hostile watercraft. In another operation, a Sikorsky SH helicopter dropped a Mark 46 torpedo to detonate a marine target. The war game is being held in an area of 2 million square kilometers in Irans southern waters, from the Strait of Hormuz to the southeastern coasts of Makran, the Sea of Oman and the northern parts of the Indian Ocean, down to the 10-degrees latitude. The drill is held in four separate phases, including naval parades, simulation of a real naval war, maritime and land offense to practice recapturing the territories occupied by the enemy, and the display of the Navys power by launching various types of missiles and torpedoes. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24 By Elnur Baghishov - Trend: Khojaly International Paintings Exhibition, dedicated to the Khojaly genocide, is being held in Tehran, Iran, Deputy Chairman of Basij Mostazafin Organization Mohammad Ali Mominiha, Trend reports referring to the organization. Mominiha noted that the exhibition is held at the initiative of several international public organizations and with the support of Basij Mostazafin Organization and the Culture and Art Organization of Tehran Mayor's Office. Mominiha said that the aim of the exhibition is to condole with the Azerbaijani people. The exhibition started on February 23 and will last until February 27. During the Karabakh war, on Feb. 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops, stationed in Khankendi, committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were killed in the massacre. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown. A French citizen who was detained for illegal entry into Iran has been released, according to Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi, Trend reported citing IRNA. Qasemi told IRNA on Sunday that the French citizen was released over the past few days after the legal procedures were carried out and other accusations were removed. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had said that Paris was in touch with Iran over the fate of a French citizen who he said was arrested in the Iranian southern island of Kish for allegedly signing an illegal mining contract. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.24 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: European trends in natural gas demand will require development of new import routes, Trend reports citing Italian Snam company. In the coming years there will be a significant increase in demand in the global gas market, driven by the Americas and by China, where an increase in energy requirements will be accompanied by the growing role of renewable energy, more efficient technology and the gradual transition from other fossil sources to natural gas, according to the companys report. Snam believes that gas will continue to play a central role in the process of decarbonisation in Europe as well, in line with the objectives defined (2020 Climate & Energy Package) or in the process of definition at EU level (Clean Energy Package) specifically making an important contribution to the transport and thermoelectric sector, in view of coal gradually being phased out of production and the increase in intermittent renewable sources. "The use of the latter, which is hardly foreseeable, will require greater support from natural gas, a source which, can be programmed," said the Italian company. "Volumes in Italy remain essentially stable. European trends in natural gas demand, supported in particular by the reduction in the use of coal, together with the decline in domestic production, will require the development of new import routes," reads the report. In this context, Snam anticipates an acceleration in the investment plan (5.7 billion euros in the five-year period 2018-2022), with a continued focus on replacement and maintenance in order to guarantee the maximum resilience, flexibility and efficiency of existing infrastructure. Snam is Europes leading gas utility. It has been building and managing sustainable and technologically advanced infrastructure guaranteeing energy security for over 75 years. Snam operates in Italy and, through subsidiaries, Austria (TAG and GCA), France (Terega) and the United Kingdom (Interconnector UK). It is one of the main shareholders of TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline) and is the company most involved in projects for the creation of the Energy Union. --- Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24 By Matanat Nasibova - Trend: New persimmon processing plants will open in Azerbaijans Ganja city in the near future, Chairman of the Persimmon Producers and Exporters Association Gadir Yusifov told Trend. He said that in the future, there are plans to create conditions for the production of frozen persimmon at these plants in the future. "Such plants operate in Balakan, Agjabadi and Goychay districts," he noted. "In the future, similar plants may start operating in other parts of the country. In the Azerbaijani districts, persimmon is mainly grown in Goychay, Balakan, Agjabadi districts, in Ganja, and thats why it was reasonable to open plants for the production of semi-dried and dried persimmon in these areas." The Persimmon Producers and Exporters Association was established in August 2017 on the initiative of entrepreneurs and with the support of the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24 By Rashid Shirinov Trend: As many as 7,000 jobs were created by small and medium-sized businesses in the Akmola region of Kazakhstan in 2018, Trend reports via Kazakh media. "In addition, the production increased by 8.6 percent and amounted to 272 billion tenge, and tax revenues increased to 37 billion tenge," governor of the region Malik Murzalin said at a reporting meeting with the population. He noted that the state allocated 7 billion tenge to support small and medium-sized businesses in the region. This allowed to support 353 projects and issue 923 microloans (twice more than in 2017). "The head of state sets a big task for us to increase the share of small and medium-sized businesses in the economy. As of 2017, it was 25.1 percent in the Akmola region, and by the end of this year it should be increased to 28.2 percent, and to 35 percent by 2025," Murzalin added. (376.73 KZT = 1 USD on Feb. 24) --- Follow the author on Twitter: @ShirinovRashid Baku, Azerbaijan, February 24 By Fakhri Vakilov-Trend: Uzbek Ambassador to the Czech Republic with residence in Berlin, Nabijon Kasimov, presented his credentials to Czech President Milos Zeman, Trend reports with reference to the press service of Uzbek Foreign Ministry. Head of the Czech Republic welcomed the reforms being carried out in Uzbekistan and the policy of openness pursued by the leadership both within the country and internationally during the conversation that held at the ceremony. President of Czech Republic particularly emphasized the role of Uzbekistan in strengthening good-neighborly relations and cooperation in Central Asia, as well as involving neighboring Afghanistan in this process, which contributes to ensuring stability and sustainable development in the region. "President Milos Zeman noted the interest of Czech side in enhancing multi-faceted cooperation with Uzbekistan, as well as the readiness to provide necessary assistance to the reform processes in our country," the press service of Foreign Ministry said. Czech president supported Uzbek sides desire to intensify economic diplomacy in relations between two countries, which could stimulate the promotion of cooperation in other areas. --- Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24 Trend: President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Kersti Kaljulaid, President of the Republic Estonia, Trend reports citing the press service of the head of state. "On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I sincerely congratulate you and your people on the occasion of Independence Day of your country," President Aliyev said in his congratulatory letter. "On this remarkable day, I extend my best regards to you and wish the friendly people of Estonia lasting peace and prosperity," added President Aliyev. Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24 Trend: President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev expressed condolences to the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh Mohammad Abdul Hamid. "I was deeply saddened by the news of heavy casualties as a fire broke out in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. On the occasion of this tragedy, on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my deepest condolences to you, families and loved ones of those who died, and the whole people of Bangladesh, and wish the injured recovery. May those killed rest in peace!" Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24 Trend: On the occasion of the 27th anniversary of the commemoration of the massacre in town of Khojaly of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, has paid tribute to all those who lost their lives in the 1992 atrocity, the OIC said in a message. The Secretary General reiterated that the Khojaly incident was a result of the illegal occupation of Azerbaijani territory by Armenia. He referred to the Cairo Final Communique of the 12th Session of the Islamic Summit and resolutions adopted by previous sessions of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, which considered the actions perpetrated against civilian Azerbaijani population in the occupied Azerbaijani territories as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The Secretary General further reiterated the OICs full support to the initiatives and efforts of the Republic of Azerbaijan to put an end to the occupation of its territories and to restore its territorial integrity. During the Karabakh war, on Feb. 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops, stationed in Khankendi, committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were killed in the massacre. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown. The 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. 24 Trend: For the first time after a long period, the leader of Armenia is not from Nagorno-Karabakh, so he must be very careful not to take radical steps in the process of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the former US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador Richard Hoagland, said in an interview with Voice of America, Trend reports via Eurasia Daily. Hoagland expressed his certainty that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a very difficult problem for the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan. The best strategy in settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is to move forward in small steps, the US diplomat said. Hoagland stressed that he has left the civil service and now presents his personal point of view. Recent events, including the ongoing dialogue between the parties and the dramatic reduction of clashes on the contact line, inspire Hoogland with some optimism, but the former diplomat advises not to wait for serious breakthroughs. He noted that the so-called Lavrov plan was not approved by any of the parties. The document on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement proposed by Sergey Lavrov is based on the Madrid principles with some differences. 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. 24 Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 24 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Feb. 24, 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. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says that Tehran wants to improve ties with all countries in the Middle East, where Iran has been involved in proxy wars with Saudi Arabia for years. "Iran is ready to work with regional states to preserve security in the Middle East," Rouhani said in a televised speech in the southern city of Bandar-e Gonaveh on February 17. Rouhani went on to accuse the United States and Israel of seeking to create division among Iranians and said Iran will not succumb to pressures from America and Israel. Arch-rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia back opposing sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen. Saudi Arabia welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump's move to pull the United States out of a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and reimpose sanctions on Tehran. Iran has suggested it could take military action in the Gulf to block other countries oil exports in retaliation for U.S. sanctions intended to halt its sales of crude. Rouhani has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for nearly one-third of all oil traded by sea. A U.S. official, however, dismissed the threats, saying Tehran does not control the Strait of Hormuz, which is an international waterway. The United States has repeatedly criticized Iran for its human rights abuses and says Iran is a major sponsor of terrorism. Based on reporting by Reuters, farsnews.com While the parliament weighs President Hassan Rouhani's budget for the new Iranian year (beginning March 21), senior officials at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) have complained of the "minimal" budget allocated to the Bushehr nuclear power plant. The head, deputy head, and spokesman for AEOI have all criticized the government, saying the budget allocated to the plant in southern Iran is so low that it endangers the future of the nuclear reactor. The Energy Ministry pays peanuts for electricity produced at Bushehr, AEOI and former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on February 23. "For each kilowatt per hour of electricity produced at Bushehr, ME pays half a cent but exports electricity for nine cents," he said. Speaking at an industrial seminar, Salehi said, "The electricity produced at Bushehr reactor is bought for $40 million, while the annual budget needed for running the plant is $120 million. Theres a deficit of $80 million for which we dont know how to compensate." Iran is currently suffering from an acute economic crisis and has been unable to issue a budget for the upcoming Iranian fiscal year. U.S. economic sanctions have halved Iran's oil exports, which provide the hard currency needed for government operations. AEOI spokesman Behrooz Kamalvandi says that given the budget allocated to Bushehr, the fate of Iran's only nuclear power plant now hangs in the balance. Bushehrs construction started during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1975 by Kraftwerk Union, a Siemens company, along with several other German firms. Following the downfall of the monarchy, work on the nuclear reactor ground to a halt. A veteran Iranian diplomat and former foreign minister, Abbas Khalatbari, was executed by firing squad in April 1979 for charges that included signing a contract with Germany for the power plants construction. However, in 1988, Russia signed a contract with Iran to complete the project. After years of delays, the power station finally went online and was connected to Iran's national grid in September 2011, generating electricity at 40 percent capacity. The plant reached its maximum power generation capacity of 1,000 megawatts in August 2012. This marks the first time that high-ranking officials have called Bushehr a "loss-making" project. But, in reality, the government pays a small price for electricity generated by the reactor and then makes more than $500 million profit from exporting it. The controversial budget for Bushehr, along with Iran's rapidly devaluating national currency, has endangered the fate of the nuclear reactor, AEOI deputy head Mohammad Ahmadian acknowledged on February 21. The only way to save the nuclear plant, AEOI officials say, is for the government to pay for its electricity at the same rate as exports. Based on a parliamentary motion endorsed by the parliament 14 years ago, the Iranian government is obliged to construct 13 more plants with output similar to Bushehrs. Opponents have long insisted that since Iran is rich in oil and natural gas resources and poor in uranium ore deposits, the viability of its nuclear program is questionable. Based on assessments by the IAEA, the World Nuclear Association, and the International Energy Agency, nuclear power plants cannot compete with fossil fuel power stations in countries that are rich in oil and gas. In the United States, for example, as one of the largest producers of natural gas, running natural gas power plants costs approximately 20 percent less than operating nuclear plants. The Real Jackie Kennedy Her style and grace were legendary, and her image came to define the 1960s. She captured the hearts of world leaders, fashion icons and people all over the planet, who knew her as Jackie Kennedy, Jacqueline Onassis, or simply Jackie O. But who was the real Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis? Take our quiz and find out. Take The Quiz Barrick Gold Corp. issued a statement Feb. 22 in answer to speculation in the markets and media that the Toronto-based company is looking to merge with Newmont Mining Corp., which is in the process of merging with Goldcorp Inc. Barrick Gold Corporation today confirmed that the company has reviewed the opportunity to merge with Newmont Mining Corporation in an all-share mil premium transaction. No decision has been taken at this time, Barrick stated. Newmonts group executive of corporate communications, Omar Jabara, wrote in a Feb. 22 email that Newmont doesnt have much to add beyond saying that we are aware of Barricks statement that it has reviewed the opportunity for an unsolicited, no-premium merger with Newmont. We do not intend to speculate on Barricks interest or motivation. We remain confident that the combination of Newmont and Goldcorp represents an unparalleled opportunity to create value for our shareholders and deliver industry-leading returns for decades to come, Jabara said. Newmont and Goldcorp, meanwhile, announced on Feb. 22 that Goldcorp has received an interim order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on the plan of arrangement for the merger. Goldcorp is based in Canada. 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. Ukrainian exports to EU in 2018 highest ever in country's history Poroshenko The EUs share in the overall structure of Ukrainian exports has already reached 42.6%, rapidly approaching 50%. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Trump to depart for Vietnam Monday, expects more progress Donald Trump talks during an interview with Reuters journalists in the Oval Office. Photo by Reuters "I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam early tomorrow for a summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore, Denuclearization?" Trump said on Twitter on Sunday. Trump and Kim will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic first summit in Singapore in June. At the first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, both sides pledged to work towards denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. North Koreas Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed Sunday that Kim Jong-un has boarded a train in Pyongyang to Hanoi for the second summit with Trump and for his first official visit to Vietnam. Delegations of hundreds of agents of both countries are already in Vietnam to ensure security for their leaders during the summit. In the past week, the U.S. has sent several Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to Hanoi, carrying equipment needed for the summit, including a helicopter and two cars that President Trump will use in Vietnam. An unnamed U.S. official was quoted by Reuters as saying next week's meeting would be "similar in format to what we saw last June in Singapore... there will be an opportunity for the two leaders to see one another one-on-one" before holding meetings with their respective teams. Nguyen Quy Trump-Kim summit: Foreign reporters to get free tours of northern Vietnam attractions An aerial view of Ha Long Bay. Photo by VnExpress/Meo Gia The Vietnam National Tourism Administration (VNAT) has announced that the reporters will be able to register for free visits to popular tourist destinations in northern Vietnam, including Hanoi, Ninh Binh and the world-famous Ha Long Bay. The reporters are in town to cover the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday next week. Around 2,600 journalists from news agencies around the world, including prominent ones like Reuters, AP, AFP, NHK and Yonhap have reached Hanoi to cover the historic meeting. The free tours, to be arranged by leading travel agency Saigontourist, is an effort to give Vietnamese tourism a boost. Ha Van Sieu, deputy head of VNAT, said the Trump-Kim summit was a "historic opportunity" for Vietnams tourism as the event is the center of global attention. "Vietnam should take advantage of this opportunity to promote the image of the country as a beautiful, peaceful and friendly destination," Sieu said. Vietnams tourism industry hopes to welcome 17-20 million foreign visitors a year by 2020, earning an annual revenue of $35 billion and contributing 10 percent to the countrys GDP. Last year a record 15.4 million visitors came to the country, a whopping 20 percent increase from 2017. A report published last year by the United Nations World Tourism Organization ranked Vietnams tourism growth the fourth highest in the world. Video below features mesmerizing paddy fields and mountains in Ninh Binh, two hours south of Hanoi. Trump-Kim summit: Foreign reporters to get free tours of northern Vietnam attractions Trump-Kim summit: Foreign reporters offered free tours of northern Vietnam Khuong Nha PM calls for error-free arrangements for Trump-Kim summit U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday next week, eight months after their summit in Singapore in June, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. "The historic summit is a highlighted event that has caught the entire world's attention and Vietnam is proud to be chosen as the venue," Phuc said at a meeting on Sunday at the Vietnam-Soviet Friendship Cultural Palace, which serves as the international media center for the event. The PM said the summit was a good chance for Vietnam to project its image as a responsible, friendly and hospitable country. He asked relevant agencies to do their utmost to create best conditions for the success of the summit and ensure absolute safety for all those arriving in the capital as it takes place. "Make sure no mistakes happen..." he directed. The international media center inaugurated Saturday at 91 Tran Hung Dao Street in Hoan Kiem District. It will serve around 3,000 reporters who will cover the meeting. The media center, which will open 24x7 from February 26 to March 1, has a shared work space equipped with networked computers and LCD screens to watch live broadcasts of all events connected to the summit. Press agencies can also rent space and set up their own nine-square-meter booth with tables, chairs, LCD screens, telephone lines, and an internet connection. Pham Binh Minh, Vietnams Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister who visited North Korea earlier this month, said the upcoming U.S.-North Korea summit will be the most significant political and diplomatic event happening in the country in 2019, one that would promote the image of Hanoi and Vietnam to the world. With just three days to go, security has been heightened to the highest level along major streets from Noi Bai Airport to Hanoi and in the city center. A large police contingent of tens of thousands of officers have been deployed to maintain order and security during the summit, patrolling roads and the vicinities of hotels, train stations and airports. Hoang Thuy North Korea confirms Kim Jong-un on train for Trump summit A train believed to carry North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is pictured in the Chinese border city of Dandong, China, on February 23, 2019. Photo by Kyodo News via Reuters North Koreas Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Sunday that the North Korean leader left Pyongyang to begin the journey to Vietnam at around 5 p.m. Saturday. The KCNA said that Kim will take part in the second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, marking the first time the North Koreas state media agency has mentioned the event. Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong-chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the U.S., and Kim Yo Jong, the leaders sister, the report said. The state news agency also affirmed that Kim will pay an official visit to Vietnam in response to the invitation of Vietnams Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong. The confirmation came a day after Vietnams Foreign Ministry made an official statement on Kims first official visit to Vietnam without mentioning specific dates. North Korea's state-run television KRT also released a video on Sunday showing its leader Kim Jong Un leaving Pyongyang by train for the second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi. North Korea confirms Kim Jong-un on train for Trump summit North Korea confirms Kim Jong-un on train for Trump summit, Vietnam visit Late last night, there were media reports from international agencies saying a green and yellow train similar to the one used in the past by Kim had crossed into the Chinese border city of Dandong. NK News quoted an anonymous source as saying that the armored train carrying the North Korean leader had crossed the Yalu River into China at around 9:30 p.m. Russias TASS news agency, citing a North Korean diplomatic source, had reported earlier that Kim had taken a train to Hanoi for his second meeting with the U.S. President. It could take more than two days for the train to travel thousands of miles through China to Vietnam, it had said. Vietnams Foreign Ministry announced Saturday that Kim Jong-un will pay an official visit to Vietnam in the coming days at the invitation of Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong. Trump and Kim will meet face-to-face in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday next week, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore in June, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, at which they pledged to work towards denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Anh Ngoc North Korean security agents arrive in Hanoi for Trump-Kim summit North Korean security agents arrive in Hanoi for Trump-Kim summit North Korean security agents arrive in Vietnam for Trump-Kim summit The delegation walked into the VIP A gate where North Korean special envoy Kim Hyok-chol was waiting to receive them. The agents are in charge of ensuring security for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his official visit to Vietnam and his second meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. They touched down at Noi Bai at 9:20 a.m. and were seen stopping at Melia Hotel in Hanoi center at 11 a.m. The aircraft carrying 100 security officers of North Korea lands at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi Sunday morning. Photo by VnExpress/Ba Do The Trump-Kim summit is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday next week. North Korean security agents walk towards the VIP A terminal at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy On Saturday, a delegation of more than 200 U.S. Secret Service agents had arrived in Hanoi to ensure security for Trump. Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said Saturday that Kim Jong-un will pay an official visit to Vietnam "in the coming days" at the invitation of Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong. The statement did not mention specific dates for Kim's first visit to Vietnam. The first Trump-Kim summit was held in Singapore in June 2018, but negotiations failed to make much headway owing to disagreement on the concept of denuclearization. A North Korean agent smiles as he leaves Noi Bai Airport. Photo by VnExpress/Vo Hai Ba Do, Anh Ngoc Vietnamese police Friday caught three teenagers red-handed throwing rocks at vehicles on the Ha Long Hai Phong Expressway. A Honda motorbike and a handful of stones were found at the scene. The teenagers said they thought of the stone-throwing "prank" when they were driving their motorbikes for fun on the overhead bridge. The parents of the teenagers have been summoned by the police for follow-up action. The expressways management board had said earlier that last Wednesday alone, at least three unnamed drivers reported rocks being thrown at their cars, buses and trucks as they passed a flyover in Phong Coc Ward, Quang Yen Town, in the northern province of Quang Ninh. One driver said a group of three people standing on the bridge threw rocks at his Range Rover and broke its windshield. Rocks that a group of teen boys were about to throw at vehicles on the Ha Long-Hai Phong Expressway Friday. Photo courtesy of Quang Ninh police The rock throwing began February 16-17, said the expressways management board. The throwers targeted vehicles running on the expressway, resulting in property damage and endangering drivers lives, it said. Le Van Nam, chairman of the expressways management board, had said earlier that theyd "deployed guards at the places drivers mentioned from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., this being the time frame when most of rock-throwing cases happened." The Ha Long Hai Phong Expressway, which opened last September, is 25 kilometers and 25 meters wide. Costing $556 million, the expressway connects the National Highway 18 in Ha Long's Dai Yen Ward with the Hanoi-Hai Phong Expressway in Hai An District of the port city Hai Phong. It reduces the commute between the captial city Hanoi and the famous Ha Long Bay by 50km to 130km and cuts down the Ha Long-Hai Phong route from 75km to just 25km. Two Chinese men were caught earlier this week trying to install electronic components into two ATMs in Lang Son Province. The men, 32 and 30, had two electronic circuits, three camera lenses, two USBs, a memory card and two bank cards when police caught them Tuesday in the northern province that borders China. A Chinese man performs the ATM trick in front of the police. Photo by VnExpress/Viet Dung Further inspection of their residence in Van Lang District found 11 bank cards, of which nine were fake ones containing personal data of bank customers. Other electronic components and devices used for forging fake bank cards and stealing personal data were also discovered. Another Chinese man is held at a police station in Lang Son Province. Photo by VnExpress/Viet Dung The two said they had illegally entered Vietnam in January to find and install electronic components to steal personal data from ATMs and to forge fake bank cards. One of them is reportedly wanted by Chinese police for using hi-tech methods to steal property, according to Lang Son police. Corporate media is always ready to set up a tragic dichotomy between the actual grassroots base of the Democratic Party on the one hand and the careerists and special interests and donors who prop them up on the other hand. Yesterday, James Oliphant, writing for Reuters, posited that while some of the presidential candidates are trying to give Democratic voters what they want-- Medicare-for-All, the Green New Deal, a livable minimum wage, fair taxation, free public college, etc-- the party parasites worry about the center You have Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Marianne Williamson, Tulsi Gabbard, Mayor Pete, Julian Castro all running on some version of a Bernie platform, while Status Quo Joe Biden leads a discredited army of corporate whores on the centrist, "no-can-do," Republican-lite, anti-Bernie track: Amy Klobuchar, Terry McAuliffe, Michael Bennet, John Delaney, Michael Bloomberg, John Frackenlooper. Beto is still trying to decide which side he's going to try to be on if he makes the colossal error of running for president instead of senator. Oliphant warns that the Trumpists are eager to run against the Bernie agenda. Sure... isn't that what conservatives always do? Run against progressive ideas? The Status Quo Joe type Democrats-- who aren't sold on, have never been sold on, Democratic values-- would rather confound Republicans by running on a Republican-lite agenda. That usually goes badly for Democrats, although this cycle they're trying to claim Trump is so anathema to most Americans that they can lure conservative voters away from the GOP. Oliphant, naturally enough, wants to warn and warn and warn that the progressives will pay a price for running as progressives. That's what the corporate media does. "Some Democrats," he wrote (not real ones, some), fear the argument against progressive ideas "has potency. They worry the primary may produce a nominee who will not appeal to centrist working and middle-class voters who voted for Trump in 2016 but whom Democrats believe they can win back." Jeff Link is a professional Democratic strategist-for-hire in Iowa. He just got off running the catastrophically-run, failed Fred Hubbell for governor campaign, enough reason for anyone with a few brain cells to rub together to listen carefully to what Link says and then studiously do the exact opposite. He can always be counted on to be a fount of conventional wisdom that will always prove to be half wrong and half right. "The big progressive programs are popular in a caucus or primary electorate, but probably dont move the needle among voters who want to find someone who will change Washington by tilting the system to favor people in the middle-- not the very rich or the very poor," said Jeff Link, an Iowa Democrat who worked for former President Barack Obamas campaign [in a very minor capacity]. Some non-Democrat Democrats and their media allies think the Democratic Party should decide who to run based on what Trump may or may not do. Strategy from people with no values or values antithetical to the Democratic Party, are always so utterly useless to listen to, but is, none-the-less, exactly what journalists like Oliphant always present. The give-away line in his foolish piece is "Democrats have already seen the risks of catering to progressives." A person familiar with the presidents thinking told Reuters that Trump had been looking for a big contrast issue to help power his 2020 bid. His last Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, was widely known to the voting public before her campaign. This time, Trump may face someone new to the national stage, and he is looking to brand that candidate before she or he emerges as the nominee. In recent speeches, including his State of the Union address and again this week in Florida, a key 2020 battleground, Trump used the crisis in Venezuela to equate Democrats with socialists. Theres no question this is a deliberate strategy on his part, said Matt Bennett, a political analyst with Third Way, a Democratic centrist think-tank. It is a bit scary to think about what it could do to us in a close, tough election next year. Not quite able to grapple with a chicken-or-the-egg dilemma , Oliphant asserts that the popular Green New Deal is poison and that Ocasio-Cortez "has enjoyed disproportionate influence for a first-term congresswoman because of her social media presence." He then tosses out a river of GOP talking points against her as though she is the opponent the Democratic Party is running against Trump. "Republicans," he propagandized, "also jumped on Ocasio-Cortezs proposal to hike the marginal tax rate to 70 percent as a way to finance her environmental initiative. Even so, Warren followed by suggesting a 'wealth tax' on Americans with large fortunes to help finance her child-care plan. Democrats are 'afraid to tell their base what is practical' and instead are offering policies that have little chance of being enacted, said Bryan Lanza, a former campaign aide to Trump who regularly defends the president on cable news." Remember, the Democratic Party don't always have to sell itself as the lesser-of-two evils party. It was only when centrists and corporatists abandoned Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt progressivism that the Democrats have fallen into disrepute. "Recent Democratic presidential nominees such as Clinton, Obama and John Kerry," wrote Oliphant, "ran as centrists. This is the first election in the modern era, Lanza said, in which progressives 'are sucking up all the oxygen and energy.' Democrats as a whole, however, have been moving in a more leftward direction for years. According to Gallup polling, the number of Democrats who identify themselves as liberal has risen from 32 percent in 2001 to 46 percent as of 2018." Oliphant then asserts that "That shift has largely been among white, highly educated Democrats. African-American and Hispanic voters remain more moderate-- which could present a challenge as the party tries to mobilize those groups to vote in greater numbers. So far, the moderate wing of the party is under-represented in the 2020 field. Some Democratic strategists are concerned the party did not heed the lesson from last years congressional elections, when it took power in the U.S. House of Representatives largely through moderate candidates who won over suburban voters by focusing on kitchen-table issues such as coverage for preexisting medical conditions. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is one of the few Democrats in the presidential field to push back at the progressive agenda. At a CNN town hall this week, she called the Green New Deal aspirational and suggested Medicare for all was only a potential long-term goal. John Delaney, a former Maryland congressman and a centrist who has gotten little traction as a presidential contender, this week said the 2020 primary is going to be a choice between socialism and a more just form of capitalism. Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist in the early primary state of South Carolina, said candidates must soon balance sweeping agendas with more pragmatic proposals. It has to be a mixed bag of what makes sense and will not cause us long-term political damage, he said. Politico is also As for the Green New Deal, party elders-- elders as in geriatric cases, still fighting the battles of their hey-days in the '60s and '70s-- want to buy it. Did you watch the ugly Dianne Feinstein confrontation with California children on Friday? That could have as easily been her gated community neighbor Nancy Pelosi or Steny Hoyer or Status Quo Joe.is also warning Democrats that they'd better take a Republican-lite approach to 2020. "Democrats embrace of sweeping progressive ideas like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal is about to get its first reality check on Capitol Hill as both parties make huge bets about which message will sway voters in 2020," wrote Adam Cancryn. "For liberal Democrats, proposals to provide universal health care, combat climate change and create a fairer economy represent the kind of bold agenda they will need to unseat President Donald Trump, a candidate unafraid to make his own brash moves on trade and immigration. But Republicans are seizing on the same proposals to paint Democrats as socialist radicals, while trying to widen the ideological splits already emerging among Trumps would-be challengers." [S]ome progressives have invoked Trumps upset 2016 win as an argument for taking a bold strategy into 2020-- evidence that Democrats should focus more on articulating popular core values and less on worrying about the practicalities. In the same way Trump fired up his base with pledges to build the wall and make America great again, progressives believe Democrats can piece together an even bigger coalition by branding themselves as the party of universal health care and economic equality. You could actually credit Donald Trump for this, said Faiz Shakir, the new campaign manager for Sen. Bernie Sanders 2020 run. The kind of not giving a crap what others think, or what his critics think, and just plowing ahead with a vision has made progressives hungrier for a version of, well, what would that look like [on the left]? But top Republicans say they see Democrats veering off a socialist cliff-- citing the Green New Deal, H. Res. 109 (116), and S. Res. 59, co-authored by New York freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a prime example. Its entirely fantasy, its unrealistic. These are just talking points designed to appeal to the fringe of their party, said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). He added, Its ended up causing quite a headache for our colleagues across the aisle whove tried to explain exactly what theyre trying to do and how theyre trying to do it. The debate in Congress opening months follows more than two years of arguments by progressive activists that Democrats need to be more than just the anti-Trump party to succeed in 2020. They say transformative policies are also increasingly necessary to counter major crises like a changing climate and the growing power of the super-rich. The center of energy in the Democratic Party is with these kinds of bold, progressive, populist ideas around transforming our economy and democracy, said Waleed Shahid of Justice Democrats, a group inspired by Sanders 2016 run and crucial to the rise of Ocasio-Cortez. Were making change happen pretty fast. Yet its also generated unease among party moderates. And while progressives point to strong polling in support of Medicare for All and aggressive climate action, the GOP is eager to spend the next several months chipping away at it. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells call for a vote on the Green New Deal is aimed purely at driving a wedge through the Democratic Party, forcing liberal senators and vulnerable centrists alike to weigh in on a proposal that envisions remaking the U.S. economy in just a decade. Already, moderate Democratic senators like Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Joe Manchin of West Virginia have groused publicly about the plan as moving too far, too fast. Republicans in the House, meanwhile, are pressing for a series of hearings on Medicare for All, certain that enthusiasm for single-payer health care will plummet as voters study the details and trade-offs. Democrats Medicare for All proposal would force over 150 million Americans to lose their employer or their union-sponsored insurance, said Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. You want to talk about sabotage? Thats what we should be having a hearing on. Democrats liberal wing vows to meet that challenge head on. And theyre expecting the partys growing list of presidential candidates to stand with them through the long, bruising 2020 campaign. Already, all six Democratic senators running for president have co-sponsored the Green New Deal, and five signed on last year to Medicare for All legislation. Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have sought to further separate themselves from the pack-- Sanders is running as a democratic socialist in favor of free college and a break-up of the big banks, while Warren has rolled out plans for a wealth tax and universal child care. In Congress, House progressives next week are rolling out a detailed road map to single-payer health care-- even as party leaders urge a focus on the more immediate, incremental health issues that sparked their midterm electoral wave just months ago. What were proposing is really a transformation of the health care system to get out the pieces that are so embedded in it that it continues to make health care costs equivalent to 19 percent of GDP, said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), a Congressional Progressive Caucus leader whos penning the Medicare for All bill. The majority of the American public believes we should have what almost every other industrialized country in the world has. ...[S]ome moderate [meaning conservative] Democrats have privately pointed to House progressives difficulties securing 100 co-sponsors for their single-payer health care bill as evidence the partys vocal left wing is overstating support for its policy ideas. There are over 90 co-sponsors so far and by the time the bill is rolled out there will certainly be over 100, so the Blue Dogs' private pointing is pointless and the chances of Politico correcting their reporting error are non-existent. In fact, last time I looked, several New Dems and even a Blue Dog had already signed on as co-sponsors. Casino Jack and the United States of Money and Casino Jack, both in 2010. I was shocked to learn that Jack Abramoff is still working as a DC lobbyist. I thought he was selling kosher pizza for a living. Who would be seen with him? Who would even take his call? He was involved with so many scandals that Wikipedia has a unique page called Jack Abramoff Scandals , not a topic... its own page. A couple of reminders. Abramoff was College Republican National Committee National Chairman from 1981 to 1985, a founding member of the International Freedom Foundation, whose only function was to whitewash apartheid in South Africa. As a lobbyist, he was a principle for Preston Gates & Ellis (now defunct) and then for Greenberg Traurig, two firms in DC notorious for bribing members of Congress. Abramoff was only sentenced to 6 years in prison-- and only served about 4-- even though the was involved with a Mafia-style murder in the SunCruz Casino scandal he and Tom DeLay pulled off. Two movies were made about his notoriety:and, both in 2010. People have short attention spans. Only 3 members of Congress went to prison with Abramoff-- Bob Ney (R-OH), Rick Renzi (R-AZ) and Randy Duke Cunningham (R-CA) but plenty of congressional and Bush Cabinet staffers were also found guilty of various charges and took falls for their bosses. Leaving aside the Bush administration crooks, among those found guilty on the congressional side were top staffers for Don Young (R-AK), Ney of course, John Doolittle (R-CA), Kit Bond (R-MO), Roy Blount (R-MO), Tom DeLay (R-TX), Ernest Istook (R-OK), Dick Armey (R-TX), Thad Cochran (R-MS). House majority leaderTom DeLay was forced to resign from Congress. Among the Republicans who lost their immediate reelection bids because of their part in Abramoff's scandals were Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) and Richard Pombo (R-CA), but other crooked Abramoff associates eased out of politics, including Duncan Hunter (R-CA)-- the crooked father, not the crooked son-- and Jerry Lewis (R-CA). So... wasn't I surprised to learn that Abramoff is now fundraising in support of conservative candidates by attacking the Green New Deal! "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez," he wrote in a right-wing fundraising letter, "wasnt even in diapers when I started fighting the Left, and Im about to teach her and her cronies a few things they are going to wish they never learned-- and it wont just be a math lesson... Im the Lefts worst nightmare. For nearly 40 years, Ive been studying their tactics and defeating them. Like President Trump, Ive even been abused by them and lived to share my stories of how the Deep State tried to take me down... forever. They only won once, and now Im ready to return the favor... These socialists are so confused, and their messaging is getting worse by the minute. They seem to think that cows and airplanes are a threat to our future. Sounds to me like they have been infected by Mad Cow Disease! The radial Left counts disgusting anti-Semites and traitors in their ranks. Their efforts dont go into making America Great Again-- they spend their days trying to impose a 70% or even 90% tax on you, force their Green New Deal down your throat, and make you pay for slave reparations-- all while forecasting to Iran and radical Muslim terrorists that, if they take control, America will abandon our most reliable ally, Israel... As anyone who has followed my career knows: I play for keeps and know every trick the Left uses to attack and defeat American patriots-- so watch out!" Of course, the funny part is that he wants to get his hands into conservatives' pockets so he can steal their money, a fate they more than deserve. Nor should it surprise anyone to know that Abramoff has been supporting Trump and helping facilitate the illegal flow of Russian money into the Trump campaign. Splinter, Rafi Schwartz, wrote that Reporting for, Rafi Schwartz, wrote that Abramoff-- "the poster boy for Beltway corruption"-- is lobbying against the Green New Deal . I would like to see which members of Congress have any financial interaction with Jack Abramoff. Wouldn't you? Would you rather hear about this stuff right from the horse's mouth rather than from Kevin Spacey playing him, or even Bob Schieffer analyzing him? OK-- fair enough! So... meet the actual, real life "Casino Jack"-- Republican Party scumbag-forever-and-ever, Jack Abramoff: NY Times published Robert Pear's extensive piece on how the Sunday thepublished Robert Pear's extensive piece on how the health care and insurance industries are mobilizing to kill Medicare-For-All . Their message is pretty much the same as the message you hear from status quo corporate Dems: "The Affordable Care Act works reasonably well and should be improved, not repealed or replaced with a big new public program." That will be a major Status Quo Joe Biden campaign plank when he faces Bernie in the primaries. Before we get to Pear's piece, I want to do a quick refresher: which current members of Congress have taken the biggest bribes from healthcare and from insurance. Let's do the House first-- lifetime bribes (since 1990) for the dozen worst: Frank Pallone (D-NJ)- $6,170,050 Steny Hoyer (D-MD)- $4,623,680 Michael Burgess (R-TX)- $4,268,658 Fred Upton (R-MI)- $4,118,094 Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)- $3,681,424 Kevin Brady (R-TX)- $3,360,254 Greg Walden (R-OR)- $3,148,441 John Shimkus (R-IL)- $2,966,262 Anna Eshoo (D-CA)- $2,922,686 Ron Kind (New Dem-WI)- $2,677,863 Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)- $2,607,362 Andy Harris (R-MD)- $2,579,632 And here's the numbers for the last cycle: Greg Walden (R-OR)- $1,129,860 Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)- $962,695 Kevin Brady (R-TX)- $904,650 Frank Pallone (D-NJ)- $835,650 Steve Scalise (R-LA)- $796,165 Michael Burgess (R-TX)- $788,765 Richard Neal (D-MA)- $760,757 Raja Krishnamoothi (New Dem-IL)- $750,114 Raul Ruiz (New Dem-CA)- $709,213 Brett Guthrie (R-KY)- $644,473 Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)- $604,894 Ami Bera (New Dem-CA)- $561,791 Next let's look at the same criteria on the Senate side. So first lifetime bribes for the half dozen worst (since 1990)-- not including people who have run for president: Mitch McConnell (R-KY)- $6,152,309 Sherrod Brown (D-OH)- $5,267,907 Richard Burr (R-NC)- $4,655,669 Chuck Schumer (D-NY)- $4,413,972 John Cornyn (R-TX)- $4,362,072 Ron Wyden (D-OR)- $4,201,699 And finally, senators from just the 2018 cycle: Bob Casey (D-PA)- $1,884,503 Sherrod Brown (D-OH)- $1,233,474 Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)- $1,169,052 Doug Jones (D-AL)- $1,100,766 Jon Tester (D-MT)- $1,023,611 Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)- $957,697 The Intercept revealing "the strategy that private health care interests plan to use to influence Democratic Party messaging and Pear makes the point that "even before Democrats finish drafting bills to create a single-payer health care system, the health care and insurance industries have assembled a small army of lobbyists to kill Medicare for all, an idea that is mocked publicly but is being greeted privately with increasing seriousness. In DC-parlance "seriousness" means "financially." Aside from the 6 above-- 5 of whom, you will notice are Democrats-- the healthcare industry put immense sums into the campaigns of conservative Democratic candidates Kyrsten Sinema ($952,541) and Jacky Rosen ($946,309), each of whom has a reputation for selling their votes for the right price. Remember, the sector has given $654,151,628 to Republicans since 1990 and $591,098,658 to Democrats, yet this past cycle virtually all the big money went to Democrats. Of the biggest amounts they gave 20 Senate candidates, just 5 were Republicans. And running the battle to torpedo Medicare For All is not a Republican but slimy lobbyist and Hillary Clinton lieutenant, Lauren Crawford Shaver. You may remember Shaver from a November expose by Lee Fang and Nick Sergey atrevealing "the strategy that private health care interests plan to use to influence Democratic Party messaging and stymie the momentum toward achieving universal health care coverage ." At least 48 incoming freshman lawmakers campaigned on enacting Medicare for All or similar efforts to expand access to Medicare. And over the last year, 123 incumbent House Democrats co-sponsored Medicare for All legislation -- double the number who supported the same bill during the previous legislative session. The growing popularity of Medicare for All in the House has made progressives optimistic that the Democratic Party will embrace ideas to expand government coverage options with minimal out-of-pocket costs for patients going into the 2020 election. But industry groups have watched the development with growing concern. Over the summer, leading pharmaceutical, insurance, and hospital lobbyists formed the Partnership for Americas Health Care Future, an ad hoc alliance of private health interests, to curb support for expanding Medicare. The campaign, according to one planning document, is designed to change the conversation around Medicare for All, then minimize the potential for this option in health care from becoming part of a national political partys platform in 2020. Behind the scenes, the group attempted to sway candidates during the midterms, encouraging several of them to focus on shoring up the Affordable Care Act instead of supporting single-payer health care. ...[S]oon after Election Day results came in, the Partnership went on the offensive, informing reporters that candidates who embraced Medicare for All had also lost, pointing to the defeat of progressives such as Kara Eastman in Nebraska. The group also relied on research from the business-friendly Democratic think tank Third Way to argue that victorious pro-Medicare for All candidates couldnt attribute their success to having supported Medicare for All because few Democrats explicitly mentioned the policy in their campaign advertisements. The Intercept. Medicare for All didnt win, said Joel Kopperud, the vice president of government affairs at the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, one of the industry groups backing the Partnership. I dont think that the Bernie Sanders $32 trillion solution thats going to eviscerate the insurance for 156 million Americans is really something thats going to be helpful to the party in critical states, he added in an interview with Kopperud represents insurance brokers who sell employer-based health insurance coverage. He noted that his organization has a vested interest in backing the Partnership. Medicare for All, as some envision the policy, would eventually eliminate the need for most health insurance plans-- a death knell for companies represented by the CIAB. Private health care lobbyists are confident that they can prevent any federal expansion of Medicare in Congress, given Republican control of the Senate and the White House. In the states, CIAB and other private health groups have easily defeated measures to develop single-payer proposals, such as the ColoradoCare ballot question in 2016. Over the last two years, several opinion surveys show rising support for expanding Medicare. In March, the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll found that 59 percent of Americans support the idea, and by August, a poll conducted by Reuters-Ipsos found an astounding 70 percent of Americans support Medicare for All, including a majority of self-identified Republicans. But the Partnership is quick to zero in on research that shows support for the idea drops precipitously when respondents are told that the plan would require ending employer-based coverage, tax increases, and increased government control. The campaign has worked with advertising agencies to draw up a series of messages to convince select audiences. Several of the messages, categorized as positive, are dedicated to educating the public on more minimal reforms that do not include expanding Medicare. Other messages, categorized as persuasion and aggressive, are designed to instill fear about what could happen if Medicare for All passes. In the coming weeks, the Partnership plans to ramp up a campaign designed to derail support for Medicare for All. The group, working with leading Democratic political consultants, will place issue advertisements to target audiences, partner with Beltway think tanks to release studies to raise concerns with the plan, and work to shape the public discourse through targeted advocacy in key congressional districts. The Partnership has tapped consulting firms with deep ties to Democratic officials. Forbes-Tate, a lobbying firm founded by former officials in President Bill Clintons administration and conservative Democrats in Congress, is managing part of the Partnership coalition. Blue Engine Message & Media, a firm founded by former campaign aides to President Barack Obama, has handled the Partnerships interactions with the media. In one planning document circulated over the summer, the Partnership suggested a series of messages to wean Americans away from supporting single payer. The talking points emphasize that the current system provides world-class care, and that any move away from the Affordable Care Act would be ripping apart our current system. The strategy exploits familiar themes that have long been used by business groups against new government health care programs, calling for allies to say lines such as bureaucrats in DC have no understanding of a persons medical situation and will be making decisions about your health care instead of doctors. The Partnership plans to form a speakers bureau of former Democratic elected officials who can leverage the media to make the case that expanding Medicare is bad politics and policy. The memo names former Democratic Majority Leader Tom Daschle, now a health insurance lobbyist at the law firm Baker Donelson, as one such potential surrogate. The memo points to early success in shaping media coverage, citing several earned media columns such as one published in August by former Rep. Jill Long Thompson (D-IN) which argues that Democrats should only focus on small reforms to the Affordable Care Act, and warns against wasting political capital on pursuing a government-controlled health insurance system. Thompson, now an associate professor at Indiana University Bloomington, did not respond to a request for comment. Adam Gaffney, president-elect of Physicians for a National Health Program, a national coalition that advocates in favor of Medicare for All, said he is not surprised by the messaging. What were seeing is the wages of success: With single payer on the rise, it was only a matter of time before the insurance companies, big pharma, and other big-money groups came out swinging, said Gaffney, who also serves as an instructor at Harvard Medical School. The smear of socialized medicine has been used a thousand times and has lost its bite, he added. Were all focused on 2020, Lauren Crawford Shaver, a partner at Forbes-Tate who is helping to manage the Partnership campaign, recently told the National Association of Health Underwriters in a podcast produced by the group. Shaver, a former top staffer for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, explained to the group that she is working to peel support away from the Medicare for All bill sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. The Sanders bill is currently sponsored by several rumored 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). The No. 1 thing we need to focus on is that there are a lot of likely candidates that currently support the Senate bill, said Shaver. We need to make sure we educate the public, we educate both parties, and we educate all the campaigns about both the policy and political challenges. Shaver encouraged health care companies concerned about the growing popularity of Medicare for All to mobilize opposition among clients, customers, and employees. Industry groups will likely have workers or customers residing in key districts who can be tapped to influence wavering lawmakers on Capitol Hill. ...Despite a pledge by many Democratic candidates to eschew corporate PAC donations, health care lobbyists have funneled cash to many incoming lawmakers through the New Democrats PAC, the Blue Dog PAC, and other centrist committees. Unsurprisingly, the centrist New Democrats Coalition, the caucus of business-friendly centrist Democrats, has worked to depress momentum for Medicare for All, reprising the role centrist Democrats played in killing the public option during the Obama administration. In 2009, then-Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), a founding member of the New Democrats caucus, threatened to join the Republican filibuster against health reform unless the public option was dropped from the bill. Immediately following the midterm elections this month, the Washington Post published a column by Third Way warning that Medicare for All failed the Hippocratic Oath because opposition to the plan helped Republican candidates, thus causing harm to the long-term health interests of voters. So here we are, over 3 months, later and the Times is documenting the progress that these groups, largely led by personally greedy Democrats willing to see large numbers of people die so that they can make some loot from the oligarchs who profit from healthcare and insurance. Pear introduces us to Charles N. Kahn III, the president of the Federation of American Hospitals, which represents investor-owned hospitals and who told him, "We have a structure that frankly works for most Americans. Lets make it work for all Americans. We reject the notion that we need to turn the whole apple cart over and start all over again." The Democrats proposals," Pear reminds us, "could radically change the way health care providers do business and could drastically shrink the role and the revenues of insurers, depending on how a single-payer system is devised. The hospital federation and two powerful lobbies, Americas Health Insurance Plans and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, created a coalition last June to pre-empt what they saw as an alarming groundswell of interest in proposals to expand the federal role in health care." In a daily fusillade of digital advertising, videos and Twitter posts, the coalition, the Partnership for Americas Health Care Future, says that Medicare for all will require tax increases and give politicians and bureaucrats control of medical decisions now made by doctors and patients-- arguments that echo those made to stop Medicare in the 1960s, Mrs. Clintons health plan in 1993 and the Affordable Care Act a decade ago. The coalition will step up the tempo in the coming week as Democrats in the House and the Senate plan to introduce bills to establish a single-payer system. The name of the coalition is intentionally nondescript, and its executive director, Lauren Crawford Shaver, who led Mrs. Clintons efforts in 2016 to put marginal states into play, is cagey when asked for details. She says only that the group is planning a big nationwide effort with grass-roots allies. But its reach is undeniable. The coalition has picked up more than 25 members, including the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and the nations Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans. And it has already sprung into action. When Senator Bernie Sanders, the author of the Medicare for All Act, announced on Tuesday that he was again running for president, the coalition immediately attacked him as a leading advocate for upending our nations health care system in favor of starting from scratch with Medicare for all. Mr. Sanders, independent of Vermont, fired back at the insurance and drug companies. They make tens of billions of dollars a year in profits from this dysfunctional health care system and pay their C.E.O.s outrageous compensation packages, Mr. Sanders said. Weve expected their opposition all along. When members of Congress unveiled legislation to let people age 50 to 64 buy into Medicare, the coalition conflated it with proposals to put all Americans into Medicare. This is a slippery slope to government-run health care for every American, said David Merritt, an executive vice president of Americas Health Insurance Plans, a lobby for insurers. The buy-in proposal for older Americans dates back to Bill Clintons presidency, and many of its advocates have put it forward as a moderate alternative to Medicare for all. But the coalition said the proposal was wrong for America, whether you call it Medicare for all, Medicare buy-in, single payer or a public option. The chief sponsor of the House buy-in bill, Representative Brian Higgins, Democrat of New York, said: The critics lump our bill with the bigger Medicare-for-all proposal. Thats strategic, and I think its deliberate. Mr. Higgins said the option of Medicare at age 50 would create a countervailing force to private insurance. Insurance companies are fighting it because they are afraid of the prospect of a potent new competitor that will cut into their profits, Mr. Higgins said. Medicare has lower administrative costs and lower executive salaries and could use its bargaining power to get better deals from hospitals and other health care providers. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan and the sponsor of the buy-in bill in the Senate, said she was not surprised at the criticism. Its a knee-jerk reaction to anything that expands Medicare, she said. But, she said, people 50 to 64 need the option. We see the auto industry laying people off, encouraging people to retire early, Ms. Stabenow said. Many people are holding their breath until they turn 65. They put off preventive screenings, so they come into Medicare at 65 with more health problems. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers can increase premiums with a persons age, and older people who do not qualify for subsidies face the highest premiums on the insurance exchange. For a 60-year-old in Charlotte, N.C., the average premium for a midlevel silver plan is more than $1,100 a month; in Phoenix, it is nearly $1,000 a month. The mission of the industry partnership includes advocacy, advertising, lobbying and public education, but it has not registered under federal lobbying laws. Forbes Tate, a public affairs company that lobbies for many health care and drug companies, coordinates the work of the partnership, but is not registered to lobby on its behalf. There are no direct lobbyists for the partnership, Ms. Shaver said. We work through all of our different groups. They have their own lobbyists who do obviously lobby on Medicare for all. But there are no registered lobbyists for the partnership because we are not doing that directly at this time. The coalition, like President Trump, attacks any proposals that smack of socialized medicine. But it also has a positive agenda. It wants to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act in Texas, Florida and other states that have yet to do so. It wants to expand federal subsidies under the health law so insurance will be affordable to more people. And it wants to stabilize premiums by persuading states to set up reinsurance programs, using a combination of federal and state funds to help pay the largest claims. Beyond their desire to preserve the status quo, coalition members have done well by the Affordable Care Act. Many participants, such as the American Medical Association, the pharmaceuticals lobby and the hospital association, backed the A.C.A. from the start, banking that more insured Americans would mean more customers. The hospitals saw the health laws Medicaid expansion as a lifeline as they struggled with the uninsured working poor. ...Members of the coalition had different positions in the struggle to pass the Affordable Care Act in 2009 and 2010, but rave about it today. Ten million people have coverage through the exchanges, 14 million have gained Medicaid coverage, and in a strong economy more people have jobs that provide health insurance, they say. Some members of the coalition have financial as well as philosophical reasons for resisting the push to expand Medicare. Doctors and hospitals say Medicare generally pays less than private insurance, and hospitals say the payments frequently do not cover the costs of providing care to Medicare patients. Chronic underpayment to providers creates access issues for seniors, particularly with physicians, who may limit the number of Medicare patients they see, said Richard J. Pollack, the president of the American Hospital Association. Congress, he said, often makes changes in Medicare for reasons that have nothing to do with sound health policy-- to offset the costs of tax cuts, for example. Moreover, Mr. Pollack said: The government can be an unreliable business partner. What happens when the government shuts down? What happens if the health care system is even more dependent on Medicare and the government shuts down again? But the coalition does not speak for all health care providers. The American College of Physicians, the largest medical specialty organization in the country, has supported a Medicare buy-in for people 55 to 64. And during the whole debate over the Affordable Care Act, we supported having a public option in the individual insurance market in every state, said Robert B. Doherty, senior vice president of the college, which represents 154,000 doctors who specialize in internal medicine. You can imagine that people interested in building a stronger, healthier society don't see it the same way the lobbyist slime sees it. Martese Chism, Vice-President, California Nurses Association / National Nurses Organizing Committee (National Nurses United) was overjoyed when Pramila Jayapal announced the formation of the Medicare-For-All Caucus in Congress and signed up 78 House members immediately. "National Nurses United welcomes the inaugural Medicare for All Caucus in the House of Representatives. Every day, more Americans are rallying behind the need for fundamental reform of our flawed and fragmented health care system that denies health care to millions of our neighbors and family members. Nurses see patients every day that are harmed by this system, and we know that Medicare for All is the best solution to this crisis." Dr. Carol Paris, President, Physicians for a National Health Program, had the same kind of reaction: "Given the ruthless attacks on our health care safety net and the skyrocketing costs of care, its no surprise that nearly 60 percent of Americans now favor improving Medicares benefits and expanding it to cover everyone in the U.S. As a physician and longtime health advocate, Im thrilled that our nation is coalescing around the goal of universal coverage. But it cant be achieved with expensive, fragmented, and unsustainable programs that rely on private insurance. Our research shows that only a single-payer plan like H.R. 676 can achieve the efficiency and cost savings necessary to provide high-quality care to everyone. PNHP applauds the members of the Medicare for All Caucus and encourages every elected official to choose the health of the American people over the insurance and pharmaceutical industries." Societal advocates, rather than whores for the rich and powerful, are united in favor of Medicare For All. Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works: "Its long past time to improve Medicare and expand it to cover all of us. The creation of the Medicare for All Caucus in the House of Representatives is an important milestone in reaching that long overdue goal. Every person in the United States should have the right to guaranteed, high-quality health care, an essential requirement of economic security. We are excited to work with Representatives Jayapal, Dingell, and Ellison, along with every other member of the new caucus, to make Medicare for All a reality." Please remember, every time you send money to or vote for a New Dem or Blue Dog, you're playing on the wrong team. If you haven't already, try to get over this bullshit about how we can't attack Democrats because... whatever. They are not all our friends. And that's putting it generously. Happy and proud to say I never voted for Clinton and never would. Listen to her in this debate fighting like a mad dog for the corporate special interests that have made her into a multimillionaire. UPDATE: Biggest Assholes In American Politics Politico reported today that some of the anti-Bernie die-hards from the Hillary campaign are publicly bad-mouthing Bernie again. Remember, she was a long-time Republican activist in her formative years and many in her inner circle are fervently anti-progressive and abhor the kinds of policies Bernie is running on-- and are eager to sabotage them... and him. Politico reported that in the final three months before Election Day 2016, Bernie held 39 rallies in 13 states on behalf of Clintons campaign, including 17 events in 11 states in the last week alone. Some corporate-type Clinton people are still bitching about his using chartered flights and castigating him for it. Michael Briggs, Sanders 2016 campaign spokesman who often traveled with Sanders on the private flights, said Clinton and her staff were total ingrates in light of the efforts the Vermont senator put in to try to help elect her in the general election. You can see why shes one of the most disliked politicians in America. Shes not nice. Her people are not nice, he said. [Sanders] busted his tail to fly all over the country to talk about why it made sense to elect Hillary Clinton and the thanks that [we] get is this kind of petty stupid sniping a couple years after the fact. It doesnt make me feel good to feel this way but theyre some of the biggest assholes in American politics, he added. The Hillary people aren't complaining about the private jets they paid for to get Bill Clinton, Tim Kaine, Beyonce, Jay Z and Katy Perry around the country, just Bernie. 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. But I dont want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you cant help that," said the Cat: "were all mad here. Im mad. Youre mad." "How do you know Im mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldnt have come here. Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland With freedom comes responsibility. Eleanor Roosevelt This week's recipe roundup features tips on grilling the best burgers for Memorial Day as well as easy meals to make for the rest of the week. A key role for Sorte will be to work on retention and expansion for city and county businesses. There is an opportunity to be a problem-solver here, he said. Pulling together the resources of the city and the community and making the community thrive. Sorte emphasizes that his office is just one tool in the toolbox when it comes to economic development. He cited the Small Business Development Center at Linn-Benton Community College, the Regional Accelerator and Innovation Network, the Cascades West Council of Governments and local investors as other keys to the equation. It can be overwhelming for a business to see all of these partners, he said. We want to be right there as a connector for businesses. Well be surveying businesses to understand what barriers are there. Its a dynamic world and we need to stay up to date with regulations and requirements. Sorte also emphasized that the office is countywide and serves Philomath, Alsea and Monroe and unincorporated Benton County as well as Corvallis. We need to continue to let people know that we are here, Sorte said, while at the same time letting them know whats in the toolbox and how we can be a single point of contact to overcome barriers." We have a high quality of life here which is a direct result of city actions, said Sorte, who said he likes working for cities and counties because you are closer to where the rubber meets the road. Contact reporter James Day at jim.day@gazettetimes.com or 541-758-9542. Follow at Twitter.com/jameshday or gazettetimes.com/blogs/jim-day. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Iran Human Rights (IHR); February 22, 2019: IHR has published a report on the situation of Iranian human rights defenders in 2018. On the launch of this report, IHR calls on the international community to draw special attention to the condition of human rights defenders in Iran. IHR director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, says: Unfortunately, the international community has not reacted properly in order to address the unprecedented repression against human rights defenders in Iran. Human rights defenders and the civil movements they represent, are the pillars of a peaceful transition towards the establishment of a system that can guarantee the respect of human rights in Iran. In 2018, the pressure upon and suppression of human rights activists in Iran intensified through detention, threats and imprisonment. Iranian authorities view human rights defenders as threats to the security of the state. The report on the condition of Iranian human rights defenders in 2018 coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in February 1979. We have chosen the second half of February for publication of the report because it marks the start of the darkest era in modern Iranian history with regards to the persecution of human rights defenders. A historical analysis of the situation of human rights defenders in the last 40 years is beyond the scope of this report. But this report shows that the persecution and crackdown of human rights defenders continues and is even intensified 40 years after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The report also coincides with the 20th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. 20 years ago, on December 19 1998, the UN General Assembly adopted Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, officially known as Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The first Article of the Declaration states: Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels. At the declarations 20th anniversary, Iran Human Rights (IHR) provides the current report about the condition of 19 human rights defenders in Iran, their arrest, torture, unlawful imprisonments and authorities refusal of providing medical treatment during imprisonment. The gravity of the situation has been underlined in the recent report of Michael Frost, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. The following report does not name all of the suppressed human rights activists in Iran. Based on the definition of human rights defenders in a recent report by Amnesty International: Human rights defenders come from all walks of life. They are students, community leaders, journalists, lawyers, victims of abuses and their families, health professionals, teachers, trade unionists, whistle-blowers, farmers, environmental activists and more. They can defend rights as part of their jobs or in a voluntary capacity. In this context, the number of human rights defenders in Iran are so high that we are afraid no report can count all of them. Moreover, human rights defenders in ethnic regions of Iran, such as Baluchestan and Khuzestan provinces, suffer from another problem. These areas are the black holes of Iran regarding human rights violations because the authorities impose tougher suppression over activists. The authorities suppress even peaceful voices, claiming they are connected to armed anti-government groups. During the past year, we witnessed the further deterioration of the human rights defenders conditions. Lawyers, who played a progressive role in Iranian civil society, came under an unprecedented wave of repression. Some lawyers were arrested, tried, and some were consequently sentenced to long jail terms. You can read about them in this report. In 2018 many human rights defenders were persecuted, arrested and sentenced to long jail terms for union activities or defending the rights of teachers, truck drivers, sugarcane workers or other workers. Likewise, many of those who protest against the compulsory hijab law and numerous environmentalists were arrested, tortured and imprisoned. We name only a few of them in this report and hope to be able to include more people in our future reports. The imprisoned human rights activists are facing many problems in prisons, including lack of access to proper medical care. In many cases, they face more limitations in prisons than other prisoners. For authorities, it seems to be a systematic method of putting additional pressure on human rights defenders. On the launch of this report, IHR calls on the international community to draw special attention to the condition of human rights defenders in Iran. IHR director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, says: Unfortunately, the international community has not reacted properly in order to address the unprecedented repression against human rights defenders in Iran. Human rights defenders and the civil movements they represent, are the pillars of a peaceful transition towards the establishment of a system that can guarantee the respect of human rights in Iran. In 2019, Iran will have its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR). During the last UPR review in 2014, Iran received 16 recommendations relating directly or indirectly to human rights defenders. Iran either accepted or partially accepted 9 of the recommendations. However, there is no indication that the authorities have delivered on any of the accepted recommendations. On the contrary, the evidence shows that the situation has been deteriorated. This years UPR is an important opportunity for the international community to put the issue of human rights defenders on the agenda again. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde Clickto read/download the full report (pdf) Iran Human Rights , February 23, 2019 This item is available in full to subscribers. Attention subscribers We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription. If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site. If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here. Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing. Iran is prosecuting a womens rights activist for allegedly trying to persuade Iranian society to accept same-sex intimacy. The Iranian LGBT-rights organization 6Rang published a report on the trial , which has been edited and reprinted here: The first court session in the trial of gender equality activist Rezvaneh Mohammadi was held on Feb. 18 at Branch 28 of Tehrans Revolutionary Court. The notorious Judge Moghiseh is presiding, according to reports received by 6Rang. Reports indicate not only that Ms. Mohammadis lawyer was not given the right to defend his client, he was also refused access to the court file. Ms. Mohammadis charges include collusion against national security by normalizing same-sex relations. This is the first time that an activist faced such an accusation in Iran. RELATED | Gay teen fighting for asylum in Sweden as he could be executed in Iran If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to five years imprisonment. Following her arrest on September 3, 2018, Ms. Mohammadi was interrogated for 26 days at ward 209 of Evin prison. She was transferred to the womans ward on Sept. 29 and eventually was released on bail. 6Rang condemns the detention of civil rights activists based on such allegations. Such detentions violate internationally recognized human rights and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde The pastor of a local church was struck by a vehicle Saturday evening while crossing the street in Potosi. Potosi Police Chief Michael Gum said according to officers who investigated the incident, Robert Bobby Adams was crossing the street in a designated crosswalk in front of Declue Funeral Home when he was hit by a 2014 Chevrolet Traverse traveling eastbound on East High Street. Chief Gum said the official report is not completed but the preliminary report states, The vehicle ... failed to yield to Mr. Adams, who was in the crosswalk, and he was struck. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} According to sources, Adams reportedly suffered several traumatic injuries and was transported to St. Anthonys Hospital in St. Louis by ambulance. He was later transported to Mercy Hospital-St.Louis. Adams is a pastor at Bismark Church of God and lives in Potosi. Updates of his condition were posted throughout the night via social media by family members and by Elevate Faith Church of God Senior Pastor Dane Corbett, explaining Adams extensive list of injuries. Corbett asked for prayers in the post saying, This is very hard for his family and church. Let us hold them up In prayer. Adams was scheduled for surgery Sunday midday, according to updates from the family. Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at 573-518-3628, or at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com. Love 0 Funny 5 Wow 1 Sad 38 Angry 13 A woman died on Thursday after she was mauled by her own dogs. Authorities said Nancy Cherryl Burgess-Dismuke was wrestling with the animals outside her mobile home in South Carolina when her two dogs started to bite her arms.Attacked By Two Boxer MixesThe neighbors said they rushed to the 52-year-old woman's home when they heard the attack and found the two boxer mixes biting on both of the woman's arms and dragging her body back into the home.They pulled her away from the dogs in an attempt to save her and called for paramedics. Burgess-Dismuke was also rushed to a nearby hospital but she eventually died after losing large amounts of blood from the dog bitesNeighbors said Burgess-Dismuke would often play with her dogs outside and even place her arms in their mouths but this time, her supposedly playful interaction with her pets turned violents when the animals turned on her and became aggressive."It went from looking like they were really playing to them really eating her alive," relatedAmber Greer, who called 911 for help.Denzel Whiteside, who helped free Burgess-Dismuke from the dogs by beating the animals with a blunt axe, described the gory scene."One arm was already bit completely off, the other arm was barely hanging on by a piece of meat," Whiteside said. "It was the longest 10 minutes of my life."Dogs To Be EuthanizedThe Greenville County Animal Control already took control of the dogs, which will be euthanized.Whiteside and Greer said they did not trust Burgess-Dismuke's boxer mixes because they do not think they were well-trained. They would not even let their own small dog go out when the boxer mixes were outside.According to the Center For Disease Control, nearly 1 in 5 dog bites needs medical attention. The Anzac Day dawn service at France's Villers-Bretonneux has been axed in favour of a later ceremony.The Department of Veterans' Affairs website lists this year's official commemoration at the Australian National Memorial on the Western Front as beginning at 10am local time (7pm AEDT).The service was moved to dawn in 2008 for 90 But there is also a role for the public. A dangerous polarization has set in in recent years, touched off by police shootings, the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and cell phone and dash cam video that can go viral. Policing must be scrutinized, including by media or activists; that is not the problem. Law enforcement is given extraordinary authority over the general public, even the expectation that they can legally kill. They need to be held to high standards. And yet, hyper-sensitive to any criticism of police, an equally adamant segment of the general public rushes to counter such scrutiny, too often and perhaps unwittingly placing police on an unrealistic pedestal. They do so in a loaded language of valor. To hear some people, all officers are able to conjure extraordinary courage, almost superhuman powers. But police are not comic book superheroes, able to withstand strains and trials unlike other people by their training alone. Police are trained to do what is necessary to save their own lives and those of others in danger. It doesnt mean that theyre not affected by it or by a million other aspects of their jobs that the average person, or reporter, cannot fathom. The accountant prepared my taxes last 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. The goal is to reach all students in grades 9-12 with lessons on what to do if they see the warning signs in friends or classmates. Teacher training Teachers are required to keep up on professional development with annual training. In recent years, there has been an increase of about 25 percent in the amount of in-service hours devoted to mental health issues in students, said Johanna Jones, a counselor at Carlisle High School and the head of the counseling department for Carlisle Area School District. Often there are topics that come up at faculty meetings that shape what is offered in training, she said. If something is a hot topic or a spike with a lot of kids ... we will do something. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Other times training opportunities are influenced by larger events like the emphasis placed on school safety and security in wake of the Parkland, Florida shootings last year. Weve had a lot of training time around poverty awareness, Jones said. That has been a big initiative of the district for the last three years. The push there is to instruct teachers to be aware of the economic challenges of some families so as not to penalize students for being poor or disadvantaged. Thanks for visiting ! The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. Thank you for your support! Contemplating lifes many journeys comes with the benefit of hindsight; but for many, it can be an unprecedented journey that ends up in places where one least expects. An unexpected journey For Mr. Peter Varghese AO, it began with a simple journey that his parents took several decades ago in 1964. At the age of eight years old, he was transplanted from a small town in Kenya to the city of Newcastle, eventually moving to Brisbane two years later and entering a relatively small community which was entirely different from his upbringing in Africa. Growing up attending church, he was informed from an early age about the Christian faith; and, unbeknownst to him at the time, he was to begin a journey that would shape both the future of his life and the future of the Australian government as he knew it. Mr. Varghese eventually went onto study at the University of Queensland, and quickly rose on the political scene as the High Commissioner to Malaysia in the year 2000. Shortly after, he was named a Senior Advisor to then Prime Minister John Howard in 2003. He was then appointed the Director-General of the Office of National Assessments the following year, and became the High Commissioner to India in 2009, revisiting his roots; during which time he was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) for his distinguished service in public administration. Upon his return to Australia, he later became the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2012, eventually resigning and taking up his post in 2016 as Chancellor of the University of Queensland, his alma mater. Yet despite all the accolades and achievements, Mr. Varghese remains quite a humble man who reflects deeply on the changes that he has seen over the years and hopes to see in the near future. Speaking to me on the greatest change he has seen over the years, he mentioned that student entrepreneurs are some of the most surprising individuals to have graduated and who continue to make an impact on society as we know it. Expressing emotion It reminds me of the time when I was a student, studying a degree I knew hardly anything about at a time when I wanted to do anything but study. Yet during the course of three years, I figured out that expressing my emotions on paper was actually a skill that could be acquired through the halls of a university, and I put my mind on making it something of a goal of mine over the next few years, eventually gaining my first job as a journalist. To this day, it is one of my most treasured skills and one that I continue to use to this day. Speaking on the Indian diaspora, which Mr. Varghese is also a part of here in Australia, which is now considered the countrys fastest growing migrant population, he told me that the most important thing that the Indian diaspora must take note of when becoming part of Australian culture is not to become a self-contained subset of society itself. Even as Christians, it can be a void that we often find ourselves in when we realise that everyone around us talks like us, acts like us, and even behaves in a way that looks like a carbon copy of one another. Reaching beyond what we know is familiar can become a risk that not many are willing to take. However, living in a country such as this requires a commitment to be part of a community, to participate in other peoples lives, and to know the sacrifices others have made for us to simply exist and enjoy the world around us. Something greater It is the same in life. We all have to make a conscious choice at some point in our lives when we become part of something bigger than ourselves; a community of people who may not act like us, talk like us, or even behave in a similar way that we do, but who value us nonetheless. We all must take a risk and be willing to accept what follows. We all need to become participants in the journey of life and let people around us become participants in our journey, because that is a sacrifice that is worth the risk, and leads to a greater reward, whether we choose to see it or not. When taking a leap of faith, you never know where you will actually end up - whether in a better place, or a worse one; but you have to put your first foot forward, and trust God with the results. Perhaps thats what makes the journey that much more worthwhile. Joseph Kolapudi is a TCK born in Australia to Indian parents, and returned from California where he was studying theology at Fuller; currently, he is working with a missions agency, continuing his love of writing by contributing to PSI. Joseph Kolapudi's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/joseph-kolapudi.html His Holiness Pope Francis delivers his message during the General Audience of senior Government Officials and members of the Diplomatic Corps at the Rizal Hall of the Malacanan Palace for the State Visit and Apostolic Journey to the Republic of the Philippines (Credit: Benhur Arcayan - Malacanang Photo Bureau) A senior official has called for transparency in how the Catholic Church handles sexual abuse cases after revealing that evidence had in some cases been destroyed. German Cardinal Reinhard Marx made the shocking admission while addressing a major summit being held by the Vatican on the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the Church. Cardinal Marx, who is the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, said that the sexual abuse of children and youths in the Church had been made possible 'in no small measure' by the 'abuse of power in the area of administration'. He said Church officials, instead of helping to shine a light on abuse, had 'obscured, discredited and made it impossible'. In some places, files that could have helped ensure predatory priests were brought to justice were destroyed, he alleged. Instead of pursuing the perpetrators of the abuse, he said that the Church often went after the victims to keep them from speaking. 'Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed, or not even created,' he said. 'Instead of the perpetrators, the victims were regulated and silence imposed on them.' Where there were procedures and processes in place to advance prosecution against abusive clergy, these were 'deliberately not complied with, but instead cancelled or overridden'. 'The rights of victims were effectively trampled underfoot, and left to the whims of individuals,' he said. He went on to warn that the consequence of obstructing justice had been to damage the credibility of the Church in sharing the Gospel with the world. 'These are all events that sharply contradict what the Church should stand for,' he said. 'The way in which Church administration was structured and carried out, did not contribute to unifying the whole human race, and bringing mankind closer to God, but on the contrary, violated these aims.' He added that many abuse victims and onlookers would question why they should believe in Jesus. 'If the Church claims to act in the name of Jesus, yet I am treated so badly by the Church or its administration, then I would also like to have nothing to do with this Jesus,' he said. The Boyceville Public Library, 903 Main St., will hold To Be! Shakespeare Here and Now Tuesday, Feb 26 at 6:30 p.m., a one-man show featuring actor Ron Fry as William Shakespeare. Dynamic interpretations of excerpts from some of Shakespeares most famous works are combined with a humorous look at life in Renaissance England. The program also includes plenty of opportunities for audience members to star alongside The Bard of Avon. Fry is a professional first-person actor who doubles as a stuntman, college teacher, fire-eater, clown, improv artist and jouster. All ages and learning levels will have the opportunity to take the stage, speak Shakespeares words and have a great time doing it. Shakespeare knew how to use laughter to reach his audience, and To Be! Shakespeare Here and Now continues in this glorious tradition. Ron Fry is the founding Artistic Director of Optimist Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was the Artistic Director for the Bristol Renaissance Faire for 19 years. To Be! has been enjoyed by more than 60,000 people since its debut in 1993. Call the library at 715-643-2106 with questions. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Especially intriguing, he said, was a report in 2010 that researchers were able to retrieve DNA from an emu eggshell in Australia that was 19,000 years old. So Murphy and his lab staff have been working on a way to create a similar type of mineral treatment. It turned out we could synthesize the minerals, make them in the lab, that were mimics of human bones and teeth, Murphy said. We could design them so they could dissolve quickly or slowly and release proteins. That gives us both of the goals that we were after stabilizing the proteins and controlling their release. The concept is versatile and can be used to tackle more than one disease, he said. One of the things that were really excited about: This technology can be used to deliver virtually any protein drug to treat everything from arthritis to neurodegenerative disease, and also new drugs to treat tumors, osteoarthritis, all different kind of conditions, Murphy said. Aiming at arthritis Dianomis lead products are Interleukin 1 receptor antagonist, or IL-1Ra, and a corticosteroid, both aimed at osteoarthritis of the knee a deterioration of the cartilage, generally from wear and tear. 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. . ..Breitbart..22 February '19..Israel is in the midst of a diplomatic crisis with Poland, one of its best friends in Europe. The regrettable events that led to a breach in the burgeoning alliance, based on a shared perception of interests, owe mainly to the inexperience of Israels Acting Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz.On Sunday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as Israels Defense Minister, announced that he was appointing Katz to serve as acting foreign minister. Netanyahu had held the portfolio until then. He appointed Katz in response to a petition to the Supreme Court asking Israels activist justices to order Netanyahu to give at least one of the senior ministries to someone else, in light of their critical importance.At the height of an election season, appointing Katz, a heavyweight in Netanyahus Likud Party made sense. Katz, the long serving transportation minister, placed second in the Likuds party primaries, and promoting him was a sure win among the party faithful.Unfortunately, Katz apparently didnt understand that diplomacy requires different skills than highway maintenance.Katz walked into his new job just as the latest brushfire with Poland was being extinguished. This is an excerpt from Second Opinion, a weekly roundup of eclectic and under-the-radar health and medical science news emailed to subscribers every Saturday morning. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) is an insidious tropical infection that begins with flu-like symptoms and can end with heart failure. The only proven treatments are a pair of costly pharmaceutical drugs. But a group of Canadian homeopaths say they can detect, prevent and treat the disease, and the federal government is paying to take their remedies to sick Hondurans. Quebec-based Terre Sans Frontieres (TSF) is spending $350,000 in aid money from Global Affairs Canada to dispatch more than a dozen volunteer homeopaths to Honduras over five years. Homeopathy is an unusual choice for foreign aid because it rejects the basic premises of science and it's practised by people who are usually not medical doctors. Among its principles; water has memory "like cures like" and the more a substance is diluted, the more powerful it becomes. Its practitioners often can't explain exactly how something seemingly so implausible works, while most in the research and medical community label it pseudoscience. That hasn't prevented TSF from securing a federal grant to treat and train Hondurans in homeopathy to "prevent epidemics" as well as opening seven homeopathic "dispensaries" to provide remedies. TSF spokesman Philippe Legault said homeopathy fills the needs of Hondurans not being met by their under-resourced health-care system. "We're helping people to have some tools to work with their population and their health. We surely don't think that we can cure everything with homeopathy." Legault points to the fact that the World Health Organization includes homeopathy as part of its Traditional Medicine Strategy. In response to an open letter from scientists and researchers, though, the WHO clarified that it doesn't support homeopathy to treat infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, influenza or infant diarrhea. Story continues If this is not good enough for my patients, I don't know why it would be good enough for Hondurans. Dr. Marie-Renee B-Lajoie TSF's other government-funded aid work includes sending dentists and eye doctors to Bolivia and Tanzania, but not to Honduras. Montreal emergency physician Dr. Marie-Renee B-Lajoie, who is unfamiliar with TSF's work, said homeopathy should have no role in foreign aid. Terre Sans Frontieres "Is this really creating the impact that Global Affairs was hoping to have in Honduras?" B-Lajoie has travelled to Honduras five times for research and to help the country's struggling health-care system, where there is just one doctor for approximately every 3,000 people, and the murder rate is among the highest in the world. "I would never use [homeopathy] in Canada. If this is not good enough for my patients, I don't know why it would be good enough for Hondurans." Humanitarian aid missions modelled on Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) have gained popularity among complementary health practitioners, giving rise to groups such as Naturopaths Without Borders, Homeopaths Without Borders, Herbalists Without Borders, Chiropratique Sans Frontieres and even Aromatherapists Without Borders. But this may be one of the first times Ottawa has funded homeopathic aid. Vancouver pediatrician Dr. Srinivas Murthy said he worries about the impact of Canada supporting aid that's not grounded in evidence or science. 'Homeopathy is not treating anything' "Homeopathy is not treating anything. It's offering really nothing outside of people getting to travel to different places and feel better about themselves." Murthy has been on missions with MSF including the international response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa, where fear and suspicion sometimes hindered aid efforts. He said offering homeopathy in underdeveloped countries could undermine treatments that are actually effective. "I think that whole positioning of homeopathy is based on a pre-existing mistrust of medicine. It's giving them something that's not going to make them better, that's going to solidify that overall sense of mistrust in the health-care system." TSF's government-funded homeopathy program started in 2015, and its final mission to Honduras begins in April. Global Affairs Canada said it supports TSF through its Volunteer Cooperation Program 2015-2020. "This program supports Canadian organizations that send qualified Canadian volunteers to work with local partners in developing countries. The program aims to increase the participation of Canadians in development efforts to promote a better understanding of international development issues," Richard Walker, a spokesperson for Global Affairs, said in an email. The department also pointed to WHO 's position on complementary medicines and said there was local interest in homeopathy. In the first months after the legalization of cannabis, sales at cannabis stores in Saskatchewan were lagging behind every other province in the country, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada. Across Canada, $151.5 million in cannabis was sold from the date of legalization on Oct.17, 2018, to the end of December. Saskatchewan cannabis stores sold just under $2.5 million in product in that time, below Prince Edward Island's sales of just under $3.4 million. P.E.I.'s population is about 150,000 people, compared with Saskatchewan's population of just under 1.2 million. In comparison, people in Saskatchewan spent $227.7 million at beer, wine and liquor stores in the months from October to December. Cannabis sales from October to December, across Canada: Stopping heavy equipment thefts like those that have plagued the northeast Avalon this year is possible but it requires a commitment from both owners and operators, say industry risk experts. On Feb. 18, burglars used a backhoe to smash into Landings Restaurant in Portugal Cove-St. Philip's and swipe its ATM. That marked the fifth time so far this year heavy equipment has been used in thefts in the area. "First of all, it is a relatively easy device or a machine to steal," said Fred Muldowney-Brooks, vice-president of Risk Services at Northbridge Insurance, a Canadian commercial insurer. That ease comes from an industry norm: master keys. Anyone can buy them, and they generally work on any machine of the same brand. But despite the ubiquity of such keys, Muldowney-Brooks said, equipment theft is far from inevitable. "Preventing thefts is almost as easy as stealing," he said. "There are kill switches for batteries, fuel disconnects, cab covers that you can put on and lock the windows," among other things, he said, listing off a dizzying array of interventions from GPS trackers to to tire deflators, and locks on everything from steering columns to hydraulic cylinders. The more layers of theft protection, the better, said Muldowney-Brooks. Onus on employees, owners But those protective measures only work, Muldowney-Brooks said, if staff "buy in." "The biggest thing to change in any company is to get people to actually follow the protocols," he told CBC News. "You can put all these things in place, but if the individual is not going to get out of the cabin and actually lock down that piece of equipment before walking away, then the equipment is still vulnerable." John Gushue/CBC A retired OPP officer turned heavy equipment theft consultant agrees. "Each time they shut that machine down, they need to be thinking about how to protect it from theft," said George Kleinsteiber "What do I need to do to make sure the machine is immobilized so that no one can take it?" Story continues CBC Kleinsteiber extends that responsibility to the equipment owners themselves, who in his experience, don't invest enough in theft-prevention devices. "They always think it will be somebody else's machine so they don't go to that second step in trying to prevent their machine from being stolen," he said. "They'll walk out of the door with a $100,000 piece of equipment with no anti-theft immobilized system in that machine at all." Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador The Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS) has agreed to equity and anti-racism training for its staff after a coalition of black Nova Scotians reported being racially profiled during a recent visit to Parliament Hill, says a Nova Scotia senator. Sen. Wanda Thomas Bernard, a longtime social justice advocate, said her office complained to the PPS on behalf of the coalition, which was invited to Ottawa for a series of meetings with federal cabinet ministers on Feb. 4. The visit was to coincide with Black History Month. The visitors said a government employee and a PPS officer referred to them as "dark-skinned" before they were asked to leave the parliamentary cafeteria, even though they had the required passes to be in that area. "They [PPS] determined that the officer involved ... he's Francophone and had some discomfort around the term 'black' because that term means something different in the French language," Bernard said in an interview. "So, his use of language was identified as the area of concern, and they've taken some steps to address that with him. "However, they've also made a commitment to work specifically with my office in terms of looking at their overall training around equity and diversity and anti-racism issues." Dalhousie News The PPS has completed its investigation into the complaint and apologized for the incident. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also apologized to members of the coalition during a private meeting Thursday at the Black Cultural Centre in Cherry Brook, N.S., which Bernard also attended. Trudeau acknowledged that anti-black racism remains a problem across Canada and that more needs to be done to address it. There are discussions about making the PPS training an annual event, which Bernard said would be a good step toward addressing what she called a "systemic" issue. "This is not the first time there's been incident of racial profiling on Parliament Hill," she said. Story continues "Several of us have spoken out about incidents of racial profiling on Parliament Hill. I've had other visitors family members even who've come to the Hill and had experiences." Adam Scotti - PMO/CPM Bernard said the incident on Feb. 4 started when an MP's staff member took a photo of the group on a phone, sent it to security and asked for the group to be removed from the cafeteria, alleging they were being noisy and disruptive. "Those young people were told to wait in the cafeteria for the next series of meetings that they were having with MPs," Bernard said. "The fact that an MP's staff would take a photo to lodge a complaint to have these young people removed from that space and to not see anything wrong with that, that's hugely, hugely problematic." Bernard said she's pleased the PPS has committed to work with her office to address issues of unconscious bias, systemic discrimination and racial profiling. "Every Canadian who comes to visit us on the Hill who has the appropriate visitors passes ... has the right, the absolute right to be there, has the right to be treated with dignity and respect, and has the right to feel that they are welcomed there and that they actually belong there," she said. By Paul Carsten and Alexis Akwagyiram ABUJA (Reuters) - As many as 39 people have been killed in election violence in Nigeria, civil society groups said on Sunday, as the country awaited the results of voting in what was forecast to be its tightest election since the end of military rule in 1999. The Situation Room - which represents more than 70 civil society groups - gave the death toll the day after voting, citing data from Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence. But authorities were braced for the possibility of further unrest after election results emerge later this week. President Muhammadu Buhari, 76, a former military ruler who is seeking a second term on an anti-corruption platform, faces Atiku Abubakar, 72, a businessman and former vice president who has promised to expand the role of the private sector. Deputy Inspector General of Police Abdulmajid Ali said police were still gathering information and could not provide figures on casualties. He said violence was greatest in the southern states of Rivers and Akwa Ibom. The Nigeria Police Force said 128 people had been arrested nationwide for election-related offences including homicide, theft of ballot boxes and vote fraud. Thirty-eight weapons and a cache of explosives were also recovered. The Situation Room said the worst incident was in Abonnema in Rivers State, around 14 km (9 miles) west of the main oil industry city of Port Harcourt, where the army said seven people died in a shoot-out between an unidentified gang and Nigerian soldiers. A lieutenant and six gunmen died in the firefight, which broke out when the attackers barricaded a major road into the town and ambushed the troops, the acting director of army public relations, Colonel Sagir Musa, said. Their motives were not known. Nigerian security forces are stretched by an Islamist insurgency in the northeast along with communal violence and banditry in other areas. Previous elections have been marred by violence among supporters of different political parties that at times sparked sectarian clashes. A credible and relatively calm poll would open a new chapter in the checkered political history of Nigeria, where nearly six decades of independence have been tarnished by military coups, endemic corruption and secessionist movements. The number of deaths reported Sunday was below the final tolls in previous elections in Africa's most populous country. However, most unrest typically occurs after results are announced. Results are expected to start trickling in early on Monday with a "substantial number" likely on Tuesday, election commission official Festus Okoye said. As many as 100 people were killed during and after the last election in 2015, according to the International Crisis Group. Four years before that, in the religiously mixed northern city of Kaduna, 800 people died when fighting erupted between Muslims and the mainly Christian backers of then-President Goodluck Jonathan. Islamist militants in the Northeast vowed to disrupt this year's election. Hours before polls opened, explosions rang out in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state at the epicenter of the decade-long insurgency. In neighboring Yobe state, residents of Geidam town fled an attack around the same time. The election was postponed the previous Saturday just hours before it was due to begin, with the authorities citing problems in delivering ballot papers and results sheets in some parts of the country. VOTING EXTENDED IN A FEW PLACES Despite the violence, some noted that it could have been worse. "We didn't expect that the election would be so smooth ... we thought people might be dying," said Henry Okalome, 55, a trader in Kano who voted for Atiku. Violence and problems with electronic voting machines meant voting took place in a small number of places on Sunday. Seventy-three million eligible voters chose from a pool of more than 70 presidential candidates, although only those from the two main parties - Buhari and Atiku - are seen as having a chance. The contest between the two men hinges on revamping an economy struggling to recover from its first recession in 25 years, which it slipped into in 2016 and emerged from in 2017. Nearly a quarter of the workforce is unemployed, while the cost of living has also risen rapidly. Buhari has focused his campaign on rooting out corruption, but critics say there have not been any significant convictions in his first term. Atiku has said he would aim to double the size of the economy to $900 billion by 2025. (Additional reporting by Nneka Chile, Aaron Ross, Camillus Eboh and Felix OnuahWriting by James Macharia and Alexis AkwagyiramEditing by Peter Graff and Cynthia Osterman) Legal cannabis could be economic kickstarter for First Nations, group says Indigenous communities are poised for economic gains with cannabis sales but are playing catch-up thanks to a lack of consultation with federal and provincial governments, according to a consortium of entrepreneurs and researchers. Roland Bellerose, founder and CEO of Cannabis and Hemp Indigenous Consortium Canada, was a delegate at a conference that ended Friday in Ottawa. "This has generations of economic opportunity written all over it, because it returns us to much of our traditional medicines, our traditional plants, plant cultures, [being] stewards of the land, our farming communities," said Bellerose. "From a practical perspective, of course, we're looking at being able to participate in the economic engine of Canada." Francine Whiteduck is also a member of the consortium. The member of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation near Maniwaki, Que., is the founder of Whiteduck Resources, a research firm that consults with Indigenous governments and community organizations. 'We're looking at being able to participate in the economic engine of Canada.' - Entrepreneur Roland Bellerose She said First Nations across the country need to work together towards adopting best practices and models for the sale and regulation of cannabis. "Alderville First Nation has a very good model that they're willing to share with communities. Kahnawake is working on their own framework," Whiteduck said. "There are other communities out west building a framework they're going to work in. And they're saying, 'We're going to harmonise that.'" Lack of consultation leads to resentment The consortium contends that First Nations were not consulted during the cannabis legalization process and therefore were left out when it came to deciding how legalization would roll out in their communities. The aim of the consortium, according to Bellerose, is to become a resource that provides fact-based research to those communities so they can expedite the process of incorporating cannabis and hemp into their economies. Story continues But there's also resentment, he said, over being left out of the legalization process. "They've left us in a position of saying, 'You didn't consult with us. You didn't include us. And now you've thrown these regulations at everybody, and now you've left the problem for us to solve,'" said Bellerose. One source of optimism, according to Whiteduck, is the participation of younger members of Kitigan Zibi who left the conference with a sense of optimism for how cannabis and hemp sales can lead to greater economic growth. The family of a Canadian man detained in Egypt is calling for the highest level of intervention from the Canadian government after he disappeared from the Cairo airport on Monday. Yasser Ahmed Albaz, 51, has been in Egypt for business since December. When he attempted to board his flight home to Oakville, Ont., this week, his family says his passport was confiscated and an officer later told him his name had been flagged for investigation. He texted his family to tell them he loved them. A text message to a friend from Albaz later that night said state security was arresting him. That was the last anyone had heard from him. "The biggest concern for us is his safety," his daughter Amal Ahmed Albaz told CBC News on Saturday. "Our family was horror-struck." The family reported his disappearance to Global Affairs immediately. The government department said in a statement they were aware of the detention of a Canadian citizen, but for privacy reasons spokesperson Richard Walker said no other information could be disclosed. Consular services are being provided to the family. Amal said the government told them earlier this week that Canadian officials in Egypt are in contact with the local government to get answers. She was told originally the state denied they were holding Albaz, but later admitted he's in custody and would not say where or provide other information. Late Saturday night, Global Affairs notified the family that Albaz was being questioned at the State Security Prosecutor's office. He has so far not been charged with any crimes, but Amal said her father's lawyer learned Albaz will be held for more questioning on Tuesday. He was then transported to Tora prison, just south of Cairo. "An injustice has been done to my father," she said. "We need him home now." The Albaz family is originally from Egypt and has been living as citizens in Canada for almost two decades. Business and vacations take them back and forth between the two countries regularly. Story continues Warnings of forced disappearances in Egypt Amal says her father isn't political he's an engineer by profession and she can think of no reason for his detention. She added she appreciates the government's efforts so far, but as the days wear on, it's time to step up the pressure on the Egyptian government for more information. The family is asking Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland to step in and call for his release. Freeland has previously spoken out about detentions of human rights activists in Saudi Arabia, and about the two Canadian men who remain in custody in China. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other humanitarian groups have criticized the north African nation for arbitrary detentions and abuse of detainees. "The authorities used torture and other ill-treatment and enforced disappearance against hundreds of people, and dozens were extrajudicially executed with impunity," Amnesty's 2018 report on the country warns. That's what worries Amal. "There is great concern around the condition of his detention and if he is being treated according to international human rights laws." Environment Canada continues to warn Toronto residents that major wind gusts are possible throughout the night as a "major" windstorm affects the city. Wind from the storm could be strong enough to blow shingles off roofs, uproot trees and cause power outages, the national weather agency said. "We're still expecting strong gusts. In fact they may gust up to about 95 km/h through tonight, so we are going to be continuing the wind warning," Mitch Meredith, severe weather meteorologist with Environment Canada, told CBC Toronto. "The precipitation, it's been changing to flurries and we expect the temperature to continue to drop tonight down to a low of minus-7, so those flurries could be heavy at times and with the gusting winds, that will create blowing snow so there could be a little bit of concern with travel tonight." A wind warning and blowing snow advisory for Toronto and surrounding regions remained in effect on Sunday night. "Gusts up to about 90 or 95 km/h are possible even into early Monday morning," Meredith said. Some of those effects are already being experienced. As many as 5,000 people lost power in a small pocket in the Jane and Finch area shortly after 4 p.m., according to Toronto Hydro. But the utility said restoration of electricity would take no more than four hours. Wind could toss loose objects Environment Canada said the "damaging" winds are the result an arctic cold front that is expected to pass over the GTA. "Loose objects may be tossed by the wind and cause injury or damage," the federal weather agency said in the warning. Graeme Roy/Canadian Press Motorists are being told to adjust plans accordingly if road conditions change due to the high winds. The Niagara region, Prince Edward County and areas close to the northern shores of the Great Lakes are expected to be hardest hit by high winds. Hydro One says about 27,000 people across Ontario are currently without power, with the most widespread outages concentrated around the Niagara and Hamilton areas. Story continues Travel could be hazardous Because of the possible whiteout conditions, travel could be hazardous and visibility reduced to near zero suddenly. Travellers are urged to check with airlines for the status of their flights before heading to either Toronto's Pearson International Airport or Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. The TTC, meanwhile, said trains will run at slower speeds in open areas of the subway. Conditions are expected to improve Monday but Meredith said commuters should expect winter driving conditions Monday morning. "We are going to be back to a little bit of winter driving conditions. Definitely the surfaces will be frozen. Morning temperatures of about minus-6 or minus-7 [are expected], he said. "Even with a little bit of flurry activity it could be a little bit slippery in the morning on the untreated surfaces." The Benevolent Irish Society is reviving a tradition that dates back to 1885 its St. Patrick's week play. The nearly-200-year old B.I.S. began as a service organization for Irish immigrants to P.E.I. and exists to celebrate and educate about Irish culture, and for 100 years it put on a play for St. Patrick's Day. "It's a very, very old tradition so I'm really happy to be bringing it back," said Mary Ellen Callaghan, the society's vice-president and chair of the play committee. 'It was a very big deal' The play stopped in 1985 because there weren't enough volunteers to run it, Callaghan said. The society's membership was aging and dwindling. Sara Fraser/CBC "When you were young, it was something to look forward to it happened in March, winter was over," Callaghan said. "It was a very big deal." There are photos of former productions on the walls at the society's building on North River Road dating back to 1894. "It was always a play with Irish overtones, because of the tradition," she added, like Kitty from Killarney and Jenny Kissed Me. 'Just hilarious' This year, the society has chosen to stage the popular three-act comedy A Wake in the West. The story takes place in a small fishing village in the west of Ireland in the 1970s. Tom Healy has died and is being waked in his home. Sara Fraser/CBC The story has comedy, romance, religion, and more, Callaghan explains, and all generations can enjoy it. The play is being staged in partnership with P.E.I. group A Community Theatre, or ACT. "I don't have a sense of humour but it makes me laugh, so if it makes me laugh it's going to make everybody laugh. It's just hilarious!" Callaghan said. It'll be B.I.S. president Patrick Fitzgerald's stage debut. He plays Father Cassidy, and he's the only player who won't have to fake an Irish accent. "I always wanted to be in a play so it was a great opportunity for me to get in there and get involved," Fitzgerald said. Story continues Sponsors being revived, too The society had also saved programs from dozens of past plays, and leafing through them gave Callaghan an idea. Sara Fraser/CBC Many of the businesses who helped sponsor the play years ago are still a going concern like Maritime Electric, McAskill's Woodworking, Hyndman and Co. and Purity Dairy. Callaghan approached them and asked if they'd like to sponsor this year's play, and 10 of them did. "I said you sponsored us 70 years ago, would you like to sponsor us again? They said, 'Yes, no problem!" Callaghan said with a chuckle. 'Lots of repercussions' The society had a stage that it uses for musical performances but it needed to make a substantial investment in a new curtain for the play, which cost $3,000. Sara Fraser/CBC "We always had ceilidhs but we've never had theatre here," Callaghan said. Now, they're able to market themselves to other groups in the community who might want to rent the facility for theatre. "So, there's lots of repercussions," she said. "To allow the B.I.S. to be a place where amateur theatre can propagate." The whole play cost about $7,500 for play royalties, costumes and the curtain. The provincial government has pitched in with a grant of $2,500, she said. Any profits the play makes will be shared by the B.I.S. and ACT, she said. "The money that we make here helps us to do other things," Callaghan said, such as the society's free winter-lecture series. 'This is about our heritage' "If we're successful this year we'll bring it back," Callaghan said. "It was too bad it fell by the wayside." Submitted by Mary Ellen Callaghan B.I.S. membership has doubled in the last few years to 156, many of them younger members, Callaghan said, so there are once again volunteers on which to draw for the play as well as lectures, ceilidhs and variety shows. "This is about our heritage, Irish culture and heritage, and there are 30,000 of us on P.E.I.," said Callaghan, who can trace her family roots back several generations to 1839, when the Callaghans from County Monaghan arrived by ship and settled in Emyvale, P.E.I. There's a resurgence of interest in genealogy and family history, she said, because searching on the internet and using DNA kits is now easy and popular. The B.I.S. and ACT will present the play six times on stage at the B.I.S. on March 7 to 9 and March 12 through 14. Tickets can be found online for $20 per person, or $17 for a limited number of B.I.S. and ACT members. More P.E.I. news News / National by Staff reporter An audit has unearthed serious fraud and financial mismanagement involving millions of dollars at Amnesty International Zimbabwe.Amnesty, an international human rights organisation that has been part of a phalanx of anti-establishment non-governmental organisations, joins a lengthening list of Western NGOs that have lost money to local activists that purport to fight for civil and political rights in the country.The purported fight itself is a key pillar in pushing the regime change agenda that seeks to supplant the revolutionary Zanu-PF party with the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change formerly led by the late Morgan Tsvangirai and now led by Nelson Chamisa.The NGOs and civil society enjoy a relationship with the MDC Alliance that has seen the former also back channelling funds from Western capitals to the party.And in the shady dealings involving the opposition and the NGOs lots of money has been lost to corruption as officials have abused monies for projects, funding jet-set lifestyles for themselves.Previously, USAid, the US Embassy in Harare and other Western embassies have lost significant amounts of money but the matters have been hushed owing to the illicit nature of the operations.A source close to the developments yesterday revealed that early last year the principal office for Amnesty instituted an assessment that led to an audit, which later unearthed the irregularities."When the donors realised that their money was being mismanaged they instituted an assement that sought to look into the financial status, incorporating a skills audit," said the source."The investigators were seconded from the London (United Kingdom) office and they recommended a forensic audit," added the source.The forensic report implicated country director, Cousin Zilala and chairperson Takesure Musiyiwa. Zilala later resigned and Musiyiwa was suspended in December last year pending a disciplinary process.Musiyiwa is reported to have been implicated in another scandal involving Zimrights and USAid as then vice chairperson. Amnesty has also suspended finance officer, Sibongile Zimbeva, on allegations of mismanagement.The organisation's headquarters is reportedly keen to press criminal charges and with a police report having been made. In a statement on Saturday, the organisation confirmed the abuse of funds by individuals that were not named."Following an extensive and comprehensive forensic audit carried out by a reputable international audit firm, the Amnesty International Zimbabwe Board (AIZ Board) has uncovered evidence of serious fraud and financial mismanagement by individuals in Amnesty International Zimbabwe."In response to these findings, the AIZ Board has notified the appropriate national law enforcement agencies and commenced the legal process of civil recovery in order to recoup lost funds," reads a statement from the Board.A spokesperson of the AIZ who was quoted in the statement said they were pursuing various avenues to recover the money."The gravity of these audit findings cannot be overestimated, and we are naturally pursuing every avenue to recover the proceeds of misconduct," said an Amnesty International Zimbabwe spokesperson."We will work hand in glove with the authorities and provide full assistance to any subsequent investigation and prosecution to ensure that any individual found to have been involved in misconduct is held to account through criminal and civil proceedings."The external audit was commissioned after the fraud allegations came to light and the board said they were implementing financial risk management measures to ensure anti-fraud and corruption procedures were in place and adhered to."The steps that we have implemented will help ensure that this situation does not happen again," the spokesperson added.Contacted for comment Amnesty International Southern Africa Media Manager Mr Robert Shivambu, refused to say anything outside the issued statement."I cannot comment further beyond the statement on this issue," he said.Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba could not be reached for comment yesterday. AIZ is one of the quasi-political civil society organisations that work as appendages of opposition political parties that have been implicated in the abuse of donor funds.The US, through its US Agency for International Development (USAid) last year suspended funding of some of these NGOs that include Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights), Election Resource Centre (ERC) and Counselling Services Unit (CSU) for failure to observe set financial guidelines and other improprieties.Between 2011 and 2013, the USAid poured more than $850 million in the NGO sector, but dumped the civil society organisations after opposition parties lost resoundingly to Zanu-PF in 2013.Most of the senior managers at the organisations have been accused of abusing donor funds to live luxurious lifestyles including building houses in up market residential areas and driving expensive cars. News / National by Staff reporter A school at Rutenga growth point its ruing its losses after a mob of Zanu-PF supporters vandalized the main gate in a frenzied stampede for free food after President Emmerson Mnangagwa's 'Thank You Rally' last Saturday.A restless crowd overwhelmed all security arrangements at Sacred Heart High School, where the free meal was prepared, and wrecked the gate as they scurried for a front space at the feeding queue soon after Mnangagwa left.TellZim News saw hordes of party supporters recklessly stepping on top of the felled steel barrier as they left the school after enjoying the free lunch.Sacred Heart High School head, Brother Joachim Kamwana said the gate was indeed broken and expressed confidence the local Zanu-PF leadership will help repair it."People who were controlling the access point were overpowered by the crowd as everybody jostled to be in front of the queue. As a result of the pressure, the gate's support pillars failed and people trampled over the gate and gained entry."I hope the gate will be repaired as a matter of urgency because the school premises are currently exposed security-wise," said Kamwana.Some eyewitnesses deplored the incident, saying it showed the calibre of people who kept on supporting rich politicians when they do not have anything to show of it."It was a sight to see. You should have seen the savagery of the jostling; there was no civility at all. Some people sustained scars and bruises all for a plate of food. Why do we keep on supporting these rich politicians that promise everything and deliver nothing when we ourselves are this desperate?" said one local resident.Another one said political parties should host their events at their own facilities to prevent the abuse and damaging of public and privately-owned properties. News / National by TimesLive Song and dance bellowed from the Blue Roof mansion in the usually quiet upmarket Borrowdale suburb, as hundreds of invited guests on Saturday attended the birthday party for former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe.The guests were celebrating the former statesman's 95th birthday at a private ceremony at his lavish Harare home. The event was held under the theme "a living legend".There were strictly no children allowed at the function, which had a black and gold dress code.Mugabe's children organised the birthday party, which was strictly by invite.His eldest daughter, Bona, and son-in law, Simba Chikore, were the main organisers. Bona is said to have put the guest list together.Notable among the guests was Gideon Gono, the former central bank governor and the Mugabe's personal banker.Family members, among them his wife, Grace, wished the 95-year-old Mugabe a long life.During a short speech at the event, Grace said she would stand by her husband until the very end.Mugabe, in his speech, criticised the heavy-handedness of the military against citizens under President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government."Some people think that being a leader means killing people and beating people, but that is not the way. Even the fallen heroes would not approve of that," said Mugabe."We are hearing there are graves that have been created by the army when they kill people. It is not the task of the army to lead the people with guns. Let us not be killers of our own people," he added.Human rights groups said 17 people died last month from protests that broke out linked to a fuel price hike.Mugabe said the actions of the leaders would soon come back to haunt them."Soldiers should take their rightful place and fight when the situation demands. They should be protectors of people and I am not scared to say it," said Mugabe.Guests were served an array of local and foreign delicacies by chefs hired for the event.The menu included sirloin, pig on the spit, grilled chicken and salads, along with a range of desserts.The party was scheduled to go up until late into the night, having kicked off at 2pm. News / National by Staff reporter A soldier and a Zimbabwe Republic Police Support Unit officer on Friday night opened fire at the Beitbridge Border Post towards a cross-border transporter's vehicle, sending the public and other border officials scurrying for cover.Although no one was injured, the soldier, only identified as Gwaze, shot twice at the vehicle as it was passing the Customs and Excise Last Man Point near the Vehicle Inspection Office as it headed towards the exit for northbound gate.A policeman who was at the exit gate said bullets cracked and sparked on the tarmac as Gwaze fired from an AK 47 assault rifle aiming at tyres of the trailer towed by the vehicle as the driver, now known to be Gumbo Chiweshe, proceeded to the exit gate."We took cover as he shot oblivious of the danger posed to people in the direction of the car he was firing at," said the policeman."He must have fired seven times with the last two as he emerged from the VID gate shouting stop him' to surprised policemen manning the gate. One policeman fired two shots towards the car which had driven past."Gwaze and another soldier ceased firing after failing to stop the vehicle, said the policeman, and the two went back picking some objects, which must have been spent cartridges..It has since been established the two shot at vehicle number AEJ 8714 which had gone through and been cleared by the Customs and Excise Department and authorised out, a process signed for by security guards deployed at the Malume Section of the border post.Matabeleland South police spokesperson Chief Inspector Philisani Ndebele did not deny nor confirm the incident, but referred The Standard to his national boss Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, who was yet to get the report.Zimbabwe National Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Alphios Makotore had not responded to questions sent to him in the morning and his mobile phone went unanswered. News / National by Staff reporter Zanu-PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday condemned Zanu-PF supporters that were terrorising people in Harare South and threatened to descend on them.Officiating at the burial of former Cabinet minister Callistus Ndlovu at the National Heroes Acre in Harare, Mnangagwa said action should be taken against the culprits.He cited Harare South where his nephew Tongai Mnangagwa is the MP."Let us desist from divisive politics. Such kind of politics has no place in the new Zimbabwe," he said."We condemn in strongest terms actions by some hooligans with a hidden agenda who went about attacking people in Harare South while in Zanu-PF regalia and destroyed people's stores and merchandise, destabilisations of peace" ."This is criminal, this will not be tolerated."Ndlovu's burial resembled a military parade as it had more soldiers than the usual Zanu-PF supporters.Ndlovu (83), also a member of the Zanu-PF central committee, collapsed and died a week ago in South Africa where he was being treated for pancreatic cancer. Ndlovu is survived by his wife Angeline, five children and seven grandchildren. News / National by Staff reporter THE country's youth should emulate the life of ingenious and innovative luminaries such as the late national hero, Professor Callistus Ndlovu to channel their creative prowess and innovation "to leapfrog the country's industrialisation and modernisation agenda," President Mnangagwa has said.In his eulogy at the burial of Prof Ndlovu at the National Heroes Acre yesterday, President Mnangagwa also rallied the country's tertiary institutions to produce "technopreneurs" to drive the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which leverages on emerging technological innovations to spur economic development.The late liberation icon succumbed to pancreatic cancer at a South African health facility a fortnight ago.He was 83."I challenge students and student leaders across the country to emulate the life-history of heroes such as the late Professor Ndlovu. Youthful ingenuity, creativity and innovation must be harnessed to drive our desire to leapfrog the country's industrialisation and modernisation agenda. We are in a defining phase in our country's economic history; hence, I call upon students throughout our institutions of higher learning not to be spectators in our country's development epoch," said President Mnangagwa."Academic intellect, scholarship and proximity to age-mates which learning institutions provide must be used to develop start-ups, innovation and products that give solutions to our development," he said.The new political administration, President Mnangagwa said, we will not brook "politics that engender violence"."Let us desist from engaging in divisive politics that work against the national interest and worsen the plight of our people."Politics that engender violence have no place in the new Zimbabwe. We condemn in strongest terms the actions by some hooligans with a wicked agenda, who went about attacking people in Harare South wearing Zanu-PF regalia and destroying their trading stalls and merchandise.Destabilisation of the country through such political hooliganism is criminal, evil and barbaric. This will not be tolerated by my administration. Perpetrators of such criminal activities will be brought to book."He said Prof Ndlovu who he described as an intellectual giant was a consistent and persistent cadre who had high regard for the Zanu-PF Constitution."The principles of the party were always his beacon and he never decided matters to please personalities or one group against the other. He was a unifier and peace-maker. The hero we are bidding farewell today (yesterday) was an intellectual giant par excellence, an accomplished scholar, a progressive-minded person, an astute political cadre, a peace-maker and a man of substance," said the President.Prof Ndlovu, he added, was a "genuine nationalist"."He has a rich history of service to the party and Government, which made him a fountain of knowledge and wisdom. His vast contribution benefited many generations and helped contribute to the transformation of our great nation. He was a genuine nationalist with unwavering dedication to national development . . . On behalf of the Government and people of Zimbabwe, the ruling party Zanu-PF and indeed on my own behalf, I want to convey my heartfelt condolences to Mrs Ndlovu, the children and entire Ndlovu family for their sad loss."President Mnangagwa said Prof Ndlovu grew up in a hostile and oppressive political environment that discriminated against blacks in favour of white settlers.He said the late academic became a victim of discriminatory pieces of legislation such as the 1930 Land Apportionment Act, Land Husbandry Act of 1951 and later the Preventative Detention Act, which essentially banned political activities by Africans.However, punitive legislation did not stop Prof Ndlovu from political activities as he joined the National Democratic Party in 1960. "He was subjected to periods of detention and was perceived, by the regime, as a bad influence. He became chairman of Zapu branch of students and residents in the early 60's while he was a student at Pius XII University College in Lesotho. From 1963 to 1964, he was president of the Student Representative Council.Between 1956 and 1964, he was secretary for publicity for the National Union for the Basutoland Students."President Mnangagwa challenged the nation to remain loyal and true to the country in the face of current challenges.Prof Ndlovu was born on February 9 1936 in Plumtree, where he did his primary and secondary education before joining the National Democratic Party in 1960. He trained as a teacher before enrolling for a Bachelor of Arts degree at Pius XII University College in Lesotho. He became involved with Zapu in 1963 when he was a student in Lesotho.On completing his degree, Ndlovu came to Bulawayo and taught at Empandeni High School, before moving to Mafakela Government School. 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 chairperson 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 coordinated 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 chairperson 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.He also worked as the chief executive officer at Calding Consultants (Pvt) Limited in 1991. Prof Ndlovu 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 also worked for the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration and Management (Zipam) for several years. The late academic was once chairman of the Board of Directors at NetOne and chairman of the Foundation Task Force of the Gwanda State University. At the time of his death, Prof Ndlovu was a member of the Zanu-PF Central Committee and Bulawayo provincial chairman. He is survived by wife Angeline, several children and seven grandchildren. Richard Sackler is the only known member of the powerful opioid family (previously) to have been deposed; the 2015 deposition was published last week by Propublica and it reveals Sackler's bizarre rationalizations for his family company's deliberate creation of the opioid epidemic. Sackler talks like the kind of powerful man who gets to say whatever bullshit comes into his mind while everyone around him nods their heads and praises him for his wisdom (see also: D. Trump). For example, when asked why he sent an email expressing seeming delight at the dismayed warning by Oxycontin inventor Robert Kaiko that the company's sales plan would lead to widespread adoption, Sackler said that he was only being polite, and that really, he planned on abandoning the plan (he didn't abandon the plan). Then there's a long section where Sackler discusses what was meant by internal company documents that detailed plans to encourage doctors to view Oxycontin as "weaker" than morphine (Oxycontin is twice as powerful as morphine), but he was using "weaker" to mean "less threatening" rather than more potent. As Ars Technica's Beth Mole points out, this is all laughable bullshit the only thing remarkable about it is that Sackler said it with a straight face. In 1997, Richard was involved in discussion with employees of a Sackler-owned company in Germany over whether they could get regulatory authorities there to let them sell OxyContin as an uncontrolled drug. Though OxyContin developer Robert Kaiko warned that this was a terrible idea, Richard seemed supportive of the idea, asking in a subsequent message: "How substantially would it improve your sales?" But in his deposition, Richard insisted he was never a fan of the idea, arguing, "we were not in favor of this, but we were trying to be polite and solicitous rather than saying, this is a terrible idea, forget it, don't do it." When the idea ultimately failed, Richard sent a message to an employee in Germany saying, "When we are next together we should talk about how this idea was raised and why it failed to be realized. I thought that it was a good idea if it could be done." In the deposition, Richard explained this by saying, "That's what [my response] said, but I didn't mean it. I just wanted to be encouraging." Sackler behind OxyContin fraud offered twisted, mind-boggling defense [Beth Mole/Ars Technica] (via Naked Capitalism) (Image: Dean, CC-BY) The final text of the EU Copyright Directive has emerged from the "trilogue" committee (composed of reps from the EU Parliament, the national governments of EU member-states, and the EU presidency) and it is virtually identical to the compromise struck by the governments of France and Germany, a draft so terrible it has sparked demonstrations across Germany and a national movement to topple Germany's ruling party to punish it for its support for this proposal. The most contentious issue in the Directive is Article 13, which makes online communities, services, and platforms liable if their users post any infringing materials, even if these materials are promptly removed. Though Article 13 no longer explicitly calls for automated filters, there is no conceivable way that every word, image, video, audio clip, etc could be vetted for its copyright status without automated systems (there literally haven't been enough trained copyright lawyers in the history of the human race to accomplish even a tenth of a percent of this task). Obviously, this will kill off every service that lacks the hundreds of millions of euros it will cost to build and maintain these filters. The final language contains an absurdly, unusably narrow exemption for small companies with less than ten million euros/year in revenues: they don't need filters, but only for their first three years of existence, and then they do. It's not clear that even the US-based Big Tech companies could afford this, but as the media companies have repeatedly said, they don't want Big Tech to follow the rules in Article 13: they want a rule that's impossible to follow, so that Big Tech will have to pay virtually unlimited sums for "licenses" that immunise it from prosecution under the rules. This is Internet As Cable Television: millions of sites and services collapsed down to hundreds, each a mere distribution arm for media companies, with the public relegated to "viewer" status, unable even to communicate with one another. This isn't over. The vote on whether to make this law will happen in late March, just weeks before the next EU election. The petition against it the largest in European history and is on track to be the largest petition in the history of the human race (it's already within spitting distance of that title). If there's one moment at which Members of the European Parliament are attuned to public sentiments, it's this moment, just before contentious elections where there is a real possibility that eurosceptic, insurgent parties will score big victories. If MEPs care about the future of the EU, they can't afford to confirm the accusation that they are arrogant and unresponsive to public opinion. There's an EU-wide day of action coming on March 23. Watch this space. European governments approve controversial new copyright law [Timothy B Lee/Ars Technica] (via /.) Yahoo! JAPAN Yahoo! JAPAN BLACK REPUBLICAN BLOG - The Republican Party is the party of civil rights and the four Fs: faith, family, freedom and fairness. The Democratic Party is the party of the four Ss: slavery, secession, segregation and socialism (Quote By Author Michael Scheuer). Baesler said, in a way, the state would be the first in the nation in how it would deliver computer science instruction to all 101,000 students in the state's 244 districts. The department has a three-prong approach to reach that goal, which sets it apart from other states. The plan is to create standards for each grade in computer science, train one teacher for each 160 students in school districts across the state and obtain state funding for training that will allow the teachers to gain credentials. The bill that passed the Senate unanimously would allow the state to add a computer science credential to teachers' licenses so they can offer instruction in elementary and middle schools. Certified computer science instructors currently teach in some districts at the high school level. However, the department didn't want to leave districts with the bill for training teachers, Baesler said. So the department has requested $6 million in one-time funding for training, while Gov. Doug Burgum's budget called for $3 million. The Senate, she said, didn't allocate the funding in its recommendation so she said the House will "hear our case and determine if they will include any dollars." She said the funds are there, as carryover money is available from the last two-year budget. Boehm runs the main cash line at the cafe, which has two lines of customers compared to the other tills, which only have one line. It is from this vantage point that she meets nearly every person who comes through the cafe. Boehm has met Australians, Norwegians and everyone in between. Shes watched raucous arguments occur in the lunch line between lobbyists, legislators, state officials and the press. She knows what veteran members of the state government like to eat for lunch every day. Gov. Schafer used to come in every day and get a bottle of pop. Gov. Dalrymple, when he was lieutenant governor, hed come in almost every day and have a sandwich at the grill. Grilled cheese with bacon; it was his favorite, Boehm said. Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle always gets a cup of soup, and longtime Rep. Bob Martinsons favorite meal is tuna noodle hot dish. Back when Loretta started, the lunch ladies at the cafe wore dresses and waited on tables. Finally, towards the late '70s they decided we could wear slacks and a nice top. That was kind of nice, Boehm said, adding that waitressing ended in the late '80s or early '90s. Reaching the last mile According to the Pew Institute, broadband adoption grew rapidly from 2000 to 2010, but growth has been more sporadic since then. Institute data says 70 percent of households in suburban communities had broadband access as of Jan. 10, 2018, followed by urban communities at 67 percent. Rural communities lagged, at 58 percent. In North Dakota, Dakota Carrier Network, made up of independent broadband companies, has invested $100 million per year for more than a decade in putting in infrastructure, said Todd Domres, director of sales and business development for the network. The collaboration of the companies has allowed for broadband expansion in the state in a way that most other places have not seen, he said, explaining that other states have pockets of service that North Dakota has almost statewide. Also heavily invested in expanding services in much of the Upper Midwest is Midco, which serves cities in a five-state, mostly rural area. Its very exciting to have what we have, said Justin Forde, senior director of government relations at Midco. Albert James Kroh, 82, left his earthly home to be with Jesus Feb. 21, 2019, with family by his side. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, at Evangel Church, 3225 N. 14th St., Bismarck. Visitation is from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, where a time of sharing will begin at 7 p.m. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan. Albert was born Jan. 1, 1937, to Alvin and Bertha (Mindt) Kroh at Blue Grass. He lived and worked with his family on the Blue Grass farm until 1960 when he was called to serve in the U.S. Army. He married his sweetheart, Luella Unterseher, July 8, 1961 and they made their first home in Fort Lewis, Wash. In 1963 he was discharged from the military and they made their way back to North Dakota. Four children were added to the family from 1962 to 1967, as they settled into the Bismarck-Mandan area. North Dakota lawmakers convene Wednesday at the state Capitol in Bismarck from their crossover recess. Before them will be hundreds of bills passed from one chamber to the other, many of them high-profile from hours of testimony and lengthy floor debate. The House passed 351 of 545 bills, and the Senate passed 269 of 359 bills before each adjourned Wednesday after 33 days in session. Here's a look at a few bills in the headlights: House Bill 1286: Civil asset forfeiture North Dakota House passes forfeiture reform amid U.S. Supreme Court opinion Civil asset forfeiture reform passed out of the North Dakota House on Wednesday, but a U.S. Rep. Rick Becker, R-Bismarck, introduced HB 1286 to reform North Dakota's civil asset forfeiture laws to eliminate the "perverse incentive" of "policing for profit." Property suspected of criminal involvement is subject to forfeiture. The House approved the bill in a 57-33 vote on reforms that require a conviction for forfeiture proceedings, raise the standard of proof to clear and convincing evidence and require annual reporting, among other actions. The bill's path in the Senate is clouded by a U.S. Supreme Court opinion addressing proportionality in the value of forfeited property against the monetary penalty of a crime. Sen. Diane Larson, R-Bismarck, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said she'll study the bill and opinion over the recess for her committee's work. "It's going to be a process," she said. Senate Bill 2225: Filial responsibility Senate passes bill to revise law that allows nursing homes to sue The North Dakota Senate unanimously passed a bill that would update an antiquated state law State senators unanimously passed a bill introduced by Sen. Dick Dever, R-Bismarck, that would update the state's antiquated law that allows nursing homes to sue children for their parents' unpaid bills. The measure would amend the state's filial support law, which requires children to support their indigent parents. The law was adopted in 1877, a decade before North Dakota became a state. The bill sets certain requirements that must be met before a nursing home or creditor is able to go after a child for an unpaid bill. This includes when parents transfer assets or income to a child, called a disqualifying transfer, and then the parents don't qualify for Medicaid. House Bill 1097: Blue law repeal Sunday shoppers, employees see mixed blessings in North Dakota blue law Shoppers lined up with carts at the front doors to Walmart in south Bismarck. Almost time. North Dakota House members passed a bill 56-35 to repeal the state's so-called "blue law," which bans retail shopping from midnight to noon Sunday. Rep. Shannon Roers Jones, R-Fargo, said her bill gives businesses the choice to be open then. Similar legislation in 2017 failed in the Senate by two votes after passing the House. North Dakota Open on Sundays is tracking the likely 2019 Senate vote, estimating 22 yeas, 21 nays and four unknown. The bill needs 24 yeas to pass. Republican Gov. Doug Burgum has voiced support for giving businesses the option to open Sunday mornings. "I just felt it was one of these things where it was time for us to move past that one and, again, trust that businesses can make their decisions," Burgum said. Senate Bill 2315: Hunting access on private land State senators are hopeful they've found a solution to "build a bridge" between landowners and hunters in North Dakota for hunting access on private land. Sen. Robert Erbele, R-Lehr, introduced SB2315, the so-called "trespass bill" which passed the Senate in a 28-18 vote. The bill presumes all private land is closed to access, with the exception of hunting. A proposed smartphone app would compile a database of land open, closed or requiring permission for hunting. Private land would be presumed open to hunting unless landowners post their land or register their land as closed or requiring permission for hunting, with contact information securely available. House Bill 1332: 'Armed first responders' Former Burleigh County Sheriff and current Rep. Pat Heinert, R-Bismarck, introduced a bill to allow school boards to coordinate a plan for an "armed first responder." The House passed the bill 77-15. Similar legislation also passed in 2017 but failed in the Senate. The bill outlines training and coordinating for an "armed first responder," who could be a retired law enforcement officer or anybody without direct supervision of students during a school threat. Heinert's bill is aimed at mainly rural schools lacking school resource officers or at a great distance from law enforcement response. Senate Bill 2312: Tribal oil tax compromise North Dakota Senate advances state, tribal oil tax compromise A bill that sets the groundwork for a new oil tax agreement with the Mandan, Hidatsa and Ari House members will consider a bill that sets the framework for a new oil tax sharing agreement with the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. SB2312 would change how oil tax revenue is divided between the state and tribes, sending a greater share to MHA. House leaders have already voiced support for the bill, which also is supported by MHA Chairman Mark Fox and Burgum. House Bill 1066: 'Operation Prairie Dog' Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, R-Dickinson, and other lawmakers hatched a plan to fund local infrastructure projects throughout North Dakota using oil tax revenue. They call it "Operation Prairie Dog." The bill passed the House on an 80-12 vote after an hour of floor debate that saw some pointed exchanges over the bill's intent. Nathe said the bill could be a "landmark" piece of legislation of the 2019 session, if ultimately passed. Ethics bills Lawmakers will continue to implement the mandates of Measure 1 passed by North Dakota voters in November. The House and Senate each passed a bill to make effective the measure's ethics commission, restrictions on campaign contributions, lobbyists, gifts and other anti-corruption aims. The bills are HB1521 and SB2148. House Majority Leader Chet Pollert, R-Carrington, told reporters on Thursday that he expects the Senate to amend parts of the House bill, but declined to comment on the Senate bill by Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, as the House hasn't heard it yet. "Both bills still need work," Pollert said. Ellen Chaffee, one of Measure 1's backers, said the House bill is not aligned with the Constitutional amendment, while the amended Senate bill represents "responsible compromise." "Obviously, the Constitution is the law of North Dakota and we would hope that legislators would fulfill the Constitution rather than second-guess the people of the state," Chaffee said. -- Tribune reporters Amy Dalrymple and Blair Emerson contributed to this story. Reach Jack Dura at 701-223-8482 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 3 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. "Every student has strengths. Some were networking, some were installation, some are just planning. Everybody brought a piece to it, so we were just teasing each other that we'll be the IT dream team, coming to a school near you," he said. U-Mary senior Adam Bohn, a double major in computer information systems and information technology management, said it was good to be able to give back to the kids. "Technology is such a great way for kids to learn things ... (Students) tend to be more involved because they have such a draw towards technology, too. And maybe they don't have that at home, either, and then they can come to school and get a feel for it, because the world is made up of technology," Bohn said. Fishbeck this was the first time his students ventured outside of their computer lab to help others. It might not be the last time, he said, if he can find other projects that students can complete within a reasonable amount of time. Gion said it has been "a gift" to have the assistance of the U-Mary students and Fishbeck. "We needed (the computers) as soon as they were completed," Gion said, adding that students did online testing on the computers earlier this week. The school also recently received donated Chromebooks for students in grades 3-6. Then the computers the U-Mary students refurbished will be supplemental and used to establish a computer lab. (Reach Blair Emerson at 701-250-8251 or Blair.Emerson@bismarcktribune.com) Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Dean's list members have achieved a 3.75 grade-point average or above on a 4.0 scale. Wolf meets criteria Delaney Wolf, Bismarck, was named to the first semester dean's list at Saint Mary's University, Winona, Minn. Eligibility requires a grade-point average of 3.6 or better on a 4.0 scale. She is the daughter of Terry and Linda Wolf. Skager achieves North Skager, a student in arts and sciences from Mandan, is among nearly 2,700 students named to the fall deans list at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Inclusion requires a minimum semester grade-point average of 3.7 and completion of at least 12 credits during the semester, with no incompletes, no courses below the 100 level, no repeats and no satisfactory/unsatisfactory registrations (except in degree credit-bearing courses that are offered only on the S/U grading system in which a grade of S has been earned). Mayville State list Several area students have qualified for the dean's list for the fall semester at Mayville State University. Ag hall of fame Robert Carlson, of Jamestown, has been selected for induction into the North Dakota Agriculture Hall of Fame during the annual North Dakota Winter Show in Valley City. Carlson is a farmer, former president of North Dakota Farmers Union and the first president of the World Farmers Organization based in Rome. He pioneered a carbon credit program; helped establish Dakota Pride Cooperative, which markets identity-preserved crops globally; and launched a farmer-owned restaurant in Washington, D.C., to help farmers to earn a greater share of the consumers food dollar. The restaurant has become a chain of Founding Farmer restaurants. Awards for arts Recipients of the 2019 Governors Awards for the Arts will be honored March 19 at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum in Bismarck. Among award-winners chosen by Gov. Doug Burgum are Annette Hovey, New Rockford, Arts in Education; Jamestown Fine Arts Association, Arts Organization; John Gross, Napoleon, Cultural Treasure; and David Borlaug, Bismarck, and Jessie Veeder, Watford City, Individual Achievement. When this hurricane hit Galveston, it had become massive and powerful, but the Weather Bureau had given no warning to the people of Galveston. Larson's description of the fast-growing storm with sea water encroaching on the streets of the city and rapidly rising ever higher is riveting. People fled to the homes of neighbors, and once there moved to the highest floors, but to no avail as the houses were torn off their foundations and crushed. It was a miracle Joseph was able to pull two of Isaac's daughters out of the wrecked home to cling to floating debris. Isaac went under water and came up near one of his girls who he was able to save, but Cora and her unborn child were lost. With the hurricane past, the massive destruction became clear, while total loss of life continued to grow. A very sad and desolate situation. Larson is an excellent writer and, in this book and the others of his I mentioned, has written a very conversational history punctuated with available facts and observations. It is hard to put this book down as each page draws you to the next. I look forward toward whatever history he will next write. Robert O. Bob Wefald is a retired North Dakota State District Court judge who served in the South Central Judicial District for 12 years. He was attorney general from 1981 to 1984. He served on active duty as a Naval officer from 1964 to 1967 followed by 24 years in the Naval Reserve retiring in 1991. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Its incredible to see how the corporate right-wing in Billings has weaponized free speech. The Gazette opinion on Feb. 9, in support of House Bill 323 is a perfect example. First, I must set the record straight. Public workers who are union members have always been able to opt out of supporting political programs endorsed by the rest of the members. Plus, no public union has collected a penny from union members who dont want to contribute since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for corporations and against workers in the Janus case last year. Laws like HB323 accomplish one goal, which is to lower pay and worsen benefits for public workers in our communities. It accomplishes its goal by inhibiting the freedom of association of democratic associations of working people by dictating how and when the associations can require contributions for services. The truth is, the off-base editorial last week is just another list of right-wing talking points intended to tilt the playing field more towards corporations, and away from regular people. Free speech is nothing but a red herring. Darrell Johnson, president Greater Yellowstone Letter to the editor: "At the slightest provocation, real or imagined, women cry out misogyny" Note: The views expressed by letter writers do not necessarily reflect those of The Gazette. To submit a letter visit https://billingsgazette.com/forms/contact/letter_to_the_editor Surprise Medical Bills Have you ever received a medical bill that came as a total surprise? You are not a alone. A 2016 Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that among insured, non-elderly adults struggling with medical debt, charges from out-of-network providers were a contributing factor about one-third of the time. Further, nearly 7 in 10 individuals with unaffordable out-of-network medical bills did not know the health care provider was not in their plans network at the time they received care. The term surprise medical bill is commonly used to describe charges when an insured individual inadvertently receives care from an out-of-network provider. Surprise medical bills might occur when patients receive planned care from an in-network provider (often, a hospital or ambulatory care facility), but other treating providers brought in to participate in the patients care are not in the same network. In these non-emergency situations, the in-network provider or facility generally arranges for the other treating providers, not the patients. So when patients receive the bill, they are surprised because they do not recognize the name of the provider and did not know in advance that an additional out-of-network charge was coming. Senate Bill 241, which is currently making its way through the Montana Legislature, will give the electorate of West Yellowstone the opportunity to better address this critical need. It would permit our town and the states other resort tax communities to increase by 1 percent what they collect from the throngs of tourists. This will help some of the states most iconic Main Streets deal with infrastructure stresses brought on by the impacts of peak visitation. SB241 does not mandate any additional resort tax, nor does it raise property taxes or place any additional financial burden on government. It simply empowers resort town locals to decide how they want to deal with what is certain to be a busy and challenging future. With SB241 on the books, West Yellowstone and other resort towns will be able to come together and hold a local vote on any future resort tax increase. So to be clear, this isnt a tax hike. Its a chance for Montana to support small towns with big infrastructure challenges brought on by the states second largest industrytourism. Montana is famous for being a small town with very long streets, welcoming and safe to locals and visitors alike. We want visitors to continue to come and experience our scenic vistas and world-class hospitality. SB241 is an opportunity to improve upon and provide the best possible services while mitigating the cost to local citizens and maintaining our stellar reputation worldwide as the Big Sky State. Chris Burke owns Morning Glory Coffee and Tea in West Yellowstone. Love 5 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 KEMMERER The Gunters have collectively worked the Kemmerer coal mine for 200 years. Countless times over those decades, theyve donned hard hats and made the short drive from town to the mine that is the lifeblood of this southwest Wyoming community. Dating back to 1950, Uncle Otto was an officer in the local miners union that is nearly as old as the state of Wyoming. Uncle Roger spent 40 years in the mine. Cousin Bobby Gunter was the union president. Ron, was a rancher turned miner who put in 35 years. Rons son, Jimmy, followed his older brother, Larry, into the mine in the 70s, past the hill towns of Kemmerer and Diamondville, past the power plant and its billowing clouds. That plant, Naughton, consumes the coal pulled from the earth for decades by the Gunters and hundreds of other miners. From that earth, the towns of 3,500 has drawn life. All of the family but Larrys sister, Patti, have retired. They have reaped the benefits of their decades of service in the mines: a modest pension and full health benefits, successes of their union and the strikes it undertook to protect them. That pension aint worth s-, Larry Gunter said in mid-February from a brown recliner in his Kemmerer home. Hed had surgery on his right foot the day before. The 67-year-old promised his wife he wouldnt curse and kept his word for about 10 minutes. But its good with that medical. Thats what we fought for. Thats what we all stood together for. The benefits paid for the births of Gunters three daughters. The copay was $20 apiece, or $200 for an out-of-network hospital. It paid for the life flight that took his youngest to Salt Lakes Primary Childrens Hospital when she wouldnt wake up from her tonsil surgery. It covered his fathers emergency flight after he had a heart attack. Without those benefits, Gunter would be bankrupt, he said. Now, those benefits are under siege, and the walls that have protected them for decades are crumbling. The coal industry is in decline. Westmoreland Coal Company, which owns the mine, is bankrupt. To attract a buyer for Kemmerer, it asked a Texas judge in late 2018 to strip the retirees of the benefits they had worked for, had agreed to, had planned on. All this, the retirees say, for a company drowning in debt thats pulling them into the abyss with it. They just file bankruptcy and to hell with everybody else, with the workers? Gunter asked. Hes a Kemmerer native. Even if Westmoreland is washing its hands of this town, its homes built into the hills, its streets as steep as ski slopes, Gunter will not leave. Gunter is proud, his gaze strong. A tall man with thinning white hair, he limps upstairs in his black walking boot to put on a collared shirt for a photo. He speaks fondly of his more than 46 years in the mine, mostly spent working on a blasting crew. He holds his head high and laughs often, even as he talks about a daunting future. He was a member of the United Mine Workers of America, local 1307. The promise of benefits was more than that. It was a guarantee. It was a deal, an agreement signed and legally binding. The union had accepted smaller raises to keep their medical benefits intact. They had gone on strike. It wasnt the workers who ran this thing into the hole. Its poor management. Last year they made money in this mine. ... Say I had a bad shot, well whats that going to cost? he said, referring to the use of explosives at the mine. Theyll get through it. But these are million dollar screw-ups theyre making. Mine might be what, $2,000? Thats the difference on your goddamn calls being made out there. He is on Medicare and is less than two years into retirement. He costs Westmoreland nothing in medical costs, but his wife a dental assistant a few years away from qualifying for Medicare relies on the insurance. Gunters 46 years earn him a pension of $2,300 a month. Should his medical benefits be lost, that money will not go far. I have no idea what wed do, he said, when asked about losing the benefits. Wed figure something out. But who wants a 67-year-old? But really. Everythings computers now. Im not the guy I was 10 years ago. I cant answer that question about going back to work. Gunter kept returning to the fights of the past. The union fought and the miners fought, through repeated sales of the mine, to protect those benefits. Westmoreland, who took over in 2012, was not there for those struggles. These guys, they act like they want to rape the coal out of there and see what happens, he said. I dont know. All Im saying is all the stuff we fought for and just mainly the wages and stuff we gave up to keep the benefits, he continued, and all of a sudden with a stroke of a pen ... On Tuesday, a week after Gunter spoke with the Star-Tribune, a Texas judge approved the sale of the Kemmerer mine to a Virginia businessman. The deal, worth millions, included abandoning retiree benefits. *** More than anything, Gunter and the other retirees who spoke with the Star-Tribune couldnt understand how this could happen. It wasnt that they didnt understand the technical how. It was the moral one. Thats Larry Hintons confusion, his frustration. Like Gunter, he put in more than 40 years in the mine. Hes been retired for about a year, after spending much of his time working as a field mechanic. He moved to Kemmerer as a teen, graduated from high school here, was determined to leave and then moved back, the adventurous spirit of youth replaced with the comfortable memories of home. In mid-February, he too did not yet know what the judge would rule. He held out hope, at least outwardly, that the right thing would win out. But he knew bankruptcy courts tilt in favor of corporations, not the men and women who hold them upright. I think if Judge (David) Jones has a shred of common decency in him, he cant just turn his back on the miners and just leave us out there, Hinton said. I cant imagine anyone doing that. Maybe Im just naive, but I cant imagine that happening. Like Gunter, he is proud. But his eyes betray the anger and exhaustion the battle has forced on him. Hes under 65 and doesnt qualify. Hes built like a coal miner, with a weathered face and a quick laugh. He has twice traveled to Denver to picket Westmoreland, to show the company that there is a face behind the numbers on their books. He had planned to spend retirement scuba diving with a high school friend, hunting elk and traveling with his wife, Donna, who is was a year away from leaving her job as a circuit court clerk. Donna and I just we kind of had to put all of our plans on hold because so much rides on the judges decisions on all these different filings, and you dont know really where youre going to land for sure, he said from his home, built atop a hill and a frequent stopping point for a herd of mule deer. If the medical is gone or greatly reduced, were back to figuring out on paper exactly where were at, how were going to afford it and stuff like that. Its going to be over $1,000 a month for Donna and I to acquire some insurance thats anything close to being called good. He paused. I might have to go look for employment. He doesnt want to do that. He put in his time in the mine. He upheld his contractual obligations as a worker and expects Westmoreland to do the same as an employer. He took pride in that work, enjoyed the people he worked with and feels attached to the mine. We actually felt really tied to that coal mine, he said. I didnt have it on paper, I was never granted this on any management of the mine. But I always felt in here he tapped his chest that I had ownership in that mine. I really tried to do a good job for whatever company it was. I really feel part of that mountain out there. He has a few years to go before he qualifies for Medicare. Hell return to work as a mechanic if he has to, he said again, but he wont like it. When he poses for a photo, he brings a smile to his face by saying Westmoreland sucks. *** They gather the night before at a bar popular with coal miners in Diamondville, the town that bleeds into Kemmerer. Its small and opens up in the back, pool tables and booths. The liquor bottles that line the wall behind the bar provide the only light in the front room. At a table just inside the door, where a previous owner would demand miners remove their boots or mop up the tracks they left, Hinton shared beers with a pair of fellow retirees. He spoke highly of the life the mine let him and his family live. We didnt live a lavish lifestyle, but it kept a roof over our head and we lived comfortably, he said. They talked about the old days, about previous owners Kemmerer Coal, Gulf, Chevron and how they honored the unions contract and the workers weathered the change. Donna stood next to Hinton. As the night wore on, and Donna and Hinton prepared to leave, again the question of what the men would do next. Hinton joked darkly about going to work as a greeter for Walmart. Forty-one years in the mine. He turned his head and stared off into space. Follow education reporter Seth Klamann on Twitter @SethKlamann Follow education reporter Seth Klamann on Twitter @SethKlamann Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 5 Klamerts attorney, Jo Casey, has filed documents with the states high court arguing just the opposite: that the Water Court judges ruling should stand because Iverson and the Wilkses failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Klamerts water right had been abandoned. His rights were first challenged in 2011, so the legal fight is now entering its eighth year. At stake are Klamerts five decreed water rights on Flatwillow Creek, which total 34 cubic feet per second of water to irrigate just over 730 acres south of Winnett. That may not sound like a lot of water, but one hydrologist testified that between 1988 and 2004 the creek probably averaged only 5 cfs a year. Klamert purchased the water rights when he bought the Bullseye Ranch in 1998 from the Nebraska Feeding Co. The earliest of those five water rights was filed on April 25, 1882. That was seven years before Montana became a state and only a month after Frederick Billings and investors platted the city of Billings. Someone had the foresight at the time to file a water claim in an area that was quickly becoming cattle country. The DHS Ranch founded by Helena banker Andrew Davis, Samuel Hauser and Granville Stuart was founded in 1879 just south of the Judith Mountains in what is now Fergus County. Mark Harris, Republican candidate in North Carolina's 9th Congressional race, prepares to testify during the fourth day of a public evidentiary hearing on the 9th Congressional District voting irregularities investigation Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, at the North Carolina State Bar in Raleigh. (News & Observer pool photo) Click image to expand. The Rev. Mark Harris has thrown in the towel on his hopes of going to Congress. He called for a new election in the 9th U.S. Congressional District as evidence mounted of election fraud in Bladen County during the 2018 election.The State Board of Elections agreed, voting unanimously to hold a new election in the 9th Congressional District, along with a Bladen County Commission seat and Soil and Water Conservation District seat.elections board Chairman Bob Cordle said.said board member David Black.In a tweet posted just after 4 p.m., the elections board stated it would set the date for the new election at a separate hearing.Republican Harris testified for a little over two hours in the morning but after a lengthy break, he called an abrupt halt to his participation in the State Board of Elections evidentiary hearing to read a brief statement at 2:30 when the proceeding resumed.Harris said to scattered gasps in the hearing room.Harris said.Harris said he went to the hospital Jan. 18 after battling what he thought was bronchitis. He developed a severe infection that became septic, and suffered two strokes from which he is still recovering.Harris said.In his closing statement Harris attorney David Freedman said Harris was unaware of the election abuses committed by his political operative McCrae Dowless. Testimony and evidence presented in the four-day hearing implicated Dowless in potential fraud. A parallel criminal investigation is ongoing.It was a stunning turn of events. Harris already had been to Washington for freshman orientation, maintained his innocence, and unsuccessfully attempted to get a court to certify him as the winner with 905 votes over Democrat Dan McCready when the State Board of Elections did not. And the Raleigh News & Observer wasn't alone.But what struck two of the state capital's leading mainstream media outlets as especially newsworthy ended up conspicuously absent from another source. The official Feb. 7 news release about final recommendations from Gov. Roy Cooper's school safety committee said nothing about adding resource officers to every N.C. public school.Not once in the 800-word release did Cooper's press office mention the recommendation that "North Carolina needs to be proactive and provide money to have an armed police officer at every school in the state," as the N&O reported in its opening paragraph.Gaston County Sheriff Alan Cloninger told the newspaper. Cloninger co-chaired Cooper's committee.The governor's release did not convey the sheriff's sentiment. Nor did Cooper's press operation mention thatas WRAL reported.Instead of highlighting that news, a bullet point on the second page of the governor's release referenced without additional comment a recommendation ofWhy the disparity in emphasis between the news reports and the official account from the governor's office? The N&O story offers a possible clue reporter Keung Hui suggests.Among the groups actively protesting police in schools: left-of-center political activists who spend much of their time criticizing the Republican-led General Assembly. Hui quotes one of them.The N&O turns to Nicholson again after citing an October poll that found 84 percent of North Carolinians believeDon't count the social justice activist among the 84 percent.Nicholson told the Raleigh paper.While objecting to armed officers in every school, Nicholson mentioned support for the report's recommendations dealing with officer training and increased funding for mental health services.Her comments aligned more closely with the priorities emphasized in the opening line of the governor's news release.It's worth noting that Cooper's press team was not alone in downplaying the resource officer recommendation. Carolina Journal's reporting opened with a focus on mental health programs andCJ reported the "recommendation for full funding for an SRO to be assigned to every school in the state." But that fact appeared in a bullet point more than halfway through the article.Legislators would need to invest significant taxpayer money to meet the goal of a resource officer in every school. It would require roughly doubling the 1,200 officers patrolling school hallways today.Some recent academic research questions the benefits. The Brookings Institution highlighted last fall a report that showed no relationship between increased funding for middle school resource officers and a decrease in reported school crimes.Yet the research findings might beaccording to John Locke Foundation K-12 education expert Terry Stoops.Stoops highlights another key point.One can expect continuing debate over school safety in North Carolina. If lawmakers pay more attention to their news feeds than Cooper's press releases, the future of school resource officers will play a leading role in that debate. Make your birthday special - by brewing a beer originally made on that date. For a mere 25 euros, I'll create a bespoke recipe for any day of the year you like. As well as the recipe, there's a few hundred words of text describing the beer and its historical context and an image of the original brewing record. Just click on the button below. Dumping is generally considered a violation of fair trade practices and involves the selling of goods in the U.S. market at prices lower than the prices at which comparable goods are sold in the domestic market of the exporter. These sales obviously cause or threaten material injury to a competing U.S. industry. But they are hugely beneficial to countries like Japan because they enable its companies to operate at maximum efficiency by running round-the-clock operations with a veteran labor force. One of the first U.S. legislators to point out the damages these unbridled policies were doing to U.S. companies and their workers was Rep. John D. Dingell, the Michigan Democrat who died on Feb. 7 at age 92. A master legislator, he served an amazing total of 59 years and 22 days, an all-time record for a member of the House of Representatives. He had forcefully warned against Japanese dumping when that countrys automakers launched a huge push into the U.S. market in 1970. Yet even a highly respected politician like Dingell was unable to persuade enough members of his party to enforce fair trading practices on U.S. trade partners even though the Democratic Party for years billed itself as organized labors best friend. According to Boggs, during fall 2018 the program had 24 parents and 31 kids participate, using 14 different child care facilities. The average stipend amount was $53 per child per week. During the current spring semester, there are 27 parents and 36 kids who qualified and are utilizing 12 different facilities, with the same average amount granted. The vouchers range from $35 to $65 per child every week. Boggs said the program was initially funded through a grant from the Department of Education. Once the grant expired, NAU decided to continue funding it. Boggs added the funding has been consistent, averaging around $44,000 for the past few years. A parent can apply for a child care voucher at any point in the semester, Boggs said. Qualifications include being a degree-seeking student enrolled for the current semester. Additionally, students have to qualify for a Federal Pell Grant. Once these qualifications are met, the amount of the voucher is based on the number of credits the student is enrolled for the semester -- the more credits, the higher the stipend. Claire Pringle, a parent in the process of earning a masters degree in geology at NAU, said she discovered the program when researching places to take her son to daycare. She added that it was extremely influential in committing to the NAU graduate program. You correct most of the errors youre likely to make with a pencil and eraser rather than expensive wood, then you start making the parts off of that drawing -- exactly to the pencil line, Dimock said. Nothing is left to chance as the assembling commences. The outside is covered in fiberglass, then the boat-to-be is turned right-side up so all the decking can be laid. Then come the gunnels, the wooden edges along the top. Doing that is like framing a picture, Dimock said. All of the sudden it makes the boat a hundred times prettier. Then its done and we build another. I grew up with hammer and saw in my hands, I never understood people who didnt or couldnt build stuff, Dimock said. His mothers side of the family is historically comprised of carpenters both professional and not -- women and men, he said. As to Dimocks own dory? It was constructed around the same time he first started navigating the Colorado. He has been sailing the boat -- built by famous wooden-boat maker Jerry Briggs -- for 40 years. Briggs is a name well known among boaters and wooden boat-builders. He died recently at the age of 86. Helen Ranney, Grand Canyon hiking guide, also worked several other jobs involving the Grand Canyon in some capacity. She said growing up, she did not feel at peace until she moved to the park. Ranney refers to the steep jagged walls and open space of the place as her church, saying she sometimes travels to it for healing. The Canyon is part of who we are, Ranney said. Once it gets you, it doesnt leave you. Its with you forever. Guardians of the Grand Canyon The Havasupai Tribe is one of the many tribes that considers the Grand Canyon and its surrounding land sacred, with the Havasupai Reservation located next to the park. Most people live in Supai, which has become widely known for its turquoise waterfall Havasupai Falls. Coleen Kaska, councilmember of the Havasupai Tribe, said she and her ancestors have taken on the duty of being guardians of the Grand Canyon. She said before the park was established, they considered their lands to be both within and above the canyon. The creation of the park, she said, has created an obstacle for people within Supai from continuing their traditions on their homeland. The program will offer performances of several pieces on the restored instruments. It will also include presentations by Amnon Weinstein; brief talks by the congregations Rabbi Mindie Snyder, Mayor Coral Evans and Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix CEO Marty Haberer; a presentation on hate crimes by Coconino County Sheriff Jim Driscoll and Flagstaff Police Department Chief Kevin Treadway; a video of a Holocaust survivors recollections from that time; a presentation by Esther Schon, a teacher and child survivor of the Holocaust; and closing words by Pastor Adam Barnhart of Shepherd of the Hills. This is truly a community effort, said Bob Braudy, secretary on the congregations Board of Trustees. He began planning to bring the program to Flagstaff in July with help from the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix. Flagstaff will be the smallest city to host the program so far. High schoolers from Coconino County, Hopi and Navajo schools will also be invited to a student program Thursday and Friday at the Coconino Center for the Arts. We want to reach out to kids, Braudy said. Adults are important, but if you look at hate crimes, it starts with bullying and stereotyping, so the initial thought was, Lets get education for as many kids as we can. The LSU is sent to the borrowers, their agent and the sellers agent who then provides it to the sellers. If the lender discovers any issues, the buyer will be notified and at that time they will determine if it can be mitigated. If the problem cannot be resolved it can put the transaction in jeopardy. One of the most common reason that buyers do not get final loan approval is that during the period between pre-approval and final approval they have made some unwise purchases which raises a red flag with the underwriter. My advice is that upon receiving pre-approval for a loan, do not go out and buy a new car, boat, motorcycle or any other item on credit until after you have closed on your new home. And finally, never ever quit your job while you loan is in underwriting. If you would like a sample copy of the Arizona Pre-Qualification Form and the Loan Status Update used by our lenders, drop me a note and I will be happy to send one to you. Mary Monday is an Associate Broker at RE/MAX Peak Properties. She can be contacted at: (928) 214-7325 or Mary@MaryMonday.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Donald Trump isnt wrong that we will finish his wall and it will be harder to get over than Mount Everest. However, as many artists have tried to depict, this wall isnt physical, it isnt along the Southern Border of the United States, and the citizens of the United States are certainly paying for it. With fear-driven and inflammatory rhetoric we divide ourselves more than the Berlin Wall divided Germany. We are divided by ethnicity, age, religious affiliation, education status, economic situation, and more, all the while with insistence that each group is getting an advantage over the other. Donald Trump daily attacks a different group of people in our country as enemies of the people or worse and sets us to fighting each other. Our Congressional representatives constantly place blame on each other as the cause for our nations ills. There is a New York State Assembly member advocating for dividing upstate from downstate, forming two states, and solidifying the disunity we experience. This is a campaign that weakens our communities, our state and our nation and we must put an end to it. But that's just patently false. The compromise legislation that both sides agreed to earlier this month included more than $1.35 billion for border barriers, it avoided another federal government shutdown and it cleared the way for further talks on this issue in the future. That's precisely the type of bipartisan compromise that Katko has advocated for, and if he wants it to continue, he and his colleagues need to send a clear message to the president that attempts to evade congress aren't acceptable. The resolution to reject the emergency declaration will almost certainly be approved by the House this week, but its chances in the Senate are less certain. And if does get through the Senate, Trump would likely veto it. But no matter what the expected outcome of the votes, it's highly imperative that Congress, especially Republican members who have been far too hesitant to stand up to the president, deliver a clear message on this issue. The presidency is not bestowed with absolute power in the United States, and every president must work with elected lawmakers in both houses who have been sent to Washington to represent the American people. The Citizen editorial board includes publisher Rob Forcey, executive editor Jeremy Boyer and managing editor Mike Dowd. Love 2 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 4 It was during his childhood that Wayne developed a deep love for the outdoors, wildlife and nature. He was happiest walking through the woods identifying and following animal tracks, scoping out that elusive big buck, or fishing in the Finger Lakes Region. His love for the outdoors and passion for wildlife was contagious and it informed his environmental career choices. Early on, he recognized he could make significant contributions to the protection and preservation of wildlife and natural habitats by becoming an Environmental Conservation Officer. At the time, the physical requirements for an ECO included a minimum height of 5 feet 9 inches. He was hired as an ECO on June 28, 1973 and then relieved of duty five days later because he was one-quarter inch too short. Wayne was undeterred and for two months, he engaged in a regimented plan to stretch his body by hanging upside down every day. He added one-quarter inch to his height and in September of 1973 he was reinstated and appointed to the position of ECO of Seneca County. Little did anyone know at the time how that quarter inch of height would define Waynes career. He rapidly ascended the ranks at NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and at the age of 31 became the youngest person promoted to Captain in the history of the agency. When he retired after 25 years of public service, Wayne had achieved the rank of Colonel and served as director of the NYS Environmental Conservation Police, supervising a staff of 340 environmental law enforcement professionals across DECs nine regions. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} * LOCATIONS...Wayne, Northern Cayuga, Oswego, Lewis, Wyoming, Livingston, Ontario, Cattaraugus, and Allegany counties. * TIMING...From late this morning through late Monday morning. * WINDS...West 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 70 mph. * IMPACTS...Strong wind gusts will bring down trees and power lines and result in numerous power outages. Shallow rooted pines will be particularly vulnerable. Minor property damage is also possible, especially to roofs and siding. Travel in high profile vehicles will be very difficult at times. Storm warning and heavy freezing spray warning for Lake Ontario areas off Cayuga County shoreline: STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 10 AM EST MONDAY... HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM MONDAY TO 4 AM EST TUESDAY... * WINDS...West to 55 knots. * WAVES...24 to 29 feet. * FREEZING SPRAY...Storm force winds and waves greater than 10 feet will create conditions favorable for heavy freezing spray. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... In the past, Legislator Chris Petrus, R-Brutus, a vocal proponent of developing a county charter, said he viewed the Census-required changes as an opportunity to also consider a charter. With the new information from the commissioners however, Petrus said the complex issues would best be dealt with on their own. "As everybody and their brother knows, I'm all about this, but I think this has to be separate," Petrus said, later adding "I think we should address the dysfunction of the weighted voting system and then address the charter." Minority Leader Keith Batman, D-Springport said the Democratic caucus did not have a position on the charter, but said it was an idea worth considering. "We are all open to that discussion. We just don't know what it might mean or what our options are," Batman said. Majority Leader Michael Didio, R-Auburn, took a different tack, saying he felt any talk of a charter or redistricting was premature, and the Legislature would be better off focusing on other work. "I'd rather wait and see. There's so many different examples put on the table but there's no action," Didio said, adding he'd rather focus on more immediate issues like the county's highway or emergency operations. A. That takes place so long ago. It was probably in 2004, 2005, when I first moved to Auburn. I was in between jobs, looking for something interesting to get into. I was in my early 20s. And I'd been brewing for five or six years at that point, brewing hard cider, my Scotch ale, my Irish red and a pale ale. (India pale ales) hadn't really come on the scene yet. A couple people were doing IPAs, but of course they weren't like today. So I found this distance learning program through the American Brewers Guild. It was a year program. It probably was in 2005 when I said, "This seems like something I would really enjoy." It's a perfect mix for me between science, sociology, psychology and really just basic alchemy. It's the old turning water into beer, or wine. And then I went to the American Brewers Guild, graduated from there, then started working at Custom Brewcrafters (CB Craft Brewers) in (Honeoye Falls, near Rochester). At that point, there was Ithaca (Beer Co.). They wanted to hire me to work on the production line, but I was a brewer. I was trained as a brewer. Then there was Middle Ages (in Syracuse), and they weren't looking for help. And nothing else was around. So I went to work for (CB) for nine months or a year, and after that I said, "Yeah, this is what I'd like to do." And it took seven years after that to get our boat together to finally open our first location. That's why I named one of my first beers after my dad. Because it was he and I talking about this over one of my Scotch ales it was an 80 shil or a wee heavy and that was the beer to him, his flashpoint, where he said, "I think we can make a business out of this." A scorned woman fed up with her dishonest drug dealer has phoned police to dob them in after they gave her a bag of sugar instead of cocaine. In a hilarious Facebook post, police in the city of Craigavon in Northern Ireland detailed the bizarre phone call they received on Friday. When the emergency responder answered the phone, the caller told them: Ive been scammed. The woman claims she didnt get what she paid for. Source: Getty Police then asked if they had lost any money, to which the apparent victim responded: Yeah I paid over 200 (AUD$366) and got brown sugar instead. Instead of what? police asked. Cocaine, the caller said, leaving the officer speechless. While it sounds like a joke, police insisted it was a real call, making way for hundreds of comments from amused Facebook users. Nothing beats a sugar high, one person wrote, while another added: Thought it was a sweet deal. The police station revealed a small transcript of the bizarre phone call. Source: Facebook What is the world coming to when we cant trust our friendly neighbourhood drug dealer? one man said. Police used the strange incident to try and locate other dodgy dealers. If youve been scammed by your dealer and would like pay back, call 101, PM (personal message) us, or phone Crimestoppers, the officers wrote. It is unclear what has become of the drug dealer. Do you have a story tip? Email: y7newsroom@yahoo7.com.au. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo7s daily newsletter. Sign up here. Two police officers have been savagely bashed by a group of drunken thugs in a sickening assault caught on camera. The violent scenes on the streets of St Kilda, in Melbournes south, were filmed by a nearby taxi driver who watched on in horror as the officers quickly became outnumbered. One of the officers can be seen lying on the ground while a man repeatedly smashes his head into the ground. A police officer has his head repeatedly smashed into the ground before he continues to be pursued by his attacker. Source: 7News Despite having his head struck on the pavement, he somehow manages to break free and get to his feet but it is not for long. His attacker races after him, knocking the officer to the ground again, this time on top of two women. Taxi driver Qaiser Ali filmed the brutality, fearing the officer was going to be killed. Someone was yelling, Help, he recalled. As back-up finally arrived, the thug who dealt the vicious blows did not hang around. He was caught on security camera fleeing the scene and abandoning his friends. A 26-year-old man was handcuffed and apprehended. For some members of the group the police presence was hardly a deterrent, with fights continuing to break out in front of officers. Police Association Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said the violence was appalling. Ive seen a lot of things but this is the most horrific assault on a police officer Ive seen, he told 7 News. Detectives swab the ground for evidence. Source: 7News Superintendent Tony Silva said the behaviour was inexcusable and deserved punishment. If theyre going to behave like animals it means being locked up like an animal, he said. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 1800. Do you have a story tip? Email: y7newsroom@yahoo7.com.au. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo7s daily newsletter. Sign up here. A woman who visited a number of specialists to try to get to the bottom of what was causing her chronic cough has been told the cause was a pin in her lung. Nazmiye Sakalloglu, from Karabuk Province on northern Turkeys Black Sea coast, had been repeatedly told by doctors she was suffering from an allergy. She went to see doctors in the countrys biggest city of Istanbul and the capital city of Ankara as well as the nearby cities of Karabuk and Cankiri without any joy. Then she finally went to the Kastamonu State Hospital where an X-ray pinpointed the cause of her terrible cough a three-centimetre pin in her left lung. Ms Sakalloglu then remembered losing a pin, which she had been holding between her teeth, while fastening a scarf two years earlier. Nazmiye Sakallogluwho visited a number of specialists to try to get to the bottom of what was causing her chronic cough has been told the cause was a pin in her lung. Source: AsiaWire/Australscope She suspected she must have swallowed it at the time and drank glasses of water in a bid to flush it through her system. But it turned out the pin had gone down the wrong way going down her windpipe and entering her left lung where it had remained ever since. Surgeon Dr Tarik Yagci managed to remove the pin without the need for surgery by putting a tube down her throat and into her lung in a 90-minute bronchoscopy. I was holding two pins in my mouth while trying to fix my scarf and a third one was in my hand. Then I realised I had lost one, Ms Sakalloglu said. She said she had suspected she had swallowed it and had drunk lots of water, but had then forgotten about it after her coughing started. An X-ray pinpointed the cause of her terrible cough a three-centimetre pin in her left lung. Source: AsiaWire/Australscope Ms Sakalloglu spent two years visiting doctors in Ankara, Istanbul, Karabuk and Cankiri. All the doctors were telling me the cough was due to an allergy. They were giving me allergy medicines and sending me back home, she said. I came once again to the state hospital. They made an X-ray and saw the pin. The surgery was very good. Now I feel much better. I dont cough anymore. Ms Sakalloglu said she also had some advice for women who wore scarves. Pictured above is the pin that Ms Sakalloglu swallowed while fastening her scarf. Source: AsiaWire/Australscope I suggest that if they fasten them with pins, they dont put the pins in their mouth, she said. Story continues Dr Yagci said foreign bodies stuck in the lungs can cause life-threatening situations such as chronic lung infections, pneumonitis and blood phlegms. They are mostly encountered in children. But even though we rarely encounter such cases in adults, they must be removed, the doctor said. The process was completed without any complications and our patient has regained her health. Back in 2018, reports emerged of a woman who accidentally swallowed her toothbrush and had to be rushed to hospital. Australscope When construction workers near a frozen river in Estonia spotted what they believed to be a dog struggling in icy cold waters, they rushed to its aid. The men managed to crack the ice to guide the dog to the bank and pulled the freezing animal to safety. The canine was visibly weak and covered in ice, prompting the men to wrap it up in blankets as they tried to return some body heat. The animal was visibly weak after being pulled from the river. Source: Facebook/ EUPA The struggling canine was rushed to a vet. Source: Facebook/ EUPA However after bundling it in the back of their van to take to a vet, they soon realised it was a case of mistaken identity. The clinic informed the men they had in fact pulled a wolf from the ice. Staff believe the animals docile nature was due to its low blood pressure and took no risks by placing it in a cage fearing it may become more aggressive as its condition improved, the Estonian Union for the Protection of Animals (EUPA) said. It turns out the animal was in fact a wolf. Source: Facebook/ EUPA After rehabilitation, the wolf was later returned to the wild. Source: Facebook/ EUPA The organisation thanked the men for their selfless actions, believing it would have been only a matter of minutes for the wolf to succumb to the freezing water. We are so happy for the outcome of the story, and wish to thank all the participants especially these men who rescued the wolf, and the doctors of the clinic who were not afraid to treat and nurture the wild animal, EUPA said in a statement. Following a day of rehabilitation, the wolf was fitted with a GPS tracker and was released back into the wild. Do you have a story tip? Email: y7newsroom@yahoo7.com.au. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo7s daily newsletter. Sign up here. Nigeria on Sunday awaited results from its presidential election, as civil society groups warned that disorganisation and violence may have undermined the polls. Results from Saturday's vote were expected to trickle in to Abuja after being collated at the state and local levels. Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the INEC election commission, will officially declare the outcome in the coming days. But both sides have already claimed victory. An aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, seeking re-election, described the incoming results as "so overwhelming... #BuhariIsWinning!", tweeted Bashir Ahmad. The media team for Buhari's main opponent said the INEC should "immediately announce results as delivered from the polling units and declare the people's candidate, Atiku Abubakar, the winner". Yakubu, however, told reporters: "Only the Independent National Electoral Commission can tally figures, announce results and declare winners." - 'Serious deterioration' - Whoever becomes the next leader of Africa's most populous country and leading oil producer faces a daunting to-do list, from tackling widespread insecurity and endemic corruption to boosting an economy recovering from months of recession. INEC said it was "generally satisfied" with the vote, even though polling stretched into Saturday evening in areas where voter card machines failed and materials arrived late. Some affected polling units in six of Nigeria's 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja even saw voting on Sunday. A coalition of more than 70 civil society groups monitoring the vote reported 16 deaths from election-linked violence in eight states. Others gave a higher toll. Nigeria's last election in 2015 was widely seen as the freest and fairest since the country returned to democracy in 1999 after decades of military rule. But Idayat Hassan of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) in Abuja said this year's bloodshed and malfunctions were a setback. "This election was a serious deterioration from 2015," she told AFP. "What we now expect from a credible, free and fair election was not there." - Result snapshot - Despite both sides' bullishness, it was difficult to assess from unofficial results announced at individual polling stations who was in the lead. But there were snapshots of each candidate's performance: Abubakar, for example, failed to win the polling station where he voted in Yola, capital of his home state Adamawa. Buhari personally cast a ballot in his hometown of Daura in the northwest state of Katsina, but lost the polling unit set up at the presidential villa in the capital, Abuja. The election was originally set for February 16 but the INEC announced a week-long delay just hours before voting was due to begin, angering voters who had already travelled home to participate. The delay saw the main parties accuse each other of conspiring with the INEC to rig the result, although neither has produced evidence. - Poll violence - Hours before voting began, Boko Haram's Islamic State-backed faction launched a rocket attack on the northeastern city of Maiduguri that killed one soldier. In Rivers state, in the oil-rich southern Niger Delta region, the army said soldiers killed six "hoodlums" in clashes. Yakubu said one election volunteer was killed by a stray bullet in Rivers, where some INEC staff and even police were held hostage. They were all released unharmed, he added. Other election staff were attacked in the southern state of Akwa Ibom and Kogi in the north central region. There were reports of ballot-snatching, vote-buying and violence elsewhere, including in the southwestern state of Lagos. Abiodun Baiyewu, director of Global Rights Nigeria, a civil society group monitoring the vote, said INEC and the security forces could have done more to ensure voters' safety. "INEC needed to have a communication plan with security but we found that this was lacking and security was ineffective," he added. - Campaign promises - A total of 72.7 million people with voter identity cards were eligible to vote in Saturday's polls. Parliamentary elections were held at the same time. In 2015, former military ruler Buhari became the first opposition candidate in Nigerian history to defeat a sitting president, beating Goodluck Jonathan by 2.5 million votes. Buhari has again vowed to be tough on insecurity and corruption, and wants to complete much-needed infrastructure projects. Abubakar is a pro-business free marketeer whose main pledges have been to privatise giant state-run companies and float the embattled naira currency. Nigerian elections have previously been characterised by voting along ethnic and religious lines. But with Buhari and Abubakar both Muslims from the north, that could split the northern vote, making southern states a key battleground. In order to win the presidency in the first-round poll, the winner needs not only to receive a majorty of the votes, but also at least 25 percent of the votes in two thirds of the 36 states plus the Abuja capital territory. eak-cs-ola-phz/boc Results from 120,000 polling stations in 36 states are likely to be declared in the coming days Police officers stand guard outside an election collection centre in Port Harcourt after Nigeria's presidental election Nigeria's electoral commission said it was "generally satisfied" with the presidential vote, but polling was extended in areas where equipment failed to function or arrive on time and voting was not possible at 8,500 polling places Moldova held a parliamentary poll on Sunday, with both pro-Russian and pro-EU forces accusing the ruling party of massive election fraud. They said the Democratic Party, led by powerful oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, had bussed in people from the former Soviet state's breakaway region of Transnistria and told them how to vote. Moldova's pro-Moscow President Igor Dodon and pro-Brussels opposition leader Andrei Nastase both alleged the party had conspired with Transnistrian separatist authorities to organise the fraud. Dodon urged people not to be tempted by bribes. "Don't be afraid or let people buy you off. Don't be afraid of losing your job," Dodon said after voting in the capital Chisinau. "I know people are encouraging you to vote for certain parties." Nastase alleged that "they (the ruling party) are bussing in vulnerable people ripe for corruption". But Democratic Party deputy chairman Vladimir Chebotar said he had information that it was Socialist Party leaders who were offering bribes to residents of Transnistria to back its candidates. Authorities in Transnistria -- which broke away from Moldova after the fall of the USSR but is not recognised internationally -- did not allow polling stations to be opened in the region. But around 220,000 people living in the narrow stretch of land hold Moldovan citizenship and are eligible to vote on the other side of the Dniester River that separates the rebel republic from government-controlled territory. "These elections were neither free, nor fair, nor democratic," said Maia Sandu, one of the leaders of the pro-European ACUM bloc. "These were the least democratic elections in the history of Moldova." Chebotar on Sunday acknowledged "violations" during the election but shrugged them off, saying they would "not affect the voting process". - 'People are disillusioned' - Polling stations closed at 9:00 pm local time (1900 GMT), with voter participation at a little over 49 percent, according to electoral authorities. Results are expected on Monday. No party is likely to gain the majority needed to form a government in the country of 3.5 million people, and analysts are concerned the vote will be followed by a period of instability. While many want to maintain close ties with Moscow, others are looking towards the European Union, seeking to follow the example of Romania, with which Moldova shares a language and a long history. Victoria Chetrean, 40, told AFP she voted for the pro-European alliance that favours joining the EU and NATO. "My husband has worked in Italy for over 10 years for us to have a bare minimum standard of living," she said. "We should work towards European living standards." Moldova's economy is propped up by remittances from workers abroad, and the working-age population has shrunk. "People are disillusioned with the state, a million people have left," said Ion Vasilache, a 42-year-old university lecturer who supports Moldova joining the EU. "If the same corrupt authorities stay in power after the election, I will leave for Romania," he said. - 'Looking after minorities' - Dodon's pro-Moscow Socialist Party was leading in recent opinion polls, arguing for Moldova to join Russia's Eurasian Economic Union. Russia has rallied around Dodon, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin. Vasilii Ianioglo, a 57-year-old driver from the Gagauz minority -- a Turkish-speaking people who are traditionally Russian-leaning -- praised Dodon's frequent Kremlin visits. He voted for the Socialists, describing theirs as "the only party that looks after national minorities". As well as seeking to keep Moldova in its sphere of influence, Moscow has long backed separatists in Russian-speaking Transnistria. - 'Manipulation, disinformation' - Fuelling tensions ahead of the vote, Russian authorities on Friday accused ruling party leader Plahotniuc of running a vast money-laundering scheme in 2013-14. But on Sunday, parliamentary speaker Andrian Candu said it was merely a Russian ploy to influence the election. "It is all manipulation and disinformation," he said after voting in Chisinau. "It's not the first time that Russia tries to influence Moldova's election." The Democratic Party has sought a balanced approach between Moscow and the EU. But relations with the EU have deteriorated. Last November, Brussels reduced aid citing a "deterioration of the rule of law" -- a reference mainly to corruption. Moldova last year ranked 117 out of 180 nations in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. A businessman convicted in a billion-dollar fraud case -- Israeli-born Ilan Shor -- is likely to make it to parliament, a case analysts say exposes widespread graft. While many Moldovans want to maintain close ties with Moscow, others are looking towards the European Union The election is seen as a three-way race between the pro-Russian Socialist party of President Igor Dodon, the ruling Democratic Party and a pro-European alliance Moldova's President Igor Dodon, who heads the pro-Moscow Socialist party, has accused the ruling Democrats of trying to commit election fraud Opposition leader Andrei Nastase has also accused Moldova's ruling Democrats of fraud by bussing in voters from the breakaway Transnistria region then telling them how to vote No party is likely to gain the majority needed to form a government in Moldova and analysts fear a period of instability after the election A man pretending to be an international fashion designer has hatched an elaborate scam to fleece elderly Brisbane residents out of thousands of dollars. The man has been approaching residents asking for directions to the airport. He then tells them tells a sob story about needing to fly home to Italy before somehow convincing his vulnerable victims to lend him money because his credit card is not working, detectives say. The man promises to repay them when he returns home and offers often fake designer bags and clothes as a gift. A man claiming to be an Italian fashion designer is scamming elderly Brisbane locals out of thousands, offering fake designer bags and clothes as a gift for the loan. Source: Getty, file Its believed he is targeting suburbs around the Brisbane airport, with numerous people claiming to have been approached at Ascot, Clayfield, Hendra, Wynnum, and Manly. These kind-hearted people have then gone to their bank, withdrawn thousands of dollars and given the money to him, Queensland police said in an online statement. Police want people to warn their parents and grandparents and are calling for any victims to come forward. We want to make sure this man doesnt get his hands on any more money from someones nest egg, so were asking Brisbane residents to speak with their parents and grandparents to let them know whats happening to other unsuspecting folks in the hope that theyll be well prepared to smell this rat from a mile away if he ever crosses their path, they said. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the online reporting page. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo7s daily newsletter. Sign up here. WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: A holidaymaker lost his toe on a trip to Spain after taking a dip in his hotel hot tub. Rob Barlow, 75, booked the week-long sunshine break to Salou, in northeastern Spain, with his wife, Clare. The pair had enjoyed lazy days at the pool before discovering a 33C hot tub on the sun deck. Mr Barlow, from Bridgend in South Wales, said he took the plunge into the tub about six times before he was struck down with the shakes in his hotel room. Rob Barlow (right), 75, lost his toe on a trip to Spain after taking a dip in his hotel hot tub. Source: Australscope We discovered the jacuzzi on the sun deck and started using it because it was nice and quiet, he said. The day before we came home I was shaking and had to get extra duvets out of the cupboard. I really didnt feel well. When we got back I went to the doctors and they thought I might have a virus. I woke up the next day and my foot had gone black. Mr Barlow says he first injured his toe while sitting on the balcony at the H10 Salou Princess resort. We had been sat on the balcony and somehow I crossed my legs and I nipped the skin on my left foot, Mr Barlow said. Clare cleaned it up a bit and put a double plaster on it and I thought nothing else about it. Wife Clare, 51, patched his toe up with plasters before he enjoyed the rest of the holiday taking dips in the hot tub. He was given the devastating news his toe had to be amputated. Source: Australscope Former debt collector Mr Barlow was taken to the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend where he was kept in for four days and treated with antibiotics. He was transferred to Morriston Hospital where he was given the devastating news his toe had to be amputated. The couple complained to TUI travel company after their holiday in August last year, but said they were disgusted at the lack of response. We have been told it could be another six months before we hear what is going to be done and we are disgusted, Mr Barlow said. I want to warn others so that they think twice about using that hot tub. A TUI UK spokeswoman apologised to Mr Barlow over his experience. As this is a serious situation which we are currently investigating, were unable to comment further, the spokeswoman said. Australscope A young father has been stabbed in the neck and back after being set upon by a group of thugs in a childrens playground. Dave Sidhom, 29, was at home with his wife and two-year-old son on Saturday night when he decided to walk across the road to the park to ask a group of people to keep the noise down. According to police, an argument broke out about 9pm at Ridgeline Park in The Ponds and Mr Sidhom was stabbed three times in the back and neck. Police said it was a reasonable request that escalated to a life-threatening incident. Sydney father Dave Sidhom was stabbed three times in the back and neck after confronting a group about their noise levels. Source: Facebook The group, made up of eight males and one female, split up and drove off in two separate cars. Mr Sidhom was left bleeding heavily as he staggered home. His distressed wife called for help. Paramedics said one of the stab wounds was 15cm deep so severe they had trouble controlling the bleeding. Mr Sidhom was taken rushed into emergency surgery at Sydneys Westmead Hospital where he remained in a stable condition. The playground where Mr Sidhom was attacked and stabbed. Source: 7News Neighbours were shocked by the violent act in an area that is usually family-friendly. All of the neighbours this morning (Sunday) are just trying to find out what happened because our kids live here and theres so many kids that play in this park every single day, one resident told 7 News. The paramedics who treated Mr Sidhom said it was very lucky the young father was able to escape when he did. If it was too far forward it could have severed his trachea or his breathing tube and if it was just a little bit to the left he very likely could have ended up as a quadriplegic, Joe Ibrahim, from NSW Ambulance, said. One of Mr Sidhoms wounds measured 15cm and was so deep paramedics had trouble controlling the bleeding. Source: Facebook Police searched the neighbourhood but did not find any trace of the attackers or the weapon. They said the attack was completely unacceptable and are encouraging those responsible to come forward. Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 1800. Do you have a story tip? Email: y7newsroom@yahoo7.com.au. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo7s daily newsletter. Sign up here. An image of a puppy in a cage has gone viral on Facebook as the story behind it emerges. The photo surfaced on Facebook earlier this month depicting a little white dog in a metal cage while a red box with food hangs outside. Blake Taylor, who uploaded the photo, claims the box seen in the picture can be filled with enough food and water to last seven days. That means the puppy mill owner can stock those, walk away and they wont have to return for a week, he wrote. This photo of a puppy mill has gone viral. Source: Facebook/ Blake Taylor It is unclear when the photo was taken or where the puppy farm is, but it is believed to be in North America. The photo been shared more than 269,000 times at the time of publication and unfortunately, it is a disturbing scenario some dogs in Australia experience as well. Animal Welfare League (AWL) chief inspector Sarah Stimson told Yahoo7 this was the sad and alarming reality many inspectors face. The conditions observed in this photo unfortunately depict deplorable conditions too many animals are exposed to every day, she said. Each investigation whether a puppy mill or not, can have a range of concerning and highly disturbing practices going on in which AWL NSW works tirelessly towards ending. When asked if she had seen similar red boxes used before, Ms Stimson said yes. A puppy farm in South Australia. Source: RSPCA I can confirm similar boxes or devices have been seen, she said. I would have massive concerns if this (the dogs being fed once a week) is the case. Animals need to be attended to at minimum once daily to be provided their basic needs. She added going off the photo there are definitely concerns which would warrant an investigation. Ms Stimson said if the case were in NSW there may be numerous breaches under the NSW Animal Welfare Code of Practice for breeding dogs and cats, and offences under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979. Unhygienic and overcrowded RSPCA NSW veterinary scientific officer Dr Jade Norris told Yahoo7 puppy farming was a major welfare problem across the country. Story continues Makes a person want to throw up. Puppy farms across Australia are usually very unhygienic and overcrowded, Dr Norris said. The environment is often covered in urine and faeces. Dogs in Australian puppy farms are often confined in small cages and may not be let out for a walk or even to go to the toilet. The owner of these dogs was banned from owning animals for nine years. Source: RSPCA She added operators of puppy farms tend to hide their activities and encouraged anyone interested in getting a puppy to check RSPCAs guide. Many Facebook users were horrified by the picture. Hell hole on Earth, one woman wrote. Another called it pure evil. Makes a person want to throw up, one man wrote. Do you know more or have a story tip? Email: y7newsroom@yahoo7.com.au. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo7s daily newsletter. Sign up here. Some 40 years later, with reports of incompetence and gross corruption in government, and violence on the streets of Port Moresby and other major PNG cities, it seems reasonable to ask, did we stuff it up? The we he referred to presumably included official aid donor countries, multilateral agencies from the UN, and the development banks the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank plus a host of NGOs providing technical assistance and volunteers. A British aid worker I was talking with declared, This is the last major colonial possession to go independent, and this time we are not going to stuff it up. The mood was bright, a mixed crowd of men and women, expatriates of various points of origin and Papua New Guineans, mostly young. CANBERRA - Port Moresby, sometime in 1977, a going finish party at the home of a retiring senior Australian bureaucrat. Vanessa and Denis share a joke with children in the Markham Valley, 1974 - Australia left PNG the next year with a large stock of good will, much of which remains Having been privileged to live in Papua New Guinea for more than five years spread over 18 and, during my residence, not only to witness social and political evolution, but also to travel the country into some of the most remote areas of its complex geography, I know it as a place of awe and wonder. But in spite of nearly 44 years of relative political stability, and an occasionally wobbly pattern of electoral processes, and even with considerable assistance from us, it remains unclear whether PNG continues to progress towards long-term democratic stability and economic viability. Having acquired its own colony of Papua as a gift of the British Empire in 1901, and subsequently the former German colony of New Guinea as a Trust Territory, Australia was faced with the cost of managing them. The German colonists had focused on coconut plantations, which Australia carried forward. Discovery of the Wau/Bulolo gold field in 1928 proved not only profitable, but provided important royalties to help pay for colonial administration. Post-war investments in coffee in the Highlands were also productive, but there was little serious development effort until the 1950s. Prior to independence, although it had under-funded education, Australia had invested in critical nation-building infrastructure through a national communications system, enhanced air transport with jet capable airstrips, and construction of the Highlands Highway. Since independence, Australia has provided generous budgetary and project assistance. But to fully understand the continuing challenges facing PNG, it is essential to consider its unique physical and human geography. The high mountains of the main island capture vast quantities of rainfall, funnelling it down to the seas in steep, fast-flowing river systems which create waterlogged coastal plains. The deep channels dividing the landscape have resulted in a scattering of small isolated communities, each developing a unique language and culture. With such diversity, combined with a traditional communal land holding pattern, it is difficult to see how a period of more intensive colonial development and modernisation would have been possible. Even now, 44 years since independence and 74 since the end of the Pacific War, 80% or more of the population still lives in traditional rural communities, surviving largely on subsistence agriculture. With independence in 1975, Australias colonial investments continued as development assistance, going through two phases, first as grants-in-aid of budget support; second, after 1993, replacing direct support with defined project assistance managed by Australian contractors. This enabled Australia, in consultation with PNG, to direct aid where both agreed it was most needed, but also ensured minimal misallocation of funds, and mollified Australian consulting firms, who could see potential for profitable involvement in PNG. With most of the aid money subsequently paid out against consulting contracts, there was significant budgetary impact. So, did we stuff it up? Ascertaining the real or long term value of project aid can be difficult, since the measurable impacts may not be visible for years, or even decades, with successful implementation often dependent on factors outside the control of a project. For PNG it is undoubtedly the case that, measured against their objectives, some projects have been successful, some less so. But I would argue that the aggregate impact of project assistance, whether judged to be successful or not, has been important because Papua New Guineans have had repeated contact with outside expertise, with new methods and technology introduced that may be adopted and adapted, sometimes in ways not anticipated in the original projects, with important learning going both ways. Testing this argument would, of course, be difficult. My personal view is that development assistance since independence, however large or well-managed, has had a worthwhile but limited impact on the course of the countrys development. The complex structure of PNG society and culture has determined the manner in which the political system has evolved, and consequently the direction of economic development. With a populace isolated in discrete groups, each with strong group loyalties, the task of establishing a colonial government had meant convincing several hundred distinct societies that there was a new master in charge. With independence, it also meant that in the Westminster system of government, installed by Australia, political strategies would evolve to cope with a gathering of elected members with almost no sense of belonging to a nation or even a gathering of the like-minded, resulting in unstable shifting coalitions whose loyalty was never guaranteed. Members are elected to parliament on the basis of their commitment and ability to deliver certain rewards to their electorates, which given the first-past-the-post system (later modified) and a large number of candidates could see a member elected with a minuscule percentage of the total vote caste. As the electoral system and the management of business in Parliament has evolved, the cost of forming a government and maintaining it has seemingly left limited energy for the complicated business of running the country. Economic development has largely been driven by outside forces investing in resource extraction, including gold, copper, oil and gas, and forestry. Although providing income for government, extractive industries have limited impact on wider development. In a sense, the relatively easy money of royalty income means government can avoid the careful consideration and budgeting required to address long standing issues like violent crime, urban in-migration, violence against women, tribal fighting and so forth, not to mention the ongoing need for better health and education facilities and transport infrastructure. In sum, PNG was never ours to stuff up. Getting on for 44 years after independence, its problems are its own to resolve. Australia and other donors will continue to assist, weighing their own interests against PNGs development needs. But although such assistance may provide welcome and beneficial support, its impact will be limited when measured against the weight of PNGs geography, culture, and evolving political system. Excerpt of an article published in Development Bulletin No 80, Aid to Papua New Guinea: a personal view The athor signs his latest Posadas County mystery Lies Come Easy. Steven F. Havill signs his latest Posadas County mystery "Lies Come Easy" on Sunday, February 24 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Treasure House Books & Gifts, 2012 South Plaza NW in Old Town, Albuquerque, NM. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 505-242-7204. One blizzardy New Mexico night, Posadas County Deputy Pasquale picks up a toddler scooting his Scamper along the shoulder of State 56. Yes, it's horrifying - a child apparently dumped out of a truck by his father. Nearly as horrifying is what unrolls while Christmas approaches after dad Darrell Fisher's arrest: a request arrives from the US Forest Service to locate a missing range tech and his unit last reported headed for nearby Stinkin' Springs, and the brutal murder of Constance Suarez in the border town of Regal, population 37. The Sheriff's Department is stretched to its limits as its dedicated personnel juggle working cases and caring for citizens with their own relationships and family celebrations. The irony of so much wickedness at the holidays is not lost on anyone. Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman, heading out her door to a crime scene, reflects: "It would be a glorious holiday evening for somebody." As their mother joins her colleagues in dealing with the Fisher family, the Forest Service's absent Myron Fitzwater, the murder, and who knows what else in Regal, Francisco and Carolos, the sons of Estelle and physician Francis, arrange to jet in to spend Christmas with their parents. Francisco the musical prodigy is now a celebrated pianist and composer with an international career. Carlos is thriving at Stanford. Both sons bring special surprises with them. And retired Sheriff Bill Gastner is cooking up a Christmas gift of his own. In Steven Havill's twenty-third Posadas County Mystery, family dynamics play a huge role as Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman and the whole department work to pull the right threads out of a tangle of seemingly small lies. It makes for a mix of the mundane with the harrowing. And justice for all will prove elusive. 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!) No socially significant event was ever held there without Ali Kadyrov's participation Ali Kadyrov, the veteran of the Crimean Tatar national movement, died in Crimea this morning. The Crimean solidarity reports this on Facebook. It is emphasized that Ali Kadyrov was present at the meeting of the Crimean solidarity yesterday. He was a person who cared about his fellow believers indeed. No socially significant event could be held without his participation. He always worried and so warmly cared about children and political prisoners. Ali Kadyrov visited the meeting of the Crimean solidarity countless times, he always expressed his support to the entire nation, the report said. As we reported earlier, from the beginning of the occupation of Crimea, around 500 thousand people were brought to the peninsula. According to the information of the social organizations, to which Aliyev is refereeing to, 50, 000 people left Crimea. He pointed out that according to the official statistic only 35,000 people entered Crimea, as they are internally displaced people. The ambassador and consular staff would have to leave Venezuela within 24 hours Venezuela breaks diplomatic relations with Columbia. The Acting President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro stated this, as Reuters reports. Patience is exhausted, I cant bare it anymore, we cant keep putting up with Colombian territory being used for attacks against Venezuela. For that reason, I have decided to break all political and diplomatic relations with Columbias fascist government, Maduro said. It is emphasized, that the reason for breaking relations with Colombia is after Colombia assisted the oppositions efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the country. According to Maduro, the ambassador and consular staff would have to leave Venezuela within 24 hours. As we reported earlier, January 23, Juan Guaido, the opposition leader and the head of the National Assembly of Venezuela declared himself interim president of Venezuela and took the oath before thousands of opposition supporters at a mass protest rally. U.S. President Donald Trump has recognized Juan Guaido as a temporary leader of the country. Canada, the EU, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Costa-Rika, Paraguay, and Guatemala did the same. Mexico and Bolivia refused to recognize the coup detat. Open source Law enforcement officers detained Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on suspicion of receiving a bribe of $ 10,000 in the Rivne region. This is stated in the message of the military prosecutors office of the Western region. February 24, under the procedural guidance of the Khmelnytsky military prosecutors office of the garrison, investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation in Khmelnytsky documented the fact of extortion and getting illegal benefits by the commander of one of the military units in Rivne region. It was established that 10,000 dollars, which the colonel demanded and received from the entrepreneur, were intended for signing contracts for the purchase and installation of equipment on the premises of a subordinate military unit. 142 passengers were on board; they all safely got off the plane Open source Boeing 737 with 142 passengers on board has made an emergency landing in Bangladesh due to an attempt to hijack an airplane. This is reported by Reuters. The Boeing landed at Chittagong airport after the suspicious passenger reportedly wanted to hijack the plane. "There were 142 passengers, and they all safely got off the plane," the statement said. The purported hijacker, who told the pilot he had a personal issue with his wife and wanted to speak to Bangladeshs Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, died when the commandos stormed the plane at Chittagongs Shah Amanat International Airport, officials said. We tried to arrest him or get him to surrender but he refused and then we shot him, said Major General of the Bangladesh Army. Air Vice Marshal Nayeem Hasan, chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, said the man appeared to have a pistol and had explosives around his body. It was not immediately clear if the pistol or the explosives were real. The details of the incident are being clarified. The Boeing 737 aircraft was scheduled to go from Dhaka to Dubai via Chittagong. The purported hijacking happened after it had taken off from Dhaka. Open source The police of Kyiv are investigating the vote-buying attempt through social networks. The press-service of the National police of Kyiv reports this. The police of Kyiv received the message from one director of a social organization, a fake profile of which appeared in the social network. The director stated that on this page there was information about the participation of the citizens in the action in support of one of the candidates in the presidential elections. All the participants will receive the remuneration in the amount of $20 for coming to the Hayvoron park in Kyiv, - the report said. The law enforcement launched the criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Article 160 (bribing a voter or a referendum participant) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. As we reported earlier, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) will counteract the interference of the Russian special services in the election process through the messengers. The Security Service of Ukraine, within its competence, holds the events on the counteraction the attempts of the Russian special services to interfere in the election processes in Ukraine. In the case of receiving of the information about particular facts of the use of the communication possibilities of the socially oriented and free resources of the Internet. Open source Moldovan Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu called speculation and interference in parliamentary elections a criminal case of the Russian Federation Investigative Committee against the leader of the pro-European PDM party, Vladimir Plahotniuc. Candu told this reporters after voting at the polling station, reports NewsMaker. According to him, it is not for the first time that Russia is trying to intervene in the parliamentary elections in Moldova. Candu called such interventions a migratory amnesty, the temporary lifting of the embargo and the release of Moldovan pilots from captivity in Afghanistan. Earlier the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported it would counteract the interference of the Russian special services in the election process through the messengers as UNN reported citing SBU. The Security Service of Ukraine within its competence holds the events on the counteraction the attempts of the Russian special services to interfere in the election processes in Ukraine. In the case of the receiving of the information about particular facts of the use of the communication possibilities of the socially oriented and free resources of the internet, including the applications for exchange of the messages, which aim for the defense of the information security of our state, the message said. Open source In Lviv, the police identified the woman who had sent threats to one of the candidates for the presidency of Ukraine. This is reported on the page of the National Police in Lviv region on Facebook. The attacker was a 26-year-old resident of Lviv region. She sent threats from her fathers phone. According to the suspect, she did it because she supports another candidate. The main investigative department of the National Police of Ukraine has opened criminal proceedings. The police of Kyiv received the message from one director of a social organization, a fake profile of which appeared in the social network. The director stated that on this page there was information about the participation of the citizens in the action in support of one of the candidates in the presidential elections. All the participants will receive the remuneration in the amount of $20 for coming to the Hayvoron park in Kyiv, - the report said. The law enforcement launched the criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Article 160 (bribing a voter or a referendum participant) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Earlier it was reported that since the beginning of the election campaign, the National Police registered 1,741 reports related to violation of electoral legislation. As is known, the presidential election will be held on March 31, 2019 (the presidential election campaign began on December 31, 2018). Parliamentary elections will be held in October. One Ukrainian serviceman, born in 1987, died as a result of the Russian attack in Donbas conflict zone today, February 24. The Russian militants violated the ceasefire regime three times yesterday, February 23. Dmytro Hutsuliak, the spokesman of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine stated this during the session, as 112.ua reports. Since morning till noon the situation in Donbas conflict zone is worsening in comparison to the previous day, - Hutsuliak said. The Russian militants have already opened fire eight times over the period. The enemy has already used 140 mines of 120 mm caliber and almost 100 shells of 82 mm caliber. In Luhansk region, the enemy violated the ceasefire regime 6 times. At 5:00 AM the Russian army opened fire near Novozvanivka village. The enemy fired near 30 shells of 120 mm and 82 mm, using an infantry fighting vehicle, anti-aircraft gun ZU-23-2, heavy machine guns and small arms over an hour. At the same time, the Russian soldiers opened fire 18 times with 122 mm caliber guns. 120 mm mines landed near Zolote-4 settlement on the way to the occupied city Pervomaisk. The enemy also used infantry fighting vehicle, anti-aircraft gun ZU-23-2, and fired 82 mm mines near Katerynivka settlement. Since 5:00 AM, the enemy opened fire from mortars and infantry fighting vehicles near Novoolexandrivka village. Our fighters reported explosion of around 50 mines of 120 mm caliber and 60 shells of 82 mm caliber. After 6:00 AM the defenders of Zolote-1 settlement were attacked as well. The enemy fired 120 mm mines. At the same time near Novozanivka village, the enemy already started firing with 82 mm mortar. In the Donetsk region, the enemy attacked twice. At 4:00 AM the Russian militants fired 8 shells of 120 mm caliber with heavy machine guns near Vodiane settlement. From 7:30 the enemy has opened fire with mortar near Lebedynske settlement. The defenders of Ukraine stopped the attack by opening fire as well. Russian-backed militants 14 times violated the ceasefire regime, and 8 times they used mortar over 24 hours On February, 22, as the result of the Russian attack, one Ukrainian serviceman was wounded in Donbas conflict zone. The Joint Forces Operation (JFO) HQ reported this on Facebook. The Russian militants violated the ceasefire regime 14 times, including eight times with Minsk-banned weaponry. The enemy fired 77 shells of 120 mm and 82 mm calibers over 24 hours. Besides the enemy fired the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with wire-guided anti-tank missile system, the grenade launchers of various system, the heavy machine guns, and small arms. Our fighters had been deliberately targeted by a sniper. In the East operational group action zone, the enemy fired eight times: 4 times with 120 mm mortar and wire-guided anti-tank missile system, the grenade launchers of various system and the heavy machine guns near Lebedynske settlement; 2 times with 120 mortar, grenade launchers of various systems and heavy machine guns near Vodiane settlement; with manual easel anti-tank and rocket grenade launchers and small arms near Avdiivka town; a sniper was spotted near Marinka settlement. In the North group area, the enemy attacked our positions 6 times: twice with 120 mm mortar and easel anti-tank grenade launchers near Novozvanivka settlement; with 82 mm mortar, easel anti-tank grenade launchers and heavy machine guns near Katerynivka village; with 82 mm mortar near Krymske settlement; with grenade launchers of various systems near Luhanske village, and with small arms near Stanytsia Luhanska settlement. Ukrainian Armed Forces stopped the attack by opening fire as well. According to surveillance, eight Russian militants were killed and two more were wounded on February, 22. Also, two units of the Russian military vehicle technology were destroyed. Since midnight on February, 23, the enemy has not opened fire. One Ukrainian serviceman died as a result of the Russian attack in Donbas conflict zone. The Russian militants violated the ceasefire regime three times yesterday, February 23. The Joint Forces Operation (JFO) HQ reported this on Facebook. In the East operational group action zone, the enemy fired from anti-tank missile system near Chermalyk village. In the North group area, the Russian militants attacked our positions with 120 mm and 82 mm mortars, automatic grenade launchers and heavy machine guns near Katerynivka settlement, the report said. One soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine died in combat. However, Ukrainian servicemen returned fire and repelled the attack. Earlier, a minibus with civilians took damage upon triggering a landmine in the Donbas conflict zone. The car exploded 50 meters from the Olenivka checkpoint at 12:30, when representatives of the Russian occupation forces were checking people as they entered the occupied area of Donbas. Sezon estival deschis, la Valea Morilor. Zeci de chisinauieni au invadat plaja (VIDEO) Zeci de oameni au luat cu asalt plaja de la Valea Morilor. Oamenii au profitat de vremea frumoasa si au venit sa se racoreasca.Asta desi oficial, scaldatul in lacurile din Capitala nu este permis. [citeste mai departe] Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 06:01:37|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close LONDON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A 33-year-old man was arrested in the Yorkshire city of Leeds Sunday by Counter Terrorism Police investigating suspected Extreme Right Wing activity. Police said the man, who they have not named, was arrested under the Terrorism Act on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of terrorist acts. He has been taken to a police station in West Yorkshire for questioning. Counter Terrorism Policing North East said the arrest was part of a pre-planned, intelligence led operation. They added that a property in Leeds is being searched as part of the investigation. Police Superintendent Chris Bowen from Leeds District Police said: "I understand our communities will have concerns about this police activity but I want to offer my reassurance that public safety is our top priority." Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 05:26:32|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A tornado hit the southern part of the United States over the weekend and killed at least two, according to local authorities. The tornado tore through the states of Mississippi and Tennessee. According to the mayor's office of Columbus, Mississippi on Sunday, a woman was killed when a building collapsed on her and three other people. The accident took place late Saturday and the deceased was identified as 41-year-old Ashley Pounds, the mayor's office quoted Lowndes County Coroner's Office as saying. The fate of the three others are uncertain. Columbus Mayor Robert Smith said 12 people in his city sustained non-life threatening injuries, and city spokesman Joe Dillon said a school and two community center buildings were severely damaged by the extreme weather. In the neighboring state of Tennessee, a man was killed after his vehicle was submerged under high water. Police answered to the incident early Sunday to find a man trapped inside a vehicle on S. Peters road, Knox County Sheriff's office said in a notice. The notice warned commuters to avoid roads where the pavement is not visible under water. The states of Kentucky and West Virginia were also reportedly affected by the tornado. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 04:51:27|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close SANAA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 soldiers loyal to Yemeni exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi were killed and 60 others wounded in rebels' missile attack toward southern border of Saudi Arabia on Sunday, a military official said. The attack hit the soldiers in a popular market near al-Buqa border crossing in the afternoon, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. He said the injured were transported to hospital inside the southern Saudi border province of Najran. Meanwhile, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported a ballistic missile attack on al-Buqa border crossing, killing at least 40 loyal soldiers. Linking the Saudi southern province of Najran and Yemeni rebel-held northern province of Saada, the shared border crossing al-Buqa was seized control in 2016 by Yemeni government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition. The Yemeni armed forces of the Fifth Brigade is stationing in al-Buqa and have advanced to the northern edges of the rebels' mountainous stronghold of Marran district in Saada province, the birth place of the rebels' leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi. Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support the government of President Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile and seized much of the country's north, including the capital Sanaa. The four-year-long civil war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, displaced 3 million others, and pushed the country to the brink of famine. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 04:36:25|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A recruiter's booth outside the ballroom of a Chinese American engineers' gathering in Silicon Valley turned out to be very popular. Within an hour, the recruiter, Angela Gao, had received many inquiries from those engineers attending the conference on Saturday. "There has been a rising interest from Chinese engineers working in the United States in returning to China," said Gao. "Most of them cite 'better career opportunities' and 'more room for development' as the main reasons," she said. A semiconductor engineer in San Jose, who gave only his last name Yang, took a brochure of Gao's company, a Santa Clara, California-based headhunter called "WE Career." "I would expect a higher position or better compensation," said Yang, who currently holds a senior-level position in a big company. He said it is not uncommon to see such recruiting booths set up at the venues of engineers' conferences. Major Chinese companies also come to the Silicon Valley to seek talent every year, he said. To meet the increasing demand from Chinese clients, Gao said her company has been actively organizing recruiting events across the United States, especially on the campuses of top U.S. universities, such as Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley on the west Coast, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the east Coast. A growing number of overseas Chinese professionals are returning to China, with a majority of them from the United States, according to a 2018 report on overseas Chinese talent by the employment-oriented social networking platform LinkedIn. The report, which surveyed between 2,000 and 3,000 members in the first half of 2018, found the top reasons for returning to China include the ceiling for career development in foreign countries and pay rises as Chinese firms invest big to attract talent. "Some friends of mine have recently accepted the offers of Chinese companies and their whole families have moved to China," said Yichiang Chang, an application engineer. Chinese companies paid the relocation cost and offered at least doubled salaries, he said. He also admitted that the benefits of living in the San Francisco Bay Area were its "nice weather" and "better education for children." Concerns for engineers seeking career opportunities in China include the lack of understanding the working environment of Chinese companies, he said. Being promoted as "a role model of high-quality development," China's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is poised to become "an international first-class bay area" and "a world-class city cluster" with a marked increase in its economic strength and regional competitiveness, according to a development blueprint released by the Chinese government last week. Aside from the two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, the Greater Bay Area also covers nine cities of Guangdong Province, including innovation hub Shenzhen and "world's factory" Dongguan. "Hong Kong is a great fit for those engineers who want to start up their own companies," said Robin Won, a senior manager for investment promotion at Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco. Her office also set up a booth at Saturday's engineers' event to promote the Greater Bay Area among Silicon Valley engineers. "Hong Hong is part of China, but it has its own legal, tax and monetary systems," said Won. "It will act as a facilitator for overseas high-tech professionals to tap into the opportunities of China's Bay Area," she said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 04:21:20|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Libya's Education Minister Othman Abdul-Jalil on Sunday called on Turkish companies to return and help build schools to replace the dilapidated schools in the country. Abdul-Jalil made his remarks during a meeting with the Turkish Ambassador to Libya Emrullah Isler in the capital Tripoli, according to a statement issued by the Education Ministry. The two officials discussed cooperation between the two countries, particularly graduate scholarships for Libyan students in Turkey, the statement said. The two officials also agreed to rehabilitate higher technical institutes in Libya and train Libyan educators in the near future, the statement added. "The Turkish ambassador stressed his country's willingness to cooperate with the Libyan Ministry of Education, pointing out that his country encourages Turkish companies to return to Libya," the statement said. Most foreign companies in Libya have left since 2014 when violent clashes between rival armed groups broke out in Tripoli, leading to lingering political division across the country. The North African nation is struggling to provide basic services to the people, mainly proper education and healthcare, amid armed conflict and economic instability. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 04:16:19|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Henry Bellingham, British trade envoy to Libya, on Sunday stressed Britain's keenness to increase trade exchange with Libya and activate previously signed agreements between the two countries. Bellingham made his remarks during a meeting with Ahmed Maiteeq, Libya's deputy prime minister, in the capital Tripoli, according to a statement issued by Maiteeq's information and communications office. "The envoy stressed his country's aspiration to strengthen and develop cooperation relations with Libya in all fields, and to increase the rate of trade exchange and activate previous agreements of health, education and energy sectors," the statement said. The two officials also agreed to hold meetings between specialists from the two countries periodically to determine the priorities of the projects to be launched, the statement explained. During a meeting with the Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, British Ambassador to Libya Frank Becker on Thursday stressed his country's support for economic development and rebuilding of Libya. Following the 2011 uprising that topped former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime, Libya has been suffering escalating violence, political division and economic instability. The North African nation is struggling to make a democratic transition amid political division with two governments in the east and the west, both competing for legitimacy. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 04:11:18|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo said Sunday in an interview that the United States would impose more sanctions against Venezuela. "There'll be a meeting of the Lima Group on Monday, where further action will be contemplated. There are more sanctions to be had," Pompeo said in the interview with CNN. Vice President Mike Pence would travel to Colombia on Feb. 25 to attend a Lima Group meeting on behalf of President Donald Trump, the White House said on Thursday. The Lima Group, comprising 13 Latin American countries and Canada, is a multilateral body established in August 2017 to focus on Venezuela's situation. Pompeo also noted that the United States would provide more "humanitarian assistance" to Venezuela, saying the aid was requested by the opposition leader Juan Guaido. Denying the existence of a humanitarian crisis, the Venezuelan government refused to let the aid cross the border and called the aid operation a U.S.-orchestrated show leading to an eventual invasion. On Friday night, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez announced the closure of three bridges connecting the country with Colombia. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Saturday the severance of his country's diplomatic and political relations with Colombia, following the latter's support for Venezuela's opposition and military defectors. "I think we'll find other ways to make sure that food gets to the people who need it," Pompeo said in the interview. According to a statement issued by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States has airlifted approximately 191 metric tons of relief supplies to the Colombian border city of Cucuta since Feb. 4. At the same time, the United States began pre-positioning 178 metric tons of locally-procured supplies in Boa Vista, near Brazil's border with Venezuela, the State Department said Friday. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself "interim president" on Jan. 23 and was immediately recognized by Washington. In response, Maduro announced he was severing diplomatic and political ties with the United States, ordering all U.S. diplomatic and consular personnel to leave Venezuela. Maduro has accused Washington of orchestrating a coup d'etat in order to install a puppet regime in Venezuela. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 04:06:15|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Libya's eastern-based army on Sunday threatened to attack any hostile forces moving in southern Libya, as the army continues its anti-terrorism operation in the region. "Any armed forces moving towards areas or towns in the south controlled by the army will be dealt with," the army's air force said in a statement. Local media on Saturday said that armed groups are mobilizing in southern Libya in preparation to launch an attack against the army forces. The army, led by Khalifa Haftar, has been carrying out a military campaign against terrorism and crime in the south since mid-January. The army has made a significant progress since the beginning of the military action, and also taken over two major oil fields. The army is allied with the eastern-based government, as Libya is politically divided between two governments in the east and the west, both competing for legitimacy. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 02:41:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would depart for Hanoi on Feb. 25 for his second meeting with Kim Jong Un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). "I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, early tomorrow for a Summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore," Trump tweeted. Trump hailed his "great relationship" with Kim, adding that the DPRK could "fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World" in the absence of nuclear weapons. According to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim left Pyongyang on Saturday afternoon by train for Hanoi for the second U.S.-DPRK summit. Trump told the press on Wednesday that his trip to Vietnam would be "very successful," anticipating his two-day meeting with Kim would "accomplish a lot." Trump announced on Feb. 8 that his second meeting with Kim would take place in Hanoi on Feb. 27-28. His first meeting with Kim in Singapore in June resulted in improved U.S.-DPRK relations. However, differences on such key issues as a roadmap for denuclearization, the lifting of sanctions and whether to issue a war-ending declaration still hinder negotiations. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 02:41:03|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ANKARA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish parliament on Sunday elected ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker Mustafa Sentop as its new speaker, replacing Binali Yildirim who is AKP's Istanbul mayor candidate for upcoming local elections. According to official news from the parliament, Sentop, a lawmaker from northwestern Tekirdag province, received 336 votes in the third round of voting by the Turkish National Assembly of 600 seats. In the third round of voting, a minimum of 301 votes were needed to win the election. The opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) supported Sentop in the election. Speaking to lawmakers after the election, Sentop thanked the lawmakers for participating in the process. "I will conduct my duty with justice and impartiality," he said. Sentop, 51, has a doctorate in law and had been serving as deputy speaker of the parliament since June 24, 2018 general elections. Municipal elections are to be held on March 31 across Turkey. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 02:00:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BUCHAREST, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Less than 46 percent of voters had cast their ballots for the parliamentary elections in Moldova by 6:30 p.m. local time Sunday, lower than the 51 percent at the same time point back in 2014. According to the live data released by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), some 1.34 million of Moldovans, or 45.5 percent of the voters, have cast their ballots so far. Some 2.8 million voters of the Republic of Moldova are called on Sunday to elect the new parliament in a poll held simultaneously with a referendum on the reduction of the number of deputies. For the first time in the history of the country, the 101 lawmakers are elected based on the mixed electoral system under which 50 deputies are elected based on party lists in the national constituency, while the other 51 are elected in 51 single-member constituencies. Also on Sunday, the voters will participate in a consultative referendum to say whether they agree to cut the number of deputies from 101 to 61 and whether they back the idea that the people can dismiss lawmakers, if they fail to fulfill their duties. As many as 14 political parties and an electoral bloc compete in the current poll. In order to enter parliament, the parties must exceed 6 percent of the total votes and the electoral blocs 8 percent. Most of the state high-ranking officials and the party leaders completed their voting in the morning. "If the people vote for another government to come tomorrow, the situation will change," President Igor Dodon said after voting in the elections, pointing out that 80 percent of the voters are not satisfied with the state of affairs and the largest part of people say things in the country go wrong. In his turn, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said: "I voted for the Democrats' team who demonstrated the fact that they're capable of governing a country and we achieved good results in short period." "We hope to have a parliamentary majority and we will have a government to ensure the stability in the country and to develop Moldova," said Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu, also the vice chairman of the ruling Democratic Party. After voting, Maia Sandu, co-president of the electoral bloc NOW, told the media that time has come to bring things in order in the country until it is not too late. "A group of thieves who captured the state institutions and use them daily against us...is dangerous for the county. It is our chance and duty to save the country," said Sandu. Meanwhile, 325 electoral contestants are fighting for the seats of deputies in the 51 uninominal constituencies. 269 are supported by parties, and 56 are independent. The latest estimates released Tuesday by the Intelligent Data Company showed that the Party of Socialists, which favors friendly ties with Russia, would win 47 seats in total, followed with 26 seats by the center-right electoral bloc "NOW". The "NOW" bloc brings together two parties favoring the European Union and NATO membership, and the ruling Democratic Party with 24 mandates. The Sor party of Mayor Ilan Sor would be the last party to pass the threshold of the parliament with 4 deputies. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 01:40:55|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi attends the first League of Arab States (LAS)-EU Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Feb. 24, 2019. The first League of LAS-EU Summit started on Sunday in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, with the participation of more than 50 European and Arab countries. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday that terrorism is spreading like a "plague," urging leaders attending the first League of Arab States (LAS)-EU Summit to stand together against it. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the two-day LAS-EU summit held in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Sisi said terrorism was used by some states to spread chaos in neighboring countries. "Today we need to confirm our unity and our cooperation to confront this danger and to stand together against this plague that cannot be justified," he said. Speaking about the issue of illegal immigration from Arab countries to Europe, Sisi said this issue should be viewed as a way to cooperate. Both regions can cooperate in order to guarantee a safe and organized migration that would realize different common interests, the Egyptian president explained. "Egypt is hosting millions of refugees who are receiving education and health services as the Egyptians, despite the very difficult circumstances we have been passing through lately," Sisi noted. On the Palestinian issue, Sisi said it is the first Arab cause and one of the main roots of the conflicts in the region. "It represents the continued denial of the legitimate rights of the Palestinians and the continuing destruction of Palestinian human rights," he noted. The current situation is fuelled by the absence of a genuine political desire to reach a comprehensive and just settlement, Sisi stressed. More than 50 European and Arab countries participated in the LAS-EU Summit, which was co-chaired by Sisi and EU President Donald Tusk. Leaders from both sides will seek to strengthen ties and address a wide range of issues and common challenges, such as multilateralism, trade, investment, migration, security and regional situation. The summit will also provide an opportunity for leaders to discuss the latest developments in the region, such as the Middle East peace process and the situation in Yemen, Libya and Syria. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 00:55:48|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close Photo taken on Feb. 24, 2019 shows a passenger plane of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines that made an emergency landing after a hijack attempt at the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram, Bangladesh. Bangladeshi commandos stormed a passenger plane of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines at an airport in the southeastern city of Chattogram and shot dead an armed man who tried to hijack the Dubai-bound flight on Sunday. (Xinhua/Stringer) DHAKA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi commandos stormed a passenger plane of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines at an airport in the southeastern city of Chattogram and shot dead an armed man who tried to hijack the Dubai-bound flight on Sunday. Major General Motiur Rahman of the Bangladesh Army told reporters that the gunman died from injuries sustained during a commando operation. He said the hijacker identified as Mahadi, 25, had a pistol with him. The suspect was aggressive and reluctant to respond to the calls for negotiation, General Rahman added. Shortly after the 8-minute commando operation ended, a senior Bangladesh Air Force official said the man who tried to hijack the plane flying from Dhaka to Dubai was arrested. An official of the Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) of the Bangladesh Army told Xinhua in a phone message that all passengers were evacuated safely from the flight BG147. According to officials, the flight of the national flag carrier made an emergency landing at the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram, some 242 km southeast of the capital Dhaka at about 5:40 p.m. local time (1140 GMT), hours after it took off from Dhaka. Air Vice Marshal Muhammad Mafidur Rahman of Bangladesh Air Force, who led the commando operation, told journalists that there were 142 passengers, five cabin crew and two pilots on board the Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Naim Hassan said the suspect, who seemed a bit mentally imbalanced, told the pilot that he had an issue with his wife that he wanted to tell the country's prime minister Hassan said commandos from the Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Air Force conducted the operation from 7:17 p.m. to 7:25 p.m. local time and established full control over the entire situation. He said the operation was conducted on prime minister's orders. According to the CAAB chairman, the suspect appeared to be a Bangladeshi man who was pulled out in an injured state. The airport was opened at 8:00 p.m. local time and the plane has been put under cordon on the tarmac. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 00:55:48|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close JUBA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's main opposition group, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO or SPLM/A-IO), on Sunday rejected a merger with the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), headed by President Silva Kiir, despite having been signatory to a 2015 reunification agreement. Nathaniel Oyet Pierino, representative of the SPLM-IO at the National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC), said the opposition has decided to be independent of the SPLM, since it has firmly built political structures to contest leadership in the east African country. "SPLM/A-IO is already a full-fledged political organization. It's a political party in itself. Maybe you are talking about a name (SPLM) only, but we have structures from the top to the bottom... the political and military structure which makes us a movement," Oyet said. "We are already a party. So we don't see any urgency or any requirement that is necessitating to unify the SPLM," he told Xinhua in an interview in Juba. Oyet said the reunification agreement signed in 2015 in Arusha, Tanzania, by the SPLM, SPLM-IO and the Former Political Detainees (FDs), a group of opposition members who did not take up arms during outbreak of violence in December 2013, is not priority as it has been overtaken by events such as the July 2016 renewed violence. "We feel the spirit of Arusha has been overtaken by all these events and now we have a new agreement. It's not a priority now that we should unite as SPLM. We look at it as political maneuver to circumvent the implementation of the peace agreement," said Oyet. Michael Makuei Lueth, minister of information and broadcasting, said last week progress has been made in reunification of the SPLM party, with the former political detainees leaving SPLM-IO led by Riek Machar as the only group outside the pact. "The agreement that we signed in 2015 was within the overall spirit that these factions of SPLM would work together again but then they did not accept," Makuei said. Oyet said that if unification was to occur, it would violate the revitalized peace agreement signed late September 2018 in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. "To suggest that unifying the SPLM to be one, then the government of national unity would cease to exist. This goes contrary to the spirit of the (Addis Ababa) agreement," he said. Oyet said his party is more than ready to contest the 2022 elections after the end of the three-year transitional period, which starts in May. "We are going to participate in elections at all levels," he said. Oyet said his party remains committed to the peace implementation, having returned to the capital with all its political and military structures. "The implementation is behind schedule. We have not determined the number of states and their boundaries, not yet worked out devolution of power and resources. We have not united the army, and the incorporation of the peace agreement into the constitution is still underway," he said. So far only 25 percent of the work required during the pre-transitional period has been undertaken, Oyet said. He blamed the delay on the fact that the government and the international community have not yet released funds. "We expected funding to come from the government and also international partners, but this has not been done," Oyet said. "You cannot implement some of these provisions without it." He admitted that there are other aspects of implementation that do not need finances, like lifting of state of emergency and release of political detainees. South Sudan descended into civil war in late 2013, creating one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world. President Salva Kiir, his former deputy and arch rival Riek Machar, and several opposition groups signed a power-sharing deal in September 2018 in Addis Ababa to end the five-year-old conflict. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 00:15:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close LONDON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The vote by British lawmakers on the Brexit deal will be postponed again by March 12, Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Sunday. Speaking to reporters on the plane to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt for the European Union (EU)-Arab League (AL) summit on Sunday, May ruled out bringing the Brexit deal to Commons this week, local media said. May was quoted by the Guardian as saying: "My team will be back in Brussels on Tuesday. As a result of that, we won't bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week, but we will ensure that that happens by 12 March. But it's still within our grasp to leave the EU by March 29 and that is what we are planning to do." Her decision will come as a blow to opponents who planned to use this week's vote in the House of Commons to push for a delay to Britain's departure from the EU, or for a so-called People's Vote on her deal with Brussels. Although the EU-AL summit is not scheduled to discuss Brexit, May said she would take the opportunity to meet with leaders of EU member states in her quest to get changes to her deal. The new date for a meaningful date in the House of Commons will be just 17 days before Britain is scheduled to end its EU membership on March 29. The Guardian reported that May is expected to hold meetings with the European council president, Donald Tusk later on Sunday and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday in Egypt. In what has been a stormy week for British politics, 11 MPs, three Conservatives and seven from the main opposition Labour Party, have left their parties and formed an Independent Group of MPs in the House of Commons. Meanwhile in the latest development, three of her senior front bench ministers Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and David Gauke told the Daily Mail newspaper, they would support moves to extend Article 50, the mechanism that laid down Britain's departure date as March 29. They said their move was to avoid a "disastrous" no deal Brexit, unless a deal with Brussels is agreed within the next few days. Keir Starmer, Brexit spokesman for the main opposition Labour Party, attacked May's decision to delay the vote. He said in London: "This decision to further delay the meaningful vote is the height of irresponsibility and an admission of failure. "Theresa May is recklessly running down the clock in a desperate attempt to force MPs to choose between her deal and no deal. Parliament cannot stand by and allow this to happen." Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-25 00:05:42|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close VIENTIANE, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong arrived in Lao capital Vientiane on Sunday for a two-day visit at the invitation of his Lao counterpart Bounnhang Vorachith. During the meeting held after the welcome ceremony, both leaders highly valued bilateral relations and cooperation over the past years and discussed direction for future cooperation to lift the relations and cooperation between the two countries to new heights, the Lao News Agency (KPL) reported on Sunday. According to a joint statement, the two sides agreed to foster effective cooperation in economy, culture, education and public health among others. Also on Sunday, Trong and his delegation also met with Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and other Lao officials. Israeli Arab youths clash with policemen at Kfar Kanna village in north Israel on Nov. 9, 2014. (Xinhua File photo) TEHRAN, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday that the West has turned the Middle East into a "powder keg" through arms sales to the Arab countries in the region, Press TV reported. Over the past year alone, the West sold weapons worth 100 billion U.S. dollars to the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, said Zarif. "The weapons did not bring security to anyone," he added. The Iranian minister made the remarks in a foreign policy speech at the University of Tehran. Since the United States withdrew from the 2015 landmark Iranian nuclear deal last May, Iran has been under unprecedented sanctions from Washington. Iran has also repeatedly denied the West's criticism of its alleged "interfering" policies in the region. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 23:00:24|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close KHARTOUM, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's newly-appointed officials on Sunday took the constitutional oath before Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir at the Presidential Palace in the capital Khartoum. On Saturday, al-Bashir appointed Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf as first vice-president, and Mohamed Tahir Ella, former governor of Gezira State, as prime minister. Earlier, al-Bashir also appointed 18 military officers as governors of Sudanese states. Speaking at the oath-taking ceremony, al-Bashir called on the new governors to work to overcome the current circumstances in Sudan. Al-Bashir on Friday declared state of emergency all over Sudan for one year and dissolved all governments on the central and state levels, amid the national protests since Dec. 19 last year over the deteriorating economic conditions and price hikes of basic commodities. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 22:40:20|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MOGADISHU, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The United States military said on Sunday it conducted four airstrikes in southern Somalia on Saturday, killing two al-Shabab terrorists. The four airstrikes were conducted separately around Kunyow Barrow, Awdeegle, and Janaale, and eliminated checkpoints and facilities used by al-Shabab, the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement. No civilians were injured or killed in these airstrikes, the statement said. AFRICOM said those strikes complement its Somali partners' successes against al-Shabab, and are one component of its combined efforts to protect the Somali people from terrorists. "Somali security forces continue to effectively target al-Shabab forces in order to increase the span of governance of the Federal Government of Somalia," the statement said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 22:35:19|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BANGKOK, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Six people were killed and five injured when a van hit a tree on a highway in southern Thailand's Chumpon Province on Sunday. The accident happened at 11 a.m. local time when a passenger van carrying 10 Marine Department officials veered off a road after the left front tyre of the vehicle burst. The van plunged into a ditch and smashed against a tree. The driver, together with three officials were killed on the spot. The others were hospitalized and two were later pronounced dead. Five of the rest were seriously injured. The officials, all male between 42 and 58 years old, were returning from southern Thailand's Phuket where they helped dredge canals. The accident was under investigation. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 22:35:18|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of San Francisco residents and foreign tourists packed both sides of the streets in Chinatown on Saturday as the city kicked off an annual grand parade to mark the Chinese New Year. The parade, carrying on a 161-year-old tradition, is hailed as the biggest parade celebrating the lunar new year outside of Asia and one of the few remaining night illuminated parades in North America. It featured gorgeous floats, elaborate costumes, ferocious lions, exploding firecrackers, Chinese Kung Fu or martial arts, Chinese legendary figures such as the God of Wealth, as well as newly crowned USA Miss Chinatown for this year. Launched in the 1860s by the Chinese community in San Francisco, the parade has grown into the largest celebrations of Chinese cultural tradition outside Asia and an iconic annual event in the city. More than 100 groups and organizations, including officials, children, students, and even police and fire department officers, participated in the parade that entertained and delighted tens of thousands of people who attended the celebrations. "This parade has been on my bucket list for over 20 years and I'm finally getting to see it, and I'm loving it," said Scott Fadzem, a retired entrepreneur, who was waiting on the sidewalk. "What I'm seeing and what I know about Chinese culture isn't a lot, but a lot of smart kids coming through here. It's great to see that the culture is being honored," he said, referring to the children participating in the parade who he thinks might be future students of the U.S. elite Ivy League universities. He said he used to live near the place but has never made it to the parade. "So now I'm living back in California and I decided this was one of the things that had to go on the list for the year," said Fadzem, who has just moved back from Pennsylvania. Lysa De Thomas, a teacher with Merced Public Montessori, a middle school in Merced County in Central Valley of California which was about 177 km away, brought nine of her students to San Francisco for the event. She said her students have been taught Chinese language and culture, and watching the parade would be a special and an unforgettable experience for them. "What I love is the cultural exchange for my students because it's so unique and so different from a lot of the things that they've never experienced," she said. "They've all been to parades before, but they never been to a parade with so many different things and it's so exciting for them," De Thomas said. She said her students, who were wearing traditional Chinese costumes, were very excited to see all the things they've been studying and learning about for the last three weeks. "What we've done a lot is we've looked at the things that are similar to our culture and things that are different, so that we can learn to see the similarity between all people and be excited about the differences and enjoy them," said the middle school teacher who was sitting on the ground of the sidewalk with her students. "This is the age where they learn love and acceptance and tolerance," she said, referring to her students. The grand San Francisco parade to mark the Year of the Pig also blended the Western marching bands with performance of traditional stilts-walking done by players in traditional costumes, drawing applause and cheers. The procession wound its way through the oldest Chinatown in San Francisco, ending at the Columbus Avenue in downtown city, as San Francisco Mayor London Breed ignited a long string of firecrackers. The exploding firecrackers signaled the arrival of the lunar Chinese New Year with the spectators cheering and shouting, while the most-anticipated 288-foot-long (about 88-meter-long) Golden Dragon maneuvered by 180 men and women danced in the street, wishing good luck for everyone in the Year of the Pig. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 22:22:12|Editor: ZX Video Player Close A kid plays at the relocation community in Rongjiang County of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 24, 2019. Altogether 1.32 million people living in remote and poverty-stricken areas in southwest China's Guizhou Province have been so far relocated to more developed communities thanks to the government relocation program. According to the provincial plan for poverty elimination, a total of 1.88 million impoverished residents in Guizhou will be moved into new homes by the first half of 2019, consisting 15% of the amount of people in the national plan for poverty elimination during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). Alleviating poverty through relocation has been a "key drive" in the country's poverty reduction and the supply-side structural reform for the country during the past few years. China has set 2020 as the target to finish building a moderately prosperous society and eradicate poverty. (Xinhua/Liu Xu) Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 21:45:06|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tech giant Xiaomi on Sunday unveiled its smartphone with a 5G modem at a press conference here on the eve of the Mobile World Congress (MWC2019). With a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 system and Qualcomm's X50 5G modem, the new model Mi Mix 3 will be sold at 449 euros (around 510 U.S. dollars) and will be available from May in two colors "Onyx Black and Sapphire Blue", Xiaomi announced at the press conference. It also has a sliding front facing camera, as well as two cameras on the back, which allow users to shoot slow motion video at 960 frames per second. During the presentation, Xiaomi's Director of Product Management Donovan Sung used the device for a video call with one of the company's Spanish partners, Orange Spain, in what was the first ever video call made publically using a Xiaomi 5G device. Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon delivered a speech at the event, in which he insisted that 5G networks, were no longer the future but the present of mobile communications. "5G is here. Not in 2020, not in late 2020, it's here right now in 2019. 2019 is the year of 5G," he claimed, hinting that the launch of 5G devices will be quickly followed by the rollout of commercial 5G services by the second half of 2019. "5G will improve substantially how we think about our phones. Everything will get better," said Amon, adding that the power of the cloud for every app and service will thus be unleashed. Sunday's event also saw the launch of another Xiaomi product, the Mi LED Smart Bulb, which is a connected light bulb that allows users to control light color and brightness from their phones. Xiaomi now has around 2,000 branded products and 224 million clients with its products available in many Asian markets and some European markets, such as Spain, Britain, France and Italy, according to Xiaomi. The Mobile World Congress (MWC2019) will open in Barcelona on Monday, with around 110,000 visitors being expected. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 20:24:52|Editor: mmm Video Player Close A senior police officer lays a floral wreath on the coffin of a police officer during the wreath-laying ceremony in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, Feb. 24, 2019. A senior police officer was killed and two troopers including an army officer were wounded Sunday in an ongoing gunfight with militants in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said. The gunfight broke out at village Turigam in Kulgam district, about 69 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. (Xinhua/Javed Dar) SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A senior police officer was killed and two troopers including an army officer were wounded Sunday in an ongoing gunfight with militants in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said. The gunfight broke out at village Turigam in Kulgam district, about 69 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. "A police officer of the rank of deputy superintendent was killed today in an ongoing gunfight with militants here," a police official posted in Kulgam told Xinhua. "Besides this, two troopers including an officer of the rank of major were wounded fighting the militants." The wounded troopers have been removed to hospital. The casualty on the side of militants was not immediately known. According to police, the government forces cordoned off the village on specific intelligence information suggesting presence of two to three militants. A guerilla war is going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in the region since 1989. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 20:19:51|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A two-dimensional form of carbon known as graphene might one day help power space exploration into the unknown universe, say Chinese space engineers. Graphene, which is just one atom thick, could enable light-powered propulsion technology leading to fuel-free spacecraft. Traditional spacecraft depend on chemical propellants, and the amount they carry determines how far they can fly, said Song Shengju, the research leader at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. More than 80 percent of the takeoff weight of current carrier rockets is chemical propellants. If spacecraft could travel without fuel, humans could explore much farther into deep space, Song said. Scientists in other countries have been studying light-powered propulsion technology. There are about 400 billion stars in the galaxy, and their light could become an inexhaustible energy source. Scientists in Europe, the United States and Japan are developing spacecraft with solar sails made with polyimide film, but the thrust is relatively weak, said Song. Chinese researchers are developing sails with graphene, one of the strongest and thinnest known materials, which can withstand temperatures over 800 degrees centigrade. Previous research conducted by Professor Chen Yongsheng, of Nankai University, showed graphene can be driven by various light sources including sunlight, and the thrust generated is 1,000 times higher than that of polyimide film in vacuum conditions. "It's just the beginning. We need to conduct further research on the mechanisms and properties of the graphene and light-powered spacecraft. If we make breakthroughs in this technology, it would facilitate exploration to the unknown universe," Song said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 19:49:45|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close GABORONE, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Botswana's environmental experts said here Saturday at a mini-conference on elephant protection that the reintroduction of trophy hunting will kill its tourism sector, from which Botswana has been profiting. In 2014, Botswana's former President Seretse Khama Ian Khama instituted a ban on wildlife hunting to deal with poaching. Four years later in mid 2018, Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi set up a cabinet sub-committee on the hunting ban to discuss the embargo. According to the constitution of Botswana, a president serves for two five-year terms and hands over the power to his or her deputy one year before the end of duty. Masisi assumed the country's leadership just over 18 months before the country's national elections scheduled for October 2019. Facing the October election, Masisi has to weigh the pros and cons between lifting the hunting ban to win votes and the impact it may have on Botswana's international reputation. Last week, Masisi received a hunting report from the hunting ban sub-committee, which recommended lifting the hunting ban, developing a legal framework for the hunting industry, managing the elephant population within historic range, and placing human-wildlife fences in hotspot areas. "Trophy hunting will obviously put a dent on Botswana's potential to grow the tourist arrivals," said Morris Moalosi, an independent environmentalist, adding that many tourists have been attracted by "our flora and fauna especially in the northwestern part of the country." "There will be an open outcry around the world. As soon as Botswana stopped issuing hunting licenses, it became the most popular tourist destination in Africa. My worry is that the reintroduction of hunting licenses will knock down the big picture," said Colin Bell, a photographic safari operator. Tourism is Botswana's second largest source of foreign income after diamond mining. It has 130,000 elephants, the largest elephant population in Africa, many of which are shared with Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola and Zambia. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 19:44:42|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A booby-trapped motorcycle went off Sunday in the rebel-held Idlib city in northwestern Syria, killing one, a war monitor reported. The explosion took place at the al-Sa'a square in Idlib, injuring many people, some are in critical condition, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UK-based watchdog group said the explosion is the latest in a string of bombings in Idlib where lawlessness is rampant. On Feb. 18, two explosions rocked Idlib, killing and wounding tens of people, according to the Observatory. On Jan. 30, two bombings rocked Idlib committed by a female suicide bomber, leaving unknown losses. It's worth noting that Idlib is controlled by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is the umbrella group of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front. Idlib is the last major rebel stronghold in Syria and the Syrian government stressed that it will restore it from the HTS. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 19:39:41|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close TEHRAN, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran's navy fired a cruise missile from the indigenous submarine in ongoing naval drills on Sunday. In a footage aired from the state TV, a Ghadir-class submarine fired an anti-surface cruise missile on the third day of naval exercise. The Ghadir-class submarines are basically designed to cruise within the shallow waters of the Gulf to protect Iran's maritime borders. It is the first time that Iran launches a missile from a submarine at the depth of the sea, state TV reported on Sunday. The report did not expand on the specifications of the cruise missile. According to Tasnim news agency, the Iranian experts had configured the cruise missile to be fired from a great depth in the sea. Iran kicked off the naval exercise, code-named "Velayat 97," on Friday. It is held in an area of 2 million square kilometers, from the Strait of Hormuz to the Sea of Oman and the northern parts of the Indian Ocean. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 19:14:32|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close WELLINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Health Minister David Clark is asking New Zealanders to listen up to a national campaign, encouraging people to get tested for hepatitis C so that those who have the disease can be cured. The Hepatitis Foundation of New Zealand, the Health Promotion Agency and the Ministry of Health will jointly launch a campaign called "Get Hep C Tested" starting on Monday to raise awareness and encourage more people to get tested and treated. About 50,000 people in New Zealand have the chronic liver infection, Clark said on Sunday, adding that "The problem is almost half of them don't know it." Clark said hepatitis C can lead to liver cancer, and people can get infected in many ways such as sharing tattoo gear or needles. "If you have ever injected drugs, even just once a long time ago, you should get tested," he said, adding that the Pharmaceutical Management Agency this month began funding a new hepatitis C treatment, Maviret, which has the potential to cure more than 99 percent of cases. "The biggest issue now is finding those people who don't know they have the disease so we can treat them, and that's why this campaign is so timely," Clark said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 18:29:26|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close Senegalese voters wait outside a polling station to vote in Dakar, Senegal on Feb. 24, 2019. Senegalese presidential election started Sunday at 08:00 local time (08:00 GMT) and 6.68 million registered voters are expected to cast their ballots throughout the country and abroad. Contesting for the presidential seat are incumbent president Macky Sall, former prime minister Idrissa Seck, former foreign minister Madicke Niang, academician Issa Fall, and former tax inspector Ousmane Sonko. Seck is seen by local media as the main challenger to Sall. A total of 15,397 polling stations are opened to the Senegalese voters at home, and 746 for those overseas. (Xinhua/Xing Jianqiao) DAKAR, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Senegalese presidential election started Sunday at 08:00 local time (08:00 GMT) and 6.68 million registered voters are expected to cast their ballots throughout the country and abroad. Contesting for the presidential seat are incumbent president Macky Sall, former prime minister Idrissa Seck, former foreign minister Madicke Niang, academician Issa Fall, and former tax inspector Ousmane Sonko. Seck is seen by local media as the main challenger to Sall. A total of 15,397 polling stations are opened to the Senegalese voters at home, and 746 for those overseas. Across the country, 10,000 policemen are deployed to ensure security, with about 5,000 observers from the European Union, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, and local civil society organizations. In 2012, Sall won the second round of the presidential election over then president Abdoulaye Wade, becoming the fourth Senegalese president since independence. If no candidate can obtain over 50 percent of the vote during the first round, a second round will be held with the top two candidates. According to officials, polling stations are scheduled to close at 18:00 local time (18:00 GMT), but voters will be allowed to vote if waiting time exceeds the closing time. This year's presidential winner will start a reduced term of five years, after a 2016 referendum that cut the presidential term from seven years. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 17:24:11|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close Moldovan President Igor Dodon speaks to the media after voting at a polling station in Chisinau, capital of Moldova on Feb. 24, 2019. Almost 3 million voters of the Republic of Moldova are called on Sunday to elect the new parliament in a poll held simultaneously with a referendum on the reduction of the number of deputies. For the first time in the history of the country, the parliamentary elections take place on the basis of the mixed voting system, in which the deputies are elected simultaneously in a single national constituency and in 51 uninominal constituencies. (Xinhua) BUCHAREST, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Almost 3 million voters of the Republic of Moldova are called on Sunday to elect the new parliament in a poll held simultaneously with a referendum on the reduction of the number of deputies. For the first time in the history of the country, the parliamentary elections take place on the basis of the mixed voting system, in which the deputies are elected simultaneously in a single national constituency and in 51 uninominal constituencies. Thus, 50 lawmakers will be elected on party lists and the other 51 will be elected in the uninominal constituencies. Also on Sunday, the voters will participate in a consultative referendum to say whether they agree to cut the number of deputies from 101 to 61 and whether they back the idea that the people can dismiss lawmakers, if they fail to fulfill their duties. As many as 14 political parties and an electoral bloc compete in the current poll. In order to enter parliament, the parties must exceed 6 percent of the total votes and the electoral blocs 8 percent. Over 2,100 polling stations will be opened Sunday between 7:00 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and 9:00 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) in 51 constituencies in the country and over 120 stations abroad. The overall number of voters registered in the State Register of Voters is 3.2 million citizens, of whom only 2.8 million are assigned in administrative and territorial units. The parliamentary elections in Moldova will be monitored by over 4,000 national and international observers, and more than 8,000 policemen will be mobilized on the election day. According to the polls, the Party of Socialists, which favors friendlier ties with Russia, is credited with the most votes, followed by the center-right electoral bloc "NOW," which brings together two parties favoring the European Union and NATO membership, and the Democratic Party, which leads the current pro-Western governing coalition. The Sor party of Mayor Ilan Sor would be the last party to pass the threshold of the parliament. The latest estimates released Tuesday by the Intelligent Data Company showed that the Socialists would win 47 seats in total, followed by the NOW with 26 seats, the Democrats with 24 mandates and Sor 4 mandates. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 17:09:04|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller said in a court filing that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort does not deserve leniency. According to a court filing released Saturday, Mueller stated that "Nothing about Manafort's upbringing, schooling, legal education, or family and financial circumstances mitigates his criminality." "For over a decade, Manafort repeatedly and brazenly violated the law, his crimes continued up through the time he was first indicted in October 2017 and remarkably went unabated even after indictment," reads the document. "Manafort engaged in witness tampering while on bail and, even after he was caught for engaging in that scheme, Manafort committed the additional crimes of perjury and making false statements after making his guilty pleas herein," it says. Manafort joined Trump's campaign team in March 2016 and spent three months as Trump's campaign chairman until mid-August of that year. He was convicted in a Virginian federal court trial on charges of tax and bank fraud last year and pleaded guilty in Washington D.C. on others. The charges largely stem from his working for a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine years before the 2016 U.S. elections. They do not directly address any alleged collusion between Trump associates or officials and the Russian government, which the Mueller team has been investigating since May 2017. Trump has repeatedly attacked the Mueller probe as a "rigged witch hunt." Manafort was scheduled to be sentenced in Washington D.C. on March 13. Local media said he was also awaiting a sentencing date in Virginia. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 17:09:03|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close ACCRA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's ex-president John Dramani Mahama has become the leader of the country's largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), after overwhelmingly winning a vote on Saturday. Mahama, who won 95.24 percent of all valid votes cast, will lead the NDC in next year's general election. Out of 224,184 valid votes cast, the ex-president got 213,487, while his closest rival, Joshua Alabi, a former University rector, polled 1.52 percent with 3,404 votes, according to results declared by the Electoral Commission early Sunday. Second deputy speaker of parliament, Alban Kingsford Bagbin, came third with 1.52 percent, polling 2,301 votes. "Tonight, I want to serve notice to Ghana that from the outcome of this election, the NDC is strong; the NDC is united; the NDC is poised for victory in 2020," Mahama told supporters in the early hours of Sunday at the party headquarters. "Nothing, absolutely nothing can stop our march towards Flagstaff House (the seat of government)," he said. Mahama urged party supporters to close their ranks and shun the seed of discord their political opponents try to sow among them. Ghana is scheduled to go to the polls in December next year. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo might be seeking reelection, with Mahama pursuing a comeback after losing the 2016 election to Akufo-Addo. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 16:58:59|Editor: ZX Video Player Close SHANGHAI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Belgian comics series "The Adventures of Tintin," opened its first flagship theme shop in Shanghai this week after the Chinese Lunar New Year. Located in central Shanghai, the shop sells more than 1,000 products surrounding the iconic figure in over 50 categories. Even though the shop is still in its trial operation, Tintin fans spread the news through social networks and swarmed into the shop over the weekend. "I've loved Tintin ever since I first read it as a kid, and I really admire his colorful life traveling around the world," said Zhang Huiying, a Tintin fan in Shanghai. "I bought some ornaments and postcards. Tintin has accompanied me for many years, and I wish his readers would love him as always." "Tintin fans bought up all the limited-edition sculptures of Tintin with a suitcase with Shanghai and his dog Snowy printed on it," said Philippe Wang, a representative of China of Moulinsart, intellectual property owner of "The Adventures of Tintin." "People are coming from Beijing and Hangzhou in groups this weekend just to visit our shop," said Wang. To meet more customer demands, Wang said an official online Tintin shop will open soon, and a Tintin exhibition in China is in preparation. In 1934, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, known by his pen name Herge and as "the father of Tintin," met with Zhang Chongren, then a Shanghai architectural student in Belgium, to create his story "The Blue Lotus," which took place in the metropolis. The character "Chang Chong-Chen" was based on Zhang and is the only character with a real-world origin in "The Adventures of Tintin." Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 15:38:49|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will create unprecedented opportunities for a wide range of sectors that companies should not miss, according to global consultancy KPMG. The size, economic potential and interconnectivity of the area will create opportunities for sectors including infrastructure, financial services, capital markets and technology, KPMG said in a newsletter. To fully take advantage of these opportunities, enterprises should carefully assess the potential impacts of the Greater Bay Area integration and develop comprehensive business policies based on the connectivity of the area and flows of goods, talent and resources within it. "The Greater Bay Area is an opportunity not to be missed by enterprises seeking penetration into the Chinese market or to having establishments here," the firm said. China has unveiled the outline development plan for the Greater Bay Area, aiming to build it into a role model of high-quality development, an international first-class bay area and a world-class city cluster. The bay area consists of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region and nine cities in Guangdong Province, with a combined population of about 70 million at the end of 2017 and a gross domestic product of about 10 trillion yuan (1.48 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2017. The influence of the Greater Bay Area may extend beyond the Pearl River Delta to cover its neighboring provincial-level areas including Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Hainan, Guizhou and Yunnan, KPMG said, adding that the area will act as a catalyst to further drive opening-up of China's economy and development of the Belt and Road Initiative. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 15:38:49|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A housewarming party inside the giant panda house at Smithsonian's National Zoo here on Saturday brought joy and cheer to visitors, fueling a fresh round of "panda fever" in the U.S. capital. Genevieve Gwiazda and her son, Zach, were watching Bei Bei, a three-year-old male giant panda, chomping on bamboo and tumbling in the grass, as they were waiting for the start of the party celebrating the completion of the giant panda house's new visitor exhibit. Zach, from Baltimore, state of Maryland, told Xinhua that he has become a giant panda lover since he first visited the zoo and saw giant pandas with his family years ago. "I just love seeing the pandas," said the fifth-grader, who watches them almost everyday through the zoo's panda cam. "I like their black-and-white color on them." The exhibit Zach and his mother were about to visit, whose update began late last year, aims to help people learn more about giant pandas, offering information about the ecology, history, reproduction, conservation and care of these unique bears, with interactive games and activities, according to the zoo. New photos and videos also give visitors a behind-the-scenes glimpse of life at the zoo's giant panda habitat. "We are excited to see it all," Zach's mother said. Steven Monfort, the zoo's director, welcomed hundreds of visitors to the giant panda house and the new exhibit. "So much has changed for giant pandas, for the better, in the past decade," Monfort said. "This updated exhibit is really inspiring because it shows how much of a difference we can make with science and cooperation." Minister Xu Xueyuan of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, which co-hosted the event with the zoo, said the scale of the housewarming shows how much China's giant pandas are adored in the United States. Dubbed China's "national treasure," giant pandas mainly live in southwest China's Sichuan Province as well as neighboring Shaanxi and Gansu. "They are also charming, tolerant, and peace-loving, representing many values of China itself, and are loved by people all over the world," Xu said. Besides Bei Bei, at the zoo's David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat also live his parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian. As part of Saturday's event, all of them, as well as red pandas there, received a frozen treat, made of diluted apple juice, grape juice, leaf-eater biscuit puree, bamboo stalks and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Mei Xiang, a female, and Tian Tian, a male, arrived in Washington D.C. in late 2000 as the zoo's second pair of giant pandas. Ever since then, the pair has given birth to three cubs. Bei Bei is now the only panda offspring in the zoo after his elder brother, Tai Shan, and his elder sister, Bao Bao, moved to China, respectively in 2010 and early 2017, as per an agreement between China and the United States. All the giant pandas at the U.S. national zoo are "doing very well" and "very healthy," Nicole McCorkle, a giant panda keeper, told Xinhua. Bei Bei, who's almost as large as his mother and weighs 106 kilograms, is "growing extremely well," she added. "He's always been a kind of a big baby, a little bit ahead on the growth curve." The zoo, part of the world-renowned museum and research complex Smithsonian Institution, received its first pair of giant pandas, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing, in 1972, which were given by the Chinese government as a gift to commemorate the groundbreaking progress made with the U.S. side in terms of their ties that year. Since then, the presence of giant pandas, whom Monfort called "true rock stars," has drawn countless fans from around the world to the zoo. According to spokesperson Devin Murphy, almost 80 percent of people who come to the zoo visit giant pandas. "They are extremely popular," she said. The facility was given "an unparalleled opportunity to study giant panda behavior, health and reproduction," which has contributed greatly to its conservation. The United States has been cooperating decades-long with the Chinese side in conservation of the giant panda, an epitome of symbolized cross-cultural collaboration between the two countries and also another theme of Saturday's celebration. "Together with our Chinese partners, we have been collaborating on creating new knowledge about the giant panda biology, ecology, working together to help save giant pandas from extinction," Monfort said. "We're very proud of the history of our partnership." Partly thanks to that, the endangered status of giant pandas has been furthered eased. The latest census in 2014 found there were 1,864 giant pandas alive in the wild, up from 1,114 decades ago. The number of pandas bred in captivity reached 548 globally as of last November, according to China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration. Giant pandas, which "have become the most popular envoys of friendship, bringing laughter and joy to millions of Americans," are "not only beneficiaries of the China-U.S. relationship, but also the best symbols of the win-win exchanges and cooperation between the two sides," Xu added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 15:33:48|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close CANBERRA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison Sunday signed off on a 1.43-billion-Australian dollar (1.01 billion U.S. dollars) deal to open the island state of Tasmania to the world. Morrison and Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman signed the 10-year "Hobart City Deal," paving the way for international flights to and from the state to begin in 2020. Of the funding, 82.3 million Australian dollars (58.6 million U.S. dollars) will be spent on border security at the Hobart Airport including customs, immigration, bio-security and reinstating an Australian Federal Police (AFP) presence. "Our Hobart City Deal will open the city and Tasmania up for locals and for the world," Morrison told reporters. "The $1.43 billion investment going into the Hobart City Deal is about driving investment into the city to make it an even better place to live and work, but also to drive benefits well beyond Hobart for all Tasmanians, whether in the north or the south, especially through the investment in the airport." In addition to the airport package, more than 450 million Australian dollars (320.5 million U.S. dollars) will be spent on transforming Macquarie Point into an Antarctic and science hub and 576 million Australian dollars (410 million U.S. dollars) has been set aside for "congestion-busting" transport commitments. "With Hobart the gateway to Eastern Antarctica, this funding package will create new jobs in Tasmania and build on our world leading research capacity," Australia's Minister for the Environment Melissa Price said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 15:13:45|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The reindeer population in Mongolia reached 2,396 at the end of 2018, increasing by 167 heads compared to the previous year, the country's National Statistics Office (NSO) said Sunday. There were more than 2,000 reindeer in Mongolia during the 1970s. However, the number dropped to 926 at the end of 2007, since reindeer herders had to butcher and sell their reindeer due to the lack of sustainable income sources, bringing the animal to the brink of extinction. According to the NSO, the government of Mongolia has taken measures to improve the herders' living standards by promoting tourism, bringing the number of reindeer back to 2,000 in 2016, since which the reindeer population has been growing continuously. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 14:43:36|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close Photo taken on Feb. 24, 2019 shows the seized heroin in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan police on Sunday seized the largest haul of heroin discovered in the island country from a car park in Kollupitiya of capital Colombo, local media reports said. (Xinhua/Ajith Perera) COLOMBO, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan police on Sunday seized the largest haul of heroin discovered in the island country from a car park in Kollupitiya, in capital Colombo, local media reports said. According to the police, a total of 294 kilograms and 490 grams of heroin were nabbed from two white vans, parked in the car park of a shopping mall in a joint raid conducted by the Police Narcotics Bureau together with the Police Special Task Force(STF). Police said the drugs are valued at an estimated 16.2 million U.S. dollars. The haul of drugs had been packed in 272 parcels and were found inside 10 bags. Two suspects, aged 43 and 32 were taken into police custody. Investigating officers suspected that the heroin haul was smuggled into the country via sea route and are conducting further investigations. The suspects will be taken before a local court later on Sunday. In a message on his official twitter account, President Maithripala Sirisena congratulated the Police STF and Police Narcotics Bureau for seizing the largest haul of heroin and honored them for protecting the younger generation. Sri Lankan investigators, on instructions of President Sirisena, have since January launched a severe crackdown on drug dealers and smugglers, with several arrests being made within the past two months. Earlier this month, Sirisena said he will impose the death penalty on convicted drug traffickers within the next two months after he vowed to free the country from the drug menace by 2020. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 14:18:31|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) has cautioned against unfounded accusations against its Chinese-American faculty and researchers for alleged spying in academic activities. In a statement released this week, UC Berkeley said it has received several reports of negative comments targeting its Chinese-American faculty and researchers with collaborative ties with Chinese companies or institutions for allegedly being "acting as spies or otherwise working at odds with the interests of the United States." The renowned U.S. university noted that it has also received similar hostile reports about Iranian-American faculty and individuals having "academic or personal ties to the Middle East." "Comments of this sort breed hurt and distrust, discriminate against members of our community, and run counter to our well-established Principles of Community," it said. "It is critical that we not become any less welcoming to students, staff, faculty, visiting scholars, and other members of our community who come from those countries, or for whom those countries are an ancestral home," it said. The university reaffirmed its support for building an inclusive and open international community for people from all over the world. "As California's own dark history teaches us, an automatic suspicion of people based on their national origin can lead to terrible injustices," UC Berkeley warned. It stressed that its faculty and students normally do not work with sensitive technological secrets or sensitive knowledge, citing a UC policy established since the 1930s that UC campuses "will not engage in any research whose results cannot be openly and publicly disseminated." Some U.S. media and politicians in the past months played up allegations of foreign spying in the country, including intelligence gathering on U.S. campuses. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 14:13:30|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MANILA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The governor of the country's central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Phlipinas (BSP), and the chairman of the Monetary Board (MB) Nestor Espenilla died on Saturday at 60 years old, according to a statement of the MB on Sunday. The board said it is deeply saddened to announce that Espenilla peacefully passed away surrounded by members of his family. Espenilla had been undergoing treatment for cancer for more than a year, the MB, the highest policy making body of the BSP. Espenilla was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte on July 3, 2017. He concurrently served as ex-officio Chairman of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) and the Financial Stability Coordination Council (FSCC). "Under his leadership, the BSP continued to pursue major reforms under the theme Continuity Plus Plus covering monetary and financial policies, as well as the BSP organizational structure. He also spearheaded the digitalization of the retail payment system in the country for a more inclusive and efficient financial system," the board said. During his tenure, the board said the amendments to the BSP charter were finally passed, strengthening the capability of the central bank to deliver its mandate to promote price and financial stability and to foster a safe, efficient and inclusive payment system. In a special meeting held after Espenilla's death late Saturday, the Monetary Board designated Deputy Governor Almasara Cyd Tuano-Amador as BSP officer-in-charge effective immediately until such time that Duterte shall have designated an OIC or appointed a successor. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 13:33:23|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Police in Pakistan's northwest Peshawar city have arrested 77 drug dealers who allegedly involved in peddling drugs to educational institutions, police said late Saturday. Senior Superintendent of Police Zahoor Afridi told media that police conducted a crackdown and arrested the 77 drug peddlers who were supplying ice, slang for addictive drug crystal methamphetamine, to the students and other people in the vicinity of universities and colleges in Peshawar, the capital of the country's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The officer said that of those detained, nine had been arrested near Abasyn University and Government College in Peshawar while others were detained from areas adjacent to the several other institutions. "Over six kilograms of ice drug was recovered from them, which had a value of millions of rupees," the police official said. According to police, the majority of the arrested peddlers were detained earlier and had served in jails, but they were released due to lack of strict punishment in the local laws. However, police said a law is being drafted to increase the punishment in the sale and use of the crystal methamphetamine. The Pakistani government has been running a campaign against the drugs affecting the students for the last couple of months. In December last year, Pakistani Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi alarmed the society, educational institutions and parents by saying that a big number of students in major cities were addicted to drugs especially to crystal methamphetamine. "On the directives of the prime minister to counter the upward trend of drugs among students, the Interior Ministry has come up with an effective strategy aimed at not sparing anyone pushing drugs and destroying the youth's future," the minister said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 13:23:21|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close CARACAS/BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro vowed to devote his life "to the defense of the country," as countries including Cuba and Bolivia reiterated their support for the Venezuelan government. On Saturday, which marks one month after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the "interim president," Maduro said he is "tougher than ever" to continue taking the country's reins before tens of thousands of Venezuelans gathering in central Caracas. He said he would be "tough, and standing, governing this country now and for many years, facing destiny, with the reins in hand." He also said he would not back down and would defend the country from any attack with his life, if necessary. "My life is devoted to the defense of the country, in whatever circumstance I will never bend, I will never give up," Maduro said. On the same day, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel reaffirmed his country's support for Venezuela's ruling party, saying Venezuela is "not alone." The Communist Party of Cuba has called for international mobilization to prevent a war in Venezuela, denouncing in a statement the "escalation of U.S. pressures and actions." In Bolivia, President Evo Morales also warned that any intervention in Venezuela "will only bring war." "Our Latin American brothers cannot be complicit to a military intervention. Defending Venezuela is defending the sovereignty of Latin America," Morales tweeted. Their remarks were made amid an aid standoff in which the United States and other countries in the region, in coordination with the Venezuelan opposition, declared a plan to deliver humanitarian aid to Venezuela, which was rejected by the Venezuelan government, fearing that it might be the first step toward a foreign invasion. Maduro announced severance of relations with Colombia on Saturday, asking its embassy staff to "leave within 24 hours." Three bridges serves as the most important border crossings between Venezuela and Colombia were closed a day before. Venezuela also sealed off the country's border with Brazil and suspended aerial and maritime communications with the neighboring islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official said that the United States and its allies could upgrade sanctions on Venezuela if the aid is not allowed to pass. The White House said Thursday that the U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Colombia on behalf of President Donald Trump on Monday to voice support for Guaido. Pence will attend a meeting of the Lima Group in Colombia where members will discuss the situation in Venezuela. The Lima Group, comprised of 13 Latin American countries and Canada, is a multilateral body established in August 2017 to focus on Venezuela's situation. Some members of the group recognized Guaido as the country's rightful interim president. The opposition leader declared himself the "interim president" on Jan. 23 and was immediately recognized by Washington. In response, Maduro announced he was severing diplomatic and political ties with the United States, ordering all U.S. diplomatic and consular personnel to leave Venezuela. Maduro has accused Washington of orchestrating a coup d'etat in order to install a puppet regime in Venezuela. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 13:23:21|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Saturday condemned the attack against peacekeepers of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in the area of Siby. "The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims, as well as to Guinea and to MINUSMA," read a UNSC press statement. "They stressed that involvement in planning, directing, sponsoring or conducting attacks against MINUSMA peacekeepers constitutes a basis for sanctions designations pursuant to UNSC resolutions." "The members of the Security Council expressed their concern about the security situation in Mali and the transnational dimension of the terrorist threat in the Sahel region," said the statement, adding that "these heinous acts will not undermine their determination to continue to support the peace and reconciliation process in Mali." The peacekeepers were reportedly in a rental vehicle on their way to return to Guinea when they were stopped some 44 km southwest of Bamako on Friday night, MINUSMA said. Three peacekeepers were killed in the attack. UN peacekeepers and French forces are stationed in central and northern Mali to combat well-armed jihadist groups with links to al-Qaida and Islamic State seen as threatening security across Africa's Sahel region. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 13:08:20|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close Image provided by Venezuela's Presidency shows President Nicolas Maduro attends a pro-government rally in Caracas, capital of Venezuela, on Feb. 23, 2019. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Saturday severance of diplomatic and political relations with neighboring Colombia, following the latter one's support for Venezuela's right-wing opposition and military defectors. "I have decided to break off all types of political and diplomatic ties with the fascist government of Colombia," Maduro told a pro-government rally in Caracas. (Xinhua/Venezuelan Presidential Office) CARACAS, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Saturday the severance of his country's diplomatic and political relations with neighboring Colombia, following the latter one's support for Venezuela's opposition and military defectors. "I have decided to break off all types of political and diplomatic ties with the fascist government of Colombia," Maduro told a pro-government rally in Caracas. Colombia's embassy staff must "leave within 24 hours," he added. Colombian President Ivan Duque has repeatedly expressed his administration's support for the opposition and criticized Maduro's government. "Patience has run out. ... We cannot continue to put up with Colombian territory being used for an attack against Venezuela," said Maduro. Maduro ordered the "immediate return of all diplomatic and consular personnel in Colombia," according to a statement issued later by Venezuela's foreign ministry, which stated that "it was the Colombian government that has forced this lamentable situation." The statement also said the ministry will offer all the means necessary for compliance by the Colombian diplomatic and consular personnel. The Venezuelan government argued that the breaking off of relations was due to violation of "practically all the principles and resolutions of the Charter of the United Nations." The Colombian government later on Saturday ordered the return of its diplomatic officials in Venezuela following the severance of diplomatic and political ties between the two countries. "Colombia does not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro; Colombia recognizes president (in charge) Juan Guaido," and Colombia is "grateful for his (Guaido's) invitation for Colombian diplomatic and consular officials to remain in Venezuelan territory," the Colombian foreign ministry said in a statement. "However, in order to safeguard the life and integrity of the Colombian officials, they will make their return to Colombia as soon as possible," the statement added. Venezuela closed its key border crossings with Colombia and Brazil after the United States and other countries in the region, in coordination with the Venezuelan opposition, declared their plan to deliver aid into Venezuela, which is seen as a possible first step toward a foreign invasion. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 12:58:17|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Afghan special forces have killed two Taliban militants, including a Taliban shadow district chief, in eastern province of Nangarhar, provincial government said on Sunday. "Special Operation Forces of National Security Directorate (NDS) conducted an operation to arrest a Taliban local leader named Shir Zaman in Muhmand Dara district Saturday night. Upon arrival of the security forces, the militants engaged with the troops, leading to armed clashes," the government said in a statement. Shir Zaman, who served as shadow Taliban chief of neighboring Lal Pur district, was killed along with one of his subordinates during the exchanges of fire, the statement said. The NDS is the country's primary intelligence agency. Two armed militants were arrested by the security forces and identity and linkages of the arrestees are being investigated, the statement added. The security forces and civilians have not suffered any damage in the stand-off, the statement said, adding amount of weapons, ammunition and narcotic drugs were destroyed after the raid. Afghan security forces, backed by the NATO-led coalition troops, have increased ground and air offensives against militants within the past months as the Taliban militant group has been attempting to take territory and consolidate its positions during the winter in the mountainous country. The militant group has not made a comment on the report so far. News Unvaccinated UAE residents urged not to travel abroad to avoid exposure to COVID-19 variants The health experts said, We do not recommend travel for those who have not received the Covid-19 vaccine or who have not completed the doses of the vaccine, for fear of further exposure to the disease and its complications. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 12:33:12|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Afghan special forces have killed two Taliban militants, including a Taliban shadow district chief, in eastern province of Nangarhar, provincial government said Sunday. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 11:38:06|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday condemned the attack against members of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in the area of Siby that resulted in the death of three peacekeepers from Guinea and the injury of several others. "The secretary-general extends his deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wishes a swift recovery to the injured. He also expresses his solidarity with the people and government of Guinea," his spokesman said. "He cautions that any attack against United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime and calls on the Malian authorities to spare no effort in identifying and swiftly bringing to justice the perpetrators of this attack." "The secretary-general reiterates the determination of MINUSMA to continue implementing its mandate in support of the people and government of Mali in their quest for peace," the spokesman added. UN peacekeepers and French forces are stationed in central and northern Mali to combat well-armed jihadist groups with links to al-Qaida and Islamic State seen as threatening security across Africa's Sahel region. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 11:28:05|Editor: Chengcheng Video Player Close DELRAY BEACH, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Defending champion Juan Martin del Potro has withdrawn from the Mexican Open because of discomfort in his troubled right knee, just days after being granted a wild card for the ATP 500 event. The 30-year-old Argentine announced his decision to miss the tournament in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco after his defeat to American MacKenzie McDonald in the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach Open in Florida. "I won't be going to Acapulco," the world No. 4 said. "It was always going to depend on how I felt here [at Delray Beach]. And as I progressed I've given myself fewer chances of going to Mexico. I have to listen to my body." The Delray Beach Open was Del Potro's first event since he suffered a fractured knee cap at the Shanghai Masters last October. The 2009 US Open champion has been beset by injuries in recent years and long periods on the sidelines saw his career ranking plummet to 1,045th place in 2016. Last year he won two ATP titles and reached the final of the US Open, where he was beaten by Novak Djokovic. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 11:18:03|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close CHICAGO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures closed mixed in the trading week ended Feb. 22, with soybeans rising over 1 percent, as traders awaited firmer indications that the United States and China were making progress on a new round of trade talks. The most active contract for May soybeans were up 16.25 cents weekly, or 1.79 percent, to 9.075 U.S. dollars per bushel. May wheat dropped 12.5 cents, or 2.48 percent, to 5.0425 dollars per bushel. March corn went up 0.5 cent, or 0.13 percent, to 3.7525 dollars per bushel. China and the United States on Thursday started the 7th round of high-level economic and trade talks in Washington as negotiators strive to beat a 90-day deadline that ends on March 1. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House on bilateral ties and the ongoing bilateral trade talks. During his meeting with Trump, Liu said over the past two days, China and the United States have engaged in productive talks, and achieved good progress in such areas as balance of trade, agriculture, technology transfer, protection of intellectual property rights, and financial services. Trump said that "great progress" has been made in the past two days of talks, while there is still work to be done. China has been the world's top soybean buyer. Any positive development in trade talks with the United States will naturally boost U.S. soybean prices. CBOT wheat futures dropped on traders' technical selling, while corn futures went up as grain markets watched for developments in the U.S.-China trade talks. In its latest report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said U.S. corn export sales during the period were 6.086 million tonnes, lower than the forecasted 4 million to 7.25 million tonnes. But wheat export sales reached 3.819 million tonnes, exceeding the estimated 2 million to 3.3 million tonnes. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 11:12:59|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A massive crackdown has been launched in India's northeastern state of Assam to check manufacturing of illicit liquor in the aftermath of the hooch tragedy that has killed more than 100 people. According to the state officials, a large number of illicit liquor manufacturing units have been identified and raided over the past 24 hours and at least 15,000 liters of such liquor have been destroyed till now. The hooch tragedy hit the state's Jorhat and Golaghat districts on Thursday night, after which people started complaining of physical ailments. By Friday morning as many as 20 people had died, and the death toll continued to swell over 100 by Saturday night, media reports said on Sunday. Around 350 people were undergoing treatment at various hospitals. At least 12 persons have been detained in Golaghat district for interrogation, and two persons arrested so far in this connection. Most of the dead and the victims are labourers of two tea estates in Golaghat and Jorhat districts. State Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal met the victims at the Jorhat Medical College Hospital (JMCH) and announced an ex-gratia payment of 200,000 Indian Rupees (about 2,815 U.S. dollars) to the next of kin of each of the deceased and 50,000 Indian Rupees (about 703 U.S. dollars)to those who fell ill. This is said to be the second major hooch tragedy in the country within a fortnight. Earlier this month, at least 90 people had died in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand after drinking spurious liquor. In December 2011, hooch tragedy killed 172 people in South 24-Parganas district of West Bengal. Spurious alcohol deaths are often reported in India, where people often drink cheap country made bootleg liquor. The photo shows a relative comforts a illicit liquor victim at a hospital in Golaghat district, Assam, India, Feb. 23, 2019. (Xinhua/Stringer) by Peerzada Arshad Hamid NEW DELHI, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The death toll due to the consumption of illicit liquor in India's northeastern state of Assam rose to 104 on Saturday, local government officials said. Around 200 others are in different hospitals undergoing treatment. The hooch was consumed by people on Thursday evening at the Halmira tea estate in Golaghat district, about 275 km east of Dispur, the capital city of Assam. According to officials, so far 58 deaths have taken place in Golaghat, while 46 have died in adjacent Jorhat district. "In Golaghat the death toll has risen to 58," Golaghat deputy commissioner Dhiren Hazarika told Xinhua over telephone. "Many others are still hospitalized". Deputy medical superintendent at Jorhat Medical College hospital Phunu Gogoi told Xinhua the death toll in Jorhat has risen to 46. "We received 119 cases and out of them so far 46 have died," Phunu said. "The remaining are undergoing treatment and the condition of some is stated to be critical." The death toll is likely to increase, officials said. Health officials say the cause of deaths, according to preliminary investigation, seems to be drinking "spurious country made liquor." Police have registered a case and collected samples of the liquor. On Saturday local health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited Golaghat and Jorhat hospitals to oversee medical aid being provided to the victims. "I assured the family members of all possible help from the government and promised them perpetrators will not be spared," Sarma said. Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has formed a one-person inquiry commission to investigate the incident, reports said. Earlier this month, around 100 people died in a hooch tragedy in northern Indian states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. Following the deaths, authorities suspended several officials and started a crackdown on illicit liquor manufacturing units and sales points. In December 2011, hooch tragedy killed 172 people in South 24-Parganas district of West Bengal. Spurious alcohol deaths are often reported in India, where people often drink cheap country made bootleg liquor. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 10:12:46|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close In this photo provided by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Feb. 24, 2019, Kim Jong Un (C), top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is seen off by senior officials of the Workers' Party of Korea, government and armed forces at Pyongyang Railway Station in Pyongyang, DPRK. Kim Jong Un left here Saturday afternoon by train for Vietnamese capital Hanoi for the second DPRK-U.S. summit, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Sunday. Kim will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump there on Feb. 27-28. Their first meeting was held in June 2018 in Singapore, which resulted in improved bilateral relations. Kim will pay an official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong before his meeting with Trump. (Xinhua/KCNA) PYONGYANG, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), left here Saturday afternoon by train for Vietnamese capital Hanoi for the second DPRK-U.S. summit, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Sunday. Kim will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump there on Feb. 27-28. Their first meeting was held in June 2018 in Singapore, which resulted in improved bilateral relations. Kim will pay an official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong before his meeting with Trump. Kim was accompanied by Kim Yong Chol, Ri Su Yong, Kim Phyong Hae and O Su Yong, members of the Political Bureau and vice-chairmen of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), Ri Yong Ho, member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and foreign minister, No Kwang Chol, alternate member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and minister of the People's Armed Forces, among others, said the KCNA. Kim was seen off at Pyongyang Railway Station by Kim Yong Nam, Choe Ryong Hae and Pak Pong Ju, members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK, and other senior officials of the party, government and armed forces, said the KCNA. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 09:57:43|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close SYDNEY, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Record numbers of migratory and threatened waterbirds have been spotted along the mid coast of Australia's New South Wales state, with the birds possibly finding new flight paths amid the major loss of feeding grounds, according to latest surveys. Nearly 4,000 waterbirds were recorded in just one day in the state's Port Stephens area, with "significant numbers" of the critically endangered eastern curlew migratory shorebird found, local media reported on Sunday. The "highest numbers since 2010 were a welcome relief after years of declining sightings but that it was too early to be able to say why more birds were seen," conservation group Hunter Bird Observers Club's field studies manager Alan Stuart was quoted by the ABC news channel as saying. "In the past three years, the counts have dropped below 300, but in the most recent count they're back up again," Stuart said. "This count was just over 360, quite a step up over the past five or six years," Stuart said. A major threat to the eastern curlew has been the loss of feeding grounds on its migratory path between Australia and Siberia, so it was possible the birds found new flight routes, he said. "Healthy numbers" of the Australian pied oystercatcher, another shorebird with an "internationally significant population" in the harbor area, were also reported. The bird was listed as endangered in the state and the disturbance of its coastal habitat was contributing to a general decline in numbers so it was a "huge surprise" to find about 100 of them, Stuart said. "They breed on beaches or sand dunes and that gets a lot of disturbance from four-wheel drive traffic and people with dogs, as well as weather events," he said. "So it's always good news when they do manage to raise some chicks," Stuart said. The "positive data" collected this year would hopefully boost the case to find out more about the birds of the area, Stuart said. "We don't know where they feed, what sort of areas are the most important for them. And that's actually where the next steps take us," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 09:52:42|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A recent survey by China's State Post Bureau said 35.8 percent of delivery workers considered their occupation "promising" and would like to continue in that position. The survey consisted of 6,000 delivery people across China mostly born in the 1980s and 1990s. About 76 percent of the delivery workers are from rural areas, while nearly 16 percent are from towns or counties, according to the survey. Major sources of stress for delivery workers include low wages and insufficient benefits, lack of understanding of their job from customers and the public, long working hours and little chances of promotion, the survey said. Most of those surveyed earn less than 5,000 yuan (743 U.S. dollars) per month but generally gain more during the annual Double 11 online shopping spree in November, during which over 80 percent of the country's delivery workers handle more than 200 packages per day. China's express delivery industry is rapidly developing, with around 3 million delivery workers. "Delivery worker" was added to the revision of the national occupation list of China in 2015, meaning it has been recognized by the state as an occupation. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-24 06:22:02|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close CARACAS, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets of the capital Caracas on Saturday in defense of peace and Bolivarian revolution. Supporters of the ruling party gathered to hear President Nicolas Maduro rail against attempted U.S. military intervention under the guise of humanitarian concern. "Thirty days later, the coup has failed," Maduro said, referring to Jan. 23 when right-wing opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president and launched a push to unseat the president. Maduro said peace had prevailed by successfully securing the country's borders against the forced delivery of U.S. aid, which was believed to be a pretext for an eventual military incursion. "We are fighting for the right to peace with justice, with independence," Maduro told a receptive crowd that occasionally chanted pro-government slogans. Before supporters rallied in the capital, opponents had concentrated at key border points with neighboring Colombia and Brazil to press for the aid to pass. PERTH, Western Australia, Feb. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Perseus Mining Limited (Perseus or the Company) (TSX & ASX: PRU) ) has released its interim Financial Report for the half year ending December 31, 2018 (December 2018 Half Year or the Period).The full report is available on www.perseusmining.com, www.asx.com and www.sedar.com. The Perseus group produced a total of 140,555 ounces of gold at a weighted average all-in site cost (AISC) (including the costs of production, royalties and sustaining capital) of US$999 per ounce in the six months to December 31, 2018 generating net cashflow from operations of A$85.6 million. Gold production was 30% more, and AISCs were 10% less respectively, than in the corresponding period in 2017. In the December 2018 Half Year, Perseus recorded a net profit after tax of A$10.4 million or 1.0 cents per share, compared to a net loss after tax of A$13.9 million or 1.4 cents per share in the corresponding period in 2017. This improved performance takes the following in account: A 69% increase in revenue to A$281.6 million, resulting from 59% higher gold sales (165,066 ounces) at a 3% lower weighted average gold sales price (US$1,236 per ounce) compared to the corresponding period in 2017. A 72% increase in the cost of sales due to the inclusion of costs from the Sissingue gold mine which reached commercial production on March 31, 2018. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of A$87.0 million, an increase of A$55.9 million of 80% more than in the corresponding period in 2017. Depreciation and amortisation expenses of A$78.2 million, representing an 86% increase due to higher rates of mining and processing and higher deferred waste amortisation at the Edikan gold mine, and the inclusion of the full development cost of the Sissingue gold mine within the capital base. Administration and other corporate expenses (including expenses related to the corporate office in Australia and offsite administrative offices in Cote dIvoire and Ghana) of A$7.8 million. A foreign exchange gain of A$16.4 million, compared to a loss of A$3.3 million in the prior corresponding period, mainly due to devaluation of the Australian dollar against the US dollar and revaluation of an intercompany loan. An income tax benefit of A$4.9 million. At December 31, 2018, the total value of cash and bullion on hand was A$92.0 million, or A$46.7 million more than at December 31, 2017. Operating cash flows increased by A$61.8 million in the December 2018 Half Year to A$85.6 million, or 8.3 cents per share. A total of A$33.2 million of cash was invested during the period on capital works and exploration and A$23.2 million was spent on repayment of debt and debt servicing. The Companys net assets as at December 31, 2018 were A$736.5 million or A$0.71 per share after accounting for cash and bullion on hand as well as interest-bearing liabilities of A$68.7 million. Looking to the future, Perseuss financial performance is expected to continue to improve on the back of continuing solid gold production and an improving cost structure, due to the contribution of the relatively low cost Sissingue gold mine and a reducing cost base combined with continued strong production at the Edikan gold mine reflecting the impact of Edikans updated Life of Mine Plan. Perseus unchanged production and cost guidance for the 2019 financial year is as follows: Parameter Units Production and Cost Guidance December 2018 Half Year (Actual) June 2019 Half Year Full Fiscal Year 2019 Group Gold Production ounces 141,555 130-150,000 271-291,555 Average All-In Site Costs $US per ounce 999 850-1,000 925-1,000 Managing Director Jeff Quartermaine Comments: The financial results announced today are the direct result of a continuation of strong production and cost performance at our two operating mines in Ghana and in Cote dIvoire. In most respects, Perseus is in the best condition financially and operationally than it has ever been in and is very well positioned to continue the strong growth that has been underway for some time. In the coming six months, we expect to commence development of our third operating mine, Yaoure and when this mine comes on line in early 2021, Perseuss production levels should be in the order of 500,000 ounces of gold per year at an AISC heading to approximately US$800 per ounce. Subject to the gold price at that time, this production and cost performance should enable Perseus to generate material amounts of free cash flow and record significantly greater profits. For further information, please contact: Managing Director: Jeff Quartermaine at telephone +61 8 6144 1700 or email jeff.quartermaine@perseusmining.com ; Chief Financial Officer: Elissa Brown at telephone +61 8 6144 1700 or email Elissa.brown@perseusmining.com General Manager BD & IR: Andrew Grove at telephone +61 8 6144 1700 or email andrew.grove@perseusmining.com Media Relations: Nathan Ryan at telephone +61 4 20 582 887 or email nathan.ryan@nwrcommunications.com.au (Melbourne) Competent Person Statement: All production targets for the Edikan and Sissingue Gold Mines referred to in this report are underpinned by estimated Ore Reserves which have been prepared by competent persons in accordance with the requirements of the JORC Code. The information in this report that relates to the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates for the Edikan deposits was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement released on 29 August 2018. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affect the information in that market release and that all material assumptions underpinning those estimates and the production targets, or the forecast financial information derived therefrom, continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company further confirms that material assumptions underpinning the estimates of Ore Reserves described in Technical Report Central Ashanti Gold Project, Ghana dated 30 May 2011 continue to apply. The information in this report that relates to Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves for Sissingue was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement released on 29 October 2018. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affect the information in this market release and that all material assumptions underpinning those estimates and the production targets, or the forecast financial information derived therefrom, continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company further confirms that material assumptions underpinning the estimates of Ore Reserves described in Technical Report Sissingue Gold Project, Cote dIvoire dated 29 May 2015 continue to apply. Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information: This report contains forward-looking information which is based on the assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management of the Company believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made by the Company regarding, among other things: the price of gold, continuing commercial production at the Edikan Gold Mine and the Sissingue Gold Mine without any major disruption, development of a mine at Yaoure, the receipt of required governmental approvals, the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used by the Company. Although management believes that the assumptions made by the Company and the expectations represented by such information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the actual market price of gold, the actual results of current exploration, the actual results of future exploration, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents. The Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the Companys ability to carry on its exploration and development activities, the timely receipt of required approvals, the price of gold, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Perseus does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow Feb. 23, 2019.(Kremlin photo) MOSCOW, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall on Saturday to honor Soviet soldiers killed during World War II. Putin paid tribute to the fallen soldiers at the Eternal Flame on the Defender of the Fatherland Day, together with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and other senior officials and public figures. The president attended a gala marking the Defender of the Fatherland Day in the Kremlin on Friday and congratulated veterans, service members and civilian personnel of the armed forces on the holiday. The Defender of the Fatherland Day is a Russian national holiday on Feb. 23 that celebrates people who are and were serving in the armed forces. Unofficially, it is also marked as Men's Day in the country. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-23 13:53:46|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close An Afghan policeman searches a bus at a security checkpoint along Herat-Farah main road in Herat, Afghanistan, Feb. 24, 2019. Afghan security forces have killed nine Taliban militants and seized nearly 900 kg narcotic drugs during separate operations, the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs said Saturday. In Herat province, the Afghan National Police (ANP) seized more than 570 kg of narcotics and opium and a vehicle after the ANP laid an ambush and engaged with drug traffickers along a main road. (Xinhua/Elaha Sahel) KABUL, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Afghan security forces have killed nine Taliban militants and seized nearly 900 kg narcotic drugs during separate operations, the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs said Saturday. "In one raid, four Taliban militants were killed and over 300 kg illicit opium confiscated after the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces raided a Taliban hideout in Shewan village, Bala Buluk district in western Farah province Friday night," the ministry said in a statement. The security forces also destroyed four militants' motorcycles. In neighboring Herat province, the Afghan National Police (ANP) seized more than 570 kg of narcotics and opium and a vehicle after the ANP laid an ambush and engaged with drug traffickers along a main road on Friday. No one was hurt during the brief exchange of fire, the statement said, adding the suspected men escaped from the site. In eastern Logar province, the Special Operations Forces of ANP attacked a Taliban hideout in Baraki Barak district on Friday night. The statement confirmed "three guns and ammunition were found by the ANP following the clashes." The Taliban militant group hasn't made comments on the report yet. Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-19 18:41:39|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen will attend the meeting of the Supreme Consultation and Recommendation Council (SCRC), which is scheduled on Feb. 28, a senior official said on Tuesday. "It will be the first meeting between the prime minister and political party leaders since the SCRC was established in September," SCRC's Secretariat Head Chhim Phal Virun told Xinhua, adding that the one-day meeting will be held at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh. The SCRC is a biannual consultation forum between the government and political parties. The council is made up of 30 leaders or representatives of 16 political parties taking part in the general election in July last year, which saw Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) won all 125 parliamentary seats. The SCRC has duties to provide opinion on government policies, give feedback on draft laws and report on inaction or violations by government officials. Phal Virun, who is also a minister in the prime minister's office, said in the past six months, those political parties had looked into many irregular issues across the country, mainly relating to land disputes, fishery and forestry crimes, corruption, power abuse and drugs among others. "Each party has inspected two or three cases of reported irregularities every month, and all party leaders will present their respective reports, along with constructive ideas and suggestions, to the prime minister during the upcoming meeting," he said. According to Phal Virun, at the meeting, Hun Sen was expected to tackle some suggested problems and to provide recommendations to the SCRC in order to work more efficiently in serving the nation and the people of Cambodia. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) A new special grant program put on by FAMU is attempting to help farmers locally. Saturday, was the first of many recruitment and workshops for local farmers and veterans. The class helps farmers and ranchers better understand how to farm and run a business. The program plans to last about three years and not just help people in Tallahassee but towns across Florida. "Basically by teaching them to farm their own, we understand that there may be concerns where food is coming from nowadays, so families communities can learn how to grow their own food," said Donna Salters, training and education specialist with Core extension program. There is no date set yet but organizers say there will be another recruitment and training program in Havana. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) Music, dance, and vendors were represented at the African American culture filled Cascades Park Saturday for the annual Harambee Festival. "African American history is America's history so we invite everybody here. This community as you can see is quite diverse," said FAMU President Dr.Larry Robinson. The event hosted by Florida A&M University, started in the 1980's but took a break before kicking off again in 2016. President of FAMU Larry Robinson says the university brought back the festival because people should learn the African American roots of Tallahassee and the South. Learning about the African culture is something Tallahassee Commissioner Curtis Richardson wish he had growing up. "I grew up in the segregated south. During that time we didn't know a whole lot about our history culture so to be here and to experience this and see all the African American and others from the community that have come out for this event it just makes you feel proud," said Commissioner Richardson. But it wasn't just about learning the past, this event is about coming together to honor the culture. "Being that African Americans went through a lot in this country I think it is right for us to celebrate what we been through and who we are," said Jay Williams, director of FAMU'S gospel choir. Minister celebrates enhancement of MyTravelPass discount scheme for 16-21 year olds This article is old - Published: Sunday, Feb 24th, 2019 Transport and Economy Minister Ken Skates recently joined Coleg Cambria students to celebrate the enhancement of the popular MyTravelPass young persons discount scheme. The scheme, which has evolved and improved since its pilot in 2015, now offers a third off the fares for all journeys taken by young people aged between 16 and 21 right up until their 22nd birthday. Transport Minister Ken Skates said: I am delighted to be welcoming this enhancement of the MyTravelPass scheme, which will allow more young people to take advantage of discounted journeys. The scheme has proved popular. The success of this idea since its conception in 2014 through to its expansion now, can be charted in the number of passes that have been issued. By last August, there were 14,939 live passes in circulation. Since the scheme began, there has been a total of 20,953 pass-holders, and there were an estimated 1.344m discounted journeys in 2017-18. Encouraging more young people to use the bus for more of their journeys will have an immediate and long-term benefit by reducing road congestion, improving air quality and making the bus network a more attractive place for the bus industry to invest. Also, attracting more young people onto public transport is vital if we are to achieve a sustainable public transport network that supports our Prosperity for All objectives. We will continue to work closely with the bus industry and our local authority partners to achieve a sustainable bus network, which is key to achieving our objectives for a socially-responsible, greener and prosperous Wales. Go to the MyTravelPass website for more information and to apply. CBD Products Going Mainstream Featured in Four Seasons Hollywood Swag Bags VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Redfund Capital Corp (CSE: LOAN) (Frankfurt: O3X4) (OTC: PNNRF) (Redfund or the Company) is pleased to share that our client Wildflower Brands products were chosen for the 2019 Oscars Four Seasons Hollywood Swag Bag. Wildflower Brands Inc. (CSE: SUN) (OTC: WLDFF ) was founded in Vancouver, Canada in 2012. Their products incorporate the synergistic effects of plants and their extracts and are manufactured in the USA in GMP facilities and are third-party lab tested for quality assurance and accurate labeling. Wildflower was selected to provide gifts for the nominees, presenters and talent staying at the luxury Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles for the 2019 Oscars. The talent will receive their Hollywood Swag Bag luxuries in the comfort of their hotel rooms pre-show. The swag bag this year includes an assortment of Wildflower CBD products, and both hemp-based CBD products contain less than .03% THC. The unique Cool Stick offers quick and convenient relief from muscle, joint, and back pain and the CBD Healing Stick is formulated with therapeutic essential oils like arnica and wintergreen, to help combat acute and stubborn pains and inflammations. (www.buywildflower.com) Redfund Capitals incubator program includes marketing initiatives plus exposure of our clients brands to help footprint them globally. The Company is fortunate to partner with Karen Lee, the founder of Kaleidoscope Health and Ripped Femme, who has over 10 years experience in formulating and creating nutritional products. She made it possible for the Wildflower products to be featured in a talent give-away products bag for the 2019 Oscars. (www.rippedfemme.com) It is exciting to see Canadian companies such as popular Wildflower featured on the worldwide stage as CBD products become mainstream in the retail US marketplace. I want to thank Karen for this marketing opportunity and look forward to her continued support with Redfunds accelerator and incubator programs. Exposure for our clients branded products is key to their successes, said Meris Kott, CEO of Redfund Capital Corp. 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 Or info@redfundcapital.com Further 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. Volunteers Still Sought To Sandbag in Smithland By West Kentucky Star Staff SMITHLAND - Livingston County Emergency Management continues to appeal for volunteers to assist with sandbagging along the Smithland floodwall.Sandbagging began Saturday night after heavy rain delayed the work Saturday afternoon.Volunteers may report to Smoky D Restaurant parking lot.Information is posted on the Livingston County Emergency Management Facebook page.The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is providing 15 dump trucks, 4 excavators, 3 track loaders and 2 end loaders from their Livingston County crew and from several surrounding counties. The equipment has been delivered to the site.A detour is set up using KY 453 and KY 967 along side streets. Semi traffic is prohibited through the area.Officials say Hwy. 60 will probably also be covered with water by Monday afternoon just east of KY 137 (River Road) between Burna and Smithland. Christian County Deputies rescued a mother and child Sunday morning, after they drove into floodwaters. PHOTO:WKDZ, courtesy Mother and Child Rescued from Flood Waters By West Kentucky Star Staff WKDZ reported that Christian County Sheriffs deputies were able to push the vehicle out of the water with the mother and child inside. The Sheriff's Department reminds everyone not to try and drive through high water. CHRISTIAN COUNTY - A water rescue had to be made Sunday morning in Christian County.A mother and child attempted to cross high water covering the roadway on Millers Mill Road when their vehicle stalled. Heaviest Rain Stayed South of Our Region By National Weather Service PADUCAH - According to radar estimates from the National Weather Service, west Tennessee received the lion's share of Saturday's downpours.As estimated by radar returns, areas along I-40 in Tennessee were pounded by more than eight inches of rain from Friday night through Saturday afternoon. Ten counties between Jackson and Nashville caught at least six inches of rain, and the counties north of Nashville saw more than four inches. The Tennessee counties along the western Kentucky border toward the Mississippi River escaped with 2 to 3 inches of rain.In western Kentucky, the heaviest precipitation looked to be 4 to 5 inches east of Hopkinsville.Calloway, Trigg and Christian counties registered 3 to 4 inches. Most of that rainfall happened on Saturday afternoon. At one site just west of Murray, a weather spotter measured 2.56 inches of rain in less than four hours time.A water rescue from a vehicle had to be made in Murray when a car stalled in floodwater on 16th Street north of Murray State University. One home was evacuated Saturday on Rowlett Trail.On the Net: Elevation Work on US 60 Delayed Again By West Kentucky Star Staff SMITHLAND - Highway crews once again postponed work on elevating US 60 near Ledbetter on Tuesday, but the work may not be necessary after all.Since Barkley Dam and Kentucky Dam began holding more water in their reservoirs this week, the levels on the flooded Ohio River dropped overnight. As a result the road is still open and may not need to be raised.Crews will shift their focus to the sandbagging operation at the Smithland flood wall, along with other needed projects.Engineers and other personnel will continue to monitor the potential need for this project as conditions change over the coming days.On the Net: New Road Closures Due to Overnight Heavy Rain By West Kentucky Star Staff County-By-County List Ballard County All OPEN Carlisle County US 62 is OPEN at the 4 mile marker in CARLISLE County in the West Fork Creek Bottoms area. This is along US 62 between KY 121 and Bardwell. Carlisle County also reports and KY 1820 is CLOSED with signs posted between the 1 and 2 mile marker and KY 1628 are CLOSED with signs posted at the 3 mile marker due to floodwaters. Crittenden County The Cave-in-Rock Ferry is OPEN KY 295 is CLOSED with signs posted at the 1.3mm in Dycusburg along the Cumberland River at the Dycusburg Rd Intersection KY 855 is CLOSED with signs posted at the 5 mile marker at the Doan Spring Creek Culvert between Frances and Tyner Chapel Fulton County KY 1129/Adams Road is CLOSED at the 4 to 9mm- signs posted KY 1354 Connector from KY 94 to Dorena-Hickman Ferry Landing is CLOSED due to floodwaters- Signs Posted Dorena-Hickman Ferry is CLOSED due to floodwaters over the Kentucky Landing- likely to remain closed until after March 25th KY 2140 is CLOSED at the 2 to 4mm between KY 1129 and KY 94 near the Mud Creek Branch Bridge- signs posted KY 1129 has Water Over Road signs posted at the 2 to 4mm near the Mud Creek Bridge between KY 2149 and KY 94 Graves County KY 131/Said Rd is CLOSED on the McCracken side of the Graves-McCracken County Line north of Symsonia Hickman County NEW KY 58 has Water Over Road signs posted at the 7 to 8mm in King Bottoms-- Flaggers Present NEW KY 2206 has Water Over Road signs posted at the 0 to 1mm at Bill Bones NEW KY 307 has Water Over Road signs posted at the 13 to 14mm near Beulah- Flaggers Present KY 123 is CLOSED at the 14 to 16mm due to floodwaters- signs posted KY 575 is CLOSED at the 1.5mm due to a damaged cross drain- signs posted KY 239 is OPEN at the 0 to 2mm at the Hickman-Fulton County Line Livingston County US 60 is OPEN at the 11mm in Smithland--SEMI Truck Restriction LIFTED KY 917/Tucker-Temple Rd is CLOSED at the 3.9 to 8mm near the Hazel Creek Culvert generally North of Iuka and the KY 93 intersection- signs posted KY 137 is CLOSED from the 3 to 15.45mm between Birdsville and the KY 133/Lola Rd Intersection at Berrys Ferry Landing- signs posted KY 133/Lola Road CLOSED at 18mm from near KY 137 intersection to Berrys Ferry Landing- signs posted KY 70 is CLOSED with signs posted from the 0.8 to 10mm between Smithland and Tiline KY 93/Iuka Rd is CLOSED with signs posted at the 0mm at the KY 917 intersection in Iuka KY 917/Stringtown Road is CLOSED with signs posted from the I-24 Overpass just north of Lake City to the 4mm at Iuka KY 2225/Jake Dukes Rd is OPEN at the North end where it intersects KY 93/Iuka Rd Lyon County KY 819/Sunnyside Loop is CLOSED at the 2.5mm at the Panther Creek Bridge Marshall County All OPEN McCracken County NEW: KY 994/Old Mayfield Rd is CLOSED with signs posted at the KY 1014/Houser Road Intersection KY 1014/Houser Road is CLOSED with signs posted at the KY 994/Old Mayfield Rd intersection KY 339/Clinton Road is CLOSED with signs posted at the 1mm near the McCracken-Graves County Line north of Melber KY 1255/Bonds Road is CLOSED at the 1 to 2mm due to floodwaters just west of the KY 450/Oaks Rd Intersection- signs posted KY 787/Bryant Ford Road is CLOSED at the 1 to 2mm near the McCracken-Marshall County Line KY 1420/Noble Rd is OPEN at the 4mm between Meredith Rd and Cold Springs Rd KY 1420 is CLOSED at the 2.8mm at the Massac Creek Bridge KY 1565/Mayfield-Metropolis Rd is CLOSED at the 5.5 to 6mm between KY 305 and KY 358 KY 1565/Mayfield-Metropolis Rd is CLOSED at the 5.2 between the RR Overpass and KY 305- signs posted KY 131/Said Road is CLOSED at the 0 to 2mm at the McCracken-Graves County Line- signs posted KY 284/Old Benton Rd is OPEN at the 3mm between the Clarks River Bridge and Reidland KY 1954/Husbands Rd has Water Over Road signs posted from Clarkline Rd at the Paducah Floodwall to near the KY 348/Hardmoney Rd intersection KY 3075/Lydon Rd is CLOSED between KY 450/Oaks Rd and KY 1954/Husbands Rd KY 1255/Bonds Road is CLOSED at the 1 to 2mm due to floodwaters just west of the KY 450/Oaks Rd Intersection- signs postedKY 787/Bryant Ford Road is CLOSED at the 1 to 2mm near the McCracken-Marshall County LineKY 1420/Noble Rd is OPEN at the 4mm between Meredith Rd and Cold Springs RdKY 1420 is CLOSED at the 2.8mm at the Massac Creek BridgeKY 1565/Mayfield-Metropolis Rd is CLOSED at the 5.5 to 6mm between KY 305 and KY 358KY 1565/Mayfield-Metropolis Rd is CLOSED at the 5.2 between the RR Overpass and KY 305- signs postedKY 131/Said Road is CLOSED at the 0 to 2mm at the McCracken-Graves County Line- signs postedKY 284/Old Benton Rd is OPEN at the 3mm between the Clarks River Bridge and ReidlandKY 1954/Husbands Rd has Water Over Road signs posted from Clarkline Rd at the Paducah Floodwall to near the KY 348/Hardmoney Rd intersectionKY 3075/Lydon Rd is CLOSED between KY 450/Oaks Rd and KY 1954/Husbands Rd Trigg County All OPEN SPECIAL NOTE for I-24 EASTBOUND in Tennessee TDOT reports I-24 Eastbound is blocked by a major landslide at the 42mm just north of Nashville with a substantial delay where traffic is detoured to Old Hickory Blvd at Exit 40- An alternate route via US 41-Alternate or US 431 is suggested-- Eastbound lanes expected to reopen March 15th. WESTERN KENTUCKY - KY Highway Water Over Road Report for District 1 at 4:20 pm, CDT. Missing Paducah Woman Returns Home By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - Police say a woman reported missing a couple of weeks ago is safe and sound.According to the Paducah Police Department, Amberly D. Wallis had last been seen at her Caldwell Street home on February 8.Police say she returned home Saturday and is in good health.Original Story:Police are asking for the public's help locating a missing woman.According to the Paducah Police Department, Amberly D. Wallis was last seen at her Caldwell Street home Friday around 9:00 am.Wallis is white, 5' 2 tall, 155 pounds with brown, shoulder-length hair and green eyes.Anyone with information on Wallis' whereabouts is asked to contact the Paducah Police Department. Missing Paducah Teen Returns Home By West Kentucky Star Staff The teen, 17-year-old Jacob Krugler was last seen at his home at 3060 Old Mayfield Road, in Paducah, on Friday evening at 8:40. Krugler is described as white, 5'11", 190 pounds, with blue eyes, and blonde hair above the ears. Anyone with information on Jacob Krugler is asked to call the Paducah Police Department at 270-444-8548, or your local law enforcement agency. PADUCAH - UPDATE:Paducah Police report that the missing teen, 17-year-old Jacob Krugler, has returned home. They wish to thank everyone that helped with this situation.ORIGINAL STORY:Paducah Police are seeking the public's assistance in locating a missing Paducah teen. Baptist Health Offers Events, Classes for March By WestKyStar & Baptist Health Paducah Staff PADUCAH - During the month of March, Baptist Health Paducah will offer the following eents, classes and support groups - all to better the health of our community and region:Incredible Colon Exhibit9 am to 1 pm-Friday, March 1Larry Barton Atrium, Baptist Heath PaducahThis informative exhibit features a 20-foot long, 10-foot tall replica of the human colon. See examples of healthy colon tissue, several non-cancerous diseases of the colon and stages of colorectal cancer.Phone 270-442-1310 for more information.Kangaroo Klub for Breastfeeding Mothers1 to 2:30 pm-Friday, March 1Classroom A, Medical Park 2, Baptist Health Paducah or 10 to 11:30 amThursday, March 21, Immanuel Baptist Church, 1119 Market St., Metropolis, ILSupport group for women who breastfeed or expectant mothers who plan to breastfeed.Phone 270-415-4680 for more information.Baptist Health Paducah Prepared Childbirth Classes9 am to 1 pm-Saturday, March 25 to 7 pm-March 4 and 11Meeting Room A, Medical Park 2, Baptist Health PaducahFree class designed to help expectant parents in their second or third trimester learn about the labor and delivery process.Baptist Health Paducah Stroke Support Group3 to 4:30 pm-Monday, March 4Carson-Myre Heart Center conference roomThe group provides support for stroke survivors and their caregivers, family and friends. Light refreshments are served.Phone Mary Legge at 270-575-2880 to register.Lymphedema Awareness Event9 am to 1 pm-Monday, March 6Larry Barton Atrium, Baptist Health PaducahLymphedema is a chronic condition caused by a build-up of fluid when the lymphatic system is either faulty or damaged. This walk-through event will provide information about lymphedema and treatment options, vendors and a free lymphedema assessment test.Parkinsons Support Group9:30 to 11 am-Wednesday, March 6 and March 20Atrium Classroom, Medical Park 2, Baptist Health Paducah.Phone 270-575-2721 for more information.Multiple Myeloma Support Group6 pm-Thursday, March 7Radiation therapy conference room, Ray & Kay Eckstein Regional Cancer Care CenterThe group provides support for patients, caregivers, family members and friends and allows them to learn the latest advances in the treatment and management of myeloma.Phone 270-559-3005 for more information.Diabetes classes1 to 4 pm-Monday, March 11 andWednesday, March 13Atrium Classroom, Medical Park 2, Baptist Health Paducah.Free class with a certified diabetes instructor to assist with any question or concerns about diabetes. A physician order is required.Phone 270-575-2918 for more information.Breastfeeding Classes6-8 pm-Monday, March 18Meeting Room A, Medical Park 2, Baptist Health PaducahFree class helps prepare expectant mothers for the breastfeeding experience.Phone 270-575-2229 to register.Cancerport Breast Cancer Support Group6 pm-Tuesday, March 19Oncology Resource Room, Ray & Kay Eckstein Cancer Care Center.The group provides support for those diagnosed with breast cancer and living in recovery.Phone 270-442-1310 for more information. Toronto, Feb. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Restaurants Canada is pleased to welcome Brad Kramble, President and Chief Operating Officer of Winnipeg, Manitobas Salisbury House, as its new Chair of the Board for 2019-2020. He was elected at the national associations annual general meeting today. An 87-year-old provincial institution, Salisbury House is considered by many to be the quintessential Winnipeg restaurant. Kramble was hired by Salisbury House in 2005 during a time when the family restaurant chains future was uncertain. Under Krambles direction, the company has taken bold, eco-friendly steps, including eliminating plastic straws, and continues to embrace other changes necessary for forward-looking success. Brads modern approach to building on tradition makes him a perfect fit for leading Restaurants Canada into our 75th year as the voice of our industry, said Shanna Munro, Restaurants Canada President and CEO. Under his leadership, we are in good hands and well-positioned to extend our reach, relevance and impact across the country on behalf of our members. Like one in five young Canadians today, Kramble got his start in a restaurant, and has never lost his love for the industry. He worked for several national chains, eventually invested in Perkins Family Restaurant and at one point owned several Perkins locations in Canada before joining Salisbury House. I firmly believe that an organizations success is driven by its employees, said Kramble. At Salisbury House, our employees are all part of my extended family and I know that many restaurateurs feel the same about their team. Kramble first joined the Restaurants Canada Board of Directors in 2013. He is one of 31 board members from across Canada who volunteer their time, and expertise as industry leaders, for the betterment of Canadas foodservice and hospitality community. About Restaurants Canada Restaurants Canada (formerly CRFA) is a growing community of more than 30,000 foodservice businesses, including restaurants, bars, caterers, institutions and suppliers. We connect our members from coast to coast, through services, research and advocacy for a strong and vibrant restaurant community. Canadas restaurant industry is an $89 billion industry, directly employs 1.2 million Canadians, is the number one source of first jobs and serves 22 million customers every day. Gibraltar Mental Welfare Society Public Meeting The GMWS held a public meeting in John Mackintosh Hall on 18th February. The Society was interested in getting feedback from service users and family/friends as to what issues, regarding mental health provision, they considered to be a priority. The Society said it has acknowledged that several steps had been taken in recent months to improve mental health services in Gibraltar, and warmly welcomed these. At the start of the evening the ways in which mental health services had been expanded were mentioned, eg the appointment of a psychologist based in Ocean Views; the creation of a Child and Adolescent Mental Health unit at the start of the year; the commitment to employ four school counsellors and the creation of a post for a Mental Health Matron. These, and other measures, were considered to be very clear signs that mental health was being taken more seriously than in the past. However, it was made clear by those attending the meeting that much still has to be done to make people feel that their mental health needs are being properly met. Many different issues were raised in the course of the evening, ranging from concerns about lack of continuity in medical care to questions as to why there are no social workers specifically for mental health. A number of people shared problematic experiences they had had with the service. They highlighted the difficulties in accessing help at times and stated that signposting needs to be much clearer. The need for easily accessible information on all services pertaining to mental health is a matter which the Society has raised with more than one Minister for Health. 'We have voiced the opinion that all this information could be available in Coaling Island., where the Community Mental Health Team is based. Service users repeatedly make the point to us that negotiating mental health service provision is at times very difficult. Measures should be taken to make it easy for the public to access this provision.' Another issue which those present were unanimous about was the need to establish a separate procedure that would deal with a mental health emergency. At the moment, somebody experiencing an acute mental health problem, such as a psychotic episode, is still expected to go through the normal AE channel. The last time that the Society brought up this point with Minister Costa, he suggested that one mental health professional should form part of the EA team at all times. This individual would then be able to attend to somebody coming to AE with an acute mental health issue. At the time, the Society thought that this would provide a much better service but when this suggestion was put to those attending the meeting, it was felt that this did not go far enough. They felt that this would still involve hanging around, both outside and inside AE, for an unacceptable number of hours. Somebody spoke of how a family member had had to wait for 5hrs before the relevant notes were brought over from Coaling Island. Service users felt that there needs to be a separate procedure exclusively for people in this category, which keeps waiting times to a minimum, protects confidentiality and eases, rather than exacerbates, an already very difficult situation. Care in the community, or the lack of it, was another main area of concern. It was felt very strongly that the provision of sheltered accommodation had to be considerably extended. Although progress has undoubtedly been made in this sphere also - there are now two flats in the community which cater for two females and two males, respectively, as well as two rehabilitation flats in Ocean Views - this was not considered nearly enough. There are a number of individuals who live in the community on their own, without the necessary support, who would greatly benefit from sheltered accommodation. It was felt that they would then be able to live in a more integrated and regulated way which would give them a better quality of life. The opinion was also expressed that when a service user was discharged from OV, they did not get the support in the community that was required for the best possible transition. In relation to this subject the matter of supported employment and disability benefits were also raised; both areas are considered to require attention. The concerns which were raised in the public meeting echo those which individuals bring to the Society time and time again. For this reason, the GMWS have said they shall continue to lobby the Government on these matters, as well as on a number of other issues which have previously been prioritised. Formal Agreement Between Govt and Teachers Union The Government and Gibraltar NASUWT (the Teachers Union) have signed a new Facilities Agreement that will govern the relationship between the two entities. The Agreement has been discussed and agreed at the Social Partnership, where Union and Government, including the Department of Education and Human Resources departments, meet regularly to discuss matters of common interest. The Facilities Agreement sets out the main aims of both Government and Union in working together in the interests of the children and young people for whose education they are responsible. It covers aspects such as the obligations of management and the Union, time off for Union representatives, conduct and duties, training and facilities. A Govt spokesperson said that the signing of the Agreement is a milestone in the development of collaborative work in Education and reflects the open and honest nature of the relationship that has developed over recent months. The venue was fitting for such an occasion of reconciliation. The church is believed to be the first in the country to be founded entirely by African Americans and the church is designated a National Historic Landmark. The churchs first members, enslaved African American men and women, worshiped together in secret in 1776. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort "repeatedly and brazenly violated the law" and shows a "hardened adherence to committing crimes," prosecutors told a Washington federal judge. They recommended no specific punishment for those crimes, saying that is the practice of the special counsel. Prosecutors noted that federal guidelines call for a sentence of 17 to 22 years, although under Manafort's guilty plea in his Washington case, the statutory maximum he faces is 10. The special counsel said that they may ask for Judge Amy Berman Jackson to impose a sentence that runs consecutive to whatever punishment Manafort is given for related crimes in Virginia federal court. Friday's sealed filing, an unredacted version of which was published Saturday, helps pave the way for his sentencings in Washington and Virginia scheduled for next month, as Robert Mueller begins wrapping up his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. As part of his plea deal in September, Manafort, 69, acknowledged he was guilty of everything he was accused of both in Washington and Virginia: making millions as an unregistered lobbyist for Ukrainian politicians, hiding that money to avoid paying taxes, defrauding banks to pay his debts when his oligarch patrons fell out of power, and lying to cover up his crimes while trying to persuade witnesses to do the same. But when he appears in front of Jackson on March 13, he will already have been sentenced for related crimes in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, barring any change in the scheduling as now set for those hearings. Jackson could make the sentence she imposes run during or after his Virginia prison term. In Virginia, where Manafort was found guilty of bank and tax fraud at trial, there is no upper limit to his sentence. In Alexandria, prosecutors have also asked only for a "serious" sentence. Federal guidelines in that case call for him to spend roughly 19 to 24 years in prison. Mueller's prosecutors have been handing off other pending legal matters to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Washington, and the Department of Justice is readying for Mueller to formally conclude his work. In New York, the Manhattan district attorney is preparing to charge Manafort with violating state tax laws and committing other financial crimes, a move designed to ensure Trump's former campaign chairman spends time in prison if the president pardons him for the convictions stemming from Mueller's probe, Bloomberg News and The New York Times reported Friday. Trump has not indicated whether he intends to pardon Manafort, though he repeatedly expressed support for him as his trial played out last year. New York's double jeopardy law, which protects defendants from being prosecuted twice for the same crimes, could pose a challenge for the district attorney's office, however. Attorneys for Manafort are not due to file their sentencing recommendation in Washington until Monday, having told Jackson that this week's snowstorm made it harder to meet with their client in the Alexandria jail where he has been held, and asking for a delay. Under his plea agreement in Washington, federal prosecutors had agreed to ask Jackson to give Manafort credit at sentencing for cooperation. But because she found he lied to investigators and breached that agreement, they are no longer bound by it. Jackson found Manafort lied about his interactions with Konstantin Kilimnik, a longtime aide who the FBI assessed to have ties to Russian intelligence. Those contacts, prosecutors said in court, go "very much to the heart of what the special counsel's office is investigating." Manafort gave inconsistent accounts of an August 2016 meeting in New York City at which he and Kilimnik discussed a peace plan for Ukraine, a top foreign policy priority for Russia. At the time, Manafort was still leading Trump's campaign. He also lied about sharing polling data with Kilimnik in 2016, prosecutors said in describing how he broke his deal to cooperate truthfully. The judge also concluded that Manafort lied about a payment that he claimed was a loan and as part of another Justice Department investigation whose focus has not been described publicly. Defense attorneys have maintained that Manafort did not intentionally give false information and that any inconsistencies were honest mistakes. In 2017, Kilimnik denied to The Washington Post having connections to Russian intelligence. He was indicted with Manafort on charges of conspiring to obstruct justice through witness tampering. Kilimnik is believed to be in Moscow and therefore probably safe from arrest because Russia does not extradite its citizens. First published in The Washington Post Predictions for when special counsel Robert Mueller will deliver his much-anticipated report to the attorney general have yo-yoed between days and weeks. Two things are more definitive: In January, Mueller extended the grand jury for an additional six months, and many pieces of the probe will continue well past its conclusion, be it two weeks or two months from now. "Certain things can't be wrapped up yet," said Seth Abramson, a former criminal defense attorney who is not involved in the probe and has become popular for his online theories about President Donald Trump and Russia. There are uncharged crimes, outstanding subpoenas, pending cooperation agreements and unresolved, possibly sealed cases, he said, which would seem to be snipped in the middle if Mueller's report was issued imminently. But if Mueller is about to shut down the investigation, as a slew of recent reports suggest, the question is why. Jonathan Meyer, a former Justice Department senior official, said that, if the investigation is in fact ending, one reason is that Mueller may be bending over backward to stay within the scope of his original mandate and make sure the probe doesn't turn into a longer, more wide-ranging investigation. "He seems laser focused on his assignment, which is to get to the bottom of Russian involvement in the 2016 election," said Meyer, now a partner at Sheppard Mullin. If Mueller's learned everything there is to learn within his mandate, he may feel it's time to wrap up. What is still outstanding? Mueller issued a heavily redacted sentencing report on Michael Flynn in December. In it, Mueller outlined the former national security adviser's "substantial assistance" in the Russia investigation and 19 meetings with federal prosecutors. The memo was not shocking, although it confirmed that the investigation was ongoing. It also revealed that Flynn assisted in a mysterious, unrelated criminal investigation significant enough that Mueller credited Flynn for his help in a blacked-out portion of the document. At the time, former federal prosecutor Joyce White Vance said: "Flynn's deal strongly implies there is more to come from Mueller. The memo, with its many redactions, tells us something significant and important is coming, even though we don't know exactly what it is." We still don't know, Abramson said. No subsequent indictments can be linked to knowledge that in particular Flynn would be privy to. Up to this point there have also been no charges based on the lengthy cooperation of George Nader, the Lebanese American businessman who acted as an adviser to the United Arab Emirates. Last month, Mueller also re-extended a sentencing hearing for Rick Gates, a top official to Manafort, and told the court that Gates was still assisting the special counsel in several ongoing investigations. In several cases, additional information could still flow to prosecutors like the recently indicted Roger Stone, as well as Maria Butina, who pleaded guilty in December, and her boyfriend Paul Erickson, charged earlier this month. Even Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, could reveal new information after sentencing. Abramson also mentioned individuals whom many attorneys anticipated would be charged but have not yet been, including Donald Trump Jr. and Erik Prince, the founder of the former Blackwater contracting firm. He called conservative writer Jerome Corsi the "most obvious example." Corsi himself expected to be indicted by Mueller's office on charges of lying to investigators. After two months of interviews with the special counsel's office, Corsi told his daily live-stream that Mueller's team said he would be criminally charged. "I'm going to be indicted. That's what we've been told. Everyone should know that," he said. If Mueller has met his mandate, what happens next? Abramson said, "We always assumed Mueller would prosecute any case brought during the investigation himself, but that was a presumption." Mueller has handed off cases to other prosecutors' offices for months: Washington attorney Gregory Craig and Michael Cohen were sent to the Southern District of New York for federal prosecutors to handle. Cases involving Tony Podesta and Vin Weber were also farmed out. Former solicitor general Neal Katyal, who drafted the special counsel regulations, said in a New York Times op-ed published Thursday that "a short Mueller report would mark the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end." Katyal's theory was that Mueller viewed himself as the chief architect of the investigation phase for a family of cases; he compared them to the internet, "with many different nodes, and some of those nodes possess potentially unlimited jurisdiction." The report Muller submitted to Attorney General William Barr will detail not each witness's testimony, but Mueller's decision to indict or decline to indict the subjects of the investigation. He could file charges or unseal a large number of indictments at the close of the investigation, then let the Department of Justice prosecute them. "Their powers and scope go well beyond Mr. Mueller's circumscribed mandate," Katyal wrote. "So whenever Mr. Mueller turns in his report, do not assume that things are over." First published by The Washington Post The KUB is four feet wide, can fly for 30 minutes at a speed of 80 mph and carries six pounds of explosives, the news release says. That makes it roughly the size of a coffee table that can be guided to explode on a target 40 miles away - the equivalent of a "small, slow and presumably inexpensive cruise missile," according to a report by the National Interest website. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Register for a FREE account to keep reading! Register now for a FREE account to keep reading. No cost and no credit card required! Access up to 5 articles per month when you register, or get unlimited access to all of our content online starting at $1.99 now! Already registered? Click the log in link below Dhaka, Feb 23 (UNI) Although Myanmar has agreed to take back eight lakh Rohingyas, it is yet to create a congenial atmosphere for their repatriation, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said on Saturday. Initiatives are underway to send back 8 lakh, out of the 12 lakh Rohingyas, he said during a prize-giving ceremony at Mirabazar Model High School in the city. More than 7,00,000 Rohingya's had fled to Bangladesh after Myanmar security forces launched a brutal offensive following militant attacks on border outposts and a military base in late August 2017. Myanmar security forces have been accused of murder, rape and torture during the crackdown but they deny the charges. Gold worth Rs 67 lakhs seized by customs at Anna International Airport. Chennai, Feb 24 (UNI) Officers of the Customs posted at Anna International Airport seized gold worth Rs 67 lakhs in two separate incidents here on Sunday. The customs officials said, "Working on a tip off, we intercepted three pax at exit of arrival hall on suspicion of carrying gold, They had arrived from Dubai by Emirates Airlines flight." All three pax namely Istak Ali Kathim (48), Aslam Khan (31), and Mahadirkur Khan (29) were carrying home theaters as their checked-in luggages. GMR Airports Ltd, Terna Groups signs concession agreement for construction of Intl Airport in Greece Hyderabad, Feb 22 (UNI) GMR Infrastructure Limited on Friday said that its subsidiary GMR Airports Limited and its Greek partner Terna Group have signed a concession agreement for construction of the new International Airport at Crete in Greece. The concession agreement involves design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance and exploitation of the new International Airport of Heraklion at Crete. Meghalaya regulates reopening of shops, plying of vehicles as COVID positivity rate rises 27 Jun 2021 | 10:11 PM Shillong, Jun 27 (UNI) With COVID-19 cases high and positivity rate at 10 per cent, the East Khasi Hills district administration in Meghalaya has issued orders to regulate the opening of commercial establishments and plying of public vehicles from Monday under strict containment measures. see more.. BJP workers to achieve target fixed by the centre: Jaiswal 27 Jun 2021 | 10:09 PM Patna, Jun 27 ( UNI) Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) workers have been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that every poor would get the benefit of 'one Nation, one card' scheme through the Public Distribution System(PDS), president of the Bihar unit of the BJP Sanjay Jaiswal said here on Sunday. see more.. Modern way of life has rendered Sparrows homeless : Khatri 27 Jun 2021 | 9:28 PM Patna, Jun 27 (UNI) Veteran bird activist Rakesh Khatri on Sunday called for providing nests to Sparrows, as modern way of life has rendered them homeless. see more.. People should remain alert against COVID: Mangal 27 Jun 2021 | 9:08 PM Patna, Jun 26 ( UNI) Amid declining trend of the second wave of COVID 19 pandemic, Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey on Sunday cautioned people to remain alert against its infection. see more.. 27 Jun 2021 | 9:30 PM Bhopal, June 27 (UNI) Even as the Madhya Pradesh government and administration are succeeding in diminishing the pace of the millennium scourge; the states fatality figure mounted to 8,917 on Sunday with 21 fresh demises being reported even as the infected tally touched 7,89,696 with 39 more instances being detected during analysis of approximately 69,000 specimens. A Health Services Directorate bulletin highlighted the encouraging facts that active cases have declined to 816, as many as 37 of the total 52 districts recorded zero new sufferers and incidence rate dropped to 0.05 per cent. Bhopal spawned ten fresh infections, Indore seven, Ratlam and Betul three each, Jabalpur and Dhar two each. A total 7,79,963 individuals recuperated; 129 of them on this very day. A vaccination campaign is being conducted on war footing to inoculate about 5.74 crore citizens above the age of 18 years. Until now, in excess of 1.98 cr doses have been administered. 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. Alfanar Travel Bahrain has announced the launch of Kabayan+, an exclusive loyalty programme for the Filipino community. The launch ceremony, held at Jawad Dome, was inaugurated by Alfonso A Ver, Philippines Ambassador to Bahrain, in the presence of Kareem Jawad, CEO, Alfanar Travel and deputy CEO, Jawad Business Group; Deepak Janardanan, general manager Alfanar Travel, as well as representatives from Kabayan+ sponsors and airlines. Alfanar made a mark with its own Pinoy travel brand - Kabayan Korner, offering special rates for destinations in the Philippines and across the world. K Plus is the first loyalty card from any travel company with so many value-added services and instant discounts from our partner outlets. This will be a step to support the Filipino community in Bahrain, said Kareem Jawad. A Ver congratulated and appreciated the efforts of Alfanar Travel in supporting their community. Kabayan Plus cardholders will get complimentary baggage insurance on air tickets and special rates on Holiday packages and travel insurance from Alfanar Travel. Sponsors include Avis, LBC cargo, Travelex, Costa, Dairy Queen, Burger King, Papa Johns, Harley Davidson, The Lost Paradise Waterpark, Gajria Electronics, Kims Hospital, Salma Optics are also offering special discounts to the cardholders. Alfanar will extend its services on the programme very soon and will offer more value-added services. We will also launch loyalty cards for other communities," Janardanan added. - TradeArabia News Service The UAE has overtaken the US and Saudi Arabia as the country that UK companies are most interested in exporting to, according to latest research by British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA). The findings come as 83 UK education suppliers have confirmed to exhibit at the influential GESS Dubai 2019, a leading education conference and exhibition in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region with visitors expected from 92 countries and over 550 brands representing local and international education suppliers, said a statement from BESA. The 12th edition of the event will be held from February 26 to 28, in Dubai, UAE. The export market, especially within the Mena region, continues to increase in importance and be a major focus for UK companies, it said. The 2019 UK pavilion is the largest by country and will feature the latest British educational resources and services ranging from learning platforms, assessment software, Steam resources to furniture, school uniforms, EdTech and general education resources. Caroline Wright, director general of BESA, said: Governments, policy-makers and decision-takers in the Middle East increasingly look to the GESS Dubai education exhibition as the place to meet and discuss the latest trends, topics and issues in education in the region. UK suppliers offer quality resources and services that can help address the key challenges and opportunities facing schools in the GCC area, she added. TradeArabia News Service The sovereign long-term commercial borrowing in the Middle East and North African (Mena) region could increase by 25 per cent this year after falling 38 per cent in 2018, said a report by S&P Global Ratings. This was chiefly because higher oil prices and fiscal consolidation measures in Gulf countries significantly reduced GCC sovereigns' funding needs in 2018. However, lower oil prices in 2019 will not support a further reduction in GCC fiscal deficits, stated S&P Global Ratings in its report, "Sovereign Debt 2019: Mena Borrowing To Increase By 25 per cent to $136 billion." For the 13 rated Mena sovereigns, the ratings agency forecast a $27 billion increase in long-term borrowing from commercial sources (both domestic and international), taking the total to about $136 billion in 2019 compared with $109 billion last year. The S&P Global Ratings expects Saudi Arabia, the largest Mena economy, to be the biggest borrower in 2019 with $29 billion, or 22 per cent of gross commercial long-term borrowing in the region as a whole. The next largest borrower will be Egypt ($28 billion; 20 per cent of the total), it added. At the same time, the top ratings agency said it expected Kuwait, Egypt, and Iraq to significantly boost their gross commercial long-term borrowing in 2019 compared with last year. "We expect that about 44 per cent of Mena sovereigns' $136 billion of gross borrowing this year will go toward refinancing maturing long-term debt, resulting in an estimated net borrowing requirement of $76 billion," stated the report. "Adding amounts owed to bi- and multilateral institutions, total debt will reach about $892 billion, a year-on-year increase of $85 billion, or 11 per cent. We expect that outstanding short-term commercial debt (original tenor of less than one year) will rise to $169 billion by the end of this year," it stated. According to S&P Global Ratings, the absolute level of commercial debt for the region is set to increase by $85 billion to about $892 billion at year-end 2017, up 11 per cent from 2018. "For 2019, we project that sovereigns' commercial debt rated in the 'AA' category (Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and Qatar) will be 18 per cent of the total, significantly up from 8 per cent in 2018. This is based on our expectation that the Kuwaiti government will pass a new debt law, raising the debt ceiling and authorizing extra borrowing, said the agency in its report. "We anticipate this will result in Kuwait taking on $15 billion of long-term commercial borrowing in 2019, compared with no borrowing in the previous year," it added. S&P Global Ratings said it expected Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Lebanon to issue the lion's share of long-term commercial government debt in the region this year (respectively 22 per cent, 20 per cent, and 14 per cent). "Iraq is likely to continue to have the largest share of bi- and multilateral debt in 2018 (40 per cent of the total)," it stated. Most GCC countries have been tapping international debt markets in recent years to meet their funding needs, diversify funding sources, and reduce liquidity pressures in the domestic banking systems. Regarding GCC central governments' deficit-financing strategies, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman have largely focused on debt issuance rather than asset drawdowns. Saudi Arabia has seen a more equal split between issuing debt and liquidating part of their assets, while Abu Dhabi and Kuwait have mostly drawn down assets, issuing in the markets more opportunistically.-TradeArabia News Service While the leaders of North Korea and the United States debate banishing nuclear bombs from the Korean peninsula, the host of their summit this week, Vietnam, long almost synonymous with war, is relishing its role as a promoter of peace. U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet on Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi, hoping to build on their historic summit in Singapore in June, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. Vietnam\s hosting of the high-stakes talks marks its emergence as a trust-worthy, responsible member of the international community that has forged peace with old enemies, and can now help others to do so, Vietnamese officials say. Since emerging from decades of diplomatic isolation in the early 1990s, Vietnam has been eager to improve ties with large powers and the region to help balance its historically thorny relations with giant neighbor, China, which confronts Vietnam over claims to the resource-rich South China Sea. The boost to Vietnam\s international status that the summit should confer would support that strategy. Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung said the United States and North Korea were both keen to hold their summit in Vietnam. "It shows that Vietnam is a responsible and active member of the international community, wanting to contribute to the peace process and that Vietnam\s policy is to raise the level of multi-lateral foreign policy," Trung told reporters last week. Vietnam was at war almost continuously for some 45 years, from the end of World War Two through to the early 1990s, battling France, the United States, China and Cambodia\s Khmer Rouge. Far off Geneva and Paris hosted negotiations to end those wars, but this time Hanoi is the "city for peace", Trung said. "Vietnam is a nation that is really fond of peace but also had to suffer wars, and usually the wars ended with peace negotiations," he said. \MORE WEIGHT\ Vietnam seems to be taking to its role of mediator with gusto. The government has pushed the U.S. and North Korean security services to work closely to prepare for the summit, a senior Vietnamese security official told Reuters. Vietnam would also love to see the United States and North Korea sign a declaration of peace to officially end the 1950-53 Korean War, said the official, who declined to be identified. The war ended with an armistice not a treaty, and North Korea is keen to sign a treaty, though the United States has demanded denuclearization first. Vietnam would also be keen to host a third meeting between the leaders, the official said. A successful summit would enhance Vietnam\s standing, said Nguyen Quy Binh, a former ambassador and permanent representative of Vietnam to the United Nations in Geneva. "Vietnam\s voice will have more weight. A country that acts responsibly and reputably, a country that is trust-worthy, will have a different voice," Binh told Reuters. Binh mentioned the South China Sea dispute as a flashpoint and said the United States could help to balance regional powers and ensure stability. "If Vietnam can do this well, its voice and reputation in its relations with other countries will benefit." Western and Asian diplomats said they expected Vietnam to try to support any reforms in North Korea that the summit bring. Those effort would be enhanced by Vietnam\s turn as chair of Southeast Asia\s ASEAN grouping next year, and a possible spell as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Secretary Council in 2021. "Hosting such an sensitive event is a step up for Hanoi. In private, Vietnamese officials are pretty happy with the way things are going it\s a sweet spot for them," said a senior Western diplomat. SOURCE: REUTERS Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sharply criticised his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after the recent execution of nine people in Egypt, saying he refused to talk to "someone like him". "They killed nine young people recently. This is not something we can accept," Erdogan said Saturday in an interview with Turkish TV channels CNN-Turk and Kanal D, referring to the execution Wednesday of nine men sentenced for the murder of the Egyptian prosecutor general in 2015. "Of course, we are going to be told that it is a decision of the judiciary, but there, justice, elections, all that, are codswallop. There is an authoritarian system, even totalitarian," Erdogan added. "Now, I am answering those who wonder why Tayyip Erdogan does not speak to Sisi, because there are mediators who come here sometimes, but I will never talk to someone like him," he said. Relations between Turkey and Egypt have been virtually non-existent since the Egyptian military, then led by Sisi, in 2013 ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, a close ally of Erdogan. Morsi\s Islamist Muslim Brotherhood is outlawed in Egypt but members of the group have sought refuge in Turkey. Erdogan, who denounced Morsi\s ouster, sometimes draws a parallel with the failed coup against himself in 2016. The Turkish president also called for the release of Muslim Brotherhood prisoners in Egypt. "First of all, he should release all those imprisoned with a general amnesty. As long as these people have not been released, we will not be able to talk with Sisi," he said. Erdogan also attacked Western countries which, according to him, "roll out the red carpet" for Sisi and turn a blind eye to the latest executions in Egypt. "Where are the Westerners? Have you heard their voices?" he said. "On the other hand, when it comes to people imprisoned in our country (Turkey), they scream bloody murder." Amnesty International condemned the executions of the men, who it said were convicted in trials marred by torture allegations. SOURCE: AFP MBABANE - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation spent over E142 million more than the budgeted amount for travel and communication for missions abroad. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International cooperation Annual Report 2018/2019, the annual budget for travel and communication for the missions abroad was E6 378 669, while the total spent was E148 461 660. This shows a difference of E142 082 991. The released budget for the item was E125 806 426, and the reallocation was E123 148 647. The report states that the budget overrun under this item was due to insufficient funds allocated to cater for costs of telephone bills, air fares when attending meetings, during home leave, presentation of credentials and freight costs for diplomatic bags. Funds reallocated to this item were initially directed to international relations activities, the report states. The report listed as one of its challenges the inadequate budget allocation for missions abroad, especially on transport/ communication. Professional services, consumables and durables. The ministry stated that this was also negatively affected by the fluctuating exchange rate of the local currency to major foreign currencies. The report further stated that after the budget from international reallocations was exhausted, other reallocations were made from professional services and rentals from mission abroad. The ministry saved over E30 million on personnel costs. However, the report stated that this item would be utilised before the end of the financial year to pay for foreign services allowances, salaries for local staff and educational allowances, as the payment of school fees differed per mission. It is worth noting that the budget for personnel costs was under-allocated by E55 million. The Ministry of Finance addressed the shortfall by transferring funds from Head 60 through a JV, hence the actual figure for the released budget is more, the report stated. Head 60, according to the budget estimates, are internal transfers. The released budget was E110 038 969. MBABANE Evart Madlopha needs no introduction. After 33 years of service, the principal secretary in the Ministry of Public Service is retiring on May 20, 2018 as he will be turning 60. The countrys retirement age is 60. Madlopha joined government in 1985 as an engineer attached to the Ministry of Works and Transport. He rose through the ranks in his professional field of engineering until his appointment as principal secretary. Then this government portfolio was known as the Ministry of Works and Construction. In 1994. At the age of 35, he was appointed as PS by His Majesty the King. Being the youngest PS in government at the time, he served as a Board member for Eswatini Railway and Royal Eswatini Airways. In 1996, the portfolio of the ministry was changed to the Ministry of Works and Transport, and Madlopha continued to serve as the principal secretary. He was later transferred to the Ministry of Public Service in 2009. He currently serves as Board member in a number of institutions including, University of Eswatini and Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI). He is the local Board Chairman of IDM Eswatini, and is the longest serving PS in the Government of Eswatini. It must be said that Madlopha, who chairs the Government Negotiation Team (GNT), made his name at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport where he was instrumental in the construction of the Mbabane-Manzini Highway, Oshoek-Mbabane Bypass road, Mafutseni-Mliba road, Madlangemphisi-Buhleni road, among others. His job as the principal secretary in the Ministry of Public Service made him unpopular with civil servants. In August 2018, he led the team that tabled a 0.0 per cent the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for civil servants for the financial year 2018/2019. That was in sharp contrast with the 6.5 per cent demanded by the government workers. During marches and court sessions, the workers composed derogatory songs about Madlopha. He remained calm whenever the mocking workers delivered petitions to him. However, some civil servants benefitted from the salary review implemented in 2016 known as dvuladvula. The annual Southern Regional Press Institute (SRPI) is a conference for journalism and mass communication students at Savannah State University (SSU). It was founded in 1951 by Wilton C. Scott, the director of public relations at the University. This year makes the 68th year of the SRPI conference at Savannah State University and will take place on February 28 and March 1. The theme this year is diversity in the media and was collectively picked by the SRPI planning committee which include some of Faculty, staff and some presidents of student organizations at Savannah State University. When someone imagines the word, diversity, they may think of a variety of different things specific to one category, which goes perfect with mass communications. Mass communications is a diverse industry between concentrations, which include journalism, multimedia production, tv and radio, public relations and advertising or other diverse cultures throughout the industry. SRPI director and Savannah State Mass Communications Professor, Reginald Franklin, spoke about what is to come at this years conference and more about diversity in the media. Diversity in media sub theme is taking all aspect of media and mass communications and grading them on their efforts to include everybodys, everybody including minorities, women, and LBGTQ in media being inclusion, Franklin said. Franklin also said that students can look forward to meeting professionals from all over the country. SRPI is the prime opportunity to network, he said. Professionals from all industries come out to talk to students to help encourage and motivate them in the mass communications department and help students gain mentors to help their future endeavors before and after graduations. Franklin and the SRPI committee had a late start getting started with the planning of the SPRI conference after Mrs. Novella Cross Holmes, special projects coordinator at Savannah State retired. Fortunately, Franklin took on the full role SRPI planning. This is Franklins ninth rodeo with the SRPI as director and it will be his last year as director. It is time for some flesh blood and new ideas, he said. Franklin has been at SSU for 20 years and has been participating in the news broadcast workshop at SRPI for the same amount of time. SRPI is not limited to Savannah State students only. It is open to all colleges and universities with a communications program across the board. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, there was a prevailing optimism that the Cold War was over (and the U.S. won). The optimism was misplaced for a number of reasons. Having replaced former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, President Boris Yeltsin was belligerent. And Yeltsins replacement, Vladimir Putin, was/is worse. Indeed, Putin seeks to restore a communist style dictatorship reminiscent of the Brezhnev era. The threat of the new Russia should come as no surprise. In his 1983 book, The New Diplomacy, the late Israeli scholar Abba Eban wrote that the aggressive tendencies of the now-defunct Soviet Union were more Russian than communist in nature. This was supposed to put us at ease. But it proved little comfort to learn it was Russian aggression rather than Soviet aggression which emanated from Moscow. And it is an aggression which still haunts us. Moreover, notwithstanding the collapse of the Soviet Union, communism was still thriving in China and continues to do so. President Xi Jinping has made no secret of his aim at world domination. Granted, he is a long way from achieving this goal. On the other hand, a nation of 1.4 billion people cannot be ignored. But the real and present danger of the current Cold War is the newfound friendship between Russia and China. Whereas these two countries were bitter enemies during the old Cold War (having even a military exchange in 1969) and the U.S. was able to play Russia and China off one another, the two dictatorships have forged a recent bond which includes mutual economic and military assistance. This unofficial yet dangerous pact has much to do with the policies of President Donald Trump, who seeks to isolate China and to deny the communist behemoth access to U.S. markets, thereby driving China into the arms of Russia. Its not as if China prefers Russia as a friend over the United States. But if President Trump goes ahead with his plan to increase punitive tariffs on imports from China, an escalation in the Russia-China venture can be expected. Indeed, it is no small disaster that President Trump has managed to push our two most dangerous and ambitious adversaries into a de facto alliance. The irony is that during the original Cold War, the U.S. maintained an erroneous view of communism as a monolithic force. Truth be told, nationalism played a larger role in communist revolutions than did socialism. And the respective nationalisms harbored animosities toward each other. China and Russia were ancient enemies whose hostilities were revived in the 1950s. China was also a longtime adversary of Vietnam, despite the former providing the latter with military assistance in response to U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. The new dynamic of a Russian-Chinese friendship has created a situation more dangerous perhaps than was the Cold War of yesteryear (when Chiarman Mao had nothing but contempt for the Soviet Union). Whereas Richard Nixon was able to exploit a bitter rivalry between the Soviet Union and China, creating detente with the Soviets and eventual formal relations with the Chinese, the powder-keg that now defines the mutual interests of Russia and China requires more skill than even Tricky Dick was able to manage when he clinked glasses with both Breshneve and Mao. The spectacle of the embrace between Putin and Xi is not just symbolic. It poses a threat to which President Trump shows dangerous indifference. John ONeill is an Allen Park freelance writer. He has a degree in history from Wayne State University. Elizabethtown, KY (42701) Today A mix of clouds and sun. High 88F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. With the development of new technologies in the area of AI, many companies are jumping into the field with both eyes wide open. It is very possible that artificial intelligent androids will work alongside their human companions in the future. They will not only work in the same office or building but also independently in their own home. Artificial intelligence has opened up many doors in the past and looks to continue that pace in the future. There are several reasons as to why companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Cisco, IBM and others are all jumping into the pool Francis Green, UCL Private schools tend to be richly resourced and expensive, so those children lucky enough to attend them normally receive a good education, with academic advantages enhanced by a range of extra-curricular activities. But while this might be great for private pupils these schools pose a serious problem for Britains education system and society. shutterstock child, a private education Better jobs with more money Shutterstock are Unfair and unequal cabinet a private Shutterstock Unlimited website access 24/7 Unlimited e-Edition access 24/7 The best local, regional and national news in sports, politics, business and more! With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. Fierce winds fan forest fires in Corsica Ajaccio, France, Feb 24 (AFP) Feb 24, 2019 Firefighters battled a series of forest fires Sunday on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica that were being driven by strong winds across hard-to-access mountain ranges, authorities said. One of the biggest blazes began overnight in Calenzana, a village near the northern coastal city of Calvi, burning nearly 1,300 hectares (3,200 acres) by Sunday afternoon. "There's a lot of wind so we're focusing on trying to keep it from spreading," the government's regional official Gerard Gavory told AFP. Planes were dumping fire retardants on the area, and so far no homes or farms had been destroyed, Gavory said. "Despite repeated warnings by the authorities, stubble burnings that got out of control, along with the very strong winds, started the fires," Gavory said. "We had 20 break out yesterday and eight today." But while Calenzana Mayor Pierre Guidonia also denounced a "cowardly and criminal act," state prosecutor Caroline Tharot said investigations into the cause of the fires were still underway. Around 170 people were fighting blazes in northern Corsica Sunday afternoon, often on rocky terrain where fire trucks could not reach. In the southern part of the island the biggest fire was at Tolla to the east of Ajaccio, with around 80 hectares burned, Colonel Christophe Magny of the regional fire service said. In nearby fire Sampolo some 50 acres had burned, Magny said. "There's scrub but also chestnut groves that have been hit, and with the steep terrain and the wind, this could be a major fire," he said. Corsica was largely spared by forest fires last year, following a series of fierce blazes during an exceptionally dry 2017. One dead, one missing after German avalanche Berlin, Feb 23 (AFP) Feb 23, 2019 One person was killed and another went missing in an avalanche in the southern German state of Bavaria close to the Austrian border, police said Saturday. The avalanche hit on Saturday afternoon at an altitude of 1,300 metres (4,265 feet) on the Schuetzensteig mountain, located a few kilometres (miles) away from the Austrian Tyrol region. A third person was rescued with serious injuries after some 70 rescue workers combed the area for possible victims, police said, adding that the search had been halted at nightfall. No further information has so far been released regarding the victims. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Thank you for Reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and Purchase a Subscription to continue reading. Letter to the Editor Critical Race Theory Now those that remain in the Republican Party are all upset that the Critical Race Theory might be revealed through the ... 2 students at IU have mumps BLOOMINGTON (AP) Health officials are investigating two confirmed cases of mumps at Indiana University. The university and the Indiana State Department of Health confirmed the cases that are being investigated by state and Monroe County health officials. An IU spokesman said two students who were roommates in an off-campus apartment contracted the disease. The school has issued an advisory saying health officials are working to identify anyone who may have been in close contact with the students. Mumps is contagious and spreads through coughing and sneezing. Common symptoms are fever, headache, and painfully swollen salivary glands that can cause puffy cheeks. Most people recover within weeks. Outbreaks are rare. The mumps vaccine is part of routine childhood shots. Tip leads police to re-examine 1950 murder case PORTLAND (AP) Police in eastern Indiana are re-examining a teacher's mysterious death nearly 70 years ago following a tip from an elderly man who claims to have information about the case. Garnet Ginn, 33, was found dead in her car in February 1950 with a sewing machine belt looped around her neck, The (Muncie) Star Press reported. She was a home economics teacher at Portland High School. A man came forward with a tip after hearing a local radio station discuss the case recently, said Portland Police Chief Nathan Springer. The man claimed that the person responsible for Ginn's death is dead, Springer said. The department will follow up on the lead with the hope of providing closure to Ginn's family, Springer said. Officials are working to contact the potential suspect's relatives, he said. Springer said the department has yet to locate police reports or physical evidence from the original 1950 investigation. He said the Indiana State Police, which was also involved in the original investigation, will be contacted about evidence or records related to the case. Jay County Coroner Donald Spahr ruled Ginn's cause of death as strangulation, but didn't formally declare it a homicide or suicide. Ginn was buried without an autopsy, leading to rumors of a cover-up and criticism of local authorities. Her remains were exhumed several weeks later after local media pushed for further investigation. Medical examiners found that Ginn had been repeatedly struck in the head, The Indianapolis Star reported at the time. The findings spurred criticism that police were careless with the case. Bill proposes felony charge if doctor misuses sperm INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Indiana doctors could face felony deceptions charges under a legislative proposal that follows the case in which a fertility doctor used his own sperm to impregnate perhaps dozens of women. The Indiana Senate has approved a bill allowing felony charges if the deception involves a medical procedure, device, drug or human reproductive material, such as sperm, eggs or embryos. The Senate action comes after some men and women whose mothers were unknowingly impregnated by their fertility doctor's own sperm called for creating a felony criminal charge of fertility fraud. Marion County prosecutors said they were limited in charges against Dr. Donald Cline for being the biological father of more than 40 children born to his patients in the 1970s and 1980s. The bill now goes to the House for consideration. Group offers lease to futuristic home along Lake Michigan BEVERLY SHORES (AP) A preservation group is offering a lease for a futuristic home along Lake Michigan that was featured at Chicago's 1933 World's Fair. Indiana Landmarks says any party willing to restore the famed House of Tomorrow will be offered a 50-year lease to the residence in a partnership with the Indiana Dunes National Park. The unique home near Beverly Shores on the lake's southern tip needs nearly $3 million in work to preserve and repair its unusual architecture. The home debuted at the 1933 World's Fair and was among the first residential buildings to employ a glass curtain-wall structure. After the Chicago fair closed, it was one of five "Century of Progress" homes moved by barge and truck to an Indiana plot that's now part of the national park. INDIANAPOLIS A bill that would tighten management of an Indiana grant program meant to help struggling veterans is advancing in the Legislature, thanks to broad bipartisan support following revelations that a state agency awarded some grants to its own employees. The legislation sponsored by Rep. Randy Frye unanimously passed the Indiana House's Veterans Affairs committee, which the Greensburg Republican chairs, on Tuesday. The bill now appears likely to pass the full House before Monday's deadline to send bills to the Senate, The Indianapolis Star reported . The measure would move the decision to award grants to veterans who are employees of the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs away from that agency and shift it to the independently appointed Indiana Veterans Commission. That commission would use the same newly prescribed income requirements for agency employees as for all veterans. It would also consider appeals for requests by any veteran over the agency's lifetime cap of $2,500 in funds from the Military Family Relief Fund. The Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs' leader, James Brown, resigned in December following reports that he had awarded money to veterans who worked under him. He denied wrongdoing. Brown's resignation came after The Indianapolis Star and WRTV-TV questioned the agency's administration of the fund, which is supported by fees from specialty veteran license plates. The Star's investigation found that middle-income employees at the agency had an inside track on the emergency assistance grants. That investigation and a subsequent state audit also found that the program was poorly managed, with some applications languishing for months while others were processed even though they were incomplete. Dennis Wimer, who became the agency's director following Brown's resignation, said he supports Frye's legislation. Wimer, who was hired Jan. 28, said he's been thoroughly reviewing the agency and wants to ensure the grant program is properly administered. The agency adopted rules in January for the grant program that make clear that the funding is for low-income veterans facing financial hardships. The bill essentially puts those new rules for agency employees and the $2,500 cap into state law. He said he wanted the rules incorporated into Indiana law because rules are "something that can be changed," Frye said. He said he's backed off two provisions originally in his bill: a total ban on grants for agency employees and a lifetime grant cap of $2,500. He said he reconsidered those ideas after talking to key stakeholders. "I believe this needs to be fair and equitable for all veterans," Frye said. Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jim Bauerle, the former chairman of the Indiana Veterans Commission, said he hopes the bill can be amended further to clarify certain responsibilities of the commission, those of the agency director, grant qualifications and an appeals process. "We think there are some areas that could be improved and we've got Rep. Frye's promise to work with us in the Senate," he said. DAYTON What do you see when you pass the billboard installed in March 2018 along Indiana 38 across from Lafayettes Subaru plant as a towering poke in the eye in a small towns neighbor-vs.-neighbor struggles? Its the one that riffs on a motto found on the prolific, red-and-white signs planted in yards in the town just on the other side of Interstate 65: Keep Dayton Small. Keep Dayton Friendly. Keep Dayton Dayton. One interpretation, featured on postcards that started making the rounds this week, starts at the beginning of each line for a take that had both sides in the long-running Keep Dayton Small feud up in arms and pointing fingers on Thursday. On the postcards front, over a picture of the billboard: No matter how you justify it, it still says KKK. On the back is a pre-printed address of Lamar Advertising, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, company that leases the billboard space. The creator, Brian Dilkes, a Purdue biochemistry professor living in Lafayette, said his point isnt meant to accuse anyone of Ku Klux Klan membership or stake a claim in the fight over whether to limit annexation and housing growth in the town of 1,550 people. It states, quite simply, that billboard spells KKK down the left side, Dilkes said. Thats it. I just dont like a billboard that spells, KKK, sitting on (Indiana) 38 that I see every time I go to Indianapolis. Dilkes, as of Thursday, hadnt mailed any of the postcards he had made, either to Lamar Advertising or to anyone in Dayton. But he did share a few with people one evening this week at The Spot, a tavern just south of downtown Lafayette. Thats how the KKK reference filtered eight miles to Cindy Marsh, who has been front and center with Dayton Watchdog and the Dayton Area Community Coalition, sister groups that have been fighting town council efforts to annex and rezone land along Dayton Road for a proposed, 110-home subdivision. Things escalated from there. Marsh initially accused town board members and their supporters in a Facebook blast on a members-only page devoted to the Dayton community. In the last 2 years I have been attacked, slandered, lied about, and called nasty names, Marsh, wife of dissenting council member Ron Koehler, wrote Wednesday night. One of the nicer ones was fat, ugly dog. But nothing has gotten my blood boiling like this atrocity! You proposed subdivision lovers/Dayton haters have gone too far this time! Go back to your hateful posts in Tooville, and calling me horrid names, but dont even try to associate the Community Coalition with that despicable hate group. Tooville is a reference to We Are Dayton, Too, a Facebook group created in 2017 to serve as a clearinghouse and sounding board for those in town that have made the case for the annexation and the hopes for the $300,000 to $400,000 houses that are supposed to come with it on 55 acres on the south side of the town. Marsh had blamed the Tooville crowd of trolling her and her husband, owners of Koehler Bros. Nursery and Landscaping, in the past. In one particularly public case, Marsh pressed the state officials to force Dayton police to release security camera footage from Halloween 2017 to unmask those behind a prank to cover the signs at the entrances to town from Dayton to Koehlerville. In that case, Luke Britt, Indianas public access counselor, recommended that release of the video was up to the town marshal, as he sized up a situation well known to this office. While the petty actions of some tricksters on Halloween night may seem innocuous to the outsider, it stands to reason some rabble may be roused by the release of the video in terms of potential retaliation, Britt wrote in January 2018. If, in the best judgment of law enforcement officials, this is truly a public safety threat, then the withholding of the video is neither arbitrary nor capricious. Marsh said that sort of back-and-forth in town was her frame for the postcard, when she first saw it. Weve had people say were trying to keep people out of Dayton, but, Im just putting my arms in the air on this one, Marsh said Thursday. That couldnt be further from the truth. Keep is in our slogan. We repeated it. How many people would see that as KKK? Im just stunned. By Thursday afternoon, Marsh said she was deleting her Facebook posts after consulting with the town marshal over concerns of ramping things up against the wrong people. Dave Leininger, who helps manage the We Are Dayton, Too, site, said he could see how someone not directly involved in Daytons debate might read into the billboards message. (Keep Dayton Small. Keep Dayton Pure, he said. Keep Dayton the way it was which is, what, 99-point-something percent white? Yeah, somebody could see that.) But I dont believe the Koehlers and I cant stand those people would do that intentionally, Leininger said. Scott Swick, a former Dayton resident who moved a few miles north of the town last summer, agreed. I dont believe this is some sort of subliminal message, said Swick, who said he was on the opposite side of the Keep Dayton Small campaign. On Thursday, Dilkes said hed reached out to Marsh and to town leaders in recent months, via private messages, after he posted pictures of the billboard and thoughts that the billboard should be reworded, at the very least. He said he heard back from Tyrone Taylor, a town board member who is one of the targets of the billboard. Dilkes said he heard nothing from Marsh or her allies. Marsh said she gets enough trolls at the Dayton Area Community Coalition site that she deletes many of them without reading more than a line or two. It really does get to be a bit much, Marsh said. So, I might have missed it, if he called us out. But, come on. Would her group consider reframing a billboard that initially went up for a four-month stint, only to stick around into 2019 as a prelude to what could be tense town council elections in November? Marsh said that hadnt crossed her mind. Koehler, who has butted heads with fellow council members in the past two years, was more blunt in a Facebook post Thursday: Those who are handing out this hate are just nasty, spineless, yellow cowards. It must just eat you alive to have to drive by the big ole sign every day and look at it. Well, keep looking, guys, it will be there a long time!!!! A very, very long time!!!!!! Dilkes said he hadnt mailed any of his new postcards, yet. Hes sharing some with friends, for now. All Im saying is, wouldnt it be nice just to modify (the billboard)? Dilkes said. I dont mind if Dayton wants to stay small. But Id like it if a billboard that spells KKK wasnt in my town. Many cities, in recent years, have initiated tree planting campaigns to offset carbon dioxide emissions and improve urban microclimates. In 2007, New York City launched MillionTrees NYC, a program designed to plant 1 million new trees along streets, in parks and on private and public properties by 2017. They hit their goal two years ahead of time. These programs are popular for a reason: Not only do trees improve the citys appearance, but they also mitigate the urban heat island effect the tendency for dense cities to be hotter than surrounding areas. Studies have shown that trees reduce pollutants in the air, and even the mere sight of trees and the availability of green spaces in cities can decrease stress. But as I show in my new book, Seeing Trees: A History of Street Trees in New York City and Berlin, trees werent always a part of the urban landscape. It took a systematic, coordinated effort to get the first ones planted. A landscape that was hot, congested and treeless As New York Citys population exploded in the 19th century, poor sanitary conditions, overcrowding and hot summers made the city a petri dish for disease: Between 1832 and 1866, cholera outbreaks alone had killed an estimated 12,230 people. By the turn of the 20th century, living conditions had deteriorated. Neighborhoods continued to be overcrowded, indoor plumbing was still lacking and open sewers could still be found along many of the citys dusty streets and alleys. Trees could be entirely absent from a neighborhood. The few trees that did line city streets mostly ailanthus, elms and buttonwoods could be individually cataloged with relatively little effort. For example, in 1910, The New York Times reported on the decreasing number of trees along Fifth Avenue. The article noted that between 14th Street and 59th Street, there were only seven trees on the west side and six on the east side of the avenue. Real estate development, subway expansion and utility line construction had clearly taken their toll. A physician proposes a solution In the 1870s, eminent New York City physician Stephen Smith spearheaded a movement to plant more trees. Doing so, he argued, would save lives. Smith, who pioneered the citys sanitary reforms and founded the Metropolitan Board of Health, was the author of a groundbreaking study that correlated high temperatures with childhood deaths from a number of infectious diseases. He concluded that planting street trees could mitigate oppressive heat and save 3,000 to 5,000 lives per year. To promote street tree planting in his city, Smith drew attention to what became known as the Washington Elm study. Attributed to Harvard College mathematics professor Benjamin Peirce, the study claimed that the famous Washington Elm standing on the Cambridge Common in Massachusetts had an estimated crop of 7 million leaves that, if laid out next to each other, would cover a surface of 5 acres. The study illustrated the vast potential of a single trees foliage to absorb carbon dioxide, emit oxygen and provide shade. In 1873, Smith drafted and introduced his first bill to the New York state legislature for the establishment of a Bureau of Forestry, which would promote the cultivation of street trees. But the bill stalled; it took several additional attempts and amendments before it was finally approved in 1902. Even then, it didnt provide adequate funds for municipal street tree planting. So, in 1897, Smith joined a group of citizens who decided to take matters into their own hands. Calling themselves the Tree Planting Association, they helped homeowners plant trees in front of their residences. A few years later, they also established the Tenement Shade Tree Committee to plant trees along tenement blocks and in front of public schools. The city encouraged residents living on a block to collaborate on planting decisions so that trees could be planted at regular intervals, providing even shade and a uniform aesthetic. Some species, like the Norway maple, were favored because of their tall trunks and their ability to grow in poor soil and withstand urban pollution. The associations first list of members read like a New York City Whos Who: philanthropist and housing reformer Robert de Forest; art dealer Samuel P. Avery; sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens; industrialist and former mayor Edward Cooper; and financiers J.P. Morgan, W. Bayard Cutting and William Collins Whitney. On the front lines of fighting climate change For these early activists planting trees was a way to cool streets and buildings in the summer and beautify the citys gritty urban landscape. Only later would scientists come to realize the enormous potential that urban trees besides entire forests held in mitigating the effects of climate change. In 1958, Chauncey D. Leake, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, warned of the warming atmosphere in a well-received paper at the National Conference on Air Pollution. He pointed out that warming temperatures could cause the huge polar ice caps to melt, leading to sea-level rise. To lower levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, he suggested planting 10 trees for every automobile and 100 for every truck. Leakes proposal was an early attempt at using tree planting to offset global warming. Since then and particularly over the last two decades methods that calculate the number of trees needed to offset carbon dioxide emissions have become more sophisticated. For this purpose scientists and foresters from the U.S. Forest Service and the University of California Davis developed iTree, a suite of software tools that help to determine a tree species ability to sequester carbon, reduce pollution and decrease storm water runoff in a particular ecosystem. Despite their popularity, new trees can be met with resistance. While many residents enjoy the shade and look of a tree, theres always someone who sees them as a nuisance that blocks sunlight from entering their apartment. Others complain about the smelly flowers that some trees produce, the seeds they shed, and the way they attract birds that speckle sidewalks with their droppings. But as the perils of climate change become more apparent, the hope is that the broader benefits of trees prevail over personal predispositions. This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts, under a Creative Commons license. Sonja Dumpelmann is associate professor of landscape architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design where she teaches history and theory courses. she is the author of "Seeing Trees: A History of Street Trees in New York City and Berlin" (Yale University Press, 2019). She can be reached at sduempelmann@gsd.harvard.edu. Last time I referenced a famous survival story, that of the people who were stranded in the middle of the Andes mountains when their plane crashed into a mountaintop, and as I got curious and started digging more into it, I thought it would make a good tale to recount. I love stories of survival and this one has every element that makes for a good one. It certainly left me thankful for not having had to go through what the people on that plane did, but at the same time left me, as Im sure it will readers, with a sense of awe at what human beings are capable of just how strong the will to survive can be. On Friday, Oct. 13, 1972, (thats right, Friday the 13th) a propeller-powered airplane left Montevideo, Uruguay, carrying 45 passengers, including the members of an amateur rugby team and their friends and families. The plan was to fly to Santiago, Chile, where they would have a rugby match and then enjoy some of the fruits of the big city. The plane was a model known to have a bad safety record, was underpowered and wasnt really up for the journey of going over the Andes mountains, so the pilots tried to go around the southern tip of the mountain range, then head north into Santiago. It was a good idea, but the pilots wound up making a fatal error and turned north too soon, taking the plane right into the middle of the mountain range. Up in the clouds, no one could see that there were ragged mountains, stretching up beyond elevations of 15,000 feet, below them. When the pilots started to descend into what they thought was Santiago, they instead hit the peak of a mountain, which caused the plane to break into several pieces. The wings sheared off, the fuselage broke into two pieces and the front portion, carrying most of the passengers, slid down the side of a snow-covered mountain and into a snowbank in a valley, some 11,000 feet above sea level. Those that werent killed immediately or too injured to move, started to attend to the wounded as best as they knew how. By fortune, some of the members of the rugby team were medical students, including one of the more famous of the survivors, Roberto Canessa. Another famous survivor, Nando Parrado, suffered dire injuries in the crash, but wound up living only because the extreme cold actually preserved his brain and he awoke from a coma after three days to find his mother dead and his sister mortally wounded. The pilot, Cesar Ferradas, was killed instantly when the fuselage crashed into a snowbank. The co-pilot, Dante Lagurara, was mortally injured and pinned in his seat; he was in so much pain he asked one of the passengers to find his pistol and shoot him, but the request was declined. Three people were killed when the plane broke apart in mid-air. Out of the 45 that originally set out, 33 survived the crash but that number would dwindle as wounds and the cold took their toll. The cold was an immediate threat, with temperatures falling to 22 degrees below zero at night. The people on the plane were from a part of Uruguay near the ocean and most of them had never before had to deal with snow, let alone those kinds of temperatures. They didnt have any real cold weather clothing and had to scavenge what they could from the luggage that wound up at the crash site. After the first night, five more people died, leaving 27, who improvised a crude shelter in the fuselage and tried desperately not to freeze to death, too. After 10 days the search and rescue efforts were called off. Grimly, the survivors had to reckon what to do about food. There was very little food of any sort on the aircraft to begin with. Mostly chocolate candies and a few cans of nuts, which quickly ran out. The 27 who remained began to starve, and eventually, the decision was made that the frozen bodies of the dead would have to be consumed if they were going to survive. The pilot Laguraras was the first body consumed. Canessa fashioned a crude cutting tool from the broken windshield of the plane and used it to cut strips of flesh from the body, then, reluctantly and after praying for divine guidance, ate the first piece. The dead were their friends, family and classmates. It was a descent to a dark place for their souls but it became the most famous aspect of this story. When survivors are interviewed still, its the piece thats of the most interest. As the days dragged on, those left had to reconcile what to do about getting off the mountain and rescued. With a transistor radio, they had learned that the rescue efforts were called off and that the only way anyone would know they were still alive was for some of them to attempt to make their way out of the mountains. Several of the survivors led expeditions around the plane fuselage, which had also been buried by an avalanche on Oct. 29, that killed eight more survivors, to try to get their bearings and perhaps make contact. One of those expeditions discovered the tail section of the plane, which contained a little more food and some insulation, which was put to good use to make a large sleeping bag. But the difficult decision was made to attempt to reach civilization. Three men set out to climb over the 15,000-foot peak that separated them from what they thought would be Santiago on the other side. They climbed for three days, having had no prior mountaineering experience, with improvised gear, a three-day ration of food (human flesh) up a 45-degree slope only to find not only that what they thought was the summit was not, but that they were not on the verge of the Andes, as they thought, but had another 50 miles of harsh terrain in front of them. After a soul-crushing moment, Parrado and Canessa decided they would have to trudge forward and make their way out of the mountains. The third man went back to the wreckage and gave them his supply of human flesh to sustain them through their journey. Over the course of 10 days, Canessa and Parrado slowly made their way down into a valley and followed a river into the foothills of the Andes. It was a journey of 24 miles through the worst terrain and conditions. They nearly froze to death several times. Once at the foothills, however, they made contact with a rancher on the other side of the river, who was on horseback and 10 hours away from the nearest civilization. They communicated via a note wrapped around a rock and tossed back and forth across the river. The rancher, Sergio Catalan, retrieved help and some food for Parrado and Canessa and returned the next day. Once word got to the Chilean army about the survivors, a helicopter rescue was mounted and the remaining 14 people at the wreckage were brought back to civilization. They had spent 72 days stranded on top of a glacier. Naturally, a whirlwind of press inquiries flew at the survivors. At first, they kept the fact that they had survived by eating their dead a secret for fear of repercussions, but once pictures of the wreckage site started to circulate, it couldnt be denied and the survivors talked frankly about what they had to do. This story remains one of the most compelling survival stories ever recounted and I havent done it justice here in this brief space. Theres so much more to it and I really encourage anyone reading this to seek out some of the literature on it. Piers Paul Reads book, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, is supposed to be quite good and is based on interviews with the survivors. Theres also a movie, Alive, starring Ethan Hawke that was made back in 1993. May we all never have to fight so hard as those survivors did for life, but may we all show such a will to survive if we have to. Rama Sobhani's column appears every other Sunday. He can be reached at ramasobhani@gmail.com. Wait just a second. I thought Vincennes had a national park? That's the question locals are directing these days to Frank Doughman, superintendent of the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park. I've gotten several calls, Doughman said. They say, 'I thought you were a national park. How can the Dunes be (Indiana's) first?' And I tell them, 'It all comes down to designation.' Language retitling Indiana Dunes a 15,000-acre park along the southern shore of Lake Michigan in northwestern Indiana as a national park was included in the omnibus appropriations legislation signed into law by President Trump last week, making it, in fact, Indianas first national park. But there are nearly 50 different categories of national park designated by the National Park Service, Doughman explained. Previously, the Indiana Dunes, first established in 1966, was listed as a national lakeshore where as the local park is a national historical park. But we're all within the same National Park System, Doughman said. Other designations, he said, include wild and scenic river and national battlefields as well as both historical parks and historical sites and even national memorials, among many others. The designation of national park, however, Doughman calls the cream of the crop. That title is reserved for the biggest, most diverse parks, Doughman said. Smaller sites like ours aren't supposed to have that designation. That's for the more expansive, national treasures, ones like Yellow Stone, Yosemite, places like that. For many years, Doughman said the country had 54 national parks. The addition of Indiana Dunes as well as the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio and others in recent years have brought that up to 61. Indiana, he said, has three national park sites, specifically the Dunes, the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park and Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial classified as a national memorial in Lincoln City. The Clark Memorial was first constructed in 1931 but it and the land around it were not designated as a national historical park until 1966, the same year the Dunes was first designated as well. Lincoln Boyhood had been established four years earlier in 1962. Dunes' re-designation as a more recognizable national park doesn't, however, offer many, if any, additional perks, Doughman explained. It doesn't get any extra funding, and it doesn't get any more priority in terms of projects, he said. But what it does do is make it more recognizable as a national park. It gives the park authority and publicity. That's why that 'national park' moniker is so important to those parks that get it. Doughman, too, added that the Dunes was always on a path to being named a national park. It's a designation officials there have been after, he said, for more than 100 years. CLARK CAPTURES FORT SACKVILLE AGAIN Rangers and volunteers at the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park will wrap up commemoration of the 240th anniversary George Rogers Clark's capture of Fort Sackville on Monday with a ceremony inside the Clark Memorial rotunda on Monday. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. and will include a proclamation by Mayor Joe Yochum, the singing of patriotic songs, and a program by park rangers. A luncheon will follow the program will take place at the Vincennes Fortnightly Clubhouse, 421 N. Sixth St., sponsored by the Vincennes Historical and Antiquarian Society. Reservations can be made by contacting Dennis Latta at 812-726-5333. Visitors may attend any or all of these programs. There is no charge for the march or the programs. For further information, contact the Visitor Center at 812-882-1776, Ext. 210. The only thing wrong with capitalism is those who abuse it. If Sanders is so endeared to socialism then he should go to some other country that is struggling under it, and reserve a seat next to him for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They need their help. Socialism, left undisturbed, will inevitably lead into communism. I applaud President Trump's announcement of a renewed commitment to ending the AIDS epidemic in the United States," John said. "While we have made tremendous progress in reducing new infections and reaching those who are at risk or HIV positive with lifesaving testing and treatment services, the epidemic in the U.S. is far from over. Yet after an attack by the Venezuelan military near the Brazilian border that left two civilians dead and 11 wounded on Friday, fears mounted that the attempt to move aid into Venezuela could be marred by further violence. By Saturday morning, the Venezuelan government had temporarily closed three key border crossings with Colombia. Just before the 8 a.m. start time for the effort to try to break the blockade, a violent confrontation broke out on the Santander bridge in the western border town in Urena one of the crossings to Colombia ordered closed by the Maduro government. Locally, art students will have their work on display March 2 to 21 at the Gold Coast Down Syndrome Organization Resource Center, 915 S. Federal Highway, in Boynton Beach. Its open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and paintings will be on sale for $5. Near the end of a question-and-answer session with the audience, Vecchio crossed the stage, walked down the stairs, and hugged an emotional Patricia Ferrer, who admitted to fighting back tears while thanking him for continuing to fight the tyranny that chased this Aventura resident from her native Caracas 10 years ago. Heres what police do know: Between 2:30 a.m. and 3 a.m., officers responded to 3125 West Broward Blvd. after getting calls about a shooting. They raced into the club and found a man seriously wounded inside. EU nationals are being let down by the Governments new settled status scheme, which fails to protect citizens rights, according to campaigners in Stratford-upon-Avon. With the UK rapidly heading towards Brexit, The Government has made it a requirement for all EU nationals living in the UK to apply for settled status. With a high number of EU nationals employed in Stratfords hospitality industry, the town is particularly affected by the requirement. On Monday an EU Citizens Rights meeting was held at Elizabeth House aimed at providing information to those who will need to apply for settled status. The event, which attracted a large audience, was organised jointly by the district council and a group called the3Million, a not-for-profit organisation that campaigns to preserve the rights of EU nationals post-Brexit. MADISON [emdash] Patricia A. Scheibelhoffer (Novak) passed peacefully from this life into God's arms on Thursday, June 24, 2021. She was a graduate of Rock Creek High School and worked for many years in banking. She was preceded in death by her parents, Adam and Ann Novak and her husband Tho by Eric S. Margolis While Americans were obsessing over a third-rate actors fake claims of a racial assault, old foes India and Pakistan were rattling their nuclear weapons in a very dangerous crisis over Kashmir. But hardly anyone noticed that nuclear war could break out in South Asia. India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed, have fought four wars over divided Kashmir since 1947, the lovely mountain state of forests and lakes whose population is predominantly Muslim. India controls two thirds of Kashmir; Pakistan and China the rest. This bitter dispute, one of the worlds oldest confrontations, has defied all attempts to resolve it. The United Nations called on India to hold a plebiscite to determine Kashmirs future, but Delhi ignored this demand, knowing it would probably lose the vote. Muslim Kashmiris have been in armed revolt against harsh Indian occupation since the 1980s. Some 70,000 civilians, mostly Muslims, have died to date. Today, India stations a million soldiers and paramilitary forces in Kashmir to repress popular demands by Muslim Kashmiris for either union with neighboring Pakistan or an independent Kashmiri state. Indias human rights groups accuse Delhi of grave human rights violations, including torture, murder, rape and collective punishment. Delhi says it is protecting Kashmirs Hindus and Sikhs from Muslim reprisals, and blames the uprising on what it calls cross border terrorism initiated by old enemy, Pakistan. Last week, a Kashmiri mujahidin rammed his explosive-laden car into a bus filled with paramilitary Indian troops at Pulwama, killing over 40 and provoking outrage across India. Unable to crush the decades-old uprising in Kashmir, India threatens major reprisal attacks on Pakistan. However, Kashmir is mountainous, offering poor terrain for Indias overwhelming superiority in tanks and artillery. So Indian commanders have long pressed Delhi to allow them to attack further south on the flat plains of Punjab. Powerful Indian armored strike corps are poised to slice into vulnerable Pakistan and chop it up into pieces. India has also considered heavy air strikes into Pakistani Punjab and even a naval blockade to cut off Pakistans oil imports. Outnumbered and outgunned six to one by India, Pakistan has developed a potent arsenal of nuclear weapons that can be delivered by aircraft, short and medium-ranged missiles and artillery. Pakistan says it will riposte almost immediately with tactical nuclear weapons to a major Indian attack. Both sides nuclear forces are on a hair-trigger alert, greatly increasing the risks of an accidental nuclear exchange. More detail on this threat scenario may be found in my ground-breaking book on the regions many dangers, War at the Top of the World. Rand Corp estimated a decade ago that an Indo-Pak nuclear exchange would kill two million immediately and 100 million in ensuing weeks. Indias and Pakistans major water sources would be contaminated. Clouds of radioactive dust would blow around the globe. India is deeply frustrated by its inability to crush the independence movement in Kashmir, labeling it terrorism. True enough, Pakistans crack intelligence service, ISI, has links to the many Kashmiri mujahidin groups. But the uprising is also due to often brutal, corrupt Indian rule over Kashmir and the desire by Muslims for self-rule. As I have often written, every people has a god-given right to be misruled by their own people. Right now, India is debating a major punitive strike against Pakistan. India national elections are imminent. The Hindu nationalist government in Delhi fears being accused of being soft on Pakistan. It was during a similar crisis in the 1980s that Pakistans tough leader, Gen. Zia ul-Haq, flew to Delhi in a surprise visit and averted a war being planned by India. If India does launch attacks they will likely be large in scale and involve heavy use of tactical air power. If units on either side become bogged down in fighting, commanders may call for the use of tactical nuclear weapons. Far outgunned Pakistan has been clear about such recourse. The urge to be first to strike with nuclear arms will be powerful. Once again, the bitter Kashmir dispute endangers the rest of the world. The great powers should be pressing both India and Pakistan to reach a compromise on this problem. But India has long opposed internationalization of the issue, saying it is a domestic Indian matter. It is difficult to imagine the current Hindu nationalist government in Delhi backing down over Kashmir. But India must be very cautious because behind Pakistan stands its ally China which shares a long, often poorly-defined border with India. Kashmir, not Korea, is the worlds most dangerous border. Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2019 Shaheed Alhafed, February 24, 2019 (SPS) - President of the Republic, Secretary General of the POLISARIO front, Brahim Ghali, received Sunday at the Presidency a delegation from the US Congress led by Chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, James Inhofe. The American delegation is composed of 17 personalities including six (6) elected, headed by Chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, and Finance Committe Chairman Enzi Michael Bradley. In February 2017, US Senator James Inhofe, accompanied by a large delegation of US senators, paid a similar visit to the Saharawi people, during which he met with the leaders of the POLISARIO Front. This visit is part of the international community's interest in finding a solution to the Western Sahara problem, despite Morocco's obstacles that prevents any solution guaranteeing the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination. (SPS) 062/SPS/TRA Awsard (Refugee Camps) - February 24, 2019 (SPS) -The foreign delegations participating in the 8th Congress of the National Union of Sahrawi Women (NUSW) expressed their full support and solidarity with the Sahrawi people's just struggle and their right to self-determination and independence. The representatives of delegation from South Africa, Cuba and Namibia, Italy, Switzerland, Syria, Germany, India, as well as various associations and political parties, reiterated in their interventions their principled support for the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination and independence, commending the pioneering role of Sahrawi women in the phase of liberation and construction. They saluted the peaceful struggle of Sahrawi women in the occupied territories Western Sahara, southern Morocco, and Sahrawi refugee camps, condemning the media siege repression against Sahrawi women by the Moroccan occupation forces. (SPS) 062/SPS/TRA Awsard (Refugee Camps), February 24, 2019 (SPS) President of Republic, Secretary-General of the POLISARIO Front, Brahim Ghali, has renewed the sincere cooperation with the United Nations efforts to complete the decolonization of the last colony in Africa, in a speech at the opening of 8th Congress of the National Union of Sahrawi Women (NUSW), held from 23 to 25 February, in the wilaya of Awsard, Sahrawi refugee camps. The President of the Republic hailed the efforts led by the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, President Horst Koehler, to reaffirming sincere cooperation to complete the decolonization of Africa's last colony by enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence. He also welcomed the African Union's principled position in adopting the Sahrawi issue as an African issue and responsibility and giving it due priority, including the formation of a troika of its own at the level of presidents. On the other hand, he called for safeguarding the ideals and principles on which the European Union was founded, and to move to denounce and annul any agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco, including the territorial sphere of occupied Western Sahara. (SPS) 062/SPS/TRA This Account has been suspended. Many times you might have found the multiple casinos available in the online market but when you are going to... Hong Kong: Health chief to attend SZ conference Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan will lead a delegation to Shenzhen today to attend the second Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Hygiene & Health Cooperation Conference to be held tomorrow. Co-organised by the Health Commission of Guangdong Province, the Food & Health Bureau, and the Health Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government, the conference will continue to promote close ties with the Mainland and Macau health authorities. It promotes experience exchange and sharing as well as strengthening co-operation among the three places on matters relating to hygiene and health in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. At tomorrow's opening ceremony, Prof Chan will deliver a speech and sign the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Health Cooperation Consensus to maintain co-operation among the three places in developing quality healthcare services, the emergency response in relation to public health issues, Chinese medicine development and innovation, and the training of healthcare professionals. Senior health executives of the three places will jointly host a roundtable meeting. The delegation includes Director of Health Dr Constance Chan and Hospital Authority Chief Executive Dr Leung Pak-yin. During Prof Chan's absence, Under Secretary for Food & Health Dr Chui Tak-yi will be Acting Secretary. This story has been published on: 2019-02-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.